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You may follow The Indian Express’s news and analysis through the day on indianexpress.com DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, AUGUST 22, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `6.00 (`8 PATNA &RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE EDITORIAL PAGE OFFICIAL NOTE TO MEA NAGATALKS: BRIDGINGTHE AswithPak, NARRATIVEDIVIDE BY SANJIB BARUAH PAGE 8 selectChina BUSINESSASUSUAL entitiesface BY UNNY extravisascan Official:Tie-ups of Indian universities, institutionsare alsounder review SUSHANTSINGH The fire spread quickly, with smoke enveloping the powerhouse and the four storeysofthe plantthat lie underground, in Srisailam on Thursdaynight. PTI NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 AS SINO-INDIAN relations re- Bihar polls: In main tense following lackof Nine killed in Telangana powerhouse fire progress in talksonresolving the Thesteps, border situation in Ladakh, the EC guidelines, government is placing visasfor thesignal Five engineers among dead,survivors personsconnected to certain last hour of Red flags raised over dam’s poor Chinese think tanks, business EVER SINCE Beijing pre- saytheystayedbacktocontrolfire fora and advocacygroups under cipitated acrisis along voting day for the “requirement of prior the LACinLadakh, Delhi neers, including awoman engi- upkeep, fundscrunch in 2states screening/clearance”. has been taking aseries Covid cases SREENIVASJANYALA neer,and four others were found An official note receivedby of measures –fromre- HYDERABAD,AUGUST21 on the ground floor of the under- damdue to heavy spillageof couldbethreatenedifthe plung- the MinistryofExternal Affairs ducing dependency on ground powerhouse. Theyare ANILSASI flood waters —atadistance of ing pool of over 150feetwereto lists “Entities of Concern” and import of APIs to ban- RITIKACHOPRA& AFIRE sweptthroughthe believedtohavediedofsuffoca- NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 about 100metresfromthe spill- erode in the directionofthe dam states that “in order to closely ning of Chinese apps to SANTOSHSINGH Srisailam LeftBank Power tion with the thicksmoke that wayhas been flaggedas apoten- –thatwouldrequirethe struc- monitor the activities in India, imposition of visa condi- NEWDELHI,PATNA,AUG21 Station on the Telangana- filledthe powerhouse making THE FIRE in the underground hy- tial threat to thedam’s long-term turetoberepaired and rein- Visas sponsored by Entitiesof tions. The government is AndhraPradeshborder lateon rescue effortsdifficult till Friday droelectricpowerstationonthe safety, even as the cash-strapped forced. Concern shall requireprior secu- sending aclear message COVID-19PATIENTS and sus- Thursdaynight, leaving nine afternoon. leftbank of the Srisailam dam statepowerutilities of both The issueofthe damage to rity clearance”. The "priorsecu- that it cannotbebusiness pectswill be allowedtovote in dead, including five engineers of The engineers who died came aftermultiple redflags Telangana and AndhraPradesh the plungepooland thedown- rity clearance" in suchcases will as usual if China does not the coming Bihar Assemblyelec- Telangana StatePower were Sunder Naik,Mohan were raised about the poor have donelittleoverthe yearsto stream apron —layers of mesh be givenbythe government in backdownand end the tions in “the lasthour of poll Generation Corporation Kumar,Fatima Begum, Srinivas maintenance of accompanying address safetyissues. grid coveredwith high-strength Delhi. militarystandoff. day”, while others will have to (TSGenco). The 11 who survived Goud and EVenkat Rao. The oth- structures, includingthe struc- The poor financial situation concrete—was flagged at the The note,receivedbythe mandatorilywearglovesbefore said the engineershad stayed ers who diedweretwo TSGenco tural integrity of the dam itself, of utilities also typicallytrans- 39th meeting of the National MinistrylateJuly, states that the using Electronic Voting backtotry and control the junior attendantsRam Babu and on whichthe plantisbuilt. lates intoillegular maintenance Committee on Dam Safety “Chinese government has built entities etc” and are“also known Machines (EVMs), as per guide- flames, urging them to leave Kiran Kumar,and twoemploy- Adeepening plungepool — and upkeep of other parts of the (NCDS) in Bhubaneswar in an outreachsystemcomprising to indulgeinespionage”. lines issuedbythe Election through an emergency exit. ees of acompanygiven the created by erosion of the natural powerplant. February2019. Apanel of think tanksand business fora all Measures on grant of visas Commission on Friday. The bodies of the five engi- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 riverbed downstream of the The foundation of the dam CONTINUEDONPAGE2 over the worldwithanobjective would be similar to thosefor Bihar will be the firststate in to influence sectionsincountries Pakistan. This step is seentobe the countrytogofor polls amidst on strategic interest”. linked to deteriorating ties be- the coronavirus pandemic. Some of the entities,itstates, tween Beijingand Delhi follow- While the Lok Janshakti Party Covid effect: 61% studentsdefer TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE made efforts“to influence policy ingChinese ingress at multiple (LJP), NCPand AamAadmi Party makers, think tanks, political ‘friction points’along the Lineof (AAP) have suggestedpostpone- CASES: RECOVERED:21,58,946 parties,upcoming leaders, cor- Actual Control in Ladakh. ment of the polls, the Election plan to study abroad, says study 172 porate, academics and research CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Commission, by all indications, DAYSSINCE 29,05,823 DEATHS:54,849 PANDEMIC is intent on holding them on shared with TheIndianExpress, BEGAN TESTS: 3,34,67,234| DOUBLING RATE: 29.99** schedule, around October- RITIKACHOPRA QSSURVEY almosthalf the respondents (49 November. NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 per cent) plan to study at ‘post- Sources in Patna said the plantodefer graduate-by-coursework’ level polls could be heldintwo or THE COVID-19pandemic has 61% theircourseof (MBA, Master’s and graduate Disconnect between three phases (the lastpolls were forced Indian studentstorethink studytill2021;8%intend diploma), another 19 percent at held in five phases). Thetechni- their higher education choices tostudyinadifferent ‘postgraduate-by-research’level cal staffers dealing with EVMs abroad, with 61 per cent of them country;7%cancelplans (Master’s and PhD)and 29 per economyand stock have reportedly been offered deciding to defer their course of tostudyabroad cent want to pursue undergrad- KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING health insurance, particularly af- study by ayear,8per cent choos- uatestudies abroad. The remain- TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* RATE** tersome of them tested positive. ing to study in adifferent coun- wantatuition ing areplanning to pursue markets: RBI Gov Sources said the EC has com- tryand another7per cent can- 82%feediscountif English languagestudies, foun- ■ Maharashtra 6,43,289 14,647 2% 36.05 pletedafirst-levelcheckofEVMs celling their plans altogether,a theyhavetostarttheir dation courses, and vocational ■ Tamil Nadu 3,61,435 5,986 1.74% 41.41 and VVPATs, and completed survey by Quacquarelli Symonds degreeprogrammeonline; education and training. ■ Andhra 3,25,396 9,393 3.02% 23.81 Global liquiditydriving up assetprices, training of returning officers. (QS), aBritish agency that brings 5%feeltuitionfeeshould The decision to put offhigher On Monday,the stateChief out the WorldUniversity remainthesame studies abroad by ayear could be ■ Karnataka 2,56,975 7,385 3.41% 21.11 correction likely, says ShaktikantaDas Electoral Officer will conductan Rankings everyyear,has found. Surveyof11,310Indian attributed to severaluniversities ■ Uttar Pradesh 1,72,334 4,824 2.93% 24.56 online meeting with all statedis- The findings arepartofan moving their Fall Semesteren- studentswhoplannedto *Compounded Daily Growth Rate overlast7days ** Calculated over7-day growth trict magistrates. ongoing survey by QS of studyabroadthisyear tirelyonline. Almosthalf (48%) ENSECONOMICBUREAU CONTINUEDONPAGE2 prospective international stu- the Indian studentswerenot CASEFATALITYRATIO POSITIVITYRATE DAILYIN,DAILYOUT MUMBAI,NEWDELHI,AUG21 dentsand howthe Covidcrisis keen on studying their pro- has impacted their study plans. 11,310 areIndians. gramme online due to thepan- 7DAYSEARLIER: 7DAYSEARLIER: DETECTED TODAY RESERVE BANK OF INDIA Shaktikanta RJD:MAY IMPACT As of August11, the survey had According to the segregated demic.Only17% responded by 1.95 8.89 68,898 Governor ShaktikantaDas on Das VOTING PAGE 5 66,959 responses, of which dataonIndian studentsthat QS CONTINUEDONPAGE2 NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: Fridaysaid therewas aclear dis- 1.89 8.68 62,282 connect between the sharp Deathsasaratioof Positives against Becoming sick vs surge in stockmarketsand the hai, aur maine kisi speechmein positivecases (in %); number tested recovering; more stateofreal economy,assurplus bhi iske baaremein zikar kiya hai, 10 free speech cases this year: In most, no relief indicatorofprogress (in%); indicator of recoveries for 14 days globalliquidity wasdriving up yehIndia ke