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THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE WISH UPON AREPUBLIC KOLKATA,LATECITY What could be more 24JANUARY,2021 emblematic of acapital 14PAGES,`5.00 constantly on the build (EX-KOLKATA`7,`12INNORTHEASTSTATES&ANDAMAN) than the harmonyofa familiar monument? DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM PAGES 11, 12, 13

MEETING IN MOLDO NEAR CHUSHUL SUNDAY STORY Indian,Chinesemilitarycommanders PAGE 7 arebackattheLACtalkstabletoday Meeting scheduledafter word from Beijing amidstextendedwinter deployment on both sides

XIV Corps commander Lt logue at the senior level, the two Consultation &Coordination on troops dug in at severalplaces in KRISHNKAUSHIK General PGK Menon and South sides have been working the hot- India-China Border Affairs eastern Ladakh. The Chinese re- NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 Xinjiang MilitaryRegion com- lines and other mechanisms to (WMCC), has also been attend- fusedtocomplete the disengage- TheStory mander Major General Liu Lin are prevent anyuntowardincident ing the militarydiscussions. ment process and both armies MORE THAN two-and-a-half to meetSundaymorning at the on the ground. India has re- While the militarycom- brought in additional forces in the Behind this months aftertheylastmet, Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) turnedtwo PLAsoldiers who manders lastmet on November depth areas, deploying tanks, ar- Indian and Chinese military point in Moldo on the Chinese strayed across the LAC. 6, the lastround of diplomatic tilleryand air power. Photograph commanders will sit across the side of the LACnear Chushul. Arepresentative of the talksvia the WMCC took place LastAugust, Indian troops table Sundaytotry and make Sources saidthe meetinghas MinistryofExternal Affairs will on December 18. surprisedthe Chinese by occu- India’s win in Australia headway in talksoverthe situa- been scheduledfollowing word also be at the talksSunday. MEA Forweeksafter the standoff pying dominating heightsonthe didn’t happen tion along the Line of Actual from China on amemo that India Joint Secretary(EastAsia) beganlastMay,when the Chinese south bank of Pangong Tso, and Control in Ladakh wherethou- sent. With 50,000troops of each Naveen Srivastava, leading the came in 8kmwestofthe point in the largerChushul sub-sector. overnight. All that sands of troops have been in a armydeployedinthe region for Indian side in meetings of the that India says marks the LACon Indian troops positioned went intothe making faceoffsince May2020. an indefiniteperiod and no dia- Working Mechanism for the north bank of Pangong Tso, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 of this Winning XI In the pipeline: flagship scheme to take tap water Prime MinisterNarendraModi with West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee at to all cities, towns the Victoria Memorial in KolkataonSaturday. Partha Paul Jal JeevanMission-Urban: Cabinetto At Netaji event, consider Rs 2,79,500-cr,5-year plan Mamata refuses to KARISHMAMEHROTRA BUDGET ’21 NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 speak after slogans IN THE Budget,the Centreis likelytoannounce anew flag- ship programme —Jal Jeevan in PM’s presence Mission-Urban (JJM-Urban) —to provide tapwater connections to all statutorytowns, and, sepa- Aconvoy of tractors heading towardsDelhi, on NH-10inRohtak,Haryana, on Saturday. Express India of Netaji’s dream is before world rately,sewer connections to all cities with apopulation of over COUNTDOWN today, from LACtoLoC, says Modi 1lakh, by 2026. IN&OUTOFCOVIDSHADOW Government sources said the Farmers can enter Delhi Unease in Punjab BJP: gramme, notthe programme of ExpenditureFinance Committee SANTANUCHOWDHURY apolitical party… This is apublic approved the Rs 2,79,500-crore &ATRIMITRA programme. Ithank the Prime five-year programme on for R-day tractor rally, ‘PM could solve row KOLKATA,JANUARY23 Ministerand the CultureMinistry December 17,and the Union fororganising the programme in Housing and Urban Affairs WITH WESTBengal headedto Kolkata. But it doesn’t behove you Ministryhas submitted the pro- to stay near borders in aday if he wants’ assemblyelections, rivals TMC to humiliateaperson afterex- posal to the CabinetSecretariat. and BJP sparredSaturdayduring tending an invitation.” “Therewas ademand from Nalsejal,both official parade on Rajpath. day" if he wanted. celebrations in Kolkatatomark Prime MinisterModi, who states that cities notcovered un- ruralandurban MAHENDERSINGH As per the agreement, the RAAKHIJAGGA Manyother party leaders ex- the birth anniversaryofNetaji addressedBanerjee as “behen” der the Atal Mission for MANRAL farmers will enter Delhi from all LUDHIANA,JANUARY23 pressedapprehension that the Subhas ChandraBose. (sister), said Netaji would have Rejuvenation and Urban NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 the three borders wherethou- protests could take aviolent Her speechinterruptedby been proud to see that the coun- Transformation (AMRUT) MODELLED AFTER the ru- sands of them have been WITH NO quickend in sight to turn, even as theydread the civic BJP supporters who raised‘Jai tryisfollowing his footsteps. should also be providedsupport ralJal JeevanMission, the HAVINGFAILED to convince protesting forthe pasttwo the farmer agitation and talks polls schedulednextmonth. Shri Ram’ slogans, Chief Minister “I oftenwonder howsatisfied forwater and sewage,” asource MinistryofHousing and farmers to stay outside the bor- months, but stay in the adjoin- with the government stalled, Aformer minister, Chawla, MamataBanerjee, sharing adais Netaji would have been to see told The SundayExpress. Urban Affairs has proposed ders of Delhi despitetalksfor the ing areas and notventureto- thereisgrowing disquietwithin 78, told The SundayExpress, with Prime MinisterNarendra the changes in the countrytoday, “Morethan 3,500cities are aparallel programme to pastweek,the Delhi Police wardsCentral Delhi. the ranksofthe Punjab BJP. “Speaking as acitizen of India Modi at Victoria Memorial, re- the NewIndia that is taking notsupportedbyany structured provide tapwater connec- Saturdaygranted them permis- Thousands of tractors are Veteranleader and former BJP and notasaBJP leader,Ifeel no fused to speak,saying theyhad shape. Howwould he have felt scheme…sothe government tion in everyurban house- sion to carry out atractor parade headedfor Delhi from Punjab national vice-president Laxmi protestshould run so long. Aso- no right to “humiliateaperson had he seen his countryself-re- has decidedtolaunchanother hold by 2026. It will also fo- on Republic Dayinside the and Haryana to participateinthe KantaChawlasaid Saturdaythat lution to it should have been afterextending an invitation”. liantinthe most advancedtech- scheme to coverall 4,000forwa- cus on sewage connections Capital, but with modifications parade. Kulwant Singh Sandhu, the agitation should nothave found at the earliest. In mid- Upsetbythe slogans, Banerjee nologies of the world? How tersupply,”the source said. The in 500cities with apopula- in their plannedrouteand on the general secretaryofthe Punjab been allowedtofesterfor so December,after the number of said: “I feel agovernment pro- would he have felt to see Indians proposal to the EFC estimates tion of over 1lakh. condition that theywill start Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, said, long, and that the Prime Minister farmers dying due to cold or gramme should have some dig- right at the topinthe world’s CONTINUEDONPAGE2 onlyafter the completion of the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 could solve the situation "in a CONTINUEDONPAGE2 nity.This is agovernment pro- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 In Biden team, acousin of man held IIT grads, ex-Google execs ready Bengal CM pitches for in J&K under PSA post-August 5 to roll out ad-free search engine four national capitals

Washington and Delhi connec- and customer-firstalternative,at We should have four different NIRUPAMA tions to help securehis release. NANDAGOPALRAJAN atime of growing concerns over EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE capitals at the four corners of the SUBRAMANIAN Sameera Fazili waspickedbythe new NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 the control wieldedbytech KOLKATA,JANUARY23 country. And Parliament ses- MUMBAI,JANUARY23 Fazili, from US President as Deputy Director megaliths. sions should be held in different her Twitter of the National Economic “ATSCALE, an ad-supported “The ad model has been great WEST BENGALChief Minister places in the country,”Banerjee SAMEERA FAZILI, one of the 20 account Council (NEC), apolicy body that product serves the companythat forbringing search to everyone MamataBanerjee on Saturday told agathering afterarallyto Indian-Americans who will be is partofthe WhiteHouse. She shows youads, it does notserve on the planet, but over time pitchedfor four national capitals, celebratethe 125th birth an- partofthe Joe Biden had been asenior advisor in the you.” With this thought, Sridhar Sridhar Ramaswamy, thereismoreand morepressure including Kolkata, on arotation niversaryofNetajiSubhas Administration, has aunique coinciding with the scrapping of NEC during the Obama Ramaswamyand Vivek VivekRaghunathan to showmoreads and notreally basis and Parliament sessions at ChandraBose in Kolkata. India connect:her cousin the special status of Jammu and Administration. Raghunathan, IIT alumni and what the user wants. Our thesis “different places”. To buttress her point, she said Mubeen Shah wasamong those Kashmir.Shah's mother and Shah wasreleasedin former Google executives, are is that we can createamuchbet- “I believe that India must Kolkatawas the national capital held under the Public SafetyAct Fazili's father aresiblings, and December 2019,and his is arare ready to roll out Neeva, an ad- which, by the middle of this year, tersearch product, focusing have four rotating capitals. Why under the British rule and said (PSA) in the Valleyclampdown the familyhad tappedintotheir CONTINUEDONPAGE2 free, private search product, hopes to offeracustomer-paid CONTINUEDONPAGE2 should Delhi decide all things? CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Abridge in Bastar —why adistrict, securitymen are counting on it

PAGE1 unit —Chintavaagu controls ac- an operation when therewas in- out of Telangana twice. tained.Andarwaale(theMaoists) ANCHOR cess to the Maoistheartland of discriminatefiring from the CHHATTISGARH Shrinu, who got marriedlast do the same if theysuspect us," Bastar, particularly the home of other side... We aretrying to get year,says that without the regis- says thefrail19-year-old,whobe- dreadedNaxal commander closer and theydon't likeit." RAIPUR tration —and with bigger mar- longs to Cherla in Telangana. Hidma. Three years afterthe se- Access over Chintavaagu ketsinaccessible —heisforcedto Recently, the sevenvillages GARGIVERMA curity forces managed to reach won't be justasecurity land- sell his paddy forRs1,050 per falling under the Dharmaram PAMED(BIJAPUR),JAN23 Pamed, graduallylaying an markfor the 64villages between ODISHA quintal to local vendors, against panchayatwrote to the 11-km road between 2017 and Pamedand Basaguda, as Shrinu, the MSP of Rs 2,500per quintal. Superintendent of Police against CHINTAVAAGU,ORthe stream of 2019,theyhope to finallyfinish 19,afarmer from Dharmaram Mostofhis familyhas already "police brutality". Says Kama Bijapur worry, is an important line for the last5-odd km to villagepointsout. To reachthe movedtoTelangana forwork, Gundi of Dharmaram, "When the security forces in Chintavaagu, and build abridge district headquarters forsome- Basaguda leaving him to till their 18 acres. we go in or out of the village, se- Chhattisgarh. One of several over it. The foundation waslaid thing as basic as getting himself Pamed Priya, listening to the Telugu curity personnel stop and inter- streams lying on a44-odd-km by Chief MinisterBhupesh registeredasafarmer with the songs Shrinu got downloadedon rogate us. If someone gets scared axis between Pamedand Baghel earlier this month. Pamedsociety,tobeable to sell TELANGANA her phone the lasttime he went and can't respond, theyare Basaguda in Bijapur district, on Standing near the stream his produce to the government, to thecity,worrieseverytimeher beaten up forbeing Naxalsup- the state's southernmostedge— armedwith an automatic rifle, Shrinu firsttakes his run-down husband leaveshome. "Weare porters." With severalprotests across arugged terrain secured SDOP (Sub-Divisional Officer of motorcycle to the stream; Villagers crossing the Chintavaagu stream. The last5kmto loadedwith the motorcycle stuckbetween twowarring on the matter held recently by around 2,000 security per- Police) Abhishek Singh says,"A pushes a dongi (a thin boat made it, and abridge, arenow awaited. Gargi Verma across to Pamed; and then drives forces.Villagersarebeatenupran- across Bijapur,senior officials sonnel, including the eliteCoBRA couple of weeksago,wewereon out of ahollowed-out tree trunk) another 200km, crossing in and domlybysecurity forces and de- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 THE SECOND PAGE THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021

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Tap water Andthat theywereonlyable to suredby Alice Wells, then Acting NationalCadetCorps-likeorgani- confirm he wasimprisonedin Assistant Secretaryfor South and sationinstate-runschoolsandcol- JJM-Urban to target 2.68crore Agra afterthe StateDepartment Central Asian Affairs, that the US Indian, Chinese commanders back at LAC talks leges, and name it “Jai Hind households whichdonot have placedan“informational re- government had takenupShah's Bahini”. tapconnections, and 2.64crore quest” with the Indian govern- case with Delhi. themselvesonGurung Hill, Finger 4. This scramble for ing that India vacatethe “Disengagement from fric- households without sewerage or ment on his status. Following the intervention by Magar Hill, Mukhpari, Rechin heightsled to warning shots heightsinthe Chushul sub- tion areas, and once this disen- Search engine septage facilities. “My cousin Mubeen has been the Fazili sisters, their Delhi- La and Rezang La. Theyalso being firedbythe twosides. sector.India, on the other hand, gagement has been achieved, solelyonwhatacustomerneeds,” Sources said the proposal made an example of. His impris- basedniece and Jayapal, Shah's have direct viewofChina’s Topmilitaryofficers told The has made it clear that anyres- then overall de-escalation and says Ramaswamy, the CEO of would subsume AMRUT under onment sendsastrong signal to wifeand his brother had been Moldo Garrison, and the Indian Express that while there olution will have to factor all reduction in the strength of the Neeva, speaking on avideo call JJM-Urban. The AMRUT pro- the people of Kashmir that able to visit him in Agra. strategic Spanggur Gap which have been indications from friction pointsinthe region. troops in the forwardareas… from his California home. This is a gramme focuses on 500cities, money, familyand status mean On December 6, 2019 -- inci- can be usedtolaunchoffen- China on moving backtroops - On January12, at apress We will ensurethat through domain the 54-year-old knows and aims to provide tapconnec- nothing in the face of Indian dentallythe same dayasJayapal sives--asthe Chinese did in -India has been seeking status conference ahead of ArmyDay, the medium of these talks, we well, having been the senior vice- tions to 1.39 crorehouseholds. capriciousness,” she said in her introducedabipartisan resolu- 1962. quoante, of troops returning to General MM Naravane said: reachasolution that is accept- presidentof adsandcommerceat The scheme has currentlypro- testimony, going on to talk about tion in the House of Indian troops also read- positions before the standoff– “Weare hoping that basedon able and notdetrimental to our Google, and also run itstravel, vided95lakh connections. how“armedforces areconduct- Representativesurging the justedtheir positions on the there’s ahugetrustdeficit. the principle of mutual and interests…weare prepared to shopping and search infrastruc- While JJM (U) aims to saturate ing night raids on homes and Indian government to end the re- Pangong Tsonorth bank,occu- The twosides, officers said, equal security,wewill be able hold our ground, whereweare, tureteams. urban areas with tapconnec- pulling young men and boys strictions on communications pying features to dominate areunable to reachanunder- to reachanagreement which as long as it takestoachieve Raghunathan studiedatIIT tions, the remaining sewage con- from their bedsintomilitarycus- and the mass detentions in J&K - Chinese positions on the ridge- standing on details of the dis- would result in disengagement our national goals and inter- Mumbai and wasearlier vice- nections outside of the AMRUT tody” in Kashmir. -Shah was“temporarily” re- line connecting Finger 3and engagement with China insist- and de-escalation.” ests,” he said. president of Monetisation at cities will be overseen by the Her cousin, she said, was“not leased. Twodays later,the J&K ad- YouTube. Swachh Bharat Mission. apolitician or adissident, he isn't ministration informedthe “So it's actuallyabroad setof Acknowledging that the onus afreedom fighter,orevenakid in Supreme Court, in replytoapeti- experiences. Similarly,Vivek was of fetching waterfalls squarelyon the street throwing stones. He's tion movedbyhis wife, that it had Farmers can enter Delhi for R-day tractor rally the firsttechlead of what is now women and girls in the Indian so- justabusinessman. His life's “permanentlyrevoked”the PSA calledthe Google Assistant. So ciety,the proposal states that “the work has focusedonbringing againstShah. “Around2.5-3lakhtractorswill viewofthe Republic Day. wheretheyare protesting.They SpecialCP-rankofficerwassent we'veactuallyworkedonsearch time savedcould be usedtoat- economic opportunity to In October 2020, incidentally, take to theroadsneartheprotest Sources said ameeting was have been assured medical as- from Delhi Police headquarters onbothsides,"Ramaswamysays, tend to education, economic ac- Kashmir”. the J&K Police said theywere sites. The parade will be ab- heldonSaturdayaswell,lasting sistanceandsecurityduringthe to join the meeting to discuss agraduatefromIIT Chennai. This tivities, and general wellbeing.” Shah, who is basedin seeking to arrest Shah through solutelypeaceful from around four hours, afterwhich parade,” police sources said. the routeand arrangementsof is whytheyfelt “confident “With ever changing scenar- Malaysia and owns acraftsbusi- Interpol over apurported our end.” the farmers and senior officers According to sources, while the proposedrallyonJanuary enough”thattheycouldbuildthe ios in the field of water, likeim- ness, wasarrestedwhen visiting Facebook postbyhim. J&K ButaSinghShadipur, Punjab of the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and theparadefromtheSinghuside 26. Theyasked the farmers to technology relatively inexpen- proving technology,funding Kashmir along with his wife. Director General of Police Dilbagh presidentof theBharatiyaKisan Haryana Police reachedthe mightbeforaround100km,the carry out their tractor rallyon sively,headds. through external sources and Belonging to one of the most Singh said theyhad registereda Manch, said, "Weare still delib- agreement over the rallytobe tractors will travel 125km the Kundli–Manesar–Palwal With a45-person team in the availability of water... it is imper- prominent families of Kashmir, case forthe postthat allegedly erating on the routeand the lo- held on January26. around the Tikri border. (KMP) Expressway,but this too US, the plan is to roll out Neevain ative to devise comprehensive Shah has at various times headed targeted non-local people living cations. On January26, vehicles “The farmers have been Sources said the firstmeet- wasrejected by the farmers,” “four-fivemonths”, firstinthe waterplans... The watersupply the Kashmir Chamber of in the Valley. The DGP said they will march up to the select askedto sendawrittenapplica- ing with farmers had been said asenior officer. home market of the US and then needs to besustainable, equitable Commerce and Industry, the had initiated the process to de- pointsandheadbacktothebor- tion, specifying their proposed chaired by aJCP-rank officer of In viewofthe Republic Day English-speaking regions like and should meetspecifiedqual- Jammu &Kashmir Joint Chamber clareShah aproclaimedoffender ders." routes, the number of tractors theDelhiPoliceinKondli,where celebrations,theDelhiPolicehas Western Europe, Australia and ity standards,” the proposal seen of Commerce and Industry, and and attachhis properties in The Delhi Police had held a andfarmersparticipatinginthe theyreasonedwiththeprotest- deployedafive-layersecurityin India.“Fortunatelywehaveagreat by The SundayExpress states. abody active on both sides of the Kashmir.But therehas been no series of talkswith farmers try- parade,andthetimings.We will ersthatconductingarallyinside andaroundthecity.Over40,000 team,andverygoodbackers,"says border to promote trade across movement on this. ingto convincethemfirsttocan- discuss the routetomorrow the Capital on Republic Day police,ITBPandCRPFpersonnel Ramaswamy. Neevahas raised Biden team the Line of Control that was Fazili is one of twoKashmiri- cel their parade, and later to with them. But theyhavesaid posedasecurity threat. But the willbedeployedatSinghu,Tikri $37.5million so far, with equal in- case in whichthe J&K adminis- startedin2008and is at ahalt origin members in the Biden keepitoutsidetheCapital,even thetractorparadewillonlybein farmers,sourcessaid,didnotre- and Ghazipur borders, vestmentsfromGreylock,Sequoia tration withdrew the PSA. since India discontinueditin team. The other is Aisha Shah, the as security wastightenedin the areas around the borders lent. “In another meeting, a police said. CapitalandRamaswamyhimself. Fazili's sisterYousraFazili, a 2019. partnership manager at the The product will be different human rightslawyer, wasamong Another familymember,a WhiteHouse office of Digital from what people areusedto, of- the Kashmiris who testifiedat niece of the Fazili sisters and Strategy.Marriedwith three chil- Swapna Vankail wasamong should sit with the farmers to find Pakka dharnas (indefiniteag- important role in the questfor fering asingle windowfor search the November 2019 US Shah, is the India-basedhead of dren, Fazili has degrees from those who diedlastyear.His fa- asolution. Ifeel that if the PM itations)continue outside the Aatmanirbhar Bharat, justlike and queries intopersonal dataon Congressional hearing on the sit- an international trade services' Harvardand Yale, and is acom- ther Jaikumar says he nowbuys wants, asolution can befound in houses of 31 BJP leaders in the the role that Netaji playedfor the services likeDropboxand email uation in the Valley. She spokein association and also worked be- munity development finance ex- bottledwater fordrinking. aday." state. Theyalso face protests freedom of the country. accounts, Ramaswamysays.Like detail about her cousin's sudden hind the scenes forhis release, us- pert. She wasborn in the US, On January10, Chief Minister AMalwa-basedleader,re- whenevertheystepout of homes Aatmanirbhar Bharat has to be Google,NeevawilluseAIandma- arrest,his health condition and ingher connectionsatthe highest whereher doctor parentsmi- BhupeshBaghelaskedtheBijapur questing anonymity,accusedthe forapublic function. On Saturday, ledbyAatmanirbhar Bengal and chinelearningto createthesecret howmembers of her Srinagar- levels of government, sources grated to in 1970-71. districtadministrationto arrange stateunit of failing to present the protesters held adharna outside Sonar Bangla," he said. sauce —rankings forsearches. basedfamilyhad gone “from jail said. Speaking to The Sunday filtered waterinthe area. Bijapur true pictureofthe protests to the the Bathinda hotelwhereformer Meanwhile, Banerjee’s re- On apprehensions that may to jail in Srinagar” trying to find Shah's arrest had also been Express from Malaysia, Shah said, Collector Ritesh Agrawalsays Delhileadership. “First the farm ministerManoranjan Kalia was marks againstthe Centredrew arise regarding personal data, out wherehehad been taken. She mentionedbyIndian-American "Weare happyasafamilythat whiletheygot thewatertestedin ordinances were passedin scheduledtohold ameeting. criticism from Governor Jagdeep Ramaswamysays,"We guarantee said she could notbegin to de- Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Sameerahas takenanimportant 2020, the deaths were probably Parliament despiteprotests. Later, Denying claims of discontent, Dhankhar. thattheproductandcompanyare scribehow closelyknit the entire at the firstUSCongressional hear- position in the UnitedStates gov- due to "the excess use of urea in the party did notwakeuptothe Punjab BJP organisation secretary Afterunveiling aportrait of designedsothat personal datais familywas. ing on Kashmir on October 22, ernment." making mahua". Villagers brew fact that the Akali Dal brokeits Dinesh Kumar says the party did Netaji, Dhankhar,who has been indexedtoserveyour results, and In her testimony, Yousra 2019,who flagged his poor the local intoxicant at home, and 27-year-old alliance with us due notmakeany mistakesand is on at loggerheads with the ruling fornothing else... We arecreating addedthat she and Fazili had di- health. She wantedto knowifthe Bastar bridge Agrawalsays theyhavestartedan to the anger among the farmers. the "same page" as the national TMC, said: “Don’t oppose every- acompanythat, from the begin- alledfriends in the State StateDepartment had raisedthe claim these have been organised awarenesscampaignontherisks. Aboveall, even though farmers BJP.“We continuouslykeptgiv- thing justfor the sakeofopposi- ning, is customer firstand cus- Department on learning about matter of his arrest with the by Naxals. The 14 gram panchayats and startedarail roko and indefinite ing feedbacktothe authorities.” tion.” tomer only. We areveryadamant Shah's arrest on August8,2019. Indian government, and wasas- With Chintavaagu in the way, 64villagesof Chhattisgarhonthe protests in October,the first He also claims that initially, the Across Kolkata, BJP leaders about making surethat this is the most of Pamed's needs, as that of other side of Chintavaagu have it meeting with Union ministers agitation wasfundedbythe paid tributetoNetaji, and several one and onlyrevenue source.” security forces, aremet from even worse. Jaya,21, says they wasarrangedonlyonNovember Congress. “Theyarranged tents, eventswereorganisedinthe dis- AblogonNeevaalsoreiterates WRITEBACK Telangana.Thesliverofnew roads have been unable to getthe sole 13.Ten rounds of meetings have langars and other expenses for trictstoo. itscommitment to be ad-free, have brought in some changes handpumpinDharmaram's takenplace since the farmers the protesters. And nowthe guarantees that "your datawill though, including electricity two Schoolpara fixedfortwomonths, reachedDelhi, but onlyone protestisinthe hands of the Four capitals neverbesoldinanyformwhatso- RESPONDINGSEPARATELYto under corporatesocial respon- months ago. "Till 2019,noone forcing them to resortto meeting washeld when farmers Communists,who don't want the it should be declared the ever", and promises that search aJanuary20report‘Firm sibility. steppedoutalone.Eventhesecu- makeshiftarrangements. were protesting in Punjab from issue settled. In Punjab, out of 31 “National Capital of Bengal”. history will be deletedbydefault ownedpartlybyCMJagan rity personnel would go out in The onlyPHC around is at June 6toNovember 26,” the farm unions, 26 have Communist Banerjee attackedthe Central after90days.(Google's default is familygetsbulk of govt orders’, South India Cement groups. Now, because of street- Pamed.Deva,25,recentlytrekked leader pointsout. leanings." government forits delayinde- 18 months.) the Industries and Commerce Manufacturers Association: lightsand electricity,shops stay 15 km to it from his village Manjinder Singh Kang, the Kumar goes on to allegeter- claring January23anational hol- Having spent 16 years at Department, Government of We have suppliedcement on open till lateevening," says Koyo, Kawalgutta, wading across the former statesecretaryofthe BJP rorlinks. "Now the funding is idayand building amemorial for Google, Ramaswamysays he has AndhraPradesh, and the South amarginal costbasis to gov- ashopkeeper in Pamed. Chintavaagu with his four- who resignedfromthe party on coming from various sections Netaji. come to believe that it is “justnot India Cement Manufacturers ernmentsofTamil Nadu, The villageevenhas asmall month-old child and ailing wife October 15,also says the senior and one cannotrule out the role “I protestthe Central govern- healthy” to have very large tech Association (SICMA), have de- Karnataka, AndhraPradesh hotelnow,aslabour from Bhime, 22. She onlyrequired ba- stateleadership nevertook the of Naxals and Khalistani people, ment's decision’s delayindeclar- platformscontrolsomuch.“There niedthat some cement com- and Telangana forthe lastso Telanganabuzzesaroundto meet sic medicines forfever,but the agitation seriously. In the past10 who have also become partofthe ing Netaji's birth anniversarya aregood people there, that's not panies were favoured. manyyears. To accuse the as- aspurtinconstruction demand. familyspent the night at the hos- days,morethan than 15 BJP lead- protest.” national holiday. Youare building the issue. If youneedtomake sociation of acartelfor aprod- Sandeep, 28, recentlyset up a pital compound. "Wecouldn't ers have quit the party and joined About the coming civic polls, newparliament and buying new moremoney, the temptation to Industries and Commerce uct wherepricing is free and Wi-Fidevice with reachinakilo- have brought her again fast if the Akali Dal. “I kept saying the Kumar says,"We areinrevival planes, but whynomemorial for showone moreadisjustvery Department, market drivenwas notaccept- metre'sradius,andoffersAadhaar needed,especiallyatnight,"Deva leadership wasnot giving the mode... And in the 2022 Netaji?" the Chief Ministerasked. strong,”hesays,addingthatwhat AndhraPradesh: able. To the best of our knowl- registration services as well as says.Kawalguttaisyet to get right feedbacktothe high com- Assemblypolls, the BJP will form “You cannameany port after Neevaprovides is achoice. “And The government exhibitsno edge,noother industrycomes spaceforchildrento attendonline power, and Deva and others use mand. At times Ievenhad heated agovernment on itsown in the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee... We giving this choice creates aricher partiality between various ce- forwardfor asocial cause at classes.HespentRs12,000forthe their solar-poweredlightsspar- argumentswith them. Finally, state." have no objection. But Igot (for- Internet.” ment manufacturing compa- this scale. device, but business has been ingly."If theymalfunction, we when on October 13,atameet- mer prime minister) RajivGandhi He is awareofthe challenges nies in placing orders force- good. "I also help villagers from can't getthem fixed, we have to ing with farmers in Delhi, the TMC, BJP spar to name the Kolkataairportafter of offeringapaidproduct,andthe ment procurement in various The IndianExpress replies: theothersideof Chintavaagu,"he waitmonthsfordistrictofficials," Union ministers did notturn up largest companies, in the field of Netaji Subhash ChandraBose,” needtoensurethatitis"excellent". government projects. Cement The reportquotedthe pur- says. he says. but sent the Secretary, education and at medical cen- she said. In Januarylastyear,the However, Ramaswamysays,for companies in the stateunder chase order figures displayed It wasthe plight of his neigh- Collector Agrawalsays they Agriculture, Idecidedtoresign," tres?”. Central government had re- himthatisthemotivation.Hecites the AndhraPradesh Cement in the ‘YSR Nirman’ portal. bour Guddu, 17,who studies in hope to startthe Rs 15 croreproj- Kangsays, adding that even after “Today, Indian forces have ad- namedthe KolkataPortTrustaf- the example of services like Manufacturers Association (AP It also mentions the gov- Class 11 at aboarding school in ect to build the bridgeover that, all that the NDAgovernment vancedaircraftlikethe Rafale and terMukherjee, the founder of Spotify and Dropbox, whichsuc- CMA) supplytoall govern- ernment purchases cement at Telanganabuthasbeenhomedue Chintavaagu by Februaryand did initiallywas hold virtual the countryismanufacturing ad- BJP's predecessor BharatiyaJan ceeded in segmentswherethere ment departmentsatRs225 Rs 225 per 50 kg bag, whichis to Covid shutdowns, that gave complete it before the monsoon. meetings of Union ministers to vancedaircraftlikethe Tejas. Sangh. wasnodearthof freeoptions,and per 50 kg bag, muchlower lowerthan the market price; himtheidea,Sandeepsays."Heis "While things arenot perfect, the "explain" the farm laws."They What would have been his feel- Banerjee also demandedthat hopes that Neevamay also force than the market price. To en- and that purchase orders are verygoodatstudies,evenranked situation has improved mani- completely misread the situa- ings on seeing the country’s army the Centrerevivethe Planning their competitors to cut backon suretransparent and assured givenbasedonmarket share firstinthe school in the 10th fold," he says,adding, "Once we tion.” so strong, receiving advanced Commission, saying it wascon- ads."...Youcan'tnowsay,I'mgoing supply, the government has of the companies and their boards. But he would have to cy- cross the river, other villages will Asenior leader said had weapons that he so wanted?” ceptualisedbyNetaji. The com- to showapagefull of ads... Users designed‘YSR-Nirman’, acen- ability to supplyontime. It cle30-oddkmto Cherlaandhang also benefit." Union AgricultureMinister Modi said. mission wasreplacedbythe NITI aregoing to go forapaid option, tralisedonline portalfor all ce- onlyraises the question of con- his phone from atreetojustget NarendraSingh Tomar held talks “Today, if Netaji had seen how Aayogin2015. because toomuchistoo much.” ment consuming depart- flict of interestsince acom- networkfor classes... Ihavewrit- Punjab BJP with farmers backwhen they India fought the pandemic, how She announcedthat the Ramswamyadds, “Wefeel ments. So far, all departments panywhichispart-ownedby tentothe district administration suicide had reached30, Ieven were protesting in the state, the itreadiedadvancedscientific so- Republic Dayparade in Kolkata confident that acertain segment put together have placedin- Chief MinisterYSJagan Mohan (for Internetconnectivity), but wrotetoPrime Minister latter mayhavesettledfor lutions likethe vaccine, what wouldalsobededicatedto Netaji. of the population will see value in dented quantities of 16.64 Reddy’s familyhas bagged the therehas been no help." NarendraModi that if the amendments. “Atthat time, they would have been his feelings? If Thestategovernmentalsoformed asuperiorproduct.Andespecially Lakh MT,ofwhich13.20 Lakh maximum order during the Guddu wantstobecome a AgricultureMinisterisnot able to were onlyworriedabout the he had seen howIndia is helping acommittee forconducting a in the current environment of MT has been supplied. AP CMA year. doctor."All of us have lostfamily solve the issue, the PM should MSP," the leader says. other countries with the vaccine, year-long celebration of Netaji's worry, about howlarge and how allocates cement suppliers on The Indian Express had also members to diseases that could take the matter in his own What is adding to the disquiet he would have been filledwith birth anniversary. influentialthetechcompaniesare, apro-ratabasis, as per their in- contacted MGoutham Reddy, have been treated," he says.His hands.” in the stateBJP arethe forthcom- pride.” She announcedthat amonu- we feel we can getenough people stalledand operating supply AndhraPradesh Industries mother UmaDevisuffers from Chawlasaid the farmers had ing municipal council polls, “The strong India of his dream ment and auniversity would be whosay‘Ijustwantasimplealter- capacities. If supplies arede- Ministerand MRavinder kidneyfailure, with sevendying "setanexample forthe world" by scheduledfor February15. A is before the worldtoday, from dedicatedto Netaji,anothermon- native,aservice that Iuse, that I layedbyacompany, theyare Reddy,Director,Bharathi of similar ailmentsin2020 alone ensuring peace despitethe source said notmanyBJP leaders the LACtothe LoC. Wherever an umentatRajarhatto theerstwhile pay’. And that's it, there's no more allocatedtowell-performing Cement, and Vice-President, inPamed."Doctorstoldusitcould protestgoing on forsolong. arekeen to contestgiven the attempt is made to challenge Azad Hind Fauj. worryaboutdata,there'snomore suppliers. Companies take up APCMA,and accuratelyre- be because of the water. We get “Kisan is not100per cent wrong anger.InBathinda, alocal party India’s sovereignty,India givesa To honourNetaji'spopularslo- worryaboutwhatelseisgoingon.” these supplies as asocial cause portedtheir statements. muddy,red-tinged waterhere," and neither arethe farm laws. member threatenedtoquit if befitting reply,”hesaid. gan"Jai Hind", the stategovern- FULLREPORTSON: says Sunny, 16,whose mother The Prime Ministerhimself forced to contest. “WestBengal needs to playan ment has proposedtoform a www.indianexpress.com

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 3 WEST BENGAL

Several injured as TMC and BJP workers clash in Howrah, six arrested police station area when TMC EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE workers attackedthem with KOLKATA,JANUARY23 bombs and handguns. The in- jured workers were takentothe ADAY afterTrinamool Congress’ Belur Sramajibi hospital. (TMC) BallyMLA Baishali “Our Mandal president [Bally Dalmiyawas expelledbythe rul- 2] Monoj Singh and others were ing party forcriticising itslead- walking in the area when they ership, BJP and TMC workers were attackedwith crude bombs clashedinthe area on Saturday and bullets were firedatthem. morning. Severalpeople were One of our workers suffereda injured in the violence forwhich bulletinjury,”said BJP Howrah six people were arrested by the Sadar president Surojit Saha. police. The Opposition party identi- The BJP alleged that aparty fied the worker who wasinjured member wasshotat, while in the firing as Promod Dubey. some were beaten with rods The TMC alleged that the BJP CM MamataBanerjee at arallytomarkthe 125th birth anniversaryofSubhas ChandraBose in KolkataonSaturday. Alaser showonNetaji’s lifeatthe Victorial Memorial. Shashi Ghosh, Partha Paul and sticks.Crude bombs were members were extorting money also allegedly hurledduring the from shops in the area, following street fight, triggering panic in whichsome local people the area. Afew bikes and apo- protestedand roughedthem up. lice vehicle were vandalised, “BJP workers were extorting Modi visits Netaji’s said police officials. moneyfromvendors in the mar- Netajiis‘Desh Nayak’,whatis “Wehavearrestedsix per- ket,who beat them up. Later,the sons in connection with the vio- BJP workers lobbed crude house, shown car lence. Policemen have been bombs and firedinthe area. postedinthe area to prevent any Their ownworkergot injured,” further flare-up,” said asenior said local TMC leader Kailash ‘Parakram’?:CMslamsCentre he used for escape police officer in Howrah. Mishra. The BJP claimedthat some of Following the clash, BJP BJP govt should have consulted statebeforenaming birth anniversary: Mamata itsworkers were strolling in workers blockedGTRoad in EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Liluah Chowrasta in the Belur protest. WITHPTIINPUTS rally. Throughout the march KOLKATA,JANUARY23 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE route, the TMC had erected KOLKATA,JANUARY23 makeshiftstagesfromwhere PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi flowerpetals were showeredon on Saturdayvisited the ancestral Another 410 Cash, drugs THE TRINAMOOL Congress the chief minister. TMC workers house of freedom fighter Netaji (TMC) and the BJP continued chantedslogans forNetajiaswell SubhasChandraBoseatElginRoad Covid cases seized in their fight over the legacy of Netaji as Banerjee. The march con- in Kolkatatopay homagetohim Subhas ChandraBose on cludedatthe Netaji statue on Red on his 125th birth anniversary. Saturday, leaving no stones un- Road. He wasgreeted with “Jai Shri PM NarendraModi at the reported raids, 2held turnedtocommemoratehis birth Meanwhile, Governor Ram” chantsbypeople waiting Victoria Memorial on anniversary. Jagdeep Dhankhar criticisedthe outside the Netaji Bhawanat Saturday. Partha Paul STATECOUNT PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Addressing arallytomarkthe chief minister’s comments. After Bhowaniporeareaand wasre- SILIGURI,JANUARY23 occasion aftervisiting Netaji unveiling aportrait of Netaji, he ceivedbySugatoBose and his TOTAL CASES Bhavanand leading asix-kilome- said, “Don’t oppose everything brother SumantroBose, grand- around 100artists on a40-metre ALARGE amount of cash, drugs tremarch,Chief MinisterMamata justfor the sakeofopposition.” nephews of Netaji. canvasonthe sprawling lawns of 567714 and anote-counting machine Banerjee slammedthe Centrefor BJP leaders also paid tributeto BJPnationalgeneralsecretary BelvedereHouse at the National INCREASE DEATHS were seizedintwo raids in celebrating the dayas“Parakram Bose in different parts of Kolkata Kailash Vijayvargiyaand BJP Librarycompound. 410 10107 Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri dis- Diwas [DayofValour]. The TMC and across the statesince the leader ChandraBose, another Later,attheVictoriaMemorial tricts, the police said on Saturday. chief asked the Centrewhat morning. StateBJP presidentDilip grandnephewofNetaji, were not Hall,Modiinauguratedanexhibi- 551211 RECOVERED The firstraid wascarriedout “Parakram” is. Banerjee said since Ghosh paid tributeatthe Netaji allowedtoaccompanyModi in- tion and aprojection mapping 7808082 SAMPLES by the statepolice’s SpecialTask Netaji wasa“Deshbhakt [patriot]” statue on RedRoad. side the house. showonNetaji. TESTED TILL JAN 23 Force(STF) in ahouse in and the “starofthe country”, the The Centrehad decidedto Modi wasshown the Union CultureMinister Darjeeling district’s Ashraf Nagar stategovernment waspaying observeBose’s birth anniversary “Wanderer”car,whichNetajiused Prahlad Singh Patel, who was on Fridaynight. The STFrecov- tributetohim by celebrating the everyyear as “Parakram Diwas” to escapefromKolkatatoGomoh present at the event, said Netaji's Kolkata: West Bengal’s coron- ered brownsugar worthmore dayas“Desh NayakDiwas [Day to inspirethe youth to “act with in Dhanbad. He wasalso takento 'Dilli Chalo' (march to Delhi) call avirus caseload on Saturdayrose than Rs 1lakh, anote-counting of the National Hero]”. fortitude in the face of adver- the bedrooms of Netaji and his had united the nation againstthe to 5,67,714with an addition of machine and Rs 17.25 lakh in The chief ministersaid, “We sity”. Soon afterthe Modi gov- brother Sarat ChandraBose. British rule. 410cases while the toll linked to cash, said apolice officer. have observed‘Desh NayakDivas’ ernment’s announcement, The prime ministerwas the virus reached10,107with The accused, three youths today. Rabindranath Tagore called MamataBanerjee announced givenaquickwalk-through of fresh 10 deaths, according abul- from Murshidabad district, fled Netaji ‘Desh Nayak’. What is this that her administration would the museum whichhouses the letin by the stateHealth the scene before the raid, he ‘Parakram’? What is the meaning celebratethe dayas“Desh photographs of the Azad Hind Department. added. of ‘Parakram Diwas’? If youdid The TMC rallyconcludedatKolkata’s RedRoad whereCM NayakDiwas”. Recently, TMC Fauj. He wasshown the table Total5,51,211Covid patients, The second raid wascon- notwant to consult me, youcould MamataBanerjee and others paid tributetoNetaji. Shashi Ghosh RajyaSabha MP Sukhendu usedbyNetajiinSingapore. including 474inthe last24 ductedat Fulbari in Jalpaiguri dis- have consulted SugataBose Shekhar Royhad written alet- GovernorJagdeepDhankarwas hours, have been discharged. trict and tworesidentsof (Netaji's grand-nephew, chair- tertoModi, demanding that accompanying Modi. This means that the statehas Haryana were arrested on the man of the Netaji Research Because Tagore gave him the ti- Netaji’s statue. She blewaconch pending files and abook on Modi later visited the 6,396 active cases while the re- charge of online fraud, the officer Bureauand aformer Trinamool tle...because Netaji gave Tagore’s shell to markhis birth anniver- Netaji written by aDefence National Libraryinthe city and covery rateshas improved to said. MP)? If your action is wrong, we song recognition as the anthem.” sary. The stategovernment had Ministrypanel decades agobe paid floral tributes at Netaji's 97.09 per cent.. At least52SIM cards, Rs 1.5 will give youareaction.” Banerjee concludedthe six- earlier asked people to markthe made public. statue.Headmiredpaintingsby As manyas28,242 samples lakh in cash, severalmobile She added, “I don’t under- km rallybyraisingthe slogans of occasion by blowing conchshells were tested since Friday, taking phones and avehicle were stand the word ‘parakram’... Iun- “Jai Hind”, “Subhas Bose and ululating at 12.15pm, the the total number to 78,08,082. seizedfromtheir possession, he derstand his [Netaji's] ‘desh Zindabad”, and “JoyBangla”. time of Bose’s birth. Apartfrom Of the fresh cases,North 24 added. prem’. Netaji is aphilosophy...an Earlier in the day, the chief cabinetministers and govern- Parganas recordedthe highestin The accusedallegedly usedto emotion...he believedinthe unity ministerled the rallyfrom ment officials, alarge number of the stateat128, followedby gather details of ATMcards from of religions. Whyhavewede- Shyambazar five-point crossing, people, including party leaders Kolkata's 89. ENS people and then lootthem. claredtoday‘DeshnayakDiwas’? whereshe paid homageat and workers, participated in the

STATUE UNVEILED

MaharashtraCMUddhavThackeray on Saturdayunveiledin Mumbai astatue of Balasaheb Thackeray on his 95th birth anniversary, with the opening line of his speeches ‘Jamlelya majhyatamam Hindu bandhavano, bhaginino ani matano (AllmyHindu brothers, sisters and mothers gathered here)’ inscribed on itsbase. This is the firststatue of the Sena founder in the city. Pradip Das

Another cross-border tunnel PUBLIC NOTICE It is notiied to all concerned that the original Deed of Conveyance bearing found in J&K, second in 10 days no. 2806 for the year 1997 registered in the ofice of ADSR Howrah with respect to ALL THATland measuring about 02 Cottahs and 03 Chittaks in ARUNSHARMA Mouza-Kona, J.L. No.07, L.R Dag JAMMU,JANUARY23 no.523 under L.R Khatian no.1352, under P.S-Bally under the jurisdiction of Howrah Municipal Corporation THEBSFSaturdaydetectedyetan- owned by one Sri Guruprasad Rajak. other cross-border tunnel near he have already lodged aGeneral the International Border in Dairy with the Oficer-in-Charge of Liluah Police Station Police Station JammuandKashmir’sKathuadis- vide GDE no. 296 dated 06-08-2016 trict. This wasthe second tunnel regarding the loss of the said deed. foundinKathuadistrictinthelast Any body having custody of the 10 days. The tunnel is around 150m said deed or having any information Thelatesttunnel,accordingto long and 30ftdeep . Express thereof or any claim over the said property or the said deed may BSFofficials,isaround150mlong kindly intimate the under named and 30 ft deep. Unlikepreviously person within 07 days from the discoveredtunnels,though,ithas Pakistan’s Abhiyal Dograand date hereof failing which no such claim shall be entertained. adiametersignificantlylarger Kingre-de-Kothe outposts in Ayan Mitra, Advocate. WB/420/2009 than 3ft. Officials said the tunnel Shakargarh district. This is the ACUMEN Legal &Advisory Unit openedupinsidethebarbedwire sameareawhereBSFshotdowna no. 4Q, 4Govt. Place (North) Kolkata-700001 Mobile No. fence between BSF border posts drone carrying arms and ammu- 9674292623/7980380619 14 and 15—an area oppositeto nition in June 2020. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 4 EXPRESS NETWORK

MAN BOOKED FOR ‘NAMAZ’ IN UP TEMPLE HC grants anticipatory bail:‘Arrest 15lakhvaccinatedin TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE NUMBER OF should be last option forpolice’ VACCINATIONS (JAN 23) December 18. cases wherearresting the ac- Week1;Covaxinnow 1,46,598 ASADREHMAN During Tuesday’s hearing, Ali cusedisimperative or his custo- LUCKNOW,JANUARY23 Qambar Zaidi, the counsel for dial interrogation is required,” Total:15,37,190 Mohammed, had submitted that the judgesaid. GRANTINGANTICIPATORYbail “onlyonthe basis of photo- “In the case of Joginder NUMBER OF ADVERSE to an accusedinacase filedfor graphs whichwent viral, the ap- Kumar vs.State of Uttar Pradesh insevenmorestates EVENTS AFTER “hurting religious sentiments”, plicant cannotbesaid to have the AIR 1994 SC 1349,the apexcourt IMMUNIZATION the Allahabad High Courthas intention to disturb the commu- hasreferredtothe thirdreportof observed that irrational and in- nal harmonyofthe society”. the National Police Commission, KAUNAINSHERIFFM Vaccination 123 discriminatearrests areagross The additional government wherein it is mentionedthat ar- NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 drive in progress Total:1,643 violation of human rights. advocate, appearing forthe state, restsbythe police in India are at Rajawadi On November 2, four men opposedthe plea saying “that in one of the chief source of corrup- AWEEK afteritrolledout the Hospital CASES: ACTIVECASES:185,662 belonging to the Khudai viewofthe seriousness of the al- tion in the police,” said the order. world’s largest immunisation Mumbai on 327 DAYSSINCE 1,06,39,684 DEATHS:153,184 Khidmatgar —aDelhi-basedor- legations made againstthe ap- “The reportsuggestedthat, drive againstCovid-19, India on Saturday. PANDEMIC ganisation —werebooked after plicant, he is notentitledtogrant by and large,nearly 60 percent Saturdaycompletedadminister- Deepak Joshi BEGAN TESTS: 19,09,85,119 | RECOVERIES: 1,03,00,838 twoofthem allegedly offered of anticipatorybail”. of the arrestswereeither unnec- ing the firstdose of the vaccine to CASES DEATHS RECOVERIES TESTS namaz at Nand Mahal temple in Observing that it is unclear essaryorunjustifiedand that morethan15 lakhbeneficiariesin JAN22 UP’s Mathuradistrict. One of when the police will arrest suchunjustifiedpolice action ac- the priority groups of healthcare sation drive. arethenewstatesthatwilladmin- 14,256 15217,130837,095 them, Faisal Khan, wasarrested Mohammed, the single-judge counted for43.2 percent of ex- andfrontline workers. In the firstweek,atotal of 11 isterCovaxin from next week,the from Delhi afterthe FIR wasfiled benchofJustice Siddharth said, penditureofthe jails,” read the Atotal of 15,37,190benefici- beneficiaries have been hospital- health ministrysaid. STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMCASES while the others had been iden- “Thereisnodefiniteperiod fixed order.The judgefurther said per- aries have been vaccinated izedafter reporting an adverse Currently, only12stateswere CASES(JAN22) TOTAL tifiedasChand Mohammed, forthe police to arrest an ac- sonal liberty is aprecious funda- through 27,776 vaccination ses- event postimmunization -- using both Covaxin and Serum Kerala 6,753 877,283 Alok Ratanand Nilesh Gupta. cused...” mental right and should be cur- sions till 6pmonSaturday, the 0.0007per cent of the total vacci- Institute-manufactured Maharashtra2,779 2,003,657 Mohammedwas granted an- “Courts have repeatedly held tailedonlywhen it is imperative. health ministrysaid. nations. Six deaths have been re- Covishield.“Orientation of all Tamil Nadu 574833,585 ticipatorybail by the High Court that arrest should be the lastop- The courtrefusedtoexpress any India’s crossing the 15-lakh portedinthe country, but the Programme Managers of these 7 in an order passedonTuesday. tion forthe police and it should opinion on the meritsofthe case markinaweek afterthe rollout healthministryhassaidthat“none States wasconducted todayby STATESREPORTINGMAXIMUMDEATHS Faisal Khan wasgranted bail on be restricted to those exceptional and granted anticipatorybail. waslaunchedonJanuary16is of thesedeathshave beencausally ICMR &Health Ministrycovering DEATHS(JAN21) TOTAL significantlyhigher than num- linkedwithCovid-19vaccination”. allaspectsofimplementationpro- Maharashtra5651,904 bers in the firstweek across Inthesecondweek,thehealth tocols,” said Dr Manohar Agnani, Kerala 19 3,612 Tamil Nadu: other countries: the US vacci- ministrysaidthatsevennew states Additional Secretary, Ministryof Chhattisgarh8 3,601 UP: Boy charged under nated 5.56 lakh, 1.37 lakh were will also use the Bharat Biotech- Health and FamilyWelfare. Two held for inoculated in the UK while ICMR vaccine -- Covaxin -- that is AgnanisaidthattheIndiangov- DataasonJanuary22,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealthandFamilyWelfare,IndianCouncilofMedical Researchandstategovernments.Oftenthenumbersreleasedeverydaycontaindatafrompreviousdays anti-conversion law Russia vaccinated 52,000. being administeredina“clinical ernment also completedthe two- aswell.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareonlyindicativeandnotdefinitive killing stray dog As per the official datacom- trial mode” cleared forrestricted daytraining of the Immunization piledbythe Health Ministryon use on the basis of onlysafetyand Programme Managers of 13 coun- MANISHSAHU The boyisaccusedof Chennai: The Madurai Police ar- Saturdaymorning, Karnataka, immunogenicitydatafromphase tries -- Bahrain, Bangladesh, NAVYPLANEDELIVERSVACCINESTOMAURITIUS,SEYCHELLES LUCKNOW, JANUARY 23 abducting a15-year-old restedtwopeopleonSaturdayfor AndhraPradesh, Odisha, Uttar 1and 2ofthe human clinical tri- Bhutan,Brazil,Maldives,Mauritius, NewDelhi: APoseidon 8I air- Mauritius and 50,000 doses to killing astray dog. The accused Pradesh, and Telangana reported als. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, craftofthe Indian Navy Seychelles as partofIndia’s A17-YEAR-OLD boyinGhazipur girlearlier this week had also made avideo of the dog the highestcumulative vaccina- Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Nepal, Oman, Seychelles and Sri transported1,00,000 doses of grantsassistance, officials said district has been detainedunder when she wasonher beingattackedwithalog.Theclip tionsinthefirstweekof immuni- Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal Lanka. coronavirus vaccines to on Saturday. PTI the newanti-conversion lawand wasshared widelyonsocial me- on kidnapping charges. waytoamarket to dia, sparking outrage. He is accusedofabducting a buy medicine According to police, one K Kerala polls: Congress to 15-year-old girlearlier this week Muthusaravanan paid Rs 500to Lalu flown to AIIMS Delhi for when she wasonher waytoa Vimalraj to killthedogasitusedto market to purchase amedicine. The following day, the girl’s barkathim. “Neighbours said seek public opinion This is the firstcase registered mother visited the local station Muthusaravanan usedtotrouble ‘high-level check-up, treatment’ under anti-conversion lawin and told the police that aboy the dog and pelt stones at it. This whichaminor boyhas been from the neighbouring village had probablymade the dog bark before drafting manifesto booked. had kidnappedher daughter on at him often. At one point, ABHISHEKANGAD The police detainedthe boy the pretextofmarriage. She said Muthusaravanan complained Shashi Tharoor will meetacross RANCHI,JANUARY23 on Fridayand found the girlwith the boymight trytoconvert her about the dog to aperson who SHAJUPHILIP section of people, including him. “The boywas producedbe- daughter’s religion. wasfeeding it. He took the dog THIRUVANANTHAPURAM youth and students, in various RJD CHIEF Lalu Prasad wason fore aJuvenile Justice Board, The girl’s mother got acase away due to complaintsbut the JANUARY23 districts. He will hold discussions Saturdayflown to All India whichsent him to aprotection lodged againstthe boys and two dog managed to return,” an offi- with various people to under- InstituteofMedical Sciences (AI- home. The girl’s statement to the of his friends, also 17 years old, cerattheSellurpolicestationsaid. THE CONGRESS in Kerala on stand their problems. We want IMS) Delhi for“high-levelcheck- magistrateisyet to be exam- on various charges, including Police booked both persons Saturdaydecidedtotakepublic to look intowhat people require up and treatment”. ined,” said the circle officer of the conspiracy and kidnapping and under the Prevention of Cruelty opinion intoconsideration before before finalising the manifesto." This comes afterLalu (72), a area wherethe alleged incident inducing awoman to compel her againstAnimals Act, 1960. ENS drafting amanifesto forthe Opposition leader Ramesh convict in fodder scam cases, occurred. marriage. The boy’s friends were Assemblyelections. Chennithala later said that the complainedofill health in The officer said the girlwas bookedforallegedly helping him As the Congress high com- food kit (welfarescheme) was RajendraInstituteofMedical medicallyexaminedand would abduct the girl. Theyhavenot 2children die in mand took control of the election notwhat helpedLDF win local Sciences (RIMS) Ranchi, where be handedovertoher familyaf- been caught yet. The police spoke management in Kerala, party MP body elections. "Party leaders he has been undergoing terlegal formalities conclude. to local residentsand afriend of Lucknow fire Shashi Tharoor wasassignedthe should go to the people. Many treatment. The girl’s neighbour told The the girl. Basedontheir informa- task to learn about the issues of a leaders do notknowwhat is hap- Jharkhand Jail IG Birendra Indian Express that on Tuesday tion, the twoweretrackeddown. Lucknow: Twochildren —aone- cross-section of people. Tharoor pening in their area," he said. Bhushan said aboardofdoctors she went out to purchase medi- The girl’s mother told The year-old and his four-year-old is among the 10-member elec- The firstmeeting of the com- took stockofhis ill-health and cine. In the afternoon, alocal res- Indian Express that her daughter brother —diedofsuffocation af- tion management and strategy mittee wasattendedbyAICC advisedthat he be shifted ident sawher getting intoacar had nevertold her about the ac- terafirebroke out from abon- committee forKerala formedby delegates including Rajasthan to AIIMS. with aboy from aneighbouring cused. fire in the basement of anewly- the high command lastweek. Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, "For ahigh-levelcheck-up village. The man immediatelyin- “I have come to knowthat the constructed house under the Afterthe firstmeeting of the former Goa chief minister and treatment at AIIMS after formedthe girl’s family, who boy’s house is locatedclose to my Krishna Nagarpolice station area committee, itschairman and for- Luizinho Faleiroand former recommendation of RIMS doc- then startedlooking forher.The daughter’s school,” the mother of LucknowonSaturday. The de- mer chief ministerOommen Karnataka deputy chief minis- tors, Lalu Prasad has been sent RJD chief Lalu Prasad being shiftedtoAIIMS in Delhi from girl’s father,who worksinapri- added. ceasedhavebeen identifiedas Chandy told the media, "Wehave terGParameshwara. Lastweek, foramonth. At the end of the RIMS in Ranchi on Saturday. PTI vate firm in Lucknow, reached Nineteen cases have so far Ritik and his younger brother decidedtotakethe opinion of the three other AICC leaders toured period, the Jail Superintendent the villageafter coming to know been lodgedin 17 districtsunder Shantanu. The victims were liv- people before preparing the parts of the state, attending will makehim come back. If the about the matter,said the neigh- the anti-conversion lawsince its ing with their familyinthe base- manifesto.The UDF manifesto meetings of district and block situation arises, he maytravel ill health, doctors at RIMS Ranchi From the distribution of bour. promulgation. ment. ENS should reflect the people’s senti- levelleaders, taking inputson abroad forcheck-up subject to had said that he had improved patches, one can sayitis mentsand demands. PartyMP candidates and local political the discretion of AIIMS doctors. marginallyand wascurrently favouring bacteria, notvirus. It strategies. In case he cannotbeadmitted stable. Doctors said he has tested is consistent with the reports. The high command delega- immediately, Tihar jail authori- negative forCovid-19. He is on antibiotic and showing tion gave astrong messageto ties arerequestedtotakecareof RIMS Director Kameshwar marginal improvement." stateleadersthat winnability his security," said Jail IG Yadavsaid: "Thereisasmall Later in the evening, PTI re- alone would matter in choosing BirendraBhushan. patchofpneumonic consolida- portedthat Lalu wasadmitted candidates. AfterLalu had complainedof tion due to bacteria, notvirus. to AIIMS.

SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE Hˆ#ÜDÜ ½Üèˆ#Üèôh #bô½ X6ôX“lX VM,­fX ôX“lX bM¤ôbM¡;4[w8>8>68;w֔w1 7 Mè­l­“Ð¥%“f,­M“„w tM%ôXæMwlô„]ÍM““Xf,­M“ôª ¾­ô, ­g%,­M“ “X,÷M €ô ­“ yM“XnnϪyM“XnË脓lyM“X nË Ïª P„ñ­“Ð 8>>•• ¾n Three staffers of ô „“ô•­ôô­M“•„­“ª ÍM“ô, %f,­M“ „“l ÍM••­ôô­M“­“ÐM^5PP ¢PÖ/ „,” „“MM ª ÍM•]M%“lɄwwª è]] M„fæ M„l „“l d„­“,X“„“fX M^ ”ò­ô,­“Ð ,„“€ „, ËX,,€€„è„w„ Bilaspur shelter 7„“fæ„ñ„,æô­“TMww„•¾­ô, f,”d¾¤/ô¡[>>>>>w6ôX“lX ^XX¤/ô¡;[>>> 8W>> ;;UT ¢Öô 2 n, ÷­ww gX ]„­lgñ,æXfM“, „f,M M“ XèX ôXfæ„ ÐXg„ô­ô ÷æ­wX^­w­“Ð æ­ô X,% “ô8¡P„ô, ¾„,X^M ô%g•­,,­“Ð ôX“lX ¤;[6>868>8; >8¤>>¤]• ¡7æM“X¤ >4W468W4[8S5 home held, 2on ÉXgô­,X¤÷÷÷¡€÷„¡€X „w„¡ÐMè¡­“ª÷÷÷¡X,X “lX ô¡€X „w„¡ÐMè¡­“ Ö%]X ­“,X“l­“Д“Э“XX the run: Police TÉè6yÏ6¢P6Y6S>S68>8>68; 7tÍ­ fwXª TMww„• E-TENDER N.I.T.no-WBMAD/e-Tender/12ofEE EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE (N24)-2020-21,Date. 23/01/2021. The Executive Engineer,M.E.Dte BILASPUR,JANUARY23 (Authorized Signatory) on behalf of the District Magistrate, North 24 THREE WOMEN employees of Pgs. invites e-Tender for different Chhattisgarh’s Shivmangal development work under “Paray Shikshan Samitithat ranthe Samadhan” within Madhyamgram Ujjawala Home in Bilaspur were Municipality respectively are from the eligible Contractors, having all arrestedonFridaywhiletwoother relevant documents for TENDER womenstaffmembersareonthe (As per Govt. Norms) required run, police said. [Collection (downloading) and Thepresidentof theNGOwas Submission (uploading)] of Tender arrested on chargesofsexually can be made online through https://wbtenders.gov.in.Bid andphysicallyabusingwomenon submission end date:- 01/02/2021. Thursday,days afterthreewomen Sd/- —who escapedfromthe home Executive Engineer earlier this week —alleged that North 24 Pgs. Divn. M.E.Dte. theyweredrugged and rapedat the government-aidedshelter. ''IMPORTANT'' Meanwhile, awoman who Whilst care is taken prior to waslodgedattheshelterhomefor acceptance of advertising three months in 2012-2013 has copy,itisnot possible to verify submitted an application at the its contents. The Indian Bilaspur SP’s office, alleging that Express (P) Limited cannot be held responsible for such the president of the NGOkept contents, nor for any loss or women againsttheir will in the damage incurred as aresult of home.“WhenIwasstayingthere, transactions with companies, …(he) would come to our room associations or individuals andtouchthementallydisturbed advertising in its newspapers or Publications. We therefore patients’chestandwaist.If some- recommend that readers one objected,wewereforcedto make necessary inquiries beat them,” read the letter ac- before sending any monies or cessedbyThe SundayExpress. entering into any agreements The woman alleged that she with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in wasnot allowedtomeetherfam- any manner whatsoever. ily, even her 6-year-old daughter, who wasatanother shelter. Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 GOVT &POLITICS 5

Judicial review a DISTRIBUTES OVER 1LAKH LAND CERTIFICATES Shah says boundary issues remedy to prevent Indigenousfamiliesdeniedrights in NE will be solved soon ABHISHEKSAHA abuse of spl powers: overlandforyears:PMinAssam GUWAHATI,JANUARY23 INTER-STATE BOUNDARYissues Justice Surya Kant between the Northeastern states ABHISHEKSAHA Outreachamid will soon besolved, Union Home GUWAHATI,JANUARY23 MinisterAmit Shah said in anti-CAA E Shillong on Saturday. At another ● sentiment EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModi EXPLAINED event in Assam’s Guwahati, Shah NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 on Saturdaysaid that whether it launchedthe Ayushman CAPF Home MinisterAmit Shah be the Atal Bihari Vajpayeegov- WHILE THE PM spokeof scheme fornearly 28 lakh secu- launches the ‘Ayushman THE EXTENT of delegation of ernment or the current NDAone, the indigenous people of rity personnel. scheme’ forCAPF personnel powers under special statutes to safeguarding Assam’s culture, Assam severaltimes in his The minister’s comments in Guwahati on Saturday. PTI deal with terrorism, etc., can be a Justice Surya Kant; self-respectandsecurityhasbeen speech, he did notmen- come months afterclashes in causeof concernasitcreatesasit- Justice NVRamana the priority. tion contentious issues border villages of Assam and uationrifeforarbitraryexerciseof PM Modi addressedapublic suchasthe Citizenship Mizoram escalated,highlighting Centre’s healthcareprogramme powerswhichcanendangerindi- event at the historic Jerenga Amendment ActorClause the longstanding boundarydis- to the central armedpolice vidual liberty and human rights, no regretsand that he sawmany Pothar in Sivasagar district and PM NarendraModi with Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowalat 6ofthe Assam Accord. putes in the Northeast. forces, Shah hit out at those crit- but judicial reviewprovides the youngpeoplesacrificingtheirlives ceremoniallydistributed over 1 apublic meeting in Sivasagar district on Saturday. PTI With newregional parties “The whole countryisone, so icising the efficacy of Covid vac- remedy to prevent anyabuse fordefending human rights. The lakh land pattas to families from being floated in the state we have to aim to find complete cines. “Thereare some people when harsh measures become experienceof thetimeunderlined indigenous communities across on the backofanti-CAA solutions to the issues,” Shah said who arespreading misinforma- necessarytodeal with extraordi- theimportanceof understanding the state. hearth)”. The Sonowal-ledgov- nowbenefitfromseveralgovern- sentiment, the allotment while delivering the inaugural tion on the vaccines. Come to an- narysituations, Supreme Court theconceptofemergency,hesaid. “In Assam, it is sad that even ernment has already allotted 1.10 ment schemes.” The PM said of land pattas is seen as a address of the 69th meeting of other platform and let’s have a judgeJustice Surya Kant said on Justice DYChandrachud said aftersomanyyears of independ- lakhpattasoverthelastfour-and- these people will nowbeable to necessary reach-out to the NorthEastCouncil (NEC) in duel. But whyare youcreating Saturday. the book comes at the mostop- ence, therehaveremainedso a-half-years, and Saturday’s de- getloans from banksagainstthe boostthe BJP’s ‘jati, mati Shillong. “Thereshould also bean doubt over people’s health and “Theremedyundoubtedly lies portune time as justlastyear saw manysuchindigenous families velopment adds over one lakh land and can be assured of the and bheti’ credentials, and effort to eliminatethe entirechal- doing politics,” he asked. intheoverwhelmingandextraor- the executive in manycountries who, forone reason or the other, familiesto thelistofbeneficiaries. benefit of schemes suchasPM help it counter resent- lenges likeborder disputes and Shah said that afterassuming dinarypowerofjudicial review adopting exceptional powers to didn’t getlegal rightsovertheir “Earlier governmentsdid not KisanSammanNidhi,Kisancredit ment, ahead of elections. smuggling of drugs from abroad. office as the Home Ministerhe vested in everyjurisdictional ju- tackle the Covid -19pandemic. ownland. Forthis reason, alarge give priorityto yourconcerns.But card, and Crop Insurance Policy. The Central government has had held interactive sessions dicialsystem,”theSupremeCourt He said his transformative sectionof theAdivasicommunity theSarbanandaSonowal-ledgov- JayantaRay,afarmer belong- changed itsperspective of the with the CAPF personnel. He said judgesaid at the launchofthe yearsasastudentwere deeplyim- remainedlandless...When our ernment is seriouslyworking to ing to Rajbongshi community people of Assam,” he said. Northeast, so the Northeastwill that he realisedthat among ma- book ‘The LawofEmergency pactedby theEmergencyandthat government wasformedin solve your problems…Today, the from Bongaigaon district of JerengaPothar holds signifi- also have to changeits perception jor concerns forthe personnel Powers’, authored by Senior on account of the fact that his fa- Assam,6lakhindigenousfamilies Assam government is working to Assam, who wasabeneficiaryof cance in Assamese history be- of howitlooksuptothe Centre,” were quality medical treatment AdvocateAMSinghvi and Prof ther lateJustice YVChandrachud did nothavelegal papers fortheir protect the languageand culture Saturday’sevent,said,“Today, Ifi- cause it washerethat the 17th- Shah said. forthemselvesand their families, Khagesh Gautam. wasinSCthen,hegainedpersonal land,” Modi said. of indigenous people along with nallygot apattafor my land. Ihad centuryAhom princess Joymoti The Home Ministersaid the housing facilities and long peri- Justice Surya Kant said the insightintotribulationsof ajudge Assam is expected to go to protecting their rightsoverland,” appliedfor it long backbut never wastortured and killedbyher Northeastwas previouslyinfa- ods of duty away from home. worldtodayisafundamentally grappling with the situation. polls in April. The distribution of Modi said. Highlighting the im- got it. The pattaestablishes my brother-in-lawfor notrevealing mous forinsurgency but now Under the Ayushman CAPF different place and pointed out History,said Justice thelanddocumentsisinlinewith portanceof landpattas,Modisaid, right over my land...” the whereaboutsofher hus- “with peace, good news flows out scheme, around 28 lakh person- that no democratic nation has in- Chandrachud, has severalin- the promise made by the “Gettinglegalpapersof theirland PMModisaidthatforaself-re- band. Joymoti’s husband — of theNortheast”.Thestategovern- nel of CAPF,Assam Rifles and vokedsuchemergencypowersin stances of civil liberties being col- SarbanandaSonowal-ledgovern- fulfils the long demand of indige- liant India, rapid development of Prince Godapani —ultimately mentshaveachievedthisbyreach- National Security Guardand their the 21st century. This, he said, is lateral damageofnational emer- ment when it came to powerin nous people —and along with northeastisnecessary. “The road became the king, bringing an era ing out to small groups, he said. families will becoveredunder the because conquestand colonisa- gencyandreferredto theJabalpur 2016—toprotect “jati, mati and that, it also improves the quality to self-reliant Assam passes of stability and peace in Assam, Later,atanevent in Guwahati ‘Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan tionisnolongeraffordable.Focus ADM’sdecisionto upholdsuspen- bheti (community,land and of lifeoflakhs of people.Theycan through the confidence of the historians say. to extend the benefit of the Mantri Jan ArogyaYojana’. of governments, he said, has sionof fundamentalrightsduring shiftedtodemocratic unrestand Emergency. terrorism. Justice SKKaulsaid the judi- Justice NVRamana recalled cialerrorintheADMJabalpurcase Viva Group director Mehul Thakur arrested by ED that some members of the wascorrectedby thejudgmentin Constituent Assemblyhad ob- theAadhaarcasewhichlaiddown servedthatemergencyprovisions that certain rightsweremerely moters to the group without any usedto“divert hugefunds from plained,” the agency told the TheEDaddedthatChaturvedi Group, including the residence of areanecessaryevil aimedatre- recognisedbythe Constitution EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE monetary consideration. HDIL” in “connivance” with HDIL court. It claimedthat these funds assisted Mehul in transferring of Chaturvedi,inconnectionwithits solvingcrisesidentifiedunderthe and notconferredbyit. MUMBAI,JANUARY23 Mehul is the son of Deepak promoterRakesh Wadhawan. areapparentlythe illegal fund di- property of MackStartoViva probeintothe alleged Rs 6,200 Constitution. Unveiling the book Singhviflaggedthelacunaein Thakur,acousin of Hitendra The remand application sub- verted from the Punjab and Holdings and prepared the bal- crorefraud perpetrated by HDIL at avirtual event, he said the vol- thecountry’slegaleducationsys- THE ENFORCEMENT Directorate Thakur.The agency also arrested mitted by ED addedthat Viva MaharashtraCo-operative (PMC) ancesheetofthecompany, which to PMC Bank. ume rekindledhis memories of temand underlinedthe glaring (ED) on SaturdayarrestedMehul Madan Gopal Chaturvedi, achar- Holding, Viva Estate,VivaKshitz Bank.Besides,theagencysaidthat did notreflect the transactions PMCBankisunderregulatory the Emergency period. absence of genuine research. Thakur,Director of Viva Group – teredaccountant and director of Enterprises Private Limited and itsinvestigation has found that pertaining to these properties. restrictions afterthe RBI found fi- Justice Ramana, who is also While central universities run run by the familyofVasai MLA afew companies ownedby Viva Home Developers have re- MackStarMarketing Private The agency has claimedthat nancial irregularities in regard to the second senior-mostjudgeof their lawfaculties as lawschools, and leader of Bahujan Vikas Mehul. Later,alocal courtre- ceivedRs90.51crore,Rs70.11 Limited,acompanyoperationally bothMehulandChaturvediwere the loans giventoHDIL. The bank the court, said emergencies leave stateuniversitiesmostlyactasaf- Aghadi, HitendraThakur –for di- mandedMehulandChaturvedito crore, Rs 32.93 croreand Rs 2.75 controlledbyWadhawan, “ille- summonedfor questioning but has an exposureofoverRs6,200 along-lasting effect on genera- filiating universities, he said, verting over Rs 196crore from ED custody till January27. crore, respectively,fromHDIL. gallyandfraudulentlytransferred theydid notcooperatewith the croretoHDIL. The RBI has super- tions.Inhisowncase,ayearof ac- addingthatthisaffiliationsystem Housing Development The ED told the courtthat “Suchdiversion of funds from twocommercial properties of investigation and “failedtopro- sededthe boardofthe bank and ademicstudiesandmentalsuffer- is one of the biggestproblems InfrastructureLimited (HDIL) to Mehul, through his familymem- HDIL controlledbythe MackStarinMumbai, valuedat vide relevant factsintheir state- appointed an administrator. ing can be attributed to the 1975 plaguing legal education. the group and transferring two bers and relatives, ownedmore Wadhawans to the Viva Group Rs 34.36 crore, to Viva Holding, a ments”. Rakesh Wadhawanand his son Emergency,hepointed out. FULLREPORTON properties worthRs34crore of a than25companies.Mostofthese controlledbyMrMehul Thakur companyofVivaGroup” without OnFriday, theEDhadsearched Sarang Wadhawanare currently However, he said that he has www.indianexpress.com companycontrolledbyHDILpro- firms arenow defunct but were and others remain largely unex- anymonetary consideration. five locations linked to the Viva in jail in the PMC Bank scam case.

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Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM THE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 EXPRESS NETWORK 6

Farmers in UP take out PMlacksrespectforTN,controls tractor rally to Raj Bhavan stategovt:Rahulpollpushbegins

nessedaroadshowbyChief EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Ministerand AIADMK leader LUCKNOW,JANUARY23 CHENNAI,JANUARY23 Edappadi KPalaniswami on Saturday, Gandhi invokedmem- FOLLOWINGAcall forprotest MONTHS AHEAD of the ories of his familywith Tamil againstthe farm laws by the Assemblypolls and aweek after Nadu. Addressing agathering at BharatiyaKisan Union (BKU) and his visit to Madurai forPongal Chinniyampalayam, he reminded Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, hundreds celebrations and aJallikattu the crowdthat theyhad aloving of farmers with their tractors event, former Congress presi- relationship with his grand- gatheredat Gosaiganj area on the dent Rahul Gandhi on Saturday mother and father.“Youhave ourskirts of LucknowtoreachRaj launchedwhat maybehis givenmesomuchlovefor which Bhavaninashowofstrength. longestcampaign in Tamil Nadu Iamcommitted to you... That’s The farmers dispersedafter with aroadshowinCoimbatore. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in CoimbatoreonSaturday. PTI what made me come herenow.I submitting their memorandum Vishal Srivastav In his speeches, Gandhi was want to help youonce again to to senior officials, including Farmers protesting the newagri laws take out atractor rallyinLucknowonSaturday. seen largely targeting the BJP build Tamil Nadu,” he said. Governor’s Additional Chief government at the Centrerather ment of Tamil Nadu is under his Tamizh Vanakkam”, is packed The Congress leader said, “I Secretary, Additional Chief than the ruling AIADMK in the control. “NarendraModi feels with anumber of interactions, can see Tamil Nadu is India and Secretary(Home) and Lucknow state. that he can buy anybody.He including with representatives India is Tamil Nadu unlikeModi- Police Commissioner,said BKU The Congress leader’s three- thinkshecan frighten anybody. of MSMEs in Coimbatoreand in- ji, who says Tamil Nadu is partof statevice-president Harinam Man held for ‘conspiracy’: Cops dayvisit will coverimportant He does notunderstand that just dustrial and other working class India but India is notTamil Nadu. Singh Verma. portions of the western Tamil because he is forsale does not people in Tirupur.Hewill also NarendraModi disrespects According to Verma, afew Nadu districts, including mean Tamil Nadu is forsale,” he visit memorials of regional, com- Tamil Nadu. We will neverallow hundredtractors and over 8,000 say scripted, kin dispute his claim Coimbatore, Tirupur and Karur. said. Asserting that Nagpur -- a munity leaders of the Kongu belt disrespect towardsTamil peo- men gathered at Kabirpur in “You have agovernment in reference to the RSS headquar- suchasDheeran Chinnamalai ple,” he said. Gosaiganj. He will go to Delhi to “Weare questioning him, but of the police stations in Sirsa, Tamil Nadu that is compro- ters -- cannotdecide the future who fought the British. During his long interaction attend the tractor rallyon VARINDERBHATIA& nothing has so farbeen found whichis250 km away from the mised. NarendraModi uses of Tamil Nadu, Gandhi said the Aftermeetings in with different groups, including January26, the Republic Day, and SUKHBIRSIWACH that pointstoany kind of con- place whereheinitiallyclaimed agencies likeCBI and Tamil people will decide the Coimbatore, Gandhi stoppedhis MSME representativesand the farmers who will nothead to CHANDIGARH,JANUARY23 spiracy,asisbeing alleged,” an he wascontacted.” Enforcement Directoratefor state’s future. convoy fortea at an ordinarycafe labourers, he criticisedthe GST Delhi will roll out similar rallies official said. DGP Manoj Yadava said the this,” Gandhi said, adding that Other than brief public at Avinashi before starting his system and howindustries had in their blocks and tehsils. FARMERS CLAIM an assasination Asenior police officer told police would issue an official Modi cannotcontrol the people speeches en route, Gandhi’s campaign in Tirupur. been affected by the taxpolicy “Today, our plan wastosub- conspiracy.The police dismiss it The Indian Express:“The scriptis statement on the episode soon. of Tamil Nadu even if the govern- campaign plan, titledas“Rahulin While Coimbatorealso wit- and demonetisation. mit memorandum to all the as “a third-grade Bollywood worse than athird-grade In the video, Yogesh Singh Governors across the country. script”. The man at the centreof Bollywood script. That boywas claims that he went to Delhi on Our main demand is that the it all says he wascaught on afalse in the illegal custody of these January19tovisit his maternal three farm laws be repealed. allegation of harassment. But his people (farmers) forthe past uncle. “At4:30 pm on January19, At Singhu protest site, no pause to rush However, our demands arealso ownmother disputes aspectsof three days.Hetold us therewere Iwas passing through the Kundli related to sugarcane payments his story. twomoreboys with him who area. Itold them (farmers) alie and non-purchase of produce on One dayafter farmers at the were detainedbythese people. that somebody wasinvolvedin of new tractors, hundreds more pour in the MSP.Besides, Chief Minister Singhu border paradedaman He waspressured to issue such eve-teasing. Theythought that I Yogi Adityanath repeatedly says before the media, claiming that astatement. The food stall where wasinvolvedinthe eve-teasing. that the ongoing “andolan had been sent to disrupttheir ag- he waseating and from where Theyassaulted me aftertaking ASHNABUTANI (protest)” is notbeing held in itation,the chain of eventslead- some boys abducted him has me to acamp. Theyasked me to NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 Uttar Pradesh, but onlyinPunjab ing to his capturehas justbe- been traced. We have recorded do what theywant. Four other and Haryana. We wanted to an- come moremuddled. statementsthat corroboratehis boys were also caught by them.” AS REPUBLIC Daygrows closer, swer him with ashowof While the youth had told the version. His phone's towerloca- Yogesh’s mother,however, hundredsmorehavebeen pour- strength. If theywould have media on Fridaythat he waspart tion, call detail records, every- contradicted his version. “He ing intothe protestsiteatSinghu thought that the “andolan” com- of ateam of tenassignedthe task thing has been verifiedwhich told me he wasgoing forduty. everyfew hours, with tractors prisedonlyafew people, they of inciting violence, apurported corroborates his statement that Later,hetold me on phone that and trolleys carrying protesters would nothavetriedtorestrict video of him that appeared on he wasabducted by these peo- he waswith afriend and won’t arriving via the Eastern our movement,” Verma said. Saturdayhad him claiming that ple who forced him to make return home today. At midnight Peripheral Expressway.This, de- LucknowPolice he wasforcedtomakethese suchastatement.” (of January22-23) at 2:30 am, spitethe Centreoffering to keep Commissioner DKThakur said statements. The officer added: "The SHO five policemen came to our the newfarm laws in abeyance the farmers' protestwas peace- The youth, 21-year-old whose name this boyhad earlier home and took Yogesh’s father for18months. Police estimate ful and all security measures Yogesh Singh, is being quizzedin takeninthe video that wasshot with them,” she said, adding that that over 30,000 protesters are were taken. He claimedthat the Sonipat by the Haryana Police by these people who kept him in Yogesh’s maternal uncle had al- nowatthe site. gathering included500 men, Crime Branch. Theysay the illegal custody....thereisnoSHO ready diedand “wehavenot At the entrypoint of the both from local areas and other Sonipat resident, aClass 9 by that name in entireHaryana, been in touchwith his children”. protestsite, Tarlochan Singh districts, with around 70 tractors. dropout, has no criminal record. exceptone who is postedinone (WITHPTIINPUTS) (45), who runs alangar,distrib- uted peanutstotractors coming in on Saturday. "Wehavenot made anyspecial arrangements MP: ClashesatCong farm protest; 110 detained forthose coming in, but we dis- tributewhatever we have avail- vant IPC sections againstseveral able so that theyfeel welcome. Agroup of farmers arrive at Singhu border with their tractors, Saturday. GajendraYadav EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Congressworkersforcarryingout Today, vehicles startedpouring BHOPAL,JANUARY23 the rallywithout permission and early in the morning. Since then, breachingthepeaceunderIPCsec- at leastathousand have en- Karnal and that the routetook said. Mogadistrict, who wasdriving a MORE THAN 50 Congress work- tions147(Punishmentforrioting), tered," he said. 24 hours. Karamjeetsaid he and oth- tractor-trolley, said this is his ers and five policemen were in- 148(Rioting, armedwith deadly Atractor with four students As the protestsitewas ers from his district had made it fifthvisit to the border —he jured in aclash whichbroke out weapon), 341(Punishment for from Hoshiarpur,all with a abuzz with newvehicles com- apoint to be present at the bor- keeps going backand forthtore- duringaprotest march againstthe wrongful restraint) and 353 farming background, was ing in throughout the day, an- ders forRepublic Day. He said plenish his stockofration and Centre'snewfarmlaws inBhopal (Assault or criminal forcetodeter among the vehicles rolling in on nouncementsweremade on the march will be peaceful and tend to his fields. on Saturday, police said. Around public servant from discharge of Saturdayafternoon. The four speakers giving trafficadvice that theywill followthe route Gaurav Kumar (28) from 110partymen, including former his duty). said theywererepresenting to prevent jams. their leaders ask them to take. Yamuna NagarinHaryana chief ministerandRajyaSabhaMP Policesaidthemarch wascar- their families who could not KaramjeetSingh (50), who While almostall newtrac- reachedthe border twodays ear- Digvijaya Singh, were detained riedout without permission and makeittothe protest. "Weare reachedthe sitefromAmritsar tors and trolleys carriedration lier.Hesaid, "Manyofour fami- duringtheclashbutwere released During the protestinBhopal. PTI that theytook action at all studying to go to collegein three days ago, said it is astrug- forthe coming days,some car- lies have notcome because later in the day, theyadded RoushanpuraChouraha, when Canada next year.Wetook a gletoget parking forone's vehi- riedwood, warm clothes, chairs someone has to stay home. But The march waspartofatwo- protesters triedbreak barricades break from our studies to come cle. "Vehicles come in and head andraw material to setuptents. on the 26th, theywill all bepres- week programme of the state Congress workers were partof isterPCSharma, MLAJaivardhan andheadtowardstheRajBhavan. here, especiallyfor the march on straight towardsthe stage. They Everyone agreedonone thing: ent too." Congress to showsupportfor the Tuesday’s protest. Singh and Kunal Choudhary. The Congress said protesters Republic Day,"said Jaskaran parkwherever theyget space. that theywould notgobackun- He said his wifeand two farmers camping at Delhi's bor- Aside from Singh, those de- Acase wasregisteredatTT were peacefullymarching to- Singh (18), adding that they If notinthe front, theygoback til the laws arerepealed. sons will reachthe border on ders. Police said about 2,000 tainedincludedformerstatemin- Nagarpolice station under rele- wardsRaj Bhavan. came via Ludhiana and passed towardsthe expressway," he Lakhveer Singh (25) from January25. Notification out for Social media trial unacceptable: Andhra rural polls; MJ Akbar in officials skip meet defamation case EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 the government's Special Leave PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA Petition in the Supreme Court ATRIAL by social media is unac- AMARAVATI,JANUARY23 againstadivision benchorder of ceptable in acountrywhichfol- the AndhraPradesh High Court lows rule of law, former Union THE STATEElection Commission giving the nod forconduct of the ministerMJAkbar -- who has on Saturdayissuedthe notifica- elections from February5was filedacriminal defamation case tion forconduct of elections to found to be notinproper format againstjournalistPriyaRamani gram panchayats in Andhra by the Registry, Lawdepartment over allegations of sexual mis- Pradesh, aday afterthe YSJagan sources said. conduct and harassment -- told Mohan Reddy government, The benchonThursdayal- aDelhi courtthrough his lawyers whichisvehementlyopposedto lowedthe SEC’s appeal againsta on Saturday. the conduct of the polls, in- single judge’s order on January Akbar has suedRamani over formedthe poll body that the 11 suspending the poll schedule. allegations of sexual misconduct time wasnot conducive forthe Chief SecretaryAdityaNath and harassment. With several exercise. Das, Director General of Police D other women making similar al- Hours afterthe StateElection GSawang,PanchayatRaj Principal legations against him, Akbar re- Commission issuedthe notifica- SecretaryGopal Krishna Dwivedi signedasMinisterofState for tion, topofficials, including the did notattend the video confer- During the final rehearsal forRepublic DayatRajpath on Saturday. Tashi Tobgyal External Affairs in October 2018. chief secretary, did notattend a ence convenedbyState Election The submissions were made video conference convenedby Commissioner Nimmagadda by senior advocateGeeta Luthra the SEC to discuss the polls as RameshKumaronSaturdayafter- on behalf of Akbar before well as the Covid-19vaccination noon to discuss the gram pan- Additional Chief Metropolitan programme. chayat elections, firstphase of No motorcycle stunts,nobravery awards,fewer MagistrateRavindraKumar The government had as- whichwill be held on February5, Pandey. Her rebuttal could notbe sertedonFridayitwould be as well as the vaccination pro- completedand will be heard “ready to conduct the elections gramme, official sources said. spectators:New normal at Republic Dayparade again on January27. after60days of completion of The benchonThursdayal- Luthrabegan by telling the firstround of vaccination of lowedthe SEC’s appeal againsta courtthat ajournalistdoes not frontlinepersonnel who would single judge’s order on January comprise five women in an 11- gravity-defyingstuntsbymotorcy- stop at National Stadium instead pressed“regret”thathewouldnot have special privileges. “Press be involvedinthe polls”. Also, 11 suspending the poll schedule. EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE member contingent. “The Ladakh cle-bornemenwillbemissing,the of following the regular routeto be able to visit India. council says youhavetobere- NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 tableauhighlightsthe vision for spectatorsizetoohasbeenreduced the RedFort. The Uttar Pradesh All members of the tableaux sponsible. Thereare judgments Ladakh to be carbon-neutral, and to25,000fromaround1.25lakhlast tableauwillfeatureareplicaof the contingentsfromvarious states, that sayyou cannothaveaparal- Gujarat local body polls on Feb 21, 28 SEVERAL CHANGES will be seen exemplaryfor the world. It also year.Theparadeofchildrenwhore- RamTemple being built in ministries and government de- leltrial.Herethereisjustatrial...by in the Republic Dayparade this showcases the Indian ceive braveryawardswill also be Ayodhya,among other things. partmentshaveundergoneCovid aperson on social media. It is un- time —fromremovalofmotorcy- AstronomicalObservatory, located missing.Keepinginmindsocialdis- Among the departments, the testing. The contingent of 61 acceptable in acountryruledby Gandhinagar: The Gujarat State ipalities, 31 district panchayats cle stuntstothe inclusion of the in Hanle near Leh, one of the tancing, the size of marching con- Departmentof Biotechnologywill Cavalrywill be ledbyahorse that ruleof law. Faircommentdoesnot Election Commission an- and 231taluka panchayats will tableauofthe Union Territoryof world'shighestsitesforoptical,in- tingentshasbeenreducedfrom144 showcase pre-trial and post-trial has attendedthe parade forthe extend to defamatorycom- nouncedSaturdaylocal body be conducted on February28, Ladakh forthe firsttime. fraredandgamma-raytelescopes,” to 96. phases of the manufacturing of last18years. Thecontingentfrom ments,” Luthratold the court. polls will be held in twoparts. StateElection Commissioner The Union TerritoryofLadakh according to tableaux details Atotal of 32 tableaux —17of the Covid vaccine in India. Bangladeshwillmarkthethirdin- OnRamani’switnesses,Luthra The elections to the six mu- SanjayPrasad said. The model wascreated in 2019 afterthe BJP shared by officials. various states and UTs, nine of Forthe firsttime in 55 years, stance of amilitarycontingent toldthecourtthatGhazalaWahab nicipal corporations in the state code of conduct will come into government bifurcated Jammu & The pandemic has also ledto ministries and six from the de- therewillalsobenochief guestat fromafriendlyforeignnationpar- gave aversion of astory which will be held on February21, effect from Saturdayinall the ar- Kashmir.Ladakh'stableauwillde- severalchangesinthewayRepublic fence arm —will be seen going this year's parade, afterBritish ticipatingintheparade—thefirst was“unconnected to the present while the elections to 81 munic- eas going to polls. ENS picttheThikseMonastery,andwill Daycelebrationswillbeheld.While down Rajpath this year.Theywill Prime MinisterBoris Johnson ex- wasFrance in 2016. case”.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 7 SUNDAY STORY

THE STORYBEHIND THIS PHOTOGRAPH

Workin progress

THE REASON this Australian triumph is being hailedasthe greatestTestseries win ever wasbecause India pulleditoff with astand-in captain in charge and abunchoffringe players. The hype around them notwithstanding, this young unit is still aworkin progress. In the lastcouple of years, afull-strength India has CHAMPIONS: lostTestseries in South Africa, TheIndian team with Indian cricket’s trystwith historyinAustraliadidn’thappen overnight. SRIRAMVEERA on allthat went intothe England and NewZealand. the Border-Gavaskar Theyhaven’t wonthe big ICC trophyafter the win in makingofthis Winning XI —fromtalent-spotters turning up at nets to coaches and selectors exchanging notes, tournamentseither.With this the fourth and final tour throwing up several Test matchagainst parentsand mentorstoself-motivatedplayers,some dreams, and alot of foresight match-winners, the system, Australia in Brisbane. while dealing with the prob- India wonthe lem of plenty,will have to series 2-1. PTI work towardsmaking the team moreconsistent.

FNEED be,Iwill call Rahul. He will tell He would also ask us to rate our own THEBACKROOM me what Ineedtoknowabout these performances.” two.” Ravi Shastri wassitting on the Raman zooms in on acrucial element THEDECISIONMAKERS long, wooden, beer-soaked benchof broughtinbyDravid.“He took out winning RAHULDRAVID:As head coach, I an 800-year-old pub carved intothe and losing from these Aand U-19games. He National Cricket Academy, theUnder- rocksofNottingham Castle, ponderingover made it clear that it’s about exposure, giving 19 andIndia Ateam coaches reported aselection dilemma. It wasinthe middle of achance to allkids over atour.Soeveryone to Dravid. Till afew months ago, he the 2018 seriesinEngland, and Shastri knewthat theywouldbegetting chances, also had 11 NCAcoaches working wanted to knowwhether to pickHanuma and could improvetheir games," he says. under him. Dravid’s role is to mentor Vihari or PrithviShaw, twountestedbats- The ways of training toochanged,with and monitor India’stalent pool. NCA men draftedintothe Test squad. Dravid was facilities available to the national team be- also ensures that young players who then head coachofthe India Aand U-19 ing made accessible to the juniors. getinjured stay in the system. teams and had seen the twoplayers up close AbhaySharma, aU-19and Acoach, says, NATIONALSELECTIONCOMMITTEE: and personal. Fresh out of the India Aseries “When Igivethem throwdowns with the The five-memberteam, all former Test in England, the twohad been pickedfor the slinger,Ido so at 140-145 kmph. We would players, pickthe squad. At thestart of national team. Afinal call on their skill and push them to the limit to help narrow theseason, theycompile alistof50 temperament, basedonDravid’s word,was the gap.” potential players forthe nationalteam eventuallytaken and Vihari would go on to Mentored by Rahul Dravid, ageneration of young cricketers have made asmooth transition to thesenior side BeforeShastri, therewas Anil Kumble, and travel around the countryto makeagritty debut in the fourth Test. who playedavital role in laying the blueprint followtheir progress. Twoyears later,it’s no coincidence that forthe present system. In July2016, days af- RAVISHASTRI:Senior team coach, he Vihari battedthrough atorn hamstringto terhetook over as India’scoach, he calledfor is assistedbythe bowling, batting and help India save the SydneyTestand laythe national selector endedlastNovember, this guy is ready.Heshould playinternational the order.Ihad seen him at local Tamil Nadu ameeting with all the stakeholders —selec- fieldingcoaches. Along with captain, foundation of what is being calledIndia’s remembers amorninginPune before aTest cricket,” Paranjpe says. league games and knewheishighlyrated. tors, Dravid, NCAcoaches, Test captain Kohli, he takesafinal call on theplaying XI. greatestcomebackseries win in Australia. matchagainstSouth Africa in end 2019.The Foreachofthe players, the journeyfrom He has abatsman’s mind. He knewifhe and ODI skipper MSDhoni. The intent wasto That aura-acquiring triumph didn’t hap- opener Gill,who is nowseen as the next big boytomanhood is hastenedbyhaving what played100balls, the matchwould turn. Only streamline the feeder system by getting THESYSTEM penovernight. Neither did itssecret sauce — Indian batsman, wasbatting againstthe is termedasshadowtours —beforethe abatsman can think likethat,” Paranjpe says. everyone on the same pagewith respect to ■Formostyoung cricketers, the the jaw-dropping benchstrength that kept fastestIndian throwerinthe nets,Raghu,a national team goes overseas, the Ateam is Aformerplayer, acoachand acommenta- long-term goals. Shastri and selectors have journeystartsatalocal academy replacing the broken bodies stretchered out. support-staff member who lovesharassing sent to the same place. tor, who wishes to be anonymous, toohad a continued from whereheleftoff. under acoach, who is mostlyaclubor EveryX-ray scanofbrokenbones and disap- batsmen withhis pace from the slinger-tool. Says Paranjpe, “Beforesuchtours, the sup- handinspottingSundarthebowler.Heraninto Paranjpe listsout histhree keyfactors afirst-class player. Theynextplayat pointmentwas seamlesslyreplacedbyam- “So, Raghu bowlsapacy one, and Gill, portstaff of the Indian team, Ateam,U-19 Sundar at aU-19campand askedhim,“What behind the strength of the back-up players. clubs/district tournaments, where bitious fresh faces, ready fortheir spine-tin- who is batting at centresquare, pulls the ball, team, selectors,and Dravid discuss which doyoudo,Waashi?”.Hesaid,“Sir,Ibat,andoc- “First, the India Aframework,second is Virat stateassociation selectors turn up to gling trystwith history. whichtakes offatalow trajectoryfromhis bucket of players we want to concentrateon. casionallybowl.”Already impressedwithhis Kohli setting an example in fitness. The third pickstate teams. The blueprint forthis feeder system was bat and goes likeanoutswinger to hit the up- The performances in the Ranji Trophymatter batting, the coachgot him to bowl forashort is IPL. It makes players realise what cham- ■ Everyyear,state associations drawnupoverthe years. Talentscouts in state per rowseatsatthe Gahunjestadium. One in the selection of the Ateam. Mayank whileand, at the end of it, told him,“From to- pion players around the worldare doing.” conduct Under-14, Under-16, associations, national and junior selectors, of my evaluation pointsiswho plays Raghu Agarwaland Vihari were day, afteryoufinishyourbat- Under-19, Under-23 and Ranji Trophy coaches of ‘A’ and U-19teams, the national best,and until then, it had been Virat(Kohli). pickedfromthere. The A TheBCCI’s ting and fielding,hit the ■ ■ ■ selection trials before theannual team’s thinktank, domesticcricket,and the Guess what, it wasGill afterthat session,” teams have agreat guy like structurecame bowlingnets.” Boardtournament. confidence-boosting IPL —together they says Paranjpe. Dravid working with them, Those outsidethe official system toodo ■ Junior national selectors keep a made up Indian cricket’s newecosystem. He recalls one of the many“jumbo” from wheretheygoto together to feed the ■ ■ ■ their jobs. Likethe personal coaches at the watchoninter-state tournamentsto The BCCI’s structure, whichisdemocra- meetings with all the stakeholdersinvolved someone as good as Shastri national team with grassroots.When Hardik Pandyasought to pickplayers forzonal camps. At this tised, professionalised, and even if occasion- ahead of akey series —Shastri and the team in the national team. It’s a AnotherBrisbane hero, hide under his sunglasses afterasleepless stage, the NCArepresentativesenter allycompromised, came together to feed the management, Dravid and his coaches at A seamless transition.” talented playerswho Shardul Thakur,too didn’t night, afterbeingsent backfromthe 2019 ODI the system. Theytrain cricketers at national team with talented players who and U-19, and the selectors —to“understand Trainedprofessional were mentally, justemerge outofPalghar series againstAustralia and New Zealand over these camps and sharetheir were mentally,physically, and skilfullyready what kind of culturethe Indian team man- eyes watchnot onlythe one fine daytoplayfor the Karan Johar showfiasco, it washis child- assessmentswith the selection to take on the world. agement wantstobuild”. India nets but all domestic physically,and India. Along with various hood coachJitenderSingh who pulledhim committees that pickJunior,India A “Ha ha, unnecessarycredit, the boys de- “Virat Kohli is alogical thinker,hecomes matches. Thebig pace find skilfully readyto opportunities providedby out of his home to startplaying cricket again. and senior teams. serveall the praise,” wasDravid’sreplywhen prepared withall numbers, so we need to be of this Australia tour, his state association and IPL, As ateenager,when RishabhPant’s runs The Sunday Express reachedout to him. The prepared.Asselectors,weneedtoknow Mohammad Siraj,oweshis takeonthe world he talksaboutthe influence driedup, it washis coachTarak Sinha who THEJUNIOR TEAMS message, with asmileyand athumbs-up, what acertain playerhas done one year ago place in the side to Indian of India Aonhis growth. helpedhim reassemble his technique.“It took INDIAA wasn’t justatypicallymodestone but an and againstwhichteam.Ifyou canconvince bowling coachBharat Arun, who noticedhim “Weplayagainstthose who areeither in me nearly twoyears, Iwould getupat2.30 am This is ateam of players on the honestone. To give credit to afew is adis- Virat, he agrees,” he adds. at the IPL nets in Hyderabad afew years ago. contention fortheir spotinthe national team to shadow practise what he taught me. And threshold of the national team. Since service to the rest,asthe system is morethan The selectors listedplayers with poten- Others toobegan noticing him.“During the or even afew who have already made their justashesaid, unknown to myself, it became 2015,out of the 99 players who have the sum of itsparts. It neededthe dreams tial —PriyankPanchal, Vihari and Avesh last triptoAustralia, in end2018, Iremem- names internationally. In our team, we share partofmymuscle memory. People don’t re- playedfor India A, 53 have been and persuasion of parentsand mentors, in- Khan, to nameafew—and eachone of them berwediscussedhim alot in our selection adressing room with the likes of ViratKohli, alise the importance of acoach. Icall him my elevatedtothe senior team. In the last sane levels of self-motivation from players, had to watchaplayerfromthe list over the meetings,” Paranjpe says. Cheteshwar Pujara, AjinkyaRahane,Shikhar ustaad,” Pant once told this newspaper. three years, India Ahas playedsix tours some luck, and alot of foresight —and it next one year.“We had to go and see that Theycouldn’t fitSiraj in then, but he Dhawan, so the learning is huge,” Thakur tells Once ayoungstercomes through state at home and sevenabroad. Since ‘A’ neededasystemtofallinplace. playermultiple times during the year.What grabbed his chance this tour,displaying the TheSunday Express. trials and gets intothe system at the U-14or teams of other countries arestrong, “Howmanypeople told youtheyhad first this does is, we gettosee them in different maturity to bowl to the team’s leg-trap plans, It’s the same forVihari. “India Atours play U-16level,the process takesover. Says Indian players have facedthe very best spotted Shubman Gill?” laughs WVRaman, situations and different people areseeing reverse the ball when necessary, and even ahugepartbecause the gapisreduced. Also Raman, “Fromthereon, there is aladder to before theygoontorepresent India. aformerIndia playerwho has coachedthe them. All these opinions converge, and the call out racism —overand beyond what one IPL... Rahul sir wasthe coachinmanyAtours. climb and the kid can see it. Howfastheor Shubman Gill hasn’t yetplayedaTest India Aand U-19teams, wasthe batting best solutioncomes out of it,” says Paranjpe. would expect from adebutant. Heissomeonewhodoesn’tsayalot and does she climbs is still up to them to an extent, but againstSouth Africa, but he has coachatthe National Cricket Academy(NCA), The individual experience of the selec- Washington Sundar,who went from notask me to make toomanychanges in tech- at leastaclarity of thepath ahead is visible. already facedtheir pace trio of Kagiso and is currentlywith India Women’s team. tors kicks in at this point. Like wasthe case being anet bowler to agame changer in the nique. Instead, he has instilleddiscipline and That’s all that young players needatthat Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and AnrichNortje. “But they arenot lying!” with Vihari and Paranjpe. final Test at Brisbane, might have surprised focusedonthe mental aspect of the game. So stage. The feeling that yes, this can be done. UNDER-19 What Raman means is that in acountry “I have seen Vihari since his junior days. many, but he has been on the selectors’ radar, those tours have helpedme,” says Vihari. That it’s notanimpossible dream.” Since 2016,six Under-19players have as large as India, in asport as coded in our Ihad gone to see one Mumbai vs Andhra even forTests,since 2019 —bothfor hisbowl- “Dravid gave us afreehand,” says Thakur. gone on to playfor thesenior side. DNAascricket,itwould needmultiple pairs game in Ongol and he scored 160runs. The ing and batting. “He told us, ‘Makeyour ownplan and play, INPUTSFROMDEVENDRAPANDEY, Besides, close to 100players have of talent-spotters to push aplayerthrough. wayhecontrols the game and the wayhe “He wasn’t playing forTamil Nadu state but sticktoyour plans’. He would also strictly SHAMIKCHAKRABARTY, playedfirst-class. Jatin Paranjpe, whose four-yeartenureas leads, IcalledMSKPrasadand told him that team but we knewhecould be lethal down evaluateour performances aftereachgame. VISHALMENON DEVENDRAPANDEY Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 8 OPINION THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021

Across Fifth THEAISLE COLUMN ‘Exactwords’isabetrayal TAVLEENSINGH Twitter@tavleen_singh

THE NAME of the TV channelisnot ma- is growing suspicion that suchconversa- that people will be elated. untilthe launch. Youmay draw your con- terial. The name of the journalistisnot tionscan be hacked. Exact words used. clusionsonwho usedthe “exact words” material. The accusations in respect of All this is bad news forMrMark TheattackatPulwamawasanactof ter- and shared the protected information. some other matters againstthe channel Zuckerberg, theownerofFacebook, rorism and 40 solderswerekilled. Thede- My worryis, wasthe information Listen to arenot relevant fortoday’scolumn. What Instagram andWhatsApp,and among fenceforceswere infuriated.Itwasbelieved shared with anyone else who (perhaps arerelevant andmaterial arethe deci- the richestpersonsinthe world. thatPakistanhadrecruitedandtrainedthe unknown to the source) mayhavebeen a PCHIDAMBARAM sion-making process and thedecisions Be that as it may, certain conversa- person responsible forthe attack. Aretal- spyorinformerofPakistan? My second the people Website:pchidambaram.in concerning national security takenatthe tions between twoindividuals have be- iatorystrikewasexpected.The“conversa- worryisabout the “Other” person in the Twitter@Pchidambaram_IN highestlevels of the government. come public. To thebestofmyknowl- tion”tookplaceonFebruary23.Threedays conversation. What washis security clas- Thepurpose of this column is notto edge,the publishedmaterial (in print and later,onFebruary26, Indian Air Force sification and did he sharethe informa- FORTHE firsttime since India firstcele- accuse or malignanyone. Thepurpose is on the social media) has notbeendenied planes struckatBalakot in Pakistan. tion with anyone? brated Republic DayonJanuary26, 1950, to askastraightforwardquestion: were by theindividuals concerned. If it is de- Iamnot concernedwith who heard therewill be twoparades in Delhi next sensitive andprotected decisions of the nied, that is the endofthe matter as far those“words”. That person, Ishall assume, week.One will be the official parade to government shared with anyone who as this column is concerned; if it is not, waslucky:hewas in theright placeat the DEATH VIGIL whichthe onlypeople invited noware Iamnot concerned with who wasnot apartofthe decision-making certain questionsarise. right time! Iamconcernedabout who ut- The collateraldamage causedbythe high officials and theirfriends and rela- heard those “words”. That process? Asupplementaryquestion is, tered those words. Whywerethe words conversations wasthe reputation of the tions. The other is aparade that is being person, Ishall assume,was would some of those decisions fall under uttered in thepresence of anon-govern- latefinance ministerArun Jaitley (mayhe organisedbythe peopleofour republicto “official secrets”? AN OFFICIAL SECRET ment person? Were they utteredwith the rest in peace): whichnoofficials have been invited. It will lucky:hewas in the right Therewas an attack on an Indian mil- intentionofsharingprotected informa- 10-04-2019 be aparade of tractors carrying angry place at the right time! Iam itaryconvoy at Pulwama on February14, tion? While it waswidely expected that 12.45 pm: Other: Jaitleyistheir biggest farmersand their families. It seeksnot to BAD NEWSFOR concerned about who uttered 2019.Aconversation took place between the defence forces will retaliatetothe failure disruptthe official parade but to makethe ZUCKERBERG ‘Journalist’ and ‘Other’ on February23: Pulwama attack, no body could have Journalist: that Iagree totally pointthatthe government hasstopped those words. Whywere the 23-02-2019 imaginedthe “exactwords used”tode- Shockingly,therewas adeathvigil listening to the people. If this were not words uttered in the presence Howthese matters tumbledout of 10.31pm: Journalist: On another note scribethe intendedretaliation.Obviously, over averyill man. true, whywould the Modi government of anon-government person? the closetisamystery.Theyare supposed something big will happen. someone shared sensitive and protected 19-08-2019 insistonfarmreforms that farmers so We re they uttered with the to be “chats” on WhatsApp.The owners 10.33pm: Other: Am sureyou will information. Who wasthat person? 10.08am: Journalist: Jaitleystretch- deeplyresent that theyhavecampedon of WhatsApp have long claimedthatall and Istrongly wish your success SomedecisionsareConfidential,some ing it. PMO does notknowwhat to do. PM theborders of Delhi formorethantwo intention of sharing conversations on WhatsApp areen- 10.34pm: Other: Foryour success areSecret,someareTop Secret,and some leaving on Wednesdayfor France months? The unofficial parade maybe protected information? cryptedfromend-to-end and no onehas 10.36 pm: Journalist: No sir, Pakistan. are‘ForYour Eyes Only’. Aretaliatorystrike 10.09 am: Other: So has notdied yet? stoppedfromentering Delhi, but the While it waswidely expected access to thoseconversations. It wasalso Something major will be done this time. on atargetinPakistanwould be FYEO. I 10.55 am: Journalist: Maintaining farmers have made their point. that the defence forces will claimedthatthe owners do nothavea 10.37pm: Other: Itsgood forbig man am pretty certain that the decision-mak- him. Iexpect something by theevening. One Therewas atime in the early years of recordofthe conversations and cannot in this season ing process as well as the decision in- of my meetings in delhi this week gets ourrepublicwhen ordinarypeople could retaliate to the Pulwama sharethem withanyone. Idonot knowif He will sweep pollsthen volved onlythe Prime Minister, the pushed because of this. attend the official parade. As someone attack,nobodycould have those claimsare true, but thereisgrow- Strike?? Or Bigger Defence Minister, the NSA, theArmyand Igrievefor ourcountry,our Armed who livedwithin walking distance of imagined the “exactwords ing doubt. Can conversations between 10.40 pm:Journalist: Bigger than a Air ForceChiefsand theCommander of Forces and their secretsand, notthe least, Rajpath, Irememberwellthose cold, wet used” to describethe twoindividuals be hacked—that is, one normal strike. And also on thesametime the Western Air Command. Even the forthe familyofArun Jaitley who served Januarymorningswhenwewould go ex- enters illegallyand steals? Idonot know something major on Kashmir.OnPakistan strikepilotswould have beenbriefedonly the BJP (and itspredecessor, the Jan traearly to getgoodseatsonthe green intended retaliation the answer to that question too, but there theGovtisconfident of strikinginaway hours before the strike, and quarantined Sangh)loyallysince1975. wooden benches that linedbothsides of the parade route. Security wasnoprob- lem so we would carry with us baskets filledwith food and hotbeverages and wait forwhatseemed likehoursfor the parade to begin. It usedtobeacelebra- Acommunity,their voices life & Fireman’s diary:Ofcalls tion in whichordinarypeople partici- pated withjoy and excitement. But, for WORK manyyears now, it has been aparade brushed under the carpet RAJENDRAUCHAKE at night,family’sPlanB whichonlyVIPs can actuallywitness. This makesthe otherparade next week [email protected] moreinteresting,evenifitisstoppedat the lastminute. Dalitality The farmers aretrying to be heardand MANY YEARS ago, in the latehours of the the Prime Ministershould listen. Last RADHIKAKUMAR night, afirebroke out at aprominent sci- week an India Today poll declared that KAUSHALPANWAR ence collegeinNagpur.With ahose pipe NarendraModi is as popular as ever and in our hands, my colleague and Imade our that if an electionwereheldtodaythe rul- waytothe laboratorythatwas engulfed ing National Democratic Alliance(NDA) in huge flames. As we got close, therewas that he leads would getmorethan 300 WHEN THE rankings forthe fifthedition of tions,but forthe purposes of official recog- an explosion and the room filledwith seats. This could have moretodowith the the Swachh Survekshan were releasedin nition, theywereexpected to choose smoke. We were gasping forbreath but dismal stateofthe Opposition, but that is Augustlastyear,one wasstruck by the amongstthe establishedreligions. couldn’t find away out. Finally, we de- neither herenor there. Modi’s charisma, plethoraofterms in use under the vernac- In fact, the sub-castes were aggressive- cidedtolie down on the floor and use the according to this poll, remainsaslustrous ularnomenclatureofSwachhataorcleanli- ly courtedbyHindu organisations in the hose pipe to trace our waybacktosafety. as ever.Sothen whydowehavethis sec- ness.TheseincludetheSwachhataSamiksha early twentieth centurytodeclaretheirre- In the 28 years that Ihavebeen part ond parade taking place at all? Whyhave (cleanliness review), SwachhataPakhwada ligionasHinduism.Vijay Prashadwrites in of the firefighters’ family, life-threaten- angryfarmers been protesting on the bor- (cleanlinessfortnight)and the Swachh UntouchableFreedomthatthepopularising ing incidentssuchasthese, whichre- ders of Delhi formorethan twomonths? Survekshan.Yet,conspicuousby itsabsence of Valmiki amongstuntouchableswas a quirepresence of mind, courage, intel- Whyisthe government unable to per- has been ‘Swachhkar Samaj’, the term used ploymeantto separatethe‘sweepers’from ligence and patience, have been many. suade them that the farm laws it has to identifythe community associatedwith the leadership of the Dalits. Risksare apartofthe job and it is away brought will be good forthem? Whywith the task of cleanliness. The absence of the AfterIndependence, naming and con- of lifefor us. even the mediafirmlyonhis side has the Samaj is reflective of howthe vernacular is solidationofthe castesengaged in the task Ialwayswantedtojoinaprofession Prime Ministernot been able to convince oftenselectively appropriatedtobuildpop- of cleanlinessgot embroiledinelectoralpol- whereIwould gettowear the uniform. At the protesting farmersthat their protest ular appeal. iticsasvarious political parties sought to 20, afterIfailedtoclear the exams forthe is wrong? The popular also calls on the personal mobiliseex-untouchablescastes. Howev- National Defence Academy, Igaveupon Having mulledoverthese questions to servethenationby participatinginclean- er,asclaimedbymanysub-castes, the pa- my dreamofjoiningthe defenceforces. longand hard, Ihaveconcluded that the liness campaigns, as the slogan ‘Swachhata tronageextendedtothem in terms of gov- Later,Iappeared foranother competitive Afterthe BhandaraDistrict Hospital fire in which10newborns were killed. PTI real reason forthis apparent dichotomy is hisewa hai(cleanlinessisservice)’becomes ernment jobs as sweepers proved to be exam and got admission to the Sub Fire thatModi’s government is being seen as salient. Also, thecareful leveragingofthe detrimentalinthelongrun.Whileotherex- Officers course at the National Fire Service arrogant and contemptuous. When the vernaculardovetailsintothepoliticsof cul- untouchable castessuchasthe Chamars College.Ayear later, Ijoinedabig petro- Suddenly, thegenerator ranout of fuel and trol the fire.Imagine if the already farmers begantheir siegeonDelhi’s bor- turalnationalism.Indoingso,itchangesthe gainedthrougheducationandoccupational chemicals firm, and worked therefor 11 the lamps went off. The crowdbecame stretchedteam had to respond to another ders, the firstreaction of senior ministers frame of reference, leaving little opportu- diversification,thosesub-castesengagedin years. However, highlyeffectivepreven- silent and almostimmediatelyafaint fire callsimultaneously?What would wastocharge them with being Khalistanis nityfortheSwachhkarto beaudible.So,the cleanlinesswere unabletogainsocialmobi- tive measures ensured that industrialac- sound of someoneinpain could be heard. theyhavedone? and ‘anti-national’.Some BJP spokesmen narrativeofanentire community —those lity.These attemptsatcasting an identity cidents were rare at thefirm.Iwas look- Within minutes, thegirlwas rescuedalive. Afirefighter’s jobalso takesatoll on actuallysaid on national television that involved in the taskofcleaning —findsno forthe ex-untouchable castesaggravated ing forachallenge, and Onlyafirefighter knows his familylife. Firstly, giventhe risksofthe this wasnothingbut acontinuation of the mentioninthe official vocabulary. differences amongstthe sub-castes. Yet, that is when the offerto My wifeand daughters that relief, that satisfac- job, no one wantstomarry afirefighter. Shaheen Bagh protestagainstthe citizen- But this does notmean thatmention of narrativesand movementsaimed at Dalit join the Nagpur have nowadjusted to tion of pulling people out My wifeArchanaand daughters, Maithili ship laws.Inthe case of that protest, it was the Swachhkars has always been absent in emancipation have flourished parallel to Municipal Corporation’s of the jaws of death. and Sameera, have nowadjusted to the easy to spread conspiracy theories be- the mainstream discourse. The firstrefer- theimpositionof thesecontrivedidentities. (NMC) Fire Brigade as the realities of my At times, firefighters realities of my profession. Everytime Igo cause the protesters were Muslims. In the enceto acommunityengagedinsanitation The term Swachhkar Samaj is said to in- Assistant Station Officer profession. Everytime I face criticism over their out on amission, my wifesays,“Youdon’t case of the farmers, it hasnot been easy worksistracedtothe British administra- cludeallthosesub-casteswhichdojobssuch came up —a24/7 job response time. What needtobetoo daring.” As my daughters to getawaywith wild chargesbecause tioninIndia.NicolasJaoul,inhispiecetitled assweeping,garbagecollectionandsanita- to cater to notjustfire go out on amission, my people don’t understand grew up, they joinedtheir mother in voic- theyrespondedangrilyand oftenthat it ‘Casting theSweepers’, argues thatthe colo- tionwork.Collectingnarrativesfromthever- exigencies but also wife says, “You don’t is that the teams have to ing concern.Attimes, particularly in the is their sons, brothers and fathers who de- nial administration leveragedcaste net- nacular reveals the uncertain origins of the other accidents. Anew need to be too daring.” negotiatetheir way summermonths, when fire incidentsare fend India’s borders. Sikh farmers have workstorecruit members to perform“un- term, though it is said to be in use since the journeybegan. through heavy trafficto morefrequent, the phone ringing at night been moreaggressive because of the sly touchable tasks” in urban areas; thereby 1990s.Thepurposeof theSwachhkarSamaj Over the years, Ihave When Ireturn, my reachthe accident spot, alarms them. When Ireturn from the spot, campaign the government has run that creating the categoryofthe ‘sweeper’. isto formoneumbrellaorganisationsothat found that rescuing a blackened face says my whichisoften milling my blackenedfacetells them my storybut seekstocreatethe impression that it is While manyofthe sub-castesthat took varioussub-castesmay collectively mobilise person trappedinfire storybut anxietysoon with anxious crowds. their anxieties soon give waytorelief. only Sikhfarmers whoare angryabout upsanitationwork inthecitywere alsoen- and asserttheir “constitutional rights”. Yet sometimes becomes Other factors suchas Even when we step out, my familyhas the newlaws. gagedinsimilaroccupations in the village, the various sub-castesincludedwithinthe moredifficult because of gives way to relief paucity of staffand fire aPlan Bready in case Iget adistress call. It The truth is that arrogancehas been others suchasthe Dhanuk and Bansphod Samaj alsoclaim to have distinct identities. the noise created by on- tenders mayalso impact upsets them,but theyhavebecome ac- the definingcharacteristic of Modi’s sec- joined thecategoryofsweepers onlyafter The Swachhkar Samaj faces adaunting lookers. Ionce experienceditwhenatwo- responsetime. While Nagpur’s fire- customedtothislife. When Ireturn,my ond term as Prime Minister. Parliament theymigratedtothe cities. Hence,their in- task as it attemptstocastthe vernacular in storey building had collapsed.Werescued fighting facilitiesare adequate, the NMC wifekeeps waterreadyfor my bath,lays has been treated not(to usehis own corporation intothe urban work force the vocabularyofthe mainstream and yet twopeoplealive from underthe debris Fire Brigade routinelygetscalledfor ac- out my clothes, and serves us asumptu- words) as that ‘temple of democracy’ on brought them within the fold of newcate- preventitsemancipatoryvisionfrombeing but couldn’t find anine-year-oldgirl. It cidentsoutside the municipal limits, ous meal. Things seem normal again, till whose steps he bowedhis head on his first gories of identification. While the British challengedandhijackedbyadministrative, wasdark, and we had putupinflatable across the Vidarbha region, wherethe the next phone call. daythere. But, as avehicle to ramthrough adopted‘modern’ways of reorganisingand religiousandelectoralagendasof thedom- lightswhichweredrawing powerfroma facilities maybefound wanting. laws whether the people want them or identifying the workforce, theysimultane- inant classes, castesand leaders. generator.The thrumming of the equip- Bhandara, forexample —where10 RajendraUchake is theChief Fire Officer not. This waseasy when it came to theab- ouslydisregardedthedemandsforrecogni- Kumar and Panwar teachatMotilal ment alongwith the noise created by the newborns diedduring afireatthe district at Nagpur Municipal Corporation rogation of Article 370because most tion as aseparatecommunity.Thisrejec- Nehru College, University of Delhi. crowdthat had gathered madeitverydif- hospital on January9—has onlyone fire Indians outside Kashmir approved totally. tion wasbasedonthe argument that these Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters, ficult to hear anycries forhelp from the tender and four contractual employees. Translated from Marathi by It waswith the changes to thecitizenship varioussub-casteshad common occupa- curates thefortnightly‘Dalitality’ column trappedgirland to trace her location. However, the team still managed to con- VivekDeshpande lawthatthings startedtoget morecom- plicated.Modi’s ministers and his min- ions on social media shrieked their heads offthat Indian Muslims would notfind their citizenshipunder threat, but they re- mainedunconvincedwith good reason. On the In morewaysthan one the Hindutvaproj- The inescapable lure of Neverland ect that has been launchedinModi’s sec- LOOSE ond term has made it clear thatMuslims aresecond-class citizens. LEHERKALA ated.Thereare overlappingpossibilitiesbut Open Daycancelled. Riders onthestorm, before unexpectedly dy- surprisethatKumar’slife,aKafkaesquefog Instead of trying to address their fears, [email protected] no infallible map to serve as guide. Some Hypothetically, if Kumar had been a ing. The truth is onesimplycannotpredict of laughable evil,iseffecting only in avis- the responsehas been to pass ludicrous aredestinedfor serendipity,others to be conductor on anyofthe other 20 busesex- whereanother fork in the road mayhave ceral kind of way. The mostcaptivating as- love jihad laws in BJP-ruledstates, whose trappedbycircumstances —how theuni- ceptthe one the victim travelledin, he led.Yet,we inhabitastate of wistfulconjec- pectofthiscase is thatjustice has been main purpose seems to be to jail Muslim ONONEof thesebleak,foggymorningsthat verseconspiresto decidewhoendsuphow would nothaveevenbeen an accused. tureonall the improbable possibles that served.Kumar has been absolvedofahor- men who marry Hindu women. This is a makefor reflection, my mother wondered and where, remains an eternal mystery. Happenstance placedhim thereand all it didn’tcometofruition. It’s perfectlynatu- rific charge and his accusers identified, as lawthat demeans women by denying aloud howmylifemight have turnedout if Take theutterly arbitrarycase of abus took wasalittle bit of godforsaken luckto raltolookbackandcontemplatewherewe opposedtolanguishinginjailforever(anall them the fundamental right to choose we hadn’t movedfromBombaytoDelhi conductor falselyimplicated in aDelhi permanentlyalter afuture. would be if situations had panned out dif- toopossible alternatereality). who they marry,but somehowBJP chief when Iwas ateenager.Not fundamentally school boy’s murder.The case, big news Thereare turningpointsinall our lives ferently. But viewing our imagined selves The mostcritical part of hishaunting ministers do notsee it this way. Couldit differently, Iliketopresume.I’d still be me. threeyearsago,was trending againsince when lifecould have been one thing but through rose-tinted glasses prevents us narrative is that he went from povertyto be because, in emulation of the Prime But whenever Iglance at ablackand white the CBI has filedachargesheetagainstfour turnsout to be another.The human ten- from fully enjoying the livesweare living. destitution through no fault of his, adeval- Minister, theyhavedecidedthat they familyphotograph with araging monsoon Gurgaon policeofficers forframing Ashok dency is to viewthe opportunitiesthat AhistoriceventlikeCovidhassuddenly uedsocial identity abruptlydiminishing knowbestwhat is good forthe people? seainthe background, Ifeel atwingeofnot Kumar.Accusedofsodomyandbrutally tor- passedusbyinamoodof hazydreaminess, givenallof humanityendlesshourstorumi- whatever meagreprospectshis twochil- This contempt for theiropinion is some- exactlyregret, butlonging,for acity that turedduringhistwo-monthincarceration, likegreat things might have happenedif nateoverthefrustratinggapbetweenwhat dren had. The explanation, if thereisone, thing the peoplehavenoticed, whichis couldhave beenmy homebutisnot.Iknow, Kumar can no longer work andneeds onlywehadletthem.Fortunatelyperhaps, is, and what mayhavebeen. In an ideal lies outside the realm. But we mayglean whywehaveseen this spateofpublic Imerelyexchangedone metrofor another, strong pain medication to getthrough the we dwell less on the calamities that could world, 2020 wouldhaveprovokedhuge from injustice theprecarious natureof protests.Analternative Republic Daypa- aprettylameexampleforrandomnesscon- day. His lifetook ashattering turn because justaseasilyhavebefallen us instead. “Into amountsofgratitude. And it did, albeit things, maybeevenappreciate the obsta- rade in Delhi next week could be the be- sidering howpeople aretossedaround by the alleged murderer,another student, thisworldwe’rethrown,likeadogwithout briefly.Itdidn’t lastbecause human beings cleswe avoided,onthisstrangeandunpre- ginning of something that bodes illfor twistsinfate andfortune.However, therole scared of his parents’ wrath at his poorac- abone. An actor out alone,” warnedJim areselfish, unbridled narcissists whose dictableride. Modi unless he resolvestolistentothe chance plays in our livesisunder appreci- ademic performance, wastrying to get Morrison,inhissomewhatcreepylastsong, mainpreoccupationsarethemselves.It’sno Thewriterisdirector,HutkayFilms voices of the people.

Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 Crude Wa tch OIL FALLSONCHINA’S COVID CASES NewYork: Oilprices settled lower, weighed down by abuild in US crude inventories and worries that new pandemic restrictions in 9 ECONOMY China will curb fuel demand in the world’sbiggest oil importer.Brent crude futures fell 69 cents to settle at $55.41 abarrel. REUTERS RESE‘RupRVE BANKee’sOF INDIAreaSTUDYlvaluestable,showing betterexternalcompetitiveness’

ciation of the rupee and poten- Taking cognisanceofthese 2015 to May2019. ENSECONOMICBUREAU tiallyunderminetheexportcom- ED factors,thebroadbasket of NEER/ Infact,theissuerelatingto un- MUMBAI,JANUARY23 petitiveness, the RBI paper said. Valuation REER indices of therupee has der/overvaluation of currencies “In such amilieu,focus on price PLAIN E beenexpandedfrom36to40cur- has been at the coreofseveral ● akeyissue THE REAL effective exchangerate stabilityunder the flexible infla- EX rencies and rebasedto2015-16, globaltrade disputes. The (REER) of the rupee has remained tion targeting regime should re- theRBIstudysaid.ThenewREER, International Monetary Fund aroundthebenchmark(baseyear mainapolicypriorityto offset the Theissuerelating to un- onaverage,was0.8percentabove (IMF) usesREER models (along value of 100) formostpart of the erosion in external competitive- der/overvaluation of cur- itsbase year levelduring 2016-17 with current account model) to last15years,reflectingIndia’sbet- ness whichmay emanatefrom rencies has been at the to 2019-20, aperiod coinciding makeexternal balance assess- terexternal competitiveness, a appreciationoftherupeeinnom- coreofseveral global withmoderateinflationobserved mentsfor individual economies ReserveBank of India study said. inal terms,” it said. trade disputes. since the adoption of FIT frame- andproducemultilaterallyconsis- Inflation differentials be- Giventhe fact that the global work.This implies thatthe infla- tent estimates forthe current ac- tween India and itsmajor trading tradeenvironmentisundergoing tion differentialsbetween India count and real exchangerate PAPERLESS BUDGET:ANEW NORMAL partners have declinedand sta- ashift, it is important that the dexoftheweightedaverageofbi- and itstrading partners were less norms and gaps, the RBI said. bilisedsince the adoption of flex- nominal effective exchangerate lateral exchangerates of home of aconcernfor former’s external Effective exchangerates(EERs) Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, MinisterofState forFinance Anurag Thakur ible inflation targeting (FIT) (NEER) and real effective ex- currency vis-a-vis currencies of competitiveness underFIT serveasagaugefor assessing the (thirdfromleft) and senior officialsofthe Finance Ministryparticipatedinthe symbolic framework,boding well for changerate(REER) basket of the tradingpartners,withweightsde- regime, the paper said. fair value of acurrency,the exter- 'Halwa Ceremony' in NorthBlock,New Delhi, on Saturday. PTI India’s externalcompetitiveness, rupee is reviewedregularly,the rivedfromtheirsharesinthetrade The newREER indices (both nal competitiveness of an econ- theRBI paper said. RBIpapersaid.Inthecaseof India, basket of the home currency.A trade- and export-weighted), omyandevenserveasguideposts Goingforward,large capitalin- therelative importanceof trading REER is the NEER adjustedbyrel- whichhaveremainedaround the forsettingmonetaryandfinancial ■ This willbethe firsttime since independence ■ The FM also launchedthe ‘UnionBudget flows unless fullyabsorbed partners has shifted mainlyto- ative pricesorcosts,typicallycap- benchmark(i.e.,baseyearvalueof conditions. An EER is asummary that the papers will notbephysically printed. Mobile App’ forhassle-free access of Budget through current account deficit wardsemergingmarketsandde- turedin inflation differentials be- 100), show amodest apprecia- indicator of movementsofthe Theywill be distributed electronicallytoMPs. documentsbyMPs and the general public. and/ormoppedupasforeign ex- veloping economies(EMDEs) tween the home economyand tion/higher depreciation relative homecurrencyagainstabasketof changereservescancauseappre- since 2004-05. The NEER is an in- trading partners. to theoldseriesduringNovember currencies of trading partners.

SECTOR WATCH INTERVIEW:MD&CEO,CANARAHSBCORIENTALBANKOFCOMMERCELIFEINSURANCE ‘Securitisation volume FUEL 63% ‘Awareness post Covid high, crosses `26,000 cr in Q3’ ofvolumesecuritisedthisfiscal hasbeenthroughthedirect Securitisation volume crossed Rs 26,000 croreinDecember assignment(DA)route,including Oil on the boil: Post quarter as moreoriginators entered themarketand MFs thoseunder but no surge in bizasseveral started investing in newissuances, says aCrisil Ratings report thegovernment-sponsored PartialCreditGuaranteescheme 4th hike this week, Around`48,000cr Volume in theOctober- sectors are facing challenges’ Totalvolumeforthefirstnine Decemberquarterwashigherthan Stabilityinpoolcollectionsin monthsofthisfiscal,stillway thecumulativeRs22,000crore thepost-moratoriumperiodhas AS ECONOMY has startedrecov- levels. While it is very difficult to petrol, diesel prices behindFY2018(aroundRs loggedinthefirsthalf beenasignofconfidencein ering, insurance companies predictratesbeyond2-3years,but 60,000crore),FY2019(nearRs securitisationforinvestors have seen ariseindemand. Idon’t think over the next 3-5 145,000crore)andFY2020 Disbursement activityat ANUJ MATHUR,MD&CEO, years the interestrates will go (closetoRs152,000crore) non-bankingfinancialcompanies Mutual fundshavejoined CanaraHSBC Oriental Bank of sub-5 per cent. touch all-time high (NBFCs)hasresumedinsyncwith banks,insurancecompanies,and CommerceLifeInsurance, told theuptickineconomicactivity highnet-worthindividuals SANDEEP SINGH that while Howdoyou seeretirement (HNIs)asinvestorsin awareness has increasedbecause as atheme forfuture? And ENSECONOMICBUREAU securitisationtransactions, of theCovid pandemic, it maynot with ratesgoing down, NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 albeitgradually translateinto animmediatesurge howcould it impact? in demand as severalsectorsare Iamverybullish on pension PETROL AND diesel prices in Issuance ofinnovative still under stress and affordability andthatisonemarketthatIthink the countryonSaturday structuredproducts,suchas has been hit. He further said that would explode. Longevityisin- touchednew all-timehighsaf- replenishingsecuritisationsand he expectsthatthe Irdai’s Saral creasing it is akey reasonfor re- terrateswere increasedforthe coveredbonds,crossed Bima Yojana will be asuccess and tirement products going up. fourth time this week. 2percentofthetransaction itssimplicity will attract people. Interestratesgoingdownwillalso Petroland diesel prices volumeinthethirdquarter, Edited excerpts: help. As longevityrises, people were hiked by 25 paise per indicatinggreater will have to save moreasport-re- litreeach, according to aprice acceptancebythe Howdoyou see tirement lifemay be equaltothe notification from oil market- ` market,especiallyHNIs business recovery? Anuj Mathur working life. Ithinkthe needfor ing companies. This took the It is recovering. While panic annuities will go up. petrol price in Delhi to Rs ApetrolpumpinKarad, buyingisnot therenow,peopleare Idon’t think we will getim- 85.70per litreand in Mumbai Maharashtra, Saturday. PTI Traction in securitisation volumes will however be dependent on continued improvement Source: Crisil buying because of higher aware- could makeitasuccess. LikePM pacted as we do averyclose asset to Rs 92.28. Diesel rate in collection efficiency and stabilisation of the business environment for NBFCs Ratings/PTI ness.We arealsoseeinggoodtrac- JeevanJyoti Bima Yojana, it is a liabilitymanagement.Asaninsur- climbed to Rs 75.88 alitrein tion forinvestment products,too, pureprotectionproduct.Whilethe ance companywecan invest for the national capital and to Rs on January 6resumeddaily as the interestrates have gone amount is cappedatRs2lakh in reallylong term and if youtakea 82.66per litreinMumbai, the price revision afternearly a down and thereare fewoptions caseof PMJJY,ifsomeoneislooking 30 years term plan, we can invest price datashowed. month-long hiatus. availableforthelongtermthatare at Rs 20-25 lakh coverthen this forthat long. Also, from time to This is the second consec- Sincethen,rateshavegone Targeted through false offeringgoodreturn.Peoplearere- will come very handy. It will be a time the productsare repricedin utive dayofrateincrease and up by Rs 1.99 alitreonpetrol alisingthata5-5.5percenttax-free fullyunderwritten product so the line with interestratemovement the fourth this week.Inall and Rs 2.01incase of diesel. return over aperiod of time is at- application will be followedby and we also hedgeour positions. priceshave goneupby Re 1per This comes afterinterna- tractive in current times and so some requirementsincluding litrethis week. tional oilprices firmed up on propaganda:Adani Group theyare looking at them. medical.Ithinkthatthesimplicity Howhas consumer Fuel prices,whichvary hopes of demandreturning of the product willattract people. behaviour changed? from statetostate depending fromtherolloutof coronavirus Did the pandemic help The newmodelisdigital but on local salestax or VAT, are vaccinesindifferentcountries, stitutionsthathave demonstrated EconomicAffairs and NITI Aayog, enhance awareness levels Is thereany pressurebecause physical also plays an important nowatrecordhighs in the including India. ENSECONOMICBUREAU faith and invested in theAdani with the tenderconditions of the and rise in business? of pandemic claims? role. Theywanttotalktoanadvi- country, prompting cries fora Prior to thecurrent highs NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 Group,” the Ahmedabad-based 2019 roundof airportprivatisation, Theawarenessishighbutthat Claims have gone up,but not sor and understand as insurance cut in excise duty to ease the triggeredby thepricehikesthis group said. were brushed aside by thePublic maynot translateintoimmediate exponentially andare notalarm- productsare abitcomplicated.The burden on consumers. month, fuel prices had last UNDERSCORINGTHATithasare- “…on numerous occasions, Private Partnership Appraisal surge inbusinessasseveralsectors ing.Claimsare nowgoingdownin phygitalmodeisnowgoingtoplay Oil MinisterDharmendra touchedrecord high on sponsibilityto itsshareholdersand Adani Grouphas been targeted Committee(PPPAC), and that this includingMSMEsare still im- linewithdeclineinnewcasesand adominant role because several Pradhan earlier this week October 4, 2018. the local and international finan- throughfalse propaganda. We effectively pavedthewayforAdani pacted and peoplehaveseen de- mortality. things needtobeexplainedand blamedSaudi oiloutput cut At that timethe govern- cialinstitutions, the Adani Group have also been avictim of manu- Groupto wintherightstooperate, cline in their income levels. It will face to face or voiceinteraction is forthe surge in oilprices but ment had cut excise duty on saidithasbeen “targetedthrough facturedonlinemediacampaigns manageand develop all six air- takesometimeforrestoration.So, Howdoyou seethe interest required. remainednon-committal on petrolanddieselby Rs1.50per false propaganda” on numerous aimedatspreading malicious lies ports that were being privatised. whileawarenesshasgoneup,peo- rate movement forIndia? Onegoodaspectisthatpeople taxcuts. litreinabid to ease inflation- occasions. Thecompanysaid this about our operations andinflict- This newspaper also reported ple should have free cash flowsto Fortunately, thecountrythat have gotusedtodigitalmodesand Topoil explorer Saudi arypressureand boostcon- in anote titled“An Open Letter on ingharm to ourshareholders,”it thatgiventheunprecedentedcon- buy and it will rise withimprove- we arein, thereisagreat oppor- whileonlinechannelsexisted,the Arabiahas pledged additional sumer confidence. the needtoact againstfalseprop- added, without referring to any centrationofpower in at least ment in affordability. tunity.Itisconsumption-ledand penetration waslow anditisris- voluntaryoutputcutsof1mil- Alongside, state-ownedfuel aganda impacting our sharehold- particular allegation. sevencoresectors in corporate Idon’tthink therewill be asitu- ing now. lionbarrelsperdayinFebruary retailers cutprices by another ers”, postedonTwitter Saturday. Lastweek,BJP’sMemberof India, from pharma and telecom Irdai came up with Saral Bima ation wherebusinesses would and March,whichhas ledto Re 1alitre,whichtheyre- “Wereachoutacrossmanyre- Parliament Subramanian Swamy to airportsand ports,the Yojana. What role will it play? notneedcapital. So, Idon’t think What would youliketosee in price climbing to mostsince coupedlater. mote partsofthe countryand we calledAdani a“trapeze artist” CompetitionCommissionof India Asof now, theproductsare not we will ever getintoascenario theBudget from economy’s the pandemic brokeout. This time, thereare no in- areproud thatweare asourceof and said his group owedRs4.5 has launchedaset of detailedin- availableand almostall insurance wherethe interestratewill be pointofview? State-ownedfuel retailers dications of aduty cut so far. directandindirectemploymentto lakh croreasNPA to banks, an al- vestigations on the marketdy- companiesarewaitingforregula- zeroor1.Asmanufacturing ac- While the government has —Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Petrolanddiesel pricesare hundredsofthousandsof people... legation that the group denied namicsofeachsector.Thisin- toryapprovalto launchtheirprod- tivity rises,demand forfunds will helpedinboosting consumption, (IOC), Bharat Petroleum revisedonadailybasis in line Oursixlistedcompanieshave con- saying it hasnever defaulted on cludes areviewofthe model uctsand we expect it to come also go up. we expect to see some steps in Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and with benchmarkinterna- sistentlydeliveredexceptional anybankloan. concession agreementsinkey in- soon.ItslaunchdatewasJanuary1, Though interestrates in India the Budget,too, so that it lifts de- HindustanPetroleum tional priceand foreign ex- gainsto ourshareholders.We have Earlier this month, TheIndian frastructuresectors likeairports, buttheregulatorhadsomequeries have come down by 3-4percent- mand. Infrastructurespending CorporationLtd (HPCL) —had changerates. aresponsibilitytothemandthelo- Express reported that redflags ports and electricity,inwhichthe and observations. agepointsoverthe lastfiveyears, will be keyasthat provides mass cal and international financial in- raisedbythe Department of Adani Group is amajor player. Thereare severalreasons that theyhavenot gone belowsub-5 employment. BRIEFLY Biden, citing ‘economic imperative,’ orders faster relief cheques BanonChinese appstoremain virus and millions of jobs have torBrian Deese said he would his first100 days in office and on choice forTreasurySecretary, NANDITABOSE been lost. speakwithlawmakersonSunday Fridayhespokeofexceeding that paving the wayfor her confirma- NewDelhi: The government &DOINACHIACU “It’snot justtomeetthemoral to push forrelief. number.“We’regoing to,God tion by the full chamber.Biden’s has sent noticestoChinese WASHINGTON,JANUARY23 obligation,”Bidensaidinremarks “We’reataprecarious mo- willing, notonlydo100 million, hopesforspeedyactiononhisleg- apps, including Tiktok,that at aWhiteHouse eventtosign mentfor the virus and the econ- we’regoing do morethan that,” islative agenda andCabinetap- the order to blockthem will US PRESIDENT Joe Biden has or- twoexecutive orders. “This is an omy. Withoutdecisive action, we he said. pointmentsare complicated by becontinued.Thenoticehas dered the faster issuance of pan- economic imperative.” riskfallingintoaveryseriouseco- The US Centersfor Disease the expectedtrialofTrumpinthe been issuedbythe Ministry demicstimuluschequesto needy Bidensaid hisstimulus pack- nomic hole,evenmoreserious Control said it had administered Senateasearly as next week and of Electronics and IT. familiesandincreasedfoodaidfor agetoaddress the economic ef- thanthe crisis we find ourselves 19.1 million dosesofthe vaccine bipartisansquabblingoveropera- children who normallyrelyon fectsofthepandemichassupport in,” Deese said. as of Friday. Women, minorities tions in an evenlysplitSenate. school meals, an effort to ease from business, labor,Wall Street Biden’sactionswere notasub- and low-income service workers Inanexecutive orderonFriday, Davossummit Americans’ burdens while andMainStreet. stitutefor legislative relief, Deese have been disproportionately Biden asked the Treasury tobegintoday Congress negotiates over hispro- “A lotofAmericaishurting. said,withabout16 millionpeople hurt, withBlackand Hispanic Department to consider taking posed$1.9trillioneconomicstim- Thevirusissurging....Familiesare nowreceiving some type of un- workersfacinghigherjoblessrates steps to expand and improvede- NewDelhi/Davos: Prime ulus package. goinghungry. Peopleareatriskof employmentbenefitand an esti- than whiteworkers. liveryof stimuluschequessuchas MinisterNarendraModiwill In the opening days of his ad- being evicted.Job lossesare mated29millionwhodonothave In an early test of whether by establishing online tools for beamongtheworldleaders ministration, Biden is emphasis- mounting again. We needtoact. enoughtoeat. Republicansmight support claiming payments. Unem- who willparticipateinthe ing thatthe government must No matter howyou look at it, we US President Joe Biden signs executiveorders on the economy Amajorpillarof theBidenplan Democrat Biden’s plans forcoro- ployment benefits arelargely ad- six-dayonline Davos tackle the coronaviruscrisis with needtoact,”Bidensaid. as Vice President KamalaHarris looks on. AP/PTI is greatlyincreasing the number navirus relief, infrastructure in- ministeredbythestates,whichset Agenda Summit of the urgency afterhis predecessor Republican lawmakers have of people who arebeing vacci- vestment and taxincreases, the theirowneligibilityrequirements, WorldEconomicForum,be- Donald Trumplargely playedit questionedthe pricetag on pan- nated againstthe novelcoron- US SenateFinance Committee anditwasunclearhowthefederal ginning Sunday. PTI down. Morethan 400,000 demic aid and aseparateinvest- green energyprojects, education EarlieronFriday, WhiteHouse avirus. In December,Biden seta voted unanimouslyonFridayto agency would put this directive Americanshavediedfromthe ment proposalfor infrastructure, and research. NationalEconomicCouncildirec- goalof 100millionvaccinationsin approveJanet Yellen, Biden’s intoeffect. REUTERS Kolkata WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 MEANWHILE WINNING TICKET FOR $1BN JACKPOT SOLD IN MICHIGAN Asingle winningticketfor aMegaMillionslotteryjackpot of $1.05 billion,the third-largest lotteryjackpot in US history,was sold at asupermarket in asuburb of Detroit, Michigan,lottery organiserssaid on Saturday. 10 THE WORLD Theholder of the winning ticket, whichwouldhavecost $2 to buy, had yettocontactthe lotteryasof Saturday morning.The jackpot grew over four months after 36 previousdraws producednowinner.

TOPOFTHE WORLD InSenatedeal,Trump impeachmenttrial putoffuntilearlyFeb Delaytogivetimefor chamber to focus on Bidenagenda The truckinwhich39 people were found dead. Reuters file DAVIDMORGAN& RICHARDCOWAN WASHINGTON,JANUARY23 BRITAIN Smugglersget THE LEADERSofthe US Senate agreedonFridaytopush back longjailterms former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by forroleindeath twoweeks, giving thechamber of39migrants HONGKONGLOCKS DOWN THOUSANDS: Health workers inside alockeddownportion of the Jordan residential area in moretime to focus on President HongKong on Saturday.Hong Kong’s government lockeddownanareaofKowloon peninsula afteranoutbreak of the novel Joe Biden’s legislative agenda FOUR SMUGGLERS con- coronavirus, saying 10,000residentsmuststayhome untiltheyhavebeentestedand the resultslargely determined. The first and Cabinetnominees before SenateMajority Leader ChuckSchumer (left), aDemocrat, victed of killing 39 people suchmeasure thecity has takensince the pandemic beganhas occurredinthe denselypopulated neighbourhoods of Jordan turning to the contentious said thetrial is settobegin during theweek of Monday fromVietnamwhodiedin that is home to many subdividedflatsinwhichthe virus could spread moreeasily. Reuters showdown over Trump. February8,anarrangementpraisedbythe chamber’s top the backofacontainer SenateMajority Leader Chuck Republican,MitchMcConnell(right). Reuters truckasitwas shippedto Schumer,aDemocrat,saidthetrial England were sentenced is settobegin during the week of Fridaytobetween 13 and Monday February 8, an arrange- “Duringthat period, the Biden orders 27 yearsinprison.Thevic- WHO says Pfizer deal couldallow poor mentpraisedbythechamber’stop Senate willcontinue to do other tims, ages 15 to 44,were Republican, MitchMcConnell. business forthe American peo- assessment of found in October 2019 in- The House of Representatives ple, suchasCabinetnominations side arefrigerated con- countries to start vaccinating in February is due to formallydelivertothe and the Covid relief billwhich domestic tainerthathadtravelledby SenateonMonday theimpeach- would provide relief formillions ferryfromBelgium to the “In this worldweare as pro- ing criticismofvaccine inequity ment charge accusing Trumpof of Americans who aresuffering eastern English portof EMMAFARGE& Pfizer’s vaccine is so far tected as our neighbour,” said as wealthycountries inoculate incitinganinsurrection, amove during this pandemic,” Schumer extremism risk Purfleet.Themigrantshad MATTHIASBLAMONT the onlyone with WHO Pfizer’s CEO AlbertBourla, offi- millionsofpeople using shots that ordinarilywould have trig- said on the Senatefloor. Washignton: President Joe Biden paidsmugglersthousands GENEVA,JANUARY23 ciallyannouncing the deal which procured through bilateral deals. geredthe beginning of the trial The timeline wasacompro- has directed his administration of dollarstotakethem on emergency approval Reuters reportedonThursday. WHODirector-GeneralTedros within aday.The charge stems mise afterMcConnell had asked to conduct afull assessmentof riskyjourneys to what THE WORLDHealth Bourla said the 40 million Adhanom Ghebreyesussaid the from Trump’s incendiaryspeech the Democratic-ledHouse to de- the risk of domestic terrorism in theyhopedwould be bet- Organisation said on Fridayithad doses, afraction of thecom- newagreementwithPfizershould to supportersbefore theystormed laysending the charge until next thewakeofthe attackonthe US terlives abroad. Instead, reachedanagreement with WHO and the GAVI vaccine al- pany’s total 2021 production es- allowvaccinationstobegin in the CapitolonJan. 6inarampage Thursday, and calledonSchumer Capitol by supporters of former theydiedbysuffocationin Pfizer/BioNTechfor 40 million liance, signed deals forhundreds timateof2billion, would be sold Februaryfor health workers, but that delayedthe formalcongres- to postpone the trial until mid- President Donald Trump, the theairtightcontainer.NYT doses of itsCovid-19vaccineand of millionsofdoses to vaccinate on anon-profit basis. He de- detailsof supplyarrangementsare sionalcertificationof Biden’selec- FebruarytogiveTrumpmore WhiteHouse said on Friday. should beable to startdelivering people in poorand lower-middle scribed it as an initial agreement, still being finalised. He said he tion victoryand leftfivepeople time to prepareadefence. The assessment will be car- vaccines to poorand lower-mid- income countries, but vaccina- and said moredoses could be hopedthe deal would prompt dead, includingapoliceofficer. Doug Andres, aspokesman riedout by theOffice of the dle income countries next month tionshave yettostart.Pfizer’svac- providedthrough the COVAX other nations to donatemoreof Schumer said the newtime- forMcConnell, said the senator Director of National Intelligence ITALY underits COVAXprogramme. cine is so farthe onlyone that has programme in future. their Pfizer doses to support roll- line will allowthe Senateto waspleasedDemocratshad in coordination with the FBI and TikToktoldto TheCOVAXscheme,ledby the WHOemergency approval. The deal comes amid grow- out, likeNorwayhas. REUTERS move quicklyonkey Biden ap- givenTrump’s defense more Department of Homeland pointees and other taskswhile time, and laid out atimeline that Security,White House spokes- blockusersafter giving House lawmakers who could have the trial begin as soon woman Jen Psaki said. India Club in UK will prosecutethe case and as February9.“This is awin for “Wewant fact-basedanaly- 10-year-olddies Taiwan reports large incursion by Trump’steam moretimetopre- due process and fairness,” sis,upon whichwecan shape THE ITALIAN dataprivacy raising funds to parefor thetrial. Andressaid. REUTERS policy,” Psaki told reporters. watchdog ordered video Psaki said that, in addition to appTikTok on Fridayto Chinese Air Force, deploys missiles fight closure threat the threat assessment, the White blockthe accounts of any London: The historic India Club in House would build out capability usersinItaly whoseage it London, ahub forIndian nation- Biden admin will within itsNational Security could notverifyfollowing REUTERS HOSTAGETAKERKILLEDINCHINASCHOOLATTACK alistsduringtheIndianindepend- Council to counterdomesticvio- the death of a10-year-old TAIPEI,JANUARY23 ence movement in the 1930s and lent extremism, including apol- girlwhohadbeenusingthe Beijing:PoliceintheChinesecity Footagereleased by police ’40s, has launchedacrowdfund- review deal with the icyreviewonhow thefederalgov- Chinese-ownedapp. The EIGHT CHINESE bomber planes of Kunming shotdead aknife- showedthe middle-aged man ing drive to raiselegal costs fora ernmentcan shareinformation ruling came afteragirldied and four fighter jets entered the wielding man who attacked wasshotintheheadby asniper fighttoprevent itsclosure. aboutthethreatbetter.REUTERS of asphyxiationinPalermo, southwestern cornerofTaiwan’s sevenpeople outside amiddle as he heldaknifetothe neckof The venue, whichhad wona Taliban: White House Sicily, in acase that has air defence identification zone school before holding aboy the child he had takenhostage. battle to preventits demolition a shockedItaly.Her parents on Saturday, andTaiwan’s Air hostage.Oneof theinjureddied Afterhewas killedby fewyearsago,has been serveda More heads roll said she had been partici- Forcedeployedmissiles to later, China Daily reported. snipers, the boy, who ap- noticebylandlords to makeway REUTERS pating in aso-called black- “monitor” the incursion, the is- The 56-year-old man, sur- pearedtobeunharmed, stood foramoremodernised hotel. WASHINGTON,JANUARY23 at US-funded out challengeonTikTok, land’s Defence Ministrysaid. namedWang, targeted the up andran as dozensofpolice The proprietors launcheda putting abelt around her China,whichclaimsTaiwanas school in Wuhua district’s rushedin. The attacker’s mo- “Save India Club” online appeal THE UNITED States will review international neckandholdingherbreath itsown territory, has conducted Kunming city on Friday. tive wasunknown. PTI this week,whichhas already the peace agreement reached while recording herselfon almostdailyflightsoverthe wa- raised over £4,300 on theUK’s withthe Taliban lastyear,White broadcasters her phone. REUTERS tersbetweenthesouthernpartof Crowdfunder platform. House national security adviser Taiwan and the Taiwan-con- mission —Taiwan said it was craft, flewoverthe same waters “AsanIndo-Britishinstitution JakeSullivantold his Afghan Washington: Theheads of three FRANCE trolledPratas Islands in the South made up of eight nuclear-capa- wherethe mostrecent Chinese whichhassurvivedforover half a counterpart in aphonecall on US President Joe Biden at federallyfundedinternational ChinaSea in recentmonths. ble H-6K bombers and four J-16 missionshavebeentakingplace century, this is atragedy.Itisalso Friday, according to aWhite WhiteHouseonFriday. AP broadcasters were abruptly fired Passengerson Howevertheyhavegenerally fighter jets —isunusual. near the Pratas Islands. particularly painful as it comes at House statement. lateFridayasthe Biden adminis-

publictransport consisted of just one or twore- Amap providedbyTaiwan’s Taiwan’s Air Forcewarned atimewhenwe have workedtire- Under aFebruary 2020 deal ED trationcompletedahouse-clean- connaissance aircraft. DefenceMinistryshowedthatthe away the Chinese aircraftand lesslytosurvive the pandemic,” between the US and the Taliban, ing of Donald Trump-appointees urgednottotalk The presence of so many Chineseaircraft, whichalso in- deployedmissiles to monitor saidPhirozaMarker, themanager USforcesaretoleave Afghanistan Peacetalks attheUSAgencyforGlobalMedia. Chinese combat aircraftonthis cludedaY-8 anti-submarine air- them, the ministryadded. of IndiaClub. PTI by May2021inexchangefor PLAIN E Twoofficials familiar with ● stalling tocurbCovid counter-terrorism guarantees. EX the changes said the acting chief PASSENGERS ON public Lastweek the number of US of the USAGMsummarilydis- transportsystems should troopsinAfghanistanwentdown THE BIDEN administration’s missedthe directorsofRadio avoid talking to onean- 2,000 held at Russianprotests backing Navalny to 2,500, the lowest levelof move to reviewthe US- Free Europe/RadioLiberty,Radio other or on the phonein Americanforcestheresince2001. Talibandeal comes at atime Free Asia and the MiddleEast order to minimise the risk as prosecution and possiblejail But violence levels in when the militant group and Broadcasting Networks just a of spreading coronavirus, GABRIELLETÉTRAULT- time forattending an unautho- Afghanistanhavesurged, has- the Afghan government are month aftertheyhad been the FrenchNational FARBER& risedevent. tening international calls fora holding peacetalksinDoha. namedtothe posts. AcademyofMedecine ANDREWOSBORN But protesters defiedthe ban ceasefirebetween the Afghan However, thetalkshaveso The changes came aday after said. “The mandatory MOSCOW,JANUARY23 and, in at leastone case in tem- government and the Taliban. farnot producedany major thedirectorof theVoiceof America wearing of masksonpub- peratures below-50 Celsius, SullivantoldAfghan national breakthroughs,with both andhisdeputywere removedand lic transport, wheresocial POLICE DETAINED over 2,000 turnedout in force. Leonid Volkov, security adviser Hamdullah sidesblaming eachother for the chiefofthe Office of Cuba distancing is notpossible, people and usedforce to break up aNavalnyally, calledonthem to Mohib thatthe review would as- the lackofprogress. Broadcasting steppeddown. The should by accompaniedby rallies across Russia on Saturday do the same next weekend to try sess“whethertheTalibanwasliv- Moreover, attacks by the firingsfollowthe forced resigna- one very simple precau- as tens of thousandsof protesters to free Navalnyfromwhat he ing up to itscommitments to cut Taliban and othergroups tion of former President Donald tion: avoid talking and ignored extreme cold and police called“the clutches of his killers”. ties with terroristgroups, to re- have continuedatahigh fre- Trump’shandpickedchoiceto lead making phone calls,” the warnings to demand the release In central Moscow, where duceviolenceinAfghanistan,and quency in Afghanistan. In USAGMonlytwo hoursafter Joe academysaid in astate- of Kremlin critic AlexeiNavalny. Reuters reporters estimated at to engageinmeaningfulnegotia- this context, the position Biden took office on Wednesday. ment. “It is notanobliga- Navalnyhad calledonhis Police detain aman duringaprotestinMoscow Saturday. AP least 40,000 people had gath- tions with the Afghan govern- takenbythe newUSgovern- Trump’s USAGMchief tion,itisarecommenda- supporters to protest afterbeing ered in one of the biggestunau- mentandotherstakeholders,”the ment regarding itsagree- Michael Pack had been accused tion,” PatrickBerche, a arrested lastweekend as he re- thorisedrallies foryears, police statement said. Sullivanunder- ment withthe Talibanwill by Democratsand others of try- member of the academy, turnedtoRussia from Germany wasslippedtohim by statese- people to stay away from were seen roughlydetaining scoredthattheUSwillsupportthe be crucial to where the peace ing to turn VOAand itssisternet- said on BFM TV.REUTERS forthe firsttime since being poi- curity agentsinAugust. Saturday’s protests, saying they people, bundling them into peace process with “a robustand processgoes from this stage. worksintopro-Trumppropa- sonedwith anerveagent he says The authorities had warned risked catching Covid-19 as well nearbyvans. REUTERS regionaldiplomatic effort”. ganda machines. AP

FROM PRESIDENTS AND PUNDITS TO SWINDLERS AND UFO ‘EXPERTS’, HE HAS INTERVIEWED AROUND 50,000PEOPLE Larry King,breezy interviewer of the famous and infamous, dies at 87

said he had died at Cedars-Sinai longest-running programme, the deliveryboywho became one “Great!” “Terrific!” “Gee whiz!” to notremembersomething?” ROBERTDMCFADDEN Medical Center. reaching millions across America of America’s mostfamousTVand He made no claim to being a To Donald Trump, when he JANUARY23 The statementdid notspecify and around the world. radio personalities, anewspaper journalist, although his show wasstill best known as areal es- acause of death, but King had re- With thefolksypersonality of columnist, the author of numer- sometimes made news,aswhen tate mogul:“Does it have to be LARRYKING, who shotthe centlybeen treated forCovid-19. aBensonhurstschmoozer,King ous booksand aperformer in Ross Perot announcedhis presi- buildings?” breeze with presidents and psy- In 2019,hewas hospitalisedfor interviewedanestimated50,000 dozens of movies and television dential candidacy therein1992. He bragged that he almost chics, movie stars and malefac- chestpains and said he had also people of everyimaginable per- shows, mostlyashimself. And he wasnot confrontational; neverprepared foraninterview. tors —anyone withastory to tell sufferedastroke. suasion and claim to fame — His personallifewas thestuff he rarely asked anyone, letalone If hisguestwasanauthorpromot- or apitchtomake—in ahalf- Ason of Europeanimmi- everypresident sinceRichard of supermarkettabloids —mar- apolitician or policymaker,a ing abook,hedid notread it but centuryonradio andtelevision, grantswho grew up in Brooklyn Nixon, worldleaders, royalty,re- riedeight times to seven tough or technical question, pre- asked simply,“What’s it about?” including 25 years as the hostof and neverwent to college,King ligious and business figures, women; achronic gambler who ferring gentleprods to getguests or “Whydid youwritethis?” CNN’s globallypopular “Larry beganasalocal radio interviewer crime and disastervictims, pun- declared bankruptcy twice;ar- to sayinteresting thingsabout Nordid he pose as an intel- King Live”, diedonSaturday in and sportscasterinFlorida in the dits,swindlers,“experts” on UFOs rested on afraud charge that de- themselves. lectual. He salted his talk with Los Angeles.Hewas 87. 1950s and ’60s, rose to promi- andparanormalphenomena,and railedhis career foryears; anda To former President Nixon: “ain’t”, and “the” soundedlike OraMedia, whichKing co- nence with an all-night coast-to- untold hosts of idiosyncratic and bundle of contradictions who “Whenyou drive by the “da”. To apublic sceptical of ex- foundedin2012, confirmedthe coastradiocall-in showstarting insomniac telephone callers. Larry King on the setofhis CNN interviewprogramme, neverquite got over his ownsuc- Watergate, do youfeel weird?” perts,heseemedrefreshingly death in astatement postedon in 1978, and from 1985 to 2010 Kingmight have made afas- “Larry KingLive”, whichran for25years. NYT cessbut gushed,star-struck, over To former President Ronald average: justacurious guy ask- King’s ownTwitter account and anchored CNN’shighest-rated, cinating guestonhis ownshow: other celebrities, exclaiming, Reagan: “Is it, foryou,frustrating ing questions impulsively. NYT Kolkata JANUARY24, 2021 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 11 THE SUNDAY EXPRESSMAGAZINE

POINTOFVIEW ARTS etc Vision from the Past Escaping Home Tamil writer Salma on chronicling the TheMartyrs’ Monument in Chandigarh’s Capitol claustrophobiaofhome and the universalstory Complexnears completion withthe installation of women of Le Corbusier’s enigmatic sculptures eye

WISWISHUHUPONPONAA Whatcouldbemoreemblematicofacapitalconstantlyonthebuildthan theharmonyofafamiliarmonument,abustlingavenueandabroad REPUBLICREPUBLIC boulevardcommandingaviewofthecorridorsofpowerandanopensky?

PHOTOS:RENUKAPURI

Narayani Gupta “monuments” oftenignore the complexna- cities, it is Japan we have to learn from, notthe tureofthis urbanscape. The great builders USA, wherethereisstill so muchland to ex- knewwheretobuild but also wherenot to. ploit. Norfromthe British imperial notion of TISanationalfestivalwhichdoesnot Therewas an instinctiveharmony andbal- cantonment planning, but from the design of move around like DiwaliorEid-ul- anceinthe heightof buildingsset offbygreen British offices today, spare and minimal. Fitr.Itisfixed in the Gregorian calen- lawns or pedestrian paths,the ratio of open Do we reallybelieve“development” is dar,somuchsothat it is notreferred spaceandbuiltarea,the vanishingpoints,the markedbyhugeconvention centres or nine- to by theclunky GantantraDivas but balance of textures and colours. Today, our storeyedbuildings fordepartmentsthat keep Ias Chhabees Janvari.Mygeneration open spaces —the lungs of the city —haveto expanding on avariation of Parkinson’s law will remember the cold morning of January be guardedvigilantly. Thereare anumber of (workexpands according to the spaceavail- 26, 1951,when we were wakenedtothe suchspaces, butturningthe lightonthree ma- able)? Wouldn’t it bemuch morerewarding to sound,thenthe sightofvillagers walkingbare- jor ones will be enough to makethe point — retain forall the peoplethe spaces bequeathed foot to Rajpath, shoes prudentlycarriedon first,theopenspacesandlawnsof Humayun’s by earlier generations of buildersand design- their heads to save them from the harsh tarred mausoleum (designedinthe 1570s, modified ers of vision. Ourthree examples neednore- roads. Whichexplains the déjà vu feelingin by theArchaeologicalSurvey inthe1920s);the inforcing —amemorialwhichisamong the lateMarch 2020—but with adifference: un- spacious boulevard of Shah Jahan’s Chandni finest, mostuplifting of Indian architecture, liketheir grandparents, the endless line of peo- Chowk(mid-17thcentury)fromwhere pedes- setinquiettree-shadedlawns wherechildren ple were walking away from the city. trians with good vision could see the Badshah can play; an avenue of whichthe city’s poets Republic Dayechoes to other footsteps, on his throne; and, finally,the century-old wrotewithaffection;aboulevard command- too—the marching feet of soldiers and of chil- Kingsway/Rajpath, designedbyBritish horti- ing aviewofaharmoniousensemble of build- dren in the parade, the abandonoffolk- culturistsinspiredby theMughals,withatwo- ings and institutions inviting youtoashared dances, familiar but always impressive and milelawnandwaterchannels,encircledbyja- OURS ARE THE namedafter,whohadalso laidout theLahore the area reclaimed.OnRajpath,the green on culture, amajestic expanse of sky. strangelymoving. Variety comesinthe form mun trees that come alive in the monsoon. STREETS AND canal, musthavebeen asatisfiedman. both sides areatemptation to “developers” to Arthistorians maysometimes lose sight of jhankis(tableau) presented by different If onlywecould rewind and listentocon- THE SKIES Architectsand engineers commandedwell- whom open areas areempty areas, an invita- of the wood forthe trees, indulgeindoubts states with the same pride as school children versations about these spaces at the time they deserved honour at theroyal court. tionto buildon.Thejamuntreesandthebuild- about “authenticity”, argue about pink sand- presenting “projects”. were designed!Humayun musthavede- The Rajpath and the As theydid in early 20th-centuryDelhi, ing bye-lawsheldtheir ownand the serenity stone or blue domes, label narrowly as “colo- What if one were to visualise a jhanki for scribed the wonderful gardens in Iran he had Humayun’s To mb too. The centreofthe British capital in India, remainedevenafteradministrative blocksand nial” what wasactuallypartofinternational our ownmillennium city? Acity constantly seenwhen in exile.His sonAkbar created a are among the finest running west to east, wasexactlyparallel to culturalvenueswere builtinthe’50sand’80s. design initiatives. But to jadedoffice-workers, on the build (and oftenclearly on the make) carpet-garden forhim on the bankofthe examples of Indian Chandni Chowk,and to oneofthe twoav- Whyshould Iwish these three spacesto exhaustedhousebound women, children re- like Delhi,shouldlookbeforeand after. Things Yamuna, morebeautiful than the one in Kabul design, offering enues dividing Humayun’s garden intofour be the theme of the jhanki forDelhi? Because leasedfromthe tyrannyofhomework,these that have happenedinthelast year have given wherehis grandfather Babur wasburied. baghs. Basedonclassical Roman planning oneofthe messages of lastyear’s pandemic is places arepriceless gifts —the spaciousness peoplerespite from muchtothink about. At anymoment,the city Eighty years later,Shah Jahan wasalso inspired principles revivedbyPalladio, it wasagreen that monumentality has nothing to offer; that of Humayun’s Tomb gardens, the pedestri- can find the ecological balanceofcenturies by drawings of Isfahan, of agreat imperial av- their daily drudgery expanse, acounterpoint to thehill wherethe “development” does notmean less trees, less anisedChandni Chowk,the majestic Central upset, notonlybyavirus,butby human pred- enue,withroomfor all.ThatinShahjahanabad dramatictwin Secretariatbuildingssoaredup grass underfoot.Or,moremotorcars,moreof- Vista as it is today. Interact with them and ators, including those who areits custodians. ledfromthe Fort to the Fatehpuri Mosque. to the plateauofthe Government House. fices,morepaper, more peoplerequiring more theremight bean unexpectedmoment of de- Forcenturies, thosewho settledherehave UnlikeinEurope, avenues in India were not AfterIndependence,theHumayun’sTomb space. Neither shops nor government offices lightwhen youechosomethingsaidbyone flattenedits surface, channelledits streams, named, but the people’s name foranorna- gardensdiddutyasarefugeecamp.Half acen- need morespace. The magic phrase —“on- of our greatestarchitects, Louis Kahn. “The sun cutintoits quartziteand sandstone to build mental pool—Chandni Chowk —was used turylater,the AgaKhan Trustbreathednew line” —can scale them down. Efficiency is neverknewhow great it wasuntil it hit the forts, garden-houses and walkways nestedon forthe street.With the reincarnated nahar of lifeintoit. Chandni Chowk wasalmostde- achievedbyenergetic work andahealthyat- side of abuilding.” Forthe sun to light up our green carpets.Thatmagic combinationof Ferozeshah Tughlaqrunningdown itslength, stroyed by mindless jerry-building and indis- mosphere, whichiscontingentonclean, beau- buildings, we have to respect our unbuilt areas. dusty rose sandstone,clearwater andverdant the street came to lifeand became an icon. Ali criminatemotorisedtraffic,untiltwoyearsago, tiful open spaces wherewecan connectwith foliageisthe signatureofDelhi. References to Mardan, the Persian whom the canal was when arescueoperation wasmounted and earth and sky. When it comes to designing NarayaniGuptaisaDelhi-basedhistorian The Day of the Citizen

The annual presidential address on the eve of Republic Day is an occasion for introspection and affirmation of our constitutional values

Praveen Siddharth also aproduct of years of labour and resolve. fare of more than 320 million men and opportunity to highlight what theyfeel is the The midwives—the members of our women who inhabit it”. needofthehour.Thebedrock of everyaddress Constituent Assembly—enacted the From then on,every year,our presidents has been the principles enshrinedinour OCCASIONALLY, Atelevisedevent can bring a Constitution onNovember 24,1949, butthey have sought to remind us notonlyofhow far Constitution.PresidentPranabMukherjeesaid lumptothe throat, due to an overwhelming waited until January26, 1950, to proclaim it we have come but also howfar we areyet to it best in his 2013 address, “Indiadid notwin feeling of national pride, likewhen our cricket as the guiding documentof our nation. During travelinourcollective pursuitoftheidealsspelt freedomfromtheBritishinorderto denyfree- team wins amajor tournament overseas. But the 1929 Lahoresession of the Indian National out in 1950. In his 1967 address, President S dom to Indians. The Constitution represented something that occurs morepredictablyisthe Congress,itwas decidedthat this date will Radhakrishnansaid,“Ourtiessubsistbecause asecond liberation, this time from the stran- President’s annual address on the eveof henceforth becelebratedasourIndependence they were notofironandsteel,orevenof gold, gleholdof traditionalinequityingender,caste, Republic Day. We watchitonour televisions, Day. So, when ourConstitution wasfinally butofthe silken cords of the human spirit”. community,alongwith other fetters...” notmerelyasspectators ready,the members did not At the same time, our presidentshavere- Finally,ourPresidents have alsoprompted but as participants in the want to lose the signifi- mindeduswho the real owners of thisenter- us to notbecontent merelywith looking at exercise of nation building cance of the date. prise are. Our ambitions and dreams areno what benefitsusasacountrybut also strive that we embarkedupon In manyways, our longer enslavedbythe wishesofafewthou- to makethe worldabetterplace. In 2018, collectively in 1950. Republic Dayismoresignif- sands in foreign shores. As president R President RamNath Kovind setour goals Other heads of statealso icant than our Venkatraman statedinhis 1990 address, manynotches higher.Hesaid, “The highest give televisedspeeches, the IndependenceDay.India RepublicDaywastheday “thecitizensofIndia stageofIndia’s nation-building project is to mostfamous, perhaps, be- mayhavebecome free were guaranteedfundamentalrightstolifeand contributetobuildingabetterworld—acom- ing the annual Christmas from British rule on August liberty and were freedfromexploitationand positeand cohesive world, aworld at peace address by the British Living History 15,1947, but lifewas discrimination. Above all, it wasonthis day with itself and at peace with nature.” monarch,atraditionsince breathedintoour nation COURTESY:RASHTRAPATIBHAVAN thateverycitizenof Indiaemergedasthesov- Whetherthey act as nudges forintrospec- 1932, or the US President’s An Indian Express with the adoption of the IN THISTOGETHER ereign of thecountrythrough the adoption of tion, guiding lights, or progress milestones, state-of-unionaddress.But collaboration with the Constitution.Inthe inter- The Republic Day celebration in 1953 universaladultfranchise”.Ourpresidentshave these addresses have had one thing in com- these aremoreinthe form RashtrapatiBhavan vening period,wewerea implored us to shun parochialism. In his 1997 mon: timelessness. What wassaidhalf acen- of personal reflections or Britishdominion.Ourhead address,President Shankar DayalSharma ap- turyago still holdsgoodtoday. Our presidents accountsofactions taken of statewas KingGeorge VI, at 10.18 am, in the Durbar Hall of the hisfirstRepublic Dayspeech, whichwas also pealed,“wemustalldevelopabroadnational- have been the voice of our collective con- duringthe year.The address by our president, representedby the governor generalforIndia, Rashtrapati Bhavangovernor general C his acceptance speech, President Prasad an- istoutlookwherebywevieweveryissuenotin science. So, when we listentothe address on ontheotherhand, is an occasion forcollective and our head of government,Jawaharlal Rajagopalachari read out aproclamation an- nounced, “Today, forthe firsttime in our long alimited,narroworparochial perspectivebut the 26th, we would do well to remember that introspection,amirrorheld up to ourcon- Nehru, wasacting as the secretaryfor state. nouncing the birth of our republic.This was and chequered history we find the whole of in the context of thegood of the nation.” we areonlylistening to ourinner selves. science by ourfirstcitizen. With our Constitution, we took ourfirst followedbythe swearing-in of our firstpres- thisvastland... brought together under the ju- The annual presidential addressiscom- Justasour independence wasthe result of steps towardsdefining ouridentity asasover- ident, RajendraPrasad,and our firstprime risdiction of one constitution and one union posedofthepresident’sownthoughts,notthat PraveenSiddharthisprivatesecretarytothe decades of struggle, our birth as arepublicwas eign democraticrepublic. On January26, 1950, minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and his cabinet. In whichtakes over responsibility forthe wel- of theexecutive.Asaresult,theyhaveusedthis PresidentofIndia Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

12 POINT OF VIEW JANUARY 24, 2021

EYE SPY MomentofReckoning EVERY FORTNIGHT, WE PICK, YOU WATCH Must Have The insurrection in the US provided an opportunity for other nations to reaffirm Been Love their faith in democracy ity in the other. But lurking in the feting, in the crowds lin- SLICEOFLIFE ing up to gettheir cookbookssigned, in the lauded airportarrivals, wasthe America I'd encountered at thefarmers’ market in Union Square—anation divided, unable to grapple with asociety wheretherecould be equality among people who look very different from one another,who speakdifferently, who come from different parts of the world. And, so, I would bestrip-searched.Iwould bedetained forhours in airportbackrooms untilthe au- thoritieswereconvincedthat thisbrownman wasn'taterrorist. Iwould be called names, I THINGSFALLAPART would be humiliated. People would marvel Astill from The Squid and the Whale that IspokeEnglish, would be shockedthat I atewith aknifeand fork. January6,2021, wasareminder that The Squid and the Whale explores America is atale of these twocountries. Two very different realities, bitterly polarised and the fallout of acollapsing marriage unableto accept theotherasequalandto hold honestand meaningful dialogue. Shubhra Gupta SuvirSaran If America wantsthe worldtosee it as ex- ceptional,itneedstobecomethat. OnJanuary Suvir Saran is achef,author,educator 6, the worldsaw America as farfromexcep- WO PEOPLE falling apartisasnatural as two and world traveller tional. It wasIraq, it wasAfghanistan, it was people falling in love.It’s funnyhow we spend Syria. Nowthe worldwatches to seeifthese considerable time and emotion in searching for twoAmericascan come together,with the Tthe perfect partner,and consider ourselveslucky SCIENCETELLSusabout the dopamine rush same reality forall itspeople. The Joe Biden- when it happens. But we forget that we arechangeable we experience whenweprocess informa- KamalaHarris administration will needto creatures. Couples do grow out of eachother,and amar- tion that supports our beliefs, no matter how heal this festering wound before anything else. riagecan and, sadly, does break. fake thatinformation mightbe. Mostofus But what happenedatthe Capitol in Noah Baumbach’s 2019 MarriageStory,about an ac- tireeasilyand choose to remain in the com- Washington DC will notbecontainedby tress and astage director drifting apart, shows us how forting confinesofsameness, whereour mis- Americanborders.HowAmericareactstothe painful breakdowns can be:the characters playedby guidedthoughtsgouncheckedand we feel insurrection is howdemocracies around the Adam Driverand Scarlett Johansson were joined at the good about ourselvesand the worldaswe worldmay react to the same challenges to- hip notsolong back; nowtheycan’t bear to look at each choose to see it. morrow. Other nations still believe in America, other.Therapydoesn’t work.Neither do well-meant in- But reasondemands morefromus. Reason in the imageitprojectsand what it wantsto terventions from friends and family. In an explosive argu- challenges us to evolve and grow. be.Fledglingcountriesarewatching“theshin- ment,Charlie yells at Nicole that he wishes she would die. ModernSchool,VasantViharinNew ing light on the hill”. And youknow, just as theydo, that that’s the end. Furious Delhi, wasoriginallyconceivedasanalterna- As we preparefor our ownRepublicDay people do saystufftheydon’t mean, but something as fi- tive to the missionaryschools operating in IndiaonJanuary26, the lessons of history nal as this is hardtodial backfrom. through the prism of Christianity and the arestaring us in the face. Through her long his- Baumbach’s bio states that his lifewas deeplyim- colonisers'’ sensibilities about education and toryMotherIndia hassurvivedlootand plun- pacted by his parents’ messy divorce. His 2005 film, The childhood development. My father wased- der,hateand bigotry,communalism and au- SquidAnd The Whale,whichfeels likeayounger version of ucatedat Modern while my mother is aprod- thoritarianismand has always endedupliving MarriageStory,isshowing on MUBI. JeffDaniels and Laura uct of Irish Catholic convent education. Icon- proud and bright forher embrace of the plu- Linneyplayaliterarycouple who’vehad it with each sideritmygoodlucktohavebenefitedfrom raloverthe singular. other.Soon afterthe film opens, we seethem informing amix of their twoeducational sensibilities. But the oldest andthelargestdemocracies their twoboys,aged12and 16 years (playedrespectively From agesix to 18,Iwas made awareofIndia’s of theworldaredancingto theseductive tune by Owen Klineand Jesse Eisenberg), about the split. challenges, itscultural wealth and societalis- of viral conspiracytheories and cunningly-ex- What makes the older film so interesting is howpared sues, itsrichdiversity andfragile secular ecuted campaigns of deception. These pose a down it is. MarriageStory has therapists and lawyers dreams. My parents came of agewith acolo- vexing problem to geopolitics, with danger- jumping in, leading the battle-scarredcouple intolong- nial backgroundfromwhichtheygleaned ousoutcomes forthe world. Myopia has led drawn, futile meetings. TheSquid And The Whale keeps its light and growth. Icame of ageinanIndia glu- SUVIRSARAN to self-destructive behaviour in the US, and a ●●● focus on the family, makingnot the slightestattempt to ing itself intoamosaic, whereplurality was similar jingoism and sectarianism is found garner our sympathies either forthe husband, or the wife. valuedand our manyIndian faces and forms across the world. Neither aresaints. She is in arelationship with the connected us to our common humanity.The Now the world watches to see if these two Americas can come together, America, as we once knew her,has fallen. younger boy’s tennis coach; he is making the movesona challengeofthisimmense task,the commu- She might still have achance to survive,but student young enough to be his daughter. nal riots andvexing polarisations fomented withthe same reality for all its people poorer nations, with manymorechallenges, What’s even moreinteresting is howneither parent by recklesslyself-servingand vote-hungry have doom looming large over them, unless ●●● tries to hide their affair.Dotheyeventhink of howthis politicians, wasourstoobserve,study and theynip dangerous behaviours in the bud. will affect thechildren, already devastated by the separa- discusswith our teachers and parents. Igrew smokecloseto my homein Greenwich Village. leave the US andgohome. Other New Democracies newerand developing have a tion? Jointcustody means that the boys have to learn to up watching India go from strength to My father calledabout aterroristattackatthe Yorkers savedme, and Iarrived home atad moment of reckoning and awakening, acall split their time between twohouses, one well-ap- strength while occasionallybeing brought to same moment the second plane hit the tow- shaken.Scratchedand sore, Icooked dinner, to fill the void of reason and decency that has pointed,the othershabby and disorganised, and two itsknees through human folly. ers. That imageisetchedinmymemory. Also served our friends, and receivedcaring sup- been at leasttemporarilyleftbythe US.This warring individuals. Baumbachinjectswry humour into The autumn of 1993 broughtmetoNew engravedin my psycheisthe scent of burning portfromthem. dreamer hopes that nations steepedincivili- this searing autobiographical movie,and that savesus York Citytostudy graphicdesignand arthis- flesh and building material. But the mostlast- Afew yearslater,myfirstcookbook,which sational history,generationalempathyand from recoiling everytime theadults do something stupid tory.Familyand friends welcomedmewith ing imprint wasleftbythe callousbehaviour would go on to become one of the mostpop- maternal instinctscan stop fashioning them- or immature, leaving the young people to figure thorny love and gave me nurturing support. Ifound shown by thosefromoutsidethecitytosome ular Indian cookbookspublishedinthe US, selvesafter the machismo and fascismthat thingsout forthemselves. myself happilysettledinNYC withinweeks of us who livedthere. debutedas the nation washealing.Myrestau- we have seen being championedinthe West. The film leavesyou thinking —ishappily-ever-afteran and living the lifeofaManhattanite. That life After9/11itbecame clear that America rant Devi, whichgot the firstMichelin star for Mayboththe UnitedStates of America under illusion? Should we keep going justfor thesakeofour erodedthe divisivenessImight have felt is notone nation but twonations within the anIndianrestaurantinNorthAmerica,opened Biden and Harris and the old and sage children, even if it bungs us intoastate of permanent mis- with thosethat seemeddifferent from me. construct of one. Aweek and ahalf afterthe at the same time. This recognitionbroughtme Republic of India find comfortintheir shared ery? What comes through is auniversal truth: twopeo- That washow all of us who made ahome in attackIwas at the Union SquareFarmers endless opportunities, affordedme by incred- ideals of belief, faithandrespectinourshared ple, living in close proximity,are morethan capable of cre- NYClived. Market,onlyafewblocks from my home, ible Americans. Itravelledacross the US speak- humanity,and in our disparatebeliefsand eth- ating unending storms in their teacups. Being madly, Eight years intowhat might have been buying vegetables and comestibles forameal ingandteaching,feedingandsharing,andap- nicities. Mayweuse this momentaryhorror deeplyinlovecan make youbelieve that youcan’t live consideredutopia by most, Iwas in the shower with friends, so that we could come together pearing on TV shows.Mylikeness and my to guide us backtoour hallowedpaths of na- without eachother.Itcan also, sometime, somewhere when Iheardsirens and chaos in the streets. and shareour grief and find hope fortomor- recipes, my bioandmy story, were celebrated tionalgrowth andinternationalcamaraderie, down the road, makeyou want to kill each other. Hair stillwet andclothes barelybuttoned, I row. Instead, Icame home bruised aftera in newspapers and magazines big and small. epluribus unum (out of many, one) being the wasonthe rooftopwithin minutes to seewhat touristbroke abottle and hurleditatme, call- Iwas All-American;Ifelt as if Ibelonged.Isaw unitinglink acrossall democracieswanting to washappening and whytherewas so much ingmea“f***ing Arab terrorist” who ought to the worldasbeing one village; Isaw human- be civil societies. Vision from the Past The Martyrs’ Monument in Chandigarh’s Capitol Complexnears completion with the installation of Corbusier’s enigmatic sculptures

Rajnish Wattas ation of Chandigarh”. Corbusier,spurredbyDrew’ssuggestion, startedworking on thesigns,culling from his CHANDIGARHWAS bornout of thetrauma of sketchbooks.Hewas equallykeen to pickup India’sPartition. Anew city “unfetteredbythe elementsofnaturelikeplants, animals,birds, traditions of the past” wastobecreated,both serpents, etc.,asreminders that humansdon’t to act as thenew capitalcity of Punjab and to existinisolation, but in harmonywithother settle the vast number of refugees. Though a living beings. Muchbeforehewas chosen for provincial project, it became anational sym- the Chandigarhproject, Corbusier wasal- bol of India’s newbeginning and pride in its ready interestedinIndian civilisation, and, in resurgent nationhood. fact, kept abook on it in his office. Jawaharlal Nehru, the patron-in-chief of Beforeinstalling signs in the Capitol the project, didn’t want anypseudo-revival- Complex, Corbusier asked Jeanneret foralist iststyle mimicking the historic monuments of the keysymbols denoting Indian civilisa- of India. So, he invited the iconic modernist tion from experts.Not findingmuchresponse, Swiss-Frenchplanner-architect Le Corbusier Corbusier turnedtoNehru,which, too, didn’t to designChandigarh. Starting on agreenfield yield much. Finally, an Indian junior colleague PHOTOS COURTESYCHANDIGARHADMINISTRATION panoramic site, Corbusier placedthe city’s in Chandigarhgavehim abookletonIndian CROWNING ing installation. The keyelementsare astone tims of the Partition; it will also, 55 years after crowning glory, the Capitol Complex, at the animal symbols. Eventually, he evolvedhis GLORY debris on whichstand atiger and aserpent their creator died, bring to lifethe sculptures headof thetown,withthe Shivalikhills in the owniconographyfor theCapitol from his col- alongside afallenpillarofthe colonial edifices. whichhad been lying around all this while. (Clockwise from backdrop. Conceivedasacosmic ensemble of lection of sketches of bullockcarts,cartwheels Close to this isapronehuman figure, Parusha. The monument will also showcase the secu- buildings,piazzas, monuments, earth forms and villagehomes, wherehumans livedin above) The wall of Thetiger representsstrengthandthe hooded lar and abstract elementspreferredby thepa- andwater bodies—placedamidstapastoral remained incomplete. The suggestion to perfect harmonywith domestic animals. the Martyrs’ serpentprimordial mythological power. The tronsof architectureatthetime,insteadof val- landscape —itwas to be detached from the adorn the piazza with signsand symbols, in The Martyrs’ Monument is designedasa Monument with the tiger,serpent and the human figurecastin ourising anyindividual or ideology. main city,likealater-dayAcropolis that fact, came from the British architect Jane squareenclosureformedbysloping concrete symbol of wheel; bronze arealready completedand wait to be The completion of theMartyrs’ echoedthetimelessnessof Indiancivilisation. Drew who,alongwith her husband Maxwell walls and asculpturalensembledepictingthe with the symbol of installedonthe stone base. It is onlythe elab- Monument will also remind the worldthat The Capitol Complexcomprises the as- Fryand Corbusier’s cousin-cum-partner from sacrifice and martyrdom of those who lost oratecontoursand shapeof the fallencolumn Corbusier wasapolymath whonot only Swastika; abird's eye sembly, secretariat and high courtand the Paris, Pierre Jeanneret,formedthe coreofthe their livesduring the Partition. The purpose and the debris belowthe sculptures that are gainedfame as an architect-planner,but also (unbuilt)“governor’spalace”. Avastes- Europeanteam thatworkedonthe of therampinthe concreteenclosureisnot view of the Capitol nowbeing made with stone from special as apainter, sculptorand colourtheorist. He planadebetween the assemblyand the high Chandigarhproject. onlytoprovide apedestalfromwhichtobet- Complexshowing quarries in Rajasthan. dabbledinthe synthesis of geometryand hu- courtwas conceivedasapedestrian plaza and One evening, on the lawn of the PWD rest terobservethe sculptural elementsofthe the Martyrs' Onthewallsof theramp andtheenclosure man proportions and relentlesslyimbuedar- wasinterspersedwith monuments,sculp- house of Chandigarh, Drew said to Corbusier, monument,but also to savour the interplay Monument in the arethe symbols of Indian cosmology:awheel chitecturewith an artistic vision that waspas- tures and symbols.Besides agiant peace “Le Corbusier,you shouldsetupinthe heartof of the various edifices on the plaza. centre of the piazza and a swastika.The wheel denotesnineplan- sionateand insightful. sculpturecalledthe Open Hand,therewas the the Capitol signs whichsymbolisethe basisof The Chandigarhadministration has re- etsand the swastikarepresentsthe revolution TowerofShadows, Geometric Hill and some your philosophyand by which youarrived at cently takenupthe completion of this long of the sun and the seasons of human life. RajnishWattasisanarchitecturalcriticandthe other monuments. However, the mostenig- the basisofyour city design. Thesesigns awaited project andthe missing sculptural TheprojectwasconceivedbyCorbusier in formerprincipaloftheChandigarhCollege matic of all is the Martyrs’Monument, which shouldbeknown —theyare the keytothe cre- componentsofthe monumentarenow near- the ’50s. It will be atimelytributetothe vic- ofArchitecture

Kolkata EYE,THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JANUARY 24, 2021 ARTS etc 13 Escaping Home DOWN IN

Ta mil writer Salma on chronicling the claustrophobia of home and the universal story of women JUNGLELAND

Amrita Dutta Religion is complicit in the oppression of women in Salma’s stories. Women, Dreaming exploreshow Wahhabi Islamtrickles into a RanjitLal HE PANDEMIC home might be a community,squeezing the freedoms for novelexperience of confinement. women. But the protagonists arenot helpless Ranjit Lal is an author, But foravastmajorityofwomen, Muslim womenwho spur the Hindutvasav- environmentalistand lockdown is less metaphor,more iour complex. Salma’s clear critiqueofortho- birdwatcher Tthesolidmesh of rulesand restric- doxIslam has angered conservatives in her tions that has alwaysheld them back. That is TamilMuslimcommunity,butthecurrentpol- certainlytrue of the characters we meetinthe itics makes her uncomfortable. “While Iwas fiction of Tamil writer Salma. In the opening writing this book,this kind of Islamophobia storyofThe Curse: Stories (Speaking Tiger), a didn’t exist. It washonestcriticism, but, at the newcollectionof her stories,three womenget moment, Ifeel protectiveofmycommunity, Better Left intoacar.But evenastheyjourney away from whichisunderattackundertheBJPrule,”says their home, the claustrophobia of their shared Salma,who is aDMK member. livespursues them. The storyistold from the Women, Dreaming is about twowomen point of viewofayoung woman, who is castout of marriage. Parveenhas been sent Alone acutelyattuned—inawaythat women are backtoher maternal home by her in-laws. burdenedby the weight of others’ emotions — Mehar choosestodivorce herorthodox hus- to theriftbetween thetwo elderly women. bandwhenhedecidesto marryagain,anactof From the teeniest to the most The ceaseless complaining, their unsaid rage rebellion that plunges her intomentaldisso- twistedintotussles over little things is alan- lution.Thenovelfollows theirattemptstofree belligerent, alist of creatures to guagethat onlythe women hearand respond themselves, thoughitremains scepticalthat to —themale relative in thedriver’s seatisim- suchtransformations arepossible. Solidarity keep adistance from pervious to what’s goingon. Though about between womendoesn’tcome easy,evenifit nothing calamitous, the narration unsettles seems probable. “All women arenot in aposi- T’S OFTEN thought that animal lovers go gaga over the reader with apersistent nervous anxiety. tion of strength.Onlywhentheyhavepower everyliving creature, but forme, there’s awhole Likeother stories in this stellar collection of can theyhelp others,” says Salma. bunchofthem whose companyIabhor and tryto shortfiction translated by NKalyanRaman, In these works, one hears the drone of Iavoid wherever possible. Starting from the smallest ‘On the Edge’ is an exposition of the powerof grumbling,thatmostdomesticoflanguages— and mostinsidious, we’ll proceedtothe big goons. familyties to bind and incarcerate. “The con- repetitive andnever-finished, likethe labour Firstonthe listhas to be mosquitoes, especiallythose ditionof beingforcedto live in averycramped that feedsthe home. Women gripe and grate soprano sirens that hoveraround your ear early in the place, of leading alifeofrestriction and subor- on eachother;theyare hauntedby an inartic- morning, wailing “Malaria!” Then, of course, flies with big dination, creates acertain neurosis. The story ulate anxiety,theysufferreproductive vio- belligerent eyes that will sit on something sickening, suck is theexpression of thisneurosis,” says Salma, lence of multiple abortions. Despitethe sur- up muckand land on your fresh piece of toastand have a 52, over avideo call from Chennai. face calm of Salma’s words, an unexplained wash-up. This has to be followedbyticks —the big bul- Sincethe 1990s, thedefiningfeature of dread floods the stories,recallingCharlotte bous kind that will burrowdeep in your dog’s ear,sucking Salma’s writing has been the close, uncom- Perkins Gilman’s TheYellowWallpaper. blood till they’relikebarrage balloons and leaving their promising attention she brings to bear on Writing from within the darkness of the heads behind if youtakeliberties with them. We used to home andmarriage,andthe womenwho live home,Salma has spoken of the woman’s body remove them (once in hordes) from our poor Boxerand inside itswalls. These fictional worlds make anditsunacknowledgeddesires.“Awoman’s with vicious delight dumpthem intoacan of kerosene space forthe tetchiness and tedium of domes- body is either oppressedorconsidered ob- watching them sink and drown. Oh yes, suretheyhavea tic life. The desire, discomfortand pain of the scene or sacralised,” she says.Astory like role to playinthe bigger scheme of things, but notwith woman’s body finds expression in away that ‘Toilets’, about awoman’s difficulty in peeing my dog, thank you! Leeches, too, areabig turn-off–espe- is notsanitised, that is definitelyrarein at home and outside, is remarkable forhow it ciallythe waytheyscent the air forablood meal (yours, of Anglophone fiction. In this circumscribed turns the woman’s bodilyexperience of dis- course), and then leave the bitesitebleeding because of world, women nonetheless strain forfreedom, comfortand damage intopowerful literature. all the anti-coagulantstheyhaveinjected.Yes,atleast as we seeintwo recent translations—The “Thenaturalinclinations of the body,not only theyhavethe courtesy of giving youananesthetic as they Curse and Women, Dreaming, the English in terms of desirebut also of comfort, arede- sawtheir waythrough your blood vessels, but theydoget translation by Meena KandasamyofSalma’s her mother,who came to her aid, smuggling EVERYTHING I ForSalma, freedom came from politics. In niedtous. In our culture, awoman’s body is intoplaces theyhaveabsolutelynoright to knowabout! 2016 novel Manaamiyangal. out scraps of paper on whichshe had written NEVERTOLD 2001,when the local panchayatseat wasre- something that is waiting forliberation. Istill harbour an automatic “kill on sight” attitude to- The experienceof imprisonmentwascru- her poetryinsecret,and sending it to literary YOU served forwomen, her husband reluctantly Therefore, this is somethingIwant to write wardscentipedes, especiallythose that come shimmer- cial to Salma’sbecoming awriter. “I started magazines and publishers. In the 1990s, even turnedtoher,hoping she would remain a again and again in my stories. Thatthe body ing out of the drain while you’reshowering and head to- writing when Iwas 15 or 16,asaresponse to as her poetrybrought literaryacclaim to (Clockwise from top) proxyfor him.The writerseizedthe opportu- is aliving thing before it is anything else, before wardsyou, pincers waving evilly. Iknowthese guysare my anxietyabout whymylife Salma, Rajathi’s battles remained Salma; book covers nity to step out of the house, with- what culturemakes of it. For meant to be harmless, but I’d rather nothavethem scuttle could notbedifferent, as acritique the same: to keep writing, and not of Women, Dreaming; outaburqa, wonthe election — women’s bodies to be seen as a up my legs and take abiteout of me. Others arequite of society [and what it wasdoing blow her cover. When shedid at- The Curse and neverlooked back. source of pride, society has to call deadly, so it’s better to keep the toiletbrush handy. to me],”she says.In tend the rare literarygathering, it Salma’s poetry—and later her offits oppression,” she says. Thereare probablymanysmall boys around the world Thuvarankurichi villageinTrichy wasvia subterfuge: she travelled fiction —broke newground in Salma’s journeyisremarkable, who arebesties with cockroaches. Ihavetoadmit, looked districtinTamil Nadu, whereshe out of her villagewith her mother Tamil literature. “Women’s writ- notonlybecause she fought and at dispassionately, someofthem can be pretty handsome wasborn Rajathi Samsudeen, she on the pretextofmedical visits. ing in Tamil didn’t challengethe wonagainsther family, but be- —ofimpressive dimensionsand clothedinshinyma- livedacarefree lifetill she turned Thereare nounambiguous he- basic principles that held society causeshe remainsinside,aclinical hogany-date-brown. But man, those feelers waving 13.Customdemandedthat all girls roes or fallen villains in Salma’s sto- together.Inthe 1950s and ’60s, chronicler of theoppression of around inquisitively and that classic cockroachscuttle! who reachedpuberty do notstep ries; the mother-daughter rela- some of it wasreformist.Later, home.She has no illusions about Open up amanhole coverand there’ll be hordes of them, out of their homes. She waspulled tionship, too, is adeep shade of Ambai struckadifferent path, her writing’s powertochangethe out of school, imprisonedindoors, grey.“In Indian culture, mother- though she chose amorecerebral livesofother women. “Literature, ofteninatiny, darkroom, fornine hood is considered very sacred.I mode. Salma writes from the gut, especiallythe kind Iwrite,does not years —till she wastrickedintomarriageby wantto talk [inmy work]aboutwhathappens and she tells the universal storyofwomen. reachthe masses. Nordoes it become apart her mother.Inthat confinement she had be- outside the sacredness, between twohuman She does it notjustfromthe body,but also of literary discourse,” she says.What then is gun to writepoetry. She had become Salma. In beingswithdifferent aims.Themother has to with averykeen sense of howsociety is or- escape? “Thereare certain things youget over her marital home, her writing wasmet with be conservative to survive underoppression. ganised, both emotionallyand materially,” by speaking and writing, and that is averycon- anger and threatsfromher husband. It was The daughter yearns forfreedom,” she says. says KalyanRaman. structive thing,” she says.

The fascinating world of illustrator Rajiv Eipe, RANJITLAL winner of this year’s Big DARK LORD Little Book Award The crow is the master of mobilising asnatch-and-grab

Paromita Chakrabarti quivering indignantlyatthis invasion of their privacy. Little boys also take delight in rats,but while Idoun- derstand that rats and bandicoots arebut squirrels with THE HANDFUL of illustrations on RajivEipe’s scalytails, I’d rather nothavethem scuttle over my feet dormant Instagram pageare somewhat dif- while I’m cooking! Iwas takeninbyone little fellowwho ferent from his vivid artworkfor children’s pic- perched himselfonthe sideboardand watchedaNational turebooks. Dating backtothe 2019 protests Geographic programmeonTVwithavid interest, but againstthe Citizenship(Amendment)Actand what he and his siblings did to the fruit basket afterlights- the National RegisterofCitizens, these stark out, wasunforgivable! We’vehad to evict hugejoint fami- monochromatic pen/pencil sketches offera lies of them from the kitchen and garage from time to satiriccommentaryoncontemporarypolitics. time and one doting mother had unraveledawhole roll of In contrast, his illustrations forchildren are toiletpaper down the stairs with whichtoline her nestin moreelaborate—popping with unusual graduatestudies, following it up with acourse the depths of an air-conditioner! colours, likeapurple-skinned, curly-haired in animation film design from the National Even as an avid birder,I’d rather notget chummywith book-loving little girl,bursting with exuber- The Day the Crayons InstituteofDesign, Ahmedabad in 2004.The blue rock pigeons and crows. Looked at in sunlight, the ance, likethe anticipation writ large on aboy’s offertodesign apicturebookcameafewyears blue-rockishandsome, what with that iridescent purple- face as he helps his Ammachi makecoconut later,when he had been working as an anima- and-pink neckand throat and neat grey plumage. But barfis. But there’s one thread that binds both tion artistinMumbai. Geeta Dharmarajan of have youseen these so called“birds of peace” tryand rip —adeep awareness of the milieu and a Katha Booksinvited himtoillustrateher pic- eachother’s throatsout as theyfight? They’resaid to be sparkling sense of humour.The Bengaluru- Came Home turebook,Dinosaur-Long-As-127-Kids (2010). monogamous, something Ifind hardtobelieve,because basedartisthimself has neverdistinguished Suddenly, Eipe wasonthe threshold of the ca- theyare perpetuallygurgling and pirouetting around one between the two. “I am notsureifillustrating reer his love forart had ledupto. “Fromcopy- another.Also, theymakeastinking mess in your balconies forchildren is anydifferent from doing it for ing drawings from illustrated booksand car- and air-conditioner ductswith vast volumes of poop. an adult. An imageisunlikeastory because flower, stopping by at thelocal kirana storeor toons as achild, then learning to draw and Their giant progenysquat in their homes, wheezing petu- we allnotice differentthings in it. That’s what the sabzi mandi,where youknoweveryone paint from ‘howtodrawand paint’ books, to lantly, demanding anon-stopsupplyoffood. makesitinteresting,” says Eipe, 37,winner of and everyone knows you. Theillustrations learning about great artists from booksand Crowsand manyother corvids have an unnatural, un- this year’s Big LittleBook Award(BLBA) in the openuptheworldfromChutku’sperspective magazines, and then going to artschool and settling glitter in their beady blackeyesastheysize you illustration category, an annual awardtocel- —itisaplace both unknown and familiar,full being exposedtoawonderful worldofcon- up forasnatch-and-grab raid. If youobject toostrongly, ebrateexcellence in children’s literature. of wondrous discoveries and intimatejoys, temporaryart,[I] finally, [came a] full circle they’ll summon amob and harass youlikelove-jihadists. So what doesone notice quitelikeEipe’s artwork [byreturning] to drawing forpicturebooks,” Among the mammals, the rhesus macaque has to take when one looksatanEipe art- themselves. says Eipe,whose dexterity in multimedia has topplace. Yes, babies in their mom’s arms can be very work?You could stopat his il- “Working with Rajivisnot notreplacedhis love forpencil, charcoal or cute, and, sometimes, even the big macho fellows become lustration of the irrepressible justdelightful, but alsofasci- crayon sketches. goofy while playing with youngsters. But theydohavein- Anand (Anand,Pratham nating. Whether it’s purple Working to awriter’s narrative is notal- candescent tempers whichtheylose once every10sec- BooksStoryweaver),whocol- Puchkuand the tall giraffe ways the easiestoftasks,but Eipe, who has onds or so, and then matters getreally vicious. Look them lectstrash from the neigh- with aband-aid on her knee writtenafew picturebookshimself,including in the eyeatyour ownperil —theytakeitasawar cryand bourhood and lovestojig in in ABook forPuchku PHOTOS:RAJIVEIPE AnandandthepopularAmmachiseries,prefers will flatten their ears and baretheir teeth. And their ca- his free time. The castofchar- (DeepanjanaPal),the sensory MASTER conventionally enough. At hisChennai home, itto writinghisownstories.“Storytellingdoes- nines can be largerthan those of your Rottweiler! But actershemeets onthejob,the details in Pishi and Me,the STROKES his brother and he grew up with thequintes- n’t comenaturally to me.IlikeitwhenIcan frankly, theyremind me toomuchofourselves. overflowing garbagevan that feisty Ammachi in the beloved sentials of an ’80s childhood — Tintin and bounceoff ideaswiththeeditorandtheartdi- Among the giants, it’s the buffalo I’d rather stay away (Clockwise from top) he drives, the waypeoplere- eponymous series, or the Asterix,RobertHargreaves’s Mr Men series, rectorto getasenseof whereIamheaded,”he from. Theyhavebelligerent eyes and an unpredictable ex- act to himare vignettes of fa- poignant and awesome Anand Rajiv Eipe’s children’smagazines suchasTarget and Tinkle. says.Hiseditorsarecertainlynot complaining. pression —asiftheyhaven’t quitemade up their minds miliar metropolitanlife, in- —his stories, characters and Illustration from Pishi “Copying those cartoon characters felt like When news of his BLBAwin broke, one of what to do with you. And, of course, those horns that can cluding theuncomfortable truth about how settings offeranewway of looking at the and I; ABook for some sortofvalidation. At that age, Ihad no them, Aparna Kapur,author and deputy edi- toss alion tenfeetintothe air:Iwasonce buffetedbyone little one knows about the “kudawale bhaiya” world, turning it around with his sense of hu- Puchku;Eipe idea what Iwanted to be when Igrew up but tor, PrathamBooksStoryweaver, senttheartist andonlythen realisedtheir brutestrength. I’vealways ad- who does the same forour neighbourhoods. mour,warmthand imagination,” says author artmade me happy,” he says.In1993, when he acongratulatorymessage: “Thereonce wasa mired those who blithelyperch on their backs and take Youcould stroll with Chutkuand his pishi and editor Bijal Vachharajani, who has worked was10years old, the familymoved to chap named Eipe/ Who neverdid grumble or them out grazing. As forme, thanksbut no thanks! (Pishi andI,TimiraGupta), slowing downever extensively with the artistonbook projects. Mumbai. It would behere thatEipe would join gripe./ With eachbook he drew/His admirers so oftentopet astray or pick apebble or a Eipe’s journeyintothe worldofart began acoursein fine arts attheSir JJ School of Artfor grew./ He’s very muchworththe hype!”

Kolkata THESUNDAY EXPRESS,JANUARY24,2021 UK STRAIN DETECTED AT AUS OPEN Three people in hotel quarantine associated with the Australian Open tennis Grand Slam have tested positive forthe highly-transmissible coronavirus variant linked to the United 14 SPORT Kingdom, officials said on Saturday. REUTERS

Root, Bairstow steady England Sophomore blues after early blows Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-ChiragShettywill have to outwit opponentsand their coaches who have had timetodecipher theirgame

REUTERS pickthings up in the second game. They GALLE,JANUARY23 SHIVANINAIK (Chia/Woh Wooi Yik) aremoreexperienced MUMBAI,JANUARY23 players. Theymade the All England finals in JAMESANDERSON took sixwickets to help 2019.Wefought foreachpoint and maybe bowl Sri Lanka outfor 381, but England's ONE WOULD have to be blind to notfigure we could have been calmer. We’redisap- openers failedagain as the touristsclosedthe that Satwiksairaj Rankireddy’s mastercode pointedbut happytoplayinthe semifinals,” second dayofthe second and final Test on 98 is the big smash. He uses it to kill points; the Satwik would say. fortwo in replyatGalle International Stadium smashmanages to awethose watching and Headingintothe Olympics forwhichthe on Saturday. Joe Root scoredabreezy, un- those playing him alike. Neutralising the big duo has almostqualified, and wherethe last beaten 67 andwill resume on the thirdmorn- weapon, though, needs morethanmerecog- twomedalsinwomen’ssingles came notout ing with JonnyBairstow, who has 24. nizance of it. of merereputation, but with careful tactical The pair have put on 93 forthe third Malaysian WorldNo. 9Aaron Chiaand planning againstmorefanciednames, Indian wicket at arateofmorethan four runs per Soh Wooi Yik sawalittle morethan the ob- badminton enters anew territorywhereits over to dig the tourists out of some early vious.Theyhad coachFlandy Limpele in their coaching staffwill needall the scoutingand strife. Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Lasith corner. strategising resources to backSatwik- Embuldeniya(2-33) quicklybagged the The Indonesianhad coachedthe Indians Chirag’s hardwork. wickets of England openers DomSibley(0) till hisexit last year,and helpedguide them andZak Crawley(5), maintaininghis domi- to their firstfew upsetwins in Europe. Ashwini-Satwik fight in vain nance over the pair havingalso dismissed Afterexpressinghis annoyance at Indian The mixed doubles unseededpairing did them in both innings in the firstTest. players’ (lack of) commitmenttohis training well againstThai topseeds Dechapol Sibleywas trappedleg before wicketand system, he hassettledinthe employof Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai. Crawleyedged to firstslip.The twohave Malaysians. It’s all kosher and howinterna- But themid-game pushbackwasn’t enough managed just 28 runsinsix inningsbetween tional sportworks -coaches move,coaches to avoida22-20,18-21, 21-12loss. them this series, aworry forthe tourists as talk,coaches plot. But it wasinevitable that The Indians were scattering theThais theyhead to India forfour Testsoncomple- his current chargeswould one dayrun into well with their variedattack-Satwik man- tion of this match. his pastwards. ning the back-but the home team coun- Bairstowand Root employed the sweep Fortuitouslyfor the Indians, this hap- teredthe blitz and raisedtheir owngame to excellent effect as acounter-attackmeas- penedatthe startofthe season as Satwik and in the third. ure, the latter having also punishedSri Lanka Chirag Shetty went down 18-21, 18-21in35 “I thinkwehaveplayedone of the best with the stroke in his 228 in the firstTest. minutes to apairing ranked only one place matches of our careers againstthese It took England 139.3 overs to finallydis- abovethem. Round 1toMalaysia in this fas- (Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai) topplay- miss the home side aftertheyelected to bat, cinating mid-table men’sdoublesbattle. ers.Wecouldn’tevenpractise before com- with Anderson the chief wicket-taker with “WeknewSatwik is agood attacking ing here. We just wanted to play. We gave 6-40 in 29 overs.Sri Lanka had frustrated the player. So we triedtomanagethe firstthree it agood fight today, it wasveryclose.” tourists with their tail, the final four wickets shotsand notlifttoo much,” Aaronwould Satwik said. adding 138. saylater,describing the Indian’s propensity Sapsiree Taerattanachai is aYouth Anderson removedcenturion Angelo to go foritearly in therally.Itwas the early Olympics singles gold medallist. Mathews (110)early in the dayafter areview taming of Satwik that gave theyoung Addtoitthe 2010 junior crownin by Root foracaught behind that nobodyelse Malaysians, All England finalists from 2019, Satwik (standing) and Chiraj losttoMalaysia’s AaronChia and Soh Wooi Yikinthe semis of Thailand Open. Badminton Photo Singapore, and her unique achievement of seemedparticularly interestedin. But any apsychological head start, that stoppedthe winning aGrand Prix-leveltitleinwomen’s thoughtsthatitwould precipitateaSri Lanka Indian combination in the semifinal. singles (2012), women’s doublesand mixed collapse were endedbystronginnings from ing the lead,and bowedout, though not “I think if we’d been able to take afew wins againstother pairings, including World doubles. Niroshan Dickwella (92) and Dilruwan Homework done by opponents without taking one good look at therivals points andconverted the firstgame,the sce- No.2Indonesians Ahsan-Setiawan, Japan’s Alongside Dechapol Puavaranukroh, the Perera (67). WhileSatwik has awell-roundedgame theywill run intoplenty. nario would have been alot different,” Chirag Endo-Watanabe(2-2), Fajar-Ardianto Thaidoubles ace wonher country’s biggest Left-hander Dickwella wasdeniedafirst well beyond the go-tokill weapon, it is his CoachLimpele knows theIndians’game told BWF. (Indonesia) and even boastasuperiorrecord WorldChampionship doubles medal, asil- Test centurywhen he triedtolaunchawider instinct to tryand wrap up the rallies quickly intimately, but theMalaysians would con- againstthe ChineseLi-Liu (2-1) and Koreans ver, at Baselin2019-theyhad twobronzes Anderson delivery over mid-offbut was that opponentswill learn to counter as the cede that over-eagerness towardsthe end of Wayoff the pace Choi Soigyu-Seo Seung Jae (2-0). in mixed doubles, backin2005-6. caught in that positionbyadiving Jack Indians’ game gets dissectedand SWOT- the secondgame,where the Indians had be- Indians areway offthe pace against What the Indians will needtolookout for “I felt likeweendedupmaking acouple Leach.Fastbowler Mark Wood (3-84)was analysed in the coming months. guntoprolong ralliesand changetack, had WorldNo. 1Marcus Gideon and Kevin is the sophomoreseason -when opponents, of crucial mistakes, starting with my serve also among the wickets as he ensured aTest “Wewereclearer than before.Weknew drawnout errors that could’veprovedcostly. Sukamuljo Sanjay(lost8,won none), but had coachingbrains and their fancy camcorders and then we lostpointsone afterthe other debut duckfor Ramesh Mendis and induced what we had to do and what we didn’t,” The servicegame waswobblyonthe day been draggingdeciders into20-19scenarios startfiguring out ways to snipe at some very from there. Then we changed sidesand they an edge from Lasith Embuldeniya to Root at Aaronwould sayoftheir 2-0 head-to-head andthough the Indians returnedreasonably before thepandemic. Similarly,while they obvious (and effervescent) strengths -like (Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai) got smarter, firstslip.Pererawas the lastman out, caught lead nowoverthe WorldNo. 10 pairing. The well,theycouldn’tforce adecider -where are0-5 againstthe topJapanese pair,Takeshi Satwik’s smash. theyare moreexperiencedand changed in the deepbyLeach offSam Curran. It was Indians neverquite got going, barely ever tak- theytend to be moredangerous. Kamura-KeigoSonoda, theyhaveclocked “Wedidn’t control the shuttle.Wetried to their game style,” Ashwinisaid. the firsttimethat all 10 wicketsinaninnings have fallen to seamers in Galle. England wonthe firstTestatthe same venue by sevenwickets. At wrestlingnationals,nodistancing, stands full, few with masks BRIEF SCORES: Sri Lanka 381in139.3 ovs(A Mathews 110, NDickwella92, DPerera67, D And while referees officiating the bouts protests.“He has been goingthere regularly Chadimal 52; JAnderson 6/40) vs England MIHIRVASAVDA wore face shields, fewothers wore masks. but Ihaven’t been able to joinhim as Iwas 98 for2in30ovs (J Root batting 67,JBairstow NOIDA,JANUARY23 People roamedaroundfreelywithin thefield preparing forthe national championship,” batting 24). of play and at one point had to bechasedout Sandeep said. NO MASK, no social distancing and packed by WrestlingFederation of India (WFI) pres- Thewrestler said he cared about the is- stands. On Saturday, wrestling became the identBrijBhushan Sharan Singh, who too sue since his career wasfundedbythe firstmajor Olympic sport to hold itsnational did notwear amask and wasonthe dais moneyhis familymade from farming. “I do championship since the outbreak of the wherethe dignitaries sat close to each other. nothaveany sponsors so the monthlyex- Covid-19pandemic. The spectators mingled freelywiththe pense to keep my wrestling going, whichis On December 26, the sports ministry had wrestlersbefore andafterthebouts,posedfor around Rs 30,000,comes from farming. It’s releasedaneight-pageStandardOperating selfies and, in some cases, shared meals and my livelihood. It’s unfortunateIhaven’t been Procedures (SOP)for organising competi- cupsof tea.AWFIofficialsaidtheytriedtocon- able to join theprotestsand fight forthe tionsinthe midstofapandemic, in whichit trolthecrowdbuttheorderswere disobeyed. cause,” he said. underlinedthatthe eventsshouldbecon- “Theydidnotlistentous.Itwasnot possiblefor Sandeep defeated Haryana’s Jitender ducted ‘strictlyinaccordance with the guide- us to keep alternateseating sincethere were Singh in aclosely-contestedfinal, thus open- linesofthe MinistryofHome Affairs’. nochairsinthestands;instead,thespectators ing up the race foraspotinthe team forthe The government had said that the organ- sat on the steps,” the officialsaid. TokyoOlympics qualifiers. isersshould ensurethere arespecific mark- India is yettoearn aquota in the 74kg cat- ings on the flooratgaps of six feet,limit the Farmer’s son is national champ egory. Sandeep’s victorymeanshezooms presence of supportstaff at the venue, en- Wrestling Federation of India officials found it difficult to stop spectators from Whilehis father is at the farmer protests intocontention in acrowded field, whichalso sure ventilation andmakeavailable face cov- moving about freely at thewrestlinghall of the Noida Stadium. Express at the Singhu Border in Delhi, Punjab includes former national champion Gourav At 38, James Anderson (6/40)showed ers, masks, gloves and sanitisers at the venue. wrestlerSandeep Singh wascrownedna- Baliyan, who lostinthe firstround to he has the skill to deliveron It had also saidthatspectators will be al- tional champion in thehighly-competitive Narsingh Yadav--another contender. Two- subcontinental wickets.The loweduptoamaximum of 50 per cent of the watchthe men’sfreestyle championship, ble forthe championship. However, there 74kg weight categoryonSaturday. time OlympicmedallistSushil Kumar,too, Englishman became the oldestpacer capacity of the stadium foroutdoor events. whichhas attracted 252 wrestlersin10 wasnosuchrequirement forcoaches and Sandeep, who belongs to afarming fam- competesinthis category. to take afive-for in Asia. File Howeveratthe indoor arena of the Noida weight categories. The grapplers had to pro- support staffaccompanying them, as well as ilyinMansa, said one of his regretswas not The selection trials foraplace in the qual- Stadium, hundredsofspectators gathered to duce aCovid-negative certificatetobeeligi- referees and federation officials. being abletojoinhis father,Sagar,atthe ifiers will be held in March. Why cricketers will have to train, think like middle-distance runners now

abatsman is in the 90s, it is extremelyhot that an athlete is ‘okay’ because he/she is sus- wasgoing at17kilometres an hour,accord- the frequency of the beeps increases and the NIHALKOSHIE and humid outside. The time trial will help taining high-speedrunning foralarge ing to England’s strength and conditioning number of shuttles (up and down runs) also NEWDELHI,JANUARY23 in terms of when to push(and)when to amount of time.” coachPhil Scott’s column in the DailyMail. goes up before aplayergetsashortbreak.A sprint,” Srinivasan said. “It especiallyhelps Another benefit of the time trial is that it According to Srinivasan, Sri Lanka, South playergets a‘warning’ if he or shefailstocross THE TWO-KILOMETRE time trial, setateight in developing running mechanics, develop will helptoredrawthe fitness schedule of a Africa and NewZealand alsoput cricketers acone before abeep within the stipulated minutes and 15 secondsfor fast bowlers and breathing patterns. If youhavewrong run- cricketer, if needed.“Quantifiable data(on) through the time-trial test. time. Three warnings during atestmarksthe 8:30 forbatsmen, spinners and wicketkeep- ning mechanics,you arebasicallywasting whether aparticular fitness schedule is end. Yo-Yo testshavebeenusedinfootball for ers, hasbecome mandatoryfor India’s cen- loads of energy.You understand your heart working foryou or not. If players areinjured Will Indian cricketers have to train differ- ages. The BCCI made clearing the Yo-Yotest trally-contracted cricketers.How does it rate andcomplete bodybetter(through the when running, youcan infer various things entlytomeettargettimes? mandatoryfor Indiancricketers in 2016. comparetothe Yo-Yotestand what arethe time trial).” from atime trial,” Ramji says. “Theywill have to hit the road running,” “Yo-Yo has alot of acceleration and decel- benefitsofatime trial? Cricketers will be taking their heartlevel Srinivasan says.“Youhaveadouble eration and rapid changeofdirection. Yo-Yo to itsnear-maximum and stabilising it.“So Howdoes 2k in 8:30 comparetoworld- whammyofdeveloping speed-endurance test is probablyafar moresport-specifictest What is the 2k time trial? as youget fitter,your resting class track-and-field athletes? as well as maximum aerobic speed. They forcricket,but in recent years thereseems to On astandardathletic track, heart rate willcomedown. Top The men’sworld record forthe 2,000me- have to think likea1,500-metreor3,000- be apreference amongstcertain sports scien- the distance is coveredinfivelaps eliteathleteslikeaRoger tres is four minutes and 44.79 seconds, set metrerunner.Theyhavetotrain likemiddle- tists to be testing this 2-kilometretime trial of 400metreseach. The timings Federer’s resting heartratewill by Morocco’sHicham El Guerrouj in 1999. distance runners. Everysession needs to be with elite-levelcricketers,” Matthewssays. can be measured with astop- be in the30s to 40s. Foranaver- Forwomen,the corresponding timing is target-oriented.You cannotjusttaketwo or watchoranelectronic clock. The ageperson, it will be in the70s 5:23.75 setbyGenzebeDibabaofEthiopia three minutes to run alap andthen expect Can you‘game’ the time trial? 2k time trial is aspeed-endurance to 90s. Thefitterthe athlete, in 2017.For theAverage Joe,ittakes about10 to improveonyour speed-endurance.” Both Matthews and Srinivasan believe there test,according to Ramji lowerthe resting heartrate. For to 12 minutes to walk akilometre, so abrisk Cricketerswillhavetodoalot moreofin- is scope to ‘cheat’ in the Yo-Yo test but notin Srinivasan, the 2011 WorldCup- example, if youare gettingtired The BCCIhas madethe 2k time trial walker can complete 2k in about 18 minutes. terval training; shortintense runs, followed the time trial. “In Yo-Yoyou cancut corners winningIndian team’s strength in 10 minutes, theywill justget mandatoryfor Indiancricketers. File Elite athletes, who areintorunning, take by brief periods of recovery,followed again hereand there, instead of 20 metres youcan and conditioning coach. “It is actually a warmedupin10minutes,” Srinivasan says. about six minutes to completethe two-kilo- by high-intensity runs.The mechanics of do 19.5 metres and it willaccumulateover dreadedthing,youtellanyathleteatime trial, metretime trial, and someonewho runsreg- running on atreadmill is different from that 100metresatthe end of asession. Hereno- and theywill go ‘Oh dear’.” What will it reveal about fitness levels? It is agood screening test in terms of muscu- ularly can do it in about14minutes. of running outdoors, Ramji warns. body can favour anybody.You justneeda Hiding injuries won’t be possible,says larand skeletalfitnessaswell as cardio-vas- stopwatchoranelectronic timer.Itisthere Howwill it help cricketers? Heath Matthews,asports physiotherapist cular,” Matthews,the head of sports science Areother teams using the time-trial test? Howisthe time trial different from aYo-Yo foreveryone to see. Thereare lotofwaysto Srinivasan givesthe example of someone who workswith Olympic-levelathletes. and medicine at HN Reliance Foundation Ahead of the 2015 WorldCup, TheSydney test? skin acat in Yo-Yo,” Srinivasan says. batting forhours in difficult conditions. “Running within aspecific time tells youa Hospital in Mumbai, says. Morning Herald reportedMichael Clarke’s In the Yo-Yotest, twocones areplaced20 Matthews says the Yo-Yotestis‘compli- “Time trial is going to make youfitter.For ex- lotaboutthe cardio-vascular system, alot If an athlete meetsthe standardset for time forthe 2k time trial wascut by 40 to 50 metres apart. At the firstbeep, theathlete cated’and needs‘toomanytools’which ample, if youhavetocover thelast100 me- about injuriesorailments that they arecar- the time trial, he or she can be termed‘fit’. seconds because he wasinaraceagainst starts and must reachthe cone at the other means small gains could be made without tres in 20 seconds, youcannotstride, you rying because if youhavegot pain, it is very “You maynot knowthe minutedetails about time following ahamstring injury. England end before the second beep, turn and run being noticed. “Likeaperson taking the Yo- have to sprint. Especially whenyourmuscles difficult to hide that pain foreight minutes movement in the lowerbackorstrength of all-rounder Ben Stokes ranasub-seven- backtocross the starting point before the Yo test maynot always cross their respective arefatigued, youhavetopush.For example, continuouslyand also perform at ahigh level. the kneebut youknow, broadlyspeaking, minutetrial aheadofthe 2019 Ashes. Stokes thirdbeep. As the Yo-Yo test levelgets tougher, line fully.”

R.N.I. No.WBENG/2005/20789VOL. XVINo.41Printed by V.Srinivasanand Published by V.Srinivasan on behalf of The Indian Express (P) Limited andPrinted at Saraswati Print FactoryPvt.Ltd, 789, Chowbhaga(West), Kolkata-700105and Published at The Indian Express (P) Ltd JL No.29 &30, N.H.-6, Mouza-Prasastha & Ankurhati, P.O. -Salap, P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711 409.Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033) 66043825 &66043847. Chairman of the Board:Viveck Goenka, ChiefEditor :Raj Kamal Jha, Editor :Unni Rajen Shanker,Editor (Kolkata):Rakesh Sinha* (*Responsiblefor selection of news under the PRB Act)Copyright:The Indian Express (P)Limited.All rightsreserved. Reproduction in anymanner,electronic or otherwise,in whole or in part,withoutprior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express(R)

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