DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, , , JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, , NAGPUR, , VADODARA

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00(`12INNORTHEAST STATES &ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MANN RECUSES HOURS BEFORE FIRST MEETING NEWMONOPOLIES: OBJECTIONS WEREOVER-RULED SCcommitteecracks,keymember Finance and Niti had raised red flags before Adani’s optsoutsayingheiswithfarmers clean sweep of six airports Tomar confirms talkswith farmer Behind trust deficitbetween Govt leaders today, with ‘an open mind’ PRANAVMUKUL and farmers,misreading of protests &ANILSASI NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 SUKHBIRSIWACH, members pulling out of the pro- ground in Punjab, indulged in RAAKHIJAGGA& LIZMATHEW& posedresolutioncommittee, the name-calling that misfired,and BOTH THE FINANCE Ministry HARIKISHANSHARMA HARIKISHANSHARMA challenge, manyinthe party and brushedasidefarmers’ concerns and Niti Aayoghad put on record CHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI, NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 government admit, is to address by attributing political and ide- objections regarding the 2019 JANUARY14 the deeptrust deficit betweenthe ological motivestothe protest. airportbiddingprocess, which Addingtothe AS THE farmers’ protests acquire protesters and the government. Forsix months between May were over-ruled, clearing the TWODAYSafter theSupreme anew dimension with the Thereare voices within who 15,the dayFinanceMinister wayfor aclean sweep of six air- Courtnamedhim as one of the confusion Supreme Court’s controversial in- suggestthat the government Nirmala Sitharaman first ports by the Ahmedabad-based four members of an expertcom- tervention and one of thefour misread the signals on the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Adani Group, records accessed mittee, tasked THE EXIT of Bhupinder by The Indian Express show. to listen to Singh Mann has put a This assumes significance LastAugust,Adani Group signeddeal to acquireacontrolling grievances of question markonthe giventhat on August31lastyear, interest in country’s second largest airportinMumbai. File farmers op- consultation process. It In season of farm protests, record govt the Adani Group signedanother posedtothe remains to be seen if the dealto acquireacontrolling inter- newagriculture courtnames anew purchases of cotton, paddy from Punjab estinthecountry’ssecondlargest laws andthe member to replace him. airport, in Mumbai —the Airports Concentration of power views of the What also complicates trict.Hegot thefull minimum on time at the season’s start Authority of Indiacleared that Bhupinder government, the process is the out- ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA supportprice (MSP) of Rs 5,665 when narma rateswere takeoveronJanuary12. in Inc: Regulator Singh Mann Bhupinder right rejection of the JALANDHAR,JANUARY14 per quintal forhis medium-long Rs 4,600-4,800/quintal. That’s a Aviation is one sectorthe Singh Mann, panel by farmer unions. staple fibrecropthat waspro- viewalso echoedbyNirmal Competition Commissionof president of RAJVIRSINGHGoltasold52quin- cured by the Cotton Corporation Singh Tiwana,afarmer from the India (seeinterview)has marked reviews seven key sectors BKU (Mann) and tals of narma/kapas (raw un- of India (CCI) betweenearly- same villagewho sold 21 quin- forreviewofmarketdominance. chairman of All India Kisan panelandsaid“Iwillalwaysstand ginnedcotton)overthreepickings October and mid-December. tals of the crop, grownontwo From running aprivate air-strip Telecom to pharma, airports to ports: CoordinationCommitteerecused withmyfarmersand Punjab”. from hisfive-acre landinJhumba The 42-year-old is pleased out of his four-acreholding, to at Mundra,the Adani Group is to- himself fromthecourt-appointed CONTINUEDONPAGE2 villageofPunjab’s Bathinda dis- that the CCI entered themarket CONTINUEDONPAGE2 daythe country’s largest private concession agreementstobereviewed CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PRANAVMUKUL P11 &ANILSASI TAKINGOFF NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 INDIAN BUSINESSASUSUAL 20months AMID THE unprecedented con- ARMY DAY BY UNNY Timeperiodofgrowth centration of powerinatleast sevencoresectors in corporate THEEXPRESS 8* India, from pharma and telecom Airportscontrolledby to airports and ports,the INTERVIEW AdaniGroup Competition Commission of India has launchedaset of de- ASHOK KUMAR GUPTA 7.90crore tailedinvestigations on the mar- CHAIRPERSON, COMPETITION Numberofpassengers ketdynamics of eachsector. COMMISSION OF INDIA handled Simultaneously, it hasstarted (23.2%ofdomestictraffic) areviewofall model concession ports, electricity and railways. *Mumbai, Ahmedabad, agreements—the legal contract The goal is to ensurethat Mangalore, Lucknow, Jaipur, that forms the basis of the public- competition remains “vibrant” Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, private partnership—across four and “thereare enough players WEST BENGAL greenfield Navi Mumbai keyinfrastructuresectors:airports, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PM to launch vaccine drive, Govt seeks first list of beneficiaries up voter data TMC’SSHATABDI for vaccine VOICESDISSENT PAGE 3 RINGSIDE VIEW KAUNAINSHERIFFM drive, EC NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 agrees THE EDITORIAL PAGE Congress leaderRahul Gandhi attendsajallikattuevent in Madurai on Thursday. PTI PRIME MinisterNarendraModi will launchthe startofthe Covid- 19 vaccination drive Saturday, AFTERBLOCKING connectingwith 3,006 vaccina- RITIKACHOPRA& TRUMP tion sites across the countryvia KAUNAINSHERIFFM BY CHINMAYI ARUN Bid to bring back ‘bungalow video-conferencing. NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 PAGE 6 The Prime Minister's Office said Modi will address the sites, THE ELECTION Commission (EC) peons’ after Railway said no whereoverthree crorepriority has agreedtoarequestfromthe WORLD groups will be vaccinatedover The newly inaugurated genome sequencing laboratoryat MinistryofHomeAffairs(MHA) the next fewmonths, at 10.30 the IGI AirportinNew Delhi on Thursday. Tashi Tobgyal to share electoral roll data for Under the newpolicy issued Almostnoone wantstogiveup am. “Around 100beneficiaries identifyingthe agegroup tar- AVISHEKGDASTIDAR by EastCoastRailway,“with the the facility arguing that it is in- will be vaccinated at eachses- getedfor thefirstphase of the NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 approval of the trinsic to thenatureoftheir job. sion siteonthe inaugural day,” loadedonthe Co-WIN platform. pens in elections,” an official said. Covid-19vaccination drive, Manager", bungalowpeons al- Railway officers, liketheir coun- the governmentsaid. “The vaccination session is from “Since the bulk registration sources told The Indian Express. AMONTH afterthe Railway ready engaged with officers be- terparts in the Army, areentitled Senior HealthMinistryoffi- 9amto5pm. Whoevercomes of healthcareworkers hasal- The Commission, sources Ministryissuedapolicy to dis- fore theRailway Ministrydis- to keeping aGroup Demployee cials said the beneficiarylistfor till 5pmwill be vaccinated even ready takenplace, theyneednot said, is nowwaiting forare- continue the 100-year-old prac- continuedthe practice, will be posted24X7attheir homes. The the firstday has already been up- after5pm, justlikehow it hap- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 sponse on the specific datare- tice of hiring "bungalowpeons" screened andabsorbed in the logicisthatrailway officers get quired by the Ministry. TRUMP IMPEACHED forits officers, plans areonto Railwayslikeearlier.“Around postedinremote,often inhos- According to the bring them backinanew avatar. 30-40 officers,bothfromthe pitable, locations, routinelycarry Government’s blueprint, the FOR ‘INCITEMENT Severalzonal railways are field and from the headquarters, work homeorare occupied at Brazil to send special flight to pick vaccine will be offeredfirstto OF INSURRECTION’ said to be in theprocess of draft- arewaitingtoget bungalowpe- odd hours, and hence needhelp healthcareworkers, frontline W.H.O. FINALLY ing their ownlocal policies that ons as per their entitlement,” at home. “That is whythis prac- workers and thoseabove 50 would enable an officer to retain said aspokesman of the East tice has been theresince the be- up 2million doses from India years of age, followedbythose LANDS IN CHINA aTelephoneAttendant cum Dak CoastRailway. ginning,” said asenior officer. below50with associated co- TO BEGINTRACING Khalasi or “bungalow peon”. The While the central policy says Typically, officers choose The move follows arequest Brazil indicating that the Chinese morbidities. The priority group THECORONAVIRUS Odisha-basedEastCoastRailway existing Level1staffcan be en- someone to be employedattheir SHUBHAJITROY from Brazilian President Jair vaccines deployedinthe coun- of above 50 maybefurther di- PAGE 12 has already finalisedapolicy for gagedasbungalowpeons on home, and afterthree years, he NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 Bolsonaroinaletterlastweek to tryare of less efficacy than videdintothose above 60 and hiring people on contractfor of- their consent as per the new gets regular employment in the PrimeMinisterNarendraModi claimed. The Pune firm has tied those between50and 60 for a ficers’ residences.Sourcessaid rules issuedbythe ministry,offi- Railways following ascreening THE DAYbeforeIndia launches forthe vaccines without jeopar- up withAstraZeneca to manu- phasedrollout. EXPRESS NETWORK other zones mayfollowsuit soon. cers sayitishardlyfeasible. “In process. itsnationwide vaccination drive dising the Indian vaccination facture the vaccine developed by According to sources, theEC’s The Railway Ministryhad au- anycase, bungalowpeons, after Railway MinisterLalu Prasad againstCovid, aspecially programme, whichisstarting the University of Oxford. electoral roll datahas been thorisedzonal general managers theyget the job, usuallydonot had extendedthe facility to offi- equippedaircraftfromBrazil is Saturdayfor apriority group Whilethe firstconsignment sought to identify people above FOREIGN to reviewthe situation in their want to continue to work in cers postedinthe RailwayBoard expected to land in Mumbai across the country. will be from Serum,Brazil has the ageof50ineachpolling sta- MINISTERTOMEET respective areas.Around 8,000 houses anymore,” said asenior as well. Fridaytocollect 2million doses Sources said Brazilian au- alsoselected BharatBiotech's tion.The EC is nowworking on a JAISHANKAR TODAY officers of Indian Railways are officer. Aftercoming to powerin of the vaccine to markthe first thorities have struckacommer- vaccine, sources said. format of sharing to protect elec- PAGE 9 entitledtothis facility under the Bungalowpeons areasensi- 2014,Prime MinisterNarendra suchexportfromthe country, cial deal with Serum Instituteof “Thereisnopointstoring torprivacy,theysaid. old policy. tive subject forrailway officers. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 sources told TheIndian Express. India in Pune, with reports from CONTINUEDONPAGE2 CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE 1 ANCHOR ‘NextAzhar’isa26-yr-old powerhitterfromKerala: 100 in 37 balls

neededtodosomething special the third-fastest T20centuryby "Wah Azharudeen, behtareen! Says former India pacer and ing in the Middle Eastwhen he VISHALMENON to live up to theexpectations of an Indian afterRishabhPant (32 To score likethat against coachTinu Yohannan: “I wasborn. Since he wasthe NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 that brother,Kamaruddeen, a balls) and (35 Mumbai wassomeeffort. 137* wasexpecting suchaninnings youngestinour family, we "lifelong fan" of Indianbatting balls). of 54 andfinishing thejob on from him but notofthis magni- would indulgehim quitealot. All ACRICKET-CRAZY elder brother great Mohammad Azharuddin. “Not justus, but the whole of hand. Enjoyedthis innings.” tude. Ilovehis pick-up shotover his wishes were fulfilled,” says didn't give him muchofacareer Thalangara, too, had high hopes Thalangara wasgluedtothe TV It wasaquality Mumbai at- square-leg. It is good to watch Kamaruddeen. option by gettinghim to change from their “NextAzhar”. to watchhim bat,” says tack.But Azharuddeen dis- and is noteasy forthe bowlers... So seamless wasAzhar- his name from Ajmal to On Wednesday, the 26-year- Kamaruddeen. patchedformer India pacer when theybowljustshortofa uddeen's progress through age- MohammedAzharuddeen. old made his sevenbrothers, his With video clips of DhawalKulkarni andIPL 2020’s length, to be hit over the fielder is group ,that by the time he Moreover, he hailedfrom home town and an entirestate Azharuddeen's racing newstarTushar Deshpande over demoralising.” was15, he wasadmitted to the Thalangara, that rare town in proud. through social media, India the fence to help Kerala chase 196 While his coaches call him a Kerala CricketAssociation Kerala on the outskirts of He smasheda37-ball ton cricketcircles couldn't hide the with 4.1overs to spare. The one natural strokeplayer, the role AcademyinKottayam, dreaming Kasaragod wherechildren pre- during a54-ball 137against excitement of hearing that famil- blowthat resonated themost playedbyhis sevenbrothers of playing first-class cricket. fertohit theballwith abat and Mumbai, hitting nine fours and iar and popular name once wasaRohit Sharma-likeflickoff can't be undermined—all of “Thalangarahas averygood notkickit. 11 sixes in the domestic T20 Syed again. The high priestofbig-hit- Azharuddeen has been dubbed as ‘Azhar in themaking’. BCCI the hips, ashotthat needs asharp them have playedcricketatthe ecosystem forbudding But Azharudden knewhe Mushtaq Ali Trophygame.Itwas ting, Virender Sehwag, tweeted: eyeand perfect timing. district level. “I was25and work- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021

DOWNLOADAPP WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

■ VISUALSTORIES

■ DAILY BRIEFING

■ PODCASTS INSOUTHKOREA,UNIVERSITYSTUDENTSAREFIGHTINGTOSAVEONEOFCOUNTRY’S

■ CUSTOMIZABLE OLDESTHINDILANGUAGEPROGRAMMES Challenges facing the NEWS EXPERIENCE TheDepartmentofIndianStudiesattheuniversityhadbeenconsideringphasingouttheteachingofHindi

WEB vaccination drive and Indian Express EXCLUSIVE languageattheuniversitysayingthatknowledgeofEnglishwouldbesufficientforKoreannationals. ★★★★★■4.6 worries over vaccines TECH ENTERTAINMENT NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY EVOLUTION OF THE BHOOMI ACTOR JAYAM Understanding the challenges of India’s GALAXY SSERIES RAVI ON FARMERS first Covid-19 vaccination drive as well as What reallyhelped We have to talk about the concerns being raised about the SCANTHISQRCODETO Samsung is itsability to farmers’ issues, says the vaccines. DOWNLOADTHEAPP observetrends actor

Delhi survey: FROMPAGEONE

10% kids out Panel member time,butnotinthepreviousyears, Modi forrelaxing restrictions on when CCI people would enter the exportof of school, Farmer unions spearheading onlyafter we hadsold at below Finance, Niti Aayog raised red flags Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). theprotestsatthe gatesofDelhi MSPto privatetraders.Thisagita- Bolsonarohad then compared had rejected thecommittee, say- tion is to ensure that we arepaid India’s move to LordHanuman 80% homes ingitsmemberswereinfavourof MSPevery year,” said Golta, back bringing the Sanjeevani to save the newlyenactedfarm laws. afterspending three days at the before Adani’s clean sweep of 6airports Lakshmana's life. don’t have In astatement Thursday, 81- Tikri protest siteonthe Delhi- However, theBrazilian year-old Mann, aformer Rajya border. developerinterms of number Presidenthas been widelycriti- Sabha member,saidhewas Accordingto Tiwana,whohas of airportshandled;andthesec- WHERETHEYSTAND cisedfor playingdownthe seri- computers “thankful to Hon’ble Supreme been organising supplies forthe ond largest,intermsofpassen- ousness of thepandemicdespite Court of India fornominating” langar (community kitchen) at gertraffic, over aspanofjust20 Number Numberof Shareofnational being infected with thevirus in him to the committee to starta Tikri, CCI wasactive this season months. July -- with over 80 lakh cases, ofairports passengershandled traffic# SOURAVROYBARMAN “dialoguewith Kisan Unions on only“because of our protests”. The sevenairports -- Brazilhasthethird-highestinfec- NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 the three laws brought in by the Thegovernment,hesaid,basically Ahmedabad, Mangalore, 2020 2018 2019-20 2017-18 2019-20 2017-18 tionsinthe worldwith 2lakh central government”. wanted to “show” that there’s Lucknow,Jaipur, Guwahati and AdaniGroup 8* 17.90cr 124** 23.2% 0.00004% deaths. Bolsonaro hasrefusedto ■Twolakhchildren remain “out “As afarmermyself anda nothingwrongwithitsfarmlaws. Thiruvananthapuram, along- bevaccinated,andrepeatedly said of school”, including 64,813 due Union leader,inviewofthe pre- These large-scaleand timely side Mumbai -- together han- AAI 83 84 12.51cr 13.67cr 36.7% 44.3% thatBrazilianswillnotberequired to “financial constraints”. vailingsentimentsandapprehen- purchases by CCI have notonly dled7.90 crorepassengers dur- GMR 228.89cr 8.39cr 26.1% 27.2% to be vaccinated when avaccine ■ Over six lakh between 0-6 sions amongstthe farm unions helpedsmallgrowers likeGolta ingthelastfiscal(2019-20).This GVK*** 0207.53cr 0.0% 24.4% becomeswidelyavailable. years areoutside thenet of an- and the publicingeneral,Iam and Tiwana realise theMSP,but translatesintonearly afourthof The MinistryofExternal ganwadis, whichcover less than ready to sacrifice anyposition of- have also ledtoopen market the 34.10-croredomestic air OtherJVairports**** 321.42cr 1.33cr 4.2% 4.3% Affairs’ official spokesperson half of Delhi'spregnant women. feredorgiven to me so as to not prices rising above theMSP. passenger traffic. *IncludesMumbai airport, whichwas acquired from GVKinAugust2020 Anurag Srivastava, however, said ■ Over 63% people use buses for compromise the interests of An official of the CCI at In addition to this,the **Traffic forMundraairport, whichstarted commercial flights under RCSinFebruary2018 that supplying vaccines to other commuting,while only6%de- Punjaband farmers of the coun- Bathinda told TheIndian Express: Mundraairport, to wherecom- ***Includes Bengaluru airport, in whichGVK sold itsstake to Fairfax in July 2017 countries “maytakesome time”. pend on the flagship DelhiMetro. try,”hesaid. “Wehavemaderecordpurchases mercial flights startedin2018 ****Includes Cochin International Airport, NagpurAirport, and Kannur International Airport (whichstarted ■ As manyas42.59% households Manndecidedtoopt outeven this season. In fact, we have under the government'sre- commercial operations in December 2018) Voter data in the city spend less than before the committee couldhold stoppedbuying in the past10-12 gionalconnectivityscheme,has #National trafficdataincludes trafficfor stategovernment andprivately run airports “Oneoptionbeingconsidered Rs 10,000per month,nearly80% itsfirstmeetingto initiatethecon- days.There’snoneedwhenprices also been cleared to be con- Source: AAI isthatwe providebooth-wisein- do notown computers, and 29% sultation process —members areruling above MSP.Small and verted intoafull-fledgedinter- formationofvotersabove theage do nothaveaccess to tapwater were supposedtomeetat4pm marginal farmers have anyway national commercial airport. fromhisdepartment--saidthat suchasGMR Group, Zurich vestors including India’s sover- of 50 to therespectivestates, as within households.Almostall Thursdayvia virtual mode. sold theircroptous.” Following the GVKdeal, Adani theEGoS(empoweredgroupof Airportand Cochin eign fund NIIFinOctober 2019, opposedtohanding over infor- households have toilets. The other members of the The firming up of pricesisbe- alsohasacontrollingstakeinthe secretaries)hadalreadydecided InternationalAirportLtdinaddi- trying to fend offAdani Group mationof allstatestooneagency,” ■ Nearly three-fourth of the committee areParmod Kumar ingattributedto increasedexport upcoming Greenfield airport in that “Prior airport experience tionto otherinfrastructure play- from gettingintoMumbai air- said an official, who spokeonthe population depends on govern- Joshi, agricultural economistand demand, especiallyfromChina. Navi Mumbai. mayneither be made aprereq- ers,by abigmarginineachofthe port, gave in and agreedtoco- condition of anonymity. ment facilities; of the 2.60% who Director forSouthAsia, The US Department of Recordsshowthatbefore uisite forbidding,norapost-bid six bids, thereby winning the operatewiththe Ahmedabad- Home Secretary AjayBhalla’s sufferfromchronic illnesses, International Food Policy Agriculturehas projected itscot- bidswere invitedfortheprivati- requirement. This will enlarge rights to operateall six airports basedconglomerateinAugust requesttothe Commission came mosthavediabetes. Research Institute; Ashok Gulati, tonimports to surgefrom15.54 sation of the airports at the competition forbrownfield foraperiod of 50 years. 2020. afterameetingbetween repre- ■Around one-fourth of the chil- agricultural economistand for- lakh tonnes in 2019-20 (August- Ahmedabad, Lucknow, airports,whichare alreadyfunc- This is adeparturefromthe On August31, GVKGroup sentativesofthe Health Ministry dren in the agegroup 0-5 years merchairmanof theCommission July) to 22.86 lakhtonnes this Mangalore, Jaipur,Guwahati tional”. privatisation of Delhi and signedanagreement to let and the EC lastmonth. have notreceivedany vaccination. forAgricultural Costs andPrices; year.The global benchmark andThiruvananthapuram–the Garg, who wastransferred Mumbai airports,wherethe Adani Enterprises acquireits According to sources,the and Anil Ghanwat, president, ‘Cotlook Aindex’ price is nowat NDAgovernment’sbiggestpri- from the finance ministryto concessionperiodwas30years, stake in Mumbai airportand HealthMinistrywantedto under- ShetkariSanghatana. 88.1centsper pound,upfrom vatisation programme so far— powerministryinJuly2019and in addition to theAAI holding Navi Mumbai airport. standthestructureoftheelection OVER1CRSURVEYED It wasnot clearwhether 79.5centsayearagoandthesub- the Centre’s Public Private is nowanadvisor to Andhra 26% equity in the airports. According to anotification machineryandhowpollsarecon- Allfigures in % Mann had been soundedbefore 60levelsof early-Aprilatthepeak Partnership Appraisal PradeshChief MinisterYSJagan Incidentally, thegovern- by the CCI, the acquisition of ductedatthegrassroots level.This being namedtothe panel —he of the Covid-19crisis. Committee (PPPAC)discussed MohanReddy,did notrespond ment’s firsttargettohand the MIAL by Adani Group was wasdone since the vaccination Status of vaccination wasnot available forcomments theCivilAviationMinistry’spro- to queries on the issue. airports over to Adani Groupin “deemed approved”, giventhat drive will be similar to the elec- ■ Received/Receiving Thursdayafterreleasinghisstate- Trust deficit posal forthe processon Ayear afteritwon thebids November2019 coincidedwith therewas no overlap of busi- tionprocessgiventhesimilarities ■ NotReceived ment. But Ghanwattold The announcedthe government’s in- December 11,2018. forthe six airports,the Adani aclearance from the nesses offeredbyeither of the inthescaleof thetwooperations. Indian Express thathedid receive tention to enact the three farm During the discussions, ac- Groupsignedconcessionagree- Competition Commissionof parties in the relevant geo- 22.56 22.46 ‘Next Azhar’ 21.11 acallfromtheSupremeCourtbe- laws,and mid-November,when cordingtominutesofthemeet- mentsfor Ahmedabad, Indiaforthegroup’sacquisition graphic market.The CCI notifi- 77.44 77.54 78.89 0-1Yrs >1-5Yrs 0-5Yrs fore theannouncement of his in- farmer unions gave aDelhi Chalo ing,anote fromtheDepartment Mangaluru and Lucknow air- of aminority stakeinMumbai cation wasuploadedin cricketers. It's asmall town, but clusion in the committee. call, the government and the of EconomicAffairssaid:“These ports in February 2020. airportfromtwo SouthAfrican September 2020. The AAI, we have around 20 cricket clubs. Distributionofout-of- The committeeneeds to hold party, aleadersaid,didn’tcatch six airports projectsare highly Amonth later,the Adani companiesBidvestandAirports whichholds26percentinMIAL, It maysound surprising, but schoolchildren itsfirstsitting within 10 days and the discontentmentbrewing capital-intensive projects,hence GroupinvokedaCovid19-linked CompanyofSouthAfrica has also approved Adani cricket ismorepopularherethan submitareportintwo months. across Punjab. itissuggestedtoincorporatethe forcemajeuretoseekadelayun- (ACSA). Group’sacquisitionof thecoun- football,” says Unais, another 33.55

29 News agency PTI quoted No soonerhadtheOrdinances clause that notmorethan two til February2021intakingover In itsorder,the CCI pointed try’s second largestairport. brother. 18.92 18.53 Ghanwatsaying "the firstsitting beenpromulgatedonJune5than airports willbeawarded to the the three airports from AAI, cit- out the natureofanairport’s Incidentally, justamonth Ever since Azaruddeen broke 6-10 11-13 14-15 16-17 Yrs Yrs Yrs Yrs willhavetobeheld before farmers in villages started samebidder....” ing difficulties in the transition- "geographical monopoly" and before itdecidedtothrow inthe into the Kerala squad sixseasons January20.Itwillbeheldwithex- protests,the agitation spread to The DEA’s note,dated ing processes,particularly with saidthatthegeographicmarket, towel, GVKGroup had to face ago, he has been dubbed as Distributionofpopulation isting members. Mostprobably, towns, groups shouted slogans December10, 2018,tothe PP- regard to the airport staff.The in this case, “appears to be as the heat from multiple inves- “Azharinthemaking”.Butwitha bytypeofchronicillness themeetingwillbeonJanuary19 outsidethe offices of SDMs (Sub- PACwas submitted by adirec- AAIhadaskedtheGroupto take narrowaseachofthe airportof tigative agencies. On July 7, the first-class averageof25.91after 36.33 9.17Respiratory in Pusa campus". Divisional Magistrates) and torinthedepartment’sPPPcell. over the three airports by theparties(i.e.AdaniandMIAL), Enforcement Directorateregis- 22 games, and an equallymid- Diabetes disease/asthma Farmerunions said it was District Collectors in tehsils and To buttressitsargument,the November 2020. Three of these as forproviding or availing any teredacomplaintunderSection dling averageof23.76from21 “good on thepartofMann”that districts. BJP leaders in Punjab DEA cited theprecedentofthe six airports —Ahmedabad, servicesattheairports,theserv- 3ofthe Prevention of Money T20s, his returns were under- 21.75 Cardiac/ 32.75 herecusedhimself fromthecom- failedtocounter this campaign. Delhi and Mumbai airports, Mangaluru and Lucknow — iceprovider/consumerneedsto Laundering Act(PMLA)against whelming. “He has always been hypertension/blood Others circulatorydisease mittee before drawing morecrit- “Local leaders either locked whereGMR, despitebeing the were consequentlyhandedover have access to the facilities/ theGVKGroupanditschairman abig hitter.Itisjustthat he was icism. Haryana BKUpresident themselvesinorjoinedthe pro- onlyqualifiedbidder originally, to theAdaniGroupinNovember premises of the concerned air- GVKReddy,his son GV Sanjay notusedforvariousreasonsinan Theseare amongthe findings GurnamSinghChadunisaid:“We testers. We should have coun- wasnot givenboththe airports. 2020.The concession agree- port”. Reddy and afew others, based appropriateposition.Hewasused of aDelhigovernmentsurvey,the don’t accept the committee, so teredthe arguments,” saidasen- At the PPPAC meeting, ac- mentfortheotherthreeairports Establishingthis,theCCIsaid on an FIR filedbyCBI against down the orderall these years at biggestofits kind, covering 1.02 whatdifference does it make ior party leader and aUnion cording to the minutes, there —Jaipur,Guwahati and thatpresenceof boththeparties themonJune27.TheCBIalleged No.6 and No.7,and that did not crorepeople, conductedbetween whether or notheleavesthe Minister. wasnodiscussion on this red Thiruvananthapuram —were inthesamelineof businesswas irregularities of over Rs 705 suit his game,” says Yohannan. November 2018 and November panel.If heleaves,thensomebody But the government, too, did- flag raisedbythe DEA. signedbetween AAIand Adani notlikelytoraise anycompeti- croreinthe development of It wasduring the Covid lock- 2019.The report, finalisedin elsemay be included in thecom- n’t paymuchheed. On the sameday as the DEA GroupinSeptember. tion concerns "as presentlyno Mumbai international airport. down that Azharudden seemed November 2020,revealsthe so- mittee. Letanyone be inducted, BetweenJune 5and note,the NITI Aayogalsoraised Justunder six months after other airportwherein Adani E-mails sent to the Adani to have decided thattime was cio-economic composition of the we won’t go to thepanel.” September 14,whenthe Bills aseparateconcern regarding it sought moretime from AAI grouphasstakeoperateswithin Group and the MinistryofCivil runningout. “He calledmedur- city,including details on religion, The Punjabunit of BKU were introducedinParliament,of the airportbidding. Said a citing the Covid-19pandemic, the vicinity of MIAL". Aviationdidnotelicitaresponse. ingthe lockdown when Iwas ap- caste,income, education, chronic (Mann)removedMann from the the69pressreleasesissuedbythe memopreparedby thePPPver- the Adani Group went on to ac- Even as CCI cleared themi- SourcesattheAdaniGroupsaid pointed coach and asked where I illnesses, statusofvaccination, union and said it had no ties with AgricultureMinistry, onlyseven tical of the government's key quireacontrollinginterestinthe noritystake purchase in thebiddingwasasperspecified would slothim in the batting or- employment and preferred the AIKCC that he heads. were related to the “landmark policy think-tank: “A bidder country’ssecondlargest airport Mumbai airportbythe Adani norms thatfollowed“due der. Ihad no doubtbecauseIhad modes of transport. But the Haryana unit of BKU and historic decision”. lacking sufficient technicalca- in Mumbai and the upcoming Group, concerns flagged by the processand due diligence.” always thought of openingwith The survey hadbeenordered (Mann) stood behind itsleader. One reason, some in the BJP pacity can well jeopardise the Greenfield airportinNavi Departmentof EconomicAffairs Asked about thedelay in taking himinlimitedovers cricket.His following deaths of three minor StateunitpresidentGuniPrakash, claim,wasitsallyShiromaniAkali project and compromise the Mumbai from the Hyderabad- about asingle companyhaving overthethreeairportsfromAAI, mindwasclearandhedidn'thave girls of suspected starvation in acloseassociateofMann,toldThe Dal backing the Bill until August quality of services”. basedGVK Group. asignificant hold over several theysaidthatwasonaccountof anydoubts,” says Yohannan. EastDelhi's Mandawali in July Indian Express that theybacked end. Days before resigning from In response to this,the PP- During the bidding process keyinfrastructureprojectswere “difficulties anticipated in tran- 2018.The familydid nothavea his stand. “Weare in support of the Union Cabinet on September PAC, chaired by the then DEA forthe six AAI-run airports,the reinforced. sitioningof airportstaff andper- CCI chairperson ration card, and agovernment the three farm laws as we arein 17,HarsimratKaur,too,supported SecretarySCGarg--the first AdaniGroupoutbiditsrivals,in- The GVKGroup, whichhad sonnelinthemiddleof thepan- who areabletoparticipate in the probefound that the local an- favour of an open market.The the ordinances as “pro-farmer.” note of objectionwas,ironically, cluding experiencedplayers signedanagreement with in- demic”. awardofconcessions,”CCI ganwadi centrehad fudged governmentsays thereshouldbe In Parliament,the govern- Chairperson Ashok Kumar records afterthe deaths. ‘one nation-one market’, but we ment rammedthroughthe Bills, Gupta told The Indian Express. As per the 2011 Census,Delhi saythereshould be ‘one world- ignoring the Opposition which iorBJP leader. press conferences and meetings an official said. theoptionof recruitinganew one. (See interviewonPage17.) has apopulation of 1.67 crore. one market’,” Guni Prakash said. urgedthesebesent for At one stage, the BJPand gov- with farmer groups launchedin The Health Ministry also an- Heorshehasto make dowithex- “The policy of the govern- Conductedby over6,000field Mann’srecusal came on the Parliamentaryscrutiny. ernment were “confused” over December,onlyprovedtobetoo nouncedthat the next National isting bungalowpeons or get ment is to makethe economy workers using amobile app con- eveofthe next round of talksbe- The toppolitical leadership howtodeal with the protests — late. PolioImmunisationDayhasbeen Level1employees to do the job more efficient, and, in that nected withacentral database, tween the Centreand the farmer continuedtobelievethe protests from showing sympathyto rescheduledtoJanuary 31,from with consent. process, what the CCI can do is the survey's mostrevealing find- unions. Confirming that the dia- were “instigated”bythe “usual branding them as Khalistanis. Vaccine launch January17. look at whether thedominance ingsconcern educationandearly logue process would continue suspects”of theanti-BJPcoalition ItcameafullcirclewithPrime individuallyregister. States have Brazil is abusedornot.Ifthereisabuse childhooddevelopment.They Friday, UnionAgricultureMinister and underlinedhow these were MinisterNarendraModi’s com- been told to ensurethat the ses- Bungalowpeons morevaccinesbeyondIndia’scur- of dominance,CCI can take ac- show that2,21,694childrenbe- NarendraSingh Tomar told re- blockingcrucialsuppliesto troops munity outreachduring his bor- sionsites,includingthelistofvac- Modihad urgedthe Railwaysto rent capacity.Sothe vaccine ex- tion underSection 4ofthe tween the ages of 6and 17 (or porters thatthe government was inJammu&KashmirandLadakh. der visitsand tributesat cinatorsandbeneficiaries,isready consider abolishing the practice porttoothercountriesdoesn’taf- Competition Act,” Gupta said. 9.76% of total)wereout of the readyto talkto thefarmerunions SourcesintheBJPnowsay the GurdwaraRakab Ganj. twodays priortoeachvaccination in favour of officers taking an al- fect India’s vaccination plans,” a In sectors suchasairports, school system, including 1,31,584 “withanopenmind”. partymayhavebeenhastyin let- “Not havingaprominentSikh round.Therefore,forDay 1, states lowance.Acommitteeof officers, senior governmentofficialsaid. ports and highways, and electric- who had droppedout and 90,110 tingtheSADleave theNDA.“They faceinthegovernmentteamdid- have finalisedthebeneficiarylist,” formedtoworkout the wayfor- The flight from Brazilisex- ity,concentration of powerbyit- who had neverattendedschool. Cotton, paddy aren’t very popular in the state n’t helpeither,” said aBJP MP. the official added. ward,had favoured continuing pected to leave Mumbai Friday self wasnot aconcern,the regu- "Thepredominantreason for CCI at the Centre’s MSP. and theyhavedynasty issues but TheRSS is lalso earnt to have Sources said that the request the practice. However, the night afterthe consignment is lator said. “In this context, we are notattending school in the age And it is notjustcotton. SAD’sexitgave theprotestsafresh reservations with the govern- by Jammu &Kashmir and Decemberpolicy,issuedafterde- brought from Pune. reviewing some of the Model group of 6-17yearsisreported Governmentagencies have pro- boost andcreated an impression ment’s handling of the protests. Chhattisgarhtoprovideanoffline liberations at the toplevel of the Inhisletterto Modi,Bolsonaro Concession Agreementsinthese as financialconstraint (29.2%)," curedanall-timehigh202.78lakh of this being aPunjabvs During the recentthree-day mechanism to upload real-time ministry, had decidedtodiscon- expressedappreciation that he sectors —those with natural mo- the survey reportsays.Asmany tonnes of paddy from Punjab at BJP/Centreissue.Also,SADgiving meeting in Ahmedabad, the data,giventheirremote locations tinue what is called"fresh face" couldcountonthePrimeMinister nopolies. What is important is as 13.50% were "engaged in do- the MSP of Rs 1,988/quintal for up powergavecredence to farm- Sanghleadershipconveyedthese whereInternetconnectivityisnot appointmentof bungalowpeons, forthesupplyofvaccineswithall that the tender design foraward mestic duties", 12.17% gave "de- 2020-21. ers’suspicions,” said another “thoughts” to BJP president JP strong, has been approved. whicheffectivelymeantthatonce possible urgency and without af- of Concessionsensures that sirededucation levelachieved" YetGoltaand Tiwana arepart Union Minister. Nadda on the manner in which “However, directions have been an existing bungalowpeon com- fecting the Indian programme. competition forthe market is vi- as the reason, while 9.37% were of the ongoing farmer agitation “Sothemessagewentoutthat the Bills were broughtin, said giventhattheuploadof theoffline pletedthreeyearsof workingata In April lastyear,Bolsonaro, brant —that thereare enough said to be "engaged in economic againstthe Centre’s three farm even if Parkash SinghBadal was sources present in the meeting. databedonethe same daytoen- houseandgot jobasaLevel1em- who wasthe Republic Daychief players who areable to partici- activities". laws.“Ireceivedthe MSP this leaving,noonecared,”saidasen- An outreachblitzkrieg of 100 surethat peopleare notmissed,” ployee, the officer no longer had guestin2020,hadreachedoutto pate,” Gupta said.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM/ELECTIONS

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 2021 3 DECISION WESTBENGAL

Sisir hints at BJP ECmayadvancepolls switch: ‘Nothing ‘duetoexams,violence’ is impossible’ PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA KOLKATA,JANUARY14 Notification likelyinmid February, CECtovisit statelater ADAY afterhewasremovedasthe rector general of police at acity East Midnapore districtPresident, EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Deputy Election hoteland discussedmeasures to veteranTMCMPSisirAdhikari,fa- KOLKATA,JANUARY13 Commissioner Sudeep conduct polls in viewofthe ther of BJP leader Suvendu Covid-19pandemic. Adhikari, Thursdayevening THE NOTIFICATION forthe West Jain metthe statechief Sources said voters above the hintedatapossibleswitchoverto Bengal Assemblypolls is likelyto secretary, home ageof80, persons with disability thesaffroncampbysaying"noth- be issuedinmid-February, and and home quarantinedCovid-19 ing is impossible in politics". elections could be held earlier secretaryand director patientswould be allowedtoex- He,however, saidheisyetto thanexpectedowing to Boardex- general of police ercise their franchise through take acallonthematter,butnoted ams and politicalviolence, The postalballots. thathewilldiscusstheissuewith IndianExpress has learnt. The number of booths is likely the party supremo Mamata Deputy Election Election Commissioners Shushil to beincreasedto1lakhfrom the Banerjee. Commissioner Sudeep Jain, who Chandraand RajivKumar could existing 78,000 to ensuresocial "I have been in politics all my wasonatwo-dayvisit to the state, visit the statenextweek to mon- distancing. life. If someone feels that by re- is said to have raisedconcerns itor thepollpreparation. Nothing The deputy election commis- moving me from apost, Iwill quit over lawand order,the PTI news has been finalisedyet.The deci- sioner sought to knowfromthe politics.Thentheyare wrong.Iwill agency quotedsourcesassaying. sion would betakenbasedonthe School Education Department continue to work forthe people," It wasalso learnt that Chief reportofthe deputy election secretarythe number of schools Adhikari told reporters at Kanthi Election Commissioner Sunil commissioner,” said asourcein that were damagedin the cyclone in EastMidnaporedistrict. Arora, and Election the office of the Chief Electoral Amphan lastyear. When askedwhether he Commissioners ShushilChandra Officer (CEO) of West Bengal. Sources said about 250 would join the BJP,hesaid he is ‘SOUMITRA’S LEGACY WILL LIVE ON’ and RajivKumar will visit the The tenureofthe Mamata schools inSundarbanwere dam- yettotakeadecision in this re- statelater this month to take Banerjee government ends on aged in the cyclone. Jain also gard."Nothing is impossiblein CM Mamata Banerjeeatanexhibition on thelifeand worksoflateactor SoumitraChatterjee, in KolkataonThursday. Express stockofpoll preparedness. May30. asked the statehealth secretary politics. But, whatever decision I “Due to school Boardexams Usually, the Assemblypolls in about preparations forthe vacci- have to take Iwill take afterdis- scheduledinApril and May, polls Bengal areheld in April and May nation and spokewiththe DGP cussing it with the party ■Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee on ■ “He maynot be withusphysically ■ The exhibition,whichincludes could be held earlier than ex- in multiple phases. Sources said on lawand order. supremo," he said. Thursdaysaid the legacy of legendary anymorebut he will be immortalised paintings and posters by theactor,will pected.The decision could be this time, the polls could beheld Bengali actor SoumitraChatterjee, who through hisworks across India and in the continue till January31. Banerjee said her takeninthe viewofwidespread either in six or sevenphases.

R passedawaylastyear,will continue world,” said Banerjee afterinaugurating government would work together with violencein thestate. On theother Jain on Thursdayheld a M A K A I N H D S E I S MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR

R H

A across the worldthough his works. an exhibition held in Kolkata. Soumitra's familytokeep his legacy alive. hand, Chief Election meeting withthe statechief sec- W

H A

A (DEEMED TO BE UNIVERSITY) R Commissioner Sunil Arora, and retary,home secretaryand di- M MULLANA-AMBALA, HARYANA (INDIA)-133207 (Established under Section 3ofthe UGC Act, 1956) (Accredited by NAAC with Grade A) RESUMES FOR TMC’s Shatabdi latest to Sovan claims his phone Region II, Kolkata, Sribriddhi Bhawan 34, JLNehru Road, Kolkata -700 071, e- mail: [email protected] VICE-CHANCELLORSHIP join dissenters’ club, says being tapped, Trinamool PUBLIC NOTICE The highly Reputed Maharishi Markandeshwar Under Rationalisation of Branches, State Bank of India has merged State Bank of India, (Deemed to be University), Mullana-Ambala,which is ‘will reveal plan Saturday’ says ‘baseless allegation’ Bidhan Sarani Branch (16630) with Goabagan Branch (04773) on 08.01.2021. running institutions of Medical, Technical and other Merged Branch Merged With Undergraduate/Postgraduate courses including Bidhan Sarani Branch Goabagan Branch research degree Programmes of Ph.D., invites resumes EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE B/156/5/H/8 APCRoad 33, Sahitya Parishad Street, Kolkata -700 006 for the position of Vice-Chancellor of this Deemed to KOLKATA,JANUARY14 KOLKATA,JANUARY14 Had quit Kolkata- 700 006 IFSC :SBIN0004773 :: MICR :700002040 be University for consideration by the Search TMC to join All our valued customers of both the branches are requested to take anote of Committee. Qualifications, Experience and Pay VOICINGHER dissent fornot be- SOVANCHATTERJEE, who had BJPin2019 it. All Banking facilities are being extended from our existing premise of Bidhan packages are as per UGC norms. Interested persons ing kept in theloop about party quit the Trinamool Congress to Sarani Branch at B/156/5/H/8, A. P. C. Road, Kolkata -700 006 since then, we may submit their resumes within 21 days preferably by affairs, TMC MP Shatabdi Roy's join the BJP,onThursdayaccused seek your kind support and co-operation. Inconvenience caused to our customers email. socialmedia postthat she willde- the MamataBanerjee govern- zone, also announced ahostof is deeply regretted. CHANCELLOR ...But some people Regional Manager cide her political futureon ment of tapping hismobile party programmesfor this Date: 15.01.2021 State Bank of india 01731- 274475-78 Fax :274495 Saturdayhas created ripples in do not want me to phone since he joinedthe saffron month.The former Kolkata Place :kolkata Region-II, Kolkata www.mmumullana.org [email protected] the statepolitical circles. reach out to them. As a party in 2019.The ruling TMC re- mayorsaidthatateam of party In aFacebookpostuploaded result, information jectedthe charge,saying that the leaders would startadoor-to- by Shatabdi RoyFans' Club, the regarding party mobilephonetapping is done by door soon in the city.The party two-timeMPfromBirbhum al- programmes is not the Centreand notbythe state would also organisemultiple ral- leged that “some people” were government. lies in Diamond Habour,Raidighi, obstructing herfromreaching out shared with me. Iam Addressing his firstnews con- Kolkataand Baruipur,headded. to thepeople. The actor-turned- deeplypained by this” ference as aBJP leader,Chatterjee Trinamool MP SougataRoy politician has of latebeen keep- —SHATABDI ROY said, "A lotofpeople saythat they said, "The stategovernment can- ing distance from TMC's cam- TMC MP cannotget in touchwith me over nottap mobile phones. It is done paign activities. the phone. Later,Inoticedthat by theCentre. If his phonewas “Recently, alot of people are my phonewas undersurveil- indeedunder surveillance then questioning my absence from forfurther comment. lance. My activities were being he could have usedWhatsApp of party programmes. Iwant to tell TMC MP SougataRoy said, monitored by phone tapping. I Facetime to makecalls. We use them that Idowant to reachout “Wewill wait and see what deci- wasforcedtochangemyphone these apps to makecalls. This is to thepeople. But some people do sions she takes. We cannotsay number." basicallyabaselesscharge to notwantmetoreachoutto them. anything before knowing what Chatterjee, who wasrecently show his importance as apoliti- As aresult, information regarding her decision is.” made observer of BJP's Kolkata calleader." party programmes is notshared RebelTMC leader Rajib with me. Iamdeeplypainedby Banerjee will also go live on this.... therefore, in this newyear, Facebook and speak his mind. Iamtrying to take adecision The MamataBanerjee-led whichwillhelp me to be com- TMC is fightingabattle of attri- pletely with the people.... If Itake tion. SeveralTMC MLAs, includ- anydecision, then Iwill announce ing Suvendu Adhikari and party it at 2pmonSaturday,”wroteRoy MP Sunil Mondal, have defected in the post. She wasunavailable to the BJP.

MAHARISHI MARKANDESHWAR TRUST Sub Office: MMU, Sultanpur Road, Kumarhatti-Solan (HP) AMBALA (HARYANA), 134-003 RESUMES FOR VICE-CHANCELLORSHIP The highly reputed MM University,Kumarhatti- Solan (HP),which is running institutions of Medical, Nursing and other Undergraduate/Postgraduate courses including research degree Programmes of Ph.D., invites resumes for the position of Vice- Chancellor of the University for consideration by the Search Committee. Qualifications, Experience and Pay packages are as per UGC norms. Interested persons may submit their resumes within 21 days preferably by email. MANAGING DIRECTOR 01731-282529 www.mmumullana.org [email protected]

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 4 WEST BENGAL

BAGBAZAR SLUM FIRE STATECOUNT HOUSEWHERE TOTAL CASES MASARADALIVED 563475 Over1500left PARTIALLY BURNT INCREASE DEATHS 680 10010 Kolkata: Apartof Udbodhan Bhawanbe- 546193 RECOVERED longing to Ramakrishna 75,60,561 SAMPLES homeless,CM Mission got partiallydam- TESTED TILL JAN 14 aged in Wednesday's fire at Bagbazar.Ahistoric build- ing whereMaSarada lived COVIDPANDEMIC foryearswas saved, promisesto Some documentsofthe Kolkatagets accounting department and the firsteditionofthe highest number Udbodhan magazine got of vaccines, damaged in thefire. rebuildhomes “The fire spread to the second floor of the building, followedby whichhouses the publica- College. Theareawill be cleaned tion’s office and aprinting N-24 Parganas EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE first, and then, the KMC (Kolkata press.Documents, books KOLKATA,JANUARY14 Municipal Corporation) will re- and the firstedition of EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE buildhousesforyoujustlikeitwas Udbodhan magazine for KOLKATA,JANUARY14 CHIEF MINISTER Mamata before.Don't worry,”she said. damaged in thefire. We Banerjee visited the gutted slum Banerjee, who spent half an hope that the firstedition WITHIN TWOdays of theirarrival in NorthKolkata's Bagbazar area hour in the area, directed State of the Udbodhan magazine forthe firstphase of the vaccina- andpromisedtorebuildshanties. MinisterSashi Panja to arrange is savedinthe archives of tion drive from Saturday, 6,44,500 As manyas107 shanties clothes. She also promised5kg Belur Math,” one of the doses have been distributedto all were burnttothe ground in afire of rice,lentils, vegetables, milk Maharaj said, adding that the districtsinthe state,and on Wednesdayevening, leaving and biscuits foreachofthe af- theyare yettoascertain the Kolkatahas receivedthe highest around 1,500people without fected families. full damage of causedby number of doses at 93,500. The roof. It took around four hours Panja wasalso seen serving the fire. statecapital is followedbyNorth and at least25firetenders to put food to the victims, and localclub People search fortheirbelongings amid thecharredremains at Bagbazar slum on Thursday. Express —ENS 24 Parganas's47,000dosesand out the flames. It continuedtill members distributed blankets Murshidabad's 37,500. Thursdaymorning. and clothes to them. Sources in the stateHealth Banerjeemet afew victims The fire brokeout at 6:35pm Departmentsaid thatinKolkata, and said the affected people on Wednesdayand 20 fire ten- SSKM Hospital,Calcutta Medical would beprovidedfoodandshel- ders were rushedtothe spot. No Collegeand RG Kar and National teruntil shanties were rebuilt. fatalities have been reported ‘The fire left nothing... life now MedicalCollegehavebeen sup- “Since yesterday while afew receivedminorin- pliedwith the firstbatchofvac- (Wednesday), Iwas in constant juries. Portions of Udbodhan cines.Chittranjan Seva Sadanat touchwitheveryone. Fire fight- Bhawan—aproperty ownedby HazraRoad,BeliaghataIDand ers, disastermanagement teams, the Ramakrishna Mission — BG Hospital, BC RoyChildren's police andvolunteers workedto- along with accountsbookswere seems more difficult than death’ Hospital and CalcuttaSchool of gether to bring the fire down. It is reportedlydamagedinthe fire. Tropical Medicine will later re- averyunfortunate incident, but While the police have initi- ceive the vaccines. thankfully, things have come un- ated aprobe intothe case, the Slum dwellerssuspect sabotage, saypromoters had threatenedthem to vacatethe area earlier SSKM, whichhas received der control. Our firstresponsibil- cause of fire is still uncertain. 3,250 doses of SerumInstituteof ity wastorelocate the victims. Meanwhile,state BJPpresi- “I wasplaying agame on my According to Sarati, she was 30,000,and afterlockdown, Iwas India’s Covishield, has registered We have arrangedfood and shel- dentDilip Ghosh demanded a SWEETYKUMARI mobile phone when suddenlyI watching TVwith her nine-year- worriedsince my husband had 10,000frontlineworkers forthe ter, which were wasour prime proper probeintothe incident. KOLKATA,JANUARY14 sawsmokebillowing out of one old granddaughter Sushmita no work for along time.Istand vaccination. concern.Thereisnothing to “Distributing five kg of rice of the house. BeforeIcould sleepingonher side when the fire here todaywithout asingle ru- “Weare all ready to roll out worry. Trustus, we will arrange will be of no help to thepeople AMID THE charredremainsof crossroad, the fire had spread brokeout. pee. Thankfully, my twochildren the vaccine. Preparations have everything," said Banerjee. who all have lost everything in what usedtobehis home, ades- and cylinders startedexploding. Susmitaissuffering from arefine. But nowlifeseems even been done. Vaccine doses have As per herinstructions, all this incident. Iamhopeful that perate14-year-oldsearches for Today, when we were allowedto fever forthe lastfew days.Her moredifficult than death,” a been received. However, we victims have been shiftedto governmentwill take the respon- his belongings. His face grim and go inside, we could find nothing mother had consulted adoctor grief-strickenUma Gayensays. were expecting moredoses than Bagbazar Women's Collegeon sibility to arrangeapermanent his hands shaking. Justtwo days but ashes," he says.His father, and bought medicines but now Though the cause of the fire what mostofushavereceived," Kshirode Vidyavinode Avenue, shelter forthem. Afew have al- ago, he had filledthe form for Sukumar Bhuiyan, is suffering she hasrequestedthe local vol- has notbeen ascertained, resi- said aHealth Department official. whichisadjacent to the fire site. ready raisedquestions on the in- Class Xboardexam,whichis from akidneyailment and is ad- unteers to arrangethe medicines dentssuspect sabotage behind Bengal has so farregistered “Wewillfeedallof youtillyour cident so aprobe should be initi- likelytobeheld in June this year. mitted at RG KarHospital forthe forher daughter as theyhaveno the blaze. 5,63,475 coronavirus cases and housesarebuilt.Untilthen,please ated to find out if therewas any “I lostthatform, my admit pasttwo months. moneytobuy them. “This slum is herefor more 10,010 fatalities. Atotal of 680 stay at BagbazarWomen’s conspiracy behind it," saidGhosh. cardand bookseverything,” says Rahul wasnot the onlyone “I wasplayingoutside the than50years. We had received cases were registeredinthe last Rahul Bhuiyawith his voice desperatelylooking fortheir be- home when suddenlytherewas threatsfromseveral promoters 24 hours while 694peoplewere trembling. longings in the pile of charred Sarati Mondal, 60, has lost aloud noise of acylinder blast. to vacatethe placeinthe past. discharged. Active casesdropped “Firstitwas pandemicand rubble. all her savings. Sweety Kumari The fire wasgulping everything Therecould be aconspiracybe- to 7,272, improving the recovery nowthis fire.Idon't knowhow Located on Kshirode it could, and the high flamesand hind the fire," says Kakoli Payen rate to 96.93 per cent. will Imanagetocope up with Vidyavinode Avenue beside the smokecovered the whole sky.I standing amid the debris of her According to StateHealth this loss. Idon't knowfrom Bagbazar Women’s College “I have livedhereall my life. had neverseen suchasight in my house. Department, the stateregistered wheretoarrangebooks. Ihave near ChitporeLockGateBridge, My son has three daughters. All life. When Isaw my sister, Iwas Though the stategovern- 17 deaths in last24hours. lostall my notestoo,"hesays. the slum that housed107 fam- the gold jewellerythatwehad relievedthat she wasunhurt," ment has arranged atemporary Among the newpositive cases, Rahul, astudent of Bagbazar ilies lookslikeawasteland with savedfor their marriagehave says 11-year-old Pallavi Das. shelter forthem at the adjoining 159werereproted from Kolkata HighSchool in Kolkata, lost his torchedwalls of ahandfulof been lost. We can't think of start- The slum dwellers used collegecampus and volunteers and 186fromNorth 24 Parganas. home in Wednesdaynight fire houses standing.Therewere ing our lifeagain from scratch. I everything theycould to douse have been providing them with Of the 17 deaths, four were that engulfed theentireslum, explodedcans of LPG cylinders criedwhole night thinking about the fire. food and clothes but the slum from Kolkata and sevenfrom leaving over 100families home- strewnaroundand abunchof our darkfuture,”saysasobbing “The fire leftnothing. It took dwellers areanxious staring at North24Parganas. MamataBanerjee at the siteofthe blaze, Thursday. Express less in fewhours. utensils. 60-year-old Sarati Mondal. me nearly three years to save Rs the bleak future.

NOTICE BOARD CORPORATE ASSOCIATE DIARY APPOINTMENTS,MOVEMENTS,CELEBRATIONS,HONOURS

OPENING OF CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE OF THE INSTITUTE OF SECRETARIES OF INDIA ER TO RUN PASSENGER TRAINS BETWEEN ISP DELIVERBEST PERFORMANCE ON QUALITY CONCEPTS 2020 AT ICSI IN KOLKATA -RAJARHAT AZIMGANJ &MALDATOWN AND AZIMGANJ &BHAGALPUR The Quality Circle teams of IISCO Steel Plant havedelivered alltimebest performance in theNationalConventionon SpashtVigyapan LLP,anadvertising agency would seekthe pleasure to officially invite at the opening of Centre of Excellence Quality Concepts(NCQC) 2020 organized by Quality Circle ForumofIndia (QCFI) on December 27,2020 by bagging of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India at ICSI- Centre of Excellence (CoE), Plot No. IIA/35, New Town, Rajarhat , EasternRailway will run03031/03032 (53027/53028 )Az- 8Par Excellence Awards, 3Excellence Awards,4Distinguish Awards and2 Meritorious Awards. Due to Covid -19 re- Kolkata. The Institute of Company Secretaries of India is apremiere professional body established under an Act of Parliament imganj- Malda Town Passenger Special with revised timings strictions,the convention was held in On-line mode. The Theme of the Convention was "Self-Reliant India through and functions under the Jurisdiction of MinistryofCorporate Affairs, GoI. With more than 3.5 laths students and 62,000 and 53029/53030 Azimganj-Bhagalpur passenger w.e.f. Quality Concepts" based on the clarioncallgiven by Hon'blePrime Minister to utilizethese trying timestobecome membersthe Institute operates from itsheadquarters at Delhi, RegionalOfficesand Chapters throughout India to promote 14.01.2021.03031(53027)Azimganj-Malda Town pas- Aatmanirbhar (Self-Reliant).This year,403 organizations, 1636 Teamsand about10,000 delegates &guests par- social –economic growthofthe country.Wehave been delegatedbythe Institute,the task to conduct Press Conferencing sengerspecial willleave Azimganj at 16:05 hrs. to reach ticipated in theconvention. of the dignitaries present there. Malda Town at 19:45hrs. on the sameday and 03032 (53028) Malda Town –Azimganj passenger special will leaveMalda Town at 05:00hrs. to reach Azimganjat08:40 STRENGTHENING U.S.–INDIA PROFESSIONALCOLLABORATION TRIBUTES PAID TO SWAMIVIVEKANANDA ON NATIONAL YOUTHDAY AT HALDIA REFINERY hrs.onthe same day.53029 Azimganj- Bhagalpur pas- 5–DAYVIRTUAL WORKSHOP ON MUSEUMCURATION senger will leave Azimganj at 16:35 hrs. to reach Bhagalpur The Center for Art&Archaeology(CA&A) of the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) organised two 5–day Virtual IndianOil-Haldia Refinery, celebrated the 158th Birth AnniversaryofSwami Vivekananda, in Haldia Township. at 00:30 hrs. (midnight) on the next day and 53030 Bha- Workshops on Museum Curation (10–14August 2020) andMuseum Collections and Visitor Engagement (30November–04 The event began with the garlanding and paying of floral tributes to the Swami Vivekananda statue by Executive Direc- galpur –Azimganj passenger will leaveBhagalpur at 05:00 December 2020), supported by the U.S. Mission to India, . These workshops were developed based on the rec- tor &RefineryHead-Haldia Refinery, Mr.Partha Ghosh followed by other officials present on the occasion. hrs. to reach Azimganj at 12:15hrs. on the same day. ommendations of the White Paper that resulted from the U.S. Embassy supported All Indian Museum Summit 2019, and In his remarks on the occasion, Mr Ghosh noted Swamiji's Jayanti is celebrated across India as National Youth Day.He which was presented to the MinistryofCulture, Government of India, in November 2019. The two workshops within the encouraged everyone to draw motivation from the teachings of Swamiji and addressed the youthtoseize everyoppor- ER TO RUN SPECIAL TRAIN BETWEEN U.S.–India Professional Collaboration initiative were organised in order to share U.S. and Indian best practices in museum tunity to enforce change and bring in transformation. KOLKATA STATION &ALIPURDUAR JN. curation. Following an opencall for applications for eachworkshop, two groups of Fellows selected from an equity and in- To clear the rush of the passengers, EasternRailway will run clusion perspective participated in the workshops. All Fellows are in curatorial and outreachpositions across India and rep- SER PRIORITIZES SAFETYRELATED WORKS afully reserved special train between Kolkata Station & resent public and private institutions or are independent professionals (see Appendix 1for complete details on the August OF ROLLING STOCKMAINTENANCEDURING COVIDHIT YEAR Alipurduar Jn.03129 Kolkata- Alipurduar Special (via cohortand the November–December cohort). During the first workshop, the August cohortlearnt about the role of acura- torand improved their interpretation and label writingskills.Through the second workshop, the November–December co- SouthEasternRailway duringthe COVID hit Dankuni) will leaveKolkataStation at 20:35hrs on hortlearnt different aspects of curation including documentation and digitization of collections;preventive conservation; yearupto December justgoneby, has yielded 22.01.2021 to reach Alipurduar Jn. at 12:30 hrs on the conceptualization and execution of exhibitions as well as visitor experience and public engagement. Fellows in both work- an exemplaryperformanceinsafetyrelated nextday and 03130 Alipurduar -Kolkata special will leave shops took partincourse work, which was critiqued. As their concluding assignment, each Fellow from the August works in maintenanceofrolling stock stabled Alipurduar Jn. at 15:15hrs on 23.01.2021 to reachKolkata workshop curatedavirtual exhibition and the ongoing November–December workshop cohortwill create visitor experi- at differentcar sheds, workshopsand various Station at 08:20 hrs on the next day.This train will stop at ence programs. Theexhibitions and the visitor experience programs will be launched on AIIS’s Virtual Museum of Images yard sidingsall over its entire network. Na- Barddhaman, Rampurhat ,MaldaTown, Harischandrapur, and Sounds websiteinMarch 2021. Fellows received continuous supportfrom AIIS and workshop lead, Dr.Madhuvanti tionwide lockdown since 25th March, 2020 Barsoi Jn., Dalkolha ,Kishanganj, Aluabari Road, Thakur- Ghose,until their final submissionalmostthree monthsafter thecompletion of the workshop’s5–day workingsessions. and unlocked periods in the wakeofCOVID- ganj,Baghdogra, Siliguri Jn., New Mal Jn., Dalgaon, Hasi- 19 pandemic could not refrain the field staff mara, and Hamitonganj Stations enroute in both direction. and officers of Mechanical Department of The date of booking of tickets for the above specialtrain will be notified shortly.Passengers are requested to follow South Eastern Railway fromthe maintenance MEGA FINANCIAL INCLUSION CAMPSACROSSWEST BENGALPOSTAL CIRCLE work in their respectivefields. The dedicated COVID-19 protocols. In order to furtherthe cause of financial inclusion, less cash economy and taking digital banking to the last mile into workforce observing all the COVID health proto- heartlands of West Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman &Nicobar Islands, West Bengal Postal Circle has chalked up acam- cols, has achieved remarkableperformance. paignofcolossal proportions to be held in the monthsofJanuary2021throughtoMarch 2021. Withthe stringent measuresundertakenbythe Mechanical Department of South Eastern Railway,127 mainlinecoaches Six dates(two in each of thethreemonths) havebeen finalised as under:15.01.2021, 28.01.2021, 12.02.2021, including 26 AC and 101non- AC and 16 numbersofLHB coaches have been turned out. 24 EMU/MEMUshave also been UCO BANK INCREASESTERM DEPOSITS 24.02.2021,11.03.2021and 24.03.2021. turned out as against the target of 23. Despite the difficulties and severe constraints due to Covid-19 lockdowns ,1293 wag- INTEREST RATES 8,500 plus trained postal employees (Postal Assistants, Postmenand Gramin Dak Sevaks) willengage in this ons ROH (Regular Overhauling) have been done by putting excellent efforts of all Divisions of South EasternRailway in De- mammoth financial inclusion program. cember 2020.ROH attentions of December 2019 were 1289 wagons. The cumulative wagon ROH out turnduring the cur- UCOBank has increased its Term Deposits interest rate India Post in association with its Banking arm, India Post Payments Bank, is offering the following products and ser- rent financial year has been 8567. Apartfrom this, regular rake sanitisation of all the trains of South EasternRailway have by 5basispoints for above3Years up to 10 years( vices: Savings Accounts,Current (Merchant) Accounts, Merchant QR codes to facilitate cashless transactions. beendone.Two numbers of automatic sanitiserdispensermachine have been installed at EMU CarShed at Tikiapara. w.e.f January10, 2021). Now,effective rate for above Doorstep of Banking services, AadharEnabledPaymentServices, Digital LifeCertificate (JeevanPra- The achievement of Mechanical Department depends largely on the close monitoring from everycorner as is done under 3years up to 10 Years Term Deposits is 5.05% p.a. maan) at Doorstep State of the artMobile Banking, Virtual Debit Card, UPI services through newly launched DakPay the ableguidance of ShriPKMondal,Principal Chief Mechanical Engineer,South Eastern Railway. (quarterlycompounded) and for Senior Citizen it is 5.55% p.a.(quarterlycompounded). app, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, General Insurance.

EVENTS,ANNOUNCEMENTS,LAUNCHES,CSR INITIATIVES,APPOINTMENTS,MOVEMENTS,CELEBRATIONS

Kolkata Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 WORDLY WISE Fake news and rumors thrive online because few verifywhat's real and always bias towards content 6 THE EDITORIAL PAGE thatreinforcestheir ownbiases -RyanHiga Afterblocking Trump

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA What happens next time aworld leaderincites violence? BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL Social media platforms needaclear policy

THE CORRECTION ChinmayiArun AllahabadHCrings awelcome note of constitutional caution againstrecklessstate intrusion on personal life ONJANUARY6,theworldwatchedinshockas Rapporteur forFreedom of Expression, David When Trumpgavehis speech, these factors extremistsstormedtheUnitedStatesCapitolto Kaye,havearguedthat the platforms ought to had aligned. HE ALLAHABAD HIGH Courtjudgment striking down provisions of the Special interruptthe Congress’s joint session which followinternational human rightslaw,espe- Trumphas arguablybeen inciting vio- wasformalising Joe Biden’s electoral victory. ciallythe UN Guiding Principles on Business lence on social media platforms foralong Marriage Act,1954thatmakeitmandatoryforcouplestopublisha30-daypub- Shortlybeforetheattack,atthe“Save America andHuman Rights. Socialmedia companies time. In mid-2020, Facebook employees T lic notice of their intent to marry —which oftenexposes them to vigilanteand March”, DonaldTrumpexhortedacrowd of acceptthattheymusttakestepsto ensurethat staged avirtualwalkout in distress over the familial violence —isasignificantand much-neededcorrection.Byunambigu- his supporters to walk down to the Capitol to theydonot facilitatetragicallyextreme harm companyrefusing to regulatethe US ouslyunderlining the primacyofindividual autonomy, it ringsanote of constitutional san- give “weakRepublicans” the “boldness” to suchasthe Rohingyagenocide in . President’s inflammatoryposts.Inthe past, ityatatimewhenanti-conversionordinancesinUttarPradeshandMadhya Pradeshhave li- “takeback”America.Thevideowassharedon However, theyalsoactaspublicfora fortheim- Twittersuspendedanother account posting censedrecklessstateintrusionsoninter-personalrelationshipsinthenameof countering“love social media. Trump’s social media accounts portant and difficult conversations that make copies of Trump’s tweets forglorifying vio- were active andcommunicating as his sup- ademocracy.Iftheyrefusedtohostconversa- lence, while leaving the president’s tweets jihad”. Asingle-judgebench of the high courtruledthat the compulsorynotice inviting portersransackedtheCapitol,stoppingto pose tionsabouttheCOVID-19 virus,vaccines,abor- up. This waspresumablybecause of Twitter’s scrutinyand objections encroachedon“the fundamental rightsofliberty and privacy,in- forphotographsintheSpeaker’sofficeandtake tion,Kashmir,LGBTQ rights or maritalrape, exception forpublic or elected officials’ cluding within itsspherefreedom to choose formarriagewithout interference from state selfies with policemen. thepublicdebatethatdrivesdemocracywould speechwhichisseen as being in “public in- andnon-state actors,of thepersonsconcerned.”TheLawCommissionof Indiareportin2012 The social media companies reacted,first Although social media suffer. We usuallyuseconstitutionalcourtsfor terest”. Facebook alsohas a“newsworthi- blockingparticularcommunications includ- this delicatebalancing of freedom of expres- ness”exception. Theseexceptions poseacon- hadmadeasimilarrecommendationto “keepacheckonthehigh-handedandunwarranted companies are private interference by caste assemblies in sagotra,inter-caste or inter-religious marriages”. ing videos of the speech, and then suspend- sionwithreasonablerestrictions,andthecom- tinuing problem forother countriesthatare companies, they have a Intheory, atleast,asecularstatehadenvisionedtheSpecialMarriageAct,1954,asameans ing Trump’s accounts. Trumphas been barred panies arenow building alternative systems stillled by individuals who incite violence. from using Facebook and Twitter.The plat- likethe FacebookOversight Board. Once Trumpwas clearly on his wayout, to clearaspaceforIndiancitizensto marryoutsidetheboundariesof religiousandcaste iden- disproportionateimpacton form’s decisions have been criticised. Broadly, populations around the The effect of asocial media platform in fa- and his allies no longer controlledthe Senate, tity;tosupport arefashioning of identityinasociety still in thrall to strict endogamyand critics argue that social media companies cilitating the freedom of expression can vary the platforms steppeduptoblockhis danger- communitarianidentities.Butinpractice,thepublicnoticeendedupgivingvigilantegroups, should not“censor” apresident or makewhat world. This is whyexperts dependingonthe speaker. Acitizen journalist ous speech. Twitter’s reasoning wasthat familieshostileto inter-faithandinter-caste unions,andthesocialprejudiceof legalbureau- conservativessee as politicallybiaseddeci- including the former UN or whistleblowerinacountrywithout afunc- Trumpincited violence to the extent that the cracy disproportionatepowers to police young couples.Asaresult, manypreferred to con- sionsabout speech. The latter claimwrongly Special Rapporteur for tional, free press mayhavenoother wayto publicinterestexceptionwasnolongeragood vertandmarryunderpersonallaws,ratherthanexposethemselvestoharassment.TheUttar assumes that all ideologicallyconservative Freedom of Expression, reachwideaudiencesif deprivedofsocialme- reason to leave his speechup. Facebook’s rea- speechisthe same as harmful speech. Trump dia.Incontrast,aheadof statelikeTrumpwho soning wasmoreambiguous: Although it Pradesh Prohibition of UnlawfulConversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, whichmakes reli- couldhavestoppedat expressing dissatisfac- David Kaye, have argued that is barredfromsocial media has access to the mentionedincitement to violence, it seemed gious conversionfor marriageacrime, has amoredraconian version of this provision: It de- tion aboutthe electoral outcome. However, the platforms ought to massmedia. His freedomofexpression is not to argue thatthe newsworthiness protection mands a60-day notice to the districtmagistrateand apoliceinquirytoascertain the “real” he chose to insistthat the election was followinternational human affected in thesameway in which aprotest- did notapplybecause of the exceptional cir- intention behindconversion. “stolen”,calling foraction. This took his rights law, especially the UN ing farmer or awhistleblower’smight be,if cumstance of the insurrection and the post- Even today, inter-faith unions makeupaminuscule minority of marriages. The HC judg- speechbeyond the realm of political opinion theyare de-platformed. electoral transfer of power. Guiding Principles on mentreaffirmsthefirstprinciplesthataccordconstitutionalprotectionto thisminority—and intothe realm of incitement. Similarly,theeffectsofcommunicationcan The question to ask is: What happens the The fact that Trumpisahead of statedoes also vary depending on the speaker and the next time aworld leader incites violence on goesfurther.Itisalsoareminderthattheweightof aseriesof landmarkSupremeCourtjudg- Businessand Human mean that his incitementofviolence needs to Rights. Social media audiences.Withthesamecontent,aninfluen- these platforms? Facebook mightleave their mentsinrecent years pushesbackagainstsocietaland statemeddling in personalaffairs. betreateddifferently. Socialmediawouldhave tial speaker is muchmorelikelytoactuallyin- speechup, since it has leftitself room to do so. From rulings thatrecognise the righttoprivacy as afundamental right (PuttaswamyvUnion enabledand amplifiedthe incitement to vio- companies accept that they citeviolence. Therefore, incitement by ahead Twitter might take it down, but it is notclear of India), the righttochoose one’s partner (Hadiya case) and the ruling that decriminalised lence through their platformsiftheydid not must take steps to ensure of stateismoredangerousthanincitementby what countsasenoughincitement foran homosexuality,theyform “a longchain of decisions growingstrongerwithtime and firmly actto restrictthecirculationof Trump’sspeech, that they do not facilitate apowerless,ordinaryindividual.Thisissignif- elected official’s account to be suspended. establishingpersonallibertyandprivacyto befundamental”.Asseveralreportsinthisnews- giventhe connectionbetween his wordsand tragically extreme harm such icant giventhat social media platforms are The platformsshould notbecirculating paper have shown, the anti-conversion ordinance in UP is being weaponisedagainstpre- theviolence.If anything,theyshouldhave been clear that theywill act to remove incitement speechthatisverylikelytocause violence — vigilant and acted earlier.Social media com- as the Rohingyagenocide in to violence from their platforms, especially they needclearpolicies in whichtheycom- cisely thisguarantee,withdisastrous consequences forthe hard-won freedoms of young panies have policies that arenot sufficiently Myanmar.However,they wherethereisareal danger that violence will mit to aconsistent refusal to help heads of womenandmen.ForBJP-ruledstatesthathave embarkedonahigh-stakescampaignto po- firm or clear on this question. also actaspublic fora forthe ensue.Apowerfulleadercanpersuadehisfol- stateinciteviolence. lice the intimatelives of citizens,the Allahabad High Courtjudgment is areminder and a Althoughsocial media companies arepri- important and difficult lowersthatitisacceptableandevenrighteous warning that the constitutionremainsthe bulwarkagainstanoverreachingstate. vate companies, theyhaveadisproportionate to engageinviolence.If thisleadercontrolsthe The writer is an affiliateofthe Berkman Klein impactonpopulationsaroundtheworld.This conversations that makea lawand order machinery, this creates asense Center of Internet&Society at iswhyexpertsincludingtheformerUNSpecial democracy. of impunity in those wreaking the violence. HarvardUniversity PEACE CHALLENGE Transition in US provides windowfor Kabuland Delhi to signal concerns about Afghan process to Washington SHINE THE LIGHT HE TWO-DAY VISIT by National SecurityAdvisorAjit Kumar DovaltoKabul wasthe firstbyahigh-ranking Indian official to Afghanistanafter talksbegan Transparency on vaccines is necessary,misinformation mustbechecked T at Doha betweenthe Taliban and adelegation of theAfghanRepublic.Itcame days afterUSPresident-elect JoeBiden'svictoryreceived Congressional certi- fication and as Washington prepares forthe transition. One of the big foreign policy chal- JVRPrasadaRao lengesfortheincomingBidenAdministrationishowtotakeforward theAfghanprocessun- der the Trumpregime. PilotedbySpecial Representative ZalmayKhalilzad, it ledtoan EARLYINthe COVID-19pandemic, hundreds those be addressed. besources of misinformation,manymoreare agreementwiththeTalibanfortheUSto withdraw almostallitstroopsfromAfghanistan,with of peoplediedinIranafter consuming toxic The COVID-19inoculation drive is likelyto progressive and leantowards scientificand aprayerthattheTalibanhadchangedenoughsincethelasttimeto work incooperationwith methanol, erroneouslybelieving that it could involve the administration of morethan one rational thinking. Suchnon-state actors should Afghanpoliticalpartiesandotherstakeholdersforpeacefulanddemocraticgovernance.The curethemofthe disease. The pandemic has dose of the vaccine. It cannot, therefore, be be involvedinanalliance that can help in so- seen waves of suchmisinformation, prompt- treatedas a“one-off” event. It’s ajourneyfrom cial mobilisation forCOVID vaccination. talksbetween the Taliban and the Kabul delegation arestill on,although afterthe firstcou- ingtheWorldHealthOrganisationto coin the the time the individual registers forvaccina- Whilethesenetworkscan help effectively ple of weeks, themeetingshavebeenput on hold.Itisnosecret that the government of term, “infodemic”. tion to the timehe/shedevelops immunity. reachsocio-economicallydisadvantaged President Ashraf Ghani has been wary of this process since it began, and the refusal of the Misinformation flows associated with The safetyofthat journeyfor the firstset of groups, and people in rural areas, alarge sec- Taliban to call aceasefireand the high levels of violence have nothelpedallaysuspicions in mass immunisation programmes have vaccinatedpeople, whowill sharetheir expe- tionof population would also lookup to cred- Kabul about itsintentions. been among the tophurdles forhealth sys- riences on social media and other platforms, ible experts through the mainstream media IndiahasbeenconcernedaboutaprocessinwhichithashadnoroleandthatgavePakistan tems fordecades, risking the healthofmil- will shape the decisions of millions others. and on the internettohelp them makedeci- lionsofchildren. What’s different this time This journey, even before it begins, will have sions. Scientistsand vaccine experts should —whichusedits influencetodeliver theTaliban to the talkstable —anupper hand in decid- is the scale and the information environ- manytouchpointsfor credible information playaproactive role in shaping the attitudeof ing the outcomesinKabul. The Pakistansecurity establishment's cosy relationship with the ment.The pandemicinahyperconnected whichcannotbedone solelybythe govern- people.Industrialhouses should become part- Taliban and the Haqqani network, and the increasingfungibilityofgroups suchasJaish-e- world, wheresomuchaboutthe virus was ment. The process should involveindepend- ners in disseminating science-basedinforma- Mohammedand Lashkar-e-Toiba, have raisedseveral securityred flagsinDelhi.The transi- unknown and so many people were anx- ent actors suchasacademia, civil-society or- tion to their employees, and through other tion in the US has providedatimelywindowinwhichbothKabul and Delhi could signal ious and fearful, took thedelugeofmisin- ganisations that have strong grass roots mass-media channels. theseconcernsto Washington.Kabuliseagerto make clearto President-electBidenthatthe formation to incredible levels. presence, philanthropyarms of large corpo- It is alsonecessary forgovernments to be Taliban mustagree to aceasefire. AfghanForeignMinisterMohammad Hanif Atmar has Nowasthe COVID vaccines startrolling rate houses and the private sector otherthan vigilantaboutisolatedadverseincidentswhich out, scaremongering is likelytosoaraswell. vaccine manufacturers. In fact, it will take cannotberuledout in aprogramme of such soughtDelhi's supportfor this. ADemocratic administration mayalso be moresensitive to Misinformation should be In fact, muchbeforethe jabsagainstthe novel nothing less than asociety-basedapproach magnitude.Adverseeventmonitoringshould the concerns of other stakeholders in Afghanistan, suchaswomen and rightsgroups, who coronavirus hadappeared on thehorizon, countered with consistent forthe vaccination drive to succeed. take placeatthe lowest levelofthe healthcare have real fears about areturn of the Taliban. Earlier this week,External Affairs MinisterS therewereconspiracy theories about vaccines and transparent sharing of The government should emphasise in systemandsuchcasesshouldbegivenprompt Jaishankar said India might increase “military assistance”toAfghanistan. being tailoredto implanttrackablemicrochips science-based information itsmessaging that “togoornot to go”for a medical and administrative attention. ItisnowmorethantwoyearssinceAfghanistanhashadafull-timeambassadorinDelhi. to steal information. As the prospect of the about the vaccines in a COVID vaccine is a“voluntary” decision,that Governmentsatthe Centreand state-level It is time forDelhitorethinkthe “temporary” closureofthe Indian consulatesinJalalabad vaccines became morereal, social media was one has to take in theinterestofone’s health areworking on upscaling thecold-chainfacil- abuzz with claims that the m-RNAtechnol- language easily accessible to and that of their family. To present the deci- ities and training an armyofvaccinators. The and Herat,apparentlydue to concerns over COVID and heightenedviolence. ogy being usedbysome vaccine-makers will citizens, their families and sion as a“responsiblechoice”, and notasan leadership in the countrywillhavetorise alter the recipient’s DNA. communities. People have a imposition,will effectively kill the motiva- above their political and ideological differ- Suchmisinformation should be coun- right to knowwhat’s in the tion of manyrumour-mongers. ences.The national response to themass vac- teredwith consistent and transparent sharing The country’s victoryoverpolio owes cination drive is arareopportunityfor polit- MYTRUTH ANDYOURS of science-basedinformationabout the vac- vaccine,how it will be muchtoco-opting communityleaders,civil ical leadersacross party lines to closeranks cines in alanguage easily accessible to citi- administered,how it will society organisations and religious heads. anddemonstratethat on issues pertaining to Banning of Parler maybeasteptocontain right-wingfringe. zens, their families and communities. People work in the body,and what Manyofthem enjoyhigh trustand credibil- peoples’ health theystand united.That will have aright to knowwhat’s in the vaccine, ityamong people and have the unique ability beavictorynot justagainstthe pandemic but But polarisation and echo chambers cut across platforms howitwill beadministered,how it will work reactions or side-effects, if to turn scientific messages intocontextually- fordemocracyaswell. in the body, and what reactions or side-ef- anythey canexpect, and how relevant information in the groups of their in- NTHETIMEsinceDonaldTrumpwaselectedUSpresidentin2016 —infact,withthe fects, if anytheycan expect, and howwould would those be addressed. fluence. While somereligious leaders could The writerisaformer Union HealthSecretary rise of “fakenews”across the worldaquote by former US senator Daniel Patrick I Moynihanhasbeenmuchcited:“Youare entitledtoyouropinion,butyouare noten- titledtoyour ownfacts.” The fact, though, is that in the information age, everyone can createtheir ownpolitical reality.And the decision by Amazon, Google and Apple to sus- pendParler,amicrobloggingapp(similarto Twitter)favouredby theAmericanfar-rightfrom JANUARY 15,1981, FORTY YEARS AGO their platformsisunlikely to changethis trend. Parler,with about 10 million users, does notallowcross-platform sharingand paintsit- SAMASTIPUR FIRING In this incident, the sub-inspector of the ities had acceptedthe American compromise self as absolutistonfreespeech—noposts aretaken down or deleted, ofteneventhose that SIX UNDERTRIALSINSamastipurwere Samastipur police thana, Shambu Sharan and an end to the hostage crisis is at hand. callforviolence.Theplatformwasusedtoshareincendiarypostsintherun-upto theJanuary killedinpolice firingafter threedaysofcon- Singh Thakur sustainedserious injuries. The frontation between them and the police. undertrials were protesting againstbad RAJIV STILL IN IA 6violence at theCapitol building in Washington DC, and the lackofany protocolstoaddress Soon afterreceiving news of the incident, food, non-supply of warm clothingand ill- RAJIV GANDHI, Apilotwith the Indian this ledapp stores hostedbytechgiantstosuspend Parler.The company'sCEO hassaid that Bihar Chief MinisterJagannathMishraan- treatment by ajail jamadar. Airlines, has notyet resignedfromhis job. the platform's futureisnow uncertain. nouncedajudicial enquiry intothe incident. Norisany action being contemplated Facebookand Twitter have suspendedTrump'saccount —but onlyafter years of incen- Tenpolicemen were injured in stone throw- US GIVES IN againsthim forparticipating in Congress (I) diarystatements.Evenbefore theinternet boom,thetrendofcateringtoonlyaparticularseg- ing by the undertrials who had takenrefuge THE US HAS agreedtodeposit 70 per cent of activities. AccordingtoNo10ofthe orders mentof thepopulation,reenforcingtheirbiases,hadtakenoff.NewschannelsintheUS,and on rooftops afterlocking some jail en- frozen Iranian assets in Algeria, undertaken Indian Airlines service rules no employee beyond,have cultivatedparticularpoliticaldemographiesandvitriolisoftencastaboutinthe trancestorestrictthe movement of the jail to returnthe late Shah’s wealthtoIranand canparticipateinthe activities of acommu- staff. The trouble startedonJanuary12 suspend legal claims againstIran, according nal organisation or apolitical party.Rajiv, guiseof aprime-time“debate”.Behindthisbusinessmodelisthedeeplycynicalideathatfacts, when agroup of undertrials ledbyone to Tehran Radio. The radio suggestedthat the whogainedthe Boeing 737pilot licence last likesoftdrinks,aremerelyaproductand“givingthepeoplewhattheywant” isgoodforbot- Gulzar Mian indiscriminatelystonedthe jail US has already returned70per centoffrozen month, has been openly participating in tomlines.BanningParlerandotherrelatively smallsiteslikeitmay helpto containthefringe. staffand police personnel who persuaded Iranian assets but moreclarity on that is Congress (I) activities afterbeing behind the But it's morelikelythe fringewillcontinue to move centrestage. them to come down and“talk things over”. awaited.Itsuggested thatthe Iranian author- scenes forsome months.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “For theirpart,the Talibanmustjoin the political process. If their violentactions continue,itishighly unlikely that an intra-Afghan peaceprocesscan succeed.” 7 THE IDEAS PAGE —DAWN Anew global playbook Healer in chief As President, Biden mustreach out to dividedUS. The liberal worldorder is yettofreeitselffromimperial bias, as areportthat dubs India a‘difficult’ He can establishnew conventions countryreveals.Indiacan push foraless hierarchicalversion of internationalism

in whichBlackshad theright to vote.Heas- sumedthe presidency of acountrydeeply dividedwiththe national party’s FWde Klerkashis firstdeputy.However, large sec- tionsofBlacks,who had been dominated politically, sociallyand economicallyfor decades clamoured forrevenge. The states- man that Mandelawas, he understood the implications.Arainbownation, he realised, GBalachandran wasthe onlyway forwardtoensurepros- Kate Sullivan de perity in South Africa. In 1995, South Africa hostedthe World Estrada RugbyCup forthe firsttime. Rugbywas a AMERICAN SOCIETYISundergoingtumul- game that wasplayedpredominantly by ON JANUARY11, Robin Niblett, Director and tuous changes. In the recent presidential the whites. When Mandela learnt that Chief Executive of ChathamHouse,the cen- election,the nation seemedtobedivided. South Africawould be hosting the World tury-old UK-basedpolicy institutealso known Some 75 million votedfor Donald Trump Cup, he came up with abrilliant idea, not as the RoyalInstituteofInternationalAffairs, notwithstanding his various illegal actsand fullyshared by his colleagues,touse rugby publishedareport proposing ablueprint for incendiarylanguageincharacterising those to unitethe country. (It wasthe subject of Britain’s futureforeign policy afterBrexit. Titled opposedtohim. Some sevenmillion more abook Playing the Enemyand amovie, “Global Britain, Global Broker”, the report voted forJoe Biden,whose victoryhas been Invictus). When the Springbokswon the sketches abold pathahead forthe UK, argu- deniedbyTrumpand his supporters.On finalsagainstNew Zealand,wearing the ing that postBrexit, Britain can remain interna- January6,amob stormed the Capitol in a Springboks coloursand green cap, tionallyinfluential. Curiously, however, the re- bidtodenyBiden his victory, reminiscent Mandela surprisedthe team before the portgivesexceedingly shortshriftto India,one CRSasikumar of asimilar storming of the Capitol by the game by visiting them in their locker room of the non-Europeancountriesmosttoutedto British in 1814. and later beaming as he presented the cap- featureprominentlyinBoris Johnson’s vision ommending an arm’s length relationship with policy choices and self-representations, and Afterthe assault on the Capitol, thereis tain with the trophyinthe big stadium of a“Global Britain”. India demands scrutiny, too, andnot just by by whom. PickupacopyofHardeep Singh palpable anger in the US againstPresident filledtoits capacity.Itwentalong wayto- Most strikingly, the Chatham House re- Indians (regardlessoftheir support forthe Puri’s Perilous Interventions,orevenShyam Trump. However, recent pollsshowthat wardsthe realisation of his dream of unit- portgroups India on the other sideofa“new current government) but by anyone keen to Saran’s HowIndia seesthe World. while mostAmericans, including many ing the country. It wasanact of spontane- divide in international affairs —between see an end to the inequalities of our contem- Forpost-colonial states, sovereignty after Trumpsupporters, reject the attackonthe ity,unrehearsed and unanticipated that open societies wherecitizens have the capac- porary, hierarchical worldorder.Predictably, independence, farfromonlybeing about po- Capitol, millions empathise with the mob. brokethe barrier between the whites and ity to fight fortheir rightsand those where the reportadvocates that the UK move to sup- litical and economic independence within And according to pressreports,the FBI has the Blacks to some extent. these rightsare denied”. Along with Russia, portdemocracies in the Asia-Pacific region as state borders,intendedtogohand in hand warnedabout the possibility of armed Can Biden, who is known to act spon- Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Indiaisclassed as ameans to aidthese countriesinavoiding po- with the projectof“worldmaking”: The shap- protests at all50state capitols and in taneouslyand generouslyinhis dealings one of the “difficult four” countries, destined litical subservience to China.When it comes ing of internationallegal, political and eco- Washington, D.C., ahead of Biden’s January withindividuals, do asimilar thing to to count among the UK’s “rivals” or “awkward to India, however, thereport prescribes cau- nomic institutions that realise the internation- 20 inauguration. bridge the gapbetween the Democratsand counterparts” as it pursues itsglobal goals. tion: India is areluctant supporterofliberal alistproject that Getachew calls Biden has been lukewarm on the issue the moderateRepublicans? Something Being clubbed together in such companywill democracy, is “ambivalent” about human “nondominaton”. This collectiveprojectsaw of impeachment although he has calledfor that will psychologicallyassurethem that shockmanyfor itsstark contrastwith the po- rightsabuses within other states, and pos- some early successes, but then dwindledinto Trump’s resignation. Vice President Mike he is sincereinhis belief and effortstounite sitionofgrowingimportance that Western sesses “a long and consistent recordofresist- failure. Full and equal membership of the inter- Pence toohas been, at best,lukewarm the country. governmentsfromWashington to Canberra ingbeing corralledintoa‘Western’camp’”. national order remains, as Getachew skilfully about the application of the 25th amend- President Trumphas indicatedthat he accordtoIndia, in particular,inconjunction These blackmarks againstIndia echo with a shows,hamperedby hierarchyand markedby ment. The prospectsofTrumpbeingre- will notattend the inauguration of the withthe emerging and implicitlyliberal con- well-worn Western liberal playbook,fraught formsofdependenceand domination. Former movedfromofficebynoon January20are Biden presidency in asharp break with tra- struct of the Indo-Pacific. with disappointment that India, despitebe- Indian foreign secretaryand national security very slim. HoweveronJune 20, the dition. Also traditionallyonthe inaugura- The report should be kept in perspective ing the world’s largest democracy,isaweak advisor Shivshankar Menon captures this re- Democratswill gain control of the Senate tion day, before the ceremony, the outgo- —itisafter all, in no wayastatement on be- liberal allyinthe international political sphere. ality succinctly: Forhim, encouragement by and with amajority in the House of ing President with his wifeinvitethe half of the UK government. In fact, itsadvice It should be notedthatthis (Western) fram- (presumablyWestern)internationalpartners Representatives, the prospectsofanim- incoming President and the Vice President to deal cautiouslywith India stands in diamet- ing of India as an ambivalent supporteroflib- forIndia to “behaveresponsibly” usually peachmenttrialinthe Senate thereafterare and their spouses fortea. The event is also ric opposition to Downing Street’s current tack eral principles and institutions abroad pre- means “do[ing] what theywould likeustodo”. highalthough aconviction on that trial is attendedbythe outgoing Vice President on the bilateral relationship. But Chatham dates the current Indian leadership by What can be done to resistand challenge again very slim. and his/her spouse. Afterthat, the outgoing House is an institution of consequence in the decades. India, along with other non-Western the implicit and explicit conceptions of status Biden’s reluctance to actively support President accompanies the incoming UK and Western policy landscape, and the re- risingdemocracies,sothe familiar charge and hierarchyinthe Chatham House report? Trump’s impeachment is understandable. President forthe inaugurationceremony. port’s recommendations demand close goes, has long been unwillingtostepupon Getachew cautions against“aretreat intoade- His administrationwillhavemanyimme- That will nothappen this year. scrutiny. The widerportrait that it sketches of the global stagetothe responsibilities of fensive sovereigntist position, whichcannot diateproblems to attend to —controlling But the fact that the outgoingPresident acontemporaryliberal international order is “committed democracies”. provide adequatecritical and normative re- and neutralising thepandemic through is breakingtime honouredtradition and particularly significant. Rather than framingIndia’sambivalentre- sources to address the contemporarydilem- an active vaccination programme, pass- conventionneednot preclude the incoming First, itis clear that the report’s move of la- lationship with the international liberal order TheChatham House report masofthe international order”. ing legislation to give monetary relief to Presidentfromestablishinganewconven- belling India “difficult” is bound up with quite as adisappointing deviation from asuperior itself concedes that India’s The Chatham House reportitself concedes those affected by the pandemic anden- tion that will go some waytowards restor- specificideas about statusand hierarchyin European model(ironically, themodel the UK importance to the UK is that India’s importance to the UK is “in- ergising the economy. Plus,therewill be ing thetraditional working relationship worldpolitics. The report’s author places India has in partturnedawayfromthrough Brexit), ‘inescapable’, and it is clear escapable”, and it is clear that no nation today the immediateissue of bringing together withthe Republican legislators and mod- and other countries in adifferent normative we mightlook morecloselyathow the inter- can move forwardwithoutfactoring in India. astrongly dividednation. ForBiden, it is erateRepublicans who do notowe personal universe to the “liberal West”and then con- national order of the early 21st centuryre- that no nation todaycan The next twoyears will see India move intoa important that his administration carry loyalty to Trump. fers unequal status upon them. mainsgroundedonthe myth of the formal move forward without critical periodofhigh-profileinternational ac- as muchofthe Senateasalso the public While therehas been no precedent, Part of thejustification forlabelling India equality and sovereigntyofstates. As Adom factoring in India. Thenext tivity,bothasanelected member of the UN with his programmestorestore some thereisnothing to preventVicePresident “difficult” centres on acritique of India’s do- Getachew has arguedinher brilliant and par- twoyearswill see India move Security Council and as hostofthe 2023 G20 semblance of stability notonlyto Pence from invitingincoming President mestic political developments. The report adigm-shifting book Worldmaking after Summit. India can leverage these positions of American societybut to the country’s Biden and Vice PresidentKamala Harris, noteshow “the overtHindunationalismof the Empire,today’s international order remains an into acritical period of high- influence to centreamoredemanding vision global standing as well. along with their spouses fortea, and then rulingBharatiya JanataParty is weakening the unevenplaying field —aplace of institution- profile international activity, of internationalism that disrupts thecivilisa- No doubt, President-elect Biden and accompanying incoming President Biden rightsofMuslims and other minority religious alisedstructural hierarchycomprising both as an elected member of tional and racialisedhierarchies that linger Vice-President elect Kamala Harris would forthe inauguration.Itwill be asignificant groups, leading to achorus of concern that in- “processes of integration and interaction that from Europe’simperialera.Butto do that,India have already thought deeplyoverthese gestureonthe partofbothVice President tolerant majoritarianism is replacing the vi- produce unevenlydistributed rights, obliga- the UN SecurityCouncil and needs the critical and normative resources to matters. Probablydozens of drafts of Pence and incoming President Biden, not sion of asecular,democratic India bequeathed tions, and burdens”. Post-colonial, non- as host of the 2023 G20 inspiregreater equality,legitimacy and inclu- Biden’s inaugural speechare being con- allowing protocol to standinthe wayof by Nehru”. This is no trivial observation and it Western states, even increasingly powerful Summit.India canleverage sivity in theinternational sphere.For as long stantlyrevisedtoincorporatehis desire to healing American society’s wounds. should surprise no one, leastofall the Indian states suchasIndia, stilldonot enjoyfull polit- these positions of influence as Indiapractises domination at home, those unify the country. However, it is also unde- Howsuchanoutcome can come about government. Behind closeddoors across North ical and economic independence in howthey resources, desperatelyneededtopush through niablethatBiden is notknown forhis ora- and who will be the catalysttobring this Atlantic and European capitals, diplomatic makedecisionsathome,norin theireffortsto to centre amore demanding urgent reforms of theglobal order,willbeclear tory and in addition, thecountrywillbe about is forthe American public to decide. concerns—usuallyunspokenin public—have shapethe agendas of international institutions. vision of internationalism to no one —asthe Chatham House report, for keenlyawaiting his firstaction to translate Aforeign well-wisher of the US and its been bubbling since 2014 about growing reli- If this sounds fantastical to Indian ears in 2021, that disrupts the all itsproblems, succeeds in showing. hisdesiretounitethe countryinpractice. idealsand principlescan onlyoffer sug- gious and other forms of intolerance and the speak to an Indian representative working in civilisational and racialised Here,thereisaparallel in history worth gestions. suppressionofcritiqueand dissent in India’s almostany international institution, from the The writer is AssociateProfessor, mentioning. domestic space. United Nations to BrettonWoods, and ask hierarchies that linger from International Relations of SouthAsia, Apartheid in South Africa ended in 1994 The writer waspreviouslywiththe Institute Yetthe report’s second justification forrec- them if theyfeel constrainedintheir foreign Europe’simperial era. University of Oxford afterNelsonMandela wonthe firstelection forDefence Studies and Analyses, Delhi Agreat trust deficit LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR BETTER PLANNING This refers to the article, 'Getting the IDEAS Centre's divisive campaign will onlydeepen impasse with farmers vaccine right', (IEJanuary14). The vac- cination drive is soon going to be an- ONLINE nouncedbut thereare manyconcerns Randeep Singh Surjewala whichhavenot been addressed yet. The ONLYINTHE EXPRESS after-effectsofthe vaccine in different IN THE SEVENyearsofmediocregovernance passe between farmers andthe Modi gov- REGA. Comparethis to thelastsix years, no ice. It had the exact oppositeimpact than groupsofindividuals is notknown. ● WHYCLOUDKITCHENS markedbyinstitutional capture, propaganda ernment lies amassive trust deficit cultivated wherethe highestincrease has barelybeen intended. Public sentiment ralliedinfavour Thereisalso alackofsufficient datade- TURNEDDARK:ABHISHEK politics, unprecedented economicmisman- over sevenyearsofbrokenpromises,manip- sufficient to coverincreasedproduction costs. of our “annadatas”. termining the efficacy rate of the vac- SANWARIA,NIKHILKEDIA agement and unaccountability, the Narendra ulated dataand outright neglect. Another much-advertisedprogramme On January12, theSupreme Courtinter- cine. The free availability of vaccine is ANDAKSHAYA Modigovernment is facedwith perhaps its Barelyamonthintoits firsttenure, the —the Crop Insurance Scheme of 2016 — venedtostaythe implementationofthese going be aburden on the government. VIJAYALAKSHMI greatestchallengeyet:India’s farmers have Modi government directed that the payment sawinsurancecompaniesmaking aprofit laws but also establishedacommittee com- Those who can afford it couldhavebeen ralliedtogether once again, askingfor the of bonus on MSP to farmers in key agrarian of Rs 19,202 crore(as of lastyear) afterpay- posedsolelyofindividuals who have de- givenvaccines on reasonable rates. ●FORASMARTERFOOD mostbasic of guaranteesand the repeal of states be cancelled. This wasfollowedbythe ing compensation to the farmers, as gov- clared their supportfor thebills and opposed Better research and well-thought-out SECURITYPROGRAMME: the three agrarian laws thattheyneither repeal of the Right to Fair Compensation Act ernmentsand farmers endeduppaying the farmers, callingtheir protestmisguided strategy should have been formulated VIJAYAVINANDAN,ALOK asked fornor support. brought in by the UPAin2013toensuremar- high premiums. and going to the extent of blaming foreffectiveimplementation. These three laws,brought in by ordi- ket price foracquiredland. In asurprise to Blanketed by these challenges, it is no Oppositionparties. The question is: Can any- SarachanaSisodia, Delhi MISHRA,SUBHAMAWASTHI nances in the middle of the pandemic and no onebut the Modi government, this move surprise that the countrysaw asharp in- thing meaningful fructifyfromdiscussions passedwithout anyprior consultation, de- wasmet withnationwide protests, whichled crease in farmersuicides.What waseven with acommittee, whose members already WITHOUT DEBATE www.indianexpress.com bateordiscussion, arecatastrophic in their to thePMannouncing in his radio broadcast moresurprising is that these prompted al- supportthe government stance on three implications. Specifically, theyforeshadow that the amendmentswould be repealed. mostnooutreachfromthe Union Cabinet, agrarian laws andoppose the farmers? This THIS REFERS TO the article, 'A the complete erosion of the guarantee of The fact that these amendmentsweresnuck muchlessthe prime minister. is unlikely to address the growing chasm of shapeshifting justice' (IE, January13). Minimum SupportPrice (“MSP” foragricul- in through statelawsinBJP-ruledstates Theyawning trustgap is,thus,writlarge. distrustthat the Modigovernment contin- The three farm laws missedout on BEYOND COVID tural produce)and the thoughtless disman- deepened this lackoftrust. Afterall, if one cannottakethe PM’s word at ues to foment with itscampaign of division substantive scrutinyinthe legislature. tling of AgricultureProduce Marketing Then came the denial of fixing the MSP at face value, then what else matters? This is and smokescreens. Thisaberration of shorteningofthe es- THISREFERSTOthearticle,'Careandcau- Committees while leaving small farmers costplus 50 percent.While this wasakey the sameHon’ble PM who nowassures the The BJP is notafan of India’shistory. sential political processmade asection tion' (IE, January14). The country is vulnerabletolargerprivate players and lob- election promisein2014and waspresent in farmers that thenew laws will notimpact This is in large partbecause of itsown un- of thecivil society morecautious about plagued by atrustdeficit.Farmersdon't bies motivatedpurelybyself-interest. Adi- the BJP’s election manifesto,the Modi gov- the MSP guarantee. flattering role of concessions and absences the intentions of the newly-enacted trustthe government, the publicisscep- rect consequencewouldbeadismantling ernment in an affidavit before the Supreme In response to thecurrent protests,the from the crucial momentsinour journey legislation,astheyfelt their voicesand ticalabouttheefficacyof thevaccinesand of thepublic distribution system (PDS) or Courtdeniedthis, saying fixing MSP at cost Modi government reverted to itstried-and- towardsIndependence. This might be one apprehensions weren't properly howtheyare being rolled out. So far, the the guarantee to provide foodgrains through plus 50 per cent would distort the market. tested tactic —sowing seeds of division and instance wherethe party would do well to echoedbytheir legislators. This incon- entirevaccination drive of the govern- ration shops to the country’s disadvantaged. The farmer obviouslyfelt cheated. In the 10 questioningthe credibilityofthe suffering revisit the chronicles of farmers’ move- sistency in following the due political ment is ablackbox.Italso appears that Thereare severalother problemsaswell, years between 2004 and 2014,MSP forkey farmers. With apliable section of the media ments. Theywouldlearn that farmers have processbythe legislative and the ex- thepandemichasbeenblownoutof pro- such as those of bypassingjudicialremedies agricultural produce hadincreasedbyamin- at itscommand, the BJP machinerycarried neverbackeddown. And, ultimately, they ecutive branchhas actuallyinvited ju- portion as non-COVID mortality and of going to courtfor redressal. Theyalso imum of 121per cent (inthe case of chick- outarelentless and systematic campaign of have alwaysprevailed. dicial intervention to restorepopular morbidity outnumber deaths from the grosslyencroachupon the exclusive legisla- peas) to as high as 219per cent (in the case of defamation and propaganda. However, they faithinthe institutionsofthe state. novelcoronavirus. tive competence of state governmentsto moong dal).And thiswas in addition to a learnt, muchtotheir consternation, that la- The writer is communications in- Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata DeepakSinghal, Noida legislateonagriculture. massive farm loan waiver of almostRs72,000 belling genuine protestors as Naxalsand chargeand general secretary of theIndian However, at the coreofthe current im- croreand income supportfromthe MGN- Khalistanis, Chineseand Pakistanagentscut National Congress

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 8 EXPRESS NETWORK With eye on mutant strains,genome TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE CBIbooksfour 318 CASES: ACTIVECASES:2,13,603 sequencing lab installed at Delhi airport DAYSSINCE 1,05,12,093 DEATHS:1,51,727 PANDEMIC BEGAN TESTS: 18,42,32,305 | RECOVERIES: 1,01,46,763 said Dr Mande. He said faster in- ofitsofficials CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE tervention could considerably JAN12 16,946 19817,652 743,191 NEWDELHI,JANUARY 14 reduce the risk of transmission. CSIR-IGIB is aconstituent APORTABLEgenome sequenc- member of the Indian SARS- ing lab wasinstalledatthe Delhi CoV-2 Genomics Consortium for‘bribes’ AirportonThursdaytotrace recentlyannouncedbythe and contain mutant strains of Health Ministry. pected officialsallegedly took the coronavirus foundinpas- Dr Anurag Agrawal, CSIR- DEEPTIMANTIWARY bribes in connection with abank sengers arriving from foreign IGIBDirector,said: “Affordable NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 fraudcase, estimatedto beworth countries. and widespread point of care over Rs 3,500crore,involving a STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES The lab wasset up by sequencing is one of the most THE CENTRAL Bureauof companybasedinMumbai. The ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK Council of Scientific and important newtrends in next Investigation (CBI) Thursday officials areaccused of extending 52,365 1,557 Industrial Research's Institute agediagnostics. Here, we plan raideditsownheadquartersatthe favoursandsharingcaseinforma- Kerala 65,532 327 of Genomics and Integrative to use it to help in better moni- CGO complexhereafter booking tion with the companyinexcha- Odisha 1,97151 Biologyinatie-upwith health- toring and managingthe SARS four officials forallegedly taking ngefor bribespaid everymonth. carefirm SpiceHealth. CoV2 pandemic, but this is just bribes from acompanybeing Sourcessaidtheofficialswere STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING The genome sequencing of The firstconsignment of the Covishieldvaccine arrivesat abeginning towardsits many probed by the agency.Italso intouchwiththepromotersof the ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK positive sampleswillhelp en- Dimapur AirportonThursday. ANI potential clinical and public launchedsearch operationsat14 companyand multiple middle- Rajasthan 5,780 1,918 sure early action in containing health applications.” locations on premises associated men who negotiated on their be- 10,132 1,823 newmutant variantsthat have India had suspended allpas- withthese officials, and some half. The inquirywas started West Bengal 7,303 1,565 increasedtransmissibility,said try. “Wehavealsomade the senger flights connecting to UK middlemen and charteredac- basedoninformation from a CSIR D-G Dr Shekhar Mande, The newstrainsofthe coro- number of days forsequencing from December 23 to January7 countants, across the country. source,followingwhichaCBIspe- STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES adding that these portable se- navirus have been foundinthe faster.Whereas before it could afterthe newand moreconta- "TheCBI has registeredacase cialunitputthephonesof thesus- ONJAN13 TOTAL quencers will be deployed at UK and SouthAfrica, among take up to 8-10days,now it can gious variant of the coronavirus againstits four officials, including pectedofficialsundersurveillance Kerala 6,004 8,25,770 other airports across the coun- other countries. be done within 24-48hours,” emerged in thecountry. aDSP,inspector,stenoandprivate and the allegationsagainstthem Maharashtra3,556 19,78,044 persons/others, including advo- were found to be prima face true. cates etc... on the allegationsof Twoyearsago,theCBIhadput Karnataka 7469,29,552 MAHARASHTRA MINISTER ACCUSED OF RAPE compromising the investigation five officials of one of itsanti-cor- STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS Capable of befitting of certaincasesonextraneouspe- ruptionunitsunderscannerforal- ONJAN13 TOTAL BJP, MNS leaders allege cuniaryconsiderations,"CBI legedly helpingsuspectsbeing Maharashtra 74 51,400 reply if any superpower spokesperson RCJoshi said. probed by the agency forpecu- Kerala 26 3,421 Theofficialswere identifiedby niarygains.Their nameshad sources as DySPsRKRishi and R croppedupfollowing araidona West Bengal 18 9,993 harassment by woman, hurts our pride: Rajnath KSangwan;stenographerSameer caterer at the Palika Services DataasonJanuary13,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical KumarSingh;andInspectorKapil Officers'InstituteinChanakyapuri Researchandstategovernments.Often,thenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive file police complaints Dhankad. in 2018.The caterer,Rakesh PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Searches were carriedout at Tiwari, had earlier served as the BENGALURU, JANUARY 14 premisesinDelhi, Ghaziabad, CBI's caterer. him of rape. Munde has denied Noida, Gurgaon, Meerutand In searches carriedout in SAGARRAJPUT theallegationandclaimedthathe INDIA DOES notwantawar but Kanpur,CBI officials said. Lateon August2018atthe institute, the MUMBAI,JANUARY14 is being blackmailedbythe com- itssoldiers arecapable of giv- Thursday night, ateam also CBI had recovered20Rolex lux- plainant and her sisterwith ingabefittingreplyifany ‘su- searched offices associated with urywatches, Rs 3.6 croreincash ABJP LEADER and an MNS leader whom he wasinarelationship perpower’ hurts the country’s the four officials at the CBI head- andRs1.6 croreworth jewellery on Thursdaycomplainedofha- and has twochildren. pride, Defence Minister quarters at the CGO complex. fromacupboardinTiwari'soffice. rassmentby thewomanwhohas Soon afterPawar spoke, for- said on Sources said of the twoDySPs TheCBIclaimedtohavealsocome accusedNCP leader and state mer Congress MLAHegde, who Thursday. RajnathSingh named, one has worked in the across documentsshowing al- SocialJusticeMinisterDhananjay joinedBJP in 2017,approached “Wedon’t want warand we Bankingand Securities FraudCell leged hawala transactions to the Mundeofrape. Amboli policeand lodged acom- areinfavour of protecting of the agency forlong. The sus- tune of severalcroresofrupees. BJP leader Krishna Hegde and plaint of harassment againstthe everyone’s security but Iwant courage and patience and if MNSleaderManishDhurilodged woman. He alleged that she tried to saythis in cleartermsthat if that can be narratedthen police complaints about an hour to honeytraphim in 2010.“The anysuperpowerwants to hurt everyIndian will feel proud. “I afterNCPpresidentSharadPawar woman had been calling and ourpride then oursoldiersare can tell youthat things that Dushyant Dave steps said allegations againstMunde messaging me since 2010.She capableofgiving them abefit- had neverhappenedinpast were seriousandthepartywould kept askingmeto beinarelation- ting reply,”Singh said. took place this time.” down as SCBA president take adecision afterinternal con- ship with her.Ialways turned “It always wanted peace Singh also hailedthe sultations.“Theallegationsarese- downherrequesttomeet,”Hegde and friendlyties with itsneigh- Indian soldiers who showed NewDelhi: Senior Advocate and it maynot bepossible to hold rious and naturally, we as aparty, said in his complaint.” bours because it’sinour blood extraordinarycouragein Dushyant Dave on Thursday virtual electionsasper schedule have to take adecision. Ihavenot “I am informedthat afew and culture,” he said at the fifth “eliminating terrorists on the steppeddownaspresidentof the "dueto reservationsheldby some hadawordwiththepartyleaders morepersons have been honey- Armed Forces Veterans’ Dayat Pakistansoil”. Supreme CourtBar Association lawyers". "Following recent on this issue and will soon have a trappedand moneyhas been ex- the Headquarters Training The Union Ministercalled (SCBA) with immediateeffect. events, Ifeel that Ihaveforfeited discussion. Munde metmeand torted,” he added. Command of the Indian Air upon the veterans to play asig- Inabrief letter,Dave,whowas my right to continueasyour told me his side of the story,” MNS leader Dhuri is thesec- ForceinBengaluru. nificant role of sharing their electedto head the lawyers'body Leader and so Iherebytendermy Pawartold mediapersons. ond politician to file acomplaint Referring to thestandoff experiences with the society in December 2019,said that the Resignationfromthe postofthe Awoman who claims to be againstthewomanatAmbolipo- withChina, he said thatIndian and inspireyouthtoget into tenure of the SCBAExecutive Presidentof theSCBAwithimme- Munde’ssister-in-lawhasaccused lice station. soldiers displayed exemplary the defence services. Committee had already ended diateeffect," the letter said. ENS Union Minister 6months after CM promised help, SpecialOlympics slams Shailaja CIN: U40109PB2010SGC033813; Website: www.pspcl.in Office of Superintending Engineer/Mech. Mtc. Circle-I Thiruvananthapuram: Union double gold medalistinLudhiana dies in penury G.H.T.P., Lehra-Mohabbat, Distt. Bathinda (Punjab) Pin-151111 MinisterVMuraleedharan on Email- [email protected], Ph. 0164-2756434, FaxNo. 0164-2756255 Regd. Office: PSPCL Head Office,The Mall, Patiala. Thursdayalleged that Kerala ment wasnever valuedorhon- It is notabout moneybut the way gold medalsincycling in the NOTICE INVITING TENDER Health MinisterKKShailaja had DIVYAGOYALGOPAL oured by the Punjab government his achievement wastreated by SpecialOlympicsheldintheUSin failedincontaining the spread of LUDHIANA,JANUARY14 -- notwhen he wasalive,nor af- the governments…it is sad and 2015...He and other medal win- E-Tender EnquiryNo: 19/MM-I/BMC-334(XI)/O&M/GHTP/2021 Covid-19and had instead been terhis death.” condemnable. MaybeGuru nerswere notgivenanybenefitby ShortDescription: Supply and application of Thermal insulating material on busy getting herself on the cover LIFTINGSTONESand bricks with "Forfive yearsafterhewonthe Nanakwantedusto helphimand thegovernmentwhichwegivefor Boiler,Turbine side piping, valves,HP/LP Piping and Mechanical Auxiliaries of 2x210 and 2x250MW,GHTP,LehraMohabat. pageoffashion magazines. his father forRs400 aday,and twogoldmedalsin2015,wewere we did,"saidGurpreetSinghfrom other (tournaments) suchas Earnest MoneyDeposit:- Rs.68,000/- (Rs.Sixty Eight thousands only). Hetoldreportersherethatthe later working as acaretaker at a onlygiven promises.Firstthe NGO'ManukhtaDiSewa', who Olympics, Asian Games and LDF government had failedinfig- shelter home forthe differently- Badals, then CaptAmarinder had offeredRajvir work at the Paralympics…I have got to know Last Date &Time forbid submission: 16.02.2021 upto 12.00 hrs. hting the pandemic and deman- abled,pushingwheelchairs,feed- Singh and Congress leaders such shelterhome,andwastakingcare thatthereisnogovernmentpolicy Date &Time of opening of Techno Commercial bid: 18.02.2021 at 12.00 hrs. dedthatCM PinarayiVijayanclar- ing,bathinginmates--thisishow as Navjot SinghSidhu, everyone of Rajvir's medical expenses for inplaceforSpecialOlympicswin- Detailed NIT and tender specification can only be downloaded from PSPCL web- site https://pspcl.abcprocure.com from dated 13.01.2021onwards. ify who wasresponsible forthe RajvirSingh(21)fromSiarhvillage promisedtohelpandgetmyson's the pastfew years. ners. Iamdirecting the sports de- failure. “Inherhurryto betheface of Ludhiana, who had wontwo pendingcashprizeamount re- Just15years of agewhen he partment to frameapolicyfor 1. The prospectivebidders can obtain clarification regarding tender specifica- tions from this office.For registration of digital signatures and uploading of of fashion magazines, has the gold medals at the 2015 Special leasedbut no one did anything. wonthe twogolds in cyclingand SpecialOlympics winners so that tender,information maybesought from M/s GePNIC,Contact No.+91-(120)- HealthMinisterbecomeunaware OlympicsinLosAngeles,provided Politicians and governmentsdis- made the countryproud,Rajvir we cangivethese medal winners 4001002/5. of the current situation?,” he forhis family. honouredmyson'sachievement. Rajvir wontwo gold medals couldonlycompete inLosAngeles their pendingdues…” 2. It is informed that in case the tender process is not completed due to anyrea- son no corrigendum will be published in newspapers.Detail regarding corri- asked. ENS Six months afterPunjab Chief We ranfrompillar to post -- from at the2015Special Olympics afterabusinessman from gendum maybeseen on PSPCL official website i.e.https://pspcl.in. MinisterCaptAmarinder Singh CM's office to districtadministra- Ludhiana donated him acycle. ‘A matter of great Sd/- promisedhim help in avideo tion offices in Ludhiana -- but my AfterhisvictoriesintheSpecial shame’ postedonTwitter,and five years son died withoutgetting his due epilepsy and other issues since Olympicshadcomeseveralprom- Superintending Engineer/O&M, ''IMPORTANT'' MechanicalMtc. Circle-I, afterhewonhismedalsincycling, honourandprizemoney. Thegov- childhood,had undergone brain isesfrompoliticiansinPunjab -- Paramjit Sachdeva,exec- GHTP-02/21 GHTP,Lehra Mohabbat, Whilstcareistaken prior to Rajvir, whosufferedfromanintel- ernmentsandpoliticiansmustre- surgeryinthepast.OnDecember from SADchief SukhbirSingh utive member, Punjab 812/Pb District Bathinda-151111 (Punjab) acceptance of advertising lectualdisabilitydueto abrain-re- member that we were notbeg- 18,hewas admitted to Deepak Badal announcing Rs 15 lakh for ChapterofSpecial Olympics, copy,itisnot possibletoverify its contents. The Indian latedailment,diedattheChristian gingoraskingforany favour,itwas HospitalinLudhiana,andthenre- eachgoldmedalascashprizedur- said, "It is amatter of ex- Express(P) Limited cannot be Medical Collegeand Hospital my son's right. Promises were ferredto CMCHonJanuary4after ing the SAD-BJP tenureto treme shame forthe held responsible for such (CMCH)LudhianaWednesdayaf- madeto himandtheywerenever his condition deteriorated.Here- Amarinderpromisingadedicated government that aspecial contents, norfor any loss or terbeingonventilatorsupportfor fulfilled.Infact,my songot moreill mainedonventilatorsupportfor policyforSpecialOlympicsmedal child who wonmedals for PUNJAB HEALTH SYSTEMS CORPORATION damageincurredasaresult of nearly amonth. Hiscash prizeof and depressedbecause he was nearly amonth before succumb- winners and even Navjot Singh the country, has diedwith- transactions withcompanies, E-Block, 2nd Floor,Phase-8, (Sector 62) Rs 30 lakh (Rs 15 lakh foreach carryingthe burden that despite ingto aseverebraininfection."We Sidhu assuringfinancialhelp. out gettinghis due honour Punjab School Education BoardComplex associations or individuals Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali), PUNJAB advertising in its newspapers medal), promisedbythe then his achievement, his familywas clearedbillsofnearly Rs 5lakh in In atweet postedonJuly25 and cash prize. Moreso, be- Phone: 0172-2232243,2232245 &2232247 Visit us at: www.phsc.punjab.gov.in or Publications. We therefore SAD-BJP government in 2015,is living hand-to-mouth. It would bothhospitalsashisfatherisvery lastyear,Punjab Sports Minister cause these arethe children E-mail:[email protected], [email protected] recommend that readers yettoreachhim. have been better if he had never poor and could notaffordhis Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhihad who cannotevenraise their NOTICE INVITING e-TENDERS FOR MEDICINES make necessary inquiries His heartbroken father Balbir goneforthistournamentandwon treatment. In fact, notusbut the posteda58-secondvideo in voice fortheir rightsand Bid Ref.No. e- tender/PHSC/Proc/RC/Medicines (Essential &Others)/2020-21/27 beforesendingany monies or entering intoany agreements Singh, alabourer,who cremated the medals because whatfol- sangatcontributedandhelpedus whichAmarinder said: “I have can't understand these fake The Punjab Health Systems Corporation, Mohali (Department of Health & his son at their villageon lowedwas an ordeal,”headded. gethim treated.But the saddest beentoldaboutRajvirSingh.Heis promises made by politi- Family Welfare, Punjab) invites online bidsthrough with advertisersorotherwise https://eproc.punjab.gov.in forthe various types of Medicinesunder acting onanadvertisement in Thursday, said:“Myson'sachieve- Rajvir,whowassufferingfrom partisthatwecouldnotsavehim. in acutedepression...He wontwo cians,” said Sachdeva. Essential Drugs List and other programs as enumerated in the tender docu- any manner whatsoever. ment available on the website https://eproc.punjab.gov.in Sr.No. PackageName of the Item DELHI JAL BOARD 1IEssential Medicines (Govt. of N.C.T.ofDelhi) 2IIJSSK medicines OFFICE OF EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C) DR. VIII 3III Medicines under various programmes Yamuna Vihar Sewage Treatment Plant (Adjoining Dr.Ambedkar College) Delhi- 110094 DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT.OFNCT OF DELHI Schedule of important activities/Key data in this regard is as under: Phone: 011-22813593 Email: [email protected] OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SW)-III "STOP CORONA; Wash Your Hand, Wear Mask, Maintain Social Distancing" SECTOR-VII, R.K. PURAM, NEW DELHI-110022 Sr.ParticularsofActivity Date and Time PRESS NIT NO- 3(2020-21) No. “STOP CORONA ;Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene”. Estimated Contract Tender process- Last date/time S. Earnest Money Date of Release of Name of work Value (ECV)/ Amount ing Fee Non of receipt of 1Date,time and venueof22.01.2021 at 11.30 A.M. in the O/o No (EMD) (Rs.) Tender/ Tender Id. N.I.T.No. 34 (2020-21) SW-III Pre-bid Conference PHSC at above mentioned address put to tender (Rs. ) Refundable (Rs.) tender Construction of 3.85 (MGD) WWPS (Lump Sum) BDO Nil (declaration 2021_DJB_198644_1 08.02.2021 S. Description Amount Put to Date of release of Last Date /Time of receipt 1 1500/- 2Bid submission Closing 11.02.2021 upto 4.30 P. M. including rising main at Harsh Vihar Basis form to be filled) dtd.12.01.2021 upto 3.00 P.M No. Tender, tender in E- of Tender Through E- Date and time PRESS NIT NO- 4(2020-21) Tender Fee Procurement Solution Procurement Solution 3Last date &Time for12.02.2021 till 11.00 A.M. 1 Improvement of damaged sewer line by Rs. 45,10,718/- 12.01.2021 29.01.2021 Estimated Contract Earnest Tender process- Last date/time submission of hard copies S. Date of Release of Replacement of old sewer line at Gali No. 1&5Rs. 500/- Tender I.D. No. At 2:00 P. M. Name of work Value (ECV)/ Amount Money(EMD) ing Fee Non of receipt of No Tender/ Tender Id. Shanti Niketan under EE(SW)-III, AC-44 2021_DJB_198640_4 of Technical bids &EMD put to tender (Rs. ) (Rs.) Refundable (Rs.) tender 4Date and time foropening 12.02.2021 at 11.30 A.M. 2 Trapping sewer from JJ Colony to main Rs. 47,54,071/- 12.01.2021 29.01.2021 Providing/Laying/jointing 250 MM dia. Nil (declaration 1500/- 2021_DJB_198653_1 02.02.2021 peripheral sewer line on main Basant Kaur Marg, Rs. 500/- Tender I.D. No. At 2:00 P. M. of online Technical Bids 1 internalSewer Line in Radha Vihar and 2,60,08,718/- form to be filled) dtd.12.01.2021 upto 3.00 P.M Ziauddinpur in Gokulpur AC-68. Malviya Nagar under SW-III, AC-43 (Re-invited) 2021_DJB_198640_5 Fordetails log on https://eproc.punjab.gov.in Further details in this regard can be seen at (https://govprocurement.delhi.gov.in) Corrigendum/Amendment if anywill onlybepublished on website Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govt.procurement.delhi.gov.in https://eproc.punjab.gov.in Sd/- (Naveen Kumar Khare) Sd/- ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Sd/- ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Advt. No. J.S.V.315/2020-21 EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (C) DR- VIII Advt. No. J.S.V.316 (2020-21) EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SW)-III 829/Pb MANAGING DIRECTOR

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 9 GOVT &POLITICS

PONGAL VISIT Nepal foreign NoonecansuppressTamil minister to meet DELHI CONFIDENTIAL Jaishankar today spiritanditsculture:Rahul Firsthigh-leveldiplomatic visit from Nepal sinceborder rowwithIndia

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA SHUBHAJITROY ED MADURAI,JANUARY14 NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 Bidto PLAIN resetties

EX E CONGRESS LEADER Rahul NEPAL’S FOREIGN Minister ● Gandhi on Thursdaywatchedthe Pradeep Kumar Gyawali will bull taming sportJallikattu here, meetExternal Affairs MinisterS INDIA’SINAUGURATION noting the animals were notget- Jaishankar on Fridayfor their first of anew road from ting injured as wasbeing made face-to-face meeting since the Dharchula to Lipulekh on out and said his visit wasames- border rowled to aslide in ties. the Mansarovar Yatra sagetothe Centrethat wantsto Gyawali, who arrivedinNew routehad angered the Oli "suppress" the Tamil culture. Delhi Thursdayafternoon, will government whichcame The BJP slammedRahul for co-chair the India-Nepal Joint out with anew map of PM’S POEMS his “hypocrisy” by witnessing Commissionmeeting along with Nepal, adding to it an area Jallikattu and praising the sport, Jaishankar on Friday. This comes at the tri-junction of PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi on ThursdaytooktoTwitter reminding that the Congress-led againstthe backdrop of apoliti- Nepal, India and China to sharehis poems forthe second time in afortnight. At the UPAhad banneditin2011. cal crisis in Nepal, whereNepal (Tibet)whichIndia main- beginning of the year,the Prime Ministershared apoem with Sharpening his attackagainst PM KPSharma Oli has dissolved tains is itsterritory. A avideo called“AbhiToh Suraj UgaHai”. On Thursday, he Prime MinisterNarendraModi the Parliament and is nowhead- Constitution amendment shared another poem on Twitter,written in Gujarati. In afew and the NDAgovernment over ing acaretaker government. Billwas passedbyNepal hours, he shared the Hindi translation of the poem, which the threefarm laws whichhave “The Joint Commissionisan Parliamenttolegitimise centred around Sun God, and endswith “SurajDev ko shat put farmers, mainlyfromPunjab important mechanism that pro- alterationtothe country’s shat naman”. and Haryana on the warpath, he vides the opportunity of review- map.After Shringla’s accusedthe governmentof "con- Rahul Gandhi takespartinPongal celebrations in Madurai district, Thursday. PTI ing at ahigh levelthe entire visit, Gyawali’s trip is an spiring to destroy"peasantsto gamut of our bilateralpartner- effort to resetbilateral benefit aselect fewbusinessmen. ship and providing political ties hit by the row. PUSHBACK TIME Flankedbysenior Congress “One of the main reasons I that the wayitwas done there one particular idea, languageand guidance to further enhance the leaders KC Venugopal, came is, todaythegovernmentin wasabsolutelynochance of the notion. specialand uniqueties that we AGROUP of scientists andmedical expertshas comeout Puducherry Chief MinisterV Delhiisunderthe impression that bull getting injured.” The BJP lashedout at the enjoy.Welookforward to con- November when Foreign strongly againstthose “casting doubtsonIndian scientific Narayanasamyand TNCC presi- theycan destroy the cultures of “In fact if it wasanyone to get Congress leader over his visit. structive discussions on the nu- SecretaryHarsh Vardhan community by makingpoliticisedcomments”onthe research dent KSAlagiri, Rahul witnessed this country. Theybelievethat injuredit wasthe young men do- Partynational general secretary merous sectors that encompass Shringlawent to Kathmandu forCovid 19 vaccine. Slammingthose doubting the work,49 Jallikattu at Avaniapuram here theycan suppress the emotions ing jallikattu. Iamhappytosay and Tamil Nadu in-charge,CT our bilateral agenda,” Ministryof and metthe country’s leaders, scientists and experts in astatement said their “reprehensible and said his visitwas aimedat of Tamil people, theybelieve they that therehavebeen some Ravi accusedGandhi of insulting External Affairs spokesperson including Prime MinisterOli and utterances arecausing ahugecredibility crisis forthe Indian sending out amessageto"those can crush the languageofthe changes to make itsafer forevery- Tamil'makkal' (people) on jal- Anurag Srivastavasaid. Gyawali, amongothers. scientific community”. The signatories, ledbyformerAIIMS who think theycan run Tamil people,theycan suppress body,” he said. likattu with his hypocrisy. On whether therewill be Sources said that the conver- Director TDDogra, urgedpeople to “reject the manipulations roughshod on Tamil people." the spirit of the Tamil people." Rahul also said he flewdown "Dear @RahulGandhi, Your talksonthe boundaryissue, the sations will pickupthe threads of vested interests aimedatpoliticisation and defamation of The former party president “I came to give them ames- from Delhi to watchthe popular Govt in 2011 labelled#Jallikattu MEA spokesperson said, “Our from the conversations between our nation’s scientists,doctors and scientific community for wasjoinedbyDMK Youth Wing sagethat nobody can suppress event “because Ithink Tamil cul- as cruel&barbaric. Your Party position on the boundaryissue Foreign SecretaryShringla’s dis- their narrowvestedinterests”. SecretaryUdhayanidhi Stalinon the Tamil spirit,”he toldreporters ture, Tamil language(and) Tamil manifesto supportedban on is well known. Letmesay that cussions with PM Oli —the two the dais. at the airportherebeforereturn- historyareessential forthe future Jallikattu. Today, youare in Tamil the JCM and boundarytalksare had aone-on-one meeting, apart Jallikattuisheldinthestate,es- ing to Delhi. of India and needtoberespected Nadu to watchthis traditional separatemechanisms.” from the delegation leveltalks — SHORT BREAK peciallywithvigourinthisdistrict, “Therewas asense. Many by everybody.” sport live.Aren'tyou insulting The Nepal ForeignMinister’s whichhad includeda“candidre- coincidingwiththeTamilharvest peoplehad mentionedtomethat The Tamil spirit cannotbe lovely Tamil Makkal with your visitcomes about amonth and a view of thestateofthebilateralre- WITH THE Supreme Court notworking on Thursdayand festival Pongal whichheralds the Jallikatu is harmful to the bulls. I crushed,hesaid, adding he was hypocrisy? HappyPongal,” Ravi half afterthe firsthigh-level lationship”, and the potential for Fridaydue to Makar Sankranti/Pongal/Bihu festivals followed auspicious Tamil month Thai. witnessedittoday andImustsay 'completely' against the idea of said in atweet. diplomatic visit to Nepal in bringing Indiaand Nepal closer. by alocal holiday, anydevelopment in connection with the court-appointed committee on farm laws –following the exit of BKU leader Bhupinder Singh Mann from it –may have to wait till January18when the benches sit again. Sources said HC to hear plea Economic Review: Women’s participation whether Mann has communicated his decision to exit the committee to thetop courtwill be known onlywhen the Registryresumes work on Saturday. against WhatsApp’s in economicactivitiesupby4%inKerala

to 20.4 percent in 2018-19from said. to provideremunerative work to new privacy policy SHAJUPHILIP 16.4 per cent in 2017-18. The Though both male and fe- women in the post-2018 flood PUNJAB THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, workforceparticipation rate is male labourforce participation recovery phase. No foreign JANUARY14 definedas“thepercentageof rate (LFPR) and work participa- Due to theunprecedented NIA summons party applications. “WhatsApp persons in the labour force tion rate (WPR) increased, thein- floods and landslides of August leader as EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE through the policyisclearly WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION in among the persons in the pop- crease in women LFPR and WPR 2018 and 2019,and the 2020 four, they say NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 trying to shareits users' datato economic activities has in- ulation”. is moreevident. pandemic, the budgetsofthe last R-Day chief the parent companyand other creasedconsiderablyinKerala, “This is the firsttime that The Economic Reviewattrib- three years have focusedon targeted THE DELHI High Courtwill hear companies whichwill eventu- largely drivenbyself-employ- women in Kerala aremoreac- uted theincrease in women's livelihood revival/rebuilding, on Fridayapetition seeking in- allyuse that datatoservetheir ment and casual labour,espe- tively participating in economic participation in economic activ- giving morepriority to women, guest: MEA junction with immediate effect vested interests,” the petition ciallyinrural areas, according to activitiesthan their counterparts itiestoincrease in self-employ- the Economic Reviewsaid. over farm stir againstthe updated privacy pol- says.“It virtuallygives a360- the Economic Review2020 at all-India level,” the Economic ment and casual labour. Despiteresource con- icy of WhatsApp. degree profile intoaperson’s tabledinthe Assemblybystate Reviewsaid. It said this waspossible due straints, the governmentfo- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE DIVYAGOYALGOPAL In the petition filedbya online activity.” Finance MinisterThomas Isaac The women in the statehave to thespecial emphasis on cuses on women’s employment NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 LUDHIANA,JANUARY14 lawyer,adirection has also been Under Article 226, the plea on Thursday. ahigher participationratethan NREGA, the state's Ayyankali with abig thrust in particular on soughttothe Centrefor laying argues, awrit can be issuedto Quoting the periodiclabour that of all-India averageinall age UrbanEmployment Guarantee women entrepreneurship, both THE MINISTRYofExternalAffairs ATOURISTbus operator,anut down guidelines to ensurethat “anyperson or authority”, in- forcesurvey,the Economic groups, exceptthe agegroup of Scheme and the self-employ- agro-basedand non-agro on Thursdayconfirmedthat there and bolt trader,acable opera- the instant messaging platform cluding the privatebodies, and Reviewsaid female workforce 15-29 (a chunk in this group ment opportunities promoted based, traditional and non-tra- will be no foreign leader as the torand ajournalistfromPunjab does notshareany dataofits also forthe enforcement of fun- participation rate in Kerala grew could be pursuing education), it through micro/nano enterprises ditional, it said. chief guestatthe Republic Day have been served notices for users with anythirdparty or damental rightsor“forany other celebrations due to the globalsit- questioning by theNational Facebook and itscompanies for purpose”. uation arising out of the coron- Investigation Agency (NIA) in anypurpose. WhatsApp has become an avirus pandemic. It will beforthe connection withasedition case Alleging that WhatsApp important mode of communica- In SKorea, university students fight to save one firsttime in over five decades that registeredagainstGurpatwant changed itsprivacy policy in tion among the citizens of India Indiawill nothaveachief guestat Singh Pannu, adesignated ter- “mostarbitrarymanner” and has and is alsobeing used to aid mul- the Republic Dayparade. roristand the legaladvisor of made it compulsoryfor itsusers, tiple governmentalfunctions, of country’s two Hindi language programmes “Due to the global COVID 19 US-basedbannedpro- thepetition contends that the the petition says. situation, it has been decided Khalistanoutfit Sikhsfor Justice latestpolicy violates the right to It states that the updated pri- dents. ButwithitsDepartmentof so farinaforeign land. “I trav- studiedthe language,” he says. that this year therewill notbea (SFJ). privacy of citizens of India. vacy policy will notbeapplica- NEHABANKA IndianStudiesallegedly consider- elledextensively across India in The BUFS administration did foreign head of stateorhead of The four served notices have “WhatsApphas includedcertain ble “for the European Region KOLKATA,JANUARY14 ing phasing out the language, the 2016,and enrolledinPune’s notrespond to phone calls by The governmentasthe chief guest been supporting the agitation clauses in the NewPolicy which owing to the dataprotection studentsfaculty have launcheda Fergusson Collegetostudy Hindi IndianExpress seeking comment. forour Republic Dayevent," againstthe threefarm laws. directlyhit the fundamental laws in place there” and con- IN 2020, agroup of studentsand virtualprotest,evenknockingon the same year.Ijoinedthis The Indian Council for MEA spokesperson Anurag Whilethe three businessmen, rightsofthe individual,”the plea tends that it wasbeing enforced faculty members of aSouth the doors of the Indian Embassy course to polish my skills in this Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Seoul Srivastavasaid. all from Ludhiana, had started says. in India “in mostmonopolistic Korean university recorded a in Seoul. language,” says the 24-year-old stated on Twitter on December The decision wastaken after abus service forfarmers to “Thistype of arbitrarybehav- way” in the absence of anycom- video messagefor Prime According to protesting stu- in perfect Hindi. 23: “Ever since this matter was British Prime MinisterBoris reachDelhi, the journalistfrom iour and browbeating cannot be prehensive law. MinisterNarendraModiwithan dents, the department head feels Hindi is taught at the univer- highlighted by Hindi professors Johnson'slast-minutedecisionto Patiala has been vocalonsocial acceptedinademocracy.” The petition seeksguidelines unexpected appeal—the reten- that English would be sufficient sity by three faculty members, at BUFS, the Embassy has been cancel his visit duetothe spread media in supportoffarmers. It contends that or directions to ensurethatany tion of aHindilanguagesubject. forKorean nationalsinterested twoofwhom areIndian nation- in touchwith the topofficials of of amutantstrainofthe coron- All the four distancedthem- WhatsApp’s privacy policy es- changeinprivacy policy by The Busan University of in working, studying and travel- alsworking on acontract basis. the University.Wewill makeall avirusintheUK.Indiahadinvited selvesfromSFJ and claimed sentiallytakes away the choice WhatsApp is carriedout strictly Foreign Studies (BUFS) is one of ing in India. One of them, requesting effortstoaddress theconcerns JohnsonastheRepublicDaychief that theyhavebeen falselyim- users had until nowtonot in accordance with the funda- onlytwo institutesinSouthKorea But as second-year student anonymity,echoes Junhak's ar- of these students.” guestandheacceptedIndia’sinvi- plicated due to their support to sharetheir datawith other mental rightsguaranteedunder thatteaches Hindiasafull-time Lee Junhak explains, notknow- gument. “I have learnedalot FULLREPORTON tation, calling it “a great honour”. the farm agitation. Facebook-ownedand third- theConstitution. subject to undergraduatestu- ing alanguagecan onlyget you about Korean culturebecause I www.indianexpress.com Ex-IAS officer who worked closely with Modi for two decades joins BJP

minister’s Office (CMO) in posting in Delhi wasjoint secre- his schooling from Maudistrict, Arvind KumarSharmahad takenvoluntary retirement October 2001,when Modi be- tary to the PMO. He remainedin went to Prayagraj anddid post- earlierthisweek,overayear ahead of superannuation came the chief ministerofthe the PMO till April 2020 when he graduationinpolitical science. state. He has been apartofModi's wasappointed as the secretary Meanwhile, BJP leaders in his SwatantraDev Singh and Deputy Modi or the BharatiyaJantaParty close circle of bureaucrats. of Micro, Small and Medium home district Mauexpressed MAULSHREESETH& Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma. (BJP) can do,” Arvind Kumar The onlybreak in this associ- Enterprises (MSME). Eight home that Sharma would be AVINASHNAIR Speaking to mediapersons Sharma said, adding that he ation, whichlastedthrough months later Sharmatook an givenbigger responsibility in the LUCKNOW,AHMEDABAD, afterjoining the BJP,Arvind would do whatever work the Modi's three terms as CM, wasin early retirement which wasac- party ahead of the 2022 JANUARY14 Kumar Sharma thankedPrime party assigns to him. 2006 when Sharma went to ceptedbythe Centre on January Assemblyelectionsinthe state. MinisterNarendraModi and Sharma's joining the BJP Australia fortraining. 11,2021. “While we already have one HAVINGWORKED closely with claimed to be the "son of the soil comes amid the nominations for Within the CMO in Gujarat, Despitebeing aclose aide of cabinetministerinDaraSingh NarendraModi forabout 20 from abackwardvillage of Mau", the Legislative Council polls in Sharma rose to the rank of addi- Modiinthe bureaucracy,hehas Chauhan from our district, years, firstinthe Chief Minister's whichispartofPurvanchal re- Uttar Pradesh. The ruling BJP is tional principal secretarytothe alwaysmaintainedalow-profile. Arvind Kumar Sharma's joining Office of Gujarat and then at the gion of the Uttar Pradesh. likelytowin amajority of the 12 CM by 2013-14. He wasinstru- His association with Modi is only would onlystrengthen the party Centreafter Modi becamePrime “I am from avillageinMau, Legislative Council seatsthat mental in takingforward Modi’s second to another Gujarat cadre in Purvanchal,” said Praveen Minister, Arvind Kumar Sharma rather abackwardvillage. As you would go to polls on January28. Sharma withUPDeputy CM DineshSharma(right) and UP BJP biennial global investment sum- officer PK Mishra of the 1972 Kumar Gupta,BJP district presi- joinedthe BJP on Thursday. all know, Purvanchalis abit back- The lastdatefor filing of nomi- chief SwatantraDev Singh in LucknowThursday. Vishal Srivastav mit “Vibrant Gujarat” project that batchwho is currentlythe prin- dent of Mau. The 1988 batchIAS officer of ward regionof UttarPradesh.Ibe- nation papers is January18. playedakey role in transforming cipal secretarytoPMModi. “Our party does nottakede- the Gujarat cadre, Sharma took came an IAS officer aftermuch Sources in theBJP said that the imageofariot-hit statetoan When contacted by The cisions in ahaste.Wehope to see voluntaryretirement earlier this hardworkand struggle... To sud- the formerIAS officer is likelyto crease the statureofthe party Maulikehelping in marriageof investment destination. Indian Express foracommenton him in bigger roles,” he added. week,morethan ayear before denlypickapersonlikeme.Aper- be nominated in the polls. but also his stature. girls. When BJP wonthe his early retirement, Sharma did Sharma'svillageKhaja Khurd his superannuation in July2022. son,whodoesnothaveany polit- Welcoming him to theparty, Singhsaid that despite being Arvind Kumar Sharma began election in 2014 andModi be- notrespond. falls in Muhammadabad Gohna Sharma wasinducted into icalbackgroundorpolitical family UP BJP chief said that Arvind in services, Sharma continuedto his career as an assistant collec- came PM,Sharma wasthe first Bhumihar by caste –the Assembly constituency, which the party in presence of Uttar or legacy and to bring suchaper- Kumar Sharma's “imageofan work forthe society,bothin torinGujarat and quicklyroseto handful of officers who accom- dominant casteinPurvanchal re- waswon by BJP's RamSonkar in Pradesh BJP unit president son in politics, onlyNarendra honestofficer would notonlyin- Gujarat as well as in his villagein become asecretaryinthe Chief panied Modi to Delhi. His first gion –Sharma aftercompleting 2017.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 10 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevancethat youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected]

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD INDIA ACTIVE CASES 213,603

250,000 Who gets vaccine, and how 213,603 The Health Ministryhas communicated afactsheetabout the twoCovid-19vaccines rolling out on 231,036 Saturday. Here’sall youneedtoknowabout exceptions, precautions and possible adverse events. 200,000

KAUNAINSHERIFFM NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 LAST 10 DAYS Jan 4Jan 13 150,000 TWODAYSbeforethe rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination drive,the Union Health Ministry Note:The Jan 13 figureinthis graphisbased on the MoHFW updateonJan 14 has sent to all states and immunisation offi- cers, acomprehensive fact sheetfor bothvac- INDIA TOTAL CASES 10,512,093 cines —Covaxinand Covishield—that will be usedduring the initial phase of vaccinating a priority group of 3crore people.

What is this fact sheet? Itcontainsgeneral informationon the vac- Trump impeached, but cineplatform, physicalspecifications,dosage, cold chain storagerequirements, and specific guidelines on contraindications (a factor due what’s the pointnow? to which the vaccine is to be withheld to cer- tain categories of people) as well as adverse eventsthat mayhappen following vaccina- January20. And even if 17 Republicans tion. Thefact sheetalso details special precau- CATIEEDMONDSON in the Senatevote withthe 50 Democrats tions. WASHINGTONDC,JANUARY14 to create atwo-thirds majority (required The Centrehas asked the states and im- to remove Trumpfromoffice), Trump munisation officers to disseminatethe fact THE House of would already be gone by then. sheettoall programme managers, cold chain RepresentativesonWednesdayim- Butproponentssay impeachment is handlers,and vaccinators before the rollout. peachedPresident Donald Trumpfor a worthwhile even then. Thecommunication comes on the directions second time,after he egged on amob of Democrats have arguedthat Trump’s of the national drug regulator CDSCO, which, his supporters to storm the Capitol while offence is so gravethat it mustbead- whilegrantingacceleratedapprovals,had di- Congress wasmeeting to formalise dressed, even withdaysremaining in his rectedmanufacturersSerumInstituteofIndia President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. term. To letitgounpunished, Democrats (Covishield) andBharat Biotech(Covaxin)that No US President has ever been im- have argued,wouldsetadangerousprece- the vaccines should be suppliedalong with Covishielddoses at aPune Municipal Corporation store, from whereitwillbedistributed to various centres. Arul Horizon peached twice. The firsttime Trumpwas dentofimpunity forfuturePresidents. the fact sheetand aseparateleafletfor the impeachedwas in December 2019,over guidance of the healthcareprovider. the alleged abuse of powerbyhim in the Consequence forTrump goryof temporarycontraindications, vaccina- and nausea. Howhavevaccines performedonsafety Ukraine phone call case. In the trial that The biggestconsequence could bedis- So, what arethe general guidelines? tion is to be deferredfor four-eight weeksaf- In suchcases, the fact sheets says the com- so farincountries that have begun? followed, the President wasacquitted by qualificationfromholdingpublic office ■ The vaccination is onlyfor people over terrecovery.This covers three categories: mon painkiller paracetamol maybeused“to Wherever Covid-19 vaccineshavebeen the Republican majority in the Senate. again. This won’thappen automatically the ageof18years. ■ Persons showing active symptoms of provide symptomatic relief from postvacci- usedanywhereinthe world, theyhavebeen The article of impeachment charges with aSenateconviction —however,the ■ The vaccines arenot interchangeable: SARS-CoV-2 infection nation adverse reaction”. found to be generallysafesofar. Trumpwith“incitement of insurrection”, Constitution in suchasituationallowsfor the second dose will have to be of thesame ■ Covid-19patientswho have been given RAREADVERSE EVENTS: The nerves in In asmall section, an adverse event called saying he is guilty of “inciting violence asubsequentvote to baraconvictedoffi- vaccine thatwas administeredasthe first anti-SARS-Cov-2monoclonal antibodies or thebodyare coveredwithaprotective layer anaphylaxis has been recoded. This is asevere, againstthe government of the United cial from holding “anyoffice of honour, dose. convalescent plasma calledmyelin —likeanetworkofelectric wires life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs States”. It cites Trump’s weeks-long cam- trustorprofitunder the United States”. ■ The vaccine should be givenwith “cau- ■ Acutelyunwell and hospitalisedpa- that helps transmit messages from the brain rarely aftervaccination. Accordingtothe US paign to falselydiscredit the resultsofthe This votewill need only asimplema- tion” to persons with ahistory of anybleed- tients(with or without intensive care)due to smoothly through the body.Conditions that Centers forDiseaseControl (CDC), monitor- November election, and quotes from the jority,and afterJanuary20, the ingorcoagulation disorder —plateletdisor- anyillness. damage myelin arecalleddemyelinating dis- ingbythe Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting speechinwhichhetold his supporters Democratswill have that (withVice der,clottingfactor deficiency,orcoagulopathy. orders.The fact sheet says “veryrareeventsof Systemdetected21 cases of anaphylaxis—out to go to theCapitol. President Kamala Harris holding the ■ Vaccinators have to storebothvaccines What health conditionsare not demyelinatingdisorders” have been reported of areported1,893,360 firstdosesof the Pfizer- casting vote). Some Republicans —in- at +2°C to +8°C; protect them from light;and contraindicated,meaning the vaccines following vaccination withCovishield,“with- BioNTechvaccine that were administeredbe- The point of impeaching cluding those who arecontemplating a discardthe vaccine if found to be frozen. can be givenregardless? out the causal relationship establishment”. tween December 14 and 23. That is 11.1 cases Trump’s final full dayinoffice is WhiteHouse run in 2024and would like ■ Persons with apasthistory of Covid-19 It adds that Covishield should be given per million doses. Of these, 71%occurred Tuesday, January 19.That is also the ear- Trumpremovedfromthe field, as well as And what arethe specificguidelines on infection can be administeredwith vaccine. with “caution” to individuals with thrombo- within 15 minutesofvaccination. liestdateonwhichthe Senate is sched- those who believe this couldbeanop- contraindications? ■ Persons with ahistory of chronic dis- cytopenia, amedical condition characterised The CDC said that 175case reports had uledtomeet, and the leader of the portunitytorid the Republican Partyof The vaccine cannotbeadministeredto easesand comorbidities—cardiac, neurolog- by abnormallylow levels of platelets. been identifiedfor further reviewaspossible Republican majority,MitchMcConnell, Trump—could also backthe vote. peoplewhobelongto anyofthree categories: ical, pulmonary, metabolic, and malignancies cases of asevereallergic reaction. “Twenty- has said the trial cannotbeginbefore However, thereisnoprecedent for ■ Persons with ahistory of an allergic re- —are also included. And what about commonadverse events onecases were determinedtobeanaphylaxis that. Thereafter, the Senatewill need disqualifying aPresident from futureof- action to apreviousdose of aCovid-19vac- ■Persons with immunodeficiency or HIV, withCovaxin? (arate of 11.1 per million doses administered), time to setthe rules forthe impeachment fice, and the case could go to the Supreme cine (this would mean those who have taken and patientsonimmune suppression due to MILDADVERSE EVENTS: Among mild including 17 in personswithadocumented trial, so it is unlikelythat proceedings can Court. adose in acountrywherevaccination has al- “anycondition” can beadministeredwith the adverse eventsfollowing immunisation, the historyof allergiesorallergic reactions, seven begin untilafter Biden takesoveron TheNew York Times ready started); Covid-19vaccine. The fact sheetstates, how- fact sheetincludes: injection sitepain; of whom had ahistory of anaphylaxis,” the ■ People who showanimmediateorde- ever,that theresponse to theCovid-19vac- headache; fatigue; fever;body ache; abdom- CDC said. “Of the remaining case reports that layedonsetofanallergic reaction to vaccines cine “maybeless in these individuals”. inal pain; nausea and vomiting; dizziness-gid- were determinednot to be anaphylaxis, 86 or injectable therapies, pharmaceutical prod- diness; tremor;sweating; cold; cough; and were judged to be non-anaphylaxisallergic ucts, and food items; What arethe possible adverse reactions injection siteswelling. reactions, and 61 were considered non-aller- ■ Pregnantand lactating women.Since mentioned? RARE/SERIOUS EVENTS: None arelisted. gic adverse events,” it said. theyhavenot been partofany clinical trial so These aredealt with separatelyfor either Bharat Biotech,the manufacturer,hassaidno On Modern’s mRNAvaccine, the other one far, women who are“pregnant or notsureof vaccine. seriousadverseeventhasbeenreportedin ei- authorisedfor emergencyuse in the US, the their pregnancy” and “lactating women” MILD ADVERSE EVENTS: ForCovishield, ther phase 1orphase2trials—orinthe ongo- CDCsaiddataisstilllimited.“Vaccination with should notreceive the vaccine at this time. the fact sheetsays afew mild adverse events ing largephase3trials with 25,800partici- Moderna Covid-19vaccinecommencedon Thefact sheetalsodealswithtemporary can happen following immunisation —injec- pants, it has said. December 21,2020, and through December contraindications. tion sitetenderness;injection sitepain; Bharat Biotech hasalsosaidthat chloro- 23, 2020, an estimated 224,322 firstdoses of headache; fatigue; myalgia (deep muscle quine and corticosteroids, both usedasrepur- the vaccine had been administered; one re- What arethese temporary pain);malaise(a feeling of overall discomfort); poseddrugs in Covid-19clinicalmanagement, portthat metthe Brighton Collaboration case contraindications ? pyrexia (an abnormal elevation of body tem- “mayimpair antibody response” likelytobe definition criteria foranaphylaxis had been Forcertain circumstances under the cate- perature); chills;arthralgia (painin thejoint); triggered by the vaccine. submitted to VAERS,” the CDC said.

EXPLAINED YOUR MONEY Amidvaccinehopes,willgoldcontinuetogivehighreturnsin2021?

Gold prices have been rising forthe last As of now, almosteveryone is pinning NavneetDamani, Vice President, fewyearsand pickeduppace in 2020 ow- GOLDPRICEMOVEMENT their hopes on the vaccine and expecting Commodities Research,Motilal Oswal ing to Covid-19. The 28% growth came on their liveswill return to normalcyin2021. FinancialServices. the backofastrong 22% growth in 2019. ■ Avgmonthlygoldprice (Inbrackets,changeoverpreviousyear) 50,123 While that hope has resulted in some cor- “Gold and silverprices have had agood 31,250 (+31.6%) rection in gold prices, thereare manywho run since the startfor 2020 with over 40% In terms of returns, howdoes gold 60000 20,506 30,832 26,678 27,754 (+8.6%) feel 2021will notbeassmooth as many gains in gold and 70%gains in silveratone comparewith stocks and real estate? (+19.5%) (+9.9%) (-10.8%) (+10.1%) 38,091 others expect it to be.The pace and success point.Withsomeintermediatecorrectionre- Considering that the one -year bank de- 50000 (+21.9%) of vaccination programmesacross the cently, theexcessfrothhasbeentakenoff and 28,062 29,904 25,207 28,763 positrateisat4.5-5%,goldhas turnedout 40000 worldwill hold the key;ifthere arehic- gold is getting ready onceagain foranext Sandeep Singh & to be asafer havenfor investors. On the (+36.8%) (-3.0%) (-5.5%) (+3.6%) cups, gold will remain on ahigh. round of upside for2021,”hesaid. otherhand, real estate prices didn’t offer 30000 “For all the hope spurredbythe break- Mehtasaid that while the initial upward George Mathew anygains. “The annual growth (y-o-y) in 20000 throughsonthe vaccine front, we believe move will be drivenbyadditional fiscal all-India Home PriceIndex(HPI) contin- thatmostof2021will be abumpy journey stimulus from the US government,other uedtomoderate; it stood at 1.1per cent in 10000 from vaccine to vaccination.The develop- factors will be an improving investment de- GOLDGLITTEREDasneverbeforein2020and Q2 of 2020-21ascompared with2.8 per 0 mentof Covid-19vaccinesinarecordtimeof mand as well as consumer demand from hit an all-time high of aroundRs58,000 per cent growth in previous quarterand 3.3 per Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec Dec afew months is commendable. But manu- India and China. 10 grams. It gave maximumreturns to in- cent ayear ago,” the ReserveBank of India 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020* facturinganddistributionto immuniseama- “The continuedoptimism on the eco- vestors,itssurge largely aidedbytheeconomic said. “Gold has giventhe best return among jorityof the7.8billionworldpopulationisan nomicrecoveryandsurgingriskassets could Monthlygold pricesare in Rs per 10 grams; Source:RBI *As on December 31,2020 slowdown across theworld inducedbythe allassetclassesin2020.Itoffered better expensive andlengthy exercise. And al- beaheadwindforgoldthatcouldlimititsrise. pandemicandsurplusliquidityinthesystem. returns than stocks and real estate.When though the vaccinewill slowlyand steadily However, thefactremainsthattheeconomic With vaccination settobegin on January16, compared to gold, BSE Sensex gave areturn addressthehealthcrisis,theworldstillhasan rebound has been losingsteam… When the whichwilllikelyputlivelihoodsandtheecon- of 15.75% in the bygone year,” said veteran The big question is: will the gold rallycon- ellerydemand decreasedby48% to 52.8 economic crisis to deal with,” said Chirag liquidity-ledmomentum recedes and mar- omyonthe fast tracktonormalcy,will gold stockdealer PawanDharnidharka. tinue in 2021? central bankshavere- tonnesinthe September quartercompared Mehta, senior fund manager-Alternative ketsstartreflectinggroundreality,goldshould beatotherinvestmentavenueslikestocksand ducedtheir interest rate to almostzeroper to 101.6tonnes in the same quarterlastyear. Investments, QuantumAMC. reprice on backofconstructive fundamen- realestate andgivethesamefabulousreturns What’s the global scenario? cent and could remain at these levels forat This waslargely duetothe rise in prices and tals,” Mehta said. of 30%-plus as in 2021? Gold prices in India areinfluencedby leastone year or so. Central bankshavealso lockdown. However, totalinvestment de- So, gold prices will remainbullishin Thereisalso afeeling that withinterest the global trend. “The escalating virus situ- takenanaggressive stance providing liquid- mandduringthethirdquartersurgedby52% 2021too? rateslikelytoremain lowindeveloped Howmuchdid gold gain in 2020? ation is proving to be achallengefor the ity in the market. “All the actions takenwill to 33.8tonnescomparedto 22.3tonnesinthe Gold is poisedfor anotherrallyin2021. economies, gold will become amoreviable Gold (.999grade)rose from Rs 39,119per global economic recovery.Apartfromthis, have aspill-overeffect on the economy, sameperiodof 2019 asinvestorsaccumulated Analysts forecastpricescouldrisebyan- holding option than US Treasurybonds. 10 gramson January1,2020toahigh over Rs lowerinterestrates worldwide and the US hence supporting the precious metalprices. gold.Stimulusmeasureshave createdexcess other 25% and test theRs65,000 level(per Another factor is geopolitical tensions 58,000 before closingatRs50,123on dollar'sdowntrend might provepositive for The enormous liquidity push by central liquidityinthemarket andthereare expecta- 10 grams). “Wecontinue to maintain our around the world, including US-China rela- December 31,arise of 28% in one year This the yellowmetal. Currentlygold spotisflirt- banksacross the worldisgoing to (under- tions of an additionalstimulus being an- bullish viewfor the long-term perspective. tionsand India China relations. “… Tensions meansabuyer who bought100grams forRs ing near $1,900per ounce. Asustained pin) fundamental supportfor continuation nouncedbythe US, whichwill boostbullion On Comex, going into2021, theprice is ex- betweenthemajoreconomiesseemunlikely 3.91lakh in thebeginningof2020 made a break might be seen in 2021, whichmight of gold strength,” Damani said. prices further.Also, analysts said,ambiguity pected to extend itsbullishness to test a to de-escalateinthenearfuture…Theresult- profitof overRs1.1lakhinayear.Intheinter- push the prices to $1,980 per ounce and relatedto recentdevelopmentsonCovidvac- fresh all-timehigh levelof$2400-2500. inguncertaintyinequity,creditandcurrency nationalmarket,goldsurgedto arecordhigh then $2,050 per ounce,”said Ravindra Rao, Howisthe gold demand in India? cines is supporting the gold rally. Whereas on the domesticfront, the price is marketswilltriggerarisk-offsentiment.This of near $2080 per ounceinAugust2020;its VP and Head of Commodity Research,Kotak Interestingly,golddemand in India likelytoextendits gains by afurther 25% willpush up investment demand forrela- current level$1840. Securities. showedacontrastduring2020.Thetotaljew- What do vaccine hopes augur forgold? and test Rs 65,000-68,000 level,” said tively saferalternativeslikegold,”Mehtasaid.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 11 ECONOMY GOLD RUPEE OIL SILVER `48,388 `73.04 $55.64 `64,534

Note:Gold,silverrates at Delhi spotmarket;goldper 10 g, silverper 1kg; Brent crude as of 1900IST SENSEX: 49,584.16 ▲ 91.84 NIFTY: 14,595.60 ▲ 30.75 NIKKEI: 28,698.26 ▲ 241.67 HANGSENG: 28,496.86 ▲ 261.26 FTSE: 6,797.67 ▲ 52.15 DAX: 13,971.12 ▲ 31.41

Internationalmarket data till 1900IST POLICY COVERS ADVERSE EVENTONVOLUNTEERS INTERVIEWWITH CHAIRPERSON, COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA ‘Concentration of power by Pharmafirmsseekinsurancecover itself not aconcern ... CCI can forindemnityinCovidvaccinetrials see if dominanceabused or not’ FROM MARKET studies intothe digital transactionsfor merger The legal liabilities mayariseout 19 remedies,some companies policies. Clinicaltrial covermar- telecom,pharmaceuticalsandthe scrutiny.Inthe digitalmarket,we ENSECONOMICBUREAU of death andbodilyinjuryordis- ED have takenmorethan one policy. ket has grownat30per cent in digital market sectors to areview maylookto facilitatetheentryfor MUMBAI,JANUARY14 ease to volunteers while under- Saves Sourcessaidthepremiumfora India,but,this year,growth has of themodelconcessionagreem- anew platform by ensuring pa- going clinical trials of product PLAIN E costs ‘ClinicalTrialLiabilityInsurance’is been substantiallyhigher due to ents in keyinfrastructure sectors rameters likedataportability are ● AHOSTofpharma companies specificallynamedand insured. EX basedonrisk exposureand de- Covid-19, Arorasaid. includingairports,ports,railways followed, especiallyincases have optedtobuy insurance Thepolicy providescover forle- pends on awide rangeoffactors. India has alarge pharma in- and electricity,the Competition wherethereisamassing of large covers from domestic general galliabilityarising out of lackof THE COVER is takentill the It mayrangeanywherefromless dustryand some pharma com- CommissionofIndia (CCI)isre- amountsofdata. If amassing of insurers fortheir clinical trials careornegligence resulting in in- particular medicalprod- than Rs 1lakh forsimple trials for panies have taken‘ClinicalTrial assessingIndia’scompetitive lan- dataactsasabarriertoentry, then to develop suchvaccines in the juryordeath of the subject par- uctorvaccinetrial for limitof liabilityaslowasRs50lakh Liability Insurance’ fordevelop- dscape,theantitrustpanel’sChai- the CCI can, through itspower, country. Some of the general ticipating in the trial, said Pankaj whichthe coverhas been to over Rs 1crore forcomplextri- ingCovid-19vaccine, said an of- rperson, ASHOK KUMAR GUPTA, suggest remedies within the reg- insurers who have provided Arora, MD &CEO, Raheja QBE giveniscompleted. Once als forhigh limitsofliability rang- ficial of aprivate insurance com- told The Indian Express in aSepte- ulatoryframework. these covers include New GeneralInsurance. the productislaunchedin ing from Rs 50-70crore. pany, adding:“We have also mber interview.Edited excerpts: India Assurance, ICICI Lombard The coveristaken till thepar- the market,the cover While most of these are issued some Covid-19policies Does the CCI see aproblemof General Insurance and ticular medical product or vac- ceases to operate. The pol- Indian companies, some foreign and have receivedsomeclaims The CCI is learnt to have concentration of powerin Raheja QBE General Insurance, cine trial forwhichthe coverhas icy indemnifies the in- companiesand joint againstthese policies.” initiated studies on the certain sectors likeairports, sources said. been giveniscompleted. Once sured forlegal costs,dam- ventures/partnershipshavealso Although the domestic clini- telecom, pharmaceuticals and ports,and highways? The insurance cover, known the product is launched in the ages and compensation takenthis cover, he said without cal trial covermarketis digital market sectors. How Ashok Kumar Gupta Concentration of powerbyit- as ‘Clinical Trial Liability market, the coverceases to oper- forinjuryordeath caused disclosing the namesofthese Rs 400-500crore,despitegrow- were these sectorsselected? selfisnot aconcern.Policy of the Insurance’, seekstoindemnify ate. “Thepolicy indemnifies the to aresearchsubject par- pharmacompanies. Indian com- ing demandsand claims, the TheCommissionhasnowde- governmentistomakeeconomy the insured,including institu- insured forlegal costs,damages ticipating in atrial. panies suchasZydus,Bharat premiums forclinical trials cidedtoundertake market stud- aims to identify areas of coopera- moreefficient,andinthatprocess tions or organisations conduct- and compensation forinjury or Biotech and Gennova aredevel- haven’t gone up post-Covid-19. iesinthepharmaceutical,telecom tion betweenthe Commission whattheCCIcandoislookatwh- ing clinical trials,againstlegal li- death causedtoaresearch sub- oping indigenous vaccines, other Insurance officials said clinical and digitalmarket sectors.Overa andtherelevantsectorregulators. etherthedominanceisabusedor ability arising out of clinical trials ject participatinginatrial.The ance has issued119 ‘Clinical Trial domestic companies arecollabo- trial premium is moreexpensive period of morethan 10 years of not.If thereisabuseof dominance, on claim-made basis, said Atul policy also providescover for Liability Insurance’ policies in- rating with companies suchas than other liability products. enforcement of competition law, What is the scope of thestudy CCI can take action under Section Sahai,CMD,New India medical expenses in respect of cluding 53 covers exclusively for Serum Institutewith “Weestimatethe insurance the Commission has had the oc- into the digital sector? 4oftheCompetitionAct...Sectors Assurance, the largest general in- suchsubjectswho sustain injury the “Covid-19Clinical Trials’’ AstraZeneca,DrReddy’s with marketsize to be about Rs 50 casiontolook intomultiplecom- The study on digital mergers likeairports, ports,highways, etc surance companyinthe country. arising out of their participation from April till November 2020. Of Sputnik and Biological Ewith J&J. croreand our market share in petition issues in these sectors. isverydifferentinscopeandfocu- arethose with naturalmonopo- The policy covers serious ad- in atrial,” Arorasaid. the 53 newpoliciesgiven forclin- Insurershave already received the industryisaround 10 per The Commission hasreceived ses on aspecific issue. In view of lies, where thecompetition is not verse event on the volunteers. Raheja QBE General insur- ical trials fordevelopingCovid- some claims againstCovid-19 cent,’’said an official. cases with allegations of anti- the potential enforcement gap in the market,but forthe market. competitive conduct by market thatasset/turnoverbasednotifica- Whatisimportant is that the players in thesesectorsaswellas tion thresholds mayleave in digi- tenderdesignforaward of conce- reviewedvariouscombination talmarkets(giventhatthe target ssions ensures that competition Spends on Covid vaccine COVID IMPACT noticesinthese sectors. enterprisesindigitalmarketsmay forthe marketisvibrant —that Thus,theCommissionintends operateonazero/lowturnover, thereare enoughplayerswhoare campaigns to count as CSR Fall in PV sales to conductmarketstudiesinthese assetlight model), the Competit- abletoparticipate.Competition ‘PV wholesales at 10-year low, 16.06%during sectors.Specifically,thegenesisof ion LawReviewCommittee forthe marketthrough well de- outreachcampaigns on Covid-19 April-December period;from the study in the pharmaceuticals (CLRC)recommendedintroduct- signedtenderdocumentsandco- ENSECONOMICBUREAU vaccination programme is an el- industrylooking to regain biz’ 21,17,920 units in same period isaworkshoponthesectororgan- ionof anenablingprovisioninthe ncession agreements willensure NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 igibleCSR activity,”the Ministry of 2019-20 to 17,77,874 units isedbythe Commission in 2018 CompetitionActempoweringthe that the outcomes arepro-com- said in anotification. Prime Passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales fell to adecadal lowin thisfiscal, as per Society of and anotethat wasformulated Governmentinconsultationwith petitive.Itislikethe digitalsector, THECORPORATE Affairs Ministry MinisterNarendraModi is setto April-December this fiscal, and theindustry will have to work Indian Automobile basedontheissuesraisedbystak- theCommissionto introduceany where thewinner takesitall. on Thursday clarifiedthat expen- launchthe rollout of India’s hardtoregainbettervolumes and business health, SIAM said Manufacturers (SIAM)data eholdersatthe forum. other criteria fornotification that Once an entity has competed ditureincurredbyIndia Inc on Covid-19vaccine programmeon The study that is nowunder- mayincludeadeal-value thresh- in the tender processand emer- awareness campaigns on the January16with about 3lakh YEAR-ON-YEARFALL IN SALES IN OTHER Sector-wisestatusfrom wayisanattempt to empirically old. As on date, thereisnoreadily gedasthe successful bidder, they Covid-19vaccination programme healthcareworkers settoreceive SEGMENTS DURING APRIL-DECEMBER April-December 2020 examinethoseissues,e.g.compe- available comprehensive dataset have wonthemarket —whichco- would be counted towardstheir vaccine shots on the firstday of numbers: tition issues in pharma distribu- on digital mergers in India. uldbeanairportoraportorahig- mandatoryCorporateSocial the programme. 22.63%: 37.23%: 74.25%: ■ PV segment at 10-yearlow tionsegment,theextentof preva- The Study on Mergers and hway.Then they have that mar- Responsibility(CSR) expenditure. The CorporateAffairs Two-wheelers Commercial vehicles Three-wheelers ■ Two-wheelersales at 7-year lence of brandedgeneric drugsin AcquisitionsinDigitalMarketshas ketfor thenext30or40or50 All companies with anet worth Ministryhad lastyear takena low India and their implications for beeninitiatedto trackthenon-no- years basedonthe time required of Rs 500crore or more, a number of steps to ensurethat ■ Commercial vehiclesales10 competition, entrybarriers for tifiedacquisitionsandmergersin forthe entity to recoup their in- turnoverofRs1,000 croreor companies could classify spends years behind bio-equivalentdrugs,etc.Approp- the digital sector in India, their vestmentsmade intothe project. more, or netprofitofRs5crore or on tackling Covid-19aspartof ■ Three-wheelersegment 20 riateenforcement of regulation dealvaluesandthetrendsandpa- Whatisimportantthatthein- moreare required to spend 2per their CSR expenditure. The years behind andthecompetitionlawinstrum- tternsof suchtransactionstopro- centivescreated areright, in this cent of their averageprofitofthe Ministryhad notifiedlastyear ents,basedonaclearunderstand- videanempiricalbasisfortheleg- contextwe arereviewingsomeof previous three years on CSR ac- that anydonations to the PM- ing of howcompetition worksin islative amendment. Thestudyis the ModelConcession agree- tivities everyyear. CARES Fund and statedisaster Why is it important: The sales growth seen in the third quarter of FY21 Source: this sector and that of the inter- expectedtoserveasthe ground- mentsinsectorssuchasports,air- “... spending of CSRfunds for disastermanagementauthorities contains some of the pent up demand from first quarter, so standalone sales SIAM/PTI playbetween competition and work necessarytocomeupwith ports,railways, electricity,etc. carrying out awareness cam- would count towardsmandatory performance of Q3 may not be atrue reflection of the industry’s overall sales regulation,couldimprovemarket possible notification criteria that Full interviewon paigns/programmes or public CSR expenditure. outcomes. The study,thus,also maybeappropriate to capture www.indianexpress.com BRIEFLY ‘Mobile payment NCLT orders liquidation of Tata group puts Sellstakesin systems may post-Covid bet PSUs:Rajan facemore online dairy products firm Kwality on digital, health NewDelhi: Ahead of the attacks thisyear’ Budget, former Reserve nothaveover66per cent lenders and electronics Bank Governor Raghuram ENSECONOMICBUREAU ENSECONOMICBUREAU Haldiram Snacks votinginitsfavourandwasthere- Rajan said the government NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 resolution plan failed fore rejected.Following the rejec- REUTERS shouldtake advantageofthe tionof theplanby CoC,theresolu- MUMBAI,JANUARY14 peaksinequitymarketsand MOBILEPAYMENTS systems and ABENCHof theNationalCompany to get66% lenders’ nod tionprofessionalof Kwalitymoved sell stakes in PSUs. quickresponseorQRcodes,which LawTribunal (NCLT) hasordered an application to liquidatethe TATA GROUP plans to invest in have of lateredefinedthemodeof the liquidation of debt-ridden PunjabNationalBank (PNB) and companyasthetimeperiodof 270 digital, high-end electronics and peer-to-peerorcustomer-to-busi- dairyand alliedproductsfirm global privateequity firm KKR. days forcompletion of insolvency healthcareinapost-pandemic Adaniwins ness payments, arelikelytocome Kwality Limited,after the Despiteseveral extensions in the process waslong over. world, the $100 billion conglom- highwayproject undermoreattackin2021, McAfee Committee of Creditors (CoC) re- datetosubmit resolution plans, a KwalityLimited,whichmakes erate’s chairman said on said in areport on Thursday. jectedtheresolutionplansubmit- joint bid of Haldiram Snacks and alliedmilk productssuchasmilk Thursday.Tatawill also placebig NewDelhi: Adani Cybercriminals will seek new tedbyHaldiram Snacks, thesole Pioneer Securities wasthe only ghee,milk powders, lassi, chaach bets on electric vehicles, renew- EnterprisesLimited(AEL)on ways to exploit the loopholes in bidder.ThecourtthreeoftheNew plan in contention. Haldiram and flavoured milk,has also been able energy and batterystorage, Thursdaysaid it has wona both these systems, whichhave Delhi BenchofNCLTpassedthe Snackshad initiallymade an offer underthelensof investigative au- NChandrasekaran added. Rs 1,838-crorehighway gainedprominence over the last liquidation order on Monday, of Rs 130crore,improveditto thoritiesforcheatingaconsortium “When youlook at trends for project from the National year,the cybersecurityfirm said. whichwas made available on the Rs 142crore,and finallyrevisedit of banks ledbyBank of India. thefuture,definitelythereare clear Highways Authorityof India Strict lockdowns in countries tribunal’s websiteonThursday. one moretime to Rs 145crore.A In September lastyear,the signs youcan pickup. Anything (NHAI) in Kerala. PTI across the globetoprevent the The company, which wasfou- majority of the funds in the reso- Central BureauofInvestigations thatisdigital, we’remaking abig spreadof Covidforcedusersacross ndedin1992, owesoverRs1,900 lution plan had been allocated to had registeredacaseoffraud beton,”ChandratoldReutersNext theboardtoopt forpaymentof es- croretoitslenders,andwasadmi- the financial creditors. againstthe company’s directors conference.Covidhasaccelerated SamsungS21 sentialserviceseitherfrommobile tted intoinsolvency in December Haldiram Snacks’plan, how- Sanjay Dhingra, Siddhant Gupta theadoptionof technology,chang- serieslaunched or QR codes, McAfeesaid. 2018 on apetition movedby ever,did notpass musterasitdid and Arun Srivastava. ing the waypeople live,headded. NewDelhi: Samsung on Th- ursday launcheditsflagship FUEL PRICES AT RECORD HIGH S21series,starting withthe topofthe line Galaxy S21 Experts seecut in excise duty Ultra,withandadaptive dis- playwith variable refresh rate andfour rear cameras. StartingatRs1,05,999inInd- to curb impact on inflation ia,itwillbecompatiblewith theS-Penstylus.Theflagship EXCISEDUTYONPETROL Rs 19.98per litreatthe beginning series also features the KARUNJITSINGH of 2019,and increasedthe excise smaller S21and S21+. NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 duty on diesel to Rs 31.83per litre ·ffSX°f ÀfSXIYfSX from Rs 15.83overthe same pe- ´fSX¸ff¯fb DYªffÊ d½f·ff¦f `32.98/L ·ffSXe ´ff³fe Àfa¹faÂfIYûMXf THEPRICEofpetrolhitanall-time riod to boost revenues. F&Otradingon BÊ-d³fd½fQf Af¸faÂf¯fÀfc¨f³ff highof Rs84.70perlitreinthena- “Thepricesof petrolanddiesel ·ffS°f IZ Sf¿MÑ´fd°f IeAûS ÀfZ AüS C³fIZ d»f¹fZ ¸fWf´fi¶fa²fI ,·ffSe´ff³fe Àfa¹faÂf, IûMf BÊ-MZÔOdSa¦f ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ d³f¸³f If¹fÊ WZ°fb A³fb¸fûdQ°f, ´ffÂf E½fa tionalcapitalasoilmarketingcom- ■The central government arelikelytorise further unless the A³fb·f½fe NZIZ QfSûÔ ÀfZ Afg³f»ffB³f ¸fQ QS d³fd½fQfEa Af¸fadÂf°f Ieªff°fe W`ÔÜ PaytmMoney d½fÀ°fÈ°f E³fAfBÊMeE½fa d³fd½fQf QÀ°ff½fZªf ½fZ¶fÀffBM www.tenderwizard.com/ DAE for free view/ ´fS OfC³f»fûO WZ°fb C´f»f¶²f W`Ü panies (OMCs)hiked thecostof hiked excise duty on petrol to governmentcutsexcise duties,” E³f.AfBÊ.MXe. Àfa£¹ff dÀfd½f»f/2020/419 dÀfd½f»f/2020/423 NewDelhi: Paytm Money, a both petrol and diesel by 25 paise Rs 32.98per litrefrom saidVivekanandSubbaraman,an- If¹fÊ If³ff¸f kk½f¿fÊ 2020-21 IZ d»f¹fZ ·ff´ffÀfa. (I û) Af½ffÀfe¹f kk½f¿fÊ 2020-21 IZ d»f¹fZ ·ff´ffÀfa. (I ûMf) ¸fZÔ Àfe½fZªf Ifg»fû³fe, Sf½f°f·ffMfIZdSWf¹fÀfe ¸fI f³fûÔ IZ Afa°fdSI MÑeM¸fZÔM IZ ´fi¨ff»f³f AüS A³fbSÃf¯f, ½ffMSMÑeM¸fZÔM wholly-ownedsubsidiaryof on Thursday. Theprice of diesel Rs 19.98per litreatthe alystatAmbit Capital, adding the ´fZÔdMa¦f If½ffd¿fÊI A³fb¶fa²fll ´»ffaM ¸fZÔ ÀfWf¹fI ÀfZ½ff¹fZÔ B°¹ffdQ If¹fÊll Paytmisprovidingfutures& also setarecordhigh of beginning of 2019,and government waslikelytocut ex- d³fd½fQf OÑfBa¦f IZ Àff±f d³fd½fQf QÀ°ff½fZªfûÔ IûQZJ³fZ 15.01.2021 (10:00 ¶fªfZ) ÀfZ 15.01.2021 (10:00 ¶fªfZ) ÀfZ AüS OfD³f»fûO IS³fZ Ied³f²ffÊdS°f dQ³ffaI 25.01.2021 (15:00) ¶fªfZ °fI 25.01.2021 (15:00) ¶fªfZ °fI optionstrading (F&O) on its Rs 81.60 in Mumbai. increasedthe excise duty on cisedutyto curbtheimpactof high ¶fû»fe ´fc½fÊ À´f¿MeI S¯fdQ³ffaI 27.01.2021 (10:00 ¶fªfZ) ÀfZ 27.01.2021 (10:00 ¶fªfZ) ÀfZ platform, with brokerage Thisisthefourthhikeinpetrol diesel to Rs 31.83per litre fuel prices on inflation. 29.01.2021 (16:00) ¶fªfZ °fI 29.01.2021 (16:00) ¶fªfZ °fI BÊE¸fOeWZ°fb Me.Oe.AfS./ ER .Oe.AfS. ªf¸ff ISf³fZ 02.02.2021 02.02.2021 starting at Rs 10. ENS anddieselpricesinanine-daype- from Rs 15.83overthe same Ananalystwhodidnotwishto IeAad°f¸f d°fd±f AfdQ (14:30) ¶fªfZ °fI (14:30) ¶fªfZ °fI Afg³f »ffB³f d³fd½fQfAûa Iû ªf¸ff IS³fZ Ie Aad°f¸f 02.02.2021 (14:30) ¶fªfZ °fI E½fa 02.02.2021 02.02.2021 (14:30) ¶fªfZ °fI E½fa 02.02.2021 riod, whichhas seen ratesrise by period to boostrevenues. be namedsaid the government d°fd±f E½fa Àf¸f¹f E½fa °fI ³feI e¶fû»fe Afg³f »ffB³f ¶fªfZ (15:00) °fI ¶fªfZ (15:00) °fI about Re 1per litre, after30days wouldalsonotseekto cutthemar- Jû»f³fZ IeAad°f¸f d°fd±f PFCbondfor AfaI d»f°f »ff¦f°f ÷.26,42,844/- ÷.15,43,930/- of no hike. According to experts, ketingmarginsofOMCsfurtheras BÊE¸fOe BÊE¸fOe´fS LcMQe¦fBÊ W` »fZdI ³f Àf·fe ¶fû»feQf°ffAûa BÊE¸fOe´fS LcMQe¦fBÊ W` »fZdI ³f Àf·fe ¶fû»feQf°ffAûa pricesare likelytorisefurtherdue Experts expect that the gov- it seeks to getagood valuationon IZ d»f¹fZ k¶fû»fe ÀfbSÃff §fû¿f¯ffl ªf¸ff IS³ff Ad³f½ff¹fÊ IZ d»f¹fZ k¶fû»fe ÀfbSÃff §fû¿f¯ffl ªf¸ff IS³ff Ad³f½ff¹fÊ individualbuyers W`Ü(¶fû»fe ÀfbSÃff §fû¿f¯ff If ´fifø ´f A³fb¶fa²f-1 IZ W`Ü(¶fû»fe ÀfbSÃff §fû¿f¯ff If ´fifø ´f A³fb¶fa²f-1 IZ to arally in crude oil unless the ernment will cut excise duties to the divestment of Bharat ø´f¸fZÔ Àfa»f¦³f W`) ø´f¸fZÔ Àfa»f¦³f W`) NewDelhi: PowerFinance governmentreducesexciseduties curb the impact of higher fuel Petroleum Corporation Ltd. d³fd½fQf ´fidIi ¹ff Vfb»I ÷.1,559/- ÷.911/- If¹fÊ ´fc¯fÊ Wû³fZ IeA½fd²f 12 ¸ffW 12 ¸ffW Corporation (PFC) said the on petrol and diesel. prices on inflation and to support AnICICISecuritiesreportnoted ´faªfeIÈ °f NZIZ QfS We d³fd½fQfAûa Iû JSeQ/ OfD³f»fûO E½fa ´fiÀ°fb°f/ A´f»fûO IS ÀfI °fZ W`ÔÜB¨LbIEªfZÔdÀf¹ffa ´faªfeI S¯fWZ°fb BÀf ½fZ¶fÀffBM If launchofitsmaidentaxable The price of Brent crude has adesirable valuation in the disin- thatthe netmarketingmarginsof A½f»fûI ³f IS ÀfI °fZ W`ÔÜWS½f¢°f ÀfWf¹f°ff/ À´f¿MeI S¯fWZ°fb Àf¸´fIÊ ISmÔ 24x7 @09969395522 (ßfe øýiZVf), BʸfZ»f: rudresh.ten- [email protected] ¹ff [email protected] QcS·ff¿f Àfa.: 011-49424365, ´ffÂf ¶fû»feI °ffÊAûa Ie°fI ³feI e¶fûd»f¹fûÔ IZ bondissue of Rs 5,000crore consistentlystrengthenedsince vestment of Bharat Petroleum OMCsmay fall belowzeroatcur- Af²ffS ´fS d½fØfe¹f ¶fûd»f¹fûÔ Iû Afg³f»ffB³f Jû»ff ªffE¦ff dªfÀfI ed°fd±f Ie Àfc¨f³ff A»f¦f ÀfZ Qe ªffE¦feÜ d½fÀ°fÈ°f E³fAfBÊMe½fZ¶fÀffBÊM forindividual buyers that theendof October—fromaround Corporation Ltd. The centralgov- rentfuelprices,forcingeitheracut www.hwb.gov.in ´fS IZ ½f»f QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W` A³¹f ªff³fI fSeWZ°fb Àf·fe If¹fÊdQ½fÀfûÔ ´fS IÈ ´f¹ff B³f QcS·ff¿f ³fa. ´fS Àfa´fIÊ ISmÔÜQcS·ff¿f- (01475) 242201/ 242231, R` ¢Àf: 01475-242203 (½fe.½fe.EÀf.E. ´fifÀffQ) willopenonJanuary15. PTI $37per barreltoaround $56 ernment hiked exciseduty on in excise duty or afurther hikein ¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY on Thursday. petrol to Rs 32.98per litrefrom the prices of petrol and diesel. ·ffSX°fIZY SXf¿MÑX´fd°f IYe AûSXAüSX CX³fIZYd»fE Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 MEANWHILE AUSTRALIA TO KILL PIGEON THAT CROSSED PACIFIC Aracing pigeon has survived an extraordinary13,000-km Pacific Ocean crossing from the United States to find anew homeinAustralia. Nowauthorities consider the birdaquaran- 12 THE WORLD tine risk andplantokill it. Thebird had disappearedfrom arace in theUSstate of Oregon on October 29,last year,and wasfound in Melbourne on December 26.

TOPOFTHE 10 REPUBLICANS JOIN DEMOCRATS SENATE TRIAL UNLIKELY BEFORE FIRST AMERICAN PRESIDENT TO WORLD IN VOTING TO IMPEACH TRUMPLEAVES OFFICE BE IMPEACHED TWICE Trumpimpeachedfor‘incitementofinsurrection’

Move opens prospectofbanninghim Under pressure, Trump puts from ever holding publicoffice again At theNayaparacamp out video condemning violence in Cox’s Bazar, . Reuters NICHOLASFANDOS TOPHOUSELEADERS MAGGIEHABERMAN& The video WASHINGTON,JANUARY14 MICHAELSSCHMIDT was CRITICISETRUMP JANUARY14 released BANGLADESH DONALD TRUMP on Wednesday hours after Fireatrefugee became the firstAmerican pres- UNDER HEAVY pressurefrom Trumpwas identtobeimpeachedtwice, as Hemustgo.Heisaclear his advisers, US President impeached camp:Hundreds 10 membersofhis party joined andpresentdangerto Donald TrumponWednesday with Democratsinthe House to thenationthatweall releasedafive-minute video ofRohingya charge him with “incitement of love...Itgivesmeno recordedinthe Oval Office con- “As Ihavesaid, the incursion lefthomeless insurrection” forhis role in pleasuretosaythis, demning lastweek’smob vio- of the US Capitol struckatthe eggingonaviolent mob that itbreaksmyheart.” lence at the Capitol andurging very heartofour republic,” ALARGE fire tore through stormedthe Capitol lastweek. his supporters to stand down Trumpsaid. “It angered andap- acrowdedRohingyacamp Reconveninginabuildingnow —NANCY PELOSI from further rioting next week. palledmillions of Americans in the Cox’s Bazar area of heavilymilitarisedagainstthreats HOUSE SPEAKER AND The video wasmade public across the political spectrum.” BangladeshonThursday, from pro-Trumpactivists and DEMOCRATIC LEADER hours afterTrumpwas im- “I want to be very clear:Iun- destroying hundredsof adornedwithbunting forthe in- Speaker of the HouseNancy Pelosi gavels in thefinal vote of the impeachment of US peachedasecond time and was equivocallycondemntheviolence ramshackle shelters and auguration of President-elect Joe President Donald Trump, forhis role in inciting an angrymob to storm the Congress last the result, advisers said, of his re- thatwesaw lastweek,”headded. forcing displacedMuslim Biden,lawmakersvoted232to 197 The President bears week,atthe Capitol in WashingtononWednesday. AP alisation of the catastrophic fall- “Violenceandvandalismhave ab- refugees to flee in the win- to approveasingle impeachment responsibility for out from the deadlysiege, which solutelynoplace in our country. terchill.The blaze claimed article. It accused Trumpof“incit- Wednesday’s attack also leftlawmakers fearing for And no place in our movement. no livesbut lefthundreds ing violence againstthe govern- on Congress by mob their livesinthe seat of American Making America great again has of people without homes, ment of the United States”inhis Expecting trouble, Washington locks democracy. always been about defending the according to aid workers rioters. He should questtooverturn theelection re- have immediately The video wasreleasedona rule of law” and supporting law and officials. It struckata sults, andcalledfor himtobere- down week before Biden inauguration WhiteHouse Twitter account. enforcementofficials,hesaid. NYT time when officials in movedanddisqualifiedfromever denouncedthe mob Bangladesh look forlong- holdingpublicoffice again. when he saw what termsolutionsforthehun- The voteleftanother indelible was unfolding.” ASHRAFKHALIL Twitter CEO defends Trump dredsofthousands of stain on Trump’s presidency just —KEVINMCCARTHY &LOLITACBALDOR refugeeswhohave crossed aweek before he is slatedto leave TOP HOUSE REPUBLICAN WASHINGTON,JANUARY14 itsborder from Myanmar office and laid barethe cracks ban, but says it is ‘dangerous’ in recent years. Thefire running through the Republican ALL THROUGH downtown eruptedaround1aminthe Party. Moremembersof hisparty The House’s action setthe Washington, the primarysound NewYork: Twitter CEO Jack Nayapararefugeecampin voted to charge thePresident stageforthesecondSenatetrialof forseveral blocks wasthe beep- Dorseyhas defendedhis com- southeastBangladesh.NYT than in anyother impeachment. the President in ayear.However, ing of forklifts unloadingmore pany’sunprecedenteddecisionto Speaker Nancy Pelosi, declar- that nowseems unlikelytohap- fencing. permanentlysuspend US Twitter CEO ingthepastweekoneof thedark- pen before January20—the day Therewerenocars or scoot- PresidentDonaldTrumpfromthe JackDorsey estchapters in American history, Trumpleavesoffice andBiden ers and seeminglynotourists social media site, but warnedit PAKISTAN implored colleagues to embrace takesoathasthe newpresident. Wednesday, justthe occasional could seta“dangerous prece- Attackontemple: “aconstitutionalremedythatwill TheAssociatedPressreportedthat jogger andmultiple construction National Guardtroops inside the CapitolonWednesday. AP dent”, admitting it reflectedthe in our havingtoban ensurethat the republicwill be theSenate trialcouldbeginonin- crewsatwork. The US Capitol company’sfailure“to promote @realDonaldTrumpfromTwitter, 12policeofficials safefromthis man who is so res- auguration dayitself. that proved suchasofttargetlast healthyconversation”. orhowwegot here...,”Dorseysaid. dismissed olutely determinedtotear down The last proceedingwas apar- week wasvisible onlythrough The FBI has warnedthat Police vehicles sealedoff a Dorsey brokehis silence on “I believe thiswas the rightdeci- the things that we hold dear and tisan affair.But this time, Senator lines of tall, blackfence. armedprotests by violent Trump hugeswath of downtownDC, the company’s decision in ase- sion forTwitter.Wefaced an ex- THE KHYBER that hold us together”. MitchMcConnell, Republican of Twoblocks from theWhite supporters were being planned causing trafficsnarls. Starting ries of tweets Wednesday. traordinary and untenable cir- Pakhtunkhwaprovincial Alittle morethan ayear after Kentucky and the majority leader, House, agroup of uniformed in all 50 statecapitals as well as Wednesday,anyone inside the Twitter Fridayannouncedthat cumstance, forcing us to focus all government in Pakistan sheled athree-month process to wassaid to supportthe effortas a National Guardtroops emerged in Washington forthe days lead- inaugurationperimeter might Trumpwas permanentlysus- of our actions on publicsafety.” has dismissed12police of- impeachTrumpthe firsttime for means of purging his party of from atour bus and headedinto ing up to the inauguration of be stoppedand questioned. pendeddue to the “risk of fur- But,hesaid,theban“sets aprece- ficialsfollowinganenquiry apressurecampaign on Ukraine Trump. If aSenatetrial resultedin ahotelasastate of lockdown de- President-elect Joe Biden. Severaldowntownhotels, in- ther incitement of violence”, dentIfeelisdangerous:thepower reportthat found them to incriminateBiden, Pelosi had Trump’s conviction,itheld out scendedonWashington that “Clearly we areinuncharted cluding one whichhad become a days afterhis supporters an individual or corporation has guilty of “negligence”in movedthistimewithlittlefanfare the prospect of barring him from will lastthrough the January20 waters,” said Washington Mayor favouritehangout of the militant stormedthe US Capitol. overapartofthe global public protecting aHindu temple to do the same job in sevendays. ever holding office again. NYT inauguration. Muriel Bowser. ProudBoyfaction,have closed.AP “Idonotcelebrateorfeelpride conversation.” PTI in the province, whichwas torchedbyamobled by members of aradical Islamistparty.The govern- ment also forfeited one- AFTER MONTHS OF DIPLOMATIC WRANGLING yearserviceof 33 policeof- New rule to raise wage rates for H-1B workers ficialsinconnection with WHO team arrivesinWuhan the incident. The temple from abroad. grammes. them in line with the wagespaid wasattackedonDecember PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Days before the end of the ad- The H-1B visa is anon-immi- to similarly employedUSwork- 30 by themob aftermem- WASHINGTON,JANUARY14 ministration of PresidentDonald grantvisathat allows US compa- ers, the DepartmentofLaborsaid bers of the Hinducommu- Trump, the US Department of nies to employ foreign workers in in anews release on Tuesday. to investigate pandemicorigins nityreceivedpermission THE TRUMP administration has Labor said the final rule would specialityoccupationsthatrequire Prevailing wage rate is de- from authorities to reno- announcedafinal rule that will helpprotectthewagesandjobop- theoreticalortechnical expertise. finedasthe averagewagepaid 2of15-member team test positive, stay backinSingapore vate itsbuilding. The mob significantlyraise theminimum portunities of Americanworkers Technology companies de- to similarly employedworkers demolishedthenewlycon- wagesthat employers in the US by reformingthe wage method- pendonitto hiretensof thousands in aspecific occupation in the structed parts. PTI mustpay to foreignworkers on ologyitusesto setprevailingwage of employees eachyear from area of intendedemployment. SAMMCNEIL& visa programmes likethe H-1B ratestoprevent potential abuses countries likeIndia and China. It servetoprotect US work- HUIZHONGWU HONGKONG as partofefforts to protect of itsPermanent Employment The finalrule will improvethe ers from competition posedby WUHAN,JANUARY14 11heldonsuspicion American workers from being Certification, H-1B, H-1B1 and E- accuracyof prevailingwagespaid the entryoflower-costforeign undercut by cheaper labour 3Visa foreign worker pro- to foreign workers by bringing labour intothe US. AGLOBALteam of researchers ofaidingactivists’ arrivedThursday in theChinese escapeattempt city wherethe coronavirus pan- demic wasfirstdetected to con- HONGKONGpolice have Ugandans choose between long-time leader duct apoliticallysensitive inves- arrested 11 peopleover tigation intoits origins amid suspectedcrimesrelatedto uncertainty about whether assisting agroup of 12 pro- and popstarpoliticianintense presidential vote Beijing might trytoprevent em- democracy activists ac- barrassing discoveries. The WHO team at the Wuhan airportonThursday. AP cusedoftrying to flee the The government in the East The groupsenttoWuhan by city by boat forTaiwan last REUTERS Agenerationgapthatmayleadtochange African countryofnearly 46 mil- the WorldHealthOrganisation year,policeand activists KAMPALA,JANUARY14 lion peopleordered an internet wasapproved by President Xi to arrive in Wuhan on Thursday, POPEFRANCIS,EX-POPE saidonThursday. Thosear- YOWERI MUSEVENI, 76, fact that around 80% of blackout until further notice on Jinping’s government after but twotestedpositivefor coro- rested includedeight men UGANDANS WEARINGface has had five terms as the Ugandanpopula- Wednesday, aday afteritbanned months of diplomatic wrangling navirus antibodiesbeforeleav- BENEDICTBOTHGET and three women, aged 18 maskstobrave the pandemic President, aposthehas tion is below30could allsocial media apps. thatpromptedanunusualpublic ing Singaporeand were being re- COVIDVACCINE:VATICAN to 72,apolice statement voted on Thursdayaspolice and held on to since 1986. work in the musician’s Reggae artistBobi Wine, 38, is complaint by thehead of WHO. tested there, WHO said in a said.DanielWong,alawyer soldiers patrolledthe streetsof The biggestthreat to his favour.However, channelling the anger of many Scientists suspectthe virus statement on Twitter. Vatican: Both Pope Francis and ex who triedtohelp the 12 the capital during apresidential bid forasixth term comes from Museveni is seen by manyasa Ugandans who sayformer guer- jumpedtohumansfrombatsor The rest of the team that ar- Pope Benedict have receivedthe people detainedinmain- election pitting long-time leader reggae star Bobi Wine, 38, who revolutionaryleader who has rillaleaderMuseveni,now 76,isan other animals, likelyinChina’s rivedinWuhan will undergo a firstdose of avaccine against landChinalast August,was Yoweri Museveni againstpopu- has alarge youth following. The brought peace to thenation. out-of-touchdictator failing to southwest.TherulingCommunist two-weekquarantine as well as coronavirus, the Vatican said on among those arrested ac- lar singerBobi Wine. tackle unemployment and cor- Party, stung by complaintsital- Covid tests, Chinese statemedia Thursday. The 84-year-old pope cording to apostonhis Long lines of voters snaked ruption.Thereare 17.7millionreg- lowedthe disease to spread, says said.Theyare to startworkingwith and the 93-year-old former pope, Facebookpage. REUTERS out of polling stations visited by foranopposition galvanisedby despiteacampaign scarredby isteredvoters and resultsare ex- the viruscame from abroad. Chinese experts viavideo confer- got theirjabs as partofaVatican Reuters in Kampala, astronghold popstar-turned-politicianWine deadlycrackdowns. pectedwithin48hours.REUTERS Fifteen team members were ence whileinquarantine. AP vaccination programme that be- ganonWednesday. Both menare vulnerable to contracting the Instagram influencers are a virus becauseoftheir age. There have been fewerthan 30 cases of THE PAINTING ON AN INDONESIAN ISLAND IS THOUGHT TO BE AT LEAST 45,500 YRS OLD coronavirus in the Vatican City, vaccine priority in Indonesia mostofthem among the Swiss Guard, who live in acommunal Pig painting may be world’soldest cave art: archaeologists barracks. REUTERS REUTERS Influencer JAKARTA,JANUARY14 Raffi siteofthe earliestknown repre- The Leang Tedongnge siteis Ahmad gets RUSSIATOSEEKEUNOD BECKYFERREIRA sentationalcaveart in theworld. onlyabout 40 miles from AMONGTHEfirstinthequeuefor avaccine FORSPUTNIKVVACCINE JANUARY14 Acaptivating scene elsewhere Makassar,abustling cityofsome coronavirusvaccinesinIndonesia shot. Reuters on the island, whichdisplays hu- 1.5millionpeople.Butthecavehas has been one conspicuous group Moscow: Russia will submitafor- IN Ahidden valleyonan man-animal hybrids, wasfound remainedvirtually untouchedbe- —social media influencers. mal application to the European Indonesian island, there is acave to be at least43,900years old, re- cause it is so challenging to reach. Alongside President Joko Senior health ministryoffi- Unionnextmonthforapprovalof decorated withwhatmay be the ported by the same team in a “Getting to it requires adiffi- Widodo, as the world’s fourth cial,Siti Nadia Tarmizi, said the itsSputnikVcoronavirusvaccine, oldestfigurative artever 2019 study. culttrekalongaroughforest path mostpopulous countrykicked decisiontoinclude influencers the head of Russia’s sovereign glimpsedbymodern eyes. These examples of cave art, thatwindsthroughmountainous offits vaccination drive on alongside almost1.5 million wealth fund said on Thursday. The vivid depiction of awild alongwithanotherpigfigurespot- terrain and endsinanarrowcave Wednesday, wasIndonesian tel- healthcareworkers in the first Peer-reviewedresults of the vac- pig, outlinedand filledinwith tedatacave furthersouthby Adhi passage, whichisthe onlyen- evision personality,Raffi Ahmad, round of inoculations wasade- cine would be releasedshortly mulberry-huedpigment,dates Agus Oktavhiana, alsoagraduate trancetothe valley,” said Adam who boasts almost50million liberategovernment communi- and would demonstrateits high backatleast45,500years, ac- student at Griffith University and Brumm, also an archaeologistat followers on Instagram. cations strategy. efficacy,fundchief KirillDmitriev cordingtoastudy published The painting in acaveonthe island of Sulawesi. NYT co-author of the study,hint at the GriffithUniversityandaco-author “Alhamdulillah [Praise be to Therehas been scepticism in saidinaninterviewattheReuters WednesdayinScience Advances. richculturesliving on the of the study.“Thevalleycan only God] avaccine ...Don’t be afraid Indonesia around the safetyand Next conference. He said Sputnik It wasdiscovereddeep inside a Indonesian islands. The discover- be accessed during the drysea- of vaccines,” the 33-year-old efficacy of vaccines, and whether Vwould be produced in seven cave calledLeang Tedongngein Griffith University and co-author dayonthe island of Sulawesi ies also open adebateover son; during the wetseason the celebrity wrote under avideo of theyare allowedunder Islam. countries. He addedthat regula- December 2017,during an ar- of the newresearch. The animal wherethe cave is. whether the artists could have valleyflooriscompletelyflooded him receiving the shot, next to a Indonesians areamong the torsinninecountriesareexpected chaeological survey ledbyBasran in the painting resemblesthe Sulawesi wasalready consid- been Homo sapiens, or members and the residentshavetotravel heartemoji and another of topglobal users of social media to approve thevaccinefordomes- Burhan, agraduatestudent at wartypig, aspecies still living to- ered by some experts to be the of anotherextincthumanspecies. around on dugout canoes.” NYT Indonesia’sred and whiteflag. platforms likeInstagram. tic usethis month. REUTERS

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021 GOA JUMP TO THIRD SPOTINISL Abrace from Jorge Ortiz helped FC Goascripta3-0win over Jamshedpur FC in an Indian Super Leaguematch. Ortiz scored agoaleachineither half (19th, 52nd) while Ivan 13 SPORT Gonzalezadded alate third(89th) after Alexandre Lima re- ceived marching ordersfollowing asecond booking. PTI

Bess spins a web as England From the Vulture Streetend bowl out Lanka Gabba hasbeen ahappy-hunting ground forAustralia but forvisitors, includinganinjury-hitIndia, it sends shivers down the spine

ground forpocketmoneybeforejoining the for 135 on Day 1 SANDIPG army. Then duringavacation in the1970s, he JANUARY14 just went to help hisfriend,agroundsman, at the Gabba. He did notrejoin the Army. The ASSOCIATEDPRESS HOURS AFTERlanding in Brisbane, wherethe Mitchells lookedafter the ground like“their GALLE,JANUARY14 mostdramatic of series in recent memory child”,always keepingitgreenandpretty,bat- seeks closure, Josh Hazlewood soundedout a tling and beating the elements. Brisbane can ENGLAND SET itssight on ameaningful first warningto theIndians:“Wewillbeextremely be likeafurnace in summer.Winter is mild, innings lead afteroffspinner Dom Bess took a dangerous in Gabba.Weprobablygrowaleg but cyclones and thunderstorms arenot too career-best5-30 to bowl out for135 up there.”Inthe heat of the Sydneybattle, farany time of the year. on the firstday of the firstTestonThursday. Aussie skipper TimPaine hadissuedathreat Thesun,rainandbenignwinterencourage Captain Joe Root and JonnyBairstowfur- to Ravichandran Ashwin from behind the aluxuriantgrowthof couchgrass—thesecret ther thwartedSri Lanka ambitions with a stumps: “Can’twait to getyou to the Gabba.” behindhard,firmGabbadecks.InQueensland, gritty,unbroken stand of 110runs to close Months before the schedule of the series was it growsfor almost 10 months, whereas in the dayat127-2, trailing by justeight runs. fixed, Paine had requestedCricket Australia to mostother parts of the continent, it barely Root reachedhis half-centuryoff 94 balls and startthe series in Brisbane, before flinging a growsforsixmonths.No wonderthenthatthe wasunbeaten on 66 withfivefours, while tongue-in-cheek dartatVirat Kohli: “Maybe Australian bowlers have enjoyedthe bounce, Bairstowwas 47 notout. we can getapink-ball Test (in Brisbane) if he’s paceandswing(whenthecloudsbeginto drift It could have been 52-3 but Root es- in agoodmood.” in) it has offeredfor ages. capedon20when he successfullyover- However, twoweeksago,itwas uncertain turnedalbw decision through video refer- whetherthearenawouldindeedhostthisTest, Creamrisestothe top ral. Root and Bairstowcame together after duetoQueensland’s rigorous adherence to Most of thelegendary bowlershave left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniyare- COVID-19protocols. sparkling recordstoo. Dennis Lillee main- movedopeners Dom Sibleyand Zak tainedanaverage of 20.16,JeffThomson Crawleytoreduce the visitors to 2-17inside Fearsome arena 24.03, Glenn McGrath 21.75. Among their the firstnine overs. Likeevery arena in Australia, Gabba has a successors, PatCummins has pickedhis wick- Both batsmen grew in confidenceand unique characteristic.The Sydney Cricket The Gabba pitch has preservedits distinctive characteristics over the years, offering bounce, pace and swing. cricket.com.au etsat15runsapiece, striking every36thball. neutralizedthe three-pronged spinattack Groundhasanold-worldgrandeur,Melbourne Mitchell Starcand Hazlewood have amuch of Embuldeniya, WaninduHasarangaand Cricket Ground glowsinits historic majesty, inferior,but still respectable, averages of 27.84 Dilruwan Perera through sweepshots and Adelaidehas alaid-back, carnival-likefeel. dressing rooms, forastart,theyare down un- Fewstadiums strikesuchan 39 runs chasing 395, whenMLJaisimha and26.65 respectively.Spinnershaverelished maintainedahealthyrun rate of 3.4 runs an Perth’s WACA breathes afearful romance,the derneath,soit’slikeyouarelockedintothedun- auralfear either.Gabbatoir,its strokedamagnificent 101. Nineyears later,a the bounce. Shane Warne helms the over to raise the centurystand. Earlier, neighbouring Optus flauntsaglowering geon, then youget releasedintothis concrete WSC-depletedAustralia snuck home by 16 chartwith 68 wicketsat20.30. Nathan Lyon stand-in captain Dinesh Chandimal, who swankiness, and Hobart’s Bellerive Oval ex- jungleand theheat …the heat justhitsyou as moniker,aportmanteauof runs,defending340.Therest have beensound has nabbed 35 at 29.37. wonthe toss and optedtobat, top-scored udesanoffbeat charm. The Gabba simply youcome through the tunnel from an air-con- Gabba and abattoir,provokesa thrashings,includingbeingbundledoutfor58 Good batsmen toohavethrived, though with28after regular skipper Dimuth frightens. The very name inducesashiver ditioneddressing room,” former England cap- hollowdread. Likebeing thrown and 98 on the 1947-48tour.OnlyfiveIndian only five have doublehundredsonthehonours’ Karunaratne wasruledout with abroken downthespine.Maybe,thestadiumbuiltover tain Michael Vaughan once told BT Sport. batsmen have scored centuriesatthe Gabba. board. Donald Bradman averages 105, Greg thumbinSri Lanka'sfirsthome test since aswampland parkwas destinedtofrighten. intoaslaughterhouse. Chappell111 andMichaelClarke103.ButBrian the pandemic began. GabbaowesitsnamefromWoolloongabba, Aussie fortress Littlehas changed Laraaverages22, Sachin Tendulkar 7.65, Virat StuartBroad pickeduptwo early thesuburbitstandsin.Theoldinhabitantsused It’swhereMichaelClarke threatenedJames It’salsooneof thefew surfacesinthecoun- Kohli 10.Clarke had asimple piece of advice to in one over and 3-20 overall, while Bess to callitWulonkoppa,whichmeans“fighttalk Anderson: “Getreadyfor abrokenf****n arm. love winningandattheGabba,theyalmostal- trythat have preserved their distinctive char- some of the NewSouth Wales youngsters at found some unexpectedassistance from the place.”It’sabigbowl of anarena,aclosedenclo- It’swherethesecurityguyssledgedtheBarmy ways win. In 62 Tests, theyhaveemergedvic- acteristics,retainingmuchoftheintrinsictraits theGabba:“Playeitherwithahorizontalbator Galle International Stadium pitchtodismiss sure,wherethecrowd,possessingafiercesense Armyout of the stadium. It’s whereMitchell torious on 40 instances.Theyhavelostonly through the passageoftime and intrusion of vertical bat. Nothing in between.” The advice thehome team justbeforetea. Bess, playing of rough regional identity,isshudderingly in- Johnson spookedout Jonathan Trottwith his eight games, the lastin1988toViv Richards’ modernity.While concretemass has obliter- waspassedontohimby arguably Queensland’s in Asia forthe firsttime, claimedhis first hospitable.Few stadiums strikesuchanaural chinmusic. It’swhere Australiaroutinelykick- West Indies.Intheir32-matchunbeatenstreak ated theold dog-race trackand obscured the mostfamouscricketingson:Matthew Hayden. wicketwith his second delivery when Kusal fear either. Gabbatoir,its moniker,provokesa startedtheirhome Test summers.Passing since, theyhavedrawn justseven games, hills, the soul of the venue remainsintact. If onemancapturestheessenceof Gabba,inall Perera went foranambitious reverse sweep hollowdread.Likebeingthrownintoaslaugh- through the crucible wasthe roughestexam- mostlyrain-hamperedgames.Socrushinghas Manyother Australian grounds have had itsprowess to intimidate, it’sHayden. on 20 and gloved asimple catchtoskipper terhouse. Is thereamoresavagely-named ination of atouringteam’s mettle,oftheir beentheauthorityherethattheyhaveenjoyed their identities erodedbydrop-in turfs. The But it has been astrangeseries, wherein Joe Root at firstslip. bowling end in cricket than theVulture Street minds as well as bodies. Unsurprisingly, the four 10- victories,eight innings wins WACA haslonglostits intimidating bounce adversitieshaveonlyemboldenedIndia.They Broad, bowling around the wicket, had End? As if the bowlers arecirclingaround the decision to move the season-opener away and sevenwithamargininexcess of 150runs and pace, MCG has become slower, SCG slug- have shownrarecourage and grit to notonly the left-hander Lahiru Thirimanne caught at batsman to rip the carcass apart. Outside the fromBrisbane,dueto financialconsiderations, sincetheir lastdefeat. gish. But notthe Gabba, thankschieflytothe standupto theAustraliansbutalsoflinginthe leg slip on 4inhis fourth over.One ball later, stadium,thereisaboardthatreads:“VultureSt. metstout rebukefrompastand present play- India have lostsix of their sevengames father-son pair of Kevin Mitchell senior and knockout punchwhen required.But itwould KusalMendisfell forhis fourth successive One way.”Often, foroppositions, therehas ers,eventually forcingthereinstatementof the here, the onlydrawn game owed to Sourav junior,who nursedand nurtured the ground notget moredaunting than at the Gabbatoir. duckintests as he got afaint edge offBroad's been no wayout. tradition from the next Ashes. Ganguly’s heroic century, undoubtedly his forclose to four decades, before Mitchell jun- Survive thecrucible,andIndiamightwellhave brilliant leg-cutter. Senior pros Chandimal Theindomitablearenacouldgettotheplay- It’s easy to see whyAustralia’s cricketers best,in2003.However, therehavebeenseveral ior retired in 2017. achievedararesliceofhistory. and Angelo Mathews shared a56-run, ers. “Brisbane is notanoccasion of joy. The love theGabbasomuch—becauseAustralians close brushes. Likein1968, theyfell shortby The senior usedtocollect bottles on the LIVE ON SONY SPORTS NETWORK, 5AM fourth-wicketstand until theydepartedin successive oversafter lunch. Mathews’milestone Satwik-Chirag lose,but on upward curve afterlong time away En routeto27, Mathews became onlythe fifthSri Lankan to pass6,000 Test runs after Kumar Sangakkara(12,400), Mahela were levelat17-all in the firstgame andclose partofindividual up-skilling even when they Jayawardene (11,814), Sanath Jayasuriya SHIVANINAIK in at 17-16inthe next, but lackedthe compo- got together in Hyderabad. (6,973), and Aravinda de Silva (6,361). JANUARY14 sureand clarity in closing out, driving home Hong Kong pair “There’s lots of individualmulti-sessions But the formerskipper wasdismissedby the needfor Shetty to continue on hispath withdraws under coachDwi (Kristiawan). It’s juststand- Broad afterthe break when aloose shot was CHIRAGSHETTYisinthe habit of keeping of sorting out his half of the game. ing strokes, but he’s helpedwith drivesand caught at slip by Root at chestheight. In the himself informedbyreadingupeverything “When Iwas stuckinMumbai and Satwik Hong Kong's TseYingSuetand Tang quickdrills andanticipation as well,” he says next over,Chandimal, who reached4,000 he canlayhishandson,whencuriosity strikes. wasathis place, Itook the opportunity to Chun Man gave awalkover to Germans of the Indonesian who took over afterFlandy runs in Tests, gave atame catchinthe covers He carries thesame thoroughness ontothe train alot with Mathias Boe (Olympic medal- MarkLamsfuss and IsabelHerttrichin Limpele left. offJackLeach. Bessranthroughthetailquickly. badminton court. Exceptinthe fast-paced listfromDenmark). He changed my perspec- Round 2ofthe Mixed Doubles at The Indians -almostassured to qualify England gave aTestcap to Essexbatsman Dan worldofdoubles shuttle, he has afraction of a tive on howIanticipatestrokes.Iaminthe ThailandOpen.InherInstapost,TseYing forTokyo-havebeaten the ‘Daddies’ before, Lawrence, who droppedaneasy catchof second to parse through all the optionsclank- habit of beingreadyfor everypossiblestroke. explainedHong Kong InstituteofSport mostlyusingpace to hustle them and pounce Chandimal in the covers justbeforelunch. The ingand collidingin his head,confusinghis de- But he stressedthat Ineedtobeready forthe advisedthe pairing to pull out, givena on their slightlyslowreactions deep intoa visitorsoptedtorestJamesAndersonandpicked cision-making-whentheopponent’s ripping mostlikelyone,” Shetty explains. German coaching staffhad tested posi- tournament, but could notbring on the same Sam Curranand MarkWood to partner Broad. backthe shuttle from across the net. Anticipation is intuitive, and pretty much tiveatBangkokanditwasunsafetoplay vervetoblitz them in Bangkok, giventhe England wore blackarmbandsinmem- The coronavirus pandemic-forcedtime difficult to breakdownand teach. So Shetty the pair,who were close contacts.She early seasonand howfresh everypairingis. oryofformer Englandtestcricketers -- John away from competition gave Shetty all the is awarethat he’ll getbetteratitonlybyplay- Satwiksairaj (L) andChirag lostto addedthough the Germans had tested Shetty-Reddy will needtodomuchmoreto Edrich, Robin Jackman and Dom Smith -- time to dealwiththis predicament.Asthe ing moreand more. However, the high artof WorldNo2Indonesians Ahsan and negative severaltimes, the "incubation leverage the agefactor. who diedrecently. WorldNo. 10 pairing with Satwiksairaj doubles badmintonhas practitioners around Setiawan. Badminton Photo period of 21 days"posedarisk. ENS “The plan’s to attack. Theyare abit older, BRIEF SCORES:Sri Lanka 135(Bess5- Rankireddy were forced to practiceindivid- the world, pickledinthat cultureofpre-emp- but surelythe smartest pairing in the world,” 30, Broad 3-20) vs England 127for 2(Root ually,Shettywouldgoabout decluttering all tion. Boe is helping Shetty unlockthose as- Shetty would sayearlier.However, the plans 66*, Bairstow47*) the choices in his head. While the young pectsofhis individual game. equallyadeptcombinations. “When youhit TheIndians duolastplayedatournament to usetheir quickerreflexes, catchthem fast Indian doubles team remains aworkin WhileSatwikmixes brain and brawnef- across and knowthe partner’s covering the exactlyayear back, having skipped the All and forcethem to lift, couldn’tbeexecuted. progress, theywould come up againstthe fortlessly, Chirag is trying to learn thetricks return, that’sjustone dimension. But we get England and then gettingstuck in lockdown “Have reallymissedthe thrill of winning Bess found some unexpected Daddiesofsuchdecision-making in Round of the trade-attimes with afellow doubles drawnintoplaying unnecessarilylong ral- in separatecities. Satwik would then recover the lastpoint of amatchinthis pandemic,” assistance from the Galle 2atthe Thailand YonexSuper 1000.The 21- player,the now-retiredShlokRamachandran, lies because we arestill inexperienced.He’s from his Covid infection, before thetwo re- Shetty would say. Forsomeone who loves International Stadium pitchto 19,21-17loss, whereChirag’s tentative game and at othersfromthe big names of the sport. (Boe) helpingmeget intoposition anticipat- united only acouple of months backin team dinners and the camaraderie,chomp- would resurface,can be filedawayasalesson Boe, his teammateinthe Premier ing astrokethat’s most likelytobeplayed Hyderabad. ing on lunchalone in the room has been par- dismiss the home team just deliveredfirst-hand by themasters of this Badminton League one season, helpedhim and finish rallies quicker. Ithink I’m playing While Shetty would continue to pick ticularly rough. But the pandemic has taught before tea game, WorldNo. 2Indonesians Mohammad bring the zing thattop pairings from doubles smarter, andhence calmer.But there’s lots Boe’s brains on service and returns and him to confront precisely what makes him Ahsan and HendraSetiawan. The Indians powerhouses learn from sparring withmany to learn of course,” Shetty says. catching the shuttle early,the twohavebeen uncomfortable.

FALL FROM GRACE Keller:Olympic gold medallist, failed salesman &now Capitol Hill rioter

On January6,when amob of US out, he did notwear amask to coverhis face up with Michael Phelps. In Beijing2008, he to having three kids and awifewithin ayear. SHAHIDJUDGE President Donald Trumpsupporters ap- despitethe ongoing pandemic, and he wore wasapartofthe American team that won The consequences of notsucceeding were JANUARY14 proachedthe US Capitol to stop the formal- aUSteam Olympic jacketwith the words gold again in the relayevent. very real.IfIdidn’t make asaleorifthe man- isation of President-elect Joe Biden’s win at ‘USA’ clearly emblazoned on theback. Apartfromhis Olympic success, he is a ager wastickedoff at me, or if Igot fired, you AVIDEO on YouTube joyfully celebratesKlete the recent elections, Keller wasclearly iden- In astatement on Wednesday, as re- five-time WorldChampionship medallistas gotnohealth insurance… There’s other peo- Keller’s greatestOlympic achievement. It’s a tifiedamong the rioters, by former team- portedbyThe Guardian,USOlympic and well –winning twogolds, asilverand two ple, blood-related,that arecounting on you. replayofthe swimming mates and coaches. Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland bronze medals. He’s also the former holder of All the success Ihad with swimming gave 4×200metre relayevent It markedanother fall from grace forthe claimed: “Asmanyofyou know, thereare re- the national recordinthe 400mfreestyle, me an inaccurateexpectation of the world.” ED from the 2004 Athens former athlete who hadachievedthe pinna- ports of an alumni Olympic athlete involved and former worldrecordholder in the In 2014,helosthis job and wasdivorced Games. Keller,the anchor cle of sport–hehas wonfiveOlympic medals in the horrific actsatthe US Capitol building 4x200m freestyle relayevent. within24hours. PLAIN E in the American line-up (twogold, asilverand twobronze). He had lastweek.Istrongly condemn the actions of ● EX had the unenviable and losthis job and marriageafter he retired from the rioters at the US Capitol. Theydonot rep- Post-Olympic trauma Rebuilding life, then riots seemingly unassailable the sport, and justashewas lookingtoget resent the values of the United States of When he retired from the sportafter the For10months Keller livedinhis car until task of keeping the in-form Ian Thorpe at bay. backtohis feet,henow faces arrest. AmericaorofTeam USA.” 2008 Beijing Olympics, Keller struggledto his sisterKalyn, who had also represented By the time Keller dove in, the Americans adjust to lifeoutside the swimming pool. He the US at the 2004 Olympics in swimming, had adecent gapbut Thorpeclosed-inim- The charges Olympicchampion Klete Keller was Achievements had takenup“many” sales positions post- took him in. According to news organisation mediately. At the 800m mark, the During the riots,Trumpsupporters among the rioters at the US Capitol. AP Apartfromhis attireand tall frame, retirement.“It wasveryfrustrating. In a SwimSwam,hestarted to conduct swimming Australians,who had notlostthe event in the stormedthe US Capitol by breaking through Keller’s wasarelatively recognisable face. sense, it’s asmaller level, less exposure,be- classes and clinics to makeends meet. previous sevenyears, were expected to re- police barriers.The chaos has resulted in the Afterall, he is acelebrated Olympian. cause therearen’t abillion people watching Forthe lastthree years though, he’s been tain the crownfromSydney2000. But Keller deathoffivepeople,including apolice offi- Basedonthe former swimmer’s social me- He firstcompetedatthe quadrennial likeatthe Olympics. The stakes seem much working forreal estate companyHoff& held on, givingthe US a0.13secondwin. cer.Subsequently, Keller,asreported by ESPN, dia posts (he has deletedall his social media event at the 2000edition in Sydney, bagging lower. So the pressureisnowherenear what Leigh. SwimSwam reportedthat Keller had ThatwasKeller’sfirstOlympicgold–he’dbe hasbeen chargedwithobstructinglaw en- accounts), the 38-year-old seems likeakeen abronze in the 200mfreestyle individual Ifacedatthe Olympics,” he saidduring an resignedfromthe firm, along with their apartofthe Americanteam that wongold at forcement, knowingly entering and/or re- Trumpsupporter. Thoughthe number of peo- event and silverinthe 4×200mrelay. In Olympic Channel Podcast. statement that read: “Hoff&Leigh supports thesameracefouryearslaterinBeijingaswell. maining in arestricted building or grounds ple in the mob is still unconfirmed, Keller was Athens, he wonanother bronzeinthe indi- “Butatthe same time, thereal-world the right of free speech and lawful protest. Of latethough, there’s another video on without permission, disorderly conduct and relatively easy to recognise. Forstarters, his vidualevent before helping the US beat pressurewas much moreintimidatingand But we cannotcondoneactions that violate social media that has been doing the rounds. violent entry. towering 6-foot-6 frame helpedhim stand Australia in the relay, in whichhehad teamed difficult to deal with. Iwent from swimming the rule of law.”

R.N.I.No. WBENG/2005/20789VOL. XVI No.254 Printed by V.Srinivasan and PublishedbyV.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Ltd and Printed at Saraswati Print FactoryPvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga(West), Kolkata-700105and PublishedatThe Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 &30, N.H.-6, Mouza-Prasastha & Ankurhati, P.O. -Salap, P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711 409.Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033) 66043825 &66043847. Chairman of the Board:Viveck Goenka, ChiefEditor :Raj Kamal Jha, Editor :Unni RajenShanker, Editor (Kolkata):Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsiblefor selection of news under the PRB Act)Copyright:The Indian Express (P) Limited.All rightsreserved.Reproductioninany manner,electronic or otherwise,in whole or in part,without priorwritten permission is prohibited.The Indian Express®

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 14 THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,JANUARY15,2021

ADVERTORIAL

An initiativeby * LEADING BY EXAMPLE

GeneralSir Mcgregor General Om Prakash General Bipin General Deepak MacdonaldLockhart General Pran Nath Thapar Malhotra ChandraJoshi Kapoor KCB,CIE, MC (08 May 1961 to 19 Nov 1962) PVSM PVSM,AVSM,ADC PVSM,AVSM, SM,VSM,ADC (15Aug 1947 to 31 Dec 1947) (01 Jun 1978 to 31 May 1981) (01 Jul 1993 to 19 Nov 1994) (30 Sep 2007 to 30 Mar 2010)

General Sir Francis General JayantoNath General Kotikalapudi General ShankarRoy General Vijay Robert Chaudhuri Venkata Krishna Rao Chowdhury Kumar Singh CB,OBE, MC OBE PVSM PVSM,ADC PVSM,AVSM,YSM,ADC (01 Jan1948 to 15 Jan1949) (20Nov 1962 to 07 Jun 1966) (01 Jun 1981 to 31 Jul 1983) (22 Nov 1994 to 30 Sep 1997) (31 Mar 2010 to 31 May 2012)

Field Marshal Kodandera General Paramasiva General Arunkumar General VedPrakash General Madappa Cariappa Prabhakar Kumaramangalam Shridhar Vaidya, Padma Malik PVSM, UYSM,AVSM, SM, OBE DSO Vibhushan, PVSM, MVC,AVSM PVSM,AVSM VSM,ADC (16 Jan1949 to 14 Jan1953) (08 Jun 1966 to 07 Jun 1969) (01Aug 1983 to 31 Jan1986) (01 Oct 1997 to 30 Sep 2000) (01 June 2010 to 31 July 2014)

General Maharaj Shri Sam General Krishnaswami General Sundararajan General Dalbir Singh RajendraSinhji Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Sundarji Padmanabhan PVSM, UYSM,AVSM,VSM,ADC DSO Manekshaw, MC PVSM PVSM,AVSM,VSM (01Aug 2014 to 31 Dec 2016) (15 jan 1953 to 14 may 1955) (08 Jun 1969 to 15 Jan1973) (01Feb 1986 to 31 May 1988) (01 Oct 2000 to 30 Dec 2002)

General Gopal Gurnath General Vishwa Nath General Nirmal General Bipin Rawat General Satyawant Bewoor Sharma Chander Vij PVSM, UYSM,AVSM,YSM, Mallana Srinagesh Padma Bhushan, PVSM PVSM,AVSM,ADC PVSM, UYSM,AVSM SM,VSM,ADC (15 May 1955 to 07 May 1957) (16 Jan1973 to 31 May 1975) (30 Jun 1988 to 30 Jun 1990) (31 Dec 2002 to 31 Jan2005) (31 Dec 2016 to 31 Dec 2019)

General Kodandera General Tapishwar General Sunith Francis General Joginder General MM Naravane Subayya Thimayya Narain Raina Rodrigues Jaswant Singh PVSM,AVSM, SM,VSM,ADC Padma Bhushan, DSO Padma Bhushan, MVC PVSM,VSM PVSM,AVSM,VSM,ADC (31 Dec 2019 toTill Date) (08 May 1957 to 07 May 1961) (01 Jun 1975 to 31 May 1978) (01 Jul 1990 to 30 Jun 1993) (01 Feb2005 to 30 Sep 2007) : STRONG AND CAPABLE

HE IndianArmy, the land componentof rorist organisations.Ceasefire violations com- been extended to approximately 4,000 ex- the , is one of the mitted by Pakistan Army were given abefit- pats,who returned to the country during lock- Tmost capable and professional armies down. COVID-19provided the Indian Army ting reply. in the world.Tasked with defence of the home- Anumber of attempts to smuggle arms, an opportunity to help reach out to Friendly land along the Northern,Western and Eastern ammunition and contraband were also Foreign Countries also,wherein,help wasnot borders,itisalso engaged in counter-terrorist foiledalong the LC. Internal security situa- onlyextendedinterms of specialist man- activitiesinthe UnionTerritory of Jammu and tion in North Eastern States has improved powerand medicinesbut also COVIDman- Kashmir and the North East region of the considerably with alarge numberofsurren- agementtechniques. country.The men and women in 'Olive Greens' ders of insurgent cadres.Excellent under- 2020 has also laid foundations for one of SALUTING INDIAN ARMY have proven their worth against both exter- standing andcoordination with Myanmar the most remarkable and momentous nal and internal challenges.The Indian Army (OP SUNRISE) have madeitdifficultfor In- changes in the functioning of the Armed has also been deployedinproviding aid to civil dian InsurgentGroups (IIGs) to set up camps Forces.The era of integration of theArmy, Air authorities during natural disasters. there.The Army and other security forces Force and Navy has begun and 2021 will takeit Theyear 2020 has been full of challenges haveplayed astellarrole in reducing the vi- forward. forIndiaand theArmy. Covid-19 andChina olence levelsand forcing insurgents to ab- Aslew of weapons and platforms pur- have been major threatsfor the global order jure the path of violence. chases havegiven an impetus to modernisa- and the major scene of contestation,cooper- TheIndianArmy facilitated asuccessful na- tion reforms within theArmy which notonlyfo- ation and confrontationhas shifted to Asia. tional responseinthe fight against COVID- cuses on capability butalsointent in the form India, facedwith arevisionist state in the 19, by providing unprecedentedassistance of force restructuring,led by amajor revamp in West andarevanchist one on its Northern both in terms of men and material.Atotal of the Army headquarters.The Indian Army is and Eastern frontiers, is at the centre of the 113 hospitals were earmarked Nationwide now poised to become one of the most pro- biggest clashofcivilisationsthatisslow-burn- for treatment of 12,000 patients fromwithin lific contributorstothe Indian Government's ingits waytoincreased hostilities between theArmy resources.Quarantine facilities have 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' initiative. democracies and an authoritarian leadership. Trimble is atrusted supplier of innovative, Unilateral and provocative ac- high-performance geospatial solutions for tionsbythe Chinesetochangethe PNB salutes those who put military customers worldwide. Trimble and its status quo by force,inmore than one strategic partner Allterra India are proud to area on the support the Indian Army in its acquisition of (LAC), were responded to in afirm their lives on the line for us and non-escalatory way, ensuring best-in-class technologies. the sanctity of ourclaimsinEastern Bryn Fosburgh Senior Vice President Ladakh.IndianArmyhas maintained Trimble all protocols and Agreements be- tween the two countries while the PLAescalated the situation by utili- sation of unorthodoxweaponsand amassing large number of troops. TheIndian Army with assistance fromIAF mobilised troopsincluding accretionary forces in avery short Rajan Aiyer Ajay Seth Pradeep Rathor duration including heavy equipment VP &MD Chairman CEO &Managing Partner likeguns, tanksasalsoammunition, Trimble South Asia Allterra India Allterra India rations andclothing. Our own engi- neers constructed roads, accommo- dation and bridges to assist troop deployment. In amajor skirmish in Galwan,20brave Indiansoldiers lost their lives while preventing PLA troops fromingressing into our terri- tory.The Chinese also suffered sig- nificant casualties.Later on August 28-29,2020,our troopsinaprecau- tionary deployment, pre-empted Chinese expansionist designs and occupied heights along southern bank of Pangong Tso.Braving the weather,own troopscontinuetobe 15th Jan 2021 deployed on these heights.Advance Winter Stocking (AWS) and winter preparations for the enhanced strength has been completed and ARMY DAY troops are well entrenched to counter any misadventure by Chi- nese forces. With the‘Whole of Government’ approachadopted against theterror ecosystemand the consistent efforts of the security forces, the security sit- uationinJammu &Kashmir has seen progressive improvement. On one hand, high level of alertness by Keeps youahead,always troops along the Line of Control (LC) blunted Pakistan’sendeavours to in- filtrate terrorists into the Valley,at Hamari Sena... the same time,high tempo of kinetic operations in thehinterland ensured ...Hamesha Aage denial of operational space to ter-

*(READ.ENGAGE.DELIVER.) IS THEMARKETING SOLUTIONSTEAM OF THEINDIANEXPRESS GROUP Kolkata