JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932
 DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020, PUNE, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

OCTOBER DATA FOR GOODS AND SERVICES TAX AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION PART TWO

Rs1.05lakhcr:GSTcollections Many ways to dupe a poor student:

steal IDs, lie about source of funds,
upagain,nowat8-monthhigh pocket most of it — all officially
But overall, data show y-o-y 20.2% decline during Apr-Oct

ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
CONTINUING TO post a year-on-
year increase for the second
month in a row, gross Goods and
Services Tax (GST) collections
rose 10.2 per cent to an eight-
month high of Rs 1.05 lakh crore
inOctober,forsalesinSeptember.
An uptick in economic activ-
ity with the easing of Covid re-
strictions, along with a low base
effect and a September 30 dead-
line for claiming input tax credit
EXPLAINED
andreconciliationforbusinesses
EXPERT
for2019-20,werethekeyfactors
fortheriseinrevenuesunderthe
EXPLAINS indirect tax regime.
In October 2019, GST rev-
Nilesh Shah
From The Indian Express panel
enueshadcontractedby5.29per
cent to Rs 95,380 crore, marking
of specialists, exclusive insight the third instance of a contrac-
tion since the July 2017 rollout of
BEGINNINGS OF the GST regime.
The pick-up in gross GST rev-
RECOVERY enues in October reflected the 9
per cent growth in revenues
EXPLAINED from import of goods and 11 per
PAGE 10 cent growth in revenues from
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
E
Festival
● boost
THE UPTICK in October is
due to the pick-up in eco-
nomic activity for the fes-
tival season, the unlock-
down and a September
deadline for annual rec-
onciliation of input tax
credit for businesses.
Collections after Novem-
ber will indicate whether
the trend is sustainable.
THE
SCHOLARSHIP
SCAM
ABHISHEK ANGAD Jharkhand CM
RANCHI, DHANBAD, LATEHAR,
RAMGARH, LOHARDAGA, orders probe:
SAHIBGANJ, NOVEMBER 1
‘action soon’
INSIDE THEIR unplastered two-
room house in the dense
Behratoli area of Ranchi, Rashid JharkhandCMHemantSorenholdsacopyof TheIndianExpress ABHISHEK ANGAD
Ansari, a mason, and his wife reportatapressconferenceinDumkaonSunday. Express RANCHI, NOVEMBER 1
Salma Khatun, are badly shaken.
They have just come to know TAKING NOTE of an ongoing in-
fromthisreporterthatthe“char-
ity money from Saudi Arabia”, of
Aadhaar obtained, account vestigationbyTheIndianExpress,
which has revealed several cases

Hizb commander in Valley killed in

Rs 10,700 each that came into
their accounts, was part of a
statewide scam targeting a na-
hijacked, and hostel faked offraudbyanexusofmiddlemen,
school staff, and state govern-
mentemployeestoillegallydivert

gunbattle, police call it big success

BASHAARAT MASOOD
SRINAGAR, NOVEMBER 1
IN A major setback to the Hizbul
Mujahideen,themilitantoutfit’s
operations chief in the Valley
was killed in a gunfight with a
team of J&K Police and paramil-
itary forces at Rangreth on the
outskirts of Srinagar on Sunday.
Saif-ul-Islam Mir alias Dr
BUSINESS AS USUAL Saifullah had taken over as the
chief of the Hizb in the Valley af-
BY UNNY ter the killing of Riyaz Naikoo in
Maythisyear,andwasoneof the
most wanted militants in
Kashmir.
Early on Sunday morning,
policeandCentralReservePolice
Force (CRPF) personnel cor-
tionalscholarshipschemeformi-
nority school students.
Andthattheyareamongsev-
eral unsuspecting victims de-
frauded by a nexus of middle-
men, bank staff, school
authorities, and state govern-
ment employees to siphon off
money from the Pre-Matric
Scholarship initiative under the
Union Ministry of Minority
Affairs.
This is just one of their meth-
ods. An investigation by The
Indian Express has found schools
fudging data, even changing the
religion of students to show
CONTINUEDONPAGE6
Near the encounter site in Srinagar Sunday. Shuaib Masoodi
TOMORROW:
doned off the Rangreth neigh- team of the Army’s 53 Rashtriya SCAM SLIPPED
bourhood after specific inputs Rifles also joined the operation UNDER RADAR
about the presence of the mili- subsequently, police said. DESPITE RED FLAGS
tant commander in the area. A CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
ABHISHEK ANGAD
RANCHI, DHANBAD, LATEHAR,
RAMGARH, LOHARDAGA,
SAHIBGANJ, NOVEMBER 1
FROM 102 beneficiaries in a
school that never applied for
benefits to students whose reli-
gion waschangedin therecords,
an investigation by The Indian
Express hasrevealedmultiplein-
stances of fraud and corruption
acrossJharkhandinthedistribu-
tion of pre-matric scholarships
for 2019-20 sanctioned by the
Union Ministry of Minority
Affairs through the National
Scholarship Portal (NSP).
Over the last month, this
newspaper tracked 15 schools
acrosssixdistrictsinthestateand
spoke to over 30 students, par-
entsandschoolauthoritiestoin-
vestigatethelistof beneficiaries.
The in-charge at the
Assembly of God Church
School in Ranchi has been
suspended. Abhishek Angad
Here is the second set of cases:
SARFARAZ DEVELOPMENT
ACADEMY MISSION HIGH
SCHOOL, KURGI, RANCHI:
RecordsshowthatRohitKujjur,a
Class 10 student, received Rs
10,700 in his Jharkhand State
Cooperative Bank account for
hostel students. “I had given my
fingerprints and Aadhaar details
CONTINUEDONPAGE6
funds from a Central scholarship
forminoritystudentsinthestate,
Jharkhand Chief Minister
Hemant Soren on Sunday or-
deredaprobeintothe“bigscam”.
Speaking to reporters in
Dumka,Sorensaid:“Wehavejust
got to know about the scam and
very soon, there will be action.”
SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress
later,Sorenreferredtotheinves-
tigation,whichreportedonalet-
tersentinJuly2019bytheCentre
to the then Jharkhand Chief
Secretary warning of “repeated
attemptstosubvert”theNational
ScholarshipPortal.“The(current)
Chief Secretary has taken cog-
nizance of the matter. It seems
the matter was flagged last year
and we will get to the bottom of
it,” he said.
Theinvestigationalsopointed
to a failure in several layers of
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

Other side of APMC repeal: Bihar

farmers want mandis, ‘like Punjab’
HARISH DAMODARAN P7
After rape, a KHAGARIA, BEGUSARAI,
NOVEMBER 1
woman with IN 2006, Nitish Kumar’s govern-

self-respect mentrepealedBihar’sAgricultu-
ral Produce Market Committee THE EXPRESS
will die: Cong
(APMC) Act allowing crops to be
freely traded outside the state’s
regulated mandis.
INTERVIEW
chief in Kerala But 14 years on — when the
Narendra Modi government at Aggregator Saroj Kumar and
‘TEJASHWI TUTORED...
NO CHANGE IN RJD’S
the Centre has enacted a law dis- farmer Gaurav Kumar (left) CHARACTER’
SHAJU PHILIP mantlingthemonopolyof APMC both say mandis would help J P NADDA
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, mandis all over India and Nitish them. Harish Damodaran BJP PRESIDENT
NOVEMBER 1 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

THE PRESIDENT of the Kerala

unit of the Congress on Sunday
called a woman who had ac-
cused several leaders and min-
isters of the previous Congress-
led UDF government of raping
her, a “prostitute” – but back-
tracked soon after and apolo-
gised at the same public event.
Addressing an Opposition
protestmeetingagainsttheCPM-
led LDF government, Kerala PCC
chiefMullappallyRamachandran
said: “The Chief Minister should
not think that he can escape by
fielding a prostitute to tell stories
against UDF leaders. Kerala is
tired of hearing this.
“That is a woman who had
lamented that she was raped
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
US vote tomorrow, surge in gun
purchases amid fears of violence
KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW YORK CITY, NOVEMBER 1
RACE FOR ARTHUR BENSON calls himself
a “reluctant gun owner”. A 34-
THE WHITE year-old from Pennsylvania,
HOUSE Benson had planned a Black
Lives Matter protest this sum-
mer.The50people whoshowed
EXPRESS up on his side were matched by
IN THE US almost 300 counter-protesters
carrying Trump flags and hold-
ing large automatic rifles. “There
is no way I could have saved my
life that day if they had pulled
the guns on me," says Benson, a
Black himself, adding, "I feel that
my hand was forced.”
ArisingnumberofAmericans
are doing the same, buying guns
for the first time, in the midst of
widespread protests, a polarised
country and a pandemic, all of
which have added to the tension
leading up to the November 3
presidential election.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Multiple peaks on road ahead:

experts’ Covid insight in book
PAGE 1
ANCHOR
KAUNAIN SHERIFF M
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
■ Reduction in death rates is a
goodsignbutnotlinkedtopeak-
ing of cases, and India might see
“multiple peaks”.
■ Chances of Covid-19 re-infec-
tion are very rare and in such
cases an individual only devel-
ops mild symptoms.
■ Current evidence shows that
a Covid-19 pre-symptomatic
casecanbeasinfectiousasaper-
sonwithfull-fledgedsymptoms.
Preparing for after-effects is
the next stage: Guleria. Express
These are some of the an-
swers to contentious questions
revolvingaroundthecoronavirus
pandemic being offered by Dr
Randeep Guleria, Dr Gagandeep
Kang and Dr Chandrakant
Lahariya, three of India’s leading
healthcare experts, in a forth-
coming book titled Till We Win:
India's Fight Against Covid-19
Pandemic (publishedbyPenguin
Random House India).
DrGuleria,theAIIMSDirector,
isthecountry’stoppulmonologist
and a member of the govern-
‘Problem deeper
ment’s Covid-19 task force. Dr
Kangisaworldrenownedvaccine than this govt... rot
andinfectiousdiseaseresearcher, over time... (But)
andDrLahariyaisaleadingpublic Mrs Gandhi had
policyandhealthsystemsexpert. some shame’
“This is a unique journey that ARUN SHOURIE
all of us have gone through. FORMER UNION MINISTER,
None of us was fully prepared ECONOMIST, JOURNALIST,
either at the individual level or AUTHOR AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
as a country. PAGE 11
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Pune
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
DOWNLOADAPP
■ VISUAL STORIES
■ DAILY BRIEFING
■ PODCASTS
■ CUSTOMIZABLE
NEWS EXPERIENCE
Indian Express
★★★★★
SCANTHISQRCODETO
DOWNLOADTHEAPP
Fugitive of law is
fugitive of society:
Bengal governor
takes a dig at Gurung
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, NOVEMBER 1
DAYS AFTER GJM leader Bimal Gurung made his first
publicappearanceinthreeyearsandvowedhissupport
to the TMC, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday
said “a fugitive of law is a fugitive of society”.
In 2017, Gurung was booked under murder charge
and other IPC sections, and the stringent Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act after violence broke out in
Darjeelingforaseparate‘Gorkhaland’state.Hesurfaced
on October 22 and snapped his ties with the BJP for al-
legedlyrenegingonitspollpromiseanddecidedtoback
therulingpartyintheupcomingAssemblypolls.
AddressingapressconferenceinSiliguri,Dhankhar
said, “Those who think of destroying democracy have
beendestroyedinvariably.Nomatterhowbigyouare,
no one is above law.... A fugitive of law is a fugitive of
societyandmustbeuniformlytreated.Ifanyoneisnot
equal before the law, it is wrong. If I meet a wanted
criminal, I shall be at fault.”
He is on a month-long visit to Darjeeling to assess
the ground realities in North Bengal
The Governor said just like the two major issues of
the country — Article 370 and construction of a Ram
temple in Ayodhya — the long-term issues of North
Bengal would be solved constitutionally, in a apparent
reference to the statehood demand by people of
Darjeeling which has witnessed many incidents of vi-
olence on the issue. The BJP has, in its election mani-
festoes,promisedtofindapermanentpoliticalsolution
to the statehood demand. “No matter how complex,
complicatedandemotivetheproblemsare,theyarenot
biggerthanArticle370,morecomplicatedthantheRam
temple and more emotive than the triple talaq issue.
Thesolutionshouldbefoundthroughapoliticallypru-
dentandpragmaticapproach,”addedDhankhar.
The Trinamool Congress slammed the Governor,
saying he was working as a spokesperson of the BJP.
Protest against proposed
felling of trees for
Dehradun airport project
LALMANI VERMA
DEHRADUN, NOVEMBER 1
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS and local residents on
Sunday protested outside Dehradun’s Jolly Grant
Airport on Sunday against the proposed cutting of
more than 9,745 trees in Thano forest for expansion
of the airport.
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate
Change (MoEF) had recently asked the Uttarakhand
government to consider another area for the expan-
sion. “Out of the 87.0185 ha proposed area to be di-
verted, 47 ha area falls under MDF (moderately dense
forest)... (state government) may explore alternatives
for the proposal such as acquiring area lying north of
existingrunway,”readaletterbytheMoEF’sforestcon-
servation division to the Uttarakhand Forest
Department. “The entire proposed forest area for di-
version falls within the Shivalik Elephant Reserve and
elephant corridors within its 1 km radius.”
Theexpansionprojectincludesdevelopmentofthe
airport, parking area, a new ATC tower and extending
the existing runway to 3.5 km to meet international
airport standards.
Holdingplacardsandwearingmasks,protesterson
Sundaydemandedthattreesshouldnotbecutandthat
forest experts and local residents should have been
consultedduringtheplanningprocess.Runningsocial
media campaigns to save the trees, activists said they
will also launch a mass awareness campaign soon.
Man held for
posing as cop to
collect Covid fines
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
A23-YEAR-OLDmanhasbeenarrestedforallegedly
impersonating as a police officer and issuing fake
Covid challans in Ashok Vihar.
Accordingtopolice,theaccused,UpenderSingh,
who was wearing a police uniform, allegedly issued
fake challans to two persons for violating social dis-
tancing norms. Later, when a security guard at the
entrance asked Singh's name and rank, he left the
spot. The guard got suspicious and immediately
called the local police.
DCP(Northwest)VijayantaAryasaid,“Weformed
ateamandseveralraidswereconductedinthearea.
The accused was then identified and apprehended.
We found the fake police uniform and also four reg-
istrationplateswhichhewasusingonhisSwiftcar.”
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
■4.6
FROM PAGE ONE
Hizb commander
As the security personnel
closed in on the house, the mili-
tant opened indiscriminate fire. In
the resulting gunfight, Mir was
killed.
“This is a big success for police
and security forces,” Inspector
General of Police (IGP) Kashmir
Vijay Kumar said. “We have cap-
tured alive a suspect from the spot,
and we are questioning him”.
Mir, a close aide of Naikoo,
took over as the Hizb’s operational
chief after his killing on May 7. Mir,
who belonged to Malangpora vil-
lage in South Kashmir’s Pulwama,
joined militant ranks in 2014, two
years after Naikoo joined mili-
tancy. Mir had a diploma in med-
ical electronics from Industrial
Training Institute (ITI) and had
worked as a technician in Srinagar.
Since Mir often helped treat in-
jured militants, he was nick-
named “Dr Saifullah” in militant
circles. After he took over the reins
of Hizb, he was codenamed
“Ghazi Haider”.
Mir was believed to have es-
caped with an injury from a fierce
gunfight in Srinagar’s Nawakadal
neighborhood on May 19, in
which his deputy Junaid Sehrai
was killed. Police sources said Mir
would spent a lot of time in and
around Srinagar city.
Police said Mir was involved in
several militant activities includ-
ing killings of policemen in South
Kashmir. “As per police records,
the said terrorist (Mir) was chief
operational commander of pro-
scribed terrorist outfit HM and
was active since 2014,” police said
in a statement. “He was involved
in many terror crimes and civilian
atrocities besides was instrumen-
tal in recruiting innocent youth
into terror folds.”
Police said Mir was involved in
killing policemen in South
Kashmir, a non-local truck driver
at Bijbehara, and a civilian in
Shopian. “He was also involved in
an attack on Sarpanch in
Kokernag, grenade attacks on
Police Post Kakapora & Police Post
Lassipora,” police said. “Besides,
he was also involved in many sim-
ilar terror crimes regarding which
dozens of cases stand registered
against him in different Police
Stations”.
APMC repeal
is seeking a fourth full term —
farmers in Bihar aren’t impressed.
“Hamein yahan sarkari mandi
aur MSP par khareed donon
chahiye (We want both APMCs
and MSP-based procurement
here),” says Bhubaneswar Yadav,
who farms 10 acres at Tulsitol vil-
lage in Begusarai district.
Yadav sells his maize and
wheat to Sunil Sah, a village-level
vyapari or produce aggregator.
“We had an APMC at Begusarai,
which is now shut. Even MSP pro-
curement of wheat at the PACS
(primary agricultural credit soci-
eties) here has stopped after 2015-
16,” he says.
Official data corroborates this:
Out of the 389.92 lakh tonnes (lt)
wheat that government agencies
purchased from last year’s crop
this April-June, Bihar’s contribu-
tion was a paltry 5,000 tonnes --
as against Madhya Pradesh’s
129.42 lt, Punjab’s 127.14 lt,
Haryana’s 74 lt, Uttar Pradesh’s
35.77 lt and Rajasthan 22.25 lt.
But don't agricultural market
reforms give farmers the freedom
to sell to anyone, anywhere and
anytime?
“Kya azadi? Hum apna fasal
Gulab Bagh aur Dalkhola tak bhi
nahin le ja sakte hain. Kahan
Kalkatta, Dilli aur Mumbai (What
freedom? We can’t afford to take
our produce even to Gulab Bagh
in Bihar’s Purnia and Dalkhola in
West Bengal’s Uttar Dinajpur dis-
tricts, forget Delhi, Mumbai and
Kolkata),” retorts Gaurav Kumar.
This farmer, from Sapaha vil-
lage in Khagaria district, has just
sold his last 60-quintals lot of
maize from total produce of 240
quintals at Rs 1,100/quintal. His
first 60 quintals, sold on May 2 im-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
US POLLS: WHY ELECTORAL COLLEGE STILL HAS POWERS TO CHOOSE PRESIDENT
Embeddedwithintheinstitution,istheideathatstatelegislatureshavethepowertodecideonwhogetsto
electthepresidentofAmerica
VIDEO OF THE DAY
MP BYPOLLS: VOICES
FROM THE GROUND
BJP-Congress only
work for themselves,
say voters in state
Rs 1.05 lakh cr: GST collections
up again, now at 8-month high
domestictransactions,including
the import of services.
Annualreconciliationsbefore
the September 30 deadline are
also likely to have led to an in-
crease in the filing of returns in
September as companies would
haveaskedtheirvendorstofillin
and report missing transactions,
tax experts said.
Abhishek Jain, Tax Partner, EY
said:“Thisuptickincollectionson
amonth-on-monthbasisandover
the same month last year is quite
a welcome one for the govern-
ment and the economy in partic-
ular. Some potential reasons for
thissurgecouldbethedemandon
account of the festivities and in-
put tax credit/ other similar rec-
onciliations which were due for
mediately after harvesting, had
fetched Rs 1,200/quintal. The sec-
ond load, on May 7, had gone for
Rs 1,060, and the third for Rs 1,020
on May 29. His average realisation
in May 2019 had been Rs
1,620/quintal, when the govern-
ment’s MSP was Rs 1,760.
Gaurav’s buyer is Saroj Kumar,
who aggregates about 20,000
quintals from 100-odd farmers in
Sapaha and surrounding villages.
A small vyapari -- both he and
Gaurav are Yadavs -- his firm Ansu
Traders supplies maize to feed
millers as far as Palsana in
Rajasthan. “The grain I buy at Rs
1,100/quintal is delivered at Rs
1,350 in Palsana. After deducting
the transport cost of Rs 180, load-
ing and other expenses, I earn a Rs
30/quintal margin,” he says.
Saroj, himself an 8-bigha
farmer from Thatha in Khagaria,
also believes Bihar needs APMC
mandis “like those in Punjab and
Haryana”. Farmers can take their
tractor-trolleys to local mandis,
but it is beyond them to book for
distant markets, he says, adding,
“In APMCs, there is trading and
proper pricing of not only ‘A’ grade
Godrej-Pass (a reference to maize
bought by Godrej Agrovet, India’s
leading animal feed company),
but also ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ quality pro-
duce. Even I will benefit from hav-
ing a shop in a regular market
yard."
Bihar’s sole functioning mandi
— not an APMC any longer, it is run
by private traders with no formal
government oversight — is at
Gulab Bagh near Purnia. Till
around 2005-06, this “freest”
grain market of India daily han-
dled three-four rail rakes, each
2,600 tonnes, during the peak
maize season from mid-April to
mid-July.
“That is down to one rake, with
80% of the farmers selling from
within 20-25 km range and the
balance local vyaparis. Gulab
Bagh, too, will become history in
due course,” predicts Nawal
Kishore Jha, a grain trader and
commission agent at Balia.
A hint of what lies in store post
APMC changes can be had from
the operations of this 52-year-old
B.Com pass from Begusarai’s G.D.
College. Jha’s firm Hanuman
Bhandar does an annual business
of 10,000-12,000 tonnes of maize,
10,000 tonnes of wheat and 2,000
tonnes of soyabean. He sources
grain from 10-20 smaller vyaparis
and supplies to companies as far
away as Chhattisgarh and Madhya
Pradesh. Jha also has his own
6,400 sq ft godown with 1,200
tonnes capacity.
Another example of a some-
what big or bada vyapari is Bablu
Kumar Sah from Maheshkhunt in
Khagaria. A Teli (oil-presser) by
caste, he handles roughly 10,000
tonnes of maize and 2,500 tonnes
wheat every year — again pro-
cured from village-level aggrega-
tors.
businesses in September.”
Experts said GST revenues
areexpectedtoriseinNovember
as well but it needs to be seen if
the uptrend will sustain beyond
the festive month.
Pratik Jain, Partner & Leader,
Indirect Tax, PwC India, said:
“One of the reasons for the
higher number of returns could
be the fact that the last date for
claiminginputcreditfor2019-20
was September 30 and a lot of
companies would have carried
out an yearly reconciliation and
asked their vendors to file re-
turns or report missing transac-
tions. Given the festivities, col-
lections in November could also
be robust. We would need to see
if this trend continues after
Sah’s firm Shiv Udyog owns no
warehouses, but has rented
godown spaces for storing 55,000
bags (3,300 tonnes) of maize.
These have been pledged with
HDFC Bank, which has extended
him a 9.5% interest-bearing loan
for 11 months against 85% of the
stock value.
Sah, like Jha, supplies to com-
panies and also trades on his own
account. “Last May, I bought ‘A’
grade maize at Rs 1,700/ quintal,
which rose to Rs 2,200 by
December. This time, the price of
what I stocked at Rs 1,220 has
gone up to Rs 1,325-1,350, which
isn’t much after adding interest
and storage,” he says.
What this means is that farm-
ers sell grain to the small vyapari,
who bags it and supplies to the
bigger commission agent-cum-
trader. The processors/millers, in
turn, only deal with the bada vya-
pari. They aren’t buying directly
from farmers yet — despite Bihar’s
Agricultural Produce Market
(Repealing) Act permitting it since
2006.
“I am now forced to sell to one
vyapari, who pays me after 20-30
days. We need a local APMC,
where there are more buyers and
payment is made within two-
three days,” sums up
Bhubaneswar Yadav.
US election
FBI numbers till September
2020 show that background
checks, which are required to buy
guns, peaked in March (3.7 mil-
lion) and then in June (3.9 million
total). Background checks till
September (28.8 million) have al-
ready surpassed last year's figures
(28.4 million). A survey of cus-
tomers by a firearm trade associ-
ation, the National Sports
Shooting Foundation, found that
40% were first-time gun owners.
The states with the largest num-
bers lean both Republican and
Democrat.
The last peak in similar back-
ground checks was in 2016, the
previous US election, of 27.5 mil-
lion.
“I’m not a big fan of carrying a
gun. But I want to have the ability
to express this right,” Benson said.
“This year has been incredible as
far as social unrest and as far as
questioning our values and what
we are willing to do to protect our-
selves is concerned.”
The probability of drawn-out
election results is adding to the
anxiety. Benson says several of his
acquaintances are pondering gun
ownership, worried there may be
a "civil war". “When you watch
the other side not care about the
rule of law, you think about how
much these people are willing to
take. It’s really a culture war.”
Four days ago, the
International Crisis Group of pol-
icymakers and researchers
warned, “As the U.S. presidential
election approaches, the ingredi-
TECH REVIEW
REVIEW: DYSON PURE
HUMIDIFY+COOL
At Rs 55,900, it is among
the more expensive
purifiers you can buy
November as well.”
Sequentially, GST revenue in
October recorded a 10.1 per cent
increasefromRs95,480crorecol-
lectedinSeptember.Cumulatively,
theGSTrevenueshaverecordeda
year-on-year20.2percentdecline
during April-October for sales in
March-September.
“The growth in GST revenue
as compared to that in months
of July, August and September,
2020, of -14%, -8% and 5%, re-
spectively, clearly shows the tra-
jectory of recovery of the econ-
omy and, correspondingly, of
revenues,” the Finance Ministry
said in a statement.
Out of Rs 105,155 crore col-
lected in October, Rs 19,193 crore
is Central GST; Rs 25,411 crore
ents for unrest are present. The
electorate is polarised, both sides
frame the stakes as existential, vi-
olent actors could disrupt the
process and protracted contesta-
tion is possible."
Earlier this month, the
Department of Homeland Security
named domestic violent extrem-
ism as a threat to the country.
Now, some segments on the
Left, including new groups like the
Socialist Rifle Association and the
African American Gun
Association, are also buying guns.
While he had no difficulty pur-
chasing his shotgun and pistol,
Benson says ammunition is in
short supply. Previously $15 for 50
rounds, it is now running at $40.
On Friday, Walmart pulled guns
and ammo from its shelves, citing
the possibility of “civil unrest”.
At the first presidential debate,
President Donald Trump had re-
fused to explicitly denounce white
nationalists. Asked if he will agree
to a peaceful transfer of power,
Trump usually responds with
claims of “voter fraud”.
The Second Amendment of
the US Constitution provides for
the right to carry arms and has
been a political hot potato for
much of the country’s history,
with gun control advocates pitted
against gun rights groups. The lat-
ter have touted in press releases
this year that new gun owners are
increasingly Black or female.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden
has been promising to bring back
a ban on assault weapons, in one
of the most aggressive gun reform
plans of any candidate. Biden had
said at the time of a 1994 Bill that
included the measure, "I hope that
my Republican friends will not
spend too much time with what
has been the issue on this legisla-
tion since the beginning... Six
years ago, it was guns. Five years
ago, it was guns. Four years ago, it
was guns. Last night it was guns.
This morning it was guns. And
right now, it’s guns. It’s guns, guns,
guns, guns, guns.”
Like many of Biden’s agendas,
his opinions follow centrist
Democratic evolutions over the
decades. However, in a repeated
pattern, calls for increased gun
control, like under President
Barack Obama, have often led to
increased gun sales.
What has raised the opposi-
tion to guns are incidents of school
shooting. While these date back to
before the Trump presidency, in-
cluding the 1990s Columbine
shooting, in the last four years,
student survivors have taken on
gun control as their primary ad-
vocacy, leading school walkouts
and major protests.
John, who requested that his
last name be removed, grew up
around old rifles in a hunting fam-
ily. But, his father refused to buy
handguns saying “they were only
good for killing humans”. The 45-
year-old quit hunting in his 20s,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
How Covid, lockdowns
pushed thousands into
poverty in Mumbai
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
In today’s episode we look at how a
number of people have been pushed into
poverty in India’s financial capital due to
Covid-19 and lockdowns.
State GST; Rs 52,540 crore
Integrated GST, including Rs
23,375 crore collected on import
of goods;and,Rs8,011croreCess,
including Rs 932 crore on import
of goods, the statement said.
The government settled Rs
25,091 crore to CGST and Rs
19,427 crore to SGST from IGST
as regular settlement. After this,
the total revenue earned by
CentreisRs44,285croreasCGST
and by states is Rs 44,839 crore
as SGST, the Ministry said.
The detailed break-up for
GST collections raised in various
states showed that barring
Union Territories and some
northeastern states, most states
recorded a year-on-year growth
in October.
preferring to “shoot animals with
my camera". He says his country
has a “sick relationship with guns”
and that they are “too easy to ob-
tain”. But, this year, he bought a
9mm Magnum and a small caliber
automatic rifle.
“I’m buying new guns, for the
first time in my life, because I don’t
trust the GOP,” he said, referring
to the Republican Party.
Book on Covid
We thought it was important
to explain firsthand how we all
sort of got together, pulled our
socks up, and fought our way
through the pandemic,” Guleria
told The Indian Express.
The book focuses on three
principal issues regarding the still
evolving pandemic: why Covid-19
is not just another respiratory dis-
ease; the public health response
and stories from the frontlines;
and the future roadmap for the
public, policymakers and physi-
cians given the long road ahead to
vaccines.
The book also deals with the
after-effects of the infection,
termed Long Covid, which could
be the next crisis in the pandemic.
“When we started, our main aim
was to ensure cases were low and
to prevent deaths. Now we have a
situation where we are realising
that unlike in the case of a viral in-
fection, in a large number of peo-
ple who have recovered, Covid-19
does lead to some degree of resid-
ual post-Covid sequela. In many
this is very mild and they recover
within a few weeks but in some,
this can cause significant damage
to organs like the lungs and heart,
necessitating long-term rehabili-
tation and increased care. We
need to move into the next phase
of being able to provide long-term
care,” Guleria said.
He said they also dealt with
challenges on the vaccine front in
the book. “There is a lot of hope
that we will have vaccines early
next year. However, a lot of
changes will happen as we go
along. We have many vaccine can-
didates and the first one may not
be the best and we may have
more immunogenic and safer vac-
cines subsequently... Therefore...
how do we decide if we will have
one vaccine or multiple vaccines
or will different groups receive
different vaccination, and how do
we distribute them to the entire
population. These issues are ad-
dressed to some extent."
On when the country will hit
the peak, the authors say they ex-
pect multiple peaks. “However, it
cannot be said how many and
when...Whether those were peak
or not and how many peaks hap-
pened, that can be answered (only
at) the end of the pandemic.” They
also state that it's not necessary
that the places where cases and
deaths have gone down are those
which have already reached the
peak.
On pre-symptomatic patients,
the book raises a red flag, saying
evidence from India suggests they
can be as infectious. “A small pro-
portion, maybe around one in
every 10 cases, would be pre-
symptomatic or (have a) mild dis-
ease. The key point is people can
infect others (when) pre-sympto-
matic, when they themselves do
not show any sign of disease. This
would be around two days before
the first sign of disease appears...
There is also evidence that a re-
covered person can shed the virus
from the upper respiratory tract
for up to three months after the
illness.”
On re-infection, the authors
say, “Till now it is being inferred
that even if a person is infected a
second time, he or she is unlikely
to develop serious disease in (the)
second infection." The book says
that in such cases they had seen
that the immune system re-
sponded quickly, and this showed
it won't affect vaccine develop-
ment and efficacy.
On why men and people with
co-morbidities are at a higher risk,
the experts state, “The reasons are
not fully understood... Researchers
have found that in Covid-19, the
immune response of men is
mostly through cytokines and
chemokine. In women, the im-
mune response against Covid-19
is considered to be driven by T-
cells... The T-cell dependent re-
sponse is more balanced and nu-
anced." On comorbidities too, the
book talks about T-cells, saying
that in many patients with such
conditions, these are not fully
functional. "The people with co-
morbidities also produce a spe-
cific type of protein, which acts as
a brake on the immune system
and makes them prone to severe
diseases,” the experts state.
Kerala PCC chief
across the state. One can under-
standif awomansaysshehasbeen
rapedonce.If she’sonewithself re-
spect, she will die, otherwise our
society has the circumstances to
ensure it doesn’t happen again...”
Ramachandranwasreferringto
the 2013 solar panel scam, in
which businessmen and NRIs
were cheated by the accused who
flaunted their connections at top
levels of the then Oommen
Chandy government.
One of the accused in the case
had told police on Saturday that
Congress leader and former
Minister A P Anil Kumar had raped
her several times in 2013.
Ramachandran said: “I was
told by a senior police officer that
you (Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan) are trying to come out
with a woman who is lamenting
that she was raped across Kerala.
Chief Minister, do you have pride,
do you have shame? If you have
self-respect, you should resign
without waiting for a single day.’’
After Ramachandran, who was
also a Minister in the UPA govern-
ment at the Centre, returned to his
seat however, other Congress
leaders flagged the distasteful ref-
erences to the woman in his
speech, which had been telecast
live. Ramachandran then decided
to express “unconditional regret”.
“As my remarks were con-
strued as anti-women by certain
quarters, I express my regret un-
conditionally,’’ he said.
However, the Kerala Women’s
Commission registered a case
against Ramachandran. “The re-
peated anti-women statements of
political leaders is an insult to
Kerala. Such statements cannot be
allowed. His apology was not sin-
cere,” Commission chairperson M
C Josephine said.
Health and Social Justice
Minister K K Shailaja took strong
exception to Ramachandran’s
comment that a rape victim with
self-respect would end her life.
“Only persons with a dangerous
mentality can say such things. Do
rape victims who do not commit
suicide have no self-respect? Did
he mean that? Politicians should
not repeatedly make such anti-
women comments,’’ Shailaja said.
Pune

3 MAHARASHTRA
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
Raut: Blaming MAHARASHTRA-KARNATAKA BORDER AREAS
Nehru for
complicating
Kashmir issue
is propaganda
to some extent
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 1
SHIV SENA MP Sanjay Raut on
Sunday said blaming former
PrimeMinisterPanditJawaharlal
NehruorCongressforcomplicat-
ing the Kashmir issue was prop-
agandatosomeextent.TheSena
spokesperson also took on the
BJP over the recent decision of
permitting people from across
the country to buy land in the
Union Territory of Jammu and
Kashmir.
Raut,inhiscolumnRokhthok
in party mouthpiece Saamana,
wrote that Nehru did his best to
resolve the Kashmir issue and
maintain peace. "It is a propa-
gandatosomeextentthatPandit
Nehru or Congress complicated
theKashmirissue.Nehrudidex-
perimentstoresolvetheKashmir
issueandmaintainpeace.Similar
experiments were made by Atal
Bihari Vajpayee...," the column
read. The Sena MP added that
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and Home Minister Amit Shah
had formed a government in
Jammu and Kashmir in alliance
with PDP leader Mehbooba
Mufti."Thistooshouldbeseenas
an experiment for maintaining
peace," the columns stated.
RautaddedthatMuftishould
be arrested for her remarks that
thenationalflagwouldnotbeal-
lowed to hoist in Kashmir until
Article 370 is restored.
"The allegation that the role
of PanditNehruorthethenrulers
waslenientontheKashmirissue
is not true. The tradition of pre-
sentinghistoryconvenientlyhas
started now," Raut wrote.
‘Pinkathon Day’ observed to raise awareness on women’s health
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1
THE THIRD edition of
Pinkathon Day, powered by
WOW Life Science, was ob-
served on November 1.
Pinkathon is a women's run to
encourage and promote fitness
and health, and raise awareness
on breast cancer and other
health issues related to women.
Pinkathon ambassadors
across 77 cities in India and
other countries took part in a 3-
km run at the same time and
day to show solidarity with the
cause.
In Pune, Pinkathon ambas-
sador Mrunal Inamdar marked
the day at University of Pune
with other participants.
The concept is the brain-
child of supermodel and
Pinkathon founder Milind
Soman.
He said using community
running as a tool, Pinkathon
and its ambassadors have em-
powered and enabled thou-
sands of women across India to
bring a positive change in
Pune tech expert wins
Emmett Leahy award
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1
THE EMMETT Leahy award for
2020 was conferred on Dinesh
Katre from the Centre for
Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC), Pune.
Katre, who heads the
Human-Centered Design and
Computing Group at C-DAC, is
the first Indian to bag this award.
Established in the US in 1967,
this international award recog-
nisescontributionsof personsin
the field of records and informa-
‘Black Day’ observed; ministers wear
black bands, attack Karnataka govt
MANOJ MORE
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1
EVENAS Marathi-speakingpeo-
ple in Belgaum and other areas
of Maharashtra-Karnataka bor-
der observed ‘Black Day’ on
Sunday and demanded merger
of the areas with Maharashtra,
ministers in the Uddhav
Thackeray-led Maha Vikas
Aghadi government wore black
bands to express solidarity with
the agitators and asked the
Karnataka government to stop
committing “injustice” and
“atrocities” on the Marathi-
speaking people.
Under the banner of the
Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti,
activists and political leaders
held a sit-in agitation at Maratha
Mangal Karyalaya in Belgaum
between 10 am and 2 pm.
Among others, NCP women’s
wing chief Rupali Chakankar ad-
dressed the gathering and lent
support to the Marathi people.
“I have come here as the repre-
sentative of NCP chief Sharad
Pawar, who has been in the fore-
front of the agitation to ensure
justice to Marathi-speaking
people in border areas. Our
stand is crystal clear. The areas
of Belgaum, Karvar, Nippani,
Bhalki and others, where there
are majority of Marathi-speak-
ing people, should be merged
with Maharashtra. The NCP will
always stand solidly behind the
Marathi-speaking people,”
she said.
AccordingtoMalojiAshtekar,
generalsecretaryof Maharashtra
Ekikaran Samiti, the agitation
was peaceful. “Since there were
restrictions on the number of
Pune Pinkathon ambassador Mrunal Inamdar and volunteers at Pune University, on Sunday. Express
tion management.
Among the many works in-
volving e-library and archiving
systems, Katre led the team that
developed Digitalaya. It is a tool
using which, a repository com-
prising over 2 Petaflop audio-vi-
sual content comprising dance,
music, drama and cinema was
created.
For this project titled
National Cultural Audiovisual
Archive (NCAA), undertaken in
collaborationwithIndiraGandhi
National Culture for Arts, an ISO
16363 certification was later
awarded.
Dinesh Katre
(left) receives
the Emmett
Leahy award for
2020. Express
Marathi-speaking youths observe ‘Black Day’ in Belgaum, on
Sunday. Express
people who could attend the
event,weheldtheagitationwith
fewer numbers,” he said.
The samiti alleged that a bus
belonging to the Maharashtra
government was stoned by
members of the Kannad
Rakshan Vedika but the police
preventedthesituationfromgo-
ing out of control.
AshtekarsaidtheKannadigas
believethe‘BlackDay’istargeted
at Karnataka formation day but
this is not true. “We have been
protesting on November 1 be-
causeonthisdaythecentralgov-
ernment had taken the decision
six decades back to merge the
Marathi-speaking areas with
Mysore state. Our ‘Black Day’ is
against the decision of the cen-
tral government.”
PWD Minister Eknath
Shinde said, “The Karnataka
government should stop harass-
ment of the Marathi-speaking
people. The government should
not force Kannad language
HC directs MAT to 3bookedfor‘betting’onIPLmatches
consider plea seeking to
commence online filing,
videoconference hearings
OMKAR GOKHALE
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 1
THEBOMBAYHighCourtrecently
directed the Maharashtra
Administrative Tribunal (MAT),
which deals with pleas related to
state government employees, to
considerimmediatelycommenc-
ing online filing and hearing of
cases in view of Covid-19.
A division bench of Chief
JusticeDipankarDattaandJustice
GirishSKulkarnipassedtheorder
on October 28 while hearing a
plea filed by lawyer Yogesh
Morbale, through advocates
Vinod Sangvikar and Yashodeep
Deshmukh, seeking direction to
theMATto"commenceonimme-
diatebasis"onlinefilingandhear-
ingaswelltodevelopandupdate
itsofficialwebsitetomakeituser-
friendly.Morbale,inhisplea,men-
tionedthatwhilemostcourts,tri-
bunals and other adjudicating
authoritiesarefunctioningonvir-
down the throats of the
Marathi-speaking people.
People from Karnataka have
been for years living happily in
Maharashtra. They have set up
businesses in Maharashtra.
Likewise, Marathi-speaking
people have been living for years
in border areas. The Karnataka
government should stop sub-
jecting them to ill-treatment.
They should be allowed to pre-
serve their culture and identity.”
Water Resources Minister
Jayant Patil, who is also the state
NCPchief,said,“Alltheministers
of the Maha Vikas Aghadi today
wore black bands to express
their support to the Marathi-
speaking people living in dis-
putedborderareas.Wehadeven
asked all NCP leaders and work-
erstowearblackbands.Thegov-
ernment has taken the first such
step to send out strong signals.”
State Minister Hassan
Mushrif said, “We condemn the
injustice being done to Marathi-
ENS
tual platforms due to the pan-
demic,MAThasnotstartedvideo
conference hearings and online
filing of pleas yet.
Thepetitioneralsoreferredto
HC's July decision, directing the
BMC to provide facilities at its
ward offices for hearing appeals
filed under the Right to
Information(RTI)Actthroughvir-
tual platform.
Morbale, who stays in
Kolhapurdistrict,saidhewasnot
inpositiontocomepersonallyto
file matters before MAT consid-
ering "huge risk" entailed by the
pandemic and increase in travel
costs due to the restrictions. His
plea stated, "All these factors
makeitpracticallyunfeasiblefor
anadvocatelikepetitionerbased
away from Mumbai to continue
his or her practice, due to lack of
online access. Thus, the right to
practice the profession of choice
is severely impacted... due to ap-
athy/inaction on part of admin-
istration..."
The Karnataka
government was
inflicting injustice on
and ill-treating
peace-loving
Marathi-speaking
people in border
areas. It was
imposing Kannada on
them and denying
jobs... We are hopeful
the MVA government
will take all steps for
merger of these
disputed areas...”
— SANJAY RAUT,
SHIV SENA
Over 800 villages in border areas where
Marathi-speaking people outnumber
Kannadigas should be merged with the state.
We condemn any kind of force used against
Marathi-speaking people in border areas
— CHANDRAKANT PATIL, STATE BJP CHIEF
speaking people in border areas.
We are confident soon Belgaum
and other disputed areas would
be merged with Maharashtra.”
State BJP chief Chandrakant
Patil said, “Over 800 villages in
border areas where Marathi-
speaking people outnumber
Kannadigas should be merged
withMaharashtra.Wecondemn
any kind of force used against
Marathi-speaking people in the
border areas.”
ShivSenachief spokesperson
SanjayRautsaid,“TheKarnataka
governmentwasinflictinginjus-
Pune: The Pune Rural Police
booked three persons for al-
legedly running a betting racket
over matches in the ongoing
Indian Premier League. One
person has been detained,
while two others have been
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
All ministers of
MVA today wore
black bands to
express their support
to Marathi-speaking
people living in
disputed border
areas. We even
asked NCP leaders
and workers to wear
black bands. The
‘RECRUITMENT RACKET’ BUSTED
government has
taken first such
step to send out
Army jawan, two others
strong signals”
— JAYANT PATIL held for ‘promising
WATER RESOURCES MINISTER
aspiring candidates
selection through CEE’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Officials said the
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1 accused, in exchange
A SERVING Army jawan and two for money, promised
otherswerearrestedforallegedly candidates that they
running a racket for recruitment
ticeonandill-treatingthepeace- into the Army, during a joint op-
would be selected into
loving Marathi-speaking people eration by the Southern the Army through
inborderareas.Thegovernment Command Liaison Unit (SCLU) of Common Entrance
was imposing Kannad language theMilitaryIntelligenceandPune
on them and denying them jobs. City Police. Exam held at the Army
The Marathi-speaking people According to investigators, a Institute of Physical
are struggling to preserve their probe shows that the accused, in Training campus in
culture, language and identity in exchangeformoney,promisedas-
theborderareas.Theyhavebeen piringcandidatesthattheywould Pune on Sunday
agitating for more than 60 years. beselectedintotheArmythrough
We are hopeful the Maha Vikas Common Entrance Exam (CEE) ropedinone,RavindraRathod,to
Aghadi government will take all held at the Army Institute of tutorthem.Theyhadconfiscated
steps for merger of these dis- Physical Training (AIPT) campus the documents of the aspirants
puted areas with Maharashtra. in Pune on Sunday. The physical and had planned to take Rs 1.5
That will be true justice examination for the recruitment lakh from each successful stu-
for them.” process was held in February, dent."Singhaddedthatthethree
while the written examination, had been arrested, and that
CEE,wasdelayedduetoCovid-19 Parihar was a serving jawan of
BUILDER MURDER
Realtor was
restrictionsandwasscheduledon
Sunday. Explaining the modus
operandi of the accused, an offi-
havildar rank and Rawat, who is
originallyfromRajasthan,actedas
an agent.
planning to kill cial said they took original docu-
ments from the candidates, and
Officials said the accused
rented two flats at Lohegaon in
him for three would take money from those
who would get chosen.
Pune and began tapping candi-
dates when they started coming
months: Police Deputy Commissioner of
Police (Crime Branch) Bachchan
toPunetocollecttheirhalltickets
in September and October at the
Singhsaid,"Wereceivedinforma- zonal recruitment office of the
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE tion from military authorities Army. They added that while
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 1 aboutarecruitmentscamduring some of the candidates would
the exam, held on the AIPT cam- havebeenselectedeventually,the
REALTOR ASHOK Chaajad, ar- pus. Acting jointly with the mili- accused kept the original docu-
rested for conspiring about the tary intelligence team, officers mentsintheircustodyandwould
murder of builder Munaf Shaikh, from Unit 2 and 5 of the Crime only return them when the se-
had been planning to kill him for Branch detained the suspects, lected candidate paid them.
threemonths,saidaCrimeBranch JaidevSinghPariharandVensingh A case was registered at
official. Shaikh's throat was slit in Lalsingh Rawat, and interrogated Wanawadi police station. Singh
JuhuonAugust9,whenhewason them.Thesuspectshadpromised alsosaidtheaccusedmightbein-
his way to a mosque. The police jobs to 17 aspirants and had also volved in other recruitments.
have so far arrested Chaajad,
NadeemShaikh,whoshotShaikh,
aswellasAbdulRahmanLatifand
WasimKhanPeshkar,fortheirin-
volvement in the murder.
Chaajadwishedtobagalarger
profit from the Juhu-based Slum
Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)
project and hatched a plan to kill
Shaikh, said an officer. "Chaajad
andhistwopartnershadtakenup
theSRAprojectatJuhuGulli.Due
tofinancialissues,workatthesite
hadstoppedandtheyhadtorope
in Shaikh, meaning further divi-
sion of profit," the officer added.
identified. According to police,
they received a tip-off that
some people were taking bets
over the phone on an IPL match
on Saturday. An officer said a
search was on for more
suspects.
Pune
 4 THE CITY
IMD forecasts cooler
days in Pune this week
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1
PUNE RESIDENTS will experi-
ence chill in the air during early
morning and late evening hours
all through this week, as winter
season is on its way. The mini-
mum temperatures are set to
drop marginally below normal.
Since last week, cold condi-
tionswerereportedinthemorn-
ing hours over the city. During
the weekend, Mumbai and
many locations in the state, too,
reported similar drop in the
night temperatures.
According to the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD),Pune,thecity’snighttem-
peratures will remain around 15
degrees during the week. “IMD
recognises winter between
DecemberandFebruary,anditis
presently the transitional phase
betweenseasons.Thereareclear
sky conditions available, which
EMPLOYEES’ STATE INSURANCE CORPORATION
(Govt. of India , Ministry of Labour & Employment)
S. N. 689-690, PANCHDEEP BHAWAN, BIBVEWADI, PUNE - 411 037.
Toll Free Helpline: 18002334143, Email: dir-pune@esic.in
AFFORDING OPPORTUNITY OF HEARING AGAINST
PROPOSED ASSESSMENT OF CONTRIBUTION
Attention of employers mentioned below is drawn regarding proposed assessment of Contribution as shown
against their names. The final opportunity of hearing is being afforded before passing of ex-parte order u/s 45
(A) as they failed to avail opportunities afforded earlier.
Sr. Name, Address & Code No.
No. of the Employer
1 M/s. Excelus Star Food Bev
Pvt. Ltd.
Plot No. 470, Chipari, Tal. Shirol,
Kolhapur - 416101.
Code No. 33000507990000009
2 M/s. Tirupati Enterprises
Smita Deshpande Rajlaxmi
Flat No. 3, B-Wing Machish
Company, Medankarwadi Chakan,
Pune - 410501.
Code No. 33000608730001099
3 M/s. D. S. Enterprises
Flat No. 304, Bldg. No. 13,
S. No. 31/1-A/2, Choudhary Nagar,
Tingre Nagar, Pune - 411015.
Code No. 33000485340001099
4 M/s. Ashoka Builders
Ashoka Areh, Plot No. E-28, Nagar
Nisarg Mangal Karyalaya, Market
Yard, Gultekdi, Pune.
Code No. 33000328730001009
5 M/s. Shetty Caterers
Flat No. 401, Pelican Nyati Enclave,
Mohammadwadi, Hadapsar,
Pune - 411028.
Code No. 33000485120001102
6 M/s. IT Intellect Micro Solutions
Pvt. Ltd.
7th Floor, Lalwani Plaza, Sakore
Nagar, Viman Nagar,
Pune - 411014.
Code No. 33000150430000911
7 M/s. Hotel Rasik Bar & Restaurant
23/2B, Hyderabad Road, Raviwar
Peth, Solapur - 413006.
1) Shri . Rasik MD Sharif, Tinwala
Plot No.16, Rajiv Nagar, Kamathe
Naka, Solapur - 413006.
2) Shri. Nagesh Thakur, 23/28,
Hyderabad road, Raviwar Peth,
Solapur - 413006.
Code No. 33000134510001102
8 M/s. Maxx Food Products
Office No. 6 DSK Rohit Apartment,
1264/2, Off J. M. Road, Shivajinagar,
Pune - 411004.
Shri. Sanjay Lalchand Siriah
A-8, Flat No.704, Karishma,
Karve Road, Pune - 411038.
Code No. 33000473010001102
9 M/s. Baba Enterprises
Shri. Ajit Walunj
H. No. 5/29/5/20, Near Meghaji
Lokhande Bhawan, Pimpari,
Pune - 411018.
Code No. 3300045513000699
10 M/s. Shri Sai Enterprises
(Snack Corner & Food Corner)
70/182, Nagargoan, Lonavala,
Tal- Maval, District- Pune,
Pin - 410401.
Code No.33000477690001102
11 M/s. Mudo Facility Management
Services
LLP Office No-1, S.No.15, Kohinoor
Building, Fatima Nagar
Pune - 411040.
Code No. 33000472430000999
12 M/s. Tanishka Enterprises
Plot No. B-304, Sr. No. 192,
Bella Vista Impress, Near Datta
Mandir, Pune - 411027.
Code No. 33000450330001001
13 M/s. Saubhagya Enterprises
Shop No.21, Kamath Industrial
Complex, Plot No.83, General Block,
MIDC Bhosari, Pune - 411026.
Code No.33000479360000699
14 M/s. Imran Contractor
Flat No. 101, First Floor,
Eligent Home, S. No. 46 Khodhwa,
Pune - 411048.
Code No. 33000487270001099
15 M/s. Knowledge Transition
Consultancy Pvt. Ltd.
Office Level-1, 103, Pentagon-2,
Magarpatta, Hadapsar,
Pune - 411013, (As per ROC
address is M & N wing,
4th Floor, Mega Center,
Pune - 411013)
Code No. 33000458340000911
16 M/s. Mayur Enterprises
S. No. 17 Alandi Road,
Dhawade Wasti,
Bhosari, Pune - 411039.
Code No. 33000463930001099
It may be noted that if opportunity of personal hearing on date as mentioned above is not availed, the order
under section 45-A will be passed Ex-parte.
Just have One Insurance Number, In whatever company you are
keep availing benefits, every time, everywhere
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
COMPARED TO SEPT
Night temperatures
Oct sees 70% drop in cases in PCMC areas In September, Pimpri-
MANOJ MORE Chinchwadwasreporting1,000to
will remain around
15 degrees Celsius
PUNE, NOVEMBER 1
IN NUMBERS 1,300 positive cases daily. In
October, between 100 and 300
COMPARED TO September, caseswerereporteddaily.Onmost
27
iswhysomecoldwindsblowing Octoberrecordedastaggering70 days, fewer than 200 cases were
from north India are influencing per cent drop in Covid-19 cases reported,saidAssistantMunicipal
the local weather in Madhya in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The civic The number of Covid- CommissionerAnnaBodade.
MaharashtraandnorthKonkan,” administration, however, reiter- 19 deaths reported in The PCMC chief said the re-
said an IMD official. ated that it is too early to say the Pune on Sunday. covery rate had also improved
On the day, Chandrapur in situation is fully under control. significantly."Asof now,wehave
Vidarbha recorded 14.2 degrees
to remain the coldest city in the
state. The Extended Range
"TillDiwaliisover,wecannot
say the Covid-19 situation has
beenfullycontrolled.Butitistrue
7,907
The toll so far in the
a recovery rate of 95 per cent.
The mortality rate remains 1.7
per cent," he said, adding that
Predictions issued last week by that the situation is improving district. the doubling rate stood at
IMD mentions that many re- day by day," said Municipal around 400 days. So far, Pimpri-
gions in central and western
Maharashtrawillexperiencebe-
low normal temperatures till
CommissionerShravanHardikar.
According to the PCMC
health department, in July, there
717
The number of fresh
Chinchwad has reported 1,511
deaths of Covid deaths.
Stating that the civic body
November 12. were close to 22,000 positive Covid-19 cases hadstartedraisingawarenesson
Even though there are two cases in Pimpri-Chinchwad. In reported on Sunday. avoiding the possibility of a sec-
cyclonic circulations -- one near August, in a sharp rise, the num- Children play outside Saras Baug as gardens and public parks across Pune opened from ondwaveof infections,Hardikar
coastal Saurashtra and another
near north Konkan and Madhya
ber of positive cases recorded
were 28,233 while the situation
Sunday as part of unlockdown guidelines. Ashish Kale
3,24,294
The total positive cases
said, "The possibility of cases ris-
ing during Diwali cannot be
Maharashtra -- their influence was similar in September when ruled out. And, therefore, we
on the weather will be limited, 28,518 were recorded. In were recorded. By the end of positive cases stood at 78,714, tal cases stood at 87,740. so far in the district. have launched an awareness
the Met officials stated. October, however, 9,026 cases September, the total number of while by the end of October, to- "October has witnessed a big drive to ensure that people
maintain distancing and do not
drop of around 70 per cent. mingle under the guise of the
Thoughtheoverallpositivityrate festive period. Each person will
SUB REGIONAL OFFICE
remains 22 per cent, this month, have to take up the responsibil-
the positivity rate is just around ity, only then will we be able to
8 per cent," Hardikar said. keep coronavirus at bay."
Phone: 020 24211138 / 39, Fax: 020-24215153
(An ISO 9001:2008 Certified Organization)
Date of Amount Date of hearing
Period
issue of Notice (in `) Now fixed
01/02/2020
`
22/07/2020 to 10/11/2020
7,392.00
29/02/2020
01/04/2018
`
04/09/2020 to 30/11/2020
60,522.00
30/04/2018
01/12/2016
to
28/02/2017, `
05/03/2020 10/11/2020
01/07/2018 771,161.00
to
31/01/2020
01/11/2017
`
05/03/2020 to 10/11/2020
472,164.00
31/10/2019
01/06/2016
`
13/02/2020 to 10/11/2020
553,245.00
30/09/2019
Opp. Sun & Sand Hotel,
01/09/2015 Bandgarden Rd, Pune.
`
26/08/2020 to 10/11/2020 Ph. No. 8975758860.
39,683.00
31/03/2018 BHAWANI PETH -
Globe Enterprises,
Tanveer Rehman Shaikh,
718, Bhawani Peth, Poona
College Road, Pune-1.
M. 9890073883.
01/04/2017 BHOSARI -
`
06/03/2020 to 10/11/2020 Samvad Ads.,
110,592.00
31/10/2019 Near Gawli uilding,
Pimpri-Chinchwad I, No. 10150175L Rank
BUSINESS Broilers Traders’ HAV Name Metkar SITUATION VACANT ADVERTISEMENT Pune Nashik Highway,
Bhosari, Pune 411039.
POULTRY Association “Rate On Ananda Siddhu, declare
DEPOTS CHINCHWAD -
02.11.2020 For Live Big that name of my son has
Birds Rs.102/- Live Small been changed from ACADEMIC AUNDH- Impex Advertising,
Birds Rs.136/- Al- Aniket to Metkar Aniket Suyog Enterprises, Mr. Ashfaque A. Shaikh,
Taqdeer Broiler(Siraj Ananda as per affidavit C/o Sandeep Book Stall, C-25, MIDC Comml.
01/12/2015 No. 4488/2020
` Shaikh)9822931357, Swajas Complex, Parihar Building No.1, Nr I.B.M.R.
06/03/2020 to 10/11/2020 0090277452-1
202,918.00 9767869302 Chowk, Aundhgaon, College, hinchwad, Pune-
31/03/2017
0090273225-1 I, Anita Ulhas Pandit, Pune-7. Mob. 9422011181. 411019. Ph. no. 27470282/
spouse of Colonel Ulhas Chordia 9822792583.
NECC suggested farm-
Vasant Pandit (Retd), Communications, Mayureshwar Enterprise,
gate price for 100eggs
30/04/2018 resident of Arshad Ajit Chordia.
on 02.11.2020 in Pune Latish Balkawade,
to SalunkeVihar, Pune
without tray is Rs.515/- 17/18, Aundh Gaon, opp. Chaphekar Chowk,
31/08/2018, ` 411028, have changed
04/02/2020 10/11/2020 (Five Hundred and lane of Cosmos Bank, Chinchwadgaon, Pune.
28/02/2019 246,708.00 my name from Anita
Fifteen Rupees only) Pandit to Anita Ulhas Aundh, Pune-7. Tel: Ph.no. 9422082164.
to Phone:NECC 24270724, Pandit vide Affidavit 25886118, 9960111123. Raka Advertising,
31/12/2019 26336377, Dealer: Number Shraddha Ads, Mrs. Vimal Bafna, Raka
24332689, 24455130, 2052141941268500341734, Mrs.Ujwala Kotbagi, 'A'
Chambers, Bombay-Pune
24265787. 0090272256-1 dated 27 October 2020 wing, Vastu-sunder, Near
01/11/2016 Road, Chinchwad
` executed at PUNECity. Kumar Classic, Pune-7.
03/09/2020 to 10/11/2020 Renuka Broiler Traders Madina Poultry Traders, Station, Pune-19. Ph. no.
296,010.00 0090277459-1 Tel. 9371055799.
31/07/2020 wholesale live birds 2.0 Pune.Paper rate on 27475055/ 27472250.
kg & qty above 200 kg 02.11.2020 for Live Big I service no-729050T Cpl San Ads, CAMP -
Rate- 94. cash & Birds Rs.101/- Kg . Shop Rajendra Kumar Ram Anurag, Plot No. 10, near Ad India,
DeliveryContact changed my wife’s name Kobe Silzler Cave, Aundh-
carry.Contact- Office No. 102, 1st Floor,
9763333335. 090273396-1 from Sanju Devi to Sanju
01/04/2016 8010872474 411007. Tel: 25881302/3/4. Sterling Centre, Opp.
` Ramvide affidavit no-
31/08/2020 to 10/11/2020 0090277456-1 Archana Poultry farm. APPA BALWANT CHOWK -
690,749.00 34857 dated 27/10/20 Hotel Aurora Towers,
30/06/2020 A Pimpri Chinchwad Available wholesale live M/s V. V. Medhi,
0090277489-2 M.G. Road, Pune-1. Ph. No.
Broiler Traders broilers 1.3-1.5kg; 2kg& Varun Medhi, 153,
Old name Mahrukh 26131993, 26135659, Mo:
Association Rate on above. Eggs at attractive Budhwar Peth, Near
Akhlaque Ahmed Wafa 9422083670.
02.11.2020 for Live big rates. Shop delivery Jogeshwari Temple, Opp.
01/10/2015 Shaikh to new name Hindustan Advertising
` birds Rs.105/- Live available. 9767101013/ Ganraj Books, Above
08/03/2018 to 17/11/2020 Small Birds Rs.136/- 9552525315/ 9552525316
Mahrukh Akhlaque Agency,
32,175.00 DTDC Courier, 2nd floor,
30/11/2015 contact- 7720828080. 0090272941-1
Ahmed Shaikh by Mr. Hiroo Surtani, 7,
adhaar 8683-4754-6482 Pune-2. Ph. No.
0090271130-18 Gitanjali Kunj,
0090277448-1 9028967505, 8793647505,
Opp. Nehru Memorial
Vencobb today’s ex- CHANGE OF NAME I, No. 10150311W Rank
(020) 24492149.
01/12/2015 Hall, Ambedkar Road,
` shop delivery rate at My old name Mohammed BIBVEWADI -
17/09/2020 to 23/11/2020 HAV Name Khade Sanjay Pune-1. Ph. No. 26138113,
38,057.00 Pune Rs.74/- per kg. Ad Services,
Talha Akhlaque Ahmed Pandurang, declare that 26133510, Fax: 26131487.
31/03/2016 Contact (9522) Amol Nalawade,
Wafa Shaikh to new name of my son has
Meenat Advertising,
22872417, Pune (9520) Sr. No.659/28, Rajiv
name Mohammed Talha been changed from
24269414. 0090272255-1
Sanket to Khade Sanket Gandhi Nagar, Upper Last Mukund Saigaonkar,
Akhlaque Ahmed Shaikh
01/10/2018 Simra Trading rates for Sanjay as per affidavit 827/7, Dastur Meher
by Aadhaar 7022-4553- Bus Stop, Bibvewadi,
` No. 4486/2020 Road, Camp, Pune-1.
24/07/2020 to 10/12/2020 100 eggs. Selling price 4089. 0090277448-2 Pune-17. Mobile
81,428.00 0090277450-2 Tel. 26130542.
30/09/2019 Rs.530/- Contact 9420729914, 9021851460
9922117736. I, Smt. Anjana Subhash DAPODI-
I service no-721578R Cpl Akash Advtg,
0090273863-1 Gawade spouse of Jora Singh changed my Vantage Advertising &
service No. JC-460212H C. S. Sawar, 645/1, Shop
01/09/2015 Sheetal Agro Traders
wife’s name from Mktg.,
` Rank - Ex Sub, Name - Rashmi Yadav to No.4, Rasakar Campus,
18/09/2020 to 17/11/2020 Today’sEx-Shop A-17, 'C' Building,
62,205.00 Gavade Subhana Janba Rashma Yadav Bibawewadi Main Road,
30/06/2019 delivery for live small 3rd Floor, Kate Residency,
videaffidavit no-34856 Bibawewadi, Pune-37.
have changed my Name
birds size between1.3 to dated 27/10/20 Near Dapodi Railway
1.5 rate at PuneRs.138/- & DOB from Anjana to 0090277489-1
Tel: 9922221261.
01/07/2019 Station, Dapodi,
` per Kg. 7776024132, Anjana Subhash Ganesh Advertising,
21/10/2020 to 17/11/2020 I, No. 10150311W Rank Pune-411 012. Ph.no.
1,848.00 7588532184. Gawade & my correct Mr. Vijay Deshmukh,
HAV Name Khade Sanjay 27143243/ 9822847256/
31/08/2019 0090274713-1 DOB is 13/01/1975 & Not S.no. 672/2a /2b, Ganesh
Pandurang, declare that
01/06/1975 as per 9822132500.
name of my son has Complex, Shop No.3,
A Pune Broiler Traders DECCAN -
01/12/2015 affidavit No. 2981/2020 been changed from Bibvewadi, Pune-37.
` Association Rate on
0090277449-2 Rushikesh to Khade Prajakta Advertising,
16/09/2020 to 24/11/2020 02.11.2020 for Live big ''IMPORTANT'' Ph.no. 24219660,
17,697.00 Rushikesh Sanjay as per Mr. Sudhanva Jadhav,
31/12/2015 birds Rs.104/- Live I, No. JC-460212H Rank - Whilst care is taken prior to 9822841930.
affidavit No. 4487/2020 acceptance of advertising Greetwel, 1250 Deccan
Small Birds Rs.136/- Ex Sub, Name - Gavade 0090277450-1 BAJIRAO ROAD -
01/11/2016
copy, it is not possible to verify
Gymkhana, F. C. Road,
` contact - 869584268. Subhana Janba, declare its contents. The Indian Sri Ganesh Advertising,
16/09/2020 to 24/11/2020 Express (P) Limited cannot be
Pune-4. Ph.no. 25531409,
30/11/2016
13,943.00 0090265628-21 that name & DOB of my SITUATION VACANT held responsible for such R. Nirmala, R. Ravi,
son has been changed
contents, nor for any loss or
'Remedy', 1929, Bajirao 66014132.
Pune Broilers Traders’ Wanted part time damage incurred as a result of
from Adinath to Gawade transactions with companies, Road, Opp. Telephone DEHU ROAD -
Association Rate On assistant for Pimpri associations or individuals
Adinath Subhash & his Bhavan, Pune-30. Ph. No. Mundakal Enterprises,
02.11.2020 For Live Big factory. good english & advertising in its newspapers
Sd/- Birds Rs.100/- Live correct DOB is
or Publications. We therefore
25232762, 9922220985. Mr. Roji Samuel Raju, 6
basic computer recommend that readers
(Authorised Officer) Tandoori Birds Rs.133/- 21/01/2002 & Not knowledge must.do out
make necessary inquiries BANDGARDEN RD - Unique Housing Society,
before sending any monies or
Momin Poultry (Asif 15/01/2002 as per work also. Apex Advtg, Near Telephone
entering into any agreements
Momin) 26336349. affidavit No. 2980/2020 arc.pune@yahoo.com
with advertisers or otherwise
Mapadan Firlosh, Office Exchange Dehu Road,
acting on an advertisement in
0090273461-3 0090277449-1 0050170926-1 any manner whatsoever. No 26-6-7-8, Ashoka Mall, Pune-1. M. 9422519264.
Pune

5 EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
AFTER FARIDABAD WOMAN’S MURDER
Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar at an event in Karnal, on
Sunday; (below) state Home Minister Anil Vij
Haryana considers law
to tackle ‘love jihad’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, NOVEMBER 1
FOLLOWINGTHEmurderofa20-
year-oldwomaninFaridabadlast
week, Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar and Home
MinisterAnilVijsaidtheyarecon-
sidering bringing a legislation to
dealwithcasesof“lovejihad”.This
comes a day after Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
warnedthosewaging“lovejihad”
tomendtheirwaysorbeprepared
fortheirlastjourney—“Ramnaam
satyahaikiyatranikalnewaalihai”.
The 20-year-old woman,
Nikita Tomar, was shot dead out-
side her college, allegedly by her
former classmate, Tauseef, with
her family telling police he had a
one-sided affection towards her.
The woman’s father has alleged
the accused had been pressuring
his daughter to marry him a few
days before the murder, “asking
her to convert to Islam so they
couldgetmarried,butshewasnot
willing”.Speakingtothemediaon
the sidelines of a state govern-
ment event in Karnal on Sunday,
Khattar said: “Since the
Ballabhgarh woman’s murder
case is linked with love jihad, the
Centre and state government are
lookingintoit,andconsideringle-
galprovisionssothatthoseguilty
are not able to escape...”
Haryana Home Minister Anil
Vij, in a statement, also said the
state government is considering
bringingalegislationtodealwith
cases of “love jihad”: “Whatever
Yogi Adityanath says, he always
speaks the truth... Attempts are
being made by unscrupulous el-
ementstoforcepeopletoconvert
TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE
244 CASES: RECOVERED: 74,91,513
DAYS SINCE 81,82,082 DEATHS: 1,22,111
PANDEMIC
BEGAN TESTS: 10,98,87,303 | DOUBLING RATE: 127.08**
KEYSTATES TOTAL
TOWATCH CASES
■ Maharashtra 16,78,406
■ Andhra 8,23,348
■ Karnataka 8,23,412
■ Tamil Nadu 7,24,522
■ Kerala 4,33,105
* Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last 7 days
CASE FATALITY RATIO POSITIVITY RATE
7 DAYS EARLIER: 7 DAYS EARLIER:
1.51 7.67
NOW: NOW:
1.49 7.45
Deaths as a ratio of Positives against
positive cases (in %); number tested
indicator of progress (in %); indicator of
in averting deaths the spread of disease
DataasonOctober31,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers
includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive
Unlike Punjab, Rajasthan Bills silent on enforcing MSP except in contract farming
DEEP MUKHERJEE
JAIPUR, NOVEMBER 1
UNLIKE PUNJAB, the farm Bills
broughtbytheCongressgovern-
mentinRajasthantocounterthe
Centre’snewfarmlawsaresilent
when it comes to enforcing the
minimum support price (MSP)
insalesthattakeplaceinsideand
outsidetheAgriculturalProduce
Market Committee (APMC)
mandi mechanism.
One of the Bills in Rajasthan
does speak about enforcing the
MSP, but it is only limited to con-
tract farming.
This is in contrast to the Bill
passed by the Congress govern-
their religion through love jihad.
In Faridabad’s murder case too,
thevictim’sfamilyhasallegedthe
woman was being forced to
change her religion... We shall
holddiscussionswithourallies...A
decision will be taken accord-
ingly.” Speaking in Malhani
(Jaunpur)onSaturday,Adityanath
hadsaidtheAllahabadHighCourt
ruledthatreligiousconversionfor
marriage is not necessary. “It
should not be done, it should not
be accepted or recognised. The
government too is in the process
ofdecidingtoughmeasurestoend
love jihad,” he said.
“Chori chhupe, naam chhupa
kar ke jo log behen-betiyon ki izzat
ke saath khilwad karte hain, unko
pehle se meri chetavani: agar woh
sudhre nahi toh Ram naam satya
hai ki yatra nikalne waali hai (This
is my warning to those who con-
cealnamesandplaywiththeho-
nour of sisters and daughters:
mend your ways or be prepared
for the last journey),” he said.
SeniorofficialsintheHaryana
government told The Indian
Express that “discussions are be-
ing held at various levels to come
up with such a legislation”.
Sourcessaidthestategovernment
is also in consultation with the
Centretoworkoutthemodalities.
SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING
24HOURS GROWTH* TIME**
5,548 0.34% 211.56
2,783 0.34% 211.87
3,014 0.44% 162.88
2,511 0.37% 195.72
7,983 1.66% 43.50
** Calculated over 7-day growth
DAILY IN, DAILY OUT
DETECTED TODAY
44,963
RECOVERED TODAY:
58,684
Becoming sick vs
recovering; more
recoveries for 14 days
may signal the peak
ment in Punjab, which has de-
fined the enforcement of MSP
for purchase of two crops --
wheat and paddy. "No sale or
purchaseof wheatorpaddyshall
be valid unless the price paid for
such agricultural produce is
equal to, or greater than, the
Minimum Support Price an-
nounced by the Central
Government for that crop,"
states The Farmer’s Produce
Trade and Commerce
(Promotion and Facilitation)
(Special Provisions and Punjab
Amendment) Bill, 2020.
In Rajasthan, The Farmers
(Empowerment and Protection)
Agreement on Price Assurance
and Farm Services (Rajasthan
PM:Doubleyuvrajononehand, Two FIRs filed,
doubleenginegovtontheother cops booked over
25 unidentified
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
TARGETING RJD’S Tejashwi
YadavandCongressleaderRahul
Gandhi,PrimeMinisterNarendra
Modi on Sunday said the
AssemblyelectionsinBihararea
contestbetween“doubleyuvraj”
andthedevelopmentusheredin
by the NDA’s “double engine”
dispensation. He also touched
upon the Ram
Temple issue,
Article370and
theCitizenship
Amendment
Act.
DECISION Modi ad-
2020 dressed rallies
BIHAR in Chapra,
Samastipur,
Bagaha and Motihari on the last
day of campaigning for the sec-
ond phase of polling.
“On one hand, there is
progressusheredinbyagovern-
ment fired by a double engine.
On the other hand, the double-
doubleyuvrajareonlyfightingto
save their thrones,” he said at
Chapra.
At the Samastipur rally,
where he shared the stage with
Chief Minister and JD(U) chief
Nitish Kumar, he asked, “What
have the family parties given
you? They only give tickets to
family members. Have you ever
seen Nitish-ji’s family members
get a ticket to Rajya Sabha?”
His address at each rally car-
riedanappealtothewomenvot-
PROVISIONAL PROVINCIAL STATUS FOR GILGIT-BALTISTAN
MEA: Pak move bid to camouflage occupation
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
HOURS AFTER Pakistan Prime
MinisterImranKhanannounced
provisional provincial status for
Gilgit-Baltistan, India on Sunday
said that Pakistan’s move to
name Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth
province is meant to “camou-
flageitsillegaloccupation”of the
areabutitcannot“hidethegrave
human rights violations, ex-
ploitation and denial of free-
dom” to the people for over
seven decades.
“WecalluponPakistantoim-
Former HC judge BULANDSHAHR BYPOLLS
For Dalit voters, BSP ‘invisible’, Azad party new hope
refuses to be examined
again in Nirav Modi case AMIL BHATNAGAR
MAYURA JANWALKAR
& KHUSHBOO NARAYAN
MUMBAI, NOVEMBER 1
FIVEMONTHSafterformerjudge
oftheBombayHighCourt,Abhay
Thipsay,wasexaminedbeforethe
Westminster Magistrates’ Court
thatiscurrentlyhearingtheextra-
dition proceedings against fugi-
tive diamantaire Nirav Modi, he
hasbackedoutof beingorallyex-
amined in court in the case again
after his first deposition was
“given a political colour”.
Nirav is currently lodged in a
prision after the court in UK re-
fusedtogranthimbailforthesev-
enthtime.Thefinalhearinginthe
extradition case, which was
scheduled for December, is likely
tobepushedtoJanuary2021,said
sources. Thipsay told The Indian
Express that Boutique Law, the
London-based law firm repre-
Amendment) Bill, 2020 has a
provision for punishment for
those who compel a farmer to
sell his produce below the MSP,
but this enforcement is limited
only to contract farming.
The other Bill tabled in the
RajasthanAssemblyonSaturday
-- The Farmers’ Produce Trade
and Commerce (Promotion and
Facilitation) (Rajasthan
Amendment) Bill, 2020 -- states
that harassment of farmers will
be punishable by imprisonment
orfineorbothbutdoesnotmen-
tion whether purchase below
MSP will be deemed as harass-
ment. It does not mention any
specific crops as is the case with
the law in Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
and other senior leaders in Samastipur on Sunday. PTI
ers.InChapra,hesaidmothersin
Bihar should not worry as their
“son”inDelhiwillensurekitchen
fires keep burning despite the
pandemic. In Motihari, he
touched upon the NDA govern-
ment’s initiative to build toilets.
At the Bagaha rally, he spoke
about the Union government’s
Ujjwala scheme which he said
provided free LPG cylinders to 4
lakh women.
Referring to the Centre’s
moves on Article 370 and the
Citizenship Amendment Act, he
said, “They have been peddling
one lie after another with an in-
nocent face. They said Jammu
and Kashmir will be on fire with
the scrapping of Article 370,
riversof bloodwillflow.Thepeo-
plethereareheavingasighof re-
lief and looking forward to
progressunhinderedbyrampant
corruption.”
“They similarly said that
mediately vacate all areas under
its illegal occupation,” Ministry
of External Affairs spokesperson
Anurag Srivastava said on
Sunday. Responding to the MEA,
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign
Affairs issued a statement.
“Pakistan categorically rejects
Indian Ministry of External
Affairs’irresponsibleandunwar-
ranted statement regarding
Gilgit-Baltistan,” it said.
Earlier this year, the Pakistan
SupremeCourtallowedthegov-
ernment to conduct elections in
the region. The election will be
heldonNovember15,Khansaid.
“The Union Territories of
senting Nirav, had again ap-
proachedhimfortwootheropin-
ions after a supplementary
chargesheet was filed.
“They made one request (for
legal opinion). While that was
pending, a supplementary
chargesheet was filed against
Modi.Theoffencesweredifferent
in the other request. They had
sought my legal opinion on the
chargesofdestructionofevidence
and criminal intimidation that
were not there in the (case) ear-
lier. I had given my second opin-
iononwhetherthesechargesare
made out or not. But I had told
themthatunlessthey(Indiangov-
ernment) give an undertaking
that they will not discuss my evi-
denceinapressconference,Iwill
notcome.Ironically,theyrefused.
Theysaidwehavenocontrolover
press. The issue was not that. The
issuewasthattheywillnotholda
press conference," said Thipsay.
E
EXPLAINED
Faithinmandimakes
●
MSPcrucial
WITH LITTLE or late procurement by the state and Central
governments, a vast majority of the state’s farmers depend
on the mandi as compared to contract farming. Already fac-
ing crop losses and debt amid the pandemic, farmers need
their produce to be swiftly sold at the MSP to recover their
losses and avoid any impact on sowing, which can further af-
fect the sector and the market.
Most of the farmers in
Rajasthan sell to mandis as com-
pared to contract farming, ac-
cording to farmer leaders.
Besides, officials from the
many Indians will lose their citi-
zenship on account of the
Citizenship Amendment Act.
One year has passed and not a
single person has met such a
fate,” he added.
AttherallyinBagahainWest
Champaran, he credited the Atal
Bihari Vajpayee government for
notifying the Tharu community
of Biharasatribe.Then,referring
to the association between Lord
Ram and the tribal community
intheRamayana,hemovedonto
the construction of the Ram
Temple in Ayodhya.
Modi made an indirect refer-
ence to the remarks made by
Pakistan minister Fawad
Chaudhry and claimed “the
neighboring country has admit-
ted to its involvement in the
Pulwamaterrorattacks”.Hethen
said it has “taken masks off” the
facesof thoseinIndiawhonever
caredforthe“sonsof Bihar”who
E
EXPLAINED
Between words and
●
actions of Islamabad
PAKISTAN’S MOVE comes more than a year after India re-
voked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir
under Article 370 and bifurcated it into two Union
Territories. New Delhi has rejected these attempts in the
past. But Islamabad is now making these changes, even as
it says that there should be no change in the status of J&K.
Jammu and Kashmir and
Ladakh, including the area of so-
called‘Gilgit-Baltistan’,areanin-
BULANDSHAHR, NOVEMBER 1
WEARING BLACK aviators, Bhim
ArmychiefChandrashekharAzad
waved from an SUV as the road-
show passed through
Bulandshahr’s Kala Aam area on
Sunday. This was Azad’s second
showofstrengthinsupportofHaji
Yamin,theAzadSamajPartycan-
didate for the bypoll to
BulandshahrSadaronNovember
3. Yamin is up against the BJP’s
Usha Sirohi, wife of former MLA
Virendra Singh Sirohi whose
death necessitated the bypoll,
BSP’s nominee Mohammad
Yunus, Congress leader Sushil
Chaudhary and Praveen Singh
fromtheRLD,whichisinalliance
with the SP.
For a section of voters, the
AzadSamajPartyhasemergedas
abetteralternativetotheBSP.BSP
supremo Mayawati’s recent re-
mark that her party would back
anyone, including the BJP, to en-
surethedefeatofSPcandidatesin
state Agricultural Marketing
Department said there have
been no formal registrations of
contract farming since it was in-
cluded in the Rajasthan APMC
‘Personal
animosity
not good for
healthy politics’
Patna/New Delhi:
Concerned over the dete-
riorating political dis-
course in the country,
Union Minister and sen-
ior BJP leader Rajnath
Singh said elections
shouldn't be fought and
won by spreading hatred
among people and there
should be no place for
“bitterness and acidic re-
marks” in a healthy
democracy.
Whenpointedoutthat
LJP chief ChiragPaswanin
hiselectioncampaignwas
only attacking Chief
MinisterNitishKumarand
not the BJP, Singh said,
“Personalanimosityisnot
goodforhealthypolitics.It
should be avoided and I
myself also don’t practice
such politics.” PTI
lost their lives in the attack.
Inanobliquereferencetothe
inclusionof CPI(ML)intheGrand
Alliance, Modi warned people
against those responsible for
“jungle raj” joining hands with
supporters of “Naxalism” and
“tukde-tukde gang”.
WITH PTI INPUTS
tegral part of India by virtue of
thelegal,completeandirrevoca-
ble accession of Jammu and
Chandrashekhar Azad during a roadshow for Azad Samaj
Party candidate Haji Yamin in Bulandshahr. Express
the upcoming MLC elections in
Uttar Pradesh, has also added to
the resentment against BSP.
ArvindKumar,alocalresident
from the Jatav community, said,
“What can we say, Mayawati is
kathputli (puppet) of Modi. She
will do their bidding and has
abandoned the true cause of
Dalits. It became clearer after
what she said. ASP is hope for us
now. There is a new sense of en-
Act.“Wehavehadnoformalreg-
istration of contract farming
since2005,whencontractfarm-
ingasaprovisionwasinculcated
in the Rajasthan APMC Act. At
present, the purchasing in
Rajasthan is primarily from the
APMC mandi mechanism and
often farmers get prices even
higher than the MSP at mandis.
The MSP condition for contract
farming in the new Bill tabled in
the assembly is a safeguard for
the farmers’ interest,” said Ashu
Chaudhary, additional director,
Agricultural Marketing
Department, Rajasthan.
However, farmer leaders
such as Kishan Pareek, a mem-
ber of the All India Kisan Sabha
MAN SEEKS PROBE INTO SON’S ‘KILLING’
Munger lathicharge
ENS&PTI
PATNA,NOVEMBER1
TWO SEPARATE FIRs were filed
on Sunday in connection with
the October 26 lathicharge on a
group of people reportedly on
their way to immerse a Durga
idol in Munger. One person was
killed and dozens were injured
in the incident.
The first FIR was lodged
against25unidentifiedpolicemen
forthe“unwarrantedlathicharge”.
AccordingtonewsagencyPTI,the
second case was lodged by
Amarnath Poddar, the father of
the person who died in the vio-
lence, seeking an inquiry by a
teamledbyaseniorpoliceofficer
to “unravel the truth” behind his
son's “killing”.
Videos of the incident, which
showed the policemen charging
the group, had surfaced on social
media.
Munger Deputy IGP Manu
Maharaj told The Indian Express
regarding the FIR against the
unidentified policemen: “We are
tryingtoidentifytheerringpolice-
men through the video. Though
noonehasbeennamedintheFIR,
threepersonsareidentifiable.We
areproperlyinvestigatingandwill
nameallthoseresponsibleforthe
unwarranted lathicharge.”
He added that extra police
forces had been deployed in the
Kashmir to the Union of India in
1947,” said the MEA spokesper-
son. The government said it
“firmly rejects” Pakistan’s at-
tempt“tobringmaterialchanges
to a part of Indian territory, un-
der its illegal and forcible occu-
pation”.
“Instead of seeking to alter
the status of these Indian terri-
tories, we call upon Pakistan to
immediately vacate all areas un-
der its illegal occupation,” the
spokesperson said.
Recently, Saudi Arabia, a key
ally of Pakistan, had removed
Pakistan-occupied-Kashmirand
Gilgit-Baltistan from the
ergy and Azad will emerge as the
true leader.” Azad’s roadshow on
Sundaysawparticipationofhun-
dreds of supporters chanting Jai
Bhim along the way.
With campaigning coming to
a close, Mayawati has not held a
single rally or public meeting in
Bulandshahr. The Hathras gan-
grape incident has emerged as a
key talking point. “When our sis-
ter was raped and murdered, it
(AIKS) from Sikar district, said
that in many instances, even af-
ter going to mandis, farmers
have to sell off their produce at
much lesser prices.
As per data available on the
government website ag-
marknet.gov.in, bajra (pearl mil-
let), for which the MSP has been
fixed at Rs 2,150 per quintal for
this season, was sold at the
Srimadhopur market in
Rajasthan's Sikar district at a
maximum price of only Rs 1,428
per quintal as on October 30.
State education minister and
Rajasthan Congress president
Govind Singh Dotasara said the
Centre decides its target for pro-
curementatMSPfromeachstate
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
On October 29, protesters
ransacked a police station
and torched some vehicles.
File
area on the night of the incident.
“We were busy with control-
ling law and order so far. We will
now focus on the investigation,”
Maharaj said. On 29 October, irate
protesters had ransacked a police
stationandalsotorchedseveralve-
hiclesoverthelathichargeincident.
Then DM of Munger, Rajesh
Meena, was removed by the
Election Commission of India
along with then Superintendent
ofPoliceLipiSinghforallegedneg-
ligence.
Rachna Patil was appointed
the DM while Manavjit Singh
Dhillon was appointed the SP.
TheEChadalsoorderedprobe
into the incident by Magadh
CommissionerAsangbaChubaAo
— whose report is awaited.
Political parties also weighed
inontheincidentwithOpposition
parties attacking the Nitish
Kumar-led government.
Pakistan map on its new ban-
knote after India asked it to take
“urgent corrective steps” about
the “gross misrepresentation”.
Onthefirstanniversaryofrev-
ocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s
special status, the Pakistan gov-
ernmenthadreleasedanew“po-
litical map” which included
JammuandKashmir,Ladakhand
partsofwesternGujarataspartof
its territory. Describing it as “po-
liticalabsurdity”anda“ridiculous
assertion”,NewDelhisaidit“con-
firms the reality of Pakistan’s ob-
sessionwithterritorialaggrandis-
ementsupportedbycross-border
terrorism”.
was Azad who went to meet the
family.Itwashewhoaskedforthe
family’s security and he has been
helpingthemout.BSPremainsin-
visibleandMayawatididnoteven
visitthevillageonce.Slowly,peo-
ple are forgetting BSP,” said
Prashant Kumar, a student who
will be voting for the first time in
this bypoll.
Before BJP’s Sirohi won the
seat in 2017 state polls, it was
represented by BSP’s Mohd
Aleem Khan for two consecutive
terms. Some said they are sup-
porting BSP not because of
Mayawati but because of the
candidate. “Some of us are sup-
porting Yunus bhai since he is an
honest man. There are questions
the BSP needs to answer but he
hassupportamonglocals.Azadis
a new person. He doesn't know
the area and his party perhaps
doesn’t understand our issues.
Thereisalotofshow,butcanthey
handle core issues?” said Sahil
Khan, a parking ticket attendant.
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
and100percentprocurementis
done in Punjab, which is not the
case in Rajasthan. “The MSP is
thesubjectof thecentralgovern-
ment. If the clause for MSP is
added(intheBill),thenwhowill
take the 100 per cent produce of
the farmer if the Centre doesn’t
procure it? If nobody purchases
itthenthefarmerwillultimately
beattheloss.TheBillsaimtoen-
sure that in the name of contract
farming no person is able to pur-
chase from farmers lesser than
the MSP. The idea is that the ex-
isting system which is in place
continues but if contract farm-
ing arrives then the farmer’s
grain is not sold below the MSP,”
said Dotasara.
Pune
 6 EXPRESS NETWORK
TN agriculture
minister dies
Many ways to
of Covid dupe a poor
linked issues student: steal
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, NOVEMBER 1
TAMIL NADU Agriculture
MinisterRDoraikkannudiedata
privatehospitalinChennailateon
Saturday night due to coron-
avirus-relatedcomplications.He
was72.Doraikkannuwasadmit-
ted to the hospital on October 13
after he complained of breath-
lessness. Later, he tested positive
for Covid-19. He was put on on
oxygen support since the time of
admission and had been on ven-
tilatorsupportfromseveraldays.
A three-time MLA from
Papanasam Assembly con-
stituency in Thanjavur district,
Doraikannu held several posts in
theAIADMKincludingthatofthe
party'sThanjavurnorthzonesec-
retaryandthepositionofthesec-
retary of the party’s Papanasam
Union for three decades. He was
also a leader of the District
Agriculture Marketing
Committee. He won his first
Assemblyelectionin2006andhe
retained the Papanasam seat in
the 2011 and 2016 Assembly
polls. He was inducted into the
state Cabinet by late Chief
Minister Jayalalithaa after his
2016 victory.
As agriculture minister,
Doraikannu was instrumental in
getting the Cauvery delta de-
claredasaprotectedspecialagri-
cultural zone. During the Covid-
related lockdown too, he steered
several reforms in handling and
managing agricultural produce
andlivestockservicesinthestate.
Vice President Venkaiah
Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Chief Minister
Edappadi K Palaniswami con-
doled the minister's death.
The PMO quoted Modi as
saying: “Saddened by the de-
mise of Minister in the Tamil
Nadu Government, Thiru R.
Doraikkannu. He made note-
worthy efforts to serve society
and empower the farmers.
Condolences to his family and
supporters in this sad hour.”
-WITHPTIINPUTS
CALENDAR
CROSSWORD 4265
ACROSS
1 Gets excited about a point
reached in development (5)
8 Took part with spirit on an
instrument (4,4)
9 Heaped like carpets? (5)
10 Emphasises the potential of an
Oriental artiste (8)
11 Don is produced theatrically
(3,2)
12 One may see one in the
museum of Natural History (3)
16 Note carrier soaked and all in
(6)
17 She’s involved in stage, films
and radio (6)
18 Get on with some notes
(3)
23 A portion of rhubarb jam
(5)
24 Taken ill (8)
25 They drift for the present on
board ship (5)
26 Shot by firing squad and
carried out (8)
27 The kind that turns green
(5)
SolutionsCrossword4264:Across:1Antagonist,6Ring,10Siren,11Champagne,
12Esurient,13Latin,15Croesus,17Esparto,19Reddens,21Dresses,22Aesop,24
Eastwind,27Off-colour,28Refer,29Liar,30Ethereally.Down:1Also,2Threshold,
3Goner,4Nucleus,5Seattle,7Ingot,8Greenhouse,9Applepie,14Scoreagoal,16
Sheepdog,18Resentful,20Stepout,21Deserve,23Sofia,25Worse,26Fray.
JUMBLED WORDS
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget
theanswerforthegivenquip.
Therichest___isthatwhichsubmitstothearbitrationof___.-LawrenceDurrell(4,..,4)
GINEE
DTVIO
- Lawrence Durrell
Answer: The richest love is that which submits to the arbitration of time.
SOLUTION: GENIE, DIVOT, VITALS, VICTIM
IDs, lie about
source of funds,
pocket
commissions —
all officially
them as minorities; many keep-
ingachunkof thescholarshipfor
themselves. There are cases
whereparentshavebeencoerced
into striking deals with middle-
men,agreeingtoforgoabigshare
of their dues in return for a frac-
tion. Then there are severalcases
of bank correspondents, agents,
andschoolstaffconnivingtosteal
User IDs and passwords to divert
benefits from schools that never
appliedforany—includingusing
thenameofaKendriyaVidyalaya
in Sahibganj. The Indian Express
tracked down individuals who
were allegedly the pivot of this
nexus:fromMustaqh,called“the
agent of agents,” to Dinesh Sahu,
ateacherwhoalsoownsaschool
in Ranchi.
All of this, right under the
nosesofdistrict,state,andcentral
authoritieswhohavebeentasked
with verifying the applications
before disbursing the scholar-
ships meant for students from
families with annual income be-
low Rs 1 lakh, and who had
scored at least 50% in their previ-
ous exam.
OnSunday,TheIndianExpress
reported how the scam had en-
snaredschools,students,andpar-
ents across four districts in
Jharkhand despite multiple
checks in place, including
Aadhaar IDs, fingerprints, bank
accounts,andanonlinedatabase.
Itturnsoutthatthisscamhas
multipletrails,with“charityfrom
Saudia Arabia” emerging as a re-
curring theme.
“I was told the money was
from the Saudi government. I
gavethemiddlemanmyAadhaar
number and account details. My
wife and I received Rs 10,700
each, and we gave half the
amounttothemiddleman,”said
Ansari, 39. “I took the money be-
DOWN
2 Food in test case is exhibited in
court (8)
3 Beer long brewed in France (8)
4 Two lads, one suffers (6)
5 I drew out something strange
(5)
6 Western ceremony put down
(5)
7 An inspiration to entertain (5)
12 Initially when to expect a letter
from Greece (3)
13 Purposeful employment? (3)
14 Conceivably isn’t acne in this
case (8)
15 Conflict in which counter
charges may be the deciding
factor (5,3)
19 A warm spring we hear for an
old man (6)
20 Tongue of land between Italy
and Turkey (5)
21 It has a shaky reputation as a
writer (5)
22 Enter into an American
business contract with ancient
city (5)
AISVLT
CIITMV
causeweareafamilyofeightand
have been facing severe hard-
shipssincethelockdownwasim-
posed.”
RecordsshowAnsarihasbeen
listed as a beneficiary of the
scheme that gives Rs 1,000 per
year to students of Classes 1 to 5;
andRs5,700ayeartostudentsof
Classes 6 to 10 if they are day
scholars, or Rs 10,700 if they are
in hostels. Jharkhand received Rs
61 crore for the scheme in 2019-
20,fromacentralallotmentof Rs
1,400 crore.
In the same locality, another
beneficiary of Rs 5,700 “from
Saudi”, 21-year-old Sarjun
Khatoon, has been shown as a
Class 9 student of Adarsh High
School in McCluskieganj. “I have
never heard of this school, and I
receivedRs2,200incashfromthe
agent,” she said.
Over 400 km away, the scam
played out through a different
method — details of an entire
schoolwereusedtoavailtheben-
efit without their knowledge. In
Sahibganj,middlementargeteda
Kendriya Vidyalaya with records
listing 123 beneficiaries, includ-
ing 122 hostel students. Daniel
Tirkey,theprincipal,said:“Ihave
no information about this schol-
arshipscheme.Thereisnohostel
in our KV, and we did not fill any
application form.”
When The Indian Express di-
alled the contact number of a
beneficiarylistedasNusratBano,
a student of Class 9, the call was
answered by a man who identi-
fied himself as Vikas Ganjhu, a
22-year-old shop-owner from
Salwe village in Latehar.
“Middlemenfilledourformsand
promised us money. We haven’t
receivedanythingsofar,”hesaid.
In Dhanbad, St Xavier’s
Mission School owner
GhyanshyamSavfoundwhilefol-
lowing up on applications that
the contact number had been
changed in the forms. “It was the
number of a woman from
Wasseypur.WhenIgotmynum-
ber reinstated, I found that 100
fakestudentshadbeenaddedun-
dertheschool’snameonthepor-
tal,”hesaid.“Theauthoritiessaid
it was a server error. How can
there be a server error on a phys-
ical piece of paper?”
Connecting the dots,
OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson
MARVIN by Tom Armstrong
DifficultyLevel5s
Instructions
TosolveaSudokupuzzle,
everydigitfrom1to9
SUDOKU 4281
mustappearineachofthe
nineverticalcolumns,in
eachoftheninehorizontal
rowsandineachofthe
nineboxes.
DifficultyLevel
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;
3s=Medium;4s=Hard;
5s=VeryHard;6s=
Genius
FROM PAGE ONE
from agent to school
Across six districts, students,
parents, and school authorities
explainedhowthescamplaysout
on the ground. In a typical case,
theysaid,middlemenconvincea
schoolownertoprovidethelogin
ID and password on the NSP, or
useafakeschoolletterpadtoob-
tain them. Then, they involve
banking correspondents to open
accountsof prospectivebenefici-
aries using their Aadhaar cards
and fingerprints before applying
for scholarships on their behalf.
“Once the scholarships are
credited, the next step depends
on the deals these middlemen
strike,eitherwiththebeneficiar-
ies or schools. Sometimes, the
beneficiaries remain unaware
and the money is split between
the agents, banking correspon-
dents, and school staff.
Sometimes, the schools are un-
aware,” said a school official,
speaking on condition of
anonymity.
PastorAnilChakor,chairman,
Assembly of God Church School
in Ranchi, identified a “middle-
man”asDineshSahu.Ansariand
Ara pointed to another in
Behratoli: Tanveer, a tailor, who
claimed he was directed by
MaulanaTabrezBukhariofDarul-
Salam Academy in Ranchi. The
Indian Express tracked down all
three.
“Maulana Bukhari told me to
collecttheAadhaarcardsofthose
who look like students. I was to
get Rs 100 per person. I collected
detailsofaround100persons,but
only 21 got their money. This job
involves a lot of hard work and I
have refused to do it any more,”
said Tanveer.
“What Tanveer meant was to
collectAadhaarcardsof students
of Darul-Salam Academy. But
since my school did not have an
U-DISE (Unified District
Information System for
Education Code) number, which
isrequiredforapplying,wecould
not go ahead,” said Bukhari.
Local residents and Maulana
Bukhari described a man they
identified as Mustaqh as the
“agent of agents who has done
lakhs of transactions”.
Subsequently, The Indian Express
received a call from a man who
identified himself as Mustaqh.
“Who asked you to come behind
me?”heasked,andrefusedtore-
spondtoqueriesabouthisalleged
role in the scam.
Another trail, identified by
several beneficiaries, led to a
bankingcorrespondent,Hashim,
a resident of Urguttu in Ranchi’s
Kanke block. “I have opened sev-
eral bank accounts but I have not
been involved in cheating. I al-
waysgivereceiptstoschoolown-
ers,” said Hashim, who runs an
establishment under the Large
Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative
Societies (LAMPS) that provides
interest-free short-term loans or
agriculturalcredittotribalmem-
bers.
Apart from Chakor, staff of
severalschoolsidentifiedDinesh
Sahu, a teacher who owns
Santosh Shramik School in
Ranchi’s Pithoria, as a key figure.
“Sahu told us about the scheme.
We gave him the user ID and
password, and he said our stu-
dents would receive the scholar-
ship.Later,wefoundthatnoneof
our students had been made a
beneficiary,” said Rijhu Mahato,
Vice Principal, Indian Public
School, Murpuri, Ranchi.
In Sundru village of
Lohardaga, residents said Sahu
andbankingcorrespondentshad
visitedthemtoopenaccountsfor
students. “One of them was car-
rying a laptop and another was
carryinga(PointofSale)machine.
Many children were asked to get
their mobile phones and reveal
OTPs. But we became suspicious
and confronted them. We al-
lowed them to leave only after
they promised that they would-
n’tcometothevillageagain,”said
Mumtaz Alam, a resident.
Whencontacted,Sahusaid:“I
am a Left-leaning person and do
some farming on the side. I want
thestudentstoprosper,that’sall.
I had gone to the village to make
them understand the process.
The money comes to the stu-
dents’accounts,howcanItakeit?
All these allegations are false.”
Jharkhand CM
orders probe
verification of applicants — from
the school to the state level. “We
will immediately rectify the sys-
temofverificationandmakesure
thisdoesnothappenagain.These
scholarshipsareimportantforthe
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4280
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
students,” Soren said.
Chief Secretary Sukhdev
SinghtoldTheIndianExpressthat
the verification “has been
stopped” till the probe is com-
pleted. Records show that in
2019-20, Rs 61 crore was dis-
bursed through Direct Benefit
Transfer in Jharkhand under the
pre-Matric scholarship scheme,
which was launched by the UPA
governmentin2008.Sorencame
topowerinDecember2019asthe
head of a JMM-Congress-RJD
government in the state.
Aadhaar
obtained,
account hijacked,
and hostel faked
but I didn’t know an account had
been created in my name. I didn’t
get any money. Also, there is no
hostel in the school,” said Kujjur,
whosefamilycultivatesvegetables
on a small parcel of land. Records
showscholarshipsweredisbursed
to 174 students, including 148
“hostel”students.
SarfarazAhmad,owner,said:
“Before the lockdown, 40-50 stu-
dentsstayedinthehostel.”Hedid
not provide any details about the
hostel’slocation,orexplainhowso
many students received scholar-
ships. “These details are handled
bymycomputeroperator,”hesaid.
SUNRISE PUBLIC SCHOOL,
TANGAR,RANCHI: Recordsshow
that Aasmin Khatun, 17, received
Rs 5,700 on May 11. “We haven’t
got any passbook. We were allot-
tedRs2,500bytheschoolbutthey
said it has been adjusted in the
fees.Iamasmall-timefarmerand
the money would have been of
much help, especially after the
lockdown,”saidAjijAnsari,thefa-
ther of Aasmin who appeared for
Class10examsthisyear.
Rakiba Khatun, a Class 10 stu-
dent, also received Rs 2,500 from
thesanctionedRs5,700.“Wedon’t
know in which bank my account
wasopened.Weweregivencash,”
said Rakiba, 17. “I am a farmer but
don't own any land. During the
lockdown,wegotapittanceforour
produce. We will try to educate
our children as long as we can,”
said Latif Ansari, Rakiba’s father.
Records show 130 students re-
ceived Rs 5,700 each. Munsaf
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Ansari,theowner,said:“Wehave
done nothing wrong and all the
students were given the scholar-
ship money. The students who
weregivenlesseramountshadnot
paid their school fees, and the
money was adjusted.” Ajij Ansari
and Latif Ansari denied that they
hadnotpaidthefees.
‘Never filled any
scholarship form’
MADRASA ALIA ARABIA,
RANCHI: Records show that
among the 102 beneficiaries is
Sana Parween, a Class 8 student.
But Parween, a resident of Kanke,
is a Class 10 student of St Anne’s
Girls School. “In 2018, I was told
that a scholarship form has to be
filledandthegovernmentissend-
ing money. In 2019, when the
moneycame,themiddlementold
ustogivethemhalf,”shesaid.
Madrasa Alia Arabia is a resi-
dential facility for boys.
Mohammad Sahabuddin, head
teacher,said:“Weneverfilledany
scholarshipformforanyofourstu-
dents.”
INDIRA GANDHI MEMORIAL
HIGH SCHOOL, NAWAGARH,
DHANBAD: Recordsshowschol-
arships were sanctioned for 324
students—allexceptonereceived
Rs 10,700 each for “hostel” stu-
dents.Thethree-roomschoolhas
nohostel.
Ram Dubey, director, said:
“We have only 80 students. I did
notinitiateanyapplication.Thisis
abigfraud.”
UNIDENTIFIED,RANCHI: Hasan
Ali’saccountnumberinthePublic
Finance Management System
(PFMS)fordirecttransferslistshim
as a beneficiary of Rs 10,700 for
hostel students, but the school’s
name could not be verified. Ali, a
25-year-old father of a child who
owns some land, said he was ap-
proached by a middleman who
toldhimtogivehisfingerprintson
aPoSmachineandAadhaardetails
to avail “charity money from the
Saudigovernment”.Recordsshow
the money was deposited in his
account on May 11. “The middle-
men only gave me half the
amount. My sisters, too, received
moneylikethis,”saidAli.
‘Don’t know why
religion was changed’
SUNRISE PUBLIC SCHOOL,
RATU, RANCHI: Scholarship
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
The fact that the
Moon is in such a
friendly
relationship to your
sign should surely help you
give yourself a leg up today.
Don't depend on others to
carry out your requests, but
don't subordinate yourself to
their wishes, either. And don't
be complacent.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
I'd like to take a quick
look at a long-term
cycle and point out
that Mars, a most
impetuous planet, is making
this rather an extravagant time.
If your costs haven’t escalated
already, they soon will. Your job
is to make sure that it’s all
worth it.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21)
Let’s check out
Mercury, the planet
responsible for your
chatty ways. Right
now you are being urged to do
something practical with your
ideas and, if you don’t take
that important step towards a
new activity soon, you could
become rather frustrated
or resentful.
CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
I often think that
yours is one of the
most perfect signs of
the zodiac, but so
often your life seems to be full
of struggles. Yet, looking at the
long-term, it is now a simple
matter to forecast increased
prosperity and comfort - but
only if you dodge the next few
days’ worth of emotional
flying bombs.
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23)
The weekly trend
shows that you
should now begin to
bring financial
plans to a conclusion. If you’ve
been dreaming about a
particular investment or
bargain but have made no
positive moves, get on
with it. But more than that,
you’re heading for a fresh
start in whatever area
you choose.
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sept 23)
Venus and Mercury
are still closely
related,
encouraging
everything that is most
sociable and charming in your
character. However, it now
seems that unless you take the
initiative, one possibility,
perhaps a promised
partnership, may slip from
your grasp.
records list Abhay Singh, a Class
9 student, as a Sikh. His family
says they are Hindu Bhumihars.
The records also list the 15-year-
old as a Class 10 student who re-
ceived Rs 10,700 as a hosteller.
“I was given Rs 4,000 in cash.
The school is an extension of the
owner’s home and there is no
hostel,” he said. Records list
Khushi Mahato, studying in
Class 9, as a Christian who re-
ceived Rs 10,700. “I am a Hindu
and we received Rs 4,000 after
my fingerprints were taken,” she
said. Scholarship records show
170 beneficiaries, including 168
who received money for hostel
students.
Salim Khan, owner, said the
school had a hostel where “40-
50 students stayed before the
lockdown” but could not explain
the number of beneficiaries.
Asked about the change in reli-
gion of students on records, he
said: “These things do not hap-
pen in our school.”
SARFARAZ DEVELOPMENT
ACADEMY MISSION HIGH
SCHOOL, KURGI, RANCHI:
Records list Satish Lakra, a Class
9 student from the tribal com-
munity as a Muslim who was re-
ceived Rs 10,700 in a Jharkhand
State Co-operative Bank ac-
count. “I was told that I will get
Rs 1,500 as stipend money but I
have not received it. I have only
one SBI account,” said the 16-
year-old.
Sarfaraz Ahmad, the school
owner, said: “I don’t know how
their religion has been
changed.” Bank sources said the
money was lying unused in the
account since Lakra’s finger-
prints were not submitted amid
the Covid lockdown.
MADRASA
KURANIYAKALIMUL ULUM,
DUMKA: Records list 270 ben-
eficiaries, including 179 hostel
students. However, the contact
number listed in the name of
Ajmeri Biwi, a Class 6 student,
was answered by a man who
identified himself as Manzar
Bari from Gaya in Bihar. “I don’t
know what you are talking
about,” he said.
Samshul Haque, who runs
the madrasa, said he did not
verify any application for the
scholarship. "Someone seems to
have cheated us,” he said.
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sept 24 - Oct 23)
This is now a special
time of year. I cannot
promise that the
next four weeks will
be easy but, even in small ways,
they will be significant. In fact,
in a strange sense, the more
obstacles you meet, the greater
your chances for success. The
acorns which fall now will, as
the saying goes, grow into
mighty oaks as the years go by.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 22)
Strangelyenough,
contradictory
planetaryinfluences
oftenmakeforthe
mostproductiveperiods.Thefact
thatyouareenteringasecretive
period,whilestillgoingthrough
asociablephase,istherefore
likelytoleadtosomehighly
intriguingencountersoverthe
nexttwoorthreeweeks.
SAGITTARIUS(Nov23-Dec22)
Professional
arrangementsstill
seemtodominatethe
outlook.If you’ve
beenhavingoneortwosleepless
nights,somethingisdefinitely
wrong.Theunderlyingtrendfor
allworldlyambitionsisactually
profoundlyfavourable.Youjust
havetogetthroughthenextfew
dayswithyourdreamsand
plansintact.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
Asfromnowyouare
enteringan
ambitiousphasethat
willseeprofessional
typesredoublingtheireffortsto
getonandgetahead.Thereisa
chancecomingupsoontoplay
somesortof diplomaticrolein
yourcommunity.Justhowand
whenisuptoyouandyoursense
of timing.
AQUARIUS (Jan 21 - Feb 19)
You must be the
lucky recipient of a
windfall, although I
don’t think you’re
going to be showered by cash
from heaven. It might be that
money is not involved, but you’ll
be swamped with affection. The
source of the upcoming
generosity should be someone
who is well-known to you.
PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
The Moon elevates
your thoughts today.
It would be very nice
if you could take
some time off to be a vague,
dreamy sensitive Piscean and
avoid the traps set by those who
wish to lure you into a dull and
unsatisfying routine. Plus, if I
were you, I’d steer clear of
people who have nothing to do
but cause trouble.
Pune
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7 DECISION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020

2020
BIHAR

‘Tejashwi is tutored, can’t deliver, was absent in Covid...

people know there has been no change in RJD character’
It seems to be creating some impact. weexpelledallthe(BJPpeoplewhowere)LJP changed if the captain changes. I am the cap-
LIZMATHEW&MANOJCG Nitish is being compared with Nitish. candidates... That ended their election tainnowbutAmitShahremainstheopener...
And Nitish is a personality who believes in prospects. And we made it clear that our al- Yes, as party president I will have to speak
tough talk... and also good governance. There liance comprises four parties — the BJP, JD(U), more. I have to attend public rallies, other-
You have been campaigning intensely in is no expectation from Tejashwi. People HAMandVIP.Oursisacadre-basedparty.Here wise I was never on the dais, always amidst
Bihar. What’s the major challenge for know that throughout corona, Tejashwi was the spirit of transferring votes is 100 percent. people to listen to their voices. Even today,
the BJP? in Delhi. J P Nadda is not fighting elections alone, it is
There’s no challenge. People want devel- JD(U) leaders are saying that the damage with full inputs from Amit Shah, Rajnath
opment and they have understood that time What’syouropinionof Tejashwi? has been done. Singh, Nitin Gadkari and the Honourable
has come when Prime Minister (Narendra) They have not risen from the roots. They Nodamage.Wedon’tsaybadthingsabout Prime Minister. IconsultedAmitShahonour
Modi is there to take care of Bihar and Nitish don’t know the problems. They are tutored, anybody.Butwhenwerealisethatsomebody programmes during the corona pandemic. I
Kumaristhereasanexperiencedsoberperson they can’t deliver. They are not honest to the is taking advantage of it because we are quiet, consult him regularly.
committedtogoodgovernance.So,heisgoing cause. He has not attended (the House) as we don’t allow it... (Saying) ‘I am Hanuman of
toimplementthesame.Inthepastfewyears, Leader of Opposition in the last year... (just) Modiji’...thatdoesnot(mean)ourworkersare Could you have handled the migrant
aseachangehastakenplace...Institutions,im- one day of the Budget Session. How are you going to vote for you. labour issue better?
plementation of infrastructure, highways, going to explain it? This speaks volumes We handled it well. And it’s not an issue
over-bridges,flyovers,recruitments,develop- about (his) arrogance…feudalism, (his) dis- JD(U)leaderssaytheLJPshouldnotgetthe inBihar.Theyarethemostsatisfied(withour
ment of institutes of na- respect for democracy. RajyaSabhaseataspartof measures). It was an un-
tional standards... people theNDAorjointhe precedented crisis, every
haveseen(this)andtheydo
(At Tejashwi’s The BJP has been in Cabinet.Doyouagree?
I am the captain now day we had to handle dif-
not want development to rallies) It’s not a power at the Centre for J P Nadda at a roadshow in Hajipur in Vaishali district on Saturday. PTI We will see when it but Amit Shah ferent things.
getderailedagain.Peopleof crowd. It is committed six years now. Why are comes to that. But the point remains the opener…
Bihar are very conscious of voters of one particular you still talking about 60 isveryclear.Thereisnocon- Even today, J P Nadda is UPCMYogiAdityanath
their rights and they know style, who have been with years of the Congress Ontheground,wehearmanyvoices does not match... unhone experiment karke fusion between the BJP and not fighting elections haswarnedthatthose
whocan(protect)those.So them for 20 years. Same and 15 years of Lalu? againstNitish.Haveyouheardthese? dekh liya. I was the Health Minister then. I the JD(U) and HAM and VIP. alone, it is with full inputs whowagewhathecalls
I find the BJP-NDA to be far
ahead.
people, same supporters... is a Because we find there
marked change during
We know who these are... inko peeda hui
hai Lalu ko chodne ki. Yeh woh voices hain
telephoned Nitish Kumar and told him that
I am unable to contact your Health Minister.
We are fighting together.
from Amit Shah, Rajnath ‘lovejihad’shouldbe
preparedfortheirlast
People know if they come the Nitish regime in Bihar. (Theyarethosewhowerepained It was dengue season. He said, You have filled in Amit Singh, Nitin Gadkari and journey—RamNaam
Youmentioned again, same things are It is our responsibility to because of Nitish leaving Lalu). ‘WhatcanIdoNaddaji.Whodo Shah’s big shoes. After Prime Minister... I consult SatyaHaikiYatra...Do
recruitment.Apromise going to happen” putthingsonrecordsothat Theywerehurtbecausetheyhad I tell?’. I told him I have to send taking over, you had to him (Shah) regularly” youapproveof such
like10lakhjobsmadeby there is no confusion in the hijacked (po wer). If you want to medicines for dengue, I have to lead the party during a remarks?
TejashwiYadavis minds of the people. In compare, compare Nitish’s 2010 send a team of doctors...I need pandemic. What were Everyonehastheirown
drawingcrowds… Bihar, people didn’t step out of their houses popularity with 2020 because THE EXPRESS reports. ‘Yeh Tej Pratap your main challenges? style of functioning and their choice of words
It’s not a crowd. It is the committed voters after 5 pm... there was no terrorism in Bihar
of one particular style who have been with (for them to be scared). Brothers didn’t send
theJD(U)-BJP was together then
and JD(U)- BJP is together now. INTERVIEW
WITH
(Tejashwi’s brother) ghode se hi
nahin uttra (didn’t get off his
Culture doesn’t change in our party with isasperthat…Attheendofit,sabkasaathsabka
change of guard. We work with team spirit, vikas, sabka vishwas will be the motto.
themforthepast20years.Whenthey(gather), their sisters out alone. And who were the high horse)’. So he knows. I wehaveaparliamentaryboardof whichIam
othersunderstandwhatisgoingtohappenin people (behind this)? (Mohammad) What gives you the J P NADDA, knew it. a member since 2014. I was Secretary of Ramnaamsatyahaiisassociatedwith
Bihar.Thesamepeople,samesupporters...Usse Shahabuddin, who was an RJD MP. He killed confidence that Nitish will BJP NATIONAL PRESIDENT ParliamentaryBoardandtheCentralElection death.
jyada koi nahin aata (No one beyond that). two brothers by pouring acid. One journal- remain with you? ChiragPaswan’sLJPispartof Committee. All decisions are collective and Idon’tsubscribetotheviewthatthisisthe
Bihars know that if these people come again, ist wrote that the minister went to meet him He has understood — and I theNDA,butheiscontesting taken at the parliamentary board. Prime connotation (of what he said).
thesamethingsaregoingtohappen.Therehas in jail... he was murdered. Today’s DGP, he had said this at that time too — that it (his al- againstyourallianceinBihar.Whynot Minister Modi’s inputs are immense. I never
been no change in the RJD’s character. was hiding in the thana from Shahabuddin... liance with Lalu) was unholy and unscien- removehimfromtheNDA? felt that I had to fill big shoes or small shoes. HowimportantisawininBiharforyou?
Then (G) Krishnaiah, a Dalit officer from tific and the chemistry didn’t match. People TheBJPneverexpelsanyone.Oursisavery Idon’tspeakasentencethatdoesn’thavethe For the BJP, every election is a challenge. I
Tejashwi’s attack against Nitish Kumar is Andhra Pradesh, was lynched. How can we mocked me but I knew. Sushasan and disciplined party. It takes half a day for us to consideration of the top people in the party. don’ttakeanylightly.Ifeeluncomfortablesit-
on jobs and the way he handled Covid... forget and let people forget all this? Kushasan can’t be together. The chemistry giveastatement.Thereweretwoactions.One, And the batting order does not get ting in Delhi when a state is going to polls.

BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
In seat once represented by Lalu, murder FORMORELOGONTO
INDIANEXPRESS.COM

accused queers son’s development pitch /ELECTIONS

● WHO’S WHERE
TODAY
the last day of campaigning for the second
SANTOSHSINGH phase of polls. RLSP CHIEF UPENDRA
DANAPUR (PATNA), NOVEMBER 1 Even though Danapur’s voters are largely KUSHWAHA WILL VISIT
dividedoncastelines,therearequestionsbe-
RIGA, BATHNAHA, PARIHAR
DESPITE ATTEMPTS by the Nitish Kumar-led ing raised about Ritlal’s candidature.
NDA alliance to rake up poor law and order PawanKumarGupta,whorunsabusiness AND BAJPATTI IN
duringthe15-yearregimeof LaluPrasad,the in Danapur market, says, “One must not en- SITAMARHI DISTRICT;
RJD-led Mahagathbandhan has so far man- courage elements like Ritlal. He faces several MORWA IN SAMASTIPUR
aged to keep its campaign focused on devel- accusations of land grabbing. We would stay
opment politics and Tejashwi Yadav’s prom- away from such a candidate even if Tejashwi
DISTRICT; HARLAKHI IN
ise of 10 lakh jobs for the state’s youth. Yadav promises us the moon.” Adds Jitendra MADHUBANI DISTRICT
However, the Danapur contest — where sit- KumarfromPatalapurpanchayat,“Ritlal’svic-
tingBJPMLAAshaDeviSinhaistakingonthe tory could mean rise of several local hood-
I Hereby Declare RJD’s Ritlal Yadav, one of the men accused of
murdering her husband Satyanarayan Sinha
lums. Being a fellow Yadav is not good
enough.”
in 2003 — threatens to muddle that script. Anotherresident,AvinashKumar,saysthat
Adjoining capital Patna, the Danapur the RJD’s Muslim, Yadav-plus formula may
Assembly seat, which votes on November 3, On Sunday, Tejashwi shared stage with Ritlal Yadav (in cap) for the first time. Express not work in Danapur “because of Ritlal’s im- WHO ARE PACHPAUNIA,
was represented by Lalu Prasad in 2000. The age”. In fact, even if Ritlal gets 80-90% of the PACHFORNA?
BJP’s Asha Sinha has been representing the Yadav votes, the upper castes, OBC Kurmis,
SUNILKUMAR seat since 2005. Her husband was killed on over 59,000 votes and RJD stituency has issues such as water-logging, Kushwahas and a big chunk of the EBC votes
Janata Dal (United), April 30, 2003, and the case is under trial. candidate Sachchidanand the main concern is to are likely to go in Sinha’s favour.
Bhorey (Gopalganj) Ritlal, who faces 33 cases of murder, at- only 11,000 votes. keep a politician like Ritlal first came into limelight in the early
tempttomurder,extortion,andisalsocharged In the 2015 elections, Phase2 Ritlal at bay. In this 1990s for he and his men landing all the rail-
TOTAL ASSETS Phase3
underprovisionsoftheArmsAct,wasjailedin the RJD fielded Rajkishore Katihar election, I am contest- way contracts of Danapur division. After
` 6.1 CRORE (with spouse) 2010inamurdercase.Hehasbeenacquitted Yadav, but he lost to Patna ing against my hus- SatyanarayanSinha’smurder,hehadgoneon
**Contesting elections for the first time
in eight of these cases, and is out on bail. theBJP’sAshaSinhaby DANAPUR band’s alleged killer,” the run and had only surrendered in 2010.
In2013,Ritlalbecamethefirststatepoliti- about 5,000 votes. Phase1 Sinhasaidatameetingin However, Ritlal continues to be close to
MOVABLE ASSETS cian to face a case under the Prevention of In her campaign Danapur on October 31. Lalureportedly,andtheRJDsupremohadalso ● POLL SPEAK
Money Laundering Act. this time, Sinha is re- The next day, as Ritlal cam- visited his Danapur house before the 2014
` 3.9 CRORE In2010,RitlalhadcontestedtheAssembly minding people of her hus- paigned in the riverine belt, he stuck LokSabhapollstoseeksupportforhisdaugh-
CONG BIHAR INCHARGE
Assets 2015 2020 elections as an Independent from jail. While band’s murder and asking them to vote for tohisparty’sdevelopmentpitch.Hewasalso ter and Pataliputra RJD candidate Misa SHAKTISINH GOHIL’S
Cash in hand - 85,000 he had lost, he had managed to get 41,000 in ‘peace’.“Iamonlytellingpeopleaboutaman- joined by Tejashwi Yadav, who has so far Bharati. In 2014, Lalu had made him the RJD FULL INTERVIEW
Bank balance - 2.54 cr the Yadav bastion. The BJP’s Asha Sinha got chain (peace, law and order) . While the con- avoided sharing the stage with the leader, on state secretary.
Stocks & bonds - NIL
Other investment - 83.18 lakh

All work, or only play? The sum total of the job maths
Jewellery - 36 lakh
Vehicle - 15 lakh
Other - 1 lakh
Total - 3.9 crore
police officers, Rs 5,780 crore will be spent on details, Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
IMMOVABLE ASSETS
` 2.27 CRORE
SANTOSHSINGH
PATNA,NOVEMBER1
recruitment of 75,000 engineers, Rs 6,406
crorewillbespentonrecruitmentof2lakhpe-
OUT OF WORK claimedthiswasongroundoflayingofoptical
fibre in every Bihar village, that had created
ons... This means a total of Rs 58,415 crore... If jobs at local levels, and setting up of common
Assets 2015 2020 SEVERAL FIGURES are being thrown about as the Opposition spends this much on salary,
MONTHLY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (%) ■ Bihar ■ India
servicecentresundertheITDepartmentatthe
Agri land - 1.2 crore the Bihar polls come to hang on the lack, and how will they meet the expenses on pension, Pre-lockdown Lockdown Post-lockdown Centre (which he heads), that had engaged
Non-agri land - 6 lakh promise, of jobs. Here are some of them: students’scholarship,cycle,uniforms,mid-day 50 “over 2.5 lakh boys and girls in Bihar alone”.
meal...and electricity?” he questioned. Modi 40 The JD(U) has said contrary to Tejashwi's
46.6

46

Commercial - NIL Tejashwi’s 10 lakh

23.5

noted that the state budget was Rs 2.11 lakh 30 claims of 4.5 lakh government jobs not being
21.7
17.8

Residential - 85 lakh
15.4

12.8

13.4

The Grand Alliance’s CM candidate has crore,afarcryfromtheRs24,000crorebudget filled,“aroundonelakhjobsarevacant,ofwhich

10.6

20
11.9
10.3

10.2

E
9.8
8.8

8.3
7.8

7.4

Other - 16.6 lakh

7.2

6.7

promised10lakhgovernmentjobsinthe“very in the RJD government’s time. 10 wehaveadvertisedformorethan75,000”.

7

Total - 2.27 crore first Cabinet with my very first signature”. He InanapparentreferencetoLalu,Nitishsaid, 0
has reduced this number to a “Where will you get money to Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Cong’s ‘21,000-odd’
LIABILITIES ` 3.25 LAKH
EXPLAINED

(Bank loans, etc.)
CRIMINAL CASES
No pending criminal cases
HASHTAG POLITICS
● @PCHIDAMBARAM_IN: “...IN
2019 LS POLLS, BJP CANDIDATES
won 319 of 381 assembly seats. But in
election or by-election in these regions since
2019... BJP candidates...won...163 of 381.
Who said the BJP can’t be defeated? Oppn
have to believe they can defeat the BJP. I
hope this will be proved in Bihar.”
983LIKES,182RETWEETSIN6HRS
simple math: “There is a provi-
sioninthebudgetfor4.5lakhjobs
thatarevacant.And5.5lakhjobs
more are needed for Bihar’s
progress,accordingtoNITIAayog.
If there is a will, it’s possible.”
According to him, these 5.5 lakh
jobs will be added in medicine,
education, police services etc.
TheNDAreactedafteritsawthattheprom-
isewasresonatingacrosscrowds.DeputyCM
SushilKumarModifiredthefirstsalvo,saying
that10lakhadditionaljobswouldmeananex-
pense of Rs 58,000 crore above the annual
budget. He said: “If 1.25 lakh doctors, 2.5 lakh
para-medical staff are inducted, then
Rs22,270.95crorewillbespentonsalaries.For
recruitmentof2.5lakhteachersand50teach-
ers,Rs20,352.66crorewillbespent...Rs3,604
crore will be spent on recruitment of 95,000
paythesalaries?Fromthesame
scam for which you are in jail?”
Tejashwireplied:“Rs30,000
crore is Bihar’s budget, where is
themoney?Allgonein60scams
onhis(Nitish’s)watch...Hespent
● Rs500croretobrightenhisface
inads.Thenhemakesthislaugh-
able comment.”
BJP’s 19 lakh
AfterraisingquestionsregardingTejashwi’s
promise,theBJPsomewhatdilutedthecharge
by vowing in its manifesto to create 19 lakh
jobs.AstheBJPputit,itspromisewasnotabout
“giving jobs” but “creating them”.
Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal said
only four lakh of those jobs — three lakh in
teachingandonelakhinhealth—wouldbein
the government sector. He said the IT sector
*India's monthly unemployment rate till October 31 is 6.8% (Urban 7.1%, Rural 6.7%) On Friday, the Congress accused Nitish of
puttinghealthservices“onaventilator”,claim-
STATE OF AFFAIRS: BIHAR’S JOBLESSNESS ing shortage of 60% doctors and 71% nurses
■ Jan-Apr ■ May-Aug UnemploymentRate(%) acrossBihar.Withoutmentioningtheyearthe
JD(U)-BJPgovernmenthaddoneso,orinrefer-
Total 17.2 23.6 Urban 29.1 23 Rural 15.6 23.7 encetowhichcase,theCongresssaidtheNitish
Male 16.3 23 Male 28.2 21.9 Male 14.7 23.1 government had submitted to the Supreme
Female 53.3 46.5 Female 49.6 56.5 Female 54.2 44.8 Courtthatonly5,205ofthe12,206sanctioned
posts of doctors and 5,634 of the 19,155 posts
Source: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy of nurses in the state were filled.
TheCongresssaidaGrandAlliancegovern-
mentwouldfillupthesevacantpostsina“spe-
wouldcreateonelakhjobsandtherestwould Both Nitish and the BJP have now taken to cial drive”, “bypassing Public Service
come from agriculture etc, without details. claiming that under Lalu Prasad, followed by Commission”. The Congress said eligible can-
RJD national vice-president Shivanand RabriDevi,theRJDgovernmentcreated“only didates would appear with their educational
Tewarireacted:“Tejashwihassettheagenda... 95,000 jobs” in 15 years and when, for 10 of certificates,thesewouldbeverified,andanin-
BothPMModiandNitishhavebeenfindingit those years, Bihar and Jharkhand were one. terviewdonebytheDirectorGeneralofHealth
difficult to answer his job posers.” In comparison, NDA leaders have been Services,leadingtorecruitment.Thepartyalso
claiming,theNitishgovernmentinits15years promised hiring of specialists on “special
Lalu’s ‘95,000’ vs Nitish's ‘6 lakh’ had given six lakh jobs. Without giving many salary”, and increase in PHCs in Bihar.

Pune

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
FOUNDED BY
§
RAMNATH GOENKA §
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
READY FOR TAKE-OFF Upendra Baxi
Government has set new terms for Air India sale, but it may
not be easy to attract bidders in current climate
O
ACCOUNTABILITY ANGELS URGING that
the truth must come out and secrecy folks
N OCTOBER 29, the Government of India announced yet another round insisting that institutional integrity trumps
of changestofacilitatethe saleof AirIndia.Themostsubstantivechange the people’s right to know will have yet
concerns the level of debt that prospective bidders would necessarily again a field day with the letter (publicly
have to take on if they bought the national carrier. Earlier, the govern- disclosed via media release) by the Chief
menthadmandatedafixedlevelof debttobebundledwiththesale.This Minister of Andhra Pradesh to the Chief
Justice of India.
was a hefty amount of Rs 23,286.50 crore. According to the latest announcement, the
The secrecy folks always manage to pre-
government will allow prospective bidders the flexibility to decide the level of debt they vail. Remember advocate Utsav Singh Bains
wish to take on while buying the debt-ridden airline. The second substantive change is who filed an affidavit that a certain disgrun-
that the winning bidder will have to deposit at least 15 per cent of the bid amount in cash tled corporate hatched a big conspiracy
with the government ahead of the share transfer. Since these crucial changes were an- since CJI Ranjan Gogoi had taken strict ju-
nounced just a day before the last date for submission of expressions of interest, the gov- dicial action against the subversion of judi-
ernment also announced an extension of this deadline from October 30 to December 14 cial independence? Remember that Justice
A K Patnaik had submitted a sealed cover
sothatpotentialbiddershaveachancetocarefullyevaluatethenewtermsandconditions.
report to the Supreme Court in October
The government hopes that these changes would make Air India a more attractive 2019? One year down the road, are we the
proposition. The high — and rising — level of debt has easily been the biggest stumbling people, well-informed about the truth of
block in the sale of Air India since it was first put up for sale in 2018. Air India had close to the matter?
Rs 60,000 crore of debt even before the pandemic made things worse; the beleaguered Undeterred, the Andhra Pradesh CM
carrier has accumulated additional debt since the start of the current financial year. Given now attacks the “neutrality” of the high
court and alleges a “nexus” between that
the fact that aviation has been one of the worst-hit sectors in the wake of the COVID-19
court and some justices and the Chief
pandemic, resulting in debt levels going up across the industry, the government was of Justice and Justice N V Ramana, due to be-
the view, and rightfully so, that “fixing the debt at any level could have reduced the uni- come the 48th CJI when CJI S A Bobde re-
verse of bidders”. tires on April 23, 2021. Never in the history
Notwithstanding the latest changes, the biggest threat to the government’s efforts is of independent India has an incumbent
the timing. Most existing players, who would have made for the best bidders, are strug- chief minister written a missive to the CJI
alleging such wrongdoing by a high court,
gling to survive themselves. Moreover, air traffic in October, while distinctly better than
alleging also that a senior-most judge of the
May, is less than half of what it was before the pandemic hit. Further, with the second Supreme Court has aided and abetted an
wave of COVID infections across the board, estimates suggest that most airlines may enterprise to “destabilise and topple the
struggle to be financially viable even in 2021. Beyond the timing issue, it is too early to as- democratically elected government of the
sess whether the latest tweaks would be enough to attract interest from the buyers. It is state”. The letter also speaks of an “indelible
noteworthy that in the previous iterations since 2018, Air India has not attracted a single trail” which leads “back to the overt and
bid. The trouble is, since Air India losses money each year, it is difficult for the govern- covert actions of Sri N Chandrababu Naidu
through Honourable Sri Justice NV
ment to wait out this trough in the market — unless, of course, it can find ways to run the
Ramana”.
airline in such a manner that it doesn’t leak money. The chief minister does not seek any
specific constitutional remedy; he seems
merely to surmise and suggest. Scurrilous,
HAND AND SICKLE
even if politically shrewd, suspicions do not
constitute evidence which will hold up in a
judicial forum. Would the CJI then be duty-
bound or discretion-laden in yet ordering
A formal alliance may not be enough for the Congress and CPM an in-house investigation on such a contu-
to be the alternative to Trinamool Congress in West Bengal macious conduct?
T
The conduct is contumacious at least on
HE CPM CENTRAL committee on Saturday stamped its approval on an al- three counts. First, the CM makes an allega-
liance with the Congress to fight the assembly elections in West Bengal tion of “destabilising” his government
next year, while the two parties will face off in Kerala around the same
time. Though a formal alliance is a first, the CPM and Congress had a tacit
understanding to take on Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress in the
2016assemblyelection.Onthatoccasion,thealliancecouldnotmakeadentinTrinamool’s
showing. Besides, the BJP seems to have emerged as the principal opposition to the
Trinamool in West Bengal. The Congress and CPM will need more than just an alliance to
radically alter thepolitical scenario in West Bengal and be of some consequence in the as-
sembly polls.
After two terms in office, Mamata Banerjee has lost some of the lustre that fetched her
a substantialmajority in the last two assembly elections. The CPM and the Congress were
herprimaryadversariesinthelasttwoelections,whichwerefoughtonseculargovernance
issues such as land ownership. The rise of the BJP has transformed the nature of the con-
test and the party is now controlling the narrative in the state with a new form of iden-
Yoginder K Alagh
tity politics — its spectacular ascent is reflected in the BJP winning 18 Lok Sabha seats and
over 40 per cent of the votes in 2019. The challenge before the Congress and the CPM is MONTEKSINGHAHLUWALIA,aneconomist
to reinvent the alliance as the alternative to both the Trinamool and the BJP. That calls for with considerable practical experience, has
the alliance to discard the lethargy induced by the loss of office and be at least a vibrant pointed out that under normal circum-
Oppositioninthestreetandtheassembly,offeracountertoMamata’sgovernanceagenda stances, India manages to vaccinate only 65
and patronage politics as well as the BJP’s identity politics. The tried, tested and failed per cent of its under-five-year-olds, 100 mil-
lion of the 150 million in that age group. By
leadership of these parties seems hardly in a position to present a new agenda and cap-
implication, 200 million people to be vacci-
ture the narrative. The Congress and the Left in West Bengal have revealed the same nated against COVID in the first year means
predicament that its national leadership suffers from — out of office, they are at a loss in a very difficult if not an almost impossible
setting the electoral agenda. Both the Congress and the CPM have lost the ambition and target. This challenge needscareful thinking.
skill to reimagine their vision, introduce new leaders and mobilise people: They have We need to plan on a war footing. But the
optedtowaitforvoterstoreturnafterexhaustingtrustintheincumbentparty.Suchastrat- plan must also be realistic and based on lo-
cal realities. The first task would be the con-
egy can work for them in states where politics is bipolar, but it is likely to further dimin-
struction of a real statistical system, or us-
ish their influence when new players enter the contest. ing management jargon, an information
West Bengal, clearly, is poised to see a three-cornered contest. Together, the CPM and system based on health statistics at the vil-
Congress had gathered over 32 per cent votes in the 2016 election, which is substantial lage level and using guesswork in cases
in a multi-polar polity. The alliance will need a powerful message and action-plan to im- where we don’t have data. Those who work
such a system must be supported. They have
prove upon this vote-share and offer itself as a contender for office.
a difficult task — taking decisions with the
lowest probability of failure despite infor-
mation gaps. We must appreciate their hero-
Freeze Frame E P Unny ism and forgive their mistakes. Any case,
nasty parliamentary questions will have to
be answered.
Once the rudiments of a system are
worked out, NGOs such as SEHAT and PHFI
could be roped in to draft a plan together
with the national institutes.
If we want faster and more broad-based
Offices at war
Andhra CM letter to CJI alleging wrongdoing by HC
is a first. SC must settle matter expeditiously
The conduct is
contumacious at least on
three counts. First, the CM
makes an allegation of
'destabilising' his
government against a senior
justice of the Supreme Court
of India without meeting the
robust evidentiary threshold
for prima facie enquiry.
Second, he names some
incumbent justices and the
Chief Justice of the High
Court as directly or
indirectly giving judgments
and orders at the instigation
of Justice Ramana. Third, his
principal advisor, Ajeya
Kellam, releases the letter to
the press, even before the CJI
had an opportunity to
examine the matter.
’70S LESSON FOR VACCINE PLAN
How project that devised self-reliance in foodgrains can guide COVID vaccination
We have stopped planning.
It's not pretty. That's why the
media and TV shows talk of
the heroes after COVID.
Nobody has the courage to
talk about what happens
‘until then’, because it's not a
good looking story even on
art paper. But that's what we
need.
NOVEMBER 2, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
ASSAM VIOLENCE
THE ASSAM GOVERNMENT called troops to
assist the civil administration as the agita-
tion on the foreigners issue led to firing, in
which a state employee was killed and mob
violencehadtheupperhand.Thepolicefired
three rounds, including two in the air to dis-
perse a mob which broke open the gate of
the MLAs’ hostel complex in Dispur. Dilip
Chakravarty,a government servant whowas
hit,diedlater.Thestategovernment,soonaf-
ter, ordered a magesterial inquiry. The sec-
retariat employees have decided to launch a
non-cooperation movement to press their
seven demands, including withdrawal of se-
curityforcesfromthesecretariatareaandju-
dicial inquiry into the killing.
WORDLY WISE
Coalitions though successful have
always found this, that their triumph
has been brief. — BENJAMIN DISRAELI
against a senior justice of the Supreme
Court of India without meeting the robust
evidentiary threshold for prima facie en-
quiry. Second, he names some incumbent
justices and the Chief Justice of the High
Court as directly or indirectly giving judg-
ments and orders at the instigation of
Justice Ramana. Third, his principal advisor,
Ajeya Kellam, releases the letter to the press,
even before the CJI had an opportunity to
examine the matter.
How may Chief Justice Bobde act? He
may decide to direct the registrar to list the
matter as manifest contempt — two very
recent decisions of the Court have held that
scandalisation of the Court is contuma-
cious. Of course, the elite constitutional
opinion demands that this power be exer-
cised very rarely. Who/what should the CJI
listen to?
The gravamen against Justice Ramana is
that he was biased to act in favour of the rul-
ing party because he was an additional ad-
vocate general when the Telugu Desam
Party was in office. Many lawyers have
adorned august constitutional positions of
being high court (and later even the
Supreme Court) justices because of their
high legal experience. Did/do they then nec-
essarily commit any judicial impropriety or
are close to the executive to a point of com-
plicity? The second allegation is that Justice
Ramana has exercised remote control and
influenced Bench formation in the Andhra
High Court. But is there any hard prima fa-
cie evidence of such a conduct suggesting
that the Master of the Roster allowed such
things to happen? Third, Justice
Chelameswar, in a 2016 internal note to the
Collegium, now in the public domain, sug-
gested that his colleague had shown “un-
due proximity” to the chief minister in en-
dorsing six judicial elevations. In the event,
however, it seems that the contrary view
expressed by the Intelligence Bureau and
the Collegium prevailed.
Can allegations about such misdoings
further override the attorney-client privi-
lege? The letter refers to the “gag” order and
a stay of investigation passed by the Chief
Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court and
support, we could turn to “secular” dharma
gurus who have a large following — follow-
ers of Pandurang Shastri Athawale (Dada)
and Morari Bapu, the Kathakar, in western
India, for example. There are likely to be sim-
ilar groups in different states and regions.
These are actually religious leaders with a
solid reputation for fieldwork and an organ-
isational structure to follow through when
a task is spelt out to them. The Khalsa is, of
course, the finest example of this with a
global reach.
The public sector in the PPP mode would
need to build up the supply chain infrastruc-
ture. A realistic plan will, of course, be for 12
to 18 months. An appraisal system must be
a part of it.
Actually, such planning was done for
food self-reliance in the late 1960s and the
1970s. In some ways, the problem was sim-
ilar. I joined the Perspective Planning
Division (the powerful PPD) on invitation as
its adviser. The staff chief helping me had
expertise in agriculture. In those days, the
Adviser PPD had to call on the PM. She
looked at me and said you are very young. I
thought this meant, “Good, go back to
Ahmedabad”. But she went on: I want you to
make a plan so that I don’t have to beg for
grain from the Americans.
DRDO PROJECT
A TOP PRIORITY defence project to indige-
nously develop infra-red (IR) detectors for
missiles was victim to a conspiracy and de-
liberately thwarted. Two Indian scientists
working in the US — Ramesh Chandra Tyagi
and A L Jain — had been specially invited to
work on this project.The technology for de-
veloping the detectors, which reportedly
only the big powers have, could have been
developed in India if the scientists had been
allowed to work freely, according to sources.
The project, called PX SPL-47, was taken up
by the Solid-state Physics Lab (SPL) of the
DRDO. The story of Jain and Tyagi is related
intheinthe confidentialmanagementinfor-
mation report, prepared by G K, Agarwal,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Justice DVSS Somayajulu respectively on
September 15 and 16, 2020, and alleges that
the “beneficiary” of these orders is the TDP
“of which Justice Ramana was a legal ad-
viser and Additional Advocate General in
the past…” However, the Apex Court has
even in TADA cases quashed terror convic-
tions in holding that intention and conse-
quences are different things — intention has
to be proved and one may not infer it by a
study of the consequences of the act.
Already, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, a
Supreme Court lawyer and BJP leader, has
sought the statutorily required consent of
the Attorney General K K Venugopal to ini-
tiate contempt proceedings against the
chief minister and his principal advisor,
Kellam, because “if this kind of precedent
were allowed, political leaders would start
making reckless allegations against judges
who do not decide cases in their favour” and
this would soon “spell the death knell of an
independent judiciary”. One hopes that the
learned AG will decide soon because the
daily trial of cases against legislators would
now commence.
Accountability angels may insist on a
thorough probe into the allegation about
lands in Amaravati purchased by two
daughters of the learned justice before its
designation as capital of the new state. The
chief minister is confident that an enquiry
will establish a “prior meeting of minds”,
“meticulous round-tripping of transactions
and the holdings”, and a “larger scam”. At
its best, the Court may add its voice for an
expeditious CBI investigation. But if the CJI
decides on an in-house enquiry, the com-
mittee will have to act much before April
23, 2021, the date of his retirement.
Any delay may result in an inadvertent
and unconstitutional supersession. One
hopes that the Union Law Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad would reassure the nation
that the supersession of justices is a thing
of past and will never be allowed to raise its
ugly and fierce mien again.
The writer is professor of law, University of
Warwick,and former vice chancellor of
Universities of South Gujarat and Delhi
I came back fired with energy, but my
staff chief gave me a horror story of how
agriculture was planned. Some yardsticks
that had originated in Poland were used. I
put an end to that and asked each collector
to send me data from the field. Using it, we
modelled agriculture production and by
1978, we were producing enough grain to
feed ourselves. To my surprise, I became an
agricultural “expert”.
Will we now have the courage to face re-
ality? It's more difficult because you have to
look at the face of death. But if we manage to
do so, we will build the best possible —
though by no means not perfect — Vaccine
Plan and improve on it as we go along. But
we have stopped planning. It's not pretty.
That's why the media and TV shows talk of
the heroes after COVID. Nobody has the
courage to talk about what happens “until
then”, because it's not a good looking story
even on art paper. But that's what we need.
The dominant Medium Is the Massage
story will tell us that all’s well only after 1991.
Meanwhile, we have had the second-high-
est COVID case load in the world. Cry my
Beloved Country.
The writer, an economist, is a
former Union minister
principal scientific officer. In essence, false
certificates were issue to IR detection
processes that did not work, forcing Jain to
resign.
PEACE EFFORTS
FOREIGN SECRETARY R D Sathe met Iranian
officials in Tehran as part of India's efforts to
bring about a ceasefire in the Gulf War.
Meanwhile, in Belgrade, a meeting of six
non-aligned foreign ministers and
Palestinian official has been officially post-
poned as some of the envoys had been de-
layed. The meeting is to be attended by the
ministers of India, Pakistan, Cuba, Zambia
and Faruk Khaddoumi of the Palestine
Liberation Organisation.
Pune

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Dilemmas of development
Post-Covid, lack of social security has made many migrants consider employment opportunities closer
home. The question for government is how to provide such avenues in ecologically-fragile areas
OVER THE BARREL
by Vikram Singh
Mehta
OVER THE PAST decade and more that I
have been writing a column for this page, I
have, on occasion, written about the forest
sanctuary of Binsar in Uttarakhand. I have a
small cottage in the sanctuary. These arti-
cles have not been about the pristine beauty
of the sanctuary, the verdant forests that roll
from one range of hills to another merging
eventually into the snow-capped peaks of
the Himalayas. They have not been about
the restorative and calming influence of si-
lence, they have been about the tension be-
tween economic development and ecolog-
ical sustainability. Binsar offered me a
narrow window of insight into the difficulty
of striking a balance between the aspira-
tions of the villagers who lived in the sanc-
tuary and were denied, as a consequence,
the economic benefits of development and
the imperative of preserving the magnifi-
cence of nature.
I bought one of the six British-built es-
tablishments in Binsar in 1987. I have been
visiting the place regularly ever since. In
the early years, I noted the near-total ab-
sence of development. There was no run-
ning water, there were no electricity lines
and the road was narrow and irregularly
tarred. I had to walk the last half mile to my
house, the nearest hospital was 30 km
away and there were no schools. Itinerant
travellers may have been happy to get away
from the clutter of development but the
resident villagers were not. They wanted a
share of the benefits accruing to those liv-
ing outside the sanctuary. They wanted
electricity, water, health, schools and above
all else, jobs. They verbalised their protest
and at times, out of sheer frustration, they
even ignited their surroundings to attract
attention. One year, the forest fires almost
engulfed my home.
The authorities have, to an extent, heard
theseprotests.ThedrivetoBinsarisnolonger
as tiresome as it used to be. The roads have
been broadened and tarred. The electricity
lines have been stretched. The valleys which
at night were blanketed in darkness are now
studdedwithpinpricksof light.Myhomestill
does not have grid electricity as does no one
who lives within the forest. But we are not
complaining. For, except on days when the
sun plays hide and seek with the clouds, so-
lar has become a reliable substitute.
Thesetangiblemarkersof progressmask,
however, the deeper dilemmas of develop-
ment. The reason I decided to pen another
article on Binsar was that in a microcosmic
way, the nature and pace of development in
this area mirror the faultlines that have to be
resolved for our country to get onto the tra-
jectory of sustainable growth. The specifics
will be different but the essential issues fac-
ingBinsararethesameasthosethatconfront
the country.
For anyone visiting the Kumaon region
Ameya Bokil, Nikita Sonavane and Srujana Bej
LAST MONTH, THE Chief Justice of the Delhi
High Court, DN Patel, refused to extend the
court’s blanket orders granting interim bail to
inmates, reportedly saying, “Let us bring to an
end the COVID chapter. Let these people sur-
render or go back to jail.” Following this order,
Delhi’shigh-poweredcommittee(HPC)forthe
decongestionofprisonsdirectedthatafinal30-
dayextensiononreleasewillbegivento3,337
undertrialsand1,182convicts,afterwhichthey
mustreturntoprisonsfromearlyDecember.
Global health experts have not yet sig-
nalledanendtotheCOVID-19pandemic,and,
hence, the belief that inmates can safely re-
turntoprisonsisentirelymisplacedandmust
make prison authorities nervous. According
tothelatestHPCreport,theDirector-General
(Prisons) for Delhi pointed out that after the
re-entry, “total population of Delhi Prison is
likely to reach 22,000, which would be un-
precedented and may become unmanage-
able...” Prison departments in other states
havealsomadesimilarappealstotherespec-
tive governments.
In March 2020, India’s prisons released
convicts on emergency parole, and undertri-
alsoninterimbailfollowingaSupremeCourt
order. The court ordered state governments
to form HPCsto determine thecriteriafor re-
lease. Giventhe contagiousnatureof COVID-
19andovercrowdinginprisons,stateswould
have done well to bring prison populations
down. However, many failed to do so and
casesof COVID-19quicklybegantobreakout
across jails.
In the last seven months, somehow un-
on a regular basis, a striking manifestation
of global warming is the receding snow line
of the Himalayan range. Even the highest
peaks of the Nanda Devi, Trishul and
Panchachuli massif reveal large rock faces.
The Pindari Glacier is brown to the naked
eye. Of course, this will all change when, in
a few weeks, the winter snow swaddles the
range in white and maybe I am drawing an
exaggerated picture but I have never seen so
much contrast on the mountain faces be-
fore. Sitting inside a sanctuary where on ac-
count of regulatory restrictions, the sur-
roundings are lush and green, one cannot
but reflect on the forewarning of the scien-
tific community that if the world and to be
more specific India, does not tackle the is-
sue of GHG emissions, it will, for certain, be-
queath an irremediably damaged planet to
the next generation. India cannot afford to
develop first and clean up later.
COVID has intruded. Of course, it is not
the numbers of infected that have roiled the
villagers.Theseappeartobefew.Itistheeco-
nomic ramifications. Most of the young that
had left for the plains in search of jobs are
back and if one goes by the comments that I
have picked up from the locals, only a hand-
ful want to return to their earlier jobs. The
lack of a social security net in the cities has
made them ask whether it might not be bet-
ter to seek income-generating opportunities
closer to home. What those might be is, of
course,theirbiggestconcern.Agricultureand
manufacturing offer no scope.
Construction, hospitality and eco-
tourismareoptions.ButthentheMSMEsen-
gaged in these sectors are struggling to sus-
An epidemic of over-arrest
Pushforrepopulationofprisonsduringapandemicisreckless
beknownsttothejudiciary,prisonshaveseen
an extraordinary influx of new inmates: al-
most all of them undertrials. According to
data submitted by the Director General
(Prisons) for Delhi to the Delhi HC, 5,581 un-
dertrials were granted interim bail by the
courts and between 1,200-1,500 convicts
were granted emergency parole under the
HPC’s guidelines. Delhi’s prisons can hold
10,033 persons. Before the HPC’s guidelines,
Delhi’sprisonsheld17,300persons.TheHPC
released 7,000 prison inmates by April.
However,asof October20,Delhi’sprisonpop-
ulation stands at 15,900 individuals, 90 per
cent of whom are undertrials. The criminal
justice system added over 5,500 individuals
toDelhi’sprisons,raisingcrowdingto155per
centwhilethepandemicragedunrelentingly.
If the Delhi High Court’s orders of surrender
areimplemented,there-entryof undertrials
will likely increase overcrowding to 200 per
cent in a few weeks’ time.
Throughout the pandemic, the criminal
justicesystemhasbeenatoddswithitself,and
Delhi is no anomaly. Uttar Pradesh, housing
21.1 per cent of the country’s prison popula-
tion, released 9,000 inmates due to the pan-
demic.Concomitantly,itadded17,000under-
trials, raising overcrowding from 66 per cent
in February to 79 per cent in September ac-
cording to official data. Similarly, Madhya
Pradeshreleased7,500inmatesfollowingthe
HPC’s order, but added the same number of
inmates by 30 September. While undertrials
inMPaccountedfor53.4percentoftheprison
population in February, they accounted for
Agriculture and
manufacturing offer no
scope. Construction,
hospitality and eco-tourism
are options. But then the
MSMEs engaged in these
sectors are struggling to
sustain their business. These
enterprises are not unviable.
They simply have no
liquidity. The debate in the
corridors of our economic
ministries as to whether to
enlarge the fiscal stimulus or
not or whether the Central
Government or the states
should turn to the market to
make up for the shortfall in
GST revenues acquires a
different hue when
contemplated through the
non-academic lens of
livelihood.
67.5 per cent of the prison population in
September.Maharashtrareleased10,000per-
sons in March but added 5,000 inmates in
SeptemberandOctoberalone.Iftherespective
highcourtsof thesestatessimilarlyordersur-
render/re-entry of inmates released due to
COVID,theprisonpopulationswillbe200per
cent,180percentand160percentoftheirca-
pacities in UP, MP and Maharashtra respec-
tively.Asecondwaveof thepandemicinpris-
ons is almost guaranteed.
Why have prison populations increased
duringapandemicwhichnecessitateddecon-
gestionand,therefore,prioritiseddecriminal-
isation?First,policingprioritieswereentirely
misplaced. We studied arrests made in MP
duringthefirstthreephasesof thelockdown,
when the overall number of cases registered
andarrestsincreased.Besidesahighnumber
of lockdown-related arrests (14.8 per cent),
MP saw higher than usual number of arrests
under its Excise Act (15.8 per cent) and the
Public Gambling Act (12.2 per cent). Two is-
sues about state action are revealed— a pub-
lichealthcrisiswasmisdiagnosed,andtreated
as a law and order issue; and the state had a
tendency to “restore order” by pursuing low-
level, low-harm, victimless offences such as
alcohol possession and public gambling
againstlow-income,marginalisedcommuni-
ties(ouranalysisalsorevealedthedispropor-
tionate targeting of Muslims for lockdown-
related offences).
Second,accesstobailwassignificantlyim-
paired for arrested persons due to reduced
court capacities. Regular bail hearings were
C R Sasikumar
tain their business. These enterprises are not
unviable. They simply have no liquidity. The
debateinthecorridorsof oureconomicmin-
istries as to whether to enlarge the fiscal
stimulus or not or whether the central gov-
ernmentorthestatesshouldturntothemar-
ket to make up for the shortfall in GST rev-
enues acquires a different hue when
contemplated through the non-academic
lens of livelihood. There is no doubt, in my
mind, that the Centre must open up further
the fiscal spigot and help the state/local gov-
ernments create the social security nets that
assure everyone a basic minimum income.
The argument of those that pore over macro
ratios (GDP ) that there is no fiscal space for
such largesse should be set against the
Keynesian comment that “in the long run,
we are all dead”.
A stark manifestation of the two-track
development of our socio-economic polity
is the ubiquitous spread of digital technol-
ogy. In a place with limited physical infra-
structureandfewsocialamenities,everyone
carries a cell phone and most can find inter-
net connectivity. I have attended several
Zoom meetings from my Himalayan re-
doubt. To my mind, this reveals the sharpest
faultlineof all.Thepotentiallydeepeningten-
sion between society and the State.
Technology has deepened aspirations.
Government is perceived to hold it in check.
WhetheritisinBinsarorthecountryatlarge,
this tension will have to be bridged if India is
to develop on an even social keel.
The writer is Chairman, Centre for Social
and Economic Progress (CSEP)
delayed by weeks. The adoption of a virtual
court system also aggravated judicial delays.
The pandemic and the consequent plight
ofinmateshaverevealedtheconvolutedlogic
and structure of our criminal justice system.
Police,courtsandprisonsviewthemselvesin
silos, failing to work together as a cohesive
wholetowardsthewisestprecaution(decon-
gestion) even during this pandemic. The po-
lice’s priorities lie in exercising their powers
of arrest to full extent, irrespective of social
context, while some courts are unconcerned
with overcrowding in jails. This leads to two
pertinent inquiries — why is the epidemic of
over-arrestnotbeingaddressed;andwhyare
agents of the criminal justice system not tak-
ing responsibility for prison populations and
their burgeoning rise?
An earnest attempt by the Supreme
Court to reduce decongestion has ultimately
cometo naught. The problem of over-arrests
and inherent problems of policing have
neverbeenaddressed.Reformstoreducethe
undertrial prison population have not been
carried out. Even if we were not grappling
with a pandemic, a 55-90 per cent represen-
tation of undertrials in the total prison pop-
ulation is a major cause of concern. Yet, this
does not seem obvious to those in positions
of power,whocontinuetoplungethousands
of individuals back into a historically bur-
dened prison system.
The writers are associated with the
Bhopal-based Criminal Justice and Police
Accountability Project
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“The fact is that efforts are needed on both sides — within the Islamic world
and in the West — to prevent an increase in divisive rhetoric and extremism.”
The nature
of the republic
French tradition of secularism is based on the
strict separation between church and state
Prafull Goradia
FRANCEISONCEagaininthenewsafterthe
gruesome murder of Samuel Paty, a French
middle-school teacher, on October 16 in
Conflans-Sainte-Honorine,asuburbofParis.
Patywasbeheadedinwhatisapparentlyan
act of Islamist terrorism. French President
Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to Paty,
calling him a “quiet hero” and said he was
targeted because he “embodied the
Republic”,taughtpupils“tobecomecitizens”
and “fought for freedom and reason”.
ThisbringsustothenatureoftheFrench
Republic. Former French President Jacques
Chirac (now deceased) during his tenure
commissioned an expert enquiry into what
precisely secularism in practice should be.
Bernard Stasi presented his report in
December2003,basedonwhichafreshsec-
ular law was passed by the French National
Assembly in March 2004. It brought up to
date the law of 1905.
The new Act defined three essential
principles:Freedomof conscience,equality
in law for spiritual and religious belief, and
neutralityof politicalpower.Inotherwords,
there are in any modern state, three sets of
relations:(a)religionandtheindividual;(b)
thestateandtheindividual,and;(c)thestate
and religion. In (b) the state views the indi-
vidual as a citizen and not as a member of a
religiousgroup.Theimplicationof (c)isthat
religion and state function in two separate
areas of human activity. Donald Smith, a
scholar from the University of Calgary, has
comparedtheaboverelationsasthreesides
of a triangle. And the integrity of (a) and (b)
is largely determined by the third relation-
ship, which separates them. Therefore, for
anystatetofunctionasasecularstate,there
must be a wall of separation between state
and church.
TheFrenchlawattemptedtoimplement
these principles. It had not abolished the
wearingofeitherJewishskullcapsorMuslim
headscarves.Allitordainedwasthatthestu-
dentsattendinggovernmentschoolsorem-
ployeesworkingingovernmentofficesmust
not display religious symbols of a conspicu-
ousnature,whichwouldincludeevenalarge
cross.Thereisnorestrictiononwearingany
formofdressordisplayofanyreligioussym-
bols in the country at large. The state, how-
ever,hastomaintainabsoluteneutralitybe-
tween one religion and another. The French
insistence on the absolute separation of
church and state goes back to 1905 — in
December that year, a Republican law was
passed by the country’s National Assembly.
Article 1 assures the liberty of conscience. It
guaranteedthe freeexerciseof religiousbe-
liefs. The only restrictions were decreed in
the interest of public order. Article 2 states
that the Republic does not recognise either
salaries paid or subsidies granted to any re-
ligious group.
The Stasi Report stated that Islam is be-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
DATA WORRIES
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Trust in
data', (IE, October 30). The integrity of
COVID-19 data has been an issue since
theearlydaysofthepandemicoutbreak,
with notable discrepancies in the data
publicisedbydifferentpublicbodies.The
state’scommitteestorefinemortalityfig-
ureshavebeenanoutlierfromtheglobal
best practices. At a time when the econ-
omy is still opening up, ramping up of
testinginfrastructure,makingitaccessi-
ble and affordable to the masses should
begivenpriority.Thereportofallegedin-
terference with the testing process to
control the test-positive rate at the dis-
trict level is a serious issue.
Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata
ONLY CLASSROOMS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Last child
matters' ( IE, October 30). Only face-to-
face physical classrooms can provide
qualityeducation,whichachildcanlearn
and imbibe forever during his lifetime.
Online classes have a short-term reten-
tion value in a child's mind and, more-
over,achildneedsphysicalhandholding
togrow-up.How canthecomputertake
the place of a teacher or a parent?
Moreover, online education is the do-
main of the middle class and the rich.
Where do the vulnerable, poor children
go, if everything is online?
Rajiv Boolchand Jain, Zirakpur
FREEDOMS MATTER
THISREFERSTOthearticle,'LostinParis'
(IE, October 30). Freedom of expression
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
— DAWN
lieved to be incompatible with secularism.
Thiswasaprovocationinthereportandthe
subsequent passing of the legislation. As far
as private employers of schools are con-
cerned,thelawisthatthewillof theinstitu-
tionwouldprevailandnotanyidiosyncrasy
of the employee. The intention behind the
stipulation is to ensure that there is no dis-
criminationagainstmembersofanyreligion,
so that an employer does not avoid the ap-
pointment of a scarf-wearing woman or a
skull-capwearingman.Theseprovisionsen-
sure not only the neutrality of political au-
thority but also the freedom of conscience
and belief as well as equality before the law.
TheStasiReportalsoemphasisedsecularism
as a cornerstone of democracy.
The rise of Christianity led to the prob-
lemofchurchandstate.TheBiblerecognised
abasicduality—thetemporalandthespiri-
tual.Thisisbestexpressedinthewell-known
phrase: “Render therefore unto Caesar the
things that are Caesar’s; and unto God the
things that are God’s.” In the US, an attempt
was made at the complete separation be-
tween church and state. The American con-
stitutioncontainsnoreferencetoGod.Article
VIsaysthatnoreligioustestshalleverbere-
quiredasaqualificationtoanyoffice.Thefirst
amendment to the Constitution adopted in
1791explicitlysaid:“Congressshallmakeno
lawrespectinganestablishmentofreligion”.
India never had a centralised institution
to regulate religion nor did it ever interfere
intherunningofthestate.Islam,ontheother
hand, does not separate the temporal from
the spiritual. The ultimate evidence of this
was that the Caliph, or the representative of
ProphetMohammed,wasthespiritualhead
and the temporal chief rolled into one.
Francedidnotfullyseparatechurch and
stateuntilthepassageofits1905law.Today,
secularism is a core concept in the French
constitution, Article 1 of which formally
states that France is a secular republic. This,
however, does not prevent the state from
playing an active role in the appointment of
Catholic diocesan bishops. Thus, the French
president is the only head of state who still
appoints some Catholic bishops.
Former President Nicolas Sarkozy dif-
fered from this French constitutional tradi-
tionandsawFrance’smainreligionsasmak-
ing positive contributions to society. He
visitedthePopeinDecember2007andpub-
licly acknowledged France’s Christian roots.
PopeBenedictXVIcommentedthatitisim-
portant to become more aware of the irre-
placeableroleofreligionfortheformationof
conscienceandthecontributionitcanbring
to the creation of a basic ethical consensus
within society.
A law was passed on April 11, 2011, with
strong support from political parties as well
asfromSarkozy,whichmadeitillegaltocon-
ceal one’s face in public spaces, affecting a
fewthousandwomeninFrancewearingthe
niqabandtheburqa.ScholarOlivierRoyhas
argued that the burkini bans and secularist
policies of France provoked religious vio-
lence, to which Gilles Kepel responded that
Britain has no such policies and suffered a
greater number of attacks in 2017 than
France.
The writer was a Rajya Sabha MP
from the BJP
IDEAS
ONLINE
ONLY IN THE EXPRESS
●DDLJ’S SIGNATURE
TUNES:
SUANSHU KHURANA
● CAPTAINMOHANSINGH
BAYAS, MY GRANDFATHER:
PRAVEENSINGHPARDESHI
www.indianexpress.com
isuniversalandnon-negotiable,whether
for teachers or students, a Western na-
tion or an Eastern one. Any kind of intel-
lectual, or social hierarchy endangers
freedom of expression. The right to free
speechmakessenseonlywhencoupled
with the unwritten law of tolerance and
theunspokenrighttogetoffended,with-
outcommittingorincitingviolence.More
often than not, the experiences, memo-
ries, and anticipations of the body pre-
ventitfromspeakingorwritingwithout
fear, overruling the mind's convictions,
thus robbing it of its right to freedom of
expression. As long as bodies fear other
bodieswecannottalkaboutthefreedom
ofexpression.Interestingly,bodiesalone
cannot change a thing and this transfor-
mation involves ideas of peace, brother-
hood, equality, freedom and justice.
Fatima Ghazali, via email
Pune
 E EXPLAINED
10
SIMPLY PUT
11 states, bypolls in 56 Assembly seats: all you need to know
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NOVEMBER 1
THE FOCUS has been on the Assembly elec-
tions in Bihar, but by-elections too are due in
56otherAssemblyseatsin11statesthisweek.
Theseelectionsareimportantforboththerul-
ing BJP and Opposition parties, and are being
seen by many as a test for public approval of
the record of the government of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in its second term.
Sixty-three seats are currently vacant in
state Assemblies across the country. Fifty-
fourof thesewillseeby-electionsonTuesday
(November 3); voting for two seats in
Manipur will be held on November 7. The
ElectionCommissionhasdecidednottohold
“at this stage” Assembly bypolls in the re-
mainingseven seats — in Kerala,Tamil Nadu,
Assam, and West Bengal, which are sched-
uled to get new Assemblies next year.
AlsoonNovember7,electionswillbeheld
fortheValmikiNagarLokSabhaseatinBihar.
ThebiggestchunkofAssemblyseatsgoing
topollsonTuesdayisinMadhyaPradesh—28.
CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD
High Covid risk found among
grocery store employees
A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND
study has suggested that
grocery store employees
are likely to be at high risk
of Covid-19 infection, and
those in roles that require
them to face customers
PAPER
are5timesaslikelytotest
positiveastheircolleagues CLIP
in other positions. The
study is published in the NEW RESEARCH
BMJ Group journal
Occupational&EnvironmentalMedicine. itive for SARS-CoV-2, indicating a
Among those testing positive, prevalence of 20%.
three out of four had no symptoms.
INDIA ACTIVE CASES
700,000
695,509
600,000
LAST 10 DAYS
Oct 22
500,000
Note: The Oct 31 figure in this graph is based on the government update on Nov 1
INDIA TOTAL CASES
8,182,082
Source:MinistryofHealth&Family
Welfare,updatedat11pmonNov1
Setting the template: how Sean Connery crafted James Bond’s identity
KABIR FIRAQUE
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
SEANCONNERY,whodiedonSaturdayatage
90,willbebestrememberedfordefiningthe
character of James Bond on screen. While
Connery had a long, successful acting career
in a variety of roles, we look here at the tem-
plate he set for the Bond character:
Bond before Connery
Although he was the first actor to play
Bond in the “official” series (the films that
come out of Eon Productions, UK), Connery
was not the first Bond when all films are
considered. Another actor, Barry Nelson,
had played Bond before Connery, but that
film was a US production, not an “official”
one from Eon. Nelson’s film, Casino Royale
(1954) — there are three ‘Bond films’ with
that name — is largely forgotten today.
Ian Fleming, who wrote 14 James Bond
novels, visualised the British spy as resem-
bling the singer Hoagy Carmichael. When
planning the first Bond film, Dr No (1962),
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
Madhya Pradesh (28 seats)
The by-elections were necessitated after
22 MLAs of the erstwhile Congress govern-
mentswitchedovertotheBJPinMarch,lead-
ing to the fall of Kamal Nath’s government.
Subsequently, three other Congress MLAs
joinedtheBJP.Anotherthreeseatsarevacant
due to the deaths of incumbent MLAs.
With107MLAscurrently,theBJPneedsto
win at least nine of these seats to cross the
halfwaymark,andforShivrajSinghChouhan
to continue to remain Chief Minister. The
Congress needs to win all 28 seats if it wants
to return to power — or at least 21 in order to
giveitself achancetobargainwiththeBSP,SP
and Independent MLAs.
Atstakearethepoliticalambitionsof four
seniorleaders—KamalNathof theCongress,
and Scindia, Chouhan, and Narendra Singh
Tomar of the BJP.
JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA: The Maharaj,
who lost his Parliamentary seat Guna in
2019, needs to prove to his new partythat he
has support in the Gwalior-Chambal region,
in which 16 of the seats are located. If his loy-
alists manage to win and take the BJP com-
This suggests that these
key workers could be an
important reservoir of
infection, said the re-
searchers. They studied
104 employees of one
grocery store in Boston,
Massachusetts.Eachem-
ployee was tested for
SARS-CoV- in May this
year.Oneinfive(21outof
104) workers tested pos-
Source: BMJ
568,458
568,458
Oct 31
WORLD TOTAL CASES
46,196,087
Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
updatedat11pmonNov1
EonProductionsandFlemingwereinclined
towards a British actor.
“Certainly, the screen identities of most
of theactorsinitiallyconsideredforthepart
of Bond —James Mason, Trevor Howard,
David Niven (Fleming’s preferred choice),
Richard Burton, and James Stewart — re-
flected a tendency to assimilate Bond into
thetraditionof Englishruling-classheroes,”
the British sociologist and author Tony
Bennett wrote in The International Journal
ofJamesBondStudiesin2017.Stewart,infact,
was American.
Connery for Bond
What swung the choice in favour of
Connery, a Scottish actor who was then a
longwayawayfrominternationalfame,was
the need to appeal to a wider audience, par-
ticularlyinAmerica.Connerywascastforhis
ruggedmasculinityoverFleming’schoiceof
Niven, said Lisa Funnell, co-author of
Geographies,Genders,andGeopoliticsofJames
Bond,andeditoroftheanthologyForHisEyes
Only: The Women of James Bond.
Dr Funnell, associate professor of
fortablyovertheline,hispoliticalstaturewill
rise, and he will be in a strong bargaining po-
sition ahead of a ministerial reshuffle at the
Centre. Conversely, if the Congress wins
more seats than the BJP, it will be a personal
humiliation for him.
SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN:
For the four-term Chief Minister
who was sidelined by his party’s
central leadership after the BJP lost
the2018elections,thesebypollsare
an opportunity to prove his contin-
ued relevance. Chouhan is leaving
no stone unturned— from kneeling DECISION seats
andseeking forgivenessfromfarm- 2020
ers in Mandsaur to making an- ASSEMBLY
nouncements that will cost the
BYPOLLS
state nearly Rs 3,000 crore.
KAMAL NATH: The 74-year-old veteran 2017, would like to win back all its eight
Congress leader is looking for a comeback. seats. The BJP has given five of the eight tick-
Addressing a rally after losing power due to ets to the Congress MLAs who resigned to
Scindia’srevolt,hevowedtoreturntopower, ensure that the BJP retained all its seats in
and has since taken full charge of the politi- the RS elections.
cal affairs of his party.
NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR: He had affect the government — the BJP already
played a key role in bringing the rebel has103 seats in the Assembly.
The road to economic recovery
The return of economic activity and declining active Covid-19 cases in India have raised hopes of recovery.
Yet a second wave in Europe and US raise concerns. What is the way forward for businesses and investors?
EXPERT
EXPLAINS
Nilesh Shah
From The Indian Express panel
of specialists, exclusive insight
What factors will determine the recovery
path for firms?
In the epic battle of the Mahabharata, the
virtuous Pandavas survived and prospered
while the vicious Kauravas lost everything.
Leverage, cost structure, governance, access
tocapitalandadaptivenessdeterminethevir-
tuosityofafirm.Firmswithlessleverage,good
governance,andtheabilitytoraisecapital,cut
costs with the precision of a surgeon‘s knife,
andinnovatetoadaptinthecurrentsituation
willnotonlysurvivebutalsoprosper.Oureco-
nomicrecoverywillbeafunctionoftop-down
factors like fiscal and monetary stimulus as
well as bottom-up entrepreneurial efforts.
When the pandemic continues, what
factors raise hopes of recovery?
Active cases are coming down despite
normalisation of economic activities. A vac-
cine breakthrough seems to be on the hori-
zon. Lower oil, gold and Chinese goods im-
ports have made India current
account-surplus. Foreign exchange reserves
are about to exceed foreign exchange debt.
Global firms are opening up their purses for
direct as well as portfolio investment.
Agriculture reforms will materially benefit a
large rural population. Labour reforms and
postallifeinsuranceschemesarestepsinthe
right direction for India becoming a manu-
facturing hub, although a lot more needs to
be done on the ground.
TheSeptember20quarterlyresultsareby
and large ahead of street expectations.
Marginshaveexpandedacrosssectorsdueto
deep cost cuts. In sectors like auto and con-
sumerdurables,volumesareaheadof expec-
tations.Manyattributeittopent-updemand.
Demand,pentuporotherwise,hasrecovered
due to steps taken in the past. However, it
needs to be sustained in the future by further
measures.
women’s and gender studies at the
University of Oklahoma, said by email:
“Producerswantedtodownplaysomeofthe
literary figure’s overtly British mannerisms
thataudiencesoverseasandespeciallyinthe
USmightfindjarring.Instead,Bondwaspre-
sentedwithamoremid-Atlanticimage,and
giventheworldwidesuccessofhisfilms,this
was the right decision.”
Connery kept his Scottish accent, ob-
served Stephanie Jones, lecturer in film, tel-
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
CongressMLAstohisparty.Hetoobelongsto Uttar Pradesh (7 seats)
Gwalior,andanimpressiveperformancewill The BJP had won six of these seven seats
enhance his stature in the party, and could (the SP won one) in the landslide election of
boost his chief ministerial ambitions. 2017, but its task in the by-elections will be
more difficult.Inall the seats, the Opposition
Gujarat (8 seats) is targeting the government on the issue of
The by-elections have been ne- law and order — especially crime against
cessitated by the resignations of women and the recent spate of alleged caste
Congress MLAs ahead of the Rajya crimes in the state. Should the BJP not do
Sabha elections in June. The new well, it will be seen as a sign of growing dis-
Gujarat BJP chief, C R Patil, has set content among Dalits over the way the
himself a goal of winning all 182 party’s government hashandled the cases of
in the Assembly elections of
2022. The by-elections are a major
atrocities against members of the commu-
nity, including the alleged gangrape and
test for Patil. killing in Hathras.
The Congress, which had turned Among the seats going to polls is
in its best performance in Gujarat Bangarmau, where the vacancy arose be-
since 1995 by winning 77 seats in causetheBJPMLAKuldeepSinghSengarwas
convicted of rape and murder.
At a virtual meeting, Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath asked partyworkers in the seven
constituencies to counter the Opposition’s
attacks witha list of thegovernment’sdevel-
The by-election results will not opment works. The BJP has been trying to
paint the recent incidents of crime that
grabbednationalheadlinesasa“conspiracy”
EXPLAINED ECONOMY & FINANCE
Shopping for Karwa Chauth in Jammu on Sunday. Demand, pent up or otherwise,
has recovered due to steps taken in the past. PTI
Where is policy focus everyone-winssolutionof
needed? Satyam. Our laws are be-
The monetary policy ing made for the lowest
is accommodative but THE EXPERT commondenominatoras
credittransmissionneeds NILESH SHAH, Managing crooksescapewithoutad-
toimprovefurther.Policy Director of Kotak equate punishment. This
rates are at lifetime low Mahindra Asset increasesthecostof com-
levels but the cost of bor- Management Co Ltd, has pliance for the rest.
rowing needs to be low- over a quarter century’s Investment cannot pick
ered for below-AA rated experience in capital upsustainablyunlessrule
borrowers. Fiscal stimu- markets and market- of law is experienced by
lushassupportedgrowth related investments. He is investors.Bighasbecome
atthebottomof thepyra- one of the country’s most bigger in these challeng-
midbutsectorsliketravel, astute financial analysts. ing times, but eventually
tourism, hotel, retailing, small and medium firms
aviation, infrastructure needtobecomecompeti-
etc require more support. The path of fiscal tive and prosper.
prudence is important but it needs to be
achieved by raising non-tax resources like Is the global resurgence of Covid-19 a
proceedsfromstrategicdivestmentandmon- threat to the stock market recovery?
etisation of assets, unlocking capital stuck in Thestockmarkethasrespondedenthusi-
gold lying in tijori etc. astically with large cap indices trading a little
Ease of doing business has improved but below their pre-Covid highs. Flows and im-
ruleoflawneedstobeimproved.Despitegood proving fundamentals have pulled the mar-
intentions, commercial disputes are getting kettocurrentlevels.Undoubtedly,wearenot
addressed like the never-ending trial of the outofthewoods.Factorsliketheongoingsec-
1992 security scam rather than the quick, ond wave in the US and Europe, the US elec-
Bond character, it was Connery who set the
template for the well-dressed spy who
could be ruthless as well as charming.
“I’d suggest that Connery is, like Ian
‘Bond, James Fleming's Bond, representative of an ideal
Bond’ — Sean post-war masculinity, a clever mix of suave
Connery elegance and tough masculinity,” said
introduces Monica Germanà, author of Bond Girls:
the iconic Body, Fashion and Gender, and senior lec-
character, turer in English literature and creative writ-
eight ing at Westminster University, UK.
minutes into Connery's Bond “could be ruthless with his
Dr No (1962) enemies,andthosewhobetrayedhim... But
he can also be a tender — and sexy — lover”,
she said.
evision and media studies at Aberystwyth Dr Funnell described how Connery
University.“Curiously,onthereleaseofDrNo helped craft the identity of the global, pop-
there was some confusion among UK film ular culture icon: “Connery could pull off
critics about whether Connery’s accent was any look; from the classic tuxedo to a blue
Scottish,IrishorNorthernIrish;hecertainly onesie, he looked confident in professional
wasn’tEnglishorAmericanandthisgavehim settings and comfortable in highbrow
an outsider appeal,” Dr Jones said, by email. places of leisure. In addition, Connery’s de-
livery of classic lines like his introduction of
Bond in Connery’s image ‘Bond, James Bond’ and ‘I must be dream-
While every actor in that role has ing’ helped to shape the (sardonic) wit of
brought in his own personality traits to the thefigure.Finally,throughhisperformance,
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
hatched by the Opposition.
Interestingly, while Congress leaders
havebeenattackingthe Yogigovernmentfor
crimes perpetrated on Dalits, the party has
fielded Brahmin candidates in three of the
five general seats. The BJP has tried to give
representation to OBCs, Brahmins, Thakurs,
aswellastheDhangar(herding)community.
The BSP has given tickets to Muslim candi-
dates in the two Western UP seats of
Bulandshahr and Naugawan Sadat.
The other 13 seats
Two seats each are going to polls in
Karnataka,Odisha,Jharkhand,Nagalandand
Manipur. In Manipur, the only one of the 11
statesthatwillseevotingonNovember7,the
Election Commission had initially declared
five Assembly constituencies in the state as
“clear vacant”, but announced the election
schedule for only two.
Bypolls are being held in one seat each in
Telangana, Haryana and Chhattisgarh. These
include Marwahi in Chhattisgarh, which fell
vacant after the death of former Chief
Minister Ajit Jogi in May.
tionresultsetcwillimpactourmarkets,albeit
on a temporary basis.
Amid such concerns, what can drive the
market going forward?
The stock market will be driven by the
long-term growth trajectory. Global capital
in an era of abundant liquidity and ultra-low
interest rates will chase returns (US junk
bonds are trading at life-time low yields). For
many investors, growth or Innovation will
be a proxy for returns.
Thereisamoney-makingopportunityfor
adisciplinedstock-picker.Ononeside,defen-
sive sectors like FMCG, pharma, tech etc are
tradingathighvaluations.Ontheotherhand,
public-sectorundertakingsandpublic-sector
banks are trading at lifetime low valuations.
On the one hand, big is becoming bigger, but
ontheotherhandthemarketisvaluingDavid
farmorethanGoliath.Thefutureisbecoming
uncertain due to massive disruption, but is
most exciting for the disruptor. Within a sec-
tor,thereisawiderangeofreturnsaswinners
get rewarded disproportionately. There is
plentyof informationandnews,butitisdiffi-
cult to determine facts.
Which sectors or themes hold promise
for investors going forward?
At the cost of going wrong, a few trends
are worth capturing from a moneymaking
point of view:
■Sustainablelong-termgrowthisvisible
insectorswhereIndiaisbecomingpartof the
globalsupplychain.Sectorslikecontractman-
ufacturing and chemicals are at a take-off
stage,liketheITsectoratthebeginningof the
century, albeit with high valuations.
■ Firms on the wrong side of ESG (envi-
ronment, social and corporate governance)
investmentwillgetde-rated.Theirprofitswill
get low valuation irrespective of growth.
■ Challengers/disruptors will get high
valuations despite capital burn. Firms doing
disintermediation will get rewarded dispro-
portionately.
■ Sector where PSUs dominate, such as
bankingandinsurance,willprovidelong-term
growth opportunities to private firms.
Investorswillmakemoneyinthismarket
with lots of discipline and a bit of luck.
Portfolios that have virtuous companies like
thePandavaswilloutperformportfolioswith
vicious companies like the Kauravas.
Connery interjected a mixture of snobbery
and violence that has come to define the
character.”
Connery versus Bond
Connery was the only actor who came
back as Bond after being replaced — twice.
The first time, he quit after the fifth film,
YouOnlyLiveTwice(1967),andwasreplaced
with the Australian actor George Lazenby
in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969), the
latter’s only appearance as Bond. Connery
returned as Bond in Diamonds are Forever
(1971). It would be his last film in the “offi-
cial” Bond series — but not his last appear-
ance as Bond.
In 1973, Eon Productions replaced
Connery with Roger Moore. This upset
Connery, who resurrected himself as Bond
10 years later, in an “unofficial” film. Never
Say Never Again (1983) is a Hollywood pro-
duction, and a remake of Connery’s own
Thunderball (1965).
“He is the only actor to play the charac-
ter across 3 decades and remains a fan
favourite to this day!” said Dr Funnell.
Pune

11 IDEA EXCHANGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
‘
ARUN SHOURIE, FORMER UNION MINISTER, ECONOMIST, JOURNALIST, AUTHOR AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
Problem deeper than this govt... rot in systems
over time... (But) Mrs Gandhi had some shame
TheformerUnionministertalksaboutwhythedeclineof courtsanddemocraticinstitutionsinthisgovtisworse,pointsoutdifferencesbetweenVajpayeeandModiregimes,
andreasonswhyheisnotenamouredwithnumbersinpolicymakingassituationschange.ThesessionwasmoderatedbyNationalOpinionEditorVanditaMishra
VANDITAMISHRA:Inyourlatestbook,
PreparingforDeath,therearetwo
strandsof renunciation.Oneisasteady
distancingfromtheexternalworld.The
otherisrenunciationthroughimmer-
sioninit.Whichhasitbeenforyou?
Therearetwoverydistinctways.Oneis
Gandhiji’s way — he was immersed till his
last breath. And the other is (social refor-
mer) Vinoba Bhave’s way. He distances
himself from all public activity in the end...
Butwherethesetwothingscometogether
is that it was not a renunciation of external
thingsbut,forinstance,oftheego.Andthat
isalsotheteachingoftheGita.Act,notonly
without the expectation of fruit but also
without the illusion that you are the actor.
All these are synonyms for the abating of
evil.Andsoweshould notthink of thetwo
traditions as either/or.
VANDITAMISHRA:Youarefacinga
corruptioncaseinaRajasthanspecial
court.Forsomebodylikeyou,whohas
beenacrusaderagainstcorruption,
howareyoudealingwithit?
You could be angry. But the teaching is,
atthattime,don’tfocusontheevent.Focus
on your reaction to that event....
Every setback, like every success, is an
opportunitytoexamineourownmind.Itis
to look at ourselves and get to know the
mindbetter.Forinstance,thosedays,I was
quiteupset.ButIdidnotstopmydailyrou-
tineofmeditationfor45minutesandyoga.
Iwasabletodoallthatwithoutthethought
ofappearingbeforeanybody...Idon’tmind
that at all. We are nobody. Gandhiji stood
before magistrates, so did Lokmanya Tilak.
So, we should be humble....
VANDITAMISHRA:Doyoufeelletdown
bythisregime?
I think this regime is the ripening of
things which have been happening for 40
years.Thissuborningofinstitutions,inves-
tigative agencies, the police becoming the
private army of every chief minister. And
the way the Supreme Court has been con-
ductingitselfinmanycasesandthesenseof
theirpriorities...Theycanfindtimefor...Ar-
nabGoswamior(lateactor)SushantSingh
Rajput,butnotforKashmirormigrants?So
itisthisregimethatisacceleratingthatpro-
cess. It is brazen in using the instruments.
But the problem is much deeper than just
thisregime.Itistheprogressivedecayover
timeof allinstitutions,startingwithPar-
liament,thelegislatures,bureaucracy,ju-
diciary,andthemedia.Thisenablesthe
people... to change the norms. Today,
the norm is ‘I have no norms. I don’t
give a damn...’ So that is the culmina-
tionofalongprocess.Thatiswhythe
problem is much deeper.
VANDITAMISHRA:Youhave
providedagreatperspectiveon
thedeclineof thecourts.When
andwhy doyouthink ithas
reachedthepointthatithas?
Mrs (former PM Indira) Gandhi
hadmanyredeemingqualities,forin-
stance, a sense of shame... That is missing
intherulersoftoday.Butthiswholenotion
startedwith(formerlawminister)MrPShiv
Shankar’s phase of a committed judiciary
andcommittedbureaucracy.She(Gandhi)
superseded three judges. And that set a
precedent that if you don’t do what I want
you to do, I will act accordingly... I have al- BillsweresaidtobemoneyBills.Therefore,
waysfeltthatmoretreesarebroughtdown
by termites slowly hollowing them out,
rather than by the axe. So we as citizens
have to wake up in time. And in the case of
‘ ‘
thejudiciary,thewaytoensureaccountabil-
ity is... to continually monitor judgments.
VANDITAMISHRA:
Yousaidthecrisisof Under the guise of free
institutionsisnot
reallyacreationof speech, nonsense is being verylongtime.Nobo-
oneregime.That’s
true.Butwhatisit
spread... I would not back thing...Sotomakeita
thatwecannotput this... People are starting to practice to stay away
ontheprevious
regimes? see media as a problem, not push out anybody
I did not want to
suggestthat,‘Thishas
a fortress to be defended
been going on for a
long time, so what is
surprisinginit?’.Even
ifmurderhasbeengoingonforalongtime,
that does not justify my murdering any-
bodytoday.Soitistheresponsibilityof the
rulerstoreversecourseif thingshavebeen
goingwrong.Afterall,inMr(PMNarendra)
Modi’scase,hewasnotelectedtocontinue,
he was supposed to change things. Things
havebeenbadinthelowercourtsforalong
time. But those sitting as law ministers to-
dayweresupposedtoreversecourse.Have
theydoneanythingtoimprovenotonlythe
condition of the courts but also the proce-
dures?No.Theyjustwanttheirstatements
applauding the Prime Minister to be
prominently displayed...
It is not that the present regime is
merely continuing what was happening
earlier, it is accelerating the decline of one tomigrants...ButcouldthePMandhissec-
WHY
ARUN SHOURIE
A
n economist who as
The Indian Express
editor had taken on the
Indira Gandhi regime during the
Emergency, Shourie went on to
serve as a prominent member of
the Vajpayee Cabinet. However,
he has been at odds with the
Modi-led BJP and has emerged
as one of its most vociferous
critics. Known as a crusader
against corruption, he now has
a case against him dating back
to his time as minister
institution after the other.
VANDITAMISHRA:Whatarethecrises
thatarespecialtothisregime?
First is the complete throwing away of
allnorms.TheAadhaarBillandseveralother
they were not sent to the Rajya Sabha. So,
this is the complete throwing away of all
norms. And this has happened time and
again.Second,istheperversionofdiscourse.
‘ ‘
If you see the falsehoods which have been
uttered, I think they are exceeded only by
(USPresidentDonald)
Trump. And the third
is one for which the
country will pay for a
dy can know every-
fromallexpertiseand
whoisregardedasan
expert,opensnotjust
theregimebuttheco-
untrytogreatdanger.
I am certain that this
appliestotheChineseintrusions,theman-
agementoftheeconomyandthereformsin
courts...
If you had what (former US President
Abraham) Lincoln called ‘a team of rivals’,
thenyouwouldbehearingmore.Thiswas
(formerPM)Atalji’s(BihariVajpayee)great
quality.Hewouldmeetandlistentoallsorts
ofpeople.Hewouldgiveyoutheconfidence
that you could talk to him without any dif-
ficultyorfearofreprisal.Today,peopleshun,
fearing the reaction of the PM or (Union
Home Minister) Amit Shah. Then gover-
nance comes by revelation. One night, you
decideandcarryoutdemonetisation.Then,
for the next eight months, you defend its
consequences. The same thing happened
retariat not have foreseen this? Or when it
becamevisible,couldtheynothaveacted?
Whatkindofgovernmentsaysthatwecan-
not pay compensation because we don’t
know how many migrants died?
PVAIDYANATHANIYER:Historyhas
examplesof individualsatthehelm
suddenlychangingthenatureof
institutionsthat theylead.Forinstance,
TNSeshanintheElectionCommission,
orYVReddyintheReserveBankof
India.Sowhatisabsenttoday?
The institutions are the persons who
manthematthatparticulartime...Individu-
aljudgeshavechangedthecourseofjustice
in the Supreme Court... Institutions are not
something abstract, they are the individu-
als who man them. The problem is in this
selection of persons who will be there. For
instance, in legislatures, it is the party high
command which determines who will be
yourcandidate.Parliamentorastatelegisla-
tureisnotanabstractinstitution.Itisthetype
of persons who were offered to the public
and the public chose... So that then deter-
mineshowtheinstitutionwillbehave.This
is what happened in the judiciary. Former
Justice (J S) Verma, who was the author of
the collegium system, had said that it has
become a bargaining place... On the other
hand,if yougivetheExecutive,likethecur-
rentassertiveone,greaterauthority,youwill
haveanevenmoredisastrousjudiciary.
ANANTGOENKA:Worldover,moreand
morepeoplearevotingbasedoniden-
tityevenatthecostof theeconomyand
jobs.Whyisthishappening?Andwhy
havejournalistsmissedthetrend?
Thefactthattheyarevotinginaparticu-
lar way does not justify a particular crite-
rion.Ithinktheymaybevotingagainstthe
alternativeandnotfortheperson.Weread
toomanytheoriesintotheoutcome.Butthe
outcomemaybedeterminedbyseveralfac-
Newsmakers in the Newsroom
tors.ItmayjustbewhatIseeinthealterna-
tive... All of us got so fed up with the inac-thegovernmentdoesn’tvalueexperti-
tivityunderDrManmohanSingh’sgovern-
mentinthelasttwoyearsthatweimagined
theGujaratmodeltobewhatthefactstoday
revealitwasnot.Sopeoplemayfoolthem-
selvesandthenpayfortheconsequences....
ANANTGOENKA:Doyouthinkthat
peopletodaycareaboutfreespeech
andfreepressastheyusedto10-15
yearsago?Orisitnotashighasitwasin
theirprioritylist?Hasitbecome
collateraldamage
inthecurrent
politicalscenario? To make it a practice to stay who has been selec-
Theanswerisallof
these. But under the away from all expertise and type of person, then
guise of free speech,
nonsense is being
push out anybody who is you
spread. For instance, regarded as an expert, opens
the lies on social me-
dia or Republic TV. I not just the regime but the are being led to be-
wouldnotbeasliberal
as the Americans
country to great danger
phrase it, ‘The right to
freespeechistheright
to protect the speech
whichIhate.’If somebodyisspreadingun-
truth, I would not stand up for his rights... norm. And he certainly would be among
That is a short-sighted view... But I think
peoplearegravitatingtoseeus,thoseinthe
media, as a problem and not as a fortress
whichneedstobedefended.In(TheIndian
Express founder) Ramnathji’s case, who
were the defenders? They were the read-
ers... Every time there was a raid on Ram-
nathji’s house and on The Indian Express..., That’s not what I hear about the govern-
the circulation went up. This was because
thereadersfeltthatitwasnotjusttheir(the
media’s) voice which is being choked, ‘my
voice is being choked’. Today, the reader
doesnotseethatintheoverwhelmingpro-
portion of the media. That’s the problem.
NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIAN:So,how
shouldjournalismthenproceedinthis
dayandage?
Wemustcontinuetodoourduty,which
is speaking truth to power. Power often
meansthepeoplewhoaremisledonreser-
vation, communalism, lynching and so on.
We must continue to speak the truth to
themirrespectiveofwhatisfashionableto-
day. There was a wonderful sentence that
‘
Justice K Subba Rao (known for his dissen-
ting judgments) had said, ‘I am writing for
the brooding sense of
the future’... We
should not have that There is a misperception
much empathy for
that Mr Modi
people. If they don’t
listen to the truth as the RSS... He knows its
you are portraying it,
they will pay for it. senior leaders are froth...
VANDITAMISHRA:
Key persons
Doyouhaveadoubt his instruments now
aboutthecourse
thatyoueventually
tookvis-à-visthis
regime?
No. I waited for six months before I
spoke and till the evidence was in front of
everybody. And then I only crystallised
that evidence. I don’t think I would have
lasted 15 days if I had been inside the
regime because there is a character to the
regime. Why would I not have been
thrown out?... There is a view about the
type of person who should be there. I
would not have fitted in.
Illustration: Suvajit Dey
SHUBHAJITROY:Youmentionedhow
se.Doyoufeelthat isthecaseonChina?
Thegovernmenthasintheforeign
ministeranexperienceddiplomatwho
possiblyknowswhatishappening.
What,inyourview,isthewayforward?
The appointment of the foreign minis-
ter (S Jaishankar) was a wonderful idea of
MrModi.Atleastwehaveoneprofessional.
Iamnotsureoftheextenttowhichheislis-
tened to... Secondly, it’s very good that the
CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) has been crea-
ted.ButIdon’twantto
discuss the person
ted. If it is the same
are not going to
get contrary advice...
Have the Chinese
gone back? But we
lievethattalksareon...
So the people are not
being taken into con-
fidence. Theappoint-
ment of Mr
Jaishankar is a wonderful exception to the
thepersonswhowouldknowthesethings...
You don’t just have to have an expert, you
have to give the expert the confidence — ‘I
wanttolistentoyourindependentadvice.’
For example, in Mr Vajpayee’s case, I
found that his natural scepticism would
bringoutinyouthecontrarypointof view.
ment today. Independence does not mean
beingcontrary.Butfromthefew(ministers)
that I meet, I do not get that they have the
confidencetospeaktheirmind.Otherwise,
we would not be getting the types of jerky
decisions that we are getting.
SHUBHAJITROY:Sowhatistheway
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
‘
forward?
BerealisticaboutChina...Youthinkthis
istheworstformofviolence?Thewayisto
prepareformuchgreaterviolenceinthefu-
ture. And it takes 30 years to prepare. You
can’t do it overnight. This is true of defen-
sivepower.AndChinaisadisruptivepower.
So they can concentrate on one field of ac-
tivity, for instance, becoming proficient in
‘
cyber warfare. And their idea is to disrupt
anddisorientasocietyintwominutesthro-
ugh (interference in)
integratedpowernet-
work,railwaynetwo-
rk, air traffic control
is mindful of
systems,financialrec-
ords, broadcasting
systems,telecomsys-
tems.Theyrepeatedly
demonstratetheirca-
in districts are pability to do so. And
we continue to shut
our eyes to it.
SHYAMLALYADAV:
Whatisyourview
ontheRSS?
Mr Vajpayee was in the RSS but I don’t
think his worldview was conditioned by
that kind of thinking. Today, the RSS mid-
dleleadershiphasbeencompletelyco-op-
tedbythegovernmentapparatus.Andthey
are swept away by the small little things —
anofficialcar,beingsaluted...Thereisamis-
perceptiontodaythatMrModiismindfulof
theRSS.No.Heknowsthattheseniorlead-
ers of the RSS are just froth. He has got all
provincial leaders and key persons in dis-
trictsinhishands.Theyarehisinstruments
now.Andideologyisalwaysaninstrument
for domination.
PVAIDYANATHANIYER:Externally,the
countryisgrapplingwithChina.And
internally,thecountryisgrappling
withtheeconomy.Whatdoyouthink
hasgonewrong?Andwhatarethe
short-andlong-termreformsIndia
mustimplement?
First, let the government be truthful. I
remembertheexplicitself-publishedrevi-
ewofsomeeconomicadvisor(saying)that
wewillbegrowingby1.2percent.Where
is he?... Let’s be truthful and have confi-
denceinthepeopleof India.Tellthem
thetruth.Butonthequestionofstim-
uluspackagesandsoon,Ipersonally
have never been enamoured of a
numberingovernmentpolicymak-
ing.Forinstance,thedeficitshould
notexceed3.3or4percentofthe
GDP.It’sameaninglessnumber.
Situations change and we
shouldnotbestuckonapar-
ticularnumber.Similarly,for
theinflationrate,Idon’tthink
it’s a wonderful thing for
the RBI to just keep stick-
ing out the number and
twist all policies to ac-
cordwiththatparticular
number. So if a stimulus
is required, go in for that.
But it is not just throwing
money and saying I have given the
stimulus package. It is being able to im-
plementthatinusefulprojectsinthefuture.
Andthatcapacityislacking,becauseof the
general weakening of the governmental
systemanditsinabilityorunwillingnessto
be seen as harnessing the entrepreneurial
andmanagerialtalentintheprivatesector....
NobodybelievestheRs1lakhcrore(sti-
mulus)figure.Everysixmonthsyouaregiv-
ingaRs1lakhcrorefigureandnothinghap-
pens.So,truthwouldbemuchmorediverse.
VANDITAMISHRA:Inyourbook,oneof
theunderlyingthemesishowonecan
turnadversityintheirfavour.Doyou
believethecrisisthatweareinisgoing
toleaveuswithsomethingprecious
andbeautiful?Areyouanoptimist?
No, it all depends upon working at it.
Adversity breaks down many people. So
you have to work hard in converting ad-
versity intoa learning opportunity or bet-
ter growth. I’m worried about job losses.
I’m not worried about GDP going down...
So(it’sabout)usefulproduction,anderror
remediationof the environment,creation
of infrastructure,betterthoughtoutinfra-
structure in the Himalayas, rather than
converting Kedarnath and Badrinath into
Chardham Yatra and destroying the ecol-
ogy of the place. So, many things have to
be done. The short answer is adversity
does not automatically become a benefi-
cial thing. We have to work hard at it.
VANDITAMISHRA:Doyouseethat
happeningatall?
Not at all. I would very much like to be
correctedonthis...Andcertainly,Idon’tsee
that much hope in the conduct of our peo-
ple. If the coronavirus were to just disapp-
eartomorrow,Ithinkourbehaviourwillre-
verttothepast...Ithinkofmyselfasarealist,
asa person who seesthingsin front of him
and does not want to turn his gaze away.
Pune

12 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Rescue services at
work in Izmir, Turkey,
on Sunday. AP
TURKEY
70-yr-oldpulled
outalive,quake
tollhits71
RESCUE WORKERS extri-
cated a 70-year-old man
froma collapsed building
in western Turkey on
Sunday, some 34 hours
after a strong earthquake
in the Aegean Sea struck
TurkeyandGreece,killing
at least 71 people and in-
juring more than 900. It
wasthelatestseriesof re-
markable rescues after
the Friday afternoon
earthquake, which was
centered in the Aegean
northeast of the Greek is-
land of Samos. Search-
and-rescue teams were
working in nine toppled
or damaged buildings in
Izmir, Turkey’s third-
largest city, but appeared
tobefindingmore bodies
Sundaythansurvivors. AP
FRANCE
2morearrested
inNicechurch
attackcase
TWO MORE men were
arrested in connection
with a knife attack that
leftthreedeadatachurch
in Nice, bringing the
number of people in cus-
tody to six as investiga-
tors look at the suspected
assailant’s last known
contacts, a French police
source said. The latest ar-
rests took place on
Saturday, the source said.
An assailant beheaded a
woman and killed two
other people in a church
in Nice on Thursday, in
France’s second deadly
knife attack in two weeks
with a suspected Islamist
motive. REUTERS
HONG KONG
7arrestedover
disruptionof
legislature
HONG KONG police ar-
rested seven people
Sunday over scuffles that
broke out with security
guardsduringafaceoffbe-
tweenpro-democracyand
pro-Beijing lawmakers in
thecity’slegislatureearlier
this year. Those arrested
include current and for-
merlawmakersandaleg-
islativeaide,policesaid.All
seven are from the pro-
democracy camp. The
statement said the arrests
arepartofaninvestigation
into a May 8 committee
meeting in which pro-
democracy lawmakers
rushed toward the chair-
person’s seat and a pha-
lanx of security guards
shoved back. AP
ITALIANS NOW A LONG WAY AWAY FROM THE DAYS OF SINGING ON BALCONIES AND THEIR SUMMER FLING WITH FREEDOM
In Italy, like everywhere the virus goes, the discontent is contagious
JASON HOROWITZ
ROME, NOVEMBER 1
WHEN THE coronavirus first hit
Italy, overwhelming the coun-
try’s hospitals and prompting
the West’s first lockdown,
Italians inspired the world with
their resilience and civic respon-
sibility, staying home and
singing on their balconies. Their
rewardformonthsof quarantine
was a flattened curve, a gulp of
normalcy and the satisfaction of
usually patronising allies point-
ing to Italy as a model.
Italy is now a long way away
from those balcony days and its
summer fling with freedom.
PRESIDENT SEEKS LATE SURGE IN SUPPORT TO OVERCOME RIVAL’S LEAD
Trumplauncheshisfinalbattleground
pitch;BidenfocusesonPennsylvania
BILLBARROW,ZEKE
MILLER&AAMERMADHANI
BUTLER, NOVEMBER 1
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump is
mounting one final test of
whether the massive crowds
that often show up at his signa-
ture rallies will translate into
votes as he finishes the final 48
hoursof hisreelectioncampaign
with a dizzying onslaught of
eventsinthebattlegroundstates
that could decide the race.
The President will hold five
rallies in five states on Sunday
alone. He’ll hold seven more on
Monday tocloseoutthefinalfull
day of the campaign.
Downinthepollsandatacash
disadvantagetohisDemocraticri-
val,JoeBiden,Trumpisturningto
ralliestohelpkeephismessagein
front of voters. But it’s unclear
whethertheywillbroadenhisap-
peal beyond those already likely
to vote for him. And the packed
crowds risk deepening the pan-
demicatatimewhencoronavirus
cases are surging across the US.
But Trump, still relishing his
late-stageupsetinthe2016cam-
paign,seeshisshowmanshipasa
centralelementofhisoutsiderap-
peal that he hopes will resonate
again this year.
“Letmeaskyou,isthereabet-
Stanford study says 30,000 Covid cases,
700 deaths connected to 18 Trump rallies
YOSHITA SINGH
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 1
EIGHTEEN ELECTION rallies by
Donald Trump are estimated to
have led to more than 30,000
confirmed cases of coronavirus
andlikelyclaimedover700lives,
a new study by Stanford
University researchers said,
stressing that the communities
where the US President’s rallies
10 dead after Typhoon Quebec: 2 dead in Halloween stabbing spree
Goni slams Philippines Police say suspected attacker, dressed in medieval costume, held; five injured
The typhoon caused flooding in Bariw, Albay Province,
Philippines, on Sunday. Reuters
ENRICO DELA CRUZ
MANILA, NOVEMBER 1
AT LEAST 10 people died and
three others were missing after
Typhoon Goni, the world’s
strongest typhoon this year, bar-
relled through the south of the
Philippines’mainislandof Luzon
onSunday,aninitialgovernment
report showed.
More than 300 houses were
buried under volcanic rocks and
mud flows from Mayon Volcano
Instead,asasecondwaveengulfs
Europe and triggers new nation-
widelockdowns,Italyhasbecome
emblematic of a despair, exhaus-
tion and fear that is spreading
throughout the Continent.
France has applied a new na-
tional lockdown to contain sky-
rocketingcases.Germanyhasput
inplacesofter,butstillsevere,na-
tionwide restrictions. Ireland has
restricted movement and barred
visits to other people’s homes.
ThroughoutEurope,governments
are scrambling to deliver relief,
keep schools open and salvage
their economies.
And everywhere, if people
are not sick with the virus, they
are sick of it. In Italy, the discon-
Biden and Trump are campaigning across swing states
ahead of Tuesday’s election. AP, Reuters
terplacetobeanytime,anywhere
thanaTrumprally?”Trumpasked
a massive crowd Saturday in
Butler, Pennsylvania, that re-
sponded in roaring approval.
With more than 91 million
votes already cast, Trump and
Biden are out of time to reshape
therace.Instead,they’refocusing
on their base and making sure
thatanypotentialsupportershave
either already voted or plan to do
so in person on Tuesday.
For Biden, that means paying
close attention to Black voters
whoareacriticalpartofthecoali-
tion he needs to build to win. His
teamisconfidentinBiden’sstand-
ing with women, college-edu-
catedvotersandthosewholivein
At a Trump rally in Butler,
Pennsylvania Saturday. AP
took place “paid a high price in
terms of disease and death”.
in severely hit Albay province in
theBicolregion,alawmakersaid.
Storm surges hit some
coastal towns, while rivers over-
flowed and dikes were de-
stroyed, submerging several vil-
lages in Bicol.
Thedeadandmissingwereall
in Bicol, including nine in Albay,
the Office of Civil Defence said.
Earlier in the day, Albay
Governor Al Francis Bichara re-
ported that a five-year-old had
been washed away in flash
floods in his province. REUTERS
A nearly empty street in Milan last week on the first day the
city imposed new restrictions to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus. NYT
tent is exploding.
The country that gave the
Western world a preview of
RACE FOR
THE WHITE
HOUSE
the suburbs. Biden will spend
much of Sunday in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, encouraging vot-
ers to turn out. He’ll participate
in a “souls to the polls” event
that’s aimed at encouraging
Black church congregations to
organise and vote.
In the study titled ‘The Effects
of Large Group Meetings on the
Spread of Covid-19: The Case of
Trump Rallies’, researchers con-
cluded that 18 rallies by Trump
held between June 20 and
September22“ultimatelyresulted
in more than 30,000 incremental
confirmedcasesof Covid-19”and
“likely led to more than 700
deaths”,whichmaynotnecessar-
ilyhavebeenamongattendees.
“Our analysis strongly sup-
AUSTIN RAMZY
NOVEMBER 1
THE POLICE in Quebec City on
Sundayarrestedamandressedin
medieval garb who was believed
to have killed at least two people
and injured several others in a
stabbing spree on Halloween.
The attacks occurred late
Saturday in a neighbourhood
near the Quebec provincial
Parliament building. The police
said they began searching for a
man suspected of carrying out
Nepal ruling NCP’s unity under threat: party leader
YUBARAJ GHIMIRE
KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 1
SIXMONTHSafterafactionalfeud
erupted in the ruling Nepal
Communist Party (NCP), its gen-
eralsecretaryBishnuPoudelsenta
publicmessagetotopleadersand
party cadres to resolve the inter-
naldifferencesandsavetheparty.
Covid’s awful human toll — that
demonstrated the necessity, and
success,of anationallockdown—
E
E X P L A I NE D
Taking
lessons
● from2016
DESPITEBIDEN’Sleadin
manybattlegroundstates,the
Trumpcampaignhaspointed
tohissurprise2016win,
whichcameafteralatesurge
insupporthelpedhimover-
comeHillaryClinton’slead.
Searchingforthatmomen-
tumheadingintoelection
day,Trumpisonacampaign
blitz,doingralliesinuptofive
statesinoneday.Bidenis
lookingtomakesurethatvot-
erswhoopposeTrumpwill
bemotivatedenoughtoturn
outtovotefortheDemocrat.
Clinton’snarrowlossin
Pennsylvaniaandothercru-
cialstatesin2016hasbeenat-
tributedtothefactthatthou-
sandsof potentialDemocratic
votersdidnotcasttheirballot.
According to an analysis by
University of Florida professor
Michael McDonald, a nonparti-
san political data expert, almost
2.3 million Pennsylvania voters
had returned absentee ballots as
of Friday out of almost 3.1 mil-
lion requested. AP
ports the warnings and recom-
mendations of public health of-
ficials concerning the risk of
Covid-19 transmission at large
group gatherings, particularly
when the degree of compliance
with guidelines concerning the
use of masks and social dis-
tancing is low. The communi-
ties in which Trump rallies took
place paid a high price in terms
of disease and death,” the re-
searchers said. PTI
Police cars patrol near the Quebec Parliament on Sunday. AP
theattacks,whowasdescribedas
wearing medieval costume and
carryingasword,afterreceivinga
Poudel, who is also the
Minister of Finance in the K P Oli
government, said: “I request all
leaders, cadres and member
comrades to contribute to save
theparty’sunitybyresolvingthe
internal differences.”
The row began when a sec-
tion of the party led by co-chair-
man Pushpa Kamal Dahal
‘Prachanda’ demanded that the
nowstandsforsomethingdarker.
Italy has become a symbol of
Europe’ssquanderedadvantages,
theimpotenceofhalfmeasuresin
the face of a virus that does not
abidebycompromises,andtheso-
cialandpoliticalcostsofnotmak-
inggoodonpromisesof relief.
Italians, coming down hard
fromtheirsummereuphoria,are
exasperated.
“We’vereachedtheendofour
rope,” said Emanuele Tudini,
whose wife applauded doctors
from their apartment window
and whose children drew
“EverythingWillBeOK”rainbows
at the beginning of the crisis.
He spoke in his bar in front of
the Pantheon in central Rome,
FIRST DAY OF NATIONWIDE COVID TESTING
HALF OF SLOVAKIA’S POPULATION TESTED
Nearly half of Slovakia’s entire population took Covid-19 swabs on Saturday, the first day
of two-day nationwide testing the government hopes will help reverse a fast rise in infec-
tions without a hard lockdown. Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said 2.58 million Slovaks
took the test, and 25,850 or 1% tested positive and must go into quarantine.
Obama at a campaign event
for Biden in Detroit on
Saturday. Reuters
Obama: Trump
cares about
feeding his ego
ALEXANDRA JAFFE
FLINT, NOVEMBER 1
BARACK OBAMA is hitting US
President Donald Trump right
where he thinks it’ll hurt most:
His ego.
Campaigning for Joe Biden
on Saturday, the former presi-
dent painted Trump as insecure
and self-absorbed, describing
him as a failed president who
cares more about himself than
the country.
“Trump cares about feeding
his ego. Joe cares about keeping
you and your family safe,”
Obama said in Flint, Michigan.
In a scathing speech, Obama
mocked and belittled Trump for
everything from the President’s
criticism of the media coverage
of the coronavirus pandemic —
Trump, he said, was “jealous of
Covid’s media coverage” —to his
“obsession with crowd size”.
“He’sstillworriedabouthisin-
auguration crowd being smaller
thanmine.Itreallybugshim.He’s
still talking about that. Does he
have nothing better to worry
about?” Obama said. “Did no one
come to his birthday party as a
kid? Was he traumatised?”
Obama at times smiled as he
jabbed the President and often
soundedincredulousatthestate
of his administration. AP
call just before 10.30 pm.
The police advised residents
to avoid the Parliament Hill
other party chief, Oli, quit his
NCP leadership post and involve
the party in the running of the
government.
Poudel’s unusual step could
indicate that the party is on the
verge of a split.
In comments on Twitter and
Facebook, Poudel said, “I appeal
toleaders,cadresandpartycom-
rades to seriously ponder over
where angry cooks in chef hats,
restaurateursandfellowbarown-
ersprotestednewgovernmentre-
strictionsthatshutthemdownaf-
ter 6 pm. It was one of dozens of
predominantly peaceful protests
that have erupted across the
country in recent days. “There’s a
ton of rage and suffering.”
Italianhospitals,whichdeliv-
ered a searing global preview of
the horror to come in March, are
again under strain and intensive
care units are filling up.
Milan,Italy’seconomicengine,
isthenewcapitalof itscontagion
and seems on the brink of quar-
antine.Thepoorerandvulnerable
southisexposed,andNeapolitans
have rioted against early closures
UK govt announces
4-week lockdown,
says may last longer
JILL LAWLESS
LONDON, NOVEMBER 1
A NEW national lockdown in
England may have to last longer
than the planned four weeks if
coronavirusinfection rates don’t
fallquicklyenough,a seniorgov-
ernment minister said Sunday.
The lockdown announced
SaturdaybyPrimeMinisterBoris
Johnson is to run from Thursday
until Dec. 2. Johnson says it’s
needed to stop hospitals from
becoming overwhelmed by
Covid-19 patients within weeks.
Cabinet minister Michael
Gove said it was the govern-
ment’s “fervent hope” that the
lockdownwouldendontime,but
that could not be guaranteed.
“With a virus this malignant,
and with its capacity to move so
quickly, it would be foolish to
predict with absolute certainty
what will happen in four weeks’
time,” he told Sky News. “We’re
going to review it on the 2nd of
December but we’re always
driven by what the data says.”
Under the new restrictions,
bars and restaurants can only of-
fertake-out,non-essentialshops
must close and people will only
be able to leave home for a short
listof reasonsincludingexercise.
Yet unlike during the UK’s
first three-month coronavirus
Australia records no new
cases for 1st time in months
LIDIA KELLY
MELBOURNE, NOVEMBER 1
AUSTRALIA RECORDED no new
dailycoronaviruscommunityin-
fections on Sunday for the first
time in nearly five months,
health officials said, paving the
way for further easing of social
distancing restrictions.
The state of Victoria, a coro-
navirus hot spot which accounts
for more than 90% of Australia’s
907 coronavirus-related deaths,
saw zero new daily infections
neighbourhoodandtostayinside
astheysearchedfortheattacker.
The police said they arrested
a man shortly before 1 am on
Sunday, but advised residents to
remain inside while an investi-
gation was underway.
Two people were killed and
five were injured, said Étienne
Doyon, a police spokesman. The
arrestedmanwasinhismid-20s,
the spokesman said, without
providing further details.
Thepolicesaidtheirinitialin-
vestigation did not point to an
act of terrorism. NYT
the issue, and contribute posi-
tively to save the unity.”
Prachanda, after refusing
several invitations from Oli to
“discuss and settle” differences,
went to the PM’s residence on
Saturday after a gap of 11 days
only to tell him personally that
he was not reliable and honest
enoughtoimplementanyagree-
ments between them.
imposed to avoid a massacre.
Romans are swinging erratically
between last-days-of-disco day
drinking and holing up during
eerily quiet nights.
Allaroundthecountry,unease
ismorphingintounrest,withvio-
lent protests breaking out Friday
nightinFlorence.Largecrowdsin
Trieste chant that they just want
towork.Anddemonstratorshave
takentothestreetsinnearlyevery
majorItaliancity,fromPalermoto
Bologna to Verona.
Mobsters, hooligans and far-
right extremists have exploited
thefrustrationandanger,infiltrat-
ing protests and tossing Molotov
cocktails. The police are increas-
ingly on edge. NYT
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
UK PM Boris Johnson
announced the measures on
Saturday evening
THE RESTRICTIONS
■ People will only be
allowed to leave home
for specific reasons such
as education, work,
exercise, shopping for
essentials and
medicines or caring for
the vulnerable.
■Pubs and restaurants
will be shut apart from
for takeaways. All non-
essential retail will close.
■ Essential shops,
schools, and universities
will remain open.
lockdown earlier this year,
schools, universities, construc-
tion sites and manufacturing
businesses will stay open. AP
and no deaths for the second
consecutive day.
With no fresh cases of Covid-
19 recorded in the rest of the
country,Australiasawitsfirstday
of no transmissions since June 9,
Health Minister Greg Hunt said.
“Thank you to all of our
amazing health & public health
workers & above all else the
Australian people,” Hunt said on
his Twitter account.
Swift and stringent measures
combinedwithcommunitycom-
pliance have been credited for
reigning in the virus. REUTERS
China to begin
construction of
Sichuan-Tibet
Railway section
near India border
KJM VARMA
BEIJING, NOVEMBER 1
CHINA IS all set to begin the con-
structionofthestrategicSichuan-
Tibet Railway between Ya’an in
southwest Sichuan province and
LinzhiinTibet,closetotheIndian
border in Arunachal Pradesh,
state-run media reported.
ChinaRailwayannouncedon
Saturday the bidding results for
the construction of two tunnels
and one bridge, as well as the
power supply project for the
Ya’an-Linzhi section of the
Sichuan-Tibet Railway, indicat-
ingthatconstructionof theproj-
ect is about to begin.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway is
the second such project in Tibet
after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
It will go through the southeast
of theQinghai-TibetPlateau,one
of the world's most geologically
activeareas,areportbythestate-
run China News reported.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway
starts from Chengdu, the capital
of Sichuan province, and travels
throughYa’anandentersTibetvia
Qamdo, shortening the journey
from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48
hoursto13hours,thereportsaid.
Linzhi, which is also known
as Nyingchi, is located close to
Arunachal Pradesh border.
Linzhialsohasanairport,one
of the five built by China in the
Himalayan region.
The newly-built Ya’an-Linzhi
sectionruns1,011kilometresand
includes26stations.Trainsareex-
pected to run at speeds between
120and200kmperhour,astaffer
in charge of the project said.
The total cost of the entire
Sichuan-Tibet Railway project is
around 319.8 billion yuan ($47.8
billion), Global Times reported.
The Sichuan-Tibet railway is
also of great significance in
safeguarding national unity
and maintaining border stabil-
ity, the daily quoted Chinese ex-
perts as saying. PTI
Pune

13 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
MANUFACTURERS FEEL NOVEMBER SALES WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG
Octsalesriseforautomakers,festive
buying propels domestic numbers
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
FESTIVE BOOST, alongside the
pent-up demand and purchase
from first time buyers, saw all
major auto manufacturers re-
port a jump in their domestic
sales in October.
While Maruti Suzuki India
Ltd (MSI) announced a 17.6 per
cent rise in its domestic
passenger vehicle sales at
1,63,656 units in October,
Hyundai Motors announced its
highest ever monthly sale of
56,605 units in the domestic
market, witnessing a 13.2 per
cent growth over the correspon-
ding month last year.
Signallingasharp reboundin
rural demand, Hero MotoCorp
soldarecordof 8,06,848vehicles
in October — its highest ever
Settlement
scheme for
illiquid stock
option cases
extended: Sebi
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
INVIEWofthelarge-scaledisrup-
tion caused by the Covid-19 pan-
demic, the Securities and
ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)has
extended till December 31 the
one-time settlement scheme for
entities that executed reversal of
tradesinstockoptionssegmentof
the BSE during 2014 and 2015.
The scheme, introduced by
theregulatorinJuly,commenced
onAugust1andwassupposedto
end on October 31. However,
amidst the disruption caused by
Covid-19,Sebigotrepresentations
seekingextensionof thescheme.
BRIEFLY
‘India’sstrategy
ofdealingwith
Covidpaidoff’
New Delhi: Ficci President
Sangita Reddy on Sunday
said India’s strategy of deal-
ing with the Covid-19 crisis
has “paid off and the coun-
try’s economy is set to
bounce back and emerge
stronger.” She said it was
timetotakeboldactionsand
pushthegrowthagendavig-
orously. “The dilemma for
governments across the
world was creating a bal-
ance between protecting
lives and livelihoods. India
tookthepathofastrictlock-
down to ramp up health in-
frastructure and focused on
human lives. This strategy
has paid off,” Reddy said.
Covaxinlaunch
inQ22021:
BharatBiotech
NewDelhi:BharatBiotechis
planning to launch Covaxin
— its Covid-19 vaccine can-
didate—inthesecondquar-
ternextyearifitgetsthereq-
uisite approvals from the
Indian regulatory authori-
ties, Sai Prasad, the com-
pany’s Bharat Biotech
International Executive
Director, said. Covaxin has
been developed in collabo-
ration with the Indian
CouncilofMedicalResearch
(ICMR)-NationalInstituteof
Virology (NIV) using inacti-
vated Sars-Cov-2, the virus
that causes Covid-19.
CILproduction
risesby18%to
47MTinOct
New Delhi: Coal India Ltd
(CIL)saidSundaythatitpro-
duced 46.8 million tonnes
(MT)ofcoallastmonth,reg-
istering a rise of 18.4 per
cent. It had produced 39.5
MTofcoalinthecorrespon-
ding month last fiscal. PTI
MSI, TATA MOTORS AMONG MAJOR GAINERS
■ During the Navratri
period, while MSI retailed
nearly 60 per cent of its
total domestic sales in
October, Hyundai retailed
nearly 50 per cent of its
domestic sales in the
10-day period
monthly sales in a single month.
Among passenger vehicle
(PV) manufacturers, while
Honda Cars India and Toyota
Kirloskar Motors announced 8.3
per cent and 4.2 per cent rise in
sales, respectively, in October,
Mahindra & Mahindra and MG
Motors too announced year-on-
year sales growth of 1 per cent
and 6 per cent, respectively.
Whilemanufacturersstarted
‘Premium income falls 6%
for non-life insurers in Sept’
Non-life insurers posted a 5.55% fall in gross premium
income at `22,774.60 crore in September against the
year-ago month, data from insurance regulator Irdai said
38.04%: Rise in premium income reported by the seven
standalone health insurers among non-life insurers; from
`1,118.24 crore a year ago to `1,543.62 crore this September
Q2 earnings: Sales dull, but cost Amazon contentions ‘misconceived’, RRVL
cuts help companies save cash deal in best interests of stakeholders: Future
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
AFTER A good start, the earnings
season is beginning to reflect the
pain in corporate India.
Worryingly, analysts believe that
much of the spurt in demand for
carsortwo-wheelersarisingfrom
the festive and wedding seasons
may subside by the end of
December. However, the revival
in purchases of residential prop-
erties is good news and should
create demand for a set of con-
sumer durables.
With the private sector un-
likely to make any meaningful
greenfieldinvestmentsforatleast
twoyears,demandforequipment
could be dull. Nonetheless, the
good show put up by cement
companies - especially UltraTech
which turned in stellar numbers
as volumes rose 8 per cent year-
on-year — suggests construction
activity is picking up.
A good part of the overall de-
How inventory gains helped boost Sept
quarter profits of state-run oil companies
KARUNJITSINGH
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
BOTHINDIANOilCorporationLtd.
(IOC) and Bharat Petroleum
Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) have re-
ported strong financial results in
the second quarter this fiscal, de-
spite lower operating revenues.
Thekeyitemdrivingprofitsfor
both companies in the quarter
were‘inventorygains’.Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation Limited
(HPCL), the third biggest state-
owned oil refiner, has not yet re-
portedfinancialresultsforthesec-
ondquarter.Hereisalookatwhat
causes inventory gains and how
they impact the financial
performance of oil marketing
companies (OMCs).
Whatareinventorygains?
Inventorygainsareregistered
fromanappreciationinthevalue
■ Tata Motors retailed
10,887 units in the Navratri
period, a rise of 90 per cent
over 5,725 units last year.
Kia Motors India said it
saw a 224 per cent increase
in retail sales
during Navratri
witnessing revival in sales in
August and September on ac-
count of demand for small cars
from first time buyers and those
looking to avoid public trans-
portation amidst the Covid-19
pandemic, October got the fes-
tiveshotasamajorityof thesales
came in the 10 days of Navratri.
Manufacturers feel that Novem-
ber sales will continue to be
strong as traditionally buyers
With business in urban
areas somewhat dull,
sales in the September
quarter have been
subdued barring a
couple of exceptions
mand seems to be stemming
from rural and small-town India.
With business in urban areas
somewhat dull, sales in the
September quarter have been
subdued barring a couple of ex-
ceptions;the11percenty-o-yfall
intheaggregaterevenuesfor387
companies (excluding banks and
financials)wasdriveninteraliaby
a 24 per cent y-o-y fall in the rev-
enues at Reliance Industries, a 12
per cent y-o-y drop at Larsen &
Toubro,a66percenty-o-ydecline
atInterGlobeAviation,anda7per
cent y-o-y fall at Bajaj Auto.
Margins, therefore, are being
eked out of sharp cuts in costs as
ofinventoryheldbya
company. In the case
of OMCs, inventory
gains can be caused
by an appreciation in
the price of crude,
classified as refining
inventorygains,oran
appreciation in the
price of products such as petrol
anddiesel,classifiedasmarketing
inventory gains.
Refininginventorygainsarea
result of an appreciation in the
priceofcrudeoilinthecompany’s
inventory.OMCsboughtcrudein
AprilwhenthepriceofBrenthita
lowof$19.33perbarrel.Theprice
of Brent crude recovered to
around$40-45perbarrelinmid-
June, though a recent fall pushed
itto$38perbarrelinlateOctober.
OMCs can also get inventory
gains from an upward change in
thepriceof endproducts,includ-
ing petrol and diesel, that they
plan their vehicle purchase dur-
ing Diwali.
During the Navratri period,
while MSI retailed nearly 60 per
cent of its total domestic sales in
October,Hyundairetailednearly
50 per cent of its domestic sales
during the 10-day period. Tata
Motorsretailed10,887unitsdur-
ing the Navratri period this year,
an increase of 90 per cent over
5,725 units last year. Kia Motors
India said it witnessed a 224 per
cent increase in retail sales dur-
ing the 10-day period at 11,640
units.
Rajesh Goel, director—mar-
keting & sales, Honda Cars India,
said, “The festive buying picked
up from Navratra in mid-
October and we are focusing on
maximising deliveries during
this period ... We expect this de-
mand to continue through
Diwali which will further accen-
6.08%: FALL IN GROSS
PREMIUM INCOME OF PUBLIC
SECTOR NON-LIFE
INSURANCE COMPANIES
FROM `11,669.43 CRORE IN
SEPTEMBER 2019 TO
`10,959.88 CRORE THIS
SEPTEMBER
1.37% Rise in total
premium
income collected by the 34
non-life insurers during
April-September period;
from Rs 95,526.89 crore in
2019-20 to Rs 96,831.55
crore this fiscal
`24,111.78 crore: Premium
income garnered by the 34
non-life insurance companies
in September 2019
`7,812.39 crore: Cumulative premium of
standalone health insurers in April-September,
rising 28.10 per cent from the year-ago period
companies conserve cash and
save on everything, from promo-
tional spends to staff. While be-
nign input costs have no doubt
helped - raw materials to sales
were down a chunky 600 bps y-
o-y-totalexpenditurefellasteep
21 per cent y-o-y.
For the sample, operating
profit margins have increased by
awhopping11percentagepoints
y-o-y. A good example of this is
TVS Motors. Though revenues
rose just 6 per cent y-o-y during
the quarter, the company re-
ported strong operating margins
of9.3percentanda13percenty-
o-y increase in Ebitda due to
falling other expenses, mainly
promotion and marketing ex-
penses. Staff costs also fell 8 per
centy-o-yassalarycutshadbeen
initiated in Q2FY21. Nestle re-
portedanEbitdamarginof25per
cent, a near lifetime high on the
back of higher gross margins and
lower A&P spends;the company
optimised costs but also gained
from accounting changes. FE
have in stock. The
prices of petrol and
diesel are calculated
basedonbenchmark
prices of petrol and
diesel in the interna-
tional market.
Notably, OMCs were
likely insulated from
some possible declines in the in-
ternational prices of petrol and
diesel as they stopped revising
pricesonadailybasisfromMarch
16 to June 6 when international
pricesofthesefuelsfellsharplyas
aresultoflowglobalcrudeprices.
Howdidthesechangesin
inventoryvalueaffectthe
performanceof OMCs?
TheriseinBrentpriceallowed
IOC to register a gain of Rs 5,829
croreoncrudealoneandatotalin-
ventory gain of Rs 7,400 crore —
including marketing inventory
gain on end products such as
tuate growth for us and the in-
dustry at large.”
Naveen Soni, senior VP—
sales & service, Toyota Kirloskar
Motors, said, “The month of
October has been our best
month so far since March 2020.
The festive season has proved to
bebullishaswewitnessdemand
surging, month-on-month. This
hasbeentrueof ourretailstooas
order flow has been smooth,
from the very beginning.”
For MSI, while sales of mini
cars — comprising Alto and
S-Presso — declined marginally
to 28,462 units in October as
against 28,537 units in the same
month last year, sales in the
compact segment — that in-
cludes models such as Swift,
Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire
— saw a 19.2 per cent increase to
95,067 units as against 75,094
cars in October last year.
5.04%: DECLINE IN
GROSS PREMIUM INCOME OF
OF PRIVATE NON-LIFE
INSURANCE PLAYERS;
FROM `12,442.35 CRORE IN
SEPTEMBER 2019 TO
`11,814.71 CRORE IN
SEPTEMBER 2020
`53,484.06 crore:
Cumulative premium
collection of private sector
insurers in April-September
this fiscal, up by 1.78% over a
year ago
`43,347.49 crore:
Cumulative premium of public
sector insurers during
April-September period of
2020-21, rising 0.86% over
year-ago period
Source:
Irdai/PTI
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
KISHORE BIYANI’S Future Retail
Limited(FRL)onSundayshotback
at global e-commerce giant
Amazon’s letter to Securities and
ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi),the
BSE and the National Stock
Exchange (NSE), saying that the
contentions raised by Amazon
were “entire misconceived”.
“In its letter, Amazon has
painted a picture that public
shareholdersofFRLarebeingmis-
led.Itisabitrichforsuchanargu-
ment to be made from someone
who is not even a shareholder in
FRL. Evidently, Amazon’s letter is
motivated by other considera-
tions,”FRLsaidinitsupdatetothe
BSE and NSE.
On August 29, Future Retail
hadannouncedthatitwould“sell
by way of a slump sale the retail
andwholesalebusiness”ofitssu-
permarket chain Big Bazaar, pre-
mium food supply unit Foodhall,
petrol and diesel — when net
profit for the September quarter
wasRs6,227crore.Similarly,BPCL
sawarefininginventorygainofRs
1,303 crore and a marketing in-
ventory gain of Rs 1,200 crore in
thequarterendingSeptember30.
Notably,allthreestate-owned
OMCshadregisteredmajorinven-
torylosseslastfiscalduetoasharp
fallintheglobalpriceof crudeoil.
Whatquantifiesoperational
performanceof OMCswhen
inventorygainsandlossesplay
suchamajorroleinearnings?
Whileanalystsdotakeintoac-
count the ability of a company to
claw back inventory losses in-
curred, they assess operational
performancebycomparinggross
profits with EBITDA or operating
profittoassesstheunderlyingop-
erating performance of the OMC.
Full report on
www.indianexpresss.com
Market Watch
FPIS TURN NET BUYERS IN OCT
New Delhi: Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned net buyers in
October in domestic markets by putting in Rs 22,033 crore as
participant sentiment was driven by resumption of economic
activities and robust quarterly corporate results among others. PTI
TAXATION SYSTEM STABILITY IS VERY IMPORTANT: FINANCE SECRETARY
‘No one is saying this is the
end of the stimulus ... we’ll
intervene at the right time’
AANCHALMAGAZINE
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
THE GOVERNMENT has not yet
exhaustedallitsoptionsforstim-
ulusmeasuresasitiscloselymon-
itoring the economic situation
and is working on more stimulus
measures to revive the economy
reeling from the impact of the
Covid-19 pandemic, Finance
Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey
said.Production-linkedincentives
coupledwiththeearlierreduction
in corporate tax rate cut will help
bring in more investments in the
country, Pandey said in an inter-
view with The Indian Express.
“No one is saying that this is
theendofthestimulusorthatwe
have exhausted all our options. If
any sector requires help at any
point of time, we will intervene.
Weareinconsultationswithvar-
iousbusinessgroups,CII,Ficciand
various MSME groups and we
havebeengettingvarioussugges-
tions. We will come out with
measures.Aswehavedoneinthe
last seven months, we will inter-
veneattherighttimeandwewill
ensurethatwewilldoeverything
possible and in the best interests
of everyone,” Pandey said.
He,however,ruledoutanytin-
kering of the tax rates as a de-
mand-boosting measure in the
ongoing economic crisis.
“The tinkering of the taxation
structure is something which we
needtobeveryverycarefulabout,
because we took a very bold step
andreducedthecorporatetaxrate
and we are among the lowest
taxedcountriesintheworld.Ifany
tax exemptions have to be given,
howwillthegovernmentgiveit?
It will again lead to distortions in
the tax structure. Now that we
have come down to a reasonable
level of taxation, what it then re-
quiresisthatweshouldcontinue
with that and should not go on
tinkering with that. Because sta-
bilityofthetaxationsystemisalso
veryveryimportant.Ifyouchange
FUTURERETAIL
UPDATETOBSE,NSE
■ Future Retail, in an
update to the BSE and
NSE, said the bourses
should not take
cognisance of either
Amazon’s letter or the
emergency arbitrator’s
order as Future Retail
had complied with all
the requirements of
obtaining approvals
from Future
Coupons, the
promoter group entity
and fashion and clothes super-
mart Brand Factory’s retail and
wholesaleunits,toRelianceRetail
Ventures (RRVL).
The deal had run afoul of
Amazon,thathadboughta49per
cent stake in Future Coupons,
which translates to roughly 3.58
Commercial
coal mining:
19 blocks to be
auctioned
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER1
COMPANIES LIKE Vedanta, Jindal
Steel and Power, Adani Enterp-
rises,HindalcoIndustriesandJSW
Steel are in the race for the first-
ever auction of 19 coal blocks for
commercial mining, which will
kick-start from Monday.
The auction under which 19
coal blocks would go under the
hammer will continue for eight
days,fromNovember2-9,accord-
ing to Coal Ministry.
On Monday, the electronic
auctionwouldbeheldforfivecoal
blocks — Chakla, Jharkhand;
Marki Mangli-II, Maharashtra;
Radhikapur(West),Odisha;Takli-
Jena-Bellora (North) & TakliJena-
Bellora(South),Maharashtra;and
Urtan, Madhya Pradesh.
‘PATH-BREAKING REFORMS’
it every month or every two
months, on one ground or the
other,itdoesn’taugurwellforthe
country’s economy or financial
system,” he said.
Pandey, who also holds the
chargeasRevenueSecretary,said
labourlaws,production-linkedin-
centives (PLI) and farm law
amendmentsaretheareaswhich
canbeconsideredaspath-break-
ingreforms.PLI—whichthegov-
ernment proposes to expand to
more sectors beyond the already
announced sectors of pharma-
ceuticals, medical devices and
mobile phones — will be benefi-
cial as it’s linked to incremental
growth rather than providing in-
centives to everyone, he said.
“PLI is not an usual industrial
incentive scheme.Itsarchitecture
isquiteunlikeothertraditionalin-
centiveschemes,whereyougave
incentivestoeveryonebydemoc-
ratisingandthinlyspreadingover
thelargenumberofbeneficiaries.
As a result, it used to have a very
marginal impact as compared to
the actual money being spent.
Now, in this PLI architecture, in-
centive depends upon the incre-
mental growth, so if you are not
growing,youwillnotgetit.Those
whoareabletogrowmorewillget
higher incentive. That, coupled
withourlowestcorporatetaxrate
willhelpbusinessesmake invest-
ments in our country,” he said.
Whenaskedabouttheearlier
concerns expressed by the
ReserveBankof Indiaaboutbusi-
nessesusingcorporatetaxratecut
per cent in Future Retail.
In its update to BSE and NSE,
Future Retail said that Amazon
had treated two separate agree-
ments as “a single integrated
transaction by which the latter
hadobtainedinterestinandrights
against the former.
Future said that BSE and NSE
should not take cognisance of ei-
ther Amazon’s letter or the eme-
rgencyarbitrator’sorderasFuture
Retail had complied with all the
requirements of obtaining ap-
provalsfromFutureCoupons,the
promoter group entity. Future
Retailhasalsoreiteratedthatasit
wasundergoingseriousfinancial
difficulties, especially due to the
Covid-19pandemic,theproposed
deal with RRVL was the only way
it could come of the situation.
“(The)schemeisinthebestin-
terest of all stakeholders, that in-
cludes shareholders, financial in-
stitutions,vendorsandsuppliers,
andmoreimportantlyemployees
...anydelayintheimplementation
of scheme will cause irreparable
‘EU antitrust chief
does not see breakup
of large tech cos’
REUTERS
BERLIN, NOVEMBER 1
SPLITTING UP LARGE tech com-
panies such as Google and
Facebook will not be necessary,
Europe’s antitrust chief was
quoted as saying on Sunday.
European Competition
Commissioner Margrethe
Vestagerisduetoannouncenew
draft rules for the digital sector
on December 2 and will then
have to reconcile her proposal
with those from member coun-
tries and the European
Parliament.
On Thursday, she said she
would propose new powers for
enforcers to tackle market fail-
ures in digital markets and to
stop new ones from emerging.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
■ Finance Secretary Ajay
Bhushan Pandey said
labour laws,
production-linked
incentives and farm law
amendments are the areas
which can be considered as
path-breaking reforms
only for paring debt or building
cash balances, Pandey said the
lowertaxratewillhelpinprovid-
ingapositivesignalforlong-term
investment decisions, a decision
which isn’t temporary.
“With corporate tax cut and
other recent major reforms,
Aatmanirbhar Package and PLI,
we have given positive signals to
potential investors. The fact that
India is no more a high tax coun-
tryandithasallotherenablingre-
forms and environment will at-
tract investments,” he said.
Ontheissueof compensation
payments to states under the
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
regime, Pandey said dialogue is
happening at various levels with
thedissentingstates.“Thecentral
government had said that it will
provideaspecialwindowthrough
which it will facilitate the loans.”
“States were in the need of
money, especially those which
had given their choices. So, it was
thought we could have an
arrangementofaspecialwindow
through central borrowing and
then pass it on to the states back-
to-back like it happens in all ex-
ternally aided projects. The cen-
tralgovernmenthastriedtobeas
accommodative as possible be-
cause states and Centre have to
work together. Borrowing has
beenmadeverysimple.Statesare
not being burdened, interest rate
islow.Wearehavingdialoguesat
various levels with (dissenting)
state so that they could join the
schemeof borrowing,”headded.
losses to all stakeholders,” Future
retail said in its statement to the
exchanges.
TheFRLupdatetothebourses
also mentions that Amazon had
sought Rs 1,431 crore plus inter-
est as damages from the former,
which is equal to the amount
Amazon had invested in Future
Couponsin2019.“Itmaybenoted
thatevenifsuchclaimisapproved
by the arbitration or at any other
judicialforum,thesamewouldbe
payable by promoters and there
wouldnotbeanyfinancialimpact
on the company,” FRL said.
On October 31, The Indian
Express reported that Future
Group had kept aside up to Rs
1,000 crore in an escrow account
in order to deal with all present
andfutureliabilitiesinitsarbitra-
tion tussle with Amazon. The
amount in the escrow account,
which could later be raised to Rs
1,500crore,isequaltothetotalin-
vestment made by Amazon in
Future Coupons, the promoter
group entity of Future Retail.
However, Vestager told the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
Sonntagzeitung newspaper that
shedidnotthinkbreakingupthe
companies would be needed,
although the European
Union could use this step in an
extreme case.
“It will never come to that,”
she told the newspaper in an in-
terview.
“Up until now we haven’t
had any cases that could lead to
such a move,” Vestager added.
EU Internal Market
Commissioner Thierry Breton
has said the proposed rules in-
cludeforcingtechgiantstobreak
uporsellsomeof theirEuropean
operations if their market dom-
inanceisdeemedtothreatenthe
interests of customers and
smaller rivals.
Pune

14 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2020
KingsXI Punjab’splayoff hopesextinguishedafteralistlessdefeattoalready-eliminatedChennaiSuperKings
SYNOPSIS
Punjab crash out timidly as CSK
unearth forgotten heroes
SANDIPG
NOVEMBER1
CHENNAI SUPER Kings have not only ended
theirworstcampaignonabrightnote—win-
ningtheirlastthreegames—buthavealsoter-
minatedKingsXIPunjab’sfranticseason.Tidy
bowlingrestrictedPunjabto153/7beforeme-
thodicalbattingfromFafduPlessisandRuturaj
Gaikwadsawthemsurpassthescoresansfuss.
Timid end
The defeat to Chennai was symbolic of all
thatwentwrongforPunjab.Indecisivegames,
theyflinched.Incrunchsituations,theycracked.
Andforalltheirbattingwealth,theirbowlingis
woefully deficient to influence games. Their
brief sparklewasallbutafalsedawn.
Straightaway,theyseemedover-keen,un-
der too much self-induced pressure. Mayank
Agarwalseemedinatearinghurryandplayed
one stroke too many. KL Rahul seemed to
writheunderthecrushingburdenofcaptaincy.
Anunusualfearhasreplacedtheusualjoyhis
batting emanates. Even the usually clear-
headed Chris Gayle was caught in an attack-
or-blunt dilemma. The three galacticos de-
parted,theiralreadythinplayoff hopesfaded.
Finally, it took Deepak Hooda’s clean-striking
abilitiestofishthemoutofhumiliation.Ascore
of 153 was at best middling, though cornered
teams do tigerishly defend such totals.
But staggeringly, Punjab withered. The
new-ballspelllackedintensityaswellashostil-
ity. Forget the pursuit of wickets, they gifted
cheapruns.JimmyNeeshamlackedbothpace
andingenuity,MohammedShamiwasunchar-
acteristically erratic and Chris Jordan seemed
wellpasthispeakyears.Shami’sleg-sidewide,
so wide that Rahul could only watch the ball
whistlepasthimindespair,wasamomentthat
perfectlycapturedtheirlackof steam.
Compounding the woes, the fielding was
Rohit in danger of
injuring himself
again, says Shastri
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
INDIA HEAD coach Ravi Shastri has re-
vealed that Roht Sharma's medical report
stated that "he could be in danger of injur-
ing himself again" and advised him not to
rush his comeback.
Rohit, who is recovering from a ham-
string injury, was left out of the India squad
for the Australia tour on a day when he hit
the nets for Mumbai Indians, sparking spec-
ulation on his fitness status. "It's being han-
dled by the people in charge of the medical
part of it. We don't get involved in that. They
have submitted a report to the selectors and
they have gone about their business. I have
no say, neither I am a part of the selection. All
I know is the medical report which says he
couldbeindangerof injuringhimself again,"
Shastri told Times Now.
The series is scheduled to start on
November 27. Shastri advised Rohit not to
make the same mistake he made during his
playing days. "There is nothing more frus-
trating for a player than he gets injured.
Sometimes you know, you want to get out
of that room of yours and try and see how
quickly you can come back," said Shastri.
"And therein lies the grey area. Therein lies
the problem where you want to go and
play, you want to test yourself. But only you
will know at the back of your mind
whether you are 100% of there is a chance
of it going again."
Hazard ends year-long goal drought; Barcelona slip again
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BARCELONA, NOVEMBER 1
WHILE JOAO Felix claimed another brace
for Atletico Madrid and Eden Hazard
emerged from his yearlong scoring rut at
Real Madrid, Lionel Messi failed to score in
a fifth straight Spanish league match as
Barcelona stumbled again.
Felix scored Atletico's first two goals in a
3-1 victory at Osasuna, building on his sec-
ond-half double in a 3-2 comeback win
against Salzburg in the Champions League
on Tuesday. The 20-year-old Portugal for-
ward appears to be on the brink of a break-
outseasonforAtleticoafteranup-and-down
firstcampaignthatonlyofferedflashesof the
talent shown at Benfica.
Felix scored nine goals in 36 games in his
debut season for Diego Simeone's Atletico.
He has five goals in eight appearances this
season. "It is a good start to the season," Felix
said. "I have worked for this and my team-
mates are helping me a lot. We are playing
Vol XX : No. 1157 Regd. No. RNI 46944/87, Registration No. PR/RNP/PNE/D/11/2000. Printed and published by Vaidehi Thakar on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, Survey No. 288, Plot No. 1 and 2, Raisoni Industrial Park, Village Maan, Taluka Mulshi, District
Pune 411027 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Express House, Plot No. 1205/2/6, Shirole Road, Shivajinagar, Pune 411004. Phone: 67241000. Fax: 67241148. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Pune): Amitabh Sinha* Branch offices:
Ahmednagar (0241) 2451907, 2451544 Fax 2451607, Kolhapur (0231) 2644994, Solapur (0217) 2603880, *Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act Copyright : The Indian Express (P) Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written per-
Kings Xit
Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad marshalled CSK’s chase with an unbeaten 62. BCCI/IPL
sloppy. Ravi Bishnoi let a boundary slip under
his body, soon after Hooda had let a catch slip
outofhispalms.Thebeneficiary,FafduPlessis
smacked a tempo-setting 48 off 34 balls and
stitched an 82-run partnership with Ruturaj
Gaikwad,whoisincreasinglylookingthepart
aftereachgame.ItwastypicalPunjab—blink-
ing in the big moments of the game.
Forgotten heroes
Itwasironicthatthechief architectsof the
victorywereLungiNgidiandImranTahir,two
menlargelyperipheraltoCSK’splansthisyear.
Ngidiwasintheoriginalschemebeforeashel-
lacking at the hands of Rajasthan Royals
flushedhimoutofcontention.Tahirhadtowait
till the back-end of the season to make an ap-
pearance. But both reminded the team man-
agement of their value in telling fashion.
Ngidi would own an unwanted record
Four losses in a row, why DC’s wheels have come off
VISHAL MENON
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1
THE IPL season began with a bang for Delhi
Capitals. But after four consecutive defeats
— by 59 runs to Kolkata Knight Riders and
88 runs to Sunrisers Hyderabad, and by 5
wickets and 9 wickets to Kings XI Punjab
and Mumbai Indians respectively — at the
business end of the league stage, Delhi
Capitals now run the risk of failing to qual-
ify for the playoffs.
Why has the team that was being billed
as the most complete T20 outfit barely
three weeks ago, been in free fall since
then?
Trouble at the top
Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw as
openers should worry opposition bowlers.
However, they have not fired in tandem.
In their last six games,
Delhi have lost at least one
of their openers in the first
over itself.
Dhawan did enjoy a resur-
gence mid-way into the tourna-
ment by slamming back-to-
back hundreds, but Shaw’s
problems have been two-fold.
First, he has been exposed by
the short-pitched delivery. Second, the
youngster’s lack of discretion in his stroke-
play has been his bane.
Scores of 4, 0, 0, 7, and 10 in the last five
games is a grim indication of his troubles.
The team management parachuted Ajinkya
Rahane as opener intermittently, but even
this gamble did not pay off.
very well and need to keep it going."
Hazard, likewise, gave Madrid fans some
hope that his club-record signing from
Chelsea last year was not a mistake. The of-
ten-injured Belgian blasted in his first goal
sinceOctoberof lastyeartosparkMadrid's4-
1 win over Huesca.
Messi, however, just like most of his
teammates, failed to beat an inspired
Fernando Pacheco as Barcelona was held 1-
1 at 10-man Alaves. Messi's only league goal
so far was a penalty he converted in the
opening game for Barcelona. Ronaldo
Koeman's side is eight points behind Madrid
with a game in hand.
Ronaldo scores on return
Cristiano Ronaldo made an immediate
impact on his return from a COVID-19 infec-
tion on Sunday, scoring three minutes after
coming on as a substitute before converting
apenaltytoleadJuventustoa4-1SerieAwin
at Spezia. The Serie A champions, pegged
back at 1-1 when the 35-year-old entered
the fray, scored three times in 20 minutes af-
against his name this season — the most ex-
pensive of Chennai’s bowlers (economy rate
10.43). But no other colleague picked wickets
atabetteraverage(18.55)orstrikerate(10.66).
He demonstrated his wicket-taking prowess
yet again by grabbing the scalps of Rahul and
Agarwal, the two pillars of Punjab batting.
Agarwal with a smartly-disguised off-cutter,
and Rahul with a devilishly dipping slower-
ball yorker. The two wickets decelerated
Punjab’splayoffpush.Paceandbouncemight
behisbiggestweapons,butNgidihaswedded
those gifts with cunning and awareness. He
could be a scattergun at times but could pur-
chase wickets with the new ball. In ditching
him prematurely, Chennai had shot them-
selves in the foot.
Likewise,thecontinuedside-liningofTahir
seemed a faux pas. That Piyush Chawla and
KarnSharmaendedupplayingtwiceasmany
Rishabh Pant hasn’t scored a single
fifty in this edition so far. BCCI/IPL
Middle-order muddle
In the first six games, Delhi’s batsmen
scored at 9.2 runs per over. But in the sub-
sequent seven matches, that
rate dropped to around 7.3.
Diehard fans may blame
the slow, worn-out tracks in
the UAE as the reason why
their marauding stroke-play-
ers were finding it difficult to
fire. But the truth is that their
middle and lower order have
collectively failed to inject mo-
mentum in the batting.
In the game against KKR in Sharjah on
October 3, contributions of Delhi’s top four
batsmen — captain Shreyas Iyer’s 38-ball
88, Shaw’s 66, Dhawan’s 26, and Rishabh
Pant’s 38 — catapulted them to a match-
winning score of 228/4. But barring that
match, there have been only stray instances
Hazard scored in the 40th minute. Reuters
ter his arrival as they went second in the
table. Alvaro Morata and Adrien Rabiot were
also on target as Andrea Pirlo's side bounced
back after drawing their previous three Serie
A matches -- not including the 3-0 walkover
they were awarded against Napoli.
mission is prohibited. The Indian Express®
POINTS TABLE
Team Matches Won Lost Pts NRR
MI 13 9 4 18 1.296
RCB 13 7 6 14 -0.145
DC 13 7 6 14 -0.159
KKR 14 7 7 14 -0.214
SRH 13 6 7 12 0.555
KXIP 14 6 8 12 -0.162
CSK 14 6 8 12 -0.455
RR 14 6 8 12 -0.569
HOW IT LINES UP
Thenumberof teamsinthefrayisnow
five. Defeat to Chennai Super Kings
eliminated Kings XI Punjab, while KKR
knocked Rajasthan Royals out.
Not only did KKR earn two points, their
60-run win improved their net run rate
considerably. The winner of Monday’s
clashbetweenRCBandDCwillmakethe
playoffs, while the losers will vie with
KKR on net run rate.
●LIVE
MONDAY: DC vs RCB 7:30pm
TUESDAY: SRH vs MI 7:30pm
games as the South African was a clear strate-
gic failure. He underlined yet again his virtues
of thrift as well as wicket-taking potency. He
foxed Chris Gayle with a slider, setting him up
forthesweepwithhisgooglies.Tahirwasathis
aggressivebest,flauntinghiswholebagoftricks
andinfusingastreak of intensity that Chennai
hadutterlymissedinthemiddleovers.
Gayle’s was his only wicket of the series,
but Tahir would grouse that he got only three
games.ThattheSouthAfricanpairwouldhave
made the difference to CSK’s fortunes is mere
conjecture,buttheirscatteredappearancesdo
presentacaseforwhatcouldhavebeen.Ifonly
they had persisted with Ngidi or introduced
Tahir before they had reached the brink.
BRIEFSCORES: KXIP153/6in20overs(D
Hooda62,KLRahul29;LNgidi3/39)losttoCSK
154/1in18.5overs(RGaikwad62*,FduPlessis
48,ARayudu30*;CJordan1/31)by9wickets
Part of the problem stems from
the fact that head coach Ricky
Ponting used him (Pant) to
anchor the innings, a role in
which he has struggled
— such as Shimron Hetmeyer’s blitz against
Rajasthan Royals and Marcus Stoinis’s as-
sault against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Part of the problems can be attributed
to the fact that barring Dhawan, none of the
remaining batsmen have the ability to
switch gears easily. This came to the fore
during their 9-wicket loss to Mumbai
Indians on Saturday, when Iyer and Pant
consumed 44 balls to score 35 runs.
This conservative approach would have
paiddividendshadeitherof themgoneonto
playabigknock.Thatdidnothappen.Overall,
it was a colossal batting failure, one that was
brought about by a muddled approach.
Injuries to Ishant, Mishra
Losing experienced bowlers Sharma
and Mishra with an abdominal muscle tear
and a finger injury respectively, were ma-
jor blows.
In Sharma’s absence, they failed to find
a reliable third seamer, someone who
would not fritter away the good work done
by Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje.
Harshal Patel was pencilled in for this role,
but he doesn’t have the pace and zip of a
fully fit Sharma. Patel’s three scalps have
come at close to 9 runs per over.
Tushar Deshpande was then assigned
DRY SPELL
392
Number of days
after which Eden
Hazard scored a
goal for Real Madrid. His last came
on October 5, 2019.
EPL to continue despite lockdown
On a day uncertainty reigned in England
as the nation prepared to go back into lock-
down,thePremierLeaguereturnedtosome-
thing resembling normality.
Three of the teams expected to contend
for the title - Manchester City, Chelsea and
Liverpool - all picked up wins in back-to-
back fixtures on Saturday. There was also
the familiar sight of Liverpool, the defend-
ing champion, back atop the standings
thanks to a late goal that is becoming its
trademark.
DHONI WILL PLAY NEXT SEASON
MS Dhoni will be back in the IPL next year. Dhoni confirmed it himself at
the toss of Chennai Super Kings' final game of the season on Sunday.
"Definitely not," said Dhoni when asked by former New Zealand pacer
Danny Morrison if the game against KXIP was his last for CSK. The IPL
next year is scheduled to be held in the usual April-May window.
Bottoms up: KKR jump into
top four after devouring RR
SYNOPSIS
Morgan leads KKR’s charge, while
Cummins lives up to billing
VISHALMENON
NOVEMBER1
LEDBYtheirirrepressiblecaptainEoinMorgan
and superstar Australian pacer Pat Cummins,
Kolkata Knight Riders stayed alive in the IPL
with an emphatic 60-run win over Rajasthan
Royals.Theyhavestillnotmadesureofaplay-
off berth,butit’saremarkableturnaroundfor
ateamthathadnothinggoingforthemforthe
betterpartofthisseason.Foralltheglitterand
promise, Royals finish in eighth spot.
Morgan leads KKR’s charge
There’sasenseof uncomplicatedflairthat
defines Eoin Morgan’s batting. Irrespective of
the match situation, he always makes a con-
scious effort to get on top of the opposition
bowling.OnSunday,theKolkataKnightRiders
captain unfurled a typical, counter-attacking
knockthattookhisteamtoaformidablescore
of191/7againstRajasthanRoyalsintheirmust-
winfinalleagueencounterinDubai.Morgan’s
unbeaten35-ball68waspunctuatedwithsix
sixes, but it was the circumstances and the
manner in which he orchestrated this knock
that made it special.
The34-year-oldwalkedinatNo.5,withhis
teaminaspotofbotherat74/3inthe10thover.
Royals leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia had just re-
moved Shubman Gill and Sunil Narine in the
space of three deliveries. Morgan had barely
settledbeforeKKRwouldlosetwomorewick-
ets - Rahul Tripathi and Dinesh Karthik - that
left them precariously placed at 100/5 in 13
overs. But buoyed by the arrival of Andre
Russell,whohadreturnedtotheXIforthiscru-
cialgame,Morganunleashedhimselfbyplun-
dering21runsoffShreyasGopal.Inthesubse-
quent over, Russell also got into the act,
smokingasixandaboundaryoff JofraArcher.
The belligerence shifted the momentum de-
cisivelytowardsKKR.Russelldepartedafteran
11-ball25,butMorganwasdeterminedtostay
this job, but his inexperience and profligate
ways — he picked three wickets in five
games and conceded 11.29 runs per over —
has hurt the team’s chances.
Theirspinners,too,havegoneoff theboil.
In the first six games, Axar Patel and Ravi
Ashwin averaged 16 runs per wicket. In the
subsequent six matches, their average bal-
loonedto50.Themeagrereturnsof Axarand
Ashwin underlined the absence of a wrist
spinner like Mishra, who has been such a vi-
tal cog in Delhi’s bowling machinery.
In an ideal world, Delhi’s bowling line-
up would have read as follows: Rabada,
Nortje, Ishant, Mishra and Ashwin. Five
bowlers with experience, skill and smarts
to rattle any team.
Rishabh Pant conundrum
Four years ago, Rishabh Pant captured
the imagination of fans and pundits with
his blistering strokeplay. Having made a
name in white-ball cricket, the 23-year-old
now finds himself out of the reckoning
from Team India’s shorter formats.
These days, he looks like a tormented
soul, perpetually caught between attack
and defence. Perhaps nothing is more glar-
ing than his underwhelming strike-rate of
112 from 10 games in this IPL. A hamstring
injury didn’t help matters. Pant has not reg-
istered a single fifty in this edition so far,
with the 17-ball 38 against KKR in Sharjah
being his highest score.
Part of the problem stems from the fact
that head coach Ricky Ponting used him to
anchor the innings, a role in which he has
struggled. In hindsight, Delhi would have
beenbetterservedif thewicket-keeperbats-
manwaspusheddowntheorderasafinisher.
Diogo Jota came off the bench and scored
in the 85th minute to earn Liverpool a hard-
fought2-1victoryoverWestHam,extending
the team's unbeaten record in league play at
Anfield to 63 games - tied for the longest
streak in the club's history.
That's a goal in three straight games for
Jota, an offseason signing who is giving an
extra edge to Liverpool's attack.
Jota's winner came about the same time
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was
announcing a four-week lockdown in
England, starting from Thursday.
The Premier League will be allowed to
carry on - matches are already being played
without fans, and with players undergoing
regular testing - so the much-anticipated
meeting between Man City and Liverpool
will go ahead as scheduled next weekend.
On Sunday, Newcastle United striker
Callum Wilson scored twice to hand high-
flying Everton their second straight Premier
League defeat as they went down 2-1 at St.
James' Park while Southampton defeated
Aston Villa 4-3.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
PTI
Pat Cummins’ lethal spell ended
Rajasthan’s hopes of a win. BCCI/IPL
tilltheend.AfterseeingoffArcher,theIrishman
tore into his England team-mate Ben Stokes,
ransackingthreesixesinthepenultimateover
that not only brought up his half-century, but
alsoputKKRinapositionofascendancyatthe
half-way stage.
Cummins lives up to billing
WhenKKRacquiredCumminsattheauc-
tionforRs15.5crore,itwasconsideredmoney
wellspent,giventhe27-year-old’scredentials
across all formats. However, with just eight
wicketsfrom13matches,theAussiehadbeen
largely subdued.
All that changed in KKR’s must-win final
leagueencounterwhenCumminsranthrough
theformidableRajasthanRoyalstoporder,tak-
ing four wickets in his opening three overs of
high-qualitypacebowling.Afterconceding19
runs off the first five deliveries, Cummins dis-
missedRobinUthappa.Inhissubsequentover,
he saw the back of Ben Stokes, thanks to a su-
perlativeflyingcatchbyDineshKarthik,while
RRcaptainSteveSmithgotaninsideedgeback
tohisstumpsonadeliverythatcutbacksharply.
When Cummins had Riyan Parag caught be-
hind defending a vicious bumper, RR were
struggling at 37/5 in five overs, with a moun-
tain to climb. With figures of 4/34, Cummins
cametothepartywhenitreallymattered.
BRIEF SCORES: KKR191/7in20overs(E
Morgan 68, R Tripathi 39; R Tewatia 3/25) bt
RR 131/9 in 20 overs (J Buttler 35, P Cummins
4/34, S Mavi 2/15, Varun C 2/20) by 60 runs
BRIEFLY
Shooterinfectedwith
Covid-19atnat’lcamp
NewDelhi:Anathletetraininginthena-
tionalcapital'sDrKarniSinghShooting
RangehastestedpositiveforCOVID-19,
the Sports Authority of India said but
maintained that it will not hamper the
ongoing national camp. "An NCOE
(National Centre of Excellence) athlete
training at Dr Karni Singh Shooting
Range in the 10 metre range has tested
positiveforthecoronavirus.Theathlete
who last visited the range on October
28th in the second half of the day, inti-
mated to his coach that his test result
hadcomepositive,"SAIsaid."AllNCOE
athletes who were training at the time
this shooter had last visited the range
havebeenaskedtogointo14daysquar-
antineandrejoinafteracovidnegative
report. The same process is to be fol-
lowedbythesupportstaffwhocamein
contact with the shooter," it added,
withoutnamingtheathlete.
MercedesclinchF1
constructors’title
Imola: Lewis Hamilton took a record-
extending 93rd career win at the
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on
Sunday as his Mercedes team
clinched an unprecedented seventh
successiveFormulaOneconstructors'
title with four races to spare. They did
itinone-twoformation,thesix-times
world champion taking the che-
quered flag at Italy's Imola circuit
5.783 seconds ahead of team mate
Valtteri Bottas, who had started on
pole position. Australian Daniel
Ricciardo finished third for Renault,
his second podium of the season.
Coeoptimisticabout
TokyoGames
Gurugram: World Athletics President
SebastianCoesaidtheTokyoOlympics
organisers have a "cast-iron determi-
nation" to stage the Games next year.
"Thefutureisuncertainbutletmegive
you a slightly more optimistic mes-
sage... I can see a cast-iron determina-
tion to stage the Games," Coe said. He
was addressing the AGM of the
Athletics Federation of India virtually.
"TheGamesmaybedifferent,therewill
probably be adaptations, they will
probably demand more from your
teams that we have not seen in any
OlympicGamesbefore.Butpleasereas-
sureyourathletesastheyenterprepa-
ration phase that there is a strong de-
termination (among officials in Japan)
to stage the Olympic Games."
PTI/REUTERS
Pune