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THE SUNDAYEXPRESS MAGAZINE THE PLOWMAN’S KOLKATA,LATECITY TALE 17JANUARY,2021 Once farmershad apride of 14PAGES,`5.00 place in Hindi cinema. When (EX-KOLKATA`7,`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) did they become invisible? DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PAGES 11, 12, 13

3,352 SESSIONSHELD, COVISHIELD GIVENINALL UP VACCINATES21,291; UPLOADING DELAY IN SOME STATES, UTs, COVAXININ12 PUNJAB THELEAST AT 1,319 Reconstitute panel with ‘neutral’ people: Injecting Hope Farm union tells SC has backedout of the commit- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE tee, and the others —Ashok NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 Gulati, Pramod Kumar Joshi and 1.91 lakh get Anil Ghanwat—havealready AFARMERS’ organisation has ap- takenpositions in supportofthe proachedthe Supreme Court farm laws. shots across urgingittoreconstitutethe four- The farmers’ body wondered member committee appointed howthese three members could nation, no by the court to interactwith rep- submit areportwithout bias resentativesoffarmers and gov- when theyhad already backed post-vaccine ernment foranamicable resolu- the laws “madeandpassedbythe tion of the differences over the Central government without Afrontline worker receives newfarm laws. enough discussionwithfarmers”. complication the vaccine at NRS Medical The BharatiyaKisanUnion The farmers’ body requested Collegeand Hospital in (Lok Shakti) in itsplea pointed the courttoreconstitutethe Kolkata,Saturday. Partha Paul out thatone of the four mem- panel by including “neutral and KAUNAINSHERIFFM bers, Bhupinder Singh Mann, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 Over 15K in ON DAY1ofthe world’s largest immunisation exercise against No policy changes till the coronavirus, 1.91 lakh peo- Bengal get ple were inoculated across the country. Callingitasuccess, the shots, target May, WhatsApp says Union Health Ministrysaid “no case of post-vaccination hospi- talisation has been reportedso short by 25% will clear the doubts far”, indicatingtherewas no Saroj Bala,40, asafai karamchari forthe past20years, afterreceiving theCovid vaccineatacentreinPanchkula. Jaipal Singh known incident of severe ad- verse reaction. SWEETYKUMARI AASHISHARYAN& ED The In phase one of the immuni- KOLKATA,JANUARY16 PRANAVMUKUL Facebook

PM hails scientists for ‘hope in PLAIN sation exercise, 3crore people in NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 E ● factor the priority group of healthcare THE COVID-19vaccination drive EX and frontline workers aretobe in West Bengal beganon INSTANT MESSAGINGplatform vaccinated.OnSaturday, 3,352 despair’, says must stay vigilant Saturday, with 15,707 health WhatsApp announcedlateon THE UPDATED policy sessions were held, with thetar- workers receiving their doses. Fridaythat it wasdelaying the terms informedusers that getofvaccinating at least100 countrybegan vaccinating an es- Among the firsttoreceive the implementation of itsrecent pri- WhatApp receivesinfor- peopleeach. KAUNAINSHERIFFM timated 3-crorepriority group vaccine were twoGroup-D em- vacy policy changes, whichtrig- mation from, and shares On the break-up of NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 with “twoMade-in-India vac- ployees of SSKM Hospital in geredaglobal backlash, to May information with, the Covishield and Covaxin, the cines”inthe firstphase of an ex- Kolkataand SagoreDutta 15,instead of the scheduled Facebook familyofcompa- Ministrydatashowedthat while HAILINGTHE work of health- ercise that aims to eventually Hospital in North 24 Parganas February8. nies. These changes were the firstvaccine,developed by care, frontline workers and sci- vaccinate30crore people. district. The updated policy terms focusedonintroducing Oxford-AstraZeneca and manu- entists who, at great personal In atelevisedaddress during According to officials,20,700 were firstannouncedvia an in- newoptions forbusinesses factured by Pune’s Serum risk during the pandemic, the launch, in which he made workers were scheduledtobe app notification to users by using WhatsApp Business. Institute, had been suppliedto “brought hope in an atmosphere fervent appeals and turnedemo- inoculated by the end of the day WhatsApp, ownedbyFacebook, all states and Unionterritories, of dejection”,Prime Minister tional while recalling the “na- in 207centres, but 25 per cent of asking them to agree to thenew the indigenouslydeveloped NarendraModi launchedthe tion’s debt” to “those whonever those eligible did notturn up. terms by February 8orlose ac- the alarm, WhatsApp clarified Covaxin wasadministeredin PAGES 3, 4, 5, 7 world’s largest Covid-19immu- PM Modi at launchofthe returnedhome” and “sacrificed Healthofficials said theywere cess to their accounts. As both that the changes were necessary CONTINUEDONPAGE2 nisation drive Saturdayasthe vaccine drive,Saturday. PIB CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CONTINUEDONPAGE2 users and privacy activists raised CONTINUEDONPAGE2

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Morenews WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM zeroads ADELAIDE2018TOGABBA2021:UNREPENTANTROHITSHARMAGOES FORTHEGAMBLE&PAYSTHEPRICE Howcan Nokia RohitSharmathrewhiswicketawayonDay2oftheGabbaTestashetriedtotakeonNathanLyonand

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EXCLUSIVE perishedfor44. POINTYOURCAMERATO smartphone market? GOTOTHEAPPSTORE FULLCOVERAGE PHOTOGALLERY NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY VISUALSTORIES I DAILYBRIEFING CUSTOMISEDNEWSEXPERIENCE COVID-19 VACCINATION COVID-19 INOCULATION In the latestepisode, we talk to Sanmeet DRIVE LIVE UPDATES DRIVE BEGINS IN INDIA EXPRESS TECHNOLOGY Singh, the vice-president of HMD Global, Apple CEO TimCook PM NarendraModi India will administer about the challenges that Nokia faces in the defends billion dollar launchedthe drive on shots to 3crore current smartphone market deal with Google Saturday frontline workers

3,300military personnel vaccinated FROMPAGEONE NewDelhi: Around 3,300mili- suppliedwith the firstconsign- tary personnelweregiven shots ment of both Covishield and Over 15K in experts withWhatsAppupdating on the firstday of the nationwide Covaxin doses. Brigadier itspolicieswas that the messag- Covid-19vaccination campaign. NarendraKotwal, Commandant Bengal get shots PM hails scientists for ‘hope in despair’ ing platform rolledout separate Atotal of 3,129Armyhealth ArmedForces Clinic, Delhi was privacy and datasharingpolicies workers and approximately200 the firsttoget vaccinated to sig- looking intowhy so manyhealth forEurope and India. Because of from Navy were vaccinatedon nal efficacy and safetyofvaccine workers were absent. Glitches in theirown livestrying to save scientists developing these pebblesand rocks” but about ister. Some foreign vaccines are this,thedemandforapromptim- Saturday. Thenumbers forAir and to instill confidence in oth- theCentre’sCoWINvaccineregis- each and everylife”, the Prime vaccines have built their cred- “our people” and “collective re- priced up to Rs 5,000per dose plementationof thepersonaldata Forcewerenot known. Army ers. Navy said the drive wasinau- tration app since Fridayhad im- Ministerunderlinedthat peo- ibility over theyears. We have solve”asdemonstrated in the and have to be stored in minus protection lawinIndia has been sources said that all earmarked gurated in thepresence of Chief pededmanyimmunisationcen- plemustnot lowertheir guard gainedthis trustbecause of our fight againstthe pandemic. 70 degreetemperature. renewed. India’s dataprotection stations and hospitals have been Admiral Karambir Singh. ENS tres’ effortstocontact those even aftervaccination. He said trackrecord…About 60 per He said the “scale of the Whereas Indian vaccines are Bill -- the foundations of which whose names were on the vacci- the countrymuststeel itsre- centofchildrenaround the vaccination campaign” in India basedontechnologythat has were laidbyacommittee which nation listfor the firstday. solve to deal with the pan- worldget life-saving vaccines has neverbeenattempted in been triedand tested formany gave areportbackin2018--isyet TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE “Wehaven’t receivedany re- demic as it did during the lock- that aremade in India,” he said. history.“This shows India’s ca- years in India. From storageto to be made intoalaw.Itiscur- portofamajor mishap. Arecipi- down lastyear. “The world's trustinour pability… in the firstround it- transportation,these vaccines rentlyunder consideration by a CASES: ACTIVECASES:2,11,033 ent in Rampurhat showedsome He urgedpeople notto scientists and our vaccine ex- self, 3crore people –and there aresuitable forIndian condi- parliamentary committee. 320 discomfort, but that is being abandon masks, social distanc- pertise is going to strengthen areover100 countries with a tions.” As of July 2020, the company DAYSSINCE 10,542,841 DEATHS:1,52,093 checked,” Director of Health ing and hygiene precautions, further with the introduction population less than 3crore -- He said the vaccination had morethan 50 million PANDEMIC BEGAN TESTS: 18,57,65,491 | RECOVERIES: 1,01,79,715 ServicesDrAjoyChakrabortytold saying theyhavetoremainvig- of theMade-in-India corona arebeing vaccinated... this campaignwillcontinue fora WhatsApp Business usersglob- The Indian Express earlier in the ilant and their mantramustbe vaccines,” he said. needs to be takenupto30 “long time”and people should ally, of which over15 millionused CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS day. “dawaibhi, kadai bhi” (get vac- People of the country, he croreinthe second round notfall prey to rumours the service in India everymonth. JAN15 15,158 17516,977 8,03,090 In Kolkata, SSKM Hospital cinated, buttakeevery precau- said, have paid agreat price when the elderly and people “Ourscientists,our experts In April lastyear,when Facebook Group-D employeeRaja tion). and learnedalotduring the with seriousco-morbidities gave permission foremer- announceda$5.7 billion invest- Chowdhury, whohadcontracted Describing thescale of the pandemic. “In normal times, will be vaccinated... there are gency use onlyafter theywere ment in Reliance Industries’ Jio Covid-19lastJuly, became the vaccine rollout –Serum everyone in the familygathers onlythree countries -- India, satisfiedabout the safetyand Platforms, WhatsApp and firstpersonto receive thevaccine InstituteofIndia’s Covishield to take careofaperson who US and China -- with apopula- effectivenessofthe Made-in- Reliance Retail also entereda shot. The capital cityhas been al- andBharat Biotech’s Covaxin has takenill. But this sickness tion morethan30crore,” he Indiavaccine. Therefore, peo- commercial partnership agree- located 93,500vaccine doses for were being administered has leftthe ill very alone. At said. ple of the countryhavetostay mentto supportsmallbusinesses the firstphase,the most of any Saturday to 100beneficiaries manyplaces, mothers had to The Prime Ministersaid away from rumours and false one-commerceplatformJioMart placeinthestate.Thereare 19 vac- from the priority group at each stay away from children who that as the countryrolls out its propaganda,” he said, urging using the messaging platform. STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES cination centres in the city. of the 3006 vaccination sites had takenill. Mothers were vaccination drive,“theworld is “morevolunteers” to partici- Following WhatsApp's an- ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK “Don’t payheedtorumours. across the country--as“un- very troubled,theywept, but looking at India with hope”. pateinthe drive. nouncementthatitwouldupdate Kerala 67,711 3,324 It’sagreatachievementof oursci- precedented in thehistory of could nothold their children in “As our immunisation He told beneficiaries that itsprivacy policy,Signal became Maharashtra53,344 1,506 entists.Ihavetaken the shot and mankind”, Modi praisedthe laps. Elderly fathers had to campaign progresses, many theyhavetoreturn forthe sec- one of the topdownloadedapps Odisha 1,91055 Iamcompletely normal,” role of doctors, nurses, para- struggle alone in hospitals, countriesofthe worldwill ond dose. “You cannottake on Android and Apple platforms Chowdhurysaidafterbeinginoc- medical staff, ambulancedriv- their children unable to be benefit from ourexperience. onlyone dose and then forget; lastweek in India--whichisone STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING ulated. ers,ASHA workers,sanitation with them. The ones who left India'svaccines,our produc- don't makesuchamistake. of the biggest markets for ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK MinisterofState forLabour workers, police personnel, fire- us couldnot be giventhe final tion capacity arefor the bene- And as the experts aresaying, WhatsAppwithover400million Chhattisgarh6,923 2,122 NirmalMaji, who is also adoctor, fighters and otherfrontline farewell with traditional ritu- fitofmankind, this is our com- between the firstand second users. Justoverthe last fortnight, Uttar Pradesh 9,5811,954 receivedtheCovishieldvaccineat workers. He said the effortsof als, whichwas their right. The mitment,” he said. doses, agap of about one Signal sawnearly 23 lakh down- Rajasthan 5,608 1,794 the CalcuttaMedicalCollegeand the scientificcommunity to morewethink of those times, He said the price of the month will be kept.You have loads, compared with 17 lakh Hospital. develop the vaccine in record it terrifies, saddensus,” he said. Indian vaccine is very afford- to remember that onlytwo downloads forWhatsApp. STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES At theCollegeofMedicineand time is “living proof of India's He quoted Telugu play- able compared to foreign vac- weeksafter the second dose, WhatsApp's announcement ONJAN15 TOTAL SagoreDuttaHospitalinNorth24 strength, India's scientific skills, wright-poetGurajada Apparao cines. “Theyare notonly your body will develop the onJanuary4,inwhichitinformed Kerala 5,6248,36,884 Parganas, 35-year-old Ratan India's talent”. to makethe point that acoun- cheaperthan foreignvaccines, necessarystrength againstco- users of itsnew policy, started Maharashtra3,145 19,84,768 Singh, acleaner at the hospital, “Our medical system, the tryisnot about “soil, water, butare also simpler to admin- rona,” he said. with 'Respect foryour privacy is said he felt likeacelebrity as doc- codedintoour DNA'. This phrase Karnataka 7089,30,668 tors,nursesandotheremployees hasearlierbeenusedverbatimby STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS clappedforhimashebecamethe worker.Now thatIhave beenone the residentsofthe statesothat and is being further optimised,” makean“effective strategy” to the messaging platform’s co- ONJAN15 TOTAL firstpersonatthemedicalfacility of thosewho arevaccinated,Iam everyone gets the shots forfree. If AdditionalSecretaryDrManohar counterthe misinformation. founder Jan Koum, who had left West Bengal 16 10,026 to receive thefirstshot. North-24 satisfied.Initially,Iwasverynerv- neededthe stateadministration Agnani said. Health Secretaryand co-chair of the companyoverdifferencesin Uttar Pradesh 15 8,558 Parganashasreceivedthesecond- ous. Iamcompletelyfine nowaf- might bear the financial burden, “There wasasmall issue thehigh-levelcommitteeonvac- thewayuserdatawasbeingused. highestnumberof vials—47,000 tertaking thevaccine,” he added. she added. StateUrban where healthcare workers not cine administration Rajesh “Respect foryour privacy is Punjab 12 5,485 —after Kolkata. Asecurity official at the hos- Development MinisterFirhad scheduledfor today’s session Bhushan wasalso present at the codedintoourDNA,andwebuilt DataasonJanuary15,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical Singhhasbeenworkinginthe pital said he had been told to re- HakimvisiteddifferentCovidcen- were vaccinated.Weevolved a meeting. WhatsApp around thegoalof Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive hospital forfiveyears, butsaid it portatthefacilityat9.30amto re- tresinKolkataasthedrive started. process and stateswereasked to India hasreportedmorethan knowing as littleabout youas wasthe firsttime he felt that his ceive the vaccine, butonarrival, The statehealth department uploadthedetailsof such health- one crorecases of Covid-19, with possible:Youdon'thave to give us work wasbeingrecognised. hewastoldthathisnamewasnot saidithadformedquickresponse careworkersontheCo-WINdata- over 1.5lakh deaths attributedto your name and we don't ask for “I wasnervous, so manydoc- in the list. teams in eachdistricttomonitor base,” Agnani said. the virus. your email address. We don’t tors, sisters [nurses], and others “I wastold Iwill be giventhe the health of people beingvacci- Astatement by the Health knowyourbirthday. We don’t Former BARC CEO clappedformethatIforgotevery- vaccine shottoday, but laterthey nated.DrAjoyChakraborty said Ministrysaid,“Thefirstday of the WhatsApp know your home address. We thing. Ifelt so good, people in our said my name wasn’tthereinto- theseteamswouldbeledbysen- massive countrywide Covid-19 to help businesses through don’t know where youwork. We society hardlyrecognise our ef- day’s list. The vaccine is agreat ior doctors. Theywill oversee ad- vaccinationprogrammewascon- WhatsApp Business, whichwas don’t knowyour likes, what you admitted to hospital forts.GettingthefirstshotofCovid achievement by ourscientists. ministrative work related to vac- ducted successfully. Atotal of launchedbythecompanyin2018 search foronthe Internet,orcol- vaccineisalifetimeexperiencefor Suchsmallthings do notmatter,” cination,andalsomonitorvaccine 3,352 sessions were held, to facilitatecommunication be- lect your GPS location. None of me.Ihadtestedpositive forCovid said 40-year-oldSubrataSarkar. dosesandsyringestocksinvacci- wherein 1,91,181beneficiaries tweenbusinessesandcustomers. that datahas ever been collected EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE in July, andwas hospitalised. He remembered themedical nation centers. were vaccinatedaspertheprovi- “We’renow moving back the andstoredby WhatsApp,andwe MUMBAI,JANUARY16 Partho Then, Istayedinhome isolation. collegeand hospital’s principal Thestategovernmenthasalso sional reports.Additional 3,429 dateonwhichpeople will be reallyhavenoplans to change Dasgupta Now, Ihavetaken the vaccine. I Hasi Dasgupta,who diedof opened control rooms at the dis- beneficiaries were vaccinated at asked to reviewand accept the that,” Koum had written after FORMER BROADCASTAudience amwell,notfeelinganythingoth- Covid-19lastmonth. “I wasex- trictlevelto monitorthe vaccina- Defenceinstitutions.Asmanyas terms. No onewill have theirac- Facebook’s $16billion buyout of Research Council(BARC)CEO erwise.Itislikethebiggestwinfor tremelypainedwhenwe lostour tion exercise and the health of 16,755 personnelwereactively count suspendedordeletedon the WhatsApp. Partho Dasgupta (55), who is in daughter Pratyushaalleged the our country,” Singh told The belovedprincipal madam. Iused those inoculated.Those vacci- involvedinorganisingtheimmu- February8.We're alsogoingto do judicial custody at Taloja Jail for familywas informednearly 14 Indian Express. to always be around her,sothe nated have been providedwith a nisation session sites." alot moretoclear up the misin- Farm panel his alleged role in the TRP case, hours afterhis hospitalisation. The hospital’s medicalsuper- losswasunbearable.Imissherto- numbertheycancontractincase The topfivestatesinterms of formation around howprivacy impartialpersonality...not related has been admitted to JJ Hospital Her postsaid her mother re- intendent, Prof (Dr)SujoyMistry day. She wasagreat guideduring of an emergency. thenumberof peoplevaccinated andsecurityworksonWhatsApp. to anypoliticalparty”likearetired afterabout of breathlessness. ceivedacalltoreachJJHospital said no untowardincidents were the pandemic. It is abig day. She The stateadministration has were UttarPradesh (21,291), We’ll then go to people gradually judgeofthe Supreme Court, and Dasguptawas admitted to at 3am on Saturday, “since my fa- recorded.“Itstartedasperplanaf- oftengaveushope,saying,‘Donot ropedinprivate hospitals in the AndhraPradesh (18,412), to reviewthe policyattheir own itspresidentorpresidentsofother the ICU on Fridayafternoon and ther wasbrought in there. The terthe prime ministeraddressed worry, soon we will have avac- immunisationdrive.OnSaturday, Maharashtra(18,328), Bihar pacebefore newbusinessoptions farmers bodies participating in put on oxygen support, con- doctors asked us whynoone us. The firstshotwas givento cine’,” said Sarkar. vaccines were administered in (18,169)andOdisha(13,746).The areavailable on May15,” the protests. firmedJJHospitalDean Dr Ranjit from the familyhad come there RatanSingh, aGroup-D staffas Earlierintheday, asthevacci- five privatehospitalsinKolkata— states and Union territories with WhatsApp said in ablog update The plea,filed through advo- Mankeshwar.Anofficerwith the since he had been brought to the decidedbythe health depart- nation drive beganafter Prime DhakuriaAMRI,RNTagore, amongthelowest numberswere on Friday. cateAPSingh, referred to an ap- Crime Intelligence Unit probing hospitalinanunconscious state ment.Itisgoing smoothly,”he MinisterNarendraModi’sspeech, Apollo,PeerlessandTataMedical TamilNadu(2,945),Uttarakhand APILhasbeenfiledinboththe plicationfiledby theCentrepoint- the TRP case said Dasgupta had at 1pm.” She addedthat when added. Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee Centre.Healthworkerswere also (2,276), Jammu &Kashmir Delhi High Courtand Supreme ing out that farmer bodies been diagnosedwith asudden asked whythe family wasnot in- SagoreDutta College principal supervisedtheexercisefromstate inoculated at the city municipal (2,044),HimachalPradesh(1,517) CourtagainstWhatsApp's opposingthelaws were planning spikeinhis blood sugar levels. formedfor 14 hours, authorities Dr Arun Kumar Bandopadhyay secretariat Nabanna. In avirtual corporation’s health centres in and Punjab (1,319). changes to itsprivacy policy.The to organiseatractor/trolley/vehi- Dasgupta wastaken to hos- said, “Theydid nothaveour said, “Fromsweepers to doctors, address,she thanked all the five boroughs. Union Health MinisterDr SupremeCourtpleawas filedby clerallyinthe national capital on pital hours afterWhatsApp chats phonenumbers... This, in spiteof everyone is on the list. We willbe healthworkersatthe207sites,in- Harsh Vardhan held areview the Confederation of All India RepublicDay,and seekinganin- betweenhim and RepublicTV severalmailswehavesent to jail giving the vaccine to 100people cluding doctors, nurses, hospital 1.91 lakh with healthministers of all states Traders, seeking directions to the junction againstthis. editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, authorities requesting permis- today. We have been waiting for supportstaff,students,andASHA at the end of the day. Noting that Centralgovernmentto “discharge TheoutfitsaidtheCentre’sap- includedinthe Mumbai Police’s sion to reachmyfather,with my this dayfor long. We arepositive workers. get shots they had been preparing forthe their executive,statutoryand all plicationwas awaste of the supplementarychargesheet phonenumber mentioned...” aboutit.Thereisnothingto worry “Manyhavelosttheir lives, "clinical trialmode" in 12 states, dayfor the pastfivemonths, other obligations in relationto court’s time, as the Delhi Police againstthe Dasgupta in the TRP Apoliceofficer said,“Doctors about.Itisagreatachievementfor manyhavelostthe livesoftheir including the national capital. Vardhan said, “Wehavegot en- protectionandsafetyofprivacyof had already imposedrestrictions case, became public. at Taloja were monitoring his us.” nearanddearones.Yet,thehealth Eachsession sitecould adminis- couraging and satisfactoryfeed- details/ dataofevery kind of sub- underSection144IPC,whichpro- In an open letter to PM health...Hemay nothavetaken BharatBiswas,anemployeeof workers, police workers, other teronlyone of thetwo vaccines. backonthe firstday.This indi- scribers”. hibitsthe gathering of five or NarendraModi postedonsocial themedication, whichled to his the hospital’s surgery depart- frontline workers have kept on Ontheissuesfaced,theHealth cates that we aremovingtowards Limited information from morepeople, in the Central Delhi media on Saturday, Dasgupta’s sugarlevelsshooting up”. ment,was thesecond personto fightingthisgreatestbattleof hu- Ministrysaid theyfacedtwo on victory in thefight againstthe WhatsAppisalreadysharedwith district. receive thevaccineatthe facility. manity.Ithas been almostayear Day1.“First, therewas adelayin coronavirus." Facebook.But the changes to ItaddedthattheRepublicDay “I have been workinginaCovid- nowand yetthe battle is going uploading of the beneficiarylist The ministerurged the states WhatsApp’s terms of service to functionofJanuary26has its designated hospital forsolong. on,” she added. Banerjee said he at some sessions sitesonthe Co- to be “vigilant againstrumours enablethatoccurredin2016,and Constitutional and historicalsig- Palgharlynching: 89 Manytimes, to avoid social prob- had requestedthe Centre to sup- WINplatform. The issue wasre- and disinformation campaigns” thetermshave notbeensubstan- nificance,and the organisation lems,Ihidmy identityanddidnot plyadequatevaccinedosesfornot solved; system performance and regardingthesafetyoftheCovid- tiallyupdatedsince. has great respect forthe national accused granted bail tell people that Iwas ahealth onlyfrontlineworkersbutalsofor speed(of Co-WIN)wasimproved 19 vaccines and asked them to Akey issue raisedbyprivacy event.

Mumbai: Aspecialcourt in Thane Saturdaywerearrestedsubse- district, on Saturday, grantedbail quentlyand have notbeen to 89 accusedpersons in the chargesheetedasyet.” The NIA summons Deep Sidhu, actor says govt threateningprotesters Palghar mob lynchingcase, in chargesheetwas filedagainst whichtwo sadhus and their 126people, of which75per- elections and is associated with GurpatwantSinghPannu,adesig- mons as amovebythe Centreto noreasonIshouldbeintouchwith driverwerekilled. sons— who arecurrentlyin KAMALDEEPSINGHBRAR the ongoing farmers’ agitation, in nated terrorist, forconspiringto threaten thoseprotesting against them. Idon’t knowwho theyare. District judge SBBahalkar,in prison— allegedly had amajor AMRITSAR,JANUARY16 connection withacasefiled createan“atmosphereoffearand the three farm laws. Suchnotices arepartofour fight his order,granted bail to the 89 role to playinthe crime. againstthe outlawedgroup Sikhs Deep Singh lawlessnessandto causedisaffec- “This (NIA summons) is noth- forfarmers,”SidhutoldTheIndian accusedand will next hear the Appearing forthe accused, THE NATIONAL Investigative ForJustice (SFJ). The agency had Sidhu tion in people and to incitethem ingto besurprisedabout.Thegov- Express.The actorreceived the matter on February15. advocates Amrut Adhikari and Agency (NIA)Saturdayissued earlier issuednoticetoSidhu’s towardsrisinginrebellionagainst ernment is doing all it can to summonsaday afterasimilarno- Satish Maneshinde, the spe- Atul Patilsubmitted that the ap- summons to Punjabi actor Deep brother Mandeep Singh. Government of India”. threaten protesters. Iamnot af- tice wasissuedtoBaldevSingh cial public prosecutorinthe case, plicantshad no role to playinthe SinghSidhu,whocampaignedfor Theyhavebeen asked to ap- New DelhionJanuary17 forques- Sidhu denied anyconnection fectedby thesenotices.Ineverhad Sirsa, the president of Lok Bhalai said, “The ones granted bailon attack. ENS BJP’sSunnyDeolin2019 LokSabha pearatthe NIA headquarters in tioning in acaselinked to SFJ’s withSFJandtermedtheNIAsum- anycontact with the SFJ. Thereis Insaf WelfareSociety.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 3 THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 VACCINE DAY ONE WEST BENGAL

2MLAs among TMC leaders to MamatatakescreditforfreeCovid get vaccine; sparks controversy

ing he is the chairperson of the Banamali Hazraare directlyasso- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE patient welfareassociation (Rogi ciatedwiththe work of hospitals. vaccine,BJPleadersrejectclaim KOLKATA,JANUARY16 KalyanSamiti) of the KatwaSub- Their names were already in the Divisional Hospital. Covid vaccine list,” Bardhaman SEVERAL TRINAMOOL Congress TMC MLAfromBhatar Chief Medical Officer of Health CM says ready to bear financial burden, asksCentre to provide adequatenumber of vials (TMC) leaders, including two Subhash Mondal, former TMC Pranab KumarRoy told reporters. MLAs, were among those who re- MLABanamali Hazra, Zilla StateBJP president Dilip ceivedaCovid-19vaccine in Parishad executive member Jahar Ghosh said, “In the firstphase, the Purba Bardhaman district on Bagdi and the Bhatar Panchayat vaccine is meant forhealth work- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Saturday, while manyhealthcare Samiti official in charge of public ers, doctors, police,ASHAwork- KOLKATA,JANUARY16 workers alleged that theycould health, MahendraHazra, also re- ers and other frontline workers. notget the shotthoughtheywere ceivedthe vaccine.All of them are We have seen MLAs and other CHIEF MINISTER Mamata asked to visit an inoculation cen- associated withthe patient wel- people taking the vaccine today. Banerjee on Saturdaythanked From initial anxietyto tre. fare committees of government Theyshouldnot be on thelist. frontline workers fortheirfight sense of relief, here’s In the district’s Katwaarea, hospitals in different areas. Theyare notsupposedtotakethe againstthe coronavirus and said hownursing orderlies TMC MLARabindranath “Those who aremembersof vaccine in this phase. The listof her government wasproviding reacted after the jab Chatterjee wasseen receiving a Rogi KalyanSamitis, theytoo are recipientsissent by the stateto free Covid-19vaccinetoall in the vaccine shot. When questions in the listwith all the health the Centre. She [CM Mamata state. Don’t pay were raised, adistrict health offi- workers. Rabindranath Banerjee] should makethe list Inanopenletter,Banerjeesaid: heedto cial defendedthe legislator say- Chatterjee, Subhash Mondal and public.” “Our government is sending the rumours. vaccine free of costtoall people in It’s agreat the state.” achievement Her “free vaccine” remarks of our scientists.Ihave promptedthe BJP to accuse her of takenthe shotand Iam “wrongfully” claiming the credit. completely normal. West Bengalisdue forthe RAJA CHOWDHURY, 36 Assemblypolls in April-May. In another statement, shere- GROUP-D EMPLOYEE AT SSKM questedthe Central government HOSPITAL IN KOLKATA to supplyanadequatenumber of Covid-19vaccines fornot only Iwas frontline workers but also for nervous, others. so many “The people of Bengal should doctors, getvaccines free of costasearly as sisters possible,andthestategovernment [nurses], and others iswillingtobearthefinancialbur- clappedfor me that I den,”the statement said. (Clockwise from top) After forgot everything. Ifelt BJPNationalGeneralSecretary beingvaccinated,frontline so good. Kailash Vijayvargiyaalleged that workersrestinan RATAN SINGH, 35 the chief ministerwas sending observation room at an CLEANER AT SAGORE DUTTA personalised letterstoall health- urban primary healthcare HOSPITAL IN NORTH 24 careworkers in the stateand un- centreatCIT Road in Kolkata PARGANAS dulyclaimedthecreditforthevac- on Saturday. Dr Supriya Basu cination. Sharing an imageofa wasamong thefirstpeople to Initially, I health worker who had received getthe shotatthe centre. wasvery the letter,Vijayvargiyacalled the Partha Paul nervous. I act “shameless”. am He tweeted, "Shameless!!! completely Modiji has sent free vaccine to 3 fine nowafter taking the crorepeople across the country. vaccine. Under the same scheme, the free As CoWIN application malfunctions, vaccine is also being sent to West BHARAT BISWAS, 30 Bengal.But Mamatajiissaying in some beneficiaries miss theirshots EMPLOYEE AT SAGORE this photoletterthatshe hassent DUTTA HOSPITAL’S SURGERY the vaccine. It cannotbeabig DEPARTMENT whitelie.Thisisthelimitof shame- SWEETYKUMARI Health lessness!” KOLKATA,JANUARY16 workers BJP'sITcellchief AmitMalviya were all termed Mamata's“free vaccine” AN APP developedbythe Centre smiles at claim “bogus”. to ensure asmooth vaccination Barasat Meanwhile, the state on processstarted malfunctioning District Saturdayregistered609 new on Friday, officialssaid on Hospital Covid-19casesand15 deaths,tak- Saturday,hampering immunisa- in N24 ingthe caseload andthe toll to tion centres’ effortstoinform Parganas. 5,64,707 and10,041.Total 616pa- beneficiaries about the time they ShashiGhosh tientsweredischargedinthe last were to receive thevaccine shots. 24 hours with the recovery rate Sources said that notall the standing at 96.96 per cent. 20,700 people scheduledtore- messages, and by thetime they name wasonthe list. Theyhave ceive the vaccine on the firstday were calledtheyhad leftfor other asked me to report in the STATECOUNT got their shots because of the work. evening, let’s see if Iwill beable to glitches in CoWIN. “I waswaiting forthe mes- makeit,”aGroup-D worker at a TOTAL CASES Instead of getting automated sage. Since Idid notreceive any medical facility told TheIndian messages, the beneficiaries re- message, Idid notturn up and Express on theconditionof 564707 ceivedphone calls from the cen- laterIcame to knowthatmy anonymity. INCREASE DEATHS tres, informing them about the 623 10041 date, vaccinationsiteand timing. Bank of Baroda (E-Vijaya Bank) Appendix IV,Rule 8(1) As the dataofthose eligible to re- Hauz Khas Branch POSSESSION NOTICE D-65, Hauz Khas 547515 RECOVERED ceive theshots wasnot uploaded (for immovable property) New Delhi -110016 (INDIA) to theapp on time,manyofthe 76,21,132 SAMPLES Whereas The undersigned being the authorized officer of Bank of Baroda, (E- TESTED TILL JAN16 beneficiaries did notreceive the Vijaya Bank), Hauz Khas Branch, New Delhi under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest(Second) 1[Act], 2002 and in exercise of powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with rule 3ofthe Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules,2002 issued ademand notice dated 11/11/2019 calling upon the Borrower(s) : M/s Josnika Food and Beverages Private Limited at Registered Office Address at 5, Gorky Terrace (3rd Floor), Kolkata-700017; H-37, Outer Circle Cannaught Place, New Delhi -110001 (unit); K- 101, Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110016 represented by Director(s): Mrs. Sumana Ghosh and Mr.Sunil Chander Nair ;Corporate Guarantor(s): M/s Josnika Developers Private Limited and M/s Arcava Real Estate Private Limited and Guarantor(s): Mrs. Sumana Ghosh, Mr.Sunil Chander Nair and Late Partha Ghosh for Rs.5,07,25,439.35 (Five Crore Seven Lakhs Twenty Five Thousand Four Hundred And Thirty Nine Rupees And Thirty Five Paise only) as on 31.10.2019 within 60 days from-the date of receipt of the said notice towards outstanding(s) of the availedTerm Loan and Cash Credit Facility. The borrower having failed to repay the amount due towards the Term Loan and Cash Credit Facility within stipulated 60 days from the date of receipt of Notice dated 11/11/2019, notice is hereby given to the borrower and the public in general that the undersigned, Bank of Baroda, (E-Vijaya Bank), Hauz Khas Branch, New Delhi has taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him/ her under Section 13(4) of the said 1[Act] read with rule 8ofthe said rules on 14th day of January of the year 2021 (in respect of property no.1) mentioned herein below and 15th day of January of the year 2021( in respect of property no.2 &3)mentioned herein below. The Borrower/Guarantors/Mortgagors in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the property/ies detailed below and any dealings with the property/ies will be subject to the charge of Bank of Baroda, (erstwhile Vijaya Bank), Hauz Khas Branch, New Delhi for an amount Rs.5,07,25,439.35 (Five Crore Seven Lakhs Twenty Five Thousand Four Hundred And Thirty Nine Rupees And Thirty Five Paise only) as on 31.10.2019 and further interest thereon at contractual rate plus costs, charges and expenses till date of payment. The Borrower’s attention is invited to provision of sub-section (8) of section 13 of the Act, in respect of time available to redeem the secured assets. Description of the Immovable Property: Property 1:Equitable mortgage of Apartment No. 4A2, admeasuring 1264 square feet super built area on the 4th floor of the RIDGE residential tower constructed at Hiland Park, together with one car parking space bearing No. 4, located at the Deck Level Open of Ridge Tower at Hiland Park. Mortgagor of Flat is the Corporate Guarantor(s) :M/s Arcava Real Estate Private Limited vide Deed No. I-1901- 01865/2018 on 17/03/2018 (Possession taken on 14.01.2021). Property 2: All that piece and parcel of land admeasuring 0.375 acres thereabout situated atAndal, District :Burdwan, 0.018Acres in Dag No. 1158, 0.019Acres in Dag No. 1159, 0.090Acres in Dag No. 1160, 0.161Acres in Dag No. 1161 &0.087Acres in Dag No. 1164 comprised in J.L. No. 36, L.R. Khatian No. 4009, Mouza-Andal under P.S. Andal within the limits of Andal Gram Panchayat in the industrial zone of Aerotropolis. (Possession taken on 15.01.2021). Property 3:All that piece and parcel of land admeasuring 0.8661 acres thereabout or 37,727 sq. ft. or thereabouts comprised of 0.0920 acres in R.S. Dag No. 1154, 0.2800Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1155, 0.0400Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1157, 0.2761Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1158, 0.0189 Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1159, 0.0225 Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1161, 0.0970 Acres in R.S,. Dag No. 1162, 0.0396 Acres in R.S. Dag No. 1157/1160, L.R. Khatian No. 4009, Mouza -Andal under P.S.Andal within the limits of Andal Gram Panchayat in the Mixed use zone of Aerotropolis. Mortgagor of Property 2&3isthe Corporate Guarantor(s): M/s Josnika Developers Private Limited vide Deed No. I-1903-03056/2018 on 12/12/2018 Property(ies) 2&3issituated at Sujalam Sky City,Andal, NH-2, West Bardhaman (Possession taken on 15.01.2021). Authorised Officer Bank of Baroda (E-Vijaya Bank) Place: New Delhi Hauz Khas Branch, New Delhi

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 EXPRESS NETWORK THE SUNDAYEXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 Some people in TMC TO TAKE ‘MESSAGE OF CHANGE’ TO ALL SEATS obstructing welfare AheadofBengalpolls, work: WB minister BJPplansRathyatras EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE KOLKATA,JANUARY16 weakening the ruling Trinamool LIZMATHEW ED Leavingno Congress —the saffron party has AMID SPECULATION that he may NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 been poaching itskey leaders stone leave the TMCahead of the PLAIN from different regions. Senior E unturned ● Assemblypolls, stateForest THE BJP, whichhas launchedan EX leaders,includingministersinthe Minister RajibBanerjeeon aggressive pollcampaigninWest MamataBanerjee government Saturdaycontinuedhis attackon Bengal,isall settotakeout Rath WITH THE West Bengal suchasSuvenduAdhikari,have al- the TMC, saying some peoplein Yatraswithamessageof“parivar- polls being ahigh-stake ready joinedthe party and more the party were obstructing his Some TMC leaders tan”(change)inthestate aheadof election forthe BJP,the areexpected to come to itsfold, “mission” to work forthe welfare misinterpreted my views: the elections, sources said. The party seems determined according to BJPleaders. of peopleand grassroots work- MinisterRajib Banerjee partywilltake outfive RathYatras to mount an aggressive “Mamatajiisnow busy keep- ers. that will coverall 294Assembly campaign,with toplead- ingherflocktogetherbutmoreare In aFacebook Live,Banerjee constituencies,startingFebruary. ers deciding to organise goingto jointheBJP.Weare indis- Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and Karnataka Chief MinisterBSYediyurappa in said, “I wanted to do some good terbeforethe party leadership... The decision wastaken at a massive outreachpro- cussions with some morekey Bengaluru on Saturday. PTI work forthe people but failedto especiallyinthe recent times. meeting held in New Delhi on grammes. In astate where leaders and youwill see more do because of some persons in Some of our leaders, however, FridayinwhichUnion Home the issue of immigrationis coming in,” said asenior party the party.” misinterpretedanddistortedmy MinisterAmit Shah and BJP chief amajor poll plank,the saf- leader.However, thecentrallead- BJP LEADERS LAUD VACCINE ROLLOUT Whenwill poor Banerjeesaid he waspa- views." JPNaddadiscussed the party's fron party is also hoping to ership has warned that there tientlywaiting forthe righttime He also announcedfree campaignstrategywithleadersin cashinonthe newciti- should be proper background ‘MadeinIndia vaccine get vaccine, will it to gethis grievances, "solelycon- coaching foryouths preparing for charge of West Bengal, including zenshiplaw and itsimage checks andanassessment of the cerningthe well-being of peo- competitive examinations. general secretaryKailash to consolidateHindu impact of aleader’s entrybefore be free for them, ple”, addressed. Banerjee’s announcement to Vijayvargiya, joint general secre- votes, while it is trying to he or she is inducted into the BJP shows determination asks Akhilesh The Domjur MLAasked the go live on Facebook had createda tary ShivPrakashand stateparty strikeabalance on the In the meeting, it wasalso de- TMC leadershiptotake"correc- flutter in political circles, with the president Dilip Ghosh, among issue in Assam. cidedbothShah and Naddawill tive steps" to bridge the gapbe- talk of him switching to theBJP. others. visit the stateatleast twicea of self-reliant India’ tween the partyand the people. Banerjee had earlierex- “The party will be takingout month ahead of polls forpublic EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE “Quitelikemyparty supremo pressedhis displeasureagainsta five RathYatrasthatwilltouch294 soon,”saidapartysourceWiththe rallies and meetings withcadres. entistsand the powerofits lead- LUCKNOW,JANUARY16 (MamataBanerjee), Ibelieve in section of ruling TMCleaders. In constituencies of West Bengalin leaders discussing and finalising Shah is expected to attend pro- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ership,asheagain hailedthe co- giving respecttograssroots avideo, he waspurportedly February. Party’sseniorleadersat variousprogrammesduringtheir grammes in the stateonJanuary NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 rona warriors. “The ‘newIndia’ AS THE vaccination drive began workers who selflesslytoil forthe heardalleging that some party the national levelwill be leading three-hour meeting, the party's 30 and 31.BJP leaders said the ledbyModijitransforms disas- across India on Saturday, organisation.However, if Isee functionaries treat party work- it.Itwillbedesignedinsuchaway main theme would be “parivar- elections areexpected to be held WITH PRIME MinisterNarendra ters intoopportunities and chal- Samajwadi Party(SP) president that these workers arenot get- ers as their servants. The video thatoneleaderwhobeginstheya- tan”, said the source. in March-April. Prime Minister Modi launching the nationwide lenges intoachievements. This Akhilesh Yadavsaid BJP leaders ting their due respect... if theyare had surfaced, days afterhemet traonaMonday willstay through- The BJP,whichhas been des- NarendraModi will address ral- vaccine rollout on Saturday, the ‘Made in India’ vaccinerepre- should line up firsttoget vacci- frustrated andpained, Itry to TMC secretarygeneral Partha out the week.The details of the peratetochange thepoliticalmap lies onlyafter the dates arean- ruling BJP laudedhis leadership, sentsthe determination of this nated forCovid-19. communicate their sentiments Chatterjee. routes, etcwillbeworkedout of West Bengal,willfocuson nounced, the party leaders said. sayingthiswas a“historic mo- self-reliant India. On this historic Speakingata to the topleadership,” he said. “Thereare some leaders, who ment forthe country”. day, Ibow to all our corona war- press conference Indicating thathehad never areusingthe workers fortheir Hailing the PM, BJP leaders riors,” he said in aseries of tweets. in Lucknow, he oversteppedthe party line, as benefitsand aretreating them as BIHAR from party president JPNadda to Defence MinisterRajnath said, “I would like claimedbysome, Banerjee said, their servants. Thereare several chief ministers andseniorparty Singh said the Modi government to saythe BJPdoes "Whenevertherewas an obsta- suchleaders. Iurgethem notto BJP picksShahnawazasMLC candidate leaders said the rollout pro- has takenadecisive step to win everythingwith cle in the wayofmymission, playwiththe sentiment of loyal gramme reflectedIndia’sresolve the battle againstthe pandemic. Akhilesh pompand show whichistoworkfor betterment party workers,” Banerjee was He lostbyanarrowmargin to become self-reliant. “Our country’sdoctors, Yadav even if their pro- of masses, Itriedtoraise themat- heardsaying in the video. SANTOSHSINGH to RJD’sShailesh Kumar.Inthe Describing it as a“momen- nurses, paramedical staff, police- grammes arehol- PATNA,JANUARY16 2019 general elections, the BJP tous” dayinIndia’s history, men and other frontline workers low. So, Ifeel,peo- decidedtogivethe Bhagalpur Nadda said Modi is leading the who wagedwar againstcorona ple from the BJP should stand in BJP NATIONAL spokesperson seat to the JD (U) as partofthe countryfromthe front in the bat- arenow going to getaprotective the line firstand getvaccinated. Our doors are open, and former Union ministerSyed seat-sharingarrangement. tle againstCovid-19. “Wesalute shield in the form of avaccine. In The waythe taali [clap] and thali ShahnawazHussain wason Since then, Hussain has been our doctors, nurses, healthcare the next phase, the vaccination [plate]wasdone,thesamewayall Saturdaydeclared the saffron working as one of the BJP’s na- workers formaking great efforts campaignwillreach300million of themshouldcomeandgetvac- but closing soon: BJP party’s candidatefor the bypoll Syed ShahnawazHussain tional spokespersons. While at this time. They arethe real he- people. It will certainlybeahuge cinated.Afteroneyear,theSPwill to Bihar’s Legislative Council. Hussain wasnot available for roes of the largest vaccine drive. achievement,” Singh tweeted. formthegovernmentandallof us His nomination to the state’s comment, Bihar BJP spokesper- Vaccine will save us from the Gautam Buddh NagarMP will getvaccinated forfree.” to Satabdi andRajib Upper House is near certain with His candidaturewas con- son Nikhil Anand told TheIndian Covid virus but we should sup- Mahesh Sharma, who is an MBBS He added, “I am happy... And the ruling NDAhaving sufficient firmedbyBJP nationalgeneral Express:“We welcome the deci- port it by use of masks,frequent doctor and amongthe firstpar- about the vaccine, it wasnot just numbers in the Legislative secretaryand party headquarters sion of the Central leadership. hand washing and maintaining liamentarians to getinoculated, me who wasworried... Ihaveno EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Assembly—125 seatsinaHouse in-charge ArunSingh. This is Hussain's vast Parliamentaryex- physical distance,” he said. tweeted: “The beginning of the complaintfromdoctors,scientists KOLKATA,JANUARY16 of 243. Hussain’s firstattempt in elec- perience would be useful in Union Home Ministerand end forCOVID-19.... Iamfeeling and volunteers. The question is Bengal BJP Hussain wasaUnion minis- toralpolitics afterheunsuccess- BiharUpper House and the level senior BJP leader AmitShah said absolutelyfine. The vaccineis that when will the poor getthe THEBJP on Saturdaymade an- president terinthe Atal Bihari Vajpayee fullycontestedthe Bhagalpur of debatewould rise with his the vaccination drive shows the completely safe and allofyou vaccine? And will it be free for other overturetobring TMCMP Dilip Ghosh government. seat in the 2014 general elections. presence.” immensepotentialofIndia’ssci- should getvaccinated.” them?...” SatabdiRoyandrebelstate Forest MinisterRajib Banerjeeintothe party fold, saying itsdoors were should take the firstbold step. If 1984 ANTI-SIKH RIOTS openforthem butwillnotremain youwanttocomeoutof theparty, At panel meet, Rahul, others so "forever". we arereadytohold your hand,” SIT: Evidence of murder, arson Banerjee hasoflatecriticised said stateBJP president Dilip the Mamata Banerjee govern- Ghosh during apress conference question govt’s foreign policy ment while Roy, afterexpressing inKolkata. Ghoshsaid,“Ourdoors collectedfrom house in Kanpur her disapproval of asection of cannotremain open forever. We TMCleaders,decidedtostaywith areslowly closing them.” gressive and assertive China.He anddistrict magistrate, seeking the party afterher meeting with He, however, said the BJP MANOJCG saidthereare fearsthattheworld MANISHSAHU The room in which records of thedouble murder.All Abhishek Banerjee on Friday. would firstevaluatenew party NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 could gravitatetowards abipolar LUCKNOW,JANUARY16 murders had occurred threetoldtheSITtheydonot have “He (Rajib Banerjee) is un- membersbeforeaccepting them global orderwherethe US and recordsof thecase,Bhushansaid. happywith theparty... But that is —amatter whichwas discussed AT Ameeting of the Consultative China mayemerge as the two ASPECIAL InvestigationTeam had reportedly “Two members of the family notthesolution.If someonewants during arecent meeting with the Committee on External Affairs on major powers. Observing that (SIT)setupbytheYogiAdityanath remainedlockedsince –Purushotamand one to work forthe people, they Central leadership in Delhi. Saturday, External Affairs China mayfail in itsdesign, government to probecases re- Gurumukh Singh –claimedto shouldjoin us.Wehavesaid ear- “Wewill acceptaperson after MinisterSJaishankar facedprob- SJaishankar;Rahul Gandhi Gandhi pointed out that India latedto the1984 anti-Sikhriotsin the attack, and floor have witnessedthe incident. If lier that the party (TMC) has no knowing what work he can do in ing questions from opposition shouldneverthelesshave astrat- Kanpur has claimedtohavecol- had notbeencleaned needed, we will gettheir state- democracy.Our doors areopen. ourparty,andthatheshouldhave Congress members, including egy to pre-empt thatkind of asit- lectedevidenceof murderandar- mentsrecorded before themag- Forher (Satabdi Roy), our doors acleanimage andisacceptableto Rahul Gandhi, on the govern- tration,its strategy to counter uation. son from ahouse in the district’s istrate,” added Bhushan. areopen too. But suchpeople the people,” said Ghosh. ment’s foreign policy.The minis- China, the needtofind abalance Jaishankar,itislearnt, replied Naubasta area where twopeople the floor and evidence of arson SourcessaidtheSITfoundthat terwas told the government between India’s ties with the US thatthe worldwillnotturnbipo- were killed andset ablaze. fromthewalls.TheFSLreportwill five of theeightaccusednamedin should be mindful that some of and Russiaand the geopolitical lar in the immediateorforesee- SardulSinghwasmurderedin establish the incident,” said the FIR were still alive,and was itsinternalpolicies anddecisions contestthat has broken out be- able futureand pointedout that his house in Naubasta’s Kidwai Superintendent of Police and SIT likely to question them soon. have been criticallyviewedby tweenthe US andChina. The gov- therole of big powers likeRussia, NagarareainNovember1984 member BalenduBhushan. The anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur 04 Oct1974 -17Jan 2004 some countries. ernmentwasalsoaskedto restore Japan, Germanyand the along with his relative Gurudayal The victims’ families told the eruptedfollowing the assassina- Among the raftof questions — the internal dialogue and consul- European Union cannotbedis- Singh, according to the SIT.After SIT that afterthe riots started, tionof thenPrimeMinisterIndira This historic day fills our hearts with pride and sorrow alike when in the highest traditions of the posedbyGandhi and Congress tation process on foreign policy counted. that,theirfamiliesreportedly fled Sardul’s brother Purushotambe- Gandhi.Atleast127 peoplewere Indian Army,you laid down your life in the line of members Anand Sharma and issues. Sharma, it is learnt, pointed to Punjab and settleddownin ganshifting familymembersto killedintheviolenceinthedistrict. duty.World is alesser place without you but you will Shashi Tharoor —werethose on Gandhi, it is learnt, asked the out that therehas always been a Jalandhar.Theeightaccusedinthe neighbouringhouses, fearing an In 2019,the BJP government or- always remain in our hearts and your deeds will howthegovernmentplanstoen- government to spell out itsstrat- national consensus on foreign casewerereleased afterthe local attack. Rioters arrivedwhen dered the formationofthe SITto keep inspiring generations to come. gage with thenew US adminis- egy to counter an increasingly ag- policywhichisbeingdilutednow policefiledaclosurereport,citing SardulandGurudayalweretrying examine all 1,251cases filedin Maj Lalit Prakash, Shaurya Chakra Fondly remembered by as the government does nothold lack of evidence. to flee. Theyassaulted them with Kanpur linked to the riots. (Posthumous) CO and All Ranks of 3RAJPUT dialogueor discussionwithin the Aftertaking overthe investi- sticks andironrods, killingthem Afteritwas formed, the SIT countryevenwhen thereare gation, the SIT visited Jalandhar on the spot, said Bhushan. The ri- shortlisted40ofthe 1,251cases. abruptchanges and turns in pol- and contacted thefamilies of the oters then burnt their bodies and Kanpur policehad filed icy.Hedemandedthat the inter- deceased.Theytoldtheinvestiga- escaped, he added. chargesheetsin11ofthose cases nal dialogue and consultation tors that the room in whichthe Purushotamlodged acase and submitted closurereports in process be restored. murders occurredhad remained againsteight peopleatthe the rest.The SIT has sought the Allthe members, it is learnt, lockedsince the attack, andthe Naubasta policestation, accord- state’s permission to appeal complemented the MEA forits floor had also notbeen cleaned. ing to Bhushan.After takingover agianstalower court’s judge- prompt response duringthelock- “Sincethecrimescenewasnot thecase,theSITcontactedthevic- mentsinfiveofthe11 cases.Of the down, especiallyfor evacuating disturbed...a Forensic Science tims’ families and wrote to 29 that were closed, the investi- Indian citizensandstudentsfrom Laboratoryteam visited the spot Kanpur’schief medicalofficer,the gators did notfind evidence in abroad. Congressmembersalso andcollectedbloodsamplesfrom senior superintendent of police nine cases. Government of India asked thegovernment to be mindful thatsome of itspolicies Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and internal developments are SELECTION OF JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWS getting negative comments IFFI: Biswajit Chatterjee awarded ADDENDUM globally. Somedomesticpolitics With reference to AdvertisementNo. 03/2020(R-V) published in alsohad an adverse fallout in Newspapers on 13.12.2020 for invitingapplications from eligible some neighbouring countries, ‘Indian Personality of the Year’ candidates for selection of Junior Research Fellows(JRF) in BARC, the theypointed out.BothSharma last date for receipt of application is extended upto 31.03.2021. and Tharoor were Ministers of March,along with winners of Indoor Stadium —isacombina- Statefor External Affairs in the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE the National Film tion of virtual and physical UPAgovernment. PANAJI,JANUARY 16 Awards.Chatterjee had con- screenings of films. It usually tested the2014general elec- takesplace in November every INAUGURATINGTHE 51st tions from aDelhi seat on a year but wasdelayeddue to the POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL ''IMPORTANT'' International Film Festival of Trinamool Congress ticket but pandemic. The festival this year EDUCATION &RESEARCH, CHANDIGARH Whilst care is taken prior to India (IFFI) here on Saturday, had joinedthe BJP in February received600 international en- CORRIGENDUM acceptance of advertising Union Ministerfor Information 2019.IFFI also chose Bangladesh tries and 190Indian entries. Ref: Open E-Tender Notice No. PI (EP)/20-21/07. Following changeismade:- copy,itisnot possible to verify and Broadcasting, Prakash as the countryinfocus forthis Speaking at the event, 1. The tender item is at Sr.No.11 (Fully Automated Individual (ID) NATTesting System-01 its contents. The Indian Javadekar, announcedanew year.During his address, Javadekar also said, “Everyyear, Nos.along with rates of reagents for75000 tests per years with expected 10% escalation Express (P) Limited cannotbe each year and Rates will be frozen fornext10years.) the bid submission dates and bid ‘Indian Personality of the Year’ Javadekar said that to markthe IFFI is organisedbythe Central opening dates have been amended from to Bid Submission date 25.01.2021 and Bid held responsible for such Opening date 27.01.2021. contents,nor for any loss or award, whichheannounced 100th birth anniversaryof government and Goa govern- Ref: Open E-Tender Notice No. PI (EP)/20-21/08. damageincurred as aresult of wasbeing conferreduponvet- Bangladesh’s firstpresident ment. Why?,” he said, adding Following changeismade:- 2. The tender item is at Sr.No.10 (Pediactric ICU Beds) due on 22.01.2021 has been with- transactionswith companies, eran actor,director and singer Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, India that “thereshould be participa- drawndue to technical reasons. associationsorindividuals Biswajit Chatterjee. and Bangladeshwillbeco-pro- tion from the film industryand The following additional terms and conditions have been added to the Notice Inviting advertising in its newspapers Tender:- During his address, ducing afilmtitled other industries.” i. Bidders are not required to submit EMD/Bid Security till 31st December,2021. In place or Publications.Wetherefore of EMD/Bid Security only “Bid Security Declaration” is required to be deposited by bid- recommend that readers Javadekar also made astrong ‘Bangabandhu’.The ‘Lifetime “Justbecause it’s the govern- der as per Rule 170 (iii) of GFR 2017, accepting that if theywithdraw or modify their bids make necessary inquiries pitchfor the film industryaswell Achievement’this year was ment’s responsibilitytoensure during the period of validity and if theyfailed to sign the contract or to submit performance security before expiryofthe bid validity,theywill be suspended foraperiod of 2years to before sending any monies or as other private companies to giventoItalian cinematogra- athrivingatmosphereand pro- submit bids. entering into any agreements startparticipating in the annual pher Vittorio Storaro.Due to the motion of arts and culture, ii. The successful bidder is required to deposit performance security at the rate of 3% of with advertisers or otherwise the value of contract till 31st December,2021. festival from itsnextedition. Covid-19pandemic, this year’s doesn't mean the government All other details will remain the same. actingonanadvertisement in PROFESSOR IN-CHARGE(EP) any mannerwhatsoever. Javadekar said Chatterjee festival —being held at the Dr should do everything,”he 0041/PGI will be presented the awardin Shyama Prasad Mukherjee added.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 5 THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 VACCINE DAY ONE NATION Ladakh to Kerala, rollout begins WHAT THEY SAID Acautious sense of relief was The Indian Express looksatthe Covid-19immunisation exercise in states andUTs palpable through the day—beit among ministers, health professionals or those getting MAHARASHTRA vaccinated Of the 28,500health workers who had been listedtoget the vaccine on the inaugural SHOT BY SHOT day, Maharashtrarecordedaturnout of 64.3 These vaccinesare per cent.Ofthe 18,328 people vaccinated in Hope and cheer prevailed at hospitals and healthcarecentres acrossthe country the 'sanjivani' in Maharashtra on Saturday,10recipients suf- our fight against feredmild reactions including nausea, vom- GurmeetSingh PTI PTI this pandemic. iting, and anxiety.Hingoli recorded the high- We have wonthe estturnout—100 per cent—while Mumbai battles against had the least at 48.5 per cent. Owing to tech- polio and small nical glitches in the CoWIN App platform in pox. Now, we have reachedthe Mumbai,the Brihanmumbai Municipal decisive phase of winningthe war Corporation suspendedthe vaccination againstcoronavirus. drive fortwo days on Sundayand Monday, until the wrinkles in the system areironed HARSH VARDHAN, out. The problem wasexperienced across UNION HEALTH MINISTER the state, anddetails of thosewho got the Iamveryhappyto shothad to be entered manually. State receive thedose. Health SecretaryPradip Vyas said that the From todaywesee problemwas triggereddue to abug in the anew beginning Co-WIN app on Friday. “But nowithas been resolved.” DR ACHYUT BAISHYA, JHARKHAND Amedic administers adose of PRINCIPAL, GAUHATI Jharkhand conducted thevaccination drive AcardiologistatHeroDMC Heart Covishieldvaccine to Serum MEDICAL COLLEGE AND HOSPITAL accross 48 sites among3,200health work- InstituteinLudhiana gets the first InstituteofIndia CEO Adar ers. The statehas 1.5lakh health carework- dose. Afrontline worker at Victoria Hospital in Jabalpur,Madhya Pradesh. Poonawalla in Pune. Everyone should ers. It facedseveral challenges in preparing forsureget forthe vaccination process.PremKamal, vaccinated.You statehead of the UN DevelopmentProgram, and Ihavetoget whichprovidedsome tech support,said vaccinated.Those dataofhealthcareworkers wasnot avail- from your and my able as awhole with government. “Every familytoo should PHC, blocklevel gave thedatatousofall getthe vaccine. ANMs, nursing homes, students, and hos- EDAPPADI KPALANISWAMI, pitals. It wasanexampleofextraordinary TAMIL NADU CHIEF MIN ISTER teamwork." He addedthat during upload- ing of the datatherewas aproblem as the It is a CoWIN platform is basedonpin codes. revolutionary step we aretaking PTI TAMIL NADU today. Isalutethe In thestate,2,783 healthworkers were vac- PM NarendraModi monitors thevaccinationprocess corona warriors cinated across the state. Of them, 2,684 PTI from his office in NewDelhi who selflessly healthcareworkers receivedCovishield vac- Health workers afterreceiving the firstdose at Govt treated theCovid- cine and 99 receivedCovaxin. ChiefMinister AyurvedaHospital in Kozhikode, Kerala. Express 19 patients when there wasno Edappadi KPalaniswami launchedthe drive remedy available. in Maduraiatafunction attended by several Dr Shashank senior cabinetministers including deputy Joshi, Dean of UDDHAV THACKERAY, CM OPanneerselvam and senior health of- Vaccinationat Indian College MAHARASHTRA CHIEF MIN ISTER ficials including the principal health secre- agovernment of Physicians The pandemic is tary JRadhakrishnan. Thefirstshotofthe hospital in and member of notgoing to end Covishield vaccine wasadministeredtoDrK Jammu and Partha Paul Maharashtra’s afterthisvaccine. Senthil, the statepresident of the Tamil Nadu Kashmir’s Adoctor gets inoculated at an urban primaryhealth Covid task force, We still needto Government Doctors Association. Baramulla. centreinKolkata. at BKCCovid makesurethat we CM Palaniswami, launchingthe drive, Shuaib Masoodi Centre, Mumbai followthe health said about 2.5 lakh healthcareworkers will protocol, be taking vaccine shots in the firstphase. includingthe use of masks, hand bags would be usedtotakeittocold chain have as many health workers itself...,” said workers including security forces, paramil- wash and social distancing. ODISHA point. Of 18,122 people vaccinated,17,857 state immunisation officer NayanJani. itaryforcesand police personnel, besides KARNATAKA Immunity will be developedslowly. Odisha Saturdayinoculated 13,292 people people got Covishield and the rest got municipalityworkers and revenue depart- Nearly 62 percent of the beneficiaries re- including frontline workers. Health officials Covaxin. KERALA ment officials. ceivedthe vaccine on the firstday in KKSHAILAJA, said 81 percent of the targeted frontline As manyas8,062 healthworkers were given Karnataka as theimmunisation programme KERALA HEALTH MINISTER workers were giventhe vaccine dose. And RAJASTHAN the Covishield vaccine in Kerala on the first LADAKH wasrolledout at 243government and pri- till 6pm, 100per cent of the vaccination tar- According to theRajasthan Health dayasagainstthe target of 11,138, accord- In Ladakh, around 100medical staffathigh vate centres.“As manyas21,658people We got the supply getwas achievedin5districts. Department, around17,000people were se- ing to HealthMinisterKKShailaja. Palakkad risk were giventhe vaccine on Saturday. were identified...of these, 13,408 availedthe of Covishield. It lected forvaccination on Saturday and district reportedthe highestnumber of vac- SkalzangChodon, asanitaion worker,got the vaccine. Therewerenoadverse effectsbut doesn’t matter if it HARYANA around 9,279 were vaccinated till 4.30pm. cinated healthworkers (857), while firstjab at HeartFoundation Hospital in Leh therewereinstances of swelling in some is Covishield or Haryana's vaccine roll-out beganSaturday The department said the vaccination will Malappuramreported the lowest (155). in the presence of the Lt Governor RK cases afterthe injection,” Health MinisterDr Covaxin. All are at 77 sites whichwill attempt to inoculate take place on four days everyweek,except Kerala had got the firstconsignment of Mathur andMPJamyang Tsering Namgiyal. KSudhakar. Atotal of 7.43 lakh health work- well-testedand 1.3lakh frontline workers over five days. Thursdays,Sundays and government holi- 4, 33,500doses of Covishield vaccine earlier ers have been identifiedinthe statefor vac- scientifically Haryana has received2,41,500doses of days.The statehas receivedaround 5.63 lakh this week. ASSAM cination and eight lakh doses have been sent plannedvaccines. Covishieldand 20,000 doses of Bharat doses forthe firstphase of vaccination. HealthMinisterHimanta BiswaSarma said by the Centre, the minister said. SUDHIR BHANDARI, Biotech's Covaxin. While Covishield wasad- MADHYAPRADESH the vaccinationdrive beganat65centres PRINCIPAL, SMS HOSPITAL, JAIPUR ministeredat71sites, the remaining six sites UTTARAKHAND Atotal of 9,584 people, amountingto64per- across Assam, including sevenmedical col- UTTAR PRADESH usedCovaxin. “Depending upon supplies, Seventy-twoper cent—or 2,276 of thetotal cent of the targeted 15,000healthcarework- leges and 24 district hospitals. The statehas Morethan 20,000healthworkers were vac- Some ASHAs are we can keep enhancing our vaccination ca- 3,182—beneficiaries listedtobeinoculated ers, were administeredthe firstdose of the received2.21lakh (2 lakh doses of doses of cinated at 317centres with nearly 35 per refusing to get pabilities. As of today, we have over 5,000 on Saturdayturneduponthe firstday of the vaccine on Saturday. Indore, whichhas the Covishield and 20,000 dosesofCovaxin) cent missing their doses on the firstday. vaccinated due to vaccinators and Haryana hasacapacity of vaccination drive in Uttarakhand at the 34 highestcaseload of nearly 57,000 positive vaccines. Eachsitewill administervaccine ChiefMinisterYogi Adityanath and Defence myths. Hence, I vaccinating at least5lakh people on adaily vaccination sites across 13 districts. Chief cases, sawabout 76 per cent vaccination. In to 100persons in aday.Nearly1.9 lakh front- MinisterRajnath Singh visited hospitals in came forwardto basis,” said the state'sAdditional Chief MinisterTrivendraSingh Rawatsaid the Bhopal, 51 per cent receivedthe firstshot. A line workers will be coveredinthe first Lucknowtoinspect theprocess. Of the 317 getmyself Secretary(Health) RajeevArora. statehas requestedthe Centretoprovide ad- totalof4.16lakh health workers aretobe phase. centres, 306places administeredthe vaccinated first. ditional 20,000 doses of the vaccine for vaccinated,ofwhich57,000 arescheduled Covishield vaccine while theothers gave BIHAR Haridwar in viewofthe Kumbh Mela. to getthe vaccine in the firstweek. MEGHALAYA doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. ANJU BALA, Patna: BiharHealth MinisterMangal Pandey In Meghalaya, CM Conrad Sangma launched ‘ASHA’ FROM PUNJAB’SFAZILKA Saturdaysaid 18,122 people were vaccinated GUJARAT JAMMU AND KASHMIR the vaccination drive in thestate from the PUNJAB Benefitof at 301centres. The centres will carry out Of morethan16,000 health workers tar- Thevaccinationdrive has been started at 20 NEIGRIMSHospital, Shillong whichisone On the dayone, atotal of 1,327beneficiar- vaccination vaccinationonfourdays in aweek— getedtobecovered,11,800receivedvac- locationseachinKashmir and Jammu divi- of the10sites in Meghalayathat will con- ies turnedupfor taking Covishield shot, as clearly outweighs Mondays,Tuesdays,Thursdays and cines on the firstday of the vaccination drive sions with100 people being vaccinated at duct the vaccination drive.“Over 832health- againstthe target of 5,853 in 22 districts. This the risk of Saturdays.The minister said therehad been on Saturday. “While the target wasgetting eachplace. Around 1.6lakh health workers careworkers will be administeredthe translates to merely22.67per cent of the disease.... Ihave adequatepreparations forbio-wasteman- 100vaccinated per centre, it is notpracti- willbecovered in the firstphase. Theywill #Covishield vaccine in our State,” Sangma target. takenthe vaccine agement aftervaccinationascolour-coded callypossible because some sites did not be followedbynearly sevenlakh frontline tweeted. -WITHPTIINPUTS to give amessage that it is safe. EXPERTSONTHE VACCINATION DRIVE MKSUDARSHAN, CHAIRPERSON, KARNATAKA'S COVID-19 ‘Like expecting ababy, CoWIN glitches in remote areas of TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE The antibodies begin to form two weeksafter the seeing it beingborn’ Palghar, officials say lessons learnt seconddose, whichis even thinking of March forgetting the vac- Dahanu sub-districthospital, 70 km from administeredon ASTHASAXENA cine.People have worked extrahard, both in TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA Palghar,the CoWIN softwarestopped work- the 28th dayafter NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 terms of the manufacturers,trials and rolling PALGHAR,JANUARY16 ing afterthe firstbeneficiarywas registered. thefirstdose. You out the whole process because therewas a Even at the Palghar rural hospital, wherethe mustshowpatience and wait forat WITH PRIME MinisterNarendraModi rolling huge upscaling that wasrequired.” FROM 8amonSaturday, Nilesh Rawal's eyes internetsignaliscomparatively better,thesoft- leastone-and-a-half months. out the world’s largest vaccination drive In August, the MinistryofHealthand were trainedontohis laptop, twomobile ware wasslow. TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT, againstthe pandemic that has caused Family Welfare(MOHFW) had constituted phones in his hands, as he made rapid calls to Officialssaidwhileinternetwas oneprob- UTTARAKHAND CHIEF MINISTER 1,52,093 deaths and upendedmillions of the National ExpertGroup on Vaccine ad- districtlevelofficials.TheCoWINpagerefused lem,toomuch trafficonthesoftwarecouldbe livesinthe country, experts—who have been ministration forCovid-19(NEGVAC) to pro- to loadontohisscreen.By10.30am,whenPM another.“We were trainedtouseit,butitlooks Ibelievethat spending hours ironing out creases ahead of vide vaccine guidance and mechanism for NarendraModi beganhis speech, Rawal, the likethe softwarehas been updated and Iam this is agreat the launchofthe inoculation campaign— the delivery. administrative officerinPalghar’ssub-district learningtonavigateitnow,” said Rawal, who vaccine. Ihave said theywereecstatic and relievedtoexe- Dr Samiran Panda, Indian Council of hospital, wassurroundedbystaff in panic.An Forhours, officials at Jawhar village’s sat at the registration desk in Jawhar. takenCovaxin. cutethe herculean task muchahead of time. Medical Research,Scientistand Head of internetoperatorandatechnicianfromJawhar vaccinationcentretriedtoresolve TheJawharhospitalhasinstalleda10Mbps Embrace the Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS Epidemiologyand Communicable Diseases villageweresummonedand, eventually, at softwareglitches. Deepak Joshi Wi-Firouter and askedatechnician to remain vaccine. and amember of the Covid task forcewas Division and amember of NEGVAC, told The 12.35pm,thevaccinationdrive started.Itwas, onstandbyforthenextfew days.Talukahealth VKPAUL, among the firstones to take ashotofBharat Sunday Express“It’s almostlikeexpecting a however, without CoWIN as the software officerDrKiranPatilsaidforruralandtribalar- NITI AAYOG MEMBER Biotech’s Covaxin at AIIMS on Saturday. babyand then seeing the babybeing born, glitchcould notbeset right. adigital platform forthe firsttime foracoun- eas, digital technology willbethe biggestim- Calling the vaccination programme“agame but then all the worries arenot yetoverbe- Bythen,DrAnandAdsul,thefirstbenefici- trywide immunisation drive. pedimentto thevaccinationprogramme.“But Therewas always fear in the mind changer”, he said, “Beforethis, we did not cause the newborn nowrequires adifferent ary, had already waited forfour-and-a-half CoWIN,anonlinesoftware,willrequireall we arelearning,” he said. because of close proximity to have anydefinitetreatment strategy.We kindofcareand protection. The vaccine has hours.LocalMLASunilBhusaracouldnotwait dataofhealth beneficiaries to be uploadedin Keeping in mind the next phase, Palghar coronaviruspatients.But nowIam were giving alot of drugsbut we didn’thave come intobeing within 10-11months of anylonger and posedfor aphotograph with a realtimewhentheyget theshot.Thissoftware immunisation officer Dr MilindChavansaid feeling muchsafer. agood antiviral drug. This is onestrategy knowing the whole genome sequence of the nurse, who pretendedtoinject Adsul. isalsosupposedtocreateandsendautomated theyplannedto selectschools,primaryhealth whichisgoingtowards finding an end to the virus. It is aphenomenal achievement for Thesub-districthospitalinJawhar,located messages scheduling appointment forvacci- centreswithgoodnetwork."Thesecentreswill ABDUL QAYOOM, pandemic. The vaccination programme is India. It’s notoveryet.Now is the time forus inthetribalhillyterrainof Palghar,isoneof the nation.ButinJawharhospital,thesuperinten- beinproximityto specialisedhospitalsto man- SECURITY GUARD AT ERA MEDICAL something whichhas happened early.When to remainmorecautious and see howthings fewremote hospitals demonstrating chal- dentpersonally informedall100beneficiaries ageadverseevents.Todaywaslike atrialforus COLLEGE IN UTTAR PRADESH the discussions were going on, people were go further.” lengesinruralandtribalareasasIndiatakesto when the software did notworkonFriday. In and we learnt lessons...” Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAYEXPRESS, JANUARY17,2021 6 EXPRESS ADDA

SHASHI THAROOR SACHCHIDANAND CONGRESS LEADER &MP SHUKLA Doyouthinkit’snota CHIEF ECONOMIST, declineoftheWest,butthe MAHINDRA GROUP riseoftherest. After Capitol Hill, does the Look atTurkey. 35 years US have the moral authority ago, when theUS wanted itto to lecture others on do something, they would ask improving democracies? how high do we jump. Now IfIweretoadvisetheState with three decades of Department,Iwouldsaybe economic growth, a open,behonest,andsay,we consolidated newpolitical facechallengestoo.We system and cultural understandthechallenges confidence,Turkey will not you’refacing;learnfromour listen to Washington. That’s mistakesandsuccesses.Weall how the world haschanged. arefacingourowndemons.At itsbest,thathasalwaysbeen thewaytheUSpresenteditself, notasthissortofshiningcityon thehill,butasacountrythatis grapplingwiththecomplexities ‘An institutionisonly so strong offreedom. DINESH TRIVEDI MP, RAJYA SABHA Would you agree that the spirit of democracy has as the people willing to defend it’ disappeared today? In Westerndemocracy, it’s polarised,not just in termsof JEETU PANJABI ideas,but around race and At an e.Adda held thisweek,international affairs columnist, CNN news host and authorFareedZakaria CEO, EM CAPITAL ADVISORS colour. It is one of the reasons Doyouseeanyrisingstars why Iadmirewhat Gandhi and spokeondemocracy in America, the challenges forjournalism, big tech andwhy India needs to have a amongworldleaders? Nehru triedtodoinIndia, You have very spirited, ef- which was to emphasise the strategic conception of itsplace in the world fective, liberaldemocrats who secular character of the have been running their coun- country, not just from the On whether the Trumpera ings want dignity,theywant asense of recog- tries very well. I’m thinking of point of view of communal is over nition. What Trumpmakes yourealiseisthat everywhere from Canadato harmony, but it is the only alot of his programmes help the millionaire New Zealand. In Germany,you basisonwhich you can have a Ithink,finally, we’reseeing abreak in the classbut he still has this incredible support have an extraordinary woman, sustainabledemocratic Republican Party. We’reseeing people will- amongthe working class. Why? Because he one of the longest serving experiment.Otherwise,what ingtofind away to separate themselvesfrom speakstothem with dignity.And that feel- Chancellors in German history, happens is people move into him, but the base is still with Trump. This ingthat Isee you, Ihear you, turns out to be who is utterlycommitted to lib- armedcamps; we saw that in mayseem fantastical, but it is basicallytrue very important forpeople’s emotional and eralismand democracy. In Capitol Hill. that nearly 60-70per cent of Republicans still psychic well being. The lastDemocrat who France,you have Macron,who believe that Trumpisright, thatthe election wasable to do that wasBill Clinton. has found away to thread the wasstolen. You’retalkingabout 50-60 mil- needle by being, both dynamic, lion Americans. So, the challengefor the forward-looking and at the On the challengefor party will be howdoyou dissociatefrom same time maintaining acer- Trumpwithout dissociating yourself from journalism tain degreeofpopular support. the base, the energy and the intensity of sup- Ithink there’s no going backtothe old So, Ithink there is alot of good port thatcomes with it. So, herewhat’s going world. The old worldwas onewhereyou had news in the world. to happen —the Republican Partyisgoing to (Fromtop) Zakariawas in conversationwith VanditaMishra, National Opinion alimited supply.And that shaped journal- break.Inany dictatorship,you know things Editor,and Anant Goenka,Executive Director,The Indian Express Group isminthosedays.Sointhe United States,you aregetting bad when yousee dissension at had threenetworks, yougot allyour news the top. Ithink you’rebeginning to see that. from thosenetworks, thenfour or five big Eminent guests who participated in thee.Adda include Niraj Bajaj, Director,Bajaj national papers. And the mostimportant AJIT GULABCHAND thing about those networks wastheyknew On the dangers of illiberal Group;Harsh Goenka, Chairman, RPG Enterprises;Ajit Shriram, MD, DCM Shriram CHAIRMAN, HCC LTD theyhad amixtureofpeople —Democrats, Why did you leave India? democracy Ltd;FedericoSalas, Mexico Ambassador;SurendraAhuja, MD, Boeing Defence Republicans, Left, Right. Fortunately, they WhenIwasgrowingupin Ithink thelesson of the deterioration of India;Sajjid Chinoy, Chief India Economist, JP Morgan;Nasim Zaidi, former CEC; had alot of people who were notverypolit- Indiainthe’70s,itwaspretty democracyinAmerica is this —you can look Fali Nariman, Senior Advocate,Supreme CourtofIndia; Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, ical. And so theyhad to provide akind of cen- rough.IndiraGandhihad at systems and saythis one is weak because trist, fact-baseddietofnews.This shiftthat’s nationalisedthebanks,andthe these institutionsare new, the independence Indian Navy;Vinod Dhall, former Secretary, Govt.ofIndia;CRajkumar, Vice taking place is two-fold. One,you’velostthat economywasstagnant. of the courtsisnew,the separation of pow- Chancellor,OPJindal;Yoginder Alagh, Vice Chairman, Sardar PatelInstituteof cartelthat wasable to justfeedpeople what JAMAL MECKLAI Personally,Ifounditimmensely ers is new, theyhaven’t hadthe time to build. Economic and Social Research;DrNajma Heptulla, Governor of Manipur;Naseem theythought wasthe important thing. And CEO, MECKLAI FINANCIAL attractive,theideaofthe Ithink what Ididn’t realise is institutions are Naqvi, BureauChief, AIR News;RSudarshan, Dean, OP Jindal Global University; younow have manydifferent platforms of Can the social and openness,thespiritof human, they’refragile by definition, that at various kinds. But the second is that alarge economic structure of adventure,thecanvasonwhich the endofthe day, an institution is onlyso Paresh Parasnis, CEO, Piramal Foundation;Kedar Upadhye; Global CFO, CiplaLtd; number of people who were listening, Europe be the future? youcouldpaintintheUnited strong as the people who arewilling to de- Kamal Meattle, Chairman Emeritus, Paharpur Business Centre;Shantanu Bhanja, watching, reading in the old days out of a Europe has found awayto States.Indiaseemedacramped fend it, the people who arewillingtouphold CEO -Consumer Products,Pidilite;MajaDaruwala, Board Member,CHRI; sense of obligation —theyactuallyturn out create avibrant capitalist anddifficultsocietyatthetime. it, and that theycan shiftveryeasily. NaliniSingh, Director,TVLIVE India Pvt Ltd nottobethat interestedinpolitics.Sowhat system thatstill provides afair Idon’tknowhowIwouldfeelifit happens is, nowpolitical journalism has to degree of social equity to were25yearslaterandIndia contend with thereality that theyare only people. Butit still remains a hasbecomeasdynamicasit On India’s strategic choices getting the junkies and those tend to be more collection ofcountriesthatdo has.Itwasaparticular The challengeisthatIndia hasn’t figured recordturnoutand the largest participation because we have this big and growing divide partisan. The challengeisthat youhaveto not have acommon idiosyncraticchoice.Idon’t out what it wants. Forthat, it needs to have by Americans,inahundred years. But it has in almost everysociety —between an urban, still maintain your standards. government. Itmeans thatthey pretendthatitissomekindof astrategic conception of itsplace in the raisedthe stakes,ithas heightenedthe in- educated,somewhat richer group on the one don’t project themselves ringingaffirmationofone world, itsplace in Asia. And it doesn’t have tensity,ithas made people feel that this is a hand and arural, less educated,somewhat strategically on the world On political parties societyovertheother. right that now. Prime Minister(Narendra) make-or-break moment, and when those poorer group on the other.It’s notonlyabout stage. In theend, you need Modi says his policy is multinational, etc.,but kinds of things happen, the atmospheregets money, it’sreallyabout asenseofclass dif- and populism some standard and the US I’m going to be nice to everybody. That is op- charged. So, that’sthe sense in whichthe ference, class resentment, class anxiety.And Parties have always playedthat role of provides the only standard. positeofhaving aforeign policy.Foreign pol- pandemic had an effect. It also has something unless we arecareful about this, we will cre- reconciling differenceswithin apopulation, icy is making choices. Ithink if India were to to do with the#BlackLivesMatter protests ateapermanent politics of resentment and and channelling passion intopolicy.The decide that it wantsastrategic partnership thathappened. Again,this same feeling of grievance, whichcan then be usedveryef- problem is notjustpopulism,but akind of with the US, centred around cooperation and intensification and high stakes, it has some- fectively by skilful politicians. Modi uses it in democratisationwhereeverybody thinks shared information, that would be atrans- thing to do with thechallengestodemocracy India, Erdogan uses it in Turkey,Putin uses it that these elites arebad, party elites arebad. forming relationship. But India needs to be because the electionbecame ahigh-stakes in Russia, and of course, Trumpuses it in the Whyshould theybemaking the choices? So muchclearer about this. There’s still acer- game, but Iwouldn’t discount the reality of United States. when youmoveintothat world, it becomes tain amountofthe non-alignedmentality Donald Trump. Trumpisnot producedbythe very difficult forparties to play that stabilis- that is still partofthe Indian foreign ministry. pandemic, he precedes it. On the one lesson one can ing role as gatekeepers. So, until it can getrid of those phobias and PALLAVA BAGLA learn from Trump realise it’s actuallyinanewworld,Idon’t On the growing divide On whether anygovernment is SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR think you’ll getasmuchout of theAmerican Probablythe one lesson would be,tore- WehaveseenAmerica relationship as youcould. in society member sometimes what people forget big enough to regulatebig tech SANJAY PUGALIA turnedintoabanana Thereisaparticularly dangerous trend, morethan anything else—that humanbe- Between theinformation revolution and EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, republic... globalisation, mostlyitistechnology thatis THE QUINT On the link between political Americadid not turn into a driving us towardsthe single platforms, HowshouldTrumpbe banana republic. Look at their fanaticism and the pandemic whichmeans that these singlecompanies dealtwith? checks and balances. You had Look,Iquote this line of Lenin’s in the have enormous power. Idon’t knowhow You defeat this kind of force Republican governors and book that thereare decades when nothing easy it is going to be to regulateit. The mar- politically, notlegally. One Secretaries of State ratifying an happens and, then, thereare weekswhen ketisnot going to provide asolution. So the strategy would be aCongress- election in which their candi- decades happen.The pandemic has sortof state, the government hastofind some way... ional censure. But ultimately, date lost. There were cases that put lifeonfastforward,it’s accelerated many the Twitter banonTrump, is completely you have to hope that the public Trump took to the courts, but trends taking place around the world, within egregious. Idon’t think it’sagoodidea. will get tired of him. There will lost. It describes aconstitu- our system. Now, if youlook at this election be court cases, but politics tional democracy that was in theUS, it wasaheroic achievement. You Forlonger version, go to should be aimed at discrediting placed under strain, butulti- had apandemic and yet, we have had a www.indianexpress.com him politically,ratherthan crim- mately affirmed itself. inalising his activities.

ASHOK KHEMKA take. It preventsadynamicprocess that must VN DALMIA cent of the country is simply left behind. And PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT take place in every economy. So, Ihave acertain DIRECTOR &FORMER CHAIRMAN, DALMIA there’ll be some group in the middle, which feels OF HARYANA amountofsympathy for the government. CONTINENTAL PVTLTD that this cannot be aviable social system. What Doyouthinkthefarmersagitationisan They’re trying to make reformsfinally,but it’s IsittimefortheUStoreinventitself? you’re seeing in the US is this deep backlash, expressionofcorporatemistrustor just very hard because you have left this prob- It is awake-up call for the US, and one that produced by people who feel as though their misgovernance? lem unattended, and allowed it to exacerbate. will come to other countries as well, including world is disappearing. Part of it is cultural and It is both. Agriculture in India has been mis- But there is another challenge, which is the de- India. We are in aworld where you have 10 to racial, but part of it is economic. And when you managedfrom the start. That agriculture is pro- gree of mistrust, due to the government’s insis- 20 per cent of the population generating huge have that, it is very hard to find away to make tected in the Constitution is obviously amis- tence on maintaining control overthe economy. amounts of economic wealth, and 20 to 30 per the country come together.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 7 THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 VACCINE DAY ONE NATION Nurse in Kerala, surgeon in Kashmir

Ayear into apandemic thatupendedlives and livelihoods,anentirenation sawthe firstsigns of hope as frontline workers signedupfor theinaugural session of anationwidevaccination programme againstCovid-19. THE SUNDAYEXPRESS meetssomeofthe firstrecipients of the Covaxin and Covishield vaccines— from ahealth officer in aremote Arunachal districttoacommunityworkerinNaxal-hit Dantewada

BHILWARA, RAJASTHAN MUSTAKKHAN, 46 CHIEF MEDICAL & HEALTH OFFICER

HAMZA KHAN

IN MARCH lastyear,when aprivate hos- pital in Bhilwarabecame the epicentre PALGHAR,MAHARASHTRA of aCovid-19outbreak in Rajasthan, the JAYSHREE SHINDE, 38 district administration andhealth offi- cials ledbyMustakKhan, the district's CLEANING STAFF AT Chief Medical and Health Officer, JAWAHAR SUBDISTRICT launcheda“ruthless containment” HOSPITAL strategy. Over thenextseveral days,Khan and his team conducted an exhaustive sur- TABASSUMBARNAGARWALA vey, zeroedinonsuspected Covid cases and tracedtheir contacts. Soon, the HAVINGFINISHEDhernightdutyinthesick ‘Bhilwaracontainment model’ came to newborncareunit,Shindewasasleepwhen be known as asuccess story. ahospital nurse rang her up at 11 am. “We On Saturday,Khan again ledfromthe aregoing to startvaccination. Come soon.” front, signing Shinde,aClassIVworker,walkedthe10- up forthe first minutedistance from her housetoJawhar dose of the sub district hospitalfor theinjection. Covishield Standingoutsidethevaccinationcentreand vaccine fighting offher sleep, she smiles, “I am ex- againstCovid- cited.Ihavespent all of lastyear in fear.” 19."By getting When the pandemicbegan, Shinde,a vaccinated motherof two,wasworriedaboutwhether first, Ihope to herworkwould exposeher to the virus. As build confi- aClass 4employeeearning Rs 7,000 a dence among month, she had to clean Covid wards. health work- Maharashtraaccountsforaround18 per ers. It is good centof India’sCovidburden.TillSeptember, that health the state’s high 5,286 workers are caseload was Active cases in being vacci- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, KERALA 52,152 solelyresponsi- Rajasthan nated first, Active casesin ble forIndia’s sincetheyare NISHA HAMEED, 41, NURSE Maharashtra daily high 3.14lakh at high risk. numbers. Totalcases We will aim Covid-19 warriors, but also givesconfi- governmentnurse, Nisha would return 19.84LAKH With her for100 per SHAJUPHILIP dence to people to getvaccinated,’’she says. home afterlongshifts to carefor herchil- Totalcases job putting her 2,746 cent vaccina- In the lastfour months, Kerala has dren. “Whilemostofmycolleagues stayed in direct con- Totaldeaths tion in the dis- “NOW, Ifeel likeasoldier who has worn an recordedmorethan 7lakh coronavirus in- backinthe hospitalorinhostels aftertheir 50,336 tact with Covid *AsonJan 16 trict. armour,’’ smiles Nisha Hameed, as she fections, morethan anyother stateinIndia. night shifts,Ihad to come backhome,” says Totaldeaths patients, Over the emergesfromthe Government Women The statenow has the highestnumber of the mother of twochildren, aged 17 and 15. *AsonJan 15 Shindeensured lastone year, and Children’s Hospital, mo- active cases, comprisingal- On some occasions,says Nisha, herjob Leadingfrom shetookallpre- while Khan witnessedseveral Covid mentsafter getting a most30per centofIndia’s to- created tension in her neighbourhood, with thefront cautions. cases and fatalities, the fear got real Covishield vaccine shot. 68,416 tal. some residentsfearing that she would “Atthe end of my shift, Iwould change when his father tested positive latelast Nisha, who has been work- Active casesin Recalling her duty in Covid bring the virus home. “But Ihad no time to my clothes at hospital, go home andbathe year."First, my father,who is 75 years ing as anurse since 2001,re- Kerala wards, Nisha says,“Ihavebeen payattention to suchanxieties. Doing my AN ESTIMATED three lakh front- before going near my children,” shesays. old anddiabetic,testedpositive,and ceivedamessageonFriday on duty forfivemonths. The duty withall precautions wasthe main line workers have chosen to lead Yet, four months ago, her nightmare then Itoo tested positive.When you about being selected forDay 1 8,42,843 early days were very difficult. concern then,” she says. from the front by volunteering for cametrue.Herhusband,asecurityguardin have thevirus in your ownhome, you of thevaccination drive.“Some Totalcases Everyday,Iwould leave home Butall that is in the pastnow,saysNisha. the firstdose, hoping to putto aprivate firm,got infected.“He has joined grow very fearful. Iwas very worriedfor in my family circletried to dis- forworkand it felt as if the “Now,Ihavegot the vaccine shot, all my rest anydoubtssome mayhave work now,”she says,adding, “Everyone in my father since he wasalready im- suade me…Theywondered if 3,442 virus wasstalking me. The fear fears and also of people around me have on the efficacy and safetyofthe thevillageknewIworkedasahelperinthe munocompromised," he says. gettingvaccinated on the first Totaldeaths grew whensome of my col- been put to rest.Itwill also encourageoth- vaccine. The rolloutdatecomes hospital. So theystayedaway.” After15daysinhospital, Khan's fa- daywas agood idea. They *AsonJan 16 leagues got infected.Ialways ers to turn up at vaccination centres,” she twoweeksafter India’s drug reg- Thestigmahurt,butonSaturday, Shinde ther recovered. "For me, the biggestles- thought that since therewas- felt it would be my turn next.’’ says. ulator granted accelerated ap- had put much of thatbehindher.“Idon’t son from this wasthat we can't ap- n’t enough dataonthe vac- Shehas so farnot tested posi- WHY THEVACCINE: “I cannow take on proval fortwo vaccines —Oxford- understand muchabout the vaccine. My proachitlikejustanother disease. Its cines, Ishould wait,” she says. tive forCovid-19. Covid-19 duty without fear,” says Nisha. “I AstraZeneca’s Covishield and hospital told me that avaccine is available, behaviour is unpredictable. But Nisha,who has been agovernment “While on duty in Covidwards, it’s dif- will continue taking precautions and main- Covaxin by BharatBiotech-ICMR, andIthoughtImusttakeittosavemyfam- WHY THE VACCINE: “The vaccine is nurse since 2001,saw no reason to wait. “As ficult to take waterand toiletbreaks. On tain social distance, but during an emer- the latter vaccine in acontrolled ilyfrominfection,” she says. being launchedafter good resultsdur- healthworkers, we should showthe way days that Ihad my periods,Ithought I gency,whenaPPE kit or face shield is not “clinical trial mode” giventhat its WHYTHE VACCINE: “I am notscared. It’s ing trials.Ibelievethereshouldn’t be any to others. When health workers getthe vac- would collapse inside the PPE kit,” shesays. immediately available,Ican confidently efficacy dataispending. likethe polio vaccine we give to children. doubtsregarding the vaccine.” cine first, it notonlyprotectsthe frontline With her husband, SSHameed, also a ventureout to save alife.” That is what the nurses said.”

DANTEWADA, CHHATTISGARH CHURRI, 50, ACOMMUNITYHEALTHVOLUNTEER (MITANIN) IN JAWANGAVILLAGE

GARGIVERMA

“IAMfedupofwearingamask.Itrustthevac- cine,”says Churri,asshepreparesforthejour- neytothe children’s hospital in hervillage, whereshewilljoinotherhealthcareworkers to getthe Covishield shotonthe firstday of the vaccination drive. Whilethestatehadbegunregistrationfor vaccinationinNovember,Churrisays shedid notexpect to be calledonthe firstday.“Igot BARAMULLA, KASHMIR acall on Friday. Ithought theywould start NAMSAI DISTRICT,ARUNACHAL PRADESH DR MOHSIN MUSHTAQ, 40 with people in the cities,” she says,adding, DR TOPE YOMCHA, 53 “My son wasscared andtold me nottogoon ASSISTANT PROFESSORATGOVTMEDICAL COLLEGE the firstday,but Istill came.” DISTRICT REPRODUCTIVE AND CHILD HEALTH OFFICER Since theCovid-19outbreak, mitaninsor we neverquestioned them. Thereare sev- community healthworkers suchasChurri ulation of 95,950 persons, according to the BASHAARATMASOOD eral cancer drugsthat we prescribetopa- have servedasacruciallinkbetweenvillagers ABHISHEKSAHA 2011 Census.Whilethedistricthassofaronly tients. So whyshould we fear this vac- andmedicalstaffinremote areasofthecoun- seen around 430Covid cases, Yomcha says INSIDE THE vaccinationwardof cine? Iwould encourageeveryone to get try. Themotherof three,andgrandmotherof DR TOPE YOMCHA has had to quarantine the actual numbersare muchhigher. Government Medical College, adesignated vaccinated whenevertheyget an oppor- five,wasassigned30housesinhervillage and natedcamelateonFriday,theycouldn’talert himself at agovernment facilityinNamsai Over 1,000people, mostlybelonging to Covid hospital in J&K’s Baramulla district, tunity.That is the onlyway to fight this went door-to-door,telling families about everyone about directions. “Weare nowtry- twice—inAugustandSeptemberlastyear— otherdistrictsofArunachalortheneighbour- thereisasense of unease. The doctors and disease and live amask-free life," Mushtaq Covid-19precautions, among other things. ingto reachoutto asmanypeopleaspossible aftercomingintocontactwithCovidpatients. ing stateofAssam,testedpositiveinNamsai, paramedics chosen forthe inaugural ses- adds. “Washing hands, social distancing, we told andguidethemto thecentres,”saidadistrict But the worstphase of the pandemic was whichactsasagetaway to other districtsof sion of the nationwide vacci- He would know. Over the people about all measures. We officialoverseeingtheimmuni- whenhis19-year-oldsontested the statesuchasLohit and nation programme discuss last10months, the doctor has alsohave to ensurethatchildren sation drive. positive afew days afterreturn- Dibang Valley. possible adverse reactions to 1,280 spent severaldays in thehos- getimmunisedand lactating 6,923 AroundnoononSaturday, ing home from hiscollegein 64 ArunachalPradeshhassofar the Covishield vaccine that is Active cases in pital, operating on Covid-pos- mothers got theirvitamins,” Active casesin aftertraveling foranhour and Guwahati. Active cases in reportedover16,000cases and scheduledtobeadministered J&K itive patients. says Churri,whohasbeenami- Chhattisgarh covering over 25km, Churriar- “My son tested positiveas Arunachal 56 deaths. In the firstphase, the to them. “OperatingonCovid-posi- tanin forover10years now. rivesatthe vaccination centre. did four of my college-going stateisvaccinating900people. But one among them 1,23,217 tive patientstakes itstoll, both The biggestchallenge, she 2,92,612 As she waitsher turn,the 50- nephews,includingtwo who 16,682 Districtadministrationoffi- walksupand takesthe chair Totalcases physicaland mental,” he says. says,was to ensure that peo- Totalcases year-old reminisces about the live withme.Evennow, my wife Totalcases cials said that during the pan- meant forthe vaccine benefi- “Some of these surgeries last ple visitingthe villagequaran- timeabarriermadeof clothand remains in constant fear be- demic, Yomcha playedakey ciaries —DrMohsin Mushtaq, 1921 severalhours. Doing it in aPPE tinedthemselves. “I made sure 3,544 treelogswasputoutsidehervil- causeIstandariskof contracting 56 role in planning, executing and Assistant Professor in the Totaldeaths is gruelling.It’s stressful even that people, even extended Totaldeaths lage to stop the entryofthose the virus,”says Dr Yomcha over Totaldeaths monitoring the testing and Department of Surgery at the *AsonJan 16 at home sinceyou arealways familymembers, were al- *AsonJan 15 returning from outside. “All of the phone from Namsai, one of *AsonJan 16 screening process. medical college. hoping that youhaven’t car- lowedintothe villageonlyaf- 2020 has been about Covid-19. the easternmostdistrictsofthe “Our team in Namsai “Wehavetocreatetrust riedthe virus home.” terthe quarantine period,” she Our village had acoupleof country, talking of avirus that worked very hardduringthe among people about this vaccine. If the doc- He believesit’s luck, along with some recounts. cases. The barrierwas setupinMarch and spread across geographies and spared none. pandemic.Onseveraloccasions,we have had tors arehesitant, howcan youconvince oth- basicprotocol, that helpedhim keep the Halfway through her journeytothe vac- we kept adding to it, withwires and wood,” “So,thevaccinemeansthatallthissuffer- to trek to remote locations of the district, ers to getvaccinated,” says the40-year-old, virus at bayfor closetoayear.Now,with a cination centre, Churri haltsatthe Geedam- she smiles. ing will come to an end soon,”hesays. sometimes early in themorning or lateat afterthe nurse has dabbed some cotton on vaccine finallyhere, he doesn’t want to take Dantewadaroad,lookingconfused.“Wewere WHY THE VACCINE:“Everyone is scaredof It wasthis hope and optimism that got night.Manyofushavehadto isolateourselves his arm. anychances forhimself and people around told to come to themalnutrition hospitalfor needles alittle, and Iwon’t sayIamnot himto signupforthevaccinationprogramme severaltimes,”hesaid. But some of his colleagues arestill not him. children, but no one on the road seems to scared.But Idon’t think therewill beanyse- thatkickedoff acrossthenationonSaturday. WHY THE VACCINE: “This vaccine sig- convinced.Theystart to leave. WHY THE VACCINE: “Weneedtofight knowwhereitis,” shesays. vere side effectsofthe vaccine. Theywould- Yomcha,whogot hisCovishielddose,has nifies that an alternative waytoprotect our- “Wehaveseenpharma companies this disease. Don’t we needalifewithout District administration officials said that n’t have launcheditifitwasn’t safe, would been at the forefront of the battle against selvesandourlovedonesfromtheCovidvirus coming up withvaccines forchildren… fear and face masks?” since the listofpeople who would be vacci- theyhave?” she asks. Covid in Namsai, asmall districtwith apop- is beginning.” Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 8 OPINION THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021

Across Fifth THEAISLE COLUMN TAVLEENSINGH “Curiouserandcuriouser” Twitter@tavleen_singh

“‘CURIOUSER AND curiouser!’ criedAlice proposedlaws’ and the ‘minutes of all governmentremovedtheAPMCActafew cedingthepandemicwas2017-18: 131.75; (she wassomuchsurprised, that forthe suchmeetings/consultations’.EveryCPIO yearsago.Theresult:theBiharfarmersells 2018-19:139.81;and2019-20:145.65lakh moment she quiteforgot howtospeak (Central PublicInformation Officer) re- paddyatRs800perquintalwhiletheMSP crorerupees. According to theFirst ACovid good English);” portedthat “this CPIO does nothold any is Rs 1,850. AdvancedEstimates,the GDP in 2020-21 That’s what Ialmostsaid whenIread recordinthis matter” and tossedher ques- The farmers want the laws to be re- will be Rs 134.40 lakhcrore.That means, the statementofMsNirmala Sitharaman, tions to another department. Yet, thegov- pealed, the government justifiedthe laws justtoreturntothe GDP levelof2019-20, blessing PCHIDAMBARAM the Finance Minister(FM), that she will ernment in itsaffidavit before the and asked the farmers’ representativesto the economyhas to grow at 8.37 per cent Website:pchidambaram.in draftaBudget “which isaBudget likenever Supreme Court sworethatthe affidavit discuss the Acts clause-by-clause! Please in2021-22. Agrowthrate of anythingless Twitter@Pchidambaram_IN before”. It is alsowhatmanypeople said wasbeing filed“forthe purpose of dis- notice the irony: thegovernment that will mean that theeconomythatwill lose WITH HIS flair formelodrama, Narendra when theyread thenames of thefour pelling the erroneous notion thatthe pro- rammedtheBillsthroughtheRajya Sabha Rs 11 lakh crore(at constant prices) in Modipersonallylaunchedthe nationwide membersofthe Committee (all pro-farm testershavepeddledthat the Central gov- without a clause-by-clause discussion or 2020-21willsufferafurther loss in 2021- vaccination drive againstCovid lastweek. laws)appointedbythe SupremeCourtto ernment and Parliament neverhad any voteshouldofferaclause-by-clausediscus- 22. At current prices, whichwill be better The vaccines have been producedbypri- holddiscussionswitheveryoneconcerned consultative process or examinationof sion on the streetsofSinghu! understoodby laypeople,thelossin2020- vate companies, but decades of socialism on the disputed laws. anyissues.....”.Notethe words“protesters 21 willbeRs9lakhcrore(USD120billion). have trainedustoallow political leaders to have peddled” spat out contemptuously What can the FM do to push the take credit foreverything. Having spent in asolemn affidavit. MUST DO, BUTWON’T growth rate to 8.37per cent in 2021-22? manyyears watching fine,upstanding CONTEMPTUOUS Afternewspapersexposedthe‘nil’RTI Meanwhile,we have theintriguingan- With revenues understress(because not Indians kowtow to the Dynasty,Ihad ATTITUDE response,theMinistryofAgriculturehur- nouncementof theFM.Whatshemustdo enoughwas done to stem the rate of de- hoped that Modi would govern in aman- riedly‘clarified’thattheinformationcould is very different from whatshe can or will cline), Idoubt if she will makecash trans- ner that woulddemandless servility. Thisland, wherewelive, is becoming notbegiven because the matter was sub do. Everyeconomistofrepute is agreed fers or cut taxrates. She could step up to- Especiallyafter he announcedfromthe stranger and stranger by theday.Isitnot judiceinseveralcourts!AsAlicewouldsay, thatmanythingsoughtto have beendone talgovernment expenditureand (1) ramparts of theRed Fort,early in his first Thefarmerswant the laws to strangethatademocraticallyelectedgov- it gets ‘curiouser and curiouser’. in 2020-21,but were notdoneout of fear implementarescueplan forMSMEsand term, that he sawhimself as the ‘pradhan be repealed,the government ernmentwillremainstubbornevenasthe or timidity or alackofknowledge: (2) invest moreininfrastructure. On the sevak’ofthe people. justified the laws and asked protest by farmersinthebittercoldof Delhi ■ Cashtransfersto thepoorestfamilies other hand, therewill be morestrident As inexplicable is Modi’s neglect of the entersits55thday(whenyoureadthiscol- NO CONSULTATIONS were notdone; claims forincrease in (3) Defence expen- twoareas in whichdecades of rule by the the farmers’ representatives umn)? Is it notstrangethat the govern- The fact is that therewas no consulta- ■IndirectTaxrates,especiallyGST rates, ditureand (4) Health infrastructure. Dynasty produceddismal results: educa- to discussthe Acts clause-by- ment will call theprotesting farmers for tion on the proposed farm Bills withthe were notcut; Something hastogive, and Ifear it will tion and healthcare. If the pandemic has clause! Please notice the talksevenwhile itsMinisters and party farmersoragriculturaleconomistsbefore ■ Government capital expenditure was be theMSME rescue plan and health in- brought one blessing, it is that it has forced irony: the government that leaders, and the AttorneyGeneral, call theordinanceswere promulgatedonJune notsteppedup; frastructure. NarendraModi to notice the abysmal state themKhalistanis(meaningsecessionists)? 5, 2020. ■ MSME rescue plan wasnot formu- TheFMisrightif herstatementhadal- of health services even in states governed rammed the Bills through the Strangefactsare tumblingout of the Besides, the Bills were passedbyso- lated to save theenterprises and jobs. ludedtothecontextof Budget 2021-22.In by his ownchief ministers. The blame for RajyaSabha without aclause- closet. Ms Anjali Bhardwaj,anenthusias- calledvoicevotesbrushingasidedemands Manyeconomists —among them terms of content,however,Ijusthope she India having the worstpublic hospitals, by-clause discussion or vote tic Right to Information Act(RTI) activist, forafull discussion (or areference to a DrArvindPanagariya,DrCRangarajanand does notdisappointthe people as she has and despitehaving some of the best pri- should offer aclause-by- appliedunder the RTItovarious depart- ParliamentarySelectCommittee)andvot- Dr Jahangir Aziz —havereiterated that done during the pandemic year. vate hospitals in the world, lies squarely mentsofthe government forinformation ingby division.Alarge sectionof thefarm- these measures should be takenatleast (The OxfordEnglishDictionarysays on the Congress party rule. What makes clause discussion on the on the farm laws;inparticular,onthe ers do notwantthe offendinglaws. They nowtorevivegrowth.RecallthattheGDP, ‘curiouser and curiouser’ means this criminal neglect unforgivable is that streets of Singhu! ‘dates of all consultations to discuss the pointto BiharwheretheNitishKumar-led at constant prices in the three years pre- ‘moreconfounded’) the party’s ruling Dynasty wasfounded by aman who triedtospread modern, sci- entific ideas in the hope that theywould dispel India’s ancient superstitions. Modi’s tent includespeople filledwith two-dayvisittoMizoram wascancelled notjustancient superstitions but obscu- inside so that he could discuss Cabinetforma- history rantism and blind faith in the medicinal tion with Prime MinisterNarendraModi. Notesfrom25years properties of cowdung and cowurine.He TRACK The outcome of the talkswas that the HEADLINE couldhavebrought ‘parivartan’byshow- COOMIKAPOOR Cabinetexpansionslated forJanuary14, P. RAMAN ingasmuchpassionfor improving pub- Makar Sakranti, waspostponedyet again ago, a‘ghotala’year lic health services as he did forSwachh tillafter theBudget.The reasonisthat the [email protected] Bharat. He chose to allowobscurantism leadership is undecidedwhether Union to prevailuntil the pandemic made it im- Cabinetchangesshould involve merely possible. Remember howwheninaugu- long overdue inclusions, suchas THEYEAR1995-96wastheRepublic’syear rating an Ambani hospital in Mumbai he PMO FOR JyotiradityaScindia, or be amoreexten- of ghotalas.Coinciding with PVNarasimha said ancient Indians knewabout plastic PATCH-UP sive exercise. Rao’s lastyear in office, the periodsaw a surgery andproof wasthat Ganesha was number of scams and dubious deals: the giventhe head of an elephant? Howdid THERIVALRYbetween the Serum sugar importscam whichled to food min- he forget Sushruta,consideredthe world’s InstituteofIndiaand Bharat Biotech be- THE RISE OF isterKalpnathRai’sresignation(November firstplastic surgeon, and whose method came open knowledge afterthe heads of BLSANTHOSH 1995),the telecom scandal thatprompted forsurgery on noseshas been modernised both took veileddigs at eachother pub- the ousterofminister Sukh Ram(Dece- but is still valid today? In the initial days of licly.The PMO immediatelyintervened, The recentBJP organisationalre- mber1995),godmanChandraswami’srev- the pandemic, Modiordered anationwide directing the twovaccine manufacturers shuffle whichdisempoweredRSS elations(September1995),theJainHawala beating of ‘thalis’and lightingofcandles, to issue ajoint letter thattheywerecoor- pracharaksloaned to the BJP, suchas chargesheet(January1996), the Rs 3crore so howcould he reprimand thosewho dinating in the fight againstthe pandemic. Saudan Singh and VSatish, has high- hawala charge againstRao (January 1996), bathedincow dung and said cowurine It is unclear who wasresponsible forin- lighted the growing clout of BL and the briberycharge against JMMMP wasthe ultimatecure? Instead of a fluencing the expertcommittee on vac- Santhosh, party general secretary (or- Suraj Mandal. However, afterRao’s defeat, MinistryofCowsinDelhi, would it not cine approval to grantimmediate clear- ganisation). Santhoshisadeparture mostofthese cases lostpolitical relevance. have been better to have aministrythat ance to CovaxinonJanuary2.Earlier,the from the usual mould of former organ- On January16, 1996, in adefining mo- took charge of reallyimproving our dis- minutes of the expertcommittee meet- isation general secretaries RamLal and ment forthe Indian political class, the CBI mal health services? ing reveal that Bharat Biotech wasasked SanjayJoshi, who toowerefromthe RSS chargesheetedLKAdvani, Arjun Singh, The pandemic has forced us to turn to firstsubmitadditional research dataas fold. He does notact likeafaceless, low- Yashwant Sinha, Devi Lal and Arif Chandraswami, who diedin2017, pays tributetoformer prime minister our gaze to another area that wasshame- the companyhad notcompletedits Phase keybackroom organiserbut regularly MohammadKhan (nowKerala Governor) Narasimha Raoonhis 91st birth anniversaryinNew Delhi in 2011. Anil Sharma fullyneglected underdecades of Congress III trials. Within aday,the panel re-con- tweets hishardcoreHindutvaviews.(On in the infamoushawala briberycase.The rule. Schools. TheEconomist had apiece venedtookaythe vaccine. WhileBharat occasion he had to delete impulsive agency alsosought sanction to prosecute last week that talked of howmillions of Biotech has the Prime Minister’s blessings, tweets on international affairs.) Unlike then Unionministers BalramJakhar,VC 7.5crore,followedbyArjun Singh (Rs 10 andsaid that he had asked thePMtowith- Mumbai’sslum childrenattending cheap the move to give itsvaccine instantaneous others from the RSS stable, suchasRam Shukla and Madhavrao Scindia. Advani re- lakh),DeviLal(Rs50lakh),YashwantSinha draw cases againstunderworld don Bablu private schools were no longer in school clearance seems to have stemmedpartly Madhav and Govindacharya,who lost signedasMPthe same day. ARs53.3crore (Rs 21 lakh), LKAdvani (Rs 60 lakh), Srivastava and Blitz editor RKKaranjia. because their parentscouldnot afford because of Subramanian Swamy’s embar- out because of being toohigh profile, scam involving three dozen politicians of MadhavraoScindia(Rs75lakh),VCShukla He told the officials that he had pre- smartphonesfor online lessons. It wasa rassing tweetthat an Indian product was Santhosh seems confidentofhis posi- allshades—excepttheLeft—wasexposed. (Rs 65.8 lakh) and Balram Jakhar (Rs 61 sentedapreciousneelam-studdedgoldring sad, shamefulstory about howdesper- being accordedstep-motherly treatment tion. He deriveshis strength notonly Westernagenciesputthefigureat$18 mil- lakh). The initials were also allegedtorefer to then chief election commissioner TN atelyIndia needs to payattention to and rancounter to the RSS’s and Modi’s from theideologicalwing,but has a lion. On February11, morepeople were to RajivGandhi,GianiZailSingh,BhajanLal, Seshan as ‘a markofblessing.’ On April 3, school education, and the mostshameful Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. close working relationship with both charge-sheeted. There wasnoactionable NDTiwari andPranabMukherjee. On 1996, the SupremeCourtadmonishedthe statistic it quoted wasthe WorldBank say- NarendraModi and Amit Shah. The BJP evidenceagainst23others. January 23,1996, Atal Bihari Vajpayeeal- CBI forthe tardyinvestigation intocases ing that only55% of Indian children can leadership turns to him foradvice on Parliament wasnot in session the day leged that Narasimha Raowas also paid Rs againstthegodman.OnMay3,hewassent read or understand asimple story. NO CONDOLENCE SouthIndian politics and he wasautho- theCBIfiledthechargesheet.Afteraparlia- 3crore hawala money. to TiharJailinconnectionwiththe‘NRIdup- This dreadful stateofaffairs has not MEET rised to elevate some unknownfaces mentarypanel meeting, veteranpolitician The politicians triedtowriggle out by ingcase’. On May27, 2017,Nemichand Jain come to happen in the pastseven years. with like-mindedviews. Somnath Chatterjee told us: “I am both claiming thatthe initialsinthe diarywere alias Chandraswami diedinobscurity. It has takendecades of criminal negli- It is over amonth since AhmedPatel’s happy and sad. Happybecause finally the wrongly interpreted.But on January18, Thethird‘ghotala’pertainedtothemys- gence forthings to come to this pass. death and excuses as to whythe party has guilty have been broughttobook. Sad be- 1996, Sharad Yadavbroke rankstoadmit teriousairdroppingof severalcachesof AK- Decades in whichschools for‘the people’ still notheld afull condolence meeting at ACAUSTIC cause forfiveyears the establishment thathetook Rs 3lakhfromthe Jains in the 47 andother ammunition in Purulia on were treated with contempt by the offi- the nationallevel sound lame. Rahul FAREWELL avoidedaction againstthe country’s high presence of Congress leader Chimanbhai December17, 1995, from an AN-26 plane. cialswho built thembecause theyknew Gandhi’s prolonged stay out of India is andmighty.Finally, theSupremeCourthad Patel, but did nothelp the Jains. Four days The aircraftwas interceptedtwo days later that theyneednever have to send their cited as areason,but therewas no love Beforehis departure from India, US to actonaPIL.” Chatterjee wasright. later,heresignedfromtheLokSabha.Other and the five crew members—all Latvians ownchildren to them. So, this is some- lostbetween the Gandhi scion and Patel. Ambassador Kenneth Justerlaid the foun- But justwhen the investigation into namesinthe diaryweresaidtobeRK —wereroundedup.Investigationsrevealed thing thatcannotbeblamedonModi. Besides,the meeting could have easily dation stone forthe newUSChancery India’s biggestpoliticalbriberyscandal Dhawan, Kamal Nath, Arvind Netamand that twodays before the airdropping, the What can be blamedonhim is thathehas been organisedbeforehewent abroad. building in New Delhialong with Union seemedtobemaking abreakthrough, the SRBommai.Afterprotractedlitigations,the plane wasinterceptedbetween Bombay done almostnothinginthe pastseven The Congress, incidentally, is still to sort ministerHardeep Singh Puri and Deputy caged parrot wasstifledand officers trans- Delhi High Courtlet offthe politicians on and Madras, and had refuelled at Varanasi years to make things better. out itsfinancial affairs afterthe death of Chief MinisterofDelhi Manish Sisodia. ferred.Therewas aconspiracy of silence. the premise that the diary’s notings were airportonthedayoftheincident.Thewhole MostIndian states with the worst itstreasurer.Rahul’s deep suspicion of the But uncertainty remainsoverthe fund- No one wanted to expose the Jain brothers ‘notadmissible evidence’. Manywereac- episode revealedaserious security breach, schoolsaregovernedbyBJPchiefministers. old guardwas evidentatthe meeting ing forthe newstructure.The US —SKJain, NKJain and BRJain —because quitted in 1997.OnMarch 2, 1998,the butwhoplottedtheairdropandwhatwere So hadthe PrimeMinistershown as much meant to humour the G-23 letter-writ- Congress presumes that the moneywill they knewtoo much about the cloak-and- Supreme Court reversedthe DelhiHigh thearmsfor?Initially, investigatorsconcen- interest in improving schoolsashedid in ers. WhileSonia and Priyanka were po- come from the auction of Lincoln House, daggeroperation.Theydouble-crossedthe Court’s verdict but letoff charge-sheeted trated on the controversialAnanda Marga sanitation,there isnoquestionthatschools litehosts,Rahul wasoffhand. He snubbed the former US Chancery building in intelligenceestablishmentandtheirforeign Advani and VCShukla as the prosecution group.Later Kim Davy,one of thecrew would have improved.Thereisstill time. Kamal Nath by suggesting thathewas not Mumbai. But though vaccine manufac- contactswhile allegedly using thefundsto failedtopresent corroborative evidence. members, claimed theR&AWknewabout Some of the mostprimitive schools Ihave in control of his state as Chief Minister, turer Adar Poonawalla had emergedthe bribeIndian politiciansfor personal gains. The Chandraswami phenomenon was the airdropping, and that the arms were visited existinthe states of Uttar Pradesh and that Ashok Gehlotisequallyunable topbidder in the auction held manyyears Theinvestigatorshadgot theirfirstclue the other murky facetofthe ghotala year. meantto helpelementsopposedtotheLeft and Bihar. If Modi wantstoensurethatour to control theRSS-influencedbureaucrats back, he has withheldfull payment since in 1991 when theyhad seized adiaryfrom No godman had ever exertedsuchavice- governmentinWestBengaltocreatedis- vaunted ‘demographic dividend’doesnot who rule the roostinRajasthan. he is unable to take possession due to in- aKashmiri terrorist. Further raids yielded likehold on South Block. PM Raoremoved quietand pave theway forPresident’s rule. endupinthewastebasket,heneedsto con- ter-ministerial wrangling whichhas one morediaryand twonotebooksfrom his internal securityministerRajeshPilot Years later,all five crew members centrateonschool education with the pas- blockedthe land’s transfer.Significantly, the Jainbrothers. These containedinitials on September 13,1995, hours afterthe lat- were freedunder diplomatic pressure sion he showedfor Swachh Bharat. SOME CABINET Justercautionedinhis farewell remarks of politicianstowhompaymentswereal- terordered aCBI inquiryagainstthe god- from Russia. The pandemic has brought with it al- CARPENTRY thatsome policies of the government legedlymadebetween 1988 and1991. Arif man.OnOctober 8, Chandraswami ap- mostnoblessings anywhereinthe world. would deterforeign investment MohammedKhantopped the listasper peared before the Jain Commission PRaman is asenior journalistand It has brought death and horrorand terri- Home MinisterAmitShah’s recent and trade. conclusionsmadefromthediaries.withRs inquiringintoRajiv Gandhi’sassassination, author of Post-Truth Media ble suffering. But,inIndia it has brought with it ablessingortwo.The firstisthat it haskilledfewer people per millionthan in almostany other countryand it has made us notice those areas of governance that have been horriblyneglected for She much toolong. If theyhad notbeen,we Pandemic: Of split hairs and close shaves would notfacethe possibility thatmil- SAID lionsofIndia’s mostvulnerable children EKTAAMALIK will notlearn to read or writeever. It has Mypokerstraighthairhadalways been me. ‘Areyou ok’? ‘Why did youdothis?’ — were takenabackatmy‘life-altering deci- were made to shavetheir hair to ensure made us noticethat mostgovernment asourceof somevanityforme.Mymother, wasthe common refrain. Manysaw it as a sion’.Mywomenfriendsontheotherhand theydidnothaveany adornmentthatcould hospitals lackbasic facilities likemodern always the pragmatic problemsolver, de- cryfor help, some as an attention-seeking were very encouraging. Some even sug- makethemattractive to theothersex.Many systems to getrid of medicalwaste.Like creed, “Let’s shave it off” and “Sowanew move,others were hesitant, as ashaved gested that this can be apermanentthing, religions and communitieshavestrict dik- fire safety. Tennewborn babies diedin “HAIR IS everything….” states avisiblyaf- crop”.Sooneevening,afterIhadtestedneg- head mayspeak of atragedy in thefamily. as theycould now“see my face”. Adear tats regardinghair.Think of the Hasidic their cribs in agovernment hospital in fronted Fleabag to Anthony, ahairdresser, ative forthe virus,and the avalanche of my Hair,especiallyfor women, has almost malefriendelaborated:“It’sokfornow but Jews,Islam, Sikhism and Buddhist monks. Maharashtra lastweek simplybecause of intheaward-winningseriesFleabag(2019). hair fall still hadn’t abated,mymother and always been sacrosanct. Medusa, the fe- Ihopethis is notpermanent”. Igot the in- Thepandemicalsosawmenshave their obsolete fire equipment. This scene has been playing in my mindon I, equippedwith amen’s shaving razor and male monsterfromGreek mythology,had nuendo. Awoman with acrew cut, leave hair and grow their beards.The man bun This news would have made headlines aloop forthe pastfew weeks, ever since I women’s shaving gel, shavedmyhead. snakes forhair locks,and anyone who alone ashavedscalp,isoften perceivedas didn’tlookoutof placeinofficialzoomcalls. in acountrywithreal public healthcare. It shavedmyhead. 2020 wasayear that took Now, everywispof airregisteredonmybare lookedintoher eyes turned to stone. In being ‘edgy’ and ‘badass’. Juxtapose this Whycan’t the acceptance be extended to a disappearedwithin hours in India because atoll on my health, with multiple hospital- scalp,every drop of cold watermademe Mahabharata,Draupaditookavow thatshe with women withlong, tamedhair.These woman who has shavedher head on a when it is poor children who die, nobody isations and countless medications. To top shiver.AsIam the lastofthe millennials,I would onlytie her tresses afterwashing arewomenwhommenthinkeasyto man- whim?ButmaybeFleabagwasontosome- reallycares. It is ashameful, uglyattitude it,IcontractedCovid-19astheyeardrew to did put all of this on social media. them withDushasana’s blood, following age, amenable and adhering to traditions. thing when she said “hair is everything”. thathas developedoverdecades of callous aclose. Afterthe initialhysteria subsided Later,through responses on social me- her cheer-haran.Eventhe phrase‘letyour Mylookalsotriggereddebate aboutmy Shehadcontinued“...We wishitwasn’t,so ‘socialism’, but Modi could have brought and it became apparent that minewas a dia Irealisedwhat Ihad done was‘news- hair down’ has itsroots in the storyof sexualorientation.Somemenaskedif Iwas we canactually thinkaboutsomethingelse thechangethat he promised. And he still ‘mild’case,otherworryingsymptomsflared worthy’.Peoplewhohadn’tspokento mein Rapunzel beingcloisteredinatower. “planning to playfor the other team”. occasionally, but it is.It’sthe difference be- can. It is no longer acceptablethat India up.Thefloorof my homebore testimonyto years, old colleagues, an ex-boyfriend, and The responsestomynew look had a Politically, shavingone’sheadhasoften tweenagooddayandabadday....”Fromthe should have thebestprivate schools and the fact that Iwas losing my hairinchunks. evenoldcollegeclassmates,reachedoutto clear distinction on genderlines. The men been amediumofprotest.Hinduwidows looksofit, Iaminfor anumber of bad days. hospitals in the worldand the very worst.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 Crude Wa tch OIL SLIPS 2.7% ON DEMAND CONCERNS NewYork: Oil prices fell sharply on concerns that demand would be lowerasCovid-19 continues to rage globally.USWest Texas 9 ECONOMY Intermediate crude fell 2.73per cent to $52.11 per barrel, while Brent wasat$54.87, down 2.75per cent on the day. REUTERS

‘BANKS,NON-BANKSSHOULDALSOHAVEAPPROPRIATECOMPLIANCECULTURE’ PM ANNOUNCES`1,000-CRORE STARTUPINDIA SEED FUND ‘Our startups should be global RBIopentobadbankproposal:Das giants in their service areas’ At Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture, Reserve Bank Governor advises lenders to identifyrisks early ENSECONOMICBUREAU crucial notonlytoensurecredit NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 ENSECONOMICBUREAU ED Redefining flowbut also to build resilience in MUMBAI,JANUARY16 fiscal the financial system,” Das said. THE GOVERNMENT will launch a PLAIN E “Wehaveadvisedall banks, Rs1,000-croreseedfundforstart- ● roadmap RBI GOVERNOR ShaktikantaDas EX large non-deposit takingNBFCs ups, calledStartup India Seed on Saturdayindicatedthat the and all deposit-taking NBFCs to Fund, whichwill help startups centralbankcanconsidertheidea WITH REFERENCE to the assesstheimpactof Covidontheir withthe initial capital forgrowth of abad bank to tackle non-per- Budget,Das said the gov- balancesheet,assetquality, liquid- and operations, Prime Minister formingassets(NPAs)andadvised ernment should define ity,profitability and capital ade- NarendraModi said on Saturday. banksandnon-bankstoadoptap- thefiscalroadmap not quacy,andwork outpossiblemit- “Goingahead, the governm- propriatecompliancecultureand onlyintermsofquantita- igationmeasuresincludingcapital ent willprovide guaranteesto Prime MinisterNarendraModi addresses thePrarambh identifyrisksearly. tive parameters,but those planning,capitalraising,andcon- help startups raise debt-capital. Startup India InternationalSummit via video link. ANI “If there’s aproposal to setup relatingtoquality of ex- tingency liquidity planning, We aretrying to build astartup abad bank,the RBI will look at it. pendituretoo. This, he among others,” Das said. ecosystemwhichfunctionsonthe We have regulatoryguidelinesfor said,would ensurecontin- Inadditionto astrongriskcul- ‘of theyouth,by theyouth,forthe will come together in the field of tive andpsychologicalcareamong assetreconstructioncompanies,” uedwelfarism as well as ture,banksandnon-banksshould youth’ mantra,” the PrimeMinis- technology andinnovation. All otherareas. DassaidwhiledeliveringtheNani RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas delivers the Nani Palkhivala sustainable growth. alsohave appropriatecompliance tersaid,speakingatthePrarambh BIMSTEC areworkingtoimprove Apartfromthese seedfunds, Palkhivala Memorial Lecture. Memorial Lecture, on Saturday. Screengrabvia @RBI Twitter culture.Costofcompliance to Startup IndiaInternational their connectivity and business,” theministryhasoverthelastyear NPAsof thebankingsectorare rules and regulations should be Summitinanonline address. Modi said. alsoconductedseveralothercom- expectedtoshoot up to 13.5 per perceivedasaninvestmentasany Duringtheaddress,Modisaid The newseedfund forstart- petitionsto awardstartupswork- cent of advancesbySeptember non-bank financial companies shareholdersandseniormanage- sustainability of public finances, inadequacy in this regard will thetarget forIndia’sstartupsover ups comes afterthe Ministryof inginseveralareas,suchasvideo- 2021from7.5percentinSeptem- (NBFCs) needtoidentify risks ment vis-à-vis the role of the measurable parameters of qual- provetobedetrimental, he said. thenextfive yearsshouldbetobe- Electronics and Information conferencing,artificialintelligence ber2020 underthe baseline sce- early,monitor them closelyand board, the RBI Governor added. ity of expenditurewouldensure Das said arobustassurance comeglobalgiantsintheirrespec- Technologyhad earlier lastyear among others. nario, the Financial Stability managethem effectively. With the Union Budget just that welfarismcarriessignificant mechanismby wayofinternalau- tive serviceareas. initiatedasimilarfundto identify LastJuly, theministryhad Reportofthe ReserveBank of The risk management func- twoweeksaway, Das advisedthe productive outcomes and multi- dit function is another important “Our startupsshould leadin startups and give them financial launchedachallenge invitingInd- India (RBI) saidearlier this week. tion in banksand NBFCs should government to definethe fiscal pliereffects,” Das said. component of sound corporate futuristic technologies. If all BIM- help. In August, the ministry had ian developers to come up with “Weare open to lookatany pro- evolve withchanging timesas roadmapintermsofthequalityof Maintaining and improving governance and risk manage- STEC (BayofBengal Initiative for launched afund to identify 300 apps in arangeofsegmentssuch posalto setupabadbank,”hesaid. technologybecomesallpervasive the expenditure. the quality of expenditurewould ment. “It provides independent Multi-Sectoral Technical and startups whichwould be pro- as office productivity,social net- Abadbankbuysthebadloans and should be in sync with best “Going forward, it becomes help address the objectives of fis- evaluation and assurance to the EconomicCooperation)countries videdseedfundof upto Rs25lakh working,e-learning,news,games, and other illiquid holdings of internationalpractices,headded. imperative that fiscal roadmaps cal sustainability while support- boardthat the operations of the push forthis, alarge population and other facilities as well. A healthandwellness,agri-tech,fin- other banksand financial institu- “In this context, instilling an aredefined notonlyinterms of ing growth, he added. entity arebeing performedinac- would benefit from this,” the budget of Rs95.03 crorehas been tech andentertainment, and tions, whichclearstheir balance appropriate riskcultureinthe or- quantitative parameterslikefiscal The RBI Governor notedthat cordancewiththesetpoliciesand Prime Minister added. earmarkedfor the programme speech translation,amongothers. sheet. Banks, ledbythe Indian ganisation is important. This balance to GDP ratio or debt to the current Covid-19 pandemic procedures,” he stated. Duringtheevent,Modialsoin- named ‘Chunauti’, to be spent Adifferentchallengelaunched Banks’ Association (IBA), had last needstobedrivenbythe board GDP ratio, but also in terms of relatedshockwill place greater The internal audit function teracted withthe founders of over aperiodofthree years. in April lastyear,whichsought a Mayhad submitted aproposal to and senior management withef- measurable parameters relating pressureonthe balance sheets of should assessand contributeto startups from BIMSTEC nations, The IT Ministry’s programme worldclass video-conference so- setupabad bank to the Finance fective accountabilityatalllevels,” to qualityofexpenditure,bothfor banksintermsof NPAs,leadingto improvement of the organisa- whichincludeBangladesh, seekstoaward startups in the lution,whichcouldbeanalterna- Ministryand the RBI, proposing Dassaid.Recenteventsinourrap- Centreand states,” Das said. erosion of capital. tion’s governance, risk manage- Bhutan, India, Myanmar,Nepal, fields of edu-tech, agri-tech,sup- tive to global apps such as Zoom, equitycontributionfromthegov- idlyevolving financial landscape “While the conventional pa- “Building buffers and raising mentandcontrolprocessesusing Sri Lanka and Thailand. plychain, logistics,and transport sawKerala-based Techgentsia ernment and the banks. have ledtoincreasing scrutinyof rameters of fiscal discipline will capital by banks—bothinthe asystematic,disciplined,andrisk- “Inthe2018 BIMSTECsummit, management, as well as medical SoftwareTechnologieswinaprize According to Das, banksand the role of promoters,major ensuremedium and long-term publicandprivate sector—willbe basedapproach, Das said. Ihad said that all these countries healthcare, diagnostics,preven- moneyofRs1crore.

COVID-19IMPACT 51.7%: Shareoftotal UKIBC seeks parity in corporate HDFC Bank Q3 net domesticairpassengermarketin ‘56% fewerpassengers flew 2020accountedforbyIndiGo tax rates for Indian, foreign cos profit rises 18.1% 78%: Occupancy rate at domesticallyin2020’ SpiceJet last month, highest route, Krishna said. 2020,respectively. Therestructur- among all Indian carriers ENSECONOMICBUREAU UKIBC’s group chair Richard ENSECONOMICBUREAU ing under the RBI resolution Atotal of 6.3crore domestic passengers travelled by air As partofpre-Budget NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 Heald,OBE,hasurgedthegovern- MUMBAI,JANUARY16 framework forCovid-19was ap- lastyear,56.29% lowerthan 2019,the DirectorateGeneral 94.9%: On-time consultations with the mentto furtheracceleratethepa- proximately0.5 percentofad- of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said performanceofIndiGoin THE UK-INDIA Business Council Finance Minister, the ce of economic reforms through DESPITE THE contraction in the vances, it said. December;bestatfourmetro (UKIBC) has urgedthe govern- UK-India Business Budget announcementswhich economy triggeredbythe pan- Provisions and contingencies airports—Bengaluru,Delhi, mentheretobringparitybetween would eventually lead to enhan- demic,HDFCBankonSaturdayre- fortheDecemberquarterwereRs HyderabadandMumbai corporatetax ratesfor domestic Council also cedinvestment and trade foot- portedanet profit of Rs 8,758.3 3,414.1 crore(consistingof specific and foreign companies as partof recommendedraising print of UK’s businesses in India. crorefor the third quarterended loan loss provisions of Rs 691.2 LOWPASSENGERLOAD itspre-Budget recommendations the FDI limit in defence Apart from this, UKIBC also December 2020,arise of 18.1 per croreand general and other pro- FACTORINDECEMBER: submitted to Finance Minister suggestedthe government to in- cent from Rs 7,416.48crore in the visionsofRs2,722.9 crore) as Thepassengerloadfactorin Nirmala Sitharaman. and insurance sectors crease allocations forthe defence quarterendedDecember 2019. againstRs3,043.6 crore(specific December2020hasshown “Globally,thegeneralpractice sectortoover2.5 percent of the The bank’s netrevenues(net loan loss provisions of Rs 2,883.6 decliningtrendcomparedtothe is to have atax rate parityacross GDP and raise foreign direct in- interestincome plus other in- croreand general and other pro- previousmonthprimarilyduetothe all kindsofcompanieswithin the applicable to foreigncompanies vestment (FDI)limit through au- come) grew to Rs 23,760.8 crore visions of Rs 159.9crore)for the endoftouristseason,accordingto same industry. Examples areall anddomesticcompaniesat43.68 tomatic routeinthe sector to 100 forthe quarterfromRs20,842.2 quarterendedDecember 2019. theaviationregulator BRIC countries exceptIndiaand a per cent and 25.17 percent, re- per cent from 74 percent. croreinthe same quarterayear As of lastDecember,total bal- PASSENGERSFLOWN 73.27lakh: Peoplewho majority of OECD countries(UK, spectively. The Union Budget for Ithasalsorecommendedrais- ago. While advances growth was ance sheetsize wasRs16,54,228 DOMESTICALLYBY travelledbyairdomesticallyin COST-CUTTINGACROSS Japan,etc.)aswellasimportantfi- 2021-22 will be presentedin ing the FDI limit forthe insurance at 15.6 per cent, core netinterest croreasagainstRs13,95,336crore, AIRLINESLASTYEAR: December2020,43.72%lower THEBOARD: nancial centres likeHong Kong & Parliament on February1. sectorto 100percentfrom49per marginforthequarterwas4.2per agrowth of 18.6 per cent. ■ IndiGo:3.25crore thaninthecorrespondingperioda Allairlinesinthecountryhave Singaporewherethe taxstruc- Foreignbanksgenerallyoper- centalongwithaskingformutual cent. “The bank’s persistent focus Totaladvancesasof December ■ SpiceJet:93.9lakh yearago adoptedcost-cuttingmeasures tures fordomestic and overseas ateinIndiaasabranchdueto reg- recognition of degrees between ondepositshelpedinthemainte- 2020 were Rs 10,82,324crore,an ■ AirIndia:69.32lakh suchaspaycuts,leavewithoutpay companies areidentical,”said ulatory and commercial reasons Indiaandmajorcountries,includ- nanceof ahealthyliquiditycover- increase of 15.6 per centover ■ GoAir:54.38lakh 65.1-78%:Rangeofload andfiringofemployeesinorderto JayantKrishna,groupCEO,UKIBC. and areduction in the corporate ing the UK, and removalofretro- ageratio at 146per cent,well December 2019.Domestic ad- ■ AirAsiaIndia:43.87lakh factorofsixmajorIndianairlinesin tideoverthecrisis Thereductioninthecorporate taxrateforsuchbrancheswillpro- spectivetaxation, fast-tracking above the regulatoryrequire- vancesgrew by 14.9percentover ■ Vistara:39.39lakh December2020 Source: DGCA/PTI taxratefor domestic companies videalevel playing field as com- disinvestmentof publicsectorun- ment,” the bank said. December2019.Asperregulatory coupledwiththeabolitionof div- pared to branches of domestic dertakings, customs duty reduc- Gross and netnon-perform- segmentclassification, domestic Why is it important: Even as domestic flights resumed after atwo-month hiatus on May 25, the aviation idenddistribution tax(DDT) cre- banksandencourageinvestment tionforimportofalcoholicspirits, ingassetswereat0.81per cent of retail loans grew by 5.2 per cent sectorhas been hit significantlydue to thetravel curbs imposed in Indiaand other countries ates asignificant disparity be- by foreignentitiesthatarekeento andaregulatoryregimeforonline gross advancesand 0.09 per cent and domestic wholesale loans tween the effective taxrates invest in Indiathrough abranch gaming and sports betting. of netadvancesasofDecember grew by 25.5 per cent. BRIEFLY Placed on Notorious Markets List,Snapdeal Forex reserves rise to $586 bn

ATFpriceup weeklydatareleased by the cen- 3%;nochange callsUSTR report ‘ill-informed, incorrect’ ENSECONOMICBUREAU GOLDRESERVES tral bank showed. NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 CLIMBTO$37.5BN Afterremaining unchanged inpetrol,diesel had also strongly rebutted. during the lastweek,the special LALITKJHA Snapdeal and four Indian shopping complexes Thelackofdiligenceisevident THE COUNTRY’S foreign ex- drawing rights(SDRs) with the ■ Thegold reserves NewDelhi: Jetfuel, or ATF, NEWDELHI,JANUARY16 have figured in thelatest2020 Reviewof in including reference to related changereservesrose by $758 International Monetary Fund priceonSaturdaywashiked sites thathaveceasedtooperate million to reacharecordhighof climbed by $568 (IMF) increasedby$5million to by 3percent,thefourthhike SNAPDEAL,ONE of India’slargest Notorious Marketsfor Counterfeiting and Piracy four years ago, the company said. $586.082billion in the week million to $37.594 $1.515 billion. in twomonths, whilepetrol e-commerceplatforms, has con- issuedbythe Office of the US Trade Representative TheUSTRreportsaidSnapdeal ended January8,datafromthe billion, while the The country’s reserveposi- and dieselrates remained tested aUSTrade Representative remains aconcern forrighthold- ReserveBank of India (RBI) specialdrawing rights tion with the IMF rose by $35 unchangedafterhittingnew (USTR)reportthatplaceditonthe erswhoreportthatthevolumeof showedonFriday. (SDRs)with the IMF million to $5.181billion in the highs.ATFpricewasupbyRs Notorious Markets Listfor coun- Pinduoduo, Shopee, Snapdeal, and sellers, the USTR report wil- counterfeitproductsonthis plat- In the previous week ended increasedby$5million week,according to datafromthe 1,512.38perkilolitre,or2.96 terfeitingand piracy,and termed Taobao,Tokopediaandmanyoth- fullyblurs this distinction to fur- form has risenoverthe pastyear. January1,the reserves had in- to $1.515 billion, banking regulator. percent, to Rs 52,491.16per it ill-informedand incorrect. ers, basedonincorrect under- ther aflawedpoint of view. “According to aNovember 2018 creasedby$4.483 billion to weeklydatareleased The ReserveBank functions kL in Delhi, anotification of Snapdealand four Indian standingof practicesandlaws ap- “Indoing so,itignores clear survey,37per cent of purchasers $585.324billion. by the RBI showed as the custodian and manager of state-run fuel retailers said. shoppingcomplexeshavefigured plicable to various markets,” said and well-establishedregulatory reportedthat theyhad receiveda In the reporting week,for- forexreserves, and operates inthelatest2020ReviewofNotor- aSnapdealspokesperson Friday. and legal frameworksunder counterfeit productfromSnapd- eign currency assets (FCAs), a within the overall policy frame- ious Markets forCounterfeiting “Thereportreflectsapoorun- whichmarketplacesoperate,”the eal. In July2019, Snapdeal’s foun- major component of the overall or depreciation of non-USunits work agreedupon with the gov- Wipro:Buyback and Piracy issued by the Office of derstanding of the governinglaw company said.The spokesperson ders were accusedofcriminal reserves, rose by $150 millionto suchasthe euro, poundsterling ernment. worth`9,500cr theUSTR. “Thereportreleasedby in various jurisdictions,including said the commentsmade about conduct in India forselling coun- $541.791billion. and Japanese yenheld in the for- The RBI allocates the dollars the USTR tarnishes the imageof India. While courts in India con- Snapdealwere factuallyincorrect terfeitproductsthere.Righthold- Expressedindollar terms, eign exchangereserves. forspecificpurposes.The RBI completed theworld’sleadingmarketplaces, tinueto upholdandassertthedis- andrepeatedthefalsehoodscon- ershave alsosuedSnapdealforse- the foreign currency assets in- The gold reserves climbed by also uses itsforex kitty forthe or- includingAmazon,MercadoLibre, tinction betweenmarketplaces tained in a2019report, whichit llingcounterfeitgoods,”itsaid. PTI clude the effect of appreciation $568million to $37.594billion, derly movement of the rupee. NewDelhi:WiprosaidSatur- dayithas completedits Rs 9,500-croresharebuyback programme. The buyback Fiat Chrysler, Peugeot seal $52-bn merger to become Stellantis sawAzim Premji-affiliated entities tendering 22.89 croreshares of about Rs They firstannouncedplansto Tavaresplanstoaddressthe huge soon, but without divulging too to better appreciateevery single 9,156crore,afiling said. PTI GIULIOPIOVACCARI merge in October 2019,tocreate challengesfacingthegroup-from manydetailsatfirst. move.Idon’tthinkwewill have MILAN,JANUARY16 agroup with annualsales of excess production capacity to a “Hehas proven to be the kind allthe details before oneyear,” around 8.1millionvehicles. woeful performance in China. of personwho prefers action to Santinosaid. Togopublicin FIATCHRYSLERand PSAsealed “ThemergerbetweenPeugeot Tavareswillholdhisfirstpress words, so Idon’tthink he will FCAchief executive officer comingyears: their long-awaited merger on S.A.andFiatChryslerAutomobiles conference as Stellantis CEO on makeloud statementsortry to MikeManley—who will head SaturdaytocreateStellantis, the N.V. that will lead thepath to the Reuters Tuesday, afterringing NYSE’s bell over-sell targets,” he said. Stellantis’ key operations for BigBasketCEO world’sfourth-largestautogroup creation of Stellantis N.V. became withChairman John Elkann. Likeall global automakers, NorthAmerica —has said 40 per withdeepenoughpocketsto fund effective today,”thetwoautomak- FCAand PSAhavesaid Stellantis needs to invest billions cent of the carmaker’s expected NewDelhi:BigBasket aimsto the shifttoelectric driving and erssaidinastatement. TOBEHEADEDBYCURRENTPSACEOTAVARES Stellantis can cut annual costs by intheyearsaheadto transformits synergies would come from con- go public in thecoming take on biggerrivals Toyota and SharesinStellantis,which will over5billion euros ($6.1billion) vehicle rangefor the electric era. vergence of platforms andpow- years, co-founder and CEO Volkswagen. be headedbycurrent PSAchief ■ Shares in Stellantis, which ■ FCAand PSAsaidStellantis withoutplant closures, and in- Butotherpressingtasksloom, ertrains and from optimising re- Hari Menon said at the It took over ayear forthe executive CarlosTavares,willstart will be headedbycurrent can cutannual costs by over vestors willbekeen formorede- includingrevivingthegroup’slag- search &development Prarambh StartupIndia Italian-Americanand French au- trading in Milan and Paris on PSAchief executive Carlos $6.1billionwithoutplant tails on howitwilldothis. ging fortunes in China, rationalis- investments, 35 per cent from International Summit on tomakers to finalise the $52 bil- Monday, andinNew York on Tavares, willstart tradingin closures, and investorswill Marco Santino, apartner at ingitshugeglobalempireandad- savings on purchases, and Saturday, withoutmention- lion deal,duringwhichtheglobal Tuesday. Milan and Paris on Monday, be keen formoredetails on consultants OliverWyman, said dressingmassiveovercapacity. another 7per cent from savings ing aspecific timeline. FE economywas upendedbythe Nowanalysts andinvestors and in New York on Tuesday howitwill do this he expected Tavarestodisclose “It will be astepbystep on sales operations and general Covid-19 pandemic. areturning their focus to how the outlines of his action plan process, also to allowthe market expenses. REUTERS Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 10 THE WORLD

TOPOFTHE NEW WARNINGS OF VIOLENCE AS SECURITY TIGHTENS FOR INAUGURATION US National Rifle WORLD Policeprobeiflawmakersgave Associationfiles for bankruptcy

rioterstourofCapitolbeforesiege ED JANWOLFE& JONATHANSTEMPEL Diminishing Pelosi picks retd Lt Gen to lead security reviewofbuilding that houses Congress JANUARY16 PLAIN E ● influence Palestine President EX Mahmoud Abbas THE NATIONAL Rifle Association on Fridayfiledfor bankruptcy,a THE POWERFUL gun lobby’s THENEWYORKTIMES PHOTOSOFNOTES sudden development that could attempt to escape legal pro- WESTASIA JANUARY16 help the gun rightsgroup escape ceedings in NewYorkcomes Palestinians CARRIEDBYTRUMP alawsuitbyNew York’s attorney at atime when it has seen its THE CAPITOL Police said Friday ALLYSPARKCONCERN The call between Harris and general seekingits dissolution. vast political influence at announcefirst theyhad openedaninvestiga- Pence wasdescribed as The NRA filedfor Chapter11 leastslightlydiminished. tionintowhether members of PHOTOGRAPHSOFnotescar- gracious and pleasant protection in federal bankruptcy This wasmostglaring in the pollsin15yrs Congress inappropriatelygave riedbyMyPillowCEO Mike courtinDallas,andsaiditplansto reducedrole that it playedin PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT visitors access to the Capitol Lindellwhile he waswaiting reincorporate in Texastoescape the 2020 elections. The NRA Mahmoud Abbas an- ahead of the storming of the at the WhiteHouse to meet Pence calls “acorruptpoliticalandregulatory has been weakenedbyin- nouncedparliamentary building lastweek,after several Trumpcausedhours of con- environment”inNewYork,where fighting, resignations of top and presidential elections lawmakers raisedconcerns that cern on social media afterit Harris to offer it is nowincorporated. officials, and ahostoflegal on Friday, the firstin15 their owncolleagues might have wasnoticed that theyin- “Texasvaluesthecontributions and financial woes. years, in an effort to heal allowedmembers of apro- cludedasuggestion about in- transition help of the NRA,celebrates our law- long-standing internal di- Trumpmob inside in the days The security perimeterinWashington includes an increasing vokingtheInsurrectionAct,by abiding members, and joins us as visions.Themove iswidely leading up to theassault. number of armedmembers of the National Guard. NYT whichapresident can deploy USVICEPresidentMikePencetele- apartner in upholding constitu- LaPierre andother senior lead- seen as aresponsetocriti- The inquirycame to light as active militarytroops intothe phonedVice President-elect tional freedom,” Chief Executive ers of mismanagement,and said cism of the democratic le- SpeakerNancyPelosiannounced streets,and“martiallawifnec- Kamala Harris Thursdaytocon- Wayne LaPierresaid in aletterto the group’s activities violated gitimacyofPalestinian po- thatshe had namedRussel L. punished. Shealso said that she sengers and beefing up airport essary”. One line appeared to gratulateher and offerhis belated members. “Weseek protection state laws governing nonprofits. liticalinstitutions,including Honoré,aretiredArmylieutenant had spoken withthe secretaryof security as officials amplify suggestmoving Kash Patel, assistance —filling aleadership from New York officials who ille- “The NRA’sclaimedfinancial Abbas’s presidency.Italso general, to lead asecurity review theArmyandtheSecretServicedi- warnings of violence before the currentlythe Department of roleallbutabdicatedby President gallyabusedand weaponisedthe status has finallymet itsmoral comes days before the in- of the Capitol in the wake of the rectorto ensurethatthenecessary presidential inauguration from Defence chief of staffand a DonaldTrump,whoisplanningto powers theywield againstthe status: bankrupt,” James said on augurationof USPresident- riot,inwhichathrongof President resourceswere inplacetoprevent extremists emboldenedbythe Trumployalist,as“CIAActing”, flyoutof thecapitalshortlybefore NRA and itsmembers.” Friday. “Wewill notallowthe electJoeBiden,withwhom DonaldTrump’ssupporters ram- arepeat at President-electJoe Capitol attack. whichseemedtoindicatethe JoeBiden is sworn in next week. The NRA wassuedinAugust NRA to use this or anyother tac- thePalestinianswanttore- paged through the building in a Biden’s inauguration next week. The Transportation Security topjob.Lindell is one of The Pence-Harris conversa- by NewYorkAttorneyGeneral tic to evade accountability and setrelations afterthey deadlysecurityfailurethatputthe LedbyRepresentativeMikie Administration is increasing the Trump’s closestallies. NYT tion, relayedbytwo officials Letitia James, who accused my office’s oversight.” REUTERS reachedalow under livesoflawmakers and the vice Sherrill, aNew JerseyDemocrat number of federal marshals on briefed on thecall, wasdescribed Donald Trump. According presidentatrisk. and former Navy pilot, more flightsand explosive-detection as gracious and pleasant. The to adecree issuedby Pledging accountabilityfor than 30 lawmakers calledon dogs at airports.Screening offi- threat assessmentfromthe FBI discussion is the firsttime Pence Abbas’s office, the thosebehindtheJan6siege,Pelosi Wednesdayfor an investigation cers will be deployedtoassista and Department of Homeland and Harris have spoken since Trump admin carries out Palestinian Authority, warnedthat if anyRepublican intovisitors’ access to the Capitol militarised“green zone” in Security,whichwarnedthat at- theydebated eachother lastfall. whichhaslimitedself-rule members of the House had aided on the daybeforethe riot. downtownWashington. tackers could target federal It also represents the only 13th and final execution in the Israeli-occupied the rioters as theysought to ad- Meanwhile, lawenforce- Domestic extremists“pose buildings and public officials in one-on-oneinteraction between West Bank,willholdleg- vance Trump’s effort to overturn ment officials arevetting hun- the mostlikelythreat” to thein- the days leading to the inaugu- the dueling 2020 presidential islative electionsonMay22 theelectionresults,theywouldbe dredsofpotential airplane pas- auguration,accordingtoajoint ration of Biden. tickets: Trumphas refusedtocall ASSOCIATEDPRESS Dustin and apresidentialvote on Bidenand has notevenfullycon- TERREHAUTE,JANUARY16 Higgs in July31. REUTERS cededdefeat. federal Penceandhiswife,Karen,may THE TRUMP administration prison in Biden lays out plan to get America vaccinated have Harris and her husband, early Saturdaycarriedout its 2015. AP Doug Emhoff, over to the vice- 13th federal execution since July, PAKISTAN Indian-AmericanVidur Sharma namedtesting adviserinCovid ResponseTeam presidential residencebeforethe an unprecedented run that con- PMaideremoved inauguration on Wednesday, ac- cludedjustfivedaysbeforethe eralexecutionslastyearfollowing administration rollout that he the Defense Production Acttoin- During the Obama adminis- cording to one official. But those inaugurationofPresident-elect a17-year hiatus. No president in asPTVchairman REUTERS&PTI calleda“dismal failure”. crease production of equipment tration, Sharma served as a plans remain uncertain, in part Joe Biden —anopponent of the morethan120yearshadoverseen WILMINGTON,WASHINGTON, Under Biden’s plan, federal neededtodistribute thevaccines, health policy advisoronthe becausethesecuritythreatsposed federal death penalty. as manyfederal executions. aftercourtorder JANUARY16 disaster-relief workers would set suchasglassvials,needlesandsy- Domestic Policy Council. to the nation’s capital have made Dustin Higgs,convicted of or- Higgs, 48,was pronounced THE PAKISTANCabinethas up thousands of vaccination cen- ringes, according to adocument Sharmasupportedthe imple- scheduling fluid. deringthekillingsof threewomen dead at 1.23 am. Asked if he had removedNaeem Bukhari, a US PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden tres, whereretireddoctors would releasedbyhis transition team. mentationoftheAffordableCare Trump, who has kept alow inMarylandin1996,wasthethird anylastwords,Higgsnamedeach close associateofPrime on Fridaysaid he would order in- administer shots to teachers, gro- Biden also announcedon Act, alignedFederal Department profilesinceamobof hissupport- to receive alethal injection this of thewomenprosecutorssaidhe MinisterImran Khan, as creasedproduction of syringes cerystore workers, people over Fridaythat he has chosen Indian- and Agencies,and collaborated ers attackedthe Capitol on Jan 6, weekatthefederalprisoninTerre ordered killed. “I’d liketosay Iam chairman of Pakistan and other supplies to ramp up 65 years old and other groups American health policy expert with community stakeholders to is expected to departthe White Haute, Indiana. an innocent man... Iamnot re- Television (PTV), afterthe vaccinationsagainstCovid-19 who do notcurrentlyqualify. Vidur Sharma as testing adviser further the administration's House forthe final time on the President DonaldTrump’s sponsible forthe deaths,” he said. Islamabad High Court (IHC) and improveupon the Trump The Democrat would invoke in his Covid-19Response Team. health policy agenda. morningof theinauguration.NYT JusticeDepartmentresumedfed- “I did notorder the murders.” barredhimfromworkingas the head of the state-run channel,accordingto media Aftershock reports. Bukhari wasap- Uganda says its leader China builds hospital in 5days pointed as chief of the state shakes Indonesia broadcasterinNovember, inviting allegations that he of 35 yrs is re-elected quake zone as amid surge in coronavirus cases benefitted from hisclose- ness to Khan. The IHC on Opposition allegeselection wasrigged rescuers hunt the coronavirusthatfirstwas de- ThursdayrestrainedBukhari JOEMCDONALD tectedinthecentralcityof Wuhan fromholdingthepost,citing for survivors BEIJING,JANUARY16 in late2019but has suffereda Armin Laschet aviolation of a2018 ASSOCIATEDPRESS surge of cases since December. Supreme Courtorder in a KAMPALA,JANUARY16 CHINAONSaturdayfinished Atotal of 645people arebe- similar case. The courtre- REUTERS building a1,500-room hospital ing treated in Nangong and the Pragmatic markedthattheCabinetdid UGANDA’S ELECTORAL commis- JAKARTA,JANUARY16 forCovid-19patientstofight a Hebei provincial capital, notmakeacleardecisionon sion announcedSaturdaythat surge in infections the govern- Shijiazhuang, Xinhua said. A governor Laschet relaxingtheagelimitfor65- President Yoweri Museveni has AN AFTERSHOCKjolted ment said areharder to contain At aBeijing vaccination centre 3,000-room hospital is under year-oldBukhari. PTI wonasixth five-year term,while Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on and that it blamedoninfected construction in Shijiazhuang. elected to lead topopposition challenger Bobi President Yoweri Museveni Saturdayasrescue workers peopleorgoods from abroad. Virus clusters also have been CHINA Wine alleges rigging and officials has been in powersince1986 combed the rubble of collapsed The hospital is one of six with Hebei province, the official found in Beijing and the Merkel’s party struggle to explain howpolling buildings forsurvivors afteran atotal of 6,500roomsbeing built Xinhua News Agency said. provinces of Heilongjiang, HKactivist’s resultswerecompiledamid an earthquakekilledatleast46peo- in Nangong, southofBeijing in China had largely contained Liaoning and Sichuan. AP lawyerloseslicence internet blackout. “fundamentallyflawed”. pleonFridayand sentthousands GEIRMOULSON In agenerational clash widely Associated Press journalists of residentsfleeing in panic. BERLIN,JANUARY16 ACHINESElawyerwhorep- watchedacross the African con- who triedtoreachWine’s home The country’s disastermiti- resented aHongKongpro- tinent with abooming young on the outskirts of Kampala were gation agency said no damageor US: Newinformation suggests Wuhan CHANCELLOR ANGELAMerkel’s democracy activistwas population and ahostofaging turnedawaybypolice at aroad- casualtieswerereported from center-right party on Saturday strippedofhis licence amid leaders, the 38-year-old singer- blockabout500 meters away. Saturday’s magnitude-5.0 chose Armin Laschet, the prag- effortsbyBeijingto crushop- lab maybe linked to Covid outbreak turned-lawmaker Wine posed Thursday’s vote followedthe tremor in the West Sulawesi dis- matic governor of Germany’s positiontoitstightercontrol arguablyMuseveni’s greatest EastAfrican country’s worstpre- trictsofMamuju and Majene, InstituteofVirology’ acknowl- InstituteofVirology (WIV) had mostpopulous state, as itsnew over the territory. Lu Siwei, challengeyet.The self-described election violence since the 76- whichshookthe area aday after AGENCIES edgedthat“theUSgovernment fallen ill with “symptoms consis- leader—sending asignal of con- whorepresentedone of 12 “ghettopresident”had strong year-old Museveni took office in the magnitude-6.2 quake. JANUARY16 does notknowexactly where, tentwith bothCovid-19and com- tinuity months before an election Hong Kong activists who supportinurban centres where 1986. Wine and other opposition Agency head Doni Monardo when,orhow theCovid-19virus— mon seasonal illnesses”inau- in whichvoters will decide who triedtofleetoTaiwan, had frustration with unemployment candidateswereoften beaten or told local TV the search contin- THE US StateDepartment pub- known as SARS-CoV-2—was tumn 2019,beforethe Covid-19 becomesthe newchancellor. his licence revokedbythe and corruption is high. harassed, and morethan 50 peo- uedfor people who could still be lisheda‘fact sheet’ on Friday, transmitted initiallytohumans. outbreak wasreported. It also said Laschetdefeated Friedrich Sichuan ProvincialJustice Theelectoralcommissionsaid plewerekilledwhensecurity trappedalive under rubble, and claimingto have newinformation We have notdeterminedwhether that WIV had been experiment- Merz, aconservative andone- Departmentinanoticegiven Museveni received58% of ballots forcesputdownriotsinNovember aspokesman told reporters to support an assertion popu- the outbreak beganthrough con- ing with abat coronavirus that is time Merkelrival, at an online Friday. Tenactivistscaughtat and Wine 34%, and voter turnout over Wine’s arrest. emergency measures had been larised by President Donald tact with infected animals or was very similar to SARS-CoV-2 since convention of the Christian sea in Augustweresen- was52%.Thecommissionadvised Wine claimedvictoryFriday, put in place in the province to Trumpthatthenovelcoronavirus the result of an accident at alabo- at least2016. Democratic Union. Laschetwon tencedbyacourtinDec to anyone celebrating to remember asserting he had video evidence help rescue efforts. More than outbreak originated in alabora- ratory in Wuhan, China”. The StateDepartment said 521votes to Merz’s466.Athird prisontermsrangingfrom7 Covid-19 precautions. of vote-rigging and saying “every 820 peoplewereinjured and toryintheChinesecityof Wuhan. However, thedocument said that China’s lackoftransparency candidate, prominent lawmaker months to 3years. AP The topUSdiplomat to Africa legal option is on the table” to about 15,000lefttheir homes af- The StateDepartment’s ‘Fact the US has reason to believe that makes it difficult to draw more NorbertRoettgen, waselimi- has calledthe electoral process challengethe official results. terthe quake, the agency said. Sheet: Activity at the Wuhan severalresearchers at Wuhan concreteconclusions. nated in afirstround of voting. Saturday’svoteisn’t the final word on who will run as the cen- ter-right candidatefor chancel- lor in Germany’s Sept. 26 elec- UK DECIDED IN MARCH TO BEGIN SEQUENCING VIRUS SAMPLES EN MASSE,HELPING SCIENTISTS FIND THE NEW STRAIN tion, but Laschetwill either run forchancellor or will have abig sayinwho does. How UK scientists found the more infectious coronavirus variant Merkel, who has been chan- cellor since 2005, announcedin late2018that she wouldn’t seek Kemp madeastartling match: avirus variant that has since Fornearly ayear,scientists countryproduceshalf theworld’s afifth term. She also stepped BENJAMINMUELLER Some of the same mutations de- stampededacross Britain, had observed onlyincremental inventoryofcoronavirusgenomes, down from the CDU leadership. LONDON,JANUARY16 tected in the patient, along with shaken scientists’understand- changes in the coronavirus, and providinganunparalleledviewof The decision ends an 11- other changes, were appearing ing of the virus and threatened expected moreofthe same. The howthe virus changes. month leadershiplimbo in ALL AT once, the coronavirus again and again in newlyin- to setbackthe globalrecovery newvariantsforcedthem to ForBritain,thediscoverycame Germany’s strongestparty after seemedtochange. fected people,mostlyinBritain. from the pandemic. changetheir thinking, portend- toolatetoprevent apunishing outgoingleaderAnnegretKramp- Formonths, Dr Steven Kemp, Worse,thechangeswere con- Word racedthrough acon- ing anew phase in the pandemic newwaveofCovid-19thathasput Karrenbauer,whohadfailedtoim- an infectious diseaseexpert,had centrated in thespikeprotein the sortium of British disease scien- in whichthe virus could evolve itshospitalsonthebrinkof having pose her authorityonthe party, been scanning aglobal libraryof virus uses to latchontohuman tists,longtimetorchbearers in enough in time to undermine to denylifesavingcare.Thevariant announcedherresignation.Avote coronavirus genomes. He was cells, suggesting that avirus al- genomics who had helpedto vaccines’ effectiveness. wasalready spreading fast,abet- on her successor wasdelayed studying howthe virus had mu- readywreakinghavocaroundthe trackthe Ebola and Zika epi- British MPs announcedthe tedbythe government’s lax re- twicebecause of the pandemic. tatedinthe lungs of apatient worldwas evolvinginaway that Prof Ravi Gupta and Dr Steven Kemp playedakey role in demics. TheygatheredonSlack news on Dec14, warning that the strictions duringthe fall and early Therehad been no clear favourite struggling to shakearaging in- could makeitevenmoreconta- identifying the moreinfectious coronavirusvariant. NYT and on video calls, comparing variant wasspreading faster than winter.But Britain soundedan going intoSaturday’s convention, fection in anearbyCambridge gious.“There’saloadofmutations notesastheychaseddownclues, previous ones. But the road to its alarm forthe world, allowing but the election of Merzwould hospital, and wanted to knowif that occur together at the same amongthem atip from scientists discovery waslaid down to little countries to close their borders have markedatleastasymbolic those changes would turn up in frequency,”hewrote on Dec 2to bling changes, he added: “ALL of The tworesearchers did not in South Africa about yetanother acclaiminMarch,whenBritainde- and startfranticallysearching for breakwiththeMerkelera.Laschet other people. Dr RavindraGupta,aCambridge thesesequences have thefollow- yetknowit, but theyhad founda newvariant there. Still others cidedtobegin sequencing coron- avariantthey otherwisemightnot will nowhavetoworktosecure Then in lateNovember, virologist. Listing the mosttrou- ing spikemutants.” new, highlycontagious coron- have since emergedinBrazil. avirus samples en masse. The have noticedfor months. NYT party unity. AP Kolkata JANUARY 17, 2021 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 11 THE SUNDAY EXPRESSMAGAZINE

ARTS etc BOOKS ViewsfromaLockdown ● Review of Shekhar Pathak’s The Chipko Movement: APeople’s History Artist Sudhir Patwardhan’s ongoing body of ● Review of Ram Sewak Sharma’s The Making work emerging from the pandemic focusses of Aadhaar: The Wo rld’sLargest on confinement,memoryand migrants eye Identity Platform THE PLOWMAN’STALE There was atime when farmers and their struggles had apride of place in Hindi cinema. But just when did the farmer become invisible on screen?

Shubhra Gupta giving up his small parcel of land through the machinations of the sahukaar,whichwould benefit the man whose greedalways out- Kaun hai wahaan? strippedhis needs. Thesefilmswere dousedwithpovertyand Naya hoon, gaon se aaya hoon. Pyaas lagihai. deprivation and precious little cheer. Balraj Sahni’s Shambhu is forced to undergo un- Gaon ke kuaan, taalaab sookh gayein hain kya, speakable horrors in the city to earn the pal- jo yahanchala aaya?Chalbhaag yahaan se. trysum that would wrestbackhis do bigha za- meen.Nargiswas only26years old when she HE CLASSIC JagteRaho (1956) playedthe iconic Radha in Mother India,wife openswith these lines.Atthe to adespairing farmer and mother to two receiving end of the harsh in- grownsons.But we lookedpasther prosthetic quisition is apoor villager wrinklestoadmireher grit and determina- newlyarrivedin the city,seek- tion to hold on to her land. Suffering, famine, Ting abetterlife. We never drought,hungerwasthe hapless villager’s fate, knowwhat the man, wearing aworn coat, and Hindi cinema, through countless itera- dhoti andapetrified expression, has leftbe- tions, cemented the connection of the poor hind.What we can surmiseisthis: if his vil- farmer,the moneylender,and the zamindar, lagewas adequatetohis needs, would the and this troika became, in and of itself, atrope. peasant have come to the city,filledwith Mostcandyfloss musicals, the dominant heartless gatekeepers? genreofthe ’60s, had no place forsad survival If Iweretobefanciful,Icouldbetemptedto tales. In the real world, astrong push in the draw comparisonsbetweenthatlonepeasant late’50s and ’60s towardsa“green revolution” of the’50s,whosestoryweare stillpowerfully had created higher,moreproductive yields, drawnto,andthepresent- and, at leastinsome parts dayprotesting farmer at of north India, farmers had theSinghu-Tikri-Ghazipur begun prospering. This borders:bothbeingkept at shouldhave ideallylent it- bay, both voicesblowingin self to ashiftinthe por- the wind. Some of these trayal of rural areas.But by new-agefarmers have this time the gapbetween movedfaraheadfromthat the gaon and the sheher long-agocomically-attired had become vast and cities figurewho spent an end- had become magnets for COLD But Lagaan’s massive successdid nottrans- less night in the Sombhu migrantsfromall over COMFORT lateintoanen masse return to rural tales. Mitraand Amit Maitra-di- the country. FARM Gowariker himself followedupwith his con- rected film, searching for Colourfulplots sent temporary Swades (2004), butthis time his watertoquenchhis thirst. shehri babustothe pictur- (Clockwise from left) focus wasfirmly on NASA engineer Mohan In 2021, smartly-tailored esque gaon in order to ro- Stills from Jagte Raho, Bhargava (Shah Rukh Khan) who travels to a jeans and jackets, notabadly-fitted coat and mance ghagra-clad belles,managingtoleach Mother India and village, ensconcedinaswish caravanstocked dhoti, and pizza along with roti, is on display out allsocio-political nuance in the process. It Do Bigha Zamin with mineral water, in search of alovedfigure. inafew quartersof theprotestsites.Andwhat wasManoj Kumar who turnedintoasaviour, Thevillagers stay in thebackground:the story someof thisvocal,demanding-their-rightslot following through on Lal Bahadur Shastri’s fa- is notaboutthem, it is about the earnest, well- has done is to bring backthe “farmer” to the mous “jai jawaan, jai kisaan” slogan, whenhe meaning Mohan, and his learnings. fore,afigure Bollywoodsadlyforgot,erasingit directed and acted in Upkar (1967), in which In 2010,Anusha Rizvi’s Peepli [Live] took from popular imagination. heplays afarmerandasoldier.Inshort,acom- ahugeleap and caught up with the farmers If youweretodrawanagrarian map of pletepatriot:farmers hadaduty to feed the of India, wherethe numbers of suicide were post-independence Hindi cinema, amem- nation, and soldiers to protect it.“Meredesh ki growing at an alarmingrate. (It wasn’t the orable clutchof’50s films would go straight dharti sona ugle, ugle heeremoti,” sang Bharat first; justayear before,the Marathi language to thetop. Apartfrom JagteRaho,starring Manoj Kumar,hoisting a hal on his shoulder, Gabhricha Paus hadwadedintosimilar ter- RajKapoor in the lead with awonderful justlikeMotherRadhaIndiahaddone.Andthe ritory). Failedcrops,runningout of cash, ris- Chaplinesque air —exaggerated eyebrows, film brokebox office records. ing loans, all the things that Bollywood had shabbyclothes-growing-progressively- Mainstream Hindi cinema in the ’70s was Bachchan-fuelledsong-and-dancefilleddra- who wishedtoacquire the Non-Resident tag ignored forsomanyyears, came leaping out moreworn, fear building witheachinimi- markedbythe coming of theall-purpose mas, whichdid notstoprunning. as speedilyasher foreign degree. in the villageofPeepli. As the brothers Natha calinterlude —there wasBimal Roy’s Do Amitabh Bachchan, who could do everything, And, withthatrecededthe khet-khaliyaan It took Ashutosh Gowariker to bring back and Budhia, playedbrilliantlybyOmkar Das Bigha Zamin (1953) and Mehboob Khan’s action, romance, comedy.Ifithadn’t been for ki kahaani,coming up onlyoccasionally, when the gaon withabangwith his 2001 period Manikpuri and Raghubir Yadav, talk about Mother India (1957). ShyamBenegal and KetanMehta, the village the leading pair had to prance in mustard saga Lagaan.Keeping in tune withchanging howsuicide is the onlyway out of grinding The conflict betweenthe sheher and the would have disappeared.Benegal’s Ankur fields. Thefarmer wasgone, as wasthe soldier, times, though, the director wassmartenough poverty, tossing the who-will-do-the-deed gaon playedoutinthesefilmsthroughtheeas- (1974)-Nishant (1975)-Manthan (1976),and neither an aspirational figurefor post-liber- to createcharacters that were no pushovers. coin among themselves, we areinblack ilyrelatablefiguresofthe poorvillager,the evil Mehta’s MirchMasala (1987)-Bhavni Bhavai alisedIndia,movingrapidlytowards malls and LedbyAamirKhan’scannyBhuvan,thefeisty comic territory, wherebeing dead can zamindar andthe wilymoneylender who (1980) gave us grim storiesof ruraloppression multiplexes, MBAs and million-dollar salaries. farmers showedthe British their place, good provide life. acted as an ungodlybridgebetween the two: filmedonreal locations, whichgot briefthe- Ruralareas, seenas backward, whereprogress and proper,and escapedpaying the punitive the illiteratefarmercould easily befooledinto atrical stints, in total contrasttothe houseful went to die, were of no interest to theIndian lagaan (taxes). » CONTINUED ON THE NEXTPAGE That They May Face TheRising Sun

Four artists on what drew them to the farmers’ protests and why the agrarian crisis needs immediate addressal

Vandana Kalra derroles.Thesearepeoplewhoarescaredthat Inrecentweeks,hehasinteractedwithsev- their liveswill be completelyaltered afterthe eral farmersprotesting at Delhi’s Singhu bor- laws areexecuted,”theysay.Workingtogether der.Some of them feature in hisdigital poster JITEN THUKRAL since2003andcountedamongrenownedcon- thatbringstogetheraspectsof theagrariancri- temporaryartists from SouthAsia, the duo is sis. “Farmers have been protesting foryears AND SUMIR TAGRA known fortheir pop-kitschworks,addressing and it is high time thenationthought about ON DECEMBER 18,asthe farmers’ protesten- issuesrangingfromconsumerismto migration. these agrarian issues. This bill is contentious teredits 23rdday,came thefirstissueofTrolley Closelyfollowing the farming crisis forover and needs to be discussedproperly,” he says. Times —abi-weekly, bilingualnewsletter adecade,theyhavebeen frequently visiting Growing up in afarmer’s familyin meant forand by the protestors. On itsmast- the protestsites. “It’s an extremelyone-sided Karnataka’s Shimogadistrict, Arunkumar,52, head wasaturbannedfarmer carrying aflag. law. There arecritical concernsregarding is- speaksofthe harmonious relationshipthat In the subsequent editions, the illustrations sues suchasAgricultural Produce Market once existedbetween man and nature, and, on the masthead have been dedicated to dif- Committee, corporatestocking,essentialcom- how, overtheyears,hesawthatbeingcorroded. ferent subjects,fromwomen participantsat modities,” theysay.Their documentation of Hehasdiscussedseveraloftheirpredicaments the protesttomarginalisedlabour to,mostre- the movementandinterviews withthefarm- —fromthe impact of geneticallymodified cently, ayoungsterjumpingupto lockthepo- ers will comprise the second edition of the seedsto agriculturalmonopolies—inhiswork. lice’s watercannon. “The aim wastoturn it 2018 film Kisan Mukti March,whichwas part Individual stories have been shared through intoaworld-class newspaper as avoiceof the of the 2018-19travellingexhibition.That,too, portraitsofthose whom he calls “Vulnerable kisan protest 2020. Since the firstissue, the wasfocussedonthe tribulations of farmers— Guardians” —small-scalefarmers affected by front pagehas been seen as a‘work of art’. Pradesh that workswith farmers. Theyhave ception. Theyare also behind kisanekta.in,an from failedpromises of loan waivers to higher the current crisis, who have been his protago- Keeping in focus the true natureofthis brave been visiting villages across Haryana and open-source document of the protests that al- costofcommodities due to GST. nists over the years. In the lastmonth, several endeavour,weare cognisant of the message Punjabandamplifying urgent issues of agrar- lows people to shareimages, videos,poetry, il- photographs have been addedtothe archive. andtheimpactithas,”stateartists Sumir Tagra ian crisis worldwide. “Wehaveseenthe move- lustrations and other relevant material. “This ARUNKUMAR HG “It’salarge,organised,peacefulprotest.Iwould and Jiten Thukral,who work with the core ment expand at different levels. It is impor- protestisunlikeany other.Thereisdeep com- ArtistArunkumar HG has turnedtomythol- callithistoric.Itisnotshalloworpolitically-mo- team behind the newsletter. tant to understand the concernsandcomeup passion.Thereare differentjathas(groups),and ogy to emphasise the role playedbyfarmers be respected as food providers. Food has be- tivated. The kindofwarmthisamazing and Belonging to middle-class families in with relevant solutions,” theysay. pillars that have nowemergedastinyvillages. insociety. “LikeweworshipAnnapurnaasthe comeanothercommodity,wedon’treallycare thereissomuchtolearn,” says Arunkumar. Punjab, the twohavealso been associated TheGurugram-basedduohasbeendesign- One can witness the sheer dedication of the goddessoffoodandnourishment,farmersare about prakruti (nature) anymore,” says the with Akal AcademyBaru Sahib in Himachal ingand packaging the newsletter since itsin- elderly involvedandtheshiftingnatureofgen- our annadata (providers of food),theyshould Gurugram-based artist. » CONTINUED ON THE NEXTPAGE Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

12 ARTS etc JANUARY 17, 2021 DOWN IN Views from aLockdown JUNGLELAND Confinement, memory and migrants —artist Sudhir Patwardhan on an ongoing body of work emerging from the pandemic

RanjitLal Benita Fernando Lockdown Couple is atelling painting about the situationathome, in India. Ranjit Lal is an author, Could youleadusthroughthe work? environmentalistand IKE LOVERS or foes, the home and Howdoes one respondtonewsabout birdwatcher the street have coexistedinartist love jihad laws?One is always thinking about SudhirPatwardhan’s illustrious it but one is basicallypainting people inside career.Thane-basedPatwardhan, the house. So howdoes one bring that in? L72,isrenownedfor his interior The figureofthe woman wasanold worksand urbanscapes, suchthathis arthas sketch.Ihavetried to work that sketch intoa been evoked in the same vein as NewYork’s painting but nevercompletely done it.But To pPicks: EdwardHopper in 2020, as away of talking the figurehas been important to me for about the pandemic lockdowns. manyyears. The artisthas been busy respondingto When Iwas lookingatmysketchbooks the pandemic in his ownways, too. In an on- again, the figurecame up. Then the bookshelf Wild Favourites going series, from whichselections have and the other thingsstarted to fall in place. been presented online by Mumbai’s The The partner,the man. This situation wascre- Guild and Delhi’s VadehraArt Gallery, ated —someone reading,abookshelf and a Alist of the best creatures from Patwardhan contemplates an unpredictable person who is justsitting and looking year.Likelockdowns, 2020 came in phases, blankly.Theyare sharing the room but there the animal kingdom, the ones and his arthas respondedtoeach—starting is adisconnect between them. with the relief of being homebound to the Ipainted thecarpetnexttorefer to who makethe cut and why unease of the migrant exodustothe nation’s Kashmir.Wewent intolockdown but inconclusive political crises, until returning Kashmir has been in lockdown foramuch ’M OFTEN asked who my favouriteauthor is and Ial- home.Excerpts: longer period.Then, the colours of what they ways fumble before saying that it keeps changing arewearingtook shape. Foramoment, I depending on the best book I’veread mostrecently. Theyear 2020has possibly been one of the thought it wastoo upfront —the green and IWith regardstothe animal kingdom, this listseems mostdramatic years in our lives. What has the orangeand thewhite.But once Iput it to stay relatively constant, spanning the myriad families the experience been likefor you? down, Icouldn’t getawayfromit. It made the creatures (tinytotsand moving up) hail from. At thebeginning of the year,myretrospec- complete sense to me. That these twopeople The firstonthe listhas to be Toxoplasma —asingle- tive wasonat(Mumbai’s) National Galleryof who aretogether foralifebut in some senses cell protozoan whichhas the mostdiabolical love lifepos- Modern Art, whichwent on till February. I theyhavebeen torn apart. Is he Muslim? Is sible. It honeymoons in the gutsofcatsand the next-gen had been extremelybusy,coming intotown sheHindu? Whatare theythinkingofthe Toxo areevacuated via normal channels. Here, the baby everyday and meeting people. When the love jihad laws? Toxo lies doggo(and mayevendie) in the litter boxor pandemic happened, it wasn’t toobad be- PHOTOSCOURTESY:SUDHIRPATWARDHAN Next came this strangeobject lying on the ground until amouse or rathappens along and snuffles it cause it wasabreak from the running around. carpet. It helps createsome discordinthat up. In the ratgut, the Toxo gets to work:itmigrates to the It wasgood to be confined and notgiveany somewhat pretty carpet. The lastthing Iput brain (the amygdala) and cutsthe rat’s fear circuitsinrela- excuses fornot goinganywhere. wasthe reproductionofthe AmritaSher-Gil tion to cats: the ratisnow unafraid of cats—though it has That feeling changed over the months. In painting in the corner. That waswherethe all the other usual ratphobias in place. Worse, the Toxo April and May, the migrantcrisisslowly nation started, what kind of promises and nowhelps release dopamine —the feel-good chemical seepedintoone’sconsciousness. One started aspirations it startedwith. Sher-Gil wasn’ta that makes the ratdevelop feelings forthe cat! So, offit to feel uncomfortable and restless. That has politicalpainterbut, in manysenses, for goes in search of itsnew love and promptly gets eaten. mostlybeenthe sense through the lastsix painters, she representsthe beginning of Backinthe honeymoon suite, the Toxo begins the whole months. Slowly,inthe lasttwo months, one modern Indian art. romance again. This mustbethe mostMachiavellian love started to ease and settle down intoanew storyeverdevised! modeofeverydaylife. Youhaveoften evoked India’sworking Among the vast insect world, topofthe listwould be classes in your art. Likewise, the imageof dungbeetles, those portlybeetles eating, breeding, raising Did being indoors fordays transform the the migrants’ exodusinthe pandemic has itsfamiliesindung —and turning it intouseful soil. If wayyou approach your studio work? come up in this presentbody of work. therewerenodungbeetles, we’d be drowning in bovine Yes, absolutely. As an artist, it has been es- Could youtell us moreabout them? dung and, no matter howexaltedwemakedung out to sential formetobeout, looking at the world Theimages of migrants were disturbing, be,we’d be very sick, indeed, waist-deep in the muck. around.Sothis wasadifferent feeling, though so Idid some worksaround April. Iwas sit- Forthe second and thirdplaces in the insect world, it is Ihavebeenpainting home, interiorsand stu- ting in front of the television, drawing these atoss up between hoverflies and dragonflies. The former dio formanyyearsnow. figures, making multiple sketches. It wasdif- because of their unparalleledcontrol of flight:theyhover, My initial responsetothe pandemicwas ficult to decidetodo thembecause ultimately stockstill and zip in everydirection. The latter notonlybe- actually Morning Rush,done early on.When youare nowherenear experiencing what cause theyare superb flyers, but also experthunters on youare notallowedtogoout, youimagine theyare experiencing.You fear that it might the wing. Theyalso come in akaleidoscope of colours and what it was, what it would be like. just exploit the feelingbut youalsohaveapar- patterns. Theyare the fighter aircraftofthe insect king- When youare confinedtohome, your ticular needtosay something about it. dom! Aclose fourth is the praying mantis: that chinless imagination turns inwards. Thereisalayered COURTESY:THEGUILD It is inevitable that if youmakeanimage, monsterwith gin-trap arms, beseeching, begging manner experience of the past, whereone home mu- youwanttomakeitbeautiful.Thereisno LOOKING IN,LOOKINGOUT and appetitefor itshusbands. Usuallygreen and slim, cer- tatesintoanother,one room mutates intoan- sense in trying to makeart if youdon’twant tain species can also beautifullymimic flowers and or- other room. Iwas reliving manykinds of (Clockwise from top) Lockdown Couple; to makeitbeautiful...that’s my belief. Even thoughtsand feelings from the past, and Patwardhan; Leaving the City the mostdisturbing thing ultimatelyhas to sometimes celebrating the veryminor things be containedinacontainer that does notal- thatyou do at home, likeinBreadcrumbs or lowfor overspill. If Iamgoing to shout,‘My Music Lesson.Soit’s also acelebration of and memory? even if youspent time in thestudio alone, in God, look at these people and look at their everydayminor things, whichare notimpor- Idon’tknowifit’s changed.Nostalgia has the evening youhad to go forsomeone’s condition’, that is overspill.That can be good tant socially, but makesmall statements. been important forme. I’venot seenitina opening or something and that impinged on journalism, that canmovepeople to donate, negative way. I’veseenitasdaydreaming, re- your thinking. Both of them gotmixedsome- but that is notwhat artisabout. Artisabout In 2020, people found the time to think livingmoments aboutthe past. Ihavedone what. Here, it is allowedtolivewith acertain looking at something and feelingthat feel- about the past, to reflect. Did the year paintings about that feeling.I think this pe- kind of mood and space foranextendedpe- ing within youand notbeing pushedto- changethe wayyou approachnostalgia riod has allowedthat muchmore. Earlier, riod without abreak as such. wardsanything else. It’s self-contained.

» FROM THE PREVIOUSPAGE

WIKIMEDIACOMMONS KILLERMACHINE Mantis shrimp THATTHEY MAYFACE

chids snapping their barbed traps on anyinsect which happens by. THE RISING SUN Spiders and scorpions don’t have toomanyadmirers but Ilovethe little jumping spiders, with their bright ob- sidian eyes and boxer-likefeinting postures as they UMESH SINGH CROPOUT fiercelytrack flybyinsectsonthe wall. (left) Singh’s Farmer Protest IV;(below) a Among amphibians, there’s the psychedelic poison- ADECADE ago, his father leftcultivation in arrow(or poison-dart) frogs of South and Central Bihar’s Kurmuri villagetoearn hisliving as a performance artbyBhattad, involving BLACK HUMOUR America, tinybejewelledand deadlyenough to take security guard in Hyderabad,but artist Umesh farmerslyingincrop coffins Astill from Peepli [Live] down 20 men by ameretouch! Singh says thepull of the soil remains strong Mostsnakes, though notvastlypopular,are trulygor- as ever forthem. Singh, who is basedin geous with their polished, varnishedscales. Under water, Varanasi, sees similarities between the ongo- to furtherhelplessness,unfairpricingforthe the multicoloured mantisshrimp, whichalso has superb ing protests againstFarm Laws and the 1917 produceandsmallerfarmersmightevenlose ThePlowman’s vision, packs the mostdiabolical punchimaginable: a Champaran Satyagraha,launchedtoprotest their lands,” says Bhattad,35. blowdeliveredsofastthat it causes explosive cavitation againstthe forced indigocultivation by the Bhattad became familiar with farmers’ Tale bubbles to form with itsarms to stun itsprey —beforethe British. “Exactly103 years later,Punjab farm- hardshipsinherchildhood,duringvacations killer blowfollows.Itcan break the glass of an aquarium ers protesting at Singhu border and across and visitstoher maternal grandfather,an with asingle blow! As forthe giants, my vote goes to the India arenot getting justice. Neither arethey AyurvedaspecialistinParadsinga. Those THERE’SNOdoubt that Bollywood has failed orca or killer whale: clad in patent-leather tuxedos, and being offeredany solution by thegovern- memories ledher to initiate theGramArt the farmers, likeithas so manyother deserv- sporting wide smiles, gangs of these arereally water ment,” says Singh, apostgraduate from SN Projectin2013todiscussagrarian concerns. ingconstituencies.One of the reasonscould wolvesonthe hunt, likethose ruthless multinational ex- School of Arts and Communication,University From land arttoyarnartefactsmade from be that almostnone of the filmmakers have ecutivesastheyrip their prey to shreds. of Hyderabad. Drawing acomparison be- thenon-GM,IPR-freenon-hybridindigenous anystake leftbackwheretheycame from. Or, Among around 10,000species of birds, to pickwin- tween the twoprotestsare Singh’s recent in- cottonto performances,theGramArtProject even if theydo, theyare fragile and can be ners is atough call.But Ichoose theraptors —not so much digo-bluesketches titled PooraNeel.Inthe se- has takendifferent forms to express the snappedwithout anypersonal cost. In that the hugeheavy eagles as the lithe lightning-fastfalcons. ries FarmerProtest, hedepictshow thefarmers artist’s opinions on agricultural issues. Over sense, we have all abandonedour roots: we I’veasoftspotfor the clan of owls. With their enormous stand united in thepresent precarious situa- the years, the collective,whichincludes areall aliens in our ownland the moment we gold or amber eyes and strangelyhuman wayofbobbing tion, facing multiple challenges, from hostile artists,farmers andvillage women, has de- cross thebordersfromourpamperedcities to their heads, theyare irresistible. Among “ordinary” birds weather to unfriendlypolicies. “In freezing signedand producedseedcrackers, seed our left-to-fend-for-themselvesvillages. likesongbirds, Ivotefor the magpie robin forits wonder weather,when everyone is resting and work- rakhis and calendars made from biodegrad- DevSingh Dhillon, in Anurag Kashyap’s fluteconcerts firstthing in the morning and parakeets, ingfrom home,thefeedersof ourcountryare able,recyclablepaperembeddedwithseeds. 2009 Dev.D,returns afterstudying in London wacky, gossipyand brainy, who can hold coaching classes grappling fortheirrights,” adds Singh, 27,who Bhattad, whohas apostgraduatedegree to hisvillage of prosperous sugarcane mills. in romance! Forsheer glamour,there’s monal pheasant. hadearliershowcasedthe plight of farmers at in artfromMSUniversity,Baroda, initiated We seethe ganne ke khet,tubewells,godowns, Amid the carnivores, it’s the tiger —bit of acliché but the Students’Biennalesegmentofthe 2018-19 another project, “I Have aDream”, at the themarkers of rural spaces.The fields become reallythere’s nothing to match it. Aleopardcomes very Kochi-Muziris Biennale with the installation VancouverBiennalein2014.Under it,artists the siteofyoung romance and rebellion, and close as does the snowleopard—and then there’s that Uncomfortable Tools,featuring over 50 farming andfarmers across the globe, includingItaly, that’s wherethe storyofthe modern-dayDev, consummatehigh-jumper,the caracal. tools of erstwhile farmers from across Bhojpur. Japan, Mexico and Pakistan, were encour- Paro and Chanda starts.It’s the kind of place As forthe big vegans, the winner is the rhino —irasci- On his waytoDelhi to join the protesting agedto sowmessages forthe decision-mak- wherethe urban and rural collide, becoming ble, unpredictable, and yet, baby-faced—able to turn 360 farmers, Singh says he’s one of them. “Like ing powers. BackinIndia, she urgedPrime “rurban”,arealplacewith real people,instead degrees as lightlyasaballerina. Elephants, too, aresaga- many, my fathergave itupbecausehefoundit MinisterNarendraModito“Grow in India” of the faux smalltowns thatflashyBollywood cious and mostlygentle, exceptwhen in musth, when difficultto makeendsmeet.If thesituationbe- through his land portrait in 2016.Now,she has been investedin forthe past twodecades. theyare rampaging terrors. comes graver,who’ll produce food?” he asks. again stands firmlybehindthe farmers in Whyhas this space —sodistinctive,sofull Finally, our close relatives, the apes: atie fortop place their protests againstthe newfarmlaws, of weight —been so hardtoimagine and ex- between gorillas (for their dignity and gravity) and orang- SHWETABHATTAD which, she says,needtoberepealed. plore? Whyhas it notbeenmined by sharp, utans (sheer charm) followedbythe exuberant long- On National Farmers Day(December 28) Even though she has been unable to awarefilmmakers to showcase tales of those armedsingers—gibbons.The chimpanzeescomeinlast lastyear,artistShwetaBhattadwasseatedwith travel to the protestsite, discussions on the who grow the food we eat, who’ve acquired because they’rejustabit toomuchlikeustomakethe cut! cotton farmersinher Paradsinga village near latestsituation areheld dailyand perform- the mobilityand the education to go where Of course, thereare creatures that getthe thumbs down, Nagpur,discussinghowtheFarmBill“willcre- ances (for instance, farmers lyingincrop theywill, and demand that theybeheard? but we’ll meetthem next week. atenew countlesscoffins forfarmers”. “The coffins) arealsobeing organised. As more Farmerswearingjeans,andeating pizza?Why newlawswill onlyadd to theexisting prob- crop coffins gets added, she says,“we don’t not? Aren’t the movies meant to be full of lems. Corporatisation of agriculturewill lead want these to turn intocoffins forfarmers.” sugar and spice that makeeverything nice?

Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JANUARY 17, 2021 BOOKS 13

SHELF LIFE THEMAKINGOF AADHAAR: Darkness WORLD’S LARGESTIDENTITY PLATFORM BY RAM SEWAK SHARMA Visible Rupa Publications 249pages; `595 Abare-all memoir about how the body and mind can come together BIGLITTLE to wreak havoc when trauma IDEA remains unaddressed Sukrita Baruah An insightful, if sometimes defensive, NHER memoir, It’s All in Your Head, M,Manjiri Indurkar recalls the reaction of one of her therapists when she book on India’s unique wasexplaining howAlain Resnais’ iconic film IHiroshimaMon Amour (1959) struckachordwith her: identity platform “…he paused, and, with apainedexpression he asked me, ‘So, nowyou feellikeyou were in the Hiroshima bombing?’” Pranav Mukul WIKIMEDIACOMMONS Writing about your innerworld is terrifying.Youdissect yourself, your experiences and your thoughts, laying them out forthe worldtoscrutinise, study,discuss, and weigh in THE STORYofAadhaar,asnarratedin on. Youopen yourself up to being misunderstood, judged, TheMakingofAadhaar:World’s Largest accusedofself-absorption, or even dismissed. In her mem- Identity Platform,soundslikethe story Notes from theHills oir, Indurkar lays it allout —her prolonged sexual abuse as of the averagestartup —aradical idea achild, herthornyrelationship with her grandmother,her executedby like-mindedpeople com- insecurities, her obsession with illness and her body,along ing together to resolve aproblem. Historian Shekhar Pathak’s book connects the Chipkomovement to 19th with descriptions of the manytrips to thetoiletduring the Whether this particular startup, which time her bowels gave in. wasconceivedin2009,wasafailureor Indurkar’s book is personal to the extent that it very asuccess is debatable. century colonial environmental laws and modern regional politics rarely strays outofher close personal spaces.Mostofitis Forthe author of this book Ram setinthe Delhi flat she sharedwith aformer partner,and her SewakSharma,the firstdirector gen- Stephen Alter ers represent what Pathak calls two childhoodhome inJabalpur —bothare spacesin whichshe eral of the Unique Identification “streams” of Chipkobut thereweremany fought personal battles, and whichshe found were notas Authority of India (UIDAI) —the body othersaswell.Numerous protests were or- comfortable and secureasshe had imagined. that designed,implementedand man- HEN MOSTpeople think ganisedbywomen in different parts of Becauseof the veryintimacy with whichIndurkarshares ages Aadhaar —the “proof of the pud- of the Chipkomovement, Uttarakhand, resisting state-sanctionedde- her story, it can be an uncomfortable read. The forceofher ding” came afterMay 2014,when the the primaryimagethat forestation, suchasharvesting wood from honesty isn’t in the fact that she recountsdifficult episodes use of Aadhaar under the Narendra comes to mind is of a the Bhyundar Valley to makecharcoalfor the from her life, but in howlittle she holds backwhen sharing Modi government exploded. This, af- Wgroup of villagewomen Badrinath temple. what she felt and thought during those times. terthe BJP,inits manifesto,had prom- in the Himalaya,hugging trees to protect The book does an excellent job of show- In her book,Indurkar tells us isedtoreviewthe Aadhaar programme them from fellingbyforestcontractors. While ing howavariety of agitations mergedto- about howshe begantoberegu- “withimplicitintentto shut it down al- that wasthe keymoment when Chipko ig- gether in Uttarakhand, muchlikethe many larly sexually abusedatthe ageof together during the whirlwind elec- nited,eminent historian Shekhar Pathak suc- tributaries of the Ganga. Venerable six by someone known to her fam- tion campaign”. cessfullyunravels manyother tangledthreads Gandhians likeSarla Behn were pushingfor ily, and of thetraumathatshe has Sharma begins by summingup of astory that is muchmorecomplicated, alcohol prohibitionaswellasforestrights, carriedsince then. This trauma ex- his experiences duringvariousbu- with far-reaching consequences forthe peo- while studentsweredemanding the estab- presseditself in myriad ways,in- reaucratic postings in Jharkhand, pleand forestsofUttarakhand, as well as con- lishment of universities in Kumaon and cluding an all-consuming fear of ranging from streamlining personnel servationmovementsaround the world. This WIKIMEDIACOMMONS/RAGHUBIRSINGH Garhwal. Pathak himself wasone of the lead- falling ill whichunhinged her life records and digitisingpublic griev- carefullyresearchedhistorydrawsupon offi- arecritical to stopping erosion and nurtur- TREE- ers of an influential padyatra (footpilgrim- forawhole year,obsessive hair ances to managing election logistics cial documents, publishedworks,press re- ing springsand wetlands. Realising the quick HUGGERS age) campaign from Askot to Arakot,which plucking,and acollapse of her —all using innovative digital means. ports,lyricsofprotestsongs and hundredsof profitstobegainedbycutting Himalayan studiedfirst-hand the socialand environ- physical health. (From top) Chipko The learningsfromthese episodes personal interviews with allofthe main pro- jungles,the Maharajah of Tehri begantoex- mental needsofmountain communities. Indurkar’s honesty in recalling proved to be the building blocks of tagonists.TranslatedbyManishaChaudhry ertcontrol over forestsinhis kingdom. This was agrassroots Meanwhile, construction of the Tehri Dam IT’SALLINYOUR howshe felt about her abuser as a the Aadhaar project. and editedby RamachandraGuha, it is acon- ledtoanumber of protests or “dhandaks”, movement that arousedconsiderable opposition and helped HEAD,M six-year-old can be unnerving. Sharma recountshow he came on densation of Pathak’s Hari BhariUmeed,the whichended in violent reprisals. Perhaps, spread throughout focus environmental concerns. All of these BY MANJIRI “…you see, Iwas in love with Ajit. board, his early interactionswith original Hindi edition publishedin2019by themostfamous andoppressiveofthesewas Uttarakhand; movementsfed intoanunderlying demand INDURKAR To my mind, what Ajit and Ihad UIDAI’s then chairman Nandan Vani Prakashan. in Rawain, wherePathak estimates as many Gandhian forseparatestatehood voicedbypolitical Tranquebar wasspecial. We were in love and Nilekani and the groundworkfor the This environmental epic begins longbe- as 100villagers were shotbythe forces of environmentalist groups likethe Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. 232 pages wouldmarryeachother, Iassumed. project. He recalls howthe venture fore theeventsinReni villageonMarch 26, Tehri in 1930. This resulted in further Though politics and policy lie at the core `399 Justlikeloversdid in the movies. movedforward despitesetbacks,ei- 1973,when GauraDeviand agroup of protests organisedbythe Gandhian leader Sunderlal Bahuguna of this book,thereare manypoignant, hu- Whenhewasn’tsexuallyabusing therin terms of the technologiesthatit women held offagentsofthe Symonds Sri DevSuman and other political activists. fought to keep man stories that Pathak relates suchasanon- me, he wasjustverynice to me.” wantedto implement or in the form of sporting goods companywho had been Following India’s independence and the ecological issues at violentagitation in Nainital in whichthe poet Sheshares withus herfrayedfeelings towardsher grand- political opposition. givenapermittocut agrove of ash treesthat absorption of princelystateslikeTehri, the the forefront Girish Tiwari “Girda” ledaprocession in song mother,who remained silent afterhavingfull knowledge The next section addresses the were destinedtobe Uttar Pradesh forest de- to stop aforestauction. The book contains of her abuse. She walksusthrough the year in whichall her main concern about Aadhaar —pri- turnedintohockeysticks. ●●● partment continuedto anecdotalaccountsofwives turningagainst attention zeroedinsolelyonher ownbody,looking out for vacy.Sharma elucidates critics’ con- The rootsofChipko manageforestresources their husbands who supported the felling of the slightest aches,obsessingoverevery physicalfeeling cernsbut is mostly rhetorical in his stretchbacktothe mid- Though politicsand on the colonial pattern, treesand oneboy who refusedtoeat at home she experienced. response. The chapter‘Civil Society’s 19th century, when the with an eyetogenerating until his father gave up ajob with aforest Astorythat runs through the book is of her relationship Punching Bag’ is aprime example. He renegade timber baron, policylies at the core revenuefor the state. The contractor.Thereisalso an episode from with her former partner,whom she calls Avi. Hereiswhere also invokesGeorge Orwell’s Nineteen Frederick“Pahari” Himalayanfoothills con- 1979, when Chandi Prasad Bhatt visits Ifelt ill at ease asshesharedintimate detailsabouthowtheir Eighty-Four (1949) to counter the fear Wilson, clear-felledvirgin of this book there are tainedthe largest tractsof Sunderlal Bahugana,who has takenavow of relationshipcame to be,how it developedand deteriorated. of Aadhaar being usedasatool for forests in the Bhagirathi trees and these were auc- silencewhile fasting in protestatDehradun We hear aboutallthewayshewas wonderful,but alsoabout surveillance, writing, “It’s athought- Valleyand floated logs many poignant, tionedoff fortimber and Jail.Setting asideideological differences, the all the ways he wasn’t. Being privy to aone-sidedtellingof provoking and deeplydisturbing down the Ganga. Colonial resin extraction, as well as twoleaders greet each other with affection acomplicatedrelationshipis uncomfortable.Butthat’sjust viewofthe worldthat we couldin- forest policiesplaceda human stories that pulp wood formanufac- and acknowledge that theysharethe same thenatureofpersonal story-telling. viteupon ourselves. But Orwell’s high commercial value on Pathak relates turing paper.One of the struggle despitediffering visions of Chipko. Severaltimes in the book,Indurkar treads on whyshe novelisabout as relevant to under- Himalayanspecies of pointsPathak emphasises The subtitleofthis book is “A People’s wrotethis book.Once she writes, “This book will be my standing Aadhaar as his equallybril- trees like deodar and pine, ●●● is that forestsremain es- History”, whichisone of itsstrengths. It doc- awakening”. Elsewhere, she explains whyshe writes at all: liantparable AnimalFarm (1945) is as well as sal and shisham, sential resources forthe umentsagrassroots movement that spread “I neverwanted to become awriter but Ionlybecame one insightful about the livesofpigs.” at loweraltitudes. One of the primary rea- people who live in and around them. throughout Uttarakhand and captured the so that another storyoftrauma does notget lost, so that The book tends to getdefensive in sons fordeforestation in the 19th and early Agriculture, animal husbandryand forest- imaginationofpeople of allagesand regions. through my storyIcan tell the stories of all the children who places, notwithstanding the author’s 20th centurywas the expansion of the Indian basedcraftsare all dependent on the presence The validation of that struggle lies in the sufferedthewayIdid,or worse.”Atthe endof thebook,she disclaimer at the beginning,“This book Railways,whichrequired thousands of miles of trees as well as other plantsand grasses. Forest (Conservation) Actof1980, whichbans tells us of her experience of writing it:“Today, Iamadiffer- isn’t written to defend Aadhaar.Itisn’t of newtracks, all of whichwerelaidupon Justashepaintsadetailed pictureofthe the felling of trees anywhereabove an alti- ent person than Iwas when Istartedwriting this book.Today an autobiographical account of my wooden sleepers. In one of the largest land decades of forest-rightsagitation that pre- tude of 1,000 m. The otherimportant out- Iamable to demand my space better because Iamable to days at theUIDAI either.” Still, it man- grabs in history,the Indian Forest Actof1878 cededthe pivotal protestinReni, Pathak re- comewas thecreationofUttarakhand state understand and empathise with my struggles better.” ages to provide insight intothe build- usurpedvasttractsofuncultivated land countsand analyses the manyeventsthat THECHIPKO on November 9, 2000.Pathak argues con- Thisbook is adeeplypersonalworkwhichhas obvi- ing of one of the mostsignificant tools throughoutthe subcontinent. Suddenly,for- followedindifferent parts of Uttarakhand. MOVEMENT:A vincingly that theChipko Andolanplayeda ouslybeen apartofthe author’s process of gathering her- of digital governancein thelastdecade, estdwellers were dispossessedoftheir an- Organisations likethe Dasholi Gram PEOPLE’S central role in both of these seminal achieve- self. It is also an unsettling portrayal of howthe mind and from various perspectives, including cestral rightsand livelihood while pastoral Swarajya Sangh,under the leadership of HISTORY mentsbut he cautions that manythreatsstill the body can work together so destructively in the face of thoseoftechnology,law,society and and agricultural communities facedrestric- Sarvodaya activist Chandi Prasad Bhatt, were remain, including complacency,corruption unaddressedtrauma.Itdoesn’t have an ending as such— BY SHEKHAR governance —whichisexactlywhat tions on gathering firewood and fodder as energisedbythe early successes of Chipko and climatechange. the young author leavesusinamuchbetterplace in her life one would expect from the coign of well as felling trees to construct farm imple- and took the movement forward. Gandhian PATHAK than when she begins. The book is justastation in her vantagethe author enjoyed. mentsand homes. environmentalists Sunderlal and Vimla Permanent Black StephenAlteristheauthorofWild Himalaya: muchlonger journey. In Uttarakhand, deforestation has severe Bahugana also fought to keep ecological is- 371pages ANatural History of the Greatest Mountain consequencessince trees in the mountains sues at the forefront. These celebrated lead- `895 Rangeon Earth

fortswerebuilt according to the terrain. emergedasthe Rajput voice afterSanga. Ajmer,Alwar,Amber and Bundi had hill forts. The storyofthe fortsinthe book is not History’sWitnesses Jaisalmer is adesertfortonthe caravanroute aboutharemsand shikaar.Itusesthe bas- to Multan and Afghanistan. Bayana fort,orig- tions and ramparts to recount tales of valour inallyofthe Jadaun Rajputs, stands on agran- and stubborn bravery. Thereisanother side, Aphotographic journey through Rajasthan’s many itehill, itsruins dominated by an too—about jharokhas and chha- incomplete minar going backto jjas,wallpaintings, the craftof proud, battle-scarred forts and the architectural the Lodis (1451-1526). glass decorations, the workman- MehrangarhinJodhpur wasbuilt ship of decorative motifs, lattice traditions they represent on agigantic rock.The spread of work and floral carvings.There Mewar’s Chittorgarh and were corridors and courtyards to Parveen Ta lha tween tworivers in Jhalawar, which, over the Kumbhalgarhforts on running be negotiated forreachingthe liv- centuries, hostedAlauddin Khilji, Rana hills is areminder of school his- ing areas of the women, children Kumbha, Rana Sanga, Humayun and Akbar. tory with the battle sagas of and their retainers who livedin THE FORTSofRajasthan surprisesthe reader The needtoconnect the dots of history Kumbha, Sangaand Pratap, and the palaces in afascinating bal- with the canvasofits detail and generous hasled to highlightingsome sequencesin figures likeRaniPadmini, Panna ance of lifewithin the forts. spread of striking pictures in an easy-to- the book. Forinstance, Bayana fort wasthe WIKIMEDIACOMMONS/VARADAPHADKAY dai andPatta. The preface and postscriptin carry hardcover format. What drew this re- staging point forthe decisive Battle of STANDING safetyfrommarauders and wild animals. As The book refers to the mazaar THEFORTSOF the book,along with the intro- viewerwas the rhythm of the text and its Khanwabetween Sangaand Babur that led TALL time passed, theybuilt sturdier defences. The (tomb) at HaldighatiofHakim RAJASTHAN duction, provide auseful synop- harmonywith thecamera. The author-cou- to the consolidation of the Mughals in north Meenasalsohad astrong presence in the re- KhanSuri,the artillerychief of sis. The chapters comprehen- Kumbhalgarh Fort ple, Ritaand Vijai Sharma,havemade the India. The book’s postscriptexplains what gion. Central to thebook arethe Rajputs who Rana Pratap. Mewarhad stead- BY RITASHARMA sively coverRajasthan’s pen and photographs work as one forcap- had prevented the epochal battle of Khanwa tracedthemselvestothe sun, moon andfire fastly resistedthe Khiljis but they AND VIJAI charismatic fortswith their tur- turing the fortsintheir landscape of history from going the Rajput wayand becoming a gods. Their presence is from the end of bondedwiththe Afghans and SHARMA rets andterraces, ramparts and and architecture. turningpoint. AfterKhanwa, as Sangawas Harshavardhana’s reign in the seventh cen- Mewatis to combatthe furyof Rupa Publications bastions, silhouettes and never- The bookgoesbeyond expectations.While on his waytoChanderitostrengthen the turyAD. TheJat kingdoms came later, ahigh- the early Mughals.Amber stood 192 pages to-submitimprint.The book is a recognising Chittorgarh as “anamphitheatre forces againstBabur,hewas poisoned. The light of their history being the humiliation forRajput-Mughal understand- `995 valuablecontribution towards of history”,it also includesgarhison Jaisalmer’s postscriptnotesthat Sanga’s lastdays ought of General GerardLake, aveteran of several ing whileMewar’s Chittorgarh addressing the evolving de- bulgeonthe Tanot-Longewala international to be of interestinviewofKhanwa’s 500th campaigns overseas, at Bharatpur (1805). wasfor resistance. Akbar marriedaprincess mand forknowledge abouthow the pastin- desert frontier.Among the fortsisSiwana on anniversaryin2027. The sweepofthe book’spictures includes of Amber,who became the mother of fluences the present. It is amust-read book the road to Barmer,Jalorewith itslong history The book captures the scaleoffortifica- the Haldighati pass, alampmarking Akbar’s Jehangir.Shah Jahan wasthe son of aRajput foranyone interestedinRajasthan and of combating sieges andNagaurwith itsre- tions in Rajasthan,aregion on the crossroads campduringhis siegeofChittorgarh,adar- princess from Jodhpur.The book,inthis India’s heritage. stored interiors. Mewar, Marwar,Hadoti and of invasions. Muchearlier than the Rajputs, gah (shrine) in hill-top Ajmer fort and an ir- light, looksataspectsthat enabledthe sus- the Dhundharregions arewell covered, in- the Bhils and other indigenous communities rigation stepwell in Kumbhalgarh. The to- tenance of ruling dynasties. There’s also the ParveenTalhaisawriterandaformermemberof cluding Gagron,aformidable fort,builtbe- made enclosures of mud and early bricksfor pographyiscaptured well.Watchtowers and storyofMarwar’s Maldeo in Jodhpur who theUnionPublicServiceCommission

Kolkata THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY17,2021 SHAKIB IN BANGLADESHSQUAD FOR WI SERIES Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasanisset to return to international cricketafter serv- ing ayear-long banfor not reporting acorrupt approachashewas included in 14 Bangladesh's 18-member squad forthe upcoming ODI seriesagainst the We st SPORT Indies beginning here next week. PTI

BRIEFLY SyedMushtaqAliT20: 15 chartered flightsland, 47 players grounded in bumpy start to Oz Open build-up similar statements, confirmingthatnone of fromLosAngeles,postedonInstagramby dou- had tested positive before boarding the plane Punjabinchcloserto SHAHIDJUDGE the three positive testsbelonged to aplayer. blesWorld No.48SantiagoGonzalez. in Los Angeles but wasallowed to travel after MUMBAI,JANUARY16 “The twopositivetests have been returnedby “TheChief HealthOfficerhasreviewedthe his case wasdeterminedas“viral shedding,” knock-outberth amember of the flight crew and apassenger flight and has determinedthat everyone on wasalsoonboard.OntheflightfromAbuDhabi LIKE CLOCKWORK, 15 charteredflightstrans- who is notaplayer, who returnedanegative boardneeds to isolateand will be confinedto wasformer WorldNo. 1Angelique Kerber, NewDelhi: Punjab inched closer to a portingplayersfortheAustralianOpenlanded test within72hours priortoboardingthe theirroomsfor the 14-dayquarantine.We 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, knockout berth with a10-wicketrout inMelbourne,withinthe36-hourperiodded- flight,”readthestatementaftertheLosAngeles knowthis is nothow youimaginedyour two-timeGrand Slam champion Svetlana of Jammu and Kashmir in aGroup A icated fortheir arrival. Tennis Australia had flightlanded.Butby beingonflightsthatlasted preparations forthe AO would start, but our Kuznetsova, and former WorldNo. 4Belinda game of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy spentmonths haggling andfine-tuning their over13 hourseach,everyoneonboardbecame entireteam is heretosupportyou and do Bencicof Switzerland.Noneof themwillbeal- hereonSaturday, their fourth win in COVID-19safetyprotocols withthe Victorian a‘close contact.’ everythingthatwe canto getyouthroughthis.” lowedtoleave their hotelrooms for14days– arow.ShubhamPundir top-scored Governmentto ensure thetournamentindeed Asimilarletterwassenttoindividualsonboard ending on January29. Theywill be provided with 42 to take J&K to 139for eightin takesplace.One of the measures theyhad to Hardquarantine the Abu Dhabi flight. exercise bikes in their rooms to stay in shape. 20 overs.Punjab made shortofthe have inplacewastodealwithindividualstest- Sincethe Victorian Government made it target,canteringtovictoryin14.3 ingpositive aftertheylandedinthe country. clearthata14-day quarantineperiodforinter- Players involved Charterflights overs withopeners SimranSingh (59 As flight QR7493fromLos Angelesarrived national passengers wasmandatory, Tennis IntheLosAngeles-originflight.alongwith Oneofthe ways Tennis Australia hopedto notout off42) and Abhishek Sharma inMelbourne,twotravellersreturnedpositive Australia managedto arrangeaprovision that Rafael Nadal arrivesinAdelaide forthe Gonzalezwere(butnot limitedto) two-time reducetheriskof playerscontractingthevirus (73not out off46) sharing an un- tests, and the protocols kickedin. Afew hours players wouldbeallowedoutside their hotel Australian Open. AP AustralianOpenchampionVictoriaAzarenka, duringtheirjourneys to Melbournewastoor- beaten 140-run stand. Sharma later,therewasanotherpositive test afterflight rooms fornomorethan five hours aday in or- 2017 USOpenchampionSloaneStephens,for- ganisecharterflights.Theseflights fromDoha, smashedhalf adozen sixes and his EY8004 from Abu Dhabilanded. Therewere der to practise and/or train. That relaxation, mer WorldNo. 4men’s singles playerKei AbuDhabi, Dubai, Singaporeand Los Angeles, opening partner hit four of them. 79 people on boardthe flight from the US, in- however, will notbeextended to the players flightQR7493fromLAXthatarrivedat5.15am Nishikori(who missedthe US Open last year carryingnomorethan25per cent of passen- Senior pacer Siddarth Kaul wasthe cluding 24 players, and 64 passengers on the who were aboardQR7493and EY8004. on Friday15Januaryhavereturnedpositive aftertesting positivefor COVID-19), andfor- gercapacity,wereavailable onlyfor qualified pickofthe Punjab bowlers with four plane from AbuDhabi, including 23 players. “Unfortunately, we have beeninformedby COVID-19 PCR testsonarrival inMelbourne,” mer WorldNo. 18 Alison Riske. players who had cleared thePCR test before wicketfor 33 runs in four overs. TheAustralianOpensubsequentlyputout thehealthauthoritiesthattwopeopleonyour read alettersenttothe people on the flight American playerTennys Sandgren, who the dayoftravel. Meanwhile, Baroda continued their winning run in the Syed MushtaqAli Trophybyclaiming a60- GALLE TEST run victoryoverMaharashtrainan Elite'C' Group game hereon Saturday.This is Baroda's fourth win Self-destruct mode Thirimanne on the trot in theleague stageafter having defeated Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Rohit wasingreat touchand looked in totalcontrol before he engineered his owndownfall helps Lanka in their firstthree outings. BRIEFSCORES: Jammu and Kashmir 139/8 (Shubham Pundir42, Qamran SANDIPG SCORECARD Iqbal 27;Siddarth Kaul 4/33) lost to JANUARY16 cut England Punjab 140/0 (Abhishek Sharma 73 AUSTRALIA VS INDIA notout, Smiran Singh 59 notout;Ram THERE COMESapoint when aRohit Sharma THE GABBA Dayal0/22) by 10 wickets. TestinningsstartstofeellikeRohitSharma’sTest Toss: Australia, chose to bat lead to 130 career:richinpromise, lowonsubstance. The AUSFIRSTINNINGS 369 signature Sharma Test inningslooks other- Overnight274/5 Argentinatourwillbe worldlywhenitstarts.Itfeelsexciting,evenethe- CGreen bSundar 47(107b,6x4) ASSOCIATED PRESS agoodindicatorof real,asif somethingspecialorsignificantisabout TPainecSharmabThakur 50(104b,6x4) GALLE, JANUARY 16 tounfold.Thenincomprehensibly, hecontrives PCumminslbwbThakur 2(8b) wherewestand:Rani to self-destruct. Thereisnobetterwordtode- MStarcnotout 20(35b,1x6) LAHIRUTHIRIMANNE ledSri Lanka's gal- scribeit—notindiscretionormisjudgementor NLyonbSundar 24(22b,4x4) lant fightbacktocut England'slead to 130 NewDelhi: The Indian women’s even brain-fade. JHazlewoodbNatarajan 11(27b,2x4) aftercaptain Joe Root hit his fourth double hockey team skipper Rani Rampal Someof thestrokesheessayedonSaturday ■ Extras (b4,lb5,nb6,w5) 20 test century on thethirdday of the first feels the tour of Argentina will help at the Gabba leftthe audience speechless, once ■ FoW:1-4(DavidWarner,0.6ov),2-17(Marcus cricket test on Saturday.Root’s 228 had pro- her side “understand wherethey again. In their splendorous beauty.The stroke Harris,8.1ov),3-87(StevenSmith,34.1ov),4- videdEngland astrongtotal of 421and a stand”, nearly ayear afterthe COVID- hegotouttoalsolefttheaudiencespeechless.In 200(MatthewWade,63.4ov),5-213(Marnus meaningfulfirstinnings lead of 286,but 19 pandemic abruptlyhalted allcom- itssplendorousbanality.ItwasthebestSharma Labuschagne,65.5ov),6-311(TimPaine,99.2 Thirimanne stood firm fortwo sessions to petitions around the world. The haslookedinthisseries,yetitwasalsotheworst. ov),7-313(CameronGreen,100.5ov),8-315 remain unbeaten on 76 off189 balls and women's side will become the firstof Till the 73rd ball of his 44,hewas batting likea (PatCummins,101.4ov),9-354(NathanLyon, carriedSri Lanka to 156-2 at stumps. India's hockeyteams to resume inter- dream. Expressive,efficient and elegant. Every 108.2ov),10-369(JoshHazlewood,115.2ov) Thirimanne’s patient knockwhichin- national matches as it plays the first minuteelement of his batting —judgement, ■ Bowling:MSiraj28-10-77-1,TNatarajan cludedsix boundaries wasinsharpcon- of the eight games during the tour of stroke-selection,reflexes,response,foot move- Rohit Sharma cuts aforlorn figureafter getting dismissedbyNathan Lyon. AP 24.2-3-78-30,SThakur24-6-94-3,NSaini trasttoSri Lanka's firstinnings effort when Argentina, starting Sunday. "It has ment —had synchronisedtoproduce adelec- 7.5-2-21-0,WSundar31-6-89-3,R the whole team wasrattled for135 in two been astrangeperiod forsports peo- tablemelody.Beforehestruckonefalsettonote Sharma0.1-0-1-0 sessions on the firstday. ple around the world, but to be re- thatdestroyed the building crescendo. It left Sharma himself had cut him foraboundaryin best-laid plans seemedtohit adead end, and England had an opportunity to remove INDIAFIRST INNINGS62/2 suming doing what we love the most, India 62/2 in replytoAustralia’s 369 before the same over.Maybe,hewanted to unsettle their best bowler,Pat Cummins wasbeing sys- Thirimanne soon afterthe left-hander had RSharmacStarcbLyon 44(77b,6x4) it is thebestfeeling," Rani wasquoted heavy rain wipedout the final session of Day2. Lyon, before he got intorhythm. Maybe, it was tematicallydefusedbySharma. Twochecked- completed his half century,but Dom Sibley SGillcSmithbCummins 7(15b,1x4) as saying in aHockey India media re- The inexperiencedIndian bowling attackhad justarushof dopamine.Maybe,itwasafeeling drives—one apiece of Cummins and Cameron spilledatwo-handedcatchatgully. England CPujaranotout 8(49b) lease. "Weare looking forwardtotest- earliersnaredthefinalfivewicketsfor58runsaf- of infallibility.Maybe,itwasjusthisego.Sharma Green —werethe mostgraceful strokesone also wasted one of itsthree reviews as it un- ARahane notout 2(19b) ing ourselvesagainstsome strong terbreakingthe98-runstandbetweenskipper likes to dictatematters and doesn’t likebeing wouldevercasteyesonacricketfield.Justafaint successfullywent foranlbw decision ■ Extras (nb1) 1 teams, and also understandingwhere TimPaineandCameronGreen.ShardulThakur, dictatedto.Butinthefearof beingdictatedto,he twirlofthe wrists at themicro-second the ball againstThirimannewhen he wason61. ■FoW: 1-11(ShubmanGill,6.2ov),2-60(Rohit we stand at themoment," she added. TNatarajan and Washington Sundar got three invited self-destruction. touches the blade. Everysinewun-flexed, the Thirimanneand Kusal Perera starteda Sharma,19.5ov) wicketsapiece. The hosts would have been Havingjumpedout of the crease,hecould impactalmostsoundless.Sharmaalwaysmakes steady fightbackwith their 101-run open- ■ Bowling:MStarcj3-1-8-0,JHazlewood8-4- bowledoutforamuchlowertotalhadtheirlast notreachthe pitchofthe ball. Alright, his won- batting look easy,but neverthis easy. ing wicket stand as theythwartedthe spin 11-0,PCummins 6-1-22-1,CGreen3-0-11-0,N Lahirishoots65 twowickets notadded54runs. derful hands could still propel the ball intothe Then to getout attempting ahorrendous threat of Jack Leachand Dom Bess on a Lyon6-2-10-1. trademarkconfettiseatsoftheGabba.Butwith strokebefuddlesasmuchasitbogglesthehead. turning wicket. Perera shelvedhis stroke- to makecutin DAY3, LIVE ON SONY Banal expression the trajectoryofthe ball being towardsthe leg- Itmadeevenhispullshotinthesecondinnings making in scoring 62 off109 balls and even SPORTS NETWORK SonyOpen To find areason, or rhyme,forthe stroke isa side, he couldn’t quitefreehis arms. Could he in Sydneylook moreexcusable, even dignified. batted with astrappedhand afterhewas futile exercise. His ownexplanations went like havechangedthestrokeandlookedtodefend? At least,itwasaninstinctivestroke,hefoundde- struckbyMarkWood's shortpitchdeliv- Honolulu: Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri this: “I liketoput pressureonthe bowler once I It wouldhavelookedtame, buthecould have cent connection and wasjustunfortunatethat eryinthe middle session before England producedhis best cardatthe Waialae am in and that is my role in this team, to keep protected his wicket. Even if he had missedthe heholedoutto theloneprowleratdeepsquare sheerdeterminationthatdistinguishesthemor- strucktwice aftertea. Perera threw away CountryClub,firing asuperb five-un- putting pressureonthe bowlers. Run-scoring ball,itwouldhavehithisbody.Itwasflattishand leg. What’s morefrustrating than atechnical talsfromtheimmortals.Theknowledgethatone his wicketearly in the lastsession when he der 65 in the second round to easily has been slightlydifficult forboththe teams so body-bound.ButSharmaisnotsomeoneto re- glitch-all batsmen at some point in time have canplayaparticular shot, and thewisdomthat playedarashshotoff Sam Curran's way- makethe cut at Sony Open here. With someone needs to put their hand up and think cede from achallenge. toaddressoneflawortheother,oramentalvul- oneneednotplaythatshotinaparticularperiod ward deliveryand holed out in thedeep. eight birdies againstthree bogeys, about howtoput pressureonthe bowlers.” In Maybehewassodeludedwithhisownsub- nerability -isabatsmangift-wrapping his of thegame,againstaparticular bowler. Kusal Mendis,who had failedtoscore in Lahiri, who shot69inthe opening embracingsuchanapproach, Sharma wasre- lime touchthat he thought he could getade- wicket.Wastingtalentisinexcusablethanhav- Great Test careers arenot onlybuilt on the his previousfour test innings, labored for round, is nowsix-under for36holes signedtotheriskitentailed.“Indoingthat,there quateconnection and elevation to elude the ingnotalentatall.Notonceortwiceinhiscareer, strokesone can play, but also those one doesn’t 65 deliveries in scoring 15 runs, but added and madeasmartmove to T-35 up is achance of making mistakes but youshould fielderslurking at deep mid-wicket andmid- but repeatedly,asifhecannottakethe hurtofa play. Thereare times when even the percent- 54 runswith Thirimanne to defy England’s from T-72.“Iwas awarethat Ineeded be ready to acceptthat. It wasaplan so Iactu- on, an expanse vast enough forMarnus bowler anymore. Sharma seems to tell the ageshots have to be eschewed. LikeKohlisup- hopes of making inroads. to makealot of birdiesandmy intentis ally havenoregretsaboutplayingthatshot,”he Labuschagne to accomplish an all-run four on bowler:‘Boss, Ican choose my ownweapon of pressing his ownand notattempting cover- Leachfinallystruckinthe penultimate there. I’m happythat Icaughtacouple said. Butwait,isitnotafive-daygame?Thefirst Friday. He also discounted the well-worn con- dismissal, youdon’t needtobother.’ drivesagainstJamesAndersoninBirmingham; over of the daywhen he foundthe thin edge of shots onthelead,”saidLahiri,whose innings,whenhehaddoneenoughof wresting ventionof shuttingshopbeforeaninterval.The orlikeSachinTendulkarduringhisepiconself- of Mendis’ bat to provide England some re- previous best at this course was66in the initiative from the bowlers.Now wasthe teabreak wasnear,and the billowing dark Notthe firsttime denial in Sydney, the 241not out. The shotthat lief. Earlier,Roothit 18 fours and asix in his the final round of the 2019 edition. It time to knuckledown. cloudswerenottoofarawayfromtearingdown. But Sharma’s overseas expeditions arefast Sharma chose to perish wasnot even hisstaple well-composeddouble century off321 balls wastheonlytimehemanagedto make becominganunendingreelofsuchself-destruc- shot. It seems aghostshotinhindsight. before Englandwas bowled outjustbefore the cut in three previous startsatthe Howithappened Repent at leisure tive moments. When he wasthe masterofhis Besides, Sharmaisnolonger atalented 20- lunch. Dilruwan Perera endedRoot's long SonyOpen.NickTaylor(62)wasinsole Instead, he jumpedout of the creaseto Butforthatshot,Sharmamighthaveamore ownfate,buthumblysurrenderedtheblessing. something youngsterwho could be afforded vigil, whichbegan in the lastsession on the lead at 12-under with atwo-shotlead Nathan Lyon. Fornoreason. Therewereno peaceful cup of teaorasounder sleep. Instead, It’sperhapsthe difference between abatsman the allowance of time. He is 33,played33Tests, firstday,when he had England's skipper over five players at 10-under.The five roughsorcracksanywhereinhisvicinityto ne- heisplightedto rueandpineoverthemomen- whoplayslikeagreatandabatsmanwhoisgreat. awhite-ball great, multi-title-winning captain caught at deep mid-wicketoff an extravagant included2009British Open winner cessitatesucharesponse.Theballwasnotturn- tary lapse, destruction entirelyofhis ownde- It’splainlythe difference between Sharma and in the Indian Premier League,aterrific captain shot as the offspinnerfinishedwith 4-109. StewartCink(63), who alongwithhis ing, nor wasitbouncing awkwardly. Lyon was sign. He wasequallyinconsideratetothe deli- ViratKohli.The powerofdiscretion, the aware- too.Acricketerof ideas,strokes,yetunfulfilledat BRIEF SCORES: SriLanka135 and 156 cancer-survivorwifehad recentlyre- notflighting the ball or makeitdrift. So insipid catebalanceof thematchaswellastheseries.It ness of notjustone’s owngame butthe situa- the highestlevel. It is an elegiac strain of his ca- for2(Thirimanne 76*, Perera 62) trail coveredfromCOVID-19. AGENCIES wasthe Aussie off-spinnerthat Cheteshwar camejustatthemomenttheAustralianbowlers tion, and beyond it the unquenchable thirstto reer,but an elegy almostentirelyofhis own England 421(Root 228,Lawrence 73)by Pujarawasgrindinghimforsingleswithoutfuss. were getting atrifle anxious and fidgety. Their score big runs.Not justdrive and desire,but the composition. 130runs.

VISA DENIED SA’sIndian performanceanalyst ‘workingfrom home’ during Pakistan series

joinedSouthAfrica.“Iwilldomy bestfromhere able forthem to work on. he shoots of the South African batsmen and chancesintheseries.“WejustbeatSriLankaand SRIRAMVEERA butyes,thisisabigblowformeandfortheplay- “Players who needface-to-face chats–the placesitontherightframe.“Ithencompareand also in Galle (2014), aplace whereevenIndia MUMBAI,JANUARY16 ers in the team who depend on me forthe de- medium that theyprefer- will have Zoom calls tell the batsmen what moretheycan do. They hasn’t been able to (win of late). In Keshav tailedanalysisthat’sbestdonefromtheground. andsuch.WhereIcantakethemthroughslides, don’t have to do it likeYounis,ofcourse, as his Maharaj,wehaveone of the best finger spin- WHENTHESouthAfricancricketteamtakeson But we need to understand the protocols in if needed. Or justtalk and share. IhaveaUPS method andphysical traits aredifferent but to ners in the world. Howmanybowlers have Pakistaninthe firstTestinKarachi on January place.IhavebeentoldthatLalchandRajput,for- withonehourback-up.Iamallsettodoball-by- giveanideaabouthowlow theycanget.What’s takennine wickets in an innings? Tabraiz 26, one important member of their think tank, mer India playerwho coaches Zimbabwe, ballanalysis,”Prasannasays.Asever, hehasbeen the ideal height and lengthtogofor?” Shamsiiscomingalongverynicely andGeorge much-respected performanceanalystof11 couldn’ttraveltoPakistan,umpireAleemDaris hardatworkinrecentdays,cullingdata–num- That idealheighthas to take in the bounce Linde,theleft-armspinner,isverytalented.Our years, Prasanna Agoram will be “working from unable to come forworktoIndia and such. So, I bers and video footage-from Pakistandomes- and turn in the pitches. “That’s best seen live at fast bowlers areknownto theworld;soareour home”inBangalore.Hehasbeenunabletojoin am notthe onlyperson.” ticmatches, analysing the hometeam includ- the nets.Then we can tweakaccordingly.And batsmen who justdid it again in Sri Lanka.” histeam whichlandedinPakistanonSaturday Agoram won’t be able to transmit instant ing their newplayers, and preparing tactical thereare severalsweep shots –the flat sweep, One thing the players will miss is smearing as he has an Indian passport,and the South analysis and technical and tactical feedbackas methods to tackle their spinners and bowl at thepaddle, the reverse, the slog, and all that is thecakeonPrasanna’sbirthdayonJanuary23.“I Africanteam management told him that de- security protocolsduringmatchtime prevent their batsmen. alsobestworkedoutonthegroundandtailored am the one who creates the mostmess on play- spitetheir efforts, he can’t travel to the country telecommunication from outside the dressing accordingtothespinnertheywillbefacing.That ers’birthdays,smearingcakeontheirfaces.Their due to “securityprotocols”. room.Onlythemanagerof theteamisallowed Notthe same feeling can be communicated from here, but again revengeisonmybirthday. That they willmiss CladinaSouthAfricanteamjersey, wearing to have aphoneduring matchtime,and even However, all this can’treplicatethe feel of nothing likebeing there. Someone likeTemba now!” he says.“Ihavebeen with them for11 his official training shoes, Agoram will be in his that is restricted to logistical purposes. Usually, PrasannaAgoramathisresidenceinBengaluru. being at the ground. “What Iwould miss most Bavuma likes to see analysis and video footage years;thebondingissomethingoutofthisworld.” diningroomathome,amidstatrailof wires,two Prasanna is mostactive on matchdays,trans- istheweekbeforetheTestmatch,actually. That’s from nets and tailor it. One good thingisthat Asever,oncetheumpiresays,‘let’splay’and laptops, aUPS foruninterruptedpowersupply ferring hisinputsatdrinksbreaksorwiththe when the real prep work gets done.” He gives theseplayersarehighlyprofessionalandgood; thebowlerrunsintobowlforthefirstballof the and with abowlofmurukku,the crunchy- coaches through the game. the players getbacktotheir hotelrooms, they an example to makehis case. so, theywill adjustbut still Ifeel Icould have match,Agoramsaysaninternalmonologuewill savourysnack, and filter coffee. would be sentindividualdigital documents “Let’ssay, thesweepshot.Thebestplayerof addedmoreifIwere there.” run in his mind. “I visualise Amitabh Bachchan “Iamlikeadeadmanwalking,”Agoramtells Feedbackafter play whichwould give them details on what they the sweep therehas ever been is Younis Khan. abouttostart‘fastestfingersfirst’inKaunBanega TheIndianExpress,unabletohidehisdisappoint- Hehashisplanstoworkaroundthesituation did right, what theydid wrong, and howthey What Idoishavehis technique on asplit frame Hopeful of good result Crorepati.“Aapkatimeshuruhotahaiab!”(Your ment at missing his firstseries ever since he though.At theendof theday’splay, by thetime can improve. The coaches will have dataavail- ontheleft-handside.”Hethentakesthefootage Agoram is upbeat about South Africa’s time starts now!).

R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789VOL. XVINo.40 Printed by V.Srinivasan and PublishedbyV.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at Saraswati Print FactoryPvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga(West), Kolkata-700105and PublishedatThe Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 &30, N.H.-6, Mouza - Prasastha &Ankurhati, P.O. -Salap, P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711 409. Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033) 66043825 &66043847.Chairman of the Board:Viveck Goenka,Chief Editor :Raj Kamal Jha, Editor :Unni Rajen Shanker,Editor (Kolkata):RakeshSinha* (*Responsible forselection of news underthe PRB Act)Copyright :The Indian Express (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproductioninany manner,electronic or otherwise,inwhole or in part,without prior written permissionisprohibited.The Indian Express(R)

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