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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2021, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM DCGITwoGIVESCovidNOD TO COVISHvaccinesIELD, COVAXIN FORgetRESTRICTemergencyED USE usenod,oneinclinicaltrialmode On datapending forCovaxin,Health Covaxin back-up, for use MinistersaysbetteragainstUKvariant BUSINESSASUSUAL BY UNNY if surge, under controls: the vaccine, whichwillbead- PRABHARAGHAVAN ministeredaccording to aproto- NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 col that is still in the process of AIIMS, ICMR heads being decided, according to a INDIA’S TOP drug regulator senior government official close Wholevirus vaccine, so maybemore SundayapprovedCovishield and to thedevelopment. Covaxin vaccines forrestricted Announcing the clearance to effective against newstrain: ICMR Haryanapolice firedtear gasshells to stop protesters in Rewari district on Sunday. Reuters use againstCovid-19inthe coun- Covishield and Covaxin at ame- try, pavingthe wayfor mass vac- dia briefing on Sundaymorning, surge triggered by the UK vari- cination againstthe virus that has DCGI Dr VKSomani said clinical KAUNAINSHERIFFM ant. And, unlikethe Serum so farinfected more than acrore trials regarding both the drugs NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 InstituteofIndia's (SII) vaccine Haryana police use tear-gas on peopleand killednearly 1.5lakh. would have to continue. The firms Covishield, Covaxin will The approvals to thetwo vac- arerequiredtosubmitsafetydata THE INDIGENOUS vac- be usedonlyin'clinical cines, both to be givenintwo every15daysfor the firsttwo cine developedby trial mode', wherecon- doses, followarecommendation months and monthlythereafter. EXPRESS NETWORK Bharat Biotech withthe sent will be takenand protesters; talks with Govt today regarding the same by theDrugs “Afteradequateexamina- Indian Council of side-effectsmonitored, Controller General of India's tion, the CDSCO(CentralDrugs Medical Research the heads of AIIMS and ahead did nothaveenough pro- Rewari today... theyhad aclash (DCGI) expertpanel. In the case StandardControlOrganisation) ROLLOUTTOBEGIN (ICMR) will be usedasa ICMR, partofthe SAKSHIDAYAL visions. Theyasked forpermis- with police. However, those of us of Covaxin, forwhose Phase3tri- has decidedtoacceptthe recom- IN NEARFUTURE, "back-up", onlyifthe country NationalCovid-19taskforce, told GURGAON,JANUARY3 sion to go to them andset up a following the directions of the als limited data is available, in- mendations of the expertcom- SCHEDULESOON needs extradoses to vaccinatea The Indian Express. langar,and were allowedtodo SamyuktKisan Union arestill at formedconsent would have to mittee and, accordingly,vaccines PAGE 5 large numberofpeople,partic- On Sunday, Indian regulator ON THE eveofthe next round of so. However, whentheygot the border and will continueto be sought from those receiving CONTINUEDONPAGE2 ularly giventhe possibility of a CONTINUEDONPAGE2 talksbetween the protesting there, the entiregroup tried to remain there. The next course of farmer unionsand the Centreon break through the barricades action willbedecideddepend- Monday,the Haryana police on and move forward.” ing on the outcome of tomor- Phase 3efficacy data is Sundayfired tear gasshells to On Thursday, over 300farm- row's meeting with the govern- stop agroup of farmers, mostly ershad forced their waypastthe ment. If theydon't fulfill our from Rajasthan, from movingto- barricades at the Rajasthan- demands, we will look at mov- missing, say experts, call wardsDelhi. Haryana border and entered ing towardsDelhi afterJanuary The incident occurrednear Rewari. On Sunday, about 50 6,” said Ramzan Chaudhary, Sangwari village in Rewari dis- morefarmers, mostlyfrom headofthe Nuhunit of Jai Kisan for close monitoring trict, on NH-48, about 16 km Hanumangarh and Sri Andolan, whichisapartofthe vaccine’sPhase 1and Phase2tri- from Gurgaon, at around 4pm. Ganganagar in Rajasthan, fol- Samyukt Kisan Union —the AMITABHSINHA& als is very encouraging, they Confirming that tear gas lowedthem, afterwhichpolice CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PRABHARAGHAVAN questionedthe process of ap- shellswerefired,Rajesh Kumar, firedtear gasshells. PUNE,NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 proval when efficacy datafrom Deputy Superintendent of Mostofthe protesters, how- thevaccine’s Phase 3trials, which Police, Bawal, said: “The protest- ever,remainedatthe border. MORE REPORTS MEMBERS OF the National beganinNovember,hadn’tcome ers said those who had gone “About 15-20 tractors entered PAGE 7 Covid-19 task forceclarifiedthat in. Efficacydataisanindicationof Covaxin, the vaccine being devel- howeffective thevaccine is in opedbyBharat Biotech,would be preventing the virus attack. THE CITY usedina“clinical trial” mode and "If youtakealook at what UnionHealth MinisterHarsh wasproposedbythe DCGI (Drug ‘SHIVSENANOT Vardhan said itsemergency use Controller General of India) as an CONCERNED ABOUT approval was“astrategic deci- adequatedatapackagebackin MIDDLECLASSAND sion forour vaccine security.” September,when theypub- Ahealthcareworkeratavaccine registration centre in AhmedabadonSunday. Nirmal Harindran But some independent scien- lishedtheir draftguidance (for POOR;FOOLED tistssaid that while datafromthe CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PEOPLE OF MUMBAI’ COURT DISMISSES 30 CASES LODGED Cooper hospital’s modelvaccination centretobereadytoday FORVIOLATION OF LOCKDOWN NORMS working on warfooting dayand PAGE 3 TABASSUM night to preparethe modelcen- Threedeaths,lowest BARNAGARWALA treinCooper hospital. The tollsinceApril MUMBAI,JANUARY3 BrihanmumbaiMunicipal ‘Root cause of the Corporation (BMC) has asked Mumbai on Sunday problem is surplus A4,000squarefeetbuilding right contractor Eckontohandover recordedonlythree Covid- Democracy only if oppositethe Dr RN Cooper hospi- the centrebyMondaynight. 19 deaths–itslowestsince foodgrains and tal’s canteen in Mumbai wasear- Cooper hospital, along with April. The city has recorded higher MSPthan the lier supposedto beusedasahos- sevenBMC hospitals, has been 11,135 deaths so far. The peace: Chouhan marketprice’ tel. In March,itwas converted selected forthe firstphase of im- number of deaths per day NITIN GADKARI intoanisolationfacilityfor Covid- munisation of healthcarework- has come down to single MINISTER FOR ROAD TRANSPORT 19 patients. On December 29, ers. Mumbai has registered1.26 digit since the lastfour days. warns of strict law &HIGHWAYS, AND MSME work to convert it intoamodel lakh heathcareworkers forvac- Currently, 8,916 people still PAGE 8 vaccination centrebegan. cination in the firstphase. Inside the vaccination centre at hospital. Tabassum Barnagarwala remain infected. against stone-pelters Over 30 labourers arenow CONTINUEDONPAGE2

cases of stone-pelting on rallies IRAMSIDDIQUE by Hindu right-wing organisa- Eye on China, India looks at lithium In 3-month trip to India,Christchurch BHOPAL,JANUARY3 tions in Ujjain and Indoredis- tricts seeking donations forthe reservesinArgentina, Chile&Bolivia attacker visited Goa, Mumbai &Jaipur THE MADHYA Pradeshgovern- Ramtemple, as theypassed ment is all settobring in astrin- through Muslim-dominated lo- ownedcompanies, NALCO, likelytobeaninflection point for Rajasthan. gent lawagainststone-pelters, calities. ANILSASI HindustanCopper and Mineral batterytechnology,withseveral DEEPTIMANTIWARY “Wehaveverifiedthe infor- with provisions to attachassets "If someone raises their is- NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 Exploration Ltd, with aspecific potential improvementstothe NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 mation providedbyNew Zealand of the accusedtopay fordamage sues peacefully, then democracy mandatetoacquirestrategic Li-ion technology,and alterna- authorities about his travel de- causedtoany property,includ- prevails. But no one has permis- JUSTASitwas stepping up its mineral assets such as lithium tivestothis tried-and-testedfor- BRENTON TARRANT,the lone tails. As yet, we have notfound ing that belonging to individu- sion to damagepublic property," economic offensive against and cobalt abroad —isalso learnt mulation,under advanced gunman who killed51people,in- anything that suggests that anyof als, Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhansaid, adding thatin- China, India, through anewly- to be exploring options in Chile stages of commercialisation. cluding five Indians, in two his activities here, or connections Chouhan said hereonSunday. structions had been giventofor- floatedstate-ownedcompany, and Bolivia, twoother top The mostpromisingare solid- mosques in Christchurch,New made thereof, had anylink with Speaking to mediapersons, mulatethe lawand work on it inked apact with an Argentine lithium-producingcountries. statebatteries thatuse alterna- Zealand, on March 15,2019, had the attack. Thereisnothing to Chouhan said, "Stone-pelters are had started. firm mid-lastyear to jointly Currently, India is heavilyde- tivestoaqueous electrolytesolu- stayedin Goa, Mumbai and Jaipur, suggestthat his travels in India enemies of society,whoever Asenior official said thelaw prospect lithium in the South pendentonimportofthese cells tions —aninnovation that could amongthe seven-eightplaces he could have promptedhim to theyare.Stone-pelting is notan being draftedbythe Madhya Americancountry that hasthe and the move to ink sourcing lowerthe risk of fires, sharplyin- visited in India, in 2015-16. BrentonTarrant. AP file carry out that ghastlyattack,” ordinarycrime,itcan kill people, Pradesh government is on the thirdlargest reserves of the sil- pactsfor lithiumisseen as an- crease energydensity and poten- Following inputsfromtheir said asenior intelligence official. createanatmosphereofterror, lines of the Uttar Pradesh ver-whitealkali metal—acru- other salvo in the front against tiallytakeonly10minutes to counterparts in NewZealand, “He stayed in cheap accom- chaos, and disruptlaw and or- Recovery of Damage to Public cial building blockofthe lithium- China, akey source of both the charge an EV,cutting the recharg- Indian intelligence agencies February18, 2016. modations, largely popular with der." and Private Property Ordinance, ionrechargeable batteriesthat rawmaterial andcells.India is ing time by two-thirds. These launchedaninvestigation into Sources said Tarrant largely backpackers, and visited spots Therefore, it would no longer 2020, withmorestringent pro- powerelectric vehicles (EVs), seen as alatemoverasitat- cells can extend the driving dis- Tarrant's three-month visit to travelledand stayed in southern popularwith tourists from the be treated as apetty crime,but a visions. laptops and mobile phones. tempts to enter the lithium value tance of acompact electric vehi- India. Theyfoundthat Tarrant, states, spending considerable West.His itineraryshows that he stringent lawformulated to "The basic idea of the lawis The newcompany, Khanij chain, coming at atime when cle while maintaining legroom — an Australian, travelledexten- time in Goa. He spent afew days largely stayed in South India, checkit, the CM said. to coverall publicand private Bidesh India Ltd —incorporated EVs arepredicted to be asector aquantum leap in batterytech. sively in India between in Mumbai too; the onlynorth barring one visit to Jaipur.He The move comes aftertwo CONTINUEDONPAGE2 in August, 2019 by three state- ripe fordisruption. And 2021is CONTINUEDONPAGE2 November 21,2015, and Indian statehevisited was CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1 ANCHOR In fantasygames surge,policy playscatch-up with reality

(OFSPs) with aset of initiatives: Niti Aayogsaid, were the lackof quoted by PTI that his “sugges- sports have been filedindiffer- ViratKohliand cricketboard MIHIRVASAVDA “legislative safeharbour,” “light- a“definable test”or“regulatory tion will beto legalise betting and entHighCourts. president Sourav Ganguly, MUMBAI,JANUARY3 touchregulatoryframework,” guideline or forum” to assess gambling activities.” Ministerof ■ In March lastyear,the among others, forendorsing on- and “self-regulation.” and determine if agame is one Sports andYouth Affairs Kiren Supreme Courtstayedthe oper- line fantasy games. AS DIFFERENT courts and state Inviting stakeholder com- of skill or chance; and frag- Rijiju said online fantasy games ation of aBombayHighCourt And yet, industry-watchers governmentsdebate itslegality, ments until January18, Niti mented regulation. are“veryinstrumental in revolu- judgment dated April 30, 2019, underline, growth is the irre- thereisagrowing body of opin- Aayog, citing aKPMGIndia re- “WhileOFSPsoperate through tionising”sportswatching. upholding the legality of fantasy versible force. ion in the official establishment port, flagged the sharp surge in online media on apan-India ba- Thepaperalso red-flags “un- sports,whichbear aclose re- According to aFinancial in favour of aunifiedregulatory the sector:2million users in June sis,theirregulation proceeds un- scrupulous operators who lure semblance to gambling, an ille- Times estimate, venturecapital apparatusthat allowsonline fan- 2016 to 90 million December der variedState-wise regulatory users with games of question- galactivity. intogaming start-ups in India tasy games—and looksatopen- 2019;numberofOFSPs up from regimes. This couldimpactfan- able legality in the guise of fan- ■ In September,Andhra has skyrocketedfromamere$25 ing some doors to legalising 10 in 2016 to morethan 140in tasy sports users’interests of tasy sports.” Thisamidscrutiny PradeshjoinedTelangana, million in 2015 to $337 million sports betting. 2019;atripling of revenue transparency,OFSP operator in- at severallevelsshowing how Assam, Odisha, Nagalandand lastyear.InSeptember alone, In adraft paper lastmonth, growth, from Rs 920 crorein tegrity, andfairness mayvary policy plays catch-up. Sikkim in banning onlinefantasy Dream Sports —the parent com- NitiAayog, thegovernment’spol- 2018-19toRs2,470 crorein2019- from statetostate,” said the draft. Consider: games playedfor money. panyofDream11, the biggest icythinktank,proposed“uniform 20 and the potential of 12,000 Niti Aayog’s paper comes a ■ In the last18months, at ■ In November,the Madurai dailyfantasy sports operator — national-levelregulation” of jobsinthe next couple of years. month afterMinisterofState for Dream 11 is the Indian Premier League’s main sponsor. File leastsix petitions seeking aban benchofthe Madras HighCourt raised$225 million from Online Fantasy Sports Platforms Keybarriers to this growth, Finance Anurag Thakur was on online gambling and fantasy issued notices to Indiacaptain CONTINUEDONPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021

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■ CUSTOMIZABLE EvenasBengaluruhasseenadropinCovid-19casesandahealthyrecoveryrateinthelastmonth,doctorsin Violence afterrallies by NEWS EXPERIENCE severalprivatehospitalshaveraisedconcernsovertheincreaseinthenumberofSevereAcuteRespiratory

WEB Infections(SARI). Hindu right wing Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 groups in MP TECH EXPLAINED NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY OUR TECH WISH-LIST THE COVID VACCINES we talk about howclashes brokeout in FOR 2021 APPROVED BY INDIA Madhya Pradesh afterrallies were carried Here’s what we’re From efficacy to cost, out through Muslim-dominated and SCANTHISQRCODETO lusting over in tech in what youneedtoknow communally-sensitive areas. DOWNLOADTHEAPP 2021 about the vaccines FROMPAGEONE

Covaxin takeneverydayand lookedat for cellandwhatitispowering.These the sectioncannotprotect itself, efficacy,” he said. newtablesscells, whichTesla is youwillneedState intervention,” DrugControllerGeneral of India “In the Phase 1human trials Two Covid vaccines get emergency calling 4860 cells, will give the said Bengaluru-basedlawyer (DCGI) approved the Subject data,thatincluded 375patients, company’sEVbatteriesfive times SridharPrabhu.Prabhu,whorep- ExpertCommittee’srecommen- andthe380participantsinPhase moreenergycapacity,makethem resentspetitioner SharadaDRin dation foremergency use of 2,we didnotfindanycaseof any- six times morepowerful, and en- aPIL filedinthe Karnataka High Covishield and Covaxin. While one getting Covid-19,” Dr use nod, one in clinical trial mode ablea16per cent rangeincrease Court, seeking aban on online Covishield is the same vaccine as Bhargava said, adding thateven forTesla’s vehicles. gambling, said aregulatorlike developedbyOxford- inPhase3,nosafetyconcernshad of M/s Serumand Bharat that the emergency use ap- mendedthat the Serum The SEC’s recommendation ■In July2020,researchers at SEBI, maybeneededfor fantasy AstraZeneca, that has got emer- been reportedfromthe 22,500 Biotech arebeing approved for proval forCovaxin was"differ- InstituteofIndia (SII), whichis came afteritreviewedthis StanfordUniversity claimedthat gaming.“Thesearemammothor- gency use approval in the UK, in participants. restricteduse in emergencysit- entlyconditional" from makingCovishield, be granted safetyand immunogenicity theyhad developedanew elec- ganisations withhugemoney caseofCovaxin,concerns have BharatBiotech had com- uation...,” Somani said. Covishieldand wasinclinical restricted emergency use per- data, according to Dr Somani. trolytedesign that boosts lithium powerand reach. People who been raisedabout the absenceof mencedPhase 3trials on “A decisive turning point trialmode. "All Covaxin recipi- mission“subjectto multiplereg- While he did notmention metalbatteries’ performance, in- playcricketmultipliedbyfour is efficacydata, whichisgenerated November 16.OnSunday, the to strengthen aspirited fight!” entstobetracked,monitoredas ulatoryconditionalities”, the whether the firm had submit- creasing thedriving rangeofEVs. the number of people who play during Phase 3ofhuman clinical government's press statement tweetedPrimeMinister if they’re in trial," the minister MinistryofHealthand Family tedany efficacydataonthevac- Theysaid that the electrolyteso- andparticipate inthesegames.So trials.Thedecisiontograntemer- said the Phase 3trials had been Narendra Modi followingthe tweeted."Thisapprovalensures Welfaresaid on Saturday. cine, he said that the recom- lutionhad been one of the most it needs regulation, particularly gency approval to BharatBiotech initiated in 25,800volunteers,of announcement. “Itwould India has an additional vaccine TheSIIhadsubmittedsafety, mendationwas also “in public significant factors holding back because minors have access to it isbasedononlyimmunogenicity, whom 22,500had receivedthe makeevery Indian proud that shield in itsarsenal (especially) immunogenicity and efficacy interestasanabundantprecau- progress forlithium metalbat- through mobile phones,” Prabhu the ability to trigger an immune firstdose. Covaxin is injected in- the twovaccines thathave againstpotentialmutantstrains datageneratedfrom23,745par- tion... to have moreoptions for teries. said. response, and safetydatagener- tramuscularly twice,withagapof been givenemergency use ap- in adynamic pandemic situa- ticipantsaged18yearsandolder vaccinations, especially in case ■Chinesetech groupQingTao atedinPhase1and2clinicaltrials. 27 days.Theinterimsafetydatais proval aremade in India! This tion -- Astrategic decision for fromoverseasclinicalstudies,as of infectionbyamutant strain”. EnergyDevelopmentisspending Cooper hospital However, themembersof the expectednextmonth. shows the eagernessofour our vaccine security." well as interim safetyand im- BharatBiotech iscurrentlyin over$150millioninR&Dofsolid- On Sunday,the Drug nationaltask force, including AI- Dr Bhargava said that scientific community to fulfil Vardhan addedthatno"se- munogenicity datafromits on- the process of recruiting and state batteries, among other ar- Controller General of India ap- IMSDirector Dr Randeep Guleria Covaxin's potential in mounting the dream of an roconversion" -- from the point goingPhase2/3clinicaltrialson vaccinating 25,800volunteers eas. provedemergencyrestricteduse and ICMR Director General Dr aresistance againstthe newmu- Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the of viral infection to whenanti- 1,600participantsinIndia. forthe Phase 3trialsofCovaxin of SerumInstituteofIndia’s Balram Bhargava,emphasised tantstrainwasakey factor.“Some root of whichiscareand com- bodies become present in the The immunogenicity of a and,tilldate,22,500participants Fantasy games Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s that the approval granted to of the vaccines justtargetthe passion,”headded. blood -- had been observed in vaccineisitsabilityto prompt an have receivedatleast one dose USA-basedTiger Globaland oth- Covaxin vaccines. BharatBiotech isdistinctlydiffer- spikeprotein of the virus... From With some experts and those givenCovaxin, an inacti- immuneresponse,whiletheef- of the vaccine. ers.Days later,Mobile Premier BMCofficialssaidtheyexpect ent from the onetothe SII. that perspective, we arelooking Opposition leaders raising con- vatedvaccine,inPhase1and2of ficacy, in this case, is ameasure Covishield would be ready League (MPL) raised $90 million thevaccine roll out to beginsoon Said Dr Guleria:“This is likea atawholevirusvaccine(Covaxin), cerns over the grant of ap- itsclinicaltrials."Ourexperience of itsability to bringdownthe to roll out “in the coming in funding,led by Hong Kong- and have askedcontractors to back-up.If we findthatcasesdon’t whichpotentiallymay have ben- proval to Covaxin, without its with inactivatedvaccines not numberof symptomaticCovid- weeks,” tweetedSII CEO Adar basedSIG. speedupwork. On Sunday rise,thenwestick to theSII,tillthe efits,”hesaid. efficacy trials being over, having serious adverseevents 19 cases. Poonawalla. "All the risksSII Asubstantialchunkof thisin- evening, labourers were busy BharatBiotech data comesearly However, DrGuleriaadmitted Health MinisterHarsh wasalsoobserved in PhaseII The SEC had also recom- took withstockpiling thevac- vestmentisusedto sponsorplay- painting chairs forwaiting areas next month. And if that data is that,atthispoint,morelabdatais Vardhan tweetedthat Bharat done... No serious adverse mendedsimilar restricted per- cine (have) paid off." ers, teams and tournaments in atCooperhospital,withsomeset- found to be good enough, then required on this. “BharatBiotech Biotech's vaccine is morelikely eventsseen.Only7percentper- mission,“in clinical trialmode”, The approval to Covaxin is a different sports–fromcricket to ting up bedsand some finishing theywillgetthesameapprovalas uses an inactivatedvirus,using to work againstnewer variants sons receiving6microgram to Bharat Biotech,whichhas “giant leapfor innovation and kabaddi, football to hockey. offelectrical work. the SII. Indirectly, looking at the the platform deployedinother of the virus, including the UK dose had mild symptoms," submittedsafetyandimmuno- novelproduct development in “This is one waytoincrease “Webegan civil work last safetyprofile, that(Covaxin) is a vaccines in our country. Theevi- variant, "as it contains im- Vardhan said in another tweet. genicity datafrompre-clinical India,” said Bharat Biotech their user base, whichinturn weekandhave onlyadaytofinish safevaccine, although we don’t dencethatisbeingputforwardis munogens (epitopes) from ASubjectExpertCommittee studiesonanimalsaswellasre- Chairman and Managing helps them generaterevenue work.Weare notchanging the knowhow efficacious it is.” thatbecause the whole virus is other genes in addition to (SEC)looking intoapplications sultsfromPhase1and2human Director Dr KrishnaElla. since everyuserhas to payafee,” basicinfrastructuresince it was As avaccine that uses aplat- beingusedastheantigen,thean- thosefromSpikeprotein". by thetwo firmsfor marketing trials in approximately800vol- —WITHINPUTSFROM said aconsultant to aplatform. alreadybeingusedasanisolation formusedfortraditionalvaccines tibodyresponsemay bemore ro- Vardhan also underlined authorisation had recom- unteers of Covaxin. ENS,PUNE While Dream XI is the Indian ward,” an on site Eckoncontrac- in India, whichtargets the whole busttotakecareofany mutation... Premier League’s main sponsor, torsaid.WhiletheKWestwardis virusfor antigen response, However, we will need morelab the logoofthe MPL,abrand en- handling drainage and installa- Covaxin is also consideredby data,”hesaid. inarydatafromthe phase-III tri- Ministryofficialsworkedoverthe raise donations forthe Ramtem- quotedthe reportassaying. dorsedbyIndiacaptain Virat tion of curtains or partitions, someto bemoreeffective against “The bottom line is that,ifwe als...Itwouldbeavailablewithina weekendtopreparefor the next ple in Ayodhya. Kohli, is on theTeam India jersey. BMC's maintenancedepartment anymutations. don’thave anysurge incases,then fewweeks," he said. round of talks. An officialsaid the No action has been takenon India eyes lithium Virtuallyevery popular cricketer, is going to setupsignages. “It (the approval to Covaxin) we wouldusetheSIIvaccine.That Satyajit Rath, who wasfor- government is "extremelycon- counter-complaints by the ac- Anumber of alternativesare presentorretired,promotesafan- Thecentre willhaveawaiting says it maybeusedinanemer- iswhatmy understandingisafter merly with the National Institute cerned". cused, who have alleged that the being fostered to achieve more tasy league –this listincludes areaunderashedattheentrance. gency situation, whichmeans reading the recommendation. of ImmunologyinNewDelhi,said Meanwhile, three deaths stone-peltingwasinretaliationto optimaloptions. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly The registration will be doneina that because of what is happen- And, if thereisanemergency scientists were notquestioning were reportedatthe Singhu and provocative slogans raisedatthe ■ Toyota’s solid statebattery: and Bharat Ratna Sachin corridor,whichleadsintothree ing in the UK, Europe,and the US, need, in clinical trial mode and the safetyoreffectiveness of the Tikriborders,where farmershave rallies. At Indoreand Mandsaur, Among the 1,000-odd global Tendulkar. vaccinationrooms.Ineachroom, in case thereisasudden surge, takingabundantprecautions,we vaccineitself butraisingconcerns been camping foroveramonth participantshad also climbed patentsinvolving solid-state bat- Of late, international betting around five persons canbevacci- and consideringthatwehaveno mayuse the Bharat Biotech vac- about the institutional process. now. Jagbir,66, from Jind district, ontomosques. teries, Toyota heads the list. The companies, despitesports gam- nated at atime. anti-viraldrugstillagainstCovid- cine.Otherwise,we waitforfour- "The problem is notinthe andJashnpreet,18,fromBathinda, Japanese automaker is attempt- bling being illegal in India, have An observation room further 19,ifvaccination mayprevent sixweekstillthefinaldataisout,” form of anyenhancedrisktothe diedinTikri. Christchurch ing to wrestbackthe leadfrom slipped intothe sporting ecosys- down the corridorwill have sev- spreadof aninfection,onlyinsuch Dr Guleria said. individual who is taking the vac- “Jashnpreetwas brought to stayedforquiteafew days inGoa, the Chinese, who arecurrent Li- tembyadvertisingdirectlyand eral chairs to monitor each vacci- circumstances--whenthereisa cine... Thereare severalissues the civil hospital in adelirious largely putting up near the ionbatterypackleaders. Toyota through surrogate ways accept- natedbeneficiaryforhalfanhour. needtovaccinatealarge number Phase 3data with the waythe approval has condition on Saturday night.He beaches,”the official added. plans to be the firstcompanyto ing online bets through Indian Incaseof anaphylacticreactionor of people,thatcannotbedoneus- approval of Covid-19vaccines), it been granted,whichcan lead to wasreferredtoPGIMS, Rohtak, Sources said his interactions sellanEVequipped withasolid- banking systems. severe adverseeffects,thebenefi- ingonlytheSII’svaccine--Bharat wasveryclear that theywanted people losing confidence in the wherehedied,” said aJhajjar po- were limited to fellowtravellers statebattery. Nissan tooisinthe The Niti Aayogdraft stays ciarywill be transferredtotwo Biotechwould be allowed to give safetyandefficacydataanditwas regulatorysystem," he said. liceofficer. “In the otherincident, and locals in the trade. “All this fray. away from the online betting de- other rooms that house bedsand the vaccine,"DrGuleria said. expectedthat, forthe safetydata, LShashidhara, abiologist and thebodywasfoundinsideatruck pointstothefactthathisinterests ■ Apple batterytech: In the batebut says that fantasy sports emergency medical equipment. Intheabsenceof efficacydata, therewouldbeatleast two professor at IISER, Pune,sug- attheprotest siteitself.Aheartat- inIndiawerelimitedto travel.The lastfortnight of 2020, Apple Inc “shouldnotbelegallyclassifiedas Dr Pinakin Gujjar,Dean of he emphasisedthe “abundant monthsof followup,”saidvaccine gested away forwardthat wasin tack is suspected. probebyNew Zealandauthorities saidit'smovingforwardwithself- gambling” sinceskill, notchance, Cooper hospital, said ateam of precaution” to be observedin scientistand Christian Medical agreementwithwhatGuleriade- The protester who diedat has found that Tarranttravelled driving car technology and is tar- is apredominant factor.Ithas specialistsfromanaesthesia,ENT, Covaxin's use. “... This will be in College professor Dr Gagandeep scribed."Theuse of Covaxin and Singhu wasShamsher,44, a extensively before carrying out geting2024toproduce apassen- cited the example of the regula- chestand general medicine will clinicaltrialmode,sothatthereis Kang. other vaccines forwhichdataon farmer from Sangrur.“Shamsher the attack. He had even visited gervehicle. While the rumours tory systems in the United States be available to handleseveread- veryclose monitoring... Theywill “In the case of Covaxin...you efficacy is limited shouldbe diedataround8am,afterhecom- Muslim countries likethe UAE were abuzz forawhile, the sub- -- wherefantasy sports areal- verse effects. “Wedid nothaveto becalledupfrequentlyabout the haven’t finishedenrolment. So, treated as extendedtrials. While plainedofchestpain. ADalit and Pakistan. In anycase,hehas text held out aclue —central to lowedin43states. spend alot on the centre, we just side-effects, and adatabasewill whereisyour safetydata? theyare being producedinlarge farmer,hehad been protesting said he wasinspired to carryout Apple's strategy is anew battery Former US-basedfantasy had to spruce up the existing fa- be maintained." Obviously,there’snoefficacydata quantitiesandsubjectedto batch with his 13-year-old son," said the attackafter visiting Europe in design that could "radically" re- sports writer and podcaster cility. We areinstalling water TheAIIMSDirectorcompared either,”she said. testing, the government should Jagmohan Singh of BKU- 2017,” saidanotherofficial. duce the costofbatteries and in- GabrielHarbersaidfantasygames cooler and repairingtoilets,” said the scientific rationale behind Said Shahid Jameel,avirolo- buildcapabilitiesacrossthecoun- Dakaunda. Between April 15,2014, and creasethevehicle'srange,accord- continuetoberegulatedthrough Additional Municipal clearing Covaxin to the grant of gist anddirectorof TrivediSchool trytomonitor immune response —WITHENS,NEWDELHI August17, 2017,Tarrant travelled ingto aperson quotedbyReuters. statelegislation,which makesop- Commissioner Suresh Kakani. approvalto repurposeddrugslike of BiosciencesatAshoka to different vaccines," he said. extensively —alwaysalone, ex- ■QuantumScape’ssolid-state erators accountable. "A large BMC currentlyhas selected hydroxychloroquine and University:"Evenemergencyuse Chouhan ceptfor his visit to NorthKorea as battery: Californianbatterystart- number of states had bannedit five storagecentres–inKEM,Nair, remdesvirfortreatingsymptoms authorisationrequires efficacy Haryanapolice property destroyed through acts partofatourgroup.Thecountries up QuantumScape Corp.isbeing outright but broughtthem back SionandCooperhospitalsaswell arisingfromCovid-19.“If youhave data...These Indian vaccines umbrella body of farmer unions of anysortofvandalism, be it thathevisitedforperiodsofabout seen as another bright prospect. by passinglegislation,”Harber as the FSouth health office – datathatthevaccineissafe,orany would eventuallygointothe in- protesting at Delhi's borders. stone-peltingorarson,where the amonth or moreincludedChina, Founded by Stanford University said. “Since it'sregulated on a wherethe firstbatchofvaccine drug is safe, then youwould say ternational market as well. It is Aheadoftheir talkswith the accusedwouldhavetopay forthe Japan,Russiaand South Korea scientists,with financialbacking state-to-state basis,the gaming will be stocked. Anodal storage that in casethereisaneed, we very important that thereistrust government,the farmer leaders damage." amongothers. from Volkswagen AG, commissionshavetoensurefair- facilityis,meanwhile,undercon- mayconsider using it without in our regulatoryinstitutions.” reiterated their demands. “The The official saidthe MP law Beforethe attackinMarch QuantumScapeisoneof thelead- ness.” structioninKanjurmarg. knowing thatitwould work 20 Randeep Guleria, member of farm laws must be repealed. The willhave awiderdefinitionof the 2019,Tarrant had put up online ing developers of solid-state NitiAayoghassaida“self-reg- The Cooper hospital vaccina- per cent or 80 per cent. This is the National Covid-19task force, twoamendmentsneedtobe scopeof private property."UPhas posts that containedanti-immi- lithium metalbatteries. ulatoryorganisation”should tion centrecan vaccinate2,000 what wasdone even when ap- toldTheIndianExpressthattheap- rolledbackand the government definedprivate property as that grant, anti-Muslim and Right Itsuseof asolidstateseparator communicatewithall states and people aday.Ten teams will be proving hydroxychloroquine or provalto Covaxinwasgivento en- mustlisten,” Jageer Singh belonging to areligious trust, the Wing extremistviews.Here- technologyeliminatesthesidere- request“themtoconsider grant- deputed to work in twoshiftsfor remdesivir or even convalescent surethatincasetherewas asud- Dalewal, BKU,said. Wakf Boardorany firm,exclud- ceivedalifesentence in August action between the liquid elec- ing to OFSPs immunity from the purpose. plasma,” Dr Guleria said. densurge,and the availability of “On Lohri, January13, we will ing property ownedbyanindi- 2020.According to agency re- trolyteandthecarboninconven- criminal prosecution”. With Cooper hospital being “Regarding this vaccine, there is OxfordUniversityvaccinewasin- burn copies of the three farm vidual. Whatweaim is that, in a ports,inDecember 2020, the tional lithium-ion cells’ anode. Said Sai Srinivas, co-founder the main vaccination centrein datawhichshows goodimmuno- sufficient,itcouldbedeployed"in laws.OnJanuary18, we invite lawand order issue, if someone's RoyalCommission of Inquiryin Appreciation forthe technol- andCEOof MPL:"Westrongly be- westernsuburbs, BMC is mulling genicity and safety." clinicaltrial mode". everyoneto carryoutprotests.We car is damaged,hecan lodgean NewZealandreleasedareporton ogy has comeinfromDrStanley lieve thattheself-regulatorybody over creating atoken system at Dr Bhargava, the headofthe Jameel said this wasall the also want to tell the Punjab gov- FIR and approachthe claims tri- the attackthat claimedTarrant, Whittingham,co-inventor of Li- proposedbyNitiAayogshouldbe theregistrationcounter.“Itispos- ICMRthatco-developedCovaxin morereasonwhytheapprovalfor ernmentthat if theydon't stop bunal." 30, worked as apersonal trainer ion batteryand winnerofthe setuponprinciples of fairness, sible thatahugecrowd comes at with Bharat Biotech,said, “In Covaxin neednot have been policeactionagainstpeople,there Aftertherecentstone-pelting atalocalgymuntil2012 whenhe 2019 NobelPrizeinChemistry. transparencyandindependence, the same time forvaccination.To termsof theefficacydata,we have rushedthrough."The Serum willbeprotestsagainstthem.We incidents,18 peoplewere arrested sufferedaninjury. ■ Tesla’snew tabless battery: soitcanhelpspurfurtherinnova- preventovercrowdingatthever- done extensive work at the NIV, Institutehas alreadysaid that it is areagainstboththe BJP and from Ujjain's Begum Bagh, while "He neveragain worked in In September 2020, Tesla un- tion." But moresafeguards may ificationcounter,atoken will be Pune. Therehavebeen small ani- ready withatleast50million Congress, since this is an issue of inIndore'sChandanKhedi,27 vil- paid employment. Instead, he veiledplansto developanew “ta- be needed, experts said.“These issued to beneficiaries to create a mals' study,large animals' study doses.AndtheBharatBiotech vac- thefarmers,"saidManjitRai,BKU, lagers were arrested and sent to livedoff the moneythat he had bless”batterythatcouldimprove arenot justgames. There is an in- waitinglistandhousetheminthe andmonkey challenge study. And cineisnotbeingdeployedimme- Doaba, at apress conference at jail.The rallies on whichstones receivedfromhisfather...Withthe an electric car’s rangeand power. cursion intovulnerable sections waiting area,”Kakani said. ahugestudydoneattheICMRfor diately. Sotheproperthingwould Singhu. were pelted hadbeen organised moneyfromhis father,the indi- Atabisthepartofthebatterythat of society,likeminorswithaccess FULLREPORTSON 14 days,where samples were have been to wait forthe prelim- In NewDelhi,Agriculture by theVHP as partofits drive to vidual travelledextensively,” PTI forms aconnection betweenthe to mobile phones. And wherever www.indianexpress.com

Man ‘beaten to men lefthis house. The police ter, Puja, told the police that men from the Elam police post Kandhla SP Sukriti Madhavtold Rajan Tyagi, in charge of the area EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE have also ordered an inquiry. when she returnedhome from Police said the had gone to Omveer's house in The Indian Express over the policestation in Shamli district. deathbypolice’ MEERUT,JANUARY3 While the Kandhla the market, she sawthree police- 35-year-old diedof connection with acomplaint phone. Following Omveer's death, Superintendent of Police said men “attacking her father with cardiac arrest after againsthim. The policemen left “Wewill certainlybring out his familymembers and resi- at his homein A35-YEAR-OLD man wasal- that policemen visitedOmveer's clubs”. “When the policemen his house.Later,Omveer died the truth through our investiga- dentsofthe area blockedthe legedly beaten to death by po- house in connection “with a left, Irushedtomyfatherand theyleftthe house probablyfromcardiac arrest.We tion,” Madhavadded. Delhi highway demanding im- Shamli town, licemen at his house in Shamli’s complaint againsthim”, the local foundhim lying lifelessonthe have receivedawritten com- “Wehavesent the body for mediateaction againstthe Elam town on Sundayafternoon. SHO said that he wasnot aware ground,” said Puja. plaintfromhis familymembers post-mortem. An inquiryhas al- “guiltypolicemen”. The road- probe ordered The police, however, denied the whythe policemen went to his The familymembers claimed tion in Shamli. who alleged that he has been ready been ordered.Wedon't blockwas liftedafter senior po- allegation, saying Omveer died house. that there wasnocase pending “I have ordered an inquiry beaten to death. Ihaveassured know yetwhy thepolicemenhad lice officers intervenedand as- of cardiac arrest afterthe police- Omveer's 14-year-old daugh- againstOmveer in anypolice sta- intothe incident. Afew police- them no guilty will be spared,” gone to Omveer's house,”said sured them of immediateaction. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 3 THE CITY Citing abuse of law ShivSenanotconcernedaboutmiddle by police, court classandpoor;fooledpeopleofMumbai dismisses 30 cases lodged forviolation With just ayear remaining for 19 expenditure. Theytabledfor Sena started toolate? eachward. Committeeand other statutory BMC elections, also known as the postfacto approval. All were re- In the ward committeeelec- committees have metphysi- “mini Assembly” polls, political ferred backtothe administra- tions, wherewedid nothavethe Manycorporators complain cally, aphysical meeting of the of lockdown norms parties have started drawing their tion and all corporators, includ- numbers, we withdrew ourcan- that commissioners and BMC House is yettotakeplace strategies. Despite Shiv Sena,NCP ing those from Sena, supported didate. This wasdone to ensure other officials don't meet (amid the pandemic). Aphysi- and Congressruling thestate in a it. We wanted transparency.But that BJP does notcometopower. them or payheedtotheir cal meeting will bring all corpo- coalition, thethree maycontest twomonths have passedsince But that doesn’t mean we have issues. rators together and the commis- SADAFMODAK thecivic polls separately. and no replyhas been received givenablanket sanctiontoSena AfterOctober,manyinstruc- sioner will have to attend. It MUMBAI,JANUARY3 19.4 2lakh Opposition leader in BMC and from the administration. Now to do whatever it wants. tions were givenbythe Standing seems Sena also doesn't want Congress corporator RAVI RAJA, theywantapproval forextra On occasions, when we op- Committee chairman to addi- the meeting or else it could have IN Alegal hurdle forthe Mumbai TOTALPOSITIVECASES who has been training his guns funds. Howcan we approve? posedSena, whydid the BJP not tional municipal commission- requestedpermission from the Police, whichisseeking to pros- INMAHARASHTRA against Sena, whichrules thecivic We have no objection to giv- do the same? Because BJP just ers and the commissioner but stategovernment (toholdthe ecutepeople found notwearing Active Cases 54,317 body,speakstoLAXMAN SINGH ing the money, we areobjecting wantstoplaygames... Iwill say hardlyanythingwas followed. meeting). The Sena is happy masksinpublic places or violat- New Cases 3,282 and SANJANABHALERAO about to the non-responsive natureof this nowand in futurealso, if In the past, commissioners used with video conference meetings ing lockdown and night curfew, TotalDeaths 49,666 arangeofissues. the administration. ShivSena is Sena is trying to fool the people to provide answers but now since the current set-up is ben- at least30cases have been dis- known fortaking U-turns. Sena, Pradip Das of Mumbai, Congress, along theyare nottaking corporators eficial to it. missedlastweek by acourt, on New Deaths 35 Congress has renewedits whichhad backed the earlier with NCPand Samajwadi Party, seriously. They areanswering the ground thatproper proce- Quarantined2.47lakh aggression againstShivSena decision to referthe proposals MONDAY will oppose Sena. onlytoMantralaya(statesecre- Whyisthe Opposition not durehas notbeen followed. Tested 1.29 crore in BMC. Why? backtothe administration, is INTERVIEW tariat) or Varsha (chief minister's bringing anoconfidence Multiple orders passedbya Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nowsaying all proposals have Wasthereanunderstanding office). BMC has been totally motion againstthe metropolitanmagistrate’s court exists in the stategovernment, been approved.This is acom- RAVI RAJA between youand ShivSena decimated.Sena is responsible commissioner? have said that the police action is 2,95,241 notinthe BMC. Iamthe leader plete eyewash. OPPOSITION LEADER IN BMC in the ward committee forthis unfortunatesituation. Foranoconfidence motion “without authority of law” and an AND CONGRESS CORPORATOR TOTALPOSITIVE of Opposition in BMC. Iamclear elections? to be introduced,aphysical “abuse of process of law”, as the CASESINMUMBAI thatIwillspeak for Do youthinkthe renewed In the ward elections, we As an Oppositionleader, meeting of the House has to take sections invokedinthe cases re- Mumbaikars.Insome cases, we aggression would create were offeredthree posts by haven't youfailedtotakeon place. Ihavealready movedano quireacomplaintfiledbythe col- New Cases 581 have supported ShivSena. But differences between poor.The CM is from the ruling Sena. But we refused. We will the commissioner if as you confidencemotion againstBEST lector or his subordinateofficer, TotalDeaths 11,135 of late,especiallyamid the Congress and ShivSena in the party,what is he doing? notsharepower with Sena in sayheisrunning BMC on his General Manager Surendra whichhas notbeen done. The or- New Deaths 3 Covid-19 pandemic, the party stategovernment? Property taxwaiverfor houses the corporation. That is the ownwhim? Bagade but it is stuckbecause no ders also stated that while those has stopped consultinganyone. MVAisaseparateidentity.It up to 500sqftwas approved but stand of the party highcom- Standing Committee meet- physical meeting has taken booked have been chargedwith Wheneverweoppose what is is based on acommon mini- onlyone of the(eight)compo- mand. ings have been taking place for place.Mostofthe time when spreading an infection, theyhave accused had indulged in anyact, notinthe interestof mum programme (CMP). In nentsofthe taxisbeing waived. the lastthree months. Thrice, corporators ask forameeting notbeen tested forCovid-19. whichwas likelytospread infec- Mumbaikars, the BMC BMC, we don’t have aCMP.We Somewhere, youhavefooled Will Congress have an Municipal Commissioner (Iqbal with the commissioner,theyare The police have been book- tion of Covid-19,” one of the (Standing Committee) chair- opposedthe property taxbene- the peopleofMumbai. Howdo alliance with Sena forBMC Singh Chahal) wascalledtothe informedthat he is in ing people notwearing masksas courtorders said. It addedthat man (from Sena) says –'humko fitgiven to hoteliers and hoard- youexpect us to go along with polls? meetings but he did notturn up. Mantralaya.How will he give well as forviolating lockdown therewas no proofthatany of uparseorder aaya hain'. We ing owners. When your revenue suchaparty? Our newCongress president Earlier,(previous commission- justicetocorporators? The state and night curfew undersections thosebooked hadviolated quar- don’tknowwho this 'upar' is, it is affected,why give suchbene- (for Mumbai) Bhai Jagtap has ers) AjoyMehtaand Praveen should also think about this. including 188(violation of an or- antine rules either. maybeCMsaab, Aadityasahib fits?Weopposedthe waiver Afterthe recentward clearly stated that we willcon- Pardeshiusedtoattend Otherwise, the corporation der by apublic servant), 269 Theordersfurtherstatedthat also. He has to clarify. givento5-starhotel TajMahal committee elections where test from all the 227wards. I Standing Committee meetings should be dissolved... letthem (negligentlydoing an act which Section 188–the charge invoked Secondly, in thefirststand- Palace. This is onlybenefiting Congress supportedSena have also said the same.Our when called. This shows he run it. This is local self-govern- aperson knows is likelyto in all cases of lockdown violation ing committee meeting in the rich. This clearly shows that candidates, BJP calledyou a stand is clear,wewill fight this (Chahal) has become bigger ment and it has autonomy. The spread an infection of anydis- –related to disobedienceofan October,ofthe 600proposals, the rulingparty is notconcerned “friendlyopposition”. Do you election alone.Weare anational than the institution. independent statureofBMC is ease dangerous to life), 270(ma- order promulgated by apublic over 250 were related to Covid- about the middle class and the thinkthis opposition against party,our workersare therein Also, while the Standing in danger. lignantlydoing suchanact) of servant. In this case, the order re- the Indian Penal Code and the garding the lockdown was DisasterManagement Act, 2005. passedbythe collector’soffice. In manycases, the accused Moreover, the orders stated Sena shakha who have pleaded guilty have that to be booked under the been directed to payafine before DisasterManagement Act, the pramukh their cases were disposed. complaint has to be authorised In at least30cases lodgedin by anational,state or district au- the eastern suburbs,when the thority constituted underthe Act shot at in policefiled chargesheets and and the accusedshould be given sought that summons be issued anotice of at leastamonth. They Bhiwandi to theaccused,the courtconsid- addedthat in these cases, the ered themaintainability of the complaintswerefiled by police cases. In multipleorders passed personnel who arenot autho- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE lastweek,itobserved that risedtodosounder the Act. MUMBAI,JANUARY3 chargesunder sections 269 and “In absence of such statutory 270ofthe IPCisnot attracted in compliance, it is nothing but SHIV SENAleader Deepak thesecases. abuse of process of law,”the or- Mhatrewas shotatbybike- “Admittedly,the police have ders said, addingthat investigat- borne assailantsonSaturday notcarriedout Covid-19tests of ing authorities “acted without night outsidehis Bhiwandi resi- the accusedpersons.Moreover, jurisdiction” in registering FIRs dence when he waswith his thereisnodocumentaryevi- and conducting probes. wife. Mhatre, who is the Shiv dencetoshowthat the accused Since March,over56,000 Sena's shakha pramukh from personshad tested positive.In cases have been filedunder Bhiwandi, survivedthe attack. absence of suchmaterial on the Section 188ofthe IPC across Narpoli policehavestarted an in- record, it cannotbesaidthat the Mumbai. vestigation in the case. The incident took place late Saturdaynight whenMhatre, Met centre in Mumbai seeks who had gone to Thane with his wife, wasreturning home. He parkedhis four-wheeler outside space in schools, colleges his house whentwo persons on abikefired at him before fleeing to boost rain gauge network from the spot, police said. The in- cident wascaptured on CCTV Lastyear,Mumbaibecame cameras. The CCTVfootage EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE the second Indian city,after shows Mhatrefirst taking his PUNE,JANUARY3 Chennai, to getits owninte- wifetosafetyintheirhouse be- grated flood warning system, fore running outside to look at Work in progress at the nodal Covid-19vaccine storagefacility in KanjurmargonSunday. Deepak Joshi THE REGIONAL Meteorological whichisbeing operated with the bike, police said. Centre(RMC) in Mumbai has the help of the Municipal "Thereissuspicion that the sought cooperationfrom Corporation of Greater attackmay be linkedtothe up- schools, colleges, government Mumbai and the StateDisaster coming gram panchayat elec- MURDER AT KHARNEW YEAR PARTY offices and institutions to allot Management Authority.The tions in the area as Mhatre is one asmall piece of land on their system wasable to monitorris- of the hopeful aspirantsinthe respective premisesfor thein- ing waterlevels, following in- race. We have some leads and Police record statements to establish sequence of events stallation of Automatic Rain tense rain in specificgeo- shouldbeabletotrack down the Gauges (ARG). graphic areas, and sharethe accusedsoon,"said an officer abuilding, have been arrested on accused. She wasupsetand her tion before us,” said the officer. hospitals afterthe incident with- The RMC plans to information with thecivic from Narpoli police station. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE chargesofmurder. friend consoledher.The state- The policehaverecovered out informing anyone. strengthen itsexistingrain body forissuing timelyflood MUMBAI,JANUARY3 The murderisbelieved to ment of the friend willbevital CCTVfootage of the one of the Officers have also recorded gauge networkinthe city in warnings. have takenplace on the stair- evidence to establish that the ac- accusedleavingthe buildingin the statementsofother friends the coming months. The strengtheningofthe Actorarrestedin THE MUMBAI Police, investigat- case of the building following a cusedand the victim had afight an injuredconditionafter the in- present at the party to corrobo- It will install 20 ARGs, of the rain gauge networkisbeing ing the murder of a19-year-old physical altercationbetween and therefore, had amotiveto cident in the weehours of rate themovementsofthe ac- total proposed50ARGs, by undertakenaspartofthe India connection with woman at aNew Year party in the three. harm her,” said the police. January1. cusedand the deceased. March this year. Meteorological Department's Khar early Friday, has beganthe The police said that in the ab- The police arealso trying to The postmortem report has “Some of these accounts With additionalARGs, the (IMD) urbanmeteorology. drugs racket process of recordingthe state- sence of anyCCTVcamera gather evidence on what tran- revealedthat the victim’s skull coverdifferent aspectsofwhat weather department aims to The RMC will needspace mentsofthose present at the footageofthe staircase of the 10- spired between the time the wasfractured and she had also happenedthat night. One of gather morelocalisedmeteo- measuring about 10 feet by 10 party to establish the chain of storey building and no eyewit- three were seenleaving the sustainedinjuries on her fore- thosepresentsaidthatthe three rological data--rainfall, tem- feet on the ground in asecured EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE eventsthat ledtothe murder. nesses, afriend that the de- party and when the body was head, on the backofher head, had afight at afriend'splace in perature, humidity in real time place and the installation and MUMBAI,JANUARY3 So far, twoofthe woman's ceasedspokewith some time found on the ground floor stair- hip and thighs. the same building afterthe de- at regular intervals -- which maintenance willbeper- friends –a19-year-old woman before she waskilled, will be vi- case of the building some time The policehavesaid that the ceasedwas feeling unwell and willthen be usedinmaking ac- formed by the Metdepart- THE NARCOTICSControl Bureau and a22-year-old man -- who tal. “It appears that the deceased later.“Usually, everybody takes twoaccusedalso sustainedin- wastaken there. We aretrying curateweatherforecasts, espe- ment. Interestedinstitutions (NCB) detainedaTollywood ac- had come with her to the party, spoke to afriendoverthe phone the lift. In this case, whythey juries on their head and backand to ascertain the exact sequence ciallyduring the crucial mon- can reachout to thebody on torfromahotelroominMira whichwas held at the terraceof aftershe had afightwith the two took the stairs is another ques- had visited Sionand Hinduja of events,” the officer said. soon months. [email protected]. Road on Saturdayinconnection with adrug racket. The policehad intercepteda suspectnamedChand Shaikh at Gurunanak Margnear Bandra / railway station on Saturdayand 23 year old overcomes disability to crack CAT,wants to be entrepreneur recovered400 gm of MD from the Bandraresident. Afterinterrogating Shaikh, Anand Rajkumar Mishranotched up 99.92percentile despite spinalmuscularatrophythatmakes it difficult forhim to walk without braces the police raidedahotel room at The CrownBusiness Hotelat it affect his studies.Bornina booksrelated to finance, billion- percentile, he wasnot satisfied businesses,” he said. He had expected to score Bhayander,but failedtonab a SHYNAKALRA familyoffour siblings, all of aires, and biographyofsuccess- with his performance and at- To crackthe exam this year, about 99 percentile afterreview- suspect, Sayeed Shaikh, whohad NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 whom aredoctors, the 23 year ful people. Istarted developing temptedfor the exam again in Mishrasaid he focusedonmock ing the answer keyand is cur- fled. However, policefound the oldalways had an affinityto- an interest in trading. However, I 2020. He said he wasdeter- tests. “Lastyear,Ihad focusedon rentlyseeking coaching forin- actor in the room and arecur- MUMBAI-BASED Anand wardstrading and finance which studiedscience as it wasconsid- mined to getadmissioninone of bookish knowledge,and this terviewrounds at Quoin rentlyinterrogating her. Rajkumar Mishra has notched motivatedhim towardsaB- ered theright stream formerito- the IIMs to fulfill his dream of be- year Ifocused on mocktests.I Academy. His teacher at the An officer said that Sayeed,a up 99.92 percentile in the school. He aspires to join anyof rious students,” said Mishra, coming an entrepreneur. had registeredfor mocks foral- academy, PatrickD’Souza, has resident of MiraBhayander in Common Admission Test (CAT) IIM-Ahmedabad, Bangalore, or who studiedB.Techinproject “I have studiedalot about al- mostall topvendors. Iappeared also crackedCAT 2020 with Thane, is supposedtobethe 2020 despitespinal muscular at- CalcuttaorDelhi University’s management. ternative investmentsand re- forover100mocktests and each 99.98percentile marks.Hehad main supplier of MD drugs. The rophy, agenetic disorder that Faculty of Management Studies. Aftercompleting his gradua- alisedthat this field is under- time Ianalysed my performance got 100percentile lastyear as NCBinMumbai registeredanof- makes it difficult forhim to walk “I had joinedcoaching to tion, he appliedfor CATin2019. served in India. Thereisa and worked on my weak areas. I well and has so farattempted fence and areonthe lookout for without braces. crackIIT entrance exam but dur- Even though he had crackedthe AnandRajkumar Mishra vacuum in this space whichof- would recommend this practice CAT18times and toppedsix him. Mishra, however, did notlet ing that time Iusedtostudy entrance exam by scoring 73 fers agreat opportunityfor new styletoevery aspirant,” he said. times. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 MAHARASHTRA THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 RPIopposes renamingof Aurangabad, MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL threatensstir

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE MUMBAI,JANUARY3

THE REPUBLICAN PartyofIndia (RPI) on Sundaythreatenedan Ramdas agitation if the Maha Vikas Athawale PROMOTED Aghadi (MVA) government re- namedAurangabad as IDZES KUNDAN, a1996-batch IAS officer who wasone of 12 bu- Sambhajinagar afterChhatrapati has been on the ShivSena's reaucratsnamedinthe Adarsh housing scam, waslastweek pro- Sambhaji Maharaj,ademand agenda forlong, and is an issue AMaha-Metrotrain passes by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation headquarters during atrial run between motedtothe Principal Secretary-rank.Whilethe scam wasun- backedbyits bigger partner BJP that tends to crop up around Pimpri-Chinchwad and Phugewadi on Sunday. Rajesh Stephan earthed10years ago, the government is yettoinitiatea as the city's municipal elections everyelection. departmentalinquiryagainstbureaucratswhose namescropped approach. While the ShivSena has put upinit.Withno pendingdepartmentalinquiryagainsther,thisis “The RPI is notinfavour of re- out that it is keen to adoptares- Kundan's second promotion in the decade since the scam came to namingAurangabad. The city olutioninthe stateCabinet light. PradeepVyas, a1989-batch officer,istheonly otherremain- has itsown distinct cultural favouring the renaming, state Card-cloning fraud:23-year-old ing serving IAS officer whose name wasembroiledinthe matter. identity.Ifthe Maha Vikas Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat Aghadi government renames it, had said the matter wasnot un- RPI will be forced to launchanin- der consideration of the MVA definiteagitation,” RPIpresident government and if suchasitua- engineering studentarrested INTHE RACE... and Union MinisterofState for tion arose, theCongress would Social Justice Ramdas Athawale oppose it. MAHARASHTRA PUBLIC Service Commission's(MPSC) chairman said. “The renaming issue is not Bhosari, Pune.The probere- neering. He wasarrestedon touch. We aretrying to find if Satish Gawaihas appliedfor thepostofChairman of the Aurangabad city,with asize- partofthe Common Minimum EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE vealedthat twomorecustomers, Saturdayand wassubsequently morepeople areinvolvedinthis Maharashtra ElectricityRegulatoryCommission,whichwillsoonfall ablepopulationofDalitsand Programme of the MVAgovern- PUNE,JANUARY3 who had visited thebar on remandedtopolicecustody for fraud. We arealso probingwhy vacant.Butasectionof bureaucratssay hisapplicationmaybecon- Muslims, has been an RPI strong- ment,” he had said on Friday. December 4and 15,had lostRs aweek. and howthe student wastapped trarytotheConstitutionalprovisionthat"prohibitsthechairmanof hold. The controversy over the “The issue will lead to the POLICE HAVE launchedaprobe 25,000 and Rs 19,500respec- The proberevealedthat the by the racketeers and if more astate publiccommission"to holdanyofficeunderthestateorcen- issue has roiledthe city over the downfallofthe government. The intoasuspected card-cloning tively,fromtheiraccounts. These student had been using askim- people have been defraudedina tral government afterceasing office, barring membership to the lastfew days,with Maha vikas differences betweenCongress racket following the arrest of a amounts had been withdrawn ming device to stealdatafromat similar fashion." Union Public Service Commission. Aghadi partners ShivSena and and ShivSena will lead to the col- 23-year-old engineering student from an ATMkiosk in Bihar. least three cards handed over to Cloning of cards, also referred Congress engaging in awar of lapse of the government...,” who usedtoworkaswaiter at a Ateam from the Bhosari po- him by the customers during bill to as skimming, involveselec- words, and BJP trying to corner Athawale said, but also made it Bhosarihotel. The student had lice station, ledbyinspector payment at the bar.The datawas tronictheftofthe credit or debit ATLOGGERHEADS the ShivSena on this. clear that he differedwith his allegedly clonedcards of three JitendraKadam, launchedthe in- then sharedwith aracketeerwho carddatausing various methods. Acknowledging that BJP is in ownallyBJP on the issue. customers who endeduplosing vestigation with the help of is suspectedto have givenhim the The stolen dataare usedbyfraud- TOCUTdownonitsownrentals,thestateadministrationwantsto favour of renamingAurangabad, Congress leader and PWD over Rs 94,000. Pimpri Chinchwad police’s cy- card-skimming device. While the sters to gain access to users’ bank relocatethe StateElection Commission, the RighttoInformation Athawale said, “RPI as apolitical MinisterAshok Chavansaid on An FIR has been registeredat bercrime cell. The investigators main racketeer withdrew Rs accountsand withdraw money. Commission,theRightto ServicesCommissionandtheLokayukta, party has itsown ideology and Sunday, “Our concern is the de- Bhosari police station by local initially zeroedinonawaiter 94,500fromthe three cards, the Officials said that suchcrimes re- to Wadala within the next twomonths. This has apparentlynot agenda. We have decidedagainst velopment of Aurangabad. We resident and one of the three who had served allthe three student receivedless than Rs quirealotoftechnical knowhow, gone down well with retired bureaucratsheadingthese commis- renaming Aurangabad.” don't subscribetorenaming customers, Pimple Gurav,35, fraudvictims.Theysubse- 4,000as hisshare, an officer said. elaborateset of softwareand sions, who have indicated that the alternative locationisnot suit- The renaming of Aurangabad cities.” who lostRs50,000 from his quentlyidentifiedthe waiter as a Inspector Kadam said, "A electronic systems. Generally, able.Ofthe four commissions, three areheadedbyformerChief bank accountbrieflyafter visit- student, aJalgaon native,who is hunt is on to nab the accused such fraudsters use mules to get Secretaries. ing abar at Landewadi in pursuing his diploma in engi- with whom the student wasin accesstocardinformation. UNDER THE LENS

QUESTIONS AREbeingraised over therecent elevation of Public WorksDepartment Chief Engineer Anil Gaikwad to thepostof aSecretaryinadditional capacity.Gaikwad, who wasanaccused in amulti-crorescam, is already holding another plum postin astate-run corporation. Afterbeingsuspended forgetting em- broiledinthe scam, the engineerwas reinstatedin2017. POLITICKLE

WHILETHEstateleadershipof theCongressinMaharashtra hasin- dicated that the alliance with ShivSenawas forthe stateonly, the latterisconsideringtakingitto UttarPradesh.Lastweek,ShivSena's office bearers in Uttar Pradesh areunderstood to have sent feelers to theCongressfor apollunderstanding forthe upcomingpan- chayat elections in the NorthIndian state.

COMPILEDBYSANDEEPASHAR Navi Mumbai MunicipalCorporation HaveacommentorsuggestionforMumbaiConfidential?Writeto [email protected] City EngineeringDepartment withsubjectline:MumbaiConfidential RE-TenderNoticeNo. NMMC/E.E(Digha)/168/2020-21 Name of work :- Construction of ESRand GSRonOS1 (AM-5) plot at DighaWard. INTERVIEW:PRITHVIRAJ SATHE EstimatedCostRs. :- 12,41,63,126/- Tenderbookletswill be available on e-tenderingcomputer system at https://organizations.maharashtra.nextprocure.in and ‘Congress not trying to at www.nmmc.gov.in websiteofNMMCondt. 04 /01/2021.The tenderistobesubmittedonlineat https://organizations.maharashtra.nextprocure.inForany weaken MVA govt… technicaldifficulties in the e-tenderingprocess, please contactthe help desk number givenonthiswebsite. Theright to accept or reject anytenderisreserved by the we havesomeissues Hon'bleCommissioner of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation sign/- City Engineer which will be resolved’ NMMC PR Advno./2392/2020 Navi Mumbai MunicipalCorporation Prithviraj Sathe,general secretary that the Congress has done every- of MaharashtraPradeshCongress thing right so far. Committee, hasbeenpromotedas secretary of AICC and co-incharge When will the Congress geta of Assam Congress. Sathe, who hails full-timenational president? from Pimpri-Chinchwad, in an in- That process is on the way. terviewtoManojMore, deniesthe Oncetheorganisationalelections growing public perception that areheld, the Congress will geta Congress wastryingto weaken the full-time president. governmentand pullitdown. BANGALORE WATER SUPPLY NCPchief SharadPawar’s AND SEWERAGE BOARD Congress ministers in MVA name is doing the rounds as governmentare constantly UPAchairman. Will the Office of the Chief Engineer (East), complaining about ‘injustice’. Congress agree to it? 7thFloor,Cauvery Bhavan,K.G.Road, Bengaluru -560 009 Someare also targeting the The decision regarding the No.BWSSB/EIC/CE(E)/ACE(E)-I/DCE(M)-I/TA(M)-I/4195/2020-21 Date: 28.12.2020 government.Isthe Congress UPAchairmanwill betakenbyall INVITATION FOR TENDER trying to destabilise the itsconstituents. Even otherwise, (Through e-Procurement Portal Only) government? these areonlyspeculations. NCP BWSSB invites item rate tenders in TwoStage Tender system The three party MVAgovern- hasalsodeniedthat.Wewillcross from eligible contractors for the work of "Providing and ment hascome to poweronthe the bridgewhen we come to it. Laying 600 mm dia, 300 mm dia MS water supplyFeeder basis of the Common Minimum lines by replacing the existing leaky PSC/CI lines Under Programme. The government is In the statetoo, the Congress theJurisdiction of EENE startsfromi/f BDAflyover (near being run as per the CMP. does nothaveafull-time Mahindra Showroom) along Bellary Road to K.G.Tower Congress ministers had some is- president. Incumbent GLR premises and by linking 300 mm dia from 600 mm sues whichtheyraised. presidentBalasaheb Thorat is dialine at Bellarymainroad to Jayamahal-Nandidurga Solutions can be found to any aministeraswell. road junction (SnowCity) via Mekhri circle by connecting problem. Iamsurethe senior We already have astate pres- to existing n/wtobypass the old CI line which is passing leadership of the three parties ident in Balsaheb Thorat. Ihave through Palace Ground comingunder the jurisdiction of will sit together and find out aso- no idea whether thereisaplan to AEE(NE)2 Sub Division." lution to theissues raised. changethe president. This ques- Amount puttotender: Rs. 381.24 lakhs.EMD: Rs. 5.72 lakh. tion can bebest answeredby our Last date forsubmission of completed tender documentsis Public perceptionisthat national president Sonia Gandhi on 04.02.2021 up to 15.00 hrs. and tender will be opened on Congress is trying to weaken and HKPatil who is looking after 06.02.2021 after 17.00 hrs. Thedetails regarding the tender the government by raising Maharashtra. and participation in the e-Procurement process canbe personal issues rather than obtained by logging on to https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in For public issues. Will Congress, NCPand Shiv further details contactthe undersigned office during working hours. In fact, the Congress is trying Sena fight civic polls together? Sd/- to strengthen the government in Thereisstilltimeforcivicelec- DIPR/DDU/2253/MCA/2020-21 Chief Engineer(East) whicheverway possible. It is tions. An appropriatedecision wrong to saythat the Congress is will be takenincoming months. trying to weaken the govern- ment. In my regular interactions FULLINTERVIEWON with the public, Iget the feeling www.indianexpress.com WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 EXPRESS NETWORK 5 Bharat Biotech behind TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE Vaccinerolloutinnearfuture, 307 CASES: ACTIVECASES:247,220 vaccines against DAYSSINCE 10,323,965 DEATHS:149,435 PANDEMIC BEGAN TESTS: 174,899,783 | RECOVERIES: 9,927,310 exactschedulesoon:Panel Zika, Chikungunya CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS JAN2 18,177 21720,923 958,125 willbeginwith healthcarework- SREENIVASJANYALA PRABHARAGHAVAN ersbecause it is easier to conduct HYDERABAD,JANUARY3 NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 the vaccinations forthemasthey arealreadyinhealthcarefacilities." THETEAMofscientistsbehindthe WITHTWOCovid-19vaccinesap- Aboutthetimeframe,hesaid, indigenous Covid-19vaccine proved,India is settobegin its “Itisdifficultto sayexactly, butthe Covaxin include Bharat Biotech mass vaccination programme in aim is to do it as fast as possible. I founder Dr KrishnaElla, who is a the“nearfuture”,accordingtothe hope it willbedone in amatter of research scientistinmolecularbi- STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES head of the expertgroup on the two-threemonths. Remember, ology,andDrSumathyK,whowas ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK country’sCovid-19vaccine strat- we have to administertwo doses earlier instrumental in thedevel- Bharat Biotech founder Kerala 65,452 1,632 egy.The government hastoldco- of vaccineto each person...Then,it opment of vaccinesagainst Zika Dr Krishna Ella Ladakh261 43 mpanies manufacturing the two will buildup." andChikungunya by thecompany. Jharkhand 1,62429 vaccines —Covishield and Cova- Thenextto receive vaccinesare DrKrishnahasaPhDfromthe xin —topreparetoship“asignif- likelytobefrontline workers and Universityof Wisconsin-Madison Molecular Biology;Research STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING icantamount”to over30vaccina- thenpeopleaged50years and and worked as aresearchfaculty Council forCSIR National Labora- ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK tionhubsacross the country. An official collectsdetails during adoor-to-doorsurvey for above.“It will startstage-wise but attheMedicalUniversityof South tories;andtheBoardofVisitorsof Maharashtra 53,137 4,954 Accordingtothe govern- Covid-19vaccinationinAhmedabad. Nirmal Harindran willnotbeinaseries—wewillnot Carolina,Charleston,before start- the GlobalHealth Institute, Chhattisgarh10,517 3,511 ment’sCovid-19 vaccinesopera- finish the lasthealthcareworker’s ingthecompanyin1996thatnow Universityof Wisconsin-Madison. West Bengal 11,008 3,100 tionalguidelines,around30crore vaccination before startingwith has over athousand employees. APhd in LifeSciences from of the population will be vacci- and Delhi. Once thecompanies of Covishieldhadbeenstockpiled, frontlineworkers.Soon,itwillbe- Bharat Biotech has earlier devel- JNU,DrSumathyheads Bharat STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES natedonpriorityinthefirstphase. send the vaccines to these hubs, TheIndian Express haslearnt. comesimultaneous,”DrPaulsaid. opedvaccinesforH1N1, Rotavirus, Biotech’s Research and ONJAN2TOTAL This includes healthcareand stategovernmentsareexpectedto By February, the SII plans to “Whenwegotothe fieldfor Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Developmentteam. The other Kerala 5,327771,252 frontlineworkers as well as peo- mobilise the doses to thevaccina- ramp up itsmonthly outputca- the26crore peopleabove the50- Chikungunya,Zika and the members of the team include Dr Maharashtra3,218 1,938,854 plewithco-morbiditiesandthose tionpoints.Inthefirsttranche,the pacity to 100million doses from year agegroup, that is the time world’s firsttetanus-toxoid con- Krishna’s son Dr Raches Ella, who aged 50 years andabove.Health vaccination pointswill be health- around 50-60 million currently, whenthisideaoftheelectionpro- jugatedvaccine forTyphoid. hascontributedto allthefive pub- Chhattisgarh1,147 281,654 MinisterDrHarsh Vardhan has carefacilitieswhere publicandpri- Poonawallahad earlier said. gramme-aligned, booth-based Covaxin wasdevelopedby lications regarding the safetyand STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS said thegovernment plans to vate health professionals work. The government will also be approachwill be taken. But, for Bharat Biotech in partnership immunogenicity of Covaxin pub- ONJAN2TOTAL complete this phase by August Thedetailsofhow manydoses working out howitwantstodi- now, we willbegoingthroughthe withthe ICMR-NIV.After the lishedsofar.Earlier,hehad been Maharashtra 55 50,782 2021,and thatthe firstshots may will be movedinthe firstpartof vide theprocurement of healthcare facilities,” he said. Drugs Controller GeneralofIndia leadscientist in dataanalysis and West Bengal 28 9,766 be givensometimeinJanuary. thisphaseof themassvaccination CovishieldandCovaxin.“Let’ssee “This willalsohelp us under- (DCGI)announcementapproving manuscriptpreparation of “The vaccination programme exerciseare “being worked out howitworks out. This part will stand the nuances and we will be the nod,DrKrishna said, “The ap- Rotavirus, typhoid conjugate, and Kerala 21 3,224 can be undertaken in the near fu- now”withthecompanies,DrPaul nowunfold,”DrPaulsaid. much moreready (tovaccinatea proval of Covaxin foremergency JapaneseEncephalitisvaccines.He DataasonJanuary2,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical ture.Thegovernmentwillputout said.“Weare telling thecompa- Queries to Bharat Biotech and larger group).But this is goingto use is agiant leap forinnovation alsoconductedprotocolreviewfor Researchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive the exact scheduleverysoon,of nies to be ready to ship asignifi- SII about their capacity,procure- unfold fairly rapidlyinavery en- and novelproduct development investigational vaccines forZika whereandhowweare mobilising cant amount of dosages and will ments of theirvaccines and their ergetic way,”hetold TheIndian in India. It is aproud momentfor and Chikungunya. thevaccines,”DrVKPaul, NITI tell them wherespecificallyto distributionstrategyremainedun- Express. thenationand agreat milestone Covaxin is aninactivatedtwo- AayogMember, Health, and chair sendthem." answered by press time Sunday. While countries likethe UK in India’s scientific capability,a dose vaccine developedand of theNational Expert Group on While it is unclearhow many The firstphase of the vaccina- have decidedtoattempt giving as kickstartto theinnovationecosys- manufacturedby Bharat Biotech, Investigators in VaccineAdministrationforCovid- dosesofCovaxin have been read- tionwillstartwitharound70 lakh many people thefirstdosebefore teminIndia.” with the companyclaiming “an 19,told TheIndian Express on Sun- iedbyBharatBiotech,Serum healthcareworkers registered movingtothe second, whether Dr Krishna is part of the excellent safetytrack recordof day. Thisshouldn'ttaketimegiven Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar acrossthecountry. Overall,thein- India will followsuit in itsvacci- Scientific AdvisoryCommittee of morethan 300million doses”. It Covaxin trials say that the dryrun is over,hesaid. Poonawalla saidSundaythat frastructureisready to vaccinate nationstrategywill depend on theUnionCabinet; theGoverning startedits Phase3humanclinical The30vaccinationhubsarelo- Covishieldwouldbereadytoroll aroundonecrorehealthcarewor- the dosing patterns recom- Councilsofthe Council of trials in mid-November,targeted cated across the country, such as out“in thecoming weeks”. As of kers, Dr Paulsaid. “This will bethe mendedbythe Subject Expert Scientific and Industrial Research to be done on nearly 26,000 vol- efficacy data not in in Lucknow, Panchkula, Chennai January, around 70 milliondoses firstwaveofthefirstphase,which Committee, Dr Paul said. (CSIR) and Centre forCellular & unteers across India.

participantsand startedgiving Some in Cong TABASSUM second doses lastweek. Grant Oppn partiesnot proud of anything Indian, says Nadda BARNAGARWALA Government Medical College, question nod MUMBAI,JANUARY3 Mumbai, has recruited close to Congress aftersome of itsleaders achievessomething commend- andotherOpposition parties of thing Indian. Theyshould intro- 500ofthe1,000participants.“We to Covaxin, PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA questionedthe approval for able, the Opposition partycomes trying to cause panic to further spect about howtheir liesonthe INVESTIGATORSATTACHEDwith beganthe second dose lastweek. NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 BharatBiotech’sCovid-19vaccine, up with “wild theories” to their“failedpoliticsandnefarious COVID-19vaccinewillbeusedby the phase III trial of Bharat Till nowonly83havebeen given withpartypresidentJPNaddaal- “ridicule” the accomplishments. agendas”. “Congress and the vested interestgroups fortheir Biotech’s Covaxin saidthatwhile bothdoses,”saidDrDineshDhodi others say THE BJP on Sunday hitout at the leging that wheneverIndia Nadda accusedthe Congress Opposition is notproud of any- ownagendas,” he tweeted. theyhaveatleastfour monthsof from the pharmacology depart- datatoassesssafetyandimmuno- ment. “Wehavenot seen severe don’t politicise genicityfromphaseI/IItrials,they adversereactionsinour partici- areyet to gatherstatisticaldataon pants butwe have refrainedfrom itsefficacy from phase III trial. recruiting people with uncon- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE The Drugs Controller General trolleddiabetesorbloodpressure. NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 of India(DCGI)-CentralDrugStan- We needtowait forDCGI to issue dards Control Organisation on conditionsof approvalforthisvac- ASECTION of the Congress lead- Sunday gave restrictedemergency cine.Ibelieve only thosewithcon- ership Sundayquestionedthe approval forCovaxin and Serum trolledcomorbidity can be given drug regulator’s“premature” ap- InstituteofIndia’sCovishield. the vaccine fornow.” proval forBharat Biotech’s “I am surprisedthe DCGI In AIIMS Patna,DrChandra- Covaxin, pointing out that the in- madeanovernightdecisionbased mani Singh said theyhavegiven digenously-developedCovid-19 on subject expertcommittee’s the firstdose to 1,177participants vaccine wasyet to complete the (SEC) recommendation. Ideally butonlyafew have gotthesecond finalstageofhumanclinicaltrials. DCGIreviews thedocumentsrec- dose.“Itwilltake afew weeksbe- Senior party leaders Anand ommendedbySEC andthatcan fore we startstudying efficacy.” Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and take afew days,” said Dr Dr VenkataRao from the JairamRameshaskedthegovern- DhananjayLad, attachedwith InstituteofMedical Sciences and mentto explainwhyitwas“bypa- Redkar Hospital and Research SUMHospitalinJajapur,alsoatrial ssing mandatoryprotocols”. But Centre,Goa,asiteforphaseI/IIand site, said the pandemic calledfor Congresscommunicationdepart- nowphaseIII trial of Covaxin. an emergencydecision. “This is ment head Randeep Surjewala Ladsaidthevaccinewasfound justaconditionalapproval. Full congratulated the Hyderabad- to be “extremelysafe” foruse in approval will onlycome after basedcompany’s scientists and PhaseIandIIexceptformildadve- phase III results.” An efficacy re- researchers.SpokespersonGourav rsereactionslikefeverandpainat sultassesseswhetherthevaccine Vallabhsaidthepartyhasfullfaith sitefor aday.“Avaccine has to be protectsaperson from Covid-19 inthescientificcommunitywhile measuredforsafetyaswellaseffi- infection.WhilephaseIandIIlook seniorleaderandformerlawmin- cacy.Covaxinhasabilityto induce at safetyand immunogenicity, isterAshwani Kumar said the is- animmuneresponsebutforhow phase IIIdraws data on efficacy. sue mustnot be politicised. longwedon’t know. ThephaseIII “Wehaveclinical datafrom The differingresponsescame trialsare ongoingand we willget phase Iand II but it is notstatisti- hoursafterDrugsControllerGen- answersoncerecruitmentisover callysignificant to measureeffi- eral of India approved theOxford and dataisanalysed,” he said. cacy.Thatiswhy alarge-scale Covishieldvaccine,manufactured Covaxinisaninactivatedvirus phaseIIItrialisimportant,”saidDr by SerumInstitute of IndiaPvt.Ltd, developedinpublic privatepart- SavitaVerma,fromPGIMS, andCovaxin,developedbyBharat nershipbetween ICMR, NIVand Chandigarh, which has recruited Biotech,for restrictedemergency BharatBiotech.BharatBiotech be- 450participantsandgiventhesec- useinthe country. ganphase I/II human trial in July onddoseto350participants.Ithas “Thegovernmentneedsto ex- and commencedphase III trialin to recruit 550 moreparticipants. plain. Howcan yougoonthe ba- Novemberacross26sitesto cover Dr Prabhakar Reddy,from sisof phase2data?Andthereisno 25,800 participants. It has re- Nizam’sInstitute of Medical Scie- peer revieweither... The govern- cruited 22,500sofar,but only nces, whichhas so farrecruited ment needs to explain the situat- around10,000have receivedboth 1,600subjects in phaseI,IIand III, ionwhichnecessitateddispensing doses,whiletherest have onlygot said theyhaveimmunogenicity with the mandatoryrequirement thefirstdose,severalinvestigators dataon250participants.“InPhase of completion of phase three trial confirmed. Dr Mohammad 1/2wefound 70 percent devel- and publication of the data, both Shameem, an investigator with opedimmunogenicity,” he said. on safetyand efficacy, whichhas AligarhMuslim University, said AllIndiaDrugActionNetwork beenpeer-reviewed,”Sharmatold their hospital siteisthe firsttore- questionedthe approval. “It is not The Indian Express.His partycol- cruitall 1,000 participantsfor clear if there is anyscientific basis leagueandRajyaSabhaMPJairam Phase III trials. “By Monday, we to claimthatCovaxinwillbeeffec- Rameshtweeted,“BharatBiotech will complete thesecond doseof tive in the context of infectionby is afirst-rateenterprise, but it is all participants. Butwecan only mutantstrainwhenitsefficacyhas puzzling that internationally-ac- startstudying the efficacy 42-45 notbeen establishedand is cur- ceptedprotocolsrelatingtophase days afterthe firstdose. That is 15 rentlyunknownagainstany strain 3trialsare being modifiedfor days from now.” of virus,” it said in astatement. Covaxin. Health MinisterHarsh In Mumbai, Sion hospital has FULLREPORTON Vardhan should clarify.” Tharoor recruited less than 200of1,000 www.indianexpress.com concurred. Maya welcomes Give prioritytousinvaccine Covaxin,urges distribution: Kerala to Centre govt to give it NewDelhi: Kerala has asked the diabetes–anditspopulationden- Centretogiveitpriority in distri- sity as well as itsstrategyincon- free to poor bution of Covid-19vaccines, con- tainingthediseasetojustifyitsde- sideringthehighnumberof cases mand. Lucknow: BSP president in the stateand to make the best “Our strategy has been to de- Mayawati Sundaycongratulated out of itsstrategy of delaying the laythe peak.Though we were the scientists associated with devel- peak in containing the disease. firststate to reportthedisease,the opingtheindigenouscoronavirus Kerala Health MinisterKK cases in the statehas peaked just vaccine, Covaxin,and urgedthe Shailaja told The Indian Express now. Despiteourpopulation’svul- Centretogiveitfreetothe poor. that the stategovernment has re- nerabilityand susceptibility,we “Much welcomeoftheindige- questedthe central government have succeededinourstrategy.So nouslydevelopedvaccineagainst to give the statepriority so that it in order to getthe best out of our coronavirus... aspecial requestto can bring the pandemic under strategy,weneedtoget the vac- the Central government that if control soon. The stategovern- cinefirst,”MohammadAsheel,ex- alongwithallhealthworkers,the ment cited itsepidemiological ecutive directorofKerala Social extremelypooralso getvaccine conditions–ithashighnumberof Security Mission underthe Social forfree...” she tweeted. ENS casesrelatedtoheartdiseasesand Justice Department, said. ENS WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 6 CALENDAR THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry &TLewis CROSSWORD 4318 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ARIES(Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 -Oct 23) If you’restill Youmay take your wonderingwhat pleasureswhere exactlyitwas that hit youfind them,but you, then the answer remember youwill is the planetMars, have to payeventually. metaphoricallyspeaking,of In point of fact, youmight now course. What that means in be coming to realise the practice is an unexpected and emotional costofone rather large obstacle. The particular personal planetarymessagenow is that venture. Oh, and at work, the best escaperouteis nothing less than the truth pleasure, so put your cares will do. behindyou. SCORPIO (Oct24-Nov23) TAURUS (Apr21-May 21) TheMoon is aligned As always when the with adegree of your Moon challenges chartwhich CALVIN &HOBBES by Bill Watterson your sign, as it does traditionallydenotes this week,close extraordinaryintelligence. This partners willtakeevenlittle Itakeasanindication that, for complaintsassome sort of cue once,you’ll have allthe best to have agoatyou. Listen ideas. But that doesn’t mean carefully,for theremay actually that you’ll knowwhat to do be agreat deal of sense in their about them. ACROSS DOWN ideaseveniftheysometimes 1Mixed metaphors in Moliere 2Sortofpoint that’s unsuitable choose the wrong words. SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec 22) play(11) (5) Thereissomuchto 9Italone can provide high 3Enthusiastic comebackby GEMINI(May22-June21) saythat the spirits(7) operasinger If theday could be problem maybe 10 It naturallybeatspeas and (4) summedupinone knowing whereto beans (5) 4Unusualcutsingarments word,itwould be begin. Youmay decide to 11 Preposition usedinany (6) duty.This is followaprudent path and amount of sentences (4) 5Drove offdisgusted thereforeamoment to fulfil all keep certain ideas or feelings 12 Hisworkmay be abstract or (8) your responsibilities and avoid to yourself until youare sure concrete (8) 6Handy place forapainter to all distractions, no matter what that partners areready.Also, 14 Engagement foradoctor in mix his colours (7) size,shape or form theycome take other people’s feelings Ulsterperhaps (6) 7What arevivalist maydo? in. Youmay neverknowthe seriously, otherwise theymay 16 Changefromevil pastor (11) trouble you’ll avoid if youtakea grow increasinglyresentful, heartlesspresent possibly 8Aperson of intelligence, no MARVIN by Tom Armstrong fewsimple precautions. and that would be ashame. (6) doubt (6,5) CANCER (June 22 -July23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 -Jan 20) 18 Gottherequitedishevelledbut 13 See her in pants-leopardskin - The fact that passion Financial matters all in one piece (8) at the zoo is running high do seem to be 19 Eagertogobackafter akey (8) doesn’t mean that growing steadily (4) 15 New mat gone from the car you’ll be falling in moreimportant. 22 Subject of article by me perhaps (7) love,oranything likethat. What What seems to be vital nowis (5) 17 Thestory of Achilles’ heel? it does implyisthat, whatever to make surethat people who 23 No longer clear? Tryand make (6) area of lifeyou’reinvolvedin, a should knowbetteraren’t it so (7) 20 Note rate allowance (5) little enthusiasm will be worth allowedtorockthe boat. You 24 Kind of desecration seen 21 Fight commonlyrigged morethan aton of experience. might find it impossibleto around (11) (4) Oh, and don’t take anyone —or keep order this week,however anything —for granted. hardyou try. SolutionsCrossword4317: Across: 1Sally, 4Musical,8Lob, 9Easter egg, 10 Claudia, 11 Onset, 13 Naiads, 15 Adored, 18 Canon, 19 Ingrate, 21 Electrify, 23 Ire, LEO (July24-Aug23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21-Feb 19) 24 Kneaded, 25 Degas. Down: 1Silicon, 2Librarian, 3Yield, 4Missal, 5Steroid, 6 No doubt you The ball is in your Cue, 7Light, 12 Streaming, 14 Denoted, 16 Deepens, 17 Tidied, 18 Check, 20 imagine that others courtatthe Guyed, 22 Ewe. arehaving all the moment, and the fun. Actually, the best thingyou can grassmay indeedbegreener on do todayistoaim for the other side, but that doesn’t enhancedstatus and prestige. mean that youcan join in. Bide Youmay showpeople how JUMBLEDWORDS DifficultyLevel3s your time foralittle while experiencedyou areand Instructions longer,atleastuntil someone demonstratethat youare Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, special has made their mind up. indeedthe right candidateto therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 4341 take on increased VIRGO (Aug 24 -Sep 23) theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe responsibility. Allyou___is___.-JohnLennon (4,.,4) TheSun and nineverticalcolumns,in Mercuryare on the PISCES (Feb 20 -Mar 20) 342 eachoftheninehorizontal move,whichcould In general, it’s an INSEE AHMYLN rowsandineachofthe mean that your emotional period U4 nineboxes. normallyimpeccable judgment forall twelve signs,

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 7 EXPRESS NETWORK UP ANTI-CONVERSION LAW Farmunionsprotestas Attempt to Chhattisgarh rice Initial probe murder procurement capped chargefor finds allegations PunjabBJPchiefvisits dung protest at 24 lakh MT: Centre Protesters clash with cops in Sangrur,showblackflags in Moga TPDS/ OWS, suchexcessquan- on 3youths false EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE tity shall be treated to be outside EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE JALANDHAR,JANUARY3 NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 the CentralPool,” it said. LUDHIANA,JANUARY3 “Initialtargets areonlyesti- when the alleged incidenttook AGROUP of protesters, sus- RICE PROCUREMENT from mates settledwith States and MANISHSAHU place. As per the evidencecol- PUNJAB BJP president Ashwani pectedtobefarmers,who had Chhattisgarhhas been restricted States areasked if theyare giv- LUCKNOW,JANUARY3 lected by thepolice, the allega- Sharma Sundayfacedangry unloadedatrolleyfull of cow at 24 lakhmetric tonnes during ing incentive or not. Some states tionslevelledagainstthethreeby protests from farm unions as he dung in frontofformer Punjab the kharif marketing season including Madhya Pradeshand TWODAYSafter three Muslim the woman were wrong. Howe- visited party leaders in Sangrur ministerTikshan Sud’s residence (KMS) 2020-21, the Centresaid Chhattisgarhwerefoundtobe youths, including a24-year-old ver, policeare looking intoother and Mogadistricts. has been booked by Hoshiarpur on Sunday. giving incentive so Central taxi driverAbrar Khan, were boo- allegationsagainstAbrarandtwo In Sangrur,the BJP statepres- police under ‘attempt to murder’ However, theCentrehas ad- Government procurement is re- kedfor molestation and under others,includingthatofstalking,” identwas attending aparty and other charges. Afour-mem- visedthe statenot to announce stricted to quantity whichwas UP’s newanti-conversion lawon Senior Superintendent of Police workers’ meeting at the resi- Protests at Sangrur (left) and Ludhiana. berSpecialInvestigationTeam or paybonus over andabove the procured in pastwithout acomplaint filedbya24-year-old (Bareilly)RohitSinghSajwansaid. denceofdistrict chiefRandip has been formedtoprobe the MSPtofarmers. bonus/incentive.” Hindu woman, Bareillypolice on Police also foundthat the Deol. There, Kirti Kisan Union case. In astatement, the Ministry It also said, “During KMS Sundaysaid that in theprelimin- womanwent“missing”last Sept- (KKU) protesters clashed with Though Sangrur SSP dence of districtBJP chief Vinay Bharti Kisan Union Rajewal of Consumer Affairs, Food and 2020-21, the Government of aryinquirytheyfound the alle- emberandanFIRwasfiledagainst police who had put up double Viveksheel Soni said mostofthe Sharma.Farmers have been sit- leaders Sundaydemandedthat Public Distribution said, “Central Chhattisgarhhad also published gations levelledbythe woman to Abrarbyhermaternaluncle,who barricading on the Sangrur- protesters were KKU members, ting on protestoutside Vinay the case be scrapped and threat- Governmentisfollowing auni- an advertisement/press release be false. had accusedhim of kidnapping Patiala bypass. Jasdeep Singh said members of Sharma’s residence forthe last enedtoblock the streetsof form policy and supporting on 17.12.2020 detailing the Rajiv Thewoman,whoisnowmar- her.Abrarwasthenbookedunder KKU members alleged that BKU Ugrahan, BKU Rajewaland couple of months. Jalandhar on January7.Theyalso farmers across the country. Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana that riedtoaHindu man, filedacom- IPC section 366(kidnapping, ab- the police lathi-chargedthem as BKU Sidhupur were also present In response to the sloganeer- said that therewill be arepeat of Same is followedinChhattisgarh theywillprocurepaddy from the plaint on January 1, alleging that ducting or inducing woman to Sharmaentered Deol’s resi- there. Soni said: “Nocanes were ing by the farmers, BJP workers the Hoshiarpurincidentiftheir procurement.” farmers @Rs.2500/- per quintal on December 1, before she mar- compel her marriageetc ). dence. The Sangrur police said used. KKU does nothavemuch startedraising slogans hailing demand is notaccepted. The ministry cited provisions during KMS 2020-21bypaying ried,Abrarstoppedheratacross- “However, twoweekslater,the three of their personnelwerein- of abase in Sangrur,thereare Modi. Seeing the tensions, the In the FIR, complainant of amemorandum of under- Rs.10,000/- per acrewhichisa ing in Fareedpur area while she woman returnedhome andtold juredinascuffle when apro- members of BKU Ugrahan, police dispersedbothsetsof Surinder PalBhatti,district BJP standing signedbetween the form of indirect incentiveover wasreturning home on her police thatshe had gone to Delhi tester triedtobreak through the Sidhupur and Dakaunda. We people, “applying mild force”. secretaryand an acquaintance of Centre, states and Food and above theMSP whichisas scooterand molestedher while on her own. The woman had sta- barricade using atractor. spoketothem and all of them Despitethe protests,the sched- the former minister, said he was Corporation of India, under good as bonus on procurement trying to pull her down from the yedwithAbrarinDelhiforaround This protestersufferedminor stated that theydon't resortto uledmeeting of BJP workers going to greetSud on January1 whichthe Centre is notbound to of paddy.Accordingly,ithas two-wheeler.Shehadalsoalleged 15 days andthen returned. After injuries and wasadmitted to anyviolence but sticktopeaceful continuedatVinaySharma’s res- when atractor trolleybeing take the excess quantity pro- been decidedtoallow24lakh that Abrarwas forcing herto thewomangave herstatementto Sangrur Civil Hospital. Afew oth- protests.” idence.Later,the BJP statechief drivenbyaSikh man and 15-20 cured by suchstate to thecentral MT of rice to be deliveredtoFCI marry him afterconverting to the police, no action wastaken ersfromKKU,too, sustainedmi- Sharma attendedthe meet- addressedapress conference in accompanying him alongwith pool. undercentral pool during KMS Islam, and when the residentsof againstAbrar,” theSSP added. nor injuries. ing at Deol's residence forabout Moga. He said Chief Minister arms dumpedthe cowdung in- “As per Clause No.3 of MoU 2020-21 whichisequivalent to the area intervened,heescaped Police also found that on Jasdeep Singh, convenor of an hour.“Iamnot awareofany AmarinderSingh and DGP side Sud’s residence by liftingthe of DCP State, in the situation of the quantity as allowedinprevi- withthehelpoftwo others.Police December 11,the maternal uncle KKUyouth wing, Sangrurdis- protestorlathi-charge,” he Dinkar Gupta were encouraging trolleywith ahydraulic system. Stategiving anybonus/ financial ous years.” hadfiledtheFIRagainstAbrar,his of the woman got her married. trict, said: "Wewill notallowany claimed. anti-social elementswho were He further claimedthat they incentive in directorindirect The move comes afterthe brother Maisur and friend Israr. “Ithas been found that Abrar program of BJP to happen in our In Moga, Sharma and Rajya protesting in the name of farm- triedtoattackSud, whowas pro- form, over and above MSP,ifthe Chhattisgarhgovernment’sde- Thewoman,whoalsoaccused hadgoneto thewoman’sin-laws’ area. And theyare saying that we Sabha member Shwait Malik ers. He alsosaid thatthe police tected by his men. The tractor overall procurement of the State cision to halt paddy procure- Abrarofstalkingher,hadsaidthat place,"the SSP added. arehaving apicnic in Delhi…if facedblackflags and slogans wasnot taking appropriateac- drivertriedtorun the tractor is in excessofthe total allocation ment, saying the Centreisnot she took amonth’stime to report No onehas been arrested in theythink so…theycan also join againstPrime MinisterNarendra tion againstthose “targeting” BJP over him and his friend, alleged of the Statemade by the lifting stock. FULLREPORTON the incident to the police as Abrar the case so far. us forthis picnic foraday.” Modi as theyreachedthe resi- leaders across Punjab. Bhatti in his complaint. Government of India under www.indianexpress.com had threatenedher.The woman, “Investigation in the case is who has losther parents, stays still on,” SHO (Fareedpur) Suren- with her maternal uncle. Abrar draSingh Pachauri said,adding livesinthe same neighbourhood. that the FIR againstthe three has Shed arrogance, repeal laws, Pilot, Gehlot share stage during However, duringinquiry, the filedunder IPC section 354(as- police foundthat on December 1, sault or criminal forcetowoman Abrar, Maisur and Israr were not with intent to outrageher mod- says Cong; asks SC to intervene dharna againstfarm laws in Fareedpur area. esty), 506(criminal intimidation) “Duringour investigation, we and Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of lastlong. It has nowbecome found that the accusedwerenot UnlawfulConversionofReligion EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE clear that the farmers and work- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE present at the spotonthatday Ordinance, 2020. NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 ers will notbow before the cen- JAIPUR,JANUARY3 Sonia tral government’s policy to tire ON THE eveofthe next round of Gandhi them and makethem flee.” THE RULINGCongress in talksbetween government and Senior Congress leader Rajasthan held adharna in Jaipur Fellow comedians back farmer unions, the Congress on Anand Sharma asked the on Sundaytoprotest againstthe Sunday askedthe government Callingthe Modi government Supreme Courttostepin. “Itis three farm laws.The party's to shedits arrogance and repeal the mostarrogant regime since almost18days since it (SC) gave MLAs participated in the agita- Faruqui, cop says the three farm laws.The party Independence whichcannotsee aglimmerofhope by promising tion along with Chief Minister also asked the Supreme Courtto the suffering of the annadatas to setupanimpartial panel for Ashok Gehlotand former state no video of him intervene and “suspendthe (farmers), leave alone the peo- negotiations. It is time the Court Congress chief as well as former laws”, saying that kicking the ple, she said “it seems this gov- makes an effective intervention deputy chief ministerSachin bucketdownthe road will hurt ernment’s main agenda is justto as custodians of the Constitution. Pilot. insulting Hindu deities the cause of justice. ensurethe profitsofahandful of It should suspend these laws. Gehlotand Pilotshared the Congress president Sonia industrialists”. Petitionsare pending before same platform from where nds on social media. In avideo, Gandhi said India has notseen “Thereisstill time, the Modi them… Kicking the bucket theytargetedthe BJP andthe EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE bothareonstage withGauraccusi- such an arrogant government government should leave the ar- down the road will hurtthe Centralgovernment over the Gehlotand Pilotduring the protestinJaipur. Rohit JainParas BHOPAL,NEWDELHI, ng Faruqui of provoking Hindu before as it is turningablind eye rogance of powerand immedi- cause of justice,” he said. newlaws. Last year,the state JANUARY3 sentimentswhilethelatteristryi- to the suffering of the farmers, atelywithdraw the three black “Farmers have been fighting wasengulfed in apolitical crisis ngto convincehim.Afteralongco- who had been protesting in the laws unconditionally to end the fortheir rightsand justicefor the as PilotcampedinDelhiand of insensitivity that the govern- reflectsthat in order to register TWODAYSafter standup come- nversation, Gaur leavesthe stage. cold forthe last39days. agitation of the farmers who are last38days.Tens of thousands Haryana with 18 of hisloyalist ment repeatedly calls themfor their names in history,theycan dianMunawarFaruqui andfour On Sunday, Jenosha Agnes, “The callousness of the gov- dying in the cold and rain. This is have been camping on the bor- legislators. talksand is doing timepass. They do anything. Today, thefarmers otherswere arrestedforallegedly who claimedtobeamember of ernmenttowards theagitation Rajdharma and atrue tributeto dersof Delhiinbittercoldandrain. Addressing the crowd, think that the farmers will get of this countryare notonly insulting religious sentimentsof the audience, recounted theinci- has resulted in over 50 farmers the farmers who have losttheir Dozenshavediedbutthegovern- Gehlotlashedout at the govern- tired andthe issuewill end,” he protesting but arealso scared, Hindus, awoman claiming to be dent on Instagram. “As Munawar losing their lives. Some have died lives,” she said. ment remains adamant and un- ment sayingitwas being “insen- said. thinking about their future,”said partofthe audiencetook to arrivedonthe stage, fewpeople of suicide because of the govern- The Modi government, she movedbytheir plight,” he said. sitive”tothe voices of farmers. During his address, Pilotsaid Pilot. Instagram and deniedthat any withpoliticalconnectionsrushed ment’s indifference.But neither said, should remember that CPI general secretaryDRaja “Therehavebeen 40 deaths in 39 farmersofthe countryare scared “The Centreshould under- derogatoryremarks were made to thestage,snatchedthemicand has theirdecision movedthe democracy means protecting tooasked the government to be days.You mustbeabletounder- fortheir future. stand that if the government by him duringthe showwhile a begansaying ‘hamare religious heartless Modi government nor the interests of thepeople. “In a sincere in the talks. “Talksfor the stand what theyare (farmers) “Afterwinning the second takesbacksome of itsdecisions, policeofficersaid therewas no sentiments hurt hue hai... Godhra hasany of itsministers uttered a democracy,governmentsand sakeoftalkswillnot produceany going through.Their families, (Lok Sabha) election, the behav- it is notadefeat and there’s video evidence showing him kand per joke kiya... Hamaredevi word of consolation,” Sonia said their leaders who ignorethe sen- results.The government mustbe manyoftheirsons, grandsons iour adoptedbythe Central gov- nothing to be ashamedof,” he making the remarks. devtakamazakudaya... Islam pe in astatement. timentsofthe peoplewillnot sincereand should be sensitive.” areinthe Army. It is the height ernment and the Prime Minister added. This came even as fellow joke qnahi kartahai.” standup comedians expressed “Munawarpolitelyclarified solidaritywithFaruquiandunder- thatheneverhadtheintentionto lined theimportance of humour. hurtanyone. He handledthe sit- Chouhan expands cabinet, AAP announcesfirst listfor Gujarat local body polls IndorePolice on Fridayarre- uation very well and theybacked AAP office at Navrangpuraarea stand up as the alternative to stedFaruquiandfourassociatesfo- off,” she said. Afew minutes later, inducts 2Scindialoyalists EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE in Ahmedabad, Atishi said, “In both the BJP and the Congress” llowing acomplaint from Eklavya acrowd entered the halland the AHMEDABAD,JANUARY3 the Gujarat model, we have seen The party,she said, we will con- Gaur,son of Indore-4 BJP MLA organisers backedout. Then po- terial status in the Congress gov- the Dhaman fake ventilators test the polls on theissues of cor- MaliniGaur,thattheyallegedly in- lice arrivedand arrested Faruqui EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ernment, had defected to the BJP AAM AADMI Party(AAP) legis- scam whose connection goes to ruption, public healthand edu- sulted Hindu deities during the and others,she said. “Noderoga- BHOPAL,JANUARY3 along with20others, bringing lator from Delhi Atishi an- Rajkot,the hometown of the cation in Gujarat. showand also crackedjokes on tory remarks were made by down the Congress government nouncedSunday thefirstlistof Chief MinisterVijay Rupani.Itis The AAP is the firstparty to Home Minister Amit Shah. “He is MunawarFaruqui at the Indore THE SHIVRAJ Singh Chouhan- in Madhya Pradeshand helping 504candidates forthe upcom- here that we have seen ascam in have announcedcandidatesfor serial offender and oftencracks show,”she said. ledgovernment in Madhya Chouhan returning to powerin ing local body polls and said the N95 masks… Forthe past25 the local body polls, likelytobe defamatoryjokes on Hindu gods Faruqui'slawyerAsad Warsi Pradesh Sundayinducted two his forthterm as Chief Minister. party is projecting itself as an “al- years, the people of Gujarat have held in February. Earlier,the and goddesses,” Gaur told re- said theyare going to file forbail Scindia loyalists in itsthirdcab- Both were inducted intothe ternative”tothe ruling Bharatiya had no option as both the BJP BhartiyaTribal Party(BTP)said portersoutsidethepolicestation. on Monday. “Weare pleading inetexpansion since returning nearly formedBJP government JanataParty (BJP) in Gujarat. AAP MLAAtishi in and the Congress have made a it will contest thepolls in the “WhenIheardabout thereisnosuchevidenceofoffe- to power. in April, but had to step down in This is the firsttime the AAP Ahmedabad Sunday. deal between themselves. The stateinalliancewiththe AIMIM. Munawar'sshow, Iboughtaticket ncesagainstany of them.” Tulsiram Silawatand Govind October as theywerenot mem- will be contesting in the local BJP usesthe police and other BJP presidentJPNadda is also andwentto seeit.Asexpected,he Severalcomics, including Rajput were administeredthe bers of assembly—the by-polls body -- taluka panchayat, zila agencies to threaten Congress scheduledtoattendameeting wasinsulting Hindu deities and Varun Grover,Vir Das, Kaneez oath of office by Governor had notbeen held within six panchayat, nagar palika and ma- party had lostonall the 29 seats MLAs and the latter meekly with party leaders Monday, alsomockedHomeMinisterAmit Surkha,AgrimaJoshuaandRohan Anandiben PatelSunday, mark- months owing to the pandemic. hanagar palika -- elections in it had contestedonand amajor- comply.” aheadofthe upcoming elections. Shah by dragging his name with Joshi, meanwhile, took to social ing their returning to the cabinet With the induction of the Gujarat afterits dismal perform- ityofits candidates forfeited de- Calling the Congress and the Thirty-one per cent of the Godhrariots.” Subsequently, he media in supportofFaruqui. aftertwo months. Both Silawat twoministers, Chouhan's cabi- ance in the 2017 Gujarat posits. BJP “bedfellows”, she expressed 504candidates arewomen, and his associates stoppedthe Grover took to Instagram and and Rajput, who enjoyedminis- netstrength nowstands at 31. Legislative Assembly polls. The At apress conference at the confidence that “the AAP will Atishi said. showand brought them to allegedthatFaruquiwasassaulted. Tukaganj Police Station and sub- Sharing avideo of the incident, he mittedvideosof theshow, hesaid. wrote, “A fellowIndian, afellow However, Town Inspector of comedian is in jail and got beaten Owaisi meets Bengalcleric, trains guns on Trinamool Tukaganj Police Station Kamlesh upby amobbecauseof thewords Sharma told The IndianExpress heuttered.Herehe’stryingto log- Siddiqui, Owaisi told mediaper- seatsinBihar Assemblyelec- theyhavenoevidence against ically, calmlypresent his case but EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE sons: “Weare holding talkswith tions. Of them, we woninfive, Faruqui directlyand that he has oursystemsnowjustwanttobrut- KOLKATA,JANUARY3 Abbas Siddiquionwhether to NED WhyAIMIMis the Mahagathbandhan of the been bookedasanorganiser. allysilenceeveryvoice...They don’t contestpolls together or on our wooingcleric Congress and RJD woninnine “There’s no evidence againsthim want to hear, theydon’twant to AIMIM CHIEF Asaduddin Owaisi own. But he (Siddiqui) is elderto E and the BJP and itsallies wonin ● forinsulting Hindudeities or even argue —theywanttosimply on Sunday metPirzada Abbas us and together we would liketo EXPLAI six constituencies.” Union MinisterAmitShah,”he erase everyshred of individual Siddiqui, an influential Muslim work here." Asaduddin Owaisi's meeting with the FurfuraSharif cleric is Referring to the recent defec- said.Hesaidthetwovideossubm- thought, everyiotaofreason.” cleric of FurfuraSharif located in Siddiqui wasnot available for an attempt by the AIMIM chief to form aminority-domi- tion of party leaders from the ittedbythecomplainantareofan- Comics Surka and Abish JangiparaareaofHooghlydis- comment. nated political front in West Bengal ahead of the polls. After Trinamool Congress, the AIMIM other comedian with him allege- Mathewalso shared the clip of trict, fuelling speculation of a Meanwhile,another Muslim itsgoodshowing in the Bihar polls, the Hyderabad-based Owaisi with Pirzada Abbas chief said, "The TMC should in- dlycrackingjokesonLordGanesh. Faruqui on Instagram. newpolitical understanding cleric of FurfuraSharif, Pirzada outfit is keen to getthe supportofBengali Muslims. Muslims Siddiqui . Twitter/@asadowaisi trospect and find out whyitcan- The police have registered an Das tweetedthat “who has ahead of the Assemblyelections Toha Siddiqui,saidthe Muslim constitute30% of the state’s population, and 24%ofthem notstopthe BJP in Bengal.” FIRagainstFaruquiandhisassoci- evertriedtocontrolhumour,now in West Bengal. community will voteagainst speak Bengali. AIMIM’s success will be detrimental to TMC. Senior TMCleader and MP atesfromIndore—EdvinAnthony, has acategoryofjokes devotedto LastMarch,Siddiqui had an- communalism in the upcoming the BJP.Rejecting the TMC's SougataRoy said: “Owaisi is well PrakharVyas, Priyam Vyas and them”. “You can’tstopjokes and nouncedtolaunchapolitical elections in the state. “So far, we charge that it wasthe “B-team of awarethat Muslims in Bengal NalinYadav—underSections295- laughter.Not because comedians outfit and contestthe Assembly have votedfor development in Owaisi trainedhis guns at the lastmonththathis party would the BJP”, Owaisi on Sundaysaid: aremostlyBengali-speaking and A, 298, 269, 188&34 of the IPC. areperforming it, but because elections.However, therehas the state. Be it forthe Congress, TMC,accusing the ruling party contest the upcoming Assembly “Wedid notcontestthe Lok notUrdu-speaking. Theywon't Aday aftertheincident,videos peopleneedtolaugh. Harder you been so perceptible headway in CPM and the Trinamool of allowing the BJP to grow in elections in West Bengal, the Sabha elections in 2019.Then supporthis party.Heistrying to of theconversationbetweenGaur try, the moreyou’regoing to be the direction since then. Congress. This time we willvote West Bengal. TMC had accuseditoftrying to howcome the BJP won18seats forgeties with AbbasSiddiqui and Faruqui were doingthe rou- laughedat, now, andbyhistory.” Afterholding talkswith againstcommunalism," he said. AfterOwaisi had announced divide the minority votes to help in Bengal? We had contested 20 but thatwon't yield anyresult."

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8 THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 IDEA EXCHANGE Newsmakersinthe Newsroom NITIN GADKARI, MINISTER FOR ROAD TRANSPORT &HIGHWAYS, AND MSME ‘ Root cause of the problem is surplus foodgrains ‘ and higher MSP than the market price The Union Ministertalksabout measures to boostelectric vehicle production, assures govt supporttolockdown-battered MSME sector,saysthe govt has taken severalsteps forbenefit of farmers,and lays out details of amulti-modalhub in Nagpur.The session wasmoderated by Senior Assistant Editor Avishek GDastidar

NITIN GADKARI: The mostimportant de- Overcrowding has been aproblemon MSMEs whichhavegoodexport turnover, velopment forthe countryisinfrastructure Mumbai’s local trains.Has the ongoing taxreturn, GSTand bank records...Now if development… In my office in Delhi, we pandemic ledtoany discussion on the suchMSMEs want to tapthe capital mar- have putupastatement by former needfor morelocal trains in Mumbai ket,wewillprovide them with 15 per cent American President John FKennedy: to ensuresocial distancing? equity infusionand the rest they can get ‘American roads arenot good because My personal viewisthat we must from the market. So in the insurance ,pen- Americais rich. ButAmericais richbecause continue all services with preventive sion, and shareeconomy, we have alot of

American roads aregood.’ Prosperity measures. We shut down shops, restau- potentialincomparison to other coun- comes from roads. India has ahugepoten- rants... On the one hand it wasnecessary tries. And some of our MSMEs aredoing tial forinfrastructuredevelopment. We to ensuresocial distancing,but nowas very well. have the potential of making at least300 WHY the Ministerfor Of the total ex- airports.Wehavealreadycompleted 100 NITIN GADKARI MinisterofMicro, ports by the country, newairports. We can launchseaplanes. The Small and Medium Themarket needs liquidity. ‘ MSMEs account for service is already available in Gujarat at the sthe countryeased Enterprises(MSME), We have requested banksto 48 per cent. Their Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel statue (Statue of out of multiple Iunderstand how contribution to the Unity in Kevadia in Narmada district)… peoplelosttheir adopt aliberal approachto GDP is 30 per cent. I And,wecan convert ourrivers, lakes and Alockdowns last year, livelihoods in the want the48per cent financing...Itwill increase dams intowater ports. This is going to en- the Minister wasatcentre of process. We now exportfiguretoreach couragetourism, and will go on to provide needtounderstand liquidity, growth, 60 per cent and GDP employment.... the govt’s revival plans to the artofliving with ‘ contribution to be- Covid-19—wearing employment,export... come 40 per cent. ANANT GOENKA: Whenwill India see breathe life into the economy. masksand face MSMEs have created large-scale production of electric He is among the most senior shields, using sani- 11 crorejobs, and in vehicles (EVs)? tiser,washing hands, the coming time we Already alot of people, small compa- membersofthe Cabinet and ensuring one metredistance from other want them to create five croremorejobs. nies aremaking e-bikes and e-scooters in people, sitting apartatrestaurants. We The market needsliquidity.Iwantto re- Uttar Pradesh and other states in India. The one of the BJP’skey strategists needtounderstand these thingsand questthe bankstoadopt aliberalapproach crucial problemwith EVs is the lithium-ion move forward. Shutting things down has to financing people, whichwill increase liq- battery. Now, we areencouraging people manydisadvantages. uidity,growth, employment, export... So to make in India and ‘Made in India’. The In Mumbai, we can decide howmany we aremonitoring all aspects. We have cre- important thing is that alot of research is peoplewillget on atrain. We have good atedaportalcalled‘Champion’ andwe are going on to make aluminium-ion (batter- addressing all problems raisedbythe ies)and other newalternatives. Iamconfi- MSME sector on it. dent that in some time we will getalot of newalternatives, and soon EVs will be the SANDEEP SINGH: Will Tesla come to futureofthe country. manufactureinIndia? Already thereisalot of sale of electric It’s better to talk about it when they buses, likeinMumbai, Pune, Nagpur etc. come.India is going to be an automobile Theyare thereatairports too.Evenan elec- manufacturinghubinfive years.Theindus- tric tractor is nowinthe processofbeing tryisworth Rs 4.5 lakh croreand givesthe manufactured.One of the leading compa- maximum employment... And, bio-fuel, nies wantstolaunchanelectric truck. Just ethanol, methanol, bio-CNG, bio-diesel, 20 days ago, IlaunchedaJCB on CNG. So, a electric... research is underwayonall these lotofchangeisgoing onandwe areahun- inIndia.Inthecomingtime,allthebigworld dredper cent certain that it will beavery brands will come here... (Tesla) will begin cost-effective import substitute, and sales operations, notmanufacturing. Once will also be pollution-free and indige- thesalesincrease,theywillmove to assem- nous. We arealready in the process of bling, and then manufacturing. making (vehicle) scrapping policy. With the scrapping policy,Iam con- VANDITAMISHRA:Doyou think the fident thatin the nextfive yearsIndia farmers’ protestcould have been will be the number one manufac- handledinabettermanner by the turing hub in the world. government. The protests beganin Tesla is preparing to startopera- June in Punjab and Haryana, but the tions in India by early2021. Iamsure governmentonlytooknoteonce these that thereare alot of EVs whichare reachedthe Capital. Also, has the split equal to Tesla from the technology with the Akali Dal made the situation point of view. Indian manufacturers are moredifficult to handle? doing alot of research and changes. In due We areconstantlymaking effortsto course,you willget electriccarswhichwill hold talks... Alot of confusion has been cre- beequaltoTesla. Iamconfident of that, and ated aboutthe three farm laws.Wewere the costwill be very less too. readyfor talksthen (in June) too... Even in Parliament we were open to talkswith ANANT GOENKA: Lithium-ion is other parties, and we areready to talk now mostlybeing importedfromChina. Is as well. Iampositive thatthe issue will get thataconcern? resolvedsoon through talks. Yes,thereare someproblemsrelatedto Illustration: Suvajit Dey The BJP-Akali Dal alliance has been lithium-ion. Argentina has got hugere- theresince the Jana Sangh days.During the servesof lithium-ion.Indianplayersarealso Emergency,leaders of both parties were trying to getlithium-ion from across the costRs4crore.Therewill be an additional MSP is morethanthe international and culturetowards the energy and power technology now, and numberscan be re- in jail. We have had good relations with world. But it is also true thatthe Chinese coachfor carrying luggage. While aluxury marketprices, and that is the problem. sector,changing the crop pattern, increas- stricted.But everything needs to start, them, and the alliance wasasymbol of have already pickedupstakesinamajority bus from Nagpur to Amravati takesabout Ihavebeen talking aboutethanolfor ing production of edible oilsisnecessary whether it is trains or buses, and at the Hindu-Sikh unity.Itisunfortunatethat of thelithium-ionmines…Butourresearch two-and-a-half hours, this Metrowill reach the last12years. But the permissionto con- forthe country. same time we need to protectourselves theyleftus. All Iwanttosay is that our gov- arm is fullycompetent. Take forexample in onehour and 15 minutes… Itwill beair- vert foodgrains (tofuel) wasnot granted. and others. People suchasteastall owners, ernment hastaken manydecisions in ISRO(IndianSpaceResearchOrganisation), conditioned and will also have business We import fuel worthRs8lakh crore. We DEEPTIMAN TIWARY: During certain barbers, gym instructors, all losttheir favour of farmers. We arenot against whichisusing different types of batteries and economyclasses. It will be of aglobal can make480 litresofethanolfrom1tonne months in the year,thereisnot enough source of income.Their livelihood is as im- them...Weare increasingthe MSP every to send satellites. Researchisgoing on and standard. So, it’s notthat the standardin of rice. From 1tonne of corn, we can make waterinthe waterway from Varanasi portant astakingprecautionsfor Covid-19. year... The government is working for our people arecompetent and we willget India is notgood… 380 litres of ethanol. The economyofBihar to Haldia (in West Bengal). It’s a Iconducted280 conferencesand met80 farmers’ benefit. Now, Iamnot the BJP the solutionfor that. Ihaveprepared anew model forthis and Uttar Pradesh will be transformed. concern forships. Howdoyou plan to crorepeople. Ilearnt that the hotelindus- president,soIdon’t want to comment on

Sodium-ion batteries arealso in the project. Iamholdingameeting with the And, instead of making sugar,wecould resolve this formaking waterways? tryemploys 1.4crore people as chefsand the politics. But Iwantthings to work out process of being made. The research is in Vidarbha Industries Associationand the makeethanol from sugarcane juice and …For rivers whichdon’t have waterin waiters. Over one crorepeople work in andour relations to getbettersoon. the final stages. Iamveryconfident about Metroteaminafew days.Ihavealsoinvited molasses… As Transport Minister, Ihave March andApril, we areworking on water beauty parlours and hair salons. We need our IITsand engineers. We will getsuccess travelandtourismcompaniesforthemeet- launchedscooters and bikes of Bajajand conservationprojects. Suchworkhasbeen to protect their jobs too. MANOJ CG:ManyBJP-ruledare

in this field. The sodium-ion batteries are ing. OneMetro will costRs36crore.These TVSwhichrun on ethanol… Alot of prod- donein Maharashtra. We areensuringwa- drafting laws againstlove jihad. Should very cheap... We will be the number one private companies can buy one or two uctsare made from ethanol including bio- terways only on tworivers,whichwill have SANDEEP SINGH:Tohelp lockdown- the Statedecide who one can marry or manufacturers of Metros. The Nagpur plastic (whichisbiodegradable).Ethanolis waterround the battered MSMEs fall in love with? electric bikes, scoot- Metrowillprovidethe agreen fuel… If we can buildthis economy, year… Apartfrom getbackontheir Thereare twosides to all issues.Asper ers,tractors,trucks, driver… If thisservice our farmerscanearnmore. Itcouldhelpin this,itisalso impor- feet,the my knowledge,manyincidentshavehap- ‘ and even electric con- Hotel industryemploys 1.4 becomes popular, reducingimport(of fuel)by Rs2lakh crore, tant to develop port- India is going to be an ‘ government penedwhichhavetriggered the issue of struction equipment cr people,over one crore peoplewill stopusing and pollution will also reduce. And, Rs 1 relatedinfrastructure automobile manufacturing launchedthe over love jihad. To maintain lawand order and in duecourse. the road. This is lakh crorewillgotofarmers... The root suchasgodowns, cold Rs 3lakh crore ensureahealthysociety if astate govern- work in beautyparlours... Nagpur’s firstpublic- cause of the problem is surplus foodgrains storagefacilities, rail- hub in five years... In the emergency credit ment feels the needfor suchalaw,there is AMITABH SINHA: private investment. and higher MSP than the market price. waylineconnectivity. line guarantee no harm in it. It is notagainstany religion. While the Covid precautions are The system willuse At apharmacy,the shopkeeper decides Nowwecan send coming time,all big world scheme (ECLGS) as Central and stategovernmentshavethe infrastructure in important,but need to the country’s existing the price (of the products). The price of an mangoes from Uttar brands will come here... partofthe right to createlawstoaddress certain is- India—roads, ‘ broad gauge,and the advertisement in the newspaper is decided Pradesh to the ‘ AtmaNirbhar sues in society. railways, Metroetc protecttheir jobs too capitalcostwillalsobe by thenewspaper.The costoffood in a Northeast.The flyash (Tesla) will begin sales Bharat packagein —has improved in less. So,weare doing restaurant is decidedbythe restaurant… in Farakka (West May. But till AVISHEK GDASTIDAR: In the MSME the lastthree thingswhichare of an Theairlinecompaniesandtherailwaysde- Bengal) is exportedto November,the and the highwaysspace,you have been decades,weare international stan- cide the price of their tickets. Then why Bangladesh in large sanction wasshort makingpolicies vis-a-vis AtmaNirbhar among the lastcountries to have dard,andsomeof theseprojectsare alsobe- should farmers notdecide the price(of quantities. The aim is to develop the trade by Rs 1lakh croreand disbursement Bharat, to ensurethat influenceof developedthese. Arewenow building ingdonefor the firsttimeinthe world. their produce)? Farmers should be able to business and increase connectivity…. wasalsobelow50per cent.The MSMEs Chinese players is less in the market. infrastructure that is futuristic? sellanywheretheywant, whereverthey In the caseofseaplanes, we arelooking arefeelingthe stress.What is the way Can youelaborate on your policies? It is true that our railway stationsare AVISHEK GDASTIDAR: Farmers have getmoremoney. We have notcloseddown forinvestors. Afew of them areapproach- forward? Idon’twanttosay anything about notofaglobal standard. But we arebuild- been holding protests at Delhi’s anyAPMC. ing us… SpiceJetisinterestedintaking …Wehad sanctionedRs3lakh crore China. We increasedthe importduty on ing amulti-modal station worthRs1,200 bordersfor over amonth now. Howdo Another important aspect is contract about 100seaplanes. forcollateral-free loans forMSMEs. Of this, incense sticks.ItisaRs4,000croreindus- croreinNagpur.Ithas been designedbyan youthink the government can resolve farming. About 10,000 farmers in the Rs 2lakh crorehas been sanctioned,and try. Nowitisbeing developedinour coun- American architect. It will be among the their issues? Vidarbharegion don’t have capital and SHUBHANGI KHAPRE: Do youthink it disbursementstands between Rs 1.6-1.8 try. Over 25 lakh people got jobs. Sanitiser five best railway stations in the world. So, Firstly, at onepointwe hadashortage of their land is lying barren. This is com- wasright to cancelthe Winter Session lakh crore... Ihaverequestedthe Finance wasnot available, it wasbeing sold for things have begun to happen slowly. foodgrains in the country. Then, afterthe pelling them to commit suicide. If athird of Parliament? Ministertogivemorerelaxationsinthe Rs 1,200/litre, nowitisavailable at The costofbuilding the Metroin Green Revolution, we nowhavesurplus person tills the land, buysthe seedand In the previous session, afew members scheme. Also, we found that urban coop- Rs 160/litre. We areexporting PPE kits... I Nagpur,Pune and Delhi is Rs 350crore per rice. Prior to 2020’s production, we had fertiliser,and then shares the profit, or got Covid-19,including me.So,Ithinkithad erative banksand Non-Banking Financial told the automobile sector to notget parts kilometre.The one that Ihaveproposed about 280 lakh tonnes of rice in our leases the land, the farmer still gets some to bepostponed. Delhi has pollution as well Companies (NBFCs) have also financed from China or anyother country,and de- costs Rs 5crore per kilometre(the Nagpur godowns. We can give rice to the entire money… When we ride ataxi forhalf an as Covid-19. Although Iamkeeping well, I MSMEs. So theytoo mustbebrought un- velop localvendors.Givethemmachines, broad gauge Metro) ... Using the existing world. In case of corn, the MSP is Rs 1,700, hour,dowebecome itsowner? In con- amafraid of Delhi pollution… In suchasit- der the scheme. That will help too. moneyand produce on alarge scaletore- railway stations, lines and signals,the when the marketprice is about Rs 1,100. tract farming, no changeisgoing to be uation, while aParliament session is im- We had also givenRs20,000 crorefor duce costs... broad-gauge,six-coachMetro willrunat a Lastyear,weexported 60 lakh tonnesof made in the revenue record. So, the farm portant fordemocracy… We have also lost distressedMSMEs. We have restructured The mindsetofmajor industryplayers speedof160 km perhour.Wehavealready sugar,providing asubsidy of Rs 600crore. laws arenot againstfarmers… We have afew ministerial colleagues. Till avaccine (debtsof) around six lakh MSMEs under it. haschanged.Technologyisbeingupgraded, got the permission… Of the six coaches, Whyisitthat the costofsugar in the inter- to understand the problems facedby is out, we should be careful. We also announced a‘fund of funds’ for foreign investment is coming to our coun- three will have motors, and will costRs8 national market is Rs 22 per kg but we are farmers… The government has no place MSMEs to provide equity supportof try, andIndiaisbeingpreferredintheglobal crore. The coaches without amotorwill paying Rs 34 per kg forsugarcane? Our to storefoodgrains. Diversificationofagri- TABASSUM BARNAGARWALA: Rs 50,000crore. We areprocessing it.The market.Itisagolden opportunity forus. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 9 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevancethat youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected]

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD Sports without the crowds Amid declineinnew cases across India,outlier Kerala From the blockbuster IPL in theUAE to Nadal’s perseverance at the FrenchOpen,2020 showedthat sportsand sportspersons canclick even without fans cheeringthem.Thisyear’sOlympics,Eurofootball

WHILE OTHER states have allbeen re- andT20 WorldCup will looktoreinforce the fact thatfans needplayers more than players needfans porting asteady decline in their KERALAACTIVE CASES Covid-19infection numbers, Kerala 100,000 remains an outlier.Once hailedfor Open final, Rafael Nadal toohad that sublime keeping the spread in check, Kerala 75,000 stupor.Paris didallowahandful of fans but nowhas the highestnumber of active the courtwas painfullysilent. It didn't come cases in the country, morethan even 50,000 in the wayofNadal's ferocious defence of his Maharashtra. As on Saturday, Kerala turf. In the backdrop of the big Grand Slam had65,452 activecases,morethana 25,000 race, the Nadal vs NovakDjokovic final was fourth of the entirecountry. morethan afight forthe silverbowl. Before The statehas been consistentlyre- 0 the final,the Big 3Slam countwas Federer porting the highestnumber of cases 1May 1Jul 1Sep 1Nov 1Jan Sandeep Dwivedi (20), Nadal (19), Djokovic (17). in the countryfor most of the time All three were ageing; theydidn't know since mid-October.Currently, when NATIONAL SPORTS EDITOR howlong theycould defy ageoravoid in- India has been detecting around Maharashtrahad aten times bigger juries. Nadal wasn't going to wait until next 20,000newcases aday,nearly 25% is caseload.Aturnaround happenedaf- year forthe stands to fill, forhis fans to cheer being contributed by Kerala alone. terthat. Since October,Keralahas him to getinspired.Inwhat manysay was Until the middle of July lastyear, found over 5.67lakh newcases, more YOUDON’T need fans in the stands fora his best showevenonhis favouritesurface, Kerala waslooked upon than anyother statein blockbusterIPL, and Indiacan win aTestin he breezedtoathree-setwin againstanop- as the mostsuccessful the country. It currently Australia without ViratKohliorhis brand of ponent in prime form. In ayear where stateincontaining the has atotal caseload of aggression. The year 2020 bustedmyths; it Djokovic had been unbeatable,Nadal served epidemic. On some 7.71 lakh, the fifthhigh- also re-classifiedcricket's 'indispensables'. him a6-0, 6-2, 7-5 humiliation. days in April and May, it est. If current trends Justwhensports had lookedthemostvul- It’s notjustthose chasing lofty goals who had even reportedzero hold, Kerala looksset to nerable, it showedwhy it has survivedwars, can elevate theirgametoahigher plane. cases, when states like overtake Tamil Nadu in economic depression and pandemics. From Even those showing resiliencetosurvive can Maharashtrahad al- about three weeks. inside the bio-bubble,itscreamedout that its be equallystimulating. ready begun finding Tamil Nadu, the fourth strength wasits script andits mass appeal Rahul Tewatia, 27,anIPL journeyman, morethan1,000cases a CORONAVIRUS placedstate,has about wasnot aslave to spectators or superstars. knewtime wasn't on his side. At thestart of day. The statebegan re- COUNT 8.20 lakh cases but is re- With Olympics, Eurofootball and T20 the season, Delhi Captials had tradedhim porting significant porting less than 1,000 WorldCup slotted for2021and the vaccine withRajasthan Royals. Playing againstKing’s numbers around the everyday now. distribution expected to take time, the re- XI, his team chased224.Tewatia waspro- middle of July, andthe big surge hap- Maharashtra, with close to 20 lakh silience of sportsand itsadministrator will motedupthe order.With the run-rateclimb- penedafter the Onam festival. cases, still is the worstaffected in the continuetobetested. The 2020 experience, ing, the unassuming all-rounder seemedto Until the second week of country,followed by Karnataka (9.21 though, has shown it will do fine. be crumbling under pressure. He wasswing- September,the statehad recorded lakh) and AndhraPradesh(8.82lakh). ing the bat but rarely connecting. less than one lakh confirmedcases. AMITABHSINHA The IPL template Commentators were seriouslysuggest- The IPL 2020 success storygives hope and ing that he should retire. If he couldn’t smash sets the template. In an alien country, inside the ball, he shouldsmash the stumps and get INDIA ACTIVE CASES 247,220 the UAE's brilliantly lit up but eerilydesolate out hit wicket, suggestedanother pundit. coliseums, the intensity of the contestdid- Illustration: Suvajit Dey Therewas general consensus that the n't dim. Therewas no one dancinginthe Haryana boywas playing his lastIPL innings. 300,000 aisles, no cheerleaders to encourageorbar- Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson saythat LastDance, too, dedicates an episodetothis Soon it would be backtohis villageSihinear rackers to instigate. Sixes kept spilling out of their mostintense game and the onethey celebrated game. Faridabad and trying to playthe Syed 247,220 the stadium and small groups of expats lovedthe mostwasn't playedinfront of Johnson has been gracious enough to re- Mushtaq T20s. would scramble on emptyroads to secure screaming fans at Madison SquareGarden live the momentwhen the crownthat was But in amagical transformation, the puny 281,919 the IPL souvenir balls without even know- but inside an emptyobscureMonte Carlo slipping from his head finallyfell on the floor boyawakenedthe inner Chris Gayleinhim. ing who had hit it. On the other side on the gymnasium. of that emptygym. He talksabout howhe He would hit 5sixes in an over from Sheldon 250,000 imposing walls, circling the sanctum sanc- At the pre-1992 Olympics camp, the and Larry Bird, both giantsofthe game from Cottrell, the formidable West Indian new- torum, recordedroars would be playedout. Dream Team wassplit intotwo forapractice the 80s, aresitting by the courtside and ball bowler.Fromgoing home defeated,he It didn’tseemthe players were missingany- game. Jordan and his senior Johnson were Jordan, with asmirkpastedonhis face, wassuddenlyahousehold name, the thing; at least the countofsixes didn’t drop. namedcaptains. SportsIllustratedwould passes them. “There’s anew sheriffinthe Cinderella storyofIPL 2020. Tewatia didn't LAST 10 DAYS With due apologies to the Wankhede later call the training sessionmatch-up the town,”heblurts.Johnson says he didn'tretort needthe cheer or the jeer from the crowdto Dec 24 Jan 2 Stadium faithful, especiallythe die-hards at 'Greatestgame that no one saw'. Sadlythis or debateorsledge. With ahearty laugh, he playthe innings of his life. 200,000 the NorthStand, Mumbai Indians had their greatestgameisrecordedfor posterity in the recalls tapping Birdwith his elbowand say- mostdominating seasoneverwithoutthe form of single-camera ing, “He isn’t lying”. In the zone Note:The Jan 2figure in this graph is based on thegovernment updateonJan 3 chantstheychorusedand the sledges they grainyamateur video, So on what would These pandemic tales have thrownupan directed at rivalfieldersonthe fence. There shotbythe coach's as- THE NEWIN have been justanother uncomfortable question. Sportsstars love the INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES wasnosea of blue to intimidatetheir rivals sistant. training morning, this attention and cherish the affection but do this IPL. On mostdays,the 2020 winners With 10 Hall of NEWYEAR nondescriptMonte theydepend on fansupporttodowell? 10,323,965 84,793,806 neededjustacouple of boys in blue on field Famers and at least Carlo gym witnessed If we listenedcarefully, the players have to blowawaythe rivals. Suryakumar Yadav, three GOATs, it wasa sportinits purestform. been dropping hintsand in away answering Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, face-offofhigh skills Therewerenoqualified that question. From Sunil Gavaskar to Sachin Welfare,updatedat11pmonJan3 updatedat11pmonJan3 Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult took turns at be- and higher egos. The referees to officiate,no Tendulkar to ViratKohli, theyhavespoken ing match-winners, all without the fans faithful would have 2021 replays,noanalysts,no about withdrawing intoashell or going into wildlyurging them. sold their house to wit- armyofcoaches; it was ameditative mode to cut the clutter around Over the years, books, films and newspa- ness the once-in-a-life- SPORTSAMIDTHE PANDEMIC justacourt-full of men them when batting. Theyalso talk about go- pers have calledfans the 12th man, the ever- time assemblyofthe proving who wasbetter ing intothe zone. Foryears, youngsters have present catalystthat provokesphenomenal Gods of All Tall Things. on the day. Therewas sat at the feet of these masters to learn the sporting feats. It neededapandemic to call Be it aconnoisseur or astar-gawker,there no live telecast, no financial incentive and no artofswitching off. out this theory.Fans do add to theatmos- wassomething foreveryone. No one gave an fans to carry tales. It wasall about twomen Switching off, shell,zone—these areeu- pherics but their role in inspiring players is inch, theyteasedand taunted eachother. playing forpride and respect. Therewas in- phemisms about goingblind to everything grosslyoverrated,ifnot untrue.Sportdes- Jordan remindedJohnson that the Magic trigue, drama, inventiveness and heroism — beyond the boundaryrope. These arepolite peratelyneeds aresearch paper that calcu- decade, the 80s, were over.This washis time, therewas enoughatstake to give their best. expressions that refertothe act of blocking lates the correlation betweenruns scored or the Air Jordan 90s, he would shout aftera At this pristinelyprimal duel, almostaper- out the fans while single-mindedlypursu- wicketstaken and the rise in the decibel level three-pointer.Magic gave it backbut had to sonalbattle of twominds, it felt a‘Come on, ing their goals. because of emptymineral waterbottles eventuallysurrender his place at the top. Michael’ shout from the stands would have In thesetimes of obnoxiousfan behav- banged on plasticbucketseats. Minutes afterthe game, an epic moment been adistraction. It would have broken the iour and growing cases of offensiveand racist of generational shiftwould unfold. Thereare trance of the men on court. chantsfromthe stands, this is atimely warn- Johnson vs Jordan precedent documentariesonYouTubethat have ro- ing.Bearoundbut don’t be overbearing. They Until then, take the word of theworld's manticisedthis exalted bit of hoop-history. Big achievers &survivors can do without you, but youcan’t do with- tallestsporting icons. Basketball's big boys Last year’s sleeper hit Netflixweb-series The At Roland Garrosinthe 2020 French outthem. WhyCongresswantstorevisitlessonsfromPachmarhi&Shimla

polity of our countryasthe natural party of againstcommunal forces. It would perhaps nowademand whichhas been made re- MANOJCG governance.” be temptingtosay we have not. However, peatedly by the ‘G-23’leaders. NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 The Congress had slumpedto141 seats thereisageneral perception that we have at justamonth earlier in general elections. times compromisedwithour basic com- Over to Shimla AT Ameeting Congress president Sonia While arguing that she wasno“saviour” mitment to the secular ideal that forms the The Pachmarhi conclave andthe declara- Gandhi had with her senior colleagues, in- and the party mustberealistic in itsexpec- bedrock of our society”. tion failedtorevivethe Congress as Lok cluding the coreteam of 23 leaders who had tations, Sonia Gandhi had said that“the re- Sabha elections the following year,1999, saw writtentoher seeking sweeping reforms vivalofour party is going to be along drawn Other highlights the party plunging to afurther lowof114. within, aproposal wasmootedtohold a process, involving sincerehardwork, from The Pachmarhi session resolvedtofore- The party underwent convulsions soon as Chintan Shivir,onthe lines of the ones it had eachand everyone of us...” She had said the stall and oppose anymovetodilutereserva- Sharad Pawar, PASangma and Tariq Anwar held in Pachmarhi and Shimla in 1998 and party must“shun what is expedient and tions,and the fillingofvacancies, promotions raisedabanner of revolt againstSonia 2003 respectively,when it wasinopposition. stand by what is right”and arguedthatthe and preference in government employment Gandhi, leading to their exit. Then senior Sonia Gandhi is said to have accepted party's leadership mustemerge from the forScheduledCastes, ScheduledTribes,Other leader JitendraPrasada threw achallengeto the proposal,put forwardbyManishTewari, grassroots andreflect theaspirations of the BackwardClasses, weaker sections of soci- her in 2000 when he contested against her one of the 23 leaders. The Congress is at a grassroots. etyand minorities, prevent anydiscrimina- forthe postofCongress president. crossroads, but thereisstark similarity be- The Pachmarhisession washeld months tion againstthem, and ensuretheir security The ShimlaShivirwas heldinJuly2003, tween the party's situation nowand what it later that year.Overthree days from Congress leaders at the INCPlenary Sessionin2018. Leaders aveproposedthat a and insistonstern action in regard to atroci- barelyayear before thegeneral elections in went through over twodecades ago. The September 4to6,the topleadership of the conclave on the lines of the Pachmarhi and Shimla be held again. Express Archive ties inflicted on them. 2004,and the party significantlynuanced Pachmarhi session washeld to reassess the party went intoahuddle searching forlight The party resolvedtorecognise the im- itsstand on coalition, indicating itsopen- party's course and develop anew pro- at the end of the tunnel and seekingtoiron portance of empowerment of youth and im- ness to sharepower at the Centrebycalling gramme to win backthe confidence of the out the party's ideological and organisa- plan of action forrevival. grammeswhichwillnotweakenthepartyor portantlynotedwithconcerntheinadequacy forunity of secular forces. people afterback-to-backdefeatsinLok tional inconsistencies. compromise itsbasic ideology”. of attentionto thequestionof voluntarypop- Moreimportantly, the party put forward Sabha elections. In fact, in herinaugural address, Sonia On coalition Interestingly,the declaration said the ulation control. It decidedtomakeitakey el- arights-basedalternative governance model The challenges before the party today Gandhi said, “Electoralreverses arein- In her concluding remarks, Sonia Gandhi Congress will “unflinchingly meetthe chal- ementofthe partyprogrammeandsaid“any promising to enact anational rural employ- arenodifferent. In fact, the crisis it is facing evitable and are, in themselves, notcause said, “The fact that we aregoing through a lengeofthe communal forces as repre- partymember who becomes the parent of ment guarantee act; establish food and nu- is fardeeperand complex. forworry.But what is disturbing is the loss coalitionalphase at national levelpolitics sented by the BJPand itsassociates in the morethan twochildren afterJanuary1,2000 tritionsecurity forall at moreaffordable of our social base, of the social coalition that reflects in manywaysthe declineofthe SanghParivar,suchasthe RSS, the VHP and would beineligible forselection or election to prices; introducesocial insurance and other The backdrop supports us and looksuptous. What is also Congress. This is apassing phase and we will the Bajrang Dal, and those outside, suchas anyparty office or forselectionas aparty can- schemes forthe protection and welfareof In her firstaddress as Congress president worrisome is that intra-party discord seems come backagain with full forceand on our the ShivSena with no compromise or dilu- didatefor anyelection”. all workers, particularly forthoseinthe un- to the AICC sessiononApril 6, 1998,Sonia to take up so muchofour time and energy ownsteam.” tion of the well-establishedprinciples and Organisationally,itdecidedtoaccord organisedsector;accelerateland reforms; Gandhi said, “I have come to this office at a whenitought to be channelisedfor work- Thedeclarationechoedthis,affirmingthat practice of secularism, definedand evolved “the highestpriority to the revivaland re- launchprogrammes forthe economic ad- criticalpoint in thehistory of the party. Our ing together to regain popular supportand “the party considers the present difficulties by the party as crucial to our nationhood”. newalofthe party” in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar vancement, socialempowerment, political numbers in Parliament have dwindled. Our public credibility.” in forming one-party governments atran- The Congress todayissharing power and Tamil Nadu and approved,interestingly, representation and legal equality of Dalits, supportbase among the electoratehas been While the Congress's diagnosis that the sientphaseintheevolutionof ourpolity”and with the ShivSena in Maharashtra. aproposal to establish aCongress Election adivasis,OBCs andminorities; and starta seriouslyeroded. Some segmentsofthe vot- coalition eraisa"transient phase" in Indian pledging“torestore thepartytoitsprimacyin In fact, in her inaugural address, Sonia Authority,composed of eminent, impartial purposeful dialogue with private industry ers —includingour tribals, Dalitsand mi- politics had made headlines, the brain- national affairs”. It decidedthat “coalitions Gandhi had said that “the question we must andhighlyrespected senior Congress lead- on howbestIndia's social diversity could be norities —havedriftedfromus. We arein storming session –Vichar ManthanShivir willbeconsideredonlywhenabsolutelynec- ask ourselvesiswhether we have in any ers to ensurefreeand fair elections “at all reflectedinthe private sectorindifferent danger of losing ourcentral placeinthe —resulted in the party adopting a14-point essaryandthattooonthebasisof agreedpro- waydiluted ourcommitment to thefight levels of theparty”. Election to alllevels is ways likereservations and fiscal incentives. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 WORDLY WISE Everybodycan be great... because anybody 10 THE EDITORIAL PAGE canserve. —MARTIN LUTHER KING JR Not business as usual

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Post Coviddevelopment model will needmorepublic- BECAUSETHE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL private partnerships, different business leadership

TURNING POINT Vikram SMehta Approval of vaccines is firststeptodefeating Covid. Need is to stay with the science —Akhilesh Yadav’s political jab is irresponsible AFEW WEEKSback, Prime Minister recognise that theycannotsucceed if soci- thirdhybridpath. Theyare probablyright in NarendraModi visited the private compa- etyfails. And that to preventthe latter they doing so. Theyacceptthat their businesses NSUNDAY,THE countrytook amuch-awaited step towardskickstart- nies involved with the formulation of the will come outoftheir silos and actively en- have been impacted but nottothe extent ing itsinoculation drive againstCOVID-19. The Drugs Controller General anti-COVID vaccine. And as Iwrite, farmers gage in the postpandemic developmental that theyshould give up on their knitting. of Indiaapproved twovaccines —the indigenously developedCovaxin, of Punjab (and other states) aremassedat model. Certainly, theCEOs of the industrythat I and Covishield, the vaccine incubated in the laboratories of Oxford the borders of Delhi in protestagainstthe COVID-19was notthe first, nor will it be knowbesthavelogic to argue that the world OUniversity and Swedish-British pharmafirm, AstraZeneca, and manufac- three farm laws passedinSeptember last the lastcrisis of global dimensions. The threat cannotyet dispense with oil and gasbut that year.One of their concerns is that the Acts of global warming, forinstance, hangsover it would be strategicallyimprudent to put all turedin India by the Pune-basedSerum InstituteofIndia. The drug regulator’s sanction fol- will leave them vulnerable to the negotiat- our heads likethe swordofDamocles. Itsim- their eggs intothe hydrocarbon basket. lows the greenlight givenbyaCentral Drugs StandardControl Organisation expertpanel. ing heftoflarge corporates. To dramatise pact is less immediateand forthe present, at Substantially greater resources mustnow be The emergency use approval is conditional on the vaccine developers submittingdetails their concern, theyhavecalledfor the boy- leastlesspalpable. But it looms and itscon- allocated towardssolar,wind and clean en- of anyadverse effect to the drug regulator,every 15 days.Afactsheetwithsafetydetails will cott of Reliance Jio in Punjab. Some miscre- sequences areexistential.So, if thereisone ergy. also beprovidedtothose receiving the firstlot of vaccines. These arecrucial steps because, ant sympathisers have even vandalisedJio strawthat COVID has offered, it is the tangi- The lessonthat Idrawfromthese conver- as the regulator pointedout, the approvals were expedited in view of the public health mobile towers. ble evidence that no one entity or group — sations is the importance of the quality of emergency and the vaccinations will be conducted in a“clinical trial mode”. The dryruns These twoincidents have helpedme the state, markets, businesses, entrepre- leadership. Fareed Zakaria has, in his excel- frame the contentsofthis article. Iwillad- neurs,scientists —can tackle existing and lent book, TenLessons ForAPost-Pandemic conducted by the Centre in differentparts of the countryonJanuary2alsoprovideda mit Ihavestruggledsomewhat.Ididnot emergent economicand social problems on World,listed“LessonTwo”as: “What mat- glimpse of thegovernment’sefforts to acquaint peoplewith the vaccine, and itseffects. want my firstarticle of 2021, afterayear theirown. Theyhavetoworktogethertore- ters is notthe quantity of governmentsbut These, as theUnion healthministryhas acknowledged, areinitial steps. Protecting the when “everything changed”, to be one more solve them. the quality”. He has contrasted the disas- countryagainstanotoriouslyunpredictable virus could throw up unforeseen challenges. piece on the consequential economic and so- Reports of the boycottofReliance Jio trous management of the pandemic by the The health authorities will needtoremain alerttosuchpossibilities. cial implications of the pandemic. That brought home anotherhardCOVID truth. In US and UK governmentswith the successes In thefirst phase, threecrore healthcareand frontline workers will be administered would have been one toomany. The above COVID-19was not the first, our connected worldnoone is shieldedfrom of smaller countries likeSouth Korea, Taiwan incidentsprovidedthe promptsand Ide- the butterflyeffect.The flap of abutterfly and Singapore. To make my point, Iwould the jab. The government has begun registering the firstlistofbeneficiaries. In the coming cidedtodrawonthem —and my Zoom nor will it be the last crisis of wing in one partofthe world—avirus par- substitutethe word “government” with weeks, it will have to decide howtoallocatethe twovaccines amongstpeople in this list. meetings —toaddress the narrowquestion: global dimensions. The ticle in the Wuhan province of China or three “leadership”. The keytocorporatesuccess In spiteofbroad similarities —Covaxin and Covishield use an attenuated versionofthe What lessons mustIndian business learn threat of global warming,for Acts of Parliament —can cause ahurricane in adigital worldbuffeted by the butterflyef- coronavirus —the twovaccines could present different efficacy and safety challenges. from the pandemic to operatesuccessfully instance,hangs over our in anotherpartthousandsofmiles away —a fect will be the capability of leaders to think Their immunogenicity could vary,and adverse effectsmight needtobeunderstood differ- in apost-COVID world? global knockout, vandalisation of Jio towers. out of the boxand to handle the unexpected. heads likethe sword of ently. Besides, authorities can’t afford to lose sight of the fact that the final phase trialsof The PM’s visit wasone morereminder of Ihavebeen on manyZoom calls with Financial, technological and human re- the critical importance of public-private business CEOs over the pastseveral months. sources will be necessary, buttheywill not the twovaccines arestill on. Surveillanceand monitoring systems will,therefore, needto Damocles. Itsimpactisless partnerships. Iwas not, of course, privy to the Theconversations have been varied, but the be sufficient. be tweaked accordinglyand vaccinators educatedon the finerdetails of the twovaccines. immediate and forthe conversations that took place but Iwouldlike present,atleast lesspalpable. common thread running through eachof In this latter context, “Lesson Five”from The government plans to inoculate27-crorepeople—those with co-morbidities and to believe the PM signalledthe government’s them has been the uncertainty of operating Zakaria’s book —“lifeisdigital” —holds out above the ageof50—in the next phase. This will requireabig datadrive unprecedented receptivity to external expertadvice and the But it looms and its in the post-COVID digital world. Everybusi- another learning forour business leaders. He in the country’spublic healthhistory.The dry-runshaveindicatedthat acooperation CEOs reaffirmedtheir commitment to part- consequences are existential. ness leader has, in some form or other,ex- writes that COVID has “obliterated the one mechanism betweenthe Centre, states anddistrict authorities is in placefor vaccine dis- nering withthe statetohelp address notjust So, if there is one straw that pressedatrifectaofuncertainties.Istheir remaining obstacle to adigital future—hu- tribution and administration. With the countryattemptingtoinoculatemorethan afourth this medical crisis but also the manyother business facing ahingemoment —aradical man attitudes”. He says that the tools forsuch social and humanitarian problems thataf- COVID has offered,itisthe discontinuity necessitating the reimagining afutureexistedbeforeCOVID struckbut peo- of itspopulation in the next six to eight months, cooperation will have to bescaledup, sys- flict the country. tangible evidence that no one and re-engineering of their strategy and ple did notuse them. Theywere“stuckin tems made morerobust. The onus will, of course, be on healthcareand administrative Icull twohopes from this visit. One, the entityorgroup —the state, productportfolio?Orare theywitnessingno their old ways”. Covid forced them to adopt agenciestoensure rules-basedimmunisation. But the coming months will also demand government has appreciated that theydonot markets, businesses, morethan another turn,albeit steep, of the and adapt. The challenge forour business responsibility and restraint from actors beyond the government system —fromcivil soci- have the expertise to tackle the complexities business cycle and that, once the vaccine is leaders willbetonavigateapathway that entrepreneurs, scientists — etyand political parties. Public healthhistory is witness to misinformation being the of the problems on their agenda, that the developedand distributed,the market will sustains the benefitsofthese tools but with- Achilles’ heelofinoculationdrives. Statementssuchasthe onebySamajwadi Partychief model forsustainable development in apost- cantackleexisting and return to business as usual? Or will condi- out deepening the existing social and eco- COVID worldmustbeacollaborative one and tions necessitateamiddle of the road ap- nomic inequalities. Lifeisnot digital formil- and formerUPchief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, describing the anti-COVID jab as a“BJP vac- emergent economic and thatinthis model, businesses can contribute social problems on their proach: Stay the pre- COVID course butatthe lions in our country. cine”, areirresponsible and unwelcome at atime whenthe need, above all, is to followthe along the axes of science, management and same time, speedupthe pivot toward anew scienceand forpubliccommunication messages to be framedaccordingly. technology.Two,businesses will repurpose own. They have to work business model. Thewriter is chairman, Centrefor Social and their goals and look beyond profits. Theywill together to resolve them. Most business leadersare adopting this Economic Progress (CSEP) STARTING FROM BOTTOM Election of alarge number of MGNREGS workers to local bodies in Kerala is ahopeful sign of political renewal NEW INDIA,NEW DALIT HE RECENT LOCALbodieselections in Kerala have thrown up an interest- ing statistic—alarge number of MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Empowerment and representation, instead of tokenism, arekey RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme) workershavebeen elected.Ofthe 15,961villagepanchayatmembers elected,2,007 areMGNREGS workers, Twhereas 147ofthe 2,000 plus blockpanchayatmembers areMGNREGS GuruPrakash workers,among them 140women. This recordnumber of MGNREGS workers entering lo- cal bodies has implications forgrass rootsdemocracy and politicsinthe statewhere assem- blyelections aredue thisyear. INCLUSIVE GROWTH IS notjustaslogan but cusedimplementation of welfareschemes become entrepreneursthrough anetwork of Thepandemic, lockdown and theeconomic crisis have forcedalarge number of people, acommitment and an article of faith forthe from both the central and the stategovern- incubation centres and an enabling financial BJP-ledNDA government at the Centre.The mentstoboostinfrastructureand reduce so- assistance architecture. particularly women, to registerfor work under MGNREGS. Amongthese workers, many Union Cabinet's decision to provide an out- cio-economic disparities. The vision of NewIndia will be comple- arealso involved in the Kudumbashree Mission, awomen’s self-help group platform facil- layofRs59,000 croretothe post-matric Over the lastseven decades, Dalitshave mented by the New Dalit. The Congress has itatedby the stategovernment, whichgivesthem relatively high public visibility besides ex- scholarship schemefor studentsfrom remainedatthe bottom of the socio-eco- forlong patronisedDalits. Theynever con- perience in management of public goods and services —Kudumbashree unitsare involved ScheduledCaste groupsworks towardsre- nomic pyramid. On the parameters of health sidered Dalitsasstakeholders or partnersin in arangeofactivities, from the running of canteens and catering unitstocollection and alising the dreams of BRAmbedkar.This al- andeducation, nothing substantialhas been theirdisposition. Representation, notmere disposalofgarbageincities. Notsurprisingly, politicalparties, whichremain male preserves, location will benefit morethan four crore achieveduntil now. Rhetoric in the nameof tokenism, is what the NewDalit wantsand studentsinthe next five years. The Centre casteand tokenrepresentation has caused the Congress neverwent beyond tokenism. turnedtoMGNREGSfor potential candidates to contestlocal bodies, where50per cent will bear aconsiderable share—almost60 insurmountabledamagetothe Dalit psyche. Theysystematicallyrelegated leaderslikeB seatsare reservedforwomen. This is awelcome departurefromthe usual practice of party per cent —ofthe costand the rest will be However, in the lastsix years, schemes like RAmbedkar and JagjivanRam to the mar- workers nominating familymembers as candidates when their seatsget reserved for borne by the states. Timelydisbursaland Stand-up India and MUDRA have greatlyben- ginsand restricted them as mereleaders of women. In short, apublic welfareinstrument, oftenridiculedasasymbol of statefailurein transparency will be strictlyadheredtoin efitted young people from the community. Dalits. In contrast, theBJP has walked the ex- creating productive assets,has become anurseryfor producing grass rootsleaders besides the renewedscheme of things. With the The chairperson of DalitIndianChambers of tramile and ensured meaningful represen- providing employment in times of economic slowdown. The infusion of this newcategory Centreshouldering the responsibility,there Commerce andIndustry (DICCI), Milind tation forDalitswithin the organisation and of public representativesislikelytoimprove thefunctioning of thelocal bodiesfortwo rea- is arenewed sense of hope and optimism Kamble, who has ateam of morethan 5,000 government. The youngestwoman MLA among the youth, as theywerefacing chal- Schemes likeaventure entrepreneurs from SC and ST groups, has from Gujarat, Malti Maheshwari, and nu- sons. One,these arepeople who arealready familiar with the issues and problems at the grass lenges in pursuing higher education owing to capital fund forSCs and a been closelyworking with the government merous other leaders,are nowmaking roots, and two, their entryintopublic service is notbecause of kinship or party loyalty but financial constraintsand the lacklustreatti- credit enhancement to generate opportunities forentrepreneur- themselvesheardand areappropriatelyvoic- fortheir proven recordasworkers and activists.The next step forpolitical parties is to field tude of stategovernments. guarantee plan have already shipand self-employment forDalityouth. “Be ing the concerns and aspirations of Dalits the best of these localbodies’ representativesinassemblyand parliament elections. The scheme will maximise the gross en- Job Givers and notJob Seekers”, is aleitmotif across the country. benefited countless This Kerala model of political representation and empowerment can be replicated in rolment ratio of SC students in higher educa- forthe government. With sustainedeconomic empowerment, other states. It willinfuse fresh blood, and newideas, intoelectoralpolitics and governance. tion. Educationprovides avenues forupward youngsters. Efforts are also PM Modi is empathetic and entirelycon- political representation and educational op- mobility and moreimportantly, dignity and being aimed at creating sciousofthe challenges facedbysocially- portunities likethe boostinthe post-matric recognition. Thenextgeneration of Dalitsis structures to handhold those marginalisedcommunities. Empathybe- scholarship forSCstudents,Dalitsare increas- aspiring preciselyfor this esteem and social cause he had the first-hand experience of inglybecoming an inseparable partofthe civility.Apartfromeducation, the central gov- youth who want to become suchsocial encounters while growing up as a NewIndia storythatisdeeplyinclusive in its Freeze Frame EPUnny ernment is committed to the development entrepreneursthrough a member of abackwardcommunity himself. foundation,consultativeinits approach and of villages, wherepeople from Dalit commu- network of incubation Schemeslikeaventure capital fund for focusedon making the countryaleading light nities constituteasignificant chunk of the centres and an enabling SCs and acredit enhancementguarantee plan in the newworld order. population. In 2019,the Union government have already benefitedcountless youngsters. identifiedalmost 27,000suchvillages where financial assistance Effortsare also being aimedatcreating struc- The writer is an assistant professor at Patna agovernment programme will ensurethe fo- architecture. tures to handholdthose youth who want to University and national spokesperson,BJP

JANUARY 4, 1981, FORTY YEARS AGO

PM ON OPPOSITION to supportirresponsible elements, she said. FILM FESTIVAL OPENS PRIME MINISTER INDIRAGandhiruledout The Oppositionatthe current juncture, she THEEIGHTH INTERNATIONAL film festival anychanges in the parliamentarysystemof contended, had nothing to sayand was got offtoasimple but impressive startwith government and said that the Opposition thereforeblowing up out of proportion any MinisterofInformation and Broadcasting wasspreadingunnecessary rumoursinthis issue at hand. Vasant Sathe lighting abrass lamppre- respect. But she observed that the present sented by Kannada actress RekhaRao at a system had got entangledinred tapism and THE ASSAM CUT-OFF star-studdedceremonyatthe Vigyan wasembroiledinseveral other problems. THE ASSAM SITUATION maysee abreak- Bhawan. Besides the distinguishedbunch The question, accordingtothe prime min- through if thestudentleaderspiloting the of internationallyreputed film makerswho ister, washow to makethe present system agitation agree to 1967 as the cut-offyear form the Indian jury, astrongcontingent moreefficient. Mrs Gandhi said that no to detect foreigners.Prime Minister Indira from Bombay’s celluloid worldlent glam- ministerinher government had ever said Gandhihas reportedlyindicatedthat if the our to the inauguration. Film artistsfrom that she would be made president forlife student leaders agree to acut-offdatebe- Bombay,present on the occasion, included and such rumours were onlypartofthe tween 1961 and 1971,she will send her sec- RajKapoor,SanjeevKumar, ShashiKapoor, Opposition’s propaganda. She also said it retary KrishnaswamyRao SahibtoGauhati Rekha and AmitabhBachchan along with wasdangerous forthe country to have a forfurther talksregarding the foreign na- film makersYash Chopra, OPRalhan and weak Opposition. Aweak Opposition tends tionals issue. AVArya. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “Britain is nowout of the EU.But this is aday of sadness, not of glory, forwe 11 THE IDEAS PAGE shall alwaysbepart of Europe ” —THE GUARDIAN Target in sight The rootsof

Government must constituteaparliamentarycommittee with militaryadvisersto impunity oversee and guide transformational military reforms initiated ayear ago Sexual violence in rural India drawsonhierarchies of land, caste,patriarchy. An approachthat targets all these inequalitiesisneeded

chastity.Sexual violence operates on the nexus of land, caste,and patriarchy. It be- comesatool to maintain the statusquo of land and caste.Sexual violence against ArunPrakash women from lowercaste communities is sel- dom about the individual woman; moreof- tenthan not, it is about robbing the honour of IT WOULD BE no exaggerationtosay that, af- acommunity,acaste,afamily. terdecades of procrastination by successive In the warofland and caste,women are governments, the creation of twonew enti- Ritesh Pandey both collateral and weapons. During land dis- ties—aDepartment of MilitaryAffairs (DMA) putes betweentwocaste groupswithalarge and aChief of Defence Staff(CDS) —ayear differential of powerand influence, women’s ago, wasthe mostsignificant development SINCE THE BHANWARI Devi rape case in bodies become collateral damage. But there in the national security domain since 1992 and the Khairlanji rape and massacre is adifferent dynamic in conflictsamong Independence. The crux of this development in 2006 to the Hathras case in 2020, succes- caste groups who arerelatively close together layintwo crucial and long-overdue reforms. sive Centraland stategovernmentshave in the caste (and class) order.When strong- One, the management of the armedforces, failedtoaddress sexual violence as themulti- men from one group payathreatening visit so farassignedtothe civilian Defence dimensionalissuethat it is. Hierarchies of to the property of anothergroup,thedefend- Secretary,was broughtunder amilitaryoffi- caste,class, and gender intersect to form a ing group will bring their women out of the cer,the CDS. And two, the designation of CDS cocktail of horrors forthe women of rural home,makingthemstandwith themen.This as SecretaryDMA (although an incorrect India —wemustunderstand these nuances is adeterringtactic—ifthreatenedorharmed equivalence forafour-stargeneral) madehim in order to form anypolicythatmeaningfully by thestrongmen,awoman’s complaint war- the firstmilitaryofficer to be recognisedasa tackles gender-basedviolence in India. rantsSection 354ofthe Indian Penal Code functionaryofthe Government of India(GoI) Caste is the fault line that runs through (outraging the modesty of awoman). by itsAllocationofBusiness Rules. rural India, the parts Icall home.Mycon- That police officials oftenfall in favour This radical restructuring has raised stituency is in the rural and agrarian district with thedominant caste groups has been hopes that since the DMA is nowapartof of Ambedkar Nagar, with parts that lie in its muchdiscussed. But it is because SHOs and the GoI,the anomalies and imbalances— muchmorefamous neighbour, Ayodhya.I SPs areunderpressurefromthe administra- organisational, hierarchical and financial — grew up in the Ambedkar Nagar(thenpart tion to notregister sexual crimes under their unilaterallyimposedonthe armedforces of Faizabad district) of the 1980s, where jurisdiction, since these cases makethem over sevendecades would be addressedand gunda rajwas the only raj. Alot of thathas targetsfor transfers and dismissals. This fear remediedatlonglast. While the DMAis, changed now, due, in part, to an increased of bureaucratic reprisal sets the apathetic hopefully, considering these issues and police presence and asteady urbanisation of tone forinvestigations as well. The retalia- coming to grips with itsassignedcharter, it CRSasikumar people’saspirations.But what has remained tory cases of violenceagainstwomenthat has seen fittosharewith the media some constant is rural India’s obsession with the areregisteredafter land conflictsmakeit incipient schemes with far-reaching impli- rectlyunder the command of the designated and Defence Secretary, assists them in pro- caste order.This is howsociety has func- harder forgenuine cases of sexual assault to cations. Thishas broughtcertain important TheatreCommanders; and (d) to achieve ef- viding strategicdirection to the armed forces tionedfor millennia: Thelowercasteshave gettheir dueprocess. issues intothe public domain, whichbear ficiency/economybypooling of facilitiesand and in the force-planning and budgetary servedtheuppercastesaspotters,labourers, Anyattempt to tackle this situation can’t discussion. resources of the three services. processes. When renderingadvice, theC-JCS masonsand cleaners, while the upper castes focus on police reform, caste discrimination, With the nation facinga“real and pres- Thecreation of Theatre Commands,inre- is required to consultthe service Chiefs, who work to keep the status quo, adopting afew patriarchyand reforms in land ownership ent” militarythreat from twoadversaries, it sponse to apolitical diktat, mustnot become serveassubsidiarymilitaryadvisers. lower-caste families along thewayasserfsin alone. We musttakeanintersectionalap- is incumbent upon the GoI —notwithstand- an end itself; lestitmerelyaddsadditional In India, while the peacetime manage- the world’s oldestfeudal system. proachthat targetsall of the issues. Land ing the economic downturn —tofind the layers of militaryhierarchytoareasonably ment of the armedforces is left to the MoD In the political economyofpost- ownership reform musttackle theirregular- means to bolsternational security.Bizarre functional existing organisation. The under- and the ChiefsofStaff Committee (COSC), Independence India, land is the currency that ities of demarcationand the lackofproper as it maysound, the onus foraccruing sav- lying, long-term premise of this exercise is strategic guidance to the military, duringwar, reigns supreme in the hinterlands. Land is records.Sound policyinvolving all stakehold- ings to fund defence expenditureseems to that the TheatreCommanders and their staff has always comefromthe PM. However, in class, powerandhonour. Itsexclusive owner- ersshouldalsotackletheillegal constructions have been placedonthe DMA,whichhas will be so trainedand groomedinjointness the system of higherdefenceunder imple- ship is the basis of maintaining the caste or- on abadi land and banjarzameen. The goal of floatedtwo schemes aimedatreducing the thattheyare able to plan operations and to mentation, ideally, the Raksha Mantri (RM) der.The dominant castesinaparticular re- annihilating caste cannot be achievedwith- defence pensions bill. One penalises officers employ land, maritime and air forces, regard- needs to be brought intothe command/op- gion have traditionallybeen the largest out mammoth effortsineducational,profes- seeking early releasefromservice and an- less of the servicetowhich theybelong.For erational chain of the TheatreCommanders, landowners, and the benefitsofthe Green sional, and social integration of lowercastes other envisages athree-year “TourofDuty” this to happen, radical changes arerequired with the CDS acting as his adviser. Revolution andthe neo-liberal economic or- intoeveryfield, beit healthcare, judiciary, ed- forjawans. Both projectsare basedonun- in the content of our system of professional Bizarre as it maysound,the Unfortunately, suchisthe frequency of der have disproportionatelybenefitedthem ucation, entertainment, or sports. sound assumptions and, even if feasible, the militaryeducation. Since, the Theatre onus foraccruing savings to elections andintensity of politics in India that andseldom thelandless labourers who be- In tandem withlandand caste reforms, firstislikelytoharmmorale, whilethe sec- Commander will also have thebenefit of ad- fund defence expenditure no RM has had the time or inclination to de- long overwhelminglytothe lowercastes. we musttacklethe persistence of patriarchy ond will degrade the military’s combat-ca- vice from component commanders repre- votehis/her undividedattention to complex But the post-Independence politics of in our society.“Women’s empowerment”is pability in today’s technology-intensive bat- senting eachservice,this post(likethat of the seems to have been placed on national security issues. This is, possibly, one Bahujan-Dalit mobilisation beganchalleng- abuzzphrase forpolitical and corporateor- tle-space. In the midst of anationalcrisis,it CDS) would be,atleastintheory, tenable by the DMA, whichhas floated of the reasons why70years post- ing these ancient hierarchies. The reservation ganisations,but we mustviewthese prom- is the finance ministryorthe Niti Aayogthat an officer belonging to anyofthe three serv- twoschemes aimed at Independence India finds itself in asecurity guaranteed by BabasahebAmbedkar wit- iseswith acritical eye: In thelastfew central should be devising ways of financing na- ices. reducing the defence dilemma. Therefore, unless the RM is an in- nessedanemergence of apolitically andeco- budgets, the MinistryofWomen &Child tional defence, rather than the DMA,which The system of TheatreCommandsmust, dividual able to dedicatehimself 24x7 to na- nomicallyinfluential sub-caste of Dalitsin Development has under-utilisedits funds mustfocus on militarymatters. obviously, be tailored to meetcountry-spe- pensions bill. One penalises tional security,itwould be prudent to place eachstate of the country. With the advent of formultiple programmes aimedatwomen’s It is notclear whether the talk of “rolling cific requirementsbut twothornyissues that officersseeking early release the newlyminted TheatreCommanders un- Bahujanpolitics in Uttar Pradesh,oppressed empowerment. We mustdemandmore out” theatrecommands is atrial balloon or have emergeduniversally arethe chain of from service,and another der the Chiefs of StaffCommittee, rather than castesfound themselvesrepresented in po- representation of womeninpositions of the outcomeofin-depth deliberation and commandofthe TheatreCommanders and envisages athree-year ‘Tour the CDS foroperational tasking. sitions of power. This wasanaffront to the power—beitthrough reservedseatsinMP, consensus betweenthe three service head- the relationship of the CDS (or his equivalent) Finally, in the US, politicians,soldiers, aca- existing order.Asahighlycoveted resource, MLA,andMLCelections, or the judiciaryand quarters with certain clear objectivesinsight. with the service Chiefs. of Duty’ forjawans. Both demiciansand the media,country-wide,en- land is aflashpoint of conflict:Inthe corporateboards. We mustworkfor quality Ideally, these objectivesshould be:(a) To Since democracies areaverse to over-con- projects are based on gagedinfour years of informeddebatebe- Khairlanji rape and massacre, the upper sexual education and consent training for hand over the military’s warfighting func- centration of powerinany singlemilitary unsound assumptions and, fore theUSCongress passed the castesretaliatedbrutallyand bestiallyagainst our youth, withthe aimofnot just prevent- tions to theTheatreCommanders,while re- functionary, the system followedbythe US even if feasible,the first is Goldwater-NicholsDefenceReorganisation theBhotmanges, aScheduledCaste familyin ing sexual assault but also equalising and taining the support functions with service ensures thatthe chain of command runs Actof1986. Since India’s military reforms are the village, afterthe Bhotmanges filedapo- normalisinghealthy relations among mem- HQs; (b)tocombine India’s 17 widely-dis- from the Presidenttothe Secretary(Minister) likely to harm morale,while equallycomplex, the GoI needs to seriously lice complaint in relation to aland dispute. bers of different genders and sexes. And persed, single-service Commandsintofour of Defence and then, directlytothe Theatre the second will degrade the consider the constitution of aParliamentary In traditionallypatriarchal societies, lastly, we mustbridgethe gender divide in or five mission/threat-oriented,geographi- Commander.While the Chairman of the US military’scombat-capability Committee, with militaryadvisers, to over- women arethe currency of honour.Afam- access to the transformative andemancipa- cally contiguous“Joint” or “Theatre Joint Chiefs of Staff(C-JCS) has no command see and guide this transformational process. ily’s,acommunity’s,acaste’shonourisinex- tory powerofconsumer technology. Commands”; (c) to place the appropriate authority overany combatant forces, he, as in today’stechnology-intense tricablytiedtothe “honour” of their female warfighting resources of all three services di- the principal militaryadviser to the President battle-space. The writer is aretired chief of navalstaff members—theirpurity, their morality, their ThewriterisaBSP MP Strike against fraternity LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR DOUBLESTANDARD THIS REFERS TO the report, 'A Hindu will IDEAS UPanti-conversionlawoverturnssocialcultureoflaw-makinginmodernIndia neverbeanti-national: Bhagwat at launchofbook on Gandhi' (IE, January ONLINE 2). This blatant mixing of religion with Pradip KumarDatta patriotism, and certifying onlyone reli- ONLYINTHE EXPRESS gious denomination has the effect of THE UTTAR PRADESH Vidhi Virudh Dharma through blood, marriage or adoption.Picture The campaign againstinter-faith unions is is Rammohun Royand his campaign to out- doubting about others. It would be in- ● INDIAATTHEHAGUE, Samaparivartan Pratishedh Adhyadesh 2020, thisscenario: An interfaith couple announces notnew.About acenturyago,anorganisation lawwidowburning. Roy’s motivation forthe teresting to knowhow RSS chief would FROMSAVARKARTO known as the “love jihad”law,dramatically an intention to marryandthis does notsuit an calledthe Women’s Protection League,headed campaign wastoinsistonthe personhood and explain the conduct of the ULFA(United JADHAV:PRABHAKARSINGH expands the scope of prohibitions againstcon- unknown relative,who chargesone of the by lawyers and newspapermen,alleged that autonomyofthe widow. He believedthis Liberation Front of Assam), whichis version, with catastrophic implicationsfor in- partners with illegalconversion. To provein- Muslim “goondas” were abducting Hindu would produce asociety that would bebound fighting forAssam's independence. ●REMEMBERING ter-faithmarriage. nocenceinanalready overburdenedand women.Theyindiscriminatelylumpedto- togetherbymutualcompassion andsympa- LRMurmu, Delhi SAVITRIBAI PHULE : The mosteffective feature of theordinance slow-movingcourt system will take up agreat gether actual cases of physicalkidnappings thy. Thedecisive moment is that of Ambedkar. JYOTHI S arethe proceduresitstipulatesfor identifying partofone’slife. and sexual exploitation with consensual Acrucial concern forAmbedkar waswith fra- REFORMS 2.0 illegitimateconversions. Conversions imme- In the case of conversion, thisisdoubly unions. Oftenthe league’s narrative wasre- ternitythatcouldonlybeensured by provid- www.indianexpress.com diately preceding or succeedingmarriage are dangerous sincethe ordinance envisionsno futedby the woman saying she had consented ing individualliberty and by gradually equal- THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Signs of prohibited. Thisis, of course, notamajor im- measurestoprotect the intendedconvert.On or hadthe approval of parents. The campaign isingopportunities forsocial segments. uptick' (IE, January2.Astax collections pedimentsince aperson can conceivablycon- the contrary, the precise details of theproba- did notcause physicalviolence. Nonetheless, Fraternitywas notablylacking in Indiansoci- arerecovering, the government mustin- vert much before or muchafter marriage.But ble convert will bedisplayedoutside the DM’s their high-voltagepublicity generated a etyand it wasthe duty of lawtoprovide its crease public expenditureincritical sec- rulers and their advisers living in ivory the actual act of conversion is made danger- office. Thereislittleroom forescaping the min- tremendous sharpening of communal ill-will. foundations. ForbothRoy and Ambedkar,the tors,includinghealth, education andru- towers.Fromtheretheycan’tseestunted ous.Thisisdonebyadding “allurement” for istrations of theloveterminators. It contributed to the repudiationofthe her- purpose of lawwas to remakesocial relations. raldevelopment. Production will childrenof poorfamilieslivinginshanties conversion as acognisable and non-bailable The testimony of theconvertedis noteven itageofthe Non-cooperation-Khilafatmove- Whileneither thinker spokeoninter-faith increase manifold in the coming months situated in their shadows or outskirts of offence. Allurementtakes theform of “mate- mentionedinthe document. Whatdoesthe ment.Interestingly, therewas aturnaround a marriages, it is significantthatRoy wassus- with the announcement of the produc- the city.Now,the government has rial benefit”, employment, free education in converted think of the conversion? Whyhas decade later.Under adifferent leadership, the pectedof converting (evenifhedid not) while tion-linked subsidy scheme. The de- stoppedpreparing or releasing datato “reputed schools”, “betterlifestyle”, even “di- he or she converted?None of these questions League cited statistics showing thatboth Ambedkar actuallyconverted.Morethanany- mand forgoods will come, primarily, hide itsfailures. When ideologytrumps vine displeasure”. Agiftcan be acceptedto that give personhoodtothe convertedis men- Hindu and Muslim goondas abductedwomen. thing else, it is clear that the ideal of fraternity from the rural economyorexports. analysis, fealty obscures reality. strengthen social bonds; aschool can be at- tionedinthe procedures. Instead of giving the It also probed the familyoppressionof is one that is served by inter-faith unions that Demand-side reforms areneededto Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur tendedfromadesirefor education; but the basic right of conscience to theindividual, it is women, whichledto their being entrappedin mayormay notinclude conversions. It prom- achieve apost-COVIDrecover. Thisis the same person mayconvert forreasons of faith the police who aregiven the task of verifying cases of actual abduction. ises aplace wherearangeofmodernsyncretic right time to initiatethe second-genera- WIDENING GAP —not forthe “temptation”ofgifts or of good the legitimacyofthe conversion. Giventhe con- Jumping to our time, the UP ordinance cultures candevelop alongside others. In alet- tion reforms. education. Howcan the motivation to convert nection between conversion and inter-faith shows that despitethe lackofevidence of “love tertoacouple who bravedcommunaltensions DhawalJoshi, Churu THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'Backtothe be established on the basisofwhatisreallya unions popularisedbyvigilanteand police ac- jihad” (testified by SITprobes), theorganised to enter an inter-faith marriage, Rabindranath classroom', (IE, January2). Itsbeen nine coincidence of different actions? tion, it is onlylogical to assume thatthe police insistence on afictionalconversion conspir- Tagore wrotethat love hasits ownrules that STUNTED ANALYSIS months since schools were closedand The lawprovides aremarkablesolution. can interferewith anyinter-faith marriage. acy has managed to have itsway.Inthe arenot boundby dharmaor varna. It is our cul- the academic year is to end soon. We Overturning acceptedprinciples of justice, the Indeed, justafter the ordinance, aconsen- process, it has plugged manyofthe embar- tureoflaw-makingthatsanctions the explo- THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Stagnation, can’t afford afurther loss of learning. “burden of proof” is on the accused. The law sual marriage withapproval of the respective rassingholes, suchasthe question of choice, ration of the unknown, the experimentswith in fact’(IE, January(02), It is natural that Already,the educationgaphaswidened agenciesdonot have to botherabout proving families wasinvestigatedbythe UP police on that plaguedthe League campaign. truths, that areatgrave risk in this drive to what thewriter’sconcernabouttheundernu- and the onlyway to stop it gettingworse guilt;instead, the accusedwill have to run the complaintofHindu Yuva Vahini. Even the Theordinance also promises to overturn maybecalledfraternicide. tritioninchildrenasrevealedbyNFHS-5 is to open the classroom. from pillar to posttoshowevidence of inno- familynolongermatters. It is thepolice with the social cultureoflaw-making in modern maynot beacceptableorpalatableto our Aamil Lodhi, Gandhinagar cence. If this were notenough,aFIR can be thebacking of vigilantegroupsthat can inter- India. Letmetaketwo milestones in the mak- The writer is aformer professor of political lodged by anymember of the familyrelated vene at will. ing of modern law. The foundational moment thought at JNU WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 12 THE WORLD

TOPOFTHE Cases within 72 hours WORLD CovidsurgeinUK:Stricterlockdown against those making likelybutschoolssafe,saysJohnson derogatory remarks Vaccine rollout to acceleratefromtoday on Pak army: minister

Evan Liberty WILLIAMJAMES PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA 8cops suspended LONDON,JANUARY3 SAUDIARABIAENDS ISLAMABAD,JANUARY3 ENTRYBAN,BUT over attack USA BRITISH PRIME MinisterBoris SOMECURBSREMAIN IN Awarning to protesting on Hindu temple Afterpardon, Johnson said on Sundaythat Opposition parties, Pakistan’s tougher lockdownrestrictions Cairo: Saudi Arabia said entry Interior MinisterSheikh Rashid EIGHT POLICE officialsin Blackwater were probablyonthe wayas to the kingdom by sea land Ahmed has said that courtcases Pakistanweresuspendedon Covid-19cases keep rising, but and air will be resumedstart- would be slappedwithin 72 Sundayforderelictionof duty guarddefiant:‘I that schools were safeplacesand ing Sundayafter aban that hours againstpersons making afteraHindutemplewasvan- actedcorrectly’ children should continue to at- lastedtwo weeksamidfearsof derogatoryremarks againstthe dalisedand setonfirebya tend wherepermitted. anew coronavirusvariant,the country’s army. mobledbymembersof arad- EVAN LIBERTY is one of Casesof Covid-19 inBritainare statenews agencyreportedon The PakistanDemocratic icalIslamistpartyinthecoun- four former Blackwater atrecord levelsandincreasing,fu- Sunday. Aministryofinterior Movement (PDM), an alliance of try’s restiveKhyber contractors pardonedby elledbyanew and moretrans- officialsaidthere willbesome 11 Opposition parties, in recent Pakhtunkhwaprovince. So US President Donald missible variant of the virus. That restrictions includingasking months,has severely criticised far, 100people have been ar- Trumpinone of Trump’s has already forced thegovern- peoplecomingfromcountries the PakistanArmyand itsinter- rested fortheir allegedin- final actsinoffice, freeing ment to cancelthe plannedre- wherethenewvariantspread, ference in political affairs. The volvementintheincident,po- them from prison aftera opening of schools in and around such as the UK and South PDM has allegedthat the army lice said,adding that 45 were 2007 shooting rampagein London, with callsfromteaching Africa, to stay 14 days out of installed“puppet” Prime arrestedonSunday. Over350 Baghdad that killedmore unions forwiderclosures. these countries before enter- Policeofficers stand guardtostopvisitors at aroadleadingtoYushima Tenjin shrineinTokyoon MinisterImran Khan in 2018 people have been namedin thanadozen Iraqi civil- MuchofEngland is already ing the kingdom. REUTERS Sunday. Governors from Tokyoand neighbouringprefectures calledonthe Japanese through amanipulatedelection. the FIR afterthe temple in ians. The move wasmet livingunder thetoughestlevel of governmenttoannounce astate of emergency to combat arecentsurge in Covidcases. Tokyo “Cases will be registered Karak district's Terrivillage with especiallyintense restriction setout in afour-tier had raisedits Covid-19alert to itshighest levelonDecember 17. Reuters againstpeopleusingfoullanguage wasvandalisedandsetonfire condemnation, both in the system of regional regulations TRAVELRESTRICTIONS againstthe armedforces within on Wednesday. PTI US and outside. “I feel like designedtostopthe spread of INAUSTRALIANSTATES 72 hours,” the Express Tribune Iacted correctly,”Liberty the virus and protect the na- newspaperquotedMinister said, in an interview, of his tional healthcaresystem. Sydney: MoreAustralianstates Rashidassayinginhishometown Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the conduct in 2007.“Iregret But Johnson, asked in aBBC andterritoriesarereimposing US virus death toll hits Rawalpindi on Saturday. armedforces had takenthe anyinnocent loss of life, interviewaboutconcerns that the travel restrictions to prevent The ministerissuedthe country“hostage”and created a but I’m justconfident in system maynot be enough to the spreading of the coron- 350,000; new surge feared warning aday afterPDM chief “deep state”. howIactedandIcan basi- bring the virus backunder con- avirusfromnew outbreaksin callyfeel peace with that.” trol, said that restrictions “alas, New SouthWalesandVictoria being inundated withbodies. The Blackwater rampage might be about to gettougher”. states. Moreover, in Greater ASSOCIATEDPRESS “I’vebeeninthefuneralindus- markedoneof the darkest “Thereare obviouslyarange Sydney, maskswillbemanda- BALTIMORE,JANUARY3 tryfor 40 years and neverinmy 11 miners from Hazara chapters of the Iraq war, of tougher measures that we tory in shopping centres, on lifedidIthinkthatthiscouldhap- The talk showhostis87 prompting an interna- would have to consider... I’m not public transport, in places of THE COVID-19 deathtoll in the pen, that I’d have to tell afamily, tional outcryabout the going to speculate nowabout worship, hair and beauty United States has surpassed ‘No, we can’t take your family community killed in role of contractors in mil- what theywouldbe.” premises and entertainment 350,000as experts anticipatean- member,’” said Magda Larry King in itaryzones. AP Johnson sets policy for venues suchascinemas. All other surge in coronaviruscases Maldonado,ownerof Continental Pak;ISclaimsattack England,with rulesinScotland, hospitality staffare also re- and deaths stemming from hol- FuneralHome in Los Angeles. hospital with Northern Ireland and Wales set quired to wear one. AP idaygatheringsoverChristmas Continentalisaveragingabout were tied behind theirbacks and by theirdevolvedauthorities. and New Year celebrations. 30 bodyremovals aday —six Covid-19: report GULYOUSAFZAI (theywere) blind folded,” asecu- ITALY Britain recorded54,990 new DatacompiledbyJohns times itsnormal rate.Mortuary QUETTA,JANUARY3 rity official told Reuters. Govttottersas cases of the virusonSundayand pupils settoreturn from holidays Hopkins University shows the US ownersarecallingoneanotherto Los Angeles: Former CNN talk Avideo clip making the has registeredmorethan 75,000 on Monday, Johnson said schools passedthethresholdearly Sunday see whether anyone can handle showhostLarry King hasbeen ISLAMIC STATEclaimedrespon- rounds on WhatsApp groups, Conte,Renzi deaths so farduring the pan- were safe,and advisedparentsto morning. Morethan20million overflow, and the answer is al- hospitalisedwith Covid-19for sibility foranattackonSunday apparentlyshotbyafirstrespon- demic, and the government’s re- sendtheirchildrento schoolinar- people in the countryhavebeen ways thesame: They’refull,too. morethan aweek,the news that killed11miners from der,showedthree bodies lying dividedeepens sponsehasbeenheavily criticised. eas whererules allowit. infected.The US has begun using Nationally, an averageofover channel reportedSaturday. Pakistan’s minorityShia Hazaras outside the room and the rest in- ITALIAN PRIME Minister Howeverthe rollout of vac- “Thereisnodoubtinmy mind twocoronavirus vaccinestopro- 2,500people have diedofCovid- Citing an unidentifiedperson in Baluchistanprovince. side in pools of blood. Giuseppe Contefaces a cines wasset to accelerateon that schools aresafe, and that ed- tecthealthcareworkersandthose 19 over the pastseven days,ac- close to the family, CNNsaid the The attacktook place early on “Thecondemnable killing of showdown with his Mondaywith the first530,000 ucation is apriority,”hesaid. over80buttherolloutoftheinoc- cording to Johns Hopkins data. 87-year-old King is undergoing SundaymorningintheMacharea 11 innocent coal miners in Mach coalition partner and for- doses of the newlyapproved The schools issue has split ulationprogrammehasbeencrit- The number of newlyreported treatment at Cedars-Sinai of Bolan district around 100km Baluchistanisyet another cow- mer premier Matteo Oxford/AstraZenecavaccines opinion, with unions and some icised as being slowand chaotic. casesinthat period has averaged MedicalCenter in Los Angeles. southeastofBaluchistan’s capital ardlyinhuman act of terrorism,” Renzi this week that readyto beadministered,Johnson local authorities warning Multiple states have reported closeto195,000perday. Hospital protocols have kept Quetta, killing the minerswho Pakistan’s Prime MinisterImran could bringdownhis gov- said.Headdedthathehoped“tens againstreopening and threaten- arecord number of cases over The US has reportedbyfar King’sfamilymembers from vis- were inasharedresidentialroom Khan said in atweet. ernment even as it strug- of millions”wouldbetreatedover ingtoact againstgovernment the pastfew days,including the mostdeaths from Covid-19 iting him. He has had medical is- near the coal mine where they IslamicState claimedrespon- glestocontain the Covid- the next three months. advice,and others sayingthat NorthCarolina and Arizona. in the world, followedbyBrazil, sues in recent decades, includ- worked,officials said. sibility forthe attackthrough its 19 pandemic. Addressing concerns over ed- closures also have abig negative Mortuaryowners in hard-hit whichhas reportedmorethan ing heartattacks and diagnoses “Thethroatsofall coal miners Amaq news agency via its Long-strainedrelations ucation,and with millions of impact on students. REUTERS Southern California saythey’re 195,000 deaths. of diabetes and lung cancer. AP have been slit, aftertheir hands Telegram channel. REUTERS between the twomen have deteriorated markedlyinrecent MOVEDEFIESSTANDTAKENBYSENATE REPUBLICAN LEADERS weeks, with Renzi calling China’s new defence law expands forradical changes to plans to rebootthe econ- SenatorTed Cruzleads long-shot omywhile also demand- power of its military headed by Xi ing that Contecedehis control over the secret GOP bidtooverturn Biden win services. REUTERS KJMVARMA BEIJING,JANUARY3 ISRAEL JASONLANGE& Tough choice for Republicans Graffiti reading, “Where's CHINAHAS revised itsNational TIMOTHYGARDNER my money” on adoor of Protesters Defence Law, expanding the WASHINGTON,JANUARY3 MitchMcConnell’s housein pressonagainst powerofits armedforces headed REPUBLICAN LEADERS theydid notwanttobe Louisville, Kentucky. AP by President Xi Jinping to mobilise US SENATOR TedCruz on in the Senatehad sought seen publiclydenying Netanyahu militaryand civilian resources to Saturdaysaid he willspearhead to prevent avoteonthe Trump’s claims of fraud THOUSANDS OF Israelis defend itsnationalinterests both adrive by nearly adozen legitimacy of Biden’s that alarge partofthe McConnell, protestedagain on at home and abroad. Republican senators to challenge victorybecause on the GOP voter base has em- SaturdayagainstPrime The newlaw,effective from President-elect Joe Biden’s vic- one hand theydid notwant to braced. The move by Cruz and Pelosi homes MinisterBenjamin January1,weakenstheroleof the tory when Electoral Collegere- be on recorddirectlyopposing others to challengethe result vandalised after Netanyahu, demanding StateCouncil, China's cabinet sultsare talliedinCongress on the result of an election that will forceavoteinthe Senate, headedbyPremier Li Keqiang,in Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and other January6–amove that has very has been widelyrecognisedas leaving manyRepublicans with that the long-serving $2,000 relieffails leaderresignover corrup- formulatingmilitarypolicy,hand- topleaders attend aNew Year gathering in Beijing. AP little chance of preventing Biden free and fair,and on other hand, adifficult choice to make. tion chargesagainsthim ing decision-making powers to from taking office. and forallegedly mishan- the Central MilitaryCommission Cruz’s effort is in defiance of dlingthe coronavirus cri- (CMC),theoverallhigh-command tenure. He is the onlycivilian year finalisedplanstobuild a SenateRepublican leaders, who centreofPresident Donald in their vote, if needed,” they TIMOTHYDEASLEY sis. Holding signs reading of thetwomillion-strongPeople's leader in the CMC, packedwith fullymodern militaryonpar have arguedthat the Senate’s Trump’s unproven assertions of said. It wasnot immediately &TRAVISLOLLER “Go” and “Everyone is Liberation Army(PLA) headedby high-rankingmilitaryofficials. with the US by 2027. The revised role in certifyingthe election is election fraud. Theysaid clearwhichstateswouldbe LOUISVILLE,JANUARY3 equal before the law”, the Xi,HongKong-basedSouthChina The amendments forthe lawspecificallystressesthe need largely ceremonial and had Congress should immediately subject to the proposedaudit, demonstrators crowdeda MorningPost reportedonSunday. National Defence Lawwere to buildanationwidecoordination been looking to avoid an ex- appoint acommission to con- Cruz’s office said. VANDALSLASHEDoutatthelead- Jerusalem squarenear Xi, 67,has emergedasthe passedbythe Standing mechanismfor the mobilisation tendeddebate on the floor duct an emergency 10-dayaudit Democratsand some moder- ers of the US House and Senate Netanyahu's official resi- CommunistPartyof China’smost Committee of the National of state-ownedandprivate enter- about the outcome. of election resultsinthosestates. ateRepublicans blastedthe move overtheholidayweekend,blight- dence, where theyhave powerful leader afterits founder People’s Congress on December prises to take partinresearchinto In astatement, Cruz, the US “Once completed, individ- by thesenators as undemocratic. ing their homes with graffiti and gathered formonths to Mao Zedong, holdingthe posts of 26 lastyear. newdefence technologies cover- senator from Texas, and the ual states would evaluatethe Aspokesman forthe Biden cam- inonecaseapig’sheadasCongress call forhis resignation. AP CPC General Secretaryand head The revisedlaw came into ingconventionalweapons,aswell other 10 senatorssaid theyin- commission’s findings and paign, Michael Gwin, dismissed failedtoapproveanincreaseinthe of the militarybesidesthe presi- forceafter the keyconclaveof as the non-traditional domains of tend to vote to rejectelectors could convene aspecial legisla- themove astheaterthatisnotsup- amountof moneybeingsentto in- dencywithprospectsofalife-long the ruling CPC in November last cybersecurityand space. PTI from states that have been at the tive session to certify achange portedbyany evidence. REUTERS dividuals to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Spray paintonSenate Majority LeaderMitchMcConnell’sdoorin Kentucky on Saturday read, THE GIANT MACHINE,WHICH CAN LIGHT UP ASMALL TOWN,ISSTOKING ARENEWABLE-ENERGY ARMS RACE “WERES MY MONEY.” “MITCH KILLSTHE POOR” wasscrawled over awindow. Aprofanity di- Amonster wind turbine in Rotterdam is upending an industry rected at the Republican senator waspainted underthe mailbox. At House Speaker Nancy by GeneralElectric.Whenassem- areabout athirdmorepowerful onlandto capturebreezesthatare said MortenPilgaardRasmussen, Pelosi’s home in San Francisco, STANLEYREED bledinarrays,thewindmachines than the largest already in com- stronger and morereliable. chief technology officer of the off- someonespray-painted graffiti JANUARY3 have thepotentialto powercities, mercial service. As such, it is The race to build biggertur- shorewind unitofSiemens andleftapig’sheadandfake blood supplantingtheemissions-spew- changing the business calcula- bines has movedfasterthan Gamesa Renewable Energy,the on NewYear’s Day, policesaid. TWIRLINGABOVE astripofland ing coal- or natural gas-fired tions of wind equipment mak- manyindustryfiguresforesaw. leadingmakerof offshoreturbines. KGO-TV reportedthat graffiti at the mouth of Rotterdam’s har- plants thatformthebackbonesof ers, developers and investors. GE’s Haliade-X generates almost Although offshoreturbines found on the garage door of the bourisawind turbine so large it is manyelectric systems today. The GE machineswill have a 30 timesmoreelectricity than nowaccount foronlyabout 5% Democratic leader’s homein- difficult to photograph. The turn- GE hasyet to install oneof generating capacity that would thefirstoffshore machines in- of the generating capacity of the cludedthephrases“$2K,”“Cancel ing diameterofits rotorislonger thesemachines in ocean water. have been almostunimaginable stalledoff Denmarkin1991. overall wind industry, this part rent!”and“Wewanteverything”, than twoAmericanfootballfields As arelativenewcomer to the adecade ago. Asingleone willbe In coming years, customers of the business hastaken on an apparentlyreferencing end to end.Later models will be offshorewind business, the able to turn out 13 megawattsof arelikelytodemand even bigger identity of itsown and is ex- Democratic lawmakers’failedef- taller thanany building on the companyfaces questions about power, enoughtolight up atown machines, industryexecutives pected to grow faster in the com- fortstoincrease the coronavirus mainland of Western Europe. howquickly and efficientlyitcan of roughly12,000 homes. say. On the other hand, theypre- ing years than land-basedwind. relief checksfrom $600to$2000. Packed withsensors gather- scale up production to build and The turning diameterofthe Haliade-X’s rotorislonger than The turbine is capable of pro- dict that, justascommercial air- Alargerturbine produces McConnell releasedastate- ingdataonwindspeeds,electric- install hundredsofthe turbines. twoAmerican football fields end to end. NYT ducing as muchthrustasthe four liners peaked with the Airbus moreelectricity and, thus,more ment on Saturdaycondemning ityoutputandstressesonitscom- But already the giant tur- enginesof aBoeing747jet,accord- A380, turbines will reachapoint revenue than asmallermachine. the vandalismathis home in ponents, the giant whirling bines have turnedheads in the ing to GE, and will be deployed at at whichgreater size no longer Size also helps reduce the costs of Louisville. machine in the Netherlands is a industry. Atop executive at the leapfrog over the latesttechnol- had “shaken the industry”. sea, wheredevelopers have makes economic sense. building andmaintaining awind “Vandalismand thepolitics test modelforanew seriesof giant world’s leading windfarm de- ogy”. And an analystsaid the ma- The prototype is the firstofa learnedthat theycan plant larger “Wewill also reachaplateau; farm because fewerturbines will of fear have no placeinour soci- offshorewind turbines planned veloper calledita“bit of a chine’s size and advance sales generation of newmachines that andmorenumerousturbinesthan we justdon’tknowwhereitisyet,” be required. NYT ety,”hesaid. AP WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021 MarketWatch FPISINVEST `62,016 CR IN EQUITIES NewDelhi: Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs)remained net buyersfor the third straight month in December by investing Rs 68,558crore in 13 ECONOMY domestic markets. As per depositories data, FPIs put in anet Rs 62,016 crore into equities, an all-time recordinthe segment. PTI

VACCINEROLLOUTLIKELYTOEASECURBS,RISEINBUSINESSTRAVELEXPECTED INTERVIEW WITH FINANCE SECRETARY ‘Earlier, people could exploit After‘worstyear’,airlinesawaitrevival; information asymmetry for govttopushAI,airportsprivatisation evasion, now it’s not possible’

the airline. Consequently, this summerof2021. TheJet 2.0 hubs WITH GSTcollections picking up, PRANAVMUKUL SEVERALASPECTSBEINGTRACKEDBYINDUSTRY would also result in the rest of will remain Delhi, Mumbai, and dataanalysisacrossdirectandin- NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 the private airlines being able to Bengaluru but the revivalplan direct taxestoidentify evadersis ■In India,inadditiontothe consortium of UAE-based compete with the national car- also proposestosupport tier 2 helping to improveefficiency for ALMOST HALF atrilliondollar vaccine rollout, thereare businessman Murari Lal Jalan rier on alevel-playing field — and tier 3cities by creating sub- revenue collections.The taxde- drop in revenuefor theglobal air severalaspectsbeing tracked and UK-basedKalrockCapital thathad been skewed by tax- hubs in suchcities. However, in partmenthas identified 20,000- transportindustry, at least43 by the aviation industry winning the bid in October to payers funding itslosses. addition to theNCLTclearance, 30,000 cases forturnovermis- commercial airlines gone bank- including disinvestment of revive the airline In November 2020, Air India Jet2.0 could also run intohurdles matchoutof atotalGSTtaxbaseof ruptglobally by October,close to Air India, revivalofJet had the thirdhighestmarket in acquiring slots that were once 1.2crore and 7,000 companies 5lakh jobs lostinthe airlines Airways,impact of airport ■Going ahead, the shareindomestic air trafficat allotted to JetAirways but were have beenacteduponoverthelast segment —the year 2020, by var- privatisation and an uptickin government plans to 10.3 per cent, behind low-cost redistributed among other air- 1.5months, Finance Secretary ious metrics, has been the worst broad economic indicators disinvest at leastsix more airlines IndiGo at 53.9 per cent lines once the airline went belly AJAY BHUSHAN PANDEY told year in the history of aviation as that would result in arise in airports.Privatisation of and SpiceJetat13.2per cent. up in April 2019. AANCHALMAGAZINEinaninter- stakeholders across the spec- demand forbusinesstravel airports is said to result in Forother airlinesinthe coun- During 2020, the governm- view. Declaringdifferentturnover trum struggledfor survivalbe- higher revenue realisation try, domestic travel has been the ent managed to successfullypri- inCustoms,inGST, andinincome cause of the Covid-19pandemic ■The newyear could also see forthe Airports Authority of lifeline that kept the lightonaf- vatise six airports — taxisnow notpossible, whichis and the consequent travel bans. apossible revivalofthe India, whichhas been thus teritresumedonMay 25, aftera Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, sendingarightsignal,Pandeysaid. Finance SecretaryAjayBhushan Pandey While restrictions on travel groundedJet Airways,with a farmanaging theseairports two-month suspension. India’s Lucknow, Jaipur, Edited excerpts. have notbeen fullylifted, airlines largest airline IndiGo recentlyin- Thiruvananthapuram and arelooking at potential revivalof dicated that it has reachedaro- Guwahati —the firstthree of GSTcollections have been nies also have been foundtohave have filedappealsatvarious lev- fortunes with the vaccine roll- avaccine), overall revenues are Asuccessfuldisinvestment of und 80 per cent of itspre-Covid whichhavealready been offi- better.How has been the been involved in takingfakebills els ... and saying look,this is the out. However, industryexperts expected to grow to $459 billion Air Indiawould notonlymean capacity on the domestic front, ciallyhandedovertoAdani revenue trend fordirect taxes? from non-existent companies disputed amountand wouldyou suggestthat anyhopesfor asm- ($131 billion improvementon easing of the burden on the ex- but itsinternationalcapacity was Enterprises, whichsuccessfully Fordirect taxes, till December through multiplelayers.Because liketocomeforward.So, we are ooth recovery arestill subdued 2020,but still 45 per cent below chequer,that has been funding running onlyat20per cent of the wonthe rightstooperate, man- we aredownby9.9 per cent if we of technology today, no matter facilitating them and that’s why —evident from the fall in airline the $838 billion achievedin the loss-making flag carrier,but normal levels. The airline ex- ageand develop all the six air- compare year-on-year.But we howmanylayers one can put,we 96,000 people have come. We stockprices lastmonth on the 2019),” he added. would also mean alevel-playing pectstoreach100per cent of its ports in 2019.Going ahead, the have to keepthreethingsinmind: areableto reachtheultimate ben- have furtherextendedthedatetill news of amutated coronavirus In India, however, in addition field forprivate airlines,which usual international capacityby Centreplans to disinvest at least the corporatetax, the income tax eficiaryandwe areableto take ac- January 31,and we hope that this variant emerging from the UK. to the vaccine rollout, thereare have been competing with a the end of 2021, but that will — six moreairports.Privatisation or the direct taxisthe taxonthe tionsagainstthem. number will further increase. “History bookswill record severalaspectsbeing trackedby playerunperturbed by opera- as senior government officials of airports is said to result in profitorthetaxontheincomeand 2020 as the industry’s worstfi- the aviation industryincluding tions running in losses. have stated forregular interna- higher revenue realisation for incomeisnotalwayslinearly pro- GSTcollections have picked In these 96,000cases,some nancial year,bar none. Airlines disinvestment of Air India, re- The Centreisexpected to in- tional air travel from India—de- the Airports Authority of India, portional to theturnover or the up, so the calculations for cases would requirethe tax cut expenses by an averageofa vivalofJet Airways,impact of air- form the qualifiedinterested pend on behaviour of the virus. whichhas been thus farmanag- business volume. Because if the compensation cess deficit departmenttoissue refunds? billion dollarsaday over 2020 portprivatisation and an uptick biddersthis month, following The newyear couldalso see ing these airports. volume goes down belowacer- musthavechanged. So, what is the netamount andwill still rack-up unprece- in broad economic indicators whichthe process of inviting fi- apossiblerevival of the groun- “Indeed2020 will go down tain limit, then instead of income Yes,to someextentthefigures collected? dented losses.Wereitnot forthe that would result in arise in de- nancial bids would begin. dedJet Airways,with aconsor- the annalsofaviation history as being proportionatelydown, it thatwe hadgivenfortheshortfall Yes, that’scorrect. We will $173 billion in financial support mand forbusiness travel. Sources in the Civil Aviation tium of UAE-basedbusinessman the watershedyear forall the might getintothe negative terri- therecouldbesomechange.Itwill have to work out. by governmentswewould have Forthe Air India disinvest- Ministryhave, however, indi- Murari Lal Jalanand UK-based wrong reasons. Airlines bled toryanditmayresultinloss.Then have to be worked out, but what seen bankruptcies on amassive ment, the government amended cated that the process is ex- KalrockCapital winningthe bid with losses mounting crores per it cancompletely ruleout anytax willbethefullextent,we willhave Numbers so farshowthat the scale,” said AlexandredeJuniac, the terms of bidding several pected to close in the next fiscal. in October to revive the airline. day. Alliedindustries suchasair- paymentfromthat taxpayer. to watchfor the next three mon- majorsharehas been of PSUs. director general of International times over the lastyear as it con- Asuccessful privatisation Whilethe consortiumawaits ports,hospitality and travel trade So, during thefirsttwo quar- ths. Forthe past2-3 months, we Outof the96,000cases,num- Air TransportAssociation (IATA). tinuedtoextend deadlines till notwithstanding, Air India’s re- approval from the National have been hit hardaswell.Thou- ters whatever the turnoverloss had areasonable levelofcollec- ber-wise the majority areprivate “On the assumption that December 14,when it finallyre- vivalwill also dependonthe CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT), sands of travel agentshaveshut has happened, therefore, the in- tion,butto whatextentourshort- people.MajorityofPSUswillbein thereissome opening of borders ceived“multiple expressions of ability of the newinvestortolose it has laid down the plan forJet shop and manyhavebeenrend- come lostislost. Considering this fallwouldbereducedandto what terms of value. by mid-2021(either through interest” from potential in- the flab by cutting down on loss- 2.0, as perwhichitaimstotake ered jobless,” said Ankur Bhatia, and otherreliefsduring Covid extentitwillmeetthatcompensa- testing or growing availability of vestors includingthe Tata Group. making routes andrightsizing the carrier backintothe skies by executive director,BirdGroup. pandemic:the TDS rate was tion gap, we will have to wait for When the Budget was broughtdownby 25percent.We thefiguresinthecomingmonths. presented forthis fiscal, the getalot of taxcollectionfromTDS. taxtargets were seen to be very Therate hasbeenreduced,sothat One of the concerns on the optimistic. Going ahead, how OPEC ready States accountingfor amajor portion of dues to gencos: also will have an impact on rev- fiscal deficit front has been realistic will be the targets? Discoms’outstanding dues to ■ Rajasthan ■ Andhra Pradesh ■ Tamil Nadu enue.Further,inthisyear,thediv- that it’s morebecause of Because of this pandemic, to adjust oil ■ Maharashtra ■ Karnataka ■ Jammu & idend distribution taxhas been revenue slowdown rather manyofthose calculations have powergencos up 35%inNov ■ Uttar Pradesh ■ Jharkhand Kashmir abolished, so because of that also than increase in government to be reviewedand that is precis- output ■ Telangana ■ Haryana we arenot gettingthat tax. expenditure. elybeingdone duringthe budg- Powerproducers’ totaldues owed by distributioncompanies, Considering thesefactors,the 9.9 If youhavethiskindof apand- etaryexercise. So, we areclosely or discoms, rose over35% to `1,41,621crore in November per cent decline shows that the emic—whereinthefirstsixmon- reviewing our revenuefigures, increases: 2020, amid stress in thesector,asper PRAAPTI portal data `1,04,426crore:Amount amountondiscomsinOctober economyisrecovering.Italso thswe were severely impactedin howmuchwewill getwith all owedbydiscomstogencos demonstratesthattherehasbeen thesensethatbusinessessuffered these measures, howmuchwe Barkindo (powergenerationcompanies) `11,862.07crore:Overduesof anincreaseincollectionefficiency. lockdown, movement restric- expecttorecoverduring the next OVERDUES OF PRIVATE GENCOS ON DISCOMS inNovember2019 non-conventionalenergy Becausewhatweare observingin tions, and demand in certain sec- three months. And then similar Adani Power GMR SEMB (Sembcorp) producersinNovember2020 theindirecttaxes,i.e.,theGSTand torswere alsoaffected—andeven exerciseisbeingconductedonthe REUTERS `20,242.74crore `2,195.12crore `2,168.45crore `1,29,868crore:Totaloverdue customs is also getting reflected though the economy is on there- expenditureside. Aatmanirbhar LONDON/MOSCOW,JANUARY3 amountnotclearedbydiscoms 34.01%:Shareofoverduesof on the income taxfront also. covery path,certain sectors are packages have been givenand Lalitpur Power Generation Company Ltd: inNovember,evenafter45-day independentgencoswithinthe We arecombining all data still impacted.Insuchcases, the then certain areas whichrequire OPEC AND itsallies, ledbyRussia, `4,373.23crore graceperiodofferedbygencos totaloverdueamountof from customs, GSTand the in- revenuewill getimpacted and it interventions, expenditureisbe- stand ready to adjusttheir plans `1,29,868croreondiscoms come tax. People till afew years is the worldwide trend. Butthis is ingdoneforthemdespitethecon- foragradualincreaseinoiloutput `93,215crore:Totaloverdue agocouldexploit information also the time wherethe govern- straintsonthe revenue front. by 2million barrels per dayinthe amountinyear-agoperiod Overduesofcentralpublic asymmetryand could declarea mentneedsto continueto expend Once we firm up our revised esti- next months dependingonmar- sectorgencosondiscoms: differentturnoverintheCustoms, in areas wheretheyare required mates, both on the revenue and ket conditions, OPEC Secretary `1,39,057crore:Total NTPC:`19,215.97crore inGST, anddifferentintheincome and therefore, this is something expenditurefront, theywill be General Mohammad Barkindo outstandingduesondiscomsin NLCIndia:`6,932.06crore tax.Nowthosethingsarenot pos- whichisontheexpectedlinesthat presented at the time of Budget. said on Sunday. October2020 DVC:`6,238.03crore sible. Theyare nowable to see in the revenues will fall. OPEC+ will meetMonday to NHPC:`3,223.88crore their returns itselfhow much in- With allthe measures, we are Howdoyou see revenue decide output policies forFebru- `1,26,444crore:Totaloverdue THDCIndia:`2,085.06crore comeorhowmuchturnoverthey tryingto increasethecollectionef- collections going ahead? ary. In December, OPEC+ decided have disclosedtothe other au- ficiency,ifthereare anygapsor We arepositively andcertainly to raise outputby0.5 million bpd thorities. That itselfissending a certainevasionsarehappening,or intotherecoveryzonewhichisre- from January as partofthe 2mil- What is PRAAPTI: The Payment Ratification And Analysis in Additional liquidity for discoms: In May 2020, right signal and people who ear- if some system could be im- flected through these hardnum- lionbpd risebut some members Power procurement for bringing Transparency in Invoicing of the government announced liquidity infusion for Source: lierwere tryingto take advantage proved,then(wecan)increasethe bers. The GSTnumbers we have have questionedthe needfor a generators —orPRAAPTI —portal was launched in May 2018 discomsunder which these utilities would get PRAAPTI/PTI of this information asymmetry, collection efficiency so that the seen, even in thedirect taxnum- further increase from February to bring in transparency in power purchasetransactions loan from PFC and REC Ltd arebeingdeterredandthatisget- gapbecomes lesser. bers we justdiscussed. On the dueto spreadingCovidinfections. ting reflected intothe higher col- Customs front also,the collection lectionefficiency. The deadline forthe Vivadse in December has exceededRs Vishwas scheme has been 16,000 crore, whichcompared BRIEFLY Arethereany numbers forthis extended. It wasintroducedin year-on-yearisalmost94percent Despite Covid,negativeGDP growth, dataanalysis with respect to the lastfiscal, howmuchscope increase,whiletheassessableim- the revenue collected? is therefor extensionand how ports value has increasedonlyby Govtplansshare In case of GST, in total taxbase have the collections been 17 percent.Weare onadefinitive saleinRashtriya forex reserves soar $103 bn in Apr-Dec of 1.2crore,wehaveidentified under it? growthpathandwe willcontinue 20,000-30,000caseswherepeo- EventhoughVivadseVishwas to grow upwards. Chemical ple have shown adisproportion- wasintroducedlastfiscal,itwas Settocross all-time-high increase of $110.5 billion recordedin2007-08 atelyhigh turnoverinGST but towardsthe lastpartofit, March Arethereany further stimulus NewDelhi: Thegovernment have disclosedzeroornear zero 15,2020.Within one week of the measures being planned? planstosell10 percentstake stance, attracted global invest- income in their income taxre- announcement of the scheme, Because earlier timingor in RashtriyaChemical and HARISHDAMODARAN MOVEMENTOFFOREXRESERVESOVERTHEYEARS mentsaggregating Rs 1,99,321 turns.We areusingdataanalytics Covidhappenedandweextended identification of beneficiaries FertilizersLtd.Merchantba- NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 crore(about $27billion) in itsJio andartificialintelligencetoolsand the datetillDecember 31.Till were cited as issues to provide nkersandlegaladvisorsint- 1,20,000 ■ in$million Platforms digital and retail busi- that is precisely the reasonthat December31,about96,000cases morestimulus from the erestedinthe process will INDIA’SFOREIGN exchangere- 1,00,000 1,03,034 nesses between April 22 and during the last1.5 months,about have come, the totalnumber of government. have to be submit theirbids serveshave zoomedbyover$103 80,000 1,10,544 November9.Foreignportfolioin- 7,000companieswereidentified, appealspendinginthevariousap- Nowthat we arereaching by January28and January billion in the current fiscal, as of 60,000 25,761 54,590 vestors,too,have pumped$28.65 theyweresubjected to action, pellatecourtsare about 5,10,000. closeto theBudget exercise,italso 40,000 29, respectively. December 25. And with more 20,000 billionintoIndianequityanddebt morethan187 people have been The 96,000cases have adisputed givesanopportunity to look at all thanthreemonthsleft,itlooksset 0 marketssofar this fiscal. arrested,including five chartered amount of Rs 83,000crore. the suggestions, demands and to surpassthe all-time-high in- -20,000 But totalforeign capital in- accountantsand one company recommendations of the various ‘CCIplansto crease of $110.5 billion recorded -40,000 flows,net of debtrepaymentsand secretary. Managing directors, Howmuchhas been stakeholders, industry associa- -60,000 -57,738 -10,420 18,538 -11,674 haveregional in 2007-08. -80,000 other outflows,havebeen only partners, proprietorsofcompa- collected? tionsandstategovernments,min- 1 5 9 6 The difference in contextbe- 0 $16.5 billion, as per RBI datafor nieshavebeen arrested. ThepaymentdateisMarch 31. istries,MSMEsandtaxpayers.We 1* 13 20 09 -1 08 -17 1-12 7-18 5-1 tween the official reserveaccre- 3-14 April-September 2020. In severalcases, Iwouldn’t We arecurrentlyworking with will see what best we could do to 7- 12- 18-1 14-1 19-

presence’ 09-1 08- 20-2 201

tion then andnow,however, is as 2010 Moreover,unlikein2007-08, namethem, manylarge compa- the taxpayers or the people who addressthem. 2016 201 20 201 20 20 201 20 20 200 20 NewDelhi:TheCompetition muchaschalk and cheese. In 20 the capital flows coming in now *As on December 25 CommissionofIndia (CCI) 2007-08, the economywas seem to be morecourtesy ‘push’ plans to further streamline booming, registering agross do- than‘pull’factors.With10-yearUS processes and have itsre- mestic product (GDP) growth of Centre’s fiscal deficit 2020-21has been treasuryyields currentlyat0.91 Govt puts BEMLonthe block gionalpresence,chairperson 9.3 per centontop of 9.6 per cent for2020-21at6.5-7 drivenmainlybythe per cent —theyare even lowerat Ashok Kumar Gupta said. and 9.5 per cent in the preceding per cent of GDP (as country’s current ac- 0.19 per cent forUK, 0.01per cent theCentreholds54.03percentin The disinvestment will be twoyears. The Centre’s fiscal againstthe budgeted count balance —the forJapanese and minus 0.58 per ENSECONOMICBUREAU the CPSE, whichwas formerly through atwo-stage competitive deficit, too, wasamere2.5 per 3.5 per cent). gapbetween exports cent forGerman government NEWDELHI,JANUARY3 knownasBharat Earth Movers. biddingprocess.Shortlistedfirms Dutyevasionof centofGDP.Indiacould,then,eas- In 2007-08, the and imports —turn- bonds of the same tenure—in- Thebalancestakesareheldby in the firstphasewill be asked to `832crore: ilywithstand the shockfromthe $110.5-billionreserve ing positiveat$34.7 vestors arebeing pushedtoseek THE CENTRE on Sundayinvited mutual funds(19.21per cent),in- submit financial bids. Non-core global economic crisis that fol- build-up, amounting billion during April- returns in emerging market expression of interest(EoI) from dividuals (15.74per cent),foreign landandotherassetswillbehived Onearrested lowedone year later. to 7.4per cent of India’s then September.This surplus has, in economies offering relatively strategic investorsfor 26 per cent portfolio investors and financial offand will notbeapartofthe Theeconomyhas,by contrast, much-smallerGDP,waspowered turn,beenduetoimports inApril- higherreturns.Someof thatdollar stakeinBEML, along with man- institutions. The buyerof26per proposeddisinvestment. NewDelhi:GSTofficershave contracted by 14.9 per cent year- largely by foreigninvestment,ex- September2020fallingby amas- liquidity has been flowing into agement control,adding one centinBEMLwillhave to makean The company, with astaff unearthedtax evasion of on-yearinApril-September2020- ternal commercial borrowings sive $95.6billion over April- India, especiallysinceNovember. morecentral public sector enter- open offertobuy another 26 per strengthof6,602, made anet Rs832crore by wayofman- 21 andthe ReserveBank of India and other capital inflows totaling September 2019.And that is All in all,itmakes foranex- prise (CPSE)tothe pipelineof centinthecompany, accordingto profit of Rs 68 croreinFY20 as ufactureandclandestinesu- (RBI) expectsgrowth forthe $107.9 billion. further reflective of lowimport traordinarysituation —ofrecord state-ownedfirms being put on Sebi rules. The Bengaluru-based againstRs64crore in FY19. pplyofgutkha/panmasala/ wholefiscalto be-7.5percent(on Theseinflows were moreare- demand in ashrinking economy. forexreservesbuild-upwhenthe the block. Thelastdatefor filing companyoperates under three According to EoI terms, compa- tobaccoproductsandarres- topofadismal3.9 per cent for sult of ‘pull’ factors, having to do The current account surplus economyisexperiencingnegative EoI forBEML is March 1, 2021. majorbusinessverticals—min- nies, LLPs and funds eligible to in- tedone person, the Finance 2019-20).Nor aregovernment fi- with global investors wanting to hasalso been supplemented by growth forthe firsttime in 41 At current marketprices, the ing &construction, defence & vest in Indiacan participatesub- MinistrysaidonSunday. PTI nances in great shape, with the partake of the India growth story. some foreign capital inflows. yearsandamidanunprecedented 26percentstakeinBEMLisworth aerospace and rail &metro,by ject to minimum networth mostoptimistic projection of the Theforexreserveaccumulationin Reliance Industries alone,for in- global pandemic. about Rs 1,055 crore. Currently, providing total solutions. requirementof Rs1,400crore. FE WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY4,2021

HOCKEYTEAMLEAVESFOR ARGENTINA TheIndian women's hockeyteam, ledbyRaniRampal, on Sunday leftthe 14 countryfor the tour of Argentina, looking to gain internationalmatchex- SPORT posure after nearly abreak of one year due to COVID-19pandemic.

BRIEFLY ISL WRAP: ROUND 9 Jamiesontakes BrisbaneTestonschedule:BCCI Chhetri’s misses anotherfifer continue to pile Christchurch: Kyle Jamieson claimed his thirdfive-wicketbag in onlyhis Players wary of strictlockdownbut topofficial says team will travel to Queensland forfinalTest THREE CHANCES missedbyIndianskipper sixth Test to help New Zealandcoun- Sunil Chhetri –all in the firsthalf of teract an assertive Pakistanbatting Bengaluru FC’s 0-1 loss to Jamshedpur FC in performanceSundayonthe firstday VISHALMENON The major concern forthe aISL group game, made all the difference as of the second Test.Jamieson finished JANUARY3 players is that in Brisbane, they the race forthe fourth spotcontinues to heat with 5-69 to go with his 5-45 against up at the end of Round 9. Afteralmost half of India lastFebruaryand his 5-34 THE BRISBANE Test,the fourth and final of will be allowedtoleave their theleague’s games,asignificantblowwas againstthe West Indies lastmonth, the series, will be playedasper schedule, hotelrooms onlyfor amatchor struckbyJamshedpur as theybeat the 2018 checking the momentum of a from January 15.Indian cricketers arenot training. Theywon’t even be ISL champions, despiteBengalurudominat- Pakistanteam whichbattedwell in keen to travel unless strict restrictionson ing. Ashotwith justthe goalkeeper to beat demanding conditions afterlosingthe their movement because of the Covid-19 able to move around in the hotel and then amissed headerfromacorner – toss. Azhar Ali made 93, captain outbreak areeasedinQueensland. at other times. Chhetri wasinall the right places but some- Mohammad Rizwan 61 and Faheem As farasthe BoardofControl forCricket howluckevadedthe veteran. Ashraf 48 as Pakistanmade 297, a in India (BCCI) is concerned, there’snodis- The 36-year-old would getanother look competitive total on apitchwhich cussion on achangeofitineraryasyet,atop placedinisolation as aprecaution. On in on goal, this time before theend of the first wasstill producing bounce and seam official told TheIndian Express on Sunday. Monday,bothsquads will flytoSydney, the half. But his left-footeddrive fizzledwide of lateinthe day. AP “The team willtraveltoBrisbane. We will venue forthe thirdTest, whichbegins on TP Rehenesh’s farpostfor yetanother missed BRIEF SCORES: Pakistan297 in 83.5 have to followrules. We maydiscuss allow- Thursday. CricketAustralia had decidednot opportunity. ovs(Azhar Ali 93, Mohammad ing alittle morefreedom forthe players, but to move the match from this citydespitea Chhetri’s statsfor the matchfollowed Rizwan 61;KyleJamieson 5/69) vs it all dependsonwhat local authorities de- spurtinCovid-19cases. what has been his scriptthis season. In 9 NewZealand cide finally,”the official confirmed. games, he has had 17 shots on target but has The major concern forthe players is that Contrasting conditions scored justthree goals from it. in Brisbane, theywill be allowedtoleave Meanwhile, Australia batsmanMathew Nortjetakes6/56, theirhotelroomsonlyfor amatchortraining. Wade said he expected theGabba Test to be The foreign hand Lankaalloutfor157 Theywon’t even be able to move around in staged as per schedule, despitethe Indians’ While Bengaluru aren’t lacking goals de- the hotelatother times. concerns. spiteChhetri’s form, the other teams vying Johannesburg: Injury-hit Sri Lanka The visiting Indian cricketteam is wary “There’s alot of talk out therebut forusas foraplayoff spotall have aforeigninterna- crashedto157 all out midway through of going to Brisbane, as theydon’t want to be agroup and my position personally, we’ll go tional with the ability to scoreagoal every the firstday of the 2nd Test in South subjected to amuchstricter quarantine pro- to Sydneyand playatthe SCG and then we’ll other game. No one signifies this morethan Africatofind no respiteafter losingthe tocol imposedbythe Queensland govern- go to Brisbane and playatthe Gabba,” he said FC Goa’s Igor Angulo. Aftermostofthe core series opener and also astring of play- ment than theyhaveencountered at other Athree-weekold tweetbyBabyVillage, ashopfor toddlers, wasaccompanied by a during avirtual press conference.“Until the of the team waspickedupbyMumbai City ers to injury. South Africa’s fast bowlers cities around Australia. pictureofKohli and Pandya. The tweetread: We had some very special visitors in powers that be knock on the door and tell us FC, Goa have reliedonthe nine goals in nine ploughed through the SriLankan bat- Mostplayers in the touring party have our newstore today!! @virat.kohli&@hardikpandya93 WishingVirat that that’s going to change, we justroll onto games provided by Angulotostayafloat, ting in just40.3 overs at the Wanderers been in some form of quarantine or bio-bub- @anushkasharma all the best forsafe&happyarrival of their firstbaby! the next game.” howeverfleetingly. afterSri Lankachose to bat first, with ble forabout six months, whichcame aftera Instagram:BabyVillage Australia’s eagerness to play at the Gabba It isn’t justAngulo’s sure-shotgoal but the AnrichNortje taking6-56 and Wiaan nationwide lockdown and curbs on move- is understandable. It is the traditional venue timing of it that has made the difference. In Mulder 3-25. ment foralmostthree months. Theyare not forthe firstTestofthe international summer their lasttwo games, Goa were on course to BRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka157 in 40.3 keen on morestrict restrictions, especially Kohli, Pandya shopping in Sydney last Down Under and sets thestage forthe series. draw with Jamshedpur and Hyderabad and ovs(Kusal Perera 60; Anrich Nortje as theyunderwent 14 days of isolation on The pitchthereoffers decent carry and alast-gasp finish from the Spaniardonboth 6/56) vs South Africa 22 fornoloss (at their arrivalinthe country. month breached protocol: Report movement forthe quickerbowlers, and occasions helped snatch6pointsfromtwo teaonDay 1) AP “Eachcity in Australia has itsown quaran- should be to the Aussie pacers’ liking. India games. tine rules.InSydney, the team has been ON FRIDAY,when awide-eyedIndianfan keeper or staff) without masks, the twocrick- hasplayedsix Teststhereand other than the granted permission to go to designated ar- tweetedaseries of photosoffiveIndian play- eters had inadvertentlybreachedCricket draw in 2003-04, sufferedlosses on every The Indian angle Leicestermoveto eas in the hotelafter training. In Brisbane, ers —Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Navdeep Australia’s bio-security norms, an official told occasion. It is an Australian fortress in every Afterasummer of searching for anew thirdspot however, the rules aremuchmorestringent Saini, Prithvi Shawand Shubman Gill —din- The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. sense of the word. home in Spain and eventuallylanding in as players will be restricted to their hotel ing at aMelbourne restaurant, it created a Alittle over aweek later,agroup of Indian The lasttime the home team losta India, Ishan Pandita’s lifeonGoan soil took a Newcastle: LeicesterCity movedupto rooms when nottraining or playing. This is stir on social media. The fansuggestedthat players pit-stoppedlate-night at an eateryin Brisbane Test wasinNovember1988tothe pleasant turn. With Goa down by agoal and thirdplace in the Premier League as something they’renot comfortable with he paid the bill forthe players and then Adelaide. Vivian Richards-ledWestIndies. 86 minutes of playgone by,Panditadirected second-halfgoals by James Maddison since this team has already completedthe hugged Pant, aclaim he has retracted since. Acouple of them went inside to place the The SydneyCricket Ground is tradition- aheader with his backtothe goal, from a and Youri Tielemans secureda2-1 mandatoryperiod in isolation upon landing According to reports in the Australian order,while others sat at atableoutside. This ally the mostspin-friendly of themajor freekick, that sawthem mount acomeback victoryawayatNewcastle United on in Australia,” asource said. media, this wasnot the onlyinstance of an wasanother breachasthe players who went Australian Test venues. whicheventuallyresulted in awin. Sunday.Substitute Andy Carroll's “BCCI is currentlynegotiating with alleged bio-bubble breachbythe Indian insidedidn’t sportmasks. With MohammedShami and Umesh strikefor thehosts setupatense fi- CricketAustralia to come to an agreement team while on tour.Infact, thereweretwo According to TheSydney MorningHerald, Yadavout injured,India’s pace arsenal is Playofthe week nale but Leicesterwereworthywin- regarding the natureofquarantine that other misdemeanours, whichhad hitherto both instances were minor breaches, but un- shortonexperience. Consequently, theteam Twoteams, EastBengal and Odisha were ners.Theymoved above Tottenham needs to be put in place,” the source said. gone unreported. likethe one involving the five Indian players management mayjustbetempted to un- yettowin agame in theISL. Thatwas before Hotspur with 32 pointsfrom17 The firstinvolvedcaptain Virat Kohli and who created ameltdown on Twitter,these leash chinamanbowler KuldeepYadav, along EB’s Jacques Maghoma’s goal in the 39th games played, one point behind co- Bubble to bubble all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who paid avisit instances went unnoticedbecause theywere with the twoincumbent spinners, minuteagainstOdisha on Sunday. Carrying leaders Liverpool and Manchester Starting severalweeksbeforethe Indian to atoddler’s storeinSydneyonDecember 7. notreported to the cricketauthorities. Ravichandran Ashwinand RavindraJadeja. the ball intothe boxwith his leftfoot, the United,who have playedone game Premier League, held in September- By posing with woman(unclearifitisashop- ENS Playing successive matches at the SCG, with Congolese unleashedavicious strikeontothe less.Maddison blastedLeicesterin November in the United Arab Emirates, most three quality spinnersoperating, could pro- near-postofgoalkeeper ArshdeepSingh, who front in the 55thminute,and when members of the Indian squad have had pre- vide India the recipe to whip up another se- couldonlystand and stareasthe ball whizzed the outstanding Tielemans produced cious fewopportunities to freely move tory isolation period, the Indians have en- Gill, Prithvi Shawand Navdeep Saini –did ries win in Australia. Wade did notmince past and crashedontothe topofthe net. The agreat finish to double the lead after around outdoors due to the measures put in joyedrelatively morefreedom with regards step out in Melbourne on NewYear’s Day, it wordswhen he said: “There’s no secret we goal wasnot onlyone to admire butgaveEast 72 minutesitseemedthat Leicester's place to prevent coronavirus infections. to their movement, even as theymoved to resulted in acontroversyasafantweeted likestarting the summer therefor that exact Bengal amuch-neededtwo-goal cushionin seventh away win in the league was There’s afear that confining them to their re- Adelaide, Canberra,Sydneyand Melbourne suggestingtheywereatanindoor restaurant reason.Our recordisverygood and we tend amatch. in the bag.Carroll'sfirst Premier spective hotelrooms forlengthyperiods to playinternational and tour games. and notwearing masks. to playgood cricket at the Gabba. Twogames SHASHANKNAIR League goal forNewcastle for10years again will onlydrain them mentally. Ironically, whenfiveplayers –Rohit He also claimedthat Pant “hugged”him, back-to-backatthe SCG would obviouslynot offeredalatetwist. REUTERS Aftertheir arrivalinAustralia on Sharma(joining the squad after14daysof though that bit has been retractedsince. It be something thatwewouldwant to do.” November 12,and undergoing the manda- hard quarantine), Rishabh Pant, Shubman has resulted in the five cricketers being INPUTS:DEVENDRAPANDEY STANDINGS:TOP5

Team PWDLGD Pts MumbaiCity 861110 19 Ganguly remains stable, ECG report ‘satisfactory’ ATKMBagan 8521517 FCGoa 9423214 Jamshedpur 93 42113 110/80mmHg, Spo2-98% in room air. exercise in the home gymnasium at around the idea that he wasn’t having (routine/reg- Bengaluru 83 32212 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Respiratoryrate-16/min. RoutineECG done 11 am”. The ECG done yesterdayshowed ular) tests. Ihavetold(CABpresident) KOLKATA,JANUARY3 at 10 am is satisfactory. Medical boardwill “myocardial infarction”, while the AvishekDalmiyatoconduct medical testsof meettomorrowand discuss regarding fur- Echocardiographyshowed“mildinferior the cricketers before tournaments/games. Results collated beforeATK Mohun Bagan vs SOURAVGANGULYisstable and his health ther treatment plan,”statedthe medical bul- wall hypokinesia”. The doctors and hospital authorities took the NorthEast United FC parameters arenormal, Woodlands Hospital letin. It added: “Detected SarsCov2 Negative Myocardial infarction occurs when blood rightdecision of conductinganangioplasty,” said on Sunday. TheBCCI president and for- on 2/1/2021.” flowdecreasesorstops to apart of the heart, the chief ministersaid. RESULTS: Bengaluru FC 0-1 merIndia captain underwent angioplastyaf- Ateam of doctors comprising Dr Saroj causing damagetothe heartmuscle. Gangulyretired from cricketin2008. He Jamshedpur;Chennaiyin FC 0-0 ATK teramild heartattackonSaturdayand the Mandal, Dr Soutik Panda andDrSaptarshi Hypokinesiaisakind of movement disorder. became the BCCI president in October 2019. Mohun Bagan; Hyderabad FC 1-2 FC medical bulletin issuedbythe hospital stated Basu has been treating Gangulyand keeping West Bengal chief ministerMamata Goa,;MumbaiCity FC 2-0 Kerala that the medical boardwould meeton aclose eyeonthe patient. Banerjee visited thehospital Saturday Modi speakstoGanguly Blasters; SC EastBengal 3–1 Odisha FC Mondaytodiscuss “further treatment plan”. “Treatingdoctors arekeeping constant eveningand thanked the doctors fortaking PTI adds: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on The ECG reportonSundaymorning was vigil on his health situationand taking ap- the “right decision” to conduct angioplasty. SundayspoketoGangulywho underwent MATCHDAY 9FIXTURES: ATK “satisfactory”. Ganguly’sCovid-19test, too, propriatemeasures from time to time,” said “He (Ganguly) smiledasked me if Iwas keep- angioplasty aftersuffering a"mild" heartat- Mohun Bagan vs NorthEastUnited; Amedical updateissuedbythe hospital has returnednegative. the bulletin. ing well,” Banerjee told reporters. She ex- tack,and enquired about his health. Official Chennaiyin FC vs Hyderabad FC; stated that doctors would meeton “He (Ganguly) had an uneventful last Ganguly, 48,went to thehospital emer- pressedher surprise at Gangulynot undergo- sources said Modi also spoketothe cricket BengaluruFCvsMumbaiCity FC; SC Monday to discuss ‘further treatment night, sleptwell lastnight. (He is) presently gency at 1pmonSaturday“with chestdis- ing routine/regular check-ups. administrator's wifeDona Ganguly. EastBengal vs FC Goa; Kerala Blasters plan’for the former India skipper. Afebrile (notfeverish). He had breakfastand comfort, heaviness of head, vomiting and a “A sportsperson, he is our pride, but such The prime ministerwishedhim aspeedy FC vs Odisha FC. teainthe morning. Pulse-72/min, BP- spell of dizziness while performing physical afamousinternational cricketer, Ididn’t have recovery. Krishna overcomes body-shaming trauma, set to make mark in discus

Strappyheels and dainty ballerina shoes “I always had my dad's physique - “It's in my genes,” she says.“But it took a She would leave home at 16,train fora SHIVANINAIK in tinyIndian sizes proved particularly vex- wide, strong shoulders and larger lotoftalking from my sistertounderstand I season at the AndhraSports Authority MUMBAI,JANUARY3 ing.Ittookatoll on her normallysunny than normal foot size,” recalls the need to acceptmybody. Iambig,not aggres- (SAAP) ThrowsacademyatGuntur,with cheerful disposition. 2019 U-18 national bronze sive.Sonobody reallyunderstood howI funding foraforeign coachfromAnil KRISHNAJAYASANKAR (18), always tallestin “It affected my mental healthbadly. Iused could crumble insidehearing comments.” Kumble. her class,remembers throughout school to hatemybody when people told my dad medallist. “It was difficult to Once she found her ownworld in discus “Lotofunlearningand relearningwas years bitterly wishing shecould shrink and ‘your daughter is huge.’ But my elder sister accept my ownbody in school throw,the snide voices would stop affecting needed. If Ihad access to thesame coaching become invisiblysmall. Or petiteatthe least. firstshieldedmeand then motivatedme. She because Iwas made fun of and her.“Discus has astart,release and final at 10/12, I'd have been farbettertechnically,” Being bodyshamedfor “being hefty and gen- told me ‘you needtogofacethese people. body shamed at avery early age.” phase. That thirdfinal phase decides howfar she says. erallyabig girl” wasaconstantlyaccompa- Moreimportantly, youneedtobecome the it'll travel. Somewherearound the second Simplypivoting on the right big toewith- nying curse. But those broad shoulders, an face of your body.’ Without her support, I'd KRISHNA JAYASANKAR phase, Icould sayIstoppedgetting bothered out the heel touching the ground, propelled invaluable inheritancefromher basketball have wilted,” she says,two years afterfind- about ignorant wordings,” she asserts,now her throwsto47m from 43 (thejunior na- international father Jayasankar Menon, fash- ing her niche in discus. discus, and Imedallednationallyimmedi- happyand excited to makeher firstinterna- tional recordis49). ionedintodeftlyuncoilingsprings in Discus She wasborn to international athletes– atelyafter.” tional trip. The pandemic sawthe foreign coachre- throw,are nowseen as her greatestasset. father Jayasankar,6’6” wasanAsian All Star While in school, missing Maths classes Jayasankar Menon, built broad but often turn at the startofthe year.While she consid- Nowshe’spreparing to leave to train at powerforward and mother Prasanna, tall but wasanincentive forsomeone who loved asked to tone down on aggression playing in ered her next step,the Jamaican tie-inwould Jamaica’s ‘Throwers ‘R’ US,’ athrowsclub in leaner,playedfor Indian cagers and is aleg- sport, she would startloving the throwsfor India, had been top-scorer forIndia at Kobe, work out, afterarecommendation from the Kingston, with the aim of competing at the end at Railways’south zone champion teams throwssake. Japan in 1991. earlier coach. “I'm excited.But I'll be leaving WorldU-20 Athletics Championship in as coach. But Krishna waskeen on avoiding “I lovedwatching the discus travel and “When Iplayedthe AsianAll Star in Seoul, my comfortzone,” Krishna says before fly- Nairobi, Kenya, from August17to22. Acou- the hoops. tweaking itsrelease and studying the mech- we had aCuban coachwho encouraged me ing out. “I'm nervous. But my sistertold me I ple of US Universities have seen potentialfor “I didn't think my parentsgot their due anism of howitworked–the energy trans- to play freely,”hesays.“Basketball postplay have to toughen up on my ownnow,” she NCAA and touchedbase, too. playing basketball, so nevergaveitaserious mission. Youdon't expect it to travel that far. is alot about shoulders. Onlyinternationally says of Athira, adatascience engineer in “I always had my dad's physique -wide, look,”she recalls. “I triedseveral other sports Then yourealise what your body is capable IfoundIcould playmyphysical style.” Bangalore, who's embarking on her ownca- strong shoulders and largerthan normal foot –firsttennis, then badminton. Being taller Krishna Jayasankar,now 5’10”, will of!” she offers. reer in modelling. size,” recalls the 2019 U-18national bronze than others in class(5’3” before she hitthe train at Throwers ‘R’ US, athrowsclub Decidedlyuncomfortable about her body Kumble’s contribution “Both my mother and sisterstarted as medallist. “It wasdifficult to acceptmyown teens), and hefty of course,myPTteacher put in Jamaica. She has the WorldU-20 at the outset, Krishna, now5’10”, would be- While encouraging his younger daugh- sprinters and triple jumpers early on.It'stime body in school because Iwas made fun of and me intoshotput in Class 5. In 2018,mytrack championships in her sights. gin to see herown uniqueness amidsta ter, he waskeen she face no restrictions ow- the powerthrowermakes her mark,”she body shamedataveryearly age. and field coachthought Iwas moresuited for bunchofmediocre-built athletes. ing to lackofexposuretothe best training. laughs.

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