eye
THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE TOUCHING KOLKATA,LATECITY THE VOID DECEMBER27,2020 In our last issue of 2020, a 14PAGES, `5.00 look back at howthis year (EX-KOLKATA`7,`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) taught us to examine lives DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW,MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PAGES 11, 12, 13
DAY AFTER PM DREW LINE 20 years on, where are the Board Farmerunionsagreeto toppers? Over half are abroad, returntotable:Next most in science and technology roundoftalksTuesday Modalities forrepeal, guarantees on MSPontheir agenda; Gender gap; studentsincreasingly from outside metros; US mostfavoured destination, IITpopular Ugrahangroup says morefarmers on waytojoinprotest
route; minorities, SC/STs invisible: 86 CBSE, ICSE,ISC toppers 1996-2015 tell stories of change AMILBHATNAGAR —and pointtochallenges as thenew National Education Policy rolls out &RAAKHIJAGGA NEWDELHI,CHANDIGARH, School and staffanesthesiologist DECEMBER26 RITIKACHOPRA at itsteaching hospital, Beth NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 Israel Deaconess Medical Center. ADAY afterPrime Minister Bose says that when he left NarendraModi said the govern- THEY ARE India’s national school India, programmes in critical ment is ready to hold talkson“is- boardtoppersover20years. So carewerejuststarting to open sues, logic and facts” with farm- it’s no surprise that one’s acan- up. “The US... had well-estab- ers protesting againstthe new cer physician in New York;an- WHO’SWHO—ANDWHERE lishedclinicaltraining pathways farm laws,farmerunionsan- SanyuktKisan Morchaholding apress conference at Singhu other is aPhD fellowatMIT;one in that field, plus afforded oppor- nouncedresumption of talkson border on Saturday. GajendraYadav is aHarvardprofessor;one a tunities to mixclinical work with December 29. hedgefund manager in focus on research,” he said. Following deliberations on Singapore—and as manyas11 Janaki Sheth, 28, who stud- the government offerfor talks, Accordingtothe unions, the titlement forall farmers and all areworking forGoogle. iedataschool in Thane and aced farmer unions, under the banner meeting agenda will be:modal- agricultural commodities; Eachisastory of individual the Class 10 ICSE exams in 2008 of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, told ities to be adoptedtorepeal the amendmentstobemadeand talent and effort,excellence and with 98.6%, has aBTech in the press at Singhu border threecentral farm Acts;mecha- notifiedinthe ‘Commission for achievement, outliersall. But Engineering Physics from IIT Saturday—the protestatDelhi’s nisms to be adoptedtomakere- the Air Quality Management in takentogether,asaninvestiga- Bombay. In 2014,she left forthe gatesisnow amonth old —that munerative MSP,recommended National Capital Region and tion by The Indian Express re- US foraPhD in Physics at the talkswith the government will by theNational Commission on Adjoining Areas Ordinance, veals, the arcs of their different University of California, Los be held at 11 am Tuesday. Farmers, alegally guaranteeden- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 lives—and careers —tell signif- Angeles. On whyshe decidedto icant stories of ageneration study abroad, Sheth, nowapost- coming of ageafter India Mymoveabroad DuringmyPhDat doctoral scholaratthe University openedupinthe 1990s. Of how gaveme MIT,wegotalotof of Pennsylvania, said, “Six to some aspirationsendure,some phenomenalopportunities hands-onexperience, sevenyearsago,scientific re- don’t;how some divides have todoworld-classresearch somethingIhadnever search wasnot very well-funded crumbled, some remain as in- withthebestpeoplefrom experiencedduringmy in India. So while Ihad some in- tractableasever. allovertheworld undergraduationback valuable experiences at IIT,itwas Morethan half the toppers notsufficient foraPhD.Inthe US, live overseastoday, theUSbeing KARUNA GANESH, homeinIndia science gets agreat policythrust the destination of choice. Most PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST AT RISHABH SINGH, whichmeans thereare more areinscience and technology MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING RESEARCH SCIENTIST WITH places to do good work,and with IITstheir mostfavoured un- CANCER CENTER IN NEW YORK; BIG PICTURE GOOGLE XINCALIFORNIA, thereisconstant upgradation of CLASS 10 ICSE TOPPER IN 1999 dergraduatepit-stop; morethan PAGES 8, 9 CLASS 12 CBSE TOPPER IN 2004 technology,” she said. half of them grew up outside ForArkya Chatterjee,24, who metros, in Tier 2and Tier 3cities, toppedthe Class 12 ISC exam in and onlyone is aminority — Over half the toppers tiesaroundtheworld, in addition 2015 fromaKolkataschoolbefore there’s notone Dalit or tribal. live or work abroad to the global, multicultural edu- graduatingfromIIT-Bombay in And if youare agirltopper,you cation it provides,” said Ganesh, Engineering Physics, the move to aremuchless likelytomove Morethanhalf the toppers— whosubsequentlyearnedaBAin the US revealedadifferent side to overseasthan if youwereaboy. between 21 and42years of age Biochemistry, MA in Medicine, the teacher-student equation. These areamong the key —are in foreign countries, most PhDinMolecularBiologyandMD “(Thereis) morehonesty about findings of the four-month in- of them areemployed, aquarter from CambridgeUniversity. collaborations —professors en- vestigationbyThe Indian Express of them arepursuingadvanced TRACKING courage studentstotalktoeach that trackeddown86men and degrees. Three of everyfour who INDIA’STOPPERS Mostwent abroad to otherandwork onhomework to- women who stood firstinIndia, areabroad areinthe United study citing better gether.Thisreducestheincentive between 1996 and 2015,intheir States.Whilethe US remains the ecosystem foracademicdishonesty.Thiskind Class 10 and12exams con- preferreddestination, others are mostinany one company. of trustwas mostlyabsentatmy FAMILY TRIBUTE ducted by the Central Boardof basedinthe UK, Australia, Karuna Ganesh, 37,leftthe Higher education is the pri- undergraduateinstitutebackin SecondaryEducation (CBSE) and Singapore, China, Canada, countrysoon aftertopping her maryreason whytoppersleftthe India,”saidChatterjee,whoisnow The wife and daughters of cricketerDeanJones, who passedawayrecently,pay tributetohim on the Council forthe Indian School Bangladesh and the UAE. Class 10 ICSE exam in 1999 to join country. Of thoseliving abroad, enrolledasaPhD student at MIT. Day1of thesecondIndia-AustraliaTest, at Melbourne Saturday. Reuters MATCH REPORT P14 CertificateExaminations. Of thoseemployedabroad, United WorldCollege(UWC), over70% left India to pursue ei- CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Amidsoaring cut-offmarks mostworkinthe tech sector,fol- USA, an international boarding ther their undergraduateorpost- basedonClass 12 Board exams, lowedbymedicineand finance. school that brings together 200 graduatestudies —onlyadozen TOMORROW as the government, in tune with Four out of 10 working in the students from 80 countries. She of the 86 went to take up ajob. THE GENDER GAP: DDC polls: PM invokes MP ‘love jihad’ itsnew National Education US areinSilicon Valley. Like is nowaphysician-scientistatthe Forexample, Somnath Bose, TOPPERS ALL BUT WHY Policy,setsupapanel to explore Biswanath Panda, who gradu- Memorial Sloan KetteringCancer 40, leftIndiain2008with an IT’S ADVANTAGE MEN Bill tougher, anationaltesttorejigthe col- ated from LittleFlowerSchool in Center in New York. MBBS from CalcuttaMedical Vajpayee, says BJP ceded legeadmission process,the Jamshedpur in 1999 and is now “My parentsweresupportive Collegeand an MD from AIIMS, but limits who findings from the investigation senior director of engineering at about my moving abroad since to pursue training in critical care. GOVT STARTS WORK ON arepointers to the challenges Google in San Francisco. Indeed, UWChas astrong trackrecordof Today, he is an assistant profes- COMMON TEST FOR UG power for J-K democracy ahead. Google is home to 11 toppers, the sendingstudentstotop universi- sor at Boston’s HarvardMedical ADMISSIONS PAGE 5 can file FIR ARUNSHARMA IRAMSIDDIQUE Saradha: CBI plea in SC KillingofRajouriyouths: Police JAMMU,DECEMBER26 BHOPAL,DECEMBER26 DESCRIBINGTHE establishment THE MADHYAPRADESH gov- on Mamata govt ‘links’, of athree-tier Panchayati Rajsys- ernment claimedtohaveset into chargesheet Captain, 2civilians teminJammu and Kashmir motion “the moststringent” law (J&K) as the ushering in of anew in the countryagainst‘love ji- saysitisscuttlingprobe againstCaptain Bhoopendra eraand newleadership, Prime had’, clearing aReligion to
BASHAARATMASOOD Singhand twocivilians —Tabish ED MinisterNarendraModi PM launching Ayushman Freedom Bill on Saturdaythat deliberateand wilful non-coop- SRINAGAR,DECEMBER26 Nazir,aresident of Shopian,and Movewill Saturdaysaid the recent District Bharat forJ-K, Saturday. PTI plans higher penalties (jail terms ATRIMITRA eration" in the probeand of "a Bilal Ahmad Lone of Pulwama — PLAIN E Development Council elections and fines going up to 10 years ● buildtrust
&ANANTHAKRISHNANG concertedefforttoevade, avoid MORE THAN FIVE months after basedonevidencecollecteddur- EX had strengtheneddemocracy. and Rs 1lakh), as compared to KOLKATA,NEWDELHI, and escape the process of law" three Rajouri youths were killed ing the investigationbyaSpecial “In away,these elections ful- 5lakh to everyfamilyinthe thelaw in Uttar Pradesh,aswell DECEMBER26 and "scuttle the investigation". in Shopian in an Armyoperation Investigation Team (SIT) setupto OUTRAGE over killings filMahatma Gandhi’s dream of Union TerritoryofJ&K. as maintenance to the woman In an application filedon on July18, theJ&K Police has filed probethe allegedfake encounter. had ledArmyand Police ‘Gram Swaraj’… We have Modi also took aswipe at concernedand the right to fa- THE CBI has filedacontemptplea December 23, the CBI said that achargesheet, accusing an Army Filedbeforethe Principal to investigatethe July18 worked dayand night to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ther’s property forachild born in theSaradha chit fund scam be- examination of one of the ac- Captain and twocivilians fortheir Sessions Judge, Shopian, the operation, with both strengthen grassroots democ- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 to acouple whose marriagehas fore the Supreme Court, seeking cusedinthe case, former Rajya allegedabduction and murder. chargesheetstatesthat the three reaching the same con- racy and democratic institu- been declared nulland void un- to linkChief MinisterMamata Sabha MP Kunal Kumar Ghosh, The 300-pagechargesheet Rajouri youths –Imtiyaz Ahmad clusion. Action against tions,”hesaid during the launch der itsprovisions. Banerjee with some of theac- by theEnforcement Directorate states that acase of murder,ab- (20) and Mohammad Abrar(16), accusedwill build trust of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana PUDUCHERRY: Briefing the media aftera cusedand charging her govern- had “revealedthat the Chief duction and destruction of evi- residentsofDharsakri village, in the administration. Sehat Scheme that provides CM VS LG Cabinetmeeting,HomeMinister ment with showing "constant, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 denceis“prima facie” established CONTINUEDONPAGE2 cashless health coverofuptoRs PAGE 4 CONTINUEDONPAGE2
My ISOLATION PAGE 8 Is it acar? Is it aplane? Is it atrain? In road to hyperloop, aleap
PAGE 1 “If hyperloop went at amil- TanayManjrekar.Originally ground. The system is notincom- atransporttechnology,that’s all ANCHOR lion kilometres an hour,but had from Pune, Manjrekar is apower mercial use anywhereinthe Ican sayright now.” to stop at everyplace,oryou had electronics specialist who has world, and Virgin Hyperloop it- As partofthe firstleg in India, to wait twohours to geton, that’s been with the companysince self is still running testsinthe US. Virgin Hyperloop planstocon- notactuallythateffective,right?” 2016.“Iwas goingtotry to get Lastmonth, NITI Aayog nectPune andMumbai,covering ‘I’matSinghu, NANDAGOPALRAJAN explains Giegel,who waspartof intothe pod anyway Icould," formedapanel to studyhyper- the 150-km distance at 1,200 Tikridaily, in mask, NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 the test run held by the company Manjrekar says."Ihavealways loop in depth, including Member kmph speeds in about 35 min- sanitised car... Iunwind lastmonth. “So, it is the whole ex- dreamt about creating ahyper- VKSaraswat, the Chairman, utes, atenth of the time takenby to Kishore songs’ “WE ARE notall about speed... perience: howlong is the wait, loop, but riding on it wasbeyond Railway Board, and the road currently. Giegel says it is just SANJAY SINGH We don’t sell speed, we sell time.” going directlytothe destination dreams. When that opportunity Secretaries of Housing and the start, and at least7,000km of This mayseem surprising and the like. We bring all the ben- kind of presentsitself, it would UrbanAffairs,Road Transport hyperloop is possible in India. comingfromthe co-founder of efitsofspeedofanaircraftwith have been stupid nottotakeit.” and Highways. The panel will Virgin Hyperloop has also WORLD American firm Virgin Hyperloop. the comfortofrail experience, Anew form of transportcur- draw on theexpertise of Delhi signedanMoU to conduct afea- However, Josh Giegel,now one without having to wait, and at the rentlybeing developedbyanum- Metroand IIT among others. On sibility test regarding alink be- TRUMPHOLDSBACK of the firstpeopleinthe worldto same time reduce energy usage." berofcompanies, hyperloop en- Saturday, Chairman, Railway tween the Bengaluru city centre BILL,MILLIONSLOSE take thetransportsysteminvolv- Another passenger on the visages passengers travelling at Board, VKYadavsaid: and Kempegowda International JOBLESSBENEFITS ing levitating test pods travelling firstset of test rides held by Pune-origin TanayManjrekar wasone of the firstpeople high speeds in floating pods lo- “Hyperloop is atechnology that Airport,and is working with the PAGE 9 at high speeds, knows what he Virgin Hyperloop, whichGiegel ever to travel in thelevitating pod,atatest run lastmonth cated inside giant low-pressure is still evolving across the world. Punjab government fora is talking about. firstenvisaged six years ago, was tubes, either above or below The government is studying it as CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020
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DDC polls The Prime Ministersaid the of the government on theissue In UP,any "aggrievedper- Prohibition of Unlawful goal wasn’t speed, it wassafety,” states,“Avehicle (A-Star) used agency". "Six years backthe CBI SupremeCourthad issued or- of panchayatelections. We son", who mayhavenoconnec- ConversionofReligion he says,adding that anew cer- forthe abduction and trans- wasgiven the investigationbe- pointing out that municipal and ders forholding local body polls wanted empowerment of peo- tion with the couple involved, Ordinance, 2020,passed last tification trackbeing built in portation of the victims was cause of the allegation that the panchayatelections have notyet in Puducherry in 2018,but the ple in villagesacross Jammu and can registeranFIR.Inseveral month, stipulates that religious West Virginia will give aglimpse seizedasevidence.”The state machinery wasnot help- been held in Congress-ruled governmenttherewas dillydal- Kashmir,” he said. cases in the state, right-wing or- conversion using anyofthe of higher speeds. “weapon of offence” of the ing in the probe. Aftersix years, Puducherry despiteSupreme lyinginthe matter sinceithad The Prime Ministeralso in- ganisations have been accused above means, including misrep- Manjrekar does notsee Armyofficer hasbeen seized this agency is saying the same... Courtorders. “no faith in democracy’’. Local vokedAtalBehari Vajpayee’s of putting pressureonfamilies resentation and impersonation, manychallengesinhyperloop and sent to CFSL, Chandigarh. If the CBI is fair,why don't they Without naming anybody, body polls were lastheld in three principles of Insaaniyat, to register complaints. would entail ajail term of one to gettingwhereitshould and,ifat According to the arrest Mukul Royand Suvendu he said, “I want to express my Puducherry in 2006 aftermany Kashmiriyat and Jamhooriyat, Once an FIRhas been regis- five years and afine of Rs 15,000. all thereare bumps, thinksthe chargesheet,the officer and the Adhikari?" anguishbeforethe nation that decades andthe term of those statingJammu and Kashmirwas tered, in both MP and UP,the The other big departurebe- companyhas robustdesign twocivilianshavebeen charged Former Trinamool leaders some peopleinDelhi keep curs- elected endedin2011, he progressing on the path of de- burden to proveone's innocence tween the MP Bill and UP lawis practices and technology to get under Section 302(murder), and co-accusedinthe Saradha ing me daily…Theygiveme pointed out. This,hesaid, velopment on the basis of these lies on the accused. Those iden- the provision formaintenance over them. “In terms of chal- Section 364(abduction),Section scam, Royand Adhikari arenow newlessonsondemocracy showedthe difference in the three principles. tifiedasfrequent offenders can to women and righttoproperty lenges, it'sreallyarace forgov- 201(destruction of evidence), with the BJP.The other accused everyday.Iwant to showthem speedand deeds of some parties face jail terms of five to 10 years. to children in the marriageun- ernmentsright nowtoget the Section 436, 120-B (criminal in the case include former the mirror.” and also howserious theywere ‘Love jihad’ Bill Chief MinisterShivraj Singh der question, in thelegislation firstone up,” he adds. conspiracy to commit an offence Trinamool ministerMadan “Main un logosepoochna aboutdemocracy. Narottam Mishradescribed the Chouhan tweeted, "Wewill not planned by theChouhan gov- Giegel weighs in, “Wehave punishablewith death)and Mitra, lateTrinamool MP Tapash chahtahoon ki yehJammu The delayinholding these Bill as "the moststringent" allowanyone to carry outreli- ernment. The matter of mainte- shown safetravelispossibleon Section 182ofIndian Penal Code Pal, TMC MP Sudip Banerjee, Kashmir ko dekhiyeki, itne kam elections in Puducherry has against"the practice of love ji- gious conversion using force, nance will be dealt as per this,bynot astronautsbut nor- andSection 7/25 of Indian Arms and Bengali film producer samaymein unhoneytree-stariya been primarilybecause thede- had". ApartfromBJP-ruledMP threat or allurement in Madhya Section 125ofthe CrPC. mal people.Ithink the biggest Act(possession or carrying of Srikant Mohta. panchayati rajvyavasthako limitation exercise dragged on and UP,the party's Himachal Pradesh. Forthis we have made In both states, marriages thing formeishow fast we can prohibited armsorammuni- The CBI did notrespond to swikaar karkeykam kar diya. foryears. The matter reached Pradesh government has also ourlaw of 1968 moreeffective proved to have been undertaken scaleup.” tion). queries sent by The Sunday Lekin dusari aur vidambana the courts with multiple judge- notified asimilar legislation to ensurenone of the perpetra- forthe sole purpose of religious WITH ENSINPUTS While the accusedcivilians, Express. dekhiyekiPondicherry mein mentsbythe Madras High Court with the aim of "checking con- tors go free." conversion or conducted with- Tabish and Bilal, have been ar- Regarding Kumar,the Supreme Court ke adesh ke bab- and the Supreme Court. Since versions". Claiming to curb religious out appropriatenotice to the Farmer unions rested and areinjudicial cus- agency told the Supreme Court, jood, panchayataur municipal June lastyear,abitter tussle be- In asignificant departure conversions usingmisrepresen- district administration can be 2020’ to exclude farmers from tody,the Captain is “yet to be ar- "moreevidence has emerged electionsnahi ho rahe. Aurmujhe tween Chief MinisterV from the UP ordinance though tation, allurement, force, threat, declared null and void by family penal provisions of the ordi- rested forprocedures under substantiating further the active jo yahan loktantrakepaathpada Narayanasamyand Lt Governor on registration of FIRs in such undue influence, coercion, mar- courts. nance; and, changes to be made AFSAP (ArmedForcesSpecial connivance of... Kumar,the then rahe hain,unkipartywahan raj KiranBedioverappointment of cases, the MP Bill says these can riageorany other "fraudulent Return to one'soriginal reli- in the draftElectricity Powers Act) and the ArmyAct Commissioner of Police, kar rahi hai (I want to ask these an Election Commissioner for be dealt onlybypolice person- means",the MP Bill stipulates gion -- the religion one is born (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to pro- whereas sanction is also re- Bidhannagar,inshielding and people… the three-tier Puducherry hasmeant further nelnot less than the rank of sub- jail terms of one to five years, intoorthat practisedbyone's fa- tect farmer interests. quired to be obtainedfor protecting the influential co-ac- Panchayati Rajsystemhas been delays. inspector,and that parentsand with afine of Rs 25,000,insuch ther -- will notbecountedas The unions warnedthat they launching prosecution against cusedpersons who had pro- establishedinJammu and Referring to the PDP-BJP gov- siblings of the affected individ- cases. The penalty in case of a conversion under the MP Bill. will intensify their agitation by him”. motedthe illegal business activ- Kashmir within ashort period ernment in Jammu and Kashmir ual alone can file acomplaint di- person using "misrepresenta- This is the sameasinthe UP leg- increasing blockadesonhigh- The chargesheetstatesthat ities of the group of Ponzi of itsbecoming aUT, but pan- afterthe 2014 Assemblypolls, rectly. In case aguardian or a tion" or "impersonation" forre- islation. ways of DelhiNCR if the talksdo the questioningofthe twocivil- companiesand who had... ben- chayat and municipal elections he said, “Therewas atime when custodian wantstoregisteran ligiousconversion will be While both the UP lawand notlead to atangible solution. ians ledtothe recovery of a efited from the illegallycol- arenot being held in we were partofthe Jammu and offence, they must approacha higher,including ajail term of MP Bill envisageajail term of An estimated 30,000people, Maruti Altocar and some cell lected funds”. Pondicherry wheretheir party Kashmirgovernment. We had a Sessions Court authorised to three-10years and afine of Rs twoto10years in case aperson affiliated to the BKU (Ugrahan) phones from the “Victor Force The CBI also talked about a is in powerdespiteSupreme Deputy Chief Ministerand also deal with these matters and get 50,000. being converted is aminor,or and Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh campAwantipora”. Besides ex- detailedcomplaint sent by Sen Courtorders),” he said. the ministers, but we pulledout acourtorder. In contrast, the UP belongs to the ScheduledCaste Committee (KMSC), areheaded amining all Call Detail Records, it in April 2013,which“contains or ScheduledTribe, the MP leg- to DelhifromBarnala, Ludhiana, details the planning, abduction serious allegations againstmany islation talksofapenalty of Rs Sangrur,Patiala andGurdaspur. of the youth, the routes taken, influential persons suchasShri 50,000,againstRs25,000in UP. SukhdevSingh Kokrikalan, and prior arrangement of illegal Kunal Kumar Ghosh, Shri Both the legislationtalk of BKU (Ugrahan) general secre- weapons by the accused. SrinjoyBose, ShriSantanu three- to five-year prison terms tary,said morethan 3,000vehi- The Armyofficer,the Ghosh, Smt Nalini forreligiousorganisations or in- cles, carrying nearly 16,000 chargesheetstated, misledhis Chidambaram, Shri Matang dividuals seen as carrying out farmers from over 100villages officers and colleagues.Itstates Sinh, Smt Manoranjana Sinh mass conversions, but againthe of Punjab, entered Narwana he "furnishedfalse information who were allegedlyassociated penalty in MP is higher (Rs 1 Saturdaynoon. He said the con- to mislead thesenior officers withthe affairs of Saradha lakh) than UP (Rs 50,000). voy wasgiven arousing wel- and forgetting lodgment of FIR Groupand accused". However, In both states, organisations come by Haryana farmers and done to tailor-fit his motive for it said, the SIT and Bidhannagar or priests carrying out conver- made ahalt at Jhanjh Kalan vil- grabbing prize moneyinfur- police arrested and sions have to inform the district lage. Theywill head towards therance of criminal conspir- chargesheeted"only... Ghosh... administration about 60 days Tikri Sunday. acy". and afew employees of the before the dateofconversion, Kulwant Sharma, ablock One of the civilian accused, Saradha Group”. failing whichthe organisation president of BKU (Ugrahan), said Bilal Ahmad Lone, turnedap- As per the CBI, Ghosh had can have itsregistration can- another batchof15,000 volun- prover and his statement under also written to RajeevKumar in celled and the priestorfacilita- teers willenter Haryana via Section 164ofCode of Criminal November 2013 “againstShri torfaceajail term. But the MP Bathinda-Dabwali highway and Procedure(CrPC) has been Arnab Ghosh, the then Deputy Bill stipulatesahigher penalty hold arallywith Haryana farm- recorded. TheDNA analysis by Commissioner of Police, (of Rs 50,000,and three-five ers at Fatehabad before heading CFSL, Chandigarh, postmortem BidhannagarPolice years' jail term) in such cases, to Tikri Monday. reportand the missingreportby Commissionerate", accusing the compared to onetofiveyears Swaraj India president three Rajouri families ledtothe police of pressuring him to and Rs 25,000 in UP. YogendraYadav,speaking on identification of the three civil- "make statements". behalf of farmer unions, said: ian victims, the chargesheet The CBI's application said Hyperloop “Wewant to makeone thing stated. that it had found that Rs 6.21 corridor between Amritsar and very clear. We arenot going to crorewas paid from the CM's Chandigarh. discuss whether the govern- Saradha Relief Fund to Tara TV,whichwas Whilethe technology hurdle ment should take back these Minister, West Bengal, and pro- part of the Saradha Group, "at the has been moreorless overcome, laws or not. We willnow discuss moterofM/s Saradha Group rate of Rs27 lakhpermonth",from an uphill task is convincing reg- howthese should be takenback. Shri Sudipta Sen had very good May2013toApril 2015."In order ulators about something that is The government mustdiscuss relationship”, and cited call data to furtherlookintothegravelysus- this new. “Weall trytorelate the procedureinvolvedincall- records to show that Ghosh and piciouspaymentstoacloudedpri- something newtowhat we al- ing backalaw. This is the only Senwereinconstant touch. vate mediaentity,aletterdated ready know. And so people kind direction in whichthe talkswill The CBI is particularly criti- 16.10.2018 waswrittento theChief of lookathyperloop andthink, head.” cal of the role of former Kolkata Secretary,WestBengal,to provide it’sobviouslynot acar,and it’s Farmer leaders were critical PoliceCommissioner Rajeev information aboutthe constitu- definitelynot aplane, andit’sre- of the Prime Minister’s speech Kumar,who when postedin tion and functioning of the Chief allynot aboat, so it mustbea Friday. Alleging “misinforma- Bidhannagar had supervised the Minister’s Relief Fund. Despitere- train,” Giegel spells out hisfrus- tion”, RashtriyaKisan Mazdoor SIT probeintothe Saradha case, peated efforts, thestate govern- trations. Mahasanghpresident Shiv and has sought his custodial in- menthaspartedwithincomplete But the conversations have Kumar Kakka said it wasfor the terrogation.InFebruary 2019, and evasive replies," it said. been making progress. “In July, Prime Ministerto“createanen- Mamatahad personallysat on a The CBI accusedthe stategov- the US Department of vironment conducive fortalks”. dharna to stop aCBI team from ernmentof notsharing"alistcon- Transportation gave us regula- questioning Kumar.Referringto tainingnames of certain influen- tory guidance.Theyactuallysaid Rajouri youths this,the CBI told the Supreme tial persons andasynopsis of that we areanofficial mode of and AbrarAhmad(25)ofTarkasi Courtthatthe“factsclearly point evidenceagainst them", which transportation, whichisabig village of Kotranka Rajouri – towardsconcerted institutional had been earlier submitted by deal.India, as partofthe were “abducted”fromtheir connivanceandacomplete break- the statetothe SC. "State Police Mumbai to Pune project, also rented accommodationin down of rule of lawand constitu- did notprovide the information declared us an infrastructure Shopian and then killed. tional machineryinthe Stateof on recorddespiterepeated re- project.” In Europe,hyperloop Both the Army and the J&K West Bengal”. quests." has been listedaspartofthe Policehad earlier claimedthat The developmentis settofur- Talking about an auction held SmartMobility strategy. the three youths were uniden- ther heat the bitter political at- of Mamata's paintings,in2011- Giegel thinksitisimportant tified militantsand had buried mosphere in the state, which 2013,theCBIsaidthatwhilethese to have these conversations in them discreetlyinagraveyard headsto Assemblypollsnextyear, were bought by promoters of parallel. “If we wait until every- in north Kashmir's Baramulla. with Mamata leading thecharge other ponzi companies besides thing is perfect, it will justtake On October 3, the J&K govern- againstacombative BJP. Saradha,these were notinvesti- toolong forcertification,” he ment exhumedthe bodies of the The CBI application also talks gated. "It hascomeonrecordthat says,adding howthe recent three labourerskilledduringthe of the ED questioning of Safiqur notonlyM/sSaradhapaidfunds... testswerealot about"theincre- night in the presence of family Rehman,anemployeeofSaradha but other ponzi companies like mentaldevelopment of technol- members and handedthem Group, saying it had “revealed M/sRoseValleyGroup;M/sTower ogy and the incremental devel- over to the families. that... (MP) Ghosh usedtodi- Group; M/s Pailan Group; M/s opment of safety”. The The Indian Express had on rect... (Saradha promoter) Sen to Angel Agro Grouphavealso regulators, he says,werevery Fridayreported thatthe Army paymoneytodifferent Durga boughtpaintings worth lakhsof excited with the waytests were had conducted aSummaryof Puja Committees” and that rupeessteeredby certainpersons done and the rigour of the Evidence and foundanArmyof- “when the Chief Minister, West linkedto thehigheststate author- process. ficer culpable forthe killing of Bengal,contestedfor MLAseat... ities." The statepolice did notin- The lackofsleep over the the three Rajouri youths. The Sen wasforcedtosponsor all the vestigate"anycaseagainstany pastmanymonths is finallypay- next step in the process is acourt Pujas of Bhawanipur,Kolkata". other group of ponzi companies ing off. “Wedidn’t think that martial. Earlier,onSeptember Asked about the CBI'scon- as mentioned", the CBI said.The would happen this quickly.” 18,the Army's CourtofInquiry temptplea before the Supreme agency mentionedindetail the The testscould onlyachieve confirmedthat the three youths Court, whichismonitoring the February2019incident when 172kmph, but Giegel says it's killedwerelabourers from Saradha probe, Trinamool MP Mamatahad sat on adharna to because the Nevada test track Rajouri. KalyanBanerjee said the agency stop aCBI team from questioning justwas 500metreslong. “The The J&K Policechargesheet had been reducedto"apolitical RajeevKumar.
Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THESUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 3 WEST BENGAL
TMCcounter:BJPhas Nobel laureateand economist madecountryhaven AmartyaSen Santiniketan land registered for‘harmads’,women on long-term mostsafeinBengal lease, says Sen ENS&PTI KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Acts of tourists KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 TMC MP RESPONDINGTOthecontroversy Kakoli from outside over media reports that Visva- THE TRINAMOOL Congress on Ghosh hurting Tagore’s Bharati University (VBU) has Saturdaycounteredthe BJP over Dastidar namedhim among those “occu- the issue of lawand order,saying followers: TMC pying additional illegal plot”, the party staysmuteonincidents Nobellaureateand economist of atrocities on women and Dalits crimes againstwomen, includ- AmartyaSen said that the land is in BJP-ruled states like Uttar ing cases of dowryand domestic PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA registeredinrecordsand is on a Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. violence, abduction and sexual KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 Suvendu Adhikari (extreme right) speaksduring afunction at BJP’s Kolkataoffice on Saturday. Senior party leaders Kailash long-term lease. Stating that the allegations of offences.Every citypolice sta- Vijayvargiya, Dilip Ghosh and Mukul Royare also seen. Express Referringtoreportsthat VBIU the BJP aboutworsening security tions have at leastthree female WITHOUT NAMINGany BJP Vice-chancellor Bidyut forwomen in the statewere police personnel. Women per- leader,the TrinamoolCongress Chakrabarty wasarranging the “highlyexaggerated”, TMC’s Lok sonnel aredeployedatthe radio (TMC) Saturdayclaimedsome evictionof unauthorisedoccupa- Sabhamember from Barasat, flying squad at night to respond "tourists"fromoutside West BJP LEADERS CALL AMIT SHAH tionof leasedlandonthecampus Kakoli GhoshDastidar, said to anycrimesagainstwomen,” Bengal arevisiting places associ- and that he has alsobeen named women in Bengal are“safest”. she told mediapersonsatthe ated withRabindranath Tagore in the listofoccupants, Sen said Accusingthe BJP of “spread- party's headquarters here. and committingactswhichare As BJP felicitates newcomers, that the central university has ing lies with amotivationtocre- “The National Crime Records hurting the sentiments of the nevercomplainedabout anyir- atestrife” in the state, Ghosh Bureaureportfor 2019 found bard's followers. regularityof landholdingeitherto Dastidarsaid, “Anystray incident Kolkatasafestamong the 19 At apress meetatthe party him or his family. is beingpickedupbythe BJP. cities in the country. The govern- headquarters here, Kakoli TMC agitation turnsinto scuffle The Nobellaureateasserted Even women leaders of the BJP ment has established14coastal giGhosh Dastidar,TMC MP from that the Visva-Bharatilandon from thestate, who have no po- police stations, 5cyber-crime Barasat,saidthatthepartywould whichhis houseissituated is en- litical background, arejoining the police stations, 38 child-friendly launchastrong protestagainst their (TMC's) model. Ifeel president speakswith ateam of tirely onalong-termlease,which chorus. Women aresafeand se- police stations, 88 fast-track suchactsbyBJP heavyweights. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ashamedthat Iwas with this Ifeel ashamed that I leaders. When Itakeany deci- is nowherenear itsexpiry. curehere." courts.Two regions that faced “Some tourists having no KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 (TMC) party for21years,” said was with this (TMC) sion in Bengal, Ispeak with lead- "Additionalland wasbought by “It is of agrave disserviceto sporadic political and Maoist idea of Bengal's cultureare visit- Adhikari. party for 21 years... Iam ers here,” claimedVijayvargiya. my father as freehold andregis- our countryifapolitical leader unrestinthe past--the Hills and ing the state and places like THE BJP on Saturdayfelicitated “I am grateful to the BJP lead- “Thereisnoindustryand fac- teredinlandrecordsundermouja spreads lies withamotivation to Junglemahal –are nowrela- Visva-Bharati. Recently, one newcomers in the party includ- ership and workers forwelcom- grateful to the BJP tories in Bengal. Youths areleav- Surul,"hesaid createstrife. TheBJP hasmade tively peaceful,” she said. suchpersonality even sat on the ing Suvendu Adhikari and Lok ing us. Our previous party has leadership and workers ing Bengal to work in other “I couldcomment on thebig the countryahavenfor ‘harmad’ “The people of Bengal have chair usedbyTagoreduring his Sabha MP Sunil Mondol,atits of- become acompanynow.Weare for welcoming us...We states. We have to changethat,” gapbetweenSantiniketanculture forces as is evident from the law little moretodesirefrom visit to RabindraBhavanwhere fice in Hastings, Kolkata. out of the companyand nowwe are out of the company he added and that of the V.C.,empowered and order situation in Uttar MamataBanerjee because our articles usedbythe Nobellaure- However, the programme was areinaproper political party.A and now we are in a Later,BJP chief spokesperson asheisby theCentralgovernment Pradesh,” she said, adding that Chief Ministerhas fulfilledmany ateare kept.Theyhavenore- marredbyviolence whenBJP political party that has discipline proper political party” Samik Bhattacharya condemned in Delhi with itsgrowing control “thelaw and order system of of theirwishes. The waythe gov- spect forhistory,heritageand workers clashedwith TMC and accepts nationalism and the incidentand claimedthat it over Bengal,” Senadded. Bengal is morethan adequateto ernmentisworking is com- traditions. They have littlere- workers who allegedly van- pluralism as itsideals,” added —SUVENDU ADHIKARI wasplannedbyTMC. The BJP on Saturday hitout at deal withmiscreantsseverely”. mendable. Aprogrammelike spect forthe icon,” Ghosh dalisedthe Mondol's vehicle Adhikari. BJP LEADER WHO QUIT TMC “It wasplanned. Theytar- the Nobellaureate, aday after Goons and armedcadresare ‘DuareSarkar’ has notbeenseen Dastidar said. while he wasentering the office “This party (BJP) has already getedour national president Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee looselyreferredtoasharmads. in anystate in Indiaand possibly UnionHomeMinisterand BJP and triedtoblockAdhikari’s car spread in Bengaland around 135 (JP Nadda). Todaytheytargeted wrote alettertoSenslammingthe Listing out theeight all- notelsewhereinthe world. leader Amit Shah had visited while he wasleaving. workers gave their livesfor this. We will have to work towards our leaders once morewith BJP for“levelling baseless allega- women police stations in Kolkata Almost99% work hasbeencom- Visva-Bharatilastweekandwent TMC workers setupastage Under Dilip Ghosh, the party has making ‘Sonar Bangla’,” added police standing as mutespec- tions”againsthim. StateBJP chief alone –Behala, Karaya, pletedbut the BJP miscreants to iconicbuildingsonthecampus, near the BJP office and raisedslo- gone forwardinBengal. Our job Adhikari. tators. TMC made astage near DilipGhoshsaid:“He(Sen)should Ultadanga, Taltala Tollygunge, will claim that no work has been includingRabindraBhavanand gans,sourcessaid.TMC workers is to trytofinish the work left Kailash Vjyvargiya, observer our office and then targeted notspeak on behalfofany party. Watgunge,Patuliand Amherst done. Theywill raise ahue and Upasana Griho (prayer hall). triedtoblockAdhikari's carfrom and take the party to greater forBengal and BJP nationalsec- the leaders who came in. How Peopleof Bengalwillgainfromhis Street –the TMC MP said the cryabout the remaining 1% and Therewerereports on social me- entering the BJP office premises. heights. Our work is mowdi- retary,said, ““TodayBengal is did the police give them per- intelligence and insight, but he MamataBanerjee government spread propaganda by making dia thatthe GhantaGhar(bell BJP workers intervenedand a rected towardsthe Assembly known forpolitical violence and missionfor doing so?” worksonthe advice of afailed had setatarget of setting up 65 videos and taking pictures. tower) waspulleddownfor the scuffle took place, theyadded. polls. Ihavealready said that corruption. It sbecause of the Bhattacharya told mediaper- chief minister, peoplewillthink special all-women police stations MamataBanerjee has setthe ex- Union minister's visit to Later,while Suvendu Kolkataand Delhi should have firstpresident of Jan Sangh, sons. otherwise.People will think that across West Bengal and has al- ample forgoodgovernance in Santiniketan and thatShah had Aadhikari and other were leaving the same ruling party.This is Syama Prasad Mookerji, that Meanwhile, TMCMP wasitwrong to give himthe ready established 48. Bengal, whichnoother Chief sat on Tagore's chair.However, the party office, TMC workers necessaryfor solution to the Bengal is partofthe country. But SougataRoy said the incident award? His ideology is that of the “TheTMC government’sob- MinisterofIndia has been able it wasnot confirmedbythe triedtogheraothem and raised state’s economic problem and Didi (MamataBanerjee) is call- waslikelya“spontaneous reac- Communists—who have forced jective is to exclusively tackle to do,” Ghosh Dastidar said. university authorities. slogans. Police personnel in- problem of unemployment. ing it aparty of “outsiders”. She tion” from party workers.Firhad politics intoeverything.” ternedand the situation was Yesterdaywehaveheardhow is notreadytoacceptPrime HakimclaimedthatTMCworkers “SuchcommentsfromtheBJP brought under control. Following the PrimeMinister lamented ministerNarendraModi, he is were notinvolved. is unacceptable. Sen is aworld- the incident, BJP leader Kailash thatBengal is deprivedofthe also being calledan“outsider”. “Itisthemediawhichisgiving renownedpersonality,”saidTMC Bengal health scheme better than VijayvargiyacalledonUnion benefitsofPMKisan pro- Afterjoining our party,those undue hype to BJP.Wehad apo- leader Firhad Hakim on Ghosh's Home MinisterAmit Shah and re- gramme. All states, manywhere from Trinamool can now liticalprogramme and astage remarks. portedthe matter. BJP is ot the ruling paryhas ac- breathe freelyinademocratic wasmade. But none of the Agroupof actors,painters,po- Centre’s: TMC hits back at PM “The party arranged afelici- cepted this central programme environment. TMC is aone per- party workersdisturbed anyof etsare scheduledtoholdaprotest tation programme and youall but notBengal,” Adhikari added. son party.But in the BJP,there them. Our workers onlyagi- rallyontheallegedharassmentof ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojna’ in sawwhat happened.This is the “Wehavetohand over is democracy.Tochoose aman tatedagainstthe newfarm Sen by theBJP near theAcademy EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE West Bengal. firstday forushereand this is Bengal to (PM) NarendraModi. forthe postofPM, our party laws,” claimedHakim. of Fine Arts in KolkataonSunday. KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 Health However, Chandrima Minister Bhattacharya,MinisterofState for AS WESTBengalinches closerto Chandrima Health,said that, BJP leadersare GOVT. OF BIHAR the Assemblyelections next year, Bhattacharya talkingonthatoutof “frustration”. the political battle between the She claimedthat the Bengalgov- BIHAR COMBINED ENTRANCE COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION BOARD rulingTrinamoolCongress(TMC) ernmentalready introduced I.A.S. Association Building, Near Patna Airport, Patna-14. and the opposition BJP is heating RELATED REPORT ‘Sasthya SathiScheme’forallpeo- ADMISSIONINVITATION FOR PGDM(2021-23) up, withthe twoparties sparring PAGE 4 pleof West Bengalwhichismuch UNDER GRADUATE MEDICAL ADMISSION COUNSELLING over “non-implementation” of better that ‘Ayushman Bharat’. AICTE Approved2-yearfull timeresidential (UGMAC)-2020 for MBBS/BDS /B.V.Sc.&A.H. in Govt. Medical /Dental /Bihar central schemes. health insurance coverage to all Talking about the Swastha Sathi Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) Whilethe BJP accusedthe residentsofJammu andKashmir. scheme, she said, “Our health Veterinaty Colleges and PrivateMedical/DentalColleges of Bihar • 2nd Campus of MDI Society afterMDI Gurgaon MamataBanerjeegovernmentof LaunchingthePM-JanArogya scheme is better thanModi’s. Adv. No.- BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/14 Dated 26.12.2020 notimplementing the flagship YojnaSEHATscheme, which Theyshouldtake someideasfrom • CRISIL Graded A*** (State) and A** (National) Business School centralschemeslikethePM-Kisan promises healthinsurance cover MamataBanerjee. Our scheme • Awarded Business World TopEducation Brands Award2020- f}rh; dkWmUlsfyax ls lEcfU/r vko';d lwpuk “Excellence and Innovation in Management” Samman Nidhi and Ayushman to all 1.30 crorepeople of Jammu coversthebeneficiaryandtheex- foKkiu la[;k& BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/12 fnukad 23.12.2020 ds Øe esa UGMAC-2020 ls Bharat in her state,theTrinamool and Kashmir, PrimeMinister tendedfamilymembers.Thecen- • Member of AMDISA lEcfU/rlHkhvH;fFkZ;ksa @laLFkkuksa @loZlk/kj.kdks lwfpr fd;k tkrk gS fd f}rh; pØ (2nd round) lhV vkoaVu claimedithascomeupwith“bet- NarendraModi on Saturdaysaid tral scheme does nothavethat • All the previous PGDM batches wereplaced successfully terschemes”like‘KrishakBandhu’ that theycan getfreetreatment provision.Whydoweneedtotake mijkar Documentverification @ukekadu dh frfFk tks iwoZ esa fnukad 23-12-2020ls26-12-2020 rd fu/kZfjr dh and ‘Swasthya Sathi’, whichare upto Rs5lakhinanyofthe24,000 suchschemes forwhichwehave Admission through CAT2020 for Indian citizens and through x;h Fkh] dks fuEuor~ foLrkfjr fd;k tkrkgS_ similar to theCentre’s schemes. hospitals across the country, but to give ashare?” GMAT for PIO /Foreign nationals Ø- dk;ZØe iwoZfu/kZfjr frfFk foLrkfjr frfFk PrimeMinister Narendra forWestBengal. “Underthe newprovisions of Lastdate of online application : i. Document Verification and Admission :23.12.2020 to 26.12.2020 23.12.2020 to 29.12.2020 st Modi on Saturdaylaunchedthe Afterthat, state BJP leaders Swastha Sathi,everybody in Sunday, 31 January2021 (5 PM) (2) iwoZ izdkf'kr foKkiula[;k&BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/09 fnukad 20.12.2020 ,oa 2020/12 fnukad Ayushman Bharat scheme via againcriticisedtheBengalgovern- Bengal can getthe benefitsofaRs Formoreinformation and online application, 23.12.2020 dh vU; 'kÙksaZ ;Fkkor~ jgsaxhA video-conferencing to extend ment on “notimplementing”the 5-lakhinsurance cover,”she said. please visit www.mdim.ac.in ijh{kk fu;a=kd Helpline : 8348021165 • Email : [email protected] STATECOUNT Eastern Rly nod to new TOTAL CASES The Cotton Corporation of India Ltd. GOVT. OF BIHAR Tala overbridge drawing (A Govt .of India undertaking) 546008 Kapas Bhawan, Plot No. 3A, Sector 10, CBD Belapur, BIHAR COMBINED ENTRANCE COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION BOARD Navi Mumbai-400614, Phone Number :022-27579217, I.A.S. AssociationBuilding,Near Patna Airport, Patna-14. INCREASE DEATHS EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Fax Number: 022-27576030,27579219 1253 9569 KOLKATA,DECEMBER26 Appeal to Cotton Farmers UNDER GRADUATE MEDICAL ADMISSION COUNSELLING 522331RECOVERED THEEASTERNRailway (ER)hasapprovedtheGeneral THE Cotton Corporation of India Ltd (CCI) is anominated nodal agency of (UGMAC)-2020 for MBBS/BDS /B.V.Sc.&A.H. in Govt. Medical /Dental /Bihar ArrangementDrawing (GAD)ofthe newroad over- Government of India for undertaking procurement of Cotton under Minimum VeterinatyColleges and Private Medical /Dental Colleges of Bihar 6927608 SAMPLES Support Price (MSP). bridge(ROB) at Tala thatisbeing reconstructed by Adv. No.- BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/15 Dated 26.12.2020 TESTED TILL DEC 26 PWDdepartment.Accordingto theER,theapproval In Cotton season 2020-21, CCI has opened 440 MSP procurement centers at 140 districts in 11 cotton growing states under 15 branch offices. wassent to thePublic WorksDepartment (PWD) So far CCI has procured 352 Iakh quintals of kapas in aperiod of three months as MOP-UP dkWmUlsfyax ls lEcfU/rvko';d lwpuk 1,253 new cases, on December 22. against 130 lakh quintals in the corresponding period of last year.Current MSP “PWD, Govt. of West Bengal, has also submitted foKkiu la[;k& BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/10 ] 2020/11 fnukad 22.12.2020 ,oa 2020/13 fnukad procurement is around 300 %more than last year. 24.12.2020 ds Øe esa UGMAC-2020 ls lEcfU/rlHkh vH;fFkZ;ksa @laLFkkuksa@loZlk/kj.k dkslwfprfd;ktkrk 33 more deaths thedetailedstructuraldesigns&drawingsofthesub- Due to unregulated heavy kapas arrivals in Market yards, the farmers are facing structureand foundation of the 6piers of the pro- hardship and compelled to wait in long queues for days together in selling their gS fd UGMAC-2020 ds vk/kjijf}rh;pØ(2nd round) lhV vkoaVu mijkar Document verification/ Kolkata:Inthe past24hours, posed Road Overbridge(ROB) fallen within Railway produce and processing capacities are also under tremendous pressure. ukekadu dh frfFk 29-12-2020 rd foLrkfjr gksus ds dkj.k] vk;ksftr dh tkus okyh Mop-up dkWmUlsfyax ls lacaf/r 1,253 persons tested positive for portionforscrutiny andapproval.Ameetingwasheld Therefore CCI has requested district administration and APMCs to regulate kapas Registration ,oa vkoanu i=k Hkjus dh frfFkdks fuEuor~ foLrkfjrfd;k tkrk gS_ Covid-19and 33 persons diedin withPWD,Govt.of West Bengalon14.12.2020where arrivals in market yards in such away that FAQkapas brought by farmers can be Ø- dk;ZØe iwoZ fu/kZfjr frfFk foLrkfjr frfFk sold, weighed and billed on the same day so that farmers need not stand in long the state. As manyas1,861 per- the sequence of approval of the designs &drawings i. Online Registration and fillingupofApplication queues and do not face any difficulties in selling their produce. sons were cured of theinfection. of thepiersweredecided. Accordingly, checking of Form starting date :23.12.2020 -- The number of active cases fur- detaileddesigns etc.are nowinprogressinco-ordi- CCI management makes an appeal to all cotton farmers to bring their produce to market yards in phased manner as per advice of respective APMCs. ii. Online Registration closing date :25.12.2020 (10:00 p.m) 29.12.2020 (10.00(p.m.) ther decreasedand became nationwith PWD ,Govt.Of West Bengalwhichwill iii. Last date of payment through Net Banking/ Debit Card/ 14,108. The total deathtoll stood further be communicated in duecourse of time fol- CCI assures that it will remain present in market yards till 30th September 2021 and shall procure entire FAQgrade kapas from farmers.CCI is committed to all cotton Credit Card with final submission of theonline at 9,569 on Saturday. The num- lowing codal provisions and according to therules farmers to save them from any distress sale. Therefore they need not sell their FAQ ApplicationForm of Registered candidate :25.12.2020 (11:59 p.m) 29.12.2020(11:59 p.m.) berofdischargedpersons is andregulationsofRailway,”apressstatementissued produce in hurry. (2)es/klwph izdk'ku,oa vU; lEcfU/r dk;ZØe dh lwpuk ;Fkkle; ns nh tk;sxh A 5,22,331.The recovery rate has by theERadded. S. K. Panigrahi L. K. Gupta Pradeep Kumar Agarwal (3)iwoZ izdkf'kr foKkiula[;k&BCECEB(UGMAC)-2020/10 fnukad 22.12.2020 dh vU; 'kÙksaZ ;Fkkor~ jgsaxhA increasedto95.66per cent. Afterthe Majherhat Bridgecollapsedin2018, CGM(Marketing) Director(Finance) Chairman cum Managing Director ijh{kk fu;a=kd The total cases in West Bengalin- stategovernmenthad optedfor ahealthaudit of all 022-27579215 022-27560143 022-27576044 creasedto5,46,008. ENS bridges and flyovers in thecity. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 EXPRESS NETWORK THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 PM’s Puducherry Threat to judge: PMlaunchesJ&Khealthcoverscheme, Accused killed 8 pointer sparks Chief yrs ago, say cops saysbenefiteverywherebutKolkata Lucknow:Nearly10days after Minister-Bedi tussle Bareillypolice receivedacom- plaint of allegedthreat letter to an ernment and privatehospitals in Bengal, Modi said, “Aap Kolkata ance coverofRs5lakh under PM- Additional District and Session filedbyPuducherrygovernment EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE J&Kbut in 24,000hospitalsacross gaye hain to wahan mushkil hogi, JAY, theSEHATschemewillensure Judge,theinvestigationhasfound MANOJCG againstaMadrasHCorderto hold JAMMU,DECEMBER26 the country,’’ Modi said in an on- kyunki wahan ki sarkar thesamebenefitto theremaining thattheaccusednamedinthecase NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 the polls by June 2015. line address. Ayushman Yojana se nahi juri hai. 21 lakh families in theUT. Modi had diedinapolice encounter in And then the tussle began. LAUNCHINGTHE PM-JanArogya “In case youhavegone to Kuchhloghotey hein…kya karein also interacted with some of the Moradabadin2012.Bareillypolice ADAY afterRahul Gandhi said In May2019, Narayanasamy Yojna SEHATscheme,which Mumbai and suddenlycome (if yougotoKolkata[andneedhelp beneficiariesofthe PM-JAY came to knowabout it when they thereisnodemocracy in India, sentafiletoBedirecommending promises health insurance cover across some problem, the SEHAT of the scheme], then therewill be scheme on theoccasion. visited theMoradabadresidence Prime MinisterNarendraModi appointmentofformer bureau- to all1.30crore peopleofJammu During the launch of the cardwillhelpyouasacompanion aproblem, as the government Marking the launchofthe of the accused -- Mohammad on Saturdayhit back.Referring to crat TMBalakrishnan as SEC.The and Kashmir,Prime Minister SEHAT scheme. PTI there.Incase of Kerala, too, hospi- thereisnot associated with scheme with immediateeffect, Fahim Pakistani. Acase wasfiled Congress-ruledPuducherry,said L-Greturnedthe file in July, say- NarendraModi on Saturday said tals therewill give youfreetreat- Ayushman Bharat Scheme. There J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha dis- againstFahimforallegedly threat- thatlocal body elections arenot ing he could notbeacceptedfor thattheycangetfreetreatmentup ment,’’hesaid. arealways somepeople...whatwe tributed “goldencards’’ to benefi- eningthejudgeifhefailedtogrant being conducted in theUnion appointment. to Rs 5lakh in anyofthe 24,000 “Yourfreetreatmentunderthe In an indirect attackonthe can do).” The Prime Ministerthat ciaries.HomeMinisterAmit Shah bail to oneChunniLal, who has Territorydespite aSupreme “The Lt Governor wanted to hospitals across the country, but AyushmanBharatSEHATscheme MamataBanerjee-led Trinamool while 6lakhfamilies in J&K areal- andMoS(PMO)JitendraSinghalso been arrested in connection with Court order. appointanelectioncommissioner forWestBengal. will notbeconfinedtoonlygov- Congress government in West ready providedthe health insur- attendedvirtually. acorruption case. ENS The Supreme Court order without the government.Under Modiapparentlyreferredto the Villageand Commune came in May2018. Electionsto Panchayats Act, and also FROM PAGE ONE panchayatand municipal bodies Municipalities Act, poweris hadnot been held in Puducherry vested with theminister. TheL-G since 2011. is onlyfor clearance,” he said. Thedelayisprimarilybecause Bedisaiddespiteherrepeated the delimitationexercise has interventions, the Puducherry Over half the toppers from Tier 2, 3cities; dragged on foryears. The matter government has been “dragging hadreachedcourtsandtherehave itsfeet” and not“publishing the been multiplejudgmentsby delimited wards” before coming MadrasHighCourtand Supreme upwithanameforthepostofSEC. no Dalit or tribal in list of 86 Courtovertheyears.Butinthelast The L-G, she said, is the com- twoyears,abittertusslebetween petent authority to appoint the Chief MinisterVNarayanasamy SEC.“They (government) just Six of 10 toppers chose who respondedtothis newspa- and Lt Governor KiranBediover pickedupsomebody and sent a engineering THEINVESTIGATION,THEMETHOD per’s questionnaire, justfivewere appointment of aState Election file forapproval.Itwas notbydue first-generation college-goers. Commissioner (SEC) has opened process,”she said. Morethan half the toppers The Indian Express obtainednames of 86 toppers of Class Mohammad Ismat, 29, from up anew dimension. Afterreturningthe file, the L- (48out of 86) chose engineering 10 and 12 examsconducted by the Council of Indian Imphal, Manipur,toppedthe The SundayExpress spoketo G’sofficeinJulylastyearissuedan as their undergraduatedegree — School CertificateExaminations(CISCE)and the Central Class 12 CBSE exam in 2012. both Narayanasamy and Bedi. open advertisement forappoint- only12did medicine. Among BoardofSecondaryEducation (CBSE). Of the 86 names, 62 Ismat, who says his teacher SM The CM said AINRCwas in ment of SEC. Later that month, thosewho studiedengineering, graduated between1996 and 2015 from schools affiliated Singh paid his Boardexamination powerwhen courtsfirstdirected PuducherryAssemblySpeakerVP six out of 10 did so at an IIT. to the CISCE Board, and 24 were national CBSE toppers feesincehisfamily couldn’tafford Puducherry to hold the polls in Sivakozhunthu annulledthe ad- Many, however, confessed from 2004 to 2015.Some years, the Boards had three or it, went on to study BSc (Honours) 2012.Hesaid AINRC waswith the vertisement. Aday later,the gov- that an interestinengineering even four joint national toppers. ForCBSE Class 10,there Physics at Delhi’s St.Stephen’s NDAand supported the Central ernmentappointedBalakrishnan wasn’t always themotivation be- wasnotopper from 2010 to 2015 since the Boardhad College,fundedbyacorporate government fortwo years when as SEC. On December 20, 2019, hind the decision. switchedfrommarks to grades. house. it wasinofficeafter 2014,but “did Bedi issuedanorder declaring Sundaresh Nageswaran, 32, To trackdownthe toppers, over four months, The Apersonal crisis at home nottakeany action (on holding Balakrishnan'sappointment as who toppedthe CBSE Class 10 Indian Express checkednewspaperarchives, social media meant thatIsmat had to put his elections).” "void ab initio". In January this exam in 2004 before studying sites, contacted school principals, teachers and alumni career aspirations on hold foral- In May2018, theSCdirected year,Narayanasamyissuedanor- MechanicalEngineering at IIT- associations. In one case, help came from abankunion in mostfour years afterhegradu- Puducherrytocomplete the de- derannulling theL-G’sorder de- Roorkee, said it wasthe “societal BhattacharjyawithwifeCharu Sethi, who workswithaUN UP,whichtappedits networktolocatearetired ated from DelhiUniversity.This limitation process and hold pan- claring it ‘illegal’. norm” forthose who did well in agency,and childrenAhaan and Ameha employee, who is the father of an ICSE nationaltopper. year,hestarted preparing forthe chayat and municipal polls with- FULLREPORTON school to study engineering. “En- Adetailedqualitative questionnairewas sent to each UPSC examination. Of the 74 top- outdelay. TheordercameonaSLP www.indianexpress.com gineering,ormorespecificallyIIT, of the 86 toppers. Tendid notrespond, but their stories pers who shared theirfamilyin- wasthe rule... Ilater realisedI IstayedbackinIndiasinceIgotthroughagood arepartofthis series. come with TheIndian Express, wasn’t interestedinengineering college(BITS-Pilani).Beyondthat,itwasa Of the 86, 74 were SciencestudentsinClass 12,12did onlyone camefromthe lowest and movedout to other fields,” he personaldecisiontostayclosetofamilyandparents Commerce. No topper wasfromthe Arts/Humanities earningquartile. The student, RLP chief Hanuman said. stream. Year 2015 waschosen as thecut-offyear to ensure who didn’t want to be identified, Sundresh later pursuedan SANKALPA BHATTACHARJYA, that all studentsfeatured had, by 2020, completedorwere said his parentsearnedless than Beniwal announces split MBAfromthe Indian School of PARTNER AT PWC INDIA, GURGAON; TOPPED CLASS 12, ISC, 1996 close to completing their firstundergraduatedegree. Rs 1lakh per annum when he Business, Hyderabad,and until toppedthe Class 12 Boardexam. September,was general manager Almostthree-fourths said from NDA over farm laws (business development) at Sea6 degree in appliedelectronicsand He later did an MBAfrom Those who stayed back feredmorevalue formoney. theirparentsearnedoverRs5 Energy,aplatform that harnesses instrumentationfromtheCollege HarvardBusinessSchool and is in India While she wasatIIM-Calcutta, lakh annuallyatthe time of their DEEPMUKHERJEE the potential of oceans.Inhis role of Engineering Trivandrum. working as senior product man- whereshe did her MBA, Singh Boardexams.The remaining re- JAIPUR,DECEMBER26 there, he admits, therewas nodi- “Myfamilywanted me to go ager at Amazonin Seattle.“While Among toppers who stayed wasoffered ajob by Kearney, a portedannual familyincomes of rect use forhis mechanical engi- forCommerce. Iinsistedonengi- the IIT brand wasdefinitelyafac- backorreturnedtoIndia after global management consulting between Rs 1lakh and Rs 5lakh. THE RASHTRIYALoktantrik Party Hanuman neeringknow-how. He is now neering as anyotherchoice was tor, therewas no family pressure... their higher studies,mosthave firm, and joinedthem in Delhi as Morethan half the toppers are (RLP) on Saturday announced Beniwal working on his ownventure. perceivedassomething optedby Iliked math and science, and chosen acareer in finance, fol- consultant thismonth. “While an from Tier 2and Tier 3cities such that it wasbreaking away from To besure,fewregrettheir un- those who could notmakeitto agree that Idid notknowmuch lowedbythe tech sector,consult- MBAabroad has itsmerits, it is too as Dehradun, Dhanbad, Asansol, the National Democratic Alliance dergraduatedegree in engineer- engineering,” she said. “Inhind- about othernon-IIT options at ing, and business. This is unlike expensive.And today, India has Jamshedpur,Trivandrum, (NDA) in protestagainstthe three protestagainstthe three farm ing. However, manywish they sight,yes, Iwould have gone for that point,probablydue to lackof thosesettledabroad,whomostly lots of great jobsand opportuni- Lucknowand Meerut —cities farm laws brought by theCentre. Bills, and afterseeing theprob- had exposuretootherprofessions Commerce and pursuedChar- careeradvice at aschool level. But worked in the tech sector. ties in the private sector,”she said. whereEnglish-medium ICSE The announcement was lemsthatthefarmersarefacing,I or career counselling at that age. teredAccountancy.” in hindsight, abetterawareness ForParnil Singh, 27,the CBSE Tackling social, and CBSE schools have ridden made by RLP chief and Nagaur am leaving NDA,”said Beniwal. Lekshmi Vaidyeswaran, 29, Subhojit Ghosh, 29, who on howyour undergraduatede- Class 10 topperof2009froma on the ambition and aspiration MP Hanuman Beniwal at arally He addedthat if the govern- who toppedthe CBSE Class 10 toppedthe ISC Class 12 exam gree linkstovarious types of fu- school in Visakhapatnam, there economic challenges forabetterfutureinthese parts. at Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan's ment is ready to withdrawthe exam in 2007 with 99%, and is from aKolkataschool in 2009 turecareer roles mayhavealtered waslittle incentive to pursue Of the 86 toppers,onlyone These arealso the cities hardest Alwar district. three laws,then talksonthe currentlyasenior product man- with 99.25%, has aBTech in my decision of choosingmechan- postgraduatestudies in manage- belonged to the Other Backward hit during the pandemic, com- “Am IstucktoNDA with fevi- question of the alliance will ager at ICICI Prudential Life Mechanical Engineering from IIT ical engineering,” ment abroad since, she says,pre- Class (OBC) category. None was poundingfears of job losses and col? TodayIannounce that in remain open. Insurancein Mumbai,has aBTech Kanpur. he said. mierbusinessschoolsin India of- Dalit or tribal. Of the 76 toppers school dropouts.
LAUNCHES PROJECTS IN POLL-BOUND STATE Shah: Assamgainednothing from ‘andolan’, BJP willbring jobs
with aswipe againstnewly- (protests)had broughtnothing the Congress win... Theycan do and ledbythe jailedAkhilGogoi. ABHISHEKSAHA formedpolitical parties, the to Assam—a likelyreference to nothing. Under Prime Minister Both newparties owetheir gen- GUWAHATI,DECEMBER26 launch of araftofeducational the massive anti-CAAagaitation NarendraModiji’s leadership, esis to the the anti-CAA agitation. projects, and outreachtothe that erupted lastyear in the state. the BJP will form government in “Tell me,thosewho do an- HOME MINISTER Amit Shah Vaishnavitecommunity. “They[newparties] can Assam with full majority,” he dolan or the Congress party, Saturday setthe tone forthe BJP's Promising employment and neverform government. They said at afoundation stone-laying whichfires bullets on youthsof 2021Assam election campaign industries, Shah said "andolan" want to ruin BJP’s votes and help ceremonyinKamrup district's Assam, can theyeverbring in- Amingaon. vestment and industryto Office of the Chairman, NEET UG Medical &Dental Admission ''IMPORTANT'' Shah wasseen Assam?"Shah said.“Iwanttoask /CounselingBoard- 2020 and Principal, Government Dental as referringtothe what has Assam gained through Whilst care is taken prior to Assam Jatiya andolan[protests]? HasAssam College (RUHS College of Dental Sciences), acceptance of advertising Subhash Nagar,Behind T.B. Hospital, Jaipur |Phone: 0141-2280090 copy,itisnot possible to verify Parishad (AJP)— developed, wasemployment Websites: www.education.rajasthan.gov.in/medicaleducation its contents.The Indian formedunder the generated?Did people of Assam | www.rajugmedical2020.com Express (P) Limited cannot be No. State UG Counseling Board/2020/ Dated: 24.12.2020 aegis of the two gethealth services? Did people held responsible for such mostpowerful getjobs? DidAssam’s infrastruc- NOTIFICATION (Mop-up round, Off-line) contents, nor for any loss or NEET UG (MEDICAL /DENTAL) COUNSELLING 2020 damage incurred as aresult of student-youth turedevelop? Theonlything (MBBS, BDS) (STATEOFRAJASTHAN) transactions with companies, bodies of the state, that happened wasthat Assam In continuation to earlier notification dated 18.12.2020, all concerned associations or individuals the All Assam youths got martyred." candidates are informed that mop-up round allotmentswill be done on advertising in its newspapers Students’ Union Elections to the 126-member or Publications. We therefore 26-27 December 2020 for both Medical as well as Dental seats. All (AASU)and Asom Assam Legislative Assemblywill recommendthat readers concerned candidates are required to visit thewebsite make necessary inquiries Jatiyatabadi Yuba be held early next year. www.rajugmedical2020.com and are required to be present at the before sending any monies or ChatraParishad The AJP,meanwhile,put out a venue GDC, Jaipur for seat allotments, as per this revised schedule. entering into any agreements (AJYCP)—and the statement Saturdayevening, Sd/- Chairman with advertisers or otherwise Raijor Dal, formed asking who wasresponsiblefor NEET UG Medical &Dental Admission/ acting on an advertisement in by peasantrights bringing in the CAAdespiteop- Counseling Board-2020 any manner whatsoever. DIPR/C/9978/2020 organisation position in Assam and conse- Krishak Mukti quentlyforcing itspeople to GOVERNMENT OF RAJASTHAN Date of NIT:23-12-2020 Office of the Additional Chief Engineer,PWD Zone-II Udaipur, Sangram Samiiti come out in protest. DEPARTMENT OF MINES AND GEOLOGY HQ Banswara Rajasthan Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT) Notice Inviting Bid In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 10B of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, itssubsequent NIT No.- 04/2020-21 amendmentsand in accordance with the Mineral (Auction) Rules, 2015 as amended from time to time notified thereunder,the Government of Rajasthan has notified the following mineral blocks for the purpose of grant of Mining Lease for mineral limestone and RFP Code-PWD2021RFP0003 hereby invites bids in digital format only from eligible bidders through electronic auction. No.- D-472 Dated -16.12.2020 The details of mineral blocks and last date of submission of bid is as summarized below:- RFP for Balance Work for Construction of High Level Bridge across river Anas including approaches Near Bheravji Mandir on Nahali -Bhattar- Bheravji- Peechhawara -Naharpura road (MDR-125) District Banswara in the State of S Block Lease Start Date of Sale of Last Date of Sale of Bid Due date and time No Tender Document on Tender Document on Rajasthan on EPC Basis. MSTC website MSTC website The Rajasthan Public Works Department is engaged in the development of Highways &Bridges and as part of this endeavour, 1 Khinya -IIA(KH-II A) Block Tehsil Shri Mining 23.12.2020 07.01.2021 upto 1700 Hrs 27.01.2021 upto 1300 Hrs it has been decided to undertake Balance Work for Construction of High Level Bridge across river Anas including approaches Mohangarh &District jaisalmer Lease (IST) (IST) Near Bheravji Mandir on Nahall -Bhattar Bheravji- Peechhawara- Naharpura road (MDR-125) District Banswara in the State 2 4G IIa Block Tehsil Khimsar &District Nagaur Mining 23.12.2020 07.01.2021 upto 1700 Hrs 27.01.2021 upto 1400 Hrs of Rajasthan through an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract. Lease (IST) (IST) The Rajasthan PWD, now invites bids from eligible contractors for the following project: All the blocks mentioned above are being put up for second attempt of auction. The interested and eligible bidders, upon registration on State Section Name of work Estimated Completion Maintenance MSTC website
Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THESUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 5 EXPRESS NETWORK
Congsays its UP chief Centre sets up panel to workout ‘HONOUR KILLING’ SUSPECTED; 2HELD missingafter arrest,cops Manhackedto say sent to Lucknow common entrance test for varsities coaching forthese exams". instance, giventhe rangeofsub- Sourcesinthe Congress later EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ED To ease Thereare 40-odd central uni- jectsoffered across central uni- deathbywife’s EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE said Lallu had reachedLucknow NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 cut-off versities run by the Ministryof versities, this committee will LUCKNOW,DECEMBER26 by midnight. Earlier,the Congress PLAIN E Education (MoE) and, collectively, have to identify the disciplines ● stress allegedthatUP Police wasnot dis- IN WHATmarks the firstat- EX all of them have about 1to1.25 forwhichseparate testswill be AS THE Congress alleged “disap- closing the location of Lallu after tempt, afterthe introductionof lakhseatsacross different disci- needed.Weexpect areportby familyinKerala pearance” of itsstate unit chief he wastaken into custody. the newNational Education THE GOVERNMENT’S plines at the undergraduatelevel, Januaryand hope to take adeci- AjayKumarLalluafter he was “Adityanath’s police had leftfor Policy,atmoving away from un- move to setupapanel to said aministryofficer. Of these, sion by March 2021. The attempt takenintocustody by Lalitpurpo- Lucknowwith UP Congress chief realistic cut-offmarksforadmis- explorethe possibility of currentlyabout 16 centraluniver- is to have acommonentrance intendent Sujith Das said police lice during his ‘Gai Bachao, Kisan AjayLallu intheevening,buteven sions to universities, the govern- anational test is ex- sities, all setupunder the UPA-II test forthe next session starting SHAJUPHILIP have arrestedthewoman'sfather Bachao yatra’ on Saturday, the afterseveral hours his location is ment is exploring the feasibility pected to ease the pres- government, have acommonen- in August," said Higher THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, and uncle. “As the couple be- district police on lateSaturday unidentified,” the UP Congress of holding acommonentrance sureofsoaring cut-off trance test forBachelor's study. Education SecretaryAmit Khare. DECEMBER26 longed to different castes, we night said the Congress leader tweetedaround 9.30 pm. test forundergraduateadmis- marks basedonClass 12 If the NEP suggestion is im- Principal of DAVPublic primafacie assumethatit is acase wassent backtoLucknowunder In an earlier tweet, the party sions across all central universi- Boardexams foradmis- plemented, the National Testing School, Pushpanjali Enclave, A27-YEAR-OLD man was of ‘honour killing’. Adetailed police protection. questionedthe behaviour of the ties from the next academic year. sions to universities. Agency will be tasked to conduct Rashmi Biswal said while ajoint hackedtodeath allegedly by his probeisonand statementsare “Today, the Congress had or- UP Police.“When the glass of BJP The UGC setupaseven-mem- acommon aptitude test as well entrance test wasagoodidea, a wife’s father and uncle in being recorded. The murder has ganisedayatrainLalitpur district, chief (JP Nadda)'s car is broken in bercommittee on December 23, as specialisedcommon exams sensitiveareawould be stream- Kerala’s Palakkad district on happenedafter aseriesofinci- and AjayKumar Lallu wastaking Bengal then the BJP says democ- headedbyVice-Chancellor of universities to provide asingle fordifferent disciplinesatleast lining the exam curriculum for Fridaynight in asuspected case dentsoverthe lastthree months. partinit. As the administration racy is in danger... Police have ab- Central University of Punjab RP platform foradmission". twice ayear,for admission to all students. Director of Ahlcon of “honour killing”. Both of them Afterthe marriage, both parties had notgiven him anypermis- ducted ourstate chief forthe last Tiwari, "toconsider the issue (of) The newNEP,released in July bachelor's in central universities. group of schools Ashok Pandey have been arrested,police said. were summonedtothe police sion, he wasarrested. Later in the severalhours in UP to stop a holdingcommon entrance test at this year,advocates reducing the "Conducting acommon en- said moving towardsajoint en- The victim Aneesh, who be- station. The girl’s familyhad evening, he waslet go on aper- protest. Democracy?” undergraduatelevel only from number of entrance teststo trance test seems simple but trance exam might encourage longed to the OBC blacksmith agreednot to trouble the newly- sonalbond. As he hadcomefrom Lallu andover 50 party work- the next academicyear in central "eliminatethe needfor taking thereare severalintricacies. For moremulticulturalism. community,had married wedcouple. Even afterthat, her Lucknowand had no one with ers were arrestedin Lalitpur after Haritha, 21,after severalyears of uncle reactedemotionallyagainst him—he also did nothavehis theytriedtotakeout themarch. friendship, whichbegan from the marriage. He wanted the girl phonewithhim —hewas sent to District Congress president 5% of positive 150 troops in their school days. to come outofthe relationship. Lucknowwith an officerwith po- Balwant Singh Rajput said about TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE Haritha belonged to Vellar OnFridayalso,theuncle hadatiff lice protection. As per his location, twodozen party workers were samples to go for Delhi for R-Day Pillai (a community of Tamil ori- with the youth,whichlater in the he is about to reachLucknow,” injured as the police usedforce. ACTIVECASES:2,81,667 gin). Besides, she hailedfroma dayled to the murder,’’ he said. Superintendent of Police The Congress hadannounced 299 CASES: whole genome test positive well-to-do familywhile Aneesh The victim’s father (Lalitpur) Pramod Kumar said in a it will take out the march in dif- DAYSSINCE 1,01,69,118 DEATHS:1,47,343 wasadailywager.Theyhad mar- Arumughansaidhissonhadbeen video statement. Lalitpur district ferentdistrictsofBundelkhand to PANDEMIC sequencing: riedsomethree monthsback, facing threatssince the marriage. BEGAN TESTS: 16,71,59,289 | RECOVERIES: 97,40,108 is morethan 400kmfrom highlight the allegedmismanage- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE and sincethen have been al- “Haritha’s uncle Suresh had Lucknowand takesclose to eight ment in cowshelters. CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS Covid task force NEWDELHI, DECEMBER26 legedly facing threat. threatenedAneesh. He (Suresh) hours to reachbyroad. (WITHPTIINPUTS) DEC25 22,273 25122,274 8,53,527 According to police, Aneesh told my son that he would be fin- NEARLY150 Armypersonnel washackedtodeath on Friday ishedoff before the marriage EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE who areinDelhi forthe Republic night while he wasriding atwo- complete three months. We had NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 Dayparade have tested positive wheeler with hisbrother Arun. lodged acomplaint with the lo- Ex-litigant unhappy with forCovid-19. Official sources said While Aneesh stoppedthe bike cal police, but theyfailedtoact THE HIGH-LEVEL task forcefor all those who tested positive near ashop on his waytohome timely,”healleged. Ayodhya mosque design Covid-19Saturdaysaid that as a were in a“safebubble”. Sevenof at Thenkurussi villagein However, the SP said there partofits strategy to detect and them were symptomatic. Palakkad, his father-in-law wasnolapse their in addressing contain the mutant variant, as Morethan 2000 Army per- Prabhu Kumar and uncle Suresh the complaint. “Theylodged a EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES manyfiveper cent of positive sonnel have come to Delhi for Kumar,who had followedthe complaintonDecember 8, two LUCKNOW,DECEMBER26 ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK cases from all states will be RepublicDay.All those who brothers,attackedAneesh. Ase- days before the local body elec- Kerala 64,096 5,161 tested forWhole Genome came in from outside had to un- riouslyinjured Aneesh died tions. Our entireforce wasde- The Indo-Islamic Cultural Bihar 5,348294 Sequencing (WGS). dergo Covid-19test. The “safe while he wasbeingtaken to the ployedinelection duty.Yet,we Foundation Trustalong with the On Saturday, theHealth bubbles”, sources said, arewithin hospital. acted timelyand told both sides Odisha 2,922 255 blueprint of the proposed Ministrysaid morethan 50 sam- the cantonment area in Delhi. Palakkad district policesuper- to settle the issue,”hesaid. mosque in Ayodhya's Dhannipur STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING ples of UK returnees arecur- villagehavecome under criti- ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK rentlyunder sequencingatthe cism from former litigant in the West Bengal 14,749 4,316 designated laboratories. RAJASTHAN Arunachal: BJP Ayodhya land disputecase Iqbal An artist’s impression of the Delhi 7,2674,152 The meeting of the National Ansari. According to Ansari, nota mosquecomplex Task ForceonCovid-19was at- Maharashtra56,8233,529 wins Pasighat, single point in the proposed tendedbyDrVinodPaul, Nobody helped, says mosque represented Islamic cul- STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES Member,Niti Aayog, AIIMS JD(U) secures 9 tureoretiquetteofareligious ONDEC25 TOTAL Director Dr RandeepGuleria and structure. Ansari also questionedthe Kerala 5,3987,32,085 independent subject experts. friend of journalist seats in Itanagar The blueprint of the pro- authenticity of the Trustmade Maharashtra3,43119,13,382 “NTF concludedthat thereisno posedmosque, whichwill be and said that none of the litigants needtochangethe existing civic body built on the five-acrelandallot- or clerics were consulted.Hefur- West Bengal 1,5415,44,755 treatment protocol in viewof whodied in assault tedbythe stategovernment, was ther said that he wasalitigant in STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS mutations...,” the Ministrysaid. unveiledonDecember 19. the case and it is his right to ONDEC25 TOTAL During the meeting, the NTF later came backand startedas- PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA “The Supreme Courthas question the proposed mosque. Maharashtra7250,261 discussedthe UK variant. “NTF EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE saulting him withanironrod. ITANAGAR,DECEMBER26 given5acres of land forthe He said the proposedstruc- recommendedthat in addition JAIPUR,DECEMBER26 When Icaught one of them, they West Bengal 31 9,536 mosque and the structure tureappeared morelikeahotel. to the existing surveillance beat metoowiththerodandIlost THE BJP on Saturdaywrested the should resemble the mosques “Fivelitigantsfoughtthe case Delhi 30 10,414 strategies, it is critical to conduct DAYS AFTER a27-year-old video consciousness. Therewereother Pasighat Municipal Council built in India. The map theyhave for70years in all the courts and DataasonDecember25,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical enhanced genomic surveillance journalistsuccumbed to his in- people tooatthe eateryand (PMC) from the Congress by Researchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays showcasedhas no structure. A no suggestion wastaken from us. aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive forSARS-CoV-2, especiallyinin- juries in Jaipur afterbeing as- around us but nobodycame to winning six of the eight seatsof mosque or atemple has an eti- Nowtheyare talking about mak- coming passengers from the UK.” saulted by three men, his friend, help us. It wasall over within a the civic body in Arunachal quette,and if thereisatemple ing amosque, whichpeople who is also an employeeofapri- matter of minutes. Later,when Pradesh, while the JD(U), in its without ashivala, it won’t be from outside willcome to see. vate news channel and wasa we regainedconsciousness, maiden contestinthe Itanagar consideredatemple. Amosqueisaplacewhere lo- witness to the attack, said that Abhishekdrove towardsthe hos- Municipal Corporation polls, Everything should be as perre- cals come to offernamaz.A Raut calls for expanding UPA, nobody helpedthem at the time pital but on our waytoo we didn’t bagged nine wards. ligious traditions. Thereshould mosque is the house of Allah of the incident in front of aroad- find anypolice outposts or offi- The BJP,the ruling party in be justifiedmoneyinvolvedin and as per Islamamosque side eatery. cials,” said the woman. the state, won10seats, one short the construction, and also the should notbetoo beautiful if a denies backing Pawar to head it According to thepolice, Acase hasbeen filedunder of the majority mark, in the 20- moneyofthe community poor has contributed forit. We AbhishekSoni, 27,diedatahos- IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 member Itanagar Municipal should notbewasted. Theyneed do nothavetoworship the He emphasisedthat the ed- pital in Jaipur on December 23, (voluntarilycausing hurt), 341 Corporation (IMC) and the NPP to understand that it is aplace to building. This is what the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE itorial nowheresays the NCP afortnight afterthe attackwhich (wrongful restraint) and 354A bagged one. Among the 10 offernamaz and notenjoying a sharia says…The entire MUMBAI/PUNE,DECEMBER26 chief should be made UPAchair- took place on the night of (sexual harassment) on the ba- wardswon by theBJP in the picnic,” said Ansari to The Muslim community of India person,and said it “does men- December 8. sis of her complaint, police said. Itanagar civic body polls, five SundayExpress. does notlikethe map,” DISMISSINGSPECULATIONS ShivSena’s tion that Pawaristhe onlyleader The 29-year-old private “Afterthe twoofthem went candidates were elected unop- that the ShivSena backs making Sanjay Raut who is being takenseriouslyby channel employeesaid she re- to thehospital, the policecame to posed, aState EC official said. NCPchief Sharad PawarasUPA BJP as well as by other opposi- ceivedseveral stitches as she was knowabouttheincident through The Congress, whichhad Delhi Police book Pracha, claim chairperson,the party's Rajya tion parties”. also injured in the attack. the control room... Afterinvesti- wonseven seatsinthe 2013 PMC Sabha MP and spokesperson part of UPA. We need to talk to Raut said, "Even Prime “My friend Abhishek Soni gation we identifiedthe three ac- elections, secured onlytwo SanjayRautonSaturdaycalled them and invitethem to be a MinisterNarendraModitakes worked with aprivate news cusedand one of them, 19-year- wardsthis time, and the party he abused team during search forexpanding the scopeofthe part of the UPA.” him seriously. West BengalChief channel as avideo journalistand old Shankar Choudhary, has been failedtoopen itsaccount in the from discharge of his duty) and UPA. Formedin2004, the UPAat MinisterMamataBanerjee is set he would also shootfor wed- arrested.Two other accused, in- IMC polls. The performanceof JIGNASASINHA 186(obstructing public servant Raut said moreparties need present includes 11 politicalpar- to meetPawar to take his advice dings. On December 8, we were cluding ajuvenile,are abscond- the JanataDal United in the civic NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 in dischargeofpublicfunctions) to be brought under itsfold to ties. Over the years, nine promi- forfighting BJP in the West returning from suchanevent ing and effortsare being made to polls assumes significance as the afteracomplaint wasfiledbyan strengthen the Opposition to nent parties have leftits fold. Bengal elections. Pawarseems and since he wasusingmymo- nabthem,”saidDilipKumarSoni, party receivedamajor jolt in THE COUNTER Intelligence Unit investigating officer (IO)ofthe take on the"dictatorial attitude" On speculation that the Sena to be the mostcapable leader at bile forthe shoot, Ihad accom- SHO of Mansarovarpolicestation. Arunachal on Friday, with six of of Delhi Police’s Special Cell has Special CellonThursday. of the BJP-governedCentre. favours Pawarasthe UPAchief, this juncturewith wide accept- paniedhim. After10pm, we Soni said the accusedare stu- itsseven MLAs defecting to BJP. lodged an FIR againstlawyer Pracha’s firm Legal Axis is de- “As of today, the leadership whicharose afterthe party ability.” were sitting inside our car at a dentsand the arrested person The JD(U), ledbyBihar Chief MehmoodPrachaafterheand his fending severalpersons accused of Prime MinisterNarendra mouthpiece, 'Saamana' on Raut also said the Congress roadside eaterynear Narayan has claimedthatitwas Abhishek MinisterNitish Kumar,won associates allegedly abusedand in different cases related to the Modi is strong, and in front of it Saturdaypublishedaneditorial does notevenhavethe required Vihar wherewehad stoppedfor who had assaulted them with a sevenofthe 15 seatsitcontested intimidatedthepolice team dur- Delhi riots.Manyinthe legal fra- the UPAhas to be united and highlighting the needfor numbers in Lok Sabha to getthe dinner.Three men who had ar- rodfromthe car and theyacted in the 2019 Arunachal assembly ing searches at his Nizamuddin ternity described the police transform itself intoapowerful strengthening the UPA, Raut oppositionleader'spost. “Rahul rivedonamotorcycle were also in self-defence. Asked whythe elections and emergedasthe Eastoffice twodays ago. search as an attackagainstthe force,” he said. “Thereare vari- told The SundayExpress, “We Gandhi is putting up agood thereand we noticed that they eaterywas open during the second-largest party afterthe The FIR wasregistered under attorney-client privilege and on ous political parties across states have notsaid Sharad Pawar fight, his effortsare praisewor- were staring at me,”the woman night curfew imposedinwakeof BJP,whichhad bagged 41 seats. IPC sections 353(assault or crim- the fundamental right to legal whichhavefoughtthe BJP to should be made theUPA chair- thy, but somewhere,something told The SundayExpress. She the pandemic, Soni said that the The PMC had 12 seats, while inal forcetodeter public servant representation.. come to powerbut theyare not person.” is lacking..." he added. said Abhishek got out of the car eaterywas closedfromoutside the IMC had 30 during the 2013 to confront the men. and had curtains drawn. civic polls. However, the number “Abhishek went to them and Familymembers of Abhishek of seatsofboththe urban local SEXUAL HARASSMENTPROBE asked whytheywerestaringat said theyare notsatisfied with bodies wasreducedafter delim- Akhilesh Gundecha dropped from MP’s Tansen Samaroh me. The men leftbut ashortwhile the police action so far. itationofwards.
arescheduledtoperform on what areyou going to do about with him. Ihavealready recom- After JD(U)’s jolt in Arunachal,Bihar BJP SUANSHUKHURANA December 28. it?” tweetedKrishna. mendedpakhawajplayerAnkit NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 The decision to drop Tailang told The Sunday Parikh’s name to the Academy. I leadersays Nitishmust leave home dept Akhilesh’s performancecomes Express that she wasn’t awareof want to have the freedom of ORGANISERS OF the Tansen in the wake of discomfortfrom the sexual harassment investi- mind while giving aperform- In the lasttwo weeks, more Samaroh, afour-dayclassical Madhu Bhatt Tailang, the Jaipur- gation when she choseAkhilesh ance,” said Tailang. SANTOSHSINGH than twodozen people have concertseries that takesplace baseddhrupad singer with as her accompanying artiste. Sheo Shekhar Shukla, PATNA,DECEMBER26 been killedinthe state. near the tomb of 16th-century whom Akhilesh wastoperform, Tailang, aprofessor of music at Principal Secretaryofthe Nitish Reacting to thedefection of musician Tansen in Behaatin and social media backlash from Rajasthan University and an A Department of Culture, Trustee ADAY aftersix of the sevenJD(U) Kumar six JD(U) MLAs to BJP,Paswan Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior dis- Akhilesh Gundecha and pastand present studentsof Grade artiste at All India Radio, SecretaryatBharat Bhawanand MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh de- said, “Wedonot have anything trict, have droppedaperform- Ramakant Gundecha Dhrupad Sansthan andartistes has performedwith him before Secretaryofthe MP Culture fected to the BJP,BJP MLCand to sayonit.” ance by pakhawaj player suchasCarnatic classical vocal- anumberoftimes. “I have al- Council, refusedtocomment on former Union ministerSanjay is burdenedwith toomanyas- However, JD(U) leaders re- Akhilesh Gundecha. istTMKrishna due to the ongo- ways shared agood relationship the matter. Paswan on Saturdaymounted signments. He mustgiveaway frainedfromcommenting on Since October,anInternal Akhilesh had voluntarily recused ing probe. with Akhilesh ji. Besidesbeinga Naeem Khan, the pro- morepressureonBihar CM home department to someone Paswan’s remarks. ComplaintsCommittee has been himself from all the activities of “#MeToo accusedAkhilesh good pakhawajplayer, he has gramme manager of Tansen Nitish Kumar by asking him to else.Iamnot sayingheshould “Our topleaders aremeeting investigatingallegations of sex- Dhrupad Sansthan. Gundecha who has serious been very respectful. Iwasn’t Samaroh, who has been in touch hand over the home department hand over the ministrytoBJP.Let today. Thereisameeting of our ual harassment againstAkhilesh Tansen Samaroh is organised chargesagainsthim wastopar- awareofthe allegationssince I with Tailang regarding the listing to someone else. some other JD(U) leader take national executive on Sunday. Gundecha and Ramakant jointlybythe UstadAlauddin ticipateatthe Tansen Samaroh wasdealing withmyfather’s ill and dropping of Akhilesh,also The BiharCMholds charge of over.” Asked if his demand is due We arelikelytodiscuss everyis- Gundecha, twoofthe three Khan Kala Evam Sangeet in Gwalior hostedbyUstad health. Iamawoman and be- deniedcomment on the issue. home, general administration, to alaw and order issue, Paswan sue, right from Arunachal Gundecha brothers who run the Academyand the Madhya Alauddin Khan Kala Evam cause this particular investiga- Rahul Rastogi, director of the vigilance and general adminis- said, “Yes. Lawand order deteri- Oradesh to our resolve to contest Dhrupad Sansthan in Bhopal. Pradesh Department Of Culture. SangeetAcademy and the tion is on,itdoes notgiveout the SangeetAcademy,could notbe tration departments. oration has to be addressedina forthcoming Assemblypolls in Afterthe allegations surfaced, StudentsofDhrupad Sansthan Culture department, MP Govt right messagethat Iperform reachedfor comment. Paswan said, “Nitish Kumar moreeffectivemanner.” West Bengal,” aJD(U) leader said. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
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41 42 43 44 Medicine, University of Pennsylvania; CITY OF SCHOOLING WHERE THE TOPPERS ARE 67.BHUVANYAA VIJAY BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT- St. Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun Bombay, PhD in Physics from University of TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2013 California, LA. LIVES IN: Philadelphia, USA 3 2 1 TIER 2 CITIES 41 CANADA UNITED KINGDOM BANGLADESH ■ Self-employed as a freelance research 42.SHRUTI SINGH assistant in international environmental Who’s who —and where law. BA LLB (Hons) from National Law St. Joseph’s Convent School, Varanasi COMEFROMTIER2 ANDTIER3CITIES 1 School of India University, Bangalore. TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2008 52% LIVES IN: Bengaluru CHINA ■ Pursuing a PhD in Physics at University (Two toppers from CISCE-affiliated schools in Dubai) 1 From the co-founder of a stealth AI start-up in New York to a hedge fund manager in Singapore, from a competition law UAE 45 46 47 48 of California, San Diego. BTech in 68. SHREYAS SUDHAMAN specialist in Delhi to a Harvard professor —RITIKA CHOPRA tracked down 86 men and women who topped national Engineering Physics from IIT Bombay and HIGHER STUDIES 34 3 Sri Kumaran Public School, Bangalore MS in Physics from University of California, UNITED STATES SINGAPORE TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014 school boards between 1996 and 2015, to find individual stories of talent and effort San Diego. LIVES IN: San Diego, USA (46/86 toppers live 24 38 24 40 ■ Pursuing PhD in Chemical Engineering STUDYING STUDYING STUDYING abroad —34 in the INDIA 43. VIGNESH VENKATACHALAM US) from Cockrell School of Engg, University ANKALPA HATTACHARJYA USHPRAJ HUKLA ORHAVE ORHAVE ORHAVE 1. S B 10. P S from McGill University, Montreal. Group. Dual degree (BTech & MTech) in Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, Chennai of Texas. Bachelor’s in Chemical LIVES IN: Calgary, Canada Aerospace Engineering from IIT-Bombay, UGDEGREE PGDEGREE PHD Engineering from Ohio State University. Frank Anthony Public School, Bangalore Methodist High School, Kanpur TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2008 1 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1996 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999 MS in Management Science and AUSTRALIA LIVES IN: Austin, Texas, USA 23. RAHUL LAKHMANI Engineering from Stanford, MBA from The ■ Deferred MS in Computational Analysis FIRST UG DEGREE ■ ■ Partner at PwC India. BE (Hons) in EE Partner Director of Machine Learning Seth MR Jaipuria School, Lucknow Wharton School. LIVES IN: San Francisco & Public Policy at University of Chicago to 69.SIDDHARTHA SHANKAR from BITS-Pilani and MBA from Faculty of at Microsoft. BTech from IIT Kanpur and Fall 2021 due to pandemic. Now a research WORK STATUS TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2004 KAHALI Management Studies, Delhi University. MS Computer Science from University of 33. PALLAVI CHANDRA and documentation intern at Rashtram MBBS 12 ■ 49 50 51 52 Little Flower School, Jamshedpur LIVES IN: Gurgaon Texas, Austin. LIVES IN: San Francisco Bay Working in family business. BE in CS Welham Girls’ School, Dehradun School of Public Leadership, Sonipat. BTech 60 21 5 Area, USA from BITS-Pilani, PGDM from IIM- from VNIT Nagpur. LIVES IN: Thane, India TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006 SOCIAL SCIENCE 8 2. ROHIT CHARLES FERNANDES Ahmedabad. LIVES IN: Lucknow CURRENTLY EMPLOYED STUDYINGOTHERS* ■ Analyst at Goldman Sachs. BTech in TRACKING ■ Co-founder & Director of Vidyanjali Mathematics and Computing from IIT- Don Bosco School, Park Circus, Kolkata 11. KARUNA GANESH 44.GAURAV SOOD PURE SCIENCE 3 Maneckji Cooper Educational Trust 24.KAUSTAV MAJUMDER Montessori Preschool and Symphony The Doon School, Dehradun Delhi. LIVES IN: Bengaluru TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1996 INDIA’STOPPERS Events,aneventmanagementcompany. BA 19 12 7 6 6 4 3 School, Mumbai The Blue Bells School, Gurgaon TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2008 ■ Senior Software Engineer with Google AN EXPRESS SERIES (Hons)inEconomicsatSt.Stephen’sCollege, IT,techor Finance Consulting Entrepreneur Medicine Researchor Industry 70. APOORVA NARAYANASWAMY TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999 TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2005 ■ HADENGINEERINGAS India, working on improving Google MSc (Finance & Economics) at University of Running Strategy & Special Projects at softwareindustry orbusiness academics St. Paul’s English School, Bangalore Maps. BTech in Computer Science from ■ Physician-scientist at the Memorial ■ General Surgery Resident at University Warwick and a diploma in Early Years Zego,afintechfirm.Bachelor’sinEconomics THEIRFIRSTDEGREE 56% *Self-employed, preparing for exams TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014 IIT-Madras and Master’s and PhD from Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. BA in TOTAL TOPPERS of Minnesota. MBBS at AIIMS. LIVES IN: Education from Modern Montessori from St Stephen’s College and MBA from 30 studied their first degree at an IIT (63% of those Cornell University. LIVES IN: Bengaluru Biochemistry, MA in Medicine, PhD in Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, USA Institute London. LIVES IN: Karnal University of Oxford. LIVES IN: London who studied engineering as their first degree studied 1 EACH IN CIVIL SERVICES, LEGAL, CORPORATE ■ Attending medical school at Bangalore Molecular Biology & MD from Cambridge at an IIT) 11OR13%OFTOPPERSWORKWITHGOOGLE Medical College and Research Institute. 3. RISHI RAJ SINGH University. LIVES IN: New York, USA 25. SAGAR RAKSHIT 34.JERENE MATHEWS 53 54 55 56 45. SOHINI CHAPARALA LIVES IN: Bengaluru, India Cambrian Hall, Dehradun Laurels School International, Indore Kendriya Vidyalaya, Kottayam Sri Sathya Sai Higher Secondary School, 86 Oncology at Centre for Sight Bachelor’s from St. Stephen’s College, TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1997 12.ANOOP MENON TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2005 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2006 Puttaparthi 56. SPRIHA BISWAS 71.TEZAN TAPAN SAHU Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School, Thrissur Superspecialty Eye Hospital, Hyderabad. Rajendra Vidyalaya, Jamshedpur Delhi. LIVES IN: Imphal St. Mary’s ICSE School, Mumbai ■ Assistant Vice President at Genpact, in ■ In second year of his postdoc fellowship ■ Paediatric dermatologist at Believers TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2008 MBBS from Seth G S Medical College, TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2000 51 35 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2011 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015 charge of digital transformation initiatives. BOYS GIRLS in Hematology/Oncology at Mayo Clinic Church Medical College Hospital. MBBS ■ Research Manager at Innovations for Mumbai, MD Ophthalmology from AIIMS. 62. ANIKA AGRAWAL ■ ■ ■ BTech at IIIT Allahabad and MBA at XLRI Recently quit as Assistant Professor of in USA. MBBS from AIIMS and Residency from Government Medical College, Poverty Action, a non-profit. Graduated LIVES IN: Hyderabad Chief ProductOfficeratScribetech,head- St. Mary’s School, Pune Now a 4th-year BTech student at IIT Jamshedpur. LIVES IN: Noida Strategy at Wharton School, University of in Internal Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. Kottayam, MD (Dermatology) and post- with MSc (Integrated) Economics from ingdevelopmentof amedicalspeechrecog- Bombay. LIVES IN: Mumbai STREAM TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013 Pennsylvania, to co-found a stealth AI LIVES IN: Cleveland, USA doc fellowship from JIPMER. IIT-Kanpur. LIVES IN: Dhaka, Bangladesh 51. JANVI VIPUL THOSANI nition software. Metallurgy Engineering SCIENCE ■ 4. SHALINI PRASAD startup in New York City. BA in Economics LIVES IN: Thiruvalla, Kerala Smt. Lilavatibai Podar School, Mumbai from IIT-Bombay. LIVES IN: Mumbai Pursuing MS Marine Biology from Texas 72. AYUSH BANERJEE and Psychology from Amherst College and A&M University; BS in Environmental De Nobili School, Mugma, Dhanbad 26. ANAND VENKATRAMAN 46. RISHI RAJIV MEHTA TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2010 Loyola School, Jamshedpur PhD in Strategy from Harvard Business 49 BOYS GIRLS 25 PS Senior Secondary School, Chennai 35. GAURAV MISHRA Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu, Mumbai 57.ETI AGARWAL Toxicology at same university. TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1997 74 ■ TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2014 School. LIVES IN: New York, USA S.C.B. Medical Public School, Cuttack Analyst with JP Morgan working on La Martiniere Girls’ College, Lucknow LIVES IN: Galveston, Texas, USA ■ Vice President (Finance) at British TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2005 57 58 59 60 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2009 managing banks’ liquidity and interest ■ Investment Analyst at Accel; BTech in TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2007 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2011 Petroleum looking after electric vehicle 13. BIKAS SAHA ■ In neuroendovascular training at ■ Software engineer working on Google’s rate risk. BCom from Mumbai University, 63.MANASI ARORA Chemical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. ■ ■ charging and customer offers. BCom St. James’ School, Kolkata University of South Carolina. MBBS from Senior Software Engineer at Google search ranking algorithms; BTech and MBA from IIM-Ahmedabad and is a qual- Tax Manager at EY. BCom (Honours) Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, LIVES IN: Bengaluru, India (Honours) from SRCC and is now a quali- COMMERCE AIIMS, Neurology Residency from building AI systems. BTech in EE from IIT MTech in CS from IIT Kharagpur. LIVES IN: ified CA. LIVES IN: Mumbai from SRCC, Delhi University. Is also a qual- TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2000 Mumbai fied CA. LIVES IN: London University of Alabama and a Neurocritical Delhi. LIVES IN: Mountain View, California San Francisco Bay Area, USA ified CA and Company Secretary. 73.SARTHAK AGRAWAL ■ TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013 Platform architect at Adobe. Bachelor’s 2 BOYS GIRLS 10 care fellowship at Harvard Medical School. 52. SWATI PRUSTY LIVES IN: Bahadurgarh, Haryana DPS Vasant Kunj, Delhi and Master’s in Computer Science and 12 LIVES IN: South Carolina, USA ■ Working as an analyst in a global finan- 5. CHAITRA CHANDRASEKHAR 36. PARUL GARG 47.PARNIL SINGH DAV Girls Senior Secondary School, TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2014 Sophia High School, Bengaluru Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. LIVES IN: Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz, Mumbai KV No. 1, Sri Vijaynagar, Vizag Chennai 58. DRAVYANSH SHARMA cial services firm. BCom from HR College ■ Mountain View, California, USA 27. SUBHANKAR MOHAPATRA Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad of Commerce and Economics and is also TIll recently, he was working as an econ- TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1998 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2007 TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2009 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2010 a qualified CA. LIVES IN: Mumbai omist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in DAV School, Chandrasekharpur, Odisha TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2011 ■ Partner at consulting firm Oliver 14.YASHODHAN KANORIA ■ Senior Associate at Nexia Advisors, a ■ Joined Kearney, a global management ■ Strategy Consultant at L&T Infotech. London. Returned to Delhi to work on an TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2006 ■ Wyman. Has two Bachelor’s degrees in Campion School, Mumbai boutique investment banking firm. BCom consulting firm, as a consultant this BTech in Electrical and Electronics Pursuing PhD in the Computer Science 64. SIMRAN KHANUJA initiative that will help governments use OVERALL, ■ Management and Computer Science and IAS officer (2018 batch) of Odisha cadre, (Honours) from Narsee Monjee College of 61 62 63 64 month. Integrated BTech and MTech in Engineering from BITS-Pilani, MBA from Department at Carnegie Mellon St. Mary’s School, Pune big data and AI for better governance; BA Engineering; and a Master’s degree in TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2001 posted as Sub-Collector, SDM, Kandhamal, Commerce and Economics and is a quali- Chemical Engineering from IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore. LIVES IN: Mumbai University, Pittsburgh. Was earlier senior in Economics from SRCC, Delhi, and MPhil 86% TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2013 Electrical Engineering and Computer ■ Sidney Taurel Associate Professor of TOPPERS DID Odisha. MBBS at SCB Medical College, fied CA and Chartered Financial Analyst. MBA from IIM Calcutta. LIVES IN: Delhi software engineer with Google. BTech from Oxford University. LIVES IN: Delhi Science from MIT. LIVES IN: New York Business Decision, Risk and Operations SCIENCE IN Cuttack. LIVES IN: Kandhamal, Odisha LIVES IN: Mumbai 53. SHREYA DAGA from IIT-Delhi. LIVES IN: Pittsburgh, USA ■ Predoc Researcher at Google Research CLASS 12 Division at Graduate School of Business, 48. SUBHOJIT GHOSH Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar, Kolkata India working on developing technologies 74.ANANYA PATWARDHAN Columbia University. BTech in EE from IIT- for low-resource languages. BE in CS and 6. KIRAN GOPINATH 28. VIPUL GUPTA 37. JAHNVI DHAR St. Joseph’s College, Kolkata TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2010 59.MADHAVI SINGH Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, Bombay, PhD from Stanford University. DAV Public School, Thermal Colony, Brahm Prakash DAV School, Hyderabad Carmel School, Dhanbad MSc in Economics from BITS-Pilani, Goa. Mumbai TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2009 ■ Thiruvananthapuram LIVES IN: New York, USA Panipat Manager in the tax department of PwC LIVES IN: Bengaluru TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007 ■ Senior product manager at Amazon India. B.Com (Hons) at St Xavier’s College, TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2012 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998 TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2006 15. S MAHAVIR AGARWAL 71% 96% ■ Senior Resident in third year of DM helping create personalised shopping ex- Kolkata, and is a qualified CA. ■ Lawyer with Shardul Amarchand 65. SOPAN KHOSLA ■ Now a 4th-year student of BA LLB ■ ■ CardiologistatNIMSMedicity.MBBSand Ispat English Medium School, Rourkela OFGIRLS OFTHEBOYS Preparing for civil services and doing Gastroenterology at PGIMER, Chandigarh. periences for customers. BTech in ME at LIVES IN: Kolkata Mangaldas working on competition law Delhi Public School, Mandla Road, (Hons) programme at the National Law MD from CMC, Vellore, and DM from MA Economics from IGNOU. BTech in EE MBBS, MD from Maulana Azad Medical IIT Kanpur and MBA from Harvard cases. BA LLB (Hons) at National Law School of India University, Bangalore. TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2002 WHOTOPPED WHOTOPPED Jabalpur Government Medical College Trivandrum. from Delhi College of Engineering, and College, Delhi. LIVES IN: Chandigarh Business School. LIVES IN: Seattle, USA 54.SUMEDHA RAI School of India University, Bangalore, and LIVES IN: Bengaluru ■ STUDIED STUDIED 65 66 67 68 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2013 LIVES IN: Thiruvananthapuram Assistant Professor in the Department was a Young India Fellow at Ashoka St. Anthony’s Junior College, Agra Bachelor’s in Civil Law at University of of Psychiatry at the University of SCIENCEIN SCIENCEIN University. LIVES IN: Zirakpur, Punjab Oxford. LIVES IN: Delhi, India ■ Studying Master’s in Machine Learning 38. LEKSHMI VAIDYESWARAN 49. TANNVI AGGARWAL TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2010 75. SOUGATO CHOWDHURY 7. SOMNATH BOSE Toronto, StaffPsychiatrist and Clinician- CLASSES11&12 CLASSES11&12 Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan Senior Apeejay School, Faridabad and Natural Language Processing at St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata Scientist in the Schizophrenia Division ■ Studying MS in Data Science at New Carnegie Mellon University. Earlier St. Patrick’s Higher Secondary School, 29. ABHISHEK KAR Secondary School, Trivandrum TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2009 60. SHALAKA ABHAY KULKARNI TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2015 Asansol at Centre for Addiction and Mental Stewart School, Bhubaneswar York University. BA (Hons) Economics Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School, worked at Adobe Research Bangalore. TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007 ■ ■ Health, Toronto. MBBS from JIPMER, 19. MEGHA SINGH Senior Manager at one of the largest re- from St. Stephen’s College and MSc Thane BTech in CS from IIT Roorkee. Fourth-year student enrolled in the five- TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2006 ■ Puducherry, and MD and PhD in La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata Senior Product Manager at ICICI tail groups in the Middle East and India. Finance from University of Warwick. LIVES IN: Pittsburgh, USA year integrated BS-MS program at IISER ■ Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical Psychiatry from NIMHANS, Bangalore. ■ Senior Research Scientist at Google Prudential Life Insurance. BTech in Applied BCom from SRCC (Delhi University) and LIVES IN: New York TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2012 Pune. LIVES IN: Pune, India TOPPED:CLASS12ISC,2003 School (HMS) and staffanesthesiologist LIVES IN: Toronto, Canada working on algorithms to help comput- Electronics & Instrumentation from College postgraduate diploma in management ■ Currently pursing MBA from Yale School 66. PARAS SHARMA ■ at HMS’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Owns a Tanishq showroom and a ven- ers see the world as we do. BTech in CS of Engineering Trivandrum, PGDM from from IIM-Bangalore. LIVES IN: Dubai 55. AVISHEK DE of Management. BTech in EE from IIT- Lancer Convent School, Rohini, Delhi 76. ARKYA CHATTERJEE Center. MBBS at Medical College Kolkata, ture called ‘Creative Circus’ that does pop- from IIT-Kanpur, PhD from UC Berkeley. IIM Kozhikode. LIVES IN: Mumbai Bombay. LIVES IN: Connecticut, USA 16. VIBHOR JAIN St. Xavier’s Institution, Panihati TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2013 Vivekananda Mission School, Joka, MD at AIIMS and Residency in anesthesi- Boys’ High School & College, Allahabad up events. BSc Management Science from LIVES IN: California, USA 50. MRITTIKA SEN Kolkata TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2011 ■ ology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. University of Warick. LIVES IN: Kolkata 39.APARNA MURALIDHAR 69 70 71 72 Rajhans Vidyalaya, Mumbai 61. MOHAMMAD ISMAT Is a Master’s student in International TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2002 ■ TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2015 LIVES IN: Boston, USA 30. SATYAM SAXENA Kendriya Vidyalaya, ASC, Bangalore Associate at Goldman Sachs working on Zenith Academy Sangaiprou, Imphal Relations at University of Queensland. BA ■ TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2009 ■ Principal Member of Technical Staffat 20. KSHITIJ GARG St. Peter’s College, Agra platforms that calculate market risk for (Honours) Economics at SRCC, Delhi Now a second-year PhD student at MIT. TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2007 ■ TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2012 8. PREM KARTHIK S Global Foundries, where his role is in R&D St. Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun Pursuing a fellowship in Ophthalmic the firm’s daily trades. BTech in EE from University. LIVES IN: Queensland, BTech in Engineering Physics from IIT- TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006 ■ ■ Vikaasa School, Madurai of semiconductor technologies. BTech- Pathologist at Chandramma Dayananda and Facial Plastic Surgery and Ocular IIT-Roorkee. LIVES IN: Bengaluru Preparing for civil services exam. Physics Australia Bombay. LIVES IN: Massachusetts, USA MTech Dual Degree in EE from IIT Kanpur, TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2004 ■ Vice President, Group Finance at DBS, Sagar Institute of Medical Education and TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998 PhD from University of California Santa ■ Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Singapore. BE (Hons) in Computer Science Research. MBBS from Kempegowda ■ Principal at Daugherty Business Barbara. LIVES IN: Vermont, USA Sachs. Bachelor’s in Computing from from BITS-Pilani, PGDM from IIM Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, The following either were unavailable for a response or didn’t give their consent for use of their photos. All photos on page provided by subjects themselves Solutions helping Fortune 500 companies National University of Singapore, and Ahmedabad. LIVES IN: Singapore and post graduation in Pathology from the deliver IT transformation initiatives. BE 17.RAHUL SHARMA Economics from Delhi University, PGDM same college. LIVES IN: Bengaluru GRISHMA NPACHCHIGAR LIVES IN: San Francisco Bay Area Hyderabad. LIVES IN: Bengaluru from Wharton. LIVES IN: Singapore Science and Engineering, and Master’s in degree in Computer Science from Brightlands School, Dehradun from IIM-Rohtak. LIVES IN: Bengaluru 31. GEETAK GUPTA Villa Theresa High School, Mumbai CS, all from Stanford. LIVES IN: Toronto Thiagarajar College of Engineering and MS TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2003 St. Mary’s Academy, Meerut Cantt 40. ANTARIKSH BOTHALE TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,1999 MINAL BATHWAL PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA GAYATHRI RAVICHANDRAN in Software Systems from BITS-Pilani. 21. RISHABH SINGH Delhi Public School, Jodhpur Don Bosco School, Kolkata Boys’ High School & College, Allahabad DAV Girls Senior Secondary, Chennai RISHABH RAJ ■ TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006 73 74 75 76 ■ LIVES IN: Greater Chicago Area, USA Product Manager at Google. BE Kendriya Vidyalaya, ONGC, Dehradun No full-time job. Degree in management St. Paul’s School, Rourkela (Honours) in Electronics and ■ Research scientist at Transphorm, a TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2007 studies from HR College of Commerce and TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2000 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2005 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2010 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2004 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2014 9. VARTIKA BHANDARI Instrumentation from BITS-Pilani, PGDM semiconductor company. B.Tech in EE ■ Senior Software Engineer at Google Economics, Mumbai, MMS from Jamnalal ■ Portfolio Manager at Brevan Howard. BA ■ Reader at TIFR. BTech in CS from IIT ■ Studying MS in Electronics & ■ ■ St. Mary’s Convent Inter College, from IIM Bangalore. LIVES IN: Seattle, USA Research Scientist with Google X. BTech from IIT-Kanpur and MS and PhD from working on Google Assistant. BTech and Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. (Honours)EconomicsatSt.Stephen’sCollege, Kanpur, PhD from UC Berkeley and post- Communications Engineering from UC, Software Engineer at Microsoft, Allahabad in CS from IIT-Kharagpur, MS and PhD University of California Santa Barbara. MTech in ME from IIT-Bombay, MS in LIVES IN: Hong Kong PG diploma in business management from doc from Caltech. LIVES IN: Mumbai San Diego. BTech from NIT Trichy. Hyderabad. B.Tech in CS at IIT Bombay. from MIT. LIVES IN: San Jose, California LIVES IN: Santa Barbara, USA Computational Linguistics from University IIM Calcutta. LIVES IN: Singapore LIVES IN: San Diego, USA LIVES IN: Hyderabad TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1998 18. VINEET KUMAR City Montessori School, Lucknow of Washington. LIVES IN: California, USA BISWANATH PANDA PRIYADARSHINI BANERJEE ■ Senior StaffSoftware Engineer at TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2003 22. ADITYA GALGOTIA 32. RAJHANSA RAMASUBBA Little Flower School, Jamshedpur NSUNDRESH Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata ROHAN SAMPATH MGAYATRI Google. BTech in Computer Science from The Modern High School, Dubai SRIDHARA 41. JANAKI KIRIT SHETH DAV Boys Senior Secondary, Chennai Dubai Modern High School, Dubai New Greenfield School, Saket, Delhi IIT Kanpur and PhD in Computer Science ■ Strategy Manager at Google. Bachelor’s TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,1999 TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2007 Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane Smt Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane from University Illinois at Urbana in Computer Science and Engineering TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2004 ■ Senior Director of Engineering at Google. TOPPED:CLASS10,CBSE,2004 ■PrincipalatBCapitalGroup,aventurecap- TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2012 TOPPED:CLASS12,CBSE,2015 Champaign. LIVES IN: San Francisco Bay from BITS-Pilani and PGDM from IIM ■ Facilities Engineer at Imperial Oil TOPPED:CLASS12,ISC,2006 TOPPED:CLASS10,ICSE,2008 BTech in Computer Science from IIT ■ To start his own venture. BTech from IIT italfirm.Bachelor’sinComputerEngineering ■ CEO of Copilot, a startup. Bachelor’s in ■ Preparing for CA final exam. BCom from Area, USA Lucknow. LIVES IN: New York, USA Resources. BE in Mechanical Engineering ■ Project Leader at Boston Consulting ■ Postdoc scholar at Perelman School of Kharagpur, MS and PhD from Cornell. Roorkee, PGP in Management from ISB, atNationalUniversityof SingaporeandMBA Economics, Master’s in Management SRCC. LIVES IN: Delhi WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 8 OPINION THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020
Across Fifth THEAISLE COLUMN TAVLEENSINGH Work,wealthandwelfare Twitter@tavleen_singh
MERCIFULLY, THE year 2020 is coming to EndofYear WorkForce Rateof GDP(Constant) HDIRank HumanFreedom WorldPressFreedom factors or internal developments,the gov- an end. Everycountryisbruised, some are (inmillion) Unemployment inRsCr (out of189) Index (out of162) Index(outof180) ernmentmustbear responsibility. The battered.Covid-19hasnotgoneaway, but 2004-05438 2.3 32,42,209 120 governmentmay bewell-intentioned, get Confronting it is less threatening, and the vaccines that 2013-14 472-105,27,673 130 140 the best available advice or mayhave arebeing distributed give us hope. As far 2017-18 484 4.7131,75,160 131 102 136 committed unintendederrors,but the asIndiaisconcerned,our economy is bat- 2018-19 487 6.3 139,81,425 130 110 138 buckstopswith the government. Good or reality PCHIDAMBARAM teredand the livesofmillions of people 2019-20 494 8.5 145,65,951 129 140 140 bad,governmentsmustbechanged.That Website:pchidambaram.in (especiallythe migrantsand those who 2020-21Q1 18.9 26,89,556 is why, in manycountries, thereare term TILL THE farmersbrought their trolleys, Twitter@Pchidambaram_IN losttheir regular jobs) have been severely 2020-21Q2 500 7.3 33,14,166 131 142 142 limitsonPresidentsand Prime Ministers. tractorsand their protesttothe bordersof bruised. Further,the divisive and polaris- Asenseof permanenceisthe cause of the Delhi, NarendraModi hadthe imageofbe- ing utterances of, among others, Mr Amit lengeinadevelopingcountry likeIndia. ment and slow(or negative)growth will beginning of adownfall. ing the mostpowerfulPrime Ministerof Shah andMrAdityanathhave torntheso- The rapid decline in growth rates(2018-19 impact welfare. My concern is not eco- As we end the year,the three abiding India ever.This has changed.For the first cial fabric asunder. and 2019-20) triggered the rise in unem- nomic welfarealone.Food, healthcareand images of 2020 are: time in sevenyears, he is beginning to look The abidinglessonof2020isthatana- ployment, the pandemic made it worse social security areindeedimportant, but 1. The millions of migrants—tired, weak.Not just because the farmersopenly tion willsufferifthereisadeclinein three andthe unplannedlockdowns exacer- welfaregoes beyond material and tangi- hungryand sick—trudging hundredsof attack him personallyonnationaltelevi- measures—work, wealth and welfare. I batedthe situation. At itspeak, 130mil- blegoodsandservices.Askyourselfsome kilometres along highwaysand railway sion but because he seems no longer to Unemployment is alwaysa wish to devote this year-end columnto lion personslosttheir jobs or livelihoods. questions: Do people think theyare a free tracks with their meagrebelongingsto knowwhat to do. So,his attemptstoreach reflect on this lesson. Jobshave comebackslowly,butsomejobs people?Do theyhaveaheightenedsense reachwhat theybelieved was home. out to theprotesting farmersare confused huge challenge in a Work: Ultimately, it is work that dis- have disappeared permanently. The fig- of fear?Are people afraid thatpresumably 2. The long and peaceful protests — and confusing.One dayhegoes offtoad- developing countrylikeIndia. tinguishes one human from another. ures speak forthemselves(seeTable). independent agencies likethe CBI, ED, firstatShaheen Baghandnowonthe bor- dress farmers in Kutchand explains to Therapid decline in growth Thereare manythousands who do not Wealth: Themosteasilyunderstood Income TaxDepartment, NCBand NIA ders of Delhi —demanding that the gov- them the virtues of the newfarm laws.The rates (2018-19 and 2019-20) have to work,yet theydo, because work is measureofanation’s wealth is the Gross willhoundandpersecute them? Arepeo- ernmenthearthemandheedtheirappeals next dayitissomeother group of farmers pleasurable, enhances esteem,earns re- Domestic Product. If the GDPgrows, pleconfident that the courts of laware ac- for justice. in Madhya Pradeshthat he talkstobut triggered the rise in wardsand determines one’s standing wealth is enhanced,and the average cessible and will render swift justice?Can 3. The resounding voteinthe Kashmir neverdirectlytothose who have been sit- unemployment,the among peers and in the society-at-large. shareofacitizen in the pie (per capitain- twoyoung people be friends, go outto- Valleycomprehensively rejecting the un- ting on Delhi’s northern borders nowfor pandemic made it worseand At theother end, thereare millions who come) is larger.Ihavetaken the simplest gether,fall in love and marry?Can one, ac- constitutionalcoup stagedby thegovern- morethan amonth. Then therewas that the unplanned lockdowns need to work,but cannot find work;they measure: GDP in constant prices. Look at cording to her choice,eat, wear clothes, ment on August5,2019. visittoRakab Ganj Sahib gurudwarathat arethe unemployed. By lastcount, the un- the slowgrowth ratesafter 2017-18and speak,writeand associatewith other peo- In sum, Work,Wealth and Welfaresuf- wassotransparent an attempt to placate exacerbated the situation. At employment rate in Indiawas8.7percent look at the destruction of wealth in 2020- ple? ‘Welfare’ is the sum of these things. feredin2020, making it aforgettable year. protesting Sikh farmers that theywould its peak,130 million persons (CMIE,December 22, 2020). In between, 21 (see Table). Notatall encouragingfor a Some indicatorswhere Indiastands,inrel- Iurgeyou, however, paraphrasing George have seen it forexactlywhat it was. lost their jobs or livelihoods. thereare people who do notwish to join developing countrythat has manymil- ative terms, arethe Human Development Santayana, nevertoforget2020 sothat we All of this came afterweeksinwhich Jobs have come back slowly, theworkforce and thereare people who lions who arepoor.Isitany wonder that Index, IndexofFreedom,Press Freedom maynever repeat 2020. Instead, beproud, he allowedhis ministers and party arehome workers who arenot counted among the people thereispessimism etc(see Table). Overall, thereisadecline. fearless and freedom-loving Indians. I spokesmen to use television debates and but some jobs have as partofthe work force. about the future? Three Abiding Images: In ademoc- wish youahappy,healthyand prosper- social media platforms to malign the disappeared permanently Unemployment is alwaysahugechal- Welfare: Acombinationofunemploy- racy,good orbad, thecausebeingexternal ous 2021. protestingfarmers as Khalistanis and Naxalites.When the Prime Minister changed trackand beganhis effortsatpla- cation even the mostabusive of these spokesmen startedtotempertheir abuse My ISOLATION by praising the farmers as ‘equal to God SeeingIndia,Pak history because theyfeedmankind’. On the part AWEEKLY WINDOW INTO THE LIVES OF INDIA’S NEWSMAKERS Dalitality of thegovernment the softening has in- AND THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON THEM cludedassurances that everychangethat through the lens of caste the farmers want will be made in the FAISALDEVJI three newfarm laws.This mustmean that ‘I’m at Singhu, Tikri daily, thereare serious flaws in the laws. Unfortunatelyfor Modi hisconcilia- tory gestures have come toolate. It is no WESEEcaste asaproblem,not asananalyt- longer justabout the farm laws,itisabout in mask, sanitised car... I ical category. It is the object of analysis but other things. Forastart thereisthe arro- neveritssubject.ScholarshiponIndia’shis- gancewithwhich they were brought. In tory includes caste as one element, with the wordsofone of the protesting farmers, unwind to Kishoresongs’ classandcommunitycomprisingothercat- “You tell us that these will be beneficial egories. What would the history of India forusbut whyare youtrying to give us look likeifseen through the lensofcaste? benefitsthat we do notwant?” So many What precautions areyou taking? Ambedkar made this argument foran- farmers said this or something similar that Itry to followall the basic guidelines,of cient India, seeing the struggle between famous TV anchors who usuallyexhibit washing my hands frequently, wearing a Brahminism and Buddhism, interrupted their loyalty to the government in every mask at all times and using asanitiser by Muslim invasions that destroyed the show, begantotell BJP spokesmen that in- wheneverIamout or meeting someone. latter and includedthe former within a stead of trying to convince them of the Besides, Idon’t socialise and trytoavoid neworder.Hinduism emergedfromthis benefitsofthese laws theyshould con- gatherings as muchaspossible. The point conquestbyadopting Buddhistpractices vince the protesting farmers. is to have minimal contact. Ialso take vita- of vegetarianism, temples, floral offerings It is alsoabout unfulfilledpromises. mins regularly to boostmyimmunity. and non-violence.Buddhists,meanwhile, Farmers point out that when Modi be- converted to Islamfromthe lowcastesto came Prime Minister, he promised to dou- Have yougot yourself tested for whichtheyhad been reduced. Gettingreadyfor Ambedkar Jayanti in Gulbarga,Karnataka. Archive ble their income by 2022.Not onlyhas this Covid-19? Whateveritsaccuracy,Ambedkar’shis- nothappenedbut easier promises have Notyet.Fortunately, Ihavehadnosymp- tory repudiated thedualisticnarrative of notbeen kept either like thepromise to toms so far. Hindu-Muslim conflict by including caste If Gandhi’s rise to powersignalledthe tureinbothcountries, allowing different ensurethat sugarcane farmers were fi- within it. Ambedkar claimedthatbylaun- emergence of anew national culturefor castestoidentifywitheachotherby exclud- nallypaid their dues by themills theysell What is your dailyroutine like? Illustration: Suvajit Dey chingthemovementforPakistan,theMus- Hindus,Jinnah’sriseaccomplishedthesame ing minorities.While Hinduism provides a their cane to.And the promise that old Ihavebeenregularly exercisingathome lim League abandonedits history of allia- forMuslims.Thecultureoflearningandho- home formanysectarian cultures in India, debtswould be forgiven thosewho could and practising yoga.Mostofour meetings Both the Tikriand Singhu ncesbetweencaste andreligiousminorities. nour that had characterisedthe League’s Islam in Pakistanisexclusive. notpay them because of the terriblehard- withseniorsareheldthroughvideoconfer- bordersofDelhi where farmers It came instead to an agreement with the Brahmin and Kshatriyaelitewas replaced WhydoesIslamasanationalideology ship theyhaveendured in this year of dis- encing. But wheneverthereisalaw-and- are amassed protesting against Congressasone high-caste partywithan- by aBania focus on contractual politics. have to find itsenemies within the Muslim ease, disruption and death. ordersituation and Ihavetogoout in the other to divide thespoils of Independence. With Independence, Banias in both community in Pakistan, whether among Otherthingshavenow become partof field,Iensure thatmy maskisalways onand the new agriculture laws fall Iwanttooffer aparallelaccount of how countries had to take abackseat.InIndia AhmadisorShias, DeobandisorBarelvis? the protest. Suddenly, the things that have asanitiser handy forpersonal safety. Cur- under SANJAY SINGH, Special caste permitsustounderstand modern theywererestrictedbyaBrahmin bureau- Because the emergence of Bangladesh been autocraticallyimposed in Modi’s rently, as the farmers’agitationisgoing on CP,Western Zone. This means Indian history.Consider howthe Bania cracy and in Pakistanexcludedbyanew eliminatedHindus as asubstantialminor- ‘newIndia’ areattracting morenotice than at the Singhu and Tikri borders whichfall the officer finds himself in a tells us adifferent storyabout this past. The Kshatriyaelite. With Brahmins disempow- ity,with Christians, Sikhs and Parsis also theyhavebefore. Dissent has been inmy zone,Ihavetobeongroundandmon- firsttime this caste transformedmodern ered by the lossoftheir bases in north tooinsignificant. crushedruthlessly in this newIndia, and itor the day-to-daysituation closely. Ialso hot spot yet again, after handling India wasinthe 18th Century, when India, powersoon came to beexerciseddi- While Christians and Hindus aredis- forthe sakeofwinning elections there have the additional charge of SpecialCP reopening of trains, flights traders supportedthe EastIndia Company rectlybyKshatriyas through the military. criminated againstand even persecuted have been unashamedattemptstosow (Transport Zone).So, when flightand train following the lockdown to makecolonialism possible. Theydid so The multiplicity of powercentres in in Pakistan, as Muslims and Christians hatred between Hindus and Muslims. operations resumedduring the lockdown, by switching allegiance from Kshatriya post-colonialIndialedtoavarietyof allian- sometimes areinIndia, theyare notseen These things have notgoneunnoticedby Ihadto inspectairportsandrailway stations rulers,whether HinduorMuslim. ces, in whichthe numericaldominance of to represent anyserious threat to Islam. farmers who the government believesare inDelhito ensureallarrangementswerein INTERVIEWBY ThesecondtimeBaniaschangedIndia’s Shudrashasbeendivided,joinedormediat- This meansthat Islam comes to dominate too stupid to knowthat the newlawsben- place. Idid the same forDelhi Metrotoo. MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL modernhistorywaswiththedevelopment edby othercastes.Pakistanwasdominated politicsinsuchaway as to obscureboth efit them. It astonishedmetoheara of theCongressasamassorganisation un- by aKshatriya-Shudragroupinginthewest caste andreligiousdifference. white-beardedfarmer tell aTVreporter What kind of mask do youuse? derGandhi.TheKshatriyasdisplacedby co- and aShudra-Dalit-Adivasi one in the east, If the suspect religious minority in that, “Theywant us to fight among our- Ibuytheplainones,nottheoneswithair duce their screen time. But because the lonialismhadby thenbeenreplacedinpol- with Brahmin administratorsand Bania Pakistan is to be foundwithin Islam,non- selvesbut nowwehaveall come together, filters,and have been usingthem sincethe worldtodayisoperating virtually, Ihaveto iticsby Brahminlawyersandadministrators. capitalistsoflittle account in eitherwing. Muslim groups come to represent notreli- Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and Christians. beginningofthe pandemic. constantlybeonmycomputer and check The firstBania to take powerfromthe InIndia,Baniasplayedamajorrolefora giousbut caste difference. AMuslim com- We areall together now.”Inthe echo my mobilephone. Thatwould easily Brahminswhodominatedtheparty,Gandhi thirdtime duringthe country’s economic munity dominated by Kshatriyas and chamber in whichModi has functioned, Howdoyou stay safeatwork? amount to morethansix hours aday. gainedfor it the support of India’s traders. liberalisationintheearly 1990s,whichfreed Shudras thus attacks Christians in Punjab especiallysince his second term began, Imaintain socialdistancing inside my The national and religious culturepro- them to adoptanewpolitical identity in as Dalits, while discriminating against these arenot wordsthat he would hear. office.Wheneverthereare in-personmeet- Howdoyou keep your mindoff the motedbyGandhi wasalsoBaniaincharac- Hindutva’s Brahmin-Bania combine. Their HindusinSindasDalits,BaniasandAdivasis. Thereismoreconfusion. His ministers ings,seatingarrangementsaremadekeep- pandemic? ter, definedbybhakti, ahimsa and popular religiosityisnot the austere kind valuedby Christians and Hindus also serveas maynow be speaking in conciliatory ingadequatedistance.Iensurethatmystaff Dailymonitoring of crime and main- Vaishnavism. His rivalJinnah performeda BrahminideologueslikeSavarkar,however, repositories forthe caste identitiesof voices,but BJP Twitter warriors continue wear masksatall times. Ialso getmywork taininglaw and order in my zone is usually similar feat in the Muslim League, which but continues to be focusedonbhakti. Muslims,who escape their status by dis- to use social media platforms to spew ha- space sanitisedatregular intervals. enoughto keepmeoccupied.Inthelimited had been run by an administrative class In Pakistan, meanwhile, the Kshatriya- placingitontothem.While caste differen- tred against the protesting farmers. free time, Ilistentoold songs, especially equivalentto theBrahmins,alongsiderem- Shudragrouping became an absolutema- cesinIndiaarealsodisplacedontoareligio- EspeciallySikhfarmers.Theyranthyster- Do youtakeany specific precautions KishoreKumartorelax and unwind. nantsofthe old Kshatriyaelite. jority with the separation of Bangladesh. us minority, in Pakistanthis displacement icallyabout ‘international conspiracies to when youtravel? Jinnah wasfromthe Khoja caste of Even atraders’ party likethat of Nawaz locates the minority within and caste out- defame India’. Theysay that thesamepeo- Everyday,beforeIheadout,Iensuremy What is the firstthing youwant to do in traders and, likeGandhi, the firstBania to SharifmustadoptKshatriyaidealsto survi- side Islam. Castereallydoesallowustosee ple who made trouble over the vehicle is cleanedand sanitised. aCovid-free world? gain control of his party whilebringing ve.Asfor Brahmins, their declining status history anew. Citizenship (Amendment) Act(CAA) are Iwanttogoonavacation with my fam- Muslim capitalists to supportit. Khoja are has allowedthem to emergeasideological Faisal Devji is Professor of Indian History nowusingfarmers to maketrouble be- Howmuchtime do youspend in front ily. We have been in the house since the mostlyconvertsofHindu Lohana caste. brokersforgroupsmakingclaimsto power at theUniversity of Oxford cause their lastattempt to disruptand di- of ascreen? lockdownandhave notgoneoutanywhere, Jinnahboastedofhisabilityto talkto Gandhi in the name of Islam. Suraj Yengde, author of CasteMatters, vide India failed. Itisn’thealthyandonemusttryandre- exceptfor work. as aKhojawould to aBania. Religionhascometo definenationalcul- curatesthe fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column The truth is thatthosewho protested againstthe CAAweregenuinelyworried about the weaponisation of citizenship. The truth is that the farmers aregenuinely worriedabout the newlaws. Thetruth is thatthis has been aterrible year forIndia On the in everyway and the pain causedbythe Whatever gets youthrough theday economyhitting rock bottom is nowbe- LOOSE ginning to hurtbadly. If the Prime Minister had concentrated on dealing withthe loss LEHERKALA n’t foraball? In recent years, Indian partic- figure. It’s an elaboratecharade, but in this Lifehas gottenmuchmoreprecarious FabulousLives... is that theyare “escapist” of jobs and income by puttingtogether [email protected] ipants at the highlysoughtafterLeBal have godforsakenyear,pardon me if Ichoose to since, and to staveawaysubliminal stress, in nature. Thereispressuretoadheretoan schemes that would directlytransfer includedpolitician JyotiradityaScindia and see old worldsymbolismsasacomforting it’scrucial to steer clear of calamitycon- (unspoken) intellectual standardthat folks moneyintothe bankaccountsofthose industrialistYashBirla’s daughters. anddistinguishingcharacteristicof thehu- tent. My leisureviewing these days is re- on Twitter careabout because the notion who arehurting the most, this sudden re- IN ONE episodeofThe FabulousLives of www.imdb.comhasgiven TheFabulous manspecies.Indeed,theageofdebutantes served solelyfor richpeople drama. Bring prevails that the impulse to escape is ater- volt againsthis government maynot have Bollywood Wives on Netflix, Maheep Lives... adismal twostars and a3.8/10rat- mayhavepassedbut letusnot denythe on the scones and high tea! At this point, rible character flaw. In truth, what could be happened. Kapoor’s daughter is preparing to debut at ing. Audience reviews haven’t been very nostalgiatheyevoke. living vicariouslythrough characters con- morenatural? 2020 wasnot theyearto re- Instead, he has chosen to followthe Le Bal, Paris. Forthe uninitiated,‘Le Bal de charitable either.Glimpses of Shanaya In fact, it’s the very outmodedness of sumedbyappearances feels likethe ulti- visit Schindler’sList butto do whatevergets patternthat has become the leitmotif of Debutantes’ is aharkbacktopastEuropean Kapoor among aglittering assemblyof these customs and curtsies that add to their mateinluxury. youthrough the day. his second term, whichistocontemptu- grandeur where, forone fairytaleevening, debutantes in aFrenchpalace provoked romantic allure—especiallyonscreen. It Worldover, people aregravitating to It’speoplewhocanswitchofffromtheir ouslyordain forthe people whathebe- quaint traditions likethe waltz and white sneeringreactionsto thisfrivolityingowns. explains the success of shows like Downton entertainmentthattakesthemaway from everydayproblemsviasimplepleasureslike lievesisgoodfor them.This happened gloves areresurrected andwealthyyoung “A revolting patriarchal ceremony,”went Abbey and their timeless appeal. We wish the agonyofuncertainty.Streaming plat- comics, music, exercise or other hobbies firstwith the changes in the citizenship women are“presented”(to vetted com- one opinion on Twitter.I,for one, thor- to misremember the pastascharming and formshave notedaspikeininterestincom- whoarebestableto handleadversity.Don’t Act, then withArticle 370and nowwith pany). Throughout the 18th and 19th cen- oughlyenjoyedwatching the antiquated elegant, basicallyeverything thepresentis edyshows andreruns of old hits. It’s not knockthe debutantes bowing in ice blue the farm laws.The farmers have shown turies, the coming-of-ageball wasamile- ritualof ladieswaltzingthenightaway,first not. At thebeginning of thelockdown Isaw difficult to gauge why. They’repredictable dresses or the Bollywood Wives’ prattle. If himthat this kind of contempt forthe stone foryoung aristocrats, away to meet ledbytheirfathersandthen,chevaliers.For Contagion on Amazon Prime, director and have happy endings. Sociallyisolated, thereisanythingthisCovidyearhasproved, peopleisnot something that even the potential mates and announce their place those scoffing at this pretentiousness, of Steven Soderbergh’s remarkablyprescient we’recraving time with friends—perhaps it’swe have to find ourownmethodsof sal- mostpowerful political leaders can get in ‘politesociety’. Point to note:would courseeveryone knowsadebutanteball 2011 film on the horrors unleashedbyater- familiar TV faces stand in as proxies.One vation to guardagainstreality. away with. Modi has been forced finally ElizabethBennett everhave metMrDarcy serves no purpose other than showcasing rifying virus. An aptwatch,itincentivised of the great criticisms aimedatgenreslike to step outofhis echo chamber intothe in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice if it was- fine jewelleryand, in Darcy’s words, afine me to furiouslykeepwashing my hands. science fiction and reality TV like The The writer is director, HutkayFilms real world.
Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THESUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 9 THE WORLD
TOPOFTHE WORLD MillionsinUSlosejoblessbenefits asTrumprefusestoclearCovidaid
Govt shutdownfromTuesday unlessCongress can agree stop-gap spendingBill She chronicled China’s crisis, but The number of coronavirus cases hit arecord 949inTokyo Apostalworkerdelivers STEVEHOLLAND& justasJapan heads intoNew Year holidays that normallysee packages last week in RICHARDCOWAN is now accused people stream from the capital intothe provinces. AP Chicago. AP PALMBEACH,WASHINGTON, DECEMBER26 of spreading lies
USA MILLIONS OF Americans saw Japan bans foreigners ‘Unprecedented’ their jobless benefitsexpireon VIVIANWANG Saturdayafter US President DECEMBER26 mailvolumedelays Donald Trumprefusedtosign from enteringafter UK intolaw a$2.3 trillionpandemic IN ONE video, during the lock- Christmasgifts aid and spending package, downinWuhan,China,shefilmed SOME WHO mailedholiday protesting that it did notdo ahospital hallway linedwith virusvariant detected presentsweeks early this enough to help everydaypeople. rolling beds, the patientshooked year found theydidn’tact Trumpstunned Republicans up to blue oxygen tanks. In an- early enough as Christmas and Democratsalike when he other,shepannedover acommu- CHRISGALLAGHER Japanese citizens and arrivedwiththeirgifts stuck said this week he wasunhappy nity health centre, noting that a &SAMNUSSEY foreign residentswill in transit. The US Postal with the massive Bill, whichpro- man said he waschargedfor a TOKYO,DECEMBER26 Service said on itswebsite vides $892 billion in badly Covid test,eventhough residents be allowedtoenter but that it was“experiencingun- neededcoronavirusrelief,in- believedthe tests would be free. JAPANONSaturdaysaid it would mustshowproof of a precedented volume in- cluding extending special unem- At the time, Zhang Zhan, a37- temporarilyban non-resident negative coronavirus creases and limited em- ploymentbenefitsexpiring on year-old former lawyer turned foreign nationals from entering ployeeavailability due to the Dec 26, and $1.4 trillion fornor- citizen journalist,embodiedthe the countryasittightens itsbor- test 72 hours before impactsofCovid-19.” Austin mal government spending. Soldiers carry the firstshipment of Pfizer-BioNTechCovid-19vaccines in Budapest,Hungary, Chinesepeople’s hunger forun- ders following the detection of a departing forJapan and WithoutTrump’s signature, on Saturday. Reuters filtered informationabout the new, highlyinfectious variant of Race of Grand Rapids, mustquarantine for Michigan, placedanonline about14 millionpeoplecouldlose epidemic.Now,she hasbecome the coronavirus. order Nov. 30 foracollector’s those extrabenefits,according to asymbol of the government’s ef- The banwill take effect from twoweeks afterarrival model die-castofaNASCAR Labour Department data. Apar- fortstodenyits early failings in December 28 andwillrun racing car.Ithadn’t reached tial government shutdown will Europe to begin vaccination as the crisis and promote avictori- through January, thegovernment his father afterthe Postal beginonTuesdayunlessCongress ous narrative instead. said in an emailed statement. the capital intothe provinces. Service passedthrough his canagreeastop-gapgovernment Zhang abruptlystoppedpost- Japanese citizens and foreign Serious cases were un- neighbourhood Thursday fundingBillbeforethen. doses shipped across continent ing in May, afterseveral months residents will be allowedtoenter changed from aday earlier at 81. night, even though he was Aftermonths of wrangling, of dispatches. Police later re- but mustshowproof of anega- Tokyotransporthubs were notifiedDec. 8that it was Republicansand Democrats levels of hesitancy towardsthe vealedthat she hadbeenarrested, tive coronavirus test 72 hours subdued, local media said, aday shippedbytwo-day priority agreedtothe packagelastweek- REUTERS ED Bringing vaccine in countries from France accusedofspreading lies. On before departingfor Japanand afterPrime MinisterYoshihide mail. “I do understand the end,withthesupportoftheWhite DECEMBER26 senseof to Poland,leadersof the27-coun- Monday, she will go to court, in mustquarantine fortwo weeks Suga, under pressureascases situation, but it’s still kind of House. Trump, did notobject to PLAIN E tryEuropean Union arepromot- the firstknown trial of achroni- afterarrival, the statement said. continue to climb, urgedthe na- ● hope,unity frustrating,” he said. AP terms of the deal before Congress EUROPE LAUNCHES across- EX ing it as the best chance of getting cler of China’scoronavirus crisis. Japan on Fridayreportedits tion to stay home and avoid so- voteditthroughonMondaynight. border vaccination programme backtosomethinglikenormallife Zhang has continuedtochal- firstcases of afast-spreading cialmixing. But since then, he hascom- of unprecedentedscale on THE ARRIVAL of the vaccine in nextyear.“We arestartingto turn lengethe authorities from jail. variant in passengers arriving With NewYear celebrations plainedthattheBillgivestoomuch Sunday as part of effortstoend Europe brought hope to are- thepageonadifficultyear,”Ursula Soonafterherarrest,Zhangbegan from Britain. The newvariant centredaround family gather- USA moneytospecialinterests,cultural aCovid-19 pandemic that has gion that has seen some of the vonder Leyen, European ahungerstrike, according to her has also been detected in aman ings and mass visitstotemples Judgedelays projects and foreign aid, while its crippledeconomiesand earliestand worst-hit Covid Commission president, said in a lawyers. She has become gaunt who visited theUKand afamily and shrines, experts have one-time$600stimuluschecksto claimedmorethan 1.7million hotspots in the world. It also tweet. “Vaccination is the lasting anddrainedbuthasrefusedtoeat, member —the firstcases of in- warnedpublic restraint will be executionofonly millions of struggling Americans livesaroundthe world. brought asense of unity to a wayout of thepandemic.” thelawyerssaid,maintainingthat fected people found outside air- essential to prevent infection womanonfederal were toosmall.Hehasdemanded The region of 450 million post-Brexit EU whichhad its AfterEuropean governments herstrikeisher form of protest portchecks —Nippon TV re- ratesfromrising further amid that be raisedto$2,000. people has secured contracts fundamental principle of free were criticised forfailing to work againsther unjustdetention. portedonSaturday. concerns of pandemic fatigue. deathrow “Whywould politicians not with arange of suppliers forover movement questionedduring together to counter the spread of Zhang’s prosecution is partof The newstrain addstowor- Suga’s initial political hon- AFEDERAL judgesaid the US want to give people $2,000, twobillion vaccine doses and aperiod of closedborders. EU thevirusinearly 2020,thegoalthis the Chinese CommunistParty’s ries about asurge in casesas eymoon aftertakinghis postin Justice Department unlaw- rather than only$600?...Give has setagoal forall adultstobe leaders celebrated thecollec- timeisto ensurethatthereisequal continuing campaign to recast Tokyoreported another record September has ended, with his fully rescheduledthe execu- our people the money!” the bil- inoculated during 2021. tive effort to getthe vaccine as access to the vaccinesacrossthe China’shandlingofthe outbreak rise on Saturday. popularity sliding aftercriti- tion of the onlywoman on lionairePresident tweetedon The sheer scale of the effort “a touching momentofunity”. entireregion. Countries including as asuccession of wise, tri- Infections of the virus that cism he wasslowtoreact to ris- federaldeathrow, potentially Christmas Day, muchofwhich means thatsome countries are France, Germany, Italy, Austria, umphant movesbythe govern- causes Covid-19hit arecord949 ing infections in Tokyoand for settinguptheTrumpadmin- he spent golfing at his Mar-a- calling on retired medics to help PortugalandSpainareplanningto ment.Criticswhohave pointedto in the capital justasJapan heads attending agroup steak dinner istrationtoschedule the exe- LagoresortinPalm Beach, out while others have loosened the injections. begin mass vaccinations, starting early misstepshave beenarrested, intoNew Year holidays that nor- in defiance of his owncalls for cution afterPresident-elect Florida. REUTERS rulesfor who is allowedtogive Withsurveyspointingto high with health workers on Sunday. censored or threatened. NYT mallysee people stream from caution. REUTERS Joe Biden takesoffice. US DistrictCourtJudgeRandolph POLICE STILL TRYINGTODETERMINE TARGET OF LARGE ‘INTENTIONAL’ EXPLOSION Moss also vacated an order from the director of the BureauofPrisonsthathadset Nashville blast knocks out communication lines LisaMontgomery’sexecution datefor Jan 12.Montgomery had previouslybeen sched- arecordedwarning that abomb The chief said investigators at uledtobeput to death at a KIMBERLEEKRUESI, would detonate in 15 minutes, thescene “have found tissue that FederalCorrectionalComplex MICHAELBALSAMO& MetroNashvillePolice Chief John we believe could be remains, but in Indiana this month. AP ERICTUCKER Drakesaid. Police evacuated we’llhavethat examinedand let NASHVILLE,DECEMBER26 nearbybuildingsandcalledinthe youknowatthat time.” Police IRAN bomb squad. The RV exploded could notsay whether it came ARECREATIONAL vehicleparked shortlyafterward,Drake said. from someone inside the RV. Heavysnowfall in the desertedstreets of down- MayorJohn Cooper has is- Surveillancevideo published town Nashvilleexplodedearly At the blastsiteFriday. AP suedacurfew in the area. on Twitter thatappearedtobe kills8climbers, Christmasmorning,causingwide- Policebelieve theblastwasin- across the street from the blast severalmissing spread communications outages tentional but don’tyet knowa captured thewarningissuing thattookdownpoliceemergency Police were responding to a motive ortarget,andDrakenoted fromtheRV, “...if youcanhearthis AT LEASTeightclimbershave systems andgrounded holiday reportofshots firedFridaywhen thatofficialshadnot receivedany message,evacuatenow,”seconds diedand severalmoreare travel at the city’s airport. theyencountered theRVblaring threatsbeforethe explosion. before theexplosion. AP missinginmountains north of Iran’s capital Tehran after heavysnowfallandablizzard, Multiple blasts statetelevisionreportedon Senior Chinese official to visit Nepal Saturday. Severalclimbersre- in Kabul, at least main unaccounted forsince ANCIENT ‘STREET FOOD SHOP’UNCOVERED amid political crisis in the country Fridaywhentwo deathswere four people dead reported, whilethe number Frescoes on an ancient counterdiscoveredduring excavations in Pompeii,Italy. Reuters Department of the Communist ‘Prachanda’ and MadhavKumar reportedasmissing has in- YUBARAJGHIMIRE PartyofChina, takesplace in Nepal,bothleaders of the anti-Oli creasedasconcernedfamilies KATHMANDU,DECEMBER26 the wake of asplitinthe NCP, faction, on Monday. RAHIMFAIEZ contact the authorities, the ■ Archaeologists in Pompeii, ■ Known as atermopolium, ■ The front of the counter was something that Beijing has “I guess China is still trying KABUL,DECEMBER26 broadcastersaid. News re- the city buried in avolcanic Latin forhot drinkscounter, decorated withbrightly AVICE MINISTER of the Chinese been trying to avoid. forapatchup, whichIdon’t think portssaidthenumberof peo- eruption in 79 AD, have made the shop wasdiscovered in coloured frescoes, some CommunistParty will arrive in Therehas been no official is possible,” asenior leader of the ASERIES of explosions hit the pleunaccountedforcouldbe theextraordinaryfind of a the Regio Vsite, whichisnot depicting animalsthat were Kathmandu on Sundayinanap- word fromeither the Chineseside Prachanda-factionsaid. Afghan capital on Saturday as high as 12.Search efforts frescoedhot food and drinks yetopen the public. Traces of part of the ingredientsinthe parent emergency visit to tryto or the government of Nepal, but Chinese Ambassador to morning, killing at leastfour were haltedforthenightand shop that servedupthe nearly 2,000-year-old food food sold, suchasachicken restorethe unity of theruling sources in both factions of the Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has in recent people including twopolice of- wouldresumeonSunday,the ancientequivalent of street were foundinsome of the and twoducks hanging Nepal CommunistParty. NCPsaid Guo will be meeting days metmanytop leaders from ficers, officials said. reportadded. REUTERS food to Roman passersby. deep terracotta jars. upside down. The visit of Guo Yezhou, vice PrimeMinisterKPSharmaOli on both sides and is believedtohave The deaths were causedbya ministerofthe International Sunday, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal advisedthem to still tryfor unity. sticky bomb attachedtoapolice vehicle detonated in western Kabul, police spokesman FerdawsFaramarzsaid. The ex- plosion woundedtwo civilians. THE MI6 AGENT WAS UNMASKED AS ASOVIET SPY IN 1961AND SENTENCED TO PRISON BEFORE HE ESCAPED TO RUSSIA Twoother police officers were woundedwhen abomb at- tached to their carexplodedear- George Blake,last in line of Cold Warspieswho betrayed UK, dies lier SaturdayinsouthernKabul, Faramarzsaid. Maooma Jafari, deputy side thoseofaseparatering of ble.ButIthinkitisanobleideaand in January1943. Afterjoining the Afterhis release in 1953,he spokeswoman forthe health TIMOTHYHERITAGE British double agentsknown as Ithink humanity willreturn to it.” British Navy,hestarted working returnedtoBritain and in 1955 ministry, said that four corpses &POLINAIVANOVA the CambridgeFive. Inacondolencemessagepub- forthe British Secret Intelligence wassentbyMI6 to Berlin, where and four woundedpeople were LONDON,MOSCOW,DEC26 Unmasked as aSovietspy in lishedbythe Kremlin, Russian Service, MI6, in 1944. he collected information on takentohospital following the 1961,Blakewas sentencedto42 President Vladimir Putin said Afterthe war, Blakeserved Sovietspies butalsopassedse- twoexplosions. GEORGE BLAKE, who diedin years in London’s Wormwood Blakewasaprofessionalof partic- brieflyinthe German city of cretstoMoscowabout British Athirdsticky bomb deto- Russia on Saturdayatthe ageof Scrubs prison. In aclassic cloak- ularvitality and couragewho Hamburgand studied Russian at and US operations. nated in eastern Kabul but 98,was thelastinaline of British and-daggerstory,heescaped in made an invaluable contribution Cambridge University before be- Blakewas eventuallyex- causednocasualties, he said. spies whose secret work forthe 1966 with the help of other in- to globalstrategicparityandpeace. ingsentin1948toSeoulwherehe posedbyaPolish defector and Therewerereports of at least SovietUnion humiliatedthe in- mates and twopeace activists, “The memoryofthis leg- gathered intelligence on brought home to Britain, where twoother blasts elsewherein telligence establishment when and wassmuggledout of Britain endaryperson will be preserved CommunistNorth Korea, he wassentencedand jailed. the city but police had no imme- it wasdiscoveredatthe heightof in acamper van. He made it foreverinour hearts,” he wrote. CommunistChina and the Soviet When he escapedfrom diate details. the Cold War. through Western Europe undis- Blake wasborn in Rotterdam FarEast. He wascapturedandim- WormwoodScrubs,heleftbehind In aseparatereportform Britain says he exposedthe coveredand crossedthe Iron ‘The memoryofthis legendaryperson will be preserved in the Netherlands on Nov11, prisonedwhen North Korean his wife, Gillian, and three chil- northern Balkh province, asen- identities of hundredsof Curtain intoEastBerlin. foreverinour hearts,’ Putin said afterBlake’s death 1922, to aDutchmother and an troopstookSeoulaftertheKorean dren. AfterGillian divorced him, ior armyofficerwas killedwhen Western agentsacross Eastern He spent the rest of his lifein Egyptian Jewishfather whowas Warbegan in 1950. It wasduring BlakemarriedaSovietwoman, his vehicle hit aroadside bomb, Europe in the 1950s, some of the SovietUnion andthen Russia, anaturalisedBriton. his time in aNorth Korean prison Ida,withwhomhehad ason, policesaid. Mohammad Tareq, whomwereexecuted as aresult wherehewas fetedasahero. lievedthe worldwas on the eve have been well worthit,” he said. He escapedfromthe that he became acommitted Misha.Heworkedataforeign af- the garrison commander of the of histreason. Reflecting on his lifeinanin- of Communism. “Ithoughtitcouldbe,andIdid Netherlands in WorldWar Two Communist, reading the worksof fairs institutebeforeretiringwith armybrigade in Balkh wasthe His case wasamong the most terviewwith Reuters in Moscow “It wasanideal which, if it whatIcouldto helpit,tobuildsuch afterjoining the Dutchresistance KarlMarxand feeling outrageat hertoadacha,orcountryhouse, apparent target who waskilled notorious of the Cold War, along- in 1991,Blakesaid he had be- could have beenachieved,would asociety.Ithas notprovedpossi- as acourier and reachedBritain heavyUSbombingof NorthKorea. outside Moscow. REUTERS in the attack. AP Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THESUNDAY EXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 Crude Wa tch IRAQTOBOOSTCRUDE EXPORTCAPACITY Dubai: Iraq aims to increase crude oil export capacityfrom its southern ports to 6million barrels per dayfrom the current 10 ECONOMY 3.5million barrels aday capacity, Karim Hattab, deputyoil minister fordistribution affairs, said in astatement. REUTERS
BRIEFLY MINING PROFITS VOTEBEGINSTOWINDUP6SCHEMESWITH `26,000 CRORE OF INVESTOR MONEYSTUCK FinMinallows Sebi appoints TS Krishnamurthy Rajasthanto NMDC-Karnatakatiff borrowmore observer for Franklin MF e-voting NewDelhi: The Finance MinistryonSaturdaysaid it couldspillovertoCentre manager,Sebi; Nayana would be producedbeforethe has permitted Rajasthan to ENSECONOMICBUREAU ED Future Ovalekar,chief operating officer Supreme Courtinasealedcover borrowanadditional MUMBAI,DECEMBER26 hangsin of CDSL; KSriram, practising along with the reportofthe Rs2,731 croreafterthestate PLAIN E balance companysecretary; and scruti- Observerappointed by the Sebi. ● successfullyundertookease vsstaterevenueclaims THE SECURITIES andExchange EX niser MKrishna and ESai Accordingly,Sebi has appointed of doing business reforms. BoardofIndia (Sebi) on Saturday Prasad, assistant directors of TS Krishnamurthyasthe Rajasthan has nowjoined appointed former Chief Election THE OUTCOME of the CentralForensicScience “Observer” on December 18, thefive other states namely, state governmentsbygovern- CommissionerTSKrishnamurthy voting willdetermine if Laboratory, Hyderabad, to assist 2020,” the marketregulator said AndhraPradesh,Karnataka, KARUNJITSINGH INTERIMAGREEMENT ment companies under the ‘observer’in e-voting of unit hold- the schemes with Krishnamurthy. in an official statement. Madhya Pradesh, Tamil NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 Mining by Government ers of six schemes of Franklin Rs 26,000 croreof “The Supreme CourtofIndia The SC, on December 9, Nadu and Telangana, which ■ Under theinterim CompanyRules, 2015 willalso af- TempletonMutual Fund. unitholders’moneymust vide itsorder datedDecember 09, asked Sebi to appoint an ob- have completedthe reform STATE-OWNED IRON oremajor agreement, NMDCis fect NMDC iron oremines in The voting process for closedownornot and 2020 has directedSebi to appoint server foroverseeing the e-vot- facilitatingease of doing NMDC is settoresume operat- required to payatotal Chhattisgarh, whichaccountfor unitholders to decidethe fate howsoon unitholders an Observer regarding the e-vot- ing process.The sixschemes are businessto beeligibleforad- ing the Donimalai mines in royalty of 37.5 percent amajority of the iron oreproduc- of the six debt schemes of will gettheir moneyback. ing of unit holdersof six schemes Franklin India LowDuration ditional borrowing. These Karnataka afteratwo-year hia- on sales of iron ore, tion by the company. Franklin TempletonMutual of Franklin TempletonMutual Fund, Franklin India UltraShort sixstateshave beengranted tus due to litigation with the including an NMDC’s Kirandul and Bacheli Fund will take place between Fund whichisscheduledbe- Bond Fund, Franklin India Short additional borrowingper- stategovernment. Itsmining additional 22.5 per complexes in Chhattisgarhcon- December 26 and 28. notand howsoon unitholders tween 26th December to 29th Term Income Plan,Franklin missionofRs19,459crore. lease wasextended as an interim cent royalty to the tributearound 24 million tonnes The outcome of the voting will gettheir moneyback. December,2020. Further the India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin measurewhile agovernment stategovernmentover of iron ore, or about 75 per cent of will determine if the schemes Sebi has also constituted a Supreme Courthas also directed India Dynamic Accrual Fund and Entitiesunder panel decidedroyalty due to the the 15 per cent royalty NMDC’s annual iron oreoutput. withRs26,000croreofunithold- technical assistance team com- that theresult of the e-voting Franklin India Income stateexchequer. the companywas According to experts,state ers’ moneymustclose down or prisingBNSahoo, chief general would notbeannouncedand Opportunities Fund. 1%cashpayment Under the interimagreement, paying priortothe governmentsare likelytoseek NMDC is required to payatotal suspension of greater premiums from public ofGSTliability royalty of 37.5percent on sales of operationsin2018. sector mining companies upon iron ore, including an additional renewalofmining leases, or seek COVID IMPACT CEBR:India to NewDelhi: Themandatory 22.5 per cent royalty to the state to auction offmining rightsfor requirement of 1per cent government over the 15 per cent in 2018,extendedNMDC’smin- higher revenues under the Mines ‘CFOOptimismIndexat cashpayment of GSTliabil- royalty the companywas paying ing lease forDonimalai mines and Minerals (Regulation and become 3rd largest ity with effect from January prior to thesuspension of opera- for20years, but asked the com- Development) Act. all-time lowfor Decqtr’ 1would be applicable to tions in 2018.The interim agree- panytopay 80 per cent of the “The recent hikeinthe price about 45,000 taxpayers, ment is applicabletill the recom- averagesale value of iron oreto of iron oreannouncedbyNMDC The confidence levelofchief financial officers overfinancial and whichisonly0.37percentof mendations of the government the stategovernment -leading is moreorless goodenoughto ac- macroeconomic conditions in thecountry reached arecord low economy by 2030 the totalbusinesses regis- panel areexecuted or November to NMDC suspendingopera- count forthe increase in royalty. forthe December quarter,said aDun and Bradstreetreport teredinthe Goods and 2022, whicheverisearlier. tions at the mines. Under the current demand-sup- Services Taxsystem, According to sources awareof The Karnataka High Courtset plyscenario, NMDC has the pric- 8.4% DECLINEINTHEDUN ENSECONOMICBUREAU The UK-basedthink Revenue Department developments, NMDC, whichis aside the requirement that ing powertobeabletoabsorbthe &BRADSTREETCOMPOSITE NEWDELHI,DECEMBER26 tank forecastthat sourcessaidonSaturday. PTI currentlyinnegotiations to lower NMDC pay80per cent royalty to increase in leviesbut once there CFOOPTIMISMINDEX(Y-O-Y) the royalty rate to be paid to the the stategovernment, leading to is greatersupplyfrommerchant TO98.1DURINGQ42020, INDIA,WHICHappears to have China will, in 2028, ‘USholiday stategovernment, expectsthat Karnataka withdrawing the ex- miners, in the next fewyears, ARECORDLOW been pushed back to being the overtake the US to the royalty decidedbythe gov- tension award. their ability to passthrough the world’s sixth biggest economyin become the world’s retailsales ernment panel forextension of TheDonimalaimineshave an impact of the levies and prof- 32.1% INCREASE 58% OFCFO 2020,will again overtake theUK mining leases forgovernment estimatedresource reserveof149 itability will beaffected,” said Jigar (Q-O-Q)BASISANDRISK RESPONDENTSSEECASH to becomethefifthlargest in2025 biggesteconomy rise3%’ companies will notchange very milliontonnes andan annualpro- Mistry, partner at portfolio man- PERCEPTIONSTILLREMAINS FLOW MANAGEMENT AS andraceto thethirdspotby2030, significantlyfromthe interim roy- duction capacity of 7million agement firm Bouyant Capital. HIGHAMONGRESPONDENTS THETOPMOST PRIORITY the Centre forEconomics and Bengaluru: US retail sales alty setfor the Donimalai mines. tonnes. The royalty to be paid to Mistryaddedstate govern- Business Research (CEBR) said in The CEBR forecasts that the rose 3per cent during this “Thenumber is notgoing to thestategovernment,decidedby mentswerelooking to getalarger 18% OFCFOsSURVEYED 63% INDICATEDTHEY an annual reportonSaturday. Indian economywill expand by 9 year’s expandedholiday changedrastically from the one the high-levelcommittee,willbe proportion of revenues from min- EXPECTANINCREASEIN WILLUSEEFFECTIVE India had overtakenthe UK in per cent in 2021and by 7per cent shopping season from Oct. arrivedatthrough discussion in applicableretroactively to all pro- ing in their states by state-owned THERISKAPPETITE IN THE RECOVERYSYSTEMASA 2019 to become the fifthlargest in 2022. “Growth will naturally 11 to December 24,areport this interim agreement,” said a duction at the Donimalai mines companies. “State governments CURRENT SCENARIO RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL economyinthe worldbut has slowasIndia becomes moreeco- by MastercardsaidSaturday, source, adding the drop from the under the interim agreement. In areseeking to getagreater pro- beenrelegatedto 6thspotin2020. nomicallydeveloped,withthean- poweredbyapandemic- earlier demand of the stategov- casethe amount is lowerthan the portion of profitsofmining PSUs Key issues: Businesses are still foreseeing “India has been knockedoff nualGDPgrowthexpectedto sink drivenshifttowardonline ernment foran80per cent pre- 22.5 per cent agreedtounder the whichwould otherwise flowto coursesomewhat through the to 5.8per cent in 2035.” TheUK- financialrisk on their balance sheet and this can Source: shopping.US ecommerce mium on iron oresales wasabet- interim agreement, NMDC will the centreaseither dividends or impact of the pandemic. As are- basedthinktank forecastChina be attributed to variousfactors including high Dun and sales jumped49per cent in terreflection of aviable levy for notbepermitted to seek refunds through reinvestment to build ca- sult, afterovertaking the UK in willin2028overtaketheUStobe- inflationarypressures and supply side risks Bradstreet/ this year’sholidayshopping NMDC. Thesourcealso notedthat forpaymentsmadeduring the in- pacity replacing investment by 2019,theUKovertakesIndiaagain come the biggesteconomy, five Methodology: Based on the survey of PTI season, as per aMastercard the companywas preparing to re- terim time period. the central government.” over 350 respondents in this year’sforecastsand stays years earlier than previouslyesti- report. REUTERS sume operations at the mines. Thedecisionof thehigh-level NMDC did notrespond to aheadtill 2024beforeIndia takes mateddueto contrastingrecover- The Karnataka government, panelonthe royaltypayable to emailedrequestsfor comment. over again,”said the report. ies of the twonations from Covid. YOURWEEKAHEAD BRIDGE SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2301 If it’s your Dealer: North,Vulnerable: NorthSouth ARIES (Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA Sept. 24 -Oct. 23 QUICKCLUES NORTH Birthday Thisweek, the Financial and ACROSS emphasis is on long- ♠ KJ3 1. Urbane (8) property matters term planning. Make loom large,soit’s ❤QJ109 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH 5. 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However, ❤K83 21.Typeofcalendar,ofchant (9) out afinancial mess. there stillseems to be anumber friends and lovedones are ♦ Q73 23.Anancient Celtic tribe of Eastern of changes in circumstanceson waiting foryou to take England (5) MondayDecember 28 the way. decisive action. ♣A63 24.Jennifer of Friends fame (7) As the days pass, passion will be replaced 25. Altitudes (7) TAURUSApr.21-May 21 SCORPIO Oct. 24 -Nov.22 SouthmadeaNegativeDoubleof2D,hopingtofindaspadecontract. Hefol- 26. Settle (6) by alaid-backfeeling.Youdotakelifealittle Familymembers and Oftenitworks well if lowedwith2NTtoshowaninvitationalhandofaroundelevenpoints.West 27.Inscription (8) tooseriously. Youcannowreaptherewards ledthekingofdiamonds,hispartner’ssuit. people at home arein youkeep certain DOWN of initiativesyou started. an impatient mood, information to Howshould Southplantheplay? Bespecific. 1. Sense (6) and there’ll be yourself, though 2. Simplesong(6) TuesdayDecember 29 momentswhen you’reforced familymembers maybe TheWest Hand:S-9874H-A7652D-K2C-54 3. Directed acourse intoacorner.People at work challenging your secretive TheEastHand:S-A5H-4D-J109654C-QJ82 The Sun is hitting some of itsstrongest (9) mayhaverejected your advice. tendencies, inspiring youto 4. Probes (14) alignmentsover. This is positive,favours WhatSouthdidwaswintheace,thinkingthattheleadhadgivenhimatrick. Don’t worry, though,asbefore come clean. But,are youreally 6. Stuffing forpillows hardworkandoffershopeifyouarewilling He decided, randomly, to lead hearts next. West won the first round and theweekisout colleagues ready to reveal all? It maybebest (5) continued diamonds, which set up East’s suit. In time South had to lead to putintheextraeffortrequiredtoachieve should have realisedthe errorof to keep friends and partnersfully spadesandEasttookhisaceandset3NTwiththeremainderofhisdiamond 7. Oathsorpledges (8) your goals. suit. 8. Invigorate(8) theirways. informedofyour plans “Iwasunlucky,” saidSouth. “IfIguesstolead spadesfirstImake3NT.” and activities. 9. Cooperation between competing WednesdayDecember 30 GEMINI May22-June 21 “That’s true,” noted North, but leavingsomething unsaidthat hung in the political†parties (14) air. WhatdidNorthmeanbyhisunfinishedstatement? The week is full of SAGITTARIUS Nov. 23 -Dec. 22 15.Accomplishing(9) Lifehas been confusing lately. One reason What North meant was that South should have made 3NT. You saw what see(7) 17. Sends in different directions (8) promise, even The week’s top 16.Caught_____ :caught unprepared might be that close partners needtocome South did do and it is agreed that South was unlucky to lead hearts before 26. Point to aflowerfor afestival 19.Fashionablegreeting, butover- or unawares?(3,5) though theremay be planets areMarsand spades.Hadheledspadesfirst,thatwouldhaveremovedEast’sentry.How (6) affected (6) cleanabout what they’rereallyupto-and could Southhavemade3NTwithout guessingtoplayspades first? 17. Variety of celery(8) manycrisestodeal Uranus, a 27.One having daylight castoncoin 20.Colonel lushlyretired alittle out of youneedtobemoreaware of your long- 19.___ AurShera: lovers of Indian with. In fact, it’s your business combinationwhich collectioninParaguay’s capital sorts(6) SouthshouldhaverealizedthatEastprobablyhadoneofthemajorsuitaces. folklore?(6) term ambitions. affairs which arecoming under is bound to makeyou think If East had both of them it would be inconsistent with the bidding, but one (8) 22. Makesureslip isn’tshowing 20.Sentimental art (6) scrutiny.The brightestdays of afreshaboutyour independence acewaspossible.Southshouldhaveletthekingofdiamondswintrickone. DOWN (5) 22. Chose(5) ThursdayDecember 31 theweekfor resolving alllegal -and about what youneedtodo West would lead his second diamond but now South couldlead either ma- 1. Birdatthe fair ? jorandsucceedbecauseWestwould notbeabletoleaddiamondsagain. CRYPTIC CLUES You’llbetakingyourpleasuresseriouslyand issues and arranging long- to recoveryour freedom. What is (6) ACROSS Solutions to 2300 if youcan mix self-improvement with distancetravelare Wednesday taking place at themoment Dealer: South,Vulnerable:North South 1. Violet canine? (8) 2. Leave Regina to go north ?Monster and Thursday. involvesall that is most !(6) QUICKCLUESAcross: 1Eraser,4 simple fun, you’ll makethe mostofa 5. Happen to be autumn profound andfundamental to 3. Howyou mayliveifsingle-minded Dominant,9Forged,10Scissors,12Rick, profoundlyproductive period.Idoubt if CANCER June 22 -July23 (6) 13Reciprocal,15Extravagance,18 your existence. 10.Quietreasontoexercisecharacter ?(2,4,3) you’ll have amoment to yourself. The Moon begins the NORTH SOUTH 4. Games held by people following Freewheeling,21Applicable,22Tito,24 (7) Hardcopy,25Nepali,26Transfer,27 week by challenging CAPRICORN Dec. 23 -Jan. 20 revolutionaryart movement ♠ K10764 ♠ J3 11.One order sung about self-centred Pantry.Down:1Enforced, FridayJanuary1 your sign, so youmay Youmay be feeling a ❤53 ❤A prayers (7) (14) 2Atrocity,3Even,5Onceinawhile,6 be pre-occupiedby littlemoreemotional 6. So, with time,itcauses grain to Youcan nowaffordtoput your foot down ♦ Q874 ♦ AKJ932 12.Run away to join up, perhaps (5) Instructed,7Avouch,8Tussle,11Setan athome.TheMoongivesyoutheadvantage, partnership matters, in than usual,but this is 13.Breaking up can be very painful spoil(5) example,14Hairpieces,16Vigilant,17 particular by the needto naturalnow that 7. Quitesatisfactory, so there’s none ♣53 ♣A982 (9) Ignominy,19Sachet,20Sparta,23Meta. and this week onlyaclose friend can call persuade afriend or colleague to Neptune is makingits presence left(3,5) CrypticClues:Across:1Bubble,4 14.Vehicles fordriving instructors your bluff. Colleagues and partners should agree with your plans. As it felt in freshregionsofyour chart. 8. An injured stag in theAlps moved Abortive,9Nerves,10Reaffirm, WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH (5,7) finallyadmit that youare right. happens, this is an excellent However, don’tget toocarried 18.Never out-but notinvariably round whenatthe point of death 12Mobs,13Instalment,15Attache- Pass 1S 2H 3D cases,18Friday’schild,21Mace-bearer, week to getproposalsfor away,otherwiseyou’ll miss out (12) (4,4) SaturdayJanuary2 3H 4D Pass 5D 9. Continual hail’s giving me weird 22Team,24Thematic,25Begone,26 domestic changebackoncourse. on very excitingprofessional 21.African has warm drink about ten Semidome,27Gaggle.Down:1Bone visions! (14) It’s afine time to put in extraeffort. You developments. Pass Pass Pass (9) meal,2Birdbath,3Lief,5Breathalyser,6 LEO July 24 -Aug. 23 15.Burial placeofaKennedy girl, not might be working quitehardatthe 23. Asian leader turnedchickenbefore Refulgence,7Ibidem,8Enmity,11 TheSun is busy AQUARIUS Jan. 21 -Feb. 19 an Askew (9) SouthbidconservativelyatfirstbutwhenNorthmadeacompetitive4Dbid game (5) Incendiarism,14Scoreboard,16Live-long, moment. In astrangesense, you’ll gain the shedding light on Lifeisalways 24.Heart possiblyretains energywith 16.Desirable stiffener providedbythe Southwenttogame. Itisagoodgame,dependingonguessingthespades. 17AdamBede,19Smites,20Scream, greatestpleasurefrommaturebehaviour ideasand complicated,never oldculinaryherb (7) merry thought? 23Leda Westledthejackofhearts,whichSouthwon.Howwouldyougoaboutplay- agreementswhich easy! There’ll be a ingthehandtohelpyou guessthespadesuit? 25. Coal pit worked outasyou can (4-4) and sober activities. have been neglected forsome great dealgoing on time. AfterMercurymakes some behind thescenes at the significant alignments in the beginningofthe week,but don’t middle of the week,you’llhave fall intothe trap of imagining that JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel5s all the opportunity you’ve been other people areout to getyou. Instructions waiting fortoarrange Youshould ignorerumours and Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, appointments, seek interviews discount superstitionsunless and hold important discussions. youhavehardconcreteevidence therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 4334 theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe that they’retrue. 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SOLUTION
TICKY ,S MMIT CO I, SUSH OBESE, SOLUTION:
Kolkata DECEMBER 27, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 11 THE SUNDAY EXPRESSMAGAZINE
THE YEAR THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WAS OurBroken, Don’t Blamethe Hopeful Lives Sci-fi Writer Ourpickofthe best tales of human upliftment 2020 has had more than sufficient drama fora on OTT platforms eye reality-showseason finale TOUCHING THEVOID In our last issue of 2020, alook back at this strange,disruptive year and how it taught us to examine our lives anew. First up, long beforesocial distancing brought home to us the transformative power of touch, arelentless, invisible segregation hadensured that we did not meet each otherasequals
Annie Zaidi written in blood.Touchsignalsacceptance,re- spect, solidarity.While the mixingofblood- lines is itsultimatefrontier, living in mixed TOUCH, LIKE love,reveals itself morefully neighbourhoodsandeatingat the sametable once it is in retreat. is the very brickworkofafunctional, healthy Nine months of nottouching anyone ex- society.The transformative poweroftouchis ceptmymother,and Iamdownamineshaft greatlydiminishedifyou refuseto sharespace. of memories about touch: what waspermis- Various degrees of segregation, on the other sible forwhom, the shockofimpliedtouch hand,ensurethatweare notforcedtocon- wherenone existed, sanguine touch, and front eachother as equal citizens. The true op- touchthat invertsall presumption. positeofuntouchability is, thus, notalegally During thelongmonthsofself-isolating, defensible touchabilitybut de-segregation, my childhood steppedout of itsshadows,be- whichisresistedfiercelyinour country. musedatthe social-media hoo-ha about not It wasn’tsurprisingthat,in the early weeks being able to hug friends. Despite growing up of the COVID-19pandemic, we begantohear in afamilywherehugs were the norm and a afew excuses forthe practise of untouchabil- culturethat emphasisedembracing asaform ity —the fear of infection. Stringent social- of greeting, Igrew up nothugging friends. physicaldistancing rules have notcut both WhereIwas growing up in Rajasthan in the ways though. Could people higher up in the 1980s and early ’90s, Inever sawothers hug caste and class hierarchybeaskedto take turns in public. Classmates shook hands formally to do dangerous and “polluting”work,and be occasionally,say,when youfirstmet some- subject to theancient “untouchable” rules in one, or when youwantedto say“Congrats” or the bargain, including being deniedaccess to “HappyBirthday”. Violent touchwas adiffer- common waterresources and being forcedto ent matter.Irecall plenty of beatings and other live on the fringes of all villagesand towns? kinds of assaultsonstudentsinschool. Could the upper and middle classes, even now, Kids touchedeachother, of course,during just be asked to deal withtheir ownwaste, sports or stageperformances. We dancedso- makingsuretodispose it of onlywithinthe ciallyacouple of times ayear,but even that narrowperipheryoftheir ownapartment wassomething my mother initiated at the complex, and notcreatepollution in other birthdayparties she hosted. Grown-ups gath- parts of thecity, wherethe poor live? ered at dinners, pujas, club fetes, orchestra- Our relentless segregation, so ferociously party nights; Ididn’t see them hugging. guarded, is it treatable? Idon’t know, but I It wasn’t until Ijoinedagirls’hostelthat place my hope in education and empathy, hugging became amoreconstant demonstra- whichare akind of spiritual touch. In liberat- tion of friendship. Once Imoved to metropo- EXPRESSARCHIVE ing ourselvesfromignorance and falsehood, lises likeMumbai, Iobservednewsocial rules. residents”. It is no secret thatmostupper-caste MAKE THINGS in the canteen. Now, Iamstarting to wonder wasabout aDalit youth beaten to death be- we mayfindthatexclusionsvia touchonly Friends, colleagues, even acquaintances households keepseparatecupsand platesfor TOPSY-TURVY if it wasn’t because eventhefanciest lunchre- cause he had touchedthe food that had been handicapour society.Wegainnothing except reachedout forhugs. In the newmillennium, domesticworkers. Thereare apartmentcom- quires that suits turn intomen. Men and servedatafeast.Thevictimhadbeencalledto abloated sense of self and amindless fear of Now that Isaw newkinds of informal touch: air-kissing, plexeswhereMuslims or Dalitsmay notre- women, with hands that areageing and thevenueto“cleanup”.Twoupper-caste men losing what we have.Through science and his- fist-bumps, high-fives. By early 2020, the ca- side even if theycan afford to.Public parks separateness is the mouths that makechewing sounds and bel- sawthat he had served himself some of the tory we maylearn that all the segregations in sual half-hug hadlittleemotional significance. charge entrance fees, effectivelybarring the norm, we realise how lies that have to be filled. Eating at the same food and reacted by beating him senseless. theworld cannotprevent changes to our way It remained,however, asignificantsocial con- poor and the homeless. Kids areroutinelyseg- much of asignificant tablewould expose themashuman,no more Inanattempt to verifythereport,IGoogled of lifeand to ourDNA. tract. Hugsassuredparticipantsofacertain regatedviafood with certain schools insisting social contract touch andnolessthantheguywhosweptthe floors “Dalitbeatento death”.Anunconscionablelist We canexpend our strength clinging to peerdom for, always,therewereothers,peo- on vegetarian tiffin, and manystatesrefusing is in our lives or the woman whosat up half the night fix- unfurled.InMay2019,a21-year-oldDalitman the hands of the clock, straining to prevent a ple brickedoff from your affection. Youcould to alloweggs or meat in school lunches. ing other people’s grammar forwages that wasbeaten to deathatawedding. He had of- mix of food habits, blood, faith. We will slow always tell whichsocial classyou belongedto Many work organisationshaveseparate didn’t allowher to retire. fendedhisupper-caste assailantsbecausehe’d down thewheel of timeforaminute,no more. basedonwho gave youahug while leaving eating areas fordifferent classesofemploy- Itisharderto yellat,bullyorrenderjobless occupiedachair. One storyfromNovember Or,wecould reachouttheway poetManglesh the room, who wouldmerelynod, and who ees.Oneof theoffices Iworkedatwould serve the people youeat with.Proximitytoanother this year mentionedaDalit farm worker in Dabral, snatchedfromour midstbythe coro- didn’tfeel the needtoacknowledge youatall. thebosses fancier luncheson nicer trays.They humanbody allows youtolook beyond Guna, Madhya Pradesh,who wasbeaten to navirusthis year,had written: “Touchyou Nowthat separateness is thenorm, now did notcome to thecanteen to eat thesub- clothes, designations and clan affiliations. It deathforrefusingtohandoveramatchbox.In musteventhough it makes things topsy thatwehesitateatthresholds,constantlyalert sidised, vegetarian meals the rest of us ate. In forces youtoacknowledge that vast privilege September,two Dalitchildren—a12-year-old turvy”. We could reject those “Do nottouch” to eachbody’s proximity,Isee clearly what passing, Ihad glancedatthose top-manage- is rarely earned. This is, naturally, aterrifying girland a10-year-old boy—werebeaten to injunctions, and marvel at what we have wasalways there, but noteasy to acknowl- ment trays:china and cutlery, bowlsfilled propositionforthosewhohave unearnedpriv- deathinMadhya Pradesh,apparentlyfordefe- gained:thegreat peace of nothavingto worry edge.Casual social hugging had become one with neatlycubed fruit, served discreetlyin ilege, and,so, theymustholdthemselvessep- catinginthe open.Another storyfromJune aboutwho and what is deniedtous. The end- of those tools that affirmedclass distinctions. conference rooms or their opaque offices. arate,pretendingtheyare superiorormorede- wasaboutaDalitcollegestudentinPunewho less relief! Indians arenot newtosocialand physical Iusedtowonderwhy this separateness serving of calmer,prettierenvironments. hadfalleninlove withanupper-caste woman. distancing.Long before the pandemic, there wasnecessary. Whycould bosses notshare Morethan once over thesenine months Chairs. Food. Utensils. Love andsex.Ofall AnnieZaidiisawriterandshort-filmmaker.She’s were separatelifts andstaircasesfor“service” tables with clerksandsecretaries?It wasn’tas we have wokenuptobrutereminders that things, this lasttouchisfeared themostfor it thewinnerofthe2020TataLiteratureLiveBookof staff. Private gardensrestrictedaccessto “non- if healthyorexpensive foods were forbidden touchisconstantly policed.One recent story erodes, and eventually, erases hierarchies theYear(Fiction)AwardforherPreludetoaRiot AGlossary of 2020 Words
All the words that this year threw up in one pithy account
Vatsala Mamgain drinking vodka at noon and weepywith anx- to continuallyget usedtoanew butmuch the countryissafe iety,you’reonanemotional coronacoaster worse normal WORK FROM HOME (WFH) (PHRASE): FORAyear that leftusspeechless, 2020 has CORONIALS(N): Babiesproducedafter ayear SOCIAL DISTANCING(PHRASE): (also re- Wearing pyjamas to snack, clean, cook, been full of words. Afew have expectedly, of lockdown. E.g: Coronials arethe productof ferredto asanti-socialdistancing)Usinglock- snack, answer emails, attend calls, snack, etc. been dangerous to health. Awordlike“un- the fact thatwhilesocial distancing wasman- down as theperfectreasonto avoid everyone E.g. Formostright-thinking people, work in- precedented”, forinstance, has single-hand- datedoutside, theimpactin thebedroom was youdon’tlike. E.g. Introvertsare desperatefor terferes with the full enjoyment of WFH edly convertedus into anation withverypoor quitethe opposite social-distancing rules to be lifted so every- liverhealth. It has been rigorouslyprovenby one theylivewith will leave the house YOU’RE ON MUTE! (PHRASE): The most anunscientificstudy thatif apersontookasip COVIDIOT (N): Aperson with their brains in usedwords in 2020. E.g. YOU’RE ON MUTE! of adrink everytime theyread or heardthe their bum when it comes to COVID-19safety. THE COVID-19(PHRASE): Refers to the19 word “unprecedented”this year,their liver E.g. Medical testshaveproventhat sadlyfor pounds an averageperson put on during this ZOOM (N): The app youuse to provetoyour would be shottohell by now. the rest of us,nocovidiotisasymptomatic pandemicfromstress-eating. E.g.Remember bossthat you’vemanaged to getout of bed. Backin2016,PresidentDonaldTrumphad when everyone usedtosay the key to losing E.g. Has anyone else forgottentheyare on a famouslyboasted, “I knowwords. Ihavethe FITNESS/ WORKOUT (N): Thirty minutes of weightwas eating moreofyour meals at Zoom meeting with the video on and inad- best words.”Butsadly, inthis,asinotherthings, getting your heartrateupfollowed by 23.5 home? The Covid 19 hadn’tstruckthen! vertentlystarted pluckinglintout of their 2020hadhimbeat.So,asapublicserviceto fu- hours spent in the same position. E.g. It’s been bellybutton? If not, then me neither turehistorians,hereisthedictionaryof2020— important to keep up with one’s routine dur- THE ELEPHANTIN THEZOOM (PHRASE): all the wordsofthe year,definedastheyare ing quarantine. So, right through the year,I The glaring issue during avideoconferencing THEEND (PHRASE):Notherebyany means really used, in one pithy, inaccuratevolume: continuedtonot work out, justlikebefore call that everybody feelsunable to mention. but hopefullyclose. E.g. It’s the end of 2020! E.g. Ididthisafternoon’smeetingin atowelas Things can’t possiblyget anyworse next year, 2020 (VERB): When youbugger things up HANDWASHING(V): The No.1 gap-year ac- nothing fits me anymore.ButIreliedonitbe- so theycan onlyget better! beyond belief. E.g. Legal analystJeffrey Toobin tivity in mostCVs in 2020. E.g. Futuregenera- ingthe elephant in the Zoom This unprecedented dictionaryfor un- 2020’d his career afterheaccidentallyexposed tions will be shocked to learn that the “Happy ILLUSTRATION:SUVAJITDEY precedented times is available on order in a himself on aZoom work call. (PS: This is atrue birthday” song usedtoactuallybesung at LOCKTAIL HOUR (PHRASE): Beer o’clockin fee, the ideas will reallybegin to flow when I TODDLERS (N): The fruit of your ownloins classy leatheritebound volume. Youcan in- story. 2020 is afabulousyear forstories of birthdays andnot justtotime handwashing the lockdown era. E.g. Is it justmeorhas lock- have that in my system with whomyou playedhide and seek all vest in this forthe coronials in your life. 2020-ing) tail hour startedcreepingearlier witheach through the lockdown, even if theydidn’t re- Meanwhile, Happy2021. Stay safe, stay LOCKDOWN (N): Aperiod of complete re- passing week? MORONAVIRUS (N): What covidiots alise it. E.g. Send help to the parents, rumour healthyand remember —keep the mid- CORONACOASTER (NOUN): Theups and strictions when everyone’strue hair colour test positivefor.E.g. Donald Trump, Rudy hasitthe toddlers arewinning hands down morningcoffeecloseat hand. Youneverknow downs of your mood during the pandemic. wasrevealed. E.g. Lockdownwas what was MID-MORNINGCOFFEE(N): (alsoknown Giuliani, etc what the NewYear has in store! E.g. If you’reloving lockdown one minute — neededfor awhole bunchofpeople to learn as mid-afternoon coffee) An amazing drink VACCINE(N): Hopeinasyringe. E.g. Thevac- baking bread and happyasabug —and the that“sufficienttime home alone”wasnot the exceptwith tequila, lime juice, triple sec and NEW NORMAL (PHRASE): What stinksfor cine should firstbetestedonpoliticians. If they VatsalaMamgainisaglutton,cook,runner,tree next minute, youare missingthe office coffee, onlything neededtowrite agreat novel nocoffee. E.g. Letmeget my mid-morningcof- everyone. E.g. The newnormal forthis year is areokay, the vaccine is safe, but if theyaren’t, lover,shopperandreader Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE
DECEMBER 27, 2020 THE YEAR THAT WAS 12
EYE SPY EVERY FORTNIGHT, WE PICK, YOU WATCH ALittle Solace
THERIGHTMOVES Anya Ta ylor-Joy in The Queen’s Gambit During this difficult year,afew shows thrilled, entertained and comforted us
Shubhra Gupta
TORIES THATcan take youout of yourself, even momentarily, areworth paying attention to:just howdid theyshiftyour axis?Inany other year,I Swould go looking forthe unusual, veering to- wardsstuffthat wasalittle off-kilter.But as these months wore on,during whichwehunkered inside, fearful of a PHOTOSCOURTESYRASHTRAPATIBHAVAN virus that has no cure(yet), Icaught myself actively lean- ing towardstales of human upliftment. So, yes, Idid succumb to the quirky charms of Lyra Silvertongue and her daemon, Pan, in the second season of His DarkMaterials (Disney+ Hotstar). The series is based FirstGardens of the Republic on Philip Pullman’s classic trilogy featuring parallel uni- verses, ahostoffantastical creatures, afascinating fight pitting good and evil, and endless adventures. Ialso took adeep dive intoPerry Mason’s origin story, and promotednew kinds of gardens. During whichrevived our fading memories of Erle Stanley The Rashtrapati Bhavan’s serene, verdant the food shortage of 1950, Governor-General Gardner’s indomitable lawyer who crackedalmostevery CRajagopalacharimade apowerful gesture case he took on. Perry Mason (Disney+ Hotstar) starts with estate is rich with blooms and history when he rolleduphis sleevesand ploughed him as aweathered warveteran-turned-private investi- apartofthe premises to grow food grains. gatorlooking forpaying gigs in 1931-32 Los Angeles. Today, the Nutrition Garden, popularly known What lifts this murder-kidnap whodunit is the startling Pawan Kumar Sain wing of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, arethe ele- as Dalikhana,stands there. Perennialandsea- depth on display: notonlydoes Mason, playedwonder- gant gardens, plannedinthe formal Mughal sonalvegetablesand fruitswith high nutri- fullybyMatthewRhys, solve the case, he finds purpose. stylewhile also incorporating some elements tional value aregrown organicallythere. But my topfour shows would have to be those which NNOVEMBER 13,2019, Prince of British gardens. Theyfollow the exquisite When RVenkataraman wasthe President, placedpeople likeyou andme, and their struggles, front Charles, the longest-serving symmetryofthe Persian-inspired charbagh acactus garden wasadded. Alarge number of and centre. Unorthodox (Netflix) tracks the flight of a heir apparent to the British (quadrilateral) tradition.Intheir three sections, newtypes of cacti, developedvia intergeneric young woman from aHasidic Jewish community in throne, walked down paths architectural andarborealfeatures areequally hybridisation and growth manipulation at the Williamsburg, NewYorkCity,toBerlin. Nineteen-year-old OquitefamiliartoBritisharistoc- emphasised. Regional Plant Resource Centreat Esty,playedbythe delicateShiraHaas, is imprisonedby racy.Hewas takentothe HerbalGardeninthe RobertGrant Irving, in his acclaimedstudy, Bhubaneswar,wereaddedinearly 2005. the tight coils of tradition and community.Her journeyis Rashtrapati Bhavan, whereheplanted a Indian Summer:Lutyens,Baker,and Imperial During the presidency of Dr APJAbdul specific to herroots,but we know her troubles: youcan be champa sapling. Accompanied by President Delhi (1981, Yale University Press), describes Kalam, manytheme-basedgardens came up anywhereinthe world, but as awoman, youhavetofight RamNath Kovind, the Prince of Wales notonly the ambience thus: “Themassive,nobly se- GREENAND Zakir Husain. on the premises. Among them, the Musical to be your ownperson. exudedcharm butalso exhibitedchildlike cu- vere walls whichenclose the garden literally SERENE The gardeners of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Garden offers aspectacular showwhen scin- NormalPeople (Hulu), basedonSallyRooney’s book of riositywhen experts from the Ministryof grow outofthe lowerbasement, resembling have kept alive thetradition of nurturing the tillatinglights,inperfect synchronisationwith the same name, refreshes the teenageromance trope (Top) The gardens of AYUSH briefedhim on the medicinal proper- animposingfortress. Channelsofwaterinter- defining featureofthe gardens —the multi- the tunes of veena and shehnai,fall on cascad- quitebeautifully. The fresh-facedMarianne and Connell tiesofvarious plants in the garden.Hewas sectinagrid pattern, with the intersections the Rashtrapati tude of rose varieties. Theyinclude Adora, ing jets of water. Twoherbal gardens were cre- playout their complicated,off-on relationship in Sligo, told aboutthecollaboration markedbyimpressive Bhavan were Mrinalini, TajMahal, EiffelTower, atedto promote naturaland gentlerremedies Ireland, but who doesn’t remember the flush of firstlove? between the All India sandstone fountains con- planned in the Scentimental,Oklahoma(alsocalledBlack forthe well-being of the common people.A From an adult, done-and-dustedperspective,ittakes you InstituteofAyurvedaand structed in apetal design formal Mughal style Rose), BlackLady, BlueMoonand LadyX. Spiritual Garden came up with plant selec- backtoyour owntime when youth stretchedendlessly, the College of Medicine,UK. basedonthe hexagram. while also Thereare alsoroses namedafter personali- tions basedoninformation gatheredfromthe and nottalking to someone whomattered the mostcould The Herbal Garden is Sandstone-pavedpaths ties:Mother Teresa,Raja RamMohan Roy, Mr sacredbooksofdifferent religions. Based on be asillychoice of your ownmaking. incorporating one among an array of gar- continue the grid pattern, Lincoln, Jawahar,and Queen Elizabeth—not thetheme of “sense”, theTactile Garden was Anya Taylor-Joydoesn’t makeasingle false move in dens that impartatouchof setamidstaformal planta- elementsofBritish to forget Arjun and Bhim. The ingenious gar- introducedfor the visuallychallengedso that The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), in her playing of chess mystique to theRashtrapati tion of trees, grass and gardens; Governor- deners also introducednew,exotic varieties theycan also enjoythe beauty of nature. prodigy Beth Harmon who fightsthe twin demons of Bhavan. Theyharkbackto flowerbeds.” General C of flowers likebirds of paradise, tulips and The mostimportant aspect of these glori- drug and alcohol dependency on her waytobecoming a mythology —the wayto Living History Though the layout of Rajagopalachari heliconia in 1998. ousgardens, of course,is the democraticspirit worldchampion. As an orphan in ’50s America, Beth paradise or firdaus passes the garden wasinplace by ploughing asection The Long Garden, apartofthe Mughal of the presidentsofIndia:The Rashtrapati needs to find her waytoachess board, and to unlikely through gardens. Or,con- An Indian Express 1917,the planting was of the gardens to Gardens, is known forits varieties of roses. It Bhavangardens, particularly the Mughal supportive partners, including avulnerable older woman, sider the Garden of Eden, takenuponlyin1928-29. lies afew steps belowthe highestlevel of the Gardens, arethrownopen to the publicduring who provides both succour and wisdom. This one’s pure the paradise on earth. The collaboration with the Director of horticulture grow foodgrains MughalGardens.Itisenclosedby12-feethigh the bloom season, and this Udyanotsav at- joy, even if youdon’t understand chess. lush landscape surround- RashtrapatiBhavan William Mustoe, who during the 1950 walls with pergola creepers running through tractsmillions of visitors. And Michaela Coel has my heartwith her brilliant I ingtheRashtrapati Bhavan, plantedthegarden,was es- food shortage thepassage. TheLong Garden leadsdown- Thankstothe cornucopia of nurseries, the MayDestroy You (Disney+ Hotstar), adisturbing tale of designedtodisplay colonial pecially skilledatgrowing ward into acircularsunken garden, which President’s Estate remains filledwith colour, rape and responsibility.Coel plays Arabella, aLondon- powerand style, wasonceasecludedoasisfor rosesand issaidto have introducedmorethan consists of alarge pool surroundedbytiers of fragrance and tranquillity, through the year. basedTwitter star-turned-author,who relivesthe trauma theprivateenjoyment of the viceroy.Thiswas 250 different varieties of hybrid roses gath- plants. In thewords of Irving, “Thetranquil- Naturelovers visiting the Estate arerichlyre- of adarknight through flashes, and ahardpath of self-re- reoriented to servethe sovereign democratic ered from everycorner of the world. Lady lityofacircularpool climaxesthemain urban wardedwith the experience of the beauty and alisation. It’s adifficult parttopull off, and Coel takesno republic afterIndependence. Beatrix Stanley, aprominent horticulturist, axis and faintlyechoedthe WarMemorial ro- insightsintothe weboflife. prisoners, laying herself out completely,offering no ex- If the RashtrapatiBhavanisanarchitec- notedin1931that she had notseen better tary,morethan twomiles distant.” cuses. So hardtowatch, andsorewarding. tural marvel, the15-acreMughal Gardensare roses in England. Later,morevariety was AfterIndependence,the Indian occupants PawanKumarSainisdirector, itssoul. On the west side, behind the central added, especiallyduring thepresidency of Dr of the place addedpragmatism to aesthetics President’sSecretariat
but the US workshardtohide itsbrokenreal- ity:families living in the Tundrawinter with Bridge Over Troubled Waters no heating;anotherfamily so broken thatthey gassedthemselvestodeath when theywere unable to paytheir creditors; children who The pandemic has exposed the deep divides in our world. wouldcome to school hungryonMonday, not having eaten ameal since theyleftfor home Can we find away to cross them? on Friday; children and adultswasting away because ahospital visit would bankruptthem; humanity.Inrecent decades, we have seen it understood norms about chickenhusbandry youngsters being homeschooledbyparents reveal therotinourmidst, one thatwe have to and livedhappilydespitetheir differences in whocouldn’teducatethembutthoughtitbet- SLICEOFLIFE acceptasbeing of our ownmaking. sizesand forms. Even the roosters in our flock tertonot exposetheirlives to uncaring and For27years, Ilivedbetween NewYorkCity didn’t getaggressive.ThentherewasAntonio judgementalneighbours; families eating food andafarmsteadin avillage calledHebron,nes- Banderas,ourmajestic, charming, andalmost- that wasneither whole nor fresh —and this tledbetween theAdirondackmountains of human llama —agiftfromthe neighbour while working as farmers. New York and the picturesque Green whose alpacas we rescuedwhen she could- Whyshould anyone have to worryabout Mountains of Vermont. While in the city, Ien- n’taffordkeeping them. taking alovedone to adoctor and gettingtheir joyedthe high of the New York minuteand Ourfields,ourcare,andourfood andhous- illnesstreated?Why shouldahospital visit be the thrill would intensify eachtime Iarrived ing kept these animals from money-hungry the reason someone becomes homeless and from thefarm.The70 acresofluxuriantgreen and inhumane breeders. We had ahugefam- jobless? Howcan arural outpostevertrulybe living andan organiclifestylenevermademe ilyofotherwise shyblue herons, wild turkeys partofaglobal villagewhen thereisnoafford- feel as comfortable andsafeasthe city.Atleast andgeese, too,as wellasdeer andrabbits. But able high-speedinternetaccess? notoutsideof ourfarm’sboundariesandthose the prize wasthe familyoffivemountain li- This yearhas shown what afflicts us across of dear friends. ons, who, when spotted,scaredus but whose allbordersand on everysideofthe political My lifepartner and Iworkedhardtocre- presence made us proud of howwewere aisle. The Donald Trumpsof this worlddonot ateahome on the farm that welcomedone maintaining our parcel on this planet. come from avacuum. Theyare the result of a and all and wasconnected to nature. Hives Youcould call our farm Utopia —alabour system that has failed. Forevery leader like carefullytendedbyatrainedapiaristbrought of mad and deep love.Ourfarmhouse wasour Trump, thereare millionsof peoplebroken by millions of bees buzzing around wild and cul- safehaven,our comfortable place to hostand society.When comfortand advantagefor the tivatedflowers.Four dozen alpacas roamed entertain. We opened it to neighbours and luckycome with the marginalisation of other ourpastures, drinkingfrom astate-designated strangers, alike. We made friends, changed people,all of us suffer. SuvirSaran trout stream, and 50 ducks and geese ranged lives, and were alsoat the receiving end of this Humanshavealways treatedeachother free on our property and found asafehaven enriching exchange. We savoured the slow SUVIRSARAN unfairly;greedis asold ashumanity.The inter- Suvir Saran is achef, author,educator in our pond. Twohundred chickens of over pace of lifeand being connected to Mother LIFE LESSONS extending our creaturecomforts to others netand social media have brought inequity and world traveller three dozen varieties —all endangered,rare, or Earth. We cherishedlivingasonewith the sea- Ataleof two cities — around, and we knewothersdoing the same. front and centreand have alsoheightenedits threatened—lived in acoop that Michael sons and bravedtheirchallenges as happilyas But we were the minority.Living in this rural repercussions. The coronavirus will die like New York City AS THEpandemicgoes on,itshows no mercy. Batterberry,the latepublisher of suchmaga- we enjoyed their resplendency.But we were outpostjustafew hours north of NewYork we all do;lifewill go on, with or without us. Deathandsicknessstalk us. Lifeasweknewit zines as Food and Wine and Food Arts,called lucky to nothavehad arevolution begin due and Hebron City,Isaw great disparity in the wealthiestand Riches flyaseasily as they comeand fame is 10 months agoiseroding. Strippedofthe ve- the“PalazzodePollo”, thepalace forchickens. to theglaring disparity between our fairy-tale mostpowerfulnation of the world. temporary. To leave alasting legacy,wemust neers of civility and development, 2020 has They had screenedwindows withshuttersfor lifeand the misfortunes of manyofour neigh- My father,visiting us from India, would say rise above the easy traps of material gains. shown howlittle we have progressedsince the blistery winter;ceiling rafters and sky- bours —adversities that were nottheir fault, that we livedinthe fourth worldinHebron. COVID-19isaclarion call to reflect upon our the end of the WorldWar II, even as we speak lightskepttheir home light and bright and en- but their lotbecause theywereborn intoa He washeartbrokenbythe povertyinrural actions and choices, to be kind and unselfish of the worldasaglobal village. sured thattheybreathedfresh air free of am- generational lackofopportunityand access. America.Hewould saythat the developing and to remember that, in the end, what goes Disparity has always been the despair of monia. These chickens defiedall previously We did our best to beresponsible neighbours, worldknows itschallenges andfaces them, around, comes around.
Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE
13 THE YEAR THAT WAS DECEMBER 27, 2020 DOWN IN Stranger Things
JUNGLELAND Fantasy helps to escape reality. But what if it becomes the reality? Tw ofilmmakers, two takes — on how the year 2020 comes to an end RanjitLal FROMTHE Ranjit Lal is an author, environmentalistand birdwatcher FRYINGPAN I’m Only Bhaskar Hazarika ISTEPPED out of the liftonthe 37th floor and headed Sleeping towardsthe pent- house apartment of risingBollywood star Rishi Sangwan. If only the hibernators were turned Irangthe bell and to before declaring the lockdown waited forthe door to open, listening to the babble of OSLEEP through bone-chilling winters is, alas, voices and ambient party music from inside the luckofseveral animal species and insects, for the apartment. Iglancedatmysmartphone hundredsofyears. To qualify fortrue hiberna- to checkthe time. It was10.43 pm on Ttion, the body temperatureand the heartrate December 31 —the lastday of this most mustdropasthe animal goes intoadeep, deep sleep. By wretched year 2020 AD. Iwas herenot justto this yardstick, it is argued that polar bears do nottechni- ring in the newyear andbid arelieved callyhibernatebut go intoastateoftorpor forthe winter farewell to this one, butalso formy months afterstuffing their faces and putting on thicklay- first—and Ihopednot the last—mask- ers of purefat before snuggling down under the snow. But burning party. polar-bear moms also give birth to their cubs at this time Ever since the vaccine forCOVID-19got —and all babies needwarmthand milk,whichthe mama deployed around theworld, groups of the bear has stockedupon. vaccinated have been throwing boisterous Rodents—from the great clan of ground squirrels — mask-burning parties. Theytendedtofea- and other insectivoresalso hibernate. While hiding nuts turewild merriment, feasting, and fornicat- GETTYIMAGES and acorns galoreincaches all over their territory, theyare ing —likepre-COVID parties on hyperdrive. them but forapiercing scream. Iturnedto SEASON’S extrawatchful. Keeping an eyeout forpotential thieves— But the main attraction at these parties, as lookatthe source, and wasstunned to see GREETINGS WONDERGIRL other squirrels and birds —theypretend to burythe nuts the name suggests —isthe collective burning my friend Rishitearing intothe neckofastar- Fiction to in aparticular place, while keeping them stuffedintheir of face masks. let—with his teeth. Morescreams distracted cheeksand hiding them elsewherewhen the coastis The bulk of the guests at theseparties me from this hideous sight, and Isaw that the rescue Va san Bala the Millennium Falcon to The Milano, where clear.Aspecies of woodpecker, too, rams in hundredsof featurethe vaccinated,but manyofthe the vaccinated were attacking the masked, shemeets Groot. They landinadeserted acorns and nutsintree’s boles, to feastoninwinter.The masked,too, turn up,secureinthe belief that ripping them apart withtheir teethinarabid jungle and have dinner at Yoda’s cottage, rationale behind hibernation is simple: winters in the the vaccinatedcannottransmitthe virus frenzy.Iturned to look at Rishi, and his eyes SAIBALIVES on abeautiful island. One day, as theseven dwarfs playsome musicand the northern hemisphereare ferociouslyfrigid and all sources anymore. That’s whyIwashere. Rishi wasa —orwhat usedtobehis eyes but were now she sitsonthe cliffoverseeing the sea, she sees hobbitssing. of food vanish. If youare unable to escape to warmer friend from when we were both cub re- putrid orbs filledwithpus —lockedontome. apod crash intothe water, it drowns but a Afterthat Captain Kirk beams Saiba into climes —bymigrating on foot or by air (whichiswhat a porters foranews chan- He charged, snarling likea thing is ejected outofit. Saiba divesintosee. his USSEnterprise.Sheplays chesswithSpock ●●● lotofbirds do) or sea, yousimplyfind aden and go to nel, and had justgottenhis wolf. Iran andshut myself As she swims closer, sherealises it’s arobot whenadistress signal from Fireball XL5 makes sleep: formonths, if necessary. Apartfromthe fat-tailed seconddose along with inside abathroom. andbringsitashore. Therobothas her leave the game unfinished dwarf lemur of Madagascar,noprimatehibernates: no the usual clutchofprivi- Ever since the Panicked, Iturnedonmy amessageencrypted in it. Saiba and go meet Doctor Venus, who’s creatureliving in the tropics needs to.Some, likefrogs and leged folk likeministers’ smartphone to figureout sees it as aholographic vision. It’s treating Elsa’s sister,Anna.Elsaac- toads, do however“aestivate”, disappearing deep under- sons and judges’ daugh- vaccine,groups of what the hell wasgoing on. to find amissing Warrior of the cidentallyfrozeAnna’sheart.Only ground during the parched drysummers, because six- ters. Iacceptedhis invite Afew minutes on Resistance to save the worldofthe Saiba’shealingtouchcan save her. feet under,itisstill cool and moist, whichiswhat they not(just)because of the thevaccinated have Twitter told me the bare Evil... an Evil Empire. Saiba uses allher powerand re- needsoastoavoid deathbydesiccation. aforementioned feasting beenthrowing mask- facts. The vaccinated were Saiba takesonthe plots of unites the sisters, bringing Imagine, as the days getcolder,darkerand depressing and fornication, but alsoto turning intozombies, gov- Wonder Woman, Moana and Star Christmas and joybackto (causing SAD—seasonal affective disorder in people in document amask-burn- burning parties ernmentswereparalysed, Wars and navigates her way Arendelle. But Saiba can’t stay for the frigid north), youfirstspend the autumn months pig- ing party forasmall news and no one knewhow to through an incredible adventure, toolong.Abit of imagination may ging it out at “eat all youcan” buffets:helping yourself to websiteIsometimes ●●● stop it. Justthen, Ihearda in whichshe makes newfriends, have been restored,but the Evil everysinful fat-oozing delicacy.Then youfurnish your wrotefor. distant church ringing in meets herheroes who disappoint Empireisstill strong. To defeat it, bed with piles of quiltsand blankets, getintoyour pyja- An hour later,Iwatchedaspeopledanced the newyear with bells. The ringing wafted in aworld that is losing hope, and an Empire Saiba needs to find the Warrior she’ll join mas, wriggle intobed and sink intoadeep, peaceful sleep around adrum of fire in the large balcony, through the open window, mixedwiththe that is ready to wipe out all magic and won- forces with. Armedwith amap, some food, tossing masksinthe flames as theywhirled sound of fireworks and screams of terror.I derment from the world. some water, andloads of imagination, Saiba around it.The mood wasecstatic, and it was looked in themirrorand said to myself — Saiba gets on aflying dog, blends The sets offfromArendelletomeetthe Dragon difficultfor thedozen-odd masked guests “Happynew year.” NeverEnding Story plot, and tries to save “imag- Warrior...the Kung Fu Panda! likemyself nottoget carriedawayand fling ination”as peoplearelosing faith in it.Without our ownmasksinthe fire,too. Some did ex- BhaskarHazarikaisaNationalAward-winning imagination, there’s no world. VasanBalaisawriter,anddirectorof actlythat, andmaybe Iwouldhavejoined AssamesefilmmakerofKothanodi andAamis The voyageshifts from the Flying Dog to MardKoDardNahiHota Don’t Blamethe Sci-fi Writer WIKIPEDIA WINTERISCOMING This is the year where reality completely overtook the human capacity for imagination —and not always in agood way Arctic ground squirrel hoards up to sustain hibernation
Samit Basu if anyone will be particularly worried. In fact, —for the next severalmonths. Your metabolism slows there’s everychancewewon’t even notice. down, and no, youdon’t have to getupthrice everynight When you’resurrounded by cultural, in- to pee. In the process, youactuallylose muchofthe hor- THERE’S Abad habitthat news/culturecom- stitutional, social, political, financial and en- rendous flab youhad put on as your body burns up all the mentators oftenhave: whenever something vironmental collapse,even forthoseofuswho stored fatand youeventuallyemerge looking trim and fit! reallybizarre andillogical happenstheycom- arepresentlysafeand have the luxuryofbe- (Polar-bear moms can lose up to one-thirdtheir body pareittosci-fiorfantasy.The aim, probably, is ingable to observeand speak,itisdifficult to weight overwinter.) This is one get-slim regime that to underline weirdness, but this habit always find either meaning or reaction. But if we are could become arageifmarketedright —justsleep softly, makes actual writers of speculative fiction to make our wayout of these years,it becomes love!For the next severalmonths, you’venocares or wor- (suchasmyself) chafe—fiction, even physics- imperative to find the strengthtorally and re- ries or bills to pay, justhopefullysweet dreams to revelin. exceedingimaginative fiction,iscompelledto build. We were told that the challengeofthis And then, when youfinallyyawnand stretchand awake, obey internallogicandnarrative consequence. decade would be reskilling, but the truth is it the sun is out and the firstflowers have begun to bloom. Reality,and the news,are not. Thereisnobet- is reallyabout survival. Surprise, youmay even have alovelybrand-newbabyby terexampleofthis than all the news of 2020. As we lurch fromcrisis to crisis, it becomes your side! No doubt you’reravenous, so,off yougotothe We beganthe year with protests, civil crucialthatwe find withinourselvestheabil- supermarket and the worldisawonderful place again! strife, political violence and the incredible de- ity to do more than justsurvive —manyhave As usual the denizens of the animal kingdomthought cline of severaldemocraticinstitutions. Itlooks already givenintoeither despair or the com- of this first. And it would be such aperfect solution forso likewe’reending it with all of these, too, with fort of submission, andhavethemselvesbe- manyofour problems too. Imagine, if the populations of apandemic that refuses to be sandwichedin come regressive,violent reality-deniers. the entirenorthern hemispherewent to sleep between between. But while early 2020 wasrichin Finding reserves of courage, conviction, em- November and April, the kind of savings we would make dystopian storyinspiration, the rest of theyear pathyand fortitude is no easy task,but it’s the —pollution would drop drastically, there’d be no needto had moreinstore,awhole meteor showerof onlyway we aregoing to find the hope we ravage the earth of itsprecious resources, fossil fuels logic-defying news.Asproteststurnedinto need,tobelieve that brighter days will come. would lastanother 100years, there’d be no murders, lockdowns, breakdowns,meltdowns, take- Afew yearsago,ataleading TVproducer’s hate-speeches or weddings that killjoys can lynchat. Yes, downs and countdowns, everyday,headlines office, Ideliveredafew pitches forshowideas, maybesome morebabies, but then everyone lovesba- thatwould have been world-changingin pre- GETTYIMAGES whichwerepromptlyand predictablyre- bies! And, maybe, those living in the sweaty tropical vious eras were justcasual daily-digestmate- typingforaliving,anddespitethesevere odd- DEEP BLUE SEA security agencies released UFOfootage,and jected fornot being Real India enough. Iwas south could do the same in summer,gotosleep between rial in this one. We learnedthat we were liv- ness of releasing anovelduring apandemic,I In California, the mysteriousradio wavesreachedourplanetin askedifIhad anyideas forScriptedReality. I Mayand October (though, of course, they’d demand air- ing in apost-truth worldafew years ago, but hadagreatyearprofessionally—thishasnever bursts fromunknown sources,so it’s possible wasunaware untilthat point that reality seas turned conditioning so that could be an issue!) 2020 has been post-reality.Hoaxes, miracles before beenguilt-inducing.So,Ithink,Icande- aliensexist, andtheyhaveapodcast, andnone showsasacategorywerecalledScripted Actuallyin2020, we did take ashotathibernating, and all-round absurdity have been appropri- clarethis officially: 2020isthe year wherere- fluorescentthis year, of this even holds our attention. The year Reality by producers, that none of them were though as usual we went about it in atotallyham-fisted ated by the news cycle. Loyalty testshave ality completely overtook the human capac- among other strange whereacelebrity releasedapersonalisedgen- curatedshowcases of spontaneous behaviour. manner.Giving 1.3billion people afour-hour notice to re- eaten facts. Mostofmyimagination is ex- ity forimagination, and soon mostsci-fiis happenings around italia-odour candleintothe market; where Theworldmightlookverysci-finow to those tirefromsocial activity foranindeterminateperiod of haustedjustthinking of peaceful times. going to lookastame and relaxing as your av- the world one of the world’stop football clubs mayhave whodon’treadsci-fi,andthat’sjustbecauseof time is notthe waytoassurethem of agood rest. This has been ayearof drasticreminders of eragemundane-lifenovel: comfortreading, hired trolls to attackits ownplayers; where all the shinytechnology.But the truth is, this Businesses and livelihoods collapsed, educational institu- everyprivilegewehave—to have ahouse to becausehoweverstrange thestory, thelawsof Britishrestraint involved tearing down 5G wasnot my year in asci-fiworld, nor yours, tions, sports,traveland entertainment shut down, and the live in and work out of, to have work to do, to internal logicstill apply. On the dayofwriting towers because of rumours; whereeventhe and no band of heroes is on itsway to save us. mantra became “workfromhome”. We,ofcourse, took have familyand friends who arehealthyand this, dead minksinfected with mutated world’s richestmen aremoreinterestedin We areinside averypoorly-designedScripted advantageofthis COVID-coma syndrome —amarvellous safe, and forafast-diminishing number of COVID-19haverisenfromtheir graves in space colonisation than matters terrestrial. Reality show: the cameras in place,the pre- excuse to shirkworkand getrid of vast numbers of people people, to have some remaining sense of be- Denmarkafteramassculling.Nobody’simag- InStanford,they createdasmarttoiletthat decidedwinners areswaggeringaboutevery- who neededtowork. “Wecan’t deliversince we’rework- ing inside some systems that still function. The ination did this: speaking forspeculative-fic- can identify youbyyour anal print. In where, and the ad breaks arerelentless.But ingwith only10per cent of our staff, because the rest are next fewyears(at least) aregoing to be very tion storytellers, we refuse to take theblame. I California, the seas turnedfluorescent.Onthe all reality shows,likeall empires, end eventu- tramping along expressways,backtothe boondocks.” roughforusall, andIhope 2021doesn’tmake thinkzombieminkswinthe2020news award, moon, waterwas found. Therewerelocust ally.Wedon’t have the option of ignoring this Our great leaders should have takenthe cue from po- us immediatelylook backfondlyatthis year. but thereare manyothercontenders. swarms and murder hornets. In India,aRhea one, but we’llfind away to defeat the pro- lar bears and givenpeople enough time to fatten up be- Ispent the lastthree years writing aspec- This wasthe year that featured several wasattackedfornoreasonbypro-government gramming. 2020 has had morethan sufficient fore theybatteneddownthe hatches on their heads. More ulative fictionnear-futurenovel,basedalmost people’s representativesdenying the coron- mobs. In Brazil, arhea (an emu-likebird) at- drama foraseason finale: Ican onlyhope it’s deviously, theypushedthrough rapacious legislation entirelyonnon-fictionandthenews.Tryingto avirusthreat evenaftergetting infectedthem- tackedthehead of governmentand became a nottoo manyyears before we find away to without due diligence, because we —the dulydiligent — carvesomesortof hopefulnarrative outofpiles selves. Wherethe mostpowerful man in the folk hero. In Thailand, inflatable ducks were collectively changethe channel. were hibernating on their orders. of notesabout multiple-choice impending worldmay stillhave to bedraggedkickingand usedfor protest. In Texas,K-pop fans helped apocalypses took everybit of creativity Ihave. screaming out of his official residence after defeat police surveillance with fan-cams. SamitBasuisaDelhi-basedwriter, My work mostlyinvolvessitting at home and losing an election. The year whereAmerican Tomorrow, if there’s an alieninvasion,Idoubt mostrecentlyofChosenSpirits
Kolkata THESUNDAYEXPRESS,DECEMBER27,2020 ROBIN JACKMAN NO MORE Former England cricketerRobinJackman, who played four Tests and 15 one-day internationals,has died. He was75. Jackman 14 took 1,402wickets in a399-game first-class SPORT AP careerbetween 1966 and1982. Wish abba was alive: Brother says Sirajhas fulfiled late father’s dream
On November 20, little morethan a An incident from Siraj's Hyderabad U-23 skills and it wasbecause of him that he time in five seasons. Since then, he has been VISHALMENON monthbeforeSiraj’s Test debut, hisfather days still ranklesMabboob. landedanIPL contracttwo years later,in2017 aregular at India Atours, all of whichhave DECEMBER26 Ghouse passedaway. The stringent quaran- “HCAhad organisedafitness campfor forthe Sunrisers Hyderabad,” Prasad says. been instrumental in his seamless transition tine restrictions meant the 26-year-old fast bowlers of the U-23 squad at MSK Prasad, the former national chair- from araw pacer to abowler with astute MOHAMMED ISMAIL gathers himself, clears couldn’t return to India forhis father’s final Secunderabad Gymkhana ground. Everyone man of selectors, says it’sbecause of the cricketing nous. his throat, and tries his best to control his rites. “Staystrong foryour father’s dream”; assembledthat morning, but Siraj wasmiss- abundance of fast bowlers that Siraj had to The successes on the cricket field, however, emotions, before uttering the barelyaudible: those wordsfromcaptain ViratKohli helped ing. When Ilater inquired,hesaid,‘Sir,Idon’t wait so long to makehis Test debut. “Siraj’s have notchanged Siraj’s outlook or de- “I wish abba (lateMohammedGhouse) was Siraj stay backinAustralia. However, Ismail have the moneytotraveltoand frofrom storyissimilar to that of T. Natarajan’s as both meanour.Lastyear,the familyshiftedfrom alive today.” remembers his brother breaking down over Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Howmuch have made it from humble beginnings. their modestrentedapartment in Masabtank Ismail —elder brother of Team India’s lat- acall, days aftertheir father's demise. “He will Itrouble my father formoney.’Itold There’s neverbeen anydoubt in my mind to amorelavish setting at TowliChowki, near estpacesensationMohammedSiraj —says he’s calledmefromAustralia and didn’t sayany- him, 'Never hesitatetoask me forany sort abouthis credentials as ared-ball bowler. Mehdipatnam. BackinHyderabad, he is abit groggy afterbeing gluedtothe television thing. All Icould hear wasthe sound of him of financial help'.” Because we have an abundance of fast-bowl- known to have fundedwedding ceremonies setintheweehoursonSaturdaytowatch Siraj sobbing inconsolably,” Ismailrecollects. Mohd Siraj’s father passeddays after Siraj's fieryspell at an U-23 game caught ing talentsthat Siraj had to take the routeof of friends and relatives. “Allah has been kind makeasensationalTestdebutattheMelbourne It wasGhouse, an auto-rickshawdriver’s, Team India reachedAustralia. Instagram the eyeofJyothiPrasad,then chairman of se- IPL and T20s before making it in long-form to us. So, Siraj is making it apoint to give back Cricket Ground. “After what we have gone unflinching supportthat gave Sirajthe confi- lectors, who pickedthe pacer forthe Ranji cricket. Look at his first-class numbers, they to society.Heisreallylarge-heartedand never throughoverthelastmonth,thisisaproudmo- dence to bunk classes andsneak pastdiscipli- Trophy. According to Prasad,Siraj benefited arereallyimpressive,” he avers. stops even once when it comes to going out mentforus.IwanttothankAllah.Abbaalways narian mother Shabana Begum to playten- coaching centrecalledCharminar Cricket enormouslyinhis firstseason as afirst-class In 38 first-class games, Siraj has ac- of his waytohelpothers,”Ismail says. wanted Siraj to playTestcricket forIndia. He nis-ball cricket in his mohallanearMasabtank. Club. “I wasimpressedbywhat Isaw.Hewas cricketer, because the Hyderabad coachwas counted for152 scalps, averaging ashade Ready to forego anywee-hour tranquil- wouldalways say, ‘Deshkanaamroshankaro,” Formal training beganat18, whenafriend in- rawbut had the ability to extract good pace," Bharat Arun, current bowling coachofthe over 23, with four five-wicket hauls. In 2016, lity forthe next four days,Ismail hopes Ismail tells The Indian Express over the phone troducedSiraj to 'Mabboob sir', agenial mid- Mabboob notes. "On his debut againstaclub Indian team. “Bharat playedakey role in his he picked41wickets, galvanisingHyderabad Melbourne Test Day1isjustthe firstday of fromhisTowliChowkiresidenceinHyderabad. dle-aged man,who runs an HCA-affiliated calledBalaji CC, he pickedfivewickets." evolution as afastbowler.Hefine-tunedhis to theRanji Trophyknock-outsfor the first Siraj's long and fruitfulinternational career. BRIEFLY NewZealand222-3 New-look India atstumpson1stday Impressive debutants, unrelenting bowlers &ashrewdcaptain helpvisitors move on from Adelaidedebaclewith an all-roundshow Mount Maunganui: Kane Williamson made an unbeaten 94 andshared a 120-run partnership with Ross Taylor SANDIPG How Ashwin remainedastep whichliftedNew Zealand intoastrong DECEMBER26 position at stumps Saturdayonthe firstday of the firstcricket test against ANENSEMBLEcastcomprisingtwodebutants, aheadofSmith &Labuschagne Pakistan. Taylor made 70 and twohighly-skilledbowlers at the peak of their Williamson addedafurther 89 with prowess, and an inspiredcaptain combinedto HenryNicholls who was42not outat produce ablockbusterfirstday forIndia in the stumps when NewZealand was222- BoxingDay Test.Itwas abright dayin SRIRAMVEERA 3. Williamsoncametothe crease MelbournewhenAjinkyaRahane’sleadership DECEMBER26 when onlythree balls had been felt likeabreath of fresh air,Jasprit Bumrah bowledand remainedfor the next 86.3 bowled likethe wind in the morning, RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN doesn’t quiterip overs,reshaping the NewZealand in- MohammedSiraj whippedupastorm, and an off-break around off-stump, with loop nings and changing the course of the Ravichandran Ashwin blewlikeacalm after- and dip, and letthe batsman cope withit. firstday.Pakistanhad been on topaf- noon breeze. And at the fagend, came LikeMuttiah Muralitharan, especially when terwinning the toss, bowling on a ShubmanGill, likearipple of evening thunder. younger,usedtodo. Or as Nathon Lyon does green pitchand afterShaheen Afridi Australia reeledunder the weather,mus- on occasions. The artofAshwin lies in entan- removedNew ZealandopenersTom teringonly195 runs on aplacid surface after gling the batsmen intomeanderings from Latham for4and TomBlundell for5 choosing to bat, before India endedthe dayat whichtheyare unable to disengage them- withonly13runs on the board. 36/1.The scoreatstumps wasthe onlyre- selvesintime. LikeSteve Smith on Day1of BRIEF SCORES: NewZealand 222/3 minder of that afternoon in Adelaide, as India thisBoxing DayTest. (Williamson 94*, Nicholls 42*, Taylor demonstrated that theyhavethe skills as well The ball that took out Smith openedup 70,Afridi 3/55) vs Pakistan as the will to turn adversity around.If the scars itstrickery underthe gaze of the batsman, of Adelaide remained, theydid well to conceal rather than reveal itsperfection from the mo- RAshwin pickedcrucial wickets of them. Rather,theywereatransformedbunch, ment it wasreleased. It’s afamiliar theme Wade, Smithand Paine. AP EastBengalhold bustlingwithenergyandpurposeandbound- with Ashwin. His deliveriesare constructed Chennaiyin2-2 ing with relish and resolve.Rahane seizedthe forwhat abatsman might do, tailored to momentsandensuredthattheteamkept their probethe anticipated response, as opposed The artofAshwinlies in Bambolim:Germanmidfielder Matti poise and composure. to apre-fabricatedline of thought. He does- entangling the batsmen into Steinmann emergedasthe unlikely Aclassic example of his non-plussedcap- Mohammed Siraj took twowicketsand as manycatchesonhis Test debut. Reuters n’t do thosepre-designeddream balls. meanderings from which source of goals forSCEastBengal as taincy waswhen Travis Head and Marnus SomeonelikeShane Warne can dispense the Kolkataside ralliedtodraw2-2 Labuschagnewere engineeringacomebackaf- with reality and makethe batsmen dance to they areunable to disengage with Chennaiyin FC in the HeroIndian terfindingthemselvesineachother’scompany ter. Somewouldspinandbounce,somewould SCORECARD hismachinations.Hisgeniusandtheartofleg- themselvesintime. Like Super League at the Tilak Maidan. at 38/3. Weathering the initial storm, the two justbounce, some would justspin. The uncer- spin allowedhim to do that. Barring SteveSmith on Day1ofthis Chennaiyin took the lead twice, were looking to accelerate, when Rahane tainty washarrowing forAustralia’s batsmen. Muralitharan, off-spinners don’t have such AUSTRALIA VS INDIA through Lallianzuala Chhangte(13') recommissionedBumrah. Areactive captain As wasSiraj,whose skills Rahane master- wizardryintheDNAoftheirart.Buteverynow Boxing DayTest MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND and Rahim Ali (64'). However, abrace wouldhave soughtdefensive measures,likein- fullyharnessed. In the lead-up to tea, he was and then, Ashwin manages to create aprivate from Matti Steinmann (59', 68') saw troducing RavindraJadeja or setting run-stop- bowling intenselybut without luck.Eachtime Toss: Australia, chose to bat reality within the batsmen’sworld wherehe Robbie Fowler's side split honours in ping fields. Here, Rahane counterattacked he beat the edge or an edge fell short, Siraj makes them work against themselves. off. It wasaninteresting move;hehad at- an exciting encounter.OnSunday, Australia’s counter.Head struckBumrah fora would throw his hands in the air.But Rahane AUSTRALIA 195ALL OUT The surprise in Smith’s dismissal wasn’t temptedone in Ashwin’s firstoverbut was Kerala Blasters will take on brace of boundaries offfuller deliveries,which would walk up to him and reassurehim.He JBurnscPantbBumrah 0(10b) howitendedbut howsoonitended. Justtwo beaten, neverthelessherevived that ap- Hyderabad FC. Both sides have played in the end seemedlikeanelaboratescheme. evenobligedhimwithareferralthatlookedfar MWadecJadejabAshwin 30(39b,3x4) balls. Ashwin targeted theintendedshotor proachnow.Whenthe ball wasfuller,he six matches so farwith seventh- Thepacerthenpushedtheleft-handerontothe fromstraightforward(andoncepolitelyrefused MLabuschagnecGillbSiraj 48(132b,4x4) rather the hands, that Smith claimedtohave would push it away,without abig stride, let- placedHyderabad FC sitting justtwo backfootwithamixtureofshort andshort-of- another requestfromSiraj). Mostimportantly, SSmithcPujarabAshwin 0(8b) found during the limited-overs leg of the ting his dextrous hands take care of the de- placesabove Kerala Blasters on the length deliveries,beforehebowledone fuller the skipper kept his faith in the debutant. And THeadcRahanebBumrah 38(92b,4x4) tour.The firstball spun sharplydownleg but viation.For the rest,hewould shuffleside- table, but with adifference of six and seaming away from Head, who prodded justbeforetea, he dismissedLabuschangne. CGreenlbwSiraj 12(60b) Smith didn’t handcuffhis hands. The next ways to ping the large gapatcovers, left points. While Kerala have suffered instinctivelyattheballwithhisfeetcrease-tied. Buoyed, Siraj increasedhis pace andpur- TPainecViharibAshwin 13(38b,2x4) droppedonalength around middle-and-leg, deliberatelyopen. Formostofthe day, three defeats, theNizams sawtheir An edge wasall but unavoidable. chasedreverseswing, notmassive like in the PCumminscSirajbJadeja 9(33b,1x4) forcing Smith to lunge. Ashwin bowled with justtwo on the off-side. unbeaten streak end in their previous The final wall of resistance wasbreached, subcontinent but justenough to troublethe MStarccSirajbBumrah 7(8b,1x4) Foraminute, scrub out the twoplayers, Ashwin’s artisn’t static. It keeps chang- game againstMumbai City. and Australia fell apart, notinaheap but brick batsmen. Eventually,Cameron Green missed NLyonlbwBumrah 20(17b,2x4,1x6) photoshop in Ricky Ponting and Harbhajan ing colours according to the perceived by other.Central to that wasIndia’s planning oneandwaspinnedinfrontof thewicket,end- JHazlewoodnotout 4(1b,1x4) Singh –and youwouldn’t have noticedadif- threat. Soon, he shiftedtoaround the IrvingstarsasNets andthe supreme execution of theirplans. The ing another brief period of resistance. Here ■ Extras(nb3,w1,b10) 14 ference. The seam of the ball towardsleg- stumps, and over-spun one on leg-and- dismissals of SteveSmith and his protege again,Rahanewouldhave beentemptedtore- ■ FoW: 1-10(Burns,4.2),2-35(Wade,12.5),3- gully, the ripping side-spinand the door- middle on alength. Labuschagne almost beatCeltics Labuschagne stood out, forboththe enormity placeSiraj withUmeshYadavorBumrahto pol- 38(Smith,14.3),4-124(Head,41.5),5-134 knob turn of the wristatreleasethattook the combusted, going foranill-executed sweep of thewickets as well as the rationalebehind ish offAustralia’s lowerorder,but that would (Labuschagne,49.3),6-155(Green,61.4),7-155 ball in the air from ashade outside offtoits on an urge,and wassaved by theDRS on Boston:Kyrie Irving scored 37 points, the tactics. Both areleg-side virtuosos. So have been cruel to Sirajwho wasbowling hos- (Paine,62.6),8-164(Starc,67.1),9-191(Lyon, eventual destination. Perhaps it wasthe lure the lbwappeal. Kevin Durant added29, and the visit- mostcaptains and bowlers look to blocktheir tilelyaswell as tirelessly. 71.5),10-195(Cummins,72.3) of the trajectory, but Smith’s hands tres- Though the moistureevaporated from ing Brooklyn Nets enjoyedasuccess- leg-side run-scoring avenues and overcom- But afterTim Paine departed, Bumrahwas ■ Bowling:JBumrah16-4-56-4,UYadav12- passedintoareas from whichhecouldn’t ex- the trackinthe second session, Ashwin re- ful return to theNBA's Christmas Day pensatebybowling outsidethe off-stump. reintroduced.Hedidtheneedfulwiththewick- 2-39-0,RAshwin24-7-34-3,RJadeja5.3-1- tricatethem in time. turnedaround the stumps but wiselyaban- schedule by pulling away in the sec- But sometimes, batsmen aremostvulnera- etsofMitchellStarc and NathanLyon, before 15-1,MSiraj15-4-40-2 Marnus Labuschagne toodid the same, donedthat line of attackafter sensing the ond half fora123-95 victoryoverthe ble playing the instinctive strokes. Both Smith Jadeja deniedhim afive-for by packing Pat almost. UnlikeSmith, he seemedmorein- lackofpre-lunchbiting turn and bounce. BostonCeltics on Friday. In his first and Labuschagne could notresistthe leg-side Cummins. But India’s good work would have INDIA36/1 tent to playoff the backfoot. Ashwin’s plan From over the stumps, he quietlytriedpush- regular-season game in Bostonsince glide,and the fielders were perfectlysta- been largely negated hadtheylostmorethan MAgarwallbwStarc 0(6b) wasready: to gethim caught at backward ing Labuschagne backand getting him to joining the Nets,Irving made 13 of 21 tionedtogobble up the ensuing catches. the wicket of Mayank Agarwal. Forthis,they SGillbatting 28(38b,5x4) short-leg, wristing the turning bouncing wristthe turning ball to waiting hands. shots,hit seven3-pointers, and Smith wascaught at leg-gully and have to thank the free-stroking Gill, who in his CPujarabatting 7(23b,1x4) ball offhis hip. If the batsman tries to block Though he wasn’t successful, asimilar line handedout eight assists. Irving scored Labuschagneatbackwardsquare-leg. 28 notout of 38 balls oozedample signs that ■ Extras (nb1) 1 straight down the pitch, the bounceand of attackworkedfor Mohammed Siraj. 17 by halftime, but the Nets trailedby Smith seemedhypnotisedbythe curve he’s equippedtodealwiththe best of seamers ■FoW:1-0(Agarwal,0.6) turn wouldhopefullybeenough to getthe Ashwin has already shown in the first three before outscoring Boston72-41 Ashwin conjured throughout what would ar- intheworld.Thepullstrokesoff Starcwerebru- ■ Bowling:MStarc4-2-14-1,PCummins ball ricochet offthe inner edge to forward Testsofthe lasttours to England and in the second half in their first guablybehisbestdayinAustralia.Itwasaspell tal;imperiouswashewhenhesteppedoutand 4-1-14-0,JHazlewood2-0-2-0,NLyon short-leg.The ball sailedpastthe twoshort- Australia that his artisn’t parochial. It isn’t Christmas Daygame since facing out of the off-spinner’s dreams, when every- droveLyonagainstthe turn through mid-off. 1-0-6-0 legs afew times and then Labuschagne pinneddowntoIndia’s soil. But untimelyin- Chicagoin2013. thingwascomingoutperfectlyfromhisfingers Thoughhewasoncegrassed,Gillshowedexcel- DAY2,LIVE ON SONY made his move. juries meanthecouldn’t finish what he AGENCIES -fromthe amount of drift,dip, pace and spin. lent defensive technique to ensurethat India SPORTS NETWORK, 5AM He startedtomovesideways.Side-step- startedonthosetours.Now,itseems, he is The ball wasobedient to the orders of itsmas- didn’t sufferfurther damage. ping to leg,hestarted to cut and punchtothe on acelebratoryrun. Late Leicester equaliser ends Man SA players raise fists before first Test vs Lanka United’s away winning streak in astatement. "In this contextitwas apow- West BromwichAlbion on Sunday. PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Sri Lanka take erful gestureoftriumph, an acknowledgment REUTERS Marcus Rashfordhad missedawide-open CENTURION,DECEMBER26 of the struggle againstapartheid, and acom- LEICESTER,DECEMBER26 header but put United ahead in the 23rd control after Day 1 mitmenttocontinuing to fight forequality, minutewithacool finish afterbeing slipped SOUTH AFRICAN players raisedafisttoac- justice and freedom, while also honouringthe LEICESTERCITYcame backtwice to end in by Fernandes before HarveyBarnes knowledge thecountry's struggle against Pretoria: Dinesh Chandimal and religious and cultural responsibilities of every ManchesterUnited's away winning streak in equalisedeight minutes later withafine shot apartheid but refrainedfromtakingthe knee Dhananjaya de Silva scoredfluent half- member of our team." the Premier League with a2-2 draw at the from the edge of the box.Rashfordhad agreat associated with the global BlackLives Matter centuries as Sri Lanka took advantage The players said the team had, on multi- King Powerstadium on Saturday. AJamie chance to put Unitedback in front on the hour Movement justbeforethe startofthe first of some lacklustreSouth Africa bowl- pleoccasions, declared its"unmistakable" Vardyshotwhichdeflected offUnitedde- but his powerful drive waswell savedbythe Test againstSri Lanka, hereonSaturday. ing to post340 forsix at the close of supporttothe BLM campaign and commit- fender Axel Tuanzebe, five minutes from the right hand of Kasper Schmeichel. The players, ledbyQuinton de Kock, dayone of the firsttestatCenturion tedtocontinue doing the same together. end, securedapoint forBrendan Rodgers' side TwominuteslaterAnthonyMartialhadan raisedtheir firsts aftersinging the South Park on Saturday. REUTERS "Werecognize thatour actions will afterBruno Fernandes appeared to have se- effortdisallowedfor offside but Fernandesre- African nationalanthem before thestart of BRIEF SCORES: SriLanka 340/6 mostlikelyresult in criticism from some curedanother victoryonthe road forUnited. storedUnited'sleadinthe79thminute,drilling the opening dayatthe Super SportPark. (Chandimal 85, de Silva 79, Mulder community,one wayoranother,but ... we Ole GunnarSolskjaer's side, who had won intothe bottom corner afterbeing foundin- Pressurehas been mounting on the Proteas 3/68) vs South Africa have takenthe decision through aprocess their lastten away games in the Premier side the area by substitute Edinson Cavani. to showtheir supporttothe global BLM of deepdemocracy to raise ourfists.We League, stay thirdon27points, apoint be- Again though, the lead wasshort-livedas Movement by taking aknee, but the players recognize the historical and political con- hind second-placedLeicester. Liverpoolare Vardy'sfirsttime shotonthe half-turn from a South Africa'sLungi Ngidi celebrates in astatement said that the raisedfists have ownhistory,asexpressedinthe iconicimages notations of the raised fist as agesture of topofthe standings on 31 pointsand have a lowcross from Ayoze Perez, went in off aftertakingawicket. AP more historicalcontext to theSouth Africans. of Nelson and Winnie Mandela on Mandela's ongoing solidarity in the fight forracial chance to extend their lead when theyface Tuanzebeand earnedapoint forthe Foxes. "Theraisedfistisapowerful gestureinour release from prison in 1990," the players said justice and anti-racism work.”
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