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

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES SINCE 1932 `7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
 2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023

MV Theft e-FIR

Filing motor vehicle theft report is easy

DP/9500/2023
Delhi Police has continuously adopted new
methods and technologies to enhance its service
delivery capability. E-FIR is one of them.

The goal of this service is to report the theft of a

motor vehicle without having to visit the police
station. An e-FIR for Motor Vehicle Theft can be
filed online.

E-mail to CP. Delhi at : cp.sanjayarora@delhipolice.gov.in | Write to : Cp. Delhi at P.O. Box No. 171, GPO, New Delhi

Government of Jammu & Kashmir

DIRECTORATE OF YOUTH SERVICE & SPORTS
OFFICE OFE THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER SPORTS
CONSTRUCTION DIVISION JAMMU
NOTICE INVITING TENDER
Tender Notice: e-NIT No: 17/YSS of 2022-23; dated 23-02-2023
For and on behalf of Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, e-tenders are invited on the
EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) mode for the following work
from registered contractors with PWD(R&B/CPWD/ MES/Fims registered with
State or Center Government or Glok Hockey Turf FlH approved and having experi-
ence in laying of Synthetic Hockey Turf for National/ International Competitions,
World Cup, Olympic Games, Common Wealth Games, Asian Games and
Associated Civil Works under two cover system at "Khel Goan Nagrota, District
Jammu" as detailed below.
S. Name of work Adv cost Earnest Cost of Time of
No. (Rs. in Money Tender completion
lacs) (Rs.) documents
(Rs.)
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 Design and Construction of 479.00 9,58,000/- 5,500/- 180
Synthetic Hockey Turf including days
allied civil works with Annual
Maintenance of 3 years for Turf
and Sprinkler FIH (Fédération
International de Hockey)
approved at Khel Goan
Nagrota, District Jammu includ-
ing all Taxes on EPC
(Engineeing Procurement and
Construction) mode. Complete
job as per scope of work.
Position of AA =Accorded.
Position of Technical Sanction Accorded
Position of funds = Committed under Augmentation of Sports Infrastructure in
the State.
The Bidding documents consisting of qualifying information, eligibility Criteria,specifi-
cation, Drawings, bill of quantities (B.0.Q) Set of terms and conditions of contract and
other details can be seen/downloaded from the departmental Website www.ikten-
ders.gov.in w.e.f. 21-02-2023 to 13-03-2023 upto 4.00 PM
SD/-
No.: Works/J/YSS/744-46 Executive Engineer
Dated:20-02-2023 Sports Construction Division
DIP/J-16161/22 Jammu

DISTRICT POLICE HEADQUARTERS KATHUA

E- mail: sspkathua@jkpolice.gov.in
Fax/Phone No.: 01922-234010
LOOK OUT NOTICE
On 24.02.2023, one Jasbir Kour W/O Baj Singh R/O Haria Chack
Tehsil Marheen District Kathua lodged a written report at P/S
Rajbagh stating therein that on 23.02.2023 at about 1200 hours,
her daughter namely Harjot Kour went for tuition on her Scooty but
did not return back. During search, her Scooty was recovered from
Chadwal but her daughter is still un-traced. On this, missing report
vide DDR No. 17 dated 24.02.2023 has been entered at P/S
Rajbagh.
During the course of investigation, best efforts were made to
locate missing individual, whereas she is still un-traced.
As such Description Roll/Photograph of said missing individual is
being shared with the appeal that anybody having clue/information
about her whereabouts may inform us accordingly. The informer will
be rewarded suitably:
DESCRIPTION ROLL
PHOTOGRAPH

Name Harjot Kour

Father Baj Singh

Permanent Address Haria Chack

Present Address Haria Chack

Tehsil Marheen

Police Station Rajbagh

Age 18 Years

Height 05 Feet 02 Inch

Complexion Wheatish

Built Average

Face Long

Eyes Black

Languages known Dogri
Any information related to the whereabouts of the subject may be com-
municated on following Contacts:
1. DPO Kathua- 01922-234010 (Phone/Fax)
2. dpokathua@jkpolice.gov.in (Mail ID)
3. PCR Kathua- 01922-234311 (Phone/Fax)
4. Police Station Rajbagh – 94191-56719
Sr. Superintendent of Police,
DIP/J-16185/22 Kathua.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 22 PAGES
Drishti IAS
IN COLLABORATION WITH ICIJ
AN EXPRESS INVESTIGATION - PART ONE
Lutyens’ bungalows, RBI,
encroachments are ‘forests’
in govt’s forest cover map
Tracking
dubious timber
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
trail & myth of
afforestation
RITU SARIN,
JAY MAZOOMDAAR &
AMITABH SINHA
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
IRREVERSIBLE environmental
damage by loggers and dubious
auditing firms undercutan elab-
orateglobalsystemtofightforest
destruction and climate change.
INSIDE Exposing this is the focus of
“DeforestationInc.”,thelatestin-
JAISHANKAR TO vestigation by the International
CLEVERLY ON BBC: Consortium of Investigative
Journalists spread across 27
MUST COMPLY WITH countries.
LAWS PAGE 10 The India leg of the investiga-
tion, by The Indian Express, has
FBI DIRECTOR: CHINA found that the story of India’s
LAB LEAK LIKELY forestsisnotjustaboutlarge-scale
CAUSED COVID-19, deforestationorillegallogging,it’s
BEIJING DISMISSES alsoaboutthelackofofficialtrans-
PAGE 16 parencyonthestatusoftheforest
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Relief from seasonal cough and cold
Also available online at-
TOREX
For more information, please call or WhatsApp us: +91 977 921 4455 / care@torquepharma.com
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
From Today
till 7 th March
On All Online, Pendrive
Courses & Test Series
1985 Govt definition
counts VIP homes,
tea gardens, rail
yards, plantations
2010
JAY MAZOOMDAAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THAT LUTYENS’ Delhi is India’s
NOW Capital, the seat of power and
home to men and women who
run the country, is well known.
But what’s not so well known is
that the bungalows of ministers
and senior officers, even the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
building on Sansad Marg, are
“forest”intheofficialforestcover
map.
Parts of the campuses of the
Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) and All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and
DENSE TO ‘DENSE’: On residential neighbourhoods
forest map, a rubber across Delhi are also “forest”, an
plantation (above) counted investigation by The Indian
as dense forest came up on Express has found.
encroached areas of Rowta Foroverfourdecades,around
reserve forest in Assam’s one-fifth of India has remained
Udalguri district. CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Follow us on:
50%
THE FIFTH RAMNATH GOENKA LECTURE
Indiacanbeinnovation
hubforworld:BillGates
‘25 weeks of pandemic destroyed
25 years of progress in health’
Bill Gates, philanthropist, tech founder, investor, and co-chair
and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, delivers
the fifth Ramnath Goenka Memorial Lecture in New Delhi,
Wednesday. Renuka Puri
ANONNA DUTTA
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THE FIRST 25 weeks of the Covid
pandemic destroyed 25 years of
progress in global health and
three yearslater, most countries’
health systems are still not com-
pletely back on track, said Bill
Gates Wednesday, adding that
thepandemic“catalysed”awave
of health innovation in India.
/TorexSyrup
®
COUGH SYRUP
HAI TO ALVIDA KHANSI
`7.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Scan this QR Code
to avail the discount
8010-440-440
With its record of vaccine de-
velopment and digital public in-
frastructure platform, India has
thepotentialtodevelopintoahub
of “innovation and ingenuity,” to
herald a “new era of global part-
nership”whichcanovercomethe
world’sgreatestchallenges,Gates
said,deliveringtheFifthRamnath
Goenka Memorial Lecture here.
Underlining the power of in-
novation to bridge divides and
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
/TorexSyrup
Think tank
CPR’s FCRA
suspended, gets
I-T notice on
tax exemptions
RITU SARIN
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
WEEKS BEFORE it was informed
that its registration under the
Foreign Contribution
(Regulation) Act (FCRA) had
been suspended, the Centre for
Policy Research (CPR) received a
show cause notice from the
Income Tax Department, asking
why the registration granting it
tax exemptions should not be
cancelled.
On Wednesday, the CPR, one
of theleadingpublicpolicythink
tanks, said it had been “inti-
mated” by the Ministry of Home
Affairs thatitsregistrationunder
the FCRA had been “suspended
for a period of 180 days”.
The CPR had been granted
tax exemption status until 2027
underSection12Aof theIncome
Tax Act. That status has now
been questioned by the I-T offi-
cials, who collected huge
amounts of documentsand data
during a survey on September 7,
2022 and followed it up by dis-
patchingoveradozensummons
to its staff — from its senior re-
searchers to the office peon.
The I-T Department chal-
lenged the tax exemptions with
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Since 1985
/TorexSyrup
4 EXPRESS NETWORK
DOWNLOADAPP
■ VISUAL STORIES
■ DAILY BRIEFING
EXCLUSIVE
■ PODCASTS
WEB
■ CUSTOMIZABLE
NEWS EXPERIENCE
Indian Express
★★★★★ ■4.6
TECH
SCANTHISQRCODETO
DOWNLOADTHEAPP
FROM PAGE ONE
India can be innovation hub for world: Bill Gates
EXPRESS EDUCATION
theroleof Indiainthe“big,global
innovation boom,” Gates said:
“When I was at Microsoft, we
chosetoputadevelopment cen-
tre here in 1998. And we did that
because we knew India was go-
ing to play a major role in the
global innovation ecosystem –
not just as a beneficiary of new
breakthroughs, but as an inno-
vator of them. In addition, as a
scaler of breakthroughs. India
can develop high-quality yet
cost-effective innovations and
drive their rapid adoption.
Vaccines are a prime example.”
When it comes to overcom-
ing the world’s greatest chal-
lenges like climate change or
healthcare,Indiahasasignificant
role to play, Gates said, flagging
the country’s low-cost innova-
tions like the rotavirus vaccine
that saved lives globally, and af-
fordable solutions like making
biofuels and fertilisers from
wastetoaddressclimatechange.
The author, philanthropist,
investor, technology founder,
and co-chair and trustee of the
● Tracking dubious timber trail
itself.And thegrowingtendency
to make up for deforestation of
natural forests with manmade
plantations.
The Indian Express accessed
(see adjacent story) and cross-
checked a part of the geo-refer-
enced forest cover data which
thegovernment,sincethe1980s,
has refused to share with the
media.
These give a glimpse, for the
first time, to what is categorised
as forests in the official interpre-
tation of satellite images: com-
mercial plantations on en-
croached and cleared reserve
forest land; tea gardens; betel
nutclusters;villagehomesteads;
roadside trees; urban housing
areas;evenVIPbungalowsinthe
heart of the Capital.
Over the last 10 years, 1,611
square km of forests have been
divertedfornon-forestpurposes,
including for infrastructure and
industrial projects, a little bigger
than the size of New Delhi. That
is about 0.21 per cent of India’s
total forest area of 7.75 lakh
square km.
As an illustration, The Indian
Express zoomed into a diamond
mining project in Buxwaha,
Madhya Pradesh, where an
imaginativecampaignrunbylo-
Privilege notice against Raut Body of man who
for calling House ‘chor mandal’ ‘escaped’ Army
EESHANPRIYA M S &
VALLABH OZARKAR
MUMBAI, PUNE, MARCH 1
MAHARASHTRA Speaker Rahul
Narwekar Wednesday opened a
detailed inquiry against Shiv
Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut after
members from the ruling BJP
and Shiv Sena submitted a no-
tice to Narwekar for a breach of
privilegemotionagainstRaut,for
calling the state legislature 'chor
mandal' outside the House.
Speaking to the media on
Wednesday,RauttargettedMLAs
from Shiv Sena led by Eknath
Shinde,andsaid,"Thisisanartifi-
cial Shiv Sena. This is a duplicate
ofShivSena.Theyareallagroupof
thieves. This is not Vidhi Mandal,
itis'chormandal'(Itisnotahouse
CLARIFICATIONS & CORRECTIONS
28.02.23, PAGE 1
IN THE report ‘No SC relief for Sisodia, he resigns from govt, says
charges a conspiracy’, it was stated that the Delhi High Court
Contact for Advt. Booking: M/s Friends Publicity Service granted the CBI five-day custody of the Deputy CM. This is incor-
(M): 9212665841, 9212008155 rect. The five-day custody was granted by a special CBI court.
The error is regretted.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
SHAHID KAPOOR SAYS JERSEY FAILURE BROKE HIS HEART: ‘UNIVERSE WASN’T KIND’
ShahidKapoortalksabouthowFarzi’ssuccesscameasacatharsisforhimafterthefailureofhislastfilm
Jersey.Healsotalksaboutcompleting20yearsintheindustryandwhatkeepshimgoing.
VIVO V27 PRO REVIEW
50MP selfie camera is a
point and shoot delight
FULL REPORTS ON
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation began his lecture by
talking about a front-page arti-
cle in The New York Times that
talked about 3 million children
dying of diarrhoea every year,
90% of whom were from devel-
opingcountries.Hesaidhehada
list of concerns for his newborn
daughter but diarrhoea was not
amongthem.Hespokeof India’s
journey from there to a point
where 83% of one-year-olds in
thecountryreceive therotavirus
vaccine, saving 200,000 lives
each year.
Gates said that although
childhood immunisation levels
were bouncing back to pre-pan-
demic levels in India, for many
other countries it might take an-
other three years to get back on
track. He spoke about innova-
tionsduringCovid-19andIndia’s
ability to develop cheaper kits
and scale up testing.
Later, in a conversation with
Anant Goenka, Executive
Director, The Indian Express, on
being asked about the balance
cals and lawyers has been
launchedtosavethefellingof 2.1
lakh trees.
While the forests getting di-
verted are often of very high
quality, an investigation into the
compensatoryafforestationpro-
gramme shows that the loca-
tionsprovidedforgrowing plan-
tations usually have very low
prospect of any meaningful
forests growing.
Thenthereisthecertification
system that reveals several at-
tempts of greenwashing –
branding something as sustain-
able when it is not.
Insiders admit forest certifi-
cations in India are available
much easier than in the more
developed countries. Another
finding is the over-reliance on
questionablesub-contractorsfor
carrying out environmental au-
dits of firms or processes.
As part of the investigation,
ICIJ and its media partners ex-
amined inspection data and
court filings, concerningcompa-
nies in at least 50 countries, in-
cluding India. As many as 48 au-
diting firms were identified that
haddeclaredas“sustainable’’the
functioning of forest-product
companies that had been
charged with a range of viola-
of law, but house of thieves)." He
said,"Theytookawayofficesfrom
us,butthatdoesnotmeanwewill
leave the party. The party has
given us many positions and of-
ficesandwewillsacrificethemall
for the party. We are not goons."
Narwekarsaidtheinquirywill
becompletedwithintwodays,af-
terwhichhewillsharehisdecision
with the Assembly on March 8.
Meanwhile,theLegislativeCouncil
was adjourned for the rest of the
day after members of the ruling
side demanded suo motu breach
of privilege motion against Raut,
andhisarrest,overhisremark.
Speaking to reporters in
Kolhapur later on Wednesday,
Raut said: “I have respect for
state legislature and
Parliament...Iwillreplytotheno-
tice issued by the Speaker.”
PUZZLES AND GAMES
between incentivising innova-
tion and sharing of technology,
Gates said that a “kind of ideal”
solutiondoesexistinthefield.He
saidthereturnof investmentsfor
companies comes primarily
from sales in rich countries,
somewhat from middle income
countries, and for the lower in-
comecountries,thepriceshould
be just what it costs to make the
medicine. As for climate tech-
nologies, market competition
andpoliticalprocesses“will kick
in.”
He said that big pharma has
done incredible innovations,
bringingoutnewclassof obesity
drugs and continuing research
foranAlzheimer’sdrug,andso“I
wouldn’twanttogetridof profit
motive in medical innovation.”
Speaking on the climate cri-
sis,Gatessaid:“Mostof theemis-
sions come from the rich coun-
triesandyetmostof thedamage
will be in middle income and
lower income countries that are
near the Equator. It’s an incredi-
bleinjustice.And,eventhoughit
tions: logging in protected re-
serves; using fake permits and
importing illegally harvested
timber.
Akeyfindingof theglobalin-
vestigation: since 1998, more
than 340 certified forest-prod-
uct companies have been ac-
cused of environmental crimes
either by environmental groups
or government agencies. And 50
of these firms held their “sus-
tainability” certificates at the
time of their being fined or be-
ing convicted by a government
agency.
The global investigation also
throws light on the ineffective
steps of several governments to
stop the trade of conflict wood
fromauthoritarianregimessuch
as Myanmar.
India, which unlike the EU
and US, has not banned the im-
port of the much sought after
teak from Myanmar is often
citedasanexampleof a“leakage
country” for the supply of the
hardwood to countries where
sanctionsare in place. The Indian
Expressconductedaspotinvesti-
gation into the role of such
traders and examined the im-
pact of active smuggling of teak
from Myanmar along India’s
North-Eastern belt.
custody found
BASHAARAT MASOOD
SRINAGAR, MARCH 1
TWO-AND-HALF MONTHS after
30-year-old Abdul Rashid Dar of
Kunan area of Kupwara allegedly
escapedfromthecustodyofArmy,
hisdecomposedbodywashanded
over to his family on Wednesday
bythepolice.Accordingtothepo-
lice,thebodywasrecoveredfrom
aforestinKupwaraandidentified
byDar'srelatives.
People took to streets in
Kupwara on Wednesday, de-
mandingjusticeandinvestigation
into Dar's disappearance from
Army'scustody.“...abodywasre-
covered from Zurhama-PK Gali
forests and brought to SDH
Kupwara where it was identified
bytherelativesofthemissingper-
son. After completing allformali-
tiesbyateamofdoctors,thebody
washandedovertothefamilyfor
burial,”policesaidinastatement.
DarwaspickedupbytheArmy
from his house on the night of
December15.Thenextday,Army
informed the family through po-
licethathehasescapedwhilebe-
ingtakentoahideout.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
ENJOY DAILY
CROSSWORDS AND
SUDOKU FROM THE
INDIAN EXPRESS
creeps up on you, we need to act
now, we need to act in a very big
way.”
Oneof thechallengesthough
with climate change, Gates said,
is the “green premium” that
comes with products made
without emitting greenhouse
gases. He said: “If you try to buy
jet fuel that’s green, it’s twice as
expensive.If youwanttobuyce-
mentwithoutemission,it’stwice
as expensive. Now someone
could say that climate is impor-
tant so let’s get somebody to
writeachequeforthatextracost.
But sadly that will be trillions of
dollars a year. And, there just is
no fund… even in the rich coun-
tries,”hesaid,addingthatthecli-
matecrisisisaninnovationchal-
lenge that shrinks the green
premium.
Earlier, in his welcome ad-
dress,RajKamalJha,Chief Editor,
The Indian Express, said that
Gates brought “science and
hope” to the enduring questions
of the day. Quoting his remark
that“Innovationisahammerand
● CPR gets I-T notice on tax exemptions
a33-pageshowcausenotice,sent
on December 22, 2022 alleging
thattheCPRwasinviolationofbe-
ing involved in activities which
were“notinaccordancewiththe
objectsandtheconditionssubject
to which it was registered”.
The I-T Department included
in the show cause notice several
observations and allegations not
directly related to its operations.
Forinstance,thereisalistof19
persons,describedas“non-filers”
–mostlymembersofitsstaffwho
have either not filed or filed their
I-T returns irregularly. The office
peonhasbeenincludedinthelist
of “non-filers” and the CPR asked
to explain how the Rs 2.49 crore
given to these individuals collec-
tively(mostlyremunerationspaid
between 2017 and 2021) were
paymentsrelatedtotheobjectives
of the CPR.
The I-T has described the
“non-filers” as “persons whose
“genuineness is questionable” or
notasperthemandateoftheCPR.
After scrutinising accounts,
theI-TDepartmenthasalsoques-
tioned activities of the think tank
such as bearing the cost of pub-
lishing books of its employees.
The show cause notice con-
tains a list of seven authors and
observedthatwhileCPRhassub-
sidised the publication of their
books,itdoesnotdrawanyfinan-
cial benefit from it.
TheCPRhasbeenaskedtoex-
plain how publication of books
could be categorised as a “chari-
table” activity, and told to submit
all expenses incurred during the
book launches.
TheCPRhasbeenchallenging
the allegations contained in the
post-survey summons and no-
tices received.
NBDSA orders three news channels to
remove shows found communal in nature
DIVYA A
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THE NEWS Broadcasting &
Digital Standards Authority
(NBDSA), the self-regulatory au-
thoritysetupbyTVnewsbroad-
casters, has asked Times Now,
Zee News and News18 India to
remove from their online plat-
forms videos of certain pro-
grammes that the authority
deemsarecommunallycharged.
In separate orders, NBDSA,
headedbyretiredSupremeCourt
judge Justice A K Sikri, imposed
penalties of Rs 50,000 and Rs
25,000onNews18Indiafordiffer-
entprogrammesthattheauthor-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
The latest Congress
meet, onion price crash,
& an update on Sisodia
Did the Congress come up with new ideas
for the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, why onion
prices crashed at India’s largest onion
wholesale market, and why the SC refused
to entertain Sisodia’s plea?
IuseitoneverynailIsee,”Jhasaid
that the nails Gates saw – from
education to public health --
were“pegsforsocialchangeand
expanded the common good.”
This was the first Ramnath
Goenka lecture after the pan-
demic. The lecture, named after
the founder of The Indian
Express, has been delivered by
then RBI governor Raghuram
Rajan; then President of India
Pranab Mukherjee; then Chief
Justiceof IndiaRanjanGogoi;and
External Affairs Minister S
Jaishankar.
Onclimatechange,Gatessaid
the challenge was innovation on
a “massive scale,” to ensure that
the world gets to net-zero emis-
sions “without the penalty of
higher prices for going green.”
“Itisaninjusticethatthepeo-
ple who have done the least to
cause climate change are the
ones suffering the most from it,”
hesaid.“InmylifetimeI’venever
been so optimistic about the po-
tential for new technologies to
improve the world,” he added.
On the issues raised by the I-T
in its show cause notice, Yamini
Aiyar, President and Chief
Executive of CPR, told The Indian
Express, “There is no question of
ourhavingundertakenanyactiv-
itythatisbeyondourobjectsofas-
sociation and compliance man-
dated by law.”
“Our work and institutional
purpose is to advance our
Constitutional goals and protect
Constitutionalguarantees.Weare
absolutelyconfidentthatthemat-
ter will be resolved speedily, in
fairness and in the spirit of our
Constitutional values.”
Some of the ineligible “activi-
ties” listed by the I-T Department
include:
* Funds to the tune of Rs 10.19
crore (since 2016) from the
Namati-Environmental Justice
Program. These funds, according
totheI-TDepartment,“areusedto
file litigation and complaints in-
steadof carryingoutanyresearch
or educational activity”. The CPR
has been asked to provide details
of how funds received under the
Namati project were used and
howtheyrelatetoCPR’sobjectives.
* The I-T has showcaused CPR
forbeing“involved”intheHasdeo
movement(launchedbyactivists
againstcoalminingintheHasdeo
forests of Chhattisgarh) through
the Jan Abhivyakti Samajik Vikas
Sanstha (JASVS). The I-T has
shown calculations that in the
pastfouryears,theJASVSreceived
between87%-98%ofitsdonations
from the CPR and, according to
them, this too, “was not in pur-
suanceofitsapprovedobjectives”.
* There are a whole bunch of
allegationswhichhavebeencon-
veyedtotheCPRintheshowcause
noticeonhowtheywereinviola-
ity held had flouted the Code of
Ethics and Broadcasting
StandardsandSpecificGuidelines.
NBDSApassedsevendecisions
initsmeetingonMondayregard-
ingcomplaintsmadelastyear.
Representatives of the chan-
nels did not want to comment —
they said they have already put
across their versions before
NBDSA. Avinash Pandey, CEO of
ABP Network, who heads the
News Broadcasters & Digital
Association, which has 26 news
broadcasters (including repre-
sentatives from the channels
concerned) as board members,
said NBDSA works independ-
ently and the channels are sup-
posed to abide by its decisions.
Earlierintheday,Gatesspoke
aboutAadhaarandIndia'sdigital
networksandpaymentsystems,
while hailing the country's reli-
able and low-cost connectivity.
He said this will be the world's
cheapest 5G market. He was
speaking at a session on
'Building resilient and inclusive
economies - the Promise of
Digital Public Infrastructure' un-
der India's G20 presidency.
Gates also visited the Indian
Agricultural Research Institute
(IARI), and met Minister of State
for Electronics and IT Rajeev
Chandrasekhar.
Among the guests at the lec-
ture were Chandrasekhar, Niti
Aayog Vice Chairman Suman
Bery, Niti Aayog Member Dr VK
Paul, Chief Economic Advisor V
Anantha Nageswaran, Bharat
Biotech Founder and Chairman
Dr Krishna Ella, Plaksha
UniversityViceChancellorRudra
Pratap,MedantaCMDDrNaresh
Trehan, and Public Health
Foundation of India’s Srinath
Reddy . (WITHPTI)
tionof provisionsof theFCRA.
The show cause lists alleged
“sub-grants”bytheCPRandstates
that financials provided by the
CPRshowthatitsFCRAfundshave
got“mixedup”withitscorefunds.
The observation, “CPR appears to
be crediting the commercial re-
ceiptsandforeigncontributionin
FCRA designated accounts and
thus, there is an intermingling of
funds,whichisinviolationofpro-
visions of FCRA”.
Calculations have been pro-
vided to the CPR on how there
was wide discrepancy between
itsannualreceiptsof funds asper
their Income Tax filings and the
funds received as per their ac-
count books. The “discrepancy”
has been, for instance, calculated
at Rs 1.43 crore for the year 2017-
2018toRs81.45lakhfor2021-22.
Yamini Aiyar said replies to
specific allegations could not be
made by CPR since it would be
outside the remit of the process
and would undermine its objec-
tivity and confidentiality.
“As an academic institution,
whoseprimaryobjectiveistopro-
duce high quality education and
training related work, we enjoy
taxexemptionstatusaccordedto
us under Section 12 (A) of the
IncomeTaxAct.Ourwork,includ-
ing books written by our faculty,
andresearchrelatedpartnerships
are in pursuit of these objectives.
We are in complete compliance
with the law and are routinely
scrutinised and audited by gov-
ernmentauthoritiesincludingthe
Comptroller Auditor General of
India and the Ministry of Home
Affairs,FCRAdivision.Wehavean-
nual statutory audits and all our
annualauditedbalancesheetsare
in the public domain,” she said.
“However, they (channels) al-
ways have the recourse for ap-
peal if they disagree," he said.
A programme aired on Times
Now on September 24, 2022, on
protestsbyPFIsupportersinPune,
reportedthat“PakistanZindabad”
slogans were shouted. NBDSA
heldTimesNowliableforwrongly
reporting that such slogans were
raised.Inanotherdecision,itfound
Zee News liable for depicting the
issueofover-populationbytarget-
ing the Muslim community and
selectivelysharingstatistics.
Theotherfiveordersissuedre-
late to five programmes aired by
News18 India — NBDAA held the
shows generalised statements
against the Muslim community.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023 5
ADVERTORIAL

6 THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
BRIEFLY
During the meet
Delhigovt
schoolkids
meetManish
Sisodia’swife
New Delhi: Days after
Deputy CM Manish
Sisodia, who also held the
education portfolio, was
arrested,alumniofvarious
Delhigovernmentschools
visited and met Sisodia's
ailing wife Seema on
Wednesday.“Thestudents
saidthateversince Sisodia
appealedtotakecareofhis
family,theyhavebeentry-
ingtoreachouttohiswife
and share this tough time
with her and they got this
opportunity today," said
AAP in a release.
Amanatullah
Khangetsbail
inDelhiWaqf
Boardcase
New Delhi: A Delhi court
Wednesdaygrantedbailto
AAP MLA Amanatullah
Khan and 10 others in a
case of alleged irregulari-
tiesinappointmentstothe
DelhiWaqfBoardwhichis
being investigated by the
CBI. Special Judge MK
Nagpal granted bail to the
accused persons noting
that there are "no allega-
tions made against any of
the applicants for de-
mand,paymentoraccept-
ance etc of bribe in con-
nection with the
appointments".
Busstaffer
heldinDelhi
schoolkid’s
murderin2010
New Delhi: The Delhi
Police Crime Branch has
arrested another accused,
identified as Gurnam
Singh, in the 2010 bus
murder case of a 17-year-
old boy, days after they
made their first break-
through by arresting the
busdriver.Singh,whowas
the cleaner of the bus,
along with the driver, and
conductor, had allegedly
assaulted the child, said
police. ENS
1 held for stealing flower pots for G20 event Appoint officer to ensure compliance with
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
GURGAON,MARCH1
A DAY after a video emerged of
twomenpurportedlytakingaway
flowerpots,putupbytheauthor-
ities for beautification ahead of
G20meetinginGurgaon,byload-
ingthemintothebootofacar,po-
liceWednesdaysaidtheyhavear-
rested a property dealer for the
alleged theft.
Police said the man,
Manmohan, a resident of
Gurgaon,wasarrestedonTuesday
RESTORED BY FORMER MP VIJAY GOEL
Chandni Chowk gets a new attraction as old haveli is brought back to life
AISWARYARAJ
NEWDELHI,MARCH1
THERE ARE few structures in
Chandni Chowk that can offer a
view of Jama Masjid, Red Fort,
Gurdwara Sisganj and
Gaurishankar Mandir all at once.
The latest in the fray is Golden
Haveli at Anar Gali, an opulent
structure that stands out in the
narrow lanes.
The 150-year-old haveli,
ownedand run by BJPleader and
former Chandni Chowk MP Vijay
‘WILL TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH ABOUT EXCISE POLICY’
Kejriwal takes aim at Modi: ‘PM has
crossed all limits, just like Indira did’
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
DAYS AFTER his deputy Manish
Sisodia was arrested, Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal on
Wednesday took the fight to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
comparing him to former PM
Indira Gandhi.
“Jaise ek zamaane main Indira
Gandhi ne ati kar di thi, aaj prad-
hanmantrijiatikarrahehain.Aur
jab ati ho jaati hai, prakriti apna
kaamkartihai(thePrimeMinister
has crossed all limits, just like
Indira Gandhi did once. And
when limits are crossed, nature
takes its course),” he said.
AnnouncingthatAamAadmi
Party MLAs and councillors will
gofromdoortodoorandeducate
people about the excise policy
case, Kejriwal said the arrest of
Sisodia, as well as of Satyendar
Atishi, Sisodia’s right Saurabh Bharadwaj, trusted Kejriwal
hand woman on edu, man who was once an engineer in US
has to fill his shoes
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEWDELHI,MARCH1
SINCE THE time that the AAP
formed its first full majority gov-
ernmentinthecityin2015,Atishi
hasstoodalongsideDeputyChief
Minister Manish Sisodia in the
severalchangesthatwereimple-
mented in the city’s schools and
classrooms.
Daughter of DU professors
Vijar Kumar Singh and Tripta
Wahi, she attended Springdales
School and went on to study his-
tory at St Stephen’s College. She
thenwenttoOxfordUniversityfor
her Masters in History on a
Cheveningscholarshipandjoined
the Magdalen College, Oxford as
aRhodesscholar.In2015,shewas
appointed as an advisor to the
Deputy Chief Minister — a stint
thatlastedthreeyears,afterwhich
MinistryofHomeAffairsraisedan
objection to the appointment of
10 advisors, saying that proper
procedure was not followed in
theirappointment.Whileshewas
notanadvisoranymore,Atishihas
remained clued in, especially
when it came to matters related
to the education department.
An active part of a group of
people in AAP who have worked
dedicatedly on policy and imple-
mentation, Atishi has seen elec-
toral success only recently.
The party chose her as its Lok
Sabha candidate from East Delhi
duringthe2019generalelections.
nightandreleasedafterhejoined
theinvestigation.“Thesecondac-
cused is yet to be arrested. The
stolen flower pots have been re-
coveredandthecarusedhasbeen
seized,” said a police officer.
Officialssaidthattheotherac-
cusedworkedwiththeGurugram
Metropolitan Development
Authority (GMDA) on a contrac-
tualbasis.AGMDAspokesperson
said,“Inviewoftheincident...the
service of the concerned staff on
duty has been terminated.”
Police said Manmohan
claimed during questioning that
Goel,wasrestoredrecently.Asthe
city gears up to host the G20
Summit,theGoldenHaveli,along
with the nearby Haveli
Dharampura, which Goel also
owns, has been prepped up for
housing guests from over 75
countries.
Goelstartedtherestorationof
the 12-roomed mansion, spread
across 200 square yards, in 2019.
Covid and the lockdown delayed
work. “I had undertaken restora-
tion of Haveli Dharampura and
was aware of how this haveli had
tobebroughtbacktolife.Without
Jain, were nothing but harass-
ment.
“A question must be asked. If
Manish Sisodia ji had not done
good work in the field of educa-
tion, would Modi ji have him ar-
rested? No. He was arrested be-
cause Sisodia ji did good work in
education, which he (Modi)
wanted to stop. If Satyendar Jain
had not done good work in
health, would he have been ar-
rested? No. The aim was to stop
the good work being done in
health.Anotherquestionisraised.
If SisodiajijoinsBJPtoday,willhe
not be released tomorrow? All
cases against him will end. If Jain
joinsBJP,allcaseswillend,hewill
be out of jail tomorrow.
Corruption is not an issue. Their
aimistostopworkandharassop-
position leaders by setting CBI
and ED on them,” Kejriwal said.
HealsoannouncedthatMLAs
Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj
Atishi
She,however,losttoBJP’sGautam
Gambhir.Ayearlater,shewonthe
DelhiAssemblyseatfromKalkaji.
Sincethen,Atishi,alongsideMLAs
Durgesh Pathak and Saurabh
Bharadwaj, has been at the fore-
frontof MunicipalCorporationof
Delhi fight. In the contentious
mayoralandstandingcommittee
elections in the MCD House, she
hasbeencoordinatingtheparty’s
strategy and managing the 134
councillors.
According to sources, depart-
mentssuchaslabourandtourism
are expected to go to her, along-
side education.
“ShehasworkedwithDeputy
CM closely for several years and
willhitthegroundrunningined-
ucation, but also a few other de-
partments. For now, the party is
justfocussedongettingworkback
ontrack.CBIandBJPpickedatime
forarrestingManishjithatwillhit
directlyattheparty’simageofbe-
inga‘KaamkiSarkaar’,mostlybe-
cause the budget has to be pre-
sentedinafewweeks’time,”said
a party leader.
hewasacquaintedwiththeother
accused and the latter had al-
legedly called Manmohan there
to pick up the plants.
Afterthevideosurfacedonso-
cial media on Tuesday, the urban
environment division of the
GMDA had filed a police com-
plaint.Thecomplaintsaidthatthe
authority had put up flower pots
onNationalHighway48nearthe
Delhi-Gurgaon border as part of
arrangements to welcome dele-
gates for the G20 meeting.
“It has been observed that
some passersby are stealing
a hand from the state or the cen-
tral government, I managed to
raise it from the ruins.
Governments speak of heritage,
but no one cares about conserva-
tion,” he said.
He said that though there
were many exemptions, includ-
ing zero GST fee and stamp duty,
attempts at conservation have
failed,owingtoalackoffollow-up
by government authorities along
with a series of licences for con-
verting the structure into a com-
mercial place. “I have carried out
many restoration projects. I had
ANANDVIHAR
Poor
228
AQI
0 PM 10
0-50 Good
CM Kejriwal said the arrest of Sisodia and Jain were nothing
but harassment. Archive
wouldreplaceSisodiaandJainin
the cabinet. “Good work in Delhi
willcontinue.If weweregoingat
aspeedof 80earlier,wewillnow
go at 150. We have changed both
the ministers. Atishi ji and
SaurabhBharadwajarebothedu-
JATINANAND
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
AN ENGINEER by qualification
whose early career took him to
MilwaukeeandMassachusettsin
the United States, Saurabh
Bharadwaj is a close aide of Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal who
has,overtheyears,entrustedhim
with significant responsibilities
both within the government as
well as the party.
This will be the second time
that the Greater Kailash legisla-
tor,bornandbroughtupinDelhi,
will serve as a member of the
DelhiCabinetafterhavingbeena
part of it as Transport Minister
Kailash Gahlot, man behind key transport schemes
GAYATHRI MANI
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
A LAWYER by profession and a
prominentJaatleaderwithinthe
AAP, Transport Minister Kailash
Gahlot, who has been given the
responsibility of the finance and
planning department after
Deputy CM Manish Sisodia's ar-
rest, is an experienced hand in
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s
cabinet who is well-versed with
the functioning of government.
Gahlot (48), under whom
several key projects such as the
pink pass scheme on buses,
Mukhyamantri Tirath Yatra
flower pots placed on the road-
side. A videoof theft is going viral
on Twitter… It is requested that
consideringtheimportanceofthe
event being organised on a na-
tional level, necessary action is
takenagainsttheaccusedandalso
that police personnel are de-
ployed for protection of flower
plots planted on both the sides of
the road,” read the FIR.
Police had registered an FIR
against the two men in the video
undersection379(theft)ofIndian
Penal Code at DLF phase 3 police
station.
The 150-year-oldhaveliwasrestored recently. Amit Mehra
SHADIPUR
Very Poor
317
AQI
500 0 PM 2.5
51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate
catedprofessionals.Theywilltake
over now. The good work that
SisodiajiandJainsahabweredo-
ingwillbetakenforwardbythem
now at double speed,” he said.
He also announced that
nukkad sabhas and public meet-
during the 49-day AAP govern-
ment in 2013-14.
SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,
Bharadwaj said, “My main prior-
ity is to ensure that flagship pro-
grammesoftheAAPgovernment
are not stalled, especially at the
level of bureaucracy.”
“We will reach out to the
LieutenantGovernortounderline
thatpoliticaldifferencesbetween
us should be put aside, so they
mayplayoutastheymustonthe
side, but these should not be al-
lowedtoaffecttheadministrative
functioning of the city,” he said.
He is currently the national
spokesperson of the AAP and is
likely to be given health depart-
mentamongothers.Heisalsothe
Kailash Gahlot
Yojna,electricvehiclepolicyand
high-tech security system in
buses for women's safety have
been rolled out, has been en-
trusted with another role of
budget preparation and presen-
tation.
mandate of law: Court to Delhi police chief
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
NOTINGTHATdespitereminding
the police on multiple occasions,
witnesses were produced with-
outcomplyingwiththecourt’sdi-
rections, a court asked the Delhi
Police Commissioner to appoint
a responsible officer for all
Northeast Delhi riots cases.
Additional Sessions Judge
PulastyaPramachalaWednesday
SIRIFORT
Moderate
172
AQI
500 0 PM 2.5 500
201-300 Poor 301-400 Very Poor
ings,alongsidedoortodoorcam-
paigns, will be held across Delhi
and in parts of the country to tell
peoplethe“truthabouttheexcise
policy”.
“They are not able to digest
our win in Punjab. I want to tell
BJP, AAP is a storm, you cannot
stop it. No one can stop an idea
whose time has come. And the
Aam Aadmi Party’s time has
come… What is this whole ex-
cise policy scam? If we explain
this in layman’s terms, what is
it… I will explain it to you in four
lines. These people are alleging
that Sisodia ji took bribes from
those in the liquor business.
They quote figures of Rs 100
crore 1,000 crore, 10,000 crore.
They raided his house, tore mat-
tresses,brokewalls,checkedban
lockers, but they did not find
anything. If a man has taken a
bribe of Rs 100 crore, you should
be able to find Rs 1-2 crore lying
Saurabh Bharadwaj
vice chairperson of the Delhi Jal
Board at the moment.
The face of the AAP, both on
televisionnewsdebatesaswellas
socialmedia,Bharadwajenrolled
as a volunteer with India Against
Corruption movement in 2011
Currently,heholdssixportfo-
lios,includingtransport,revenue,
administrativereforms,informa-
tion and technology, women &
child development and law, jus-
tice and legislative affairs. For
now, more portfolios have been
giventohim—finance,planning,
PWD,power,home,urbandevel-
opment,irrigationandfloodcon-
trol, water and all other depart-
ments that are not specifically
allotted to any minister.
According to sources, he was
there alongside Sisodia in all
three major budget meetings
held last week and was prepped
up for the role before his prede-
cessorwassummonedbytheCBI
washearingtheexaminationofa
photographer who had handed
some riot-related photos to the
police. It transpired during the
hearing that a certificate under
section 65B of the Indian
EvidenceActwasnotobtainedin
this case.
ASJPramachalasaid,“Thisisa
veryperturbingsituationthatfor
aroundsixmonths,thiscourthad
been repeating the same direc-
tions and communicating such
directionstohigherofficers.”The
made a park in front of Red Fort,
butnowitisinasorrystate,”Goel,
president of the Heritage India
Foundation, said.
In the haveli is a room dedi-
cated to Mahatma Gandhi, who
used to stay in Chandni Chowk
duringhisvisitstoDelhi,saidGoel,
vice-chairpersonofGandhiSmriti.
Theelementsusedinrestora-
tion were collected from across
thecountry,saidGoel,addingthat
one of the arch glasses is from
Belgium.Twodoorsoneitherside
of the wide courtyard sport tall,
greendoorswithglassarches,and
IHBAS S K Y WA T C H
Moderate
179
AQI
0 PM 2.5 500
MAX: 32
401-500 Severe 6.4°C above normal
around in his house, shouldn’t
you? Where did the money go?
How will they find it when he
didn’t take a bribe?” he said.
Asked when Atishi and
Bharadwaj will be appointed,
Kejriwalsaidtheprocessof ares-
ignation being accepted and a
new person being appointed in
theirplacetakesaround25days,
“as per previous experience”.
“We will redistribute the portfo-
lios among the ministers after
that.”
Calling Jain and Sisodia “two
of our best ministers”, the CM
said: “The excise policy is just an
excuse.TherealreasonisthePM
wants the good work that is be-
ing done in Delhi to stop. This is
becausetheycannotdowhatwe
are doing. They have been in
power in MP, Gujarat and other
states for several years but they
couldn’t fix a single hospital or
school.”
and is considered one of its
founding members. In 2017, he
demonstrated the “hacking” of a
dummy Electronic Voting
Machineonthefloorof theDelhi
Assembly.
Accordingtopartysources,he
was fielded from the Greater
Kailash constituency given his
popularity in the media and
among his constituents, and has
since held political sway over it
forthelastdecade.Followingthe
party’selectoralconquestin2020,
Bharadwaj famously led the
‘Hanuman procession’, likening
lord Hanuman to Kejriwal to
counterPrimeMinisterNarendra
Modi’s projectionas lord Ram by
the BJP.
on February 26.
In 2015, he won from the
Najafgarh constituency with
55,598 votes. A native of
Najafgarh’s Mitraon village,
Gahlot comes from a farming
background and during his legal
career,hehasrepresentedseveral
cases pertaining to farmers'
rights.HeworkedintheSupreme
Courtand HighCourtas alawyer
for more than a decade.
SeniorAAPfunctionariessaid
he was the first choice for the fi-
nance and planning portfolio as
he has the highest experience in
administrative functioning. He
will present the Delhi Budget
2023-24, they said.
judgesaidthat“withallimpunity
prosecutiontakesthestand”that
necessary certificate was not ob-
tained which it knows “is neces-
sary for examination of such a
photographer”. The court said it
wascompelledtoseekareportby
DelhiPoliceCommissionersince
ithasinthepastaskedforreports
fromDCP(NE)andCrimeBranch
“to explain the steps taken by
themforcomplianceofdirections
givenbythiscourt,andthenetre-
sult is before the court”.
on the first floor is a balcony with
green jaalis. Goel said the colour
highlightsitsChandniChowkdis-
tinction. Built with Indo-Islamic
features, paintings depicting
Mughal era and lifts with similar
wall murals adorn the building.
The structure’s architecture acts
as a natural air conditioner and
heater as seasons change.
Goel’s daughter Vidyun said
that security, cleanliness and
crowd pose challenges for heads
of states from visiting the haveli.
“Many leaders have made re-
quests to stay at the haveli when
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
FORECAST: March 2
Partly cloudy sky.
MIN: 15
2.6°C abovenormal
During the protest at ITO,
Wednesday. Prem Nath Pandey
BJP holds
protests,
demands
Kejriwal’s
resignation
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THE DELHI BJP Wednesday held
protests at 15 key traffic inter-
sections across the city de-
manding the resignation of
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,
alleging that he was the "mas-
termind" behind the liquor
“scam”.
Calling the resignations of
Manish Sisodia and Satyendar
Jain as the “victory of the truth
and of the people”, BJP leaders
on Wednesday focused on the
AAP chief.
Around 50 leaders, includ-
ing BJP working president
Virendra Sachdeva, Leader of
Opposition Ramvir Singh
Bidhuri, Baijayant Panda, and
other party workers, held a
protest at the ITO traffic junc-
tion.
Sachdeva said, “The
Supreme Court quashed
Sisodia’s petition and did not
give any relief. The CM has ac-
cepted their resignation. They
may appoint anyone and bring
any leader like Atishi or Saurabh
Bharadwaj. As there are 52
cards in a deck, similarly, all
these leaders are corrupt and a
part of the same deck of cards.
The entire party is corrupt and
the CM should resign from his
post on moral grounds.”
Bidhuri said, "Why did AAP
minister Satyendar Jain not re-
sign from his post for nine
months, and all of a sudden
both Sisodia and Jain resigned?
This clearly indicates a conspir-
acy. We will go from house to
house to tell the people about
Arvind Kejriwal's liquor scam,
how he scammed thousands of
crores and made Delhi a den of
liquor."
"To earn and scam thou-
sands of crores, they played
with the lives of youths. We will
continue our protest till
Kejriwal resigns," Bidhuri
added.
BJP leaders said the party
will continue its protest on
Friday as well.
“The Commissioner of Police
iscalledupontomakeenquirybe-
hindreasonsforsuchomissionon
the partof the responsible officer
and to take suitable corrective
steps... Commissioner of Police is
called upon to get this job done
throughsomeresponsibleofficer
forallriotscases,thatis,thecom-
pliance to mandate of law and of
directionsgivenbythiscourt.The
courtwouldexpectacknowledge-
ment and a report from the
Commissioner...,” the court said.
theycometoIndia,buttheynever
getsecurityclearance.G20willin-
crease the number of foreigners,
but prominent leaders would be
discouraged by the police from
visiting Old Delhi,” she said.
Goel rued the state of other
havelisinthearea.“Unauthorised
constructions,red-tapism,lackof
government support make peo-
ple reluctant about restoration
work. Many owners sell their
havelisorshift.If ittookmethese
many years of hard work, imag-
ine how uphill a task it would be
for a common man,” Goel said.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023 7

युवाओ ं के हत को सम पत सरकार

उ राख तयोगी परी ा अ ादेश 2023

संग ठत ष ं म आजीवन कारावास एवं 10

करोड़ पए तक के जुमाने का ावधान

रा सरकार क
नौक रय हे तु भत
पुनः दोषी पाये जाने पर दस वष के कारावास
परी ाओ ंम धांधली तथा 10 लाख जुमाने का ावधान

रोकने के लये बनाया

स क़ानून

युवाश का सुखद भ व हमारी ाथ मकता है

 8 THE CITY WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023

Ashram flyover compensatory afforestation in Uttar Pradesh

For trees cut in Delhi, Railways wants to carry out
inauguration
on Monday
The flyover is one of the busiest sections in Delhi. Archive
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
AS A major relief to commuters,
thesix-laneAshramflyoverisset
to open on Monday. The flyover
will reduce the travel time be-
tween Delhi and Noida by 25
minutes and commuting will
becomesignal-free,saidofficials.
Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said the inauguration
over to the DND flyway has been
going on for the last year. The
PWD closed the flyover, which
sees around 3 lakh vehicles pass
through it per day, for about 45
days on January 2. Officials had
said work was delayed due to
rain among other things.
Earlier this month, Sisodia,
during an on-site inspection of
the stretch, had said that the fly-
over will be ready by
February-end.
ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
FOR TREES that are cut in Delhi,
can compensatory afforestation
be done in Uttar Pradesh? This
was a suggestion by the
Northern Railway, which re-
cently applied for forest clear-
ance for a railway terminal in
the national capital and pro-
posed to carry out compensa-
tory afforestation in UP. The ap-
plication has not yet been
approved. A senior official of the
forest department said it has
been returned to the Northern
Railway with some shortcom-
ings.
The forest clearance applica-
tion submitted in February is for
the new Bijwasan terminal of
the Northern Railway.
According to documents sub-
mitted for clearance, a separate
passenger and goods handling
facility is proposed at Bijwasan
to cope with “future traffic
needs and decongest existing
ones” for which the Delhi
Development Authority (DDA)
has “earmarked approximately
110 hectares of land at
Fight over petting pigs: At Book Fair, stall distributing
Last year, the DDA had requested the MoEFCC to allow
compensatory afforestation in neighbouring states of
Delhi, citing scarcity of land in the capital. Archive
Bijwasan”.
The new terminal will be
close to the IGI Airport.
Around 6.768 hectares of
forest land in Southwest Delhi is
proposed for diversion for the
terminal.
In lieu of the forest land di-
verted, the railways has pro-
posed to carry out compensa-
tory afforestation on multiple
patches of land in Uttar Pradesh.
The compensatory afforestation
land maps that have been sub-
mitted are for patches in
Muzaffarnagar and Baghpat. A
senior official of the forest de-
partment said compensatory af-
forestation land identified in
Uttar Pradesh is around seven
patches on around 6.84 hectares
of land.
Anofficialof therailwayssaid
compensatoryafforestationland
was identified in Uttar Pradesh
sincetheycouldnotfindlandfor
it in Delhi. “The DDA does not
haveland to give (for compensa-
tory afforestation). So, we have
applied and asked them to con-
sider landinUttarPradesh. Ithas
not been considered yet and it is
not final. We were not getting in
Delhi, so we had to try for the
project… The proposal has now
been sent back with some ques-
tions,” the official said.
Last year, the DDA had re-
quested the Ministry of
Environment,ForestandClimate
Change (MoEFCC) to allow com-
pensatory afforestation over de-
graded forest landin neighbour-
ing states of Delhi for projects of
the Central government/PSUs in
Delhi, citing scarcity of land in
the capital.
The Forest Advisory
Committee that examined this
matter last year decided to con-
sider the proposal on a “case to
case basis”. The minutes of the
committee’s meeting last year
said: “The Committee recom-
mended that in cases where
raising of CA (compensatory af-
forestation) is not possible in the
same State/UT where diversion
of forest land is proposed due to
scarcity of land and on account
of any other valid reasons, the
Ministry, in such cases, on case
to case basis, may allow raising
of CA in other States/UTs, in pub-
lic interest.”
In September last year, the
DDA had written to the
Northern Railway on non-avail-
ability of land for compensatory
afforestation with regard to a
proposal for a third and fourth
line between Tilak Bridge and
Anand Vihar.
In a letter dated September
5, 2022, the DDA wrote to the
Northern Railway: “We regret to
inform you that your request to
facilitate 24.887 Hectare DDA
land cannot be processed, as no
land is available for
Compensatory Afforestation
with DDA.”
According to the MoEFCC’s
Parivesh portal for submission
of environment and forest clear-
ances, this proposal of the rail-
ways, for forest clearance for the
lines between Tilak Bridge and
Anand Vihar, also remains
pending.
Building
collapses in
major fire in
north Delhi;
3 injured
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
A MAJOR fire broke out at a
three-storey private office on
NorthDelhi’sRoshanaraRoadon
Wednesday.Officialssaidthefire
had spread from the ground
floor to the entire building, lead-
ing to its collapse. Three of the
firemensustainedminorinjuries
when the building collapsed.
They were rushed to a nearby
hospital and later discharged.
The cause behind the fire is
not known, officials said.
Delhi Fire Services chief Atul
Garg said, “A fire call was re-
ceived around 11.50 am. We
were told that the fire started at
the Jaipur Golden Transport
company’s office on Roshanara
Road. There is also a godown.
Total 18 fire tenders have been
rushed to the site.”
Visuals from the spot show
the fire spreading from the
ground floor to the roof. As the
structure of the building was
weak, the roof and the upper

HC directs petitioners free Bibles targeted by protesters

will take place on March 6. At a The Ashram flyover is one of portion collapsed.
pressconference,hesaidthatthe the busiest sections in the city as Locals alleged the smoke en-
delay was not due to the arrest the Mathura Road and DND fly- tered nearby houses as well.

to plant 10 trees each

of DeputyChief MinisterManish
Sisodiabutowingtosomework-
related reasons.
"We have got the approval
andthedatefortheinauguration
fromtheCMOffice.Somefinish-
ing work is left, which will be
completed by next week. The
flyover will be inaugurated by
the CM at 12 pm. The electrical
work is delayed because a high-
tension wire is passing through
thestretchandtheDelhiTransco
Limited will soon shift this," said
a senior PWD official.
According to officials, the fly-
overwassupposedtobeinaugu-
rated by Kejriwal and Sisodia on
February 28.
Work on extending the fly-
way connect to it. The junction
has been at different stages of
construction for several years
now, with the Delhi Metro, an
underpass,andnowtheworkon
theflyoverunderway.Duetothe
corridor improvement plan,
Ashram Chowk sees heavy traf-
fic even at non-peak hours. This
spills over onto Outer Ring Road
from Kalindi Kunj to IIT flyover,
BarapullahflyoverandSaraiKale
Khan.
“Once completed, commute
betweenDelhiandNoidawillbe
reduced by 25 minutes. The ex-
tension flyover will have six
lanes and will benefit 13,500 ve-
hicles at peak hours,” said an
official.
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
WHILE HEARING a plea seeking
quashing of an FIR regarding a
fight over petting pigs, the Delhi
HighCourtdirectedthepetition-
ers to plant 10 trees each in their
localityandlookafterthemfor10
years.
AsinglejudgebenchofJustice
Jasmeet Singh in its February 21
decision observed that while the
FIR was pending, the parties had
arrived at a settlement on
November 12, 2022, and had de-
cided to put a quietus to the dis-
pute. The parties informed the
courtthattheyhavearrivedatthe
settlement out of free will and
without any undue influence,
threat, pressure or coercion.
The city police had lodged an
FIR in August 2017 at Jaitpur po-
licestationforvoluntarilycausing
hurt, criminal intimidation, as-
sault or criminal force to woman
with intent to outrage her mod-
esty, among other provisions of
the IPC. According to the FIR, the
complaint was predicated on a
fightoverpettingpigs,andthena-
tureoftheinjuriessufferedbythe
complainant was "simple".
TheHCnotedthattheFIRwas
registered in 2017 and not only
didthepoliceinvestigatethemat-
ter but had also filed a
chargesheet. “Considerable time
ofthepolicehasalsobeenwasted
on issues which should not have
escalated to this extent. In addi-
tion, valuable judicial time has
also been wasted. Even though
the parties have settled their dis-
putesandquashingwillputaqui-
etustothematter,thepetitioners
must do some social good,” the
HC observed.
After it was prayed that the
persons belonged to a humble
background, Justice Singh re-
frainedfromimposinganyfinan-
cial costs. The HC, however, di-
rected, “...each of the petitioners
shall plant 10 trees in their local-
ity and will look after them with
allpropercareforafurtherperiod
of 10 years...”
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
A BOOK stall at the World Book
Fair, underway at Pragati
Maidan, was allegedly van-
dalised by a group of men, with
volunteersclaimingtheytorere-
ligious books and posters. The
stall was being run by The
Gideons International, a
Christian organisation distribut-
ing, among other items, copies
of the Bible.
Police said that while a
protest had taken place, no
booksweretornandnoviolence
was witnessed.
According to a volunteer at
the stall, at 2.15 pm on
Wednesday, around a dozen
men came and started shouting
at those present there.
Visuals from the spot show
the menwearing saffronscarves
and shouting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai’
and ‘free Bible bandh karo’. The
group can be seen arguing with
the volunteers.
Thevolunteers,manyelderly,
alleged the men tore posters
Visuals from the spot
show the men wearing
saffron scarves and
shouting ‘Bharat
Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘free
Bible bandh karo’.
The group can be
seen arguing with
the volunteers
stuckontheirstallthatread'Free
Holy Bible' and ‘Nishulk Pavitra
Bible' as well as a handful of
books.
A volunteer, who did not
wish to be identified, said: “The
men accused us of converting
people by forcing them to take
thebooks. We toldthemthat we
were only distributing free
books to passersby. There are
others giving away free texts
from other religions. But they
didn't listen.”
The volunteers claimed they
approachedtheBookFairorgan-
isers but were instead told not to
distribute religious texts for free.
Asked about the allegations,
one of the organisers said: “We
didn't receive any complaint
from any stall. No such incident
took place.”
The Delhi Police said they
had called the book stall volun-
teers as well as Book Fair mem-
bers, but nobody wanted to file
a complaint.
“Wecheckedtheareaaswell,
no books were torn. The group
hadonlyprotestedandwassoon
removed. There was no disrup-
tion or violence. The Gideons
don'twishtofileacomplaintand
saidthe matter was sorted,” said
an officer.
VHP spokesperson Vinod
Bansal said, “We don't think it
was an organised protest against
these bookstall people. A few
people had found out about the
Christian group and went to
confront them. These groups
and missionaries convert peo-
ple by forcing them to take
books. We don't support this
and asked them not to do the
same. There was no violence or
anything.”
Officials said more than 100 fire-
men were pressed into action
and that around 3pm, the fire
was controlled.
Gurnek Singh (32), who runs
a transport agency in the area,
said,“Therearetemposandother
vehiclesparkedattheoffice.The
fire must have started around 11
am.Welatersaw ablazecoming
from the window and a huge
smoke cloud above the building.
My workers and I tried to douse
the fire with our extinguishers
but it had spread to other floors.
It started from godown where
clotheswerestockedinvehicles.
A security guard at the office
called the fire department. Soon
after the fire engulfed the build-
ing, it collapsed.”
As per police, the Jaipur
Golden Transport office had a
godown and multiple small of-
fices. Locals suspect a short cir-
cuit led to the fire.
“Residentsandworkersfrom
nearby buildings were evacu-
ated as the fire grew bigger. As
many as three buildings devel-
oped cracks because of the fire
and collapse,” said a senior
officer.

Sr. NAME OF OLD NATURE OF CORRIGENDUM WEBSITE OF NODAL OFFICER/

No. BOARD REFERENCE/ THE BOARD CONTACT
CORP./AUTH. NIT NO. CORP./AUTH. DETAILS/EMAIL
1. THE SIRSA 2023_HBC_25 E-TENDER HIRING OF VEHICLE FOR LIFTING OF https://etenders. 7496963239
COOP MILK 5165_1, MILK FROM VARIOUS SOCIETIES TO MILK PLANT hry.nic.in vitasrs@gmail.com
PRODUCERS /MCCS OF MILK PLANT IS HEREBY EXTENDED AS
2023_HBC_25
UNION LTD ON 10.03.2023
5177_1
SIRSA VITA
SIRSA
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in
16033/HRY

SR. NAME OF NAME OF WORK NOTICE TENDER OPENING DATE AMOUNT/EMD WEBSITE OF NODAL
NO. BOARD/ CLOSING DATE (APPROX.) IN THE BOARD OFFICER/CONTACT
CORP./AUTH (TIME) RUPEES CORP./AUTH DETAILS/EMAIL
1. PLANNING, DESIGN, SUPPLY, INSTALLATION, TEST- CLOSING 2014.55 https://etenders 01262254552
MICAD ING, COMMISSIONING AND OPERATION AND MAINTE- .hry.nic.in xenrohtakcad@
DATE LACS
DIVISION NANCE FOR 3 YEARS (INCLUDING THREE YEAR OF 16.03.2023 gmail.com
FREE MAINTENANCE OF ON- FARM MICRO IRRIGA-
ROHTAK TION SYSTEM) AFTER ONE YEAR ASSURED PERFOR-
MANCE DEMONSTRATION/DEFECTS LIABILITY PERI-
OD, WHICHEVER IS LATER, OF GRID/SOLAR POW-
ERED INTEGRATED MICRO-IRRIGATION SCHEMES IN
THE COMMAND(S) OF EXISTING OUTLET RD 18900-R
BARALOO MINOR + 2 WORKS
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in
16025/HRY

PUBLIC NOTICE/TENDER NOTICE

SR. NAME OF NAME OF OPENING AMOUNT/EMD WEBSITE OF NODAL TENDER
NO.
DEPARTMENT/ WORK/ DATE (APPROX.) IN THE OFFICER/ REF. NO./
BOARD/ NOTICE/ CLOSING LACS DEPARTMENT CONTACT TENDER
CORP./AUTH TENDER DATE (TIME) DETAILS/EMAIL NO.
1. GURUGRAM CONSTRUCTION 02.03.2023 13.54 Lacs https:// Superintending
UNIVERSITY, OF GYM AT from etenders. Engineers
GURUGRAM SECTOR 51, 09.00 A.M. to hry.nic.in 94163-74943
GURUGRAM 24.03.2023 till
UNIVERSITY, 05.00 P.M.
GURUGRAM
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023 FOREST COVER DATA EXPRESS INVESTIGATION 9
VIP houses, RBI WHY FOREST COVER DATA MATTERS

building, AIIMS, In chase for growth and carbon targets,

IIT are ‘forests’ on
forest cover map
The stretch between RBI and Transport Bhawan on
Delhi’s Sansad Marg is a patch of dense forest on the map
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
consistently under green
cover on government records.
Successive governments have
not made public the granular
data of the country’s forest
cover.
The Forest Survey of India
(FSI) publishes only the aggre-
gated data in its biennial State
of Forest Reports (SFRs) and
provides geo-referenced maps
for payment on the condition
that the “data should not be…
given to media”.
A ground verification of
parts of the FSI’s latest (SFR
2021) forest cover data offered
19.52% in 1987,” recalled a for-
mer ISRO scientist. Even while
putting the country’s forest
cover at 19.53%, the first SFR
(1987)bytheFSInotedthatonly
10.88%, had “adequate (dense)
forestcover”andthatthesitua-
tion was “indeed alarming”.
Since then, India’s dense
forest cover, according to SFR
2021, has increased to 12.37%.
But that includes dense green
patches, such as mango or-
chards, coconut plantations,
block plantations of agro-
forestry etc, outside India's
Recorded Forest Areas.
Forests inside Recorded
Forest Area — largely reserved
questions swirl over forests on paper
JAY MAZOOMDAAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
INDIA RANKED third globally in
average net forest gain during
2010-2020,butquestionsarebe-
ingraisedonitsforestdatabyin-
dependentexperts,andeventhe
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), for mixing planta-
tions with natural forests.
Multiple studies have shown
that plantations are less efficient
thannaturalforestsinstoringcar-
bon and supporting biodiversity.
Since 1981, the country’s
population has nearly doubled,
its livestock numbers have in-
creased by more than a quarter
and at least 25,000 sq km of for-
est land have either been di-
vertedor encroached.Inthat pe-
riod, India has also recorded, on
paper, a net forest cover gain of
over 73,000 sq km — one and
half times the size of Punjab.
“This haphazard exercise of
raising plantations and random
greenpatchestocompensatefor
forests that are hacked down as
a matter of policy cannot work.
Yet, successive governments
EXPLAINED
claimthatmanmadeplantations
can indeed offset biodiverse
forestslosttodevelopmentproj-
ects,” Bittu Sahgal, who served
in multiple expert panels of the
Environment ministry, told The
Indian Express.
Asked on the absence of data
on the loss of natural forests and
the incremental role of planta-
tions behind the stability in
India’sforestcover,AnoopSingh,
DirectorGeneralof ForestSurvey
of India,declinedcomment,say-
ing he was not authorised to
speak to the media.
Dr Subhash Ashutosh,
Singh’s predecessor in FSI, said
“reading between the lines” can
reveal a lot in the forest reports.
“Itisquiteapparentthatplan-
tations are replacing natural
forestswithintheoverallstability
of our forest cover. We can quan-
tify this specific matrix. But more
than interpreting the data, it is a
matter of the government’s pol-
icyonhowweapproachtheissue
tofindabalancebetweenconser-
vationanddevelopment,”hesaid.
SincetheForestConservation
Act was enacted in 1980, at least
10,000 sq km of forests have
been lost to diversion for devel-
DENSE FOREST LOST & PLANTATION GAINED
LOST
VDF to NF MDF to NF Total
2003-2015 545 8968
2015-2021 725 9470
2003-2021 1,270 18,438
VDF: Very dense forest; MDF: Mid-dense forest; NF: Non-forest
opment projects. In 2021, the
government initiated the
process of amending the Act “to
effectivelyfitintothepresentcir-
cumstances,particularlyfor
accelerated integration
of conservationandde-
velopment”.
The proposed
amendments seek to
limitthescopeof appli-
cationof theAct,exempt
certain activities from re-
quiringpermissionforclearing
forestsandallowraisingandhar-
vesting private plantations on
forest land etc.
While India maintains that
its forest cover definition has
beenacceptedbytheUN—since
the Kyoto Protocol allowed that
GAINED IN PLANTATION
NF to VDF NF to MDF Total
9,513 200 4,569 4,769
10,195 270 5,737 6,007
19,708 470 10,306 10,776
In SqKm
flexibility “depending upon the veloping countries — after the
capacities and capabilities” of a UNFCCC’s technical assessment
country — the UNFCCC has team sought certain clarifica-
flagged India’s data for as- tions regarding the first draft
suming that new presented in January that year.
forests (plantations) In October 2018, the UNFCCC
reach the carbon concluded that “the data and in-
stock level of ex- formation used by India in con-
isting forests in structing its FRL are partially
eight years which transparent and not complete”
led “to an overes- and sought, among other things,
timation of the car- “a complete and individual as-
bonsinkinthesoilor- sessment of areas of orchards,
ganic carbon pool”. bamboosandpalms, inline with
InMay2018,Indiasubmitted the forest definition, thus allow-
a modified Forest Reference ing a more accurate estimation
Level (FRL) to the UN’s Reducing of carbon stocks”.
Emissions from Deforestation Earlier,in2015,Indiapledged
and Degradation (REDD+) — a to create an additional carbon
scheme to put a value to the sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of
stored carbon to incentivise de- carbon dioxide equivalent
throughadditionalforestandtree
cover by 2030 as part of its
IntendedNationallyDetermined
Contribution (INDC).
In2015,India’sforestandtree
carbon was 29.62 billion tonnes
of carbon dioxide equivalent —
already a jump of over 1.5 billion
tonnes in a decade since 2005,
the baseline year also for the
GDP emission intensity target.
On paper, the carbon stock
kept growing — annually by
145.6 million tonnes of carbon
dioxide equivalent since 2019 —
even as the country diverted
over 700 sq km of forest land
during 2017-2021.
In 2019, an FSI technical pa-
per projected that India will
comfortably surpass its carbon
commitment by 2030 “without
implementing additional meas-
ures per se for increasing forest
carbon sink”.
But if the “additional” in
India’s commitment is inter-
preted as over and above the
business-as-usual levels,
pointed out Ashutosh, meeting
thecarbontargetwouldbecome
near impossible. “Nobody in the
government wants to venture
into that zone,” he said.

The case for open, verifiable forest data

a glimpse, for the first time, of and protected forests — are
all that can be labelled forest "basically natural forests and
under the official interpreta- plantations of the forest de-
tion of satellite images: private partment", the government
plantations on encroached clarified in Rajya Sabha on
and cleared reserve forest February 3, 2022.
land, tea gardens, betel nut Only two-third of India’s JAY MAZOOMDAAR explains how
clusters, village homesteads, recorded forest area is forested INDIA’S FOREST COVER: REFINED, REVISED
roadside trees, urban housing today. Of that, dense forests, India mapped its forest cover over
areas, VIP residences, parts of even factoring in the planta- Year Dense % of Total % of Tree Forest
educational and medical insti- tions grown by the govern- four decades and why making the Forest India Forest India cover &Tree
tutes etc.
The explanation lies in
ment,accountforonly9.96%of
the country.
data freely available will improve the (SqKm) (SqKm) cover
1975# 464,226 14.12 555,180 16.89 NA NA
India’sdefinitionofforestcover.
The global standard for
This loss has remained in-
visible because of the succes-
quality of this vital policy input 1981# 360,229 10.96 463,470 14.10 NA NA
“forest”isprovidedbytheFood sive jumps in India’s forest
1987^ 357,686 10.88 642,041 19.53 NA NA
and Agriculture Organisation cover since the turn of the cen- FOREST COVER DENSE COVER
(FAO) of the United Nations: at tury — the increase is often as- 8 lakh 1989^^ 378,470 11.51 640,134 19.47 NA NA
Square Kilometer

least 1 hectare of land with a
minimum of 10% per cent tree
canopy cover. While the FAO
does not include areas “pre-
dominantly under agriculture
or urban land use” in a forest,
India counts all 1-hectareplots
with 10% canopy cover “irre-
spective of land use” as forest.
This broad definition, ex-
perts say, inflates the country’s
forest cover.
“These patches may look
green from the sky but they do
not support a fraction of biodi-
versityweassociatewithafor-
est. There is no comparison at
all in terms of ecosystem serv-
ices. It’s a crime to mislead na-
tional policies with such
dressed-up inputs,” leading
ecologist Madhav Gadgil told
The Indian Express.
Askedaboutincludingsuch
areas of limited or no ecologi-
cal or biodiversity value in
India’s forest cover, Anoop
Singh, Director General of FSI,
declined to comment, saying
hewasnotauthorisedtospeak
to the media.
Last week, the office of the
Environment Secretary for-
warded the queries to the
Director General (Forest) who
did not respond to emails,
phone calls and text messages
for comments.
A senior government offi-
cial, who did not wish to be
named, said, “It is not possible
to identify different land uses
and ownership from satellite
images. We are very transpar-
entaboutthedefinitionweuse
to map our forest cover. Our
definitionof forestcoveriswell
accepted by the UN and FAO.
Given our population size, it is
remarkablethatwehavemade
some gains (in forest cover).
Every tree, be it in urban areas
or in village woodlots and
homesteads, is important and
is accounted for as such.”
The FSI is not the only one
looking at India’s forest cover.
Over the years, several inde-
pendent studies have reported
significant loss of forests in
India.AccordingtoGlobalForest
Watch, a World Resources
Institute platform, India lost
1,270sqkmofnaturalforestbe-
tween 2010 and 2021.
The FSI reported a gain of
2,462 sq km in dense forest
and21,762sqkminoverallfor-
est cover for the same period.
The number game can be
traced back to the FSI’s origin.
During 1980-82, the National
RemoteSensingAgency(NRSA)
estimated only 14.10% forest
cover in India. “Alarmed, the
government formed the FSI
(1981) and after a long-drawn
bargain(betweenthetwoagen-
cies)settledforaforestcoverof
signed retrospectively, beyond
thescopeof year-on-yearcom-
parison and is justified by ad-
vancements made in India’s
estimation capability through
higher-resolution satellite im-
agery .
InDelhi,forexample,forest
cover jumped six and a half
times — from 26 sq km to 170
sq km — in 6 years between
1997 and 2003.
Subsequently, the focus in-
tensified on plantations to
compensate for the loss of nat-
ural forests. Since 2003, ac-
cording to FSI data, nearly
20,000 sq km of dense forests
(40% or more canopy density)
have become non-forests. This
signifies total destruction of
primeforestsinanareahalf the
size of Kerala.
More than half of this loss
of quality natural forest has
been compensated, on paper,
by nearly 11,000 sq km of non-
forestareasthat becamedense
forests in successive two-year
windowssince2003.Theseare
plantations of fast-growing
species, say experts, since nat-
ural forestsdo not grow so fast.
On FSI maps, even private
plantationsonencroachedand
cleared forest land, The Indian
Express found, show up as
dense forests. For example,
hundreds of hectares were
cleared in Assam’s lush Rowta
reserve forest in Udalguri dis-
trict ever since the mid-1990s.
Later, multiple tea and rubber
plantations came up on the
cleared land and now count as
dense forest.
Similarly, large swathes of
tea estates, The Indian Express
found, are counted as open
forestsbecauseof thepresence
of “shade trees” essential in a
teaplantation.Significantly,the
FAO-UNdefinitionof forestex-
pressly“excludestreestandsin
agricultural production sys-
tems… and agroforestry sys-
tems when crops are grown
under tree cover” from forests.
Dr Subhash Ashutosh,
Singh’s predecessor at the
helm of FSI, said “certain mis-
takes could occur” during the
“vast exercise done in a hurry”
every two years.
“Therewasaproposaltodo
a more comprehensive assess-
ment every five years for bet-
ter policy inputs while contin-
uing with these biennial
reports. It remained on paper.
Datatransparencyisimportant
and we discussed making the
maps freely available to the
public. But the view was that
maps purchased for a price
from NRSA could not be given
out for free, and that raw data
should be shared only for col-
laborative research,” he said.
6 lakh
4 lakh
2 lakh
0
1991
INDIAISoneof thefewcountries
to have a scientific system of pe-
riodic forest cover assessment
thatprovides“valuableinputsfor
planning,policyformulationand
evidence-based decision-mak-
ing”. Since 19.53% in the early
1980s,India’sforestcoverhasin-
creasedto21.71%in2021.Adding
tothisanotional2.91%treecover
estimated in 2021, the country’s
total green cover now stands at
24.62%, on paper.
Forest and tree cover
While the Forest Survey of
India (FSI) started publishing its
biennialStateof Forestreportsin
1987,ithasbeenmappingIndia’s
forestcoversincetheearly1980s.
India counts all plots of 1
hectareorabove,withatleast10%
treecanopydensity,irrespective
of land use or ownership, within
forest cover. This disregards the
United Nation’s benchmark that
does not include areas predomi-
nantlyunderagriculturalandur-
ban land use in forests.
All land areas with tree
canopydensityof 40%andabove
are considered dense forests and
those between 10-40% are open
forests. Since 2003, a new cate-
gory — very dense forest — was
assigned to land with 70% or
more canopy density.
Since 2001, isolated or small
patches of trees — less than 1
hectareandnotcountedasforest
— are assessed for determining a
notionalareaundertreecoverby
puttingtogetherthecrownsofin-
dividual patches and trees.
NRSA versus FSI
TheNationalRemoteSensing
2001 2011 2021
A residential area in Delhi’s
busy Dhaula Kuan shows up
as dense forest on India’s
forest map
Agency (NRSA) under the
Department of Space estimated
India’sforestcoverusingsatellite
imagery for periods 1971-1975
and 1980-1982 to report a loss of
2.79% — from 16.89% to 14.10% —
in just seven years.
While reliable data on en-
croachment is unavailable, gov-
ernment records show that
42,380sqkm—nearlythesizeof
Haryana— of forest land was di-
verted for non-forest use be-
tween 1951 and 1980.
However, the government
was reluctant to accept such a
massive loss and, after much ne-
gotiations, the NRSA and the
newly established FSI “recon-
ciled” India’s forest cover at
19.53% in 1987.
Significantly, the FSI did not
contesttheNRSAfindingthatthe
denseforestcoverhadfallenfrom
14.12%inthemid-1970sto10.96%
in 1981, and reconciled it to
10.88% in 1987.
Old forests lost
In India, land recorded as for-
est in revenue records or pro-
claimed as forest under a forest
law is described as Recorded
Forest Area. These areas were
recordedasforestsatsomepoint
due to the presence of forests on
the land. Divided into Reserved,
Protected and Unclassed forests,
RecordedForestAreasaccountfor
23.58% of India.
Over time, some of these
Recorded Forest Areas lost forest
cover due to encroachment, di-
version, forest fire etc. And tree
cover improved in many places
outsidetheRecordedForestAreas
duetoagro-forestry,orchardsetc.
1991 385,008 11.71 639,182 19.44 NA NA
1993 385,576 11.73 640,107 19.47 NA NA
1995 385,037 11.71 639,600 19.46 NA NA
1997 367,260 11.17 633,397 19.27 NA NA
1999 377,358 11.48 637,293 19.39 NA NA
2001 416,809 12.68 675,538 20.55 2.48 23.03
2001*$ 395,169 12.02 653,898 19.89 2.48 22.37
2003 390,564 11.88 678,333 20.63 3.04 23.67
2003* 388,574 11.82 677,816 20.62 3.04 23.66
2005 387,216 11.78 677,088 20.60 2.79 23.39
2005* 403,420 12.27 690,171 21.00 2.79 23.79
2009 402,522 12.24 690,899 21.02 2.82 23.84
2009* 403,666 12.28 692,394 21.06 2.82 23.88
2011 404,207 12.30 692,027 21.05 2.76 23.81
2013 402,247 12.24 697,898 21.23 2.78 24.01
2015 401,278 12.21 701,673 21.34 2.82 24.16
2015* 401,372 12.21 701,495 21.34 2.82 24.16
2017 406,476 12.37 708,273 21.55 2.85 24.40
2019 407,750 12.40 712,249 21.67 2.89 24.56
2021 406,669 12.37 713,789 21.71 2.91 24.62 (Top) Dozens of tea gardens visited by The Indian Express are
# Conducted by NRSA ^ Reconciled between NRSA and FSI recorded as ‘open forest’ due to the presence of ‘shade trees’
^^ Image scale improves from 1:1 million to 1:250,000 — a common practice in tea farming; (middle) Next to a busy
(unit size fell from 400 to 25 h); NA: Not Available flyover in Assam’s Rangapara, scattered trees in and around
$ Image scale improves from 1:250,000 to 1:50,000 the rail yard show up as ‘open forest’; (above) Betel nut
(unit size fell from 25 to 1 hectare); Analyses go fully digital groves in the backyards of several houses of Nanoi village in
* Figures revised in subsequent reports Source: GoI Assam’s Nagaon district show up as dense or open forest
In 2011, when the FSI fur- 11,000 sq km of non-forest areas 1987), the forest cover was esti- National Forest Inventory (NFI)
nisheddataonIndia’sforestcover thatbecamedenseforestsinsuc- matedthroughsatelliteimagesat programme. In 2021, it claimed
inside and outside Recorded cessive two-year windows since a1:1millionscale.Theresolution tohaveestablishedanoverallac-
Forest Areas, it came to light that 2003. These are plantations, say then improved to 1:250,000, re- curacy of 95.79% in identifying
nearly one-third of Recorded experts, since natural forests do ducing the minimum mappable forests from non-forests.
Forest Areas had no forest at all. not grow so fast. unitsizefrom400to25hectares. However, given the limited re-
In other words, almost one-third By 2001, the scale improved sources, the exercise was limited
of India’s old natural forests — Natural vs manmade to 1:50,000, bringing down the to less than 6,000 sample points.
over2.44 lakh sqkm(largerthan The steady replacement of unit size to 1 hectare, and inter- Yet, the FSI never made its
UttarPradesh)or7.44%ofIndia— natural forests with plantations pretation went fully digital. data freely available for public
were already gone. are worrisome. First, natural One outcome of this refine- scrutiny. Inexplicably, It also bars
Of what remains of forests in forests have evolved naturally to mentofthescalewasthatthefor- themediafromaccessingitsgeo-
Recorded Forest Areas, only a bediverseand,therefore,support estcoverfellwithintheforestarea referenced maps.
fraction is dense forests. a lot more biodiversity. Simply whileitincreasedoutside.Thatis “In 1995, we shifted to our
put, it has many different plants because“manysmallblank,non- ownsatellite.Theforestmapsare
Natural forests shrink to sustain numerous species. forested and/or degraded forest based on the images purchased
Even after extensive planta- Secondly, plantation forests patches” became discernible from NRSA, another arm of the
tion by the forest department have trees of the same age, are withintheforestlandthatearlier government. Look at Brazil. They
since the 1990s, dense forests moresusceptibletofire,pestsand appearedasalargergreenchunk. are losing forests at an alarming
within Recorded Forest Areas epidemics,andoftenactasabar- Similarly,severalsmallwoodlots rate.Butwhateverbethequality,
added up to cover only 9.96% of riertonaturalforestregeneration. or plantations outside forest ar- theirforestdataisopenandfree,”
India in 2021. That is a one-tenth Thirdly,naturalforestsareold eas became visible. a former Environment ministry
slide since the FSI recorded andthereforestockalotmorecar- Tthe forest cover fluctuated official said.
10.88% dense forest in 1987. bonintheirbodyandinthesoil.In with every change in technology Brazil’s National Institute for
Thislossremainsinvisibledue 2018, the United Nations and the radical refinement in SpaceResearch(INPE)maintains
to the inclusion of commercial Framework Convention on 2001 made the data incompara- an open web platform,
plantations, orchards, village Climate Change (UNFCCC) ble with the previous assess- TerraBrasilis,forqueries,analysis
homesteads, urban housings etc flagged India’s assumption that ments. But the FSI also got into a anddisseminationof dataonde-
asdenseforestsoutsideRecorded new forests (plantations) reach habit of revising its data in every forestation, forest cover change
ForestAreas.TheSFR2021,forex- the carbon stock level of existing successive report ever since. and forest fire.
ample, reports 12.37% dense for- forests in just eight years. Between 1997 and 2005, our Since lack of manpower lim-
est by including random green On the other hand, planta- forest cover jumped by 9%, gain- itstheFSI’sscopeforverifyingthe
patches like the ones The Indian tions can grow a lot more and ing 56,774 sq km, and dense for- quality of remotely sensed data
Express sampled. faster than old natural forests. est cover increased by 10% or in the field, making the field data
The FSI provides no specific This also means that plantations 36,160 sq km. Since 2015, the to- freelyavailabletothepublicmay
informationontheshareof plan- canachieveadditionalcarbontar- talgainis12,294sqkm,including also ease its burden.
tations in the remaining dense gets faster. But compared to nat- 5,297 sq km of dense forests. With environmental aware-
forests inside Recorded Forest uralforests,plantationsareoften nessontherise,sayexperts,thou-
Areas. But its data offers some harvestedmorereadily,defeating Open, participatory sands of researchers and enthu-
hints. Since 2003, nearly 20,000 carbon goals in the long term. TheFSIcomparessomeinter- siasts can volunteer to verify the
sq km of dense forests have be- preted data with the correspon- country’s forest data on the
come non-forests. Much of that Sharp images, soft data ding reference data collected ground and be proud custodians
loss is compensated by nearly Until the mid-1980s (SFR from the ground under the of this vital national asset.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10 GOVT & POLITICS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023

US, Russia harden stands ahead of Lavrov holds

talks with

G20 foreign ministers’ meeting today

Russia-Ukraine conflict will be an important part of deliberations, says Foreign Secretary Kwatra
SHUBHAJIT ROY
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
WHILE US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken missed the inau-
gural dinner of the G20 foreign
ministers hosted by External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on
Wednesday, battlelines were
drawnbetweenWashingtonand
Moscow, in the backdrop of the
Russia-Ukraine war, ahead of the
day-long meeting on Thursday.
New Delhi said the Russia-
Ukraineconflictwillbeanimpor-
tant part of the deliberations.
“Given the nature and the devel-
opingsituationinRussia-Ukraine
conflict, naturally, that would be
an important point of discussion
during the G20 foreign ministers
meeting,"ForeignSecretaryVinay
Mohan Kwatra said.
Kwatrasaidtheleaderswould
discusstheRussia-Ukrainesitua-
tion,andnotedthattheimpactof
the conflict on food, energy and
fertilisersecuritywouldbeamong
the key focus areas for the Indian
presidency.
“Idonotthinkitwouldbecor-
rect for me to pre-judge the out-
comeoftheG20foreignministers'
meeting... We are very clear that
theforeignministersshouldfocus
on all the priorities that are cur-
rently relevant in the global con-
text,” he said.
As Blinken arrived in New
Delhi late on Wednesday night,
the US State Department said:
“The US strongly supports India’s
G20 priorities to provide action-
oriented solutions to global chal-
lenges”. “Russia’sbrutalaffrontto
the international rules-based or-
der... cannot stand. The US will
continue to hold the Russian
Federation to account for its un-
provoked and unjust war of
choiceagainstUkraine,including
in multilateral institutions and
bodies. Russia’s war against
Ukraine blatantly violates UN
Charter principles,” it said.
“The US will continue to en-
gagewithG20andotherinterna-
tionalpartnerstoaddresstheim-
mense humanitarian challenges
stemmingfromRussia’sfull-scale
invasionofUkraine,especiallythe
damagingeffecttheKremlin’swar
of aggression has had on global
foodandenergysecurity.TheG20
must hold Russia accountable
now for its failure to respond to
UNeffortstoreopenthesealanes
for grain delivery... The answer to
meeting these challenges is close
international cooperation and
clear resolve to ensure such
brazen aggression does not go
unchecked. We must hold those
responsibletoaccount;therecan
be no return to business as usual
with the Kremlin while it wages
war,” the US said.
Moscow, in its statement,
said: “We support India's G20
presidencyinitscommitmentto
promote a unifying agenda that
will restore confidence in multi-
lateral diplomacy and prevent
the fragmentation of the global
economy.”
“During the regular foreign
ministers’ meeting, we intend to
firmly and openly talk about the
reasonsandinstigatorsofthecur-
rent serious problems in world
politics and global economy. We
will focus on the attempts by the
West to take revenge for the in-
evitable disappearance of the
levers of dominance from its
hands… the destructive policy of
the US and its allies has already
puttheworldonthebrinkofadis-
aster,provokedarollbackinsocio-
economicdevelopmentandseri-
ously aggravated the situation of
the poorest countries,” it said.
“The support structure of in-
ternational lawasakeyregulator
ofinterstatecooperationhasbeen
destroyed. The Western leaders
havemadeitabundantlyclearby
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Foreign Minister
of Russia Sergey Lavrov in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI
disavowing the Minsk agree-
ments and their previous prom-
ises not to expand NATO, and by
launching the harassment of not
only Russia but also individual
Russiancitizens,Russianathletes
and companies,” it said.
Meanwhile, responding to a
questiononRussiaandChinanot
agreeing to some paragraphs in
the G20 Chair's Summary and
Outcome Document issued after
a meeting of the grouping's fi-
nanceministersandcentralbank
governors in Bengaluru, MEA
spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
said it is for the two countries to
explain.
The paragraphs were taken
fromtheG20leaders'declaration
at the Bali summit in November,
including the formulation that
"today's era must not be of war".
"You need to ask them whether
theynolongerstandwiththetext
from Bali," Bagchi said.
Jaishankar on
ties, Ukraine
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S
Jaishankar on Wednesday held
wide-ranging talks with his External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with British Foreign
Russian counterpart Sergey Secretary James Cleverly in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI
Lavrov focusing on the Ukraine
conflict, bilateral ties and issues
relating to the G20 foreign min-
isters' meeting.
TheRussianForeignMinister
‘Must comply with
landed in Delhi Tuesday night to
attend a two-day meeting of the
G20foreignministersthatistak-
laws’: Jaishankar to
ing place amid Russia's escalat-
ing confrontation with the
Western powers over the
British foreign secy
on BBC tax issue
Ukraine conflict. “A wide rang-
ing discussion with FM Sergey
Lavrov of Russia on #G20FMM
sidelines. Exchanged views on work in the other country for up
our bilateral cooperation and SHUBHAJIT ROY to two years.
G20 issues,” Jaishankar tweeted. NEW DELHI, MARCH 1 He also announced the cre-
It is learnt that the Ukraine con- ation of the UK’sfirst Tech Envoy
flict figured in the talks. BRITISH FOREIGN Secretary to the Indo-Pacific region, who
A Russian readout said the James Cleverly brought up the willboosttieswithIndiaasapri-
two ministers resolved to en- BBC tax issue with External ority. “This envoy is the second
hance coordination on the inter- Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on of its kind to be announced by
nationalstageandinmultilateral Wednesday. “He was firmly told theUK(aftertheappointmentof
forums including at the UN, G20, that all entities operating in a Tech Envoy to the US in late
Shanghai Cooperation India must comply fully with 2020) and demonstrates our
Organisation (SCO) and BRICS . relevant laws and regulations,” commitment to the region and
“They confirmed their compli- a source in the Indian govern- tech-diplomacy,” a British High
ance with the establishment of ment said. Cleverly is visiting Commissionstatementsaid.The
a polycentric world order based India to attend the G20 Foreign UK deployed its first Tech Envoy,
onfairanddemocraticprinciples Ministers’ meeting. Joe White, to San Francisco in
and the rule of law,” it said. BBC offices in India were sur- 2020.
veyedlastmonthaspartof anin- The statement said that the
vestigationbyIncomeTaxauthor- newTechEnvoyrolewillboostthe

For faster extradition of fugitive economic ities, days after India had blocked
its documentary on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
UK’s status as a science and tech
superpower.“Theenvoywillwork
withourpartnersintheregionon

offenders, India underlines multilateral action “Beganthemorningwithabi-

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL PAVNEET SINGH CHADHA
GURGAON, MARCH 1
UNION MINISTER of State for
Personnel Jitendra Singh
Wednesdayemphasisedonmul-
tilateral action rather than bilat-
eral coordination for streamlin-
ing of the judicial processes and
timely disposal of cases against
fugitiveeconomicoffenders,dur-
ing the inaugural G20 anti-cor-
ruption working group meeting
in Gurgaon.
SITUATION TURNABOUT “There have been numerous
instances of financial or banking
FOODMINISTERPiyushGoyalhadexpressedunhappinessover fraudsthatwereinvestigatedun-
the absence of several state Food Ministers, including West der relevant statutory provisions
Bengal minister Rathin Ghosh, during a meeting organised by thatinvolvedhighnetworthindi-
hisministrylastyear.OnWednesday,itwastheotherwayround. viduals where the proceeds of
Goyal was supposed to address the inaugural session of the crimeinvolvedweremorethan$
Conference of Food Ministers. Several state Food Ministers, in- 1billion.Offendersfledthecoun-
cludingGhoshandhisUttarPradeshcounterpartSatishChandra trybeforeorafterdetectionof of-
Sharma,who brought a bouquet to welcome Goyal, were pres- fence… even after initiating the
ent. Goyal, it is learnt, could not attend the session since he was process of getting information
preoccupiedwithotherofficialassignments.Inhisabsence,his from foreign countries on assets
deputy, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey addressed the gathering. through letters rogatory, the
Union Minister jitendra Singh with delegates and officials at
the inaugural session of the first G20 Anti-Corruption
Working Group meet in Gurgaon on Wednesday. PTI
process of extradition was found
to be highly complex and time
consuming,leadingtodelayinin-
vestigation and trial of offences,”
he said in his speech.
Onaquestionontheeffortsof
thegovernmentintheextradition
of such fugitives, Singh said that
thespiritofthemeetinggroupwas
motivated towards this direction.
“...Before this government came
[to power] in 2014, there was no
seriouseffortinthisdirection…It
isonlynowthatthey[fugitiveeco-
nomic offenders] are being grad-
uallybroughttobook.But,thepro-
ceduresaretedious,”hesaid.
“…nineyearshavepassed,not
a single member in the [Modi]
ministryhasbeenaccusedof any
seriouscorruption,scamorscan-
dal...which was a norm in earlier
governments.”
Inthedeliberationsamongthe
delegates at the G20 meeting, he
said the focus will be to build a
consensusonsomebroadprinci-
ples,includingsharingofinforma-
tion for recovery of assets,
strengthening of asset-recovery
mechanisms and strengthening
law enforcement cooperation in
order to force the offenders to re-
turn to their home country.
“Corruption is a global chal-
lenge.Itaffectsalmosteverycoun-
try and so the fight, the strategies
and collaboration also need to be
global,” he said. Underlining the
Centre’s decisive action under its
“zero tolerance crusade” against
corruption,JitendraSinghsaidthe
EnforcementDirectorate(ED)has
transferred assets worth over
$180billiontopublicsectorbanks
outofestimatedlossesof$272bil-
lion on account of frauds by fugi-
tive economic offenders.
lateral meeting with Foreign
Secretary @JamesCleverly of the
UK.Reviewedtheprogressinour
relationshipsinceourlastdiscus-
sion.Notedinparticularthecom-
mencement of the Young
ProfessionalScheme,”Jaishankar
tweeted. “Also exchanged views
on the global situation as well as
the G20 agenda,” he said.
Cleverly tweeted, “India and
theUKstandunitedasfriendsand
partners. We are working to-
gether for the benefit of both our
greatnations.”Cleverlyalsotalked
about a new scheme allowing
youngBritsandIndianstoliveand
workineachother’scountriesfor
up to two years, which was an-
nounced by the Home Secretary
earlier this week.
During a visit to Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT),
Delhi, the British Foreign
Secretarymarkedtheopeningof
theYoungProfessionalsScheme,
an ambitious new partnership
betweentheUKandIndiawhich
allows up 3,000 Brits and 3,000
Indiansayeartherighttoliveand
areasofsharedinterest,including
setting global technology stan-
dards and helping to solve chal-
lenges through innovative tech-
nology,” the British High
Commission said.
In a statement, Cleverly said,
“Indiaisahugelyimportantpart-
ner to the UK and the deeper ties
we are forging now will help to
grow the UK economy and boost
our industries for the future. This
landmark migration scheme will
enable the brightest and best in
bothourcountriestobenefitfrom
new opportunities.
“India is also an emerging
global leader on technology and
thereareimmenseopportunities
for better collaboration between
us in this sector. That is why we
will be sending our first Tech
Envoy to the Indo-Pacific region,
tomaximisethetechexpertiseof
both countries,” he said.
He said that India has the
world’s third highest number of
techunicornsandstart-ups,with
108start-upsgainingtheunicorn
status of a private company val-
ued at over $1 billion.

HANGING ON TO HOPE PM: Well-planned cities need of the Dhankhar for

mass movement
hour, will determine fate of India
THECONGRESSseemstobefairlyconfidentthatMeghalayawill
give a fractured verdict. Gearing up for a hung Assembly, the
party has rushed former Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy and
AICC in-charge Manish Chatrath to Shillong. The party's calcu-
against House
lation is that the ruling NPP will emerge as the single-largest
party but will fall short of the halfway mark. The Congress and EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Kaal’ and it is only well-planned
cities that will determine the fate
disruptions
the TMC could finish second or third, it believes. The party has NEW DELHI, MARCH 1 of India,” the PM said, addressing
also rushed senior leader Mukul Wasnik to Tripura, where the thevirtualgatheringthatincluded EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Congress-Leftcombinebelievesithasachancetoformthegov- PRIME MINISTER Narendra Union Minister for Housing and BENGALURU, MARCH 1
ernment despite some exit polls predicting a BJP sweep. Modi on Wednesday empha- Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri,
sised the importance of urban EnvironmentMinisterBhupender VICE PRESIDENT Jagdeep
planning, saying that it was only Yadav, Social Justice Minister Dhankhar Wednesday urged
MATCH MADE NATURALLY “well-plannedcitiesthatwillde-
termine the fate of India”.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi addresses the webinar
Virendra Kumar, and Jal Shakti
Minister Gajendra Shekhawat.
Police lathicharge Haryana sarpanchs during a protest at
Panchkula on Wednesday. Jasbir Malhi
people, especially the youth, to
launch a “mass movement”
BITSPILANIsignedanagreementwithMelbourne-basedRMIT Addressingapost-Budgetwe- on urban planning. ANI Inthesixthofthe12suchpost- against ‘parliamentary disrup-
University on Wednesday to start an academy with a dual-de- binar on the subject of urban de- Budget webinars, the PM asked tions’ to build public opinion
greemodel.Atthelaunchevent,AustralianHighCommissioner
toIndia,BarryO'FarrellAO,invokedhisNetflixwatchlisttodrive
velopment, Modi said well-
planned cities were the need of states’urbanplanningecosystem,
thestakeholders,whichincluded
mayors, municipal councillors, Haryana cops lathicharge against those public representa-
tivescreatingruckusinthe"tem-

sarpanchs during protest

home a point. He said unlike 'Indian Matchmaking', where the hour in the 21st century. He howtousetheexpertiseavailable sanitation workers and academ- ple of democracy".
Seema Taparia played the matchmaker, India and Australia are saidpoorplanningofcitiesorim- in the private sector, and how to ics, to come up with ideas to im- The Vice President's remarks
naturalpartners,anddonotneedanysuchintervention.Another plementation of plans may lead develop centres of excellence for prove urban planning practice in comeinthewakeof frequentdis-
instance of bonhomie was on display, with Union Education
Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and his Australian counterpart,
Jason Clare, riding to public events in the same vehicle.
to huge challenges in the devel-
opment of the country. He asked
thestakeholderstofocusonthree
urbanplanning.Heaskedthepar-
ticipants to work with start-ups.
“Urban planning will deter-
cities. He said it was unfortunate
that only one or two cities had
been developed in a planned
against e-tender policy ruptions during the recent
Parliament session on a host of
issues, including a demand for a
questions — how to improve minethefateofourcitiesin‘Amrit manner after Independence. ing “peaceful”. joint parliamentary committee
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Earlier, Bhupeshwar Dayal, (JPC) probe by the Opposition
CHANDIGARH, MARCH 1
Odisha to start backward classes survey, July 12 deadline
OSD to CM, met the protesting intotheAdani-Hindenburgissue.
sarpanchs in Panchkula and as- Dhankar was addressing the

E
HaryanaPoliceWednesdaylath- suredthemthatthegovernment centenary celebrations of Dr M
icharged the village sarpanchs, is open to discussion. He also SRamaiahhere. Heclarifiedthat
conditions of people from back- tive policies for them (at pres- had requested the Centre to col- who had gathered in Panchkula urgedthemnottoinconvenience his appeal is non-partisan and is
E X P L A I NE D

SUJIT BISOYI
BHUBANESWAR, MARCH 1
RESUMINGITSplantoconducta
survey of social and educational
conditions of people belonging
to backward classes in the state,
the Odisha government has
given the districts a deadline of
July 12 to finish the work.
In a letter issued on February
24, Odisha State Commission for
Backward Classes (OSCBC)
member-secretary Vir Vikram
Yadav has asked all district col-
lectorstocompletethesurveyby
July12.TheOSCBCwillsupervise
the survey process.
Odisha will be the second
state after Bihar to have decided
tocollect data onsocioeconomic
ward classes.
While the Naveen Patnaik-
ledBJDgovernmenthaddecided
to conduct the survey in May
and June 2021, the plan was
postponed due to the surge of
the second wave of Covid-19.
Even though there has been
noformaldataonthepopulation
of peoplefrombackwardclasses,
they are believed to constitute
approximately 54% of the state
population.
“A fresh survey of backward
classes is crucial to make fo-
cussedplanningfortheirsocioe-
conomicdevelopment.Sincewe
don’t have access to any recent
data on social and educational
conditions of the backward
classes, we cannot make effec-
A move to
woo all
● sections
ALTHOUGH ELECTIONS in
Odishaarelargelynotcon-
tested along caste or reli-
gion lines, the BJD govern-
ment’s fresh push to
conduct the survey a year
before Lok Sabha and
Assembly polls are due
seems to be an attempt to
attract voters from back-
ward classes. It is also seen
as a bid to outsmart any
movebytheoppositionBJP
and Congress to woo vot-
ers from these segments.
ent),”agovernmentofficialprivy
to the development said.
Collecting accurate data of
various backward castes is cru-
cial to effectively implement
reservation policies, another
government official said.
Odisha’s SC/ST Development
and Backward Classes Welfare
Minister Jagannath Saraka said:
“There is no politics in the deci-
siontoconductasurveyof socio-
education conditions of back-
wardclasses....Tohavefreshdata
is necessary for effective policy
formulation.”
In a written reply on July 26,
2022, Union MoS (Home)
Nityananda Rai had informed
Lok Sabha that states such as
Odisha, Bihar and Maharashtra
lect caste details in the (2021)
Census.
Not receiving a positive re-
sponse from the Centre, the
Odisha government had, in
February 2020, amended the
OSCBC Act to empower the
Commissiontoconductasurvey
of peoplebelongingtobackward
classes. The OSCBC had identi-
fied 209 communities in Odisha
as socially and educationally
backward classes (SEBC).
Recently, the state cabinet ap-
proved inclusion of 22 more
castes in the state OBC list, tak-
ing the number to 231.
These SEBCs enjoy 11.25%
reservation in government jobs,
although there is no reservation
for them in education.
to protest against the state gov-
ernment's e-tender policy, as
theytriedtobreakbarricadesand
march towards Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar's residence
in Chandigarh to gherao it.
A large number of personnel
were deployed and barricades
set up at the Panchkula-
Chandigarh border as members
of the Haryana Sarpanch
Association, a body represent-
ing the village heads, had an-
nounced that they will gherao
CM's residence.
Thepolicesaidsomeprotest-
ers tried to jump over the barri-
cadesandenterChandigarh.The
sarpanchs, however, claimed
that the police resorted to lath-
icharge despite their protest be-
peoplebyblockingtheroads.The
sarpanchs,however,continuedto
squat on the roads. They later
tried to enter Chandigarh by
breaking police barricades fol-
lowing which police resorted to
lathicharge. Haryana Sarpanch
Association president Ranbir
Singh claimed that more than
100 village heads and other pro-
testers, inluding women, were
injured,someof themgrievously.
Under the e-tendering sys-
tem, village heads can approve
development works up to Rs 2
lakhattheirownlevelbute-ten-
dering is mandatory for projects
above Rs 2 lakh.
TheCongressandtheINLD hit
outattheBJP-JJPgovernmentand
condemned the “lathicharge”.
not concerning stakeholders in
politics,butforthewelfareof the
nation. “Dr Ambedkar had a key
role to play in drafting our
Constitution, it was debated for
threeyearsintheconstituentas-
sembly, there was dialogue, de-
bate, discussion and delibera-
tion. They had a tough task
before them, there were several
contentious issues, there were
divergentviews,”Dhankharsaid.
“Despite all this, the
Constituent Assembly did not
have a single disturbance or dis-
ruption. When such great work
can be done by those who gave
us the constitution, in the inter-
estof thecountry,whatisthedif-
ficulty,thatwearenotabletofol-
low their conduct?” he said.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023 GOVT & POLITICS 11
3 CADET SHIPS, 70 HL-MADE AIRCRAFT TO BE ACQUIRED

CCS clears Rs 10k cr training platforms Talksofthirdfrontpointless,should

AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
ingshipsworthRs3,108.09crore.
The ships will be procured
under the Buy Indian-IDDM (in-
digenously designed, developed
theministrysaid,addingthatthe
ships can also be deployed for
evacuation of people and hu-
manitarianassistanceanddisas-
The HTT-40—a tandem seat
trainer has an air-conditioned
cockpit,modernavionics,hotre-
fuelling, running change over
beignored:StalinechoesCongstand
Neversaidwhowilllead,whowillbecomePM...pointisfightingunitedly:Kharge
THE CABINET Committee on and manufactured) category of ter relief (HADR) operations. and zero-zero ejection seats.
Security (CCS) chaired by Prime the defence acquisition proce- Theshipswillbeconstructed “The procurement will in- alone is the arena tofightand de-
Minister Narendra Modi on dure—the manual governing all at L&T shipyard in Kattupalli, clude associated equipment and ARUNJANARDHANAN feat the BJP,” Stalin said.
Wednesdayapprovedtheacqui- defence capital procurements. Chennai, and the project is esti- trainingaidsincludingsimulators. CHENNAI,MARCH1 Stalin appealed to the DMK
sition of critical training plat- Thedeliveryof shipsissched- mated to generate an employ- Beinganindigenoussolution,the cadre to work hard towards that
formsfortheNavyandtheIndian uled to start from 2026 and will mentof 22.5lakhman-daysover Aircraft is configurable for up- TAMIL NADU Chief Minister M K aiminTamilNaduandwinall40
Air Force (IAF) — including three be used in the training of officer a period of four-and-half years. gradestoincorporatethefuturis- StalinonWednesdaycalledonall seats, adding that victory in
cadet training ships from the cadets, including women, at sea A senior officer of the Navy ticrequirementsofIndianArmed Opposition parties to unite to de- those 40 seats would be their
Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T), after their basic training to meet explained that training on Cadet Forces,”thedefenceministrysaid. feat the BJP in next year’s Lok birthday gift to him.
and 70 Hindustan Aeronautics the future requirements of the Training Ships form the very As per the defence ministry, Sabha elections. At a public rally Earlier, Kharge who spoke at
Limited (HAL)-made HTT-40 Indian Navy, the defence min- foundationof asea-goingofficer. the HTT-40 has about 56% in- organisedinChennaiaspartofhis therally,saidtherewasa“connec-
Basic Trainer Aircraft. istry said in a statement. The CCS also approved the digenous content which will 70thbirthdaycelebrations,Stalin tion and affection between” the
As per the defence ministry, “Theshipswouldalsoprovide procurement of 70 HTT-40 Basic progressively increase to over dismissedtheideaofathirdfront Congress and the DMK and that
the CCS accorded approval to training to cadets from friendly Trainer Aircraft from HAL for the 60% through indigenisation of and urged all political parties to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin with “itshouldbestrengthenedmore”.
sign a contract with L&T for the countries with the aim to IAF at a cost of Rs 6,828.36 crore. major components and subsys- understandthesimplearithmetic Opposition leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Farooq Abdullah, Promising that the two parties
acquisition of three cadet train- strengthendiplomaticrelations,” It will be supplied over six years. tems in the future. of electoral unity. Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and others at a meeting held would stand united, Kharge said,
At the rally, Stalin was joined as part of Stalin’s 70th birthday, in Chennai, Wednesday. PTI “I never said who will lead, (or)
byseniorOppositionleaderssuch who will become the Prime
Adani-Hindenburg
row: Apex court to Australia to start recognising asCongresspresidentMallikarjun
Kharge, Samajwadi Party (SP)
chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bihar
ing the Congress, that unity is the
secret to winning elections. In a
The Tamil Nadu CM, mean-
while,attackedtheBJPforallocat-
Minister...Wearenotsayingwho
will or who will not but the point
is fighting unitedly.”
pronounce order on
experts’ panel today
degrees from Indian colleges Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav, and
National Conference (NC) leader
Farooq Abdullah. Stalin made it
2021 public rally, I told Rahul
Gandhi to take efforts to form a
unitedoppositionmovementlike
ingjustRs12croreforaprojectto
build an All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in
Kharge’s comments about
fightingtogetherwithoutbother-
ingaboutthePrimeMinistercan-
Asked whether the frame- clear that the main goal was to in Tamil Nadu in all other Indian Madurai years ago and for not didate were in response to
SOURAVROYBARMAN Australian work will also accord mutual beattheBJP,notforanyoneparty states. At the same time, argu- placing a single brick at the site. Abdullah’s statement that the
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE NEWDELHI,MARCH1 Education recognition to professional de- towintheelection.Amongthose ments surrounding a third front “Isn’t it cheating our eight crore main goal should be to win the
BENGALURU, MARCH 1 Minister grees,Claresaidthoseprovisions conspicuous by their absence also should be ignored. Alliance people in Tamil Nadu? The BJP is election and not the name of the
AUSTRALIA WILL start recognis- Jason Clare. are still in the works. were the Trinamool Congress plans for post-elections also will spending crores and crores of PMcandidate.“...ItisnotthePrime
THE SUPREME Court will pro- inghigher education degrees ob- ANI Recalling the 2015 Australia- (TMC),theBharatRashtraSamithi not help defeat the BJP. Parties money for (promoting) Sanskrit Ministerwhoisimportant,butthe
nounce its order on constituting tained in India under a mutual IndiaEducationCouncilmeeting, (BRS), and the Left. shouldriseabovedifferencesand but there is nothing for classical nation. When the Congress’s
a committee to suggest changes frameworktobesignedbetween which he had attended, former “Thenecessityofthisperiodis stand together as a unified force Tamil. The online rummy Bill is Bharat Jodo Yatra reached
in the market regulatory mech- the two countries on Thursday, agreement with the US is it in- Australian cricketer Adam not about who will win the 2024 to defeat BJP. Talks of a third front notbeingclearedbytheGovernor. Kashmir, they saw hope in the
anism so as to protect investors but engineering, medicine, law cludes online courses also, apart Gilchrist, global brand ambassa- Lok Sabha polls but about who are pointless.” Is it because he believes the eyes of the young people,"
in the wake of the Adani- and other professional courses from courses that Australian dor of the University of shouldnotbewinning.BJPshould Stalin’s comments on a third Mahabharata contains gambling Abdullah told the crowd.
Hindenburg affair on Thursday. will remain outside its ambit. universities can run in India or Wollongong, which will set up a be defeated for their efforts to front in the general elections references?” Stalin said. He said the strength of India
A three-judge bench Visiting Australian Education at a standalone campus like the branch campus in Gujarat's GIFT make an India without diversity. echoed the Congress’s position WhileGSTderailedthestate’s wasitspeople,nottheArmy,Navy
presided by Chief Justice of India MinisterJasonClare,whowillsign one that University of City, told The Indian Express, The unity of parties itself means on the issue. At the recently con- revenue models, the DMK leader or Air Force. “Whether we are
D Y Chandrachud had reserved the Mechanism for the Mutual Wollongong is setting up,” Clare "There was some fantastic ideas we have won,” Stalin said. cludedplenarysession,theparty saidthedeservingdueswerealso MuslimsorSikhsorChristian,we
its order on February 24 on a RecognitionofQualificationswith told The Indian Express. and possibilities, but it just Headded,“Allregionalparties said that the emergence of a not being paid. “If this is how the are all from India, not from a for-
batch of PILs which sought a Union Education Minister “So it means whether you seemedtherewasalwaysahand- should think of national politics third force would provide an ad- BJP is fighting Opposition-ruled eign country. My demand is to
probe into the report by the DharmendraPradhaninDelhi,on are studying with an Australian brake there. So to have the first too.Iamtellingallparties,includ- vantage to the BJP. statesinIndia,LokSabhaelection work together...” he said.
short seller research firm Wednesday said the framework university in Australia, or here, phaseofthatbeingannouncedon
Hindenburg accusing the Adani was an outcome of deliberations or online, or at an Australian Thursday, I think is a real release
group of share manipulations. that lasted over a decade. university campus in India, of thathandbrake.Itshouldopen
One of the petitions also sought “India has other agreements those qualifications will be up a lot more opportunities.”
a probe against the firm and to with countries like the US. What counted and will be recog- FULLREPORTON
ban short selling. makes this broader than the nised...” Clare said. www.indianexpress.com
Reserving its verdict, the
court also said that it will decide
on its own who should be mem- Karnataka: Ahead of polls,
bers of a committee that it pro-
posed to set up to look into the BJP launches Rath Yatra
matter and recommend meas- Bengaluru: Ahead of polling in
urestostrengthentheregulatory Karnataka, BJP national president JP
mechanism so as to save Indian Nadda launched the first of the four rath
investors from the kind of mar- yatras at Male Mahadeshwara Hills, on
ket fluctuations that was wit- Wednesday. The yatras — three of which
nessed when the report was will be flagged off in the next three days
published. It refused to accept — will travel to different parts of the
any suggestions on names from state and reach out to voters ahead of
thepetitioners as well. The court polls. The rath yatras, according to the
said this was to ensure “full BJP, will travel to all 224 constituencies,
transparency”. covering 8,000 km. ENS

IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f,¶fe.EÀf.Àfe. EUÔ E¸f. EÀf. Àfe. SXe³f»f ÀffBÊÔÀf EUÔ OXf¹fd»fdÀfÀf MXZ¢³fû»ffgþe ´ffNXйfIiY¸f, IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f Ad²fâf°ff VffÀfIYe¹f d¨fdIY°Àff ¸fWXfdUôf»f¹f
OXe.IZY.EÀf. ´fûÀMX ¦fiZª¹fbEMX BÔÀMXeMXйfbMX EUÔ dSXÀf¨fÊ ÀfZ³MXSX SXf¹f´fbSX (L.¦f.) CXØfSX ¶fÀ°fSX IYfÔIZYSX L.¦f. 494334
Email-dksacademic@gmail.com Email-gmckanker@gmail.com
( ´fÔ.Qe³fQ¹ff»f CX´ff²¹ff¹f À¸fÈd°f ÀUfÀ±¹f dUÄff³f EUÔ Af¹fb¿f dUV½fdUôf»f¹f LØfeÀf¦fPÞX SXf¹f´fbSX IYf AfQZVf
Ii ¸ffÔI / 870 / Vffd¨f¸f / À±ff / 2023 I fÔIZ S, dQ³ffÔI - 27/02/2023
IiY /F-203/126/OXe.¹fc.E¨f.EÀf./AIYf/2023 dQ³ffÔIY 27-01-23 ÀfZ Àf¸¶fð)
´fiUZVf Àfc¨f³ff ÀfÂf 2023 -:: dUÄff´f³f Àfc¨f³ff ::-
´fÔ. Qe³fQ¹ff»f C´ff²¹ff¹f À¸fÈd°f ÀUfÀ±¹f dUÄff³f EUÔ Af¹fb¿f dUV½fdUôf»f¹f Sf¹f´fbS (L.¦f.) ÀfZ ¸ff³¹f°ff ´fif~ R` »fûdVf´f ´ffNйfIi ¸f ÀfÂf 2023 Oe. IZ . EÀf. ´fûÀM ¦fiZª¹fbEM BÔÀMeMйfbM EUÔ dSÀf¨fÊ ÀfZ³MS Sf¹f´fbS VffÀfI e¹f d¨fdI °Àff ¸fWfdUôf»f¹f, CØfS ¶fÀ°fS I fÔIZ S (L.¦f.) WZ°fb VffÀf³f õfSf ÀUeIÈ °f ÀfZM A´f A³fbÀffS dU·ff¦fUfS ´fif²¹ff´fI / ÀfW-´fif²¹ff´fI / ÀfWf¹fI ´fif²¹ff´fI IZ
(L.¦f.) ¸fZÔ ´fiUZVf WZ°fb Afg³f»ffBʳf AfUZQ³f R f¸fÊ ¸fWfUdUôf»f¹f IZ UZ¶fÀffBM www.dkspgi.in ¸fZ C´f»f¶²f W`Ü R f¸fÊ I f d´fiÔM AfCM d³fI f»fI S CÀfZ ·fSI S Àf¸fÀ°f QÀ°ffUZþû I f pdf ¶f³ffI S dU·ff¦fe¹f Ib »f 87 dSö ´fQûÔ I e ´fcd°fÊ d³f¹f¸ff³fbÀffS ÀfÔdUQf ÀfZ ·f°feÊ dI ¹fZ þf³fZ WZ°fb dQ³ffÔI 09/03/2023 ÀfZ ¸ffW IZ ´fi°¹fZI ¶fb²fUfS I û Qû´fWS 12:00 ¶fþZ ÀfZ UfgI -B³f BÔM S½¹fc ¶fûOÊ
Email- dksacademic@gmail.com IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ dQ³ffÔI - 20 March 2023 Àf¸f¹f 10.30 AM ¶fþZ ÀfZ dQ³ffÔI - 20 April 2023 Àf¸f¹f 5.30 PM ¶fþZ °fI Afg³f»ffBʳf dI ¹ff þf³ff W`Ü
AfUZQ³f I f Vfb»I 1000/- for Unreserved Candidates EUÔ 500/- For reserved candidates d³f²ffÊdS°f dI ¹ff ¦f¹ff W` Ü dþÀfI û E³f.BÊ.ER .Me. IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ Name of Institute -
ø ¸f, Ad²fâf°ff I f¹ffÊ»f¹f ¸fZÔ Af¹fûdþ°f dI ¹ff þfE¦ff dSö ´fQûÔ I f dUUS¯f EUÔ Àf¸fZdI °f ÀfÔdUQf UZ°f³f I f dUUS¯f ¸fWfdUôf»f¹f IZ Àfc¨f³ff ´fM»f ´fS ¨fÀ´ff dI ¹ff ¦f¹ff W`Ü
Dks Post Graduate Institute & Research Center Raipur (C.G.), Account Name - Dks Post Graduate Institute & Research Center, Name of Bank-Indian AfUZQI I û A´f³fZ ¸fc»f QÀ°ffUZþ ¸f¹f ´ffÀf´fûMÊ ÀffBÊþ R ûMû¦fifR ÀfdW°f d³f²ffÊdS°f d°fd±f I û I f¹ffÊ»f¹fe³f AUd²f ¸fZÔ ÀffÃff°I fS À±f»f ´fS Ad³fUf¹fÊ ø ´f ÀfZ þ¸ff I S³ff W`Ü Cö
Bank, Branch Telibandha, Account Type-Saving, Account No. 50469736580, IFSC – IDIB000R521 ¸fZÔ dI ¹ff þf³ff W`Ü d³f²ffÊdS°f d°fd±f EUÔ Àf¸f¹f IZ ´f›f°f I ûBÊ ·fe AfUZQ³f d³f¹fbdö LØfeÀf¦fPÞ d¨fdI °Àff dVfÃff (Sfþ´fdÂf°f) ÀfÔdUQf ÀfZUf ·f°feÊ d³f¹f¸f 2012 I e Ad²fÀfc¨f³ff IZ °fW°f Wû¦feÜ
¸ff³¹f ³fWe dI ¹fZ þf¹fZÔ¦fZÔÜ Afg³f»ffBʳf AfUZQ³f I S°fZ Àf¸f¹f dI Àfe ·fe ´fiI fS I e ÂfbdM Wû³fZ ´fS Àf¸´fc¯fÊ dþ¸¸fZQfSe AfUZQ³fI °ffÊ I e Wû¦fe Ü ÂfbdM Wû³fZ ´fS I fCdÀfÔd»fÔ¦f ¸fZÔ Vffd¸f»f ³fWeÔ dI ¹ff þfUZ¦ff Ü dU·ff¦f I e dSö ´fQûÔ I e C´f»f¶²f°ff IZ A³fbÀffS AfUZQ³f I e þfh¨f I S UfgI -B³f BÔM S½¹fc d»f¹fZ þf¹fZÔ¦fZÜ Cö ´fQûÔ ¸fZÔ VffÀf³f IZ d³fQZÊVff³fbÀffS AfSÃf¯f d³f¹f¸f
NO. DEPARTMENT COURSE NAME QUALIFICATION DURATION NO.OF SEAT I f ´ff»f³f I S°fZ WbE d³f¹fbdö I e I f¹fÊUfWe I e þfUZ¦fe Ü
A. Burn and Plastic Surgery 1. Post Doctoral Fellowship in MS Surgery 1yr 04 MXe´f -

>OBBOP
Department Basics Hand Trauma Surgery 01. UfgI -B³f BÔM S½¹fc ¸ffW IZ ´fi°¹fZI ¶fb²fUfS I û dI ¹ff þf¹fZ¦ffÜ ¹fdQ CÀf dQ³f I û VffÀfI e¹f AUI fVf Wû³fZ ´fS CÀfe ´fQ I f A¦f»fZ dQ³f UfgI -B³f BÔM S½¹fc
1. Post Doctoral Fellowship In MD/Diploma in 1yr 08 d»f¹ff þfUZ¦ff Ü

"5-/"00
Neuro Anaesthesia Anaesthesia 02. dSö ´fQûÔ I e þf³fI fSe ¸fWfdUôf»f¹f IZ ³fûdMÀf ¶fûOÊ ¸fZÔ ¨fÀ´ff dI ¹ff ¦f¹ff W`Ü
2. Fellowship in Critical Care MD General medicine or 1yr 08 03. dSö ´fQûÔ I e ÀfÔ£¹ff ´fdSU°fʳfe¹f W`Ü
Medicine MD Chest medicine or 04. UfgI -B³f BÔM S½¹fc IZ AfUZQ³f R f¸fÊ þ¸ff I S³fZ I f Àf¸f¹f d³f²ffÊdS°f dQUÀf I û 12:00 ¶fþZ ÀfZ dI ¹ff þf¹fZ¦ff Ü
MD Anaesthesia DTCT
05. dSö ´fQûÔ I e dUÄff´f³f I e Àfc¨fe I f»fZþ I e UZ¶fÀffBÊM ´fS AU»fûI ³f dI ¹ff þf ÀfI °ff W`Ü WXÀ°ff/-
or DA
B. Anaesthesia Department Ad²fâf°ff
3. Fellowship in Pediatric MD/DNB in 1yr 08 VffÀfIYe¹f d¨fdIY°Àff ¸fWXfdUôf»f¹f
Anaesthesia Anesthesiology CXØfSX ¶fÀ°fSX IYfÔIZYSX (L.¦f.)
4. Fellowship in Pain Medicine MD/DNB in 1yr 04
Anesthesia/palliative
Medicine
³fûM:- BÀf ´ffNйfIi ¸f ÀfZ ÀfÔ¶fÔd²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f þf³fI fSe ¸fWfUdUôf»f¹f IZ UZ¶fÀffBM www.dkspgi.in ¸fZ ·fe C´f»f¶²f W` BÀfI f A²¹f¹f³f I S AfUZQ³f I SZ Ü
WÀ°ff./-
AÀ´f°ff»f A²feÃfIY EUÔ EIZYOXd¸fIY BÔ¨ffþÊ FRANCE
OXe.IZY.EÀf. ´fûÀMX ¦fiZª¹fbEMX BÔÀMXeMXйfbMX EÔU dSXÀf¨fÊ ÀfZ³MXSX
SXf¹f´fbSX (L.¦f.)

Prime Time Talk With Sub/Maj Yogendra Yadav

CSR Initiative: Education

Creating World Class Reading Spaces

Story by Russian writer Anastasia Strokina

Youth Voices in Assamese literature

Book Launch of “New Opportunities for Book Lovers”

Performance by Ramjas College

Folk Dance Performance by Rajasthan Tourism
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

WORDLY WISE
No government can be long secure without
a formidable opposition.
— BENJAMIN DISRAELI

FOUNDED BY
A story of resilience
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
GDP data shows pandemic impact is less severe than
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
feared. Monetary policy should decouple from US Fed

FOR PUNJAB’S SAKE Soumya Kanti Ghosh

CM Mann and Governor Purohit must pull together in a
WHEN SEEN IN its entirety, the GDP data Theinvestmentandsavingsdataoverthe a floating rate regime has meant that an
fraught moment instead of taking aim at each other

T
published on Tuesday by the National
HE SUPREME COURT’S reminder to both Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Statistical Office shows that the growth mo-
Singh Mann and Governor Banwarilal Purohit to perform their constitutional mentum in the Indian economy seems to
have been much more resilient during the
duties with a “sense of decorum” and “mature statesmanship” couldn’t have
pandemic.
come at a more opportune moment. At the helm of the sensitive border state, The huge revisions in the 2020-21 GDP
the unpleasantries between the two men go back to last September when the state gov- growth numbers and even those in the first
ernment accused the Centre of launching “Operation Lotus” to poach its legislators and quarter of 2021-22 are primarily due to sub-
thegovernor refusedassenttoanassembly sessionfor tablinga trustmotion.It is at about stantial upward revisions in manufacturing
the same time, too, that the state saw the emergence in the public domain of a new self- andconstructionactivity.Suchrevisionshave
beenof theorderof Rs2.7trillion.Thisclearly
styled ideologue, potentially scratching old wounds, and recalling dark days of a past the
indicatesthattheimpactof thepandemicon
state has moved on from. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party — which came to power in Punjab the manufacturing and construction sectors
with a heavy burden of high expectations after winning 92 of the 117 seats in the assem- was not as significant as believed earlier.
bly elections last year — confronts spectres of the past amid a politics of distrust. However, this once again highlights the seri-
The disquieting incident in which a mob led by so-called preacher, Amritpal Singh, ous issues regarding the data on the index of
stormed a police station in the border district of Amritsar, has brought back memories of industrial production and the consumer
a time when the state was held hostage by young men fired up by ideologies of hate and price index that are much more volatile than
say the data gathered through the Annual
fear, raising the bogey of a separate state. The toll this misguided movement took on
Survey of India. The three-year average GDP
Punjab and its people continues to cause immense pain even now. The wannabe-ideo- is now at 3.4 per cent. That puts India at the
logue is raising old issues that have continued to linger, unaddressed. Some of these, like sixth position, if we were to take a similar
the division of river waters, dispute over the state capital and demand for greater devo- measure across other countries.
lutionof powers,wereattheheartof themilitancyinthe1980s.Thereisanoverlayof fresh Even as third-quarter GDP data reveals
grievances such as lack of justice in incidents of sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib and un- that private consumption expenditure
(PFCE) slowed down to a growth of 2 per
met demands for the release of Sikh political prisoners, some of whom have been be-
cent, if we were to look at the quarter-on-
hind bars for over three decades now. This is capped by Punjab’s continuing drug prob- quarter changes, independent of the base ef-
lem that has ravaged its young and that was one of the main reasons, along with the fect of the third quarter of last year, private
sacrilege cases, for the defeat of both the Shiromani Akali Dal, which had achieved a hat- consumption grew by 7.3 per cent. This is
trick with two successive wins not too long ago, and the Congress, in elections last year. only a shade lower than the pre-pandemic
average growth of 8.3 per cent in the third
The governor has noted with dismay the toll that drugs continue to take during his
quarter from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Another
tours of the state. Amritpal Singh, who is using religion as cover, is promising deliverance
from the drug problem to work up support amongst the masses. The fact that he chal-
aspect of the resilience of demand is that the
consumption of resident Indians in the do-
lenged state power and got the police to capitulate to his demand is bound to embolden mestic market and the rest of the world far
him, although his use of the holy book has riled many in the community. It’s urgent that outstrips the declining share of foreign
both the Chief Minister and the Governor pull together to nip trouble in the bud. They households in domestic consumption.
must address the long list of pending issues that call for their attention, instead of taking Withthegovernment'seffortsatimprov-
ing the quality of life of all citizens and the
aim at each other. Both Chief Minister Mann and Governor Purohit must play their re-
reduction in leakages of subsidy with the
spective roles in ensuring that trouble and troublemakers are kept at bay.
shift to the direct benefit transfer, the per
capita GDP at current prices is estimated to
have grown at 8 per cent compounded per
A preliminary analysis
shows that the 250 bps rise
in the repo rate, and its pass-
through, could increase the
interest component alone by
at least 16 per cent for a
borrower in a year resulting
in a situation where the
outstanding loan amount
increases incrementally, even
though it is being serviced.
In extreme cases, the interest
servicing could outstrip the
principal component itself.
On the downside, if the
borrower wants to keep the
EMI unchanged, the loan
tenure could extend
pastdecadealsothrowsupinterestingpoints
(all numbers are as a percentage of GDP).
Gross capital formation by the government
touched a high of 11.8 per cent in 2021-22,
up from 10.7 per cent in 2020-21. This also
had a domino effect on private sector invest-
ment which jumped from 10 per centto 10.8
per cent over the same period. In fact, the
trends in GCF to gross output ratio or the
plough back of funds for the creation of fresh
capacity shows that for public administra-
tion the ratio attained a fresh peak in 2021-
22 owing to the emphasis on capital expen-
diture in recent budgets. At the aggregate
level, gross capital formation is supposed to
have crossed 32 per cent in 2022-23, the
highest level since 2018-19.
In 2021-22,grosssavingshaverisen to 30
per cent from 29 per cent in 2020-21. The ra-
tio is supposed to have crossed 31 per cent
in 2022-23, the highest since 2018-19.
Household savings increased sharply during
thepandemicperiodonaccountof sharpac-
cretion in financial savings such as deposits.
Whilehouseholdfinancialsavingshavesince
then moderated from 15.4 per cent in 2020-
21 to 11.1 per cent in 2022-23, savings in
physical assets (households and MSMEs)
have grown sharply to 11.8 per cent in 2021-
22 from 10.7 per cent in 2020-21. Clearly, the
low-interest regime did work.
So what is the outlook for the coming
year? First, we should not be concerned re-
garding the recent news of El Nino. Quoting
from a RBI (2015) report “Over the past 50
years, El Nino conditions have occurred 31
per cent of the time but not always caused a
drought. In fact, in most El Nino years since
the 1950s, summer rains ranged from well
belowaveragetoaverageandevenaboveav-
erage”. This indicates that there may not be
a one-to-one correspondence between El
Niño and Indian droughts and the recent
fears seem misplaced.
overwhelming percentage of loans are now
repo linked. The rapid increase in the policy
rate of 250 bps over six meetings of the
monetary policy committee has also meant
frontloading the incremental rate rise in the
EMIs of borrowers. A preliminary analysis
shows that the 250 bps rise in the repo rate,
and its pass-through, could increase the in-
terest component alone by at least 16 per
cent for a borrower in a year resulting in a
situation where the outstanding loan
amount increases incrementally, even
though it is being serviced. In extreme cases,
the interest servicing could outstrip the prin-
cipal component itself. On the downside, if
the borrower wants to keep the EMI un-
changed, the loan tenure could extend be-
yond five years, the maximum permissible
RBI extension limit. The good thing is that in
such cases, it might also mark a shift in the
credit behaviour of borrowers catalysing
them to prepay the amount, enhancing the
credit file/score for subsequent loans taken.
But with an unyielding US labour market,
policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve
has put emerging market economies in a
loop with every hike opening the doors for
subsequent hikes. We hope that decoupling
from the US Fed is in the air.
Coming back to the GDP data, there is a
thought-provoking idea to offer. While
women form the backbone of unpaid do-
mestic work, it’s often invisible and out of
the domain of calculable economic activi-
ties. As per our analysis based on the data
providedbyNSSreport(January-December
2019) regarding unpaid domestic and care-
giving services by women for household
members, under modest assumptions, the
total contribution of unpaid women to the
economy is around Rs 22.7 lakh crore which
is almost 7.5 per cent of India’s GDP. We be-
lieve even this number may be an underes-
timate. Is it time to quantify this contribu-

URGE TO CHANGE
annum since 2013-14. Excluding the pan- Second, retail/personal loans have, of tion to the economy?
demic year, the average growth is at 10.3 per
beyond five years, the late, been the fastest-growing segment fu-
cent.Eveninthecurrentfiscal,thereisajump maximum permissible RBI elled by the common man's dream to own a The writer is Group Chief Economic Advisor,
in per capita GDP by Rs 25,218. extension limit. house. The nudge by the regulator towards State Bank of India. Views are personal
New players in Northeast poll arena may not be electorally
significant. But they mirror a discontent

K
AM MEGHALAYA OR the Voice of the People Party (VPP) or Rising People's
Party (RPP) are unlikely to be in a position to form the government in

THE PAST IN THE PRESENT

Meghalaya or Nagaland after the results are declared. The government will
be formed by established parties and leaders, if post-poll reports and sur-
veys are right. However, a host of new players have emerged in Meghalaya and Nagaland,
which voted on Monday, and Tripura, where polling was held on February 16. These new
entrants may not win many seats, but they point to a churn in society and dissatisfaction
with the existing political class. Renaming places, obsession with ‘outsiders’, furthers the colonial project
In fact, the rise of campaign groups and their entry in electoral politics is a trend vis-
ible in many small states. States such as Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram, or for
that matter Goa, have relatively small constituencies where the size of the electorate is
Kaushik Das Gupta
between 25,000 and 40,000 voters. This allows charismatic and/or resource-rich candi-
AT ONE PLACE in The Age of Extremes, his posedSharialaws,broughtbackthediscrim- captured in binaries. There were more
dates to fancy their chances. Contests become more personality centric, and resourceful magisterial account of “The Short Twentieth inatory jizya tax that Hindus had to pay in re- Hindus, for instance, in the higher echelons
individuals with capital, clan and caste support are sought after by parties. The new en- Century,” Eric Hobsbawm, one of the finest turnforprotectionandgaveorderstodestroy duringAurangzeb’srulethananyotherGreat
trants in politics hope to disrupt these arrangements and usher in change. KAM and VPP minds of our times, describes his early influ- Hindu shrines in some parts of his empire. Mughal. He had Rajput relatives, and gave
in Meghalaya and RPP in Nagaland, for instance, have candidates with a record of civil ences. “For historians of our generation and Aurangzeb is a convenient figure for those grants for maintaining Hindu temples.
society activism — activists involved in campaigns against corruption and big dams, for background, the past is indestructible not wanting to stamp majoritarianism and de- Moreimportantly,thesecular-Akbar-big-
justbecausewebelongtoagenerationwhen moniseminorities.Themovewasreportedly oted-Aurangzebbinaryseemstosubjectme-
unionisation of security guards and street vendors, for instance. Some of them have
streets and public places were still called af- proposed by then East Delhi BJP MP Mahesh dieval rulers to litmus tests designed for to-
framed micro manifestos, making interesting promises such as establishment of “con- ter public men and events, when peace Giri who wanted “the government to correct day. The kings and sultans were not
stituency clinics” and free coaching for competitive examinations. The record of parties treaties were still being signed and war me- the mistakes of history”. “Whenever we accountable for their actions, these were
such as the AAPandtheZoramPeople's Movement in Mizoramsuggeststhatmovement- morials recalled the yesteryear but because think of Aurangzeb, we think of cruelty and times when hierarchies were held as impor-
centricgroupsandcivil societyactivists, armed withintent and luck, cansometimes chal- public events were a part of the texture of torture,” he said. The initiative had the sup- tant for “social cohesion” and statecraft had
lenge the big parties: The Zoram People's Movement, an alliance of seven activist groups, our lives,” he writes. The challenge for a his- port of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. very different objectives. Wars and violence
fought the 2018 assembly election demanding prohibition, won 23 per cent votes and torian, according to Hobsbawm, was to en- It's this urge to “correct history” that at- were often critical to empire-building.
gage with the past as if it were a conversa- tracted the Supreme Court’s censure on Projects to cleanse history, however, ob-
eight seats in the 40-seat legislature. The most impressive among the new entrants is the
tion with the present. His immense breadth Monday. It was responding to a PIL that had sessover“invaders”and“outsiders”.Indoing
Tipra Motha, headed by the former state Congress chief, Pradyot Debbarma, which has of scholarship is testimony to an oft-re- sought the Court’s intervention to erase the so, they harken ironically to the colonial ver-
promised a new deal to the indigenous communities in Tripura. peated, but rarely well understood, axiom of association of “foreign looters” with cities sion of India’s past that periodised the coun-
It remains to be seen if the momentum for “change” is powerful enough to trip the es- historywriting—thepastlivesinthepresent. The secular-Akbar-bigoted- and public places in the country. Dismissing try’shistoryintoHindurule,Muslimruleand
tablished players, who deploy their immense resources to overwhelm the smaller play- The past is, however, a different kind of Aurangzeb binary seems to thePIL, theSCadmonishedthe petitioner for British rule.
artefact in some of today’s contests over being“hauntedbythepast”.Invasions,itsaid, Elucidated with the greatest clarity in
ers. But a new voice that attempts to raise issues that older actors more beholden to con-
identity. It is invoked to provide material for
subject medieval rulers to wereafactof historyandtherewerefarmore James Mill’s History of India, this neat divi-
gealed power and patronage networks paper over or shy away from, is welcome. litmus tests designed for
hagiography, and its corollary — demonisa- pressing governance-related imperatives sionof thecountry’spastfindsanechowhen
tion.Thevillains haveto beputin their place. today. The kings and sultans than trying to undo them. Mahmud of Ghazni, Ibrahim Lodhi,
In India, of late, one way to do that is to re- were not accountable for The Court reminded the petitioner of the Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan are slotted into

WRITER AT EASE move them from public memory by chang-

ing the names of places. In Delhi, less than
four months after assuming office, the BJP-
The work of Vinod Kumar Shukla, winner of PEN award, led government decided that a prominent
avenue in the heart of the city deserved bet-
captures the ebb and flow of life, comforting and capricious ter than carrying the name of Aurangzeb.
their actions, these were
times when hierarchies were
held as important for ‘social
cohesion’ and statecraft had
country's syncretic past — Hindu kings do-
natinglandandmoneytoChristianchurches.
In the decades after Independence, a section
of India’s nationalist historians had similar
theses. A country trying to come to terms
with the trauma of Partition needed icons of
an overarching pejorative category — the in-
vader. Mill’s text, written in the 1820s, had a
hegemonic sway in the country’s education
system for most of the colonial period.
Ironically, its broad thesis seems to have ac-
quired a new lease of life amongst people

F
Forseveralreasons,it’seasytobracketthe very different objectives. harmony — the broad-minded Akbar, Sufis who lay much store on “decolonisation”.
ROM A JUNIOR clerk trying to keep his head above water in an unforgiving sys- Wars and violence were often
sixth Mughal Emperor as “evil”. He revoked venerated by both Hindus and Muslims.
tem to a village school master who loses his home and school to a gale, but con- many of the policies of his forefathers — im- critical to empire-building. The past is, however, too complex to be kaushik.dasgupta@expressindia.com
tinues to prepare his students for hunger — for over five decades, Vinod Kumar
Shukla, 86, has captured the story of a changing India through the lives of its in-
visible citizens. Having spent a lifetime in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur, his works — several vol-
umes of poetry, such as Lagbhag Jai Hind (1971), and novels that include the seminal
NaukarkiKameez(1979,latermadeintoafilmbyManiKaul)—capturenotthefranticpace
of city lives but the slow cadence of small towns, its struggles and aspirations. It is only MARCH 2, 1983, FORTY YEARS AGO
fitting that the writer, a towering figure in contemporary Indian literature in Hindi, has
been honoured with the 2023 PEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International KAMPUCHEA ISSUE pressed concern over the growth of region-
alism in some parts of the country and said
Tripura” are likely to surrender before the
government shortly. The “revolutionary”
Literature, one of the most coveted global literary prizes.
OneofthehallmarksofShukla’swritinghasbeenhisabilitytoplayaroundwithlanguage, THESEATINGOFKampucheaappearedtobe regionalpartiesshouldnotoverlooknational government has been operating from the
emerging a key issue as senior officials par- interest. Replying to the debate on the Chittagonghill tractsinBangladesh andcon-
moving seamlessly between the quotidian and the transcendental, the imagined and the
ticipating in the seventh non-aligned sum- President’s address, Gandhi said her party ducting hit-and-run raids with the help of
real. He has been called a poet, an essayist and a novelist, his works compared to the magic mit began a two-day preparatory meeting in believed that regional cultures should flour- about 400 tribal guerrillas.
realism of Jose Saramago and Gabriel Garcia Marquez for the way he inhabits the possibil- New Delhi. The question was not formally ish, but parties should ensure that they do
ities of the imagination. But it's difficult to pin him down to any one genre. A poem hovers
onthecuspof prose-hood,anovelisruminativeenoughtocountasanessay.Shukla’swrit-
taken up on the floor but formed the subject
of intensiveconsultationsbehindthescenes.
not lose sight of national perspective.
WEST INDIES WINS
ing is like the ebb and flow of life, comforting and capricious at the same time. Leadingtheconsultationswasexistingchair-
man,Cuba,whichdeclaredtheKampuchean
TRIPURA REBELS THE WEST INDIES scored a thrilling four-
wicket victory over India in Kingston after
Byhisownadmission,ithasnevermatteredtoShuklawhyhewrites.Ithassimplybeen
seat vacant at the Havana summit. IN WHAT MAY be a severe blow to the insur- being set to score 172 in only 30 minutes and
enough that he can. At a time when a global readership is waking up to the potential of
gency in Tripura, a large body of tribal ex- 20 overs on the final day of the first cricket
literature in South Asian languages and major literary awards are breaking the mould
and erasing regional boundaries, it is also enough for readers — those who can read his NATION ABOVE ALL tremists, including some top-level func-
tionaries of the so-called revolutionary
Test.Theyachievedthetargetinthelastover,
helped largely by Viv Richards, who ham-
works in the original and those who can do so in translation — that he does. THE PRIME MINISTER, Indira Gandhi, ex- government of the “people’s republic of mered 61 from the balls he received.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

13 THE IDEAS PAGE

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023 WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“The weekend’s talks were spurred partly by concerns that Ramadan, which
this year overlaps with Passover, has seen escalating violence in the past. But
Huwara is frightening proof, if any were needed, that this government cannot be
left to wreak more damage.” — THE GUARDIAN

Cities that withstand Congress’s

Turkey earthquake, tremors in Joshimath, carry a warning for Indian cities. Earthquake preparedness is
not just about buildings — cities as a whole need to be reimagined
Fahad Zuberi
THE DESTRUCTION CAUSED by earthquakes
inTurkeyshouldbealarmingforus.Overthe
last three weeks, tremors have been felt in
Meghalaya and in the region around
Joshimath and Chamoli in Uttarakhand.
Moreover, geologists have warned of a prob-
able massive earthquake in the Himalayan
state. In this context, we should pay serious
attention to the observations made by the
Delhi High Court on February 16. The court,
whilehearingapetition,askedthestategov-
ernmenttofileastatusreportandactionplan
on the structural safety of buildings in Delhi.
While the concerns of the court are per-
tinentanddemandurgentattention,wecan-
not rely on the judiciary to make our cities
well-preparedforanearthquake.Neithercan
astategovernmentwithlimitedcapacityau-
ditthebuildingsof acityinamatterof weeks.
Nearly 58 per cent of the Indian landmass is
vulnerable to earthquakes and the concerns
thathavebeenraisedbythecourtneedapol-
icy response instead.
Currently, India’s policy on earthquake
preparednessoperatesprimarilyatthescale
of structural details. Guided by the National
Building Codes, this includes specifying di-
mensions of the structural members —
columns, beams, etc. — and details of the re-
inforcements that join these elements to-
gether. While scientifically sound, this view
on earthquake preparedness is myopic.
First, it ignores the buildings that were
constructed before such codes were pub-
lished in 1962. Such buildings form a large
part of our cities. Second, it assumes infalli-
bilityintheprocessesof enforcement—rely-
ingonlyonpenalisationandillegalities.Third,
ittreatsearthquakesasaproblemof individ-
ual buildings — as if they exist and behave in
completeisolationfromtheirurbancontext.
The truth is that buildings exist in clus-
ters and in the event of an earthquake, be-
have as a system. They collapse on nearby
buildingsandontheabuttingstreets—dam-
aging buildings that might have otherwise
survived and blocking evacuation routes.
Earthquake preparedness, therefore, needs
to act at the scale of building details as well
as that of cities. Moreover, we must think
about it in the realm of policy and not just le-
gal enforcement.
At the scale of building details, we need
to create a system of retrofitting existing
structures and enforcing seismic codes with
more efficiency. While there has been polit-
icaltalkandpiecemealeffortstowardsretro-
fitting, we still lack a comprehensive policy.
Such a policy should include two meas-
ures. First, to create a system of tax-based or
development rights-based incentives for
retrofittingone’sbuildinguptoseismiccodes.
Such a system of incentives will enable the
growthof anindustryaroundretrofittingand
will generate a body of well-trained profes-
sionals and competent organisations. And
second, by ensuring better enforcement of
seismiccodesthroughasimilarmodel.Astep
forward in this direction was the National
Retrofitting Programme launched in 2014.
Under the programme, the Reserve Bank of
India directed banks to deny loans for any
buildingactivitythatdoesnotmeetthestan-
dardsof earthquake-resistantdesign.Carrots,
however, will work better than sticks.
Caseslikethatof JapanandSanFrancisco
are good examples in this regard. Japan has
invested heavily in technological measures
to mitigate the damage from the frequent
earthquakesthatitexperiences.Skyscrapers
arebuiltwithcounterweightsandotherhigh-
tech provisions to minimise the impact of
tremors. Small houses are built on flexible
foundations and public infrastructure is in-
tegrated with automated triggers that cut
power, gas, and water lines during earth-
quakes. All of this has been a result of culti-
vatinganindustryaroundearthquakemitiga-
tion and fostering expertise.
SanFrancisco—anotherof theworld’sfa-
mous earthquake-prone cities — was devas-
tatedbyanearthquakeinApril1906.Thecity
sawmorethan3,000deathsandmassivede-
struction of property. Following the disaster,
San Francisco implemented policy changes
similar to Japan’s and when the next major
earthquakehitin1989,thecityrecordedjust
63 casualties.
At the scale of cities, the problem is more
complex, massive, and unattended. None of
the urban renewal programmes — including
thelatestSmartCitiesMission—havedevised
anurbanpolicyforearthquakepreparedness.
An urban-level policy should start with
surveys and audits that can generate earth-
quake vulnerability maps showing parts of
the city that are more prone to serious dam-
age.Thisshouldfollowfourcriteria.First,the
percentage of vulnerable structures in the
area; second, the availability of evacuation
routes and distances from the nearest open
ground;third,densityof theurbanfabric;and
fourth, location of nearest relief services and
the efficiency with which these services can
reach affected sites. Using such maps, en-
forcement, incentives, and response centres
can be proportionally distributed across the
urban terrain. Flood zone mapping is a good
example of such an exercise that has proven
tobesuccessfulintermsof timelyevacuation
and efficient implementation.
Let us, however, not be naïve. A policy on
An urban-level policy
should start with surveys
and audits that can generate
earthquake vulnerability
maps showing parts of the
city that are more prone to
serious damage. This
should follow four criteria.
First, the percentage of
vulnerable structures in the
area; second, the availability
of evacuation routes and
distances from the nearest
open ground; third, density
of the urban fabric; and
fourth, location of nearest
relief services and the
efficiency with which these
services can reach
affected sites.
C R Sasikumar
earthquake preparedness will require a vi-
sionary,radicalandtransformativeapproach.
First, some areas such as dense historic
city centres will still be beyond repair. They
will require either surgical retrofitting or
revised town planning schemes. The for-
mer is unreliable and the latter, politically
suicidal and damaging to history, and these
approaches, therefore, are unlikely to be
successful.
Second, people across time and space
have been in denial of such threats and,
therefore, we lack political will to execute
such transformations. Earthquakes have not
been seen as a fatal threat until they are.
After the 2001 Bhuj earthquake, for exam-
ple, the Gujarat government immediately
adapted new town planning schemes that
widened roads and created routes for evac-
uation and relief work. The Turkish govern-
ment, in denial of its own responsibility, has
arrested contractors for building unsafe
buildings. The same contractors who were
building on the government’s watch until
the earthquake hit.
Governmentsandpolicymakersoughtto
knowbetterthanactinapiecemealmanner.
Programmes like the ongoing Urban 20
meetingsareanexcellentopportunityforin-
ternational knowledge exchange on earth-
quake preparedness. Both — the Japanese
and the American delegates — are a part of
U20 and we must seize this opportunity to
includeearthquakepreparednessinourU20
agendaandlearnfromthem.TheDelhiHigh
Court’s directions must act as a reminder for
theinclusionof anearthquakepreparedness
policy in urban renewal programmes such
as the Smart Cities Mission. It would be un-
wise to wait for another earthquake to learn
how to be better prepared for one.
The writer is an independent scholar and
researcher of Architecture and City Studies
leadership answer
ButminusOppositionunity,2024may
bethebeginningof theend,and2029,
theendfornon-BJPparties
Salman Khurshid
WEARRIVEDINRaipurforthe85thPlenary
of the AICC with the experience of Bharat
Jodo Yatra that tells us that in the worst of
times, we can show bursts of energy and
claimtheaffectionofordinarypeople.Much
has to be put right in India but that must be
preceded by much to fix in the party.
Honestlyspeaking,onedoesnotseeany
innovationintheworkingstyleof mostop-
positionparties,andevenlessindicationof
an imaginative refreshing of ideology. In
contrast, what we stand out for has been
reaffirmed at Raipur. Of course, right now,
2024 looms large over the political land-
scape. Several tentative gestures of unity
have been made in the recent past, but
equally, there are sporadic signs of pes-
simism if not outright cynicism.
Peopleacrossthepartydivideseekunity
for several reasons: Some believe they can-
not be relevant without the unity giving
them a shot at winning political contests
they have long been excluded from; others
wish to preserve the space they have cre-
atedforthemselvesintheirstatesandwant
to fortify against BJP onslaughts; yet others,
consciousof theirweakenedstatus,hopeto
secure footholds to grasp the aggregate
strength Congress can gather at the Centre.
There cannot be a perfect marriage but be-
ing persuaded about the need to trust is an
essentialingredientof unity.Thisisnotime
to deal with pre-conditions of unity but to
create conditions that make unity possible.
It might help to keep in mind that the
Congress has already lost what it had to the
BJPandconcededspacetotheregionalpar-
tiesincrementally.Now,theambitionsofthe
BJParetonibbleawayatthecontoursof the
regional parties till they are dismantled.
Minus unity, 2024 may be the begin-
ning of the end, and 2029, the end. “Live
and let live” does not suit the BJP beyond
thetemporaryworkingarrangementsthey
make till they can unleash their instru-
ments of capture. For the opposition to
treat the moment as an opportunity to
squeeze the Congress will be like cutting
one’s nose to spite the face or shooting
themselves in the foot. There is very little
time,knowingthatpartycadresandwork-
erstakeawhiletoaccepttheconsequences
of alliances. But in any case, leaders should
be talking to each other constantly, in twos
andthreesif notmore.Theconditionswar-
rantthecomingtogether;historydemands
collaboration; wisdom points to the in-
evitability of alliances.
There are many ways to describe the
dilemma: I suggested that it is a matter of
who first says “I love you”; it could also be
described as “who blinks first”. When the
conversation for an alliance begins in
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
POLITICS OF ARRESTS
THIS REFERS TO the editorial,
‘Arresting Mr Sisodia’ (IE, February 28).
The use of central investigating agen-
cies to harass the Opposition is more
earnest rather than periodic trial balloons
being floated, it will be important to keep
in mind who has the best talent to form a
government.BringingdowntheCongress's
numbers will ultimately undermine the
sustainability of an alliance. But beyond
that, all potential partners can be sure that
the Congress will go the extra mile to fulfil
the role of protecting the fabric of our
nation,andthatincludesthe federalstruc-
ture in letter and spirit.
The85thPlenaryhadseveralimportant
features. More than 10,000 delegates were
in attendance with excellent
arrangements. It was topped with a vast
rally of local people. Congress President
Mallikarjun Kharge also gave a stirring
speech. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel,
who was also present, has delivered on our
manifestopromises,includingMSPforrice,
despite the central governmenthaving be-
trayed its responsibility.
For people who keep needling us on
leadership, this Plenary should have set
their minds at rest. The benign presence of
the two generations of Gandhis set the
themeandtheself-assuredguidanceof the
Congress President was conspicuous. But
the overwhelming support for Rahul
Gandhi amongst Congress workers and
leaders could be missed only by ears and
eyesshutbyextremeprejudice.TheBharat
Jodo Yatra and this Plenary have under-
scored a special connect that he has with
thepeopleof India.Inaddition,thenewpo-
litical vocabulary and spiritual touch give a
signal of politics at a level not seen in the
countrysinceJawaharlalNehru.Yet,thereis
a fighter in him when it comes to challeng-
ing fearlessly people who have sought to
destroythefabricof oursociety,buildingup
to a fake clash of civilisations. The message
of inclusiveness could not have been more
meaningfulthanhissaying,“Ihavenohome
except amongst the people who walked
thousands of kilometres with me”.
When it comes to China, Rahul Gandhi
is clear: The government has failed to pro-
tect our home as indeed the very soldiers
whoserveassentinels.TheExternalAffairs
Minister had questioned if Rahul Gandhi
sent the army to the border. But he lost
sight of the truth that the army too needs
dedicated support from the citizens. The
words of the young Congress leader will
make the peoplerise to say, “we shall over-
come”,andnotbedistractedbytheChinese
economy. The spirit of Raipur is “without
fear or favour”.
Kharge presided over a Congress that
committeditself toastructureof equalpar-
ticipation of Dalits, OBCs, minorities,
womenandyouth.ACongressthatbelieves
incompassionandpartnership,serviceand
determination,ambitiontoreachforthesky
butnotbeoutof touchwiththesoil,andthe
pursuitof aforeignpolicythatbuildsonour
freedom and dignity. We are set to capture
the imagination of our people once again.
India will be born again to fulfil the dreams
of our noble people.
The writer is a Congress leader and former
Union minister
WRITER’S DUE
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Writer
Vinod Kumar Shukla wins PEN
America awards’ (IE, March 1). It is
heartening to learn that the noted

Pranjya Grover
IS THERE A common denominator between
the Shraddha Walkar, Megha Torvi and Nikki
Yadav murders? Perhaps the first thing that
comes to mind is that they were all in “live-
in” relationships with their assailants. Why
is that the most prominent detail when
these three names are taken together?
What these cases have in common, in
fact, is deranged, twisted men. When such
murders are reported with headlines that
underline the term “live-in” (‘Man kills live-
in partner, hides body in box before calling
scrap dealer’, IE, February 16), however, the
choice of the victim to cohabitate with a
partner appears to take precedence over the
criminal act of the offender. Inadvertently,
insidiously, a slew of questions are raised
on the moral integrity of the woman.
Like most things, crimes too occur
within a context. In a country like India, us-
ing the term “live-in” has connotations be-
yond being a neutral descriptor for a rela-
tionship between two people. Cohabitation
without marriage is culturally frowned
upon. It is also understood as a “western”
concept that has seen a recent uptick in the
A question of emphasis
the norm than an exception in India. Hindi poet and writer Vinod Kumar
But, the blatant manner in which this Shukla has been honoured with an
is now being done under the BJP award in the US. Regular readers of
regime is extraordinary. The high-volt- Shukla’s writing have been enjoying
age drama before and after the arrest his delightful hold over language for
of Sisodia fulfilled the twin purpose of decades. The wonderland he creates in
Highlighting‘live-in’relationshipsincrimesagainstwomenskewstheconversation garnering sympathy and pressuring his writings is a talent unsurpassed.
the BJP. While AAP cries foul and plays Rahul Gaur, Gurgaon
the victim card, CBI appears confident
of justifying its arrest of Manish
Sisodia. In this high-profile case, all
DELETING HISTORY
country. Against this backdrop, the term real risk — the live-in relationship or the living with someone without being mar- eyes are now on the judiciary. THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Listen to
“live-in” strengthens the incorrect percep- unsafe partner irrespective of the living sit- ried in itself invites a greater risk of physi- Vijai Pant, Hempur the Court’ ( IE, March 1). The Delhi
tion that people in these relationships are uation? Live-in relationships touch off pre- cal or mental abuse. Sultanate, Gujarat Sultanate and sev-
uniquely/more frequently exposed to inti- conceived notions, especially for the large
mate partner violence. Domestic violence sections of conservative readers in India.
News items can influence their audi-
ence’s perception of a certain topic by the
FRAYED RELATIONS eral dynasties run by Afghans, Turks,
and Mongols barely have anything in
exists outside of cohabit- We cannot deny that we way they are written. Repetitively and THIS REFERS TO the report, “‘Both duty common. Mahmud of Ghazni invad-
ing unmarried couples as D E
EAR DITOR , live in a context where a prominently headlining that the couple bound’: SC raps both CM Mann & ing and plundering what is now
well — ranging from
parental abuse to marital
ID ISAGREE particular kind of relation-
ship — a heterosexual,
was in a live-in relationship could lead to
polarising and negative attitudes and cre-
Governor” (IE, March 1). It is unfortu-
nate that under the central govern-
“India” for wealth was hardly barbaric
at the time. While settling down in
rape. Thus, lending unnec- A fortnightly married couple — is privi- ate more opportunities for families to re- ment, the titular heads in many states India, he raised a Hindu contingent led
essary editorial emphasis column in which we leged over all other kinds strain their children (daughters, most of- are in confrontation with the execu- by a Hindu Chief. The Lodi dynasty’s D
to a detail that is second- of relationships. ten) and deny them agency and/or freedom tive head. Governance suffers when K Lodi invited Babur to take on
ary furthers the stigma invite readers to tell This misattribution of in their lives. The potential damage that constitutional rules are abandoned. Ibrahim Lodhi at the battle of Panipat.
and often distracts from us why, when they risk to co-habitation this does to the victim aside, its impact on Intervening yesterday, in the latest Aurangzeb was undoubtedly contro-
the real issue at hand. differ with the rather than to abusive re- the mobility of women across the country standoff in Punjab between Chief versial and cruel. But he was born in
The purpose of a re- editorial positions or lationships simply dis- and the overall discourse on addressing Minister Bhagwant Mann and Dahod, Gujarat; he wasn’t a “for-
port is to present an objec- places the more impor- abuse in India can be enormous. Governor Banwarilal Purohit, the Apex eigner”. The notable contributions by
tive picture of the inci- news coverage of tant issue. The purpose It is important to state all the facts Court has reminded them of the onus Sher Shah Suri to currency standardi-
dent. A report, by ‘The Indian Express’ should be to encourage clearly. However, repetition of one fact over of their respective constitutional roles. sation and roads were born in Bihar, as
definition, does not, wider and deeper conver- the others (in Walkar’s case, also the of- Such admonition ought to carry great well. History is an integral part of
should not, purport to in- sations towards creating fender’s religious identity) subliminally import, beyond Punjab, to promptly Indian society. Let us not press the
sinuate moral judgments on the people in and promoting healthy relationships. provokes negative attitudes towards the repair such ongoing frayed relations delete button in a hurry so as to favour
question. Hence, steering clear of such de- Additionally, such misattribution could less important details of a crime. elsewhere as well. short-sighted political goals.
tails in the headline and the tone of the create and further narratives that are apa- R Narayanan, Navi Mumbai Raja Bandopadhaya, Vadodara
framing of the report is crucial. thetic to the victim’s plight and could paint The writer is a counselling psychologist,
A primary question, here, is: What is the them as a party to their fate — as though MyPeegu
 14 EXPRESS NETWORK
HC asks panel to
consider son’s
call for gallantry
award to Major
killed in ’65 war
MALAVIKA PRASAD
DELHI, MARCH 1
THEDELHIHighCourt hasasked
the Honours and Awards
Committee at the Army head-
quarters to consider a represen-
tation made by the son of an of-
ficer, who died in the 1965
India-Pakistan war, for confer-
ringagallantryawarduponhim.
A division bench of Justices
Najmi Waziri and Sudhir Kumar
Jain permitted the son, Brigadier
N B Singh (Retd), to file any ad-
ditionaldocumentsorrepresen-
tations that he may wish to rely
upon within three weeks.
Considering the long pen-
dencyof Singh'sclaim,theHC,in
its order on Tuesday, said that
the Honours and Awards com-
mittee “may consider expedit-
ing its process of consideration
of theappellant’srepresentation
and render its decision prefer-
ably, within a period of three
months" after receiving the
court's order, or “other docu-
ments/representations as may
be submitted by the appellant,
whichever is later”.
TheHCnotedthatthefactsof
the case were "unique and per-
tain to the war which happened
almost 58 years ago”, and thus
the court's order will not be
treated as a precedent.
Singh had moved a plea in
2017 claiming that his father,
Major Mohan Singh, was a non-
combatantsoldier, and theplace
where he fell mortally wounded
became the Line of Control, and
that he should therefore be con-
sidered for a gallantry award. It
was argued that Singh's father
had "sacrificed his life in the
1965 war in heroic and gallant
circumstances".
The court was also informed
that Major Mohan Singh's name
now finds mention at the
National War Memorial in the
vicinity of India Gate.
Disposing of the plea, the HC
said, "In the circumstances, let
this appeal be considered as the
appellant’srepresentationbythe
Honours and Awards
Committee at the Army
Headquarters level.”
PRAYAGRAJ WITNESS MURDER
HousewhereAtiq’swifelivedrazed
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUCKNOW, MARCH 1
THE PRAYAGRAJ Development
Authority (PDA) on Wednesday
demolished a house in
Doomanganj area of the city
where jailed former MP Atiq
Ahmed’s wife Shaista Parveen
reportedly moved in after their
residence was razed a year ago.
PDA officials said the house –
reportedly belonging to Atiq
Ahmed's aide, Jafar Ahmed —
andwasbuilt“withoutcomplet-
ing necessary formalities”.
The PDA’s action comes less
than a week after jailed ex-MP
Atiq Ahmed, his wife and sons
were booked for the daylight
killingofUmeshPal,akeywitness
in the 2005 murder of then BSP
MLA Raju Pal, and his gunner.
Atiq’s younger brother Khalid
Azeem alias Ashraf and two oth-
ers have also been named in the
FIR.WhileAtiqiscurrentlylodged
in a jail in Gujarat, Ashraf is in
Bareilly Central Jail. Police on
Wednesday said that Parveen is
on the run and raids are being
conducted to arrest her.
“The order to demolish Jafar
Ahmed’shouse waspassedafter
it was found during an inquiry
that it was constructed without
completing formalities,” a sen-
IAF man facing court martial says Russian firm bids lowest for making
he was beaten to extract confession 200 Vande Bharat trains in India
MAN AMAN SINGH CHHINA
CHANDIGARH, MARCH 1
A JUNIOR Warrant Officer (JWO)
of the Indian Air Force (IAF), who
is facing a General Court Martial
forallegedlycuttingcablesofauto
pilot junction box of a MI-17 V5
helicopter,hascontendedthathe
was beaten up and forced to
make a confession at Air Force
Station, Chandigarh. He has also
allegedthatthecablesweredam-
aged by rodents in the aircraft.
Theaccused,aflightgunnerby
trade, is also learnt to have con-
tendedthathehasbeenvictimised
as he refused to do the duties of
flight steward, involving serving
teaandbreakfasttodignitaries.The
Indian Express had reported on
February24ontheallegationslev-
elled against the JWO for cutting
thecablesof thehelicopter.
A house of jailed former MP Atiq Ahmed’s aide Jafar Ahmed
being demolished in Prayagraj on Wednesday. PTI
ior PDA official said.
“Weareinvestigatingif Atiq’s
money was invested in building
the house in which Jafar Ahmed
was staying. For the past year,
Atiq's wife Shaista Parveen and
their two children were staying
inthehouse.Shehadtoshiftthere
after the district administration
demolishedherhouseoverayear
ago,” a senior police officer said.
Quoting PDA secretary Ajit
Singh, PTI reported that a sword
and two firearms were recov-
ered from the house and were
later handed over to the police.
As per air force regulations, a
flight gunner is supposed to per-
form the duties of a flight stew-
ardintheabsenceofaflightstew-
ard.Theaccusedhasstatedinhis
defence before the Court of
Inquiry that he was initially in-
structed to carry out flight stew-
ard duties on two occasions dur-
ing the visit of the AOC-in-C. He
hadobjectedtotheseinstructions
initiallyasheclaimedhewasnot
trained for flight steward duties.
The accused also contended
that while the Court of Inquiry
into allegations against him was
in progress at Air Force Station,
Sarsawa, on December 23, 2020,
he was sent on attachment to 12
Wing Air Force Station,
Chandigarhforflyingtradeduties.
Hesaiddespitethisfacthaving
been known to the then AOC and
nowAirViceMarshalAjayShukla
and the Court of Inquiry team, he
Other household items have
been kept at an adjacent vacant
plot, where Atiq Ahmed had a
palatial house, which was razed
after his properties were at-
tached in a criminal case by the
authorities last year.
"Household items were
taken out and kept safely in an
adjacent vacant plot before the
demolition began. A sword and
two firearms were also recov-
ered from the house and have
been handed over to the police,"
Singh was quoted as saying.
WITHPTIINPUTS
was cleared for the said duty. He
saidinChandigarhhewasdirected
toreporttoStationAdjutantFlight
LieutenantMeenakshiShekhawat
whodirectedhimtogoalongwith
four unknown personnel who
were in the civil dress. He was
takenoutsidetheAirForceStation
areawithhiseyescoveredandwas
drivenforfourtofivehoursinacar
andtakentosomeplacewherehe
washarassedandbeaten.
Inthenextthreedays,theac-
cusedmadeaconfessionalstate-
mentwhichwasvideorecorded,
he said, adding that within a few
hours, the Court of Inquiry team
reached there and again
recorded the confession on oath
beforereturningbacktoSarsawa
with him the same day —
December 26, 2020.
The prosecution is learnt to
have termed the entire story
“false” and an “afterthought”.
Jailed ex-MP
moves SC, says
‘threat to life’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
GANGSTER AND former SP law-
maker Atiq Ahmed, currently
lodged in an Ahmedabad jail, on
Wednesday approached the
Supreme Court, claiming threat
to life in a “fake
encounter” fol-
lowing last
week's murder
of Umesh Pal.
Last Friday,
Pal, prime wit-
Atiq Ahmed ness in the 2005
murder of BSP
MLA Raju Pal,
was shot dead in Prayagraj.
Alleging that he and his fam-
ily were falsely implicated in the
case, Ahmed, 61, referred to UP
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's
statement in the Assembly —
“...mafiakomittimeinmiladoonga
(we will crush the mafia)” — and
9perceptiblethreat"totheirlives.
Ahmed's plea stated that UP
Police is likely to seek his transit
remandandhe"believes”thathe
"maybekilledinafakeencounter.
AVISHEKGDASTIDAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
RUSSIA’S LARGEST rolling stock
maker Transmashholding
(TMH) has emerged as the low-
est bidder for the tender to man-
ufacture200VandeBharattrain-
sets in India.
TMH’s company
Metrowagonmash based in
Russia’sMytishchi,inpartnership
with Railway PSU Rail Vikas
Nigam Limited (RVNL), has
quotedRs120crorepertrainset—
the lowest by a long margin, at a
time when New Delhi is under
pressure to reduce its trade ties
with Moscow.
Indian engineering major
BHELandKolkata-basedTitagarh
Wagons tie-up has emerged as
thesecondlowestbidderquoting
Rs 139.8 crore per trainset. The
tender seeks to bring in sleeper
versions of the marquee train,
alongwiththeseating-onlytypes.
Among other three bidders,
BEML in partnership with
German major Siemens quoted
the third lowest rate at Rs 145
crore per trainset. French rolling
stock maker Alstom stood at the
fourthspotwhileSwisscompany
Stadler in partnership with
Hyderabad-basedMedha,suppli-
ers of the propulsion system of
the current Vande Bharat, has
quoted the fifth lowest rate.
The offer is to manufacture
the trainsets in India and deliver
them in a phased manner in
about2-5years,alongwithmain-
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
7 more infants die in 24 hrs,
Bengal govt says caused by
acute respiratory infection
ENS & PTI
KOLKATA, MARCH 1
SEVENCHILDRENhave dieddue
to respiratory infection in West
Bengal in the last 24 hours, a
health official said on Thursday.
The government, in a state-
ment, said till now 12 deaths
from Adenovirus have been re-
ported in the state with eight of
them having comorbidities.
The government, however,
did not term the seven deaths in
the last 24 hours as deaths from
Adenovirus. Instead, it said that
acuterespiratoryinfections(ARI)
were common during the ongo-
ing season.
The state health authorities
also said, “There is no evidence
of viral epidemic at present.”
“Inthelast24hours,fivechil-
dren have died in state-run hos-
pitals in Kolkata, and two at
Bankura Sammilani Medical
College and Hospital,” the offi-
cialsaid,addingthatthesamples
of those with Adenovirus symp-
toms were sent for tests and re-
sults are awaited.
The government said that
5,213 cases of ARI were reported
inthestateinthelastonemonth.
"ARIduetodifferentvirusesis
a common seasonal phenome-
BIGGEST VANDE BHARAT INDUCTION CALL
200
trainsets: Offer
to manufacture
in India and deliver in a
phased manner in 2-5
years; maintenance for
next 35 years
THREE LOWEST
BIDDERS (per trainset)
TMH-RVNL `120 cr
BHEL- `139.8 cr
Titagarh Wagons
BEML `145 cr
tenanceforthenext35years.The
trainsetswillbemanufacturedin
the railway factories in India.
This is TMH’s first foray into
getting a piece of the Railway
business pie in India. Railway
Board sources said the plan is to
divide the order between first
twolowestbiddersina60-40ra-
tio. While the lowest bidder will
gettomake120trainsets,thesec-
ond-lowest bidder, if it agrees to
match the lowest bid, would get
an order of the remaining 80.
“As per rules, we will ask the
second lowest bidder to match
the rate of the lowest bidder and
Drone downed in Dec had Pak, China footprints: BSF
New Delhi: Two months after the BSF shot
down a drone in Punjab’s Amritsar that had
enteredtheIndiansidefromPakistan,forensic
analysis shows that the quadcopter had foot-
prints of China too. The quadcopter was
downed on December 25, 2022 near the
Rajatal border post in Amritsar district.
An FIR was registered at Garinda police
station in Amritsar district, a BSF spokesper-
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
non.However,thenumberofARI
infectionsappearstobehigherin
the current year as the seasonal
surges due to Adenovirus was
takenoverbythesurgesofCovid-
19 virus in the previous years
(2021 and 2022).
"There is no evidence of viral
epidemicatpresent.Thecurrent
situation is nothing but a sea-
sonal surge and the number of
infectionsduetoAdenovirushas
already started coming down,"
the statement said.
The two children, who died of
the respiratory infection at
Kolkata's BC Roy Children's
Hospital on Wednesday, showed
symptoms of fever and shortness
of breath. While one was 22 days
oldfromHowrah,anotherwasa7-
month-oldboyfromChunchura.
State Health Secretary
Narayan Swarup Nigam said,
"Our hospitals are under pres-
sure. 70 beds are being set up in
BC Roy Hospital's second cam-
pus. Of those who died, many
had co-morbidities. We are con-
fident of handling the situation."
Meanwhile, BJP MLA from
Siliguri, Shankar Ghosh, alleged
there was no system for testing
adenovirus in north Bengal. In a
letter to Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee, he urged her to take
steps to curb the spread.
■ For faster delivery, the
plan is to divide the order
between the top two
lowest bidders in a 60-40
ratio, provided the second
lowest bidder matches
the lowest quote
■ If the second lowest
bidder (BHEL in this
case) refuses to match
the lowest rate, the
offer will go to others; if
none agrees to lower
rate, the entire order
will go to the
lowest bidder
(TMH-
RVNL in
this case)
manufacture 80 sets,” said a sen-
ior Railways ministry official.
“The emergence of Russia’s
Transmashholding as the lowest
financial bidder and the consor-
tium of BHEL and Titagarh
Wagonsasthesecondlowestbid-
der present a challenge for the
timely production,” Sudhanshu
Mani, former GM at ICF Chennai,
themakerof thefirstsetofVande
Bharat, told The Indian Express.
In the evening, RVNL, a listed
company, sent a statutory dis-
closure to BSE and NSE, saying
that it has emerged as the low-
est bidder.
son said. “Forensic analysis of the drone
shows that on June 11, 2022, it flew in Feng
Xiandistrictof ShanghaiinChina.Later,itflew
from September 24 to December 25 at vari-
ous locations 28 times within Khanewal in
Pakistan’s Punjab,” the spokesperson said.
TheBSF,whichistaskedtoguardtheIndia-
Pakistan border, has set up a forensic analysis
laboratory for drones in Delhi.
NIA court
awards 10-yr jail
term to 2 siblings
for ‘links with IS’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MARCH 1
ASPECIALNationalInvestigation
Agency (NIA) court in
AhmedabadonFebruary28sen-
tenced two brothers to 10 years
of imprisonment for their al-
legedlinkswithIS(islamicState)
through Pakistani handlers.
The court found the brothers
— Naeem Ramodia and Wasim
Ramodia—guiltyunderthepro-
visionsof theUnlawfulActivities
(Prevention) Act, Explosive
Substances Act and criminal
conspiracy under the IPC.
Defence advocate ID Pathan
said that the brothers were sen-
tenced to 10 years’ imprison-
ment under UAPA sections 39
and 18, and seven years’ impris-
onment under UAPA sections 13
and 20, along with Explosive
Substances Act sections 4 and 5.
The sentence shall run concur-
rently, added Pathan.
Nearly 45 prosecution wit-
nesses were examined during
the trial, according to Pathan.
Thebrothershavebeeninju-
dicial custody since their arrest
in 2017 and are now lodged at
the Rajkot Central Jail.
Theywerearrestedfollowing
an FIR in Ahmedabad for alleged
linkswithIS,thefirstsuchcasein
Gujarat. The ATS at the time had
statedthatthebrotherswereun-
dertheirwatchfortwoyearsand
were tracked on social media
wheretheywerefoundtobesup-
porting the IS ideology.
No interview in
Group ‘C’ exams
in Uttarakhand:
CM issues order
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
DEHRADUN, MARCH 1
UTTARAKHAND CHIEF Minister
Pushkar Singh Dhami on
Wednesday announced that the
interview system in all Group 'C'
examination will be abolished
with immediate effect.
The decision was taken a day
after the Uttarakhand govern-
ment made a request to the High
CourtonTuesdaytogetaninquiry
conducted into the recruitment
examscamsinthestateunderthe
supervision of a sitting HC judge.
Addressing a ‘gratitude rally’
organisedatthe Ramlila Maidan
in Haldwani by the Bharatiya
JanataYuvaMorchaon the occa-
sion of the implementation of
the anti-cheating law, Dhami
said the move will ensure trans-
parencyinexaminationsandse-
cure the future of the youth.
“Any Group 'C' examination,
whetheritisbeingconductedby
the Public Service Commission
or any other commission in the
state, the system of interview in
allexaminations shouldbeabol-
ished with immediate effect.
This will also include technical
and non-technical posts, such as
posts of JE,” said Dhami.
ENS
Telangana
student kills
self, kin allege
harassment
EXPRESS NEWS
SERVICE
HYDERABAD, MARCH 1
A FIRST-YEAR student of
Sri Chaitanya College at
Narsingi on the outskirts
of Hyderabad allegedly
died by suicide late on
Tuesday night, the police
said. After his family ac-
cusedthecollegemanage-
ment of harassment, a
case was registered
againstthecollegeprinci-
pal and two wardens.
This is the fourth stu-
dent suicide being re-
ported from Telangana
withinthelast10days.The
policesaidthe16-year-old
intermediatestudentwas
found dead in an empty
classroom.Theboy’sfather
saidhehadmethissonon
Tuesday and he had told
him about study pressure
fromhisteachers.
 E EXPLAINED
15
EXPLAINED POLITICS
WHYSARPANCHESAREPROTESTING
AGAINSTE-TENDERSINHARYANA
SUKHBIR SIWACH
CHANDIGARH, MARCH 1
SARPANCHES OF some villages in Haryana
Wednesday tried to march to the Chief
Minister’sresidenceinChandigarhandhad
to be held back by the police, which re-
sorted to lathicharge. The sarpanches have
been protesting for the past two months
against the introduction of e-tendering for
development works in rural areas.
Why was the system brought in?
TheHaryanagovernmentclaimsitintro-
ducede-tenderingforinfrastructureprojects
invillagestoensuretransparency,accounta-
bility, and faster execution. Under the new
system,introducedinMarch2022,thevillage
panchayatcancarryoutworksuptoRs2lakh
ontheirown.Projectsofhighervaluehaveto
be carried out through e-tendering. Earlier,
thevillagepanchayatswereallowedtocarry
outworksuptoRs20lakhontheirown.
Why are sarpanches opposing this?
The village heads, or sarpanches, see
this as an attempt to take away the powers
of panchayats. While the system was
broughtinoneyearago,oppositiontoitbe-
gan only around two months ago. That is
becauseelectionsforsarpancheswereheld
in November 2022 after a long gap, due to
the Covid pandemic and some court cases.
The newly elected sarpanches say that
the e-tender move is aimed at taking away
the power of panchayat raj institutions.
Ranbir Samain, president of The Sarpa-
nch Association of Haryana, said, “This is
clear centralisation of powers. Under the
newsystem,thegovernmentonlyneedsto
take22executiveengineersof thestate’s22
districtsintoconfidencetocontroltheentire
tendering system of nearly 6,200 village
panchayats. Politicians at higher levels are
eyeingthebudgetof allvillagepanchayats.”
Another sarpanch said the new system is
an attack ontheir image, “seekingtocreate
a perception that we are not honest”.
What is the extent of the agitation?
For the past two months, there have
Daily 11-min walk can cut risk of
early death: Cambridge study
JUST 11 MINUTES a day, or 75
minutes a week, of moderate-
intensity physical activity such
as a brisk walk would be suffi-
cient to lower the risk of dis-
eases such as heart disease,
strokeandanumberof cancers, PAPER
new University of Cambridge-
led research has found.
In a study published on
CLIP
Tuesday in the British Journal of NEW RESEARCH BragefromtheMedicalResear-
SportsMedicine,researcherscon-
clude that one in 10 early deaths could be Unit at the University of Cambridge.
preventedif everyonemanagedatleasthalf
the recommended level of physical activity thandoingnone.Thisisalsoagoodstarting
by the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). position — if you find that 75 minutes a
Physical activity, particularly when it is week is manageable, then you could try
moderate-intensity,isknowntoreducethe stepping it up gradually to the full recom-
risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, mended amount,” he said.
and the NHS recommends that adults do
Drishti IAS
(Prelims + Mains)
(Along with Free Online Facility)
8010-440-440 OR Visit Our Karol Bagh Centre at 21, Pusa Road, Delhi.
Can’t compare apples to oranges: Govt’s defence of Q3 GDP data
AANCHAL MAGAZINE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THEQUARTERLYgrowthof theIndianecon-
omy slowed to a three-quarter low of 4.4%
in the third quarter (October-December),
official data released on Tuesday showed.
But the National Statistical Office (NSO)
retained the overall growth estimate for the
full year 2022-23 at 7%, the same as the First
Advance Estimates released in January.
This means India’s GDP is estimated to
grow at5.1% inQ4, significantlyhigher than
the 4.2% projected by the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) in its December policy review.
Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) V
Anantha Nageswaran said on Wednesday
that there is “much misunderstanding” of
theQ3 GDP data,giventhat itcame with re-
visions in data for previous years.
What is the government saying on the
GDP data?
The CEA said the Q3 data have to be seen
in the backdrop of revisions for previous fi-
nancialyears.ForPrivateFinalConsumption
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
Police lathi-charge protesters at the
Panchkula Chandigarh border on
Wednesday. Jasbir Malhi
been intense agitations at the village and
district headquarters levels. The sarpan-
ches had announced that as the next step,
they would gherao CM Manohar Lal
Khattar’s residence on March 1. On
Wednesday, when the protesters tried to
move from Panchkula to Chandigarh by
breaking police barricades, the police re-
sorted to lathicharge.
What has the government said?
Khattar has said the e-tendering initia-
tive was part of the government’s zero-tol-
erancepolicytowardscorruption.Heearlier
said:“Thedutyofthepanchayatsistoensure
smoothexecutionofworks.Providingtimely
funds is our job.” State Rural Development
andPanchayatDepartmentministerDeven-
der Singh Babli alleged the Opposition was
fomenting the stir, with only some sarpan-
ches opposing the e-tenders.
What is the political angle here?
With the government standing by its e-
tendering policy, the Opposition Congress
and INLD have supported the protesting
sarpanches. The sarpanches hold consid-
erable influence among villagers, with
many having dedicated teams of volun-
teers. In these circumstances, the latest de-
velopments are not being seen as a good
sign for the BJP-JJP alliance, especially
ahead of the poll year of 2024.
at least 150 minutes of mod-
erate-intensityactivity—or75
minutes of vigorous-intensity
activity — a week.
“If you are someone who
findstheideaof150minutesof
moderate-intensityphysicalac-
tivity a week a bit daunting,
then our findings should be
good news,” said Dr Soren
chCouncil(MRC)Epidemiology
“Doing some physical activity is better
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Expenditure(PFCE),whichreflectsconsump-
tiondemand,hesaidthe“datarevisiontothe
prior year(s) has made a 6 per cent growth
rate come down to 2 per cent in Q3FY23”.
“Even though one is comparing con-
sumptiontoconsumption,oneiscomparing
the cumulative base effect of the first revi-
sionto2021-22,thesecondrevisionto2020-
21, and the third revision to 2019-20, all of
which now inflate the base period data and
depress the growth rate for 2022-23,” the
CEA said.
This, he said, was an “apples to oranges”
comparison. “When one set of data is re-
vised to take into account underlying data
revisions, larger samples, etc., and the other
is not, it is not a like-for-like comparison.”
Similarly, manufacturing GVA would
have grown by 5.1 per cent in FY23 based
on the second advance estimate without
revised data, Nageswaran said. “However,
itwillgrowby0.6percentYoYinthisperiod
after revision. That is a revision of 4.5 per-
centage points,” he said.
For Q3, manufacturing would have
grown by 3.8% without revised data.
However,ithascontractedby1.1%YoYinQ3
EXPLAINED SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, & CLIMATE CHANGE
Origins of the coronavirus
The ‘natural origin’ vs ‘lab leak’ debate emerged almost simultaneously with the pandemic. Recent US
statements have reignited the controversy. Some scientists have contributed to the muddying of waters
IN FACT
AMITABH SINHA
THE DEBATE over the origins of SARS-CoV-
2 has been reignited with revelations that
the United States Department of Energy has
changed its opinion and now believes that
the virus that caused the Covid-19 pan-
demic most likely leaked from a laboratory
in Wuhan, China, and did not emerge or-
ganically.
The department was previously unde-
cided on this issue, according to a report in
The Wall Street Journal, which also said that
this assessment, apparently based on new
evidence, was made with “low confidence”.
TheninatelevisioninterviewonTuesday,
Christopher Wray, Director of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said his agency
too was of the opinion that the origins of the
pandemic was “most likely” a “potential lab
incident in Wuhan”.
These are just the latest assessments of
the origins of the coronavirus, which has
been the subject of fierce contestation and
political discussion since the beginning of
the pandemic in early 2020. The World
Health Organisation (WHO) has studied it,
and so have several scientific groups, indi-
vidual scientists, government agencies, and
independent researchers.
The matter has not been settled — and it
is unlikely to be settled now, given how con-
tentious it has been. China’s foreign ministry
responded to Wray’s statements by accus-
ing the US of “political manipulation”, and
declared “theconclusionsthey havereached
have no credibility to speak of”.
A tale of two theories
The debate is over whether the coron-
avirusemergednaturally—possiblyjumping
from an animal host to humans in the same
way as the SARS-1 virus in 2002 — or acci-
dentally ‘escaped’ or ‘leaked’ from the
Wuhan Instituteof Virology (WIV), the insti-
tute in the city where researchers had been
workingwithcoronavirusesforseveralyears.
There are people who even believe that
the virus was a bio-weapon deliberately re-
leased by China, but this theory has not re-
ceived backing from any serious quarters.
Thereason whythe origin question isrel-
evant and important is that it helps tremen-
The foreign funding law whose provisions CPR allegedly violated
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THE CENTRE has suspended the Foreign
ContributionRegulationAct(FCRA)licenceof
think-tank Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
This came five months after the Income Tax
departmentconducted‘surveys’ontheprem-
ises of the CPR.
Officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs
told The Indian Express that the licence was
suspended following prima facie inputs re-
garding the violation of funding norms. CPR
in a statement Wednesday said it had “done
nothing wrong”.
FY23 after this revision, Nageswaran said.
“Theargumentthattherecoveryhasbe-
come shallower does not make sense since
oneisnotmakingafaircomparison,”hesaid.
What were the revisions in the GDP
data released on Tuesday?
Along with the Q3 data, revised data for
previous financial years were also released
onTuesday.Thegrowthratefor2021-22was
revised upward by 40 basis points to 9.1%
from8.7%earlier.Therewasupwardrevision
for the Covid period too —
GDP for FY2020-21 is now
estimatedat(–)5.8%instead
EXPLAINED
of (–) 6.6%. For 2019-20, the
growthratewasrevisedup-
ECONOMICS
ward to 3.9% from 3.7%.
Inthecurrentfinancialyear,GDPgrowth
rate for Q1 (April-June) was revised down-
ward from 13.5% to 13.2%; the Q2 (July-
September) number remained unchanged
at 6.3%.
With the revisions undertaken for the
previous fiscal, the GDP components for
FY23alsounderwentrevision:Government
FinalConsumption Expenditure(GFCE) has
dously in the efforts to prevent another such
virus outbreak.
The fact that the first infections were re-
portedfromWuhan,hometotheWIV,awell
known centre for coronavirus research, pre-
senteditself astheobvious—andnotentirely
unreasonable — basis for the assertion that
an engineered virus had spilled over from
the laboratory.
But this coincidence is not the entire
foundation for this theory. Over the subse-
quent months, plenty of scientific facts were
unearthed, which can be explained far bet-
ter,andwithmuchgreaterprobability,bythe
‘lab leak’ theory.
What gave the most credence to this the-
ory was the vehemence with which it was
sought to be denied, and the rather deceit-
fulconduct of a few scientists involved in the
denial.
A statement by a group of scientists pub-
lished in The Lancet on February 18, 2020
called it a “conspiracy”, and claimed that ev-
THIS WORD MEANS: FCRA
What is the FCRA?
The FCRA was enacted during the
Emergencyin1976amidapprehensionsthat
foreignpowers were interferingin India’saf-
fairs by pumping money into the country
throughindependentorganisations.Thelaw
sought to regulate foreign donations to indi-
viduals and associations so that they func-
tioned “in a manner consistent with the val-
ues of a sovereign democratic republic”.
AnamendedFCRAwasenactedunderthe
UPA government in 2010 to “consolidate the
law” on utilisation of foreign funds, and “to
prohibit”theirusefor“anyactivitiesdetrimen-
tal to national interest”.
The law was amended again by the cur-
been revised down to 1.2% from 3.1% and
PFCEisnowestimatedat7.3%from7.7%ear-
lier, while gross fixed capital formation
(GFCF) — an indicator of investment — is
seen growing at 11.2% against the 11.5% es-
timated earlier.
What are First and Second Advance GDP
estimates?
GDP advance estimates were earlier re-
leasedinFebruary-end;in2016-17,theNSO
introduced the first advance estimates.
The First Advance
Estimates (FAE), released
on January 7, mark the first
official government esti-
mate for economic growth
ahead of the Union Budget
for the next fiscal. The First Advance
Estimates are obtained by extrapolating 7-
8 months’ data, to help officers in the Union
Finance Ministry and other Departments
frame the broad contours of the Budget.
The Second Advance Estimate (SAE) of
GDP is then released at the end of February.
From this year, the NSO has moved the
timeline for releasing the revised estimate
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you would like
explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
(Above) Wuhan
Institute of
Virology, for
years a centre
for coronavirus
research;
Huanan
Seafood Market
in Wuhan, the
place from
where the
outbreak is said
to have
originated.
Reuters
idence was “overwhelmingly” conclusive
that the virus had emerged naturally.
In an article in Nature Medicine on March
17, 2020, another set of scientists claimed
that their analysis “clearly” showed that the
virus was “not a laboratory construct or a
purposefully manipulated virus”.
These two articles, published in rep-
utable scientific journals very early in the
pandemic when sufficient information or
analysis could not have been available, al-
most completely discounted the possibility
of the virus escaping from the laboratory,
and shaped the narrative around the origins
of the virus.
Dishonesty — and evidence
It emerged only later that The Lancet
statement was signed, and organised, by
Peter Daszak, a scientist with deep connec-
tions to the WIV. Daszak was president of
New York-based EcoHealth Alliance, which
directly fundedcoronavirusresearch at WIV.
rent government in 2020, giving the govern-
menttightercontrolandscrutinyoverthere-
ceiptandutilisationof foreignfundsbyNGOs.
Broadly, the FCRA requires every person
or NGO seeking to receive foreign donations
to be (i) registered under the Act, (ii) to open
a bank account for the receipt of the foreign
funds in State Bank of India, Delhi, and (iii)
toutilisethosefundsonlyfor thepurposefor
which they have been received and as stipu-
lated in the Act. They are also required to file
annual returns, and they must not transfer
the funds to another NGO.
How is FCRA registration granted?
NGOs that want to receive foreign funds
for previous fiscal. Earlier, the First Revised
Estimateforthepreviousfiscalwasreleased
in January-end — this has now been
clubbed with the release of the Second
Advance Estimate and revisions for previ-
ous years in February-end.
As per the NSO, the FAE are based on
“very limited data”, and are reached by us-
ing Provisional Estimates (PEs) of 2021-22
and are extrapolated using the relevant in-
dicators.TocompiletheSAEfor2022-23,the
PEs of 2021-22 used at the time of First
AdvanceEstimatehavebeenreplacedbythe
First Revised Estimates for 2021-22, which
have been compiled using detailed indus-
try-wise/ institution-wise information.
“Thus,variations in SAE from FAE are at-
tributedtorevisionof benchmarkestimates
and additional data available on various in-
dicators like CPI, IIP, Revised Estimates of
fiscal data, financial results of listed com-
paniesetc.usedforcompilingtheestimates
for 2022-23,” the NSO said.
What have experts said on the
revisions?
Experts are of the view that not much
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Thisconflictof interestwasneverquestioned
by the colleagues who signed the letter, the
editors of the journal, or the wider scientific
community which was aware of Daszak’s
connections with WIV.
The statement still remains on the web-
site of the journal, and Daszak has not been
reprimanded in any way for wilful conceal-
ment of facts and misleading scientific opin-
ion. Daszak, in fact, was part of the WHO
team that was sent to Wuhan to investigate
the origins question in 2021.
Thanks to some enterprising and inquis-
itive researchers, including a few based in
India, a lot more information and data was
releasedontheInternetthataddedevidence
to the ‘lab leak’ theory, and also exposed ef-
forts to hide or remove access to relevant
Chinese databases and information by
Chinese authorities.
While the evidence for a ‘lab leak’ is still
not conclusive — and the recent disclosures
by US agencies are unlikely to change that —
it does remain the far simpler explanation,
not least because unlike in the case of SARS-
1 or MERS, the theory of ‘natural emergence’
of thevirusisyettobeestablishedmorethan
three years after the outbreak.
In fact, the evidence for natural emer-
gence continues to be far more disingenu-
ous, despite the publication of two compre-
hensive studies last year that strongly favour
the theory that the virus passed on to hu-
mans from animals.
Value of scientific opinion
The origins controversy is not the only
episode during the Covid-19 epidemic in
which scientists have indulged in question-
able behaviour.
As is becoming increasingly evident, sci-
entific assessments and opinion offered by
individual scientists as well as some scien-
tificinstitutionsonavarietyof issuesrelating
to the pandemic — mask mandates, vaccine
effectiveness, mortality estimations and
more — was not based entirely in science.
There have been instances when scien-
tists have been economical with the truth,
have seemingly batted for corporate inter-
ests, or have simply fallen to the temptation
of narrative-building. These are things that
usually journalists and politicians are ac-
cused of, not scientists.
The damage from this could come in the
form of erosion of trust in scientists. Some of
thisisalreadyevident,withevenstraightfor-
ward scientific advice being questioned or
ridiculed. Scientists take pride in holding
themselves to higher standards, and justifi-
ably so. But the fact that there has been no
condemnation or reprimand, or even ac-
knowledgmentof certainkindsof behaviour,
makes a dent in that image.
must apply online in a prescribed format
withtherequireddocumentation.FCRA reg-
istrations are granted to individuals or asso-
ciationsthathavedefinitecultural,economic,
educational, religious, and social pro-
grammes.
FollowingtheapplicationbytheNGO,the
MHA makes inquiries through the
Intelligence Bureau into the antecedents of
the applicant, and accordingly processes the
application.
The MHA is required to approve or reject
theapplicationwithin90days.If theapplica-
tion is not processed in the given time, the
MHA is expected to inform the NGO of the
reasons for it.
should be read into the First Advance
Estimates of GDP since they are based on
extrapolation. A crucial component of GDP
data — corporate results — start trickling in
for Q3 from mid-January onwards, and
hence, the Second Advance Estimates are a
better indicator of GDP growth in a finan-
cial year.
“Since the Budget was to be presented
early (on the first day of February), the First
Advance Estimate was moved forward to
mid-January.Revisionsarepart of theusual
GDP data releases. But corporate results of
Q3 start coming in mid-January onwards,
and the Second Advance Estimate presents
a better picture of the GDP performance.
With annual GDP growth estimated to re-
main at 7% for FY23, the Q3 growth has
come in the lowest in three quarters, which
in our view shows that economic recovery
is still fragile,” Devendra Kumar Pant, Chief
Economist, India Ratings said.
The economic recovery ahead will de-
pend on how policy actions, both monetary
and fiscal, pan out, and it remains to be seen
whethertheyareabletomitigateriskstohave
better impact in terms of growth, he added.

16 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
FumioKishidamade
hiscommentsin
responsetoquestion
from Opposition. AP
JAPAN
Banonsame-sex
marriageisnot
prejudiced:PM
Tokyo: Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio Kishida
said the country’s ban on
same-sex marriage is not
discriminatory, insisting
that constitutional free-
dom of marriage only en-
visions heterosexual
unions, a comment that
triggered criticism he is
backtracking despite his
recent apology and meet-
ing with LGBTQ people. “I
don’t think disallowing
same-sex couples to
marry is unjust discrimi-
nation by state.” Kishida
said in parliament when
asked if he thinks the ban
constitutes prejudice. AP
TAIWAN
19Chineseair
forceplanesin
island’sairzone
Taipei: Taiwan's defence
ministry said on
Wednesdayithadspotted
19Chineseairforceplanes
in its air defence zone in
the past 24 hours, part of
what Taipei calls regular
harassment by Beijing.
Taiwan'sdefenceministry
said 19 J-10 fighters had
flownintothesouthwest-
ern corner of the island's
air defence identification
zone, or ADIZ, though
closertotheChinesecoast
thanTaiwan'saccordingto
a map the ministry re-
leased. Taiwan's forces
monitored the situation,
including sending up its
own air force planes, the
ministryadded. REUTERS
NORWAY
Gretadetained
duringpro-Sami
demonstration
Oslo:Environmentalcam-
paigner Greta Thunberg
wastwicedetainedduring
a demonstration in favour
of Indigenous rights in
Oslo on Wednesday, with
police removing her and
other activists from the fi-
nance ministry and later
theenvironmentministry.
ThunberghadonMonday
joinedprotestersdemand-
ing the removal of 151
wind turbines from pas-
turesusedbySamiherders
in central Norway. They
say a transition to green
energyshouldnotcomeat
theexpenseofIndigenous
rights. Thunberg, holding
a Sami flag, was lifted and
carried away. REUTERS
ISRAEL
Policefiresstun
grenadesat
protesters
Tel Aviv: sraeli police fired
stungrenadesandscuffles
broke out in Tel Aviv on
Wednesday during a na-
tionwide “day of disrup-
tion”, raising the intensity
of weeks of protests
againstacontentiousgov-
ernment plan to shake up
thejudiciary.Inimagesnot
seen in Tel Aviv demon-
strationsinyears,policeon
horseback tried to stop
demonstrators breaching
barricades as traffic piled
up. Live footage showed
policedraggingprotesters
offtheroadasdemonstra-
tors called out “shame”
and “we are the majority
and we are out on the
streets”. REUTERS
VIRUS ORIGIN ROW
China lab leak likely caused Covid-19,
says FBI director, Beijing junks claim
Origins of pandemic most likely a potential laboratory incident in Wuhan, says Christopher Wray
AGENCIES
WASHINGTON, MARCH 1
THE FBI has assessed that a leak
from a laboratory in the central
Chinese city of Wuhan likely
caused the Covid pandemic, di-
rector Christopher Wray said on
Tuesday, a claim China said had
“no credibility whatsoever”.
“The FBI has for quite some
time now assessed that the ori-
gins of the pandemic are most
likely a potential lab incident in
Wuhan,” Wray told Fox News.
His comments follow a Wall
Street Journal report on Sunday
that the US Energy Department
hadassessedwithlowconfidence
the pandemic resulted from an
unintended lab leak in China.
Four other agencies, along
withanationalintelligencepanel,
stilljudgethatthepandemicwas
likelytheresultofanaturaltrans-
mission, and two are undecided,
Russia bans use of
most foreign words
by govt executives
Bid to protect Russia from West: Putin
REUTERS
MOSCOW, MARCH 1
RUSSIANGOVERNMENTofficials
will be banned from using most
foreignwords whencarrying out
their duties, according to an
amended law on the formal use
ofRussianthatPresidentVladimir
Putin signed on Tuesday.
Since launching the invasion
of Ukraine a year ago, Putin has
said he wants to protect Russia
from what he calls a degenerate
West that he alleges is trying to
destroy the country.
Theamendmentstothe2005
law are designed to protect and
supportthestatusof Russian,ac-
cording to a text posted on the
government's website.
“When using Russian as the
state language of the Russian
Federation, it is not allowed to
use words and expressions that
do not correspond to the norms
of modernRussian...withtheex-
ception of foreign words which
do not have widely-used corre-
sponding equivalents in
Russian,” says the text.
Turkey seeks polls on May 4 diplomats amid uproar
ASSOCIATEDPRESS
ANTAKYA(TURKEY),MARCH1
TURKISH PRESIDENT Recep
Tayyip Erdogan indicated on
Wednesdaythathisgovernment
still intends to hold elections a
month earlier than scheduled
despite an earthquake last
month that devastated parts of
southern Turkey.
In an address to legislators of
his ruling party, Erdogan chided
critics of the government’s han-
dling of the earthquake’s after-
math and said the people would
give their response to those crit-
icsonMay14—theelectiondate
his ruling party had tentatively
HEARING CENTRED ON WHETHER STATES HAD LEGAL RIGHT TO SUE OVER BIDEN’S STUDENT LOANS PLAN
As US court debates student loans, borrowers see disconnect
COLLIN BINKLEY
WASHINGTON, MARCH 1
NIARA THOMPSON couldn’t
shake her frustration as the
Supreme Court debated
PresidentJoeBiden’sstudentdebt
cancellation.Asshelistenedfrom
theaudienceTuesday,itallfeltac-
ademic. There was a longdiscus-
sion on the nuances of certain
words. Justices asked lawyers to
explore hypothetical scenarios.
For Thompson, none of it is
hypothetical. A student at the
University of Georgia, she grew
up watching her parents strug-
gle with student loans and will
the Journal reported.
WhiteHousenationalsecurity
spokesman John Kirby said on
Monday the US government had
not reached a definitive conclu-
sion and consensus on the pan-
demic’s origins.
China denounced Wray’s
commentsonWednesday,saying
itwasfirmlyopposedtoanyform
of“politicalmanipulation”offacts.
“Based on the poor track
record of fraud and deception of
the US intelligence community,
the conclusions they draw have
no credibility whatsoever,”
Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesperson Mao Ning told re-
porters in Beijing.
“...We urge the US side to re-
spect science and facts.”
Wray said he couldn’t share
detailsofagency’sassessmentbe-
cause they were classified.
He accused the Chinese gov-
ernment of “doing its best to try
to thwart and obfuscate” efforts
May pull out of
Bakhmut, says
Ukraine offical
Kyiv: The Ukrainian mili-
tary might decide to pull
troops back from the key
stronghold of Bakhmut,
the economic adviser to
Ukraine’s president said
Wednesday as Russia
pursued an offensive.
“Our militaryis obviously
going to weigh all of the
options. So far, they’ve
held the city, but if need
be, they will strategically
pull back,” Alexander
Rodnyansky, advisor to
President Zelenskyy told
CNN. “We’re not going to
sacrifice all of our people
just for nothing.” AP
A list of foreign-based words
that can still be used will be pub-
lished separately. The amend-
ments do not mention any pun-
ishmentsforviolatingthelaw.
setforbeforethedeadly seriesof
tremors hit.
Erdogandidn’tprovideinfor-
mation on how the elections
could be organized in the quake
zone or say whether displaced
survivors would be able to cast
ballots in their new locations.
The Turkish leader, who has
been in power since 2003, is
seeking a 3rd term as president.
The presidential and general
elections, which need to be held
no later than June 18, come at a
tough time for Erdogan who has
seen a decline in his ratings be-
cause of skyrocketing inflation.
OnWednesday,hereiterated
a promise to rebuild more than
400,000 homes within the year.
graduate with about $50,000 of
her own student debt.
“It felt like people who could
neverunderstandwhywewould
want something like this,” she
said. “I wanted to be like, ‘Y’all
don’tunderstand.Y’allarefocus-
ingonthis,butthere’speopleout
here who are struggling to find
food for their families.’”
Much of the discussion in
Tuesday’s hearing centered on
whether states had the legal
right to sue over Biden’s student
loans plan. But the justices also
werescrutinizingwhetherBiden
had the authority to waive hun-
dredsof billionsof dollarsindebt
without the explicit approval of
The Wuhan Institute of Virology. Reuters
by the United States and others
to learn more about the pan-
demic's origins.
The virus was first identified
in Wuhan in December 2019 be-
fore spreading round the world
38 KILLED AS TRAINS COLLIDE IN GREECE
Smoke rises from trains as firefighters and rescuers operate after a collision near Larissa city,
Greece, early Wednesday. The collision between a freight and passenger train occurred near
Tempe, 380 kilometres north of Athens, and resulted in derailment of several train cars. AP
■ Transport Minister Kostas
Karamanlis resigned, saying it
was his ‘duty’ as a basic show
of respect for ‘memory of
those who died so unfairly.’
Bola Tinubu declared winner of
TEHRAN ALLEGES INTERFERENCE
Iran expels two German Nigeria’s presidential elections
ASSOCIATEDPRESS
DUBAI,MARCH1
IRAN SAID Wednesday it has ex-
pelled two German diplomats
over Berlin’s alleged interference
in its internal affairs.
Themovecomesaweekafter
Germany expelled two Iranian
diplomats over a death sentence
handed down to Jamshid
Sharmahd, an Iranian-German
dualcitizenandoppositionfigure
accusedofmastermindingattack.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it
hadalsosummonedtheGerman
ambassador over “excessive” de-
mands, without elaborating.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry
Student debt relief advocates gather outside the Supreme
Court on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday. AP
and killing over 7 million people.
OnTuesday,Maopushedback
at a report from the US
Department of Energy that as-
sessed with “low confidence”
that the virus that was first de-
■ Visiting the accident scene,
Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis
said that government must
help the injured recover and
identify the deceased.
saidIran’slatestmovewas“com-
pletely unjustified.”
“With its (earlier) expulsions
theGermangovernmentreacted
inanappropriatewaytothedeath
sentenceagainstandthemassive
breachoftherightsofGermancit-
izenJamshidSharmahd,”itsaidin
astatement,addingthatGerman
diplomats had “done no wrong.”
Iran has repeatedly sum-
moned European diplomats in
recent months as it has accused
Western countries of being be-
hind nationwide anti-govern-
mentprotests,withoutproviding
evidence. The protests erupted
overthedeathofayoungwoman
in the custody of Iran’s morality
police in September.
‘THE CITY AND ITS UNCERTAIN WALLS’
MURAKAMI’S 1ST BOOK IN 6 YEARS OUT IN APRIL
A new Haruki Murakami novel, with a 1,200-pages-long Japanese manuscript, will be published
in April, Shinchosha Publishing Co. said in a statement on Wednesday. The City and Its Uncertain
Walls will be released on April 13. Availability of English translation is not yet known yet.AP
tected in Wuhan in late 2019
leaked from a nearby govern-
ment laboratory.
The report hasn’t been made
public and officials in
Washington stressed that U.S.
agencies are not in agreement
on the origin of the virus.
MaoonTuesdayinsistedthat
China has been “open and trans-
parent” in the search for the
virus’originsandhas“sharedthe
most data and research results
on virus tracing and made im-
portant contributions to global
virus tracing research.”
A World Health Organization
expert group said last year that
“key pieces of data” to explain
how the pandemic began were
still missing.
Thescientistscitedavenuesof
research that were needed, in-
cluding studies evaluating the
roleof wildanimalsandenviron-
mental studies in places where
the virus might have first spread.
■ Local station master, in
charge of signalling, has been
arrested for negligence.
Another two people have been
detained for questioning.
CHINEDU ASADU
ABUJA (NIGERIA), MARCH 1
NIGERIANS AWOKE to a new
president Wednesday, with rul-
ing party candidate Bola Tinubu
declared the winner of the
country’s election. As he
thanked his supporters he ap-
pealed for reconciliation with
his rivals, who are already de-
manding a revote in Africa’s
most populous nation.
The announcement by elec-
tionofficialsovernightwaslikely
toleadtoacourtchallengebythe
second- and third-highest fin-
ishersintheweekendvote,Atiku
Abubakar and Peter Obi.
Abubakar also finished sec-
ond in the previous vote in 2019,
Congress, which decides how
taxpayer money is spent.
It’s not unusual for Supreme
Court cases to hang on legal
technicalities, even in cases of
great public interest. Yet to bor-
rowers following Tuesday’s ar-
guments, it felt isolating to hear
such a personal subject re-
duced to cold legal language.
Thompson was among a
few dozen borrowers who
camped out in drizzle
overnight to get seats at the
court, where they watched
conservative justices question
the administration’s authority
to wipe away debt held by mil-
lions of Americans. Some of the
Supreme Court
orders polls for
Pak Punjab, KPK
in 90-day period
PTI party suspends ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD, MARCH 1
PAKISTAN’S SUPREME Court on
Wednesdayorderedtheelection
commission to hold elections in
the Punjab and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa provinces within
the 90-day period as mandated
by the Constitution.
The Punjab and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa assemblies were
dissolvedonJanuary14and18,re-
spectivelybytheImranKhan-led
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
partyaspartofitsbidtoforceearly
general elections in the country.
The court launched suo motu
proceedings last week regarding
thedelayintheannouncementof
adateforelectionsin2provinces.
Afive-memberbenchheaded
bychief justiceUmarAtaBandial
issued the split decision, passed
by a majority of three, with two
judges expressing reservations
overtheadmissibilityofsuomotu
action by the top court.
The decision paved the way
for elections in the two
provinces, currently run by in-
terim governments. The re-
spective governors, empow-
ered to set the election dates,
have demurred, apparently
due to political reasons.
The court also ruled that
President Arif Alvi’s orders to
hold elections on April 9 will be
binding on the Punjab assem-
bly but not on the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa assembly, as the
latter was dissolved by the gov-
ernor, while the former was not.
“If thegovernordissolvedthe
assembly,thenthegovernorwill
announce the election date,”
ruled the apex court.
The top court ordered the
governor of the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province to an-
nounce the date for provincial
elections. It also ruled that the
president and the Election
Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
should declare Punjab’s polls
schedule after consultation.
In the aftermath of the top
court’s judgment, Imran Khan’s
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party
on Wednesday suspended its
“Jail Bharo Tehreek” (court ar-
rest movement).
AllProgressivesCongress’s
BolaTinubucelebrateswith
supportersonWednesday. AP
and appealed those results al-
though his lawsuit ultimately
was dismissed.
Tinubu’s ruling All
Progressives Congress party
urged the opposition Tuesday to
court’s liberal justices sought
several times to turn the argu-
ments back to the people who
would benefit from the pro-
gram, pointing out their need
for relief. In response, conser-
vatives asked if those who
passed up college should pay
for those who borrowed
money to attend.
For Thompson’s family,
years of payments hang in the
balance. Student loan pay-
ments have been on hold since
the start of the pandemic, but
they are set to restart 60 days
after the court cases resolve —
regardless of the outcome.
The mood inside the court
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
E
E X P L A I NE D
What’s in
store for
● Imran Khan?
THERULINGbythecourtis
a moral victory for the
Imran Khan-led PTI which
had demanded early elec-
tions. To put pressure on
the coalition government
inIslamabad,Khan,thefor-
merprimeminister,whose
party was in power in
Punjab and Khyber-
Pakhtunkhwa, dissolved
the two assemblies. As the
federalgovernmentmiser-
ably failed to improve the
economic situation, it is
fearedthatanearlyelection
would only benefit Khan,
who was ousted as Prime
Minister in April last year.
First digital
census begins
Lahore:Pakistanlaunched
itsfirst-everdigitalpopu-
lationandhousingcensus
Wednesdayinaneffortto
securely gather demo-
graphic data on every in-
dividualaheadof thepar-
liamentary elections this
year,officialssaid.Thedig-
ital count will provide
data for policy decisions,
which now are based on
the 2017 census, which
countedthepopulationat
207 million people. It is
alsomeanttoincreasese-
curity and avoid another
morass like the one that
beset 2021 census. AP
“We welcome the SC judge-
ment. It was responsibility of
SC to uphold Constitution &
they have valiantly done that
through their judgement to-
day. It is an assertion of Rule of
Law in Pak. We are suspending
our Jail Bharo movement &
moving forward with election
campaigns in KP & Punjab,”
Khan tweeted. PTI
acceptdefeatandnotcausetrou-
ble after they had demanded a
revote, saying that delays in up-
loading election results had
made room for irregularities.
Tinubu received 37% of the
votes, or nearly 8.8 million,
while main opposition candi-
date Abubakar won 29% with al-
most 7 million.
Third-place finisher Obi took
25% with about 6.1 million, ac-
cording to the results an-
nounced on live television by
the Independent National
Electoral Commission.
The president-elect thanked
his supporters in the capital,
Abuja, after his victory was an-
nounced and struck a reconcil-
iatorytoneinamessagedirected
at his political adversaries. AP
— quiet and ceremonious —
was a contrast to the atmos-
phere outside as dozens of ac-
tivists rallied in support of can-
cellation. Crowds chanted and
listened to speeches from
members of Congress.
Thompson and her father
are each eligible for $10,000 in
relief, she said.
It would move her a step
closer to financial stability,
Thompson said, and it would
eliminate the rest of her dad’s
loans.
“It just hurt my feelings a
bit,” she said of Tuesday’s argu-
ments. “I just want better for us,
you know?” AP

17 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
SENSEX: 59,411.08 ▲ 448.96 (0.76%) NIFTY: 17,450.90 ▲ 146.95 (0.85%) NIKKEI: 27,516.53 ▲ 70.97 HANG SENG: 20,619.71 ▲ 833.77 FTSE: 7,943.06 ▲ 66.78 DAX: 15,474.60 ▲ 109.46
SECTOR WATCH
Axis MF front running:
MARKETS
Why did SEBI bar these
dealers from markets?
HITESHVYAS
MUMBAI,MARCH1
THESECURITIESandExchange
Board of India (SEBI) on
Tuesday barred former chief
dealer of Axis Mutual Fund,
VireshJoshi,and20otherindi-
viduals from accessing the se-
curities markets in a case of
front-running of the trades of
AxisMutualFund. Initsinves-
tigation, SEBI found out these
individualswronglyearnedRs
30.56crorefromthefrontrun-
ning activities.
Whatisthematter?
The surveillance system in
SEBI generated certain alerts
whichindicatedthatafewsus-
E
pectedentitiesexecutedtrades
that were in the na-
ture of front running
EXPLAINED
the trades of Axis
Mutual Fund (Axis
MF or Big Client) be-
tween September 1,
2021 to March 31,
2022.
These alerts also showed
that not only numerous enti-
tiesweresuspectedtobefront
running the trades of Axis MF
but several trading members
of stock exchanges were also
suspected to be involved with
thosesuspectedentitiesinex-
ecuting these trades.
Based on these alerts, the
capital market conducted an
investigation and found that
these suspected entities and
trading members worked in
close coordination with each
othertofrontrunthetradesof
Axis MF during the period. It
was found that the leakage of
information about the im-
pendingorders,whichAxisMF
was placing through diversi-
fied trading members, was
possiblydoneattheendofthe
Big Client.
The investigation showed
thatsoonaftertheAxisMFor-
ders were placed, these indi-
viduals, who were connected
to Viresh Joshi, the then chief
dealer of Axis MF, squared off
their earlier trade positions
taken on the exchange plat-
form, Sebi’s Whole Time
Member S K Mohanty said in
theinterimorderissuedinthe
matter on February 28.
In the process, substantial
BRIEFLY
350PAOs using
e-Billsystem
NewDelhi:About350payand
accountsoffices(PAOs)ingov-
ernment ministries and de-
partment have onborded the
ElectronicBill(e-Bill)process-
ing system and 200 more are
expected to do so in next one
year, finance secretary T V
Somanathan said on
Wednesday. The e-Bill pro-
cessingsystemwaslaunched
on March 2 last year. It is be-
ing implemented across all
centralministriesanddepart-
ments,whichwillenablesup-
pliersandcontractorstosub-
mit their claim online. PTI
Goyalcallsfor
sustainability
New Delhi: Commerce and
Industry Minister Piyush
Goyal urged business lead-
ers to focus on sustainability
and ensure all their actions
respect nature. He said that
India is committed to ensur-
ing that sustainability and
inclusivegrowtharegoingto
bethedefiningfeaturesof its
growth story. PTI
Softbankstake
inDelhivery
New Delhi: Softbank's arm
SVF Doorbell divested 3.8
percentof itsstakeinsupply
chaincompanyDelhiveryfor
Rs 954 crore through open
market transactions.The
shares were sold at an aver-
age price of Rs 340.8 each
share, taking the aggregate
value to Rs 954.24 crore. PTI
proceedsofprofitweregener-
atedinthetradingaccountsof
these connected individuals,
byplacingordersaheadofand
in anticipation of the price
movementofscripsinacertain
directiononaccountoftheim-
pendinglargebuyorsellorders
ofAxisMF.Similartradeswere
executed on numerous occa-
sions during the period.
Whatisfrontrunning?
Front running refers to
buying or selling securities
ahead of a large order so as to
benefit from the subsequent
price move. Under this illegal
trading practice, a broker’s or
analyst’s use of nonpublic in-
formationtoacquiresecurities
orenterintooptionsorfutures
contracts for his or her own
benefit, knowing
that when the infor-
mation becomes
public, the price of
the securities will
● change in a pre-
dictable manner.
Whatistheamountthese
individualshavesiphoned
off?
Theseindividualshavecol-
lectivelymadewrongfulgains
of approximately Rs 30.56
crore from their trading activ-
ities.
Themarketsregulatorsaid
thatJoshiincorporatedacom-
pany - Vintage Capital
Investment LLC - in Dubai, ap-
parently for indulging in such
fraudulent acts including
transferringthewrongfulgains
using clandestine channels in
the bank accounts of the said
company.
SEBI also suspected that
the ill-gotten wrongful gains
may have siphoned off by
theseindividuals,inanattempt
to thwart any possible actions
fromtheregulatorforrecover-
ing such unlawful gains.
WhatisSEBI’sinterim
order?
SEBI restrained Joshi and
20otherindividualsfrombuy-
ing,sellingordealinginthese-
curities market or associating
themselveswiththesecurities
market,eitherdirectlyorindi-
rectly, in any manner.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
Full integration with Citi within
18 months, says Axis Bank CEO
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI, MARCH 1
PRIVATE LENDER Axis Bank,
whichcompletedtheacquisition
of Citibank India's consumer
businessonWednesday,saidthe
full integration of the acquired
business will be completed
within 18 months.
Axis Bank's Managing
Director and CEO Amitabh
Chaudhrysaidtheacquisitionhas
been funded entirely from the
bank's balance sheet.
Bajaj gets SEBI nod
to start MF business
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, MARCH 1
BAJAJ FINSERV Ltd on
Wednesday said it has received
the final registration from the
Securities and Exchange Board
of India (SEBI) to commence its
mutual fund operations under
Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund.
Bajaj Finserv Mutual Fund,
with Bajaj Finserv Asset
ManagementLtd(BFAML)asthe
Investment Manager, will soon
offer a range of mutual fund
products including equity, debt,
and hybrid funds, both in the ac-
tive and passive segments, to in-
vestors, it said.
“BFAML will create a tech-
driven, multi-channel approach
to serve investors across various
touchpoints and geographies in
order to build a future-ready as-
BANKS WITNESS CONTRACTION IN APR-JAN 2023 PERIOD
Export credit falls 39.2%
as global demand declines
HITESHVYAS
MUMBAI,MARCH1
EXPORTFINANCINGbydomestic
banks witnessed a contraction in
the first 10 months of fiscal 2023
as demand for Indian goods de-
clinedamidglobalslowdownand
uncertainty over Russia-Ukraine
war.
The latest data from the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
showed the growth in export fi-
nancingdroppedby39.2percent
toRs14,390croreasatJanuary27,
2023 from Rs 23,681 crore as at
March 25, 2022. On a year-on-
year basis, the fall is 41.4 per cent.
InApril-October2022,thedropin
exportfinancingwas28percent.
“Globally, sentiments are
weakwhichhasimpactedthede-
mand(forIndianproducts).When
thereisnodemand,exportfinanc-
ing is bound to have a negative
growth,” said a banker.
The country’s merchandise
exports grew by 8.51 per cent to
Passenger vehicle sales cross
3 lakh units in February
In January, the PV sales recorded 298,093 units, as per
Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
75% 36% 7%
Growth in %
47,001
15,338 24,600 units
units units
Toyota Kia Hyundai
Kirloskar India Motor
India
Domestic LPG price hiked by `50
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,MARCH1
IN THE first hike in domestic liq-
uefied petroleum gas (LPG) price
since July 2022, oil marketing
companies (OMCs) have raised it
by Rs 50 per 14.2-kg cylinder, as
per information provided by
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
With this price increase,
which is with effect from March
The sale, which Citi and Axis
announced in March 2022, in-
cludescreditcards,retailbanking,
wealth management and con-
sumer loans.
“We don't need any capital to
payforthisdeal.Thenumbersare
better than our expectations for
Citi's staff joining the Axis Bank's
platform.Changesinkeyparam-
eterslargelyremainalongtheex-
pected lines. We will complete
the full integration seamlessly
within 18 months post this date
(March 1, 2023),” Chaudhry said.
He said Axis Bank will take
set management company,” the
company said.
Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman & MD,
Bajaj Finserv, said the approval
from SEBI is strategically impor-
tantforBajajFinservasitenables
the company to complete its
suiteof financialsolutionsforre-
tail customers. With Ganesh
Mohan, CEO, at the helm,the
mutual fund business will in-
spire a new approach to invest-
ing and sustained, long-term
wealth creation, he added.
Mohan said, “With greater
awareness among investors to
stay invested over the longer
term, it is an opportune time for
the group to build its mutual
fund offering for investors. The
mutual fund business will align
with the group’s philosophy of
being future-focussed and tech-
driven.” FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
Merchandise exports grew by 8.51 per cent to $369.25 billion
during April-January 2022-23. Getty image
$369.25 billion during April-
January 2022-23, as against
$340.28 billion during April-
January 2021-22. The year-on-
year growth in merchandise ex-
ports in April-January 2021-22
periodwas46.73percentoverthe
sameperiodof2020-21.However,
10% 5% 3%
1,47,467
30,358 units 43,140
units
units
Mahindra Maruti Tata
& Suzuki Motors
Mahindra India
1,a14.2-kgdomesticLPGcylinder
is priced at Rs 1,103 in Delhi, Rs
1,102.50 in Mumbai, Rs 1,129 in
Kolkata, and Rs 1,118.50 in
Chennai.
Commercial LPG prices have
also been hiked by Rs 350.50 per
19-kg cylinder in Delhi to Rs
2,119.50 , with corresponding
changesinotherpartsofthecoun-
try.UnlikedomesticLPG,whichis
used by households, commercial
LPG prices were being revised at
onetimechargeof Rs1,500crore
inQ4FY2023onitsprofitandloss
(P&L)statementforgoodwill, in-
cluding intangible amortisation,
policyharmonisationcost,provi-
sions in areas where the lender's
policies are more prudent and
conservative, and implementa-
tionexpensessuchaspermission
cost and taxes.
The total transaction cost for
the acquisition of Citibank stood
at Rs 11,603 crore as against Rs
12,325croreannouncedlastyear.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
exportsfellby6.58percentinthe
month of January 2023.
The Economic Survey 2022-
23saidthatduetoaggressiveand
synchronised monetary tighten-
ing, global economic growth has
started to slow, and so has world
trade. As per United Nations
IN THE TWO-
WHEELER
SPACE
BAJAJ TVS
AUTO* MOTORS
36% 28%
*Total domestic sales increased
Source: Companies
regular intervals.
Globalcrudeoilandfuelprices
hadskyrocketedintheaftermath
of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This had forced the public sector
OMCs--IOC, Bharat Petroleum
Corporation, and Hindustan
Petroleum Corporation--to halt
regularrevisionsinpricesof fuels
to shield consumers from ex-
treme fuel price volatility, which
has now subsided to a large ex-
tent.
GOLD
`55,955
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market, gold per 10g, silver per 1 kg; Crude oil (Indian basket) as of February 28
Conference on Trade and
Development's (UNCTAD) latest
global trade update, global trade
growth turned negative during
the second half of 2022, it said.
Geopolitical frictions, persist-
ing inflationary pressures, and
subdueddemandareexpectedto
suppress global trade further in
2023. This is likely to affect many
countries, including India, with
the prospects of sluggish exports
continuing into FY24, compared
to the promise shown at the be-
ginning of the current year, the
survey showed.
“The hikes in interest rates by
a majority of the central banks
across the world has diminished
the purchasing power of people.
Consumers across the world are
postponing their purchases,
whichhasresultedinfalteringde-
mandfor(Indian)goods,”saidan-
other banker.
Banks extend export credit in
the formof workingcapital loans
– pre-shipment and post-ship-
ment finance.
GST mop-up
rises 12% to
`1.49 lakh cr
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
GOODS AND Services Tax (GST)
collections rose 12 per cent to
more than Rs 1.49 lakh crore in
February as domestic economic
activities and consumer spend-
ing on high-end goods gained
momentum.
However, the collections are
lowerthan Januarymopupof Rs
1.58 lakh crore, which was also
thesecondhighestmonthlyrev-
enue figure since the rollout of
GST on July 1, 2017.
“Rs 1,49,577 crore gross GST
revenue collected in February
2023; 12 per cent higher than
GST revenue in same month last
year,” the finance ministry said
in a statement on Wednesday.
Generally, February being a
28-day month, witnesses a rela-
tively lower collection of GST
revenue.Revenuesfromdomes-
tic transaction were 15 per cent
higher while revenues from im-
port of goods was 6 per cent
higher compared to the same
month last year.
RUPEE
`82.50
Moody’s raises GDP
growth forecast for
India to 5.5% in 2023
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
MUMBAI,MARCH1
GLOBAL RATING firm Moody’s
InvestorsServicesonWednesday
raised India’s growth projection
to 5.5 per cent in 2023, up from
the earlier projection of 4.8 per
centinNovember2022,andto6.5
per cent in 2024.
India’s growth rate in 2023 is
thehighestamongG20countries,
according to Moody’s projection.
It’s followed by China with 5 per
centgrowthandIndonesia4.8per
cent. The US is expected to grow
by 0.9 per cent, the Euro area by
0.5percent,Japan1.5percentand
the UK by -0.4 per cent, it said.
Accordingtogovernmentdata
released on Tuesday, India’s GDP
growthdeclinedto4.4percentin
the December 2022 quarter as
against6.3percentgrowthinthe
September 202 quarter.
The rating firm also expects
further rate hikes in the US to-
talling 50 basis points to 75 bps
over the next two to three meet-
ings of the Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC), taking the
terminalrateuptoashighas5.25
per cent to 5.50 per cent.
InIndia’scase,theupwardre-
visions additionally incorporate
the sharp increase in capital ex-
penditurebudgetallocationtoRs
Feb manufacturing PMI
shows steady growth
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
NEW DELHI, MARCH 1
THE GROWTH momentum in
India'smanufacturingsectorwas
maintained in February, with
new orders and output increas-
ingatsimilarratestoJanuary,ac-
cording to a monthly survey.
The seasonally adjusted S&P
Global India Manufacturing
Purchasing Managers' Index
(PMI)wasat55.3inFebruary,lit-
tle-changedfrom55.4inJanuary.
TheFebruaryPMIdatapointedto
an improvement in overall oper-
Tender No : 106/2022-23/SE/PHC/CHN
Jal Jeevan Mission -WSS to Vengoor, Asamannoor and Mudakuzha Panchayath Package
II-Construction of 10 MLD Water Treatment Plant at Chooramudy-General Civil Work.
EMD : Rs. 2,00,000/-, Tender fee : Rs. 13,010
Last Date for submitting Tender : 20-03-2023 03:00:pm
Phone:0484-2360645,Website:www.kwa.kerala.gov.in ,www.etenders.kerala.gov.in
KWA-JB-GL-6-1724-2022-23
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$82.42 `63,825
International market data till 1900 IST
10lakhcrore(3.3percentofGDP)
forfiscalyear2023-24,upfromRs
7.5 lakh crore for the fiscal year
ending in March 2023, according
to Moody’s.
“Economic momentum in a
number of large emerging mar-
ket countries, including India,
Brazil, Mexico and Turkiye, has
provedmoreresilienttolastyear’s
tightening in the global and do-
mestic financial environment
than we had anticipated,”
Moody’s said. An eventual letup
in monetary policy tightening in
theUSwillhelpstabilise,ifnotim-
prove, capital flows to emerging
market countries. However, until
inflation in advanced economies
is firmly in check, emerging mar-
kets will remain vulnerable to
bouts of heightened financial
market volatility, it said. Risks to
economicgrowtharetiltedtothe
downside, notwithstanding the
recent positive data surprises, it
said.Inparticular,if demandcon-
ditions fail to meaningfully
weakenandinflationremainsel-
evated, a second round of mone-
tary policy tightening would be
inevitable, further weighing on
economic growth. Furthermore,
oilpricescouldbevolatilein2023,
depending on how much addi-
tionaldemandChina'sreopening
will generate. FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com
ating conditions for the 20th
straightmonth.InPMIparlance,a
print above 50 means expansion
while a score below 50 indicates
contraction.
“India'smanufacturingindus-
try sustained robust growth of
output and new orders halfway
throughthefinalfiscalquarter,al-
beit with a notable slowdown in
the rate of international sales ex-
pansion,” the survey released on
Wednesdaysaid.Companiessig-
nalledonlymildpressureontheir
own operating capacities, with
outstanding business increasing
marginally in February.
Superintending Engineer
PH Circle
Kochi
 18 CLASSIFIEDS & TENDERS
Classifieds
PERSONAL
I, KASHI RAM KASHYAP S/O
PATAI KASHYAP G-392
JAHANGIRPURI DELHI 33, MY
NAME KASHI RAM WRONGLY
WRITTEN IN MY SON AKASH
KASHYAP TENTH CLASS
MARKSHEET, MY ACTUAL NAME
IS KASHI RAM KASHYAP
0040651371-6
I, Rajesh Kumar S/o Shiv Nath
Thakur, R/o Plot No-113 Flat No
SF-1, Shakti Khand-2
Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, Uttar
Pradesh-201014, declare that
name of my wife has been
wrongly written as Preeti Bala
in my minor son Aditya Raj
aged 16 years in his 10th Class
Certificate cum Marksheet.
The actual name of my wife is
Preeti Bala Kumari.
0070830122-1
I, Om Prakash S/o Nand Kishor
Prasad R/o H.No.C-1/997, Gali
No.5, 2nd Pusta Sonia Vihar
Karawal Nagar Delhi-110094
have changed my name to Om
Prakash Kumar, for all
purposes. 0040657291-1
I, Mohd Aqil Khan S/o Sadaqat Ali
Khan R/o H.No-23/83, G/F, Gali No-1,
Gaffar Manzil Jamia Nagar, New
Friends colony, Delhi-25 have
changed my name to Mohd Aqil Khan
from Mohd Aqil for all purposes.
0070830147-1
I, Mohammad Nafis S/o
Mehrajuddin, R/o C-39/8, Gali-
No.3, Chauhan Bangar, Delhi-
110053 Have changed my name
to Mohd Nafis. 0040657282-1
I, Manisha Ramsharan Sharma
Alias Manisha Sharma, D/o
Ramsharan Sharma, W/o
Ashok Sharma, R/o-Flat.No-
288, Vijayee-Veer Awas, Sec-
18A, Dwarka, New Delhi-110078,
have changed my name and
hereafter be known as
Manisha Sharma.
0040657256-1
I, Kakkar Sharoj Shyam Mohan
alias Saroj Kakkar W/o Lt. Shri
Shyam Mohan Kakkar R/o
102/24 Silver Oaks Apartment
DLF Phase I, Gurgaon, Haryana
122002, have changed my name
to Saroj Kakkar 0040657338-2
I, Kakkar Nimisha Chandra
Mohan alias Nimisha Kakkar
W/o Chandra Mohan Kakkar
R/o H-803 K W Srishti, Raj Nagar
Extention, Ghaziabad Uttar
Pradesh 201017, have changed
my name to Nimisha Kakkar
0040657338-1
I, KAMLESH KUMAR SAH S/0-
SHIWLAL SAH R/0-OPPOSITE
PANCHAYAT BHAWAN VILLAGE
RAMSARA, BATHINDA,PUNJAB-
151301, HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO KAMLESH KUMAR
SHAH. 0040657346-6
I, Bhupender Sharma W/o Sh.
Vijay Kumar Sharma R/o H.No-
A-1/6, Shiv Shakti Appt. Near
Sai Mandir, Sector-71 Noida,
G.B.Nagar (U.P)-201301, have
changed my name to
Bhupender Kaur for all purpose
in future. 0070830144-1
I, BHUSHAN SINGH,S/O NEHA
SINGH,R/o GALI NO-3 SHANKAR
VIHAR-COLONY MURADNAGAR,
GHAZIABAD UTTAR PRADESH-
201206, changed my name to
VIHAAN SINGH. 0040657346-2
I, Anuradha W/o Kundan Lamba
R/o 110, Shakti Vihar,
Pitampura, Delhi-110034, have
changed my name as
Anuradha Lamba permanently
0040657301-1
I, Anuradha Sethi D/o S K Sethi,
R/o of A-123, Shivalik, Malviya
Nagar, New Delhi. have
changed my name to
ANURADHA ARORA.
0070830118-1
I, Akansha W/o Mayank Mittal
R/o-84, Prempuri, Kotwali
Nagar, Muzaffarnagar, UP have
changed my name to Akansha
Bansal. 0070830138-1
I hitherto known as Krishna
Kumar P P alias Krishna Kumar
Parameshwaran Pillai s/o
Parameshwaran Pillai r/o CB-
76-F, 1st Floor, Ring Road
Naraina, New Delhi-110028
have changed my name and
shall hereafter be known as
Krishna Kumar P P.
0040657245-1
I Vipin Kumar Agarwal S/o Rajendra
Prasad Agarwal R/o II ND B-99,
Nehru Nagar, Ghaziabad, UP-201001
have changed my name to Vipin
Kumar. 0070830112-1
I Shubham S/o-Narender R/o-
House No.92, Devi Wara Village,
Karala, Delhi-81 have changed
my name to Shubham Mathur
for all purposes. 0040657247-1
I Paramanand Yadav Alias
Parama Nand Yadav Alias
Parma Nand Yadav S/o Telhoo
Yadav R/o 1229, Sector-9, Near
Kishan Chowk, Vasundhra,
Ghaziabad Uttar Pradesh-
201012, have finally changed
my name to Parmanand Yadav.
0070830125-1
I Lata Pulasaria D/o Sh. Murli
Dhar Jhajhuka W/o Sh. Nand Lal
Pulasaria R/o B-81, 2nd Floor,
Derawal Nagar, Model Town-II,
North West Delhi, Delhi-110009
have changed my name to Lata
Aggarwal for all purposes.
0040657249-8
I Arvind Bhagat S/o Sh. Jagdish
Kujur R/o House No.85,
Zamrudpur, Greater Kailash,
South Delhi, Delhi-110048 have
changed my name to Arvind
Kujur for all purposes.
0040657249-9
I,Sourabh S/o Suresh Rai,R/o T-
29N/7B6, SF, BaljeetNagar New
Delhi-8,have changed my name
to Sourabh Kumar.
0040657318-7
I Anima Toppo W/o Sh. Arvind
Kujur R/o House No.85,
Zamrudpur, Greater Kailash,
South Delhi, Delhi-110048 have
changed my name to Anima
Kujur for all purposes.
0040657249-10
I Abhishek Kumar S/o Sh.
Chandra Kishore Gola R/o 1/5,
Opposite Nirankari Public
School, Indira Vikas Colony,
Dr.Mukherjee Nagar, North
West Delhi, Delhi-110009 have
changed the name of my minor
daughter from Maayra to
Mimansa Gola for all purposes.
0040657249-7
I AJAY KUMAR S/O SH. MADAN
LAL DHINGRA R/O E-15/23-24,
THIRD FLOOR,POCKET-15,
SECTOR-08, ROHINI,NEW
DELHI-110085 WORKING AS
ASSISTANT COMMANDANT IN
CENTRAL RESERVE POLICE
FORCE HAVE CHANGE MY
NAME TO AJAY KUMAR
DHINGRA FOR FUTURE ALL
PURPOSE. 0040657243-1
I,VISHNU GUPTA, S/O.VASUDEV
PRASAD GUPTA, ADD-C-420
YOJANA-VIHAR,DELHI-
110092,Changed my name to
VISHNU DUTT GUPTA,for
all,future purposes.
0040657318-5
I,Shanky S/o Mukesh Shokeen,
R/o- H.No-1, Mangol Pur
Khurd,Delhi-110083,have
changed my name to Shanky
Shokeen. 0040657324-3
I,GURPREET,D/O.SULTAN SINGH,
ADD-253,NEW RAMESH NAGAR
TEHSIL CAMP,PANIPAT
HARYANA 132103,Changed my
name to GURPREET KAUR,for
all,future purposes.
0040657318-6
I,DEEPAK KUMAR,S/O.OM
PARKASH, ADD-E-13/11 HAUZ-
RANI MALVIYA-NAGAR
,SOUTH,DELHI-110017,Changed
my name to DEEPAK
RAJPOOT.,For all,Future
Purposes. 0040657318-4
I,Amar Singh,S/O-Late Shri
Ramvir Singh,R/O-C-
8/78,Sector-8,Rohini,Delhi-
110085,have Changed my
minor son name from Aadya to
Drishvik Singh. 0040657335-2
I,AMEEN ULLAH KHAN,ADD-
850,KATRA HIDDU FARASH
KHANA,DELHI-110006, Changed
my-minor daughter name ALIYA
KHAN to AALIYA KHAN,for
all,future purposes
0040657319-3
I, Vinay Kumar S/o Ram Subhag
Tiwari R/o J-2470/A-1, 2nd Floor,
Gali No-4, Baljeet Nagar, Delhi-
110008, have changed my name
and shall hereafter be known as
Vinay Kumar Tiwari.
0070830111-1
I , Gaurvi bhoria D/O Dheeraj bhoria
born on 29.1.2018 residing at H-
321 New rajinder nagar have
changed my name to Gaurvi
Singh vide affidavit dated 9.2.23 at
Delhi 0050214545-1
I,hitherto known as I,LAXMI
D/O-SURAJ MAL,residing
at,H.NO-141/94,SUBHASH
NAGAR,CROSSING M.PARK
TILAK-NAGAR,DELHI-
110018,have changed my name
and shall hereafter be known
as LAXMI KUMARI.
0040657319-7
I, Jaismeen, D/o Jasbir Singh,
R/o K33, Gali no. 13, Krishna
Park extn. Tilak Nagar, ND-18,
have changed my name to
Jaismeen Gabria.
0040657255-1
I,hitherto known as I,JYOTI,D/O-
LAVKUSH, residing
at,12/551,NEW-SHYAM-NAGAR
TILAK-NAGAR,DELHI-
110018,have changed my name
and shall hereafter be known
as JYOTI KUMARI
0040657319-6
I,VIRJESH KUMAR,S/O
JUGENDRA PAL SINGH,R/O FLAT
NO-C3502 SPRING VIEW
FLOORS CRESCENT PARC NH-24
LAL KAUN GHAZIABAD,UTTAR
PRADESH-201002. Changed my
name to VIRJESH KUMAR
RAJPUT. 0040657346-1
I,Tauseef Ahmed,S/o Mohd
Zahid,R/o-1678, 5th floor,
Madrasa Mir Jumla Lal Kuan
Delhi,have changed my name
to Mohd Tauseef,all purpose
0040657342-1
I,Tanu Sharma,D/o Suraj
Prakash Saharan R/o F-122 dlf
ultima sector-81,Gurgaon
(Haryana)-122001,Have
changed my name to Tanu
Saharan. 0040657324-4
I,Tanu Saharan,M/o Shanaya
Sharma,R/o F-122 dlf ultima sector-
81,Gurgaon, (Haryana)-122001,have
change my,from daughter’s name
Shanaya Sharma to Krisha Sharma
Saharan. 0040657324-1
I,TINY D/O Paramjit Singh,R/O-
28,Second Floor,Bhera
Enclave,Paschim Vihar, Delhi-
110087,changed my name from
TINY to TINY GILL.
0040657342-2
I,T MATHAI,Father of,MANEESH
MATHAI R/O-ARACKAL
HOUSE,M.C.B THEKKEKARA
P.O,ATTUVATHALA,ALAPPUZHA(DI
ST), KERALA(STATE),PIN-
688503,have changed my name,from
T MATHAI to MATHAI THOMAS Vide-
affidavit dated-28-Feb-2023.
0040657321-10
I,Sucharu Pathania Yadav,D/o
Madanjit Singh Pathania,W/o
Dev Rishi Yadav,R/o
Flat.No.1601, O-block,JMD-
Garden,Sohna Road,
Gurgaon,have changed my
name to Sucharu Pathania.
0040657318-3
I,Shashi Gupta alias Miss Shashi
Bala alias Bala Gupta D/o Radha
Kishan W/o Rajender Kumar R/o-
1747,Ram,Gali Sohan, Ganj,Ghanta
Ghar,Delhi-110007,have changed my
name to Shashi Gupta.
0040657339-10
I,Rohit Khanna,S/o Bal
Kishan,R/o H.No.
646,Madanpuri Gali No.8,
Gurgaon (Haryana)122001,
have changed my-Minor
Daughter’s name from Kuvika
to Kuvika Khanna.
0040657324-11
I,Rizwana Parveen,W/o Saleem
Akhtar,R/o H-31 Abul-Fazal
enclave-1 Jamia-nagar okhla-
110025,have changed my name
to Rizwana Siddiqui.
0040657318-9
I,Ritu Jain,W/O-Gian Chand
Jain,R/O-BQ-123,Second
Floor,Shalimar Bagh,Delhi-
110088,have changed my name
to Reetu Jain. 0040657335-3
I,Rihan S/o Rizwan Haider R/o
H.No.108, Block-32, Trilokpuri,
Delhi-110091,have changed my
name to Rihan Haider.
0040657339-6
I,Ram Prakash Sahni S/o,Munshi
Ram Sahni R/o, C-16, Gali-No.6&7,
Krishna-Park, Tilak-Nagar, New-
Delhi-110018,have changed my-
minor grand-daughter’s name
Sanchita Sahani to Sanchita Sahni.
Aged-13-years, D/o,Late Vikash
Sahni. 0040657339-1
I,Rakesh Kumar S/o Baldev Raj
R/o 1181, Main-Market, Sector-
3, Urban-Estate, Thanesar
Kurukshetra, Haryana-136118,
have changed my name to
Rakesh Choudhary.
0040657339-7
I,Raju Prajapati@Sattan Prasad
Prajapati,S/o Sh.Jagannath
Prasad Prajapati,
R/o.H.No.63/17, Gurudayal
Vihar, Chanchal Park,Nangloi
(West)Delhi-110041,do hereby
declare that Raju
Prajapati@Sattan Prasad
prajapati are the one and the
same-person. 0040657318-10
I,Priyanka Solanki W/O-Jyoti
Kumar Solanki R/O.VPO-
NAIPUR,DIS-BEGUSARAI,
BIHAR-851128,have change my
name,from Priyanka Solanki to
Priyanka Kumari vide affidavit
dated 01-March-2023.
0040657321-9
I,Priya Ghanshyam Gupta,W/O-
Jitender Gupta,R/O-D-11/106-
107,Sector-7,Rohini,Delhi-
110085,have Changed my name
to Priya Gupta. 0040657335-5
I,Parth S/o Deepak Khatri R/o
Flat no.330, Pkt-6, Punjabi
Colony, Sector-B-4,Narela,
Delhi-110040,changed my
name to Parth Khatri.
0040657320-3
I,Parmanand S/o.Jai Ram
Sharma R/o.Gali-No.3, Adarsh
Nagar,Near ITI,Jhajjar Road,
Bahadurgarh-124507, Haryana
have changed my name to
Parmanand Parashar for
allPurposes. 0040657253-1
I,Pankaj S/o PRABHU NATH
PRASAD,R/o Block-B.H.No.2,
Ayur-Vigan Nagar,Near Ansal
Plaza,New-Delhi-110049,have
changed my name to Pankaj
Prasad. 0040657324-9
I,PREM PRAKASH,S/O AANANDI
KUMAR R/O 11-D,PLATINUM
ENCLAVE, POCKET-1, SECTOR-
18,ROHINI, DELHI-110089, have
changed my name to PREM
PRAKASH BAGADI.
0040657324-5
I,PRABHU NATH S/o-CHANDRIKA
PRASAD,R/o Block-B-H.No.2,Ayur-
Vigan Nagar,Near Ansal Plaza,New-
Delhi-110049,have changed my
name to PRABHU NATH PRASAD.
0040657324-10
I,PRABHJOT SINGH,S/O-LATE
SATNAM SINGH PANESAR,R/O-
HOUSE NO.42,SHAKTI KHAND-
2,INDIRAPURAM,GHAZIABAD,U.
P.-201010,HAVE CHANGED MY
NAME TO PRABHJOT SINGH
PANESAR FOR ALL FUTURE
PURPOSES. 0040657335-4
I,POOJA Rani,W/o
Sonu(Army.No.3215044F,Rank
Sep.Jat Group,5th Rashtriya
Rifles,R/o-Rajiv Nagar,Palwal,
Haryana,inform that in
my,husband service records
my,name Pooja wrongly-
written instead of correct
name Pooja Rani.Pls rectify
accordingly. 0040657319-9
I,PANKAJ S/O DHARMENDER
SINGH ADD VILL ISHRANA POST
RAMBASS TEH KANINA
ISHRANA MAHENDRAGARH
123027 HARYANA,Changed my
name to PANKAJ SINGH.
0040657342-6
I,Nisha D/o-Subhash Rakha R/o-
House No.272/273, Third Floor,
Pocket-A2, Sector-8, Rohini,
Delhi-110085 changed my
name to Nisha Rakha for all
purposes. 0040657259-1
I,NARENDER SINGH,S/O
SH.MINODH SINGH,R/o-1525,
LODHI-ROAD COMPLEX, LODHI
ROAD,CENTRAL-DELHI, DELHI-
110003,declare that name-of-
mine has been wrongly-written
as NARENDER SINGH ROOP RAI
in my all educational-
documents.The actual-name
of-mine is NARENDER SINGH,
which may be amended-
accordingly. 0040657319-8
I,Minakshi Parashar W/o.Tarun
Parashar R/o.Gali-No.3, Adarsh
Nagar,Near ITI,Jhajjar Road,
Bahadurgarh-124507,Haryana
have changed my name to
Meenakshi Parashar for
allpurposes.
0040657253-2
I,Manoj Kumar,S/o Som Prakash
Singh,R/o-B-24C,Bhagat Singh
Park,Siras Pur,Delhi-
110042,have changed my name
to Manoj Kumar Singh.
0040657335-1
I,Manish Kumar Ravat,S/o-Om
Prakash,R/O-Plot.No.66-
A,Property No.62/4-M,Old Post
Office-Street,Near Blind-
School Teliwara,
Shahdara,Delhi-110032,Have
Changed My Name To Manish
Kumar Rawat,For All Purposes.
0040657320-4
I,Mahipal S/O-Mohinder
Singh,address- 1918-p,part
3,sector-12,sonipat,haryana-
131001,have changed my name
to Mahipal Mor,Permanently.
0040657318-8
I,Mahesh Kumar S/o Lajpat
Rai,R/o H.No -713/13,Pratap
Nagar,Gurgaon,(Haryana) -
122001,have changed my name
to Mahesh Arora,for all
Purposes. 0040657318-2
I,MURTI,W/O RAJENDER,R/O
515/15, VISHAVKARMA
COLONY GOHNA SONIPAT
HARYANA-131301,CHANGED
MY NAME TO MURTI DEVI.
0040657342-5
I,MOHD MAKKI MIAN,S/o Irshad
Ahmed,R/o.h.no-3960,gali khan
khana urdu-bazar Jama-
masjid,Delhi-06,Infrom that my
name has been wrongly-
written as Mohammed Makki
in my SBI-Bank documents-
records.The actual-my name is
Mohd Makki Mian.For all,the
future purposes. 0040657342-8
I,MOHD AMEENULLAH
KHAN,S/O.HAZEEZ ULLAH
KHAN,ADD-850,KATRA-HIDDU
FARASH KHANA DELHI-
110006,Changed my name to
AMEEN ULLAH KHAN,for
all,future purpose.
0040657319-2
I,Karishma D/o Brij Bihari Singla R/o
H.No.190, Ground-Floor, Sector-9A,
Urban-Estate, Gurgaon, Haryana-
122001, have changed my name to
Karishma Singla. 0040657339-5
I,Kamaljeet,S/O Sh.Bhagwan
Dev Singh Drall,R/O Vill.Tikri
Kalan,Delhi-41,have changed
my Name,from Kamaljeet to
Kamaljeet Singh,vide-Affidavit
dtd-09-Feb-23 at Tis-Hazari
court-Delhi. 0040657320-6
I,Kailash Kumar,S/o Sube
Singh,R/o221 BSNL
Tower,Basduda, Bas Dooda
Rewari-123102,Haryana,have
changed my name to
Kailash,for all purposes.
0040657319-4
I,JAGMOHAN S/O-HARPAL
SINGH,R/o.707, Mahagun
Mosaic Ph-1,Sector-4,Vaishali,
Ghaziabad (UP),have changed
my name to JAGMOHAN
KARNWAL.For all,Future
Purposes. 0040657342-3
I,Hitherto Known As Aastha,D/o
Ashwani Sharma,Residing
At,H.No.200,Street.No.5,Roshan
-Vihar,Krawal-Nagar,North-
East-Delhi-110094,Have
Changed My Name And Shall
Hereafter Be Known As Aastha
Sharma. 0040657342-7
I,HEMANT GARG,S/O
SH.NARENDER KUMAR GARG
R/O VISHAVKARMA
COLONY,SHREE KRISHNA
UDYOG, KOSLI
(172),REWARI,KOSLI,HARYANA-
123302,hereby declare that
name-of-mine and my father
has been wrongly-written as
HAMENT GARG and NARENDER
GARG in my 10th-class
marksheet and certificate. The
actual-name of-mine and my-
father are HEMANT GARG and
NARENDER KUMAR
GARG,which may be amended-
accordingly. 0040657320-5
I,FAHIM AHAMAD, S/O.ABDUL
RAHMAN, HOUSE. NO-
66/3,2ND-FLOOR,GALI.NO-3
ARYA-NAGAR KARKARDOOMA,
SHAHDARA DELHI-
110092,Changed my name to
FAHIM,for all,future purpose
0040657319-1
I,Dinesh Kumar Sharma,S/o
Shyam Lal Sharma,R/o.A-206
Plot.No.18,Fakhruddin
Appartment,Sector-10,
Dwarka,Delhi-75,have been
changed my name to Dinesh
Sharma. 0040657318-1
I,Manish S/o Vijay Prasad,R/o B-
4/61, Sector -18, Rohini, Delhi-
110089,have changed my name
to Manish Singh. 0040657324-8
I,Dhanvinder Singh Bindra,S/o-
Nanak Singh Bindra, House.no-
H-171, plot.no-29,Rama Krishna
apartment IP.extension,Delhi-
110092, have changed my-
minor daughter name Japnoor
Bindra to Japnoor kaur Bindra.
0040657324-7
I,Deep Kiran W/o Amarpreet
Singh Puri,R/o M-65,First Floor,
Guru Harkishan Nagar,
Paschim Vihar,Delhi-110087,
have changed my name to
Deepkiran Kaur Puri.
0040657324-6
I,Charanjeet Singh Bhamrah S/o
Manmohan Singh R/o-D-
123,Prashant Vihar Delhi-
110085,changed my name to
Charanjeet Singh permanently
0040657339-9
I,BHARAT CHAUHAN S/O
MATBAR SINGH CHAUHAN, R/o
Greenwich-C-601, Grand
Omaxe, Sector-93B,Noida,
Gautam-Budh Nagar(UP)have
changed my name to BHARAT
SINGH CHAUHAN.
0040657342-4
I,Asha Shokeen W/o Mukesh
Shokeen, R/o- House No-
1,Mangol Pur Khurd, Delhi-
110083,have changed my name
to Asha. 0040657324-2
I,Arvinder Kaur Bhamrah W/o
Charanjeet Singh R/o-D-
123,Prashant,Vihar Delhi-
110085,changed my name to
Arvinder Kaur permanently
0040657339-8
I,Ankur S/O-Ravindra
Kumar,R/O-C-146,Gali
No.11,Block-C,Kanti-Nagar
Ext.,Krishna Nagar,East-Delhi
Delhi-110051,Have Changed My
Name To Ankur Kumar,For All
Purposes. 0040657320-2
I,SAPANJEET KAUR,W/O
GURDAYAL SINGH,R/o A/64
UDAY-VIHAR NILOTHI EXTN
NILOTHI NANGLOI WEST-DELHI
110041,have changed my name
to SAPANJIT KAUR.
0040657320-1
I,ARIBA KHAN W/O SAHIB ZADA
YAQUB,R/O 9181,GALI ZAMEER
WALI MAWAJGANJ, DELHI-
110006.HAVE CHANGE MY
NAME TO ARIBA SAHIB.
0040657319-5
I, hitherto known as Ravi S/o
Virender Singh R/o Karountha(70),
Rohtak, Haryana-124001 have
changed my name and shall
hereafter be known as Ravi
Dhankhar. 0040657242-1
I, Sunil Dua S/o Ram Kishan Dua
R/o 10/39, Geeta Colony, Delhi-
110031, have changed my
name to Sunil Kumar, for all
future purposes. 0040657264-1
I, Shubham Kumar S/o Arun Singh
R/o,C-310, G-2, Shalimar-Garden,
Extn-2, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, U.P.-
201005,have changed my name to
Shubham Singh. 0040657339-2
I, Satyavir S/o Mehar Singh R/o
F No 68, Radhika Apartments,
Sector 14, Dwarka, New Delhi -
110078. have changed my
name to Satyavir Singh.
0070830114-1
I, Sahiba Dhiman W/o Mandeep
Singh Vaseer R/o,F-37,
Shopping Center-1,
Mansarover Garden, Delhi-
110015 have changed my name
to Sahiba Kaur Vaseer.
0040657339-3
I, Saeeda W/o Mohd. Yunus R/o
2253/B7/J, Shadi Khampur,
Ranjit-Nagar, Patel-Nagar,
New-Delhi-110008, have
changed my name to Sayeeda
Khatoon. 0040657339-4
I, Reenu Agarwal W/o Ashok
Aggarwal R/o-F-8/6, Block-F,
Krishna Nagar, Delhi-
110051,have changed my
name to Renu Aggarwal for all
purposes. 0040657250-1
LOST & FOUND
I,ARIBA KHAN W/O SAHIB ZADA
YAQUB,R/O 9181,GALI ZAMEER
WALI MAWAJGANJ, DELHI-
110006.HAVE CHANGE MY
NAME TO ARIBA SAHIB.
0040657319-5
Original Share Certificate of
Flat No.43-D, Jhang CGHS
Ltd.Plot,No.40,Sector-13,
Rohini, Delhi has been
Lost.Finder Contact Shakuntla
Devi at above address.
0040657339-12
We,Tezal Negi S\o Dayanad &
Sanjeev Negi,S/o-Jagdish
Negi,R/o L-105, Laxmi
Nagar,Delhi-110092,have lost
all the original title Documents
of our above property.If
found,call:9654967374 or
9999335548. 0040657319-10
Lost-Original GPA Of
Prop.No.3916/A,Gali
No.13,Shanti Mohalla, Gandhi-
Nagar,Delhi-110031 Favouring
Anoop Singh,S/o-Chhida Singh
R/O-O-26,Laxman-Park,Delhi-
110051 (50Sq.Yds.)Founder
May Inform,Sudha Devi,W/o-
Mahender Singh,R/O-3916-
A,Gali No.13,Shanti-Mohalla,
Gandhi-Nagar,Delhi-
110031,Ph.8700947676
0040657320-7
I,CHANDRA PRAKASH,S/o-Vijay
singh,R/o.h.no-1618,
uldhanpur-Naveen shahdara,
Delhi-32,that I actually lost my
previous sale deeds bearing
Reg no-6220, book.no-1 vol.no-
1377 page 1 to 9 dated-
07/12/2012 of property.no N-88
2nd-floor Dwarkapuri Naveen
shahdara Delhi-32
0040657346-4
I,Gauresh Ahuja S/o late Madan
Lal Ahuja,R/o opposite asha
hospital,28A new.(198/70),
Muir Road, allahabad.UP-
211001,have lost my Hindustan
Unilever Limited company
share-certificate.No-5216435,
Folio.No-HLL2864766, No of
shares-1260,face Value.Rs 1
only registered in the,name of
Madan Lal Ahuja if,found #
9335152568. 0040657320-8
I, Ponnu Thangaraj W/o Samuel
Thangaraj R/o.C-2/817,Palam-
Vihar Gurgaon, have lost my
Original, “Builder Buyer
Agreement” of my house no:
C-2/817, Palam-vihar Gurgaon.
Finder please-Contact above
address# 9811224647.
0040657346-5
I Atul Chauhan S/o Anil
Chauhan inform that my office
is in C-33, Sector-10, Noida,
have lost the last page of my
lease deed application
number 202100743018611
dated 10/2/2023. If found
please contact. # 8178813742
0070830151-1
I,Gauresh Ahuja S/o late Madan
Lal Ahuja,R/o opposite asha
hospital,28A
new.(198/70),Muir
Road,allahabad.UP-
211001,have lost my Hindustan
Unilever Limited company
share-certificate.No-5065010,
Folio.No-HLL1341787,No of
shares-880,face Value.Rs 1
only registered in the,name of
Madan Lal Ahuja if,found
#9335152568. 0040657320-9
I,Gauresh Ahuja S/o late Madan
Lal Ahuja,R/o opposite asha
hospital,28A new.(198/70),
Muir Road,allahabad.UP-
211001,have lost my Hindustan
Unilever Limited company
share-certificate No-
5253194,Folio.No-
HLL2920552,No of shares-
480,face Value.Rs 1 only
registered in the,name of
Madan Lal Ahuja if,found
#9335152568 0040657320-10
I, Shikha Garg W/o Sh. Manoj
Garg R/o-A-3/390,Sec-
34,Rohini,Delhi,have Lost
Demand-cum Allotment
Letter,Mutation Letter &
Recommendation Letter,
F.11(28)2007/LAB(R)of
Plot.No.A-3/390, Sec-34,
Rohini, Delhi. Finder Contact-
9850305320
0040657339-11
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
A TRIBUTE TO BRAVE HEART
CISF proudly remembers the supreme
sacrifice of this brave-heart. On this day,
he laid down his life at the altar of duty
while fighting with LWE outfits. His
courage and bravery would remain an
abiding source of inspiration for the force.
NK RAJGIRI RAM The force will remain eternally indebted to
SCCL BELAMPALLI
him for this noblest deed.
02-03-1996
PUBLIC NOTICE
Be it known to all that my clients
Mohd Mannan Shekh & his wife
Smt. Bebi khatoon both R/o
H.No. C-395, 3rd Floor,
Siddharth Nagar, Near Hanuman
Mandir, Chinyot Basti, Multani
Dhanda, Paharganj, Delhi-
110055 have disowned their
younger son namely Mohd.
Danish from their all moveable
and immoveable properties and
severed all the relations from
him. My clients and their other
family members shall not be
responsible for any acts, deeds
and things of their above named
son in future.
(M. S. AKBAR)
ADVOCATE
Chamber No.323, GOVERNMENT OF HARYANA
Lawyers Block,
Saket Courts Complex, POWER DEPARTMENT
New Delhi-110017.
CORRIGENDUM-II
Notice for the Appointment of Director/Finance
in HVPNL & DHBVNL.
This is with reference to advertisement dated 08.02.2023
(published on 08.02.2023) regarding Appointment of
Director/Finance in HVPNL & DHBVNL. The last date of
submission of the application is extended from
28.02.2023 to 10.03.2023 upto 05.00 PM. The persons
who have already submitted their application need not
apply again. The detailed notice is available on official
websites www.hvpn.org.in & www.dhbvn.org.in.
Sd/-
PUBLIC NOTICE (Piyush Saini)
I, the undersigned, issue this Public
Notice on behalf of and under instructions Deputy Secretary/Coordination,
of my Clients Mr. Manmohan Singh Bhalla
and Mrs. Mehar Jyoti Singh (hereinafter 16039/HRY for Secretary/Power to Govt. Haryana
referred to as "my clients") both being
joint allottees and owners of property
bearing no B-202 (Second Floor).
Caitriona Residential Apartment
Complex, Ambience Island, NH-8,
Gurugram, Haryana along with Mr.
Joginder Singh Bhalla, who unfortunately
passed away on 11.10.2022. Now my
clients have applied to M/s Ambience
Private Limited to transfer the above said
property in their names, if any one has
objection to such transfer of the above
said property in the name of my client's,
kindly file your Objection with the "Head,
CRM Department, M/s Ambience Private
Limited, L-4, Green Park Extension, New
Delhi-110016" within a period of 45 days
from today failing which the said property
shall stand Transfer / Mutated in the name
of my clients. Please be informed that no
claim or objection shall be entertained /
considered after the expiry of said 45
days from today.
Sd/- (Dinhar Takiar)
Advocate
D/2035/2010
+91-9891791615
PUBLIC NOTICE
It is for general information that
I, FAHAD ANSARI S/O FAHIM
AHMAD R/O R-130, STREET
NO. 22, BRAHAMPURI,
NORTH EAST DELHI- 110053
declare that name of my father
has been wrongly written as
FAHEEM AHMED in my 10th
and 12th class marksheet and
certificate. The actual name of
my father is FAHIM AHMAD,
which may be amended
accordingly.
PUBLIC NOTICE
We, Mr. Ram Niwas Sharma and Mrs. Rani
Sharma, R/o B-105. 3rd Floor, Ganesh Nagar,
Near Tilak Nagar, Delhi, 110018 disown our son
Deepak Sharma & his wife Isha (Who are Living
Separately) due to Misconduct, Disrespect and
threat to us and our property and also we have
severed all our ties from them and we have already
made a police complaint on 11.02.2023 in P.S
Tilak Nagar, Delhi in this respect.
That Mr. Deepak Sharma and Mrs. Isha shall not
inherit any of our movable or immovable property
in India or elsewhere and shall not be entitled to
the grant of probate to our will.
Anybody transacting any business with Mr.
Deepak Sharma and Mrs. Isha in respect to us is
doing that in his or her own risk. General Public
take note.
Sd/-
Nimish Chib
Advocate
Chamber No. 538, Western Wing
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054
PUBLIC NOTICE
It is to inform public at large that
my client namely Gurubachan Kaur
W/o Sh. Sukhwant Singh R/o A-34,
Janta Colony, Shivaji Vihar, New
Delhi, has debarred and disowned
her daughter namely Amardeep
Kaur & her family members from
p ro p e r t y N o . F E - 5 , S H I VA J I
E N C L AV E A N D A - 3 4 , JA N TA
COLONY, SHIVAJI VIHAR, NEW
DELHI and Amardeep kaur had
already taken her entire share from
my client in all respect and now she
is having very rude behavior
towards my clients. My clients shall
not be responsible for the act of the
above named persons. Any persons
dealing with them will do so
entirely at his/her own risk and
consequences.
Sd/- B.B.N.Deo, Advocate,
SR-IInd,B Coumpus,Janak Puri, ND-58
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
''IMPORTANT''
Whilst care is taken prior to
acceptance of advertising
copy, it is not possible to verify
its contents. The Indian
Express (P) Limited cannot be
held responsible for such
contents, nor for any loss or
damage incurred as a result of
transactions with companies,
associations or individuals
advertising in its newspapers
or Publications. We therefore
recommend that readers
make necessary inquiries
before sending any monies or
entering into any agreements
with advertisers or otherwise
acting on an advertisement in
any manner whatsoever.
19
BEFORE THE HONOURABLE
ADDITIONAL SUB COURT,
KOTTAYAM
O.S.No.94/2021
Plaintiff
Senthil Prakash M.N
S/o.Narayanan Nair, Senthil Bhavan,
Pala.P.O, Meenachil Village, Meenachil
Taluk, Kottayam, District.
Defendant
Pramod Pillai, S/o Prasannakumar,
Sreevihar, Manganamkara,
Muttambalam Village, Muttambalam
P.O., Kottayam Taluk, Kottayam District
Now working at
Dhanalakshmi Bank, No.44, Bharath
Nagar Opp, BHEL Main gate, 80 feet
road, Indirapuri, Bhopal M.P-462022.
NOTICE
Whereas the plaintiff had instituted the
above suit against you for realization of
money with interest and other reliefs and
you are hereby summoned to appear in
this court in person or by a pleader on
the 15 day of March 2023 at 11.A.M to
answer the same failing which the suit
will be disposed of exparte.
Kottayam by order
20/01/2023 Sd/-, Advocate,
Bobby John K.A.

KANPUR ELECTRICITY SUPPLY 05:00 hrs-11:00 hrs

11:00 hrs-17:00 hrs
(-)15%
0%

COMPANY LIMITED 17:00 hrs-23:00 hrs

23:00 hrs-05:00 hrs
(+)15%
0%
(A Govt. of UP Undertaking) (14/71, Kesa House,
Civil Lines, Kanpur-208001) Winter Months (October to March)
PUBLIC NOTICE 05:00 hrs-11:00 hrs 0%
Pursuant to Section 64 of the Electricity Act 2003, the State Government owned Distribution Company Kanpur
Electricity Supply Company Ltd. submitted True-Up for FY 2021-22, APR for FY 2022-23 and ARR petition for FY 11:00 hrs-17:00 hrs 0%
2023-24 on 09.01.2023 before UP Electricity Regulatory Commission. 17:00 hrs-23:00 hrs (-)15%
The Hon'ble Commission admitted the above petition by its order dated 28.02.2023. In compliance to the said order,
the stakeholders, electricity consumers and general public at large are hereby informed about the salient features of 23:00 hrs-05:00 hrs (+)15%
the Petition as under: -
(B) Consumers getting supply as per "Rural Schedule"
Sr. Particulars FY 2021-22 FY 2022-23 FY 2023-24
No. True-up APR ARR The consumers under this category shall be entitled to a rebate of 7.5% on RATE (Excluding the TOD
rates as applicable to the hour of operation)' as given for 'Consumers getting supply other than Rural
1 Energy Purchase at Discom Periphery (MU) 3,758 4,350 4,544 Schedule'. Further, no "TOD RATE" shall be applicable for this category.
2 Sale of Power (MU) 3,397 3,979 4,183
LMV-7 PUBLIC WATER WORKS:
3 Approved Distribution Loss (%) 8.25% 8.12% 8.02%
(a) Consumers getting supply other than "Rural Schedule"
Actual/Projected Distribution Loss (%) 9.61% 8.52% 7.95%
4 Intra-State Transmission Loss (%) 3.33% 3.27% 3.22% Metered
Expenditure (Rs Crore) Fixed Charge Rs. 400/KW/Month
5 Power Purchase Expenses including 2,440.29 3,556.01 3,920.79 Energy Charge Rs. 10.00/KWh
PGCIL charges
Unmetered
6 Transmission Charges (UPPTCL) 100.71 107.23 112.02
7 Total O&M Expenses (net of capitalisation) 321.00 336.25 316.48 Fixed Charge Rs. 400/BHP/Month
8 Smart Metering OPEX 13.06 13.62 16.75 Energy Charge -
9 Interest & Finance Charges 45.47 57.25 62.34 (b) Consumers getting supply as per "Rural Schedule"
(net of capitalisation) The consumers under this category shall be entitled to a Rebate of 7.5% on RATE as given for
10 Depreciation 28.75 33.48 39.33 'Consumer getting supply other than rural schedule'.
11 Bad and Doubtful Debts 54.89 63.23 65.32
LMV-8 STW, PANCHAYTI RAJ TUBE WELL & PUMPED CANALS:
12 Gross Expenditure 3,004.17 4,167.08 4,533.02
This category has been merged with LMV-7. For all such consumers LMV-7 rate schedule will be
13 Return on Equity 48.66 51.97 57.00
14
15
Less: Non-Tariff Income including DPS
Annual Revenue Requirement
29.76
3,023.07
17.46
4,201.59
17.46
4,572.57
applicable.
LMV-9 TEMPORARY SUPPLY: ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F, ·FFS°F
I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF
Un-Metered
16 Revenue from Tariff (Payable) 2,744.52 3,161.67 3,266.10
17 GOUP Subsidy. 0.00 33.81 33.81 (A) (i) Fixed Charges for Illumination / Public Address ceremonies Rs. 4750 per day
for loads upto 20 kW / connection plus Rs.100/ kW / day for

ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZ

18 Revenue (Gap)/Surplus (278.56) (1,006.12) (1,272.66)
each additional kW
19 Power Purchase Cost at (Ex-bus) (Rs./Unit) 4.47 4.72 5.17
(ii) Fixed charges for temporary shops set-up during festi- Rs 560 per day/shop
20 Average Power Purchase Rate (BST) (Rs/ Unit) 4.81 4.99 5.41
21 DBST Rate (Rs/Unit) 6.49 8.17 8.63
vals/ elas or otherwise and having Rs. 560 per day / shop BÊ-¸FZÕ ´FØFF : thane2.ee@mahapwd.gov.in QcS ²½F³Fe/R G¢ÀF Ii ¸FFaI : qss-svtwrtzt
load up to 2 KW
22 ABR (Excluding Subsidy) Rs/Unit 8.08 7.95 7.81
(iii) PTW consumers of Bundelkhand Area having require- Rs 500/BHP/month BÊ-d³Fd½FQF ÀFc¨F³FF Ii ¸FFaI ty ÀF³F sqss-st
23 Average Cost of Supply (Rs /Unit) 8.90 10.56 10.93 ment of electricity only for the Rabi Crop Rs. 500/BHP/month
24 Wheeling Charges (Rs/Unit) 1.04 i.e. period between November to February in any year. I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF, ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZ dªF»WF, ±FF³FZ ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F I e °FSR ÀFZ ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦FõFSF d³F¨FZ dÕJZ Wb E SFÀ°FZ
CONSUMER
Proposed tariff for FY 2023-24 Metered ¶F-r BÊ-d³Fd½FQF ´Fi¯FFÕeõFSF (AFG³FÕFB³F) d³Fd½FQFE ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F, ÀFF. ¶FFa. d½F·FF¦F Aa°F¦FÊ°F Cd¨F°F ½F¦FÊ ¸FZÔ ´FFÂF AüS ÀFÃF¸F NZ IZ QFSûÔÀFZ AF¸FadÂF°F I e ªFF°Fe
CATEGORY/SUB-CATEGORY
LMV-1 DOMESTIC LIGHT, FAN & POWER:
(i) Individual Residential Consumer W`Ô Ü d³Fd½FQF QÀ°FFE½FªF ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F I e ÀFaIZ °FÀ±FÕ http://mahatenders.gov.in õFSF OFD ³FÕûO dI ¹FZ ªFF ÀFI °FZ W`Ô Ü d³Fd½FQF À½FeI FS I S³FF E½Fa
Tariff Excluding Subsidy and Tariff Payable
Fixed Charge Rs 300/kW/Month AÀ½FeI FS I S³FZ I F Ad²FI FS I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF, ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZ IZ ´FFÀF AFSdÃF°F SJF W`Ô Ü ¾F°FÊ ½FFÕe d³Fd½FQF À½FeI FS ³FWeÔ dI ªFFE¦FeÜ
Energy Charge Rs. 9.50/kWh From 3rd year onwards: Base
Subsidy Cross Subsidy
Tariff applicable for current year plus addi- I F¸F I F ³FF¸F : r) ±FF³FZ dªF»WZ ¸FZÔ Aa¶FS³FF±F °FFÕbI F ¸FZÔ ´FûM¦FFa½F ÀFF½FSe´FFOF d´Fa´FTûÕe ¨FS¦FFa½F I FSF½F ½FFa¦F¯Fe SFÀ°FF ´FidªF¸FF-yu dI .¸Fe. rq/qq ÀFZ
(a) Consumers getting supply as per “Rural Schedule”:
(1) Life Line Consumers: With contracted load of (B) tional 10% of the applicable Energy Charge. rr/rqq I e ÀFb²FFS³FF I S³FZ WZ °FcÜ Õ¦F·F¦F ·Fb¦F°FF³F : ÷ . r,rw,sz,wyy/-
1 kW, Energy consumption upto 100 kWh/ Month (ii) Others s) ±FF³FZ dªF»WZ ¸FZÔ Aa¶FS³FF±F °FFÕbI F ¸FZÔ ´FûM¦FFa½F ÀFF½FSe´FFOF d´Fa´FTûÕe ¨FS¦FFa½F I FSF½F ½FFa¦F¯Fe SFÀ°FF ´FidªF¸FF-yu dI .¸Fe. u/wqq ÀFZ
Fixed Charge Rs. 55/kW/month — Rs. 55/kW/month Fixed Charge Rs 400/kW/Month v/zqq I e ÀFb²FFS³FF I S³FZ WZ °FcÜ Õ¦F·F¦F ·Fb¦F°FF³F : ÷ . r,vv,sq,uqu/-
Energy Charge (0-100 Rs. 7.00/kWh Rs. 3.50/kWh Rs. 3.50/kWh Energy Charge Rs 10.50/kWh From 3rd year onwards: Base
Units) Tariff applicable for current year plus addi-
t) ±FF³FZ dªF»WZ ¸FZÔ Aa¶FS³FF±F °FFÕbI F ¸FZÔ ´FûM¦FFa½F ÀFF½FSe´FFOF d´Fa´FTûÕe ¨FS¦FFa½F I FSF½F ½FFa¦F¯Fe SFÀ°FF ´FidªF¸FF-yu dI .¸Fe. x/sqq ÀFZ
tional 10% of the applicable Energy Charge. y/sqq I e ÀFb²FFS³FF I S³FZ WZ °FcÜ Õ¦F·F¦F ·Fb¦F°FF³F : ÷ . r,zu,st,quu/-
(2) Other than Life Line Consumers:
(i) Unmetered:
Minimum Charge: Rs. 450/kW/week u) ±FF³FZ dªF»WZ ¸FZÔ Aa¶FS³FF±F °FFÕbI F ¸FZÔ ¸Fûº¹FF¨FF ´FFOF I FSa Q AFÀF³FûÕe Ib OÀFF½FSm ½FFa¦F¯Fe SFÀ°FF ´FidªF¸FF-rqq dI .¸Fe. s/sqq ÀFZ v/qq
Fixed Charge Rs. 985/kW/ month Rs. 435/kW/ Rs. 550/kW/month
LMV-10 DEPARTMENTAL EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS I e ÀFb²FFS³FF I S³FZ WZ °FcÜ Õ¦F·F¦F ·Fb¦F°FF³F : ÷ . r,zu,sx,vwt/-
month For all such consumers LMV-1 rate schedule will be applicable. v) ±FF³FZ dªF»WZ ¸FZÔ Aa¶FS³FF±F °FFÕbI F ¸FZÔ ¸Fûº¹FF¨FF ´FFOF I FSa Q AFÀF³FûÕe Ib OÀFF½FSm ½FFa¦F¯Fe SFÀ°FF ´FidªF¸FF-rqq dI .¸Fe. q/qq ÀFZ r/rqq
LMV-11 ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
(ii) Metered:
Domestic Consumers
I e ÀFb²FFS³FF I S³FZ WZ °FcÜ Õ¦F·F¦F ·Fb¦F°FF³F : ÷ . r,zu,uv,wvr/-
Fixed Charge: Rs. 100/kW/ month Rs. 100/kW/ month
Energy Charge: 1. All the metered domestic consumers covered under the LMV-1 category will be allowed to charge BÊ-d³Fd½FQF R FG¸FÊ ´FiF´°F I S³FZ I e °FFSeJ : °FF. qy.qt.sqst ÀFZ °FF. st.qt.sqst
Upto 100 kWh / Month Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 3.15/kWh Rs. 4.35/kWh their Electric Vehicle at their residence, provided the load of Electric Vehicle does not exceed the con-
nected/contracted load.
°FFadÂFI dÕR FR F JûÕ³FZ I e °FFSeJ : °FF. sx.qt.sqst
101-150 kWh /Month Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 2.65/kWh Rs. 4.85/kWh d³Fd½FQF´Fc½FÊI ¶F`N I (A. Ii . s °FZ v) : A²FeÃFI Ad·F¹Fa°FF, ±FF³FZ (ÀFF. ¶FFa.) ¸FaO T, ±FF³FZ ¹FW I F¹FFÊÕ ¹F ¸FZÔ °FF. ru.qt.sqst SûªFe Qû´FWS rs.tq
151-300 kWh/ Month Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 1.50/kWh Rs. 6.00/kWh Multi Storey Buildings (covered under LMV-1b & HV-1b of the Rate Schedule)
Above 300 kWh /Month Rs. 8.00/kWh Rs. 1.00/kWh Rs. 7.00/kWh 2. LMV-1b Demand charge Nil, Energy charge-
¶FªFZÜ
(b) Supply at single point for bulk loads: 50kW and above, Supplied at any voltage Rs 6.20/kWh C´FSû¢°F d³Fd½FQF ÀFc¨F³FF d½FÀ°FÈ°F ªFF³FI FSe ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F IZ ½FZ¶FÀFFBM ´FS C´FÕ¶²F W`Ô Ü
Fixed Charge Rs. 120/kW/ month Rs. 120/kW/month HV-ib Demand charge- Nil, Energy charge-
Rs- 5.90/kWh
r) http://mahapwd.com
Energy Charge Rs. 8.50/kWh Rs. 8.50/kWh
(c) Other Metered Domestic Consumers: 3. Public charging station
s) http:mahatenders.gov.in
(1) Life Line Consumers: With contracted load of 1 kW, Energy consumption upto 100 kWh/ Public charging station (LT) Demand charge-Nil, Energy charge- Rs (d³Fd½FQF ÀFc¨F³FF ¸FZÔ I ûBÊ ¶FQÕF½F Wb ½FF °Fû ¸FWFSFáÑ ¾FFÀF³F I e C´FSû¢°F ½FZ¶FÀFFBM ´FS ÀFc¨Fe°F dI ¹FF ªFFE¦FFÜ)
Month 7.70/kWh with TOD t) I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF, ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZ I F¹FFÊÕ ¹F ÀFc¨F³FF R ÕI Ü
Fixed Charge Rs. 55/kW/month — Rs. 55.00/kW/ month
4.
Public charging station (HT) Demand charge- Nil, Energy charge- Rs
7.30/kWh with TOD
u) BÊ-d³Fd½FQF ´FûMÊ Õ ´FS ¶FeO ÕFGI Wû³FZ IZ ´F¾¨FF°F C´FSû¢°F d³Fd½FQF QÀ°FE½FªF WFOÊ I FG´Fe r (EI ) ÀFa¨F ¸FZÔ d³Fd½FQF ÀFc¨F³FF ¸FZÔ ªFFSe dI E Wb E ÀF¸F¹F/ À±FÕ
Energy Charge Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 3.50/kWh Rs. 3.50/kWh
(0-100 Units) Other Consumers
´FS ÀFFQS I S³FF Ad³F½FF¹FÊ W`Ô Ü
(2) Other Metered Domestic Consumers: (For All loads) The consumers of other categories (any metered consumers of LMV-2, LMV-4, LMV-6, LMV-7, ªFF.Ii . Õûd³Fd½FIi .s/±FF³FZ/BÊ-d³Fd½FQF/sqss-st/rtvy À½FFÃFSe/-
Fixed Charge Rs.120/kW/month — Rs.120/kW/month LMV-8 (Metered), LMV-9 (Metered), HV-1 (excluding Multi Storey Buildings covered under LMV-
Energy Charge 1b & HV-1b of the Rate Schedule), HV-2, HV-3 and HV-4), will be charged as per the Tariff appli-
I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF, ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZ, I F¹FÊ´FFÕI Ad·F¹Fa°FF
Upto 100 kWh / Month Rs. 7.00/kWh Rs. 1.00/kWh Rs. 6.50/kWh cable for their respective category, provided the load of EV does not exceed the connected/ ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF AF½FFS, ÀMZ ¾F³F SûO, ±FF³FZ-uqq wqr. ÕûI d³F¸FFʳF d½F·FF¦F Ii . s, ±FF³FZI dS°FF
contracted load.
101-150 kWh/ Month Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 1.00/kWh Rs. 6.50/kWh dQ³FFaI : su.qs.sqst OeªFeAF¹F´FeAFS/sqss-st/wuww
151-300 kWh /Month Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 0.50/kWh Rs. 7.00/kWh HV-1 NON-INDUSTRIAL BULK LOAD
(a) Commercial Loads / Private Institutions/Non-Domestic Bulk Power with contracted Load 75 kW &
Above 300 kWh /Month Rs. 8.00/kWh Rs. 8.00/kWh
above and getting supply at single point on 11 kV & above voltage level.
LMV-2 NON-DOMESTIC LIGHT, FAN & POWER:
Fixed Charges for Supply at 11 kV Rs. 450/kVA/month
Tariff Excluding Subsidy Cross Subsidy Tariff Payable
Energy Charge for Supply at 11 kV Rs.9.57/kVAh
(a) Consumers getting supply as per “Rural Schedule”
Fixed Charges for Supply above 11 kV Rs. 425/kVA/month.
Fixed Charge Rs. 115/kW/month — Rs. 115/kW/ month
Energy Charge for Supply above 11 KV Rs. 9.37/kVAh
Energy Charge Rs. 7.50/kWh Rs. 1.00/kWh Rs. 6.50/kWh
(b) Public Institutions, Registered Societies, Residential Colonies/Townships, Residential Multi-Storied
PRADHAN MANTRI GRAM SADAK YOJANA
(b) Other Consumers:
Fixed Charge
Buildings including Residential Multi-Storied Buildings with contracted load 75 kW & above and getting
supply at Single Point on 11 kV & above voltage levels
NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT)
Load upto 4 kW Rs. 350/kW/ month The Chief Engineer (SZ) HPPWD Shimla on behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh invites the item rate
Above 4 kW Rs. 470/kW/month Fixed Charges for Supply at 11 kV Rs. 400/kVA/month
bids, in electronic tendering system for construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna under
Energy Charge Energy Charge for Supply at 11 kV Rs. 8.95/KVAh
World Bank Funded RRP-ll, AF-G for each of the following works including their maintenance for five years from
BÊX-d³fd½fQf d½fÀ°ffdSXIYSX¯f Àfc¨f³ff d³fd½fQf Load upto 4 kW Fixed Charges for Supply above 11 kV
Energy Charge for Supply above 11 kV
Rs. 385/kVA / month
Rs. 8.75/kVAh
the elighle and approved contractors registered with HPPWD/CPWD/P&T/Railways/Other State Govt/Central
Upto 300 kWh / Month Rs. 8.50/kWh
Àfa£¹ff Me-13/2022-23 ªfû ´ffSm ¿f¯f ´fdV¨f¸f Above 300 kWh/month Rs. 9.40/kWh HV-2 LARGE AND HEAVY POWER
Govt. Agencies. Non registered bidders may submit bid, however, the successful bidders must get registered
in appropriate class with appropriate authorities before signing the contract.
ÃûÂf ¸fZS N IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f Above 4 kW
Upto 1000 kWh / Month Rs. 8.50/kWh
(A) Urban Schedule (Base Rate & TOD)
1. For supply up to 11 kV
Sr. Name of Package Name of Work Estimated Cost (in Total cost Period Bid
Damaged/Collapsed 220 KV & Above 1000 kWh/ month Rs. 9.75/kWh
Rs. 600/kW/ Month (Apr to
Demand Charges Rs. 330/kVA/month
No. Distt. No. lacs) Excluding
18% GST
(in lacs) of
comple-
Security

132 KV Line Tower etc I û Attend Minimum Charge Sept) & Rs. 475/kW/Month
(Oct to March) 2.
Energy Charge
For supply above 11 kV and upto 66 kV
Rs. 8.30/kVAh tion (in
lacs)
I S³fZ IZ d»fE Contractors/Firms IZ LMV-3 PUBLIC LAMPS: Demand Charges Rs. 315/kVA / month Const.
cost
Maint.
cost
(a) Un-Metered Supply:
Empanelment WZ °fb Af¸fadÂf°f I e ¦fBÊ ±fe Gram Panchayat Rs. 2200/kW or part thereof / month
3.
Energy Charge
For supply above 66 kV and upto 132 kV
Rs. 8.00/kVAh
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
I û A´fdSWf¹fÊ I fS¯fû ÀfZ dQ³ffaI 17.03.2023 Nagar Palika and Nagar Panchayat
Nagar Nigam
Rs. 3300/kW or part thereof / month
Rs. 4350/kW or part thereof / month
Demand Charges Rs. 295/kVA / month 1 Shimla HP-09-450 C/O balance work of Tikkari to 1441.95 97.20 1539.15 510 30.79
Keterwari/Dodra Kawar (portion
°fI d½fÀ°ffdS°f dI ¹ff ªff°ff W` Ü WXÀ°ff./- ¸fb£¹f (b) Metered Supply:
Gram Panchayat Rs. 220/kW/ month 4.
Energy Charge
For supply above 132 kV
Rs. 7.60/kVAh
from Larot to Chanshal Pass Km.
Ad·f¹f³°ff (´ffSmX¿f¯f ´fdV¨f¸f) 130-OXe, Nagar Palika and Nagar Panchayat Rs. 270/kW/ month Demand Charges Rs. 295/KVA/ month
11/0 to 30/0 (SH:- C/O R/Wall,
B/Wall, CD, V-shape drain,PCC
Nagar Nigam Rs. 270 kW/month
´ffSmX¿f¯f ·f½f³f, d½f¢MXûdSX¹ff ´ffIÊY, ¸fZSXNX
Energy Charge Rs. 7.30/kVAh
parapets, works, P/L M/T & road
Energy Charge ToD Structure sign etc. including
kkSXfáÑX dWX°f ¸fZÔ DYªffÊ ¶f¨ff¹fZllÜ ´fÂffaIY Gram Panchayat
Nagar Palika and Nagar Panchayat
Rs. 9.20/kWh
Rs. 9.70/kWh
Summer Months (April to September) 5 year routine maintenance after
completion of work under regular
1054/¸fb.A.(´ff.´f.) ¸fZSXNX/T-13/22-23 Nagar Nigam
TOD Rates % Energy Charge
Rs. 10.20/kWh
18:00 Hrs - 6:00 Hrs @ 0%
05:00 hrs-11:00 hrs
11:00 hrs-17:00 hrs
(-) 15%
0%
PMGSY
pkg.HP09-450 )
(Batch-1) 2017-18

dQ³ffaIY:- 28.02.2023 TOD Rates % Energy Charge 18:00 Hrs - 6:00 Hrs @ 0% 17:00 hrs-23:00 hrs (+)15%
LMV-4 LIGHT, FAN & POWER FOR PUBLIC & PRIVATE INSTITUTION: 23:00 hrs-05:00 hrs 0% 1. Date of release of invitation for bids through e-procurement 03.03.2023
CX0 ´fi0 ´ffUSX MÑfÔÀfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSXZVf³f d»f0 BÊ- (A) For Public Institutions: Winter Months (October to March) 2. Cost of bid from cost of Bid form (non-refundable) in shape of Demand draft in favour of Executive Engineer HPPWD
Fixed Charge Rs. 330/kW/ Month 05:00 hrs-11:00 hrs 0%
d³fdUQf Àfc¨f³ff d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ / Af´fcd°fÊ WZ°fb BÊ- Energy Charge Rs. 9.90/kWh 11:00 hrs-17:00 hrs 0%
Division Rohru .
3. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission :- The bid document is available online and bid should be
d³fdUQf¹fZÔ Qû ·ff¦fûÔ ¸fZÔ þeqEÀfqMeq ¸fZÔ ´fÔþeIÈ °f, (B) For Private Institutions:
Fixed Charge Rs. 380/kW/ month
17:00 hrs-23:00 hrs (+)15%
submitted online on website www.pmgsytenders.gov.in .The bidder would be required to registered in the website
´fid°fdâ°f EUÔ A³fb·fUe NZIZ QfSûÔ / R ¸fûÊÔ ÀfZ Afg³f »ffBʳf Energy Charge Rs. 10.65/kWh
(B)
23:00 hrs-05:00 hrs
Rural Schedule:
(-)15%
which is free of cost. For submission the bids, the bidder is required to have valid digital signature certificate (DSC)
from one the authorised certifying authorities (CA) Aspiring bidder who have not obtained the user ID and password
BÊ-d³fdUQf ´fûMÊ»f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM LMV-5 SMALL POWER FOR PRIVATE TUBE WELL/ PUMPING SETS
FOR IRRIGATION PURPOSES: This Schedule shall be applicable only to consumers getting supply upto 11 kV as per "Rural
for participating in e-tendering in PMGSY may obtain the same from the website: www. pmgsytenders.gov.in.
Schedule". The consumers under this category shall be entitled to a rebate of 7.5% on Base Rate as
http://etender.up.nic.in' ´fS Af¸fÔdÂf°f I e Tariff Excluding Subsidy Subsidy and Tariff Payable
Cross Subsidy given for 11kV consumers under urban schedule. Further, no "TOD RATE" shall be applicable for this Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering bidders already processing the valid digital signature
þf°fe W`ÔÜ d³fdUQf ¸fc»¹f þeqEÀfqMeq ÀfdW°f °f±ff (A) Consumers getting supply as per “Rural Schedule”
category. issued from authorised CAs can use the same in this tender.
(i) Un-Metered Supply HV-3 RAILWAY TRACTION & METRO RAIL * Non registered bidders may submit bids: the successful bidders must get registered in appropriate class with appropri-
²fSûWS SfdVf Fixed Charge Rs.740/ BHP/ Month Rs. 550 BHP/ Rs.190/ BHP / Month A RAILWAY TRACTION ate authorities before signing the contract.
AfSqMeqþeqEÀfq/E³fqER qAfBÊqMeq/ ¶f`ÔI Month Demand Charges Rs. 440/kVA/month 4. Submission of original documents: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft towards the cost
(ii) Metered Supply Energy Charge Rs. 9.90/kVAh of bid document and (b) original bid security in approved from and (c) original affidavit regarding correctness of infor-
¦ffS¯Me IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ Ad²fVffÀfe Ad·f¹f³°ff, dUôb°f Fixed Charge Rs. 640/ BHP/ Month Rs. 550/BHP/ Rs. 90/ BHP/
Minimum Charges Rs. 950/kVA/month mation furnished with bid document as per provision of clause 4.4B(a) (ii) ITB with Superintending Engineer 14th cir-
Month Month
´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O, A¸fSûWf IZ ·ffS°fe¹f ÀMZM ¶f`ÔI , VffJf Energy Charge Rs. 6.70/kWh Rs. 4.50/kWh Rs. 2.20/kWh B METRO RAIL cle HPPWD Rohru address and detail of office where to be submitted on a date opening of technical qualification part
of the bid either by registered post or by hand .
- þû¹ff (dþ»ff-A¸fSûWf) ¸fZÔ ÀfÔ¨ffd»f°f ¨ff»fc Jf°ff Minimum Charge Rs. 710 BHP/ Month Rs. 550 BHP/ Rs. 160/ BHP/Month
Month
Demand Charges
Energy Charge
Rs. 330/kVA/month
Rs. 8.70/kVAh 5. Last date/ Time for receipt of bid through e-tendering last date/time for receipt of bids through e-tendering on dated
ÀfÔ0 (Current Account)- 30723557626, (iii) Energy Efficient Pumps Minimum Charges Rs. 900/kVA/month 17-03-2023PM
IFSC Code - SBIN 0007413, MICR Fixed Charge Rs. 640 BHP / Month Rs. 550 BHP / Rs. 90/ BHP / Month HV-4 LIFT IRRIGATION WORKS 6. The site for the work is available.
Month
(a) Demand Charges 7. Only online submission of bids is permitted, therefore bids must be submitted online on website
No. 244002026 ¸fZÔ MZ¯OS Jb»f³fZ I e dQ³ffÔI Energy Charge Rs. 6.65/kWh Rs. 4.85/kWh Rs. 1.80/kWh
For Supply at 11 kV Rs. 375/kVA/month www.pmgsytenders.gov.in. The technical qualification part of the bids will be opened online at 11:00 A.M. on 18 march,
Minimum Charge Rs. 690/BHP/ Month Rs. 550 BHP/ Rs. 140/ BHP / Month
°fI þ¸ff I SZÔÜ A³¹f d³f¹f¸f U Vf°fûÊÔ I f dUÀ°fÈ°f Month For Supply above 11 kV upto 66 kV Rs. 370/kVA/month 2023 in the office of Superintending Engineer 14th circle HPPWD Rohru by the authorized officers. If the office hap-
pens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened online on the next working
dUUS¯f BÊ-d³fdUQf ´fûMÊ»f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM ´fS C´f»f¶²f (B)
(i)
Consumers getting supply as per "Urban Schedule (Metered Supply)"
Metered Supply Cross Subsidy Tariff Payable (b)
For Supply above 66 kV upto 132 kV
Energy Charge
Rs. 365/kVA/month
day at the same time.
SWZ¦ffÜ d³fdUQf ¸fZÔ dI Àfe ·fe ÀfÔÀfû²f³f ¹ff d°fd±f dUÀ°ffS Fixed Charge Rs. 150/BHP/ - Rs. 150/BHP/ For Supply at 11 kV Rs. 9.95/kVAh
8. The bidder is not required to quote his rate for routine maintenance. The rates to be paid for routine maintenance are
indicated in the bill of quantities. Further, the payment for routine maintenance to the contractor shall be regulated
BÊ-d³fdUQf ´fûMÊ»f ´fS AUV¹f QZJ d»f¹ff þfEÜ BÊ- Month Month
For Supply above 11 kV upto 66 kV Rs. 9.85/ kVAh
based on his performance of maintenance activities.
Energy Charge Rs. 6.70/kWh Rs. 0.50/kWh Rs. 6.20/kWh
d³fdUQf Jb»f³fZ I e dQ³ffÔI 01.04.2023 1. BÊ- Minimum Charge Rs. 215/BHP/ - Rs. 215/BHP/ Month (c)
For Supply above 66 kV upto 132 kV
Minimum Charge
Rs. 9.70/kVAh
Rs. 1125/kVA/month
9. All the required materials like Cement/Steel/Bitumen/Explosive etc shall be arranged by contractor at his own level.
d³fdUQf ÀfÔ£¹ff-08/BÊqMeqÀfeqdõq/E¸f0 /2023 Month 10. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than ninety days after the deadline date
For PTW consumers of Bundelkhand Area located in Gram Sabha, the minimum amount payable by The True-up, APR and ARR Petitions along with the responses to the deficiency notes includ- for bid submission.
dUôb°f ´ffSZ¿f¯f J¯O-A¸fSûWf IZ A³°fʦf°f 132 a consumer shall be Rs. 170 per BHP per month, till the installation of the meter. Regulatory ing Gap/(Surplus)) and cross-subsidy surcharge at proposed tariff, are available on the web- 11. To qualify for a package of contract made up of this for which bids are invited in the same NIT, the bidder must demon-
IZ 0Ue0 C´fIZ ³Qi ²f³füSf WZ°fb 220 IZ 0Ue0 C´fIZ ³Qi Surcharge, Duty, Taxes etc. will be payable extra. site of Licensee at www.kesco.co.in. Further, the stakeholders, general public and all
Electricity Supply Company Ltd. (14/71, KESA House, Civil Lines, Kanpur-208001), within
strate having experience and resources sufficient to meet the aggregate of the qualifying criteria for the individual con-
LMV-6 SMALL AND MEDIUM POWER: tracts.
A¸fSûWf ´fS 02 ³f¦f 132 IZ 0Ue0 R eOS "¶fZ" IZ (A) Consumers getting supply other than "Rural Schedule" 15 days from the date of publication of this notice. 12. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The Employer shall not be held liable for any delays due to sys-
d³f¸ffʯf I f I f¹fÊ Ü ²fSûWS SfdVf ø 0 6000/- d³fdUQf Fixed Charge All concerned Consumers, Individuals, Organizations, Licensees, Stakeholders and
Departments of Government may send their objections, if any, along with notarized affidavit
tem failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any update, the Employer
shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for
´fi´fÂf I f þeqEÀfqMeq ÀfdW°f ¸fc»¹f ø 0 590 /- Upto 20 KW
Above 20 KW
Rs. 310/KW/Month
Rs. 310/KW/Month
in six copies. Four Copies may be sent to Secretary, U.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission, the latest information related to the tender.
"SXf¿MÑX dWX°f ¸fZÔ d¶fþ»fe ¶f¨ff¹fZÔ " WXÀ°ff./- Energy Charge
Vidyut Niyamak Bhawan, Vibhuti Khand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow and two copies to
(Rajeshwar Singh Jaswal)
Managing Director, Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Limited (14/71, Kesa House, Civil
A²feÃf¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff dUôb°f ´ffSXZ¿f¯f ¸fÔOX»f dõ°fe¹f Upto 20 KW Rs. 8.55/kWh
Lines, Kanpur-208001), within 15 days from the date of publication of this notice.
Superintending Engineer
Above 20 KW Rs. 8.55/kWh 14th circle HPPWD Rohru
CXq´fiq ´ffUSX MÑf³Àfq IYf´fûÊ d»fq ¸fbSXfQf¶ffQ TOD Structure Save electricity in the interest of Nation Tel 01781240087email-hp-shi2@nic.in
Sd/-
´fÂffaIY: 252/d½f.´ff.¸fa.dõX.¸fb./BÊX-d³fd½fQf/2023 Summer Months (April to September)
Àfa£¹ff- 693/EÀf.MXe.´fe./E.-11/2022-2023 Managing Director For Chief Engineer HPPWD
dQ³ffaIY 01/3/23 05:00 hrs-11:00 hrs (-)15% dQ³ffaIY 01-03-2023 Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Ltd. 6175/HP Nigam Vihar Shimla-1712002
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
SPORT/CALENDAR 20
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023

Gulf in class at nationals Meghalaya’s dream run Tajinder aims to

bounce back
Players need to focus on
strength to step up to
continues, enter final after facing
personal trauma
international level
SHIVANI NAIK
PUNE, MARCH 1
ANUPAMA Upadhyaya made her second
Senior Nationals quarters after 2019, but
wasn’t content until she went on to win the
title on Tuesday. There’s another medal,
missing, which rankled. It set into motion a
string of changes in her game that showed
effect at the Nationals.
At the Junior Worlds, the team champi-
onshipofferedheraneye-opener:“Wogame
ki level hai hi nahi (the game is not at that
level)” said the Almora (Uttarakhand)
teenager,whodecidedtotakeupbadminton
seriously after Lakshya Sen’s success,
coached by his father DK Sen. She knew she
needed another gear altogether to her game
to succeed internationally.“A 16-year-old
Japanese won the World Juniors. I realised
her strokes were at a different level of speed
and strength. And it’s not like you need to
have some great body mass physique. She
was of normal build, but had great wrist
power,” Upadhyay said. “It’s not just strokes
in the first game. You need to be able to sus-
tain that rally speed in the second and third
games.” Last year, she played Singaporean
Yeo Jia Min, and was flattened in the second
and third after winning the first quickly. “Ek
game se kaam nahi chalega (Winning just
onegamewon’tdo).”Onegameisn’tenough
to win. At the Nationals and against a partic-
ularly pugnacious fighter like Aakarshi
Kashyap, Anupama would showcase the
temperamentneededtograbthethirdgame,
and finish the match.
KiranGeorge,abrightnameinIndia’snext
rung, packed off HS Prannoy in the opening
round,thoughtheveteranwasiffywithanig-
gle. But the win displayed Kiran’s potential
whenplayingatopinternational.“Itwasare-
ally good win for me. He’s the top seed of the
tournament, so beating him here is a big
boost for me. I want to break into the top 32
in the world, I’m still 50. But that’s my short-
term goal,” he would say.
The gulf in class is very evident, and the
Bangalorean is aware of what it will take to
bridgeit.“Ineedtoimprovemydefencetobe
able to compete at the top-15 level. I need to
keep working on my game. It’s a long way to
go. In international tournaments, they don’t
give away easy points. In the top 30, nobody
really gives away free points like they would
hereonthedomesticcircuit.It’sreallydiffer-
ent there. Everyone plays to win, there is the
hunger, from the get-go it’s tough,” he says.
Kiran,whomadethequartersinPune,has
agoodattack-asharpdownwardstrokeand
deception,andhasdevelopedagooddribble
and net game in the last six months. “He
Stamina and speed in the third game is the challenge for Anupama Upadhyaya
needsalotmoreworkonhisdefenceandhis
fitness needs to get better to play three long
games at a faster pace,” says coach Sagar
Chopda.Hisbodylanguagetooneedsbolster-
ing, especially in matches when he can’t get
away solely by attacking.(“He needs a push,”
Chopdasaysof hisdesiredtemperament.He
lost badly to Mark Caljouw after twice beat-
ing him, when his defence came under the
pump. It’s what forced a doubling of efforts
in defence.
For someone like newly crowned men’s
singleschampionMithunManjunath,who’s
also in his sophomore year on the interna-
tional circuit - he reached the early 30s in
ranking - endurance and fitness are the big
goalsbeyondtheNationals.He’s smart tacti-
cally, but also needs to avoid confrontation a
tad, his coach Chopda reckons. While he
couldstoptwoattackingshuttlersinKidambi
Srikanth and Priyanshu Rajawat by giving
themnolooselifts,hisimmediatetestwillbe
at the upcoming German Open, where he
runs into compulsive attacker Loh Kean Yew
in the opener. “Off late, he’s got confidence
that when he’s moving well, he can win,”
Chopda says of his trainee at the Padukone
academy.Butmassivefitnessupgradesarein
the offing if he wants to get consistent inter-
nationally.
For Rajawat, the Dhar player who’s a big
hopefromHyderabadattheGopichandacad-
emy, there’s a “10 percent stroke difference”
in international players from what he en-
counters at the domestic level. He’s bettered
his own pre-quarters performance at the
Nationalsbyreachingthefinalsandishappy
to return to the stadium where he narrowly
lost the Khelo India semifinals. “In higher
tournaments, no one will leave the shuttle.
And I have to improve my smashing power
since that’s my game,” he says. He’s learnt to
not allow his temper to mess with his game.
“And I need to stay injury-free.”
Pathway needed
National coach P Gopichand, who has
steered some of India’s top international ca-
reers to success, admits that while getting
twoworld-classathletesfrom100wasdone,
now that there are 10,000 playing the sport,
India needs a pathway to help transitioning
juniors into the seniors. “We need a better
systemandastructurethattakescareof those
that are coming up,” he says. Earlier in the
week, Padukone had urged players to not be
satisfied with winning small events. “They
shouldalsonotplaytournamentsunlessthey
are completely fit,” he added. On India’s
dearth of success in women’s singles,
Padukonesaid,“It’snotthattheyaren’ttrying,
but it’s not enough. Technically, they are as
good. But physically, they are not strong or
fast enough. They should focus on physical
parameters - speed, fitness and power.”
AakarshiKashyap,whofinishedrunners-
up in the Nationals narrowly to Anupama
Upadhyay, reckons life on the Tour makes
other arduous demands on the body.
“It’s a bit faster, yes, but at that level the
topplayershavebetteragilityandendurance.
You don’t get much time to recover and
restartthenextday.Also,youtravelaloton9-
10-hour flights. So there’s jetlag. I do my best
to not miss any sessions even if I’m with the
team and not playing,” she says. Her punch
clears have got better, but there’s plenty of
scope for improvement and Kashyap awaits
heronebreakthroughresult.“It’snotthatmy
smashdoesn’thavepower.ButI’mnotalways
able to execute it in matches,” she says. The
jump up to the international circuit though
isstuckintheabsenceof strength.“Sainaand
Sindhu were very strong athletes. That
strength is absent in women’s singles,”
Padukone said.
SHASHANK NAIR
RIYADH, MARCH 1
MEGHALAYA penned yet another page in
theirstoriedrunatthiseditionof theSantosh
Trophy, beating Punjab in the semi-final in
India’s first-ever domestic game being held
overseas at the King Fahd International
Stadium in Riyadh. The Khlain Pyrkhat-
coached team beat Punjab 2-1 in front of a
sparse crowd and made it to their first-ever
Santosh Trophy Final.
A working Wednesday, a 3 PM kickoff
time, but mostly a disconnect of the local
Indianpopulationtothestateteamsonoffer,
meant that not many people were present
to watch Meghalaya take the win from
Punjab.
Poor turnout
The volunteers and officials outnum-
beredthecrowdinplace.Mostof them,with
no crowd to control, began to clap and cheer
the teams. As the game went on, a slow
trickle of people came into the stadium, but
were nowhere close to what anyone would
have wanted for the first game.
Before the start of the two semi-finals,
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey spoke to a
group of reporters and said that Kerala and
Bengal’s failure to qualify for the semi-final
made a dent in the federation’s plan to host
a game outside India teeming with Indian
fans from the two states coming to support
them. “I was hoping that teams like Kerala
or Bengal would qualify for the semi-finals.
If they had qualified, maybe a lot of people
from Kerala would have come to watch the
matches," said AIFF president Kalyan
Chuabey. This was despite efforts from the
Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia to circulate
that Indian state teams were in Riyadh to
play four games of football.
Despite the lack of fans, both Punjab and
Meghalaya played on, each with their own
idea of why reaching the final was an impor-
tant step. For Punjab, reaching the summit
while missing some key players would have
been the icing on the cake. For Meghalaya, a
team not many thought could make it this
far in the tournament, this was a golden op-
portunity to create their own history.
The game began with the swing of pos-
session lying more on Punjab’s side.
Meghalaya ‘felt’ quicker but Punjab’s ability
to slow down possession in the middle and
keep a hold of the ball afforded them larger
controlof thegameintheopeningmoments
of the match.It was a platform from which
they converted. Parmjit Singh, a midfielder
for Punjab, waved two of his teammates
aside and took a long-range crack at the
Meghalaya goal. 16 minutes in and Punjab
were dreaming of the final.
Meghalaya captain Fullmoon Mukhin
with the trophy before the semis. AIFF
Butthen,Meghalaya’scontrolinthemid-
dle of the park started to grow. In the 36th
minute a freekick was whipped into the
Punjab box by defender Allen Camper
Lyngdoh. TheballfoundNikelsonBinaatthe
far post, who then directed a header down-
wards that bounced smack in the middle of
Punjab’s defensive line.
None of them cleared the ball and even-
tually Meghalaya’s Figo Syndai found him-
self in an opportunistic position to tap in the
ball and level the scores. The first half ram-
bled to a close with both teams getting clear
chances to score but both missing their op-
portunities. While the second half began
with both teams looking to rest control, it
wasn’t until 90 minutes were about to end
that Meghalaya created some magic. Just as
it started to seem like the first semi-final
would be heading into extra-time,
Meghalaya mustered one last foray forward.
DonaldDiengdoh’smazyrunendedjustout-
side the box with a slick pass to Sheen
Stevenson.
The Meghalaya forward took a step with
the ball into the box and rifled a left footed
shot to the goalkeeper’s far post. The touch
followed by the shot was made possible by
two of Punjab’s defenders slightly backing
away from the oncoming Stevenson, allow-
ing him the space to unleash the winner
minutes before the referee’s whistle was to
blow for the end of the match. Meghalaya
were through and fell to the floor. Punjab
were out and had to be consoled by their
own team management and Meghalaya.
Results: Meghalaya bt Punjab 2-1;
Karnataka bt Services 3-1.
(The writer is in Riyadh on the invitation of
AIFF).
ANDREW AMSAN
BELLARY, MARCH 1
EVEN though Tajinderpal Singh Toor won
the gold medal with a
new meet record at the
2ndAFINationalThrows
competitiononTuesday,
the shot-putter from
Punjab didn’t celebrate.
As he walked out of the
competition area, he
seemed more exhausted than usual. It has
been a tough couple of months for the Asian
record holder, who won the event with a
throw of 19.95 metres and improved the
meet record by a centimetre at JSW’s Inspire
Institute of Sport (IIS) facilities in Bellary.
Toor underwent one of the most testing
times in his life just ahead of the Asian
Indoors in Kazakhstan last month. He won
the gold in Astana but just before the event
his wife Sandeep Kaur, who was expecting,
had to undergo an abortion.
“It’sbeenatoughfewmonthsformeand
my family. Just before the Asian Indoors, I
was busy with my wife’s treatment. We had
to rush to the hospital at odd hours and then
eventually the doctors had to abort the
child,” Toor said with a heavy heart.
During those testing times, Toor said he
was thankful he had a close-knit family to
back him. “I couldn’t focus at all on my train-
ing. It is during such times that you need to
have the support of your family and they
were there for me. I was obviously shattered
at that moment,” Toor, who lives in Patiala
with his family, said.
ThiswasToor’sfirstoutdoorcompetition
of theseasonafteraninjury-shortened2022
season. Toor travelled to Oregon for last
year's World Championships but strained
his groin during practice and had to pull out
of the meet. The injury also cost him a shot
ataCommonwealthGamesmedal.“Ifeltthe
strain during training and knew that even if
I made one throw I would have gotten seri-
ously injured and would have had to un-
dergo surgery. So I decided to pull out,” says
Toor.
“Iamnotthatsatisfiedwithmyperform-
ancetoday.Iwastargetingthe20mmarkbut
this is just the start of the season. This year I
want to rewrite my national and Asian
records. I am in a much better shape now,”
says Toor.
Results: Shot Put (men’s): 1. Tajinderpal
Singh Toor (Haryana) 19.95m (New Meet
Record. Old: 19.94, Tajinderpal Singh Toor,
Patiala, 2022); 2. Karanveer Singh (Punjab)
19.54; 3. Sahib Singh (Delhi) 18.77.
(The writer was in Bellary on the invitation of
IIS).

CROSSWORD 4991 OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
It's a day to take
stock, to work out
where you are and
where you’re
going. You may feel you have
achieved enough for now, and
you are fully justified in resting
on your laurels, at least for a
little while longer. Never
slip into complete
complacency, though.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
You may still be in
the thick of things,
but gradually the
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
You must be
prepared for your
mood to change by
this evening as the
earth spins and the Sun moves.
If lunar alignments have their
way, you may soon begin to feel
quieter and more solitary.
Socially, you may therefore veer
towards intimate encounters.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
There are so many
snares and pitfalls at
the moment that it is
difficult to know

CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson dust will begin to

settle. One way or another,
what to do next. However, you
may decide what is really
home affairs must use up more urgent and tackle less
time. If it’s not a matter of important issues when you
breakages and repairs, then it have more time available. That
will be relatives’ emotional means that other people may
demands which play on have to wait for you, for
your nerves. a change.
GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
ACROSS DOWN Remember that If you are unable to
1 Resolutesupporterthough 1 Right sort of measure (5) magnetic Mars is express your feelings
incapacitated 2 One in church? (8) your firm ally, but over the next two
(4,3) 3 This style of architecture has beware of over- months, the truth
4 Old-fashionedbutpopular its points (6) confidence. You must therefore might still be dragged out of
withtheboys(5) 4 Commit a faux pas and leave be tremendously assertive, but you. You may therefore like to
7 Thebandresound(4) out a good guy not at all aggressive. You should think now about how and when
8 Legalmanringsthechangeson (4,1,5) be attentive to other people and you must tell others what has
treaty(8) 5 Temporary home in which we listen carefully to their wishes, been going on. You must
10 Theirscalyformmaybe see purpose (4) otherwise your reputation prepare your story with care.
hilarious(10) 6 Tide may change between will suffer.
12 Themanuscript is about sunrise and sunset CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)
Easternsubjects(6)
13 Thisformof cureissometimes
(7)
9 A sorry state (10) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 - July 23)
There’s almost no
You should get all
financial affairs
recommendedby doctors 11 Dress overall a tuneful ship perceptible change settled today,
(6) (8) in your stars since regardless of
15 Travellingdramadirector? 12 Fingerprinters (7) yesterday, which whether you’re shifting
(10) 14 Consents but will be a long means that money matters are currency around the globe or
18 Ransouthandranoff time coming round again still way up the agenda. picking up a bargain at the
(8) (6) Psychologically, though, the corner shop. By the time
19 Nothinginit;ameretittle(4) 16 He’s around at the main issue seems to be the evening comes, you may begin
20 Way theFrenchfollowan preliminary races (5) extent to which you lack self- to feel more relaxed and at ease
animalhome(5) 17 Have a go at carrying a salver esteem. Try to believe in with yourself, if all goes
21 Slicesmeatonboard(7) (4) yourself more than in the past. according to plan..
LEO (July 24 - Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
SolutionsCrossword4990:Across:1Coincidence,9Atticus,10Tenor,11Dine,12 Jupiter and the The recent
Usurpers,14Naples,16Pounce,18Formally,19Port,22Shunt,23Reunion,24 Moon make a pretty confrontation
Predominant.Down:2Often,3Nice,4Insist,5Exterior,6Canteen,7Hardandfast,8 emotional pair and, between the Sun and
Prospecting,13Departed,15Pursuer,17Alarum,20Orion,21Turn. although the general the Moon
trend is towards good fortune, represented a battle between
you may misjudge the situation. two sharply opposing
Never mistake license for psychological pressures.
liberty, and never imagine that Hopefully, a few personal
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel1s
you can do whatever you want illusions have now been
SOLUTION SUDOKU 5124

just because nobody says overcome and you can get on

Instructions you can’t. with the future, much wiser,
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, and perhaps a little
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23) more mature.
Secrecy may be
SUDOKU 5125

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe
Itiswellto___well;itisdivineto__well.-HoraceMann(5,.,3) essential, and don’t PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
nineverticalcolumns,in think you should feel There’s a higher than
eachoftheninehorizontal badly about keeping average chance of a
BDEAI HIOSCN rowsandineachofthe something to yourself. domestic tiff, but all
nineboxes. However, feelings such as that means is that
resentment, jealousy and you must exert more than your
suspicion should have usual degree of charm to
ABYTT SHTICK DifficultyLevel no place in your emotional soothe ruffled feathers and
repertoire. After all, if persuade others that they have
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; you feel badly towards no need to shout. It may
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; someone, they might feel the take some time, but you’ll
5s=VeryHard; same to you. get there.
Answer: It is well to think well; it is divine to act well. - Horace Mann 6s=Genius
SOLUTION: ABIDE, BATTY, CHINOS, KITSCH

21 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023
BRIEFLY
Jaiswal,Easwaran
scorebigforROI
Gwalior: Yashasvi Jaiswal reaffirmed
his status as the next big thing com-
ing out of Mumbai's famed batting
stable as his superlative double hun-
dred propelled Rest of India to a com-
manding 381 for 3 against Madhya
Pradesh on the opening day of Irani
Cup. Jaiswal's 213 off 259 balls was
well complemented by opener
Abhimanyu Easwaran's 154 (240
balls) after skipper Mayank Agarwal
missed out on a run-feast on a batting
belter.Theduoaddedawhopping371
runs for the second wicket before
both were dismissed in quick succes-
sion during the fag end of the day.
WhileEaswaranreachedcenturyway
before Jaiswal, the Bengal right-han-
der paled in comparison to Mumbai
southpaw's regal shot selection and
the manner in which he dominated
the two MP spinners -- off-break
bowler Saransh Jain (0/103 in 24
overs) and left-arm spinner Kumar
Kartikeya (0/90 in 20 overs).
BRIEFSCORES:Restof India381/3 in
87 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 213,
Abhimanyu Easwaran 154; Avesh
Khan 2/51) vs Madhya Pradesh
JumperAishwarya
gets4-yearban
New Delhi: India's top triple-jumper
Aishwarya Babu has been banned by
the National Anti-Doping Agency's
(NADA) disciplinary panel for four
years for using a prohibited anabolic
steroid. The 25-year-athlete was
dropped from the Birmingham
Commonwealth Games in 2022,
along with sprinter S Dhanalakshmi
after testing positive for the steroid,
which is on the World Anti-Doping
Agency's (WADA) prohibited list.
Aishwarya has time till March 6 to file
an appeal against the ban after receiv-
ing the ban notice from NADA's
Appeal Panel on February 13. The ath-
lete, who had tested positive for
Ostarine -- a drug that falls in the cat-
egory of selective androgen receptor
modulator (SRAM) -- was tested dur-
ing the National Inter-State
Championships on June 13 and 14,
last year in Chennai.
Malan’s114*to
England’srescue
Mirpur: Dawid Malan cracked an un-
beaten century as world champions
England defeated Bangladesh by
three wickets in a low-scoring first
one-day international of their three-
match series in Mirpur. Set a modest
target of 210 thanks largely to Najmul
Hossain Shanto's maiden ODI fifty,
England looked in trouble at 65-4 but
Malan held the innings together with
a 145-ball 114 to take the touring side
over the finish line with eight balls to
spare. The left-hander smashed eight
fours and four sixes but more impor-
tantly held his nerve as wickets tum-
bled at the other end on a tricky sur-
face to bring up his fourth century
withaboundaryinthe46thover.Ably
supported by Adil Rashid (17 not out)
towards the end, he hit another to the
fence to settle the contest.
BRIEF SCORES: Bangladesh 209 in
47.2 ovs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 58,
Mahmudullah 31; Jofra Archer 2/37,
MarkWood,2/34,MoeenAli2/35)lost
to England 212/7 in 48.4 ovs Dawid
Malan 114 not out; Taijul Islam 3/54)
BAGGY GREEN STARS
Kuhnemann, Khawaja help Australia rediscover their bark and bite
SANDIP G
INDORE, MARCH 1
AS THE evening wore on, Rohit Sharma and
his troops gathered some cheer back. When
Ravindra Jadeja’s one ball spat deviously
from good length past the outside edge of
Cameron Green to Virat Kohli at first slip,
Sharma signalled for a DRS in jest, sparking
muffled laughs from his teammates. Jadeja,
petulant after the no-balled dismissal of
Marnus Labuschagne in the second session,
managed toplasterasmilehimself. For most
of the day though, they conveyed an impres-
sion that they were exerting too hard for a
flurry of wickets that never arrived.
In total contrast, the Australians were a
joyous bunch throughout what was the best
day so far in the tour. Written off and
ridiculed back home, two games in deficit,
they displayed remarkable courage and ap-
plication to bundle India for 109, before ek-
ing out a lead of 47 runs with six wickets in
tact to drive the advantage further.
Itwasadaytheyneededheroesandaday
they found heroes. An unlikely ally winked
atthem,theIndorepitch,butforalltheassis-
tancethesurfaceofferedthem,theywrought
their own luck.
The returning seamer Mitchell Starc was
the first hero, despatching a first over of pure
Vol XCI- 96 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05 R.N.I. No.506/57. Printed and Published by R.C.Malhotra on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at The Indian Express (P) Limited Press, A-8, Sector-7, Noida -201301 and Hindustan Media Ventures Ltd., Mauza-Daryapur, Police Station-Shahpur, Danapur District-
Patna, Bihar-801503 and Published at The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9 &10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002. Editorial office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, Mezzanine Floor, Express Building, 9&10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500.
Advertising office: The Indian Express (P) Limited, B1/B, Sector-10, Noida-201301. Phone:01206651291. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor: Raj Kamal Jha, Editor: Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor (Delhi): Rakesh Sinha ** ** Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act. Copyright: The Indian Express (P)
Taste of their own medicine
Indian batsmen fail to negotiate turning track on Day One, bowled out for 109; Australia at 156/4
SANDIP G
INDORE, MARCH 1
IN A rare show of rage, Cheteshwar Pujara
shook his head and kept hitting the turf as
he staggered back to the pavilion. Just eight
overs and two balls of the morning had
passed on, the ball was deviously turning.
Left-arm spinnerMatthew Kuhnemann had
removed the openers, when the most old-
school of India’s batsman, Pujara, his 101
Testsbuildonsteelandresolve,shapedtocut
Nathan Lyon.
Perhaps, it might have been pure muscle
memoryorinstinct.Subcontinentalbatsmen
like to cut spinners off the stumps and from
length. One of the finest of them was their
coach Rahul Dravid himself, who was auda-
cious enough to back-cut even the wizardly
Muttiah Muralitharan.
But his successors are not as gifted with
neither the wrists or wisdom. This ball was
pitched far from the off-stump, and at a cut-
table length for subcontinental batsmen;
Pujara is a fine exponent of the cut too.
The percentages would have favoured
him.Exceptthathismusclememoryreigned
over batting wisdom. Already, some balls
were keeping low, some were leaping awk-
wardly, and his team had already lost their
openers. Of all the batsmen you would ex-
pect to attempt a silly shot, Pujara was the
least likeliest.
Yet, it was Pujara who embodied the
shambolic collapse of India on Day One. He
went too deep and then too hard at the ball
that when the ball spun back like a flying
saucer and skidded on, he could not escape
from the self-imposed shackles.
He was squared up and watched in angst
the ball scud under his bat to hit the stumps.
His first reaction was to stare suspiciously at
the pitch, before it dawned that the real cul-
prit was his own shot selection.
LikethesweepwastoAustraliainthesec-
ond innings in Kotla, the cut was to India in
the first innings in Indore, an ill-advised
weapon of self-destruction.
Soon after, he saw Shreyas Iyer and
Ravindra Jadeja too perish attempting to cut,
the latter undone by the slowness of the
pitch and the former by the low bounce. You
could blame the pitch for that; but you could
equally blame the shot too. The pitch, no
doubt, was difficult to bat on, especially in
the first session when it misbehaved like a
drunken snake.
Perhaps, the early moisture on the sur-
face conspired brisk turn. Batting was not
easy;butIndia’sbatsmendidnotmakeiteas-
ierforthemselveseither.PujaraandComight
have encountered countless such wickets
and devised means to tame the devils. Some
of Pujara’s finest knocks have arrived on
spiteful tracks, Mumbai 2012 and Pune 2018
for example.
Iyer and Jadeja too could vouch for their
masteryonturningtracks.Thistime,though,
they let it psyche them. Add to the list an un-
gainly swipe from Rohit Sharma and it could
beassertedthiswaslargelyadisasterof their
own making. To lose your four best players
of spin-bowling on a turner to horrific shots
is suicidal.
Lack of patience
Unusual haste seemed to grip them, as
though the cracks would open up and con-
sumethemsoon.ItbeganwithSharma,who
could have been out twice in the first over,
but for the misjudgement of the umpire and
the DRS-shyness of Steve Smith and friends.
Mitchell Starc repeatedly harried and hus-
tled him. The shimmy-swipe was his at-
tempted release shot. Had common sense
prevailed, he would have batted normally,
left-handed wickedness to tone-set the
resurgence. Not yet optimally fit, he frazzled
Sharma with both inward and away move-
ment. And from Sharma’s jailbreak shot be-
ganhis side’s implosion. Pausea momentfor
stand-in captain Steve Smith, who had the
leap of faith to introduce two-Test-old
Matthew Kuhnemann as early as the sixth
over.Withthesixthball,heremovedSharma,
masterminding a collapse that soon had
India reeling at 44/4.
The Queenslander who averages 35 in
first-class cricket says he often pinches him-
self in the dressing room. “I am still getting
used to the reality that I am sharing the
dressing room with all these legends of
Aussie cricket,” he would later say. Or that he
was playing against two of his idols, Jadeja
and Ravi Ashwin. Or that he has never
bowled on a surface with such ripping turn
and biting bounce. But the moment did not
overawe him when Smith handed him the
still-shining SG ball.
He straightaway found his rhythm, strik-
ingadeliciousanglefromaroundthestumps,
beddingintotheperfectlength,whereinheis
neitherfullenoughtodrivenotshortenough
tocut,harnessingthemildbreezeforinward
drift and coaxing both spin and bounce. On
suchahelpfultrackasthis,hedidnotgetover-
excited, resisted the temptation to experi-
ment and was keener on the Jadeja mantra
Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®
Cheteshwar Pujara tried to cut a delivery that kept low and also spun sharply from off-spinner Nathan Lyon. AP
Why did the Indore pitch offer wicked turn
and variable bounce on the morning of Day 1?
Why did the pitch help the spinners a
lot more in the first session?
The pitch, which was a mix of red and
black soil, is not new to Indian players. But
prior to the Test, as has been the case
throughout the series, there was selective
watering. Though it’s a common practice,
what made it so hard for Indian batsmen
was the fact that the moisture content –
blacksoiltendstoabsorbmoreof it,which
made it a bit damp. So whenever the ball
landed in those parts – which had a bit of
grasscover-itkeptlow.Andwheneverthe
balllandedinthedryarea–mostlyredsoil
– it found a sharp turn and bounce.
Selective watering is a regular feature
in Indian pitches but works better if the
pitchisn’tamixed-soilinnature.Blackand
after surviving the Starc-storm.
Collapses, often, have an irresistibly con-
tagious quality that spreads like a plague.
Even the usually level-headed Jadeja, pro-
moted up the order, an acknowledgement of
his sustained form over the years and fire-
fighting ability, surrendered tamely.
Moments after he escaped an lbw review—
when playing on the back foot off Lyon again
from around the stumps—he coiled to cut,
but the ball arrived slowly.
He too was so over-committed that he
could not adjust his shot and ended up
spooning the ball to short-cover.
Thecutcouldbeaproductiveshotagainst
spinnersonsurfaceswithconsistentbounce.
But it is hazardous when some balls were
turning sharply, and some not; when some
were bouncing, and some were not, and
whenyouhavenotsizedupthenatureof the
surface. The safest strokes were the leg-side
Usman Khawaja with 60 off 147 and
left-arm spinner Matthew
Kuhnemann with 5 for 16 were the
standout performers for Australia. PTI
of pounding the ball at one spot, mixing his
pace and length. It turned out to be a day
whenheout-bowledthemanwhosefootage
he watches every day.
He beat Sharma with length, pulling it
back by a fraction when the latter decided to
step out. He foxed Gill with both turn and
length, creating the illusion that the ball was
there to be driven but was not quite there.
No other bowler from either team made
redsoilsarecontrastingasitis,offeringdif-
ferent bounce but the selective watering
meant it was even more of a contrast here.
What happened in the second and
third sessions?
Once the pitch was exposed to hot sun
– especially in the second session — the
moisture disappeared. The ball spun but a
touchslowerthan thefirst.Thespiteof the
first session wasn’t quite there later. Also,
theballsthatbouncedmorethanexpected
were fewer.
Would it ease up on Days 2 and 3?
Australia may have found it better to
bat, but according to those in the know it
is not going to get any easier for batsmen.
nudges, the glides and deflections off the
legs. In short, it was a deck for vertical-bat-
ted shots. But only Virat Kohli seemed to
learn the lessons. Iyer had watched from the
pavilion the maddening session unfold and
the perils of the cut shot, yet he could not re-
sist one when Kuhnemann pulled his length
back.LikePujaraandJadeja,hetoowenthard
and bottom-edged the ball back onto the
stumps and gasped in dejection.
Laterintheday,MarnusLabuschagnetoo
chopped one onto his stumps only to be
saved by Jadeja’s overstepping front leg, but
thereafterheshelvedtheshotaltogetherand
lasted for 91 balls. All three stood rather tall
andstiff whencutting,asopposedto slouch-
ing low to pick the ball so that they could al-
waysreadjusttheirstrokeif theballkeptlow.
Even the tall VVS Laxman would crouch low
when cutting the spinners off the stumps, a
delightfulonewhenitispulledoff,andasilly
the pitch look as vicious as Kuhnemann did.
With the new ball, he cajoled extra bounce;
whentheballgotolder,hemadetheballskid
and keep low. He attributed this variance to
the ball getting softer, but he was under-cut-
ting the ball to exaggerate the variable-
bounce effect. With the newer and the old-
ish, he found turn, sometimes rasping turn,
and it was he who dwelled permanently on
the mind of India’s batsmen.
ThestagewasthensetupforNathanLyon
to nibble at the two pillars of India’s batting,
Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kolhi. Smith
would have flirted with the idea of introduc-
ing Toddy Murphy, faster and quicker than
Lyon. But he summoned Lyon instead, aware
of his history with both Pujara and Kohli. He
nailed Pujara withthe secondball, andin the
nextoverJadeja.TheJadejadismissalwasthe
moment Australia began to sniff the kill,
where they reallyfound arayof lightinto the
darkness that had wrapped them on this
DJOKOVIC WINS IN DUBAI
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic held on to beat
Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 7-6 (1) at
the Dubai Championships in his first match
since winning his 10th Australian Open title. AP
Since the pitch was watered even on
the eve of the Test, and because of the dew
factor, there is a possibility that moisture
will be in play on Day 2 morning too. The
deterioration will continue and it’s not go-
ing to get too easy to bat.
Whatwillbeinterestingtowatchisthe
second part of Day 2 to see if the spin gets
slower. But with the pitch likely to con-
tinue to deteriorate, the shot selections
would be even more crucial.
Already the difference in the approach
of two teams has shown.
Indians tried to cut and swipe against
the turn but Australians batted a lot
straighter and played the line of the ball,
rather than chasing it.
VENKATAKRISHNAB
one when it’s not. The bat face too would
open only at the last second.
Even more appalling is that their dis-
missals were not part of an elaborate set-up.
Pujarawasonlyfourballsoldwhenhefatally
cutLyon,whowasjustintothesecondballof
his day. Iyer slashed at the second ball, and
Jadejawasonlynine-balls-old.Theseseemed
like shots of panic, bereft of plan and pur-
pose. Like Australia in the first two Tests, and
likemosttouriststotheseshores,theyletthe
surfacechewtheirsmarts,inducedoubtsand
wrack self-belief.
LikeAustraliainDelhi,theyweredeluded
into believing that aggression was the best
wayoutof trouble,andtheyhurledheadlong
into the abyss, partly of the pitch’s making
andpartlyof theirown. Pujarawasnotalone
in venting out anger.So were his teammates,
each cursing themselves as they set off on
their long trudge to the pavilion.
tour.Yet,theywerecarefultonotletthepres-
sure drift, wary not to let the discipline ebb,
conscious not to let India off them hook. All
boundary channels were blocked, boundary
balls were not fed, the fielders kept the in-
tensity, chirping and chatting away, copping
blows on their bodies, lunging and diving to
stop every run; all the bowlers sustained the
intensity and hostility. This was a vintage
show of bark and bite.
Even when Virat Kohli and KS Bharat
stitched a fightback, they did not panic.
TheygnawedawayuntilMurphytrapped
Kohli in front. India could muster only 39
more runs after their talisman’s exit with
Kuhnemann nabbing the first five-wicket
haul of his career. It could not have arrived at
a riper moment.
But when they galloped in glee to the
dressing room, soon after lunch, they knew
their job was not even half done. The conde-
scendingrefrainatthattimewasif Indiacould
put on just 109 on board, how much could
Australia’s batsmen. That was perhaps the
more pressing concern too, given how they
had folded up in Delhi and Nagpur.
Mature batting
But here, they batted as resolutely and
comfortably as they had in the entire series.
They lost Travis Head in the second over and
had Labuschagne bowled off a no-ball. But
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
SCORECARD
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA
INDORE, 3RD TEST
Toss: India elected to bat
INDIA (1ST INNINGS)
RSharma(c)st†CareybKuhnemann
12 (23b,3x4)
SGillcSmithbKuhnemann 21(18b,3x4)
CPujara bLyon 1(4b)
VKohlilbwbMurphy 22(52b,2x4)
RJadejacKuhnemannbLyon 4 (9b)
SIyerbKuhnemann 0(2b)
SBharat†lbwbLyon 17(30b,1x4,1x6)
AxarPatelnotout 12(33b,1x4)
RAshwinc†CareybKuhnemann 3(12b)
UYadavlbwbKuhnemann 17(13b,1x4,2x6)
MdSirajrunout(Head/Lyon) 0(4b)
■ Extras 0
■ Total(allout;33.2overs) 109
■ FoW::1-27(RohitSharma,5.6ov),2-34
(ShubmanGill,7.2ov),3-36(CheteshwarPujara,
8.2ov),4-44(RavindraJadeja,10.5ov),5-45
(ShreyasIyer,11.2ov),6-70(ViratKohli,21.4ov),
7-82(SrikarBharat,24.5ov),8-88
(RavichandranAshwin,28.3ov),9-108(Umesh
Yadav,32.2ov),10-109(MohammedSiraj,33.2
ov)
■ Bowling:MitchellStarc5-0-21-0,Cameron
Green2-0-14-0,MatthewKuhnemann9-2-16-
5,NathanLyon11.2-2-35-3,ToddMurphy6- 1-
23-1
AUSTRALIA (1ST INNINGS)
THeadlbwbJadeja 9(6b,1x4)
UKhawajacGillbJadeja
MLabuschagnebJadeja
60(147b,4x4)
31(91b,1x4)
SSmith(c)c†BharatbJadeja 26(38b,4x4)
PHandscombbatting 7(36b)
CGreenbatting 6(10b)
■ Extras (b9,lb4,nb4) 17
■ Total(54overs) 156/4
■ FoW:1-12(TravisHead,1.4ov),2-108
(MarnusLabuschagne,34.3ov),3-125(Usman
Khawaja,42.3ov),4-146(StevenSmith,48.5
ov)
■ Bowling:RavichandranAshwin16-2-40-0,
RavindraJadeja24-6-63-4,AxarPatel9-0-29-
0,UmeshYadav2-0-4-0,MohammedSiraj3-0-
7-0
Rohit Sharma charged down the track
for a swipe across the line and was
stumped off the bowling of left-arm
spinner Matthew Kuhnemann. PTI
“Of course, you can get out as a
batting unit at times but we do
prefer to play on turning tracks.
That is our strength, that is where
we are really good as a unit. To be
fair this is a one-off wicket... I don't
think the earlier two wickets were
bad wickets.
VIKRAM RATHOUR
INDIA’S BATTING COACH
Khawaja and Labuschagne did not wither;
Khawaja was a portrait of composure as he
dulled the firecrackers that burst off the sur-
face. Ashwin had him groping in thin air re-
peatedly, but he remained undaunted like a
soldier on war-front, aware that one bullet
would have his name on it, but until then he
would battle on defiantly.
He relied on nudged singles and swift
running between the wickets, on grafting
runs rather than hitting boundaries. He
struck just four fours in 147 balls—two
through the off-side when the ball was over-
pitched, a reverse sweep and a flick, the lat-
ter when Jadeja strayed into his body.
Heshowedhissubcontinentalpeershow
to bat on this surface. There were demons
still, but there were means to quieten them.
He was aghast at his dismissal, sweeping
Jadeja straight to Shubman Gill at deep mid-
wicket. But that was a rare slice of indiscre-
tion on an otherwise flawless day.
The match is a long way yet from conclu-
sion, with potential twists and turns, but
Australia showed on Wednesday that they
have rediscovered the virtues that made
them, of their courage to not yield or surren-
der. And in their resurrection, they have
breathed life too into what was unfolding as
an utterly lopsided series.
Andtheyhadahostof heroes,fromSmith
and Kuhnemann to Lyon and Khawaja.
22 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2023