DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020, PUNE, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM FRESH OUTREACH CBI in Hathras case: Accused Govtwritesto40farmleaders,invites ‘frustrated’ after victim rebuff name of onlyone wasmen- The four accused have been AMILBHATNAGAR tionedinthe statement. It fur- in judicial custody since their ar- themfortalks,atadateoftheirchoosing NEWDELHI,DECEMBER20 ther states that “thoughvictim rest in September. allegedmolestation, her medical According to the chargesheet, THE 19-YEAR-OLD Dalit woman examination regarding sexual the womanand Sandeep lived In five-pageletter, Agri Ministry killedinHathraswas allegedly assault wasnot conducted”. nearby and“he developedac- rapedbyfour men aftershe re- The CBI chargesheet against quaintancewith the victim asks for‘detailsinrespecttodoubts’ buffedone of them, Sandeep, the four upper-caste menhas two/threeyearsbackwhichgrad- and this “changeintheir rela- been filedinacourtinHathras ually turned intoloveaffair”. It respect to your doubtsafter hav- tionship” “aggravatedhis feel- under IPC Sections 376(rape), 376 statesthat“italsocameonrecord” HARIKISHANSHARMA ing discussion with farm union ings”and “frustratedhim”,the (D) (gangrape),302 (murder)and thatthey“usedtomeetinisolated NEWDELHI,DECEMBER20 leaders invitedearlier,and inform CBI has said in itschargesheet relevantSectionsof the SC/STAct, places”, and that “these factsare the datefor punah vaarta (next filedinthe case. againstSandeep (20), his uncle supportedbymanyvillagers”. WITH FARM unions intensifying round of talks) according to your The chargesheet also has a Ravi (35) and their friends Ramu The chargesheetfurther protests to press their demand convenience,sothat the matter scathing indictment of the Uttar (26) and Luv Kush (23). The states that Sandeep hadthree forthe repeal of the three farm can be resolvedbyholding a Pradesh Police,statingthat de- woman wasassaulted allegedly phone numbers and severalcalls laws,the government on Sunday meeting again at Vigyan Bhawan, spitethe woman naming three by the four onSeptember 14,and were made from those to phone invited farmer leaders foranew NewDelhi; so that the current ag- people when her statement was diedafortnight later at numbers belonging to the round of talks, and urgedthem itation can be endedsoon.” recordedonSeptember 19,the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 to choose adateaccording to The letter,addressedtoPal their convenience. and copiedto39other farmer In afive-pageletterto leaders, givesthe background of KrantikariKisanUnion,Punjab all rounds of talksheld with the state president Dr Darshan Pal, farm union leaders so far. VivekAggarwal,jointsecretaryin Aggarwal’s letter has come in the MinistryofAgricultureand responsetoPal’s December 16 Farmers’ Welfaresaid: “You are email, through whichhehad PrimeMinisterNarendraModi at GurdwaraRakab Ganj SahibinNew Delhi on Sunday. He requestedtosharethe details in CONTINUEDONPAGE2 paid tributes to Guru Tegh Bahadur. PTI Expertstomeet today on UK virus strain; Minister says vaccine rollout likely in Jan WorldHealthOrganisation the public “maybe” next month. KAUNAINSHERIFFM (WHO), will attend the meeting “Our firstpriority has been the ED NEWDELHI,DECEMBER20 on the newstrain, whichshows safetyand effectiveness of vac- Anew alterations in the spikeprotein cines. We don’t want to compro- PLAIN E ● worry THEHEALTH Ministry'stopadvi- that could theoreticallymakeit mise on that. Ipersonallyfeel, EX sorybodywill meeturgentlyon moreinfectious. maybeinany week of January, we Mondaytodiscuss the newstrain Meanwhile, even as India's can be in aposition to give first AS THE US and Europe go of the novelcoronavirus in the topregulator hasaskedthreevac- Covidvaccine shottopeople of through asurge in cases, United Kingdom, whichhas trig- cinemanufacturersforadditional India,”news agency ANIquoted the detection of anew, geredconcernand promptedsev- dataonlate-stage trials to con- Dr Harsh Vardhan as saying. potentiallymoredeadly Banking on HC eral European countriestostop sider clearing their candidates for Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford- strain of the virus in the incoming flightsfromthe UK. emergency use, Health Minister AstraZeneca, and Bharat Biotech UK has triggered concern order, interfaith Sources said experts from AI- Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday have submitted applications for in India too. The new IMS and the Indian Councilof thathe believes“personally” that emergency use authorisation to strain shows alterations couplesay won’t Medical Research (ICMR), along India could bein aposition to be- the Central Drugs Standard in the spikeprotein. go back to UP with arepresentative from the gin administering the vaccine to CONTINUEDONPAGE2 THE EDITORIAL PAGE SOFIAHSAN Nepal PM gets House dissolved, NEWDELHI,DECEMBER20 NEWPARLIAMENT: “WE WOULDN'T have been able sparks protests,resignations BEYONDTHEFACADE to marry in Shahjahanpur,some- BY MADHAV GODBOLE onewould have found out and as “unconstitutional”, severalpe- PAGE 8 stoppedus,” said 25-year-old YUBARAJGHIMIRE titions were filedbeforethe Shameem, who fledwith 21- KATHMANDU,DECEMBER20 SupremeCourtwithinhoursof year-old Simran from their the Housedissolution. BUSINESSASUSUAL hometown in Uttar Pradesh’s TRIGGERINGPROTESTSand the The decision wastaken at a Shahjahanpur lastmonth. resignations of at leastseven Cabinetmeeting in Oli's residence BY UNNY Fearing vigilantism in the Cabinet-rank ministers, Prime afterthe failureoftalkswith rul- name of 'love jihad' and with the MinisterKPSharma Oli Sunday ing party co-chairman and dissi- UP Police clamping down on in- dissolvedthe country's House of dent leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal terfaith couples citing the newly Representatives, whichisthe Prachanda. President Bidhya Devi promulgated Uttar Pradesh lowerhouse of Parliament, two Bhandari approved the move af- Prohibition of Unlawful years shortofits five-year tenure terano-trustmotion wastabled ConversionofReligion Ordinance, following months of bickering by 91 Parliamentarians of the the interfaith couple had on among factions withinthe ruling Aprotester burns the effigy NCP, signalling that the eight- December16petitionedthe High Nepal Communist Party(NCP). of Nepal PM Oli in month internal tussle had Court, seeking protectionnotonly With legal experts andpolit- Kathmandu Sunday. Reuters reachedapoint of no return. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 ical leaders slamming the move CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Covid impact: Dal lakeset to getawater ambulance, on ashikara Patlooturnedhis shikaraintoanambulance. Suhaib Masudi PAGE 1 wasdischarged, Istarted to work ANCHOR on making this dream areality. Now, thankfully, that has hap- pened. We willbelaunchingitin three-four days,” he says. BASHAARATMASOOD Patloo owns the houseboat, SRINAGAR,DECEMBER20 ‘Sea Palace’, on the Dal and tested positive inAugust.Butto reachho- CONFINED TO abed at the Shri spital, he firstneededtocross the MaharajaHari Singh (SMHS) lake.“Itwastoughto getsomeone Hospital in Srinagar four months to rowthe boat. The bitter exp- agoafter testing positive for eriencehappenedonceagainwh- Covid, Tariq Ahmad Patloo en Ireturned. Iamnot blaming couldn’t getpastthis question: anyone, people were afraidthey whydid theyshun him when he would catchthe virus,” he says. neededthem the most? The an- “Once Idecidedtobuild a swer has nowgiven shape to the waterambulance, Icalledthe Valley’s firstwater ambulance. SatyaRekha Trust(an NGO) and The 51-year-old has devel- shared my idea withthem. They opeda“shikara ambulance” for told me nottoworry about the thoseresidingaroundDallake and financial aspect. Once theygave hopes to followitupwith a“mini me that assurance, Istarted work hospital”insideahouseboat.“The on the ambulance,” he says. idea came at the hospital. Once I CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Pune WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,DECEMBER21,2020 DOWNLOADAPP WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ■ VISUALSTORIES ■ DAILY BRIEFING ■ PODCASTS TRIPURASTUDENTOPENSLEDBULBFACTORY,GIVESJOBHOPEAMIDPANDEMIC ■ CUSTOMIZABLE Asecond-yearstudentpursuingHonoursinEnglish,RohitBhattacharjeehasopenedanLEDbulb Hyperloop is notinthe NEWS EXPERIENCE manufacturingfactorythatemployseightpeople. WEB business of speed Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY VIDEO EXPLAINED In the latestepisode of Our Own Devices, WISTRON UNREST: WHY TRUMP HAS we speak to the Josh Giegel,co-founder of WORKERS SAY WAGE SIGNED ASTOPGAP Virgin Hyperloop, about the company's DISPARITIES TRIGGER FUNDING BILL future, the challenges ahead forit, and what it is liketravelling in aHyperloop Pod. SCANTHISQRCODETO Contractual employees It could have ledtoa DOWNLOADTHEAPP flagged wage issues government shutdown Engineer duped FROMPAGEONE of Rs 1.89 lakh Govtwrites to lationship/affair between victim “The Joint Monitoring Group in onlinefraud and accusedSandeep wasin headedbythe Director-General 40 farm leaders, good form till March 2020”. of Health Services will be dis- It adds: “Thereafter, no calls Nepal PM gets House dissolved cussing this issue (of the UK EXPRESS NEWSSERVICE invites them for were madefrom(victim’s family strain) and makearecommen- MUMBAI,DECEMBER20 number) to either of Sandeep’s OlisecuredCabinetapproval The dissolutionsparked committeeandthecentralcom- the PrimeMinister's control. dation to the Union Health talks, at adate of number,whichshows that their forthe dissolution hours after protests on the streetsbythe mittee. The