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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 BIHAR &RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

WORLD RELEASES PM-KISAN TRANCHE TO OVER 9CRORE FARMERS Himachal’s ‘love ProtestsanOppositionploy,saysPM, jihad’ law has intent signalsnoyieldondemandforrepeal clause,whichHC PEARL KILLING: OMAR SHEIKHLIKELY had struckdown TO BE FREED TODAY TargetsMamatafor denying PM-Kisan, Experiment ONE IN 85 TEST GAGAN Himachal askswhy no stir forAPMC in Kerala &APURVAVISHWANATH Pradesh POSITIVE FOR COVID with laws SHIMLA,NEWDELHI, Chief IN ENGLAND AS DECEMBER25 MinisterJai CASES SPIKE HARIKISHANSHARMA ED Noblink for ayear or RamThakur PAGE 15 &RAVISHTIWARI likeon WHILE THE BJP governmentin NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 PLAIN E Himachal Pradesh brought into ● landlaws EX two, change forcealaw lastweekrequiring a Section 7ofthe Himachal Act AMONTH intothe farmers' person to give prior notice to au- requires an individual to submit ApniParty protests at the capital’s borders, UNLIKE CLIMBDOWN on thorities forconverting to an- a“declaration” of intentionto PrimeMinister NarendraModi the land ordinance, PM if needed: other religion and outlawing convert freelyand without coer- scuttles PAGD effectively drew aline on Friday has put his foot down on conversions solelyfor marriage, cion from one religion to the re-affirming his endorsement of the farm laws.This even Rajnath in 2012,the state High Courthad other,tothe DistrictMagistrate. the three laws andblaming his as talksare on with struckdownsimilar provisions The provision also requires the chance to politicalopponents forwhat he unions on the new in an older version brought by priestorreligious figurepresid- said wastheir bid to “mislead” labour codes. By target- DIPANKARGHOSE the then Congress government ing over the conversion to give a claim DDC farmers. ing the Opposition, the NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 as unconstitutional and violative month’s notice to theDM. His remarks markhis PM has also dared them of fundamental rights. On August30, 2012,atwo- in Shopian strongestpublicassertion to wage apoliticalbattle BACKINGTHE Prime Minister’s Severalprovisions in the judgeBenchofthe High Court againstthe demand that the againsttheselaws. messagetofarmers on the new Himachal Pradesh Freedom of had struckdownthe Himachal laws be repealed. By framing it farm laws,Defence Minister Religion Act, 2019,havebeen Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, NAVEEDIQBAL as an event attendedbyvirtually RajnathSinghstruckaconciliatory emulated almostwordtoword 2006,passedduring the then SRINAGAR,DECEMBER25 the entireCouncilofMinisters, Slamming the Opposition for PM NarendraModi with Leader of OppositionGhulam Nabi tone Fridaywhen he askedfarm- by Uttar Pradesh in the anti-con- Congress regime, thathad con- the Prime Ministerindicated his what he calledits “dogali”(dou- Azad at afunction to markformer PM ABVajpayee’s birth ersto “experiment”withthenew version lawthat it passed last tainedthe exact same provision, OVER THELASTtwo days,the resolve to use his political capi- blespeak) policy over the new anniversary, in the Central Hall of Parliament on Friday. PTI laws for“one-two years” before month, and whichisbeing holding it “ultravires the Altaf Bukhari-ledJKApni Party taltopush these laws. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 seekingany looked uponasanexample by Constitution of India”. Neither has claimedthat three candi- change, while other BJP-ruledstates. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 dates —one Independent and HomeMinister one eachfromthe National AmitShahsaid Conference and the People’s Farmers respond: It’s clear Govt will not back the govern- Democratic Party—who won ment had an MP Govt debates its the District Development “openmind” Council elections from con- down, we are prepared for thelong haul on anyclause stituencies in Shopian, have that farmers version of law today, joinedits ranks. Coordination Committee ‘Painful to felt wasnot in With this, the JK Apni Party’s RAAKHIJAGGA (AIKSCC), said the Prime see farmers their interest. tallyintheShopianDDCwillreach CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER25 Minister's speech showedthat protesting’ Singh said includes alimony five,but it will still be some dis- the government wasnot going he spoketo tance from crossing the majority RESPONDINGTOthe Prime to repeal the laws. Prime Minister markinthe 14-member strong Minister’s speechFriday, farmer “But we will notleave (the NarendraModitwo days ago, IRAMSIDDIQUE Madhya council.Originally, ApniPartycan- unions, protesting againstthe borders of Delhi) till these arere- and he had emphasisedthe need BHOPAL,DECEMBER25 Pradesh CM didates had wonfromonlytwo newfarmlaws, warnedofa pealed. Our fight is againstthe to continue talkswithfarmers. Shivraj constituenciesinShopiandistrict “long struggle”, saying it wasev- undemocratic ways…first, they He said it was“painful” to see ENSURINGALIMONY or mainte- Singh —Kanjiullar and Keller II. ident that the government makelawswithout consultation, farmers protesting. nance forwomen forced into Chouhan The People’s Alliance for seemedtobeinnomood to back later theysay these arefor our Addressing arallyinDwarka, marriagefor the purpose of reli- Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) can- down on the laws. good… then makeamendments CONTINUEDONPAGE2 gious conversion and aprovision didates wonseven seats JagmohanSingh,generalsec- and saythe laws cannotbetaken to declaresuchmarriagesnull workedin light of the experience (NationalConference -3and retary of BKU (Dakaunda) and back.But whydid youmakesuch and void aresome of the clauses of the past50yearsinthe state PDP -4). With the support of the working committeemember of laws in the firstplace?”hesaid. MORE REPORTS that will be partofthe Madhya regarding forced conversions, lone winning candidatefrom AAP MPs protestinthe Central Hall of Parliament, Friday. PTI the All India Kisan Sangharsh CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PAGES 4, 6 Pradesh Freedom to Religion Bill, with improved definitions and Congress,Nigeena Akhterfrom 2020, whichisall settobedis- higher penalties to prohibit such Chitragam, it could have taken cussedinaspecial Cabinetses- crimes, particularly forced reli- the council. But since the anti- siononSaturday, ahead of being gious conversions on the pretext defection laws do notapplyto put up in the upcoming three- of marriage. the winning candidates of the AS ROLLOUT OF COVID-19 VACCINE NEARS THE EDITORIAL PAGE daywinter sessionthat will start Underthe newBill,forced DDCs, the PAGD does nothave on December 28. conversions would draw amin- anyrecoursewhen itswinning Once passedbythe Assembly, imum jail term of five years, go- candidates shiftallegiance. Dry run planned in AAI seeks 2.5 acres THEMEANING the newlaw will replace the ex- ing up to lifeimprisonment, in By taking NC and PDP candi- OFMERIT isting MP Dharma Swatantrya case the person converted is a dates, Apni Partyhas scuttled BY PRATAP BHANU MEHTA Adhiniyam, 1968,law.The BJP minor or from aScheduledCaste PAGD’s chances of taking control fourstates: focuson in Pune; airports and PAGE 10 government argues that the 1968 or ScheduledTribe, andthree of the Shopian DDC. If the re- lawisoutdated and is being re- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 maining three more Independent candidates also delivery, cold chain, airlines prepare to be join theApniParty,Bukhari would be able to stakeclaim to the Shopian DDC. adverseevent watch hubs for distribution While the Apni Partyhas takenwinning candidates in India is the world's second worst Shopianfromother parties, the KAUNAINSHERIFFM affected country, even though PRANAVMUKUL National Conference has said its NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 dailycase numbers have been NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 ownShopian district president falling consistentlyoverthe past CONTINUEDONPAGE2 FORTWO days at the beginning three months. THE AIRPORTS Authority of India of next week,Indiawillhold a The dryrun will proceed (AAI) is close to finalising an dryrun forthe largest andmost through four keysteps, which arrangement withthe Indian Air ambitious mass immunisation will be monitored closelybythe Forcetoreceive 2.5acres of land BUSINESSASUSUAL programme in itshistory. central government: adjacent to Puneairport, to be Thedummyvaccinationexer- ■ Eachdistrictwillreceive utilisedfor the transportofvac- BY UNNY cise will becarriedout in twodis- the dummyvaccine for100ben- cines from thefacilitiesofvac- The Serum InstituteofIndia trictseachoffourstatesatthefour eficiaries from the nearestdepot; cine manufacturer Serum in Pune. Express file corners of the nation —Andhra ■ Temperaturewill be InstituteofIndia nearby. Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, and trackedthrough the vaccine's “The transfer of the land, Assam—onDecember28and29. journeyfromthe depottothe whichiscurrentlyowned by the stand the requirements, because With severalcountries vaccinationsite; IAF,toPune airport has been a asignificant amount of freight is aroundthe worldhaving already ■ An SMSwillbesent in ad- longstanding demand of the AAI. expected to go out from Pune,” begun vaccinationagainstthe vance to the beneficiaries with Theyhaveasked foraland ex- the official said. novelcoronavirus, India could be the name of the vaccinator,and change, and AAIhas finalisedthe Pune-basedSerum, the just days away from granting thetime of the vaccination; plan forthis,” asenior govern- world's largest maker of vaccines regulatoryapprovalfor the shot. ■ Eachbeneficiary will be ment official said. by numberofdoses, hasbeen li- The inoculation exercise is ex- made to sit for30minutes after “The airportmanagement is censedbyOxford-AstraZeneca to pected to begin soon after. With being administeredthe shot; also constantlyindiscussions test,manufacture, anddistribute over 10 milliontotal infections, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 with Serum Institutetounder- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 With CPMsince Class5,21-year-old is settobeThiruvananthapuram mayor

PAGE 1 "Ours is aparty family,"says fa- cal bodies arereserved for ment.“But all my teachers and ANCHOR ther KMRajendran, explaining women, while topelected posts friends arereallyhelpful. Iwill Arya's interestinpolitics. arekeptaside forwomen foral- figureout away to continue my Rajendran, wifeSreelatha,anLIC ternateterms. The lastmayor be- studies as well,” she says. agent, and son Aravind, who did ing popular leader VKPrasanth, The family, that livesina ARUNJANARDHANAN automobileengineering and it wasthe turn of awoman to small house in CHENNAI,DECEMBER25 worksinthe Middle Eastnow, hold the post. The twowomen Thiruvananthapuram paying a areCPM memberstoo. leaders the CPMhad projected rent of Rs 6,000 permonth, ARYA RAJENDRAN,21and asec- The 21-year-old firstbecame as mayorcandidates both lost neverdiscouraged her participa- ond year B.Sc Maths student, associated with the party when the election. tion in politics, including exten- could be the country's youngest she joinedits children's collec- Despitebeing active in poli- sive travel across Kerala. “I have mayorever. The daughter of an tive Baalasangham as early as tics foryears, Arya had to keep visited almost allthe districtsin electrician, whose entirefamily Class 5. "Later,Ibecame the dis- Arya Rajendran. Facebook her academic lifeapart. Both her the state. But my onlytravelout- aresupportersoftheCPM,Arya is trict president, and have been collegeand the school she stud- side Kerala has been to Mumbai, to be namedbythe party as head statechief of theBaalasangham iedin, Carmel Girls' Higher arranged by my mother's office. of theThiruvananthapuramCity forthe pasttwo years. Due to my tributing the CPM's decision to SecondarySchool, areChurch- Idon't remember muchasIwas Corporation,aftertheLDF won51 active role in theBaalasangham, choose her as mayor—aformal run institutions that don't look in Class 6then,” Arya says.Itwas of its100wardsintherecentpolls. Iwas takenintothe Students' announcement is expected on favourablyoncampuspolitics. due to the family's financial pres- DELHI HEAD OFFICE: ApsaraArcade,Karol Bagh | CONTACT: 8468022022, 9019066066 Arya,who studies at the all- Federation of India (CPM stu- Saturday—tothis close, old Arya expectsshe won't be able sures that her elder brother mi- women All SaintsCollege, won dents' wing)and Iampartofits association. to attend classes regularly once grated forwork, she adds. from Mudavanmukal ward. statecommittee,” Arya says,at- Half of the seatsinKerala's lo- shetakes up her newassign- CONTINUEDONPAGE2

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WEB resultsmeanfor Indian Express EXCLUSIVE hurricanes,andbecamewellknownasthesecondhottestyeareverrecordedyet. ★★★★★■4.6 thepeople of J&K EXPRESSTECH INPHOTOS NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY APPLE MACBOOK AIR THE LONG WALK OF Decoding what the DDC poll results, what M1 REVIEW MIGRANT WORKERS theymean forthe people in the region, and Powerdoesn’t We look at the migrant what theysignal about the futureof SCANTHISQRCODETO come exodus triggered by the politics in J&K. DOWNLOADTHEAPP at aprice sudden lockdown FROMPAGEONE

anusar.Yadiaapko lagekiyeh cal cargo givenits proximity to The UP lawalso prescribes SHOPIANDDC kisanonkeliyelabhkaariActnahin severalmanufacturingfacilities. enquirybyamagistrate to give hai, tohmein daave ke saathkeh The airporthas adedicated sanction foraconversion PDP 4 saktahoon, jaisa mein Pradhan Protests an Opp ploy, saysPM, signals no repeal Pharma Zonewithtemperature- whereas the Himachal lawonly NC 3 Mantrijikiniyatkojaantahoon,be- controlledfacilities forcargo that requires submitting anotice. INC1henon bhaiyon, ismei jo bhi san- farm laws,Modi said the gov- of farmers,” Modi said. cape. Theyhavethe righttodo have trustthatyourlandissafe, requires temperatures from mi- The newHimachal Pradesh shodhanavashyakhoga,saarasan- ernmentisreadyto holdtalksin Over 23 lakh farmers of politicsindemocracy.Donot but some people arespreading nus 20 degrees Celsius to 25 de- anti-conversionlaw wasprom- Independents 4 shodhan karne ke liyehum poori theinterestoffarmers,butitwill West Bengal, he said, applied playwiththe livesofinnocent misconceptions that if youen- grees Celsius. ulgated in Augustlastyear,re- Apni Party2 tarahsetaiyyarrahenge,” he said. be on “issues, logicand facts”. online to take advantageofthis farmers, do notplaywiththeir terintoanagreement of your The airporthas also ensured pealing the 2006 Act. Under Total14(“LetthisActbeimplemented “…I humblysay to even scheme, but the stategovern- futureand do notmislead produce, then youwilllose that ramp exposuretime of the Section 2(J), it refers to conver- once. Forone-two years, experi- those peoplewho areopposing ment stoppedthe verification them,” he said. your land too.” This wasarefer- cargo is minimised, with the sion as “purification sanskar mentaccordingto thisActandsee. us fiercely, Isay with humility, process. Urging farmers “nottobe ence to Oppositionallegations freighter parking stands located (purification ritual)", and defines DDC polls If youthink this is notaprofitable our government is ready to talk Referring to theOpposition misled” and “notacceptthe lies againstthe Farmers just50metresawayfromthe areligious priestfor thepur- Actforfarmers,Icansaywithcer- to them in the interestoffarm- charge that APMC mandis of anyone”, he askedthem to (Empowerment and terminal. poses of the lawasapersonper- has been detainedsince the re- tainty,knowing the Prime Mini- ers, butthe talkswill be on is- would be weakenedwith the think onlyonthe basisof“logic Protection) Agreement on Airlines —bothglobal and forming the conversion. TheAct sultsweredeclared.“District ster’s intentions, whatever am- sues, logic and facts,” Modi said implementation of the and facts”. He listedthe Price Assurance and Farm Indian —are also gearing up to wasnotifiedonlylastweek. President Shopian Showkat endmentsare necessary,wewill afterreleasing the scheduledRs Farmers'Produce Trade and schemes initiated by his gov- Services Act. transportthe vaccines. SpiceJet The 2006lawhad been chal- AhmedGenaie is under deten- be ready to do them all.”) 18,000-croretranche to over 9 Commerce (Promotion and ernment forthe welfareof Clearly,the PM’s message has tiedupwith Hyderabad air- lenged by the Evangelical tion forthree days now; the Inthemultipleroundsof talks crorefarmers under the Facilitation) Act, he said, “You farmers. Fridaystandsincontrasttothe portand logistics companies Fellowship of India and ANHAD, grounds of detention have not sofar, thegovernment,hesaid,has Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman musthaveheard, theyare talk- At the programme, organ- Centre’s climbdown on the Om Logistics and Snowman anon-profit run by activist been made known by thead- been ready to makeany amend- Nidhi(PM-KISAN) scheme. ing about mandis and APMCs. isedonthe occasion of the land acquisition ordinance in Logistics, forend-to-end trans- Shabnam Hashmi. The Sanatan ministration as yet,” the party ment that the farmerswant.He TMC leader and West Kerala has no APMC, no birth anniversaryofAtalBihari 2015 in the face of milder portation of vaccines. Globally, Dharam Sabha, Mahant Ram said in astatement, demanding urgedfarmersto cometo thetable Bengal Chief MinisterMamata mandi… theyorganise pro- Vajpayee, Modi also interacted protests. cargo unitsofairlines including Mohan Das of the Brahmin his immediaterelease. formoretalkswith the govern- Banerjee –Assemblyelections grammes to seek attention, so with six farmers from six states The signalthat the SingaporeAirlines and Emirates Sabha, Shimla, and BJP leader On Friday, Apni Party ment,andsaidtheycanbringagri- in the stateare due next year – theyshould startAPMCs in and asked them to sharetheir Government will notyield on have already begun transport- Subramanian Swamyhad inter- claimedthat Yasmeena Jan, a culture experts if theysowish. foundparticularmention for Kerala by organising agitations experiences of contract farm- the repeal demand comes ing Covid-19vaccines. On venedinthe proceedings, de- DDC member from Imam Sahib- “It wasfirstsaid that the criticism in his speech. there. Youhavetimetomislead ing, government schemes and againstthe backdrop of ongo- December 20, SingaporeAirlines fending the law. Iseat in Shopian, has joinedthe farmerwillbedestroyed,so He asked whythose oppos- the farmers of Punjab, but if other issues. ing negotiations with trade deliveredthe firstshipmentof JKAP.Jan had wonthe seat on a some amendmentsshould be ing farm laws do notspeak this system is good, then why When Gagan Pering, a unions on draftrulesunder the the Pfizer-BioNTechvaccine to MP Bill National Conference ticket. made. Sevenroundsoftalkshave about the interestoffarmers in is it notthere in Kerala?” farmer from LowerDibang four labour codes recently Singapore on boardone of its years otherwise, with amini- Reacting sharplytothe Apni happened.Whatever the farm- West Bengal, astate that has “Whydoyou adoptadogali Valleydistrict in Arunachal brought by thegovernment. Boeing 747-400freighters. mum penalty of Rs 50,000. Party’s move,former Chief ers said, thoseamendmentstoo notimplemented the PM- (doublespeak) policy? What Pradesh, saidhehad formeda Justashedid withthe CAA, However, unlikethe Uttar Ministerand NC Vice-President our government is ready to KISAN. kind of politics aretheydoing farmer produce organisation the Prime Ministermockedthe Himachal law Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful OmarAbdullah said in atweet, make. What we toosay is that “Today,the political parties, in whichthereisnologic,no forthe production of ginger, Opposition over itselectoral the BJP Himachal government in Religious Conversion Ordinance, “Thisexplainswhy our leaders the solution to the problemcan whichhavebeen voted out by facts? Makefalse accusations and had entered intoanagree- debacle accusing it of instigat- 2012 nor theprivate parties who under the MP law, aperson con- in Shopian district arebeing put be through talks… Iwas talking the people, aredoing events and spread rumours to scare ment with aprivate company, ing the protests to push their intervenedinthe proceedings verting of his ownfreewill does under ‘preventive arrest’bythe to the Prime Ministertwo days and event management so that ourfarmers. Sometimes,naive the Prime Ministerasked him, political agenda. had challenged thedecision of nothavetoreportittothe dis- police. J&K police &the adminis- ago, and he said that at no point someone can take aselfie, get farmers getmisledbyyou,” the “Does the companythat buy This playbook,thattriesto the High Court. trict magistrate.Incaseaperson tration arefacilitating horse shoulddialogue bestoppedwith photosprinted,and appear on Prime Ministersaid. ginger from you, procureonly delegitimise protests and at- “Whyshould ahuman being approaches apriestfor sucha trading &defections. The farmers. The sequence of talks TV so that their politics can “These people arenot will- ginger or it takesawayyour tributetothem an agenda, is- be askedtodisclose what is his conversion though, the priest woman shown herejoining the should continuewithour farmer continue. These have been ex- ing to accept anyscale and pa- land?” To this, Pering said, “The n’t newfor this Government. religion?" "Whyshould ahuman concernedhas to inform the dis- BJP’s B-team contested&won brothers,”hesaid. posedinfront of the country. rameters of democracy.They agreement is only forpurchase That the BJP letits longtime being be asked to inform the au- trict administration. elections on aNCmandate.” Shah attackedthe Whydotheynot speak of in- onlysee their benefits, their of produce, notfor land.The ally,the Akali Dal, walk away thorities that he is changing his Under the newMPBill, afam- Omar Abdullah also took on Opposition forspreading“mis- terestsoffarmers of West selfishness. Those who are land is ownedbyus, and it will from the NDAoverthis and ap- belief?” —the Benchcomprising ilycourt in thestate will be em- the administration for“playing conceptions”onthe farm laws. Bengal? Theyare engaged here playing the game by taking remain ours.” pears unfazedoverthe pres- then Chief Justice of the High poweredtodeclaremarriages partisan politics”. These parties He said the NDAgovernment to harassthe citizens of Delhi their flags in the name of farm- Modi told him: “You aresit- sureonits stategovernment in Court Deepak Gupta andJustice conductedfor the purpose of re- couldn’t win seatsand so “now had done morefor farmers dur- and areruining the country's ers, will nowhavetolistento ting in aremote area of Haryana reinforces itspolitical RajivSharma hadsaid. ligious conversion null and void. theyare using money/ muscle/ ing itstenure. economy. That toointhe name the truth… theycannotes- Arunachal Pradeshand you resolve on the farm laws. The court had also cited the The alimonyinsuchcases would threats&governmentcoercionto “Rahul Gandhi, who talksof fundamental right to privacy of be grantedasper Section 125of makeupthe numbers. So much farmerwelfare,whenitwasyour an individual to strikedownpro- the CrPC. In his interactionswith for‘democracyhaswon’!”hesaid. government… when youwere visions requiring prior notice to mediapersons,HomeMinister Aday before,the Apni Party AgricultureMinister, Sharad Farmers respond: It’s clearGovt will not back down the authorities forconversion, NarottamMishrahad said they had said thattwo victorious can- Pawar, in2013-14,howmuchwas Gurnam Singh Chaduni, amendments. We will not the longhaul.” ful manner,and for notbeing even as it acknowledged that were also exploring the possibil- didates Fazal-Din Deedad and the budget forfarmers? There president of BKU (Haryana), budgeuntil we win.” Jhanda SinghJethuke,sen- under the influence of anypo- severalrulings in the Supreme ity of attaching the property of Abdul Rashid Lone whoalso won wasaCongress government of echoedJagmohan Singh: PKrishna Prasad, working ior vice president of BKU litical party.Now the PM is Courthad upheld the validity of the accused. the Shopian DDC had joinedthe Sonia-Manmohan, then the “Time and again, theyasked committee member of (Ugrahan),said the Prime saying thatfarmers arebeing anti-conversion laws as the The draftwas scheduledto party.Deedad wasanindepend- farmer budget was21,900crore. us forour proposals. But they AIKSCC and aformer Kerala Ministerwas “contradicting” misguidedbypolitical parties Constitution provides for“pub- come up fordiscussion at a ent candidatewho contestedthe Only21,900crore.Inthe last areyet to give us anyconcrete MLA, said: “PM stands iso- his AgricultureMinister. “On who aredoing event manage- lic order” as ground forrestrict- Cabinetmeeting on December Keller 1seat in Shopian, and Lone budget,Modijitookitfrom21,900 proposal. Hadtheir intentions lated from hisallieswho are December 5, Agriculture ment hereintheir name. So ing freedom of religion. 22 but wasdeferredtillaspecial had wononaPDP ticket. croreto134,399 crore. And they been good, theywould not in support of farmers. Our MinisterNarendraSingh who do we trust? It seems we Aviolationoftheabove provi- sessiononDecember 26 after areasking forour account? Ulta have made theselaws. Now struggle is forapolicy,not for Tomar congratulated us for areinfor alongstruggle. We sionunderthenewHimachallaw Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Rajnath Singh chorkotwalkodaante?”Shahsaid. what is the point of talkingof anyfund. So we areready for holding the protest in apeace- arereadyfor it.” can result in ajail term of three Chouhan said afew suggestions Singh said therewas marked He said “MSP wasthere, is monthstooneyearfortheperson were awaited. improvement in MSP-based thereand will be thereforever”, undergoing conversionand from procurement under the NDAas andthat the UPAhad no right to the senior official said. mentsfromothers. lakh vials of the vaccine aday cordingly,” Murali Rama- six months to twoyearsfor the 21-yr-oldmayor againstthe UPAtenure. talk about it. “Next, they(the states) will “Not allstateshaveastatecon- with twocomplete rotations. chandran, CEO-India, Çelebi priest, respectively.The offence is On topofthe listofArya'srole “But even then, we arebeing “For years, farmerswanted createasession using the Co- signee point. Forexample, “The temperature-con- Aviation, told TheIndian Express. non-bailableaswellascognizable, models is Kerala Health Minister doubted.Misconceptions are that the MSP levelshould be Windigital platform, and in- Nagaland, whichdoesnot have a trolledcargo facilities have the Airportand cargooperators whichmeansbail can be granted KKShailaja, “for the amazing being raised. Iwanttotellmy one-and-a-half times the ex- clude 100people in that session. stateconsignee pointfor receiv- capacity to handle over 1.5lakh arealsomaking preparations for onlyonthe discretion of amagis- work she hasdone” during the brothers and sisters, sitting on penditureoncrop. Please tell me Afive-membervaccination ingthevaccine,willgetitfromthe tonnes of cargo perannum. ad hoc freight arrivals. trateand notasamatter of right, Covidpandemic. She alsocounts dharnafor alongtime, that it if thatwas ademand or not? For team will be constituted.” neareststate,” the sources said. These facilities have state-of- “Çelebi is working closely and that the police can search or Sugathakumari,aveteran causes us pain. Theymay be sit- 70 years, nobody fulfilledthis In the thirdstep, “100people On the critical aspect of vac- the-arttemperature-controlled with existing airline operators to arrestanindividualandlaunchan Malayalampoetandactivistwho ting on dharna, but theyare demand.NarendraModi, be- will receive an SMS generatedby cine administrationand adverse zoneswith separate cool cham- understand their specific require- investigationontheir ownwith- diedthis week,and prominent farmers. Theyhavebeen born tween 2014 and 2019,madethe the IT platformthatwillconvey event reporting, the sources bers ranging from 25 degreesC ments, and attracting alarge out awarrant from court. Malayalam writer KRMeeraas from afarmer mother’s womb. MSP one-and-a-half times the thatvaccinatorXwill be vacci- said: “The vaccinators will do the to minus 20 degrees C,” aDelhi number of non-scheduledoper- Likethe Uttar Pradesh inspirations.Arya says shedoesn't In our minds, we have alot of re- costofthe crop,and gave the nating youon[say] December 29 dummyrun with 100persons. airportspokesperson said. atorsto bring in ad hoc freighters Prohibition of Unlawful Religious holdarigidstandagainstreligion, spect forthem. As the son of a farmers big relief.” at [a certain] sub-centrebetween Eachperson will wait for30 At theairport’s cargo termi- with Covid-19vaccine in thenear Conversion Ordinance passed herpartyideologynotwithstand- farmer, Iwanttosay,wewillnot Yand Ztime,” the officialsaid. minutes aftergettingvaccinated. nals, dedicated gateshavebeen future,” Ramachandran said. lastmonth, the 2019 Himachal ing, occasionallyaccompanying do anything that harms the Vaccination run The next step duringthe dry They(the vaccinators) will see assignedfor fast movement of Aspokesperson for lawspecifically prohibitsconver- her mother to temples and visit- rightsoffarmers,”hesaid. if an adverse event occurs, its run will be related to the main- wherethe glitches are, if any. vehicles intoand out of the air- Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji sion formarriage, even if an indi- ing church."Ibelieveinpositive “Ek baar iss Actkolaagu toh management willbetracked tenance and tracking of the cold Theywill also recordadverse port. The airporthas also put in Maharaj International Airport vidual testifies to have done so energy,whichiswhat God is for honedijiye.Saal-dosaal,aapexper- through the central server. chain using the IT platform, events, if any, afterthe vaccina- place atruckslotmanagement said the airportwilloffer flexi- willingly, exceptwhen prior me, but Istand against supersti- iment karke tohdekhiyeiss Actke “A total 2,360 participants sources said. SeveralCovid-19 tion. Since Adverse Event system at itscargo terminals, and ble slotmanagement foradhoc sanction has been obtained. tious beliefs," she says. have been put through the vaccines will be temperature Following Immunization (AEFI) cargooperators canpre-book the charteroperations. Mumbai is Section 5ofthe Himachal law TopCPM Thiruvanan- national-leveltraining of sensitive —and once the vacci- is acritical aspect, the manage- arrivaloftrucksatthe terminal. the country’s largest airport and Section 3ofthe Uttar Pradesh thapuram leader and aminis- trainers, whichincludes cold nation programme is rolledout, ment of the adverse event will On the air side, the airport gatewayfor pharmaceutical ex- lawwhichdeclarethat “mar- ter, KadakampallySurendran, chain and immunisation offi- the country's cold chain system be tracked,” the sources said. has been equipped with “cool port-importmovement. riages forthesolepurposeof con- says he has been seeing Arya cers. Since people have al- of 85,634 pieces of equipment at dollies”,whichare container “The existing infrastructure version” will be null andvoid are since she wasachild.“The ready been trained, we want 28,947 cold chain pointswill be AAI seeks land systems usedinair cargo for at CSMIA enablesthe airportto worded exactlythe same. youth and newgeneration, they to knowbeforethe actual roll- usedtostore the vaccine. itsvaccine againstthe novel temperature-sensitive goods. offeracontinuous temperature The 2006 Himachal lawhad arethe futureofthis country. out [of the vaccination pro- “A team will be dispatched coronavirus in India. Theyare primarilyusedtotrans- controlledmovement andpro- been limitedtoforcedreligious Theyhaveclarity about the gramme]how effective this to thevaccination centre.The As the country movescloser portgoods from the aircraftto cessing of pharma goods conversions and did nottouch needfor transparent political training has been. We have cold chain will be operational si- to rolling out itsCovid-19vacci- the cargo terminal. throughthe airport —anele- upon conversions formarriage. systems, theyhavebigger chosen one stateeachfrom multaneously. Thedistrict will nation programme, airportsand PreparationsatIndian air- ment that would be vital forthe While borrowing provisions dreams and avision. Arya has the north, south, eastand inform whether it will getits logistics players areworking to ports areinline with thosethat storageand transportationof suchas“marriagefor the sole experience, she is very good. west,and the states will de- vaccine from the neareststate ensureithappens seamlessly — have been made at global air the Covid-19vaccine,” the purpose of conversion”, the UP Herage is notacause forworry cide the twodistricts. The dry depotorthe Government by expanding cold chain facilities transport hubs such as the air- spokesperson said. lawgoes further than the as we have plentyofexamples runwillbemonitored by the Medical StoreDepot(GMSD). and setting up computerised ports at Singapore, Dubai, Doha, Cold chain infrastructureis Himachal Actbyshifting the of young civil service officers Centre,” asenior government Thereare four GMSDs run by the trucking slots formoreefficient and Shenzhen, some of which being upgradedatsmallerair- burden of proof regarding the delivering amazingworkasdis- official who is part of the team Union government, and 27 state redistribution from airports. have already startedreceiving ports too. “If the vaccines are conversion from the converted trict collectors,” he says. that will monitor the dryrun, consignee points,” sources said. Officialssaidtheybelievedvac- vaccine shipments. coming from abroad, they’ll to his/her partner;prescribing LegendaryMalayalam writer told TheIndianExpress. According to the sources, cination could begin next month. Turkish ground handling mainly come to international air- different jail terms depending MTVasudevanNairalso wel- Thedry runisintended to “Thedistrict will inform from While Pune will be one of the companyÇelebi, whichoperates ports from where theywillbere- on gender;and legitimisingthe comes the CPM decision. “It is test the country's flagship whichlocation the vaccine has hubsfor the distribution of do- acargo terminal at Delhi airport, distributed to other smaller intrusion of the Stateand third notaboutaparty but Ifeel happy vaccine delivery IT platform, to be received, whereitisbeing mestically-manufactured vac- has created aseparatelane for places, statecapitals, etc. What- parties in the choice of who an forher,” he says. Co-Win, at everystage, taken, and details of the cold cines, the bulk of the vaccine movement of vaccine ship- ever cold chaininfrastructureis individual wishes to marry. Waiting forSaturday's for- sources said. chain temperatureuptothe vac- consignment will be imported mentsatthe export-import there, we areupgrading it,”AAI UnderSection 12 of the2019 mal call, Arya says it is onlyafter “Afterstatesidentify their cinationsite.” through majorinternational air- warehouse,and dedicateddeliv- chairman Arvind Singh said. Himachallaw, theburdenof prov- this that shewill plan her prior- twodistricts, the firststepwill The sources, however, ports including Delhi, Mumbai, eryand acceptance gatesfor im- Hyderabad airportwillbekey ing whether areligious conver- ities forThiruvananthapuram. be forthemtoschedulefive pointed out that while every and Hyderabad. Delhi,the coun- mediatehandling. “Customers, forthe distributionofthe Russian sionhadbeendonethroughmis- However, topofher agenda is vaccination sessions in five statewillhaveaconsignee point try's largest aiport, has launched both airlines and freight for- Sputnik Vvaccine,whichisbeing representation, force, coercion, waste-handling. “The last different locations. The loca- in next week's dryrun, when the “Project Sanjivani” to equip warders, arebeing sensitisedto producedinIndiaby Hyderabad- undueinfluence, inducement or regime had donealotand we tions will be primaryhealth actual vaccine administration cargo terminals with special send us their pre-alerts and basedDrReddy’s Laboratories. anyother fraudulent means or have to do more." centres, community health programme is rolledout, some cooling chambers.The airport planning, to enable us to plan This airporttoo processes alarge “bymarriage”, lies on the person FULLREPORTSON centres, or adistrict hospital” states will receive theirconsign- has the capacitytohandle 54 and expeditemovementsac- volume of India’s pharmaceuti- converting or thosefacilitating. www.indianexpress.com

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Total Vacant THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 TOTALCASES HOSPITALBEDS 18,774 16,111 6,21,439 VENTILATORS 1,523 917 es

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths Tests as Dec241,063 1,1203789,920 ec

CORONAVIRUS activ Dec 25 758 1,3703085,749 al

3 THE CITY ot IN THE CAPITAL

Total7,267* 6,03,758 10,414 82,08,723 *T

603 COLD CHAIN POINTS IDENTIFIED,STAFF TRAININGTOFINISH ON TUESDAY HC backs ST candidate Pvthospitalswithover100healthstafftobe who faced exam hassle whichhaveplacedthem in an EXPRESSNEWSERVICE unequal positionascompared to NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 other citizens, the courtsaid involvedinCovidvaccinationdriveincapital suchdisadvantages extend to all WHILE ALLOWINGthe petition parameters of daytoday life. of aScheduledTribes (ST) candi- The courtmade the observa- ing, vaccination and observa- gramme; around 300morestaff datewho failedtosubmit acer- tions in acase filedbyLekhraj ASTHASAXENA tion,” said Dr SuneelaGarg, pub- have been enrolled. Among tificateontimeduring the Meena, who is acandidatefor re- NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 Keeping lic health expertand advisorto them, 600workers arefromthe process of recruitment, allegedly cruitment being held forsub-in- it cold the Indian Council of Medical private sector, 200are from hos- due to theongoing farmer spector postinDelhi Police, TOPPRIVATEhospitals in Delhi Research (ICMR).She has been pitals under railways,canton- protests,the Delhi High Court Central ArmedPolice Forces and with morethan 100healthcare appointedincharge of the state ment, and thereare 700medical has said that reservations or re- assistant sub-inspector postin workers will beusedtocarryout The 603 cold chain points Covid-19task forcefor the Delhi officers formonitoring these laxations cannotbegiven by one CISF by the StaffSelection the vaccinationprogramme for in the capital include mo- vaccination programme. cold chain points. hand and takenawaybyanother Commission. He scored 96 per- Covid-19. The governmenthas fi- halla clinics and govern- On Thursday, Chief Minister The training programme will by invoking technicalities while cent in the PaperIand qualified nalisedthe listof603 coldchain ment hospitals. Arvind Kejriwal said 51 lakhpeo- be completedbyTuesday. forgetting the hardships and dif- in Physical StandardTestbut was points,including mohalla clinics According to WHO, vac- ple in Delhi will be administered “During the training pro- ficulties facedbytheminaccom- rejected duringthe Physical and government hospitals, that cine cold chain is impor- the Covid-19vaccine in the first gramme, the healthcarework- plishing the smallestofthings. Efficiency Test conducted in will playanimportant role in vac- tant to maintain product phase. He said 1.2crore doses are ers will be informedabout the “The said needhas to be ful- Noida as he had notfilled up the cinating thetargetedpopulation. quality from the time of neededtocover priority cate- safetyofthe vaccine, use of dig- filled, notonlybyproviding form of certificatefor height re- According to theWorld manufacturetothe point gories comprising healthcare ital applicationCo-WIN, moni- reservations/relaxations but also laxation, even though he had Health Organisation, the pur- of administration. The workers, police, civil defence vol- toring and vaccine logistics man- by providing relaxationsinim- submitted thecaste certificate. pose of the vaccine cold chain is vaccines needtobe unteers, those aged above 50 agement,”added Dr Garg. plementing the said reservations When he wasgiven 5days to maintain product quality from stored and transported and people aged below50with On Friday, Delhi recorded and benefitsconferredonthe forsubmitting the form, the the time of manufactureuntil within recommended associated comorbidities suchas 758 Covid-19cases —the lowest STs,” the division benchof courtwas told that he could not the point of administration by Delhi recorded758 Covid cases on Friday. Amit Mehra temperatureranges. diabetes, heartailments, among in over four months —and 30 Justices RajivSahai Endlawand reachhis home district in ensuring thatvaccinesare stored others. newfatalities even as the posi- Asha Menon said. Rajasthan in time due to the and transported within recom- The statehad earlier pre- tivity rate dippedto0.88 per Observing that suchreserva- farmers' protests,and when he mendedtemperatureranges. be carried out in coordination ment officials, the vaccination erswill be carriedout.There will pared alistof3,500healthcare cent. The infection tallyinthe tion is an admission of the dis- reachedhis district, therealso “The immunisation pro- with government officials. programmeinhospitals with be threerooms at eachvaccina- workers who had to be trained city mounted to over 6,21,439 advantages whichthe STshave wasadelayinissuance of the gramme in private hospitals will Under the supervision of govern- morethan 100healthcarework- tion booth —one each forwait- forthe immunisation pro- and death toll rose to 10,414. sufferedfor generations and certificatebyauthorities. ‘Halal’meat against Hinduism, Sikhism, restaurants must specify: South body

Secondly, if Ihavetakenlicenseof EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE jhatka and Iamserving halalor NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 vice versa ,then this will keep a checkonsuchviolations as such THESTANDING committeeofthe things arerecordedwhile taking BJP-ledSouth Delhi Municipal licence." Corporation (SDMC) has cleareda Thereare thousands of restau- proposal that asksrestaurants rantsin104 wardsoffourzones and shops to "mandatorily" dis- falling under SDMC. playwhether the meat being sold “Though meat is served in or servedis slaughteredusing the about 90 per cent of these restau- 'halal' or 'jhatka' method. rants, oftenitisnot mentioned Theproposalnowawaitsnod whether it is 'halal' or 'jhatka'," in theSDMCHouse, whichiscon- said the resolution passedbythe trolledbythe BJP,after whichit SDMC panel. would become arule. Meat shops also do notmake "According to Hinduism and the distinction, it said. Sikhism, eating 'halal' meat is for- Asimilarproposalwasearlier bidden and againstreligion. passedbythe EastMCD meet in Therefore, the committee re- 2018 stating that shop owners solvesthatthisdirection begiven have to put upprominentboards, to restaurantsand meat shops specifying if theyare serving ha- that it should be written manda- lal or jhatka meat. torilyabout themeat being sold EDMC’s then standing com- and servedby them that 'halal' or mittee chairman Satyapal had 'jhatka' meat is available here,” then said that thereare several the resolution passedbythe Hindus who do noteat halal SDMC panel Thursdaysaid. meat. The decision had been 'Jhatka' method is one in takentoensurethat their reli- whichananimalis slaughteredin gious sentimentsare nothurt. one go,while in the 'halal' In 2017,the SDMC hadpro- method, an animal is allowedto posedthat meat and itsproducts slowly bleedout aftercutting a were nottobedisplayed in the vein. open, citinghygiene and "senti- Standing committee chief mentsofpeople affected by the Rajdutt Gehlotsaid, “Suppose a sight" of meat as main reasons person wantsjhatka meat but behind the move. gets halal,then he will feel of- The move wasnot imple- fended.Sothe ideaisjusttomen- mented afterprotestsfromshop tion whether it is jhatka or halal. owners. Inspired by crime show, man kidnaps &kills 10-yr-old, held

body near apond in Maidan EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Garhi. The boy's parentslater NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 identifiedthe body.“When questioned, the mother then AMONTH aftera10-year-old spokeabout afriendnamed boywas kidnapped and mur- Singh who oftengavegifts to her dered in South Delhi’s Maidan son,”said asenior police officer. Garhi, police have arrested a22- When Singhwas questioned year-old man, who washis on Thursday, he allegedly con- mother’s friend, forthe crime. fessedthat he killedthe child. The boywentmissing from The accusedtold thepolice his home in Sanjay Colonyon that he has known the victim’s November 28 and his partially mother since childhood but their burnt body wasfound Thursday. parentswereagainstthe mar- Police said the accused, Bittu riage. Afterthe woman separated Singh, wanted to marry the boy’s from her husband, the accused mother.According to police, proposedmarriagebut she said Singh, inspired by aTVshow, al- shecan’t because of herchild. legedly plannedtokidnapand Police said theaccused,after kill the child. Police said he also watching acrime show,al- allegedly triedtoburnthe body legedly plannedtokill thechild. to destroy evidence. “On November 28, he took the DCP (South) Atul Kumar child in an auto on the pretextof Thakur said theyreceiveda buying him berries. Theywent missing persons reportfromthe to aforestwhere Singh strangled boy’s mother on November 28. the child with ascarf.Hethen “Weweretoldthat the boywent dumpedthe body in apond,” to astore to buy food but didn’t said DCP Thakur. return. The boy’s parentswere Aday later,hewent backto separatedand therewas adis- the spotand hid thebody under puteoverthe child’s custody... All rocks. “He triedtoburn the body CCTVs in the area were scanned with fuel but he failedbecause it but we didn’t find anything,” said waswet.The accusedthen re- the DCP. movedclothes from the body, On Thursday, nearly amonth put it in aplastic bagand later,police found a“highlyde- dumpeditinthe river,”said the composed” and“partiallyburnt” police.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 ANANDVIHAR PUNJABIBAGH SHADIPUR DWARKA-SECTOR8 SKYWATCH Very Poor Very Poor Very Poor Very Poor FORECAST: Dec 26 Partly cloudysky. 387 363 334 385 Shallowtomoderate AQI AQI AQI AQI foginthe morning PM: 2.5 05PM: 2.5 00 0500 05PM: 10 00 0 PM: 2.5 500 MAX: 21 MIN: 4 4 THE CITY 0-50 Good 51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300Poor 301-400 Very Poor 401-500Severe 0.4°Cbelownormal 3.9°Cbelownormal

BRIEFLY SHAHJAHANPUR PROTEST SITE GROWS Day after searches PWDplanto decongest After1,000kmjourney,Delhiin at Pracha office, stretchgets Bar members approval reachforMaharashtrafarmers NewDelhi: The Unified cautiously silent Trafficand Transportation Infrastructure(Planning lageinAlwar district,20 kmaway. and Engineering) Centre SOMYALAKHANI "I have abad knee and can barely SOFIAHSAN Thursdayapprovedapro- SHAHJAHANPUR,DEC25 walk,but Iamhereevery dayfor NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 posal of the PublicWorks the futureofmychildren. If they Department (PWD) to de- WITH Rs 100inhis pocket, apair allowustogotoDelhi,I'llgothere ADAY afterDelhi Police carried congesta3.5-km stretch of extrapants and abedsheet, too," said Niwas. out searches at the offices of two of the Ring Road between 55-year-old khetmazdoor Shivaji Vashisht said, "The farmers lawyers, whichmanyinthe fra- Raja Garden flyoverand VinayakRao Bhairavbegan his aren't the ones blockingthe roads, ternity described as an attack Punjabi Bagh flyover. This 1,080-km journeyfrom it’sthe police. We want to leave againstthe attorney-client privi- would be done by con- Maharashtra's Chandwad on from here." legeand on the fundamental structing twoflyovers Mondayand reached As the lastrays of the sun fell righttolegal representation, pro- parallel to the existing sin- Shahjahanpur near theRajasthan on the mustard fields on either fessional bodies representing Bar Mehmood Pracha gleflyoversatClubRoad and Haryana border on Friday. side of the protestsiteonFriday, members largely appearedreluc- crossing and Moti Nagar "I'mthe only breadwinnerin preparation forlangar began tant to take astand on the issue. crossing. my familyoffivepeople, andbe- again. "Wehad setupalangar at Senior advocateand fore leaving from homeItold Tikri border forseveral weeksbut Chairman, Bar CouncilofDelhi, Pracha clients NoidaPolice them that I'll onlyreturn when we found out it wasneededmore Ramesh Gupta saidthe statutory the three farm laws arewith- here. So we setupakitchen with body cannotdomuchatpresent allege police tosetuphelp drawn. If the farm owner isn't geysers, vegetables, flour, rusk, as the courtvacationshavebe- paid the sum he deserves,Iwon't milk.Wehaveenough suppliesto gun. “Maybe, the High CourtBar pressure desksonNew getthe moneyIdeserveeither. lastustill 2024orhoweverlong Association is doing something,” This is about my livelihood too," it takesthe Modi government to Gupta told The Indian Express. NewDelhi:Someclientsof Year’sEve said Bhairav, one of the 1,000- take backthe laws," said farmer Asked whether the Bar Council advocateMehmood plus farmers, including farm BilawalSingh (32) from wasgoing to take anystand on Pracha, who arefighting Noida: Noida Police is go- labourers, who have travelled Amit Mehra Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar. The this issue, he said, “Apni levelpe casesrelated to the ing to setupwomen help from Maharashtratoparticipate (Top) Farmers protesting langar feeds1,000 people aday, kyakaregi, takkar maregi kahin NortheastDelhi riots, desksatplaces hosting in the ongoingprotestat againstthe newfarmlawsat said Singh. jaake? (what will we do at our Fridayclaimedatapress NewYear’s evecelebra- Shahjahanpur,130 km away Shahjahanpur near the ApartfromSingh, sewadaars level, hit someone?)” conference thatthe Delhi tions across the district. from Delhi. Rajasthan-Haryana border; from agurdwarainPunjab's Gupta also said acomplaint Police had pressured them According to police, the Fortwo weeks, thousands of langar preparation in Patiala toohaveset up alangar wasreceivedfromadvocate Javed in the pasttodropPrachaas personnel will assist farmers from Rajasthan and progress on Friday here. As Sajjan Kaur (45) made Ali,oneof the twolawyerswhose their lawyer and withdraw womenwithonthe spot Haryana have been protesting at rotiwithsixotherelderly women, offices were searched by police, their complaints. solutions in case of anyis- the NH8 aftertheywerestopped shesaid,"Thereare plentyoftrou- and the same wasforwarded to Mohammad Nasir Khan,a sue.Afemale and amale by theHaryana government from said Siwach. Everythree days,he bles here. It's cold, therearen’t Delhi High CourtRegistrar businessmanwho livesin personnel eachwill bede- proceeding to Delhi's Singhuand said,500litres of milk reaches the enoughbathrooms, the toilets are General “for appropriateaction”. Gonda, said he losthis left ployedatthe concerned Tikri borders.The cavalcade of 50 protestsitefromhis village. dirty...but we areherefor the fu- The Delhi Police Special Cell eyetoabulletwound on help desks. Besides, there vehicles from Maharashtra Around 1pm, Haryana Police tureofour children. It's all worth had also searched the February24and his com- will also be increasedpa- reachedthe Shahjahanpur closedbothcarriagewaysofthe it. We wake up at 4amand begin NizamuddinEastofficeof lawyer plaint wasfiledonlyafter trolling. NoidaPolicehas protestsitearound 12.45 pm. Delhi-Jaipur Expressway."We cooking and can't wait to do the Mehmood Pracha, whosefirm Pracha’sintervention. He also launchedadedicated From Maharashtra's Akola, hadto closeboth carriageways of same in Delhi... HunnDillizyaada Legal Axis is defending several claimedhehad been told helpline to assistqueries Dagdu Ekhande (40) andKalu the Delhi-Jaipur expressway due durr ni haiga (Delhiisn’tfarnow)." persons accusedincases related by police to drop Pracha as by women. Kathore(35)havereached Somya Lakhani to thefarmers’ protests.There In the evening, afterfarmer to the Delhi riots.InAugust,po- his lawyer.Sahil Parvez, Shahjahanpur in atempo, with 15 atShahjahanpurtoo —astageset his village,inhis tractor ninedays wasnokindofconfrontation.We union leaders from lice had told aDelhi court that who also livesinGonda, others. "Weearn Rs 100aday for forspeeches, posters and flags, ago. "I packedthree hookahs, arespeakingto farmersto at least Maharashtra, Haryana and Pracha had forged documents said Pracha had helpedhim Manarrested aday's work.Bybeing here Ilose tractors and trolleys as farasthe blankets, mattresses and raw leave onelaneofthe service lane Rajasthan finishedtheir and instigated aman to depose file an FIR in connection forRs9crore my livelihood everyday butthis is eyecan see, at leastfivebig lan- food. Ihavecome prepared to open foremergency vehicles,” speeches, the task of setting up falselyinacase related to the ri- with his father’s murder.He important. We sleptinschools gars, and tentsinarow. protestinDelhi but the police said Rajesh Kumar,DSP (Bawal). tentsfor the 1,000-plus protest- ots. Additional Sessions Judge claimedhetoo facedsimi- ‘fraud’ and in gurdwaras on the way. We From Miran villagein won't letusproceed. My wifeand Among thoseprotesting at the ersfromMaharashtrabegan."It VinodYadavhadsaid“it wouldbe lar pressurefrompolice. will go to Delhi too," he said. Haryana's Bhiwandi is farmer children aretakingcareofthe siteare RamNiwas (81) from will be along night, along jour- appropriateifthematter is inves- When contacted,Anil NewDelhi: The Scenes similar to Singhu and Dilbagh Siwach(50). He reached fields and told me to stay put at Neemrana, 14 km away,and ney,"said 75-year-old Baldev tigatedby an independent agency Mittal, spokespersonfor Economic Offences Wing Tikri borders in Delhi playedout Shahjahanpur,180 km away from the protestfor as long as Iwant," Ratiram Vashisht (70) from avil- Singh from Sri Ganganagar. likeCrimeBranchorSpecialCell”. the Delhi Police, said,“All of Delhi Police has ar- An FIR wasfiledinthe matter. suchallegations arefalse rested aman forallegedly Delhi High CourtBar and baseless. Investigation misappropriating Rs 9 Association HonorarySecretary intocases is being done croreduring demonetisa- Police obstacles slow downsome marches Abhijat Fridaysaid the lawyers’ solelyonmerits.” ENS tion. Police said the ac- body wasinthe process of ascer- cused, Gaurav Singhal, taining the facts. “While on the had opened sevenbank cencedetails.Hecalledagain on tor-trolleys from the vicinity had Nawabganj gurdwarainRampur one hand it is deplorable that ficer and his team, showing ut- accountsusing forged SUKRITABARUAH Thursdayand said Ihad to come been stoppedseveral timesbe- districtand head towardsDelhi lawyers’ offices arebeingraided mostprofessionalrestraint, de- documentsand misap- NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 forameeting with senior police fore theycould reachGhazipur. together.“The plan is forfarmers in this manner and privileged cidedtorecordthehappeningsas propriated the moneyus- officers. At thestation,therewere “On December 21,farmers in from that area as well as from vil- communication is being looked were fullyvideo-recordedintheir ing cash deposits. Police FARMERSFROMvillagesin farmerunionfunctionariesfrom 15 tractor-trolleys and cars from lagesinUttarakhand suchas into, but on the other hand we reporttobefiledbeforethe Court said atax officer had filed Western Uttar Pradesh andthose variousvillages in our blockand Bareillymandal leftfor Ghazipur Bajpur,Kashipur, Gadarpur and shouldnotactinamannerthein- forfurther necessaryinstructions acomplaint againstthe at the Ghazipur protestsiteclaim peoplefromthe Sikh commu- border.This includedfarmers Udham Singh Nagartoleave to- vestigation in acrimeisalsoin- and returnedpostmidnight. A accusedtwo years ago. police have been dissuading nity.Weweretold we should co- from Shahjahanpur and Pilibhit gether in the morning. This will terfered with.” complaintregarding the conduct them from joining the sit-in, with operatewith local police, and districts. Therewereattemptsto makeitdifficult forpolice to stop He addedthat the lawyers’ of Sh. Mehmood Pracha andhis manybeing stopped brieflyas were discouragedfrom going to- stop us at multiple placesin them," said GurpreetAtwal,a body will take astand aftercon- associates has been giventothe ‘Feastweek’ theyhead to the border. wardsDelhi. When some of us Shahjahanpur and Bareilly... we farmer from Rampur district, ferring within the executive com- local Police Station forappropri- atDelhiZoo On Thursday, local Bharatiya were insistent,police said we were stoppedovernight in who is at the protestsite. mittee. “Wedonot know all the ateaction”. Kisan Union leaders and gurd- should go in small cars and not Farmers protesting at Rampur.Manylocal farmers Delhi Sikh Gurdwara facts. The deliberations have to be Meanwhile,manyseniorsen- New Delhi: Afeastweek wara functionaries from Banda tractors.” The previous day, po- Ghazipur border. Amit Mehra came to ouraid,and we were al- Management Committee presi- informed. We cannotpassareso- iorlawyers continuedtocriticise foranimalsatthe Delhi blockinShahjahanpur district lice had summoned farmer lowedtogoahead at 11 am on dent ManjinderSingh Sirsa also lution forthe sakeofresolution. the police action againstthe Zoo beganFriday, in were summonedtoBanda police union functionaries from nearby December 22. We were stopped leftfor the Nawabganj gurdwara We arecollectingthe information lawyers.ThisincludedDelhigov- whichanimalswillbe station. villages to Khutar police station willing to speak to everyone on again that eveninginMoradabad on Thursday.Hesaid:“Some and factsthat howmuchthe po- ernment’s SeniorStanding givenaspecial meal that Kuldeep Singh, district gen- in the same district. this issue. The idea wastomoti- forseveral hours. We finally farmers had contactedme when lice have interfered,whether Counsel (Criminal) Rahul Mehra, is different from their reg- eral secretaryofBKU from a Confirming that the meetings vate themtonot indulgeinthings reachedDelhi on Wednesday theywerestoppedatRampur Pracha is an accused in anyFIR whotweeted:“Imayhaveprofes- ular dietfor thenextfive Jodhpurvillage, claimed:“Last were held, SP,Shahjahanpur,S that aggravate problemsand to morning,” said Ajeet Singh, earlier this week;Ihad gone and thereforeisbeing investi- sional differences with Mr days,zoo director Ramesh evening, asub-inspector called Anand,said:“We wantto educate move towardsasolution instead.” Bareillymandalpresident. theretointervene.Iamnow go- gatedorisitthat he is being tar- Mehmood Pracha and mayagree Pandeysaid. ENS and asked for my vehicle regis- farmers that the agitation is not According to farmer unions, Now, farmers from the region ing to Nawabganj as farmers fear getedbecause he is alawyerfor to disagree with himmostofthe tration number and driving li- required as the government is earlier this week,multiple trac- have plannedtocongregateat theywillbestoppedagain.” the riotaccused.” time but foranoffice of alawyer In atweet on Thursday, Pracha to beraidedlikethisishighlycon- had said, “Bar is the lastbastion. demnable. Expecting good sense We mustall rise to the occasion to prevailsoonerratherthanlater.” Tankerstrike affected water New Parliament: Location and save attacks on ourprofes- Congress leader Manish Tewari, sion and ultimatelythe who is also alawyer, said he was Constitution of India.” Following “deeplydisturbed”bythe search supplybut gap was plugged: for MPs’ chambers shifted thesearches at hisoffice, Pracha conducted at Pracha’s offices and also allegedhe andhis associates asked BarCouncil to “takeupthis were assaulted during the raid arbitraryharassment”. and he wasthreatened“with the Special Cell, in astatement, DJB after office vandalism after on-ground survey name of (Union Home Minister) saidthesearches were conducted Amit Shah Sahab”.DelhiPolice, in connection with an investiga- beensupplied,”theofficialadded. however, in astatement accused tion intothe alleged use of docu- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE The strike, officials said, also ANANYATIWARI Pracha of being “verballyaggres- ments“containing false/fabri- NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 coincidedwith the farmers’ NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 sive”and “creating aruckus”. cated evidence”and “a forged protest at Delhi’s borders. The The Special Cell in thestate- notary stampbeforeaHon’ble ASTRIKE by Delhi Jal Board(DJB) Delhigovernmentisproviding THE DESIGN forthe chambers ment said, “Theinvestigation of- Court” during abail proceeding. contractors, who took 100water watertankers to the protestsites forMembers of Parliament, tankers offthe road this month, as well. However, DJBofficials whichwill come up wherethe causedonlyaminor disruption denied that this further im- Shram Shakti Bhawanand in watersupplyinparts of the pacted their watersupply.“We TransportBhawanare currently Pracha moves court city,DJB officials said. also engaged moreprivate locatedonRafiMargand Sansad The strikestarted around tankers during the time of the Margrespectively,isatthe con- December 1and endedlargely strike,” another DJBofficial said. ceptstage and will have approx- An artist’simpression of the newParliament over search warrant on Thursdaythrough theinter- RaghavChadha takingstock The contractors had called imately800or so offices forMPs, vention of the Delhi High Court. of the damages at DJBoffice the strikeastheywanted an in- officials of the HCP Design, computer or in the office/prem- Around 20 tankers were still off crease in payment. According to Planning and Management Pvt waschangedand nowthe In order forMPs to conduct EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ises… includingoutbox of email the road as on Fridayand were officials, the Delhi High Court, Ltd have said. The new chambers shall come up where business insidethe Parliament, NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 ID as well as other offices/prem- being persuadedtoreturn to “Wehaveabout1,100to1,200wa- while hearing the matter on Parliament shall have six com- the Transport Bhawanand the the interiors of the new ises wherepresence of suchev- work by the DJB, officials said. tertankersout of whicharound Wednesday, asked an arbitrator mittee rooms forconducting Shram Shakti Bhawanare lo- Parliament shall have six com- FOLLOWINGPOLICE searches at idence aredetected during the On Thursday, BJP leaders, in- 100private contractual tankers to settle the dispute. business, theyfurther said. cated. The plan is constantly mittee rooms with modernised his office, advocateMehmood search/investigation, and, if cluding Delhi unit chief Adesh went on strike. We pluggedthis Meanwhile, DJBvice-chair- The foundation stone forthe evolving,” an official told The features, said the HCP. Pracha movedaDelhi court found, to produce the same Gupta andnearly ahundred gapbyre-routingtankersfromar- man and AAP leader Raghav NewParliament waslaid by Indian Express. These committee rooms seekingaclarification on the forthwith before this court.” people,protested outside the eas with lowrequirementofwa- Chadha Fridayfiledacomplaint Prime MinisterNarendraModi “The twobuildings will be shall featurevarious audio-vi- search warrantorder issuedby At the court, the IO wasnot DJBheadquarters at tertoareas of high requirement,” at theDeshBandhu GuptaRoad on December 10.The newbuild- demolished, and morethan one sual facilities suchassimultane- the Special Cell, alleging he was present nor did he submitare- Jhandewalan againsta“tanker asenior official said. police station, seeking action ingwill have 888 seatsfor mem- building will come up in all prob- ous languageinterpretation sys- directed by the personnel to pro- ply. The court also did notreceive scam”. Later,the DJBheadquar- “Wealso deployedtankers againstGupta and partymem- bers of the Lok Sabha,384 for ability.Eveniftwo buildings tem, sound reinforcement vide incriminating material in time the application submit- ters wasvandalised, allegedly by thatwekeep foremergency use. bers YogendraChandoliya, Ravi those of the RajyaSabha. For come up, theyshall be con- system,voiceliftapplication, againsthimself during the tedbythe lawyersassociated the same group, following which However, thereweredisruptions Tanwar,VikasTanwarand “other joint meetings, the Lok Sabha nected in some way,”saidoffi- video wall forvideo content en- search.The search warrantis- with Pracha to thechiefmetro- BJP and AAP blamedeachother andsomepocketswhereatanker unidentifiedBJP workers”. Hall on the ground floor shall be cials from the HCP. largement and enhancement, suedonDecember 22 under politan magistrate(CMM). forthe violence. would go once everytwo days “A case has been registered able to house 1,272members. The offices shall be rudimen- in-room video conferencing, Section 93 of the CrPC stated, He told The IndianExpress, OnThursday, Gupta hadraised were getting wateronce every under IPC section 188(disobedi- Earlier,the plan wasfor the tary,considering that MPs have wired and wireless presentation “Thisisto authorise and require “Not onlyhavewehelpedbail theissueonTwitter,claimingthat threedays.Similarly,placeswhere ence to order dulypromulgated chambers or offices forthe MPs their ownofficesacross the system, active speaker viewing investigating officer of this case out Muslim people who have watersupplythroughtankershad atanker goes once everythree by public servant)and sections to come up in either the Northor countryand do notnecessarily with PTZ cameras, POTS/VOIP to search forthe said incriminat- been accusedinthe riots,but we stopped forthe past 24 days,af- days were getting it once every of Prevention of Damageto South block, saidofficials from needtospend toomuchtime in basedaudio-conferencing, and ing documentsand metadataof have... alsogot 22 RSS office bear- fecting people in parts of the city. four days.Itisincorrect to state Public Property Act,” aDelhi the HCP.“Since on-ground sur- Delhi, and design forthe same is AVoIP transmissions, officials outboxofemail ID... wherever ers arrested and have proof of in- DJBofficialsdeniedthecharge. thatfor 20-24 days waterhas not Police spokesperson said. veys aremoreeffective, this plan at the initialstages, said officials. said. theymay be foundwhether in volvement of BJP leaders.”

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 GOVT &POLITICS 5

Tripura scheme SAYS NO REASON TO CROSSILLEGALLYINTO INDIA to provide jobs to next of kin of Border Guards Bangladesh victims of politicalviolence chief: NRC is Indian issue

DEBRAJDEB ABHISHEKSAHA AGARTALA,DECEMBER25 GUWAHATI,DECEMBER25

IN AN effort to provide relief to THE PREPARATION of National victims of political violence per- RegisterofCitizen (NRC) is an petrated till March,2018—when “Indian issue” and therehas been the incumbent BJP-IPFT as- no illegal influx from Bangladesh sumedpower in Tripura—the intoIndia, the Director General of stategovernment announced BorderGuardsBangladesh Fridaythatitwillprovide agov- (BGB), Shafeenul Islam, said in ernment job to one member of Guwahati on Friday. their families, providedthey However, BSF DG Rakesh meetthe eligibility criteria. Asthanasaid that as of December StateLaw MinisterRatan Lal 15,the BSFthis year has nabbed BSFDGRakeshAsthana with BGB chief Shafeenul Islam. PTI Nath said. “Wereceivedaslewof 3,204individuals trying to ille- applications forgovernment gallyenter India along the entire jobs from suchfamiliesacross India-Bangladesh border. large numberofBangladeshis The BGB chief ruledout that Tripuraafter forming the gov- Asthana addedthe caveat thatthe arecrossing intoAssam. If you afterthe publication of the NRC ernment in 2018.Keeping these figurewas notjustofBangladeshi see the GDP growth rate of in Assam in August2019and people in mind, we have re- nationalsbut the overall number Bangladesh, youwill find that consequent political talksofa solvedtoscrutinisethese appli- of people nabbed while trying to we areonasteady uprising national NRC, therehas been any cations and provide them jobs.” cross overillegally, including track... Thereisnoreason for unauthorisedmigration into Application forms forthe criminals and smugglers. Bangladeshis to cross the border Bangladesh from India. benefit would be available at The BSF and BGB chiefswere be it forjobs or forother reason. Both Asthana and Islam SDM offices across the stateand addressing apress conference af- “Yes, people do cometoIndia stressedonhow important the applicantswouldneedtosubmit terthe successful culminationof with valid documentsand pass- issue of cattle smuggling -- and proof of birth, permanent resi- the Director General-leveltalks ports fortourismpurpose but for smuggling of other kinds -- and dence, educational qualification, between the twoforces. work,there is no such killings on the border were caste and death certificates of Islam said, “I think youneed case…Thereisnoinfiltrationfrom pressing concerns fortheirre- relativeslostinpolitical violence. to revisit the perception that a BangladeshtoIndia,” he said. spective countries.

AMID SPECULATION OF GOLAGHAT MLA JOININGBJP Assam Congress expels sitting legislator

and aformer ministerinthe erst- Sarma said that with Shah’s ED ABHISHEKSAHA while Tarun Gogoi cabinet. visit and his meeting with the GUWAHATI,DECEMBER25 Therewas speculation that stateparty unit, the BJP’s “formal Bidtofix Neog might join the BJP during journey” towardsthe Assembly PLAIN E issues ● THE CONGRESS on Fridayex- the visit of Home Minister Amit polls will begin. EX pelledasittingMLA amid spec- Shah.However,Assam minister Meanwhile, four Congress ulation that she will join the BJP. HimantaBiswa Sarma said Friday secretaries from Delhi —Anirudh THE VISIT by four The party has, meanwhile, that there have been no political Singh, Vikas Upadhyay, Prithviraj Congress secretaries startedmeetings at the ground talksbetween Neog and the PrabhakarSathe and Aditya comes at atime when the levelled by leaders visiting from party.Sarma said it would notbe Sharma —are in Assam. Theywill party is battling aleader- Delhi and asurvey to gauge pub- surprising if Neog expresseda be meeting office bearers of dis- ship problem in Assam, lic mood regarding probable al- wish to join the BJP following her trict Congress committees, MLAs, with severalleaders hav- liances forthe Assembly polls expulsion from Congress. and former MLAs and MPs of the ing complainedagainst next year. During his visit, begining party, among others. stateunit chief Ripun “AjantaNeogisherebyex- Shah will distributefinancial Theyhaveheldmeetings Bora. It is learnt that some pelledfromthe primarymem- grantstoNamghars -- traditional with stateleaders,sources said. leaders of regional parties bership of Indian National Assamese prayer halls -- and lay “Severalissues were beingtaken the Congress plans to ally Congress forher anti-party ac- foundation stones forseveral de- up, including administration of with arealso keen fora tivitywithimmediate effect. This velopment and infrastructure the Assam unit of the Congress,” changeinthe statelead- has the approval of the projects, includingmedical and astate party leader said. ership. These develop- Honourable Congress lawcolleges. He would hold The stateCongress unit has mentshavecomesoon af- President,” an order by Ranjan meetings with the Assam BJP initiated asurvey to gauge pub- terthe party lostinthe Bora, general secretary(organi- unit and representativesofallies. lic mood regarding itsleaders tworecently held local sation) of stateCongress said. He will visit Imphal before flying and probable alliances, includ- council polls. Neog is MLAfromGolaghat backtoDelhi on December 27. ing that with the AIUDF. ADVERTORIAL Delivering Quality HealthcareServices to the Society Since 1982 Managed by the father-son duo, ParkGroup of Hospitals focusses on providing comprehensive healthcare services to every section of societyataffordable costs Success Story

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 6 GOVT &POLITICS AfterPMaccusation,Oppnhitsback DELHI CONFIDENTIAL at‘lies’,attemptto‘mislead’people

these three blacklaws,”Congress Sitaram Yechurytweeted,“There wasreferring to Kerala. Kerala is EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE communication department is no confidenceinModi govern- one statewhich is givingMSP AAP MPs Sushil Gupta, NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 head Randeep Surjewala said. ment’s assurances fordiscus- morethan what is fixedbythe SanjaySingh and Bhagwant Leader of the Congress in Lok sions with farmers since these Union government. He is accus- Mann at ParliamentHouse HOURS AFTER Prime Minister SabhaAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury bills were passedwithout any ing the Opposition of indulging on Friday. PTI NarendraModiaccusedthe said, “You do nothavethe gutsto priordiscussion and by prevent- in petty politics. It is the Prime Opposition parties of spreading talk to the farmers face-to-face ing avoteinthe House.” Ministerwho is doing politics by lies over the farm laws forfur- and find out asolution. Sitting far MamataBanerjee and “The Prime Ministerclaimed referring to the outcome of re- theringtheir politicalagenda, away,you distributeRs18,000 Sukhbir Badal todaythat some monies had cent elections...” AAP MPs the Opposition hit back,saying crorefromthe government been released. But this is partof Stop defaming he wasindulging in misleading treasuryand saythatthisisyour apre-poll ongoing scheme! PM tactics and rhetoric to deceive government’s favour forthe readytocooperate in the inter- asking whynoprotestsin farmers: Sukhbir confront PM THE BIG QUESTION the people. farmers. This moneydoesn’tgo estofthe farmers. Ipersonally Kerala! But thereare big protests Sukhbir Singh Badal, chief of The Congress said the gov- intothe accounts of the farmers. have written twoletters and in Kerala.The stategovernment’s the BJP’s estranged ally with slogans, IT HAS been amonth since AhmedPatel,one of thetowering ernment is trying to “tireout the The middlemen still exist.” have even spoken to thecon- decision to call aspecial session ShiromaniAkali Dal, said the leaders of the Congress, passedawaybut the party is yetto farmers”, hoping theywillgo West Bengal Chief Minister cernedMinistertwo days ago of the assemblytoreject these Centre should stop defaming placards in officiallyhold acondolence meeting in his memory. Many back,but the strategy willnot MamataBanerjeeaccusedthe but theyare refusing to cooper- bills is notbeing permitted by farmers and hold talkswith party leaders, and some from other opposition parties, are work.“The Prime Ministeris Prime Ministeroftrying to mis- ateand areinstead indulging in the governor.This is blatantly them on ways to repealthe laws. wondering what is stopping the Congress from organising a busy giving clarifications on TV lead the state’s farmers by accus- malicious propaganda forpolit- unconstitutional,”headded. In astatement, the SADpres- Parliament remembrance meeting forPatel, about whom the CWCitself and his ministers arehiding be- ing the stategovernmentofde- ical gains,” Banerjeesaid in a CPI general secretaryDRaja ident said the Centrehas had said that the interestofthe Congress washis onlyinter- hindthe smoke-screen of letters. privingthem of cash benefits statement. said the Prime Ministerthinks adopteda“callous and insensi- estand theadvancement of the Congress’s agenda washis Theyare least interestedinthe under the PM Kisan Samman The Lefttoo slammedthe that he can hoodwink the peo- tive attitude” towardsthe suffer- SOURAVROYBARMAN agenda. ApartfromPatel, the Congresslostveteran leaders welfareoffarmers.The govern- Nidhi. “Letmeset the record Prime Minister. ple. “Whatever he said todaywas ing of farmers who arecamping NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 likeTarun Gogoiand Motilal Vora in the lastone month. And ment shall have to withdraw straight –wehavealways been CPM general secretary nothing but lies. Forinstance, he in severe cold at Delhi borders. in AugustPranabMukherjeepassedaway. Mukherjee wasa THE ONGOINGfarmer protests frontline leader of the Congress before he became the echoedinthe Central Hall of the President. But theparty has notorganisedany condolence HARYANA: PROTESTS AGAINST GOVT INTENSIFY Parliament FridaywithAAP MPs meeting muchtothe surprise of manyleaders. Although the SanjaySingh and Bhagwant CWCheld ameeting to condole the deathofPatel and Gogoi, Mann raising slogans againstthe the party has so farnot organisedaremembrance meetwhere Farmers halttoll three agriculturallawsinthe leaders from the party and opposition can attend. presence of Prime Minister NarendraModiduring an event collectionatmost to commemoratethe birth an- niversaryofformer Prime KEEPING IT SHORT MinisterAtalBihari Vajpayee. highways in state "Kisanvirodhi kaala kanoon EVENASsenior Cabinetministers fannedout to publicisethe wapas lo, MSP ki guarantee do, farm Bills in different kisan sammelans on Friday, justahead of Pradhan Mantri ji annadata mar Prime MinisterNarendraModi'sspeech at noon, therewas Agricultureand Farmers Welfare raha hai sir (repeal the ant-farmer clearly apremium beingontime. While both Home Minister SUKHBIRSIWACH MinisterJPDalal,who had gone blacklaws, provide MSP guaran- AmitShah and Defence MinisterRajnath Singh'sspeeches were CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER25 theretoaddress apublicmeet- tee… farmers aredying)," the two exactly15minutes,bothexplicitly saidtheywould keep their ing.The protesters claimedthat leaders shouted as Modi was speeches shortsopeoplecould listen to the Prime Minister. HARYANA FARMERS on Friday the ministerwas forced to about to leave the venue afterre- halted toll collectiononmost changehis routeleading to the leasing abook on the former PM. highways across the statewhile meeting venue. Dalal told The "Despitenot having numbers GRAND WELCOME alsointensifying their protests Indian Express the meeting has in the RajyaSabha, theygot the againstruling BJP-JJP MLAs’ and been postponedkeeping in view farm bills cleared through voice EARLY THIS week,anofficer of theCentralIndustrial Security ministers. the upcoming civic body elec- vote. We had protestedeven Force(CISF)endedupembarrassing his IG when he draped The agitators have an- tions on December 27. then. Our point is whyshow the side of abuildingwith abanner welcoming the senior of- nouncedthat vehicles will pass Meanwhile, the farmerson suchurgency to getlawscleared ficer.The banner carrying ahugepictureofIPS officer Dayal through the toll plazas without Fridayensured free movement duringalockdown? Theyare Gangwar walking in fatigues wasput up by theCOofCISF's FARMERS BREAK UP BJP PROGRAMME paying anycharges on Saturday of vehiclesattollplazas situated justtryingtofavour theirfriendly DMRCunit in Ghaziabad. Thebuzz is the officer maybeasked and Sundaytoo inresponse to on the highways including on corporates. Youhavenot spoken to explain whytaxpayers' moneywas spent on givinganIGa During PM NarendraModi’s address on Fridayafternoon, farmers in Punjabdisrupted the the call givenbyfarmoutfits. Rohtak-Panipat highway, to the farmersinover25days, in- welcome generallyreserved forpoliticians. programme being watchedlivebyBJP unitsinBathinda, Kotkapuraand Fazilka districts. In On Friday, according to Rohtak-Delhi highway,Rohtak- stead (you are) using forceon Bathinda (above), protesters entered the venue and brokethe chairs where BJP workers sources, angryprotesters Jhajjar highway,Rohtak-Hisar them, attempting to stop them. were to sit. The event wound up within 15 minutes of itsstart. Gurmeet Singh showedblackflags to state highway,Jind-Patiala highway, Youturneverything intoan Women and Child Development Hisar-Chandigarhhighway, event. So we took this step. And 7USCongress members MinisterKamlesh Dhanda at her Rohtak-Hisar highway,Hisar- we protestedonlyafter paying PUNJAB:POWERTOJIO TOWERS SNAPPED constituency Kalayatwhereshe Sirsa highway and Charkhi tributes to the former PM as well had gone to addressafewpublic Dadri-Bhiwani highway. Toll, as Madan Mohan Malviya," askPompeo to raise farm meetings. however, wasbeing collected as Singh told TheIndianExpress. Telecomdisruptionwill hurt At Guhla Cheeka(Kaithal), usual on Fridaymorning at While SinghisaRajyaSabha the protesters gheored local JJP Kherki Daula toll plaza in member,Mann represents protests with Jaishankar MLAIshwar Singh when he had Gurgaon. Punjab's Sangrur constituency in gone to address afunction held According to officials, toll col- the Lok Sabha. Theyalso heldup economy, CM says in appeal at acollegeonthe occasion of lectionwas halted either post posters againstthe laws while EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Good Governance Day. As soon midnight or from early Friday raising the slogans. NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 At leasttwo farmer bodies, as farmers came to knowabout morning at severaltollpointsin Congress Lok Sabha leader EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Chief Fridaysaid disconnecting power his function, theyimmediately the state. While at manyplaces, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhuryand AGROUP of sevenUSlawmak- CHANDIGARH,DECEMBER25 Minister to mobile towers wasnever on gathered near thevenuecarry- farmers took over toll plazasnot Leader of Opposition in the Rajya ers,includingIndian-American Amarinder their agendaand that theyhad ing blackflags.IshwarSingh was allowing authorities to collect Sabha GhulamNabiAzadwere Congresswoman Pramila MikePompeoand S AMID REPORTS that farmers Singh onlygiven callstoboycott notavailable forcomment. fees from commuters, at other interacting with Modi around Jayapal, has written to US Jaishankar were disconnecting powersup- Reliance stores and products. At Siwani town in Bhiwani places toll employees them- that time. SecretaryofState MikePompeo, plytoJio mobile towers in Punjab, "Our decision is to boycottJio district, farmers staged aprotest selveshaltedthe process in view At apress conference later, urging him to raise theissue of Chief MinisterAmarinderSingh registeredbody of telecom infra- and nottodisconnect the power ahead of the visit of state of the protest. Mann said, "The PM does notad- the farmers’ protestwithhis ilymembersandancestrallandin Fridayappealedto them to notin- structureproviders. supplytoany tower. However, if dress press conferences, India’s External Affairs Minister Punjaband areconcernedfor the convenience thegeneral public The TIPArequestcame after anyone is doing it in villages, it is Parliament sessions arenot held, SJaishankar. well-being of theirfamilies in with suchactions. farmers at various places includ- notadecisionofBKU thereisonlyone-way commu- In addition to Jayapal, the let- India. In viewofthis serious situ- Pointing out that telecom ing Mansa, Barnala, Ferozepur (Ugrahan)," said Jhanda Singh nication, via radio or over the in- terhas been signedbyUS ation,we urge youtocontactyour connectivity had become even and Moga, disconnected the Jethuke, senior vice-president of ternet. Thereisnoway to meet Congress members Donald Indiancounterparttoreinforce morecritical forpeople amid the powersupplytoRelianceJio mo- the largest farmers' body in him. He even meetsfarmers of Norcross, Brendan FBoyle, Brian theUnitedStates’commitmentto Covid-19pandemic, Amarinder bile towers as partoftheir Punjab, while addressing farm- his ownchoice in Gujarat while Fitzpatrick, Mary GayScanlon, the freedom of politicalspeech said the farmersshould show protests over pastseveral days. ers at Delhi's Tikri border. people protestbarely20kilome- Debbie Dingell and David Trone. abroad,”the letter says. the same disciplineand sense of “...(this) is notonlyadversely BKU (Dakaunda) president tres away from his residence.” The farmers’ protestisanis- The lawmakers have said responsibilitywhich theyhad affecting the studies and future ButaSingh Burjgill said their call Delhi Chief MinisterArvind sueofparticular concerntoSikh that the US, as anation that is fa- been exercising during their prospectsofstudents, who are was“onlytoboycott JioSIMs or Kejriwal tweeted: "BJP claims Americans linked to Punjab, al- miliar with political protests,can protestatthe Delhiborder, dependententirelyononline ed- getthosenumbers ported” to these laws will notharm the though it alsoheavilyimpacts offercounsel to India during whichcompleted onemonth, ucation, but also hampering the other networks. farmersbut whereare the bene- the Indian Americans belonging their current period of social dis- and also earlier duringtheir ag- dailylifeofpeople working from The clarification comes two fits?Theysay farmers will now to other Indian states, the law- turbance. itationinthe state. home,” Amarinder said."Further, days afterReliance JioInfocomm be able to sell their produce out- makers said in their letter to Over the pastfew weeks, Amarinder's appeal came in the disruption of telecom serv- Limited wrotetoPunjab Director INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala (secondfromleft) during side mandis.But sales outside Pompeo dated December 23. morethan adozen US the wake of arequest from the ices would also seriouslyaffect General of Police complainingof asit-in protestwithfarmersagainstthe newfarm laws at mandis do notyield even half the “ManyIndian Americans are Congressmen have expressed Towerand Infrastructure the state’s already disturbed "incidentsofsabotageand van- Gharaunda Toll Plaza in Karnal district on Friday. PTI price as compared to mandis. directlyaffectedastheyhavefam- their concerns on the protests. Providers Association (TAIPA), a economy.” dalism at Jio sites...” Howisthisabenefit?” The farmers PM spoke to: Their gains from govtschemes,and their plans

MANOJ PATIDAAR, 42 1,200asthe government has not Bhosale supports the new schemes, from Swachh Bharat torofthe farmer producer’s Dhar,Madhya Pradesh initiated procurement.” Patidar laws and believestheywould Mission to Kisan credit cardto companyLower Dibang Valley ARESIDENT of Chikliyavillagein says whenhefinds the prices at help growers likehim increase PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. Organic Ginger Producer Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, mandito belower, hesellshispro- their earnings. “Traders will He said theyare growing a CompanyLtd. Patidaar feels the farm laws have duceto thesoyachoupalsetupby come to our villagetobuy di- specialisedvariety of sweetpo- Perying said thePMasked openedupalternatives, but en- ITCoutsidethe mandi. rectlyfromus. Through contract tato that has higher protein and him about the PM Kisan scheme. suring mandisare up and run- The second generation farming, small holders can pool vitamins content. “I told him about getting Rs ning with assured MSP areofut- farmer has afamilyofsix. He de- in their holdings and grow for “Wewould have to give 10 2,000 afterevery four months. mostimportance. Patidaar who nies anypolitical affiliation. corporatebuyers,”hesays.The tonnesbyFebruary-endor March He asked me aboutwhatIwas cultivateswheat, gram, garlic, discontent, he says,isdue to and over 200tonnes by next sea- doing with the moneyIreceived peasand onion during the Rabi HARI SINGH BISHNOI, 51 some “misconceptions”. son. In ayear,wecan gettwo as apart of the scheme. Itoldhim seasonand soyabean and maize Fatehabad, Haryana crops and as per the agreement, that Iwas buying organic fertilis- during kharif on his four BISHNOI, AresidentofNadhori Prime MinisterNarendraModi addresses the farmersvirtuallyonFriday. @narendramodi RAM GULAB, 53 the companywillpickour pro- ers and other organic chemicals,” hectares, says thegovernment villageinFatehabad district, Maharajganj, Uttar Pradesh duce from the field at Rs 25 per he said. Perying said the com- needs to ensurethat theydon't owns 10 acresofland. He and his HAILINGFROMMaharajganj dis- kg,whichotherwise soldat Rs10- panyhas also signedanagree- justdeclare MSP butpurchaseon three brothers and their families forthe last15years. Earlier,I conceptiswrong is notcorrect.” scheme as it actsasa cushion in trict, he owns 1.5acres of land. 15 perkginthe market,” he said. ment with aSiliguri-basedcom- it too. He says he has benefited live together andjointly own40 grew paddy,but nowIhave case my crop fails due to adverse Alongwith four other farmers, He said theyestimateexpendi- panytosellfinished organic from the PM Kisan Samman acres in the village. startedgrowing fruitsand veg- GANESH BHOSALE, 38 climateconditions,”hesays.For he recentlybroughttogether tureofRs35,000-Rs40,000 to ginger products. Nidhi scheme and has received He said, “Three days ago, Igot etables.Wesellour crop in local Latur,Maharashtra the lastkharif season, Bhosale 300small farmers under the grow the crop per acreand expect ThePrime Minister also spoke Rs 10,000 in five instalments. acall from SDO (Agriculture). He mandis and markets.” DURINGHIS interactionwiththe paid apremium of Rs 2,580 per farmer producer group, profit of Rs 1lakh per acre. to MSubramani from Tamil Nadu “I forgot to ask the PM if the told me that Ihavebeen short- On the farmers’ agitation, he PM, Bhosale, from Matola village acrefor his soyabean crop, and Maharajganj Producer Company and Naveen Thakur from Odisha governmentwilljustdeclareMSP listedfor having aconversation said he wasneither in favour nor in Latur district, spokeofhis ex- receivedcompensation worthRs Ltd,and enteredintoacontract GAGANPERYING REPORTING: IRAM SIDDIQUE or alsoprocure on it. Thereare with the PM. Iwas also told that againstthe laws.“If the legisla- perience with the Pradhan 54,315 per acreashis crop was withacompanytogrowaspe- LowerDibang Valley, INBHOPAL,VARINDERBHATIAIN people in my villagewho culti- twoofmybrothers have re- tion have been framedand cer- Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana. all but destroyed in heavy rain. cific variety of sweetpotato. Arunachal Pradesh CHANDIGARH,PARTHASARATHI vatedmaizeafterthegovernment ceivedmoneyunder the PM tain shortcomings arepointed Bhosale growssoyabean, tur, “I am asimple farmer and Having studiedtill Class VIII, AN ORGANIC ginger cultivator BISWAS IN PUNE, MAULSHREE declaredMSPataroundRs1,700- KisanSamman Nidhi scheme.” out, those shortcomings shall be wheat, chana over his7.5 acres stay as faraspossible from poli- Gulabhas said he has benefited from LowerDibang Valleydis- SETH IN LUCKNOW AND Rs 1,800but areforcedtosellat “I have been doing farming removed. But, to saythe entire of land. “I optedfor the insurance tics,” he says. from severalgovernment trict, Perying is managingdirec- ABHISHEKSAHAINGUWAHATI

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 7

New Delhi THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 8 EXPRESS NETWORK BRIEFLY RELOCATIOMaharasNOFMhtrUMBAIalMETROooksCARatSHED 500-acre‘naturalarea’

Rajinikanth SANDEEPASHAR MUMBAI,DECEMBER25 Rajiniadmitted IN THE wake of theBombay tohospitalwith HighCourt’s (HC)stayonthe Mumbai Metrocar shedat BPfluctuations Kanjurmarg, the Maharashtra Hyderabad:Actor government is examining the Rajinikanthwas Fridayad- option of relocating the project mitted to Apollo Hospital on aland parcel in Goregaon, in Hyderabad with severe whichhas been classifiedasa bloodpressurefluctua- ‘natural area’ and a‘no-develop- tions.The actor had been ment zone’ in Mumbai’s devel- The stretchatPahadi wasalso tagged as a‘no-development shooting forthe film opment plan (DP). zone’ in Mumbai's draftdevelopment plan. Express file Annaatthe in thecity over- While other alternateloca- the last10days but iso- tionsare alsobeinglookedat, a lated himself aftertwo senior stateofficial confirmedto derofthe land wasalso tagged and Other Courts(HumanRights people on settestedposi- The Indian Express that the as ano-development zone Courts,Family Courts,Motor tive forCovid-19. MumbaiMetropolitanRegion (NDZ) and shown affected by the Vehicle Tribunal, etc), and an 18- Rajinikanth, who turned DevelopmentAuthority (MM- coastalregulation zone. metre-wideroad. 70 on December12, has CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES RDA) has approachedthe state’s Additionally, in 2017,the Ironicallywhenthe Fadnavis tested negative.Astate- UrbanDevelopment (UD) de- Brihanmumbai Municipal regime proposedthe modifica- ment from Apollo People gather at Park Street in Kolkatatocelebrate Christmas on Friday. Celebrationsremained mutedduring the dayacross partmentfor sanctioning the Corporation even withdrew the tion, therewas stiffopposition to Hospitals stated that al- most parts of thestate because of the Covid-19pandemic, butrampedupduring theevening. Express reservation foracar shedona coastalroad reservation. it. Alleging that the land in ques- though the actor had no partofa500-acreprivately- Documents also showthat tion was“mangroveland”, the Covid symptom, his blood ownedlandsprawlinPahadi. the DevendraFadnavis-led then Leader of Opposition pressureshowedsevere But to accede to MMRDA’s regime had firstinitiatedthe (Assembly) Radhakrishna fluctuations. “He will be First in Gujarat:Jailer TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE request, the department will proposalfor modifying the land Vikhe-Patil, who has since joined investigated and moni- have to reclassify the land use user.OnSeptember 1, 2018,the the BJP,had even accusedthe toredcloselyinthe hospi- CASES: ACTIVECASES:2,81,919 plan. When Mumbai’s newDP previous government, while Fadnavis government of “pass- taltillhis blood pressure held underanti-terror 298 wasfirstplacedbeforecitizens, sanctioning the newDP, had sep- ing undue benefits to the land settles down before being DAYSSINCE 1,01,46,845 DEATHS:1,47,092 abulkofthis land wasclassified aratelynotifiedits intention to owner to the tune of Rs 80,000 PANDEMIC discharged...” the BEGAN TESTS: 16,63,05,762 | RECOVERIES: 97,17,834 as ecologicallysensitive,and was introduceover2,000substantial crore” by wayofthe modifica- statement said. ENS law for aiding gangster tagged as “natural area (NA)”. changes to land use and FSI in tion, acontentionthat Fadnavis CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS The DP classifies mangroves, the DP,for whichpublic sugges- had contested. pendedjailerto policeremandtill DEC24 23,067 33624,661 9,97,396 mudflats, ecologicallyvital salt tions and objections were rein- Asenior official, meanwhile, EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE January1.Balram Meena, pans and hills, etcasNA, where vited.One of them involvedde- said the landholder had also sub- BIHAR RAJKOT,DECEMBER25 Superintendent of Rajkot Rural construction activityisbarred. classification of the Goregaon mitted areportbythe govern- police said Parmar wasactively Barring a25-metre-widecoastal land as NA,and re-reservation of ment’s mangrovecell stating RSPrasad’s OVER Aweek afterhewas ar- helpingDonga andhis syndicate. road, no construction wasenvis- bulk of this land forMetro rail car that the landis“clear of man- rested in acase related to an al- “He wasactivelyhelping the aged on thepatch. The remain- shed, National LawUniversity groves.” motherdies legeddinnerpartyby accomplices criminal syndicate run by Donga. inPatna of gangsterNikhil Donga inside Had the jailer done his duty well, the Gondal sub-jail in Rajkot dis- Dongawould nothavebeen able Vajpayee Patna: Union minister trict, suspendedjailer Dhirubhai to runhisgang.Therefore,Parmar STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES BARC report says Ravi Shankar Prasad's ParmarwasarrestedbyRajkotru- has been arrested,” Meena said. ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK foresaw danger mother Bimala Prasad ralpoliceunderthe Gujarat Dongaand11 membersofhis Kerala 63,220 5,017 diedafter aprolonged ill- Control of Terrorism and alleged gang were booked under Bihar 5,19995 former executives of China’s ness, the BJP leader said OrganisedCrime (GCTOC) Act, GCTOC Actlastmonthand 10 of Odisha2,667 -9 Friday. Prasad, the local 2015 on Thursday forallegedly them, including Dongaare unchecked rise: MP,sharedthe news on aiding Donga’s crime syndicate. presentlyinjudicial custody. STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING spiked TRPs: Police his Twitter handle. “My Parmar is the firstserving of- Parmar becomes the eleventh ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK USIBC chief mother Bimala Prasad left ficerof thestategovernmentto be personaccusedtobearrestedin Maharashtra54,8916,014 forher heavenlyabode arrested under the GCTOC Act. connectionwiththecase. Sources West Bengal 15,193 4,404 had been reducedsothat EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE lastnight. She wasailing HewasarrestedonDecember said that in his statement,Donga Delhi 7,909 4,289 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Republic would appear to be no. NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 forsome time. My 16 in connectionwithacasereg- had referred to Parmar’s name in MUMBAI,DECEMBER25 1byanalysing selectively,” mother wasadeeplypi- isteredagainsthimandfiveother operationsofhisgangfrominside STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES Bharambesaid. FORMERPRIME Minister Atal ous lady and awoman of guards of Gondal sub-jail foral- thejail.Parmarhadabscondedaf- ONDEC24 TOTAL THE MUMBAI Crime Branch, in- The Mumbai police said they Bihari Vajpayeewas able to fore- great conviction. She had legedly allowinga“dinnerparty” terbeing booked by the Gondal Kerala 5,1767,26,687 vestigating the alleged Television were unaware of this audit re- see what manyothers couldn't been supporting the inside the jail premises by six townpolicefollowingaraidbythe Maharashtra3,580 19,09,951 Rating Point (TRP) scam, on portuntil lastweek. A and anticipated the“potential party right from the be- ‘guests’ofDongawhowaslodged vigilancesquadof theprisonsde- Fridaysaid it receivedanaudit chargesheetinthe case names dangers posedbyarising and West Bengal 1,590 5,43,214 ginning. She actively par- in that jail on October 1. Parmar partmentonOctober1. Days later, reportofBARClastweekthat sixchannels including Republic uncheckedChina”, US India ticipatedinthe JP move- waslodgedinRajkotCentralJail he and five guards of the Gondal STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS confirms that TRPs of channels TV forfixing TRPs. Business Council chief Nisha ment of Bihar as woman afterwardunderjudicialcustody. sub-jail were suspendedfrom ONDEC24 TOTAL were manipulated under the The officer addedthat ac- Desai Biswal said Friday. volunteer", said the Ateam ledbySagar Bagmar, serviceaftertheirnamescropped Maharashtra9150,189 previous BARC management. cording to the report, in some Speaking at Union minister. PTI AssistantSuperintendentof Police intheinvestigation.Thejailerhad Delhi 37 10,384 BARC or BroadcastAudience cases “rating appeared to be pre- the firstmemo- (ASP)of Rajkot arrestedParmaron surrendered before Gondal town Research Council is responsible decided” and that therewas rial lectureon West Bengal 32 9,505 MAHARASHTRA Thursdayfromthe jail and pre- police on December 16 after formeasuringTRPs of channels. “cartelisation” of some former Vajpayee’s birth sented him in adesignated GC- Gujarat High Courtrefusedtoad- DataasonDecember24,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical Itsformer CEOPartho Dasgupta senior BARC officials to assist anniversaryor- Tigerkills Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays TOCAct courtinRajkotcityon mit his plea seeking protection aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive wasarrestedonThursdaybased particular channels. ganisedbythe womanin Friday. The courtsent the sus- againstarrest. on this report. Earlier this month, WhileBARCreceivedthe re- Ministry of the Mumbai police arrested portinJuly, it wasonlyafter the External Affairs, Gadchiroli Republic COORamil Ramgarhia, Mumbai police wrotetothem Nisha Biswal—who who had resignedfromBARCin thatitsentthe reporttothe po- Desai has served as Nagpur: Awoman was Will buryyou 10 feet under... no one will Julyafter the audit reportsub- lice lastweek, nearly two Biswal the US Assistant killedinatiger attackin mitted to BARC by athirdparty months afterthe FIR wasregis- Secretaryof Gadchiroli on Friday, tak- allegedlyshowedhis involve- tered. Bharambeaddedthat in State(equiva- ing the annual tallyofhu- come to know: Chouhan warns land mafia ment in fixing TRPs. addition to the BARC report, they lent to Joint Secretaryinthe man victims in thedis- Jointcommissionerofpolice have alsosecuredemail trails of Indian government)—said trict to six. “She waskilled in land irregularitiestoleave the mood.Thosewho createtrouble (crime) Milind Bharambesaid former employees from BARC Vajpayee“sawthe importance of in Wadsa division when EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Shivraj Singh state,Chouhansaidwhile ad- will notbelet offeasily. Thereis theyreceived the audit report servers that substantiates what aUS-India partnership, built on she went intothe forest to BHOPAL,DECEMBER25 Chouhan dressing the crowd: “Aaj-kal adrive being carriedout against from BARC aweek ago. The wasfound in the third-party au- the foundation of our demo- collect firewood,” said apan khatarnaak mood mein hai. this mafia. Thosewho use mus- forensic audit wascommis- dit report. cratic values, to advance arules- Assistant Conservatorof IN AN aggressive warning to the Gadbad karne walo ko chhodenge cle power, clout to encroachland sionedafter anew management Responding to the arrest of basedorder that would enable a ForestsBhaskar Kamble. ‘land mafia’ operating in the state, Hoshangabad district on the oc- nahi mama. Ek tarafmafia ke khi- and drug mafia should leave took over at BARC in Januarythis itsformerCEO andCOO,aBARC morepeaceful,prosperous and Lastweek, another Madhya PradeshChief Minister casion of ‘Sushasan Diwas’ (good laaf abhiyaan chal raha hai. Madhya Pradesh or I’ll bury year,policesaid. India spokesperson said, “The pluralistic Asia”. woman from Gadchiroli ShivrajSingh Chouhan on Friday governanceday)addedthatthose Muscle power, rasook kaa is- them 10 feet in the ground and “BARChad receivedthe re- development related to the two She said the Trumppresi- town waskilledinatiger asked them leave thestate or using clout to encroachland temaal karke, kahi avaid kabza, no one will know.)” portinJulythisyear.The report ex-employees of BARC India is a dency has brought a“realistic attack. Gadchiroliisfast theywould be “buried10-feetin would notbepardoned. kahi drug mafia; Sunlo re.Madhya Meanwhile,atleast twelve said from aperiod of May2017- partofanongoing investigation and sharp focus” on the exigent becoming aman-tiger the ground and no one wouldget His commentscome amid a Pradesh chhoddena nahi tohza- Congress leaders were kept in November 2019 TRPsofEnglish forwhichBARCmanagement priorities and rapidlychanging conflict zone after to know.” drive by the government to de- meen mein gaad dunga10feet preventive detention before his and Telugu news channels had continues to extend itssupport geopolitics of Asia. Chandrapur,with the Chouhan, speaking at afunc- molish illegal structures in the neeche, patanahi chalegakahi bhi. arrival. Theywerereleasedafter been fudged.Itshowedthat and cooperation to the lawen- “Thelastseveral yearshave spill-overtiger popula- tion in Babai town of state. Warning thoseindulging (These days Iaminadangerous theevenconcluded. TRPs of channels like Times Now forcement agencies...” seen amoreaggressive andas- tion from the latter mov- sertive China that soughtto ing intothe former.Inless leverage itsgrowing economic than five years, the dis- clout to advance itsstrategic am- trict’s tiger population bitions, oftenatthe expense of has increasedfromzero ‘USHERED IN THE TREND OF MODERNISM IN URDU’ itsneighbours,” Biswal said. to 22. ENS She said Prime Minister Vajpayeeforeshadowedthe GUJARAT Writer-poet Faruqi dies of Covid complications challengesthat arenow playing out across the Indo-Pacific. Teendiesafter And in the face of these leopardattack centurypoetMir Taqi Mir.His Hehadakeensenseof historyand comeapoetatseven andusedto son forall things we do withlan- “destabilising actions”, she said SURBHIGUPTA 1982 book TanqidiAfqar thatre- wasveryappreciative of other produceahouse magazine guage, literature, history,poetry that the US and India have forged inBhavnagar NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 flected on modern literaryand people’sworkand that is what named‘Gulistan’ with his sister. and Indo-Persian history...” said acloser partnership and criticaltheoriesof poetrywonhim made him agreat writer... Faruqi At theage of 15,wrotehis first Anusha Rizvi, producer and de- cooperation. Rajkot:A17-year-old girl INFLUENTIAL CONTEMPORARY theSahityaAkademi awardin sahabhas leftaindelible mark of novel, Daldal se Bahar.His library signer at Dastangoi Collective. “With the incoming Biden- diedafter being attacked Urdu writer-poetShamsur 1986. His 2006 novel KaiChand refinement through his indepth of over athousand booksathis Adecadeago,respondingto a Harris Administration, therewill by aleopardatacotton Rahman Faruqi diedathis resi- theSar-e Aasman,set in 19th cen- knowledge...” said filmmaker Allahabad home includesthe 46 reporter, he hadsaid: “I came to be arenewedfocus on restoring field in Bhavnagar district dence in Allahabad on Fridaydue turyDelhi,set newstandards for MuzaffarAli. volumes of the Urdu oral ro- the conclusionthatFaruqiuntil our global alliances and on Thursday. Forest offi- to complications from Covid-19. the Urdu novel. Born in Azamgarh and raised mance,theDastan-eAmirHamza, age35was createdbymany strengthening our global institu- cers said the leopard He was85. In 1966,hefounded in Gorakhpur,Faruqiwas achief printedby MunshiNawalKishore, Western poets andnovelists and tions,” she said. pouncedonArti “Thetallestfigure intheworld ‘Shabkhoon’,amagazine thathe SHAMSUR RAHMAN postmaster-generalandmember whohadsatdownthedastangos, dramatists... and Western theo- External Affairs SJaishankar, Makwana, an agricultural of Urdu, his death leavesavoid edited forfour decades. It gave FARUQI of the Postal Services Boardin writers and calligraphers, and rists of literature, and Ghalib. who presidedoverthe address, labourer,while she was thatcannotbefilled,”saidAnis spaceto writerswhodidnotagree 1935-2020 NewDelhi until 1994.Partofthe printed volumes between1883 Faruqiafter 35 anduntil age40 said Vajpayeehad an intuitive washing clothes with two Azmi, theatreperson and former withthemainstreamProgressive firstbatchofthe BA programme and 1905. Faruqi wrotefour vol- wascreated andnurtured by a understanding that the post- other girls in Kasan village general secretary of the Urdu Writers’ Movement, and ledto at Maharana Pratap Collegein umes analysingthe dastancalled sustainedinterlocution with Cold Warworld required India to of Mahuvataluka. “The AcademyofDelhi. Faruqi being dubbed “an agentof trendofmodernism in Urdu and Gorakhpur,hepursuedaMaster’s Saheri, Shahi, Sahibqirani,afeat of Ghalib, closelyfollowedbyIqbal drastically rework itsrelation- girlwas washingclothes Faruqiwas notonlyacele- the CIA and American-minded, gave wingsto generationsof writ- degree in English from Allahabad scholarship whichbecame the and western writers.Faruqi after ships and this vision ledtoanew on the farm of one brated writer and poet, but also a and aperson with borrowed ers and poets under it,” says University in 1955. Although he base forthe revivalofDastangoi 40wasgeneratedalmostentirely beginning in ties with the US. Jivanbhai Patelwhen she critic who formulated amod- ideas”.Butthemagazinealsogave AhmadMahfooz,Faruqi’sprotege topped theuniversity,hedid not form of storytelling. “His path- by Mir,followedbyIqbal,Sabk-e Paying tributeonhis 96th wasattackedbyaleop- ernist framework forevaluating spacetoprogressivewriters,in- and professor of Urdu at Jamia receive afirst-class, whichhe breakingscholarshipprovidedthe Hindi Farsi poets,18th century birthanniversary, Jaishankar ard,” said Dushyant Urdu literature. Arecipient of nu- cluding Ali Sardar Jafri,Ismat MilliaIslamia.Mahfoozwrotethe thought wasprobablybecause seedfor Dastangoi and his super- Urdu poets,and Ghalib.Now, said India's principledapproach Vasavada, chief conserva- merousawards,hewashonoured Chughtai,andRajinderSinghBedi. firstbookonthe lifeand worksof “he asked toomanyquestions, or vision andmentoring sawitinto Faruqi is nearly 75 and doesn’t of engaging China on the basis of torofforests of Junagadh with the prestigious Saraswati “Faruqi sahab put Urdu lan- the Urdu giant in 1994. didnotdressinthree-piecesuits”. fruitionasarevitalised perform- want to go anywhereelse.” mutual respect and mutual sen- wildlifecircle. ENS Samman for She‘r-e Shor-Angez,a guage, literatureand criticism on “He wasaman full of imagi- In his interviews,Faruqi re- anceform.Hewasnot justamen- FULLREPORTON sitivity also reflectsVajpayee's four-volume study of the 18th- theworldmap.Heusheredinthe nation and gentle wryhumour. calledhow he firstdecidedtobe- torbut the greatestresource per- www.indianexpress.com thinking.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 WORDLY WISE Non-violent protests aresignsofahealthy 10 democracy, notanailing one. — THE EDITORIAL PAGE CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY The meaning of merit

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Supreme Courtverdictexposes fallacy of using general BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL categoryasreservationfor upper castes

SOWING TRUST PratapBhanu Mehta

That’s the challengefor the Government as it drawsthe line on THE SUPREMECOURThas, in asignificant re- marks have to be computed to four decimal UnionofIndiaforexample,theCourthadtried cent judgment, SauravYadavversus Stateof placesorhighertodetermine ones fate.Italso to be moreradical anddeconstructthe entire reform; mocking those who have anxieties doesn’t help Uttar Pradesh, once againartfully negotiated shows how, ineffect,somestategovernments logic of merit. It hadarguedrightlythatinclu- the thicket of issues arising out of reservation. aretryingtouse theopen categoryseatsasa sion mustnot be seen as the antithesisofeffi- LMOSTAMONTH sincetheir laying siegetothe national capital, the farmer ThereisnoquestionthatIndianeedsacredible quotafor general categorycandidates. ciencyandmerit;infactinclusionandsubstan- protestsagainstthe Centre’s three agricultural reform laws show no signs and effective affirmativeaction, thoughitcan Other jurisdictions have involved similar tive equalityaretheaimsof government.There of ebbing. On Friday, Prime MinisterNarendraModisaid that his govern- bedebatedoverwhetherthecurrentsystemis cases. The High Courts had been giving con- is agooddeal to be said in favour of this argu- A ment wasready to engagewith the protesters —including those “with the best wayofgoing about it.The matter be- trarydirections: Uttar Pradesh and Madhya ment.Thereisalsoalargercritiqueto bemade political agenda” and “ideologicallyagainstus” —but this could onlybebased on “facts fore theCourtarose in the contextofcompli- Pradesh excludedreserved categorywomen of the ideology of meritocracy,acritiqueto cationsthatarisefromtryingto specifythere- forconsideration in the general category. whichIfullysubscribe.But,asSaurav Yadavre- and logic”. In short, therewas no questionofrepealingoreven, as suggestedbythe lationship between vertical and horizontal Rajasthan and Gujarat, amongstothers, in- mindsus:Inclusionalsotakesplaceinthecon- Supreme Court, withholdingthe implementation of the three laws.The farm unions, reservations. Articles 15(4) and 16(4) enable cludedthem. The Supreme Court, in athree text of acriteria of selection. In the current on the other hand, have expressedawillingness to return to thenegotiation table, pro- verticalreservationbasedonslottingthepop- judgebench,ruledagainsttheUPgovernment framework,arecourseto alimitedlanguageof videdthe discussions relatetoproviding “legalguarantee” forminimum supportprices ulation in terms of SC,ST, OBC and General and clarifiedthe relationshipbetween hori- merit is inescapablefor onesimple reason. (MSP) of crops beyond simplythe government’s “written assurance”. As forthe three Category. But thereisalso aclassofreserva- zontaland vertical reservations. This wasthe When the Courtisusing the term merit, it is laws,theywouldsettlefor nothing shortofoutright repeal. tionswhichcutsacrossallthesecategoriesand correct decision. notdoingsoinanyexaltedphilosophicalsense. arereferredtoashorizontalreservation.These The judgmentsauthored by Justice Uday It is simplypointing out that certain selection This is astandoff nobody had bargainedfor.Certainlynot the Modi government,while can include reservation forwomen (in this ULalitandaconcurringjudgmentby Ravindra criteria arebeing used.Suchselectioncriteria steamrolling the legislation firstvia the ordinance routeand then through Parliament. The case, a20per cent reservation forwomen in Bhatare clear and concise. Theyreiteratethe arealsowithinparticularreservedcategories: amendmentsitisproposing now—particularly to the mostcontested Farmers’ Produce posts forpolice constables), differently-abled principlethat groups eligible forhorizontal Whysome OBC candidates arepickedover TradeandCommerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act—couldwellhave been inserteddur- persons,freedom fighters,armyveterans and Thejudgments authored by reservationcannotbeexcludedfromtheopen others is also afunction of selectioncriteria, in ingthecourseofinformeddebateinbothHousesandaftersolicitinggenuinestakeholderfeed- other categoriestowhom we maychoose to Justice Uday ULalit and a categoryseatsbecausetheyare fromotherver- this case marks.Fromthispoint of view, even back. Notonlydid it fail to reachout to the naysayers then, the same dismissive approach provide reservation. concurring judgment by ticallyreservedcategorycommunities,likeSC those who advocatereservationdonot fully The problem arises in specifying the rela- or OBC. Women from all categoriesare eligi- give uponthemeritocraticcriteriaof selection wasadoptedwhenthe protests beganinitiallyinPunjab and then at Delhi’s doorsteps. The RavindraBhat are clear and tionship betweenthe twocategories of reser- ble to be consideredfor the open category. As —theyjustapplyitdifferentially. What the demonstratorswere variouslycalledanti-national,ultra-LeftandKhalistansympathisers-led. vation. In cases like Anil Kumar Gupta v/s State concise. They reiterate the JusticeBhat put it, the open categoryseatsare Courtwasconcernedwithisfairnessintheap- Even in his outreachaddress, the PrimeMinister blamedthe partiesthathad “ruledKerala of Uttar Pradesh, the Courthad madeitclear principle that groups eligible notmeant to be aquota forthe non-reserved plication of the selectioncriteria within the and West Bengal” for“misguiding the farmers of Punjab”. Suchtalking down is least helpful thathorizontalreservationoughtto begener- forhorizontal reservation categories.Theconsequenceof theUPgovern- overall framework of reservation. in asituation that calls fordialogue and moredialogue. allyunderstoodincompartmentalisedterms, cannot be excluded from the ment’spolicywasineffectto declaretheopen Saurav Yadavisconceptuallyinterestingfor as anod to recognition of inequalities within categoryaquotafor upper castes.The Court thisreason.Defendersof radicalinclusionthink The coreproblem todayisabreakdown of trust —between the governmentand farm- open categoryseats because ers from the granaryofIndia. These aremen and women who cannotbeeasily misled. They eachvertical category. In this particular case has endedthis nonsense. Second, in terms of that social justicecan be achievedbydisplac- the problemwas different, but it is illustrative they are from other vertically framing,ithas also got one issueright. The ingmeritwithinclusion.Butthishastheunin- knowthatthe regime of open-endedMSP procurement and paddy-wheat monocultureis of some of the interpretiveabsurdities of our reserved category Courthas often, very unhelpfully, contrasted tendedconsequenceof leavingintacttheidea bothfiscally andenvironmentallyunsustainable.Andtheyaren’twhollyunjustifiedinassum- system. Therewere3,295 constable posts in merit with reservation. And in popular parl- that those includedcomethrough by casting ing that the newfarm laws maywellbeadisruptive game-changer;hencethe demand for the GeneralCategoryofwhich188 went to communities, likeSCor ancemeritis construedtobeadeviation from aside merit. In some ways,itactuallyshares “legalising MSP”. Having staked so much political capital on the reforms,whose intrinsic women. In filling up these vacancies, OBC OBC. Wo men from all reservation. But this has always been amis- common groundwithcritics of reservation merit cannotbedoubted, the onus is entirelyonthe Modi government to engage with the women were notconsidered.But hereisthe categories are eligible to be takenviewofthe relationshipbetween merit who shareexactlythis premise. What the farm unions. The usual tactics of divide, defame and divert clearly haven’t worked;ifany- absurdity.Thelastfemalecandidateselectedin considered forthe open and reservation. In principle, reservation is an Courtistryingto do,inaninterestingway, isto GeneralCategorysecured274.8298marks.But instrument foridentifying merit in individu- argue thatfor itspurposes, the opposition be- thing,theyhavebeen counterproductive andaddedtothe already elevateddistrust. This is- 21 applicantsinthe OBC female category category. As Justice Bhat put als from historicallymarginalisedcommuni- tweenmerit and reservation needs to be de- n’taboutfarmersbeingmisledbyelection-loserswhowantselfies,thisisaboutmuch-needed scored morethan these marks,includingthe it,the open categoryseats are ties. The Courtissayingthatbyexcluding the constructed —not because thereisnosuch reform that needs political management with tools smarterthan asledgehammer. Theear- plaintiffwho scored 276.5949 marks!But not meant to be aquota for adjustment of OBC women whohad scored thing as merit(as defenders of reservation lier the government realises this, the easier it willbefor it to breakthe deadlock. thesecandidateswerenot consideredagainst the non-reserved categories. higher againstgeneral category seats, the UP claim), or because thereshould notbereser- the available General Categoryseatsbecause governmentwas ironicallyusing the General vation (as critics of reservation claim). It is try- theywereOBC.Inshorttheywereexcluded Theconsequence of the UP Categorytoexclude meritorious candidates. ing to saysomething moreinteresting: from competing from the General Category government’s policywas in Some scholars, likethe brilliant Gautam Membersofthe reservedcategorymustbe positionseventhough theyhas scoredmore, effecttodeclare the open Bhatiain“Horizontal Reservations and the fullyconsidered as falling underthe rubric of ABHAYA simplybecause they were OBC.The Court categoryaquotafor upper Persistenceofthe Myth of Merit", (https://in- being potentiallymeritorious. rightlythought this wasabsurd. dconlawphil.wordpress.com/) worrythatthe castes. TheCourt has ended Through the 28 years since her murder,afew good individuals Thiscaseisaninterestingminiaturesociol- Court’s judgment does notgofar enough.Itis The writer is contributing editor, ogy.One cannothelpremark on the fact that this nonsense. stillconcernedwithmerit.InBKPavitra versus The Indian Express kept their faith in due process and movedthe wheels of justice

HE WHEELSOFjustice turn slowly,moresowhenthe accused areonthe side of powerand the powerful. In the caseofAbhaya,ittook28years forthe inves- tigative agencies to establishthat the 21-year-old nun, founddead in aconvent T in Kerala in 1992, wasmurdered.OnWednesday, aCBI special court judgeheld anun,Sephy,and apriest, Thomas Kottoor, guilty of Abhaya’s murder andsentencedthem LIBERALISM IN CRISIS to life.Aclosureinthecaseafterthesemanyyears—Abhaya’sparentsdiedasthecaselaboured in the courts —hardlycallsfor celebration but it does evokeasense of trustindue processes. In Pakistan, themisfortunes of fundamentalism were foreshadowed The verdict is avictoryfor afew good individuals who selflessly, andatgreat personal risk,foughtoffattemptsbypowerfulintereststo denyjusticeto SisterAbhaya.Acrimebranch probehad concludedthat she sufferedfromdepression and committed suicide by jumping Khaled Ahmed intoawell in the convent. ACBI probereachedasimilar conclusion and sought to close the case. It wasalittle-known social activist, Jomon Puthenpurackal, from the same congrega- THE WORLD is saying goodbye to liberalism. rights by those who operatedagainstthe writ February3,2001: “The ‘liberals’ arebusy tion as the victimand the accused, who pursued thecaseinthe courts.Judgesinthe lower Right-wing politicians win elections by de- of the stateinthe Tribal Areas. But oddly, Khan demonising the Taliban and predicting courts refusedtoaccept theinvestigating agencies’ closurereports and proddedthem to dig nouncing “liberals” and preside over self- neverstoppedbeing the favouriteofthe very Talibanisation of Pakistan. On the other deeper.Finally, the testimonyofaneye witness, Raju,who hadintruded intothe compound centred states wearing the badgeofaggres- liberals he berated. He wasanicon whose hand, Islamic movementshaveawayofbe- sion against“liberal fascists”. The US under achievement as asocial worker theyrecog- coming moderateafter reaching acertain at night, sealedthe case. Apoorlabourer,Rajurefusedtochangehis statement through the Donald Trump, India under NarendraModi, nised to strengthen their ownargument. levelofintensity,asithappenedinIranand trial,despitereportedlyreceiving physical threatsand financial inducements. His explana- the UK under Boris Johnson, Turkey under Wheredoes extremism spring from? If is bound to happen in Afghanistan”. tion wassimple: As the father of three girls, he had to fight forAbhaya. Recep Tayyip Erdogan —and mostEast youtakeliberal “uncertainty” and “doubt” Accordingtothe above columnist, The moral courageand perseveranceshown by Jomon,Rajuand othersintheir pursuit European states who maltreat “refugees” and as your norm, then one can sayextremism Pakistani society wasaltogetherofa“dif- to ensurejustice forawomanwith no social or political capital,and whotheydid noteven shun foreigners —foreshadowthe misfor- springs from certitude. In doubt, thereis ferent sort” and would notsuccumb to know, isinsharpcontrasttotheattitudeof the(Knanaya)Church andasectionof lawenforcers, tunes of tomorrow. Pakistanisnoexception. freedom to makeconcessions to those who Talibanisation“afterthe Talibanhavecom- In March 2009, addressing alawyers’ think differently. Doubthereincludes self- pleted their conquestofAfghanistan”. In who,infact,wereduty-bound to protect her.Inher case, the Church,whichismorallyand gathering at the Rawalpindi Bar,lmran Khan doubt to allow forameasure of altruism.It fact, Pakistanwas a“cosmopolitan” society theologicallycommittedtostandwiththeweakandthetruth,chosetoglossoverthecrime. belaboured acertain section of society as is also from doubt that moderationem- and would remain “cosmopolitan” and Morerecently, nuns in Kerala, across denominations, have comeout against institutional “liberals” who fly“in the face of national anates: The instinct of standing in the mid- would neverallow the religiousfanatics to corruption, particularly sexual crimes. Some in the clergy have rubbishedthese allegations, emotion” and hurtthe stateofPakistan. He dle wheneveryone is taking sidesand is get- take over even if the latter became stronger attemptedtotarnishtheirreputation.Thisisinsharpcontrasttothestandof eminencessuch particularly condemnedtheir interpretation ting ready to clash. than at present. asPopeFranciswhohave acknowledgedthehistoryof maledominationandabuseof women of the phenomenon of the Talibanand their The conservative is surer of histhinking In his next column (February9,2001), obedient following of dictation from the US because it is connected to the known past; the same columnistrebutted the “liberalex- and children.The Abhaya verdictshould be amomentfor renewaland reflection —atboth in this regard.(Five years later in 2014 Taliban Theconservative is surer of the liberal is less sure-footedbecause he aggeration” that, afterthe jihadi outfitsare levels, individual and institutional. gunmen stormedthe ArmyPublicSchool in his thinking because it is wantstoquestion theentrenchedattitudes done with Kashmir,theywillturn upon the northern cityofPeshawar. Morethan 150 connected to the known of the past. It is certitude that inclines us to Pakistan. He even quoted aQuranic versein people were killed, 132ofthem children.) He past; the liberal is lesssure- punish those who don’t agree with us. The SuraAlKafirun and itsmessage of tolerance hadalsoblamedthe “liberals” forcausing the liberal will appeal to us to consider his ar- as proof of Islam being a“liberal” religion. massacreofLal Masjid in 2007 by pressur- footed because he wants to gument but will notthreatenusifwere- Eight years down the road, the marginal CONVERSATIONS WITH TIME ing the Musharrafregime intotaking brutal question the entrenched ject him. The misappliedterm “liberal fas- “liberal” wasprovedright. But judging from actionagainstits “innocent” seminarians. attitudes of the past. It is cist” implies powerthatthe liberal does not the waythe critique of Talibanisation has ShamsurRahman Faruqi spent alifetime in conversationwith He calledthose who setgreat storebyhu- wish to possess because he knows that his spread around the country, one has to con- certitude that inclines us to Urdu poets and poetry, and reclaiming itsmodernist spirit man rights “liberal fascists”, alabel that res- thinkingistoo individualistic forthe for- cede that liberalism is notapoliticalcreed onatedwithmostUrducolumnists in apre- punish those who don’t mulation of agroup capable of wielding the but abent of personality that maybefound HAMSUR RAHMAN FARUQI rejected, likethe character from his majestic novel, dominantly“religious” or “ideological” agree with us. Theliberal will powertopunish. in elementsinbothright-wing and left-wing Pakistan. Since Pakistanwas neverdomi- The liberal voice as the gnawing con- parties, and even among religious leaders. KaiChand théSar-e Aasman (2006), “the notion that the pastisaforeigncountry appeal to us to consider his nated by “liberal fascists”itisquitepossible science of the nation has bothered others and strangers who visit therecannotcomprehend itslanguage”. Hislifetime’s thathewas attackingthem in order to allow argument but will not too. Pakistan’s topUrducolumnistpub- The writer is consulting editor S work,asapoet, critic, translatorand theoristofUrduliterature, wasspentincon- himself to ignorethe violation of human threaten us if we rejecthim. lishedaplaint againstthe liberalson NewsweekPakistan versationwiththisrichterrain,especiallythecultureofpoetrythatflourishedin18thand19th centuryDelhi,andto recallandreincarnatealostage of eloquenceforacontemporaryIndian audience.Inhis deathonFriday,the worldloses one of thelastgreat writersofUrdu, alan- guage birthed in the mash-up and synthesis of subcontinental cultures. FaruqitooktheUrduliteraryestablishmentby storminthelate1960swithaliteraryjour- DECEMBER 26, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO nal, Shabkhoon,that wasasuncompromisingly high-brow as it wasirreverent. He sought to wean away literarycriticismfromideas of social purpose and themes to atough-minded M ARCHERSARRESTED had gone to ahostel. Chandrajit Yadav, Shishir Kumar,inhis reportfor 1978-1979. modernistconsideration of form and structure, muchlikeTSEliotdid in his expositions on NAGPUR CITYHAS virtuallyturned intoapo- Karpuri Thakur and Devi Lal arealso ex- Elizabethanpoetry. Nearly aquarterofacentury’swork wentintoafour-volumeexegesison lice campwithpolicemen in uniform and pected to reachNagpur. X-MAS DAY plain clothes all over the place locating CHRISTMAS DAYBROKE the tediumofthe US the lifeand worksofMir,freeing hisworksfrom limiting, moral analysis. But if he wasacon- “Dindi”marchers.Morethan 2,000persons ATROCITIES ON SCS,STS hostagesinIran, brought arampageofvio- noisseur of literaryexcellence,hewas also atranslatorofpulpdetective novels of Ibn-e-Safi, have been arrested since lastnight. THE COMMISSIONER FORScheduledCastes lence in Beirutand pointed up the year’s andalateconvertto theadventuresof themedievaloralromanceDastan-eAmirHamza,on According to SharadPawar,former and ScheduledTribes is of the opinion that changes in Poland, the onlycountry where whichheended up writing amulti-volume analysis. MaharashtraChief Minister, at least10,000 Central intervention to deal with atrocities Communism co-exists withmassdevotionto Faruqicame to fiction late —firstthrough acollectionofstories on Urdu poets,and,then, persons have been arrested in eightdistricts on ScheduledCaste communities and trib- Christianity.The Polish Pope, John Paul, throughhismagnumopus, KaiChand,which hetranslatedintoEnglishin2013 asTheMirror of Vidarbha and all hotels, rest houses, offices als in states and even use of forcebyCentral wishedthe word,Happy Christmas in 41 lan- of Beauty.The novelplucks the storyofWazir Khanum, an unconventional 19th century of leftdemocratic parties checkedfor any forces does notconstituteinfringement of guages. In Iran,aVaticanenvoy sawhalf of the marchers camping there. Madhu Dandavate constitutional norms. Nordoes suchaction hostages—their firstoutside visitor in eight woman, from the footnotesofhistoryto createaheroine of erotic power. It is, also, acelebra- wasarrestedatButibori, about 23 km from go beyond the scope or ambit of the execu- months—and reportedthat theywereingood tion of apoetrythatisinseparable from the businessofdaily life, and aDelhi that is a baitul- Nagpur,while attemptingtomarch to the tive powers of the Central government. The spirits. In Bethlehem, the city’s Arab Mayor, mamur,ateeming houseofbeauty and bawdy,loveand betrayal.Itisaplenitude that is also city.Pramila Dandavate and Mrinal Gore view has been communicated to the presi- Elias Freij, blamedthe fall in the number of the legacy of Faruqi. were arrested in the afternoon when they dent NSanjeeva Reddy by the Commissioner, tourists this year to the rise of terrorism.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “The prime minister does not want this deal to be examined. What canalreadybe said with some certaintyisthat it prescribes an immediate downgrade forthe UK 11 THE IDEAS PAGE economy. ” —THE GUARDIAN Ideology trumps analysis All the world’s

Contrarytosome recent observations,the newlyreleased NFHSdatareveals large improvementsin without astage welfarefor Indianchildren, women,and households. Then whythe deepangst? The arts sustainedmanythrough Covid, but it WELFAREINDICATORSANDINDIAPERFORMANCE leaves behind formidable challenges forthe artists INACOMPARATIVEPERSPECTIVE:2000-2019 ible and the rest.The transition of arttoon- WorldBankDevelopment NFHSData line spaces has been amixed bag.Amit Indicators ■ Number Mutreja, leadvocalist of AzaadiThe Band,ar- WelfareIndicator 2000 2005 2010 2015 2015/16 2019/20 ■ Average guesthattheinternethasprovedto beamore Stunting-Heightforweight(<5years) Gain%pts democratic space, yethis band turneddown requeststo performonline,asengagingavir- India53.3 48.7 43.3 37.9 35.9 35.5 28(4%) Surjit SBhalla tual audience waschallenging. The liberty to DevelopingWorld 30.2 28.4 26.3 26 CHILDWELFARE express online is alsoaffectedby negative re- Underweight(weightforage,<5years) INDICATORS actionsandtrollingofascalenotseenintheof- ATYPO HERE, atypo there, and soon it canbe- India45.9 43.9 36.4 36.3 34.2 34 7(3.9%) Padmapriya flinespace. gin to adduptoa“story”, apointofview. All of DevelopingWorld 15.7 14.3 13.6 13.8 Going online also requires special skills. us have made dataerrors in print —the editors YOUNGWOMEN Janakiraman and ShyamAravindakshan of Creative Dignity,a allowa“correction” post-publication, and do Wasting(weightforheight,<5years) INDICATORS movementaimingto providerelief andreju- so easilyonthe webpages.Ihavehad occasion India17.5 19.6 17.6 20.8 21.5 21.5 Maansi Verma venationto artisans,recallsthetechnicalcon- to correct my owndata, and everyone should. DevelopingWorld 7.4 7.1 6.6 5.8 15(4.1%) straintsingetting artisans onlinetosell their We have been in the eraofdata-basedpolicy Teenagepregnancies HOUSEHOLD crafts.Fromcataloguingto professionalpho- forsometimenow,not justinIndiabutaround India19.9 16.7 12.8 8.7 10.5 9.3 ANDADULT DURING THEPANDEMIC, artbecame an ex- tographsto quality checksbefore shipments theworld. Thereare several“fact-check” web- INDICATORS pression of resilience forsociety.Frompeo- to online payments, theartisans,having sites around theworld. This article should be DevelopingWorld 18 17.9 18.2 17.9 plesingingtogetherintheirbalconiesto PPE- largely producedforlocalmarkets,struggled. seen primarily in thatlight. Source:World Bank,World Development Indicators; NFHS surveys2015/16 and2019/20, Note: Worldbank claddoctors dancing to uplift their patients Theartscommunityhasneverhaditeasy Butthereismore,muchmore,to therecent indicatorsare%ofrelevant population, NFHS is %ofpopulation to graffiti expressing gratitude forhealth but the worryisaboutlifepost-COVID-19. datarelease of the preliminaryresultsofthe workers, people rediscoveredthe powerof From museums to dance, the digital is here NationalFamilyHealthSurvey (NFHS)for2019- arttohealinthese sordid times. But how to stay.Apartfromlearningnewskills,artists 20. These preliminaryresultshavebeen re- resilientisthe artist?“Thereare seventribes will have to address howtoreduce piracy, CRSasikumar leasedfor2019-20alongwithcomparabledata of street performers in India —streetmagi- while revisiting settlednotions of copyright, forthe2015-16survey.Dataare presentedfor21 tries to putinterpretation, and data, intoboth population-weighted basis, rather than on an cian, snakecharmer, animaltrainer,juggler, whichotherwise getlostinaclosedZoom states (12“big” andnine small),with apopula- an absolute(forexample, what happenedin elevatoreconomicsbasisaspresentedinmany acrobat,streetsingerand behrupiya,” says roomperformance.Butaudiencesforstaged tion coverage of approximately700 million. India) and aworldwide perspective (what hap- dataanalysesonthesubject,forexample,forX, Ishamuddin Khan,aformer resident of the performances will notdisappear.Digital fa- Tabular datafor 131variables have been re- penedelsewhereincomparableeconomies). Ystatesshowedanimprovement and Zstates now-demolishedKathputli Colonyslum in tigueand the charm of the live performance, leasedfor2019-20,alongwithcomparabledata The WorldBank provides these comparable showedadecline. Delhi, himself a madari magician who has whichhighlightsthe symbiotic relationship for2015-16. The datashowthattherehasbeen dataonanannual basisand the dataare easily Child Mortality:Dataonthree indicators toured the worldwith his Indianropetrick. between artistand audience, should reflect considerable improvementinmanyofthese available to allwho areinterested. Trends in (neo-natal, infant and under-five) showan “But thereare no official figures on the num- in deeper engagement by the audience.For 131indicatorsof socialwelfare;andthatinvery hunger,nutrition, inequality,and growth improvement between 3and 4ppt. berofstreetperformers inIndia.They arenot sustainedincomeavenues, the sectorhas to few(youcan countsuchinstancesonthe fin- among others can be judiciouslyassessedina Immunizations:This is one big storyofim- acknowledged as artists.” innovate by finding stronger connections gers of one hand) therehas been stagnation comparative perspective. provement;for example,the hepatitis Bvac- What is artand who is an artist? Within acrossrelatedareaslike educationandhealth. rather than adecline. Letuslookatsomeofthe typos,falsehoods, cine percentage(forchildren 12-23 months) the expansive spec- The pandemic has But that is notthe firstimpression one ob- misinterpretation of the data. Dreze states that increasedfrom64.8 percent in 2015 to 83.6 trum of the creative ANEXPRESS IDEASERIES brought to thedisor- tains from the writings of distinguished schol- the Bangladesh underweight percentagein per cent in 2019. Breast-feeding and dietof sector,manyare ganisedartistcommu- ars likeJean Dreze (‘Givechildren weight’, IE, 2015 was22per cent;World Bank (WB) data children6-23months:Average gain of 4ppt jostlingforrecognition nity some improve- December 19)and AbhishekAnand, Vikas states it to be30.1percent—some4.7 percent- forfour indicators. of theircraftinalargely ments—collaboration Dimbleand Arvind Subramanian(‘New wel- agepoint (ppt) lowerthan India, but not12.8 Negative trend in 26 children indicators: unorganisedandill-de- to create newworks, farismof India’sRight’,IE,December22),aswell pptlowerasimpliedbyDreze. WB figures for Only two showaworsening. Children with finedindustry. Already higheronlinevisibility, as editorials like'Hunger Alarm' (IE, December all developingcountrieswithdataonstunting fever takentoahealth facility (71.3per cent havingsurvivedonun- and the ability to reach 15), and pronouncementsonworsening (63countries, population 2.5 billion): In 2000, in 2019,ascompared with 72.6 percentin certain incomes, the COVID audiences and con- teenagepregnancy. the stunting averageexcluding India was29.3 2015); and children under five years who are pandemic aggravated sumersdifferently. The Dreze starts his essaywiththe conclusion per cent;in201023.8 per cent;and in 2015, severely wasted —increase to 8.6 per cent the vulnerable condi- SHADOW, Indiancreative sectoris that “leaving asidetwo or three countries like 28.7per cent. In other words, alot of zig-zag, from 7.6per cent in 2015. tions of artistsacross NEWYEAR seeing togetherness. Niger and Yemen, India has the highestpro- reversals, and no netimprovement over 20 Negative trend in sevenyoung women the board. ABritish But whetherthe com- portion of underweight children in the years. In contrast, the stunting averageinIndia indicators: Zero.Modern birth control meth- Council,FICCIandArtX LIGHT munity standsfor sus- world…”, and adds foreffect that this propor- was46per cent in 2000,10ppt lowerin2015, ods, ageatmarriage, teenagepregnancies, Companystudyonthe tainedadvocacy with tion ismuchhigher thanin neighbouringcoun- and still lowerin2019. and sexual violenceall showimprovement. impactof COVID-19 onIndia’screative econ- thegovernmentandprivate sectorforrecog- tries like“Bangladesh (22 per cent) and Nepal Teenagepregnancies on the rise? Really? Theaverage improvement in these sevenin- omyrevealsthatself-employedprofessionals nition and supportremains to be seen. (27per cent)”.Subramanian and co-authors, In 2005,teenagepregnanciesin Indiawere 19.9 dicators —3.9 percentagepoints. and MSMEsmakeup88per centofthe in- Governmentsare increasinglyinterested writethat “aftershowing aslowbut steady de- per cent;in2015, 8.7 per cent, and 1ppt lower Notone of the authors Negative trendin15adult indicators: Zero. dustry, 70 per centofthe respondentsfaced in regulating the expression of artonline. But cline,especiallybetween2005 and 2015,there in 2019.Net improvement —about 12 pptin looked at the dataonwasting Averagegain4.1percentagepoints.Someof the temporarybusinessdisruptions and 33 per whattheyneedtofocusonisreducingtheal- has been adisappointing reversal thereafter”. 15 years.Contrastthiswithaconstant 10 ppt (weight forheight). A indicators showanincrease of 9percentage cent lostuptohalfoftheir annualincome. readydeepdivideinthe artworld between The 'Hunger Alarm' editorial notesthat “there higher levelinthe developing worldoverthe pointsand above:Householdswith electricity Theanticipatedlowerlevelsoftourism,drop the privileged andunderprivileged.While have been severalindicators of the slowing same period. The decline in teenagepregnan- curious but revealing (9.2 ppt), improvedsanitation facilities (17.3 in purchasingpowerand reductionoffund- some artformswill go digital, street/festival down of economic growth and employment cies in India is agenuinesuccess story. India omission. Thewasting ppt),cleanfuelforcooking(18ppt)andwomen ing forartscould amplify this further.Yet,in performancesaredifficultto showcaseonline. distress, whichare boundtohaveaneffect on had the 10th lowest levelin2015, withNepal percentage in India was17.5 havingabankaccountthattheyuse(29.8pptin- the government’s manyfinancialassistance So,shouldtheybelost?Governmentsshould hunger and nutrition”(emphasisadded). The nine positions lower(16.7 per cent) and per cent in 2000, and 3.3ppt crease to alevel of 77.2 per cent in 2019). packages, artists found no mention. makeatransparentdirectoryofartistssothat Hindu’s(December 15)verdict on worsening Bangladesh (30.8 per cent in 2014)withthe Whysuchalarge divergence betweenper- Intheabsenceof institutionalsupport,the grantsandotherschemesreachtherightben- in India wasreflected in the title “Rise in ninth highest magnitudeofteen pregnancies higher in 2015,and did not ceptionand reality? If thereisimprovement in creative community came together to help eficiaries. Apartfromfirming up anti-cyber- teenagepregnancy,higher anaemia rate in (women 15-19yearsofage). deteriorate further in 2019. close to a100 indicators and stagnation (not theirown.Amongmanyotherorganisations, bullyinglaws,theneedofthehouristo recog- women: NFHS-5 phase data”. Wasting: Notone of the authors looked at In contrast,inthe same time- worsening) in very,very, few(less than five) the Cine &TVArtists Association(CINTAA) nisegigworkersinthissectorandstrengthen The collective interpretationone obtains the dataonwasting (weight forheight).Acu- then whyare thereeditorials,specialshows on stepped in to provide rations,funds, emo- policiesthatsupportculturalassets. from reading theseand manyother articles on riousbut revealingomission.Thewasting per- period,wastage in the TV,and scholarly (but motivated) conjectures tionaland medical support to struggling Noteveryformof artiseconomicallyself- the subject is that afteryears of progress on centageinIndia was17.5per cent in 2000,and developing world improved about the larger“reality”that maybecausing a artists andtheir families. sustainable. Thedownsizing of the creative health,nutrition,andchildwelfare,thingshave 3.3 ppthigher in 2015,and didnot deteriorate by 1.6ppt.None of the data non-existent worsening? The intelligentsia, But financialdistresswasn’tthe onlyfall- sectorwillhave anegative impactonjobsand reallyworsenedinthelastfouryears—2015/16 further in 2019.Incontrast, in the same time- presented above shows both domestic and international, gotthe Modi out of the pandemic—itclosedavenues for revenues, levels of innovation, citizen well- to 2019/20.Someauthorsareexplicit,othersin- period, wastageinthe developing worldim- election,andhisre-election,horriblywrong.As artists’self-expression. Kathak dancer Aditi being and the vibrancy and diversity of com- dulgeinnudge-nudge,wink-wink—thesefour provedby1.6 ppt. India’sperformance to have Ihavearguedearlier(TheNewWealthofNations Mangaldas respondedbyuploading videos munities.Philanthropyfortheartshasto grow. yearswere alsothefirstfouryearsof thechang- None of thedatapresented above shows worsened post-2015.Inother and Citizen Raj) one consistent explanation for of impromptu, unrehearsedperformances. Theappreciationforart’scontributioninpro- ing political order in India —the beginning of India’sperformancetohaveworsened post- words, the pessimistic this mis-reading is that the old elitehas not However, acknowledging herown privilege, viding society with asemblanceofnormalcy NarendraModiasPrimeMinister. 2015.Inotherwords, the pessimistic conclu- conclusion of ‘many’ (or come to grips with the reality that thereisa Mangaldaspointedout howher company’s duringtheseisolatedtimesmustbecultivated Ihaveoften stated in my articles (starting sion of “many” (or some) of adeterioration is changeinleadershiponissuesrelating to poli- dancers struggledtofind equipmentand intorespect and valuefor an artist’s labour. from 'India, the Incomparable', TheEconomic false.Further,accordingtoaverylarge number some) of adeterioration is tics, economics, culture,and society. even space in their homes to perform and Else, as acountry, we will be collectively re- Times, March3,1989) that Indians sufferfrom of NFHS indicators, welfareimproved“big- false. Further,according to a recordtheir work.Dancer Dr Swarnamalya sponsible forthe loss of our cultural lineage. aspecial disease —wethink we areunique. To time”between2015 and2019.Asummaryver- verylarge number of NFHS Bhalla is executivedirector IMF representing Ganesh created ‘I Am aDancer under help negatethis falsehood, it is important to sionof thesedataisasfollows (comparabledata indicators, welfare improved India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Views #Lockdown’, in whichshe herself handled Janakiraman is aNational Award-winning compareIndia with the rest of thedeveloping forothercountries is notasyet available). expressedare those of theauthorand do not thecamera,editingandpost-production.But film actress, dancer and public policy world, about180 countries and apopulation Alldataare forchange(difference in per- ‘big-time’ between 2015 and necessarilyrepresent theviews of theIMF,its shefearsthatthepandemichasincreasedthe researcher.Vermaisaconsulting of 6.5 billion. Thus, datapresented in the table centages) as revealedbyNFHSonanaggregate 2019. ExecutiveBoard,orIMF management schismbetweenthosewhowillbemore vis- researcher with Sahapedia Anew idea for Goa LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR BJP’SHYPOCRISY THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Burythe IDEAS The60thanniversaryyearisachanceto startreflecting legacy’ (IE, December 25). The govern- ment's move to file an appeal at the ONLINE Singaporeseatof thepermanentcourtof Rahul Tripathi arbitration challenging itsjudgment in ONLYINTHE EXPRESS theVodafoneretrospective taxationcase ONDECEMBER20,PresidentRamNathKovind over land,environment and water, in contrast, across much stronglythanits size. The result could become the mainstream, unsettling the is preposterous and legallyuntenable. ● CHRIST,THE flagged offthe celebrations forGoa’s 60th year theyhaveoften been seenassuccumbingto wasthatwithall itsinner turmoil, Goahad the harmonythat hasbeen evident forcenturies. The fact that the appeal wasfiledinthe PHILOSOPHER: of liberationonthebanksofMandoviatthehis- big capital and adifferent vision of develop- optimismthatitspromiseduniquenesswould Goa’s ideal economic model is linked to its aftermathofPermanent Courtof JYOTHIS toric Bandodkar GroundsinPanjim.It’s an oc- mentthathas flowedfromDelhi andMumbai remain an article of faith.Thisfaithisgradually fragile ecology,whichoften militatesagainst Arbitration(PCA)atThe Haguepassinga casionforthestatetoreflectonitsaccomplish- in the lasttwo decades. getting erodedifGoa’s trajectoryinthe recent big ticket capital that is graduallyengulfing it. judgmentagainstIndiaholdingtheretro- ● FEEDING mentsaswellasfailingsaspartofits integration What kept thestate’s hopes alive wasthe years is anyindication. To quote aprominent While mining, the backbone of the economy, spectivedemand of taxation wasin THEHOSPITALS: intothe IndianUnion. ability of the political class and the people to Goan academic, while Goa is becoming partof sawahiatus owing to aSupreme Courtjudg- breachoffairtreatmentenvisagedunder SUDHANSHPANT As one of the smalleststatesinthe Indian have avoicemuch biggerthantheiractualscale theIndian mainstream(andthatwas natural), ment, the impact of the pandemic has left the UK-India bilateralinvestment treaty Union,withexcellentsocialandeconomicindi- and intensity,given itsnational and interna- the natureofmainstreamingthat has been go- tourismreeling.Meanwhile,theCentrewishes willdenttheimageofthecountrytodis- www.indianexpress.com catorsandaqualityof lifenot enjoyedbymany tional profile. That, perhaps,alsounitedGoa’s ingonover theyears—political, economic and to makeGoa partofits big infrastructurepush suade investors. in otherstates, Goa is indeed aclass apart. civilsocietyandpoliticalsociety.Forexample,in ideational —hasraisedapprehensions. Thereis whichsuperimposes megaplansoverastate Ravi Mathur, Noida Perhaps no other land of suchascale has so itsearly years,JawaharlalNehru,despitehisini- asense of loss and this loss, it is feared,will be wheremicroplanning should actuallyhave muchhistoryandmadeasmuchofacontribu- tialdisappointmentwith Goa on notnaturally difficult to recover. The onus lies on the rest of beenanorm.Thestatealsofightsanuphillbat- EDUCATION IGNORED THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘My tion to religion, art, music,cosmopolitanism giving the Congressthe chance and opting for India to makesurethat the mainstreaming tlewithbigneighbourKarnatakaovertheshar- school vs.your school; (IE, December and nationalism as Goa has. At the same time, regional parties, wasclear in his1963 message emergesout of the diverse ideas that Goa has ing of riverMhadei (as Mandovi is known in THIS REFERSTOthe editorial, ‘My 25). UP government’s claim about the in no other place, perhaps, has the battle for to Goans that the statewill alwaysremain spe- stood forratherthan subsumingthem intoa Karnataka), itslifeline. The despair on the school vs.your school’(IE, December superiority of itsschools is reckless identity,language,and ecologybeen as strong cial in the Indian mosaic and itsidentity shall paradigm of monolithic nationalism. groundstemsfromtheperceptionthatthebig- 25). If education does notfind reso- imagination. No other state in India as hasbeen witnessedinGoa during thelast be protected.Prime MinisterNarendraModi, Politically, Goa appears to be heading to- gerstate hasagreater sayinthe corridors of nance among the political class, it is has misusededucationpolicy as a severaldecades.Theothersideof thestoryisof whohasalways hadaspecialplaceforGoainhis wardstowardssinglepartydomination,follow- powerinDelhi. the people, the voters, whoare to be weapon in politics as UP.During people’sstruggle forthingsthat arecritical for illustriouspoliticalcareer,inoneof hisspeeches ingmoreorless the pattern of the rulingparty But the biggestbattle perhapsisideational. blamed. Instead of letting politicians MulayamSingh Yadav’s chief minis- their very existence —water,air and land. marvelledatthe then demandbypeople for poaching on the Opposition and fragmenting Can therebeanew ideaforGoa, away fromthe focus on religion and caste,weshould tership, teachinginEnglish wasmade The stateand the political class in Goa have special status, notbasedonmaterialbenefits, it.Butto saythatGoawillbecomeasingleparty popular ideas whichhavealways harpedon makethem accountablefor issues optional followedbyallowing copy- been at aninteresting intersection of these two but forpreservingtheir identity. dominant statewould be prematuregiven its Goa’s uniqueness, but have notdone muchto whichcan makeadifference in our ing in examinations as asortofright. oftendivergent trends,often as mediators, but Seeminglytall leaders likeformer Chief historyof defections.Whatismoreworryingis protect it?The onus lies as much on the rest of lives. While development is nowbe- But the stategovernment’s focus manyatimeascomplicit forces in these bat- MinisterPratapSinghRaneandformerDefence that thereisoften adisconnectbetween grass India to protect it, even as contemporaryGoa ing courtedbythe leaders and jobs seems dividedbetween correcting the tles. On questions of identity andlanguage, as MinisterManohar Parrikar,alongwithvarious rootslevel democracy as profferedbyGoa’s vi- debates that idea. The 60th anniversaryper- find mention in the political lexicon, it system and rewriting the history witnessedinthe 1967 opinionpoll and the luminariesinacademia, literature, defence,art brant gram sabhas and the ruling establish- haps givesusachance to begin reflecting. is education whichisthe foundation. booksfor students. movementfor statehood culminatingin1987, andculture,remainedprominentambassadors ment. Besides, thankstothe majoritarian po- Kamna Chhabra, Gurgaon YGChouksey, Pune the political class and the statewent along of Goa,whowouldalwaysexudeoptimismand litical impulse creeping in the rest of the The writer teaches political science at Goa withthe people’s wishes. In recent struggles hope that Goa wouldbeabletoput itsviews country, thereisafeelinginGoa that the fringe University. Viewsare personal

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 12 THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020

Zonal Office, Budh Marg, Patna-800001 corrigendum Classifieds Please refer to our Sale Notice published on 12.12.2020 in the indian express. Property area was not print by mistake for Property at Sr.No.14 (M/s Jai Notice is herebygiven that, We, Mata Dee enterprises), which will be as PERSONAL Area 1Katha.Rest all the contents shall Sanjay Ganjooand Sunita remain same. Authorized Officer Ganjoo, residing at Flat No. I , NARENDRAKUMAR S/ONET 1801, Mantova Mahagun RAM SHARMA R/O9-D,2nd- Moderne,Sector-78,Near FLOOR, KAMLA NAGAR, DELHI- Mahagun Mart,Noida, Distt. 110007. HAVE CHANGEDMY Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar NAME TO NARENDER KUMAR. Pradesh-201301 have changed 0040558719-3 the name of ourson from PoorvashGanjoo to Purvash I, MadanLal,S/o Late Shri.Jamna Ganjoo vide affidavit dated 21- DasGupta, R/o-9559, Gali Mill 12-2020 sworn beforenotary Wali, Sadar-Bazar, Azad-Market, Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Delhi-110006,have changed my Gautam Budh Nagar, for all name to Madan Lal Gupta. purpose 0040558709-1 0040558719-5 Notice is herebygiven that, I, I, MAHABIR PARSAD S/ODEEP Suneeta Ganjoo w/oMr. CHAND JAIN RESIDENT 4/177, Sanjay Ganjooresiding at Flat GALINO-9, SONIPAT,HARYANA ''IMPORTANT'' No.1801, Mantova Mahagun HAVE CHANGEDMYNAME TO Moderne,Sector-78,near MAHABIR JAIN. 0040558724-4 Whilst care is taken prior to Mahagun Mart,Noida, Distt. acceptance of advertising Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar I, KRITI W/o SANJAY KUMAR Pradesh-201301 have changed SHARMA, H.NO-KC-5, 3rd-FLOOR, copy,itisnot possible to verify my name to Sunita Ganjoo GANESH NAGAR, SHAKARPUR- its contents. The Indian vide affidavit dated 21-12-2020 EXTENSION, DELHI-110092.have Express(P) Limited cannot be sworn beforenotary Sanjeev changedmyname to KRITIKA Kumar Sharma, Gautam Budh SHARMA. 0040558724-2 held responsible for such Nagar, for all purposes. I, JASMEETKAURKOHLIW/O Mr. contents, nor for any loss or 0040558710-1 GURPREET SINGHKOHLIR/O G- damage incurred as aresult of 605 RANJITVIHAR II, PLOT I Sheetald/o Shri om R/oPlot transactions with companies, NO-16, DWARKA SECTOR-23, No-83Nanda Enclave, SOUTH WESTDELHI, DELHI- associations or individuals Najafgarh ND-110043 declare 110075 INDIA. IHAVE advertising in its newspapers that Sheetal and Sheetal CHANGEDMYNAMEFROM Yadavare sameperson. or Publications.Wetherefore JASMEET KAUR TO JASMEET 0040558703-1 KAUR KOHLI FORALL recommend that readers I Shri om S/oCharan Singh R/o PURPOSES 0040558684-1 make necessary inquiries Plot No-83, Nanda Enclave, I, Gagandeep Gujral alias before sending any monies or Najafgarh ND-110043 declare Gagandeep W/o-Davinder Jeet that Shri om and Shri om entering into any agreements Singh, R/o-39, 3rd-floor, Yadavare sameperson. with advertisers or otherwise Pocket-11A, Sector-22, Rohini, 0040558703-2 Delhi,have changed my name to acting on an advertisement in I, ANITADEVI W/O, Gagandeep Kaur 0040558719-10 any manner whatsoever. NO.14649688P NK/ AUTO AVEH I, Brajesh Kumar S/o, RatiRam DEVENDRASINGH, R/O-VILL- R/o, 22,Vikas Kunj, Vikas Nagar NAGLA KARE POST- BAREILLYMUNICIPAL CORPORATION, BAREILLY Delhi-110059, have changed MANKENDA, TEHSIL+DIST- Opp: Bareilly college Bareilly Civil Lines, Bareilly (U.P) my nametoBrijesh Kumar Pal. AGRA,U.P-283102I,CHANGED Email:[email protected] MY,NAME,FROM ANITA 0040558719-4 KUMARI TO ANITADEVI ´fÂffaIY:- 176/´f¹ffÊ.Ad·f./2020-21 dQ³ffaIY:- 24 dÀf°f¸¶fSX, 2020 I, Brahm SinghChoudhary S/o NOTICE INVITEING TENDER (NIT) VIDE.AFFIDAVIT DATE-23-12- HarphoolSingh R/oH.No.55-C, 2020, BEFORE MANDAN LAL IIIrd Flr,Street No.6, Majlis ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSm»fe õfSf ´fÂffaI Àfa£¹ff 135/´f¹ffÊ.Ad·f./2020-21 dQ³ffaI 03 ³f½f¸¶fS,2020 Iû³f¦fS GUPTA.(DELHI). 0040558724-6 Park, Adarsh Nagar, Azadpur, d³f¦f¸f Àfe¸ff³°f¦fÊ°f A¸fÈ°f ¹fûªf³ff IZ A³°f¦fÊ°f °fe³f ´ffI ûË ¸fZÔ I` ³Me³f IZ Àfa¨ff»f³f WZ°fb BÊ.Aû.AfBÊ.IZ I, Amritha SD/o Unni Delhi-110033 have changed my ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ´fiÀ°ff½f Af¸fadÂf°f dI ¹fZ ¦f¹fZ dªfÀf¸fZÔ ´ffI ûË WZ°fb Ib »f ´ffh¨f ´fiÀ°ff½f If¹ffÊ»f¹f ¸fZÔ ´fiZd¿f°f dI ¹fZ ªff Sudhakaran R/o.H.No.35-C, name to Brahm Singh for all Pocket-A-1, LIG-Flat, Mayur futurepurposes. 0040558689-1 ¨fbIZ W`ÔÜdªfÀf¸fZÔ R¸fûËõfSf´fif´°f ´fiÀ°ff½fûÔ If I¸fZÔMeõfSf°fI ³feI eE½fa ´fiÀ°fb°fe IS¯f IZ Af²ffS ´fS Vihar Ph-3, Delhi-110096, have I, Archana SD/o Unni AWÊ ´ff¹fe ¦f¹fe W`ÜAWÊ R¸fûË ÀfZ d³f¸³fd»fd£f°f Vf°fûË IZ BÊ-MZ¯OSIZ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ d½fØfe¹f QSmÔ ¸ffa¦fZ ªff³fZ WZ°fb changed my name to Amritha Sudhakaran R/oH.No.35-C, Sudhakaran. 0040558729-1 BÊ-d³fd½fQf Afa¸fdÂf°f Ie ªff°fe W`ÜBÊ-d³fd½fQf CØfS ´fiQZVf Ie BÊ-´fi¢¹fûS¸fZ¯M Ie ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM Pocket-A-1, LIG-Flat,Mayur http://etender.up.nic.in ´fS QZ£ff ªff ÀfI °ff W`ÜVffÀf³ffQZVf Àfa£¹ff-4848/³fü-5-2018-470 I,Rajan Tyagi,S/o-Subodh Vihar Ph-3, Delhi-110096,have Kumar Tyagi,R/o-445,Niti changed my nametoArchana Àff/2018 ³f¦fS d½fI fÀf A³fb·ff¦f-5 »f£f³fD dQ³ffaI 10 dQÀf¸¶fS,2018 IZ Ii ¸f ¸fZÔ ER .Oe.AfS.ø´f¹fZ Kand-3, Indirapuram, Sudhakaran. 0040558729-2 10 »ff£f ´f¹ffʽfS¯f Ad·f¹f³°ff, ³f¦fS d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSm»fe IZ ³ff¸f ¶fa²fI Wû¦feÜ dªfÀfI eÀI` ³f Ifg´fe MZ¯OS Ghaziabad,U.P.-201014, inform I, Avneesh Mathur,S/o- A´f»fûO IS°fZ Àf¸f¹f A´f»fûO IS³fe Wû¦fe, A³¹f Vf°fZË E½fa d½f½fS¯f d³f¸³f½f°fÐ C¢°f ½fZÀffBÊM´fS QZ£fe ªff that in my all Educational Bhuvanesh Narain Mathur, record,myfather name has R/o-K-807,Prateek Laurel ÀfI °fe W`ÔÜ BÊ-d³fd½fQfEZÔ d³f¸³ff³fbÀffS Af¸fadÂf°f Ieªff°fe W`Ü wronglymentioned as Subodh Apartment,Sector-120,Gautam BÊ-d³fd½fQf OfC³f»fûO ´fifS¸·f Ied°fd±f/Àf¸f¹f 26 dQÀf¸¶fS,2020- (11.00 ¶fªfZ ´fif°f:) Tyagi instead of Subodh Buddha-Nagar, Uttar-Pradesh- Kumar Tyagi. 0040558719-7 BÊ-d³fd½fQf A´f»fûO ´fifS¸·f Ied°fd±f/Àf¸f¹f 26 dQÀf¸¶fS,2020- (01.00 ¶fªfZ A´fSf‰) 201301,declarethat name,of BÊ-d³fd½fQf A´f»fûO IeAd³°f¸f d°fd±f/Àf¸f¹f 05 ªf³f½fSe,2021- (12.00 ¶fªfZ A´fSf‰) I,MOHAN SINGHS/O VASTI mine has,been wrongly-written RAM, H.NO-2E/111,WARD.NO- as Avneesh Narain Mathur in,my BÊ-d³fd½fQf £fû»fZ ªff³fZ Ied°fd±f/Àf¸f¹f 06 ªf³f½fSe, 2021- (12.00 ¶fªfZÀff¹fa) 11, N.H-2,FARIDABAD, Passport.No.J6043866, and dI Àfe ´fdS½f°fʳf, ÀfaVfû²f³f ½f Ad°fdS¢°f Àfc¨f³ffAûÔ IZ d»f¹fZ C¢°f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM´fS QZ£fe ªff ÀfI °fe W`ÜdIÀfe HARYANA-121001, have MathurAvneeshinmy, PAN- changed my name to MOHAN CARD-No.AaSPM0984D,and ·fe ´ffIÊ WZ°fb °fI ³feI eø´f ÀfZ AWÊ R¸fûË IedW d½fØfe¹f d³fd½fQf/´fiÀ°ff½f ´fS d½f¨ffS dI ¹ff ªff¹fZ¦ffÜ SINGHBHATIA. 0040558719-6 name of,myFatherhas been, WXÀ°ff./- wrongly-written as BNMathur in I,Ashok Kumar,S/o Late.Ansuya my,Aadhar card.The actual (Àfaªfe½f ´fi²ff³f) Prasad Nautiyal, name,of mineand my,father are ´f¹ffʽfSX¯fAd·f¹f³°ff, R/o.OMQ.No.484/1officers- AvneeshMathur,and Bhuvanesh ³f¦fSX d³f¦f¸f, ¶fSmX»feÜ Mess North-Camp Air-Force- Narain Mathur. 0040558724-8 Station Bamarauli Prayag raj,UP-211012, have changed I, SARTHAK S/oSANJAY KUMAR my name,from Ashok Kumar SHARMA H.NO-KC-5, 3rd- to Ashok Kumar Nautiyal,vide- FLOOR, GANESH-NAGAR, Regd. Off.: PSEB H.O., The Mall, Patiala-147001, CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813; Website: www.pspcl.in Affidavit,dated-24-12-2020 at SHAKARPUR EXTENSION, OFFICE OF CHIEF ENGINEER /PP&R New-Delhi. 0040558724-7 DELHI-110092,have changed D-3, SHAKTI VIHAR, PSPCL, PATIALA-147001, TEL. NO. 0175-2970894, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] my nametoSARTHAK NOTICE INVITING TENDER FOR SHORT TERM SALE OF ENERGY TENDER SPECIFICATION NO. PPR 10/2020 I, AANCHAL D/O ASHOK SHARMA. 0040558724-3 e-tendering page:http://eproc.punjab.gov.in SHARMA R/OHNO.E-31, PSPCL invites tenders under twopartbid system forsale of powertoUtilities,Distribution Licensees,Bulk consumers,Traders GURDWARA ROAD,PRASHANT I, SRISHTI D/O-RAKESHDAHIYA (having valid Inter State Trading License issued by CERC forinterstate trading of energy), as per table given below: R/OHNO.62-P,SECTOR-15, VIHAR, RAJAPUR KALAN,DELHI- Period Duration (HRS) Quantum (MW) Min Bid Qty.(MW) PART-4, SONIPAT-131001. HAVE 110085. CHANGED MY NAME TO 00.00 to 24.00 500 20 CHANGEDMYNAME TO AANCHAL SHARMA. 01.01.2021to31.03.2021 07.00 to 10.00 250 20 0040558719-2 SRISHTI DAHIYA. FORFUTURE 17.30 to 20.30 250 20 PURPOSES. 0040558719-1 I, hitherto known as Raj Kumar 1. Last Date and Time of downloading of tender document from the website http://eproc.punjab.gov.in 31.12.2020 upto 11.00 AM alias Raj Kumar Jain,S/o Sh. I, Arun Rawat,S/o Sh.Sohan 2. Last Date and Time of submission/uploading of tender document 31.12.2020 at 11.00 AM Chander Bhan,R/o-286,First Singh Rawat, R/o338- 3. Date and Time of opening of Part A&B of the tender document 31.12.2020 at 12.00 Noon C,Gazipur DDA-Flats, Delhi- Floor,AGCR Enclave,Delhl- Detailed NIT and Tender specification can be downloaded fromt he website of PSPCL i.e.http://eproc.punjab.gov.in 110092,have changed my 110096, declarethat name of NOTE: It is informed that in case tender processis not completed due to anyreason no corrigendum will be published in Newspapers.Details name,andshall hereafter be my father hasbeen wroñgly- regarding corrigendum maybeseen on official, PSPCL website i.e.http://eproc.punjab.gov.in Sd/- Dy.CE/PR, known,asRaj Kumar Jain. written as Sohah SinghRawat PSPCL, Patiala C-384/2020 107/Pb 0040558711-1 in my 10th-pass Regd.Off.: PSEB H.O., The Mall, Patiala -147001 Certificate.The actual-name of CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in I, Viney Kumar alias Viney S/o my father is Sohan Singh SHORTTERM ShankarLal Aggarwal R/o-C- Rawatwhich maybeamended Open (Press) Tender Enquiry. No. 304/P-II/EMP-W 11766 dated: 11.12.2020 164, PrashantVihar, Delhi- accordingly. 0040558724-5 110085, have changedmy Scope of Work: Annual Maintenance Contract formaintenance of Computer name to VinayKumar . Systems,Printers,Scanners &UPS installed at GGSSTP 0040558719-9 offices. PUBLIC NOTICE Time Period: As per NIT I, Udit Kumar Choudhary S/o EMD: @2% of tendered value rounded off to amultiple of Rs.10/- Jile SinghR/o-105,PKT-2, Sec- on the higher side,subject to minimum of Rs.5000/- and 23, Rohini, Delhi-110085 have PUBLIC NOTICE maximum of Rs.10.00lac. changed my name to Udit General Public is hereby informed that Last Date &Time forSale of :01.01.2021 &5.00 P.M. my client Shri Harish Sharma S/o Late Kumar Chaudhary. Shri Kewal Kishan Sharma and Smt. Tender Document I 0040558719-8 ChanderkantaSharma is one of the Date and Time forapplyfor :28.12.2020 &5.00 P.M. co-owners of undivided property Registration I, SuneelChoudhary S/oBrahm bearing no. O/43, Double Story,Nirmal Puri, Lajpat Nagar-IV,New Delhi. No Date &Time upto whichTender :07.01.2021 &11.00 A.M. SinghR/o H.No.55-C, IIIrd Flr, body has any right, title or interest to shall be Received Street No.6, Majlis Park, sell, transfer,create third party interest in the said property.Any body dealing Date &Time of Opening of Tender :07.01.2021 &11.30 A.M. Adarsh Nagar, Azadpur, Delhi- as regards to the said property in any 110033 have changed my name manner shall do the same at his/her / Aset of tender documents containing detailed technical specifications, their risk, cost, consequence and peril. to Sunil Choudhary for all General instructions and terms &conditions can be obtained from SE./HQ Anybody can contact the undersigned V&P.O.Ghanauli, GGSSTP,Ropar-140113 on payment of Rs.1000+GST futurepurposes. 0040558690-1 for any clarification. Sd/- DALIP SINGH (Advocate) @18% by Cash or Demand Draft drawninfavour of Accounts Officer/O&M, I, SHIKHA VOHRA w/oRishabh 184-A, Patiala House Courts, GGSSTP,Rupnagar payableatRupnagar (Ropar) Punjab. New Delhi Chadha r/o125, Kohat Enclave, NOTE:The prospectivebidders are requested to visit the PSPCL's website: PUNJAB STATESPORTS COUNCIL www.pspcl.in periodically even after purchasing the tender documents Pitam Pura,Delhi-110034 have to checkfor corrigendumissued, if any. No corrigendum shall be pub- (Punjab Govt. Undertaking) changed my name to SHIKHA lished in newspaper. SCO NO.116-117, SECTOR 34-A, CHANDIGARH. CHADHA. 0040558695-1 Sd/- TELEPHONENO. 0172-2606400, 2668794, E-mail ID: [email protected] [email protected] SE./HQ, I, SANJAY s/oBRIJ MOHAN RTP-59/2020 No. 423 Dated: 24.12.2020 55/Pb GGSSTP,Roopnagar. NOTICE INVITINGTENDER SHARMA, H.NO-KC-5, 3rd- FLOOR,GANESH-NAGAR, Secure Online Submission of Tenders SHAKARPUR EXTENSION, Online tendersonitemrate basisasper the DNIT are invited on twobid system(Technical bid &Financial DELHI-110092,have changed IF¹FFÊÕ¹F¸Fb£¹F ½F³FÀFaSÃFI ,SF¹F´FbS ½FÈØF,SF¹F´FbS Bid) forthe following work: my name to SANJAY KUMAR Sr.Name of the Work Last Date of Opening of Bidding Documents E-25,½Fe.AFBÊ.´Fe. BÀMZXMX, J¸WXFSXOXe, ¾FaIYSX ³F¦FSX, No. Online Submission SHARMA. 0040558724-1 of Bid Technical Bid Financial Bid I, Rajiv Kumar S/oO.P. SXF¹F´FbSX-492001 1. Providing &Laying of FIH approved Global 15.01.2021 15.01.2021 To be Intimated Bhatnagar, R/ORZ-10/316, Gali Tele.: 0771-2888509, CategoryHockey Turf (unfiled) with cast in situ at 11.00 A.M. at 04.00 P. M. on the Website No.7, Gitanjali Park, West 15mm shockpad along with allied Civil worksat E-mail: [email protected] Shaheed Bhagat Singh Stadium,Ferozepur Sagarpur, New Delhi-110046 (Punjab). have changedmyname from E-TENDER NOTICE NO.06, DATED 24.12.2020. Rajeev Kumar to Rajiv Kumar d³Fd½FQF AF¸FaÂF¯FÀFc¨F³FF 2. Providing &Laying of FIH approved Global 15.01.2021 15.01.2021 To be Intimated for all futurepurposes. Both CategoryHockey Turf (unfiled) with cast in situ at 11.00 A.M. at 04.00 P. M. on the Website name belongs to same person. 15mm shockpad along with allied Civil worksat IiY¸FFaIY/ dQ³FFaIY //12/2020 Village Marar,Distt. Gurdaspur (Punjab). 0040558708-1 SXF¹F´FbSX ½F³F¸FaOXÕX IZY Aa°F¦FÊ°F ³F½FF SXF¹F´FbSX, AMXÕX ³F¦FSX,SXF¹F´FbSX E-TENDER NOTICE NO.07, DATED 24.12.2020. I, RitikaAhuja R/o-Pocket-A, 6B 3. Providing &Relaying of FIH approvedGlobal 15.01.2021 15.01.2021 To be Intimated ¸FZÔ dÀ±F°F WXFBÊMZXIY SXû´F¯Fe ¸FZÔ ´Fü²FF CX°´FFQ³FIZY dÕX¹FZ øYMX MÑZX³FSX MÑZX IiY¹F WZX°Fb CategoryHockey Turf (unfiled) with cast in situ at 11.00 A.M. at 04.00 P. M. on the Website Siddhartha-Extension, New 15mm shockpad along with allied Civil worksat Delhi-110014, have changed,my dQ³FFaIY 25.01.2021 IYû Qû´FWXSX 12.00¶FªFZ °FIY d³Fd½FQF AF¸FadÂF°FIYe Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park,Jalandhar minor son’s name,from Rachit ªFF°Fe W`XÜ d³Fd½FQF IYe ÀF¸F¹F ÀFFSX¯FeE½Fa Ad·FÕZXJ d½F·FF¦Fe¹F½FZ¶FÀFFBÊMX (Punjab). Talwar to Rachit Ahuja E-TENDER NOTICENO. 08, DATED 24.12.2020. permanently. 0040558711-2 www.cgforest.com/www.fmisonline.org/ 4. Providing&Laying of FIHapproved Global 15.01.2021 15.01.2021 To be Intimated CategoryHockey Turf (unfiled) with cast in situ at 11.00 A.M. at 04.00 P. M. on the Website I, Sarjeet Kumar s/oRadhey www.cgforest.nic.in ÀFZOXFCX³FÕXûOXdIY¹FZ ªFF ÀFIY°FZ W`XÜ d³Fd½FQF 15mm shockpad along with allied Civil worksat ShyamH.No 3159 Gali No.72 IYF AF½FZQ³F¾Fb»IY÷Y´F¹FZ 2000.00 E½Fa BÊ.E¸F.OXe. IYe SXFd¾F÷Y´F¹FZ Dhudike, Distt. Moga (Punjab). Molarband Extension New E-TENDER NOTICE NO.09, DATED 24.12.2020. Delhi 110044 inform that in the 7,00,000.00d³F²FFÊdSX°F W`X ªFû ¶F`ÔIY OÑXFµMX/¶F`ÔIYÀFÊ ¨FZIY ¸FZÔ¸Fb£¹F Fordetail of works, other terms &conditions &tender documents,the bidders can log in to https://eproc.pun- School recordand Birth ½F³FÀFSaXÃFIY SXF¹F´FbSX IZY ³FF¸FÀFZ QZ¹F WXû dÀ½FIYF¹FÊWXû¦FFÜ d³Fd½FQF IYF AF½FZQ³F jab.gov.in Certificate of my minorson Forparticipating in the above e-tendering process,the Bidders shall have to get themselves registered with ayush yadavmyand my wife ¾Fb»IY ¶F`ÔIY OÑXFµMX/¶F`ÔIYÀFʨFZIYd³Fd½FQFIZY ÀFF±F ÀFaÕX¦³F dIY¹FF ªFF³FF https://eproc.punjab.gov.in and get user ID,Password. Class-3 Digital Signature is mandatorytoparticipate in name priyankaname are Ad³F½FF¹FÊ W`XÜ the e-tendering process.Detailed Notice Inviting Tender and other tems &conditions are available on website: wronglywritten as Sarjeet https://eproc.punjab.gov.in.inall payments regarding purchase of bid document i.e., Tender form fee, process- Yadavand priyankayadav ing fee&earnest moneyshall be strictly through Online mode (e-payment only). Bidders are advised to open Bank Account with Core Banking Solution Branches (with NEFT/RTGS facility). whichmay be corrected WXÀ°FF/- Sd/- 0040558712-1 ¸Fb£¹F ½F³F ÀFaSXÃFIY Dr.SanjayMahajan, Executive Engineer (C), 85830SXF¹F´FbSX ½FÈØF, SXF¹F´FbSX 162/Pb Punjab State Sports Council, Chandigarh.

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In Arunachal,6JD(U) HC nod for BJPdoesn’tgivetickettoMuslims, Uddhav govt to MLAs switch to BJP make plansfor

Himanta BiswaSarma, who is a Bhima Koregaon ABHISHEKSAHA& key BJP leader in the Northeast, usesthemtotopplegovts:Gehlot SANTOSHSINGH told reporters in Guwahati on programme GUWAHATI,PATNA, Fridayevening that the MLAs DECEMBER25 who defected had been partof with ‘four other leaders from approving them, maybebecause CHANDANHAYGUNDE the saffron party from before. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Rajasthan’ of effortstodesta- the Government of India doesn’t PUNE,DECEMBER25 THE JD(U) sufferedajolt in “Due to some arrangements JAIPUR,DECEMBER25 bilise his government. want. This is achallengemade Arunachal Pradesh on Fridayaf- theyhad contestedfromthe He addedthat his govern- by them to democracy.Rahul THE BOMBAY HighCourthas tersix of itsseven legislators JD(U)… This is akind of home- RAJASTHAN CHIEF Minister ment will remain strong during Gandhi ji has correctlysaid that granted permission to the switchedovertothe ruling BJP. coming forthem,” Sarma said. Ashok GehlotsaidonFridaythat itsremaining three years. nowthere is no democracyin Maharashtragovernment to en- Aseventh MLA--the lone The BJP already enjoyeda the BJP doesn’t give tickets to During the political crisis, the the country, onlyashowof terupon the “disputed land” People’s PartyofArunachal large majority in theHouse, hav- Muslimsduringelectionsbutuses Congress had accusedUnion democracy,” said Gehlot. around the Jaystambh to make (PPA) representative in the ing sweptthe 2019 Assembly them to topple governments. ministerGajendraSingh The CM said his government arrangementsfor theJanuary1 Assembly–has also officially polls by winning 41 seatsinthe Gehlotmade this point while Shekhawatand hadclaimedthat has waived offfarmloans of programme to markthe an- joinedthe saffron party. 60-member House. mentioning BJP RajyaSabha MP his voice washeardinanaudio farmers. He addeditwaivedfarm niversaryofthe Battle of Bhima The JD(U) -- BJP’s alliance Soon afterthe MLAs switched Syed Zafar Islam of being in- in which some persons were al- loans from cooperative banks Koregaon. partner in Bihar -- has reacted allegiance,JD(U) national volved in alleged horse-trading legedly heardplotting to topple and land development banksbut Justice VGBisht passedthe sharply, callingthe move “un- spokespersonKCTyagi told The during the revolt in Julybya the Rajasthan government. since nationalised, commercial order in this regard on December friendly”. The party is likelyto IndianExpress,“We were a group of Congress MLAs ledby Shekhawathad strongly refuted and regional rural bankscome 23, as per whichthe government discussthe matter at itsupcom- friendly Opposition in Arunachal former deputy CM Sachin Pilot. the allegations backthen. under the administrative control has been permitted to enter ing national executive on Pradesh. This actonpartofBJP is “When we heldameeting Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot(right)and Rajasthan Congress Gehlotsaid that four CMs of of the Union Finance Ministry, upon the “suit land” to make December 27 in Patna. unfortunate, unfriendlyand un- herewith our MLAs duringthe in-charge AjayMaken in Jaipur on Friday. Rohit Jain Paras the Congressparty wanted to the stategovernment has sent a necessaryarrangements forthe Thedevelopment comes a warranted.This hascausedus time of thecrisis, our friends were meetthe Presidentbut the proposal of aone-time settle- publictovisitthe victory pillar dayafter BiharDeputy Chief embarrassment and also givena raidedbythe ED and income tax. meeting couldn’t happen. ment to the Centre. (Jaystambh) from December 25 MinisterTarkishorePrasad--a chance to ourBihar Opposition See the levelofplanningthat they ing Bharatpur to paytributesto Muslims fortoppling govern- Speaking on the farm laws Gehlotadded that forthis he to January5,2021. “Once this pe- senior BJPleader -- had hintedat RJD to attackus.” did to topple the government. former ruler MaharajaSuraj Mal ments,” Gehlotadded. passedbythe Congress govern- has also writtenletters to the riod expires on January5,2021, acabinetexpansion. Meanwhile, the RJD has Theymusthavemadeamap, onhisdeathanniversary. Some of GehlotreferredtoPrime ment in Rajasthan to counter the Prime Ministerand Union the stateshall restorethe status The Arunachal MLAs who claimedthat the BJP mayat- done arecce, briefed officials, his loyalistMLAswho had sided MinisterNarendraModi’sspeech three farm billspassedbythe Finance Ministerand has also of the suit land (as it wason changed allegiance areTalem temptthe same in Bihar.Party made bookings,youcanimagine. with him during the political cri- to agathering at the Aligarh Centre, Gehlotsaid that the proposedthatthe cost be shared December25) by January15,” Taboh from Rumgong Assembly spokesperson Mrityunjay Theyusedall weapons... sis were also present with him. Muslim University earlier this Governor is notforwarding between theRajasthan govern- the HC order stated. seat, Hayeng Mangfi(Chayang Tewari said, “It is aclearwarning DharmendraPradhanand Zafar “A newZafar Islam has been weekandpraiseditbeforeadding, them further. ment and theCentreinaration Likelastyear,the govern- Tajo), Jikke Tako (Tali),Dorjee forthe JD(U) that has 43 MLAs Islam,” he said during at apress born in this country. The BJP does- “One ticket, at leastgivejustfor “Our honoraryGovernoris of 50:50. ment through Pune district col- Wangdi Kharma (Kalaktang), (in Bihar).BJP might trytodoan conference held in Jaipurto mark n’t give tickets to Muslims. In UP show. But notthattoo...Where notsending thesebillsfurther. Responding to aquestion lector movedthe HC andsought Dongru Siongju (Bomdila) and Arunachal Pradesh with Nitish the twoyears of the Congress thereare around 400tickets dis- have they brought democracy?” Whyishenot forwarding them? about the rebellion of Pilot, permissiontoenter on thedis- Kanggong Taku (Mariyang- Kumar in Bihar.Thisishow BJP government in the state. tributed,inBihar, it’saround250. GehlotalsoaccusedUnion Ihad made laws againstHonour Gehlotsaidthatall he has to say puted land to makearrange- Geku). has startedunfolding itsplan While Gehlotaddressedthe The BJP doesn’t give asingle ticket ministers Amit Shah and Killing and Mob Lynching six on the entireepisode is 'forget mentsfor the January1pro- Senior Assam minister againstJD(U).” press conference, Pilotwas visit- to Muslims. And (theyare)using DharmendraPradhan, along months ago, the President is not and forgive'. gramme at Jaystambh. INDIA INTERNATIONAL SCIENCEFESTIVAL Amartya Sen BOOKEDUNDER UP’SANTI-CONVERSIONLAW beingtargeted as Before arrest, youth Citing scientists’ roleinCovid-19 fight, he isn’t affiliated Venkaiah asserts need for scientific temper to BJP ideology, was thrashed; 2held says Mamata for assault: Police EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 Women achievers in science KOLKATA,DECEMBER25 and her former classmate, a ADDRESSINGTHE concluding ADAY afterVisva-Bharati EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Muslim, were walking back session of the India International recount journey to success University (VBU) wrotetothe NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 home afterafriend’sbirthday ScienceFestivalonFriday, Vice West Bengal government, accus- party,when theywereallegedly President MVenkaiah Naidu said gender equality by including HarpreetSingh is the first ing economist AmartyaSen of il- AYOUTHbookedunder Uttar chasedbyagroup of men, it is the hardworkofscientists in EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE morewomen in science, technol- woman to be selected by Air legallyoccupying itsplots,Chief Pradesh’s newanti-conversion beaten with sticks and the countrythathas brought NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 ogy and innovation, addressing India as the firstwoman com- MinisterMamataBanerjee on lawwas allegedlyassaulted by questioned. India on the vergeofreleasing grass root application of science mercial pilotofIndia in 1988. Fridaysaid the accusation had local residentsbeforehis arrest, When it became apparent our ownindigenous Covid-19 Science is also about the AN ASTROPHYSICIST, aPadma to society and empowering However, due to health reasons, been levelledagainstthe Nobel police said. that theybelongedtodifferent vaccine. spirit of rationalinquirythat Shri awardee in science and women both in the rural and ur- she had to quit her flying job. laureateashewas “notaffiliated According to police, an FIR religions,theywereallegedly The Vice President said that can guide us: V-PNaidu technology,atopscientistatTata ban sectors,’’ said an official. Since then, she has been active to BJP's ideology”. has been filedafter avideo, in whisked away to alocal police at the beginning of the pan- Consultancy Services, the first Addressing the conclave,Dr in other areas of aviation, includ- The VBU administration has whichsome people can be pur- station. demic, India startedoff with woman commercial pilotof Urmila MitraKraev,aplasma ing flight safety. Shehas been ap- alleged dozensofthe university’s portedlyseen assaulting the The FIR, registeredallegedly barelyafew testing kits, but tifictemperin ourlives. Oneofthe India and aBAFTAaward win- physicistatUniversityof pointed CEOofthe state-run air- plots had been incorrectly youth in Bijnor area,emergedon on acomplaint by thegirl’s fa- within months, scientists devel- major challenges in this pan- ning actor were among the Cambridge,said thatasayoung line’s subsidiaryAlliance Air, recordedand thelistofunautho- social media. ther,statedthatthe accused“in- opedcheaper indigenous rapid demichas been the prevalence of women achievers ropedinby mother she wasaware of the is- becoming the first-everwoman risedoccupantsincludedSen. “Itwas brought to ournotice ducedthe girltoelope with him” testing kits, ventilators and PPEs. the‘infodemic’. False information the Council of Scientific and sues related to pursuing asci- to head an Indian carrier. Banerjee said, “Weall salute that the man accusedofconver- with the“intention to marry and “Today, we areevenable to ex- on the nature of thevirus, med- Industrial Research (CSIR) to ence career.“But the rewards of Dr.Sharmila Mande, Chief AmartyaSen. Just because he is- sion wasassaulted by local res- convert her”. portPPEs.Itisinthis contextthat ication and the vaccine caused sharetheir experiences on avir- science discovery arefar greater Scientistand Head of Bio n’t inclinedtowards BJP'sideol- idents. An enquiry has been set The youth, who wassubse- people have to be made awareof panic and anxiety among the tual platform to encourage than the difficulties and with Sciences R&D in TCS, said she is a ogy,they’relevelling suchalle- up under SP (rural) and two quentlybookedunder theanti- scientific developmentsofthe people. It is notvaccines or drugs women in their career paths, es- planning and determination, strong supporter of womenin gations againsthim.” persons have been arrested. conversion lawand chargesof dayand the work of thededicated thatcan defeat the infodemic,but peciallyinscience. things do work out if one is con- science, especiallyinleadership Writing to the Nobellaureate Morepeople will be identified abduction and under sectionsof scientists,’’he said, adding, arational outlookamong people. Officials of NEERI, hosts of the fident of one’s goal,”she said. positions. on Friday, the CM said, “Weall and actionwill be takenagainst SC/STAct, and POCSO Act, is now “Science is notjustabout natural Acitizenrythat can think critically Women Scientists’and Indian physicistand Padma Dr Mande is one of the first knowabout your family's deep them,” said Bijnor SP Dharm in ajail in Bijnor. laws andstate of the arttechnol- will beimmune to suchmisinfor- Entrepreneurs’ Conclave,said Shri recipient Prof Rohini who worked on computational and organic bonds with Veer Singh. “Those men beat him up ogy.Scienceis alsoaboutthe spirit mationor fake news,’’Naidusaid. the aim of the conclave wasto Godbole talked about her jour- biology.She suggestedtofollow Santiniketan.... According to police, an FIR with sticks.Hewas limping the of rational inquirythat canguide Pointing out India’s long tra- promote “awareness on the im- neyfromstudyingphysics in one’shearttotakeupany chal- “Some newinvaders in has been filedunder chargesof lasttimeIsawhim.They us in our lives. This is even recog- dition of sharing itsscientific ad- portance of the role of women in Pune to her current position as a lenges in life. Visva-Bharati have nowstarted assault and criminal intimida- brandedusthievesfirstand then nisedbyour Constitution,which vancementswith the rest of the sustainable growth of the coun- particle physicistbestknown for Renownedactor Rohini raising surprising and com- tion againstunknown persons. beat us both. Theymade videos identifies the development of sci- world, he said that our decimal try, via science and technology”. her work at CERN. Herworkon Hattangadi recounted her jour- pletely baselessallegations Local residentsShakir and of us and circulated it among the entific temper as one of our system wasborrowedbyArab Gender parity and increasing high energy photons could form ney. “One of the mostdifficult againstyourfamily properties. Shehzad have been arrested in public and made it acase of love Fundamental Duties.” traders, whichlater spread to women’s participation in Science, the basis forthe next generation roles wasplaying middle aged This pains me and Iwant to ex- connection withthe assault case. jihad. We were justreturning “Ifweimbibethis temper,we medievalEurope. “It is in the Technology,Engineering, of particle colliders,usedtostudy KasturbaGandhi in Gandhi op- press my solidarity with youin Around 10.30 pm on from abirthdayparty,” the girl canapplyscientific methodol- same spirit that we have notonly Mathematics and Medicine sub- thefabricand composition of the positeBen Kingsleyatthe ageof your battles againstthe bigotry December 14,the girl,aDalit, told The IndianExpress. ogy to everyendeavour of life become the pharmaceutical hub jectsandhavingthemchooseca- universe. She said she came from 27,” said the actor,who has re- of the majoritarians in this coun- and makeinformed decisions. of the world, but we have been reers in science is being pushed amiddle-class familythatwas ceivedseveral awards, including try, battles that have made you The methodology is simple: en- extensively sharing these life- by the MinistryofScience and supportive of her decision to pur- the prestigious BAFTAfor the an enemyofthese forces of STATEELECTIONCOMMISSIONHARYANA quire, investigate, reason, and saving drugswith the rest of the Technology.Theconclave is being sueacareer in science. role. untruth.” Nirvachan Sadan, Plot No. 2, Sector-17, Panchkula when satisfied, accept,” he said. developing world,’’ he said. held in light of this gender-parity Telephone: 0172-2584810, Fax-0172-2585904 “The pandemic has also rein- FULLREPORTON impetus. “The programme will forced theimportanceofscien- www.indianexpress.com address issues that can accelerate Website: www.secharyana.gov.in PUBLIC NOTICE All the electors,towhom Elector'sPhoto Identity Card (EPIC) have been issued by the Election Commission of India, shall have to produce it to prove their identity to cast the vote forgeneral electionsofMunicipal Corporation, Ambala, Panchkula, Sonepat, Municipal Council Rewari and Municipal Committee,Sampla, Dharuherha and Uklana to be held on 27.12.2020. However, the electors who have not obtained Elector's Photo Identity Card as yetshall have to produce anyone of the following alternativedocuments forestablishing their iden- tity at the polling station, in case their identity is challenged: (i) Passport, (ii) Driving License, (iii) Income TaxIdentity (PAN) Card, (iv) Service Identity Card issued to employees by Central/ State Government Offices,Public Sector Undertakings, Local Bodies or other public Limited Company, (v) Pass Book of accounts,having photograph, opened in a scheduled bank or post office, (vi) Freedom Fighter Identity Card having photograph, (vii) SC/ST/OBC certificate having photograph, issued by competent authority, (viii) CertificateofPhysicalHandicap havingphotograph issued by the Competent Authority, (ix) Arms License having photograph, (x) Job Cards with photograph issued under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, (xi) Property documents with photographs such as Pattas, Registered Deeds etc, (xii) Pension Documents such as Ex-Servicemen Pension Book/Pension Payment Order,Ex-Servicemen's Widow/Dependent Certificate,Old Age Pension Order, WidowPensionOrder,with photograph, (xiii) Health Insurance Scheme SmartCards with Photograph, (xiv) Ration Cards or anyother similar documents establishing the identity of the electors to the satisfaction of the Presiding Officer,havingphotograph. (xv) The Aadhar Card issued by UIDAI. All the electors of above mentioned municipalities are advised to carrywith them the Elector's photo Identity Card or anyofthe above mentioned documents while going to cast their vote. PUBLIC COOPERATION IS SOLICITED TO ENSURE FREE, FAIR AND PEACEFULPOLL. PLEASE WEAR MASK BEFORE ENTERING THE POLLING BOOTH &KEEP SOCIAL DISTANCE. STATEELECTION COMMISSION, HARYANA 1089/7/HRY

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 14 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevance that youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected] ‘Biden will be more effective on China, has said he will bring allies for common approach’

What can India expect in itsrelationship withthe US under the Biden Administration? Former Indian Ambassador to Washington DC Arun Singh, who interacted with manyObama-Biden team members who arenow in the Biden-Harris team, discussedkey issues with anationwideaudience

acertain positiononissues that theyarticulateas humanrights, basedonhow itplays outfor them and their voters. Youwould have seen thekindof commentsthat came from Bernie Sanders at one stage, commentsthat came from Kamala Harris, On the BidenAdministration and China from Pramila Jayapal. But at the same time, peo- Alot of people in India, the US and elsewhere ple in the Biden camphavesaidthat anydiffer- have been trying to figureout howthe Biden enceswith Indiaon issuesrelatedto humanrights Administration would respondto theChinachal- wouldbebasedonadiscussion among friends. lenge. Theyhavebeen partlyconcernedbecause My ownsense is that India takesits decisions of some vacillationsthat were seen during the basedonits owninterests;wedon’t have to be Obama Administration… unnecessarilyinsecureoronthe defensive related President Trumphimself,inthe beginning, to decisionsthatwe take.The US has itsown chal- gave mixedsignals... Subsequentlythe Trump lenges, systemic racism...all societies face chal- Administration clearly definedChina as amajor lenges. Therefore, anyIndia-US discussion or di- global rival, astrategic competitor... alogue related to human rightsshould be as a Now, whenyou lookatwhat Biden has said dialogueamongfriendswhoaretryingto under- and what people around him have said... they ArunSingh (left) in aZoom conversation stand eachother,who want to advance their re- have saidthesituationtoday is verydifferentfrom withShubhajitRoy,Associate Editor & lationship and arecognition that everysociety the situation in 2016,China follows unfair trade Chief Diplomatic Correspondent has challenges that it is dealing with. practices, Chinaisamajortechnological rivalto the US… So Iwould believe therewill be some On Biden’s cabinetappointments nuancing because theywillwant to showthat Congressmen,Senatorsto tryandrestrictthat.So When Ilook at the appointmentsmadesofar, theyare different from the TrumpAdministration AUDIENCE QUESTIONS Ithink the BidenAdministration would alsohave itisaclearsignalthatPresident-electBideniscom- —and some have said that Trumpwas very ag- to work itsway through these. fortablewithpeoplewhoworkedwithhimclosely gressive on Chinabythe end —but Biden would On Biden Administration’s ties with On the possibility of China offering a —TonyBlinken washis national securityadvisor; be moreeffectiveonChina,because Biden has Beijingand Islamabad trade dealwith the US On the US and India-Russia JakeSullivanwashisnationalsecurityadviserun- said that he will bring allies and partners to have In the early phase, theywillfind Pakistan If the Chinese aresmart—and everybody This is clearly goingtobeanimportant issue. til 2014.Ihad the occasion to interactwith many acommonapproachtowards China.Although the anecessarypartner in the context of what says theyare —theywould probablywantto ForIndia, our relationship earlier with the Soviet of them —Sullivanwho usedtobethe Director of US under Trumphad takenaveryaggressive ap- theywant to do in Afghanistan... And if offertothe incoming administration some- Union and nowRussia is very important. The Policy Planning in the StateDepartment whenI proachtowards China,the Europeans didn't fol- Pakistanplays itscards well, the US would not thing positive,something on trade... Biden SovietUnion gave us militarysupport, military wasthere, Blinken in his various capacities, Avril lowitbecause he had decriedalliances. But if the put pressureonPakistan. But if theyassess has himself said the phase 1trade deal that supplies, political support, at atime when it was Haines wasdeputyNSA. US wantsaneffectivepolicy on China, it needs to that Pakistanisnot being ahelpful partner,the President Trumphas done,hewill notre- notavailablefromtheWest,beittheUSorothers. Sotheclearsense thatIgot wasthatall of them bring itsallies in Europe and Asia on acommon US approachwould change and we have to move that from the table immediately. More Andeventoday, almost60%of ourdefenceinven- areveryaware and very committed to the India- platform to respond to the China challenge. watchthat. (OnChina)whiletheremay be than that, the statementscoming out from toryisof Russianoriginandthereare certainareas US relationship. During the time of the Obama some nuancing,the substance of thepolicy the transition team,theywanttoput empha- whereweget technologies from Russia at com- Administration, thereweremanyfirsts.In2009, On the futureofQuad willremain andtheywillalsotry and reach sis on getting the US economybackontrack. petitive prices that arenot available elsewhere… Prime MinisterManmohan Singhwas invitedas Clearly theQuad made much more progress out to Europeans, other countries in Asia to Forthat theywillneedcertain Bills to pass on [Under] CAATSA (CounteringAmerican the firststate visitorofthe Obama Administration. under the TrumpAdministration… Quad of see if theycomewith acommon approach, abipartisanbasis. The one factor that will en- Adversaries through Sanctions Act), purchase of In the US, statevisits areaveryclear signal... and course had startedearlier,after that it slippeda andthatis goingto betheoverall defining pri- able bipartisanshiptoemergewould be the majordefencesystemsfromRussiacouldbecome President Obama wantedto signalthatthere was little becauseAustralia lostinterestinthe process ority in the Biden Administration in the com- projectionofachallengefromChina. So, sanctioned, and the S-400isacaseinpoint… going to becontinuity from the time of President because of itsown relationship with China... But ing years. Moving from there, theysee the whentheyproject thatthereisamajor chal- India’scaseisdifferentandfromthevariouscom- Bush, from the time of the civil nuclear coopera- nowasall countries, be it Australia, Japan, India, India relationship as averyimportantrela- lenge from China, that is what will bring the mentsandwritingsthathave comeoutinthepub- tion agreement... And then theyalso declared US, arefacing similar challenges in manyways tionship, partlybecauseof thestrength in the Democrats andRepublicans together on the lic domain, it has been made clear that the US Indiaamajor defence partner —noothercountry from China, tThereisarecognition of some har- bilateral dimension of the relationship. economic and technological issue. wouldbemakingamistake if itsanctionsIndiafor in the worldhasthis status, anditwas donedelib- monisation of work in the Indo-Pacific region… the S-400... If the US then goes ahead and sanc- eratelybecause India is notanallyand yetthey If yousee the conversations that Biden has had tionsIndiaforsomething,itwillaffectitsownim- wantedto give India the same leveloftechnology with the Prime MinisterofJapan, Prime Minister Afghanistan. And because of that, the sharpness sues as the TrumpAdministration has been. The ageasareliablepartnerandwillimpactnegatively access as their closestallies and partners. of Australia, President of South Korea, and the of theirrhetoricandactionrelatedto Pakistanhas Biden Administration has signalledthat they on the evolution of the US-India relationship. The Vice-President Biden had come to India in statement that has been put out by the US side, comedown.Theonlythingtheyhavedoneis,they recognisethat the high-skilledimmigrant US needs to keep that in mind.Ithink it wasbe- 2013 and, speaking at the Mumbai Stock thereisareference to theIndo-Pacific andthere- have maintainedPakistaninthe grey listoftheir worker,includingthe high-skilledIndian immi- causeofthis that when the US Congress passed Exchange, he said that he’d liketoreiterate what fore,itisarecognition that in some areas, they Financial Action Task Force, as apressurepoint. grant worker,contributes to theUSremaining in the CAATSA Bill originally, therewas no provision President Obama had said, that the India-US re- will recognise andbuild on the positive work that Nowthe US hastraditionallystruggledwith the lead in technology globally... forwaiver—theUSadministrationhadnocapac- lationship would be the defining relationship of has been done by the TrumpAdministration. apolicy on Pakistan, whether to incentivise Butthisisachallenge that Ihavealsointhe ityto give waiverfromthesanctions—butthethen the 21st century. And he spoke aboutwhathehad PakistanorpressurePakistan… Iwould believe time of the Obama Administration.Eventhen, administrationlobbiedinCongress to give the said in 2006,thatby 2020, he wantstheUS-India On the approachtowards Pakistan that aBiden Administrationwouldbeclear-eyed therewas aphasewhenthe visa fees forH1B President waiver provisions. So Iwould hope and relationshipto bethe closest. And we arein2020 The US willdefine itsapproachtowards aboutthe nature of thePakistanistate,itsinvolve- workers of certain categoriesofcompanies, which expectthatifthesituationreachesacertainpoint, now. So Iwould saythat giventhe fact that many Pakistanbasedonhow it perceivesits owninter- mentwithterrorist groups.Sotheywillrecognise impacted Indiancompanies very much,were whoeveristhe US Presidentwould exercise that in the Obama-Biden team aregoing to continue ests beingserved,andfromIndia’sperspective,we that but theywillhaveacertain needfor cooper- raisedtothree times. So this is the pressurethe waiver and notimpose sanctions on India. in the Biden-Harris team, Iamveryconfident have to see whereisthe convergence and diver- ation from Pakistaninthe contextofAfghanistan US system faces —theywant to getmoreskilled basedonmyinteractions when Iwas therethat gence… Today, theUSwantstoget out of and that will limit the extent of pressure... workers because it helps the US, but at the same On the Biden Administration’s likely the India-US relationship will continue to Afghanistan, and theybelieve that theyneedco- time, manyUSworkers who areunemployed, approachonKashmir,CAA/NRC strengthen over the next four years. operation from Pakistanfor adialogue with the On Biden’s likelypolicyonimmigration who lose jobs,start generatingacampaignthat We have to recognisethatUSleaderswillbase TRANSCRIBEDBYMEHRGILL Talibanif somekindof reconciliationcanprogress The Biden campaign had made it clear that theyare losing jobs because of the H1B immigrant their politics basedontheir compulsions,their (Edited excerpts) between the Taliban and the governmentin theywouldnot be as harsh on immigration is- worker. And that generates pressureon constituent interests and, therefore, theywilltake VIDEO:youtu.be/sYVRgmAcHTU

SIMPLY PUT CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD INDIA ACTIVE CASES 281,919 Reading the newUSpolicyonTibet: 350,000 snubs to China on Dalai Lama, rivers

332,002 281,919 oppose attemptsbyBeijing to install itsown frameworks…tofacilitate cooperative agree- 300,000 NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIAN Dalai Lama “in amanner inconsistent with mentsamong all ripariannations that would MUMBAI,DECEMBER25 TibetanBuddhism in whichthe succession promote…arrangementsonimpoundingand or identificationofTibetan Buddhist lamas, diversion of waters that originateonthe THE TIBET Policy and SupportAct, passedby includingthe Dalai Lama,should occur with- TibetanPlateau”. While the 2002 Actsaid the LAST 10 DAYS the US Senateearlier this week,bookends a out interference...” US shouldestablisha“branch office”inLhasa, Dec 15 Dec 24 turbulent year in US-China relations. The The legislation makes reference to the the TSPAups the antebychanging thattoa 250,000 House of Representativeshad passedthe leg- Chinese government's‘Measures on the “consulate”. It recognises the Central Tibetan islation in January. It will become lawafterthe Management of the Reincarnation of Living Administration, whose Prime Minister Note: The Dec 24 figure in this graph is based on thegovernment update on Dec 25 US President signs offonit. Buddhas’in 2007,and aMarch 2019 statement Lobsang Sangay takescredit forensuringthat by the Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesper- the Senatetookupthe legislationfor vote. The earlier version son that the “reincarnation of living Buddhas In astatement, Sangay said, “Bypassing INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES The TSPAisanamendedversionofthe includingthe Dalai Lama mustcomplywith the TPSA, Congress has sent itsmessage loud 10,146,845 79,627,975 TibetPolicy Actof2002, whichcame intoex- Chinese laws andregulations and followreli- and clear that Tibetremains apriority forthe istence during the Bush Administration. But gious ritualsandhistorical conventions”. Italso United States and that it will continue its Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, in an indication of justhow important he con- refers to China's installation of a6-year-old steadfastsupportfor His Holiness theDalai Welfare,updatedat11pmonDec25 updatedat11pmonDec25 sideredrelations withChina,PresidentGeorge Paramilitaryofficers in front of Potala boyin1995 as the 11th Panchen Lama, and to Lama and the CTA. It is amomentous land- WBush distancedhimself from this Palace in Lhasa. Reuters statementsbythe presentDalai Lama explain- markfor the Tibetanpeople.” Congressional action, and wrotestrong words ing the traditions to be followedinthe selec- againstitinhis signing statement, in which tion of aDalai Lama, and that the authority to What China says assertedthe administration's right nottoim- Earlier this month, the Holding Foreign recognise the reincarnation of aDalai Lama China had earlier said the TPSA“severely Granted emergency approval plement parts of the act. He wrote: CompaniesAccountingAct,targeting Chinese lies with him and his officials. breachedinternational lawand basic norms “Regrettably, the Act[H.R. 1646] contains a investmentsinthe US,was signedintolaw. The Actalsomakesit USpolicyto holdsen- governing international relations, interfered in US, antibody fails in trials number of provisions that impermissiblyin- Earlier in theyear,PresidentDonald Trump ior Chinese officials “responsible for, complicit in China's internal affairs, and sent awrong terferewiththe constitutional functions of the signedintolaw theHong Kong AutonomyAct. in,orhavedirectlyorindirectlyengagedin the messageto‘Tibetindependence’forces”.After IN NOVEMBER, the US Food and Drug England Journal of Medicine. presidency in foreign affairs, including provi- President Trumpisnot expectedtotakea identification or installation of acandidate the passageofthe Bill through the Senate, Administration (FDA) granted emer- The trial is partofthe Accelerating sions that purporttoestablish foreign policy Bush-likeviewontheTSPA,whichintroduces chosenby Chinaasthefuture15th DalaiLama China said it “resolutelyopposes” the “adop- gency use approval to an antibody, Covid-19TherapeuticInterventionsand that areofsignificant concern.” stronger provisions on Tibet, plus teethinthe of TibetanBuddhism” to have committed “a tion of Bills containing suchill contentson LYCoV555, forcertain pa- Vaccines (ACTIV) pro- Healso said his approval to the Actdid not form of athreat of sanctions, including travel gross violation of internationallyrecognized China.Issuesrelatedto Tibet,TaiwanandHong tientsofCovid-19—non- gramme. constitutehis adoption of the various state- bans on Chinese officials.How the Biden humanrights”,attractingsanctionsunderthe Kong… areChina’sinternal affairs that allow hospitalizedadolescents LY-CoV555, amono- mentsofpolicyin theActasUSforeignpolicy, Administration, expected to frame itsown Global Magnitsky Human Rights no foreigninterference”. AForeign Ministry and adultswith mildto clonal antibody,was dis- and said these would be takenas“advisory” Chinapolicy,views TPSA remains to be seen. Accountability Act. The Act, namedafter a spokesmanurgedtheUS“tostopmeddlingin moderatesymptoms who coveredbyAbCellera statementsonly, “giving them thedue weight Still, mostUSadministrations, the Trump Russian taxlaywerwho diedafter being im- our domestic affairs under thosepretexts, re- areatelevatedriskofpro- Biologics, basedin that comity between the legislative andexec- Administrationincluded, have broadlymain- prisonedwhileinvestigating Russian taxoffi- frain from signing the bills or implementing gressing to severe Covi-19 Vancouver,incollabora- utive branchesshouldrequire,tothe extent tainedadiplomatic balance between relations cialsfor fraud, authorisesUSofficialstoim- the negative contentsand itemsinthem that disease. This week,the US PAPER tion with NIAID’s consistent with US foreign policy”. with China, and supportfor Tibetand theDalai pose travel bans globally. target China and undercut China's interests”. National Institutes of Vaccine Research Center. Lama. The StateDepartment hasaseparate If India is pleasedatthis latestUSbarbto Health (NIH) published CLIP Subsequently, it wasde- US and China, today section on Tibetinits annual reports on hu- Other provisions China,ithas notsaid so openly.India has preliminaryfindings of a velopedand manufac- US-China relations have become much manrightsand religious freedom. But there TheTPSAhasintroducedprovisionsaimed mostlyrefrainedfromplaying the Tibetcard phase3trial—in hospi- NEWRESEARCH tured by Indianapolis- moredifficult over the lasttwo decades, par- has been no real push fortalkswith the Dalai at protecting the environment of the Tibetan againstChina, and like the US, hasaoneChina talisedCovid-19patients, basedLillyResearch ticularly worsening in the Trump Lama or on the release of political prisoners. plateau,callingforgreaterinternationalcoop- policy.Itwas onlythisyear,inthe ongoing LY-CoV555 did notprovideclinical Laboratories, Eli Lillyand Company, in Administration, and moresoin2020 over erationand greaterinvolvement by Tibetans. Ladakh standoff, that it usedspecial forces benefit compared to placebo.The re- partnership with AbCellera. matters ranging from the pandemic to trade The Dalai Lama AllegingthatChinaisdivertingwaterresources made up almostentirelyofTibetan exiles to sultswerepublished in the New Source: National Institutes of Health, US tariffs,and itscross-world coalition-building Among the mostsignificant amend- from Tibet, the TPSAalso calls for“aregional occupystrategic heightsinPangong Tso's againstChinese superpowerambitions. mentsisthatthe TSPA makes it US policy to framework on watersecurity,oruse existing south bank.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 MEANWHILE NEVERLAND RANCH SOLD TO BILLIONAIRE Michael Jackson’s NeverlandRanch in California has found anew ownerinbillionairebusi- nessman RonBurkle. TheWall Street Journalreports the propertywas sold for$22 million 15 THE WORLD to Burkle, an associate of thelatepop star andco-founder of theinvestmentfirmYucaipa Companies.The asking priceofthe propertywas as high as $100 millionin2016.

TOPOFTHE WORLD Britainseesrecordrise incases;UStellsUK travellerstogettested

LyubovSobol UK sends moretroopstoDover to help clear truck queues

RUSSIA PTI&REUTERS Criminalcase LONDON,WASHINGTON,DEC25 openedagainst ARECORD number of people have tested positive forCovid-19 allyofNavalny in England as millions spend RUSSIAN LAWenforce- Christmas Dayawayfrom ment agencies openeda friends and familydue to acon- criminal case against tinuing spikeincoronavirusin- LyubovSobol,anallyof fections on Friday. Kremlin critic Alexei Figures from the National Navalny, andtook her in Health Service’s (NHS) Test and forquestioning early on Trace networkshowedthat be- Fridayafter raiding her tween December 10 and16, home, Navalnyand his 173,875peoplereceivedapositive supporters said. There result —the highestweeklytotal Awomanlooksthrough thewindow at hermotheropening a wasnoimmediatecom- of positive casesanda58percent present on Christmas DayinLondon. MillionsinBritainwere mentfromthe police. Aman dressedupasSantaClaus waves to children from inside aplastic ball as aprotectivemeasureagainstthe spread of increase on the previous week. spending Christmas away from their familiesasauthorities Supporters of Navalny Covid-19, in Ferrol, in the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia. Reuters Separately, according to the tightenedrestrictions amidrising Covid-19cases. Reuters said the police action ap- the Office forNational Statistics pearedto bearesponse to (ONS), positive cases of coron- Sobol visiting the home of avirus areincreasing sharply in around afterthe Trumpadmin- queues of lorriesfollowing the an alleged FSB security Celebrating Christmas in apandemic: parts of theUK, witharound one istration told US airlines on resumption of cross-channel service agent in Moscow. in 60 people nowtesting positive Tuesdayitwas notplanning to travel fordrivers who test nega- Navalnyhad earlier said inWalesandonein85inEngland. requireany testing forarriving tive forCovid-19. the mantook partina Churches shut, borders complicated Experts believe thenew mu- UK passengers. Ferryservices between Dover botchedplottopoison tations of the deadlyvirusare In Britain, Prime Minister and the French port of Calais him in August. Sobol was driving cases up across the coun- Boris Johnson has warnedthat restartedonThursday, endingsev- brieflydetainedon Ibeg everyone... to Covid-19 vaccines shines “lights Christmas Dayinalast-minute tryastheyare morecontagious. tougher restrictions could be eraldays of ablockadeimposedby FRANCESD'EMILIO move,after China’scapital was It has resultedin mostparts of the neededtokeep themutant coro- France following the discovery of Mondayafter visiting the promote cooperationand of hope” on the world. In apas- alleged agent’s flat and ROME,DECEMBER25 sionateappeal to leaders, busi- put on high alert following the UK to be placedinsome form of navirus strain “runningout of thenew virus variant in England. ringing the doorbell. She not competition, to find a nesses and international organi- confirmation of twoconfirmed stringent lockdown measures. control” in the newyear. Soldiers were checking vehi- wasnot letintothe man’s CURFEWS, QUARANTINES and solution for everyone — sations, he said theymustensure Covid-19cases lastweek. It has also resulted in many “Webelieve that we’regoing cles and drivers’ documents at apartment. REUTERS even border closingscomplicated vaccines for all — that the mostvulnerableand Border crossing closures kept countries putting restrictionson to have to getthrough this tough the entrance to theportand Christmas celebrations Fridayfor especially for the most needy in the pandemic be firstin thousands of migrantsfromeco- travellers from Britain. The US period nowwith, as Ihavesaid Frenchofficials, in Dovertohelp countless people around the vulnerableand needyin line to receive thevaccines. nomically devastated Venezuela said on Thursdaythatitwould manytimes, very tough restric- clearthe backlog, were seenad- globe, but ingenuity,determina- Bells rang out around who live in other parts of South requireall airline passengers ar- tions,withtoughtiering,”hesaidat ministering nasal swab teststo WESTASIA tionandimaginationhelpedkeep allareasofthe plane.” Bethlehem on Fridayasthe tradi- America from going home for riving from the UK to test nega- apress conference Thursday. drivers. An additional 800 Israelijetsfly the dayspecial formany. POPE FRANCIS tional birthplace of Jesus cele- the holidays.Others successfully tive forCovid-19within 72 hours Britain deployedadditional British troops have nowbeen Pope Francis deliveredhis IN HIS CHRISTMAS MESSAGE bratedChristmasDay.Buttheclo- crossedborders elsewhereonly of departurestartingMonday. militarypersonneltothe portof deployed to the port, on topof overBeirut; Christmasblessingfrominsidethe sureofIsrael’sinternationalairport to find themselvesinquarantine. The decision wasaturn- DoveronFriday to help clearthe the 300sent initially. Vatican, breaking with his tradi- to foreign tourists,alongwith Celebrationsweremuted in blastsinSyria tional speechfromthe balconyof tions forthe holidays foiledany Palestinianrestrictionsbanningin- Africa,too,asovernightchurch vig- ISRAELI JETS flewvery St.Peter’s Basilica to tens of thou- plans by locals to flocktothe tercity travel in the areas theyad- ilscouldnot beheldinmanyparts Another new lowoverparts of Lebanon sands in St.Peter’s Square. But square. ministerinthe Israeli-occupied becauseof acurfew.Fewerpeople US Covidrelief Bill early Friday, terrifying tourism in Italyhas virtuallyvan- Citing acause foroptimism West Bank,keptvisitorsaway. also reportedlyheadedhome to coronavirus residentsonChristmas ishedinthe pandemic and the amid the pandemic’s bleakness, In Beijing, official churches seefamilies,whichcouldhelplimit Eve, some of whom re- government’scoronavirusrestric- Francis said the invention of abruptlycancelledMass on the spread of the virus. AP hangs in balance as variant found portedseeing missiles in the skies over Beirut. in Nigeria, says Minutes later,Syria’s offi- Trump goes golfing cial news agency re- portedexplosions in the Africa CDC central Syrian town of Masyaf. Other Syrianme- TIMREID& ED dia said air defencesre- RICHARDCOWAN Threatofa REUTERS sponded to an Israeliat- DECEMBER25 PLAIN E NAIROBI,DECEMBER25 ● pocketveto tack near the town in the EX Hama province.There The US has expressed‘deep USPRESIDENTDonaldTrumpwill ANOTHER NEWvariant of the wasnoimmediate word concern’ over the release of spend Christmas Dayathis Palm IT IS notyet clear whether novelcoronavirus seems to on the target or whether al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Beachresortasmillions of Trumpactually intends to have emergedinNigeria, therewereany casualties. Omar SaeedSheikh Americans face the risk of losing veto theCovid relief Bill. The the head of Africa’s disease con- Israeli jets regularly vio- jobless benefitsonSaturdayand Bill waspassedafter months trol body said on Thursday, lateLebanese airspace apartial government shutdown of negotiations between both cautioning moreinvestigation and have oftenstruck in- Men convicted looms next week,following his parties in Congress, and it is wasneeded. side Syria. AP threatto veto a$2.3trillioncoron- possible that lawmakers “It’s aseparate lineagefrom in Daniel Pearl avirusaid and spending package. couldvote to overridethe the UK and the South African USA The fight over the spending veto if Trumpdoesuse that lineages,” John Nkengasong, di- murder set to be and aid packagecomes as option.However, Trump rector of the Africa Centres for Covidpatient Americansfaceanunprecedented coulduse what is known as a Disease Control and Prevention bludgeonedto released today holiday season, amid apandemic pocket veto in order to killthe (CDC)toldanonline news con- that is killing people in record Bill.The Presidentcan hold on ference from Addis Ababa. deathinhospital At the scene of an explosion in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday. AP numbers. Nearly 320,000 to legislation for10daysbe- The news comes as cases are AN 82-YEAR-OLD man PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Americans have died of Covid-19 fore he has to makeacall on it, surging in both Nigeriaand who wasbeing treated KARACHI,DECEMBER25 this year and the dailydeath toll is and if Trumpdoes that, the South Africa. In the pastweek, forCovid-19atahospital Large explosion shakes Nashville; repeatedlywellover3,000,the Bill will effectivelydie be- Nigeria reporteda52% increase northofLos Angeleswas BRITISH-BORN AL-QAEDA highestsincethepandemicbegan. cause the current Congress’ in cases and South Africaa40% bludgeonedtodeath leaderAhmedOmar Saeed On Christmas Eve, Trump term expires next week. increase,Nkengasongsaid. with an oxygen tank last Sheikhand his three aides, playedgolf at his course in West He said therewas no evi- police say it was an intentional act whose releaseinthe abduction Palm Beach, Florida,and tweeted dence the newvariantwas con- week by his roommate, the authorities said. The and murder case of US journal- aseries of grievances repeating gotiate. The Bill provides $892 bil- tributing to increasedtrans- men were sharing atwo- Aaronsaidpolice respondedto investigators from the Bureauof istDaniel Pearlwas orderedby his baseless claims about the lion in coronavirus relief, and $1.4 mission in Nigeria, but personroom at Antelope KIMBERLEEKRUESI acall of shots firedjustbefore6 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and acourt here, will walk out of the election result, including one trillioninregulargovernmentap- cautionedthe countrydoes less ValleyHospital in &THALIABEATY am, but were notabletoimme- Explosiveswerealsoonthe prison on Saturday, police and aimedatSenateRepublicans, propriations. Trump, who was genomic surveillance than Lancaster, California, NASHVILLE,DECEMBER25 diatelylocatesigns of ashooting, scene. The FBI is the primarylaw alawyersaid on Friday. whomheaccuses of abandoning represented in the negotiations Britain. when the assault hap- although officers noticedasus- enforcement agency responsible Atwo-judgebenchofthe him because manynow publicly by TreasurySecretarySteven The NigeriaCDC and the penedonDec 17,author- AN EXPLOSION shook the streets picious vehicle and calledfor a forinvestigating federal crimes, Sindh High CourtonThursdaydi- recognise Biden as the winner. Mnuchin andhad notobjectedto African CentreofExcellence for ities said. Theysaid the at- of downtownNashville early hazardous unit. While they suchasexplosivesviolations and rected security agencies notto Trumpstunnedmembers of the terms prior to theHouse and GenomicsofInfectiousDiseases tack had occurredwhen Christmas morning, shattering waited,the vehicle exploded. actsofterrorism. keep Sheikh and other accused both parties when he unexpect- Senatevotes,complainedthatthe in Nigeria will study moresam- the victim begantopray, windows,damaging buildings Aaronsaid three people were At noon,police dogs contin- under “anysortofdetention”and edly announcedthis week his dis- packagewas toofull of moneyfor ples, Nkengasongsaid. angering the roommate, and wounding three people. takentoareahospitals fortreat- uedtosearch cars and buildings declared allnotificationsofthe likeofthe $2.3 trillion spending specialinterests and foreign aid, “Give us some time ... it’s still who wasidentifiedas Authorities said theybelieved ment. He said some people were in the nearbyarea. Sindhgovernmentrelatedto their Bill, apackagethat had takenthe and said the $600indirect pay- veryearly”, he said,inresponse to Jesse Martinez, 37.The the blastwas intentional. The FBI takentothe department’s cen- APhiladelphia man staying detention “null and void”. The House and Senatemonths to ne- mentswas notenough. REUTERS questions about the variant. victim, who wasnot iden- is leading the investigation. tral precinct forquestioningbut in anearbyhotelsaid that when courtobserved that the four tified, waspronounced No deaths have been re- declinedtogivemoredetails. he heardthe blast, he wasknew men’s detention was“illegal”. AFTER DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT dead next morning. NYT ported. The FBI will be taking the it wasn’t aharmlessnoise.“It According to the legal coun- MetroNashville Police leadinthe investigation,said wasavery loud explosion,” said sel forthe four men, theywillbe Department spokesman Don spokesman Joel Siskovic. Federal Joseph Fafara. releasedonSaturdayasFriday is apublicholiday in the country. Nepal’s SupremeCourtissues Meanwhile, the US on Friday expressed“deep concern” over Russian history professor who murdered, thecourtorderto releasethemen. showcause notice to Oli govt “Weare deeplyconcerned by the reports... We have been assured dismembered student gets over 12 yrs in jail thattheaccusedhavenot beenre- YUBARAJGHIMIRE At amarch to leasedatthis time,” the US State KATHMANDU,DECEMBER25 protestagainst twosevered arms inside. broad attentioninRussia. Departmentsaid in atweet. the dissolution ASSOCIATEDPRESS The limbs were identified as Afluent Frenchspeaker, Ruth and Judea Pearl—the ACONSTITUTIONAL benchof of Parliament, ST.PETERSBURG,DEC25 Yeshchenko’s, and investigators Sokolovwas aleadingmember parentsofDanielPearl—con- Nepal’s Supreme Court issueda in Kathmandu found other body parts in the of militaryreenactment move- demnedthedecisionmadeby the showcause noticeFriday to the Friday. Reuters ACOURT in St.Petersburgon riverand in Sokolov’s apartment mentssince the early 1990s and Sindh High courtand expressed KPSharma Oli government, ask- Fridayconvictedaprominent in the historic partofSt. represented Napoleon in nu- full confidence in the Supreme ingitto furnishreasonsforthedis- history professor on chargesof Petersburg, less than amile from merous representations of his- CourtofPakistantoprovide jus- solution of the House of Amidthe feud between rival sternmeasuresif hewasinstigated murdering and dismembering a the HermitageMuseum. toric battles and other events. tice fortheir son, the Express Representatives, along with the factions of the NCP, China’s am- further,drawing speculation that femalestudent and sentenced During the trial, Sokolovtes- Sokolov’s flamboyant style Tribune reported. originalletterof recommendation bassador Hou Yanqi metthe he could move to dismiss all the him to 12 1/2 years in prison. tifiedthat he and Yeshchenko and fierydelivery made him In April, atwo-judgeSindh fordissolution and the response party’s dissident leaders fora sevenprovincial governments, or The court found 64-year-old OlegSokolov had aromantic relationshipand popular among students, and High Courtbench commutedthe fromthePresident’soffice,by Jan3. thirdday in arow.Shemetsenior at least some of them, and put Oleg Sokolov, who taught at St. that he shother during aquarrel. he spokeabout his passion for deathsentenceof Sheikhto seven Afactionofthe ruling Nepal NCPleader MadhavNepal and them under the Centre’s rule. PetersburgState University, Sokolovwas known forhis the Napoleonic erainTVinter- years imprisonment. The court CommunistParty,ledby Pushpa former Speaker Krishna Bahadur Protests have eruptedin parts guilty of shooting and killing 24- Sokolovwas detainedafter booksabout the Napoleonic era views.Napoleon washis idol alsoacquittedhisthreeaideswho Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, has ac- Maharaseparately, aday afterher of Nepalagainstthedissolutionof year-old doctoral student being pulledfromthe Moika and his enthusiastic participa- and fellowhistory buffs would were servinglifetermsinthecase cusedPrime MinisterOli of dis- meeting with Prachanda. the House, with some protesters Anastasia Yeshchenkoathis Riveroutsidehis St.Petersburg tion in reenactmentsofhistoric address him ‘Sire’, the em- —almosttwo decades afterthey solving the House in abid to re- Meanwhile,OlisaidinaTVin- burning effigies of Oli and apartment in November 2019. apartment with abackpackwith battles, and his case attracted peror’s title. were found guilty and jailed. tain power. terviewthathewouldtakemore PresidentBidhyaDeviBhandari.

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

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Domestic equity,currency andbullion marketsand international stockmarkets were closedonFridayonaccountofChristmas FINAL DECISION LIKELY TO BE TAKEN AFTER SPECTRUMAUCTION IN MARCH INTERVIEW WITHCEO,GENNOVA BIOPHARMACEUTICALS Consumerinfocus:DoT&Traimay ‘Vaccine pricetobeoutcome of scale; have output capacity dashtelcos’hopesoffixedfloorprice of 30 mn doses per month’

discussions, however, retired in giventhe financial health of the THE MRNACovid-19vaccine by whatthe correlates of protection AASHISHARYAN Long-term September thisyear,without telecom players. Gennova Biopharmaceuticalswill are. During our phase1and 2tri- NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 having achievedthe finality on “Giventhe financialpres- hopefullynot onlyachieve asim- als, we will have to seewhether

AINED productivity this issue. sureonthe sector and the fact ilar efficacy to the candidates de- we aregettingasimilarkindof re- THE DEPARTMENT of It is nowlikely, officials said, that ARPU (average revenue per velopedbyPfizerand Moderna, sponse. We willalsolookataddi- Telecommunications (DoT) is is key that the newchairperson PD user) and tariffs of the Indian but will also be more affordably tionalcorrelatesof protection,but notinfavour of allowing or fix- Vaghelamay either startafresh telecom sector arethe lowest in priced foracountrylikeIndia, ac- these arethe mostimportant.

EXPL E● ing afloor price forvoice or data consultation processordropthe the world, floor pricing is im- cordingto CEODrSANJAY SINGH. services offeredbytelcos as DEMAND FORfloor pricing fordataand voice services has matter altogether basedonhis perative to ensurethatthe sec- In an interviewtoPRABHA Pfizer and Moderna’svaccines therehas been substantial hike been unanimouslysupportedbytelecom operators, and in- meetings with DoTofficials. torissustainable,” COAI had RAGHAVAN, Singh detailshow seem to be expensive for in tariffs by the operators in re- dustryrepresentativestoo have asked expeditionofthe Theissue of floorpricing for said in itsletter. thePunefirm’svaccineworksand developingcountries. How cent months without anycorre- process. However, authorities have pointed out thatdatacon- dataaswell as voice services has Of the three, both Bharti delvesintoplans to test and scale do youexpect your vaccine sponding drop in user numbers, sumptionhas been quitehighand telcos have raisedtariffsin been unanimouslysupported by Airteland Vi areunder pressure up production foravastpopula- to be priced? senior government officials told recentmonths. the three big private telcos, following the Supreme Court’s tion. Edited excerpts: The price of the vaccine is di- TheIndian Express. Whilethe industry has pressedfor the needfor afloor Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti October 2019 ruling on ad- rectlycorrelated with itsmass Afinal decision on the issue price, doingsomay notbeasproductive until it is forthe long Airtel andVi(Vodafone Idea). justedgross revenue (AGR). Howdoesyour mRNA vaccine, production.Ithasto beaffordable is likelytobetaken afterthe run, policyexperts said. IndustrybodyCellular Operators The courthad ruledthat whichusesaself-amplifying and competitive,but right now spectrum auction in March.The Association of India (COAI), Bharti Airteland Vi must pay model, comparewith Pfizer Dr SanjaySingh the priority is safetyand efficacy. DoT, however, does notwant to whichrepresentsthe three tel- long-pending AGRdues, and Moderna’scandidates? Ourvaccine’spricingwillcertainly be seen takingananti-consumer cos,has alsoinrecent months the penalty fornon-payment Ourvaccinewillwork inasim- be in the affordable range—we stance and thereforemay avoid raisedtariffsalsoinrecent consultationsonthe issue of writtentothe Trai to expedite over the pastyears, and ilar fashion to Pfizer’s and global testing of this vaccine? arecommittedtothat—butitwill the floor pricingaltogether,offi- months,” an official said. floor pricing in December last the process of fixing afloor price theinterestonpenalty for Moderna’scandidates.Regardless Forphase 1, we have gottwo alsodepend on howmanydoses cialssaid. Apartfromthe DoT, the year,anationwide lockdown in forbothdataand call services, non-payment. of thefactthatthisisbasedonthe siteswherewewillbestartingen- we areaskedto manufacture.The “Wehaveaforbearance Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of Marchthis year,put in place to but without anysuccess. Bharti AirtelowesDoT more self-amplifying mRNAplatform, rolment soon.Theseare KEM price will be an outcomeofscale. model. In the pastfew months, India(Trai) is also learnt to have prevent the spread of Covid-19, In itslettertothe DoT, the than Rs 43,000crore, of whichit it allowsyou to give the message Hospital in Pune and agovern- the data consumption forall supportedthe idea of notfixing brought these open-house de- industrybodyhad said that the has paid closetoRs18,000crore to the cells, whichconvertsitinto ment hospital in Kolhapur.The Howare youovercoming players has been very afloor price forthe services, batestoahalt. demand forafloor price on until now, while Vi owesmore theantigen,generatinganeutral- firstphasewillinclude120partic- potential supplychain issues high...patternislikelytocon- sources said. Former Trai ChairpersonRS both dataand voice services than Rs 58,000crore, of whichit ising immuneresponse against ipants.We arelookingatenrolling with your vaccine? What tinuenow.They(telcos) have Though Trai had started Sharma, who had kick-started wasa“legitimate” demand has paidnearly Rs 6,900crore. the Covid-19virus. Unlikeours, 500participantsforphase2trials capacity areyou aimingfor? Moderna’s and Pfizer’s vaccines and this will go intomanysites.I We already have installeda use non-replicating mRNA. hope it will be 6-10sites. productioncapacityof30million BRIEFLY Aself-amplifying typemRNA We hopeto startphase1soon. doses per month,but we can AMID COVID is muchmorebeneficial in sucha We will present ourphase 1data ramp it up fairly quicklywithour Paymentnotice pandemic situation, wherethe to the DCGI (Drug Controller parentgroup,Emcure.Intermsof 33,77,436: vaccinedeploymentisnotinmil- General of India), before starting rawmaterials, we arealready do- toDishTV ‘Stronger growth likelyfor auto 2,11,81,390: lions, but billions. Forthe coun- thesecondphase,andsothetime- ingbackwardintegrationto make PVUNITSSOLDIN2018-19,UP TWO-WHEELERS SOLD IN try’s population, this will be the line forthe trials to be completed sureweare self-sufficientinthis NewDelhi: Direct-to-home sector in FY22, EVs to benefit’ 2.7%FROM32,88,581UNITS 2018-19, UP 4.86% AS mostappropriatevaccine candi- will depend on these factors. I crucial partofthe supplychain. If operatorDishTVsaidFriday IN2017-18,ASPERSOCIETY COMPAREDWITH date. The advantageisthatyou hopethiswilltakearoundtwoand we have to producebillions of ithasreceivedademandno- Afterrecovering from the Covid impact, autoindustry is likely OFINDIANAUTOMOBILE 2,02,00,117UNITSIN can give maybealower dose of ahalf months, but this can vary. doses, the rawmaterial will cer- ticefromthe government to see stronger growth in 2021-22, withEVsales, especially MANUFACTURERS(SIAM) 2017-18 the vaccine. We areaiming to startphase tainlycropupasanissue. But, for forpayment of Rs 4,164.05 two-wheleers, also likely to be positive, aNomurareport said Moderna’svaccineisreported 1trials in the US alsowith our the levelweare at,currently, we crore,whichincludeslicence to work at100microgramsintwo partners. The NIH has fundedus have sourcedtherawmaterialsin feeand interest. In aregula- PVrecoverytotaketime: BoostforEVcomponents: doses, while Pfizer’s worksat30 —around$8.2million —and we suchafashionthat we can pro- tory filing, the Essel group Inthepersonalvehicle(PV) OntheEVcomponentsside,cell micrograms in twodoses. We are will expand this globally. duceafew hundredmilliondoses companysaidthattheMini- segment,thelevelsreachedin levelmanufacturingcouldstart targeting5,10 and25micrograms At present, we areindiscus- annuallyinaveryshorttime. stryof InformationandBro- 2018-19wouldbereachedonly offwithtechnological andwe hopethatanyoneof these sions with the US FDA, but we Once we complete phase 2, adcasting, via aletterdated in2022-23,whereasfortwo- collaborationsfocusingonnew doses will provetobeefficacious. expect somewhereinthe mid- we willbeinamuchbetterposi- December24,askeditto pay wheelers,itwillbeachieved techlikeLTO(lithiumtitanium In aself-amplifying module, dle of Februarytobeabletostart tion to understand what kindof thesaidsumtowardslicence maybeayearafterthat oxide)batteries one mRNAmolecule enters the phase 1trials.The number of production capacity we’regoing feefromtheperiodfromthe cellandproducesmultiplecopies, participants(in the US) will be to aimfor. dateofissuance of DTHli- PositiveoutlookforEVs: Highercompetition: whichwill then makehigher decidedbythe FDAthere, the cence till FY19. Electricvehicles(EVs)would Widerparticipationbylocal quantitiesof proteinantigencom- waythe participantsinIndia Realistically, when do you alsoseepositivemovementsin playersaswellasentryofsome paredto asimilardoseofthenon- have been decidedbythe CDSCO expect aCovid-19vaccine FY22,especiallyintwo-wheeler newplayerscouldbeseenin replicating mRNA. Therefore, the (Central Drugs StandardControl becoming available in India? Dutyoncarbon EVsegment,withnewplayers termsofEVcomponentssuch effective dose can be quiteless, Organisation). Ifeelwe canhave somebright blackimports likeOlaElectriccomingin asmotorsandcontrollers providingasimilar protection to Thereisapossibility that we prospectsclose to March to April. disease.Anotheradvantageof mightgo inforlargerglobaltrials, This meansavaccineinvisibility NewDelhi: TheCommerce mRNAingeneral is thatitnever andIpresumethetarget countries withestablishedsafetyand effi- Ministryhasrecommended Export opportunities: Further, export opportunities Why is it important: Afterrecovering from the enters the nucleus and, thereby, forthesetrials willinclude Brazil cacy data. extension of anti-dumping for EV components as well as batteriescould emerge pandemic, the auto industry would see stronger growth Source: thereisnopossibility of integra- andSouth Africa. dutyforfiveyearsoncarbon for domesticplayers as the worldstruggles to find next fiscal, with some price hikes —expectedwith Nomura/PTI tion in the organism’s genome, Howhas financing and blackfromChinaandRussia, alternative sources for supply chain resilience introductionofnew regulations—beingakey factor where theDNA resides. It does its What correlates of protection support from CEPI and BIRAC saidaDirectorateGeneralof work in the cytoplasm, and be- (correlates of protection are help in the development of TradeRemediesnotification. cause of this chemical structure, signs that the vaccine is able to your vaccine? it is anaturallyself-degrading develop the immuneresponse Other than the initial seed RIL to buy out molecule —itgoes away within a required)will youbelooking fundingandsupportfromDBT,the ‘IKEAIndialoss Manufacturing cos see recovery limited time. at to ensurethat your vaccine mostimportant thing that came widensinFY20’ IMGWorldwide We did extensive preclinical is efficacious? to usisthatwe have gonethrough animal testing, starting some- We will be looking at corre- amulti-layer reviewprocess, and NewDelhi:IKEAIndiasawits with softer Q2 sales contraction from sports whereinMarch fornine months. latessimilar to what Pfizer has these expert comments were an netlosswiden to Rs 720.1 Thisisimportantbecauseitwillre- studied in itstrials,and some ad- addedadvantagefor us. crorein2019-20, as perreg- Datadrawn from resultsoflistedNGNF cosbyReserve Bank management JV duce our risk,improve safetyand ditional correlates. Forinstance, Everysecond month, we are ulatorydocuments. help us understand the possible (wewould be looking at) the hu- presenting to the committee, ond quarterstood at Rs 80,842 efficaciousdoses of our vaccine. moral response in terms of anti- and theyare evaluating our data. Sebifineorder: ENSECONOMICBUREAU NOMINALSALES croreand Rs 1,01,353 crore, re- ENSECONOMICBUREAU body and neutralisation titers. So, Gennova has aunique advan- NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 SHRINK4.3% spectively.“Operating profitsof NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 What timelines areyou Anothercorrelateishow goodthe tage of havingsuchanexpert NDTVtoappeal manufacturingcompanies in- looking at forthe testing of cellular (T-cell) response is. If a group available fortheir vaccine DEMAND CONDITIONS in the creasedonthe back of savings in RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Ltd (RIL) your vaccine candidatein vaccinewhichhasbeenapproved development apartfromjust ■ Manufacturing NewDelhi: NDTVpromot- manufacturingsectorreturnedto expenditure; operating profitsof has agreedtobuy out IMG India? What is the scope for usesthesameplatform,we know seedfunding. companies posteda ers, Prannoyand Radhika the recovery mode, with asofter services(bothITandnon-IT)com- Worldwide LLCfromtheir sports 4.3%year-on-year Roy, andpromotergroup year-on-year (y-o-y) contraction paniesalsoincreasedinQ2:2020- management joint venturefor contraction in Q2FY21, companyRRPR HoldingPvt of 4.3percentinthesecondquar- 21,” the RBI saidinastatement. Rs 52.08 crore. in termsofnominal Ltd will appeal againstthe terofthisfinancialyear,intermsof On expenditure,itsaid input The company, in astock ex- 3.97 cr ITRs filed for FY20 till Dec 24 sales,after shrinking Sebiorder that imposed a nominalsalesaftershrinking41.1 costpressurefromraw materials changefiling, said it will buyIMG 41.1%inthe preceding fine of Rs 27 croreonthem per cent in the previous quarter remainedsubduedfor manufac- Worldwide’s 50 per cent stakein same fortaxpayers whose ac- quarter, as per RBI data forallegednon-disclosureof thatwashitby countrywidelock- turing sector in the July- IMG-Reliance Ltd (IMG-R) forno ENSECONOMICBUREAU The deadline to file I-T countsrequiretobeaudited is certain loan agreements, as downsdueto Covid-19,according September quarterofthe fiscal. morethan Rs 52.08 croreincash. NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 returns by individual January31, 2021. perafilingto exchanges. PTI to RBIdata. Meanwhile, staffcostgrowth RIL will rebrand the company The due datehas been ex- The recovery wasled by iron listednon-government non-fi- (y-o-y) deceleratedforITcompa- afterthe closureofthe deal. AS MANY as 3.97crore taxpayers taxpayers forthe tendedfromJuly31and October ‘Chinacosdelay, and steel, food products, cement, nancial (NGNF) companies,the nies in the second quarter, RIL had formedanequal joint have alreadyfiledtheirincometax 2019-20 fiscal ends on 31,2020,respectively inviewofthe automobileandpharmaceuticals ReserveBankofIndia (RBI) said. whereas it remainedincontrac- venturewith IMG Worldwide, an returns forassessmentyear (AY) December 31,20 COVID pandemic. cancelbonds’ companies, showedthe dataon Nominalsales of non-IT serv- tion zonefor the manufacturing international sports marketing 2020-21(fiscal year 2019-20) till At the close of deadline forfil- the performance of the private ices sectortoo postedlowercon- and non-ITservices sectors. and management company, in December24, the Income Tax ingITRwithoutpaymentof latefee Shanghai: Chinese compa- corporate sector during thesec- tractionof14.5 per cent(y-o-y), As per the data, with rise in 2010 to develop, market and Department said on Friday. This includes 2.27crore tax- forFY2018-19(AY 2019-20), over nieshavecancelled or de- ondquarterof2020-21. ledbyexpansioninsalesof teleco- profits, interestcoverageratio managesportsand entertain- “Over 3.97crore Income Tax payers filing ITR-1,85.20 lakh fil- 5.65 crorereturns were filedby layedissuanceof nearly 200 Manufacturingcompaniesre- mmunication and real estate co- (ICR) of manufacturing compa- ment in India. Returnshave alreadybeenfiledtill ingITR-4, 46.78 lakh ITR-3and taxpayers.The deadline last year bonds worth145.7 billion portedsales of Rs 5,99,479 crore mpanies.Salesgrowthof ITsector niesimprovedto4.6inthesecond IMG is aglobal leader in 24thof December,2020.Have you 28.74lakh filing ITR-2. wasextended till August31, 2019. yuan ($22.31billion) since in Q2, as againstRs3,97,233crore companiesremainedsteadyat3.6 quarterof2020-21from2.4inthe sports, fashion,eventsand me- filedyours as yet? If not, please do The deadline to file I-Treturns The I-Tdepartment said 3.92 early November,state media inApril-Juneof FY21. Thedatahas per cent (y-o-y) in Q2 FY21. previousthree-monthperiod.The dia, operating in morethan 30 it TODAY! File your Return of by individual taxpayers forthe croreITRswere filedtillAugust24, reported. REUTERS been drawnfromabridged quar- Asperthedata,salesof non-IT ICR of non-IT services companies countries, and is apartofthe Income Tax&....Relax!,” the de- 2019-20 fiscal (AY2020-21) ends 2019,comparedto 3.97 crorefiled terly financial resultsof2,637 firms and IT firms during the sec- remainedbelowone. Endeavornetwork. partment tweeted. on December31, 2020, while the tillDecember24, 2020. EU nations start assessing post-Brexit trade deal with UK

essential,sinceatransitionperiod REUTERS duringwhichBritaincontinuedto ‘India should seek FTAs with EU, UK’ BRUSSELS,DECEMBER25 trade by EU rules despiteits January 31 departurefromthe NewDelhi: With EuropeanUnion chitecture,research anddevelop- “Now we shouldpushtheFTA EUROPEANUNIONambassadors bloc runs out on NewYear’s Day. andtheUKclinchingapost-Brexit mentandengineeringinboththe negotiationswithboththeEUand were conveningonChristmasDay TheUKparliamentisexpected trade pact, India should nowag- marketsasthe EU-UK pact does the UK. Indian competitors like to startassessingthemassive free- to approve thedealinthe coming gressively pursuefreetradeagree- notcoverservices, theyadded. Vietnamhavegreaterdutyadvan- trade deal the bloc struckwith days,buttheagreementwillhave ments (FTAs)separatelywithboth “Thereisnot muchgainfor tage in sectors likeapparel and Britain that should kickoff next to be appliedprovisionally, since the regions, according to experts. Indiangoods, butwecan gain in marine goods,”Sahai said. week when the acrimonious the EU’s legislaturecan onlygive Althoughitispremature to as- servicessectorinboththeUKand Sharingsimilarviews,Biswajit Brexit divorceprocessfinally itsnod next month at the earliest. sess the gains forIndia from the EU markets. We will gain morein Dhar,aprofessorofeconomicsat comes to an end. Afterthe deal There, too, approval is expected. agreement between European the UK marketasweare an Jawaharlal Nehru University,said wasannounced on Thursday, EU The strong showofunity is Union (EU) and the United English speaking country,” India had alot of contentious is- nations already showedsupport testament to EU chief negotiator Kingdom,Indiangoodswouldnot FederationofIndianExport sues while negotiating FTAwith forthe outcome and it wasex- MichelBarnier,who has worked getmuchbenefit from this pact, Organisations(FIEO)directorgen- the EU.However,after Brexit,the pected that theywould unani- relentlesslytokeepall EU nations theysaid. eral Ajay Sahai said. UK could have different stand on mouslybackthe agreement, a EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier at ameetingofthe Committee of thePermanent andgroupswithin the EU parlia- However, India can explore He saidthereare no specific those issues and now“India prerequisitefor itslegal approval. Representativesofthe Governmentsofthe Member States to theEuropeanUnion, in Brussels. AP mentintheloopof developments opportunities in service sectors customsdutybenefitsfordomes- should pursue FTAtalks again Speedily approvingthedealis throughout the negotiations. likeinformation technology,ar- ticgoodsfromthis agreement. with both the regions”. PTI

New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 17 SPORT/CALENDAR THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 SERIE A BRIEFLY WhyJadejaforKohliis Resurgent Milan challenge Centresanctions Vinesh’strainingcamp Juventus’ dominance inHungary aradicalselectionshift NewDelhi: The central government has sanctioneda40-day training campfor ASSOCIATEDPRESS champion wrestler VineshPhogatalong MILAN,DECEMBER25 withherpersonalcoachWollerAkos,spar- All-rounder’s returngives thisteam the optionoffieldingfivegenuine bowlers ringpartner Priyanka Phogat and physio- LIKE 2020 in general, it's been astrange year therapistPoornima RamanNgomdir fora forSerie A.Forthe firsttimesince 2009, both total costofRs15.51lakh.The camp was TUSHARBHADURI Milan clubs areatthe topofthe Italian league sanctionedunderthegovernment'sTarget NEWDELHI,DECEMBER25 standings heading intothe winter break. Olympic PodiumScheme (TOPS). The Inter Milan went on to winthe title that campwilltakeplacefromDecember28to FOUR CHANGES in aTestmatch side will season, withcity rivalACMilan claiming it January24atthe Vasas SportsClubin normallybeconsidered drastic,but the the following campaign. Neither of them has Budapest,HungaryandfromJanuary24to playing XI pickedbyTeam India’sthink wonitsince, in anine-year domination of February5atthe OlympicTrainingCentre tank forthe Boxing DayTestmatchisun- Serie AbyJuventus,but Milan ends the year inSzczrykinPoland.Thetotalcostincludes derstandable in the backdrop of the one point ahead of second-place Inter. airfare,localtransportation,boarding and Adelaide debacle. Juventus uncharacteristicallyfindsitself lodging chargesand out of pocket al- Shubman Gill forPrithvi Shaw, in sixth, trailing Milan by 10 points—albeit lowance.Vineshisapartofthe Target MohammedSiraj forMohammedShami having playedamatch less. Milan can’t quite Olympic Podium Scheme and is amedal and Rishabh Pant forWriddhiman Sahacan claim the symbolic title of “Winter prospectattheTokyoGames.The training be termedlike-for-likereplacements, but Champion,” however, as that goes to the camphas been planned by Vinesh's per- the one that seems abit radical is Ravindra team topofSerieAatthe halfwaystage.With sonal coachAkos, giving herthe opportu- Jadejacominginfor regular skipper Virat the season having startedlater than usual — Zlatan Ibrahomovic has scored 10 goals nitytosparwithmanyEuropeanwrestlers Kohli. It changes the whole dynamic and becauseofthe effectsofthe coronavirus pan- in Serie Asofar this season. Reuters in her weight category andimproving on balance of the side. India seems to be taking demic on the lastcampaign —only14ofthe her technicaland tactical aspects. the aggressive options forthe Melbourne 19 rounds making up the firsthalfofthe sea- Test starting on Saturday. son have been played. The Serie Aseason will thought of going to his native Sweden when resume on 3January. he wasinjured. ‘Amirincidentwillhave Can an all-rounderreplace Batsman Ibrahimovic has also instilledanever- negativeimpactonteam’ No.1? Mesmerising Milan give-up mentality in his teammates and that The left-arm spinner’s batting has im- What adifference ayear makes. Milan wasclearly evident on Wednesdaywhen Lahore: FormerPakistancaptainandchief proved considerablyinrecent times, but he has collected 34 points from itsfirst14league Theo Hernández scored in stoppagetime to selectorInzamam-ul-Haqbelievesthatthe will notbeexpected to contributetoKohli’s matches, exactlydouble the number it had at securea3-2 win over Lazio andensureMilan recentMuhammadAmirretirementcon- quantum of runs. What he brings to the the same stagelastyear.Itisalso the onlyun- headedintothe winter break above Inter. troversy will have anegative impact on table is afifth bowling option, probablythe beaten team across Europe’s topfiveleagues, While ending the year topofthe table country's cricket.Amir recentlyretired best in the worldright now. He will notbe with 10 wins and four drawsand is within might onlybesymbolic, itsimportance to frominternationalcricketduetohisdiffer- considered aspecialistbatsman, but he has touching distance of arecord. the players wasclearly shown by their wild ences with team management compris- shown in the pastthathecan come to the Milan is onlythe second side in thosefive celebrations. It matters as muchtotheirfans ingchief coachMisbahulHaqandbowling party when the chips aredown. And if the RavindraJadejaislikelytobat at No 7. PTI leagues to have scoredatleasttwo goals in as around 500ofthemwelcomedthe team coachWaqarYounis. "It is notabout what MCG pitchisslowand flat as it hasbeen in more than 15 successive matches reaching bus to the stadium, letting offflares and impact Amir's decision will have on our recent times, the extraspin op- backtolastseason. The Rossoneri have done chanting their support, with spectators still bowlingresourcesorstrengthbecauselife tion will be handy,bothasa has scoredvital runs in the have been preferredifthe pitchwas ex- so in 16 and areclosinginonBarcelona’s bannedfromstadiumsinItaly because of the moveson. But what bothers me moreis wicket-taking and containment past, but Pant has the ability to pected to be quicker. recordof18, setin1948. Thekey difference pandemic. the negativeimpact suchincidentshave option. change agame with the bat in between this year and lastisthatMilan now on our cricketand itsimage," Inzamam ashortperiodoftime. With Finally, what about KL Rahul? has forwardZlatanIbrahimovic. The team was Flailing Juve toldthemediainLahoreonThursday. The Gill forShawwas expected. Kohli absent, the team man- Rahul’s pedigree with the bat is notin 12th whenIbrahimovic returnedtothe clubin Thingsare notgoing to plan at Juventus batting great felt that the Amir incident Shaw’s technical deficiencies agement mayhavebeen look- doubt. He is on his thirdTesttourof January, eight years afterhis departure—and fornew coachAndrea Pirlo. Pirlo wastasked didn't reflect well on Pakistancricket. on pitches that do alittle bit were ing forsomeone to take theag- Australiaand even has ahundred there. He that of others —sparkedaspiralofdecline. with turning Juventus intoamoreattractive laidbareinAdelaide. Gill is a gressive optionand put also givesthe team management options – Ibrahimovic has helpedtransform the side and ending the club’s quarter-century muchmoresolid and technically-proficient pressurebackonthe Australian bowlers. he can keep wickets, bat in the middle order, club notonlywithhis goals on the field but wait forChampions League success, despite Lampard seeks batsman, andhis game is well suited to the And Pant is likelytobereliablebehindthe or even open the batting. also his leadership qualities offit. The 39- it being his very firstcoaching position. improvementatChelsea Aussie conditions with the extrabounce.He stumps againstseamers.Theywillkeep But Rahul has been awicketkeeper only year-old Ibrahimovic has playedless than But the Bianconeri arefalteringinSerie has scored mostofhis First-Class runs as an theirfingers crossedthathedoesn’t make in white-ballgamessofar,and giving him half his team’s matches this season as he has A, whichithas dominated forthe previous London:ChelseabossFrankLampardsaid openerfor Punjab, and aTestdebut has anymistakeswhile ’keeping to spinners. the big gloves would have been abig risk. been sidelinedwith the coronavirus and in- nine seasons. Under the 41-year-old Pirlo, he is pleasedwith the progress made by been considered long overdue. He could As farasopening goes, he has struggledin juries. He has nevertheless managed to score Juventus is having one of itsworststartssince his team in the Premier League so farthis protect the middle order,alreadymissing Siraj preferredoverSaini. overseas conditions when the ball moves 10 goals in his six league matches. 2010 and is 11 points worseoff than it was season,buthascalledforfurtherimprove- Kohli, from the newball. The dressing room This is aforcedchange. Shamibowls a offthe straight, and Gill wasconsidered the Ibrahimovic has also helped coachStefano after13matches lastseason under predeces- mentintheirquesttobecomegenuineti- willbeacalmerplace. heavy ball and can run through abatting or- moresolid playeratthis stage. And as Rahul Pioli bring out the best in Milan’syoungplay- sor Maurizio Sarri. Juventus' problem is tlecontenders. “I’mhappybutwe always der if he is in the mood.Siraj is moreaswing doesn’t bowl,hewas pipped by Jadejawho ers. So youthful is Milan’s squad that this sea- drawing matches it would have previously want more as managers,” Lampardtold Is Pant forSaha agamble? bowler who can be effective if there’s assis- could give agenuinewicket-taking option son it has fieldedthe twoyoungeststarting won. Pirlo’s side has already drawnsix of its Sky Sports on Thursday. “The reality is at Thereishardlyany doubt that Saha is tance available. He also has abetterFirst- if conditions arefavourable. lineups in Serie Asince at least2004-05 matches —morethan it has in anyofthe last the startof the season, we had some new the most accomplishedgloveman in India, Class and A-team recordthan Navdeep As Rahul didn’t feature in either of the when statisticssupplierOptastarted collect- eightseasonsapart from 2014-15. players while others were missing, and but there’s aline of thinking that hisskills Saini, who wasthe other option forthis warm-up games before the firstTest, it’s ing that data. “Pioli told me that there Juventus also appears to have become too we lacked apre-season.Looking at our arerequiredmoreinsub-continentalcon- spot. Siraj and Umesh Yadavcan be ahandy evident that he isn’t quiteinthe think (Sweden) Ihavetwo children but hereIhave dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo and strug- early results,wesaw somegoodandsome ditions while standing up to spinners. The new-ball pairing, keeping the threat of tank’s scheme of things as farasTests are 25 and theyneedme,” Ibrahimovic said in a gles when itsstarforward has an unusually not-so-good performances.” AGENCIES Bengal playerisastubborn batsman who Jasprit Bumrah as firstchange. Saini would concerned. recent interview, when asked if he had sub-par performance.

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry&TLewis CROSSWORD 4312 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

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SOLUTION

OW OLL ,H NT PLI ,S OW ARR E, PEEV SOLUTION: New Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY,DECEMBER26,2020 TIM PAINE CALLS FOR SYDNEY SACRIFICE Australian skipper TimPaine on Fridayinvited broadcast and events stafftomakea "small sacrifice" of joining them in abio-secure bubble and ensure the third Test goes 18 SPORT ahead as planned despite aspike in COVID-19cases in Sydney. PTI BOXING‘IfKohliDAY TEST isangryAmitabh,RahaneisAmolPalekar’

In Kohli’s absence, India is meetings,butwheneverhesaidsomething,his droppedfromthe Indian ODI team. views were spotonand hence, respected by Samant, who wasthe Mumbaicoachdur- expectedto see adrastic everyone. He will also be good forthe young- ing the phase Rahane wascaptain, disagrees. sterslikeMohammedSiraj;theywillknowthat “Thereisamisconceptionthathedoesn'ttakea changeinleadership he will be patient with them and listenthem stand. Some showitinpublicaboutthe stand out. My gut feel is that he is abowler’s captain; theytookandthereare somewhodoitsilently. style. However, it is hewouldrespectthebowlers’individuality,ask Rahane is among the latter.” Former India feedback, and then makehis owncall.” opener Wasim Jafferdismisses talksabout the Rahane who actually Rahane startedtotrusthis owninstinctsas perceivedlackofaggression. “Without it, he reflectsthe true captainwhenheledMumbaiintheU-19Cooch couldn’t have playedfor India forsolong. He is Behar Trophy.Itwas afour-day game against like(Rahul) Dravid; he will notshowitbut character of this team Odisha,whoneeded10runsforthefirst-innings knows howtochannelise his aggression to the lead, with afew wickets in hand. In the past, he benefit of his game. Aggression doesn’t mean hastalkedabouthow hewasconfusedwhether usingbadwordsordoingcertainthingsovertly; DEVENDRAPANDEY& to go withaspinner or afastbowler, everyone is different. Thereare lotof SRIRAMVEERA as there wasturn and lowbounce. quietbutveryaggressiveindividuals. MUMBAI,DECEMBER25 He backed his instinct and went Rahane is one of them.” withafastbowler,whoexploitedthe Jafferisn’tgettingcarriedaway, ei- “IFKOHLIistheangryAmitabhBachchan,then lowbounce to claim all wickets and ther.“He hasthe temperament of a Rahane is the Amol Palekar of Indian cricket,” Mumbai took the lead.One of the captain, has good judgement but it’s former Mumbai playerand coachVinayak chief lessons he learnt from the only stilltooearly to judgehimasaleader. Samant, Rahane’s roommateinthe domestic Test he has captainedinbefore LIVE ON He has done it in IPL, but thereare team, nails the persona forus. (againstAustraliainDharamsalain SONY otherfactorsinvolvedinIPL.We shall Palekarisamanof substanceandatalented 2017),hesays,wasaboutbackinghis NETWORK: nowknow, over the course of three actor who made his name with gentle, modest owninstincts.In2015,heledIndiaon 5.00 AM Tests,howgoodheis.Itwillbeatough characterswithadiscerniblemiddle-classness; atourofZimbabwefor three ODIs situation;noVirat,noShami,noRohit aapla normal mulga (our normal boy), as they AjinkyaRahane has captainedIndia twice in Tests, winning both the games. AP and twoT20Is, whichalso had a either. Howhemotivateshisteamre- sayinMarathi, wordsthat would perfectlyde- learning moment forhim. In the firstODI, mainsto beseen.Everythingisagainsthim,sit- scribeRahane.With the pressure of expecta- Bhuvneshwar Kumar defended10runs in the uationisadverse.”Kaif feelsthattheadversesit- tions diluted in the absence of Kohli and berhimbeingloud.Evenifupset,hewon’tshow Heisnotthetypewhowilltalkloudly this IPL and he might have felt disappointed lastoverofthe chase, conceding justfive. That uation will actuallyhavealiberatingeffect on MohammedShami,Rahane’searthylotstanda itinhisreaction.That’shisnature,”Samantsays. within, but nevershowedit. He wasthe most taught himthe needtoback,trust,andsupport Rahane and Co. “Look,noone is expecting mir- pretty decent chance in the second Test,inpar- Thereisapopularstory in the Indian dress- ormouthcurses.Hewilltalksensibly eager at training, fielding likeafresh young- his teammates, he has said in the past. “I feel he aclesfromhim,especiallyafterthewaythefirst ticular because of the conditions in Melbourne ingroom, sharedbyRohit Sharma in the show evenincrunchpressuresituations. ster,encouraging the rest.Inthe games, he woulduseRAshwinreallywell,”saysKaif.“Igot Test waslost. But giventhe conditions in MCG, (the MCG pitchisexpected to be abit dry, and BreakfastwithChampions.Once,inAustralia,the Hedoesn’tgethyper.Heisthesilent would willingly go in as substituteand give it the feeling from the IPL that he knows and re- if itdoesplayoutslowanddoesn’thave thatten- notoffer steep bounce or excessive pace). senior players had convincedRahane that he manlikePalekar.Ineverremember his all, and increasedthe energy levels of the spectsAshwin’s skills alot,and on this pitchin nis-ballspongybounceseeninAdelaide,Ithink It’sRahane’simagethatthisteamof charac- needs to sledgebackthe Australians who were himbeingloud.Evenifupset,he team.He has oftenrun in to give drinksaswell, MCG,IexpecthimtoturntoAshwinprettyearly Indiahave selectedagoodteam,withRavindra ters actuallyreflects. Theymight dream about needlinghim.“Two orthreeplayersweresledg- won’tshowitinhisreaction.That’s and even then would shout out some words in the game.” Jadejain. Notmanywillbelieve me, but Ithink being Amitabhs and Kohlis, but parse through ing him, saying “f*** you, playshots andsuch, of encouragement. AdityaTare,Mumbai’scaptain,muchjunior Rahane has agreat chance of leading this team the line-up, from toptobottom, andone does- Ajju went towardsthem and did” –Sharma hisnature.” “Totalteamspirit;playersnoticeallthisand to Rahane, also spokeabout his strengths and to awin in these conditions.” n’t getthe imageofany outlandish herowad- mimickedRahane,sticking his tongue out and VINAYAK SAMANT, take inspiration. An Indiavice-captain not innatesenseofdecency. “Helikes to talk to Bollywoodmighthavelonggivenuponthe ingthroughburningdecks.Theyseemmorelike showingitto theplayer, andSharmaconvulses FORMER MUMBAI TEAM-MATE throwing tantrums, but eagerly doing every- bowlers. He had maintainedsuchadecorum BasuChatterjee-typemoviesbutintheworldof acommonmanwaitingforthebusorlocaltrain, with laughter in the retelling. Rahane doesn’t thing. In fact, it wasIwho felt compelledtotell that he will notmess with the captain leading webseries, we have seen aquiet return. Afew ready to take adeepbreath and thrustthem- mouth cuss wordsorreachout formiddle fin- Mohammad Kaif, the assistant coachat him that his name wasdiscussedinevery se- that time. Ialwaysnoticed he willkeep on giv- days back,movie siteIMDB rolledout itstop 10 selvesintotheseeminglyinsurmountableodds gers; he sticks his tongue out. Rahane’s IPL franchise Delhi Capitals. lection meeting and we aretrying to find away ingideasto bowlers, will befielding nearthem. webseriesof theyear.Secondonthelist,behind of everydaylife. LikeRahane. Rahane, the earnestsinceresomewhat shy “I wasreallyimpressed. He is honestand togethiminetc.Heneveronceaskedmeinour He will playhis role silently,”Taresays. theseriesonHarshadMehta,wasPanchayat,an “He is notthe type whowilltalk loudlyor person —who is alwayspunctual —isknown trustworthy, twoqualitiesthat allplayerslook numerousbreakfastchatsoranytimeelseabout ThereisaperceptionthatRahanewon’ttake idyllic showset in rural India, AMalgudi days mouth curses. He will talk sensibly even in butitdoesn’ttellanythingabouthowhewould forwardtoinacaptain. He is ateam man, and whyhehasn’t been picked,” Kaif says. astandonissues,preferringto avoidconflicts,a meets WaglekiDuniya-type series. Perhaps, crunchpressuresituations.Hedoesn’tgethyper. captain. Someone who observed him at close that’s justnot an emptypraise.Hewasn’t able Kaif wasalsoimpressedbythecricketingin- viewprobablyattributed to himbecause he the time is ripe for Aapla Mulga Rahane, on the HeisthesilentmanlikePalekar.Ineverremem- quarters fortwo months, justrecently, is to crackintothe playing XI in the initial games telligence. “He doesn’t talk toomuchinteam hardlyspokeupforevenhimself,whenhewas sporting field.

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