eye

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE ServesAll, With a KOLKATA,LATECITY Side of Chutney NOVEMBER1,2020 Idli is one of India’smost 14PAGES, `5.00 consumed breakfast. What (EX-KOLKATA`7,`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) accounts forits popularity?

DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PAGES 12, 13, 14

Yogi warning: EXPRESSINVESTIGATION PART ONE RASHTRIYA EKTA DIWAS ADDRESS End love jihad, PakadmitstoPulwama… or get ready Direct Benefit Transfer is direct for Ram naam siphoning of school scholarship timeworldunitestostamp satya hai In severaldistrictsofJharkhand, minority studentsare being dupedofa outterror,itsbackers:PM EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Centrallyfundedscholarship by anexus of bank staff, middlemen,school LUCKNOW,OCTOBER31 and govt employees, an investigation by The Indian Express has found ‘Admission of attacktruth in PakistanHouse exposes real CITING Arecent ruling of the face of Opposition here, their distasteful statements’ Allahabad High Courtwhichsaid Tribal boy is religious conversion forthe sake of marriageisunacceptable, UP EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath shown as VADODARA,OCTOBER31 Saturdaywarnedthose waging “love jihad” to mend their ways Parsi, woman PRIME MINISTER Narendra or be prepared Modi said Saturdaythat Pakistan fortheir last told money had admitted to the “truth” that journey—“Ram it wasbehind the Pulwama ter- naam satyahai rorattackin2019. ki yatranikalne from Saudi He said this admission in the waali hai”. Pakistanparliament —“wahan ki Speaking in sansad mei satyasweekaragaya Yogi Malhani ABHISHEKANGAD hai”—alsoexposed“the real Adityanath (Jaunpur) RANCHI,DHANBAD,LATEHAR, face” of the Opposition parties at whereabye- RAMGARH,LOHARDAGA, home. He said notonlydid they election will be The LordKrishna Public School in Ghughri, Ranchi, has justfiverooms but records show324 SAHIBGANJ,OCTOBER31 raise questions over the attack, held foranAssemblyseat on studentsreceivedscholarships for2019-20, including 213‘hostel’ students. Abhishek Angad but also made “distasteful” state- November 3, the Chief Minister OVER THE lastmonth, The Indian mentsand “looked forpolitical said the Allahabad High Court Express tracked15schools across gains and interests”when the had ruledthat religious conver- have allegedly colludedtodupe six districtsinJharkhand and entirenation wasingrief and sion formarriageisnot neces- ABHISHEKANGAD THE poor studentsand their families spoketoover30students, par- mourning. sary. “It should notbedone, it RANCHI,DHANBAD,LATEHAR, SCHOLARSHIP of apre-matricCentrallyfunded entsand school authorities to in- Speaking at the Rashtriya should notbeacceptedorrecog- RAMGARH,LOHARDAGA, scholarship, an investigation by vestigatethe listofbeneficiaries EktaDiwas parade in Kevadia to PM NarendraModi pays tributetoSardar Vallabhbhai Patel nised. The government tooisin SAHIBGANJ,OCTOBER31 SCAM The Indian Express has revealed. forpre-matric scholarships in mark the 145th birth anniversary on his birth anniversary, at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia. PTI the process of deciding tough Thisnewspapertrackeddown 2019-20 sanctionedbythe of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Modi measures to end love jihad,” he ■ A28-year-old homemaker in tel. But according to the official schools across Ranchi, Dhanbad, Union MinistryofMinority said he would urge “suchpolitical said. “Chori chhupe, naam chhupa Giridih, aRanchi couple in their portal, scholarships have been Latehar,Ramgarh,Lohardagaand Affairs through the National parties” to desistfrom“selfish Our success in Pulwama is asuc- forces, watching their skills, the kar ke jo log behen-betiyon ki 30s, the 47-year-old wifeofatai- disbursedto323 hostelstudents Sahibganj; interviewedseveral Scholarship Portal (NSP). politics” because by “playing into cess of the people under the imageofthe Pulwama attack izzat ke saathkhilwad kartehain, lor in Lohardagareceive,intheir for2019-20. students, their families, school Whatitfoundwere severalin- the hands of anti-national forces, leadership of Imran Khan. You came to mind. The braves who unko pehle se meri chetavani: agar bank accounts, funds of aCentral ■ In Lohardaga, RajiyaKhatun, staffandofficialsof theJharkhand stancesof outrightfraudandfudg- knowingly or unknowingly,and and Iare all partofthat success.” were martyred in that attack wohsudhrenahi tohRam naam government scholarship meant whose husband is atailor,was StateMinorities Finance and ingof records.Hereisthefirstset: becoming their pawns, theycan- In his address, the Prime were also from paramilitary satyahai ki yatranikalne waali hai forpre-matric minority stu- asked to give her Aadhaar num- Development Corporation Studentsduped, notprotect the interestofthe na- Ministerdid notname Pakistan forces. The countrycan never (This is my warning to those who dents. All of them saytheyare ber, bank details and finger- (JSMFDC), the nodal agency for tion or their ownparty”. —hecalledit“neighbouring forget…when the entirecoun- conceal names and playwith the unaware of this. prints, and told that Rs 10,700 disbursing this scholarship. agentstakecut His remarks came twodays country” —and said India’s per- trywas in grief and mourning, honour of sisters and daughters: ■Severalstudentsacross at least wascoming to her account from The Indian Express also cross- ASSEMBLYOFGOD CHURCH afterPakistanministerFawad spective on the borders has now thereweresome who were not mend your ways or be prepared six districtsinJharkhand have Saudi Arabia —and she could checkeddataonthe National SCHOOL, HUTUP, RANCHI: Chaudhrytold his country’s changed,and soldiers areem- partofthat grief. Theywere forthe lastjourney),” he said. had their Aadhaar cards and fin- keep half. But records showed Scholarship Portal (NSP) with Zikrul Ansari, studying in Class National Assembly: “Humne poweredtogiveabefitting re- the ones who looked forpoliti- “Wehavebegun the Mission gerprintstaken, and scholar- this wasayear’s scholarship beneficiarybank accounts 9, says he receivedRs2,700 in Hindustankoghus ke maarahai sponse. “While Iwas watching cal gains and interests. Shakti programme. It is meant to ships disbursedintheir names, meant forapoor minority stu- CONTINUEDONPAGE 2 May, whichisless than half of (Weentered India and hit them). theparadebythe paramilitary CONTINUEDONPAGE2 guarantee security to eachper- but manyhavereceivedonlya dent staying in ahostelinRanchi, the Rs 5,700 he wasentitledto son, eachsister. If someone does fraction of the amount —ifatall about 100kmaway. per year.“When Iasked forthe awrong deed, then Operation anything. This goes on and on —across TOMORROW: full amount, the authorities said THE WORLD Rajasthan 2nd Cong-ruled Shakti is ready.Operation ■ In Dhanbad, the IndiraGandhi Jharkhand. Anexus of brokers, ONE SCAM, MANY theytoo had worked hardand Shakti’s objective is to ensurethe Memorial High School has three bank correspondents, school staff METHODS neededthe money,”hesaid. SEAN CONNERY, THE security and honour of sisters rooms, 80 studentsand no hos- and stategovernmentemployees CONTINUEDONPAGE2 FIRST JAMES BOND, state to bring own farm Bills and daughters,” he said. DIES AT 90 PAGE 10 to counter Central laws

Instagram shoots down HAMZAKHAN More With ex-BJP, Brahmin faces, RJD tries to JAIPUR,OCTOBER31 strictthan RAJASTHAN BECAME the second E ● Punjab Olympian Heena’s post EXPLAINED go beyond M-Y in bid to look ‘like AtoZ’ Congress-ruledstate afterPunjab to counter the Centre’s newfarm THE BILLSare similar to SHAHIDJUDGE laws when it tabledthree Bills in the Punjab legislation, MUMBAI,OCTOBER31 the stateAssembly Saturday, say- but aremorestringent VANDITAMISHRA THEEXPRESS ing therewas “extraordinaryout- when it comes to punish- DARBHANGA,OCTOBER31 LAST MONTH, former WorldNo. Heena rage”among farmers. ing traders who harass INTERVIEW 1pistolshooterand Olympian Sidhu StateParliamentaryAffairs farmers. The jail term can AS DISCONTENTS with 15 years Heena Sidhu uploadeda‘paid ministerShanti Kumar Dhariwal be 3-7 years or minimum of Nitish rajrise to the fore,and a partnership’ promotional video introducedThe Farmers’ Produce fine of Rs 5lakh, or both. desirefor bringing in the new foranautomobilebrand on her #Pistolinmyposts.Ithought my Trade and Commerce (Promotion makes itself heardinBihar, Instagram account. In the video, account got whitelistedthe last and Facilitation) (Rajasthan Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD faces adif- she talksabout the newly time... But it has happened Amendment) Bill, 2020; The tabledbyRajasthan aresimilar ficult predicament in this elec- launchedvariant of acompact again!” Farmers (Empowerment and to the Bills passedbyPunjab, but tion: It is new—but it is also old. RJD candidates Amarnath Gami (Darbhanga); RK Choudhary SUV,beforedriving the car to a What the 31-year-old with Protection) Agreement on Price the Rajasthan Bills aremore The RJD’s newchief ministe- (Bahadurpur); Vinod Mishra(Alinagar). VanditaMishra shooting rangeand firing from 171K followers on Instagram had Assurance and Farm Services stringent when it comes to tak- rial candidateishis father’s son. her pistolatthe target. inadvertentlydone wasgo (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, ing action againsttraders who Lalu Prasad gave the RJD itspol- Afew days later,Sidhu found againstFacebook’s -- which 2020; and, The Essential harass farmers. itics and itsideological corein and“socialjustice”cameto mean andistakingpainsto projectitself ‘People of Bihar that restrictions had been placed owns Instagram -- advertise- Commodities (Special Provisions The keyclauses in the three the turbulent 1990s —but he Yadavdomination.Electorallyand as the “A to Z” —not just“M-Y” — on her Instagram account. ment policy whichprohibits and Rajasthan Amendment) Bill, Rajasthan Bills include setting also gave it itsstraitjacket. politically, the RJD became party. nowfinally She wasnot allowedtoadd cap- “ads promoting the brandishing 2020, in the Assembly. the Minimum SupportPrice He upendedanen- the “M-Y” (Muslim- The ticket distribution is the feel heard’ tions to subsequent posts,per- of firearms”. Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot (MSP) as the lowerlimit for trenchedupper-caste Yadav) party. messagewith itsfar greater em- sonal or promotional. She took Whichmeant that if Sidhu and former CM and BJP leader farming agreements, punishing domination by mobilis- In Election 2020, phasis on the numerical pres- Tejashwi Yadav, to Twitter to complain. had simplyuploadedaphoto- VasundharaRajewereamong traders if theyharass farmers, inganarray of backward Team Tejashwi is at- ence and preponderance of caste RJDleader “Hey@instagram Iama graph of herself at the range, that those present in the House. and empowering the stategov- castesinastate of fierce temptingto rallytheM-Y groups locally, and winnability. shooter, an athlete of asport would have been above board, The move comes afterthe ernment to regulatethe produc- caste inequalities. Over base while breaking the This has meant that the RJD SUNDAY STORY playedinhundredsofcountries but the reason her postfell foul Punjab Assemblyunanimously tion, supply, distribution and the years, however, DECISION M-Yconstraint.Ithascast has put up candidates from and at the #olympics. Can you of the social media giant's poli- passedfour Bills, including three stocklimitsunder extraordinary Lalu’s radical and large- 2020 theRJDnetwideramong upper and non-Yadavbackward PAGE 7 please stop blocking my account cies wasthat it wasan“ad”. amendment Bills, to counter the circumstances. heartedcoalitionshrank, BIHAR castesand communities CONTINUEDONPAGE2 everytime your bots spota CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Centre’s newlaws. The Bills CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Mob on street vs Covid deaths in hospital, US divide deepens in final countdown

Boujard, who is black, livesin ingnon-voters.Morethan3.5mil- flippedfromObama to Trump then veered right, partlybecause The 65-year-old Whiteman, NorthamptonCounty, lioneligiblevotersinPennsylvania makeupthe “RustBelt” in the of left-leaning trade and environ- who's livedintownfor 13 years, Pennsylvania—abellwetherinna- didn’t send in a2016ballot, and MidWest. mental agendas. Fracking, a said he thought HillaryClinton tional politics. Alocal newspaper Trumpwon the stateby44,292 “Fromour polling, forevery process to remove natural gas wasasbad as Trumpin2016and RACE FOR examinedacentury’s worthof votes. 100whiteworking-classvotersin from deep-rock, has been aboon chose to vote third-party instead. THE WHITE electionsto findthatNorthampton Afterliving in Northampton Pennsylvania, 65 aregoing to vote to thestatebuthasfallenunderen- Thereare farfewer third-party hasbackedthewinningpresiden- County’sBethlehamcityforseven forTrump.Nowthepartyissaying vironmental criticism. Recently, candidates this time around, seen HOUSE tial candidateinall but three elec- years,Boujardisalsoweighingthe we will raise this number.That’s TrumpaccusedBiden of wanting to beaboosttoBiden. “Biden isn’t tions. dying economies he sees around whyTrumpisgoing to morerural to banthepractice,to whichBiden exactlythe right guy either,” he This is also one of the 206 him. “I live in Pennsylvania. Iun- counties,” said Christopher has had to formallydeny. says.“Buthe’snotasbad—atleast EXPRESSIN counties in the nation that voted derstand manufacturing and coal Nicholas, aveteran Republican The narrative nowrevolves Ican sit down with him and say THEU.S. former President BarackObama andthosejobs.Whitepeoplehave strategistinthe state. Nationally, aroundlawenforcementorCovid. ‘Listen, Joe, you’remaking wrong intooffice twice but flippedto been dying from an opioid drug sevenoutof 10 whitevotersvoted AbillboardinEastonreads: decisions.’Idon’t even want to be Donald Trumpin2016. It took crisis. That’s what theybring in Acutout of US President Donald Trumpinthe Northampton forTrumpin2016,accordingto the “Americadoesn’tneed:fewerpo- in the same room as Trump. It’s Pennsylvania with it, which herewhentheygetridof thesein- County borough of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Reuters file Cooperative Congressional lice, amentallydiminishedpresi- bad enough being in the same KARISHMAMEHROTRA hadn’t voted Redsince 1988. dustries.” Election Study. dent, mobs on our street.Vote countryasthe guy.” BETHLEHEM,PENNSYLVANIA, Indeed,inthisstatewithits20 Bethlehem, known as Steel “These post-industrial com- Donald Trump.” Another reads: “I would liketobeinthe same OCTOBER31 electoralcollegevotes—eitherside City,isemblematicofthe America, the region attempted to anonymity,isvoting forTrump. munities were sold afalse setof “250 thousand coronavirus roomasTrump.Ilikehimbetteras needs270towin—Bidenisahead, Americanmanufacturingdecline. diversifyitseconomy, introducing “MakeAmerica Great Again” in goods,” said Executive Director of deaths. 315million unemployed. aperson but Biden would repre- DAVID BOUJARD has almosthis asof weekendpolls,by anaverage The Bethlehem Steel Company, a warehouse and technology com- manyalludesto erstwhiledays be- Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Vote Him Out.” sent us better on aworld stage,” entiremail-in ballotcompleted. of 5.5 percentagepoints, lower vital militarysupplier in World panies, as well as newresidents. fore theresidentschangedandthe JasonHenry. “Weunderstandthat ThorLorenz,sittinginfrontof a Boujardsaid. When asked later in But the bubble under “US than his 8.8-point national lead. WarII, abandonedthe city by the “All the Biden signs on my factories shut. theyhavebeen leftbehind in alot Bethleham cafe, said: “Wehavea thedayifhehadchosenhiscandi- President” remains blank.This fi- ForBoujard,thatdoesn’tmake 1980s. blockare peoplewhomovedinre- In 2016,the Trumpheartland of ways andwe areheretofightfor fewguysheredrivingaroundwith date, he said: “You knowwhat, naldecision,fromthe28-year-old things anyclearer.“I’m still in that Smokestill billows out of the cently,”said an employeeatagun encompassedthe rural white, them.” These voters usedtobe their Trumpflags in the backof neitherhascourtedme,soneither entrepreneur,carriesmoreimpor- same boat as lasttime,” said towering steel stacks in the town, storeinEaston,Northampton.The working-classvotingblocinsmall coretoPennsylvania’sDemocratic their truck. I’veread his tweets.I getsmy vote.”Inthelastweekend tance than that of mostother Boujard, who didn’t votein2016. but nowthe furnace houses a middle-aged man, who wasborn towns likethese. It’s no coinci- base, alignedintheir supportof know8-year-oldswhospeakbet- before elections, that’s notsome- American voters. Bothcampaignsareheavilycourt- casino instead. Likemuchof in Eastonand requested dencethatnearly allthestatesthat trade unions. The bloc has since terthan him.” thing either side wantstohear. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020

DOWNLOADAPP WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

■ VISUAL STORIES

■ DAILY BRIEFING

■ PODCASTS CYCLONEANDLOCKDOWNHELPBENGALVILLAGEBECOMENEWTOURISTMAGNET

■ CUSTOMIZABLE Whilemosttouristdestinationshavehadtobearthebruntofthecoronaviruspandemic,asmallBengalvillagehas WhyRohit, Ishant and NEWS EXPERIENCE becomeahotspotfordaytrippers.Fromnatureloverstophotographersandcoupleslookingfortheideallocation

WEB forapre-weddingshoot,BortirBillontheoutskirtsofKolkatahassuddenlysurfacedasadestinationofchoice. Suryakumar didn’t Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 makethe Indian team DESPATCHFROMTELANGANA EXPLAINED NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY EMBEDDING CODING MEGHALAYA’S ANTI- SKILLS IN STUDENTS URANIUM MOVEMENT Whythese players were leftout of the Australia tour,why this matter needs to be Abatchof26students HowKong Spelity investigated,and the value these players SCANTHISQRCODETO finishedatwo-week became the face of the DOWNLOADTHEAPP add to the Indian squad. online course movement

FROMPAGEONE Direct Benefit Transfer is direct PM community of Banias, who have experimentbeableto take onthe quence of the Central Act(s) traditionallybeenBJPsupporters. voter cynicism and disbelief —in wouldbeto nullifytheminimum The countrycan neverforgetthe Now, theywill votefor the RJD”. the voter’s imagination, the im- supportprice mechanism that siphoning of school scholarship kind of talk that took place, the Addthat to the RJD’s coreM-Y ageofthe “Yadavparty” is etched has stood the test of time and in- kind of statementsthat were vote,hesays,anditmeansvictory. deep. The question will also be: troduce severalother infirmities made,” he said. “The countrycan “And if Gami becomes RJD MLA, Will this tentative experiment and distortions operating to the recordedinthe Public Finance amount, the racket wasde- their applications through the from some studentsthat they neverforgetthat when it had howwill the RJD notbeseen as survive another RJD defeat? gravedetriment and prejudice of Management System (PFMS) to signedtolureasmanystudents school between Augustand were notgetting their full schol- been inflicted suchagrievous the A-to-Z party?” agricultureandthecommunities find howadirect benefit trans- as it could. Forexample, The November.The schools appoint arships. wound, selfish and arrogant pol- Gami dismisses questions of Heena Sidhu associated with it”. The statesaid ferscheme, meant to cut cor- Indian Express found examples nodal officers to registeronthe “Poor people areregularly itics wasatits height. Ithought of ideologicaldiscomfort.“Yes,Istill “The content in question the central law“is vulnerable to ruption, wasbeing derailedby wherethe entireschool wasde- scholarship portalontheir be- robbedof their wages, pensions the braves and stayed away,and believe in rashtriyata (national- shows firearms, whichisprohib- encroachmentandmanipulation it. frauded. half and verify the applications. and scholarships by corrupt silentlyendured the allegations, ism).Buthasn’ttheBJPalliedwith ited as per our advertising poli- by vested corporateinterests Beginning today, aseries of Forinstance, authorities at The applications also needtobe business/banking correspon- the distasteful talk.Ihad adeep everyone,includingthePDP?Yes, cies,” aFacebook company through provisions contained reports will highlight glaring Madrasa Alia Arabia in Ranchi verifiedatthe district and state dentswho take their fingerprint woundinmy heartbecausebrave Laluji arrested Advani ji. But RK spokesperson told The Indian therein and leaving the farmer cases of fraudand howestab- said all the 102studentslisted level. Once the applications are on one pretextoranother.We soldiershadlaiddowntheirlives. Singh (district magistrate, Express. “Ads mustnot promote open to the vagaries of market lishedprocesses were sub- as hostelbeneficiaries in the cleared,the scholarship have been trying foryears to But now, thereisnews from the Samastipur,whomadethearrest) the sale or use of weapons, am- forces forgetting remunerative verted —and by whom. NSP for2019were“fake”. amount is disbursedusuallyin alertthe ReserveBank of India, neighbouring countryabout the is todayaministerinthe BJP gov- munition or explosives.” price foragricultureproduce, in- In 2019-20, the Ministryof Mohammad Sahabuddin, the April or May—fresh applica- the National Payments admission of the truth in their ernmentattheCentre.RamKirpal Heraccount,however, wasre- cluding fruitsand vegetables. No Minority Affairs disbursedRs61 head teacher,said the listalso tions have to befiledeveryyear. Corporation of India and others parliament. This has exposedthe Yadav, who calledhimself storedwithoutrestrictionsearlier checkhas been providedagainst croreunder this scheme, from includedgirls, although the But clearly in Jharkhand, this to these vulnerabilities but they realfaceof thesepeople,"hesaid. Hanumanof Lalu,isaBJPMP.And this week following discussions exploitation of farmer”. Rs 1,400crore nationally, to madrasa is aresidential facility process failedatmanylevels. seem to prefer nottoknow,” He said it is time the world isn’t Advani ji under house arrest betweenhermanagerandrepre- The stategovernment,citing Jharkhand. Giventhat the state forboys.“If youmultiplyRs Ironically, as early as Julylast Dreze said. unites againstterrorism. in the time of Modi?” sentativesofthe social media the AgricultureCensus 2015-16, government is aJMM- 10,700by 102, the amount that year,Secretary, Union Ministry In this case, however, the “For some time now, the con- ■ Vinod Mishra, RJD candidate company. “Because theycan see said that 86.2 per cent of farmers Congress-RJD alliance, this hasbeen illegallysiphonedoff of Minority Affairs, had written system knew—therewere ditions that have been created in from Alinagar. me with apistoland theycan see ownless than five acres of land scholarship is of political signif- without our knowledge is to the then Jharkhand Chief written warnings from the severalcountries, the manner in It is 10:10under ablazing sun me shoot, theyhaveblockedme and amajority of them ownless icance as well since it was nearly Rs 11 lakh,” he says. SecretaryDKTiwary, warning Centreand the stateand yetfew whichsome people have come asVinodMishrawalksthenarrow from putting acaption under any thantwoacresof land,thusfalling launchedbythe UPA This assumes significance that therewere“repeated at- did anything. Ironically, over the out in supportofterrorism, these lanes of villageGanoun with a newpost.SoIcan'tdoanypromo- in the categoryofsmall and mar- Government in 2008. giventhat the scholarship, ex- tempts to subvert”the NSP,es- lastfew weeks, as The Indian arematters of graveconcern for posse of RJD workers. tionalwork again,”Sidhutoldthis ginal farmers “and consequently The Pre-Matric Scholarship perts said, has helpedinthe peciallyatthe verification stage Express went from school to humanity,the worldand advo- Mishrawas in the BJP for30 paper justafter she complained have limited or no access to mul- Scheme is meant to help stu- steady increase in minority en- of the applications. school, checking records and cates of peace everywhere.” years,atwo-termdistrictBJPvice on Twitter on October 18. tiple marketswith an inherent dentsofminority communities, rolment in Classes IX and X, "Afterbrainstorming and asking them questions on the “Giventhe situation, it is veryim- president and aspecial invitee of “I think youcan showthe pis- handicap of bargaining powerto Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, from 8.7 per cent in 2014-15to discussions, it has been scholarships disbursedfraudu- portantthatallcountries,govern- the district working committee tol, but youcan't showfiring a negotiatefair price contracts”. Parsis, Jains and Buddhists,from 12 per cent in 2017 forwhich agreed...that the verifying au- lently, mostschool owners or ments,faithsuniteagainstterror- when he joinedthe RJD on the shot. That's probablythe thing The Farmers’ Produce Trade families with annual income latestnumbers areavailable. In thorities (Schools, colleges, in- principals said theywereun- ism… India has been avictim of edge of this election on October triggering the bots (that monitor and Commerce (Promotion and belowRs1lakh. To be eligible, Jharkhand, whereminorities stitutes, district nodal officer, aware. Days later,atleastthree terrorism forseveral decades 14.“Because the BJP did notgive posts). It gets very embarrassing Facilitation) (Rajasthan studentsneedtoscoreatleast form about 19 per cent of the Statenodal officers) arethe schools sent official notesto now…Indiahaslostthousandsof meaticket,becauseitistakingthe becauseyouhavethesepaidpart- Amendment) Bill, 2020, seeksto 50 per cent in their class exams. population, the amount dis- mostcritical stakeholders who their respective District bravesoldiers, innocent citizens, supportofthe Maithil Brahmins nerships, and nowyou can't put penalise traders, if theyharass StudentsfromClass 1to5re- bursedhas gone up from justRs ensureintegrity of the verifica- Superintendent of Education manymothershave lostsons,sis- forgranted.Itthinks, wherewill anything up,” Sidhu had said. farmers, withapunishment of 3- ceive Rs 1,000per year and stu- 9.46 crorein2014-15toRs34.61 tion process,” the letter said. asking for“necessaryquickac- ters their brothers. India under- theygo”. This is the firsttime the The post, whichcan still be 7years or aminimum fine of Rs 5 dentsofClass6to10receive Rs crorein2018-19and to Rs 61 This warning, evidently, tion towardsthe scholarship stands the pain of terror.Itistime RJDhasgivenaticket fromthisas- viewedonherfeed,wasnottaken lakh,orboth.Accordingto theBill, 10,700ayear if theyare in ahos- crorethis year.Over2lakh stu- went unheeded. scandal”. thattheentireworldunitesto de- semblyseat to aBrahmin, says downbecauseitdidnotgoagainst harassment will be treated as telorRs5,700 ayear if theyare dentsappliedlastyear and "This scam is yetanother il- Jharkhand Chief Secretary feat all forces who supportterror Mishra. Facebook’s Community committedwhenthetraderdoes dayscholars. Mostofthe cor- morethan 84,000got the schol- lustration of the vulnerabilities SukhdevSingh told The Indian or encourageterrorism,” he said. Alinagar wasthe pocket bor- Standards, the Facebook notacceptthedeliveryof thefarm ruption is related to these last arship this year. of the Aadhaar-enabledpay- Express that thestate govern- Modi also referred to the ab- ough of veteranRJD leader Abdul spokespersonsaid.Postinginfor- produce agreedupon or,having twocategories. At the heartofthe corrup- ment system,” said economist ment “will look intothe matter rogation of Article 370and said Bari Siddiqui, who has been mationthatdepictsorincitesvio- acceptedthe delivery,does not Giventhat the scholarship tion lies the process of verifica- Jean Dreze, whose food security on the basis of inputsmade thatinayearsince,Kashmiris“on shiftedtoanother,“safer” con- lence, compromises safety, pla- makethe payment to the farmer is, in itself, arelatively small tion. Studentshavetosubmit team also receivedcomplaints available”. the path of development”. stituency.The move targetstwo giarism and fraudconstitutes in accordance with the terms of HesaidIndiahastouchednew birds with one stone, he says:It breaking Community Standards. the agreement or within three heightsofself-relianceindefence. takescareofanti-incumbency This however, isn’t the first days from the dateofreceiptof "Indiaisnowmovingtowardsbe- againstthe MLA, while also join- timeSidhu'sposts have fallenfoul delivery of goods, whicheveris coming 'atmanirbhar'inthe area ing Brahmin votetothe RJD. of the social media giant'sadver- earlier.Italsostatesthatadispute Tribal student shown as Parsi, of defence.We arekeepinganea- “By giving me the ticket,the tisingpolicies.InJulylastyear,she mayberesolvedthroughthestate gleeye on our borders. Our per- RJD is honouring Maithil put her owntwisttothe then vi- APMC Actand rules made there- spective has also changed.No (Brahmins), Maithili (language), ral‘bottle cap challenge’. Instead under,rather than through aSub longercananyonecastanevileye andMithila(region)”,says Mishra. of kicking the cap offabottle, she DivisionalMagistrate,asprovided woman told money from Saudi onIndianterritory. Ourbravesol- On the famedanti- decidedtoshootitopen. Sidhu in the central Act. diers have been empoweredto Brahminism of the Lalu-RJD: taggedoneof hersponsors,anin- Similarly,the Farmers give abefittingreply. Today’sIndia “Pehle jo hua alag baat thi(it was surance companyinthe post. (Empowerment and Protection) At his home made of un- LORD KRISHNAPUBLIC said Rajiya’s husband, Nasim abeneficiarybut the school’s is building hundredsofkilome- different earlier). The RJD wasseen “Lasttime (during the bottle Agreement on Price Assurance plasteredwalls and an as- SCHOOL, GHUGHRI, Ansari. name could notbeverified. tres of roads, dozens of bridges, as savarn virodhi (anti-upper cap challenge), Icouldn’t run a and Farm Services (Rajasthan bestos roof, his father Alim RANCHI: Records show Mohammad Sahabuddin, Her name wasnot found in the manytunnels. India is totally castes)”,says Mishra.“Butif there promotion. This time Ican’t put Amendment) Bill, 2020, seeksto Ansari, aliftoperator at apri- SadiyaParween is astudent head teacher,said: “Wehave NSP listfor Ranchi district. equipped, committed to defend canbesanshodhan(amendment) up acaption,” she added. “I had penaliseanycompanyorassocia- vate firm, said: “It is tough of Class 7. But producing a come to knowthat this listin- DAFFODILSPUBLIC itssovereignty and honour,” he to the Indian constitution, why spoken to someone at the time tion whichcompels or exerts a managing the familyofeight statecertificate, Sadiyasays cludes girls, although this is a SCHOOL, DUMRA, said. notinthe RJD?” andIwastoldthatthisisnotdone farmer to sell his produce below with my monthlysalaryofRs she neverstudiedinLord residential institution for DHANBAD: ■RameshKumarChoudhary, RJD manually. Eachpostgoesthrough the MSP -- in Punjab,the govern- 8,000.Wewerenot awarethat Krishna School and cleared boys.” Records showthat 224stu- RJD tries candidatefromBahadurpur. ascreening with bots,and that ment had announcedimprison- Zikrul should have gotRs Class 10 from DevendraNath BLUE BELLSSCHOOL, dentsweresanctionedschol- castesinplaces it hadn’t earlier.It ChoudharyisalsoaBJPimport since therewas some shooting, it ment of minimum three years 5,700.” Records show49stu- School (DNS) in Choreyan. GOLA, RAMGARH: Records arships, including 222 hasalsomeantthatithasnothes- in the RJD, he came via the LJP.“I raisedflags. Ihad to explain that and fine forthe same offence. dentsreceivedscholarships “My details were takenlast showscholarships were hostellers. The two-storey itatedto give ticketstocandidates wasintheBJPforfiveyears,inthe I'manathlete andthisiswhatIdo, ThisstateBillalsoinserts akey starting from Rs 1,000 to Rs year and this year we re- givento179 students, includ- school,with 1,000 students who have been prominent in LJPforsix.TheLJPdidnotgiveme and that this is notinanegative clause in the central Act, stating 10,700. ceivedRs10,700 in my ac- ing 176hostellers. But the listedfromclass 1-8, has no other parties but have now aticket becausetheydonot want connotation,thisisto promote the that “no Farming Agreement for Pastor Anil Chakor,chair- count. Half the moneywas school has no hostel. One hostel. One of the beneficiar- crossedovertothe RJD —even to put up acandidateagainstthe sport--anOlympic sport. The thesaleorpurchaseof acropshall man, said: “I came to knowre- shared with an agent, Tauqir, beneficiary, Mahvish ies, Naima Khatoon, wasfound when that other party is itsmain BJP —eventhough Ihad worked thing is, it's averifiedaccount, so be valid unless the price paid for centlythat our school in- who dealt with the applica- Parveen, shown as studying to be staying in Hazaribagh, ideological opponent, the BJP. in the constituency…” theyknowI'manathlete andthis suchagriculturalproduceisequal charge,Elisaba Gera, and a tion,” she said. in Class 8, stays in Jhumri about 125kmaway. That lastissignificant —apart LikeGami and Mishra, ismy sport,”theCommonwealth to,orgreater than, the prevailing teacher of another school stole Records showFijaPraveen TelaiyainKoderma district, RajendraKumar Napir, from “social justice”, Lalu’s RJD Chowdharyisveryconscious of and Asian Games medal winner minimum supportprices, an- the school’s letterhead and is astudent of Class 7, and that about 130kmaway. “My Director: “There is no hostelin madeanti-BJP-ismitscallingcard. the RJD’s leap of politics in giving said. nouncedbythe Central stamp, and got the user ID and she receivedRs5,700 in her daughter is aClass 4student my school. The school heads Lalu’s politics thrivedand traded him the ticket from Bahadurpur The postendorsing the auto- Government forthat crop”. passwordfromthe NSP.They bank account. “I study in Class in agovernment school in have to be informedabout the onthatmomentin1990whenhe —this is the erstwhile seat of mobile companywasn't the first With the central Actalso stat- distributed moneytostudents 9inDNS. Tauqir took us to the Vishrambagh in Jhumri disbursement but Ihaveno halted the Rath YatratoAyodhya Bhola Yadav, longtime Lalu loyal- time Sidhu had uploadedavideo ing that following afarming at different locations.” bank and Iwithdrew the Telaiya. We filledthe scholar- idea.” by arresting LK Advani in ist, who, likeSiddiqui, has been of her practisingatashooting agreement, the said agriculture ALI PUBLIC SCHOOL, moneyand gave him half. I ship form through an agent COLONEL PUBLIC SCHOOL, Samastipur. shiftedtoanother seat. “The RJD range–there’s one uploadedon produceisexempt fromanystate TILIATAAND, LATEHAR: neverstudiedinLordKrishna but have notgot anymoney,” DHANBAD: Cometo Darbhangaandmeet has neverput up aRajput from March 2, 2019,froma Act, the Rajasthan government AtiyaFirdous wassanc- School,”she said. At least324 said Parveen’s father Records show205 students three candidates to getaglimpse herebefore. This time itsticket Commonwealth Range, as the seekstoimposeafeeorcessto the tionedRs10,700 forClass 6. studentsreceivedscholarships, Mohammad Javed. receivedscholarships, includ- of the newRJD. distribution has gone by the pro- caption says.But since it wasn't a produceundertheAPMCActand “But Istudy in Class 3and don’t including 213who got Rs MahendraVerma, princi- ing 198hostellers. One “Class ■AmarnathGami,RJDcandidate, portional strength of communi- promotional post, the video did utilise it forthe welfareoffarm- stay in ahostel,” she said. Her 10,700 each, from the school pal, said: “I have notverified 8” beneficiary, Muneja Darbhangatown. tiesinthepopulation”. “Withmy notresult in anyrestrictionson ers.Crucially, theburdenof thefee familysays she receivedRs whichhas justfiverooms in anyscholarship form forthe Parween, is a28-year-old His “mool rajneeti”has been coming intothe RJD, Rhas been her posts or account. or cess “shall notbetransferred 5,350 from the school, which the middle of afield. lastthree years. Three years housewifeatBagodar in BJP,says Gami, as he prepares to joinedtoM-Y”,claimsChoudhary Facebook’s advertisement on the farmer,” states the Bill. has about 150students, al- SanjayGope, the owner, ago, we receivedthe scholar- Giridih district. “An agent had setout forthe day’s campaigning —Rstands forRajput. “All three policy,publishedonthe website, The Essential Commodities though she is eligible onlyfor said: “About 200studentshad ship amount through cheque collected our details and Ire- from his home at 7amSaturday, arehigh-voting communities”. regardingweaponsallows discus- (SpecialProvisionsandRajasthan Rs 1,000.Records showthe full appliedbut some mayhave and the moneywas delivered ceivedRs10,700 in my ac- in acavernous room filledwith Lalu was“orthodox”, he says, sionregardingfirearmsandother Amendment) Bill, 2020 empow- rangeofscholarships were been fake.” Asked about the to beneficiaries. We have count. The agent gave me only mask-less supporters. but “Tejashwi is different”. equipmentrelatedto it,provided ers the state“to order forregulat- sanctionedfor 157students, hostel, he said it wasnearby around 100studentsinour Rs 4,000,” she said. Gami wonthe seat from Choudhary’s main plank against thedialoguedoesnot instigatea ingorprohibitingtheproduction, including 72 girls. The school but did notprovide details. school of whom less than 50 Mukesh Rai, Director: Hayaghat constituency in the Nitish —“In my speeches, Itell sale. Advertisement of miscella- supply, distribution, imposing does nothaveany girlstudents “Some illegal work has hap- arefromminority communi- “This is fraudand the school same district on aBJP ticket ear- votersthatNitishissavarnvirodhi neous equipment that can ac- stocklimitsunder extraordinary staying in hostels, or afull- pened, but Idon’t knowhow,” ties.” has nothing to do with it.” Rai lier,and leftthe party when it de- (anti-uppercastes).Hetiltstoofar companyafirearm –suchashol- circumstances, whichmay in- fledged hostel. Maulana he said. UNIDENTIFIED, RANCHI: said the school has been niedhim aticket.Beforecrossing forthe EBC (extremelybackward sters, sightsetc –mustbe clude famine, price rise, natural Rizwaan Danish, who runs the MADRASAALIA ARABIA, Gulshan Ara, 47,of wound up afterlockdown. over to the RJD, he wasbriefly castes)”. The RJD, then, in restricted onlytousers above the calamity or anyother situation”. school,said:“Around 400stu- RANCHI: Behratoli in Mandar Blockof Tribal becomes Parsi with the JD(U). “My familyhas Darbhangaand elsewhere, may ageof18. The statemaintainedthat the dentsfilledthe forms with the Records list102 studentsas Ranchi, losther husband in been associated with RSS-BJP be on the cusp of atransition. By Centre’s amendments“give un- help of some agents...My job is beneficiaries of Rs 10,700 and February2019. “Wewerego- in records since 40 years… janam liyetoh allaccounts,itisopeningitselfup Rajasthan limited powerofstocking essen- to verify whether theystudied that one person receivedRs ing through atough time when ASSEMBLYOFGOD BJP mein (I wasborn intothe —ifonlystrategically, and if only Thestate government said it tial commodities and trading in in my school or notand Idid 2,300. One among them is 47- an acquaintance approached CHURCH SCHOOL, HUTUP, BJP)…Istartedasnagaradhyaksh, by preserving, notblurring, the felt the needtobring in alegisla- them to the peril of the agricul- notcheckanything else.” He year-old RajiyaKhatun, the us, saying Iwould getsome RANCHI: became the BJP’s district presi- caste lines. Thisisitsbidto attract tionfollowing“extraordinaryout- turalcommunityandconsumers showedafew rooms with wifeofatailor and resident of charity moneyfromSaudi Rahul Oraon, aClass 9stu- dent”. the CorePlus votewhen it has rage amongstthe farmers, farm but does notallowthe stategov- mattresses, saying some boys Lohardagadistrict, 100km Arabia if Igavehim my dent, belongs to atribal com- Inthiselection,BJPsupporters beenoutof powerfor15 years,its labourers and all others engaged ernmentto actagainstandpenal- had stayed herebeforethe away.Records listher as aben- Aadhaar details and acopyof munity but is listedasa“Parsi”. arewith him, claims Gami, not bastions breachedbybothJD(U) inincidentalandancillaryagricul- ize hoarders and black-mar- lockdown. “Girls don’t stay eficiarywith aPunjab National the bank passbook.InApril, I “I got Rs 2,700 in cash without with the BJP candidate: “He only andBJPandwhenitistakingona turalactivitiesincludingthoseen- keters,”whilethe“onusliesupon here...Thereisalot of fraud Bank account. “Wefilledthe receivedRs10,700.The mid- anyreceipt,” he said. has the symbol, the cadreiswith Chief Ministerwho has astutely gagedinproduction, handling the stategovernment to protect happening,” he said. form because Iwas told by an dleman took half,” she said. Pastor Anil Chakor,chair- me”, he says.According to Gami, usedthe instrumentsofstate and sale of agricultural produce consumers from hoarding and Fake students, one is agent that Iwould gethalf the Ara’s account number in man, said: “Thereisabig the RJD has takenaleaf from the apartfromadeftpoliticsto stamp includingvegetables, fruitsetc.” black-marketing of agricultural amount of Rs 10,700.Idid not the Public Finance nexus. The studentswerenot BJP book to take the fight to the his imageevenand, especially, in following the enactment of cen- produce...” 47-yr-old wifeof knowthat the moneywas Management System (PFMS) even givenaccess to their bank BJP. remote and ill-lit corners of this tral laws. FULLREPORTON tailor meant forschool children,” fordirect transfers lists her as accounts.” “My corevoteisfrommy state. The question is: Will this It said that “the direct conse- www.indianexpress.com

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 WEST BENGAL 3 Density, high number of elderly people COMMUTERS LATHI-CHARGED AT HOWRAH push up Covid fatality rate: Officials StategovtwantsRailways Statehas country’s 2nd highestdeath rate,positivity rate up by 2percentagepoints

treatment and observequaran- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE tine guidelines. toresumesuburbantrains KOLKATA,OCTOBER31 The internal reportsaid the state’s positivity rate stood at ALARGE number of elderly citi- 7.23 per cent and 7.65 per cent “deplorable”. zens with co-morbidities, ahigh on September 27 and October 4. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE “It is painful to notice that population density and negli- This jumpedto8.27per cent and KOLKATA,OCTOBER31 youare running these trains for gence towardshospitalisation 8.81per cent in the weeksend- your staffonly, while many were among the reasons forris- ing on October 11 and 18 before HOURS AFTER the Railway other sections of governmental ing Covid-related death and pos- settling at 9.33per cent in the Protection Force(RPF) lathi- service providers and members itivity ratesinWestBengal, said next week.Kolkata, West chargedcommuters to restrain of society at large aredenied health officials on Saturday. Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, East them from boarding aspecial these services. We arean- At 1.86 per cent, West Bengal Misnapore, Nadia, Howrah, train at Howrah Railway Station, guishedthat your Central forces has the second highestdeath Darjeeling, Maldah, South 24 the West Bengal government on have usedcoercive means to rate (proportion of fatality to Parganas, EastBardwan, Saturdaywrote to the Eastern deal with members of public to- Covid-19cases) in the country At aCovid test centreinKolkata. Partha Paul Birbhum and Murshidabad are Railways to resume suburban dayatrailway stations whichis afterMaharashtra’s 2.6 per cent areas of concern forhealth trains with Covid-19protocols in Alarge crowdofcommuters at Howrah station triedto deplorable," read the letter. while the national averagehov- officials. place. storm intoatrain meant forrailways staffonSaturday. RPF BeforeDurga Puja, BJP MPs ers around 1.5per cent. In the ini- Bengal, the percentageofelderly 24 Parganas, Howrah, South 24 The number of active cases “GOWB (Government of lathi-chargedtodisperse them, injuring afew. File Swapan Dasgupta and MP tial phase of the pandemic, West citizens is very high, and almost Parganas, Nadia, West and East also increasedin17out of the to- West Bengal) is concernedtosee Locket Chatterjee had sent alet- Bengal’s Covid death rate wasa all of them have co-morbidity Midnapore, and Eastand West tal23districts. the use of unquietmeans to dis- tertoUnion Railway Minister whopping 12.5 per cent. and other complications which Burdwan, whichare the worst- According to arecent report perse passengers in needatrail- observance of physical distanc- forrailways staffonSaturday Piyush Goyalseeking resump- In the lastone month, the increase the chances of deaths. hit districts, have high popula- of the Union Health Ministry, 65 wayplatforms and has written a ing norms and public health pro- evening. RPF lathi-chargedto tion of suburban trains. positivity rate has jumpedfrom In our state, ahigh density pop- tion density. per cent of the total Covid deaths letter to railway authorities for tocol," tweetedthe stateHome disperse them, injuring afew. Beforethis, the Eastern 7.23 per cent to 9.33per cent in ulation is also amajor cause of Health Department sources in India were recordedin discussionstowards plying of a Department. Afterthe incident, Home Railway had also written alet- West Bengal. spread in the infection.” An in- said another reason forahigh Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil fewpairs of trains in the morn- This came afteralarge crowd SecretaryHKDwibediwrote a tertothe stategovernment Director of Health Service ternal reportofthe stateHealth death rate waspeople’s unwill- Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West ing and afternoon hours for of commuters at Howrah station letter to the Eastern Railway and seekingdiscussion on the AjayChakraborty said, “In West Department said Kolkata, North ingness to seek institutional Bengal. general commuters at large in triedtostorm intoatrain meant termedthe lathicharge same issue.

MALDA BRANCH 3,993 fresh cases, 57 more 514/80A, S. M. Pally,NH-34, Rathbari, Malda -732101 E-mail: [email protected] Covid-19 deaths in aday Annexure-K POSSESSION NOTICE (for Immovable Property) [As per Appendix IV read with rule 8(1) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002] continuouslydecreased. As of Whereas, the undersigned being the authorised officer of the BANK OF BARODA, STATECOUNT Saturday, thecumulative number MALDA BRANCH under the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets of dischargedpersons increased and Enforcement of Security InterestAct, 2002 (3 of 2002) and in exercise of powers TOTAL CASES conferred under Section 13(12) read with rule 9ofthe Security Interest to 3,29,937. Therecoveryrate also (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued ademand notice dated 11.06.2020 calling upon 373664 has increasedto88.30%. ENS the borrower Shri/ M/s Sakiul Sk and Makidur Sk,torepay the amount mentioned in the notice being Rs.12,87,829.57 plus interest w.e.f. 31.03.2020 together with INCREASE DEATHS further interest thereon at the contractual rate plus costs, charges and expenses till 3993 6841 date of payment within 60 days from the date of receipt of the said notice. The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the 329937 RECOVERED borrower and the public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described herein below in exercise of powers conferred on him/ her under 4556425 SAMPLES Section 13(4) of the said Act read with rule 9ofthe said rules on this 31st day of TESTED TILL OCT 31 October of the year 2020. The borrower in particular and the public in general are hereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealings with the property will be subject to the charge of Kolkata:Thenumberof discharge BANK OF BARODA, MALDA BRANCH for an amount Rs.12,87,829.57 plus personsinthestatecrossed4,000 interest w.e.f. 31.03.2020 and together with further interest thereon at the contractual rate plus costs, charges and expenses till date of payment. forthesecondconsecutive dayon The Borrower's attention is invited to provision of sub-section (8) of section 13 of the Saturday. In the last24hours, Act, in respect of time available, to redeem the secured assets. 4049personswere dischargedaf- Description of the Immovable Property terbeingcuredfromtheCovid-19 infection. Vill. Shyamdaspur,P.O. Gangaprasad, P.S. Kaliachak, Dist. Malda, Pin -732207, in the name of Sakiul Sk and Makidur Sk, Mouza- Shyamdaspur,JLNo. 107, Khatian On Friday, the active cases No. 42 (Old), 898 &899 (Present) Plot No. LR 442 &443, Kaliachak II Panchayat stood at 36,999. The number de- Samity,Area: 7.00 decimal. Property bounded by on the North: Road, on the South: creasedto36,886 on Saturday. Land of owner,onthe East: Land of Mahobot Sk and on the West: House of SinceOctober21,therecoveryrate Rahaman Sk. increasedinWestBengal and Date: 31.10.2020 Authorised Officer fromOctober27,active caseshave Place: Malda Bank of Baroda

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 4 WEST BENGAL

BRIEFLY BJP TO CHALK OUT ROADMAP FOR 2021 POLLS ‘CIDshould probewheat ShahtovisitBengal smugglingto Bangladesh’ onNovember5-6 Kolkata:WestBengal ministerJyotipriya Bengal fortwo days.The meet- Mullickhas said the CID EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ing of one zone is over.But should investigateal- KOLKATA, OCTOBER 31 BJP national meetings of four other zones leged wheat smuggling president will be held on November 5and to Bangladesh through WITH THE Assemblyelections Amit Shah 6,” said Ghosh. the state's border areas. around the corner,Union Home “He will come on the night Atotal of 175wheat- MinisterAmit Shah’s statevisit of November 4and preside over loadedtrucks with Food on November 5-6 is expected preside over twoorganisational ameeting in Bankuraon Corporation of India tags setthe tone forBJP’s poll pre- meetings and meetatleast200 November 5and another in were recentlyim- paredness as he will hold a party leaders as well as celebri- Kolkatathe following day. poundedbycustoms and flurry of meetings with work- ties. Around 200leaders, including police officers. ers and party leaders. BJP stateunit leaders on MPs, will be present,” said state “Therewere195 ABJP leader said Shah was Saturdayheld apreparatory BJP secretarySayantan Basu. trucks but 20 trucks suc- also likelytoreviewthe law- meeting attendedbyjoint gen- “He (Shah) is among the ceededtoslip through and-order situation in the state. eral secretary(organisation) senior mostleaders of our party. the borders and 175 Lastweek,Governor Jagdeep ShivPrakash, statepresident We have gotsuccess working trucks were caught. We Dhankhar metShah in Delhi Dilip Ghosh, national secretary under him (in the Lok Sabha will recommend the state and raisedconcerns over polit- Arvind Menon and others. polls). He is also the home min- government to getthis in- ical killings and other crimes. “Earlier,Shah wasscheduled isterwho is receiving com- vestigated by the CID,” ‘PRECIOUS’GOODS Some TMC leaders arealso to visit. But due to health rea- plaintsofthe bad situation in Mullick, the food and speculated to hold meetings sons, JPNaddaji wastocome. Bengal. It maybethat he will supplyministersaid late At awholesale vegetable market in Sealdah. Onion prices have touchedRs100akg. Partha Paul with the Home Minister. But nowlastnight, we learnt personallyreviewthe situa- on Friday. “This is abig According to sources, he will that Amit Shahji will visit tion,” addedSayantan Basu. scam that has been tak- ing place forquitesome time now. In the recent past, wheat from Governor reaches Siliguri, set for As ‘gulf’ widens between Haryana and Punjab was illegallyexportedbysome tradersfromWestBengal,” he alleged. PTI month-long stay in Darjeeling TMC &Suvendu Adhikari, Elephant stopoveratMalda even criticising asection of po- party puts up abrave front electrocuted EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE “AtMalda station –greatly lice officers forallegedly being KOLKATA,OCTOBER31 touchedbywarm public re- “subservient” to the ruling party. todeath Governor sponse. Malda Uttar Member Speaking to mediapersons in GOVERNOR JAGDEEP Dhankhar Jagdeep Parliament Khagen Murmu Malda, Dhankhar said, “Did any- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Kolkata, Jalpaiguri:Anele- reachedSiliguri on Saturday Dhankhar @khagen murmur and others one think of abolition of Article KOLKATA, OCTOBER 31 phant waselectrocuted evening, starting his month-long present” tweetedGovernor 370? [Verdict for] RamMandir to death aftercoming in stay in Darjeeling in north sharing pictures. [in Ayodhya]happened. AT Atime when the state contact with an electric Bengal. During his longeststay speaker” of BJP. "ReachedSiliguri by train. Everyone acceptedit. India is is preparing forcrucial Assembly fence in West Bengal's outside the RajBhawanin “In train forNorth Bengal to Looking forwardtomedia inter- changing. Solution to all prob- polls next year,Suvendu Jalpaiguri district on Kolkata, Dhankhar plans to meet connect with people and work action at 9ambeforedeparting lems is possible. Indian constitu- Adhikari, aministerand popular Saturday, forest officials representativesofseveral organ- towardsfulfillment of their ex- forDarjeeling," the Governor tiona allows solution to all prob- leader of the Trinamool said. One person wasar- isations, political parties and ad- pectations. Harnessing of its tweetedlater in the day. lems. Ihavevisited north Bengal Congress, is apparentlydistanc- rested by the police for ministration during his stay. enormous travel, tourism, eco- Dhankhar is scheduledto manytimes. Iamgoing to ing himself from the party. erecting the electric The visit comes afterhis nomic and educational potential stay at the stategovernment Darjeeljng forthe firsttime. It is Suvendu, who is statetransport fence, Chief Wildlife meeting with Union Home would improvethe livesofthe guesthouse in Siliguri and leave notthat Iamgoing to adifferent minister, has been conspicuous Warden VKYadavtold MinisterAmit Shah in Delhi, fol- people. Would connect with forRaj BhawaninDarjeeling on place in West Bengal. Thereisa by his absence at party and gov- mediapersons. "Prima fa- lowing whichheraisedthe issue people and administration Sunday.Heisscheduledtostay RajBhawanthere. From one of- ernment programmes. Also, his cie, it appears the ele- of “deteriorating lawand order @MamataOfficial”, Dhankhar in RajBhawan, Darjeeling till fice Iamgoing to another.Iwill presence and speeches during phanthasdieddueto elec- situation in the state,” among tweetedonSaturdaymorning. November 30. speak to teagarden workers and bannerless public gatherings or- trocution but it can be other issues, while speaking to The Governor had abrief The Governor had been tar- others. Iamvisiting afterhome- ganisedbyhis supporters has a confirmedonlyafter mediapersons. This once again meeting with Khagen Murmu, geting the stategovernment work.Iask big government offi- different political undertone. post-mortem,” he said. ledtosharp reactions from BJP MP from Maldaha Uttar and shortlyafter stepping intoRaj cials, be public servantsand not While Suvendu could notbe PTI Trinamool Congress leaders, Swadhin Sarkar,MLA from Bhawan, highlighting alleged de- political servant," Dhankhar told reachedfor comment, sources who dubbed him as a“loud- Baishnabnagar,during a terioration of lawand order and mediapersons in Malda. said he was“unhappy” with the The absence of StateTransportMinisterSuvendu Adhikari TMC and is trying to setupapo- from party and government programmes has triggered litical outfit of his owninanum- speculation both within the TMC and in political circles. File 15-YEAR-OLD BOY'S DEATH IN BIRBHUM berofdistrictsofBengal. By referring to himself as ‘Janaganer Sevak’(servant of the Midnaporedistrict and MLA astate government programme Amid 12 hour-bandh in Mallarpur, BJP protests at police station people) and quoting Swami from Ramnagar. on International Indigenous Vivekanada's speech‘Ami Ami On October 28, Suvendu at- People’s DayinJhargram, where theftcase on Thursday. He was in front of the police station and stageprotesstacross the state TMC's Birbhum unit chief Sorbonasher Mul’(I, me and my- tendedafunction in Digha to StateEducation MinisterPartha EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE found dead in the toiletofthe party workers gheraoedthe on November firstweek against AnubrataMondal also issueda self is the root cause of evil), he markthe 153rdbirth anniver- Chatterjee waspresent. Instead, KOLKATA,OCTOBER31 police station concernedthe station. Theydemandedaction such“police brutality”. statement that the boy's par- has triggered speculation both saryofSisterNivedita. Speaking Suvendhu wasspotted partici- same dayand police said prima- againstthe police personnel The boy's death had trig- entswerenot BJP supporters. within TMC and outside. on the occasion, he said “Swami pating in aprivate programme A12-HOUR bandh wasob- rilyitwas acase of death by sui- concerned. geredapolitical clash between Hours later,the boy's family “In 1995, Iwas councilor of an Vivekananda has said no one can in the same district. served on SaturdayatMallarpur cide. The BJP,whichcalledfor Khan later said, “Howcan the BJP and the TMC on Friday. also claimedthat he diedbysui- undividedCongress. Idid not work through his ownstrength. On October 19,Adhikari blockinBirbhum district to the bandh, alleged that the boy the police beat up aboy so bru- While the BJP alleged that the cide and has also claimedthat drop in using aparachutenor did He said “me and myself” [ap- spokeataprogramme in Netai protestthe alleged “custodial dieddue to “police brutality.” tally? The boy’s familymem- boywas assaulted “at the be- theysupportTMC and notBJP Itakealift. Itook the stairs, step proach] is the root cause of evil. (Nine people were killedbymis- death” of a15-year-old boy, On Saturdaymorning, BJP's bers areBJP supporters. That is hestofTMC” because his par- Amagisterial probewas by step. No one can stop us,” he And those who say“we and our- creantsallegedly backedbythe who police claimedhad been youth wing president and MP whythe police tortured him.” entsare BJP supporters, the ordered intothe incident, the said in his address at afunction selves” stay on.” CPM in 2011), Jhargram, and ac- detainedinconnection with a SoumitraKhan staged adharna He addedthat the BJP would TMC deniedthe allegations. police said. in Nandigram on Saturdaythat Observers see this as ames- knowledgedthat moreattention did nothavepolitical banners. sagetohis political bosses. needs to be giventothe “If one wantstoworkfor the “He is still our party leader people's woes. Beaten up for people, no one's permission is and aministerinthe Mamata “When Icame hereon needed. If one wantstoworkfor Banerjee-ledstate government. January7,manyvillagers told me ‘drinking in the people, thereisnoneedfor a MamataBanerjee is our theyare unhappy. Villagers position. Ihaveseen that some supreme party leader.Heiswel- spokeabout non-cooperation public’, senior people (leaders) were absent come to stay in the party that from asection of elected repre- during the lockdown. Theywere giveshim due respect and re- sentatives. Iwill getintowhether STEM WATER DISTRI.&INFRA CO. PVT.LTD. citizen dies notpresent to help migrant sponsibility.Ifhedecides to the allegation is true or false. I E-Tender Notice No. 2for 2020-21. labourers in Kolaghat. We have leave,itwill be his decision. have done whatever Icould. I E-EOI are invited by STEM Water Dist. &Infra. Co. Pvt. Ltd. Thane. Kolkata:Anelderly man who to stay away from suchpeople,'' People will take acall on that. gave jobs, sewing machines and For the following work. Name of Work- Supplying,Lowering, laying 1850 mm Dia. (OD) wasallegedly thrashedbysome said Suvendu during apro- However, we areprepared for built houses as muchasIcan,” pipeline for shifting work and provision of 1850 mm Dia. (OD) Pipe youths forprotesting ‘consump- gramme in Kolaghat in East anything. He will notmatter Suvendu said. Duct for future expansion of pipeline due to across the Kalyan ring tion of liquor’ in public at Garfa Midnapore, his home district, on much[if he is] out of the party,” BJP statepresidentDilip road of 45 m. R.O.W.AtAdharwadi, Kalyan. Estimated Cost Rs. 1,38,55,272/-. The details can be viewed and downloaded online area in the city has died, apolice Thursday. The programme like said asenior TMC leader,who Ghosh has in the pastsaid directly from STEM's website https://stem.abcprocure.com officer said on Saturday. manyothers wasorganisedby did notwish to be named. Suvendu is apopular leader and No Tender Activity Date Time Three persons have been ar- ‘AmraDadar Anugamira’ (We Over the pastfew months, is welcome to the saffron party 1 Document downloaded start date 03.11.20 12.00 rested in connection with the arefollowers of elder brother). Suvendu has been apparently but observers believe that 2 Pre-bid meeting date end 12.11.20 12.00 3 Documents Downloaded Date 27.11.20 15.00 death of Kanai Naskar (62) who No banners of anypolitical party avoiding his ownparty pro- Suvendu mayopt forfloating a 4 Bid Submission end date 27.11.20 15.00 wasallegedly beaten up with were spotted at the venue. grammes, government pro- newforum or political outfit. 5 Opening of Envelope No. I 27.11.20 15.00 iron rods and bamboo pole by Youths were seen sporting grammes and even Cabinet However, according to sources, 6 Opening of Envelope No. II 04.12.20 15.00 the accusedonOctober 22, whiteT-shirts with the logo meetings. Instead, he toured dif- Trinamool Congress leaders are Managing Director when he protesteddrinking in ‘Dadar Anugami’ and Suvendu’s ferent parts of EastMidnapore, also reaching out to Suvendhu public by some youths near his- picture. The group has organised West Midnaporeand Jhargram and trying to pacify him. residence, the officer said. social programmes and rallies in districtshelping people rebuild Suvendu and his familywere Naskar,who had undergone the districtsoverthe pasttwo houses in the wake of Cyclone at the forefront of Nandigram treatment at hospital immedi- months. Amphan and distributed food- land agitation since 2007.Hewas atelyafter theattackandwasdis- “The person saying all this is grains to poor people affected by atwo-time MP from Tamluk and charged, howeveragain com- holding on to his ownpost. Why the lockdown. is nowMLA from Nandigram. plainedofuneasiness and fell doesn’t he leave his post? He He wasabsent at TMC’s or- His father Sisir Adhikari is aLok unconscious at home on October [Suvendu] is trying to break the ganisational meeting at Netaji Sabha MP from from Kanthi con- 29.HewasdeclareddeadatSSKM party,” said Akhil Giri, working Indoor stadium in March.On stituency while his brother Hospital, the officer said. PTI president of TMC in East August9,hewas absent during Dibyendu is an MP from Tamluk. TENDER NOTICE ''IMPORTANT'' Sealed quotations affixing Rs. 25/- Court Fee Stamp are Whilst care is taken prior to New price structure for liquor from today acceptance of advertising invited for supply of Laboratory Equipment, Drilling copy,itisnot possible to verify The stategovernment,inan FinancesecretaryandExcisecom- Accessories, Survey Equipmentsand Tents&Tarpaulin its contents. The Indian PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA apparent bid to shoreupexcise missioner and urgedthem to re- so as to reach the office of the undersignedonorbefore Express (P) Limited cannot be KOLKATA,OCTOBER31 revenues had imposeda30per visit the price structure. held responsible for such 25th November,2020 during office hours. contents, nor for any loss or centtaxonliquorinsecondweek “The government has been The cost of tender paper is Rs.100/- for each item on damage incurred as aresult of TheWest Bengalgovernmenthas of April when lockdown wasin very receptive and indicatedthat payment by crossed D/D or cash in favour of Director of transactions with companies, revisedthe price structureof force. But that move had resulted it would visit the price structure associations or individuals Mineral Resources, Shillong -793003. Self addressed liquor brands to be sold through inasteepdeclineinwineandbeer inviewoftheongoingfestivesea- advertising in its newspapers the retail routeinthe statewhich sales in the statetothe tune of 40 son", he said. stamp envelope is to be enclosed along with the or Publications. We therefore willcomeintoeffectfromSunday, percentascomparedto theprevi- Aleading wine retailer of the request. recommend that readers make necessary inquiries sources said. ous year during this time, direc- city said the government has Sd/- before sending any monies or Thegovernmenthasmade22 tor-general of Confederation of made 22 newslabs forwine and (Arun Kumar Kembhavi, IAS) entering into any agreements newslabs forwine and beer Indian Alcoholic Beverage beer across all categories after with advertisers or otherwise acrossallcategoriesafterrational- Companies(CIABC)VinodGiri rationalizing the price structure M.I.P.R. No-1186 Director of Mineral Resources, acting on an advertisement in Dt. 30.10.20 Meghalaya Shillong. any manner whatsoever. ising the price structure,the said. Giri said representativesof after30per cent sales tax sources said. theassociationhave met,thestate imposition. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 5 EXPRESS NETWORK

ADDRESSES PROBATIONARY CIVIL SERVICE OFFICERS China-India pacts Trytosubstituteforeignbrandswithlocal:PM must be scrupulously respected to restore EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE SpiceJet gets VADODARA,OCTOBER31 normalcy: Jaishankar PRIME MINISTER Narendra 3,000 bookings for Modi on Saturdayasked proba- tionarycivil service officers to checkiftheycould find Made in seaplane service EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE India substitutes forforeign NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 brands to push the “vocal forlo- cal” campaign initiated by the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Morein AS THE stand-offwith China government. AHMEDABAD,OCTOBER31 stretchedtonearly itssixthmonth, The Prime Ministerwas ad- pipeline External Affairs MinisterS E acrossIndia ● dressing agathering of proba- SPICEJET HAS received3,000 EXPLAINED Jaishankar Saturdaysaid anyat- tionarycivil service officers of bookings forthe seaplane serv- tempttochangethe status quoat the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy ice connecting Sabarmati river- BESIDES BEGINNING the Line of Actual Control would of Administration (LBSNAA) in front and Statue of Unity in seaplane services to be unacceptable and that Sino- Musoorie via avideo conference Gujarat, said chairman and man- Surat, SpiceJetsays it India ties cannotbe“immune to from the exhibition hall of the aging director of the airlines, plans to introduce sea- changes in the assumption that Statue of Unity as partofthe sec- AjaySingh on Saturday, when plane services between underpinnedit”. ond edition of Aarambh —train- Prime MinisterNarendraModi Port Blair and Havelock Delivering the annual Sardar ing initiated forthe probation- inaugurated the country’s first in the Andaman and PatelMemorialLectureorganised aryofficers since lastyear. PM NarendraModi boards aseaplane from the Statue of Unity at Kevadia. BhupendraRana seaplane route. Nicobar Islands, by All India Radio, Jaishankar SJaishankar at Ministryof Handingoutanexerciseto the “Prime MinisterNarendra KazirangainAssam, stated that ties with China were External Affairs on Saturday. officers, who could notvisit Modiji encouraged us alot to be- Delhi to Naini lake, stableforthreedecadesasthetwo Twitter/MEA Kevadia this year due to Covid-19 manyofthese foreign brands can the probationaryofficers that mediaforgoodwork andindoing gin this flight and todayhenot Haridwar,Rishikesh and nations addressedinheritedchal- restrictions,PMModiaskedthem youdowithout foryour personal theirdecisionsfortheirallottedju- work onlytobeinthe media. You onlyinaugurated the flight, but Tehri Dam. Similar oper- lenges and newcircumstances to preparealistofitems of their use or if youcan substitutewith risdictions should bein the larger mustfollowrole models who he wasalso our firstpassenger,” ations arealso plannedin and the “peace and tranquillity in imity will nothavenaturally personaluseandcheckforforeign local Indian products... Youmay interestofthe nation and notto worked anonymouslyfor the Singh told media persons after Srinagar,Ladakh, the border areas providedthe ba- easy ties,” he said. brands. Urging them to take it as a have neverknownabouttheirori- earnpraise.Heinvokedthewords countrywith muchdiscipline. returning from Kevadia Colony Udaipur,Sunderbans in sis forexpandedcooperation in Duringthelecturetitled“India “personal challenge”, Modi asked ginorthoughtaboutitbefore you of Sardar Vallabhbhai Pateland Therehavebeen manybureau- on the 18-seater aircraftwhich West Bengal and back- other domains. But as the pan- and the post-Covid world” the aspiring officers to see if they purchasedit,” Modi said. saidthatPatel,whoaddressedthe cratsbeforeyouwhohave leftbe- can accommodate15passen- waters of Kerala. demic unfolded, the relationship Jaishankardrew parallelsbetween could substituteforeign brands ThePMfurtherurgedtheoffi- firstbatchofcivil service officers hindalegacyof goodwork butno gers, twopilots and an attendant. has come under severe stress”. the challenges facing the country with local productstoboostthe cers to look around the LBSNAA inindependentIndiainApril1947, one even knows about them...” “Wewill be trying to connect “Torestore normalcy,agree- todayandtheuncertaintiesitfaced self-reliant India campaign. campus forproductsthat are hadreferredto thebureaucracyas Modi urgedthe officers to Statue of Unity with other cities. Airline officials said that the mentsbetweenthetwocountries justafter Independence in the af- “...Ihave anassignmentforyou manufacturedin other countries. a“steel frame”. “Whatever be the promote local arts and cultureof Our firstattempt will be to con- airline wasstill fine tuning the mustberespectedscrupulouslyin termath of Partition—and how all. In the next fewdays,makea “Alsocheckyourcampuswhichis frame,itcannotfunctionwithout districtsand areas that will be nect Surat. The existing (one- booking system whichhas al- their entirety. Wherethe Line of Sardar Patelhad handledthem. listofthethingsthatyouuseevery namedafterLalBahadurShastri... sound principles,” he said. eventuallyallotted to them. way) fareswill be between Rs ready received3,000 bookings, Actual Control is concerned, any The Ministertouchedupon dayand see howmanyitems are and makealistofthings that are Stating that he has directed “When youworkindistrict 1500-5,000... It is notlikeany mostofwhichare from the attempt to unilaterallychangethe multipleaspectsofIndia'soutlook Made in India or locally—from notmade in India. Checkifitcan electedrepresentativesofthe BJP blocks,you will find global po- other common flight. It is aspe- Gujarat region. statusquoisunacceptable.There- onnationalsecurity,foreignpolicy your shoes to your phones and be replacedwith local items...” to maintainalow profileinmedia, tential in local arts and products. cial experience as it would flyat According to Singh, 30 per lationship cannotbeimmune to and the global order afterthe whatever personal use items you Laying emphasisonthe up- Modi said, “Media and social me- Youhavetosupportthem with lowaltitudes from wherethe cent of the seatswill be pricedat changes in the assumptions that impact of the pandemic. own. Makealistofthose which coming quarterofthe centuryof dia will distract and lureyou. But all your strength and vision to surrounding beauty can be seen Rs 1,500under the UDAN underpinnedit.Large civilizational FULLREPORTON areforeign brands. Checkhow India's independence, Modi told thereisadifferenceinbeinginthe help them go global.” nearStatue of Unity,” he added. scheme. states re-emerging in close prox- www.indianexpress.com FRANCE BEHEADINGS CPM decides its After polls, will jail Cong MLA Actors, activists for lungi remark: Himanta condemn Cong line: Friends in ‘outrageous’ tural institutenamedafter ABHISHEKSAHA Vaishnavitereformer Sankardev. statements by Bengal, foes in Kerala GUWAHATI,OCTOBER31 At apress conference Saturday, Sarma accusedAhmed Muslim leaders cooperation in Assam comes at a ASSAM MINISTER Himanta of commenting in the media MANOJCG time when both the parties are BiswaSarma has threatenedto that he wanted to exhibit a NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 engaged in abitter warofwords jail Congress legislator Sherman “blue-coloured lungi” in the pro- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE in Kerala over twohot political is- Ali Ahmedfor his purportedre- posedmuseum. Avastmajority MUMBAI,OCTOBER31 PREFERRINGPRAGMATISM over sues—thearrest of CPMstatesec- marks on aproposedmuseum of Bengali-speaking Muslim ideology,the CPM central com- retary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s afterstate elections next year. men residing in rural Assam are FORMER MUMBAI Police mittee Saturdaydecidedthat the son, Bineesh, in adrug-related Sarma had earlier rejected known to wear the lungi,a Commissioner Julio Ribeiro, also party and the Leftfront will have moneylaundering case and the Ahmed’s suggestion to the colourful wraparound usedasa formerDGPof GujaratandPunjab, an electoral understanding with goldsmugglingcaseinwhichCM Director of Museums requesting lowergarment. actorsNaseeruddinShah,Shabana the Congress to fight againstthe PinarayiVijayan’s former princi- him to “expedite” the process of “He could have said that he Azmi, SwaraBhasker,activists rulingTrinamoolCongress,asalso pal secretary, MSivasankar,has establishing “one museum re- wantstoshowcase fishing Medha Patkar,Teesta Setalvad, anaggressive BJP,intheforthcom- been arrested. flecting the cultureand heritage equipment or some special JavedAnandandJohnDayal,were ing Assemblyelections in West Yechurysaid, “In 2004,when of the people living in Char- boat… Letour government among 130signatories who con- Bengal whereboththe CPM and the CPM had declared that it will Chaporis of Assam in the prem- come again afterelections, demnedthe France beheadings Congress have been facing an ex- supportanalternative govern- ises of the SrimanataSankardeva Sherman Ali will be put behind and criticisedthe “outrageous istential crisis. ment that naturallyamong the Kalakshetra, Guwahati”—as rec- bars, unless he publiclyapolo- statementsbyMuslim religious InAssamtoo,whereAssembly opposition parties will be ledby ommendedbyanMLA panel. gise. Iwon’t do that now, as it will and political leaders” in astate- pollswillbeheldsimultaneously, the Congress....in suchasitua- “Char-Chaporis” refertothe become political and he will get ment issuedonSaturday. the CPM will fight elections in co- tion...the people of Kerala elected riverine sand beltsofthe morevotes,” Sarma said. “We… unequivocallyand un- operationwithsecularopposition LDFMPsoutof the20.Sodon’tun- IN INDIRA’S MEMORY Brahmaputrathat arepopulated On October 24,Sarma conditionallycondemntherecent parties,includingtheCongress.In derestimatethe intelligence and mostlybyMuslims of Bengali- tweetedAhmed’s letter,saying killings in France by twofanatics Tamil Nadu, it will be partofthe maturity of the people of Kerala.” Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi VadraatIndiraGandhi’s memorial, Shakti Sthal, origin, acommunity whichis “thereisnoseparateidentity and inthenameof faith.We aredeeply DMK-ledalliance of whichthe “What the BJP has been doing on Saturday. Gandhi Vadra, along with party chief and mother Sonia and brother Rahul, paid colloquially—and disparag- cultureinChar Anchal as mostof disturbed by the convoluted logic Congress will be aconstituent. in the lastmorethan one year tributetothe former Prime Ministeronher 36th death anniversary. Amit Mehra ingly—referredtoas“miya” in the people had migrated from of someself-appointedguardians However, the party is up sinceitsreturn...peoplearewatch- Assam. The Kalakshetraisacul- Bangladesh”. of Indian Muslims in rationalising againstthe Congress in Kerala, ing...theyknowthat this danger cold-bloodedmurderanddeplore whereAssemblyelectionswillbe has to be defeated.Iamsurethe the outrageous remarks of some held along with West Bengal in people of Kerala will fullyunder- headsof state,”thestatementread. Maynextyear. stand,” he said. WRITEBACK Thestatementfurtherread:“It CPMgeneralsecretarySitaram But the arrest of Kamal Nath moves top has become the order of the day Yechurysaid the people of Kerala Balakrishnan’s son and the gold RESPONDINGTOtwo reports meetings of June 7, 2019,and aproposedpenalty of 12%of forall religious groups to indulge are“intelligentandmature”to un- smuggling case has put the CPM in The Indian Express October 21,2019. the project costoncontractor in whatabouterywheneversuch derstand the situation. The CPM inaspot.Yechurysaidthecontro- court after EC revokes ‘Overruling owndecisions, RepresentativesofUSOF and M/s Tata projectsLtd. The heinouscrimesarecommittedby politburohad lastSundaygiven versiesarenot a“moralblow”,ar- Baghel govt spares TatasRs BBNL agreedtothe mode of showcause notice to Tata those belonging to their flock.” the green signal forthe Bengal guing that Bineesh is notamem- ‘star campaigner’ tag 200crpenalty’ on October 29 payment. The SLIC agreedto Projectshad already been is- The signatories also expressed unit’s proposal foratie-up with berofthe CPM and the party has and ‘Spared by Govt, Tatasgot the penalty amount, but leftit suedonAugust29, 2020. solidarity with the FrenchCouncil the Congress. The Kerala leader- no responsibility to defend him. vendor word on penalty too’ to CHiPS to take afinal call on Our Correspondent: forthe Muslim Faith forissuing an ship, whichwas againstany tie- “AsecretaryoftheChiefMinister on October 30, Chhattisgarh the mode of payment. On Three showcause notices were appeal calling on all Muslims in up with the Congress, relented ortheChiefMinister’soffice...theCM EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE InfotechPromotion Society January9,2020, then CEO sent from CHiPS to Tata Franceto“cancelallcelebrationsof and did notobject to the move. immediatelysuspendedhim from NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 (CHiPS), the state’s nodal Devasenapathi confirmedthe Projectswithin the firstsix thebirthdayoftheProphetasasign The CPM central committee’s that position,” he said, adding that Kamal agency to monitor IT projects, mode of recovery as deduction months till November 2018,af- of mourning and solidarity with go-ahead foranelectoral alliance action mustbetaken when viola- Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Nath wrotebackintwo separatere- of 12 per cent from eachofthe terwhichthe firstpenalty was the victims and their lovedones”. with the Congress in Bengal and tion of lawisfound. MinisterKamal Nath has moved joinders stating these reports amount due to Tata Projects. leviedonNovember 03, 2018. the Supreme Courtagainstthe were factuallyincorrect, mis- CHiPS: Thereisnoorder The penalty wasincreasedto ElectionCommission'srevocation The senior Congress leader leading and erroneous. passedfromcurrent CEO of the maximum 12%ofcapital of his“starcampaigner”statusfor contendedthat the EC: “had al- In both the reports, The CHiPS, Shri Sameer Vishnoi to expenditureonFebruary23, Complete shutdown in theforthcomingMadhya Pradesh ready passedanOrder dated Indian Express had sought and setaside the penalty proposed 2019.Hence, the August29, bypolls. 26.10.2020 quaaninstance dated incorporated commentsfrom to be leviedupon the contrac- 2020, letter by current CEO In his plea, the stateCongress 18.10.2020andtherefore,punish- the current CHiPS CEO Sameer tor. CHiPS as ashow-cause notice, Kashmir over new land laws chief said the poll body's October ing” him “for the same instance is Vishnoi. In the October 29 re- Our Correspondent: is justrepeating the whole pro- 30 order,“basedonacomplaint completely in teethofprinciples port, Vishnoi is quoted as say- According to then CHiPS CEO cedureall over again. by BhartiyaJanataParty againsta of fair playand resjudicata(mat- ing the moneyshown as KC Devasenapathi’s January9, CHiPS: CHiPS has hold of BASHAARATMASOOD speechdeliveredon13.10.2020”, teralready decidedbyacompe- penalty wasonlybeing 2020, letter to Tata Projects, Performance Bank Guarantee SRINAGAR,OCTOBER31 waspassedwithoutanynoticeor tent courtand hence notsubject stoppedand notdeducted.“I “12% deduction on payable (PBG) of Rs 167crore and also hearing to him. On October 13, to litigationpursuedbysamepar- stoppedthat so that we can amount from everyinvoice Additional Bank Guarantee FOLLOWINGAcall by separatist Nath had termedChief Minister ties again)”. restartthe penalty procedure. raisedbyMSI” wasdecidedas (ABG) of Rs 165crore.This to- conglomerateHurriyat Shivraj Singh Chouhan “mafia” The EC order says:“...for re- Earlier,procedurewas notfol- the mode of recovery of tals Rs 332crore whichcan be Conference, the Kashmir valley and “milawatkhor”. peatedviolationof ModelCodeof lowed,” he had said. penalty.This penalty was revokedatany point of time. on Saturdayobserved acom- In his plea filedthrough Conduct and forcompletely dis- The keyissues raisedby deemedas“proposedpenalty” This is muchhigher than the plete shutdown againstthe new AdvocateVarun KChopra, Nath regarding the advisoryissuedto CHiPS and the response by our by current CEO Sameer proposedpenalty of around Rs land laws allowing anyIndian said the EC had issuedanotice to him, the Commission herebyre- Correspondent arebelow: Vishnoi in his August13, 2020, 200crore. citizen to purchase land in him on October 21,after acom- vokesthestatusof leaderof polit- CHiPS: The line “This letter to the ThirdParty Our Correspondent: It is Jammu and Kashmir. plaintby theBJP,forallegedly vio- ical party (StarCampaigner) of penalty wasasper terms of the Auditor,FeedbackInfraPvt Ltd. standardpractice in everycon- In Srinagar,all business estab- latingtheModelCodeof Conduct Kamal Nath...” agreement between the com- The letter says,“With regards tract to seek security in terms lishmentsremainedclosed,atten- at arallyinDabra, Gwalior,on Nath's plea said that this “or- panyand the stateand itsim- to withholding of 12%penalty of PBG. The amountsheld as dance in government offices was At Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Saturday. Shuaib Masoodi October 18.Itwas this daythat der is illegal, arbitrary, unrea- position wasadecision ratified on eachofthe payment… PBG and the Additional Bank thin with public transportoff the Nath had made the controversial soned, passedincomplete viola- by aChief Secretaryled com- CHiPS would liketoinform Guarantee arereturnedtoMSI roads and fewprivate vehicles on “item” remarkagainstformer tion of basic canons of natural mittee” is misleading and er- that final decision on imposi- afterthe project goes live. the roads. the towns of SouthKashmir,in- bifurcateitintoUnion territories. CongressMLAImartiDevi,whois justice and in negation of fairplay roneous. tion of penalty is pending at Penalty wasleviedfor not Shutdown wasalso observed cluding Shopian, Kulgam, Thenewlandlaws have triggered nowaBJPministerandthesaffron and therefore, deserves to be Our Correspondent: The the appropriateauthority,due meeting the milestones as in all the major towns of North Anantnag, Pulwama and fears that the Centrewantsto party candidatefromDabraseat. quashed.” He addedthat the EC penalty mentionedwas levied to whichall further payment agreedtobyTataProjectsLtd, Kashmir,including Sopore, Pamporewhereshops remained changethe demographyofthe Nath told the Supreme Court “has nottaken equivalent action and conveyedinaFebruary23, to MSI maybeproposedwith- and CHiPS, as the nodal Baramulla, Kupwara, Handwara shut and public transportwas off erstwhile state. thatherepliedtothisECnoticeon againstrepeatedviolationof MCC 2019,letterbythen CHiPS CEO out withholding anyamount agency,had decidedtorealise and Bandipore. While mostofthe the roads. Theamendmentshavetrig- October 22. He said the commis- by leadersof BhartiyaJanataParty KC Devasenapathi to Tata againstthe proposedpenalty.” it by withholding 12%from business establishmentsre- This wasthe firstshutdown geredangerinthevalleywithpar- sionthenaccordedhimahearing despitevarious representations ProjectsLtd. It wasdiscussed CHiPS: Current CEO amountspayable to Tata mainedclosed, fewervehicles call by separatists since August5 ties across the spectrum, except before passing orders on October by the Indian National Congress”. in the StateLevel Sameer Vishnoi has started Projectsbasedonthe invoice pliedonthe roads. Acomplete lastyearwhentheCentredecided BJP,vowing to fight againstthe 26,“advising”himnottousesuch FULLREPORTON Implementation Committee formal procedureofimposing raisedbythe company. shutdown wasalso observed in to scrap J&K’s special status and newlaws. wordsduring campaigning. www.indianexpress.com Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 6 EXPRESS NETWORK

BRIEFLY DAY AFTER AMETHI VILLAGE PRADHAN’S HUSBAND DIES OF BURN INJURIES Teen says father burnt over village Enoughlawstotackle politics, accused family denies pollution,political

allegedly involvedinsetting him AVANEESHMISHRA onfire.Anaudioof thisiscirculat- AMETHI,OCTOBER31 ingonsocialmedia.Asked about willlacking:experts RDoraikkannu the audio clip, ADG (Lucknow ADAY afterthe husband of the zone) SatyaNarain Sabat said the villagepradhan of Bandoiya, in audio will be verified, but at this ESHAROY TAMIL NADU Uttar Pradesh's Amethi district, pointitcannotbecalledanofficial NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 Differencein Agriminister died of severe burn injuries, and dying declaration. E size,power ● the familyalleged that afew vil- The victim's son, Govind IN 1985, social activistand lawyer EXPLAINED battlingCovidis lagers abducted and sethim on Prasad, 19,said his mother won MCMehtafiledawrit petition in fire lateThursdaynight, an old the firstelection forvillageprad- the Supreme Courtseeking the AKEY difference between critical:hospital disputeoverpanchayatpolitics, han in 2015,“they(accused, who closureofShriram Industries, op- the newcommission and Chennai: Tamil Nadu and alleged swindling of govern- the teen said had helpedher win erating in adense area of Delhi. EPCAare their size and AgricultureMinisterR ment funds meant fordevelop- the reservedpost) startedtoforce MC MehtavsUnion of India composition,aswell as Doraikkannu, battling ment, is emerging as apossible her to consult them before taking would go on to become aland- MCMehta powers. The commission, Covid-19pneumonia and trigger forthe incident. Police deployedatAmethi’s Bandoiyavillageafter pradhan anydecision. Theyevenwanted markenvironmental case and, Additional Secretary on lifesupport, is ex- Arjun Prasad Kori, 52, who Chhotka Devi’s husband diedofburn injuries. Vishal Srivastav the seal of villagepradhan to be over the coming decades, the ba- (Environment) Ravi tremelycritical, ahospi- came from the Dalit community, handedovertothem. My parents sis foraslewoforders to check effective executive would have Aggarwal says,will have taltreating him said diedonway to hospital in refused, and since then theyhave air and waterpollution –includ- been able to curb air pollution. 17 members, drawnfrom Saturday. The 72-year- Lucknowinthe early hours of accusedKrishna Kumar Tiwari, but it did notgoasper plan.” takenusastheir enemy....” ing the setting up of the EPCAor “Thereshould beawell-designed across sectors and even old ministerhas “suf- Friday. His wife, Chhotka Devi, deniedthisand instead alleged An FIR registeredat But Tiwari's father RamMurti the Environment Pollution executive body with defined from NITI Aayog, ISROand feredasignificant deteri- 50, is the villagepradhan. Korisethimself onfire to putpres- Munshiganj police station on the said, “On October 6, we com- (Prevention and Control) public space within it represent- NGOs. The EPCAhad orationinvital functions. On Saturday, the familysaid sureonthem by inflicting minor complaint of Chhotka Devi plainedagainstthe pradhan of Authority forthe National Capital ingall sectors, because the prob- sevenmembers, twoof He is extremelycritical the accusedpersons had helped injuriesonself,butitwentwrong. names KKTiwari, Rajesh Mishra, corruption. She wassanctioned Region of Delhi. lem of pollution is multi-sectoral. them permanent. While despitebeing on maxi- them win the pradhan election, He told TheSundayExpress: Ravi Shankar Tiwari, Santosh moneytobuild308toilets,butless With the Centrenow bring- The intent of the Commission is EPCAhad some powers, mal lifesupport,” said and alleged that theysubse- “Around 11 pm on Thursday Tiwari, RamBabu, Ajayand ami- thanahundredwerebuilt.Yet,she ing in anew ordinance forthe off-kilter.Itseems to viewthe the commission has pow- KauveryHospital quentlywanted to hijackall de- neighbours heardnoise and in- nor as accused. Of them, Krishna declared the villageopen defeca- setting up of aCommission for problem of air pollution as one of ers as well as duties, Executive Director Dr cisions takenbyChhotka Devi as formedus.We foundArjunPrasad Kumar,Rajesh and Santosh have tion-free... Theyreceivedaround Air Quality Management in the enforcement, whereas it is apo- whichmeans that it is “ac- Aravindan Selvaraj. The pradhan. Theyalleged that since crying in pain with burn injuries. been arrested.The others are Rs 10 lakh to renovate the village National Capital Region and litical problem –one of political countable and has to hospital had said she did notacceptthis, the ac- We informedthe police. We be- absconding. primaryschool but did nothing.” Adjoining Areas, abody that will will,’’ says Dubash. showresults”, Aggarwal Mondaythat the minis- cused, as partofarevenge, kid- lieve he sethimself on fire to In the FIR, the familyhas al- Station Officer of Munshiganj see the EPCAgetting dissolved, Dubash wasappointed to the says.The EPCA's main terwas being treated for nappedKori and sethim on fire. blame us. He musthavethought leged that before his death, Kori MithileshSinghsaidthingswould Mehtasays the battle againstair EPCAwhen it wasreconstituted function wastoassistthe severe Covid pneumonia RamMurti, 71,father of main that he will sufferminor injuries, gave names of people who were be clear as the probeproceeds. pollutionlacks notlawsorcom- in 2018.In2019, he resigned"be- Supreme Court. and itscomplications, mittees, but political will. cause Ididn’tfeel Iwas being ef- and maintaining func- “The problem is of lobbies fective in EPCA,wherethe mem- tions of his vital organs TN eases curbs: Schools, suchasthe vehicular lobby... If it bers had little input". whichiswhat youneedfor ef- waschallenging. PTI TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE weren’t forthe intervention of He adds that persistent prob- fective implementation.’’ the courts,verylittle would have lems will continue despitethe TheCommissioncanalsotake suburban trains, movie CASES: RECOVERED:74,32,829 got done,’’ says Mehta, adding Commission. "Take, forinstance, suomotucognizanceof violations 243 the Commission’s composition stubble burning. Farmers have oractoncomplaints."Thesewere TRIPURA DAYSSINCE 81,37,119 DEATHS:1,21,641 of primarilygovernment officials relevant questions of whythey powersthathadbeengiventothe halls to resume operations PANDEMIC 90-year-old BEGAN TESTS: 10,87,96,064 | DOUBLING RATE: 124.29** –fromthe Centreand states –is arebeing targeted and notthe EPCAaswell. But in twodecades, auditoriums, assemblyhalls, thereforeamatter of concern. transportsector,’’ he say. the EPCAdid nottakeasingle suo womanrapedby EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE zoos and museums. Film shoot- “If the government did itsjob, The Environment Ministry, motu action and did notreceive CHENNAI,OCTOBER31 ing has been allowedwith a therewould be no needtoset up however, pointstofundamental anycomplaints....The EPCAhas 2atherhome crew strength of 150members. commissions, or forpeople to differences between the EPCA been afailurenot justofgover- Agartala: A90-year-old THE TAMIL Nadu government However, the presence of the approachthe courts.The man- and the newCommission to say nance but also of civil society woman has been al- on Saturdayeasedsome curbs public at shootlocations will not ner in whichthe ordinance was that the newbody will be more groups. Theydid notaddress citi- legedly gang-rapedby introducedtocombat the pan- be allowed. brought in, overnight, without a effective.Additional Secretary zen grievances at all, whichthey twomen in her house in demic and announcedthat edu- Religious congregations as KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING proper discussion, wasalso in- Ravi Aggarwal says,“The were meant to do,’’ says environ- Tripura, police said on cational institutes, suburban well as other public functions in- TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* TIME** appropriate,’’ he says. Commission, unlikethe EPCA, mental lawyer RitwickDutta. Saturday. The men broke trains and movie halls will re- cluding academic and political Navroz Dubash, professor, has the powertoappoint officers EPCAchairman BhureLal as intothe house of the sume functioning over the next eventshavebeen allowedfrom ■ Maharashtra 16,72,858 6,190 0.35% 206.25 Centrefor Policy Research,reit- and IGs of different states are well as member SunitaNarain woman, who wasliving fewweeks, keeping standardop- November 16 with amaximum ■ Andhra 8,20,565 2,886 0.35% 205.13 erates Mehta’s stance, saying an also members of the body – did notcomment on the matter. alone, in NorthTripura erating procedures in place. of 100people and as per stan- ■ Karnataka 8,20,398 3,589 0.47% 153.19 district on October 24. Astatement issuedbyChief dardprotocols of social distanc- Her relativeslodged apo- ministerEdappadi K ing. The number of people to at- ■ Tamil Nadu 7,22,011 2,608 0.38% 191.07 Chhattisgarh cop held, Cop arrested, 4 lice complaint on October Palaniswami said that schools tend marriageand ■ Kerala 4,25,122 6,638 1.70% 42.38 29, asenior police officer (Class 9onwards), colleges, re- funeral-related eventshas been booked as man said. The twomen ac- search institutions and other ed- restricted to 100. *Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last7days**Calculated over 7-daygrowth dismissed from service cusedofraping the ucational institutions mayre- However, existing restric- CASEFATALITYRATIO POSITIVITYRATE DAILYIN,DAILYOUT found dead after woman areabsconding open from November 16.All tions with regard to swimming 7DAYSEARLIER: 7DAYSEARLIER: DETECTED TODAY and amanhunt has been hostels, including those in pools, beaches and touristplaces for burning toddler gambling raid in launched to nab them, SP schoolsand colleges, will also be will continue and norms setfor 1.51 7.71 48,268 Bhanupada Chakraborty allowedtoreopen. containment zones also will NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: Kanpur village said. PTI Suburban train services also continue. 1.59 7.48 59,454 with cigarette butts can be resumed, as per the regu- E-passes remain mandatory Deaths as aratio of Positives against Becoming sick vs MANISHSAHU MAHARASHTRA lations insistedbythe Centre. forpeople travelling from other positive cases (in %); number tested recovering; more LUCKNOW,OCTOBER31 Movie theatres have been al- states to Tamil Nadu as well as indicator of progress (in %); indicator of recoveries for 14 days EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE in averting deaths the spread of disease may signal the peak Womankilled lowedtooperateat50per cent forthose visiting popular tourist RAIPUR,OCTOBER31 APOLICE sub-inspector has been DataasonOctober30,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers aspartofcrane capacity from November 10, destinations suchasOoty, includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive arrested,aconstable transferred along with amusement parks, Kodaikanal and Yercaud. ACHHATTISGARH Police consta- and acase of kidnapping, mur- collapses ble wasarrestedonSaturdayand der and destruction of evidence dismissedfromhis service after filedagainstfour villagers aftera Mumbai: A26-year-old Rajasthan tables an FIR wasregisteredagainst man wasfound dead on woman wascrushedto 610 Mumbai locals to operate from him forallegedly assaulting a Saturdaymorning in Bhadras vil- death and twoothers suf- Bill to make woman and inflicting burns on lageunder Ghatampur police feredinjuries when atrol- her toddler using cigarette butts. Avinash Rai station in Kanpur. leyofaspeeding crane today, daily service now over 2,000 masks in public According to police, the one- The body of Pappu Bajpai separated and collapsed year-old has severalburn marks wasfound in afield with abullet near abus-stopin the day, women commuters. A number of passengers allowed mandatory around her face and torso. time of the incident and was injurytothe chestonSaturday Mumbai’s western sub- NEERAJTIWARI decision about opening the local to boardthe local services.” He Balod police said the incident staying in the house with the vic- morning. Police areprobing if urb of Andheri Saturday, MUMBAI,OCTOBER31 trainservices--closedtothepub- said that 2,020servicesonWR Jaipur: The Rajasthan govern- involving constable Avinash Rai tim forthe pastfew days,” asen- Bajpai wasshotbysub-inspec- police said. The driverof lic at large -- forall is expected on and CR can easilyaccommodate ment on SaturdaytabledaBill to occurredonThursday. “Rai lived ior officer said. torPremVeer Singh Yadav, who the crane, heading to- STARTINGSUNDAY,the Central Monday, railway officials said. over 25 lakh passengers daily. makewearing of masksinpub- on rent at the toddler's house Additional SP DRPorte said, conducted araid in the village wardsDadar from Railway and the Western Railway The move comes as the gov- Since March,local services lic and work places mandatory. while he waspostedinBalod. He “Basedonthe woman's com- lateonFridaynight afterreceiv- Jogeshwari, lostcontrol will run an additional 610local ernment has includedmorecat- were shut forgeneral public to The Rajasthan Epidemic had been transferredtoDurg20 plaint, acase wasregisteredun- ing information about agroup of the vehicle at around 6 services in Mumbai, increasing egories of workers in essential control the spread of the coron- Diseases(Amendment)Bill,2020, days agobut had been missing der sections 294(obscene acts), involvedingambling. am near Gundavali bus dailyservices from 1,410to2,020. services, and openedupthe avirus. Since July, aftergetting seeks“to prohibit the movement from duty,” an official said. 323 (voluntarilycausing hurt) “During preliminaryinquiry, stop on Western Express The announcement comes two trains forwomen commuters, permission from the central gov- of anypersoninpublicplace,pub- On Thursday, Rai, who had and 324(voluntarilycausing we were informedthat... Prem Highway,anofficial said. days afterthe Maharashtragov- leading to crowding in the lim- ernment, Indian Railways and lictransport...rgatheringwithout come to Balod to take moneyhe hurtbydangerous weapons or Veer Yadavhad gone to the spot The trolleyofthe crane ernment wrotetothe general ited number of local services. Maharashtragovernment,both properly covering his mouth and had loanedtothe family, al- means) of the IPC, and sections and had also openedfire. We landedonChandivali res- managers of CR and WR propos- Asenior CR official said, “We CR and WR have been increasing nosewithfacemaskorfacecover.” legedly forced the toddler to call of the JJ Actand the SC/STAct. have arrested Prem Veer.Ade- ident Falguni Pateland ing that the general public be al- areworking on amodel to make the dailyservices on the subur- In the statement of Object and him “papa”, and when she did We have arrested the accused partmental inquiryhas been or- twoothers. Pateldiedon lowedtotravelbyMumbai local sure that passengers don’t have ban networkmonth by month. Reasons forthe Bill, the stategov- notrespond, he inflicted burns and areinvestigating further.” dered againstpolice constable the spotand the injured trains during non-peak hours. problems while commuting in Railway officials earlier said ernment said health experts are on her face, stomachand hands Afterthe FIR wasregistered, Deepanshu, who had gone to the persons were rushedtoa The additional services that the local trains. To makesureso- theywereready to resume local of the opinionthat use of masks withcigarette butts, police said. the stateDGP ordered that Raibe spotwith Prem Veer.Wehaveso hospital, he said. PTI will plySundayonwards arestill cial distancing is maintainedin train services foreveryone but can help control the spread of He also allegedly thrashedthe dismissedfromservice and farnot found anyrole of consta- restrictedonlyforessentialservice local trains, we areincreasing the neededtoget an approval from Covid-19“considerably”andsave toddler's mother before fleeing. formedspecial teams to arrest ble Deepanshu in the crime," said UTTAR PRADESH workers,andatspecifiedhoursof services with respect to the the Railway Ministry. livesofmillions. ENS “Rai had been drunk at the him. Kanpur DIG Preetinder Singh. Gangwarwife, 6offamily,test Necessary to make e-hearing available everywhere: CJI DRUGS CASE positiveforvirus Deepika Padukone’s manager this has also unintentionallycre- cause India’s ZeroMile is located Bareilly: Labour Minister VIVEKDESHPANDE ated inequality between those here. This has to be spread all files for anticipatory bail Santosh Gangwar said NAGPUR,OCTOBER31 who can access justice and those over the countryassoon as pos- Saturdaythat his wifeand who can't.... So, it is necessary sible.” “bustdrug networks around six other familymembers CHIEF JUSTICE of India SABobde that this technology (e-hearing) Alerting the judiciaryto“a EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Bollywood”. Prakash wascalled have tested positive for on Saturdaydescribed the pan- be made available everywhere. post-pandemic flood of litiga- MUMBAI,OCTOBER31 forquestioning by the NCBon the coronavirus. The 71- demic-induceddigitisation of Removing these inequalities tions”, CJI Bobde also emphasised October 28. year-old ministertoo un- justice dispensation as an irre- should be our next emphasis,” on greater stress foranalterna- FOUR DAYS afterthe Narcotics Seeking protection from ar- derwent atestfor Covid- versible changethat needs to be the CJI said. tive disputeredressal Control Bureau(NCB) raidedthe rest,Prakash has contendedthat 19 and his reportcame further expandedtocover the “The e-resource centreisa mechanism. residence of actor Deepika the possession of suchasmall out negative.Gangwar, entirecountrytoremove the in- step in the direction of mitigat- “Let's makemobile vans with Padukone’s manager Karishma quantityof charascan,atthemost, who is the parliamentar- equalities it has unintentionally ing these problems.Now SC can Internetconnection and genera- Prakash and claimedtohave attract one year in prison. Hence, ian from BareillyinUttar thrownupdue to itscurrent lim- be accessedfromany courtin tors available formediation, not found 1.7grams of charas and citing aSupreme Courtruling ac- Pradesh, told reporters ited coverage of technology. India. But moresmall centres justlitigation,” he said. twobottles of CBD (Cannabidiol) cording to whichcustodial inter- herethat his familymem- CJI Bobde wasspeaking after needtobeopenedtoensureac- The CJI also reiterated his oil, Prakash on Saturdayfiledan rogation is notnecessaryinof- bers had recentlygone to inaugurating NyayKaushal, the The CJI also reiterated his stance on using artificial cess to justice forall. Iwould ap- stance on using artificial intelli- anticipatorybail application in fences attracting less than seven Delhi wheretheycon- country’s firste-resource centre intelligence (AI) forjustice dispensation. peal to youthat youshould mo- gence(AI)forjusticedispensation. the sessions court, her lawyer yearsimprisonment,Prakashhas tracted the infection. All at the Judicial Officers’ Training bilise all stategovernmentsto Others who attendedthe Ayaz Khan confirmed. The appli- stated that her personal liberty of them have been admit- Institute(JOTI) in Nagpur.The e- ensurethat the technology programme includedSupreme cation is expected to be heardon should notbetaken away, The tedtothe ESI Hospital in resource centrewill facilitatethe chambers forlawyers at JOTI that “Afterthe onsetofpandemic, reaches the villages,” he said. Courtjudges Justice BRGavai Tuesday. Indian Express has learnt. Faridabad. The family filing of cases in the Supreme can be usedfor online hearing of hearing cases physicallyhad be- Saying that the creation of and Justice DYChandrachud, NCBofficials said Prakash’s About the CBD oil extracted cook has also takenill and Court, High CourtorDistrict Court cases and inaugurated avirtual come dangerous. So, we got the e-resource centreatNagpur BombayHigh CourtChief Justice name croppedupduring the from cannabisplant, Prakash has has been admitted to a in Nagpur.Itwould also facilitate courtfor the Transport down and chalked out plan for wasastepinthat direction, the Dipankar Dattaand questioning of one of the ped- contendeditisnot coveredbythe hospital. PTI the hearing of cases online. Department, whichwould deal e-hearing and managed to con- CJI said, “It startedherenot be- Administrative JudgeofNagpur dlers arrested by the agency in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic The CJI also inaugurated four with trafficchallans. tinue the functioning of SC.... But cause Iamfromherebut be- benchJustice Ravi Deshpande. the case in whichitislooking to Substances (NDPS) Act. Kolkata

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 7 SUNDAY STORY People of Bihardid notget to ‘ connect with anyone in along time. ‘ They now finally feel heard

With the battlefor Bihar poisedatakeystage,RJD’s TejashwiYadav,the Mahagathbandhan’s CM nominee,talkstoSANTOSH SINGH &DIPANKAR GHOSE on the Tejashwi, the challenger “overwhelming” crowds at hisrallies,saysheplansto“build on the gains of social justice”, Winorlose,this is an election that will markthe emergenceof and explainswhy his promise of jobs is financiallytenable Tejashwi from the larger-than-life shadowofhis father Lalu Lalu’sfamilysize,saying,“Theyhaveeight-nine SANTOSHSINGH children,”Tejashwi,theeighthof LaluPrasadand Your rallies aredrawing alot of attention. We aretransparent about the internal work- Rabri Devi’s nine children, retorted that the CM What do the crowds mean? ings of our party.Thereisnoattempt whatsoever ll bets areoff in what is seenas “has insultedevenPMNarendraModi who has It has been overwhelming. Seems likethe peo- to hide anythingoranyone. adead-heatelection,with many five siblings”.Besides, his “thake gaye Nitish” ple of Bihardid notget to connect with anyone or This is acollective fight and all leaders and still givingCMNitish Kumar a taunt has summarisedthe general sense of fa- speak to anyone in along time. It wasthe Mann Ki workers of the party aresweating out in the field. chancetofightbackthree terms tigue against theNitish administration. A of anti-incumbency.But forTej- He alsolearnt fast that his father’s sloganof Baat model, the no-press-conference model. But naturally, being the captain of the ship, Office-bearers and leaders would come and talk Ihavegreater responsibility and needtocover ashwi PrasadYadav and the RJD, this is apoll “secularismandsocialjustice”wasn’tenthusing but do notgive(people) anyindication that they eachconstituency. that will markthe emergence of the young the post-Mandal, post-Babri generation, and had been heard. My colleaguesand Ihavehad our man from the larger-than-lifeshadowofhis fa- thatheneededafreshslogan.Hedidn’thaveto ears to theground ever since the ill-plannedlock- In Patna, the posters areeither of youor ther Lalu Prasad. look far—hetookthe “development” theme down triggered all kinds of crises and have been NarendraModi. The BJP is asking forvotes in If crowds at rallies could win elections, outof Nitish’scampandmixeditwiththeright trying to hear what the people of Biharare trying the PM’s name. Tejashwiistheclearwinner.Almost everyrally dose of populism. to say. Ithink theynow feel heard. This contradictstheir claimthat Nitishji is their of his has drawnhugecrowds of youngmen Besidestheofferofgovernmentjobs,hehas CM candidateorIdon’t knowifNarendraModi has whofollowhiminawavetothestageandcheer beenpromisingpayparityto overfive lakhcon- What is your alternativemodel of growth? been made the NDA’s CM candidatenow.This wildlyashespeaks. And when he talksofhis tract teachers. Tejashwi has also assured aan- It is very simple. We arenot promising alot of would be best answered by the NDAcamp. oft-repeated promiseof10lakhgovernment ganwadi and ASHA workers of araise in salary. newthings.Weare promising to fixthings that al- jobs,the crowdisalmostdelirious.Under It’s this group that’s cheering him on at his ready existand have provisions under various pro- Is the RJD rethinking itsstand on the EWS Tejashwi, the RJD has clearly travelled farfrom rallies, says KishoreJaiswal, aMunger-based gramme budgets. We areputting people and their quota, especially whenyou aretalkingabout itsdaysin2017, whenitreportedly putupapho- waterconservationist.“Besides his Muslim-Ya- needs backatthe centreofthings, instead of facil- taking everyone along? toshoppedphotograph of itsGandhi Maidan davvotebase, the crowdathis rallies include itating some headline-grabbing prestigeorvanity One is nottogrowthe size of the pie and hence, is rallytoexaggeratethe numbers. youth aspiring forjobs and prospective bene- projects. Our belief has been to fixwhat is broken carvingtheexistingoneintosmallerpieces.Also,with While Tejashwi is nowthe Mahagathband- fiaries of his polls promises,” he says. and then build on that. When we were in power, it theneweducationpolicyandthewaythepublicsec- han’sCMnominee,itwasn’talways thisclear. In Fornow,Tejashwi has also managed to as- wasabout social justice. Nowitisbuilding on the torisbeinggutted,whereisthequestionof moreseats the alliance’s earlier form, the Congress, RLSP’s serthis position within his ownfamily. With gains of social justice andfocusing on economic or openings?Evenwhat exists is beingtaken apart. UpendraKushwaha and HAM (S)’s eldestsibling Misa Bharati mollified justice forall. Therefore, we believe economicallyweaker sections JitanRam Manjhialways spokeof with aRajya Sabha berth, the fam- TejashwiYadavatelection rallies in requireall possible assistancebut through amore “collective leadership”. ilyhas also managed to handle Youhavebasedyour campaign around your Raghopur (top) and Masaurhi in Patna. PTI proactive andtailor-made approach. Similarly,we ButonceKushwahaandManjhi elder brother TejPratapYadavmore promise of 10 lakh government jobs. Howdid needtoaddressthebroadergender-basedmarginal- walked out, Tejashwi asserted his diplomaticallythan theydid dur- this idea come up and howmuchdoes it have isationaswell,inadditionto existingcaste-basedpro- position,leavingtheCongresswith ing the 2019 LokSabha polls, when to do with economic distress? whichare very receptive and responsive.Inclusivity visions. Social and economic justice go hand in hand littlechoicebutto accepthimasthe he had turnedarebel. Over the lastyear or so,out of every10youths is coretoour ideology.Wehavealways takencare and we arecommitted to both. alliance’s leader. While all of this makeTejashwi Imet,ninewerejobless. That’s when I of all sections. It’s justthat peopleare The Leftparties that makeup lookliketheindisputablechallenger, made up my mind to find asolution. I seeing our ticket distribution with a This is the firstpoll the RJD is notattacking the the rest of the Mahagathbandhan hiscriticssayhisriseislessto hiscre- worked closelywith my advisor,re- neutral prism this time. PM. Have youmoved pastyour father’s —CPI, CPI(ML)and CPI(M) —are ditandowesmoretothedisarrayin search team, economists andthen read- slogans of social justice and secularism, and onlytoohappytolet Tejashwitake centrestage. the NDA, with the LJP walking out and the BJP iedablueprint forproviding 10 lakh jobs Howdoyou react to the PM’s playedupdevelopment to take on Nitish? While at one stage, CPI’s KanhaiyaKumar and JD(U) notsharing the best of ties. whichwill be signedoff in my first “jungle ka yuvraaj”remark?The CM We don’tneedtoattackanyone.The failures of wasseenasacontenderfortheyouthvotes,that Nottoo longago, when Patna witnessedits Cabinetmeeting. has also targeted your family. the current regime arevisible, and moreimpor- toohasbeenlaidto rest withtheformerJNUSU worst-everwaterloggingin2019,Tejashwihad DECISION ThePMcansaywhateverhewants.If tantly, arebeingfelt by everyone. Social justice and presidentconceding space to Tejashwi. been criticisedfor being missing in action. Even Butyour critics saythe plan is 2020 he wantstoattackme, he is more than secularism arenot merely Laluji’s slogans. Theyare Yet, his critics have been dismissive of Tej- at the startofthe lockdown,as migrantsbegan financiallyuntenable. The BJP has BIHAR welcome. But thereare afew things he, enshrinedinthe Constitution of India so thereis ashwi’s popularity, saying crowds at rallies are walking back, Tejashwi put up no opposition. been promising 19 lakh jobs but orhisspeechwriters,mustdecidesothat no question of moving pastthem. nowaytojudge awinner.SeniorBJPleaderand But as the rumblings in the NDAgrew, that’sincluding theprivate sector. THEEXPRESS thereissomeclarity:hecaneitherlaunch UnionMinisterRaviShankarPrasadhasremin- Tejashwi got afootinthe door. The firstinstinct of the BJP-JD(U) personal attacks on opponentsorpres- WhenNitish Kumartalks of your dedpeople of the 2010 pollswhen Lalu drew The LJP is nowfightingon143seats,mostof leaders is to always refuteobjective facts INTERVIEW enthimself as the victim. He can either inexperience or alleges corruption against hugecrows buttheRJDwasreducedto23seats. theseagainstthe JD(U). If it ends up cutting into with obfuscation.If10lakh jobs areun- project astatesman-likeimage, likehe you, yousay he didn’t saythis when youwere Yet, what is beyond doubt is thatinastate the JD(U) votes, the RJD could end up with more tenable, howistheir plan of 19 lakhjobs tries to do on international platforms, or Deputy CM.But thatholdstrue foryou, when that’s the firsttogotovoteamidstapandemic than afighting chance in anumber of seats. tenable? My job plan is well researched andwork- consistentlyuse languagethat even his opponents youaccuse him now. that has inflictedloss of livesand livelihood, “Chirag se Lanka hi nahijali Ayodhyakobhi able, whichyou will seeinour term. would notliketodignify with aresponse. It does not Idon’t do the politics of accusations and allega- Tejashwihashittherightchordbytappinginto jalne ka khatrahai (Chirag Paswan is notonly look good when he does both. tions. If Isay something, Ialways substantiatewith the disappointment with Nitish and the per- hurting JD(U) but also BJP). He willend up help- Bihar politics has oftenbeenabout social These all aremanufactured portrayals with no facts. Despite allmachinationsattheirdisposal, ceptionthattheCMdidlittleasmigrantswalked ing RJD,” says Sasaram voter Alok Kumar. combination.What is RJD bringing to the basis. Nowhereinthe worlddoes aparty whichhas both at the Centreand state, theycouldn’t find even backhome and later,did little to stop them as Yet, will it be enough forthe RJD to topple table besides itscorevotes? been in powerfor 15 years seek re-election by abus- an iota of evidence againstme. they went back to their workplaces. Nitish? Forhim to do that, he willhavetobring LikeIsaid earlier,our progressive andpractical ing opposition leaders,holding predecessors re- It’sthispointthatheseekstodrive homeby moretothetablethantheparty’scoreM-Y votes. agenda. It is simple to understand, notverydiffi- sponsible fortheir ownfailures. The BJP-JD(U) gov- Will the RJD reachout to theJD(U) andLJP in saying thathewill sign on hispromise of jobs SanjayKumar,director of the Centre for cult to execute. What we arebringing to the table ernment is doingexactlythis.Iwanttoask them: case of aHung House? the daybebecomeschiefminister. Studiesof SocialSciences,explains,“Besideshis is abold and confident resolve to fixwhat is bro- howdoesithelp Bihar,why don’t youseek voteson We already have astrongcoalition in place and It’snot apromisehehaspulledoutfromthin corevotes,hemayget achunkof youthandEBC ken. Besides what one calls our corevotes, we are your report card? Iamstartingafreshwith aclean we aresureofdoing well. air,insistRJD leaders. “When we found there votes and some splinters from the NDA’s core bringing thesupportofour youth. slateand will seek appraisal in the next election ex- were 4.5lakhpendingvacanciesinthe Bihar constituencies. But itsbestperformance was clusively on my performance. Markmywords. What is the advice youare getting from your governmentandneedto createanother5.5lakh whenitgot over 25 percent votesinthe 2005 Your party has givenmoreticketsacross father who has been watching electionnews vacanciestomatchthe nationalaverage,we Assemblypolls. With Congress and Left, that castes. Areyou trying to break outofthe RJD’s Your opponentssay youhavekeptyour very keenly? came up withthe idea of 10 lakh jobs.Now the maytouch34-35 percent. Butwhat if the NDA traditional Muslim-Yadavmould? parentsLaluPrasad and RabriDeviout of your We remaincommittedtohis visionof justiceand BJP is trying to copy us,” says one of them. still manages37-38 per cent? It is very difficult Iempathise with the aspirations of my young posters because that would have invokedfears equality.Hehas asked us to work hardand make Those watchingTejashwi sayheislearning to predict on the basis of social mathsalone. It brothers and sisters. Youcan see this connection of their “misrule”.You’vebeensort of alone surewequickly and decisively work forthe better- fast.For instance, when Nitish took potshots at is the mostcomplexelection to makeout.” and sense of belongingnesswith them in my rallies ranger,holding 12-13rallies aday. ment of everyone in Bihar without fear or favour. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 8 OPINION THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020

Across Fifth THEAISLE COLUMN TAVLEENSINGH Slowdeathofliberaldemocracy Twitter@tavleen_singh

THE CONSTITUTION of India has a and the Frenchpeople. Afterateacher, have manyexamples of autocracies and police obey theirpoliticalmasters and Preamble.Not manypeople read the Samuel Paty,was killedbyanIslamistter- electoral democracies butnot trulylib- notthe law, the militaryspeakson polit- Preamble or understand itssignificance. rorist, Mr Macron said “Weaccept all dif- eral democracies. ical issues, taxand lawenforcement Areality Even thosefamiliar with select provi- ferencesinaspirit of peace. We willnever This is what Time had to sayabout agencies become instruments of oppres- sions like‘FundamentalRights’, ‘Article accepthatespeechand we defend rea- Mr Modi:“....the DalaiLama haslauded sion, courts areweak,institutions are 32’ or ‘Emergency’ maynot be familiar sonable debate. We willcontinue. We (India) asan ‘example of harmonyand sta- captured or debilitated, and therule of checkin PCHIDAMBARAM withthe wordsofthe Preamble. hold ourselvesalways on theside of hu- bility.’ Narendra Modihas brought all that lawbreaksdown. The sad partisfew ‘see’ Website:pchidambaram.in On the dayitwas adoptedbythe man dignity and universal values.” intodoubt... his Partyrejectednot onlyelit- what is happening. And of the fewwho Twitter@Pchidambaram_IN Constituent Assembly, thePreamble de- Many countries have adoptedthe ismbutalsopluralism...Thecrucibleofthe ‘see’, manyare content to remainsilent. Kashmir clared that “We, the People of India, hav- three words, in one form or other,intheir pandemic became apretense forstifling When laws arepassedinParliament ing solemnlyresolvedtoconstituteIndia Constitutions. Theyclaimtobeliberal dissent. And the world’s mostvibrant without avote; when political leaders intoaSovereignDemocratic Republic”. democracies, as India does. Increasingly, democracy fell deeper intoshadow.” aredetainedwithout acharge forsev- THERECOULD nothavebeen aworse mo- (The words, ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ were however, such claims sound hollowin Other countries tooare fighting the eral months; when chargesofsedition ment forMehbooba Mufti to insult the addedinJanuary1977tofurther define manycountries, India included. Many slide intoshadow. Afterthe death of areslappedagainstwriters, poets,pro- Indian flag. As aformer chief ministerwho our nation.) The Preamble went further countries fail even the firsttestof JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburg, President fessors, studentsand social activists; sworebythe Indian Constitution, she and declaredthat we resolved to “secure ‘democracy’, nottospeak of thenexttest Trumpwastednotime in naming Judge when no one is pronouncedguilty in a should neverhavesaid that the Indian flag to all itscitizens: of whether that democracy is ‘liberal’. AmyConeyBarrett to the US Supreme case whereacenturies-old mosque is would onlybe‘allowed’ in Kashmir after ■ JUSTICE... Courtand pushed through the nomina- demolishedinbroad daylight;when an ‘our flag’ is givenback.But,tosay this in the ■ LIBERTY... tion process in an unprecedented short FIR is notregisteredand no one is ar- week that one of Imran Khan’s ministers ■ EQUALITY... FALLING INTO time of 30 days.Liberal America, espe- rested fordays despitethe dying decla- admitted in Pakistan’s parliamentthatthe and to promoteamong them all SHADOW cially women, apprehend that major lib- ration of agirlwho wasraped and bru- Pulwama massacre countedasone of his ■ FRATERNITY....” eral gains suchasschoolintegration, tallyassaulted;when the word primeminister’s ‘successes’ made it sound It is these wordsthat define who we Arecent issue of Time magazine fea- Right to Abortion, Affordable CareAct ‘encounter’ entersthe police’s vocabu- muchworse.Iftherehasbeengeneralsup- When laws are passed in areasanation and what will be the tured ‘The 100MostInfluential People’ and non-discriminatoryimmigration lary; when titular governors obstruct portacrossIndiafortheabrogationof Article Parliament without avote; Indian Republic — aliberal democracy. of the world. Icounted 6heads of rules maybereversed. elected governments; and when crucial 370itisbecause in the past three decades, when political leadersare state/government:MrNarendraModi, institutions areleftheadless or with we have seen the Kashmir Valley become detained without acharge for Mr Xi Jinping, Ms Angela Merkel, Mr Jair multiplevacancies, the countryfalls one an arena forPakistani terrorism and THESE WORDS Bolsonaro (Brazil), Mr Donald Trumpand WHO ARE WE? step ‘deeper intoshadow’. radical Islam. several months; when ARE FOREVER Ms Tsai Ing-Wen(Taiwan). Of the six, no Democracy is notequal to aliberal In November 2019,agunman killed In these three decadesthe formerstate charges of sedition are one will claim that twoare heading country. Ademocracy can turn illiberal 51 persons andinjured dozensattwo of Jammu&Kashmirhasbeengovernedby slapped against writers, These wordsechothe battle cryofthe democracies. Mr Modi and Mr Trumpare in ashort span of time,asitishappening mosques in Christchurch,New Zealand. twofamilies.TheAbdullahsandtheMuftis. poets, professors, students FrenchRevolution (1789): ‘Liberte, egalite, indeedleaders of electoral democracies, in India. Citizenship of millions is thrown Prime MinisterJacinda Ardern said, BeforeMehbooba made her shameful re- fraternite, ou la mort’(Liberty, equality,fra- but even theywillreject the label ‘liberal’. in doubt, free speechiscurtailed, theme- “Theyare us. The personwho perpe- mark, Farooq Abdullah said something as and social activists... and ternity, or death’). President Emmanuel OnlyMsMerkeland Ms Tsai areheads of dia is tamed, protests arebannedorse- trated this violence againstusisnot.” offensive.HesaidthatKashmirwasreadyto when crucial institutions are Macron is being pilloriedbysomecoun- trulyliberal democracies. If youadd verely restricted,political defections are Mr Macronand Ms Ardern areamong throw itslot in withChina if thatcountry left headlessorwith multiple tries forreminding the people of France— some other heads of large andpowerful encouraged,the Statepatronisesone re- the fewleaderswho speak in thevoice could guaranteethe restoration of Article vacancies, the countryfalls and all those whowishtolivewithin its countries to the list, the picturewill be ligion or one language, majoritarianism that we want to hear.Evenaswewitness 370. Has he heardofthe Uyghur people? borders —that these arethe wordsthat worse. In Central Asia, Africa, Latin is passedoff as culture, minorityand dis- theslowdeathofliberal democracy, we DoesheknowthatIslamisbeingtreatedin one step ‘deeper into shadow’ will define, forever,the FrenchRepublic America and our ownneighborhood, we criminated communities live in fear,the mustask ourselves‘who arewe?’ that countryasanevil ideology? Nothing thathashappenedintheseHindutvatimes compares with what China has done to itsMuslims. Remarksof thiskindby twoformerchief ministersconfirmthatArticle370 hadto go. Ambedkar showedthe On the It served mostly to mislead fartoo many Thefestive season Kashmiristothinkofthemselvesasnot re- LOOSE ally Indian.WhenIheardMehbooba say way, othersmust follow LEHERKALA what she did it brought backmemories of feels different this year long agoholidays in Kashmir whenwe [email protected] would getoffended by ordinaryKashmiris sedclasses incorporated intoitonterms of asking if we had ‘comefromIndia’. Dalitality equality...Experiencehastaughtmebetter. Politicianswhoportray themselvesas‘pro- Istand todayabsolutelyconvincedthat for WHEN IT released, the wistfulfilm Her Indian’ maynot have actively encouraged thedepressedclassestherecanbenoequal- (2014), about adivorcedman who had re- peopleto thinkthiswaybuttheydidtoolit- VINAYARAKKHITA ity amongthe Hindus becauseoninequal- treated from peopletobegin aromance tleto stopthem.And,theydidmuchtoolit- MAHATHERA ityrestthe foundations of Hinduism.” with ahuskily-voicedmachine felt wildly tleto stopradicalIslamicideasfromspread- [email protected] MostoftheHinduleadersarehypocrites improbable. Setinaglittering city in an ingacross the Valley. whoprofessto fightcasteismwhileinreali- unspecifiedfuture,director SpikeJonze When the ‘azaadi’movement beganat ty arecommitted to itsrules. Brahminical visualisedthe lonelydetachment of citi- theendof theeightiesandyoungKashmiris ONOCTOBER14,1956,alongwithhis5lakh bureaucratswhoclaimto have democratic zensusedtodrifting along alone, oblivi- went across the border to be trainedinter- followers, Dr BRAmbedkar went to the ideaswishto raisethebackwardcastesbut ous of eachother.Little could he have rorism whywas so little done to stop them refugeofThe Buddha, Dhamma and San- cravenothing better thananoligarchyfor imaginedthat six years later people from returning? When violent young men gha.Committedashewastorationalityand themselves. Untouchabilityand inequality would be moving around masked,and wandered about Srinagarforcing the clo- empiricism,hewasattractedto Buddhism’s cannotberemovedifeducation produces that alifedevoidofhuman interaction sureofcinemas,liquorshopsandbarswhy rational outlooktunedwithmorality and onlyslavish and selfish-minded leaders. would become areality formillions. were they notarrested? Twice suchthings further strengthenedbyscientifictemper. Moreover,how can we gain anything by Themachineshaverisen, notaspre- happenedbeforemyeyes.OncewhenIsaw Itsteachingof equalityandsolidarity,andits stayinginthe caste system? dicted in Terminator as mankind’swrath- radical Islamistyouths march intoaliquor emphasisontransformingboththeself and Buddhismhasbeenintheserviceof the ful enemies; more, that acomputer as a shop and startsmashing bottleswhile the theworldthroughself-effortattractedhim. poorand the oppressed. The Buddha’s viable substitutefor flesh andblood owner of the shop coweredinsilence.The Ambedkar wasthe brightestthunder- teachingsarebasedonthisfactcalledsuffer- friendsand lovers doesn’t sound crazy any second time wasinthe Broadway Hotel bolt of intellect elicited from thedarkest ing, the cause forsuffering, the cessation of more. Her is endlesslybeguiling notjust wherewhile lunching in the restaurant I stormof casteism.Therefore,thefollowersof suffering,andthepathleadingtothecessa- forit’s innatecynicism that maintaining sawtwo beardedmenwalkintothebarand Ambedkar,the Ambedkarites, mustemu- tionof suffering.ThisisthereasonwhyAm- human relationships is so exhausting that order it closed. Whywerethese things al- latetheirleaderandshouldgive uptherepe- bedkar chose The Buddha. The Manuvadis we’rebetteroff dating abody-less operat- lowedtohappen?Whydidnobodydoany- ated labelling of themselves as suppressed wantto keepthemassesinthecasteistreli- ing system; but because it raisesthe old- Directed by SpikeJonze, Her releasedin2014. Express thingwhenyounggirls had acid thrown class. By repeating suchlabels, theyare giv- gionsothattheycango onexploitingthem. estofenquiries, what is love anyway?If at them if theycame out in public without inganauto-suggestionthattheyare suppre- Ambedkar’s call forconversion to Bud- one’s experience is satisfying, the pro- ahijab? ssedandthereforecandonothingexceptto dhism has been ignored and deliberately foundexistentialdifferencesbetween hu- terpreted for2020. Nowmasksare the gainedaheckofalotofperspective this Whydid these leaders who nowtalk so look forhelp from someone up thereinthe marginalisedbyhisowncommunitylead- mans and machines cease onlytruth, signifying acol- year.Human beings arewired to expect a aggressively againstIndianotshowasmuch skyormaybewaitingforanotherAmbedkar erswithfewexceptions.Itisinterestingthat to matter.These subversive Forageneration lective conscientiousness. It light at the end of the tunnel, hence the aggression in warning ordinaryKashmiris or Buddha to arrive to relieve them. AmbedkarfoughtfortherightsofDalitsand conundrums running is asign of indefatigable hu- metaphor.Wecurateour livesbasedon thattherewas nevergoing to be ‘azaadi’? Todayweshould reflect together on the had abroader vision, whichcouldn’tbein- through Her find resonance used to downloading man optimism that every perceptions of deadlines.But this galling Thetruthisthatthereneverwasany chance predicament in which theAmbedkarites culcatedby post-AmbedkarAmbedkarites. in this year of Covid-19 abook in seconds on dayIreceive images of se- virus has upendedall conceptoftime and of ‘azaadi’andthereismuchlesschanceto- findthemselves.Ontheonehand,theycon- He wantedto give his people an identity so when isolation has become quinedmasks, forsale. our cultureofinstant gratification. daythan ever because of an increasing re- fronttheexploitationtheycontinueto suff- that theyget out of the varna system but adefault state. Everyone is Kindleorasking Clearly,we’realong way Abig problem of gettingwhat we vulsion againstthe kind of Islam that er in acasteistsociety that refuses to ack- here, what we seeisthe stimulation of the moreplugged intotheir Alexa howWorld from Her territorybut want immediatelyishuman beings no teachesyoungmento beheadpeopleinthe nowledge themasequals;ontheother,they cultureofvarnaandcaste amongtheDalits. machines than people, Wa r1started,the there’s always achance that longer have the patience science requires nameof Allah.So,if therewasoncesympa- canbemanipulatedby anopportunistDalit If onlyconstitutionalguaranteeswould working remotely or learn- if this pandemic goes on in- to come up with solutions forCovid. Fora thyoutside India forKashmir’s movement politicalstylethathasturnedAmbedkarinto have beensufficient,Ambedkarwouldhave ing remotely,turning in- painstaking rigma- definitely, we’llturnintoa generation usedtodownloading abook for‘azaadi’ithas died. an icon but betrays his idealsinpracticeof restedinpeace.Hewouldneverhavespent ward from theworld at role of vaccine trials planet of maladjustedand in seconds on Kindleorasking Alexa how My personalviewisthatthe aftermath Buddhism.One is ready to take the political years of his lifeeveninbad health,digging large. feels even more hermetic misanthropes. WorldWar 1started,the painstaking rig- of the abrogation of Article 370has been reservations earnedbyhim but nothis reli- out Buddhism from oblivion. Perhaps, it is fittingthat Diwali and NewYears’ maroleofvaccinetrialsfeelsevenmore badlyhandled.Insteadof monthsof curfew gion,Buddhism, when he himself has said The segmentedmorality endemic to in this topsy turvy time we outrageously long. arealmost upon us (‘tis the outrageouslylong. This lostart of patience andInternetdenialthereshouldhave been thattoserveBuddhismistoservehumanity. Hinduismis oppressive to thosewhosuffer find prescient connections This lost art of seasontobemerry afterall). is causing moreepidemicfatigue. It’s so aserious effort at the highestlevelsofthe Ambedkaritesshouldhave self-confide- under it. Both uneducated and educated between reality,history and patience is causing Exasperatingly,though tempting to look forwardtothis festive Indian governmenttoreachout to nceandbelieve inself-effortto gainself-res- Dalitsseems to vacillatebetween twodis- science fiction. The ubiqui- we’rebored we’rehun- seasonasamuchearnedrespiteafter the Kashmiris and convince them that they pect.Ambedkarites should trytobelike courses.OnonehandtheypraiseAmbedkar tous mask has transitioned more epidemic kereddown. Festivities, if previous nine months.Unfortunately, the stood to benefitfromwhat has happened. Ambedkar—ofhighmoralcharacter,highly asthesymbolof theDalitmovementforhis from being aglamorous ac- fatigue any, aregoing to be re- entitlementsinour heads don’t makeso- NarendraModi’s Kashmir policy will be educated,self-confidentand believingin conversion to Buddhism and on theother, cessoryatmasquerade balls stricted as fear of asecond cialising anysafer.This Diwali is about countedasamiserablefailureifhedoesnot self-effort. theythemselvessticktotheiroldcasteistlife. since Renaissance Italytobecoming an wavelooms.This dismantling of celebra- recognising this painful moment forwhat bringpeaceandnormalcytotheValleysoif One mayask whyAmbedkar leftHin- The writer is aBahujan Ambedkarite emblem of solidarity,four centuries later. tion makes us nostalgicfor thepast, when it is —and doingour bit forareturn to the demandsofleaders likeFarooq and duism. To which Ambedkar himself says: associated withAlok Sangharam Mahavira. Yeats’ famous quote, Give me amask and thankstoacertainnaivete our dailyirri- normalcy as fast as possible. Mehboobaarereasonabletheywillbemet. “I thought forlong that we could rid the Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters, I’lltell youthe truth, implying staying hid- tantsweresomuchmilder,liketraffic Insteadof demandingtherestorationof Hindusocietyofitsevilsandgetthedepres- curates thefortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column den allows onetobehonestmustberein- jams. At least no one can saytheyhaven’t The writer is director,HutkayFilms Article370theyshoulddemandthatstate- hoodberestoredimmediately.Itwasamis- take to demote theformer stateofJammu My ISOLATION &Kashmir intoaunion territoryinthe first place, becausenow the Home Ministryin AWEEKLY WINDOW INTO LIVES OF INDIA’S NEWSMAKERS AND THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON THEM Delhihas to take full responsibility forthe terrorist violencethat seems to getworse by theday.Fromallaccountsthe Valleyhas beenturnedintoapolicestatewithsoldiers ‘I have beeninteractingwith familythrough video calls’ andpolicemenateverycornersowhydoes theviolence continue?Lastweek three young BJP workers were killedbyjihadist What precautions areyou taking now? atab on issues in Maharashtra. Yes. All safetyprecautions advisedby groups thatcontinue to remain shadowy Normally, itisdifficultformetotakerest. thestateandUniongovernments,ICMRand and highlydangerous. Whydotheycon- But this pandemic has halted allmytravel What kind of gloves and masksdoyou other guidelinesissuedfromtime to time. tinue to operate? andforcedmeto stay inoneplace.Iamtak- use? Iusuallystick to home-cooked food. At apoliticallevel,failuresareasglaring ing all precautions, following astrictdiet, As the BJP’sBihar Iuse an N95 mask and regular hand in Srinagar as theyare in Delhi. Kashmiri maintainingaproperscheduleof meals,fol- gloves. Howmuchtime do youspend in front politicianshave cometogetherinaGupkar lowing doctors’ instructions, and taking election in-charge,former of ascreen? Declaration grouping so theycan demand propermedication.Iamalsoavoidingmeet- Maharashtrachief minister While interacting with people at work, Thereisnolimit in this pandemic situ- the restoration of Kashmir’s special status. ing people to keep them safe. DEVENDRA FADNAVIS, 50, what precautions do youtake? ation. We needtobeintouchwith people. Can theynot see that this is aroad that will wascampaigning in the state Sincetestingpositive,Ihaveyetnotstarted Thankstovariousappsandplatforms,even leadnowhere?All that will be achieved is Howmanytimes have yougot yourself meeting people. Ialways wearamask,wash biggermeetingsare possible withthe use thatordinaryKashmiriswillbemisledonce tested forCovid? when he tested positive for handsregularlyandadheretosocialdistanc- of technology. moreintobelievinginthat dreamofinde- Ihavetestedmyself at leastfourtofive Covid.Asheawaits his discharge ing norms. These aremusttill avaccine is pendencethatwas always justadream. If times. While some testswerein from agovernment-run hospital available.Thesedays,Ihave been interacting Howdoyou keep your mind offthe these political leaders careabout Kashmir Maharashtrabecause of the Assemblyses- in Mumbai, Fadnavis says he has with people at work through SMS. pandemic? then theyshould be making more sion,somewere inBiharandDelhibecause Mydailyschedulehelpsmethinkabout realistic demands. of some meetings in these places. been sticking to astrictdiet and Howlonghaveyou gone without other things. There areanumber of issues Theyshouldconcentratetheirenergies following all other seeing your family? thatneedtobeaddressed.. ondemandingwhattheycangetinsteadof What is your routine likeinself- Covid protocol Severaldays. Initially, due to my stay in wastingtimeontryingto restoreArticle370. isolation? Biharand nowdue to isolation. But Iinter- What is the firstthing youwant to do IndiacannotaffordtoallowanIslamiststate Idoregular exercise and checkmy actwith them over videocalls. when thepandemic is past? withinherbordersandthisiswhatKashmir phonefor messagesand replytopeople INTERVIEWBY Iwanttomeetpeoplefreely, visitvarious had become. Wrongly or rightlymost over SMS. Iamintouch with our leaders SHUBHANGI KHAPRE Do youtakeany specific precautions places,interactwithalarge numberof peo- Indians believe this happenedbecause of fromBihar. Ialsoreadnewspapersandkeep Illustration: Suvajit Dey while youtravel? ple and (return to)routine life. the shelterthat Article370 provided.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 Crude Wa tch OIL POSTS SECOND MONTHLYDECLINE NewYork: Oilprices fell on Fridayand posted asecond consecutive monthly drop as rising Covid cases in Europe and the US heightened 9 ECONOMY concerns over the outlook forfuel consumption. Brent crude dropped 19 cents to settle at $37.46abarrel. REUTERS

Q2: ‘COLLECTION AND OVERDUETRENDS CLOSE TO PRE-COVIDLEVELS’ How and why have bidding ICICIBanknetsoars549%onlowbase, parametersinAir India’s treasuryincome;assetqualityimproves divestmentprocesschanged? In January, the government government, the newinvestor PRANAV MUKUL setMarch 17 as the deadline to will needtoinvestfurther period ayear earlier. cent and 1.12 per cent,respec- pend on the ongoing spread of NEW DELHI,OCTOBER31 sell its100 per cent sharehold- to keep the loss-making ENSECONOMICBUREAU “Collection and overdue CONTINGENCY tively,asonSeptember 30, 2020. Covid-19,the effectivenessofcur- ing in Air India along with Air airline afloat. MUMBAI,OCTOBER31 trends areclose to pre-Covid lev- PROVISION During Q1FY21, the bank rent and futuresteps takenby THE CENTREonThursdayan- India’s 100per cent holding in els andare in line with or better made an additional Covid-19-re- governments andcentral banks nouncedseveral changes to the Air India Express and 50 per What arethe alternatives than our expectations.Weexpect lated provisionamounting to Rs to mitigate the economicimpact, OVERCOMINGTHE challenges ■ DuringQ2ofFY21, bidding parameters in the Air cent shareinAir India-SATS, a that the government 5,550.00crore and held atotal of steps takenbythe bankand the posedbytheCovidpandemic and anormalisation of credit costs in the bank had made India disinvestment process. joint venturewith Singapore considered? fiscal 2022 basedonour current Rs 8,275crore of suchprovisions group and the time it takesfor lockdown in the country, ICICI contingency provision These includechanging of the AirportTerminal Services. During the meetings of the expectations of economic activ- as of June 2020. During Q2 of economic activities to return to Bank on Saturdayposteda549 amounting to value on the basis of whichthe However, on account of the Air India Special Alternate ity and portfolio trends,” ICICI FY21, the bankhas made contin- pre-pandemic levels. The bank’s per cent jumpinits netprofitat Rs 497.30 crorefor bid is made by apotential in- Covid outbreak,the deadline Mechanism —agroup of minis- gency provision amounting to capital and liquidity positionis Rs 4,251.33 crorefor thequarter BankMDSandeep Bakhshi said borroweraccounts, vestor,upfrontcash deposit wasextended multipletimes. ters headedbyHome Minister in an analysts’conference call. Rs 497.30 crorefor borrowerac- strong and would continue to be endedSeptember 30, 2020, as whichwerenot amount and extension of dead- Following the pandemic and its Amit Shah to decideonthe air- The bank’s assetquality also counts, whichwerenot classi- the focusarea forthe bankduring againstanet profit of Rs 654.96 classifiedasnon- line forsubmittingexpressions impact on aviation industry,the line’s disinvestment —anum- improved duringthe last 12 fied as non-performing follow- this period. croreduring the same period of performing following of interest. government, in consultation berofoptionswerediscussed ing the interim order of the During theMarch-Augustpe- the previous financial year. months. Gross non-performing the interim order of with various stakeholders con- along with allowing bidders to assets (NPAs) of the bank were Supreme Court. riod, the bank extendedmorato- The rise in netprofitwas aided the Supreme Court. What arethe changes done sidered severaloptions to han- submit aquote without any by the bank’s lowbase as it in- at Rs 38,989 crore(5.17 percent The bank has notutilised rium worthRs14,564.15 croreto to AirIndia’s bidding dle the Air India disinvestment pre-fixed levelofdebt. These curredtaxes of Rs 3,712 crorein of advances) as of September Covid-19-relatedprovision made SMA/overdue categorieswhich parameters? process. According includedthe government con- the September 2019 quarterdue 2020,asagainstRs45,638 crore intheearlier periods duringH1of were standard as of February29, To begin with, to the government, tinuing to run operations with- to one-time additional charge. (6.37per cent) in same period of andthedissipationofthemorato- 2021. Accordingly,the bank held 2020 and continuedtobeover- the government has the increased out privatisation fora“few The profit wasalso boostedbythe last year. rium impact,” it said. aggregateCovid-19-related pro- due till March 31,2020. takenacall to allow amountoflosses for months/years till the situation bank’streasuryincome, which “As expected,inthe second The bank has notclassified vision of Rs 8772.30 croreasof “Loans under moratorium prospective bidders the aviation indus- stabilises” and winding up the jumpedonRs305 croreworth of half of fiscal2021, the banking such borroweraccountsasNPA September 2020. This additional had decreasedsubstantiallyfrom the flexibility to de- trygloballydue to business operations of stakesalebythe bank in ICICI system, including us, would see as of September 2020. If these provision made by the bank is April-end to June-end and de- cide the levelof Covid meant that Air India. Securities during the quarter. higher gross NPAadditions as borroweraccountswereclassi- morethan the requirement as per clinedfurther at August-end. We debt theywish to “fixing the debt at Totalincome (standalone) in well as some resolution of loans fied as NPAbythe bank,the pro- the RBI guideline dated April 17, had articulated that moratorium take on along with anylevel could have WhyisAir India July-September 2020 stoodat aspertheframework announced forma grossNPA ratio and net 2020. The impact of the Covid-19 levels were notconclusive indi- the loss-laden airline, thus reducedthe universe of bid- disinvestment important Rs 23,650.77crore,upfrom by the RBI giventhedisruption to NPAratio(basedoncustomeras- pandemiconthe bank and the cators of eventual outcomes,” marking ashiftfromthe exer- ders”. Further,the 15 per cent forthe government? Rs 22,759.52 croreinthe same economic activity in the firsthalf sets), would have been 5.36 per groupisuncertain and willde- said the bank. cise of combining afixed level clause has been brought in to In the Union Budget forfi- of debt with the carrier.Earlier, ensurethat asuccessful in- nancial year 2020-21, the gov- the Centrehad frozen the long- vestor has skin in the game. ernment had setitself a BRIEFLY term liabilities to be bundled disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 AMID COVID-19 with the sale at Rs 23,286.50 Will these changes hasten lakh crore. AAIhandsover SITUATIONLASTYEAR: Month *Netinflow/outflow crore. Another changebeing Air India’s disinvestment? The government is expect- InvestorshadinfusedRs172crore Jan202 made to the bid conditions is Whilethe governmentex- ing to raise Rs 90,000 crore Mangaluru ‘Gold ETFs log `2,400-cr inthisassetclassinJuly- Feb 1,483 that the winning bidder will pectsthat the tweakswill pro- through stakesale in Life September2019,accordingtothe Mar -195 have to deposit at least15per vide moreflexibility thereby Insurance Corporation and IDBI airporttoAdani inflowinSeptquarter’ dataavailablewithAssociationof Apr 731 cent of their bid amountincash bringing in morepotential in- Bank,and another Rs 1.2lakh MutualFundsinIndia May 815 with the government ahead of vestors,executivesincivil avia- crorethrough other disinvest- NewDelhi: The Airports Gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) sawstaggering netinflows Jun 494 the sharetransfer. tion still expect the bleak con- mentsincluding BPCL, Authority of IndiaonFriday of overRs2,400crore in thethree months ended September 30, OUTLOOK: Jul 921 ditionofthe industry to hinder Container Corporation of India, midnight handedoverthe Investorsexpectedtoseevolatile as investors continued to hedgetheir exposuretoriskier assets Aug 908 Whyhavethese changes the process giventhat after Shipping Corporation of India Mangaluru airport to the markets,andinsuchtimes, been made? purchasingthe airline from the and Air India. Sept 597 Adani group on lease fora duetohigher economic uncertainty resulting from Covid investmentinverysafeassetslike periodof50years,according goldshootsup.Eventhoughnow *(inRscrore) to an official statement. themarketshavemostlyrecovered AT $560.5 BILLION IN WEEK ENDED OCT 23 J&J plans to andreachedpre-pandemiclevels, crore uncertaintyremainshigh `2,426 pumpedinto test its Covid BoBslashes gold-linkedETFsinthreemonths Forex reserves WHATAREGOLDETFs? endedSeptember30,2020 repo-linked Thesearepassiveinvestment vaccine in lendingrate instrumentsthatarebasedon FACTORSDRIVING pricemovementsandinvestments GROWTH: surge $5.4 billion ages 12-18 soon Mumbai: Bank of Baroda inphysicalgold ■ Covidcasesreboundingglobally (BoB) on Saturdayan- ■ Continuedliquidityandlower nounceda15basispointsre- WHYISTHISIMPORTANT? interestratesfromcentral to all-timehigh REUTERS duction in itsrepo-linked Goldinvestmentpickedupdueto banksglobally NEWYORK,OCTOBER31 lendingrateto6.85per cent highereconomicuncertainty ■ Marketsnearingpre-Covid-19 from7percentearlier,effec- resultingfromCovid-19 levels Source: PTI JOHNSON&Johnsonplansto start tive November 1. ENSECONOMICBUREAU The gold reserves were testing itsexperimental Covid-19 NEW DELHI,OCTOBER31 up by $175 million in vaccine in youths aged 12 to 18 as soon as possible, and the com- IDFCFirst THE COUNTRY’S foreign ex- the reporting week to pany’s previousexperiencewith Bankposts Took VRS as govt’s reform changereservesswelledby $36.860 billion the same technology in avaccine ‘Amazontells Sebi $5.412 billion to touchanall- successfullyusedinchildrencould `101-crprofit time high of $560.532 billion in give it aleg up with regulators. agenda ‘was slipping away the week endedOctober 23, RBI datashowed. “Weplantogointochildrenas NewDelhi:IDFCFirstBankon datashowedonFriday. Forexreservesare external soon as we possiblycan, but very Saturdayreportedanetprofit after general elections’: Garg Future Retail is In thepreviousweekended assets in the form of gold, SDRs carefullyinterms of safety,”J&J’s of Rs 101crore forthe July- October 16,the reserves stood (special drawing rightsofthe Dr.JerrySadofftoldavirtualmeet- September quarterofthe Ex-Finance Secysaysrelationship at $555.12billion afterincreas- IMF) and foreign currency as- ing of the US Centers forDisease currentfiscalyearonhealthy misleading public’ ingby$3.615 billion. sets (capital inflows to the cap- Controland Prevention’s (CDC) interestincomeand lower with FM became ‘unproductive’ During the reporting week, ital markets,FDI and external AdvisoryCommittee on provisions. PTI the surge in the forexkitty was commercial borrowings) accu- ImmunizationPracticesonFriday. endowment, skill-setand ap- “Suchadisclosureis mainlyonaccountofanin- mulated by India and controlled USjudge ENSECONOMICBUREAU proachforeconomicpolicyissues REUTERS againstpublicinterest, crease in foreign currency as- by theReserveBankofIndia. NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 and also forthe officers working NEWDELHI,OCTOBER31 misleadspublic sets (FCA), amajor component The major reasonfor therise US signs up retail blocksorder with her.Itbecame quiteappar- shareholders...aswellas of the overallreserves. in forexreserves is the rise in in- FORMER FINANCE Secretary entveryearly that working with AMAZON.COM INChas com- FCArose by $5.202billion to vestment in foreign portfolio in- pharmacies as perpetuatesafraudforthe againstTikTok Subhash ChandraGargSaturday her wasgoing to be quitedifficult plainedtothe marketregulator $517.524billion, the RBI’s vestors in Indian stocks andfor- said he decidedtotakevoluntary anditmight notbeconducive to thatits local partner FutureRetail benefitofBiyanisalone” weeklydatashowed. eign direct investments(FDIs). vaccination sites Washington: AUSjudgein retirement from public service as undertaking necessaryreforms Ltd misledshareholdersby incor- Expressed in dollar terms, On the otherhand, the fall in EXCERPTFROMAMAZONLETTER Pennsylvania on Friday the government’s reform agenda fortheattainmentof theobjective rectlysaying it wascomplying the foreign currency assets in- crude oil prices has brought blockedaUSCommerce to deliverhighgrowth“wasslip- of buildinga$10 trillioneconomy with itscontractual obligations to clude theeffect of appreciation down the oil import bill,saving REUTERS Department order setto ping away afterthe general elec- of India,”Gargsaidinhis postti- the US e-commerce giant, aletter the matterand notapprovethe or depreciation of non-US units precious foreign exchange. BENGALURU, OCTOBER 31 take effect on November 12 tions”andhedidnotshare“apro- tled:Anewphaseof publicpolicy seenbyReuters shows. deal.“Suchadisclosure is against likethe euro, pound and yen The rising forexreserves that would have effectively ductiverelationship”withFinance service begins today. Amazonislockedinabitterle- public interest, misleads public held in the foreign exchangere- give alot of comforttothe gov- SEVERAL US retail pharmacy barredChinese-owned MinisterNirmala Sitharaman. “Seriousdifferencealsodevel- galdisputewith FutureGroup, shareholders ... as well as perpet- serves. ernment and the ReserveBank chains have agreedtoserve as shortvideo-sharingapp InablogpostSaturday, hesaid opedonsomekeyissueslikeeco- whichinAugustsold itsretail as- uates afraud forthe benefit of the The gold reserves were up of IndiainmanagingIndia’s ex- Covid-19vaccination sites un- TikTokfromoperatinginthe hedeveloped“seriousdifferences nomic capital framework of RBI, sets to RelianceIndustries Ltd for Biyanisalone,”Amazonlettersaid, by $175 million in the reporting ternal and internal financial is- der afederal government plan, United States.USDistrict over keypolicy matters” with packagefor dealing with prob- $3.4 billion. Thedeal,Amazon al- referring to Future’s promoter week to $36.860 billion, as per sues at atime when the eco- the Wall Street Journal reported. CourtJudgeWendy Sitharaman,whoaskedforandin- lemsofnon-banks, resolution of leges, breaches 2019 agreements familyled by KishoreBiyani. the centralbank data. nomic growth is settocontract Aplan by theUSCenters for Beetlestone enjoinedthe sistedonhis transfer from the non-banks, partial credit guaran- by Future. AspokesmanforFutureGroup The special drawing rights in 2020-21. It’s abig cushion in Disease Control and Prevention Commerce Department MinistryofFinanceinJune 2019, teescheme,capitalisationof non- In the letter to the Securities & and the Biyani familydeclinedto withthe International the event of anycrisis on the (CDC) showedthat companies from barring datahosting withinamonthof hertakingover bankslikeIIFCL and other finan- ExchangeBoardofIndia (Sebi) comment. AFuturegroup source MonetaryFund (IMF)roseby$8 economic front and enough to who have agreedtoparticipate within the United States for as minister. cialentitiesandthelike.Verysoon, Chairman AjayTyagi on deniedAmazon’sallegations,say- millionto$1.487billion. coverthe importbill of the include Walgreens Boots TikTok,contentdelivery Unlikeformer Finance notonlyhad our personal rela- Wednesday, AmazonsaidFuture’s ing therewas no question of any The country’s reserveposi- country forayear.The rising re- Alliance Inc, CVSHealth Corp , servicesand other technical MinisterArun Jaitley, “Mrs tionship soured,but the official news release and stockexchange fraudormisleading the public or tion with the IMF also climbed serves have also helpedthe ru- WalmartInc, Kroger Co and transactions. REUTERS Nirmala Sitharaman, has avery workingrelationshipalsobecome disclosures violated regulations, shareholders,withoutelaborating. by $27million to $4.661 billion pee to strengthen againstthe Costco Wholesale Corp, the different personality,knowledge quiteunproductive,” he said. urgingtheregulatorto investigate Amazondeclinedtocomment. duringthe reporting week,the dollar. WITHPTI reportsaid. Dunkin’ set to be sold to Wall Street banks ‘wargame’ electionwith drills, client calls Inspire Brands for $8.76 bn than calling, to avoid inadvertent weeksormonths. REUTERS KEYCONCERNS mistakes, the person said. Since banksbegan preparing ALL-CASHDEAL NEWYORK/HONGKONG,OCT31 Another global lender hired fortheelection,pollsandcircum- REUTERS ■Avoiding liquidity itsown pollingfirmto checkpop- stanceshave shiftedseveraltimes BENGALURU,OCTOBER31 LARGEWALL Street bankshave crunches or technical ular assumptions and preparefor —making lenders morejittery $106.5/share been running “war game” drills errors as marketsreact unforeseenpossibilities, an exec- aboutanyassumptions,evendays INSPIRE BRANDSInc will buy in their trading businesses and to news of whowill be utive theresaid. The polling firm’s before theevent. Volatility has al- Dunkin’BrandsGroupIncfor$8.76 ■Inspire Brands, whichowns preparing clientsfor unexpected running the White work underscored the common ready begun to pickupinequity billion, the twocompanies said Arby’s,Buffalo Wild Wings scenarios around the US election House and Congress. assumption that Biden is likelyto and currency marketsoverrising lateonFriday, bringing chainslike and Sonic Drive-In, said itsall- next week,hopingto avoid liquid- win, but the bank is preparing for coronavirusstatistics,givingsome Arby’s and Dunkin’ Donutsunder cash deal to take the owner of ity crunchesortechnical errors as ■ One worryisthat even other scenarios anyway,said the tradersandbankersaqueasyfeel- the same umbrella in one of the Dunkin’ Donutsand Baskin- marketsreacttonews of who will those who betcorrectly executive who, likesome others, ing about the days ahead. largest restaurant deals. Robbinschains private would be running the WhiteHouse and risk the chance of a spokeonthe condition of Contingencyplanningaround InspireBrands, whichowns value it at $106.50 ashare. Congress, industrysources said. The NewYorkStock Exchange. One bank’s equities desk has drawn-out election anonymity to discuss non-public major eventsisnot unusualfor Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and Thereismoreconfidencenow been running drills across trading hubs in NewYork, battle wheremarkets internal planning. majorglobalbanks, whichface SonicDrive-In,saiditsall-cashdeal Including debt,the deal is than afew weeksago that there London, Paris and Hong Kong forvarious scenariostomake flip backand forthfor Onlythe mostdaring in- regulatorystresstestseachyearto to take the ownerofDunkin’ valuedatabout $11.3billion, the will be aclear presidential win- suresystems can handle enormous volatility. AP file weeksormonths. vestorsaregoingintoNov.3with ensuretheyhaveenough capital Donuts and Baskin-Robbins companies said. Sales at Dunkin’ ner,because Democrat Joe Biden large trading positions, several and liquidity to survive extreme chainsprivate would value it at and Baskin-Robbins have im- has movedupinpolls againstin- sources said.Mostdonot want to scenarios. $106.50 ashare. That representsa proved from their lockdown cumbent Republican President One bank’sequities desk has suresystems can handle enor- of howmuchtheyexpectto trade beforcedsellers if theyget things Bigtradingfirmsconductsim- nearly 20 per cent premium over lows in recent weeks, boosted Donald Trump. Traders, bankers been running drills across major mous volatility,anexecutive and ask whether theyneedmar- wrong. Plus, even those who bet ilar trials, as do exchanges that Dunkin’s lastclosingshareprice by strong demand forits curb- and wary fund managers told trading hubs in New York, theretold Reuters. gin limitsincreased, and to sug- correctlyrisk the chance of a have been planningfor soaring on Oct. 23, before the NewYork side pickup, drive-thru and de- Reuters they arepreparingfor a London, Paris and Hong Kong for That bank has been reaching gest theysendordersthroughap- drawn-out election battle where volumesandtechnicalglitches,as Times firstreported the deal talks. livery options. wide rangeofoutcomes. avariety of scenarios to make outto topcustomersto getasense proved electronic systems rather marketsflip backand forthfor Reuters recentlyreported. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 10 THE WORLD

TOPOFTHE US sets new record WORLD OnlastweekendbeforeUSelection, of over 100,000 Trump&Bidensprinttodriveturnout Covid cases in aday

LISASHUMAKER Fight forPennsylvania takescentrestage:Trumpplans 4rallies in state, Biden to speak in Philadelphia &DAVIDMORGAN Trumpaccuses OCTOBER31 President Magufuli ARECORD surge of coronavirus wasdeclared the doctors of Covid cases in the United States pushed winner of last week’s hospitals closer to the brink of election. Reuters profiteering; capacity and drovethe number of infectionsreportedonFriday they push back to an ominous newdailyworld TANZANIA recordof100,000,four days be- Opprejectspoll fore theUSpresidentialelection. ANorth Dakota familyata JACEYFORTIN The United States also docu- self-administeredCovid results,demands OCTOBER31 mented its9millionth case to testingsite. Reuters dateonFriday, representing newelection AT ArallyinMichigan on Friday, nearly three per cent of the pop- TANZANIA’S TWOleading President DonaldTrumpre- ulation, with almost229,000 mostpatients suffering from the opposition parties said on peated an extraordinaryand un- dead since the outbreak of the diseasesince the pandemic Saturdaytheywouldnot Trumptosses acap during acampaign stop in WaterfordTownship,MichiganonFriday. On the same day, Biden attendeda foundedclaimthat American pandemic early this year,accord- started. The number of hospital- recognise the resultsofa drive-inevent, in St.Paul, Minnesota. Reuters doctors were profiteering from ing to aReuters tallyofpublicly izedCovid-19patientshas risen presidential election that coronavirus deaths. reporteddata. over50%inOctoberto 46,000,the handedincumbent John “You knowour doctors get Withthe countryfacingthefi- highestsince mid-August. Magufuli another term this appear in Luzerne County in mediamarket overlap and his moremoneyifsomebody dies nal stretchofatumultuous pres- Among the hard-hit states week.“We arecallingonthe NEWYORKTIMES northeastern Pennsylvania, ahis- ownoften-cited rootsin from Covid,” Trumpsaid, adding idential campaign dominatedby arethose mosthotly contested international community OCTOBER31 toricallyDemocratic region that Scranton, wherehewas born. thatinothercountries, deathsare the coronavirus pandemic, US in the campaign between and bodies nottorecognise Trumpflippedintothe characterised differentlyifthere health authorities on Fridayalso Republican President Donald what wasreferredtoasa US PRESIDENT Trumpwill hold Republican column in 2016. Obama joins Biden appear to be multiple causes. confirmed that 100,233more Trumpand Democratic chal- general election,”Freeman four rallies across Pennsylvania The Trumps will hardlyhave Beforeheheads to Medical professionals and or- people had tested positive for lenger Joe Biden, suchas Mbowe,chairman of the on Saturdayand his wife, RACE FOR the statetothemselvesinthe last Pennsylvania,Bidenwasjoinedby ganisationsquicklydecriedthose Covid-19overthe past24hours. Michigan, NorthCarolina, Ohio, opposition Chadema party, Melania, willhostafifth eventin days before voting on Tuesday. former US President Barack commentsand laudedthe work Friday’s tallyset anew single- Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. saidincommentspostedon the swing state, as both the THEWHITE On Sunday, Bidenwill deliver Obama forcampaign appear- of nurses, doctors and other dayrecord in US cases forthe fifth Morethan 1,000people died his party’s Twitter account. President and his Democratic HOUSE one of his final speeches of the ancesonSaturday in Michigan, a health care workers, manyof timeinthepast10days,surpassing of the virus on Thursday, the “Wedemand that the elec- challenger,Joe Biden,zeroinon campaigninPhiladelphia, the statewhereTrumppulled offan whom have risked theirlives as the previous peak of 91,248 new thirdtime the dailydeath toll tion be calledafresh right what could be alinchpin in the state’s biggestmedia market. upsetwin in 2016 but nowtrails they cared forpeoplewho were infections postedaday earlier. had exceededthat number this away,” he said. Tanzania’s race forthe WhiteHouse. will holdtwo eventsoutside the And on Monday, Biden and his Biden in recent polls. Biden and infected withthe coronavirus. It also represented the month, and the pace of fatalities National Electoral Trumpprevailedinmajormedia markets, in Reading running mate, Senator Kamala his former boss arescheduledto “Thesuggestion thatdoctors world’s highestnationaldaily is expected to continue rising. Commission on Fridayde- Pennsylvania in 2016 by fewer and in tinyMontoursville (pop- Harris of California, will “fan out appear at drive-in rallies on —inthe midstofapublic health toll duringthe pandemic, ex- Covid claimedatleast926 more clared Magufuli thewinner than45,000 votes, and his itin- ulation around 4,400), as he across all four corners of the SaturdayinFlint and Detroit, crisis —are overcounting Covid- ceedingIndia’s 24-hour record deaths on Friday. of Wednesday’spoll, secur- eraryonSaturday suggests some seekstodrive up turnout among state” with their spouses on the wheresinger Stevie Wonder is 19 patientsorlying to line their of 97,894set in September. The University of ing 84%ofthe vote against of the key demographic and ge- the white, working-class and ru- lastfull dayofcampaigningbe- scheduledtoperform.Theevents pocketsisamalicious...andcom- Theacceleratingpaceof USin- Washington’s newlyupdated rivalLissu of the Chadema ographic ingredientsthat he ralvoters who overwhelmingly fore voters head to thepolls, ac- arepartofanall-outeffortto max- pletely misguidedcharge,” said fectionscontinuedasdatatrickled model projectsthe death toll, party,with13%. REUTERS hopestocombine to createan- supportedhim four years ago. cording to theBiden campaign. imiseturnout,focusingspecialat- SusanRBailey,the president of in on Friday, withatleastadozen whichhad been holding at a other surprise victory. He will also campaign in Biden, who represented tentiononBlack votersinthestate. the American Medical states individuallyreportinga monthlypace of justover22,000 His firststopisinsuburban Butler,inwestern Pennsylvania, neighbouring Delaware in the Trumpwill return to Association, in astatement on recordnumberof newdailycases. formostofOctober,will start Bucks County,whereHillary wherehehopeshis unabashed Senatefor decades, has long con- Pennsylvania on Monday,with Friday, addingthat “leaders Seriouscasesof Covid-19were climbing next month toward a PHILIPPINES Clinton prevailedin2016byless pro-frackingmessageholdssway. sidered Pennsylvania something other stops in North Carolina, should be following the science” on the rise as well, as hospitals in newrecordofmorethan 72,000 1millionevacuated than one percentagepoint. He Melania Trump, meanwhile, will of asecond home state, giventhe Wisconsin and Michigan. instead of attacking doctors. NYT six states reportedhaving the in January. REUTERS asstrongest typhoonoftheyear Orthodox priest shot Turkey: Mother, 3kids approaches OFFICIALSHAVEevacuated at in French church rescued after 18 hours almostamillionresidents in thesouthernpartofthe Philippines’ main island of shown on Frenchtelevision. under quake rubble Luzon as acategory5 ANGELACHARLTON The reason forthe attackwas storm —the world’s LYON,OCTOBER31 unclear.Ithappenedtwo days strongestthis year — afteranIslamic extremistknife makes landfall on Sunday. FRENCH POLICE sayaGreek attack at aCatholic church in the TyphoonGoni,with 215 OrthodoxpriestwasshotSaturday Frenchcity of Nice that killed kph sustainedwindsand whilehewasclosinghischurch in three people and amid tensions gusts of up to 265kph, will thecityof Lyon,andauthoritiesare over aFrenchnewspaper’s pub- bring violent winds and huntingfor the assailant. lication of caricatures mocking strong rains, stateweather The priest, aGreek citizen, is theProphetMuhammad. and disasterofficials said.It in alocal hospital with life- Frenchanti-terroristauthor- is among the strongestty- threatening injuries afterbeing ities were notinvestigating phoons to hit the hit in the abdomen, apoliceof- Saturday’s shooting, although Philippines since Haiyan, ficial told The Associated Press. the interiorminister activateda whichkilledover6,300 The attacker wasaloneand fired special emergency team to fol- At aprotest in Warsaw, Poland, on Fridaynight. Reuters peoplein2013. REUTERS from ahunting rifle, said the of- lowthe case while the gunman Rescue workers carry asurvivorout of acollapsedbuilding ficial, who wasnot authorisedto wasstillatlarge. in the port cityofIzmir,Turkey, on Saturday. Reuters CAUCASUS be publicly named. PMJeanCastexreiteratedgov- Policelockeddownthe area ernment promisestodeploy mil- Poland’s abortion ban triggers the Azerbaijan, around the church and warned itaryforces at religious sites and Death toll from the tremor goes up to 37 Armeniatrade the public on Twitter to stay schools.HesaidFrenchpeoplecan away.Asnight fell on Lyon, po- “count on the nation to allow country’s largest protests in decades freshaccusations lice tape and emergency vehi- them to practice theirreligionin MURADSEZER Friday’s earthquake cles could be seen on images full safetyand freedom”. AP the rule of the increasingly auto- IZMIR,OCTOBER31

ARMENIA AND Azerbaijan ED flattened at least20 ANATOLMAGDZIARZ cratic Lawand Justice Party. Govtfaces once moreaccusedeach buildings in the Aegean otherof bombingresidential &MARCSANTORA Friday’sprotestswerethe heatover AMOTHER and three of her chil- areasonSaturday, in defi- Saudi man crashes car into the WARSAW,OCTOBER31 culmination of aweek of large- PLAIN E dren were pulledtosafetyon portcity of Izmir ● courtruling anceof apactto avoidthede- scale demonstrations, with the EX Saturdayafter being trappedfor liberatetargetingof civilians gates of Mecca’s Grand Mosque IGNORINGTHEthreatof prosecu- police estimating that 430,000 almost18hours underabuild- inandaroundthemountain tion and the dangers posedbya people attended morethan400 WHILE THE ruling on abor- inginthe westernTurkish city of remainedtrapped. enclave of Nagorno- surge of Covidcases, tens of thou- demonstrations around the tions wasmade by acourt, the Izmir that wasflattenedina “Inthe meantime, we arede- Karabakh. Shelling wasre- Grand Mosque’s southern side, sands of womenoutraged by a countryWednesday. protests arelargely targeting powerful earthquake. lighted to be hearing miracles portedbybothsides within ASSOCIATEDPRESS the Saudi Press Agency said. courtdecision to ban nearly all While the protests have been the government.This is be- One of the children suc- happening as aresult of diligent hours of the latestagree- DUBAI,OCTOBER31 Authorities arrested theman abortions in Poland converged overwhelmingly peaceful, cause, according to protesters, cumbed to his injuries later in work by rescue teams,” Mayor ment to defuse the conflict, inside, who appeared in an “ab- FridayinWarsaw, intensifying Friday’s march broughtamajor the ruling is partofashiftto hospital, Health Minister Tunc Soyertold television chan- reachedaftertalksinGeneva ASAUDI man in aspeeding car normal” condition, the agency whathavebeen the largest police presencetothe streetsof authoritarianism in Poland. Fahrettin Koca told reporters in nelFox TV. between the twocountries’ crashedintothe outergates of said, without elaborating. Police protests in thecountry since the Warsawamid concerns that vio- This includeserosion of judi- Izmir.The child wasone of 37 The quakedestroyed at least foreignministersandenvoys Mecca’s Grand Mosque late referred them man to prosecu- fall of communism in 1989. lence could break out with right- cial independence. The presi- people killedinFriday’s quake: 20 buildings in Izmir,causing from France, Russia and the Fridaynight, thecountry’sstate- tors forpossible charges, accord- Crowds of women flooded wing activists. dent of the highestcourt is 35 in Turkey and twoonthe panic in the city and setting off US. The death toll in the run news agency reported. ing to thereport. Video on social the streetsofthe capital. They The court’s decisionhalted seen as aruling party loyalist, Greek island of Samos. tidal waves thatslammedinto fighting that beganinSept The crash happenedaround media correspondedtothe news were joinedbythousands of pregnancyterminationsforsevere and Polandhas facedEUcriti- Rescuers were continuing ef- coastalareas and islands. hascrossed1,000.REUTERS 10.30 pm and sawthe man’s car agency’s account, with security men and awide arrayofgroups fetalabnormalities,effectively the cism over “political control” of fortstofreethe woman’s fourth President Recep Tayyip ramthrough abarrier and keep forces later pushing the dam- who believe that hard-won free- onlytype of abortioncurrently judicial decisions. child. The mayorofthe Aegean Erdogan said 885 people were in- driving until it hit the gate on the aged sedan away. doms were slipping away under performedinPoland. NYT portcity said around 180people jured,15critically. REUTERS

TO LEGIONS OF FANS,NOOTHER ACTOR UTTERED THE WORDS ‘BOND,JAMES BOND’ASINDELIBLY AS CONNERY Sean Connery, who embodied James Bond and much more, dies at 90

character’s familiar self-introduc- (1964) and Thunderball (1965). his crib wasthe bottom drawer niturepolishing. Bodybuilding knighted at thePalaceof ALJEANHARMETZ tion,and to legionsoffans who Afterhegrew tired of therole, of adresser in acold-water flat ledindirectlytoatouring produc- Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh by OCTOBER31 have watchedaparade of actors Connery would be lured backfor next door to abrewery. tion of themusical South Pacific. Queen ElizabethII. It wasa playAgent 007, none uttered the one moreBond movie, Diamonds At the ageofnine, Thomas He waschosen forthe chorus be- knighthood that had been ve- SEANCONNERY, theirascibleScot wordsorplayedthe partasmag- AreForever(1971),onlybytheoffer foundanearly-morningjobdeliv- causehelookedlikeasailor and toed fortwo years by officials an- fromtheslumsof Edinburghwho neticallyorasindeliblyasConnery. of $1millionasanadvanceagainst ering milk in ahorse cartfor four could do handstands. gryathis outspoken supportfor found international fame as Tall, darkand dashing, he 12%ofthemovie’sgrossrevenues. hoursbefore hewentto school.At “I spent my SouthPacific tour the ScottishNational Party. Hollywood’soriginalJamesBond, embodiedthe novelistIan Connery would revisit the 13,Thomas Connerybecame a in everylibraryinBritain, Ireland, The palace is less than one dismayedhis fans by walking Fleming’s suave andresourceful character one moretime a full-time milkman. Britain had Scotlandand Wales,” Connery mile from the tenement in away fromtheBondfranchiseand secret agent in the firstfiveBond decade later,inthe elegiac Never beenatwarforfouryears,andany told The HoustonChronicle in Fountainbridge whereConnery wentonto have alongandfruitful films and sevenoverall, van- SayNever Again (1983). But he able-bodiedboy could getajob. 1992. “And on the nightswe grew up.Henever removedthe careerasarespectedactorandan quishing diabolical villains and had made clear long before then Threeyearslater,withthesoldiers were dark, I’d see everyplayI “Scotland Forever” tattoo that alwaysbankable star, diedon voluptuouswomen alikebegin- that he wasnot going to lethim- coming home and work scarcer, could. But it’s the books, the he placedonhis arm when he SaturdayinNassau,theBahamas. ning with Dr.Noin 1962. self be typecast. he joinedthe RoyalNavy. reading,that canchange one’s was18. Norwas he ever He was90. As amoreviolent, moody and Connerywon abest-actor He signedupfor 12 years, but life. I’m the living evidence.” temptedtodenyhis identity or His death wasconfirmedby dangerous man than the James awardfromthe British Academy wasdischargedat19after acquir- In additiontohis wifeand his turn himself intoanEnglish Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first BondinFleming’sbooks,Connery of Film andTelevision Arts for The Reuters ing an ulcer. He had also acquired son Jason, his survivors include a gentleman. As he told The minister, on Twitter.“Our nation wasthetopbox-officestarinboth Name of theRose(1986), basedon twotattoos on his right arm — stepson,Stephane,andhisbrother. Times in 1987,“My strength todaymourns one of her best Britainand the United States in the UmbertoEco novel, in which Awardasbestsupporting actor forceinThe Untouchables (1987). “Mumand Dad” and “Scotland On July5,2000,wearing the as an actor,Ithink,isthat lovedsons,” she wrote. 1965 afterthe success of From he playedacrime-solving me- forhis performance as an honest He wasborn ThomasSean Forever” —and asmalldisability darkgreen MacLeod tartan of I’vestayedclose to the core “Bond, JamesBond” wasthe RussiaWithLove (1963),Goldfinger dievalmonk,and the Academy cop on the corruptChicagopolice ConneryonAugust25, 1930,and grant, whichheusedtolearn fur- the Highlands, Connerywas of myself.” NYT Kolkata NOVEMBER 1, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 11 THE SUNDAY EXPRESSMAGAZINE

POINT OF VIEW ARTS etc Feels likeHome ‘I cannot be muzzled’ Howfirst ladies brought their touchtothe Director Hansal Mehtaonhis new webseries, sandstones of the Rashtrapati Bhavanover speaking up on social media and the stories the years eye that kept him going Serves All, With aSide of Chutney

There’s no doubt that the humble idli is one of India’s most consumed breakfast dish. But what accounts for its popularity?

Pooja Pillai rising demand forlow-cost public eating spaces. Severalprominent Udupifood outlets suchasDasaprakashin Mysoreand UdupiSri Idlis,/ plumpand spongy lenses,/ magnifyour Krishna Bhavanand Mavalli Tiffin Room appetites; /and, throughthe telescope of (MTR) in Bangalorewereset upinthe1920sto shared hope,/ bring thestars within our reach cater to this demand.” Besidescheaplunches and dinners, these outlets also offeredsouth NTHE long poetic sequence, Indian “tiffin” (breakfastorsnack) specialties ‘BreakfastatKala Ghoda’, which likedosas and idlis. forms the centrepieceofhis Kala It wasthese “Udupi hotels” whichpopu- Ghoda Poems (2004), Arun Kolatkar larisedidlis outsidethe region. Havingfirst made special mention of theordi- sprung up in major cities in the south, theygot I naryidli. In the poet’s imagination, afooting in other parts of thecountry, espe- the idlis collected in the “jumboaluminium ciallyinMumbai, by the middle of the 20th box” of Our Lady of Idlis aretransformedfrom century. “Therewas an enormous spread of something unremarkable to a“sacrament”, people from south India,especiallyinwest- towardswhichthe hungryand homelesspeo- ern and northern India, and the Udupi hotels ple withinamile of this spotinsouth Mumbai firstcateredto them. Then others also started gravitate. What is it that makes this humble going to eat at theseplaces, and became fa- food, available foraslittle as Rs 1insome miliar with the tasteofordinarysouth Indian places, asource of suchinspiration? food items likeidli,” says Kurush Dalal, The people in the Kolatkar poemmight Mumbai-basedarchaeologist and culinaryan- be afigment of the poet’s imagination, but thropologist. thereare enoughreal-life According to Dalal, the examples of people for armedforces also playedan whomthe idli is morethan importantrole in familiaris- justfood. When PC RAMASSERY ing the rest of the country Musthafa, ceo and co- with idlis. “Therewerelots founder of ID Fresh Food, IDLIRECIPE of south Indians in the that sells packaged batter, armedforcesand so the wasgrowing up in Courtesy:Regi Mathew mess also begantoserve Wayanad, Kerala, eating SERVES TWOPEOPLE idlis and dosas forbreakfast. three full meals aday was Youhavetoeat what is a“luxury”. “But whenever COOKINGTIME servedin themess, somany my grandfather or father ■ Batter and who hadn’tgrown up eat- could afford it, they would fermentation: 7hours ingtheseitemsbecameac- buy some idlis. Theywere ■ Cookingtime: 15 customedtothem,” he says. wholesomeand filled our minutes Anothersignificantfac- stomachs. Because of INGREDIENTS torinpopularising the idli, those memories, to this says NarenThimmaiah, ex- 4cups eachofraw rice day, idlis aremyfavourite ecutive chef, Vivanta and ponnirice,2cups of food,”hesays. Bengaluru, wasits ease of GETTYIMAGES split urad dal, 1tsp Lastmonth, when a replication.“Think about fenugreek, sea salt tweetbyBritishhistorian the recipes that chef to taste EdwardAnderson, calling SanjeevKapoor explainson the idli “boring”,went viral, METHOD hisTVshow. He neverpicks idli supporters camefor- Soak the urad dal and anythingtoo complicated ward in droves, ledby the fenugreektogether forthe averageviewerto Thiruvananthapuram MP and the rice separately. replicateinher or his Shashi Tharoor.The good- Forafrothy batter,the kitchen, because he knows humoured controversy rice hastobesoaked that in order forthe recipe made it clearthatifacom- longerthanthe urad dal. to appeal to someone who prehensive survey wastobe Grindthe twoseparately is notfamiliarwith the food, conducted about India’s and then mix. Allowitto he would have to keep it mostpopular breakfast ferment forsix hours. simple,” says Thimmaiah. COMFORTFOOD food, idli, along withdosa, Addthe salt. Place a In the caseofthe idlis,this (Clockwise from top) Idli lends itself to many interpretations; Ramassery idli at KCK;aKarnatakavariation in Vivanta Bengaluru;MTR’s rawa idli would find aplace near the muslin cloth on the wasinitiallyabig hurdle. top.Theidliisavailableinal- mouthofanarrow- “For something to be ‘pop- mosteverypartofthecoun- neckedearthen vessel ular’, it would have to be it’s fullofpreservativesand isn’t healthy,”he travel around southIndia, you’ll find that it in Kolkata, ChandigarhorAhmedabad is most tryand features on menus and secure it tightly with made at home, and many says.Thatproblem,hesays,isnow moreorless changes from one districttothe next,” says likelyone of twodistinct types:theKarnataka- in five-starhotels, teastalls, astring.Makesmall people outside south India athingofthe past, even though he does run chef Regi Mathew, culinarydirector and co- stylegrainyidli, madewith black gram and canteens and udupi restau- holes in thecloth. Fill the were unable to getthe bat- intothe occasional customer who askshim owner,Kappa Chakka Kandhari(Chennai & coarsely-groundrice orthe softer Tamil Nadu- rants. No onedisputes its vesselwith waterand terright,” he says.Natural howmuchpreservative is thereinhis com- Bengaluru) and KCKFoodPack. In some styleone, made with afine batter. south Indian provenance, bringittoaboil. Now, fermentation, essential for pany’s idli batter.“When Iwas in theUSlast Namboodiri households in central Travancore, buteveryoneagreesthatits place awet muslin cloth idli to tasteright,isalways year,Ivisitedafew Indian stores. Iwas sur- Kerala, forexample, he foundwhat is called ■ ■ ■ appeal goes beyond geo- over this, and pour the tricky.Mostpeople were prisedthat thereare three to four brands of the “poo” (flower) idli —airyand soft,made graphical boundaries. How batter on it. Coverthe also confusedabout the ra- ready-to-use batter available in everyone of only with the lightest, froth-likelayer found Howdoes one eat an idli? Occasionally, it did this happen? batter with another tio of rice to blackgram, them.IntheUAE,whichisoneof ourmostim- at the topoffreshly-fermented batter.Other is served withaccompanimentsliketomato earthen vessel. Steam whichwould vary,depend- portant markets, thereare 24 batterbrands. traditional variantsinclude the kottekadubu or corianderchutney, molaga podi or justplain ■ ■ ■ forfiveminutes.Gently ing on whichsouth Indian Clearly,people have embracedit,” he says. from Karnataka, whichissteamedinsidecups whitebutter.But, as with the first“pureveg- demould the idliusinga theyconsulted.This made of jackfruit leaves, and the large and flat etarian”Udupi hotels, whichalmostalways The storyofidli’s popu- bananaleaf,and peelthe changed whenready- ■ ■ ■ Ramasseryidli, made in the villageof had separatecaste-baseddining sections, the larity begins in Udupi, a muslincloth offthe top made batters begantobe Ramassery near Palakkad, which, according most widely-available combination remains temple town in coastal before serving. widelyavailablein themar- Mostofthe modern idli’s key features can Mathew, has to be made with rice sourced idli-sambar-chutney. Karnataka. In the late19th ket. “About 60-70per cent be tracedbacktosoutheastAsia, wrotefood from the region forittotaste right. Considering this the“authentic” combi- century, large-scale migra- of the work wasalready historian KTAchaya in Indian Food: AHistorical Idli’sversatilityalsomeansthatit hasbeen nation,however, betrays averylimitedunder- tions from the region began, with the lower- done. All theyhad to do wassteam the batter. Companion (1994).Hesuggestedthat what shapedbycontemporaryneeds and tastes. For standing of howtoenjoythe idli. “What is the caste Holeya labourers leaving to work in the Their confidenceincreasedand theywereable we nowknowasthe idliwasoriginallyanun- example, the popular rava idli, made of idli by itself? It only has amild flavour.What coffeeplantations of Kodagu and Malenadu, to consume it regularly at home,” says fermented cakeknown as iddarika, men- semolina, wascreatedin the kitchens of MTR makes it irresistible is howits spongy texture writes economistand professor Chinmay Thimmaiah. tionedinthe 12th centurytreatise in Bengaluru during WorldWar II,when rice can soak up the tasteofanything that you TumbeinIndia Moving: AHistory of Migration Musthafaestimatesthat,today, inMumbai Manasollasa,andwasmade onlyofblackgram wasinshortsupply, says Hemamalini Maiya, serve it with,” Mathewsays.Thereisacorrect (2018,PenguinRandom House).Bythe early alone, about 70,000 kg of idli-dosa batter is (urad dal). The use of rice, fermentation of the who runs the 96-year-old familybusiness wayofmaking idli, but thereisnocorrect way 20th century, awider rangeofcastes, that in- consumedinaday.“Accordingtoaninternal batter and cooking by steaming were features with her brothers Arvind and Vikram. In re- of eating it. One could beconfusedabout what cludedBrahmins trainedinthe kitchens of studythatwe didof thebattermarket,Chennai that were importedfromIndonesia. While cent years, idlis made of oats, quinoa and bar- kind of riceto use, whetheror nottoadd fenu- their native town’s famous Sri KrishnaTemple, remains the mecca of idlis, while other cities there’s no wayyet of ascertaining this, what’s ley, made colourful by the addition of vegeta- greek seeds, or even howtosteam idlis long joinedthe exodus, to work as cooksorrun in the south, likeBengaluru and Hyderabad, clearis thatbefore it spreadout intothe rest of bles likecarrots, beetroot and spinach,have enough so that they’resoftbut notsticky.But their owneating establishmentsinBengaluru, aremajor consumers. But outsidethe region, the country, various iterations of the same been created to cater to thenutritionally- thereshouldbeabsolutelynoconfusionabout ChennaiandMysuru.Afteragreat flood—the Mumbai is number one,” he says.One of the food —made with abatterofrice and black minded,while those with more whimsical howtoeat them. “(Eat them with)any kind of “maari bolla”of1923 —devastatedthe problemsthathiscompanyhadinitiallyfaced, gram, fermentedand then steamedintoindi- tastes might prefer something likethe choco- chutneyyou like, or maybewith stew.Many Dakshina Kannadaregion, migration outof whensellingpackagedbatterwaspersuading vidual handy “cakes” —wereanindisputable lateorcoconut wateridli created by M enjoyitwith unusual accompanimentssuch Udupi and the surrounding areas increased. peoplethatitwasperfectlysafetoeat.“Indians partofthe cuisines of south India. Eniyavan, owner of Chennai’s Mallipoo Idli. as chicken, fish or prawncurry,and it’s deli- Tumbewrites, “Mass migrationof male work- believe that dryfood is morehygienic. When “Idli is incrediblyversatile. Thereare so But mostofuseat the rather morestaid cious. Idli is meanttobeastaple, so eat it as ers and professionals to largecities ledtothe youseesomethinginapackage,youthinkthat manydifferent ways of making it, that if you variety.Maiyasays that the typical idli found youplease,” Mathewsays. Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

NOVEMBER 1, 2020 POINT OF VIEW 12

Many Miles Ahead How the jeep became India’s favourite all-purpose vehicle

ON ROUGH TERRAIN Indian peacekeeping troops during the Congo Crisis in 1963

Surbhi Gupta

HE GENESIS of Mahindra&Mahindra, aleading Indian vehicle manufacturer,lies in WorldWar II. Timeless Mahindra,anew book by veteranjour- TnalistAdil Jal Darukhanawala whichcelebrates the company’s 75th anniversary, traces itsorigins to 1941. The United States military’s search foralow-volume, low- costscout vehicle forthe frontlines ledtothe develop- ment of the Jeep, designedbyAmerican Bantam and fur- ther developedbyWillys and Ford.Hailedas“one of the three tools that wonthe war”, it wasdistributed in various countries and made itsway to India when the Allied forces were fighting the Japanese on the Burma front. “AfterWorld WarII, the vehicle had to be put to other PHOTOSCOURTESY:RASHTRAPATIBHAVANPHOTOARCHIVE uses. The Mahindras knewthat India wasonthe cusp of independence and the newnation would requiremo- torisedtransportthat waseasy to operate,service and re- pair,” says Darukhanawala. Establishedin1945in Ludhiana, as Muhammad &Mahindra, by brothers FEELS LIKE HOME Kailash Chandraand Jagdish ChandraMahindraalong with Malik Ghulam Muhammad, it wasrenamed Mahindraand Mahindra, afterMuhammad emigrated to How first ladies over the years brought their touch to the sandstones of Rashtrapati Bhavan Pakistantobecome itsfirstfinance minister. Meanwhile, Mahindratiedupwith Willys Overland to manufacturethe iconic CJ-3B in India. “Manufacturing Keerti Tiwari Dorothy Irwin, the firstoccupant of the of independent India were starklydifferent and procuring investment in India wasextremelytime- Viceroy House, paid close attention to the from theirpredecessors. Little is known consuming and difficult. So, furnishing and decor. Some of the “strangely about the firstincumbent, Rajvanshi Devi Mahindracreated 30-40 OUIS MOUNTBATTEN’S appoint- English” flowers in the garden were planted Prasad, the wifeofRajendraPrasad. The only variantsofthe vehicle over ment as the Viceroy of India wasa on her directive.Asahousewarming gift photograph of her shows her in all simplicity, the next 25 years,” says “bombshell” forEdwina from Queen Mary, she wasgiven aChinese clad in awhitesari and distributing prizesat Darukhanawala. On India’s Mountbatten. But she adapted goldfish, and, in turn, the queen got updates the Government House Estate School. This tough terrain, the jeep had Lswiftly. Herpresence loomed on the developmentsatthe Viceroy House. simplicity wasthe hallmarkofthe leaders manyfunctions —ferrying large over theViceroy House and the politi- Lady Marie Willingdon brought the who formedthe newgovernment. It wasthe the public, carting goods and cal activities associated with it. She wasonly winds of changetothe Viceroy House, when time of nation-building and the firstfamily making medical facilities following tradition: The she got thewallsand ceil- clung to these principles. reachremote corners. Viceroy’s House was, after ings of various rooms Unlikebefore, the influence of the first All forwardunitsofthe all, home. painted mauve. Her fond- ladies on the interiors of the Rashtrapati Indian Army, from the Indo-Pakistanwar in 1947,tosub- Likewise EmilyLytton ness forthe colour earned Bhavanwas notaspronouncedafter sequent conflictsin1962, 1965 and 1971 have used Lutyens, wifeofarchitect the pun “mauvey sujet” Independence. The second President, Mahindra’s CJ-3B jeeps. It wasalifeline in rural areas and Edwin Lutyens, had an- (mauvesubject) from SRadhakrishnan, wasawidowerwhen he wasalso usedbyroyalty and lawenforcement officials other connection to the Lutyens. Her obsession assumedoffice.During the presidency of APJ across India. “Till the early ’90s, Mahindrawas considered monument. As the daugh- with changewas notre- AbdulKalam, the Rashtrapati Bhavanhad no avehicle usedbythe government, lawenforcement and terofLordLytton, who had stricted to the interiors. It firstlady, and the scientistpreferred to hold those in rural areas. Armada (1993) wasthe company’s been Viceroy during 1876- entered the gardens, too, as discourseswith studentswhen notpractis- firstattempt to reachout to urbanbuyers,” he says. 80, she wasnot untouched Living History carved stone elephantsat ing sitar or reading booksinhis free time. Armada did notmakeamark, but Bolero(2000)and by India’s influence. the gatesuprootedmany But therehavebeen instances when inte- Scorpio (2002) helpedthe companytap urban markets. Though it’s difficult to es- An Indian Express traditional plants. Even a riors have been refurbished. Saraswati Bai, In 2010,Mahindralaunchedthe Thar,anoff-road Jeep tablish explicitly, some collaboration with stern letter from thequeen wifeofVVGiri, took keen interestinthe paint- CJ-likeSUV.“Afteranumber of MNCs startedcoming into credit goes to her forthe RashtrapatiBhavan to avoid changes did not ing of frescoes on the ceilings of some state the country, the jeep had startedgetting relegated to the presence of lotus and ele- deterher.Itwas lefttothe rooms, while Begum AbidaAhmed, wifeof fringes of the automotive world. Hence, Mahindrahad to phant motifsinthe sensibilities of the next in- IN HER STYLE tion and ordered improvement. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, wasaconnoisseur of reinvent, whichtheydid with Scorpio, but theyinfused Rashtrapati Bhavan. cumbent, Doreen Linlithgow,torestore the (Clockwise from top) Mountbatten’s tenurewitnessedthe be- art, and redecoratedrooms and upholstery. the essence of the original CJ-3B intothe Thar,whichhad The construction went on forabout two house to itsformer glory, and she invited ginning of themetamorphosis,when the But the mostsignificantimprint on the asportier bloodline and appeal,” says Darukhanawala. Edwina decades, with four vicereines “helping” Lutyens to refurbish it. guestlists at theformal functionsstarted to Rashtrapati Bhavanwas when Pratibha When he travelledacross the countryfor this book, Lutyens. Some likeWinifred Hardingewere Of course,therewas moretothe duties Mountbatten; the featurepeople from diverse backgrounds, Devi Singh Patil became president. Heras- Darukhanawala wasstruckbyhow eachMahindrajeep “verycordialand pleasant”,though instances of the vicereines, who also participated in a Long Drawing Room representing different nationalistperspec- censiontothe highest constitutional posi- drew itscharacter from itslocation. “In Punjab, the jeeps of disagreement were notabsent. One of variety of stateevents. At stateballs, recep- transformed by Lady tives. Edwina observed,“Ithink Viceroy’s tion in thecountrywas indeed an impor- areostentatiouslydecorated,while in Hyderabad, they them ledtoLutyens’s oft-quotedremarkto tions, dinners, investitures and garden par- Willingdon with House and grounds arenow looked on more tant markerinthe over nine-decade keep the vehicle as close to the original as possible. People Lady Hardinge: “I will wash your feet with ties, the vicereine would playthe perfect ceiling paintings; as apartofIndia than as aBritish stronghold.” journeyofthis magnificentplace. in Goa use it differentlyfrompeople in Kerala. It’s notso my tears and drythem with my hair.True,I hostess. Edwina, forexample,checkedonthe Dorothy Irwin The Viceroy House became the muchabout the vehicle as it is about the people,” he says. have very little hair,but then youhavevery staffquarters within the Viceroy House Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of KeertiTiwariisDeputyPressSecretary, little feet.” premises, found them in deplorable condi- the President of India in 1950. The firstladies President’sSecretariat

sonal work or creativity,but when it comes to professional work,ithas to be within the An Art Lesson boundaries setbythe business. Ican flyas an artistbut have to be groundedasanem- ployee. This is the biggestdifferentiator be- As in life, so in the pandemic, art and creativity are tweenthe artistand the designer in me.” And justlikethat, Satyashares another les- proving to be wellspringsofhope son that is all about being awareofthe dif- ference betweencircumstance and fate,des- legacy and do good by the worldweinhabit. tinyand reality. Some have accused me of fashioning When Icouldn’t cook due to my health, SLICEOFLIFE Pollyanna and her irrepressible optimism, when knitting and singing becameachal- hinting that Iamnaïveand simplistic. But fate lenge, IdiscoveredIcould harness my cre- is notdestiny. Reality does notequal fatality. ativity another way. Suddenly, my iPhone Rather,itisamoving pointthatwechart the and the worldaround me became my course of through ouractions.Ofcourse,we kitchen and my ingredients. In my darkpe- must do all we can and as best as we can, but riod, Ifound aray of sunshine that brought then we mustlet go andlet lifehappen.Learn me hope. When asked whatthe pandemic to makepeace with the outcomes. has brought to hisworld,Satya says,“It's been Iarrived in NYCwhen Iwas 20 andsoon introspective and humbling in manyways. made my home there. Ahome that moved Making artisjustameanstoanend. The as Imovedfromstudent lifetoprofessional worldisincrisis, and, so, holdsupbigger les- lifetofarmstead life. Iarrived with ahunger SATYAKAMSAHA sons forhumanity.Ifeel blessedthat maybe to discover. Iwantedtoliveinacosmopoli- HEALING drastically. Agrown maninthe careofhis Satyashames me intofeeling like acopy- being an artisthelps me ride through these tancity,toembrace my ownself and my life, STROKES mother and spouse, sibling and dear friends. cat when he says,“Ithinkthat artcan helpin tough times. That adversity can be chan- and respect others forwho theywereand With eachday that broughtmenew handi- making better versions of ourselves. Foran nelledintosomething creative and fulfilling.” No matter how wheretheywereintheir journeys.Beyond caps, Iwas ready to give up on life. Then my individual, it helps in forging aconnection The imageshared with my column is a that, Ihad no idea of what Iwas destinedfor difficultany given inner Pollyanna managed somehowtodefy between mind and body.All artforms are lockdown creation of Satya’s. As Iwatch him or what Iought to aspire to become.Ithelped moment feels, art whatwas predicted and ledmetonew be- consideredtoberepositoriesofsociety’s col- navigatethe pandemic as both artistand co- that Ihad an artist’s mindset,avagabond can help us find hope ginnings, newpassions, newavenues to lectivememory. The best examples of how worker,Iseeglimpses of what I’vealwaysfelt spirit and agypsy’s stamina. channel my creativity. artistransformativeand abletoheal the and forwhichIamoften challenged.Ifind a Singing, cooking, knitting, crocheting, As Iset sail on anew journeyinIndia, my scars of adestructive period arefromtimes worldwhichisalways giving us opportuni- SuvirSaran macrame, needlework,embroidery, paint- motherlandfromwhomIhavebeen re- afterworld wars.” It’s clear that Satyaisaper- ties, sending us newlessons and waiting for ing, sculpting —these connected me to my movedfor over aquartercentury, Isee how son deeplyconnected to his ownhumanity, us to be one with it, and Isee Satya makethe Suvir Saran is achef, author,educator soul’s needs, my heart’s enrichment and my artand creativity aresimilarly helping others, and, so, mostcircumspect about the human- mostofeachmoment, with dignity and and world traveller mind’s grounding.AsImademyname and too. Isee it dailyall around me. Affecting peo- ity thatresidesinall others around him. grace, generosity of spirit and magnanimity livelihood as achef, these passions were ple who arehealedthrough the passions Iasked him howhejuggles working as a of thought, action and deed. Through his art, EVER EVOLVINGishow Ifeel ourlifehas been stored in my memory’s depths, whereIcould theyhavediscoveredduringthe vicious grip professional architect and designer with his he shows us that hope can be found no mat- calibrated and designedtobe. If we grow reachevery nowand again and find inspiring of the pandemic, or visualartists like work as acreative artist. His response: “It’s terhow hardany givenmoment might seem. with eachmoment, if we become better ver- hopeand fulfilling hobbies. SatyakamSaha, who has alwaysusedart as tough and oftenchallenging to deal with Nothing is permanent, notevenapandemic. sions of ourselveswith eachchapterofour Asingle breath, amini stroke,one mo- both his driving engine and his escape from suchdisparateworlds. The artistinmeen- It is beautifultosee that truth come alive in life, we stand to be humanswho leave a ment in time is all it took to alter my course the vexing vicissitudes of life. joys thecompletefreedom towardsmyper- Satya’s creativity.

Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

13 ARTS etc NOVEMBER 1, 2020 DOWN IN ‘I can’t let myself be muzzled’ JUNGLELAND DirectorHansal Mehta, 53, on the making of his web series, Scam 1992, holding strong in the face of failures and why he speaks up on social media

RanjitLal AlakaSahani Howdoyou stay non-judgemental while telling the storyofthe mastermind of Ranjit Lal is an author, suchahugescam? environmentalistand THE BUZZ around Scam1992: TheHarshad That came naturally. When Istartedmak- birdwatcher MehtaStory,aweb series directed by Hansal ing biographies —from Shahid (2013)to Mehta, that releasedonSonyLivrecently, re- Omerta (2018)toScam 1992 —Itriednot to ro- fuses to die down. The showabout one of manticise but humanise the characters. The India’s biggestfinancialscams put the spot- biggest challengewas to maintain the arcof light on Mehtafor itstautstory,direction and thecharacters andthetonalconsistencyof this acting. In this interview, the filmmaker speaks voluminous script. Fair Game of anew phasein his career and whyshooting the showwas one of the best experiences of You’vebeen open about the many his life. Excerpts: professionalrejections that youfaced. What kept yougoing? In the wild, the hunt is always on Howdid the idea of Scam 1992: The Iwakeuptoanew startevery day. Ihad Harshad MehtaStory come up? my shareofbitter experiences and failures but OSOME extent, we allhavethe hunting in- Manyyears ago, Ihad read the book The what kept me goingwas the fact that there stinct,orwewouldn’t have survived. The best Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, Who GotAway were stories to tell.Ijoinedthe industrybyac- natural hunters are, of course, the carnivores: (1993) by Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu. I cident 27 years agowhen Iwent to ZeeTV T the big catsand canids,and even omnivores, triedtopitch this storyasafilm but no one with the proposalfor Khana Khazanaand they likebears. But size doesn’t matter:haveyou ever wasinterestedinit. When Sameer Nair (pro- okayedit. With that, Ifoundmycalling. watchedapraying mantis lie in ambush on aleaf, then ducer) and Imet three yearsago,hemen- lungeout with itsgin-trap arms and lop offits prey’s tionedthat he wantstomakeaseries on the Did Shahid helpyou find your voice since head and eat it as if it were enjoying abhutta? The ladies book.Icame on board. Thereweretwo rea- youhavechosen to tell acertain kindof do that to their husbands, too. Diabolical wasps seek out sons forthat —tomakeawhite-collar drama storyafter that? spiders or caterpillars, paralysethem and then layan and to relive my growing-up years. We don’t The experience of Shahid made me brave. egg on them so that the babyhas fresh meat on tap tellwhite-collar crimestories.Even whenwe It would have neverbeenmade had Inot when it’s born! do, theyare flaky and dumbed down. agreedtomakeitonanimpossible budget of Some animals, liketigers, hunt alone. Theystalk their around Rs 70 lakh. That wasHansal Mehta2.0. prey,crouchand leap, either biting through the spinal The 10-episode showhas lots of details. Iexperiencedadip with Simran (2017). Now, cordorsuffocating the victim. Others, likelions, wolves What kindofresearchwentintoit? Iamexperiencing Hansal Mehta3.0. Recently, and wild dogs, hunt in packs,whereeachmember has a Sumit Purohit and Saurav Dey(writers of Omerta re-releasedonOTT and receiveda specific role and atrapisset.These guyshaveabetter kill the show)met Sucheta anumberoftimes. good response. My next film Chhalaang is set rate than theloners. Actually, most huntsdonot end in Theymet brokers of the ’80s and ’90s. The way to release on November 13.Ihaveevenacted success forthe hunter —there’s always morethan afair trading wasdone then has become akind of in twocommercials.I’vehadabusylockdown. chance forthe prey to escape (and be hunted on another folklore. Twenty-eight years have passedsince day!), either thankstofleetness of foot,orbecause they the scam came to light. India wasatthe cusp What went wrong with Simran? have their owndefensive strategies likesafetyinnum- of changethen. We startedwriting the script Youmustlovethe making of the film. You bers. Mostpredators will avoid tangling with heavy- towardsthe end of 2017 andfinishedour fi- mustenjoythe process of releasing it and the weightsarmedwith massive sweeping hornsand very nal draftinAugust2019. Itwas550 pages long. audience’s reaction to it. Right from the mak- shorttempers:theycan’t risk getting injured,because in It wasamammoth task to make it visuallyen- ing of the film, it wasabitter experience, the wild that is, inevitably, adeath sentence. gaging. It wasone of the mostexhaustive and markedwith negativity. Eachcreaturehas itsown technique: raptors suchas satisfying processes of my career. eagles and falcons swoop down likefighter bombers and Youare vocalonsocial media.Why is it makeoff with theirprey in their iron talons. Birds on a Howdid yougoabout the casting, which important foryou to speakup? high-protein insect dietwill winkle out grubsfromunder is one Scam 1992’s strengths? Ispeak as acitizen. Iamnot affiliatedwith leavesordig them out from the ground. Gannets and Writingandcastinghappenedsimultane- APERFECTPLOT anypolitical party.Italkabout issues thatcon- kingfishers spear-dive,heronsspear-fish, and, in the ously. It helps to have aface attachedtoachar- (Top) Hansal Mehta; astill from Scam 1992 cern me. An artistwithoutavoice is likeanan- deep blue, some fish burythemselvesinthe muddy acter.Iinstinctively wantedaGujarati-speak- imal in amuzzle.Ican’tletmyself bemuzzled. depths or conceal themselvesinwaving fronds of kelp, ing actor,someone from theatre, to play the waiting in ambush. Sharks pickupminuteelectrical sig- role of Harshad Mehta. Pratik (Gandhi) was Howdid youcreateBombay of the time? In one of our conversations, youhad said nals and home in and the gigantic whales —eating, per- my firstand finalchoice.Thecasting of Shreya It is acombination of shooting on loca- howVishal Bhardwaj helpedyou in the haps,the smallest of prey —simplyopenwide and swal- (Dhanwanthary) as Sucheta took some time. tions and visual effects. Isent my son Jai, who early years of your career.How important lowentire colonies in onegulp. is the co-director of the show, on adiscovery is it to have this eco-system? Everytrickinthe bookisused: whether it is lying in Thereare manyother amazing actors, mission. Idon’t always recognise Mumbai Youhavetofind your supportsystem. It wait, camouflaged likeacommando, to ambush, acun- including Satish Kaushik as CobraKiller, but Ibreathe Bombay. This is theworld justsohappenedthat Vishal,Anubhav (Sinha), ning trap, astalk-and-leap operation, or justanall-out whoare partofthe ensemble... whereIworkedasacomputerprogrammer. Anurag (Kashyap) and Ibegan our career high-speedchase. When Satishji came to knowthatIwas From Mahalaxmi to Nariman Point, Iusedto around the same time. All of us came from And, in asense, even the herbivores“hunt”.Theyhave working on Scam 1992,hesaid he wasready visit this belt regularly to meetmyclients. It nowhereand were strugglingto find ourfeet. it relativelyeasy, because, usually, their prey can’trun or to take up anyrole.Now,heisgettingsuch had textilemillsand corporateoffices.We We were critical of eachother but we inspired hide. But, yes, elephants will push over entire trees justto appreciation forhis acting! Severalcasting chose the locations and the production de- eachother,too. Anubhavhas been instrumen- getameasly mouthful of thefresh tenderleavesgrowing decisionswereinspired,including that of signers took over.Ihad severalelements in talinholdingus together.Wehaveevolvedto- Rajat Kapoor,AnantMahadevan, and Nikhil mind butthere wasnopictorial reference. gether.Ihavealready readthedraftofhis next Dwivedi. After Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), a Paatal Lok (2020) and Jamtara (2020). Scam Forexample, the challengefor my 26-year- film, he has read mine. We areexploring the certain kind of casting wasbeing done in 1992 is setinMumbai and is dominated by old director of photographywas to shoot ideaof workingtogether—maybean anthol- badlandmoviesand shows suchas Gujaratis and Marwaris.The casting had to with old tubelights. The conceptofpretty ogy.Iamenvious of their work and Iamhappy Mirzapur (2018-2020), Rangbaaz (2018-19), be different. lightsdid notexistthen. admitting that.

that the coreproblem has gone away,whichis the ambivalence of the statetowards the use ‘The invisible shield reporters from of militancy as atool of statecraft. What do youthink makes the deep state RANJITLAL so powerful in Pakistan? PEEK-A-BOO the West once had is diminishing’ It’s aconfluence of things. In the early Animals only hunt out of necessity years,Pakistan’spoliticswaschaotic, thecoun- trywas fragile, andthe ideaof the countrywas notfully-formed. To pickupthe slack,astrong at thetop, or strip the barkoff atree, causing it to die. Journalist Declan Walsh on the many Pakistans he saw bureaucracy and military, the twoinheri- Herbivorescan mowthroughsavannah landscapesleav- tancesfromBritish colonialism, steppedin. ing baresoilbehind, again looking forthe mosttender during his time as aforeign correspondent in the country With the overthrow of Sikandar Mirzaasthe young leaves. Vegetarianand omnivorous insects likelo- country’s leader in the 1950s, the militaryes- custsravage entirelandscapes in minutes. tablishedits dominanceandhasn’treallylet go Mostpredators arewell-equipped forthe job: with Amrita Dutta nottofamily. Icame to the conclusion that in since. But that’s partofit. Thereisalso razor sharp teeth, grappling iron talons,sheer strength Pakistan, the private and public spheres were Pakistan’s geostrategic importance. Yousee and speed, excellent sight, hearingand smell, and even separateand that wasaway of reconciling dif- countries using this to getleveragewith venom. Even so, their prey,equallywell-equippedwith TO MANY Indians,Pakistanisadrearyland, ferences about the place. Western powers. Youcan makewhat looks sight, smelland hearing and asixth sense danger-detec- hijackedbyreligious extremism and the mil- like free moneyfor awhile,butatsomepoint, tion ability (nottomentionalarm system),always have a itary. Declan Walsh’s The NineLives of Pakistan These aresome very dangerous men you it starts to create as manyproblemsasitsolves. 50-50 chance of gettingaway. Thereisnothing malicious (Bloomsbury) tempts us withthe unofficial writeabout, but with humour and an eye Pakistanisaprime example of that. about the hunt, even if it lookshorriblycruel (likewild version —absurdand violent, but neverbor- forthe absurd.Did youfind them funny? dogs disemboweling awildebeestand eating it alive). ing. Through nine portraitsofbattle-hardened Idid —and honestly, that waswhat made ForIndia, Pakistanhas oftenbeen held Everypredator in theanimal kingdom onlyhuntstosur- politicians, activistsand spies, Walsh,who them so appealing. Pashtun leader Anwar out as awarning. Is thereisamore vive:they’renot stupid enough to risktheir livestohunt served as aPakistancorrespondent for The Kamal Khan, forinstance,was incrediblylo- creative wayoflooking at our neighbour? for“pleasure”. Yes, theymight fight eachothertothe NewYorkTimes fornine years till 2013, quacious, likesomeone out of anovel. Icould- Until recently, Indian democracy wasa deathfor territoryormating rights, and willdefend their sketches acountrythatstruggles withcontra- n’thave made himup.Thehumourwassome- flawedproject but it wasable to hold itself up young ferociously, but theywouldrather avoid trouble dictions and mutinies. In this interview, the thing Iwanted to conveyabout these people to aNehruvian ideal. Over the lastfew years, than seek it out. Irish journalist, who is now NYT bureauchief and about the country. Ihad problems with we have seen the rise of Hindu nationalism That has been lefttous. Yes, tribal communitiesand in Cairo, speaksabout writing againststereo- howPakistanwas representedin theWestern and itseemsthat Indiais no longer ableto hold indigenous people did hunt to feed themselvesand their types and the increasing difficulty of being a media during this period. In particular,there itself outas theexception to Pakistan. Thedif- clans. The rest of us,led by theanimal-loving whiteman, foreign journalistfromthe West.Excerpts: wasanAmerican newsmagazine coverthat ference between the countries is notthat they felt deprived. And, so, we went out hunting, for“pleas- showedanimageofabunchofbeardedmen have extremistfringes or blocs,itis: what is ure” and “sport”. Thereisathrillinstalking your prey and What did youwant to do in this book that at aprotest —one of them is looking intothe the attitude of the stateinregulating that? scoring ahit, but we have ensuredthatthe odds are your reportage could not? cameraand snarling. Of course, these people Pakistan’s problem has always been that the stackednearly 100per cent in our favour.Unlike tribal Mostofthe West thinksofPakistanasal- arereal. But if that’s the only thing that you statehas been abad arbiter and poor at pro- hunters, we don’t getupclose and attackwithspears and ternatelythreatening, mystifying or exotic. I seeaboutacountry, youget askewedversion. tecting the minorities. When Iwas in Pakistan, machetes—or even bows and arrows.That would be so wanted to give readers asense of what my progressive friends, who had averyfond cruel and youcouldsoeasilybedisemboweled. So, we Pakistanislikebeyond the headlines. The nine Howimportant is Islam as aglue that viewofJinnah, were quietlydismissive of the userifles —from, say, akilometreaway. The whiteman, years Iwas therewereanexplosive period, in keeps Pakistantogether? two-nationtheory. But now, they look at the and our ownmaharajas sat in the safetyofanelephant’s whichsomanydramas took place —the fall It’s averyimportant part of the identity of COURTESY: BLOOMSBURY wayMuslims arebeing treated in India and howdah,had their victims driventowards them and then of Pervez Musharraf, the assassinationof mostPakistanis.Butthat’sseparate from Islam PEN MAN means to be aPakistani. say, maybehewasn’t so wrong. Maybe, the opened up. Then,ofcourse, the triumphant photo of the Benazir Bhutto, the rise of thePakistani Taliban having the ability to provide aglue that holds Walsh worked as Muslim League in the 1940s wasright to fear intrepid hunterwithafootonthe victim and asmirkon andtheassassinationof OsamabinLaden. But, the countrytogether.Whatis it thatPakistanis Howdocivilians think of the Taliban? majoritarian rule in India afterall. aPakistan hisface followed. The animal’s head would be mounted as anyreporter would know, thereissomuch have in common?According to the cliche, it Fordecades,Pakistanis have beentoldthat on the walls, or itswholebody beautifullystuffed in afe- that happens offcamera. Apartofmygoalwas is Islam, the armyand cricket. Of those three, correspondent Islam and the jihad aresupporting ideas and Is it getting harder to be aforeign rocious posture. It couldn’t getworse, you’d think,but it to give the reader asense of itscomplexity. onlycricketisthe uncontentious one. The big between2004 and theyoverlap with Pakistan’s national interest. journalistfromthe West,with the the rise has. Canned huntingensures youget your “trophy” un- storywhen Iwas therewas about the rise of 2013, when he was Suddenly, to see the jihadis turning againstthe of China and other populistleaders and der controlled conditions. The “prey”islet loose in an en- Didyou find manyversionsofPakistan? thePakistani Taliban.Butcentrifugal forces in summarily booted out state, and the statenot having anyanswers to the waning of theWest’s powers? closure, maybesedated;you sit in your SUV and take it The book partlyuses the experiences of the peripheries have been afeatureofPakistan of the country for that wasverydisorienting.Theywould fall Absolutely. Authoritarianismis onthe rise. down withahigh-poweredrifle. Whatamarvelous testi- nine people to draw out the bigger threads of since itsbirth.The Balochinsurgency wasa intoconspiracy theories to explainit.Ordinary Thekindofinvisibleshieldthatreportersfrom ‘undesirable activities’ monytocourage! identityandreligion.Inaway, theninepeople sorepoint forthe militaryand itsperception Pakistanis had averyambivalent viewonthe the West once had is diminishingbecause Manyyearsago,Ishotand injured agarden lizard represent nine Pakistans. Ihad to understand of itself.Now, we have seen thePashtunmove- Taliban, even when things were getting bad. these countries have other options. Another with an air-gun. When Iwenttodeliverthe coup de grâce, that theapparent contradictions of Pakistan ment that has erupted, that has the same But therewas apoint afterthe 2014 attack factor is theinternet. Governmentsare in- the air-gun jammed, leaving me feeling horrible. Having is the distinction between the public and pri- grievance as the Baloch. Religion does notbind on the armyschool in Peshawarthat the pub- creasingly sensitive to the reporting that we made itspoint,the lizard gracefullydied, ensuringI vate spheres. ForWesterners, alifewell-lived over this. ABaloch, aPashtun andaPunjabi lic wassooutraged that the militaryhad no do becausemoreoftheir peoplearereading us would neverpoint agun at anyliving creatureagain. is of maximum transparencytothe outside mightbefollowers of Islamandpray together excuse but to go afterthe Taliban. The Taliban in away theydidn’t before.And so, theyare world. But in the subcontinent, Iwould find, at amosque. But theycan have very different insurgency has been beaten backintoamar- beginning to treat theforeign press likeatrou- say, that my gayfriends were outtofriends, politics and very different ideas of what it ginalisedspace right now. But it doesn't mean blesome wing of the local press.

Kolkata THESUNDAY EXPRESS,NOVEMBER1,2020 RONALDORECOVERSFROMCORONAVIRUS Juventus and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has recovered from aCOVID- 19 infection, the Serie Aclub said on Friday. The35-year-old has missed one 14 Portugal matchand four Juventus games, including their Champions League clash SPORT with Barcelona,since he tested positive on October 13. REUTERS

BRIEFLY POINTSTABLE Aclass apart Team Matches Won Lost Pts NRR MI 13 9418 1.296 RCB 13 7614 -0.145 DC 13 7614 -0.159 With another dominant win againstDC, Mumbai showwhy theyare the team to beat SRH 13 6712 0.555 KXIP 13 6712 -0.133 RR 13 6712 -0.377 SYNOPSIS Suchhas been the confidence KKR 13 6712 -0.467 CSK 13 5810 -0.532 Kishan comes out swinging forMI reposedinKishan that the team afterBumrah, Boult breathe fire management elevatedhim to the HOWITLINES UP topofthe order in the absence of MI: Theyhad already qualifiedfor the WorldCupwinner playoffsbeforeSaturday’s match, and VISHALMENON injured captain Rohit Sharma. He by thrashing Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Rapinoe,WNBA OCTOBER31 has respondedwith scores of 68 Indians made sureofatop-twospotand twochances of making the IPL final. notout, 37,25and now72not out. RCB&DC: The winners of Monday’s champBirdengaged WITHANOTHERcomprehensive displayinall gamebetweenthesetwowillbeguaran- facets of the game, defending champions teed atop-twospotwhile the losers can TWO-TIME FOOTBALLWorld Cup win- Mumbai Indians demonstrated whythey’re Bumrah, Boult breathe fire even find themselvesout of the compe- nerMeganRapinoeand11-timeWNBA the mostcomplete team in this competition. Midway intothis tournament, it waspre- tition, depending on other results. All-StarSueBirdare gettinghitched.The Ledbytwo world-class pacers in Jasprit dicted that spinners would playamoredom- SRH: Theyneedtobeat table-toppers sports powercouple announcedtheir Bumrah and Trent Boult, and well comple- inant role as pitches in the UAEweregetting Mumbai to stay in the hunt. Theywould engagement with aphoto postedto mented by energetic fielders, theyrestricted abrasive and worn out. But Mumbai Indians also hope forKings XI Punjab to lose Bird’s Instagram account on Fridayand Delhi Capitals to apaltry110/9. Ishan Kishan have shownthat,irrespective of thesurfaceon againstChennai on Sunday, and the arepresentative forRapinoe confirmed then made shortworkofthe chase with his offer, apotent, well-roundedpace attackisal- matchbetween KolkataKnight Riders the news to Reuters, as congratulations belligerentstroke-play, knockingoffthetarget ways handy.Upagainstthe ragged Delhi and Rajasthan Royals to be aclose one. forthecouplepouredinacrosssocialme- with morethan five overs to spare. The win Capitals,BoultandBumrah-theirtwoelitefast dia. Four-time Olympic gold medalist putsMIfirmlyatthetopwith18 points.Onthe bowlers -pickedthree wicketsapiece to re- ●LIVE Bird,40,wonherfourthWNBAtitlewith otherhand,Delhistillholdonto thethirdspot, strict Delhi to agrosslyinadequate110/9. SUNDAY: CSK vs KXIP 3:30pm the Storm earlier this month, bouncing but have droppedbelowKXIP in terms of the Boult has been quitearevelation for KKR vs RR 7:30pm back aftermissing all of the 2019 season netrun rate.This listless performance -a9- Mumbaiinthisedition,prisingout12 of his20 due to aknee injury.”Rapinoe, who wicket drubbing -has nowmade it four con- scalps in the Powerplay. It’s notthathe has got MONDAY: DC vs RCB7:30pm claimedthe Ballon d’Or in 2019 aftera secutive losses forShreyas Iyer’s team. prodigious movement with the newball. But TUESDAY: SRH vs MI 7:30pm career-defining year in whichshe won hehascleverly usedtheangles,employingfull- Ishan Kishan’s unbeaten 72 includedeight fours and three sixes. BCCI/IPL on Hotstar&StarSports network her second WorldCup title, along with Kishan comes out swinging ishlengthswiththeoccasionalshortball.First- the Golden Bootand Golden Ball, wasa It won’t be astretch to statethat Kishan up,heremovedShikharDhawanforaduckby regular fixtureonthe sidelines during has been the sleeper hit of this IPL. In ateam inducingafiercecutshotoff agood-lengthde- the 2020 WNBAseason, whichtook populated with superstars, the youngster livery that wasgobbledupatpoint by SRH beat RCB, ensure race goes down to the wire place entirelyinside aquarantinedset- from Jharkhand has managed to hold his Suryakumar Yadav. Boult, then came up ting in Bradenton, Florida, due to the own. Right from his U-19days,hewas seen trumps in an intriguing duel againstPrithvi hadto curbtheirbig-hittinginstincts.Itwasnot intodeep point’s palms. With him evaporated coronavirus. REUTERS as adazzling stroke-playerwho could marry Shaw, conning him with ashortdelivery.The SYNOPSIS asurface wheretheycould swing their arms Bangalore’sbesthopesof atotalinexcessof 140 grace with power. 31-year-oldcamebackinthepenultimateover AfterSRH bowlers kill RCBbatsmen freely-evenifthe boundaries were on the and theysettledfor 120/8. Afteracouple of false starts,heisfinally of theinningstoremove RavichandranAshwin softly, Holder underlines his value shorterside -but one wheretheyhad to wait It could be arguedthat the slowsurface Panghal, Sanjeet delivering on the promise by adding consis- and finish with figures of 3/21. forthe perfect ball, the loosestofloose balls to handedadecisive advantagetoSunrisers, but strike gold in France tency to his attributes. Ever since a58-ball With the Kiwi wreaking havocinthe summon the big strokes. Bangalore’s bucca- theyutilisedthe conditions, bowling with pre- 99 againstRoyal Challengers Bangalore, Powerplay, Mumbai’s stand-in captain neeringopenerDevduttPadikkalattemptedan cision and cunning. Sharma swung, Jason WORLD SILVER-MEDALLISTAmit Kishan has been avital cog in the Mumbai Kieron Pollardbrought on Bumrah as lateas SANDIPG ambitious loftedstraight-drive offSandeep Holder purchasedextrabounce, TNatarajan Panghal (52kg) and Sanjeet(91kg) batting order.Suchhas been the confidence in the eighth over.The ploy-to exertthe OCTOBER31 Sharma,whowasnibblingtheballaround.Not skiddedtheball,RashidKhanspuntheballboth struckgold in their firstcompetition af- reposedinhim that the team management chokeonDelhi in the middle overs and at the at supersonic pace, but with sufficient move- ways,Shahbaz Nadeem judiciouslymixed his teracoronavirus-forcedbreak,claiming elevatedhim to the topofthe order in the death --- paid off. Bumrah got zip and appre- SURVIVINGAmid-matchstutter —evoking ment and accuracy.This ball bent fractionally arm ball with conventional away-spinners. the tophonours at the Alexis Vastine absence of injured captain Rohit Sharma. He ciable liftfromthe slowDubai pitch. Bowling nervousmemoriesof theircapitulationagainst inward afterpitchingandbeatPadikkal’sswipe. International Boxing Tournament in has respondedwith scores of 68 notout, 37, with alovelyseam presentation, the 26-year- KingsXIPunjab—SunrisersHyderabadearned It wasapitchonwhichdriving on the rise Holder underlines value Nantes, France. Amit, also an Asian 25 and now72not out. old honedinongood, old-fashionedTest afive-wicket victoryoverRoyal Challengers wasasfatal as jumping in front of an express Besides grabbing twowicketsinthe 19th Games champion besides being The target of 111 wasnot going to be matchlengths, whichresulted in the wickets Bangalorewhile chasing alow total to live an- train. Kohli could notresist, scooping the on- over,those of Chris Morris and Isuru Udana, Commonwealth Games silver-medal- muchofachallenge. But the slowpitchwas of Marcus Stoinis and Rishabh Pant. other dayinthe league. the-rise drive to aswooping Kane Williamson. JasonHolderrattledaprecious26off10ballsto list, defeated American Rene Abraham posingsome questions to Kishan and open- SuchwasBumrah’scontrolthatforthebet- It wasastrip whereABdeVilliers could notbe take Surnisers home. When Kane Williamson 3-0 on Friday. Sanjeet, aformer India ing partner Quinton de Kock.However, it did- terpartofhisspell,hehardlygavetheimpres- Killing RCBsoftly Mr 360. Maybe, Mr 180. Even this avatar of de departedinthe 13th over,animplosion lurked Open gold-medallist, got past n’t take the 22-year-old muchtime to getinto sionthatanIPLmatchwasinprogress.Searing Swing with the newball, spin later on and Villiers would suffice, and he seemedthe only —onlytwo gamesagotheyhadimplodedwhile Frenchman Soheb Bouafia in his sum- the groove.Amajestic straight drive,followed pace, testing lengths, slips in place, wickets slowness throughout —itwas an antithesis of batsman who seemedtocoax the pitchinto chasingameagretarget.ButHolderallayedthe mit clash and secureagold. In the 75kg by twoemphatic pull shots,againstthe pacy falling in aflurry.Bumrah’s 3/17took his tour- aT20 wicket.Itmade forslow-burning but in- submission. He pulledRashid Khan through fears with abrace of sixes, and wrappedupthe category, Asian silver-winner Ashish AnrichNortje got him going. Therewas no nament tallyto23wickets, at par with Kagiso triguing cricket —batsmen trying to figureout deep midwicket,beforethumping Shahbaz matchwith another. Kumar also claimedagold afterhis op- looking backfromthat point. Kishan raced Rabada. boundary-scoringoutletsandbowlersstriving Nadeem over long-on, an embodiment of the BRIEF SCORES: RCB120/7 (Phillipe 32, de ponent,AmericanJosephGeromeHiks, to his fiftyin37deliveries, and launched BRIEF SCORES: DC 110/9 (Iyer 25; Bumrah to find the perfect length and methods. Aday timinghecouldgenerateevenonthissnail-like Villiers24;SandeepSharma2/20,Holder2/27) gave himawalkoverdueto injury. Asian Nortje over the square-leg boundaryfor asix 3/17, Boult3/21)losttoMI111/1(Kishan72 not when the usual T20 manual had to be torn surface. Shortlythough, the giftoftiming un- losttoSRH 121/5 (Saha 39, Pandey26, Holder silver-medallistKavinder Singh Bisht to seal the matchfor Mumbai in 14.2 overs. out) by 9wickets. apart.Everyonewasforcedtoadapt—batsmen didhim,asheferriedadelicious slap straight 26; Chahal 2/9) by 5wickets (57kg) losthis final to local Samuel Kistohurry in asplit 2-1 verdict. PTI Halep tests positive for COVID-19; Thiem to skip Paris Masters Bottas bags Imola Hazardscoresfirstgoal pole, Hamilton 2nd for Realinoverayear out of next week’s Paris Masters afterstrug- sets by Lorenzo Sonegoand Andrey Rublev REUTERS gling with blisters in his foot during the respectively. EDEN HAZARD scored his firstgoal for OCTOBER31 Vienna Open. Djokovic, who had a39-2 recordthis year, Imola: VALTTERI BOTTAS took pole position Real Madrid in over ayear and Karim U.S. Open champion Thiem complained failedtoconvert asingle break point in a6-2 forthe Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola Benzema strucktwice as the Spanish WORLD NUMBER twoSimona Halep tested of the problem afterhis title defence in 6-1losswhileSonegobroke theSerbfive times on Saturdaywith Mercedes team mateand championscoastedtoa4-1winathome positive forthe novelcoronavirus and is re- Vienna endedinthe quarter-finals on Friday. forthe biggestwin of his career.Sonego’s first Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton lament- to HuescainLaLigaonSaturday. Making covering well from her mild symptoms. Thiem would have had little time to re- top-10victorycappedadream week forthe ing apoor lap and qualifying second. his firststart of the campaign afterper- “Hi everyone, Iwanted to letyou know coverasthe final ATPMasters 1000event of 25-year-old,wholostthefinalqualifierbuten- RedBull’s Max Verstappen wasthird sistent injuryproblems, Hazardbroke that Itestedpositive forCOVID-19,” the 29- the year starts on Monday. teredthe main draw as alucky loser. fastest, afterapowerunit scareinthe second the deadlockinthe 40th minutewith a year-old Romanian said on Twitter on He is expected to use the break to get “For sureit’s the best victoryofmylife,” phasesentmechanicsscramblingto fixhiscar, thunderousstrikefromoutsidethearea, Saturday. “I am self-isolating at home and some rest before travelling to London forthe Sonegosaidinanon-courtinterview. “Iplayed with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gaslyastand-out scoring onlyhis second goal forMadrid am recovering well from mild symptoms. season-ending ATPFinals, whichtakes place so, so good today. Ilikethis tournament, Ilike fourth on the grid. Mercedes needonlya since his 2019 move from Chelsea fora “I feel good ... we will getthrough this to- WorldNo. 2Halep is in self-isolation. File from Nov. 15-22. the conditions here. It’s unbelievable.” fourth-placefinishinSunday’srace,andmaybe joint-club recordfee of 100million eu- gether.” The former worldnumber one did Defending champion Djokovic optedout Djokovic said knowing that he had al- noteventhat, to securearecordseventh suc- ros. Zinedine Zidane’s side soon ex- nottraveltoNew York forthis year’s U.S. of the Paristournamentashewillnotloseany ready secured the year-end number one spot cessive constructors’ worldchampionship. tendedtheir lead in addedtime of the Open Grand Slam due to health concerns The Women’s WTATour has atourna- ranking pointsunder the ATPTour’s revised in the rankings affected his performance and The pole, with atime of one minute firsthalf when Karim Benzema chested over the pandemic. ment scheduledinAustria from Nov. 9but system this year due to the COVID-19pan- the 33-year-old is already looking forward 13.609 seconds, wasa13th in 13 races forthe down across from Lucas Vazquez and Halep, who wonthe FrenchOpen in 2018 Halep had said her 2020 season wasoverfol- demic. Rafael Nadal will bethe topseedatthe to the season-ending ATPFinals. champions and fourth forBottasin2020. firedinsidethefarpost.FedericoValverde and is the reigning Wimbledon champion, lowing her FrenchOpen defeat. Paris Masters while Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas “I’vedone what Ineededtodoand whyI Sunday’s race will be the firstgrand prix furtherstretchedtheirleadinthesecond made the trip to Paris forthe claycourtGrand willbeseededsecondwithsevenofthetop10 came here. Imoveoncompletely fine with at Imola since 2006,with the trackreturn- half before David Ferreiropulledagoal Slam but went down to eventual champion Thiem to skip Paris Masters men’s playerattending the tournament. today’s result and looking to the next chap- ing to flesh out acalendar ravagedbythe backfor Huesca. REUTERS IgaSwiatek in the fourth round at Roland Vienna: Austrian Dominic Thiem has joined Earlier at the Vienna Open, both topseeds ter,”Djokovic said. “I’m healthyand looking COVID-19pandemic, and the thirdinItaly Garrosthis month. worldnumber one NovakDjokovic in pulling Djokovic and Thiem were beaten in straight forwardtoastrong finish in London.” this season. REUTERS Wolves beat Palace to go third; WhyEPL is besetbyarash of muscle injuries? City, Chelsea close in with wins Topmanagers areupinarms over being denied use of five substitutions instead of three, leading to players’ bodies breaking down

On Friday, Liverpool manager Jurgen attempting to complete their disrupted WHAT’S THE ARGUMENT MADE BY REUTERS Therewas another boostfor City Klopp joinedManchesterUnited's Ole season, theyintroducedfivesubstitutions OTHER EPLCLUBS? LONDON,OCTOBER31 afterthe game as PepGuardiola Gunnar Solskjaer and ManchesterCity's instedofthree. In the Premier League's Forthe 11 EPL clubs that voted against PepGuardiola in bemoaning the EPL’s Annual General Meeting startofnew five subs, the motive is clear.Bynot RAYANAIT-NOURI markedhis Wolvesde- ruledout areturn to Barcelona substitutions being limited to 3instead of season,the original three-substitution allowing ateam likeManchesterCity but with agoal as the Midlands club beat despiteinterestfrompresidential the Covid-19-enforced5.With onlyone rule wasratified–with the ‘Big Six’ and with alargersquad to adequately CrystalPalace 2-0 at Molineux on Fridayto candidates at the Catalan giants senior centre-backinJoe Gomez available LeicesterCity voting in favour of five compete,they’veattempted to levelthe move up intothirdplace in the Premier to play, Klopp blamedPremier League substitutions along with twoother clubs, playing field. It will forcethe big clubs to League. Victoryput Wolveslevel on points to bring the club's most chief executive RichardMasters fornot falling shortof2/3rdmajority needed. prioritise when and wheretoplaytheir with the leading Merseyside duo of Everton successful ever coachback. having ‘sold’ the idea of five-substitutions best players. If Liverpool falter at afew of and reigning champions Liverpool ahead of better to other clubs. “None of the top WHY DO THE TOP6CLUBS WANT their early Champions League group the bulk of this weekend's fixtures. sevenclubs asked forany (unfair) THE RULE BACK? games, suddenlytheywill be forced to Ait-Nouri, the onychangefromthe PepGuardiola's side at their best,asfor the advantage. We justknewthat it would be There's a42% increase in muscle injuries playtheir best teams in the latter group Wolvesside that drew 1-1 with Newcastle thirdconsecutive leaguegametheywereheld incrediblydifficult because of our across the clubs. According to stagematches, as opposedtogiving lasttime out, neededjust18minutes to put to asolitarygoal.ButKyleWalker'slong-range schedule. To have the best games at the PremierInjuries.com, EPL clubs have lost players abreak.Itforces clubs to take the hosts in front when his first-time shot strikeagainsthisformerclubwasgoodenough weekend in the Premier League, it would out on £23,069,052 justinOctober European competitions seriouslyand found the bottom corner. to earn a1-0 win at goal-shySheffield United. have helpedthat as well. Ithink we should because of injuries. There's 99 injuries in ensurethat qualification to the next His goal came soon afterPalace's Michy Afourth win in five games in all compe- think about it again,” said Klopp. Both October alone. The Big Six risk alot more stageiscompletedasquicklyaspossible. Batshuayi had an effort disallowedfor offside. tition edgesCity up to eighth but within two ManchesterCity strikers Sergio Aguero than the rest of the clubs simplybecause The EPL also does nothaveawinter Daniel Podence doubledWolves' lead in the pointsofjoint-leaders Everton, Liverpool and and Jesus have thigh injuries. Earlier,City’s of their participation in European ManchesterCity’s Kevin De Bruyne was break,likethe Bundesliga. This further 27th minutewhen he turnedinPedro Neto's Wolvesinaconcertinaedtable. playmaker Kevin De Bruyne wassidelined competitions. With games bunchedup sidelinedfor twoweeksinOctober. File increases the chances of clubs being cross from close range. Palace's defeat was And therewas another boostfor City af- by amuscle injuryfor twoweeks. Arsenal together,these clubs arenow facing the overloadedand their players suffering madeworsewhenwhenLukaMilivojevicwas terthe game as PepGuardiola ruledout are- is hamstrung with RobHolding and David brunt of apackedschedule. To add to from further muscle injuries. sent offlateonfollowing aVAR reviewofhis turn to Barcelona despiteinterestfrompres- Luiz having thigh injuries as well. this, amajor deterrent formuscle season. “Almost50% moremuscular challengeonWolvessubstituteJoaoMoutinho. idential candidates at the Catalan giantsto injuries intothe season is astrong pre- injuries than lastseason. Why? Because WHATABOUT OTHER LEAGUES? ManchesterCity and Chelsea movedto- bring the club's mostsuccessful ever coach WHATISTHE NEW SUBSTITUTION season. But Premier League clubs, the players playand look to recoverfrom In Italy, Germanyand Spain the five-sub- wardstouching distance of the Premier backtothe CampNou. RULE? especiallythe Big Six, were still the previous game but mostofthem are stitution rule is commonplace nowafter League summit on SaturdayasSheffield RESULTS It isn’t exactlyanew substitution rule, but participating in lastseason’s European still recovering from the previous season FIFAsanctionedassociations to changethe United and Burnleyremainedwinless at the Wolves 2-0 CrystalPalace reverting to the old one. While the competitions and had onlytwo weeks so whyshould we notdoit? No sense, no three-substitution rule to five substitutes other end of the table. Sheffield Utd 0-1 ManchesterCity pandemic persists still. When the EPL was before theyhad to assemble forthe new sense," Guardiola said. till August2021. SHASHANKNAIR Cityhave yettohitthefree-scoringformof Burnley0-3 Chelsea

R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789 VOL.XVI No.31 Printed by V.Srinivasan and PublishedbyV.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited and Printed at Saraswati Print FactoryPvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga(West), Kolkata-700105and PublishedatThe Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 &30, N.H.-6, Mouza - Prasastha &Ankurhati, P.O. -Salap, P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711 409. Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033) 66043825 &66043847.Chairman of the Board:ViveckGoenka, Chief Editor :Raj Kamal Jha, Editor :Unni Rajen Shanker,Editor (Kolkata): Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsible forselection of news under the PRB Act)Copyright :The Indian Express (P) Limited.All rightsreserved.Reproduction in anymanner,electronic or otherwise,in whole or in part,without prior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express(R)

Kolkata