eye THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE On aWing &aPrayer AHMEDABAD,LATECITY Theinsects that hold the AUGUST22,2021 world together are on the 18PAGES,`5.00 decline. What could their lossmean forus? DAILYFROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, , JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PAGES 14, 15, 16

BABRI DEMOLISHED UNDER HISWATCH ABDULLAH SAYS TALIBANHAVE PROMISED SAFETY Blending Mandal Chaosworseningatairport, and Kamandal, he rose like ameteor twoIndianflightswith350 —tofade like one onboardtakeofffromKabul Generations willremainforever grateful forhis work towardsIndia’s Govt looksfor cultural regeneration:Prime Minister ways to getout all Indians as US tells RAVISHTIWARI NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 itscitizens to stay away from airport KALYANSINGH, who blended Mandal with Kamandal —caste identitypolitics with SHUBHAJITROY UAPA slapped, 15 —intoapotent political mix NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 thatbecame the fuel forthe BJP’s expansion, passed away THEIR DEPARTURE delayedbe- held in Assamfor Saturdayevening in ahospital cause of the chaos at the Kabul in Lucknowafter aprolonged airportand the deterioratingsit- illness. He was89. KALYAN SINGH uation in the city whichfell to ‘pro-Taliban’ posts Muchbeforethe emergence 1932-2021 the Taliban lastSunday, two of NarendraModi on the national Indian evacuationflightsflew scene, it wasKalyanSinghwho out around 350people Saturday. TORAAGARWALA wasseen in party ranksasthe Singh forhis contribution to- The flights, sources said, areex- GUWAHATI,AUGUST21 SUNDAY “Hindu-Hriday Samrat”. His rise wardsIndia’s “cultural regener- pected to land in Indiainthe STORY in the party wasmeteoric —its ation”. Andthat he “gavevoice early hours of Sunday. US Marines, coalitionforces assistachild duringevacuation at Kabul airportonFriday. AP AN 18-year-oldB.Com student, peak markedbythe demolition to crores of people belonging to Sources said the departures a24-year-old medical student, a PAGE 10 of the under his the marginalisedsections of so- were delayedowingto“logistics 26-year-old local journalistand a watchasChief Minister—and his ciety”,workingfor the “empow- issues” at Kabul airport—it is still 49-year-old associated with the fall and fadeoutalmostasrapid. erment of farmers, youngsters under the control of US forces. ED Thepull- Taliban stop 72 Afghan Sikhs, AIUDFare among15people who Incidentally, in 2017,the BJP and women”. Thereischaosoutside the airport out,the have been arrested by the returnedtopowerinUPafter a Afterhis 13-dayBJP govern- with the Taliban controlling the PLAIN E Hindus headed to India: You Police —almostall of them un- ● challenge gapof15years riding the same ment in 1996, Atal Bihari access points. EX der the UAPA —for allegedly put- mixofMandal-Kamandal andis Vajpayeereturnedtopowerin The firsttwo evacuation are Afghans, so can’t leave ting up social media posts that trying to tapintothe same coali- 1998 with182 seats flights, operated with IAF C-17 THE CHAOSoutside “support”the Taliban takeover tions ahead of next year’s polls. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 aircraft, flewout around 200 Kabul airportsignals Vikramjit Singh Sahney, of Afghanistan. 5days, 4nights Expressinghis condolences, people —over40lastMonday, the logistics challenge DIVYAGOYALGOPAL president of the WorldPunjabi Talking about the arrests, IN KABUL Prime MinisterModi said that ANOTHER REPORT and around 150people, includ- thatevacuation flights LUDHIANA,AUGUST21 Organization (WPO),told The Assam ChiefMinister Himanta face. US troops still “generations to come will re- PAGE 6 ing Indian diplomats,officials, Sunday Express that this batch BiswaSarma said he had di- Capturing the main forevergrateful” to Kalyan security personnel and some control the airport, AT LEAST72Afghan Sikhs and of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, rected policeto“act without fear ordinarylives and the strandedIndian nationals, and the pull-out Hindus, including twoMembers hoping to be evacuated to India and favour”. Sharing apostbya extraordinarycollapse Tuesday. These missions were windowisopen. But of Parliamentrepresenting the along with80Indiannationals, local news channel on Twitter, of the Afghan capital accomplishedwith US support. the Taliban control minority community,were had been waiting outside Sarma said: “Needcooperation Want to provide Following the twoevacua- accesspoints. stoppedbythe Taliban from the airportfor over 12 hours from everyone to maintain tion flights, the Ministryof boardinganIAF aircraft, and re- since Friday. peace and harmony." cials refusedtosharethe exact External Affairs said the focus FULLCOVERAGE turnedfromthe Kabul airport The WPO, together with the Assam Special DGP (Lawand posts that were allegedly incrim- vaccines to schools, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 PAGE 12 Saturday. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Order) GPSingh tweetedalistof inating, Singh told The Sunday 14 arrested people, belonging to Express: “All the posts aresuch 10 districts--Kamrup (Rural), that theyattract the penalpro- first doses likely by Darrang, Barpeta,Dhubri, South visions of Indian law.”Hesaid Salmara,Goalpara, Hojai, andthe mostofthe arrestshad been EXPRESS NETWORK Barak Valleydistrictsof made under IPC Sections 120 September: Zydus Hailakandi, Cachar and (B)/ 153(A)/ 505 (1) (c) /505(2) Karimganj. Mostofthem were ar- of IPC (covering conspiracy,post- 1DEAD,4CRITICAL rested between Fridaynight and ing of defamatorycontent, reli- SOHINIGHOSH AFTERANARMY Saturday morning. On Saturday giousoffence)and Section39of AHMEDABAD,AUGUST21 ENDURANCERUN evening, one morearrest, from the UAPA (covering supporttoa PAGE 6 Baksa district, wasconfirmed. terroristorganisation). THE ZYDUS Group Saturdaysaid Whilemostofthe police offi- CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 it hopedtomakeits vaccine that can be used forages12yearsand above,and whichgot emergency use approval Friday, available to institutions likeschools and col- leges, but the decision would fi- nallydepend on talkswith the government and itsrequire- ments. It also said that if every- thing goes as planned, by mid- dle or end of September,itcould deliverthe initial doses of AcrowdedmarketinDelhi ZyCoV-D. RAJGHAT RECORD In avirtual media interaction, Zydus Managing Director Sharvil that can be administeredto Theinundated samadhi as Delhi sawhighestone-dayrainin13years. Prem Nath Pandey Patelsaid, “Wewill makeall ef- thosebelow18. fortstomakethe vaccines avail- Expecting to hold talkswith able to institutions, schools, col- the government in “fivetoseven leges, dependingonhow they days”, Patelsaidthe vaccine pric- lookatthe vaccination plan...see ing —apartfromthe technology If Pak uses gun to shut J&K, what’s to it that some dosesare avail- and delivery device that Zydusis able forthe private market.” working with —would also be “a wrongifweuse stick to counter it: L-G However, things were at a fair reflection” of the number of very initial stage, he added. “We doses the government commits Lieutenant (L-G) be abandh on August5.Itdidn’t still needtogothroughadia- to.But, giventhe benchmarkof DEEPTIMANTIWARY said Saturdaythat strikemethat August5was logue with the authorities... in pricing setbyexisting vaccines, NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 if Pakistanusedthe terror of a some important date... But with terms of the expectations on “thereisnot going to be avery gun to shut thestate down, there God’s grace,there wasnobandh. doses theywould liketoadmin- hugedifference”, he said. SAYINGTHATnoforce wasused wasnothing wrong if he used CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ister. Thedecisionwill be in con- Pateladmitted that their tar- to showasemblance of nor- the sticktocounter it. junction with what the govern- getofproducing five croredoses malcy in Jammu and Kashmir on And that as longashewas TAKELESSONS FROM ment of India decides.” by September had been delayed the second anniversaryofthe there, therewould be no com- TALIBAN: MEHBOOBA The plasmid DNAvaccine as the second waveofCovid had revocationofthe state’s special promise on this “fine line.” PAGE 6 will be the firstinthe country CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 status on August5this year,J&K “People told me therewould Forcedtoflee their villages forrevoltagainst a caste custom in Puri, Dalitfamilies headback

PAGE 1 longing to theDalit community, from the community refusedto ANCHOR who once ledacontent lifein carry the palanquin. What fol- their village, 20 km from here, lowed, eventuallydrove them were drivenawayfromtheir out of their ownhomes. houses forallegedly refusing to “Afterwerefusedtocarry the AISHWARYAMOHANTY obey the diktatsordered by up- palanquin, our access to fish in PURI,AUGUST21 per caste villagers. Chilika wasprohibited.For ages, Their home, Brahmapur,a our source of livelihood has been IN PURI district’sNathapur vil- settlement on an island in fishing and all of asudden we lage, abarrenpatchofland, Chilika, nowseems likeadistant were deniedour rightsofliveli- withscattered bamboo houses dream. As per custom, members hood. This ledtothe firstever —walls plasteredwith mud, of theDalit community were ex- migration from our community with an outerlayer of coconut pected to carry thepalanquin in in ourvillage. Youngmen just leavesand roofsthatchedwith wedding processions of upper out of school startedmigrating tarpaulin sheets to shield from caste families and escortthe to Chennai, Bengaluru to search rain —isnow home to 40 fami- groom or bride around the vil- ADalit familyoustedfromBrahmapur at their kuchcha forwork. Others startedworking lies, trying to build theirlives lage, in return forameal at the house, under construction at Nathapur. AishwaryaMohanty as farm labourers in nearby from scratch. The families, be- wedding. In 2013,young men CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021

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WEB shift,andwhyaresomepeopleskeptical? barrier forIndian Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 smartphone users TECH EDUCATION In this episode, Anand Singh, Head of SONYBRAVIA55X90J JEE MAIN TOPPERS Developer Relations and Localisation at REAPPEARING FOR EXAM REVIEW Indus OS discusses the evolution of smart PricedatRs1,39,990, It seems even scoring phone users and howtobridgethe SCANTHISQRCODETO Sonyoffers above 95 percentile is not languagechasm in India DOWNLOADTHEAPP premium features enough forsome FROMPAGEONE Zydus posing themselvesonus.” Kalyan Singh MinisterVPSingh unveiling the The community members Mandal Commissionreport; delayedsetting up of their new claimthatdespiterepeatedpleas Two Indian flightswith 350 exit Kabul whichincluded 58 from UP then Advani’sRathYatra;thefallof the plant in Ahmedabad. “From withthe administration, there being ruledbyKalyanSingh. A VP Singh government after October,wecan scaleuptoone has been no solution in sight. yearlater,despitetheglow of vic- Advani wasarrestedbythe Lalu crore, so we will have three-four When contacted Puri District nowwill be to ensurethe safe them by coordinating with the ment until the August31dead- governmentrepresentative,” tory in Kargil, the party barely Prasad government in Bihar; the croredoses by end December.I Collector,Samarth Verma said return of all Indian nationals US and other friendlycoun- line forthe US troop with- citing potential security threats hung on to that figure. split in the JanataDal and the don’t think we willachieve five that an enquiryintothe matter from Kabul. tries. drawal runs out. outside itsgates. The reason: the BJP’s tallyin Congresswithdrawingsupportto croredoses unless we see better has already been initiated.“The The MEA said the immedi- Amid the scramble to leave Abdullah Abdullah, asen- Evacuation flightshave UP,wherethe party had shrunk theChandrashekhargovernment. yields immediately." issueiscaste-basedand also atepriorityfor thegovernment the city,Taliban co-founder ior official in the oustedgov- continuedalthough some to 29 seatsamid Kalyan’s public MulayamSingh, who had The Group had got expres- livelihood-based. We have held is to obtain accurateinforma- Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, ernment, tweetedthat he and outgoing flightshavebeen far bickering with Vajpayeeduring alignedwithChandrashekharaf- sions of interestfrom"two-three consultations with the villagers tion aboutall Indian nationals who negotiatedthe deal with formerPresident Hamid Karzai from full because of the air- the1999LokSabhaelections.The terthe split in JanataDal, lost companies" within Indiato man- and arelooking intothe matter. currentlyinAfghanistan. It has the US in Doha, reachedKabul have metTaliban’s acting gov- portchaos, Taliban check- buzz wasthat Kalyantold his powerand UP went to pollsin ufactureZyCoV-D,Patel said. To We expect to resolve thematter also requestedIndians and Saturdayfor talkswith other ernor forKabul who “assured points and bureaucratic chal- aidesthatVajpayeeneededtobe- 1991.Mandal had boostedback- scaleup production, the Group is soon.” their employers to urgently leaders to hammer out the us that he would do everything lenges. come an MP firstbeforehecould ward caste identity politics and also in talkswith companies Sangram with supportof sharedetails with the special contours of aruling council or possible forthe security of the So far, 13 countries have becomePM. Mulayam’s directions to the po- abroadfortransfer of technology. other young Dalit activists from Afghanistancell. government. people” of the city. agreedtohostat-riskAfghans Thesewords reachedpower- lice to fire on karsevakshad po- “If we areableto(do so) success- the entiredistrict, is nowputting According to arough esti- Afghan officials familiar In anew security warning at leasttemporarily, US ful ears in Delhi and sealedhis larizedthe state. fully, we can even see alarger upafight to reclaim theirright to mate, the number of Indians with the talksheld so farin Saturday, the US embassy ad- SecretaryofState Antony fate.After the elections, then BJP This wasfertile ground for scale-up happening," he said. live in their village. LikeSangram, strandedinAfghanistanmay Kabul saythe Taliban have said vised citizens nottotravelto Blinken said. Another 12 have general secretaryKNKalyan,anRSS-trainedOBCleader On resultsoftheir Phase 3tri- in the recent pastPuri has wit- be around 400and India is theywill notmakeany an- the Kabul airportwithout “in- agreedtoserveastransit Govindacharya wassent to of the BJP,totap into the Mandal- als, Patelsaid theywerestillafew nessedalotofyoung members looking at ways to evacuate nouncement on their govern- dividual instructions from aUS pointsfor evacuees. Lucknowtodeliversuspension Kamandal churn and come to months away from completion, of the Dalit community,and noticeto Kalyan.Marchingorders powerin1991winning221of425 andthe publication of the results other backward castes, associ- came afterherefusedthe leader- Assemblysegmentsinthestate– would take another "four to six ated withvarious organisations ship’soffertovacatetheLucknow thefirst BJP stateCM. months". or working individually,but to- Taliban stop 72 Afghan Sikhs, Hindus chair and join the Centre as The polarization in the wake He said that the interim gether creating anetwork,look- AgricultureMinister. of the Babri demolition ledtoa analysis of the three-dose vaccine ing forsuchfamiliesdrivenoutof Delhi Sikh Gurdwara part of the group that was what lies ahead.Maybe,we Afghan Sikhs and 30-40 When he returnedtoBJP just political realignment with thatpegsits efficacy at around their villages and trying to bring Management Committee (DS- made to return from the air- will nownegotiatewith the Hindus have takenshelter at aheadofthe2004LokSabhaelec- Mulayamtying up with Kanshi 66%was a“true reflection of effi- them back. GMC), has been coordinating portbythe Taliban. “Both our Taliban to letusgotoIndia for the Karte Parwan Gurdwarain tions, gone washis magic –the Ram’sBSPforthe1993Assembly cacy againstthe Deltavariant”, “A lotofpeoplefear that if with the MPs have threatstotheir lives the 400th birth anniversary Kabul. Theyhaveheldtwo BJP could barelymanage10seats elections to denyKalyanSingh since breakthrough infections theyreturntothe village, they forevacuationofAfghan Sikhs since theyare pro-govern- celebrations of Guru Tegh meetings with Taliban repre- in staying only powerdespiteBJP emerging as seen duringthetrial were among will againbesubjectedtovio- and Hindus who areAfghan ment. Theyhavebeentaken to Bahadur.” sentativeswho assured them sevenbehind the Congress at the the single-largestparty but short those infected with Delta. lence, threatsand social boycott. nationals and carry theircoun- asafeplace,” aSikh commu- Asenior official of theDelhi of “peace and safety” and told national levellosing powerin of amajority. The Group has the rawmate- We wish to createasafeplace for try’s passports. nity member from Kabul said. Sikh GurdwaraManagement them that theyneednot leave Delhi. The BJP againfellshortofma- rialneededfor the next sixto them within their village, which “Taliban fighters stopped “Now the onlyway that Committee said thatalot hap- the country. ThoughKalyanSinghwonhis jority in the 1996 electionsthat eight months and has also com- is rightfullytheirs. Alot of fami- them from boarding the IAF seems possible to evacuatethe penedall of Fridaynight be- Ever since March 25, 2020, ownLok Sabha seat -- with tacit followedafterthefallof SP-BSPal- pletedthe logistics planning and lies aremorethan willing to re- plane and said since theyare Afghan Sikhsand Hindus is to fore the Taliban turnedaway when at least25Sikhs were help from MulayamSinghYadav liance government when BSP integration with the CoWIN ap- turnto theirvillageand lead alife Afghans, theymustgoback. negotiatewith the Taliban, and the group from the airport. killedafter an Islamic State -- he could neverrecoverhis lost pulledthe rug from under plication. Forone crorevaccine of dignity.Itwill onlybepossible Nowthe group has safely re- tell them that Sikhs needto “Wetriedour best,coordi- gunman allegedly stormedthe politicalground.Again,heparted MulayamSingh’s feet. doses,thecompanyplansto pro- if we as acommunity stand to- turnedtoGurdwara visit India forthe ongoing nated with the government, GurdwaraGuru Har RaiSahib ways with the BJP aheadof2009 Withnopossibility of afresh curetwo croreapplicators, to be gether,” said Dibakar Barik,35, Dashmesh PitaGuru Gobind 400th birth anniversarycele- and the group sat outside the in Kabul and openedfire, LokSabhaelectionsto getelected SP-BSP post-poll alliance -- given usedfor administering the shots. another youth activist. Dibakar Singhji KarteParwanin brationsofGuru Tegh airport the entirenight but Afghan Sikhs and Hindus have to theLok Sabha as an theinfamousguesthousevandal- Giventhat it had dedicatedall and his familywerethemselves Kabul,” Sahneysaid. Bahadurji,” Sahneysaid. theyweresentbacktothe gur- been urging the governments Independent candidatesup- ism by SP leaders against itsresources to theCovid vaccine, drivenout of their villagetwo Twominority MPs, Aleader of the Sikh com- dwara,” he said. of India, Canada and others to portedbyMulayam. in May1995 -- Kalyan Zydus Cadila had put itspro- decades agoafter his father re- Narinder Singh Khalsaand munity,speaking from Kabul, From the time the Taliban evacuatethem from Ironically, it wasthe bitter Singh, nudged by the party lead- grammefor the measles vector fusedtofollownorms estab- Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, were toosaid: “Wedon’t know took over,agroup of 280 Afghanistan. Kalyan-Mulayamfaceoffthatpro- ership, agreedtoasix-month ro- vaccineZyCoV-MVon hold, Patel lishedbythe upper castes. pelledhim to anational icon tational CM arrangement with said. “I am agraduate, my brother among BJP workers. While Mayawati’sBSP. is also studying well, and my sis- respective villages. Theycan Mozidul Islam, 25, and Faruk ing, “Wegot information that through baton. But if youthink it Mulayamlet thepolicefire onkar- Mayawati, however, pulled Silent revolution terisajournalism graduate. My claim whatisrightfullytheirs Hussain Khan, 32, "wereglorify- pro-Taliban posts were uploaded was, then Iacceptit. Afterall, the sevaksinOctober1990to save the out within amonth of Kalyan villages,” said 33-year old father knewthat if he wantedhis only whentheyare well awareof ingthe Taliban"."Bothareunem- on social media. We located the bandh is enforcedbyPakistan BabriMasjid,itwasunderKalyan Singh taking over following her Sangram Bhoi. children to pursue and become their rights. Manyofthem out of ployed... We areinvestigating users of the profiles and we are and the gunofaterrorist.SoifI Singh’s watchonDecember 6, six months in power. TheBJP en- In February2021, amajor what theywanted to,hehad to fear do notevenapproachthe of- whether theyare partofany nowinterrogating them...One have usedthe baton, Idid no 1992,thatthepolicewere toldnot gineered defections in BSP ranks brawlbetween the communities give up obeying orders and lead- ficials. But we have been trying to group. We cannotshareany more postwas made from apersonal wrong.)” to doso,tyingtheirhandsand,ef- to ensure that Kalyanretaineda ensuedafter a25-year-old man ing thekindof lifeheled.Because apprise them about their rights, details right now,”said Amitava account and the other from a Sinha wasspeaking at an fectively,letting kar sevaks raze majority. from the Dalit community,inan we had to leave behind our vil- aboutthe laws which canprotect Sinha, SP,Barpeta. page.”SpecialDGPSingh saidthe event heretolaunchabook the Babri Masjid that afternoon. Soon,hisrivalsinstatepolitics inebirated state, reachedthe vil- lage, abag full of memories from them, so theycan fight forthem- Khandakar NurAlom, 51,em- Dhubri Police wasinthe process ‘Kashmir:The WarofNarratives’ KalyanSingh remainedunre- usedthe pretextoflocalcouncil- lagetobuy sweets fromahawker theplace we were born in, Iun- selves. Education will always play ployedinunorganisedsmall of registering the case. by journalistBashir Assad. pentant calling the act asponta- lorKusumRai’sgrowinginfluence and wasconfronted by upper derstand the painthat these fam- an important role in uplifting businesses, wasarrestedinSouth The Baksa arrest wasof26- Elaboratingonhis statement, neousoutburst. This became his on him as an excuse to drag him caste menfor hisdrunken state. iliesgo through,when drivenout them,” Dibakar said. Formost Salmaradistrict. “Wedonot year-old RafiqulIslam, from Sinha added: “I believe this calling cardand captured the down in the eyes of the central Following this, anew diktat was of their ownvillages fortrying to Dalit and OBC families, such knowifthereare linkswith or- Sunbari village. Singh confirmed should be very clear thatthis is imagination of BJP workers and leadership. It wasonlyafter ordered and memebrs of the leadalifeofdignity,”Dibakarsaid. forced migrationoverdecades ganisations... We areinvestigat- the arrest,saying Islam wasap- thefine line andnooneis allowed supportersacrossthecountry. So Vajpayeecame to centrestage as Dalit community were prohib- Amongstthe families which has rendered them landless, ing,” saidSubodh Kr Sonowal, SP, prehendedFridaynight for“so- to cross it... And until the time I much so that although the BJP Prime Minister,that the power ited from entering the village, Dibakar is helping to return to eliminating anyprospectsfor en- South Salmaradistrict. cial media interaction in support am there, this is going to be the had adoptedaresolution forthe tussleintensifiedand,eventually, from carrying out anyprocession their village, is Maheshwar titelment under housing Cachar SP Raman Dhillon said of Taliban”. Islam worksasatem- stand. Therewill be no compro- RamTemple in 1989, LKAdvani Kalyanfell out. or inviting their relativestothe Barik’sfamilywho were driven schemes or even cyclone relief as- theyarrested30-year-old Jawed poraryteacher at ahigh school mise.” had galvanisedpopular opinion He could neverrecoverand village. The ration shops were outoftheir house in March2019, sistance. Mazumder from Sonai town. “He and is areporter fortwo local Alleging that some “self-ap- by his Rath Yatrain1990, it was his subsequent politics became permanentlyclosedforthem, ac- their houses vandalised. Responding to suchinstances, worksinabank... In the post, he news outlets. pointedexpertsonKashmir,” Kalyanwho establishedhimself oneof survival–gettingbackinto cess to the onlypotable well and Members of the barber (barik) the Puri collector said no such in- said that whatever the Taliban On the useof theUAPA,Singh were trying to createanarrative asthearchitectof thedemolition. theBJP ahead of 2004 Lok Sabha the villagepond forbathing and andthe washerman community cident has been brought to his has done, it wasagood job." said, “Tehreek-e-Taliban finds an at the international level. Sinha KalyanSingh,whohadprom- elections,quittingBJPaheadof the washing clothes wasdeniedand (dhoba), who fall under the Other notice. “If anyone is being asked In Hailakandi, Md Nadim entryinthe ISIS and Al Qaida said: “It is important to move isedthe Supreme Courtthat the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and theywerenot allowedtoferry in BackwardCastes(OBCs), con- to leave their villages or is being Aktar,23, wasarrestedfor “mak- sanctions list... establishedand away from these misconceptions. Babri would be safewas held contesting as an Independent to the boats, the onlyaccess to the tinue to face social ostracism for discriminated againstevenafter ing communallyprovocative maintainedbyUnited Nations... It is important to look at what the guilty of contempt of courtand becomeanMPwith helpfrom mainland from the small island refusingtoabide by the age-old possessingthe release certificate, commentsinfavour of the Entry33ofMHA list provides for people want and howtheir lives wassentencedtojailfor aday in MulayamSingh Yadav, returning hamlet. bartansystemorjajmani system, theycan approachusand neces- Taliban on Facebook” said Gaurav organisations listedinUNLists. can be madebetter.” 1994forthedemolition.Itwashis to BJPaheadof2014electionsto “Their onlycondition was wherein the members of these saryaction will be taken. So far, Upadhyay, SP,Hailakandi. “Heis Sufficient forustotakeaction at Comparing J&K with other momentinthe political sun and ensurehis son Rajvir Singh be- that we startcarrying the palan- communitieswereexpectedto no suchinformation has come to in the thirdsemesterofMBBS at this stage.” states, Sinha suggestedthat he basked in it. came an MP. quin againbutwithnoremuner- be of service to the upper caste, me,” Verma said. Tezpur Medical College,” Deputy Inspector General dearth of finances wasn’t the is- Trainedasaschool teacher, His lasthurrah, in away,was ation. Our generation and the either free of costorinreturn of Upadhyaysaid. Baruah asked the public to in- sue. KalyanSingh worked as an RSS hisadviceonUP’scaste politicsto generationafter is gettingedu- 12-15kgs of rice ayear. 15 held in Assam The twoarrestedin form police if anysuchposts “WheneverJ&K is spoken functionaryinhishomedistrictof BJP General SecretaryAmit Shah cated.Weare tryingtoredefine Afterthe BondedLabour Singh addedthat theywere Karimganj areMujib Uddin, 24,a come to their notice.“#assampo- about, it is said it is backwardand Aligarhbeforehewas pickedup that got BJP71seatsand helped ourselvesand move ahead, be System (Abolition) Act, 1976,en- checking if the posts were still up. teacher at acoachingcentre/pri- lice aretaking stern legal action underdeveloped. It’s important by NanajiDeshmukhforelectoral seal Modi’s historic election vic- moreaware and stand up for quiries were initiated after2010 Deputy Inspector General vate school, and 18-year-old againstpro #Taliban comments to understand J&Kinthe right politics. tory. rights. Howcould we agree to a intothese cases and afterthor- VioletBaruah said theyconsider Mortuza Hussain Khan, aB.Com in the social media platform that context. J&K has apopulation of Singh waselected to the UP KalyanSingh, who enjoyed regressive practice again that ough enquirynearly 2,200peo- the commentspostedbythe ac- student. “Theyweresupporting areharmful to the National 1.25-1.30 crore. Lastyear the AssemblyasaJanSanghmember immunity by virtue of being would put us backinthe position plefromPuri were awardedare- cused"harmfulfornationalsecu- the Taliban... If youopenlysup- Security.We’reregistering crim- budget forJammu and Kashmir forthefirsttimein1967,thesame Governor of ,deposed from wherewewantedtorise?” lease certificatefromthe bonded rity"."Oursocialmediamonitor- portabannedorganisation like inal cases againstsuchpersons. wasRs1.10lakh crore. Nowlet’s year Mulayamentered the before the CBI courtafter demit- Sangram said. system.Over 2,500othersarestill ing cell has been keepingawatch the Taliban... we have to use pro- Please inform the police if any take Bihar and UP,also consid- Assemblyfor the firsttime as a ting office of Governor in 2019. Janak Jena, an upper caste waiting fortheir release orders. andwe noticedtheseposts,soac- visions likethe UAPA,” said suchthing comes to your notice,” ered backward. Againstapopu- SocialistPartymember.Tenyears Triedfor conspiracy along with member,reacting to the allega- “In 2013,wereceivedare- cordinglywetookaction,” she Padmanabh Baruah, SP, she tweeted. lation of around 12 crore, Bihar later,Singh wasone of JanSangh other BJP leaders including tions said,“The allegations arenot lease letter from the administra- said. Karimganj. Addressing the press, Singh has abudget of Rs 2.18 lakh crore. nomineesintheJanataPartygov- Advani, and true. Theyhaveraisedobjections tion, we were no longerbound to Hitesh ChandraRoy,SP, One of the firstarrestedwas said:“I humbly appeal that peo- UP hasapopulationof23crore ernmentthat came to powerin UmaBharti and other VHP lead- to us entering their areas but ex- work in return forpaddy.But all Kamrup (Rural), confirmedthe Goalpara's Yaseen Khan, 26, who ple should notmakesuchposts and abudget of Rs 5.5lakh crore. Lucknowafter the Emergency – ers, KalyanSingh waseventually pect usto beokthattheywillfish these years, therewas no peace. arrest of twointhe district. “Abu washeldonAugust17. “Heisa on social media that areanti- So per capitaallocation in Jammu and Mulayamhis Cabinetcol- exonerated by the CBI trial court from Chilka and robusofour We had nowheretogo; so we Bakkar Sidique, alias AfgaKhan Maulana in Lakhipur and also Assam and anti-India... or sup- and Kashmir is nine to tentimes league. in September 2020. livelihoods. Theyown no land stayedin the village, but time and Avilekh, 55, is ateacher at apri- owns some small shops,”said V portive of aterroristorganisa- of these states. And this has been With the splitfromJanata Inaway,thosewere thebook- whichiswhy theyhavebeen im- again we facedsocial boycott. In vate coaching centreand Saidul VRakesh Reddy,SP, Goalparadis- tion...People should think before the case since Independence,” Partyoverthe dual membership ends of his politics. The 2019 March,ourhouse wasvandalised Hoque, 29, is aconstable of the trict. Reddy addedthat Khan had posting on social media... and Sinha said. issue (being amember of Janata Supreme Courtruling in the title as we continuedtorefuse to work 21st AP (IR) Bn located in notbeenbookedunder the UAPA consider the fallout of the law.” “Young students comeand Partyaswellasof theRSS),Kalyan suit cleared the wayfor the the CORRECTION so we leftour village,”Maheswar Karimganj." when he waspickedup. tell me theyhavedoneM.Tech Singh movedwithhis other Jan construction of the Ramtemple said. Maheshwar’s familywas From Darrang,policearrested Basiruddin Laskar, 65, wasar- If Pak uses gun and arewaiting foragovernment SanghcolleaguesintotheBJPand at the sitewherethe Babri once ON 21.08.21 one amongstthree drivenout of Maulana Fazul Karim, 49,for rested in Hojai. “He is aretired Ajournalisttoldmeatthe job.Students needtocomeout of beganasstate general secretary stood before it wasdemolished Manapur village. The family’s posts that“favouredthe Taliban”. Maulana...His postwas support- end of the daythat Ihaveusedthe this mentality,” Sinha said. in 1980. under his watch. bondagetothe upper caste fam- “He is general secretarywith the iveofthe Taliban and created baton to ensuretherewas no He said the government had He wasmade BJP statepresi- “I bowdowntosuchagreat THE ARTICLE ‘Lestweremem- ilies involved washing their feet, All India UnitedDemocratic Front disharmonyinthe population,” bandh. Iarguedthatall trafficwas startedaprogramme wheretwo dent in 1984 andwas elected and ideallifededicatedto the na- beronlyhate’ by HarshMander cuttingtheirnails,pickingupleft- (AIUDF) andalso secretaryofthe said Barun Purakayastha, SP, running and people, in large young applicantswereidentified leader of BJP legislatureparty af- tion, religionand people,” said states that MahatmaGandhi overs, cleaning aplace before and stateJamiat,” said SusantaBiswa Hojai. numbers were shopping…Ye sab in eachpanchayatfor self-em- terthe 1989 Assemblyelections Home MinisterShah Saturday. fasted for40days in Calcutta, afteranevent, among other triv- Sarma, SP,Darrang district. An FromDhubridistrict, 27-year- dande ke jor se nahi ho sakta hai. ployment. “Thereare 4,295 pan- duringthe firststint of Mulayam “The countryand the entireBJP some weeksafter ial tasks. Maheshwar along with AIUDF spokespersontold PTI that old SaiyadAhmedand 25-year- Lekin agar aap maante hain,to chayats. We estimatedthere as CM. familyismourning his Independence.The fast lasted nearly 20 other suchfamilies Karim is being suspendedfrom old Arman Hussain were ar- mainisesweekarkartahun. Bandh would be10,000candidates. But This put KalyanSingh in the death…thecountryhaslostatrue forfour days from September 1 were staging adharnaoutsidethe theparty till completion of an in- rested.While The Sunday bhi to Pakistanaur atankwaad ki it has gone up to 20,000. BJPfrontseatinstatepolitics–and patriot…Babujiwas suchahuge to September 4, 1947.Itwas not collector’s office lastFriday. quiry. Express could notreach Abhijit bandook se hota tha. Agar maine Everyone got aloan of Rs 10 lakh. plungedhimrightintotheturbu- treeunderwhoseshadowtheor- 40 days. “There areover100suchfam- The Barpetapolicesaidthe Gurav,SP, Dhubri district, he ad- dande ka prayog kiyatokuchbura Nowwehaveatargetof50,000 lentchurnof nationalpoliticsover ganisation of BJP flourishedand The errorisregretted. ilies who wish to return to their twoarrestedinthe district, dressedthe press Saturday,say- nahin (All this wasnot possible forthis year,” he said. the next twoyears: Prime expanded.”

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 3 Deficitofclassrooms:Severaltribalstudents ofDangstruggletogetadmissioninClass11

ment. Once we getapproval, we nearbyBadripada villagewhich of transportasDanghasahillyter- Class 11.This year,due to mass KAMAALSAIYED willstart activities and in coming hasclassesonlyupto10th andthis rain.Ravi's father,Ramesh promotion, we have been told to SURAT,AUGUST21 days therewould notbeissue of year Iwishedtoget admission in Chaudhary, feels his dreams of induct75students.We have alim- admission to Class 11," said JantaHighschoolatShamgham.I seeing his son getagovernment itednumber of benches,how can OVER500tribalstudentswhoare Deshmukh. got 40 percentage marks in my job, will shatter. we adjuststudentsinthe class- among those mass promotedin As per details receivedfrom Class10 boards.Whenwe wentto "I have notattendedany rooms? We neither have the the Class 10 boards in the tribal the District Education Office take admission, principal schoolinmy lifeandIwishedthat funds to buy benches or build ex- dominated Dang district are (DEO) in Dang, this year,ofthe Manubhai Gavit said their seats my sonRavianddaughterSangita traclassrooms". struggling to getadmission in total of 3,909 students who have were fullastheyhadtakenalltheir would getgoodeducation and Dang DEO Manilal Bhusara Class 11 with manyschools yetto been promotedonaccountof ownstudents.We wentto District latergoodjobandsettletheirlives. said,“Aftercoming acrossthe is- have newclassrooms and the ex- the pandemic, 3,255 have got ad- Education department office and Ihavelimitedsource of income sueof admission,we have toldthe istingones bursting at the seams. missions. Lastacademicyear,the toldthemabouttheadmissionis- and Icannotsend my sontothe schoolsto increasetheclassesand Thedistricteducationauthor- district saw67per cent students sue, we were told to go backto neighbouring districtsasIcannot class strength to accommodate ities have already movedfiles to pass andbeforethat65per cent. JantaHighschool and fill the ad- afford expenses likeschool fees maximum number of students. increase the classes in govern- Schools nowhavetonot only mission forms and wait forsome andaccommodationinotherdis- We have appliedfor nine new ment schools and also told other accommodatetheir ownstu- days." tricts. We also talked to some of classes in existing government schools in the districttoincrease dentsfromClass 10 but also Urmila is eldestamong three theteachersinmy familyandthey high schools in Dang.” the number of classrooms. makeroom fornew students, childrenof ShankerThackrey who toldmethereisanissueinadmis- Congress MLAfromVansda Education authorities fear,how- and in the processitisthose who worksinthe agricultural fields sion thisyear.Ontheir advice, we seat that borders Dang, Anant ever,that because of high schools passedwith lowmarksthat have with wifeKavitatosupportthe will take one year breakthis year, Patelsaid, “Wehavestarted re- getting stretched, the dropout ra- got leftout. family. Urmila wantstobecome and willagain trynextyear," says ceivingcomplaints from the peo- tio in the districtmight rise. The SundayExpress spoketo teacher and help her parents fi- Ramesh. pleof Dangsfornot gettingadmis- Accordingto Dangdistricted- some of the students who said nancially andalsoteachher Thereare atotal of 29 high sion in Class 11.Weare currently ucation inspector Vijay thatthisyear if theydon’tget ad- youngerbrother and sister. "Ifwe schools in Dang district, out of taking detailsofhow manystu- Deshmukh,"in2019-20,26.43per mission theywilltakeayear's don’t getadmission we will wait which13schoolsaregrant-in-aid, dentsareaffectedandoncewe get cent studentsdropped out of breakto helpouttheirparentsand foroneyear,andnextyearwe will 13 governmentschools,and3self- data, we will makerepresenta- school afterClass 10 of which supplement the familyincome. again tryfor admission to con- financedschools.Thereare atotal tions to theDEO and district col- 24.96percentwere girlsand27.91 UrmilaThackrey,16,aresident tinue further studies. During this of 37 classesoutof which9are for lector andrequest them to make WATER per cent boys.Similarly in 2021- of Shamghan village in Ahwa oneyear,Iwillalsogointhe agri- science stream, 24 classes arefor arrangementsfor theadmission 21,thedropoutratiowas17.55per taluka of Dangs district, and 25- cultural fields and work with my Commerce stream and the re- of tribal students.” SUPPLY HIT cent outofwhich17.19 were girls oddbatchmatesof hersarestrug- parents," says Urmila. maining arefor Arts stream. Saputaraschool principal and 17.91boys.This year,due to glingto getadmissionto theJanta Ravi Chaudhary, aresident of Jantahigh school principal DhaneshGaekwadsaid,“Wehave Residentsgather to get theshortage of classesfiguresmay high school, agrant-in-aid school Badripada village, got 42 per cent Manubhai Gavit said, “Wehave twoclassesforcommerceandone waterfromatankeratF- go up". in her village. This is the only high in Class 10.Chaudharyfirstap- one classofcommerce in Class 11 class forscience. We have given Colony,Shah Alam in Deshmukh addedthat the school for10villages around pliedinthecommerceandonbe- wherewehavegiven admission admission to 92 students in Class Ahmedabad.With adeficit DEOhadsentproposalto thestate Shamghan. ApartfromUrmila, ing deniedadmission,applied to to 75 students.The DEO Dangs 11 commerceandonatemporary rainfall this year,water educationdepartmentto increase thereare over 25 students who theartsstreamandwastoldthere told us to startnew classes for basiswe have startedaclassroom. supply at severalresidential eightclassesineightgovernment arefacingsimilardifficultiesinad- were no vacancies in Janata 11th. Itold them that Idon’thave We don’thave benchesandother colonies in the cityhas been schoolsinDangs."Weare waiting mission to Class 11. School.Otherschoolsarefarfrom an extraclassroom or space.Last facilities, howcan we adjust the hit. Nirmal Harindran fortheresponsefromthegovern- “My earlier school wasin thevillageand there is no mode yeartherewere50studentsinmy students?.” Tata Motors signs LTS with its Sanand union

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE AHMEDABAD, AUGUST 21

TATA MOTORS in Sanand signedanother Long-Term Wage Settlement(LTS) with its union foraperiod of three years ending July2024, that included aspecial additionalincrease in the salaryand aperformance linked scheme, whicharelease from the companysaid, had been “well receivedbythe union”. The earlier and the firstfive- year LTSsignedwith the Tata Motors Sanand Union ended September 2020, whichwas af- terworkers at the plant went on strikein2016for amonth,de- mandinghigher wages. The agreement wassignedfollow- ing an 18-month-longnegotia- tion process. The totalwageallottedisRs 8,800for threeyearswith a62%, 20% and 18%amount accruing everyyear and a“special addi- tional increase” of Rs 1,800. RavindraKumar, president and chief human resource offi- cer,said in astatement, that the workers had been “veryco-op- erative andhavesupported the companyduring this pandemic time”. He said the companyaimed to achieve “higher and challeng- ing productivity levels with the HPeV (hours per equivalent ve- hicle)”. Earthquake of 4.1 magnitude hits Kutch

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA AHMEDABAD, AUGUST 21

AN EARTHQUAKE of 4.1magni- tudewas recordedinGujarat's Kutchdistrict on Saturday with itsepicentrelocated near Dholavira,the Instituteof Seismological Research (ISR) said. No damagetoproperty or casualty wasreported due to the moderate-intensity earth- quake, officials of the district administrationsaid. "A 4.1-magnitude earth- quakewas recordedat12.08 pm on Saturday with itsepicen- tre23kmEast-Southeast (ESE) of Dholavira in Kutch. It was recordedatadepthof6.1 km," the Gandhinagar-based insti- tutesaid. On August 4, an earthquake of 4.0 magnitude wasrecorded in the district. Kutchdistrictislocated in a "veryhigh risk seismic zone," as per the statedisastermanage- mentauthority. The region had experienced adevastating earthquakein 2001. Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 GUJARAT THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021

AHMEDABAD 60%ofinsuranceclaims Take strict action to open encroached govt forhealthworkerssettled lands: Collector claims, verification documents then whether it wasspecific to admitted as apatient afteran to officials SOHINIGHOSH remain to be receivedbythe Covid-19services. The district evening of fatigue and weakness. AHMEDABAD,AUGUST21 statehealth department from collector/municipal commis- Tendays later,she breathedher the district or hospital authori- sioner issuedcertificateisthen lastatanAnand hospital. While EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE SINCE COVID-19 began, the ties for15claimants. Claims for sent to the statehealth depart- her familyhas receivedthe in- AHMEDABAD,AUGUST21 Gujarat health department has 30 others arependingatthe level ment whichisthen senttothe in- surance amount of Rs 50 lakh, settled82ofthe 141claims re- of the insurance company-- surance company. theyare notyet surewhat to do Ahmedabad DistrictCollector ceivedunderPradhanMantri NewIndia Assurance. “Earlier,all documentsfor ver- with the money. Sandip Sagale on Saturdayin- Garib Kalyan Package’s (PMGKP) The scheme had seen abreak ification purposes hadtobecol- Pooja’s father,Kirteshkumar structed districtofficials to take insurance schemefor health foramonth -- between March 24 lectedbythe district authority or Patel, aresident of Uttarsanda “strict actions” to opengovern- workers who diedfighting the and April 24 -- afterwhichitwas hospital authority whichwould town who workswith the GST ment lands so that “no one dares disease. Morethan half of the vic- revivedagain witheffect from then be verifiedbythe chief dis- department in Nadiad, does not to illegallyoccupygovernment tims were less than 50 yearsold. April 24,asper acommunication trict health officer or hospital su- knowwhat he should do with lands in future,” according to a The insurance scheme covers datedApril 26 by thedeputy sec- perintendent whichwould then the Rs 50 lakh claim he has re- stategovernmentpress release. health workers who lost their life retary of Government of India, be sent to statelevel from where ceivedfromthe package. The collector washeading a due to Covid-19, and also acci- addressedto additional chiefsec- we would forwardittothe insur- He said, “...Whenwegot her Ahmedabaddistrictcoordination dental death of health workers retaries of health and principal ance company. The companyin admitted,her oxygen levelwas meeting.The issue of pollution in on accountofCovid-19related secretariesofhealth of allstates. turn would conduct itsown ver- 65. She wasatthe hospital for REMEMBERING AHMED PATEL Sabarmatiriverwasalsotakenup duty,with Rs 50 lakh paid to the While the earlier methodfor ification exercise and would seek eight days and on the eighth day during the meeting, forwhich claimant of the insured person. the next of kinofthe deceased documentsifnecessary... With theytold us we should shift her The 72nd birth anniversaryoflateCongressleader AhmedPatel wascelebrated at his home Sagale reportedlyalso directed Among the 82 claimants, a claimingthe insurance money the newverification method, pro- to abetterfacility.Soweadmit- town in Ankeshwar, Bharuch ,onSaturday. Patel’sdaughter Mumtaz Siddiqui andsenior Gujarat Pollution ControlBoard majority arestaff nurses —15of could take up to four to six cessing of the claim usuallytakes tedher to aprivate hospital in Congress leaderNazubhai Fadwala were among those whoattended theevent. Mumtaz officialsto meet andformawork- them —followedby13doctors, months, the stategovernment on eight to 10 days,” said astate Anand. On November 24,she distributedstationaryitems and books to tribalsstudents of Ankleshwar Public School. Express ing plan forthe same within the 10 ASHA workers and nine class- June 24 issuedacommunication health department official. died. Iremember she usedtobe next 15 days andurged the offi- 4workers. At least44ofthe 82 empowering district collector or Among the 82 beneficiaries on duty foreightto10hours, cials to coordinatewith Ahme- deceasedwereless than50years municipal commissioner to issue of the packageare the next of kin sometimes handling up to 20-25 dabad MunicipalCorporation of- of age, including at leastsix of aone-page certificate attesting to of 24-year-old Pooja Patel, who patientsalone. She would come Newly-appointed Union minister felicitated ficialsforthesame,soasto resolve them in their 20s. the veracityofthe claims subject had joinedCovid-19duty in home with her hands driedand the issue. 27 of the settledclaims areof to verification of whether the de- August2020 as astaff nurseat dehydrated from the PPE suit... Prant officials have also been those who diedthis year,all be- ceased wasonCovid-19duty,if Dr ND Desai Faculty of Medical We receivedthe claim, but we netministers, Rupalia and the Public Private Partnership directed by the collectortocom- tween April and June. on duty at Covid-19designated Sciences and Research in Nadiad don’t knowwhat to do with it. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Mandaviya,alongwiththreenew model,” she added. mencetalukacoordinationmeet- Of the remaining 59 pending hospital, and if it wasfieldwork, and on Diwali that year,she was We have notdecidedonityet.” SURAT,AUGUST21 OBCministerwereinducted...Iam Talking about railways, she ingsto addressissuesraisedbycit- born to Anavil Brahimin'sfamily said,“Railwaysisour lifeline. It izens,starting next month. THE SOUTHERN Gujarat but marriedtotailor community should be made profitable.” Otherissuesdiscussedduring AAP councillor’s Chamber of Commerce and of Ahmedabad settledinSurat. In “Before2014, four flyovers the meeting include providing Karjan gangrape victim’s children Industry(SGCCI)onSaturday NarendraModi’s government, were madereadyjoiningeastcity state transportfacilitiesto interior brother arrested evening organisedafelicitation moreOBC leaders have been in- to thewest,buttherailway flyover parts of thedistrict, land and wa- programme forthe newly ap- ducted intothe ministry.” work waspendinginwantof per- terpollution, and preparation for for rape in Surat to get Rs 27 lakh compensation pointedUnionministerofstate for “Aftertakingupthe charge of mission. We as MP,along with apossiblethirdwaveofCovid-19, railwaysandtextilesandSuratcity twoministries, when Icame to Surat municipal commissioner as per the stategovernment’s the prescribed amounts. The grandfather will be the guardian BJP MP Darshana Jardosh in Surat,oneof theseniorleadersDr Milind Torwane, went to the rail- press communique. The district EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ADITIRAJA compensation forrape is Rs 10 but amajority of the compensa- Sarsana area in Surat. Kanubhai Mawani told me that ways ministryandgot permission. coordinationmeetingwasheldaf- SURAT,AUGUST21 VADODARA,AUGUST21 lakh as well as formurder and for tion disbursedwill be kept in a “This time maximum repre- thereshouldbeatextile univer- Since 2014 onwards, the result- termorethan one-and-a-half victims of unnaturalsex,itisRs7 fixeddeposit so that the children sentationsinthe central govern- sity in Surat. Initiative should be orientedwork hasbeenstartedby years, with the meetings sus- SURATPOLICEarrestedthe THE VADODARA DistrictLegal lakh. We have proposedasumof can useitonce theyturn 18 years ment is from Gujarat—two cabi- takenand it can be done through the Central government.” pendeddue to thepandemic. brother of an AamAadmi Party ServicesAuthority(DLSA)hasde- Rs 27 lakh accordinglyand sent of age," JudgeGadhvi said. councillor on August20for al- cidedtogrant amaximum com- the sametothe StateLegal The incidentoccurredonthe legedly rapingaDalitwoman. pensationamountof Rs27 lakhto ServicesAuthority." eveningof August16whensixac- CASETRACKER According to police, Mehul the familyofthe victim of the TheJudge addedthatthestate cusedallegedly gang-rapedthe 90% streets are named Vavaliya, the younger brother of Karjangangrapeandmurder.The authorityhasthepowertoreview victim, who wasworkingasa Places ConfirmedDeaths New cases AAP councillor from ward num- DLSA,onSaturday,sentaproposal and revise the amount,ifitfeels farm labour in the field near her Ahmedabad 2,28,766 3,411 4 ber4DharmendraVavaliya, a to the StateLegal Services thatthecompensationisnotcom- house in avillageinKarjan taluka Amreli 10,883102 0 after political leaders, resident of the Kapodaraarea, Authorityforapprovalanddisbur- mensurate or exaggerated,asthe of Vadodaradistrict,afterstuffing Anand 9,635491 wasarrestedfollowing acom- sal of the amount in the nameof case maybe. "Wehavesentthe her dupattainher mouth. Later, Aravalli 5,468790 plaint filedbythe 35-year-old thethreeminorchildrenof the37- proposalfor the maximumcom- theystrangulatedher with the says Deputy CM Patel woman. year-old victim. pensation but we will knowonly same dupattaand murdered her. Banaskantha 13,659 1620 The woman in her complaint Senior Civil Judgeand Full- next week if the stateauthority The LocalCrime Branch(LCB) Bharuch 11,449 1180 alleged that shehad enrolledin timeSecretaryofDLSA,Vadodara, willapprovetheentireamount.If had arrested thesix accusedon Bhavnagar 21,702 3001 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Patelwas speaking after the driving school ownedbythe VJGadhvi,toldTheIndianExpress, theydoso, it will be directlydis- Wednesdayafter thepolicesnif- Botad 2,217 42 0 AHMEDABAD,AUGUST21 accused. On August16, Mehul "Thecommittee deciding the bursedtothe family,"Judge ferdog,Java,ledthepolicetoatent astreetinthe western ChhotaUdepur 3,398380 told her theyhad to go to Navsari compensation includes the dis- Gadhvi said. in atemporarysettlement of no- RENAMING Aroad in partofAhmedabad was Dahod 9,580 38 0 to give written examsfor her trict collector,the Commissioner The DLSA hasalsodecidedto mads, hailing mainlyfromUttar Ahmedabadafter the late namedas'NavnitPatel driving license,she said. Mehul of Police of Vadodaracity, the appointthefatherof thedeceased Pradesh and ,bythe Dang 864180 founder of Ahmedabad-based then allegedly took her to aflat in SuperintendentofPolice of --thematernalgrandfatherof her railway tracknear thefarm. The Devbhoomi Dwarka 12,935820 real estate company-- Marg' in memoryoflate aresidential society wherehe VadodaraDistrict, adoctorfrom survivingchildren -- as the legal Karjan policestationhas booked Gandhinagar 20,835 205 0 Parshwanath Corporation -- founder of Parshwanath rapedand assaulted her. SSG hospital and the Secretaryof guardianto childrenreceivingthe theaccusedformurder,gangrape Deputy Chief MinisterNitin Patel Gir Somnath 8,543 67 0 Corporation The woman then got admit- DLSA.The committee meton compensation. "Thechildren and unnatural sex. Saturdaysaid that mosttimes tedinthe SMIMER hospital from Fridayand decidedthat the max- were inthecustodyof thevictim's On Friday, former MLAand Jamnagar 36,599 4770 roads arenamedafter deceased whereshe contacted thepolice imum compensation should be father,inthe immediatepreced- current BJPleader Alpesh Thakor Junagadh 20,480 2710 politicians and instead this time struction companyParshwanath station concernedand lodged a awardedtothe legal heirs of the ing days as she wasestranged had metthe aggrievedfamilyof Kheda 10,391480 aroad is beingrenamed afteran Company’s (late)owner Navnit complaintonAugust19. deceasedvictim. We have calcu- from her husband,the policehas the victim and demanded afast Kutch 12,505 1450 “inspiring builder.” Patel, in 50 yearsorso, con- Mehulhas been arrested un- latedthe compensationbasedon said.Sointhis case, the paternal tracktrial in the case. Astreetinthe western partof structed over 40,000 homes.He Mahisagar 8,311 72 0 der under IPC sections 323, Ahmedabad wasnamedas made beautiful and affordable 376(2), and sections 3(2),5 (a), Mehsana 24,283177 0 'Navnit PatelMarg' afterthe late homes forthe poor and middle 3(1)(w)(i) of the The Scheduled State govt announces Rs 500 cr relief Morbi 6,502 87 0 founderofParshwanath classes and made beautiful Castes and the ScheduledTribes Narmada 5,977 15 0 Corporation. arrangementsfor people to set- (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Navsari 7,167240 “I want to congratulate tle in their homes. That apart, Assistant Commissioner of Ahmedabad Municipal wheneverthe city needed, he packagefor GIDC industrial units Panchmahal 11,742 70 0 PoliceSC/STcellRKZala,who is Corporation...Usuallywhen a providedreligious, community the investigating officer in the Patan 11,623 1290 (political) leader dies,astreet is services..To ensurethatheisre- case, said, “Wehaveregistered The state government had duction. It will impose amora- Porbandar 3,847 19 0 takenand namedafter them. 90 membered,the stretchofroad offence of rape. The victim was PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA earlier announcedantorium forone moreyear on the Rajkot 58,666 7251 percent of roads areassociated from (Helmet crossing in also beaten by the accusedfol- AHMEDABAD,AUGUST21 "Atmanirbhar" packageofRs recovery of penalty fornon-use Sabarkantha 9,337 1570 with political leaders. But Iwould Memnagar) to Subhash Chowk lowing whichshe got admitted 14,000crorefor the industryaf- of land. liketocongratulatecorporation will be renamedasNavnit Patel Surat in the SMIMER hospital. Her con- THE GUJARAT government on terthe firstwaveofthe pan- The government has also de- 1,43,5611,958 3 officials, the mayorand the Marg...so that the coming gener- dition is stable.” Saturdayannouncedapackage demic. Atotal of 31,166 indus- cidedtokeepthe last fiscal's rate Surendranagar 8,120136 0 standing committeefor renam- ations can take inspiration,” said Following the arrest,BJP lead- of Rs 500crore forindustrial trial unitshavereceivedbenefits of allotment of GIDC land forin- Tapi 4,443 23 0 ing the road afterNavnit kaka the minister. ers from HiraBaugareatook out unitslocated in GIDC areas to worthRs407.72crore so far dustrial and residentialestates Vadodara 77,754 788 5 who did great social service...his According to astate govern- aprotest rallytoAAP Councillor give them relief following the through 14 different schemes as and multi-storeysheds un- Valsad 6,238 49 0 name will be remembered for ment press release, Parshwanath DharmedraVavalviya’s office in setbackcausedbythe second partofthat package, aGIDC re- changed during the current fi- generations to come,” said Patel. Corporation alsoplans to rede- Kapodaraarea. The police waveofthe COVID-19pan- lease said. nancial year. Other states 1483 “Those who servethe com- velop the area from Dhoribhai reachedthe spotand controlled demic. Industrybodies had re- It has also decidedtoslash or Total New Cumulative Cumulative munity,nation or city,beitinso- Park to Subhash Chowk. the situation. The AAP councillor The Gujarat Industrial questedthe government to im- waivevarious fees collected cases: cases: discharge: deaths: cial service, religious service, ed- The renaming took place on said that if his brother wasin- DevelopmentCorporation plement the schemes afresh fol- from the industrialunits within 8,15,024 ucational service, to ensure they the birth anniversaryofNavnit volvedin the crime, he should be (GIDC)announcedfour schemes lowing the second wave, it said. GIDC estatesfor administrative 8,33,551 15 10,079 areremembered forever, we en- Patel, and RevenueMinister punished. to provide assistance to more Among the latest measures approvals, maintenance, reno- Firstdosetakerstilldate Fullyvaccinatedtilldate couragenaming things aftersuch Kaushik Patelaswell as AMC “Wewill nevertoleratesuch than 50,000 unitslocatedin areextension of the time fora vation and other purposes, the 3,22,33,605 1,04,32,986 personalities. Ahmedabad city’s leaders,includingMayor Kirit acts, “Vavaliyasaid. GIDC industrial estates. newindustrial unit to startpro- release said. PTI KA oldestand mostprestigious con- Parmar attendedthe function. Kevadia to have Narmadaaarti, priests selected by panel interview

the grandeur of dailyevening riverbed is full. Thereare several "The eye-catching partofthe rience seeing LordShiva in front ADITIRAJA aartis dedicated to River auspiciousand festivedays com- aarti is that while the seven of theireyes. Forthe four days VADODARA,AUGUST21 Narmada on the 131-meter long ing up forthe inauguration and a priests will performthe actual that we stayed in Varanasi, we and 47-meterwide ghats, con- visit from Modi forthe inaugu- Karmakand (the movement of witnessed the demonstrations EVERYDAY,for the lastfew structed at acostofRs14crore ration is on cards too, especially the lamps and offerings), a and learnedthe aspectsthat weeksinKevadia in Narmada in Goravillage. since his birthdayiscoming up troupe of seventribal musicians makethe Dashashwamedh ghat district, eight Hindu priests and When the ghatswerebuilt,a on September 17.State leaders willdothe recital with vocals aarti so unique. We have already agroup of seventribal musicians team of officialsofthe Statue of arekeen on organising the aarti and their instrumentslikethe conducted afew demos forthe have been putting in hours of Unity Area Development and on that daytopay respectsto harmonium, tabla, keypad, sound system and the adminis- practice to perfectthe synchro- Tourism Governance Authority Modiji but it would also depend banjo and so on. The ritual will tration will soon decide when nisation of the rhythmic chants (SOUADTGA) and members of on the dam waterlevel andflow lastabout45minutes, as longas the ritualsshouldbegin." The of Sanskritand Hindi verses of the reveredShoolpaneshwar downstream." the Dashashwamedh Ghat aarti, laser showwill then kickoff the twoaartis dedicated to River temple trustvisited Varanasi for Dubey told this paper,"The and will include tworecitals -- dailylight shows at the Statue of Narmadawith the notesofthe atraining session and under- Shoolpaneshwar Temple Trust one will be the Jai Narmada Unity,GlowGarden, and the traditionalmusical instruments, standing of howthe Gangaaarti has interviewed and ropedin Maiyyaaarti in Hindiand the 'million lights' installedatthe combinedwith the clockwise on the Dasashwamedh ghat is eight priests from different parts Narmadashtakam in Sanskrit. Kevadia Tourism circuit. flowy movementsofthe multi- performed, to replicateitat of the country.Wehavepro- The tribal singers have been Dubey says that the Narmada layeredbrass lamps. Kevadia. videdthem accommodation in training to learn the verses im- Ghat aarti is likelytoattract sev- The ritualistic Narmada Aarti Nilesh Dubey,Assistant Kevadia and theywill reside peccably,"Dubey says. eral tourists,given that Narmada -- on the lines of the magnificent Commissioner,SOUADTGA,told here. Sevenpriests will perform The aarti will be followedby is considered the holiestofthe Gangaaarti performedatthe The Indian Express, "The reason the aarti everyevening and one alaser fountain showonthe three important rivers of Hindu Dasashwamedh Ghat in forchoosing the Construction of the Narmada Ghat over in Goravillage is over. Bhupendra Rana priestwill be on standby, in case Narmada waters, whichis mythology.Dubey says,"River Varanasi -- will soon be an inte- Dashashwamedh Ghat is that it of emergencies. Theyhavebeen themedonthe ShivTandav Narmada, alsoknown as Rewa is gral partofthe dailyevening is the mostpopular among the practising the tunedhand mo- Nrityaofduration of 15 minutes. the daughter of LordShiva.Itis eventsofthe Kevadia Tourism Gangaaartis. Even Prime form and mostperfectlysyn- Dam receivesenough waterto (RBPH) resuming hydropowerin tions with the large multi-lay- DevendraTrivedi, apriestofthe believedtobethe holiestofthe Circuit in Narmada, where the MinisterNarendraModi and chronisedthere. We want that allowthe gatestobeopenedand aphasedmanner and thus, ered lamps to therecitals of the Shoolpaneshwar temple trust, three rivers because theysay constructionofthe Narmada have performedaar- sameperfection." the Narmada rivertoflowdown- recording atotal outflowof aartis, everyday at the temple whose fatherheadedthe panel that adip in the Gangapurifies a RiverGhatsinGoravillage, over- tis on the Dasashwamedh Ghat. Sources saythat the state stream. The Narmada Dam is 40000 cusecs. complexfor the lastfew weeks. interviewing the young priests, Hindu personjustlikeasip of the looking the towering Statue of On his visittoIndia, Modiji also government is awaiting anod currentlyatalevel of 115.11 me- Aseniorofficial of the admin- We areready to go and awaiting ropedinfor the aarti, told The Yamuna purifies one, but amere Unity,isnow complete. took along Japanese Premier from the Prime Minister's Office tres, and itsFull Reservoir istration said, "Atthe moment, asignal from the government." Indian Express, "The laser show sight of the Narmada riverpuri- The Kevadia Tourism Circuit, Shinzo Abetothe as PM NarendraModi is ex- Capacity is 138.68metres. On thereisnowater downstream as The uniqueaspect of the ad- alongwith the aarti will take the fies aperson becauseitisthe whichhas over 31 attractions Dashashwamedh Ghat forthe pected to participateinthe inau- August28, lastyear,the damhad the monsoon has been delayed. dition of the aarti along the Narmada rituals one step ahead 'manasputri' of LordShiva.The along with the world's tallest GangaAarti. This is because the gural aarti whichcan be held already touched130.53 metres The aarti cannotbeheld unless ghats, Dubey says will be thein- of the Gangaaarti. It is onlyhere ghatswill certainlybeamong Statue of Unity,isall settohost movement of the aarti is uni- onlywhen the Sardar Sarovar with the Riverbed Powerhouse the waterisreleasedand the clusion of thetribal musicians. that one would be able to expe- the popular touristattractions."

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 5

ADVERTORIAL UPL University: Where talent meets industry Its forte lies in its experienced faculty, industry connects &job placements

tatime when the discourse hascentred aroundthe indus- Mrs Sandra Shroff is the Chairperson/ Atry-readiness andthe applied Chancellor of UPL University of skillworthiness of our higher educa- Sustainable Technology who believes in We believeinthe philosophy "No Student Is Bad" tion courses,the UPL University of hands-on training to develop skills What prompted you to get into the edu- lio by adding courses under Diploma Engineering financial support and helping out in routine Sustainable Technology already hasa among students while they acquirethe cation sector? and Science programs.The UPL Limited has do- operations. tested coursemodule that hashelped latest knowledge in Computer Theidea of working on aproject of higher edu- nated more than 65 croreand promised to con- Thesecondchallenge has been to equip our build aknowledgeabletalent pool. Technology and IT.She firmly advocates cation came to me in 2001 during abrain-storming tinue its support. students with auniform standard of skill sets. Perhaps it helped that it began that academic institutes should become meeting with friends and members of the Rotary What arethe high points of the During the first year, we foundout that our stu- operations from Ankleshwar,one of better training hubs for industry Club of Ankleshwar.Weset up apublic trust, the university? dents were very poor in English, Mathematics the biggest industrial hubsinGujarat. personnel. She believes therecan be a Ankleshwar RotaryEducationSociety, to estab- TheNBA-accredited DepartmentofChemical and Chemistry.Therefore,weprepared atime As thefirstmajor educational institu- symbiotic agreement between industry lishanengineering college,groom technocrats Engineering &Environmental Science &Technol- table with additional slots for these three disci- tion in Bharuch district, it has always and institutions to take research and meet the needs of the industrial belt of ogy has been able to ensure 100% placement for plines.Weobserved that students’ self-confi- tailored industry-specific courses.It forwardfor sustainable development. wasrecently established as auniver- Bharuch district. Ours is ahybrid model wherein students who registered with the T&P Cell. We dence increasedgradually.The third challenge sity buthas hadadequate experience the industry is helping with finance and an NGO is have astrong industry interaction (industrial vis- has been imparting quality and technicaleduca- in technical education as aGTU- affili- gies, industry connects and job place- mental lab.The National Board of Ac- managing the educational hub. its,experttalks,internships and so on.) tion without compromising on disciplineand atedEngineering Collegebythe name ments for all its eligiblestudents.Ina creditation has endorsed two of its Canyou elaborateonyourjourneyand We are aQCFI-certified Five Sinstitute since moral values. SRICT (ShroffS.R.RotaryInstitute of relativelyshort spanoftime,the insti- courses –Chemical Engineering and challenges alongthe way? 2014.We have been approvedbythe energy audit How has the institute evolved? Chemical Technology-SRICT). tution has encouraged its faculty Environmental Science &Technology. With the support of UPL Limited, the Shroff consultant of GEDAsince 2017 and Chief Electrical Thebasic aim of developing an institute was Thejourney of UPL University members to takeupresearchand con- Theinstitute,over aperiodoftime, family,industry friends and the Nagrik Sahakari Inspector of the Gujarat Government since 2019. to provide quality technical education to students started in 2011 with the establish- sultancy in environmentalprojects. has developed two special industry- Bank of Ankleshwar,wecame up with the Shroff We have the NABL-accreditedlab in environmen- (including the under privileged)ofBharuch dis- ment of SRICT. It thenconducted UG As many students willtellyou, the focussedcourses. Theseare (i) Chemi- S.R. Rotary Institute of Chemical Technology in tal parameters since2017. We have hadMoUs trict and makethem industry-ready and employ- courses in engineering in affiliation faculty’spersonalised attentionto cal Technology with four different spe- 2011. Themain objective of the institute wasto with academic institutes and industries of na- able. Our interaction with the industry through with GTU.ItstartedPGcourses in them hasmade themoutshinepeers cialisationsviz. Pharmaceutical createtechnocrat and skilledengineers for the tional and international repute. Our R&D is ori- visits,lectures,research ,projects,MoUs and sum- Chemical and Mechanical engineering in university exams,some of them Technology,Dyes &Pigments Technol- industries in Ankleshwar and Bharuch District. In entedtowards environmental issues,energy and mer internshipshas catalysed our efforts and we in 2015 followed by aPGcourse in Or- winning University gold medals. ogy,Polymer &Rubber Technology, the initial years,weoffered the BachelorofEngi- sustainability feel that we are on the right track. Other activi- ganic Chemistry in 2018 and Environ- SRICT caters to many industries andGlass &Ceramic Technology,(ii) neering (BE) and Master of Engineering (ME) pro- Shareyour learning from the ties,including those in association with the Ro- mental Management in 2020. The via its Schedule-1 EnvironmentalAu- Environmental Science &Technology. grammes.From in- pandemic. taract club,Na- forte of theinstitutelies in its experi- dit Lab accreditedbyGPCB as wellas Both disciplines are aperfect blend of ception, the institute COVID-19 wasabig challenge for us butour ture club,Urja enced faculty,teaching methodolo- throughits NABL-accredited environ- Chemistry, ChemicalEngineeringand earned enough faculty, staff members and studentsacceptedit Club and so on, Technology. goodwill and main- fair and square.Our teachers conducted online have also helped Being managedbyaninterna- tained its position classes regularly while our students appeared in in inculcating Mr Ashok Panjwani is the tional NGO,the Rotary Club of An- amongthe top engi- semester exams in both online and offline formats. the need to serve society among our students. President of the UPL University kleshwar,and stronglysupported neering colleges in Gujarat. Its benchmark was Not only this,our students attended several profes- Getting astatusofprivate university in adecadeit- who pioneered the most by the world renownedagro- apparent from the very first results of the Gujarat sionalwebinars and even participated in online selfshowsour growth and our acceptance as a rewarding project of his life by chemicaldoyen, UPL Ltd,the uni- Technological University.Wewere the only col- curricular and co-curricular activities.Our faculty, hub of quality education. setting up ahigher education versity is committed to working lege to offer Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical students and theirparents had full faith in us be- What is your success mantra? institute, SRICT,and now the UPL with aphilanthropic approach to Technology&Environment Science&Technology cause of the management’svision. Managing That hasgot to be the one-to-one interactions University of Sustainable impart world-class education to in Gujarat. To produce skilledprofessionals and crises wasthe best learning experience for us.We with students, faculty,staff members and profes- Technology.Its matrix is on the students in the fields of Science, researchers,weset up SRICT in 2018, offering learnt to optimise technology to reach maximum sionals fromindustries.Our president, Mr Ashok lines of the Institute of Chemical Engineering,Technology and Man- M.Sc (Chemistry) to students.Since then, the insti- people.Wemade online learning easy and interest- Panjwani, holds one-to-one meetingswith stu- Technology (ICT), Mumbai, of agement. tute hasbeen fulfilling the needsofthe industry by ing with excellent visualsand graphics. dents to keep abreast of their progress.Our Princi- which he is adistinguished TheUniversity’ssole aim is to birthing researchers and innovators. How do you stay ahead of the curve? pal, Vice-Principal and HoDs regularly interact alumnus. Panjwani has arich empower the young people, hone As we feltthe need for firming up an industry- Theinstitute encourages industrialvisits for with students to resolve theirproblems and help experience, delivering several their scientific temperament and oriented curriculum, we decided to apply to the students,organises expert lectures, internships them achievetheir targets. We monitor the projects in the chemical industry for 49 years. He has a promote research in science and Gujarat Governmentfor aprivate university status, and holds sessions on personality development. progress of students at agranular level and help benevolent legacy of his own in Rotary Club, having helmed technologyfor building asustain- namely the “UPL University of Sustainable Tech- This helps us achieve 100% placement for our stu- them succeed in their exams and careers.The several social service projects. His visionary approach and able future.Itisbecause of this vi- nology “, under the Gujarat State Private Universi- dentswho registerwith theT&Pcell. earlyexposure to industry,our technical projects relentless efforts to better the education system have made sionary and growth-oriented ap- SRICT atop class institute in Gujarat. He believes in the personal proachthat the university has got tiesAct, 2009. This proposal wasapprovedon What arethe challenges that you have and academic freedom have equipped our stu- connect with everybody in the institute, be it stafforstudent. He corporate support fromSajjan In- June 1, 2021. So ours is the first privateuniversity faced so far? dentstobetechnocrats and dynamic thinkers. is determined to make UPL University aworld class institution in dia Ltd, Zydus Cadilla, GRP Ltd, in Bharuch districtand India’sfirst private institu- Funding has got to be our first challenge the coming years. BEIL Infrastructure Ltd, Gharda tion to practiseand implement the ethics of sus- and we need support from society and indus- Dr.ShrikantJ.Wagh, Chemicals,Colourtex Ltd and tainability.Ithas expandedits academic portfo- try.For example, UPL limited is providing Provost (I/c),UPL University of SustainableTechnology many more.

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 6 EXPRESS NETWORK THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021

LAST RITES IN BULANDSHAHR TOMORROW Kalyan dies, UP announces 3-day mourning TRACKING THE SECOND SURGE ThreeJeM 538 NEWCASES:29,965 “He ledfromthe front in the DAYSSINCE ACTIVECASES:3,53,539 MAULSHREESETH Ramtemple movement. When it PANDEMIC BEGAN LUCKNOW,AUGUST21 cameto ensuringprogressinrais- VACCINATIONS:57,22,81,488 militantskilled ing the Ramtemple, he did not DAILY DEATHS TOTAL DEATHS WEEKLY CFR OVERALL CFR FORMER UTTAR Pradesh Chief even hesitatetostepdownas 404 4,34,368 1.13% 1.36% MinisterKalyanSingh, popularly CM,”Adityanathsaid,referringto known as “Babuji” in UP politics, Singh’sresignation from thepost ingunfightin diedonSaturdaynight at the ICU of chief minister,taking“moralre- of the SanjayGandhi Post sponsibility”forthedemolitionof GraduateInstituteofMedical the BabriMasjid on December6, SciencesinLucknow, afterbattling 1992. The chief ministerfurther age-related ailmentsatthe facil- informedthat acabinet meeting SouthKashmir TESTS TODAY: 16,89,854 | TOTAL TESTS: 50,62,66,012 ity fornearly one-and-a-half wasconvenedonSaturdaynight | months. Chief MinisterYogi to mourn thedeath. Adityanath WEEKLY POSITIVITY: 1.82% OVERALL POSITIVITY: 6.40% Adityanath rushedtoSGPGIas said the bodywould be placedat Militant commander among them had soon as he heardthe news of the BJP headquarters on Sunday STATES REPORTING MOST CASES Singh’s deteriorating healthcon- and will later be takentoAligarh, STATE NEW ACTIVE WEEKLY TOTAL killed BJP leader Rakesh Pandita: cops dition. BJP statepresident Singh’s hometown. CASES CASES POSITIVITY VACCINATION SwatantraDev Singh accompa- Arrangementshavebeen bodies were retrieved from the Kerala 17,106 1,78,916 15.85% 2,55,35,751 niedhim to thehospital.The CM madeatthestadiuminAligarhfor ■ BASHAARATMASOOD siteofencounter," police said in a announcedthree days of state people to payfinal tributes, the ■ Maharashtra4,575 53,9672.39% 5,14,91,159 SRINAGAR,AUGUST21 release.“One of the killedterror- mourning,addingthatAugust23 CM said, adding that on Monday, ■ Tamil Nadu 1,652 19,3911.12% 2,78,88,766 istshasbeenidentifiedasWakeel willbeapublicholidayeveryyear. Kalyan Singh with Atal his body would be takentohis THREEJAISH-E-MOHAMMAD AhmadShah.Identificationofthe ■ 1,35020,871 0.87% 3,60,79,359 Condoling the demise of the Behari Vajpayee, LKAdvani, ‘janmabhumi’and‘karmabhumi’, (JeM) militants, including atop twoothers...isbeingascertained.” former CM who had been associ- Kanshi Ramand Mayawati; , aseat he has also repre- ■ AndhraPradesh1,217 15,141 2.07% 2,60,46,280 militant commander,werekilled Theoperationwas launched atedwiththeRamMandirmove- coming out of Tihar jail (left) sented in the Assembly. The chief in agunfight in south Kashmir's in the same forest areas where mentandwasastrong‘Lodh’face afteraone-day token ministersaid that Singh’s body STATES REPORTING MOST DEATHS Tral on Saturday. The militant JeM's Pakistani commander of the BJP,Adityanath labelled imprisonment by the wouldbelaidto rest withfullstate commanderkilledhasbeeniden- Saifullah,aliasLamboo,waskilled STATE TODAY’S TOTAL WEEKLY OVERALL Singh’sdeath as “apurniyaksh- Supreme Courtfor honoursatNarora inBulandshahr DEATHS DEATHS CFR CFR tifiedasWakeel Ahmad Shah, lastmonth. hati”(an irreparable loss)and re- contempt,inDelhi in districtonMonday afternoon. who figured in themostwanted Police said Shah wasacate- calledhis “leading role” in the October 1994. Express archive FULLREPORTON ■ Maharashtra148 1,39,3242.14% 2.19% listofmilitantsreleasedrecently gorisedmilitant,whowas"instru- campaign. www.indianexpress.com ■ Kerala 83 19,5070.65% 0.55% by the police. mentalinplanningandexecuting Police said Shah wasinvolved terror attacks on security estab- ■ Odisha 66 7,342 5.44%0.74% in killing BJP leader and coun- lishmentsand civilian killings". ‘LESSONSFROM U.S. WITHDRAWAL’ BHU student ■ Tamil Nadu 23 34,686 1.38% 1.35% cilor Rakesh PanditaatTral His name figured in thelistof10 ■ Karnataka 18 37,123 1.40% 1.27% Payeen. Panditawas killedon mostwantedmilitantcommand- says harassed, June 2, when he wasvisiting his ersissuedbyInspectorGeneralof Muftiwarns Centre: If J&K Note:DataasonAug21;vaccinationnumbersasofAug20.Deathsincludethosefrompreviousdays. friend at Tral. Police(IGP),Kashmir,Vijay Kumar assaulted on On Saturday, ajoint team of on August3.The listcontained loses patience, you’ll disappear policeandtheArmycordonedoff names of sevenold militantsand campus; protest Nagaberan,ahigh-altitudevillage threenewmilitantcommanders. Soldier dead, 4othersin in the woods of Tral in south “He(Shah) wasalsoinvolved 2019. the erstwhilestateintoUTs,Mufti breaks out Kashmir,after receiving inputs in aseries of firing/grenade lob- BASHAARATMASOOD “Patience needs courage. said, “What youhaverobbedus hospital after heat stroke about the presence of militants. bing attacks on Police/security SRINAGAR,AUGUST21 What people of Jammu and of illegallyand unconstitutionally As the team of forces were zero- forces,"thepolicestatementsaid. Kashmir areenduring...theday —the identity of J&K —thatyou EXPRESS NEWS ing in on thetarget, the militants "Incriminating materials includ- ASKINGTHE Centre to learn ales- they losepatience, youalso will have distorted,and the pieces that SERVICE during endurancerun openedfire,tryingto breakthese- ing armsand ammunition were son from the withdrawal of US notremain —you will disappear," youdid to J&K....correct this mis- LUCKNOW, AUGUST 21 curity cordon and the security alsorecoveredfromthesiteofthe forces from Afghanistan, former Mufti said. “I am telling youagain take,orelse it would be toolate,” Hospital. team retaliated,leading to agun- encounter".PolicesaidIGPKumar, Jammu andKashmir chief minis- and again:don't test ourpatience; she said. STUDENTS AT theBanaras MANAMANSINGHCHHINA The training activity wasbe- fight, the policesaid. GoC 15 Corps Lt Gen DPPandey, terand Peoples Democratic Party understand and correct (your- The PDP chief accusedthe Hindu University (BHU) in CHANDIGARH,AUGUST21 ing undertakenby11officers, 11 “In the ensuing encounter and GoC Victor ForceMaj Gen presidentMehboobaMufti on self).” BJP-ledCentreofmisusing cen- Varanasi continuedtheir JCOs and120 Other Ranks, the three terrorists of proscribed ter- RashimBalivisitedtheencounter Saturdaysoundedawarning to Mufti urgedthe Centre to take tral agencies suchasthe NIA,CBI protests forthe fourth consec- ASOLDIER diedand four others Armysaid. roroutfitJeMwere killedandtheir site. NewDelhiand said that if the lessons from the Taliban capture andtheEnforcementDirectorate utive dayonSaturdayafter a hadto behospitalisedafternearly It waslearnt thatthe en- people of J&K “lose patience, you of Afghanistanand resolve the to crushdissent and political op- woman student wasallegedly three dozensoldiers collapsed durancecompetitionwasalready will notremain —you will (also) Kashmir issue through dialogue. ponents. Warning of communal sexually harassedbyanother due to heat andexhaustion dur- goingonfor72 hoursanda10-km Russian women deaths: cops wait disappear”. “Understand what is happening polarisation, she said that if the student and twounidentified ing an endurancerun conducted legwithfullloadandweaponwas Mufti also had awordofcau- in the neighbourhood.... Sucha BJP doesn't mend itsways, India men on the campus on the at Mamun military station near undertakenatarelatively late for embassy consent for autopsy tion forthe Afghan Taliban,say- big power—America —had to would break intomanyparts on night of August16. Pathankot on Saturday. hour —around 9am—when the ing that the "role of guns is over". fold their bedsand return," she communal and religious lines. An FIR underIPC sections The condition of the four is weather wasnot conducive. .Aday aftertwo Russian cials said on Saturday. Mufti wasaddressing apub- said. “You (the Cetre) still have an On the Afghanistansituation, 354(assault to outragemod- stated to be critical. When contacted,asenior Army women were found dead in On Thursday evening, 24- lic rallyinsouth Kashmir's opportunity. Theway(formerPM Mufti said, "They(Taliban) made esty), 323 (voluntarilycausing According to Armysources, a officer said, “In an organised,su- their apartment in twosepa- year-old AlexandraRi-Djavi Kulgam during ararepublic out- Atal Bihari)Vajpayee-ji starteda the US flee from Afghanistanbut hurt) and 504(intentional in- 9Corps recce troop competition pervisedand monitoredtraining rate incidents, apost-mortem wasfound hanging in her reachbymainstreampolitical dialogue —with outside nowthe worldiswatching their sult with intent to provoke wasorganisedonSaturdaymorn- activitynearPathankot,dueto se- wasyet to be performedonthe rented apartment in Oxel in leadersin the Valleysince the ab- (Pakistan) and here(in J&K) —you (Taliban)behaviour.Iurgethe breachofpeace) has been ing. During the event, 34 soldiers vere weather conditions, there bodies, as the Goa police Siolim, NorthGoa. Djavi wasa rogation of J&K's special status also (should) startadialogue.” Taliban nottocommit anyact that lodged againstthe accused on collapseddue to hotand humid has been one fatalcasualty and awaited consent from the model and had promoteda and downgrading of the stateinto Referring to the abrogation of forces the worldtogoagainst acomplaint filedbythe 22- weather conditions and were fewindividualsadmitted in Russian embassy,policeoffi- Tamil film. ENS twoUnion TerritoriesinAugust specialstatus and bifurcation of them. The role of guns is over.” year-old woman student. rushedtoPathankotMilitary Military HospitalPathankot.

N.W.R.S &KALPSAR DEPARTMENT N.WR.S &KALPSAR DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF GUJARAT E-procurement notice No.09 of 2021-22 E-procurement notice No.10 of 2021-22 NARMADA, WATER RESOURCES, WATER Name of work :- (1) Soil Investigationand Soil testing at vari- ExecutiveEngineer Sujlam Suflam Spreading Channel Dn. SUPPLY &KALPSAR DEPARTMENT ous locations between Ch. 27.700 km to Ch. 61.280 km of MARTYRDOM On 22 AUGUST E-Tender Notice No.09 of 2021-22 (2nd time) No.1, Himatnagar behind Durga Oil Mill, Sinchai Bhavan Nb Sub Dhura Ram Verma, SM Sujlam Suflam Spreading Canal. Est.Amount Rs.2.66 lakhs (1) (1) Name of work:- The Rates are online invited on behalf of Hon'ble (23 Jul 1952-22 Aug 1995) and (2) Providing and laying 900 mm Dia RCC NP3 Pipe line Chhaparia Road Himatnagar 383001 T. No.02772-246671 Governor of Gujarat by the Executive Engineer,Damanganga Project Division On this day we salute and pay homage to agallant Work Between Ch.810 to 1089 mt. forfeeding Various 9nos of invite online e-tenders forSix Monthly unit rate forM&R and No.1, Madhuban Colony from the contractor who are registered as approved soldier who laid down his life for the Nation while flood restoration worksfor Sujlam Suflam Spreading Canal contractor with the Government of Gujarat in appropriate Class for Five (5) Nos. village Tank From Sujlam Suflam Spreading Canal HR protecting the Territorial Integrity of India, along Ch.27.700 Km to 158.200 Km and GorathiyaRecharge of Dam Safety works for which estimated cost between Rs.3.49 Lakh to Ch.57.290 km. Est.Amount Rs.15.98 lakhs Last date/Time for the Line of Control in Jammu &Kashmir in the Rs.19.26 Lakh receipt of online price bid Dt.06/09/2021 Up to 18.00 Hrs,Last Scheme form the Appropriate Category/ Class (E-2 &Above) finest traditions of the Indian Army. (2) Last Date of submission of Tender online- Dtd.06.09.2021 Time up to 18.00 date/ Time forSubmission of EMD,tender feeand other doc- Approvedcontractor Registered with NWRWS &Kalpasar May your Soul attain Moksha. hrs. Deptt. OR R&B Department. Commanding Officer and All Ranks 3 GRENADIERS uments Dt.13/09/2021 Upto 16.00 Hrs,Date of opening of bid (3) Name and Address of the SE/EE Concerned: 1. Period fordownload &submission of onlinetender: Dt.14/09/2021 at 12-00 Hrs. (i) Superintending Engineer,Damanganga Project Circle, Valsad Office Address- ExecutiveEngineer Sujlam Suflam Spreading Dt.23/08/2021 to Dt.06/09/2021 Up to 18.00 hrs. (ii) Executive Engineer,Damanganga Project Division No.1, Madhuban Colony 2Physical submission of Tender Fee&EMD Within 7days (4) Further Details can be seen at www.nprocure.com, Channel Dn No 1, Himatnagar behind Ourga Oil Mill, Sinchai after last date of online Tender Submission (By RPAD or Note:- All rights to acceptor reject, anyone or all tenders reserves with the BhavanChhaparia Road Himatnagar 383001 T. NO.02772- Speed Post only) GOVERNMENTOFGUJARAT SuperintendingEngineer for which no reason will be given. (2) Experience cer- 246671 Further details can be seen at www.nwr.nprocure.com 3Opening of Tender.dt.14/09/2021 at 12.00 Hrs NARMADA WATER RESOURCESWATER tificate issued by the concern office for similar nature of work, carried out must &www.statetenders.gujarat.gov.in INF/HMT/271/2021 Detail Tender Notice will be availableonSUPPLY &KALPSAR DEPTT. GANDHINAGAR be produce in hard copy and soft copy.Tender will not be opened in absence of Experience Certificate. Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board www.statetenders.gujarat.gov.in and e-tender fordownload & E-Tender Notice No. 7of2021-22 (4) Other Conditions are laid down in uploaded tender under "special condition" E-TenderNotice No. 23 of Year- 20-21 upload will be available on www.nwr.nprocure.com Addition / Corrigendum No 1 which may please be noticed. No.INF/Valsad/306/2021 Alteration/Corrigendum etc. if anywill be publishedon E-TenderIDNo. :- 478180 (3rd Attempt) www.nwr.nprocure.com only and it will be binding to all the In the name and on behalf of Government of Gujarat contractors. INF/HMT/270/2021 State the ExecutiveEngineer,. Irrigation Proj. Divn. “IMPORTANT” Online Tender through E-Tendering are invited forthe Above E-Tender Id (Total 1Work- Kadana Part-II RWSS No.4, Karjan VahivatiSankul First Floor:Rajpipla Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of 393145 (Ph. No.02640-, 222899) invites Third party TwoYears OAND MWork) by ExecutiveEngineer,P.H. advertising copy,itisnot possible to verify its WorksDivision, GWSSB,Lunawada, District inspection services forconstruction supervision, contants. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot inspection &testing of construction materials,machin- Mahisagar-389230.Estimated Cost-61.38 lakh (1) be held responsible for such contents, nor for any Eligibility: -AsPer Tender Documents &Online Tender ery, equipments forthe work of Renovation and loss or damageincurred as aresult of Restoration work of GoraDistrych. 0to16445 moff- Notice.(2) Last Date of submission of Tender transactionswith companies, associations or taking from ch 1000 mt of Karjan Right Bank Main Document: 13/09/2021 (upto 18:00 hrs), Further details individuals adversing in itsnewspapersor Canal Rs.9.25 Lacs from registered contractors.Itcan can be available from website. Publications. We therefore recommend that http://gwssb.nprocure.com. Forfurther more Tender be seen on website www.nwr.nprocure.com and also readers make necessary inquiries before sending information contact to S.E., P. H.C., Godhra&E.E., information available on website P. H.W.Dn., Lunawada. www.statetenders.com. Which shall be downloaded & any monies or entering into any agreementswith submitted online up to 06/09/2021 upto 18.00 Hrs.with advertisers or otherwise acting on an Forany problem of ruralarea water supply please con- scan document format as per E-tender notice,ifscan advertisement in any mannerwhatsoever. tact GWSSB help line No-1916. (INF/Godhra-439/21) document not provided those tenders,shall be treated as nonresponsive. Document shall be submitted cegKÙe keâeÙee&}Ùe, otjOJeveer : qsvq-svsvrqr/qs/qt/qu/qv/qw through R.P.A.D.Post/Speed Post. upto dt.13/09/2021 He@âkeäme : qsvq-svsvrqx 18.00 hrs (GST Rules will be applicable) efJejej F&-ces} : [email protected] INF/Narmada/176/2021-22 efJejej (hetJe&), peeJekeâ ›eâ. : ½F.d½F.¾F.¸F./AFSû¦¹F/uqt/sr lee. JemeF&, efpe. hee}Iej-uqrtqv. efoveebkeâ : sq.qy.sqsr ONLINE TENDERING STATUE OF UNITY AREA DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISMGOVERNANCE AUTHORITY ½FÀFBÊ d½FSFS ¾FWS¸FWF³F¦FS´FFdÕIF TENDER NOTICE NO.6 YEAR 2021-22 ¸Fb£¹FFÕ¹F, d½FSFS (´Fc½FÊ) Tender forbelowmentioned worksare invited by ExecutiveEngineer,Division 2, SOU ADTGA, (§F³FI ¨FSF½¹F½FÀ±FF´F³F d½F·FF¦F) Kevadia Colonyfrom eligible government registered contractor http://snnl.nprocure.com, http://nprocure.com, www.statetenders.com formore information ªFFWeS BÊ-d³Fd½FQFÀFc¨F³FF Ii .r Sr Name of Work Tender Tender Earnest Amount Category ¾Fbdð´FÂFI No Amount Fees Not less than 6Month ½FÀFBÊ d½FSFS ¾FWS¸FWF³F¦FS´FFdÕIZ ¨¹FF ´Fi·FF¦F ÀFd¸F°Fe kkA °FZ IllI dS°FF §F³FI ¨FSF½¹F½FÀ±FF´F³FFa°F¦FÊ°F Q`³FadQ³F SÀ°FZ 1Construction of Bus Stop Rs.19.90 Rs 1062.00 Rs.19,910.00 Class E1 & ÀFR FBÊ, ¦FMFS ÀFR FBÊ, I¨FSFÀFaI Õ³FIø³FÃFZ´F¯F ·Fc¸Fe½FS ½FFW°FcI IS¯FZ ¹FF IF¸FFÀFFNe¶FFÁë ¹FaÂF¯FZ¸FFRÊ °F ´FF¨F ½F¿FF˨¹FF Shed at NewBituminous Lacs above IFÕF½F²FeI dS°FF¹FZ¯FFº¹FF ÀFF½FʪFd³FI À½F¨L°FZAa°F¦FÊ°F Q`³FadQ³F ÀFFR ÀFR FBÊ IS¯¹FFI dS°FF ¸F³Fb¿¹F¶FT (Manpower) Parking at Kevadia ´FbS½FNFIS¯¹FF¶FF¶F°F. ªFF.Ii .½Fd½F¾F¸F/AFSû¦¹F/trq/sqsr-ss dQ. ry.qx.sqsr A³½F¹FZ dQ³FFaI sq.qx.sqsr SûªFe Online Submission StartDate On date On date 20/08/2021 from 18.00 hours ªFFWeS BÊ-d³Fd½FQF ¸FF¦Fd½F¯¹FF°F AF»¹FF Wû°¹FF. ÀFQSeÕ BÊ-d³Fd½FQZ¨¹FF dQ³FFaI rr.qy.sqsr SûªFe¨¹FF d³Fd½FQF´Fc½FÊ ¶F`NIe¸F²FeÕ Onhne Submission Last Date On date 31/08/2021 up to 18.00 hours WSI °Fe/ ÀFc¨F³FFa¨¹FF A³Fb¿Fa¦FF³FZ AaQFdªF°F Sæ ¸F, IF¸FF¨FF A³Fb·F½F, d³Fd½FQFI FSF¨Fe ÀFSFÀFSed½FØFe¹F CÕFPFÕB°¹FFQeÔ¶FF¶F°F Tender Fees /Earnest Moneyand other document Upto date 03/09/2021 d³Fd½FQF´Fc½FÊ ¶F`NIe¨¹FF A³Fb¿Fa¦FF³FZ ¶FQÕ IS¯¹FF°F AFÕZÕZ AFWZ°F. °¹FF¸FbTZ ÀFQS d³Fd½FQF ·FS¯¹FF¨Fe Aad°F¸F dQ³FFaI submission date (Physical Submission Last Date) up to 18.00 hours rv.qz.sqsr SûªFe Qb´FFSeqt.qq ½FFªFZ´F¹FË°F ¸FbQ°F½FFP QZ¯¹FF°F AFÕZÕe AFWZ.ÀFQS d³Fd½FQF dQ³FFaI rw.qz.sqsr Tenderer opening Date (Price Bid) On date 04/09/2021 @16.00 SûªFe Qb´FFSeqt.qq ½FFªF°FF C§FO¯¹FF°F ¹FZBÊÕ. hours onwards (If possible) ÀFQS ¶FQÕFa¨Fe ¾FFÀF³FF¨¹FF http://mahatenders.gov.in ¹FF ÀFFaIZ d°FI À±FTF½FS ÀFd½FÀ°FS´F¯FZ ¸FFdW°Fe C´FÕ¶²F Iø³FdQÕZÕe AFWZ.°FSe¹FF¶FF¶F°F ÀF½FÊ B¨LbIFa³Fe ¹FF¨Fe ³FûÔQ §¹FF½Fe. Formore Information visit above website Sd/- (AdªFa¢¹F ¶F¦FFOZ) Executive Engineer C´FF¹Fb¢°F Division 2, SOU ADTGA, §F³FI ¨FSF½¹F½FÀ±FF´F³F INF/NARMADA/178/2021-22 Kevadia Colony ½FÀFBÊ d½FSFS ¾FWS¸FWF³F¦FS´FFdÕIF

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TOURISM CORPORATION OF GUJARATLTD. (TCGL) (A Government of Gujarat undertaking) Nigam BhavanSector 16, BlockCFirst Floor, Nr.GH4½Bus Stand, Gandhinagar-382016 Website: https://www.gujarattourism.com TENDER NOTICE Bids are invited from reputed and experienced Agencies for the "Selection of an Agencyfor the Overall Management of Various projects at Vadnagar,Gujarat".The project requirements,technical specifications,eligibility criteria, selection process,etc. are included in the Tender document published on the website: https://www.nprocure.com and https://www.gujarattourism.com/tcgl/tender/latest-tender. The last date forsubmission of the Financial Bid is 14/09/2021 up to 3:00 pm. and Technical Bid is 16/09/2021 up to 3:00 pm. The Financial Bid shall be uploaded in n-procure website only. Managing Director of TCGL reservesthe right to reject or accept anyorall tenders without assigning anyreason thereof. Managing Director

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The Indian Express. Forthe Indian Intelligent. Happy ADVERTORIAL |Aninitiative by RaksHabandHan AbAbininddiinnggrrelaelatitionshonshiipp

aksha Bandhan is perhaps the most tender and heartfelt of ter.Today, it is celebrated between cousins,between friends, even all Indian festivals as it embodies both love and responsibil- neighbours.InGujarat, Brahmins change their janeus on this day. Rity between abrother and sister.Loveassiblings are born It has been adopted by other religions and cultures.The festival is with it, growing and maturing together.Responsibility because both celebrated with equal gusto in Nepal, Pakistan and Mauritius.And pledge to watch out forand protect each other even when asister it is this expansiveand accommodativehuman emotion that mat- movesout of her parental home.Itisinthat sense ashared thread ters. that binds their lives despite their changing circumstances.Itis also one festival where both are seen as equal participants in growing ahuman relationship and, therefore,considered the Go eco-friefriendlndlyywwhihilele giftingiftingg purest form of human engagement.Symbolically,the brother and What is Raksha Bandhan without some fanfare,beitsweets or sister begin the daywearing newclothes and sitting together.The designer rakhis.There wasatime when rakhis were just simple sister ties abracelet or Rakhi around the wrists of her brother with threads tied to aswastika. Nowtheyhavebecome personalized aprayerfor hisprotection. She offers him sweets and gets areturn and artisanal. Some designers have turned them into full- gift from her brother,anacknowledgment of his commitment to her fledged accessories with silver,gold and even meenakaritied welfare. to zardosi bands.And in carbon-conscious times,eco-friendly This tradition is rooted in Hindu mythology and has,therefore, rakhis are the newtrend. Some of these are made with become ametaphor forsolvinghuman complexitiesthrough the biodegradable materials while some are using seeds which can languageofpeace,understanding and negotiation. According to be planted as asymbol of an everlasting bond. VishnuPurana, the demon king Bali, when granted aboon by Lord Brothers,too,are making thoughtful choices fortheir sisters. Vishnu, asked the latter to staywith him at his palace perpetually. From clothes to jewellery, bags and watches to chocolate ham- Vishnuhad no option buttoaccept the request. Till his wife, god- pers,there is awide variety forcurated gifting. Markets are dess Lakshmi, tied the rakhi around the wrist of Bali and as a offering severaldiscounts too.Online gifting has become quite returngift, asked Bali to let VishnureturntoVaikunth. Bali accept- the rage,offering awhole newbouquet of options and gift ed the requesttohonour his oath as abrother.Inthe Mahabharata, cards.E-commerceportals have become asaviour in COVID times.Finally,buy local as this is ameaningful wayofhelping Draupadi tied apiece aroundKrishna’swrist when he nickedhis the artiste community around us who help us makethe day hand while releasing the Sudarshan chakra,healinghis wounds. special. Kunti tied aknot around Abhimanyu’swrist before the wartopro- tect him. Societally,inthe times of exogamy, when women left their village after marriage and the family rarely had an opportunity to meet her, the festival became the reason forbrothers to venture out to her marital home and keep her connected to her origins.Not only that, it wasalso amarkerthat amarried woman had the protection of her parental family and should not be undervalued by her in-laws. The festival also had apolitical resonance.Historyhas it that Rani Karnawati, the widowofRana Sanga of Mewar, wasrunningthe kingdom in the name of her elder son Vikramajeet.Perceiving her to be vulnerable,Bahadur Shah, the ruler of Gujarat, attackedand defeated Vikramajeet.The cornered queen then wrote aletter to Mughal emperorHumayun, seeking help,and sent arakhi with it. He accepted her as his sisterand marched to help her.Hecould not save her butdefeated Bahadur Shah and helped Vikramajeet get backhis throne. Over time,Rakhi has broadened to celebrate fraternal relation- ships that matter and does not strictly apply to the brother and sis-

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THESUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 Crude Wa tch OIL POSTS WEEKLYFALL OF OVER 8% NewYork: Oilprices closed out their biggest week of lossesinover nine months, amid worries over weakened global demand. Brent fell 1.9per 8 ECONOMY cent on Friday, and 8per cent on the week to $65.18abarrel. US WTI fell 2.2per cent to $62.32, down over 9per cent weekly. REUTERS

‘UBHARTE SITAARE’ ALTERNATEINVESTMENT FUND WITH `250-CR CORPUS NEWPEER-TO-PEERLENDING LAUNCHED BY FINTECH MSMEsnowgettingrecognition:FMat CRED Mint launch: How P2P lending platforms launchoffundforexport-orientedunits work within RBI ambit She addedthat the governm- have been giventhe right to pro- ENSECONOMICBUREAU ADDITIONALBENEFITTOMSMEs ent had launched“withagreat vide funds to MSMEs against PRANAVMUKUL In 2017,the ReserveBank brought P2P lending NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 sense of urgency” the Emerge- their bills,” she added. NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 FINANCE MINISTER ncy Credit Line Guarantee She highlighted that MSMEs service under itspurview. Even at that time, there FINANCE MINISTER Nirmala said Scheme (ECLGS) andextended were benefitting from regula- FINTECHPLATFORM CRED on were over 20 P2P lending players in the market, Sitharaman said on Saturday the launchofthe fund had it postthe second waveofCovid- tions whichrequired that central Fridayannouncedthe launchof but RBI regulationsensured onlythe serious ones that micro, small and medium been delayedbyCovid but 19 infectionsasmanyMSMEs ministries, departmentsand apeer-to-peer (P2P) lending fea- enterprises(MSMEs) arenow that firms receiving support had benefitted from it. public sectorundertakingscom- tureCRED Mint —aservice that with watertight business models remained getting the recognition that they from it would nowalso The Finance Minister’s office plete at least20per centoftheir will allowthe company’s users have notreceivedfor decades. benefit from ‘One District tweetedthatMSMEs had availed procurement from MSMEs. to lend moneytoother usersand spree of fundraising involving to other debt instruments. She wasspeaking at the One Product’ scheme in credit of Rs13,555 croreunder Sitharaman said the Centre making a9per cent interest per some of the existing launch of the‘UbharteSitaare’ al- Uttar Pradesh, whichhas the ECLGS. The government had, would continue to give impor- annum on the amountsthey players in the seg- What role will ternative investment fund, the largest number of in June, extendedthe Rs 3-lakh tance to MSMEs and that it had give out as loan. ment. Some of the CRED play? aimedatproviding debt andeq- MSMEs in anystate crorescheme till September 30 shown thatittrusts MSMEs by major companies Likemosttech- uity funding to export-oriented or till guarantees forcredit of Rs permitting them to self certify What is P2P lending? operating in this nology companies in MSMEs as well as providing 3lakh crorehad been issued. their accountsinstead of requir- P2P lending is notanew fea- space are the lending space, them withthe required techno- The fund, whichhas acorpus launchofthe fund had been de- Sitharaman also highlighted ing that theybecertifiedbyaudi- ture. In 2017,the ReserveBank of RupeeCircle, Finzy, whether P2P or oth- logical support to maketheir of Rs 250 crore, is aimedatiden- layeddue to the Covid-19pan- the passageofthe Factoring tors. Earlier this month, the India (RBI) brought this service IndiaMoneyMart, erwise, themain role businesses morecompetitive. tifying export-oriented units demic but that firms receiving Regulation (Amendment) Bill Central BoardofIndirect taxes under itsregulatorypurview. etc. it will playisto “MSMEs arenow getting the with technological,productor supportfromitwould nowalso whichdrasticallyincreases the and Customs (CBIC) notifiedthat Even at that time, therewere Forits P2P lend- analysedataofpo- recognitionthat MSMEs did not process advantages in their sec- benefit from the ‘One District number of firms that can pro- MSMEs with aturnoverofupto morethan 20 P2P lending play- ingfeature,CRED has tied up tential borrowers to decide their getfor years and decades,” she tors and supporting them with One Product’ scheme in Uttar vide MSMEs withfunds against Rs 5crore would be permitted to ers in the market, but RBI regula- withRBI-approved non-banking creditworthiness. This is the said at the launchofthe SIDBI funding and advisoryservices to Pradesh,whichhas thelargest trade receivables. “Till nowthere self certify their annual GSTretu- tions ensured only the serious financial company(NBFC) model also followedinthe buy- and India EXIM bank-sponsored acceleratetheir growth. number of MSMEs in anystate were only sevenfactors. rns instead of needing certifica- ones withwatertight business Liquiloans. now-pay-latersystemwhere fund in Lucknow. Sitharaman said that the in thecountry. However, now9,000companies tion by acharteredaccountant. models remained in the sector. technologycompanies tie up In P2P lending, users sitting What arethe risks associated with banksorNBFCs to provide on idle moneyprovideloans to with P2P lending? them with adatabase of credit- potential borrowers identified Oneofthe biggestrisksasso- worthy people that can be tar- RBI WATCH Fourthstraightmonthof by theserviceprovider.These ciated withthis kindoflending getedfor aloan. FOREIGN EXCHANGE P-note investment rises to growth:Julywasthefourth lendersthen receive payments is thenon-repaymentofloans. Fintechcompanies typically consecutivemonththat from the borrowers on aset ba- GiventhatP2P lending is aform stand to makeacommission for 40-month high in July recordedgrowthininvestment sis —either one time, or in of unsecured loan,thereisno this. CRED founder Kunal Shah throughP-notes equated monthlyinstalments. guarantee put up by thebor- said in atweet Fridaythat CRED Investments in capital markets via participatory notes rowerfor the lender to redeem cash —the company’s lending Fall in currency (P-notes) rose to Rs 1.02 lakh croreasofJuly-end, according Segment-wiseinvestmentin Which arethe players in the in case of adefault.However, the product for‘high-trustCRED to Sebi data, making it thehighest levelinlast40months July: P2P lending segment? unsecured nature of theloanis members’ —had aloan book of ■ Equities:`93,150crore AfterRBI issuedits regula- also the reason behind the high Rs 2,415 croreasofdatewith less assets, gold pulls ■ Debt:`8,290crore tions in 2017,the space sawa return on investment compared than 1per cent default rate. ■ Hybridsecurities:`358crore P-noteinvestmentlevelin forex reserves precedingfourmonths: Govt to industry body: Reconsider ■ June:`92,261crore ■ May:`89,743crore off record high ■ April:`88,447crore strike against gold hallmarking ■ March:`89,100crore NewDelhi:Assertingthatmanda- strike’ on August23, againstthe Goldhallmarking,apuritycertifi- FALLOF$2.099BILLION toryhallmarkingof goldjewellery government’s arbitraryimple- cationofthemetal,wasvoluntary `1,01,798cr `48.36lakhcr `1,06,403cr in 50 days of itsfirstphaseofim- mentation of mandatoryhall- in natureprior to June 16. Aug6 Aug13 TotalvalueofP-note Assetsundercustodyofforeign Previoushighestleveloffund plementation has been a“grand marking of gold jewellerywith “Iheardthatsomeassociations 20212021 investmentsinIndianmarkets portfolioinvestors(FPIs)asof inflowthroughP-note success”, the governmenton HUID (hallmarkunique identifi- have givenacall forstrike. Strike Foreign currency assets 577,732576,374 —equity,debt,andhybrid July-end,risingfromRs48lakh investmentroute,seenin Saturdayurged jewellerybody cation number). forwhat?...Thegovernmentislis- Gold37,05736,336 securities—atendofJuly croreattheendofJune March2018 GJCto reconsideritsdecisionto go Mandatorygoldhallmarking tening to everyissue raisedby on strikeonAugust23. has come intoforce from June 16 stakeholders. The idea of strikeis SDRs 1,5511,544 What are P-notes: Issued by registered FPIs to overseas investors who wish to be part of the The All India Gem and in aphasedmanner. The govern- uncalledfor,”theBureauofIndian Reservetranche position 5,1255,111 Indian stock market without registering themselves directly Source: Sebi/PTI JewelleryDomesticCouncil(GJC) ment has identified256 districts Standards (BIS) Director General Total 621,464619,365 has calledanationwide ‘token forthe phase-1 implementation. Pramod Kumar Tiwari said. ENS in million US dollars; source: ReserveBank of India/Reuters In nod to GM expands the International Monetary ‘Post LIC IPO, 60% ‘Yellen backs renaming ENSECONOMICBUREAU Fund (IMF) sawareduction Delta variant, NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 of $7 milliontoreach$1.544 Powell as US Fed chair’ Chevy Bolt billion. of insurance biz to be THE NATION’S forexreserves The country’s reserve po- US Fed moves EV recall for decreased by $2.099 billion sition with the IMF also de- REUTERS to stand at $619.365 billion creasedby$14 million to with listed entities’ Jackson Hole BENGALURU,AUGUST21 for the week endedAugust $5.111 billion, as per RBI data. fire risk, will 13,asaresult of adecline in An increase in the forex meet online US TREASURYSecretaryJanet corecurrency assets as well reserves could bring some ENSECONOMICBUREAU Additional Secretaryin Yellen has told seniorWhite as gold reserves, datare- comforttothe government NEWDELHI,AUGUST21 Washington: The Federal Reserve House advisersshe backs reap- take $1-bn hit leasedbythe ReserveBank as well as the ReserveBank in the Finance Ministry BankofKansasCitysaidonFriday pointingJerome Powell as US showed. In the previous managing the nation’s exter- AFTER THE initial public offering Amit Agrawalsaid a itsannual economicsymposium FederalReserveChair,whoseterm week endedAugust6,the nal and internal financial is- (IPO) of LIC, about 60 per cent of majority of the 69 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will expires in February, a Bloomberg foreignexchange—or forex sues at atime when the the insurance business will be take placeonAug.27 virtuallyand Newsreporterwrote on Twitter. —kitty had seen arise of economyisfacing Covid withlistedcompanies,Additional insurers in the country notinpersonasplanned, the USPresidentJoeBidenhasnot $889 million to reachalife- stress once again and it could Secretaryinthe Finance Ministry have crossedtheir clearest sign yetofthe impact of made adecision and will likely US Federal ReserveChair time highof$621.464billion. have an impact on the gross Amit Agrawalsaid on Saturday. initial breakeven phase the Covid-19Deltavariant on the weigh in around Labor Dayin Jerome Powell Reuters file The foreign currency as- domestic product (GDP) The CabinetCommittee on Fed’s plans. early September,the reporter sets (FCA), avital component growth rate forthe ongoing Economic Affairs (CCEA) had in “While we aredisappointed added in the tweet. Aspokesper- of the overall reserves, de- fiscal as states areannounc- Julygivenitsin-principleapproval eight in 2000. thathealth conditionswill pre- sonfortheUSTreasuryDepartm- dateofprice stability and maxi- clinedby$1.358billion to ing lockdowns. forthe listing of insurance behe- “A majorityofthese have vent us from being abletogather ent refusedtocomment. mum employment,”hewrote. reach$576.374 billion during It is abig cushioninthe moth LifeInsurance Corporation crossedtheir initial breakeven in personatthe Jackson Lake No comment wasimmedi- Afterthe coronavirus pan- A2020 ChevroletBolt EV at the week endedAugust13, event of anycrisis on the eco- of India(LIC).TheIPOofthestate- phase. Once the proposedlisting Lodgethis year as we had atelyavailable from the White demic prompted widespread an auto showinPittsburgh. databythe ReserveBank of nomic front and enough to ownedlifeinsurer is partofthe of LIC happens,about 60 per cent planned, the safetyofour guests House.PowellwaselevatedtoFed shutdowns lastyear,the Powell- GM is recalling all Chevrolet India(RBI) on Fridayshowed. coverIndia’s import bill fora government’s effortstoraise Rs of theinsuranceindustrybusiness andtheTetonCountycommunity chair by then President Donald ledFed slashedits benchmark Bolt electricvehiclessold Expressedindollarterms, year.Ahigher forexkitty 1.75lakhcrorethroughdisinvest- would be withlistedentities. The is our priority,” said Kansas City Trumpin2018,replacingthenFed overnightinterestratetonearzero worldwide. AP file the FCAincludes the effect of could also help strengthen mentinthecurrentfinancialyear. sector as awhole has been grow- FedPresident Esther George in a chair Yellen. and beganamassivebond-buy- appreciationordepreciation the rupee againstthe dollar. Speakingatanevent to mark ing at apace significantly higher statement, citing the elevated Republican Senator Steve ingeffort.Thatsupportiscredited of non-US currencies suchas Agrowth in reserves Actuaries Day, Agrawalsaid amid thanthatof theoveralleconomy,” health risk levelinTeton County. Daines, amember of the Senate with headingoff afinancialcrisis the euro, pound sterling and could bring confidence to global challenges, India has con- he said. Underthecounty’sguidelines, BankingCommittee,urgedBiden andpavingthe wayfor arapid DAVIDSHEPARDSON Japanese yenheld in the for- marketsthatacountrycan tinuedto develop as an emerging Currently, thereare fourlisted people should notgather with inaletterlastweektokeepPowell economic rebound. WASHINGTON,AUGUST21 eign exchangereserves. meetits external obligations, economy withafinancialsystem lifeinsurers, and twointhe non- non-familymembers or hostin- atthehelmof theFederalReserve Powell has hisshare of critics, Forthe second consecu- demonstratethe backing of that hasmatured,deepenedand lifesegment. State-ownedre-in- personsocialactivities.Therever- foranotherfouryearsto buildcon- includingmembersof theclimate GENERALMOTORSCosaidFriday tive week,the value of gold domestic currency by exter- achievedscale. surer General Insurance salraisesquestionsabouttheFed’s fidenceinanimprovingeconomy. activistgroup 350.org, who are it wouldtakeahitof$1billion to reserves sawafall, dropping nal assets,assistthe govern- The needsofthis emerging Corporation of India is also listed broader assessment of the Delta RenominatingPowell“would calling on Bidentonominatea expand the recall of itsChevrolet $720 million to $36.336 bil- ment in meeting itsforeign India areinmanywaysdifferent, on bourses. Agrawalfurther said variant’seconomicimpact,which send astrong signal to house- “climate leader”to replacePowell Bolt electric vehicles due to the lion, datafor the reporting exchangeneeds and external hesaid,addingtheinsurancesec- in the development of newsolu- Chair Jerome Powell and other holds,businesses,andconsumers and who plan to protest against risk of firesfromthe high-voltage week showed. debt obligations, and main- tor, overthetwodecadessincethe tions neededbythis emerging policymakershave mostly played thatthe head of theFederal Powell’s leadership during the batterypack—ablowfor the Meanwhile,the special tain areservefor national dis- introduction of competition and Indiaand itsmaturing insurance down,sayingthatbusinessesand Reservecontinues to enjoy broad Fed’sannualcentralbankingcon- largestUSautomaker as it seeks drawing rights(SDRs) with asters or emergencies. regulation, has matured with69 sector,the actuarial profession householdshavelearnedtolive bipartisansupport,andwillactas ferencenextweekinJacksonHole, to ramp up electric vehicle sales. insurers todayasagainstonly have akey role to play. withthe virus. REUTERS necessarytoachieve itsdualman- Wyoming. TheDetroitcompanyalsosaid it would indefinitelyhaltsalesof the EVs due to theissue and will BRIEFLY seekreimbursementfrombattery supplier LG.The latestrecall cov- COMPANIES LIKE UBER,LYFT,DOORDASH HAD PUSHED FOR IT ers 73,000 vehicles from model NTPCproject years 2019 through 2022. NewDelhi:NTPCannounced “The reservesand ratio of cost commercialcommissioning US court calls California gig workerplan ‘unconstitutional’ to the recall will be decidedde- of a15MWcapacity at the pending on the result of the joint floatingsolar PV project in and Instacartwerepushingto tive wrangling over abusiness Prop 22, overwriting astate law investigationlookinginto theroot Simhadri, AndhraPradesh. KANISHKASINGH keep drivers’ independent con- modelthathas givenmillionsof that would have made them em- cause,currentlybeingheldby GM, BENGALURU,AUGUST21 tractor status, albeit with addi- people the convenience of order- ployees. LG Electronics and LG Energy tional benefits. ing food or aride withthe push of The companies, whose busi- Solution,” LG saidinastatement. Adanipurchase A2020 ballotmeasure that ex- However, inaruling,Alameda abutton. nessmodelreliesonlow-costflex- LG addedthatitisactively NewDelhi: Adani TotalGas emptedride-shareand food de- County Superior CourtJudge “Wewillfileanimmediateap- ible labor, saythat surveys show working with itsclient and part- Ltd has bought 50 per cent livery drivers from astate labor Frank Roeschwrote that the pealand areconfident the the majority of theirworkers do ners to ensurethat the recall in Smartmeters Technolog- lawisunconstitutional, a measure, knownasProposition Appellate Courtwilluphold Prop notwant to be employees. measures arecarriedout ies Pvt Ltd, acompany that California judgeruledonFriday, 22, wasunconstitutional. 22,”agroupsupportingthemeas- “Prop 22 has alwaysbeen an smoothly. GM shares were down manufactures gasmeters. as it infringesonthe legislature’s “Itlimits thepowerof afuture ure,theProtectApp-BasedDrivers illegal corporatepowergrabthat 2.2 per cent in after-hours trade powertoset workplacestandards. legislaturetodefine app-based and Services Coalition,said in a notonlystole thewages, benefits afterdipping 0.6 per cent during The ballotmeasureaimedto drivers as workers subject to statement. and rightsowedtogig workers Friday’sregular session. ArvindFashions cement app-basedfood delivery An Instacart worker in California. Ajudgehas struckdown workers’compensation law”, Gig economycompanies but also ended theregulating Earlier this month,South NewDelhi: Arvind Fashions and ride-hail drivers’ status as in- California’s ballotmeasurethatexemptedcompanies from a makingtheentiremeasureunen- scoredadecisive wininCalifornia powerofourelectedofficials,”Gig Korea’s LG Electronics Inc cut its hasraisedRs439crorefrom dependent contractors, notem- statelaw requiringtheirdrivers to be classifiedasemployees forceable, the judgewrote. in November,whenvoters of the WorkersRising, whichadvocates second-quarteroperating profit marquee investors. PTI ployees.Gigeconomycompanies eligible forbenefitsand jobprotections. AP file The measurewas the culmi- Democratic-leaningstate sup- formorebenefits, said afterthe by morethanafifthto reflectcosts including Uber,Lyft, Doordash nationof yearsof legalandlegisla- portedthe company-sponsored ruling. REUTERS forthe GM recalls. REUTERS Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 EXPRESS NETWORK 9

AYEARON Kids in hospital made to

Many participants of vaccine trials await certification sit in heat for govt event, Sumedh Singh it wasnot original,” Khanna said. Pune-basedindustrialist whoalsoparticipatedinthetrials, asked to submit details of the Saini ANURADHA “I knewthis problem would Hemant Katakkar, 64,isinasim- said she wasstoppedatashop- firstand seconddoseadminis- NCPCR seeks action MASCARENHAS arise. So Ihad got an RT-PCR test ilarpredicament. Katakkar had, pingmallrecentlysinceshecould teredtoparticipantsand the Singh, said, “Wewill conduct an PUNE,AUGUST21 (done) aday earlier.But this is so in fact, motivated20other vol- notpresent CoWin app-gener- datawas submitted to ICMR. The IRAMSIDDIQUE inquirytoascertain who exactly Saini’s release: unfair.Atatime when notmany unteers to participateinthe atedcertificate.“Ihadparticipated Centre wantsthe details in aspe- BHOPAL,AUGUST21 did it. But it could notbethatthe AKKHANNA, 65, aformer top were willing to getinjected with phase-2/3 trials of Covishield. in the trials at JehangirHospital. cific format and the hope is now childrenwere therefortwohours, Punjab Vigilance official at apharmaceutical firm avaccine, we had volunteered “The trial wasadouble- We have beenassuredthatofficial that certificates will be issued TAKINGNOTE of videos that astheprogrammelastedforabout and presentlychairman of a and even convincedseveral oth- blindedone and hence some got certificationforusisbeingorgan- shortly,”DrBavdekar said. showedchildren undergoing 45minutes.”Kanoongo said,“Ire- Bureau to file 2 healthcarecompany, wasamong ers to getthe shot. the vaccine and others got ised.However, we haven’tgot any Bharat Biotech officialssaid treatment at Vidisha district hos- ceivedvideos of the event from the firstfiveparticipants in the “For the lastthree months I placebo,” he said.“When the trial time-linefor this,” shesaid. theyare working with the Union pital were huddledtogether and peoplewho attendedit, in which recall pleas in HC clinical trialsofCovishield vac- have been constantlyasking au- wasunblinded, we were told The trials forCovishield were Health Ministryonthis. made to wait at agovernment the children were seen sitting in cine conducted by the Serum thorities but (I am) told that the that alongwith my daughter and conducted at 15 sites in different Samiran Panda, chief of epi- function of inauguration of an the functions. Thevideowas dis- InstituteofIndia and the Indian matter is being looked into.” driver, Ihad also notreceivedthe cities and were completedby demiology and communicable oxygen plant, the National heartening,sowehaveorderedan EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Council of Medical Research Khanna is notalone. There vaccine shot. We got the placebo. October lastyear.The Covaxin diseasesdivision of ICMR, saidthe Commission forProtection of inquiryand asked forthe person CHANDIGARH,AUGUST21 (ICMR) ayear ago. Along with his are1,600volunteerswho partic- However, at that point we were trials were completedacouple matter is being processed. “We ChildRights(NCPCR)onSaturday responsible to be punished.” wifeand daughter,Khanna re- ipated in the Covishield trials, immediatelyadministeredthe of weekslater. aretrying to see howthe CoWin issued notice to Stating that he waspresent ADAY afterformer Punjab DGP ceivedhis vaccine doses in and 25,800who were partof vaccine shot.” Dr SanjayLalwani, medical softwarecan allotthis certificate Chief SecretaryIqbal Singh Bains. throughout, district CMHO Singh SumedhSinghSainiwasreleased Augustlastyear. Covaxin trials conducted by This wasinMarch this year. director at Bharati Hospital, one and the entireprocess has been The apexchildrightspanel and said, “Justwhen the programme from itscustody,the state Ayear later,hehas to furnish Bharat Biotech.Ofthe 25,800 “Since we were partofthe trial, of the trial sites, said the issue of expedited,” Dr Panda said. askedBainsto conductaninquiry wastostart,MLA Umakant VigilanceBureau(VB)hasdecided RT-PCR test resultsevery time he participantsinthe Covaxin tri- we were notincludedinthe providing official certificates to “I have raised this issue as a in sevendays andtakeaction Sharma pointed out that no girl to filerecallpetitionsinthePunjab has to boardaflight, because, un- als, aBharat Biotech officialsaid, CoWin software that wasissu- the participantshad recently rights-basedone, and ICMR has againstthoseresponsible. waspresent for'kanya pooja'.We and HighCourtintwo likeother vaccinated people, he 50% were vaccine recipients, and ing provisional and final certifi- been discussedwith ICMR. “We proactively interactedwith the Theoxygenplantwasinaugu- (then) triedtoget agirlchild, and cases againstthe former topcop. still doesn’t have agovernment the other half were placebo re- cates,” Katakkarsaid. have been informedthat the vaccine manufacturing compa- ratedvirtuallybyChief Minister in thatconfusion someone might The firstrecall petition will be software-generatedcertificate. cipients. “The placebo recipients “I even wrotetothe Prime Centreislooking intothe issue nies andHealth Ministrysothat ShivrajSingh Chouhan. have calledthe children from the againstthe HC’s August19release The one that the trial sitehad were contacted aftertrial com- Minister’s Office. It responded and will issue certificates soon,” the trial participantsget their The notice from NCPCR chair- ward.” order forSaini in aland fraudcase, providedhas oftenbeen dubbed pletion and were administered saying the issue had been re- he said. certificates through the CoWin man Priyank Kanoongostated, The NCPCR notice statedthat and the secondagainstthe court’s “fake”. vaccines,” the official said. solved. We arestill waiting for Dr Ashish Bavdekar,princi- software. We areaware of this is- “Thechildrenwere madetositfor familymembers of patientsad- August12interimbailorderinadis- “HowlongdoIwaitfor the Allthesepeoplereceivedacer- our certificates,” he said. pal investigator of the Covishield sue and it concerns trial partici- overtwohoursunderthescorch- mitted in the hospital, along proportionateassets case against government to certify that my tificate from the trial sites, stating Katakkar said one of his trial at KEM HospitalResearch pantsofbothCovishield and ing sun, whichprima-facieap- withfamily members of the chil- Saini. The High Courthad termed familyand Ihavegot both doses? thattheyhad receivedvaccines friends wasunable to getabusi- Centre's Vadu RuralHealth Covaxin,” he said. pears to be in violation of Section dren and the children them- Saini’sarrest“illegal”. An official At Jammu airport recently, the during trials.But none of them ness visa forDubaisince the cer- Programme site, said he has also Union Health Secretary 75 of Juvenile Justice (Careand selves, were senttothe pro- spokesperson said “VB willsoon authorities rejected the certifi- could generate acertificatefrom tificateissuedbythe trial site been informed that official cer- Rajesh Bhushan said changes are Child Protection) Act2015.” gramme by hospital staffin be moving therecallpetitionsin cateissuedbythe trial site(in his theCoWinapp,whichisbeingac- wasnot accepted. tificates were being providedto being made in the CoWin app so Chief Medical and Health order to gather crowdfor the the twocases filedagainstSaini, a caseBharati Hospital in Pune),as ceptedasproof of vaccination. Afreelance writer in Pune, all participants. “Trial sites were that certificates can be issued. Officer of Vidisha,Akhand Pratap Health Department function. 1982-batch IPSofficer”.

U.T. ADMINISTRATION OF DNH AND DAMAN &DIU, Classifieds DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, INFORMATION &PUBLICITY,DIU. PERSONAL PARTTIMEJOBS

NO.4-2/DT-ADM/2020-21/222 “ W o r k From Phone Most Suitable for Students, Dated:- 18/08/2021 Employees, Retired, e-Tender Notice (4th Call) Marketing Person, Housewives etc. If inter- On behalf of the PresidentofIndia, the ested, WhatsApp Name, Place to: 7027924000” Additional Director(To urism), Diu invitesE- 0040581363-1 tendering system from eligible bidders for OUTOFMUMBAI running &managing acafeteria on license basisinthe Diu at Ghoghla Beachfor the FLAT for sale. 2BHK, 3rd floor, Sailila, Oppt. St. period of one (01) year and further extend- Mary High School, Chendhre,Alibaug, able annually upto two (02) years on satisfac- Raigad builtup area 850 tory performance. The details are available on sq.ft. Price: 47.5 lacs (Negotiable). Contact Govt. Website www.diu.gov.in & D’Souza:9869501881, www.diu.gov.in &https://ddtenders.gov.in 9769910137. 0070750819-2 e-Te nder ID: 2021_DlUDT_1793_1 IMPORTANT Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy,itisnot possible to verify its contents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be held Sd/- responsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as aresult of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into any Additional Director (Tourism), Diu agreements with advertisersorotherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

ADVERTORIAL|Aninitiative by Rakshabandhan Special AtAtime-hime-honouronoureded bondbond

Everyfestival celebrates ahuman relationship and is areason to nurture and strengthen it. In the rush and gush of daily life, recalling atradition means pressing the pause button and resetting what matters most to us. Raksha Bandhan honours the bond and love between brother and sister. It is celebrated in the month of Shravan isters and brothers exemplify Diwali. The word “Raksha Bandhan” traditions and is believedtohave the truest, purest form of means “a bond of protection” been celebrated by the Gods.But it S between brother and sister,exem- human love,family ties and has been adapted and reinterpreted friendship.This bond is likethe plified by the thread that the latter forevery kind of human circum- umbilical cord between amother ties on the former’swrist. Abrother stance.Women tie rakhi on the and achild, invisible yet pledges to protect his sister through hands of their soldier brothers omnipresent. Significantly,itisthe thickand thin, even after she before theygotowar with full faith most gender-neutral of all festivals, becomes apartofher marital that theywould get divine protection where both are valued forthe role home.Sisters pray forthe well- against enemyattacks.Politically,it theyhaveineach other’s lives,one being of their brothers and stand by has symbolised peaceful and mean- that is not based on dependencies them in their hour of crisis.This ingful alliances, when kings have butequality. equation is perhaps one of the most gotten rakhis tiedbywomen from In that sense Rakhi is one of the selfless and unconditional one that other kingdomsand promised not to exists in human relationships. most sacred Hindu festivals,as harmtheir families and lands in important as Dussehra, Holi and The festival drawsonold myths and return. It is abond of trust that has held strong and kept our moral fibre intact.

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 10 SUNDAY STORY

Zone’, forthe layers of security guarding it. At theGreenZone,wheretherewas no se- Today, thereisnoone around. curity the daybefore, thereare nowTaliban ALETTER FROM The Embassy is working on evacuating fighters swarming, their guns cocked. The 5DAYS, 4NIGHTS Indians, but it won’t happen anytime soon.I other thing noticeable aretheir sneakers —a KABUL return to Room No.347. whitehigh-top Pakistani brand that has lately Later that evening, the Talibantakeover caught Taliban fancy. AFGHANISTAN thePresidential palace, formalising their cap- Irequestone of the younger ones, in his tureofAfghanistan. Awar of 20 years has early 20s, to letushead on to theEmbassy.He come to an endwith lightning speed. hailsoversomeone to help translate, but says Coincidentally, at the hotel, the Internet no one is permitted. As we aretold to move to has sloweddown, while phone signals too acorner,agrouppeopleapproachustoaskthe seem to be failing. Indian Embassytolet them in as well. IN KABUL Another request, to an older Talib, who AUGUST16 lookslikeheisin-charge and carries arocket- KABUL FIRSTDAYOFTALIBAN launcher,isasfutile.Hesmilesandtellsusto go to the hotel, that nothing wouldhappen to us. From acity remarkablycalmasthe Taliban knockedatthe door,to Theroadsarefullof Talibanfightersracingeach Afterwehavestoodthereforanotherhour AFGHANISTAN INDIA one that locked itself inside or desperatelysought away out. other in theirSUVs,waving their flag. or so, my colleagueapproaches them, saying My plan is to leavethe hotelinthe wee howcouldtheylet anIndian womanstandon Kandahar SHUBHAJITROY captures the ordinarylives amidstthe hours for Kabulairport. As Iwaitfor Kamran, the road. Theyfinallylet us in. PAKISTAN about 50 armedTaliban menenter the lobby But, at the Embassy,werealise thereisstill extraordinary collapse of the Afghan capital andproceedto survey thefacilities.Theynotice some wait ahead. With the airporttarmac ajournalistcolleagueand me, but ignoreus. takenoverbycrowds, flightsare suspended. AUGUST13 On waytothe airport, we arestoppedsev- Through the day, Indian officials work the TALIBANAREHEADINGTOKABUL, eral timesbyTaliban fighters, but then waved phones, with the Taliban and the Americans. HAVINGSWEPTSOUTH,WEST clear.Asitgetslighter, we spotasea of people Finally, around 10 pm, we leave the headedthe same way, crammedintovehicles Embassy;around150 of us in 19 Toyota Land From Delhi to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai or walking, withwhatever theycan carry. Cruisers and three trucks.Weare allowedto International Airport, it’s atwo-hourflight. An Afghan man, with his wifeand three carry onlyhandbags. Itakemylaptop, leaving Less than fifthofthe seatsare occupiedthis daughters,says he has to gettoSudan, where behindmy suitcase.Withusisoneof thethree Fridaythe 13th, mostofthem businessmen he works. “Buthow can Igointhis chaos?” snifferdogs beingevacuated, the Labrador or students, braving four government advi- Six armoured personnel carriers blockac- Maya.The Taliban —the word is, theymight sories againsttraveltoAfghanistan. Theaf- cessto theairport.Asthecrowdtryto getpast, actually be armedmilitia —escortus. ternoon is warm when we land in Kabul, but theTalibanfire into theair,everyfewminutes, Even at this latehour,thereistrafficonthe it quicklyturns crisp as cool winds blowin to pushthemback.Themen,womenandchil- road, but no onestops us. Near the airport from the surrounding hillocks. dren duckbehind treesand abarrier,but though, the crowdoffamilies hoping to getin Amask-less Kamran, in his 30s, is there emerge minutes later to tryagain. Finally, it is hasn’t thinned. We areadvisedtohead to an- to receive me.Hehas been recommended theTalibanwhorelent,move thecarriersaway, othergate, whichissecured,withnopeople. by aKabul-basedfriend as areliable driver. and people rushintothe terminal building. Outside, despitethe news that the Taliban Thereismorefiring,and rumours of a AUGUST17 arenow just100-odd km from the capital, the shootout between the Americans and the GETTINGOUT streetsare notasempty as onewould expect, Taliban.However, feware deterred. filledwith menand women, some with chil- AsthefellowjournalistandImakeourway At about2.30am,we makeittotheUS-military dren as well, and security check-points. The intothe terminal, thereare shards of glass held airportcompound. The wait, however, hillocksprovide adeceptivelypeaceful back- everywhere, along with bulletshells, aban- continues. Busyprocessingpapers of Afghans drop.Mostofthevehiclesontheroad,likeours donedfootwear,andbloodonthefloor.Abody employedwiththemastranslators,theUSmil- areworn-out Toyotas. The brandand is beinghauledawayonabaggagetrolley. itarygives us waterand aplace to sit at 5am. Afghanistanhavealongassociation,welldoc- Thereisnoonemanningthebaggagescan- Around 6.30 am, the Indian Air Force’s C- umented at leastsincethe 1996, when the nersattheentrance;infact,noonearound.We 17 Globemasteraircraftfinallytakes offfor Talibanfirstcame ridingintoKabulonthem. take theempty chairs.Soon though, the firing Delhi, with about 130people from the We cross the downtownShahr-e-nau seems to be getting closer and morefrequent, Embassyand twodozen civilians on board. area, withits famous Slice bakery, glitzy makingusconsciousoftheemptinessaround. From the relief of the plane’s interiors, shops,ashopping mall advertising Hush We move inside, near the check-in counters. Kabul again seems incongruously pretty,the Puppies, and takeaway jointslikeChief We wait, and wait, constantlychecking sun bathing the hillocks. As aprecaution, the Burger. Thecustomers aremostlymen, but withthe Embassy and MinistryofExternal IAFavoidstheAfghanairspace,flyingoverIran thereare also women. Kamran advises that Affairs officials, as well as fielding anxious to first,Jamnagar,andthenHindonnearDelhi. Ipickupsome dryfruitsbeforeIleave. calls from backhome. People come and go, Ihavejustwalked intomyhome at 7pm, As we cross apark, the conflict hitsone in walking calmlyorbreaking intoarun when when my phonerings. It is Kamran. “Sir,have theface.AlmostallsuchexpansesacrossKabul thereare gunshots.Agroup of youngmen youreached?”heasks.WhenIsay Ijustdid,he arenow overtakenbyfamilies who have spotus, and walk over to say, “Whyare you rebukes me, “Kyasaab, aapne phonebhi nahin surgedintothe capital from the countryside, leaving? TheTaliban won’tdoanything... You kiya(WhatSir,youdidn’tevenletmeknow)?” fleeingtheTaliban. Thoseunable to find space don’tworry,gobacktoyourhotel.” Twodays later,IcallupRahab to checkon in the grounds have setuphome on the foot- But we stay put. It’s almostnoon when a him. While the Taliban control is total, there paths,withlocalmosquespitchinginwithaid. Talibanfighterappears.AnAK-47onhisshoul- have been some protestsand abacklash. Mohammad Wasim, 47,afather with der,hewavesapistolatusandasksustoleave. Rahab tells me forthe firsttime about an three teenagedaughters and twosons, says, Unsure,we headoutto ahallway.Asweare incident that happened on August16, after “Taliban ke aane se hum zinda laash ban deciding what to do,aTaliban fighter drags a he had leftRabia and me to makeour wayto jayenge... Sirfpathar ki tarahreh jayenge (We man to behindawall, and we hear gunshots. the hotelonfoot. Around 15-20 Afghan po- will be like the walking dead oncethe Taliban People around us run,noone knowswhere. licemeninhis neighbourhood had refused come, little better thanarock).” Aman offers to take us to theUS-con- to surrender their weapons to theTaliban. AsIsettledownataguesthouse,Irealisethe trolledairport area from whereflightsare “Theykilledall of them... Therewas nota Internetispatchy.Itwillhavetodoforthenight. taking off, but whichisalso besieged by peo- word of it in the news.” ple desperatetoleave.Wedecide our best It’sgood that we left in time, he says. AUGUST14 (C’wisefromabove left)Afghan women begfor alms in Kabul; US marinesguide an evacuee at the Hamid Karzai betisgoingbacktothe hotel. “Mahaul bahaut kharab hai (Things arevery TALIBANSEIZEPUL-E-ALAM, InternationalAirport;Shahr-e-nau,inKabul’sdowntownarea, is known forits bakeries and glitzyshops. Reuters/Shubhajit Roy Outside, the control is nowvisiblyunder bad)...No onecango outside,exceptthosewho 70KMSOUTHOFKABUL the Taliban. At thepopular selfie point with arewith the Taliban.” Earlier that day, he had the sign of ‘I Love Kabul’, itsfighters are somehow takenhis newborn, just nine-days- The firstthing next morning, Imoveinto checking papers of people emerging from old, to the doctor. SerenaHotelinShahr-e-nau.Myroom,No.347, and Soviet-backed troops, aqueue is already ployedwith schools, beauty salons, refugee days earlier,tells Rabia and me to head to the the airport.Acommander waves us through “Weworkwith foreigners —Indians, comescheap.andIsoonrealisewhy. It’sstreet- buildingoutsidethe passportoffice. shelters, and have atranslator forthe day, hotelonfoot. He hands me an Afghani patka when we sayweare Indian. Americans,British—theyallleft,nobodytook facing —inawar-habituated country, this Amidstthe hundredsinthe line,isBabar. Rabia.Inher early 30s, she worksinthe en- (scarf) to wear to blend in. But,minuteslater,wefind ourselvesina us,” he says.Ipromise to stay in touch. meansitrunsagreaterriskincaseof anattack. Holdingasheaf of papers,the40-year-oldsays, tertainment industry. Iask Rabia if it is okayfor her to be found crossfirebetweenanew crowdtryingto make OnFridayafternoon,IcallupRabia.Shetells Almost allthe otherguestsare journalists “I will go to whicheverplace givesmeavisa.” The government school we head to firstis on the streetswith aman notrelated to her. itsway intothe airport andthe Taliban push- me how, afterdroppingmetothe hotel, she or diplomats. The hotelknows itsclientele A31-year-old, employedwith aGerman shut. Our next stop is aprivate school that is “Allahmaalikhai...aapkoaisebeechsadakmein ing them back. As bullets fly, Iduckbehinda had to walk formorethan an hour,often run, well; powerisuninterruptedand acomplaint agency carrying out reconstruction projects, the institution of choice forthe well-heeledin kaise chhorh saktehain (It’suptoGod... How suitcase containingclothes forthe 7-10days as people hid away before theTaliban came. regarding Internet is answeredpromptlyby says he has been coming foraweek now. He Kabul. The students,300 in all, 140ofthem can Ileave youstrandedlikethis)?” tripIhad hoped for. When Itell herIam backinDelhi, she is re- staffthatincludesonewearingabadge saying is married, with adaughter who is 2, and girls, arenot heretoday. Onthestreets,the chaos isgrowing. Inone We decide to crouch and makeour way lieved. “I wasworriedabout you,” Rabia says, he is fullyvaccinated against Covid. The virus hopes theycan all getout. The principal welcomes us into the office, of the areasthat Rabia tells me is ahub of jew- away fromwhatisdevelopingintoastampede. talkingabouttheTalibanfightersnowstationed has been surging in itssecond coming, with Apassport official says that from 2,000- but soon news reaches that the Taliban have ellery, the women have already disappeared. Severalpeople areonthe ground, either hav- near her house. “My father who is in his 70sis morethan1.5lakhcasesand7,000-plusdeaths 3,000applicationsaday,thenumberhasgone entered the city.The principal quicklysum- In that walk of about 30 minutes, which ingfallenorbeenshot.Awomanbleeds,ablue- the onlyone stepping out to getessentials.” asof August13,accordingto theJohnsHopkins up to 10,000-12,000. mons all the teachers —16ofthe 20 are feels muchlonger (also due to the heat), Rabia eyed girl standing next to her weeps. Out of Shewonderswhenthepassportofficewill University database. But,amidstthe war, vac- Thereare notmanychoices, says an em- women, in their 20s and 30s —and asksthem talksabouttheTalibannotrespectingwomen, nowhere,astrangergetsholdof my colleague’s reopen so that she can trygetting out of the cinations (both with India- and China-made ployeeatthe Yangi Qarizada Brothers Travel to immediatelygohome.“Ican’trisktheirlives, about what it will mean forher.She spent six suitcase to escorther out, and Ifollow. country. “Basinsaan ki izzat pe haath nahin shots)are trailing and masks areararity. and Tours. No country exceptPakistanis theyare likemychildren,” the 62-year-old, years in Noida,near Delhi, studying, she says. Thenewvictorsof Kabularecelebratingat daalen.Marnesedarnahinlagtahai.Parzillatki Serena is considered oneofthe mostpro- grantingvisas, he repeatstoeveryonewho who has been running the school since 2005, Soon, her younger sister, asmall-time TV ac- roadjunctions,withsomepeopleclickingpho- zindaginahin jeeni... Baaki Allah ke haathmein tectedhotelsinKabul,havingsurvivedtwoat- comes enquiring. says.Helived through the firstTaliban reign. tress, calls to sayshe is rushing home. tosofthemselveswiththeir pick-up trucks.In hai (I justwish theydon’tharass us. Iamnot tacks, in 2008 and 2014,leaving six and nine At thebeauty parlour,the owner is in sim- Finally backatthe hotel, Ibid Rabia good- my nervousness,Ibrushpastafighterwithmy afraid of death. But Idon’t want to leadalifeof dead respectively,including foreigners. AUGUST15 ilarhurryto downtheshuttersandrushhome. bye, and know Imustplan my ownexit from suitcase. He glowers, but lets us pass. dishonour... Rest is up to God).” It will be soonafter that strongman Abdul TALIBANENTERKABUL Backinthe car,our guide-cum-driver, Kabul.SloganswelcomingtheTalibanintothe We finallyconvinceataxi to take us to our AsIhangup,withanotherpromiseof stay- RashidDostum’sMazar-e-Sharif willfallto the Rahab, 35,and Rabia, both getcalls from their capital canalready be heard on the streets. hotel. There arechecksnow almostevery 10 ing in touch, Inoticeher WhatsApp profile Taliban—inanother decisive pointinthe war. TheTaliban arenow at Kabul’s doorstep, and families to come home too. It is about 12.20 IcallupKamran,buthesays hecan’tcome metres,butonelookinsideandtheTalibantell photo.ItisShah Rukh Khan. InKarteSeh,adusty,middle-classKabulneigh- from the morning, peopleare queuedupout- pm, and the roads aresuddenlyfull of people right away as the roads areblocked. Around usto carryon.Thedriverkeepsurgingusto not bourhood that in the mid-1990s hadbeen the side abank to withdraw money. in panic. We find ourselvesinatraffic jam. evening, he arrivesand we makeour wayto take ourphonesout.We decidethento headto (All names have been changed to siteofpitchedbattlesbetweenthemujahideen Iwant to meet some Afghan women, em- Rahab, afather of four,one of them born the Indian Embassy,inthe so-called‘Green the Indian Embassy,instead of the hotel. protect their identity)

Hundredsgathered near aUSAir ForceC-17transport planeatKabul airportonAugust16. Hours later,people would climbontothe plane as it took off, withsome fallingtodeath. AP

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 11 OPINION THE SUNDAYEXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021

Across Fifth THEAISLE COLUMN Stateof‘thestateofthenation’ TAVLEENSINGH Twitter@tavleen_singh

ONEOFthe most anticipatedspeeches PANDEMICINSPIRED entireadult population by end- National Statistical Organization in 2018 of worldleaders is the annual Stateof December 2021(95-100crore) has been found that 28.7 per cent of peopleinrural the Unionaddress by theUSPresident ■ Indians have fought thecoronavirus abandoned. householdslackedaccessto toilets and 32 TheTaliban to the US Congress because the policies pandemic.Wehad severalchallenges in per cent practisedopen defecation. of the US impact other countries.Not front of us to combat thepandemic,we ■ India has given grain to 80 croreplus, so keenlywatched,yet of considerable have made progress on every front. theworldisdiscussing this. ■ We will have severaloxygenplants areterrorists PCHIDAMBARAM interest, is the annual address of the Throughout this, we have become self-re- Thereare about 27 crorefamiliesin in thecountry in thecoming years. Website:pchidambaram.in Prime MinisterofIndia on August15, liant...The world’s biggest vaccination India (on average5members per fam- In October 2020,eight months after LIKEAhorrormovie that we have seen Twitter@Pchidambaram_IN India’sIndependenceDay. driveishappening in India. ily). If 80 crorepersons have received the decision wastaken,bids were invited before,the Taliban returnedtopowerin Independence Daycelebrationisnot a Goingbythe official death toll grain at the rate of 5kgper person, it to install PSAoxygenplantsingovern- Afghanistanlastweek. And,for those of colourful spectacle likethe Republic (4,33,622), it is the thirdhighestinthe shouldbereflectedinthe offtakeofgrain ment hospitals.OnApril18, 2021,the us who remember the lasttime that Dayparade, but the speechmakes up world, but the official number has been from the FCI’s stock. Theannualofftake MinistryofHealth tweetedthat out of therewas aTaliban government in Kabul, forthe floats,the march-pastand the exposedbymanyindependent studies. (of rice and wheat) has actuallydropped 163oxygenplantsthat were proposed horrible memoriesreturned. Memories TheIndependence Day fly-past. The number of deaths is,byconsensus from 66 milliontonnes in 2012-13to62 (morewereaddedlater), only33plants of beheadings. Memories of womenin addressfrom the ramparts of The Independence Dayaddress among experts, at least10times more, million tonnes in 2018-19and 54 million had been installed. Scroll,amedia organ- blue burqas being tortured andbeaten to from the ramparts of the RedForthas and that means India has the highest tonnesin2019-20. In the pandemicyear ization, found that onlyfiveoxygen deathinfootball stadiums.Memories of the RedFort has acquired a acquired aspecial significancesincethe death toll among all countries. During of 2020-21, it increasedto87million plantswereoperational. magnificent statues of the Buddha being special significance since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru. Icall it the the second wave, we desperatelysought, tonnes. This means that notall intended blown to bitsinBamiyan. Memories of a days of Jawaharlal Nehru. I Stateofthe Nation speech. That is one and accepted, help from over 40 coun- beneficiaries got free grain. Asurvey by ■ We have decidedtoinvest Rs 100 Pakistani diplomat in Delhi justifying this call it the State of the Nation tradition of Nehru that Mr Narendra tries foroxygenconcentrators, ventila- Azim Premji University found that only lakh crorefor modern infrastructure. vandalism as the Taliban’s attempt to Modi has notdebunked or discarded. tors, testing kits, etc. On vaccines, the 27 per cent of households reportedre- The PM mayhavethought that none seek recognition. MemoriesofIC814 speech. That is one tradition In the caseofMrModi,however, his governmentquietly buriedthe vaccine ceiving full benefitsunder the 5kg would remember that he had made the on the tarmac of that desolateairport of Nehru that Mr Narendra speeches on August15are unremark- maitri boast, stoppedexports (leaving scheme (GaribKalyan Anna Yojana). In same announcement at the same place in Kandahar. Modi has not debunked or able because they arenot very different manysmall countries highand dry), and the Global Hunger Index, India was on August15, 2019, and on August15, At the surreal press conference that from his speechesatelection rallies — begged Russia and the US forvaccines. placed94out of 107countries. 2020.Hemay do it again on August15, Taliban spokesmen addressedinKabul discarded. In the case of Mr minus histrademarkjibes at the In the firstplace, therewas no merit in 2022. We mustbehappythatthe infra- lastweek,weweretold that women Modi, however,his speeches Opposition (e.g., Didi-oh-Didi). claiming self-reliance in vaccines. ■ Like thetarget for‘toilets forevery- structureinvestment plan is growing, in- would notbetreated with brutalitythis on August 15 are Now, to the substance of the eighth Thankfully, the government accepted one’ wasachieved, we need 100per cent visibly, at the rate of Rs 100lakh crore time. Theywould be allowed to study unremarkable because they speech of Mr Modi. It wasmainlyare- the Sputnik vaccine, and begannegotia- coverage forall other schemes. everyyear! and work,the spokesmen said, they count of his government’s ‘achieve- tions with other global manufacturers ‘Toilets foreveryone’isahollowclaim. Thereismore, but it is atiresome ex- would be givenall the rightsaccordedto are not verydifferent from ments’. Sadly, fewinthe media were forsupplyoftheir vaccines. Insufficient Thousands of toilets that were ‘con- ercise.Ishall stop. them by the Shariat. Small comfortifyou his speeches at election rallies willing to fact-checkthe claims and an- supplycontinues to hamper the vacci- structed’donot existorare usedfor stor- Factsare mundane and boring. Fake remember that this system of Islamic —minus his trademark nouncements(as theydointhe US).A nation programme. As Iwrite, India has age. According to theNational Health is exciting. Checking factsisdangerous, justice believesinstoning women to jibes at the Opposition young team, guidedbyProfessor Rajeev administeredone dose to 44,01,02,169 Survey-5,overone-thirdofthe ruralpop- peddlingfakeisthrilling. Youcan choose death foradulteryand chopping offthe Gowda, has done that exercise and Iwish persons and twodoses to 12,63,86,264 ulation in five states did nothavetoilets what will makeyour countrygreat and hands of thieves. (e.g. Didi-oh-Didi) to shareafew of the resultswith you. persons. The goal of fullyvaccinating the in their houses.Asurvey conductedby the what will makeyour daybright. The horrible truth is that the Islamic Statethat wasdestroyed in Iraq has been reincarnated in Afghanistan. And, justas India did nothavediplomatic relations with that Caliphate,wemustnot have diplomatic relations with the Taliban. Too Could BAMCEF be the life & Born in refugee camps, manyretired diplomatsand foreign pol- icy ‘experts’haveexpressedthe opposite WORK view. Theyare wrong. ATaliban govern- needed answertoRSS? SANDIPG ment that our twoworstenemies, China the Afghan cricketstory and Pakistan, areshowing signs of recog- [email protected] nisingcan neverbeour friend. Besides, featedbut simplyreinterpreted.This work thekind of Islamthat the Taliban believes has been in progress since the times of in is the very antithesis of everything that Charvak,the Buddha, to themodern-era THREE DAYS before ablastatacricket India and India’s religions stand for. Never Dalitality humanitarians suchasJyotibaPhule, matchkilledeight people in Jalalabad in has it been moreimportant forustostand Babasaheb Ambedkar,and KanshiRam. Mayof2018, Afghanistancricketer up forour values, because with radical SURAJYENGDE The BAMCEF (Backwardand Minority Mohammad Nabi, sitting in acosy cafein Islam spreading likeavirusinour imme- Twitter@Surajyengdeom Community Employees’ Federation)was South Delhi, revealedthe twobiggest diateneighbourhood, it is important for formedin1978particularly forthe pur- dreams of his cricketing life. First, he said, India to become abeacon of democracy, pose of ushering ademocracy of the wastoplayTestcricket.The second, and a modernity,justice and human rights. Bahujan —orthe majority —ratherthan a moreemotional one, he revealed, wasto Thereare idiots in the PEOPLE ACROSS the political spectrum theocracy of the minority of Brahmins and playaninternational game in front of his who believe that thereisaneedto and ideology have startedtowonderabout alliedcastes. But the appeasersofidentity home crowd. “Weget alot of support Islamize the SanatanDharmasothatit the futureofpost-Modi India. Theinept politics failedtounderstand the clear-eyed whereverweplay, but to play at home can moreeffectively fight the sortofreli- rule of the current government has dis- vision of the BAMCEF and reducedittobe- would be something special.Ialways envy gious ideas that the Taliban espouses. The mayedopponentsand some supporters ing justaDalit body. the Indians, so muchlove, so muchsup- oppositeneeds to happen.All Indic reli- as well. Partymen as well as alliesofthe Years of work by the admirers of port.” Stopping abruptly, he loweredhis gions believe in the right to question and BJP have voiced their dramatically Phule and Ambedkar had ledtothe body voice and added, almostasalament, “I in the right to reform religious ideas that changed opiniononthe shortcomings of thatismuchlikethe Satyashodhak don’t knowwhen we can feel that sup- have become defunct or debased. It is this the government. However, almost every- Samaj, SamataSainik Dal, Independent portand love... Youknowthe uncertainty very modern idea of faith that we need one has kept their criticism to onlytwo Labour Party, and Scheduled Caste of our lives.” to cherish and preserveifweare to win people —NarendraModiand Amit Shah Federation. Lessons from the pastand The repetitiveness of theturmoilback Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s firstcricketing superstar, tweetedthis photo on July the fight againstjihadi Islamism. Radical —while largely accepting with frustration consideration of the futurewent into home sickenedhim. “Wedon’t talk about 29, with the message“National FlagDay”. Twitter/@rashidkhan_19 Islam has been in India forawhile now, the RSS and itsgrowingappeal. formingabodycomprising hardwork- it, it has been likethat for40years,”hesaid. spreadingslowlyand poisonouslyfrom “Thereisnogetting around the RSS,” ing farmers, labourers, working-class As awriter,Iwanted to hear stories Kashmir to Kerela. is the common consensus. Dalits, Adivasis, Shudras, and other non- that would well the eyes of the world. But While the countryisyet to producea of peace. Thereisalwaysuncertainty.So In the pastseven years, jihadistIslam What is the RSS and howmuchinflu- oppressive castes. Isensedthat suchquestions might be in- tearaway quick, mostly reliantonspin- we looktoenjoythe momentsasmuch has found moreadherentsbecause too ence does it hold? Apersonal secretaryof With 39 different offshootorganisa- appropriate. ners to win games, the fascination re- as we can.” manysenior BJP leaders have turneda asenior BJP ministerwho is aDalit tells me tionstrying to dismantle the social struc- Still, Nabi lovedtotalk about home, mains. Nabi’s firstherowas Wasim This fearlessness is the reasonAfghan blind eyetohatecrimes againstMuslims. the government is unabletobring desired turethrough education and agitation,the even if mostofhis memorieswereac- Akram, Rashid’swas Akhtar. cricketers took to the shortestformatof When Iasked an RSS leader,highlyposi- changes in policies, with everypartofits BAMCEF has shown what it takestohum- quired,his nostalgia second-hand. Born Abouttheir years of refugee life, Nabi the game likeaducktowater,endearing tionedinthe Sangh Parivar, whyhe apparatus mannedbyanRSS handler. ble the arrogance of casteistsupremacists. in Logar, an eastern province on the banks said it instilledinthem rawdesperation them to fans at large.Theysoon devel- thought it wasasignofvalourfor mobs of This wasfurther provedby severalen- Kanshi Ramwas the mostfeared man in of riverLogar,known once as the Gateof to coerce attention,bedifferent. Nabi opedanidentity of their own, in avalida- fanatics to attackand kill unarmed counters Ihad with the BJP government in Indian politics and the BAMCEF washis Jihad and the theatreofthe warbetween calledit“smartthinking”, notthe cliched tion also of the ICC’s successinspreading Muslims, he said with asmile, ‘Atleast . Asenior strategistwho had surety, providing an arsenal of trainedand US-trainedmujahideen groups and the “warrior spirit”. “You trytofigureaway the gospel of the game. the Hindushavelearnedhow to fight helpedthe BJP come to powerand now devotedcadres, workingtouproot Soviet-backedAfghan government out of the mess, even before you’reina Unlikeseveral other associatenations back.’ This is notjuststupid but insane. finds it incompatible with hisliberal Brahminismand Hindutva. troops, Nabi had crossedovertoarefugee mess. Youwanttobenoticed, youwant of the ICC, theyare notanensemble of Thereisneither valour nor courageina Gandhian standards told me the RSS has The BAMCEFclaims to have apresence campinPeshawar when just two. He to be different. So whenall of them were failed/ semi-retired/amateur cricketers mob attacking defenceless Muslim men. long-term plans. inover 600districtsacrossIndia.Itsorgan- talked about “the bright green fields of pacers,Ichosetobeaspinner,” he re- from the subcontinent, but genuine Thereisonlycowardice. So howdoesone take on an organisa- isational structureistight-knit and difficult wheat and multi-coloured glass windows counted.But, in the depth of his heart, he homegrown players.Theirprogresshas The Prime Ministerhas longsought to tion that boosts theabusive traditional to penetrate, as theyremainsuspicious of of minarets” of his town, but added, “I added, he remainedafastbowler. been rapid —PakistanGrade II cricketto be seen as astatesman in theeyesofthe norms of Varnashrama Dharma? Is it pos- theenemy tryingto snooporinfiltrate.That have no memories of childhood. In fact, I Even Rashid Khan has fast-bowler-like making Test debut in 2019,fromun- world. If he has failedtoachieve this ex- sible to invent anew model that can chal- is whyverylittle is known about them or had no childhood.” aggression. The latestevidence is the knowns to party-spoilers (theyhave altedgoal,itisalmost entirelybecause of lengeabehemoth like it? Or is theRSS di- written about in the media.Yet,fromor- It wasinthose crammedrefugee Afghanistancricketboardappointing for- beaten Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe his silencewhenhatecrimes and hate lutable, even open to reform? ganising proteststostate-and national- camps across theDurandLine, which mer AustralianquickShaun Tait as their and West Indies, besidesclose shaves speeches occur,giving them quietsanc- Rights-basedorganisations and liberal levelseminars, it remains aforce. slices the Pashtun heartland intotwo,was fast bowling coach. againstIndiaand Pakistan), from holding tion. In his firstterm it wasbeef and the Leftviewpointshavejustscratchedthe It is important to note thatthe BSP’s Afghanistan cricket born. Almostevery Giventheir genetics and obsession, it their firsttrials in 2003 to producing cattle trade that were usedasanexcuse to surface in taking on the RSS —astyle that ascent and expansion areprimarily due cricketer representing the rife-torn coun- maynot be longbeforeAfghanistan pro- world-class cricketers. lynchMuslims.Inhis second term, new perfectly suitsthe Sangh. The usual clam- to the backboneprovidedbythe BAMCEF. trylearnedhis game in the camps, first duces atop-notchpacer of own. While a The team has players from every- ‘crimes’havebeen addedtothe list, like our againstthe RSS is on itsstand against The mother of politicalorganising that from Pakistani soldiers, and later,asthey waveofpessimism is understandable, where, Kabuland Jalalabad, Khostand love jihad and conversion. But as we saw Muslims and foraHindu nation. This po- doesnot indulgeinpoliticking, it rather integrated with the localpopulation, the nowthatthe countryhas hurledintofresh Kandahar.Ifnot an apostle forpeace, in the mostrecent of these hate crimes, litical minoritisation has grantedfresh life offers intellectualsupporttothe party. Pakistani kids on the streets. abyss, the silverliningisthat the Taliban, crickethas been amessiah of joy. Apow- when agang of Bajrang Dal activists beat to the values of the RSS.Thatiswhy,when- Will the liberal, progressive centrists, LikeNabi, Rashid Khan, the country’s in their firstincarnation, were relatively erful narrative of hope,afleeting escape up aMuslim man even as his little daugh- ever anyone critiques it with elitetextbook Leftists,unionists andLGBTIQ+ trustina firstcricketingsuperstarand arguablythe tolerant of cricket, unlike football, which from frightful realities. At least forthe en- terclung to him begging forhim to be definitions, theyadd to thesupportbase socialorganisation that can rivalthe RSS? finest T20 spinnerofhis generation, too had to be playedclandestinely. dearing identity,charmand innocence, spared,therenow can be attacks without of theRSS. Even in thetimes of the Buddha, caste ego grew up in aPeshawarcamp, with seven Among Indians, forthe Afghans the Afghanistancricketshould be preserved excuses needed. To counter the RSS, we needanorgan- couldnot be shatteredcompletely;that is brothers, afterthe familyfledtheir home- herowas MSDhoni—inhis long-haired, and protected. If India is to be abeacon of enlighten- isation that is as sophisticated,much whythe SakyaRepublic wasdecimated. town Bati Kot, over whichloom the insouciant avatar.Khan calledhim the The next step in the evolutionarychain ment and reason in an increasinglyugly sharper in vision, astuteinpolitical ma- The worldneeds ideas of love and com- Hindu-Kush mountains, in Nangarhar firstnon-Pakistani cricketerwho wowed wastobeaninternational home game. neighbourhood, the Prime Minister noeuvring,and grassroots-based. It needs passion. Politics needs action. People need Province. So did Afghanistan’s fastest them.This fascination manifests in their The dream of ageneration of Afghani needs to makeabsolutelyclear that he octopus-likeorgans that areextendable to embracethe delicacy of both. bowler Hamid Hassan, bowling with a owncarefree cricket;inTestcricket too, cricketers, on the cusp of realisation, with does notapproveofhatecrimes or hate and malleable, with afirm head. headband likehis idol Waqar Younis, and their batsmen look to blastand bash Pakistanscheduledtovisit Afghanistan speech. India’s corevalues arewhat will The ideaofHindu, Hindustanand Suraj Yengde, thewriter of CasteMatters, sporting along manelikehis favourite their wayout of trouble. Nabi had ara- this September.Now that looksasunlikely give us strength in this very uncertain Vedic Brahmanismdoes notneedtobede- curatesthe fortnightly Dalitality column cricketer, Shoaib Akhtar. tionale: “Wehaveenjoyedlittle intervals as ever. time. It pleases me that India has so far notrecognisedthe Taliban government in Kabul despiteasmall armyofformer diplomatsoffering gratuitous reasons whyweshould. Theyshould remember whathappenedinKandahar in those aw- On the ful lastdays of 1999 when the Taliban Life,and the roll of the dice went out of itsway to help Pakistanand LOOSE notus. Indiawas brought to her knees by the LEHERKALA tunity that randomlycame his way. predictable worldmay throw up. justhow it is. standing that sometimes thereare forces hijacking of IC 814. We were forced to re- [email protected] In real lifeofcourse, randomnessrarely Thebirth lotteryisone thing, other va- Amorehonestway to decide college beyond our control that makeusvulnera- lease some of the vilestPakistani terror- provessofortuitous.Luck,ratherthelackof garies of chance playout in subtler ways admissionswould be theold-fashioned bletobothfortuneand misfortune. ists in exchangefor thelives of thepas- it, is acontrolling forceinall our lives. Ask throughoutourlives.Forexample,theprin- chit system. Put all the 95%-plus candi- It is asoberingthought that while I, as sengers of that hijackedIndian Airlines IN THE little gemofamovie Yesterday that the imperiled Afghans. Thereare an awful cipalof DelhiUniversity’sHinduCollegean- dates’ namesinahat, shakeitaround and afemale journalist, type from the comfort flight. The Taliban showed us then that droppedonNetflix recently, astruggling lotofgoodpeoplesufferingdisproportion- nouncedrecently thatthecut-offs thisyear declare alucky draw.Whilefar from ideal, of my air- conditionedroom, TV news fo- theywould rather help the Pakistani hi- musician wakesupafter an accidentto atelyonlybecause theyhappen to be the will begin at (anutterly absurd)100%. The it spares studentsablowtotheir self-es- cuses on my (veiled) contemporariesthree jackers than the desperatepassengers of makethe startlingdiscovery that The haplesscitizensof afailedState.Itturnsout, fact is, therearen’t enoughseatsatHindu teem that theyweren’t good enough,even hours away in Kabul, marching down ade- IC 814. They showedthattheir sympathies Beatles have been erasedfromthe world’s the single greatest stroke of luckiswhere foreverybody who’sgood. Therearen’t with anear perfect score. Surely, theyde- stroyedlandscape, demanding theybeal- laywith Pakistanand notwith India. This collectivecultural memory,and he is the youare born.Our personalnarratives enough seatsatLady Shri RamCollege or servetobevalidatedforstupendous effort lowedtowork. Imagine the risksofput- remains true today. No proof is neededof onlypersonleftonearth who remembers emerge fromthisnarrowandspecificpoint, Mumbai’s St Xavier’s either.So, colleges while adjusting to the complexitythat re- ting up afieryshowofbravery in acountry this, but it has been providedbyImran their music. He sings Yesterday forhis nudging us ahead or holding us back. Yet, ruthlesslykeep ratcheting up the cut-offs wardsdon’t necessarilyaccrue,evenafter sliding towardsamedievaldystopia.This Khan who has openlycelebrated there- friendsand suddenly, he is no longera theconventionalwisdomwe imbibegrow- until theyare (conveniently) leftwiththe exceptional performance. That is nottosay countermovement, womenpushing back turn of theTaliban as amomentinwhich NowhereMan but an artisticsensation.We ing up is to be single-mindedand deter- numberstheycanaccommodate.Thisisan humanity should letgoofambition or we againstaloss of autonomy,speaksagut- Afghanistanhas ‘shaken offthe shackles of arenevertoldhoworwhy thishappens,this minedinour pursuits, to take responsibil- acceptedpractice that should violateour must give ourselvesuptorelentless fatal- ting truth to us watching from our private slavery’. We cannotand should notdo quirky premise directingthe focusofthe ity forour choices, without making sense of justice because we knowthe stu- ism; perseverance and intellectual curios- lockdowns: there aremillions of people business with the Taliban. This gang of filmto biggerexistentialquestionsof chance allowances forthe whims of fate.Itis, per- dent who got rejected at 99.5 %isequally ity arenecessarytomakeitineverycareer. deserving of agreat life everywhere. primitive maniacsisnodifferent to the and ethics. Is it plagiarism if nobody knew haps,tooscaryto envisionthatsincerityand qualifiedfor thatseat. But happenstance The work of life is to prepare ourselves They’rejustnot as lucky. Pakistani jihadistgroups responsible for the band existed? Or merely carpe diem,a hardworkaside, success depends as much rears itswhimsical head; some peopleget through education, experiencesand habits some of the worstactsofterrorism com- down-on-his-lucksingerseizinganoppor- ondodgingthecatastrophesthiswildly un- what theydeserve, some don’t and that’s —for the unexpected.But,withthe under- The writer is director,HutkayFilms mitted on Indian soil.

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 MEANWHILE US BRACES FOR HURRICANE HENRI TheNortheastwas bracing on Saturdayfor the arrival of Hurricane Henri, whichhad gained strength in the Atlantic Ocean with winds of up to 120kilometres perhour,ac- 12 THE WORLD cording to the National Hurricane Center. Hurricane Henri is expected to makelandfall on Long Island or in southern NewEngland on Sundayafternoon.

TOPOFTHE WEST TRIES TO RAMP UP SPEED OF EVACUATIONS WORLD Talibanco-founderBaradararrives inKabultohammeroutnewgovt

Nicholas Burns Taliban ban HUNDREDS HELD DURINGAUSTRALIA PROTEST: Hundreds of protesters march in Melbourne on Saturday.Morethan USA co-education in 250 people who were protesting coronaviruslockdowns in Bidennominates Australia were arrested and manyfacedfinesfor defying Herat province, health orders, authorities said. Sydneyhas been in lockdown careerdiplomat says report fortwo months, while Melbourne and the capital, Canberra, asChinaenvoy went intolockdown earlierthismonth. AP PRESIDENTJOEBidenplans to nominate veteranUS PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA diplomat Nicholas Burns to KABUL,AUGUST21 serveasUSambassador to Panic buying in China,theWhiteHousesaid DAYS AFTER vowing to respect on Friday, signalingthe ad- women’srightsinAfghanistan, ministrationmay belooking Taliban officialsinthe restive Vietnam before forthe envoy to playamore Herat province have bannedco- central role in the increas- education in government and ingly fractious relations be- private universities, describing it tween the twoglobal rivals. as the “rootofall evils in society”. tighterlockdown Thechoiceof Burns,aretired The decision wastaken after careerforeignserviceofficer ameeting between varsity pro- who servedasunder secre- fessors, ownersofprivate insti- tary of state between 2005 US soldiers arrive to boostsecurity at HamidKarzai International AirportinKabul. Reuters tutions, and Taliban authorities, REUTERS FDASETTOGIVEFULL and 2008, marks ashiftfor KhaamaPress News Agency re- HANOI,AUGUST21 therole of the ambassador portedonSaturday. APPROVALTOPFIZER to Beijing,theranksofwhich US urgesAmericans to keep clear of Kabul airportamid potential IS threat This is the first‘fatwa’ issued VIETNAM’S PLAN to prohibitres- VACCINEMONDAY over the pastdecade have by theTalibanafter itsswift idents of Ho Chi Minh City from been filledbyformer politi- group planned to ready anew takeoverof Afghanistanlastweek. leaving their homes from THE US Food and Drug cians, notseasoneddiplo- REUTERS&AP ED Leaderwith model forgoverningAfghanistan CapitalKabul’scaptureonSunday Mondayhas triggered panic Administration is pushing to mats. If confirmedbythe KABUL,AUGUST21 large,loyal within the next fewweeks, with signifiedtheendof theUS’longest buying in the epicentreofits approvePfizer-BioNTech’s Senate,Burnswouldheadto PLAIN E separateteamstotackle internal war, launched afterthe worstcoronavirus outbreak. two-dose Covid-19vaccine ● following China as the twocountries’ THE UNITED States advised EX security and financial issues. September11,2001terrorattacks. The scramble forpurchases on Monday,further expedit- ties areattheir lowest point Americans in Afghanistanto “Experts from theformer On Tuesday, Zabihullah is hurting effortsinthe nation's ing an earlier timeline forli- indecades,andfillapostleft avoid travelling to Kabul airport ABDUL GHANIBaradar wasa government will be brought in Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime largest city to contain the spi- censingtheshot,accordingto vacant since October. on Saturdayasthousands gath- longtime deputy of Mullah forcrisis management,” he said. spokesmaninhisfirst-everpublic ralling Covid-19outbreak,said people familiar with the REUTERS ered trying to flee the countryal- MuhammadOmar,the The newgovernment struc- appearance to address those con- the official Vietnam News agency’splanning.Regulators mostaweekafter the Islamist AbdulGhani Baradar Taliban’s founding leader. turewouldnot be ademocracy cernsatanews conference,prom- Agency. were working to finishthe militantstook control. Baradar is reportedtohavea by Western definitions, but “it isedthe Taliban would honour Long queues of people were process by Fridaybut were The advisorycame after large andloyal following will protect everyone’s rights”, women’srightswithinthenorms seenoutsidemarketsandshelves still working through asub- NIGER Taliban co-founder Mullah NATOand Taliban officials said. among the Taliban’s rank and the official added. of Islamic law, in an effort to por- at supermarketsinHoChi Minh stantialamountof paperwork Gunmenkillat Baradar arrivedinKabulfor talks Asenior US official said that file, and is seen by experts as Baradar will meetmilitant tray amoremoderatestance. City were emptying on Saturday, and negotiation with the with other leaders to hammer potential threatsbythe Islamic the likelyleader of what the commanders,former govern- During athree-hour meeting witnesses and statemedia said. company. Thepeoplefamiliar least16inlatest out anew Afghan government Stategroup againstAmericans in group calls the Islamic Emirate ment leaders and religious of university professors andown- “It’slooking chaotic,” said a with the planning, who were afterthe Taliban’slightningad- Afghanistanare forcing the US of Afghanistan. He had also scholars among others, the offi- ersofprivate educationalinstitu- person who gave her name only notauthorisedtospeak pub- villageattack vance across the country. militarytofind newwaysfor headedthe Taliban’s negotiat- cial said without elaborating. tions, Taliban representative as Nguyen in the city’s District 2. liclyaboutit, cautioned that AT LEAST16people have Images circulated on social evacuees to reachKabul airport. ing team during the recent About 12,000 foreigners and MullahFaridsaidthereisnoalter- “Too manypeople arerush- the approval might slide be- been killedinanattackon media this week of Afghansrush- Officialsdeclinedtoprovidemore peace talksinDoha. Afghans working forembassies native andco-educationmustend. ing out to buy food and essen- yond Mondayifsome com- avillageinsouthwestern ing towardsaUSC-17transport specifics about the IS threat. and internationalaid groupshave He also said virtuous female tial stufffor their harddays ponentsofthe reviewneed Niger whereIslamistmil- plane and clinging to itsside. “Because of potential security beenevacuatedfromKabulairport lecturers would be allowedto ahead,” she told Reuters. “I have moretime. NYT itantshaverepeatedly Since then, crowds have threatsoutside the gatesatthe so,” aUSembassy advisorysaid. since Taliban insurgentsentered teachonlyfemalestudentsbut managed to by some food, as I massacred civiliansthis grownatthe airportwhere Kabul airport,weare advising US The chaos wasnot the re- the capital, aNATOofficialsaid. notthe male ones. don't want to die from hunger year,alocalofficial and a armedTaliban have urgedthose citizens to avoid travelling to the sponsibility of the Taliban, an of- “Theevacuationprocessisslow, as In the lasttwo decades, before dying from coron- and 7,540deaths, with Ho Chi security source said on without travel documentstogo airportand to avoid airportgates ficial of the group told Reuters. it is risky,for we don’twant any Afghanistanhas implemented a avirus.” Minh City accounting formore Saturday. Theunidenti- home. At least12people have at this time unless youreceive in- “The West couldhavehad abet- formof clasheswithTalibanmem- mixed system of co-education Vietnam said on Fridayit than half of the cases and 80% fied gunmen openedfire beenkilledinandaroundthe sin- dividual instructions from aUS terplan to evacuate.” bers or civilians outside the air- and gender-basedseparate would also deploytroops in the of the fatalities, according to during Fridayprayers in glerunwayairfield since Sunday, government representative to do The Taliban official said the port,” the NATO official said. classes in all universities. city to enforce the lockdown the health ministry. the villageofTheim in and deliverfood supplies to cit- “The city is ready with Tillaberyregion and izens, as the city turns to dras- measures to supply food and killed16people, local Packed US tic measures to slowaspiralling essential goods forthe resi- mayorHalido Zibo said by Anti-Taliban forces claim to have taken 3districts rate of coronavirus deaths. dents,” Phan VanMai, deputy phone. Asecurity source refugee plane Vietnam has recorded head of the city's coronavirus confirmedthe attackand Bismillah Mohammadi, who has lightning campaign that saw SovietMujahideen commander 323,000coronavirusinfections task forcewas quotedassaying. put the death toll at 17. carried record REUTERS vowedtoresistthe Taliban, said them take all of Afghanistan’s Ahmad Shah Massoud, have REUTERS AUGUST21 in atweet that the districtsof main cities in aweek. vowedtoresistthe Taliban from number of people Deh Saleh, Bano and Pul-Hesar Local TV station Tolo News Panjshir,whichrepelledboth CHINA FORCES HOLDING out against in the neighbouring province of quotedalocalpolice commander SovietforcesandtheTalibaninthe US SC halts reinstating the Taliban in northern Baghlan to the north of Panjshir who said Bano district in Baghlan 1980s and 1990s. China’sMars ASSOCIATEDPRESS Afghanistansay theyhavetaken had been taken. wasunder the control of local People close to Massoud say ‘Remain in Mexico’policy roversoldierson WASHINGTON,AUGUST21 three districtsclose to the It wasnot immediatelyclear militia forces. The Taliban have that morethan 6,000 fighters, Panjshir valleywhereremnants whatforceswereinvolvedbut notcommentedonthe incident. made up of remnantsofarmy aftercompleting THE US Air Forcesays the cargo of government forces and other the incident adds to scatteredin- Former Vice President and Special Forces units as well ASSOCIATEDPRESS plane packedwith Afghan militia groups have gathered. dications of opposition to the Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad as local militiagroups, have gath- WASHINGTON,AUGUST21 programme refugees whose photo was Defence MinisterGeneral Taliban who swepttopower in a Massoud,son of former anti- ered in the valley. CHINA’S ZHURONGMars widely shared online actually THE SUPREME Courtistem- roverissoldiering on after carriedevenmorepeople than porarilyhalting ajudge’s order completing itsinitial pro- originally thought—823 —and Taliban using social media in bid to placate Afghans that would have forced the gov- Migrantswaittocross into gram to explorethe red markedanew passenger record ernment to reinstateaTrump the US in Tijuana,Mexico. File planetand search for forthe aircraft. administration policy forcing frozen waterthat could The brief statement by the their messages. Nowfirmly in over years of insurgency,offer- thousands to wait in Mexico providecluesasto whether Air MobilityCommand on Friday PAULMOZUR& controlof thecountry, they areus- ing aglimpse of howthe Taliban while seeking asylum in the US. MigrationProtectionProtocols,the it once supportedlife. said the C-17that departedthe ZIAUR-REHMAN ingthousandsof Twitteraccounts could use those tools to rule JusticeSamuelAlitoissuedthe policy required tens of thousands China’s NationalSpace capital, Kabul, lastSundayhad AUGUST21 —someofficialandothersanony- Afghanistan. temporarystaylateFridaynight. of migrantsseekingasyluminthe AdministrationsaidFriday an initial countof640 passen- mous —toplacate Afghanistan’s Afghan social media maybea It will remain in effect until US to turn backtoMexico.Itwas thatZhurongcompletedits gers,but thatfigure inadver- IN ONE video, aTaliban official terrifiedbut increasingly tech- poor indicatorofpublic senti- Tuesdaynight so the high court meantto discourageasylumseek- 90-day programmeonAug tentlyleftout 183children sit- reassured female health work- savvy urban base. ment. Manyofthe Taliban’scrit- canconsider filingsinthe case. ersbutcriticssaiditdeniedpeople 15 andwas in excellent ting on people’slaps. ers that theycould keep their The imagesofpeace and sta- ics and supporters of the US- Afederal judgeinTexas had thelegalrighttoseekprotectionin technical condition. It said Thestatementsaidthecorrect jobs. In another,militantstold bilityprojectedby theTalibancon- backedgovernment have gone previouslyordered that the pro- the US and forced them to wait in it would continue to ex- count of 823 passengers is a Sikhs that theywerefreeand Taliban have turnedsocial trastsharplywith the scenes underground. But already,with a gram, informallyknown as dangerous Mexican border cities. plorethe area known as recordfor theC-17. It took offas protected.Still otherssuggested media intoapowerful tool broadcastaroundtheworldofthe social media campaign in recent “RemaininMexico,”bereinstated The Texasjudge, US District Utopia Planitia whereit the Taliban sweptintothe city, anew lawfulness in Kabul, with chaoticAmericanevacuationfrom weeksthat mayhavehelpeden- Saturday. The Biden administra- JudgeJudgeMatthewKacsmaryk, landedonMay 14.Zhurong prompting thousandsofAfghans Talib fighters holdinglooters and theKabulairportorfootageofpro- courage Afghan security forces to tionappealedtothe5thUSCircuit hadorderedtheprogrammebere- is consistentlysending and foreigners to rushtothe air- thievesatgunpoint. trolledAfghanistan, have turned testers being beaten and shotat. put down their weapons, the AppealinNew Orleansandasked instatedinresponse to alawsuit backdataviatheTianwen- portseeking aflight out —with The Taliban, who bannedthe social media into apowerful tool Theydemonstratethe digital Talibanhaveshownthattheycan foradelayinre-implementingthe filedbyTexasandMissouri,whose 1orbiter that crossesover some reaching the tarmac. internet the firsttime theycon- to tameoppositionandbroadcast powers the militantshavehoned effectively selltheirmessage.NYT program,pendingappeal,butthat governors areseeking to reinstate it once aday. AP wasdeniedThursday. someof theanti-immigrationpoli- Formally known as the cies of Trump. China condemns suicide attack Haiti facesanger and despair aweek after quake

people still missing. But resi- heading to Haiti carrying heli- on its citizens in Pak’s Gwadar LAURAGOTTESDIENER dentsintowns across the south- copters, asurgicalteam and a &RICARDOARDUENGO ern rural countryside arestill landing crafttoassistinthe re- In the attack, twochildren The embassy further said MARCELINE(HAITI),AUGUST21 diggingfor bodies believedtolie lief effort.Several countries, in- SAJJADHUSSAIN who were playing nearbywere that recently, thesecurity situa- underneath the rubble. cluding the United States, have ISLAMABAD,AUGUST21 killedwhile oneChinese na- tion in Pakistanhas been severe TENSIONS IN Haiti were rising Tens of thousands of homes alreadydispatchedaid and res- tional wasamong severalothers and therehavebeen severalter- on Saturdayoveralackofaid to areinruins,leavingmanyfamilies cue teams. CHINAONSaturdayasked who sustainedinjuries. roristattacksinsuccession, re- remote areas of the impover- with no option but to sleep out- Reaching the areas mostin Pakistantotakeeffective meas- The embassy said that it sulting in the casualties of sev- ishedcountryhardesthit by last sidedespitetorrentialdownpours needofhelp has been hindered ures and overhaul the security launchedthe emergency plan im- eral Chinese citizens. week’s devastatingearthquake at night. The hurricane seasonin by landslides and damagetothe mechanismto forestallattackson mediately, “demanding Pakistan The Chinese embassy in that killedover2,000 people. theCaribbeanruns until the end main highway,aswell as gang itsnationals working on various to properly treat the wounded, Pakistan asked itscitizens in ManyHaitians whose homes of November and PrimeMinister fighting that has complicated infrastructureprojectsafterasui- conductathoroughinvestigation Pakistan to be vigilant, andlivelihoodswere destroyedby ArielHenryhaswarnedresidents travel between the capital Port- cidebomber attackedaconvoyof on the attack, and severely pun- strengthen safetyprecautions, the magnitude 7.2quakethat Peoplefightoveranenvelope with acash donation in Les to bracefor morestorms. au-Prince and southern parts of Chinese nationals in the restive ishthe perpetrators”. reduce unnecessaryoutings, and struckonAug 14 said they were Cayes, Haiti, on Friday. Reuters “Afterthe emergency phase, the countrywherecrops and ac- Balochistanprovince,inthe sec- “Atthe same time, relevant take effective security protection. unsurehow to startrebuilding. whichwehopewillonlylastafew cess to drinking waterhavebeen ond suchattackinoveramonth. departmentsatall levels in The Pakistani authorities in a Exasperation over the time it weeks,we willneedtostartthink- destroyed.Some animals kept The Chinese embassy herein Pakistanmusttakepractical and statement said that the bomber wastaking foraid to come in the city of Les Cayes, where talking to theauthorities and all ingaboutreconstruction,” Henry forfood were also killed. astatement strongly condemned effective measures to accelerate targeted the convoy of Chinese through begantoboil over on one of his staff left behind an en- actors to tryand prevent this,” told ameeting with the Officials and residentsin Friday’s suicide attackonthe con- to implement strengthened nationals comprising four Friday, with residents attacking velope of moneythat setofavi- said Pierre Honnorat, head of the Organisation of American States small towns and rural areas con- voy of Chinese nationals compris- whole-process security meas- Chinese vehicles with integral aidtrucksin severaltownsacross olent scramble. United Nations’ WorldFood onFriday, appealingto neighbour- tinuedtotallythe dead and dis- ing four vehicles in Gwadar,the ures and upgradedsecurity co- security details of PakistanArmy the south of the Caribbeannation. “Weare concernedabout the Programme in Haiti. ingcountries forsupportand aid. appeared.For countless others, portcity of strategic importance operation mechanisms to ensure andpolicecontingent on the East Aconfrontation also erupted deteriorating security situation The officialdeath toll from US DefenceSecretaryLloyd the earthquakehas upended due to the presence of Chinese thatsimilar incidentswill not BayExpressway near Fishermen afterformer PresidentMichel that maydisruptour assistance the earthquakestands at 2,189 Austin said on Twitter that the their livesinquieter but endur- workers and investment. happen again,” it said. ColonyinGwadar. PTI Martellyvisited alocal hospital to vulnerable Haitians. We are people, with an estimated 332 USS Arlington navalvesselwas ing ways. REUTERS Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS, AUGUST22,2021 13 EXPRESS ADDA

MEGHATATA JITENDERDABAS MANAGINGDIRECTOR, CHIEFOPERATINGOFFICER, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS MCCANNWORLDGROUPINDIA INDIA Earliertheaudiencelooked Wesawyouinanewavatarasa uptothebig70mmscreen. hostinSecretsofSinauli.You Theherowasbiggerthan wereoutstanding.Willwesee them.Nowthescreenis5 moreofyouinthatavatar?How 1/2inchesandintheirpalms. doyouchooseyourprojects? Thepowerrelationshipis Ididtwoshowsduringthe changing.Doesthatchange pandemic.OnewasonCovidand theideaofscreenpresence? theotherisSecretsofSinauli.Idid Whenweweregrowingup, Secrets...fortworeasons.One,itis ManojBajpayeewas in conversation with Anant weusedtogotocinema madebyoneofmyfavouritedirec- Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express theatresandfindourheroes. torsandfriendNeerajPandey.He Group, and film critic ShubhraGupta Societyneedsrelatable doesnotleaveanystoneunturned. heroesbutsocietyalso Istillrememberreadingthatthe needsinspirationalheroes. villagersranawaywithsomany Bigcinemausedtogiveus artefacts.Theysawthatthese that.Goingforward,asthe wereveryvaluablebutdidnot screenbecomessmaller,do knowthatthiswasacivilisation ‘In the time of the pandemic, youthinkitwouldbedifficult whichwas4,000yearsold.And tocreatethoselargerthan thisisaremarkablediscoveryand lifeheroeswhoweusedtobe it’sgoingtohelppeoplewhoare afanof? goingtoworkonit.Manyofthe Screen presence isvery artefactshavestillnotbeenrecov- it’s become alevel playing field’ important. Thecamerahasto ered.Iwantedtoknowmore.This likeyou, butyoucan’t planthat. wasthesecondreason.Ihavedone Forexample, Zanjeer onwards thisshowasaverycuriousstudent thecamera started liking ofhistory.Igraduatedinhistory,so At the e.Adda lastweek,actor Manoj Bajpayee spokeonhow OTT has revolutionisedthe waywewatch MrAmitabh Bachchan. He thereisthatsideofmewhichis understood the camera,the curiousaboutwhathappened, films,onwriters being the newsuperstars and whyactors needtobeconnected with the worldoutside space infrontofthecamera. howitmusthavehappened. Whenyou understand that, the TherearetwokindsofcontentI cameraalso startsrespecting associatemyselfwith.Onesideof On whether the industryis On whether self-censorship you.If you are intothe meisfromtheatre.Itis character, the camera would influencedbyShyamBenegal, finallyacknowledging talent has become moreofaconcern loveyour truthfulness and that GovindNihalani,RitwikGhatak, Ihavebeen in this industryfor 26-27 Freedomofexpression comes withgreat isscreen presence. SatyajitRay.Iteducatedmeabout years and have alwaysfelt that the talent of responsibility.When we were shooting Forstars tohappen, people cinemaandthisonesideisreally so manypeople has been wasted because we Season 1ofFamily Man,wedebated each will always be attached towho strong.Atthesametime,thereis focus so muchonbox office collections. But QUICK QUESTIONS cuss word,whether it should be thereor they like in thatparticularwork. anothersideofManojBajpayee, now, in the time of the pandemic, Zoom calls should it go.Ifthe cuss word is therefor the Iwent toDelhi and saw people whocomesfromavillage,who and OTT,ithas become alevel playing field. heckofit, Idon’t agree. If the cuss word is standing in huge numbers wantedtobecomeanactorby This is ademocratic time forcinema and I What areyou reading? Your favouritefew lines from your theretosum up thewhole expression of outside theplace Iwas staying, watchingthecommercialcinema justhope it lasts. VivekanandaHandbook forEveryday favourite poem? mine —the intent of the character —then I nottolookat mebut because ofMrAmitabhBachchan,Vinod Living by Anshul Chaturvedi. Girish Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s Yachna has am with it. Self regulation is fine. But when they felt Iwas one ofthem. KhannaandShatrughanSinha. Karnad’s memoirwill be my next. really strong lines.WheneverIwas de- youare told that youcan’t do it, then aprob- That will be the nature of ThesearethetwosidesthatItryto On the king of Mumbai pressed or frustrated,Iusedtotell my- lem arises. Youhavepeople on social media stardom now. There will be balance.Iwanttoexpandmyaudi- Mumbai ka king kaun... mainnahinhoon. What areyou watching? self, ‘Yachna nahi ab ranhoga, jeevanjay saying that Family Man has cuss wordsand relatability. They will not be in encebaseandthatwillgivemethe The king of Mumbai in entertainment is OTT. Ijustfinished Malik,aMalayalam film. ya maranhoga’.The poetissaying, ‘I am theycannotshowittotheir children. awe ofactors likethey used to strengthtodothekindofcinema It has completely changed thegame. It is Iamdefinitelygoing to watchone more notgoing to requestnow,therewill be Fantastic. Idon’t showittomydaughter. be after watching afilm.You thatIwanttodo,likeBhonsleand becoming difficult forpeopletoattempt any- SouthIndian film. abattle. Either Iwill be victorious or I Parentsare the biggest censors. are already looking upwhen you Aligarh.WhenIamreadingscripts, thing whichisbeingmade justinthe name willdie’. are watching it; it wasalways theyhavetoengageme,Ilookat of entertainment. People want good per- Destinyorfreewill,whereonthe scale somebody Iwish Icould be like. thedynamicsofthecharacterand formances, great writers, great directors, and do youfind yourself? Your firstlove. On being an outsider On OTT,you are watching it howisitplaced,who’sthedirector, writers who have great writing skills. These Iamahugebeliever in destiny. Acting,nothing else. Idon’t think Bihar will ever leave this boy. very closely, so they treatyou producerandtheentireproject. arethe real kings of OTT. Iwent thereamonth backand thereisaside asif youare one ofthem, with Do youbelieve in lifeoraphysical The lastpiece of content that you of me that alwaystells me nottoreturn to that kind oflove. On whether viewers will presence outsideearth? consumedthatmadeyou cry. Bombay. If youcome from that kind of acul- Thereisalifethat we arenot Icry very easily. Mostofthe time Itry ture, thosekinds of places, youare never return to the old normal capableof seeingandthatiswhywethink to skipthatportion. Most recently, Icried comfortable in big towns. Youalwaysfeel like Idon’t knowhow long the pandemicwill that this is the onlything that when Isaw ayoungboy singing in aclip an outsider.Ifeel likeanoutsider allthe time. go on forbut when we comeback, therewill exists on this earth. We arenot trained that wasviral on Instagram. He was be bruises and therewill be after enough, notpowerful enoughtosee helpless and wasbeing made to singfor On spotting his father on effects. Will cinema or community viewing that life. the camera. be the same? No,itwill not. What it willbe the sets is yettobeseen.The truth of themoment is Once Ihad requestedmyfather notto that I’m talking to youonZoom.Will we be comefor ashooting. Suddenly someone told doing thesame thing afterthe pandemic is me, ‘chachaji aaye huyehain’. Isaid ‘kaun GAJRAJRAO over? Yes, we will be doing it,but it will be tion and startreinventing themselves. whistled. It wasanexperience that chachaji’and this personsays,“tumharepitaji ACTOR divided—some interviews will be conducted theywent forand theygot that experience. and he is standing amongstthe crowd’. He KAUSHIKROY Someyearsago,evenifthere physicallyand some digitally. But when youare sitting alone in aroom had told this person,‘don’t tell Manoj, Ihave PRESIDENT,BRANDSTRATEGY wasanargumentontheroad, On howimportant is it for and watching content, my response to the come here to see Raveena Tandon’. The big ANDMARKETING youreyeswouldturnred. storywill notbethe same as it wasin heroes and heroines have abig following in COMMUNICATION,RELIANCE On who has lostout in this an actor to have asense of Thingshavechangednow.How the outside the theatre. Bihar.Inmychildhood, Isaw the frenzy Youplayeverycharacter didyoucontrolyourtemper? disruption whenever Mr Bachchan would appear on withsincerity,butIam Gajraj, Piyush Mishra and The wholesystemthat prevailedearlier, If youare nottrying to achieve thereal- screen or even Mr Shatrughan Sinha. Ire- curioustounderstandwhat On whether the days of the Ashish Vidyarthi, allofus were whichbasedthe quality of cinema on a ism of life, youare going to fall flat. Youhave member watching Dostana,inwhichthey isitthatyoudointermsof in the same theatre group. I Fridayrelease, has lost out. But they’realso to trytoget the real personinyour per- superstarare over playenemies. So when Amitji would saya preparationwhenyoudoa was avery angry person. Idid trying to adjustand accommodate. They’re formance,those nuances, those subtleties, We have created ahabitofcalling some- dialogue, onepartofthe theatrewould do AligarhorBhonsle? not comefrom avery having to tweakthemselvesinorder to be those layers whichpeople can relateto. If I one asuperstar, that’s whywegivethis tag. some hungama and whenShatruji would Ihavebeenintheatre for comfortablebackground and part of this levelplaying field. Forusthis was am watching alone, howlong can Isit there Iamnot asuperstar, no one is. In amonth speak,the other section would shout. When long and have myown was on ajourney where the alwaysthe situation but theyweredoing and justsee aperformance in the name of we have two-three actors reallyhitting it Isee thejourneyofcinema from that time to experiences asanactor. There anger was mostlywith my own well, theywerethe real kings of the boxof- entertainment? Those arethe things that out of the park. So howwillyou gauge?OTT OTT, it’s amazing. isamethodthat Ikeep self, asIwas always falling fice, but at the end of the daytheywill also did well because it wascommunity view- has proved that writers arethe superstars. Forlonger version,goto tweaking, looking atthe genre, short whenever Ilookedat take time to come to terms with this situa- ing and youcheered, youlaughedand you It is awriter’s medium. www.indianexpress.com character that Iamplaying. Piyush, Ashish orGajraj. They Sometimes Idon’tprepare at all.When Iamdoing were privileged in myeyes Satyameva Jayate,whichisa because they came froma Eminent guests who participated in the e.Adda include Atul Choksey,Chairman, Apcotex Industries Limited; commercial potboiler, Idon’t certain background.Iwanted to Manas Mohanty,Managing Director,BharatiyaReserveBank Note Mudran Private Limited; Dr Suman Bhandari,Director—Cardiology,FortisEscortsHeartInstitute; prepare. Iamopen towhat my learn as much aspossible.The OP Mishra,Joint Commissioner,Delhi Police; Sivakumar Sundaram,Chairman —ExecutiveCommittee, BennettColeman&Company; Paroma Chowdhury,Chief director asksme todo,but for barometer in my eyesfor an films likeBhonsle, Aligarh, Gali actor wasvery high and there Communications Officer,Dream Sports; KiritShantilal Parikh,Chairman,Integrated Researchand Action forDevelopment; DevenBharti,Additional DG, MaharashtraPolice; Guleiyan,the preparation was this desperationto reach Anu Aga,Former Chairperson, Thermax; RajDutta,Executive Director,Quatrro; Paresh Parasnis,CEO,Piramal Foundation; Anil Saberwal,Executive Director,Powergrid depends ontheback storythat there. The anger came fromnot Corporation of India; Nandini Chatterjee,Chief Communications Officer,PricewaterhouseCoopers; VidyaBasarkod,CountryDirector -India, Ramboll; Abha Dalmia,Director, Icreate, themental or physical achieving enough. There was notes that Iworkon. somuch to learn —you have to Dalmia Holdings; Veena Patil,Founder and ManagingDirector,VeenaWorld; Dharmakirti Joshi,Chief Economist, CRISIL; Vishal Kapoor,CEO,IDFCAssetManagement For Aligarh,there wasa learn Hindi, English, read books, Company; Ankit Saxena,Media Director,Dentsu; Lt GenArunSahni,FormerArmyCommander; Pradyumna Dalmia,Partner,TritonInvestment Advisors LLP; MaliniShankar, chief assistant director who watch films, listen tomusic, Vice Chancellor,Indian Maritime University; JanakMehta, Chairman, FRR Shares &Immigration; Ayaz Memon,Columnist; ChandrakantSalunkhe,Founder and President, SME was well-versedinMarathi gain asmuch aspossible to call Chamber of India; MeenakshiGopinath,Chairperson,Centrefor Policy Research; Nalini Singh,Managing Director,TVLiveIndia literature. Iasked him to yourself an actor. The entire introduce metoMarathi poetry, day used tobe filled with recitation.IfIachieved the activities.Iwas never free. The atmosphere around Siras, Iwill passion tolearn the craftand be Siras. Theatmosphere that skill was toomuch and that he lived in, his lovefor Lata MangeshkarandAsha Bhosle’s tookthe shape ofanger. NowI music, his loveforwhiskey. feel that was adifferent person. There are so manyaspects of Ihave been blessed with thecharacter you work onbut some spiritualguidance and all fails when yougo and actin that’s how itstarted the space set bythe production changing. Iamnotindulgent designer. Youhaveto be now, Iammoreopen topeople, innovative.When ten days are toexperience. Icollaborate gone into shooting, Istart with people. relaxing. Tillthen, Iamwired up.

PANKAJ CHADHA was myfriends, talking tothem about what I RASHMIMALIK morning Kumar GandharvaandBhimsen CEO,JYOTISTEELINDUSTRIES was feeling, and remembering that Ileft my CHAIRPERSON,SPICMACAYFOUNDATION Joshiis playing in theirhouse, they might crib Attheendofthepandemic,manywouldgo village forapurpose and was not willing togo WewanttotakeIndianclassicaltraditions thattime but when they grow up theygo back backtothebigscreen,sowouldyoube back. One thing that Ialwaysdo isexercise, take toeverychild.Istherescopeforpromotion toit.Me and mywife listen toAbida Khanam doinglessOTT?Didnotworkingduringthe ashower and wear trousers andashirt asifIam ofclassicalmusicthroughOTTplatforms? in the evening and in the morning we play all lockdownsimpactyourmentalhealth? going out, even ifIamhome. Ihave done that Iwasin Delhi University and educated kinds ofragas. Mydaughter hates it,but I Forme,mentalhealth wasatstakewhen I during thepandemic too.Iread poetry, new myself aboutclassicalmusic through SPIC know that itwill be amajorpart ofher life. It was doing theatre and did not get intoNSD.I books, watched films in Malayalam,Tamil and MACAY concerts. Ifeel children resist should be part ofschools and colleges, let wasinavery vulnerablestate. What saved me Assamese, did things required fromactors. listening toclassical music but ifevery them play in the background.

Ahmedabad AUGUST 22, 2021 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 14 THE SUNDAY EXPRESSMAGAZINE

POINT OF VIEW ARTS etc Common Thread Memory Shrines Theguest wing of the Rashtrapati Bhavan Sri Lankan Tamil writer Anuk Arudpragasam is areminder of howthe British yearned on his new Booker longlisted novel and writing forahome away from home eye as aform of introspection

ABUG’S LIFE If not for insects, we wouldn’t get alot of our plant-based food. Insects are the original recyclers PHOTOS:GETTYIMAGES ONAWING & A PRAYER Over the decades, there has been asteady decline in the numberofinsects —those diverse, seemingly pesky critters that hold the world together. What could their loss mean for the ecosystems that sustainus?

Kaushik Dasgupta three decades ago. Lastyear,astudy in the the pioneering studies of Wilson and Extinction”.ThisissomethingthatJanzenand journal Science reportedanine per cent loss University of Pennsylvania entomologists Hallwachshavebeen warning foratleastfour in thepopulationof insectslikeants, grasshop- Daniel Janzen and Winifred Hallwachs, our decades. “I have been watching the gradual FEWDAYS ago, Iopenedajar pers and butterflies,every decade, since the knowledge of the fate of mostant speciesis andveryvisibledeclineof MexicanandCentral of honeythat Ihadn’t past30years. drawnfromanecdotalaccounts. In alandmark American insect densityand speciesrichness touchedfor months. The Good riddance? Ant armies are, afterall, address 34 years ago, at the opening of the since 1953 andWinnie since 1978. The loss is thickgolden treaclewasdot- known to defend theirhomelandsviolently. National Zoological Park in Washington DC, very real…and the reasons areveryevident: tedwith black spots —ants In Social ConquestofEarth (Liveright,2012), thaturgedtheworldtopay moreattentionto Intense forest and agricultural simplification Awho had droppeddead after Wilson writes thatduring WorldWarII in the the fate of invertebrates, Wilson said, “If in- of very large areas, massiveuse of pesticides, gorging on the nectar.That wassomething I Solomon Islands, snipers “wereknown to fear vertebrates were to disappear,Idoubtthat the habitat fragmentation, and, at leastsince the hadn’t seen foryears. It nowseems long ago weaver antsasmuchastheydid the Japanese”. human species could lastmorethan afew 1980s,ever-increasingclimatechangeintem- when aforgotten candy bar,apiece of fruit, a The reality is, however, more sobering. The months.Mostofthe fishes,amphibians, birds, perature…if ourterrestrialworldremainscon- cubeofcheeseleftuncoveredorevenacrumb decline of ants, butterflies, bees, wasps, and mammals would crash to extinction structedthroughconstantwarwiththearthro- of cakewould draw atroop of foraging insects grasshoppers,fireflies and dragonflies could about the same time. Next would go the bulk pod world, along with the plants, fungiand from nowhere. Their pheromone trails alert- have outcomes farbeyond their owndemise. of the flowering plantsand, with them, the nematodes, human society will loseverybig ingmorecolonymembers who would joinin If notfor insects, we wouldn’t getalot of our physical structure of themajority of the forests time. The house is burning. We do notneeda » CONTINUED the effort to break down the food item into plant-basedfoodand withoutbugs the world andotherterrestrialhabitatsofthe world.The thermometer. We need afirehose,”Janzen ON THE NEXT tinyparticles, whichtheycarriedbackhome. would be overrun with rotting material. earth would rot.Asdead vegetation piledup writes in a2019article in the PAGE These seemingly pesky critters areadi- Insectsare the original recyclers: Theydigest and driedout, narrowing andclosing the international journal verse lot—thereare morethan 13,000known decomposedbodies and dead wood, check channels of nutrient cycles, other complex on conservation ●●● varieties of ants, and at least10,000 species the spread of weeds, agricultural pests,dis- forms of vegetation would die off, and, with science, Biological that areyet to be discovered. Theyoutnum- ease vectors and other organisms that make them, the lastremnantsofthe vertebrates. The Conservation. berhumans by about amillion to one. Highly livesofhumans difficult. Theyare resources There are more than 13,000 remaining fungi, afterenjoying apopulation organisedant societies arealmosteverywhere formedicines and indicators of habitat qual- explosion of stupendous proportions, would —cities,villages, forests, farms.EO Wilson,ar- ity.Muchlikeearthworms, antsare ecosys- known varieties of ants, and also perish. Within afew decades, the world guablythe world’s greatestliving —and at temengineers, who, in tunnelling through would return to astate of abillion years ago, times controversial —naturalist, writes in Tales earth to maketheir complexmounds, redis- at least 10,000 species that composedprimarilyofbacteria, algae, from theAnt World (Liveright, 2020), “Ants tributenutrients in the soil and improveair are yet to be discovered. and afew other verysimplemulticel- penetrateeveryavailable nestsite, take control and watercirculation. lular plants.” of mostavailable food sources, and in so doing Wilsoncalls insects “the littlecreatures They outnumber humans Wilsonisamongthe scientists createanarthropod hegemonythat controls thatrun theworld”.But other than some who believe that the in- everylevel of the land from the highestcanopy charismatic varieties —monarch butterflies by about amillion to one sect decline is among to the lowest root mass.” forinstance —mostspecies of the insect class themostcataclysmic Yet, theremight be fewerantsthan about arerarelymonitored or enumerated.Beyond ●●● aspects of the “Sixth

in all creatures knownofear./Those who see ThePassingoftheEndlings all creatures in themselves/ And themselvesin all creatures know no grief./ Howcan themul- tiplicity of life/ Delude theone who sees its unity? [from The Upanishads,byEknath If we can find it in us to offer remembrance for what we Easwaran (2nd edition, 2007)] have lost in nature, we can learn to cherish what we have Ithink of all the species in all their unique perfection and voices irredeemablygone and losttothe screaming bullets andmachines TR Shankar Raman squelching sound. and pillagebut thrill to knowthat the night The sound would have been drownedby can yetcarrytheclear,poignant, plaintive,as- the wavesbattering the cliffs,asthe ocean tonishing, exhilarating voiceofone quietbird. TWOBULLETS passedthrough three broth- currentspassedthe desolatecliffs of Eldey. ers and killedthem as theysat side by side. ■ ■ ■ The secretarywrote, “Thefirstbullet ■ ■ ■ killedone and... the second bulletafter hav- NowIndia aims to bring backthe chee- ing gone through onestruckthe other,which The epitaph forthe lastmale reads: “Male tah. Arewilding project plans to bring new wasbehind it, and killeditalso.” near Baghownie... 21st June 1935”. Charles lifetothe grasslands and savannas where the MaharajaRamanuj Pratap Singh Deo McFarlane Inglis, the Englishman who had cheetahonce roamed and coursed behind pulledthe triggerin1947. In SurgujaDistrict shotthe birdinDarbhanga, Bihar,inIndia, antelope. And yet, in the grasslands and sa- in central India,heshotthem by night from a does notsay moreinhis journal article.He TRSHANKARRAMAN vannas livesanother tall, statelybird, the vehicle. It washis private secretarywho later does notsay whether the lastbirdwas rush- THETHING WITH FEATHERS Great Indian Bustard,ingreat peril. Down to chronicledthe passing of the lastcheetahs ingoverhead,wingsgusting the air,orped- The tall stately Great Indian Bustards are in great peril the lasthundred or so, the birds continue to shotinIndia. allingglassy waters among reedsand lose their habitat to solar and wind farms, swamp, swimming quietlyand alone, when concreteand road, their livescollidingwith ■ ■ ■ thebulletstruck. Thearticlewas published February 21,1918, ayear afterhis mateLady hundred andseventy twothousand birds. In whichsaid that the Jerdon’s Courser,a“quiet the powerlines humming with the currents five years later.Scientists nowknowthis was Jane’s passing. Theybothdiedinthe same 1947,the Wisconsin Society forOrnithology bird” that “stretched up on tiptoes to look for nowpassing through their landscape. One When the three men arrivedbyboat at the last confirmedrecord from the wild of cage in Cincinnati Zoo. The writer JDrew erected abronze monument to the passen- predators”, went extinct after1900. Nearly a great effort trying to bring backaspecies the island of EldeyinIceland on June 3, 1844, the Pink-headedDuck. Lanham imaginedanepitaph forIncas. He gerpigeon in Wyalusing StatePark. Aldo centuryhad passedwhen the birdwas found drivenextinct. And one great powerdriving theyfoundthe Great Aukpair standing side The Englishmanhimself diedonFebruary thought it would serveasthe “final rites for Leopold said, “But no pigeons will pass, for in AndhraPradesh in 1986, with the help of another to theedgeofextinction. by side tending to thelastegg. 13,1954,aged84. Monthslater,someone the passageofone of the mostunique birds thereare no pigeons, save onlythis flightless birdtrappers. The Sri Lankamalleswara If we can find it in us to offerremem- Jón Brandsson “creptupwith his arms wrote in the pagesofanother journal,likean ever to sweep across the skies of the one, graven in bronze on this rock.Tourists WildlifeSanctuarywas establishedasarefuge brance, epitaph, memorial,and long forwhat open”tothe female who movedtoacorner. epitaph at the end of hisobituary: Molliter American psyche.” will read this inscription, but their thoughts, and acanal partlyreroutedto save their habi- we have lost, we can find it in us to cherish Sigurður Ísleifssonfollowedthe other,who ossa cubent.May his bones rest softly. Martha, the lastpassenger pigeon, too, had like the bronze pigeon, will have no wings.” tat. The biologist, PJeganathan, sawthe bird what we have and keep it from passing from walked to the edge of acliff. He said, “I took People still look forthe duck. Their bones diedinthe same cageonSeptember 1, 1914. in 2008 and caught images in afield camera. this earth. And we can stand foritside by side him by the neck and he flappedhis wings. and feathers rest softlyinmuseums around Acenturyhad passedsince 1810,when ■ ■ ■ He once heardthree birds calling by night. A and our thoughtscan once again have wings. He made no cry. Istrangledhim.” the world. Alexander Wilson had observedduringhis twonote call, neither cackle nor lament, just KetillKetilsson foundthe egg on alava ownpassagebetween Frankfortand the But another stone is inscribed and one urgent note following another,ringing TRShankarRamanistheauthorofThe Wild slab. He picked up theegg, sawitwas bro- ■ ■ ■ Indiana Territory, asingle flight of migrating mountedin the Bronx Zoo, New York,oname- through the long night. Heart of India(OxfordUniversityPress,2019). ken, and put it back.Some sayhecrushedthe pigeons that he estimated to number two morial wall to manyspecies that have passed The Isha Upanishad proclaims, Those who ThisessaywasinspiredbyBrianDoyle’sessay egg under his boot. It would have madea The lastCarolina parakeet, Incas, diedon billion twohundred and thirty million two forever. Irecall the wordscarved in stone, see all creatures in themselves/ And themselves “Leap”(2001) Ahmedabad EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

AUGUST 22, 2021 POINT OF VIEW 15

On aWing...

»CONTINUEDFROMTHE PREVIOUSPAGE

BUTTERFLIES, MOTHSand bees areamongst the worst hit.The US has lostnearlyhalf of itsbee colonies in the past70years. Thedemiseofthe creaturesstarted imme- diately afterthe introduction of DDTinthe 1940s and has continuedevenafter America discontinuedthe insecti- cidein1972. David Wagner andhis co-editorsofthe multidiscipli- naryAmerican scientific journal PNAS’s seminal issueon insect decline in Januarythisyear believe that “manyof the butterflydeclinesinEurope areresultofchanges in agricultural practices afterWorld WarII... when modern tractors andmechanised equipment were employed to accelerateindustrialisationofagriculture, insecticides becamewidely available, and syntheticfertilisers could be manufactured and appliedinprodigious volume”. Deforestation, principallyfor agriculturalexpansion, is progressingataratethat hasanalarming impact on in- sects and other arthropods.Wedonot even knowthe real scale of thiscrisis, Wagner and his colleagues fear. In their contributiontothis collection, Janzenand Hallwachs writeabout the“heterogenous blanket”ofcli- mate-changeeffects. Human beings have all through their history impacted insectsand biodiversity webs. But at most times in the past, theeffectsofthe assault could be reversed. Due to climate change, write Janzen and Hallwachs,muchofthat reversaldoesnot happen: “A 200-year-old tree with allits attendantportions of thou- sands of ecosystemwebs nowand during itslifetime, nowsubjecttoclimatechange,nolonger has the climate or interactors with which to reproduceitselfthe wayits COURTESY:RASHTRAPATIBHAVANPHOTOARCHIVES

Praveen Siddharth Forall itswit and humour,the guestwing is alsoareminder of howdesperatethe British were to create ahomeawayfromhome.Inthe HE FIRSTresident of the Away fromHome opulence of the guestwing, thereisalso an RashtrapatiBhavanhad an inaus- angst, adesperateanxiety to makethings last piciousbeginningto hisstay at the forever, though all around them nothing re- Viceroy House. On December 23, mainedthe same. T1929,LordIrwin wastravelling by The guest wing is aunique thread that connects our Perhaps, befittingly,onthe walls of one of train to Delhi, when abombwas thrownathis the rooms in the guestwing,stillhang old, viceregal train. The nonchalant Irwin is said democratic presenttoour colonial past fadedlithograph plates from the British sol- to have remarked, “I heardthe noise and said dier-painter George Francklin Atkinson’sCurry to myself ‘that mustbeabomb’. But as noth- &Rice that wasreleasedin1860. These plates ing happened, Iwent on reading Chaloner depict scenes from afictional Indian village GETTYIMAGES (poetand statesman Sir Thomas Chaloner).” “kebab” with the colonial officials caricatured POINT OF NO RETURN Though onlyfiveviceroys had the luxury to highlight the absurdity of their conduct in Human beings through history have impacted insects and of calling the Rashtrapati Bhavantheir home, aland indifferent to them.Atkinson’s satirical biodiversity webs 14 Indian presidentsthus far, have residedin work became hugelypopular as it underlined this magnificent palace. However, our presi- the fact that the British would always remain dentsnever reallystayedinthe same rooms as guests in this strangeland. parents did. The herbivores, pollinators, seeddispersers, that were once occupiedbythe Viceroys. Once the viceroys left, other guests have mycorrhizae, decomposers, diseases, competitors,com- When theRashtrapatiBhavanwas builtin stayed in the guestwing intermittently. mensals,mutualists,parents,parasites, and predatorsare 1929, the plan wasclear.The south wing was Records indicate that between 1947-67, there all different from when it wasaseed, seedling, and supposedtobethe livingquarters of the were about32 headsof statewhostayedhere. sapling”. Onlyminimal recovery is likely, fear theoriginal viceroy and at theopposite end, the north The firstvisitofQueen Elizabeth II in 1961 (she Cassandras of insect decline. wing wastobethe guest wing. Accordingly, would stay twice morein1983and 1997)was In 2009, FrenchentomologistNicolaGallai estimated the rooms in the south wing were larger, im- particularly memorable, since she wasthere thatIndiahas lostcloseto40per cent of itshoneybees posing and befitting royalty. as aguestinapalace thathad been built for since the1980s. “Whilethereisnodearth of information Edwin Lutyens took great pains in design- her.Oneof therequests receivedfromher was on honey-producing bees in India,rightfromthe very ing the interiors and the furniturehimself. for“three 6-foothigh wardrobestobetrans- beginning of written history,information on other native When CRajagopalacharibecame governor- portedinstanding position and itscontents beespecies is scantand ambiguous,” writeManjishtha general, he found the living quarters toogrand kept topsecret”. Since the contentscould not Bhattacharya,Sankar Acharya and SusantaChakraborty and decidedtomove to the smaller guestwing beemptiedand the wardrobesweretobekept in a2017article in an open-access journal, Tropical in the northern partofthe building. standing at all times, lorries were specially de- Conservation Science. This practice has been followedbyall the signedbythe Indian armytosafeguardand Lastyear,astudy in an Andhra village—reported in presidentssince then and the north wing be- transportthese wardrobes. the International Journal of Tropical Insect Science —com- camethefamilywingand the south wingthe The guestwing has also hostedformer pared afireflyenumerationinthe same area in 1996 and guestwing of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In ret- SovietpremierMikhailGorbachev in 1984 and found thatthe population of these beetleshas come rospect,all the viceroys un- South African President and statesman Nelson down by 80-90 per cent.The scientists ascribethe de- wittingly remained guests carpets from Kashmir. But STAYING “four praying angels forthe night nursery, four Mandela in1995.Therewerealsovisitsbythe cline to unscientific use of pesticides in paddyfields. at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. theyare notreally designed POWER galloping horses in the anteroom, and in the heads of states from China and Pakistan. Research in other partsofthe worldhas ascribed the de- Though it resulted in,quite likethe rooms of apalace. daynursery, four hens and their chicks with Former prime ministerofPakistan, (Clockwise from crease in these creatures to light pollution —the energy- unfairly,the mostresplen- Thereisacertain homely broken eggs spilling their yolksasthe light MohammedAli Bogra, stayedtwice, in August efficient LEDs, ironically inspiredbytheseluminous in- dent wing of thepalace be- feel to it. Perhaps,itisbe- above)Queen bulbs!”. Therewas also anurseryloggia, 1953 and May1955, with twodifferent wives. sects, areespecially known to interferewiththe fireflies’ ing least knownand sel- cause Lutyens neverreally Elizabeth II at the fencedfor the safetyofthe children, in which By the 1980s though, the guestwing had courtship rituals, in which males andfemales use the dom visited. wasapalace architect in the entrance of the were hung wooden cages complete with deteriorateddue to disuse. Afterarenovation playoflightand colour to grab each other’s attention. The guestwing consists firstplace.What he did best Dwarkasuite, with wooden birds inside them. in 2013,Japanese Emperor Akihitoand Lightsfromhomes, buildingsand cars mess up these sig- of threefloors, with lavish Living History wasdesign countryhomes Prince Philip, and The RoyalInstituteofBritishArchitects Empress Michikostayedhere. The last head nals, and fewerlarvaeare born everyyear.The fireflyspe- suitesnamedafter British in England and this love the first president of note that “in their drawingscollection is a of statetostay in theguestwing, in April2015, cialistgroup of theInternationalUnion forthe viceroys and governors — comes to the fore in the de- designfor anurserywall clockinthe form of wasthe currentlyon-the-run Afghan Conservation of Nature believes that suchstudies, Dufferin, Minto, Clive and An Indian Express tailing of the guestwing. India, Rajendra abewigged footman, his face being the dial President Ashraf Ghani. thoughinvaluable, needtobebackedupbylong-term Curzon. The Irwin and collaboration with the The furniturewas de- Prasad; the Nalanda and his eyes the holes forwinding him up. The guest wing of theRashtrapati Bhavan data. Lastyear,morethan 20 scientists from different Reading suites, whichwere RashtrapatiBhavan signedbyLutyens himself suite; awooden Another exampleisthe mantel clockthat will always remain as theone thread partsofthe worldcame togethertoissuea“Warning to renamedDwarkaand and include pieces suchas chandelier in the Lutyens designedfor Lady Willingdon… the that connectsthe buildingtoits colonial past. Humanity on Insect Extinctions”. In the Biological Nalanda,arecurrentlyused an enormous almirah with nursery; awardrobe clocktakes theform of an urn surmounted Areminder to atime when those who came Conservation,theysaid, “when we lose insects, we lose exclusively forhosting heads of states. These adrawerthat drops down to become a designed by by avase finial supporting aflower. This is as guests,overstayedfor morethan morethan species.Suchlosses leadtodecline in key suites aredistinct from the rest of thebuild- stepladder; awardrobebig enough forthe actuallyabrass key castasapansy,byfam- twocenturies. Edwin Lutyens ecosystem servicesonwhichhumanity depends”. ing. These aremuchlargerand exquisitelyfur- guests to comfortablyget inside and be ilytradition apun on the Frenchword penser, nishedwith Burma teak panels, theyhaveim- clothed; nurseries forchildren on the third areminder to wind it up.Lutyens wasfa- PraveenSiddharthisprivatesecretaryto ported chandeliers from Europe and lavish floor that had paintedwooden chandeliers — mous forhis bad puns.” thePresidentofIndia

what wasthen Awadh, who ledaspirited fight againstthe British, killingmorethan half-a-dozensoldiersinthe battle of Sikandar Bagh. These heroes arerevered not justwithin their caste communities but amongalargerDalit community as well. It is interesting to note that till the ’60s, History’s Forgotten People therewas notmuchassertion of the mar- ginalsinclaiming their role in the freedom movement. But thereexisted atrend of Foradeepening of democracy in the country, we need to embrace subaltern narratives writingpopular chapbooksamongthe DalitsofnorthIndia. of participation in India’s freedom struggle as part of the mainstream Through these chapbooks, sold in melas and rallies, on thelas and pavements, they Badri Narayan bastis,likeShahidBaba, Ladaka Baba, etc. nowknown as the FirstWar of startednarrating and circulating their own When Ienquired further,Ifound that some Independence. The memories of Gangu roles in the freedom movement. The his- of them were remembered by the Dalit Baba of Bithoor who belonged to the tory of Jhalkari Bai wasone suchexample CHAHE JITNI tarahsekahi jaye,aur jitni bar, peopleasfreedom fighters killedbythe Balmiki community,BankeBeer (Jatav), from this time. Azadi ki kahani se kuchh chhut hi jatahai (No British. Ialso heardand collected manyfolk BeeraPasee, Matadin Bhangi arecommem- During the variousphases of Gandhian matter howmanywaysand howmany songs andfolk narrativesinpraise of these orated by marginal communities in various movementssuchasthe Khilafat Movement times it is said,somethings alwaysremain heroes. These living memories —inthe parts of UttarPradesh. The four bodyguards (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920), unsaidwhenitcomes to stories of thefree- of revolutionaryleader , Civil Disobedience Movement (1930),we domstruggle), Iheard this statement from younger brother of Babu Kunwar Singh of find the emergence of manyDalit leaders aballadeer in eastern Uttar Pradesh who ●●● Jagdishpur (1777-1858), Bihar,werehis war and icons who were partofthe mainstream usedtocompose songs on theheroes of strategists.They, too, came from marginal narrative.These include stalwarts suchas freedommovement. It is truethathistory Songs and shrines keep alive communitiesofthe region. Baba Saheb Ambedkar,Palwankar Balooof is the “narrative of whathappened’’, but it It is interesting to note that mostofthese Maharashtra, Babu Masuria Deen of Uttar is notfixed,itcontinuouslyevolves. the histories of men and Dalit icons were also women. These include Pradesh,Karu Paswan,Babu JagjivanRam, Whencommunitiesbecome awareand Jhalkari Bai, Uda Devi, and Mahaviri Devi. Sukhari Paswan, RamBasawan, Nandan assertive,theyexploretheir unsung histo- women whom Jhalkari Bai, abrave woman born in the Paswan andYashodaDevi. ries and stakeclaim on mainstreamnarra- Koreecommunity,was amember of the WIKICOMMONS The subaltern heroes of the national tives. Thus, the history of Dalits,tribals and historyoverlooks women’s armyorganisedbyRani Lakshmi TOTALRECALL movement needtoberememberedand marginal communities emerge in twoways ●●● Bai and the queen’s close ally, chief strate- Jhalkari Bai’s statue embracedbyevery citizen and these nar- —asacademichistory and as public history. gistand advisor.Whenthe queen of Jhansi in Gwalior rativesofDalit participation in India’sfree- Both interact, influence, overlap, contradict escapedwith her son, Jhalkari Bai foxedthe dom struggleneedtomovefromthe pe- (Right) BR and debatewitheachother to tell the story form of shrines,songs,folklore—keepin British by pretending to be thequeen, ripherytothe centre. That is when we will of the subaltern. circulation the memories of the men whom she closelyresembled, and putupa Ambedkar at his become moreinclusive of our grassroots In the’90s, when Iwas doing fieldwork and women whom mainstream history valiantfightagainst the invaders. residence in Mumbai andour democracy will deepen. in the villages of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,I has overlooked. Uda Devi, another virangana of the1857 would come across various thans (space of Mostofthese heroes that we docu- gadar,was amember of the women’s bat- The writer is director, worship) under peepal trees near Dalit mented were related to the 1857 uprising, talion of BegumHazrat Mahal, the queen of Social Science Institute,

Ahmedabad EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

16 ARTS etc AUGUST 22, 2021

Sri Lankan Ta mil writer Anuk Arudpragasam on how the civil war in his country shaped his consciousness, writing as a form of introspection and his new Booker longlisted novel DOWN IN JUNGLELAND Paromita Chakrabarti because formostpeople everydaylifeisthe major component of life, rather than mo- AHurt the mentsofaction or drama, Iammostinterested SINhis life, the impact of Sri in the forms of introspection thatoccur during Lanka’s nearly three-decade- daily, habitual life,” says Arudpragasam. long civil warricochets These meditations —onone’s place in RanjitLal through thewritings of Anuk time —replaceconventional narrative ele- AArudpragasam. “I wanted to mentssuchasplot, relying, instead, on acere- Ranjit Lal is an author, writeanovel about the relationshipbetween Colour of Blood bral awarenessofruptures thatmarktransi- environmentalistand ayoungman and his grandmother,but over tions. “With my firstnovel,therewas an birdwatcher the course of writing it, the warbegan enter- emphasis on depicting sound over sight, and ing the narrative in various ways.After a Ithink that has to do with the waywhat we while, it became clear that this toowould be hear can be muchmoredisorienting than anovelabout the war, though one that dealt what we see… To focus on sound wasaway with the psychic repercussions of warrather of capturing the extreme disorientation of than itsimmediateviolence,” he says of his being in acivilian campwhile bombs are The Parent Booker Prize longlistedsecond novel, A raining down on youfor hours at atime. With PassageNorth (Penguin Hamish Hamilton, the second novel, therewas aconverse focus Rs 599), ameditation on absence, sorrowand on sight over sound, and that had to do with the legacy of the civil war, that follows his de- the fact thatthe protagonistexperiencesvi- Tr ap but work, TheStory of aBrief Marriage (2016). olenceonlysecond-hand, through silent im- Five years ago, the publication of his 2017 ages viewedonthe computer,” he says. DSC Prize forSouth Asian Literature-winning Arudpragasam himself had grownupin How does the cuteness quotient debut work had announcedthe arrivalofan the country’s capital, shieldedfromthe extraordinarynew voice in SouthAsian liter- trauma of the raging warbetween the play out in the animal community? ature. Does publishing, and that, too, to crit- Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and icalacclaim, makethe task of writing the sec- the government to thenorth by his family’s ond novelmoredifficult? “I don’t knowif relative affluence. “Growing up in aTamil T’S Aweapon that has been usedsince time imme- second novels areharder in general, but, for familyinColombo during the war, we made morial by nearly everyanimal species including us, me, my second novelwas muchharder.It surenever to speak Tamil out loud in public, with devastating effect. Animals have usediton didn’t reallyhavetodowith acclaim or ex- nevertodiscuss politicsinnon-familycir- Itheir ownkind —and even on us, and we fall victim pectations —itcame rather from choosing cles, to always carry our identity cards with to it nearly everysingle time. And there’s averysimple to writeanovelthat wasformallychalleng- us, to neverleave the house alone afterdark, reason why—ithas survivalvalue. ing: anovel without drama, one that pays and always to speak in certain ways to po- It’s the terrible “cuteness” bomb, whichcan reduce sustainedattentiontothe consciousness of a licemen and soldiers. My class privilegeinsu- leatheryboors to warm globs of sweetgoo.The moment single individual,” says the 32-year-oldSri lated me in the sense that my familywould theyconfront atoothless, gurgling baby, extending its LankanTamil writer. use aprivate vehicle or aprivate hospital chubbyarms towardsthem, itseyesenormous, itssmile The individual Arudpragasam is referring rather than public transportoragovernment innocent, the deedisdone! It needn’t be ahuman baby— to is Krishan, the Tamil protagonist of his new hospital; in that sense, we had to face less apuppyorakitten or an orangutan, bunnyortiger cub work of luminousphilosophical heft. The in- dailydiscrimination than mostTamil fami- will do justaswell, though maybethe line could be drawn timation of the accidental death of his grand- lies in Colombo,” he says. at naked mole ratbabies! If this is the effect that the C- mother’s caretaker Rani takesKrishan on a By the time the warended, he had moved bomb can have on iron men, youcan imagine what it journey, both intellectual, emotional and to the US, to study philosophyatStanford does to inherentlytender-heartedwomen? Surethereare physical, to the country’s Northern Province, University,and thenforadoctorateinthe sub- people who cringeatthe mentionofthe “C” word and re- to participate in Rani’s funeral. Thereislittle ject from ColumbiaUniversity —early stops searchers working in animal labs who trytoblank out its actioninthe novel, focusedasitistightlyon in his itinerant life. But even on those co- effectsbygiving their subjectshardcold numbers instead Krishan’s negotiations with apost-war Sri coonedfromits brutalities, warleavesits im- of names, as theyconduct some of their experiments. Lanka, but likehis previous novel, this, too, print —remembrancesof collectiveindignity Some saythat we,human beings, recognise cuteness is arequiem forthose losttothe strifeand heapedonapeople, simmering embers of from around the ageofthree. Through our social interac- those leftbehind. anger,shameor grief.“Childhoodexperiences tions with parentsand society around us, we learn to Arudpragasam’s firstnovel,set over the arealways experienceswithoutcontext; they recognise what is thought to be cuteand what is not. course of asingle day, waslocatedin the heart appear normal to us becausewe have no other That’s whyyour one-year-old toddler will happilyput a of the ethnicwar in Sri Lanka, the violence point of reference.Mychildhoodexperiences slug intoher mouth —not knowing that it is letussay leaping offits pagesinstaccatobursts of dis- influencedmypolitical outlook,but the event “un-cute” (and probablytasteshorrible), while your nine- sonance and disruption. It followedDinesh, a that mostinfluencedmypoliticswas,of year old will scream at the sight of one! So, it seems to be, 16-year-oldTamil boyinarefugee campinSri course,the government massacres of Tamil at leastamong the babyfraternity,survivalofthe cutest. Lanka’snorthasthe protractedwarnearedits civilians during the end of the war,”hesays. But I’m still nottoo sureifthe cuteness bomb worksas end, who is forced to acknowledge the rup- COURTESY:PENGUINBOOKS His relationship with languages has been well in the animal community.Does atigress favour the tures in his short, traumatic life, when he re- RUN SILENT,RUN DEEP shapedinpartbythis politics.His pursuit of cutestinher litter,orsimplythe fittest? Usually, the runt ceivesaproposal of marriagetoayoung Anuk Arudpragasam the Tamil language—oncetobespoken only in the litter is, if anything, cuter than itsbig bullysiblings woman, afellowinmateatthecamp. APassage in the safetyofhome or among trustedones and evokes the mostempathybecause it is more helpless. North is removedfromthe immediacy of that —has gainedurgency over the years. "I only But atiger mom might justignoreher wobblylittle weak- chaos,focusinginstead onan inwardnessborn through anecdotalaccountsofsurvivors, ing to construct, through this act of imagina- begantoread andwriteinTamil in my early ling, sensing itschances of survivalare minimal. Yet, of reflection, adistance,both spatialandtem- through foreign documentaries indicting the tion, akind of private shrine to the memory twenties.Since that time working in Tamil watchatiger mom lovingly lickher tinycubs and you’ll poral, from the physicality of violence. From Sri Lankan governmentofwar crimes that of those anonymous lives,” writes has become very importanttome. I’m doing begin to wonder again. the safety of farawayDelhi, wherehewas an he comes to realise the enormity of the suf- Arudpragasam in the book. some translation now, but it will be along Likeanuclear device thereare twodistinct hard-wired undergraduatestudent, Krishan firsttrawls fering of his people. “Therewas an element There’s arareincandescence to time before Iwould feel capableofpublish- effectsthe cuteness bomb has when it detonates. The first news websites, blogs and civilian archives, of self-hatred in theselabours, he knew, ade- Arudpragasam’s writing, acontemplative ing in Tamil,” he says. feverishlyscanning reports and photographic siretopunish himself forwhat he’d escaped tenor that cutsthroughthedemand forspeed Arudpragasam is in Paris at the time of evidence of the ceaseless violence in awar by exposing himself to it as violentlyashe that modern living urgesupon one. It allows the interview, afellowatthe Institutefor that,muchlikeArudpragasam himself, his could, but it struckhim nowthat perhaps the reader to slowdown, and to linger —over Ideas and Imagination, Columbia Global protagonisthasbeenfortunateenoughto ob- therewas also something religious in his de- the craftofeachexquisitesentence, over the Centers. It’s aplace that is yettofeel like servefromadistance. votion to understanding the circumstances lithenessofhis thoughts, thatspan literary home. “Home is whereIkeepmybooks. I’ve When Krishan finallyreturns to Sri Lanka under whichsomanypeople hadbeen and philosophical traditions. “Writing forme leftall my booksinColombo, so in that sense afterthe war’s gory end in 2009, it is only erasedfromthe world, as though he wastry- is the mostvaluableform of introspection. And Idon’t quitefeelathome these days,” he says.

More Than Words RANJITLAL LOVE ME DO How atranslator’s collective makes room for richer Round eyes, chubby limbs, cuddlybody —what’s not to love?

conversations and an inclusive way of life is instant —the needtoprotect the helpless squalling baby(animal or human) whichismaking those hugebug Surbhi Gupta passagefrom Pachpan Khambe.It’s notalong eyes at you, to take it intoyour arms and swear to protect book,and Iendedupfallinginlovewith the it with your life. The second is the fallout —you begin to elegantprose styleand beautiful imagery.So, think about caring forthe squalling, peeing, pooping, TWOYEARS ago, when the 90-year-old Idecidedtocontact Ushaji to requestfor per- drooling, sleeping, gurgling tinytot on along-term basis. Wisconsin-basedHindi writer and academic mission to translateit.” All of whichspells parenting. Usha Priyamvada wasapproachedwith the Addressing Priyamvada’s concerns about Waybackinthe 1940s, Konrad Lorenz described the idea of getting her debut novel Pachpan whether the work is too“dated”, Rockwell features of what makes up forcuteness, calling it “kinden- Khambe Laal Deewaarein translated into says,justbecause the particular challenges schema”, whichevilly, sounds likescheming infants! So to English, she got anxious. She wondered if facedbythe protagonist(Sushma) maynot be cute, youneedtohaveaverylarge head, big forward anyone would be even interested in reading reflect the current reality of women’s livesin facing bug eyes and tinyears, setlow in the face, chubby the 60-year-old novel. Publishedin1961, the India, it doesn’t makethe book irrelevant. limbs and round face (dimples everywhere!), asoftcud- celebrated novelislocated withinthe bound- “Literatureisnot sociology,and women’s dlybody,and, of course, be gorgeouslyclumsy. aries of an all-women’s collegeinDelhi, struggles ought to be justasinteresting as We aresuchsuckers fortheseattributes thatitseems wherewemeetSushma Sharma —lecturer, anyone else’s,regardless of whether they whenwefirstdomesticated wolves, we unconsciously warden, single, and sole provider forher large have evolvedorchanged.That France no favoured pups whichhad more“baby-looking” eyes —not family—who’sresignedtothe regimented longer has penal colonies does notrender Les anormal featureofwolf pups. Thesewereselectively bred, loneliness of her life. Misérables (1862)‘dated’orirrelevant to PHOTOSCOURTESY:INDIANNOVELSCOLLECTIVE and nowwehavesnub-nosedpugs and prima donna It is oneofthe twotranslations that the modern readers,” she says. TONGUE same formulas —eachlanguagehas itsown Collective’s websitetodiscovernovels, short Pekinese, lounging in the armsofmaternal galleons! Mumbai non-profit Indian Novels Collective Rockwell, who’s translated popular writ- TWISTER culture andset of conventions and we needto stories, essays in various languages. “Were- If anyone has been scheming about cuteness, it is us! recentlyreleased.Set up ers suchasAshk,Sahni trainourselvestoopenour hearts and minds ceive alot of commentsand queries; many Cuteness sells and don’t Walt Disneyand companyknow (Above; left to right) in 2017,the collective and Shrilal Shukla, says to different modes of expression. Iliketothink treat us as aresearch archive, too. It has cer- that! Even the prestigious NationalGeographic magazine aims to bridgethe gap she wasfed up with the Indian Novels the readership is growing. Ihope it is.” tainlystarted aconversation,” he says. has exploited this. Cutecreatures suchaspandas and tiger between the English male gaze. So, she started Collective “The pandemic has made peopleengage Acknowledging apprehensions among cubs and babygorillas featured in the stories getmostof reader and classicsof looking forand discover- co-founder Ashwani with literatureagain, go backtoliteraturein some over whether the originality of atext the donations forprotection, leaving less cutecreatures Indian literature, with ing, and, eventually, Kumar with writer their mother tongue, and in awhole newway is lostintranslation, Kumar says,“An original (likenaked mole rats again!) to fend forthemselves. translations and events translating women writ- Annie Zaidi, writer- through social media. People startedtalking can neverbetranslated as an original. English Stuffedanimal toys make belovedgifts forchildren and around them. It is in the ers now. “Women writ- translator Anjali about literatureonWhatsApp groups. The makes it possible forpeople in different parts adultseverywhere. And sometimes, “old-ugly-cuteness” processofdrawing up a ers the worldoverhave general anxiety,coupledwiththe extratime, of India to access literaturefromthe other sells even better:look at ET and Shrek! Some advertisers listof100 novels in notbeen giventheir due. Purohit, and the encouragedpeople to returntofamiliar child- parts.Onour portal, we speak about mental dress up child models as adults, and petowners dress up Indian languages to be Theyare published, re- collective’s hood classics. Digital connectivity also made health, queer issues, environment, Northeast pets as humans, thinking that is cuteand notperverted! translated. viewedand translated —insmaller numbers. co-founder it easier forpeople to shareand talk about writings,feministand women writers. Alas, we don’t seem to know when to stop! Howmany Priyamvada’s Fifty-five Pillars, RedWalls, In order to correct the inequality of publish- Anuradha Parikh at these novels,” says Ashwani Kumar,poetand Translation allowsusricher conversations bindaas teenagers have had their dignity shreddedbya translatedbyAmerican writer-artist-trans- ing, and this goes forotherunderrepresented an event of the professor at Tata InstituteofSocial Sciences and an inclusive waytolookatlife.” loving grandparent who pinches their cheeksand squeals, lator DaisyRockwell, skilfullyexploresthe groups too, we needtomakeaconscious ef- collective;translator in Mumbai,one of the five core membersof While Speaking Tigeristheir current “So cute, no?” And howmanyfullygrown ferocious physical, mental and social paradigms that fort to curateand re-balance our literaryac- the collective.Apart from Kumar,the core publishing partner,other publicationstoo German shepherds have been praisedbytheir “parents” Daisy Rockwell lockwomen intonarrowideals. Vermont- tivities. By ‘we’, I’m being inclusive: transla- groupincludes AmritaSomaiya, oneofthe have shown interestincoming aboard, says in sillyfalsettos, “Good boy! Good girl!” The desiretoin- basedRockwell, 52, who’spreviouslytrans- tors, readers, reviewers, andeditors. If you co-founders, and the owner of Kitab Khana, a Kumar.“There’s alot of interestintransla- fantilise goes farbeyond its“use-by” dateand franklydis- latedKrishna Sobti’s AGujarat Here, aGujarat don’t makeaconscious decision to read more book shop in Mumbai,SangitaJindal,chair- tionsthesedays. TheBritish Council has respectsthe recipient, whether human, canine or feline. There (2019), Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas (2016), women, you’relikelytoend up reading person of the JSWFoundation and Anuradha launchedaresearch projectonitand are We have extendedour cuteness mania to inanimate Upendranath Ashk’s Falling Walls (2015), and mostlymen.Ifyou don’t consciouslychoose Parikh, an architect and filmmaker.Jindal has looking intohow (VivekShanbhag’s Kannada objectstoo: the VW Beetle wasgiven circular headlights Khadija Mastur’s The Women’s Courtyard to read moreauthors from underrepresented fundedthe firsttwo translations: novella) GhacharGhochar (2015;translated and aroundedshape to resemble aGerman soldier’s hel- (2018), says,inanemailinterview, “I hadread groups, yousimplywon’t. It is deeplyimpor- Priyamvada’s book and Jerry Pinto’s transla- by Srinath Perur) became an international met. Millions of buyers worldwide instead thought “how some of Ushaji’s work years ago, when Iwas tant to challengeoneself in this way,”says tion, Battlefield,ofVishram Bedekar’s Marathi success. ThereisanAnglophone privilege, cuteisthat!” Otherwise, the car probablywould have astudent of HindiatThe UniversityofChicago the PhD holder in South Asian literature. novel Ranangan (1939). that once you’retranslated intoEnglish, your tanked!Volkswagenquickly realisedthis and subsequent in the late’80s, but afew years ago, when Reading translations can be “quite differ- While the collective waslaunchedwith work gets abigger stage. But, at the same models became cuter and rounder! In this case, cuteness Urdu translator and scholar Rakhshanda Jalil ent from readingsomething written in the aviewtointroduce young readers to classics, time, if Konkani,Manipuri, Bhojpurinovels, certainlypromotedloveoverwar! wasputting together an anthologyofwrit- originallanguage,” says Rockwell, “It can be readers of all ages have been turningtothe etc., aretranslated intoEnglish, that will be a ings about Delhi, she asked me to translatea challenging, the prose styledoesn’tfollowthe lists/recommendations on Indian Novels big boosttoIndian literature,” says Kumar.

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 SPORT/CALENDAR 17

Liverpool win to a BRIEFLY full house as Citizens AICF,Chess coast past Norwich 10k steps to silver AssociationofIndia announcemerger ASSOCIATEDPRESS Once refusing to wake up to train, Amit Khatri racewalkshis waytoIndia’s firstU20 Worldmedal in the event Lucknow: Putting an end to internal AUGUST21 fighting,theAll-IndiaChessFederation and the breakawayChess Association LIVERPOOL MARKEDits firstgame in front of IndiaonSaturday announcedthat of acapacity crowdatAnfield in nearly 18 theyhavemergedintoone single en- months by beating Burnley2-0 on Saturday, titytoadministerthesportinthecoun- withgoalsbyDiogo Jota and Sadio Mane try. AICF president of SanjayKapoor earning their team asecond straight win to said that the warringfactions, notonly open the season. at the national levelbut also in various Jota,who scored thefirstgoal in states, have nowcome together under Liverpool's 3-0 victoryatNorwichlastweek- the umbrella of the federation. "I have end, glancedinaheader offacross by left personally had severalroundsoftalks backKonstantinos Tsimikas in the 18th with all the stakeholders and have minuteinfront of The Kop. brought everybody on the same plat- Mane struckhome apowerful,low shot formforthedevelopmentofchessand from acentral position from Trent all the chess players in the country," Alexander-Arnold's deftpassinthe 69th. Kapoorsaid. PTI Since the lasttime therewas afull house at Anfield, in March 2020, Liverpool has won the league title forthe firsttime in 30 years HasarangajoinsRCB, and relinquishedittoManchesterCity. Katichstepsdown So therewas something of aparty atmos- pherefor what ended up being aroutine win NewDelhi: Sri Lankaleg-spinner againstBurnley, whichhad claimedashock WaninduHasaranga,whoplayedapiv- victoryinthe same fixturelastseason to end otal role in his team's T20 serieswin Liverpool's 68-game unbeaten run at Anfield Amit Khatri trailedthe eventual winner Kenya’s Heristone Wanyonyi by justoverseven seconds.(Right) Khatri’s familyinRohtak. againstadepletedIndianside,hasbeen in the league. pickedbyRoyalChallengersBengaluru, Meanwhile, JackGrealish scored his first whichmaintainedits trendofpicking goal since aBritish-record$139millionmove letic endeavours. 2200meters, in the KumaonHills, the adven- players who do well against'Men In to ManchesterCityina5-0win over Norwich, ANDREWAMSAN Priya narrowly “I haven’t wonaninternational medal yet, turesports hubbecame Amit and Negi’s very Blue'. Along with the worldnumber helping the champions earn the firstpointsof AUGUST21 butthis feels better (than if Ihad won),” says ownhigh-altitudetrainingcentre. twoT20 bowler Hasaranga, who re- their PremierLeague title defense. misses out on podium Chandan,who is training at the ArmySports ThiswasdespiteChandanbeingbasedover placedAdam Zampa, RCBalso picked The ball deflected in offthe insideofthe VACATIONS FORBorder Security Force(BSF) InstituteinPune forthe Commonwealth 1600km away in Pune. Sri Lankanpacer Dushmantha England midfielder's leftleg from close range constable Satish Khatri meant atrip to the Nairobi: Priya Mohan came up with a Games and AsianGames next year. “He takescareofeverything. We have all Chameerawho replacedDaniel Sams. afteradrivencross by GabrielJesus flew peace of his home in Ismaila village, in the personal best time of 52.77seconds “I notonlyfeelextremelyhappy but Iam our meals with his family. We arejustblessed BigBashSensationTimDavidwillcome across the face of the six-yard box. Rohtakdistrictof Haryana.Soonthoserelaxed in the women's 400m final butwas inspired by astudent. If this young boycan do to have acoachlikehim,” Negi says.“We send in as replacement of New Zealand's That22nd-minutegoalmadeit2-0forCity, morningswouldbebrokenby thecommotion beaten to thepodium by Kenya's it, so can I.” him ourvideos and then he suggests correc- FinnAllen.Thefranchisealsoinformed whichwentaheadviaanown-goalby TimKrul of Satishforcinghisyoungsonto exercisewith Sylvia Chelangat by 0.54seconds in If Amit’s journey of 10,000 steps started tions.Healso sends us adaily training plan.” thattheirheadcoachSimonKatichhas whenanattemptedclearanceby Norwichde- him. the WorldU-20 Athletics when his father yanked him out of bed to ex- Whatstartedthroughreluctanceof taking steppeddownfromhis postdue to fenderGrantHanleysmashedunwittingly into Thoughonholiday, Satishwoulddiligently Championship on Saturday. Priya erciseinthemorning,Chandanhashelpedthe students underhis charge while searching for "personal reasons" and Director of the goalkeeper following across by Jesus. followastrictexerciseroutineto keepfit,while improved upon herprevious best of youngstercomplete thegoal. his ownathletic avenues, Chandan nowlooks Cricket Mike Hesson will nowdouble Aymeric Laporte and substitutes Raheem hewatchedhisson,Amit,lazearoundathome. 53.29 she had clockedwhile winning out forthem. up as team's coachaswell. PTI Sterling and RiyadMahrezaddedfurther “I followthe camp’s routine when Iam the National Inter-State Athletics Big-heartedcoach “I train these students because of my pas- goalsafter halftime,continuing Norwich's home,soIusedtowake(Amit)upearly forour Championships on June 28. PTI The Khatrihousehold also welcomed sionforsports.Ihavecompetedin16-17 inter- tough starttoits return to the topflight after morningruns,”hesays.“Itookhimforrunsbe- GajendraNegi,Amit’strainingpartner,totheir national meets and have learnt alot from my Threemedalsassured a3-0 loss to Liverpool lastweekend. cause Iwantedhim to lead an active lifestyle home to watchthe race on Saturday. He ex- mistakes. Idon’twant these kids to repeat the atAsianYouthboxing City bouncedbackfroma1-0 loss at and then eventuallyget ajob in the armed to thecomputer screen, none dared moving plains the impact the coachhas had on their errors Imade,” hesays,also asserting his hope Tottenham in the opening round of the forces. from the spots assigned to them. buddingcareers. thatthe duo will inspiremoretotakeupthe NewDelhi: Rohit Chamoli (48kg), league season. “Now he’s excelledbeyond anythingI’d MeanwhileinPune,naiksubedarChandan “Iaskedhimif Icouldtrainwithhim,”Negi “little known discipline.” Ankush(66kg)andGaurav Saini(70kg) ever expected.” Singhtoowatchedtheracewithkeeninterest. recalls of his firstinteraction with Chandan, Hefeelsataduncomfortabletalkingabout advancedto thesemifinalsof theASBC On Saturday, Satish –again at home after He’sbeentrainingAmitsince2018.Chandan’s whichhappenedtobethrough social media. hisownroleintheirdevelopmentandquickly Youth and Junior Boxing taking special permission –watched his 18- contributionto Amit’ssportingcareerhasbeen “Hereluctantlyagreed. He’s very focused changes the topic to Amit’s timings and com- Championships in Dubai, assuring EPLRESULTS year-oldsonclock42:17.94minutesto winsil- so immensethat Satishasserts“Chandanji andlivesinhisownworldwherethere’snoth- petition.Momentsafterthecallhesendsafew themselvesofatleast bronze medals. verinthe 10km racewalk event at the U20 knows everything about Amit.” ing but sports.” pictures of the youngsterduring his training Three other Indianpugilists also regis- Liverpool 2-0 Burnley WorldAthleticsChampionshipsinNairobi.He While Satish onceforesaw afutureinthe But Chandan founditinhim to guideNegi sessions. One sees Amit walking through a teredvictories on the openingday of AstonVilla 2-0 Newcastle trailedtheeventualwinner,Kenya’sHeristone army forhis young son, Chandanenvisioned and Amit under his tutelage. The pandemic path carved out by vehicle tyretracksonthe the tournament. Providing India mo- CrystalPalace 0-0 Brentford Wanyonyi by justoverseven seconds. Amit would fulfil adream Chandan couldnot stalledtheir interactions,yet theycontinued snow-filledroadsof Mukteshwar–memories mentum in the junior boys'event, But earningaspotonthe podium in race- achieve. to receive training instructions through of thefewstepstakentoget to silverinNairobi. Chandigarh's Chamoli outclassed LeedsUtd 2-2 Everton walk at aworld event wasabarrier no Indian Forthe coach, still an active racewalker, WhatsApp. In itsWikipedia page, it is described that Alhassan Qadous Sriya5-0 while Man City 5-0Norwich hadbreachedbefore.Andeachofthosemeas- who has takenpartintwo senior World Thecoacheveninvitedthemto hishomein mostofIsmaila’s residentshavethe surname Ankush blanked Bader Shehab from Brighton2-0 Watford ured 10,000 steps at the Moi International Championships, Amit’s medal is ashotof Mukteshwar,inthe Nainital district of ‘Khatri.’OnSaturday AmitKhatrilaiddowna Kuwait 5-0. PTI Sports Centre waswatchedby hisfamilyglued inspiration to train harder forhis ownath- . Sitting at an altitude of nearly clear distinction. YOURWEEKAHEAD BRIDGE SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2335 If it’s your Dealer:South Vulnerable:North/South ARIES (Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA(Sept24-Oct 23) Youmustnow pay Travel still seems to be QUICKCLUES Birthday NORTH greater attention to very strongly ACROSS work,evenifitagainst indicated in your stars. ♠ Q53 1. Variousnavalunits(8) the grain. It is notyour However, journeys ❤KJ84 5. Glare, scowl or pout (6) WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH responsibilities whichcome under undertakenfor purely personal ♦ K753 9. Edible shellfishesormollusks; SundayAugust22 1H 2♣ Pass ormers (8) scrutinybut those of someone reasons will be much more ♣93 Ashiftinsolar patterns alerts youtofresh with whom youare intimately significant than those connected Pass 2H 3C Pass 10.Eurasiantrees, thewhitepoplars possibilities and newpeople. You’ll open SOUTH Pass 3H Pass Pass (6) involved.Venus is nowurging you to work and other responsibilities. 11.Passagesfrombooks, etc. (8) your hearttoabroader vision, but onlyafter to put moreeffortintoaclose Your romantic stars areexcellent ♠ AJ106 Pass 12.Boredom (6) youhavefaced the truth. relationship and your emotional and will remain so foratleast ❤AQ753 14.Number one extraplayerinthe fortunes arelooking up at last. another six months. ♦ A52 cricket team (7,3) 18.Thoseoccupying societyís highest MondayAugust23 TAURUS (Apr21-May 21) SCORPIO (Oc. 24 -Nov 22) ♣104 position (5,5) It’s time forcontemplation about the The big changeis Mercury, the planetof 22. Aperson of thegreatest universe and your place in it. If youthink triggered by Mercury's communication, takes West started with the ace of clubs (ace from AK), East signalingwith the alignment with a up amore queen.West knewthe queen implied the jack and he led asmall club to intelligence(6) that suchbehaviour is irrelevant, consider, East'sjack. Eastjudgedtoreturnthetenofdiamonds,wonbySouth'sace. 23. Envy (8) sector of your chart encouraging aspect to Afterdrawingtrumpinthreerounds,WesthavingoneheartandEastthree, 24.Corporatetrust(6) that down-to-earth projectswon't work whichisprofoundlycreative.This your sign, an indication that your South played two more rounds of diamonds,hoping that they divided 3-3. 25.Unique (8) unless youunderstand the broader pattern. givesyou the chance to rethink mood is about to improve. Put Theydidnot. Westhadfourofthemandafterwinningthethirdround,con- 26.MrMalingaofSri Lankaand your plans and proposals in the forwardyour ownunique ideas tinuedwithafourthround,Southruffing.Southhaslostthreetricksandhas Mumbai Indians (6) twopotentiallosersinspades.GiventhatWestmadeatakeoutdouble,how TuesdayAugust24 broadestsense, no matter with the confidence theydeserve. 27.Receivesabequest(8) do youplaythehandfromthispoint? Be positive.Atthe heartoffinancial issues, whether theyare strictlypersonal If you’refrustrated at work,you TheWestHand:S-9842H-10D-QJ84 C-AK72 DOWN or purelyprofessional. Mars mustbeprepared to wait another TheEasthand:S-KJ7 H-109D-109C-QJ865 1. Usedaloom (6) is the extent to whichyou can payfor your maintains your steady, month or so fordifficulties to shift. Mymentioningthattakeoutdoublewasasnare. Itwasatakeoutdoublebut 2. Bounces back(6) dreams. Be proud of your own itwasnotafullstrengthtakeoutdouble. Westpassedover1Handdoubled worthwhile progress at work. 3. Waterpipeusedbyold-fashioned achievements. SAGITTARIUS (Nov 23 -Dec 22) later. West rates to have less than an opening bid. What has West shown smokers in our country(6) upwithsofar? GEMINI (May22-June 21) With Jupiter,your 4. In quitegood health (6,4) In manyrespectslife ruling planet, so He has shown up with the ace and king of clubs and he has shown up with 6. Operatexts (8) WednesdayAugust25 has been abit gruelling stronglyplaced, what thequeenandjackofdiamonds.Thisistenhighcardpoints.Consideringthat 7. Venus or Serena? (8) Everyrelationship comes with aprice tag. over recent weeks, can go wrong? ‘Not West seems to have takeout double shape, you might wonder why he did 8. Commencing or starting again (8) clatters about (8) 17. Celebrity surroundedbysocial One word of advice is to continue to take mainlybecause the much’ is the answer,soyou can notdouble1Hearlier.DoyouthinkWesthasthekingofspades? 13.Citizen of Scotlandís largest city 24.The whole coolerorjustpart of it workers and tropical insects(8) planets have been in unhelpful afford to be confident. That doesn’t Notlikely. Thismeansthatplayingtheaceofspadesandleadingtodummy (10) (6) 19.Man to tease to tatters the amateur extreme careinall monetary matters, at isnotafavoritetowork. Instead,youshouldavailyourselfofthetwochances 15.Performed with great precision (8) 25. The bigbouncer in thedrinking actor ?(6) leastuntil next week. positions. Nowthat Mercury, your mean that youmuststart thatthespadesuitoffers.Leadalowspadetothequeen. Itlosestotheking, planetary ruler,ischanging signs, throwing your moneyaround, asyouexpected,butyoustillhaveasecondchance. East,afterwinningthe 16.Ready to resistand fight? (2,2,4) club ?(8) 20. Be up in time forparliamentary king of spades, is obliged to lead aspade back. Take your second finesse in 17. Disagreement (8) 26. Girlscookedoriental fish occasion (6) ThursdayAugust26 your fortunes will improve. Plus, though. Thereisevery opportunity thespadesuit. Playtheten. Thisfinessewinsandyouhaveyourninetricks. 19.Deadly contagious disease spread (6) 21.LateBritishPrimeMinisterhad a your stars areabout to assume a forgetting out and meeting new Whenyouraiseyourpartner'sopeningbidandyourRHOlatermakesabal- by pests (6) 27.Eliot's heroneeds somewhereto race to shelter (6) Ashiftfromadventurous ‘have-a-go’ moreprosperous dimension, if people. Take advantageofbright ancing bid, you can redouble to let your partner know you have amaximum 20. Centresofatoms (6) sleep whenawoman comesround patternstocautious ‘careful-as-you-go’ youcan wait until next month. and bubblyinvitations. raise. It may help him decide whether to go on to the three level and it may (4,4) also givehimenoughnewstodoubletheopponentsiftheyareintrouble. 21.Nicosia is itscapital (6) ones, is colouring the background. This can DOWN Solutions to 2334 CANCER (June 22 -July23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 -Jan 20) 1. Cleans theprison(6) work to your advantageand layfirm It’s energetic Mars and Energetic Mars forms Dealer:West Vulnerable: North/South CRYPTIC CLUES QUICKCLUESAcross: 8Potash,9Old- 2. She might do aturn at Oxford foundations forthe future. mystical Neptune itsnextalignment Across timer,10Baptised,11Israel,12Pastiche, NORTH SOUTH 1. Germanpoetleavesschool in (6) 13Intoto,14Kiddies,17Ignited,20 whichget yougoing with nebulous sicklier condition (8) 3. Partiallyrelates tale that'smostup- Detain,22Reappear,25Letout,26 FridayAugust27 this week and next. Neptune very soon, ♠ Q82 ♠ KJ93 to-date (6) 5. Is it worn by an oldwoman at the Valencia,27Deadline,28Glebes.Down:1 Intensity and common sense arebalanced One moment you’ll be floating on causing muchconfusion. This is, to ❤762 ❤J5 head of acrowd? (3-3) 4. Awful expo about serious offence Godavari,2Pastit,3Physic,4Woodmen, cloudnine, thenextyou’ll be down put it mildly, notthe best time to ♦ 9543 ♦ J10 9. Respect foruncle perhaps (8) including finaldelinquency with 5Admiring,6Libretti,7Repeat,15 in equal measure. Put your heartand soul in the dumps afteryourhopes are deal with anycomplicated ♣A108 ♣Q962 10.Iwould take roundabout road to adhesive ingredient (5,5) Diamonds,16Einstein,18Examines,19 intoachieving your practical goals. The deflated.Try and find amiddle practical issues unless youfirst showwho Ireallyam(2,4) 6. She's getting on with lawon'mod' Preview,21Eleven,23Allege,24Punned. main pitfall to avoid is jealousy way. The onlyproblem maybe checkout the legal background. contracts(3,5) CRYPTICCLUESAcross:8Simone,9 11.One maytakealofty viewofsome friends who seem determinedto Youmust, repeat must, do your 7. Aclergyman's tea-quitesimple (8) Adapting,10AdamBede,11Exmoor,12 SOUTH WESTNORTH EAST decoration (5,3) misunderstand and misconstrue best to put colleagues, associates 12.Twistedsupport in dish, for 8. Teaching science...(8) Taunting,13Amount,14Shuttle,17Ali SaturdayAugust28 1H 1NT 4H Baba,20Barnum,22Evenfall,25Catnap, your everyword. and friends at their ease. example(3,3) 13.Ittakes thefather and mother of a Pass Pass Pass 26Salvages,27Reversed,28Stewer. You’reready to take aleap intothe future, 14.Ironingistapering off(10) mindtoproduce it !(5-5) LEO (July24-Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21 -Feb 19) 15.Presumptuousidiotgetsstylish Down:1Birdbath,2Bowman,3Yemeni,4 professionally, or in anyambition designed East bid 1H and South overcalled with 1NT. West chose to pass but this is 18.Accuratebut inartistic presumably Badeggs,5Baseball,6Atom-bomb,7 Youhavemuchto Mercury, that most Chineseporcelain (8) to securepraise and recognition. It all agood enough hand that it might have considered apenalty double. One (10) Inborn,15Tenanted,16Lamppost,18 boastabout, but you witty and versatile of 16.British prime minister -country's depends on what youknow. reason for not doubling is that East opened in third seat. He could have a 22. Runaround beforethe month Believed,19Bedside,21Awakes,23 mustremember the planets,has entered light opening bid. Your jack of hearts lead wins and your continuationgoes firstperson afterintroductionof startsgetting turbulent (6) Enlist,24Feared. virtues of humility! your sign, bringing a toEast's queenandSouth'sace.Doyouwishyouhaddoubled 1NT? 23. Southern belle, of literaryworld, democracy (8) The effectsofrecent lunar much-neededshotofenergy.Use alignmentsare still toostrong for this time wiselybyarranging youtoabandonimportant meetings, interviews and commitmentsorbreak discussions at whichyou canput JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel4s arrangements. Remember that as overyour point of view. And, Instructions aLeo, youhaveadutytoprotect intriguingly,vivacious Venus Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, friends and relativeswho areless lends an air of mysteryto well-offthan you. romantic encounters. therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 4570 theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe VIRGO (Aug 24 -Sept23) PISCES (Feb 20 -Mar 20) LightinNaturecreatesthemovementof___.-RobertDelaunay(7) nineverticalcolumns,in Very graduallythe Enthusiastic stars are eachoftheninehorizontal stars aremoving from shining, and inspired 4571 FLUOR ELPRLU rowsandineachofthe acreative and contactswith new nineboxes. personallyfulfilling friends and even with

SUDOKU position, to one that is goingto complete strangers should now bring moreinthe wayofhard starttobear fruit. Somehowyou JTUOS DIINTC work.Inthe meantime, makethe will begin to feel muchmore DifficultyLevel mostofchildren’s company. optimistic about your future. One SUDOKU 1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; Moneywise, you’reapproaching a thing is certain, and that is that you 3s=Medium;4s=Hard; period of rewards and windfalls have commencedanew 5s=VeryHard;6s= but notjustyet,firstofall youhave enterprise with your best

to sowthe seeds. foot forward. y na au el tD er ob .-R s our col f to men ve mo the es at re ec ur at nN ti gh Li r: we Ans Genius

SOLUTION

ICT IND R, PULLE T, JOUS OUR, FL N: SOLUTIO

Vol. XX No. 22 RNI No. GUJENG/2002/21854, Printed and Published by Hareshkumar K Bhagdev on behalf of The Indian Express Private Limited. Published at : 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 015. Phone (Board) : 26872481- 82- 83, Fax No. 26873950. Printed at : Bhaskar Print Planet, Survey No. 148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor : (Gujarat) Leena Misra * (*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Copyright : The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Sunday Express®

Ahmedabad WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 18 THESPORSUNDAY EXPRESS,AUGUST22,2021 T

YoungSimranjeetSingh, who has skills reminiscent of DhanrajPillayand riffsoff footballing maestroLionel Messi, sizzled with his strikingstick-work in Tokyotoemergeasashining star on hockey's higheststage —the Olympics. SANDEEP DWIVEDIDRIBBLERmeets the hare-footeddribblerwith ahabit of makingthe defenders look bad. ONTHEROOF SIMRANJEETSINGHONHIS BRONZE-MEDALGAMEGOALS FIRST GOAL (17th minute,India draw level at 1-1)

■He receivesthe ball inside the D with his backtowards the goal. A quickturn to the right, he connects with apowerful backhand shot that grazes pastthe right post.

SIMRANJEET: That's my favourite goal, one Iwill nevereverforget. I had justentered thegameand before that Ihad receivedanice slap-ball from Harmanpreetthat I had failedtostopand it hadhit my foot.SoIneededtomakeamends. That waswhen Ialso realisedthat the Germans were doing zonal marking and were focusedon Mandeep, theydidn't want him to receive theball.Itold Mandeep that they arefocusingonyou and theywouldn't allowyou to take an open trysoyou have to makespace forme. This is exactlywhat he did. I had shrugged offmymarkerwhen Nilakanta(Sharma) slappedthe ball to me in the gap. And all Idid wasstopthe ball and flickit. I didn't knowwherethe ball was going. The point is if youtakeahit within seconds of receiving the goalkeeper has no chance to stop the ball. The goalkeeper is standing in the centrepositionbecause he wasinmyline. If youare at the centrethat's wherethe goalkeeper is going to place himself. By my quickturn and flick, Ihit the ball at the angle of the goalkeeper. He was beaten by my turn.

SimranjeetSingh’sdribblingskillsare the product of painstaking background checks of opponentsand themonotony of repetitions during training. Hockey India

ITHIN MINUTES of the been close to five years, Harendrahas moved in do-or-die games. Theyevenmade the during training. Thereisalso talk about the ■ ■ ■ interviewwherehe on. He is in charge of the US junior national Germans wilt under pressure. All that science of hoodwinkingadefender and the rather reluctantlytalks side, presentlyinSantiago, Chile forthe bunchedtogether,theydid their bit in re- lifelong pursuit of remaining unpredictable, The uploading of information has been about scoring aLionel PanAm Cup. He still recalls Simranjeet's branding Indian hockey. Simranjeet, the the key forasuccessful dribble. on sincethe timeSimranjeetlefthome in W Messi goal. “I stood up andgavehim astand- posterboy of thischange,embodiesthe sub- “On themorning of thematch,Ivisualise UP's Pilibhit when he wasinClass V. Hisun- Messi kind of goal as a junior,SimranjeetSingh,the scorer of twoof ing ovation with my hands folded. The en- tle but significant change. The one who fol- the defender Iwill be up against. We look for cleinGurdaspur had seen asparkinhim,he India'sfivegoals in the bronze-medal match tirestadium wasontheir feet,the opposition lows Dhanraj'shockeyethosbut has Messi their weak points, Itakeeachdefender and didn't want it to go waste. Young Simranjeet againstGermany, sends across avideo. The players were laughing, therewas asense of on his mind. see “wohkidhar dodgekha saktahai”-right or found himself in avillagewhereevery kid 24-second clip is avalidation of the 24-year- disbelief on their faces.” left. We observethem very closely,wereally playedhockeyand elders discussed thenu- old'sclaim. Ahockipedia andalife-long student of ■ ■ ■ go intothe details of howtheyreact,” says ance of the game at street corners. It is aplace The action is from an India-Holland away the game, Harendraisknown to have the the forward. wherepasser-bys stop in their tracks to Simranjit’sequaliser laidthe game from 2016.It's probablyshotbythe knacktospottalent. His judgment carries Forthe untrainedeye,Simranjeetcomes Stagetwo is about weaponising the data. changethe grip of budding players or stuff foundation forthe historic win. team's computer analystfromthe stands. weight. He calls Simranjeet's skills unique. across as aclassic Indian player, aflamboy- “Suppose youhavethe ball and there's an- notesintheir pocketsfor adelectable nut- Receiving the ball on the right, Simranjeetis “Suchskills Ihaveonlyseen in BaljeetSingh ant dribbler from the land of DhyanChand other forwardjoining youinthe attack. In meg. Hockey expertise isn't confinedtoacad- close to the sideline and justinside the op- Dhillonand Dhanraj Pillay.Out of 100play- and Mohammed Shahid. But thereismore that case, the defenders have twothings in emies around here. position's 25-yards. It's aposition from ers,maybe therewill be just 1suchplayer. to thestory.Heisway toorespectful to dis- mind —Ihavetostopthe pass or Ihaveto Simranjeetwould follow his elder cousins SECOND GOAL wherethe less-ambitious forwards run He is asolo playerwith great dodgeand ball tance himself from this flattering compari- avoid the dodge.Somyjob is to guess what —one of them Gurjant, theone who found (34th minute,India extends down the flank,slap in acentreand pray that awareness. Youneedthree skills to be sucha son butverypolitelyhebegs to differ. he is thinking,” he says.Atthis point, with him in the crowdofGerman defenders with lead to 5-3) the ball finds ateammate's stickinthe good player—Simran has all three. He has “People tell me Ihaveatypical Indian the defender's weakness stored at the backof adelectableminuspass forIndia's game-win- crowdedD.The handful who trusttheir skillstogoright, leftand also the 3D skill- game, Ilovetolistentosuchpraise and Iam the mind, the playerlooksfor on-field clues. ning final goal in the bronze medal game -to ■Gurjant runstothe baseline from quickhands, lightning-fastfeet, look up to the ability to dodge, pass and scorewith the proud of it but Iamnot atypical Indian “If his position and angle of the stickissug- theground.Aftertheday'straining, Simranjeet theright, movestowards thegoal Dhanraj Pillayand areinahabitofwatching liftedball,” he says. hockey player.Ihavetoadapttothe modern gestingthatheisgoing to stop the pass in says he wouldn'tbebotheredaboutthe lackof andpassesthe ball to Simranjeet in Messi on loop go straight intothe heart of the It's been along dayfor Harendra, mostof game,” he says.Amix of Messi and atypical thatcase Itry to dodgehim.And if he has the companyand work on his ball skills, trynew front of thegoal, who taps it in. opposition. Simranjeetis it is eaten by his14-hour Indian hockey player? “Yes,” he replies with intention to stop me indi- things, polish old tricks. one of them. Simranjeet says he long flight. But atextseek- abroad smile. vidually, in that case Iwill That special dodge Is Simran aloner? SIMRANJEET: Beforethe Germany The shortest routeto had onceseen Messi inghis reaction forastory Hockeyfor Simranjeet is a24x7 obses- look to pass the ball.” against Great Britain Harendrakills the enticing game, we had missedfour to five the goal is expectedly on Simranjeet, the player sion. So even while watching football on tel- Mention his breath- storylineof aboy away from goals by makingthe mistake of crowded. At onepoint he go past four players he ratesasthe finestgoal- evision, he visualises Messi with ahockey takingdribble during the wasthe mind reacting his parentsfromanearly waiting on the second post. Our has twodefenders in front and scorefroma scorer and feeder in the stickorhim in aBarcelonaT-shirt at Nou quarter-final againstGreat quicklyand asking agemakingthehockey stick opponents-Germany, Argentina, and twobitingathis heel. 2016 Junior WorldCup- Camp. “International football is coveredby Britain at the Olympics andtheballhisbest friends. Great Britain -theyare all very Hisspeedand stickwork similar movement winning team he coached, cameras from all angles, thereare even shots that had the commenta- the limbs to make “No, no ... no way. Justask physicallyfit. Theydon'tlet you makehim unstoppable. He from the right... “That gets aquickreply. He says from the top. This givesyou an idea about the tors jumpout of their chair those game-changing anyone, he wasthe darling come in front of them. Germanyis has passing options, acou- he is glad that the young position and the structureateam adopts. and call it “the dodgeofthe of the team. He wasthe averyphysical team and theyuse ple of forwards can be seen dayIthought what boyisgetting media atten- Hockeyhas been adopting the football struc- tournament” so that split-second binary mostintelligent playerin their body alot.Wenoticedthat running, breaking free Messidoes, it canalso tion. “Noone is writing turefor awhile now. As the ball movesfrom Simranjeetbreaksitdown. ‘dribble or pass’ my team.Hiscompanywas the Germans have akind of thumb from their markers but about them, theyare the one playertoanother, Iput myself in that sit- He, almostapologetically, sought by everyone, espe- rule -theydon't look at the ball, Simranjeet, as his idol happen to me.” unsung heroes.” uation and Ikeepasking questions -what I goes blank.Hemumbles a decisions. ciallywhen theyweregoing theymarkthe player who is in would have done, decides He has apoint. The would do if Iwas in that position,ithelps me soft'is it', asofter'maybe', out shopping. His friends theirgoal-scoring zone. Inside the to go solo. fourth quarternervousness of the bronze to take the right call in areal matchsitua- before giving up. What follows is ascientific fromPunjabwouldtake himwiththemsince D, the forwarddoes the action and On entering the D, twomoreDutchplay- medal play-off, the draining relief of tion,” he says. explanation and it isn't about him being heiswell-versedinEnglish. Heknows howto the defender reacts. The defender ers zerointopokeatthe ball, stifle the run. Sreejesh's penalty corner stop and the teary Acompulsive dribbler while growing up forgetful. talk,carry himself, howtodiscuss and howto has no idea whereIam going to Notgoing to work today. Theball, likeapet on sight of ManpreetSingh leading the team on in Punjab's Gurdaspur,coaches have repeat- “You train so much, youporeoverthe bargainforotherswithshopkeepers,”hesays. receive theball. So we had trained astretchable leash, doesn't run astray.The the podium after41years, made an over- edly instructed Simranjeettobeselective datafor so long that it stays in your subcon- The fact that Simranjeetwas the last- to be deceptive -weplannedto blur with awhitepatka keeps storming whelmedIndia miss the trees forthe wood. about his solo run. With time, he would ear- sciousmind. Andduringthe game when you minuteinclusionto theOlympicsquad,wasn't showthem that we areatacertain ahead. So farsix rivals have been leftinhis The dazzle of Neeraj Chopra's final day markareas on the field whereheallows his have to fashion the dodgeinthat fraction of playedinthefirsttwo gamesatTokyoandeven place but quicklychangeposition. wake,now there's just the goalkeepertobeat. gold wassoblinding that therewas no time inner Dhanraj/Messi to emerge.“If Ilose the asecond, the subconsciousmind tells you missedthe semi-final againstBelgium seems Gurjant and Ihad trained forthis. Simranjeet justabout manages —stumbling, to put the hockeybronze under the micro- ball because of my dodgeitcan go against whichway youneedtogo,” he says.Sothat to ranklehisone-timecoach.“Hehasuntapped Wheneveraplayeriscoming from falling but still connecting the ball with are- scope. The individual effortshowever grand the team. So Iavoid them when Iaminmy special dodgeagainstGreat Britain wasthe talent, people have atendency to take him the baseline, he has twooptions. verse swing. —including Simranjeetscoring twoheart- half.But in caseIaminside the rival25yards mind reacting quicklyand asking the limbs lightly,”says Harendra.Andinthetonethatin- Either he givesaminus pass or he Changethe sport, replace the astro-turf warming field-goals -hung innocuouslyin and in the D, Iamfreetodowhatever.” The to makethose game-changing split-second dulgentteachers save fortheir favourites, he tries to scorefromazeroangle, but with natural grass and it could well be Messi the brief scores section belowlofty reports merethought of flying on the turf, weaving binary'dribble or pass' decisions. refers to his notquitechiseledface. “Yehgolu- it isn't easy to scorefromthere. So cutting in with his trademarkhustle from the about big hockey revival. between defenders brings asmile to his face. Effortlessness isn't easy,itcomes afterput- molu(chubbyface)lagtahaisopeoplethinkhe we trainthat wheneversomeone is right, conning the defenders on the wayand The subtle but significant changes to ‘Wereyou anatural dribbler,someone ting in alot of effort. is unfit, but Iwill tell youheisthe fittestguy getting in with the ball from the beatingthe goalkeeper withthat magicalleft, Indian hockey gotovershadowed by the na- born with the skill?’ Simranjeetsmirks,it's a The teacher in Harendrathrowsinan and he has agreat temperament. It washim baseline, he needs to look up once barelyable to stay on his feet afterthe fren- tion's biggest-everOlympic haul. Nowthat question that undermines the countless analogy. “These boys train to increase aware- and Gurjant whoscored in the juniorWorld and weigh the options. So when ziedrun. Simranjeet says he had once seen the celebratorydholsatthe airporthavedied hours he spent running around with the ball ness and deal with all kinds of tackles. They Cupfinal in 2016.” Incidentally, Simranjeet's Gurjant movedin, he looked up Messi go past four players and scorefroma down, it's time to gloat over the 20-some- on his stick. Both he and coachHarendrare- masterthe skill neededfor everysituation. I Junior WorldCup goal wassimilar to his first once and that wasmymoment of similar movement from the right and it thing forwards Gurjant Singh, Hardik Singh ject the romantic notions that dribblers are keep telling my boys,the head is the CPU of strikeagainstGermany-atomahawk cracker moving to thefirstpost. He got the stayed with him. “That dayIthoughtwhat and Simranjeet, who, unlikepastOlympians, Special Ones handpickedbythe sporting the computer and when youare training all from thetop of the D. The boywith abeep test clue andpassedthe ball to first Messi does, it can also happen to me in real didn't freeze at thefinish line.Theyweren’t Gods. Theytalk about the boring practice information is in there. Once youare in the reading of 24 has fast legsand faster hands. post. Igot infront of one defender, life,” he says. anything likethe other nervous Olympic routinesthat shape an entertaining player. game, that same CPU,loadedwith informa- The golu-molu is also ahare-footedfor- divedbetween the other twoand In the dug-out that daywas Harendra newbies. Theytriedand pulledoff audacious The painstaking background checks of op- tion, will transmit the instruction to the ward -that's adeception made in heavenfor deflected his pass intothe goal. Singh, who wasIndia's junior coachthen. It's goals. Theynutmegged reputed goalkeepers ponentsand the monotony of repetitions hands and legs.” this compulsive dribbler. Ahmedabad