Chg SATURDAY, 21 MARCH 2020 (CITY) ~10.00 THE MARKETS ON FRIDAY # VOLUME VII NUMBER 34  30 pages in 2 sections Sensex 29,916.0 1,627.7 Nifty 8,745.5 482.0 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS P17 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS P17 Nifty futures* 8,723.1 22.4 Dollar ~75.2 ~75.0** Euro ~80.5 ~80.6** NEW DEFENCE PROCUREMENT KAMAL NATH RESIGNS Brent crude ($/bbl)## 25.7## 26.2** Gold (10 gm)### ~41,169.0 ~835.0 POLICY TO BOOST INDIGENISATION AHEAD OF TRUST VOTE *(March) Discount on Nifty Spot; **Previous close; # Over previous close; ## At 9 pm IST; ### Market rate exclusive of VAT; Source: IBJA PUBLISHED SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM AHMEDABAD, BENGALURU, BHUBANESWAR, CHANDIGARH, , HYDERABAD, , KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI (ALSO PRINTED IN BHOPAL), NEW AND PUNE www.business-standard.com

CORONAVIRUS EFFECT CITIES GRIND TO A HALT Sebi unveils measures to Markets rally on From Maximum City to Millennium City, the impact of the deadly coronavirus on life and stimulus hopes business has been uniform. Although there’s no complete shutdown order yet, the country tackle market volatility Indices post biggest single-day gains since 2009 is already in a state of a virtual lockdown. ARNAB DUTTA, SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY, AVISHEK RAKSHIT, SAMREEN AHMAD & RAJESH BHAYANI track Curbs on short selling, steep increase in NIFTY GAINERS > FM takes stock of RELIEF RALLY the pulse of the market in the country. 4 margins and penalties from next week Mar 20 One-day chg (%) Bharti Infratel 148.2 19.4 CASES CLIMB TO 236 IN SAMIE MODAK & JASH KRIPLANI COVID-19 impact AS 63 MORE TEST POSITIVE P22 ONGC 72.4 18.5 Mumbai, 20 March TIGHTER ARUP ROYCHOUDHURY & SANJEEB MUKHERJEE NIFTY50 ORDERS OFFICES FRAMEWORK New Delhi, 20 March GAIL India 80.8 16.4 he Securities and Exchange UltraTech TO SHUT DOWN TILL MARCH 31 P22 3,573.9 12.9 Board of India (Sebi) on | Norms for F&O trading Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Cement POLITICIANS IN SELF-QUARANTINE Friday announced meas- made stringent Friday met her ministerial colleagues and bureau- HUL 2,051.7 11.6 ures to control volatility in crats of various departments to assess the impact of 8,263.5 AFTER ATTENDING SINGER’S PARTY P22 T | Limits available for MAR 19 stocks. Curbs on short selling, a steep the coronavirus pandemic. In multiple meetings, the WORST WEEK SINCE 2008 JANATA CURFEW: INDIA READIES FOR increase in margins, a 10-fold trading halved in the case ministries discussed the problems in their sectors, A COMPLETE LOCKDOWN TOMORROW increase in penalties, and reducing of volatile stocks which are some of the worst-hit, and presented 8,745.4 Mar 20 Chg (%)* the outstanding positions available memorandums from stakeholders. Nifty Bank 20,318 -19.3 AIRLINES MAY HAVE TO GROUND | Margin requirements hiked MAR 20 for derivatives trading are some key for both cash and F&O While the meetings on Friday were preliminary 68% AIRCRAFT IN TWO MONTHS P2 changes the regulator announced. discussions, Business Standard has learnt that sec- Nifty Smallcap 100 3,885 -17.7 Sebi has said the short positions | Participants barred from taking tors like tourism; hospitality; aviation; micro, small 481.9 Nifty Midcap 100 12,661 -13.3 in the derivatives market cannot naked short positions and medium enterprises Sensex 29,916 -12.3 ON exceed the value of the holdings of | Penalties (MSMEs); and livestock POINTS the underlying stocks or the collat- have sought deferring loan Nifty 50 8,745 -12.2 increased SATURDAY erals provided by them. repayments and tempo- India VIX 67 30.4 SPECIALS 10 times 5.8% An additional position limit of rary tax holidays in spe- Source: Exchange/Bloomberg *Change over last week ~500 crore will be available for the cific cases to help them WEEKEND RUMINATIONS futures and options (F&O) segment. tide over the steep fall in SUNDAR SETHURAMAN 2009. The gains helped the market Social mobilisation 9 > Market players said the move was economic activity. Mumbai, 20 March prune the weekly loss to 12.3 per cent, The game is prevention, since mitigation to discourage traders from aggres- Friday’s meetings were a the worst since October 2008. If not for efforts would be hampered by inadequate sively building short positions. precursor to the meetings of Investors had something to cheer Friday’s 6 per cent jump, the market medical resources. If it works, it would be “There is a practical short-sell- the COVID-19 Economic going into the weekend, with the would have logged its worst weekly set- Modi’s second successful experiment in ing cap at ~500 crore that has been Response Taskforce, domestic benchmark indices rallying back in history. social mobilisation. TN NINAN writes levied. If people want to speculate which is yet to be about 6 per cent, underpinned by a The Sensex and the Nifty had beyond the prescribed limit of ~500 constituted. slew of support measures announced dropped to 26,714 and 7,833, levels crore, they will need to put up twice dropped 12 per cent this week and 22 Turn to Page 18 > by policymakers around the world to last seen in November 2016 in the after- NATIONAL INTEREST the margin, which will be blocked per cent so far this month. cushion the economic shock of the math of demonetisation, in intra-day Journalism in the time for three months,” said Jimeet Modi, Further, Sebi has halved the so- coronavirus pandemic. trade on Thursday. > RBI BUYS ~10K CR OF BONDS, of corona 9 founder and chief executive officer, called market-wide position limit ANOTHER ~30K CR IN MARCH P17 Markets across Asia and Europe To avert a global recession, most cen- Coronavirus is the biggest story of our Samco Securities. (MWPL) for highly volatile stocks — gained as Brent crude prices rose above tral banks have announced measures lives and a billion- people expect us The market regulator and stock those that see an average daily vari- BANKS SEEK DEFERMENT OF LOAN $30 a barrel, while the US dollar weak- worth trillion of dollars. The US Federal to be around, watching, reporting, exchanges have been under pres- ation of 15 per cent during the week. ened. The Sensex closed at 29,916, up Reserve, the European Central Bank, editing, recording this for posterity and sure to rein in huge fluctuations in In recent weeks, many stocks in REPAYMENT, NPA RECLASSIFICATION P17 1,628 points, or 5.8 per cent, while the and the Bank of England have doled out blowing the whistle to draw attention to stocks, which were causing heart- the futures and options (F&O) seg- SBI THROWS LIFELINE FOR Nifty rallied 482 points, or 5.83 per cent, bond-buying programmes, interest rate injustices and state failures, writes burn to long-term investors. ment have seen fluctuations of up to to end at 8,745 — the biggest single-day cuts, and currency swaps to tide over SHEKHAR GUPTA The benchmark indices have 40 per cent daily. Turn to Page 18 > AFFECTED BORROWERS P3 gains for both the indices since May the crisis. Turn to Page 18 > India Inc puts best foot forward Top conglomerates rule out cut in jobs or salaries BS REPORTERS Mumbai, 20 March VOICES FROM THE C-SUITE

Several conglomerates promised on Friday they would “TATA COMPANIES WILL ENSURE not cut salaries of their staff and were not considering lay- FULL PAYMENT TO TEMPORARY offs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which WORKERS AND DAILY WAGE threatens to push the global economy into recession, EARNERS WHO ARE leaving millions out of work. “I will cut my salary to zero before a single employ- WORKING IN ITS HUL SETS ASIDE ee is laid off,” Rajiv Bajaj, managing director and chief OFFICES AND SITES” ~100 CRORE TO executive officer of Bajaj Auto, said in a TV interview. N CHANDRASEKARAN, The Aditya Birla group, the Vedanta group, and the CHAIRMAN, TATA SONS FIGHT VIRUS Essar group also promised not to cut any jobs or salaries Hindustan Unilever (HUL), of their staff. the country’s largest Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the “I WILL CUT MY SALARY consumer goods company, group companies would ensure full payment to tempo- TO ZERO BEFORE A on Friday said it had rary workers and daily wage earners working in its offices SINGLE EMPLOYEE IS committed ~100 crore to and sites in India for March and April. They would get LAID OFF” fight the COVID-19 epidemic remuneration even if these workers were not able to in India. It has also taken a work due to either quarantine measures, site closures, RAJIV BAJAJ, host of other measures such plant shutdowns, or other reasons, he said. MD AND CEO, BAJAJ AUTO as price cuts, free availability The assurance from India Inc top leaders came after of soaps to the needy, a IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, announced hefty pay “IN THESE TRYING TIMES, ~10-crore donation for cuts for the senior management, while the Apollo Tyres BUSINESS CAN TAKE A BACK SEAT better testing facilities, and promoters, Onkar Kanwar and Neeraj Kanwar, AND THE SAFETY AND public awareness announced a 25 per cent cut in their remuneration. GoAir LIVES OF PEOPLE ARE programmes. Sanjiv Mehta, has already sent 80 of its expat staff home. OF UTMOST chairman and managing Turn to Page 18 > director of HUL, said: “In a IMPORTANCE” crisis like this, companies With inputs from Dev Chatterjee, Viveat Susan Pinto, H M BANGUR, CHAIRMAN, have a big role to play.” 2 > Sohini Das, Shally Seth Mohile and Avishek Rakshit SHREE CEMENT RBI’s contingency plan: Keep it going from a secret location

The idea is to keep the RBI’s A crack team of 150 information technology (IT) overseeing critical infrastructure in top shape to run the payments and settlement system operations from a hotel uninterrupted 24x7, and run the full gamut of RBI functions from the ANUP ROY secured data centres, as nearly Mumbai, 20 March 14,000 RBI staffers, except the The infrastructure senior-most management, operated by the As the country goes on a self-imposed work from home. RBI is necessary lockdown to fight the coronavirus The IT infrastructure not just for the contagion, a crack team of 150 people, in operated by the RBI is banking system IMAGING: AJAY MOHANTY hazmat suits, is keeping India’s financial necessary not just for the but also to ensure system up and running since March 19 banking system to keep uninterrupted one that is running the show, from an unknown location in a functioning, but also to ensure business and and the other is acting as a completely quarantined environment. uninterrupted business and retail payments backup. A primary data centre These 150 people, including 37 retail payments, as well as the has been identified, while officials from critical departments of the continuance of government tax other centres are in standby, Reserve (RBI), such as debt and other payments, said a source and the central bank has hired a hotel in management, reserve management and familiar with the arrangement. the vicinity of the primary data centre monetary operations, and third-party “These systems, operated through exclusively to accommodate these service providers, are now in charge of multiple data centres, must stay live people. The support staff of the hotel the business continuity plan of the notwithstanding any exogenous (69 in all), comprising maintenance, central bank, designed in a way that disruption,” the source said. security, kitchen, front desk, and could help create a benchmark for such According to the plan, the 150 administration, has also been isolated exigencies in the future as well. personnel are divided into two teams — within the hotel. Turn to Page 18 > 2 COMPANIES MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 1 >

IN BRIEF DPIIT notifies decision to allow Airlines may ground 68% planes: Govt NRIs to own 100% stake in AI The Department for Promotion of ARINDAM MAJUMDER PROPOSED RELIEF Air India to deduct Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has New Delhi, 20 March MEASURES notified a decision of the Union 10% allowances n Cabinet to allow non-resident Indians ndian airlines will ground 68 per Two months fuel of employees (NRIs) to control up to 100 per cent cent of aircraft over the next two credit line stake in disinvestment-bound Air Imonths because of the impact of the nWaiver of excise duty, Air India will slash staff India. The FDI policy earlier permitted coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), allowances by 10 per cent, VAT on jet fuel NRIs to take only 49 per cent stake in according to a calculation by the gov- reduce onboard services, the airline. In its press note, the DPIIT said: “Foreign ernment. The firms currently have 633 nSoft loan at 1% rate renegotiate contracts, and investments in Air India including that of foreign airlines shall aircraft and the government said they explore invocation of force not exceed 49 per cent either directly or indirectly except in case would operate only 200 of these. nWaiver of landing and majeure clauses in of those NRIs, who are Indian Nationals, where foreign This projection of the Ministry of parking charges agreements to prune investment is permitted up to 100 per cent under automatic Civil Aviation forms the basis of a relief expenses. Aviation route”. On March 4, the cabinet had taken a decision in this package for the aviation sector, which consultancy CAPA estimates regard. PTI has been the worst hit by COVID-19. The of formulating the relief package, said ing capital is dollar denominated. These issued dire warnings about COVID-19’s Indian airlines (except Air government has planned a host of that there would be multiple aspects to include aircraft lease rents, mainte- impact, with Sydney-based CAPA India) will post $ 500-600 measures as part of the relief package, the package to take care of airlines’ nance costs, salaries of expats, ground Centre for Aviation saying that most of million loss in the first CARE downgrades Jaypee acquisition: including tax breaks on jet fuel, waiver reduced cash flow. Primary measures handling and parking charges abroad, the world’s airlines could go bankrupt quarter. Carriers are cutting of air navigation charges and parking will be extending a two month fuel and payments to global vendors. by the end of May unless authorities salaries and enforcing leave Morgan Credits’ NBCC moves NCLAT charges at airports and soft loans at credit from oil marketing com- “Inclusive of fuel, dollar- step in. without pay to battle the rating to ‘BB’ seeking relief reduced interest rates to increase liquid- panies, waiving landing and linked costs of airlines would be demand slowdown due to Operations hit CARE Ratings has downg - ity of airlines. parking charges, and waiver of 60-70 per cent. So, if we can raise the crisis. raded the rating for deben - NBCC moved the National At a marathon meeting held on taxes on jet fuel like excise duty, debt in dollars, at cheaper rate, IndiGo is trimming its domestic opera- The airline will enforce tures of Morgan Credits’ Company Law Appellate Thursday with chief financial officers value added tax. it is always beneficial,” an airline tions by 25 per cent in view of reduced 10 per cent deduction in (MCPL), entity connected with Tribunal seeking relief on of airlines and airports, the government Simultaneously, the gov- executive said. travel demand because of COVID-19, the allowances (excluding basic Rana Kapoor family, from certain conditions related to calculated the quantum of losses air- ernment will also ask banks to CORONAVIRUS To provide free parking airline said Friday. pay, house rent allowance “BBB- “to “BB” on delay in farmers’ compensation and lines might suffer as passenger numbers offer soft loans to airlines at PANDEMIC charges, the government is On Sunday, IndiGo will operate and variable dearness monetisation of identified payments to fixed deposit fall daily. “Airlines have been sending interest rate of 1-1.5 per cent planning to invoke force around 60 per cent of its domestic allowance) for all employees investments. The delay could holders as well as dissenting SOS messages to the government daily from banks based in Gujarat majeure clause to give private flights to accommodate those with except cabin crew for three be further exacerbated by the financial creditors. The move because bookings have been negative International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). airports a waiver from revenue sharing. urgent travel requirements. Meanwhile, months starting March. ongoing investigation of the comes less than three weeks for the last few days even on prime “Since airlines with weak balance sheet Delhi and Mumbai airports pay 45.99 GoAir is suspending flights for the day Only packed food will be promoters of MCPL by the ED after NBCC received nod from domestic sectors, the industry needs a will find it difficult to raise money per cent and 38.7 per cent of their reve- to support PM Modi’s call for a janata served to ensure minimum and CBI. BS REPORTER the NCLT to take over Jaypee substantially big financial package,” through external commercial borrow- nues, respectively, as fees to the bandh. Vistara, too, will operate a contact with passengers in, Infratech. PTI said a CFO of a private airline. Negative ing after the crisis, we will ask banks Airports Authority of India. reduced network. GoAir said it will pro- and magazines, wet towels BSNL offers free booking implies that cancellations have based in GIFT city to offer dollar Simultaneously, air navigation charges tect all ticket PNRs dated March 22 and and blankets will not be Adani Ports raises been higher than fresh bookings. denominated loans,” said an official. will also be reduced by 50 per cent. give affected passengers the option of allowed. ANEESH PHADNIS broadband month Government sources, who were part For an Indian airline, a bulk of work- Industry groups and analysts have redeeming tickets. to support WFH ~125 crore through State-run telecom firm BSNL debentures announced free broadband Adani Ports and Special service for its landline and Economic Zone (APSEZ) on customers for a month to Friday raised ~125 crore support 'work from home' through issuance of IT firms may go slow on hiring HUL sets aside (WFH) allowed by most debentures. “The company organisations amid the has raised ~125 crore by DEBASIS MOHAPATRA & “Joining of fresh graduates outbreak. New customers allotment of 1,250 rated, NEHA ALAWADHI is likely to be staggered now as ~100 crore to opting for copper cable based listed, secured, redeemable, Bengaluru/New Delhi, 20 March companies are expected to turn connection will not have to pay NCDs of the face value of cautious due to likely demand even installation charges but ~100,0000 each on private Hiring of fresh engineering slowdown. So, it can happen will need to buy modem for the placement basis," APSEZ graduates from college cam- over batches,” said Pareekh fight COVID-19 service, BSNL said. PTI said. PTI puses by IT services companies Jain, an IT outsourcing advisor is likely to see a decline owing and founder of Pareekh VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO available in the market in the to uncertainties arising out of Consulting. Mumbai, 20 March next few weeks,” the company global spread of coronavirus. “The real impact will be on said in a statement. Kubota to buy According to experts in hiring for next year (2021), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), It would also scale up pro- human resources (HR), even which will depend on the country’s largest consumer duction of hand sanitisers, hand joining of new graduates is demand outlook amid spread goods company, on Friday wash, and floor cleaners over likely to be staggered as com- DEMAND SLOWDOWN EFFECT of coronavirus.” said it had committed ~100 the next few weeks, the com- 10% in Escorts n n panies are expected to onboard Joining of freshers may be Hiring was robust last year The IT industry is staring at crore to fight the COVID-19 pany said, to improve reach of THE DEAL staffers after gauging the staggered depending on in anticipation of improving a demand slowdown as many epidemic in these items. demand scenario. demand environment demand developed countries, including India. “IN A CRISIS LIKE The “We anticipate delay in join- the US, have started to shut It has also announcement, ~1,042 cr: ~850 a piece: n Fresher hiring in 2020 is n Job interviews to absorb THIS, FIRMS HAVE A Value of the Issue price of ing dates for the freshers hold- down establishments for taken a host of however, ing offer letters. Dishonouring likely to come down by 30% lateral hires are being imposing social distancing to other measures BIG ROLE TO PLAY. acquires signifi- 10% stake equity share letters of appointment may if situation in the US and deferred owing to spread of fight the spread of virus. As a such as price WE ARE WORKING cance since ear- also happen if the user indus- Europe linger coronavirus result, the companies are cuts, free avail- lier this week the 48.21%: Premium Kubota will tries in the US and Europe con- already witnessing delay in ability of soaps to CLOSELY WITH THE company had pay over the last traded price on tinue to reel under the impact In anticipation of demand, Services (TCS) has added wining large deals, with the needy, a ~10- GOVERNMENT AND faced online March 19 of the virus for the next eight the top four IT firms of India around 30,000 fresh graduates reports suggesting that deal crore donation OUR PARTNERS TO backlash over weeks,” said Aditya Narayan added more than 50,000 fresh- in this financial year. The com- signings worth around $3-4 for better testing price hikes in its 12.2 million: Number of 40%: Acquisition by Mishra, chief executive officer ers last year. Hiring of fresh pany’s management has said it billion have been deferred in facilities, and ENSURE THAT WE soaps portfolio. equity shares to be issued by Escorts Kubota's sales of staffing firm CIEL HR graduates is also part of the ini- will increase this number to this month alone. public awareness OVERCOME THIS The company Escorts to Kubota through and marketing company Services. tiative of most firms to rightsize 39,000 in the next financial While fresher hiring hinges programmes. HEALTH CRISIS had clarified that preferential allotment in India He said hiring of engineer- their employee pyramid, which year (FY21). on the demand outlook, even Sanjiv Mehta, the price hikes ing graduates might fall by 20- has become mid-level While Infosys has made job interviews for lateral hiring chairman and TOGETHER” were undertaken SHALLY SETH MOHILE premium over Thursday’s 30 per cent if the virus was not employee-heavy in recent 18,000 offers this financial year, is getting delayed as companies managing direc- SANJIV in January Mumbai, 20 March share price. Escorts will contained in the next few years. Among IT firms, market Wipro has said it will onboard are not able to conduct face-to- tor of HUL, said: MEHTA, before the coro- reduce an equal number of weeks. leader Tata Consultancy around 20,000 fresh graduates. face interviews. “In a crisis like navirus outbreak Kubota Corp, a Japanese shares held by Escorts this, companies CHAIRMAN in India. global tractor and machin- Benefit and Welfare Trust to have a big role to & MD, On Friday, ery manufacturer, will keep the total equity capital play. We are HUL HUL indicated acquire 10 per cent equity of the company unchanged. working closely that it would stake in Escorts as the two Following the deal, Kubota Firms allowed to hold board meetings via video-conference with the govern- donate two crore companies aim to achieve will have right to nominate ment and our pieces of global leadership by partner- two non-executive board RUCHIKA CHITRAVANSHI ferences till June 30. Companies will have relating to amalgamation, merger, partners to Lifebuoy soap in ing in product development, members on the board of New Delhi, 20 March to follow all requirements laid out under demerger, acquisition and takeover and ensure that we the next few manufacturing and sourc- Escorts the rules for holding board meetings via the audit committee meetings for consid- overcome this health crisis months to poor sections of ing, Escorts said in a notifi- Simultaneously, Escorts The government has relaxed the require- video-conferencing such as recording of eration of accounts. For all other matters, together.” society. The firm also said it cation to the exchanges. will acquire 40 per cent stake ment of holding board meetings with these proceedings and ensuring availabil- board meetings can be done through The company was reduc- would donate ~10 crore to Escorts will issue and in Kubota Agricultural physical presence of directors for activities, ity of proper equipment. video-conferencing. A director participat- ing the price of Lifebuoy hand upgrade the health care facil- allot over 12.2 million equity Machinery India, the market- including approval of financial statements, The companies’ rules do not allow cer- ing in a meeting via video-conferencing sanitisers and hand wash, ities in testing centres and shares through a preferential ing and sales company of as part of the precautionary measures to tain matters to be dealt with in a meeting or other audio visual means is to be count- apart from Domex floor clean- hospitals across the country. issue to Kubota at ~850 Kubota in India. Kubota and check spread of the coronavirus pandemic. through video-conferencing or other ed for the purpose of quorum. Detailed ers by 15 per cent. “We are It would also partner medical apiece for ~1,042 crore, Escorts have a 60:40 joint The corporate affairs ministry has audio visual means. These include the rules are laid down for the manner in commencing production of institutions that were provid- according to its exchange fil- venture called Escorts Kubota issued a notification to allow companies approval of the prospectus, annual finan- which such video-conferencing has to be these reduced priced products ing testing and care facilities ing. That’s a 48.21 percent India. to hold such meetings through video-con- cial statements, board’s report, matters held. immediately and these will be to the affected people. Metal prices likely to remain volatile over coronavirus concerns ISHITA AYAN DUTT, ADITI DIVEKAR & RAJESH BHAYANI would have to meet BIS standards. announced by the government in an attempt to Kolkata\Mumbai, 20 March Within the domestic steel industry, IN THE RED % changecurb spread of the virus. Sooner or later, that will secondary players that account for 55 per cent of Jan 14, ‘20 Mar 20,’20 Since Jan 14 1 day have an impact on supply.” The S&P BSE Metal index has underperformed the production, however, are most vulnerable; S&P BSE SENSEX 41,952.6 29,916.0 -28.7 5.8 the benchmark Sensex by a wide margin. Since they are fragmented and have exposure only to Dip in iron ore business fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak small projects. S&P BSE METAL 10,769.8 6,131.2 -43.1 8.0 A senior official of Essel Mining & Industries, gripped the markets, the index has fallen by Large players, on the other hand, have huge (Price in ~) said, “We (the iron ore mining industry) are wit- about 43 per cent compared to 29 per cent in the projects and institutional funding. So, a price dip Jindal Steel & Power 173.9 104.7 -39.8 12.9 nessing a dip in business no doubt, but are hope- case of the Sensex. will impact secondary players significantly if the ful that business conditions will improve over At the London Metal Exchange (LME), the virus outbreak is not contained. Tata Steel 498.5 298.1 -40.2 9.6 the next three months as China starts reporting price of aluminium, copper and zinc have also However, there are also concerns on supplies Vedanta 164.9 75.4 -54.3 8.7 fewer new COVID-19 cases.” fallen sharply, ranging between 10 per cent and as more and more states announce lockdowns JSW Steel 281.0 176.5 -37.2 8.5 As of now, work at mining sites is on as usual 25 per cent; steel prices are still holding out, which reflected in steel long April contract on and there is no curtailment on mining activity. but there are signs of a correction in the | ICEX. It surged ~620 on Friday or 2.6 per cent NMDC 125.9 72.0 -42.9 7.9 The Aditya Birla Group company has iron ore weeks ahead. from the previous close to ~28,740 a tonne. The Hindustan Zinc 214.0 136.0 -36.5 7.3 mines in . In the last three months, steel prices increased contract had, however, closed in February at Prices have, however, dropped. The widely Coal India 213.1 132.5 -37.8 6.7 by 15 per cent; the last round of hike in March (at ~31,740 a tonne. used 10-30 mm lump prices have fallen ~400- ~500-800), is still holding. However, the market SAIL 50.8 26.8 -47.3 6.2 500 per tonne since January to ~4,500 per believes that a correction is likely in April. Margin pressure for aluminium to continue National Aluminium 47.1 32.4 -31.2 5.9 tonnes now. This price level is the same as the Analyst reports suggest that margins are Aluminium, which has anyway been weak, may March 2019 price point. Prices of iron ore fines, likely to contract from the first quarter. What’s see further corrections in the short-term. S K Hindalco Industries 211.9 105.5 -50.2 5.9 on the other hand, have remained unchanged in more, China has increased export tax rebates. Roongta, chairman, Balco, said, the virus out- Source: BSE the Odisha region. The dominant player, NMDC, This indicates that it’s keen on pushing exports break may have an adverse impact on demand has lowered prices by ~50 a tonne for fines and from the country. The domestic hot rolled coil in the short-term. “Negotiations have been going on but “The price of the red metal has fallen ~60 a tonne for lumps. But on a month-on- (HRC), a benchmark for flat steel, is anyway at a “In the long-term, the infrastructure push because of a sudden fall in metal prices and talk drastically on the LME. Consumer spending is month basis, prices have increased by ~380 a two per cent premium to the landed price of will bring back demand.” of global recession, most bulk users are not showing a contraction as COVID-19 marches tonne. imports from South East Asian countries. The apprehension is that projects may slow finalising supply contracts. The domestic across the globe. Additionally, the outbreak has Global zinc stock is at a minimal level but Jindal Steel & Power managing director V R down. “The aluminium conductor sector industry was facing a slowdown for over a year caused supply chain disruption which is sure to prices have been driven by sentiment Sharma said demand was stable at the moment continues to be under pressure of low margins now and already cutting inventories. Things are have an adverse effect on the copper industry,” According to Rahul Sharma, director-India, but sentiment was down as people are scared and low volumes due to lack of orders. The wire only worsening,” the industry official said. they said. International Zinc Association, all domestic because of the virus outbreak. and cable segment, too, is feeling the heat as new ICRA senior vice-president, Jayanta Roy, steel manufacturing units that are major Sharma does not expect prices to go up orders have slowed,” said metal industry expert Copper plunges as China yet to get back to said, “Prices have dropped due to concerns on consumers of zinc are based in remote areas, and further but is not overtly worried. The next one and consultant, Sandeep Daga, director, Regsus work health of the global economy on the back of the out of the COVID-19-impacted area or cities. month, he believes, will be good for exporters. Consulting. In the last one month, LME copper prices have virus outbreak, but possibly supply disruptions “As of now, no manufacturing unit has “Lots of enquiries are coming from China,” he An industry official said that, usually, fallen by about 15 per cent. Hindustan Copper have not been taken into consideration. The curtailed steel production. So, if the government said. companies and bulk users finalise supply officials said, with virus-hit China slow in return world’s largest copper producer, Codelco, has is able to contain COVID-19, then we will not see On Chinese imports into India in light of the contracts with manufacturing companies at the to work, copper demand has taken a plunge. announced that it will reduce its operations. any impact on zinc consumption in the country rebates, Sharma said, it was not a threat. They end of the financial year. China is the largest user of copper in the world. This is to comply with a state of emergency for sure,” Sharma said. MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 FINANCE 3 . < SBI to provide ad hoc loan to Court sends Rana Kapoor to users affected by COVID-19

State Bank of India (SBI) will sanction are eligible. However, provide emergency loans at standard accounts classified 7.25 per cent (per annum) fixed as SMA 1 (overdue between judicial custody till April 2 rate of interest to existing 30 and 60 days) and SMA2 borrowers whose operations (overdue between 61 and 90 SUBRATA PANDA are impacted by COVID-19. The days) are not eligible for avail- Mumbai, 20 March Gopalakrishnan, scheme will be in force up to ing of this credit facility. R Gandhi named June 30. The maximum loan that he session’s court in The ad hoc loan facility, could be availed of under the Mumbai on Friday sent additional named COVID 19 Emergency special scheme is capped at TRana Kapoor, former Credit Line (CECL), is aimed at ~200 crore. managing director (MD) and directors meeting the temporary This loan facility shall be chief executive officer (CEO) of SUBRATA PANDA liquidity mismatch arising out made available as fund-based , to judicial custody Mumbai, 20 March of the virus outbreak, SBI limits only, SBI said. The max- till April 2. This came after the informed branches. imum brunt of COVID-19 fall- Enforcement Directorate (ED) The (RBI) All standard accounts as of out is being faced by business submitted before the court that on Friday appointed R Gandhi March 16 and till the date of establishments. ABHIJIT LELE it does not need Kapoor’s cus- and Ananth Narayan tody any further. Gopalakrishnan additional The Central Bureau of directors to the board of crisis- Investigation (CBI) has also hit YES Bank for a period of two moved a production warrant to YES Bank co-founder Rana Kapoor at the Arthur Road Jail in years. take Kapoor into custody. Mumbai on Friday PHOTO: KAMLESH PEDNEKAR This will be R Gandhi’s The CBI had filed a case second stint as an additional against Kapoor for allegedly Subash Chandra and Sameer Singh and the De Shaw group. director on the private sector obtaining illegal gratification by Gehlaut in connection with the The first three hold only lender’s board. The former acquiring a property in Delhi YES Bank case. Anil Ambani 16.64 per cent shares in the deputy RBI governor’s first term from Gautam Thapar’s Avantha was questioned by the ED on entity while the De Shaw group was to expire in May 2021 but group. In exchange, YES Bank Thursday and asked to furnish holds majority stake. The ED the central bank superseded waived the industrial house’s some important details which found that the loan of ~202 the previous board of YES Bank dues and advanced new loans. are crucial for the case, said an crore, sanctioned to Mack Star earlier this month. Earlier, Kapoor’s ED custody ED official. Ambani’s Reliance Marketing, was used by HDIL Gopalakrishnan, an associate was extended by four days to group is among the largest to pay off loans. The loan was professor at SP Jain Institute of March 20 while the ED had borrowers of the bank, with sanctioned to the entity with the Management and Research, is asked for a six-day custody. The an exposure of around specific purpose of renovating an international banking and former banker was arrested on ~13,000 crore. its office building. financial markets expert. He March 8 by the ED under the Ambani sought more time Further investigations have was previously Standard provisions of Prevention of from the agency to provide fur- revealed that about 78 compa- Chartered Bank's regional head Money Laundering Act and was ther clarifications on some spe- nies owned by Kapoor’s family of financial markets for ASEAN since in the ED’s custody. cific queries. The probe agency members were being controlled and South Asia. Kapoor told the court on Friday has asked him to appear again and managed by Kapoor him- According to the YES Bank that he was suffering from asth- on March 30. Other big default- self. The ED has also found that reconstruction scheme, ma, and because of his age, he is ers of YES Bank, who had been YES Bank had bought deben- the government had constit- vulnerable to coronavirus. The summoned by the ED to appear tures of Dewan Housing uted a four-member board. court has asked the jail author- this week, did not show up. Finance (DHFL) worth ~3,700 Prashant Kumar, the current ities to take appropriate precau- During investigations, the crore while the latter gave a loan administrator of the bank, was tions on this count. probe agency found that a loan to a firm owned by Kapoor’s appointed the managing Meanwhile, a number of of ~202 crore was sanctioned to daughters for ~600 crore. director and chief executive high-profile corporate promot- Mack Star Marketing, which is a Both the transactions were officer. Sunil Mehta, former ers were summoned by the joint venture among HDIL pro- suspicious as the company non-executive chairman of probe agency, including Anil moters Sarang Wadhawan & owned by Kapoor’s daughters PNB, was named the non- Ambani, Naresh Goyal, Kapil Rakesh Wadhawan, former did not have sufficient executive chairman of the and Dheeraj Wadhawan, PMC Bank chairman Waryam businesses or assets. bank.

Lenders to seek relaxation on loan repayment

SOMESH JHA Accounts (SMA)-1 or SMA- New Delhi, 20 March 2 accounts. SMA-1s are those in which loan repay- Lenders are set to demand ments have been overdue a host of relaxations on for a period between 31 and repayment of loans in a bid 60 days, while SMA 2 to tide over the COVID-19 accounts are the ones with crisis. These include a 90- a delay of 61-90 days. day relief in classifying Bankers foresee that the accounts as non-perform- COVID-19 impact on the ing assets (NPAs) and sector will last for six deferring installment of months. This is because term loans. businesses across all sectors The manage- will run dry on cash ment committee and even take of the Indian extreme measures Banks’ such as retrench- Association (IBA) ment to tide over. met on Friday Banks want easier and froze a set of CORONAVIRUS loan repayment demands that it PANDEMIC terms, a CEO of a will put up before bank, who was pres- the Reserve Bank (RBI) and ent in the meeting, said. the government. It will “We have decided to make a bid to help the sec- demand deferment of up tor and retail and corporate to six months in term-loan borrowers alike, IBA chief installments with a conse- executive officer Sunil quential shift in the repay- Mehta said over phone. ment period by six months. “We are asking for a 90- This will be left to the dis- day extension of the time- cretion of bankers. If line for slippage of a run- lenders feel that half of the ning account – both cash installment amount can be credit and overdraft – into deferred, as the payment NPA,” Mehta said. If bor- capacity of the borrower rowers are unable to repay has weakened, additional loans within 90 days of the six months can be given. due date, their loan Even full installment sums account is classified as NPA can be postponed on a by the banks right now. If case-to-case basis,” said the IBA’s recommenda- Mehta, who was earlier the tions are accepted, the NPA MD and CEO of PNB. tag will take six months. The COVID-19 has hit During the intervening several industries in India period, the accounts will and the impact is visible not be classified as a across all segments as cities ‘stressed asset’, technically head for a lockdown to known as Special Mention contain the spread. 4 CORONAVIRUS EFFECT MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 1 > PEOPLE’S CURFEW: A TRAILER From Maximum City to Millennium City, the impact of the deadly coronavirus on life and business has been uniform. Although there’s no complete shutdown order yet, the country is already in a state of a virtual lockdown

PHOTO: PTI PHOTO: SANJAY K SHARMA

Deserted CST railway station in Mumbai as several trains got cancelled and passengers preferred to stay home due to the Electronic display boards at Gurugram’s Cyber Hub, which are usually reserved for marque brands and shows, are flashing increasing coronavirus threat messages on how to stay away from the virus

MUMBAI GURUGRAM Trade goes into lockdown Millennium city at standstill

RAJESH BHAYANI and employees. Even on Thursday, in many of these markets ARNAB DUTTA contrast to the eerie silence elsewhere. The While till last week, temperature Mumbai, 20 March that were open, customers were missing. On Friday, most shops Gurugram, 20 March malls are shut, corporate groups have reading at the entrance was in place in just a were shut and the narrow streets empty. allowed work from home, and the few of these towers, now it is mandatory ven before Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the Till Thursday, local authorities’ efforts were to reduce t’s late afternoon and Rajesh Tiwari, residents have isolated themselves in everywhere. In some places, temperature E country to observe a janata curfew this Sunday, gathering of people, which has now changed to complete Iwho runs a non-descript corner shop at compliance with government advisories. scan has practically replaced the traditional Mumbai had already started taking the threat of closure of commercial premises, including wholesale Sushant Lok’s Vyapar Kendra, is sitting At Cyber Hub, the largest F&B cluster in the security check at the entrance. Compared coronavirus seriously as traffic and passengers on and retail markets in Mumbai. However, some of the without any customer. Located at the heart of the millennium city, the scene is a to last week, when this reporter had earlier public transport dwindled over the week. Most offices, markets had heeded to the government guidance and entrance of a popular retail hub, the outlet little different, from a distance. This visited Gurugram for a recce of coronavirus especially in the organised sector, are asking spun into action. Wholesale food market Agricultural selling soft drinks to cigarettes has been reporter finds office goers, rather rare impact in workplaces, clean-up exercise employees to work from home. Produce Market Committee in Vashi was kept closed doing brisk business for many years. But during the corona days, walking around. has been stepped up. Hand sanitizers seem Malls are shut except for essential items, street food on Thursday to facilitate disinfection and protect in the past 10 days, Tiwari’s sales have But a closer look reveals a dominant virus to be all over the counters at any office vendors have gone, and the famous khau gallis in market CORONAVIRUS participants from coronavirus. The diamond trade had been severely hit. theme in the otherwise happening building, while it’s tough to find faces areas are empty. Even parks and beaches are desolate. taken steps to decongest the Bharat Diamond Bourse at With the fear of coronavirus increasing, complex. Vast electronic display boards, without masks. Friday’s decision by the Maharashtra government to PANDEMIC the Bandra-Kurla Complex and Opera House on the regular customers are just not turning which on a normal day would flash about The drop off area outside the twin close all workplaces till March 31, except shops selling Thursday but will now be shut after Friday’s up these days. “Everybody is staying shows, events and brands, are running towers of One and Two Horizon Centres is essential commodities and financial markets, will mean that commercial area lockdown. home. The regular smokers are mostly precautionary messages on how to keep deserted, giving away the coronavirus there will be even less activity in Maximum City. Even the number of daily wage earners in these markets such using home delivery services,” Tiwari, 35, away COVID-19. The restaurants and food impact. In stark contrast to a normal day, C-ward, spread across five sq km in south Mumbai, is the hub as porters lugging goods has gone down. Around 10,000-12,000 says. Go a little further in the glitzy town of courts, that remind you of those European cab drivers are relaxed as they wait for for several retail and wholesale markets such as Zaveri Bazaar for such people are estimated to be working in C-ward alone and half Gurugram, best known for skyscraper cities, are all closed. passengers. jewellery, Lohar Chawl for electrical goods, and Mulji Jetha of them are estimated to have gone back to their villages in offices of multinationals, premium malls Across the hub, in Cyber City, most To keep a check on the spread of the market for textiles. The area is usually very crowded and sees interior Maharashtra or , given the challenge of and fancy apartments, some stores appear offices are operational, but that’s about all. virus, many housing societies have footfalls in hundreds of thousands including traders, customers, procuring food due to closure of eateries. busy. For instance, Shyam Store, a large- The attendance has dropped drastically stopped entry of domestic help, while format kirana outlet is packed with since Tuesday, when the state government some have restricted entry of daily vendors shoppers purchasing consumer staples came out with guidelines urging private supplying newspapers and milk. Also, like wheat flour, pulses and rice in bulk. enterprises to vacate offices as much as even as delivery personnel from e- Nearly a dozen store attendants, including possible. Move on to Cyber Greens, which commerce firms are being seen as a DELHI the manager, are trying to manage the houses firms like Nokia Solutions and lifeline, they are being stopped for crowd, which is stocking up in case there’s Networks, HP India, and United Airlines, temperature scanning before they can Staring nervously at end of business a full lockdown. The activity here is in the attendance is down by 75 per cent. enter any of the high-end apartments.

SUBHAYAN CHAKRABORTY will be disastrous for me if that happens as because anyway I can’t afford to pay back KOLKATA affected because of COVID-19, they don’t New Delhi, 20 March most of my inventory remains unsold and my loans,” says a dejected Kumar, whose see the jostling crowds as a threat to their suppliers are getting anxious over hole-in-the-wall shop sells leather bags, health and safety. he idea of maintaining a one-metre payments,” says Sudheer Jain, a retailer of belts and wallets. The last lot of these “Kolkata is the land of Goddess Kali. Tdistance from people is a concept so iron pipes and fixtures in Hauz Qazi. remain unsold as footfall has dwindled. Footfall, but no trade She will protect no matter what virus foreign in the traffic-choked lanes and “People in Delhi like to conduct Across the road, Nafeez’s 12-year-old attacks,” says a metal trader in his 40s, bylanes of Old Delhi that residents are business the old way. Even regular meat business, Calcutta Meat Shop, is nonchalantly spitting out gutka juice. amazed that the municipal authorities customers who trust our products come facing an existential crisis. The rumours AVISHEK RAKSHIT the day the virus broke out in India. Both Clearly, he is not aware that the state has even bothered to suggest it. over to sign the orders in person. Now, and WhatsApp forwards have begun to Kolkata, 20 March wholesale as well as retail trading are asked people not to spit in public places as “Has Modi ji or Kejriwal ji ever visited most are cancelling their visits due to the take their toll. “People stay away from non- affected. If people die in the state one of the measures to fight the virus. Chawri Bazaar? There is hardly any space virus,” Jain says. veg during such times, even though he public health advisories in the because of this virus, business will be hit Ironically, near the Cathedral of the to walk, as thousands jostle with each At nearby Khari Baoli, one of India’s doctors have stressed that consuming Twake of the COVID-19 outbreak seem further,” says Ranjit Singh Arora, owner Most Holy Rosary, a landmark near the other over these bad roads,” Prakash largest markets for dried fruits and spices, chicken does not cause coronavirus. But to have fallen on deaf ears in Burrabazar, of Maa Kali Traders. market, there is street vendor peddling Aggarwal exclaims from behind a desk shopkeepers are in a bind over how to deal people are not listening,” he says tiredly, one of Kolkata’s largest wholesale Cloth merchant Shekhar Singh is single-use masks for ~60 a piece. That overflowing with mechanical parts. with the current crisis. “People usually looking around his empty shop. markets. Here, the crowds are as thick as equally despondent. “I used to sell 150 seems to be Burrabazar’s only concession Aggarwal’s 43-year-old shop, which pick up a little bit to taste or inspect. I can’t ever, street vendors are as numerous and metres of cloth per day. This has now to the fact that these are extraordinary caters to dealers of light hydraulic ensure that they will do so after washing The party fizzling out raucous as ever, and but for a few harried come down to 25. Business has been hit times. Traders here are also unanimously machines, is located in Gali Ghasi Ram, their hands,” says an exasperated Bhajan In high street Connaught Place, the state home guards and civic volunteers, no badly,” he says. opposed to any lockdown of the market. where residents continue to work and Ram, owner of a dried fruits business. government’s order to close all food and one seems to be perturbed that a deadly, But that has not stopped shop owners “It is a disease of the rich and rich people play, without face masks and seemingly beverage businesses is making people highly contagious virus is going around, who source their wares from the wholesale don’t come shopping here,” says cloth unruffled by the panic over the Deserted markets nervous. “The police have started infecting and killing people by the market from stocking up. “It would be merchant Singh. “What will we eat if coronavirus pandemic. In East Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, a popular visiting all the bars and nightclubs, thousands. irrational not to stock up owing to any shops are closed and there is no “Business has been slow since last year garment market, the streets are empty ordering them to shut down. If this place Though streets and commercial scare. Business is down at the moment, but business?” asks Agarwal. and we’ve got used to orders getting and quiet. “Things can only go bad for is shut for the next 10 days, at least five of establishments in the rest of Kolkata were I need to be ready when it recovers,” says Shop owners reveal that after the cancelled. I doubt if this virus can ruin retailers like us when customers don’t us on weekly wages will be without a relatively empty on Friday, in Burrabazar Bapi Tulakdar, coughing into his hand as Centre issued the ban on the entry of things further,” says Aggarwal’s neighbour step out,” says Balram, the shop manager job,” says Ravinder, a bouncer at a in central Kolkata, which houses nearly he does so. The precautions to be taken international travellers into India, Afzal Sheikh, who is a wholesaler of pump at the sprawling Oswal Fashion watering hole. 1,000 registered and unregistered shops, against the spread of COVID-19 have Bangladeshis, who account for around sets. Most business owners swing between showroom. With workers fleeing to the Others have their own problems. and witnesses daily transactions of more obviously passed him by. 40 per cent of the total buyers in the this cautious optimism and fear of major villages, the cost of labour is inching up MBA student Ravi is out on his first date than ~100 crore, it seems to be business as Some traders say that part of the market, have dwindled. losses in the densely populated 6.1 sq km and the supply chain has been hit. Daily with a batchmate. “We managed to sneak usual. However, many of the traders here frenetic activity in the market is due to “Footfall has reduced since the urban ghetto of historical Old Delhi. business, usually pegged at ~1.8-2 lakh out of campus, but half the places here say that despite the crowds, business has panic buying. Shankar Agarwal of India coronavirus outbreak in India and it is Despite the restrictions that have this time of the year, has nosedived to are closing down, while others are jam- been down since the coronavirus Canvas Company, which sells industrial expected to go down further because the come in the wake of the COVID-19 ~45,000 now, he adds. packed. I had planned a dinner tonight outbreak. They insist that the area is polymers, plastic and tarpaulin, says that Bangladeshis are now headed home. The outbreak, this bustling distribution hub Smaller businesses have taken a harder and this is embarrassing, to say the crowded only because of the office-goers some people are stocking up their stores in business from Indian locals has also been for goods is yet to shut down. “But it’s hit. “People tell me, don’t open your shop least,” he says, glancing at his friend. “I who pass through it — not because advance because they are uncertain as to affected due to the panic around coming soon. The market association has or you’ll get infected,” says 62-year-old want this to be over soon,” he adds. business is thriving. what the future holds. But though many coronavirus,” says Mukesh Luthra, owner called for a total bandh from March 21. It Ashwani Kumar. “Well, it doesn’t matter So does the rest of the world. “Our sales are 90 per cent down since acknowledge that business has been of a garment store.

Market with 400 fruit and vegetable stalls, was desert- BENGALURU ed. Since last weekend, the stall owners had suffered losses of 70-75 per cent every day. “The market is losing ~7-8 lakh a day. The fish and poultry units have completely shut as there is no busi- Traffic jams come to a halt ness happening with most restaurants closed as they were the biggest buyers,” said Javeed Sait, joint secre- tary of the Russell Market Association. SAMREEN AHMAD was eerily empty. None of the popular eateries — Oye Despite the lack of customers, the shops remain Bengaluru, 20 March Amritsar, The White Room and Bheema’s — were open. open as no order to close has come from the “Our business has gone down 90 per cent. I do not government, said Sait. The government has, however, n the city with the worst traffic in the world, COVID- know if I will be able to pay the salaries of my seven ordered the closure of all malls, theatres, educational I 19 has wrought a miracle — no traffic jams. As malls, helpers next month. I have requested my landlord to institutes and commercial establishments for a week. offices, schools, and colleges remain shut, the traffic in waive the rent at least for next month,” said Shantanu Later, it extended the partial lockdown to March-end. Bengaluru has fallen by 40-45 per cent. The shops on Karmakar who owns a small Chinese food joint on The state has so far reported 14 positive COVID-19 the normally bustling Brigade Road have been open Church Street. cases and one death. Residents have been told to visit but with no customer in sight. The line of autorickshaw At the famous Empire restaurant on the corner of relatives in hospital only if absolutely necessary. Friday drivers, who used to park at MG Road, adjacent to Church Street, which used to have a waiting time of 20 prayers in mosques have been limited to 15 rather than Brigade Road, has gone awol. minutes at lunchtime, three diners enjoyed a solitary the usual 60 minutes. The number of worshippers vis- Church Street, thronged by visitors throughout the meal. Business was down 70 per cent, said the manag- iting the famous Banashankari Amma temple at Church Street, which is normally frequented by visitors throughout the day day because of its hundreds of cafes and restaurants, er. Three kilometres away, the wholesale Russell Kanakpura Road have decreased by 60 per cent. because of its cafes and restaurants, looks eerily empty PHOTO: SAMREEN AHMAD 8 ISSUES AND INSIGHTS MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 >

which has seen extremely active Dalit pol- itics; and he is a Dalit in a party that has not One state, many possibilities been able to establish itself in a state where To test is politics, at least superficially, has been anti- Is approaching a post-Dravidian era in politics with Rajinikanth talking Hindu ritualism. It is hard to assess the impact Murugan’s humane about spirituality in politics while the BJP does the ground work? appointment will have in the state immedi- ately. But it does say something for the BJP’s ust as global concern thought the promised party was here. But the smart will start capitalising on it. future political trajectory as the party sees it. about India’s abysmally press conference was a non-starter (more Rajinikanth has to move quickly, in the Is the state ready for political campaigns by J low levels of testing in "only good will happen", "do not want to circumstances. So far he has spoken in race Adityanath, for example? What will be the the face of the COVID-19 epi- become prime minister" stuff). We now hear and nationality-neutral terms. Although he relationship between the BJP and Rajini ?If demic is mounting along a political party might be launched in April. came out publicly against the critics of the Rajini’s political aim continues to be to defeat comes news in this country of Frankly, time is running out. Assembly Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), charg- DMK, then his best bet is the AIADMK. But paradoxes and contradictions elections in Tamil Nadu are due in May 2021. ing that it was not anti-minority, he did send he wants to defeat the AIADMK as well. that one of the most conven- Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam and a signal to CAA protestors in Chennai by This makes him a natural fit for the BJP. ient hand-held devices to test TTV Dhinakaran's Amma Makkal Munnetra agreeing to meet leader of the Islamic com- But the BJP has just appointed a chief whose whether a person is infected Kazhagam are already on the scene. munity. He wants his party to work towards political negotiating skills are as yet untested. has been developed in India. Relations between the ruling All India Anna ending corruption; and good governance. In Two things are possible: that L Murugan, COUNTRY CODE MolBio Diagnostics, a PLAIN POLITICS Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and a state where politics is dominated by push- despite a record of serious work, might turn Bengaluru-based biotech firm, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), otherwise ing back Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan, Rajini- out to be a figurehead with the real political RAHUL JACOB has developed one that “can be ADITI PHADNIS allies, are uncomfortable at best with dueling kanth’s intervention will have to be more decisions for the growth and development of used at the airport, in villages, between top leaders out in the open, though than just equivocation. BJP in Tamil Nadu being taken elsewhere; or any other public place to give results within an hour,” ajinikanth, actor and now politician, both parties have said officially they don’t In the parallel, there’s another interesting or the anti-DMK vote, from being split according to a report in The Ken. Better still, it costs just announced on December 31, 2017, that endorse the comments of their leader. Barely development. L Murugan has been between the AIADMK and BJP, might now ~1,500, less than a third of the government’s administered Rhe would enter politics. The vehicle a month ago, after the BJP’s poor showing in appointed the BJP chief in Tamil Nadu after split three, maybe four, ways. test. In Senegal, the Pasteur Institute has combined experi- for his entry? So far, he has created a website the local body elections in Tamil Nadu, state the previous — and largely ineffectual — In the R K Nagar Assembly by-election, ence from developing yellow fever vaccines with instant and mobile app for registered and unregis- minister D Jayakumar criticised then BJP chief, Tamilisai Soundararajan , was the BJP candidate polled even fewer votes pregnancy home test kits to prototype an even easier test tered fan clubs (mandrams). More than state chief Pon Radhakrishnan for his remark appointed governor of six months than those who voted NOTA. In the October for $1, but that is still three months away from being ready 300,000 have registered on the website. These that the state was a "terrorist hub" following ago. Murugan was vice-chairman of the 2019 by-elections to two Assembly constit- by which time, this epidemic may have overwhelmed inten- are thought to be his core supporters. His slo- the killing of special sub-inspector Y Wilson National Commission for Scheduled Castes, uencies, the party did not contest. sive care units in Europe, the US and Australia. MolBio gan? “Do good, speak good and only good will posted on the Tamil Nadu- border by an advocate, and was an active member of Is Tamil Nadu approaching a post- already uses a variation to test for tuberculosis in Andhra happen”. People are still waiting for his polit- elements suspected to have links with Daesh. the RSS. He belongs to the Arunthathiyar Dravidian era in politics with Rajinikanth Pradesh. Xcyton can go beyond a positive/negative result ical party. It’s political aim? Defeating the Jayakumar said Pon Radhakrishnan did community which is just 3.7 per cent of Tamil talking about spirituality in politics and put- on the SARS-CoV-2 virus and identify what kind of virus it Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). nothing for Tamil Nadu when he was a Union Nadu’s population, but has been politically ting his faith in doing good, speaking and is. In both cases, the companies — and India — would be This is why his press engagement earlier minister (in the Vajpayee government). In influential. Murugan has a double disadvan- expecting only good to happen, while the helped by faster approvals of testing equipment by govern- this month had his supporters agog. Everyone other words, squabbling has started and the tage: He is a Dalit political worker in a state BJP does the ground work? ment agencies and a ramping up of the production of rea- gents required for the tests, which are currently imported. It is rare today to have something approaching unanimity on any subject. This week, we (almost) achieved that. LUNCH WITH BS > SUJEET KUMAR, VAIBHAV GUPTA & AMOD MALVIYA | CO-FOUNDERS, UDAAN Everyone from Biocon’s Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to Ramanan Laxminarayan, who heads the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy in Washington DC, to the executive link through ShareIt. director of Narayana Health were calling for much higher The initial investment to start levels of testing in India. The bar chart of testing per million their business was put up by the of population globally shows India (and Pakistan) at the three of them. But soon they bottom; India’s rate of testing is so tiny (roughly 10 per mil- Soaring high started receiving feelers from lion) that our ratios do not even merit a bar. Mazumdar- the VC community given their Shaw sensibly suggested IT giants could fund testing of their credentials. “One thing we knew own quarantined employees, for a start. Kumar, Gupta and Malviya talk to Bibhu Ranjan was that we would build some- The rare exception is the head of the Indian Council of thing that will be different, but we Medical Research, who has said that the World Health Mishra about how udaan took flight did not know exactly what that Organization’s worried assessment that countries need to would be. We also knew we test much more widely is “premature’. Gautam Menon, an s we get busy with our conversation, they thought of starting something would raise money once expert at Ashoka University, told me, “We are not doing I realise that while the world outside together. The first one to leave we had reached a certain enough testing to pick up community cases. The govern- A might be lauding their venture as the (Flipkart) was Kumar who was scale.” Before long, they ment seems to be steadfastly sticking to its stand that there fastest-growing Unicorn in India, the the third employee at the firm were convinced by a are no cases in the community. This worries me.” founders of udaan would rather downplay handling the logistics busi- close friend to raise It should worry us all. India’s estimate of COVID-19 cases the fact. That is understandable. Startup val- ness, Ekart, though he funds if they got the at less than 250 and our government’s claim that there are uations are unpredictable, dependent as they spent few more months right value. no undetected cases of infection that happened within our are on myriad factors. On top of that, the with the company in After that, every- bustling cities because of exposure to infected international three entrepreneurs whom I am meeting Singapore to ensure thing moved at light- travellers are not credible. People infect people for days over lunch have learnt the rules of the game the transition. Gupta, ning speed. before symptoms are visible. The government’s implausible the hard way. who was based in Lightspeed Venture argument means, in effect, that India has been able to trace As we sit down at Go Native, a restaurant Seattle, went on a nine- invested around $10 mil- and quarantine every person international travellers who in HSR Layout, Bengaluru, I tell myself I could month sabbatical from lion as part of series A during tested positive for COVID-19 came into contact with after perhaps use that startup cliché to describe all mid-July 2015. the pre-product stage in touching down in India. three — they are self-made. Sujeet Kumar and “After working at a crazy October 2016. The next one was Indeed, without more testing and quick results, many Amod Malviya have their ancestral homes in pace for many years suddenly a $50 million round almost a more people will be tempted to lie to hospitals and govern- a remote town in ’s Kaimur district; you find a lot of time to kill,” says year later, followed by another ment officials to evade quarantine, thus putting medical Vaibhav Gupta, who was born in Haryana’s Kumar. “My wife never fails to $225 million as part of series C in personnel at greater risk. In Kerala alone, the admirable Sonipat, grew up in Rohtak. remind me that the day after resign- August 2018 at a valuation of over monitoring of about 30 cases has required isolating 31,000 Our restaurant does not look anything ing from Flipkart I was out of the $1 billion. In October 2019, it people, mostly at home. Even with the Kerala chief minister like an eatery from the outside, despite being house by 9.30 am. For the next few ILLUSTRATION: AJAY MOHANTY raised $585 million from Tencent, and its health minister heroically leading from the front, located along a busy main road. I am pleas- days, almost every day, I was at Altimeter, Footpath Ventures and Kerala’s robust health system is under strain. antly surprised seeing the ethnic artwork on Starbucks, meeting people,” adds Malviya other names — like “Tiggi” — until one of Hillhouse among others in series D, which The other reason India needs more testing is that it is display (and also for sale) in the first two who met Kumar and Gupta only after joining them stumbled upon the fact that the person valued the company at $2.8 billion, making it pretty much incapable of social distancing for both eco- floors that are connected by a wooden stair- Flipkart. The other two, however, had known who had blocked the “udaan” domain name the fastest-growing Indian startup. nomic and sociological reasons. As Laxminarayan said in case. The place where we are sitting has each other from much before: Gupta was a had put it up for sale. In no time, money was Udaan is almost synonymous now with an interview with The Wire, work from home and social dis- enough daylight — the owners of the restau- batch senior to Kumar at IIT-Delhi. In fact, transferred from Gupta’s dollar account to the speed at which start-ups aspire to grow. tancing are a luxury for India’s poor who use crowded public rant would have worked hard to recreate as Sachin Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart, was the seller’s account. By April 2016, the trio “Now people have started saying, ‘I am build- transport and live in slums and one-room tenements. much of a natural ambience as possible. Go Kumar’s junior at IIT-Delhi and both were was ready to take the plunge. The office was ing the udaan of Indonesia or the udaan of Meanwhile, those who can afford to stay home are unable Native has a vegetarian menu. residents of the same hostel. inaugurated at Koramangala’s Sony Signal Vietnam’,” chuckles Malviya. to resist the temptation to visit family and socialise — on As we start talking and the three — who Amid much boredom, Kumar and with just nine people including them. That said, the udaan co-founders know the assumption perhaps that epidemics befall other people. are in their late 30s — pepper their story with Malviya decided to pay Gupta, who was in Over the next few months, they visited they have hardly scratched the surface given The Kerala family of three that had returned from Italy and jokes and giggles, I can't help feeling they Seattle, a visit. That was November 2015 and several towns such as Coimbatore, Vizag, the opportunity that B2B ecommerce offers. gotten past airport controls had contact with 1,000 people resemble college students more than work- the three of them agreed they would “start Mysuru, Kochi and Hubli to meet retailers According to Gupta, udaan supplies around in places ranging from a jewellery store to a post office and ing professionals. We decide to order the something”. Over the next few months, they and understand their pain points. The two 5,000-6,000 tonnes of food a day even while a church in just a few days. As Adam Kucharski, a professor food first before getting into any serious dis- did a lot of research and finally in February major problems were supply chain and credit the top 100 cities in India alone consume at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and cussion. Kumar orders a desi sizzler, which of 2016, when they went to the US again, they availability. By August-September of 2016, around 200,000 tonnes of food per day. So author of the very readable book The Rules of Contagion, is a thali comprising khichdi, paratha, curry decided they would do something in the while visiting these places, the udaan co- roughly, udaan supplies just around 1 per cent said recently, “You might be younger but you are often one and pickle, along with a solkhandi, a coconut business-to-business (B2B) space. Much of founders started picking up sample products of the total inventory of the retailers, leaving a step away from someone who will be hit very hard by this.” juice-based drink with a lot of herbs and that discussion happened over a long drive from suppliers to gauge the interest level of lot of room to scale up. “In terms of reach, we I broke out of my own erratic social distancing routines spices. Gupta settles for a millet-palak between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. the buyers. Since the app was not up, they are in most cities. But in terms of the percent- on Monday to visit Baptist Hospital’s end-of-life khichdi with a ragi buttermilk. Malviya A number of ecommerce companies — used to jot down the orders on paper and age of their monthly requirement they buy care team for about an hour. Watching a short video of its makes it clear that he had a late breakfast including Indiamart and Tolexo (also an send them to potential suppliers. from us, we have a long way to go,” says Gupta. doctors visiting penniless cancer patients, who had hitherto and orders some jaggery and coconut barfis. Indiamart company) — were eyeing the B2B The first order came in September of 2016 While udaan largely services the supply been dying mostly unattended in villages near Bengaluru, Though a bit intrigued by their choice of space by then. In fact, a VC investor who had from Mysuru. In fact, they received two orders chain and credit (financing) requirements of moved me to tears. The heroism of the hospital’s care-givers food, I decide to go with the flow and end up evaluated the space that time had found that on the same day — one for garments and the its clients, it can offer much more leveraging was humbling and understated, but even here there was ordering a desi sizzler and a ragi butter milk, there were at least 300 B2B ecommerce com- other for mobile accessories. The orders were the customer data it has accumulated over concern at India’s hospitals being overwhelmed if the pan- which I realise later is too heavy for a working panies, though mostly vertical players procured from Chikpet (a wholesale market this period. One area where udaan could pos- demic were to spread as rapidly as in Europe, the US and Monday afternoon. focused on categories such as industrial pro- in Bengaluru) and dispatched using a travel sibly chip in is customer acquisition and Australia. The Modi government should honour medical Sipping the drink that was served in a ducts and food, says Malviya. agent they knew since Ekart days. engagement. Or even with ways to make the professionals across India by approving and funding much jiffy, Kumar says, it is just a coincidence that The next task was zeroing in on a name By November that year, the beta version inventory management at the store level more testing. Few decisions in government could be all three of them resigned from Flipkart — preferably a short one that could be of the app was ready though access to it was more efficient by giving retailers better so straightforward. around the same time (mid-2015). It was only remembered easily. The domain name restricted. It could only be downloaded when understanding of stock movement, agree the later when they spoke with each other that “udaan” was not available so they considered an udaan executive sent the shop owners a co-founders. The holi virus Surviving togetherness

year, it crossed 200,000 people. There were plastic water tanks. out of my face,” my daughter warned at each other, but at least we’ll eat well. stampedes, shortage of water and toilets What took the cake was that the Tagore’s him. “I’ve told them to fend for them- My wife, meanwhile, dispatched and the university authorities decided university area too was blocked out by bam- selves,” my wife was immediately on minions to stock up on the dal-chawal enough was enough. They declared that boo barricades and tin sheets. Tagore’s fes- the phone with her friend Sarla, “I’m of our daily needs — coconuts for chut- this year the festival would not be held on tival of beauty had truly become a celebra- not taking care of them.” No one could ney, sugar for desserts, dry fruits, holi which is a public holiday but on some tion of slummy ugliness. The argument was accuse us of breaching the norms of spices, condiments, enough potatoes other day in spring. that this was all to restrict the lumpen ele- social distancing. and onions to feed an army, rice, flour The hotel lobby and the tourist trade fore- ments in the crowd from jumping fences to My daughter-in-law, the family and oil, lentils and pickles, requiring saw a huge dip in revenue and approached enter the university’s core area and get near hypochondriac and apothecary, was several trips to the neighbourhood the small business-friendly Mamata govern- the student hostels. the first to break the no-hoarding rule, shops and haranguing matches with ment to intervene. The compromise solution Decades ago, tourists who came to having sent off the cook, her husband their owners if they refused to part with PEOPLE LIKE THEM was that the festival would be held on the Santiniketan were hopeful that their stay PEOPLE LIKE US as well as the driver to different stores the quantities of tissue paper, deter- KEYA SARKAR day of holi but the university would only would coincide with some adivasi festival to buy enough “essential” medicines gents, soaps, toothpastes and shampoo arrange for the cultural programme while and they would be able to catch a glimpse KISHORE SINGH to stock a pharmacy. When I protested, that she deemed indispensable to our the state administration would take the of their immensely beautiful rhythmic she pointed out that the chemist shops survival. All our cars are tanked up with ven in these dire days of riots and responsibility of all other arrangements. music and dance. For tourists of today, very family lies, but mine prob- were her source for various unguents, fuel, though we have nowhere to go; viruses, it never fails to lift my spirits. Having abdicated its role, the university things are much easier. Many adivasi dance ably lies more than others. powders and lotions. “If we are to be subscriptions for TV and Netflix have EEvery morning, as I walk to my work- sat back to watch what the administration groups have calling cards and well-heeled E When offices in the NCR began stuck together,” she said, “I need to been topped up. Someone thought to shop, I marvel at how beautiful Santiniketan planned. With an obvious eye on municipal tourists can call them to come and perform to shut as a precautionary measure look better than everyone else for order an additional internet connec- is in spring. Tagore, who wrote many an ode elections in the near future and Assembly as they sip on their single malts. against the coronavirus, as presump- when we Skype with friends and tion so that entertainment can stream to this season, actually instituted a little fes- elections soon after, the state held out an I wondered why the university tive head of the clan, I assembled all family.” When this is past, I guarantee in seamlessly. tival to usher in the spring by students of his expenditure chest of ~1 crore to make authorities would want students to make members into a room to read them the there’ll be enough make-up left to start Last evening, my daugter school and university. arrangements. The newspapers alleged that spectacles of themselves in front of lumpens riot act. We’re an educated family, I a parlour. noticed there wasn’t sufficient gin in The tradition of celebrating “Basanto the vice-chancellor was then summoned who might scale fences to get close to stu- said, let’s not act like the mindless hor- My son, the realist, said we had to the bar, so we decided on a pit-stop to Utsav” as it was named, on the day of holi to Delhi and his decision to hand over such dent hostels. Why would their families allow des who spread misinformation over be practical and insisted I withdraw the liquor store to top up our alcoholic has been a reality in the University since a social festival to the Trinamool their wards to so participate? WhatsApp, hoard essential supplies, and keep cash handy. Unusually for supplies — whisky, vodka, rum, beer then. First, students would put up a formal on a platter was questioned by his Anyway, the good news came in as I was or cause unnecessary panic. The coun- him, he offered to run the errand for and accompaniments such as tonic song and dance programme and afterwards, Bharatiya Janata Party bosses. Like all else trying to wrap my head around these try, I added philosophically, had me, and then used it to go grocery water, juices, colas, and such fruits as they would split into little groups to continue this too had become a pawn for political thoughts. Two days before the event, by enough for our need, but not our shopping, filling his car with such are essential for making cocktails, the same. The audience was locals and a few one-upmanship. which time much of the ~1 crore of tax payers’ greed. And finally, I added, we should “necessities” as cartons of noodles and punches and sangria. There are suffi- Rabindrasangeet aficionados from Kolkata. They covered the field where the pro- money had been spent in making arrange- see our confinement not as unbear- pasta, tins, packets and jars of pro- cient chips and nachos, crackers and However, in recent years the tourists, gramme was to be held in a maze of bam- ments, the university decided to cancel the able punishment — which it is, of cessed foods and sauces. We’re well lavash. We’re as well supplied as we’re mainly from Kolkata, made this festival boo much like in political rallies. The field programme because of the COVID-19 scare. course — but as an opportunity to supplied with sausages and cheeses, likely to be. Now to see how well we their own. The hotel lobby couldn’t be hap- was surrounded by Indian style pots cov- Tagore is dead. Long live Tagore, I renew bonds and refresh relation- jams and chocolates. We may find it survive our incarceration together. pier. The crowds swelled each year till last ered with ugly gleaming tin. And uglier thought to myself. ships. “What crap,” said my son. “Stay difficult to swallow the words we hurl Watch this space. OPINION 9 > Volume VII Number 34 MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 tected than us. They expect us to be around, WEEKEND RUMINATIONS watching, reporting, editing, recording this for posterity, and blowing the whistle to draw T N NINAN Journalism in the attention to injustices and state failures. In sit- uations like this wretched coronavirus calam- ity, we journalists are the first responders of Social mobilisation justice — and history. If we fail to do so, it will be a failure so colos- f the seven countries that have more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19, four are time of corona sal that we might as well stop calling ourselves the largest economies of continental Europe: Italy, Germany, France, and journalists. And mind you, just because some Spain. Other than China, the source of the virus outbreak, Asia has one country of us fail this test, not everyone will. Some hon- in the list: Iran. The seventh country in the 10,000+ list is the United States. Coronavirus is the biggest story of our lives and a billion-plus ourable people from our professional clan will O shine. The future generations will forever have As for the nine countries that have between 1,000 and 10,000 cases, all but one are also people expect us to be around, watching, reporting, editing, in Europe (the solitary Asian country on this second list is South Korea). The other Asian some journalists of this era to admire. Those countries with the largest populations (India, Indonesia, Japan) have relatively few cases recording this for posterity and blowing the whistle to draw who miss out won’t be forgotten easily. Just that they won’t be remembered in the way they’d so far, with India having the least among these at about 200. Even Israel, nominally in attention to injustices and state failures wish to be. Asia but with close to half its nine-million population of European/Russian extraction, has more than three times India’s number affected so far. have always believed that everything ulti- If India were to follow Europe’s trajectory, relative to population, it would have a ou have to be reckless, even impertinent and his is a deadly global pandemic. Every coun- Imately turns out to be “less worse” than it couple of lakh affected, and an unmanageable crisis, whereas China has probably peaked a little nutty to steal the headline of your col- T try is caught in its own problems, every man seems to begin with. I’ve been right always, with at about 80,000 cases. As for other continents, Africa, with a population slightly smaller Yumn from Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The truth for himself. In his address to the nation on one exception: The tsunami. I’d say, all of us will than India’s, has four or five times the number of COVID-19 cases reported so far. Latin is, we journalists are usually all three of these. Thursday, the prime minister made an important survive this and have stories to tell through the If we are also generally forgiven for these flaws point: That today, no country is in a position to rest of our lives. We journalists are like cock- America, with half India’s population, has more than 10 times India’s number of cases. and more, it is because people, by and large, know help another. roaches, and this isn’t meant to be an insult to This is a radically different experience from earlier virus epidemics, which mostly where we are coming from. In so many years, in India is alone in this. We have a complex, the poor insect. It is just that, like them, we shall affected people in the country or continent where they originated. The Ebola virus out- fact, decades, in journalism, I have never been messy country with lots and lots of people less survive anything. break of 2014, which originated in West Africa, claimed most of its victims from that treated rudely or in an uncivil manner by almost privileged and resourceful than us. One of the Someone asked me a good question in the continent. Similarly, the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of 2003 anyone, even those who might have had reason to great gifts of India to us journalists is the respect newsroom in this stressful week. What if things saw 90 per cent of the 8,000 affected being from China (the originating point) and Hong be angry. and freedoms we are instinctively given. We must turned real bad and some of us also died while Kong; those affected in Europe and North America were only in the hundreds. And the In riots, insurgencies, calamities, election cam- remember where the social contract I mentioned on the story? The answer is simple: Even in the paigns, we journalists find we are generally treated earlier comes from. The freedom of the press is most unlikely event of such a thing happening, overwhelming majority of those affected by HIV-Aids have been in Africa, the source of well, and with respect. Even the rough guys, whose hardly codified by any law or the Constitution. there will be some journalists covering the story. the outbreak. COVID-19 is very different in the pattern thus far of who gets hit most. cause might need them to kill with passion, would Article 19 applies to each citizen equally and Journalism will do its job. This must surprise. The East Asian region, with its dense aviation network, would often share their meals with you, escort you to accords no special rights to us journalists. Twice in his speech on Thursday, the prime ordinarily be considered more vulnerable because of its more limited medical resources, safety. The odd exception apart. There is honour Until Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, we took minister listed the media among essential serv- more crowded habitations, and poorer public health standards. These factors may still among thieves. our freedoms for granted. And when she took it ices, like doctors, hospital staff, police, and gov- come into play. South Korea has followed one approach by doing widespread testing. It Where does this come from? Who taught the bil- all away, there was nowhere to go to. Not even ernment officers. Frankly, it’s a happy change to consequently has larger numbers reported; early discovery has helped take action to lion-plus people of this vast and to the courts. It is, then, that the be described as an essential service. In the dec- diverse nation that journalists are people of India, enormously ades we were growing up, we were mostly control the problem. In contrast, India and Japan are said to have under-tested for the important to them? That they are poorer and less literate than described as a pestilence! disease, as has the United States. Their numbers could explode once testing is stepped decent folk they can trust the today, realised that among the We must believe we are important and pro- up. Indeed, India’s numbers are beginning to show signs of the same exponential growth stories of their lives with, even things she had stolen from them vide an essential service. Our pride, our self- that has been recorded elsewhere. political views. was a free press. That it was a esteem, our sense of destiny all emanate from So it is just as well that the prime minister has upped the ante with a national If you travel during election particularly cheap thing for her that one belief: That we matter. Issues with the broadcast in which he warned that India would not escape lightly, and focused on campaigns, you’d be struck by how to do. That it would never want establishment, we will always have. But who, in taking the fight beyond what governments can do, and on making citizens responsible welcoming and generous people any establishment to be able to which democracy, doesn’t? are to journalists they may have do so. That’s where this social Watch the insults Donald Trump routinely for their own well-being. The game is prevention, since mitigation efforts following never known. It is remarkable how contract came from. This is the hurls at the finest American bylines and the any spread of the disease to epidemic scale would be hampered by inadequate medical forthcoming even the women in NATIONAL INTEREST equivalent of the First greatest institutions in global media. Or, take resources. If it works, it would be Narendra Modi’s second successful experiment in the poorest villages have become. Amendment for Indian journal- inspiration from the BBC when, in the midst of social mobilisation. This is a unique social contract SHEKHAR GUPTA ism. But, if they so value and pro- the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher attacked The first such exercise by Mr Modi was his campaign asking better-off consumers between the people of India and tect our freedoms, they will it for not being patriotic enough and treating the to voluntarily give up their access to subsidised cooking gas cylinders. Larger and faster their journalists. also judge whether we justify them two antagonists equally. “The BBC needs no les- exclusions from the subsidy regime could have been achieved through direct government The bedrock of this is their belief that we do our or not. son in patriotism from the present British action, but Mr Modi chose to ask people to volunteer — and followed it up by saying that jobs diligently and bravely. That’s why the first call I hear you, fellow journalists, when some of Conservative Government,” said Richard Francis, so many aggrieved people across the country make, you express fears. No one, at least no one sensible, who then headed BBC Radio. “The widow of the money saved would go to a worthy cause. Asking the country to observe a “janata when the government or the police aren’t listening is ever totally fearless. Fear is good and self-pres- Portsmouth is no different from the widow of curfew” is the second such exercise and could be a precursor to more ambitious follow- to them, is to a media organisation. ervation a vital instinct. As old wisdom goes, jaan Buenos Aires.” through measures, though asking people to stand in their doorways and clap for five All these are exactly the expectations they have hai, toh jahaan hai (the world matters to me only We will keep questioning and irritating gov- minutes is plain corny. There are more meaningful ways of showing appreciation for from us as we now deal with what could be the big- if I am alive). No one need be reckless. Experience ernments. They will retaliate. This game will go those busy battling a potential epidemic. gest story of our lives, the coronavirus threat. We, taught me this wading through troubled and vio- on. Just that the intensity or nastiness will vary Only a leader with sufficient moral authority with voters can pull off such experi- the kinship of Indian journalism, will be tested as lent places in my years as a danger-junkie. The from one regime to another. But, a crisis like this ments. In a limited way this harks back to some features of the freedom movement. As never before. Future generations of Indians will hold last thing any decent newsroom leader would should make us toss those worries away for now. us to this. Let’s recall that famous World War-I British want is to expose anyone to undue risk. So, fasten your seat belts. Journalism in the time another variant, Mao’s China was also known for its social mobilisation, with the added recruitment poster: Daddy, what did YOU do in the But we are journalists. As the biggest story of corona is a story like no other yet. element of coercion, and underlines the point that this can be a double-edged sword. Great War? of our lives plays out, there are a billion-plus It is that kind of a moment for us. people enormously more fearful and less pro- By special arrangement with ThePrint

decamped to their villages. At the ysis of the addictive habit of idling ground realities. In metropolitan upper end of the scale the HR the hours away, the Los Angeles middle class neighbourhoods As reality becomes surreal... Quarantined lives department of an international Times reports a surge in viewing such as mine, grocery retailers corporation with 65,000 employ- pandemic-themed dystopian have stopped home deliveries and Will we become an increasingly hongay kaamyaab” (We Shall ees is grappling with how to imple- movies such as Contagion and The there are queues at their door. A EYE CULTURE closed society? Will touching someone Overcome) as a booster shot ment advisories issued from its US Andromeda Strain. small ~50 bottle of hand sanitizer become a taboo? Will we prefer the against the contagion. headquarters. “It is all very well to In a dilatory work culture is selling at the local chemist for KUMAR ABISHEK safety of our homes? “We know now It is wise to temporarily shut ask the staff to work from homes where delays, deferments, and ~125. Shortages and rising prices that touching things, being with other airports to international traffic but about 40 per cent do not have chronic absenteeism are a way of of essentials are a looming threat. n Ling Ma's novel Severance, an people and breathing the air in an and bar foreign arrivals from a laptops. You can’t expect them to life, the word “coronavirus” is India is at Stage 2 of the outbreak of Shen fever from enclosed space can be risky...It could host of countries as the main car- perform routine administrative now a plea to obstruct the legal COVID-19 spread. The transmis- I Shenzhen in China turns New become second nature to recoil from riers of COVID-19 are travellers functions on smart phones. process. Bizarrely, one of sion of the virus is still local, there- York into a zombie city and face- shaking hands or touching our faces — from abroad. But valiant rescue Effectively they are on indefinite, Nirbhaya’s murderers, who were fore containable; the number of masks, designer ones for the rich, and we may all heir to society-wide flights to Iran and Italy do not paid leave,” says a manager. The finally hanged this week, used it; deaths and the afflicted is rel- become the new normal. Dean OCD (obsessive–compulsive dis- AL FRESCO solve the problem of thousands of same applies to the Indian bureau- big-ticket offenders in the YES atively small. Bar some stirring Koontz’s The Eyes Of Darkness is get- order),” Deborah Tannen, author and overseas students and transient cracy’s bloated workforce of babus Bank scandal have cited social words and ringing endorsements ting renewed attention — the book professor of linguistics, was quoted as SUNIL SETHI professionals, evicted from cam- dutifully following the prime min- distancing in their failure to from balconies on Sunday, there mentions a deadly virus, Wuhan 400, saying in Politico. pus and offices due to closures, ister’s suggestion that officials appear before investigators. Some was no clear step-by-step forward which he described as a “severe pneu- Many others apprehend the pan- he country has gone into marooned with little money and should work from home. MPs even brought it up as an plan in the prime minister’s monia-like illness” that spreads demic could end our romance with quasi-lockdown, and not a stuck for passages back home. The In countries with a wider cov- excuse to avoid attending parlia- speech. He did not dwell on how attacking “lungs and bronchial tubes” market society and the world could T moment too soon. The army has set up nearly a dozen erage of digital communication, ment mid-session. to protect the lives of the poor at a and “resisting all known treatments”. turn toward authoritarianism. Unlikely, prime minister’s Thursday night quarantine centres at canton- overuse of the internet is causing The prime minister requests time when the economy is in dire Steven Soderbergh's 2011 film hopefully. speech, replete with hyperbolic ments throughout the country but the opposite problem. Media the public to be “sensitive” to straits, agricultural distress is Contagion tracks the outbreak of a virus Pandemics put the focus on how our comparisons to World Wars, is now reporting transport and reports say that Vodafone’s inter- those who cannot report for growing, and unemployment ris- from Hong Kong, which goes on to individual bodies are connected to our homilies on how to stay healthy, logistical difficulties in shipping net usage has surged by up to 50 work. But reduced services across ing. There was no reference to the cause a pandemic and societal collapse. collective body. and observing a voluntary curfew and housing high-risk returnees. per cent in some European coun- the country — of government insanitary conditions of urban In one scene, Kate Winslet’s character, In Emily St John Mandel’s Station on Sabbath with solidarity exhi- Around 30 million Indians are said tries as consumers shift to working departments, the courts, and slums and plight of wage earners while interacting with a health official Eleven, the antagonist — a cult leader bitions of hand clapping and ring- to be on the move in normal times, at home and turn to services such police — can only bring unfore- fleeing to villages. For all the gov- whose wife “douses everything in hand — denies his fundamental connection ing bells, was high on rhetoric and but now, even with reduction in as Netflix because coronavirus is seen hardships. ernment’s social subsidies and sanitiser”, parrots the advice currently to those around him and claims he and low on solutions. There might be train and bus services, social dis- keeping families indoors. In the Platitudes are an inadequate direct cash transfers, the stark doing the rounds: “...stop touching your his followers survived the epidemic some moral purchase in making tancing has its limitations. A gar- UK, for instance, the telecom giant substitute for policy pronounce- tragedy, stated by the last National face, Dave.” because of their divine goodness. He noise from balconies, but not ments factory owner I know in has 18 million subscribers, and ments that have not been thought Sample Survey Orgnisation, is this: In Outbreak (1995), director engages in violent, abusive behaviours much. It is akin to the good Noida who downed shutters this shows a 30 per cent spike in data through. Imploring retailers not to Existing social security legislation Wolfgang Petersen focuses on an out- intended to quash the fear associated people of a high rise in Gurugram week says that many of his usage, because of the shift in work- hoard and the public not to panic covers only 8 per cent of the work- break of a fictional ebola-like virus and with interdependence, but in the end, who have been yodelling “Hum Purvanchali workers have ing from homes. In a telling anal- buy may be a stretch, given the force of 459 million in India. speculates how far military and civilian the leader doesn’t survive. The surviv- agencies may go to contain the spread ing characters were all those who of a deadly disease. Both Contagion and accepted that they cannot extricate Outbreak are currently high on wat- themselves from others. Social distanc- chlist on streaming services. Nothing ing doesn’t mean being socially cut-off. Divided we stand, united we fall spreads like fear! The real drama of the novel doesn’t Indeed, a compelling dystopian fic- come from gore or gun battles, but from “irresponsible” amidst the coro- shown mingling with buyers and confirmed coronavirus cases con- a public service campaign on tion reflects the unnerving reality of the protagonists’ reckoning with just navirus pandemic. The cam- cosying up affectionately with a tinue to rise, celebrities are get- hand-wash hygiene. But interest- our world. The fear is not only about how much they have lost. paign, created by ad agency Hershey. Both ads went off-air ting into the act of making their ingly, the ad urges use not just of the virus but also how humans respond And this reminds me of Yoko Mother London, had been due to “current sensitivities” and fans and followers aware about Lifebuoy, but sister brand Lux to the challenge. Panic and anxiety Ogawa’s The Memory Police — a novel launched in late February but have been replaced with product- the importance of good hygiene. and even competitors Dettol and show our ugly face — profiteering off set up in an unnamed and isolated headed into a social media mael- centric messaging. B-Town sparklers Anuskha Johnson’s! What large hearted- face masks, hand sanitiser, soaps, and island where, one by one, things disap- strom with the virus outbreak Meanwhile, beer maker Sharma and Deepika Padukone, ness! But why? even toilet paper, hoarding by cus- pear from daily life. The losses at the and the overwhelming messag- Molson Coors pulled back a cam- shuttler P V Sindhu, cricketer Amul ran a topical ad featur- tomers and shopkeepers alike, and run- start were small and insignificant — ing all around about cleaning paign that was on the verge of Sachin Tendulkar and minister ing the Amul girl washing hands ning out of hospitals without consid- like ribbons, bells, perfume. In our case, hands, rather than licking release. Coors Light was plan- Kiren Rijiju were seen taking the with the headline, “Better saaf ering the threat of infection to others, it may be quick service restaurants first YES, BUT... fingers. A large number of people ning to launch an ad titled the #Handwash challenge last week. than sorry” a clever wordplay on to say the least. stopping dine-in facility for a few days took to Twitter voicing concerns “Official Beer of ‘Working’ In “inspired” social media saaf and safe. Then followed it up “Pandemic fiction does not offer amid the pandemic and less footfall. SANDEEP GOYAL over the campaign, which has Remotely” around March posts, actresses Anushka Sharma with a dig on remote working readers a prophetic look into the Then they stop free delivery, and then been temporarily withdrawn by Madness, but yanked it off in the and Deepika Padukone can be with the headline, “Home for future, regardless of what some may come job losses. o much has changed in just KFC, though not without a fight. nick of time. The campaign was seen washing their hands and breakfast, lunch and dinner?”. think. Instead, narratives about con- One by one, dinner plans, get- one month … from KFC went on record to say, “It halted to avoid making light of explaining in fair detail the Well, said Amul, so are we. Both tagious disease hold up a mirror to our togethers, and vacations, all vanish. S Valentine to Quarantine! doesn't feel like the right time to remote work, which has become importance of cleaning hands of these efforts were more posi- deepest, most inchoate fears about our Reading dystopian novels and watch- From mushy messages of love, be airing this campaign, so we've increasingly common as com- properly. The duo even went to tive, and far tamer, than its present moment and explore different ing such movies arguably create para- hugs, kisses, togetherness and decided to pause it for now — but panies around the world have the extent of washing the taps, “homecoming snack” hoarding possible responses to those fears,” noia in minds of those already in isola- holding hands to social distanc- we're really proud of it and look closed their offices asking after washing their hands, to “Wuhan Se Yahan Le Aaye” that writes Katherine Shwetz, a PhD can- tion or facing a lockdown. Missing out ing and no-contact advisories! forward to bringing it back at a employees to work from home. ensure nothing was left behind many found to be in bad taste ear- didate at the University of Toronto, on on a pizza or suspending a vacation And the jokes and memes on later date.” Another beer marketer on the tap and the washbasin. All lier on. The Conversation. should not be a worry when the world social media are just getting more The Hershey Company too Corona — which has suffered in the hope that their myriad fol- Most brands, except those in The current situation also leads us is witnessing deaths in hundreds every and more inventive, including the has just pulled out two TV com- massively because of an unfor- lowers would learn from them, the hygiene category, have to imagine a new dystopian future. As day because of the pandemic. clever one on the most popular mercials from the media. The tunate name association with and emulate them. While largely gone into self imposed coronavirus keeps people in several But as reality becomes surreal, we drink these days: The Quarantini, spots showed Bob Williams and the virus — received much flak Deepika Padukone is seen wea- quarantine as far as advertising countries, including India (Janata cur- must understand that fiction doesn’t which is a regular martini, but Diggy Moreland handing out on social media for a campaign ring a gown and donning a mask is concerned. The Indian few on Sunday), confined to their give us a blueprint of the future. But it one you toast alone in the soli- Hershey bars to strangers, with promoting its new Corona in her post (supposedly shot at Premier League has in any case homes for weeks, or maybe months, can always show warning signs of what tude of your own home! Phew!! hugs and handshakes, and this Seltzer line with the tagline her own home!), Anuskha been postponed. So, most brand there will be a reorientation of our rela- to avoid. Humans are social animals In the world of advertising invited lots of negativity on social “Coming Ashore Soon”. The Sharma dons just a casual outfit. managers are just sitting it out. tionship with the government, with and if staying indoors and social dis- too, the virus is having its impact. platforms. The “heartwarming company, nevertheless, has A good self-less effort by both, for Of course, everyone is hoping other nation and nationals (fear and tancing, extremely necessary in the KFC, in the UK last week, pulled the world” spot that stars stood by its communication and sure, and that too with no sponsor that the hiatus will not be too contempt of foreigners — Chinese are time of coronavirus, become a long- off its ad campaign with its Williams shows him going insisted that consumers under- pegs (thankfully!). long. Or too devastating. already facing this in several parts of term measure and a way of life, these “Finger lickin' good” slogan (set around and giving out giant stand that there is no link Adversity seems a good time the world. US President Donald Trump will cost our society a lot. And no to Chopin piano music in the new Hershey bars, something he has between the virus and its beer. for magnanimity too. HUL’s Sandeep Goyal is an advertising and has repeatedly called coronavirus the amount Netflix binge-watching or creatives) after being blasted as done for years. Moreland too is Closer home, as the number of Lifebuoy has been of late running media veteran “Chinese virus”), and even one another. social media will be enough. MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 ECONOMY & PUBLIC AFFAIRS 17 . < RBI buys bonds worth ~10K cr, to Policy to boost bulk drugs on the cards SOHINI DAS manufacturing. conduct 2 more OMOs of ~30K cr Mumbai, 20 March This could be achieved through levying a cess on bulk drug imports, The central bank received bids worth ~45,049 crore for Friday’s open market operation The Union Cabinet on Friday passed a and some central funding. policy to promote the manufacture and A senior official in the government ANUP ROY cases, would need to depend on domestic growth of bulk drugs, said that the scheme Mumbai, 20 March investors who may want liquidity support sources said. The gov- would entail bene- to invest in bonds, say bond dealers. ernment is working fits like cheap pow- he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will 10-YEAR Besides, RBI’s expressed liquidity oper- on creating an ecosys- er, water, assistance (in %) buy bonds worth ~30,000 crore from G-SEC ations also help boost the morale as the tem that would boost on effluent treat- T the secondary market, after buying market gets a signal that the central bank local manufacturing ment, technological ~10,000-crore bonds on Friday, to infuse is there to take care of any need, should and reduce depend- innovation, among durable liquidity into the system so that there be any market disruption because of ence on China for raw other things. “These the market continues to function normal- the coronavirus pandemic, they said. materials. A policy on incentives would be ly amid a coronavirus-induced slowdown. Earlier this week, the RBI said it will medical devices, too, given to large-scale The central bank received bids worth infuse liquidity into the system through is on the anvil. units. Anyone look- ~45,049 crore for Friday’s open market ~1 trillion of long-term repo operations An announcement ing to invest close to operation (OMO), through which the RBI (LTROs) and will also increase dollar liq- on the matter is ~500 crore would be bought ~10,000 crore of bonds. The uidity through a sell-buy swap of dollars, expected over the eligible for the same. response showed that the market needed starting with a $2-billion swap. weekend, the source Only economies of liquidity support from the RBI. The first tranche of the LTRO, for added. While the fin- scale can ensure “The response to the open market pur- ~25,000 crore, took place on Wednesday. er details of the policy cheaper prices,” he chase auction conducted on March 20 has The LTRO for a three-year tenure saw are yet to be revealed, added. been positive,” the RBI said in a statement. participants bidding for a total of ~27,096 it is learnt that it The idea is to “Meanwhile, with the COVID-19-relat- Source: Bloomberg crore. The RBI has already infused ~1 would incentivise have only a few ed dislocations, stress in certain financial trillion of liquidity through LTROs in its large-scale manufac- clusters in India market segments is still severe and finan- first operation. turing in the country. that would house large-scale units. cial conditions remain tight. The RBI’s on March 24 and March 30, respective- liquidity deficit. There is, in fact, ~2.93 tril- The 10-year bond yield fell after the “The idea is to promote investments These could be developed through endeavour is to ensure that all markets seg- ly, to pump in more liquidity. The bonds lion of surplus liquidity in the system, OMO announcement. The yields closed at in the sector. The Department of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and ments function normally with adequate to be purchased in the first auction shows the RBI data. 6.26 per cent, down from its previous close Pharmaceuticals (DoP) has been work- would offer plug-and-play infrastruc- liquidity and turnover.” mature between December 2022 and But bond yields have risen as foreign of 6.41 per cent. The rupee closed at 75.20 ing on the plan for some time and it has ture for those who buy space. The SPV The central bank said it will conduct January 2029. investors liquidated their holdings in search a dollar, down from its previous close of also made presentations to the Prime would also secure the necessary envi- two more OMOs, of ~15,000 crore each The banking system is not running a of safe haven. The bond market, in such 74.99 a dollar. Minister’s Office (PMO) recently,” said ronmental clearances, a major road- an industry source. block to growth. He added that the NITI Aayog, too, Moreover, the government has iden- PHOTO: SANJAY K SHARMA had been closely involved in drafting tified 38-40 key bulk drugs for which the policy. The government is planning India is heavily dependent on China. Centre gives extension to create a corpus of ~3,000-5,000 crore Preference would be given to units that for building an ecosystem of bulk drug wish to manufacture these. to solar power projects Sanitizer shortage: Govt steps SHREYA JAI only suspends it for the duration of New Delhi, 20 March the ‘Force Majeure Clause’. More than 85 per cent solar pow- up efforts to ensure supply Overall impact (%) Under construction solar power proj- er generation capacity in India is  Very low  Low  Moderate  High  Very High COVID-19 ects, which are likely to get delayed built on imported solar panels from VIRENDRA SINGH RAWAT & SOHINI DAS 910 28 33 20 due to disruption in the supply chain China. India’s current solar power Lucknow/Mumbai, 20 March from China, would now be allowed capacity stands at 31.9 Gw and it is IMPACT ON 0 20 40 40 60 100 time extension. aiming for 100 Gw by 2022. India’s The government is taking steps to ensure BUSINESSES Impact on order book Impact on inventory The ministry of new and renew- import of solar cells stood at $1.4 bil- availability of sanitizers after people Increased Increased Decreased able energy (MNRE), in a notice on lion in the current financial year up started hoarding the product leading to Friday, said any delay due to the to November 2019. shortages in many areas. Businesses are seeing an 8 spread of coronavirus and its subse- MNRE, in its notice, directed all A slew of measures have been taken 30 adverse impact of 19 35 quent impact on the supply chain solar power project developers, who that include asking states to help scale up COVID-19. A survey by the (%) (%) would be considered an wish to claim Force manufacturing, ensure easy availability Federation of Indian event under ‘Force Majeure India’s current Majeure clause, to submit of raw material and also a ban on exports. Clause’. It would be eligible solar power formal application to The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has Chambers of Commerce No Decreased 35 No for time extension in com- capacity stands Solar Energy Corporation written to all states and Union Territories Impact 73 impact and Industry (Ficci) tried missioning. at 31.9 Gw and it of India (SECI)/NTPC or on March 19 asking them to take neces- to capture this. It shows Impact on cash flow Safety measures “All renewable energy is aiming for any other implementing sary action to enhance production of san- that 81 per cent of Increased Others Compulsory implementing agencies of 100 Gw by 2022 agencies, giving all doc- itizers. These include giving necessary surveyed Ficci members 3 checks the MNRE are hereby umentary evidence(s) in permission for storage of ethanol to san- directed to treat delay on account of support of their claim. itizer-making units without any quota and associations said 16 33 disruption of the supply chains due to “While considering the requests restrictions. Moreover, the sanitizer that their cash flow 37 (%) (%) spread of coronavirus in China or any for grant of extension of time, industry should be encouraged to operate has decreased, while other country, as Force Majeure,” the SECl/NTPC or any other imple- in three shifts to enhance production. Professors and non-teaching staff fill only minuscule Decreased Work ministry said in a public notice. menting agency may fully satisfy The distillery industry, too, is encour- bottles with sanitizer after making it in three per cent said it No 81 from 30 Force Majeure clause in the supply itself that the claimants were actu- aged to manufacture sanitizers in bulk. a chemistry laboratory at Surendranath Impact home has increased. or project commissioning clause per- ally affected due to disruption of the In a letter to the central government, College in Kolkata PHOTO: PTI tains to the events and circumstances supply chains due to spread of coro- the Indian Sugar Mills Association INDIVJAL DHASMANA Expected time to normalcy (%)  Three mnths  Six mnths  Nine mnths  12 mnths that are beyond the control of navirus in China or any other coun- (ISMA) has said the domestic sugar Wednesday, the ISMA has advised sani- Note: A total 317 companies participated in humans. try in the period for which exten- industry would ensure adequate supply tizer manufacturers to directly contact the survey, conducted among Ficci 6.16 members and associations between 42.47 45.21 6.16 The clause does not excuse a par- sion of time has been claimed,” said of ethanol, or ENA, in line with the individual sugar mills for their March 15 and 19 ty’s non-performance entirely, but the notice. requirement. Through its letter on ethanol/ENA requirement. Source: Ficci 0 20 40 40 60 100 SC stays HC order on deferring recovery process New draft defence procurement manual The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a High Court. Explaining the case, departments are issuing recovery Kerala High Court (HC) order that Harpreet Singh, tax partner at KPMG, notices, compelling litigants to directed tax departments and financial said the Kerala HC, taking suo moto approach the court for interim stay. institutions to defer recovery pro- note of the prevailing “precarious” This is clogging the HC, leaving judges unveiled, aims to boost indigenisation ceedings till April 6 in light of the coro- situation of the pandemic, had and lawyers and court staff “vulnera- navirus pandemic. directed the income tax authorities, ble” to the coronavirus pandemic, he AJAI SHUKLA foreign defence firms, DPP-2020 A Bench headed by Justice A M authorities dealing with the goods observed. The Kerala HC said “... han- New Delhi, 20 March proposes that “field evaluation Khanwilkar took note of the submis- and services tax and value-added tax, dling of the files by the high court staff trials”, in which the military sions of Solicitor General Tushar financial institutions, banks, etc. to as well as the advocate general staff is Defence Minister Rajnath Singh evaluates the equipment before Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, defer the recovery proceedings or done without proper precautions, as on Friday unveiled an updated approving it; will henceforth be that the Kerala HC order needed to coercive measures till April 6. they are handled with bare hands Defence Procurement Procedure- conducted by specialised trial be stayed. Mehta said a similar order The Kerala HC single judge Bench instead of using protective measures 2020 (DPP-2020) — the wings. “The objective of trials had been passed by the Allahabad took note of the fact that government like gloves etc....” INDIVJAL DHASMANA procurement manual that has, for will be to nurture competition the last 18 years, governed the rather than elimination (of a purchase of weapons and product) for minor deficiencies,” equipment from the defence stated the MoD. Seven years later, capital budget. The new policy also proposed Kamal Nath quits, BJP DPP-2020, which is still in new offset guidelines that draft form, aims to promote encourage foreign vendors to Nirbhaya convicts higher indigenous content in discharge offset obligations defence equipment through building and exporting hanged in Delhi set to form govt in MP manufactured in India, including products rather than under licence from foreign components. The policy SANDEEP KUMAR vendors. DPP-2020 proposes to proposes higher multipliers for Bhopal, 20 March raise by 10 per cent the procurement from small industry indigenous content stipulated in “Our aim is to make India self-reliant and a global and from units established in the Congress leader Kamal Nath resigned the current procedure, DPP-2016, manufacturing hub… (We must) strengthen ‘Make in India’, two Defence Industrial Corridors as chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for various categories of refine ‘life cycle support’ of procured equipment and in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. on Friday. The resignation ends the procurement. For example, if platforms, and hasten the acquisition process” The policy proposed to widen 15-month tenure of the Congress in DPP-2016 currently mandates an RAJNATH SINGH, Defence minister the scope of “product support”, to Madhya Pradesh and paves the way for indigenisation level of 50 per cent include contemporary concepts the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to for acquisitions in the “Make” in vogue in modern western return to power. category, DPP-2020 will raise that This category would be procuring software and systems militaries. According to the MoD, The resignation came a few hours to 60 per cent. given a higher preference than related projects. “In such projects, these include “Performance before the test of strength in the House “A simple and realistic the current “Buy Global” obsolescence is very fast due to Based Logistics, Life Cycle as directed by the Supreme Court. methodology has been category, which involves rapid changes in technology; and Support Contract, Nirbhaya’s mother reacts after Governor Lalji Tandon accepted the incorporated for verification of buying equipment built abroad. flexibility in the procurement Comprehensive Maintenance execution PHOTO: PTI resignation of Nath and asked him to indigenous content for the first In another innovative process is required to keep up with Contract, etc. to optimise life continue as acting chief minister till time,” stated the Ministry of addition, DPP-2020 proposed to the technology,” stated the MoD. cycle support for equipment.” Four men convicted of gang-raping alternative arrangements are made. Defence (MoD). incorporate “leasing” of Another new DPP chapter is Speaking at the release in New and murdering a Delhi woman, who In an emotional address before ten- In another measure designed equipment as a new acquisition proposed to deal with “post Delhi, Rajnath Singh said, “Our came to be known as Nirbhaya, were dering his resignation, Nath said, “In to promote “Make in India”, DPP- category. Leasing involves contract management”, which aim is to make India self-reliant hanged in pre-dawn darkness on the past 15 months, I tried my best to 2020 introduced a new periodical rental payments to the lays down clear guidelines for and a global manufacturing Friday, closing a horrific chapter that transform the state. In my 40-45 years procurement category, entitled lessor country/company, which issues that arise during the hub… (We must) strengthen shook the nation’s collective core with political career, I believed in progres- The resignation of Kamal Nath came “Buy (Global-Manufacture in works out cheaper than buying contract period, which typically ‘Make in India’ initiative, refine the details of its barbarity and led to sive politics. The people of Madhya hours before the test of strength in India)”. For equipment bought the equipment outright, which lasts for several decades in ‘life cycle support’ of procured tougher anti-rape laws. Pradesh gave me five years to bring the House PHOTO: PTI from the international market, requires huge capital outlays. defence contracts. DPP-2020 equipment and platforms and Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta the state on the right path, for it to with the intention to “This (leasing) will be useful also proposed to introduce a hasten the defence acquisition (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay have a new identity. The BJP got 15 MLAs late Thursday night. Earlier, subsequently build it in India for military equipment not used comprehensive new chapter for process by further simplifying the Kumar Singh (31) were executed at years. Until today, I got 15 months. The the speaker had accepted the resig- with technology transfer, this in actual warfare like transport the “Make” category of procedures and reducing the 5:30 am in Tihar Jail. As news of the BJP couldn’t digest my welfare nations of six MLAs; all the 22 legis- category stipulates a minimum fleets, trainers, simulators, etc,” procurement. This deals with overall procurement timelines.” execution came in, her mother let schemes. From day 1, the party script- latures. indigenous content of 50 per cent stated the MoD. In fact, India equipment designed and built The draft DPP-2020 was out a sigh of relief. “We finally got ed the conspiracy. Still, we worked. With the speaker accepting the of the value of the contract. To already leases one of its most by Indian defence companies, prepared by an MoD committee justice. We will continue our fight Today, it lured 22 MLAs and held them resignation of all 22 Congress meet this difficult indigenisation potent naval combat platforms especially start-ups and headed by its acquisitions chief, for justice for India’s daughters. hostage,” he said. MLAs, the party just has 92 legisla- requirement, only the minimum from Russia — the nuclear innovators, and weapons Apurva Chandra. The committee Justice delayed, but not denied,” Nath also hit out at former col- tors. The BJP is set to form the gov- necessary numbers would be propelled attack submarine, INS realised through research was set up in August 2019. Asha Devi said at her home after a league Jyotiraditya Scindia, who ernment. Shivraj Singh Chouhan, bought from abroad in ready- Chakra. The new DPP will provide projects of the Defence R&D The draft of DPP 2020 has sleepless night that also saw the crossed over to the BJP 10 days ago. who is one of the front-runners for built condition; while a larger a policy framework for more such Organisation (DRDO). been uploaded on the MoD Supreme Court holding an extraor- Speaker N P Prajapati accepted the top job (CM), advised the number would need to be leases. DPP-2020 also proposed to In a measure that will be website for further suggestions dinary hearing till 3:30 am. PTI the resignations of 16 rebel Congress Congress to introspect. manufactured in India. introduce a new chapter for welcomed by both Indian and from all stakeholders by April 17. 18 THE SMART INVESTOR MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 1 > Uptick in new investors even as markets crash

Ease of opening accounts, attractive SPURT IN ACCOUNT ."Historically when the accounts stood at 39.5 million in OPENINGS STOCK MARKETS markets fall, existing clients stop January 2020, 12 per cent jump in valuations, work-from-home directives, TO REMAIN OPEN their active trading and they typi- one year. and IPO of SBI Cards are among the reasons Zerodha: 80% jump in average cally stop opening new accounts." Zerodha said there was one monthly new client additions STOCK EXCHANGES, CLEARING One reason is faster onboarding spike was ahead of the SBI Cards because people are working from IPO but the "intensity" has further FYERS: 120,000 unique sign-ups SAI ISHWAR The Bengaluru-based firm has CORPORATIONS, DEPOSITORIES, home because of the coronavirus increased after the IPO got closed. Mumbai, 20 March added about 120,000 unique sign- in March STOCK BROKERS, AND SEBI pandemic and they have extra time The country’s first credit card IPO ups in March, so far. 5paisa.com: The number of new REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS to experiment, he added. closed on March 5 before the tur- nline brokerages are wit- IIFL Group-backed platform clients doubled this month OPERATING THROUGH THESE Tejas Khoday, co-founder and moil in the markets intensified. The nessing an uptick in client 5paisa.com, too, said its number of CEO of FYERS, agreed: "Unlike ~10,300-crore issue, India’s fourth- Upstox: On track to add 130,000 INSTITUTIONS O registrations, notwith- new clients doubled this month. 2008, which was a financial crisis, biggest, saw a whopping 3.9 million standing the meltdown in the mar- Ratan Tata-backed Upstox was on to 140,000 fresh demat accounts WILL BE people are working from home and investor applications. ket. Most leading players say addi- track to add 130,000 to 140,000 : The number of daily EXEMPTED now can invest really widely." The new sign-ups are largely tions over the past month have been fresh demat accounts in March. trades increased 25% this month Most people who are opening focussed on equities and mutual as much as 80 per cent higher than Self-funded platform FYERS' client 39.5 million UDDHAV accounts are first-timers and mil- funds and traction in derivatives the past monthly average. Ease of base has risen 30 per cent, com- smallcase Technologies: 1.5x investor accounts as of January, THACKERAY, lennials, said Prakarsh Gagdani, segment were very little, say market account opening, thanks to e-KYC, pared to February. jump in new investors over a 12 per cent jump in one year, CM, Maharashtra, CEO, 5paisa.com. "They are smart players. Some said they are advising a month according to the latest Sebi data on shutdown tempting valuations after the mar- These new investors are entering in Mumbai enough to seize this opportunity to new investors to stay away from the ket crash, work-from-home direc- the equities segment at a time when invest when the prices are low." derivatives segment for the time tives, and IPO of SBI Cards are some it is undergoing its worst-ever sell- Agreed, Ravi Kumar, co-founder at being given the volatile movements of the reasons cited for the spurt in off. So far this month, the bench- have also seen our number of new it's bringing more people to the participants even as existing CEO of Upstox, saying that the tech- in stock prices. account openings. mark Sensex has plunged more accounts in March 2020 jump near- markets,” said Vasanth Kamath, co- investors’ faith in the market is savvy young India had a better risk Bengaluru-based FYERS, Zerodha, India's largest broker- than 10,000 points, or 30 per cent. ly two times,” said Jaideep Arora, founder and CEO smallcase shaken?. appetite who can now open an whose core client base is active dai- age firm in terms of clients, said it “At Sharekhan, we have seen the CEO, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas Technologies, which has seen 1.5 "This is not normal behaviour as account and start trading in a day. ly traders, however, said the vol- witnessed an 80 per cent jump in number of daily trades increasing "It's amazing to see that even a times jump in new investors in the markets have fallen sharply. It's According to the latest umes in equity and commodity average monthly new client addi- 25 per cent this month, compared to market crash of this magnitude is March over the previous month. scary as well," said Nithin Kamath, Securities and Exchange Board of segment was 30-40 per cent high- tions over the last three months. the same period of February. We not deterring new investors. In fact, But what’s driving these new founder and CEO of India data, the number of investor er this month.

Caught between divergent views, THE COMPASS Near-term revenues may dip stock of HDFC Bank takes a hit for real estate companies US-based Bernstein slashes rating to underweight, almost halves target price If the pandemic crore as of the December HAMSINI KARTHIK & SAMIE MODAK Bernstein, unsecured con- employees comprised of good quarter (net debt to equity Mumbai, 20 March FOREIGN BROKERAGES: DIFFERENT TAKES sumer finance contributed 24 and strong corporate and gov- continues, a ratio at 1.3 times) to ~2,600 Bernstein UBS per cent of earnings and 36 per ernment employees,” Vishal crore which will bring the On a day when the leading cent of HDFC Bank’s earnings Goyal, analyst at UBS fifth of annual ratio down to 1.1 times over Growth In the current Bank currently does not indices recovered by 5.75 per growth and unsecured retail Securities noted. He also men- revenues could the next couple of quarters. cent, HDFC Bank, an index pandemic- expect countrywide credit was 17 per cent of the tioned that repayments cur- While analysts believe that heavyweight in the BSE Sensex driven lockdown in India; private lender’s loan book. In rently remain healthy and get affected the selloff is overdone, sales and CNX Nifty, was an excep- environment, management taking steps comparison, peers ICICI Bank because of a diversified port- momentum in the current tion. After falling 7.85 per cent HDFC Bank carries to minimise the impact of and have 9 per cent folio (geographically and RAM PRASAD SAHU circumstances will be diffi- in intra-day trades, the stock certain COVID-19 virus on branches of their book in unsecured industry-wise) of small and cult to achieve. closed in the red — down 1.4 idiosyncratic risks retail credit. The analyst also medium enterprises (SMEs), The BSE Realty Index has The impact for realty per cent, reacting to a bearish raised concerns on the credit there might not be a signifi- been one of the worst sectoral players in the commercial research note published by US- Asset Portfolio is most Trends in unsecured retail quality of the bank’s subsidiary cant impact on the bank’s asset performers over the past segment from the disruption based brokerage Bernstein. quality exposed to asset quality are stable. — HDB Financial Services, quality. He added that “70-75 month, shedding more than because of the virus is For most of the week gone unsecured Bank has limited exposure which caters to weaker infor- per cent of SME loans are 35 per cent of its value expected to be high. State by, the HDFC Bank stock was consumer credit to restaurants and mal segments. secured. The bank has low because of the adverse governments had earlier under pressure, which inten- risk v/s peers hospitality business. Credit The analyst was also criti- exposure to airlines and limit- impact of the COVID-19 directed all malls, barring sified on Wednesday, when it card spends remained cal of the bank’s succession ed exposure to restaurants and pandemic. While the sector those selling groceries, to plunged by over 10 per cent on healthy in Jan- Feb 2020 but planning. “While HDFC Bank hospitality business”. has been grappling with close down and this could NSE, marking the steepest sin- reduced in March; has weathered past crisis well However, he cautioned that it weak demand, economic impact revenues for the gle-day fall in a decade. The underwriting standards and has been a favourite with was too early to comment. disruption is expected to March, as well as the June same night, HDFC Bank’s foreign investors, succession The report, though, worsen the situation, impact- quarter. Adhidev being tightened American Depository Receipt plan is a problem area. An acknowledges that credit card ing both residential and com- Chattopadhyay of ICICI or ADR tanked by over 11 per Succession Bank's non- No details/views on this unsatisfactory outcome of the spends have reduced in March mercial segments. Securities, says: “With the cent and the fall continued on proactive aspect succession process increases and the bank is currently India Ratings and COVID-19 issue likely to Thursday, when its ADR handling of the risk of a multiple de-rating,” tightening its underwriting Research expects residential linger until at least Q1FY21 plunged by another 12 per cent management Chhugani wrote. standards. And, in case of demand may be suppressed (April-June 2020), mall oper- to close $36.4. succession so On the same day, the Indian complete lockdown in the in FY21 as well, given increas- ators stand to lose 20-25 per At Thursday’s close, the far, could impact arm of Switzerland-based UBS country, HDFC Bank expects a ing downside risks to the cent of their annual revenue spread between HDFC Bank’s hosted a conference for HDFC decline in customer spending. country’s economic growth assuming that a rent-free ADR and its domestic shares its preferred status Bank to address concerns of , too, came out from the pandemic. The rat- period is given to retailers.” (based on Friday’s closing) is amongst investors top investors. The call was with an outperform rating on ing agency believes the residential and the commer- The other key issue is the said have narrowed to just 1.7 Rating & Downgrades from Retain 'buy' and TP of restricted to a few domestic HDFC Bank with a target price demand-side risks, combined cial segments could be under negotiations related to rent per cent, one of the lowest ever Target 'market-weight' ~ 1,480 and foreign investors. In a of ~1,550. These positive reports with rising uncertainty over pressure given the street renewals for FY21. The bro- in almost a decade, say price to 'underweight'; post-call note, UBS Securities from UBS and Credit Suisse, credit availability because of fears of an extended slow- kerage highlights that 50-60 experts. At the time of going (TP) reduces TP from India reiterated its ‘buy’ rec- however, could not reverse the the market meltdown and down. Bengaluru-based real- per cent is up for renewal in to press, HDFC Bank’s ADR ommendation on the bank, decline in HDFC Bank’s stock. increasing risk aversion, ty player Sobha has shed 55 Phoenix Mills’ High Street traded at $36.48 (one ADR rep- ~1,400 to ~ 750 and kept its 12-month target Some analysts say recent could add to the refinancing per cent since January over Phoenix and all Market City resents three ordinary shares price for the stock unchanged events have made them and liquidity risks. concerns related to weak malls in the FY20-22 period. of HDFC Bank). on HDFC Bank from ‘market- sumer loans amid a coron- at ~1,480. rethink their stance on asset Besides, supply disrup- sales, rising leverage and pro- Brigade Enterprises derives HDFC Bank’s ADRs could perform’ to ‘under-perform’ avirus-induced slowdown, The most important take- quality. “While the bank has tion related to construction moter pledge. ~110 crore of annual revenue remain under pressure given and lowered the target price and “non-proactive handling away was regarding its asset clarified some doubts on the equipment and materials, as The management has, ho- from its two Orion malls in the concerns raised by to ~750, from ~1,400 earlier. of the management succes- quality. “Trends in unsecured growth front, there isn’t much well as labour unavailability, wever, indicated that it is Bengaluru, while Oberoi Bernstein. In the note pub- Among the key reasons for the sion so far”. retail asset quality are stable. comfort on the asset quality would hamper existing proj- committed to bringing down Realty gets ~160 crore lished on Thursday, the bro- rating action is HDFC Bank’s According to Gautam [Around] 80 per cent of the front,” said an analyst who did- ects and delivery schedules. debt over the next few quar- revenues from Oberoi Mall kerage downgraded its rating exposure to unsecured con- Chhugani, analyst at unsecured loans are to salaried n’t want to be named. Leveraged players in the ters from the current ~3,100 in Mumbai.

> All the Sensex components bar- have to cough up more to deal in not be there, but it will become RBI’s contingency... FM takes stock... tide over the immediate crisis. FROM PAGE 1 ring two ended the session with securities. Sebi has also tweaked the important as the Covid-19 threat “We don’t want our loans to gains. ONGC was the best-perform- formula for calculating price bands recedes,” he said. All the 219 people, including the hotel “Officially the task force has not yet become non-performing assets after ing Sensex stock and rose 18 per for F&O stocks. Sources said while Emami was staff, have been told not to leave the been constituted. We are holding the 90 days if we are not able to repay Markets rally on... cent, thanks to the rebound in oil “Taking note of the continued putting in place a contingency plan, hotel. But they have been assured of meetings because of the urgency of our instalments as serving them is Some sceptics say these measures prices. Index heavyweight Reliance abnormally high volatility in the mar- it was not considering any pay cut. leave in the case of family or other the situation. We have started work, getting difficult with each passing have helped improve sentiment, but Industries rose 11 per cent. Nearly 12 ket, Sebi discussed with the stock Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar emergency. Any delivery in the hotel and the work that we are doing right day,” an executive of the sector said. one cannot say for sure if the markets Sensex components rallied 8 per exchanges, clearing corporations and Sharma said “inspired by Arne”, he is being carefully monitored. now will go into the task force as well,” He said the poultry industry, have bottomed out. cent or more. The two declining depositories appropriate measures would not take his salary of “this Transportation is on a dedicated basis Finance Minister Nirmala which is one of the biggest employers "The latest bounce was after the stocks were HDFC Bank and that may be taken in the existing cir- month and next”. “I commit that and even hazmat suits are in use Sitharaman told reporters after the of small and marginal farmers in markets saw a continuous fall of 30 IndusInd Bank, which ended the cumstances,” the regulator said in the money to any needs of Paytm office while entering the data centre, meeting. In his address to the nation India, was suffering a daily loss of per cent. After such a large fall, the session with losses of 1.4 per cent circular. Samco Securities said about help-staff in these testing times,” he sources say. on Thursday, the prime minister had almost ~2,000 crore due to a massive markets tend to retrace upwards for and 0.9 per cent, respectively. Both 12 per cent of the stocks in the deriv- said. Sharma was referring to The RBI data centres run critical announced the formation of the task- slump in demand in view of false the next few sessions. We may, how- stocks, however, rebounded sharply ative segment would be hit by the Marriott International CEO Arne systems like Structured Financial force, to be led by Sitharaman. rumours that consuming non-vege- ever, see another sell-off after this from their intra-day lows. changes. Stocks like NCC, Indiabulls Sorenson, who announced that, in Messaging System (SFMS), RTGS, In four meetings, Sitharaman met tarian food hastened the COVID-19 retracement,” said Deeepak Jasani, All the BSE sectoral indices end- Housing, Adani Enterprises, light of the financial impact of NEFT, e-Kuber (which is used for Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, infection. head of retail research, HDFC ed the sessions with gains. Energy Vodafone Idea, and YES Bank could Covid-19 on Marriot and the hotel central and state government trans- Animal Husbandry Minister Giriraj “This is absolutely untrue and Securities. and oil and gas stocks rose the most, go into “ban period”, it said. industry, he would be giving up his actions, interbank transactions, Singh, and Tourism Minister Prahlad despite best efforts and repeated "The earnings momentum has and their gauges rose 10 per cent and The changes will take effect on salary for the rest of 2020. Pankaj market and monetary policy instru- Patel. The MSME ministry was rep- advice sent by the Indian Council of been dented for the next two quar- 9 per cent, respectively. So far in Monday for one month. Sebi might Patel, chairman of Cadila ments operations, treasury opera- resented by its secretary. Also present Medical Research (ICMR), demand ters and risk-on sentiment has March, overseas investors have decide to relax some of the measures, Healthcare, said the company had tions, currency inventory and dis- were Finance Secretary Ajay hasn’t picked up. The poultry indus- shrunk globally. Hence, at higher lev- pulled out nearly ~50,000 crore from depending on the market situation a no plans to either cut jobs or intro- tribution management). Besides, the Bhushan Pandey, Economic Affairs try directly employs almost 1 million els, investors could relook at the val- stocks, pulling down the Sensex by month down the line. duce any temporary pay cuts for its data centres handle the RBI website, Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, and small and marginal farmers whose uations and may choose to reduce 22 per cent. This is the worst month Sebi has said the robustness of the staff. “This situation is temporary email, and more than 35 other appli- the secretaries to the other ministries. livelihood is at stake due to the drop their equity holdings,” Jasani added. in history in terms of foreign flows. risk management frameworks has and would pass. In business, there cations covering various functions. “We held discussions with these in demand,” the person said. Many experts have raised con- helped in the smooth functioning of will be both profit and loss. We can- Around 600 personnel of a third- ministries in detail. They had brought “We hope the finance minister cerns about the spread of coron- the markets. not take knee-jerk reactions to a cri- party service provider are generally memorandums from the stakehold- will consider our demand because avirus in India and its possible eco- Sebi unveils... “On account of our existing robust sis situation,” he said. deployed at data centres for various ers in their respective sectors. We are our survival is directly linked to the nomic impact. Concerns have also The MWPL, linked to the free-float risk management framework, despite Marico Chairman Harsh non-IT and IT services, besides 60 in the stage of compiling all their survival of small and marginal farm- been raised about whether India's market capitalisation of a stock, is the significant movements in the mar- Mariwala said a company's response officials from the bank. demands,” Sitharaman said. ers and unorganised sector workers,” rickety public health infrastructure extent of positions that is allowed in ket, there has not been any disruption to the crisis and job cuts would Priority has been given to the A top official aware of the deliber- said another senior representative of could cope with a spurt in the num- the derivatives segment. in the settlement cycles,” Sebi said. depend on the sector and the chal- safety, health and social distancing. ations in the meetings said the min- the Indian poultry industry. ber of coronavirus cases. On Experts say changes to the MWPL In recent weeks, many global mar- lenges it faced. “Industries such avi- Other measures such as frequent isters spoke about the difficulties In the last few weeks, millions of Thursday, Prime Minister Modi structure will reduce the number of kets have taken measures such as ation and hospitality are seeing sig- sanitisation of common touch being faced by their sectors and the chicken and eggs have been urged citizens to stay indoors to pro- contracts available for trading in the prohibiting short selling, while some nificant headwinds at this point in points, work space, and reduction possible measures that could be tak- destroyed due to a sharp drop in tect themselves from the fast-spread- derivatives market. For instance, if have gone to the extent of shutting time. It is a question of survival of of touch points, infrared thermal en by the government and regula- demand over rumours surrounding ing virus. positions worth ~1,000 crore were down the markets. corporations within these industries. scanning for all at entry, no visitors, tors. Loan repayment and tax relax- COVID-19. Weak demand from the "Friday's rally was in sync with allowed in a particular stock, that will I don't think a business house can and awareness initiatives are being ation were among the measures poultry sector has resulted in a sharp the Asian and European markets stand reduced to ~500 crore. This take a unilateral decision in this mat- implemented. sought by industries in their memo- decline in feed prices too, with both and was more of a relief rally driven could lead to unwinding existing India Inc puts... ter. All factors will have to be taken The primary data centre is also in randums. “There will be many meet- soybean and maize prices falling by by technicals rather than any fun- positions or otherwise traders will be A Mahindra spokesperson said a pay into account,” he said. constant touch with the government, ings over the coming week once the nearly 25 per cent in the past two damental change in outlook," said levied heavy penalties. cut by promoters and CEOs will cer- The salary and job cuts are like- municipal and police authorities, task force is notified. Only after that months. The poultry market con- Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Once 95 per cent of the MWPL is tainly be considered, if the situation ly in the high-risk services sector, hospitals, doctors, etc. may a detailed relief package be sumes around half the soybean and Financial Services. The India VIX utilised for a stock, it enters a “ban warrants. including airlines, hotels, malls, Other data centres have also been announced,” the official said. maize production in India. index, a gauge for market volatility, period”, following which only offset- H M Bangur, managing director, multiplexes, restaurants, and kept ready to run the systems with Sitharaman said senior policy- Finance ministry officials say that cooled off by 7 per cent to 67 — a lev- ting existing positions are allowed Shree Cement, said that in the trying retailers, which has seen a sharp maximum services possible, when- makers in the finance ministry would while the situation is fluid and there el still considered lofty. until the limits get freed. times like these, business could take fall in demand due to shutdowns ever it is required, to shift the opera- meet on Saturday morning to discuss will be many meetings before a deci- Despite the rally 587 stocks hit Sebi has asked for daily monitor- a back seat and the safety and lives of across the country. If the current tion from the current location. the way forward. sion is taken, it still remains to be their 52-week lows, and 351 were ing of new positions in the ban peri- people were of utmost importance. global and domestic economic “The idea is that all critical func- Through its memorandum, the seen if loan repayment and tax relax- locked in the lower circuit on od. Further, it has hiked penalties by “We have taken various steps for the slowdown persists, it will impact tions of the financial system contin- more than $14-billion Indian poultry ations will be provided for as much as Thursday. The market breadth was 10 times. The regulator has decided to safety of employees. It is not right to demand and realisation. ue to be available to individuals, busi- industry asked for deferring all instal- a year. A call will also be taken on slightly positive with total advanc- increase the margin rate to 40 per talk about business, profit and loss, The CEO of an airline said job cuts nesses and governments, under all ments on loans taken by poultry whether such relaxations will be sec- ing stocks at 1,426 and those declin- cent in the cash segment in three revenue in times like these. I am not in the aviation sector was most likely circumstances,” said a source in know companies and small players for one tor-specific or not, or whether they ing at 1,031 on the BSE. phases. This would mean traders will saying that the focus on business will as it was the hardest hit. of the matter. year and working capital support to will be for only MSMEs. 22 MUMBAI | 21 MARCH 2020 1 > India sees biggest jump in a day: 63 new cases Maha orders offices to shut till Mar 31

ANEESH PHADNIS one to eight, too, are being cancelled. Mumbai, 20 March The enhanced restrictions are being put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 which INDIA All non-essential services, including private has so far infected 52 persons in the state. Over 40 offices and stores, in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur of these cases are among those with a history of will remain shut till March 31 in light of the con- foreign travel and the government is working tinued spread of the coronavirus pandemic hard to ensure there is no community transmis- (COVID-19), Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray sion. “Residents have responded positively to our announced on Friday. appeals to work from home and crowds have less- 236 Grocery stores, milk centres, pharmacies and ened. But we need to be careful and take precau- Positive cases in banks are exempt from the restrictions, which tions for next 15 days,” Thackeray said. India so far, says come into effect from Friday midnight. Similarly, Earlier in the week, cinema halls, parks, gyms Health ministry the stock exchange, stock broking offices, clearing and swimming pools were closed while stores in corporation and primary dealers under ambit of crowded areas were allowed to function on alter- 20 Delhi government orders closure of malls; Reserve Bank of India and Securities and nate days. In Pune and Nagpur the local admin- Number of cases exempts pharmacy, grocery stores Exchange Board of India will remain open. istrations ordered the closure of restaurants and in New Delhi All government offices will function with 25 bars and some of them have kept only their Disney+ launch in India observation in Kochi test positive per cent attendance and local trains and buses kitchens open for take away services. 2 will continue to operate as usual in Mumbai to “We are also working to find a solution to PM Narendra Modi holds More test positive on hold due to IPL delay allow for smooth functioning of essential servic- financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 cri- key meeting with state CMs in Gujarat, Second positive case es. Factories can function with 50 per cent of sis and a working group has been formed to look count rises to 7 in 24-hour lockdown staff strength. School examinations for classes into it,” Thackeray added. in Shillong today 4 Four test positive in More test positive Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur 14 firms get licence to evaluate COVID-19 tests kits in Chandigarh, Centre extends visas of WORLD total count at 5 foreigners in India till April 15 Railway official suspended Global death toll crosses for allegedly hiding COVID-19 10,000, over quarter of a 12 Delhi markets to shut positive son in office guest house million cases reported Fresh cases in for 3 days starting today Kerala, total Railways cancels 90 more California shuts down One fresh case of COVID-19 goes up to 37 trains till March 31; total number amid dire projections of in Telangana; Total rises to 17 of cancelled trains climbs to 245 25 million cases 3 Centre launches MyGov  Help tackle fake news: IT Italy's death toll crosses New cases in Corona Helpdesk on WhatsApp 4,000, reports 627 deaths Maharashtra, ministry writes to Twitter,  total 52 now 5 foreigners under Facebook, Google Pakistan reports third death, cases rise to 453 Several MPs in self-isolation after party

Ram Nath Kovind. In photo- Vasundhara Raje, son met singer graphs tweeted by the Pres- Kanika Kapoor who tested positive at ident's office, Singh can be seen standing right behind the Pres- Lucknow Taj Mahal hotel ident and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. ARCHIS MOHAN developed signs of flu in the last Later that day, Dushyant New Delhi, 20 March four days. She also alleged that attended a meeting of the par- she had to make repeated liamentary standing committee Pressure increased on the gov- requests to the health authori- on transport, aviation and cul- ernment on Friday to end the ties in Lucknow to get her test- ture. More than a dozen MPs ongoing Parliament session at ed. Kapoor had landed in India and senior bureaucrats had the earliest when several MPs from the UK on March 9. attended that meeting. On quarantined themselves after According to her father, she had Thursday, Dushyant attended a fears they might have come in attended at least four parties in party in the national capital, contact with people infected Lucknow, including with family Singer Kanika Kapoor who where several other MPs were with coronavirus. The Budget and friends, between March 13 tested positive for coronavirus present. Some who had inter- session is scheduled to end on and 16. booked for negligence by acted with Dushyant since his April 3, and is yet to pass the One of the parties was at Lucknow police return from Lucknow, includ- finance bill. Lucknow's Taj Mahal Hotel, ing Trinamool Congress’ Derek Former chief min- which Raje, Singh and at least a Singh and Congress politician O’Brien, BJP's Varun Gandhi ister Vasundhara Raje tweeted 100 others attended. Uttar Jitin Prasada, who have quaran- and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel, that she and her son, Dushyant Pradesh government has tined themselves, also attended quarantined themselves pend- Singh, have self isolated them- ordered the hotel shut until fur- the party. ing tests. Aam Aadmi Party’s selves after attending a party in ther orders. A video has surfaced Meanwhile, Dushyant, a Sanjay Singh said he has quar- Lucknow where singer Kanika of Kapoor at the Holi festivities Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) antined himself, too, as he inter- Kapoor was also present. The hosted by UP Lokayukta Sanjay Lok Sabha member, had active- acted with O’Brien. two, however, have not been Mishra on March 15. Kapoor had ly participated in parliamen- “While in Lucknow, I attend- tested positive yet. also stayed with her extended tary proceedings and meetings ed a dinner with my son Earlier in the day, Kapoor family in Kanpur. Raje and after his return from Lucknow. Dushyant and his in-laws. quarantined herself after test- Dushyant, along with several On Wednesday, Dushyant was Kanika, who has unfortunately ing positive for coronavirus. In politicians, and bureaucrats, had at Rashtrapati Bhavan, along tested positive, was a guest. As a an Instagram post, the 41-year- attended the party at Taj Mahal with over 100 other MPs from matter of abundant caution, my old singer said she returned hotel in Lucknow on March 13. UP and Rajasthan, for a break- son and I have immediately self- from London 10-days back, but UP health minister Jai Pratap fast meeting with President quarantined," Raje said. ii iii iv v vii PEOPLE BOOKS & IDEAS THE GOOD LIFE WIDE ANGLE The woman behind The unfinished stories Shows and films to watch as Biohacking for Theobroma’s growth of India’s lost soldiers you ace social distancing DIY bodies

21 MARCH 2020

< B R Ambedkar outside the House of Commons during the 1931 Roundtable Conference in London; (bottom left) Ambedkar’s house during his LSE days, now a Ahouse for museum Mr Ambedkar Will a museum to the Dalit leader in London enlighten Brahminical British Indians, asks Ashis Ray

astweek,theuncertaintyover Maharashtra.HisfatherRamjiMalojiSakpal “untouchables”,MahatmaGandhi, whetheramuseumwouldexist had,however, becomeanofficerinthe vehementlyopposedto adivisioninthe inLondoninthenameof BritishIndianArmyandwas,thus, Hinduvote,commencedafastuntodeath. BhimraoRamjiAmbedkar, fortunateto have hissoneducated.Indeed, Ambedkarbackeddown.Butheinterpreted L architectoftheIndian Ambedkarjuniorwasthefirstinhis Gandhi’soutreachto scheduledcastes, Constitutionandstrenuouscampaignerfor communityto completehighschool. whomthelatterdescribedas“Harijan”or Dalitrightsandeducationforwomen,was Yet,heexperiencedunspeakable childrenofGod,aspatronising. quashed.RobertJenrick,secretaryofstate oppression.“WhileintheschoolIknewthat At the1931RoundtableConferencein forHousing,CommunitiesandLocal childrenofthetouchableclasses,whenthey London,whereAmbedkarwasinvitedasa GovernmentintheConservativepartygove- feltthirsty, couldgooutto thewatertap, representative ofDalits,Gandhilashedout: rnmentofPrimeMinisterBorisJohnson, openit,andquenchtheirthirst.Butmy “Allpartiesatthismeetingrepresent ruledirreversiblyinitsfavour.Theproposed positionwasseparate. Icouldnottouchthe sectionalinterests.Congressaloneclaimsto institutionwasprematurelyinauguratedin tap;andunlessitwasopenedby a representthewholeofIndia,allinterests.It 2015byNarendraModi,afterthe touchable,itwasnotpossibleformeto isnocommunalorganisation;itisa Maharashtragovernmentpaid£3millionto quenchmy thirst,” helaterwrote. (These determinedenemyofcommunalisminany acquireatownhouseintheleafy,intellectual reminiscenceswere publishedinabooklet, shapeorform.Congressknowsno suburbofPrimroseHill,whereAmbedkar WaitingforaVisa.) distinctionofrace,colourorcreed;its livedin1921-22whilereadingattheLondon Abrightstudent,heproceededto obtain platformisuniversal.”Hecontinued:“And SchoolofEconomicsandpreparingtobe abachelor’s degreeineconomicsand hereIseethattheCongressistreatedasone calledtothebaratGray’sInn. politicsatBombayUniversity. oftheParties.Idonotmindit;Idonot Indeed, Jenrick, with a little Coincidentally, herehemetthereformist regarditasacalamityfortheCongress;butI encouragement from a British Foreign MaharajaofBaroda,SayajiraoGaekwadIII, doregarditasacalamityforthepurposeof Office anxious not to ruffle relations with whograntedhimascholarshipof£11.50a doingtheworkforwhichwe have gathered India, overruled an objection by the monthforthreeyearsforfurther togetherhere.” Camden Borough Council. It was an issue educationatNewYork’s Ambedkar, who convertedto of granting planning permission to convert ColumbiaUniversity,where Buddhism, contended that use of a residential property in a soundless hereceivedamaster’s Hindus should concede locality for a potentially noisy public degreeandaPhD.He Pakistan to Muslims. This was purpose, such as a museum. The Indian livedinadormitorywith at odds with Gandhi’s view, high commission’s application for afriend,NavalBhathena, but in consonance with retrospective sanction had previously aParsi;theyremained Congress’ acceptance of the been rejected. friendsforlife.Othershe partition of India. At ahearingonthematterlastyear, consideredto becloseto JawaharlalNehruinvited Camden’s conservationofficer,NickBaxter, himwere hisprofessors Ambedkarto beIndia’s first arguedthatAmbedkarwasnotasignificant JohnDewey, James ministeroflawandjustice. figureinBritainandhadlivedinthehouse Shotwell,EdwinSeligman INDIAN DALITS IN TheConstituentAssembly foronlyayear,therebynotjustifyinga andJamesRobinson,who BRITAIN appointedhimchairmanof violationofplanningrules.CarolineDaly, were refreshinglyuncaring COMPLAIN OF thedraftingcommitteefor WIKIMEDIA alsooftheCouncil,maintainedthatevery ofhiscaste status. DISCRIMINATION theConstitutionoftheIndian

houselostintheboroughthrough Afterthreeyearsin Republic,whichcameinto COMMONS conversionorredevelopment“isahome America,hearrivedin FROM UPPER beingonJanuary26,1950. thatneedsto bereplaced”.To these,Steve Londonin1916.TheBritish CASTE PEOPLE OF Whilehewas,arguably, Gasztowicz,aQueen’sCounselappearing policesuspectedhewasa INDIAN ORIGIN, givingshapeto Nehru’s vision fortheMaharashtragovernment,described revolutionaryandfrisked ofanindependentIndia,he Ambedkarasa“God-like”personality,who himminutelybefore ESPECIALLY IN editedandclarifiedcontent Dolar Popat, who is of Indian descent, discrimination a form of race matteredto Indian-originpeopleinthe allowinghimentry. Luckily, GUJARATI AND aswellasdefendedcertain reacted: “My Lords, the vast majority of discrimination. UnitedKingdom. lettersofintroductionfrom PUNJABI CIRCLES formulationsindebatesin the British Hindu and Sikh community is Acommissionappointedby theBritish Jenrick’saward,though,recognising hisprofessorsproved theAssembly. outraged at this amendment to the governmentrecorded:“Thestudyfound neighbourhoodsensitivities,was invaluable.Heenrolledat Notwithstandinghis Equality Act.” evidenceofcaste discriminationand conditionalandin-principle.Itmandated Gray’sInnto becomeabarrister;andthe insertionoftheabolitionofuntouchability, MeghnadDesai,alsoofIndian harassmentinBritaininareasrelevantto thatAmbedkarHouse—asthebuildinghas LSEforadoctoralthesis,whichwas heechoedNehru’s viewofIndiaasaliberal extraction,asked:“MyLords,isnotthe theEqualityAct2010,namelyinwork,and beennamed—wouldoperatesolelyunder eventuallypublishedasTheEvolutionof democracy, withafederalstructureand problemthatthemajorityofHinduand theprovisionofservices.Italsofound thesupervisionoftheMaharashtra ProvincialFinanceinBritishIndia. safeguardsforrightsofminorities.Itis Sikhorganisationsisresponsibleforthe evidenceofcaste discriminationand government,itsopeninghourswillnot ButAmbedkar’s scholarshipfrom generallyacceptedthatAmbedkarresigned discriminationoftheminorityintheirown harassmentinotherareas,namely exceed11amto 5pmandamuseum Barodahadrunitscourse.Therefore, in1917 hisministerialpositionin1951because ethnicorigincommunity?” education(pupilagainstpupilbullying), managementplanwouldneedto be hereturnedto India,afterbeinggiven Congressrefusedto implementauniform ShreelaFlather,agrand-daughterof voluntarywork(dismissal),worshipand submittedto CamdenCouncilforapproval. permissionto comebackto Londonto finish civilcode.Hewas,however, pleasedwithhis GangaRamAgrawal(afterwhomahospital religionandpublicbehaviour(harassment Therehave beenstoriesofunseemly hisstudieswithinfouryears.Hebecame effortsto create theConstitution.Hewas isnamedinDelhi),intervened:“MyLords, inpublicplaces).Theconsequencesofthese wranglingforcontrolandunmonitored professorofpoliticaleconomyatSydenham confidentto theextentofasserting:“Ifeel theHinducommunitysaysthatthereisno couldbesevere forthevictims.” expendituresincethepropertywas CollegeinBombay, wherehewaspopular thattheConstitutionisworkable;itis caste discriminationinthiscountryand Opponentsofthespecificinclusionof purchased.Another£3millionwas, withhisstudents,butsomeofhiscolleagues flexibleanditisstrongenoughto holdthe thereforewe donotneedthissubsection. casteismintheUK’sequalityframework reportedly,spentonitsrefurbishment. objectedto hissharingtheirdrinkingwater countrytogetherbothinpeacetimeandin Fine—butifthatisthecase, whyisit dubiouslypleadthatsuchenactment“ispart AmbedkarwasbornonApril14,1891at jug.Itwasacultureshockafterhis wartime.Indeed,ifImaysayso,ifthingsgo fightingsohardagainstit?...Butbecause ofawidercampaigntointerfereinIndia’s themilitarycantonmentofMhowin experienceofequityintheUSandLondon. wrongunderthenewConstitutionthe theyarefightingsohard,itleadsmeto internalaffairs”.TheIndianhighcomm- Madhya PradeshintotheMaharcaste, Unsurprisingly, in1919,hegave evidenceto reasonwillnotbethatwe hadabad believethatthereisdiscrimination.” issionsubscribestothisunempiricalstance. lookeduponby Indiansocietyofthatmilieu aBritishcommitteeadvocatingseparate Constitution.Whatwe willhave to sayisthat In the House of Commons in 2018, Bob TheCamdenBoroughwascorrectin andby theBritish,whoruledIndia,as andreservedseatsinelectionsfor Manwasvile.” Blackman, who represents a constituency contendingthatAmbedkarwasnotsowell “untouchables”.Thefamilyhailedfrom scheduledcastes.In1920, hereturnedto that has a decisive percentage of Gujarati- knowninBritain.Thebestknownandmost Londonto finishhistrainingatGray’sInn mbedkar’s legacyrunsdeepamong origin voters, put the question to Penny reveredamongIndianpoliticiansare

ROY andhisworkatLSE—whereabustofhim A IndianDalitsinBritain.Theyare Mordaunt, a minister in the government of GandhiandNehru.IndiraGandhi,too, hasnowbeeninstalled—helpedby loans disgruntled.Theycomplainof Prime Minister Theresa May, as to when capturedBritons’imagination.Now, inthis AMIT fromBhathenaandtheMaharajaof discriminationfromuppercaste peopleof “she will respond to the long-awaited digitalageModiispummelled24X7intothe Kolhapur.In1924,hebeganpracticeasa Indianorigin,especiallyinrigidGujarati consultation on removing caste from the consciousnessofoverseasIndiansbutdoes PHOTOS: barristerinBombay. andPunjabicircles.In2015,underthe Equality Act 2010”. Mordaunt replied: “I notelicitrespectamongprogressive governmentofPrimeMinisterDavid hope to make an announcement on this in elementsandhascertainlyearnedthe mbedkar,whowasconferredthe Cameron,theHouseofLordsdiscussed the coming weeks.” But the position wrathofmainstreamBritishmedia. A BharatRatnaby thegovernmentof “amendmentofSection9oftheEquality remains, caste discrimination is not PoliticalexpediencypromptsIndian PrimeMinisterVishwanathPratapSingh, Act2010thatrequirestheintroductionof expressly prohibitedunder the Act, politicalpartiesto heedtheAmbedkar wasundoubtedlyanationalist;buthe secondarylegislationto incorporatecaste as although Section 9 of it, as amended, factor. Butifthemuseuminhismemory frequentlycollidedwiththeIndianNational aprotectedcharacteristic”.Thisfolloweda requiresthe UK government to introduce inspiresandinstilsamongBrahminical Congress.AftertheBritishgovernment judgementinanemploymentcaserelating secondary legislation to make caste an BritishIndiansanattitudeofequality orderedseparateelectoratesfor to caste discrimination. aspect of race, in effectrendering caste towardsDalits,theedificewouldbeworthit. ii | PEOPLE 21 MARCH 2020

with catastrophe: practically No one cares how old you feel. I am fifty, but not ready nothing. I’ll refuse plastic bags, Age is only “just a number” in the | | | | | | | | | | | retweet scary articles and contin- way that money is just printed V I E W F I N D E R ue to write about my own life. paper or that 1600 is just a score PAMELADRUCKERMAN Still, your self-esteem doesn’t on the SATs. Humans invent stuff flatline as easily. You feel like and give it meaning. I turn 50 today. There, I’ve said it, less of an imposter, in part Some of the shock of ageing which is more than some friends because you’ve lived long dulls. Forty felt new-old. By 50 of mine can manage. One just enough to accumulate small you’re used to being middle- calls it %) — shift 50 on the key- accomplishments. In moments aged, though you suspect the board. Another describes her age of near despair, I remind myself next decade will speed by even entirely in fear emojis. that a student devoted a section more quickly than the last one I should probably worry about of her master’s thesis to the use of did. When I met a tour group of the coronavirus instead of turn- italics in the French translation retirees recently, I suddenly VEENU SANDHU ing 50, but it turns out that I can of my book. realised that some weren’t much worry about both. It doesn’t help Youcan’thidefromtime. I was- older than me. The real problem that, in French the word “quaran- n’t bothered when my doctor pre- with 50 isn’t 50, it’s that 60 taine” can mean both being in scribed hormonal gel or when a comes next. your 40s and isolating sick hairdresser offered to dye my eye- Old problems are replaced by Live the patients (because boats from brows. But I can sum up the phys- new ones. For my 40th birthday plague-stricken countries used to This year, I’d planned to write a musical, start a podcast and try ical trauma of the 50s in two I threw an aspirational party and wait 40 days before unloading stand-up comedy. I haven’t done any of those words: wrist wrinkles. I’ve also invited people I thought should moment their goods). been grappling with an existen- be my friends but who barely What’s it like to be in your 50s? You won’t accomplish every- You’re becoming who you really tial question: Since I’ve spent knew me. They wondered why My 40s taught me that it’s easier thing.Or in my case, almost any- are. “In the 40s you’re still in decades investing in expensive they were there. For my 50th, I very morning, after he is done with his to cope with new developments thing. This year, I’d planned to chaos,” a friend in her 60s skin care “rituals”, why don’t I look vowed not to make the same mis- walk, my dog and I head to a neigh- when you can name them. So to write a musical, start a podcast explained. In the 50s, you have any better than my 50-year-old take. I phoned a few actual friends E bourhood park. It is not much of a park; brace myself (and my anxious and try stand-up comedy. I revelation fatigue and just want to husband, who has never spent a to invite them over but refused to just a large plot of Delhi Development Authority cohort) for the coming decade, haven’t done any of those. In the enjoy what you’ve learned. dime on any of it? disclose how old I’d be. “Alexa, land, big enough for a bungalow. While he here are some of the changes in weeks before my birthday I went You know yourself better, but You’re betteratspottingtrends, how old is Pamela Druckerman?” strolls around, off the leash in the security of store for us: on a no-carb starvation diet, so at that knowledge is disappoint- because you’ve witnessed so one shouted into his house. He this walled space, I usually pull out my phone Your body becomes an acci- least I’d turn 50 as a size 4. (“I’ll be ing. I grew up in Miami reading many of them. I can see that had the answer in seconds. for news updates or to see what the world of dental autobiography. There’s so skinny you’ll forget I’m old,” I obsessively about the Holocaust bilingual is the new gifted, listen- I needn’t have said anything; I Twitter is reacting to that morning. This is not the scar from when I had a lymph texted to a 30-something man, and imagining how I’d have ing is the new talking, and — for ended up canceling the party a particularly pleasant habit: the news is seldom node removed, and another from who didn’t reply.) behaved in 1940s Europe. Now environmental reasons — thrift- because of the pandemic. To be upbeat and Twitter is almost always vile, but I when a surgeon took off my bor- You’re more settled. The 40s that we live with the coronavirus, ing is the new shopping. But age honest, I’m relieved. Maybe I don’t indulge in it nevertheless out of the kind of derline back mole. Loose skin on bring an explosion of new a gangster president and impend- also brings fresh doubts: Am I have to turn 50 after all. obsession many of us are now familiar with. my stomach reminds me that I insights and the feeling that it’s ing planetary disaster, I know rejecting a new idea because it’s One morning a few weeks ago, when things went full term with twins. now-or-never to change your life. exactly what I’ll do when faced wrong or because I’m old? © 2020 The New York Times were particularly foul on the microblogging site, I put my phone away in my pocket in dis- gust and looked up to call for my dog so that we could go home. For a moment I couldn’t spot him, and panicked. And then I saw him at the other end of the park, his head buried in a flower bush. From where I stood, he appeared to be smelling the flowers — something I used to do a long time ago, when lawns at homes were not the luxury they are today. Back in those days I could tell every new bud that had appeared, every flower that had started to bloom in our lawn in our no-frills Sweeteverythings army accommodation. A lot of time back then was spent doing what would today be described as nothing. Looking at the flowers and the leaves, or feeling their texture, and arriving at the conclusion that nothing we cre- Kainaz Messman Harchandrai is turning Theobroma, her mother’s beloved desserts business, ate can ever come close to the way nature pres- into a national cake shop chain, writes RanjitaGanesan ents it. Tracing the slow progress of the occa- sional snail or following an evasive earthworm. Staring at the trees on windy days, at how their branches swayed. Watching the rain fall, obliv- ious of the minutes gone by sitting there with not even a book in hand. Just watching. How it looked as it fell on the road outside the house. How it appeared under the yellow glow of the ne likely reason why Kainaz brand recall, says Kainaz. Like the menu streetlight far away. How the wind pushed it in Messman Harchandrai was — a mix of Kamal’s favourites and less- one direction or the other as it fell. popular in school was the known international pastries — the hoard of handmade clientele was also a mix of old and first- O chocolates she would bring time faces. From the very first day and for to distribute among her teenaged several days thereafter, according to her, classmates. Her mother Kamal, a home there were queues and some items sold caterer, used to whip these up with cocoa, out swiftly. The runaway hit was the soft icing sugar, butter, and lavish splashes of walnut- and chocolate chip-studded rum. There was “so much alcohol in the brownie, based on her mother’s original old-fashioned candy”that afterwards, in recipe, which “no matter how many trays the maths period, the numbers would we made, ran out every day”. dance. “We would hardly follow the While the France-trained chef wanted class,” she reminisces, with a giggle. to steer clear of any obvious offerings, Kainaz and her sister Tina grew up in people would often walk in asking for an enticingly aromatic environment. Her comfort food like blackforest cakes, So many of these images came back to me mother sold those heady rum chocolates pineapple pastries and Parsi chicken puffs. that morning. And I found myself looking at and chocolate orange mousse cakes to “There was a point when I realised I am not the park. Really looking. It had been cleaned clients in their South Mumbai in the business to feed my ego but to serve and freshly laid with grass some months ago. neighbourhood of Cusrow Baug, as well people and make them happy.” The menu My dog, by now on the grass, was licking dew- as in Cuffe Parade and Churchgate. has since grown to include familiar drops off its blades. Kamal was also known for baking “shape flavours, and Kainaz now listens carefully Scattered here and there were patches of cakes” in the form of Mickey Mouse and “when anyone talks about their favourite flowers. The gardener, I noticed, had followed Donald Duck at a time when these were foods, their food likes and dislikes, what his heart — sprinkled a bunch of purple petu- not readily available. With little they want to eat when they are feeling nias here and pink ones there; thrown a random advertising and no social media to rely on unwell”. In all the attention to sweets, she cluster of chrysanthemums in one corner; in the 1990s, the girls helped her take admits that bread had became something dropped a few yellow and white dog flowers orders, bake and wrap the desserts. of a step child. She was compelled to take a along the boundary wall with no particular Where Kainaz later trained as a chef at course in bread-making and grow that thought; and planted an assortment of dahlias Mumbai’s Institute of Hotel Management categoryto include multigrain loaves, in one flowerbed. Elsewhere in the park, he had and Delhi’s Oberoi Centre of Learning focaccia, and lavash when a retailer grown a solitary marigold bush and placed a and Development, Tina who is a gifted yet wanted to bring her on as a supplier but batch of tiny pink, purple and white flowers at quite reluctant cook, sought a career in asked for savoury staples as well. its feet as though to give it company. finance instead which took her to Until a few years ago, Theobroma But this gardener — an artist actually, London. In 2004, Kainaz paired a desire brownies were a quintessential treat that inclined as he seemed to be to present the to show off her mother’s signature recipes anyone visiting from Mumbai was beauty of imperfection — had left one corner with another desire to introduce Indians expected to bring along. Now they are untouched. Not out of choice though. In this to European classics like many-layered available in other locations in the corner stood a big red silk-cotton tree that croissants and fruit tartes, which led to country. Kainaz and her family were too seemed determined not to allow even grass to her opening a French-style café, preoccupied with the kitchen to pay grow under its flowery canopy. The ground Theobroma. Now, with the family’s attention but they had broken even by the below it instead was covered with almost as homespun business fast becoming a end of the first year. Over a decade later, many flowers as it had on its branches above. national chain, the sisters have co- in 2017, they decided to scale up the So this is what I did in the park that morn- written a book, Baking a Dream: The business with the help of private equity ing: nothing. And this is what I have been doing Theobroma Story, about that journey. funding. That led to forming a chain of 52 in that park every morning since. At age 16, through a Rotary exchange cafés, express shops and kiosks across My dog and his goofy nose-in-the-flower- programme, Kainaz had spent a year in Pune, Delhi and the NCR. Theobroma is bush moment made me realise how much of Albi, a red-brick town in France. Scores of eyeing Bengaluru and Hyderabad next. our time is spent trying to be purposeful, to little patisseries there took care of local Each new city comes achieve something, to get somewhere, to be families’ cake and bread needs, and for family, to dream up the café THEOBROMA, GREEK FOR ‘FOOD OF THE GODS’, with its own something. And how little of it is spent just the first time in these simple venture. “My father thought I peculiarities. “Managing being. A pity. establishments, she tasted buttery would have easier hours in a IS ALSO THE FORMAL TITLE OF THE CACAO remote teams and The Japanese, I recently discovered, have a strawberry-crowned tarts, pain au solo business than at the TREE. THE EFFORT PEOPLE PUT INTO ensuring consistent word for this wonderfully rejuvenating art of chocolat and pain aux raisins. During hotel. Of course, he was REMEMBERING THE COMPLEX NAME ENDED UP quality and service is our doing nothing. They call it “Boketto”, which monthly trips to the nearest big city, wrong about that.” The biggest challenge,” she literally means “gazing vacantly into the dis- Toulouse, she sampled finer things like bakery and café was entirely HELPING WITH BRAND RECALL, SAYS KAINAZ notes. Further, the tance without thinking of anything specific”. It blue cheese and wine. Unsurprisingly, uncharted territory, but the quality of ingredients is a rejuvenating, destressing exercise. No, upon returning to India, she wanted to experience of working in a restaurant did capital to hire professionals so her and palates vary too. In Mumbai, for “exercise” cannot be the word for it. It is too study food. Apart from her own mother, prepare her for how to think about mother’s cake business assistant joined instance, the patties are sweet and sour purposeful a word. Boketto is a rejuvenating, the 19th-century chef, Marie-Antoine maintenance and planning. their kitchen, along with another because people are familiar with Gujarati destressing state of being. Carême, perhaps the world’s first As with any enterprise of this sort, it untrained cook. Her grandmother’s old flavours, and the Parsi-style mayo is I am glad I rediscovered these do-nothing celebrity chef, and his follower Georges took a village to get things rolling. Kainaz flat in Colaba became her first commercial infused with mustard, pepper and garlic. moments. At a time when our world has been Auguste Escoffier, legendary for having attributes every action related to her kitchen. Tina, who was pregnant then, These were adapted to suit the Delhi rattled in ways we have never encountered simplified French cooking techniques, business to a collective “we” rather than flew in to help with opening day. foodie’s palate which seems to favour before, these mornings have been my window act as sources of inspiration. just herself. Her father found the first shop The name they chose for the new spicier items. During the first Delhi into a universe where all that matters is living For some years after chef school and space just outside Cusrow Baug, and patisserie, on the suggestion of one of opening two years ago, people showed up in the moment. before she injured her back, Kainaz made helped with seed money. The young chef Tina’s colleagues, was a mouthful. even without the family having roped in a pastries in a five-star kitchen. A bulging had insisted that her designer, who had Theobroma, Greek for ‘food of the gods’, publicist. “Our reputation got them to our [email protected] disc was grazing her nerve and restricted worked on homes but never a retail outlet, is also the formal title of the cacao tree. door,” says Kainaz, adding with founder’s her to bed for three months. She used this fit in wooden floors, which sadly wore out The effort people put into remembering pride, “but our product has kept them time to recover and, encouraged by her within weeks. There was not enough the complex name ended up helping with coming back.” iii 21 MARCH 2020 BOOKS & IDEAS | 1 | | | | | || | | | | | | | India’s lost V E R S E AFFAIRS soldiers 2

UTTARAN DAS GUPTA Thisintensely researchedbookopens 4 5 upacrucialand 3 The language uncomfortablechapter of Delhi ofmilitary, politicaland 6 diplomatichistorythat couple of months back, a friend and I few care to visit,says were walking down from the SDA A Market in South Delhi towards Veenu Sandhu Aurobindo Market, when she pointed out a road sign and said to me: “You know, I can read all the four scripts (Roman, Devnagari, Nastaliq and Gurmukhi) on it.” I could read tthe entrance to the cadets’ only the first two and asked her to teach me at messat the National Defence least one of the others. In Akhil Katyal’s latest Academy in Khadakwasla, Pune, a collection of poems — his third — this experi- table for one is set meticulously for ence, which must be common for so many of A every meal. The chair is tilted our fellow citizens, finds poetic expression 7 forward. The candle on the table is unlit. On the and historical resonance. bread plate is a slice of lemon, a reminder of the “My grandfather/would ask us to read bitternessof fate. There is salt on the plate, symbolising him/the shop signs in Devnagari:” writes tears. The glass is inverted. Katyal. “All his life, he/only knew Urdu,/leav- The soldier for whom the table has been set couldn’t ing Lahore at 18.” The grandfather in question make it for the meal. But his comrades have reservedhis moved from west Punjab to Delhi, and then to place for whenever — if ever — he does. A plaque nearby 9 8 Lucknow (Katyal’s hometown) as a refugee, bears the simple message: Remember. always followed, however. For and never learnt the Devnagari script, depend- This message is also at the heart of Chander Suta Dogra’s instance, instead of recognising a ing on his grandchildren to read out shop signs book,MissinginAction:ThePrisonersWhoNeverCame capturedsoldier as a prisoner of to him. But he never taught them Nastaliq Back. Dogra’s is a story of unfinished stories. Of soldiers war (POW), the enemy either: “Years later,/when I ache to read Faiz’s who went missing during or around the wars with Pakistan establishment may chooseto 10 letters/in his own handwriting, I have to/write — mainly in 1971and to some extent in 1965. Information categorise him a “security to a Facebook friend in Lahore,/or ask an old about some have occasionally prisoner” (spy). When that Jangpura neighbour,/or worse, use a transla- trickled through, mostly the happens, the prospectof his return tion app.” Katyal finds he has no visa to go to result of the determined and or even tracing his whereabouts the language which his grandfather inhabited. desperate pursuit for answers by become that much tougher. In a remarkable trilingual experiment, some families. For most others, Dogra, who is the daughter, wife Katyal gives the reader the shop signs first in there have only been decades of and mother of defence officers, Devnagari, and then moves on to Nastaliq nothingness. remains a journalist as she details while referring to Panchkuian Road, where his In official records, the number theserealities, placing before the grandfather first lived of soldiers missing in action reader factsand steering clear of after coming to India. stands at 83. The initial number jingoism that could have detracted The theme continues was 54 but names were added as from the sensitive subject. in the next few poems new evidence surfaced. Many “In the Urdu class” believe there could bemore. he Indian government is often 11 and “In the third Urdu This intensely researched Tcriticisedfor not having negotiated class”. In many ways, MISSING book opens up a crucial and hard enough with Pakistan despite its thumping victoryin the places, lan- IN ACTION uncomfortable chapter of the 1971war. Besides control over large swathes of its land, guages—several THE PRISONERS military, political and diplomatic India also had in its custody over 90,000 Pakistani POWs, poems in the book are WHO NEVER historythat few care to visit. whoserelease Pakistan was desperate to secure. For India, it in Hindi—and mem- Dogra digs into official records, was a great bargaining chip. Pakistan had Mujibur Rehman, LIKE BLOOD ON THE ories we inhabit is the CAME BACK diary entries, long-preserved whoserelease Prime Minister Indira Gandhi badly neededto BITTEN TONGUE theme of this book — letters, newspaper reports as well meet the political goal for which the war was fought: the DELHI POEMS wonderfully illustrat- Author: as personal accounts of the sovereignty of Bangladesh. Author: ed by Vishwajyoti Chander Suta Dogra soldiers’ families and colleagues In the dramatic events that led to and followed the Shimla 12 Akhil Katyal Ghosh — which car- to get some answers. The attempt Agreement of 1972, in the obsession to ensure a deal that Art: Vishwajyoti ries as its subtitle: Publisher: Ghosh HarperCollins is to find out why the nation failed would recognise Bangladesh as a separate country and in the (1) Flt Lt Vijay Vasant Tambay (2) Maj SPS “Delhi Poems”. thesemen somiserably, and what subsequent exchange of soldiers, India failed to ensure that Waraich (3) 2nd Lt Paras Ram Sharma Publisher: Context Through these poems, Pages: 341 plus xIiv we can do about it. all of its own men had been accountedfor and returned by (4) Flt Lt Ram Methram Advani (5) Maj Pages: 163 Katyal performs a car- Ashok Kumar Suri (6) Capt Giriraj Singh Price: ~699 The Geneva Conventions that Pakistan. Both sides, in fact, have treated their soldiers as Price: ~499 tographic act, bring- (7) Wg Cdr Hersern Singh Gill (8) Capt apply to armed conflicts, even pawns at different times. Dogra also raisesthe issue of Kamal Bakshi (9) Sqn Ldr Mahinder Kumar ing to life the metrop- thosenot necessarily declaredas Pakistani POWs with India. One of them, Sepoy Maqbool Jain (10) Capt Om Prakash Dalal (11) Capt olis which he has adopted as his home. wars(such as the Kargil conflict of 1999), mandate that Hussain, who was capturedby the Indian Army during Ravinder Kaura (12) Flt Lt Sudhir Kumar For Katyal, there are two self-confessed signatory nations holding prisoners hand them over to their Operation Gibraltar in 1965, was released40 Goswami (13) Flt Lt Harvinder Singh; (far inspirations for writing about Delhi: Aga home country soon after hostilities end. There are also rules long years later, in 2005. By then, all his 13 left) a table for one, laid out in memory of Shahid Ali and Ravish Kumar. He translated for the humane and dignified treatment of the capturedmen family was dead and gone. the missing soldier at NDA every day Kumar’s Ishq Mei Seher Hona, comprising short — which the public witnessedrecently in the case of Wing Pointedquestions are also raisedthrough love narratives. At the same time, Katyal is also Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. Theserules are not intriguing stories. One of them concerns Major located within a larger community of poets, S K Suri, the quartermaster of 5 Assam Regiment, —oneofwhichindicatedGillhadbeen currently living and working in Delhi and writ- who was wounded and later declareddead in “loaned”byPakistantotheUSforitstop- ing about it relentlessly. Some of these poets are December 1971.The army crematedhis body a few secretprojecttotrainitspilotstoflyand Michael Creighton (New Delhi Love Songs, miles from the battlefield in the Chhamb Sector. battletheMiGs.Themysteryendures. 2017), Maaz Bin Bilal (Ghazalnama, 2019), and That was the official version. But the family kept The limitations of the yours truly (Visceral Metropolis, 2017). This is getting conflicting reports from the army —that he International Court of Justice and not an exhaustive list and also does not include had been wounded, that he had died. Conflicting dates International Committee of the Red poets working in languages other than English. were given for his death, too. Cross in thesecasesare also Katyal, as his many fans would already One day in December 1974, his father received a letter evident in the stories in this book. know, also creates a queer map for Delhi. He has datedDecember 7, 1972 from a Pakistani resident carrying Asare the weak efforts of India’s tri-services been a queer rights activist for many years. His a note from his son: “I am quite OK here.” Six months later, committee for monitoring missing defence poems “I want to 377 you so bad” and “Girl, another letter arrived in his son’s handwriting: “… Please try personnel. Dogra also tells us how the US doesit differently, when you” have gone viral on social media. to contact Indian Army or Govt of India about us. We are 20 coordinating with countries to secure and identify even the (Katyal often first publishes his poems online.) officers here.” remains of each unaccounted-for soldier. The first one reads: “I want to break laws/with More clues came from cross-border friends but to this day Somechanges,though,have beenpushedby retired you in bed and in streets and in parks”. This Major Suri’s whereabouts and fate remain unknown, as does defencepersonnel,significantlythelateLieutenantGeneral poem was written in 2013 — the Supreme Court the reason for the Indian Army’s handling of his case. JSAurora,thefaceofIndia’s 1971victory.Oneofthemis revoked sections of Section 377 of the Indian MysteryalsoshroudsthecaseofWingCommanderHSGill gettingthegovernmentto recognisethemissingmenasstill Penal Code, which criminalised non-hetero- (“HighSpeedGill”tohiscolleagues),anaceMiGpliotwhohad alive andserving,ratherthan“presumeddead”,sothattheir normative intercourse, only in 2018. These lines apremonitionthathewouldn’treturn.Hisnamewas familiescontinueto receive thesalariesdueto serving are like throwing down the gauntlet to the law. announcedonPakistanradiochannelsasoneofthepilots officers;theyarealsopromotedwhenpromotionisdueand In the second poem, Katyal casts light on captured,beforePakistandeclaredhimdead. retiredwhenitis,notionally, timefortheirretirement. how silly the law was anyway: “Girl, when (AnnouncementsonPakistaniradiowereacrucialsourceof Much,however, remainsto bedone.Ifanyofthesemen you/blow your boy…/I know it feels/like heav- informationforsoldiers’families.)AspybackfromPakistan arealive, thentimeisrunningoutforthem.Andiftheyaren’t, en, you/too violate 377.” (This poem was written saidhehadmetsomeonewhohadseenGillinaPakistani theirfamiliesdeserveto know. MissinginActionmakesa in 2014.) The poem that I particularly recom- prison.Similarstoriestrickledinfromotherunrelatedsources compellingcaseforthis. mend is “[Varun is Typing]”, which imitates the process of hesitation and inhibition as two men text each other on a messaging app. The poem is easily available online, so I am not OUT NOW FORTHCOMING describing it; Katyal’s innovation lies in adopt- ing a technological development and incorpo- rating it into a poem of such emotional depth. PLANNING IN THE 20TH THE HUNDRED THE RSS: AND THE JALLIANWALA BAGH: Most of the poems in this book will not be CENTURYAND BEYOND: YEARS’ WAR ON MAKING OF THE AGROUNDBREAKING unfamiliar to the readers who have probably INDIA’S PLANNING PALESTINE: A DEEP NATION HISTORY OF THE read them online already. One reason for buy- COMMISSION AND HISTORY OF SETTLER A journalist traces the 1919 MASSACRE ing the book is, of course, Ghosh’s art. But THE NITI AAYOG COLONIAL CONQUEST RSS's nearly century- A historian draws on even lovers of Katyal’s poetry would be well- The Planning Commission AND RESISTANCE long operations in the first-hand accounts to advised to get a copy, because reading these played a crucial role in A historian recreates relentless pursuit of recreate the tragedy poems altogether — and away from the imme- India's development but the voices of ideological dominance that altered the diate context in which they were first pro- remains a little studied Palestinians and in a nation known for its dynamic of collective duced — is a very different experience. In institution. This set of his own experiences rich multiculturalism. consciousness to some ways it is also a sort of time travel to essays examines the during critical moments Due March 23. colonial rule in those events or memories, a visa to the coun- history and experience of his nation’s Dinesh Narayanan profound and lasting try of the past, where, as L P Hartley tells us, of planning in India. occupation. Penguin ways. Due April 2020. they do things differently. Santosh Mehrotra Rashid Khalidi ~699, 344 pages VNDatta & Sylvie Guichard (eds) Hachette Penguin Random House The writer’s novel, Ritual, was published in February Cambridge University Press ~599, 336 pages ~399, 256 pages ~950, 355 pages iv | THE GOOD LIFE 21 MARCH 2020

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KISHORE SINGH Art’s healing touch Kidding

ast summer, I spent some time chatting TRAGICOMEDY, HOTSTAR with a doctor who works with patients with Lmental disabilities and learning issues from irst premiering on SHOWTIME, this marginalised sections of society. I had proposed F Jim Carrey-starrer is now streaming the use of art as a therapeutic tool for his recovery online and it’s recommended even for programme. We agreed there was substantiation those who’ve previously been put off to suggest that those traumatised by instances of by Carrey’s OTT acting in slapstick works childhood violence were better able to address such as Ace Ventura. Carrey is seen as their emotions through art. Follow-up meetings BINGE-FIGHTING Jeff Pickles, a beloved television with the NGO team, however, soon petered out. presenter who is adored by children The programme remained still-born. and adults alike, thanks to his long- Does art heal? Evidence would point towards running puppet show. Mr Pickles is a that, and it seems the chain hospitals are taking fairy tale-like person who teaches cognizance of it — though the mostly inane children valuable life lessons. But prints of flowers and landscapes in their endless THE VIRUS when he loses one of his twins, his grief corridors are too mind-numbing to contemplate. leaves him distraught and all he wants Some serious thought needs to be provided to the to do is acknowledge that loss on the choice of art in medical institutions, as well as of show and teach his viewers (primarily colours that are considered curative by healers. Be it videos of penguins being taken for walks around the zoo or cats playing children) about death, something the This is as true of offices where banal, thought- makers of his puppet show strongly lessly collated works of “art” should make way for games with their humans, the internet can be an endless source of entertainment oppose. The poignant series is a tale of those that are provocative, help you think, are how Pickles deals with the loss of a relatable, even aspirational. in these stay-at-home weeks. Nikita Puri lists the best shows and films to watch child, all the while trying to protect the As more and more people become home- online as you ace social distancing multimillion-dollar brand empire bound in the wake of coronavirus, I am thankful that’s built on his “happy” image. to be surrounded by art that is contemplative, thoughtful and challenging — and, yes, even decorative. I find myself looking up often from where I am sitting and writing this to look at a SelfMade a millionaire in the early 1900s. The self- support her daughter to building a wall with abstract paintings — Bimal Dasgupta’s made entrepreneur and philanthropist business called the Madam C J Walker eerie, surreal landscapes, Rajendra Dhawan’s INSPIRATIONAL DRAMA, NETFLIX made an empire out of making cosmetics Manufacturing Company. Directed by Kasi poignant, evocative renditions, Natvar Bhavsar’s and hair care products for black women. Lemmons, the narrative has been pigment-laden work, Gopi Gajwani’s floating his is a limited series that sees Octavia Spencer, applauded for her role in the fictionalised slightly to reimagine the colours. Elsewhere, I can spot figurative paintings T Spencer as the historical figure of Academy Award-winning film The Help, struggles of a woman born on a cotton by Jamini Roy, G R Santosh or Gogi Saroj Pal, and Sarah Breedlove, widely documented as convincingly plays Breedlove, right from plantation to a formerly enslaved family, gifts from artist friends who wanted to share a lit- America’s first African-American her days of being a single mother who but the feel-good series is largely based tle bit of their selves with me. The eyes of Jayasri businesswoman who went on to become started out by being a washerwoman to on true events. Burman’s Durga penetrate across the length of the room, bringing succour in this time of anxi- ety. M F Husain’s painting of an open palm and a chakra symbolising Ashoka’s wheel of dharma that forms part of the national emblem, seems to mark a historical legacy. I can watch Netflix, or gaze endlessly at an editioned torso by Ravinder Reddy, with equal interest. Rabin Mondal’s draw- ing of a caricatured king made to resemble a helpless clown is a reminder of these difficult times in which we find ourselves powerlessly marooned.

Hunters BetterCallSaul DRAMA, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO CRIME DRAMA, NETFLIX Untitled, by Bimal Dasgupta nspired by stories of real “Nazi Afsos Ihunters”, the polarising show follows Art appeals to us at an intrinsic level, touch- his one’s a slow burner created by a motley group of people who’ve ing our hearts, or minds, with its message. Some T Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, and is a DARK COMEDY, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO chosen to band together to seek out war prefer sacred works, others different forms, or spin-off from the former’s hugely criminals hiding (mostly) in America genres, or styles of painting and sculpture. successful Breaking Bad. Much of the cast his miniseries follows Nakul, a writer so under new identities. The show stars Whatever the choice, and whether we choose of Breaking Bad, save the two lead T unsuccessful that he attempts to commit Al Pacino as Meyer Offerman, a Jewish the aesthetic or the intellectual, what we select to characters, make their appearance in this suicide serially. He remains unharmed, but philanthropist and Holocaust survivor surround ourselves with says as much about us show. The protagonist of this crime drama the same cannot be said for those who save who doubles as the leader of the group as a biography. S H Raza’s bindu serigraph exer- is Jimmy McGill, Bob Odenkirk. The show him. If this plot wasn’t ridiculous enough to covertly hunting Nazis in New York. cises as much power as Sohan Qadri’s ribbed and doubles as a standalone precursor to warrant a watch, Nakul decides to enlist the While real life hunters, like Simon dotted watercolour. Manu Parekh’s tantric explo- Breaking Bad and charts the slow descent help of “reformed” contract-killers who now Wiesenthal, took their findings to the ration is as hypnotic as Satish Gupta’s zen-like art. of the lovable and street-smart McGill into “help” people wanting to die. While Nakul, police or the media, the show’s When all appears lost, one can escape into the world of crime. McGill is a self-made played by Gulshan Devaiah, holds the story characters take it upon themselves to Avinash Chandra’s early landscapes, or take flight man who earned his law degree while together, Heeba Shah as the deadly assassin avenge the Jews who suffered at the with Chameli Ramachandran’s pigeons, or find working in the mailroom, who then Upadhyay is a treat to watch for her deadpan hands of Nazis. And it is this attitude solace in Meite Delteil’s soporific idylls. As with becomes a badly paid lawyer who works commitment to what she calls “art”. Throw in that makes their youngest recruit, books, art helps forge lifelong friendships. out of the rear of a nail salon. Despite the a bunch of scientists hunting for an Jonah Heidelbaum (Logan Lerman) who Meanwhile, out there, it is a topsy-turvy borderline-criminal ways McGill gets immortality potion, and a sadhu tracking takes his late grandmother’s place in world where one no longer knows what sense things done, the cards he has been dealt Nakul because he appears to be immortal, the group, question everything that he to make of it. The Sotheby’s auction of Indian almost makes one sympathise with his and you have a story ripe with plot twists. believes in. With elements of a art in New York went off without a hitch, estab- shady character. A new episode of the Directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, Afsos has vengeance fantasy and satirical comic lished new benchmarks, and was a success, latest season, the fifth, airs every plenty of things wrong with it, but its chilled book-story telling, the show has issues while Christie’s postponed its sale, so we’ll Wednesday. attitude to morbid subjects like mortality and but there’s some stellar acting in here. have to wait and watch what comes next. Other fatality makes it watchable. auctions in India appear on schedule — but who is to know. Exhibitions are being can- celled, often at the last minute. Every day brings more messages of art fairs and large Seinfeld who plays a fictionalised version to Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo events being shelved. Galleries and museums CurbYour of himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm, is a movement. There’s also an episode are going online. Instagram fills our vicarious past master. To vent his ire at wobbly where David goes around town wearing a need for art in the time of virus. It also pro- Enthusiasm tables and lukewarm coffee, he opens up MAGA (Make America Great Again) hat vides a healing touch. a “spite store”, a coffee house right next after discovering that the accessory COMEDY, HOTSTAR to the coffee house with the wobbly popularised by American president Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. tables and lukewarm coffee. Without Donald Trump works like a charm in These views are personal and do not reflect those of the ransforming the simplest stuff into either, of course. The 10th and newest keeping people away (social distancing organisation with which he is associated T sublime art takes a rare talent. And season of this series is as relevant to the before coronavirus). A new episode airs Larry David, writer and co-creator of times as possible, throwing in references every Monday. v 21 MARCH 2020 THE GOOD LIFE |

Sportin the time of Covid-19

DHRUV MUNJAL

he thing about sport is that it never stops. Or that’s how it used to be, any- T way. Teams and athletes have played through torment and turbulence, braving bloody wars and bitter political conflicts. Sport has metamorphosed into something more Mentalhood than just entertainment. It is a perennial source of optimism, a universal caregiver COMEDY, ALT BALAJI AND ZEE5 tailored to deal with grim times. And it has been so, until now, when a scary arisma Kapoor makes her web debut as Meira, ALifeofSpeed Formula One by winning the World Drivers’ examining the lives of race car drivers virus has forced so many of us to retreat into K a mother of three, in this story of how Championship five times in the 1950s. This who routinelyrisktheir lives for the lockdown and administrators to postpone imperfect parents try to raise their kids as best as SPORTS DOCUMENTARY, NETFLIX record remained unbeaten till Michael love of speed. The high-octane world sporting events across the world. Premier they can. A former Miss Kanpur, Meira has only Schumacher came along (as part of four of racing was perhaps far more dangerous League football has been suspended till April recently moved to Mumbai to raise a “modern his fresh-on-the-blockdocumentary different racing teams). Directed by in Fangio’s time than it is today 30. Euro 2020 has been pushed back by a year. family” with Sanjay Suri who stars as her T narrates the storyofJuan Manuel Francisco Macri, this historical considering there was no protective The French Open will be held in September workaholic husband. The series also features a Fangio, an Argentinian race car driver who documentaryaims to understand the gear in those days and safety features instead of May. The Formula One season is dependable star cast that includes Sandhya more or less dominated the firstdecade of mind of the racing legend while were minimal. effectively over even before a car could be Mridul, Tillotama Shome, Shilpa Shukla, Shruti Seth rolled out on to the circuit. And the Tokyo and Dino Morea. Created by Ekta Kapoor and Olympics, despite the organisers’ best attempts directed by Karishma Kohli, the show charts at calling for calm, look pretty doomed as well. Meira’s evolution into a blogger who writes on As much as so many of us live and breathe everything from nutrition to gender roles in the sport, catastrophes such as these help put hopes of creating a parenting guide. The show things into perspective. In the face of families comes across as being inspired by the Reese losing loved ones, carrying on with any kind of Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman-starrer American sport is, quite frankly, stupid. Not to mention drama Big Little Lies and, unlike the American how it puts the lives of so many athletes at series, this preachy series is likely to be enjoyed risk. The very idea of sport right now sounds more by viewers who have children. meaningless; a kind of background noise with nothing but echoes of irrelevance. Liverpool being denied the title or Aston Villa going down is insignificant when you compare that Pushpavalli with the cramped hospital wards in Italy, or the rapidly emptying supermarkets in the US. COMEDY, AMAZON PRIME The cancelling of sport is perhaps the most apt measure of how terrible the situation has eason two of this drama sees the return of comedian become. Sport possesses its share of palliative S Sumukhi Suresh as Pushpavalli, a young woman qualities, but it is also a reflection of normalcy, whose highly questionable attempts at wooing a suitor, a distraction embedded so deeply in our rou- IAm NotOkay the most subtle of these rage-induced Nikhil (played by Manish Anand), left viewers aghast. A tines that we often take it for granted. periods is when Novak’s best friend’s Tamilian from Bhopal who follows Nikhil to Bengaluru, European league football on Saturday evening WithThis boyfriend, whom the protagonist the otherwise witty Pushpavalli continues to keep marks the beginning of the weekend for many; dislikes, starts bleeding from his nose audiences hooked with her unabashedly convoluted a Federer-Nadal final caps it off on Sunday COMEDY, NETFLIX out of the blue. Things only get worse attempts to hook the man of her dreams. After night. In between all that, you say no to a fam- from there and Novak has no idea kidnapping his dog, bribing a chaiwallah to do her ily lunch or cancel a dinner date because you his coming-of-age story manages to why her rage can “make things bidding and getting her leg broken, Pushpavalli goes on don’t want to miss seeing Virat Kohli belt out T effectively exude a sense of low-key happen”. Based on a comic book by to find imaginative ways of getting out of tough spots, so another hundred, or P V Sindhu rise in a final, dread. The show starts out by telling us Charles Forman, Novak reminds us a what if that requires getting engaged to someone else, or or Tiger Woods sink an improbable 20-ft putt that the protagonist, Sydney Novak little of Carrie, the protagonist of unleashing a reptile among unsuspecting children. on the 18th green to win a tournament. (Sophia Lillis), is dealing with every Stephen King’s eponymous novel, as Special mention must be made of Bengaluru-based actor Tuesdays and Wednesdays are reserved for teenage issue ever teenager has ever well as Eleven from Stranger Things Shraddha in this well-scripted show as Vasu, the nightie- the Champions League, Thursdays for the Miss Americana had. Except, when she gets really angry, since both these young girls also have wearing, hockey stick-wielding landlady who runs Europa League.

the object of her anger feels like they’ve telekinetic powers, but the similarities Pushpavalli’s paying guest accommodation. Vasu’s REUTERS MUSIC DOCUMENTARY, NETFLIX been hit by an unseen shovel. Among end there. character alone merits a show to itself.

irected by Lana Wilson, whose previous films D focused on suicide and late-term abortion, Guilty this project follows the life of American singer- songwriter Taylor Swift. It opens with Swift being CRIME DRAMA, surrounded by diaries, markers of personal stories. NETFLIX This is significant since Swift has made a living out of channelling feelings into songs that have nspired by how those become chart-toppers. She’s then told that her Iaccused of sexual latest album, Reputation (2018), has received no harassment have major Grammy nominations. Swift carries on, slowly made their way almost stoic in her approach. Wilson goes on to back into society, this show Swift addressing her “nice girl” image that Karan Johar production has dominated the latter’s music career, and how aims to rekindle Outside London Stadium, the home ground of Swift deals with idea that “nice girls don’t make conversations around the Maska West Ham United. Premier League football has waves”. The story charts her rise to fame as well as #MeToo movement. Directed been suspended till April 30 her desire to please fans, all of which has led Swift by Ruchi Narain, the film stars COMEDY, NETFLIX to some dark places. The film shows the private Kiara Advani as Nanki, whose Sport possesses its Experiencing side of Taylor, the celebrity who despite her boyfriend Vijay “V J” Pratap Singh his coming-of-age film sees Manisha Koirala as a Parsi mother share of palliative sport has never been superstar status leads a life shadowed by (Gurfateh Singh Pirzada) is accused of raping his college T battling to get her son involved in the family business of qualities, but just a pastime, but a loneliness. batchmate. A politician’s son and a musician, V J is the most running an Iranian café. “Nineteen years ago when Rumi was it is also a reflection way of life. An escape dateable guy on campus, while the woman who accuses him, born, his future had already been decided,” says Jaaved Jaaferi, of normalcy, from the mundane- Tanu (Akansha Ranjan Kapoor), is someone disliked deeply for Koirala’s screen husband in the film’s trailer. Rumi was to grow a distraction ness of daily sched- being loud, attention-seeking and insensitive. The film gives up and become “a maska-waala” (one who applies butter) like embedded so deeply ules, a gateway to the benefit of doubt to both parties, making audiences his father (Jaaferi) before him. But he decides to become a in our routines that undiluted happiness; question if Tanu is making it all up for publicity (something she Bollywood actor instead. Prit Kamani plays Rumi, the confused we often take a kind of therapy for is capable of), as well as casting doubts on V J’s Teflon young millennial who begins discovering his Parsi heritage only it forgranted the soul. And that’s reputation. As the authorities investigate, Nanki sets out to after distancing himself from it. Maska is as much about Rumi’s why in this time of find the truth for herself, all the while battling her own personal journey as it is a celebration of Mumbai’s Irani cafés. strife, we should, perhaps, not just miss sport, personal demons. With a fair sprinkling of young romance and family drama, this is but also appreciate and celebrate it. The hol- Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji writer Neeraj Udhwani’s first attempt at lowness so many of us are feeling at present is direction. The film releases on March 27. a reminder that the show elite athletes put on for us week in and week out is a privilege we must cherish. The global commercialisation of SpecialOps sport, after all, has ensured that we are bom- barded with so much of it that we seem to have ESPIONAGEDRAMA, HOTSTAR forgotten its true value. In a way, the mindless consumption of sport has meant that it has irected by Neeraj Pandey of AWednesday! and Special 26 been drained of all its charm and magnificence. Dfame, this is the latest Indian thriller to be released online. It This time off will perhaps give us an opportu- features Kay Kay Menon as Himmat Singh, a senior intelligence nity to introspect and reclaim some of that. officer. The story encapsulates how Singh has been chasing a But what do you do in the meantime? That theory that the actual mastermind of the 2001 Parliament attack people have to urgently stock up on groceries Westworld was someone whose existence no one knows about. Singh has and jostle for precious millilitres of sanitiser SCIENCE FICTION/WESTERN, HOTSTAR his own agents in foreign cities and has been splurging on might prove to be a distraction in the short operations to chase this man down, and now he has to justify the term, but once the panic of it wears off and money spent. Between flashbacks viewers are caught up on how the overall state of things hopefully improves, he third season of Westworld is now streaming Singh’s team is trying to find this mystery villain. The show the absence of sport will start to haunt — an T online, and while it is being lauded for getting reminds us a little of Manoj Bajpayee’s The Family Man, which is a emptiness only devoted fans will be able to futuristic tech references right, we are still dazzled by NextinFashion better show. Action scenes and bad writing in the slow parts let relate to. the brilliant execution of the show’s story. The tale REALITYSHOW, NETFLIX down an otherwise decent story, but, for the stuck-at-home and That’s why the best thing to do is to show a begins in Westworld, a fictional, Wild West-themed nothing-to-do, it’s something one could mindlessly watch. bit of patience, wait it out. Revisit old footage, amusement park where visitors can do anything perhaps: your favourite Messi goal, your most they want, without any consequences whatever, s Netflix’s first venture into design-wars, this reality show memorable Tendulkar century, your dearest because the “people” in Westworld are actually life- A features 18 designers from across the world. The contestants are Manchester United comeback. Only then will like androids. These androids are so believable as all professionals who’ve dressed celebrities in the past and have we be able to grasp the lost meaning of why we humans that visitors constantly return to the park to worked with major fashion houses, but none is a “household name”, watch sport, why we love it so much. play out their wildest fantasies, actions which would something they all aspire to be. The show takes one through the And that way, once it’s all over, once the be unacceptable in the “real” world. Trouble begins process of creating a design, right from fabric selection and prepping athletes return and the stadiums open, we will when the android hosts at the park gain it to the time it’s ready to be modelled. The show is hosted by Tanveer be able to enjoy it even more. And who knows, consciousness about what they really are. This new Wasim “Tan” France (of Queer Eye fame) and designer, model and once some normalcy is restored, sport may season sees them escape into the real world, our television presenter Alexa Chung. The winner gets prize money of offer the healing touch it almost always does, world, after a bloodbath. Based on Michael ~1.86 crore ($250,000), and the chance to become the next big thing uniting grieving populations and springing Crichton’s 1973 film by the same name, the series in fashion. There’s also room for inspiration for viewers as contestants hope by using a rare kind of universal power stars Even Rachel Wood as Dolores Abernathy, a design outfits worthy of the runway, formals for work, as well as only it has the capacity to wield. sapient android. trendy streetwear. vi | HEALTH 21 MARCH 2020

CHESS #1393

By DEVANGSHU DATTA

he Candidates, which was touch and go, started under strange Double down T circumstances with an odd clause. If any participant contracts Covid-19, the event will be “frozen” and finished six months later with the scores standing where they were at the time of the infection. The hall is empty though spectators can wander around other parts of the venue. There’s a ^500,000 pot, which is generous, to get fighting fit given that the winner gets a crack at the title (which itself is worth a reasonable amount). Anyhow, the event began with a bang. Bogged down by social distancing? Lethargy is no excuse. Get up, turn to the internet Ding Liren lost to his compatriot Wang Hao in round one, who lost to Maxime Vachier- and exercise those muscles, advises Amrita Singh Lagrave in round 2. Just when it looked like the second seed was in terrible form, he smashed top seed, Fabiano Caruana in ike everything else, the fitness industry, too, CULT.LIVE round three. Anish Giri lost to Ian has been hit by the coronavirus. Gyms are Cure.fit, the Bengaluru-headquartered fitness venture Nepomniachtchi and barely survived a closed till March 31 and while for some this founded by basketball player Rishabh Telang in 2015, losing endgame to Wang. Kirill Alekseenko, might seem like the most legitimate reason has managed to get many gym-averse people to start the wild card, who is also the lowest rated, L to skip the exercise regime, the sedentary exercising. Besides the gym, it offers boxing, dance fit- nearly took down Nepomniachtchi in lifestyle resulting from forced social isolation will begin ness, strength and conditioning, and two celebrity- round three after being crushed in round to get to us. Thankfully, there is technology to the rescue. patented workouts: HRX (by Hrithik Roshan) and two by Caruana. Alexander Grischuk is the Many fitness centres and trainers have put them- Prowl (by Tiger Shroff). only man without a decisive game. selves out on free platforms such as YouTube, allowing Since gyms have been asked to close, Cult has intro- people from all over the world to follow their workout duced Cult.live, an online schedule of workout sessions regimes and stay fit. Here are some of the best workouts that anyone can join, even without an existing Cult and health tips that are easy to follow and keep up with membership. It offers yoga, cardio and various 30- to 45- in these challenging times. minute-long strength-building exercises. All you need to do is download the Cure.fit app, JEFF NIPPARD which comes equipped with an energy meter that This Canadian professional bodybuilder is an interna- detects your movement through your phone’s camera. tionally qualified powerlifter with a degree in bio- EAT HEALTHY, (Cult claims this camera access does not allow it to see chemistry. His videos are both informative and easy to the user.) The user can accumulate energy points and follow. He makes it a point to inform his followers why AND BETTER compete with the hundreds of people who might also be he is giving the nutrition tips that he is and why he participating in these sessions from within their homes. wants them to follow a particular exercise. > Home-cooked meals such as khichdi are light and Towards the end of the session, you are assigned a rank, Nippard has been training for 12 years, and has 1.86 easy to digest, and are also a great source of energy. encouraging a better performance the next time you

million subscribers on YouTube and 14.1K followers >Stock up on nuts such as almonds and walnuts sign up for one of its at-home sessions. on Twitter. as they have a long shelf life and are a good, A lower-leg workout video that I exercised to had Two days ago, Nippard uploaded a video that specif- healthy snack. three trainers, one of whom was for beginners. It is

ically addresses dietary and exercise adjustments that >For those who have decided to turn vegetarian recommended that you choose your trainer based on one can make while stranded at home. For all those during this period, lentils and chickpeas are your fitness level. The live sessions are well-crafted Three rounds in, Vachier-Lagrave, who are afraid of losing muscle mass, this video is ben- essential sources of protein and must be included and are bound to make you feel the burn. For those Wang and Nepomniachtchi share the lead eficial. Nippard spends the first five to seven minutes on in the daily diet. looking for light-intensity workouts, there are live yoga with 2 each in the eight-player double busting myths about muscle loss and dance fitness sessions. round-robin. There’s superb commentary >Avoid eating uncooked food. while equipping you with tips to keep at several places, not least by Viswanathan MANY FITNESS your protein intake high and muscles >Drink lemon and ginger tea; they help boost LUKE COUTINHO Anand. It’s been a marvellously exciting CENTRES AND lean. He then moves on to training immunity. Mumbai-based lifestyle coach, Luke Coutinho, is pop- event so far. while explaining the kind of mixed ular on Instagram for his simple at-home remedies and The virus has led to the cancellation of TRAINERS >Opt for fruit and vegetables containing vitamins workouts one must do, focusing both A, C and E. These are high in antioxidants. tips. For this exceptional period, when people are work- umpteen other events. The next phase will HAVE PUT on the body as a whole and on indi- ing from home, he suggests doing body-weight exercises involve another surge in online play, even THEMSELVES vidual body parts. like squats, push-ups and planks along with whole- though everybody plays online anyhow. OUT ON FREE some exercises like the surya namaskar, a yoga exercise The Women’s Grand Prix at Lausanne PLATFORMS YOGA WITH ADRIENE the videos are largely focused on walking routines that incorporates 12 asanas. managed to complete. This YouTube channel has been active that don’t really require you to move but to walk on “There is something for everyone in this depart- Nana Dzagnidze and Aleksandra SUCH AS since August 2012 and helps teach the spot. ment of exercise. You can even do pranayama if you’re Goryachkina (both 7/11) tied for first. This YOUTUBE yoga to about 6.26 million subscribers. As you walk, Sansone encourages you to twist, not feeling well. But it’s important to keep doing some- leaves Goryachkina leading with the GP, Crisp, under 30-minute videos offer squat, lunge, jump between the on-the-spot walking thing,” he says. He suggests making judicious use of the with 398.5 GP points. Koneru Humpy is in simple at-home meditation and yoga lessons to fight session to boost the intensity of the workout which internet while focussing on nutrition to keep energy second with 293.5, but Goryachkina has stress and anxiety and keep oneself fit. can be anywhere between five and 30 minutes long. levels up. completed her quota of three GPs while The channel’s “Yoga for Beginners” and Sansone is an animated personality and manages to Humpy has one left. Alexandra Kosteniuk “Foundations of Yoga” videos are great for those keep you engaged as you do various zumba-like exer- 305 FITNESS (193.5 from 3 GPs) and Dzagnidze (180 from starting out. There are also videos that focus on prob- cises while walking on the spot. This is a cardio-based dance class with studios spread 2 GPs) are in third and fourth. Two players lems such as vertigo, back pain, PMS, cramps across the United States: New York, Washington DC, qualify for the Candidates. Goryachkina is and trauma. Boston… The chain of studios has always put up short already in, as the loser of the last title dance videos on its YouTube channel, which has match. Humpy should make it unless she WALKING AT HOME 17.8K subscribers. Now, with people’s movements has total loss of form in the last GP, which According to Mumbai-based celebrity fitness being heavily restricted, full-length videos of the is scheduled for mid-May. There’s a fair trainer Leena Mogre, the time being spent at dance sessions are also being uploaded every day. chance of postponement. home should be used to recuperate and rejuve- You can set a reminder while signing up for a session The Diagram White to play (White: nate. “People who work out regularly often forget that interests you, and join the live class at the given Caruana Vs Black: Alekseenko, to take adequate breaks for their muscles to recov- time, all on YouTube. Candidates 2020) is a position, on the er from the stress of exercise. So, even lighter Hip hop, reggae, pop and EDM are some of the gen- verge of explosion. White played 19. exercises at home will prove to be beneficial at res you can groove to while burning away those calories. g4!? Bxg4 20. hxg4 Nxg4 21. Bd3 Nxh2 this point,” she says. The in-class studio sessions are accompanied with a 22. Bxe4 Nxf1 23. Qxf1 Bxd6 Mogre, who is the director of Leena Mogre live DJ, so you can expect some great music for your Sofar, forced. Is the piece worth Fitness, recommends following the channel cardio workout. Since she too is in quarantine, Sadie more than the pawns? The game “Walk at Home by Leslie Sansone” on Youtube. Kurzban, founder of 305 Fitness, plans to give her continued 24. Nd5 g6 25. Qh3 Kg7 26. The channel has 1.57 million subscribers and video-recording space a studio-like look. Kh1 Ne5 27. Nh4 h5 ?! This weakness gives white a winning attack. He finished with 28. Rg1 Bf8 29. Nf4 Ng4 30. Nxh5+ gxh5 31. Bf5 Be7 32. Bxg4 hxg4 33. Qxg4+ Bg5 34. Qh5! (1-0) Since 34.-f6 35. Nf5+ Kf8 will force mate.

Devangshu Datta is an internationally rated chess and correspondence chess player BS SUDOKU #3004

THE BS CROSSWORD #3309 Hard: ACROSS: 23 Thus might female listen in to 6Downy-looking fox looks 22 Fake the direction of the Solution on Monday 6Sounds a fraction out (5) an insect (7) unusually friendly for young approach (6) starters (6) 7Impure 26 he reformed (8) 25 Finally deals with cranks (5,2) 24 This is taken away by Georgia HOW TO PLAY 8Country producing lager - one first from giant’s home (4) 10Stood to achieve half the turn 26 What the caddy is holding ? (5,3) with a... (7) Fill in the grid so that every row, every column over ? (2-5) 27 Be prone to illness? (3,2) and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9 9Asailor in his ship looks up to SOLUTION #3308 11 A tower of strength (3-4) them (5) DOWN: 12 Delivers first-class climbing SOLUTION TO # 3003 1It might cause a choke in rather 13 Gripping film about shopping ? plant (7) a cold way (6,2) (6-4) 13 Extremely short jockey is 2Sunglasses showing slight 15 Double fur will debilitate (7) energetic walker (7) differences (6) 16 Sees term as part of academic 14 Train’s speed confused walkers 3Amusement with a a healer to year (8) (11) arise unexpectedly when one 17 Big wave for the VIP (5) 19Sort of chair accommodating tries to benefit charity (4-6) royalty (7) 4Cheap cut of rabbit, perhaps ? (4) 18 Opportunity snatch a bridge pair with a wee doggie (4,2) 21 Hack sticking point into 5Birdman of Alcatraz flustered sensitive male (7) Tudors (6) 20 Drains off lowest points (6) vii 21 MARCH 2020 WIDE ANGLE | DIY bodies

PHOTOS: COURTESY KRIS GETHIN The latest trend in the search for good health involves experiments with one’s own body. Veer Arjun Singh tries to explain the phenomenon of biohacking

his is extreme. Please do not try to visualise it. The experiment requires a blender, a strainer, a few healthy donors and a recipi- ent who has been fasting. Faecal matter tak- T en from donors is whipped together in the blender along with a saline solution. The slurry obtained is strained and the liquid is inserted into the recipient’s colon with a rectal syringe or an enema bottle. As grotesque as it sounds, Faecal Microbiota Transplants (FMTs) or stool transplants, are not as rare as you might imagine. The idea is innocuous enough: to cultivate healthy bacteria in the gut of patients suffering from extreme diarrhea because of underlying condi- tions such as Clostridioides Difficile Infection, or CDI. Usually, donors are pre-screened for infections and the whole thing is performed by medical practitioners in a hospital. But the one detailed above is a DIY hack post- ed on Reddit by a self-styled biohacker. “I know someone who has done it. But honestly, I am yet to see any results,” says celebrity trainer Kris Gethin, who is as popular for getting actors Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham and Ranveer Singh into their desired shapes as he is for his wacky biohacker lifestyle. He wears a pair of red tinted glasses, likes ultra-violet ther- apy when he can’t be in the sun and bonds with friends over ice baths and cryotherapy sessions. But even for Gethin, a stool transplant is an extreme biohack. And a DIY one even more so. At its simplest, biohacking means using science and technology to make one’s body function better. The processes involved range from intermittent fasting to injecting older people with the blood plasma of young individuals in an attempt GREENFIELD’S to slow down ageing. DIY SIMPLEST HACKS biohackers are testing out INCLUDE BUTEYKO gene-editing on bacteria, plants, dogs and even BREATHING (SIMILAR themselves. Most enthusi- TO PRANAYAMA), A asts are conversant with the FIVE-MINUTE SHOWER basics of health science and THAT ALTERNATES the daredevils — some BETWEEN HOT AND would say the reckless — COLD WATER, AND among them often try new therapies and drugs. COMPLETELY Gethin is among the lat- AVOIDING ALL ter. A few months ago, he VEGETABLE OILS underwent stem cell thera- py at the Centro de Celulas Madre Y Biotecnologia in Pereira, Colombia. “It was to strengthen my knees and shoulders, the areas where the load is more. I am going to be in the gym even when I am test to ascertain the effects of prescription medication or memory loss. He likes his morning “Bulletproof Coffee” (Clockwise fromleft) Kris Gethin (in the ice bath) and Ben 90. I have no plans of slowing down,” he says. It was one drug abuse before devising a diet and exercise plan. He with some unsalted butter or ghee and a brand of medi- Greenfield; Gethin soaking in some infrared light during of his biggest self-experiments to date, details of which says it helps him to quickly plug nutritional deficiencies. um-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil that his company sells. a UV therapy session; Gethin breathing pure oxygen in a are available on his weekly podcast, The Knowledge and “Dietary supplements and heart rate monitors are Ben Greenfield, 39, is another popular biohacking hyperbaric oxygen therapy machine; Jag Chima in a Mileage, which has over 100 episodes. Milder stories of the most basic biohacks,” says Jag Cheema, Gethin’s author. Greenfield prefers his coffee with some L-thea- cryotherapy chamber physical transformation, such as how Roshan went from business partner and CEO of Kris Gethin Gyms. He says nine, an amino acid that occurs in tea leaves, or even tul- a few slipped discs and chain smoking to a chiselled that there needs to be accountability as well as a meas- si. The claim that it increases the secretion of inhibitory ers. It claims to be able to predict everything from a superhero for the film Krrish 2, can be found in his books. ure of performance. High Intensity Interval Training, neurotransmitters, such as Gama Aminobutyric Acid or predisposition to a disease such as diabetes to how well At 45, Gethin says that he feels and performs like he for instance, is based on the principle of keeping the GABA, as well as serotonin and dopamine, which sup- carbohydrates or a certain vitamin B12 is being is 20 — a claim that resonates within a close group of heart rate in the “fat burning zone”, which is about 70 per press stress and anxiety, echo the teachings of ayurveda. metaboilised by your body. The company was recently popular biohackers. Some of them look it, too. But what cent of one’s maximum heart rate. “But the problem His simplest hacks include Buteyko Breathing (similar to signed by German football club Werder Bremen to do makes people like Gethin convincing is that they run with people is that they are impatient. Hacks can’t bypass pranayama), a five-minute shower that alternates the testing for its athletes. marathons, participate in triathlons, and gain and drop the foundations,” he says. between hot and cold water, and completely avoiding all Brittany Ford, a “holistic nutritionist” in Vancouver, kilos almost at will. Author and entrepreneur Dave Asprey, 46, got his vegetable oils. But biohacking is a slippery slope. His Canada believes in analysing as much data as possible Unlike “grinders”, more extreme biohackers who Silicon Valley colleagues, including Twitter co-founder simple methods ultimately give way to extremes such as but has a simpler approach on most days that falls back have undergone magnetic, near field communication Jack Dorsey, hooked to a lifestyle of restricted eating. His the use of “nootropics” or “smart drugs” such as Qualia on the principles of biohacking. “For instance, if you (NFC), radio frequency identification (RFID) and even book, Head Strong, focuses on the nutritional and lifestyle Mind and even microdoses of LSD. had a loaf of bread and felt bloated or were constipated bioluminescence implants, “purists” like to focus on changes that help strengthen the neural networks of the A deep dive into biohacking, however, does not nec- within the next 48 hours or had acne, you know that it understanding one’s body, collecting and interpreting brain and the functions of mitochondria, known as the essarily include extremes. Pranav Anam, a geneticist doesn’t work for you,” she says. “Biohacking also means available data and applying “hacks” to achieve better powerhouse of human cells. Mitochondria generate a and the founder of a B2B startup called The Gene Box, being self-aware.” performance. A qualified nutritionist could do that for chemical called adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the cell’s has a way of looking at someone’s DNA and suggesting Even Kombucha is a biohack. And so is Shilajit, an you, but biohacking is about taking charge of your own energy that powers a body’s metabolic processes. more lasting hacks than a one-diet-fits-all approach. ayurvedic substance obtained from mineral formation in mind and body. Asprey’s controversial but popular “Bulletproof Diet” “We all say we are unique but we don’t really implement rocks. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is for the body and For the clients he trains, Gethin first orders a complete is based on a cyclical ketosis diet — high in fat for 5-6 it in our food and lifestyle choices,” he says. The genet- sensory deprivation tank for the mind. There’s a bio- blood test, including a vitamin and mineral profile and days followed by 1-2 days of carbs re-feed — which claims ic test that costs between ~12,000 and ~20,000 uses a hack for every purpose. You just have to be willing to be a test for heavy metal toxicity, followed by a hair follicle to cause weight loss and address complaints such as simple saliva swab to analyse up to 70,000 genetic mark- your own rat.

COURTESY: ANUSHKA KELKAR country. Studying the subject has Instagram feminism allowed her to look at how eating disor- ders co-exist in a country that is bur- A personal photographic project that explored young dened by high levels of malnutrition. women’s body image has evolved into an empowering “We don’t take disorders such as anorex- ia and bulimia seriously because we space for the traumatised, writes Amrita Singh think it can’t exist in India. But they are taboo subjects that we need to be doing hat are young Indian women’s in my college to participate in this proj- something about.” relationships with their bod- ect, I was overwhelmed by the number “With time, this platform has turned W ies? How do these relation- of responses. On the very first day, I had into more of a community than a per- ships impact their ambitions?” Mumbai- close to 40 emails from women I knew sonal project. It is no longer mine, it is a based photographer Anushka Kelkar, 23, and didn’t know,” says Kelkar. Her first project of the thousands of women who began grappling with these questions few posts celebrated women’s bodies in have found pieces of themselves in it. two years ago, when still a student at their natural state — without make-up One of the most gratifying parts is get- liberal arts institution, Ashoka and free. In one post, two girls posed ting messages from women who say University. Surrounded by around an empty pool, play- something along the lines of, ‘I thought women in their late teens Kelkar’s first few ing, talking and laughing, as if it was just me and used to feel so and twenties, Kelkar saw posts celebrated the camera wasn’t there. But ashamed, but now that I know it’s a larg- diversity, not just in terms women’s bodies soon, Kelkar moved on to er community I feel much stronger,’” of where the women were in theirnatural loaded topics. reflects Kelkar. from, but in the struggles state — without One young woman, who Brown Girl Gazing accepts crowd- they experienced. make-up chose to remain anonymous, sourced stories as well, to maintain the Curious to know more, made Kelkar photograph diversity of issues and women. As a lot of she started an Instagram page called bruises on her body — all cruel evidence The current 333 posts cover subjects ranging from fat shaming, the women have begun sending her stories, Brown Girl Gazing. The initiative of paternal abuse. “This shoot took place obsession with light-coloured skin, acne and other skin problems, Kelkar tries to pick stories that haven’t explores Indian women’s relationships within three months of my starting the body hair, breast sizes and stretch marks already been told on her page. “It’s a with themselves, capturing through project. It’s still one of the hardest shoots challenge to keep it diverse. I have a hard photographs their different stories, I have ever done,” recalls Kelkar. A more time selecting stories. But the impact insecurities, vulnerabilities and tri- recent shoot involved a 30-year-old she is doing well now, this trauma con- thetic manner and always accompanied menting ‘shame’,” says Kelkar. She has needs to be felt,” she says. With each umphs. Today, Kelkar’s page has about woman who had been made to feel tinues to haunt her,” says Kelkar. with a personal note from the sender of now begun conducting body-image story, Kelkar has managed to empower 10.8K followers, the visual stories striv- worthless all her life by overly critical The current 333 posts cover subjects these photographs. workshops in schools and universities in women who took the plunge by putting ing to vanquish unachievable beauty parents. “When she was 15 or 16 years ranging from fat shaming, the obses- “Initially, Brown Girl Gazing was Mumbai and the NCR region, and is in themselves and their insecurities out standards and talk about issues such as old, her parents thought of getting her sion with light-coloured skin, acne and more focused on quashing beauty stan- constant touch with psychologists and for the world to see on her body-positive domestic abuse. married because they didn’t think she other skin problems, body hair, breast dards. But with time, I have become therapists for her ongoing research on page. Each woman here has the other’s “When I first reached out to women was good for anything else. Even though sizes and stretch marks — all in an aes- interested in understanding and docu- the idea and practice of shame in the back, and feeling stronger for it. viii | 21 MARCH 2020

AND ANOTHER THING Away from office, on the job

than hearsay and observation allow. that is pending, half-done. And the breakfast together. The rest of But for men, I recommend the full- other is that if you down your shutters Corbusier’s morning was devoted to dress treatment. Shave, shower, brush at, say, 6 pm, that gives you more time painting, drawing, and writing. This every day even if there’s absolutely to do what you want to do which was the most creative part of his day, nothing to be done and nobody to be would otherwise be unavailable. and even though he often spent hours met. This may seem a minor thing but There’s no more effective way of on paintings that had no direct is effective. I will not say why, but wasting a day than to be at half-work relation to his architecture, and which leave it to the reader to reflect on all the time. he showed to no one other than his because it seems to me there is more This is what I have. Let’s turn to wife, he attributed his professional than one benefit. what famous people do when they success to these private mornings of AAKAR PATEL Another thing is to attack the don’t go to work. I’ve picked the artistic contemplation. LeCorbusier’s hardest part of the work first and rituals of a writer, an architect and office hours were brief. He arrived at earliest. This has several advantages. a painter. the studio (a short subway or taxi ride s someone who has worked The first is the obvious one: you will The great science fiction author from home) at 2:00 pm.” from home for years, I feel actually get stuff done. Putting things J G Ballard was widowed in his 20s I’ve saved the shocking story for A qualified to write on the off is much easier at home, with all the and had to raise three the end, and this is the subject as an expert. And to offer tips distractions at hand than at work with children. Asked what the First tip: get dressed ritual of the painter and stories, which is what you may be no colleague or boss wondering why hardest part of the day and look the part. Francis Bacon, whose here for. The first thing I wanted to say you’re not doing what you’re was, he replied “keeping This is to my mind the retrospective I saw just was that not going to office is the best supposed to. the first drink at 6”. That single-most important a few months ago, thing, and almost as good a feeling as The second benefit here is that is a really good tip and pointer that can be taken from the same knowing that one does not have to go only when you work from home do one that can save the day. given and one that is work. It is the wildest to school the next day. I wish more you realise that your body is like your Ballard admitted to applicable to all of us. working ritual of people could do it and the way things phone. It is fully charged in the spending too much of his Do not lull yourself anyone in history. are developing it appears as if more morning and then steadily loses adult life drinking . “It by changing your His biographer will. I am not referring here to the power through the day. The mind is was a great sense of personal rituals based Michael Peppiatt said present scare but the fact that best when fully charged, clean of the achievement,” he on your dayahead that Bacon was a corporate work is simultaneously random access memory that it will recalled, “when my first creature of habit, but frequently demanded that his reeling continuing to guzzle a half-dozen appearing to become more begin to accrue as the day goes on, drink of the day was not at nine in the the habit was pure lunacy. Painting companions join him at home for one bottles of wine and eat two or more disaggregated and more global. WFH wiping itself clean again almost fully morning but at noon and then came first. Despite his late nights, last drink — an effort, it seems, to large restaurant meals a day. His is a real thing. while asleep. at eight.” Bacon always rose at dawn and postpone his nightly battles with metabolism could apparently handle Now then, let’s quickly have a look While there is a reason the siesta The architect Charles-Édouard worked for several hours, usually insomnia. Bacon depended on pills to the excessive consumption without at the tips. First: get dressed and look happens in the middle of the day Jeanneret (who called himself Le finishing around noon. He would get to sleep, and he would read and dimming his wits or expanding his the part. This is to my mind the single- but its benefits are not equal for all Corbusier) was unusual because he then drink a bottle of wine, followed reread classic cookbooks to relax waistline. Even the occasional most important pointer that can be and some of us cannot sleep in worked daily both from home and by a long lunch and then more drinks himself before bed. He still slept only hangover was, in Bacon’s mind, a given and one that is applicable to all the daylight. from office. His schedule, as at a succession of private clubs. When a few hours a night. Despite this, the boon. “I often like working with a of us. Do not lull yourself by changing A thing related to the ones above is recounted in the book DailyRituals, evening arrived, there was a painter’s constitution was remarkably hangover,” he said, “because my mind your personal rituals based on your to set yourself a curfew. A time after ran as follows: restaurant supper, another round of sturdy. His only exercise was pacing in is crackling with energy and I can day ahead. Stick to them, even if they which you will not work. Again this “After waking at 6:00 am, he did nightclubs, perhaps a visit to a casino, front of a canvas, and his idea of think veryclearly.” seem superficial or unnecessary. I am has a couple of advantages. The less forty-five minutes of calisthenics. and often, in the early-morning dieting was to take large quantities of This is the paragraph that I often unfamiliar with the daily rituals of important one is that you will come Then he served his wife her morning hours, yet another meal at a bistro. garlic pills and shun egg yolks, come back to, as an antidote to where women or at least I know no more under some pressure to knock off stuff coffee and, at 8:00, the couple ate “At the end of these long nights, Bacon desserts, and coffee — while too much WHF can bring you.

DIGITAL CONSUMER

Kinesis Freestyle Edge, or a comfortable wirelessmouse like the Logitech M720 Triathlon Multi-Device WirelessMouse. Work-from-home tech Ifyourbackiskillingyou,itmaybe timeto investinawell-builtofficechair, liketheSteelcaseGesture, orastanding desklikeUplift’sV2standupdesk. Fried keeps his tech setup simple: a laptop, a goodoffice chair, a therapy lamp for lighting up video calls and headaches and solutions noise-cancelling headphones for when his children are being noisy. When he feels like standing, he puts his laptop From shoddy Wi-Fi to digital on a bookcase. LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR PROBLEMS distractions, our tech can make remote WORKING ON TEAMS When it comes to remotely work miserable. BrianXChen has tips collaborating with a team of colleagues, the path to successhas less to do with tools than having empathy on how to overcome the problems for one another when we use tech. At any company, the main thing to understand is that people have orking from home different levels of tech literacy. Soit’s LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR INTERNET because of the best for you and your team to choosea coronavirus Let’s firstaddress the No 1 tech issue at set of versatile tools rather than a pandemic may home: internet connectivity. variety of single-taskers, Fried said. W sound like a luxury. Comparedwith the zippy broadband What does that actually mean? Freedom to cook lunch. Time to do connections in our offices, our home Team collaboration apps like Slack laundry between tasks. Respite from internet speeds are probably sluggish can handle group chats, private that loquacious co-worker. and our Wi-Fi connections may messaging and uploading files. Then reality setsin. Your Wi-Fi bespotty. Google’s app suite includes slows down to a crawl, the new software Sonow is a goodtime to assess your collaboration tools for document tools you work with are confusing and infrastructure. editing, calendar sharing and video your computer mouse is a piece of junk. ■ If your Wi-Fi signal is unreliable, conferencing. Relying on a general- Without an IT department, you are on meaning it’s strong in one room but purpose tool like those for various your own with your tech problems. weak in another, my recommendation tasks would be better than using a Our mostcommon work-from- for most people is to invest in a so- separate app for each task: Projects home tech issues are the ones that slow called mesh Wi-Fi system. That lets can get messy if some work files are in down our productivity: unreliable you connect multiple wireless access one tool but not in another. internet connections, low-quality points together to blanket your home Thesecondstepforateamisto video calls, software programs that are with a strong internet connection. My That’s why it’s wise to have a theirtechsolutions, LESSIS BETTER, webcam, like Logitech’s ensurethateveryoneusesthesame too narrowly tailoredand favourite mesh systems are Google backup option. When speed problems includingproducts C920S. For lighting tools.Don’tbethecolleagueurging uncomfortable work stations. Wifi and Amazon’s Eero, which can arise, you can resort to using your recommendedby Fried ESPECIALLY FEWER issues, a light therapy everyoneto useZoomfor Fret not, new telecommuters: I’ve be bundled with additional access smartphone’s hot spot feature, which andWirecutter,aNew GADGETS AND lamp, like Carex’s Day- videoconferencingwheneverybody worked from home on and off for many points. turns the device’s cellular connection YorkTimespublication FEWER WORK APPS. light Classic Plus, can elseisvideochattingonGoogle years and have managedto minimise ■ If your internet speeds feel slow, a into a miniature Wi-Fi network. thattestsproducts: THAT PRINCIPLE provide some natural- Hangouts,forexample.Alackof my tech problems to achieve a kind of modern Wi-Fi system with support for Cellular networks are designed to CAN GUIDE US TO A looking lighting to a consensusoncollaborationtoolscan ■ Crampedscreens work-from-home nirvana. And in the latest wireless standards, like the handle larger amounts of users, so SIMPLER, LESS video call — and it might quicklyescalateworkplacetensions. consulting other remote-working aforementioned ones, would help. But chances are that your smartphone’s Many of us were sent even perk up your veterans, there are easy lessons and if speeds continue to feel sluggish data connection will be faster when home with laptopsfor FRUSTRATING mood. DISTRACTIONS? THINK OF THEM fixesto apply that will help throughout even after you upgrade your your broadband is overwhelmed. work, and the smaller SETUP THAT AS BREAKS the time you work from your residence. networking gear, you may have to Apple and Google offer instructions screens can feel ENABLES US TO ■ Noise Many who are new to telecommuting The biggestof these: Lessis better, contact your internet provider to ask on their websites on how to turn constraining. You could WORK WELL WITH For thosewho have loud cite tech as a major distraction from especially fewer gadgets and fewer about other options. Some providers iPhonesand Android phones into consider adding a OUR COLLEAGUES children or live in an work: TVshows, video games and work apps. That principle can guide us may offer faster broadband speeds at hot spots. second monitor to your urban environment, a digital comic books are just a button to a simpler, lessfrustrating setup higher prices. desk, like HP’s Z27, a pair of noise-cancelling press away. that enables us to work well with In general, many of us (myself MAKETHE MOST OF (AND high-resolution 27-inch monitor. headphones, like the Bose700 over-ear Here’s a secret to finding happiness our colleagues. included) are experiencing slower MINIMISE) YOUR TECH SETUP headphones or the 1More DualDriver in thesedistractions: Embrace them. “There’s an overabundance of overall speeds in the wake of the Thereisnoone-size-fits-all ■ Awkwardvideoandphonecalls BT ANC earbuds, can muffle out many You are entitled to take breaks. At tools,” said Jason Fried, a founder of pandemic. That’s because hordes of us recommendationforthebestremote Many of us are familiar with poorly lit unpleasant sounds to help you focus. home, you have the liberty to spend Basecamp, a software company in are going online from home and worksetupbecausewe allhave differ- video calls and low-quality phone calls. your lunch break watching a Netflix Chicago that makes remote working sucking up the internet provider’s entjobs.Butoneruleofthumbisto keep If sound quality is an issue, wireless ■ Bodypains show instead of going to a restaurant. tools, and co-author of the book bandwidth, which can cause average yourgadgetsto aminimum.Themore headsets like the Jabra Elite 75t Without help from an ergonomic “You don’t have to feel like you’re in Remote:OfficeNotRequired. “Theseare speeds to dip. There’s not much we can techwe own,themoretroubleshooting earbuds have noise-reducing specialist, you may run into problems the office,” Fried said. “Take advantage disasterswaiting to happen.” do in this case beyond calling our we eventuallyhave to do. microphones soyou don’t pick up as like wrist pain, neck strain and a sore of that — don’t feel ashamed of it at all.” Here’s what you can do to make service providers to complain about Withthatinmind,here’salistof much external noise. For better video back. You can remedy wrist pains with working from home a joy. the slowdowns. commonremote-workheadachesand quality, you might consider buying a an ergonomic keyboard, like the @ 2020 The New York Times