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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES &ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM Punjab farm fires FINDINGS OF GOVT COMMITTEEOFEXPERTS send smog signal Indiawentpastpeak to Delhi; hope in inSept,Covidmayrun panchayat action itscoursebyFeb:panel forsowing wheat, we can’t wait ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA in queue forastubble manage- ‘Timelylockdown JALANDHAR,OCTOBER18 ment machine,” shrugged No explanation,but panel Bheera. “This (burning the stub- flattenedcurve; LATE ON Saturdayafternoon, ble) is the onlyway.” expertsindicate reasons farmer BheeraSingh and his Despiteastatewide ban on sticking to masks, brother walked out to their ad- burning straw, fields have been jacent fields in Jandiala Guru of on fire every100-200metresin distancing is key’ for bothhopeand caution Amritsar district with abox of Jandiala Guru, Tarsikka, Tarn matches. Sowing of the early va- Taran, Khadur Sahib, and Ajnala AMITABHSINHA Therehas also been no re- riety wheat will begin in the last blocks of Punjab's Majha belt. GAYA,OCTOBER18 AMITABHSINHA duction in the number of tests, week of October,and the broth- Satelliteimages from NASA have ACOVID TEST GAYA,OCTOBER18 nor has the disease prevalence ers had onlyalittle morethan a been showing large clusters of THE CORONAVIRUS epidemic in in the population reachedastage week to gettheir fields ready for farm firesinAmritsar,Patiala, An entrance exam being held forrecruitment to the BSF and CISF,atHumhama near India mayhavealready peaked THE REASONS forthe continu- where'herdimmunity' would the rabi crop. Tarn Taran, and Firozpur in Srinagar,Sunday. Over 5,000youth across Kashmir appeared forthe test. Shuaib Masoodi and, if the usageofmasksand ous decline in coronavirus infec- have to be factored in. The use of Soon, the drygolden stubble Punjab, and Ambala in Haryana. physical distancing measures tion numbers since last face masks, and physical on the entire15acres ownedby The Punjab Remote Sensing continue at the current level, the month have notbeen distancing arefar from the brothers wasablaze with CentreatPunjab Agricultural disease will likely“run its clear.The numbers have being universal. leaping flames, and giant plumes University,Ludhiana,whichtracks Redeem your constitutional THE EDITORIAL PAGE course” by Februarynextyear,a fallen sharply–even The government- of thickblacksmokerose high in satelliteimages of stubble-burn- government-appointed com- though travel restric- appointed scientific the air.Farmers can be fined ing, has recordedthe mostfarm mittee of scientists has said. tions have eased, eco- committee has notspelt heavilyfor setting their fields on firesinfour years this season. oath: Governor tells Mamata HATHRASANDTHE The committee, headedby nomic and other activi- out the possible reasons fire,but the brothers had de- Incidentsare up morethan three TRUTHMACHINE Prof MVidyasagar of IIT ties have resumedand, to alarge forthe decline in coronavirus cidedtodoitanyway. timesoverlastyear:the27-daype- BY JINEE LOKANEETA Hyderabad, usedanew model to extent, normalcy has returned. CONTINUEDONPAGE4 “Wehad adelayed(kharif) riod between September 21 and EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE PAGE 8 map the trajectoryofthe epi- crop due to ashortage of labour October 17 has seen 5,552 fires, KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 demic in the country. Itskey (because of the Covid-19lock- compared with 1,695 in 2019, finding is that the disease seems down) at the time of sowing in 1,533in2018, and 3,822 in 2017. WESTBENGALGovernor Jagdeep to have peaked in the middle of Learn from Onam surge June. Nowwith just10days left CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Dhankhar has said it is “high DECISION CONTINUEDONPAGE4 time” Chief MinisterMamata in Kerala: Harsh Vardhan Banerjee kept her “constitutional Governor Dhankhar wrote 2020 oath”. In alettertothe CM on to CM MamataBanerjee DAILYACTIVECASES, Sundayoverthe allegedcustodial BIHAR PEAKINGAT10.17LAKH KAUNAINSHERIFFM IDEA EXCHANGE death of aBJP worker,Dhankhar &SHAJUPHILIP said, “Madam Chief Minister, high jib (just)”, giventhe lawand or- NEWDELHI, CHALLENGEISTO time youredeem your constitu- der situation, while adding that 10,17,754 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, BUILDANADULT tional oath and enforce rule of anyaction by the Centrewould OCTOBER18 VACCINATION law, ensuredemocratic gover- be as per the Constitution. SYSTEM:NILEKANI nance in the state, makepolice Dhankhar said what hap- 7,83,311 REITERATINGTHATpeople PAGE 12 and administration politically penedwith Madan Ghorai alias should avoid large gatherings neutral and accountable.” Kalipada, of villageKanakpur in during the festival season that is The Governor’s letter came a EastMidnapore, was“yetan- ‘YES, ECONOMIC coming up, Union Health price forits gross negligence” dayafter Union Home Minister other horrifying instance of de- DISTRESS... BUT NOT 26,163 MinisterDrHarsh Vardhan during the week-long festivities Amit Shah said in an interview humanising torture, assault and POLL ISSUE’ PAGE 6 Sundaypointed to Kerala, which to markOnam in the end of 17Sept to CNN-News 18 that the de- death in custody”. “Thereisout- FULL COVERAGE, VISIT had controlledthe spread of August. Stubble on fire near Amritsar on Saturday. Rana Simranjit Singh. mand forPresident’s rule in rage at suchlawlessness in the WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 1-May 17-Oct Covid initiallytobetagged as a During his weeklyinteraction Bengal by BJP workers was“wa- CONTINUEDONPAGE4 model statebut then “paid the CONTINUEDONPAGE4

BUSINESSASUSUAL Ed tech firms corner almost all BY UNNY $100 mn bracket funds post Covid

ed-techcompanies likeByju’s, ■Higher education platform PRANAVMUKUL& Vedantu, Unacademyand Eruditus raised$113million in SANDEEPSINGH Eruditus. According to data AugustfromNaspers, Chan NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 sourcedfromVenture ZuckerbergInitiative,Sequoia Intelligence, one-thirdofthe $1.5 Capital and other investors. FROM SCHOOL studentsto billion raisedinthese eight in- ■ Remote tutoring start-up working professionals, the pan- vestment rounds wasbyByju’s. Vedantu raised$100million in demic has created alarge ad- Consider this: JulyfromOmidyar Network, dressable market forstart-ups in ■ Byju’s Classes raised$500 TigerGlobal, Coatue education tech,ored-tech, million in tworounds in June and Management and others. whichsaw asignificant interest September from investors,in- According to India Brand from private equity and venture cluding TigerGlobal, General Equity Foundation, with more capitalistinvestors over the last Atlantic, SilverLake, DSTGlobal. than 250 million school-going six months. ■ Unacademyraised$153 students,thereisahugedemand- EXPERT Among the eight funding million in September from supplygap in the education sec- rounds of $100 million and SoftBank,IIFL VC,Sequoia Capital, torwith an estimated additional EXPLAINS above in Indian start-ups during General Atlantic, Nexus Venture requirement of 200,000 schools, April-September,fiveinvolved Partners and other investors. CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Amitabh Mattoo

FromTheIndianExpresspanel ofspecialists,exclusiveinsight 5Maoists killed in Gadchiroli encounter nation exercise in the area. The side,” Kalwaniyaadded. VIVEKDESHPANDE firstround of fire came from the Police said that theyrecov- TRUMP,BIDEN, NAGPUR,OCTOBER18 Maoists.Our men retaliated.The ered five rifles, including an IN- exchangecontinuedfor about 45 SASrifle, from the spot. &THEWORLD IN Amajor encounter,five minutes, killing at leastfive “Therewas agathering of How do the candidates for Maoists,including four women Maoists,four of them women. about 40 to 50 Maoists belong- the White House see the world cadres, were killedinthe Kosmi- No policemen were injured in ing to Tipagad Dalam, Platoon 15 and issues of shared global Kisneli forest in Dhanoratehsil the operation,” Additional SP and Company4ofCPI (Maoist)," concern? Part 2ofaseries. of Gadchiroli (Maharashtra) on (Operations) Maneesh the officer added. Sundayafternoon, police said. Kalwaniya, who ledthe opera- With this, the total number “The encounter started tion, told The Indian Express. of Maoists casualties in 18 en- EXPLAINED around 4pmwhen the C60 “Our parties arestill search- counters this year has gone up to PAGE 14 commando party of Gadchiroli ing (the area). Therecould be nine. Three police personnel police wasdoing an area domi- morecasualties on the Maoists have also been killedthis year.

Grocery store, restaurant, some fans: Indian shuttlersnegotiate DenmarkOpen bio-bubble PAGE1 cusedonthe Indian on court. But ANCHOR this time, theystayedawayfrom thestands forfear of exposureto untestedspectators whotrooped in through the turnstiles. SHIVANINAIK “Usually, we would be at the MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 stadium an hour before and watchpotential match-ups as THIS BIO-BUBBLE allowedshut- preparation. The biggestchange tlers in Odense forthe Denmark is we couldn't watchothers’ Open to step out to agrocery matches as organisers did not storeorarestaurant —and up to want players and supportstaff to 500spectators inside the com- be anywherenear the specta- petition hall. tors,” says India trainer and The unique arrangement was physio Kiran Challangundla. what four Indians —Kidambi “It’s notclear yethow the Srikanth, AjayJayaram, Lakshya The shuttlecockfeeder at DenmarkOpen. BadmintonPhoto.com virus behavesindoors. Even Sen and Subhankar Dey—settled guidelines forsafedistance in- intolastweek as badminton doors aredifferent —some say2 cagilyrebootedintoaction. And reminders of the pandemic. theywould fanout around the metres, some say3feet. Ialso while it took afew days forthem Forone, India’s supportstaff arena and take notesonpoten- read that the virus could travel to adjusttothis newabnormal, struggledtodrawupgame tial opponents’ form and fitness, 40 feet indoors. So we made the some changes servedas constant dossiers on opponents. Earlier, giventhe main coachwas fo- CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020

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Punjab farm of Gujjar families areready to gles! Forus, it’s likeawebcam towardsonline education in the use this as fodder,” Dr Singh —justone angle from one side backdrop of Covid, ed-tech fires send smog added. in aroom outside the hall,” he companies areexpected to Some 90 per cent of pan- India went past peak in Sept: Panel says. grow further.According to signal to Delhi; chayatsinLudhiana district too, While onlythree courts Telecom RegulatoryAuthority have passedresolutions. Over September,when the number who have been found to be in- We have to be careful. We have position on March 24 has re- were operational in the early of India (TRAI) data, India had hope in the pastthree weeks, Ludhiana of active cases touched10.17 fected wasnearing 75 lakh. seen that therewas asurge in sulted in deaths being around rounds as matches startedlast 734.19 million Internetusers as has reported108 farm fires, lakh. This number has been de- “This of course is premised cases in Kerala afterthe Onam one lakh till date,” the commit- Tuesdayinstead of Wednesday, of March 2020. Arecent report panchayat while Nawanshar has reported clining steadilyfor the last on the assumption that people festival.Thatisalessonwe must teesaid in anote. other changes became the by Cisco has estimated that 15.Several panchayats in month,andthecommitteesug- would continue to take precau- learn from,” he said. Without alockdown, the norm in the tournament that India will have morethan 900 action Jalandhar toohavepassedres- gestedthattheactive cases,even tionarymeasures,atleasttothe The committee said that number of infections would endedSunday. Ashuttle dis- million users by 2023. Until Saturday, the Punjab olutions againststubble-burn- if theyrisedueto festivalsorcold same extent that theyare cur- their modelling exercise had have reached140lakh(1.4crore) penser pushedout birds from a “Two keyfactors leading to Pollution Control Board(PPCB) ing. weather,wereunlikelytosur- rentlydoing.Thisisnoreasonto also shown that the lockdown, in June, the committee said. A rubber pipe. The chair umpire the investment in the ed-tech had imposedanenvironmental pass the figurereachedlast relax, or lowerour guard, espe- particularly itstiming in the latelockdown, in May, would sat for2-3 matches in arow. sector arethe availability of compensation fine of Rs 25.75 No explanation, month. ciallywiththefestivalseasonap- thirdweek of March,had abig have still seen cases reach50 Line judges were masked.Most technology to educateand the lakh in 961cases,and realised Additionally, thecommittee, proaching.Ifwefollowthephys- impact on slowing the disease, lakh in June. “In short, the lock- significantly, coaches -- only big demand supplymismatch Rs 1.25 lakh from farmers. In but panel whichwas setupbythe ical distancing norms, and use andpreventingcoronavirus-re- down flattenedthe curve,” the one per player--wereall mic- in India. The existing ratio of 822 cases, a‘redentry’ had been MinistryofScience and face masks, at leastinthe man- lated deaths. committee said. ed up so youcould hear their seatstostudentswho areeager made in land records, which experts indicate Technology afew months ago, ner we aredoing right now, the “Without alockdown, the Also, the committee found instructions. to study is notgoing to accom- can makeafarmer ineligible for reasons for has projected that by February modelsays thatby Februarywe number of deaths in India thatthe labour migration that Music had been ringing out modateall of them to colleges government subsidies or loans 2021, thenumberof peoplewho would have things under con- would have overwhelmedthe happenedimmediatelyafter in the early rounds, even during and the onlyalternateform of from public sector banks. both hope have been infected with the trol,” said Prof Manindra system, and would have even- the lockdown had “minimal” points. In-stadia sponsor ban- mass education is online media Some 1,171cases had been virus at some point in time AgrawalofIIT Kanpur,who is tuallycrossed26lakh fatalities. impactintermsof spreadingthe ner flexeshad Danish product and that is gaining traction,” earmarkedfor field visitsafter and caution would notexceed106 lakh (1 partofthe committee. Imposing the lockdown in May infection. “This indicates the names on displayinChinese said Narayanan Ramaswamy, firesweredetected in satellite crore6lakh). As on Saturday “The big worry, of course, is would have reduceddeaths to success of quarantine strate- and Korean -- with an eyeon National Leader -- Education images. Atotal 801cases al- numbers. But twoofits mem- evening, the number of people the upcoming festival season. around10 lakh.Theprompt im- gies,” it said. the Asian market.And testing and Skill Development, KPMG ready confirmedbyphysical bers offeredinsightsintowhat followedatimeline. “Once be- in India. visitsare likelytoface penalties could be happening. fore we left, then as soon as we According to those tracking in aday or two. “A recent case study of entered the hotelreception the segment, abulk of the funds In Haryana, the state AndhraPradesh and Tamil Learn from Onam surge in Kerala: Harsh Vardhan (during the tournament),” raisedbyed-techcompanies Pollution Control Boardhas re- Nadu publishedinthe journal onsocialmedia,HarshVardhan sent to Kerala following the penedinKerala during the gies. Kiran says. have gone intomarketing or in- ported1,710 stubble-burning Science afew weeksago also acknowledgedthat com- surge. Onam celebrations. We agree Opposition leader Ramesh Badminton’s resumption organic expansion. Lastyear, incidentsuntil October 15 this showedthat almost70per cent munity transmission “is ex- “Between January30and withthat,theChief Ministerhad Chennithala said: “Kerala has has been hardlysmooth after Byju’s acquired US-basedlearn- year,against1,072 incidentsin of infected people were not pected to occur,especiallyin May3,Kerala reportedjust499 earlier stated that gatherings failedinCovid-control meas- the big comeback, Thomas ing platform Osmo for$120mil- the corresponding period last passing the disease to others. denselypopulated areas” but cases and twodeaths; and the duringOnamcelebrations,mar- ures.To artificiallyshowthatthe Uber Cup, wasaborteddue to lion as apartofits plan to ex- year. The virus wasspreading only “limited to certain districtsina majorityoftheconfirmedcases riagesandprotests have created stateiseffectively managingthe withdrawals. Scaling back, the pand globally. This wasfollowed The impact of the firesin through asmall setofpeople limitednumber of states”. were concentratedinKasaragod complacency in people, which situation, all cases arenot de- Badminton WorldFederation by the biggestdeal in the Indian Punjab and Haryana has been who arereferredtoassuper- Kerala Health MinisterKK and Kannur districts. eventuallyled to increase in tected and the number of tests managed to keep the Denmark sector with Byju’s acquiring on- visible as asmoky haze over spreaders,” Prof Manindra Shailajasoughtto playdownthe Subsequently, Covid-19cases cases. The Union Ministerhad is notincreased,” the Congress Open on schedule, moreasa line coding platform WhiteHatJr Delhi-NCR and poor air quality Agrawal, amember of the com- Union Minister's commentson croppedupinother districts, onlypointed that out.” leader said. BJP statechief K trial run than afull-fledged for$300million. Byju’s rival index(AQI) numbers. mittee, told TheIndianExpress. “negligence”duringOnam,say- due to an increase in both inter Speaking to The Indian Surendran said the Union show. Unacademyhas also pickedup According to SAFAR, the These super-spreaders, Prof inghehadnotcriticisedthestate and intrastate movement of Express lastweek,Shailaja had Minister's statement wasa“se- Unlikethe IPL or the con- smaller start-ups, including MinistryofEarth Sciences' air Agrawalsaid, have agreater butwas“alertingotherstatesto people because of trade and said that during the lockdown, vere setbackfor Kerala” and stricting bubbles of early PrepLadder,Kreatryx, CodeChef quality monitor,farm firesac- chance of getting infected dur- take steps to avoid gatherings, tourism.Andthentheepiccurve Kerala had flattenedthe graph asked the stategovernment to German football, badminton and Mastree. counted for22per cent of the ing the early phase of the epi- whichhad happenedinKerala of Kerala changed completely and the rate wasatits lowest. seek the Centre’s assistance. has easedthe terms of con- Additionally, while air pollution in the national demic. “So, it is possible that the duringtheOnamcelebrations”. due to Onam festivities across “But with the central govern- Meanwhile,respondingto a sented confinement atad. So Unacademyisone of the official capital on Saturday, and 17 per super-spreaders have already However, Kerala's the stateduringthe monthsof ment opening up and allowing question on West Bengal Chief one could step out and grab a partners of IPL, Byju’s wassaid cent on Sunday. been infected,and become im- Opposition parties described Augustand September,” Harsh trains and flights... during June MinisterMamtaBannerjee's meal or hop offtoanearbygro- to be in the race forthe title While the Punjab govern- mune. And as we have seen, the Centre's remarks as a Vardhan said. to September,Kerala had 9lakh statement that thereare in- cerystore,ifthe organisers sponsorship -- as of now, Byju’s ment’s appeal to farmers and very fewamong the others “chargesheet” that highlighted “Onam festival lastedbe- people coming in. Then we had stancesof communitytransmis- deemeditsafe. sponsors the pre-matchand villagepanchayats has so farnot transmit the disease. This could the “failure” of the Leftregime. tween August22and Onam and therewas some re- sioninthestate,HarshVardhan Stores in Odense neverre- post-matchshows. been successful in curbing farm be one possible reason forwhat Respondingto aquestionon September2.Duringthisperiod, laxation. So we witnessedarise said: “...in different pockets allycrowd up much, but in al- “Manyinvestors arecoming fires, acting on the directions of we areseeing right now,”he howKerala is inching towards therewerehugecongregations incasesinAugust,”shehadsaid, across various states, including lowing spectators, after with aprofitmotivebut many district administrations, pan- said. the 3-lakh markoverall while across the statewherepeople adding that various protests by West Bengal,communitytrans- Denmarktestedthis in other in- others arecoming forwardto chayatshavestarted to pass res- Super-spreaders arein- setting adaily recordofCovid collected in large numbers and Opposition parties also ledto missionof Covid-19isexpected door sports likehandball, the createanimpact, i.e., to make olutions againststubble-burn- fected people who infect alarge cases, Harsh Vardhan said: obviouslydidnottakeadequate “hugegatherings”. to occur especiallyindensely organisers walked athin line of education moreequitable,” said ing. number of others. The study “Afterhaving good control over precautions. Kerala, whichwas However, Kerala Social populated areas. However, this keeping players safe--noone Saiju Aravind, founder of Kochi- In Pathankot district, 325 that Agrawalreferredto, had re- thevirusduringtheinitialphase reporting an averageof2,000 Security Mission executive di- isn'thappeningacrossthecoun- tested positive -- while still let- basedonline education plat- out of the 421villagepanchay- liedondatafromover85,000 of the pandemic, the situation dailycases in the firstweek of rector Dr MohammedAsheel try; and community transmis- ting in fans. form EduBrisk,adding that his atshavepassedwritten resolu- confirmedinfections in Andhra has nowworsened. Iwould say September,reached4,000aver- postedonhis Facebook page sionislimitedto certaindistricts Maskshavenot been im- firm is supportedby“investors tions againststubble-burning; Pradesh and Tamil Nadu until that other states shouldlearn a agedailynew cases fortnightly. that “politician Harsh Vardhan occurring in alimited number posedoutdoors but the rules who want to makeeducation in Nawanshahr,resolutions August1,and nearly 6lakh of lesson from Kerala’s spurtin Whichmeans Kerala started can sayanything”. “But if he of states,” Vardhan said. arestrict about them in en- affordable and provide quality have been passedby341 out of their contactswho were iden- Covid-19cases due to negli- adding 7,000-8,000 dailynews speaksasthe Union Health The Centre, incidentally, closedspaces. education to people in general”. 467panchayats.The resolu- tifiedand traced. It is the largest gence during the Onam season. cases,” he said. Minister, he should sayonlyaf- has startedanextensive "Country-wise tables were Ramaswamysaid the pan- tions seem to be having an im- suchstudy so far. Iwould also saythat all states In response, Kerala Minister terlearning things precisely. awareness campaign forthe assignedduring breakfastatthe demic has takencareofinitial pact –inPathankot,nofirehas The study found that over needtobecareful during the Shailaja said she had calledthe What he said is wrong to the “Jan Andolan” launchedby hotel," said AjayJayaram, who skepticism on howonline edu- been recordedoverthe past 60,000of the 85,000confirmed comingfestiveseason...Thiscau- Union Ministerfollowing re- core. If in doubt, ask your sci- Prime MinisterNarendraModi losttofinalistAnders Antonsen cation will work.Hesaid that three weeks. infected individuals never tion mustbeexercisedfor the ports on his remarks.“He was entists in ICMR,’’ he posted. forCovid-appropriatebehav- in the firstround. Of the four even afternormalcy returns, the SarpanchDev RajofLahri passedonthe infection to oth- next three months at least.” answeringaquestionaboutthe Asheel workswith the State iour in the backdrop of the fes- Indian men -- the women sector will continue to grow.But Gujjran villageofPathankot ers. On the other hand, avery Overthelast24hours,Kerala hikeinCovid cases in Kerala. As Social Justice Department, tive season. It has issuedade- chose nottotravel--Srikanth according to him, investment is district said that theypasseda small number,less than 10 per reported9,016 newcases, sec- festival seasons areahead in whichisunder Shailaja, and is tailedSOP directing states to managed to reachthe quarter- primarilyintechnology -- not resolution on October 12 after cent, accounted forover60per ond onlytoMaharashtrawith other states, he wasalerting one of the members of acore ensurecompliance with phys- finals before losing to WorldNo. muchishappening on infra- convincing the villagers, be- cent of secondaryinfections. morethan 10,000 dailycases. otherstatesto take stepsto avoid team advising the Health ical distancing, sanitisation and 2Chou Tien Chen. structure. cause therewas no point in These were the super-spread- On Friday, acentral team was gatherings, whichhad hap- Department on Covid strate- thermal screening. In fact, soon afterthe pan- In thehighereducation seg- passing aresolution if the farm- ers, eachofwhom passedon demic brokeout as early as ment, too, severalmacrotrends ers were notinvested. the infection to maybe20, 30, February, the Indians were the suchasskills becoming redun- Similarly,panchayats of vil- 40, or even morepeople. whom we rarely interact. “Takethe case of Italy, for Redeem your Mamatatoensurethat the po- firstamong athletestotravelto dant, along with high unem- lages including Balsua (389 Prof Agrawalpointed out During restrictions, we would example. Theretoo, the disease lice and administration were the Philippines forthe ployment ratesand agap in de- acres under paddy), Sukhalgarh that the super-spreaders had no be interacting mainlywith peo- prevalence had notbecome so constitutional "politicallyneutral" and "ac- Badminton Asian Team ployable skills, coupledwith (365 acres under paddy out of special quality apartfromthe ple within our innermostcircle. widespread that we could have oath: Governor countable", he said, "... sanitise Championship. Covid, have brought anew ur- atotal 430 acres of land), Bhoa fact that theywereinteracting Whatever infections had to begun talking about herdim- powercorridors of non-state “Masksare important but I gency to the needfor continu- (950 acres under paddy out of with morepeople than most happen in that small circle of munity.But the cases had de- tells Mamata actors and ensurethat SSA have always insistedonface ous learning. 1,250 acres), Sultanpur (325 others. Avegetable vendor,for contactsmight already have clinedverysharply. What we (State Security Advisor) and shields during travel. Players Consultancy firm RedSeer acres), Govindsar (310 acres) example, is likelytointeract happened. Once that has hap- areseeing now(in Italy) is a stateand outside, and conse- PrincipalAdvisor,Internal can onlyhavewarm beverages pointed out that with factors Koghra(375acres) have passed with manymorepeople than pened, the numbers areex- resurgence, or asecond wave. quent to October 8police ex- Security,donot boss over the from outside, if theymust. And suchasrelaxation in regulations resolutions aftertaking all the averageofficer-goer. pected to decline. Forfresh in- But it is notnecessarythat cesses, Balwinder Singh is al- statutorilystructured police ap- no half-sleeves, the full body governing degrees, the online farmers intoconfidence. So far, “Preciselybecause of this fections to take place, people everycountryorregion has to ready aposterboy forblatant paratus, therebyreducing the needs to be coveredintravel, higher education market is ex- no fire incident has been ob- reason, theyare also likelyto needtostart interacting with go through asecond waveofin- human right violations in the DGPand other police officials plus sanitising hands everyhalf pected to grow to $5 billion over served in these villages afterthe getinfected early.Ifyou take the largersets, or with com- fections. If we arecareful, and state." to abject subordination and to hour.Ifthere’s no face shield, the next five years, a10-fold in- resolutions. outthe super-spreaders from plete strangers, as with co-pas- tide over the next fewmonths, The police have said that insignificance". theyneedtowear specs or gog- crease from itscurrent size. BlockAgriculture the equation, the reduction in sengers in public transport. we can be hopeful of abetter Ghorai, aBJP booth vice-presi- Dhankhar also urgedIAS gles at least,” Kiran says. “If youhavegood school in- Development Officer, the coronavirus numbers does That has justbegun to happen, situation next month,” he said. dent, wasinjudicial custody at and IPS officials to be "politi- Besides, the team hasn’t frathen technology investment Pathankot,DrAmrik Singh, notlook that surprising,” he and Isuspect mostofthe infec- Prof Kang said apartfrom acorrectional home, and notin callyneutral", saying there usedthe common gym, while adds some value but in acoun- said: “Thereare around 50,000 said. tions that we see right noware festivals, the approaching win- itscustody,when he died. could be consequences forbe- anyone accessing warm-up ar- trylikeours wherethereare is- hectares under agri and horti- Prof Gagandeep Kang, an aresult of those kinds of inter- terand the resultant increase in Ghorai had been arrested from ing "in breachofconduct". eas is masked.But Kiran is alit- sues of teacher absenteeism and culturecrops in the district, out expertoninfectious diseases actions, rather than in the air pollution could also be rea- Patashpur in EastMedinipur With the Governor's letter tle surprisedathow fitmost variable quality,itcan lead to a of whichpaddy and basmatiare and professor at Christian closedgroups,” Dr Kang said. sons forconcern. district on September 26 in justthe latestinalong warof shuttlers still are. “Theyhave hugejump,” said Naushad grownon27,500hectares, Medical College, Vellore, said it “Everything about the “Wedonot yetfullyunder- connection with akidnapping. wordswith the stategovern- done adecent job, everyone Forbes, pastCII president, and whichproduce around 1.3lakh wasnot unexpected to find that transmission of the virus is de- stand the correlation of the The BJP has demandedaCBI ment, the ruling Trinamool ac- wasjusteager to resume,” he co-chairman of Forbes Marshall. tonnes of stubble... We have the disease wasactually pendent on the natureand coronavirus epidemic with cold probeintohis death, whichwas cusedhim of singing the BJP says. Of the $3.29 billion received been asking farmers nottoburn spreading through averysmall length of our interactions with weather.But thereisaseason- reportedonOctober 13. tune. Ed tech firms by India’s education sector as it.” number of infected people. Prof other people. And thereisalot ality associated with the spread Earlier,onOctober 8, during Grocery store, foreign direct investment (FDI) Should the appeals succeed, Kang, who is also amember of that we either do notunder- of other kinds of viruses and in- ascuffle between BJP workers corner almost between April 2000-June 2020, it would help prevent the re- the committee that reportedits stand, or areunable to analyse fectious diseases, and basedon and the police at amarch by restaurant, fans: $2.12 billion wasraisedbetween lease of 2.2 lakh tonnes of findings on Sunday, offeredan- because of lackofadequate that experience, it would not party workers to the statesec- all $100 mn June 2015-June 2020. harmful gases in the environ- other possible reason forthe data. But this decline in num- entirelybeout of place to sug- retariat Nabanna, the turban of Indian shuttlers The government, too, has ment, and would help farmers numbers going down. bers in the lastone month is not gest that the spread of coron- Balwinder Singh, abodyguard bracket funds recognisedthe opportunity.In save around Rs 5crore that they “Look,weall have varying inexplicable. It can be explained avirus might increase during with aleader,had come off. The play safe in the Budget speechfor 2020-21, spend on fertilisers suchasni- degrees of contact with people. if we have good dataand infor- winter.Wehavetobecareful. BJP had accusedthe govern- post Covid Finance MinisterNirmala trogen, phosphorus and potash, We mayhave10-15people mation,” she said. Air pollution could be acause ment of hurting religious sen- Denmark Sitharaman had proposedset- he said. with whom we interact on a Prof Agrawalpointed out forconcern as well. Bad air is al- timents. 35,000 colleges, 700universi- ting up of a“degree levelfull- “Weare motivating farmers very regular basis, then another that the current decline in cases ready abig reason forrespira- In his letter,the Governor bubble ties and 40 million seatsinvo- fledged online education pro- to sell their paddy strawto largerset of people whom we in India were similar to what tory diseases, and coronavirus said therewas growing resent- cational training centres. gramme”. dairyfarmers who can prepare might be meeting occasionally, manyEuropean countries had can complicatematters fur- ment among the people over safestchoice... (But) sitting in However, with increasing FULLREPORTSON fodder out of it. Alarge number and an even largerset with experiencedafew months ago. ther,” she said. the "chaos" in the state. Asking India youmight getbetteran- Internetpenetration, and apush www.indianexpress.com

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 5 WEST BENGAL

COVID RECOVERY RATE DROPS TO 87.55% Tolltops6,000,almost4Kcasesaddedinaday KolkataPolice officer succumbs to disease, ministerNirmal Maji testspositive Soumitra able to open his STATECOUNT who tested positive forCovid-19 cases has dented the recovery EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE in Kolkata. He wasadmitted to rate,whichdroppedto87.55 per eyes, talk alittle: Doctor KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 TOTAL CASES the state-run Calcutta Medical cent on Sunday. According to the Collegeand Hospital on Saturday health buletin, in whichfigures WESTBENGAL’S Covid-19toll 321036 night afterbeing diagnosed. areupdated till 9am, the test went past6,000 on Sundayto According to doctors, the 59- positivity rate increasedmargin- EXPRESSNEWS INCREASE DEATHS settle at 6,056 following the sec- year-old has amild fever and a allyto8.04per cent while the SERVICE ond instance of arecord64fatal- 3983 6056 breathing problem. Maji had suf- government conducted 43,520 KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 itiesinaday.The statealmostre- 2,81,053RECOVERED feredabrain stroke in September testsin24hours. portedalmost4,000 cases in a and washospitalisedfor afew Meanwhile, doctors said THE HEALTH condition of dayasarecord3,983 infections 39,91,270 SAMPLES days. stateBJP presidentDilip Ghosh veteranBengali actor pushedupthe case count to TESTED TILL OCTOBER 18 The situation remained wasrecovering and does not SoumitraChatterjee im- 3,21,036. The active caseload alarming in afew other districts have fever at present. proved on Sundayand the SoumitraChatterjee went up to 33,927. in theregion, including Paschim “Mr Dilip Ghosh, who got ad- 84-year-old is able to open Among those dead wasan ilymembers in this time of grief. Bardhaman, Purba and Paschim mitted to AMRI Hospitals Salt his eyes and sayafew words. assistant sub-inspector of Corona Martyr Salute,” tweeted Medinipur,and Nadia. While in Lakeon16.10.2020, aftertesting According to adoctor with his daughter when she KolkataArmedPolice, who suc- KolkataCommissioner of Police Nadia the active caseload in- positive forCovid-19, is without treating him, the actor's or- visited him at the hospital. cumbed to the disease on Anuj Sharma, who lastmonth creased1,400, it wasupto1,356 fever and recovering. All his vitals, gans arefunctioning nor- Chatterjee wasadmitted Sundaymorning. Siddhanta contracted the infection and in Paschim Medinipur and 1,300 including SPO2 and blood pres- mallyand all other parame- to Belle VueClinic on October Territory row Shekhar De, who wasinhis mid- then recovered. in itsadjoining district. In sure, arestable and he is being ters arefine. 6after he had tested positive fifties, had been battling the dis- Abulk of the deaths, 44,and Paschim Bardhaman it dipped shiftedfromHDU to ageneral iso- “Chatterjee is doing fine forCovid-19. He had to be ease forthe pastcouple of almost60per cent of the new slightlyto1,003. lation cabin. Doctors had pre- and his condition is gradually shiftedtothe Intensive snowballs into weeks. He wasbeing treated in cases were reportedfromthe In NorthBengal, the situation scribedaCTscan of the thorax on improving. He is talking alit- TherapyUnit afterhis condi- aprivate hospital. South Bengal infection hotspot is of concern in three particular Saturday, whose resultsfound no tle and opening his eyes,” tion deteriorated.However, Morethan 15 KolkataPolice comprising Kolkata, itsthree districts—Darjeeling, with an deterioration. His overall condi- said the doctor.The actor is he tested negative forCovid- violence at Mizoram, personnel have diedofthe dis- neighbouring districts, and active caseload of 958, Malda tion has improved since the day made to listentomusic of his 19 on Wednesday, following ease till date. “Lostour colleague Hooghly. with 933active cases, and he wasadmitted and he contin- choice and on Saturday whichhewas shiftedtoa ASI SiddhantaShekhar De to StateMinisterfor Labour Jalpaiguri with 920. ues to remain on anormal diet,” evening he communicated non-Covid ward. Assam border Covid-19. We stand by his fam- Nirmal Maji wasamong those Meanwhile, the surge in read Ghosh’s medical bulletin. According to Kolasib Deputy ABHISHEKSAHA Commissioner HLalthangliana, Gold with GUWAHATI,OCTOBER18 three people were injured in the Another fire breaks violence. “One of them is critical AT LEASTfour people were in- andisunder treatmentatahos- foreign jured and severaltemporary pital,” Lalthangliana told The out at Kolkata shops and hutswereburnt down Indian Express. He said the vio- in aterritorydisputebetween res- lence brokeout aftersome peo- markings, identsofborder districtsinAssam ple from Lailapur startedpelting high-rise, 3injured and Mizoram on Saturday stones at Mizoram police per- worth over evening, officials said. Theyadded sonnel deployednear the border that both states had approached and residentsinthe area. from the building and takento the Centreregarding the issue. “In turn, Mizoram residents EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE SSKM hospital. Rs 2crore, Apress statement by mobilisedand went afterthem. KOLKATA,OCTOBER According to hospital Mizoram Home Department Thereisnoclear line indicating sources, the condition of twoof seized said avideo conference will be the Assam-Mizoram border in AMASSIVE fire brokeout on the the injured persons wascritical. held on Mondaybetween the some areas. According to an fourth floor of the LIC Building at Asimilar fire incident wasre- Union Home Secretaryand Chief agreement between govern- Kolkata’s 22 Chittaranjan Avenue portedontheinterveningnightof Secretaries of Assam and mentsofAssam and Mizoram on Sundaymorning. According FridayandSaturdayontheground EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Mizoram. some years ago, status quoshould to officials, three persons suffered floor of ahigh-rise at Ganesh KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 This is the second suchdis- be maintainedinnoman’s land burns aftergetting trappedinside ChandraAvenue in Bowbazar.A putebetween residentsofthe in the border area. However, peo- and were rescuedlater.The cause 14-year-oldboyhadjumpedfrom THE CUSTOMS department has twostatesthis month. Saturday's ple from Lailapur brokethe sta- of fire is yettobeascertained. thesixthfloorof thebuildingto es- seizedgold worthmorethan Rs violence brokeout between res- tus quoand allegedly constructed According to police, the fire cape the fire,but later diedinthe 2crore from acity-basedgold identsofLailapur villagein some temporaryhuts. People wasfirstspotted around 3amon hospital. Another elderly woman shop and arrested five persons, Assam's Cachar district and resi- from Mizoram side went and set the fourth floor of the multi- wasalsokilled.Primafacieitissus- Artisans work on awar footing ahead of Durga Puja, in KolkataonSunday. Partha Paul including the shop owner,a dentsoflocalities near Vairengte fire on them,” he said. storey building whereseveral pected that the fire firststarted senior official said hereon in Mizoram's Kolasib district. In Assam, Cachar workers were present at the from ameter boxinthe building. Sunday. On Sunday, the Mizoram Superintendent of Police BL time. Police were informedim- Following the incident State Officials from the depart- Cabinetheldanemergencymeet- Meena told The Indian Express, mediatelyafter the workers Urban Development Minister BHAWANIPUR 75 PALLY DURGA PUJA PANDAL ment raidedthe shop in the ing over the issue. Chief minister “Thereistension right now—but startedscreaming forhelp. Firhad Hakim had said thereare city’s Burrabazar area on Zoramthangatweeted,“Isincerely things areunder control. One per- Police along with firefighters manyhouses wheremeter Saturdayonthe basis of intelli- requesteveryone to maintain son has been injured on Assam rushedtothe spotand five fire boxesare placednear the exit Sanitiser foot mat and kiosk for gence inputs. Theysearched the peace and to kindlynot bypass side. Therehas been no casualty engines were pressedintoserv- and the KolkataMunicipal jewellerystore and found 20 anyadministrative proceedings.” —but fake news is circulating ice to douse the blaze. The three Corporation does notallowsuch pieces of tola bars, weighing 2.32 Assam Chief Minister about it on social media.” injured people were rescued boxesanymore, he said. washing hands to greet visitors kg,with foreign inscriptions. Sarbananda SonowalSundayap- Assam ADGP (Law&Order) The Intelligence and prisedthe Prime Minister's GP Singh told The Indian Express, place your hand and it is sanitised Investigation wing of the office Office and Union Home Ministry “The issue has been takenup EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE afteralight is illuminated,” said PM’SADDRESSTO of the Customs superintendent about the prevailing situation at with the Government of India. KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 the Puja’s secretarySubir Das. BESTREAMEDLIVE of rummaging and investigation the border.Sonowalalso spoke Hopefully, it should be settled Bhawanipur 75 Pallywill also conducted the operation. It also over the phone with his soon. Special DGP (Border) has ASPECIAL sanitiser foot mat and livestream the puja on their ATPUJAPANDALS seized1.2 kg of melted primary Mizoram counterpart been advisedtovisit the affected ahand sanitiser kiosk fitted with Facebook page. The organisers gold and sale proceeds of Rs Zoramthangaand discussedthe area.” sensors and antimicrobial film said cookshiredto prepare“bhog Kolkata: The Bengal BJP,as 85.17 lakh. issue. He said in astatement that On October 9, asimilar scuf- protection have been installedat [food offeredtothe deities]” had partofits strategy to con- “The seizures were done theremay be differences but that fle had broken out on the border Bhawanipur 75 PallyDurga Puja been tested forCovid-19. nect with the masses dur- from apremise in Kolkatahav- these mustbesettledthrough of Karimganj (Assam)and pandal (marquee) to keep visi- “Wedid Covid testsonevery ing the festiveseason, has ing acollective value of approx dialogue. Mamit (Mizoram) districts. tors safeduring the puja. worker before theywerehired made arrangementsto Rs 2.65 crore,” said an official. Chief MinisterMamata to do the work.Wewant to def- live-stream PM Narendra The investigators refusedto Banerjee inaugurated the puja initelycelebrate but it is also our Modi’s address to the peo- divulgethe names of those ar- on Sunday, and it wasthrown responsibility to ensurethe cel- ple of the state, sources in rested and said theywerepro- open to the public. ebration doesn’t spread the virus thesaffronpartyheresaid. ducedinacourtand handed The organisers said around Rs further,” Das said. In afirst, the stateBJP over to the police. 50,000 wasspent to procureand This year,the puja’s theme is MahilaMorchawillorgan- According to officials, the installthesetwoequipmentto en- “Maa [mother]”. While lastyear, ise puja at Eastern Zonal bars were brought to the shop sureall Covid-19safetynorms are their budget wasRs40lakh, it has CulturalCentreinSaltLake. formelting. In India, suchsmug- followed.Circleshave beendrawn been scaleddowntoRs10lakh “PMNarendraModiji’sad- gled gold is melted to make The building on Chittaranjan Avenue in Kolkatawhereafire till500metresontheroadleading this year.Despitethe limited re- dress will bestreamedlive jewellerywith local markings. eruptedonSunday. Express to thepandalto helppeoplemain- sources, the organisers worked at EZCC and 10 other puja With the festiveseason round tainsocialdistancing.Only15peo- around the restrictions to use pandals across the state,” the corner,and gold prices on ple would be allowedtoenter the propssuchasfish nets and BJP statevice-president the rise, officials expect smug- pandal at ago, the organisers said. threads in aspecific pattern to de- Partap Banerjee said. PTI gling of the yellowmetal to go “Wehaveaspeciallyplaced pict the current situation of peo- up in Kolkata. Security personnel and officials at the site. Twitter/Zoramthanga Man jumps off building foot mat that will sanitise every ple and the society as awhole. single person stepping inside the “Weall areunder some or the one can still look above and see to flee from police, dies pandal premises. Also we have other restrictions imposedupon the sky.Whichshows that we are placedasensor-basedsanitising us because of this pandemic, we still in hope and expect ‘Maa’ to personnel. Theysoon informed machine. It is atechnologically have usedfish nets and threads in help us come out of these pan- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE theChitpur police. advancedinstrument whereyou aspecific pattern through which demic restrictions," said Das. KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 On seeing thepolicemen ar- rive,Hussein triedtoescape ASUSPECTED criminal diedafter from the spot. So, he jumped hejumpedoff afour-storeybuild- from the building with his bag. ing in north Kolkatalateon He wastaken to the hospital Saturdaynight. During investiga- wherehewas declared dead. tion it wasfound that the de- “Prima facie investigation has ceased, Abdul Hussein, wasares- revealedthat Hussein wasa ident of Hooghlydistrict. wanted criminal. He mayhave According to police, afight jumpedtoflee from the clutchof brokeout between Hussein and police. We areinvestigating the afew other persons when they matter,” said an official. were all in an intoxicated condi- Sources said Hussein wasac- tion. Their noise woke the neigh- cusedinseveral cases, including bours and the housing security murder and extortion.

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Kolkata THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 2020 6 DECISION BIHAR

BUSINESSASUSUAL FORMORELOGONTO INDIANEXPRESS.COM/ELECTIONS BY UNNY ‘Economic distress there but pan-India... not apoll ● KEY PLAYERS WHATISM-YFORMULA?

issue; anger has subsided’ ● WHO’S WHERE TODAY SUBHASHINI SHARAD YADAVWILL TEJPRATAPYADAV: BE IN BIHARIGANJ; SUSHIL MODI Aclose Nitish Kumar aide, MinisterSANJAY KUMAR JHA tells DIPANKAR GHOSE THENOTSOBIG WILL BE IN FORBESGANJ, KATIHAR, BROTHER the CM avertedabigger economic crisis, and says skill mapping will createjobs PURNEA

Chief MinisterNitish Kumar has been at So, has the anger subsided? the helm for15years. The Opposition says Yes, the anger has subsided. We neverhad thereisanti-incumbency.Doyou see it? conducted skill mapping before.So, we now BIHAR'SVOTERTURNOUT Idonot thinkso.NitishKumarhaschanged have dataofallthepeoplewhostayedinquar- the narrative of Bihar politics... He raisedex- antine centres. In places likeBettiah VOTERTURNOUT(SEATS) IHerebyDeclare pectations. Fifteen years is along time. Some (Champaran),Supaul,Purnea,Darbhanga,peo- TotalNumber people maythink that moreworkcould have ple aremaking maskswith Mithila paintings 243ofAssembly 82 3317 1 10 1 320 beendonebutwhatwe areseeingonthefield and selling them on Amazon and Flipkart.... Constituencies 22 isdifferent.If theythinkmoreshouldbedone, 38 36 theyalso believe that onlyKumar can do it. Alot of migrants, who were facing VOTERTURNOUT 40 67 60 57 economic difficulties, have now 75 57.33% (in2019) 81 80 The JD(U) leaders, including the CM, often returnedfromwheretheycame. If their 105 56.88%(in2015) compareBihar with what it wasduring earnings fell, will theystill votefor the 2014 LokSabha 2015Assembly 2019LokSabha (RJD chief) Lalu Prasad’s regime (1990- government? 56.26% (in2014) 2005). Isn’t this an admission that the last Economic distress is apan-India problem. ■ Less than 45% ■ 45-50% ■ 50-55% ■ 55-60% five years haven’t been good enough? Iwillnot saythatitdoesnot have an impact. ■ 60-65% ■ 65-70% ■ More than 70% We saythis because this wasnot afield Butlargely,the handling of Covid-19inBihar Source: Election Commission of India whereyou could come and startbatting. This wasdone well. About 22 lakh migrantswere SHREYASISINGH wasahole. What had they(then RJD govern- givenRs1,000each.Peopletrustthatwhenthe BJP candidate, Jamui ment) leftinthe CM talksabout skilling, it will happen. state? Rampant TOTALASSETS corruption, afailed With the BJP seen as propping up the LJP KEY PLAYERS `7.23 CRORE bureaucracy.The in some quarters to push the JD(U) down, Central Public THEEXPRESS areparty cadres finding it difficult to work **Contesting election forthe firsttime WorksDepartment, together on the ground? Old hand, trusted by MOVABLEASSETS whichmakesbuild- INTERVIEW Barring afew years, the BJP-JD(U) alliance ings in Delhi, used has been theresince 1996. The cadre, leaders WITH `1.57 CRORE to come hereand and workers knoweachother very well. SANJAY KUMAR both Rahul, Ahmed Patel, Assets 2015 2020 buildroads.No con- Whether it is the Prime Minister, or Amit Shah JHA tractorwouldcome, “That (Tej Pratap) has had to changeseat (Union Home Minister), or the BJP party pres- Cashinhand -1.9lakh BIHAR WATER no businessman RESOURCES MINISTER shows their (RJD) corevoteisshifting.” FB ident (J PNadda), theyhaveall said that Nitish Bankbalance -83.48lakh wasleft. Everyday Kumar will lead the election campaign. Seat is Cong choice for Bihar Stocks&bonds -34.16lakh therewas kidnap- distribution is already completedand the VIP OtherInvestment-34.3lakh ping. Youhavetosee from whereKumar pandemic hit, people thought Bihar would be (Vikassheel Insaan Party) and HAM Shaktisinh Gohil Jewellery -- started.Biharisusedtobealaughingstock...In worstaffected.Theythought the migrants (Hindustani Awam Morcha) areour allies. The acaste-basedsocietyliketheoneinBihar,ifhe would return and spread the virus in their vil- people of Biharwillgiveadecisive mandate… Other -4lakh did nothavecommitment, we would notbe lages...Thatnarrative isnotspokenof anymore. The Opposition is notserious. has his task cut TOTAL -1.57cr able to build the Bihari pride. The recovery rate in Bihar is 94%. Testing is out as party amongthehighest.Thepeoplebrokethechain What about (RJD leader) Tejashwi Yadav? IMMOVABLEASSETS But hasn’t Kumar created sub-castesand by staying in quarantine centres. He wasnot thereduring the floods or in-charge for `5.65 CRORE aloyal votebase forhimself? when therewas an illness (the acuteen- Assets 2015 2020 HeisthefirstCMinthecountrytogive50% But what about the economic distress? cephalitis syndrome outbreak in 2019)in state, but there are reservation to women in panchayats.Three Abhijit Banerjee (Nobel laureatefor eco- Muzaffarpur.When the statefaces major is- Agriland -1.15cr elections have happened. Talk to the women nomics) said if direct cash wastransferredto sues, he is neverthere. That one of the broth- manyreasons he Non-agriland -3cr mukhiyas and the zila parishads. Thereisnow people,andif theyspentthatmoney, theecon- ers (Tej Pratap Yadav, Lalu Prasad’s elder son) maybethe man Commercial -50lakh awomen forceinpolitics. Nobody thought omywill startmoving. Kumar transferred has had to changeconstituency shows that Residential -1cr what awoman in Bihar thinksabout politics. Rs 2,000 croreintopeople’s bank accountsin even their corevoteisshifting. forthe job different forms. Old agepension of three Total -5.65cr In the early days of the pandemic, Kumar months waspaid in advance, Rs 1,000 was Is the LJP’s action bothering the JD(U)? *All of the above areinherited assets had said that migrantsshould notreturn giventoeachmigrantandmoneywasallotted Whichway arethe Paswan votes going? Illustration: Suvajit Dey LIABILITIES NIL to Bihar.Was thereanger againstthe forscholarships forgirls. Iamnot saying that Idon’t want to talk about caste.But Ithink government’s stand? theproblemwassolved.Buthewasaware that people in Bihar voteone way. Even in 2010 bearer,hehad been spotted by then prime CRIMINALCASES He neversaid, ‘Don’t come back.’Heonly onlywhen he givesthe money, the economy (Assemblypolls),we (theJD-UandBJP)fought MANOJ CG ministerRajiv Gandhi at anational No pending criminal cases said that theCentrehas made guidelines that will startmoving... Yes, thereiseconomic dis- theelectiontogetherandwon206seatsoutof NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 18 function. no movement should take place... When the tress but the entirecountryisfacing it. 243. That result is amatter of record. He wonthe Bhavnagar South Assembly SHAKTISINH Gohil mayseem an odd seat in Gujarat at the ageof30in1990, and choice as the Congress in-charge of Bihar, became the ministerofstate forhealth at LookingFor: Prashant Kishor particularly giventhe uphill battle the the ageof32under Chief Minister HASHTAG POLITICS party faces in astate whereithas been now Chimanbhai Patel. He wasthen the out of powersince 1990. However, there youngestministerinGujarat’s history. ●Now, Cong’s new poll song He promised ‘Baat Bihar Ki’, is now aretwo things that makethe 60-year-old Twoyears later though, Gohil took uniquelyplacedfor the job: the fact that he everyone by surprise by resigning over the @INCBiharreleased Bole Bihar,Badle making more noise for his silence is aveteran of manypolitical battles against demand foramedical collegefor Sarkar, attacking 15 yearsofJD(U)-BJP, NarendraModi-ledBJP in native Gujarat; Bhavnagar.The medical collegewas allo- with clips of migrant workerswalking THIS WASsupposedtobethe election where JD(U) sees Kishor’s hand in LJP chief Chirag and that he is among the fewCongress cated eventuallyand Gohil wonthe seat back home. TheCongress’sally, Prashant Kishor made his wayfromthe back Paswan’s decision to leave the NDA. leaders considered close to both Ahmed again in 1995. @RJDforIndia,also released asong, room to the frontlines. Appointed straight at Asenior JD(U) leader said Kishor had im- Pateland Rahul Gandhi. Gohil did notcontestthe 1998 election the topasJD(U) vice-president by Nitish pressedupon Chirag that this wasthe last In his over three-decade political career, and lostthe one in 2002 that marked Bhaiya Te jashwi humaar... sukh-dukh Kumar afterthe 2015 polls, election wherethe older gen- it is the firsttime Gohil will be overseeing Modi’s firstelectoral win. In the next elec- mein junta ke saath the election strategisthad eration of socialists would astate election as an AICC pointsman. His tion in 2007,hereturnedtothe Assembly seemedset foranother leap. hold sway in the state, and hand is seen in the hardbargaining by the from Bhavnagar and wasmade the Leader CONGRESS’SSONGGOT5.1K VIEWS, 434 LIKES, 314 RETWEETS IN FOUR HOURS One-and-a-half years hence he should gamble big. Congress to secure70seatsinthe of the Opposition, emerging as one of the later,Kishor is out of favour LJP spokesperson Ashraf Mahagathbandhan, ahugejumpfromthe mostvocal critics of Modi. However, Gohil —and out of sight. After Ansari dismissedthis as afig- 41 the party had contestedinBihar in 2015. lostthe 2012 Assemblyelections, and while LJP president @iChirag Paswan falling out with Nitish, he ment of imagination. Aveteran in Gujarat politics, Gohil first he eventuallyreturnedtothe Assemblyin tweeted,”Idon’t want PM to face any had startedanapolitical fo- Thereare those who say entered the national stagein2014, when aby-election from the Abdasa con- crisis because of me. He should uphold rum called“Baat BiharKi”, Kishor’s success lies in picking he wasmade aCongress spokesperson. He stituency,inthe 2017 polls toohecouldn’t coalition dharma. Even if he has to speak promising to develop lead- winning side, and that he has waselevatedasin-charge of Bihar in 2018, win. Since then, Gohil has been focusing on ership from the grass-roots. failedinredeemingpartiesthat givenadditional charge of Delhi earlier this national politics. against me to satisfy Nitish, he should.” But now, the man who were down in the dumps, like year,and made aRajya Sabha MP in June The Congress veteranhad wanted the Meanwhile,his brother-in-law and RJD built his reputation on the Congress and Samajwadi this year. Grand Alliance in Bihar to be broad-based, leader Anil Sadhu took on Chirag forhis adapting disparateparties Partyinthe 2017 UP polls. Yet Oftendescribed as AhmedPatel’s involving parties likeUpendraKushwaha’s “rip my chest,you’ll find Modi” remark. forthe digital age, has not others sayitisfar tooearly to “right-hand man”, Gohil wasthe Congress RashtriyaLok SamataParty (RLSP), Mukesh “I am ashamed of it... Yo ucan rip my even tweetedonthe Bihar polls so far. His ruleKishor out,and arewatching for2025. veteran’s poll agent in the closelyfought Sahani’s Vikassheel Insaan Party(VIP) and chest,you will find Ambedkar,Ram lasttweet wasinJuly, over the Covid scare. Asource close to Kishor deniedhewas out 2017 RajyaSabha election that Patelhad the Left, but could notconvince RJD chief However, Patna is abuzz with reports that of the picture. “Because of Covid we haven’t won, outmanoeuvring the BJP. Tejashwi Yadavabout the utility of the VilasPaswanthere,” he tweeted. Kishor is on the move again, meeting lead- startedthe on-ground partbut digitally Baat Gohil startedhis political career in the RLSP and VIP. (RIGHT) CHIRAG PASWAN GETS HEAD, BEARD SHAVED AS PART OF ARITUAL AFTER HIS FATHER’S DEATH. PTI ers of smaller parties liketheRLSP,after try- Bihar Ki is the biggestpolitical page, with more early 1980s while still in college. In the However, he managed to bring the CPI, ing his luckwith the Mahagathbandhan. The than 20 lakh followers.” mid-1980s, as Youth Congress office- CPM and CPI (M-L) intothe fold. 11 seats for Mukesh ‘Mallah’ Sahani, why BJP is treating him as VIP

community has multiple subcastesand the votes from Khagaria. Despitethe RJD’s vote mayassociatethemselveswith adynamic DEEPTIMANTIWARY VIP has oftenclaimedacommand over al- bank behind him, Sahani had got only27% of Mallah leader,” said asource close to the BJP’s NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 most10% of the votes. Estimates of various the votes —almostthe same as the RJD when Bihar in-charge DevendraFadnavis. political parties, however, are6-7%. it fought on itsown in 2014. Sources saythe BJP’s indulgence of the IN THE coming Bihar polls, wherethe BJP is Still, in acloselyfought election, the con- The 11 seatsare also testament to Sahani’s VIP also has to do with sending apolitical seen as positioning itself to win moreseats solidation of suchvotes can significantlyim- skills as anegotiator,evenwhile jumping ship messageand expanding itssocial base in than itsallythe JD(U), the party has leftas pactelectionsincertainseats.Nishadvotesare to ship.Beforethe2014 polls,hehadralliedthe Bihar.The BJP has traditionallybeen identi- manyas11seatsfor the Vikassheel Insaan said to be influential in Muzaffarpur,East supportofNishads behind NarendraModi. fied as an upper caste party in the state. Party(VIP). This has leftthe BJP with 110 Champaran, Madhubani, Khagaria, Vaishali However, afterthe BJP’s landslide victory, he Under Amit Shah, the party has been trying seats, againstthe JD(U)’s 115. The reason for andotherNorthBihardistricts.Inthisbelt,the had openedchannels with Nitish, onlytobe- to expand itssocial base by sharing political the BJP’s accommodation of the political voteshareofNishads is said to be over 6%. come the BJP’s “starcampaigner” justbefore space with EBCs. It also cutsintoNitish’s care- greenhorn is the votes the VIP commands. Nishad voters have traditionallyaligned the 2015 Assemblyelections. When the BJP fullyconstituted votebank of multiple non- LedbyBollywood setdecorator from with social justice parties in the post-JP lostthe polls, Sahani had driftedagain and, in Yadavbackwardclasses and his ownimage DarbhangaMukesh Sahani, the VIP came up Movementera.FormerUnionministerCaptain 2019,ayearafterfloatinghisownparty,joined of the undisputed leader of disparateEBCs, onlytwo years ago, even though Sahani has Jai Narayan Prasad Nishad, who passedaway hands with the RJD. With his demand for30 whichhas kept him in powerfor three terms. beenactive since2013.Championingthecause in 2018,represented the Muzaffarpur con- seatsintheAssemblyelectionsrejectedby the At the press conference announcing the of theNishad(Mallah)caste bouquet—Sahani stituencymultipletimesonRJDandJD(U)tick- RJD, he has found his waybacktothe BJP. seatsharingdealwiththeVIP,seniorBJPleader officiallycalls himself “Son of Mallah” —the etsbeforeswitching to the BJP.His son Ajay Deputy CM Sushil Modi with CM Nitish Kumar,atone of their four joint rallies on Sunday. “Weare looking at the VIP as asignificant Sushil Modi underlinedthis: “The BJP has al- partyclaimsconsiderableinfluenceamongthe Nishad fought and wononaBJP ticket from Modi had underlinedBJP’s “respect” forEBCs while announcing seat deal with the VIP. PTI partner.Ithas considerable influence notjust ways respected people from Extremely boatmen and fishermen communities popu- the constituency in the 2019 polls. among Mallahs but also among some other BackwardClasses...ItwastheNDAgovernment lating the riverine beltsofNorth Bihar. Still, giving 11 seatstoaparty that had lost extremelybackwardclasses. In the rural belts that came up with 20% reservation forEBCs in Thereisnorecent official datatoestimate miserablyinthe2019 pollsaspartoftheGrand Muzaffarpur,Khagaria and Madhubani —led ground. Sahani had himself losttothe LJP’s of NorthBihar,Mallahsareseenasanassertive panchayatpollsandtodayover1,600mukhias the strength of Nishad votes in Bihar.The Alliance —the VIP had then contested by the RJD mayappear ceding toomuch MehboobAli Kaisar by amargin of 2.5 lakh caste.Politicallyunrepresented communities in Bihar arefromthese classes.”

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 WORDLY WISE Thegovernment onlygives subsidies for nitrogenous fertilisers. With the result, farmers 8 THE EDITORIAL PAGE do not applybalanced fertilisers. —MSSWA MINATHAN Hathrasand truth machine

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Narcoanalysis would inviteapublic/media trial BECAUSETHE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL whichmanipulates science, favours thedominant

A BEGINNING Jinee Lokaneeta Elected district development councils mustbeafirststepin

kickstarting political process in J&K —not asubstitutefor it THE BRUTAL KILLINGand alleged gangrape coanalysis, lie detectors and brain scans and since it stands in forthe voice of science and of a19-year-oldDalit woman in Hathras, made evidence as aresult of the techniques theexpertclaimed by thegovernment to HE AMENDMENTS TO theJammu&Kashmir Panchayati RajAct to facili- Uttar Pradesh, has renewedattention on inadmissible. The Courtstoppedshortof proclaim truth even as the technique is re- tate direct electionstothe second tier of local government,the district de- hownarcoanalysis remains central to polic- striking them down as inherentlyunaccept- jected by the scientific community. velopment council, areevidentlyintendedtokickstart the political process inginIndia. Widespread outrageerupted as ableunderthe right againstself-incrimina- The discussion on narco oftentends to re- in the Union Territory, infusesome guidedpolitical energy intothe post- the policeinitiallyconsidered it acase of tion (Article 20 (3)) and right to lifeand lib- inforce the legitimacy of techniques that co- murder and later sought to denythe rape. erty (Article 21)ofthe Indian Constitution. erce information from the bodies of the per- TAugust5,2019environment,especially in the Valley, andpavethe wayfor The Uttar Pradesh government announced The lackofadecisive rejection of narco- sons, sometimes in conjunction with torture all those desirous of findingapoliticalfootholdin“naya”Kashmir.With the holding of on October 2its intent to use narcoanalysis analysis that medical ethics scholar Amar or through aprocess of hypnotic suggestions. Assemblyelections tiedtothe contentious delimitation exercise, and giventhat partici- on the victim’s family, theaccused and neg- Jesani calls pharmacologicaltorturehas al- These testsare by themselvescoercive and pation is uncertain with regional political parties firm on the demand forareturn to state- ligent stateofficials.Narcoanalysis is the use lowedthe spectreofthis technique to haunt oftenusedtoget confessions/information in hood and special status, election to theDDCs will be afirsttestofhow deepthe waters of adrug —sodium pentothal —onaperson different sites of policing in India, in turn the investigative process itself and, likephys- reallyrun. The Centremay calculatethat getting enoughpeople to contestthe DDC elec- to ostensiblyinduce truthwith the help of encouragingcoercedinformation or invol- ical torture, areunreliable. Thus, eachtime tions would help weaken the Gupkar narrative,whichinits thirdreiteration lastweek, forensicpsychologists.The lackofvalidity untary confessions. narcoanalysis is mentionedinahigh-profile and reliabilityofnarcoanalysis is well known, Narcoanalysis (alongside brain scans case, it reactivatesatendency of Indian polic- following the release of PDP chairperson Mehbooba Mufti, resulted in the coming to- though rarely acknowledged. and lie detectors, that Iterm “truth ma- ing to preciselyhighlight techniques that gether of the regional parties as aPeople's Alliance.The recentlycreated Apni Party, hacked The notificationofthis desiretouse nar- chines” in my book) is represented oftenas forcethe body to betray itself.The popular out from the PDP,has been itching forarole. coanalysis despitedisavowalbythe scien- ascientific solution to policetorture. campaign to challengethe trial courtverdict Individuals in the mainstream regional parties, especiallythose overlooked fornom- tific community is notjustabout the tech- Reportsofcustodial violence in in the Aarushi-Hemraj case had similarly inations in previous Assemblyelections, mayalsosee the DDCs as acareer opportunity. nique itself. It is symptomatic of the Maharashtra resultedinsenior police offi- highlighted the narco resultsofHemraj’s The BJP is waiting in the wings, too. Earlier,the DDC wasfilledthrough nominations. The investigative practices of Indian policing. cers sending out amemourging the use of friends as away to strengthen their argu- Narcoanalysis functions to createapublic truth machines. The Delhi High Courthas ments, therebycontributing to the relegit- rationalebehind holding direct elections to 14 DDC constituencies in eachdistrict is that spectacle of “truth claiming” in the garb of recentlyasked the Delhi Governmentabout imising of these techniques. being chosen through ademocratic exercise might give candidatesand the DDCs ameas- science, therebyreinforcing the role that co- the lackofnarco test facilityinthe capital The Hathras case, in highlighting narco- ureofcredibility.The initial responses of the NC and PDP have predictablynot been ercedconfessions playinmedia trials and and the suspects aretaken to Ahmedabad analysis, remindsushow confessions/infor- favourable.PDP leader Naeem Akhtar,for instance, has said the move is aimedatdepoliti- the legal system. In the Hathras case, it fur- Asking the victim’sfamily to fornarcoanalysis. Recently, theAam Aadmi mation areoften apartofamedia trial, and cisation by cutting up theUTinto“district assemblies”, and to reduceKashmiri political ther victimises the Dalit woman’s familyby undergonarcoanalysis in a PartyGovernment has promisedthe High techniques that enablethe bodytoforcibly aspiration to thesolving of district levelwater-electricity-road problems. publiclycontesting their version. context where Dalit victims Courtthat arrangementshavebeen made betray itself areviolative of human dignity Popularisedinthe US in the 1920-30s by to setupthisnarco facility,asifitisastate and should bedisallowed. Asking the victim’s Forthe DDC elections to achieve the Centre's manyobjectives, the entireexercise will are often disbelieved is Dr Robert House,the US criminal justice sys- of the arttechnique ratherthan acoercive familytoundergo narcoanalysis in acontext needtobesubstantiallydifferentfromhowthe2018 panchayatelectionswentdown.Inthat temhad abrief fascination with narcoanaly- primarily meant to contest and unreliablemedico-legalone. where Dalit victims areoften disbelievedis election,candidateswere tooashamedto admittheywerecontesting,andcouldnotappear sis. It wasrejected by theCIA afterexperi- or proclaim their narratives By mentioning the use of narcoanalysis primarilymeant to contestorproclaimtheir in publicbecausetheyfeared fortheirlives.Those who won, some of them because they mentsinthe 1950s, and it continues to make publicly as alie — on the accused,the victim’s familyand the narrativespubliclyasalie —victimising them were the only contestants in theirhalqas, did notsurface formonthsafterwards. In many rare appearances. The Indian fascination victimising them once again. police/officials, the UP Government is invit- once again. Saying that police/officials areto panchayat halqas therewerenocandidates and the elections couldnot be held. In the DDC with narcoanalysis beganinthe late1980s ingapublic/media trial whichutilises sci- besubject to thesame technique is reflective Saying that police/officials elections,theNC andPDPwillneedtoconsidertheopportunitycostsof aboycottevenasthey in Ahmedabad, appearedincomplaints to ence in itspopular constructionand will in- of adesiretorestrict thenegligencetoafew the National HumanRightsCommission evitably favour thosewho aredominant in badapples—as opposed to the recognition weigh it againstthe price of participation.Theydonot have an easy choice, but theywould are to be subjecttothe same about lie detectors being usedalongside a technique is reflective of a society.AsDalit feminists have noted, pro- of asystemic injustice,making justice in this do better to engagewiththe political process,evenastheyoppose, argue and debate. The drug in the 1990s, but gainedprominence in visionsofthe Prevention of Atrocities Act case even moreelusive. Centre,too,shouldbeawareofthelimitationsof abonsaidemocracyinJ&K.SriLankaisacauti- the 2000s. Almostall major cases involved desire to restrictthe have to be centralinthe Hathrascase onaryexample of howanelected body withnopowers excepttolay roads and repair the itsuse, including the Aarushi-Hemraj mur- negligence to afew bad against theuppercaste men involved in the The writer is Professor in Political Science & drains is notananswer to thepolitical aspirationsthat lie behindthe demand forgreater au- ders in 2008, Mumbai blastcase in 2006, apples —asopposed to the alleged gang rape and thosestate officials International Relations at Drew University. tonomy. Therestoration of statehood to J&K has to be prioritised,and Assemblyelections. Telgi scam case, and Nithari 2005-2006,with recognition of asystemic whowerenegligent in their duty.Whilea She is author of TheTruth Machines: videos oftenleaked as “truth”. media trialisalready visible,and medico- Policing, Violence and Scientific In 2010 theIndian SupremeCourtruled injustice,making justice in legal evidence of rape is already subjectto Interrogations in India (UnivofMichigan that consentwas required forthe use of nar- this case even more elusive. manipulation,mention of narco is notable Press, Orient Blackswan, 2020) TINKERING AT MARGINS

Cap on subsidisedfertiliser merelyaddresses issue of its diversion,doesn’t fixreal problem —overusebyfarmers FRUIT OF REFORM T’S OVER Adecade since aso-callednutrient-basedsubsidy(NBS)regimefor fertilisers wasinstituted.Bylinking subsidy to nutrient compositionrather than productsper se,NBS wasexpectedtowean away farmersfromapplying too Newlegal framework forcontract farming benefits farmer,consumer,investor muchureacontaining onlynitrogen. But the actual resultsprove otherwise. IBetween 2009-10and 2019-20,ureaconsumption rose from 26.7 million tonnes (mt) to 33.7 mt. While overall fertiliser consumption increasedfrom53.4 mt to 61.7 mt, Sudhir Sitapati urea’s sharewent up from belowhalf to 54.6 per cent duringthis period.The reason for the worsening fertiliser imbalanceissimple: Since April 2010,the maximum retail price SANTOSH GANAROWNStwo acres of land in the thirdweek of September,farmers could said that he’d happilygivea40 percent dis- (MRP) of urea has been raisedbyhardly11per cent, from Rs 4,830 to Rs 5,360 per tonne. Raigadh in coastalMaharashtra—home of the onlysell to thelocal mandi or agricultural mar- countand still earn Rs 3lakh. He would still The MRPs of other fertilisers —whichweredecontrolled, with the government onlygiv- Alphonso mango. Yethechooses to plant ket. The risk-mitigation methods that “con- make10times morethan he makes today. ing aper-tonne subsidy basedontheir nutrient content —havegone up from 2.5 to four cheap rice rather than lucrative mangoes. tractfarming” providewereillegal.The old But his investor,anexpert in mangocultiva- When Iasked himwhy he repliedthat he laws —enacted to protect farmers likeGanar tion withbetteraccess to markets(and times during these 10 years. Since NBS has been implemented onlyinother fertilisers,even would love to plant mangoes. Rice giveshim —ensurethat theynever makeenough doubtless better methods to shoo away mon- as urea remains under pricecontrol, farmers areusing more, notless, of the latter. justRs30,000per acrewhile mangoes would moneytoleave poverty. keys) wouldmakethe full potential of the acre The Narendra Modigovernment mustshouldermuchofthe blame forthis agronomic earn 10 times as much. But he could notaf- Ganar’s sorrowisalso the sorrowofthe —Rsfivelakh. AfterpayingGanarand ac- and environmental disaster. Thebasic MRP of urea hasn’t been revisedatall in itsnearly ford the initial investment of an “elevated consumer since the old laws did notresultin counting forareturn on investment the in- six-and-a-half years. Instead of bringing urea under NBS —whichwould push up itsMRP bund” forthe mangoes, nor survive the five- fruit being available at alow pricefor con- vestor would still be leftwith asurplus. In a closer to Rs 10,000 pertonneatthe current per-kgsubsidy fornitrogen present in other year waiting period forthe trees to yield fruit. sumers. Quitethe opposite. competitive market, theconsumer would get He also added, withahint of schaden- Fruitsare notjustexpensive compared to cheaper mangoes. fertilisers—the Modi government has resorted to tinkeringatthe margins. Thatincludes freude, that his friends who have orchards other carbohydrates in India —A100 Kcal of This is an exampleof“contract-farming” compulsory neem-coating of all urea (from December 2015)and making fertilisersub- complain of wasting almosthalf their man- energy from fruitscosts five times that from —one that would benefit the farmer,the in- sidy payment to companies conditionalupon actual sales to farmers beingregisteredon goes since theyare notable to reachthe mar- rice —but theyare also 20 per cent moreex- vestor,and the consumer.Anacreofland point-of-sale machines with retailers afterbiometric authentication (from March 2018). ketsontime. This COVID-filled year wasthe pensive than eventhewestern world. As are- yielding Rs 30,000 starts yielding Rs 5lakh. There’s aplan next, as reportedbythis newspaper,tocap the total number of subsidised worst, as mostmangoes remainedunsold. sult, Indians eat fewerfruitsthan mostothers. But forall these years whywould either Ganar fertiliserbags that anyperson can purchase during an entirecropping season. But these Ganartold me howhesaw pot-belliedmon- BasedonaNIN-ICMR reportof2019, Iesti- orthe investorhave agreedtoa“contract” that keys,surroundedbyhalf-eaten mangoes, matethat Indians eat only32grams of fruit a wasnot legallybinding? Ganar could cheat measuresmerelyaddressthe issue of subsidisedfertilisers,especiallyurea, getting di- snoring in his friend’s orchard. His friend dayversusthe recommendedamountof 100 the investor anddecideto sellthe mangoesat verted to bulk buyers/traders or even non-agricultural users suchasplywood and animal didn’t find it necessarytoshoo them away grams. And this acutedeficiency in fruitsis full price five years later. The investor could feed makers.Theydon’t fixthe real problem—ofoveruse by farmers themselves. If urea with catapults. muchmorepronouncedamong the poor. cheat Ganar and notbuy the mangoes he fi- is heavilyunder-priced, theywill applythree bags when twoorless would suffice. The biggestproblem the poor in Indiaface This is aparticular tragedybecause fruits nallyproduces. And in ayear of mangoglut, Urea has to come under NBS. Apoliticallyfeasible waytodoitisbyhiking itsMRP to Rs is risk mitigation. Since theydonot have sav- Under the laws that provide the mostbenefit of all food classes — when forced to buy all of Ganar’s mangoes, 10,000—maybeover twoyears —and simultaneouslyreducing the NBS ratesofphospho- ings,theyare reluctant to undertake even the governed India until the theygiveprotection and immunity through howcould the investor have stored it forthe rus,potash andsulphur to makeother fertiliserscheaperbyRs1,500-2,000per tonne. In the minimallyrisky business that youorIwould. third week of September vitamins and micronutrients. Indians arede- next year,ifmangoes were suddenlylistedun- As aconsequence, theyremainstuckina ficient in Vitamin A, zinc, Vitamin Cand iron. der the Essential Commodities Act(ECA). long run, NBS itself should be replacedbyaflat per-acrecash subsidy that could be usedto povertytrap, growing cheap rice instead of farmerscould only sell to the The lasttwo makeanaemia the number one The three agriculturebills changeall this purchase anyfertiliser.That includesvalue-addedand customisedproductscontaining not valuable mangoes. Policymakers the world local mandi or agricultural public health challengethat India faces. We by providing the legal framework forcon- justother nutrients, but delivering even nitrogen moreefficiently than urea. over have come up with avarietyof capitalin- market. Therisk-mitigation have asituationwherehorticultureissaddled tract-farming. This is the essence of the re- vestment and risk mitigation instruments— methods that ‘contract with unviability forthe farmer and unafford- form, notthe circumventing of mandis or the suchasmicro-credit loans —for the poor to ability forthe consumer. ECA. Anditwill benefit everyone —farmers, makemoneywhile protecting them against farming’ provide were illegal. Iasked Ganar, thatifsomeone offeredto industryand consumers. All exceptthe mon- Freeze Frame EPUnny risk.The tragedyofthe Indian farmer —who Theold laws —enacted to invest in amangoorchardinhis land, payhim keys who have grownfat on yearsofanti- constitute40per cent of the countryand an protectfarmerslikeGanar — what he loses in notplanting rice till the quated agricultural policies. even higher percentageofits poor —isthat ensure that they never make mangotrees gave fruit and agreedtobuy all India’s farm laws have prevented these risk- the mangoes that grew on his tree five years Thewriter is an executivedirector Hindustan mitigation instrumentsfromreaching them. enough money to leave later,how muchdiscount wouldhegivehis Unileverand is theCo-Chair of theCII Food Under the laws thatgovernedIndiauntil poverty. benefactor? Without batting an eyelid Ganar Processing Committee. Viewsare personal

OCTOBER 19,1980, FORTY YEARS AGO

ASSAM RESTIVE AGAIN ment wasfirm on the 1971 cut-off date. by professionalsalone wasnot enough. He IT WASNOT good on the part of the All referred to the Cultural Revolutionand said Assam StudentsUnion andthe All Assam SINO-INDIAN TIES that because of “the terrible disorder it Gana Sangram Parishad to resume their ag- ASENIOR CHINESEleader says Prime caused”the Chinese economyisinmany itationasthe talkshad notcompletely bro- MinisterIndiraGandhi has “taken aresolute respectsfar more underdevelopedthan kendowncompletely on theforeign na- step to improverelationsand the Chinese India’s. tionals’ issue in Assam, Union Home leadership welcomes this”.Tan ZhenLin, MinisterGiani Zail Singh said. Speaking to vice-chairman of the Standing Committee IRAN WARMS UP TO US newsman at Madras, the Home Minister of the Chinese National People’s Congress IRANIANPRIME MINISTER Mohammad Ali said the government wasready to continue recalledthe friendlyrelationsbetween Rajai said that adecision on the 52 American the talkswith the agitators forwhichthe India and Chinaduring thedays of hostageswas notfar offand that Iran be- datewould be announcedsoon. Drawing Jawaharlal Nehru and ruedthat the rela- lievedthat the US had already apologisedfor attention to the cut-offpoint, Zail Singh re- tions had become sour forsometime. In an supporting the deposed Shah. When asked if futed the contention that the government interviewwith the UNI, Tancalledfor more the decision would be takenbeforethe had gone backfurther from itsoriginal frequent contactsbetween Indians and American elections, he said “the moment the stand. He, however, said that thegovern- Chinese in various fields. Exchangeofvisits Majlis takesadecision”.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “Wewill be existing alongside this lethal virus formanymonths to come; the need fornational unityinthe face of its immense social, financial and health 9 THE IDEAS PAGE challenges has never been greater.” —THE OBSERVER How to Make You Wear aMask Socialism &

Theconceptofpublic goods can be experimentallyput to use in the current pandemic forasocial cause the pandemic

Countries moresuccessful in curbingCOVID-19 arewelfarestates, ruledbyleft-of-centreparties. Thereisalessonhere

rapid outburstofthe pandemicbut wasable to contain deaths very quickly. Till date, Germanyreported atotal of 2,47,000 cases Soumya Kanti Ghosh with adeath rate of 108per million cases. Germany’s total expenditureonhealth is about 11 per cent of itsGDP and this is about THERE IS Adirect linkagebetween the RBI one per cent morethanthe averagespent governor’s statement on October9and the by other countries of the European Union NobelPrize in economics that wasawarded on health.Portugal, whichhas had acoali- to Robert Wilson and Paul Milgrom on Shah Alam Khan tion left-winggovernment forthe lastfew October 12.The statement by the governor years, has containedthe pandemic well. Its that yield curvecontrol and financial mar- democratically-plannedlockdownwas ketstability arepublic goods is astark re- APLEA HAS been filedbeforethe Supreme easedoff earlier than manyother European minder of the treatment of the same in Court,seekingto remove thewords“social- countries. It had atotal of around 58,000 game theory, wheredefection among in- ist” and“secular”fromthe Preamble of the cases with 1,827deaths. This wasinstark dividuals/marketplayers is random, often Constitution.But despite apersistent ero- contrasttonext-door neighbour Spain, resulting in leastpayoffs.Interestingly, sionoverthe lastcouple of decades,both whichwas devastated by the virus causing Wilson and Milgrom arealso proponents principles were central to thetype of repub- 4,80,000cases and 29,194deaths. Portugal’s of game theory. It is an ironythat the ap- lic our political forefathers had imagined. total expenditureonhealth is 9.5 per cent of plication of game theoryinmacroeconom- With the embrace of neoliberal policies in itsGDP.Yet another European nation which ics in India is minimaland, thus, it is always the Nineties, socialismwas pushedaside. has done well in tackling the pandemic is amatter of great elation wheneverwecan With the ongoing pandemic,however, so- Iceland, with atotal of 2,121cases and 10 find alink. cialism has become relevant notonlyfor deaths. Interestingly,Icelanders voted fora First, alittle titbit from this year’s Nobel India but also the world. As the worldgrap- majority left-wing government in the gen- prize awardineconomics. This is, perhaps, ples to find avaccinefor COVID-19, acloser eral elections in 2017. the fourthinstance of astudent and teacher inspection of the backwash of the pandemic Even amongthe Latin American coun- getting the awardinthe same year.The first reveals that socialistideals have turnedout tries, those who spend moreonhealth have instance wasin2004, whenFinn Kydland to be alife-saver. This needsfurther corrob- performedbetterthan those who arepru- and EdwardPrescott were chosen forthe oration and evaluation. dent in spending on people-centric pro- honour.RobertWilson,besides being the In the neoliberal world, hardlyany grammes. Argentina is aclassic example. winner of the economics Nobelthis year,has countrycan be bracketedasapurelyso- With 40,000 COVID-19cases and 8,00 three Nobel-winning PhD students—Alvin cialistnation. Countries which provide so- deaths, it has faredfar better than mostof E. Roth, Bengt Holmstrom and Paul Milgrom. cialisedmedicine arethe ones whichhave itsneighbours. The countryisruledbythe In economic parlance, public goods are evolvedthe model of whatiscalledawel- Peronists,who subscribetomoreleftist definedasnon-excludable and non-rival- CRSasikumar fare state—the closestcousin of yester- economic policies.Argentina’spopulation rous in nature, suchaslaw enforcement. year’s socialiststate. is comparable in manyrespectstoits Thereisplenty of literatureonthe use of whichoccurs when neither of the agentscan 2017-18, the spread between the overnight The COVID-19pandemic has exposed neighbouring Brazil, whichhas aright- public good in financialmarkets—if agents increase their payoff by unilaterallychang- repo rate and the 10-year G-Sec yieldhad the vulnerability of governments, health- wing government and hasbeen devastated cooperatewell, all players have the opportu- ingtheir actions. Thus thereare four options increasedto169 basispoints in February. Till caremodelsandpoliticalideologies.Itis thus by the virus, with3.96 million cases and nity to benefit;ifagentsworkinisolation, —bothPlayer1and Player2cooperate, both that time, such alarge spread wasseenonly important to seewhichcountries have done around 1.23 lakh deaths. Venezuela, which all arelikelytosuffer. Hence, allshould have Player1and Player2defect, Player1coop- duringafinancial crisis. better in this pandemicbothinterms of has been under socialistregimes forthe last acommon interestinreforms thatwill im- erates while Player2defects, and, lastly, Can we avoidsuchaproblem of defec- COVID-relatedmorbidityand mortality and twodecades, on the other hand,showed provethe system forpublic benefit. Player1defectswhile Player2cooperates. tion? The economist Elinor Ostrom had an the political ideology whichgoverns them. promising outcomes during the current Garrett Hardin’s famous essay, “The The payoff scenarios arehypothesised answer (the onlywoman apartfromEsther It is no rocket science to imagine that pandemic. It reported47,756cases with Tragedyofthe Commons,” publishedin as benefitsaccruing to Player1and Player2 Duflo to have wonaNobel in economics). those nations withgood health infrastruc- only400 deaths. Science magazine in 1968,was the earliest separately, when theyare deciding on either The onlyway groups canavoid such abreak- turewould do better during apandemic. An argument againstthis hypothesis example of this argument. The farmer who of the policy options: Cooperateordefect. down is by adhering to conditionsinthe Having saidthis, the responseand out- would be that it is difficult to comparethe addedanextracow gainedanadvantage Specifically, both of them cooperating can- form of eight coredesign principles. come parameters of the pandemic have Indian situation witheither New Zealand, over other farmers in his village, but it also notbeaNash equilibrium, as both the play- In asimilar vein, the conceptofpublic notshown suchsimple trends. Besides Germany, IcelandorevenArgentinabecause ledtoanovergrazedpasture. ers unilaterallywill always have an incen- goods can be experimentallyput to good use healthcaremanagement, it alsoinvolves our population surpasses the combined In the Indian context, letmeprovide an tive to defect because theywill getahigher in the current pandemic forasocial cause. political response and will. population of these countries. Theproblem even earlier example to illustratethe idea of payoff in suchaneventuality.Since the sit- Suppose the government were to frame a The conceptualisation and application withthe supporters of the marketeconomy public goods. One day, Emperor Akbar told uation is the same foreveryone, both the policy of incentivising well-offhouseholds of agood publichealth system,whichisan is that theylay all problems at the doorstep Birbal that he wasplanning to take abath in players will thus ultimatelydefect and re- (say, through acertificationfromthe PM) to important component of anyform of so- of population growth. Kerala, the best per- milk andthat all his ministers should coop- ceive apayoffof0.This is the Nash equilib- co-operateand supportatleastone poor cialism, appears to have had abetterout- formingIndian stateinthe currentpan- erateand getmilk to fill the bathtub. riumfor this game. But this is sub-optimal as In economic parlance,public household. Such incentivesare extremely comeduring the current pandemic. demic, is also the mostdenselypopulated. However, eachministerdecidedthat since both players getzeropayoffs because of un- importantasotherwise individual house- Capitalistsystems with privatisedhealth- Concerns of population growth have always milk wascostly, he would getthe water, coordinated behaviour.The bottomline is an goods are defined as non- holds can alwaysdefect unilaterally because carehavefared theworst,despiteagood been partofapopulistagenda in whichthe while the others getmilk.The end result outcome that the regulator will neverwant. excludable and non-rivalrous it givesthem ahigher payoff and thus both health infrastructureintermsofthe avail- population of the poor is the main concern. wasthatall theministers broughtwater. Letusnow extend this analogy to the in nature,suchaslaw could end up defecting. This is aclear exam- ability of state-of-arthealthcaretechnol- We fail to understand that the path to pop- When this experiment wasdone subse- Indian debt markets.The Bank of Japan was, ple of Jan Bhagidhari. ogy.The US is aclassic example of the latter. ulationstabilisation passesthrough the quentlywith proviso of apunishment, perhaps, the firstcentral bank to proclaim enforcement. There is plenty Similarly,wearing masksisaperfect ex- In termsofgood response to the ongo- overall socio-economicdevelopmentof the everyone cooperatedand got milk.Inasim- that the yield curveisapublic good and it is of literatureonthe use of ample of apublic good, as thereisalwaysa ing pandemic, one countrywhichstands people,andthistheCOVID-19 pandemichas ilar vein, the RBI governor communicated heartening to seethe RBIechothe same. public good in financial proviso that the personnot wearing amask out in the Australasia region is NewZealand. handsomelyrevealed. through the policy that market players In the Indian markets,itiscommon to markets —ifagents could benefit and hence, again, both defect- With around 1,757casesand alow death To conclude,aquickglanceshows that should always be competitive and notcom- find debt marketplayers behaving differ- ing and notwearingmasks could be an rate of 4.56per millioncases, NewZealand socialismisnot an odd contraptionready to bative so as to getthe best results. Central ently. Forexample, if oneset of players act cooperate well, all players eventuality.Inthis case,we, however, need has one of the best COVID-19figures in the fallapart.Even in itsmostdeactivated, meta- bankscan onlyact to oversee the market. pro-cyclically, selling government securities have the opportunityto aharsh punishment forthose notwearing world. The countryisatpresent governed morphosed,desultoryform, it has been a Againstthis background, it is important with the RBI’s monetary policystance, the benefit; if agents work in masks. This is aclear example of Jan Chetna. by the Labour party,which hasleft-of-cen- handy weapon in successfully fighting the to understand howthe breakdown of trust otherset of players act counter-cyclically, isolation, all are likely to Clearly,adhering to JanBhagidhariand treleanings. The totalexpenditure on health COVID-19pandemic. India’s questfor aso- across agentsinthe use of public goods of- buying government securities —sometimes Jan Chetna, as the Prime Ministerhas been as apercentageofthe GDPfor New Zealand cialistsystemmay have been waylaid but tenresults in minimal payoffs. Both agents both the players arecombative.While there suffer.The Bank of Japan espousing, requires an intelligent applica- is around 11 per cent. ForIndia, despitehav- socialist principles provide asemblance of have twooptionsbetween them —either is nothing wrong in taking twoway posi- was, perhaps, the first central tion of game theoryinpolicy making. ing “socialism” in itsPreamble, the figureis hope concerningissues pertaining to peo- cooperate or defect. Thus, we effectively tions in the market,the problemarises when bank to proclaim that the adismal one percent. ples’ health even in acountrylikeours. have four policy options, and eachofthe op- suchbuying/selling faroutstrips selling/buy- yield curve is apublic good The writer,group chief economic advisor, MostEuropean nations that have per- tions will have aparticular benefit/payoff. ing that the RBIwould prefer.Thisalsore- StateBankofIndia, is thankful to Sudipta formed well in the current pandemic are The writer is professor, Our endeavour is to find out whichpolicy sultsinayield structurenot in sync with and it is heartening to see the Sarangi and IndranilBhattacharyafor useful thorough welfarestateswith socialisttilts department of orthopaedics, optioncan resultinaNash equilibrium, macrofundamentals. Forexample, during RBI echo the same comments. Viewsare personal or leftcoalitions in power. Germany hada All India InstituteofMedical Sciences

Numbersdon’t lie LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR CHILDREN SUFFER IDEAS Oppositionnoisecannothidefact: UPgovernmentiscommittedto women’ssafety THIS REFERS TO the editorial,'Children in distress' (IE, October 16). The prolonged ONLINE closure of schools has addedtothe plight Sidharth Nath Singh of studentsfromeconomicallyweaker ONLYINTHE EXPRESS sections.Manyofthem might never THE SAFETYOFwomenhas been the toppri- abduction of women as compared to 2016. of theHathrasincident. later recommendedaCBI probetoensurejus- head backtoschool again. The stategov- ● ABAND-AIDFOR ority of the Uttar Pradesh government ever As compared to 2019,therehas been a In ademocratic setup, we oftencome tice. Now, since the case has been referredfor ernmentshavebeen dragging their feet ABULLETHOLE: since Yogi Adityanath assumed the office as decreaseof27.32 per cent in the incidents across debates about whatshould we expect ahigher probeand is pending in court, the yetagain as the futureofthese hapless VEERAMAHULI chief ministerin2017. The UP government, of rape. The accusedbooked under the forIndia —astable government or astrong truth will come out soon. But it is also imper- children hangs in the balance. under hissupervision,has notonlytaken ap- Protection of ChildrenfromSexual Offences Opposition. Theanswer by anypolitical ative to exposethe evil designsofsome indi- Varun Das, Zirakpur ● ANTI-FARMER,PRO- propriatesteps to protect women from all (POCSO) Acthavebeen givenharsh punish- leader is that we needboth. viduals who have avestedinterestindisturb- CORPORATE: kindsofcrimes but has also ensuredstrict ment. As manyasfiveaccused have been Yes, we do needastrong Opposition but ing lawand order in the state. CENTRE’SBURDEN VARUNVERMA punishment to theperpetrators so that po- giventhe death penalty and 193accused certainlynot likethe current lot. Do we need Afterhaving spent manyyears in public tential criminals mend their ways.This ap- have been givenlifeimprisonment, while an Opposition whichismoreinclinedto- life, Ifind no parallel to the actsofirresponsi- THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Centregives proachboreresultsand ensured that UP led 721havebeen awardedotherpunishments wardsrumour-mongering, has apessimistic bility that the Opposition resortedtointhe in, says will borrowtomakeupfor states’ www.indianexpress.com the wayincontrolling rape and other heinous underthe POCSO Act. approachand adestructive mindsetand divi- Hathras incident.Besides their attempt to GSTshortfall’(IE, October 16). The Centre crimes againstwomen. CM Adityanath’s “zerotolerance” to- sive thought process? No. spur communal flare-up, and caste-basedri- triedtopass the bucktothe states, in- According to the National Crime Records wardscrime is showing results. This can be What we experiencedinthe wake of the ots, the irresponsible approachshown by the fringing on itscommitment to fulfilling Bureau’s reportin2019, the rate of rape gauged from thefact that according to the Hathrasincidentwasmoreshock thanadisap- Opposition is deplorable. The deliberateat- the GSTcompensation. Economic logic FIGHT THE MOB cases in UP was2.8 per one lakh whereas in crime rate per one lakh population, the na- pointment.The manner in whichthe entire tempttocreateatotallywrong perception suggests that the Centre is best posi- 2016 and 2017 theratewas around 4.6 to tional averageis58.8, while UP’s averageis fake narrative wasbuiltto misleadthemasses about anyideology,belief or thought process tionedtoraise additional resourcesto THIS REFERS TO the article "I'm the 4.0. In 2019,UPranked26th among the to- belowthat at 55.7,with Assam being the is disappointing and unacceptable. This was, is dishonesty if notblasphemy vis-à-vis the bridge the GSTcompensation gap. unborn baby…" (IE, October 15). I talof36statesand union territories in rape highestat166.StateslikeRajasthan, Madhya in fact, an exploitation of the emotions of mil- wisdom of the people of this country. SSPaul, Nadia sharethe writer's sentimentsonthe cases.This dataisavindication of the fact Pradesh,WestBengal, Maharashtraand lions of Indians. The political compulsion and As an age-old dictum says,“Falsehood is gentle, kind and touching advertise- that UP is ahead of other states in terms of Chhattisgarhalso stand above the national desperation of the Opposition can be under- invariably the child of fear in one form or PER CAPITA MESS ment by Tanishq which, unfortu- controlling rape cases. average. Further,according to “Crime in stood but an attempt to pollute thepsycheof another.” This signifies the stateofmind of nately, hadtobewithdrawn. There In the figures in “Crime in India 2018 and India 2019”report,the conviction rate for the masses wasnothingshortofacrime. the Opposition. THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Bestway wasnothing objectionable in the ad- 2019”publishedbythe NCRB, UP ranksfar be- crimes againstwomen wasthe highestin Agood governmentisexpected to take Apieceofadvice to the Opposition —be out’ (IE,October 16). So far, the govern- vertisement, whichpromotesunity hindseveralotherstatesintermsof registered UP with 15,579 convictions in 2019,and prompt action in cases of crime against positive and work forthe best interest of the menthasgivencatchy slogansandpunch amongstour diversity —India's cases of crimes. In other words, it is ahead of morethan 55 per cent of the cases registered women. This wasdone in the Hathras case. people, if notthe government in power. Also lines with no tangible outcomes. It is re- biggeststrength. The issue at hand is manystatesintermsof controllingcrime.The forcrimes againstwomen and minors led An FIR waslodgedpromptly and subsequent remember,among the other duties of the grettable that whileweliketobecom- moreominous and reflectsthe in- percentageofregisteredcrimes in UP is 10.92 to the sentencing of the accused, whichisa actionwas also takenand senior district offi- government, one is to insulate the people paredwithdevelopedeconomies,we are creasingly polarisedsociety that we whilethe percentageofits population in the hugedeterrent foranti-social elements. cials supervisedthe entire probe. CM from falsepropagandaand thwartthe threat laggingbehind smallnations like have become. We have to fight such countryis16.85. Apartfromthis, in 2020 (till Despitethis trackrecord,some political Adityanath has already issueddirectivesto of nefariousrumour-mongering. Bangladeshinper capitaGDP. faceless mobs and notcapitulate. September) UP has been able to bring about a parties and thosewith an alleged anti-na- act swiftly in casesrelated to women. In this Deepak Singhal, Chennai SubhabrataBasu, Mumbai 42.24per cent reduction in rape cases and tional frame of mindtriedtoinstigatecom- case, too, he immediatelyset up aSpecial The writer is Cabinetminister in the about a39per cent reduction in the cases of munal and caste-basedriots on the pretext InvestigationTeam to probethe incident and Uttar Pradeshgovernment

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 10 EXPRESS NETWORK THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020

Hindu outfit ELGAAR PARISHAD TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE worker Balliashootingmainaccused Stan Swamy moves special 230 CASES: RECOVERED:65,97,209 DAYSSINCE 74,94,551 DEATHS:1,14,031 stabbed over PANDEMIC court for bail on BEGAN TESTS: 9,42,24,190| DOUBLING RATE: 82.80** stove price arrestedinLucknow:Police medical grounds namedinthe FIR, have also been mandedstringent punishment row in UP EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE arrested basedonevidence col- forthose guilty. LUCKNOW,OCTOBER18 lected during the investigation. The familyhas also de- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Meerut:A30-year-oldmemberof Three of the accusednamedin mandedRs50lakh in assistance MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 the Hindu Jagran Manch(HJM), THREE DAYS aftera45-year-old the FIR arestill absconding,” the and agovernment job. affiliatedto theRSS,wasallegedly farmer wasshotdead in the ADG added. Meanwhile, BJP MLA STAN SWAMY, the 83-year old KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING stabbed by alocal councillor and presence of administrative and Earlier,DIG (Azamgarh SurendraSingh, who had backed Jesuit priestand tribal rightsac- TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* TIME** twounidentifiedothers in police officials at avillagein Range) Subhash ChandraDubey the main accused, saying that tivist, arrested by the NIA earlier Bulandshahr’s Kakod town on Ballia during the allotment of a had announcedarewardof Dhirendrafired in self-defence, this month in the Elgaar ■ Maharashtra 15,86,321 10,259 0.64% 113.16 Saturdaynightafteranaltercation ration shop, the Uttar Pradesh Rs 50,000on eachofthe accused said that he has been calledto Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, ■ Karnataka 7,58,574 7,184 1.14% 63.25 over the price of agas stove. Special Task Force(STF) on namedinthe FIR. Police sources Lucknowbythe BJP leadership. approachedaspecial courtlast ■ Andhra 7,79,146 3,676 0.54% 134.27 CouncillorNafishasbeenarrested Sundaysaid theyarrestedthe said the accused—sofar,booked “I have been calledbythe party week seeking interim bail on whileothers areatlarge. main accusedDhirendraPratap under GangsterAct —could be leadership in Lucknowand not medical grounds. ■ Tamil Nadu 6,83,486 4,295 0.69% 104.36 Thevictim,identifiedasRahul Singh in Lucknow. also chargedunder the stringent summoned, as reportedbysome The plea referred to the ■ Kerala 3,34,228 9,016 2.57% 28.03 Kumar Jaiswal,was takentoalo- According to police sources, National Security Act(NSA). news channels. Iwill hand over guidelines by Maharashtragov- cal hospital from wherehewas Dhirendra, aclose of aide BJP However, senior police officials all documentspertaining to the ernment’s high-poweredcom- *Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last7days**Calculated over 7-daygrowth transferredtoaNoidahospital.His MLASurendraSingh,was ar- Main accusedDhirendra said afinal decision on invoking case, whichare with me, to (UP mittee —appointed on the direc- CASEFATALITYRATIO POSITIVITYRATE DAILYIN,DAILYOUT condition is said to be stable. rested at the Janeshwar Mishra Pratap Singh will be NSAagainstthe accusedisyet to BJP chief) SwatantraDev Singh, tions of the Supreme Court– 7DAYSEARLIER: 7DAYSEARLIER: DETECTED TODAY Police said Jaiswal wasac- Park in the statecapital in the presented before a be taken. and brief him about the entire recommending decongestion of costedbyadrunk Nafisand oth- early hours of Sunday. magistrateinBallia. PTI The familymembers of the matter,” PTI quoted the Bairia jails during the Covid-19pan- 1.54 8.12 61,871 erswhile he wasreturning home With Dhirendra’s arrest,ato- Jai Prakash Pal, the deceased, MLAassaying. demic. It also stated his suscep- NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: in Kakod at night. The accused talof10people, including welcomednews of Dhirendra’s The BJP legislator,known for tibility to the virus givenhis age 1.52 7.95 72,614 cornered Jaiswal near abank, Dhirendra’s twobrothers — sented before amagistrate,” said arrest. making controversial remarks, and other health conditions. Deaths as aratio of Positives against Becoming sick vs stabbed him 10 times and fled, Devendraand Narendra–have ADG (Varanasi Range) Braj “His arrest has come as are- had earlier accusedthe admin- The NIA,however, opposed positive cases (in %); number tested recovering; more said police. been arrested in connection Bhushan said. lief to us. But Dhirendraisa‘dab- istration of actinginapartisan the plea on Saturday. “Accused indicator of progress (in %); indicator of recoveries for 14 days in averting deaths the spread of disease may signal the peak “Nafis has been arrestedwhile with Thursday’s incident. “Of the 10 people arrested so bang’ (strongman). We fear for manner in the case and de- Stan Swamy, under the garb of DataasonOctober17,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers the hunt is on fortwo unidenti- “Dhirendrawill be brought to far, five were namedinthe FIR. our security,” the brother of Jai mandedaCB-CID probe. the current situation on account includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive fiedpersons. Nafisand Jaiswal re- Ballia wherehewill be pre- Five others, who were not Prakash Palsaid, as he de- -WITHPTIINPUTS of the global pandemic, is trying centlyhad arow over price of a to take an undue benefit of the gasstove whichNafis had bought situation... in seeking bail...” it from the shop,” RBSingh, in said in itsreplytothe bail plea. charge of Kakod police station, MP liquor deaths: 1cop suspended, 2shifted It addedthat Swamyand 15 For first time in 4months, told The Indian Express. ENS others booked in the case have Police (CSP) Rajnesh Kashyap being sold, despitesix deaths be- contractors forthe Ujjain been chargedofserious offences, no Covid death in Haryana IRAMSIDDIQUE wassuspendedonSunday. ing reportedonThursday. Municipal Corporation. The po- including the Unlawful Activities Human Dignity BHOPAL,OCTOBER18 The action againstthe three “Thereweresix deaths re- lice have booked the three boot- (Prevention) Act, wherepunish- willremainproactive andalerttill police officers came afterChief portedby5:30 pm on Thursday leggers under the National ment can extend to lifeinjail. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE thereisasolution,” he added. Day: Pandurang THE LIQUOR tragedyinin MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan but the place wasonlyraidedat Security Act. Their contract has Claiming therewas adequate CHANDIGARH,OCTOBER18 Meanwhile, with 952 fresh Shastri Athavale’s Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain has calledahigh-levelmeeting to 3amwith adelayofabout 10 nowbeen suspended. evidence to provethe case cases, theinfection tallyinthe triggered ashake-up at the top look intothe deaths of at least12 hours,” said this official. Deputy Municipal againsthim, the agency has also HARYANA REPORTED no coron- stateroseto 1,50,033Sunday. NCR birth centenary to levelofthe district’s police people, mostofthem labourers, On Saturday, twoconstables, Commissioner Subodh Jain has submitted that while the com- avirus-related death on Sunday, districtsGurgaon(249newcases) set-up. afterdrinking illicit liquor. Shaikh Anwarand Nawaz also been transferredalong with mittee’s guidelines recommend the state’s firstzeroCovid-19fa- andFaridabad(177 newcases)led be observed today While Ujjain Superintendent Asenior government official Kharakaun, were also namedas additional assistant commis- considering grant of interim bail tality dayinfour-and-a-half the tallyoffresh infections in the of Police (SP) Manoj Singh and said the CSP wassuspendedafter accusedinthe sale of spurious sioner KC Agnihotri. Besides, ac- to undertrials above 60 years of months, even as itscaseload in- last24hours,evenastheremain- Additional SP Rupesh Kumar he failedtoraid thedilapidated liquor,along with the three main tion has been takenagainsttwo age, the same cannotbegranted creasedby952. The recovery rate ing districtsare witnessing asub- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Diwediweretransferredto building of the municipal corpo- accused—Yunus, Sikander and constables of the excise mechanically. The courtwill hear of patients, meanwhile, reached stantial decline in numbers. The NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 Bhopal, City Superintendent of ration from wherethe liquor was Gabbar—who worked as parking department. Swamy’s bail plea on Tuesday. 92.21per cent, according to the recovery rate in Gurgaon and health department’s dailybul- Faridabad is 89.82 per cent and FOLLOWERS OF Swadhyay letin. 94.94per cent, respectively. Movement will observe SUSHANT DEATH CASE “The Haryana health depart- According to the state’s bul- October 19 as Human Dignity Naval version of BrahMos ment is happytoannounce that letin, therewere10,042 active Dayinmemoryofspiritual nodeathdueto Covid-19hasbeen Covidpatientsoutof whom9,829 leaderand socialreformer NCB arrests brother of reportedtoday(24-hourperiod),” were active forless than 11 days Pandurang Shastri Athavale. Additional Chief Secretary while213patientswereactive for This year,followers of the Arjun Rampal’s partner test-fired successfully (Health) RajeevArora said. longer duration. The number of Swadhyay Movement, which “Earlier,itwas on June 6that no critical patientsinHaryana came Athavale, also known as Dadaji, death due to the virus wasre- down to 200out of whom 169 foundedand the Swadhyay an officer.Later,asearch wascar- SUSHANTKULKARNI ported. While it is heartening, yet were onoxygensupportwhile31 Parivarorganisation will observe EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE riedout at his residence in PUNE,OCTOBER18 BrahMos as thereisnoroomforcomplacency patientswereonventilator his birth centenary. MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 Mumbai's Khar from where E a‘standoff and the statehealthdepartment support. ● range weapon’ The social reformer was Alprazolan, abannedtablet, was ANAVAL version of the BrahMos EXPLAINED awardedthe Ramon Magsaysay THE NARCOTICS ControlBureau recovered, the officer added. supersonic cruise missile was Awardfor Community (NCB) has arrested a30-year-old Demetriades, booked under successfullytest-fired on Sunday CRUISE MISSILES likethe Leadership in 1996, the South African national Agisilaos the Narcotic Drugs and from the Navy’s indigenously- BrahMos areatype of sys- Bainsla, 33 others booked TempletonPrize forProgress in Demetriades, who is the brother Psychotropic Substances Act, built stealth destroyer INS temknown as “standoff Religion in 1997 and India’s sec- of actor Arjun Rampal’s partner wasonSundayremandedinpo- Chennai, hitting atargetinthe rangeweapons”, which for Covid norms violation ond highestcivilian honour,the Gabriella Demetriades, in a lice custody fortwo days.Hewas Arabian Sea, said the Ministryof arefired from arangesuf- Padma Vibhushan, in 1999. drugs case lodged following ac- represented by lawyer Kushal Defence. Lastyear,DRDO, Air Force ficient to allowthe at- The Human Dignity Daywas torSushant Singh Rajput’s death Mor in Killa court. The missile hit the target and BrahMos Aerospace tacker to evade defensive EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE firstcelebrated in 1990. in June. The NCBsaid Demetriades is with pin-point accuracy after conducted twoseparate fire from the adversary. JAIPUR,OCTOBER18 Demetriades wasarrested apartofalargersyndicateand performing high-leveland ex- successful tests; one each These weapons areinthe Kirori Singh lateSaturdayfromaresortin suppliednarcotics to peddlers tremelycomplexmanoeuvres, from land, air platforms. File arsenals of mostmajor ADAY afterthe Gujjar mahapan- Bainsla Lonavala, said NCBofficers. “On who were in touchwith actor the MoD said in itsofficial state- militaries in the world. chayat in Bayana in Rajasthan’s the basis of atip-off, we laid a and Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea ment on Sunday. BrahMos Aerospace was Bharatpur, the Rajasthan Police trap at the resortinwhichhe Chakraborty and her brother It also said the BrahMos as Scientists also said test results setupin1998with the have booked community leader The FIR has been lodged un- wasstaying with his fiancée. He Showik. the “prime strikeweapon” will and observations were crucial in- aim to build suchmissiles. Kirori Singh Bainsla and 33 oth- der IPC Sections 188(disobedi- wasarrestedand 0.8 gm of cha- Thisisthe 23rdarrestmade ensurethe warship’s “invincibil- putsnot justfor calibrating the ers fornot taking prior permis- ence to order dulypromulgated raswas seizedfromhim,” said in the case, saidNCB. ity” by engaging navalsurface system, but also foradvancement sion from the district adminis- by public servant), 269 (doing an targetsatlong rangeand making and upgrade. The present super- class stealth-guidedmissile de- tration forthe large gathering act likelytospread the infection the destroyer alethal platform. sonic version could reachaspeed stroyer,the INS Chennai is de- amid the pandemic. of anydisease dangerous to life) SIXHELDFORLYNCHING While versions of the missile of 2.8 times that of sound (2.8 signedtocarry the BrahMos sur- The FIR lodged at Bayana po- and 270(malignant act likelyto ‘MOBILEPHONETHIEF’ have been in India’s arsenal for Mach) and hit atargetatarange face-to-surface missile system, licestationstatesthatabout2,500- spread infection of disease dan- long, the weapon system is con- of around 450 km, and ahyper- thus giving the ship the capabil- 3,000peoplehadgatheredforthe gerous to life) as well as sections Thane:Sixpeoplewere arrestedaf- tinuouslyupgradedand updated sonic version of the missile, ca- ity to strikeshore-basedand mahapanchayatovertheir six de- of the DisasterManagement Act, IREL (India) Limited. teranalleged mobile thief was with newhardwareand software pable of reaching aspeedof5 navalsurface targets. mands related to reservation. 2005, and Rajasthan Epidemic lynchedinBhiwandiinThanedis- systems. These upgrades necessi- Machwas being developed. An amalgamation of the It states that the organisers Diseases Ordinance, 2020. trictSunday, policesaid.Bhiwandi tate periodic tests. Scientists from Defence MinisterRajnath names of Brahmaputraand neither took permission, nor On Saturday, the community ZoneIIDCPRajkumarShindesaid the Defence Research and Singh congratulated DRDO, Moskvarivers, the BrahMos is de- providedany undertaking or re- leaders gave an ultimatum to the the incident happenedinagodo- Development Organisation BrahMos and the Navy forthe signed, developedand produced questwith the District Collector. Ashok Gehlotgovernment in efveefJeoe met®evee/Tender noTice wn in Wallpada area. “Around (DRDO) said in everysuchtestof successful launch. Dr GSatheesh by BrahMos Aerospace, ajoint It further states that onlyupto Rajasthan to either accede to “IREL(India) Limited,RED” invites e-tenders for the following works using 4am, three people sneaked into aspecific variant of the BrahMos, Reddy,chairperson of DRDO, venturecompanyset up by DRDO 100people areallowedtogather their demands, including reser- E-Procurement portal of M/s MSTC Limited. the godown and stole mobile different parameters were exam- congratulated scientists and all and Mashinostroyenia of Russia. aftertaking permission. vation forthe community in re- Construction of RCC Silo Dismantling &removal of Item phones of three workers... While ined. Foreachtest, additional the personnel of DRDO, Various versions of the Aheadof themahapanchayat, cruitment, or face alarge-scale No. 9 equipmentsinAttack Plant fleeing,oneof themfellfromafirst hardwareand softwaresystems BrahMos, Navy and the industry. BrahMos, including those that DistrictMagistrateNathmalDidel agitation beginning November IREL/Udyogamandal IREL/Udyogamandal E-Tender (Public)No. /20-21/ ET/48 /20-21/ ET/49 floor canopyand wasbeaten by were examinedbasedoninputs He said the BrahMos missile will can be firedfromland, warships, had issuedanotice stating that a 1. Withdrawal of old cases Transaction FeetoMSTC ` 15,000/- (Excluding GST) ` 3,500/- (Excluding GST) thosepresent.Theyalsocalledthe from the user,and againstmore add to the capabilities of the submarines and Sukhoi-30 meeting of up to 100people may againstcommunity leaders and TDC to IREL ` 1,680/-(Inclusiveoftaxes) ` 1,120/-(Inclusive of taxes) policeandtogetherrushedhimto complextargets under different ArmedForces in manyways. fighter jets,havealready been be held while following Covid members —lodged following EMD to IREL ` 3,88,000/- ` 70,000/- hospital,” said Shinde. The man atmospheric conditions, they Commissionedin2016, the developedand successfully guidelinesafterobtainingpermis- their protests —isone the de- Tender starting date &time 19/10/2020 –15.00 hrs 19/10/2020 –15.00 hrs succumbed to his injuries. ENS added. indigenously-designedKolkata- tested in the past. sion from the district collector. mands. Tender closing date &time 16/11/2020 –17.00 hrs 16/11/2020 –17.00 hrs Tender opening startdate &time 17/11/2020 –10.00 hrs 17/11/2020 –10.00 hrs Validity of tender in days 90 90 efJeJejCe kesÀ efueS JesyemeeFìosKes Fordetails, visit websites http://www.mstce commerce.com/eprochome/irel, https://eprocure.gov.in, http://irel.co.in. HeefjefMeä LOCKDOWN-HIT SCHOOLS FIND WORKAROUNDS IN TECH,BUT CHALLENGES REMAIN /Megef× kesÀJeue JesyemeeFìeW ceW nesmì keÀer peeSieer. Addendum/Corrigendum shall be hoisted in the websites only. mHeäerkeÀjCe kesÀ efueS Forclariicationcontact 0484 2545199, [email protected] ceW mebHeke&À keÀjW~ ceneHe´yebOekeÀ SJeb He´Oeeve (DeejF&[er) G.M &HEAD (RED) Lessons on WhatsApp, TV as schools go on in MP

jectsintohour-long audio and blockunder whichAmbdo falls, To solve the problem, Asaram IRAMSIDDIQUE said manychildren do nothavea Solanki, headmasteratAmbdo, SEHORE,OCTOBER18 LOCKDOWN TVathome;also,powercutsare a triedtoarrangeequipment such problem. It is in this situation that as mics and portable Bluetooth UNDER Aneem tree in Ambdo LESSONS the classes likethe one under the speakers. And when that seemed villageinSehoredistrict about neem have become popular.The tooexpensive,aninnovative alter- 90 km from Bhopal, 25 children video clips that areshared on loudspeaker mounted on the native wasfound with an old, sat on abright redtarpaulin WhatsApp, and broadcastonAll thickest branchofthe tree was rigged-up DVDplayer. sheetspread on the ground on India Radio (AIR) and paid forbythe panchayat, an ini- Lokesh Jatav,Commissioner arecent Saturday, as 51-year-old Doordarshan.Thevideolinkshave tiative takenentirelybythe vil- of RashtriyaShiksha Kendra, con- primaryschool teacher Kamla been designedand curated by a lagers, Dhanawde said. cededthat nothing could replace Gaur hooked her cell phone up teamattheRajyaShikshaKendra, “Now”, said primaryschool in-person education in school. to aloudspeaker –whichcrack- thestate’sEducationDepartment, ‘Mohalla’ class under aneem tree in Sehore’s Ambdo teacher Gaur,“studentshavebe- However, therehas been an in- ledtolifewith ‘Ek chatur kauwe and aresent in accordance with a village. Iram Siddique gunto enjoythesessionssomuch creasedeffortfromparentstoal- ki kahani’. timetable–thus,Mondays arefor thattheyoftenaskforastoryto be lowtheir cell phones to be used From arope tiedabove the mathlessons,Tuesdays forscience, repeated.Itisbecauseof suchpro- and open up their homes and children’s heads, hung drawings and Wednesdays forlanguages. But in villages likeAmbdo – the classes on TV,but could not grammes that the tribal children temples to hold these mohalla of the chatur kauwa –the cun- Everyteacher has been asked with atotal 125households of find the channel. According to arecomfortable in Hindi.” In villa- classes, he said. ning crow.“These stories aremy to createaWhatsApp group of mostlyKorku and Barela tribals – numbers providedbythe state geslikeAmbdo,teachershave be- Manyvillagers likeDayaram favourite,” said nine-year-old their studentsatthe villagelevel. mobile phones, radio or aTVset government, 50,000 WhatsApp en encouraged to hold “mohalla” Kalme have giventheir cell Deepika Korku, busilysketching The linksare sent to the teachers arenot universallyaccessible. groups have been created,con- classesforstudentsingroupsof 10, phones notonlytotheir ownchil- the crow putting pebbles in the at 10 am, and the teachers share Fifteen-year-old Neha Mehra necting about 12 lakh students. headedbyavolunteer identified dren but also to others in the vase of water. them with studentsontheir whowantstobeanIASofficerone But dailyviews of the linkssent as a“Shikhshadoot”. The volun- neighbourhood. “Jis tarahse With 91.56 lakh government WhatsApp group. The clips for day, said the single mobile phone over the messaging platform do teers have their owncell phones bachche padh rahe hain, ummeed school studentsofClasses 1to12 older studentsofClasses 9-12are at home has to be shared among notcross 6-7 lakh. to showstudentsvideos and clar- hai ki kuchh ban jayenge.(The way shut out of classrooms by the aired on Doordarshan at 10 am; four siblings —that tooonlyon The numbers of those access- ify their doubts—however, one the children arestudying gives Covid-19pandemic, the Madhya foryounger children, thereisthe days their father does nothaveto ing the lessons on TV arelower. cell phone among 10 children of- me hope forthem),” said Kalme, Pradesh government has refor- stategovernment's Dakshata go out of the village, taking the Santosh Dhanawde, amiddle tenmeansthescreensaretoosm- whose twochildren go to these mattedthecurriculumforallsub- Unnayanprogram on AIR. phone.Nehasaidshehadheardof school teacher in Narsullahganj all and the lessons barelyaudible. mohalla classes everyday.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 11 GOVT &POLITICS Pawar meets farmers in flood-hit PunjabCabinet DELHI CONFIDENTIAL areas, says will seek PM help authorisesCM theirlives.Iamconfidenttheywill MANOJMORE overcome this situation,” he said. PUNE,OCTOBER18 Aggrievedfarmers urgedhim foranydecision to ensuretheyget thecompensa- NCPPRESIDENTSharadPawaron tionasearly aspossible.“Weneed Sundaytouredtheflood-hitareas at leastRs25,000 compensation of OsmanabadandLaturdistricts. immediatelytocarry out rabi onfarmlaws Arriving around 10 am at sowing. If the government is go- TuljapurinOsmanabaddistrictin ing to conduct panchanamas of Marathwadaareaonahelicopter, the damaged farms, it will take at Pawarwastednotime in visiting leastsix months... it will be diffi- KANCHANVASDEV flood-ravaged farms in ahandful cultforustosurvive if compensa- CHANDIGARH,OCTOBER18 of villages and interacting with tion is notgiven immediately,”a farmers. Afterreviewing the situ- farmer said —several others AHEAD OF atwo-dayspecial ation in the district, Pawarsaid echoedthe view. Assemblysession, beginning to- PREPARING GROUND heavy rain has wreaked havocin Reactingto Pawar’sannounce- day, to discuss and counter the thefieldsandthefarmersneeded ment that he would lead adele- three central farm laws,the AMID THE poll campaign in Bihar,the BJP is stepping up its long-term help. NCPchief Sharad Pawarwith farmers in Osmanabad. Express gation of MPs to the PM, stateBJP Punjab CabinetSundayautho- activities in West Bengal, whichgoes to polls next year.Before “Farmers have been hit badly chief ChandrakantPatilsaid,“First, risedChief MinisterCapt Congress notdouble-faced: Prime MinisterNarendraModi’s visit to the statelater this by the heavy rain. The damage letthem conduct asurvey of the Amarinder Singh to take anyleg- Punjab CM ahead of special month, party president JPNadda will be on adaylong visit to cannotbecompensated in aday. farmers notonlyinOsmanabad Ministerhasalreadyexpressedthe damagedcaused,prepareamem- islative or legal decision he may Assemblysession Siliguri in north Bengal —wherethe party says it has achieved Thereisneedfor long-term help. district, but in severalparts of viewthatfloodshavecausedheavy orandum and then approachthe deem fitwithout “caring forthe an edge —onMonday. He will startthe daybygarlanding the However, the stategovernment Maharashtrathe situation is simi- damageinMaharashtra,” he said. Centre. Theyhavenothing ready consequences”. statue of Panchanan Barma, areformer from CoochBehar. has itslimitations while extend- lar.Iwillpursuetheissuetogethelp StateministerSanjayBansode,MP with them and aretrying to place TheCabinetmeetingwasheld ernmentwasworkingonthisline From there, Nadda will go to offerprayers at the Anandamayee ing financial assistance. We will forfarmers as early as possible. In OmrajeNimbalkarandotherlead- the demand.” afterameeting of the Congress while trying to ensurethat the Kalibari Temple. He will address apress conference and then have to approachtheCentralgov- viewofthe enormity of the dam- ers were present. Pravin Darekar,Opposition LegislatureParty (CLP) in which farmersfeelthattheCongressdis- meetrepresentativesofvarious communities. Nadda’s visit, ernment forassistance,” Pawar age, the stategovernment alone Interacting with farmers in leader in Legislative Council, said, the MLAs unanimouslystressed pensation is on their side. Several party leaders said, is expected to give amorale boosttowork- told reporters. willnotbeabletoshoulderthebur- Loharaand Omerga talukas, “When ShivSena waswith BJP in the needtoreject the farm laws MLAsalsosuggestedthattheleg- ers to startanintense campaign. Consoling farmers who lost den. We will needhelp from the Pawarsaid,“In1993,thousandsof government, UddhavThackeray even if Centre“dismisses” the islation should notallowany pri- their entirestanding crop in two Centre. Iwill lead adelegation of liveswerelostinthese areas fol- usedtomakesimilar demands... stategovernment.Sources said vate trader to procurefarmers’ talukas of Tuljapur and Lohara, MPsto meetthePrimeMinisterto lowing an earthquake. People heshouldactimmediatelyrather the during the twomeetings, produce at ratesbelowMSP and CONFLICTING IDEAS Pawarsaid, “The floods have hit discuss the issue... The Prime herebattledsevereoddsto rebuild than wait forpanchamanas.” Cabinetministers as well as the if anyone wascaught doing so, MLAs,askedAmarindernottoshy theyshouldbeimprisonedforone THE OCCASION of the centenaryofthe formation of the Indian away fromanyconfrontationwith year and finedRs5lakh. Communistparty seems to have created yetanother wedge BJP slams Cong Centre. In the meetings, Congress between the CPM and CPI. In aconversation with Malayalam Sonia: Indian democracy passing “Amid total consensus leaders remindedAmarinder of writer PaulZachariah, CPM general secretarySitaram Yechury over Tharoor among Punjab Congress MLAs the stand he took during his pre- has said the decision to split from the CPI to form the CPM was on the needtoreject the farm vious tenureonsharing water “right and inevitable” without whichthe Communistmove- through its most difficult phase remarks on laws outright and notimple- with neighbouring Haryana. “It ment wouldn’t have survivedpostEmergency.Irked by this, ment them in the state, Chief wasduring his previous tenure CPI general secretaryDRajaasked Yechuryto“introspect” Subsequently, PresidentRamNath MinisterAmarinder Singh on that Punjab had annulledwater about what happenedinWestBengal. “Do notthink whatever EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ‘Conspiracy Kovind gave his assent to the Bills. pandemic Sundaycalledfor afrontal attack sharing accords, creating history. CPI (M) does is right,” Raja has said. NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 hatchedto The Opposition ledbythe againstthe legislations, even as He (Amarinder) can do the same defeat the Congress,alongwithmanyfarm- management he wasauthorisedbyhis coun- (with the three central farm IN Ascathing attackonthe gov- gains of the ers’ organisations, have been vo- cil of ministers to take anyleg- laws),” said aCongress leader, QUESTION HOUR ernment, Congress president green cal againstthe legislation, claim- islative/legal decision he may adding that the government had SoniaGandhionSundaysaidthat revolution’ ing that theywill harm the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE deem fittoprotect the interests beenworkingontheleadgivenby AFTER ISSUINGstatementsonthe steps takenbythe Centre Indian democracy waspassing interests of farmers and benefit NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 of the farmers,” said agovern- AICCpresidentSoniaGandhito all on air pollution since the NarendraModi government came to throughits“mostdifficultphase”. corporates. The government has ment statement. party ruledstatesaskingthem to power, Union Environment MinisterPrakash Javadekar has Shewasaddressingameeting hoods of crores of farm labour- claimedthe newlawswould in- HITTINGOUT at Congress lead- Asource, privy to the develop- explorelegal provision under nowtaken to Facebook under #AskPrakashJavadekar —hean- of AICC general secretaries and ers, leasehold farmers, small and crease the income of farmers. ers fortheir criticism of the gov- mentsinthe twomeetings, said, Article254(2)of theConstitution sweredquestions on the issue of air pollution on the platform. state-in-chargespresidedoverby marginal farmers, toiling labour- Onthegovernment’shandling ernment's handling of the pan- “Thenarrative wastofindaway to of India. The provision allows a Mostofthe discussion remainedrestricted to air pollution in her.This wasthe firstmeeting of ers and small shopkeepers are of the pandemic, Sonia said the demic in comparison to ensurethat twotypes of mandis statelaw to prevailoveraconflict- Delhi NCRand reiteration of the steps his Ministryhas taken. Congress general secretaries and under attack. It is our solemn countrywas pushedintothe neighbouring countries, the rul- (private and government) should ing central lawinsome circum- statein-chargesthat the party duty to join hands to defeat this “abyss”by “sheerineptitude”and ing BJP on Sundayalleged that notexistinthe state. The Centre’s stances. presidentchairedafteramajoror- sinisterconspiracy,” she said. “mismanagement”. the Opposition party’s leaders laws provide forsetting up of pri- TakingadigattheSAD,theCM ganisationalreshufflelastmonth. The Farmers’ Produce Trade The Congress president were demeaning the countryon vatemandis.Theministerswanted said the Congress wasnot “dou- Sonia said the BJP-leddis- and Commerce (Promotion and claimedthat the government international platforms. the CM to ensurethat alegislation blefaced”andhadaclearstandon Confident Khadse will pensation has attackedthe foun- Facilitation)Bill,2020,theFarmers has simultaneously“demol- Targeting Congress leader is brought through whichPunjab theissue.Hesaidcontrarytowhat dation of India’s agrarian econ- (Empowerment and Protection) ished” the economy. Rahul Gandhi, BJP spokesperson refuses to allowany private man- the BJP and itsleaders had been omybybringing in “three Agreementof PriceAssuranceand She also accusedthe govern- Sambit Patracalledhim “Rahul distobeset up in state.” claiming, Punjab wasnever con- remain with BJP: Patil anti-agricultureblacklaws”. Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the ment of failing to honour even its Lahori”and asked him if he Thesourceaddedthatthegov- sulted on farm legislations. “A conspiracy has been Essential Commodities Constitutional responsibilities, wanted to contestelections in hatchedtodefeat the gains of the (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were re- saying the shareofGST compen- Pakistan. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE greenrevolution.Lives and liveli- centlypassedbyParliament. sation is being deniedtostates. Patraalso criticisedCongress MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 MP Shashi Tharoor forhis re- UP govt will act against Chandrakant marks on the handling of the THERE WASintense speculation Patil pandemic, accusations of target- those who are threat to on SundayoverdisgruntledBJP Nath refers to BJP nominee ing of Muslims in the wake of the leader Eknath Khadse’s decision Tablighi Jamaat gathering and to cut offties with the party. his resignation to me, as Iamthe the treatment metedout to peo- women security: CM Media reports and Khadse’s in- president of the party in the as ‘item’, BJP complains to EC ple of the Northeastinavirtual teraction with NCPleaders, in- state,” he told mediapersons. addresstoLahoreThink Fest. cluding Home MinisterAnil “Moreover, Iamconfident aseat reserved forSCcandidates. Addressing reporters, Patra MAULSHREESETH Deshmukh in Jalgaon lastweek, that Eknath Khadse will notdo IRAMSIDDIQUE Soon afterNath made the re- said, “WeinBJP will startcalling LUCKNOW,OCTOBER18 forced stateBJP president anysuchthing,” he added. BHOPAL,OCTOBER18 mark, the BJP approachedthe him Rahul Lahori and hence- Yogi Chandrakant Patil to makea Khadse has been disgruntled Election Commission, calling the forthItoo will address Rahul FACINGHEAToverincidentsof Adityanath statement that he washopeful with the BJP afterhewas forced AMID THE campaigning forthe remarkaninsult to women as Gandhi as Rahul Lahori. Adebut crimes againstwomen in the that the senior leader would not to resign as aministerin2016on bypolls to 28 Assemblyseatsin well as the SC community. rallyfor him has already been state, Uttar Pradesh Chief leave the party. corruption charges. Madhya Pradesh, stateCongress Chief MinisterShivraj Singh done in PakistanbyTharoor.Are MinisterYogi Adityanath on tedondaughters of the village “I am confident that Eknath “I have notresignedfrom chief Kamal Nath on Sundaytrig- Chouhan calledNath’s comment yougoing to contestelection in Sundaysaid that his government within the village? This question Khadse, who is our senior leader, BJP,” he told the media on geredafurorebyreferring to BJP on Imarti Devi an insult of a Pakistan?” will soon launchaspecial drive poses achallengetoour society, will remain with the BJP.Anyone Sunday. He refusedtodivulgehis leader Imarti Devi as an “item”. daughter and sisterofthe He also alleged that the to take “legal action againstall and everyone has to acceptthis resigning from the party sends futureplans. The ruling BJP has lodged a Gwalior-Chambal region. Indian National Congress would those who areathreat to challenge),” Adityanath said. complaint with the Election Kamal Nath at arallyin Speaking at agathering at soon become PakistanNational women’s security or those in- Appreciating the effortsofa Commission over Nath’s remark, Gwalior district. PTI Gwalior region, he said, “Imarti Congress. “Theygiveaticket to dulging in corruption in welfare gram pradhan from Barabanki saying that it insulted the Devi has her rootsinGwalior and Jinnah’s supporter. Iwant to ask, schemes forwomen”. district who told the CM that a BJD MP accuses TV woman leader.The Congress Chambal and belongs to a whyisitnecessary? Whywould During awebinar on women special meeting is held every has, meanwhile, said Nath did item hai... kyaitemhai,” said Nath. Scheduledcaste.She has worked youcry about India in Lahore? security and empowerment, the week in her villagewheremen notname the BJP leader. “Suresh Raje and Iwill work hardand risen from being a We have no doubt that Rahul Chief Ministersaid society needs aresensitisedabout women’s is- channel reporters Addressing agathering in together forthe development of labourer to an MLAand then a Gandhi hates India,” said Patra. to acceptthe challengeofsafety sues, Adityanath said that such DabrainsupportofCongress Gwalior-Chambal region, we minister. Who gave youthe right Patra’s remarks came two of women. “Earlier,thereusedto movesshould be encouraged. candidateSuresh Raje, the for- will work forthe youth of this re- to insult aperson coming from a days afterUnion ministerand BJP beno suchincidentsastherewas He calledfor installing CCTV of harassing her mer CM said Raje is asimple gion and chalk out anew policy humble background?” Out of the MP from Begusarai Giriraj Singh abelief in the villagethat ‘gaon ki cameras and playing bhajans man who will carry out develop- forthe farmers,” he said. 28 seatsgoing to bypolls, 16 arein accusedtheCongressof fieldinga beti, sabki beti’(adaughter of the and patriotic songs everymorn- ment work “unlikeher…”. Imarti Devi, statecabinet the Gwalior-Chambal region. “sympathiser of Mohammad Ali villageiseveryone’s daughter). ing and evening on public ad- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE “Ye unke jaise nahi hai… kya ministerfor Women and Child Congress spokesperson Jinnah” in the Bihar polls — Aajhum log kahan ja rahe hain? dress systems in the villages. NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 hai uska naam”(He is notlikeher, Development, wasone of the 22 NarendraSalujaclaimedthatNath Congress’sJalecandidateMaskoor Kyun gaon ki beti ke sathgaon mein The Education Department what is her name),” Nath asked MLAs who resignedinMarch, has nottaken Imarti Devi’s name Usmani wasthe AMU students’ hi atyachar ho raha hai... yeh has been told to startapro- AGAINSTTHE backdrop of BJP Chandrani the crowdwhichrespondedby bringing down the Kamal Nath- in anyofthe speeches he made. union president when the cam- prashna ek sabhya samaj ke gramme to link “shiksha”(edu- vice-presidentBaijayantJayPanda Murmu saying BJP candidateImarti Devi’s ledgovernment in Madhya “He said ‘kyaitemhai ye’and did pus wascaught in acontroversy saamne ek challengehai aur is chu- cation) with “sanskar”(good cul- alleging an attackonfreedom of name. “You knowher better than Pradesh. She subsequently nottakeImarti Devi’s name. It is overaportraitof Jinnahatthestu- nauti ko hum sabko sweekarkarna ture) as partofthe Mission expression afterOdisha police Ido, youpeople should have joinedthe BJP and is nowaparty theBJPwhoisaddingImartiDevi’s dents’ union office whereithas hoga (Whereare we going today? Shakti campaign that was questionedareporterofOTV,a when the police questionedthe warnedmebeforehand... ye kya candidatefor the bypoll in Dabra, name and insulting her,” he said. been hanging fordecades. Whyatrocitiesarebeing commit- launchedonSaturday, he said. channel ownedbyhis family, BJD perpetrator of the crime OTVre- MP Chandrani Murmu has justi- porterRamesh Rath yesterday fied the police action. (October15),OTVandtheirown- The journalist, Ramesh Rath, ers Jagi Panda and JayPanda are Indian, Chinese officials attend SCO yoga event wasquestionedand his mobile tryingto save himby claimingthat phone seizedinconnection with this is an attackonOTV and its acaserelatedto theallegedcircu- journalists by the government.” ForeignCountries(CPAFFC)chair- virtual, officials said. contributionto strengtheningcul- lation of amorphedvideo of Panda had earlier allegedthat PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA man Lin Songtian, and Deputy Addressing the gathering on tural cooperation among SCO Murmuwhenshewascontesting the police action wasprompted BEIJING,OCTOBER18 Chairman of SCOCommittee for Sunday, Misrisaid,“Indiaisanew countries. Ihavebeen greatlyim- the general election. by anews reportagainstthe gov- GoodNeighbourliness,Friendship member of the SCObut our asso- pressedwith the fervour with In avideo message, thetribal ernment. In aseries of tweets he SENIOROFFICIALSfromIndiaand and Cooperation Cui Li attended ciation with the countries of the whichChinese people across the MP from Keonjhar said, “I am an hadstated,“Seriousallegationsby China as well as diplomatsfrom the event. SCOFamilydates backcenturies countrypractice yoga,” he said. unmarriedtribal lady and the activists (with RTIaccessedavia- variouscountriesonSundaytook Diplomatsfromall the SCO and even millennia in some In his address, Norovsaid de- youngestMPinIndia who has tion documents) that Odisha CM part in ayogaevent organisedby countries,includingPakistan,took cases.”HesaidIndiahasassumed spitethe pandemic affecting the been mentallyharassedand tor- Naveen Patnaik fakedanAugust the Shanghai Cooperation partinthe cultural eventswhich the Chairmanship of the SCO activities of the SCO, under the tured by OTVreporters and oth- 31 helicopteraerial survey of Organisation (SCO), whichisalso includedademonstration of Council of Heads of Government presidencyof Russia,alot of work ers who viraledamorphed, ob- floodeddistricts….Reporterwho settoholdkeymeetingsof thetop Chinese martial artTai Chi and this year and is hosting the meet- has been done to implement the scene video of mine, with the brokenews…arrested…” leaders of the eight-member cultural eventsofmember coun- ing of SCOpremiers next month. plans and priorities that were maliciousintentto defame,harass Inanofficialstatement,Odisha group. tries besides yoga. “Weare playingaconstructive identifiedfor this year.“In the ab- and mentallytortureme.” policehave deniedtheallegations The SCOcomprises The SCOeventsare assuming roleinenrichingtheagendaof the sence of regular face-to-face Accusing Panda of interfering and said their probeislegitimate. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, significanceasthevirtualsummit SCOand manyinitiativespro- meetings, the Organisation’s ac- inthepoliceinvestigation,Murmu “Police arrestedthree persons in- China,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan,India of the SCOHeads of the Statebe- posedbyIndiainthefieldsof eco- tivitiesquicklyadaptedtothenew said,“Afterthistragicincident,the cluding OTVreporterSimanchal and Pakistan. ing hostedbyRussia is scheduled SCOSecretary-General Vladimir Norov, in Beijing. PTI nomics and trade, start-ups, realities with the use of newfor- police during investigation ar- Patra...SimanchalPatrahasstated Indian Ambassador to China to be held on November 10 in health care, S&T and culturehave matsand platforms of work,im- rested ajunior reporterofOTV that it wasunder instructions of Vikram Misri along with SCO whichPrime MinisterNarendra been supportedbySCO mem- portant meetings at the levelof alongwithothers.TheOTVjunior his then boss Mr Ramesh Rath Secretary-General Vladimir Modi and Chinese President Xi Heads of the Government being Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is bers,” Misri said. “Today’s event is Ministers and heads of keyagen- reporternamedRamesh Rath as that he forwardedthe obscene Norov, Chinese People's Jinping is settotakepart. hostedbyIndia whichisplanned scheduledtotakepart. It is yetto yetanother indication of yoga’s cies and departmentswereheld the perpetrator of the crime. But video.” Association forFriendship with It will be followedbythe SCO to be held on November 30. be decidedifthe meeting will be global appeal. It is apartofIndia's in online format,” he said. Kolkata

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12 THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 IDEA EXCHANGE Newsmakersinthe Newsroom NANDAN NILEKANI, FORMERCHAIRMANOFTHE UNIQUE IDENTIFICATIONAUTHORITY OF INDIA (UIDAI) ‘ The challenge is we don’t have adult vaccination system... Must builditfrom scratch for Covid-19

Nilekani explains his three-phase Covid -19vaccination process, says he doesn'tsee an advertisingglobal giant likeFacebook,Google coming out of India, asserts Indian IT is mor‘ethan “back-end”, and believestechnology will become partofglobal geo-politics.The session wasmoderated by Executive Editor(National Affairs) PVaidyanathan Iyer

PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: What are up whenevertheywant... It is averypow- that Google hastoo muchpower, some of the gaps in our system that erful thing and obviouslyall the necessary Facebookhas toomuchpower. What needtobeplugged before the Covid- safeguards on privacy,security,encryp- is your opinion on this? 19 vaccine arrives? tion needtobefollowed. My viewisthat we have to use tech-

Ican speak forwhat Iamproposing. I nologytohandletechnology.And in some think the vaccination is going to be ahuge PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: The Indian IT sense what we have done in India is ex- mission. We developedthe Aadhaar en- Industryisatleast four decades old, actlythatbycreatinganeutral ID… like rolment system to do one-and-a-half mil- but we areyet to see aFacebook or a Aadhaar or aUPI platform, whichallows lion enrolmentsaday, andittook five- Google come out of India. In fact, multiple big tech companies and banksto and-a-half years forIndiatoreachabillion someofthe big initiativessuchas participate. We have to democratise ac- people with an Aadhaarnumber.Here, we WHY Aadhaar have been backedbythe cess to identity and payments. Similarly, have to vaccinate theentire population in government. Is it with the account ag- twoyears, whichmeans we have to reach NANDAN NILEKANI because the Indian gregator approach We must divide things. ‘ 1.3billion people in twoyears, and assum- sIndia,and the privatesector is whichempowers ing that it is adual dosevaccine, that’s 2.6 risk-averse? Government funding for people with their billion vaccinations, or 1.3billion vaccina- world,await a If youlook at owndatawhether tions ayear.That’s morethan a100million A Facebook and Google, the vulnerable,private it’s to getloans for credible Covid-19 vaccinations amonth and morethan the bulk of their rev- sector funding fortheir lending or for three million aday.So, this is ascalechal- vaccine,Nilekani has enue is advertising. healthcarerecords, lengethat is unprecedented in our history, The US is afew hun- staff, and philanthropic we have democra- andtherefore, thinking through the infra- proposed amassive digital dred billion dollar ad- ‘ tiseddatafor every- structureand architectureofdoing that is vertising market. funding forthe rest body. very important. Whichiswhy Ihavebeen platform on the lines of the India is justa$10 bil- recommending that we shoulddesign a Aadhaar model to ensure lion advertisingmar- PRANAV MUKUL: A system that can do 10 million vaccinations ket,ofwhichdigital lotofplayers in the aday across the length and breadth of the the administration of the advertising is about $3 billion. Youcan’t industryare trying to look at country, but all unifiedbyacommon dig- vaccine to 1.3bnIndians. build aglobal companyonthose kind of population scale problems in the ital backbone, so thatevery person gets revenues. We should look at the context. If education andhealth sectors. But the same experience and the same infor- TheInfosys co-founder and youwant to build aglobal company, you withoutadataprotection framework, mation is recorded. It is basicallybringing architectofAadhaar needadomestic market on whichyou is thereuncertaintyoverthese population scale approachthat we used build scale and then go out. Chinese com- projects? in Aadhaar to anew issue (vaccination) believes the cost of setting panies suchasAlibaba and Tencent have Laws evolve as thingshappen. If you whichis, in fact, muchmorecomplicated. look at the Aadhaar story, todaywehave up the infrastructure forthe aprivacy framework because of Aadhaar. PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: Giventhe system will be well worth it We beganAadhaar in 2009. In 2010,I stateofour public health wrotetothen prime ministerManmohan infrastructure, whichthe Singh saying we needadataprotection government has triedtorampupin and privacy law. And then multiple ver- the pastsix months because of the sions of that lawhappenedand then pandemic,will therebeaneedfor therewas theSupreme Court judg- private sector participation on alarge ment whichsaid that Indians have scale forthe vaccinationmodel that afundamental right to privacy youare proposing? but it could be constrainedin Firstofall, India has aterrificrecordin certain situations. Then the vaccination forchildren and pregnant Aadhaar lawwas tested mothers.Wehaveachild immunisation againstthat. So that’s how programme, we have doneagreat job societies evolve. with polio, but we have reallynoexperi- Ithink we areready for ence of adult vaccinationand that is the adataprotection law. And bulk of what we have to do with the Idoknowthat thereisa Covid-19vaccination. In America, forex- lawinParliament. Idon’t ample, flu vaccines areverycommon. knowits status. Ithink About half thepopulation of the US takes we needsomethinglike aflu vaccine everyyear.Theyhave330 that as we dependmore million people and theydoabout 165mil- on technology and data. lion fluvaccinations, andthis year theyare planning 200million flu vaccinations. SANDEEP SINGH: On Theydoitthrough offices, pharmacies or the vaccination doctors. So, theyalready have infrastruc- model that youhave turefor adult vaccination at scale. So for proposed, howdoyou them to roll out aCovid-19vaccine on top see the preparednessof of that is notsodifficult. states on that? Our challengeiswedon’t have an adult Well Iamonlysuggesting thedigital vaccination system at all. We will have to infrastructure.The states can usethat, builditfromscratch. If youload the Covid- and so can other marketplayers. So the 19 vaccination on our existing infrastruc- vaccination could be done by state ture, notonlywill it be ahugeoverload, it governments, or it can be done by will end up at apoint whereababyisnot private hospitals, corporates, getting immunisedbecause people re- philanthropists or anybody else. The sponsible forithavebeendiverted key thing is whoeverdoes it, it mustbe forCovid-19. My recommendationisthat Illustration: Suvajit Dey doneinthe same way. It’s making sure we build acompletely newvaccination thatthereisanidentical approach. channel with 200,000people whodovac- cinations. Some of the current people can digitalcertificatethe firsttime, and after CSR etc. We have to think through the ginning, and it is adual dose vaccine, that’s done this... Our niche in India has been the PVAIDYANATHAN IYER:Asadigital alsoparticipate butwewill have to invest threeweeksorwhatever is thetime dura- three models. $10per person. Thatmeans$13 billion for creation of public infrastructure, whether player, and as someone who believes in creating anew infrastructure forvacci- tion, yousend areminder by email or Thereare going to be three phases for vaccinating the whole population which it is Aadhaar,UPI, account aggregator, in democratisation of platforms for nation at scale. message forthatpersontocome and get the vaccine.The firstphase is that therewill will be funded by thegovernment, the pri- FASTag... Theyare all great examples of pop- largerpublic good, what do youmake the vaccine, and then give them a beavaccine shortage. Iassumeit wouldbe vate sectorand philanthropy... It is notgo- ulation-scaleinfrastructure whichhave of suchplatforms being weaponised PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: So can you final certificate. in thefirsthalf of 2021. At thispointthegov- ing to be thatexpensive.Given thatweare global replicability.But Idon’t seehow you forspreading hate? What can summarise your proposal forus? If the immunisationisgoingtobelim- ernment will rightfullysay that we will al- looking forlifetoreturn to normal, the can build an advertising global giant from governmentsand tech companies do

My suggestion is that we createaplat- ited,because we don’tknowhow long is locate thevaccine basedonpriority forpeo- costwill be well worthit. But it is nota India. aboutit? form to do eight-10million vaccinations a the immunity of these vaccines, six plewhoarevulnerable,old,healthworkers, costissue at all. The technology will costa The rootsofitgobacktothe fact daybyauthorised vaccinators. We will months or twoyears, then youalso need the police... In the second phase youwill fewhundred crores at best. ANIL SASI: TheIndian IT industryhas that the Internetcompanies did not have atraining system to train 200,000 to sendaremindertothat person at the have vaccine adequacy,whichmeans you had remarkable success since have anyconsequential liability for

peoplewho will knowhow to vaccinate, endofthat period to come backand get can start bringing in the private sector to PVAIDYANTHAN IYER:Doyou see a liberalisation, but in 30 years most what is on their platform because of explain to people the side-effects, they their vaccine refreshed. All this requires startvaccinating. And, in thethird phase, shiftinthe global delivery models companies, notjustInfosys, have Section 230ofthe Communication will knowhow to sophisticated tech- by 2022Ibelieve,wewillhaveavaccine postthe been restricted to Decency Actof1996 in the US which makepeople com- nology because surplus... And whatever we design, should pandemic? back-endIT essentially saidthat theywould notbe fortable with the things have to be be designedfor this kind of situation. Also, Thereare two support. Does the liable. In the US, theyare nowlooking ‘ My recommendationiswe ‘ We have to usetechnology vaccination. Only done foroverabillion what Iamproposing is avaccine-agnostic thingsthat aregoing lackofconsumer- at whether theyneedtodosomething certifiedvaccinators build acompletely new people. system, that is Iamnot anticipating which to happen. One is that to handle technology... We end interfaceput about it and bring in some kind of can participatein vaccine will work. mostcompanies are the kind of liabilitiesand perhaps we have to this. Therewillbea infrastructure with 200,000 PVAIDYANATHAN localising, which have done that in India by products that we think about aframework where networkofpublic people forvaccination at IYER: The costof PVAIDYANATHAN IYER:Has the means theyare hiring creating Aadhaar,UPI... We have on offerat people areresponsible forthe content and private vaccina- vaccination forthe government been in touchwith you local people. You the risk of being on their platforms… Thereisadelicate tion centres. So it scale. Some of thecurrent poor will have to be about taking the proposal forward? would have noticed have to democratise access takenoverby issue between free speech, censorship could be govern- ‘ borne by the Also,iflikeAadhaaryou aregiven the recentlyInfosysan- ‘ Artificial and making surethat we don’t have ment-sponsored, or peoplecan participate government. In opportunitytotakecharge of this nouncedthat they to identity andpayments Intelligence, bad stuffonthe Net. Ithink we needto it could be ahospital suchascenario, project, will youdothat? aregoing to hire machine learning have somerules. Nowwhether the or acorporateora howwill private Idid makeapresentation to aset of 12,000 morepeople and other rules that arebeingproposedare the pharmacy,itdoesn’t players linked with senior officials and theyappreciated the in the US in the next advanced systems right ones, Idon’t know. matter,but all of them use thesame ap- theproject getremuneration? ideas, and hopefullytheywill implement two-three years, on topofthe 13,000they in thefuture? plication technology.There willbeanapp Obviously, alarge partofthe popula- whatever theyfeel is fit. have hired already.Solocal hiringisgoing The IT Industrydoes very,verysophis- RAVISH TIWARI: India’s ban on several on aPCorasmartphone, and one can take tion will have to be vaccinated by the gov- Iamhappy, IaminBengaluru, Iamnot to be abig thing. Secondly, thereisgoing ticated globaltransformation work,and Chinese apps has fragmentedthe an appointment forvaccination. Iwill give ernment.Itwill be afreevaccine or cov- looking forajob actually... Thereare to be alot of offshoring happening at the it has become a$190billion dollar indus- Internet. Howdoyou see it? my name, do an Aadhaar authentication... ered by something likeanAyushman enough people who actuallyworkedwith same time. So therewill be acombination trybasedonthat work.Ithink we should With the Internetbecomingsuchan The name of the person,the name of the Bharat insurance scheme. Today, thereare me on Aadhaaringovernment, who are of moreoffshoring and local hiring. nottrivialise that. It is notjustback-end. integral partofevery society,the old vaccinator,which vaccine wasused, what 100million families,about 500million nowatSecretarylevel,and perhaps they Also, Indiahas built aB2B business. It is model where therewas oneInternetfor time, date, location, will be recorded. The peoplecovered by AyushmanBharat,so could be ropedinfor this. NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN:The notaB2C business. Yes, automation and the whole worldisnow under threat. information could then be sent in real technicallyall those people could be eligi- Health ID that is goingtoberolledout Artificial Intelligence aregoingtodramat- And Ithink youwillsee moreofthis time to acloud location, and it will send ble forfreevaccine from the government. PRABHA RAGHAVAN: Forthe next year will be modelledonthe icallychange the industry, but Indian IT wherecountrieschoosetohavetheir backadigital certificatetome, saying that Butthe private companiesshould payfor infrastructurethat youare proposing, Aadhaar card, and thereare some will respond to that challenge. Even with ownrules…Weare going to seethe Ihavebeenvaccinated.Because in the theirown employees. Idon’t see whythe what sortofinvestment would be concerns about privacy.Does it AI and automation, youstill needtodoa ‘splinternet’, whereevery countryhas Covid-19vaccine system, it is notonlyim- government shouldfund that... We will required? duplicatesome of what Aadhaar is, lotofother things.You need to be con- adifferent system. This is inevitable. portant that Iamvaccinated,itisalso im- have to divide things.Governmentfund- It is notgoing to costthat much. Look, and is it necessary? stantlymorphing yourself to address new The Chinese, forexample, did notallow portant that youknowthat Iamvacci- ing forthe vulnerable and those already everymonth that we don’t come back to Ithink the proposal is to have aUnique opportunities in the global market. US companies to participateintheir nated.The digital certificatecan then be coveredbygovernmentinsurance pro- normal, the economyistaking ahit of Digital Health ID, and that is different from economy, and nowthe Americansare shown at ajob interview, airport, railway grammes, private sector funding fortheir hundredsofthousands of crores. The Aadhaar.Itisfor electronic healthrecords. SUNIL JAIN: AUSHouse panelreport retaliating… Technology has become so station, bus stand etc. If it is atwo-dose employees and associates, and perhaps biggestcostactuallywill be the vaccines The whole idea will be to have electronic hassuggestedthatbig technology criticaltonations that it is goingto vaccine, then yougenerateaprovisional philanthropic funding forthe rest from themselves. Vaccines cost$3-5 in the be- health records whichthe personcan pull companies have to be broken up — become partofglobal geo-politics.

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Institute of Cost Accountants of India

he Institute of CostAccountantsofIn- countants increasingly contribute towards mentaccounting body in the worldand the dia is astatutory body set up under an the management of scarce resources like largest in Asia, having more than 5,00,000 Act of Parliament in the year 1959. funds, landand apply strategic decisions.This students and 85,000 membersall across the TTheInstituteasapart of its obligation, has opened up furtherscope and tremen- globe.The Institute operates through four re- regulates the profession of Cost and Man- dousopportunities for Cost Accountantsin gionalcouncilsatKolkata, Delhi, Mumbai agementAccountancy, enrols students forits India and abroad. With the current empha- and Chennaiand 108Chapters situated at courses,provides coaching facilities to the sis on management of resources,the spe- important cities in the country as well as 10 students,organises professionaldevelop- cialised knowledgeofevaluating operating OverseasCentres headquarteredatKolkata. efficiencyand It is underthe administrative control of the strategicmanage- Ministry of CorporateAffairs,Government of ment, the profes- India. sionals are known As along term vision of theinstitute and as “'Cost and professionalsocialresponsibilitytowards the Management Ac- society,the instituteneedstoensurethat the countants students pursuing CMA Courseshould pos- (CMAs)'”. sess and acquire robust employability skills to TheInstitute is cope with the global challenges and become the second largest afuture-ready professional.Hence,the insti- cost&manage- tute has introducedSAP Finance Power User Programme,Microsoft Certification Pro- mentprogrammes for the members andun- gramme, Cambridge UniversityCertifica- dertakes research programmes in the field of tion Programmeand E-Filing as abou- Cost and ManagementAccountancy.The In- quet of World Class Employability and stitute pursues the vision of cost competi- Techno-SkillTraining facilities for its inter- tiveness,cost management,efficient use of mediate students fromAugust 2020 resources and structured approach to cost Batch onwards.Withthese revolutionary accountingasthe keydrivers of the profes- steps coupledwiththe introduction of on- sion.In today'sworld,the professionofcon- line examination facility for the students ventional accounting and auditing hastaken the institute is now really goingglobal. aback seat and cost and managementac- The Civil Services as acareer option

ivil Servants are the back reer.Ifyou or anybodyyou know ever room boys,the pillars of plan on pursuing acareer in the gov- the administration, imple- ernment services,you should definitely menting government and aspire for the top three services namely developmental policies, IAS,IPS and IFS as these serviceshold Censuring law and order, within theirfold the vast scope to use and act as alink between the masses bestowed power to bring about devel- and the government. They hold power opmentinthe society.Also,these ser- responsibly and are immensely re- vices are much sought after as they are spected for the job they do.Inaddition to symbols of great power,social recogni- this,they are handsomely paid, pro- tion and affluence.But one needs vided comfortable living quarters and proper guidanceand mentoring. Alot caretakers,tofocus on the task of gov- of excellent IAS coaching centres groom ernance.These are all factors that have aspiring civilians with dedicated faculty. led the new generation of ambitious But self confidence,discipline and hard youth to become interested in acareer in work are also essential.The point here government services. is that with alittle self-application and Getting into the civil services is agruel- dedication you could absolutely find ing task. Themotivation to succeed yourselfinthe covetedservice that is must be very strong indeed; foritisnot both respective and beneficiary in na- an easy task by any measure to scale people who appears for the exam, the ture.Sodon’t hesitate, go pursue your the stages of getting selectedfor Indian mains are held later and the personal dream, join as acivil servant and serve government service.The selectedcan- interview,the final stage,decides on the the country with pride. didatesgothroughademandingselec- eligible candidates.Despite the process tion process.The preliminary exam is being so stringent,people try hard and --Dr Prithwiraj Biswas the first stage of filtering out most of the try many times to enter this covetedca- AssociateProfessor&HOD, Dept. of History Educrat IAS Academy: Shaping lives

career in CivilServices gives mierInstitute for Civil Services strives to sim- especially students preparing for competi- one the opportunity to par- plify the preparation process for aspirants. tive examinations.Insuch critical times,the ticipate in governance and TheAcademy has produced Civil Servants Academy,throughits online classes has con- makeimportant policy deci- from Bengal, year after year through its sci- tinued to maintain themomentum of prepa- sionsfor the country. There is entificclass modules incorporating inte- ration of the students.EducratIASAcademy Aimmense prestige and power gratedpreparation strategies. Regular read- with itsteamofsubjectexperts from Delhi attached to the servicesand one travels the ing of syllabus,command over basic NCERTs, is trying to bring online guidancetothe lengths and breadths of the country meeting interlinking of conventionalsubjectswith doorstep of every studentofEasternIndia. different typesofpeopleoften listening to daily current affairs and regular practice of Featureslikeregular onlineclassesand their problems and come up with solutions past years’questionpapersare the four-pil- newspaper discussions, daily current affairs to resolve those problems.Entriestothese lars of astrong UPSCCSE preparation. This MCQs practice,weeklyonline prelims mock are based on oneofthe toughest examscon- is to be followedbymultiple revision of lim- test, online mains answer writing practice ductedbythe Union Public Service Commis- ited and relevant study material as thatisthe and evaluation have made students enjoy an sion. core mantratoace this examination. offline classroom experience even in an on- Educrat IAS Academy,Eastern India’s Pre- TheCovid-19 pandemic has hit our lives hard line environment.

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EXPLAINED GLOBAL Trump vs Biden:how it affects the world

Howdothe twocandidates forthe WhiteHouse see theworld and the issues of shared global concern —and howdoothercountries of theworld seethe US under Trump? Howshould the rivalrybetween China and Americainvarious spheres be understood?This is Part 2ofathree-partweeklyseries on theUSPresidential election.

guablythe biggest challengewefacefrom ON TRADE,Biden will bring greater con- SURVEY:WORLDLOOKSUPTOU.S.,NOTTRUMP another nation state.” sistency of policy and morecooperation with In sum, whether it is aRepublican admin- other countries. But the persistence of struc- istration or aDemocratic one, we arelooking turaltensions in international trade will pre- TRUMP’SMAJORFOREIGN POLICIES ARE UNPOPULARGLOBALLY at aperiod of profound uncertainty,econom- vent an early reversal of Trumpian unilater- %whoapprove/disapprove ofeachpolicyofUSPresidentTrump ■ Approve ■ Disapprove icallyand strategically.What, however, is re- alism. First, the relative free-trader Biden is RACE FOR vealedbymosteconomic models is that given perhaps moredeeplycommitted than USincreasingtariffsorfeesonimportedgoodsfromotherscountries 18% 68% the hugecosts of economicdecoupling,itis Trumptoreversing the decline of American THE WHITE USwithdrawalfrominternationalclimatechangeagreements 14% 66% unlikelythatmostsupplychains (built on ex- industryand the working class —recall the HOUSE tremelycompetitive Chinese manufacturing Biden-Obama bailout of the American car in- BuildingawallontheborderbetweentheUSandMexico 24% 60% capacities) will beable to transitionout of the dustryduringthe great recession. Biden too AllowingfewerimmigrantsintotheUS 34% 55% mainland even within the lifeofthe next has a“Made in America” plan, although he Presidency,inany significant manner. mayrelymoreonsubsidies and preferential USwithdrawalfromtheIrannuclearweaponsagreement 29% 52% Thedangeristhatthisrivalry, this“newcold procurement than on tariffs. America First—and oftenalone —aimedat USnegotiationswithNorthKoreanleaderKimJongUnabout 41% 36% war”, is built on two“myths”: agrowing per- Second, DemocratsshareRepublican providing aquick unilateral fixtodeep and thecountry’snuclearweaponsprogramme ception that American domination is in deep concerns about the Chinese threat and the EXPERT complexproblems that needconsidered decline, and that China has arrivedasachal- perception of China's recourse to unfair trade global solutions. Note:%aremedians based on 33 countries.Don’t knowresponsesnot shown. lenger. Itispreciselythesekindsof mispercep- practices —ranging from stealthyprotection, EXPLAINS The lastfour years have,for instance, wit- tionsthathave historically statesupportand indus- nessedanAmerican unilateral withdrawal UK Netherlands Germany CzechRep. Sweden ledtomajorwarsinthein- trial espionage— which Amitabh Mattoo from the Paris climateaccord, Iran nuclear US IMAGEIS 57 46 39 50 45 ternational system. maymakethe reversal of deal,Intermediate-RangeNuclear Forces Domination or hege- THEEXPERT Trump's tariffs on China FromThe Indian Express panel Treaty,UNESCO, UN HumanRightsCouncil, GENERALLY monyherereferstothe PROFESSORAMITABH difficult unless China un- ofspecialists,exclusive insight Lithuania WorldHealth Organization (WHO), Open FAVOURABLE 70 overwhelming capacity MATTOO is one of India’s dertakessignificant re- Skies Treaty,and Trans-Pacific Partnership that wasenjoyedbythe leading specialists on for- forms. PART2 GLOBALLY, WITH Poland (TPP), and aweakening of many multilateral France 79 US through the first eign policy.Heisa Third, even with allies institutions and relationships with long- SOME EXCEPTIONS 48 decade afterthe end of Professor at the School of likethe EU,long festering In the lastfour years,PresidentDonald standing allies, including those in Europe. Ukraine the ColdWar to shapethe International Studies, disputes, suchasthe one Trumphas reviewedand, manyargue, All of this has happenedatatime when %whohaveafavourable Italy 73 international system Jawaharlal Nehru on subsidiestoAirbus irretrievablyweakenedthe the worldneeds muchgreater global robust- opinionoftheUS 62 Bulgaria through acombination of University,and Honorary and Boeing, will notbe international commitmentsofthe nessfromacalmer United States, andindeed 57 sanctions, incentives, and Professor at the Faculty of easilyresolvedwithout United States.Under thecircumstances, manymoremultilateral arrangements even softpower. Arts,University of greater mutual accept- 020406080100 should the American elections matter to (whichare backedbyWashington’slong- Spain Slovakia Hungary Greece Turkey Whilethe US maynot Melbourne. He has spent ance, if notgreater mu- the world, when the US itself seems to be term commitment) on arange of critical is- 52 54 66 54 20 enjoythe same degree of severalsemesters as tual concessions. turning inwards? sues from climatechange to arms control, to unfetteredinfluence, its Visiting Professor at the Finally, theweakening In manyways, theUSelectionsmatter trade negotiations to thefightagainstCovid- decline seems to be vastly University of NotreDame of the WTObythe Trump muchmorethan perhaps at anytimesince 19.With Joe Biden,werehetobeelected,we Israel Lebanon exaggerated —and often at SouthBend, Indiana. administration,especially WorldWar II. With just over twoweekstogo, couldsee aslowreturn of the US to itsmore 83 39 so by China’sdecision by underminingits dis- andwiththemostrancorouscampaignincon- engaged, multilateral posture, but it would makers.Remember that NEXTMONDAY,OCT26: putesettlement mecha- temporaryhistory,the electionsare gripping take afull term (and more) before we could on almostevery measur- Part3:Whytheelection nism, toohas itsroots in globalattention.We could,asaconsequenceof expect areturntostatus quoante,after the Russia able index, the US, as an matterstoIndia durable US aversion to the result, see agradual renewalofthe inscrutable ferocity of the Trumpyears. 29 economic or military or multilateraldisciplines American global imprimatur,oraspeedy era- Japan technological power, is and the perceivedover- sureofWashington’sinternational footprint. Areweonthe cusp of anew cold war, Canada 68 ahead of China,and is reachbythe WTO 51 India The “promise” of four moreyears of and could we witness astrategic 60 SouthKorea likelytoremain the leader Appellatebody. Trumpisone of the US retreating intoaniso- decoupling between China and the US? Mexico 77 until about 2050. In all these areas, lationistshell, and becoming even less en- HowwouldaTrumporaBiden 36 On the contrary, the Biden mayfind it hardto gagedinternationally. TheUScould also be- administration respond to amore Philippines weaknesses of China are rapidlyroll backTrump’s Brazil Tunisia 80 come moreprotectionist, opportunistic, and belligerent Beijing? 33 Kenya Indonesia oftenunderestimated.In measures and abandon unilateralist in theadvancement of itsnar- The Americanfinancierand advisor to 56 60 42 the erratic behaviour dis- his tactics. But he is likely rowself-interest. Notsurprisingly,Trump’s severalPresidents, BernardBaruch, coined Argentina Nigeria SouthAfrica Australia playedbyXiJinping, Read Part 1ofthis series online to favour agentler, nego- leadership invites very lowlevels of global the term “cold war” to describethe tensions 41 62 50 50 China’s mostauthoritar- https://bit.ly/31e12ir tiated routetoresolution support. The ironyisthat this would happen between the United States and SovietUnion ian leader since Mao, we thatismoreconducive to at atime when the worldneeds amoreglob- afterWorld WarII. But the present-day in- find the abandonmentof building alliances and allyengaged America. ternational system hardlymimics that pe- Deng'sprudent 24-character strategy, preserving institutions. Isolationism is notanew tendency in it- riod;eventhe most parsimonious analysis TRUMP GETS MOST NEGATIVE MARKSAMONG 5 WORLDLEADERS "Conceal your strengths, bide your time". ON CLIMATE CHANGE,acollective action self —the narrative of isolationism is partof would reveal the complexlevelsofinterde- On present evidence, Xi believesthat problemthatneedsimmediateattention,thedif- any101 course on Americanhistory;from pendence that continue to existbetween %whohaveconfidence/noconfidenceineachleadertodotherightthingregardingworldaffairs China’s time has come, and that it needs to ferences between Biden and Trumpseem stark. thefarewell address by George Washington, China and the US. But while the SovietUnion assertitself across the continent and in the BidenwantstoreturntotheParisclimateaccord in September 1976 (“It is our true policy to andthe US neverusedforce againsteach ■ Confidence ■ NoConfidence ■ Don’tknow oceans. China no longer seems sensitive to and move toward netzerocarbon emissions by steer clear of permanent alliance with any other directly, on presentevidence there is a AngelaMerkel 46 29 12 itsreputation being scarredasaWolf 2050, with the interim objective of decarbonis- portion of the foreign world.”) to the7th real possibilityofaclash between Beijingand EmmanuelMarcon 41 36 19 Warrior.The Chinese leadership is ostensi- ing the powersector by 2035. Biden also wants President Andrew Jackson (letthe worldbe, Washington in the Indo-Pacific —today, the blynot recognising deep internal weak- toinvest$2trillioningreenareas,includinginfra- but respond with overwhelming forcetoa centreofeconomic gravity as well as the cra- VladimirPutin 33 57 8 nesses as impedimentstoChina’s assertive- structure, transportation and auto industries, threat), thereisamixed legacy of quarantin- dle of primordial instincts. DonaldTrump 29 64 7 ness externally. An erraticand impetuous Xi, housing and construction practices, naturecon- ing the US from the outside world. What is clear is that American domina- XiJinping 28 43 23 facedwith an impulsive andequallyerratic servationefforts,andworkinenvironmentaljus- It wasthis strand of thinking that pre- tion is being seriouslychallenged,for thefirst Trump, could potentiallygotowar basedon tice, creating one million jobs in the process. vented Woodrow Wilson’s internationalism time since 1990, by another state, China. This Note: Lithuania is excluded from the confidence-in-Donald-Trump calculation due to a processing misperceptions. In contrast, Biden maygive Trumphas emphasisedclean waterand from sustaining itself, and America’sfailure is firmlyand finally the end of the“Endof error. Percentages for confidence in Donald Trump are medians based on 32 countries. All other negotiations and diplomatic engagement a airashis goals and earmarked$38 billion to- to join the League of Nations afterWorld War History”thesis. And China’s assertion is one good chance to arrive at apeacefuloutcome wards“clean waterinfrastructure”. The percentages are medians based on 33 countries. I. Trumphas, of course, customisedisolation- issue on whichBiden and Trumpare closer in even on issues thatseem zerosum. President has remained asceptic on climate Source for all data: Spring 2019 Global Attitudes Survey ism in his ownimage: acombination of vic- their views than is oftenrecognised. While change, and his administration wantsgreater “Trump Ratings Remain Low Around Globe, while views of US stay mostly favorable” timhood, exceptionalism and entitlement; Trumphas publicly beratedBeijing, Biden’s HowdoBiden andTrumpdifferon US production of oil and natural gas. blaming theoutside worldfor all the ills of aide Anthony Blinken hasexplicitlystated: (Pew Research Center) pressingglobal issues liketrade and the unique United States; and his slogan of “China posesagrowing challenge.It’sar- climatechange? RESEARCHASSISTANCE:POOJAARORA Why Delhi air pollution rises in Oct

burning. Over the years, the System of Air MALLICAJOSHI Quality and Weather Forecasting and NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 Research (SAFAR) has developedasystemto calculatethe contribution of stubble burn- EVERY YEAR in October,Delhi’sair quality ing to Delhi’s pollution. starts to dip and awar of wordsbreaksout Lastyear,during peak stubbleburning in- among various governments. cidents, itscontribution rose to 40%.Overthe On October 15,when the Air Quality Index last oneweek,itslowlyrosefromaround 2% (AQI) touchedverypoor forthe firsttime this on Tuesdayto22% on Saturday,when the AQI CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD season, UnionEnvironment MinisterPrakash waspoor.The dayair quality wasinthe very Javadekar said the contribution of stubble poor category,stubble burning’s sharewas at burning wasonly4%that day. In response, 4%,indicating thatavariety of otherfactors, Coronavirus‘molecularscissor’ Delhi ChiefMinister ArvindKejriwal asked if too, areresponsible forthe dip in quality. stubbleburning wasnot the cause, then why The stubbleburning seasonisaround 45 air pollution had risen in the city over thepast days long. Air in Delhi, however, remains pol- as atarget of Covid-19 drugs fewdays.Since then, the contribution of stub- luted till February. ble burning to Delhi’s pollution has risen to IN THE novelcoronavirus, cules, calledVIR250 and 22%onSaturday and 17%onSunday. DelhiOctober haze is theresult of manyfactors, someofthem natural. Tashi Tobgyal What arethe other big sourcesofpoor an enzyme calledSARS- VIR251, areveryefficient Air pollution in Delhi and the entireIndo- air quality in winter? CoV-2-PLprofacilitates at blocking the activity of Gangetic Plains is acomplexphenomenon, Dustand vehicularpollutionare the two infection by processing SARS-CoV-2-PLpro, yet dependent on avariety of factors. The firstis storm that originated in Iraq,Saudi Arabia getrid of paddystubble quicklyand at low biggestcauses. Cold, dryweather means dust both viral and human do notcross-react with the input of pollutants, followedbyweather and Kuwait ledtoadrastic dip in Delhi’sair cost.The practicehas becomemorewide- isprevalentintheentireregion,whichhasvery proteins. It stimulates the human enzymes with a and localconditions. quality in acouple of days. spread since 2009, when the governments fewrainy days betweenOctoberandJune.The release of proteins that similar function, re- Along with the changeinwind direction, of Punjab and Haryana passedlawsdelaying IITKanpurstudyfoundthatdustpollutioncon- the virus to needs to PAPER searcher Shaun Olsen, of What aretheseweather factors? the dip in temperatureisalso behindthe in- the sowing of paddy.The objective of this law tributes to 56% of the PM10and PM2.5 load at replicate. In the human the University of Texasat October usuallymarksthewithdrawal of creasedpollution levels. When the temper- wastoconservegroundwater by ensuring 59 tonnes/day, and that vehicular pollution body,itinhibitsmole- CLIP San Antonio, said in a the monsoon in northwestIndia. During this aturedips, it lowers the inversion height, the newsowing cycle would coincide with contributesto20% of PM2.5inwinters. cules that signal the im- statement. season,the prevalent direction of winds is whichisthe layerbeyond whichpollutants themonsoon.This, however, leftverylittle Over the years, governmentshavetaken mune system to attack NEWRESEARCH The US team also easterly.These winds, whichtravelfromover cannotdisperseintothe upperlayer of the time forfarmers to harvestpaddy,clearthe severalsteps to address pollution from vehi- the infection. In anew compared SARS-CoV-2- the BayofBengal, carry moistureand bring atmosphere. The concentration of pollutants fields and sowwheat forthe next cycle. The cles,suchasthe introduction of BS VI fuel, a study publishedinScience Advances, PLpro againstsimilarenzymesfrom rain to this partofthe country. Once the in the air increases when this happens. easiestway to getrid of it is to setitonfire. push forelectricvehicles, Odd-Even as an American and Polish scientists suggest coronaviruses of recentdecades,SARS- monsoon withdraws, the predominant di- Also, high-speedwinds areveryeffective Over the past11years, the practice has emergency measure, and construction of the that drugsforfighting Covid-19bede- CoV-1 and MERS. By understanding rection of winds changes to north-westerly. at dispersing pollutants, but winters bring a thriveddespiteefforts by the Centreand state Eastern and Western Peripheral signedtoblockthis protein —SARS- similaritiesanddifferencesof theseen- During summers, too, the direction of wind dipin windspeedoverall ascomparedto sum- governments, primarilybecause alternatives Expressways.During the lockdown, this year, CoV-2’s molecular “scissor”. zymes in various coronaviruses, it may is north-westerly and storms carrying dust mers. The combination of these meteorolog- suchasthe happyseeder machine, which Delhi sawamong the cleanestair since com- US scientists solvedthe three-di- be possible to develop inhibitors that arrive from Rajasthan and sometimes ical factors makes the region prone to pollu- helps mulchthe residue, areseenasunavail- pilation of comprehensive records beganin mensional structures of SARS-CoV-2- areeffectiveagainstmultipleviruses, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Accordingtoa tion.When factors suchasfarmfiresand dust able, and money- andtime-consuming by 2015.Italsosaw temperaturesabove aver- PLpro. Using this knowledge,Polish the researchers said. peer-reviewedstudy conductedbyscientists storms areaddedtothealreadyhighbasepol- smaller farmers. ageinSeptember,whichmeant air remained chemists developedtwo molecules Source: University of Texas at at the NationalPhysical Laboratory, 72%of lution levels in thecity,air qualitydipsfurther. A2015source-apportionment study on cleaner forlonger. that inhibit the enzyme. These mole- San Antonio Delhi’swind in winterscomes from the Delhi’sair pollution conducted by IIT-Kanpur With vehicles backonthe road, temper- northwest, and the remaining 28% comes What is the role of farm fires? foundthat 17-26%ofall particulate matter aturedipping and stubble burning starting, from the Indo-Gangetic plains. In 2017,a Farm fireshavelongbeen an easy wayto in Delhi in winters is because of biomass Delhi’s air is settoget worse.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 MarketWatch GOLD IMPORTS DOWN 57% IN H1FY21 NewDelhi: Gold imports, whichhaveabearing on the current account deficit,fell 57 per cent to $6.8 billion (around Rs 50,658 crore) during the first half of this fiscal amid aslump in demand 15 ECONOMY PTI due to the Covid-19,showeddatabythe Commerce Ministry.

POLICY WATCH AMONTH SINCE ANNOUNCEMENT, CABLE LAID IN 4,347 VILLAGES OFFICIALSCITE ‘BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS’ JOB CREATION ‘GharTakFibre’:Slowprogress FinMin turns down Stakeholders still proposaltocut cess divided,govt starts inplantoconnectBiharvillages on crude output governmenthas budgeted in- were non-operational as of Telecommunications(DoT) said. KARUNJITSINGH flows of Rs 16,500crore from oil process to form rules AASHISHARYAN ED Lessonfor October15,whilethestatusof an- “Thefirstcasualty of anycon- NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 cess forthe current fiscal. NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 future other 200was unclear. struction work done by stateor Experts notedthat giventhe PLAIN E Inasmanyas13districts—in- privateagenciesisthe cable laid IN Ablowtodomestic crude oil recovery in theprice of Brent ● planning for labourcodes THE GOVERNMENT’S ambitious EX cluding Jehanabad, Darbhanga, underground.Sincethereisnear- producers, the FinanceMinistry crude, oil-producingcompanies ‘GharTak Fibre’ scheme —which Purnia, Kishanganj, Vaishali, Ara- zerocommunication between has rejected aproposal by the were notexpecting anyrelief on aims to connect all the villages THE LEARNINGS from the ria, Saran and Jamuni —less than various agencies of the stategov- PetroleumMinistrytoreducecess oil cess from the government. AANCHALMAGAZINE VARYING with high-speed internet—isoff implementation of the 25 per cent of the GPs connected ernment itself, mostofthese ca- ondomesticcrudeproduction,ac- An industryanalyst, who did NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 to aslowstartinpoll-boundBihar, ‘Ghar TakFibre’ scheme in to theinternet under BharatNet bles have been damaged.Now cording to government officials. notwish to be quoted,said that VIEWPOINTS thefirststate thataimsto connect Bihar could alsobeales- phase one were operational. The since thereare no users to com- Currently, alldomesticoilpro- ONGC had in itsanalystcall men- WITH THE government kick- allits45,945villagesbyMarch 31, son forfuture, as the main problems, an official said, plain about the snappedconnec- ducers payanoil cess of 20 per tionedthat it wasnot expecting starting the rule-framing ■Amovetowards governmentdataobtainedbyThe Centreplans to connect all were lackofpowerandrelatedeq- tions,noone ever comes to know cent on all crude oil output. anyfiscalrelief fromtheCentrein process forthe four labour higher short-term Indian Express showed. 6.5 lakh villages to high uipmentfailure,equipmenttheft, if thecableshave beendamaged,” Upstreamcompanieshadsought the current pricing scenario con- codes to enable their imple- and contractual To connect all villages by speedoptical fibreinternet and faulty or lossy leased fibre. the official said. relief on oil cess noting that low sideringthefiscalpressureonthe mentation from April 1next employment and less March 31,thestatewouldneedto over the next 1,000days. “Thereare three main prob- Under the Ghar TakFibre international crude prices had governmentdueto lowrevenues. year,amovetowards higher regulationsare being dig trenches, laycables, and pro- lems.One is that the lossy, old ca- scheme, Bihar has to provide at made it difficult forthem to even DebasishMishra, partner at short-term and contractual flaggedas some of the videconnectivitytoanaverage of blesthatwerelaid under phase leastfivefibre-to-the-home meetoperational expenses. The DeloitteIndia, notedthat the up- employmentand less regula- concernsbysome 257villagesdaily,oramonthlyav- ugh the high-speedoptical fibre. one have to be replaced. So far, (FTTH) connections per village, priceofBrentcrudefellto alow of stream oiland gassector needed tions arebeing flagged as ■ Industry,onthe erageofover7,500villages. The tender forproviding con- thatwork hasbeendoneinabout whilethereshouldalsobeatleast $19.33per barrel in April on the fiscal relief in the current pricing some of the main concerns. other hand, is citing However, nearly amonthafterthe nectionsand ‘lighting’ up these 4,500grampanchayatsconnec- one WiFi hotspotper village. backoflow demand due to the situation. “Toachieve thePrime On the other hand,the indus- the possibility of a schemewas inaugurated,optical villageshasnotbeenfloatedsofar tedunder phase one. Then the However, as of October 14,only Covid-19pandemic and aprice Minister’s vision of reducing im- tryisciting the possibilityofa shifttowards ease of fibrecable has been laidonlyin and is likelytobefloated onlyin problemof right-of-way inlaying 30,768 FTTH connections had warbetweenoil-producingcoun- portdependency by 10 per cent, shifttowards bigger-sizedes- doing business and a 4,347villages as of October 14,or thefirstweekof November,senior cables from panchayatsorblocks beengiven,whileonly2,531WiFi tries. Theprideof Brent crude has upstream players in India would tablishmentsalongwithease churn in the at the rate of 181villages per day. governmentofficialssaid.Avillage to individual villages. The thirdis hotspots had been installedsofar since recoveredand stabilisedat needfiscalincentivetosurvive the of doingbusinessand amajor labour market “Ourpresentcapacityislaying or agrampanchayat(GP) is con- powerequipment failureand its underBharatNet phaseone. between $40-45 per barrelover pricing situation in the global churn in the labour market as down between80,000-100,000 sidered ‘lit up’ underBharatNet theft,”the official added. The BharatNet project,which thepastthree months. crude market due to Covid.” the favourable outcomes. km of optical fibreper year.To when it consistentlyhas internet Around 42 per cent of 3,660 initiallybegan as theNational “The Finance Ministryhas re- The Centrehas hiked the ex- Labour economists state curity or forsocial security or connect all thevillagesbyMarch connection and users at the end GPs reportedtobenon-opera- Optical FibreNetwork in October jectedtheproposalcitingbudget- cise duty on petrol by Rs 13 per thatthe newlabourcodes— foroccupational safety,” 31,2021, we willneedto laydown to verify the same. Of the 8,745 tional inthestatehadbeenfacing 2011,hasbeendelayedforover92 aryconstraints,” said agovern- litreandondieselby Rs16 perlitre Industrial Relations Code, AmarjeetKaur, the general at least200,000-225,000 km of GPs in Bihar, 5,889 were connec- theseproblems,thedatashowed. monthsnow. Thenew deadlineis ment officialwho did notwish to since the beginningofthe year to Code on Social Security and secretaryoftheAll-IndiaTrade optical fibre, whichisatough tedtothe state’s main internet Whileopticalfibrecablehasbeen setatAugust2021. However, on be quoted. According to the offi- shoreupflaggingrevenuesdueto Occupational Safety, Health Union Congress (AITUC) said. task,” an official said. grid under BharatNet phase one, laidto connectnearly allthe8,745 August15thisyear,thePMsaidall cial, the proposal sent by the economic slowdown causedby andWorkingConditionsCode Government officials, ho- On September 21,while inau- while the remaining 2,856 were GPs, lackofusers in these areas villagesinthe countrywould be Petroleum Ministryhad pitched the Covid-19pandemic.Central —along with the Code on wever, see fixed-term emplo- guratingthe ‘Ghar TakFibre’ connectedunder phase two. has resulted in minimal or zero connectedto theinternet overthe for2-3 different ratesofoil cess excisedutycurrentlyaccountsfor Wages, approved last year by ymentasagamechanger,and scheme,PrimeMinisterNarendra However, of all the GPs con- follow-upsonrepairandmainte- next 1,000 days,whichmeans from 10-20 per cent basedonthe 45 per cent of the the priceof theParliament,arelikelytore- statethatnocaponfixed-term Modihadsaidall45,945Biharvil- nectedunderphaseone,about60 nance work,anofficial of the thattheprojectisnowlikelytobe prevailing priceofcrude oil in the diesel and 40 per cent of the price sultinahighernumberof jobs, employmentwouldgive abo- lages would be connected thro- percentor3,591 grampanchayats Department of completedonlyby2024. international market.The union of petrol in the national Capital. though precarious and of osttoseasonalemployment. lowerquality.Also, the actual “Say,for festiveseason, more benefits accruingfromanex- workersareneeded,thenear- INTERVIEW WITHMD&CEO,MAX LIFE INSURANCE pectedincreaseininvestment liertheycouldn’tbefiredlater AMID COVID-19 flows due to therelaxationin on but nowthat will change. ‘Not good to say Covid has complianceandregulationcri- Seasonalemploymentwillget ‘India sees eight IPOsworth teria under the newlabour aboostanditwillmakeahuge Mostactivesectors codesareunlikelytobeimme- difference,” asenior Labour $850 mn in Septquarter’ withtwoIPOslaunched been good for life insurance ... diateandneedtobeseenover Ministryofficialsaid. ineach of at leastthe next five years. The official also told The Eight Indian companies came out with$850 million of IPOs ■ Real estate “The liberalisations provi- Indian Express that concerns in theSeptember quarter and thesecond half of theyear Hospitality dedinthelabourcodeswould about conversion of existing ■ but it has created awareness’ definitelycreateanumber of permanentjobstocontractual could be “significantly better”, an EY report said ■ Construction jobs whichare of lowquality, employmentorretrenchment ■ Technology and PREDOMINANTLYSAVINGS-ORI- 18 months. Also, therehas been a that is, of shortterm, with no willnothappenasmass-scale Numberofinitial public Rise in IPOs in the telecommunications ENTED in India, the lifeinsurance shifttowards selling morenon- employment security,and layoffsstill requiregovern- 12offerings(IPOs) 33%main markets (BSE industryhas seen asudden shift participating kind of offering probablyotherrelatedsecuri- ment permission. recorded September 2019 and NSE); from three in Q3 of focus towardsprotectionnot whichissavings-oriented—guar- tieswillalsobediluted.So,we Industryvoices statethat quarter, worth $651.98 2019 to four in Q3 2020 onlybythe industryplayers but anteedsavings benefit—because willwitness alabour market thegreater flexibility forhir- million also by customers. PRASHANT interest rateshavecome down. inthepost-codescenario,pre- ing and firing willresult in 4: Number of IPOs in the third TRIPATHY, MD and CEO, Max Life Lifeinsurance companies have ponderance of precarious but moreinvestmentsinsectors `6,200 crore: Worth of the quarterof2020, falling from Insurance, told SANDEEP SINGH unique advantageofleveraging rising jobs.And these jobs whichwouldbenefitblueand eight IPOs, at current nine in the year-ago period thatoverthelastsixmonths,there Prashant Tripathy the longer term interestrate. would be designed in such a grey collarworkers.“Lawafter exchange rates has been amassive riseinaware- manner to lowerthe labour lawbasicallypreventedentre- 872: Number of IPOs across ness and demand forprotection What in the long term? cost. Together,these two, ac- preneurs to look at India as a $602 million: IPO with largest globe so far this year, with: products. He said going forward, So therehas been abig jump Protectionasaneedisbecom- cording to theresearch evi- destination forinvestment. issue size in September ■ 14%rise in total number the industrywill come out with and it is leading to higher levelof ing moreand moreprevalent. dence, will notresultinpro- Overseasinvestmenthasbeen quarter, by Mindspace ■ 43% rise in proceedsat universal protection designs for protection across the industry. I Slowly, regulatoryandotherbod- ductive,benevolenteconomic comingmostlyinwhitecollar Business Park REIT $165.3 billion masses whocan’t afford expen- thinkmovingtowardsprotection ies arerealisingthat protection is outcomes,”XLRIprofessorand economy. But the minuteit sive products.Editedexcerpts: is the right direction. notonlytheneedof thetopofthe labour economistKRShyam wasforjobsforbluecollarand Even in the health insurance strata,itisthe need of everyone. Sundarsaid. grey collarworkers,alltheen- Why is it important: The EY India IPO Trends Report Q3 2020 noted that Howisthe impact of Covidon space,somestandalonehealthin- Hence, therewill be push to- Incentivesforgreatercon- trepreneurs were very scared under-performance on accountofCovid-19-wasseen in the first half of Source:EY/PTI industry now? surance companies have seen30 wardsuniversal protection de- tractualandfixed-termempl- to invest intheIndianmarket,” 2020. IPO attraction might continue to allure investors in the primary market Things arebetterthan ex- per cent growth and that tooisa signs —simplifiedproductsthat oymentisaconcernthattrade LohitBhatia,president,Indian after successful IPO subscriptions in recent times pected.InApril and May, the in- reflectionoffear leadingtoright mayhavesame features but will unions have also flagged.“In Staffing Federation, abody of dustrywas down by around 40 decisions beingmade. It will cre- caterto segments thatcan’tafford theprivate sector,thesecodes staffing companies, said. percent,butthingshave beenim- ateaquantum shiftwithrespect expensive productdesigns.Ithink will help in replacing regular In times of economic un- proving with everypassing to wherethemarket hasbeenand lifeinsurancecompanieswillalso employmentwithfixed-term certainty,especially amid the month and forusthe numbers thereishigherlevelofacceptance slowlystartventuringintohealth. employment.Fixed-termem- pandemic, industryisofthe Strong demand for blue-collar have beenbetterthanthebroader forprotection plan. Equallyfor Thereis(a) committee whichhas ploymentmeanscontractem- viewthat businesses might industry. We have seen4percent providers likeusitwill be much been setuptoreviewthat. Even if ployment and no job security, notbeabletosurvive andthat growth as compared to 11 per easier to convincethe customer. thecommitteedoesn’t(allow)life no situation of continuity of should notbeviewedasan workers, full-time jobs on offer cent decline forprivate sector in If yousee awareness and fear insurance companies to operate job later on. Youdon’t have anti-labouroutcome.“Lifebe- September.Buttheoverallindus- converting intooutcomes, it is in indemnity space, Ithink they rightsofsocialsecurity,cannot comesnormalpostpandemic, demandinsegmentslikedelivery tryiscoming outofitand Iam happening. However, thelevel of willhave theridersspace.Also,be- struggle forwageincreaseor then capacities will getuseda SHUBHRATANDON Expertssay 2020 could and healthcaresegmentislikely morehopeful forthe second half. fearhassubsidedquitesignifican- cause of social security concerns, allowance increase. This wh- lotmoreand as the capacities MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 to surpass January2020 levels. As farasclaims areconcerned, tlyoverthelast coupleofmonths. immediateannuityorannuityre- ole process will lead to more aregoing to be evolving, India end with 1.4million The good news is that nearly while therewas asurge over the Even as numbers areincreasing, latedplanswillbecomeprevalent. contractemployment,casual- willfindabetterdevelopment BUSINESSACTIVITYmaynot have vacancies being filled 80percentof thejobsonofferare lastcouple of months, it not as people realised that mortality While alifeinsurance license all- isationand outsourcing. They in these newlabour codes. recoveredtopre-pandemiclevels forfull-time employment, Pravin alarming.Ialso think thatwehit ismoderateataround1.2percent, owscompaniesto operateinmul- arechangingthelimitforcon- Governmenthasprovidedfor but, at 0.5 million,openings for Agarwala, co-founder and CEO, apeak in September and so the thefearisgoingdownandGoogle tiple zones, but because of legacy tractors from 20 to 50, which greater social security bene- blue collarworkers in the July- could end with1.4 million vacan- Betterplacesaid.“Thedemand claims toowill settle down. searches aresubsiding. reasons etc, we have operated means, say, in afamilyoffour, fits.”MSUnnikrishnan,chair- September periodwerereason- cies being filled. Datasourced during the festiveseason stems onlyinequity and savings. Ithink eachsupplying48or49work- man, CII National Committee ablystrong.Someof thisrelatesto from Betterplace,atechnology mainlyfromthe retail sector so Fear leadstoincrease in In the pasttherehavebeen thatwillgetexpandedfurtherand ers means no workers under on Industrial Relations said. the upcoming festiveseason but platformformanagingthelifecy- some some of this is fortempo- demand. Howdoyou see SARS and Ebola, but Covid has will become muchsharper. that system willbeprotected Full report on alarge part of this demand is for cle of informal and semi-formal rary jobs. But demand forfull- Covidplaying arole in the hit the waynobody ever either forwages or forjob se- www.indianexpress.com permanentjobs. workforce,shows ninemillionin- time jobs is expected to sustain overall penetrationfor the thought. Howdoyou see this Do youthink thereshould be Expertssay it is likely 2020 terviews have been targeted.The postthe festiveseason.” FE insurance sector? will shape the industryin focus on the retirement Though it is notgoodtosay terms of innovation and aspect too? that Covid has been good forlife customer orientation? We have been lobbying for BRIEFLY insurance, but in the truestsense, Thereare shiftsthataretaking somebitof changearoundregula- Amid rising tensions with US, China it has certainlycreated farhigher place. Some aremoretactical or tion,thetaxtreatmentof annuity, levelofawareness. Historically, short-termand some long-term. we have also made requeston P-notes the industryhas been predomi- Both theregulator andministry treatment of commission with investmentfalls passes lawrestricting sensitive exports nantlysavings-oriented—almost have been very conscious and our ownregulator.Sothereare 95-96percent—butoverthelast driving things thatcater to Covid somestructuralissuesthatwe are NewDelhi: Investmentsvia six months we have seen abig needs. We launchedCovid riders workingthrough.Also,thelevelof participatorynotes(P-notes) trol law, includingthose outside growth in protection part. Last thatcango withourproductsand awareness on these productsis in the Indian capital market ASSOCIATEDPRESS of China, could face criminal year,protectionaccountedfor8.6 where customersgetapartofthe low. My sense is that therehas dropped to Rs 69,821 crore BEIJING,OCTOBER18 charges.Violationsof thelaw,such per cent of ourtotal sales, but in sum assurediftheytestpositive. been supplyside constraintstoo. at September-end. asexportingitemswithoutaper- the firstfivemonths of this year it Irdaihasbeenpushinggeneral So there areissues on all fronts— CHINAHAS passedanew lawre- mit, could result in fines of 5mil- went up to around 15 percent. and lifeInsurance companies to structural, demand and supply stricting sensitive exports to pro- lion yuan ($746,500), or up to 20 Honestly, Ithought it would take come up with Covid plans and sideandasthingsevolve,allof that DLFarmraises tect national security,allowing it timesthe business value of the il- us 4-5 years to reachthat level. thatisgoing to remain foratleast will startgettingfixed. `2,400crore to reciprocateagainstthe US as legal transaction. tensionsmountbetweenthetwo Thenewlaw addsto thegrow- NewDelhi: DLF’s rental arm over trade and technology. ing uncertainty of Bytedance’s DCCDL has raisedRs2,400 Thelaw, whichwillapply to all deal to sell itsvideoapp TikTok to ‘High incidence of NPAs hinder croredebt from StateBank companies in China,was passed Exportcontrols under the lawwill applytocivilian, military US firm Oracle Corp. In August, of Indiato refinanceexisting SaturdaybytheNationalPeople’s and nuclear products, as well as goods, technologies and Chinaaddedtechnologiesinclud- debt and to plan expansion. Congress Standing Committee servicesrelated to national security. Reuters ingvoicerecognition,textanalysis monetary policy transmission’ and willtakeeffect on December and content recommendation to 1. Under the law, China cantake itslistofregulated exports. of the central bank said. monetary policy transmission ‘Fourbidders “reciprocal measures” toward trolleditemswillbepublished“in plier Huawei, Bytedance’sTikTok President Donald Trumphad PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA The workingpaper also made and lowers the loan growth rate,” forDHFL’ countriesorregionsthatabuseex- atimelymanner” in conjunction appandTencent’smessagingapp earlier ordered Bytedance to sell NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 astrongcase forcapitalinjection said the working paper co-au- portcontrols and threaten itsna- with relevant departments, ac- WeChat on grounds of posing a itsUSoperations of TikTok to an in state-ownedbanks, arguing thored by Silu Muduli and NewDelhi: AdaniGroupand tional security and interests. cording to the law. nationalsecuritythreat,including Americanfirm or face ablockin HIGH INCIDENCE of non-per- that suchamove would increase HarendraBehera,Department of Piramal Enterprises are Exportcontrolsunderthelaw The newlaw allows Beijing to the datatheymay possess from the country. The newexportcon- forming assets (NPAs) in banks thecreditflowtotherealsectorin Economic and Policy Research amongthefourentitiesthat willapplytocivilian,militaryand retaliate againstthe US,whichin operating in the country. trol laws adds to China’s growing actsasamajorroadblockintrans- addition to ensuing smoother (DEPR),RBI.TheRBIsaidtheviews have placedbids forDHFL, nuclearproducts,aswellasgoods, recent monthshas triedtoblock Companies and individuals regulatorytoolkit thatallows it to missionofmonetary policy ac- transmission of monetary policy. expressedinthe paper arethose according to sources. PTI technologies and services related Chinese technology firms suchas who endanger national security take actionagainstcountriessuch tionsof theReserveBank,awork- “Presence of non-performing of authors and notofthe Reserve to national security.Alistofcon- telecommunications gear sup- by breachingthenew exportcon- as the US. ingpaperpreparedby theofficials assets in abank also weakens Bank of India.

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 MEANWHILE SPACECRAFT TO TRY TO COLLECT ASTEROID SAMPLE After almost twoyearscircling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of milesaway, a NASA spacecraft on Tuesdaywill attempttodescend to the treacherous, boulder-packedsur- 16 THE WORLD face and snatchahandful of rubble. TheOsiris-Rexmission is looking to bring back at least60 grammes worth of asteroidBennu,the biggestotherworldlyhaul from beyond themoon.

TOPOFTHE WORLD Trumpsetsoutoncampaignblitzin bidtoclosepollinggapwithBiden

Presidentset to hold rallies everyday until Thursday’s debate; both candidates trytowoo early voters

EARLYBALLOTSCAST Aneighbour comforts ahome owner afterher house was FormerBritishPM JARRETTRENSHAW destroyed by shelling in Stepanakert, in the separatistregion Tony Blair OCTOBER18 25.83mn of Nagorno-Karabakh, Saturday. AP US PRESIDENTIAL rivals Donald BRITAIN Trumpand Joe Biden will court ■Thus far, 25.83 million people Armenia &Azerbaijan Blairaccused early voters on Sunday as their RACE FOR have alreadycastaballotinthe campaigns step up events ahead presidential election, according ofbreaking of their final debatethis week. THEWHITE to theUSElections Project, agree new truce, but it TrumponSunday will head shatteringrecords. quarantinerules to Nevada, abattlegroundstate HOUSE afterUStrip wheremorethan 100,000 vot- ers have already castballots,ac- the November 3presidential Gretchen Whitmer,aDemocrat, falls apart hours later FORMER BRITISH Prime cording to statedata. Trumpwill election, according to theUS severaltimes. He blastedstate MinisterTonyBlair has campaign everyday leading up Elections Project, shattering rules to stop the spread of coro- withdraw the woundedsoldiers been accusedofbreaking to Thursday’s debateinFlorida, records. Muchearly voting is due TrumpatarallyinNortonShores, Michigan, Saturday. AP navirus, calling her “dishonest,” NVARDHOVHANNISYAN from the battlefield. UKCovid-19restrictionsaf- including stops in Arizona and to safetyconcerns about the and made lightofaright-wing &NAILIABAGIROVA “This step ...was categorically terfailing to self-isolatefor NorthCarolina, campaign pandemic that has killedmore plot uncoveredbythe FBI to kid- YEREVAN,BAKU,OCTOBER18 rejected by Baku,” the foreign twoweeksfollowing a spokesman TimMurtaugh said. than218,000Americans andin- thelatestfigures from his cam- still win this race, and everyindi- nap her. ministrysaid. Bakucalledthe two-daytrip to the US, the Biden on Sundayheads to fected 8.1million others. paign showhealso trailsin cationwehaveshows that this “Hopefullyyou’ll be sending ARMENIA AND Azerbaijan ac- statement misinformation. SundayTelegraphreported. NorthCarolina, where1.2 mil- Democratshold asignificant fundraisingastheraceintensifies. thing is going to come down to her packing pretty soon,” Trump cusedeachother on Sundayofvi- The Azeri defence ministry The newspaper said it had lion voters have cast their ballots, advantageinearly voting,largely In amemo sent to donors the wire,” she wrote. said, promptingthe crowdtoyell olatinganew humanitariancease- said: “The enemy firedatthe obtainedpicturesshowing according to statedata. Biden’s drivenbymail balloting. Of the over the weekend, Biden cam- On Saturday, Trumpcam- back “Lockherup!”severaltimes. fire in fighting over the mountain vicinity of the Jabrail city,aswell Blair,who served as PM running mate, Kamala Harris, 10.6 million mail ballots cast, 5.8 paign manager Jen O’Malley paignedinMichigan and Whitmer responded on enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, as the villages of this region... us- from 1997 to 2007,leaving will return to thecampaign trail million have been castby Dillon said the national figures Wisconsin, twobattleground Twitter to thechants. “Thisisex- hours afteritwas agreed. ing mortars and artillery”. It aLondon restaurant 10 on Monday with avisittoFlorida Democrats, according the US aremisleading because must- states he narrowly woninthe actlytherhetoricthathasputme, The truce agreedonSaturday added that the Azeri army“took days afterhis return from to markthatstate’s firstday of Election Project, run by the win states areclose. 2016 election. my family, andothergovernment cameintoforceatmidnight(2000 adequate retaliatorymeasures”. the US lastmonth. The pa- early,in-person voting. University of Florida. “Wecannotbecome compla- At Saturday’s rallyin officials’ livesindanger while we GMT) afteraweek-old Russian- The ministry said thatAzeri per said it understood that Thus far, 25.83 million peo- Trumplags in national and centbecause the very searing Muskegeon, Mich., Trumptar- trytosavethe livesofour fellow brokered ceasefirefailedtohalt militaryunitsdowned Blairappealedto Whitehall ple have already castaballotin battleground opinion polls and truth is thatDonald Trumpcan getedMichigan Governor Americans,”shewrote.REUTERS the worstfighting in theSouth Armenian Su-25 warplane, officials forspecial dispen- Caucasussincethe1990s.Atleast “whichwas attempting to inflict sation from the Covid-19 750peoplehave beenkilledsince airstrikes on the positions of the rules,buthewasnot issued fighting beganonSept. 27. Azeri armyinJabrail region.” withtheformalexemption At 1010 GMT,theAzeridefence Yerevanswiftlydeniedthat. letter he would have ministrysaid the Aghdam region, OfficialsinNagorno-Karabakh neededtoavoid a14-day adjacent Nagorno-Karabakh, was said Azeriforces hadlaunchedan isolationperiod.REUTERS under Armenianshelling. It said attack on the enclave’s military overnightArmenianmilitaryunits positions and therewerecasual- openedfirefromlarge-caliber ties on both sides. weapons along the border,which Nagorno-Karabakh is a SOUTH AMERICA Armenia denied. mountain territorythat is Boliviansvote IsraeliNSA MeirBen-Shabbat Armenia said the Azeri army internationallyrecognisedas and US TreasurySecretary had firedtwice during the night partofAzerbaijan but popu- inhopeof SteveMnuchin arrive in and usedartilleryand accused lated andgovernedbyethnic politicalstability Muharraq, Bahrain. Reuters Baku of rejecting itsrequestto Armenians. REUTERS BOLIVIANS BEGAN voting on Sundayinapresiden- Israel sends tialelection manyhope UN arms embargoes on can restorestabilitytoa treaty delegation nation that wasplunged Iran expiredespite intoturmoil aftera to Bahrain with fraught and eventually voidedvotelastyear, Trumpaides Washington’s objections leaving the countryinthe hands of an interim pres- ident. Frontrunners in the DANWILLIAMS NASSERKARIMI ED Bigarms election areLuis Arce, MANAMA,OCTOBER18 TEHRAN,OCTOBER18 deals who champions areturn PLAIN E ● unlikely to thesocialistand pro- AN ISRAELIdelegation accompa- FRANCE PAYS TRIBUTE TO KILLED TEACHER ADECADE-LONGUNarms em- EX indigenous policies of for- nied by the US treasurysecretary bargo on Iran that barred it from mer President Evo arrivedinBahrain on Sundayto Peoplegather at thePlace de la Republique in Paris on Sundaytopay tributetoSamuel Paty,the teacher who wasbeheaded purchasing foreign weapons like ALTHOUGH THE ban on buy- Morales, and Carlos Mesa, formalise nascent relations and on the streetsofthe Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.FromParis to Lyon, Marseille and Lille large crowds gathered tanksand fighter jets expired ing weapons from abroad has acentristwho served as broadenGulf cooperation that quietly, pausingregularly to applaud, hold minutes of silence or sing the national anthem. Paty,47, waskilledoutside his Sundayasplannedunder itsnu- been lifted, Iran said it won’t president in the early Washington has promotedasan school on Fridaybyan18-year-old attacker. Prosecutors said the attackerwanted to punish the teacher forshowing his clear deal with worldpowers, go on a“buyingspree”and it 2000s. PollsshowArce anti-Iran bulwarkand potential pupilscartoons of the ProphetMohammad in acivics class on freedom of expression earlier thismonth. Reuters despiteobjections from the is unlikelythat the country ahead,but notenough to economicbonanza. United States. willimmediately agreebig avoid arunoff. REUTERS Bahrain followedthe United While insisting it plannedno arms deals with foreign pow- Arab Emirates in agreeing last “buying spree,” Iran in theory ers. Crippling US sanctions BELARUS monthtonormalise ties with Egypt releases can purchase weapons to up- had already wreaked havoc Thousands Israel,stunning Palestinians who Thousands defy protest ban grade military armament dating on Iran’s economybeforethe had demandedstatehoodbefore comedian after backtobeforeits 1979 Islamic Covid-19pandemic made marchinMinsk anysuchregionalrapprochement. Revolution and sell itsown lo- thingsevenworse. This will The breakthrough, overseen again in Bangkok, PM seeks talks over 2yrs in jail callyproducedgear abroad. makeitdifficult forIrantobuy TENS OF thousands of by US President DonaldTrump, is TheIslamicRepublicheralded weapons in massive,high- people marched through aforeign policy flourish ahead of Cairo: Egyptian authorities re- theendof thearmsembargo as“a profile deals. It will also find it the streetsofthe his re-election bid next month. REUTERS leasedacomedian, who was momentous dayfor the interna- difficult to sell itsown domes- Belarusian capital Minsk Forthe US allies, it is achance to BANGKOK,OCTOBER18 working forapopular satirical tel- tionalcommunity...indefianceof ticallyproducedweapons to on Sundaytodemandthe close ranksonIranmoreovertly. evisionprogramme, aftermore theUSregime’seffort.”TheTrump bolsterits economy, as many resignation of veteran The Israelidelegation,which THOUSANDS OF anti-govern- than twoyears in prison without administration, meanwhile, has countries will avoid trading President Alexander flewonanElAlIsrael Airlines ment protesters took over keyin- trial, arightslawyersaid Sunday. insisted it has re-invoked allUN withIranfor fear of US finan- Lukashenko, despitea charterflight from TelAviv, was tersections in Bangkok on At aprotestin AttorneyMokhtarMounir sanctions on Iran via aclausein cialretaliation. threat by officials to use accompaniedbyUSTreasury Sunday, defying aban on protests Bangkok on said Shady Abu Zaid wasre- thenucleardealitwithdrew from firearms againstprotest- SecretarySteve Mnuchin. forthe fourth daywith chantsof Sunday. AP leasedfromaCairopolice station in2018,aclaimignoredby therest ers. Belarus, aformer Israeli Prime Minister “down with dictatorship” and lateSaturday, but as part of his of the world. sile system and itsBastian Sovietrepublic closelyal- Benjamin Netanyahu, in public “reform the monarchy”. terms of release mustreporttoa The UN bannedIranfrom coastaldefence missilesystem, liedwith Russia, has been remarks to his cabinet, said the PrimeMinisterPrayuthChan- metrorailsysteminabid to quell givenanoverall number. police station twice aweek. buying majorforeign weapons the DIA said. Chinaalso could sell rocked by strikes and delegations would work on co- ocha, aformer juntaleader the overthreemonthsof street action. “The government wantsto His sister, Roula AbuZaid, in 2010 amid tensions overits Iran arms. weeklystreetprotests operation agreements and“es- protesters seek to oust, is con- “Freeourfriends”,theprotest- talk to find away out together,” confirmedthe news in a nuclear programme. Iran longhas been out- since authorities an- tablishing the peace treaty”. cernedabout the spreading ers calledout as they stood in a Prayuth’s spokesman Anucha Facebook postand shared a TheUSDefence Intelligence matchedbyUS-backedGulf na- nouncedthatLukashenko, Israel and Bahrain signeda protests andthe government rain, amass of colourful ponchos Burapachaisri told Reuters. He photo of his at home. Agency predicted in 2019 that if tions likeSaudi Arabia and the who has ruledinauthori- “Declaration of Peace, wantstotalk,hisspokesmansaid. andumbrellas.Somehelduppic- did notspecifywithwhomthe Police arrested AbuZaid in the embargo ended, Iran likely United Arab Emirates, which tarian fashion since 1994, Cooperation, and Constructive Demonstrations have per- turesofdetained protestleaders. government hopedtospeak. May2018. He waschargedwith would trytopurchase Russian have purchasedbillions of dollars had securedre-election on Diplomatic and Friendly sisteddespitethearrest of dozens Thai Lawyers forHuman Rights Afterthe arrest of many of joining an outlawedgroup, aref- Su-30 fighter jets,Yak-130 of advancedAmerican August9with 80% of Relations” at aWhiteHouse cer- of protestersandtheirleaders,the said at least80protesters had the protest leaders, previously erence to the bannedMuslim trainer aircraftand T-90 tanks. weaponry.Inresponse, Tehran votes. REUTERS emonylastmonth, but thatwas useofwater cannon and shut- been arrested sinceOct.13with unknown figures have emerged Brotherhood, and disseminating Tehran also maytry to buy turnedtowarddeveloping locally notaformal treaty. REUTERS downs on muchofBangkok’s 27 still beingheld.Police have not to lead crowds. false news. AP Russia’s S-400anti-aircraftmis- made ballistic missiles. AP

THE UTAH SCHOOL SAW AT LEAST 90 CASES IN 2WEEKS SINCE OPENING,ONE OF THE WORST OUTBREAKS IN ASCHOOL IN THE US ‘Out of Control’: When schools opened in aUScoronavirus hotspot

other parentsfloodedthe board likelyanundercount,sincenotall learningfor all students. of the worst” in the countryand Canyons is also an example KATETAYLOR with messages, and the school studentsand staffwho were ex- Since then, with schools and “unacceptable”. of howthe nation’s 13,000 OCTOBER18 stayed open. Within aweek,the posedorsymptomaticgot tested. colleges open, things have only Yetdespitethe conditions at school districtsare struggling to number of cases had nearly And Corner Canyonwas not worsened, as both the county the startofthe school year, find workable policies in the ab- ON AFridayinmid-September, quadrupled. Ateacher washos- theonlyschool in the district to and Utah have become hotspots. CanyonsSchoolDistricttookonly sence of clearstandards from the SunnyWashington got atext pitalised and put on aventilator. have an outbreak.BySept28, In the twoweeksthat ended modest steps to preventthe virus federal government and many from another mother at her When the boardfinallyclosed Canyons School District, with Thursday, SaltLakeCounty had from spreading in itsbuildings. stategovernments.The result daughter’s high school in an afflu- the school temporarily, 77 stu- roughly33,000 students, had nearly 617cases per 100,000 The statehad mandated that has been apatchworkofpolicies ent suburb of Salt LakeCity,Utah. dentsand staffmembers, includ- temporarilyclosedthree high people. Over the lastweek,Utah studentsandstaffmemberswear varying from statetostate and Threeweeksintothe schoolyear, ing Washington’s daughter,had schools and amiddle school, had the sixth-highestrateofnew masksinschool, allowing un- oftendistrict to district. thenumber of coronavirus cases tested positive. telling about 8,000 studentsto cases per 100,000 people of any maskedsports practiceandcom- The Centers forDisease at theschool wasrising, and the “We’retalking 30 days in, and learn from home. stateand setanew staterecord petition. But with nearly 80 per Control and Prevention, which district wasconsidering shifting it went completely out of con- The storyofCanyons is an ob- forthe number of people hospi- cent of Canyons studentsopting have facedpressurefromthe to online instruction. The text trol,” Washington said. ject lesson in what can happen talisedwith the virus. forin-person school, the district WhiteHouse to avoid discourag- urgedparentstobeg theschool Her daughter’s school, Corner when schools reopen in com- Corner CanyonHigh School in Utah. NYT On Tuesday, Governor Gary seems to have made fewadjust- ing school districtsfromreopen- boardtokeep classroomsopen. CanyonHighSchool,experienced munities that arefailing to con- Herbertordered stricter restric- mentstoaccommodatesocialdis- ing, have declinedtoprovide Washington ignored the text one of the biggestcoronavirus tain the virus. In the twoweeks tions on social gatherings and tancinginclassrooms.Thedistrict specific guidance on whatdis- —she thought theschool should outbreaksataschoolinUtah,and before the district reopened, Salt levelatwhich someexpertshave twoand ahalf times higher than mask wearing in Salt Lake also did notmakecoronavirus trictsshould do when infections be taking advice from public possiblythe country, with 90 LakeCounty had roughly187 advisedagainsthigh schools the standardWashington State County and otherhard-hit coun- testing partofits reopening plan, rise in aschool or the surround- healthexperts, notparents. But cases within twoweeks—most newcases per 100,000people, a opening in person; thatlevel is uses to recommend distance ties,calling Utah’soutbreak “one leavingthosedecisionsto families. ing community. NYT

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 ELAVENIL WINS GOLD AT VIRTUAL MEET World number one Indian Elavenil Va larivan wonagold medal and Shahu Tushar Mane bagged asilver in the SheikhRussel InternationalAir Rifle Championship, held virtually on Sunday. In the 60-shot competition in 17 whichshootersfrom six nations participated,including hosts Bangladesh SPORT PTI and India,Elavenil shot amodest 627.5 to come out on top.

BRIEFLY Kings XI beat Narineclearedof Ferguson Locks out Sunrisers Mumbai after suspectaction Kiwispeedster announces his IPL arrivalinstupendous fashion as KKR prevail in Super Over two Super Overs AbuDhabi: KolkataKnight Riders' West Indian spinner Sunil Narine was on Sundaycleared by the Indian SYNOPSIS SYNOPSIS Premier League's suspect bowling ac- Fergie’s time in AbuDhabi, Sublime Rahul outshines MI’s tion committee afterbeing reported despiteDavid’s heroics heavy metalfinish in athriller lastweek.Narine wasreportedfor a suspect action during his team's clash againstKings XI Punjab lastSaturday and another suchinstance could have SANDIPG SHAMIKCHAKRABARTY ledhim to being barredfrombowling OCTOBER18 OCTOBER18 in the league. But, in arelief forthe playeraswell as forhis franchise, the SELDOM HAS afastbowler ever influenced ONE SUPER Over wasnot enough to separate IPL committee found his bowling ac- an IPL game as tellingly as KolkataKnight the twosides. In the firstone, Jasprit Bumrah tion to be clean. Riders’ Lockie Ferguson againstSunrisers tooktwowicketsforMumbaiIndiansandcon- Hyderabad. As if his four astounding overs in cededjustfiveruns. MohammedShami regular time were inadequate, he delivered matchedthe effort to ensureKings XI Punjab Baganfansflout the perfect Super Over to enable his side to stayed alive.Players involvedinthe firstSuper normsduringparade sneak in avictorythat seemeddistant before Over couldn’t take partinthe second. KXIP his intervention. Knight Riders had no hesi- knockedoff the target of 12 with Chris Gayle Kolkata: The victoryparade following tation in letting Ferguson, playing his firstIPL hittingTrentBoultforasixfirstballandMayank the handing over of I-League trophy matchofthe season. bowl the Super Over, Agarwalsealingthedealwithtwoboundaries. to Mohun Bagan on Sundaywit- and he killedthe contestinthree balls. The nessedgross violation of Covid-19 first, agood-length ball at pace, disarrayed Sublime Rahul safetyguidelines as morethan David Warner’s stumps. The second, ashort- In the regulation chase, Agarwaldeparted 50,000frenziedfans were seen cele- of-length ball, wasmiscuedfor abrace. The early.NicholasPooranwasdoneinby aBumrah brating on the city streetswithout third, aslightlyfuller off-cutter,thumped bouncer at acrucial moment. But KL Rahul’s anyvisible sign of social distancing Abdul Samad’s middle stump. The target of sublime55-ball77 kept KXIPinthegame.And norms. The video of parade wasalso three wastoo measlyfor KKR to mess it up. although the excellent Bumrah cleanedup uploadedonthe club's Twitter han- Only Warner seemedcapable of spoiling Rahulwitha149kphyorker,thelatterhaddone dle. Incidentally, Union Sports Ferguson’s dreamyevening, but in the inky justenough to keep his team in the contest. MinisterKiren Rijiju tweetedonthe skies of AbuDhabi, Ferguson’s name was video: "This is that famous festive writteninbold. MI’s heavy metalfinish football frenzy of KolkataIlikethe Even losing early wicketsrepresented an mostabout! ...” Bagan general secre- Fergie’s time opportunity to MI. Their undercooked lower- tary SrinjoyBose said he was"con- In the deafening silence of the Abu Lockie Ferguson celebrates afterdismissing David Warner. BCCI/IPL middle order,Kieron Pollardtobeprecise, got cerned" but to stop the passionate Dhabi's Sheikh ZayedStadium, Ferguson re- THESUPEROVER somebattingminutes.Theteam’stopandmid- fans from thronging the parade "was discoveredhis rhythm. Playing his firstIPL dleorderhave beendoingthejoballthiswhile. notinhis hands". game of the season and onlythe 10th in three chasing 164for victory, when he took out his at the topofthe batting order,Warner hardly SRH: 2/2 On Sunday, Pollardgot 12 balls and scored 34 years, the Kiwi wasalways daunted by the national team captain Kane Williamson. Next struggledinhis newrole. He nearly orches- notout,hittingfoursixes.NathanCoulter-Nile, 0.1: Ferguson bowlsagood length IPL massive crowds in the pre-pandemic over,after apace barrage,hedeceivedPriyam trated acalculated chase, in the face of a in his second matchofthe tournament, re- ball pitching at the middle stump. Zverevendstitlewait, years. “I couldn’t getoverthe noise,” he said Gargwith changeofpace. The side-of-the- proper fast-bowling assault by Ferguson. mainedunbeaten on 24 off12deliveries. Warner misses, gets bowled winsCologneIndoors in an interviewonthe KKR websiterecently. handoff-cutter barelynudged 120kmh, as It wasthe evening he appropriated Together theyadded57runs forthe seventh He offers the logic too: “I think it wasdiffi- the young Indian batsman swipedatthin air. Dhoni, guarding his wicket,running hard, 0.2: Samad hitstowards long-on, wicket without being separated,asMI’s heavy Cologne: Alexander Zverev ended cult to measurefor aKiwi because forthe As muchashis pace and the mastery in keeping the chase alive and bringing it down runs two metalfinish undid the good work of the KXIP his 17-month wait foratitle by BlackCaps, acrowd of 20,000is abig crowd.” changing pace, Ferguson’s accuracy of length the wire. Sunrisers required 18 from the last 0.3: Samad does notread aslower bowlersupfront.Fifty-fourrunsinthelastthree drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open Bereftofacrowd, on arelatively sluggish and line stood out. He mostlypeddledbackof over,bowledbyAndreRussell. When Warner ball, goes foraslog, misses it and overs took the defending champions to 176/6. final defeat to beat Felix Auger- surface, Ferguson’s searing pace washotter length,anglingintotheright-handerandpitch- got the strike, theyneeded16off five.The gets bowled They were 38/3 in the sixth over and 119/6 in Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the than the blazing sun. Manish Pandeywould ing in the corridor.The IPL in the deserthas next three deliveries thundered to the ropes the17th. KXIP lostthe toss but respondedbril- Cologne Indoors on Sunday. Zverev admit. The Sunrisers batsman thought he had been something of an oasis forfastbowlers, in typicalWarner fashion. All shoulders and liantly. YoungArshdeepSinghdismissedRohit has had abreakthrough year in sizedupthe deliveryand offeredthe likeliest theout-and-out-ones,andFerguson’srisehas forearms. But offthe lasttwo,hemanaged KKR:3/0 SharmaandIshanKishaninsidethePowerplay. Grand Slam tournamentswith his stroke to avertthe looming danger.Hetriedto further bolsteredthe narrative.His matchfig- justthree, taking the matchtothe Super MohammedShami removedSuryakumar firstsemifinal at the Australian dig out aflat and flaming yorker,dipping and ures -4.3-0-17-5 –tell avivid tale. Over.His side wasbeaten, but the chase shed 0.1: Rashid Khan to Morgan, no run Yadav. ButKrunalPandya’s58-runpartnership Open in Januaryand firstfinal at the tailing intohis off-stump. But even before his another dimension of Warner’s batting. 0.2: Morgansweeps one towards with Quinton de Kock steadiedthe ship forMI. U.S. Open lastmonth, when he lost hands could executethe orders of his body, David’s heroics BRIEF SCORES: KKR 163/5 in 20 overs (S midwicket,runs asingle BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 176/6 in to Dominic Thiem. Zverev has said the ball had blastedthe off-stump. It might have been by sheer default that Gill 36, EMorgan34, NRana 29; TNatarajan 0.3: Khan to Karthik,dot ball 20 overs (Q de Kock 53; MShami 2/30) lostto he thinksalmostconstantlyabout Pandeywas Ferguson’s thirdwicket of the Warner endedupbatting down the order — 2/40) bt SRK 163/6 in 20 overs (D Warner 47*, KXIP 176/6 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 77;JBumrah 0.4: Googly gets deflected offthigh that final, and he credited it with evening, and he had nearly single-handedly to enable the injured Williamson the free- JBairstow36, KWilliamson 29, LFerguson 3/24) via Super Over guard, batsmen run two. raising his game in Cologne. "I had a pulledhis team backfromthe jaws of acer- dom of Powerplayfield restrictions. For 3/15) via Super Over Super Over 1: KXIP 5/2; MI 5/2 very tough final in NewYorkand, tain defeat. Hyderabad were 58 in six overs, someone who has batted mostofhis career Playing tonight:CSK vs RR, 7.30pm Super Over 2: MI 11/1; KXIP 15/0 the next final Iplayedhere, Iwanted to come out and playmybestten- nis," he said. Barca, Madrid lose ahead of CL openers West Ham come from 3-0 down to

Dortmunddigdeep, cleared across ontothe crossbar.Jaime snatch apoint from Tottenham Bayerncruise ASSOCIATEDPRESS Mataconverted apenalty kickfor Getafe in BARCELONA,OCTOBER18 the 56th minuteafter Frenkie de Jong VanDijktoundergo surgery Berlin: Borussia Dortmund needed fouledDakonam on the edge of the area REUTERS Liverpool centrebackVirgil vanDijk substitutestodig it out of ahole for BARCELONAAND Real Madrid lostfor the while trying to clear aloose ball. "Weknew LONDON,OCTOBER18 has damaged knee ligamentsand is setto a1-0 win againstHoffenheim, firsttime this season againstmodestSpanish it wasgoing to be ahardmatch," Barcelona undergo surgery afterhewas injured in while Bayern Munichhad no such league opposition, increasing the doubtsover midfielder Sergio Busquets said. "We GARETH BALE made his firstappearance for Saturday's Merseyside derbydrawagainst difficulties as it romped to another their stalledattacks ahead of Champions wanted to playatafasterpace, and we Tottenham Hotspur formorethan seven Everton, the Premier League club con- Bundesligarout. Bayern beat League openers and their own"clasico" clash. tried, but once theywent ahead it became years but his return wasovershadowedas firmedonSunday. Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 on Saturday Barcelona had itsfirstdefeat under even tougher.Wehavetokeep working to West Ham United scored three times lateon The Dutchdefender wassubstituted in what seemedattimes likeatrain- Ronald Koeman when it lost1-0 at Getafe on improve. This has juststarted." Barcelona to earn a3-3 draw. early in the game when Evertongoal- ing match, ensuring itsrecordofnot Saturday, right afterMadrid wasbeaten 1-0 hosts Hungarian club Ferencvaros in the With Bale on the substitutes bench, keeper Jordan Pickfordmade areckless losing to apromotedside since 2010 at home by recentlypromotedCadiz. Champions League on Tuesday. Tottenham startedinsensational fashion as challengeinthe box, whichleftLiverpool continues at leastuntil November The star-poweredattacks of the Griezmann's struggles continuedfor an- Son Heung-min scored inside aminuteand manager JuergenKlopp fuming. The club 28, when Stuttgartisnexttochal- European powerhouses appeared shackled other game. France coachDidier Deschamps Harry Kane scored twice as the hosts led3- did notspecify atimescale forhis return. lenge. Both Thomas Muller and by their opponents. While Getafe livedup Lionel Messi during Barca’s defeat. AP said lastweek that he didn't understand why 0after 16 minutes. Welshman Bale, on loan Robert Lewandowski scored twice to itsreputation as one of Spain's topdefen- Koeman playedGriezmann on the right side from Real Madrid, came offthe benchinthe Man Utd beat Newcastle 4-1 forBayern, the latter completing his sive sides by shutting down Barcelona, instead of the middle of attack.Koeman tried 71st minute, but instead of aglorious intro- ManchesterUnited neededalonger pre- feat of scoring againsteachofthe Madrid wassloppyand sluggish againstan Barcelona didn't have manychances, moving Griezmann intoastriker role at duction, West Ham rippedupthe scriptwith seasonto prepareforthecampaignbut4-1win division's 18 teams. The Poland inspired Cadiz that is backinthe topflight but theyweregood ones.Lionel Messi hit Getafe but Griezmann did little to help his astupendous fight back. Fabian Balbuena's overNewcastleUnitedisasignthattheyare fir- star's goals againstBayern forpre- after15seasons. the upright in the 20th and Antoine cause with aglaring miss. He remained 82nd minuteheader and Davinson ingonallcylindersagain,managerOleGunnar vious club Dortmund helpedcon- Sevilla also lostbeforeitvisitsChelsea in Griezmann wasted agreat opportunity on scoreless this season. Sanchez's owngoal gave West Ham hope. Solskjaer said. United recoveredfromanearly vince the Bavarian powerhouse to the Champions League on Tuesday, leaving the half-hour mark. Afterthat, Getafe tight- Zinedine Zidane wasataloss forhis Bale almostscored his side's fourth but West own-goalby LukeShawtowinwithlatestrikes sign him in 2014. Atletico Madrid as the onlyone of Spain's top enedits marking and Barcelona didn't team's performance againstCadiz. Ledby35- Ham's Manuel Lanzini struckawonder-goal fromBrunoFernandes,AaronWan-Bissakaand AGENCIES teams to celebrateavictory. It faces Bayern threaten again until Djene Dakonam al- year-old striker Alvaro Negredo, Cadiz deep in stoppagetime to earn his side an un- MarcusRashfordafterunder-fireskipperHarry MunichonWednesday. mostscored an own-goal latewhen he proved moredangerous than Madrid. likelypoint. Maguirelevelledthe contestat1-1. With one-third representation, the ‘S’ in ISL also means Spain now

Spain is one of the hottestEuropean countries in decision-making, technical abilities apart get(good)playersin2017 thanto getnow.Now MIHIRVASAVDA so theyadaptbetter,”Hyderabad FC’s director Number of Spanish players from being taught to be ‘respectful’. “Weare it’s full of players that want to come.” NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 of football SujaySharma says. 409 who’veplayedabroad bet- producing ahugeamount of professional Theword spreadintheSpanishfootballcir- The winds of change, as is the case oftenin ween May2019&Sept2020. players and coaches but thereisnot space for cles and players became moreopen to the of- BETWEENMAY2019andSeptember2020,409 Indianfootball,firstblewacrossGoa,wherethis all of them,” Cuadrat, who ledBengaluru to fers. FC Goa’s newsigning, Alberto Noguera, Spanishfootballersplayedoutsidetheircountry. seasonof theISLwillbeheldinabio-secureen- the title in 2018-19, says.“Thereare limited says he decidedtocome to India aftergetting Number of Spanish The largest number of them, 49,headedto vironment. In December 2012,Sporting Clube teams in the firstand second divisions. In the good reviews from former FC Goa left-back players who playinIndia, England.Thesecondmostpopulardestination? de Goa appointed Oscar Bruzon, who worked 38 thirddivision, Segunda B, youcan find many Carlos Pena and Bedia. “Theysaid alot of good making it the second- India.Thirty-eightSpanishplayers,accordingto as an academycoachindifferent Indian cities, professional teams but theygivelow salaries things.Itrustthemandthatwasenoughforme mostpreffered destination for CIES Football Observatory’s Atlas of Migration, astheirmanagerinabidto rescuetheirI-League to players because theydon’t have enough to come,” Noguerasays.“Iknowthereare alot them afterEngland (49players). cametoIndiaduringthisperiod.Thisseason,al- season. Bruzon got with him acouple of moneycoming in.” of Spanish players, so that helpedmetocome mostone-thirdoftheforeignplayersandseven Spanish players, marking afirstinthe Indian Indiaspottedthatgapandbegantoaggres- as well as therewill be better chemistryand out of 11 team managers arefromSpain. league, and theyturnedaround Sporting Number of Spanish sively poachnot justSpanish but even players makeiteasier to getusedtoeverything.” Since the firstseason of the ISL in 2014,84 Clube’s fortunes, notdrasticallybut enough to 84 players who have playedin of other nationalities playing there. Theyhave It’sstilltooearly to judgeiftheplayersfrom players from Spain have playedinthe league earn respect across the board. Bengaluru FC manager Carles Cuadrat the Indian Super League luredqualityplayerslikeFerranCorominas(FC thesecondandthirdtierof Spanishfootballand whichtookoverfromI-Leagueasthecountry’s Little would have Sporting Clubeknown is one of the sevenSpanish coaches in till date, mostamong foreign Goa), Miku, Dimas Delgado (both Bengaluru), thecoachescansubstantiallyraisethestandard premier championship lastyear. backthen that their move,rootedindespera- the Indian Super League this season. players followedbyBrazil (51). Edu Bedia, Igor Angulo (FC Goa), Aridane of India’s domestic league.One waytounder- Chances arethat ateam managed by a tion, would markaparadigm shiftinthe do- Santana(Hyderabad)andVictorGomez(Kerala standtheimpactwillbeby seeinghowwellthe Spaniardwill become champions, notjustbe- mestic game. When the ISL waslaunchedin Blasters), among others. teams fare in the continental competitions – cause theyare moreinnumber and thus auto- 2014,the focus in terms of recruitment shifted years later,thereisalot of respect forthe play- onthesecondandthirdtierof Spanishfootball, Theyhaveplayedunder the likes of Jose ATKMohunBagan(coachedbyAntonioHabas) maticallytiltingtheoddsintheirfavourbutalso to playersfromEuropeandSouthAmerica.And ers who arecoming here.” wheretheycouldgetgoodplayerswithintheir Francisco Molina (ATK) and Alberto Roca and Cuadrat’s Bengaluru will playinthe AFC because that has been the trend. In ISL’s short as Spanish coaches entered the fray,doors Ittookafew yearsto changetheoutlook.As budget.From10inthe firstseason to 24 last (Bengaluru),whogot biggerandbetteroppor- Cup while Juan Ferrando’s FC Goa, who have history,onlytwice have non-Spanish coaches openedfor players from the region. theclubsdidaway withthemarqueesigning– term, the number of players with experience tunitiesbackhomeafterspendingtimeinIndia filledtheir foreign players' quotawith wonthe league –former Italyinternational It took time, however, forthe Spanish pros afamous playerwho waslooking forone last of playinginSpainbegantoincreaseeveryyear. andotherpartsof Asia.Molinaisnowthesport- Spaniards, will become the firstIndian side to Marco Materazzi (2015)and Englishman John to take India seriously. “Some years ago, when paycheckbeforehanging his boots –theybe- This season, exceptChennaiyin and East ing director of Spanish football federation and playinthe AFC Champions League. Gregory(2017-18), both with Chennaiyin. youtalked about Indian football in Spain and ganlookingatyoungplayerswhowere notnec- Bengal(bothwithnon-Spanishcoaches),each Roca,whowasappointedasHyderabad’sman- It is also likelythat before theyget achance It wasn't always likethis. In the pre-ISL era, otherparts of Europe,peopledidnottakeitse- essarilyknown names. “The teams learned teamhasatleastoneplayerwithexperienceof agerthisseason,got acallfromBarcelonaman- to influencetheIndiangame,theclubswillfind whenplayersfromAfricawere insuchhighde- riously. Theythoughtitwasaveryexoticleague howtostreamlineto the(recruitment)process playing in Spain –some likeFCGoa and ager Ronald Koeman to join his coaching staff. newer, cheaper catchment areas, with coun- mand, those who ranfootball clubs half-joked whereyou go when youare old and want to andlookedathowsuccesswasachievedinthe Hyderabad have all six foreigners who have “All these players and coaches have alot of trieslikeArgentinaalreadyontheradarof afew. that Europeans would notbeable to survive in earneasymoney,”says BengaluruFCmanager previous years,” Sharma says. playedthere(eachteam has to followthe ‘6+1’ respect in Spain so noweverybody is thinking, Fornow,though, Indian football’s Spanish the heat, convenientlyignoring the fact that it Carles Cuadrat. “This is the information we got As more and moreSpaniards startedhav- rule, the plus-one being aplayerfromAsia). something is happening in India and theyare connectionremainsfirm.Somuchso,thateven wasdifficult forany playertobeattheir best and in general, people were thinking onlyold ingaprofoundimpactontheirrespective clubs, Cuadrat says atypical playerfromSegunda getting serious about football,” Cuadrat says.“I if ‘S’ in the ISL couldwell the substituted for during games whichstartedat 3pm. “I believe players go and it’s notreal football. Now, seven the executivesbegan to focus moreand more andSegundaDivision Bwould bewell-trained can definitelysay that it wasmoredifficult to Spain, it won’t feel tooout of place.

R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789 VOL. XVI No.181 Printed by V.Srinivasan and PublishedbyV.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Ltd and Printed at Saraswati Print FactoryPvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga(West), Kolkata-700105and PublishedatThe Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 &30, N.H.-6, Mouza -Prasastha & Ankurhati, P.O. -Salap, P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711 409. Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033) 66043825 &66043847.Chairman of the Board:ViveckGoenka, Chief Editor :Raj Kamal Jha, Editor :Unni Rajen Shanker,Editor (Kolkata): Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsible forselection of news under the PRB Act)Copyright :The Indian Express (P) Limited.All rightsreserved.Reproduction in anymanner,electronic or otherwise,in whole or in part,without prior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express(R)

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OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry &TLewis CROSSWORD4253 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ARIES (Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA (Sep 24 -Oct 23) The fact that If youare confused, Mercuryand Venus it’s because youare areloosely trying toohardto challenging your understand aworld sign should be positive foryour whichiscompletely plans and partnerships, and irrational!Doyourself a amazing gains arepromisedto favour,lie backand letyour Ariens who thrive on dreams carry youtonew challenge.You muststickwith lands. Younever know-you practical responsibilities, might comeupwithsome even if your firstinstinct is to utterly brilliant ideas. run away. SCORPIO (Oct 24 -Nov 23) TAURUS (Apr 21 -May 21) Youare still Today’s Moon is inclinedtokeep deeplyfavourable, your feelings to whichisbound to yourself, muchas CALVIN &HOBBES by Bill Watterson help youinalmost youmay wish to brag and anyventure. There’s agolden blusterabout other areas of rule though, and that’stobeas your life. Actually, it would do diplomatic as youpossiblycan. yougoodtoshowoff abit, Travel plans should go well, rather thanalways being so and youcan afford to indulge humble.Imean, if youdon’t your heart’s desireinlove. blowyour owntrumpet, ACROSS DOWN Don’t hold back. nobody else will. 1They’redevotedtoorder (5) 2Neglect nothing on ajob (8) 8X-ray unit (8) 3Not onlydon’t come but GEMINI (May22-June 21) SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec 22) 9Ismaking acomebackwith prevent others coming Cash plans requirea Aremarkable line- fresh strength (5) (4,4) little extrascrutiny, up of planets 10 It is done wrongly in certain 4Kind of robberymostlikelyto although thereis indicates that career issues (8) occur during rush hours good news on the interests are 11 Trytoput it in writing (5) (4-2) way. If you’reinvolvedinthe becoming moreimportant, 12 Suitable resortfor aspring 5Can turn intoAmerican property market,orotherwise although you’ll have difficulty holiday? (3) fighting formations (5) making large domestic combining existing domestic 16 Rummageabout forsome 6Radiant girlgoes up west (5) purchases, youshould be on commitmentswith new time (6) 7Hangs about and shows asign the right course. But keep a working responsibilities. You 17 Cut down chesty of anger perhaps (5) close eyeonchanging needtobenoticed. But then, complications (6) 12 One side of the coast(3) conditionsoryou mightbe whynot? caught out. 18 Rescue ship of apeculiar kind 13 Presumably people don’t MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CAPRICORN (Dec 23 -Jan 20) (3) knowwhen theydoso(3) CANCER (June 22 -July23) Areyou sureyou 23 High church feature 14 Fellowfeelingpity perhaps (8) Youalwaystend to want to accept (5) 15 Abel mayget abronze medal makemountains whatisonoffer,or 24 Ship’sbiscuitsnot so easy for (5,3) out of molehills. do youwant to hold the yachtsman (4,4) 19 Price changehas apoint in However, out forthe best?Therecould 25 Impressive signoftemper cookeryinstruction (6) sometimes that is agood thing, be athirdoption, and if you (5) 20 Examine the accuracy of a foronlyifyou exaggeratesmall areextremelyfleetoffootyou 26 Frighten over mistakesand restaurant bill (5) eventswill youconjureupthe mayactually be able to have bloomers (8) 21 Tied as illustrated (5) grand ambitions whichare your cake and eatit. 27 He is involvedwith anywild 22 Stop working in the stables? necessaryfor atrulyfulfilled Sometimes youget what carnivore (5) (5) life. Alittleimagination can go youdeserve. along way. SolutionsCrossword4252:Across:1Snail’space,6Disc,10Stern,11Stratagem, AQUARIUS (Jan 21-Feb 19) 12Macaroni,13Nitre,15Endmost,17Frights,19Scratch,21Pageant,22Nylon,24 LEO (July24-Aug 23) Youhaveafew Cressets,27Bagatelle,28Crete,29Eats,30Freebooter.Down:1Sash,2Alexander, Financial private fears and 3Linda,4Passout,5Cardiff,7Ingot,8Compensate,9Standing,14Personable,16 conditions still look secret worries, as Ostinato,18Heartbeat,20Heckler,21Precede,23Light,25Secco,26Peer. decidedlypositive youare only too andwill continueto aware. Today’s planets do so forsometime. highlight your inner Meanwhile,itwill do you insecurity,but give youthe good to checkpractical details chance to overcomeyour lack JUMBLEDWORDS DifficultyLevel5s anduncoverinefficiency. of confidenceand lay Instructions Romantic planstakeaturnfor foundations forthe future. Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, the better,and youwillsoon Alittle courage will come therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 find that youwereright about in handy. theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe 4266 aparticular person. Theideaofhavinga______isappealing.-RobinWilliams(6,3) PISCES (Feb 20 -Mar 20) nineverticalcolumns,in VIRGO (Aug 24 -Sep 23) Partners seemto eachoftheninehorizontal The Sun, Mercury be in atriumphant 4267 TVAEO AILRDY rowsandineachofthe and Jupiter arenow mood. It isn’t nineboxes. flying through your important whether SUDOKU chartlikeaflockof theyhaveanythingtobe exotic birds, revealing wisdom, pleasedaboutornot.Your EGUST ELMUBJ DifficultyLevel good fortune and pressurefor only concern shouldbe change, although not to putyour owndoubtstoone SUDOKU 1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; necessarilyinthat order.Let sideand be happyfor them. 3s=Medium;4s=Hard; yourself go,and investigate Youmight justfind that they

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