DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD,CHANDIGARH, , JAIPUR, ,LUCKNOW, , NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018-20RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2021, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

To spur growth & NOTICES, SUMMONS ISSUED jobs, booster for CentreusingNIA construction and toscarefarmers, low-cost housing itwon’twork, On table: morefunds forPMAwas; easing of FDI rulesinconstructiondevelopment sayCong,Akalis SUNNYVERMA &SANDEEPSINGH BUDGET ’21 Many who got notices decidenot NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 to appearbeforeCentralagency THE UPCOMINGBudget is ex- 8NEW TRAINS TO STATUE OF UNITY pected to give aspecialfocus to notice...(there's an) income tax construction developmentand The Ahmedabad-Kevadia Jan Shatabdi Express, one of the trains flagged offbyPMNarendra EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE raid on arhatiya…What does the affordable housing as increased Modi on Sunday,has aVistadomecoachwithglass rooftop. Nirmal Harindran REPORT,PAGE7 LUDHIANA,AMRITSAR, Modi government think? That activity in these areas provide a CHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI, by using these agencies to scare higher boosttooverall demand COUNTDOWN JANUARY17 and threaten farmers… theywill in the economybecause of their bowdown. Nobody has been ‘Of course DDCpolls forwardand backwardlinkages. IN&OUTOFCOVIDSHADOW BOTH THE Congress and NDA’s able to subjugatethe farmers,” have kickstarted a Sourcessaid the government Johnson invites PM to G7 in June, erstwhile ally, theShiromani Congress communication de- political process plans further liberalisation of Akali Dal (SAD), Sundaycon- partment head Randeep from deep freeze... foreign direct investment (FDI) the pandemic wastheir lackof demnedthe summons and no- Surjewala told reporters in Delhi. They will create a regulations forthe construction access to safe,affordable hous- says will visit before summit tices by theNational The NIA has issuednotices new leadership’ development sector while a ing in urban clusters. Investigation Agency (NIA) to and summons to severalpersons higher allocation is expectedto- Significantly, as partofthe farm leaders, journalistsand an including Baldev Singh Sirsa, OMAR ABDULLAH wardsacredit-linked subsidy pandemicslowdown stimulus, SHUBHAJITROY ED NGOprotestingagainst the three President of Lok Bhalai Insaf VICE-PRESIDENT, NC scheme foraffordable housing. severalstate governmentspro- NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 Boris Coalitionof farm laws alleging that the WelfareSociety, and amember PAGE 9 One factor behind the exodus videdvarious concessions in Johnson: PLAIN E Centrewas using the agency to of the delegation in talkswith ● of migrantsfromcities during CONTINUEDONPAGE2 ALMOSTAfortnight afterBritish absent for EX democracies intimidatethose opposedtoit. the government on farm laws; Prime Minister Boris Johnson R-Day “Will younow sendnotices Punjabi actor Deep Singh Sidhu, calledupPrime Minister G7 PLUS India, Australia to the farmers of this country who is supporting the protests; THE EDITORIAL PAGE NarendraModi and expressed and South Koreaisseen from an agency whichprobes three businessmen who started In latest fightback “regret”thathewould notbe Johnson, who had extended as agathering of D-10— terrorists?The farmers of this abus service from Ludhiana to able to visit India as Chief Guest an invitation to Modi during a 10 leaders who represent countryare calledterrorists, Delhitotransportfarmers; three U.S.:INCITEMENT forthe RepublicDay celebrations phone call lastyear,also reiter- over 60% of people living Naxalites, agentofChina, agent journalists vocal on protests; for India, TORACISM in viewofthe pandemic, he has ated his plan to visit India ahead in democracies around of … Journalists aresent Khalsa Aid, an NGO, and some BY SANJIBBARUAH invited theIndian Prime of the G7 summit. the world. This is also NIA notices, farmers aresentNIA CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PAGE 12 Ministertothe UK forthe G7 The proposed summit will be seen as asignal to China. flair and Palghargrit summit in June this year. CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Vaccination drive to resume Vaccines off to smooth start, cross BUSINESSASUSUAL tomorrow in , 2-lakh mark; dip in active cases BY UNNY with or without Co-WIN verse eventsfollowing immuni- The statehad decidedtokeep KAUNAINSHERIFFM EXPERT sation (AEFI), the Union Health TABASSUM the drive,whichbegan on NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 Ministrysaid on Sunday.Ofthe BARNAGARWALA Saturday, inabeyanceforacouple EXPLAINS 447, onlythree required hospi- MUMBAI,JANUARY17 of days following widespread OF THE 2,24,301beneficiaries Praveen Pardeshi talisation, with twoofthembe- complaints about the Co-WIN from the priority group who re- FromTheIndianExpresspanel ing discharged. THE MAHARASHTRA govern- (Covid Vaccine Intelligence ceivedtheir doses by theend of ofspecialists,exclusiveinsight On Sunday,only553 sessions ment is settorestart the Covid- Network) app, asoftwarede- twodays of thenationwide vac- were conductedacross the coun- 19 vaccination drive in the state signedforreal-timeregistrationof cination programme against EXPLAINED PAGE 11 try, with 17,072 beneficiaries Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar duringthe India- from Tuesday. CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Covid-19, only447 reportedad- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Australia Test in Brisbane, Sunday. AP

ish their firstinnings at 336. At the SANDIPG heartoftheir latestfeat wasthe NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 unflusteredseventh-wicketstand of 123runsbetween Washington THE FURTHER these Indian Sundar,a21-year-old debutant, cricketers arepushedtothe andShardulThakur,a29-year-old ropes, the stronger theybounce one-Test tailender,that limited back. Australia’s lead to 33. On Day3ofthe fourth Test, At stumps, the home team the series levelat1-1,India were 21 fornolossandagamethat slippedand staggered to 186for seemedtobeswaying towards six but ralliedspectacularly to fin- CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Surgeindating apps in Tier-II cities, but skew against women PAGE 1 ANCHOR

KARISHMAMEHROTRA NEWDELHI,JANUARY17

WHEN NIHARIKA Singh first useddating app Bumble in her 31 million Indian dating app hometown of Lucknowin2018, users in 2020,67% men she found that afterafew swipes, therewerenomorepo- tentialpartners. But aftershe got were toopsychologicallydesper- stuckathome following the atetomeet—that wasnot the lockdown lastyear,the 24-year- case in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore. old found awhole newcropof The experience difference be- men on suchapps, manyofthem tween agirland aguy is huge, es- backathome likeher. peciallyhere. Iamsuffering from “Theywould send me non- aproblem of abundance.” stop offers,” she said, afterdelet- Across India, dating app ingtheappsin December. “Idon’t executiveshavenotedanunex- think I’ll use the apps in Lucknow pected Covid effect:the growth ever again. Ifound that here, men CONTINUEDONPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021

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‘Bogus bills’ after loot: FROMPAGEONE Boosterfor cratic countries, the G7 has long help farmers protesting peace- Police file FIR been the catalystfor decisive in- fully. construction ternational action to tackle the Meanwhile, some of those against match greatestchallenges we face.From Vaccines off to smoothstart, hit 2-lakh mark who receivedthe NIA summons stampduty and other chargesto cancelling developingworld debt decidednot to appear. fixingaccused kickstart transaction activity in to ouruniversal condemnation of being vaccinated,the ministry process and that “protocols are the ministry, the country’s ac- asteady decline: in the last23 “Deep Singh Sidhu (who was the construction and real estate Russia’s annexation of Crimea, said. alsoinplace forsystematic in- tive case load stood at 2,08,826, days,India has reportedless to appear before theNIA on sector.The Centre, too, setupa the worldhas lookedto the G7 to SpellingoutdetailsoftheAEFI vestigation”. whichis1.98per cent of the to- than 300dailyCovid deaths. Sunday) did notappear before MAHENDERSINGH fundtoprovidelast-mile funding applyour shared values and cases reported afterthe firsttwo “Majority of the AEFI aremi- talcases. The Health Ministrysaid NIA today. His brother (Mandeep MANRAL to stressedhousing projects diplomatic might to createa days,DrManohar Agnani, nor in nature: pain, mild Forthe last 10 days,daily that todaybeingSunday, only Singh), who has been asked to NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 across the country. moreopen and prosperous Additional Secretary, Ministryof swellingatthe injection site, newcases have been belowthe six states conducted vaccina- present himself on January19, Revivalofconstruction devel- planet. Healthand FamilyWelfare,said, mildfever,body ache,nausea, 20,000-mark. tion sessions: AndhraPradesh will also notappear,” said DELHI POLICEhas registeredan opment sector is also seen as cru- “Coronavirus is doubtlessthe “MostAEFIreportedinthecoun- giddinessand mildallergic re- Kerala continues to report (308), (165), Advocate HakamSingh, whorep- FIR againstRajeshKalra, an ac- cial foremployment creation. mostdestructive forcewehave tryare minor:fever,headache, actionlikerashes. Onlyafew the highestdailynew cases. On (64), Arunachal resentsthe brothers. cusedinthe 2000 match-fixing “While 100per cent FDI is al- seen forgenerations and the and nausea; onlythree of them AEFI mayrequirehospitalisa- Sunday, the statereported Pradesh (14), Kerala (1) and He said he wasplanning to file scandal involving lateSouth ready permitted in construction greatesttestofthe modern world requiredhospitalisation...Onehas tion, whichisclassifiedunder 5,960new cases; followedby Manipur (1). apetition in the Punjab and African cricket captain Hansie development sector,certain legal order we have experienced. It is been dischargedfromNorthern serious AEFI. Protocols arein Maharashtra(2,910)and Tamil The Ministryalso gave out Haryana High Courttoseek tran- Cronje, and his business partner structures suchasLLP arenot al- onlyright that we approachthe Railway,Delhi, in 24 hours; the place forreporting, immediate Nadu (610). details of states’ vaccination sit bail forall those who have re- forallegedly submitting forged lowedtoreceive foreign invest- challengeofbuildingbackbetter secondbeneficiary hasbeen dis- casemanagement at vaccina- According to the latestdata, schedules. While Andhra ceivednotices. bills to raise aclaim of around Rs ment in this sector.Wehavedis- by uniting with aspirit of open- chargedfromAIIMS, Delhi; and tionsessionsite,transportation in the last24hours, five states Pradesh will hold sessions six Said avolunteer,who ap- 4.78 crorethat wasallegedly cussedthese and other rules ness to create abetterfuture,” he the thirdisunder observationat and hospitalisation and further have witnessedadropofatleast days aweek and Mizoram will peared before the NIA following lootedbytheir employees. wherethereisascope forliber- said Sunday. AIIMS and is doing careofsuchcases,” Agnani said. 200cases:(- do so on five days aweek,23 summons, on the condition that Over Rs 5.5crore belongingto alisation,” said asource. The G7,whichincludes UK, fine.” On Sunday, forthe firsttime, 433), Uttar Pradesh (-419), states andUTswill hold sessions he notbenamed: “I have no link Kalraand his Gurgaon-based Barring real estate business Canada, France, Germany, Italy, The HealthMinistryreiter- active cases declined below2 (-322), and, Andhra on four days,three stateson with SFJ(Sikh forJustice). Iwas businesspartner Rahul Ahuja and farm-houseconstruction, the Japan, the USAand the EU,isthe ated that the adverseevents per cent of the total cases re- Pradesh (-212). three days,and three other surprisedtheyhaveevery detail wasallegedly robbed from them FDI regime is quiteliberal forthe onlyforum wherethe world’s “mayormay not” be related to portedinthe country. Significantly, the dailycase states, including UP will hold of mine. Iamscared,and have in aSouth Delhi street in 2014. construction development sec- mostinfluentialand open soci- the vaccines or vaccination According to datareleasedby fatalityrate continues to register sessions onlytwo days aweek. giventhem all the details they Police had arrested 14 persons torincluding that fortownship etiesand advancedeconomies wanted.Idonot knowiftheyare and apprehendedajuvenile. development and residential gather fordiscussions. satisfied.” Kalrawas namedinthe premises. LastNovember,the The summit itself will beheld Vaccination drive to resume tomorrow in Maharashtra “The Centrethinksitcan match-fixingchargesheet along government had announced in the coastaltownofCarbis Bay, weaken the farm protestbysuch with Cronje; Kishan Kumar, steps to promote housing sector. supportedbyneighbouring St. dataofpeople who arevacci- aries. On the firstday of the pletely offline if Co-WIN does pitalinMumbai –saidvideo intimidatorymeasures. Little brother of the slain T-Series The financeministryallowed Ives and other towns across the nated. vaccinerollout on Saturday,the notwork.Alistofbeneficiaries conferencing maybedone to does it knowthat the Kisan founder Gulshan Kumar;alleged developers to sell their housing Cornwall region. However, withthe Union application did notworkin will be drawnupcentre-wise discuss this issueand brain- Andolan is onlygetting stronger kingpin SanjeevChawla; unitsat20per cent lowerthan In February, UK will assume government directing all states manyofthe 285 centres across and distributed to them. storm solutions. due to theserepressive steps,” the Manmohan Khattar and Sunil the circle rate on account of price the Presidency of the UN Security that the entireprocessneeds Maharashtra. In some centres, “Namescan be verifiedfrom “The Union ministrywas Akali Dal chief told reporters in Daraalias Bittu, police said. They reduction in the market. The gov- Council, and, later this year,itwill to resume and can continue the server could notconnect to the listand vaccineshots can informedabout the low Ferozepur wherealocal BJP were accusedofenteringintoa ernment allowedincrease in the hostthe COP26 climatesummit without Co-WIN softwarein it, and in some, the vaccination be given. If Co-WIN works, this turnout forCovaxin. Several leader joinedthe Akali Dal with criminal conspiracy to fixanODI differential from 10 per cent to 20 in Glasgow and aglobal educa- regions wherethereare tech- “session list” did notopen. process will be online,” DN heads of departmentshad his supporters. series betweenIndia and South per cent (under Section 43CA) for tion conference. nicalglitches, the Maharashtra In severalcentres, the soft- Patil said. turnedupfor vaccination in Punjab Congress President Africa in February-March,2000. the period from the dateofthe British officials saidthatas government said that it will re- ware failedtodelivertextmes- On Saturday, the our centre. This mayencour- Sunil Kumar Jakhar said the BJP On January29, 2014,six announcement to June 30, 2021. “pharmacy of the world”, India sume the drive from Tuesday. sagesto beneficiariesto intimate Brihanmumbai Municipal ageothers.Weare hopeful of a wastryingtovilify the farming armedmen in twostolen vehicles The benefitisavailable on pri- already supplies morethan 50 Across the state, 28,500 them about their centresand Corporation(BMC) had to call better turnout in the next community and Punjabis.“Not had allegedly interceptedacar in marysale of residential units per cent of the world’s vaccines, healthcareworkers will be thetime of vaccination. Most eachofthe 4,000beneficiaries round,” Sankhe said. onlyare theytrying to browbeat LajpatNagar and robbeditsoccu- with aprice value of up to Rs 2 and UK and Indiahaveworked shortlistedfor vaccinationon centres were forced to conduct in Mumbai to requestthem to Stateofficials, too, believe the farmers, theyare also under- pants. Initially, the complainant crore. closelytogether throughout the Tuesday. Thenumber also in- vaccinationwithout Co-WIN. come forvaccination when the that twofactors ledtopoor mining their supportsystem.” told police that theywererobbed In itsproposal to the pandemic. “OurPrimeMinisters cludes 10,200healthcare DNPatil said all dataofben- text messagesystemofCo- turnout forthe overallvaccina- The notices exposedthe gov- of Rs 7.70 crore, but police found Government, industrybody CII speak regularly andPrime workers who had missedtheir eficiarieswas notedinphysical Winfailed. tion drive –weekend and ben- ernment’s“forked tongue”, he laterthe figure wasRs5.5 crore. has calledfor aspecialfocus on MinisterJohnsonhassaid he will jab on January16. copies or spreadsheets andwill Civic officialssaid theymay eficiaries being intimated said. “DefenceMinisterRajnath Ahuja’s manager Rakesh Kumar low-costhousing and an exten- visit India ahead of the G7,” a The drive will be under- be uploadedonCo-WIN over have to manuallychoose an- about the vaccine schedule at Singh said the farmers shouldnot Sharma wasonhis waytodeposit sion of the interestsubvention British official said. takenonfour days of the week. the next twodays. other 4,000 beneficiaries for the last minute. be discredited.But BJP leaders cashinthree different banksin scheme so that it can covertotal “ItwillmostlybeTuesday, Maharashtrahad short- the second round and call “These arenew vaccines from Punjab and Haryana kept Connaught Place,Moti Nagarand housing costofuptoRs35lakh. Indiafights back Wednesday, Fridayand listed28,500 doctors, nurses, them up if the softwarefails to with no prior experiencetoac- calling them names. The NIA no- Karol Bagh when the robbers in- Therehas also been demand Australia nowhung in balance. Saturday. Butthat can change paramedics, ASHAs and auxil- work again. “The names will be count for. Taking thisintoac- tices areaclear design of the BJP terceptedtheir car,police said. to raise allocation under Pradhan ForIndia,Sundaywas impor- if needed. If theCo-WIN text iarynurse midwivesfor the distributed to 24 ward war count, 64 percent turnout is and lend credence to those who The investigation of the case Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) tant becauselate-orderflour- messagesystemdoes notwork, January16vaccination drive. rooms. From there, calls will be okay. Letussee howmany vilifiedfarmers,” Jakhar said. waslater transferredtothe New from the Rs 27,500crore allo- ishes, of late, had become ararity we willcallupbeneficiaries to Only18,328 (64.3 per cent) made to beneficiaries,” an offi- people turnuponTuesday,” Respondingto theNIAnotice, Delhi rangeofthe special cell, cated in the Union Budget 2020- -- the lasttime aseventh-wicket inform themadayortwo in ad- turnedup. Those who missed cial said. said Dr Archana Patil, Director NGOKhalsa Aid, said, “A large whicharrested14people, includ- 21 to ensureevery Indian has a pairgot acentury-partnership vance,” said Dr DNPatil, state the shotwill be reminded Meanwhile, to overcome (FamilyWelfare)ofDirectorate scale indiscriminateNIA investi- ing the former employeeofKalra, home in the near future. abroad wasin2018. In Brisbane, immunisation officer. thrice before theirname is re- hesitancy overCovaxin, which of Health Services and in gation of this natureagainstvol- who wasallegedlythe master- “Toprovide relief to stressed notonlydid Thakur (67) and Co-Winisadigital platform movedfromthe list. is still undergoing Phase III trial, charge of overallCovid treat- untary agencies, groups and in- mind behind the robbery. homebuyers, funds could also be Washington (62)break India's to monitor vaccine distribution On Tuesday,districtswill Dr Lalit Sankhe –incharge of ment and vaccination in the dividuals, who provide setaside forthe National Building seventh-wicket recordatthe and recorddataofall benefici- have the choice to go com- Covaxin vaccination at JJ hos- state. humanitarian supportisun- Construction Corporation to Gabba, theydid so by moving precedented in Indian history. Class X, XII complete stalledprojectswhich past India's all-timegreatTestall- Our team will cooperateand an- have been stuckdue to fund rounders, Kapil Devand Manoj son to be abatsman, aTestbats- smackedPat Cummins on the verse migration as our small were stuckathome and on these swer anyqueries raisedbythe reopen in Delhi shortage.This would boostcon- Prabhakar. man, before junior coaches risethroughcovers. Englishcom- town growth accelerated in apps (Bumble, Tinder,and NIA team.” sumer sentiment and revupthe It wasathrowback to those recognisedthathis natural loop mentatorNickKnight, on air dur- March... We also sawthe peak OkCupid). Isaw profiles say OnSaturday,raisingquestions govt schools, demand cycle. Therecould be a days when India had several and height would be harnessed ing India's fightback,would call it time forusageshiftfrom11pm ‘Forcedherebecause of COVID,’ on the timing of the summons, provision to recoverthe costs in- multi-skilledplayers who batted if hewere aspinner.Buthenever the "shotofthe series". He then to 2am,” said Snehil Khanor,CEO ‘Onlyherebecause of COVID,’ ShiromaniGurdwaraParbandhak pvt onessay volvedoncethe projectiscom- deep with the tail wagging hard. forgot his batting. “Batting is what leaptout of the crease to heave of TrulyMadly. ‘Boredtodeath because of COVID Committee (SGPC) president Bibi pleted,” said CII in itsproposal. Washington also brokea110- we discussathome. We have a Lyon over long-ontocomplete “Wedid see, especiallyinthe andtherefore here’,"saidMertia, Jagir Kaur condemnedwhat she need time The industrybody has also year-old recordwhen he regis- small academywhereweprac- his firstTesthalf-century with engineering community,that a29-year-old completing his calledthe Centre’s “tactics forsti- calledfor increase in the rebate teredthe highestscorebyavisit- tise alot,and he will justkeepbat- aplomb.The scattered Sunday people moving out of Bangalore Ph.D. at NewYorkUniversity. flingthe voice of farmersprotest- on housing loan to help boostde- ing playerbatting at No.7 on ting,” says the father-coach. crowdrosetoapplaudhim.Even and ledtotrafficspik- Joseph,fromAisle, acknowl- ing againstthe black agriculture SUKRITABARUAH mand forhousing and push con- debut in Australia. Sundar’sfavourite cricketer theAustralian fielders, tired and ing in Tier-II cities,” said Able edgesother hurdles to the small laws.” NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 struction activity. Washington and Thakur are wasWVRaman, and hence he frustrated,wereseen clapping Joseph, CEO of Aisle, an Indian town dating app space, from not The NIA,whichisprobing While the rebateofinterest an odd couple -- the Chennai modelledhis son’s stance on the their hands in appreciation. datingappwith2million unique havingananonymous place to multiple cases of terror against AS GOVERNMENT schoolsacross paid on housing loan (for self- wonderkid coachedbyhis father former India opener.Thereisan users in 2020. Almostall growth meetand issues of authenticity. Sikh ForJustice, registeredafresh the city reopen forclass Xand XII use) has notbeen revisedsince at their TNagarAcademyand the economyofmovement and a Dating apps in 2020 came outsidethe Tier-I His companyhas usedlastyear’s caseagainsttheproscribedorgan- studentsonMonday, manypri- 2014 when it wasraised to Rs 2 late-bloomer from Palghar languid extension of the arms of users in cities outside the met- market, statisticsprovidedbythe shifttobegin marketing his app isation on December 15,2020. vate schools said that theywill lakh from Rs 1.5lakh, CII has whose dailyjourneytothe when he drives. He seldom stabs ros, withoutanyspecificmarket- companyshow. as amarriage-focusedplatform The FIR alleges that SFJistry- take afew moredays to prepare calledfor an upwardrevision Mumbai maidans would see him or swipes at the ball,and in his ing push. And, apersistent and Those who have travelledbe- to overcome the stigma, espe- ing to recruit youth forterroracts, themselvesfor reopening. giventhe rise in the capital value wake up at 3.30 am and spend 144-ball 62, he hardlylookedlike growing gender imbalance: out tween metros and small towns ciallyoutside large metros. and is sending foreign funds On Sunday,education minis- of houses. close to 7hours in aday on the lo- someone who has notbatted in of the 31 millionIndian dating overthelastfew monthsspeakof Take the case of Simar,who is throughNGOsto “pro-Khalistani” terManish Sisodia held areview cal trains. afirst-class game for26months. appusersin2020,67per cent differences in howthe apps are in his 20s and preferredtokeep elementsinIndiatoprecipitate meeting with education depart- G-7 invitation Giventhe doggedness and The six offNathanLyonmight were men. used.Profilesoftenhiderealiden- his surname anonymous. “on-groundcampaignandpropa- ment officials in anticipation of thefirstin-personG-7summitin couragethis team has mustered have beenthe mostbreathtaking India is the second-largest tities,especially forwomen,high- Forthe firsttime in six years, ganda against Government of the reopening. almosttwo years, as it will beheld since the 36 all outinAdelaide, of his strokes, but it washis driv- revenue market fordating apps, lighting alingering stigma and Simar returnedtoJalandhar after India”. “Everyone is excitedandalit- in the English region of Cornwall theyneither flinchednor surren- ingthatstoodout.It’satechnique afterthe US, with$323millionin trustdeficit with online dating. studying in Sweden. He down- TheNIAFIR,registeredonaref- tle nervous at having class 10 and from June 11 to 13.Besides India, dered.Theywerelikeapair of honedbypractising and playing revenue in 2020, according to “Photosofmandirs, Katrina Kaif, loadedthe app in November erencefromtheUnionMinistryof 12 studentsbackinschools from Australia andSouth Koreahave choirboys putting in the shiftof on mat surfaces backhome. It Statisa.com. or justablackbox,” said Sandeep when he found it hardtofind Home Affairs, allegedthat “huge tomorrowfor practicals/coun- also been invited as guestcoun- the chiefchorister and belting out seems risk-fraught, but he rides ATinder spokesperson told Mertia,whohasbeenonanarray like-mindedfriends. “In the fundsare being collected abroad selling. Allpreparations —sani- tries as atestament to UK’s com- hymns without an out-of-place the bounce masterfully, thetrans- The Indian Express that growth in of apps forseven years as he has midstofthe pandemic, therewas foron-ground campaign and tisers, masks, social distancing — mitment to ensuring multilateral tune. Thakur demonstrated his ferofweight is seamless. His fa- Tier-II citieshas growntwice as travelledbetween Delhi,New no other waytomeetpeople. I propagandaagainstGovernment areinplace,” he said on Twitter institutions better reflect today’s utility;Washington bustedafew ther had wanted Washington to muchasthe metros in thepast York,andhishometown,Jodhpur. figuredwhynot give itashot.But of Indiaincludingstagingdemon- afterthe meeting. world, accordingtoastatement stereotypes around him. beaTestbatsman; in Brisbaneon year.Happn, oneofthe mostpop- “Instead, thereare bios with in my town,dating is still consid- strations outside Indian missions Attendance forstudents will issuedbythe Britishgovernment. Since building areputation as Sundayhewas one. ularappsin Indiawith28million Rajputini, Jat and other caste la- eredtaboo. Arrangedmarriageis in countries likethe USA, UK, be optional and schools will have Modi had attendedthe G-7 acraftynew-ball wielding off- In contrast, Thakur has no users, nowhas Nagpur,Surat, belssimilarto whatwe seeonthe still predominant around me. All Canada,Germanyand so forth.” to obtain writtenconsent from summit in Biarritz in France in spinnerinT20Is, Washington’s cricketing pedigree. Basedat Ludhiana, and Agra in itstop 20 backofcars. Womenhide their the women were hiding their The FIR namedSFJ leaders parents. Manyprivate schools August2019and wasalsoinvited batting aptitude has been barely Palghar,over100 km from cities. “Because of the pandemic, names,writingR,S,orA,”hesaid. faces and namesonthe app. I Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, said that theywill notopen on forthe 2020 summit hostedby highlighted.Worse, he has not Mumbai, his familyisintofarm- smaller cities arerising in terms When Mertia firstused uninstalleditlastmonth,” hesaid. HardeepSinghNijjarandParamjit Mondayastheyneedtime to ad- the US —which could nottake even playedfirst-class cricket in ing. Undeterred by the body- of newmembers or activity on Tinder in Jodhpur in 2015,he Pamma —all of whom aresaid to heretothe protocol. place due to the pandemic. the lasttwo years. crushing dailycommuting, he the app,” said Marine Ravinet, swipedleftfour times and the NIA summons bebasedinforeigncountries—as “Wehavesent emails and This is expected to be Modi’s Fortunately, Washington did optedfor the same school in Head of Trends at Happn. apptold him there wasnoone Sikh youths. the accused. messages on class WhatsApp secondG-7 summit;his prede- notfall intothe trappings of Kandivali, aMumbai suburb, as TrulyMadly, an Indiandating else to show in his area. But he Sirsahas been asked to ap- Lastweek,AttorneyGeneralK groupstoparentsand we are cessor Manmohan Singh had at- stereotypes. “People who have Rohit Sharma. Both shareacom- appwith 7.8million users, found noticedaswell to triple digitsin pear at the NIA headquarters in KVenugopal told the Supreme waiting...Itshouldbecompleted tendedthe G-8 summit (it be- watchedWashington in theIPL mon coach,Dinesh Lad, and have that, out of cities with arevenue 2017,justasthe countrysaw its New DelhionJanuary17. Courtthat the Government has by Monday. Depending on the came G-7 from G-8 with the and T20s have theperception honedtheir skills on their base in lakhs, those like Internetusers surge with the de- SADPresident Sukhbir Singh “been informedthereisa number of parentswho agree, expulsion of Russia in 2014)five that he is an off-spinner who can school's cement pitch. Today, he Bhubaneshwar,Jammu, Kanpur, cline in datacosts.This March, Badal said the Centralgovern- Khalistaniinfiltration”inthefarm- we will decide in howmany times between 2005 and 2009 bat abit. In fact, Iwould saythat playedafew strokesthat would Patna, Rajkot,, and when he returneddue to the ment did notfind anything ers’ protestsonDelhi’s outskirts. classrooms and labs we will ac- through his firstterm in UPA1. he is 70 percent batsman and 30 have made even Sharma proud. Vijaywadahaveseenaseven-fold lockdown, he sawanother un- wrong with Khalsa Aid when it Farmers’ unions have denied commodatestudents...,” said Making the invitation official, per cent bowler.That’s howgood He probablyessayedthe revenue growth since the pan- precedentedspike. “A whole new providedhumanitarian aid in anylinksand saythis is aployby Ashok Pandey, director,Ahlcon Johnson said: “As the most he is,” says hisfather Sundar. stroke of hislifewhen he demic -- muchmorethan the crowdofreverse migrantsfrom but has “unleashed” the the Centretodiscredit the group of schools. prominent grouping of demo- Sundar always dreamt of his clampeddownhis front foot and metros. “One factor could be re- Bangalore, Hyderabad, or the UK NIA on the NGOfor steppingin to protests and the protesters. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 3 THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 HARDLOOK DECENTRALISATION OF BMC

Forsometime now, BMC officials have beenSplivocal about re-organisation citing additionattinlresponsibilities and work pressurgie. Archive tup

Demands seeking the re-organisation of BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation under twomunicipal commissioners to run the country’s richestbut unwieldy civicbodyfindincreasingresonance as it headstopollsnextyear.

areas where it is achallengetoprovide civic required to offerbettercivic services to peo- Politics on BMC LAXMANSINGH& facilities. Forexample, P-north ward (Malad) ple. It can be done by having twoseparate Thedemandfor the BMC's division al- VISHWASWAGHMODE alone has atotal population of 9.67lakh and commissioners forcity and suburbs on the ways attractsstrongpolitical reactions from MUMBAI,JANUARY17 17 corporators following Lward(Kurla) with AT AGLANCE lines of the twodistrictscollectors in the ShivSena whichhas been benefitted 9.26 lakh and 15 corporators.Thereare 227 Mumbai," he added. However, Khan's de- from the issue fordecades. APOLITICAL demand to appoint twosepa- corporator electoral wardsin24administra- mand wasopposedbythe BJP and the Shiv In 1985, then Chief MinisterVasandada rate municipal commissioners forthe city tive wards. Sena in the statelegislature. The parties al- Patil had made astatement, creating asus- and suburbs in the Brihanmumbai Municipal In the pastseveral years, civic officials Area it Population R/N leged that the division would be an insult to picion that the Centrewas planning to bring Corporation (BMC) and the proposedbifur- have been vocal about re-organisation as governs density R/C the hundredsofmartyrs who fought for Mumbaiunder itsadministration and thus cation of Mumbai's biggestadministrative theyhavebeen tasked withother responsi- 483.14 26,500 R/S Mumbai. separating it from Maharashtra.The Sena ward —the firstsuchdivision in the lasttwo bilitiesalong withtheir coredepartment role. P/N pickedupthe issue as itsweaponfor the BMC sq km per sq km. T decades —haveput the focus backonthe In recent instances, civic officials have cited P/S polls and emergedasthe single largest party challenges before the country's biggestmu- work pressurebeforethe BombayHigh Mayorincouncil in BMC nearing the majority markinthe election. nicipal corporation to providecivic services Court. K/W S Following the BMC elections in April2017, Since then, the Sena has been raking up fears efficientlyinIndia's biggestcity. In December2020, the courtimposeda K/E then Chief MinisterDevendraFadnavis had of separation of Mumbai from Maharashtra, According to the BMC data, the popula- fine of Rs 1lakh on Assistant Municipal POPULATION UNDER N formedathree-member committee to sug- an emotive issue in the state's rural parts, 1.28 cr ITS PURVIEW L tion of Mumbai was1.28 crore(12.8 million) Commissioner of Cward(Chandanwadi) H/E gest ways to bring in transparency,efficiency time and again. by mid-2020. It is containedinanareaof Chakrapani Alleovercontempt of courtfor H/W and accountabilityinthe civicbodyand other Recently, Congress leader and Fisheries M/W 483.14 squarekm, making Mumbai oneof notgiving aproper hearing to arestaurant Western suburbs M/E municipal corporations in the state.The MinisterAslam Shaikh stoked acontroversy the densestcities with 26,500personsper owner from Dhobi Talao and ordering the 57.18lakh G/NF/N committee submitted itsreportin2018and by demanding twomunicipal commission- squarekm(excluding the area markedoff as demolition of his structuredespitethe court had suggestedadopting adirectlyelected ers in the BMC and justifieditonthe ground Eastern suburbs G/S F/S "no development zone"). sayingthatthe owner should be givenahear- mayorsystemonthe that it would be easier forthe 39.63lakh E The island city has the highestdensity of ing before action. D line of the US presiden- civic body to provide basic 44,170 people per squarekm. It is 24,500 Defending the BMC, senior advocateAnil City C B tial elections. Thecom- amenities to the people in squarekminthe western suburbs (Bandra Sakhare, had said it wasabonafide mistake mittee had also recom- Smaller wards will Suburban Mumbai. However, 31.92 lakh A to Dahisar) and 22,110squarekminthe east- by Alle due to work pressureashewas man- mendedvesting the ensure better the demand wasrejected by ern (Kurla to Mankhurdand Mulund)sub- aging 17 internal departmentsand an addi- mayorwith all decision- citizen services. PNorth the Congress,stating that it urbs. tional charge of Bward. making powers. (Malad) has 17 washis personalviewand Justtogiveasenseofhow big Mumbai Similarly,inanothercase of action against Eastern suburbs Western suburbs However, even after corporator electoral notthe party view. has (in terms of population) grown, it is big- illegal construction by Deputy Municipal 59 102 three years,nodecision wards. It is almost an Subsequently, Shaikh and the gerthan Sweden (1 crore) and Denmark Commissioner (DMC) of zone 2, Vijay has been taken. The BJP corporators have de- (58.1lakh). Within the country, at least10 Balamwar, theBMC had said the civic staffis committee wascom- impossible task for one mandedthat the additional Indian states, including Uttarakhand, overworked. Mumbai city posedofformer BMC assistant municipal municipal commissioners of Himachal Pradesh aresmaller than the BMC. Currently, many topcivic officials are 56 Number of Municipal commissioner to look IAS officer levelshould sitin holding additionalchargesfor otherdepart- corporators Commissioner Sharad after civic issues in such their respective zones - History of administrative mentsalong with theirs.With about 27 per 217 Kale, former Housing ahuge land with alarge Western and Eastern cent vacancies,the country's richestmunic- SecretaryGautam population. Focus on Suburbs-for better redressal bifurcation ipal corporationisalreadyfacing astaff Chatterjee and former of civic issues. The BMC, whichwas formedasa"town crunch, and employees oftencomplain about Pune Municipal smaller wards can Sena sources said Shaikh's council", had itsfirst-evermeeting in being overworked.According to the BMC fig- ADMINISTRATIVE MAKE-UP Commissioner improve infrastructure demand fortwo commis- September 1873.Having ahistory of over ures, thereare nearly 37,800vacant posts Ramanath Jha. and basic services." sioners wasaresult of afall- 145years,the BMC has grownadministra- across civic departments. The civic body has 1 4 Aretired bureaucrat, out between him and the Administrative VINOD MISHRA tively withthe city's expansion to thenorth. 1.43 lakh sanctioned(statustill June2019) Commissioner who had held keyposts municipal commissioner Additional commissioner: wards: BJP CORPORATOR FROM MALAD Currently, thereare 24 administrative wards posts fortechnical, and administrative offi- 24 (City,eastern suburbs, in Mumbaiand Pune, on over some issues in the civic through whichthe municipality is dealing cials and sanitation workers, of which1.05 24 the condition of body. However, theBJP im- Assistant municipal western suburbs, with civic issues in the island city (Colaba to lakh arefilled. anonymity said the mediatelyaccusedthe commissioners: projects) Mahim and Sion) and suburbs. BMC's plans of re-organising wards mayorshould be directly Congress of conspiring to di- According to the book,Municipal In 2017,then municipal commissioner elected andgiven morepowers with ac- vide Mumbai. Corporation of Greater Mumbai(MCGM) and current principal advisor to Chief City Eastern suburbs Western suburbs countability. ShivSena leaderssaid thereisnochange and Ward Administration, written by retired MinisterUddhav Thackeray,AjoyMehtahad Ward "Our citiesare in astate of war. Becauseif in their stand of notallowing Mumbai's sep- DeputyMunicipal Commissioner Dr David proposedre-organisation of administrative committees 575youhaveahuge population coming in and aration from Maharashtra. "Thereisno AnthonyPintoand Dr Marina RitaPintoin wards, taking note of difficulty in handling 17 dailyissues to be resolvedthen the decision- changeinour stand," said TransportMinister 2008, afterthe corporation's formation in big wardsbyonlyone administrator (assis- making process in suchanorganisation must and ShivSena leader Anil Parab. He added 1950, suburbs from BandratoAndheriand tant municipalcommissioner) during elec- Graphic: Ritesh Kumar be very quick. But in the current system of that sincethe Congress has already clarified Sion to Ghatkopar,and in 1956 the remain- tions and on regular days withservices. the municipalcorporations, youhaveavery that it is notaparty demand, it is no longer an ing portion of Andheri to Dahisar and According to Mehta's proposal, all 24 largeconsultative process. By the time the issue. Ghatkopar to Mulund were mergedinthe ward boundaries would be redrawntobring small as 1,000 families whichishelpful in In 2017,former Congress ministerand decisionistaken,the situation changes. To "TheBJP,whichisdesperatefor power, is municipal corporation. parity in the number of electoral wards. In managing services. Mumbai city is quiteun- legislator Arif Naseem Khan had raisedthe strengthen the organisation'sdecision-mak- raking up the issues these days to enjoy Later,inorder to provide better facilities Island City,administrative ward B(Dongari) wieldy and large.For better service delivery, issue of dividing the BMC intothree munic- ing process, we have to make surethat the powereverywhere, includingchawlsand lo- to the growing population, six divisional and C(Chandanwadi) would be merged into we have to identifyareas whereitisnot hap- ipal corporations -Island City,Western chief executive officer should be very power- cal resident committees,"healleged. wardswerefurther dividedinto21adminis- Eward(Byculla)and Dward(Malabar Hill) pening instead of talking about dividing Suburbsand Eastern Suburbs -for effective ful,"hesaid. He added: "Also, we have to en- Asenior ShivSena leader said the feasibil- trative wardsunder the regional decentrali- respectively. wardsand asking IAS officers to sit in sub- functioning, on the lines of three municipal surethat thereisamechanism of trans- ity of the demand of asking additional mu- sation process in 1964.The lastbifurcation Both Band Cwards have onlytwo and urbs.For example, if thereare 60 students corporations in Delhi. parency and accountability that helpsyou nicipal commissioners to sit in their respec- of administrative wardswas done in early three electoral wardsrespectively.Similarly and one teacher,then eachstudent will not Khan had raisedthe demand following a runthe system properly." The former bu- tive zones needstobestudied. 2000,taking the totalwards up to 24.The in western suburbs, P-north (Malad) will be getthe attention that theydeserve, but for fire in ashop in Sakinaka in suburban reaucrat is also of the opinion that decentral- "Ifithelpsthe administration, we will book also mentions that in 2007-08, the BMC dividedintotwo--P-eastand P-west wards. 20 students, it is possible. The same thing is Mumbai that claimed12lives."The city's isation is aviable option at the wardslevel to have to see itsfeasibility as all the seniorcivic had 1.15 lakh employees, providing civic In the eastern suburb, L-ward will be divided with governance whereifyou can bring a population has increasedalot.The suburbs ensurebetterservicesand quickdecisions. officials sit in the headquarters in South services to 1.2crore population. Apart from intoL-south and L-north. However, the re- small denominator then it will be good for have the highestpopulation density com- "It should be examinedifatthe ward level Mumbai whereall decisionsare taken," said an increase in administrative wards, the organisation is yettotakeplace. service delivery,"said Principal Director, pared to the island city. Duetothe shortage moredecentralizedisneeded. The splitting the leader. Even if no action is takenondivid- number of administrators have also in- City urban planners said that the focus Urban CentreMumbai, PankajJoshi. of officers, the civic body is notable to pro- of large wardsthat have populations of amu- ing the BMC intothree municipal corpora- creasedgradually from one IAS officer to five should be moreonensuring service deliver- He added: "Thefocus should be to ensure vide services effectively to the citizens in sub- nicipal corporation is agood idea," he said. tions, engagetwo commissioners or on other nowhandling the corporation. ies and small administrative unitswill actu- amechanism forservicedelivery to the last urbs," said Khan. In the past, MayorKishori Pednekarhas demands,itislikelytobecome an issue in Thereare certain wardsthat have apop- allybehelpfulinthis regard. person. It can be done by one commissioner "It is notabout dividing Mumbai but the been vocal about morepowersfor mayors the upcoming BMC elections to be held early ulationofmorethan nine lakh and hugeland "In other countries, planning unitsare as also onlywith an organisedstructure." division of the BMC's administrative work is and had written to Thackeray on the issue. 2022. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 THECITY 5 Merely being present during crime of obscene act not sufficient to register offence, says HC

With this, the High Court other accused, under Section uted to their clientsattracting OMKARGOKHALE quashedanFIR againsttwo men 294(punishment forobscene chargeslevelledinthe FIR MUMBAI,JANUARY17 booked duringaraid in adance acts or wordsinpublic) of the IPC and the chargesheetfiled by bar in January2017. and offences punishableunder police. THE BOMBAY High Courtre- The courtheld that neither the 2016 lawpertainingtopro- The benchobserved,"Ape- centlyheldthat merelybeing were thetwo involved in hibition on dance bars. rusal of the materialonrecord present during acrime of ob- obsceneactsnor did theyabet The petitioners were booked shows that no allegationsasper sceneactsinpublic, whichalso any. on the allegationthatobscene Section 294ofthe IPC aremade falls under the purview of the AdivisionbenchofJusticeSS dances were being performedby againstthe petitioners at all. MaharashtraProhibitionof Shinde and Justice Manish Pitale women at abar ownedbyother Similarly,asper Section 114of Obscene Dance in Hotels, passedthe ruling on aplea by the accused,wheretheywereal- the IPC,aperson is liable when Restaurantsand Bar Rooms and twoaccusedmen from Mumbai, legedly present. he is an abettorpresent when Protection of Dignity of Women who sought the FIR against them AdvocatesRajesh the allegedoffence is commit- (Working Therein) Act, 2016, to be quashed. Khobragadeand Gayatri Nayak ted. The material on record does cannotbeconsidered unless a Acase wasregisteredagainst forthe petitionerssubmitted notindicate anyspecific act on specific role is attributed to the them at Santacruz police station that therewerenospecific alle- partofthe petitioners to qualify accused. on January 21,2017, along with gations andnorole wasattrib- as abettors."

The BJP on SundaystagedaprotestinGhatkopar demanding strict action against the producers, directors and actors of the recentlyreleasedweb series Tandav.Itisalleged that ascene in the serieshas insulted Hindu deities. Deepak Joshi

No fine for not ‘Wecan’taffordour donning masks inside private voterbasetoshrink’ vehicles: BMC EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE MUMBAI,JANUARY17 Newly-appointed Mumbai Congress president Ashok (Bhai) THE BRIHANMUMBAI Jagtap speakstoSandeep Ashar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on theplans to go solo in BMC polls, on Sundaysaid that no fine will the'Mazhi Mumbai, Mazhi be imposedonpeople fornot Congress' campaign, factionalism wearing masksinside their pri- within theparty and thepromise vate vehicles. However, those of free watertoslums. traveling in public transport must keep their masksonor Youhaveannouncedaplan to theywill be fined. go solo in BMC polls. Is it Currently, the BMC-deployed feasible? clean-up marshals fine people Even whenthe Congress was fornot wearing masksevenif in powerwith the NCPinthe seniorparty leaders from theyare in their private vehicles. state, we fought theMumbai MONDAY Mumbai and theyhavepromised Manycomplainedthat civic staff civicelectionsindependently. INTERVIEW us all support. All of us will work have finedthem forkeeping Congress has mostlyfought together.Congress is justlikea masksoff in their private cars. alone (inMumbai).So, this isn’t ASHOK (BHAI)JAGTAP big family. The BMC can penalise those newfor us. We have presence in MUMBAI CONGRESS without masksRs200per head. all the 227wards andare capa- PRESIDENT Areyou concernedthat your al- The civic body'saction came as ble of fighting on all seats. liance with ShivSena (in the apreventive measuretostopthe state) will hurtyour support virus’s spread. But your performance has paign whereparty ministers will base among north Indian "Instructions have been is- been sliding. In the 2017 polls, hold janatadarbars in various Lok Hindu migrants, whichhas al- suedtoall local ward officers youwon just 31 seats. Sabha constituencies to resolve ready substantiallyshiftedto that no fine should be imposed Iagree thatour performance grievances of the people. the BJP. on peopletraveling in private ve- in the lastelectionswas below This is aconcern. We needto hicles.Inpublic transport, pas- par.Wewon just31seats. But Your firstpre-electionpoll studyitclosely. We can’tafford our sengers have to wear masks,” then we were placedsecond in plank is afreebie –promise of ownvoterbasetoshrink.Butthen said aBMC official. 33 wards. This makes it 64 seats. free watertoall slum house- BJPwas alsoinanalliancewith Then therewerethose wherewe holds. Howdoyou justifyit? ShivSena foralongtime. All Iam came aclose third. We could have In Mumbai, everysecond res- saying is thatthereare otherrea- faredmuchbetter, but therewas ident is aslumdweller.The sons also forthe needtoconnect aModi waveinthe countrythen. Congress has always strivedfor better with north Indian voters. Things aredifferent now. their welfare. ACongress-led We have been outofpowerin government had announced Mumbai’s Guardian Minister BMC for28years, but it is also a slum regularisation tillJanuary1, Aslam Shaikh has triggereda fact that we had80-plus seatsat 2000.Wewantthis cut-offtobe debatebyopining thatavast one point. We have workers in extendedtorehabilitatemore city likeMumbaishouldbedi- everyward. We have to do justice slum dwellers. But while the reg- videdintotwo civic commis- withthe party structureand ularisation is an ongoing process, sionerates. What is the party’s cadre. our demand is that watershould stand? be givenfree-of-costtoall slum Ispoketothe minister. He has So the announcement to go households.The BMC is already said that his demand wasfor the solo is notmereposturing fora obligatedto give watersupply to sakeofpeople’sconvenience. As better bargain with Shiv Sena pre-2000hutments. But lakhs of farasthe party goes, we feel there as some believe? newslum homes have comeup is no needfor twocommission- We arefirm that we should since. In the absence of legalised ers or commissionerates. The contestalone and have already watersupply, suchhouseholds current commissioner (Iqbal conveyed this to our leadership. areexploitedby the nexus of civic Singh Chahal) has done com- officials and the tanker mafia. We mendable work during the Congress has justlaunchedthe must break this nexus. Covid-19 pandemic. ‘MazhiMumbai, Mazhi Congress’ initiative.This is a Slum regularisationissues Areyou satisfiedwith Shiv 100-daycampaign. What will it resurfaces everyelection sea- Sena’sfunctioning in BMC? be like? son. Cut-off deadlines have We areaOpposition partyin Under ‘MajhiMumbai, Mazhi been extended, FSI incentives the BMC. It is we who have been Congress’, we willhold district showeredonslum dwellers. raising issues, notBJP.Wewill sammelans and padyatras. The But slum-freeMumbai stillre- continue to raisethem with the idea is to reachout to peopleand mains apipe dream.Your same force. Ican tell youthat our ownworkers and under- views? therewon’t be anycompromise stand the issues facedbythem as The SlumRehabilitation on issues thatmatterto well as spread awareness about Scheme wasthe best opportu- Mumbaikars. party initiatives. As per the 100- nity to makethe city slum-free dayplan, we willfirstbean- but unfortunately, it has fared Is GharWapsi of former nouncing organisational restruc- miserably. We demand areview Congress leaders justaslogan turing. The firstdistrict of regulations and government or is there aplan? sammelan washeld in north slumrehabilitation. Thereisa Notjustformer MLAs, we are Mumbai on January16. Five needtogivemoreFSI to accom- getting in touchwithworkers, more(one eachinall Lok Sabha modatemorefamilies. leaders and corporators who constituencies) will be held be- have shiftedtoother parties. We fore January31. We will launch Howdoyou plan to tackle fac- areintouchwithmanyand will padyatrasinvarious wardsfrom tionalism within the Congress? tryour best to bring them back. February. We arealsolaunching Iand (working president) FULLREPORTON the ‘Congress Aaplya Daari’ cam- Charan Singh Sapra have metall www.indianexpress.com WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 6 MAHARASHTRA THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 HC notice to Centre, RENAMING AURANGABAD NMC on disabled woman ThoratslamsShivSena,says beingrefused admission to medical course party’sstandhypocritical OMKARGOKHALE The student has MUMBAI CONFIDENTIAL MUMBAI,JANUARY17 claimedthatinthe Sena says alliance partner againstmoveasitisafraid of losing Muslim vote THEBOMBAY HighCourtrecently past, manylikeher Despitethe differences,how- directed the Union Ministryof got admission to VISHWASWAGHMODE Sena to contest Bengal polls ever,Throat stated thattherewas Health,the National Medical suchcourses and MUMBAI,JANUARY17 nothreatto theMVA(MahaVikas Commission (NMC) and the Aghadi) government. "Noone Maharashtra government to re- she being denied IN ONE of the strongestpublic Mumbai: The ShivSenahas awaited update. Afterdiscus- shouldbeunder the illusion that spond to aplea by astudent with thesame opportunity pushbacks by the Congress decidedtocontestthe sions with PartyChief Shri this will destabilise the govern- an amputated upper limb, who againstalliancepartnerShivSena Assembly elections in West UddhavThackeray,ShivSena ment. Our government is stable approachedthecourtallegingdis- wasarbitrary overrenamingAurangabad,state Bengal, due in April-May, has decided to contestthe and strong," he said, adding that crimination, as she wasnot al- Revenue MinisterBalasaheb partyMPSanjayRautsaid on West Bengal Assembly the "politics of emotion" had no lowedtopursueamedicalcourse made Shinde eligible foradmis- Thorat said the Sena's stand was Sunday. He said the decision Elections. We arereaching place in the MVAcommonmini- on the grounds of her disability. sion under the persons with dis- "hypocritical"andquestionedthe has been takenafter holding Kolkatasoon...!! Jai Hind,Jai mum programme (CMP). Thestudent,AnitaShinde,has ability quota, whichshe availed. party over whyithad notraised discussions with chief min- Bangla!" Raut tweeted. SinceDecember,Senaand claimedthatinthepast,manylike Bansal saidthat while the the issue in the lastfiveyears isterand Sena president He, however, didn't spec- Congress aresparring overre- her had got admission to such commissionerofthe Disability when it waspartofthe govern- UddhavThackeray. ify the number of seatsthe naming Aurangabad to courses and she being deniedthe WelfareCommission had di- ment in the stateaswell as the "So, hereisthe much- Sena will contest. PTI Sambhajinagar.Chief Minister same opportunitywas arbitrary. rectedtheDisability Assessment Centre, in alliance with the BJP. UddhavThackeray,through his CUT TO SIZE Adivision benchofJustice SC Board-whichhad certified that "Some entities, fortheir own Twitter handle, hasalso referred HIGH-PROFILE NCPMinisterDhananjayMunde mayhavesaved Gupte andJustice SPTavade was Shinde wasineligible foradmis- politicalbenefit,arerakingupthe stating that it wasagainstthe re- criticisedthe Sena forthe wayit to Aurangabad as Sambhajinagar his job fornow afterallegations raisedbyotherpoliticians against hearing the petition filedby sion -toconsider her disability Aurangabad renamingissue. It is naming as it wasafraid of losing had governed the Aurangabad while putting out atweet on a the woman who hadaccusedhim of rape. But sources in the Shinde on January 13.Her lawyer with necessaryassistive devices, hypocritical to rake up this issue the Muslim vote. Municipal Corporation, whichit cabinetdecision. This did notgo NCPsay thatthe controversy has hit Munde’s stockinthe party Gaurav Bansalinformed the HC the boarddid notpay heedtothe now... in the last five years, they "If it is renamed,Muslims will presentlycontrols. down well with the Congress. and also in the government. The social justice minister, who is thatShinde had appearedfor same, prompting the petitioner neverspokeabout it," said Thorat beupsetandthatwillhave anim- "Both these parties (Senaand Thackeray,however, defendedit seen as aclose confidant of Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar, NationalEligibility cum Entrance to move HC. said, while slamming the Sena pactontheirvotebank.Itmeansa BJP),whichhavebeenatthehelm by saying Aurangzeb wasnot a retains his position, but has been cut to size. No wonder then Test (NEET) exam in 2020 and se- Afterhearingthesubmissions, and the BJP forraising the issue. question markwill be raisedon of the Aurangabad Municipal secular person. that those close to him arerootingfor an early completion of the cured 60.64per cent marks. thebenchsoughtresponsesfrom On Saturday, stateIndustries their ownsecularimage," Raut Corporation, should be speaking In1988,aftertheSenacameto probeordered in the matter. Followingthis,shehadappliedfor the respondentswithin aweek. MinisterSubhash Desaiand Sena said. He alsoreiterated theSena's about the development of theis- powerinthe local body at admission in an undergraduate "The NMC is expected to remain leadersaid the stategovernment standthatthereshouldnotbeany sue. That is what residents of the Aurangabad city,latesupremo medicalcourse. presentthrough authorisedrep- willsoonapproveaproposalto re- city in Maharashtrabearing city expect from them.However, Balasaheb Thackeray announced Bansal addedthat as per the resentative orcounselonthenext name Aurangabad as Aurangzeb's name. the twohavedisappointedthe thatthecitywouldberenamedas FARCE? 2019 notification of the Medical date,sincetheissueisof someur- Sambhajinagar.OnSunday, Soonafterthearticlecameout, people andthis is the reason why Sambhajinagar.Since then, the Council of India (nowknown as gency," the court notedwhile SanjayRaut, SenaMPand chief the Congress on Sundayissueda theynow have to rely on the re- Sena has usedSambhajinagar in THE RECENTLY-COMPLETED elections forthe Mumbai Youth National Medical Commission), posting the matter forfurther spokesperson of the party,criti- publicstatementvoicingitsoppo- naming issueonthe eveofelec- political rhetoricand party Congress president’s postturnedout to be afarce, with com- having an upper limb disability hearing on January20. cisedthe Congress in Saamana sitionto therenaming.Thoratalso tions,"Thorat said. mouthpiece Saamana. plaintsoflargescale bogus voting overshadowing the election. The poll, conducted online,saw nearly 4lakh voters. Senior Congress leadersbelievethat close to 50 per cent of thesemay COVIDVACCINE DRIVE well be bogus. In anycase, the winner doesn’t automaticallybag the post. The Congress high command will still have afinal say. Over280 mild casesofadverse events reportedacross state LICENSE TO HIT

arestable andwill go home to- FIVEMONTHSafter his abrupttransfer from the Nagpur civic VIVEKDESHPANDE morrow." commissioner’s post, high-profile IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe NAGPUR,JANUARY17 19.90lakh Eighteen cases of adverse waslastweek appointed as secretaryofthe MaharashtraState TOTALPOSITIVECASES eventswerereportedinAkoladis- Human Right Commission, whichisseen as aside posting in ad- IN24 hoursafterhealthcarework- INMAHARASHTRA trict and 20 in Amravati, said ministrative circles. But the newpostmay well give the2005- ers were administeredvaccine Singh. Asked the reactions were batchIAS officer,who is fast earning the reputation of being ano- againstCovid-19 onSaturday, over Active Cases 52,653 noticedinwhichofthe twovac- nonsense bureaucrat, the license to pin statedepartmentson 280casesof adverseeventfollow- New Cases 3,081 cines -Covishield or Covaxin - cases of human rightsviolations. ingimmunisation(AEFI)were re- TotalDeaths 50,438 Singhsaid,"Covaxinwasadminis- portedfromacross thestate. Healthcare teredonlyinAmravati District UNWANTED EXPENSE Officials said "all casesare mild" workers collect New Deaths 50 Hospital.Three were no such re- andrequirednoseriousinterven- swabs for Quarantined 2.27lakh ports from there." FORTHE lastdecade-and-a-half, the posts of managing directors tion exceptsymptomatic consul- Covid-19tests Tested 1.38 crore Deputy Director of Health of the loss-making MaharashtraState Financial Corporation tation. at abus stand Services(Nagpurdivision),Sanjay Limited and Maharashtra Petro Chemicals Limited have been Usually, one in every10vacci- in Thane on Jaiswal,said,"Asmany as165peo- usedfor parking senior IAS officers, who have lostfavourwith nated experience some kind of Sunday. 3,02,757 ple reportedmild adverse reac- the government. Butrecently, thestate industries department, discomfortranging from nausea, Deepak Joshi TOTALPOSITIVE tionstoday, whichisnormal.They whichoversees the functioning of the twocorporations, has vomiting, fever and pain at the CASESINMUMBAI areall arestable.Onlyone person written to the chief minister-ledgeneral administration depart- vaccinationsite.Of the18,328vac- New Cases 531 is in hospital in Nagpur and is do- ment demanding that henceforth, IAS officers notbepostedin cinated on January16, over 280 peoplewereadmittedin hospital reportedinthe five districtsof "Here, 68 vaccinatedpeople de- ing well." these positions.Ithas cited the rising wage bill of these loss- (1.5percent)complainedofthese forobservationandsymptomatic Amravati division, 164werere- velopedadverse reactionsafter TotalDeaths 11,244 On Saturday, the statehad re- making unitstojustify itsdemand. symptoms. care," said Dr Archana Patil, portedfromsixdistrictsofNagpur midnightonSaturday.Theycom- New Deaths 7 ported14peoplewithadversere- "Infact,wewillnotlabelthem Director (FamilyWelfare), division, authorities said. They, plainedofnausea, vomiting, actions observedwithinhalf an SINGLED OUT as AEFI cases, as theseweremild DirectorateofHealth Services. however, said that the reactions headacheandmildfever,whichis hour of getting vaccinated.No reactionstothe vaccine. AEFI or Of the cases reported, 233 were expectedandallpersonsare considered normal. Of these, 25 patientsinYavatmalandWashim deathshave beenrecordeddueto IN LAST week’s Cabinetmeeting, Congress MinisterNitin Raut anaphylactic reaction has more were from across Vidarbha with stable. were hospitalised in Yavatmal, have been discharged, those in vaccination in state. found himself isolated and singledout, with even ministers from severe symptoms.Noneof thead- at least 34 people requiring hos- Amravati Divisional four in Buldhana, threeinAkola Akola and Buldhana have been (WITHINPUTS his party vocallyopposing his department’s proposal regarding verse reactions were fatal. Some pitalisation. While68cases were CommissionerPiyushSinghsaid, andoneinWashimdistrict.While kept under observation. Theyall FROMENS,MUMBAI) the statebearing additional costs for installation and GSTcom- ponent forsolar-poweredfarm pumps under the PM-KUSUM scheme. The proposal didnot go through and Raut is said to be YeeYee HejceeCeg DevegmebOeeve keWÀê miffedwith his colleaguesinthe Congress fornot backing his BhaBha atomic ReseaRch centRe Cold conditions set to return in state by Jan 21 proposal.

e- tenDeR notice out coldconditions.Vidarbha and OVERSTAYING BABUS On line item rate tender through e-tendering mode is invited on behalf of the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE parts of Marathwada,normally, President of India by Associate Director,Reactor Group, BARC, Trombay Mumbai-85 for the following work from eligible contractors on the approved PUNE,JANUARY17 experiencecoldconditionsdue to ACRACKDOWN on retired bureaucratsoverstaying in govern- list of Railways, CPWD, MES, DAE and other departments /undertakings cold waveinDecember and ment accommodation is on the cards. With severalIAS officers of Government of India having adequate experience and capabilities to HOT AND dryday conditions, January, but this season, it has not and senior officials awaiting allotment of quarters, the Uddhav execute similar works for the following work. cloudy skies during afternoon been realised. The minimum Thackeray government has decidedtoinitiate actionagainst BARC/ RRMD/TN-02/2021 hours and the complete absence temperatures have remained some retired IAS and IPS officers, who areyet to shiftout of their Tender Notice No dated 13/01/2021 of winterchillwillcontinueforthe mostlyover15degrees Celsius, government allotted accommodation. However, it is still not Name of the work Design,fabrication/manufacturing, nextthreedays overPuneanddis- making it an unlikelyJanuaryfor clear if action will also be initiated againstserving officers who inspection,testing,installation trictsalong southern Madhya Pune and manyplaces in the hold morethan one official accommodation. and commissioning of DC LED Maharashtraand Konkan. state, the IMD said. lighting fixtures in Dhruva,BARC, However, the IMD has predicted However, with mostofNorth COMPILEDBYSANDEEPASHAR Mumbai -85 returnof coldconditionslaterthis and Northwestparts of the coun- Estimated cost ` 96,74,000 /- week.Boththedayandnighttem- trycontinuing to reel undercold Tender Processing fee ` 5,708/- peratures recordedinPune wave, the northern parts of HaveacommentorsuggestionforMumbaiConfidential?Writeto Period of completion 12 Months (Shivajinagar) on Sundaywere Maharashtratoo shall come un- [email protected] Period for purchase /download of 20.01.2021 (10:00 hrs.) to above normalat32.2 degrees deritsinfluencethisweek.Asare- withsubjectline:MumbaiConfidential e-tender Document (excel/word formats) 29.01.2021 (16:30 hrs.) Celsius and16.7degrees Celsius, With achangeinseason, flowers dottrees lining Eastern sult, cold conditions could make Last date and time of closing of online 18.02.2021 (15:00 hrs.) respectively,the IMD said. Express HighwayinMumbai. Amit Chakravarty acome back over Maharashtra submission of e-Tender "Maharashtra is currentlyex- laterthis week,anIMD official Last date for submission of original On or before on 19.02.2021 periencing southerly-southeast- said. "For ashortduration, the documents, receipt of e-payment towards (15.00 Hrs.) erly wind, whichisbringing in Exceptsome stations in In thiswinter season,the state minimumtemperaturesacross Mahesh Manjrekar tender processing Fee and Bid Security somemoisture,leadingto cloudy Vidarbha -Gondia (11.5degrees has notexperiencedacold wave the state,including Pune, could Declaration. andovercastskyconditions.These Celsius), Nagpur (13.4 degrees), so far. This year,Januaryhas re- seeadropby2to 4degreesCelsius Date &time of opening of the Tender 22.02.2021 at 14:00 Hrs. clouds form at higher altitudes Brahmapuri (12.3 degrees), the mainedamonth with mixed from January21onwards. This booked for ‘slapping, Complete details of e-tender notice can be viewed on BARC website and will notcause rainfall," said minimumtemperaturesrecorded weather -fromrain in the first will be due to the penetration of http://www.barc.gov.in http://www.tenderwizard.com/dae AnupamKashyapi,head,Weather on the dayinother parts of the week to theprevailinghotcondi- coldnortherly windsoverpartsof Head, RRMD department,IMD, Pune. statewas over 15 degrees Celsius. tions forPune, but largely with- Maharashtra," addedKashyapi. verbally abusing’man (For and on behalf of President of India) he wasslappedand abusedby ceneje°^ efJeOeeveceb[U meefÛeJee}Ùe Govt committed to EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Manjrekar.Wehaveregistereda efJeOeeve YeJeve, cegbyeF&-400032. PUNE,JANUARY17 non-cognisable offence." efoveebkeâ 18 peevesJeejer, 2021 incorporating Karnataka’s Foranon-cognisableoffence, (ojhe$ekeâ efveefJeoemetÛevee) BOLLYWOOD FILM-MAKER and thepoliceneedcourt'spermission ceneje°^ efJeOeeveceb[U meefÛeJee}Ùe, efJeOeeve YeJeve, cegbyeF&-400032 ÙesLeer} efHeâleOJeefvecegõkeâ mebJeiee&leer} Marathi-speaking areas actorMaheshManjrekarhasbeen to initiate theprobe and to make heoebÛeer keâeces yee¢eÙeb$eCeebkeâ[tve keâ¤ve IesCÙeekeâefjlee efoveebkeâ 17 Dee@iemš 2020 jespeer Øeefmeæ keâjCÙeele Dee}s}er peeefnjele jö keâjCÙeele Dee}er Deens. efHeâleOJeefvecegõkeâ mebJeiee&leer} heoebÛeer keâeces yee¢eÙeb$eCeskeâ[tve keâ¤ve IesCÙeekeâefjlee bookedforallegedly slappingand an arrest.Manjrekar told The veJÙeeves ojhe$ekeâ/efveefJeoe ceeieefJeCÙeele Dee}s}er Deens. Ùee meboYee&le efHeâleOJeefvecegõkeâ heoemee"er heomebKÙee, keâe}eJeOeer, into Maharashtra: CM verballyabusingamanwhosecar Indian Express,"Iwas on my way Den&leeJehee$elesÛÙee Dešer, Flej Dešer/çeleea Ùeebmen DevÙe DeeJeçÙekeâ mebhetCe&leheçeer} hit his car from behind on Pune- to Chaufula forashoot, wherea www.mahatenders.gov.in Ùee mebkesâlemLeUeJej Ghe}yOe Deens. SolapurhighwayonFridaynight. crew of around 200was waiting ($e+legjepe pe. kegâ[lejkeâj) EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE The non-cognisable offence forme. Somewherenear Yawat, GhemeefÛeJe ceneje°^ efJeOeeveceb[U meefÛeJee}Ùe MUMBAI,JANUARY 17 wasregisteredonSaturdayunder thisdriverhitmy carfrombehind. Pune rural jurisdiction, basedon Twocolleaguesof minewhowere CHIEF MINISTER UddhavThackeray and Deputy acomplaint filedbyaman iden- in my carhavesufferedwhiplash CM Ajit PawaronSunday said the government was tifiedasKailasSatpute.Manjrekar due to theimpact. Inow know committedto incorporatingMarathi-speaking ar- has claimedthat the driverofthe damages to my carare of around eas of Karnataka intoMaharashtra. carwas under the influence of al- Rs 4lakh. We then found outthat Thackeray said bringing Karnataka occupied cohol. Manjrekar (62)has been he and those accompanying him Marathi-speaking and cultural regionsto booked under the sections323 were clearlydrunk.Iwasinhurry Maharashtrawould bea"true tribute" to thethose (voluntarilycausinghurt)and504 forthe shootand decidednot file martyred in the boundary battlein1956. "Weare (intensional insult)ofthe IPC. acomplaint,becausepeoplewere united andcommittedtoit," he said offering trib- Inspector Bhausaheb Patil of waitingforme.NowIfeelIshould utes to those who diedinthe struggle. Yawatpolicestation told The Ihavegonetothe police station." Maharashtraclaims areas suchasBelgaum, Indian Express,"Theincident took Manjrekarsaid,"Aftertheinci- Karwarand Nippani,which arepart of Karnataka. place on Fridaynight, on Pune- dent, the driverdid noteven Pawaralso said fighting with determination to Solapur highway.Near Yawat, botherto getoutof thecarto apol- bring the "lastMarathi village"occupiedby Manjrekar's car washit by the ogise.Thepersonhasfiledacom- the Karnataka intoMaharashtrawill be the "true complainant's car.The incident plaint on Saturdayand notonthe tribute". wasfollowedbyaheated argu- samenight,becausehewasdrunk The linguisitic boundary disputehas been ment betweenthem.The com- that time. Idon't knowwhy it is pending in the Supreme Court. plainant,Satpute,hasclaimedthat being made intoabig issue." WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 7 EXPRESS NETWORK

UV sanitisers, Govt to take PMflagsoffeighttrainstoboost back land given apps: Kotaopens to trust run by connectivitytoStatueofUnity Azam Khan to students today EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE (Kevadia Rewa WeeklyExpress), LUCKNOW,JANUARY17 tweenclasses,‘Nomask,noentry’ VAIBHAVJHA Kevadia-Chennai(Chennai ANKITADWIVEDIJOHRI forstudents, dailysanitisation of AHMEDABAD,JANUARY17 Kevadia WeeklyExpress), IN MORE trouble forSamajwadi NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 stationeryand furniture, among Kevadia-Pratapnagar (MEMU Partyleader Azam Khan, the other measures. PRIME MINISTER Narendra Daily) and Pratapnagar-Kevadia Rampur district administration ULTRA-VIOLETLIGHTING forsani- “Manycompanies had been Modi on Sundayflagged offre- (MEMU Daily). has passedanorder to take back tisationinclassrooms, pathways reaching out to us with the UV- motely eighttrains connecting The Prime Ministersaid the 173acres of land of Jauhar Trust, andseatsmarkedwithstickersto light sanitisation technology.We six states of the countrywith rail connectivity to Kevadia will headedbythe former minister ensuresocialdistancing, an did atrial on 30-40 classrooms, Kevadia in Gujarat’s Narmada notonlybenefit tourists,but also and his family. AarogyaSetu-likeapp to monitor and will soon getitinstalledatall district, wherethe Statue of the local Adivasi population. Additional District positive cases within coaching our22campuses in Kota.Apart Unity is located. “Therail connectivitywillnot Government Counsel (Revenue) centres, plush studio apartments from social distancing measures The Prime Ministersaid the onlybring comforttothe tourists AjayTiwari said the order to take forstudentstoensuretheydon’t in classrooms and corridors, we move will transform the village but also changethe livesofthe backthe land waspassedby needtostepout, and anew 31- have removednoticeboards, into“mini India”. Adivasi brothers and sisters of ADM (Administration) bed hospital withanambulance wherestudentsgathered, and He alsoinaugurated thenew Kevadia as it will createoppor- Jagdamba Prasad Gupta afterthe on call. shut down the canteen. All infor- Kevadia railway station and the tunities of employment and self courtfoundthat the Jauhar Trust Nearly 10 monthsafter the mationwillnowbemailedtostu- renovatedDabhoi and Chandod employment. The rail lines will wasnot following the conditions pandemicforcedKota’sRs3,000- dents. We arealso in the process railway stations. also connect to placessuchas setbythe stategovernment dur- crorecoaching industrytoshut of launchinganapp thatwill help The Prime Ministersaid in a Karnali ghat, Poicha and ing the sale of the land in 2005. down, and prompted an students tell us about others near virtual address, “In the history of Garudeshwar near Narmada and Familymembers of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel onboard the newtrain. Nirmal Harindran “Whenapersonororganiza- overnight digital switch,the themwhoshow symptomsof any Indian Railways, forthe first the entireareaisfilledwith spir- tion has to buy morethan12.5 Rajasthantownispreparing to illness,” said asenior staffmem- time, so manytrains from vari- itual vibration. Today, thenum- acres of land, then permission open itsdoors to students again berofAllen Career Institute, the ous corners of the country have berofvisitors coming to watch has to be sought from the state on Monday, following amajor town's largest coaching centre. been flagged offfor one place. the Statue of Unity has surpassed Train with vistadome coach government. Thestate govern- overhaul in the lastfortnight. On The coachingcentrehas also Afterall, Kevadia is aplace that those flocking to the Statueof ment had setsome conditions at January 6, the Ashok Gehlotgov- builta31-bedhospital-cum-iso- gets itsidentityfromsomeone Liberty in the US and as manyas the time of the sale of this par- ernmentdecidedtoreopen lation centrewith doctors on call. who united thecountryand 50 lakhhavealready visitedhere adds cultural connect to SoU ticularland. One of the condi- schools, colleges andcoaching “Beforeclasses begin, we will gave the messageof‘Ek Bharat, afterits inauguration,” thePrime tions setbythe stategovern- centresinlightof thedipinCovid- checkstudents' RT-PCR reports, Shreshtha Bharat’. Today’s func- Ministersaid. ment wasthat the land would be 19 cases in the state. whichshouldnotbemorethan24 tion resonates with the vision of “Afterthe Corona lockdown, leaders, industrialists,people this train service wasmade pos- usedfor charitable work.The Kota DistrictCollectorUjjawal hoursold.We willmakeanexcep- Indian Railways and the mission we arehaving moreand more PARIMALDABHI from rural areas, school students, sible in 20 months.” courtfound that it wasnot being Rathoresaid,“OnJanuary6,weis- tion forstudentswho have come of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.” visitors and according to asur- KEVADIA,JANUARY17 sportspersons, media persons, Kevadia, nestledinthe done. Other conditions included suedaStandardOperating from far-offplaces,”headded. “Among the eight trains, one vey,ithas been estimated that as cadets of NCCand NSS, and Vindhyamountainsand home that no purchase will be done Proceduretocoaching institutes Of itsnearly 1.5lakhstudents, is also arriving from Puratchi connectivity is increasing,one THE FIRST Jan Shatabdi Express travel agents. to the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the from people who belong to SC andhostelswithinstructionsthey Allen Career Instituteexpects“at ThalaivarMGRamachandran lakh people areexpected to ar- train with avistadome coach, Eight members of Sardar Narmada river, has been popu- and ST categories and that gram needtofollowbeforeclasses be- least60-65%to returninthecom- Central Railway Station in rive in Kevadia everyday.Today, displaying images of the coun- Vallabhbhai Patel’s familyalso lar as apicnic spotfor school- samajland will notbetaken over. gin,duringclass,andatthehostel. ingweek”.Kota HostelAssociation Chennai, Tamil Nadu and it’s a the tinybeautiful villageof try’sdiversity in cuisine and cul- boardedthe train at Anand rail- children. The Vistadome coach The UP Revenue Actruleswere We have alsoformedthree-mem- presidentManishJainsays thatas pleasant coincidence that today Kevadia has emergedasafine ture, chugged along the 180-km waystation. that would costRs885 per seat, also being violated by the Trust. berteamswithaneducationoffi- of Sunday, about20,000students is the birth anniversaryofMGR, example of howinaplanned routefromAhmedabad to BhupendraPatel, grandson had 44 passengers, including The land willnow be registered cer,arepresentative of the police have returnedtothe town. “Over aleader who ruledoverthe manner,bothdevelopmentof Kevadia, afterPrime Minister of Sardar Patel’s youngest Padma awardee VishnuPandya, in the name of the government and thedistrict administration to the lastweek,therehas been alot hearts of the people right from ecology and economycan be NarendraModi virtually brother,Kashibhai Patel, who who is the chairperson of the in revenue records,” Tiwari said. do the rounds of the institutes of activityinKota,andwe arepre- filmstopolitics. To commemo- done,” he said. launcheditand Deputy Chief livesinVallabh Vidyanagar,has Gujarat SahityaAkademi, and “He (Azam Khan) had also from Monday. Severalmeetings paredforafreshstart.Allourhos- rate thelifeand effortsofMGR, Speaking about the Railways, MinisterNitin Patelflagged it off been taking guests to the SoU.“ has helpedprovide content for takenoversome land whichwas have been held with heads of tels nowhavesingle-rooms for the central government hasre- he said, “The IndianRailways, amid chant of vedic hymns at Iusuallytakethem by road. This the Sardar museum at the SoU. supposed to be apublic road, coaching institutes and hostels, students, meals will be provided centlychangedthe name of apart from being aconventional the Ahmedabad railway station train has made it mucheasier. Around 25 studentsof and thereisalsosome Enemy andmoreare plannedinthecom- in the rooms, anew 7pmdead- Chennai Central Railway Station mediumfor travel andtrans- on Sunday. People from anypartofthe SanskritGurukul Vidyalayfrom Property,whichhas been ac- ingdays.Theywereincurringalot linehasbeensetforstudents,and to MGR Central RS,” he added. portation of goods, is nowpro- NotedGujarati folk singer countrycan reachthis place AsarvaareaofAhmedabad quired forthe university by the of losses and had been urging us allhostels have been told to keep The eighttrains areKevadia- viding connectivity to places of GitaRabari whowas among the without anytransportation is- chanted slokas and folk dancers Trust,” Tiwari said, adding: to openthecentres.Theeconomy afloor of theirbuilding emptyto Varanasi (Mahamana Weekly tourism and spiritualimpor- guests riding the vistadome sues,” he told this paper. performedasthe marigold be- “During aprobe by Rampur dis- of the town shouldget backon isolateany studentwith symp- Express), Kevadia-Dadar(Dadar tance. In the pastfew years, un- coachcommendedModi for Atul Patel, another relative of deckedtrain leftAhmedabad, trict administration, it was tracksoon,” said toms. We have also trained our Kevadia DailyExpress), Kevadia- precedented work has been turningKevadia intoatourist Sardar Patel, who livesin with atotal 14 coaches with aca- found that the Trustwas notfol- The eight-pageSOP docu- guardstocarry out thermal Ahmedabad (Janshatabdi Daily done towardstechnological ad- spot. She said, “I have neverbeen Vadodara, said, “With the con- pacity of1,276 persons. On lowing the conditions laid down ment,stuckonthe walls of all screening at the entrance,” ex- Express), Kevadia-Hazrat vancementsinthe Indian to Statue of Unity and am excited struction of SoU and this train Sunday, 885 people took the in- in 2005. He wasasked by the coachingcentresinthetown,calls plains Jain. Nizamuddin (Nizamuddin Railways.” to visit it today.” service, Kevadia has got chance augural ride. ADM court to present his side forclasses to function at 50% FULLREPORTON Kevadia SamparkKranti Bi FULLREPORTON The inaugural ride had to be in the limelight as atourist FULLREPORTON whichhedid notdo,” said strength, 30-minutegapsbe- www.indianexpress.com WeeklyExpress), Kevadia-Rewa www.indianexpress.com coaches allottedfor religious destination. The best thing is that www.indianexpress.com Tiwari. Sibal says no clarityonCongress internal Modi govt’s top priority is to After recusal, WhatsApp case pollsyet,cites ‘disenchantment’ in party double farmers’income: Shah goes to different

will beconductedconsistentwith cern about processes in Delhi and Delhi HC judge MANOJCG the provisions of the want the party to actswiftly. We EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 Constitution.” areall die-hardCongressmen...so BENGALURU,JANUARY17 NewDelhi: With aDelhi High “For example, the election of that the Congress can bethe force Court judgerecusing herself last NEARLYAmonth afterCongress the President will be conducted thatit was,andshallbeintimesto THE BIGGESTpriority of the weekfromtheWhatsAppprivacy president Sonia Gandhi metthe along with the election of the come. But we haven't yetgot the NarendraModi government in policycase, the petition seeking topparty leadership and the Working Committee, and the kind of response that we were Delhi is to doublethe income of an immediateinjunction against group of 23 leaders who wrote to election of the Central Election hoping,” he said. farmersinthe country, Union the messaging company’s up- her, seeking sweeping reforms Committee. That's partofthe Asked about the next step, he Home MinisterAmit Shah said in datedtermswillbeheardbyadif- within the party,senior Congress Kapil Sibal Constitution. We have no clarity said,“These aredialogues that the north Karnataka district of ferentjudgeonMonday. Inthepe- leader Kapil Sibal Sundaysaid on that. Thereafter, we also want take placewithin the party.Idon't Bagalkotwhile inauguratingan titionfiledbyalawyer, adirection while Sonia held an “open discus- the institutions of the want to enterintothe meritsor ethanol production facility of hasalsobeensoughttotheCentre sion” and promisedinternal elec- happenedwith demonetisation, ParliamentaryBoardtorevive. demerit matters of concern.All sugar baron and minister forlaying down guidelines to en- tions, thereisstill “no response” withGST and this is an issue as And since the meeting on that Ican sayisthat thereisa Murugesh Nirani who wasre- UnionHome MinisterAmitShah withKarnataka Chief sureWhatsApp does notshare and “clarity”onhow and when these laws were passed…with- December 19,we’realmostone Constitution that we aregov- centlyinductedinto the statecab- MinisterBSYediyurappa and other senior BJP leadersat datawith thirdparties or that will happen. out full consultation... month down the road....we’ve ernedby, and that all inetonJanuary13. arallyinBelagavionSunday. PTI Facebook Inc. In an interview to TheIndian Mishandling issues is in this gov- had no response on howand Congressmen mustrespect that Shah also praisedKarnataka JusticePrathiba MSingh on Express,Sibal spokeabout the ernment’s DNA....It is likethe de- when this will happen. We hope constitution and itsprocesses.” Chief MinisterBSYediyurappa for Fridayrecusedherselffromhear- continuing farmers’ agitation, cisions in aSultanate. Decisions that that response comes in the On talksofreturn of Rahul passing the three farm laws initi- 6,000peryearwhen theywerein where in India and the world,” ing the matter.She hadalso had saying the onlyway out wasthat made arecastinstone.Weare next fewdays because it’s very Gandhi as Congress president, he ated by the Centreinthe state. power. Theyshould answer why Shah said. takenstrong exception to an e- “you musthavealawwhichgives backinthe days of medieval important forthe Congress to re- said, “We’renot supposed to re- “If thereisabig priority of the therewas no crop insurance Yediyurappa, who spokeon mail receivedbythe courtfroma MSP to the farmer forhis pro- India,” he said. vive itself asapolitical forceinour spond to buzzes, we respond to NarendraModi government it is scheme forfarmers and whyno the occasion, said apartfromthe counsel representing WhatsApp duce”, the central vista project, On the meeting with Sonia, country.” reality.Sowhenthesethingshap- to double theincomeoffarmers,” policyforagriculturewas created. farm laws,the BJP government about her having appearedasa stateofthe economy, thenext Sibal said, “I, unfortunately, was “Thosewho feel thatit’s al- pen, whencards arelaid on the Shah said at aprogramme in Whywas the budget verysmall?” would do everything possible to lawyer previouslyinarelated lit- Budget and the forthcoming nottherebecause Iwas travelling. ready apolitical forceand very table, we’ll gettoknowthe real- Kerakalmatti villageorganisedby he said. improvethe agriculturesector igation.The judgesaid therewas Assembly elections in four key But Ithink that we had an open strong politicalforceand is doing ity.”Askedwhetherhisreturnwill the MRN group whichisinvolved “TheKarnataka government and the welfareoffarmers. noneedfortheemailassheinany states. He said while the industry discussion. And obviously, the allthat it can, and the processof changeanything, he said, “I don't in sugar productionand other has passedthe three farm laws The Congress in Karnataka is case would nothaveheardthe gets maximum support, the Congress president, who is at the revivalhas started, Ithink,need know. Ithink it all depends on businesses. initiated by the central govern- incidentallyplanning to launcha case. The caseisnow listedfor farmers areasking forminimum moment, guiding the party said to look at what’s happening in processesbeingtaken forwardin “NarendraModi has done so ment.Iwould like to congratulate statewide agitationfromJanuary hearing before Justice Sanjeev support. that there would be an election. various states. Thereisalevel of accordancewiththeConstitution muchfor farmers. Iwould liketo the Yediyurappa government for 20 againstfivenew laws intro- Sachdeva. Since the last hearing, “What this government does Now, we arenot clearwhat these disenchantment. Ican talk about andinconsultationwithallkeyel- ask the misguidedCongress lead- passingthe laws whichwillbring ducedbythe BJP government in WhatsApphasannounceditisde- is to act on impulse without electionsare going to be...inthe Delhi... severalleaders have come ementsand keypersonalities ers who criticise our policies – great benefittofarmers.Theywill Karnataka, including the farm laying the implementation of its thinking things through. This sense.... we believe that elections to me andexpressedgrave con- within the Congress party”. whydid the farmers notget Rs be able to sell their produce any- laws and aland reform law. newprivacypolicyto May15.ENS TMC wary of BJPusing its ‘outsider’ plank to woo non-Bengalivoters

the campaign. Those who attack suchanarrative political. Amra bahubalis… Theywanttocreate DIPANKARGHOSE Bengali cultureand have no un- Bangali had emergedasa asituation of violence,”Ray said. Satabdi Roy made TMC NED NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 derstandingofit, theyare the Fine-tuning counter to amovement in Assam Raysaid TMC was“proud of outsider,” asenior leader draft- strategy to driveawayBengalis called itsnon Bengali” residents and Bengal unit vice-president EVENASthe “insider-outsider” ing the party’s strategy said. E “BongaliKheda”. The outfit has that Bengal has alwaysbeen ● theme has become one of the On December 2, Ghosh said EXPLAI nowbeen reducedtoafringe “mini India”. “Bengalis and non central planksofthe Bengal those “who have comefrom AKEY plank of TMC has been to attackBJP as aparty of out- role. ShivSena, whichalso has Bengalis have always stood side EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Assemblyelections, the TMC is other states” have playedacru- siders, accusing the party of having fewlocal faces. This has little presence in Bengal, has said by side, as brothersand sisters.” KOLKATA,JANUARY17 SatabdiRoy growing wary of alienating non- cial role in Bengal’s develop- been furthered by allegations againsteconomist andNobel it maytie up with AmraBangali. Akey member of TMC’s Bengali voters in the state. ment”.HeaccusedTMC of re- laureateAmartyaSen, including remarks by BJP statepres- Sukhendu SekharRay,Chief communication wing said the TRINAMOOLCONGRESS MP and Senior TMC leaders said they sortingtodivisivepoliticsand ident Dilip Ghosh. The TMC usedthis as an example of the Whip of TMC in RajyaSabha, said party waskeentofocus on the actor SatabdiRoy wasonSunday TMC MP from Birbhum said. were awarethat the BJP is at- tagging “those who worked for BJP attackingan“icon of Bengal”. “it is awrong perception” that term “touristgang” in itsout- made the vice-president of the On Thursday, Royhad ex- tempting to turn the narrative to the welfareofthe state” out- the party is calling the BJP “out- reach. “Both wordsare impor- party’s West Bengalunit on pressedunhappinessovernotbe- their favour by using it to win siders. siders”. “Wecall them outsider tant. Touristoroutsider by itself Sunday. BesidesRoy, thepartyalso ing informedaboutthe party’s over the non-Bengalis. According to party leaders, Mohammad Salim, politburo The CPM leader said,“In the ‘bargis’. This word is important. isn’tbad. But the gang is impor- addedtwo newnamesinits state eventsinherconstituency, sayin- “Weare awarethat the BJP non-Bengali votebank in the member of the CPM, whichis rest of India, in the BJP’s world- In 2011,CPM were called tant as people who don’t respect committee –MoazzemHossain git caused“mental pain”. In a will use this to tryand tell our stateisaround 15 per cent of the fighting the election in alliance view, particularly of Hindi, Harmads fortheir reignofterror. Bengal. Forinstance, the strategy and Shankar Chakraborty. Facebookpost,Roysaidshewould non-Bengaliresidentsthatthe electorateand it is influential in withthe Congress, said the pol- Hindu, Hindustan, Bengalis have We call BJP ‘bargis’ because dur- is to juxtapose twoimages. One The move elevate Satabdi inform thepeople of her“future TMC doesn’t carefor them. This and aroundKolkata, whereitac- iticsofboththe TMC and BJP is facedbeing the outsider,being ing the Maratha invasion, Bargis of Amit Shah eating at avillage comesdays afterspeculationthat course of action”.Amid reports is something we areworking on. countsfor about half of the pop- “basedonexclusion”. “If youlook calledpuffedrice eaters etc. This destroyed crops andplundered. home and MamataBanerjee shemay quit the party. that she mayhead to Delhito ForTMC, the definition of a ulation. “Kolkataattractslotsof at the years before this one, TMC is what TMC is doing in Bengal, If youlook at BJP’s language, it is standing in queue forher Expressing happiness, Roy, a meetBJPleaderandUnionHome Bengali is someone who livesin workers from nearbystatesand wasnearly always alignedwith and Bengal has always fought notalanguageofwinningelec- Swasthya Sathihealth card. three-time MP,said she would MinisterAmitShah,theTMClead- the state, understands it, knows theymakeupabig number. the BJP.Theyhavenoideological againstthesedivisions.” tions. It is one of conquest. They These twoimages showwho is work asadedicatedworkerof the ership had reachedout to her. itsculture, and contributes to it. Then thereisthe Marwadi com- opposition. This insider-outsider In the eighties, the Amra do notsay theywant to cometo an outsiderjustherefor photo party.“This goes to showthat if Afterameeting with TMC MP It doesn’t matter wherethey munitythat is very influential politicsisonlyanextension of Bangali movement that es- Bengal, present their vision for opportunities, while the other is one has anyreservations against Abhishek Banerjee on Fridayshe come from. Theyare all welcome and prosperous,” asenior leader theseideas that divide,” Salim pousedBengali ways and lan- development and win people invested in the state,” asenior the party,the topleadershipis had announced she would “stay in Bengal and youwill see this in said. said. guagehad attempted to turn over.... Theyuse wordsof leader said. ready to address suchissues,”the with the Trinamool”. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 8 EXPRESS NETWORK

‘Get vaccinated 2020 PRAYAGRAJCASE or will withhold Open to all music forms, teacher to the greats pay’: Day later, chimeswith the word Allah, the cousin, Ut Nissar Hussain Khan. ARRahmanpresentedhisguruon UPcopsget SUANSHUKHURANA melodymergesintoBrahma,giv- His firstperformance wasata stage. The musician sang acom- Jharkhand dist NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 ing aglimpse intothe Awadh of Janmashtamiconcertattheageof position in raag Yamanalongside the 19th century, when the syn- eight, wherehewas hailedasa guitars and drums. order withdrawn INUMRAOJaan(1980),filmmaker cretic fusion of cultures in music child prodigy.What wasalso in- Ut GhulamMustafa,till he MuzaffarAli'sseminalfilm,afive- wasanorm. But amoreremem- teresting about Ut Ghulam died, remained an eminent guru warrantfor ABHISHEKANGAD minutemelody manages to put beredpieceisperhapsJhoolakinne Mustafa washis opennesstoall to manyleading musicians in- RANCHI,JANUARY17 life’s ebb and flowinperspective. daala re amaraiyan in raag Desh, forms of music, ararity in classi- cluding AshaBhosle,Manna Dey, The raagmala Pratham dhar the storyofabedeckedswing on cal maestrosofhis time.Sowhen UtRashidKhan(alsohisnephew), GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES in dhyaan dinesh illustrates the in- whichtwo lovers sway together. mostclassicalsingers were ban- Waheeda Rehman,Geeta Dutt, Jharkhand’s Koderma district re- duction of the protagonist, UtGhulamMustafa,oneof the USTAD GHULAM ishing Hindi film music,hefound Hariharan, Sonu Nigam, Alisha comedian ceivedanorder on Saturdayfrom Ameeran,intoclassicalmusicand finestHindustani classical vocal- MUSTAFA KHAN it easier to adapt. Chinoyand Shilpa Rao. the district's health committee dance and showcases her meta- ists andtorchbearer of the 1931-2020 AccordingtoPune-based He wasawarded the Padma saying their salaries would be morphosisintoLucknow’s fanci- Rampur Sahaswan gharana, died dhrupad maestroUday Shriin1991, SangeetNatak About four months back, SSP, withheldiftheydon't take the ful courtesan, UmraoJaan. at his home in Mumbai on Bhawalkar,UtGhulam Mustafa Akademi Awardin2003, Padma EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Prayagraj,transferredthe inves- vaccine at the earliest. Theorder ComposerKhayyam’scompo- Sunday. He was89. butalso amentorfor young gen- changed the colourand tone of Bhushan in 2006 and Padma LUCKNOW,JANUARY17 tigation intothe case from waswithdrawnonSundayfol- sition is ambitiousand arduous— Expressing his condolences, eration…”. howmusic in Rampur Sahaswan Vibhushan in 2018. George Town policestationto lowing massive outrage. basedonseven ragaseachof PMNarendraModitweeted,“The Ut GhulamMustafa wasborn gharana sounded. “Someone like Once at aconcert in Mumbai, THE UTTAR Pradesh police have the Crime Branch. On Saturday, theKoderma whichdefines time, mood and passing away of UstadGhulam and raisedinBadaun, Uttar thegreatUtNissarHussainhadan UtGhulamMustafa sangathumri obtained aproduction warrant “On coming to knowthat District Health Committee—un- colour of variedmomentsinlife. Mustafa Khan Sahab leavesour Pradesh. His mother wasthe aggressioninthetone.UtGhulam in Pilu, andgot Ut Bade Ghulam forstand-up comedian MunawarFaruqui is lodged at der the state's Health and Family To singthis,Ali chose Ut Ghulam cultural worldpoorer.Hewas a daughterof thelegendaryvocalist Mustafa toneditdownand made Ali Khan on his feet.“Iitne dooble MunawarFaruqui in connection IndoreJail, we movedalocal WelfareDepartment —inanor- Mustafa Khan—the Hindustani doyenofmusic,astalwartofcre- UtInayatHussainKhan,thecourt it softer,”says Bhawalkar. patle ho, kahan se gaateho?” with acase lodged againsthim court and obtainedhis produc- der markedtovarious district of- classical giant whose deep and ativity whoseworks endeared musician in NawabWajid Ali The musician also sang in asked the musician. Ut Ghulam at Prayagraj in April lastyear. tion warrant.OnJanuary7,we ficers, said, “Those government dazzlingvoicewasrepresentative himtopeopleacrossgenerations. Khan’s court.Helearnedfromhis Mrinal Sen’s BhuvanShome Mustafa Khan’smusic,hisbracing Officials of Uttar Pradesh po- served the production warrant employees who have notgot the of notjustaniconic lineagebut Ihavefondmemories of interact- father WarishHussain Khan, fol- (1969), and Badnam Basti (1969) voice, itsirrepressible vigour, lice said theyhavesubmitted the at Indorejail and submitted an- vaccinated,mustdosoatthe also arigorous riyaaz and years ing withhim.Condolences...” lowedbytutelage under other amongothers.Anothersignificant probablycame from his strict production warrant at Indore other copyatacourtinIndore,” earliest. In case theydonot,the spentteachingsomeof thegreat- President RamNath Kovind family members, including Ut performance wasapartofCoke training. But also, from the joyhe districtjail, whereMunawaris said investigating officer salaries of those employees will estmusicians of our time. tweeted, “...In his passing, music FidaHussainKhan,courtsingerof Studio @MTVwherecomposer got fromthesevennotesthatrep- currentlylodged afterbeing ar- Inspector Dhakeshwar Singh. be withheld. Theirsalarieswill Opening with an alaap that worldhas lostnot onlyadoyen Baroda’sroyaldurbarandthenhis andUtGhulamMustafa’sstudent resented lifefor him. rested foralleged objectionable He said that police triedtolo- be releasedonlyafter theysub- remarks againstHindu deities. cateMunawarduring the inves- mit proof of vaccination.” The Indorejail superintendent, tigation, but failedtoreachhim. People then reachedout to WhatsApp chats of Arnab, Clash in Kutch however, said theyhavenot re- The FIR did nothavemuchinfor- Chief MinisterHemant Soren via TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE ceivedthe warrant yet. mation, he said, adding that it social media. over procession The case againstMunawarin did nothavethe name of On Sunday, theorder was BARC ex-CEO reveal CASES: ACTIVECASES:2,08,826 Prayagraj waslodged at George Munawar’s father andthe come- withdrawn. 321 for Ram temple Town policestationonApril 19 dian’s address mentionedinit Principal SecretaryHealth DAYSSINCE 1,05,57,985 DEATHS:1,52,274 lastyear afteracomplaint by lo- wasfoundtobewrong. fraud, raise national PANDEMIC donation:Police Nitin Kulkarni said: “This wasan BEGAN TESTS: 18,65,44,868 | RECOVERIES: 1,01,96,885 cal lawyer Ashutosh Mishra. “Themajority partofthe in- overzealous attempt to encour- The complainant had alleged vestigation has been completed, agepeople to getvaccinated.The security questions: Cong CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS that he had found avideo on so- includingrecordingthe state- order has been withdrawnwith JAN16 15,144 18117,1707,79,377 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE cial media in which Munawar mentsofwitnesses. The state- immediateeffect.” areinpower...” Congress commu- AHMEDABAD,JANUARY17 made insulting statements ment of Munawarcould notbe EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE nication department head againstUnion Home Minister recorded,” said Singh. NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 Randeep Surjewala said at an ACLASH brokeout between Amit Shah and triedtocreateha- Superintendent of Indorejail, Will the poor get AICC press conference. people belonging to twocom- tred between communities, said Rajesh Kumar Bhangre,said they THE PURPORTED WhatsApp He said theparty is examin- munities in Kidana villageof police. He also alleged that were yettoreceiveany communi- Covid vaccine conversations between Republic ing the issueand itsleadership Gandhidham in Kutchon Munawar hurtreligious senti- cation with regard to the produc- TV editor Arnab Goswami and will come out witharesponse Sundayevening allegedly over a mentsthrough remarks on tion warrant. “Wewill seek the free or not, former CEO of BARC (Broadcast soon on “whyitrequires athor- procession being takenout to Hindu gods and goddesses in an- court’s opinionincase we receive Audience Research Council) ough investigation…whoshould STATESWITHRISINGACTIVECASES collectdonations forthe pro- other video, said police. thewarrant.Oncethecourtgrants Cong asks govt Partho Dasgupta, whichispartof be investigated...who should be ACTIVECASES RISEINLASTWEEK posedRam temple at . The case waslodged under permission, Munawar’scustody the supplementarychargesheet held accountable...who is respon- Kerala 68,856 4,117 Speaking to The Indian IPC sections 153-A(promoting will be handedovertoUPpolice.” NewDelhi:Aday afterIndiabegan filedbyMumbai Police lastweek sible...”. Odisha2,039 164 Express, VR Patel, deputy super- enmity between different Anshuman Shirvastav, who itsvaccination exercise, the in the TRP scam case, reveal how SeveralCongress leaders Chandigarh238 10 intendent of police, groups on groundsofreligion, is representing Munawarinthe CongressSunday raisedquestions financial frauds took place and spokeout on the issue Sunday. Gandhidham, Kutchdistrict, race, place of birth, residence, Madhya Pradesh High Court, on the vaccine pricing and de- howpeople occupying high posts “One thing is quiteclear that STATESWHEREACTIVECASESAREDECLINING said,“Therewas aclash between language,etc., and doing acts said, “Wewill move foranticipa- mandedthat the government di- were involvedand also raises se- theissuesof nationalsecuritymay ACTIVECASES DECLINEINLASTWEEK twogroups. Police reachedthe prejudicial to maintenance of tory bail once we have details of vulge whether it plans to provide rious questions regarding na- have been compromised.Ifoffi- Chhattisgarh 6,8672,407 spotand brought the situation harmony), 295-A (deliberateand the warrant and the case.” free vaccines to all Indians, espe- tional security,the Congress said cial secretsmay have been re- Uttar Pradesh 9,1622,260 under control.Furtherinvestiga- malicious acts, intendedtoout- If the anticipatorybail plea is ciallythe underprivileged,and on Sunday. vealedtoindividual Aorindivid- Rajasthan 5,286 1,444 tion is on.” rage religious feelings of any rejected,Munawarwill be when. The party,however, said it “The WhatsApp chatswhich ual B...then it’saveryserious According to police, two class by insulting itsreligion or handedovertoUPpoliceafter will believe thegovernment’s have come out in the Mumbai po- offence.Howwewillstrike,when STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES groups clashedwith instances of religious beliefs), and sections 65 securing his bail from MP. word on the vaccine’s safety. lice chargesheetinitself raises se- we will strike,whichday we will ONJAN16 TOTAL stone pelting in Kidana village and 66 of Information WITHINPUTSFROM Addressingapressconference, riousquestions aboutnationalse- striketheseareallhighlysensitive Kerala 5,960 8,42,844 during arathyatra. Technology Act. ENS,BHOPAL Congresscommunicationdepart- curity.How financial frauds have issues.Ithinkthatit’sforagencies Maharashtra2,910 19,87,678 Police also said that theyhave ment head Randeep Surjewala takenplace andin thathowthose nowtoinvestigateallthis.Butitis initiated theprocess of detain- Tamil Nadu 6108,30,183 saidthegovernmentisrefusingto people occupying high posts veryunfortunate thatthegovern- ing persons from both groups in EMPLOYEES’ PENSIONSCHEME answer whether allIndians or at were involved…how conversa- mentintandemwithcertainsec- STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS the wake of the clash. leastthe underprivileged and tions took place regarding buying tions of the media, whichallows ONJAN16 TOTAL SumitDesai, incharge officer Centre plea against poorwill getfreevaccines. of even judges… howjournalists itself to be usedasapropaganda Maharashtra5851,586 of BDivision policestation in “Will the SC,ST, BC, OBC,BPL, decidedwho will getwhat posts platform...hashurtbasicprinciples Kerala 27 3,490 Gandhidham, said,“The number APL, poor&underprivileged get in the council of ministers… All whichare the very foundation of of persons injured in the clashis West Bengal 15 10,041 the corona vaccine free or not? If this raises questions on compro- good governance,”senior unknown as we arestillawait- Kerala HC’s 2018 yes, what is the roll-outplan?” he mise with national security… Congress leader Kapil Sibal told DataasonJanuary16,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical ing written complaints... An FIR Researchandstategovernments. asked. ENS and the hollowness of those who The Indian Express. will be lodged soon.” order in SC today

CBI books senior theimpactof theimpugnedjudg- Govt, BJP all underlined Manipur journalistsarrested EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ment “shows that as againstthe Rlys officialover NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 total corpus of EPS of approxi- strongreply after matelyRs3.77lakh crores, theto- under UAPA,sedition charges ‘Rs 1crore bribe’ THE SUPREMECourt will take up talliability in terms of the im- Mondaythe Centre’s pleachal- pugnedjudgement stands at Pulwamaattack,had however, told TheIndianExpress ologies and activities and ex- NewDelhi:The Central Bureauof lenging the 2018 judgment of morethan Rs 10 lakh crores...” ABHISHEKSAHA that both have been arrested. pressed... dismayatthe deterio- Investigation Sundaybooked a Kerala High Court that setaside The“reasonfor this precari- GUWAHATI,JANURAY17 Thetwojournalistshave been ratingcharacterofthearmedrev- senior officer of the Railways en- amendmentsmade to ous position is that the judge- singled out Pakistan chargedunder IPC Sections 124A olutionaryleaders of Manipurin gineeringservicesforallegedly ac- Employees’ Pension Scheme ment fails to consider the ra- TWOEDITORS of aManipuri (sedition),120B(criminalconspir- the recent decade”. “His article cepting abribeofRs1crore to (EPS), 1995, fixing the maximum tionale behind the “terroroutfitsand their masters” news portalwereSundayarrested acy), 505(b) (causing alarm to in- clearly expressedsympathyand favour acompanyinconnection pensionable salary at Rs 15,000 amendments” carriedout in EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE have made“abig mistake”and on sedition and terror-related duce offence againstthe state), supporttothe ideologies and ac- withacontract of the North per month. Section11ofthe EPS. NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 “willhavetopay averyheavy chargesunder the IPC and and 34 (commonintention), as tivitiesofthe armedrevolution- Eastern Frontier Railway (NFR). Abench headedbyJustice U Prior to the amendment, the price” fortheir actions. UnlawfulActivities(Prevention) well as the UAPA's Section 39 arygroups and outrightlycalled Theaccused,MahendraSingh ULalit will also consider on maximum pensionable salary On Sunday, theCongress ac- On February16, Modi, while Actoverthe publication of an ar- (supporting terror organisation). the rule of lawofthe Union and Chauhan,isachief administrative Mondayareviewpetition by wasRs6,500. However, it permit- cusedthe government of com- addressing apublicmeeting af- ticle criticising the state’s mili- Thearticle,Revolutionaryjour- Stategovernment as colonial officer with NFR. Sources in the Employees’ Provident Fund tedthe pensionable salarytobe promising national security, terinaugurating severaldevel- tancy movement. neyinamess,has been writtenby law…,” it said. CBIsaidsearcheswere conducted Organisation againstthe basedonahigher salaryamount basedonleaked WhatsApp opment projectsinnorth Imphal West SP K one MJoy Luwang. It waspub- Therehavebeen multiple at 21 locations across five states— Supreme Court orderrejectingits at the mutual option of the em- chatsofRepublic’s Editor-in- Maharashtra’s Dhule, said, “I MeghachandraSingh confirmed lishedonJanuary8.Thesuomoto cases in Manipur againstthose Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, appeal againstthe 2018 high ployerand employee. The 2014 Chief Arnab Goswami with for- want to assure eachfamilywho the arrest of Frontier Manipur ex- FIR registeredbythe Manipur seen as speaking againstthe rul- Uttarakhand andDelhi.Arelative courtverdict. amendment increasedthe max- mer CEO of BroadcastAudience losttheir lovedone that each ecutive editor Paojel Chaoba. He PolicenamesLuwangandtheed- ingdispensation. of Chauhan,IndraSingh,whowas The Centre’s appeal said “with imum pensionablesalarytoRs Research Council (BARC) Partho drop of tear will be avenged.” did notcomment on the arrest of itors as the accused. accepting the bribeamount on the striking down of the amend- 15,000 per month. It also intro- Dasgupta, discussing the govern- Then Home MinisterRajnath editor-in-chiefDhirenSadokpam. According to theFIR,“the au- WITHINPUTSFROM behalf of theofficer,was caught ments, the very survivalofEPS is ducedconditions in the optionto ment’s response afterthe Singh said on February14, “The Their lawyer,Chongtham Victor, thor...endorsedrevolutionaryide- JIMMYLEIVON,IMPHAL red-handed. ENS in jeopardy” and that astudy of contributeahigher amount. Pulwama attackand saying attackwas carriedout by “something big will PakistanbackedJaish-e- happen...bigger than anormal Mohammed. Iassurethe coun- strike” on February23, three tryastrong replywill be given.” Andhra templedesecrations: treasurehunters to drunks days aheadofthe Balakot Amit Shah, the then presi- airstrikes. "On Pakistanthe gov- dent of the BJP,had also targeted ing to blame the Opposition in- Ramesh Chowdaryand S that wastobeacquired by the Sai Baba idol in Vijayawada, and mentallyunstable persons. Then ernment is confident of striking Pakistaninhis public addresses SREENIVASJANYALA stead of going afterthose who in- Rahmath, who confessed that stategovernment. To divert at- desecration of idols at Dwaraka he changed his line and said on in away that people will be and assertedthat the govern- HYDERABAD,JANUARY17 dulged in vandalism. theyroutinelytargetedtemples tention, Subbareddy allegedly -- remain unsolved. January15that some political elated.Exact wordsused," ment will avengethe attack. The Indian Express looked at in the hope of agoodloot. garlandedanidolwith slippers. He said 58,871 religious parties were involvedinactsof Goswami purportedlysaid. On February17, Shah, while AMID Apolitical rowinAndhra thecase diaries of some of these ■On September 20 lastyear, ■ In four cases -- in Kurnool, places across the statehavebeen religious disharmony. Whatever To whichDasguptareplied: addressingayouth rallyin Pradeshoveraseriesofincidents cases, and found that treasure the idol of a'Nandi’ wasfound Krishna and EastGodavari dis- mappedand 43,824CCTVcam- the motive,therewas no politi- "Good... He will sweep the polls Assam’s Lakhimpur,said “Their of vandalism of temples, with hunters were responsible forsix damaged at aShiva temple in tricts--the DGP said, people in eras have been installedin cal party involvedinthe attacks then." The Balakot strikes hap- [CRPF jawans’] sacrifice won’t go the ruling party and the of them. Director General of Chittoor district. Police arrested adrunken statebroke intotem- 13,089 of them. So far, 15,394 vil- on temples,’’ Ramaiah said. penedonFebruary26. invainasit’snot theCongressgov- Oppositionpointingfingers at Police Damodar Goutam five men from Karnataka,who ples and damaged the idols. lagedefencesquads have been BJP statepresident Somu Commentsbysenior politi- ernment whichisatthe Centre, it eachother, The Indian Express has Sawang said 42 people had been said theydug up the idol in the Their actions were caught on formedwhileanother 7,862 will Veerajusaid that instead of ar- cal leaders from that time sug- is the BJP whichisatthe Centre.” found that police investigations arrested in these six cases. belief that therewas treasure CCTVcameras. soon be constituted. resting the "real culprits", the gest that the governmenthad LateonSundaynight, intothese incidents showthat Further,inthree cases in hidden beneathit. ■In another case, amentally "All the incidentshavediffer- government wastargetingthose been vocal about a“befitting re- PakistanForeign Ministrycited the motive behindmostofthem Chittoor,Srikakulam and ■On September 19 last year, ill person allegedly setfiretoa ent motives. Some arecases of flagging the issue. "Instead of im- sponse” from India. the WhatsApp chatstoclaim waslargely apolitical -- from the Kadapa, the idols were dese- an idol wasdamaged at atem- chariotinSPS Nellore. hunting forhidden treasures plicating BJP workers forhigh- On February15, justadayaf- that these provide evidence of hope of unearthing atreasurein crated allegedly to defame tem- ple in AllagaddainKurnool dis- ■ Police investigations re- while otherstookhome idols lighting the issueonsocial me- terthe Pulwama attack, Prime howthis whole enterprise was one case to miscreantsbreaking ple committee members of ari- trict. Aweek later,police arrested vealedthat in atemple in hopingfor good fortune. The in- dia, theyshould conduct a MinisterNarendraModi said at “scripted”, “stokedhyper-na- intoatemple in adrunken state valparty.Inone case, in atemple SRajashekar forbreaking the Srikakulam, heavy rains caused cidentsare unrelated,’’ DGP thorough probeand arrest the twoseparate events—the flag- tionalism” in the countryand in another. located in aremote area of idol and taking home some parts the arm of an idol to fall off. "It Sawang said. accused,''hesaid. offceremonyofVande Bharat “deviously” manipulatedna- On January15, facedwith po- Kalyandurg in Anantapuramu in the belief that it would help wasnot desecrated as was But with the matter taking a YSRCPleader and Expressand at apublic meeting tional sentiment in itsbid to win litical heat over these incidents district, wild animals aresaid to his wifeconceive. claimedearlier,’’ an official said. political turn, TDP Politburo EndowmentsMinister in Jhansi –that the security forces elections. of vandalism, the YSRCPgovern- have damaged theidol of Lord ■ In Kurnool, one person ■In another incident,the ac- member VarlaRamaiahalleged Vellampalli Srinivassaid, "The have been given“full freedom” to Responding to Pakistan’s ment in AndhraPradesh released Hanuman. wasarrestedfor desecratinga cusedtold police that he took the police were targeting and DGP will provide evidence for choose a“timeand place” forthe statement, Republic Media investigationreportsinnine Consider some of these cases temple idol,allegedlytodivert home an idol hoping that it implicating party leaders in tem- the chargesfiled and thegovern- “futurecourse of action”. He Networksaid that it had on cases, in whichopposition TDP ■ On October 20 lastyear,a attention from aquarrelover would bring him good fortune. plecases by misrepresenting ment will take strict action if any promiseda“muhtod jawab” (be- March 6providedproof of the and BJP workers and sympathis- jewel-studded potwas found land ownership. DGP Sawang The DGP said 15 major cases facts. "This is being done to sat- one tries to raise the issue forpo- fittingreply) forthe attackthat Balakot air strikes that had ers have been accusedof spread- missing from LordVeerabhadra said the accused, BSubbareddy, -- including that of achariotbe- isfy Chief MinisterYSJagan litical gains. NChandrababu killed40CRPF personnel. “deeplyembarrassedthe ing false news andinstigating the Swamytemple at Talupadu in aTDP sympathiser,and oneYSR ing burnt in Antarveditemple, Mohan Reddy.The DGP said on Naidu has no fear or faith and no Underlining thatthe nation’s Pakistanstate machinery and its attacks. The TDP and BJP hit back, Prakasam district. On January6, Congress Partyleader were in a desecration of LordRama’s idol January13that the temple at- moralrighttospeakonHindus “blood is boiling”, Modi said the intelligence apparatus”. saying thegovernment wastry- police arrested NRamaKrishna, tussle over ownership of land at Ramateertham, damagetoa tackswerethe handiworkof and temples,''hesaid.

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9 THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 IDEA EXCHANGE Newsmakersinthe Newsroom OMAR ABDULLAH,VICE-PRESIDENT, NATIONAL CONFERENCE ‘ Of courseDDC pollshave kickstartedapolitical process ‘ from deep freeze...Theywill create anew leadership The former J&K CM says DDC resultsexpose the Centre’s lies over supportfor itsAug 5, 2019,changes, believesAssembly polls won’t be held anytime soon, and regretsthat the Opposition,particularly Congress, did notstand up forJ&K. The session wasmoderated by Executive Editor (National Affairs)PVaidyanathan Iyer

PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: Howdoes the elections were neither asked forbyus, nor nextParliamentelection.J&Khasbeensin- People’s Alliance forGupkar something that we sought;theywere gledout fordelimitation... The processwill Declaration (PAGD) look since the foistedonus. Participating in them wasre- take aconsiderabletime. And once that is District Development Council allythe onlyreasonable avenue that was done,newconstituenciesareidentified,you

(DDC) polls? open to us. willbeprettymuchattheendof thisParlia- Well, the People’sAlliance looksnodif- ment.And Iwouldn’t be surprisedifthe ferentnowthanitdidpre-DDCpolls,except AAKASH JOSHI: The government’s governmentof Indiaturnsaroundandsays thatwenow knowthatthereisapopular defence formostof well, hang on, we mass of support behind what the alliance the measures taken have aParliament stands for, particularly in Kashmir.But it since August5,2019, Idon’t really see an ‘ electioninafew wouldbewrongto denythatwe have even WHY has been that it has Opposition.IfIwas PM months,wemight as opened ourbanksofsupportinJammu as happened before — well do both togeth- well. Going simplybythe numbers, with- OMAR ABDULLAH detentions, Modi, I’dbeveryhappy... er... Having DDCs in out anyhorse-trading, without anyinter- communication place, theywillbe ference, we areinaposition to establish fter his release,Omar blackout etc. Howis Unlessweoverhaul howwe ableto take thedefen- chairpersons of the People’s Alliance in played akey role in the current are doing opposition,even cethatJ&Khasadem- about 12 or 13 of the20districts... situation different ‘ ocratic framework Asetting up the People’s We have seen an alarming willingness from what had 2024 lookslikeadone deal within whichgover- of the administration to step intothe polit- Alliance forGupkar gone on before nance and develop- icalsphere... What has come as asurprise perhaps in a mentactivityistaking to us postthis election is the wayinwhich Declaration in J&K.With the piecemeal manner? place,andthatforthe the government,and wingsand parts of It is different in everyway... Howcan time beingwedon’t needanAssembly. So, thegovernmentmachinery, areactively former CM as vice-president, anybody in the BJP saythat this is normal? Iamnot preparing myself mentallyfor the playing apart in converting resultswhich the NC bagged 67 seats across Idon’t, in my lifetime, ever remember a prospect of an Assemblyelection. But as I were in favour of the People’s Alliance into mainstreampoliticalleaderbeingdetained said,myparty president disagrees vehe- resultsinfavourofthe Apni Party, whichis Jammu and Kashmir regions underpreventive arrest,muchless under mently with me on this. averycloseassociateofthe ruling BJP... In in the DDCelections. the PublicSafetyAct. Yes, different govern- south Kashmir’s Shopiandistrict, three of ments, mine included, have from time to MANRAJ GREWAL SHARMA: Afew days my senior colleagues have been pickedup time felt the needtorestrict communica- backaPunjabi businessman who had under preventive detention charges. We tion, but forverylimited periods of time. justgot adomicilecertificatewas have no idea what trouble their detentions And always withthe viewthat these must gunneddownbyamilitant outfit, arepreventing... In fact, one of these col- be restored at the earliestpossible oppor- whichsaid therewill be moretargeted leagues who comesfromShopian town tunity.Weare nowseeinganabsenceof 4G killings of ‘outsiders’. Howdoyou think wasn’t even detainedunder these sections the newdomicile lawwillpan out? post-August5,2019. He wasn’t considered There’s no doubt that the newlaw has troublesome then, but suddenlyisconsid- created asense of unease among people. ered troublesome now. And thatunease is multipliedwhen we Thesecondaspectisfamilymembersof see the wayinwhichone UT is treated in elected DDC members being detainedby comparison to another.OnAugust5,2019, thepoliceandtoldthataslongastheelected twoUTs were formed. Yet, onlyone is sin- member votesorgoes and joins the Apni gledout for experimentswithdomicile party,wewillreleasetheperson.So,it’sex- and landlaws... But no matter howappre- tremelyworrying at the moment... On the hensive we areabout these newland and one hand, youcitethese (DDC polls)asex- domicilelaws, theuse of violencetoex- amples of democracyinaction and on the press our resentment is notacceptable. other hand, youare quitehappytothrottle Which is whyIwould liketosee courts democracyatthehandsof thepoliceby us- playamoreproactiveroleintaking up ing underhand tactics. theseconcerns and starting theprocess of listening to people. PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: Viewsonthe DDC pollshavebeendivided.Doyou VANDITAMISHRA: Following August believe theyhaveopenedup 5, 2019,therehasn’t been aloud democratic space in J&K? enough voice from the Opposition on Have theykickstarted apolitical Kashmir.Where do yousee the process?Well,of coursetheyhave.Thepo- challengetothe BJP coming from? litical process wasindeep freeze post Ibelieve that we were letdownbya August5,2019.Theyhavealso,to anextent, large section of oppositionparties —lead- put to rest claims thatmainstream politics ers who we were happytocall friends and in J&K is dead, or that thereisnoplace for parties that we worked with... It’s afester- traditionalpoliticalpartiesof J&K.If youlook ing, sorepoint as farasI’m concerned. And at the National Conference, in terms of our Idon’t think Iwill ever forgiveand forget. strikerateand ourabilitytowin seatsboth Whenever Icome across these people, I in Kashmir and Jammu, Ithink it would be will be politeand respectful, but Iwill also pretty surprising if somebody were to turn be perfectlydisconnected from their around and saythis political party is dead. problems and their realities, as theywere Does it open up newavenues fordem- from us. That’s nottosay that we didn’t ocraticrepresentation?Well,first,previous receive support. (WestBengal Chief governmentshavenot beenundemocratic. Minister) MamataBanerjee and her party But it is true that grassroots democracy is is one example. Stalin and the DMK would strengthenedbyhavingatierof governance be another.The Lefthas traditionallybeen closer to those grassroots.That is whypan- Illustration: Suvajit Dey friends of J&K. Theywereforceful in op- chayati rajinstitutions have always been posing what washappening. Therewere favoured across the country... So yes, these stray voices within the Congress party.It DDC polls will createanother levelofpolit- our presence or without it.Atatimewhen havingbeenanelectedchief ministerforsix legal and rolls it back. mobileconnectivity,exceptintwo districts, would be wrong to forget leaders likeP icalrepresentation.Theywillcreateanother publicsupportfortheagendaof thePeople’s years,havingbeenafunctioningparliamen- forthe lastone-and-a-half-years... When . Even leaders like Kapil generation of young, upcomingmain- Alliance wasbeingcalled intoquestion, tarianfrom1998onwards,Ifindnorational NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN: Youand have we everseenasituationlikethis,even Sibal and others who spoke, wroteand stream political participantsacross party what other waydid we have apartfrom explanationandnojustificationforthesort Mr Farooq Abdullahhad ameeting in the worsttimes?... The worrying partis talked about what washappening here... lines. So on the whole,it’sgood. But Iwill peaceful democratic means to provethat of thingsthat theyhavedone... So it’s frus- with the Prime Ministerjustbefore that the BJP actuallysees this as normal. But as an organisation, Ithink the makethe point again that the administra- we enjoyedpopular support?... The other trating, infuriating.It’s disappointing... Article 370was abrogated.Can youtell Which fundamentalrightsdowehaveto- Congress party failedusand the people of tion should resist thetemptation to assist avenuewas then to have adoptedthe path Now, what would be thebestcase sce- us about that? day?None.Youdonot enjoytherightto free J&K, as did alot of other opposition par- the BJP and the ApniParty. of theHurriyat,whichistogodownthepath nario?...The Supreme Courtsaidthatwe Therewas no consultationduring that speech. Youdonot enjoy the righttofree ties. Some of them actively colluded with of confrontation, protests,strikes,stone- can turn the clockbackasfar as we want meeting. We weren’t told that twodays movement... and forthe BJP,thisisnormal. what the BJP did. And that is notjustsur- PVAIDYANATHAN IYER: In the future, pelting, boycottofelections... whichIthink when theyadmitted thepetitionschal- hence,Parliamentwasgoingto move to re- Iguess this is the Jammu and Kashmir that prisingbut unforgivable. do yousee apermanence to the wouldhave openedusuptothesortof crit- lenging the August5,2019, decision... So I move Article35 Aandcompletely dismem- wascarved outand they aretelling us it is Now, howdoIsee the Opposition in the

People’s Alliance in J&K? icism that would have been very difficult have to trustthe Supreme Courtwhen they berArticle 370. If thathad been told to us, normal and learn to live withit...which, I rest of thecountrytoday?Idon’t reallysee Idon’t think youcan claim or aspireto forustosurvive... We thoughtthat this was saythattheycan undo it. My ownsortof obviouslywewouldhave consideredthatas am sorry,Iamnot willing to do. one.IthinkifIwasPMModi today, Iwould permanence forany the best waytoprove limited sense of intelligence tells me that consultation and put beoneof thehappiestpeoplearound.Isaid alliance. Youonly to theworld at large, youwill reachapoint whereitwill be im- our point of view be- SOFI AHSAN: Why during his firstterm that unless we do have to lookattheex- but particularly to the possible to undo some of the changes that fore thePrime haven’t youtaken something drastic, 2019 (Lok Sabha polls) ‘ periences within the Whichfundamental rest of India, thatthe have been done. The time will end up be- Minister. Therewerea If farmer protests caninvite ‘ matters suchasthe is adonedeal.I’m afraid that in January NDA... Their oldestal- rights do we have? None. bogey that has been ing of the essence. Youcannothaveindef- lotofrumours at the the attention of SC (over land laws and the 2021, I’m forcedto saythatunlesswe dras- lies,theShivSenaand fedtothe people by initeperiod of domicile being changed or time, and we went to issue of domicile to ticallyoverhaulthe wayweare doing oppo- the Akali Dal, areno Yo udonot enjoyright to theBJPthatthepeople land laws having been affected or cadreof the Prime Ministerto lack of consultation) …then the Supreme sition in this country, even 2024islooking longerpartofthe of J&K areresound- J&K administrative services and police of- requesthimto ensure Court? likeadone deal. And that’s notaprospect NDA. So, Iwould be free speech, movement… ingly infavourof what ficers being changedor forest services offi- that nothing unto- by that same yardstick the We have taken that is comforting to alot of us. the lastperson to as- ForBJP,this is normal... happenedonAugust cers being changedand similarchanges be- ward wasdoneto J&K SC needs to step in with the fundamental This government musthaveaneffec- sume thatthere is an ‘ 5, 2019,that even the ing put intoplace and then turn around and thatwouldimpactthe ‘ fight to theSupreme tive opposition. If that opposition cannot element of perma- Notwilling to accept it peopleof Kashmirare sayall this can beundone... because some- tenuous calmonthe what happened in J&K too Court. Everything comefromthe onlyremaining seemingly nence to the People’s a100per cent behind bodywill saysomuchwater has flown in ground. The Prime thatthis government nationalparty afterthe BJP,then some- Alliance.Weare clear the decision, was the Jhelumthat we will nowhavetoaccept Ministersaid that he is attempting to do is body else is going to have to step up. We onwhatouragendais wrong. And Ithink by this as the newreality... whichisnot what doesn’twanttoseean under the umbrella have to relook howwedoopposition. We andwe willworktogethertowardstheful- participatinginthis election,we have been we arewilling to accept. unsettledJ&KandthathewantsacalmJ&K of what wasdone on August5,2019. have to do it at the statelevel, individu- filment of that agenda. Ithink we are ableto sendthatmessageout.Sono,Idon’t So forme, agoodoutcome at the mo- inwhichdemocracyprevails...Myinterpre- Instead of tying ourselvesupinlittle bat- ally, because we can’t give this govern- stronger,having fought these elections to- think our participation has in anyway le- ment wouldbefor theSupreme Courtto tationof whathesaidwasflawed.Itookthat tles, we want to fight the main one, which ment afreehand. gether,becausealot of people,alot of com- gitimisedwhat the BJP has done. In fact, if begin hearings immediatelyonthe peti- to mean thatnothing untowardwas going is to call into question the legality of every- mentatorsassumedthatthisalliancewould anything, it calls intoquestion the support tions. It is notlikethe Supreme Courtisnot to happeninJ&Kinthenextfewdays.Iwas thing that is happening because of what VANDITAMISHRA: Howdoyou see the fall apartatthe firstsign of anyserious test. forandthepopularityof whatwasdoneon working at all. We have seen the Supreme wrong. happenedinAugust2019. politics of Rahul Gandhi? Whichisnot to saywedidn’thavedifficul- August5,2019. Court take cognizance of what is happen- Rahul Gandhiisanhonest, well-me- ties, we did have teethingproblems with ing with the farmer protests and step into NAVEED IQBAL: In the future, will the LIZ MATHEW:Doyou thinkAssembly aning politician. But Rahul will needto seat-sharing...So,aswitheveryalliance,it’s RAJ KAMAL JHA: In your statements those. If the farmer protests can invitethe People’s Alliance be morethan an elections in J&K will be delayed? decide forhimself wherehefitsintothis not100percentsmoothsailing,butwe sur- since your release,thereisastrong attention of the Supreme Court and their electoral alliance?The PDPalone Iamnot particularlyenthusedabout entirepolitical spectrum. If he is to be the vivedthis major test. sense of despair.Can youtell us about observations can includewords that ‘this protestedagainstthe landlaws. Will we Assemblyelections in aUnion Territory... leader of the Congress party, then step that? Also, what do youthink arethe didnotseem to include anyconsultation’ ... see aunified voice on issues? Youonlyhavetolook at the examples of up and be theleader. If not, then let BASHAARAT MASOOD: By participating irreversibles that have happenedinthe then therewerenoconsultations with J&K Iamnot an office-bearer of the PAGD. I Delhi and Pondicherry to seehow their somebody else be the leader.And until in the DDC polls, did the People’s Valley, and what would be the best case before whathappenedonAugust5,2019. participateinthePAGDasvice-presidentof elected chief ministers arehumiliated and such time as the Congressisable to put Alliance go againstits ownagenda and scenariooverthe next five years? By thatsame yardstickofconsultation, the theNationalConference...It’snotasifevery reducedtonon-entities by highlyactive itsown house in order,perhapsit’s time acceptthe situation in J&K? It’snot despair...Ithink it’salot of anger, Supreme Courtneeds to step in with what actionof thePAGDhasbeenunilateral...we lieutenantgovernors. Thatsaid,Idon’tfore- forthe UPA(United Progressive Alliance) Thatwas oneofthe pointsunder active alot of disappointment. I’m onlyhuman happenedinJ&K and start hearing us out areindividual political parties in our own seeanAssembly electionanytimesoon.My to look at fresh options.Let the Congress consideration when we were debating and when Isee thewaysinwhichthis gov- and letthe weight of our arguments make right also... We arenot simplyanelectoral father (Farooq Abdullah) is convincedthat sortout itsinternal leadership issues. whether to participateinthe elections or ernment is going out of itsway to throttle up their minds… The best outcome would alliance. In fact, we became an electoral al- youwill see an Assembly election some- And then if the Congress wantstoas- not. The conclusion that we drew wasthat the mainstream,it’sverydifficult to come be that the Supreme Courtsays that what liance muchafter we became the People’s time in 2021. Iamatcompleteodds with sume leadership of the UPAagain, that’s theseelectionsweregoingto go aheadwith to terms withitand to rationalise... But I, happened to J&K wasunconstitutional, il- Alliance forthe Gupkar Declaration... The him.Idon’tbelieve itwillhappenbefore the forthe UPAtodecide. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 10 CALENDAR THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry &TLewis CROSSWORD 4330 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ARIES (Mar 21 -Apr 20) LIBRA(Sep 24 -Oct 23) What aday!It’s Thepresent is still very muchacase of slightlyconfused, the irresistible force but the futureis meeting the coming fast —soget immovable object. Don’t ready.Everything has to be feel badlyifplans don’t work facedwith confidence.You out. But don’tblame the stars, reallycannotburyyourhead in either —orother people the sand anylonger,and only forthat matter.You see, if you Librans who act decisively, tackle the details, you’ll and with self-confidence, will win through. come through intact and in control. TAURUS (Apr 21 -May 21) Your nomadic SCORPIO (Oct 24 -Nov 23) tendenciesare It’s atime forlofty growing more ideals and noble insistent by the day, sentiments. Just CALVIN &HOBBES by Bill Watterson and Taureans who aretaking don’tbeso time offthis week are pompous and self-righteous fortunateindeed. If you’reat that othersare turnedoff. home, youmustfind ways to Leavefinancial initiatives spice up your existence. Anew until the middle to end of the interestcould take hold, but week,for it seems that there youdoneedtothink big. maystill be other ACROSS DOWN circumstances to consider. 1Afetefor agrowing political 2Worthyofrespectthoughnot GEMINI (May22-June 21) group? entirelylegal (5) If you’reatypical SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 -Dec 22) (6,5) 3Spotthe sign of afaulty washer Gemini of the old Once againmoney 9Suchmatters areusuallykept (4) school you’ll be in and financial security secret (7) 4Made ahome foragood man in your element this arethe issues of the 10 Edit out some of the camera’s want (6) week.There’ll be week.Ihope Iwill exposures (5) 5One means of making agarden disagreements, debates encourageyou by pointing out 11 Hownot to getthings done attractive (8) and differences of opinion the trulystupendous prospects (4) 6Rushing madlyfromTangier galore—and plenty of forgain and profit that await the 12 One’s life is disrupted by (7) opportunities foryou to get cannyamong you. You’ll help crimes (8) 7Whicheverway youlook at it, it your spokein. But listento your cause if youloosen up your 14 Put butter on bread forthe adds up to the same thing (5,6) your dreams -theymakemore thinking processes and consider meal (6) 8Ittakes liquid refreshment and sense than the facts. newideas -howeverunusual. 16 Put food in the bar forone in leaves(3,8) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong CANCER (June 22 -July23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 -Jan 20) need(6) 13 Aworkerhas fallen, but pass on Your stars are One group of 18 Atop duetperhaps, right in (4,4) entering another of planets is fashion (2,2,4) 15 Amuscle that turns up or down those delightful attempting to knock 19 Jetfighters? (4) (7) alignmentswhich yousideways while 22 At heart an oration shows a 17 Smell some of the least encourageyourhopes and another struggles to hold you senseofproportion enchanting odours stimulate your imagination. upright. It is notsurprising that (5) (6) It’s all down to the Moon’s youfeel buffetedbythe winds 23 Signal lackoffurniture 20 She’s afairyqueen to the imminent and intriguing of change. In fact, it is quite (7) Spanish (5) encounter with the Sun; it natural that youshould. Your 24 Atailor maymakehis mark 21 Produce aworkofart from looksasifdestinyispicking romantic mood is shifting, and with it (6,5) scratch(4) youout forspecial treatment. over the next month you’ll needtofeel moresecure. SolutionsCrossword4329:Across: 1Iodine,4Approved,9Disuse,10Angelica,12 LEO (July24-Aug 23) Roll,13Vesta,14Veto,17Childishness,20Trainingship,23Rued,24Harry,25Eric, This week’s trends AQUARIUS (Jan 21-Feb 19) 28Bulletin,29Pagoda,30Dominant,31Statue.Down:1Indirect,2Disclaim,3 reinforce There’s plenty of Nose,5Penitentiary,6Reef,7Voices,8Dragon,11Perspiration,15Adore,16Usage, everything that was room foryou to 18Share-out,19Spaceage,21Probed,22Bedlam,26Dean,27Cant. said about your bringout your chartlastweek.Your stars famous Aquarian confirm that youare in an radicalism this week and show idealistic and selfless mood, people justwhat an anarchist though confusion is likelyto youare.Yet,complexfactors JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel4s creep in wheneverthe indicate that you’remore Instructions nebulous planet, Neptune, likelytobeasecret Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, comes intoplay—and that’s revolutionary, preparedto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 4355 about everyother day. consider sweeping changes in theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe your lifestyle. __-____isnothingtohidebehind.Whenyouneeditmostitisn’tthere.-MaySarton(4-7) VIRGO(Aug24-Sep 23) nineverticalcolumns,in Youare still in the PISCES (Feb 20 -Mar 20) 356 eachoftheninehorizontal driving seat, Youare in an IREEE AIICLT rowsandineachofthe although you extremelystrong U4 nineboxes. should begin to tie position. Your secret

SUDOKU up all loose ends. I’d liketo is your flexibility— remind youthat at work it’s and your astonishing ability to who youknowand notwhat adjusttochanging DORSS ABERFP DifficultyLevel ON youknowthat’s important. circumstances. You’ll alter one

SUDOK 1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; Youshould thereforeget on or twoofyourkey ambitions 3s=Medium;4s=Hard; andcultivate personal and you’ll also be changing

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 11 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevancethat youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected]

CORONAVIRUS DASHBOARD EXPLAINED VACCINATIONSTRATEGY

INDIAACTIVE CASES 208,826 Vaccine routetohealthy India

250,000 Covid-19vaccinationpresentsanopportunity.Given that manypeople unknowingly live withslow-onset 225,449 non-communicable diseases suchasdiabetes and cancers,and the vaccination programme prioritises those with co-morbodities,the strategy can be dovetailed into ascreeningprogramme forsuchNCDs. 225,000 208,826 EXPERT FATALITY RATE, CASES PER MILLION, TESTING: INDIA &THE REST LAST 10 DAYS Case Fatality Rate of Covid-19 Cumulative confirmedcases per million people Jan 7Jan 16 EXPLAINS TheCaseFatalityRate(CFR)istheratiobetween United Thenumberofconfirmedcasesislowerthanthenumberoftotal 200,000 confirmeddeathsandconfirmedcases Praveen Pardeshi Kingdom cases.Themainreasonforthisislimitedtesting. United Note:The Jan 16 figure in this graph is based on thegovernment updateonJan 17 Canada States From The Indian Express panel 20% 70,000 France United of specialists, exclusive insight 15% 60,000 Kingdom INDIA TOTAL CASES WORLD TOTAL CASES Germany 50,000 France 10% 10,557,985 94,639,998 United 40,000 Brazil TODAY, INDIA faces itsgreatestchallengein 5% States 30,000 Germany Source:MinistryofHealth&Family Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity, averting the second waveofthe novelcoron- India 20,000 Canada Welfare,updatedat11pmonJan17 updatedat11pmonJan17 aviruspandemicthat is ragingthrough Europe 0% Mar1, Apr30 Jun19 Aug8Sep27 Nov16 Jan16, 10,000 India andtheAmericas. ButasIndiaembarkson the 2020 2021 0 world’s greatestvaccination drive,thereis Mar1, Apr30 Jun19 Aug8Sep27 Nov16 Jan16, hope that we will stop the pandemic. Source: Johns Hopkins University via ourworldindata.org, updatedonJan 17 2020 2021 UnlikemanyEuropean and Asian coun- Contracting Covid-19inthe UK todayplaces youatnearly Source: Johns Hopkins University via ourworldindata.org, Rapid blood test predicts 100% morerisk of succumbing to it than if youwerein tries whichare facing hugeshortages of the updated on January 17 Covid-19vaccine, India’sAtma Nirbhar policy India. India has one of the lowest Covid-19case fatality ensuredthat twoofthe vaccines approvedby ratesat1.4%, compared with the UK’s CFR at 2.6%. India has one of the lowest numbers of casesper million. which Covid patients will the regulator arebeing producedin India. The Acomparison between India and othercountries shows Serum InstituteofIndia,whichisthe world’s Cumulative COVID-19 tests India that the lockdown imposedbyIndia in April ensured largest producer of vaccines, has enhanced samplestested that the pandemic did notspread as widelyasitdid in develop severe disease itscapacity to produce 1billion dosesofthe 250million United the US, UK, France and Brazil during MaytoNovember. UnitedStates Kingdom Covishield vaccine. This,coupledwith Bharat 200million testsperformed testsperformed FORDOCTORS, it is adifficultto predict admittedto theICU,intubatedordied. Biotech’s vaccine production, would largely Correlation between NCDMortality Rate and Covid Germany whichCovid-19patientswill go on to Theresearchers found this association be able to meet the vaccination needs of pri- 150 million testsperformed Case Fatality Rate in South and Southeast Asia developsevere disease, includingcom- held independentlyofapatient’s age, ority groupsamongstIndia’s huge popula- 100 million Canada ■ 2016NCDMortality ■ CovidCase plications that requirethe insertion of sexand underlying health conditions. tion by theend of 2021. peopletested Rateper100,000 FatalityRate abreathing tube, kidney dialysis or On average, mitochondrial DNA Managing the programme 50 million Brazil 1000 4.0% other intensive care. Knowledge of a levels were about tenfold higher in testsperformed patient’sage and underlying medical Covid patientswho developedsevere However, managing the logistics, cold 0 500 2.0% conditions can help predict suchout- lung dysfunction or eventuallydied. chain, and trainingthe required hugework- Mar1, Apr Jun Aug Sep Nov Jan15, comes, but as the Washington Thosewith elevatedlevelswerealmost forcetoroll out suchavaccination pro- 2020 30 19 8 27 16 2021 0 0.0% e University School of Medicine in St six times more likelytobeintubated, grammeisagigantic task. Source: ourworldindata.org es Louis (WUSTL) noted, threetimesmore likelyto The Government of India has issueda Note: Fortesting figures, thereare substantial differences acrosscountries India Pakistan Malaysia in termsofthe units, whetherornot all labs areincluded, theextent to Myanmar thereare still surprises be admitted to the ICU comprehensive setofvaccination guidelines Singapor Philippin whenyounger, seemingly andalmosttwice aslikely that target 300millionpeople, including whichnegativeand pending testsare included,and other aspects. Bangladesh healthier patients suffer to die compared with health and frontline workers, and people India successfullyflattenedthe curveevenasitwas Countries with very high underlyingNCD mortality severe complications that those with lowerlevels. above the ageof50. While countries like delivering the second largest number of RTPCR tests. showhighCovid-19 case fatalities. can lead to death. Further,the test pre- France and Germanyare struggling to speed Now, scientists at dicted outcomesaswell up their vaccinationdrives, Israel has suc- WUSTL have publisheda PAPER as or better than existing ceededinvaccinating morethan 20 per cent India faces aserious unknown quantity. municable disease burden in India remains platform, alittle bit of tweaking will enable paper showing that arel- markers of inflammation of itspopulation, or about2million people. Unlikemanycommunicable diseases which undiagnosedorundetected until the very CoWin to beintegratedwiththegovernment’s atively simple and rapid CLIP currently measured in Indiahas already put in place twoofthe main manifestthemselvesearly through percep- latestagesofthe disease. This leads to high Health Management InformationSystem blood test canpredict — Covid patients.Most factors responsiblefor Israel’s rapid progress: tiblesymptoms likefever,painorotherin- ratesofmortality and high out-of-pocketex- (HMIS) databases, where allthe details of within aday of ahospital NEWRESEARCH other markers of inflam- abundant accesstovaccines, and awell for- dicators, manyslow-onsetnon-communi- penses:NCDs areverycostlytotreat at the newlydetected NCDs can be recorded. The admission —which mation measured in pa- mulated logistics and supplychainplan. cable diseases suchasdiabetes, hypertension advanced stages, andIndia’s Multisectoral NationalNCD ActionPlanalreadyaimsto pro- Covid-19patientsare at highestrisk of tientswith Covid-19,including those Amajor factor in Israel’ssuccess was and cancers do nothaveany perceptible NCDAction Plan estimates that 47%ofall out- mote continuedsurveillanceand screening severe complications or death. The still under investigation, aregeneral boosting the number of personnel available symptoms in early stages.Therefore, many of-pockethealth expenditureisdue to NCDs. surveys to detectundiagnosedNCDcases. The study waspublishedlastweek in the markers of systemic inflammation, to administerthe vaccine by mobilising staff people unknowinglylivewith diabetes, hy- Therefore, the strategy forCovid-19vac- Covid-19vaccinationdrive offers anationwide journal JCI Insight. rather than inflammationspecific to from other sectors, and providingovertime pertension and cancer duringthe earliest cination can be dovetailedintoacomprehen- opportunityto screen andupdatethe national The bloodtestmeasures levels of cell death, according to there- benefitstohealth staff. Followingthe newly stages of disease —the sive screening pro- database of NCDpatients, andanupdated mitochondrialDNA,aunique type of searchers. amendedlabour laws,India can createlarge- timewhen suchdiseases gramme forpeople aged database whichcaptures alargernumber of DNAmolecule that normallyresides The researchers said the test could scale fixedterm employment amongstedu- can be easilyand cost-ef- 50 and over formajor patientsatthe early stages of NCDs will help inside the energy factoriesofcells. serveasawaytopredict disease sever- cated rural young people with basic digital fectively cured. NCDs likediabetes, car- in demedicalising the careofNCD. MitochondrialDNA spillingout of cells ity aswell as atooltobetterdesign clin- trainingtoundertake theregistrationand THEEXPERT diovasculardisease(CVD) Through advocacy and through the and intothe bloodstream is asign that ical trials, identifying patientswho vaccination drive.Large numbers of nursing Burden of NCDs PRAVEEN PARDESHI is and even common can- newlycreated health and wellness centres, aparticulartype of violentcelldeathis might, forexample, benefit from spe- students, auxiliarynursing midwifetrainees, It is estimated that al- Global Programme cers. This will reveal the all registeredNCD patientscan be provided taking place in the body. cific investigational treatments. They and retired Armyand defence services per- though India has 30 mil- Coordinator,Defeat Non undetected cases of hy- with advice forself-care, reduction of aggra- The researchers evaluated 97 pa- also said theywouldliketoevaluate sonnel in everyvillagecan also be mobilised lion diagnoseddiabetes Communicable Disease pertension and diabetes. vating risk factors likesugaryand salty foods, tientswith Covid-19atBarnes-Jewish whether the test could serveasaway forthe vaccinationdrive. cases, the prevalence rate Partnership, UN Institute The current operational taking moreexercise and reducing harmful Hospital, measuring their mitochon- to monitor the effectiveness of new estimatedbythe National forTraining and Research, guidelines forCovid-19 alcohol and tobaccouse. Thecontinuity of drial DNAlevels on the firstday of their therapies. Presumably, effective treat- Priority forthe vulnerable Diabetes and Diabetic Geneva.Hewas formerly vaccination aim to mo- self-carebypatientscan be monitored on hospital stays. Theyfoundthat mito- mentswouldlowermitochondrial The guidelines also provide forthe priori- RetinopathySurvey is the Commissioner of bilise all the district col- various mobile basedapplications like the chondrial DNAlevels were much DNAlevels. tisationof peoplewithco-morbidities. Studies 11.8% in the adult popula- Brihanmumbai lectors, rural frontline Digital Lifecaresolution developedbyDell higher in patientswho eventuallywere Source: Washington University at St Louis have shownthat over70% of mortalitiesfrom tion.This comes to nearly Municipal Corporation, health stafffromprimary with the MinistryofHealth,whichhas been Covid-19occurdue to pre-existing non-com- 72 million. Similarly, servinginthat post health centres and urban adoptedbyover40,000frontline health care municable diseases suchasdiabetes, cardio- studies showthat unde- during the early months civil and sub district hos- professionals. This can easilybeintegrated vascular ailments, and cancers. Prioritising tected hypertension of the pandemic in pitals. The vaccination withthe CoWin platform to capturethe vaccinations forthosewithpre-existingnon- cases maybeashigh as Mumbai until May2020 centres have been very newlydetected NCDpatients. communicable diseases will keep the Covid- 26% of the adultpopula- meticulouslyplannedto The Defeat Non-Communicable Disease 19 casefatality rate as lowaspossible. tion. India has one of the deliverthe vaccination ef- Partnership anchored in the United Nations The relationship between acountry’s lowest incidencesofcan- ficiently. This is agreat InstituteofTraining and Research,Geneva, non-communicable disease burden and cerper 100,000population,but thisislargely opportunity to equip all the frontline vacci- has espoused asimilar win-winapproachin Covid-19 casefatality is direct. Countries with due to inadequateearly screening and de- nation staff, including vaccination officers, Rwanda and Myanmar,its twoprogramme very high underlying non-communicable tection. An EY reportfoundthat while the withglucometers and bloodpressuremeas- countries. Anationwide Covid-19vaccina- disease mortality showhigh Covid-19case cancerincidence rate in India wasestimated urement instrumentstoscreen people for tiondrive is the ideal entrypoint forenrolling fatalities, as acomparison across Singapore, to be at 94 cases per 100,000people, the ac- potential co-morbidities suchasdiabetes all the co-morbid patientsbelowthe poverty India, and Indonesia shows.All this pointsto tual rate wassomewherebetween 150-200 and hypertension. line in Ayushman Bharat so that their future the urgency and importance of firstvacci- cases due to deficiencies in datacollection out of pocket expenses areminimised. A natingpatientssuffering from NCDs. and screening. An opportunity to integrate win-winfor eliminating Covid-19 andreduc- In this task of vaccinating all people with As with mostlow-and middle-income As the entireCovid-19vaccinationdrive in ing NCDmortalities by one-thirdinlinewith pre-existing non-communicable diseases, countries, roughly40%-50%ofthe non-com- Indiawill be recordedonthe digital CoWin Sustainable Development Goal 3.4! Whatisknownsofaraboutthepost-vaccinationdeathsinNorway

“Weare notalarmedbythis. It is quite everycase individually, and strike out all tion, and twohad been dischargedalready, EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE clear that these vaccineshaveverylittle risk, other potential causes first. the Ministrysaid. NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 with asmall exception forthe frailestpa- Bloomberg quoted the Norwegian tients,” Steinar Madsen, medical director Medicines Agency:“The Norwegian What is being done about this situation TWENTY-NINE PEOPLE have diedin with the agency, told Norwegian broad- MedicinesAgencyhas communicated, now? Norway afterbeing administeredPfizer’s casterNRK,the AP reported. prior to thevaccination, that whenvacci- Pfizer and BioNTech areworking with vaccine againstthe novelcoronavirus, That said, the Norwegian authorities nating the oldestand sickest, it is expected the Norwegian regulator to investigatethe Norwegianauthorities have said.They have adjustedtheir advice on who should that deaths will occur in atime-related deaths. Bloomberg quoted Pfizer as saying addedsix deaths on Saturdaytothe num- be administeredthe vaccine by giving indi- contextwith vaccination. This does not that the Norwegian authorities have found berofthose previouslyreported dead fol- vidualdoctors discretion to makethisde- mean that thereisacausal link between that “the number of incidents so farisnot lowing inoculation. The newdeaths low- cision. The suggestion is that the vaccines vaccination and death. We have also, in alarming, and in linewith expectations”. ered the ageofthose thoughttohavebeen mayberisky forveryold or terminallyill connectionwith the reporteddeaths, con- Earlier this week,Pfizer said it wasalso affected to 75, from 80, multiple news re- people. This, the Bloomberg reportsaid, is veyed that it is possible thatcommon and “actively investigating”, along with federal ports said. “the mostcautious statement yetfroma known side effectsofthe vaccines may health officials in the United States,the Until Friday, the vaccine manufactured European health authority”. have been acontributing factor to aserious death of a56-year-old physician in Florida, by Pfizer-BioNTechwas the onlyone being The reportsaid that in the judgmentof course or fataloutcome.” who diedalittle over twoweeks afterre- administered in Norway,and “all deaths the NorwegianInstituteofPublic Health Norway isn’t an outlier either. ceiving the vaccine. “[But] we don’tbelieve arethus linked to this vaccine,” the now, “for thosewith the mostseverefrailty, Sideeffectsand fatalities have been re- at this time that thereisany direct connec- Norwegian Medicines Agency said,accord- even relatively mild vaccine side effectscan portedinthe United Kingdom and the tion to thevaccine,” The NewYork Times, ing to a Bloomberg report. Thirteen deaths have serious consequences”. Thus,“for Pfizer’s vaccinehas been approvedfor use in anumber of countries,including United States as well. whichfirst reportedthe death, quoted Pfizer have been assessedsofar,and all the re- those who have averyshortremaining life the US and Norway.This photograph wastaken in Santiago, Chile. Reuters In India at the end of the second dayof as saying in astatement. porteddeaths arein“elderly peoplewith span anyway,the benefit of the vaccine may vaccinations on Sunday,the Union Health The European Medicines Agency,which serious basic disorders”, the reportsaid, be marginal or irrelevant”. Ministrysaidadverse eventsfollowing im- assesses and supervises medicinal products quoting the agency. Madsen, quoted in the AP report, said: Were these problemsunexpected? side effectsand deaths, shouldbeexpected. munisation (AEFI)had been reportedin447 in the European Union, has said that it “Doctors mustnow carefullyconsider who No.Amass vaccinationcampaign by def- What is critical is to determine whether cases —less than 0.2% of the 2,24,301ben- would examinesafetyreportssubmittedby Is this aserious concern? shouldbevaccinated.Those who arevery inition involves averylarge number of peo- the vaccine wasresponsible forthe death. eficiaries from the priority group who had all companies authorised to supplyvaccines The Norwegian authorities aresaying frail and at the very end of lifecan be vacci- ple —and as ageneral principle, some ad- This can be complicated,and can take time receivedfirstdoses of the vaccine. Only to theEUevery month, and that Pfizer’s re- theyare notworriedasyet. nated afteranindividual assessment.” verse events, whichcouldinclude serious to establish —doctors have to go through three of these cases required hospitalisa- portwouldbetaken up later this month. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 WORDLY WISE Misinformation or distrustofvaccines canbelike acontagion thatcan spread

12 THE EDITORIAL PAGE as fast as measles. —THERESA TAM The incitement to racism

§ FOUNDED BY § RAMNATH GOENKA Assault on Capitol wasbased on whitesupremacist BECAUSETHE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL beliefsthat hasmarkedTrump’s politics

SHOTCIRCUIT Sanjib Baruah Give vaccines to electedrepresentatives: Legislative work can WITHTHEAPPROVALof theimpeachmentres- astunning assault on American democracy. Therestraintandamiabilityof somepoliceof- begin, will send positive signal to public olutionby theUSHouseof Representativeslast Trump’s baseis, of course, convinced that ficers towardsthe intruders surprisedmany. Wednesday, Donald Trumpbecamethe first therewas widespread voter fraudinthe elec- In awidelycirculated image, apolice officer EARLY 2LAKH healthcareworkers receivedanti-COVID shots as the first presidentinAmericanhistoryto beimpeached tions. The narrative of astolen election has a posedfor aselfie withaprotester.Therewere phaseof inoculationgot underwayonJanuary16.Duringapandemicthat twice.But since the Senateisnot scheduledto racial subtextthathas long rootsinAmerican also shots of police officers politelyescorting has stressed allsections of society,suchworkers have bornethe brunt, meettillJanuary19—thedaybeforePresident- history. Thefocusofhis allegations is the so- rioters out of the building. The Capitol Police fightingthecontagionfromthefrontlinesandwatchingmanyoftheircol- elect Joe Biden is inaugurated —the impeach- called “Democrat-run cities”ofPhiladelphia, has been criticisedfor failingtoanticipatethe ment will notcut shortTrump’s term in office. Detroit, Milwaukeeand Atlanta, where breachand the potential forviolence despite Nleaguessuccumbto it.Theydeservethenation’sgratitudefortheirresolve Itseffectswillbemostlysymbolic. But Senate African-Americans constitute amajority or a the fact that Trumpsupporters openlydis- in face of difficult odds, and the scientific, regulatoryand administrative agencieslaurels for actionontheresolutionevenafterheleavesof- plurality. Theyoverwhelmingly voted cussedtheirplansononline forums. theremarkablealacrityinrollingoutthevaccine.It’sonlyapt,therefore,thehealthcarework- fice could disqualify him from the presidency Democratic tipping the balance forBiden in The contrastwiththe policeresponse to ershave receivedpriorityinthevaccinationdrive.Infact,PrimeMinisterNarendra Modihas and preclude another presidential run. those battleground states —Pennsylvania, theBlack LivesMatter protests last summer repeatedly underlinedthe sanctity of the precedenceaccordedtothemand frontline work- Thecharge madeagainstPresidentTrump Michigan,WisconsinandGeorgia.“Democrat- couldn’t be morerevealing. Had Blackand ers.Politicians should notjumpthe queue,hehas stressed. Following the PM’s instructions, in the impeachment resolutionismind-bog- runcities,likeDetroitandPhiladelphia,twoof brownBLMprotesterstriedtoentertheCapitol Telangana’sHealth MinisterEatalaRajender,who hadreportedlytalkedoftaking the first gling—theincitementof insurrection.Theres- themostpoliticallycorruptplacesinAmerica”, instead of predominantly white Trumpsup- olution refers to the false statementsthathe he said in aFacebook post, “cannotberespon- porters,says WashingtonD.C.areaBLMorgan- shot in his state,recantedhis decision. In acountry, where politiciansdon't alwayswait their has made repeatedly about widespread voter siblefordecidingtheoutcomeof thisrace".The iser AnthonyLorenzo Green, “wewould be turn,suchrectitudeisheartening.We shouldremainvigilantagainsttheunpredictablevirus fraudinthe 2020 presidential elections and terms “Democrat-run” and “politicallycor- shackled,we wouldbecarriedaway, we would andnot letourguarddown.Isthereacase,then,forbroadeningthecriteriaof frontlinework- the suggestion that the results “should notbe rupt” arecodewordsfor Blackareas. The no- be shot, we wouldbedead”. ersto includeparliamentariansandlegislators?Aday before thedryrun,inaninteractionwith acceptedbythe American people or certified tionthatitisillegitimatefortheoutcomeof the President-elect Bidenhas promisedto ap- the Union Health Minister, ,Odisha and Telangana requestedthe Centre to include by StateorFederal officials”, and to his role in TheCapitol-storming presidential election to be decidedbycities point“thesinglemostdiverse Cabinet based electedrepresentativesfromall levels to be includedinthe priority population. encouragingtheJanuary6siegeoftheCapitol. Trump supporterswere withlarge African-Americanpopulationsres- onrace,colour,basedongender,that’severex- On that day, Trumptoldhis supporters onateswithAmerica’sdismalhistoryof oppo- istedinthe UnitedStates of America”.Heison With limited vaccinesupplies, at least in theinitial phase of the inoculation drive, that “wewon this election, and we wonitby overwhelmingly white. sitiontoBlack suffrage. tracktodeliver on that promise.Biden intro- choosing from competing sets of vulnerabilities, is atricky proposition.Totheir credit, alandslide”. Thereisnoevidence to backhis Pictures and videos taken Anexplicitappealtoracialresentmenthas duced his nomineestoleadthe Justice policymakers have come to afair resolution of the predicament. From the standpoint of claim; multiple legal challenges to the elec- during the siege and shared been the foundation of Trump’s support Departmentatapress conferenceheld aday curbing the transmission rate too, the decision to inoculatehealthcareworkers firstmakes tion results in variousstateshad failedfor lack on social media have received among the whiteworking class. It wasbyem- afterthesiegeoftheCapitol.Thenomineesfor sense.But withthe COVID curve bending appreciablyinthe pasttwo weeks, the argument of credible evidence. He encouragedhis sup- bracing the fringeconspiracy theorythat the three toppositions at the Justice muchattention. The that those involved in public services at least, the country’s lawmakers, be deemedas porters to “walk down to the Capitol”, falsely BarackObamawasborninKenyaandthusin- Department belowthe attorneygeneral are suggesting that the electionresults could still eligible to serveaspresident that Trumpfirst women. If confirmedbythe Senate, Indian- frontline workers deserves serious consideration. This would, in anycase, mean an ad- restraint and amiabilityof be overturnedbythe Congress, whichwas some police officerstowards madeamarkamong the largely whitebase of AmericancivilrightslawyerVanitaGupta will ditionofless than6,000 people to thelist—in the firstphase. In the past10months, the meeting that dayfor ceremoniallycounting theRepublicanParty. Itwasaway of challeng- be thefirst woman of colour to serve as asso- government has wieldedthe safetyargument to restrict political activity,includingcan- the Electoral Collegevotesand certifying the the intruderssurprised ingthelegitimacyof America’sfirstBlackpres- ciateattorneygeneral. celling or abbreviating Parliament’s activities. The vaccine rollout affordsachance to bring winner.But the Senatemajority leader many. In awidely circulated ident without using overtlyracistlanguage. It is likelythat whilehalf of America will functions crucial to the working of ademocracy on anormal keel. Senator Mitch McConnell—astaunch Trump image,apolice officer posed ManyofTrump’s decisions on admissioninto welcome Biden’s choices and his decision as a One of the imperativesinthe coming months and weeks, will be to build public con- allytillrecently—remindedhis colleagues foraselfie with aprotester. the countrybyforeigners—the border wall, sign of social progress,the other half will take fidence in the vaccines.The decisionofpolitical leaders in manyparts of the worldtotake that the constitution gave Congress onlya the travel bans, cutsinlegal immigration, lim- adimviewofit.If Trump’s2016 electionvictory limited role. Since the “voters, courts,states There were also shots of iting refugee admissions, immigration-en- waspartlytheresultofaracialbacklashagainst the firstjab is, therefore, muchmorethanoptics.Thatleading figures of the country’s have all spoken”, overruling them would police officerspolitely forcementraids,family-splittingdeportations, theObamapresidency,Biden’spublicembrace healthcaresystemincluding director of AIIMS,Randeep Guleria, took the shots on the “damageour republicforever”. escorting riotersout of the crackdownonsanctuary cities and pushing of diversity andinclusionissuretoreinforce firstday of the drive in India should be seen as apartofthe arsenal of persuasionand as- Thereislittle doubt that the angrymobs at building. TheCapitol Police backasylumseekers—tousethewordsofpo- whiteresentmentand disaffection. surance, crucialtoaprocess known to makepeople edgy.The government would do well the Capitol posedadirect threat to the livesof liticalanalystRonaldBrownstein,“preponder- Unfortunately, such emotions, says African- has been criticised forfailing nowtomakelawmakers partofsuchsignalling. elected representatives—especiallythose de- antlytiltedtoward thewhitevotersmosthos- American scholar Carol Anderson, author of monisedbyTrump. Quiteafew of the Trump to anticipate the breachand tile to immigration and mostuneasy about WhiteRage:TheUnspokenTruthof OurRacial loyalists wore militaryuniforms and were the potential forviolence demographic changeoverall”. Divide,have“longthrivedonthefantasyof be- armed—membersof neo-fascistandwhitesu- despite the factthat Trump The Capitol-storming Trumpsupporters ing under siegeand havingtofight back”. premacistgroups suchasthe Proud Boys.Itis were overwhelmingly white. Pictures and BUILDING TRUST hardnot to seethe siegeoftheCapitolasanact supportersopenly discussed videos takenduring the siegeand shared on The writer is professor of PoliticalStudiesat of insurrectionincitedby asittingpresidentand their plans on online forums. social media have receivedmuchattention. BardCollege,New York foreign minister’s India visit will help the conversation between the twocountries

ASTWEEK’S VISITbyNepal foreign ministerPradeep Gyawali wassignifi- cant forthe reason thatitwas the firstofficial high-levelpolitical sojourn from Nepal afterrelationssoured lastyear when India built aroad to Lipulekh BEFORE CLICKING ‘I AGREE’ Pass and claimedthe pass as well parts of theareathrough Lwhichthe road had been built, underlining this claim with anew map of itsboundary with India. Sincethen, India's foreign secretary, itsArmychief and the head Privacy policies online areillegible and ‘consent’isbroken.New ideas areneeded of the Research andAnalysis Wing, have been to andwelcomedbyKathmandu at differ- ent times, signalling thataconversation between the twocountries is important to both and mustcontinue. Gyawali’svisit keeps thatconversation going, though it is clear that Va rad Pande and Subhashish Bhadra the trustdeficit between the twocountries continues. Ahead of his foreign minister’s visit,Prime MinisterKhadga Prasad SharmaOli de- THE LAST time youusedanapp,did youread ucts. But consent is broken, and relying on it to iments,userssharedmoredatawithappsthat clared that hisgovernment wasdeterminedtotakethe 370sqkmofland in the Kalapani- itsprivacy policy before clicking ‘I Agree’? If enableresponsible datasharing seems inade- had ahigher privacy rating. not, don’t worry—suchpoliciesare notde- quate.Whichiswhy we neednew ideasto give Third, governments and industryassocia- Limpiadhura-Lipulekh area through dialogue,asentiment reiterated by Gyawali in Delhi. signedfor easy reading.With reams of legal usersgreatercontrolovertheirdigitaldestinies. tions can playanenabling role by running in- What this appears to convey is that therecan be no fait accompli in this matter.The bound- jargon, mostare as difficult to read as the First, businesses needtobecome morere- novative awareness campaigns thatleverage aryrow,withits domestic political ramificationsfor the Oli government,and security HarvardLaw Review. Asurvey of 155college sponsiblestewardsof consumertrust.Not only localcontexts,andrelatablenarrative styles.In considerations forIndia —the area is at an India-China-Nepal trijunction —cannotbere- studentsinDelhifoundthatevenlawstudents is it the rightthing to do, but is also good for early 2020,BigFMrana10-episoderadioshow solvedovernight. What it needs, as Gyawali rightlysaid, is abuilding of mutual trust. This couldunderstand onlyabout half the clauses. business. The Centre forSocial and Behaviour calledZindagi Mobile,wherestoryteller can come onlywith dialogue. His assurance that Nepal’s soil cannotbeusedagainstan- Most policiesare exclusively inEnglish,which ChangeatAshoka University recentlyran be- NeeleshMishra weavedprivacy-relatedmes- is clearly inadequateinacountrywhereno havioural experimentsondataprivacy with sagesintofictionalstoriesof everydayIndians. other countryistimely. morethan 12 per cent arecomfortable with 5,547 Indians. It tested 20 innovative design This includedmessageslikelogging offfrom Gyawali arrivedinDelhiatacurious timeinNepal’s politics, currentlyroiledby Oli’sde- the language. Ahuman-centric study across ideas and found that makingconsumers read public computers, and notsharing phone cision to dissolve the House of Representatives, and call forfresh elections in April. The India found that even people who couldn’t privacy policiesby, forexample,getting them numberseasily. Theshowreached140million ruling Nepal CommunistParty (NCP) itself is divided, with former Prime Ministerand NCP read or write,whenmadeaware of what they to stay on the “privacy policy” pagefor afew Indians in five languages, achievingthe num- leader PushpaKamalDahal “Prachanda”opposing Oli’s decision. The matter is before the were consentingto,careddeeplyaboutit.They minutes, ledtoincreasedtrustinbusinesses ber1slotinMumbai, Kolkataand Bengaluru. Supreme Court. Prachanda has accusedDelhi of political motivesinwelcoming Gyawali wanted asquarechance to assess trade-offs, and greater data sharing. Thiscreates a“win- Anindependentimpactevaluationof theshow at this point, but it is really China that hasopenly wadedintoNepal’s internal affairs, even but felt theydidn’t usually have suchachoice. win”situation,wherebusinessesreceive more found that it ledtogreater privacy-conscious- Online “consent” is, therefore, afalse dataand individuals understand better what nessamonglisteners,andbetteronlinebehav- sending ahigh-leveldelegation of the CommunistParty of China to resolve the internal choicefor mostIndians. However, consent is theyare consentingto.Showingusersanorm- iour,suchascheckingthe veracity of informa- feuding in the NCPand making effortstowardapatchup, as it had done lastMay.Delhi must also the fulcrum of India’s fast-growing data ing message like“it takeslesstimetoread this tion before forwarding it. continuetokeep distance as the politics plays out. Meanwhile, it can scriptapositive India- ecosystem. The DataProtection Bill under policy thanbrushing your teeth” also showed Despitethese promising innovations, the Nepalstoryby making good on External Affairs MinisterSJaishankar’s “iron clad”commit- considerationbyParliament lists consentas promise. Businessescan adoptsuchideas to “burden of proof” on privacy shouldrestwith ment that India will soon deliveranti-COVID19vaccines to Nepal. That will do muchmore alegal ground fordataprocessing. It also re- makeuserstrustthem more. providers rather than consumers. Businesses forrelations betweenthe twocountries at this time than anything else. quires that consent be freelygiven, specific, Businesses should actas Second, regulatorybodies needtostepin shouldactasfiduciariesof userdataandactin informed,unambiguousand revocable —all to guidecustomers. Consumers do nothave the best interestofthe userthan simplymax- legally-sound objectives, but difficult to fiduciaries of user dataand the timeorknowledge to go through privacy imising profits. Regulators can createanew achieve in practice. Lastyear,NITI Aayog actinthe best interest of the policies.Itwouldalsobeunfairto expectthem class of intermediaries that warn consumers Freeze Frame EPUnny sought public comments on the Data user than simply to.Inothersectors,regulatorybodiesstepinto about dangerous practices, represent them, Empowerment and Protection Architecture maximising profits. bridgethis information gap. The food regula- and seek recourse on their behalf.Byeducat- (DEPA), asystemthat will connect an individ- tor’s food safetycertifications and the Bureau ingandempoweringeveryIndian,we willen- ual’s financial, health, telecom and other data Regulatorscan create anew of EnergyEfficiency(BEE)’sratingguideshave able her to participatefullyinIndia’s digital so that it canbemoved from one provider to class of intermediaries that become partofour everydaylives.Similarly,a economy, andtherebycreateameaningfuldig- another. DEPAintendstouse consent to en- warn consumersabout “privacyrating” forappscan help individuals itallifeforeveryIndian.Onlythenwillthetrue surethat users remain in control of their data. dangerous practices, makemoreinformedchoicesabouttheirdata. potentialofDigital Indiaberealised. ThroughDEPAandothersimilarinitiatives, Such“rule of thumbs” can helpthem cut Indiaispoisedto accelerateitsinnovationecon- represent them, and seek throughthejargon,trustbusinessesmoreand The writers work at OmidyarNetwork India, omybyusing datatocreateinnovative prod- recourse on their behalf. sharemoredata.InAshokaUniversity’sexper- an investment firm

JANUARY 18, 1981, FORTY YEARS AGO

HOSTAGE CRISIS LINGERS notspecifywhere this aircraftwas but it could OFFER TO MNF IRAN’S CHIEF HOSTAGE negotiator Behzad bethesamethat brought six Algerian doctors THE CENTRE IS considering aproposal to give Nabavi saidthatIran has demandedclarifica- to Iran on January17. Nabavi said that if the US full statehood to Mizoram if the Mizo tion from the United States of itsproposal to government is “reallyconcernedabout the National Front givesupinsurgency and its end the 14-month hostage crisis by trading freedomofthe hostagesthen one could be members surrender their arms. This pro- frozen Iranian assets forAmerican hostages. surethat asolution is at hand”. posal hasbeen made to theMNF leader Pars, the official Iranian news agency,quoted Laldenga, according to ministerofstate for Nabavi as saying that Iran waslooking forward AWARD FOR AAKROSH homeaffairs PVenkatasubbiah. to an immediatereplyfromthe American of- WITHTHEPRESENTATIONof thejury’saward ficial in charge of thenegotiations with the to the Indian entry, Aakrosh shared with the MARCOS’S PRETENCE Algerian intermediaries. There wasnoimme- Hungarianentry, TheUnknownSoldiers’Patent PRESIDENT EMARCOSofthe Philippines, diatecomment from the American negotia- Leather Shoes,the fortnight-long Eighth accompaniedbyhis wifeImelda, appeared tors in Algeria. Nabavi wasquotedassaying International Film Festival in Delhi came to a on TVto announce the endofmartial lawin that anAlgerian aircraftwas ready to take out close.Indiaalsobaggedthesecondplaceinthe the country. But Marcoswill retain all his the hostagesupontheconclusion of the agree- shortfilm categorywith Mani Kaul’s Arrival powers till elections areheld in the country mentwiththeUS government.Thereportdid winning the SilverPeacock. in 1984. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “Given the globaldemandfor vaccines, and the priorities of thesepharma companiestosupply to their owncountries first,the government’s(Pakistan) pledge to start vaccinating the population in the first quarter appearsambitious.” 13 THE IDEAS PAGE —DAWN Abalanced diet Their promised land What makes attacks likethe one on Capitol in Acropdiversification policy mustaddress nutritional challenges Washington DC possible is asense of andbringagriculture in syncwith environmental demands entitlement to power

ers contemptuous of the very democratic practicesthat put them intooffice. Aprosperity built on colonial conquest and imperialistdomination helpedthe US, andadvancedcapitalistcountriesinWestern Europe, to develop acushion of autonomous institutionsnow seen as part of the “national inheritance,” nottobesummarilydown- Gyanendra Pandey graded.Museums,theatres,universities,arel- atively free pressand an independent judici- FROM PLATETOPLOUGH aryare good examples. Asimilar investment by Ashok Gulati THE JANUARY6invasion of the houses of in minimal prosperity forall, and basic pride CongressinWashingtonDCbroughtbackim- inthenotionof equalrights—life,libertyand ages of the destruction of the Babri Masjid in the pursuit of happiness —was notaseasily FRAMING AN OPTIMALagri-food policy in Ayodhya threedecades ago. Monstrous, available in manypoorer,ThirdWorld coun- India is the needofthe hour.The policy uncheckedattacksagainstsacredsymbols of tries. Thus, in India,commitment to secular- should look at issues pertinent to notonly constitutionalorder,civilproceduresandrule ism, egalitarianism and democracy has re- the shortrun but also trytoaddress medium of lawintwo countries thatclaim to be the mainedmoreremovedfromeverydaysocial to long-termchallenges.UNpopulationpro- world’s leading and largest democracies. practices; and formal bureaucratic, judicial, jections (2019)indicatethatIndiaislikelyto On December6,1992,Hinduextremists politicalandeducationalinstitutionsaremore be the most populous countryby2027. By scaledthe walls of adisused16th-century openlyimplicated in informal networks of 2030, the countryislikelytohavealmost600 mosque in Ayodhya to plant their flags on it longstandingkin, clan and religiousloyalties. millionpeople living in urban areas, who and capturethe site. Police and paramilitary Yet, certain factors cut the other way. In would needsafefood from the hinterlands. personnelmingledwith the insurrection- theUS,thearrogationof agod-givenright-to- Indian agriculture has an averageholding ists,sharing Hinduright-wing symbols and rule, and declared commitmenttodemoc- size of 1.08 hectare(2015-16data), while en- slogans. On January6,2021, right-wing racy,flowedfromthetabularasathepioneers gaging42per centofthe country’s work- American terrorists,emboldened by thought theybegan with, as well as the slo- force. Cultivable land and waterfor agricul- Trump’s poisonouspropaganda and the ganof“no taxation withoutrepresentation”. tureare limited andalready under severe pusillanimity and shameless self-promotion Itwasfacilitatedby theveryconquestofarich pressure.Given these basic parameters, how of the Republicanleadership, marched and fertile NorthAmerica, imperialist ven- does one design an optimal agri-food policy? through the US Capitol building, brandish- turesintheAmericasandbeyond,andthere- Suchapolicy musthaveatleastfour ingthe Confederateflag and other neo-Nazi markable wealth that came with these. In touchstones. One, it should be able to pro- insignia. Elected legislators had to hide and India, by contrast, the political elite’s sense of duce enough food, feed and fibrefor itslarge bespiritedaway to secret chambers fortheir entitlement andinvestment in democracy population.Two,itshould do so in amanner protection. Manyofthe Capitol police did emergedout of popular anti-colonial strug- thatnot onlyprotectsthe environment— nothing to stop theinvaders. gle,sparkedbyawidespreadandgrowingde- soil, water, air,and biodiversity —but Theseactionsexposeatoo-long-tolerated sirefor freedomand development. achieveshigher production with global com- Whitesupremacistand Hindu supremacist Secondly, theurban/rural divide that petitiveness. Third, it should enableseam- hubris—asense of entitlementabout their marksAmerican politics today, whereacon- less movement of food from farm to fork, CRSasikumar god-givenright to rule in India and the US. servative,white,anti-immigrantrural“heart- keeping marketing costs low, save on food “This is our WhiteHouse, our temple, our land”israngedagainstarelatively moreopen, losses in supplychains and provide safeand ducedatprices higherthan globalprices, is still atall challenge before us. land,”theyhavesaid.“Thepolice,military, po- pluralandprogressive urbanormetropolitan freshfoodtoconsumers. And, finally, con- and thesecrops can’tbeexportedunless Letusnow look at matters from the per- litical leaders and judgescan [and should] do population,isnot quiteaspronouncedin sumers should getsafeand nutritious food theyare heavilysubsidised. Excessive stocks spective of consumption. Basichunger has nothing about it.” Often, as it happens, they India.Rather, thecontinualstrugglesof lower at affordable prices. At the centreofall these of wheat and rice withthe Food been moreorlessconquered,but the donot.Considerthearroganceof theArkansas castes,classes,minorities,womenandyouth is thefarmer,whose income needs to go up Corporation of India (FCI) areputtingpres- biggestchallengefor next 10 years is that of native photographedsitting in the Speaker againstdifferent dimensions of inherited withaccess to best technologies and best sure on the agency’s finances. Rice remains malnutrition,especiallyamongstchildren. NancyPelosi’sofficewithhisbootonherdesk. structures of powerand inequality,are fun- markets in the country, andabroad. globallycompetitive,but it should be re- It is amulti-dimensional problem. From This man tore asheetfromthe Speaker’s let- damentalfeatures of political contest On the production front, the best policy is membered that in exporting rice we are women’s education,toimmunisation and ter-writing pad, leftaquarteronthe pad,and throughout the towns and countryside. to invest in R&D foragriculture,and itsex- also exporting massive amountsofprecious sanitation,tonutritious food, all have to be told apoliceman at the doorasheleftthat he Hence,themassive protests of farmerstoday, tension from laboratoriestofarmsand irriga- water—almost 25-30billion cubic meters, addressedonawar footing. The public dis- wastakingonlyhisproperty—he’dpaidforit. asof tribalcommunities,Dalits,Muslims(led tion facilities. It is believedthatdeveloping annually. This is the waterthatispumped tribution of food, through PDS, that relies The officer did nothing to stop or arrest him. in manyplaces by Muslim women), and uni- countries should invest at leastone per cent forrice cultivation, enabledbysubsidised Basic hunger has been more on rice and wheat, and that tooatmorethan Comparethebrutalityof lawenforcement versitystudents,acrossthe land. of their agri-GDPinagri-R&D and extension. powersupply.All these aresigns of sub-op- 90 per cent subsidy over costsofprocure- in the face of peaceful protests by Muslims In Ayodhya, the assertion of the Hindu India investsabout half.Itneeds doubling timalagri-food policies. or lessconquered,but the ment, stocking and distribution, is nothelp- andDalitsinIndia,BlacksandHispanicsinthe right-to-rulefocusedonsupposed religious with commensurateaccountability of R&D Interestingly, these arethe three crops in biggest challenge fornext 10 ing much. It is already blowing up the fi- US, and even small youth and women’s claims of Hindus againstareligious minority organisations, especiallythe ICAR and state whichMSP/FRP has anysignificant mean- yearsisthat of malnutrition, nances of FCI, whose borrowings have protests inside colleges and universitiesand —sadly, andincreasingly,targetedasanti-na- agricultureuniversities to deliver. Can it be ing, but theyare growing at the slowest pace especially amongst children. touchedRs3lakhcrore.The Finance diverse urbanneighbourhoods, suchas tional. In mounting this charge,the radical done over saynextthree years? (see Figure1). Poultry, fishery, dairy, andeven Ministerwill do an honestjob if she puts Zuccotti Park (OccupyWall Street)and Hindu right-wingdid notfeel the needtoat- India’scritical failing has been thein- horticulture, forwhichthereisnoMSP,are It is amulti-dimensional the fullfood subsidy bill in the central ShaheenBagh. tack theIndian constitution, or idealsof abilitytoprotect itsnatural resource en- growing muchfaster—three to five times — problem. From women’s budget rather than putting it under the car- Thereare significantcountervailingforces democracy,social justice andevensecular- dowments,especially waterand soil. Free thancereals or sugarcane. It maybenoted education, to immunisation petofFCI borrowings. But, moreimpor- intheUSof 2020-2021:Theday-to-daywork ism.Ontheotherhand,opendenunciationof electricity forpumping groundwater and that in 2018-19, the value of livestockand tantly, beneficiaries of subsidisedriceand and mobilisation of progressive parties and fundamental constitutional procedures and highlysubsidised fertilisers, especiallyurea, fisherywas almost40per cent of the gross and sanitation, to nutritious wheat need to be givenachoice to optfor movementsontheground;thecommitment actions accompanies the assertion of white aredamaging groundwater levels and its value of agricultural output.Horticultureac- food,all have to be addressed cash equivalenttoMSP plus 25 per cent. The and integrity of the lower-levelbureaucracy male privilegeand entitlement in 2021 quality,especiallyinthe Green Revolution counted foranother 21 per cent (see Figure on awar footing. Thepublic FCI adds about 40 per cent costoverthe andjudiciary, ordinaryelection officials and Washington. states of Punjab,Haryana and western Uttar 2). Overall, the total value of purchases by distribution of food,through MSP while procuring,storingand distrib- volunteers, and postalworkers calledonto Forallthat,thedissimilaritiesmaymaska Pradesh. This regioniscrying forcropdiver- government agencies at MSP of paddy, uting food. This cashoption will save some collect and delivermail-in ballots on an un- morefundamental point of convergence — sification, especiallyreducingthe area un- wheat, pulses, oilseeds and cotton, wasjust PDS, that relies on rice and moneytothe FM and also leadtosupplies precedented scaleinexceptionallythreaten- “Weare agreat [Christian or Hindu]country, der rice by almosthalf, while augmenting about 6per cent of the value of the totalagri- wheat,and that too at more of morediversified and nutritiousfood to ing circumstances.And,one should add,the governedbyagreat constitution. We putthe farmers’incomes. cultureand alliedsector. than 90 per cent subsidy the beneficiaries. resourcefulness and leadership of the main constitution in place. Neverforgetthat.”That Thiscan be donebyswitching from the In the marketing segment also, formost over costs of procurement, All this would mean setting agri-food opposition party,the Democrats. founding document is pronounced“stolen” highlysubsidisedinput price policy (power, of our agri-commodities, ourcosts remain policies on ademand-drivenapproach, pro- Manyofthese, notleastarobustnational the moment it fails to ensurethe water, fertilisers) and MSP/FRP policyfor high compared to severalother developing stocking and distribution, is tectingsustainability and efficiency in pro- opposition, aremissing in today’s India. Brahmin’s/whiteman’s god-givenright-to- paddy,wheat and sugarcane, to more in- countries due to poor logistics, lowinvest- not helping much. It is duction and marketing,and giving con- Lower-levelworkers, and judges andpolice- rule his “promisedland”. comesupportpolicieslinked to saving wa- mentsinsupplylinesand high margins of alreadyblowing up the sumers morechoicefor nutritious food at men trying to do their jobsare routinelydis- ter, soil and air quality.But policymaking so intermediaries.This segment has been cry- finances of FCI, whose affordable prices. ciplinedand punished. This is just one aspect The writer is Artsand Sciences Distinguished faronthis front has failed, resulting in ex- ing forreforms fordecades, especially with of aregimethatthrivesonintimidation—sus- Professor, and Director, Interdisciplinary cessive production of these three crops in respect to bringing about efficiency in agri- borrowings have touched Rs GulatiisInfosysChair Professor for picionandpanicspreadby Hinduextremists, Workshop on Colonial and Postcolonial the country. Sugar and wheat arebeing pro- marketing and lowering transaction costs.It 3lakhcrore. AgricultureatICRIER encouraged by provincialand national lead- Studies, Emory University The K-shaped Budget LETTERSTOTHE EDITOR WELCOME JUDGMENT THIS REFERS TO the editorial, 'The cor- IDEAS Nascentgrowthrecovery,whileheartening,willstillneedgovernmentsupport rection' (IE, January15). The High Courtjudgment is awelcome step ONLINE inaseriesof judgementsonpersonallib- Aurodeep Nandi erty,ashasbeenpointedoutintheedito- ONLYINTHE EXPRESS rial. The right to privacy is afundamen- FORARECOVERINGpandemicpatient, the GDPgrowth to pickupbyastellar 13.5 per Thismeansthat the budgetsfor spend- itsimpactonthe numerator. If higher nom- talright. Stateintervention and societal ● RIGHTTOFREEVACCINE: Indian economyisdoing well. Unlikeother cent y-o-y in FY22after averaging -6.7 per ing heads such as subsidies, employment inal GDPgrowth (real GDP growth plus in- moralising into an individual'saffairs vi- RADHIKAROYAND countries, India has defiedexpectations and cent in FY21. generation,rural development and other so- flation) is notsolely aconsequence of higher olatetheprinciplesof liberaldemocracy. MUKUNDPUNNY gottenthrough the festiveseason without However, thenascent growth recovery cial sector programmes arelikelytoremain inflation—as we expect to be thecase next Withthisverdict,individualswillbeable seeing aresurgence in pandemiccases and will still needsupport. The impact of the large.The vaccination costs add to the bill. year —itshould leadtohigher taxcollec- to choosetheirspouse.Thestategovern- ●VIVEKANANDASTATUE— deaths. This has cleared the decks fora pandemic on the informal economy, and the The government will also have to sharpen its tions. In addition, the governmentmay feel ment mustfacilitatethis and nothinder INSPIRATION,NOT muchfasterpace of economic normalisa- eventual feedbackloop to theformal econ- focus on capital spending to contain damage encouraged to rely on higher fuel and sin it. Asocietyintransition needs to adopt OCCUPATION:MANOJKUMAR tion. The latestreadings of the NomuraIndia omy, will appear statisticallyonlywith alag. to potential growth. From afiscal standpoint, taxestobolstercoffers. The government will the changes the courthas pointed out. Normalization Index(NINI)—that attempts India is mostlikelyliving through aclassic it is hardtoimagine muchrelief in terms of also mostlikelyonce again look under the Whileitmay take time,the valuesofthe www.indianexpress.com to gauge theextentofnormalisation —sug- K-shapedrecovery,wherein corporates and the government’s expenditureburden. disinvestment mattress. Overall, we expect judgment and the Constitution mustbe geststhatconsumptionand investment in- households withstronger balance sheets However, theBudget is ultimately part the fiscal deficit in FY22toimprove to internalised by society. dicators arealready fast-approaching pre- have recoveredmorerobustly, while smaller intent and partarithmetic. The fiscal deficit around 5.3 per cent of GDP. HUpadhyay, via email pandemiclevels, and while the services firms and poorer households probablyre- next year arithmetically depends on the fis- One of the keyattractions of every BROADEN TALKS sector is lagging on the supplyside,the in- main trappedinaviciouscycle of poverty caldeficit that thegovernment manages in Budget season is the tightrope walk be- THIS REFERS TO theeditorial, 'The cor- THIS REFERS TO theeditorial,'Peace dustrialsector is already clawing backlost and indebtednessinstigated by the pan- FY21,aswell as on the GDP growth projec- tween growth vs fiscal prudence. Next year rection’ (IE, January15). Though the challenge' (IE, January15).The Afghan ground. demic. The WorldBank estimated in its tion forFY22. In the case of the fiscaldeficit will be no different exceptthat the tightrope Allahabad HC’sjudgment striking down Peace Process that is supposedtofacili- The view through binocularsalsolooks January2021outlookthatcloseto100 mil- this year,after months of registering expen- will be setsignificantlyhigher from the the provisions of the MarriageAct 1954 tate national reconciliation in that war- reasonably positive fornow.Aprotracted lion peoplewillsinkbelowthe povertyline diturecompression, we arenow seeing the ground.Onthe onehand,itwould be un- willnotundothesuffocatingrestrictions torn countrycannotsucceed unless all periodofultra-accommodative monetary ($1.90 per day) by the end of the year in government crank up itsrevenue and capex wise to rip offthe band-aid tooquicklyjust and conditions put on couples in inter- influential political forces, both domes- policy has ledtoafall in real lending rates SouthAsia. spending machines. Similarly,with the as the economyishealing. On the other faithrelationships,itwilldelaytheexpo- tic and international, areaccommo- and spreads forcorporates and households Giventhis macroeconomicoutlook,how growth cycle improving from Q3 FY21on- hand, there’s the macroeconomic necessity sureoftheir identitytosome extent. It is dated. Indian officials have been actively that should eventuallycome as lagged re- will the FY22 Union Budget shape up? The wards, we areseeing some belatedmomen- to clean up afterthe blowout of public debt worthmentioninghere thatitisbecause involved in the intra-Afghan negotia- lief to theinterest-sensitive sectors. With pandemic developmentscarry twoimpor- tum in revenue numbers,although toolittle this year.Rating agencies will be looking for of suchunsavourylawsthat our rulers tions in the Doha trackand therehas vaccine inoculation nowset to reachthe tant implications:First, the improving situ- and toolatetoavoid themassive increase in signs of acredible and calibrated plan to re- arestrutting around with abandon even been aTrack 1.5diplomatic outreachby masses, an “ultimateunlock” of the econ- ation means thatunlikeothercountries that fiscal deficit this year.Nevertheless, the gov- turn to fiscal consolidation and to ensure aftertrampling people’s basic rights. India in the Moscowformat.India is omyshould eventuallyoccur,and lagging areamid lockdown 2.0, India doesn’t have ernment’s parsimonyearlier in the year on debt sustainability,especiallywith both Obviously, theyare trying to followin heavilyinvestedinthe development sectors suchastravel, tourism and hospital- to worrymuchabout renewing survival- the pandemic rescue packagewill stand it Moody’s and Fitchhaving already down- their politicalboss’s footsteps to earn sector in Afghanistan.The incoming US ity will finallyemerge out of the pandemic’s styled fiscal support measures. The flipside, in good fiscal stead.Weexpect the fiscal gradedIndia’srating outlook to “negative”. brownie points. In order to win backthe administrationwillbeinheriting apeace shadow. As other countries toostart benefit- giventhe K-shapedrecovery and the new deficit in FY21towiden to roughly7per cent Fiscal management, afterall, is abit like trustandrespectof thetargetedcommu- process and it mustmakeefforts to ing from the “vaccine pivot”, India’s export “pandemicpoor”, is therewillbemore of GDP,limited to double the pre-pandemic flying an aircraft. Youcan soar as high as you nity,itisincumbent on the judiciaryto widen itsscopebyaccomodating other growth and capexcycle should also startre- mouths forthe government to feed,employ target of 3.5 per cent of GDP. like, but eventually, it’s all about how makeevery section of the society feel as majorparallel formatsaimedatrestor- covering.Aspateofreforms undertakenso and sociallyassist. We’veseenthis already ForFY22’sfiscal deficit projection,the smoothlyyou can land. equal citizens of thecountry. ing Afghannational unity. faronlabour, manufacturing,and broader playout this year in termsofthe rural em- GDPgrowth assumption is crucial notonly Tarsem Singh, Mahilpur Sudip Kumar Dey, Kolkata ease of doing business should also fansome ployment guarantee budget being stretched as the denominator (higher nominal GDP The writer is India Economistand Vice of these tailwinds. Overall, we project real to itsseams. makes foralowerratio), but alsobecause of President at Nomura WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 14 THE WORLD

TOPOFTHE Iran asks watchdog WORLD UScapitalsgirdforpro-Trumparmed to not publish protestsasFBIflagsriskofviolence ‘unnecessary’nuke

THENEWYORKTIMES KamalaHarris to programme details WASHINGTON,JANUARY17 be sworninas BenjamindeRothschild MILITARYVEHICLES and police Vice President ASSOCIATEDPRESS ED CanBiden barricades linedthe streetsof TEHRAN,JANUARY17 repairthe Washington and surrounded PLAIN SWITZERLAND by Justice Sonia E nukedeal? ● statehouses across the country IRAN URGED the United Nations’ EX Bankingheir on Sunday, as officials bracedfor Sotomayor nuclear watchdog to avoid pub- pro-Trumpprotestsamidcon- lishing “unnecessary”details on AS PART of the 2015 nu- deRothschild cerns about potential violence or Tehran’snuclear programme, clear accord, signedwith domestic terrorism. PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA stateTVreported Sunday, aday worldpowers, Iran agreed diesat57 Striving to head offany repeat WASHINGTON,JANUARY17 afterGermany, France and to a15-year ban on pro- NewYork: Benjamin de of the riotless than twoweeks Britain said Tehran has “no cred- ducing or acquiring ura- Rothschild, who oversaw ago,whenPresidentTrump’ssup- KAMALAHARRIS, who will ible civilian use” forits develop- nium metals, among the banking empire porters breached the Capitol in scripthistory as the firstfemale, ment of uranium metal. other things. It received startedbyhis father in Washington, stateofficials have firstBlackand firstSouth Asian The reportquotedastate- sanctions relief in return. 1953, has died. He was57. deployedNational Guardtroops, US vice president on ment from Iran’s nuclear depart- In reactiontoTrump’s The Edmond de shut down statehouse grounds Wednesday, will be sworn in by ment that askedthe International “maximum pressure” Rothschild Group, the anddelayedlegislative sessionsin Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Atomic Energy Agency to avoid policy,Iranhas gradually companyhewas chair- responsetoFBI.noticesthatwhite Hispanic justice in the US publishing details on Iran’s nu- breachedmanyofthe man of, said that de supremacists andright-wing ex- Supreme Court. clearprogrammethat maycause deal's restrictions. Rothschild diedofaheart tremistscouldtarget capitalcities The 58-year-old vice presi- confusion. President-elect Joe attackFridayafternoon at across the country. Members of the National Guardstand watchoutside the Capitol in Washington. Reuters dent-elect wasinspired by “It is expected theinterna- Biden has pledged to re- his home in Pregny, People posting on right-wing Justice Sotomayor's background, tional atomic energy agency turn the US to the deal “if Switzerland. Forbes mag- websites and social media have ABC News reported,ahead of the avoid providing unnecessaryde- Iran resumes strict com- azine estimates de calledforsupporters to marchon Biden ropes in 20 Indian-Americans presidential inauguration event tails and prevent paving ground pliance” with the agree- Rothschild’s networth at Washingtonand all 50 state on January20. formisunderstanding” in the in- ment that imposedstrict $1.5 billion. He is adescen- Capitols on Sunday,with plans in Theyhavebothpreviously ternationalcommunity,the state- curbs on itsnuclear ac- dent of the Rothschild Washington foramarch to end in his admn, 17 at key positions served as former prosecutors -- ment said. It did notelaborate. tivities in return forthe family, which has anearly at the WhiteHouse. In recent Harris in California, Sotomayor On Saturday, Germany, lifting of sanctions. 300-year history running days,however, as officials have Topping the listisNeera at the WhiteHouse Office of in NewYork. Sotomayor, 66,is France and Britain pressedIran European banks. AP beefed up precautions, some LALITKJHA Tanden, who has been nomi- Digital Strategy and Sameera thirdfemalejustice in US to back offits plan to develop posters sought to discourage WASHINGTON,JANUARY17 nated as Director of the White Fazili, who would occupythe key Supreme Courthistory. uranium metal, calling it “the lat- ventional”productionof uranium people from turning out, making House Office of Management position of Deputy Director at During her victoryspeech estplannedviolation” of its2015 metal. It also said it providedup- it unclear what to expect. PRESIDENT-ELECT Joe Biden has and Budget andDrVivek the US National Economic Harris weaved in an adagefrom nuclear deal withworld powers. dated information to theagency TURKEY In Washington, concerns nominated at least20Indian- Murthy, who has been nomi- Council (NEC) in the White her mother,ShyamalaGopalan The goal of the deal is to prevent twoyearsago about itsplans to Cargoshipsinks mounted over the weekend Americans, including13women, nated as the US Surgeon General. House. Harris, who oftentold her she Iran from developing anuclear produce silicide advancedfuel. aheadofthe presidential inaugu- to key positions in his incoming Other keyappointmentsin- Also, forthe firsttime in any would be thefirsttodomany bomb, something Iran insists it The statement said uranium inBlackSea;3 ration on Wednesday. Amilita- administration, arecordfor the clude VanitaGupta,namedas administration, the WhiteHouse things, but urgedher to open does notwant to do. metalisan“intermediateprod- rized“green zone” grew down- small ethnic community that AssociateAttorneyGeneral would have three other South doors forothers. “Iran has no credible civilian uct” in the manufacture of ura- dead,6rescued town, as streetswereblocked by constitutes one per cent of Department of Justice,and Uzra Asians in key positions -- “While Imay be thefirst use foruranium metal,” theysaid nium silicide, afuel usedinnu- Istanbul: Acargo ship concretebarricades and military America's population. Zeya as the Under Secretaryof Pakistani-American Ali Zaidias woman in this office, Iwill notbe in ajoint statement. “The pro- clear reactors that is safer and sank offTurkey's Black vehicles, and policesirens blared As manyas17ofthemwould Statefor Civilian Security, DeputyNational ClimateAdvisor the last," said Harris in duction of uraniummetal has has morepowercapability than Sea coastonSunday, leav- frequentlyonSaturday. Pentagon be partofthe Biden administra- Democracy and Human Rights. WhiteHouse; Sri Lankan November. potentiallygrave militaryimpli- uranium oxide-basedfuel, ing at leastthree people officials said that 9,500National tion in the powerful White Forthe firsttime, the Indian- American Rohini Kosoglu as Asked about the safetycon- cations.” whichIrancurrentlyproduces. dead, Turkish authorities Guardmembers from 46 states House complex. It is forthe first Americansnominatedfor Biden Domestic Policy Advisor to the cerns taking the oath outside, Iran reacted to the European The three European nations said. Six others were res- and 3territories had arrivedin time ever that so manyIndian- administration include twowho Vice President and Bangladeshi- Harris told NPR in an interview: statement Sundaysaying Iran in- alongsidetheUS,RussiaandChina cued. The transportmin- Washington by Saturday, and Americans have been ropedinto trace their rootstoKashmir: American Zayn Siddique: Senior “I think we cannotyield to those formedthe UN nuclearwatchdog signedthe2015 nucleardealwith istrysaid the Palau- thatasmanyas25,000 areex- apresidential administration Aisha Shah, who has been Advisor to theWhiteHouse who would tryand makeus nearly twodecades agoofits Iran that prohibited research and flagged ship namedArvin pectedbyWednesday. ever before the inauguration. namedasPartnershipManager Deputy Chief of Staff. PTI afraid of who we are.” plans forthe “peaceful and con- production of uranium metal. had anchored offthe port of Bartin in northern Turkey due to bad Biden outlines ‘Day One’ agenda of actions Gunmen kill two weather,beforebreaking UK seeks to give 1st Covid-19 intotwo pieces and sink- herald a10-dayblitz of executive wearing on federal property and female Supreme ing. Emergency workers ASSOCIATEDPRESS actions as Biden seekstoact during interstate travel.Those savedatleastsix crew WASHINGTON,JANUARY17 swiftlytoredirect the countryin areamong roughlyadozen ac- Court judges in shot to alladults by September members and reached the wake of DonaldTrump’s tions Biden will take on his first the bodies of twoothers, IN HIS firsthours as president, presidency without waiting for dayinthe WhiteHouse, his in- Afghanistan the ministry's naval Joe Biden plans to take executive Congress. coming chief of staff, RonKlain, DANICAKIRKA branchsaid on Twitter. action to roll backsome of the On Wednesday, followinghis said in amemo to senior staff. LONDON,JANUARY17 Bartin's Govenor Sinan mostcontroversial decisions of inauguration, Biden will end Other actions include ex- REUTERS Gunersaid athirdperson his predecessor and to address Trump’s restriction on immigra- tending the pause on student KABUL,JANUARY17 THE UK plans to offerafirstdose had died, according to the the raging coronavirus pan- tion to the U.S. from some loan paymentsand actions of Covid-19vaccine to every official Anadolu news demic, his incoming chief of staff Muslim-majority countries, meant to prevent evictions and UNIDENTIFIED GUNMEN killed adult by September as thena- agency. AP said Saturday. move to rejoin the Paris climate foreclosures forthose struggling twofemale judges from tion’s health service battles the The opening salvo would accordand mandatemask- during the pandemic. Afghanistan’s Supreme Courton worstcrisis in its72-year-history. SUDAN Sundaymorning,police said, Foreign SecretaryDominic addingtoawave of assassina- Raab said Sundaythe govern- Deathtollfrom tions in Kabul and other cities ment is still opening newvacci- violenceinWest while government and Taliban nation sites and will soon begin representativeshavebeen hold- trials that will give round-the- Darfurrisesto48 ingpeace talksinQatar. clockinjections at some loca- Cairo: The death toll from The twojudges, who have tions to helpincreasethe pace of tribal violence between notyet been named, were killed delivery. ACovid-19 testingcentreatHeathrow AirportinLondon. AP Arabs and non-Arabs in andtheir driverwounded, in an “Our target is by September Sudan's West Darfur attackataround 8:30 am, police to have offeredall the adult pop- province climbed to at said, adding the case wasbeing ulation afirstdose,” he told Sky Britain’s healthcaresystem least48, including investigated by security forces. News.“If we candoitfasterthan is staggering as doctors and PAKISTANAPPROVES women and children, a Aspokesman forthe Taliban that, great, but that’s the nurses battle amorecontagious EMERGENCYUSEOF doctor's union and aid said itsfighters were notin- roadmap.” variant of thecoronavirus cou- worker said, as sporadic volved. Britain has morethan 51 mil- pled withcold, wetweather that OXFORDVACCINE violence continued Afghan President Ashraf lion adultsinits population of drivespeopleinside, wherein- Sunday. The deadly Ghani issuedastatement con- 67.5 million people. fections spread moreeasily. Islamabad: Pakistanhas ap- clashes grew out of afist- demning attacks on civilians by The ambitious vaccination The surge in infections has proved the emergency use fight Fridaybetween two the Taliban and other militant programme comes amid crush- pushedthe number of people of Oxford-AstraZeneca people in acampfor dis- groups. ing pressures on the National hospitalizedwithCovid-19toa Covid-19vaccine and the placedpeople in Genena, Government officials, jour- HealthService. Already belea- record37,475, morethan 73 per government hopes to make the provincial capital. The nalists,and activists have been guered hospitals areadmitting cent higher than during the first the drugavailable by the first violence ledtolocal au- targeted in recent months, stok- another Covid-19patient every peakinApril.Britainhasreported quarterofthe year. thorities imposing a ingfear particularly in the capi- 30 seconds, putting the service 88,747coronavirus-related Special Assistant to round-the-clockcurfew talKabul. in itsmostprecarious situation deaths,morethan anyother Prime MinisterImran Khan on the entireprovince. NOW,VOLCANO ERUPTS IN INDONESIA The Taliban has deniedin- ever,said Simon Stevens, chief country in Europe andthe fifth- on Health Dr Faisal Sultan Besidesthe 48 killed,at volvement in some of the at- executive of NHS England. highestnumber worldwide. confirmedonSaturdaythat least97others were Indonesia’s Mount Semeru eruptedonSaturday, spewing ash and smoke as highasan tacks, but has said itsfighters “The factsare very clear and Prime MinisterBorisJohnson the Drug Regulatory wounded, according to estimated 5.6kmintothe sky.Indonesia has been struggling withastringofdistasters: at would continue to “eliminate” I’m notgoing to sugarcoat them, on January2ordered England Authority Pakistanhas Sudan's doctors' union. least73people have been killedinanearthquakeand 29 people were killedinlandslides.In important government figures, hospitals areunder extreme intoits thirdnational lockdown granted approval foremer- AP addition, aSriwijayaAir jetcrashedintothe Java Sea on January9,killing62people. Reuters though notjournalists or civil so- pressureand staffare under ex- in an effort to slowthe spread of gency use of the vaccine. PTI ciety members. treme pressure,” he told the BBC. the virus. AP Navalny flies to Moscow, Deaths, self-immolation draw scrutinyonChina techgiants despite threat of arrest work 12 hours aday or more. technology sector,criticizing not heavy pressuretoget orders to ZENSOO The human costcaught pub- justPinduoduo foraculture of customers quicklyand at times HONGKONG,JANUARY17 lic attention afterthe deathsof long hours but pointing out that makelessthan10 yuan($1.55)per ASSOCIATEDPRESS Navalnywas twoemployees from e-com- this wasanindustry-wide prob- delivery.Iftheyfail to meetdead- BERLIN,JANUARY17 recuperating E-COMMERCE WORKERS who merce platform Pinduoduo, lem, with similar companycul- lines, fines imposed canrange in Germany kept China fedduring the coron- known forselling fresh produce tures seen at mostofChina’s large from as little as 1yuan ($0.15)to LEADINGKREMLIN critic Alexei afterhewas avirus pandemic, making their at lowprices. Their deaths technology companies. as muchas500 yuan ($77.30) if a Navalnydepartedfrom poisoned billionairebosses even richer,are promptedsuggestions they Theyalso revivedanational customer lodges acomplaint. GermanyonSunday to return so unhappywith their payand were overworked.Inanindica- debateoverthe tech sector’s so- Under China’s labor laws, to Russia, wherehefaces the treatment that one justset him- tion of high-levelconcern, the of- called“996” working culture, in workers and laborers should threat of arrest,after recovering Vladimir Putin wasnow trying to self on fire in protest. ficial Xinhua News Agency called whichemployees oftenwork work no longer than eight hours from his poisoninginAugust deterhimfromcomingwithnew China’s internetindustries al- forshorterworkhours, describ- from 9amto9pmsix days a aday,ormorethan 44 hours a with anerveagent. legalmotions.TheKremlinhasre- ready were known forlong, de- ing long hours of overtime at the week.Companies sometimes week on average. Totalamount Navalnysaid he was“very peatedly deniedarole in the op- manding days.With millionsof expense of employees’health as payhugebonuses to some em- of overtime should notexceed happy” as he boardedaplane in position leader’s poisoning. familiesconfinedathome, de- an “illegal” operation. ployees, enticing them to work morethan 36 hours in amonth, Berlin bound forMoscow's At the end of December,the mand surgedand employees de- Renewedconcerns over dire Afood delivery worker at aBeijing restaurant on Thursday. AP moreovertime. and should onlybedone “after Vnukovo Airport. Federal PenitentiaryService liveredtonsofvegetables, rice, working conditions fordelivery “Wemuststrive to succeedin consultation with the trade It remains to be seen what re- Navalnythat he facedtime in meat, diapers and other supplies, drivers alsocame to the forefront pursuitofdreams,but the legiti- union and laborers”. ception awaitshim in Moscow. prison if he fails to immediately oftenaboardscooters that ex- when avideo circulated on the imageofinternetindustries Colin Huang, swelledasonline materightsand interests of work- However, even though the la- On Thursday, Russia's prison reporttoits office in line with the posedthem to sub-freezing win- Chinesesocial media showing that aretransforming China’s consumer spendingboomed. ers cannotbeignored or even vi- bor laws exist, theyare rarely en- service said that he faces imme- terms of asuspendedsentence tercold. what it said wasadriverfor economyand generatingnew The deathsraisedanoutcry olated,”saidstate-ownedXinhua forced as employees become diatearrestonce he returns. and probation he receivedfor a Forwhite-collarworkers in Ele.me,part of e-commerce giant jobs. During the heightsofthe on social media, with manypeo- News Agency in aWeibo post. miredinacultureofoverwork Navalny, who has blamedhis 2014 conviction. The European the technologyindustry, payis Alibaba Group, setting himself on pandemic, the fortunes of the ple suspecting that theywerea The issue has also castaspot- while striving forbonuses or in poisoning on the Kremlin, Courtfor Human Rightshad ruled better thanin some industriesbut fire to protestunpaid wages. biggest,includingAlibabafounder resultof overwork.Chinesesocial lightontheworkingconditionsof cases of delivery drivers, to eke chargedthatRussian President that his conviction wasunlawful. employees areoften expected to The controversy is ablowto JackMaand Pinduoduo founder media users blastedthe country’s delivery drivers, who areunder out aliving. AP WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 MarketWatch FPISINVEST `14,886 CR IN JAN SO FAR NewDelhi: Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs)put in Rs 14,866 crore in markets in the first half of January. As per depositories 15 ECONOMY data, FPIs invested anet Rs 18,490 crore into equities but pulled out Rs 3,624crore from debt segment between January1-15. PTI

COVIDIMPACT NOTWITHSTANDING What is 5G and how prepared Bankcreditgrows3.2%inthis is India to adapt to this tech?

ever,isthe lackofflowofcash AASHISHARYAN 5G or fifthgeneration is and adequatecapital with at NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 the latestupgrade in leasttwo of the three players, namelyBharti Airteland fiscalsofar,depositsrisetoo the long term evolution THE DEPARTMENT of Vodafone Idea. Telecommunications (DoT) has (LTE) mobile On the other hand, Reliance The bank credit growth in the expected to shootupto13.5 per sought inputsfromtelcos and broadband networks.It Jio plans to launchanindige- ENSECONOMICBUREAU SAFEHAVENAPPEALOFBANKS fortnightendedJanuary1,2021, in- cent of advances by September other industryexperts on the nouslybuilt 5G networkfor the NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 creasedcomparedto lastfortnight 2021, from 7.5per cent in sale and use of radio frequency mainlyworks in 3 countryasearly as the second ■Bank depositsrose8.5 per depositsduring the year was (December18,2020)whichcanbe September 2020, under the base- spectrum over the next 10 years, bands, namelylow,mid half of this year.The companyis BANKCREDITgrew 3.2percentto cent to Rs 147.27 lakh crorein due to the safehaven appeal ascribed to an increase in retail linescenario,theFinancialStability includingthe 5G bands. and high frequency said to have acomplete end-to- Rs107.05lakhcroreinthefirstnine the April-December 2020 of banks. loans.However, thecreditgrowth Report(FSR) of the ReserveBank end 5G solution prepared by the months of the current financial period as againstanincrease ■In the fortnight ended remainedmarginallylower com- of India (RBI) said. What is 5G technologyand spectrum, all of which companyitselfthatisreadyfor year,asagainstagrowthrate of 2.7 of 5.1per cent ayear ago, January1,2021, the year-on- paredwiththeyear-agoperiod(7.5 The FSR has warnedthatifthe howisitdifferent? have their ownuses as deployment once the networks per cent registeredinthe corre- according to the recent data year growth in bank credit per cent as of January3,2020) re- macroeconomic environment 5G or fifthgeneration is the areinplace. This solution can sponding period of 2019-20. releasedbythe ReserveBank was6.7 per cent and 11.5 per flectingsubdueddemandandrisk worsens intoasevere stress sce- latestupgrade in the long-term well as limitations also be deployedbyother tele- In the fortnight endedMarch of India. cent in deposits, the data aversion in the banking system. nario,theratiomay escalateto14.8 evolution (LTE) mobile broad- com operators as acomplete 27,2020,bankadvances stood at ■The sharp accretion in showed. Lenders arebeing selective per cent.“A multi-speedrecovery band networks.5Gmainly managed service. Rs 103.72lakh crore. with their credit portfolios due to isstrugglingto gaintraction,infus- worksin3bands, namelylow, that particular industry. Bank depositsrose8.5 per assetquality concerns, the rating ing hope, reinforcedbypositive mid and high frequency spec- The high-band spectrum of- What is the global cent to Rs 147.27 lakh croreinthe duringtheyearwasdueto thesafe CARE Ratings, in itsrecent re- agency said. news on vaccine development,” trum —all of whichhavetheir fers the highestspeedofall the progress on 5G? April-December 2020 period,as havenappeal of banks. port, had said the bank credit Withtheeconomytakingahit RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas ownuses as well as limitations. three bands, but has extremely Morethan governments, againstanincrease of 5.1percent InthefortnightendedJanuary growth has returnedtothe levels inthewakeof theCovidpandemic said.“Nonetheless,asecondwave While the lowband spec- limited coverage and signal pen- global telecom companies have ayearago, accordingto therecent 1, 2021, the year-on-year growth observed in early months of the and“amulti-speedrecoverystrug- and newmutations of the virus trum has shown etration strength. startedbuilding 5G networks datareleasedbythe ReserveBank rate inbankcreditwas6.7percent pandemic —average bank credit gling to gain traction”, bad loans, have spread heighteneduncer- great promise in Internetspeeds in and rolling it out to their cus- of India (RBI). and 11.5 per cent in deposits, the growth in March andApril2020 or gross non-performing assets tainty,threateningto stallthefrag- terms of coverage the high-band spec- tomers on atrial basis. In coun- Thesharpaccretionindeposits datashowed. wasaround 6.5 per cent. (NPAs), of the banking sector are ile recovery,” he added. and speedofinter- trum of 5G has been tries likethe US, companies such netand dataex- tested to be as high as AT&T,T-mobile, and Verizon change, the maxi- as 20 Gbps (gigabits have takenthe lead when it BRIEFLY mum speedis per second), while, in comes to rolling out commercial JUMP IN PROJECT AWARDS TO 6,764 KM IN limited to 100Mbps mostcases, the max- 5G fortheir users. ‘Needtoraise capital outlay 111%8M FY2021 FROM 3,211 KM IN 8M FY2020, (Megabitsper sec- imum internetdata While some suchasAT&T EPFOsettles GIVEN THE THRUST LAID ON BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA ond).This means that while tel- speedin4Ghas been recorded had startedtesting and deploy- 56.79LCovid in road sector by at least15%’ cos can use and install it forcom- at 1Gbps. ing the technologyasearly as mercialcellphoneusers who 2018,othercompaniessuchas advanceclaims Thereisaneed to increase capital outlayinthe road such projects involving `20.3 lakh crore: NIP outlay in maynot have specific demands Wheredoes Indiastand in the Verizon have followed suit, ex- sector by at least15per cent besides expediting asset 70`35,800 crore of debt road sector over next five years forveryhigh speedinternet, the 5G technology race? panding their 5G ultra-wide NewDelhi: Retirement fund monetisation programme, as per Icra are expectedtobecome lowband spectrum maynot be On par with the global play- broadband servicestoasmany bodyEPFOhassettled56.79 operational in the next two Expectations: optimal forspecialisedneeds of ers, India had, in 2018,planned as 60 cities by the end of 2020. In lakhCOVID-19non-refund- years Investorsalso expect funding the industry. to start 5G services as soon as other countries suchasChina, ableadvanceclaims,andhas road map for the ambitious The mid-band spectrum, on possible, with an aim to capi- some of the telcos suchasChina disbursedRs14,310 croretill HYBRID ANNUITY MODE NIP (National Infrastructure the otherhand, offers higher talise on the better network Unicom had started5Gtrials as December 31,2020, reflect- 15% of highways building presents Pipeline). Given the limited speeds compared to the low speeds and strength that the early as 2018,and have since ingtheadverseimpactof the Required jump huge refinancing opportunities fiscal headroom, the band, but has limitations in technology promised. rolledout the commercial serv- pandemicontheformalsec- in capital government could consider terms of coverage area and All the three private telecom ices forusers. torworkforce. outlay OUTLOOK: relaxation of fiscal deficit penetration of signals. Telcos players, Reliance Jio Infocomm, SouthKorean company FY22 remains acrucial year targets to meet the huge and companies, whichhave Bharti Airteland Vi,havebeen Samsung,whichhad startedre- for two reasons: Importance of funding requirements for takenthe lead on 5G, have in- urging the DoTtolay out aclear searching on 5G technology BharatPeraises government spending to revive productive asset creation, dicatedthat this band maybe road map of spectrum alloca- waybackin2011, has, on the Rs139crfrom economy and significantcatch failingwhich both the usedbyindustries and spe- tion and 5G frequency bands, so other hand,taken the lead up to do in the ongoing Bharatmala and the NIP could cialisedfactoryunitsfor build- that theywouldbeable to plan when it comes to building the Alteria,ICICIBank Bharatmala and allied get jeopardized ing captivenetworksthat can theroll out of their services ac- hardwarefor 5G networks for programmes be moulded intothe needs of cordingly.One big hurdle, how- severalcompanies. NewDelhi: BharatPe on Sundaysaid it has raisedRs 139crore in debt from ven- Liquidityboosting measures for highways sector have helped Increase in capital outlay needs to be turedebtfirmAlteriaCapital in reducing the cash conversion cycle, while alsogetting the supportedbyincrease in budgetary allocation Source: Franklin Templeton MF’s six andICICIBank,whichwillbe performance guarantees and associated margin monies to the sectoratleast by 20 per cent to around Icra/PTI usedtostrengthenits lend- released for the executed portionofthe projects Rs 0.98 lakh crore ing business and provide shut schemes get `13,789crore credit to merchants. USISPF urges Newsprint cost up FROMJANUARY1-15 Income Plan have 63 per cent, Topsgrup promoter Nanda ENSECONOMICBUREAU 50 per cent, 41 per cent, 26 per FMtolower 20% in 3months; MUMBAI,JANUARY17 cent and 9per cent of their re- publishers seek `669cr spective AUMincash. tariffinBudget ‘siphoned’ off `186 crore: ED FRANKLIN TEMPLETON Mutual Borrowing levels in Franklin waiver in duty Fund on Sundaysaid itssix shut India Income Opportunities Washington: TheUSIndia schemeshavereceived ■Over the latestfortnight Fund continue to come down Strategic and Partnership giftdeeds made by Nanda to al- (IBC),againstTopsgrupServicesas Rs 13,789 crorefrommaturities, (January1-15), these schemes steadilyand currentlystand at 6 Forum has suggested KHUSHBOONARAYAN legedly transfer moneytohis off- it has defaulted on loan repay- PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA pre-paymentsand coupon pay- receivedRs669 crore, of per cent of AUM. The fund house Finance MinisterNirmala MUMBAI,JANUARY17 shoreaccountsthrough “unre- ment of over 13 million pounds NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 mentssince closureinApril. whichRs617 crorewas as pre- said that cash available stands at Sitharamanto lowertariffin lated persons and companies”. (about 134crore). Over the latestfortnight payments, it said. The fund Rs 9,190crore as of January15, the Budget if thecountry AN ENFORCEMENT Directorate The ED has alleged that Topsgrup The probeagency has also in- COST OF paper usedtopublish (January1-15), these schemes house shut sixdebt mutual forthese five cash positive wantstocompete with (ED) probehas allegedthat Rahul loanedmoneytotwo of itsforeign formedamoneylaunderingcourt newspapers and magazines has receivedRs669 crore, of which fund schemes on April 23, schemes, subject to fund run- China-backedmegafree Nanda,thepromoterofTopsgrup subsidiarycompanies—Topsgrup in Mumbai that Topsgrup ‘s in- jumped20per cent in the past Rs 617crore wasaspre-pay- 2020 citing redemption ning expenses. trade agreement Regional Services and Solutions Ltd —a Security BV in Netherlands and vestmentof Rs130crore inShield three months due to demand- ments, it said. The fund house pressures and lackofliquidity The fund house has con- Comprehensive Economic companyaccusedofcheating Topsgrup Security UK Ltd,which GuardingCompanyLtd,aUKfirm supplyimbalancefollowing the shut six debt mutual fund in the bond market. ducted investors meeting and Partnership. Mumbai Metropolitan Region wassubsequentlyusedbyNanda acquired by it in 2012,was writ- pandemic, prompting news pub- schemes on April 23, 2020 citing sought investors approval for Development Authority (MM- forpersonaluse.Theseloanswere tenoff from itsbooksofaccounts lishers to rush to the government redemption pressures and lack closure of schemes through e- RDA),has“siphoned”Rs186crore subsequentlywritten offinthe “without anydocumentaryfil- seeking waiver of 5per cent im- of liquidity in the bond market. “The six schemes have re- voting as directed by the ‘Economymay from Topsgrup companies booksoftheIndiancompany, said ings”.The ED has alleged that portduty to help cut cost. The schemes —Franklin ceivedtotal cash flows of Rs Supreme Court. Theresultsofe- contract25% through remittances to his “per- sources. The companyalso used Nanda created a“benami com- IndianNewspaperSociety India LowDurationFund, 13,789 croreasofJanuary15, voting have been submitted to sonal accountsand accountsof to transfer moneyfor mainte- pany”, Tops Force, controlledby (INS)presidentLAdimoolamsaid Franklin India Dynamic Accrual 2021frommaturities, pre-pay- the apexcourt, whichwill take a incurrentfiscal’ friendsand family”, sources told nanceofNanda’s twoproperties hisson-in-lawanddivertedallthe mostnewspapers have stopped Fund, Franklin India Credit Risk mentsand coupon payments call on further action on Monday. The Indian Express. in the UK —Manor House and clientsofTopsSecurityto thisfirm sending the hardcopies to theru- Fund, Franklin India ShortTerm since April 24,2020,” the fund Meanwhile, the market reg- NewDelhi: The economyis PhonecallsandtextstoNanda Huntergate House, the ED has al- “toavoid statutory dues thathad ralareas with readership of less Income Plan, Franklin India house said in astatement. ulator Securities and Exchange notrecoveringasfastasthe did notelicit anyresponse. leged as per sources. accumulated in the Tops than 50 copies to reduce the dis- UltraShort Bond Fund, and Franklin India UltraShort BoardofIndia and industry government claims and it Sourcessaidtheagencyhasal- Indian bankshaveinitiated Security”. The ED is investigating tribution cost. Franklin India Income BondFund, Franklin India Low body AssociationofMutual maycontract 25 per centin legedly found financial records bankruptcyproceedings in the Topsgrup,Nanda and ShivSena In arepresentation to Finance Opportunities Fund —together Duration Fund, Franklin India Funds in India, whichhad filed thecurrentfiscal,economist thatshowdepositsfromTopsgrup National CompanyLaw Tribunal legislatorPratapSarnaikunderthe MinisterNirmalaSitharaman,INS had an estimated Rs 26,000 Dynamic Accrual Fund,Franklin special leave petitioninthe case, ArunKumarsaid. PTI to thepersonalaccountsof Nanda (NCLT), under Section 7ofthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering hassuggestedcuttingcustomson croreasassetsundermanage- India Credit Risk Fund and areexpected to express their in UK. It has also foundcopies of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code Act(PMLA). importofnewsprints. ment (AUM). Franklin India ShortTerm opinion in the court. IT costakethe lead Samsung’sJay YLee on cusp of DHFLresolution: in strong Q3 show stepping out of father’s shadow Creditorsapprove

HOWTHENUMBERSSTACKUP brings in half of Samsung Piramalgroupbid JOYCELEE Electronicsprofits. 20 15.45 Operating profit 18.12 SEOUL,JANUARY17 Amid the movesmeant to en- 15 surehissuccession,Leehasfought Sincethe conclusion of the 10.84 FORYEARS, legal troubles have againstallegationsoflegalwrong- ENSECONOMICBUREAU fifthandfinalroundof thebidding 10 9.2 7.57 castacloudoverSamsung doing,includingayearinprisonin NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 process lastmonth, Piramal and 7.44 Electronics Vice Chairman JayY 2017-2018 over abriberycase in- OaktreeCapitaleachclaimedthat 5 Netsales Leeashestoodonthecuspof step- volvingimpeachedPresidentPark DEBT-RIDDEN MORTGAGE theirbidwasthehighestandfully 3.6 pingoutof hisfather’sshadowand Geun-hye.One of Lee’s focuses is lender DHFL Ltd on Sundaysaid implementable. 0 making aname forhimself as the Samsung’s non-memory chip theCommitteeof Creditors(CoC) According to sources, suitors -1.53 leader of the global tech giant. business, including chip contract hasapprovedresolutionplansub- have submitted bids in the range -5 Q4FY20 Q1FY21 Q2FY21 Q3FY21 On Monday,hefaces sentenc- manufacturing,callingonthestaff mitted by Piramal Capital and of Rs 35,000-37,000crore. (% chgy-o-y) Sample of 61 companies Source: Capitaline ing on abriberycharge that could to “createanother legend.” HousingFinanceLimited,a In November 2019,the sidelinehim from the world’s Lee also needs to deal with Piramal Group company. ReserveBank referred Dewan largest smartphone and memory Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman, JayYLee, leavesthe payinginheritancetaxtomaintain This wasapprovedby the CoC Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL),the Q1 and Q2 as revenue growth chipmakerjustasitlooksto over- Seoul high courtonOctober 25, 2019. Reuters controlof thetech giant.SinceLee in its18th meeting concludedon third-largest pure-playmortgage ENSECONOMICBUREAU wasverymuted. take rivals in areas suchaschip Kun-hee passedaway, an esti- January15, 2021, DHFL said in a lender,tothe National Company NEWDELHI,JANUARY17 Commentaryfromthe man- contract manufacturing and arti- mated 11 trillion won($10.05 bil- regulatoryfiling. LawTribunal (NCLT) forinsol- agementsatITfirms postthe Q3 ficialintelligence (AI). conglomerates’ founders. headof SamsungElectronicssince lion)ininheritancetaxisexpected The “resolution plan submit- vency proceedings. DRIVEN BY stunning numbers resultshas been more than en- “Samsung is at acrossroads,” “But Samsung hasn’t really his father,Lee Kun-hee,was hos- to be needed forhis familytoin- tedbyPiramal Capital and DHFLwas the firstfinance from IT majors, especiallyTCS couraging; mostbelieve thedeal said Park Ju-gun, head of re- seenbig changes in newbusiness pitalisedafter aheart attackin herithislistedstockholdingsalone. HousingFinanceLimitedwasduly companytobereferredtoNCLT and Infosys, as alsoagood setof pipelinewillcontinue to be searcher CEO Score.“COVID-19 suchasAIsince its2016Harman 2014.The elder Leediedin And he faces aseparatetrial approvedby CoCbymajorityvot- by the RBI using specialpowers resultsfromHDFC Bank,earn- strong and that theyare well-po- hasacceleratedchange,andother acquisition, exceptincreasing the October,but the chairmanship he over suspected accountingfraud ing under section 30(4) of the underSection227oftheIBC.Prior ingsfromthe early birds have sitionedtoexploitssegmentslike third-gen (Korean)businesslead- foundrybusiness,becauseof con- heldhasyetto befilled,anduncer- andstockpricemanipulationcon- Insolvency &Bankruptcy to that, the company’sboardwas been strong. Expenditurefor the digitaland cloud. Avenue ers areaggressivelybreaking into tinuedlegal risk.The next few tainty castbyhis son’slegal trou- nected to a2015mergerthat Code....asthesuccessfulresolution superseded andR sample of 61 companiesand Supermarts postedbetter-than- newbusiness.” years willdecide whether bleswasthechief reason,analysts helpedhim assume greater con- plan,” it said. Subramaniakumar wasap- banksrose at amuchslowerpace expectedrevenue growth of 10 Park citedHyundai’s EV push Samsungwillbecome,say, aglobal said.Vicechairmansince2012,Lee trol of SamsungElectronics. Piramal’sbid received94per pointed as the administrator.He than revenuesresulting in abig per cent y-o-y on near-normal andLG’sjointventurewithMagna platform companyorremain a hasyettomakeamark—ashisfa- Urbane, reservedand media shy, cent votes as compared to 45 per is alsothe resolution professional jumpinoperatingprofitmargins. storeoperations and festivede- as examples of ambitious initia- hardwarecompany,”hesaid. ther did —bybuilding the semi- Lee has shown arelaxed side in cent forthe US-basedOaktree under theInsolvency and India Inc had cut costs sharply in mand. FE tivesledby thegrandsonsof those Lee, 52, hasbeen the de facto conductor business, whichnow publicmorerecently. REUTERS Capital. BankruptcyCode (IBC). WITHPTI WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,JANUARY18,2021 SPORT 16 We faltered in execution: From bench to main stage Hazlewood Brisbane: Josh Hazlewood on Sundaycred- Thakur had playedasingle Test,Sundar wasseen as ashort-format specialistbut both proved their worth ited Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur fortaking India to asafeposition with their centurystand but ruedthe execution of home team bowlers in finishing offthe visi- ‘Hardworking, fearless andfrank’ ‘Not someone to get tors tail on the thirdday of the series-decid- ing fourth Test.Ina spotofbother at 186for six in replytoAustralia's 369, debutant fazedbychallenges’ Washington (62) and Shardul (67) punched DEVENDRAPANDEY above theirwightstostitcha"crucial" 123- MUMBAI,JANUARY17 run stand forthe seventhwickettohelpan ingness to put up afight. Sundar narratesan inexperiencedIndia finishtheir firstinnings SOMETIME LAST month, Shardul Thakur di- VISHALMENON incidentfromWashington’schildhoodthatex- at 336, 33 runs shortofthe hosts. alledafriend. The call, the friend remembers, NEWDELHI, JANUARY 17 emplifies howthe youngster hardlygets "Yes, it is obviouslyacrucial partnership wasacryof frustration.Thakurwascopingwith daunted.“He wasbarely9,and days before an (between Shardul and Washington),but then being benchedfor amonth, with the tough TILLHEturned10, Washington Sundar’s daily Under-14inter-school match in Chennai, he we hadthem.Ithink,6/200aroundthatmark, quarantine lifechaininghim to his gloomy ritual involved going to his father MSundar’s gothitonhisheadduringpractice.Aftergetting so we thought we (were) on toptherebut to thoughtsinhis room and he had one queryat cricketacademyinPudupet,Chennai,atdawn, five stitches on his temple, he went to play the befairtheguysbattedreallywell,"Hazlewood, theend:CouldheplayintheSyedMushtaqAli wherehewould trainfor threehoursbefore matchthe next dayand scored amatch-win- who returnedwith figures of 5for 57,said at T20if hecomesbacktoMumbaiintimeforthe heading to school. Even weekends were usu- ning39notout.Thatday, Irealisedthathewas the virtual post-daypress conference. tournament, whichends on January31st? allyspent here. Sundar,who could notgradu- notsomeone who would getfazedbychal- "Wedidn't probablyexecutewell as we Hisfrienddidn’thave theanswerandmut- atebeyond grade cricket in Chennai, says he lenges,” Sundar notes. could have in that periodbut (we) created a teredsomeconsolatorywords,butrealisedthe washelping his son Washingtonrealise his In fact, facing bowlers mucholder and ex- fewlittlehalf chances.Onanyotherday, hope- Australia sojourn wastesting the patience of cricketing dreams. periencedthanhim has been arecurrent fully we take those,butcreditto thosetwoguys hisimmenselycompetitive friend,thirstingfor Havinganelder sister, also acricketer, themeinWashington’scareer.“Hewasbarely (ShardulandWashington).Theybattedbeau- some cricket action. helped.Shailaja,whorepresentedTamilNadu 10 when he wasalready playing at the Under- tifullyand Ithink it justshows the wicketis Thakur had made his Test debut in 2018 attheUnder-19level,callsheryoungerbrother 14 level,andby 16 hewaspartofIndia’sUnder- pretty good." againstWestIndies wherehecould onlybowl “a natural, withastudious zeal forthe game.” 19 squad,” Shailajahad told this newspaper. 10 ballsbefore he pulledupwithagroininjury With acricket-crazy father and an enthu- While fans and cricketpunditswatched SCORECARD and the wait forthe second had stretchedfor siasticeldersisterbyhisside,itwasnot difficult Washington’ssplendid rearguardinutter dis- toolong. Thatinjurynot onlycosthim the Test to predict young Washington’s career trajec- belief,backinChennai, Sundar wasn’t partic- AUSTRALIA VS INDIA spotbut also derailedhis ODI chances as the tory.Hewould makeaseamless progression ularly surprised. THE GABBA team swoopedinonDeepak Chahar as his re- throughage-grouplevels,breaking intoTamil “Peoplewhohave watchedWashingtonin Toss: Australia, chose to bat placement. He had to walk pastbrokenbodies Nadu Ranji Trophysquad at theIPLandT20shave theper- AUSFIRSTINNINGS 369 to gethere.HewasonlyaddedtotheTestsquad Shardul Thakur’s maidenfifty (67) comprisednine foursand three sixes. AP the ageof14, before joining ception thatheisanoff-spin- ahead of the Boxing Daygame as Mohammad theMRFPaceFoundationun- ner who can bat abit. But INDIA FIRSTINNINGS 336(O/N 62/2) Shami had fractured his rightarm. More wait- der the tutelageofM. People who have that’snottrue.Ialways believe CPujaracPainebHazlewood 25(94b,2x4) ing ensued as Navdeep Saini playeduntilin- outspoken people. Fearless and theywon’t of changingthe courseofagame with the bat. Senthilnathan, their chief that he has tremendouspo- ARahanecWadebStarc 37(93b,3x4) watched juriestoUmesh Yadavand JaspritBumrah got budgeaninchfor anyone,” says his friend Once during aHarris Shield game, Thakur hit coach. It’sherethat tential as abatsman. In fact, I MAgarwalcSmithbHazlewood 38(75b,3x4,1x6) Washington in the him ararechance to play this Test. AjinkyaNaik. Thakur certainlydidn't give an sixsixes in an over. Washington would hone his would saythat he is 70 per- RPantcGreenbHazlewood 23(29b,2x4) Shardul (67) made the opportunity,which inchtothe Australian pacers in his knockin His outspokenness and straight-to-the- skills as abatsman by facing IPL and T20s have cent batsman," Sundarsays. WSundarcGreenbStarc 62(144b,7x4,1x6) came his wayafter agap, count. Along with Brisbane. point talk has sometimes affected the percep- quality fast bowlers on quick the perception that He recalls aWhatsApp SThakurbCummins 67(115b,9x4,2x6) Washington Sundar (62), he put on 123runs TheMumbaiandIPLplayerSiddeshLad,an- tions about him. pitches. video call he had with NSainicSmithbHazlewood 5(14b,1x4) he is an off-spinner fortheseventhwickettohelprestrictAustralia's otherchildhoodfriendof Thakur,isn'tsurprised ThereisafamousstoryintheChennaiSuper The grounding at the Washington on Saturday(at MdSirajbHazlewood 13(10b,2x4) who can bat abit... lead to 33 when India were in aspotofbother with whatThakur accomplishedinfaraway Kings campfromthis season in Dubai when foundationheld him in good the end of Day2), afterhe TNatarajannotout 1(9b) afterbeing reducedto186 forsix. Australia. “Before coming to Mumbai, Thakur Thakur told MS Dhoni to send him as apinch steadonSundayattheGabba, In fact,Iwould say bagged athree-wickethaul. ■ Extras (b5,lb7,nb2) 14 Waitingissomethingthathehasdonefrom would practiceonmatting wicketsand in hitter as the toporder wasfailing consistently. while negotiating three that he is 70 percent “The gistofmyconversation ■FoW: 1-11(Gill,6.2ov),2-60(Sharma,19.5ov), childhood. Waited forthe 4.30 am train to school, on cement tracks.That's the main rea- The next dayDhoni decidedtosendinSam world-classpacersinMitchell withWashiwasthis:‘Yourjob 3-105(Pujara,38.5ov),4-144(Rahane,54.6ov), batsman.” MumbaifromPalghar,atownontheMumbai- sonthatcutting and pullcomes naturallyto CurranatNo.3. Even in the Indian dressing Starc,JoshHazlewoodandPat forthis matchisnot done. 5-161(Agarwal,60.2ov),6-186(Pant,66.3ov),7- Ahmedabad rail corridor,asa13-year old. him,” Lad said. room, it’s learnt that Thakurnever runsshort Cumminsenrouteto62. MSUNDAR, FATHER AND There’s batting to be done 309(Thakur,102.3ov),8-320(Saini,107.4ov),9- Waitedforayearto getintotheMumbaiUnder- Thakur studiedinSwami Vivekananda of views to share. Washington’sknockwas COACH OF WASHINGTON now. Thisisarareopportunity, 328(Sundar,108.5ov),10-336(Siraj,111.4ov) 19 team andlater moretowalk into the senior International school whichalsogaveIndia the BeitIndiancoachRaviShastriorViratKohli, notT20-stylebatting.Instead, so makesureyou grab it,’” he ■Bowling:MStarc23-3-88-2,JHazlewood24.4- stateteam. Waited in IPL to getgamesconsis- opener Rohit Sharma. Lad said Thakur is anat- Thakur always talksfreely. it wasameasured andcalculatedassault that recalls. Therewereseveral sparkling shots 6-57-5,PCummins27-5-94-2,CGreen8-1-20-0, tently, wastradedfromonefranchisetoanother uralbatsmanbutit'shisconfidencewhichsets By the end of his firstRanji season for suckedenergyfromthe famedAustralian during Washington’s combative knock. For NLyon28-9-65-1,MLabuschagne1-1-0-0 before finallyslumping intoChennai Super him apartfromothers. Mumbai, he washeavilycriticisedfor his bowling quartet. Sundar,though, it wasthe no-look six against AUSTRALIA SECOND INNINGS 21/0 Kings. "The best part of Shardul is his confidence. weight and worked hardtolose 13 kgsand “It didn’t look likehewas making hisTest Lyon over the long-on boundarythat stood MHarrisnotout 1(14b) To understand Thakur one has to under- No onecan match that," Lad says."People will wrappedupwith atweet:“Lying on mom’s debut. He looked so calm andcomposed.He out. “That wasthe shotofthe day, no doubt DWarnernot out 20(22b,3x4) standPalghar,thesmalltownwhichis114 kilo- be surprised to see his batting but those of us lap watching TV…bestfeeling.”Nothing can neverlookedrattledbytheirpacersorNathan about it.Generally, abatsmantends to fol- ■ Bowl:Siraj2-1-12-0,Natarajan3-0-6-0,Sundar1-0- metres from Mumbai, whereThakur’s father who knowhim aren’t. Iremember once dur- still beat that but aspine-tingling 67 at the Lyon, theirspinner.Having playedonhard, lowthe ball’s trajectory, but in this case, the 3-0yon28-9-65-1,Labuschagne1-1-0-0 reliedonfarming,the primary occupationof ingaRanjiTrophygame,WasimJafferhadsaid fierce den of Australia wheretheyhaven’t lost bouncytrackssincehewas14hashelpedhim,” momentthe ball hit the bat, yougot the sense thatif Thakurtakeshisbattingseriouslyhecan aTestfordecadesandwheretheylookedsetto Senthilnathan explains. that he had connected it perfectly. Whichis Live on SonySports theregion.Aplacewherepeopleareunafraidto be agood batsman." win another one until he intervenedmust Apart from thepoise he showedatthe whyhewas so confident that he justdidn’t Network, 5:30AM speak their mind, and Thakur is no exception. “That area is known forits hardworking and Therewereearly signsof himbeingcapable come close. crease, Washington also showcasedthe will- feel the needtolook at it." England top order stumbles in achase of 74

supportedby No.10batsmanDilruwanPerera(24) backintothe left-hander. ASSOCIATEDPRESS to stretchthe lead to 73. Mathews,who wasdroppedon11atforward GALLE,JANUARY17 Englandhaditschances,butJosButtlermissed shortleg, reachedhis second slowest fiftyintest adifficult stumping when Mathewswas on 58 cricketoff 164balls in the second session before ENGLAND'S TOP order stumbledonaturning while Bairstowcouldn't hold ontoasharp low England struckthrough itsspinners. wicketafter wipedout ahugedeficit catchcloseto thewicket before Perera hadscored. But Thirimanne,who wouldn't have played and setup atrickytargetof74runs on the fourth Buttler, playing in his 48th test match,finally had regular captain Dimuth Karunaratne recov- dayofthe firstTestonSunday. got hisfirststumpinginthefive-dayformatwhen eredfromathumbinjury, grabbedtheopportunity Left-armspinnerLasithEmbuldeniya grabbed he had Perera before Leachgrabbed his second withbothhands on adifficult wicket where the 2-13and firstinningsdouble century-makerJoe five-wickethaulagainstSriLankawhenMathews ball wasspinning. Root wasbrilliantlyrunoutbyNiroshanDickwella finallyedged to Root in the lone slip. Heputinadeterminedeffortagainstspinners for1asEngland went to stumps on anervy 38-3. The 87-Testveteran Mathews,who came to and fast bowlers alike in raising onlyhis second JonnyBairstow,who also escapedarun-out, thecreaseinthesecondoverof theday, battedfor Test centuryinhis 37th test. wasunbeatenon11 whiledebutantDanLawrence five hoursand44minutesto raisehis36thtest half England's spinnershad createdopportunities wasnot outon7asEnglandstillneeded36forvic- centuryand hit four boundaries. to dismiss Thirimanne afterBess had removed tory.SriLankahadearlierdefiedEnglandspinners Bess had strucktwice in the middle session overnightbatsmanLasithEmbuldeniyafornought through Lahiru Thirimanne's (111)firsttestcen- when he had stand-in captain Dinesh Chandimal in the second over when the batsman playeda turyinalmosteightyearsandafighting71 off219 caught in the slip in the firstoverafter lunch. loose shottoshortextracover. balls by Angelo Mathews to reach359. Dickwella (29) added48runs with Mathews Besstwicecamecloseto claimingthewicketof Left-armspinnerJackLeach(5-122)got afive- before playing aloose cut againstthe offspinner Thirimanne,whoresumedon76.FirstDomSibley wicket haul and offspinner Dom Bess (3-100)fin- and gotathick edge to wicketkeeper Buttler be- divedfulllengthforacatchatshortextracoverbut ishedwitheightwicketsinthegame,butMathews fore LeachcleanbowledDasun Shanaka(4) with the ball racedtothe boundaryand then atop- dug in well againstbothspinners to push the afull-pitcheddelivery that went underneath the edgedslogsweep landedinno-man's land. matchintothe final day. bat to hit the stumps. Thirimannereachedhishundredoff227 ballswith Itwasaremarkableturnaroundinbattingform Earlier,Thirimanne'spatientcentury, spanning asquarecutboundaryoff Bess.ItwasThirimanne's of the home team, whichwas skittledout forjust justoversix hours and featuring12fours,carried firsttesthundredin54test inningssincehescored 135inthe firstinnings before Root's 228 had led Sri Lanka to 242-4 at lunchafter the home team 155not outagainstBangladeshatthesamevenue England to adaunting 421and gave the visitors a resumedon156-2. in March2013. meaningful 286-run lead. Sam Curran(2-37) providedthe much- BRIEFSCORES:SriLanka135and359(Perera 62, SriLankawasjust10runsaheadwhenitlostits awaitedbreakthroughwhenhegot theinsideedge Thirimanne111,Mathews 71,Leach5-122,Bess3- seventh wicket on 296, but Mathews waswell offThirimanne's bat from adelivery that nipped 100) lead England 421and 38 for3by 35 runs

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