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THE EDITORIAL PAGE INTERROGATION BY ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE WARAGAINSTTHE VIRUS Statement of key accused BY RAJIB DASGUPTA PAGE 6 mentions Kamal Nath’s Bail pleas of son, Khurshid, Patel, journalist, another: SC web of offshore firms says why Kamal Nath says son (Bakul Nath) NRI, no records to show not go to HC links; Khurshid says no connection with anyofthe accused

APURVAVISHWANATH NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 AGUSTA OBSERVINGTHATitis“trying to WESTLAND DEAL discourage” individuals from fil- ing petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution —whichgrants GRIEF individuals the right to approach the topcourtseeking enforce- Familymembers at the funeral of 20-year-old jawanRushikesh Jondhale, who waskilledinfiring from across the Line of Control at ment of fundamental rights—a Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, at Bahirewadi villageinKolhapur on Monday. PTI Supreme Courtbenchheadedby Chief Justice of India SABobde sought responses from the CONFESSIONS RajivSaxena told ED about the weboftransactions between Centreand the Uttar Pradesh PM ASSURES ‘ALL POSSIBLE HELP’ TO BIHAR his firm and that of Christian Michel (left) with entities government in aplea seeking the OFKEYACCUSED ownedbyKamal Nath’s nephewRatul Puri (right) release of Kerala-basedjournal- PART1 istSiddique Kappan. “Whycan’t yougotothe high Nitishswornin,BJPpickstwo extradited from Dubai in January These showseveral alleged court?” the benchremarked RITUSARIN 2019 and wasinterrogatedby hawala transactions and acom- while hearing aplea filedbythe NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 the Enforcement Directorate, plexweb of offshorestructures Kerala Union of Working whichattachedhis assets worth that Saxena admitted to setting Journalists challenging the jour- NOT JUSTformer Madhya Rs 385crore.The ED is nowbe- up forthe co-accused. nalist's arrest. DyCMsinNDAsocialbalancing Pradesh Chief MinisterKamal fore the Supreme Courtinabid The crux of Saxena’s state- The same benchreferreda Nath’s nephewRatul Puri but his to divest Saxena of his approver ment details howalleged kick- similar case invoking Article 32 son Bakul Nath, too, along with status forallegedly notfullydis- backs of the Augusta Westland —whichinvolvedSameet 15 ministers take oath: 7BJP,6JD(U), 1eachVIP,HAM; BJP gets Speaker post Congress leaders Salman closing the factsofthe case. deal —itwas cancelledbythe Thakkar,aNagpur resident who Khurshid and AhmedPatel, finds Saxena’s statement,running CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 had challenged the multiple FIRs Morcha(Secular). mention in the interrogation intoover1,000pages (including againsthim foralleged deroga- SANTOSHSINGH Union Home MinisterAmit statementsofRajiv Saxena, char- supporting documents) wasac- tory tweets againstMaharashtra PATNA,NOVEMBER16 Shah and BJP national president teredaccountant and keyac- cessedbyThe Indian Express TOMORROW: CM UddhavThackeray and his JPNadda were among those cusedinthe Rs 3,000-crore along with copies of banking HOW KICKBACKS ministers —tothe high court, ob- NITISH KUMAR took oath as who attendedthe ceremony. Augusta Westland VVIP chopper statements, records of offshore FLOWED INTO INDIAN serving that “evenhigh courts Bihar Chief Ministerfor the sev- Congratulating Nitish, Prime deal case. companies, and email corre- INVESTMENTS can uphold fundamental rights”. enth time on Mondaywith two MinisterNarendraModi Saxena, currentlyonbail, was spondence between keyplayers. Kappan, 41,and three others Deputy Chief Ministers from the tweeted: “The NDAfamilywill were arrested while on their BJP —four-time Katihar MLA work together forthe progress of waytoHathras to reportanal- TarkishorePrasad and four-time Bihar.Iassureall possible sup- Moderna says leged incident of gangrape and Bettiah MLARenu Devi. portfromthe Centrefor the wel- Study on benefits, murder.UPPolice have alleged Atotal of 15 ministers were fare of Bihar.” that Kappan, 41,and twomem- administeredthe oath of office The BJP's former deputy chief vaccine 95% bers of the Campus Front of by Bihar Governor Phagu minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, costs helped govt India (CFI) were partofa“con- Chauhan —seven from the BJP, who has been droppedthis time, effective; may spiracy” to inflame religious en- including TarkishorePrasad and maybeaccommodated at the mity over the Hathras rape, and Renu Devi; six from the JD(U), in- Centrce, but thereisnoofficial firm up RCEP stand be promising booked them on various cluding Nitish; and one each Nitish with deputy CMs TarkishorePrasad and Renu Devi, word yet. Sushil Modi firstbe- charges, including under the from the Vikassheel Insaan Party afterswearing-in, in Patna Monday. PTI MOREREPORTS,P8 came Deputy Chief Ministerin option in India stringent UAPA and sedition. (VIP) and Hindustani Awam CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Deal inked on Sunday, RCEP members Senior advocateKapil Sibal, representing the journalists' keep the door open forIndia to return PRABHARAGHAVAN union, arguedthat the Supreme NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 Courthas intervenedinsimilar BUSINESSASUSUAL BJP’s challenge: Wider RJD base, cases in the pastwhereArticle PRABHARAGHAVAN THE AMERICAN biotechnology 32 had been invoked. BY UNNY &ANILSASI companyModerna announced “Weare awareofour powers Left revival, its own new faces NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 on Mondaythat early resultsof under Article 32,” CJI Bobde ob- itslarge ongoing late-stage trials served,issuing the notices and thenew government Monday Modi’s ejection from statepoli- AN INTERNAL assessment of of avaccine candidateagainst listing the case forhearing on RAVISHTIWARI underlinedhow the party is tics underlinedthis signal. India’s bilateral free trade agree- the novelcoronavirus had November 20. NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 bracing forwhat it sees as the The party maybeputting up mentswith nine countries, in- showedanefficacy of 94.5 per On November 11,while grant- challenges of its2020 mandate. abrave face citing itswin in 74 cluding five signatories of the cent —anoutcome that sur- ing interim bail to Republic TVed- IN TERMS of powerpolitics, re- The choice of two—not one seatsbut sources note that this Regional Comprehensive Zhong Shan, Li Keqiang of passedthe expectations of re- itor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, the taining the government in Bihar —Deputy Chief Ministers, isn’t itsbestperformance in al- Economic Partnership (RCEP), China at avirtual RCEP event searchers. Supreme Courthad asked every is an achievement the BJP has TarkishorePrasad and Renu Devi, liance with the JD(U). It had won playedapivotal role in the gov- in Hanoi, Monday. Reuters The Moderna resultsoffer high courttoexercise itsjurisdic- been talking up since the results reflectshow the BJP is address- 91 Assemblyseats(of 102itcon- ernment firming itsposition strong hope that vaccines that tion“to protect liberty… the ulti- came in. But the shuffling in its ing the churn from the word go. tested)in2010inalliance with againstjoining the megatrade Looming would defeat the deadlyvirus matereason forour existence as rankswith the swearing-in of Indeed,former Deputy CM Sushil CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 pact. The assessment showeda that had until Mondaysickened constitutional courts”. “moderateutilisation rate”of shadowof over 54.5 million and killedmore CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Free Trade Agreements(FTAs) China than 1.3million people world- overafive-year period, and a wide were finallywithin sight — trade deficit forIndia in most even though theyare unlikelyto cases, save in regard to SAARC NEW DELHI has cited be widelyavailable foratleast Govt incentives across sectors Alagiri set for own outfit, nations, TheIndianExpress concerns relating to severalmoremonths. has learnt. countries using tariff, as Lastweek,Pfizer-BioNTech may join BJP-led alliance While the remaining RCEP well as inability to im- andthe Russian makers of the but bitter reality check for sugar members went ahead and inked plement auto-trigger Sputnik Vvaccine announced Sources in the stateBJP and adealonSunday—alittle over a safeguards fordomestic that their candidates had been The NarendraModi govern- SUGAR EXPORTS ARUNJANARDHANAN the Alagiri campconfirmed year afterPrime Minister industries, to argue that found to be over 90 per cent ef- HARISHDAMODARAN ment had, lastyear,providedan CHENNAI,NOVEMBER16 therehas been significant NarendraModi announcedIndia RCEP does notaddress fective in preliminaryresultsof NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 incentive of Rs 10,448 per tonne 60 — Quantity progress in the alliance talks. If waswalking out of negotiations itsissues. Steps by India phase 3human trials. 50 (inlakhtonnes) formillsto exportsugarduringthe 56.5 AFTER GETTINGactor-turned- everything goes as per the BJP's citing “significant outstanding is- targeting Chinese in- While Moderna does notyet 40 26 38 EVEN AS the Centrehas an- 2019-20 season (October- 30 27.82 politician Khushbu intoits fold, plan, Alagiri is likelytolauncha sues” —the bloc has made it vestmentscould also have an arrangement to supplyits nouncedproduction-linked in- September). That “lumpsum as- 20 the stateunit of the BJP is work- newpolitical outfit in Madurai clear that the door forIndia to re- run foul of RCEP if it vaccine in India —where8.8 mil- centivesworth some Rs 2lakh sistance” —towards expenses on ing towardsgetting the support on November 20 and meetAmit turn to the negotiating table will were to join the pact. lion have been infected with the 10 0.46 6.32 crorefor ahostofsectors to boost marketing,internaltransport,port 0 of another prominent face, MK Shah the following day, when remain open. coronavirus and 1,30,000 have manufacturing investments, the handlingandoceanfreight—was Alagiri, the elder son of late the Union Home Ministeris However, India’s escalating diedsofar —vaccine experts said sugar industryiscomplaining of notifiedbythe Department of MKarunanidhi and brother of scheduledtovisit Chennai. “It is political tensions with China INDIA DEFENDS on Mondayevening that it could 2011-12 2010-11 2016-17 2017-18 2012-13 2015-16 2018-19 2014-15 2013-14 STAND hugenon-paymentsagainst Food and Public Distribution on 2019-20 DMK president MKStalin, ahead likelytobeaone-on-one meet- over the lastyear areseen as hav- potentiallyhaveanedge schemes notifiedmorethan a September 12,2019. Responding to theincentive of the 2021Assemblypolls in ing,” asenior BJP leader said. ing pushedupthe entrybarrier PAGE 8 over Pfizer’s mRNAcandidate scheme, exports surged in 2019-20 year ago. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Tamil Nadu. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

WORLD PAGE 1 ANCHOR Will Walker finallystayput?Answerkey to tiger roadmap

another is the solution to accom- “Dnyangangaislikeanisland. ity before letting Walker’s tribe is supposedtobeabreeding sea- VIVEKDESHPANDE modatethe country’s growing Unless it has some connectivity grow,” says Kakodkar. son,” says Kakodkar. NAGPUR,NOVEMBER16 tiger population. to other tiger-bearing areas like Officials point to twoforest Officials sayWalker’s next Fornow,officials say, Walker Melghat in Amravati district and stretches that can provide a step is acrucial test to create TRUMP DROPS KEY IN MARCH,aradio-collared tiger “seems to be doing justfine”, Muktai Bhavani in Jalgaon dis- largerareafor atiger population space foragrowing population. PART OF LAWSUIT in Indiagrabbed global attention killing wild boars and blue bulls trict, it makes little sense to facil- to move about:the 74-sq km From 2,226 in 2014,India's tiger PAGE 10 by traversing acircuitous forest inside the 205-sq-km itatethe growth of Walker’s Katepurna SanctuaryinAkola numbers grew 33 per cent to routefromYavatmal in Dnyangangasanctuary. But progenyinDnyanganga. Where and the 18-sq km Karanja Sohol 2,967in2019, according to Maharashtrathrough Telangana givenits solitarylife, theysay,it do theygoand howdoween- SanctuaryinWashim. the all-India tiger census carried INSIDE before re-entering the statetofi- will soon be time to find amate. suretheir genetic plurality?” “But Katepurna is adegraded, out by the WildlifeInstituteof nallysettle down in Buldana — Already,agovernment com- says Nitin Kakodkar,Principal thornyforest, and Karanja Sohol India (WII). GUPKAR ALLIANCE: an estimated distance of 3,000 mittee headedbySrinivasReddy, Chief Conservator of Forest agrassland.Theywon’t be ideal “For atiger,the toppriorities BJPATTACKSCONG km coveredinnine months. the field director of Melghat (Wildlife), Maharashtra. fortigers. Ithought Walker arehaving itsown space and suf- PAGE 8 Theycalledhim Walker. TigerReservewho also super- Dnyanganga, he reiterates, might walk in the direction of ficient food. Walker became sta- Today, Walker,now over vises Dnyanganga, has recom- needs to be developedintoareg- MelghatorMuktaiBhavani in ble onlyafter getting space and I&B’SNOTICETO three years old, is at the centreof mendedthat afemale tiger be ular tiger-sustaining area by de- search of afemale since that area food. Providing afemale is the ONLINEFIRMSONFDI aconservation challengetofind translocated.But experts warn veloping corridors to connect does have some tigers. But it has easy option —wecan do that — PAGE 5 whether establishing corridors that “the challengeismuchbig- with other suchlocations. “We Walker snappedonatrapcamera. Courtesy MaharashtraForestDept so farnot gone that side. Ihope but forlong-term conservation, from one “island-likeforest” to gerthan that”. needtofirstfacilitateconnectiv- it goes therethis winter,which CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020

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BJP challenge “Mills respondedposi- and Malaysia —and is negoti- seeking enforcement of other tively to the scheme. Exports ating agreementswith some fundamental rightsrecog- JD(U). That it has become the were made at paper-thin of the RCEP members suchas nisedbythe Constitution. senior partnerinthe alliance margins, even afterfactoring Thailand, Australia and New Nitish sworn in, BJP picks two dy CMs Similar powers to enforce has little morethansymbolic in the incentive (of Rs 10,448 Zealand —the costofopting fundamental rightsare also value. per tonne). Notreceiving le- out of the deal is being seen as 2005, when Nitish came to resentation to the upper caste per caste.Ramsurat Rai, OBC Manjhi's son and MLCSantosh conferredonhigh courts un- Partyleaders, however, gitimate dues forshipments notoutweighing the benefits power, and retainedthe post (Vijay Kumar Choudhary), leader from Muzaffarpur,and Kumar Suman took oath. Both der Article 226 of the add that comparing 2010 undertakenmanymonths of keeping China at bay. since then -- exceptwhen Jitan ExtremelyBackwardClass Rampreet Paswan, Scheduled theVIPandHAMwonfourseats Constitution. with 2020 is unfair.For,2020 backcan be very frustrating. Officials also pointed to RamManjhiwasChief Minister (Sheela Kumari), Scheduled Caste MLAfromRajnagar in each. The twoprovisions arenot wasoverwhelmedbyCovid- In manycases, the intereston work that is underwaytoacti- between 2014 and 2015,and Caste (Ashok Kumar Mithilanchal belt, arethe other Meanwhile, the Opposition mutuallyexclusive and allow 19 and itsimpact on the bank loans due to the non-re- vate the trilateral Supply when the JD(U) waswith the Choudhary), and Other twoBJP ministers. Mahagatbandhan alliance boy- acitizen to either approach state's migrant workers. That ceiptofincentive payment Chain Resilience Initiative RJD in 2015-2017. BackwardClass (Mewalal While former ministerand cotted the oath-taking cere- the high courtthat has juris- the Opposition fell shortde- has wipedout even the mar- (SCRI) with Japan and Besides Nitish, the other ChoudharyandBijendraPrasad seven-time Patna Saheb MLA mony, with stateRJD president diction over the case or the spiteathree-term anti-in- gins from exports,” said Australia that aims to increase JD(U) ministers are: veteran Yadav).VijayKumarChoudhary NandKishoreYadavdidnottake Jagdanand Singh calling it “loot Supreme Court. cumbency clubbed with Prakash Naiknavare,manag- collaboration and cut the de- party leader BijendraPrasad and Ashok Kumar Choudhary oath on Monday, he is tippedto of the mandate”. The RJD In the past, the Supreme Covid onlyshows the support ing director,National pendency on Chinese inputs. Yadav, former Assembly areknown to be close to Nitish. be the AssemblySpeaker –a emergedasthe single largest Courthas transferredcases to forthe NDA, said BJP leaders. Federation of Cooperative Also, thereisagrowing view Speaker VijayKumar The BJP,whichincreasedits postheld by the JD(U) so far. party with 75 seats. itself from the high courts. Deep down, however, the Sugar Factories Ltd. that it would serveIndia's in- Choudhary, the party's state tallyfrom53seatsto74inthe PremKumar,anothersenior In atweet,RJD leader Mostrecently, the party is awareofthe chal- The exportincentive terest to invest strongly in ne- working president Ashok 243-memberAssembly, hasfol- party leader notincludedinto- Tejashwi Yadavcongratulated Supreme Courttransferred lenges. scheme wasdesignedkeep- gotiating bilateral agreements Kumar Choudhary, Tarapur lowedthe Uttar Pradesh for- day'slistofministers,maybeac- Nitishforbeing“nominated”as the case involving land use for Indeed, the fact that RJD- ing in viewthe all-time-high with the United States and the MLAand former Vice mula with twoDeputy Chief commodated later. the Chief Minister. “I hope he the national capital’s Central ledalliance secured an almost sugar stocks of 143.33ltwith European Union. ChancellorofSabour Ministers. VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, makes his priority positive is- Vistaproject to itself from the similar voteshareisared flag. mills at the startofthe 2019- However, it has been con- AgricultureUniversityMewalal WhileTarkishorePrasadand who lostbyanarrowmargin sues suchasaspirations of the Delhi High Court. Incidentally, BJP leaders admit that this 20 season, equivalent to over veyedtoothersignatories of Choudhary, and first-time MLA Renu Devi belong to the OBC from Simri Bakhtiyarpur,also people of Bihar,the NDA's the petitioners had notsought signals howthe RJD alliance 6.5 months of domestic con- RCEP that ‘Act East’ wasthe from Phulparas Sheela Kumari. and EBC respectively,former tookoathonMonday. Asprom- promise of 19 lakh jobs -- em- suchatransfer.In2018, the SC has managed a“wider sup- sumption. bedrockofIndia’s economic The JD(U), whichisdown Bihar Health MinisterMangal isedbytheBJPearlier,hewillbe ployment, education, health, had transferredthe case seek- portgroup” than theyenvis- Exporting wasexpected to policy,and that itsengage- from 71 seatsto43, has kept so- Pandey, AraMLA Amrendra sent to the Upper House in the livelihood,irrigationandjustice ing probeintothe death of aged.Non-YadavHindu vot- improvethe liquidity position ment with ASEAN countries cial engineering in mind in its Pratap Singh and Jale MLA state. From the HAM, former -- rather than his ambition for judgeBHLoyafromthe ers have also indicated that of mills, enabling them to and other trading partners choice of ministers, giving rep- JiweshKumarrepresenttheup- Chief MinisterJitan Ram the chair,” he tweeted. BombayHigh Courttoitself. the BJP-JD(U) can't take them clear the cane dues of farm- would continue, an official in- When suchtransfers are forgranted. ers. Exports did happen; volvedinthe exercise told The made, the petitioners lose a "This is something the opening stocks forthe current Indian Express. Statement of key accused mentions Kamal Nath’s stageofappeal that would party needs to be attentive season from October,too, fell Thegovernment’s assess- otherwise have been avail- to,” said asenior leader who to around 110.5 lt. ment of various bilateral trade son, Khurshid, Patel, web of offshore firms able. is partofstate coregroup “Government depart- agreementshas revealedthat On Monday, the CJI re- meetings. "Aftersuchaper- ments, especiallyfood, ship- the growth in trade (CAGR) UPAIIgovernment –flowed pany. Thereare no documents fusedtohear Thakkar's case formance by the RJD, it would ping and home affairs, were with partners over the last through twocompanies, THEINDIANEXPRESSCONTACTEDLAWYERSFOR or bank accounts whichprove even as the counsel forthe be erroneous to assume that mosthelpful. Theyensured five financial years wasa Saxena’s Interstellar RAJIVSAXENA,SUSHENMOHANGUPTA: aconnection to him. Anyone Maharashtragovernment non-Yadavand the poor that the trucks containing modest7.1 per cent. The study Technologies and Global can open an offshoreaccount said the statewould notob- Hindu voters will notally sugar from the mills moved covers pactssignedwith Sri Services ownedbyChristian and put aname of someone as ject to granting of bail as the with the RJD," said the leader. without anyroadblocks (dur- Lanka, Afghanistan, Thailand, Michel who wasextradited to GEETALUTHRA, him to respond directly.” Beneficial Owner and noteven investigation wascomplete in That the RJD polleda ing the lockdown) and were Singapore, Japan, Bhutan, India in December 2018 and re- SAXENA’S LAWYER: inform him. He maynot even the case. higher voteshare(over 23%) shippedout from the ports,” Nepal, Republic of Koreaand mains in jail. Ihavenot repre- RAJAT MANCHANDA, knowabout it.” Senior advocateMahesh compared to 2010 (19%) when acknowledgedNaiknavare. Malaysia. These payoffs, Saxena told sented RajivSaxena SAXENA’S CURRENT When contacted,Khurshid Jethmalani arguedthat his it had contestedmoreseats But the non-payment of The onlyexceptions to ED, "were(also) forthe benefit since mid 2019...I am un- LAWYER: said: “I am surprisedthat my client Thakker had been ar- also shows itswidening pop- incentive hasn’t helped. Mills these findings include sectors of political leaders and bureau- awareofthe material, if Iormyclient do not name has croppedupaspartof rested despitethe fact that all ular support. todayare facedwith aserious suchasironand steel forthe cratswho were in aposition of any, submitted/tobesub- want to comment the Augusta Westland investi- chargedagainsthim in the FIR Givenhow Nitish Kumar crisis of liquidity,evenas India-Korea Comprehensive influencing the decision at that mitted by him to the on the matter.” gations. DevMohan Gupta,the were bailable offences. “If wasshrunk,the BJP decided mostofthem getready to Economic Partnership point of time. Some of these Enforcement Directorate father of Sushen Mohan Gupta your lordships arenot to step in early to appeal to crush cane forthe newseason Agreement (CEPA) and India- funds were once again, directly or before anyother forum NIRVIKAR SINGH, is aclose familyfriend and Iam shockedbythis, nothing will what is considered Nitish's postDiwali. Japan CEPA; plastics in the or indirectly, through structured or authority.Besides, all LAWYER FORGUPTA: his well wisher.Besides know- shockyou,” he argued. contribution to the alliance: But it isn’t exportincentive case of the India-Singapore transactions, and some of the communication with Mr The matter is ing him well, Idonot knowor “Wesee suchmatters women and EBC electoral alone. The Modi government Comprehensive Economic structures setupbyme, were Saxena is protected by at- sub judice and have anyconnection with other everyday.Weare immune to support. It’s with this in mind had on July31lastyear noti- Cooperation Agreement;and routed intoinvestmentsin torney-client privilege respectfullymyclient persons namedinthe case like suchshocks.Nothing will that the party namedPrasad fied ascheme fora40-lt automobiles and automotive India." and Iamlegallybound by has no commentsto Ratul Puri or RajivSaxena.’’ shockusnow,” the CJI re- (OBC Kalwar community) and bufferstock of sugar.This componentsinthe case of the In itslatestsupplementary itsconfidentiality.Itisfor offer.” Interestingly,inone of the sponded. Devi (EBC Nonia community) stockwas to be kept in mill India-Malaysia CECA. chargesheetfiledonSeptember latestsetsofdozens of ques- as itsleaders. premises, with the Centre What has also been men- 17,the CBI has said that in 2000, tion-answer transcripts,Saxena Moderna Shunting Sushil Modi out bearing the cost(in terms of tioned, officials said, is the Saxena acquired99.9% shares of has admitted that Ratul Puri especiallyindeveloping is also meant to ensurethat interest, insurance and stor- lopsidedtrade deficit against Interstellar Technologies. frequentlydroppednames of Technologies Limited and had visitedhim in Dubai follow- countries, wherethe infra- he doesn’t overshadowthese agecharges) forafull year India in mostofthese deals. The chargesheetcites leading political figures in their Global Services have flowed ing his wifeShivani Saxena’s ar- structuretostore and trans- twoleaders as he has done in from August1,2019. While WhereRCEP members are Letters Rogatory from Italyand conversation with aviewtoim- intoMoser PowerLimited rest by the ED in December portvaccines at super cold the pastwith, forexample, the scheme’s estimated fiscal concerned, India’s deficits Mauritius and alleges that press upon their influence in (Ratul Puri’s company) through 2018. temperatures over vast dis- the party’s leader in the outgowas Rs 1,674crore,pay- have marginallyreducedin Saxena, in collusion with the corridors of power. Theyof- Optima InvestmentsPLtd, a During the meeting, Saxena tances maypresent difficult Assembly, Prem Kumar,asev- mentshavebeen around Rs mostcases. Gautam Khaitan, receivedEuro tenmentionedthe names of companycontrolledbyRatul said, he (Saxena) showedPuri challenges. eral-termMLA from Gaya and 300crore. However, itsdeficit with 12.40 million in the account of Salman Khurshid and Kamal Puri and his family.” evidence of remittances from “Moderna’s long term from the Chandravanshi EBC ASEAN as abloc has increased Interstellar Technologies from uncle whichIdeduce wasaref- In his statement, Saxena Global Services linked to the storageisatminus 20°C, community. Tiger roadmap since 2018-19, according to Augusta Westland. This was erence to Mr Kamal Nath…” brings up acrucial connection Augusta Westland kickbacks. whichiswhat we do with our “In the stateBJP,Sushil we needtoensureproper datafromthe Ministryof “further routed/laundered for Answering adirect question with acompanycalledPristine He has also admitted that, "he polio vaccines. Theyhavesaid Modi has been atowering channels fortigers to move in Commerce and Industry. paying the middlemenand sus- on political beneficiaries, RiverInvestments. “We(Sushen (Ratul Puri) stated that he did that their vaccine can stay out banyantreewhichputs and out of Dnyanganga. That’s The pullout from the RCEP pectedpublic servantsinvolved Saxena said: “I am awarethat Mohan Gupta and himself) re- notknowChristian Michel of minus 20°C foruptoa everybody else in the shade,” atedious and challenging has come at atime when in the case…” Interstellar Technologies ceivedbridgefunding through James but these transactions month, so that makes it a said asenior leader.Implying proposition. So we have to be India is reviewing existing Thereare also details of pay- Limited wasone of the main Pristine RiverInvestments, a have been carriedout by his muchmorefeasible vaccine that his downsizing opensup very sureabout what we are trade agreements. Twore- mentstotalling Euro9,48,862 companies to receive kickbacks companymanaged by John hawala operators...I have been forour programmes,” vaccine opportunities forthe future prioritising, and how,”says views of the India Singapore made by Global Services into from the Augusta Westland. Docherty forBakul Nath, son of sent messages by him since the scientistDrGagandeep Kang, stateleadership to grow for Bilal Habib, asenior scientist CECAhavebeen completed; four companies ownedby Interstellar Technologies was Kamal Nath. Thus, indirectly time he came to Dubai instruct- aprofessor at Christian post-Nitish electoral politics. at the WII. the India-Bhutan Agreement Saxena:Pacific International beneficiallyownedbySushen funds from Interstellar ing me nottogiveany docu- Medical College, Vellore, said. The other challengethe Habib had radio-collared on Trade Commerce and FZC; Midas Metals International Mohan Gupta who controlled Technologies and Global ment/information/statement “The problem”, Dr Kang BJP sees is the revivalof Walker in Tipeshwar,where Transit wasrenewedin2016; LLC; Metolix Ltd; and Eurotrade the companythrough Gautam Services were usedtorepaythe linking his father or his uncle in said, “will be cost, because Communistparties and how the tiger wasknown as TWLS and the India-Nepal Treaty of Ltd. Khaitan…During my meetings loans from Pristine River anymatter..." Moderna has said that their theyhelpedthe RJD-ledal- T1C1,beforeitleftinJune Trade wasextendedin2016. Saxena’s interrogation fo- with Sushen Mohan Gupta and Investments.” When contacted,Puri told vaccine will cost$37 (more liance in Bhojpur and Magadh 2019. Eight rounds of negotiations cuses on financial transactions Gautam Khaitan theyoften When contacted,Kamal The Indian Express: “Neither I, than Rs 2,750), whichisalot”. regions bordering Jharkhand BackinBuldana, mean- have been completedfor the of twoother keyAugusta mentionedpolitical beneficiar- Nath told The Indian Express: "I in my personal capacity nor my With Pfizer-BioNTechand and Chhattisgarh. while, thereare demands to reviewofthe India-Korea Westland case accused, defence ies in India. The name AP was have stated earlier that Ihave companyhavebeen involvedin Moderna, “wehavetwo spike “Lalu had marginalised preserveDnyangangaasa CEPA, whichcommencedin dealer Sushen Mohan Gupta mentionedbythem and wasa nothing to do with the compa- anybusiness relating to de- protein-basedvaccines that the Communists in Bihar but tiger area to facilitatetourism. 2016.India has takenupthe and former Madhya Pradesh reference to AhmedPatel.’’ nies or transactions of my fence, defence procurement or aregood”, Dr Kang said. “So his son has giventhem afresh ShivSena MP Prataprao reviewofthe India-Japan Chief MinisterKamal Nath’s Revealing alleged political nephew, Ratul Puri. As farasmy armaments…We operateand what we neednextisaspike lease of life,” said aBJP leader. Jadhavhas suggesteda10-km CEPAand India-ASEAN FTA nephewRatul Puri. linksofthe payoffsvia company son, Bakul Nath, is concerned, ownmultiple businesses in var- protein-basedvaccine on an- elevatedcorridor between with itstrading partners. Both Gupta and Puri have structures setupbyhim or he is an NRI basedinDubai. I ious countries…wecomply other platform that is equally Sugar mills twovillages to replace the 50- While the possibility of been in custody and arenow on through his Dubai-basedcom- had heardabout him being de- with all the necessarylocal good... All the vaccines that The scheme, limited to a km Khamgaon-Buldana road India joining RCEP as an ob- bail. panyMatrix Group Limited, scribedas the Beneficial Owner rules, regulations and laws that arecoming nowwould be po- maximum admissible export through the sanctuary. There server is notbeing ruledout, Saxena alleges that “name- Saxena told the ED that “indi- of Pristine Riverand when I pertain to India. As the matter tentiallyuseful forus(India).” quantity of 60 lakh tonnes (lt) arealso plans to relocatethe officials indicated that “the dropping” by Gupta and rectlyfunds receivedbyRatul spoketomyson, he said he is sub-judice, therefore, we can- Vaccine expertDr forall mills, would have en- onlyvillageinside. current structureofRCEP” did Khaitan was“legendary.”“They Puri through Interstellar knewnothing about the com- notcomment.” DavinderGill wasemphatic tailedafiscal outgoofRs “Thereare twoalternative notreflect the RCEP Guiding that “If it reallycame down to 6,269 crore. The industryal- routes available forroad traf- Principles or address the out- achoice between the Pfizer mostmet the target,with fic. But people needtobecon- standing issues and concerns walked out of RCEP have not AIADMK and whichhas S DMK wins the Assembly on caste and creed, the people and Moderna candidates, about 56.5 lt of sugar getting vincedtotakethe detour of India. changed.Infact, theyhave Ramadoss's PMK and Captain polls,” he said. of this peace heaven, Tamil then the Moderna candidate shippedout in 2019-20, sur- that’s about 25 km longer,” he “China has been acentral gottenworse because there Vijayakanth's DMDK as its Meanwhile, the BJP's ties Nadu, will notallowthat.” would offerabenefit.” passing the recordof49.57lt says. figureinthe EastAsian region wasearlier onlyaneconomic other members. with allyAIADMK took aturn However, Dr Gill said, “I in 2007-08. Something has to be done and, therefore, would have a threat from China. Now, it ex- According to sources, forthe worse as the ruling Bail pleas would saythat neither one of The 56.5 lt exports should soon, says Nitin Desai, direc- major role in driving the RCEP. ists on the political front too,” Alagiri’s outfit maybecalled party on Mondaysaid it The courtgranted bail to those is ideal foradeveloping have entitledmills to pay- tor, central India, Wildlife However, thereare several he said. ‘Kalaignar DMK’ or ‘KDMK’. would notallowthe former's Goswami and twoothers who country.” mentsofoverRs5,900crore. Protection Society of India. measures that India has taken While Alagiri wasnot ‘Vel Yatra’ -- amonth-long po- were arrested in an alleged This wasbecause, he said, But actual disbursements, ac- “Otherwise, Walker's epic afterthe Chinese aggression Alagiri available forcomments, a litical rallycovering promi- abetment to suicide case, de- “What youhavetoalso re- cording to an official, have journeywould end up as a earlier this year,manyof When contacted,Tamil source close to him said the nent LordMurugatemples in spiteobjections from the member is the scale... the been hardlyRs600 croreso footnote in India’s tiger story,” whichwould sit uncomfort- Nadu BJP chief LMurugan BJP has been in touchwith the state—and permitat- Maharashtragovernment, available infrastructureto far. The 2020-21Budget made he says. ablywith itscommitments claimedhewas notaware of them forawhile. tempts towards"politics of andheld that the Bombay storepolio vaccines will not no provision towardssugar under RCEP,should it join the the talks. He told The Indian \“It would be astrong re- votebank" basedonreligion. High Courthad erredinre- be enough.” exportassistance forthe last RCEP stand agreement,” said trade expert Express that he would enquire plytoStalin who sidelinedhis Awrite-up in Namadhu jecting the bail applications. The NewYork Times quoted season.Nor wasany amount forthe government. Also, Biswajit Dhar,aprofessor at and confirm (Alagiri’s pro- elder brother in the party and Amma,the AIADMKmouth- Article 32 of the Dr AnthonySFauci, topUSin- allocated under the supple- giventhat India already has Jawaharlal Nehru University's posedpolitical party joining family. And forAlagiri, it is an piece, said, “It is better for Constitution is afundamental fectious diseases expert, as mentarydemand forgrantsin bilateral pactswith anumber Centrefor Economic Studies the alliance). opportunity… maybethe last those concernedtorealise right, whichstatesthat indi- saying: “I would be satisfied the recent session of of RCEP members including and Planning. In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is opportunity.His business that if the yatras theyorgan- viduals have the right to ap- with a75per cent effective Parliament. the ASEAN bloc, South Korea, “The reasons whyIndia partofanalliance ledbythe mayface moretroubles if the ise aretodivide people based proachthe Supreme Court vaccine.”

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VILLAGERSBID BJPMPaccusespoliceofhecklinghim TEARFULADIEU

Tehatta:The mortalre- atfallensoldier’svillage,govtdenies mains of Armygunner Subodh Ghosh, killedin ceasefireviolations by The MP,who representsthe martyredsoldier wasbrought by Governor said. Pakistaninalong the Line EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Ranaghat constituency in Jagannath the Armyofficials as per military “The MP alleged that the po- of Control (LoC) in Jammu KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 Parliament, claimedthe incident Sarkar protocol and it reachedat lice did this purposefullywith an and Kashmir,arrived at his occurredwhen he triedtoattend represents Raghunathpur village(PS- intention to insult him, in front residence hereinNadia dis- BJP MP Jagannath Sarkar on awreath-laying ceremonyor- Ranaghat Tehatta) and the body wasplaced of the public…Iwould appreci- trict on Sundaynight. Mondayalleged that the police ganisedtohonour Ghosh before constituency at aground, nearbytohis house ateanurgent informedinput as Four security personnel heckledand insulted him when his body wascremated. to paytributetothe bravesoldier police and administrative offi- were among 11 people he went to Nadia district’s The ceremonywas held at and towardswreath giving cere- cials, being public servants, are killedinmultiple ceasefire BJP Mahila Morchapresident AgnimitraPaulapplies tika Raghunathpur villagelateon the Nimtala Vidyaniketan school took note of the alleged incident mony. During the wreath giving obligated to be regardful to the violations by Pakistanalong on BJP statechief Dilip Ghosh’s forehead during Bhai Phonta Sundaynight to payhis lastre- ground, wherethe administra- and criticisedthe police and ad- ceremonyofShSubodh Ghosh, MP,” Dhankhar said. the LoC between Gurez and celebrations in KolkataonMonday. Express spectstoArmyjawan Subodh tion also arranged aguardofho- ministration officials. MP Jagganath Sarkar wasob- The Trinamool Congress and Urisectors of Jammu and Ghosh, who waskilledlast nour forthe soldier. “On November 15 at around structed to enter ‘Shahid the Nadia district administration Kashmir on Friday. In retal- Friday, along with three other “The police heckledand in- 2330hrs the lastriteceremonyof Bedi/Manch’ by the police official refusedtocomment on the mat- iation, the Indian Army soldiers, in ceasefireviolations sulted me in front of the public. It Sh Subodh Ghosh, resident of without anyvalid reasons,” the ter. Refuting the allegation, asen- causedextensive damage by PakistaninJammu and is very unfortunateand sad that Raghunathpur,(PS –Tehatta, Governor said. ior government official said, to PakistanArmy's infra- BJP says will turn Kashmir’s Baramulla sector.The in this statethe policeare acting District –Nadia) wasperformed The MP,however, wasable to “This is nothing but asimple structure. stategovernment,however, dis- likeBJP cadres,” Sarkar said. at Palassy crematorium, Nadia. payhis lastrespectstothe sol- misunderstanding. The BJP is PTI Bengal into Gujarat missedthe allegation. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar Prior to that, the dead body of the dier afterutmostdifficulty,the trying to makethis an issue.” if voted in, TMC calls it ‘riot politics’

This is Rabindranath Tagore’s EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Bengal, Nazrul’s Bengal. People KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 needtodecide whether to retain Bengal’s cultural heritageorin- AWAR of wordseruptedbe- herit riotpolitics from Gujarat,” tween the TMC and the BJP on said Hakim. Mondayafter the statepresident The TMC leader went on to of the BJP said his party would saythat onlyAdanis and Ambanis work towards“turning West have been givenpriority in Bengal intoGujarat” once it Gujarat while others had to shut comes to powerinthe state. down their business. Referring to the erstwhile Left “Even Nano factory(Tata Front rule in the stateand itslead- Motors) has been shut there. ers, Ghosh said, “Leaders suchas Communal divide can neverhelp Biman Bose, Buddhababu (for- an economytoflourish. The coun- mer chief ministerBuddhadeb try’s economyhas crashedso Bhattacharjee) made surethat badlythat we arelagging behind people heredonot become doc- Bangladesh in GDP.This is our tors, engineers but migrant shame. Dilip Ghosh can leave for labourers who seek jobs in Gujarat. People of the stateare Gujarat. We want to turn Bengal happyhere," he said. intoGujarat once we form agov- Meanwhile, Ghosh said his ernment here. Didi (Chief party will defeat TMC's North24 MinisterMamataBanerjee) often Parganas district president and accuses us of trying to turn West stateministerJyotipriyaMullick Bengal intoGujarat. Yes, ab- in next year's Assemblypolls. "He solutely. We will turn Bengal into has fooledthe people of the state Gujarat so that our children get and took cut moneyfromthem. jobs here and do nothavetomi- He is involvedinmultiple scams gratetoGujarat,” the BJP leader including the PDS scam. Enough said afterinteracting with local is enough. Iamthrowing aopen residentsatBarasat in North24 challengetohim that we will de- Parganas district. feat him. Ask him to pickany The remarks from Ghosh Assemblysegment in the state. drew sharp criticism from the rul- We will defeat him from wher- ing Trinamool Congress. ever he contests the election,” Senior TMC leader and state said Ghosh. ministerFirhad Hakim urgedthe Mullickwas quicktohit back, BJP MP to leave Bengal and settle saying the BJP would draw a down in Gujarat. blank in North24Parganas dis- “Around 2,000 people were trict in 2021. “The result will be killedinthe Gujarat riots in 2002. 33-0. The BJP will getabig zero If we turn Bengal intoGujarat from North24Parganas district. then people will fear of dying in Tell Dilip Ghosh to preparefor his encounters. Therefore, we do not party's biggestdefeat in 2021,” want to turn Bengal intoGujarat. said Mullick.

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Bhai Phonta, KOLKATA POLICE LOSES ITS 11TH OFFICIAL Teen girl ‘kills alow-key self’ after her affair this yr Sharpdropinactive morphed pics Covidcasescontinues shared online EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 caseload. On Monday, the cap- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE STATECOUNT ital city again toppedinterms ATEENAGER wasfound dead in KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 TOTAL CASES of caseload. As manyas728 her home in West Bengal’s North persons tested positive in 24 Parganas district on Monday People paytributeto THE TREND of active Covid 434563 Kolkata, 718testedpositive in morning afterher morphedpho- SoumitraChatterjee in cases in West Bengal decreas- North24Parganas, 190tested toswerecirculatedon WhatsApp KolkataonMonday. Express ing continuedonMondayas INCREASE DEATHS positive in Hooghly, 185tested and social media. only3,012 newinfections were 3012 7714 positive in South 24 Parganas The Class 11 student is be- reportedwhile 4,376 people re- 398952 RECOVERED and 119testedpositive in lievedtohavediedbysuicide. She coveredfromthe disease. Howrah. Though the recovery allegedly receivedthreatsthat her EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Sweets on sale at astore in KolkataonMonday. Shashi Ghosh The high number of recov- 5256924 SAMPLES rate has brought down active morphedpictures would be KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 eriespushedupthe discharge TESTED TILL NOV 16 cases in both Kolkataand North shared on the internet. Initially, rate to 91.81per cent, while the 24 Parganas, whichare the no one took those threatsseri- BHAI PHONTAwas celebrated in PANDEMIC IMPACT active caseload declinedbya heartofthe pandemic’s epicen- ously. Her familyclaimedthat the stateonMondaywithoutthe massive1,417 to 27,897cases. The high number of treinthe state, theystill remain later theyapproachedthe police usual fervour because of the The cumulative number of dis- over 7,000. but theydid nottakethe com- Covid-19pandemic. Although chargedpersons increasedto recoveries pushedup Other than these five dis- plaint seriously. sweetshops managed to do afair Sweet sales dip by 30%, dull 3,98,952. the discharge rate to trictsinSouth Bengal, 197 “She wasfound dead in her amount of business, therewere According to the state tested positive in Nadia, 71 home. The investigation is on. We no long queues outside the es- health bulletin, in whichfigures 91.81per cent, while tested positive in Paschim have receivedacomplaint and tablishments. festive season for shop owners areupdated till 9am, 53 deaths the active caseload Medinipur and 66 tested posi- her mobile has been taken,” said Chief MinisterMamata occurredin24hours, taking the declinedbyamassive tive in Purba Bardhaman. an official. Banerjee extendedher wishes to forced popular sweetshops to owners have cut down produc- death toll to 7,714. In NorthBengal, Jalpaiguri According to sources, the girl the people of the state. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE scale down production. Shop tion. Some shop owners in north Among those dead wasa 1,417to27,897cases recorded163 Covid cases in 24 receivedafew WhatsApp mes- “Greetings to all my brothers and KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 owners were hoping to gettheir Kolkatacomplain that theyhave KolkataPolice officer,whose hours, Darjeeling recorded136 sages from her friends who in- sisters on the occasion of Bhai business backontrack once the hardlyreceivedany substantial death took the toll in the force and Dakshin Dinajpur recorded formedher about the morphed Dooj,” Banerjee tweeted. EVEN AS business has pickedup festiveseason begins. orders in the pastten days.Some up to 11,officials said. timelydemise of Sub-Inspector 46 cases. pictures being shared on social Meanwhile, political leaders afterthe lockdown restrictions “Afterthe lockdown began, areadopting newways to push Manab Bandyopadhyay, a Manab Bandopadhyay, who The health bulletin said media. Soon, her relativesalso took partinBhai Phontacere- were eased, sweetshop owners we onlydid 15 per cent business their business. sub-inspector in the Special waspostedinthe Special 38,127samples were tested in came to knowabout it. monies to connect with party saytherehas been adropof dailyincomparison to normal Asweet owner said theyare Branch, wasrecentlyhospi- Branch. He wasaffected with 24 hours, taking the cumulative Her familysaid she killedher- workers and leaders. nearly 30 per cent in sales dur- days.During the lastthree days accepting “meal platter” orders talisedafter being diagnosed Covid-19and wasatthe fore- number of testsconducted to self as she felt embarrassedtoface StateBJP presidentDilip ing the festiveseason this year. of Durga Puja, we registeredbet- during this tough time. Due to with the disease, said asenior front of our fight againstco- 52,56,924. people. She wasfound hanging in Ghosh and the other senior lead- On Bhai phonta(Bhai Dooj) tersales and did around 50 per the Covid-19pandemic, people police officer.Bandyopadhyay, rona," the KolkataPolice According to the health de- her home in the morning.Later in ers of the party celebrated the whichiswidelycelebrated in cent business but nowagain it in Kolkataare avoiding visiting who wasinhis early forties, tweeted. partment, 94,136 persons are the day, her neighbours and festival with the party's state Bengal, demand forsweetswas has come down to only30per- familymembers, relativesat diedinthe hospital in the Meanwhile, Kolkataand its still in home quarantine, while friends protestedwith the body, women cell members, including significantlyless compared to cent of business than the normal their residences. Corporateor- morning, he said. adjacent districtscontinuedto 1,081people areinsafehomes. and demandedthe immediate itspresident AgnimitraPal, at the previous years. sales during this time of the ders have also gone down. “Wedeeplymourn the un- reportamajor shareinthe –WITH PTI INPUTS arrest of the accused. outfit’s Hastings office. BJP na- “The situation has notbeen year," said Dhiman Das, execu- However, small-scale sweet tional vice-president Mukul Roy good since the lockdown began tive director of KCDas. sellers arehopeful of a took partinthe ceremonyathis but it has improved eventually. The costofpreparation of turnaround. home. whereother party lead- If we compareittoprevious rosogulla, sandesh and other va- "Weare recovering. We were ers went to offertheir blessings. years, this time the festivesea- rieties of sweets has gone up due expecting adropinsales. But TRIBUTE TO PANDIT NEHRU Senior TMC leaders Firhad son (sales) wasdull,” said Sudip to an increase in the price of raw nowweare doing around 80 per Hakim, Partha Chatterjee, Sujit MullickofBalaram Mullick& materials but the sweetshops cent of business in comparison Bose and others participated in Radharaman MullickSweets, areunable to hikeprices due to to previous years," said City trams’ latest feather in its long the ceremonyintheir homes Kolkata. the dip in demand. PrashantaDas, owner of asweet and neighbourhoods. The drop in demand has To prevent wastage, shop shop on VIP Road. history: alibrary on wheels for kids Tramcar... We congratulateour EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE partnerWBTCforpromoting‘cul- KOLKATA,NOVEMBER16 tureonthemove’,whichtrulyre- flectsthe creative persona of the TWO-CENTURY-OLD tramways metropolis," said Maina Bhagat, in KolkataonSaturdayaddedan- Director,ApeejayOxford other chaptertoits glorious past Bookstores. and present forthe benefit of the Authorities have plannedto Maj Ajay Lt Amit Kumar Nk Kishore Nk Bhukhan futuregeneration. The West hold poetry, drama and reading Upreti, SM Beniwal Dung Dung Oraon Bengal TransportCorporation sessions, and book launches on (WBTC) in association with board. ApeejayAnandChildren’sLibrary "Webelieve thatalibraryises- has launchedthe “world’s first sentialto everychild’sholisticde- tramlibraryforchildren”.Theini- Passengers younger than 18 years can travel on the velopment, and that knowledge tiative wasatributetoJawaharlal 19th-centurytramfor free. Express andbooksare gamechangersen- Nehru whose birth anniversary hancing the futureofeachchild. Nk Amrit Lal L/NkSaiba Sep Chandan on November 14 is celebrated as Readingandlearningonthemove Horo Baskey Kumar Jha Children’s Day. OxfordBookstore, boasts of an and zeal of ApeejayAnand will undoubtedly augment their Today,wepay homage to the Veer Biharis of 8BIHAR who laid Passengers younger than 18 eclecticmixof poems,plays,nov- Children’s Libraryteam to associ- recreationalenvironment,andwe down their lives on 17 Nov 2008, while carrying out search and years can travel on the 19th-cen- elsandcomicbooks,andworksof atewith us in this project, imple- arecommitted to facilitatethis," rescue operations in the hazardous, snow covered peaks of Gurez OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER turytramfor free. NobellaureateRabindranath menting it at asuper-lightning said Paul. Sector in J&K. Their selfless actions were in the highest traditions RWS&S DIVISION, BHADRAK The librarywas virtually Tagore,ChetanBhagatandothers. speed. It is trulyagreat Children’s The Kolkatatramways have of the Indian Army.We, the fraternity of the Veer Biharis, salute O-563 Tel: 06784-240979, e-mail: [email protected] launchedonthe tram routes be- “The idea behind the Kolkata Daygiftfor Kolkata," said Kapur. been operating since 1873 them. NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING THROUGH e-Tendering tween Shyambazar and YoungReader’sTramcaristhatall "Our HeritageOxford when the maiden trip took off THE BIHAR REGIMENT ASSOCIATION 1st Corrigendum to Bid ID No. 07 of 2020-2021 tender call Esplanade, and Esplanade childrenshouldgetaccessto good BookstoreKolkataisproudto have with horses. WBTChas taken notice Memo No. 7087 dt. 06.11.2020. Gariahat –whichconnect north books, and what better than the supportedthe reading habit severalinitiativestopopularise Remaining unaltered of all other terms and conditions with dates the following changes are hereby made to Bid identification No. 07 of 2020-2021 and south of Kolkata—byWBTC Kolkatatrams! Rids forchildren acrossgenerationsof readersboth trams by decorating them with of the Executive Engineer RWS&S Division, Bhadrak by virtue of this MD Rajanvir Singh Kapur and will be free. Adultsabove 18 can across the city and the nation. It artworkand launching alibrary corrigendum. Directorof ApeejaySurrendraPriti surelyenjoytherideatnormalAC nowliterally, ‘movesahead’ with on the Esplanade and Regd. Off.: PSEB Head Office,The Mall, Patiala -147001 As per Original TCN : As per Corrigendum Paul. The library, curated by tram fares. We thank the efforts the KolkataYoung Readers’ Shyambazar route. CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813, Website: www.pspcl.in Tender Serial No. 01 ot 18 : Tender Serial No. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & E-Tender EnquiryNo. 295/P-2/EMP-W-11752 Dt. 09 Nov. 2020 & 12 stands cancelled ID: 2020_POWER_56098_1 Sd/- Executive Engineer More local trains in Scope of Work: Preventive/Breakdown maintenance of Lighting RWS&S Division, Bhadrak Equipment and Cables connected with the same of OIPR-25020/11/0010/2021 Cabling System of Four Units of GGSSTP Roopnagar, Howrah-Kharagpur Lighting and Cabling of Stage-I, Micro Hydel Project Including Street, Fencing/BoundaryLighting and Cleaning and up keeping of Cabling System and section from today Preventive/Breakdown maintenance of 415V LD System its Lighting Equipment and Cables connected with the same,Cabling System of residential &non- Kolkata:The SouthEastern Railway will run 14 residential Buildings &Street Lights of Nuhon Colony, EMU services from Tuesdayinaddition to the ex- PowerColony, Work Charge Colony, Sarsa Colony& isting 81 suburban trains that arerunning in its along Nangal Hydel Channel of GGSSTP,Roopnagar. Howrah-Kharagpur section since the resumption EMD: Rs.3,00,000/- (Three Lacs only) of local train services in West Bengal, an official Time Period: As per NIT said. The number of EMU local services is being in- Date &Time upto whichTender :17.12.2020 &11.00 A.M. creased, considering passengerrequirements, es- shall be received peciallyduring peak hours, the official said on Date and Time of Opening of Tender:24.12.2020 &11.30 A.M. Monday. The number of suburban services run by Tender specification can onlybedownloaded from Website SER in the Howrah-Kharagpur section will nowbe https://eproc.punjab.gov.in/ &nohardcopytothe same will be issued by this office 95, he said. PTI NOTE: 1. In case anydifficulty regarding uploading of the tender the prospec- tivebidders are requested to get clarification from this office and or e-Procurement System Government of Punjab.Contact No.+91- (172)-2970284/63. It is also requested to get their digital signature well in time so as to submit tenders through e-Tendering only. 2. It is informed that in case tender process is not completed due to anyreason, no corrigendum will be published in newspapers. Details regarding corrigendum maybeseen on website: eproc.pun- jab.gov.in. Local train services in the stateresumedon Sd/- November 11. File RTP-51/2020 S.E./HQ,GGSSTP, 104599/Pb Rupnagar.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 5 GOVT &POLITICS Lookingatwaystoimprove BJP makes it official:will DELHI CONFIDENTIAL mediaregulatorysystems:I&B contest all 117 aPress Council likesystem…, nor Journalism should berespon- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE is thereany self-regulation”, the sible, the Ministersaid —and NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 Ministersaid. And while thereis whilecriticismwasallright,“if the seatsinPunjab some verygood content on some editor and journalists have per- THEGOVERNMENTisconsidering of them, thereare “some bad and sonal dignity,eventhe common stronger regulatorymechanisms some very bad” films and shows person has it”. forthe news media, and anew Prakash too. Ontheissueof allegedmanip- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE code of conduct fortelevision, Javadekar “Because of this”, he said, ulationofTelevisionRatingPoints CHANDIGARH,NOVEMBER16 Information and Broadcasting “theretoo,whatcanbedone,peo- (TRPs), Javadekar said the com- MinisterPrakashJavadekarsaidon ple aresuggesting, and we arelis- mittee setupbythe Ministryto BJP NATIONAL general secretary National Press Day. The govern- editors,journalists,photographers tening”. His Ministrygets“many exploreways to strengthen the Tarun Chugh Mondaysaid his mentdoesnotwantto “restrict”or andparliamentarians.Butpeople letterseveryday andwe consider systemwouldgive itsreportsoon. party has startedpreparations ‘SAVIOUR’UNDER ATTACK “interfere” in the freedom of the aredemandingthat the Press them all”,Javadekar said. Thefour-membercommitteeun- on awar footing to contestall press, but the media mustbe“re- Council should be givenmore However, Javadekarsaid,“Ibe- der Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi 117seatsinthe 2022 Punjab RAJASTHAN CHIEF MinisterAshok Gehlot’s criticism of Kapil sponsible”, he said. powers.Thatisalsobeingconsid- lieve press personnel should Shekhar Vempati wasset up on Assemblyelections. This is the BJP gensecy Tarun Chugh Sibal forhis remarkson the stateofaffairs in the Congress has Javadekar’s commentson ered,” Javadekar said. themselvestakethe lead, should November 4. firstofficial statement from the amusedmanyinthe party.For,itwas Sibal and the party's le- Mondaycame aweek afterthe Talking about TV news,he institutionalise aprinciple of re- Thegovernmenthadneverin- BJP clarifying that it will contest galeagles suchasAbhishek Singhvi who had fought the court governmentbroughtonlinenews said,“ThereisnoPressCouncillike sponsible freedom”. terfered with the Broadcast all the AssemblyseatsinPunjab battle and savedGehlot’s government when it had come un- andentertainmentplatformsun- system forTVchannels, so there Forthat, he said, “all the sys- Audience Research Council alone, something that the saf- Eye on 2024, der crisis justthree months agoafter Sachin Pilotraisedaban- derthepurviewofhisMinistryon shouldbeself-regulationforthat”, tems should be improved,and (BARC), abody of advertisers,ad- fron party said it had been do- ner of revolt. While Sibal did notreact to Gehlot’s attack, some November 9, adecision that has and mentionedthat “thereisone (media personnel) should accept vertisingagencies,andbroadcast- ing till 1992 before entering into Nadda to begin of the leaderssaw the Rajasthan Chief Minister’s jibeaspart triggered concern about possible institution, and anyone can com- the challengeofmaking them ers,“becauseif theadvertiserand an alliance with the Shiromani nationwide of an orchestrated effort.Theypointed out thereweretweets censorship in the future. plain to them and theyevenpun- work properly”. the broadcasterare on the same Akali Dal. by some other leaders around the same time Gehlottweeted At awebinar organisedbythe ishtheerringchannels”.TheNews “The government does not pagethen whyshould we come Chugh said the organisa- 100-day tour his criticism of Sibal. Press Council of India, Javadekar BroadcastingStandardsAuthority wantto interfereinit,anddoesnot in between”, Javadekar said. tional structureat23,000polling spokeabout the different regula- is the self-regulatorybody forTV want to restrict anyfreedom, but However, “nowthe time has booths in the stateisbeing NewDelhi: Afterleading tory systems forprint and televi- news channels. this is your responsibility,that if come that we have to interfere”, strengthenedbymobilising BJP his party to success in SESSION TROUBLE sionnews,andtheneedforsucha “But thereare manychannels government has faith in you he said.“Earlierthere used to be workers at the grassroots level. Bihar polls, BJP president system foronline platforms. “The thatarenotevenmembersof that,” should setanexample of respon- 5000 meters, that is whythere “BJP president JPNadda will JP Nadda is settoembark THE WORSENINGpandemic situation seems to be making it freedom of the press is being dis- Javadekarsaid—and“theyhaveno sible freedom, responsible jour- wasmanipulation.If thereisasys- virtuallyinaugurate10district on a100-daynationwide difficult forParliament to meetfor winter session. ManyMPs cussedagaintoday, andIsaidthat restrictions”. “Suchasystemcan- nalism.” temtocapturethe choices of 1 offices of the party on November tour to strengthen the arelearnt to have pointed that during monsoon session, many thewaypressfreedomisbeingat- notexist. People aresuggesting to The “freedom of the press” crorepeople,sohow willtherebe 19 and thereafterwill undertake party in the regions it had had got affected by coronavirus despiteall precautionary tacked,that is notgood,” the us that we should also come up wasthe “soul of democracy”, anymanipulation?” athree-daytour to the stateto notperformedwell in measures taken, and the session had to be curtailedinthe end. Ministersaid. with acode of conduct whichis Javadekar said. But, he said, “the “Howtokill the possibility of take stockofthe preparations 2019 Lok Sabba elections. Nowthat the situation is worse in the national capital, even of- “Press Council of India is an- commonforallchannels.We have freedom of the press is notlimit- manipulation, we have created a and galvanise party workers for According to BJP ficials have advisedthat holding asession would notbewise. other mechanism of self-regula- nottaken adecision, but we are less”. It mustbea“responsible committee forit, and it will not the forthcoming Assemblypoll sources, Nadda who took RajyaSabha secretariat officials, however, point out that this tion. Though the head is ap- considering it as well,” he said. freedom” —and “anyfreedom”, take toomuchtime and will give battle,” he added. over as the party chief in will notbethe firsttime that the session will getcancelled. pointedby thegovernment,ithas Foronline or Over the Top he said, “comes with itsinherent areportsoononwhatispossible,” He said the party leaders led the beginning of 2020, The Upper House didn’t have winter sessions in 1975,1979 representativesofpress owners, (OTT) platforms, “thereisneither restrictions”. Javadekar said. by stateunit president Ashwani will focus on those areas and 1984.In1952 and in 2008, it onlyhad twosessions. There Sharma will popularise 160pub- wherethe BJPdid notdo were six sessions in 1991,fivefor sevenyears, four sessions lic welfareschemes launchedby well and would be spend- eachin31years and three sessions for27years. the NarendraModi government ing one-thirdofhis travel Comply with FDI policy within one in Punjab andapprise people of time in the states that are the progress made on them in notBJP-ruled. HEADLESS SURGE the state. During the trip, Nadda month: I&B notice for online platforms Chugh’s statement comes will hold strategic ses- EVEN THOUGH it is an infrastructureproject of national impor- nearly twomonths afterthe sions with stateBJP lead- tance, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation doesn't yet news and entertainment online MinistryofInformation & 26%” by October 15 and “seek Akali Dal, one of the oldestallies ers to formulateplans to have amanaging director heading it since the lastMDretired EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE platforms under the purviewof Broadcasting within one month approval” from the I&B Ministry. of the BJP,quit the NDAoverthe win the Lok Sabha seats months ago. The project is scheduledtobecompletednextyear, NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 the I&B Ministry. The govern- from todaygiving the following,” If anycompanyintends to the three farm laws enacted by that the party had lostin and alot of futureplans of Indian Railways hinges on the suc- ment had allowed26per cent it stated,asking fordetails of the bring FDI, it will have to seek Centre. the lastgeneral elections cess of itsfreight corridors. At atime likethis, topoffices of the THE UNION Ministryof FDI in online news platforms last company’s shareholding, names government permission. As per the seat-sharing for- in the 2024polls, they government have kept this crucial appointment hanging de- Information and Broadcasting is- year and had issueddetailed and addresses of directors, pro- “Everyentity has to comply mula between the twoparties, said. He will also hold a spiteall other paperwork being in place. suedapublic notice on Monday guidelines in September. moters, significant beneficiaries, with the requirementsofciti- the BJP usedtofield itscandi- series of meeting with foronline news platforms to The I&B Ministrysaid in a Permanent Account Numbers zenship of BoardofDirectors and dates on three of the 13 parlia- prospective allies of the complywith certain conditions statement that it issuedapublic and latestaudited or unaudited of the Chief Executive Officers... mentaryseatsand 23 of 117 BJP-ledNDA,besides lo- within amonth. The conditions notice “tofacilitateeligible enti- profit and loss statementsalong The entities arerequired to ob- Assemblyconstituencies in cal Sangh leaders, during requirethe online news plat- ties involvedinwith the auditor’s reports. tain security clearance forall for- Punjab. The rest were kept for the countrywide tour in In Baghel letter to Shah, forms with even less than 26 per uploading/streaming of news Further,for “entities, which eign personnel likelytobede- the SAD. whichhewill spend a cent foreign direct investment and current affairs through dig- at present have an equity struc- ployedfor morethan 60 days in Chugh said that though his maximum of eight days five-point plan to tackle (FDI) to sharedetails of their ital media, to complywith the turewith foreign investment ex- ayear by wayofappointment, party had been fighting on only in the politicallycrucial shareholding, directors and pro- decision” regarding the FDI. ceeding 26%, would give similar contract or consultancy or any afraction of the Assemblyand Uttar Pradesh, sources moters within amonth. “Entities having foreign in- details” within amonth “totake other capacity forfunctioning of the Lok Sabha seats, it always said. Maoism in Bastar region The decision comes aweek vestment below26% mayfur- necessarysteps forbringing the entity,prior to their deploy- had apresence across all 117 ENS&PTI afterthe government had put nish an intimation to the down the foreign investment to ment...” the ministrystated. AssemblyseatsinPunjab. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE RAIPUR,NOVEMBER16 Quad navies to begin second Not an inch of Polavaram dam CHHATTISGARH CHIEF minister Bhupesh Baghel has written to Union Home MinisterAmit Shah phase of Malabar exercise today will be reduced, AP asserts requesting financial help to end the “malaise of Naxalism” from agerather than justconstructing Chhattisgarhbycreatingjobsand Baghel had earlier written to KRISHNKAUSHIK SREENIVASJANYALA BehindOppn the dam. “The previous TDP gov- providingfinancialhelpto theLeft Shah in September NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 HYDERABAD,NOVEMBER16 chargeover ernment had neglected the R&R WingExtremismaffecteddistricts packageandconcentratedoncon- E damheight ● in Bastarregion. INDIA,US, Japan and Australia THE ANDHRA Pradesh govern- EXPLAINED tractsandcommission.Itwasmore The Chief Minister, in the let- ities to ensurecollection of forest will participateinthe second ment on Mondaysaid that the focusedonkickbacks,” he alleged. ter—the second suchrequestby produce from the regions, along phase of the Malabar navalexer- height of Polavaramdam will not OPPOSITION TDP accuses “TheTDPhasneverreachedoutto Baghel to Shah on the issue in the withhelpinsetting up solar en- cise in the Northern Arabian Sea be reduced, and that the project the AP government un- asingle house (displacedhouse- state—sent on November 12, ergy generators forplaces where from November 17 to November would be completednextyear. der YSJaganmohan hold) forrehabilitation and is now mentionedafive-pointplanto en- the electricity grid has notbeen 20. It is the firsttime in over a Opposition Telugu Desam Reddy to reduce the speaking of the R&R package.” surethat Bastarregion is made able to reachinthe state. dozen years that the four coun- Partyhad earlier alleged that the height of Polavaramproj- Besides the PolavaramR&R, freeof Maoism.Healsosoughtthe Requesting grantsfor the up- tries areparticipating in sucha YSRCongress Party-ledgovern- ect from 45.72metresto Yadavsaid, the YSRCPgovern- Centre’s cooperation in imple- comingBodhghatirrigationproj- large navalexercise —the first The firstphase wasconducted earlier this month offthe ment buckledunder pressure 41.15metres. for“short- ment is also committed towards mentationof worksinMaoist-af- ect,healsosaidthatRs50crorebe phase wasconducted earlier this Visakhapatnam coast. PTI file from neighbouring Telangana to term political gains” completingtherehabilitationand fectedareas,particularly inBastar. grantedto eachofthe sevenaspi- month offthe Visakhapatnam reduce the height of the dam. without foreseeing fu- resettlementof peopleaffectedby Pointing out the needofjob rational districts’ collectors for coast. However, APWaterResources tureproblems. The re- irrigationprojectsatGandikotain creation and connectivity in the generating employment. The four countries also form scope and complexity over the BayofBengal” from November 3 MinisterAnil Kumar Yadav duction of dam height Kadapa district and Veloginda in remote forested region, Baghel Baghel had earlier written to the Quadrilateral Security years” and the current 24th edi- to November6.“Thisphasewillin- brushedasidetheallegationsand has been proposedwith Prakasam. The stategovernment said“youngstersof Bastar”should ShahinSeptemberrequestingad- Dialogue, or the Quad, and their tion “highlightsenhancedcon- volve coordinatedoperationsof in- said on Monday: “Wehaveaf- an eyeondecreasing the has spent Rs 950 croretowards begivenvariousjobopportunities ditionalCRPFbattalionspromised coming together foramajor vergence of views amongstthe creasing complexity between the firmedthat therewill notbeany burden of compensation R&R packagefor the Gandikota sothattheydon'tjointheMaoists. to the statesince 2018. wargame sends astrong mes- four vibrant democracies on naviesof Australia,India,Japanand reduction in height of the project packagetothe project's projectandRs1,200crore forR&R “If thesteelplantsset upinBastar, Terming the letter a“political sagetoChina at atime when maritime issues, and showcases theUnitedStates,”theNavymen- andtheprojectwillbecompleted evacuees “from Rs 27,000 in Veligonda project, he said. aniron-orericharea,areprovided move”, Leader of Opposition and India and China areinvolvedina their commitment to an open, tioned. ontime...Notaninchoftheheight croretoRs3,500crore”, AllR&Rpackagesarebeingun- iron orewith a30% discount,sev- BJP MLADharamlal Kaushik said, militarystandoffineastern inclusive Indo-Pacific and a The second phase, it said, of Polavaramproject will be re- the party has claimed. dertakeninaphasedmanner,and eral firms would be encouraged “Instead of forming aplan and Ladakh. rules-basedinternational order”. “will witness joint operations, duced. It will be ready by Opposition leaders have no moral to setupand will provide jobs for workingonit,thisgovernmentjust The Malabar series of exer- The Navy said the second centered around the December 2021.” right to speak on these packages, many,”hewrote. wantsmonetary help from the cises, whichbegan as an annual phase will take “forward the syn- VikramadityaCarrier Battle Yadavalso accusedTDP lead- ple's attention”. Yadavsaid. By March next year, Baghelalsorequested“gener- Centre. Theyshould firstclarify bilateral navalexercise between ergyachievedintherecentlycon- Group of the Indian Navy and ersof “plantingreports andprop- Theministersaidthatthestate 20,000 houses will be distributed ousgrants”fromtheCentretoes- what their plan of action is to stop India and the US in 1992, the cludedPhase1ofExerciseMalabar Nimitz Carrier StrikeGroup of agating false news through their governmentisalsofocussedonre- to those displacedaspartofthe tablishcoldchainsandotherfacil- the rampant killing by Maoists.” Navy said, “has seen increasing 2020,whichwasconductedinthe the US Navy”. friendlymedia to divert the peo- lief and rehabilitation (R&R) pack- Polavaramproject,hemaintained. ‘(Dr Singh) looked frail...I wondered what would happen when he left office'

enedtheinfluenceof India’smain him as aman of uncommon wis- AsforRahul,heseemedsmartand dim light, he looked frail, older significance by subordinating oth- SHUBHAJITROY opposition party,the Hindu na- dom and decency…. What I earnest,hisgoodlooksresembling than his seventy-eight years, and ers—weretoostrongforany democ- NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 tionalistBharatiyaJanataParty couldn’t tell waswhether Singh’s his mother’s. as we droveoff Iwondered what racy to permanentlycontain. For (BJP). In uncertain times, Mr. rise to powerrepresented the fu- “Heoffereduphisthoughtson wouldhappenwhenheleftoffice. theyseemedtolie in wait every- THEN PRIME Minister President,” the prime minister tureofIndia’s democracy or the futureofprogressive politics, Would the baton be successfully where,readytoresurfacewhenever Manmohan Singh had resisted said,“thecallof religiousandeth- merelyanaberration.” occasionally pausingto probeme passedtoRahul,fulfillingthedes- growthratesstalledordemograph- calls to retaliateagainstPakistan nic solidarity can be intoxicating. The former US President on the details of my 2008 cam- tinylaid out by his mother and ics changed or acharismatic leader afterthe26/11attacks,“buthisre- And it’s notsohardfor politicians wrote, “In fact, he owedhis posi- paign. But therewas anervous, preserving the Congress Party’s chose to ride the waveofpeople’s straint had costhim politically”, to exploit that, in India or any- tionto SoniaGandhi…morethan unformedquality about him, as if dominance over the divisive na- fearsandresentments.Andasmuch and Singh had expressedfears to whereelse,” Obama wroteabout one political observer believed hewere astudentwho’ddonethe tionalism touted by the BJP?” as Imight have wishedotherwise, US President BarackObama that the conversation. that she’d chosen Singh precisely coursework and waseager to im- “Somehow, Iwas doubtful. It therewas no Mahatma Gandhi therisinganti-Muslimsentiment ObamasaidhefoundSinghto becauseasanelderly Sikhwithno press the teacher but deep down wasn’t Singh’s fault. He had done aroundtotellmewhatImightdoto had strengthenedthe BJP. be“wise,thoughtful,andscrupu- national political base, he posed lackedeither the aptitude or the hispart,followingtheplaybookof holdsuchimpulsesback,”hewrote, Obama has said this in his louslyhonest”. “Singh and Ihad nothreatto herforty-year-oldson, passion to masterthe subject.” liberal democracies across the as he winds his India section. memoir while recalling his con- developedawarm and produc- Rahul, whom she wasgrooming Obama wrote, “As it wasget- post–Cold Warworld,” he wrote. Obama’s 768-pagememoir versation with Singh during his tive relationship. While he could to take over the Congress Party.” Obama with then PM Singh in Delhi, in Nov2010. Reuters file tinglate,InoticedSinghfightingoff “ExceptnowIfoundmyselfask- stops in 2011,and covers the first visit to India in December 2010. be cautious in foreign policy,un- Obama described Sonia sleep, lifting his glass everysoof- ingwhetherthoseimpulses—ofvi- term of his Presidency and there The firstvolume of the much-an- willing to getout toofar ahead of Gandhi a“striking woman in her tentowakehimself up with asip olence,greed, corruption, national- is no mention of Prime Minister ticipatedbook,‘APromisedLand’, an Indian bureaucracy that was sixties,dressedinatraditionalsari, Gandhi listenedmorethan she tion toward her son. It became of water. IsignalledtoMichellethat ism, racism, and religious NarendraModi —who he metin hitsthe bookstores on Tuesday. historicallysuspicious of U.S. in- with dark, probing eyes and a spoke, careful to defer to Singh clear to me, though, that her it wastime to sayour goodbyes.” intolerance, the all-too-human de- 2014.His second volume is ex- “He feared that rising anti- tentions, our time together con- quiet, regalpresence.” when policy matters came up, powerwas attributable to a As Singh and his wifewalked siretobeat backour ownuncer- pected to coverthe second term Muslim sentiment had strength- firmedmyinitial impression of “Atdinner that night, Sonia and oftensteered the conversa- shrewdand forceful intelligence. themto theircar,hewrote,“Inthe taintyandmortalityandsenseofin- of his administration. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 WORDLY WISE Doing Bengali filmsislike apeasant tilling his ownland.Ihavetobehere. Icannot be

6 THE EDITORIAL PAGE anywhereelse. —SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE War against virus

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Herdimmunitydebateshows that both scientific BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL andmoral judgementmatters in Covid battle

SEIZE THE DEAL Rajib Dasgupta Trade lifts all boats, NewDelhi mustget inside the HERDIMMUNITYIScontinuallydebated in poseda“compassionateapproachthatbal- the corebeing that human identities are RCEP tent at the earliestopportune moment the ever complexdiscourse of COVID-19. ances the risksand benefitsofreachingherd shapedbydifferent kinds of social relations Serosurveyresultsfromacross the country immunity” to allow those whoare at mini- in communitiesthat shape our moral and TATIMEwhen globalisation has lostits lustreand muchofthe worldislook- indicatespreadofthe contagion across ur- malrisk of death to live theirlives normally political judgmentsand that we have a inginwards,15 countriescametogetherandsignedtheRegionalComprehensive ban and rural areas, moresointhe urban to build up immunity to the virus through strong obligation to supportand nourish Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the sidelines of an online ASEAN summit and particularly amongslumpopulations. natural infection, while better protecting communities providing meaning to ourlives. AhostedbyVietnam on Sunday. Indiahad been apartofnegotiations foralmost The common question with evidence of thosewho areathighestrisk. It maybesurmisedthat while the opponents nineyearstillitpulled out in November 2019,statingthat inadequatesafeguards and low- substantialspread is if we arecloser to herd The WHO director-general respondedin of thedeclaration conform to theethics prin- immunity. Expertswonderwhether the re- his press briefing on October 12 that herdim- ciple of “firstdonoharm”, the signatories ering of customs dutieswill adversely impactits manufacturing, agriculture anddairy sec- cent surge in cases in Delhiisattributed to munity is achievedbyprotectingpeople were upholdingthe decline of valuedforms tors. By stayingout, Indiahas blockeditself from atrade bloc that represents30per cent of alowering of guardbypolicymakers, ad- through vaccines and notbyexposing them of community,viewing the current crisis the globaleconomyand worldpopulation, touching over 2.2billion people. ministrators andcommunitiesalike,based to disease whichinhis viewis“scientifically through ahumanitarian and policy lens Thereare strong economic and strategicreasonstonot letthe RCEP doorremain shut on suchexpectations. and ethicallyproblematic”. This wasfurther rather than amedical or clinical lens. permanentlyfor India. Theeconomic reasonsfirst. Clearly,India’s decision is influencedby The conventional wisdom of herdimmu- contestedbyanother group of scholars, who India’s current approachistocontinue China dominating the RCEP tradebloc since NewDelhialready has aFreeTrade Agreement nity is that it marks the end of the epidemic. proposedthe John SnowMemorandum with limited restrictions with hopes of early Originating in veterinarypublic health, it en- (October 14). Acknowledgingthatlockdowns rollout of vaccine as the key strategy. withASEAN,separatedealswithSouthKoreaandJapan,anddiscussionsareonwithAustralia teredthe lexiconofhumanhealth epidemi- while being necessaryare disruptive andthat Lockdowns have in many instances notledto and NewZealand. Tradedatasuggests that India’s deficit with China, with whichitdoes not ology exactlyacenturyago in the contextof their consequences have generallybeen the promisednormalcy at the end of it. Acase have atradepact,ishigherthanthatof theremainingRCEPconstituents puttogether. Sowhy explosive diphtheria outbreaks; but battle worse in countries unable to leverage the in point is the slewofemergency interven- blame trade deals? Moreover, trade deficitsare notall bad, and definitelynot forconsumers. lines have neverbeen drawnamong re- lockdown phase to establish effective pan- tions by the Centrenow to augment clinical Evenotherwise,importofcheaperintermediate goodsonlyhelpaddvalueto finalproducts. searcher-practitionerand policy communi- demic control systems leading to “wide- care, including airlifting additional doctors Yes, some fears arenot unfounded. Trade policyreformalways exerts pressureonthe do- ties with pointedly political implications as spreaddemoralisation anddiminishing and paramedical stafffromthe central armed at present.When one infected person in a trust”, theyarguedthat uncontrolledtrans- police forces and providing hospital equip- mestic industryinthe transitionperiod. Firmsthatdonot risetothe occasion run the risk of population leads to lessthan onesecondary mission(the herd immunity approach)in ment from centralresources to support the fallingby thewayside.Sotheydidafterthe1991 reformswhenIndiastartedloweringtariffs. caseonaverage,whichcorresponds to the younger people entails significantrisksof Delhi government.Japan andVietnam are But providing stability in export-importpolicyand afavourable exchangeratedid help the effective reproduction number R(that is, the India’scurrent approachisto morbidity and mortality across the whole models of successfullyhandling the situation industryshapeup, and match globalqualityand pricing. This is borne out of the experience averagenumber of persons infected by a continue with limited population. DonaldTrump, during his elec- through pragmatic and rigorous public health case) dropping below1inthe absence of in- tion campaign, largely avoided usingthe practices; an “adaptive model” in whichthere of over twodecades since 1991.India wasmuchbetteroff,bothintermsofits shareinglobal restrictions with hopes of trade, FDI inflows,growth of the domesticindustry, and rising income levels of itspeople. terventions, herdimmunity is considered to term “herdimmunity” but his advisors are aresubstantial changes in thehealth system early rollout of vaccine as the Strategically,Indiadoes needto prepareitself forChina’s maritimechallengeand the ag- have been achieved. fairly strong advocates thatare reflectedin organisation and itsresponses appropriateto In the March-April phaseofthe pandemic the policies. time and contextasthe pandemic develops. gressionithasdisplayedalongtheborders.Alliancessuchastheinformalstrategicforum,the keystrategy.Lockdowns in France, it wasestimated that theherdim- have in manyinstances not The fact is that both scientific and moral The COVID-19situation underscores the Quad, whichincludes the US, Australia and Japan, will help NewDelhi checkBeijing’s dom- munitythreshold forSARS-CoV-2 wasex- judgement matters.Ethicists pointtothe importance of combininggood science with inanceinthe South China seas and the Indo-Pacific region. Despite all the differences with pected to require67per cent population im- led to the promised paradox in the Barrington Declaration that prudent judgment to meetthe needs of large China,attheendof theday, AustraliaandJapanhave notstayedoutof RCEP.Beinganemerg- munity.Another wayofunderstanding this normalcy.Acase in point the elderlyhavenot reallybeen protected in populations, while maximising scientific ing power, NewDelhi mustsendthe right messages. Instead of sitting out and buildingtar- is at the current levelofabout10-15 per cent is the slew of emergency thereal-world experience, despiteefforts to quality in the face of applicablelimitations iffwalls across sectors, it mustprodand incentivise the industrytobecompetitive,and get of the global population showing evidence interventions by the Centre do so. Further,the elderly shall also need and competing interests. Most countries pro- of infection, mostofusremainsusceptible treatment, entailingsubstantial resources fessedseveral policies to address vulnerabil- inside the RCEP tent at the earliestopportune moment. —nearly 5billionshall needtohavethe infec- nowtoaugment clinical care, (moresoinoverloadedhealth systems), and ities, but implementation challenges abound. tion to achieveherdimmunity. including airlifting some of them shall survive with long-term Thetaskofmedical scientists and public Some of the recent debatewas sparked additional doctorsand sequelae (long COVID). Proponentsofthe health researchers is to continue to unpack a by the recent GreatBarringtonDeclaration declaration urge that peopleshould think of nuancedunderstanding of vulnerabilities; (October 4) by agroup of infectious disease paramedical stafffrom the trade-offsata“communitarian”level imply- the politician (as Rudolf Virchowput it), “the HEEDEVERYWARNING epidemiologistsand public health scientists central armed police forces ing that the young and healthyshall con- practical anthropologist, mustfind the who recommend“focusedprotection” to off- and providing hospital tributetothe societalcause by becomingin- means fortheir actual solution”. Centrehas addedweighttoDelhi’s Covid containment efforts. setsome of the negative damaging physical equipment from central fected (COVID outcomes canbeunfavourable and mental health consequences of current in the young too, with relatively high levels of The writer is chairperson at theCentreof But AAP government would do well to learn lessons COVID-19management policies,inspecific resources to support the co-morbidities in the Indian context). Social Medicine &Community Health, lockdowns and related restrictions. Theypro- Delhi government. Communitarianismisacomplexconcept, Jawaharlal Nehru University NSUNDAY,THE Centrehad to intervene forthe second time in less than six months to addressthe worrying surgeinCOVID cases in Delhi. The capital has been grappling with adailyaverage of morethan 7,000 cases and 90 Odeaths fornearly aweek.The situation actuallybegan takingaturn forthe worse since mid-October,whenthe city’s caseload exceededthe 4,000 mark. TheDelhi government, however, triedtoreassurepeople that matters were under control. It claimed that the increasednumber of cases were aresult of arise in test capacity and the case fa- ARENAISSANCE MAN tality rate (CFR) wasn’t high. It also said that the hospitals in the city were well-equipped to deal with an emergency.But the recent surge has beliedthe government’sclaims. Two weeksback, this newspaper reportedthat the COVID specialty hospitals arerunning low SoumitraChatterjee wasapolitically conscious artist, withavoice of his own on beds. Delhi nowhas only164 ICU bedsvacant. TheDelhigovernment has ascribed the spiketopeople lowering their guardduring the festiveseason and has also blamed thecity’s pollution. Whilethere is some truth to these claims, the Delhigovernmentcan- Dhritiman Chaterji notbeabsolvedofthe charge of complacency,especiallysince it does notseem to have takenadequatenote of warnings issuedbyseveral agencies. In October,areport submitted to the Delhi government by the National Centrefor THROUGHOUTSOUMITRA Chatterjee’s life, and he has severalvolumes of poetrypub- read from Rabindranath Tagore’s memoir Disease Control (NCDC) pointedout that Delhi should be prepared for15,000cases daily he wasnever a“star” in theconventional lished. He wasveryactive in theatre—asan in whichthe Nobellaureaterecalls study- sense.Hewas always very informal, acces- actor and playwright. Needless to say, he was ing at St Xavier’s School forabrief period. in winter.The reportdrafted under the guidance of an expertgroup headedbyNITIAayog sible and easy to talk to.Iwas still in col- very hard-workingand prolific. In spite of At that event, to my utter surprise, member VKPaulasked theDelhi governmenttomakearrangementsfor hospitalisation legewhen he had become awell-known the crisis in his personal lifeand health prob- Soumitra-da recited alongpoemtitled Tota of about one-fifth of these patientswith moderateand severe symptoms. In early October, actor afterhis debut in Satyajit Ray’s Apur lems, he did notstopworking.Hekeptwrit- Kahini —which is apolitical satireby the NCDC also pointed out that Delhi’s CFR wasmarginallyhigher than the national av- Sansar (1959),followed by working with ing and actingtill the very end. Rabindranath Tagore —entirelyfromhis erage. While the Delhi government didissue occasional messages of cautiontopeople, other famous Bengali directors of that time. He waspoliticallyconsciousand never memory. He wasapopular figurefor such these, by all accounts, failedtoconveythe gravity of the situation.Acityofpandemic- He usedtohang out at the famous Coffee hesitated to express his political views and recitations. He had ayouthful andexpres- wearyresidentsneededspecial information and healthcaredrivesduring the festivesea- House on Kolkata’s CollegeStreet, where He never hesitated to take astand on contemporaryissues. In the sive voice even when he wasinhis late70s. poets,actors and other cultural figures got film industry, people don’t wish to getdrawn Poetry andrecitation camenaturallyto son. It seems that the Delhi government did notgivedue urgency to this task. expresshis political views together.Iwould look at him in admiration intopolitical matters. Soumitra-da wasn’t him. Ithink it also had to do with the fact The Centre’s interventions include airlifting doctors and paramedical stafffromthe from adistance. and take astand on likethat. Whenevertherewas aneedto that Soumitra-da,who had amaster’s de- armedforces, 300additionalICU bedsand additional medical equipment.There arealso As an actor,hewas hugelyversatile. contemporaryissues. In the makeastatement regarding apolitical mat- gree in Bengali literature, wasdeeply plans to double the capital’s swab testing capacity —this could take careofalongstand- Though he is widelyknown forhis per- film industry, people don’t ter, he would be the firstone to do so. He versedinall aspectsofit. ing shortcoming of Delhi’s anti-COVID efforts. But the Delhi government would also do formances in Ray’s films, he acted in a wish to get drawninto joinedthe protestagainstthe Citizenship Alot of thingshavebeen said about well to draw lessons from the recent emergency —living with the novelcoronavirus re- number of so-calledmainstreamfilms and (Amendment) Act, 2019,and the National Soumitra-da.Iwillalways remember him for appeared as aromantichero. Iabsolutely political matters. RegisterofCitizens. One of thefirststate- his complete lack of false modesty. quires meticulous attention to everywarning in theair. lovedhim in those roles in severalmovies, Soumitra-da wasn’t likethat. ments that Isignedonthis issuewas written Wheneverweweretogether afterfinishing including Swaralipi (1961). Completely op- Whenever there wasaneed by him. ashot, he would quietlyask: “Kire, theek hoye positetothat washis performance as a to makeastatement,he Soumitra-da’s interests andaccom- chhilo toh? (Do youthink it wasalright)?” He swashbuckling villain in Tapan Sinha’s plishmentswerewide-ranging. During the wasasimple person at heartwith adeep in- Jhinder Bandi (1961),whichwas basedon would be the first one to do shoots,therewould be long breaksand we terest in art, respect forthe views of other DIRECTOR’SACTOR The Prisoner of Zenda. He wasterrific in so. He joined the protest would end up discussing literature, current people. He had no airs. Once therewas amix- this periodfilm. He essayedavarietyofin- against the Citizenship affairs, and manyother things. We acted in up about transportafter ashowthatwedid SoumitraChatterjee and Satyajit Raycomplemented each teresting roles as he worked with directors afew movies together including Ray’s together in the mid-1990s. That day, my wife likeAsit Sen,AjayKar and Tarun Majumdar, (Amendment) Act, 2019, Ganashatru (1990) and Saibal Mitra’s wasaccompanying me. Soumitra-da and I other,the partnership producedtimeless films among others. and the National Register of Dronacharya (2007). We also did anumber livedindifferent partsofthe town. He asked Later,whenone got to knowhim, it was of poetryreadings and literaryshows to- me to take the onlyavailable car and offered ITH THE PASSINGofSoumitraChatterjee, the worldisalesserplace. At Citizens. One of thefirst evident that he wasmuchmorethan afine statements that Isigned on gether.Hewas quitesought-afterfor po- to hail aregular taxi forhimself. 85,Chatterjeehadspentpracticallyhisentireadultlifebeingotherpeo- actor.Likehis mentor Ray, Soumitra-da was etry readings and to anchor literaryshows. ple,onscreenandstage.Butbehindallthoseroles,theessentialSoumitra arenaissance man. He waswell-read, he this issue waswritten by Iremember one suchshowatmyalma The writer is an actor W remained thesame —grounded,well-read andwell-spoken, aman usedtoedit aliterarymagazine called Ekshan him. mater,StXavier’s College, Kolkata. There, I As told to AlakaSahani equallycomfortable at home and in the world. He was, in fact, atrue renaissance man, an up- standingrepresentative of theBengalibhadralokthatoncemadeCalcuttatheepicentreofthe arts.Hemay have beenbestknownforhislongcollaborationwithSatyajitRay, whofamously gave himabreakinthemovieswithApurSansar,thethirdfilmof theAputrilogy.Buthenever abandonedhis firstlove, the theatre, and remained, till the end, aman of manyparts:Afine NOVEMBER 17,1980, FORTY YEARS AGO poetandplaywright,long-timeeditorof amagazine,and,mostimportantly,anaware citizen. Globally,therehavebeen severalnotable partnershipsbetween director and actor,each bringingtheirA-gameto theirfilms.MartinScorseseandRobertdeNiromadeninefilms.You R AILWAY B OARD AXED member is still to be named. urge him to concede the agitating farmers’ THE GOVERNMENT SACKED the entire demand forRs300 per tonne of sugarcane. cansee the twostretchingtoaccommodatethe other,right from their firstfeaturetogether, Railway boardand appointed Mohinder CONGRESSFOR FARMERS MeanStreets,totheirlastouting, TheIrishman.Thesamebunchofactorspopupin thefilmsof Singh Gujral, general manager of Western SHARAD JOSHI, LEADER of the Shetkari JNU SHUT JoelandEthanCoen—JeffBridges,JohnGoodman,George Clooney, MattDamon.Closerhome, Railway,the newchairman. In adramatic Sanghatana spearheadingthe week-old Jawaharlal Nehru University wasclosedin- Rajat Kapoor’s moviesalmostalways feature VinayPathak and Ranvir Shorey.And, in the last move,the newRailway MinisterKedar farmers’ agitation in Maharashtra’s Nashik definitelyfollowing acontinueddharna by fewyears, Hansal Mehtaand Rajkummar Raohavebecomeanear two-man repertory. Pande summonedthe chairman of the district, has gone on an indefinitefastatthe thestudentsoutside the Vice-Chancellor’s Rayand Chatterjee worked well together,eachgrowing alongwith the other.After Apur board, MMenezes, and twoother members Nasik Central Jail in supportofthe agitators’ house, demanding revocationofsuspension SansarcameCharulata,AranyerDinRatri,AshaniSanket,thetwowildlypopularFeludaadven- to the Rail Bhawanand ordered them to pro- demand forhigher price forsugarcane and order againstastudent leader.The acting ceedonthree months leave.The boardcon- onions. The oppositionparties appeared to Vice-Chancellor andrector,KJMahale,or- tures, Sonar Kella and JoyBaba Felunath, GhareBaire and Ganashatru. Eachfilm wasdifferent, sists of five membersbut thereweretwo va- be gearing themselvesuptointensify the stir dered closuresince he feared violence. The eachpartdistinctive, but youcan see both the director and the actor merge their handwrit- cancies at present. Besides Gujral, Pande next week.Eventhe local Congress-I has studentshavebeen asked to leave the cam- ing,to createthenecessaryoutcome.Theirpartnershipwasrich andabiding,givingustime- namedthree members to the board. KP takensides with the farmers. Maharashtra’s pus hostelbyTuesdayevening. The students lessfilms.Much of thepleasure of watchingChatterjeeatwork wasthathedidn’tmake itseem Jayaramisnow member,mechanical; NN Education MinisterBaliram Hire, who is in have been agitating againstthe suspension likework. It flowed, likelifeitself. Sarma has been givencharge of engineering; charge of Nashik district, will lead aCongress orderonRajan James,aPhD student, since and BBLal becomes member,traffic. One (I) delegation to ChiefMinisterARAntulayto November 4.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “Atthe most basic level, Biden will be apresident who is patient enough to read areport and knowledgeable enoughtounderstand it; who grasps that 7 THE IDEAS PAGE Americacannot prosper alone.” —THE GUARDIAN Pakistan’sBidenhopes Listen to the

It is unlikelythat US President-electwillhavebandwidth to SupremeCourt weigh in on Kashmir.But Islamabad isn’t givingup Lowercourts mustheedthe apexcourt’s words on personal liberties and free speech

uledtohear the matter.Wedonot know whether the letter wasplacedbeforethe bench, and if so, whether it passedany or- der on the same,orsimplyignored it. It mayberecalledthat before Dave, RAJAMANDALA Justice Deepak Gupta of the SupremeCourt on his retirement had also spoken of the by CRajaMohan priority or lackofitbeing accordedtocer- Rekha Sharma tain cases in the matter of listing. Justice Gupta said he hadseen cases involving big AS PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden prepares to moneyand fancy lawfirms being listedin take charge of America on January20, AS YOUSOW,soshall youreap is an old four weeks, while those involvingjunior Pakistanhopes to resetbilateral relations adagewhich holds trueforArnabGoswami, lawyers notbeinglistedevenafter six with the US and draw Washington into the editor-in-chiefofRepublicTV. Goswami, months. Giventhe fact that twoeminent Kashmir disputewith India. Mobilising who went hammer and tongs at actor Rhea voices have struckdiscordant notesabout America on Kashmir has always been ama- Chakraborty,accusing her of being amem- the functioning of the registry, it is high jor preoccupation forPakistan. It has be- berofdrug mafia and abetting the suicide time that the Supreme Courtpaysatten- come an obsession afterIndiaaltered the by SushantSingh Rajput,criedfoulwhenhe tion. It mustdispel the impression that the constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir wasarrestedfromhis residence forallegedly registryisbeing managed,and some peo- lastyear. abettingthesuicidecommittedby anarchi- ple aretreated moreequal than others. In Pakistan’s Kashmir strategy over the last tect AnvayNaik.Inasuicide note recovered order to gettothe bottom of the malaise, three decades and moreisafamiliar one.Itis from the spotwhereNaik wasfound dead, will the Supreme Court, in my humble abouttriggering violence in Kashmir and in- he had alleged that Goswamiand twooth- view, direct the registrytofurnishinforma- tensifying the militaryconfrontation at the ers, namelyFeroz Sheikh and Niteish Sarda, tion about howmanybail and habeas cor- Line of Control. It then appeals to owedhim substantial sums of money, and pus petitions were filedduring the last24 Washington to defuse the crisis that could onaccountof non-paymentby them,heand months, with the dateoftheir filing? When escalatetothe nuclear leveland compel India his mother were driven to commit suicide. were theyfirsttaken up forhearing and to talk Kashmir with Pakistan. This scripthas Although an FIR wasregistered againstall what wasthe dateoftheir disposal? How played outfrequentlysince the late1980s three,itendedwith the police submitting manyofthem were under objections and and the US has inevitablystepped in. Thede- “a summaryreport”inthe concernedcourt, were takenupwithout removalofobjec- gree of American interventionhas, however, whichmeans that the investigation did not tions? Theregistryisbound to supplythis variedfromcrisis to crisis. throw up sufficient evidence againstthe ac- information as aconsumer of justiceisen- Meanwhile, India haslearnt to adapt. In cused.Naik’swifeand daughter allegedthat titledtohavethis information. thepast, India washesitant to escalatehos- theywerenot informedabout the closure The redeemingfeature of the bail order tilities because of the nuclear factor and the CRSasikumar reportand it is onlyafter theycameto know is the emphasisthat the Supreme Courthas fear of third-party mediation in Kashmir. formanyyears. PakistanhonouredBiden in congratulatingBidenand Harris lastweek, of it that theyran from pillar to post, which laid on the personal liberty of individuals Prime MinisterNarendraModi, however, is 2008 with the second highestcivilian hon- Imran Khan offeredtoworkwith the new resulted in the re-investigation of the case and made observations to theeffect that unafraid to escalate. Delhi has recognised our,Hilal-e-Pakistan. Biden wasthe chair- administrationon“peace in Afghanistanand and the arrest of Goswami. stategovernments aretargeting individu- that the threat of escalation cutsbothways man of the SenateForeign Relations the region”. No oneholds anybrief forRhea alsonthe basisofideologyand differences and it is possible to turn the nuclear dimen- Committee at that time. Pakistan’s greatestsuccess in recent Chakraborty or Goswami insofar as the of opinion.The Supreme Court has also said, sion and external intervention to India’s ad- While itsrelative weight in the US has de- months has been in targeting liberal meritsofthe twocases areconcerned.The “that if constitutional courts do notinter- vantage. clinedvis-a-visIndia, Pakistanhas long- American opinion that has become critical powertopronounce them guiltyorinno- fere todaythenweare traveling thepath of Consider,for example, the recent claim standing friends in Washington and an ex- of the stateofIndian democracy,the consti- cent restswith the courtsand no oneelse. destruction.Wemustsend amessage to the of aformerspeaker of Pakistan’s national as- panding diaspora. Some of that wasseen in tutional changes in Kashmir,and the Unfortunately, afew TVchannels have arro- High Courtstodaythatplease exercise your semblythat armychiefGeneral Qamar Pakistan’s successful mobilisation of political CitizenshipAmendment Act. It has had some gatedtothemselvesthe role of judge, jury jurisdictionstoupholdliberty”. These JawedBajwa had quivering knees and a supportduring Prime MinisterImran Khan’s impact on the Democratic Party. and executioner.Chakraborty is yettobe wordsbythe Supreme Court arehighlyre- sweatybrow, when Modithreatenedtorain visittoWashingtoninthe summer of 2019. Biden’s rivalfor Democratic nomination, pronouncedguilty or innocent by acourtof assuring to all those who feel that an indi- destruction on PakistanifIslamabad did not Trumpwas eagertoenlistPakistaningetting Senator BernieSanders,for example, told the competent jurisdiction, but she already vidual’s righttofreedom of speechand ex- immediatelyrelease Wing Commander the Taliban to the table and brokering apeace annual convention of the Islamic Society of stands convicted in the court of Goswami, pression is under threat as neverbefore. It Abhinandan Varthaman, who had bailedout settlement in Afghanistan. NorthAmerica in September 2019 thathe whichheconductsevery night. has kindledhope in the hearts of manylan- in Pakistanafter adog fight with the Pakistani Pakistandid facilitatethe US talkswith was“deeplyconcerned” about the situation Goswami has sincebeen released from guishinginjail precisely forthe reasonsno- Air ForceinFebruary2019. the Taliban, but thereisnoreal settlement in Kashmir and demandedthat Washington jail on theorder of the SupremeCourt. ticedbythe Supreme Court.Notable Giventhe region’s temptation forthe the- yet; nor amajor rewardtoIslamabad from What about the proposition take boldsteps in supportofaUN effort to However, the order granting bail to him has amongstthem is 81-year-old Telugu poet atrical, this claim is easilydiscounted.But the Washington. Could that change? Biden has resolve the issue. evoked mixedreactions. Manyinthe legal Varavara Raoand activist Sudha Bhardwaj, Indian threat to escalateinevitablybrought said little about US’s Afghan policy during that Kashmir is the world’s Some of this is apartofAmerica’sretail fraternity feel that Goswami has been re- who areincustody since August2018inthe Washington intothe picture. Therewerere- the campaign; he has certainlyechoed most dangerous nuclear politics. In the end, though, the Democratic ceiving preferential treatment in the matter Elgar Parishad case. Theyhaverepeatedly ports that President DonaldTrumpper- Trump’s sentimentonendingAmerica’s flashpoint? After the Cold Party’s election platform said nothing on ei- of listing of his cases, while manyothers pleadedfor bail on medical grounds but are suadedPakistantorelease the Indian pilot endless wars. Wa r, America’sinterest in therKashmir or Pakistan; it managed abald who were placedfarworse, when Goswami being deniedthe same.Recently, aKerala and avoid escalation. It is unlikelythat Biden will ramp up the sentence on investing in the strategic part- came rushing to theSupreme Courtagainst journalistwas arrested by the UP police on If Delhi is morewillingthan before to warinAfghanistan. Pakistan’s Afghanlever- resolving the Kashmir nershipwithIndia. What yousay in the cam- the BombayHigh Courtorder declining in- October 5under Unlawful Activities raise the stakes in confronting Pakistan-sup- ageinWashington dramaticallyrose afterthe question acquired much paign is usuallynot what youdowhenin terim bail to him, arelanguishinginjail, (Prevention)Act when he wasonhis way portedterror, it has also benefited from the 9/11attacks and peaked in the early 2010s, intensityinthe first term of government. waiting fortheir turn to be heardinthe to Hathras to coverthe gang rape of a19- shiftinthe relative balance of powerbe- whenPresidentBarackObama’smilitarysurge Yet, Pakistanishoping that some of the Supreme Court. This feelinghas been year-oldDalit woman. Besides, social ac- tween India and Pakistan. India’s economy peaked to about 1,40,000 troops. An America President Bill Clinton Biden administration’s formulations on hu- echoedbynoneother than the presidentof tivists,studentsinthe wake of agitation todayat$2.7 trillion is nearly 10 times that that is headedtothe exitsinAfghanistan— (1993-97) and the first year of man rightsand democracy could be trans- the Supreme Court BarAssociation, againstCAA,and many others consequent of Pakistan. As the US-India partnership be- thereare barely4,500 US soldiersleftthere— Barack Obama(2009-10). lated intoUSpolicy attention on Kashmir. Dushyant Dave.Inascathing letter to the to abrogation of Article 370are behind bars comes morecomprehensive andglobal, is farlessdependent on Pakistan. On both occasions, intensive Modi, meanwhile, has made it clear that secretary-general of the Supreme Court, on trumpedupchargesunderthe dracon- Pakistan’s ability to getWashingtontoact What aboutthe proposition that Kashmir India has no time forthe old international Dave has alleged that theSCregistry has ian sedition laworUAPA. againstIndia has declined. is the world’s mostdangerous nuclear flash- Indian political and debateonKashmir. He has actively sought to been selectively listing matters, even when It is earnestlyhopedthat the concerned This does notmean Pakistanhas no lever- point? Afterthe Cold War, America’s inter- diplomatic efforts dampened changethe terms of the political discourse the system is supposedlycomputerised. courts will heedthe adviceofthe Supreme ageatall in Washington; or that it might sim- estinresolving the Kashmirquestion ac- Wa shington’s Kashmir on Kashmir at home,with Pakistanand the According to therecords available with the Courtand pass appropriateorders in de- plygiveuponthe old Kashmir strategy. quired much intensity in the firstterm of activism. Biden is unlikely international community. SC registry, Goswami’s petitionreportedly serving cases —and notgobythe label of Pakistansitsatthe critical confluenceofthe PresidentBillClinton (1993-97) and the first The Trumpadministration preferredto had nine defects, and even the vakalatnama the charges. subcontinent, Central Asia and the Gulf. It year of BarackObama (2009-10). On both oc- to have muchbandwidth left take up US concerns on Kashmir behind wasunsigned,yet it waslistedonthe day has nuclearweapons and astrongarmythat casions, intensive Indian political and diplo- forKashmirashecopes with closeddoors rather than in public.And it of- following itsfiling.Davehad requestedthat Thewriter is aformer judge can shape regional geopolitics. It can desta- matic effortsdampenedWashington’s arangeofdomestic and feredmuchsupporttoIndia in preventing his letter beplacedbeforethe benchsched- of theDelhi High Court bilise anygovernment in Kabul and foment Kashmir activism. foreign policy challenges. China from raking it up in the United Nations violent religious extremism around the Biden is unlikelytohavemuchband- Security Council. ForPakistan, though, afresh world. width leftfor Kashmirashecopes with a Thewebsite set up last week militarycrisis in Kashmir might come in Howmight it all playout in Biden’s rangeofdomestic and foreign policy chal- on Biden’s transition plans handy to test Biden’s SouthAsia policies. LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR America? Biden is morefamiliarwith the his- lenges. The websiteset up lastweek on lists four urgent priorities — tory of US-Pakistanrelations than his recent Biden’s transitionplans lists four urgent pri- the Covid crisis, racial The writer is director,InstituteofSouth predecessors at the White House. As along orities —the Covid crisis, racial inequality, Asian Studies, National University of SUU KYI’STASK term Senator and Vice-President, Biden has economic security and climatechange. inequality, economic security Singaporeand contributing editor on been engaged with Pakistan-relatedissues But Pakistanisnot giving up. In his tweet and climate change. international affairs for The IndianExpress THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Continuity IDEAS in Myanmar’ (IE, November16). Myanmar’s PeaceNobel laureateAung ONLINE San Suu Kyihad morphed herself com- pletely aftercomingto powerin2016.She ONLYINTHE EXPRESS merelyechoedthe militaryversion of Rohingya“terrorism”.But in hersecond ● GIGLESSONSFROM term with another decisive victory, she CALIFORNIA: Beyond the victors will have to address allegations of geno- VINEETJOHNSAMUEL cide and walk thetalk on making peace with ethnic minority groups. ● LOSTINLOCKDOWN: LJP’s Bihar showing wasdisappointing, but Chirag Paswan emergedaleader SSPaul, Nadia SUCHARITAIYER,SHIREEN JEJEEBHOYANDNITYA Abdul Khaliq WHITHER FREEDOM? DARYANANI THIS REFERS TO article the report‘SC www.indianexpress.com pleatoday, journalist’sfamilyasks:Aren't IN THE RUN-UPto the announcementof elec- ance of the BJP.Itissignificant that parties tirenation. Adoerinthe real sense,hehas Asaduddin Owaisi and the AIMIM we citizens?’ (IE, November 16). The fre- tion results, we invariablyforgetthat exit polls clubbed under the rubric of “Others” gar- worked relentlesslyfor the peopleofhis con- reignedsupreme in the Muslim-dominated quentuseofdraconianlaws like theUAPA and the insightsofjournalistsdonot deter- nered25per cent of thevotes. The fragmen- stituency as MP .His rallying slogan of “Bihar areas of Seemanchal region, winningfive to inculpatescribes and political dissi- courtsmustencouragethroughtheirrea- minethe outcomeof elections butvotesinthe tation of votes among the variousparty for- first, Bihari first” has struckachordwith the seatsand severely damagingthe dents is deeplyunsettling.This is atext- soning the establishmentofamodern ballotbox do. Going purelybythe party-wise mations wasthe paramount reason forthe people of the state, whichisreflected in the Mahagathbandhan in 11 others. As aMuslim, bookexampleof thegovernmentshoot- and secular India. seat share, the Bihar election resultshavenot NDA’s electoralvictory. LJP’s voteshareofroughly6per cent in acon- Ifind it deeply worrying thatheisusinghis ingthemessenger.Isthefreedomof press Andleeb Naqvi, GreaterNoida quitepannedout the waythe opinionpolls Forthe LJP,the results areadisappoint- foundingly multifarious field of parties. In considerable influenceamong Muslims to justamyth? predicted.Againstall expectations, Nitish ment, but it would be amistake to writeoff politics, setbacksand criticismare part of the corral themintoaseparatepolitical bloc. His Varun Das, Zirakpur CRISIS DEEPENS Kumar and the NDAhavebeaten the much- Chirag Paswan and his party on the basis of territory—and the lessons learnt will make dangerous communaland divisive agenda trumpetedanti-incumbencyfactor andre- this showing. Nitish Kumar,who wassodis- him stronger.Asignificantindicatorofhis threatens to further alienateand isolatean COURTS, STEP IN THIS REFERSTOthe report, ‘Pollution tainedpower. missiveofthe LJPand itspresident,wasgiven politicalrelevance is the sustainedmedia fo- already beleaguered Muslim community. spikes as crackerban goes up in smoke’ NDAspokespersons arenow crowing that abloodynose, if notaknock-out blow. Thepoll cus on him. Finally, the ElectionCommissionneedsto THISREFERSTOarticle‘Onlywillingcon- (IE, November 16). The National Green the resultsare avindication of the remarkable analysis shows that theLJP wasinstrumental In asocial milieu wherecaste and com- becommendedforthe smoothconductof the sent’ (IE, November 16). Anyproposed Tribunal’s ban on thesaleoruse of fire- performance of the government in the last in ensuringthe defeat of the JD(U)candidates munity have dominated the political arena, a election at the time of apandemic. Those who piece of legislation that emanates from crackers in the NCRtill November 30 has three years. LikeTiger Woods once observed, in morethan 50 constituencies. But forthe ray of hopeforthose yearning foratrulyegal- have complainedabout theEVMsare, to quote theintentionto garnersupportofthema- fallen flat. This illustrates that authorities “winning solveseverything”, but Iwould add Prime Minister’s magic wand in supportof itarian society has been the stellar perform- Chirag Paswan, looking forscapegoatsfor their jority communityatthe costofisolating in the region were lax.The effect is now that winningalso obscures one’s failures, al- Nitish, the JD(U) would mostcertainlyhave anceofthe Leftparties,in starkcontrasttothe ownfailure.Inthis context, Iremember anall- theminorityisboundtocreateunsavory forallto beseen,aspublichealthandclean beit temporarily. Nevertheless, acloser been annihilated. dismal showing of the Congress.The Leftwon party meeting with the Chief Election cultural ripples, if notmajor cracksin so- air, twomain ingredientstofight COVID- scrutinyofthe resultswould indicatethat the It is important to mention the personal an- 16 of the 29 seatscontestedagainstthe Commissioner some yearsago whenheof- ciety.Ruleof lawgetspermanentlydam- 19,havetakennegative strides.TheDelhi majority of the peopleofBihar had actually gletothis deep hostility.When RamVilas Congresstallyof19outof 70 seats.Itisappar- feredtoplace an EVMinthe Constitution Club aged by suchmyopic laws,whichare government needstofix accountability voted againstthe ruling combine and, more Paswan laycriticallyill in hospital, Nitish did ent that the poor,the unemployedand the and dared anyparty to hack it. Until now, no aimedatshowingacommunitywhatthe on officials who didn’t bother to enforce particularly,againstNitish Kumarandthe JDU. notmakeeventhe pretence of solicitude and working class prefer the Lefttothe Congress. onehas takenupthe challenge. majority can do with them. When so- firecrackerban and allowedfestivitiesto The statistic of voteshareofthe contend- concern forhis ailing colleague. Thereisalso the hint that bread-and-butter calledsecular governmentsfail to create becomesuper-spreaders. ing parties would bear me out. The NDAgot In his firstmajor foray on the big stageas issues have competedfor voters’ attention The writer,aformer civil servant, is Secretary acosmopolitansociety,theconstitutional RajivBoolchand Jain, Punjab only37per cent of the ballots castand that leader and talisman of his party,Chirag againstthe customarymonopolyofmoney General of theLok Janshakti Party. toobecause it wasshoredup by theperform- Paswan has captured theattention of an en- power, caste andRam Mandir. Viewsare personal

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 8 EXPRESS NETWORK

BRIEFLY In Kanpur, girl raped, killed, BJPslamsCongressforjoiningGupkar her liver cut out; 4arrested

quentlyallegedly cut open her AVANEESHMISHRA stomachtoremove herorgans,the alliance,asksifitwantsArt370restored LUCKNOW,NOVEMBER16 police said. Postmortemreport shows shockandhemorrhagedue ASEVEN-YEAR-OLD girlwas kid- to antemorteminjuriesascauseof portofChina forthe restoration original form?... Does Congress nappedandsexuallyassaultedbe- death. Bhanwarlal Meghwal EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE of Article 370... Mehbooba Mufti supportthe statementsof fore she wasmurdered on Diwali “OnDiwalinight,thegirlwent was72 NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 said she won’t hoistthe tricolour Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba night by twomen, who were al- missingwhileplayingoutsideher unless the J&K flag is restored,” Mufti? Congress should tell if legedly paid by one of their rela- home.Localresidentsand the po- THE RULINGBJP on Monday Prasad said. theyare with the stated objec- tivestoget the child's liverfor licelookedforher but could not RAJASTHAN slammedthe Congress forjoin- “WeappliedCentral laws to tive of the Gupkar Declaration,” tantric practices. find her through the night,” Cabinetminister ingthe Gupkar alliance aheadof Union Territories of Jammu and Prasad said. Theincidenttookplaceinavil- Kanpur NagarDIG Preetinder the District Development Kashmir and Ladakh... Theydo The District Development lageinrural Kanpur. Singh said. “Nextmorning, her passesaway Council (DDC) elections in notwant certain laws,including Council (DDC) elections in Therelative,policeofficerssaid, mutilated body wasfound Jammu and Kashmir and asked if the Prevention of Corruption Act, Jammu and Kashmir,now a has been childless since her mar- around akilometerfromthe atpvthospital the Opposition party wantsthe in Jammu and Kashmir so that Union Territory, aretobecon- riagein1999 and as partoftantric villagenear ajungle. Senior of- restoration of Article 370. theycan continue with corrup- ducted in eight phases between practices believedthat eating the ficers, along with forensic Jaipur:AilingRajasthan Addressing the media, Union tion. People who have been Chief November 28 and December girl's liverwill help them have a teams and dog squad, visited cabinetminister, Master MinisterRaviShankar Prasad Union MinisterRaviShankar Prasad during apress Ministers aresaying that they 19,and the counting will take child. The couple and the two the spotandlater we found that Bhanwarlal Meghwal, also asked Congress president conference at his residence on Monday. Prem Nath Pandey will take the help of China forthe place on December 22. young men who allegedly com- twoyouths from the neighbor- passedawayataprivate Sonia Gandhi and former party restoration of Article 370. It is an Mainstream parties, includ- mitted the crime have been ar- hood had abductedthe girlonthe hospital in Gurgaon on chief Rahul Gandhi if theywould anti-national activity,” he said. ing the National Conference, rested. pretextofgivingherapacketof po- Monday. He was72. backthe remarks made by Jammuand Kashmirisrestored. Declaration, whichiscontesting Prasad demandedthat the PDP,Peoples Conference and Accordingto SP(Rural)Brijesh tato chips.” The duo triedtosexu- Meghwal had suffereda National Conference leader Prasad said various laws for the local body elections, has now Gandhis clarify if theybacked CPM, formedthe Gupkar al- Kumar Srivastava, the twoyouths allyassaulther,andwhenfacedre- paralytic stroke in May Farooq Abdullah, who, Prasad the poor and the weaker sec- been joinedbythe Congress. The the statementsofAbdullah and liance lastmonth and arefight- were paidRs1,500betweenthem sistance theytiedher hands”, and wasbrieflyadmitted said, wasopen to taking China’s tions arenow applicable in Gupkar alliance has declared Mufti. “Sonia Gandhi ji and ing the maiden DDC elections forthe task; theyreportedlyused Singh said. at the government run- help to restoreArticle 370provi- Jammu and Kashmir afterits restoration of Article 370provi- Rahul Gandhi ji, tell the nation together.Lastweek,the Congress the moneytobuy alcohol. The ac- SP Srivastavasaid an FIR has SMS Hospital in Jaipur be- sions and PDP leader Mehbooba special status wasrevoked. sions as itsagenda, he said. clearly and categorically, does formallyjoinedthe deliberations cusedhavetold the police that been filedunder IPC Sections 302 fore he wasairliftedto Mufti, who said she would not The senior BJP leader said the “Farooq Abdullah has no the Congress party want the on seat-sharing within the al- theysexuallyassaultedthegirland (murder) and 201(causing disap- Gurgaon on May15. He hoistthe tricolour till the flag of People’s Alliance forGupkar compunctioninseeking the sup- restoration of Article 370inthe liance. then strangledher.Theysubse- pearance of evidence of offence). had been undergoing treatment at aprivate hospital since then. Jaishankar Meghwal wasSocial RJD blames Cong for Justice and Empower- ment Department as well defends as DisasterManagement defeat; boycotts Nitish and Relief Department decision to minister. Gehlotjoined swearing-in event other leaders in extend- not sign RCEP ing their condolences. “Deeplysaddenedatthe tion on the process of counting of passing away of my min- SANTOSHSINGH postalballots. SHUBHAJITROY isterial colleague Master PATNA,NOVEMBER16 While notreacting to Tiwari’s NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 BhanwarLal Meghwal ji remarks,RJDstatepresidentSingh afteraprolonged illness. WITH RJD stateunit chief said, “The Assemblyelection re- ADAY afterthe Regional We have been together Jagdanand Singh calling the elec- sult is dacoity of the mandate. Comprehensive Economic since 1980. My heartfelt tionresulta“dacoity”of theman- Nitish Kumar is being playedby Partnership Agreement (RCEP) condolences to his family date,allconstituentsoftheparty- the BJP and the RSS.” wassignedby15countries — members in this mostdif- ledMahagathbandhanboycotted TakingaswipeatNitishforbe- without India —External ficult time, mayGod give Nitish Kumar’s swearing-in as ing“nominated”aschief minister, Affairs MinisterSJaishankar them strength. Mayhis Bihar chief ministeronMonday. Tejashwitweeted:“...Hopeyoufo- said on Mondaythat the im- soul RIP,” the CM tweeted. Meanwhile, even as RJD lead- cus less on your aspirations of pact of pastpactshas been de- “Saddenedbythe demise er Tejashwi Prasad Yadavhas ref- clinging to chair and moreonas- industrialisation and the con- of Rajasthan Cabinet rainedfromattacking allyCongr- pirations of people of Bihar and sequences of futureones Minister, Master ess, the party’s national vice give priorityto theNDAagendaof would lockIndia into“global Bhanwarlal Meghwal Ji. -president and former MP Shiv- 19 lakh jobs creation, education, commitments” —manyof He wasaveteran leader anand Tiwari blamedthe Sonia irrigation and other constructive them nottoIndia’s advantage. who waspassionate Gandhi-ledparty forthe Maha- issues.” He also said that those who about serving Rajasthan. gathbandhan’s defeat in the elec- Earlier in day, Tiwari told re- argue “stressing openness and In this hour of sadness, tions. The RJD on Mondayalso porters:“TheCongresswasinter- SEASON’S FIRST SNOW efficiency” do notpresent the my condolences to his hintedthat21 alliancecandidates estedonlyincontesting on more full picture, and that this was familyand supporters,” wholostbynarrowmarginscould seatsand nottrying to win most Tourists enjoyasledgeride at GulmarginBaramulla district of Kashmir afterthe firstsnowfall of the season on Monday. “equallyaworld of non-tariff the PMO tweeted. move thecourtsoon,astheywere of them. The Congress contested Authorities have issuedanavalanche warning in four districtsofthe Valleyasthe higher reaches of the Union Territory barriers of subsidies and state ENS notsatisfiedwith the Election on 70 seats, but the party did not receivedmoderatetoheavy snowfall, while the plains were lashedbyrain. PTI capitalism” —anoblique refer- Commission of India’s explana- hold (even) 70 public meetings.” ence to China. “In the name of openness, we have allowedsubsidised HIMACHAL PRADESH Modi to attend BRICS summit, productsand unfair produc- Sevenkilled New deputy CMs picks of Sushil Modi tion advantages from abroad to share platform with Xi again prevail. And all the while, this aftervehicle wasjustifiedbythe mantraof ncy,whomhereferredto as“silent the invitation of Russian an open and globalisedecon- fallsintorivulet SANTOSHSINGH voters” in the Bihar elections. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE President Vladimir Putin, Modi omy... The choice wastodou- PATNA,NOVEMBER16 Devi is the firstdeputy CM of NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 will be attending the 12th BRICS ble down on an approach Shimla:Seven labourers Bihar from her community. summit hostedbyRussia. The whose damaging conse- were killedand one suf- SENIOR BJP leader Sushil Kumar AlthoughrepresentingKatihar PRIME MINISTER Narendra theme will be ‘Global Stability, quences were already appar- feredinjuries when the Modi maynot be Chief Minister sinceOctober2005VidhanSabha Modi will take partinthe 12th Shared Security and Innovative ent;ortohavethe courageto vehicle in whichthey Nitish Kumar’s deputy this time, elections, Prasad,who studiedup BRICS summit to be hostedby Growth’. think through the problem for were travelling fell intoa but his stampisapparent in the to Class XII, washardlynoticedin Russia on Tuesday, wherehewill During the 12th summit, held ourselves. We chose the latter,” rivuletinHimachal newNDA government, as the statepolitics earlier.Hewas sel- once again shareaplatform with in the backdrop of the 75th an- Jaishankar said at the Deccan Pradesh's Mandi district twonew deputy chief ministers dom discussedamong front-line Chinese President Xi Jinping. niversaryofthe UN and in the Dialogue —anevent organised Monday, police said. The from BJP —TarkishorePrasad and Renu Devi and TarkishorePrasad take the oath Monday. PTI leadersandalways carriedtheim- The twoleaders shared avir- midstofthe Covid-19pandemic, by MEA and Indian School of accident occurredaround Renu Devi —are seen as Sushil ageofacommitted party worker. tual platform on November 10 at leaders will be discussing intra- Business, Hyderabad. 2.30 am when the vehi- Modi’s choices. “Iamoverwhelmedattherespon- the Shanghai Cooperation BRICS cooperation and keyissues He said the outlook of cle, on itsway to While Prasad, fourth-time Nand KishoreYadavand Prem from RSS background, belongs to sibilitygiventome.Itisamatterof Organisation (SCO) summit, in the global context, including Atmanirbhar Bharat is “cru- Sundernagar from KatiharMLA,willbetheBJPlegis- Kumar—allthreewere ministers OBC Kalwar community,Renu pride forthe Seemanchal region,” whereModi had said that all the reform of the multilateral cial”. “This approach, instead of Mandi, fell intoSuketi latureparty leader,Devi, also a in the previous government —to Devi, who has also worked with he said on Monday. Renu Devi member nations of the SCO system, the MEA said. allowing others to decide our Khud at Pulghrat, Mandi fourth-time MLA—fromBetia – theyoungerlot.Thepartyhasfol- Durga Vahini, the women’s wing said:“Iwouldseekadvicefrommy should respect eachothers’ sov- The summit will also discuss futureprospects, is acase for SP Shalini Agnihotri said. wasmade deputy leader of the lowedtheUttarPradeshmodelof of VHP,belongsto Noniacommu- guardian and predecessor,Sushil ereignty and territorial integrity. measures to mitigatethe impact building strong national capa- Six people diedonthe legislatureparty. having twodeputy CMs in an ap- nity,aprominent caste among Kumar Modi. The Prime Minister Indian and Chinese soldiers of the ongoing pandemic, coop- bilities and deep strengths. It is spot, while twoinjured The elevation of the twolead- parent effort to reachout to its EBCs besides Sahanis. Her eleva- always talksabout women’s em- arelockedinaborder standoff eration in counter terrorism, farfromturning our backon were takentoazonal hos- ers areseen as partofthe BJP’s corevoter group of OBC Vaishya tion as deputy CM is also seen as powerment. Iwill trytobeequal in eastern Ladakh forthe last trade, health, energy and people the world; in fact, it is to enter pital whereone of them powertransfer from the older (Bania) and the newlycultivated reflection of Prime Minister to the task.” six months. to people exchanges. the global arena with cards to succumbed to injuries, generation of leaders comprising constituency of EBCs. NarendraModi's focus on the FULLREPORTSON The MinistryofExternal FULLREPORT ON play, notjusttoprovide amar- the police said. All the the trio of Sushil Kumar Modi, While Prasad, who comes caste-neutral women constitue- www.indianexpress.com Affairs said on Mondaythat at www.indianexpress.com ket forothers,” he said. passengers were labour- ersfromBihar,Agnihotri said. ENS NEW TESTS, DRUGS FOR THE DISEASE OUT OF REACH FOR MANY: REPORT TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE RAJASTHAN Jaipurwoman Amid global call to step up TB treatment, 259 CASES: RECOVERED:82,49,579 DAYSSINCE 88,45,127 DEATHS:1,30,070 setonfireby PANDEMIC manaccused experts flag India’s ‘conservative approach’ BEGAN TESTS: 12,56,98,525 | DOUBLING RATE: 150.05** ofrapingher than 10 million people falling ill enough howurgent it is nowfor ANURADHA Amidpandemic, and 1.4million people dying due governmentsanddonorsto inten- Jaipur:A35-year-old MASCARENHAS to this disease in 2019. sify their effortssoThat critical woman in Jaipur wasal- PUNE,NOVEMBER16 needtomaintainTB National treatment program- medical innovations and tools legedly setonfirebya mesmustprioritiseuseof all-oral reachpeople with TB. We finally man who is accusedof AS THE COVID-19pandemic servicescontinuity treatment regimens forpeople have better drugs and teststo KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING raping her and had been threatens to derail the global re- with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) tackleandpreventthisextremely

EXPLAINED E● TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* TIME** on the run since April this sponse to tuberculosis (TB), that no longerincludeolder,toxic infectious yetcurable disease, so year.She sustained70per MédecinsSansFrontières/Doctors WHILE REPORTINGonthe severe impact of the Covid-19 drugsthathave to beinjectedand it’s both mind-boggling and un- ■ Maharashtra 17,47,242 2,544 0.23% 318.69 cent burn injuries and is WithoutBorders(MSF)hascalled pandemic on TB services, WHO revealedasharp drop in the cause serious side effects. acceptablethatthey’restillnotbe- ■ Kerala 5,24,998 4,581 1.11% 65.13 stated to be critical, still in on governmentstoaccelerate number of people diagnosed. Besides needing to catchupto The reportfinds that only22% ing usedtosaveasmanylives as ■ Delhi 4,85,405 3,235 1.46% 49.27 hospital. According to po- testing,treatment,andprevention maintain continuity of existing TB services, it advisedcoun- of countries surveyed allowTB possible.” lice, the incident took forTB, and fordonors to provide tries to adoptbettertesting policiesand practices. Countries treatment to be startedand fol- As highlighted in the report, ■ West Bengal 4,31,551 3,053 0.90% 79.99 place on Saturdaynight – financial supporttoensurein- still fall shortonrolling out up-to-datetesting policiesthat lowedupataprimaryhealthcare 85% of countries surveyed do not ■ Haryana 1,99,874 1,957 1.28% 56.10 the accusedallegedly en- creasedaccess to newmedical can assistinreaching nearly 3million people being missed. facility,instead of travelling to a use the lifesaving point-of-care teredthe woman's house tools fordiagnosing and treating hospital, forinstance, and for urinaryTBLAMtest forroutinedi- *Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last7days**Calculated over 7-daygrowth while she waslighting millions with this disease. medicinestobetaken at home. agnosisof TBinpeoplelivingwith CASEFATALITYRATIO POSITIVITYRATE DAILYIN,DAILYOUT lamps to celebrateDiwali Experts said that India is still were eligible forBedaquiline. triesandshows thatcriticalmed- Additionally, 39% do notuse a HIV,asrecommendedbyWHO. 7DAYSEARLIER: 7DAYSEARLIER: DETECTED TODAY and sether on fire. following averyconservative ap- However, only10,845 had re- ical innovations arereaching far modifiedall-oral shortertreat- “As clinicians working on the Her familymembers proachregarding the newmedi- ceivedit. Hence, 1,09,115patients fewerpeople who urgentlyneed ment regimen and 28% of coun- frontlinesofthe TB epidemic, it is 1.48 7.21 30,548 have accusedthe police of cinesfordrugresistantTB,putting were notgiven this medicine, them, because manycountries tries surveyed still areusing in- distressing to see the sluggish up- NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: carelessness fornot ar- livesofpatientsincludingchildren even as India is home to aquarter continue to lag in getting their jectablemedicineswhentreating takeof TBLAM(urinelipoarabino- 1.47 7.04 43,851 resting the accusedear- in danger.Scaling up of newDR- of the world's DR-TBpatients, ac- policies in line with newWorld children with DR-TB. mannan assay) in national treat- Deaths as aratio of Positives against Becoming sick vs lier.“In April this year,the TB drugs —Bedaquiline and cording to sources. HealthOrganization(WHO)guid- “Insteadof steppingupforTB, ment programmes, despiteits positive cases (in %); number tested recovering; more woman had lodged an FIR Delamanid —isneededeven AreportreleasedonMonday elines.MSFofficialssaidCovid-19 we areatriskof slippingbackdue proven role in saving livesofpeo- indicator of progress (in %); indicator of recoveries for 14 days in averting deaths the spread of disease may signal the peak againstthe accused,” said moreduring Covid-19. by MSF and the StopTB has worsenedtheir plight. to COVID-19,”saidSLynch,Senior plelivingwithHIV,”saidDrPatrick DataasonNovember15,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers an officer. ENS Until March 2020, India had Partnership —StepUpfor TB — TBremainstheworld’stopin- TBPolicyAdvisorforMSF’sAccess Mangochi, Deputy Medical includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive 1,19,960 MDR-TBpatientswho surveys37highTB-burdencoun- fectious disease killer,with more Campaign. “Wecannotstress Coordinator forMSF in Malawi. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 9 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevancethat youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected]

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD THIS WORD MEANS India out of RCEP, trade angle... mRNA VACCINE

ON MONDAY,Modernaannounced The regional trade agreement has been signedby15countries, withoutIndia.Alook at the factors leading to resultsofhuman trials on the vaccine it has developedwith US National India opting out, howChina’saggression firmedthe decision, and the economic implications of the move Institutes of Health. The trials found the vaccine 94.5% effective, and the exportsto theseFTApartners”,the“utilisation announcement comes days after PRABHARAGHAVAN rate”ofFTAsbothforIndiaanditspartnershas Pfizer had releasedtrial results show- NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 been “moderate”across sectors, according to ing 90% effectiveness in itsown vac- this study,whichcoverspactswith Sri Lanka, cine,developedincollaboration with ON SUNDAY,15countries solidifiedtheir par- Afghanistan, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, BioNTech-Fosun Pharma. The ticipation in the Regional Comprehensive Bhutan,Nepal,Republicof KoreaandMalaysia. Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use the Economic Partnership (RCEP). Even as India India has trade deficitswith 11 of the15 same technology,basedonmessen- optedtostayout afterwalking outofdiscus- RCEP countries, and some experts feel that gerRNA,ormRNA. Moderna vaccine, whose trial sions lastyear,the newtrading bloc has made Indiahasbeenunableto leverage itsexistingbi- Suchvaccines makeuse of the resultshavebeenpublished, itclearthatthedoorwillremainopenforIndia lateralfreetradeagreementswithseveralRCEP messengerRNA molecules that tell usedmRNAtechnology. to returntothe negotiatingtable. memberstoincrease exports. the body’s cells what proteins to build. “You don’t getintoFTAsmerelytoprovide The mRNA,in this case, is codedtotell What is RCEP? your market to your partner countries.While the cellstorecreatethe spikeprotein (adenovirus) that infectschimpanzees Describedas the“largest”regional trading youaccommodate your partner countries, of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which —tocarry justthe code to makethe agreementto thisday, RCEPwasoriginallybe- your objectiveisalsotoincrease the presence causesCovid-19.Itisthe spikeprotein spikeprotein, likeaTrojan horse.The ingnegotiatedbetween16countries—ASEAN of your productsinthe marketsofyour part- —whichappears as spikes on the sur- adenovirus, whichhas been geneti- membersandcountrieswithwhichtheyhave ners, andIndiahasn’tbeenableto achievethe face of the coronavirus—that initiates callymodifiedsothatitcannotrepli- freetradeagreements(FTAs),namelyAustralia, latter objective,” said trade expertBiswajit the process of infection; it allows the cate in humans, will enter the cell and China, Korea, Japan, New Zealand and India. Dhar,professoratJNU’sCentrefor Economic virustopenetrate cells, afterwhichit release the code to makeonlythe The purpose of RCEP wastomakeiteasier StudiesandPlanning.“Ourshareintheimports goes on to replicate. spikeprotein.The body’s immune sys- forproductsandservicesof eachofthesecoun- ASEAN leaders attend the RCEP Summit in Hanoi on Sunday. Reuters of RCEP partner countries have either stag- Acoronavirus vaccine basedon temisexpectedto recognise the spike tries to be available across this region. nated or fallen,” he said. mRNA, onceinjected intothe body, protein as apotentiallyharmful for- Negotiationstochartoutthisdealhadbeenon will instructthe body’s cells to create eign substance, and starts building an- since2013,andIndiawasexpectedto beasig- India felt the agreement would forceittoex- What areIndia’s optionsnow? copies of the spikeprotein. In turn, tibodies againstit. natoryuntil itsdecision lastNovember. INDIA’STRADEBALANCE tend benefitsgiven to other countries forsen- India,asanoriginalnegotiatingparticipant this is expected to prompt the im- Then thereare inactivatedvirus sitive sectorslikedefenceto allRCEPmembers. of RCEP,has the option of joining the agree- mune cells to createantibodies to vaccines made by using particles of Whydid India walk out? WITHRCEPMEMBERS RCEPalsolackedclearassuranceovermar- ment without having to wait 18 monthsas fight it. These antibodies will remain theCovid-19virusthatwerekilled, OnNovember4,2019,Indiadecidedto exit RCEP Member 2018-192019-20 ket accessissuesincountriessuchasChinaand stipulated fornew members in theterms of in the bloodand fight the real virusif making them unable to infect or repli- discussions over “significantoutstanding is- non-tariffbarriers on Indian companies. the pact. RCEP signatorystatessaid theyplan and when it infectsthe human body. cate; protein subunit vaccines that use sues”.Accordingto agovernmentofficial,India ASEAN-21.85 -23.82 to commence negotiations with India once it Other types of vaccine includethe apartofthe virus (spikeprotein again, hadbeen“consistently”raising“fundamental China-53.58 -48.65 What can the decision cost India? submitsarequestofits intentiontojoin the non-replicatingviral vector category, in this case) to build atargetedim- issues”and concerns throughout thenegotia- South Korea-12.05 -10.81 Thereare concerns thatIndia'sdecision pact “in writing”, and it mayparticipatein an example of whichisthe vaccinede- mune responsetowards;and DNA tions and waspromptedtotakethisstand as wouldimpactitsbilateraltradetieswithRCEP meetings as an observer prior to itsaccession. Japan -7.91-7.91 velopedbyOxfordand AstraZeneca. vaccines that use geneticallyengi- they had notbeen resolvedbythe deadline to membernations,astheymay bemoreinclined However, thepossiblealternative thatIndia The vaccine uses adifferent virus —in neered DNAmolecules that, again, are commit to signingthedeal.Its decision wasto New Zealand-0.25 -0.14 to focusonbolsteringeconomictieswithinthe maybeexploring is reviewsofits existing bi- the Oxford-AstraZeneca case, aweak- codedwiththe antigenagainstwhich safeguardthe interests of industries like agri- Australia -9.61-6.93 bloc. The move could potentiallyleave India lateralFTAswith some of these RCEP mem- enedversion of acommon cold virus the immune response is to be built. cultureand dairy and to give an advantageto with less scope to tapthe large marketthat bers as well as neweragreementswith other All figures in $billion the country’s servicessector.According to of- RCEP presents—the size of the deal is mam- marketswithpotentialforIndianexports.Over ficials, the current structureofRCEP still does Source: Ministry of Commerce and Industry moth, as thecountries involved account for 20 negotiations areunderway. INDIAACTIVE CASES 465,478 notaddress these issues and concerns. over 2billion of the world's population. Indiacurrentlyhasagreementswithmem- Givenattemptsbycountries likeJapanto bersliketheASEANbloc,SouthKoreaandJapan Howfar is China’s presence afactor? Itfelttherecouldalsobeapossiblecircumven- getIndia backintothe deal, thereare also wor- and is negotiating agreementswith members 550,000 EscalatingtensionswithChinaareamajor tion of rules of origin— the criteria used to de- ries that India’s decision could impact the likeAustraliaand New Zealand. Tworeviews reason forIndia’sdecision. WhileChina’spar- termine the national source of aproduct —in Australia-India-Japannetwork in the Indo- of the India-SingaporeCECAhavebeencom- ticipation in the deal had already been prov- the absence of whichsome countries could Pacific.Itcouldpotentiallyputaspannerinthe pleted; theIndia-BhutanAgreement on Trade ing difficult forIndia due to various economic dumptheirproductsbyroutingthemthrough worksoninformaltalkstopromote aSupply Commerce and Transit wasrenewed in 2016; threats, the clash at Galwan Valleyhas soured other countries thatenjoyedlowertariffs. Chain Resilience Initiative among the three. and the India-Nepal TreatyofTrade wasex- relations between the twocountries. The var- India wasunabletoensure countermea- However, India’s stance on the deal also tendedin2016. Eightroundsofnegotiations 500,000 iousmeasuresIndiahastakentoreduceitsex- sures likeanauto-trigger mechanism to raise comes as aresult of learnings from un- have been completed forthe reviewofthe 516,632 465,478 posuretoChinawouldhavesatuncomfortably tariffs onproductswhentheirimports crossed favourable trade balances that ithas with sev- India-KoreaCEPA, whichbegan in 2016.India with itscommitmentsunderRCEP. acertain threshold. It alsowanted RCEP to ex- eral RCEP members, with some of whichit hastakenupthereviewoftheIndia-JapanCEPA Major issues that were unresolvedduring cludemost-favourednation(MFN)obligations even has FTAs. An internal assessment by the andIndia-ASEANFTAwithitstradingpartners. LAST 10 DAYS RCEP negotiations were relatedtothe expo- fromtheinvestmentchapter, asitdidnot want government has revealedthat the growth in Thereisalso agrowing viewthat it would Nov6 Nov15 sure that Indiawould have to China. This in- to handout,especiallytocountrieswithwhich trade (CAGR) with partners over the lastfive serve India's interesttoinveststronglyinne- 450,000 cludedIndia’s fears that therewere“inade- it has border disputes, the benefitsitwas giv- financialyearswasamodest7.1%.While“there gotiatingbilateralagreementswiththeUSand quate” protections againstsurgesinimports. ingto strategicalliesorforgeopoliticalreasons. hasbeengrowthrate inbothimportsfromand the EU,bothcurrentlyawork in progress. Note:The Nov15figureinthis graph is based on thegovernment updateonNov 16

INDIATOTAL CASES WORLDTOTAL CASES 8,845,217 54,615,099 ... And what’s its strategic importance Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, Welfate,updatedat11pmonNov16 updatedat11pmonNov16 carryoutacost-benefitanalysisto evaluateits your domestic capacities. andAustralia,whichhaveadifficultdiplomatic SHUBHAJITROY merit. This wasaslightnuancingofNew “Look,weare oneofthe fewcountries relationship with China, have joinedRCEP. NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 Delhi’s position as Jaishankar addressedthe wheretoday we have to give our ownindus- Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese Raisina Dialogue in mid-Januarythis year. tryalevelplaying field at home.What have studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University,said, THERE IS astrategic contexttoIndia staying But, as theCovid-19pandemic expanded we gone and done to ourselves?... Building on “Chinaistryingto overcomeCovid-19disrup- Arthritisdrug may offerhope outof theRegionalComprehensive Economic and deepened, and China’saggression national capacitydoesn’t makeyou anti tions and resurrect the supplychain mecha- Partnership (RCEP) that goes beyond purely spannedfromtheSouthChinaSeatotheIndia- global. On the contrary, Iwould arguethat if nism and possiblyput pressureon[US for older Covid patients: study economic argumentsand implications. China border,New Delhitook aseries of eco- youdon’thavecapacities, youend up as a President-electJoe] Biden.The Indo-Pacificso AndalthoughIndiamadeitsdecisionayear nomic retaliatorysteps, mostlyinthe digital marketfor other people’s goods... Iwould say farranontwintracksofeconomyandsecurity AN EXISTINGtype of arthritis drug severe Covid-19infection were given ago, the recent escalation of tensions with domain.The RCEP situationisevidence that if youwanttoactuallyparticipatemorevig- with economy on aweak wicket.China is try- mayreduce the risk of the drug.Theywerein China appears to have playedarole in shrink- thetensionsontheLAC—includingtheJune15 orouslyinthe global economy, youmustbuild ing to strengthen the base while the US [is fo- dying forelderly patients multiple hospitals across ingthespaceforany argumentto jointheRCEP. Galwan incident in which20Indian soldiers stronger domesticcapacities, and do what it cussedon]thesecurityaspects.ForIndia,RCEP with Covid-19,according Italyand Spain. Those Days afterPrime MinisterNarendraModi and an unspecifiednumber of Chinese were takesfor the gaps to be closedasaresult of hardlymakes adifference as it has FTAs with to an international study, giventhe drug were speltoutIndia’sdecisiontopulloutof themega killed—havehad wide-rangingimpact. decadesofdisadvantage.” ASEAN,andCEPAs(Comprehensive Economic ledbyscientists at found to have a71% re- deal early in November 2019,External Affairs Partnership Agreements)withJapanand ImperialCollegeLondon ducedrisk of dyingcom- MinisterSJaishankar,delivering the Fourth India’s hardening stand Costs and benefits SouthKorea already.” and the Karolinska pared to patientswho Ramnath Goenka MemorialLecture on The hardening of India’sposition wasevi- The Indian Express has learnt that negotia- Institutet,Sweden, and PAPER had nottaken the drug. November14,hadsaidIndia’sstancewasbased dent in September,when Jaishankar made a torsfromJapanworkedhardtokeeptheRCEP What lies ahead publishedinthe journal The study also found that on a“clear-eyedcalculation” of the gains and thinly-veiledreference to the RCEP: “Now,we agreement“open foraccessionbyIndia” and The ramificationsofIndia’s decision to opt ScienceAdvances. CLIP 17%ofpatientswho were costs of entering anew arrangement, and that had takenglobalisation as saying we will be- also saidthatIndia mayparticipateinRCEP outof RCEPwillbetested.WhenIndiachoseto The drug, baricitinib, giventhe drug diedor no pact wasbetterthan a“bad agreement”. come morecompetitive,you knowwewill meetings as an “observer”. stay out of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017, is usuallyusedtotreat NEWRESEARCH neededtogoonaventi- Jaishankar had said India had negotiated until keep in touchwith the world. Now, fast for- ThatJapanledthedraftingof theMinister’s therewas much commentarythat New Delhi rheumatoid arthritis. lator,compared to 35%in theveryend—andhadtakenacallafterassess- ward 20 years, what areyou actuallyseeing? DeclarationonIndia’sparticipationinRCEPisa might be isolatingitself.Three years later, Using artificial intelli- the control groupwho ing what wasonoffer.Hehad also arguedthat Can youhonestlytell me that, oh yes, because reflectionof thecooperationbetweenIndiaand India’sposition has been recognisedbylike- gence, Imperial team initiallyidenti- were notgiven the medication. India wasnot about to step backfromits Act of this openness, because of all these FTAs to- like-mindedcountries —especiallythe Quad mindeddemocracies,andmanyhavesaidthat fied it as adrug that could have anti- The research team said the find- Eastpolicy,nor wasthe decision on RCEP con- day, India is moreinnovative,India is more countries (Australia, US, Japan)—tohave“re- India’s decision wasprescient. viral and anti-inflammatoryeffects. ings arebeing followedupwithlarge- nected to itsapproachtothe Indo-Pacific. competitive,Indianmanufacturingisthriving, silient supplychains” in future. It is no secret Someanalystsarguethat“if youdon’twant In the early-stage international scale clinical trials. Indianexportsarebooming,andthey’renot.If that allQuad countries plus afew more—in- to beon the menu, youhavetobeatthe table”. study,83patientswithmoderateto Source: Imperial College London Chinese aggression they’renot,there’s agoodreason. Iagree that cludingNewZealand,SouthKoreaandVietnam That’swhy India’s seat at the table as an “ob- Someweekslater,JaishankarsaidthatIndia youcannotbearising powerwithout being a —havebeen talking to one another to secure server”isanimportant development,where “hasnot closedits doors”onRCEP, and will risingeconomy. To do that, youhavetobuild resilientsupplychains,away fromChina.Japan Delhicanmake surethatitisnot onthe“menu”. After5Presidentsin5years,Peruwithoutaleader:whatledtothiscrisis?

aremissing. The government’s hard-fisted plicating Vizcarra in an influence-peddling larity,especially among the Peruvian youth, hit four times, ledtothe protests intensify- OMMARATHE response has drawncriticism from several scam,Congress launchedits firstimpeach- as an anti-corruption campaigner.So, when ing. The Lima-based El Comercio wroteinits NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 quarters, including from LiteratureNobel ment bid. Vizcarra deniedthe charges, and the impeachment trial came through last editorial, “...the newExecutive has been left LaureateMario Vargas Llosa. the bid faileddue to lack of support. week,his supporters accusedCongress of without anydefence of legitimacy or moral PERU’S FIFTH president in five years, So, whatbrought this crisisupon Peru? The second attempt waslaunchedin orchestrating aparliamentarycoup. authority,largely because of itsown clum- Manuel Merino, wasforcedout of power October overunprovencorruption charges Thousands of protesters took to the siness, pettiness, and insistence on error. on Sunday, justfivedays aftertakingoffice, Vizcarra’s ascension involving2.3millionsoles($640,000)dating streetsinvarious parts of Peru —whichhas Theyhavetoleave the government palace as massive protests sweptthe country — Vizcarra,57, an engineer and acentrist backtowhenVizcarrawas governor of the already been disproportionatelyimpacted as soon as possible.” whichremains without aleader as of figurenot affiliated withany political party, Southern Moquegua region during2011-14. within the continent by thecoronavirus MostofMerino’s cabinetresigned, and Monday. Theturmoil beganonNovember became Vice President in July2016, and Thisattempt succeededonNovember9,with pandemic, and whose economyisexpected he toofollowed suit on Sunday, tendering 9, when centristMartin Vizcarra,Merino’s President in March 2018 afterthen incum- 105votinginfavourand 19 against holding to shrink by 14%this year,asper the an “irrevocable” resignation and leaving popular predecessor in office, wasim- bent PedroKuczynski resignedovercorrup- Martin Vizcarra (left);Manuel Merino Vizcarra responsible undera19th-century International Monetary Fund. Peru without aleader.Reports saidthat peachedbythe Peruvian legislatureon tion charges. clausefor“permanentmoralincapacity”,de- Agitators demandedthat Merinoresign, Congress is nowlooking forapalatable re- grounds of “permanent moral incapacity” Vizcarra promisedananti-corruption spitehim denying anywrongdoing. despitehis promises of acting as aunifying placement,but fewexpect that the appoint- over unproven chargesofcorruption. agenda, initiating reforms to tackle corrup- year,snap elections again gave adominant With Vizcarra gone, Congress chief figure, and of holding the presidential elec- ment of another one of itsnominees would The countrywide demonstrations that tioninthelegislatureandjudiciary,andprom- positiontoparties opposed to his rule. ManuelMerino,amemberof thecentre-right tionsasscheduledinApril2021. Tensionskept pacify protesters.Opponents of the legisla- have rocked the countrysince have been isednot to makeanother bid forthe presi- PopularActionparty,assumedthePresidency escalatingtowardstheendof theweek,lead- ture, including Vizcarra,haveinstead asked compared with the unrestthat markedthe dency when his term endedin2021. He was His impeachment in an interim capacity the following day. ing to the death of twostudents on Saturday. that Peru’s topcourtshould step in and de- turbulent regime of authoritarian President able to garner support nationally, but had a Since the election, the Peruvian cide the legality of the impeachment Alberto Fujimori from 1990 to 2000.Inthe fraughtrelationshipwithCongress,Peru’sleg- Congress sought to remove Vizcarra from Protests againstMerino His exit process, as apossible verdict in his favour violent clashes so far, twopersons have islative body,andhaditdissolvedin2019,trig- office twice. In September thisyear,after During his two-and-a-half years in The deaths of JackPintado, 22, shot11 could help keep Vizcarra’s political ambi- died, dozens have been injured andover40 gering aconstitutional crisis. In Januarythis the release of audio recordings allegedly im- power, Vizcarra had amassedwide popu- times with metalpellets,and Inti Sotelo, 24, tions afloat.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 GREECE ANCIENT BUST FOUND DURING SEWAGE WORK Abust of the ancientgod Hermes, in good condition, wasdiscoveredinAthens during sewage work,authoritiessaid Sunday.The GreekCulture Ministry said thatthe head, one of 10 THE WORLD manythatserved as street markersinancientAthens, appearstobefromaround300 BC.

TOPOFTHE HOPE OF OVERTURNING RESULT FADES WORLD Asia-Pacific sees surge in new Covid cases, nations mull reimposing curbs Trumpteamretreats

STEPHENCOATES SYDNEY,NOVEMBER16 fromkeyclaimin COUNTRIES ACROSS the Asia- Pacific region reportedrecord newcoronavirus numbers and Walid al-Moalem fresh outbreaksonMonday, with Pennsylvanialawsuit Japan facing mounting pressure to reimpose astate of emergency SYRIA and South Koreawarning it was President’sNSA O'Brien says looksnow that Biden has won SyrianForeign at a“critical crossroads”. The resurgence of the virus in MinisterMoalem Asia comesastravelrestrictions AP&REUTERS aregraduallybeingeasedinthere- HARRISBURG,NOVEMBER16 diesat79 gionanditwilldampenprospects SYRIA’SLONG-TIME for- forbroader reopening that would US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s eign ministerWalid al- boost therecovery underwayin campaign is withdrawing acen- Moalem, an unyielding economies suchasJapan. tral partofits lawsuit seekingto defender of Syrian Newdailycases in Japan stop the certification of the elec- President Bashar al reachedarecord 1,722on tion resultsinPennsylvania, Assad’s bloody crackdown Saturday, with hotspots in the whereDemocrat Joe Biden beat onpeacefulprotesters that northernisland of Hokkaido and People wearing protectivemasksatShinagawastation in Tokyo, Japan. Withrecord daily Trumptocapturethe stateand sparkedadecade old con- thewesternprefecturesof Hyogo cases, Japan is facing mountingpressuretoreimpose astate of emergency. Reuters help win the White House. flict, died on Monday, the and Osaka. In Tokyo, cases have Ahead of aTuesday hearing government said. There neared 400inrecent days,levels in the case, Trump’s campaign were no details on the notseensince early August. portedmorethan 200new coro- on Mondayafter amonths-long droppedthe allegationthat hun- Election officials open provisional ballotswhile poll causeofdeath, but the79- Prime MinisterYoshihide navirus cases forthe thirdcon- streak of no infections in the dredsofthousands of mail-in watchers observefrombehind at the Schuylkill County year old had been in poor Suga, desperatetomaintain secutive dayonMonday, as the stateendedonthe weekend. and absentee ballots —682,479, Election BureauinPennsylvania lastweek. AP health with heartprob- Japan’s economic momentum, government considers tighten- One official said the clusterwas to be precise —wereillegally lems. The soft-spoken has said the newinfections did ing social distancing. likelyconnected to ahotelfor processedwithout itsrepresen- diplomat has accusedthe notwarrant the reimposition of “Weare at acritical cross- quarantinedtravellers. tativeswatching. chance to fixtheir ballot. UnitedStates andothersin astate of emergency,orahalt to roads wherewemighthaveto Severalotherstatesimposed The campaign’s slimmed- But, he said, it is minimal and the West of fuelling his the government’s campaign to readjustdistancing,” South newborderrestrictionsastheout- down lawsuit, filedinfederal certainlyfewer thanthe margin country’s unrestand la- encouragedomestic tourism. Korean Health MinisterPark break threatenedAustralia’s court on Sunday, maintains the —almost70,000 —that sepa- belledinsurgents“jihadi Indonesia,whichhasthehigh- Neung-hoo said. recordofcontrolling the disease, UK PM Boris Johnson aim of blocking Pennsylvania ratesBiden and Trump. terrorists”inaconflict in estnumber of cases in Southeast “Thecurrent situation is tak- withseveraldays of nonewinfec- from certifying avictoryfor In anycase, thereisnoprovi- whichmorethan half a Asia, has reportednew spikes af- ingavery dangerousturn con- tionsreported this month. Biden in the state, and it main- sioninstatelaw preventingcoun- million people have been tersigns infection rateswere sidering the rising infections PM Scott Morrison said the Virus quarantine tains itsclaimthat Democratic ties from helping voters to fixa killedand morethan 5.6 plateauing in recent weeks. It an- from dailylives andthe unre- newcases were “a reminder, voters were treatedmorefavor- ballotthatcontainsatechnicalde- million have become nouncedarecorddailyjumpof lenting pace of the spread.” even afteralockdown, even af- complicates abig ablythan Republican voters. If the Biden-Harris ticket ficiency.Levine saidthe lawsuit refugees, mostofthem 5,444 infections on Friday. In Australia, 14 newcases terall this time, the virus hasn’t week for UK PM TheAssociatedPressonNov 7 is determined to be the does notcontain anyallegation Sunnis. REUTERS In South Korea, officials re- were reportedinSouth Australia gone anywhere”. REUTERS calledthe presidential contest for winner, and obviously that somebody votedillegally. Biden afterdetermining that the Meanwhile, Trump’s na- London: BritishPrime Minister remainingballots lefttobe things look like that now, tional security adviser,Robert Boris Johnson said Mondayheis countedinPennsylvaniawould we’ll have avery O’Brien, said on Mondayhe EUROPE Michigan,Washingtonimpose “fit as abutcher’s dog” and firmly notallowTrumptocatchup. professional transition would ensureaprofessional EUprivacy in controlofthe government, de- Trumphas refusedtoconcede. from the National transition to the team ledby spitehaving to self-isolatebe- The remainingclaim in the Security Council.” Biden if Biden is deemedthe activistsfile severe curbs as US cases soar cause acontact has tested posi- lawsuit centres on disqualifying winner of the 2020 presidential tive forthe coronavirus. ballots castbyvoters whowere ROBERT O’BRIEN election and “obviouslythings complaintsover no morethan twohouseholds. Johnson, who is trying to givenanopportunity to fixmail- U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER look likethatnow”. iPhonetracking DAVIDSHEPARDSON WashingtonstateGovernorJay suppress anew surge in UK coro- in ballots that were going to be “If thereisanew administra- &DAVIDLAWDER Inslee announcedaone-month navirusinfections, quell turmoil disqualifiedfor atechnicality. tion,look,theydeserve sometime EUROPEAN PRIVACY ac- WASHINGTON,NOVEMBER16 ban on indoor services at restau- within his Conservative Party The lawsuit chargesthat so that the voter could fixitand to come in and implement their tivistshavefiledcomplaints rantsandgyms,andareductionof and secureatrade deal with the “Democratic-heavy counties” vi- ensurethat the votewould policies,” O’Brien said. “If the againstAppleoveritsuseof MICHIGAN AND Washington in-storeretailcapacityto25%. European Union, said in avideo olated thelaw by identifying count, called“curing”. Biden-Harris ticket is determined softwaretotrack the be- stateonSundayimposed Indoor gatherings would be messagethat he had no Covid- mail-in ballots before Election CliffLevine, alawyerrepre- to be the winner,and obviously haviourofiPhone users. sweeping newrestrictions on prohibited outside of one’s 19 symptoms. Daythat had defects—suchas senting the Democratic National things look likethat now, we’ll The Vienna-basedgroup gatherings, includinghaltingin- The University of Michigan household and outdoor gather- Johnson had spent aweek in lackinganinner “secrecy enve- Committee, whichisseeking to have averyprofessionaltransition NOYB said Mondaythat it door restaurant service,toslow has mandated masks. Reuters ings would be limitedtofive hospital with the coronavirus in lope” or lacking avoter’s signa- intervene, said it’s unclearhow fromtheNationalSecurityCouncil, asked authorities in the spread of the coronavirusas people in Washington stateun- April, including three nightsin ture on the outside envelope — manyvoters were giventhe there’s no question about it.” Germanyand Spain to ex- total US infections crossedthe 11 der Inslee’s order. intensive care. aminethe legality of million mark, justoveraweek cold weather drivespeople in- The newrestrictions come as Johnson had plannedaseries Apple’s tracking codes. afterhitting 10 million. doors wherethe virus can daily newinfectionsinrecentdays of meetings and announce- Ruling PTI wins most Protesters urge NOYB said iOS creates Michigan Governor Gretchen spread moreeasily. have morethandoubledfromsin- mentsthis week afterlosing two unique codesfor each Whitmer ordered aban on in- She bannedpublic eventsat gle-dayhighsreportedduringthe topaides in messy circum- Pak govt to sever iPhone thatallowApple person high school and college concert halls, casinos, movie the- previousUSpeakinmid-July. The stances. He wasalso due to lead seats in Gilgit-Baltistan and thirdparties to “iden- classes as well as indoor dining aters,skatingrinksandotherven- numberof Covid-19 patientsinUS meetings to decide the next ties with France, tifyusersacross applica- service forthree weeksstarting ues, while in-home gatherings hospitals also has reachedanall- steps in Britain’s response to the clashwith police tionsandevenconnecton- on Wednesdayasincreasingly will be limitedto10peoplefrom time high. REUTERS coronavirus. AP SAJJADHUSSAIN lineandmobilebehaviour”. ISLAMABAD,NOVEMBER16 The group argues that this near Islamabad amountstotracking with- PAKISTANPRIME MinisterImran out users' knowledge or Hungary to veto EU budget and recovery Khan’s PakistanTehreek-i-Insaf ASIFSHAHZAD consent. AP (PTI) on Mondaywon most of RAWALPINDI,NOVEMBER16 the seatsinthe legislative as- BRAZIL plan over conditions in major snag for bloc semblyelection in Gilgit- THOUSANDS OF supporters of a Bolsonaro-backed Baltistan, keeping alivethe tra- hardline Islamistparty clashed Merkel, who is in charge of the dition of success in the region by Parties who controlthe with police on the main road candidatessinkin MARTONDUNAI& German EU presidency. ED Disputeon the party ruling the country. central government in intoPakistan’s capital city on localelections PAWELFLORKIEWICZ Hungarian Prime Minister ruleoflaw India has slammedPakistan Pakistan have usually Mondayfollowing protests over BUDAPEST/WARSAW/ Viktor Orban hasalready sent a PLAIN E forits decision to hold elections emergedwinners in Gilgit- therecent use of cartoons of the ● condition SHAKEN BY the world’s BRUSSELS,NOVEMBER16 letter to EU institutionsthreat- EX in Gilgit-Baltistanand said any Baltistanelections. Reuters file ProphetMohammad in France, second deadliestcoron- ening to veto the budget and actiontoalter the status of the and severalpeoplewereinjured. avirus outbreak and deep HUNGARY WILL veto the Polish Prime MinisterMateusz ACCESS TO EU’s Covid recov- militarily-occupiedregion has The protesters from the economic crisis, Brazilians EuropeanUnion’s2021-27budget Morawiecki wroteasimilar let- eryfunds areconditional on no legal basis. (PPP) five,PakistanMuslim Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan(TLP) voted on Sundayfor expe- and itsCovid recovery scheme if terlastweek. member states’ adherence to Electionswere heldon23seats League-Nawaz (PML-N)two, party that has made blasphemy riencedpoliticians from access to funds is made condi- Asked if Hungarywouldveto the rule of law. Hungaryand of thethirdlegislative assemblyon JamiatUlema-e-IslamFazl(JIU-F) itsrallying cryare demanding traditional parties in local tionalongovernments’adherence HungaryPMViktorOrban the 1.1trillion euro ($1.3 trillion) Poland object to this condition Sundayamidsttight security due and Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen that the government severs elections, amovethat may to the rule of law, amovewhicha budgetandthe750billioneuro re- because the EU has been criti- to thethreat of militancy. (MWM)one seat each. diplomatic ties withFrance and damagereelectionhopes senior EU officialwarnedcould coveryplanthathingesonthepas- cal of the stateofthe judiciary Unofficial resultscompiled However, DunyaTVreported expels itsambassador,police forPresidentJair createhavoc withinthe bloc. “If thereisaHungarian veto sageofalawonfinancingit,called in these twocountries and has by the various media outlets that PTI wonnine seats, inde- and party officials said. Bolsonaro. Candidates Ambassadors of EU govern- of the budget,therewill be acri- the OwnResources Decision, un- earlier triedtosanction them showedthat PTI wonatleast pendentsseven,PPP four,PML-N Policeblockedthedemonstra- backedbythe far-right mentsinBrusselswill discuss sis,” asenior EU diplomat in- lesstheruleof lawconditionswere forwhat the bloc’s leadership eight to nineseats, but it wasstill twoand MWM one seat. tors as theyattemptedtoenter populist President, who the budget,its financing and any volved in the preparations for reconsidered,Hungarian govern- calls political interference in well shortofmajority to form the The official resultswerestill Islamabad.Theprotestersattacked presentshimself as an out- funding conditions on Monday the ambassadors’ meeting said. ment spokesmanZoltan Kovacs the judicial process. The rule of government. However, it wasin notknown as election authori- the policewith bricks,stones and sider,wereknocked outof afternoon. Hungary’s govern- He said informal discussions said: “Your deduction is correct.” lawcondition is seen as the aposition to form thegovern- ties maytakesome time to an- sticks,policeofficialTauqeerShah the running in the coun- ment spokesman reiterated on on the issue were already under ZbigniewZiobro,Poland’s EU’s latestattempt to hold the ment as 6-7 independent candi- nounce the final outcome. said. “Severalofour officers were try’s largestcitySao Paulo MondayBudapestwould vote way, including talksbetween the Justice Ministersaid this was“the governmentsofthe twocoun- dates also won. This wasthe thirdelectionfor injured,” he said, adding that and other municipal races againstthe package, and head of the European decisive moment forwhat will tries to account. But their veto Geo TVreportedthat PTI won the current legislative assembly nearly 2,000 protesters had in statecapitals. REUTERS Poland’sjustice ministersaid Commission, the chairman of EU happen in Europe... when Poland could trigger acrisis forthe EU. eight seats, independent candi- afterpolitical reform introduced campedattheentranceto thecity, Warsawcould followsuit. leaders and Chancellor Angela candeclareaveto.” REUTERS dates six, PakistanPeople Party in 2010. PTI refusing to leave. REUTERS

FIRST OPERATIONAL FLIGHT OF THE CREW DRAGON SPACECRAFT BUILT AND OPERATED BY SPACEX SpaceX’s ‘Resilience’ liftsfour astronauts into anew era of spaceflight

on acommercial rocket. tronauts—RobertBehnken and month stay at the space station. the night sky as the rocket become the firstBlackastronaut KENNETHCHANG& “This is trulyacommercial Douglas Hurley—tothe space “It marks theend of the de- arcedoverthe Atlantic Ocean. to serveasamember of the sta- ALLYSONWALLER launchvehicle,”Jim station in May, but that wasatest velopment phase of the system,” Afterdroppingaway fromthe tion’screw in the 20-some years NOVEMBER16 Bridenstine, the NASA adminis- flight to shakeout remaining Phil McAlister, directorofcom- secondstage, whichcontinuedto that people have been living trator,said during apost-launch glitches in the systems. mercial spaceflight develop- orbit,theFalcon9booster turned aboard theInternational Space IT’S NOT yetthe same as hopping news conference, “andwe’re The four astronautsonthis ment at NASA,said in atele- around and landedonafloating Station. Other Blackastronauts on acommuter flight from New grateful to our partners at flight areMichael S. Hopkins, phoneinterviewwith reporters platform.SpaceX now, asamatter have previouslybeen aboardthe York to Washington or renting a SpaceX forprovidingit.” Shannon Walker and Victor J. Thursday. “For the firsttime in of course, recovers and reuses the space station, but theywerethere car from Avis, but Sunday’s NASA designated Sunday GloverofNASA, and Soichi history,thereisacommercial ca- boosters. This same rocket stage forbriefer stays during space launchoffour astronautstothe night’s launchasthe firstopera- Noguchi, aJapanese astronaut. pabilityfromaprivate sector en- will be usedtolaunchthe next shuttle missions that helpedas- International Space Station in a tional flight of theCrew Dragon NASA and SpaceX lastweek tity to safelyand reliablytrans- quartetofastronautstothe space semble the orbiting outpost. capsule built by SpaceXwas a spacecraftbuilt andoperated by completedthe certification portpeople to space.” station next spring. When asked during apress momentous step toward mak- SpaceX, the rocket company process, whichprovides the Despiteiffyweather —fore- The Crew Dragon, named conference about his thoughtson ing space travel commonplace startedbyElon Musk.The four space agency’sseal of approval casts gave onlya50-50 chance Resilience, is scheduledtodock making history,Glovermodestly and mundane. astronautsaboard—three from that SpaceX has metthe specifi- of favourable conditions at the Mondayatabout 11 pm Eastern noddedtothe significance. “It is In the future, instead of rely- NASA andone from JAXA,the cations setout forregularly tak- ASpaceX Falcon 9rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule launchpad —the skies re- time aftera27.5-hour tripasthe something to be celebrated once ing on spacecraftbuilt by NASA Japanese space agency —left ing NASA astronautstoorbit. namedResilience,islaunchedonthe firstoperational NASA mained clear enough.At7.27 capsule catches up with space we accomplish it, and Iamhon- or other governments, NASA as- Earth from the Kennedy Space This launch,known as Crew-1,is commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space CentreinCape pm Eastern time, the nine en- station, whichistravelling at oured to be in this position and to tronauts and anyone else with Center in Florida. aregularly scheduledtrip to take Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. Reuters gines of the Falcon 9rocket morethan 17,000 mph. be apart of this great and experi- enoughmoneycan buy aticket ACrew Dragon took twoas- four crew members forasix- roared to lifeand brightened When Gloverarrives, he will encedcrew,” he said. NYT

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020 11 ECONOMY GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER `50,425 `74.62 $44.57 `62,542

Note:Gold,silverrates at Delhi spotmarket;goldper 10 g, silverper 1kg; Brent crude as of 2030 IST SENSEX: 43,637.98 ▲ 194.98 NIFTY: 12,780.25 ▲ 60.30 NIKKEI: 25,906.93 ▲ 521.06 HANGSENG: 26,381.67 ▲ 224.81 FTSE: 6,356.17 ▲ 39.78 DAX: 13,144.01 ▲ 67.29

Domestic equity andcurrency markets were closedonMonday forBalipratipada; Internationalmarket data till 1900IST INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, INDIGO RBLendersIFOCUSONREVIVtoALOFgetACTIVITYextraINSECTORfundSWITHBAstCKWobARD&FuyORWbondsARDLINKAGES, ‘Learned valuable lessons about demand, scope for otherdebtinstrumentsofstressedcos CarGo; will serve us well’ caresector,with credit outstand- stressedsectorsidentifiedbythe outsourcingandKYC.Theprimary SUNNYVERMA& ingofabove Rs 50 croreand up to ED Easing Kamath panel. “The government focusof thenewscheme,rechris- RESPONDINGTOthe demand- and will recoverinline witheco- GEORGEMATHEW Rs500crore asonFebruary29are liquidity and the RBI areworking in coor- tenedasCo-Lending Model, is to supplygap in aircargo,which nomic activity.Weare able to NEWDELHI/MUMBAI,NOV16 eligibleto availfundingunderthe PLAIN E dinationto providemuchneeded improvethe flowofcredit to the wascreated as aresultofflight satisfy the demands of muchof ● pressure scheme.Tenorof additionalcredit EX fundingsupporttostressedcom- unserved and underserved sec- restrictions duringthe Covid-19 India’s air cargo needs, even AFTEREXTENSION of the availedunder the scheme, which panies. We believe the timing is tors at an affordablecost. period, low-costcarrier IndiGo without freighter aircraft. EmergencyCreditLineGuarantee is open till March31, 2021, is five ENTITIES IN 26 stressed nowright as mostsectors have Of theRs3lakhcroreofECLGS launchedall cargo flightsasa We arealso uplifting more Scheme (ECLGS) forthe stressed yearsincludingoneyearof mora- sectors identifiedbythe openedup andthe health impact forMSMEs, bankshavesanc- standalone revenue stream, the postoffice mail, on behalf of the companies by the government, torium on principal repayment. Kamath Committee, as of Covid-19 isshowingatrendre- tioned Rs 2.03 lakh croreout of airline’s chief commercial officer Government, than ever before, the RBIisalso planning to an- Along withthe government’s well as the healthcare versal. Measures takennow will whichRs1.48lakhcrore hasbeen WILLIAM BOULTER told PRANAV thanksto ourbroad networkand nounce steps to provide addi- steps, sources said the RBI’s focus sector,with credit out- provide survival and growth cap- disbursedtill October 2020. MUKUL in an e-mail interview. unmatchedflight frequency. tionalliquidityto such companies of liquiditymeasureswillnowin- standing of above Rs 50 ital to healthyaswell as stressed TheECLGS hasbeen againex- He addedthat IndiGo has al- through banksand NBFCs. cluderevival of activity in specific croreand up to Rs 500 companies,”sources said. tendedaslockdownsareopening readytransported cargo equiva- Howimportant apartiscargo SourcessaidtheReserveBank sectors that have both backward croreasonFebruary 29, “The RBI stands ready to un- up graduallyand demandisex- lent to the loads carriedinthe businessbecomingfor the of India (RBI)plans to provide ad- and forwardlinkages,and multi- areeligible to avail fund- dertake further measures as nec- pectedto increaseduringthesec- lastfinancial year,within the last airline as the growth in ditionalliquidityto banksthatcan plier effectsongrowth. ing under the scheme an- essary to assuremarket partici- ond half of FY21.Sources said the five months at limited capacity. passenger demand remains beusedtobuybondsorotherdebt The central bank has decided nouncedbythe Finance pantsofaccess to liquidity and governmentisopentoincreasing Edited excerpts: constricted? instrumentsofstressedcompan- to conductontapTLTRO (Targeted Ministry. The RBI plan to easy financing conditions,” RBI theRs3lakh crorefacility in case William Boulter The Covid-inducedlock- ies.Lastweek,the Finance Minis- LongTermRepoOperations)with provide liquidity support GovernorShaktikanta Das had it is exhaustedafter deployment Howmuchgrowthdid IndiGo down this year notonlyposeda tryannouncedthe launchofa tenorsof upto threeyearsforato- to entities in thesesectors saidwhileunveilingthemonetary of funds to stressedcompanies. witness in itscargo challenge forour businessbut newversionof theECLGSforcom- talamount of up to Rs 100,000 would further ease fund- policy in October. Bank credit growth from May operations during the peak IndiGo has been oneofthe also turnedout to be an oppor- panies whichhaveloan dues up croreatafloatingrate linkedtothe ing pressurefor them. In abid to better leverage the (Rs 102.2 lakh crore) to October Covid-19period, and does the innovative airlines notjustin tunity forthe CarGo arm. IndiGo to 30days (SpecialMentionAcco- policy repo rate.Liquidity availed respectivecomparative advan- (Rs 103.4 lakh crore) has been companyexpectthese India but alsoglobally. We al- operated over 2,100CarGo char- untsorSMA 0) as on February29, by banksundertheschemehasto tagesofthebanksandnon-bank- mainlysupportedbydisburse- numberstosustain? ways find newapproaches to ters, transporting morethan 2020 who willbeprovidedaddi- be deployedincorporatebonds, mentsasonSeptember 30, 2020. ingfinancial companies (NBFCs), mentsunderECLGS. As on Octo- Our CarGo line of business combat difficult situations. 18,000 MT of suppliesbetween tional credit of 20 per centout- commercialpapers,andnon-con- Banksare sittingonoverRs2 the RBI recentlydecidedtopro- ber, disbursementsunder ECLGS wasalready performing ex- Having no freighters at all, we April ‘20 and September ‘20. The standing underthe scheme. vertibledebenturesissuedbyen- lakh croreofloansthat could face vide greater operational flexibil- were Rs 1.52 lakh crore, higher tremelywell, but then we went deployedaround 10 A320/321 CarGocharterflightsoperated Entities in 26 stressedsectors tities in specific sectors over and slippages and restructuring in ity to thelending institutions, thangross bank credit growth of to anew levelwith the carriage passenger aircraftfor cargo op- across 21 destinations within identifiedbythe KV Kamath above the outstanding levelof FY21. Sourcessaidthe TLTROfa- while requiring them to conform Rs1.2lakhcrore (inabsolute terms of essentialsupplies andmedi- erations as our ‘CarGo-in-cabin’ India and internationally, includ- Committee, as well as the health- their investmentsinsuchinstru- cility can be extendedtoall 26 to the regulatoryguidelines on from MaytoOctober). cines in the early weeksofthe charters. Using the aircraftbelly ing newstations likeBishkek in lockdown. We learned valuable space and adding some minor Kyrgyzstan, CairoinEgypt, lessons aboutthe demand and equipment and procedural Almaty in Kazakhstanand BPCL scope forCarGo whichwill defi- changes forthe cabin, we have Tashkent in Uzbekistan. TACKLING PANDEMIC IMPACT nitelyserveuswell foraugment- been able to carry significant IndiGo has already transpor- ing our CarGo operations in the payloads on our passenger air- tedcargo equivalent to theloads strategic sale: months ahead. craft—up to around 20 tonnes, carriedinthe lastfinancialyear, ‘Stimulus3.0 supportive for 7.8% `2.65lakhcr If we lookatthe year-over- depending on commodity. within the lastfivemonths at ‘Multiple’ EXPECTED FISCAL DEFICIT, TOTAL AMOUNT year numbers, in July, our cargo Forexample, we have carried limited capacity.The airline has growth but fiscal impact unclear’ IN TERMS OF PERCENTAGE ANNOUNCED UNDER revenue wasup9per cent;in arecordhighesttonnageof in fact earnedmarginallyhigher bids received India’s thirdtranche of stimulus measures should support OF GDP, IN THE FISCAL YEAR AATMANIRBHAR BHARAT August, our cargo revenue was 20,123kgcargo on A320 (on the cargo revenue over these mon- economic rebound overthe coming quarters, but the 2020-21 PACKAGE 3.0 up 20 per cent;inSeptember, Kochi-AbuDhabi sector). ths as compared to the earnings actual fiscal impact is still unclear,FitchSolutions said our cargo revenue year-over- over the lastfinancial year,asa on last day year wasup27per cent —a Apart from medicalsupplies result of the combination of our ₹ AREASTARGETEDBY March31,2021 steadilyincreasing trend which andCovid essentials, what bellyspace returning to the mar- ₹ AATMANIRBHARBHARAT ■LaunchofECLGS2.0for26 is obviouslyverypleasing, espe- aresomeofthe topgoods ket and ourextensive cargo-in- ENSECONOMICBUREAU ₹ ₹ PACKAGE3.0 stressedsectors ciallysince our total capacity was transportedbyIndiGoduring cabin operations, plus firmer NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 ■Formalemployment ■Incometaxrelieffordevelopers sharplyreducedinthose the peak Covid period? yields. We areproud to have ■ProductionLinkedIncentive(PLI) andhomebuyers months. We launchedall cargo The commodities that arebe- playedapartinmaintaining and THE GOVERNMENT has received ■ Fertilisersubsidy ■BudgetoutlayforR&Dtowards flightsasastandalone revenue ing loadedeventoday include supporting supply chains in and multiple expressions of interest ■MGNREGA Covid-19vaccine stream. Somewhat incredibly, perishablefoodstuffs,pharma- outofthe country by flying med- (EoIs) forthe strategic sale of we arenow carrying morecargo ceutical products, as well as PPE ical supplies, fresh vegetables BharatPetroleumCorporationLtd `1.2 lakh crore `1.6 lakh crore at muchlower capacity,than we kits, whichwereveryprominent and otherexport cargo. IndiGo (BPCL), the Finance Ministrysaid Spendingtoward other 11 SpendingtowardPLIScheme did at 100per cent lastyear. in the early days of the pan- will continuetoadaptits busi- onMonday—thelastday forsub- ₹ announcements,including demic. Some shipmentssuchas ness to theneeds of the hour and missionof offersby potentialbid- ■ExtensionofECLGS1.0upto Source: FitchSolutions/PTI Has IndiGointroducedany auto-parts, whichwerealarge cargo will remain an integral ders forthe government’s 52.98 ₹ tweaks to keep up with the component of our pre-Covid partofour recovery from theef- percentstakeinthecountry’ssec- growth in cargo business? loads, continue to be important, fectsofthe pandemic. ond-largest fuel retailer. The office of Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Departmentof Investment and Public Asset After recoveryinOct, diesel DHFL resolution: Amid protest over bid Management (DIPAM), tweeted that “multiple expressions of in- terest have been receivedbythe sales slip againinNov firsthalf by Adani,CoC to take call on all 4offers Transaction Advisor” forthe strategic disinvestment of BPCL, and continue with the corporate of Rs 12,000 croreavailable with addingthatthetransactionwould ENSECONOMICBUREAU ENSECONOMICBUREAU Piramal Group had insolvency resolution process as DHFL to the lenders. The Piramal move to the next stageafter scru- NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 MUMBAI/NEWDELHI,NOV16 written to the lenders prescribed under the RFRP with- bid would result in recovery of tiny by the transaction advisor. out anydeviations from it. We onlyaround6percentforlenders. DeloitteTouche Tohmatsu DIESEL SALES slipped5per cent THE COMMITTEE of creditors protestingagainst herebyreserveall our rightsun- SC Lowy submittedabid that India LLP has been appointedthe in the firsthalf of November,data (CoC)of scam-hitDewanHousing Adani Group’s offer, derlaw and equity to seek appro- comes with so many conditions transaction advisor.DIPAM did from the three leading OMCs, FinanceCorporation(DHFL)isset placedafter theNov 9 priateredressal,includingwithdr- thatitisunlikelytobeconsidered. nothoweverspecifywhichcom- Indian Oil Corporation(IOC), to meetoverthe next couple of awingfromthecurrentcorporate Meanwhile, it is understood panies had submittedthe EOIs. BharatPetroleumCorporationLtd days to decideonthefourbidsre- submission date insolvencyprocessforDHFL,if the that in itscurrent form, the Adani Finance MinisterNirmala (BPCL)and HindustanPetroleum ceivedfromresolutionapplicants, unsolicited offerofthe Offereeis bidisthemostfavourable.“Lend- Sitharaman tweetedthat the dis- CorporationLtd (HPCL) showed. Diesel sales witnessedgrowth in Octoberfor the firsttime thatincludeAdaniGroup,Piramal bidsandsubmitfreshonesasthey consideredand/ortheprocessset ers will optfor asound proposal investment process of BPCLhad Diesel sales had witnessed since February, prior to the nationwide lockdown to curb Group, Oaktree and SC Lowy. found the prices to be very low. outtheRFRP, theIBCandtheCIRP with less haircut. Bankswant to progressedandwasmovingto the growth in October forthe first thespread of Covid-19. Express file Among thosereceived,while In itsletter, the Piramal Group Regulationsisnotdulyfollowed.” recoverthe maximumamount second stageafter the govern- time since February, prior to the AdaniGroupplacedabidof more said the submissionofaresolut- When contacted,anAdani from theirexposure. Whyshould ment had receivedmultipleEoIs. nationwidelockdownto curbthe thanRs31,000 crorefor all assets ionplan,afterthesubmissiondate, Group spokesperson declinedto theyadjustthe cash of aroundRs spreadofCovid-19.Dieselsalesfor sideredakey indicator of eco- transportofpeople and goods of DHFL, the bid had raisedeye- is neither in accordancewiththe commentonthe matter. 10,000croreorRs12,000crorely- the three large state-ownedoil nomic activity. with acorresponding lull during browsandPiramalGroupwrote a provision of the revised request DHFL had total assets of Rs ing DHFL againstthe EMI or re- BRIEFLY marketingcompanies(OMCs)fell Anindustrysourcenotedthat thefestiveperiod.Ananalyst,who letterto theCoCprotestingagainst forresolutionplandated16 Septe- 93,000crore,comprisingretailas- payment,”said abanking source. to 2,860 thousandmetrictonnes diesel sales were down only0.5 didnotwishto bequoted,saidre- Adani’s offerwhich wassubmit- mber2016 (RFRP)northeInsolve- setportfolio of Rs 33,000 crore, Sources saythat while Adani (TMT) in the firsthalf of Novem- per cent forthe first14days of cent datahad indicated that sales tedafterNovember9,thesubmis- ncyandBankruptcyBoardofIndia wholesale assetportfolioofRs Capital has been looking to ex- Vaccineboost: ber, from 3,013TMT ayear ago. November and lowertraveldur- of diesel and petrol were closeto sion datefor the resolutionplan. (InsolvencyResolutionProcessfor 48,000 crore, andcash andcash pand organicallyoverthe last2-3 Oilrisesover4% Petrolsalesinthisperiodgrew ingtheDiwaliweekendmay have pre-Covid levels, but anysignifi- As of now, Adani’s bid is the CorporatePersons) Regulations, equivalentof Rs12,000crore.The years and openedaround100 slightlyto1,031TMT from 1,028 contributed to thefall in diesel cant growth in sales would need highest,trumpingthatof Oaktree 2016,(CIRP Regulations). Adanis initiallyoffered to payRs branches,itisnow looking to ex- Dubai:Oilrose4.2%Monday, TMT.InOctober,dieselsalesgrew consumption.The sourcesaid an uptickineconomic activity. and Piramal. While Oaktree had Itaddedthatsincetheunsolic- 750crorewithinoneyearandthe pandinorganically andexpandits withBrent crude futures for 7.4per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) dieselconsumption wasontrack Datafromthe OMCs also submittedabidof Rs31,000crore ited offerhas notbeen submitted balance Rs 1,500crore would be presence in the NBFC sector.A Januaryup$1.79 at $44.57a and petrol sales by 4.5 percent y- to normalise by December. showedthat sales of ATFwere forthe entirecompany, the inaccordancewiththeprovisions payable aftereight years.Piramal source said DHFL’sacquisition barrel,afterModernasaidits o-y. Dieselaccountsforaround40 Expertsalso notedthat it was down53percentinthefirsthalfof PiramalGroup had bid Rs 25,000 of the RFRP and the IBC,“we Enterprises bid forDHFL’s retail would provide synergy to Adani experimentalvaccine was per centoffuel consumption in normalfor diesel sales to pickup November,comparedto theyear- croreforDHFL’sretailbid.Lenders wouldurge theAdministratorand portfoliowas onlyRs6,000crore. Group’s NBFC business and the 94.5%effective inpreventing India and itsconsumptioniscon- before Diwali through greater agoperiod. hadaskedthebiddersto revisethe the CoC to disregard suchanoffer PiramalalsoofferedRs9,000crore group is keen on acquiring it. Covid-19. REUTERS WPIinflationat Logistics amajor Dow at newhigh as Moderna World Bank to advise 8-monthhigh NewDelhi: The wholesale challenge in Covid data bolsters vaccine bets DIPAM on CPSE price-basedinflationroseto aneight-monthhighof 1.48 per cent in October. vaccinedelivery REUTERS asset monetisation capacity to transportvaccines BENGALURU/MILAN,NOV16 The WorldBank advisory GSTregistration ABHISHEKDE colder than -25 degrees Celsius. ENSECONOMICBUREAU projectisaimedatanalysingpub- streamlining NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 Thus,distributingvaccineslike THE DOWhit anee highMonday NEWDELHI,NOVEMBER16 licassetmonetisationin India and that of Pfizer’s mRNAcandidate, as Modernabecame thesecond benchmarking itsinstitutional NewDelhi:TheLawCommi- WITH Ahandfulofmanufactur- whichhasbeen foundtobemore UScompanyinaweekto seepos- THE DEPARTMENT of Investment and businessmodelsagainst in- tteeof GSTCouncilonMon- ersnearing the end of late-stage than 90 per centeffective in pre- itiveresults fromitsCovid-19 vac- and PublicAsset Management ternational best practices as well daydiscussedfakeinvoice clinicaltrials of Covid-19vaccine venting Covid-19but needs to be cinetrial.ModernaIncrose7.7per (DIPAM)Mondaysignedanagre- as supporting development of frauds, further tighteningof candidatesinIndia,thenextchal- stored at -75 degrees Celsius, will centasitsaiditsexperimentalvac- ement with WorldBank forpro- operational guidelines, the Fina- GSTregistrationprocessand lengethatawaitsthegovernment bechallenging.However, thevac- cinewas94.5percenteffective in Avolunteer receivesashotinMarch.OnMondaymorning vidingadvisoryservices to the de- nce Ministrysaid in astatement. other legal measures. lies in finding the requisitework- cines undergoing trials in India preventingCovid-19basedonin- trade, shares of Moderna soared 7.7% as it said its partment forassetmonetisation. “It is expected that this proj- forcetoadministerthe shots to needtobekeptbetween 2and 8 terim datafromalate-stage trial. experimentalvaccine was94.5% effective. Reuters file In another development, the ectwouldfacilitate and acceler- suchahumongous population degreesCelsius,whileintransport At 11:35a.m. ET,the Dow Finance Ministryinvited bids atethe non-coreassetmonetisa- GST:‘Noburden and cold chain logistics fortheir and storageuntil delivery. Jones Industrial Averagewas up from actuarial firmsfor arriving tion process and help unlockthe forcompliance’ last-mile distribution in sucha “Covidvaccinesat-25degrees 443.68points, or 1.51 percent, to Meanwhile, shares in Pfizer els since end July2019, fell 4.1per at the embeddedvalueofLife value of these un-used/margin- vast,hot country. can be handled as we have the 29,923.49,theS&P500rose38.61 fell on Mondayafter Moderna's centby 1623GMT,whilesharesin Insurance Corporation (LIC) allyusedassets which has the po- NewDelhi: The Department WhileIndiahasa28,000-unit requisiteinfrastructureinterms points,or1.08percent,to 3,623.76 announcement. While Pfizer's itsGermanpartner BioNTech ahead of itsIPO. tential to substantiallyaugment of Revenue reiterated that cold storagenetwork that is used of storageand distribution.None andtheNasdaqCompositegained vaccinehasto bestoredandship- were down 12.8 per cent. The government has tasked financial resources forfurther in- therewill be no extracom- forthe government’s universal of thethird-partylogisticsopera- 75.21points, or 0.64per cent, to pedatultra-cool temperatures, JPMorgananalysts said the logis- DIPAM to facilitatemonetisation vestmentsand growth,” it said. pliance burden on the tax- immunisation programme, ex- tors in India areequippedwith - 11,904.49. The pan-European Moderna said itsshotcan bekept tics of Moderna's vaccine were of non-core assets of centralpub- The centralgovernmentalso payers forGST turnoverdis- pertsandlogisticsfirmsindianex- 70 degreescoldstoragefacilities,” STOXX600ended1.3percentper at normal fridge temperatures. clearly lessonerousalthoughthey lic sector enterprises, or CPSEs, plans to sellminority stakeinLIC, playedinForm 26AS. PTI press.com spoketohighlight that said SanjaySharma, vice presi- cent. In UK, The blue-chip FTSE Pfizer shares, whichon expect storagerequirementsfor under strategic disinvestment of thecountry’slargest insurer,and nocompanyhadthecapabilityor dent, ColdmanLogistics. 100indexclosed1.7 higher. November 9hit their highestlev- both the vaccines to converge. value of Rs 100crore and above. listitonbourses. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 12 SPORT THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,NOVEMBER17,2020

Big Bash to Team Australia’s introduce subs, Before first ball, an outbreak ‘barefoot circle’

Power Surge Rising Covid-19cases in Adelaide aworry ahead of India-Australia series; Test captain Paine in self-isolation to address racism Melbourne:THEINCLUSIONof so-calledX-fac- torsubstituteplayers areamong three rule changes forthe 10th edition of Australia's EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Aus Open hub to be PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Twenty20 Big Bash League. KOLKATA, NOVEMBER 16 SYDNEY,NOVEMBER16 Teams will be allowedtouse one X-factor centred in Melbourne playerafter the 10th over of the game to re- WITH ONLYamonth to go forthe India ver- AUSTRALIANPLAYERSwillformabarefootcir- placeabatteror,forthefieldingteam,abowler sus Australia Test series, therehas been an Melbourne:TheAustralianOpenandall cle to acknowledge the cultureofindigenous whohasbowlednomorethanoneover.Under outbreak of the novelcoronavirus in the regular interstate leadup tourna- people before everyseries, starting with the thetraditionalcricket rules,substituteplayers Adelaide, the venue of the firstTest, aday- mentsfor the season's firsttennis ma- ODI contestagainstIndia, said pacer Pat can field but aren't allowedtobat or bowl. night game. The firstTestatthe Adelaide jor will be staged in Melbourne in Cummins,whoadmittedthathisteamhasnot The other twochanges allowfor apower Oval is scheduledfromDecember17and Januaryinabid to minimise risksfor done enough to supportanti-racism move- surge —atwo-overpowerplayfor the batting Cricket Australia will have to closelymoni- players traveling and quarantining. ment. The Australian Test and ODI vice-cap- team at anystage of the second half of an in- torthe rising numbers. Tennis Australia will transfer the tain said his team considered the move as the nings, when onlytwo players will be allowed According to a Reuters report, Adelaide tournamentsfromSydney, Brisbane, best waytobegin addressing racism, both at in fielding positions outside the inner-ring. To reported14new Covid-19cases on Monday. Perth, Adelaide and Hobartto home and around the world. accommodatethat powersurge,the power On November 1, BBC had reportedabout Melbourne, whereaquarantine and "We'vedecidedtodothe BarefootCircle. playtostarteachinningswillbereducedfrom Australia recording zerolocal cases of practice hub will be setup. Australia's We'regoing to look at doing it at the startof sixto fourovers.Theotherrulechangeinvolves Covid-19for the firsttime in almostfive internationalbordersarerestricted,and eachseries and it's apretty easy decision for abonuspoint,to becalleda'bashboost,'being months. Againstthe backdrop of aflattened thereisstill differing domestic travel- us.Notonlyasasport,butwe aspeopleareab- awardedhalfway through the second innings Covid curve, Cricket Australia announced ing restrictions between states. solutelyagainstracism,"Cumminswasquoted to the team with the best 10-overscore. that it would allowfans to return to stadi- Tennis Australia said logistics, in- as saying by 'ESPNCricinfo'."We can probably “The...(changes)prioritisescoring,exciting ums forthe forthcoming series. Things can cludingdraw sizesandscheduling,were put our hands up and saywehaven't done cricket,introducenewstrategicanglesanden- changeifthere’s an escalation in the out- being worked through forthe weeks enough in the pastand we want to getbetter, surethere's always something to playfor break. ahead of the Australian Open, whichis so this is one small thing we'regoing to intro- throughout the entirematch,” Cricket Already the outbreak has forced due to startJan. 18.Some professional duce this summer." Australia's head of Big Bash Leagues Alistair Australia’s Test captain TimPaine intoself- sportscompetitionsinAustralia,includ- Earlier this year,WestIndies legend DobsonsaidonMonday. “We'reconfidentour isolation. Also, all the players who partici- ing the National RugbyLeague, the Michael Holding has criticised the Australian fans will love what these innovations bring to pated in the Sheffield Shield game between Australian Football League and Super team fornot taking aknee in supportofthe the game.” The BBL is settostartDec. 10.Trent Victoria and Western Australia in Adelaide AustraliacaptainTimPaineandhisTasmaniateammatesareself-isolatingat home, as Rugby, went ahead with some players BlackLivesMattermovement,duringthelim- Woodhill, the BBL's playeracquisition and from November 8-11havebeen asked to per the state’s advisoryfor travellers who have returnedfromSouth Australia. Reuters file livinginbio-securehubs. AP ited overs series in England. Asked whythey cricket consultant,saidthebest T20leaguesin self-isolateafter returning to their home decidedagainsttaking aknee as England and theworldare theonesthat“innovate,pushthe states. This includes Victoria batsman Will the West Indies had done earlier this year,the boundaries and challengethe status quo.” AP Pucovski and Western Australia batting-all- siteonMondaynight. bio-bubbles. Today, avideo clip postedby limited-overs leg of the forthcoming series 27-year-oldsaidtheteamwantedto celebrate rounder Cameron Green –bothare partof It added: “CAhas always maintained the BCCI on itsofficial Twitter handle afterlinking up with his Australian team the indigenous people of his country. the Test squad. that it would needtobeagile as border con- showedRaviAshwin grabbing atennis rac- mates. The pace spearhead, who playedfor "I think the mostobvious one wasin BIGBASH,BIGGERCHANGES Green is also in the limited-overs squad ditions changeand we thank the players, quet and hitting volleys to KL Rahul, as the KolkataKnight Riders in the IPL, is serving Australia; we think the mostmarginalised and according to the report, he, along with coaches and staffinvolvedfor their flexibil- latter ostensiblyprepared to counter the his quarantine at the moment and he spoke group is the FirstNations people and POWER SURGE The six-over left-arm spinner Ashton Agar,might miss ity and all parties fortheir support. We will shortball. about keeping the “conversations open”. Indigenouspeoples,andwe thinktheBarefoot powerplayatthe startofan the ODI series opener in Sydneyon continue to provide updates as the situa- The India-Australia series that has three “(I) haven’t made afinal decision on that Circle's agreat waytocelebratethem," innings, in whichonlytwo fielders November 27. tion evolvesand look forwardtohosting a ODIs, three T20Is and four Tests, is report- yet. Obviously, (it’s) unprecedented times Cummins said. "Some people might want to arepermitted outside the circle, The latter,too, has been self-isolating safeand successful summer across all for- edly worth$300million and CA is also try- with so manypeople spending alarge por- take the knee, some people might want to will be reducedtofour overs. with his Western Australia team mates. mats.” ing to recoup apartofthe Covid-induced tion of time in these bubbles so we arego- showitindifferentways,andabsolutelywe're Batting teams will choose when to Elsewhere, ‘keeper-batsman Matthew ESPNCricinforeportedthat Cricket loss by allowing fans at the venues. Last ingtokeep all the conversations open, chat all forthat, but we'vecome together as ateam enforce the remaining twoovers Wade –partofboththe limited-overs and Australia mayairliftAustralian, BBL players week,CAissuedapress release, confirming about that abit closer to when we all getto- and think this is the best waywecan demon- afterthe 10th over. Test squads –isinself-isolation in Tasmania to Sydneyafter Western Australia, itsplans and expecting that attendances gether,” he wasquotedassaying by the CA strate anti-racismaswellascelebratingindige- afterturning up forhis stateagainstNew Queensland and Tasmania closedtheir bor- would be pretty decent across venues, with website. nous culturehere." X-FACTOR Afterthe 10th over of South Wales. According to the Reuters re- ders to South Australia on Monday. the SydneyCricket Ground (SCG) and He added: “I wouldn’t be surprisedif TheBarefootCircleisastatementtakenup eachinnings, both teams will be port, Australian states have tightenedinter- During apress conference via video call Adelaide Oval holding 50 per cent of their there’s (sic) times throughout the summer by Australian cricket morebroadlytoconnect able to substituteaplayerfor either nal borders following the outbreak. today, fast bowler PatCummins expressed total capacity everyday,and the Melbourne wheresome players might justneedalit- withAboriginalcultureandthelandonwhich the 12th or 13th name on the team The question is, if Adelaide would be optimism. “I’m surewhatever we have to Cricket Ground (MCG) around 25,000spec- tle rest knowing notonlyhow busy this matches areplayed. The Australian women's sheet. The sub can replace anyplayer safeenough to hostthe firstTest, aday- do we will find away.Ithink everyone tators per dayfor the Boxing DayTest. The next couple of months is but also atour of national team had also formedabarefootcir- who is yettobat or has bowled no night affair? knows they’vegot to be adaptable,” he told Gabba at Brisbanewill hostcrowds 75 per South Africa (February-March)and afew cle with NewZealand players in Brisbane morethan one over. CA,though, isn’t considering aswitchat reporters. cent of itstotal capacity.Seating capacities away tours next year. aheadof thelimitedoversseriesinSeptember. this stage. “Our biosecurity and operational The ViratKohli-ledIndian team, along at the SCG, Adelaide Oval and Gabba are “There’s always cricket on, so we’ll make Lastweek,the Sheffield Shield teams had BASH BOOST Awin will fetch teams arecloselymonitoring the situation with the Australian players who playedin 48,000,53,500and 42,000 respectively. surewe’reall open about that, having those gathered in abarefootcircle before their three points. An additional point and working to put in place the necessary the Indian Premier League (IPL), have been conversations.” matches to markthe startofNAIDOC week, will be assignedtowhicheverside plans to ensureplayers, coaches and staff serving a14-dayquarantine period in Cummins to take acall The 27-year-old has been moving in bio- while the Women's Big Bash League players had the mostruns after10overs. areavailable forupcoming fixtures,” aCA Sydneyatthe moment aftercoming from Meanwhile, Cummins said he would bubbles since lateAugust, when he went to have takenaknee to supportthe BLM statement waspostedonits official web- Dubai. Both sets of players aretraining in take acall on whether to sit out during the England foralimited-overs series. movement. Participants, fans may BRIEFLY How voice of BLM Hamilton has Hendersoninjuryin require vaccination at Englandgameaddsto awoken F1 from its moral slumber Liverpoolwoes Tokyo Olympics: Bach London: England midfielder Jordan SHASHANKNAIR Hendersonwaswithdrawnathalftime NOVEMBER16 againstBelgium due to tightness in his leg, manager GarethSouthgatesaid, LEWIS HAMILTONequalledMichael REUTERS casting doubt on his availability forin- Schumacher'srecordofseventitlesinFormula TOKYO,NOVEMBER16 jury-hit Liverpool this weekend. Harry Oneto enterthepantheonof greatsonSunday. WinksreplacedHenderson in the sec- Hamiltonmatchesup,andinsomecases,even INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC Committee (IOC) ond half of England’s 2-0 loss in their exceedsSchumacherintermsof achievements chief Thomas Bachexpressedconfidence on Nations League group stagematchon on the track. But if thereisone arena where Mondaythat the TokyoGames will be held Sundaywhichendedthevisitors’hopes Hamiltonhasnocompetition,itisthework he successfullynextyear,evenallowing specta- of reaching the finals. “Jordan had abit has done in terms of political engagement in tors to attend, as the worldgrapples with a of tightness at halftime and felt he asportthat has rarely engaged with lifeout- sharp rise in coronavirus infections. couldn’t carry on,” Southgatesaid. side of itsbubble of races, engineers, mechan- Bach’stwo-dayvisitto Tokyoislikelytobol- Liverpool have had anumber of regu- ics, machines and brand building. ster Japan’s effortstostage the Olympics, but lars in their starting lineup sidelined will do little to assuagethe concerns of apub- withinjury, losingdefendersVirgilvan Diversity in Formula One licdeeplyworriedaboutthespreadof thevirus. Dijk and Joe Gomez afterbothunder- FormulaOneisasportthathashistorically The IOC president spent the daywith the wentsurgerieswhileTrentAlexander- favoured teams and drivers with the deepest Tokyoorganisers discussing howtostage the Arnold withdrew from the England pockets. The economics of the sportallowfor massive sporting event during an unprece- squad with injury. onlyaselect fewtoenter it. Beforehebegan dentedpandemicandensuresafetyforagath- his dominance in the sport, Lewis Hamilton’s ering of morethan 11,000 international ath- identity among alargerpublic audience was letes. The visit is Bach’s firsttothe Japanese JohnsonwinsMasters thatof beingthefirsteverblackracecardriver Hamilton, whose parentshad to struggle capital since he and former prime minister withrecordlowscore in Formula One. Hamilton, who came from a forhis career in racing to become a Shinzo AbedecidedinMarch to postpone the In order to protect the Japanese poor British familyand whose parentshad to reality,isananomalyinthe wayFormula 2020 Games to next year. people, and out of respect for the Augusta,Georgia(USA):DustinJohnson trulystruggleforhiscareerinracingto become One has always been run. Reuters/Instagram OnMonday, Bachfist-bumpedwithJapan’s Japanese people, the IOC will finallyclinchedanelusive second ma- areality,isthe biggestanomalyinthe way newpremier,Yoshihide Suga, and told Tokyo undertake great effort so that ... jortitlewithafive-strokevictoryatthe Formula One has always been run. It is there- governorYurikoKoiketheycouldbeconfident the Olympic participants and Masters on Sunday, staving offself- fore no surprise that the man who has practi- things and there's been statementsreleased avaccine would beavailable by next summer. visitors will arrive here vaccinated doubt as he overcame ashaky startto callynobusiness being around the sport, has andwe'vemadegesturessuchaskneelingbut TheIOCwillarrangetoensurevaccination his final round to end with atourna- beenitsbiggestcampaignerforbringingabout we'venot changed anything,” Hamilton said of both participantsand visitors before they if, by then, avaccine is available.” ment-recordlow scoreatAugusta diversity in the sport. accordingto aBBCreport.“Exceptforperhaps arrive in Japan, he added. THOMAS BACH, IOC CHIEF AT APRESS National. American Johnson led Hamilton’s call fordiversity over the years some of our awareness." This wasmade clear “In order to protect the Japanese people, CONFERENCE IN TOKYO ON MONDAY. BACH ALSO throughout,thoughonlybyonestroke hasn’t justbeen about therebeing morerace when Hamilton continuedtowear BLM t- andoutof respectfortheJapanesepeople,the early,anddidnotdropashotinthefinal AWARDED FORMER JAPAN PM SHINZO ABE THE car drivers of different ethnicity.Inaninter- shirts and talk about the movement even af- IOC will undertake great effort so that ... the 13 holesonhiswaytoafour-under-par OLYMPIC ORDER IN GOLD viewonce, Hamilton said, “Therereallyisthe terthe season opener in Austria, though F1 Olympic participantsand visitors will arrive 68 and an unprecedented 20-under- mostminimal diversity within this sportand gave the impression that it wastobeaone- herevaccinated if, by then, avaccine is avail- par 268total. “I know2020 has been a Ireallywantto beapartofshiftingthat,work- time showofsupport. Formula One had allo- able,” he said. readytake placesafely, sayingtheIOCwasnow reallystrangeyear,butit’sbeengoodto ing in cooperation with Formula One and the cated time before the season opener fordriv- “veryconfident”thatspectatorswouldbeable me,” said Johnson. “Growing up, that FIA.Idon’t knowwhy there’s notenough uni- ers to showsupportfor the anti-racism Vaccination notarequirement to attend the Games. wasall it was, as akid, youdream of versity students, engineers, mechanics and movementbutdidnotdothesameforthesec- At anews conference later,Bachsaid he But he told reporters it wasnot realistic playing in the Masters, and dream even media coming through from moredi- ond and thirdrounds. wouldnotmakevaccinationarequirementfor to put afigureonthe costofthe postpone- about putting on agreen jacket.” verse backgrounds.” Games participants, however. News of apo- ment untilnextyear’s virus precautions are REUTERS The response to his call foraction wasper- Convincing his peers tentiallysuccessfulvaccinefromPfizerInchas ascertained. functoryatbest.FormulaOnebossCorey Chase The biggestfight forHamilton in bringing liftedhopes forthe staging of the Games, but This month, Tokyosuccessfullyhostedan promisedtoopen up neweravenues fordriv- that the Brit waswanting the team to imple- about achangeinFormula One continues to public opinion in Japan remains mixed. international gymnastics meetatwhichor- FiveISLclubsfailto ers of colour to enter the sport. But the overall ment. It ledtoMercedes racing in 2020 with be his ownpeers, that is, the drivers. LastJuly, Nearly 60% of respondentsinaNovember ganisers tested arangeofCOVID-19counter- secureAIFF licence messageofhiring people of colour waslost an all-blackliveryinstead of their customary Hamilton criticisedFrenchdriverRomain poll by TV Asahi said the event should be fur- measures. amongthenoise.ThatwasuntilHamiltonthis silver, in abid to align themselveswith the Grosjean’s (who is adirector of the Grand Prix ther postponedorcanceled. Duringhisvisitto Tokyo,Bachalsoawarded London:Five IndianSuperLeagueclubs year ramped up his effortstobring about BlackLivesMattermovement.Forateamwith Drivers’ Association) response to the BLM Aftermeeting Koike, Bachapproacheda AbetheOlympicOrderingold,theIOC’shigh- have failedtomeettheAFCandnational changesinF1astheBlackLivesMattersmove- cars painted silverand blackfor decades and movement and said that he believedthe handful of protesters who were holding ban- estaccolade. licencing criteria and will nowhaveto ment grew. knownasthe 'SilverArrows', going all-Black, Frenchman didn’t understand the gravity of nersandusingloudspeakersto presstheirde- When premier,Abe made himself all but either appeal againstthe decision or includingracingsuitsanduniformsfortheme- the situation. Six drivers didn't take aknee at mand forcancellation of the Olympics. synonymouswithTokyo2020,evenfamously seek exemption from the AIFF in order Mercedes changes colours chanics and engineers, wasasignificant step. the season opener in Austria. But no one went “Do youwant to speak or do youwant to appearing as video game character Mario at to take partinthe event starting Friday. Oneof themostrecognisablesportsstarsin As he continuedtowear BLM t-shirts,hel- asfarasformerRussianrivalVitalyPetrov, who shout?”heasked,assecurityguardsstoodbe- theclosingceremonyoftheRioGamesin2016. Odisha FC, NorthEastUnited FC, Kerala the worldand the greatestdriverinthe sport mets and took aknee as asign of protest, accusedHamilton of being ‘overzealous’ and tween him and one protester. But the protest- Abeplayedacritical role in Tokyo’s bid to Blasters, Hyderabad FC and newen- (in terms of number of wins) notonlyworea Mercedes continuedtobackhim. that the 35-year old’s political stance in the ersrebuffedhisofferofdialogue,Bachtoldthe wintheOlympics,makingthecampaignana- trantsSportingClubEastBengalarethe BlackLives Matter T-shirtand took aknee -he arena of F1 was‘toomuch’. He then went on news conference. tional priority. five clubs whichwerenot handedli- got other drivers to join -but also convinced F1's lukewarm response to comparetheHamilton'sBLMstanceakinto LastweekJapanreportedrecordnew daily Afew yearslater,aFrenchinvestigationinto censesby theAIFFto beableto takepart his German team, Mercedes, to join the cam- Despitehisteambackinghisstanceonbe- ‘a gayindividual flying arainbowflag asking cases, sparking concerns of athirdwaveofin- doping by Russian athletesrevealedevidence in AFC and national competitions. Any paign. The success that both Mercedes and ing vocal about the BlackLives Matters move- everyone else to become gay’. Despitethese fections, although it has mostlyavoidedthe of twopaymentstotally$2.3 million by the club whichfailedtosecureAFC Licence HamiltonprovidedeachotherhelpedtheBlack ment,theresponsefromF1’sstakeholderswas comments,Petrovwasinvitedby FormulaOne high death tolls recordedelsewhere. Tokyobidding committee to alittle-known willnotbeableto takepartincontinen- LivesMatter movement gain visibility in notasenthusiastic.HamiltoncriticisedF1’sre- to be aracing stewardatthe Portuguese GP. Bachcallednextyear’sgamesa“lightatthe Singaporea firm, BlackTidings. taltournamentslikes AFC Champions Formula One. And with Mercedes notwant- sponseto BLMby sayingthatitwastoorushed Motorsportgreat Mario Andretti went as far end of the tunnel” afterthe world’s pandemic France is investigating if that moneywas LeagueandAFCCupevenif theyqualify ingto letgooftheirprizedrivertootherteams, and that the organisation wasnot looking to ascallinghim'militant'.Inresponse,Hamilton battle, and pointed to recent sporting compe- usedtowin the backing of an influential IOC from the ISL. PTI madethemmorereadyto go withthechanges makeany actual,structuralchange.“We'vesaid said the commentswere'disappointing'. titions in Japan as proof that eventscould al- member forJapan to hostthe 2020 Games. 18R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789 VOL. 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