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

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 2 CALENDAR THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry &TLewis CROSSWORD4253 DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

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

5s=VeryHard;6s= prospectswhichonce seemed take youmoreseriously SOLUTION

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Government of India IREL (India) Limited. Government of India CLASSIFIED CENTRES IN MUMBAI Bhabha atomic Research centre BhaBha atomIc ReseaRch centRe Beejay Ads, nuclear Recycle Board Opera House Phone :23692926 /56051035. Fuel Fabrication, InRP (o), tarapur nuclear Recycle Boardtarapur On line item rate tender in two parts i.e. Part A–Documents related to eligibility criteria and Part B–Financial Bid Color Spot, notIce InVItInG tenDeR Byculla (E), FF INRP(O), NRB, BARC(T)invites sealed item rate tenders for the are hereby invited through e-Tendering mode on behalf of the President of India by the Dy.Chief Executive ,NRB, Phone :23748048 /23714748. BARC,Tarapur for the following work from the contractors having adequate experience in similar works. efveefJeoe met®evee/Tender noTice FCA Communications, followingworks: Nariman Point, No. Tender No. Name of Item “IREL (India) Limited, RED” invites e-tenders for the following works using NIT 1NIT 2 Phone :40020550 /51. BARC (T)/NRB/INRPO/GSO-25/ BARC (T)/NRB/INRPO/GSO-29/ Annual contract for mechanical works for Fabrication, E-Procurement portal of M/s MSTC Limited. Tender Reference No. Fulrani Advtg. &Mktg. 2020/669 Date: :12/10/2020 2020/671 Date: :12/10/2020 AntopHill FF-INPR(O)/ Operation, Installation and commissioning of new Construction of RCC Silo Dismantling &removal of Phone: 24159061 Extension of parking area at INRPO, NRB, Construction of RR masonry boundary wall Mobile: 9769238274/ 9969408835 GEN/07/ Maint./ engineering systems and related work; Maintenance Item Name of work 1 No. 9 equipments in Attack Plant BARC,Tarapur at NRB,BARC,Tarapur.(Phase-I) Mech./2020-21/32 &storage of packages for fuel pin transfer at FF, Ganesh Advertising, IREL/Udyogamandal IREL/Udyogamandal Online e-tenderingon Abdul Rehman Street, Dated:14.10.2020 INRP (O),NRB,BARC, Tarapur,asper the technical E-Tender (Public) No. Online e-tendering on /20-21/ ET/48 /20-21/ ET/49 Mode of tendering www.tenderwizard .com/DAE Phone :2342 9163 /2341 4596. specification and other terms and condition. www.tenderwizard.com/DAE Transaction FeetoMSTC ` 15,000/- (Excluding GST) ` 3,500/- (Excluding GST) Rs.130.00 Lakh (Rupees one crore Rs.240.00 Lakh (Rupees Twocrore forty J.K. Advertisers, Estimated Cost: Rs 21,00,000/- Earnest Money: Rs 42,000/- Period of Estimated Cost Hornimal Circle, Fort. TDC to IREL ` 1,680/-(Inclusive of taxes) ` 1,120/-(Inclusive of taxes) thirty lakh only) lakh only) Phone :22663742. Completion: 12 months. Sale Period: 20/10/2020 to 30/10/2020 EMD to IREL ` 3,88,000/- ` 70,000/- Rs.2,60,000/- (Rupees two lakh sixty Rs.4,80,000/- (Rupees four lakh eighty Mani’s Agencies, Detailed terms and conditions for purchase and submission of tender are EarnestMoney Deposit thousand only) Opp.G.P.O., Fort. Tender starting date &time 19/10/2020 –15.00 hrs 19/10/2020 –15.00 hrs thousand only) Phone :2263 00232. given on website www.barc.gov.in. Online item rate tender in two Cost of Tender DocumentNil Nil Mobile :9892091257. Tender closing date &time16/11/2020 –17.00 hrs 16/11/2020 –17.00 hrs part i.e.part A- Techno commercial bid and part B- Financial bid invited Rs. 5900/- by e-payment through Rs. 5900/- by e-payment through Manjyot Ads, Tender opening startdate &time 17/11/2020 –10.00 hrs 17/11/2020 –10.00 hrs Tender processing fee electronic mode (Non-returnable) in electronic mode (Non-returnable) in Currey Road (E) through e-tendering mode website (www.tenderwizard.com/DAE). Phone :24700338. Validity of tender in days 90 90 favour of M/s ITI Limited, New Delhi favour of M/s ITI Limited, New Delhi Mobile :9820460262.

efJeJejCe kesÀ efueS JesyemeeFì osKes Fordetails, visit websites http://www.mstce Period of Completion 06 (Six )Calendar months 12 (Twelve )Calendar months OM Sai Ram Advtg., From 19/10/2020 (10.00Hrs.) Currery Road Government of India commerce.com/eprochome/irel, https://eprocure.gov.in, http://irel.co.in. HeefjefMeä Tender Sale Period From 19/10/2020 (10.00Hrs.) Mobile: 9967375573 Bhabha atomic Research centre /Megef× kesÀJeue JesyemeeFìeW ceW nesmì keÀer peeSieer. Addendum/Corrigendum shall be a. Download of Tender Document To 28/10/2020 (15.00 Hrs.) To 28/10/2020 (15.00 Hrs.) Pinto Advertising, nuclear RecycleBoard hoisted in the websites only. mHeäerkeÀjCe kesÀ efueS Forclarification contact 0484 Last date &Time of Mazagaon, 02/11/2020 (12:00 Hrs.) Phone :23701070. Fuel Fabrication, InRP (o), tarapur 2545199, [email protected] ceW mebHeke&À keÀjW~ a. Last date and time of closing of 02/11/2020 (12:00 Hrs.) Mobile :9869040181. ceneHe´yebOekeÀ SJeb He´Oeeve (DeejF&[er) G.M &HEAD (RED) online submission of tenders. notIce InVItInG tenDeR b. Date and time of online 05/11/2020 (15.00 Hrs.) Premier Advertisers 05/11/2020 (15.00 Hrs.) Mumbai Central FF INRP(O), NRB, BARC(T)invites sealed item rate tenders for the opening of Part A Mobile: 9819891116 followingworks: The detailed tender notice can be seen on the website http://www.barc.gov.in/tenders For clarification contact : Sarjan Advertising, Tardeo, No. Tender No. Name of Item (02525) 293405/ 294816 Phone :66626983 Design, Fabrication, Inspection, supply,installation FF-INPR(O)/ FRFRESESH Chicken Trading GEN/07/ Maint./ and commissioning of Mild Steel plate with Borated 1 The Indian EXPRESS Big birds 122/-kg., Small Mech./2020-21/14A sheet and fixture assembly inside storage room as birds 131/- kg., Turbhe Dated:14.10.2020 per Annexure I. SHORT TENDER NOTICE Naka,NaviMumbai. Estimated Cost: Rs 37,50,000/- Earnest Money: Rs 75,000/- Period of Mobile: 9769468897. Completion: 6months. Sale Period: 20/10/2020 to 30/10/2020 CIDCO of Maharashtra Limited, invites applications 0070708740-1 Detailed terms and conditions for purchase and submission of tender are from intending bidders for setting up “Fast track given on website www.barc.gov.in. Online item rate tender in two dedicated COVID Health Center (DCHC) at ZORABZORABIANIAN Today’sEx- N.E.C.CN.E.C.C suggested price for 100 eggs in Mumbai part i.e.part A- Techno commercial bid and part B- Financial bid invited Virupaksha Mangal karyalaya, Panvel” from willing EDUCATION Farm LiveBroiler Rate on 19/10/2020 Rs. 530/- through e-tendering mode website (www.tenderwizard.com/DAE). and well experienced agencies having track record of Rs.96/- Retail Market completion of such facilities for acapacity of about 100 Rate Rs. 130/-. Mobile: (FiveHundred Thirty), EDUCATIONAL only.NECC22834107. 8879050887/ 9372663242. beds including ICU facility in this field for following 0070716664-1 Office: 022-26604937/ works. 10100%0% Passing guarantee. 38/ 39. Khardikar Classes. VII VENVENCOCOBBBB Ex-Farm Sr. No. C.A. No. ScopeofWork 0070699423-1 fail...? Direct X, XI fail...? Yesterday’s price in 1. C.A.No.07/CIDCO/S.E.(P&K)/ EE Electrical Infrastructure for the Direct XII. Dombivli, Pune Rs. 105/-. (PNL-I)/2020-21 project Thane, Badlapur, Diva, AliAlibagbag Agro.Always Suggested Retail 2. C.A.No.08/CIDCO/S.E.(P&K)/ EE Telecom &Intercom for the Titwala- 9820627580, available Fresh Chest Price is Rs. 123/-. (PNL-I)/2020-21 project 9820904646. 0070703017-3 and LegBoneless, 0070714961-1 3. C.A.No.09/CIDCO/S.E.(P&K)/ EE Wi-fi &Internet &IT Whole Birds, Full Legs, (PNL-I)/2020-21 Infrastructure for the project BUSINESS Wings, Curcus etc. 4. C.A.No.10/CIDCO/S.E.(P&K)/ EE Civil works for the project Please contact on SERVICES (PNL-I)/2020-21 9356217008. 0070717329-1 5. C.A.No.11/CIDCO/S.E.(P&K)/ EE Signages for the project POULTRY ADVERTISEMENTS (PNL-I)/2020-21 AMIRAMIR Broiler at Mumbai : The application shall be accompanied by attested S.S. K.K. Patel Small: 137/-, Today’slivebroiler rate KEYONKEYON Publicity-Official Big: 131/-. 8082040343/ copies of business ownership, valid bank solvency Rs. 130/- Contact : advertising agency all 24460095/24459098. To newspapers, Loksatta Phone :022-23860517/ certificate, GST Certificate, PAN No., List of works subscribe to paperrate acceptsall kinds of 022-25251901/ carried out by them etc. &purchase rate. advertising. Reasonable 9320460095/ 9930193010. 022-25664073. rates. WhatsApp/ Intending applicant shall submit his application 0070717090-1 0070706425-2 Email- 9653683498/ separately for each CA No. on or before 20th Oct, 2020 9920992393/ 0222825307. till 15.00 Hrs on Email-id [email protected] & SITUATIONSVACANT 0070703019-3 [email protected]. Please note that, CIDCO will send BOQ/ specifications to the qualified applicants ''IMPORTANT'' only. Further, applicant shall submit their offers based Thakur Educational Trust’s (Regd.) on the BOQ/ specifications issued on above mail ids on THAKUR COLLEGE OF SCIENCE &COMMERCE Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of nd or before 22 Oct, 2020 till 15.00 Hrs. Shyamnarayan Thakur Marg, Thakur Village, Kandivli (E), Mumbai -400 101. advertising copy,itisnot possible to verify its (Autonomous College) Permanently Affiliated to University of Mumbai contents. The Indian Express(P. )Limited For further details regarding above work, contact (NAAC Re-Accredited with Grade ‘A’[3rd Cycle ]&ISO 9001 :2015 Certified) Additional Chief Engineer (II), CIDCO Ltd; 3rd Floor, BEST COLLEGE (2018 –2019 ), University Of Mumbai cannot be heldresponsible for such contents, CIDCO Bhavan, CBD Belapur, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a Navi Mumbai –410 206 during working days &hours. CORRIGENDUM result of transactions with companies, Telephone No. 022 –6791 8158/ 96738 83119. This has areference to the advertisement associations or individuals advertising in its published on dated September 14, 2020 in Indian newspapers or Publications. We therefore Additional ChiefEngineer (II) Express, &Loksatta on behalf of Thakur College of recommendthat readers make necessary CIDCOLtd. 3rd Floor, Science &Commerce for The recruitment to the inquiries before sending any monies or CIDCOBhavan, CBD Belapur, posts of Assistant Professor.Please read the "this is entering into any agreements with Navi Mumbai –410 206. University approved advertisement". advertisers or otherwise acting on an CIDCO/PR/171/2020-21 advertisement in any manner whatsoever. DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA ● REG.NO. MCS/067/2018 -20RNI REGN. NO. 1543/57

JOURNALISM OF COURAGE MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2020, MUMBAI, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Punjab farm fires send FINDINGS OF GOVT COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS smog signal to Delhi; Indiawentpastpeak hope in panchayat action

ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA inSept,Covidmayrun JALANDHAR,OCTOBER18

LATE ON Saturdayafternoon, farmer BheeraSingh and his itscoursebyFeb:panel brother walked out to their ad- jacent fields in Jandiala Guru of Amritsar district with abox of ‘Timelylockdown matches. Sowing of the early va- Stubble on fire near No explanation,but panel riety wheat will begin in the last Amritsar on Saturday. Rana flattenedcurve; week of October,and the broth- Simranjit Singh expertsindicate reasons ers had onlyalittle morethan a sticking to masks, week to gettheir fields ready for distancing is key’ the rabi crop. down) at the time of sowing in for bothhopeand caution Soon, the drygolden stubble June. Nowwith just10days left on the entire15acres ownedby forsowing wheat, we can’t wait AMITABHSINHA Therehas also been no re- the brothers wasablaze with in queue forastubble manage- GAYA,OCTOBER18 AMITABHSINHA duction in the number of tests, leaping flames, and giant plumes ment machine,” shrugged ACOVID TEST GAYA,OCTOBER18 nor has the disease prevalence of thickblacksmokerose high in Bheera. “This (burning the stub- THE CORONAVIRUS epidemic in in the population reachedastage the air.Farmers can be fined ble) is the onlyway.” An entrance exam being held forrecruitment to the BSF and CISF,atHumhama near India mayhavealready peaked THE REASONS forthe continu- where'herdimmunity' would heavilyfor setting their fields on Despiteastatewide ban on Srinagar,Sunday. Over 5,000youth across Kashmir appeared forthe test. Shuaib Masoodi and, if the usageofmasksand ous decline in coronavirus infec- have to be factored in. The use of fire,but the brothers had de- burning straw, fields have been physical distancing measures tion numbers since last face masks, and physical cidedtodoitanyway. on fire every100-200metresin continue at the current level, the month have notbeen distancing arefar from “Wehad adelayed(kharif) Jandiala Guru, Tarsikka, Tarn disease will likely“run its clear.The numbers have being universal. crop due to ashortage of labour Taran, Khadur Sahib, and Ajnala Redeem your constitutional THEEDITORIAL PAGE course” by Februarynextyear,a fallen sharply–even The government- (because of the Covid-19lock- CONTINUEDONPAGE4 government-appointed com- though travel restric- appointed scientific mittee of scientists has said. tions have eased, eco- committee has notspelt oath: Governor tells Mamata HATHRASANDTHE The committee, headedby nomic and other activi- out the possible reasons MAHARASHTRA TRUTHMACHINE Prof MVidyasagar of IIT ties have resumedand, to alarge forthe decline in coronavirus nance in the state, makepolice BY JINEE LOKANEETA Hyderabad, usedanew model to extent, normalcy has returned. CONTINUEDONPAGE4 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE and administration politically PAGE 10 map the trajectoryofthe epi- KOLKATA,OCTOBER18 neutral and accountable.” demic in the country. Itskey The Governor’s letter came a finding is that the disease seems WESTBENGALGovernor Jagdeep dayafter Union Home Minister to have peaked in the middle of Learn from Onam surge Dhankhar has said it is “high Amit Shah said in an interview DECISION CONTINUEDONPAGE4 time” Chief MinisterMamata to CNN-News 18 that the de- in Kerala: Harsh Vardhan Banerjee kept her “constitutional mand forPresident’s rule in 2020 DAILYACTIVECASES, PAWAR MEETS oath”. In alettertothe CM on Bengal by BJP workers was“wa- IDEA EXCHANGE FARMERS IN FLOOD Sundayoverthe allegedcustodial jib (just)”, giventhe lawand or- BIHAR PEAKINGAT10.17LAKH KAUNAINSHERIFFM death of aBJP worker,Dhankhar der situation, while adding that &SHAJUPHILIP CHALLENGEISTO HIT AREAS, SAYS said, “Madam Chief Minister, high anyaction by the Centrewould NEWDELHI, ‘WILL SEEK HELP time youredeem your constitu- be as per the Constitution. 10,17,754 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, BUILDANADULT FROM PM’ PAGE 6 tional oath and enforce rule of Dhankhar said what OCTOBER18 VACCINATION law, ensuredemocratic gover- CONTINUEDONPAGE4 SYSTEM:NILEKANI 7,83,311 REITERATINGTHATpeople PAGE 12 should avoid large gatherings during the festival season that is EXPERT Five Naxals killed in encounter with ‘YES, ECONOMIC coming up, Union Health price forits gross negligence” DISTRESS... BUT NOT 26,163 MinisterDrHarsh Vardhan during the week-long festivities EXPLAINS POLL ISSUE’ PAGE 8 Gadchiroli police at Dhanora tehsil 17Sept Sundaypointed to Kerala, which to markOnam in the end of Amitabh Mattoo FULL COVERAGE, VISIT had controlledthe spread of August. 1-May 17-Oct Covid initiallytobetagged as a During his weeklyinteraction FromTheIndianExpresspanel WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM ofspecialists,exclusiveinsight around 4pmwhen the C60 Kalwaniyafurther said, “We model statebut then “paid the CONTINUEDONPAGE4 VIVEKDESHPANDE commando party of Gadchiroli have recoveredfiverifles, includ- NAGPUR,OCTOBER18 police wasperforming an area ing an INSAS rifle, from the spot. TRUMP,BIDEN, domination exercise in the area. Alot of other material wasalso IN Amajor encounter with The firstround of fire came from recovered... their details arestill &THEWORLD Gadchiroli police, five Naxals, in- the Naxals. Our men retaliated. being confirmed.” cluding four women, were killed The exchangehappenedfor He addedthat therewas a How do the candidates for in the Kosmi-Kisneli forest at about 45 minutes, killing at least gathering of about 40 to 50 the White House see the world Dhanoratehsil on Sundayafter- five Naxals, four of them women. Naxals at the spot. “Theybe- and issues of shared global noon, said Superintendent of The encounter didn't cause any longed to Tipagad Dalam, concern? Part 2ofaseries. Police Ankit Goyal. harm to the police.” Platoon 15 and Company4ofCPI EXPLAINED Additional SP (Operations) “Weare still searching (the (Maoist),” he said. PAGE 9 Maneesh Kalwaniya, who led area) and therecould be more With this, the total number of the operation, told The Indian casualties on the Naxalside,” he Naxalcasualties in 18 encounters Express: “The encounter started added. this year has gone up to nine.

BUSINESSASUSUAL

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

Eruditus. According to data ZuckerbergInitiative,Sequoia PRANAVMUKUL& sourcedfromVenture Capital and other investors. SANDEEPSINGH Intelligence, one-thirdofthe $1.5 ■ Remote tutoring start-up NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 billion raisedinthese eight in- Vedantu raised$100million in vestment rounds wasbyByju’s. JulyfromOmidyar Network, FROM SCHOOL studentsto Consider this: TigerGlobal, Coatue working professionals, the pan- ■ Byju’s Classes raised$500 Management and others. demic has created alarge ad- million in tworounds in June According to India Brand dressable market forstart-ups in and September from investors, Equity Foundation, with more education tech,ored-tech, including TigerGlobal, General than 250 million school-going whichsaw asignificant interest Atlantic, SilverLake, DSTGlobal. students, thereisahugede- THE CITY from private equity and venture ■ Unacademyraised$153 mand-supplygap in the educa- capitalistinvestors over the last million in September from tion sector with an estimated ad- NCBARRESTS six months. SoftBank,IIFL VC,Sequoia ditional requirement of 200,000 BROTHEROFARJUN Among the eight funding Capital, General Atlantic, Nexus schools,35,000 colleges, 700 rounds of $100 million and VenturePartners and other in- universities and 40 million seats RAMPAL’SPARTNER above in Indian start-ups during vestors. in vocational training centres. INDRUGCASE April-September,fiveinvolved ■Higher education platform However, with increasing PAGE 5 ed-techcompanies likeByju’s, Eruditus raised$113million in Internetpenetration, and apush Vedantu, Unacademyand AugustfromNaspers, Chan CONTINUEDONPAGE4 Grocery store, restaurant, fans: Indian shuttlersplaysafeinDenmarkbubble

PAGE 1 troopedinthrough the turn- ANCHOR stiles. “Usually, we would be at the stadium an hour before and watchpotential match-ups as SHIVANINAIK preparation. The biggestchange MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 is we couldn't watchothers’ matches as organisers did not THIS BIO-BUBBLE allowedshut- want players and supportstaff to tlers in Odense forthe Denmark be anywherenear the specta- Open to step out to agrocery tors,” says India trainer and storeorarestaurant —and up to physio Kiran Challangundla. 500spectators inside the com- “It’s notclear yethow the petition hall. virus behavesindoors. Even The unique arrangement was The shuttlecockfeeder at DenmarkOpen. BadmintonPhoto.com guidelines forsafedistance in- what four Indians —Kidambi doors aredifferent -- some say2 Srikanth, AjayJayaram, Lakshya metres, some say3feet. Ialso Sen and Subhankar Dey—settled reminders of the pandemic. tial opponents’ form and fitness, read that the virus could travel intolastweek as badminton Forone, India’s supportstaff giventhe main coachwas fo- 40 feet indoors. So we made the cagilyrebootedintoaction. And struggledtodrawupgame cusedonthe Indian on court. But safestchoice... (But) sitting in while it took afew days forthem dossiers on opponents. Earlier, this time, theystayedawayfrom India youmight getbetteran- to adjusttothis newabnormal, theywould fanout around the thestands forfear of exposureto gles! Forus, it’s likeawebcam — some changes servedas constant arena and take notesonpoten- untestedspectators who CONTINUEDONPAGE4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 4 THE SECOND PAGE THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020

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■ CUSTOMIZABLE ForIndiansstudyinginAmerica,theNovemberelectionsholdacrucialkeyindeterminingtheimmigration Howmuchwill Indian- NEWS EXPERIENCE policiesthatthecountrymighttakeinfuture.Atpresent,Indiansconstitutethesecondlargestgroupof

WEB internationalstudentsintheUSafterChina. Americans matter in Indian Express EXCLUSIVE ★★★★★■4.6 the US elections? ENTERTAINMENT VIDEO NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY ‘WOMEN OF MIRZAPUR MADHUBANI PAINTING In today’s episode, we look at howmuch ARE STRONGER’ WORKSHOP IN DELHI the Indian-American community matters ActorHarshitaGauron The workshop was in the US election—and whether thereisa SCANTHISQRCODETO the second season of orgainsedinDelhi’s Kamala Harris factor. DOWNLOADTHEAPP the webshow Greater Kailash FROMPAGEONE

Punjab farm gases in the environment, and breachofconduct”. funds post Covid would help farmers save around With the Governor’s letter fires send smog Rs 5crore that theyspend on fer- just the latestinalong warof towardsonline education in the tilisers suchasnitrogen, phos- India went past peak in Sept: Panel wordswith the stategovern- backdrop of Covid, ed-techcom- signal to Delhi phorus and potash, he said. ment, the ruling Trinamool ac- panies areexpected to grow fur- blocks of Punjab’s Majha belt. “Weare motivating farmers September,when the number be infected wasnearing 75 son. We have to be careful. We prompt imposition on March cusedhim of singing the BJP ther.According to Telecom Satelliteimages from NASA have to sell their paddy strawtodairy of active cases touched10.17 lakh. have seen that therewas a 24 has resulted in deaths be- tune. RegulatoryAuthority of India been showing large clusters of farmers who can preparefodder lakh. This number has been “This of course is premised surge in cases in Kerala after ing around one lakh till date,” (TRAI) data, India had 734.19 farm firesinAmritsar,Patiala, out of it. Alarge number of declining steadilyfor the last on the assumption that peo- the Onam festival. That is a the committee said in anote. Grocery store, million Internetusers as of Tarn Taran, and Firozpur in Gujjar families areready to use month, and the committee ple would continue to take lesson we mustlearn from,” Without alockdown, the March 2020. Arecent reportby Punjab, and Ambala in Haryana. this as fodder,” Dr Singh added. suggestedthat the active precautionarymeasures, at he said. number of infections would restaurant, fans: Cisco has estimated that India The Punjab Remote Sensing Some 90 per cent of pan- cases, even if theyrise due to leasttothe same extent that The committee said that have reached140 lakh (1.4 will have morethan 900million CentreatPunjab Agricultural chayatsinLudhiana district too, festivals or cold weather,were theyare currentlydoing. This their modelling exercise had crore) in June, the committee Indian shuttlers users by 2023. University,Ludhiana, which have passedresolutions. Over unlikelytosurpass the figure is no reason to relax, or lower also shown that the lock- said. Alatelockdown, in May, “Two keyfactors leading to tracks satelliteimages of stub- the pastthree weeks, Ludhiana reachedlastmonth. our guard, especiallywith the down, particularly itstiming would have still seen cases play safe in the investment in the ed-tech ble-burning, has recordedthe has reported108 farm fires, Additionally, the commit- festival season approaching. If in the thirdweek of March, reach50lakh in June. “In Denmark bubble sector arethe availability of tech- mostfarm firesinfour years this while Nawanshar has reported tee, whichwas setupbythe we followthe physical dis- had abig impact on slowing short, the lockdown flattened nology to educateand the big season. Incidentsare up more 15.Several panchayats in MinistryofScience and tancing norms, and use face the disease, and preventing the curve,” the committee justone angle from one side in a demand supplymismatchin than three times over lastyear: Jalandhar toohavepassedreso- Technology afew months ago, masks, at leastinthe manner coronavirus-related deaths. said. room outside the hall,” he says. India. The existing ratio of seats the 27-dayperiod between lutions againststubble-burning. has projected that by February we aredoing right now, the “Without alockdown, the Also, the committee found While onlythree courts were to studentswho areeager to September 21 and October 17 2021, the number of people model says that by February number of deaths in India that the labour migration that operational in the early rounds study is notgoing to accommo- has seen 5,552 fires, compared No explanation, who have been infected with we would have things under would have overwhelmedthe happenedimmediatelyafter as matches startedlastTuesday dateall of them to colleges and with 1,695 in 2019,1,533in2018, the virus at some point in time control,” said Prof Manindra system, and would have even- the lockdown had “minimal” instead of Wednesday, other the onlyalternateform of mass and 3,822 in 2017. but panel experts would notexceed106 lakh (1 AgrawalofIIT Kanpur,who is tuallycrossed26lakh fatali- impact in terms of spreading changes became the norm in the education is online media and Until Saturday, the Punjab crore6lakh). As on Saturday partofthe committee. ties. Imposing the lockdown the infection. “This indicates tournament that endedSunday. that is gaining traction,” said Pollution Control Board(PPCB) indicate reasons evening, the number of peo- “The big worry, of course, in Maywould have reduced the success of quarantine Ashuttle dispenser pushedout Narayanan Ramaswamy, had imposedanenvironmental for both hope ple who have been found to is the upcoming festival sea- deaths to around 10 lakh. The strategies,” it said. birds from arubber pipe. The National Leader -- Education compensation fine of Rs 25.75 chair umpiresat for2-3 matches and Skill Development, KPMG in lakh in 961cases, and realisedRs and caution in arow.Line judges were India. 1.25 lakh from farmers. In 822 masked.Mostsignificantly, According to those tracking cases, a‘redentry’ had been numbers. But twoofits mem- Learn from Onam surge in Kerala: Harsh Vardhan coaches -- onlyone per player- the segment, abulk of the funds made in land records, whichcan bers offeredinsightsintowhat -wereall mic-edupsoyou could raisedbyed-techcompanies makeafarmer ineligible forgov- could be happening. on social media, Harsh central team wassent to Kerala whichhad happenedinKerala gies. hear their instructions. have gone intomarketing or in- ernment subsidiesorloansfrom “A recent case study of Vardhan also acknowledged following the surge. during theOnamcelebrations. Opposition leader Ramesh Music had been ringing out organic expansion. Lastyear, public sector banks. AndhraPradesh and Tamil Nadu that community transmission “Between January30and We agree with that, the Chief Chennithala said: “Kerala has in the early rounds, even during Byju’s acquired US-basedlearn- Some 1,171cases had been publishedinthe journal Science “is expected to occur,especially May3,Kerala reportedjust499 Ministerhad earlier stated that failedinCovid-control meas- points. In-stadia sponsor banner ing platform Osmo for$120mil- earmarkedfor field visitsafter afew weeksago showedthat al- in denselypopulated areas” cases and twodeaths; and the gatherings during Onam cele- ures. To artificiallyshowthat flexeshad Danish product lion as apartofits plan to ex- firesweredetected in satellite most70per cent of infected peo- but “limited to certain districts majorityofthe confirmed brations, marriages and the stateiseffectively manag- names on displayinChinese and pand globally. This wasfollowed images. Atotal 801cases already ple were notpassing the disease in alimited number of states”. cases were concentrated in protests have created compla- ing the situation, all cases are Korean -- with an eyeonthe by the biggestdeal in the Indian confirmedbyphysical visitsare to others. The virus wasspread- Kerala Health MinisterKK Kasaragod and Kannur dis- cency in people, whicheven- notdetected and the number Asian market.And testing fol- sector with Byju’s acquiring on- likelytoface penalties in aday ing onlythrough asmall setof Shailaja sought to playdown tricts. Subsequently, Covid-19 tuallyled to increase in cases. of testsisnot increased,” the lowedatimeline. “Once before line coding platform WhiteHatJr or two. people who arereferredtoassu- the Union Minister’s com- cases croppedupinother dis- The Union Ministerhad only Congress leader said. BJP state we left, then as soon as we en- for$300million. Byju’s rival In Haryana, the state per-spreaders,” Prof Manindra mentson“negligence” during tricts, due to an increase in pointed that out.” chief KSurendran said the teredthe hotelreception (dur- Unacademyhas also pickedup Pollution Control Boardhas re- Agrawal, amember of the com- Onam, saying he had notcriti- both inter and intrastate move- Speaking to The Indian Union Minister’s statement ing the tournament),” Kiran says. smaller start-ups, including ported1,710 stubble-burning in- mittee, told The Indian Express. cisedthe statebut was“alert- ment of people because of Express lastweek,Shailaja had wasa“severe setbackfor Badminton’s resumption has PrepLadder,Kreatryx, CodeChef cidentsuntil October 15 this Thesesuper-spreaders,Prof ing other states to take steps to trade and tourism. And then said that during the lockdown, Kerala” and asked the state been hardlysmooth afterthe big and Mastree. year,against1,072 incidentsin Agrawalsaid, have agreater avoid gatherings, whichhad the epic curveofKerala Kerala had flattenedthe graph government to seek the comeback, Thomas Uber Cup, Additionally, while the corresponding period last chance of getting infected dur- happenedinKerala during the changed completely due to andthe rate wasatits lowest. Centre’s assistance. wasaborteddue to withdrawals. Unacademyisone of the official year. ing the early phase of the epi- Onam celebrations”. Onam festivities across the “But with the central govern- Meanwhile, responding to Scaling back, the Badminton partners of IPL, Byju’s wassaid The impact of the firesin demic. “So, it is possible that the However, Kerala’s stateduringthe monthsof ment opening up and allowing aquestion on West Bengal WorldFederation managed to to be in the race forthe title Punjab and Haryana has been super-spreaders have already Opposition parties described Augustand September,” Harsh trains and flights... during June Chief MinisterMamta keep the DenmarkOpen on sponsorship -- as of now, Byju’s visible as asmoky haze over been infected,and become im- the Centre’s remarks as a Vardhan said. to September,Kerala had 9 Bannerjee’s statement that schedule, moreasatrial run sponsors the pre-matchand Delhi-NCR and poor air quality mune. And as we have seen, very “chargesheet” that highlighted “Onam festival lastedbe- lakh people coming in. Then thereare instances of commu- than afull-fledged show. post-matchshows. index(AQI) numbers. According fewamong the others transmit the “failure” of the Leftregime. tween August22and we had Onam and therewas nity transmission in the state, Unlikethe IPL or the con- “Manyinvestors arecoming to SAFAR, the MinistryofEarth the disease. This could be one Responding to aquestion September 2. During this pe- some relaxation. So we wit- Harsh Vardhan said: “...in dif- stricting bubbles of early with aprofitmotivebut many Sciences’ air quality monitor, possible reason forwhat we are on howKerala is inching to- riod, therewerehugecongre- nessedarise in cases in ferent pocketsacross various German football, badminton has others arecoming forwardto farm firesaccounted for22per seeing right now,”hesaid. wardsthe 3-lakh markoverall gations across the statewhere August,” she had said, adding states, including West Bengal, easedthe terms of consented createanimpact, i.e., to make cent of the air pollution in the Super-spreaders areinfected while setting adailyrecordof people collected in large num- that various protests by community transmission of confinement atad. So one could education moreequitable,” said national capital on Saturday, and people who infect alarge num- Covid cases, Harsh Vardhan bers and obviouslydid nottake Opposition parties also ledto Covid-19isexpected to occur step out and grab ameal or hop Saiju Aravind, founder of Kochi- 17 per cent on Sunday. berofothers. The study that said: “Afterhaving good con- adequateprecautions. Kerala, “hugegatherings”. especiallyindenselypopu- offtoanearbygrocerystore,if basedonline education platform While the Punjab govern- Agrawalreferredto, had relied trol over the virus during the whichwas reporting an aver- However, Kerala Social lated areas. However, this isn’t the organisers deemeditsafe. EduBrisk,adding that his firm is ment’s appeal to farmers and on data from over 85,000 con- initial phase of the pandemic, ageof2,000 dailycases in the Security Mission executive di- happening across the country; Stores in Odense neverreally supportedby“investors who villagepanchayats has so farnot firmedinfections in Andhra the situation has nowwors- firstweek of September, rector Dr MohammedAsheel and community transmission crowdupmuch, but in allowing want to makeeducation afford- been successful in curbing farm Pradesh and Tamil Nadu until ened. Iwould saythat other reached4,000 averagedaily postedonhis Facebook page is limited to certain districtsoc- spectators, afterDenmarktested able and provide quality educa- fires, acting on the directions of August1,and nearly 6lakh of states shouldlearn alesson newcases fortnightly. Which that “politician Harsh Vardhan curring in alimited number of this in other indoor sports like tion to people in general”. district administrations, pan- their contactswho were identi- from Kerala’s spurtinCovid-19 means Kerala startedadding can sayanything”. “But if he states,” Vardhan said. handball, the organisers walked Ramaswamysaid the pan- chayatshavestarted to pass res- fied and traced. It is the largest cases due to negligence during 7,000-8,000dailynews cases,” speaksasthe Union Health The Centre, incidentally, athin line of keeping players safe demic has takencareofinitial olutions againststubble-burn- such study so far. the Onam season. Iwould also he said. Minister, he should sayonlyaf- has startedanextensive -- no one tested positive -- while skepticism on howonline edu- ing. The study found that over saythat all states needtobe In response, Kerala Minister terlearning things precisely. awareness campaign forthe still letting in fans. cation will work.Hesaid that In Pathankot district, 325 out 60,000of the 85,000confirmed careful during the coming fes- Shailaja said she had calledthe What he said is wrong to the “Jan Andolan” launchedby Maskshavenot beenimposed even afternormalcy returns, the of the 421villagepanchayats infected individuals never tive season...This caution must Union Ministerfollowing re- core. If in doubt, ask your sci- Prime MinisterNarendraModi outdoors but the rules arestrict sector will continue to grow.But have passedwritten resolutions passedonthe infection to oth- be exercisedfor the next three ports on his remarks.“He was entists in ICMR,’’ he posted. forCovid-appropriatebehav- about them in enclosedspaces. according to him, investment is againststubble-burning; in ers. On the other hand, avery months at least.” answering aquestion about Asheel workswith the State iour in the backdrop of the fes- “Country-wise tables were primarilyintechnology -- not Nawanshahr,resolutions have small number,less than 10 per Over the last24hours, the hikeinCovid cases in Social Justice Department, tive season. It has issuedade- assignedduring breakfastatthe muchishappening on infra- been passedby341 out of 467 cent, accounted forover60per Kerala reported9,016 new Kerala. As festival seasons are whichisunder Shailaja, and is tailedSOP directing states to hotel,” said AjayJayaram, who structure. panchayats.The resolutions cent of secondaryinfections. cases, second onlyto ahead in other states, he was one of the members of acore ensurecompliance with phys- losttofinalistAnders Antonsen In the higher education seg- seem to be having an impact – These were the super-spreaders, Maharashtrawith morethan alerting other states to take team advising the Health ical distancing, sanitisation and in the firstround. Of the four ment, too, severalmacrotrends in Pathankot,nofirehas been eachofwhom passedonthe in- 10,000dailycases. On Friday, a steps to avoid gatherings, Department on Covid strate- thermal screening. Indian men -- the women chose suchasskills becoming redun- recordedoverthe pastthree fection to maybe20, 30, 40, or nottotravel--Srikanth man- dant, along with high unemploy- weeks. even morepeople. aged to reachthe quarterfinals ment ratesand agap in deploy- SarpanchDev RajofLahri Prof Agrawalpointed out meeting occasionally, and an that the current decline in cases increase during winter.Wehave trict on September 26 in connec- before losing to WorldNo. 2 able skills, coupledwith Covid, Gujjran villageofPathankot dis- that the super-spreaders had no even largerset with whom we in India were similar to what to be careful. Air pollution could tion with akidnapping. The BJP Chou Tien Chen. have brought anew urgency to trict said that theypassedares- special quality apartfromthe rarely interact. During restric- manyEuropean countries had be acause forconcern as well. has demandedaCBI probeinto In fact, soon afterthe pan- the needfor continuous learning. olutiononOctober 12 aftercon- fact that theywereinteracting tions, we would be interacting experiencedafew months ago. Bad air is already abig reason for his death, whichwas reported demic brokeout as early as Consultancy firm RedSeer vincing the villagers, because with morepeople than most mainlywith people within our “Takethe case of Italy, forex- respiratorydiseases, and coron- on October 13. February, the Indians were the pointed out that with factors therewas no point in passing a others. Avegetable vendor,for innermostcircle. Whatever in- ample. Theretoo, the disease avirus can complicatematters Earlier,onOctober 8, during firstamong athletestotravelto suchasrelaxation in regulations resolution if the farmers were example, is likelytointeract with fections had to happen in that prevalence had notbecome so further,” she said. ascuffle between BJP workers the Philippines forthe governing degrees, the online notinvested. manymorepeople than the av- small circle of contactsmight al- widespread that we could have and the police at amarch by Badminton Asian Team higher education market is ex- Similarly,panchayats of vil- erageofficer-goer. ready have happened. Once that begun talking about herdim- Redeem your party workers to the statesecre- Championship. pected to grow to $5 billion over lages including Balsua (389 acres “Preciselybecause of this has happened, the numbers are munity.But the cases had de- tariat Nabanna, the turban of “Masksare important but I the next five years, a10-fold in- under paddy), Sukhalgarh(365 reason, theyare also likelytoget expected to decline. Forfresh in- clinedverysharply. What we are constitutional Balwinder Singh, abodyguard have always insistedonface crease from itscurrent size. acres under paddy out of atotal infected early.Ifyou take out the fections to take place, people seeing now(in Italy) is aresur- with aleader,had come off. The shields during travel. Players can “If youhavegood school infra 430 acres of land), Bhoa (950 super-spreaders from the equa- needtostart interacting with the gence, or asecond wave. But it is oath: Governor BJP had accusedthe government onlyhavewarm beveragesfrom then technology investment acres under paddy out of 1,250 tion,the reduction in the coron- largersets, or with complete notnecessarythat everycoun- tells Mamata of hurting religious sentiments. outside, if theymust. And no adds some value but in acountry acres), Sultanpur (325 acres), avirus numbers does notlook strangers, as with co-passengers tryorregion has to go through a In his letter,the Governor half-sleeves, the full body needs likeours wherethereare issues Govindsar (310 acres) Koghra that surprising,” he said. in public transport. That has just second waveofinfections. If we happenedwith Madan Ghorai said therewas growing resent- to be coveredintravel, plus sani- of teacher absenteeism and vari- (375 acres) have passedresolu- Prof Gagandeep Kang, an ex- begun to happen, and Isuspect arecareful, and tide over the alias Kalipada, of village ment among the people over the tising hands everyhalf hour.If able quality,itcan lead to ahuge tions aftertaking all farmers into pertoninfectious diseases and mostofthe infections that we next fewmonths, we can be Kanakpur in EastMidnapore, “chaos” in the state. Asking there’s no face shield, theyneed jump,” said Naushad Forbes, confidence. So far, no fire inci- professor at Christian Medical see right noware aresult of hopeful of abettersituation next was“yetanother horrifying in- Mamatatoensurethat the po- to wear specs or goggles at pastCII president, and co-chair- dent has been observed in these College, Vellore, said it wasnot those kinds of interactions, month,” he said. stance of dehumanising torture, lice and administration were least,” Kiran says. man of Forbes Marshall. villages afterthe resolutions. unexpected to find that the dis- rather than in the closed Prof Kang said apartfrom assault and death in custody”. “politicallyneutral” and “ac- Besides, the team hasn’t used Of the $3.29 billion received BlockAgriculture ease wasactuallyspreading groups,” Dr Kang said. festivals, the approaching win- “Thereisoutrageatsuchlaw- countable”, he said, “... sanitise the common gym, while anyone by India’s education sector as Development Officer,Pathankot, through averysmall number of “Everything about the trans- terand the resultant increase in lessness in the stateand outside, powercorridors of non-state ac- accessing warm-up areas is foreign direct investment (FDI) Dr Amrik Singh, said: “Thereare infected people. Prof Kang, who mission of the virus is depend- air pollution could also be rea- and consequent to October 8po- tors and ensurethat SSA(State masked.But Kiran is alittle sur- between April 2000-June 2020, around 50,000 hectares under is also amember of the commit- ent on the natureand length of sons forconcern. lice excesses, Balwinder Singh is Security Advisor) and Principal prisedathow fitmostshuttlers $2.12 billion wasraisedbetween agri and horticulturecrops in the teethat reportedits findings on our interactions with other peo- “Wedonot yetfullyunder- already aposterboy forblatant Advisor,Internal Security,donot still are. “Theyhavedone ade- June 2015-June 2020. The gov- district, out of whichpaddy and Sunday, offeredanother possi- ple. And thereisalot that we ei- stand the correlation of the coro- human right violations in the boss over the statutorilystruc- cent job, everyone wasjustea- ernment, too, has recognisedthe basmati aregrown on 27,500 ble reason forthe numbers go- ther do notunderstand, or are navirus epidemic with cold state.” tured police apparatus, thereby gertoresume,” he says. opportunity.Inthe Budget hectares, whichproduce around ing down. unable to analysebecause of lack weather.But thereisaseasonal- The police have said that reducing the DGP and other po- speechfor 2020-21, Finance 1.3lakh tonnes of stubble... We “Look,weall have varying of adequatedata. But this de- ityassociatedwith the spread of Ghorai, aBJP booth vice-presi- lice officials to abject subordina- Ed tech firms MinisterNirmala Sitharaman have been asking farmers notto degrees of contact with people. cline in numbers in the lastone other kinds of viruses and infec- dent, wasinjudicial custody at tion and to insignificance”. had proposedsetting up of a burn it.” We mayhave10-15people with month is notinexplicable. It can tious diseases, and basedonthat acorrectional home, and notin Dhankhar also urgedIAS and corner almost all “degree levelfull-fledged online Should the appeals succeed, whom we interact on averyreg- be explainedifwehavegood experience, it would notentirely itscustody,when he died. IPS officials to be “politically education programme”. it would help prevent the release ular basis, then another larger dataand information,” she said. be out of place to suggestthat Ghorai had been arrested from neutral”, saying therecould be $100 mn bracket FULLREPORTSON of 2.2 lakh tonnes of harmful setofpeople whom we might be Prof Agrawalpointed out the spread of coronavirus might Patashpur in EastMedinipur dis- consequences forbeing “in www.indianexpress.com WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 5 THE CITY

SUSHANT DEATHPROBE NCBarrestsbrother ofArjunRampal’s partnerindrugcase

bags and apparel and frequently EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Demetriades, booked visitsMumbai. His call data MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 under the Narcotic recordshows that he wasincon- tact with drug peddlers Anuj THE NARCOTICS ControlBureau Drugs and Psychotropic Keswani and Dwayne BACK ON TRACK (NCB) has arrested a30-year-old Substances Act, Fernandes, who had earlier been South African national, the wasonSunday arrested in the case. Aworkersanitises seatsinaMonorail as the service between Chembur and LowerParel brother of actor Arjun Rampal’s Also, datafromother elec- restartedafter nearly sevenmonths on Sunday. PTI partner Gabriella Demetriades, remandedinpolice tronic devices shows that in adrug case lodged following custody fortwo days Demetriades wasintouchwith actor SushantSingh Rajput’s Sushant's domestic help Dipesh NCB busts international death in June. Sawant and house manager Sepoy ‘shoots himself’ to death in Ghatkopar The accused, Agisilaos Alprazolan, abannedtablet, was Samuel Miranda. The twowere drug racket, two arrested Demetriades, wasarrestedlate recovered, the officer added. arrested in the drugs case, along gate of Material Organisation brought dead before admission. Saturdayfromaresortin The NCBsaid Demetriades is with Rhea and Showik. Marijuana worth According to officials, the EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE (navalstore depot) when he “His service rifle with two Lonavala, said NCBofficers. apartofthe largerdrug syndi- However, theywererecently seizedcontraband came from MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 allegedly firedtwo rounds rounds dischargedwas found “On the basis of atip-off, we cateand suppliednarcotics to granted bail along with Rhea. Rs 55 lakh, sourced Canada and wasdestinedto of bullets on his chestaround next to him,” adefence laid atrapatthe resortinwhich the peddlers who were in touch Demetriades, booked under Mumbai and Ahmedabad. A44-YEAR-OLD sepoywith 7pm. spokesperson said. he wasstaying with his fiancé. with actor and Sushant's girl- the Narcotic Drugs and from Canada, seized Officials addedthat acon- Defence Security Cop (DSC) al- The Ghatkopar police, which Officials said Singh hailed He wasarrestedand 0.8 gm of friend Rhea Chakraborty and her Psychotropic Substances Act, sumer,identifiedasOmkar Tupe, legedly shothimself to death in wasinthe process of lodging an from Amargarh at Sangrur dis- charas wasseizedfromhim,” brother Showik.This is the 23rd wasonSundayremandedinpo- wasalso arrested during araid at Ghatkopar on Sunday. accidental death report, said the trict in Punjab. said an officer.Later,asearch was arrest made in the case, said NCB. lice custody fortwo days.Hewas EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE his residence in Navi Mumbai. Officials said the deceased, sepoywas rushedtoRajawadi He is survivedbyhis wifeand carriedout at his residence in According to the agency, represented by lawyer Kushal MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 “During further investiga- Raipal Singh, waspostedatthe hospital wherehewas declared twochildren. Mumbai's Khar from where Demetriades is intomarketing of Mor in Killa court. tion, 74 grams of curated mari- WITH THE arrest of twopersons, juana/bud wasseizedfroman the Narcotics Control Bureau address in Nerul, Navi Mumbai,” claimedtohavebustedaninter- an NCBpress release stated. BMCseeks wildlife clearancetotranslocate national drug smuggling racket. Officials said the accused Officials said that marijuana, were making use of courier serv- sourcedfromCanada and worth ice to transportthe drugs. “The Rs 55 lakh, wasinterceptednear size of the bud growninforeign 18 coralcoloniesoncoastal road projectpath apostoffice in Lonavala. countries is largerthan the ones NCBofficials said on the ba- growninIndia, due to which sis of atip-off, theyintercepted both the costand demand for project among others. erant in Gujarat’s Kutchregion to aparcel in Lonavala on Friday importedbud is higher,” said a SANJANABHALERAO Afterthe primaryinspection, Protected the ones in Lakshadweep. and seized1,036 curated mari- source. MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 the MangroveCell on October 12 underWPA A14-year-long study titled juana. The accused, identifiedas Acase has been registered forwardedthe applicationtothe Schedule1 ‘Impact of sea surface tempera- ShrimayShah (26), aresident of againstthe twounder relevant EIGHTEEN COLONIES of inter- PCCF(Wildlife)forfinalclearance. tureanomalies on giant clam Ahmedabad in Gujarat and who sections of the Narcotic Drugs tidal coral colonies found on the The National Instituteof population dynamics in is believedtobeapeddler,has and Psychotropic Substances path of the coastalroad project Oceanography(NIO), appointed CORALSARE marine inver- Lakshadweep reefs’, by re- been arrested. (NDPS) Act. maybetranslocated to Marine to study the presence of marine tebrates that attachthem- searchers at the BombayNatural Drive,GeetaNagarinNavyNagar, biodiversityalongtheprojectarea, selvestorocky inter-tidal re- History Society and Wildlife and Colaba. ABMC application has identifiedsix coral species at gions and sustain avariety InstituteofIndia found that there FINAL-YEAR EXAMS seeking wildlifeclearance to Worliand Haji Ali: twospecies of (Clockwise from topleft) of marine life. Theygarner arestrong indicators that corals translocatethe 18 coral colonies theRhizangiidaefamily(Oulangia Bernardoporafound at Geeta the same protection as a in Lakshadweep have undergone MU IDOL’s postponed atWorliandHajiAli,hasbeenfor- and one unidentifiedspecies) Nagar; False pillowcoral at tiger or elephant under bleaching in the lastfew decades. warded to the Principal Chief with 18 colonies documented Haji Ali, Geeta Nagar, and Schedule Iofthe Wildlife Bleaching is aprocess during Conservator of Forests(Wildlife) across 0.251squaremetresin Marine Drive;Polycyathus Protection Act(WPA), 1972. whichcorals, under stress from exams to begin today forfinal approval lastweek. Worliand another species found at Marine Drive,Haji Coral reefsalso act as ‘wave warm weather,expel the algae If approved,itwill be the sec- (Dendrophylliidae family) along Ali, Geeta Nagar, Nepean Sea breaks’ between the sea and that give corals itscolours and “The third-year BA and BCom ond suchproject to be imple- with Rhizangiidae across 1.1feet Road, Mahalaxmi and Worli. the coastline and minimise live in their tissues and produce EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE exams will startonline from mentedalongthestate’scoastline area at Haji Ali. The species docu- Photo courtesy:Harshal Karve the impactsofsea erosion. their food. Experts have docu- MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 October 26. Second-year MA ex- and the firstinMumbai. Earlier, mented arehardcorals and are mented bleaching of the corals ams will be held online from theMangroveCellandtheUnited visible during the lowtide. found along Mumbai’s coastline. MUMBAI UNIVERSITY'S (MU) November 2and second-year Nations Development Corals found across rocky cultivated—fragmentsofcorals “If yousee apictureofcorals, you that forahigh survivalratethe “These arethe same algae that InstituteofDistance and Open MCom exams will beheld online Programme(UNDP)have translo- patchesalongtheMumbaicoast- were takenand attachedtocon- will see manytinypores in them, same environmental factors will give colour to corals. Learning (IDOL) on Sundayan- from November 6. Practice ex- cated 2,620 coral fragmentsoff line aremostlyfast-growing and creteframes with the help of ny- it is one animal that multiplies be key. Marine biologists say HarshalKarve,amarinebiol- nouncedthat itspostponedfinal- ams forthis exam will be held the MalvancoastinSindhudurg. non-reef building corals. lon threads —and then lefton and creates acolony. Within one coral fragmentstaken from one ogistwith MangroveFoundation year and backlog examinations soon,” it added. On September 3, the civic Translocation of corals is at a ocean bedsatadepth suitable for colony, theremanysuchanimals place mustbetransplanted in who identified11species of will beheld online from Monday. Lastweek,following flak from body had appliedfor the wildlife nascent stagealong the Indian itsgrowth. living thereand theyare geneti- another with the same environ- corals along the Mumbai coast, Of the exams to beconducted studentsafter itsonline exami- clearance and submitted apro- coastline. Manypilotprojectsat InaprojectinAndamanisland, callyidentical to eachother.All mental factors likedepth range, said, “During our study,wehad by IDOL forits 21 courses, 17 will nation system facedtechnical posal to the MangroveCell of the Lakshadweep islands, Kutch, and since 2017,Reef WatchMarine youneedisone of those animals, current flow, amount of light, noticedbleaching of these corals be held on Monday, MU said in a glitches, IDOL wasforcedtopost- MaharashtraForestDepartment Tamil Nadu have been under- Conservation have translocated afragment as big as finger-tip, to and pressure. during the monsoon. However, statement. pone the exams. to translocatethe 18 coral takentostudy their survivalrate, corals at nine structures, eachof regrow at the newlocation. We However, aproposal wassub- post-monsoon these species re- colonies. However, the clearance method and siteoftranslocation, 15 squaremetre area. haven’t triedthe method of culti- mitted to the Ministryof juvenated.Wehad suggestedto wasstalledpending clarification creation of high heat-resistant Roshni Yathiraj,amarine bi- vating anursery, we pickupthe Environment, Forestsand NIO and BMC to undertake CASHEWNUT PROCESSING SERVICE anddetailsonthesiteoftransloca- coral colonies among others. ologistfor 10 years and currently fragment and move instantly ClimateChangetotranslocate translocation post-monsoon,as We are processors of RawCashewnut in Karnataka at tion, details regarding the project In athree-year-long aproject manager with Reef within aradius of 10 to 50 metre.” corals from reefsconsidered as at that time the colonies will be Mangaluru -City with excellent Rail, Road & justification, legal status of the Sindhudurgproject, corals were WatchMarine Conservation, said, Fewexperts areofthe view relatively moretemperature-tol- healthy.” AirportConnectivity COVID SHADOW OVER NAVRATRI We offer 2units with 125 Bag Sena may hold virtual annual Dussehra rally Capacityper day everyyear on Dussehra, which So far, the Sena’s annual Foryourrequirements of Raw Cashewnut Processing Aartis, orchestra performances EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE will be celebrated on October 25 Dussehrarallyhas nottaken place MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 this year,tohear their party chief. onlyontwo occasions. The first Contact Partyleaders said that time wasin2006when Mumbai 9743443488 /9845251224 and garba events go online AMID THE Covid-19pandemic Uddhavislikelytodeliverhis witnessedheavy rainfall and then Email: [email protected] and restrictions againstpublic speechfromastage.“Therehas in 2009 when model code of con- compliance with social-distanc- gatherings, the ShivSena is setto been adiscussion in the party on duct wasinplace due to the up- ABHAGORADIA ing norms. Afew arealso broad- hold itsannual Dussehrarallyvir- erecting an indoor stagefrom coming Assembly elections. MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 15.95lakh casting aartis live forthe masses. tuallythis year. wherehecan deliverhis speech Sena leaders said that Uddhav TOTALPOSITIVECASES At the Soniwadi hall at The Dussehrarallyassumes and ShivSainikscan watchthe is likelytolisthis government’s WITHNOmajoreventsscheduled INMAHARASHTRA Borivali’sShimpoliarea,10 mem- significance as the event will be event virtually. Afinal decision on achievementsatthe rally. “He will across the city forNavratri, the Active Cases 1,82,973 bers of Nari Tu Narayani Suvarn held forthe firsttime since Sena this will betakensoon,” said Sena bespeaking as the party chief. So, dazzle of the festiveseason this NewCases 9,060 Mahila Sangathan gathered on president UddhavThackeray be- MP SanjayRaut. apartfromhis government’s year is lostfor many. Some are, Saturdayand Sundaytosing came the chief ministerofthe Sources said that it is notpos- achievements, he mayspeak on however, takinganonlinerouteto TotalDeaths 42,115 hymns to the goddess and per- state. sible to erect astage at Shivaji the political issues, including how organise garba, thali decoration NewDeaths 150 form garba. “Wehavedecidedto Alarge number of ShivSainiks Park,asitmay lead to agathering to take on the Opposition,” said a and fancy-dress eventsinline Quarantined24.35lakh maintain astrict ratio of allowing gather at Shivaji Park in Mumbai by party workers. leader. with the annual tradition. only10womento comeeveryday Tested 81.39 lakh The organisers of the popular and take partinthe tradition fol- Kora KendradandiyaatBorivali lowedbyuseveryyear.Fortherest thisyeararebroadcastingorches- 2,41,935 of the members, we used traperformances live on online TOTALPOSITIVE Facebooklive,”saidfounderpres- platformslikeZoom,YouTubeand CASESINMUMBAI ident Neela Soni. television channels. However, manyclaimedvir- “Likeeveryyear,wehaveush- NewCases 1,600 tualeventsare robbedof thevibes ered Mataji’s idol and placeditat TotalDeaths 9,785 associated with collective danc- the same spotonthe ground. NewDeaths 46 ing. Probablyfor the firsttime in Here, we will perform aarti daily. the last45years, Juhu Jagriti, a Fortheorchestra,we have booked charitable trustwhichorganises abanquethall,fromwhereweare pitchedintomakethis work,” Navratri at Juhu’s Jashoda broadcasting the music live.To Joshi said. Rangmandirgrounds,hasnotini- keep up with the dance competi- Meanwhile, popular Gujarati tiated anyplan. On Saturday, se- tion that takesplace everyyear, folk singers Bhanubhai Vora and lect members of the trustper- we have invitedregistrationsfrom Tripti Chhaya,known to tour formedaarti at the adjoining those who wish to dress in tradi- abroad everyyear,especiallyfor Bhaidas hall. “Therewas no point tionalclothesandplaydandiyaon theirNavratriperformances,have in hosting anything virtual. How Zoom. We will recordperform- alsomadeatransitionto theweb. manyyoungsters would prefer ances and shortlistpeople forthe “For the Radha Krishna temple playingwiththeirfamiliesattheir final round whichwill be held on members in Los Angeles, we per- homes?”saidpresidentRajuShah. the lastday of Navratri,” videog- formedat7amIndian time. Choreographer Ajit Bagweof rapher Atul Joshi said. Peopleseemto beasupbeatabout Vandana Cultural, who has been While the entryticketstothis this, and we arebooked till teaching garba forovertwo dandiyaevent everyyear fetched November firstweek,” said decades, said, “My studentshave theorganiserslakhsof rupees,the Bhanubhai. notparticipated in anyevent, nor performances this year arebeing Severalhousing societies, have I,unlikepastyears.Garbahas streamedonline free of charge. communities, and social groups alot to do with the vibe, eyecon- “All the usual sponsors have de- areconductingrituals,aarti and tact, rhythm, and sync. Virtual clinedtohelp monetarily, but are prayers forgoddess AmbeMaa eventsdon’t offerthe same kind helping us in kind. All of us have through limited invitees and in of feeling.” WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 6 MAHARASHTRA ELGAARStanPARISHAD-BHIMASwamyKOREGAONmovesCASE Raju Shetti specialcourtforbail Shetti demands compensation for farmers, onmedicalgrounds threatens tion of the petitioner is merelya street agitation EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE The NIA opposedthe ruse to obtain an order of interim MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 relief, whichisnot available to the plea on Saturday, petitioner otherwise on the mer- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE STAN SWAMY,the 83-year old stating that thereisno itsofthe case,” the NIA replysaid. MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 Jesuit priestand tribal rightsac- merit in Swamy Swamy, who wasarrested tivist, arrested by the National from Jharkhand on October 8and SWABHIMANI SHETKARI Investigation Agency (NIA) ear- seeking relief as per the producedbeforethe special court Sanghatana president Raju lier this month in the Elgaar committee’s guidelines in Mumbai the next day, wassent Shetti on Sundaysaid the Union Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case, to jail without the NIA seeking his and stategovernmentsshould approachedaspecial courtlast custody forfurther probe. immediatelyprovide relief to the week seeking interim bail on trying to take an undue benefit of The agency has filedasup- farmers who have sufferedcrop medical grounds. the situation... in seeking bail...,” it plementarychargesheetagainst loss due to the heavy rainfall and The plea referred to the said in itsreplytothe bail plea. Swamyand sevenothers on floods recently. guidelines by Maharashtragov- It addedthat Swamyand 15 October 9. The chargesheet Threatening to launcha ernment’s high-poweredcom- others booked in the case have claimedthat Swamyisamem- street agitation, Shetti said: NCPchief Sharad Pawarmeets farmers in Osmanabad district on Sunday. Express mittee —appointed on the direc- been chargedofserious offences, berofthe bannedorganisation “Farmers have sufferedcroploss tions of the Supreme Court— including the Unlawful Activities CommunistParty of India worthRs50,000croredue to the recommending decongestion of (Prevention) Act, wherethe pun- (Maoist) and is actively involved rains... The Centreisnot doing jails during the Covid-19pan- ishment can extend to lifeimpris- in itsactivities. enough to address the gravecri- Pawarmeets farmersinflood-hit demic. It also stated his suscep- onment. While claiming that Swamy, in astatement before sis. While it should provide 75 tibility to the virus givenhis age therewas adequateevidence to his arrest,had said that he, along per cent of the relief compensa- and other health conditions. provethe case againsthim, the with others, including activists, tion meant forthe affected farm- The NIA,however, opposed agency has also submitted that lawyers, student leaders and po- ers, the rest should be provided areas, says will seek help from PM the plea on Saturday, stating that while the committee’s guidelines ets, “who stand forthe rightsof by the stategovernment.” thereisnomerit in Swamyseek- recommend considering the adivasis, Dalitsand the margin- He addedthat NDRF should ing relief as per the committee’s grant of interim bail to undertrials alised, and express their dissent be deployedinall areas where tations while extending finan- StateministerSanjay Reactingto Pawar’sannounce- guidelines. “AccusedStan above 60 years of age, the same to the ruling powers of the coun- help is neededtorelocatepeople. MANOJMORE cial assistance. We will have to Bansode, MP OmrajeNimbalkar ment that he would lead adele- Swamy, under the garb of the cannotbegranted mechanically. try, arebeing targeted”. PUNE,OCTOBER18 approachthe central govern- and other leaders were present. gation of MPs to the PM, stateBJP current situation on account of “It is clear that the pleading The courtwill hear Swamy’s ment forassistance,” Pawar Interacting with farmers in chief ChandrakantPatilsaid,“First, the global pandemic Covid-19, is with regard to the medical condi- bail application on Tuesday. E-commerce NCPPRESIDENT Sharad Pawar told reporters. Loharaand Omerga talukas, letthem conduct asurvey of the on Sundaytoured the flood-hit Consoling farmers who lost Pawarsaid, “In 1993, thousands damagedcaused,prepareamem- firm employee areas of Osmanabad and Latur their entirestanding crop in two of liveswerelostinthese areas orandum and then approachthe districts. talukas of Tuljapur and Lohara, following an earthquake. People Centre. Theyhavenothing ready Police charge suspects with rape held forcheating Arriving around 10 am at Pawarsaid, “The floods have hit herebattledsevereodds to re- with them and aretrying to place Tuljapur in Osmanabad district farmers notonlyinOsmanabad build their lives. Iamconfident the demand.” customers, in Marathwada area on aheli- district but in severalparts of theywill overcome this situa- Pravin Darekar,Opposition in Jalgaon siblings murder case copter, Pawarwastednotime Maharashtrathe situation is tion,” he said. leader in StateLegislative stealing money in visiting flood-ravaged farms similar.Iwill pursue the issue to Aggrievedfarmers urged Council, said, “Instead of hold- (POCSO) Acttothe FIR afterin- boys aged 11 and eight years — in ahandful of villages and in- gethelp forfarmers as early as him to ensuretheyget the com- ing panchanamas, the stategov- EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE vestigation and inquiries re- were killedwith an axebyun- teracting with farmers. After possible. In viewofthe enormity pensation as early as possible. ernment should immediately MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 vealedsexual assault,” said known persons on Thursday SAGARRAJPUT reviewing the situation in the of the damage, the stategovern- “WeneedatleastRs25,000 extend financial help to the Pravin Mundhe, Superintendent night in Ravertaluka, hours after MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 district, Pawarsaid the heavy ment alone will notbeable to compensation immediatelyto farmers. When ShivSena was THE POLICE have addedcharges of Police, Jalgaon. their parentsand older brother rain has wreaked havocinthe shoulder the burden. We will carry out rabi sowing. If the gov- with BJP in government, of rape and sexual assault to their ASpecialInvestigation Team had leftfor their native villagein A25-YEAR-OLD employeeofan fields and the farmers needed needhelp from the central gov- ernment is going to conduct UddhavThackeray usedto FIR againstunnamedsuspects probingthe crimehad detained Madhya Pradesh to attend the e-commerce companywas ar- long-term help. ernment. Iwillleadadelegation panchanamas of the damaged makesimilar demands. Nowhe afterfour siblings were found three people, including aminor, funeral of afamilymember. rested Saturdaybythe “Farmers have been hit of MPs to meetthe Prime farms, it will take at leastsix should act immediatelyrather murdered in their home in on Friday. The family, who belongs to Maharashtracyber police foral- badlybythe heavy rain. The Ministertodiscuss the issue... months... it will be difficult for than waiting forpanchamanas.” Jalgaon on Friday. Mundhe said that no arrests the Bhil tribe, had movedtothe legedly siphoningoffmoneyfrom damagecannotbecompen- The Prime Ministerhas already us to survive if compensation is In Nanded, stateminister “WehaveaddedSection 376 had been made. “Weare still villagefromMadhya Pradesh customers’accounts.Alocalcourt sated in aday.Thereisneedfor expressedthe viewthat floods notgiven immediately,”a VijayWadettiwar facedprotest- of the Indian Penal Code and sec- awaitingvariousreports,”hesaid. eight years agoand had been Sundayremandedhim in police long-term help. However, the have causedheavy damagein farmer said. Severalother farm- ing farmers who blockedhis tions of the Protection of The deceased—two girls staying on and cultivating their custodytillOctober21,policesaid. stategovernment hasits limi- Maharashtra...,” he said. ers echoedthe view. convoy and raisedslogans. Children from Sexual Offences aged 12 and three years and two landlord’s banana farm. The accused, Mohammed Munna Ansari, worked as afield sales executive of an e-commerce Appointing Governor as ‘BANKS SHOULD BE ALIVE TO PROBLEMS OF AGRICULTURISTS’ company, police said. He would Confident Eknath Khadse obtain the passwords of cus- HC asks banks to disburse crop loans, tomers on the pretextofhelping political agent, destabilising will remain with BJP: Patil them and later transfer money from their account,theyadded. state govt does not suit refund Rs 5-crore interest to farmers The statecyber police started EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE an investigation in the matter af- the farmers paid interestac- MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 teramilk shop owner,Rajesh agood ruler, says Raut OMKARGOKHALE The order comes as a cruedafter October 1lastyear on Patel, approachedthem with a MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 major relief to nearly previous loans. He said the re- THERE WASintense speculation complaint. “On August20and 21, lease of crop loans to nearly one on SundayoverdisgruntledBJP Rs 35,999 wassiphonedoff from EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE THE AURANGABADbenchofthe one lakh farmers lakh beneficiaries were stalled. leader Eknath Khadse’s decision his Paytm walletafter whichhe MUMBAI,OCTOBER18 BombayHigh Courthas directed affected by the vagaries Afterhearing submissions, to cut offties with the party. had filedanapplication with the SanjayRaut bankstoimmediatelydisburse the benchobserved,“The year Media reports and Khadse’s in- Chandrakant Patil e-commerce companyofficials SHIV SENAMPSanjayRauton crop loan to the farmers eligible of weather lastyear 2020 is atumultuous year.The teraction with NCPleaders, in- requesting them to refund the Sundaysaid the policy of “ap- under the Mahatma Jyotirao who arestill deprived entirecountryisaffected by the cluding Home MinisterAnil amount. Simultaneously, he pointing agovernor as apolitical warofwords over the reopening Phule Karjmukti Yojana without of the benefit of fresh pandemic of Covid-19. Deshmukh in Jalgaon lastweek, tested from Muktainagar,which lodged acomplaint at agent in non-BJP states and of theplacesof worshipinthestate insisting forpayment of interest Fortunately, this year the state forced stateBJP president he had represented in the past. cyber.crime.gov.in on August destabilising the government” with Koshyari asking Thackeray on thepastloan that waswaived crop loan forthe witnessedtimelyrains and it is Chandrakant Patil to makea Rohini lostthe elections. 30,” an officer said. does notsuit agood ruler. whether he has “turnedsecular”. by the stategovernment from ongoing kharif season necessarythat the agriculturists statement that he washopeful In the recent past, Khadse Even as the statecyber police Raut, in his column Rokhthok The Sena MP said that the October 1lastyear.The courtfur- getfinancial assistance forthe that the senior leader would not had targeted former chief min- were probing the matter,an- in Saamana,wrote that the BJP governor versus stategovern- ther said if bankshavealready re- kharif sowing season.” leave the party. isterand BJP MLADevendra other Rs 14,449got debited from does notlikethe Maha Vikas ment fight wasalso going on in coveredthe amount towardsthe giventothe eligible farmers. It added, “Wehope and trust “I am confident that Eknath Fadnavis, accusing him forruin- his e-commerce application’s Aghadi government and sees all West Bengal. “Despitethe efforts interest, the same should be im- In Januarythis year,the state that the bankswould be alive to Khadse, who is our senior leader, ing his political career.Hehad ac- wallet, police added. the government’s decisions as of the Maharashtragovernor,the mediatelyreimbursedtofarmers. hadrolledoutitsflagshipscheme the problems of agriculturists. will remain with the BJP.Anyone cusedFadnavis of plotting Later,when the complainant “anti-national”. Thackeray government is sta- Theordercomesasamajorre- —writing offarrears up to Rs 2 The precarious condition of resigning from the party sends againsthim, as he wasa“strong checkedhis email, he came across “Basically, theDelhileadership ble,” he added. lief to nearly one lakh farmers af- lakh forloans availedbetween farmers has been considered by his resignation to me, as Iamthe contender to be the firstOBC CM amail from the e-commerce firm shouldkeepinmindthatforming Raut said that temples suchas fected by the vagaries of weather April 2015 and March 2019.The the stategovernment in theloan president of the party in the candidate” of BJP. alerting him about asuspicious anon-BJPgovernmentinastate is Somnath and Akshardham in lastyear who arestill deprivedof statehad come up with the waiver scheme. Though the loan state. Ihavenot receivedthe res- An unhappyKhadse has been login on his account from an un- notagainstthe Constitution. But, Gujarat were closed. “But as tem- the benefit of fresh crop loan for scheme afteritnoticedthat be- is waived,the beneficiaries can- ignation of anysenior or junior expressing his disappointment in known device. “As he informed in the states ruledbyopposition plesareclosedinMaharashtra,the the ongoing kharif season. tween 2015 to 2019,adrought- notbedeprivedofthe crop loan leader,” he told mediapersons. public. He had also indicatedthat us about the email, we figured parties, the policy of appointing a governorwroteamischievouslet- Adivision benchofJustices S likesituation prevailedthrough- forthe kharif season 2020 on “Moreover, Iamconfident he had receivedoffers to join rul- that someone, who wasaware of governor as apolitical agent and tertotheChief Minister,”hewrote. VGangapurwala and Shrikant D out Maharashtrawhile some technical ground.” that Eknath Khadse will notdo ing ShivSena, NCPand Congress. his password, had siphonedoff destabilising the stategovern- “An Emergency-likepolicy is be- Kulkarni on October 9passeda placeswitnessedunseasonalrains The courtalso directed the anysuchthing,” he added. Lastweek,hedid notattend a the moneyfromhis account. On ment through the governor’s ing implemented to rule single- rulingonpublicinterestlitigation leaving agriculturists in losses. banksnot onlytodisburse loans Khadse has been disgruntled function in Jalgaon in which the basis of the beneficiaries ac- shoulder does notsuit agood handedly,”the column read. (PIL)filedbyRTI activistand agri- AdvocateTalekar submitted to remaining beneficiaries under with the BJP afterhewas forced Fadnavis waspresent but took out count, Ansari waszeroeddown ruler,” wroteRaut. “It (BJP) wantspowerinany culturistKishoreTangade, filed that despitethe stategovern- the scheme at the earliestbut to resign as aministerin2016on time to meetDeshmukh. and he wasbrought in forinter- Earlierthisweek,Maharashtra case and it could go to anylevel throughadvocateSatishBTalekar, ment’s directions, the banks also to refund the interest, to the corruption charges. He wassub- Khadse, however, told medi- rogation,” another officer said. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari forit. Use CBI, Income Tax, ED whosoughtfromthebanksnot to were holding the farmers to ran- tune of Rs 5crore,collected by sequentlydeniedaticket in the apersons on Sunday: “I have not During the course of the in- and Chief MinisterUddhav (for it). This is worse than Russia charge interestfromOctober1last som by telling them that new them immediatelytofarmers 2019 Assemblyelections. His resignedfromBJP.” He refusedto quiry, the police found that the Thackeray were engagedinabitter and China,” he added. year till the actual benefit was loans would be releasedonlyif and disposedofthe PIL. daughter Rohini Khadse con- divulgehis futureplans. accusedhad dupedfiveother users of the e-commerce appli- cation, besides Patel, using a Low occupancy in Pune-Lonavala similar modus operandi. The in- Heavy rain forecast for Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra vestigators said theysuspect local trains aworry for rly admn that the accusedmay have experiencing moderatetostrong near monsoon seasonal rainfall stolen the passwordofmore EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE As on Sunday, monsoon winds from over of 200-400mmwithin justthree the Pune-Daund DEMU services people and transferredmoney PUNE,OCTOBER18 the monsoon Arabian Sea, he added. days in the lastweek.These EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE foressential workers due to this. from their accounts. continuedto “The above normal tempera- places include Panhala (437mm), PUNE,OCTOBER18 Officials said passenger re- “Wehaveseizedhis mobile HEAVY RAIN,accompaniedby persistwith tures recordedduring the day Indapur (246mm), Baramati sponse forthe Pune-Lonavala phonewhichwillhelpusinascer- thunder and lightning, has been moderateto will add aheat load intothe at- (235mm), Mahabaleshwar WHILE THE Central Railway service has been dampsince the taininghowmanycustomersmay forecastduring afternoon hours strong mosphere, whichwill then inter- (204mm), Pandharpur (282mm) (CR) resumedthe Pune- dayservices resumed. “On have been dupedbyAnsari,” an over Pune and other parts of intensity over act with the moistconditions,” and Paithan (80mm). Lonavala local train services — October 12,when we resumed, officersaid.Ansarihasalsonamed Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan west-central Kashyapi said. “As aresults, cu- Due to these consecutive in alimited manner with two the cumulative occupancy for aformer employeeofthe e-com- and Marathwada, the India Arabian Sea mulonimbus clouds will develop, weather systems, the with- UP and twoDOWNservices — UP and DOWN services was merce companywho allegedly Meterological Department triggering convective activity – drawal of southwestmonsoon afterthe stategovernment’s go- 129,” one official said. “This has taught him the modus operandi. (IMD) said on Sunday. thunder and rain experienced remains stalledovercentral India ahead, lowoccupancy in the nowgone up to about 160pas- “Weare trying to locatethe man Sundayremainedcloudy, The IMD has forecastwide- sion, IMD, Pune. “Isolated heavy postafternoon hours.” formorethan tendays now. coaches has emergedasacause sengers. We arerunning 12 as Ansari has claimedtohave and fornearly twohours in the spread rain, particularly during rain is expected over mostparts Lastweek had remainedex- As on Sunday, the monsoon of worryfor the railway admin- coachrakes forthis service, with learnt the modus operandi from afternoon, parts of Pune district October 19-22, associated with of Maharashtra, except ceptionallywet forthe state, continuedtopersistwith mod- istration. Officials said that on acapacity of 1,200.” this person,” the officer added. adjoining the ghatsreported afresh weather system develop- Vidarbha, during the next three whichcausedmassive flooding eratetostrong intensity over average, the trains have been re- Guidelines issuedbythe The police have booked heavy rain. IMD’s Pashan obser- ing in the BayofBengal. days.The system will intensify and rivers overflowing above the west-central Arabian Sea. There porting 10 per cent occupancy, stategovernment on September Ansari under IPC sections 420 vatory recorded16mmofrain, “A low-pressuresystemis on October 20.” danger levels at manyplaces. is alsoaneast-westtroughthat and the service is proving to be 30 allowedlocal trains to resume (cheating) and 34 (common in- while Shivajinagar reported3 likelytoform in the BayofBengal As the system forms, there Over 25 people were killedin will run between east-central financiallyunviable. operations in Pune region, but tention) along with sections 43, mm between 8.30 am and 5.30 on Monday,”said Anupam would be moistureincursion Pune, Sangli and Solapur districts. BayofBengal and north The railway administration is handedthe responsibility of is- 66 and 66 (C) of the IT Act. pm on the day. Kashyapi, head, weather divi- over the state, whichisalready Some stations have recorded Karnataka this week. nowwaryofthe resumption of suing e-passes over to the police. WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 7 EXPRESS NETWORK

TRACKING INDIA’S COVID CURVE Ballia shooting main accused PunjabCabinet 230 CASES: RECOVERED:65,97,209 DAYSSINCE 74,94,551 DEATHS:1,14,031 PANDEMIC BEGAN TESTS: 9,42,24,190| DOUBLING RATE: 82.80** arrested in Lucknow: Police authorisesCM

Five others, who were not said, as he demandedstringent EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE namedinthe FIR, have also been punishment forthose guilty.The foranydecision LUCKNOW,OCTOBER18 arrested basedonevidence col- familyhas also demandedRs50 lected during the investigation. lakh assistance and agovern- THREE DAYS aftera45-year-old Three of the accusednamedin ment job. KEYSTATES TOTAL SURGEIN 7-DAYAVG DOUBLING farmer wasshotdead in pres- the FIR arestill absconding,” the Meanwhile, local BJP MLA onfarmlaws TOWATCH CASES 24HOURS GROWTH* TIME** ence of administrative and po- ADG added. SurendraSingh, who had backed lice officials at avillageinBallia Earlier,DIG (Azamgarh the main accused, saying that ■ Maharashtra 15,86,321 10,259 0.64% 113.16 during the allotment of aration Range) Subhash ChandraDubey Dhirendrafired in self-defence, ■ Karnataka 7,58,574 7,184 1.14% 63.25 shop, the Uttar Pradesh had announcedarewardofRs said that he has been calledto KANCHANVASDEV ■ Andhra 7,79,146 3,676 0.54% 134.27 Special Task Force(STF) on 50,000 on eachofthe accused Lucknowbythe BJP leadership. CHANDIGARH,OCTOBER18 Sundaysaid that theyhavear- namedinthe FIR. Police sources “I have been calledbythe party ■ Tamil Nadu 6,83,486 4,295 0.69% 104.36 rested the main accused said that the accused—sofar, leadership in Lucknowand not AHEAD OF atwo-dayspecial ■ Kerala 3,34,228 9,016 2.57% 28.03 DhirendraPratapSingh from booked under GangsterAct — summoned, as reportedbysome Assemblysession, beginning to- Lucknow. could be also chargedunder the news channels. Iwill hand over day, to discuss and counter the *Compounded Daily Growth Rate over last7days**Calculated over 7-daygrowth According to police sources, stringent National Security Act all documentspertaining to the three central farm laws,the CASEFATALITYRATIO POSITIVITYRATE DAILYIN,DAILYOUT Dhirendra, aclose of aide BJP Main accusedDhirendra (NSA). However, senior police case, whichare with me, to (UP Punjab CabinetSundayautho- MLASurendraSingh,was ar- Pratap Singh will be officials said that afinal decision BJP chief) SwatantraDev Singh, risedChief MinisterCapt Congress notdouble-faced: 7DAYSEARLIER: 7DAYSEARLIER: DETECTED TODAY rested from the Janeshwar presented before a on invoking NSAagainstthe ac- and brief him about the entire Amarinder Singh to take anyleg- Punjab CM ahead of special 1.54 8.12 61,871 MishraParkinthe stateCapital magistrateinBallia. PTI cusedisyet to be taken. matter,” PTI quoted the Bairia islative or legal decision he may Assemblysession NOW: NOW: RECOVERED TODAY: in the weehours of Sunday. The familymembers of the MLAassaying. deem fitwithout “caring forthe 1.52 7.95 72,614 With Dhirendra’s arrest,ato- Jai Prakash Pal, the deceases, The BJP legislator,known for consequences”. Deaths as aratio of Positives against Becoming sick vs talof10people, including Ballia wherehewill be pre- welcomedthe arrest of making controversial remarks, TheCabinetmeetingwasheld ernmentwasworkingonthisline positive cases (in %); number tested recovering; more Dhirendra’s twobrothers — sented before amagistrate,” said DhirendraPratapSingh. “His ar- had earlier accusedthe admin- afterameeting of the Congress while trying to ensurethat the indicator of progress (in %); indicator of recoveries for 14 days in averting deaths the spread of disease may signal the peak Devendraand Narendra–have ADG (Varanasi Range) Braj rest has come as arelief to us. But istration of actinginapartisan LegislatureParty (CLP) in which farmersfeelthattheCongressdis- been arrested forThursday’s in- Bhushan said. Dhirendraisa‘dabbang’ (strong- manner in the case and de- the MLAs unanimouslystressed pensation is on their side. Several DataasonOctober17,releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth,ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch,trendsbasedondailynumbersareindicative,notdefinitive cident. “Of the 10 people arrested so man). We fear forour security,” mandedCB-CID probe. the needtoreject the farm laws MLAsalsosuggestedthattheleg- “Dhirendrawill be brought to far, five were namedinthe FIR. the brother of Jai Prakash Pal -WITHPTIINPUTS even if Centre“dismisses” the islation should notallowany pri- stategovernment.Sources said vate trader to procurefarmers’ the during the twomeetings, produce at ratesbelowMSP and Naval version of BrahMos 3die as second Cabinetministers as well as the if anyone wascaught doing so, Sonia: Indian democracy passing MLAs,askedAmarindernottoshy theyshouldbeimprisonedforone wave of floods away fromanyconfrontationwith year and finedRs5lakh. test-fired successfully Centre. In the meetings, Congress through its most difficult phase hits Hyderabad “Amid total consensus leaders remindedAmarinder of among Punjab Congress MLAs the stand he took during his pre- SUSHANTKULKARNI cal againstthe legislation, claim- on the needtoreject the farm vious tenureonsharing water PUNE, OCTOBER 18 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE ‘Conspiracy ingthattheywill harm the inter- PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA laws outright and notimple- with neighbouring Haryana. “It NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 hatchedto estsof farmersandbenefitcorpo- HYDERABAD,OCTOBER18 ment them in the state, Chief wasduring his previous tenure ANAVAL version of the defeat the rates. The government has MinisterAmarinder Singh on that Punjab had annulledwater BrahMos supersonic cruise mis- IN Ascathing attackonthe gov- gains of the claimedthe newlawswould in- AFRESH spell of overnight heavy Sundaycalledfor afrontal attack sharing accords, creating history. sile wassuccessfullytest-fired ernment, Congress president green crease the income of farmers. raincausedfloodingonSundayin againstthe legislations, even as He (Amarinder) can do the same on Sundayfromthe Navy's in- SoniaGandhionSundaysaidthat revolution’ Onthegovernment’shandling partsof thecityandleftthreepeo- he wasauthorisedbyhis coun- (with the three central farm digenouslybuilt stealth de- Indian democracy waspassing of the pandemic, Sonia said that ple dead in separaterain-related cil of ministers to take anyleg- laws),” said aCongress leader, stroyer INS Chennai, hitting a throughits“mostdifficultphase”. the countrywas pushedintothe incidentsjustdays afteritwit- islative/legal decision he may adding that the government had target in the Arabian Sea, said Shewasaddressingameeting andsmallshopkeepersareunder “abyss”by “sheerineptitude”and nessedone of the worstdeluges deem fittoprotect the interests beenworkingontheleadgivenby the MinistryofDefence. Lastyear,DRDO, Air Force of AICC general secretaries and attack.Itisoursolemndutyto join “mismanagement”of thegovern- in recent times following un- of the farmers,” said agovern- AICCpresidentSoniaGandhito all The missile hit the target and BrahMos Aerospace state-in-chargespresidedoverby hands to defeat this sinistercon- ment. precedented downpour,police ment statement. party ruledstatesaskingthem to with pin-point accuracy after conducted twoseparate her.This wasthe firstmeeting of spiracy,” she said. “All this happenedaswewit- and civic officials said. Asource, privy to the develop- explorelegal provision under performing high-leveland ex- successful tests, one each Congress general secretaries and The Farmers’ Produce Trade nessedthebiggestunplannedand At leastthreepeopleincluding mentsinthe twomeetings, said, Article254(2)of theConstitution tremelycomplexmanoeuvres, from land, air platforms. File statein-chargesthat the party and Commerce (Promotion and cruel migration of crores of mi- twochildren diedinrain-related “Thenarrative wastofindaway to of India. The provision allows a the MoD said in itsofficial state- presidentchairedafteramajoror- Facilitation)Bill,2020,theFarmers grant labourers as the govern- incidentsoverthe past24hours, ensurethat twotypes of mandis statelaw to prevailoveraconflict- ment on Sunday. ganisationalreshufflelastmonth. (Empowerment and Protection) ment remainedamutespectator police and civicofficials said. (private and government) should ing central lawinsome circum- It also said the BrahMos as Sonia said the BJP-leddispen- Agreementof PriceAssuranceand to their miseries. Afive-year-old girldiedearly notexistinthe state. The Centre’s stances. the “prime strikeweapon” will BrahMos as sation has attackedthe founda- Farm Services Bill, 2020 and the The starktruth is that aPrime Sundayinawall collapse while a laws provide forsetting up of pri- TakingadigattheSAD,theCM ensurethe warship’s “invinci- a‘standoff tion of India’s agrarian economy Essential Commodities Ministerwho promisedtodefeat four-year-oldboydiedafterfalling vatemandis.Theministerswanted said the Congress wasnot “dou- bility” by engaging navalsur- E by bringingin“threeanti-agricul- (Amendment) Bill, 2020 were re- corona within 21 days has abdi- inapitataconstructionsitewhich the CM to ensurethat alegislation blefaced”andhadaclearstandon ● range weapon’ face targetsatlong rangeand EXPLAINED tureblacklaws”. centlypassedbyParliament. catedhisandhisgovernment’sre- wasfilledwith rain waterand a is brought through whichPunjab theissue.Hesaidcontrarytowhat makingthe destroyer alethal “A conspiracy has been Subsequently, President Ram sponsibilitytowardsthecitizens,” middle-aged man waselectro- refuses to allowany private man- the BJP and itsleaders had been platform. CRUISE MISSILES likethe hatchedtodefeat the gains of the NathKovindgave hisassentto the she said. cuted on Saturdayevening, they distobeset up in state.” claiming, Punjab wasnever con- While versions of the mis- BrahMos areatype of system green revolution. Livesand liveli- Bills. Thereisneither aplan nor said even as the Metoffice fore- Thesourceaddedthatthegov- sulted on farm legislations. sile have been in India’s arsenal known as “standoffrange hoodsofcroresoffarmlabourers, The Opposition ledbythe strategic thinking, solution or a cast morerains till October 21. forlong, the weapon system is weapons”, whichare fired leaseholdfarmers,smallandmar- Congress,alongwithmanyfarm- wayaheadinthefightagainstthe The latestspell of rain since continuouslyupgradedand up- from arangesufficient to al- ginal farmers, toiling labourers ers’ organisations, have been vo- pandemic,she said. Saturdayeveningledtolakesand dated with newhardwareand lowthe attackertoevade de- other waterbodies overflowing UP govt will act against softwaresystems. These up- fensive fire from the adver- with waterinundating several grades necessitateperiodic sary. These weapons arein low-lyingareas,includingpartsof those who are threat to tests. Scientists from the the arsenal of mostmajor Nath refers to BJP nominee the city affected lastweek,here Defence Research and militaries in the world. and on the outskirts,theysaid. Development Organisation BrahMos Aerospace wasset Atotalof 37,409familieswere women security: CM (DRDO) said in everysuchtest up in 1998 with the aim to as ‘item’, BJP complains to EC affected in various localities and of aspecific variant of the build suchmissiles. ration kitsand blanketswerebe- BrahMos, different parameters aseat reserved forSCcandidates. ingdistributedamongthem,are- MAULSHREESETH were examined. Foreachtest, IRAMSIDDIQUE Soon afterNath made the re- lease from Greater Hyderabad LUCKNOW,OCTOBER18 additional hardwareand soft- Singh congratulated DRDO, BHOPAL,OCTOBER18 mark, the BJP approachedthe Municipal Corporation said. Yogi ware systems were examined BrahMos and the Navy forthe Election Commission, calling the DisasterResponse Forceper- FACINGHEAToverincidentsof Adityanath basedoninputsfromthe user, successful launch. Dr G AMID THE campaigning forthe remarkaninsult to women as sonnel,staffoftheGHMCandpo- crimes againstwomen in the and againstmorecomplextar- Satheesh Reddy,chairperson of bypolls to 28 Assemblyseatsin well as the SC community. lice swung intoaction since state, Uttar Pradesh Chief gets under different atmos- DRDO, congratulated scientists Madhya Pradesh, stateCongress Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Saturdaynight itself, evacuating MinisterYogi Adityanath on tedondaughters of the village pheric conditions, theyadded. and all the personnel of DRDO, chief Kamal Nath on Sundaytrig- Chouhan calledNath’s comment the marooned. Sundaysaid that his government within the village? This question Scientists also said test re- BrahMos, Navy and the indus- geredafurorebyreferring to BJP on Imarti Devi an insult of a Meanwhile, bodies of two will soon launchaspecial drive poses achallengetoour society, sultsand observations were try. He said the BrahMos missile leader Imarti Devi as an “item”. daughter and sisterofthe peopleincludingaseven-year-old to take “legal action againstall and everyone has to acceptthis crucial inputsnot justfor cali- will add to the capabilities of The ruling BJP has lodged a Gwalior-Chambal region. boyand a32-year-old man, who those who areathreat to challenge),” Adityanath said. brating the system but also for the ArmedForces in many complaint with the Election Kamal Nath at arallyin Speaking at agathering at were washedawayinwomen’s security or those in- Appreciating the effortsofa advancement and upgrade. The ways. Commission over Nath’s remark, Gwalior district. PTI Gwalior region, he said, “Imarti Gaganpahad and in Sangareddy dulging in corruption in welfare gram pradhan from Barabanki present supersonic version Commissionedin2016, the saying that it insulted the Devi has her rootsinGwalior and districtfollowingheavyrainwere schemes forwomen”. district who told the CM that a could reachaspeedof2.8 times indigenouslydesignedKolkata- woman leader.The Congress Chambal and belongs to a foundSunday, aseniorpoliceoffi- During awebinar on women special meeting is held every that of sound (2.8 Mach) and hit class stealth-guidedmissile de- has, meanwhile, said Nath did item hai... kyaitemhai,” said Nath. Scheduledcaste.She has worked cial said. The man waswashed security and empowerment, the week in her villagewheremen atargetatthe rangeofaround stroyer,the INS Chennai is de- notname the BJP leader. “Suresh Raje and Iwill work hardand risen from being a away inflashfloodsonOctober13 Chief Ministersaid society needs aresensitisedabout women’s is- 450 km, and ahypersonic ver- signedtocarry the BrahMos Addressing agathering in together forthe development of labourer to an MLAand then a anddifferentteamswere engaged to acceptthe challengeofsafety sues, Adityanath said that such sion of the missile, capable of surface-to-surface missile sys- DabrainsupportofCongress Gwalior-Chambal region, we minister. Who gave youthe right to locatehim. Afterafive-dayop- of women. “Earlier,thereusedto movesshould be encouraged. reaching aspeedof5Machwas tem, thus giving the ship the ca- candidateSuresh Raje, the for- will work forthe youth of this re- to insult aperson coming from a eration, the car wasfound under beno suchincidentsastherewas He calledfor installing CCTV being developed. pability to strikeatshore-based mer CM said Raje is asimple gion and chalk out anew policy humble background?” Out of the siltalongwiththeman'sbody,the abelief in the villagethat ‘gaon ki cameras and playing bhajans Defence MinisterRajnath and navalsurface targets. man who will carry out develop- forthe farmers,” he said. 28 seatsgoing to bypolls, 16 arein official said. beti, sabki beti’(adaughter of the and patriotic songs everymorn- ment work “unlikeher…”. Imarti Devi, statecabinet the Gwalior-Chambal region. At Hayathnagarhere,somelo- villageiseveryone’s daughter). ing and evening on public ad- “Ye unke jaise nahi hai… kya ministerfor Women and Child Congress spokesperson calresidents,confrontedlocalTRS Aajhum log kahan ja rahe hain? dress systems in the villages. Bainsla, 33 Human Dignity hai uska naam”(He is notlikeher, Development, wasone of the 22 NarendraSalujaclaimedthatNath corporator Tirumal Reddy when Kyun gaon ki beti ke sathgaon mein The Education Department what is her name),” Nath asked MLAs who resignedinMarch, has nottaken Imarti Devi’s name hevisitedaffectedareas,accusing hi atyachar ho raha hai... yeh has been told to startapro- others booked Day: Pandurang the crowdwhichrespondedby bringing down the Kamal Nath- in anyofthe speeches he made. him of neglecting their com- prashna ek sabhya samaj ke gramme to link “shiksha”(edu- ShastriAthavale’s saying BJP candidateImarti Devi’s ledgovernment in Madhya “He said ‘kyaitemhai ye’and did plaintsoverencroachment of a saamne ek challengehai aur is chu- cation) with “sanskar”(good cul- for Covid name. “You knowher better than Pradesh. She subsequently nottakeImarti Devi’s name. It is drain. Theysaid the blockagere- nautikohum sabkosweekarkarna ture) as partofthe Mission norms violation birth centenary to Ido, youpeople should have joinedthe BJP and is nowaparty theBJPwhoisaddingImartiDevi’s sulted in waterentering their hoga (Whereare we going today? Shakti campaign that was be observed today warnedmebeforehand... ye kya candidatefor the bypoll in Dabra, name and insulting her,” he said. houses. Whyatrocitiesarebeing commit- launchedonSaturday, he said.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE JAIPUR,OCTOBER18 EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE Territory row snowballs into violence at Mizo-Assam border NEWDELHI,OCTOBER18 ADAY afterthe Gujjar maha- Four injured in clashes, Centretohold video meeting with Chief Secystoday, Assam CM dials PMO and Mizoram counterpart panchayatinBayana in FOLLOWERS OF Swadhyay Rajasthan’s Bharatpur,the Movement will observe putebetween residentsofthe Indian Express. He said the vio- In Assam, Cachar Rajasthan Police have booked October 19 as Human Dignity ABHISHEKSAHA twostatesthis month. Saturday's lence brokeout aftersome peo- Superintendent of Police BL community leader Kirori Singh Dayinmemoryofspiritual GUWAHATI,OCTOBER18 violence brokeout between res- ple from Lailapur startedpelting Meena told The Indian Express, Bainsla and 33 others fornot leaderand socialreformer identsofLailapur villagein stones at Mizoram police per- “Thereistension right now—but taking prior permission from Pandurang Shastri Athavale. AT LEASTfour people were in- Assam's Cachar district and resi- sonnel deployednear the border things areunder control. One per- the district administration for This year,followers of the jured and severaltemporary dentsoflocalities near Vairengte and residentsinthe area. son has been injured on Assam the large gathering amid the Swadhyay Movement, which shops and hutswereburnt down in Mizoram's Kolasib district. “In turn, Mizoram residents side. Therehas been no casualty pandemic. Athavale, also known as Dadaji, in aterritorydisputebetween res- On Sunday, the Mizoram mobilisedand went afterthem. —but fake news is circulating The FIR lodged at Bayana po- foundedand the Swadhyay identsofborder districtsinAssam Cabinetheldanemergencymeet- Thereisnoclear line indicating about it on social media.” lice station states that about Parivarorganisation will observe and Mizoram on Saturday ing over the issue. Chief minister the Assam-Mizoram border in Assam ADGP (Law&Order) 2,500-3,000 people had gath- his birth centenary. evening, officials said. Theyadded Zoramthangatweeted,“Isincerely some areas. According to an GP Singh told The Indian Express, ered forthe mahapanchayat The social reformer was that both states had approached requesteveryone to maintain agreement between govern- “The issue has been takenup over their six demands related awardedthe Ramon Magsaysay the Centreregarding the issue. peace and to kindlynot bypass Security personnel and officials at the site. Twitter/Zoramthanga mentsofAssam and Mizoram with the Government of India. to reservation. Awardfor Community Apress statement by anyadministrative proceedings.” some years ago, status quoshould Hopefully, it should be settled It states that the organisers Leadership in 1996, the Mizoram Home Department Assam Chief Minister be maintainedinnoman’s land soon. Special DGP (Border) has neither took permission, nor TempletonPrize forProgress in said avideo conference will be Sarbananda SonowalSundayap- Mizoram counterpart According to Kolasib Deputy in the border area. However, peo- been advisedtovisit the affected providedany undertaking or re- Religion in 1997 and India’s sec- held on Mondaybetween the prisedthe Prime Minister's Zoramthangaand discussedthe Commissioner HLalthangliana, ple from Lailapur brokethe sta- area.” questwith the District Collector. ond highestcivilian honour,the Union Home Secretaryand Chief Office and Union Home Ministry issue. He said in astatement that three people were injured in the tus quoand allegedly constructed On October 9, asimilar scuf- It further states that onlyupto Padma Vibhushan, in 1999. Secretaries of Assam and about the prevailing situation at theremay be differences but that violence. “One of them is critical some temporaryhuts. People fle had broken out on the border 100people areallowedtogather The Human Dignity Daywas Mizoram. the border.Sonowalalso spoke these mustbesettledthrough andisunder treatmentatahos- from Mizoram side went and set of Karimganj (Assam)and aftertaking permission. firstcelebrated in 1990. This is the second suchdis- over the phone with his dialogue. pital,” Lalthangliana told The fire on them,” he said. Mamit (Mizoram) districts. THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 2020 8 DECISION BIHAR

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

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

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

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 @ieExplained #ExpressExplained 9 If thereare questions of current or contemporaryrelevancethat youwould like E EXPLAINED explained, please [email protected]

EXPLAINED GLOBAL Trump vs Biden:how it affects the world

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

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

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 WORDLY WISE Thegovernment onlygives subsidies for nitrogenous fertilisers. With the result, farmers 10 THE EDITORIAL PAGE do not applybalanced fertilisers. —MSSWA MINATHAN Hathrasand truth machine

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

A BEGINNING Jinee Lokaneeta Elected district development councils mustbeafirststepin

kickstarting political process in J&K —not asubstitutefor it THE BRUTAL KILLINGand alleged gangrape coanalysis, lie detectors and brain scans and since it stands in forthe voice of science and of a19-year-oldDalit woman in Hathras, made evidence as aresult of the techniques theexpertclaimed by thegovernment to HE AMENDMENTS TO theJammu&Kashmir Panchayati RajAct to facili- Uttar Pradesh, has renewedattention on inadmissible. The Courtstoppedshortof proclaim truth even as thetechnique is re- tate direct electionstothe second tier of local government,the district de- hownarcoanalysis remains central to polic- striking them down as inherentlyunaccept- jected by the scientific community. velopment council, areevidentlyintendedtokickstart the political process ing in India. Widespread outrageerupted as ableunderthe right againstself-incrimina- The discussion on narco oftentends to re- in the Union Territory, infuse some guidedpolitical energy intothe post- the policeinitiallyconsidered it acase of tion (Article 20 (3))and right to lifeand lib- inforce the legitimacy of techniques that co- murder and later sought to denythe rape. erty (Article 21)ofthe Indian Constitution. erce information from the bodies of the per- TAugust5,2019environment,especially in the Valley, andpavethe wayfor The Uttar Pradesh government announced The lackofadecisive rejection of narco- sons, sometimes in conjunction with torture all those desirous of findingapoliticalfootholdin“naya”Kashmir.With the holding of on October 2its intent to use narcoanalysis analysis that medical ethics scholar Amar or through aprocess of hypnotic suggestions. Assemblyelections tiedtothe contentious delimitation exercise, and giventhat partici- on the victim’s family, theaccused and neg- Jesani calls pharmacologicaltorturehas al- These testsare by themselvescoercive and pation is uncertain with regional political parties firm on the demand forareturn to state- ligent stateofficials. Narcoanalysis is the use lowedthe spectreofthis technique to haunt oftenusedtoget confessions/information in hood and special status, election to theDDCs will be afirsttestofhow deepthe waters of adrug —sodium pentothal —onaperson different sites of policing in India, in turn the investigative process itself and, likephys- reallyrun. The Centremay calculatethat getting enough people to contestthe DDC elec- to ostensiblyinduce truthwith the help of encouragingcoercedinformation or invol- ical torture, areunreliable. Thus, eachtime tions would help weaken the Gupkar narrative,whichinits thirdreiteration lastweek, forensicpsychologists.The lackofvalidity untary confessions. narcoanalysis is mentionedinahigh-profile and reliabilityofnarcoanalysis is well known, Narcoanalysis (alongside brain scans case, it reactivatesatendency of Indian polic- following the release of PDP chairperson Mehbooba Mufti, resulted in the coming to- though rarely acknowledged. and lie detectors, that Iterm “truth ma- ing to preciselyhighlight techniques that gether of the regional parties as aPeople'sAlliance. The recentlycreated Apni Party, hacked The notificationofthis desiretouse nar- chines” in my book) is represented oftenas forcethe bodytobetrayitself. The popular out from the PDP,has been itching forarole. coanalysis despitedisavowalbythe scien- ascientific solution to policetorture. campaign to challengethe trial courtverdict Individualsinthe mainstream regional parties, especiallythose overlooked fornom- tific community is notjustabout the tech- Reportsofcustodial violence in in the Aarushi-Hemraj case had similarly inations in previous Assemblyelections, mayalsosee the DDCs as acareer opportunity. nique itself. It is symptomatic of the Maharashtra resultedinsenior police offi- highlighted the narco resultsofHemraj’s The BJP is waiting in the wings, too. Earlier,the DDC wasfilledthrough nominations. The investigative practices of Indian policing. cers sending out amemourging the use of friends as away to strengthen their argu- Narcoanalysis functions to createapublic truth machines. The Delhi High Courthas ments, therebycontributing to the relegit- rationalebehind holding direct elections to 14 DDC constituencies in eachdistrict is that spectacle of “truth claiming” in the garb of recentlyasked the Delhi Governmentabout imising of these techniques. being chosen through ademocratic exercise might give candidates and the DDCs ameas- science, therebyreinforcing the role that co- the lackofnarco test facilityinthe capital The Hathras case, in highlighting narco- ureofcredibility.The initial responses of the NC and PDP have predictablynot been ercedconfessions playinmedia trials and and the suspects aretaken to Ahmedabad analysis, remindsushow confessions/infor- favourable.PDP leader Naeem Akhtar,for instance, has said the move is aimedatdepoliti- the legal system. In the Hathras case, it fur- Asking the victim’sfamily to fornarcoanalysis. Recently, theAam Aadmi mation areoften apartofamedia trial, and cisation by cutting up the UT into“district assemblies”, and to reduceKashmiri political ther victimises the Dalit woman’s familyby undergonarcoanalysis in a PartyGovernment has promisedthe High techniques that enablethe bodytoforcibly aspiration to thesolving of district levelwater-electricity-road problems. publiclycontesting their version. context where Dalit victims Court that arrangementshavebeen made betray itself areviolative of human dignity Popularisedinthe US in the 1920-30s by to setupthisnarco facility,asifitisastate and should bedisallowed. Asking the victim’s Forthe DDC elections to achieve the Centre's manyobjectives, the entireexercise will are often disbelieved is Dr Robert House,the US criminal justice sys- of the arttechnique rather than acoercive familytoundergo narcoanalysis in acontext needtobesubstantiallydifferentfromhowthe2018 panchayatelectionswentdown.Inthat temhad abrief fascination with narcoanaly- primarily meant to contest and unreliablemedico-legalone. where Dalit victims areoften disbelievedis election,candidateswere tooashamedto admittheywerecontesting,andcouldnotappear sis. It wasrejected by theCIA afterexperi- or proclaim their narratives By mentioning the use of narcoanalysis primarilymeant to contestorproclaimtheir in publicbecause theyfeared fortheirlives.Those who won, some of them because they mentsinthe 1950s, and it continues to make publicly as alie — on the accused,the victim’s familyand the narrativespubliclyasalie —victimising them were the onlycontestantsintheirhalqas, did notsurface formonthsafterwards. In many rare appearances. The Indian fascination victimising them once again. police/officials, the UP Government is invit- once again.Saying that police/officials areto panchayat halqas there were no candidates and the elections couldnot be held. In the DDC with narcoanalysis beganinthe late1980s ingapublic/media trial whichutilises sci- besubject to thesame technique is reflective Saying that police/officials elections,theNC andPDPwillneedtoconsidertheopportunitycostsof aboycottevenasthey in Ahmedabad, appearedincomplaints to ence in itspopular constructionand will in- of adesiretorestrict thenegligencetoafew the National HumanRightsCommission evitably favour thosewho aredominant in badapples—as opposed to the recognition weigh it againstthe price of participation.Theydonot have an easy choice, but theywould are to be subjecttothe same about lie detectors being usedalongside a technique is reflective of a society.AsDalit feminists have noted, pro- of asystemic injustice, making justice in this do better to engagewiththe political process,evenastheyoppose, argue and debate. The drug in the 1990s, but gainedprominence in visionsofthe Prevention of Atrocities Act case even moreelusive. Centre,too,shouldbeawareofthelimitationsof abonsaidemocracyinJ&K.SriLankaisacauti- the 2000s. Almostall major cases involved desire to restrictthe have to be centralinthe Hathrascase onaryexample of howanelected body withnopowers excepttolay roads and repair the itsuse, including the Aarushi-Hemraj mur- negligence to afew bad against theuppercaste men involvedinthe The writer is Professor in Political Science & drains is notananswer to thepolitical aspirationsthat lie behindthe demand forgreater au- ders in 2008, Mumbai blastcase in 2006, apples —asopposed to the alleged gang rape and thosestate officials International Relations at Drew University. tonomy. Therestoration of statehood to J&K has to be prioritised,and Assemblyelections. Telgi scam case, and Nithari 2005-2006,with recognition of asystemic whowerenegligent in their duty.Whilea She is author of The Truth Machines: videos oftenleaked as “truth”. media trialisalready visible, and medico- Policing, Violence and Scientific In 2010 theIndian SupremeCourtruled injustice,making justice in legal evidence of rape is already subjectto Interrogations in India (UnivofMichigan that consentwas required forthe use of nar- this case even more elusive. manipulation,mention of narco is notable Press, Orient Blackswan, 2020) TINKERING AT MARGINS

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

OCTOBER 19,1980, FORTY YEARS AGO

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 WHATTHE OTHERSSAY “Wewill be existing alongside this lethal virus formanymonths to come; the need fornational unityinthe face of its immense social, financial and health 11 THE IDEAS PAGE challenges has never been greater.” —THE OBSERVER How to Make You Wear aMask Socialism &

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

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

rapid outburstofthe pandemicbut wasable to contain deaths very quickly. Till date, Germanyreported atotal of 2,47,000 cases Soumya Kanti Ghosh with adeath rate of 108per million cases. Germany’s total expenditureonhealth is about 11 per cent of itsGDP and this is about THERE IS Adirect linkagebetween the RBI one per cent morethanthe averagespent governor’s statement on October 9and the by other countries of the European Union NobelPrize in economics that wasawarded on health.Portugal, whichhas had acoali- to Robert Wilson and Paul Milgrom on Shah Alam Khan tion left-winggovernment forthe lastfew October 12.The statement by the governor years, has containedthe pandemic well. Its that yield curvecontrol and financial mar- democratically-plannedlockdownwas ketstability arepublic goods is astark re- APLEA HAS been filedbeforethe Supreme easedoff earlier than manyother European minder of the treatment of the same in Court, seekingto remove the words“social- countries. It had atotal of around 58,000 game theory, wheredefection among in- ist” and“secular” from the Preamble of the cases with 1,827deaths. This wasinstark dividuals/marketplayers is random, often Constitution.But despite apersistent ero- contrasttonext-door neighbour Spain, resulting in leastpayoffs.Interestingly, sionoverthe lastcouple of decades, both whichwas devastated by the virus causing Wilson and Milgrom arealso proponents principles were central to thetype of repub- 4,80,000cases and 29,194deaths. Portugal’s of game theory. It is an ironythat the ap- lic our political forefathers had imagined. total expenditureonhealth is 9.5 per cent of plication of game theoryinmacroeconom- With the embrace of neoliberal policies in itsGDP.Yet another European nation which ics in India is minimaland, thus, it is always the Nineties, socialismwas pushedaside. has done well in tackling the pandemic is amatter of great elation wheneverwecan With the ongoing pandemic,however, so- Iceland, with atotal of 2,121cases and 10 find alink. cialism has become relevant notonlyfor deaths. Interestingly,Icelanders voted fora First, alittle titbit from this year’s Nobel India but also the world. As the worldgrap- majority left-wing government in the gen- prize awardineconomics. This is, perhaps, ples to find avaccine forCOVID-19, acloser eral elections in 2017. the fourthinstance of astudent and teacher inspection of thebackwash of the pandemic Even amongthe Latin American coun- getting the awardinthe same year.The first reveals that socialistideals have turnedout tries, those who spend moreonhealth have instance wasin2004, whenFinn Kydland to be alife-saver. This needsfurther corrob- performedbetterthan those who arepru- and EdwardPrescott were chosen forthe oration and evaluation. dent in spending on people-centric pro- honour.RobertWilson,besides being the In the neoliberal world, hardlyany grammes. Argentina is aclassic example. winner of the economics Nobelthis year,has countrycan be bracketedasapurelyso- With 40,000 COVID-19cases and 8,00 three Nobel-winning PhD students—Alvin cialistnation. Countries which provide so- deaths, it has faredfar better than mostof E. Roth, Bengt Holmstrom and Paul Milgrom. cialisedmedicineare the ones whichhave itsneighbours. The countryisruledbythe In economic parlance, public goods are evolvedthe model of whatiscalledawel- Peronists,who subscribetomoreleftist definedasnon-excludable andnon-rival- CRSasikumar fare state—the closestcousin of yester- economic policies.Argentina’spopulation rous in nature, suchaslaw enforcement. year’s socialiststate. is comparable in manyrespectstoits Thereisplenty of literatureonthe use of whichoccurs when neither of the agentscan 2017-18, the spread between the overnight The COVID-19pandemic has exposed neighbouring Brazil, whichhas aright- public good in financialmarkets—if agents increase theirpayoffbyunilaterallychang- repo rate and the 10-year G-Sec yield had the vulnerability of governments, health- wing government and hasbeen devastated cooperatewell, all players have the opportu- ingtheir actions. Thus thereare four options increasedto169 basispoints in February. Till caremodelsandpoliticalideologies.Itis thus by the virus, with3.96 million cases and nity to benefit;ifagentsworkinisolation, —bothPlayer1and Player2cooperate, both that time, such alarge spread wasseenonly important to seewhichcountries have done around 1.23 lakh deaths. Venezuela, which all arelikelytosuffer. Hence, all should have Player1and Player2defect, Player1coop- duringafinancial crisis. better in this pandemicbothinterms of has been under socialistregimes forthe last acommon interestinreforms that willim- erates while Player2defects, and, lastly, Can we avoidsuchaproblem of defec- COVID-relatedmorbidity and mortality and twodecades, on the other hand,showed provethe system forpublic benefit. Player1defectswhile Player2cooperates. tion? The economist Elinor Ostrom had an the political ideology whichgoverns them. promising outcomes during the current Garrett Hardin’s famous essay, “The The payoff scenarios arehypothesised answer (the onlywoman apartfromEsther It is no rocket science to imagine that pandemic. It reported47,756cases with Tragedyofthe Commons,” publishedin as benefitsaccruing to Player1and Player2 Duflo to have wonaNobel in economics). those nations withgood health infrastruc- only400 deaths. Science magazine in 1968,was the earliest separately, when theyare deciding on either The onlyway groups canavoid such abreak- turewould do better during apandemic. An argument againstthis hypothesis example of this argument. The farmer who of the policy options: Cooperateordefect. down is by adhering to conditionsinthe Having saidthis, the responseand out- would be that it is difficult to comparethe addedanextracow gainedanadvantage Specifically, both of them cooperating can- form of eight coredesign principles. come parameters of the pandemic have Indian situation witheither New Zealand, over other farmers in his village, but it also notbeaNash equilibrium, as both the play- In asimilar vein, the conceptofpublic notshown suchsimple trends. Besides Germany, IcelandorevenArgentinabecause ledtoanovergrazedpasture. ers unilaterallywill always have an incen- goods can be experimentallyput to good use healthcaremanagement,italso involves our population surpasses the combined In the Indian context, letmeprovide an tive to defect because theywill getahigher in the current pandemic forasocial cause. political response and will. population of these countries. Theproblem even earlier example to illustratethe idea of payoff in suchaneventuality.Since the sit- Suppose the government were to frame a The conceptualisation and application withthe supporters of the marketeconomy public goods. One day, Emperor Akbar told uation is the same foreveryone, both the policy of incentivising well-offhouseholds of agood publichealth system,whichisan is that theylay all problems at the doorstep Birbal that he wasplanning to take abath in players will thus ultimatelydefect and re- (say, through acertificationfromthe PM) to important component of anyform of so- of population growth. Kerala, the best per- milk and that all his ministers should coop- ceive apayoffof0.This is the Nash equilib- co-operateand supportatleastone poor cialism, appears to have had abetterout- formingIndian stateinthe currentpan- erateand getmilk to fill the bathtub. riumfor this game. But this is sub-optimal as In economic parlance,public household. Such incentivesare extremely comeduring the current pandemic. demic, is also the mostdenselypopulated. However, eachministerdecidedthat since both players getzeropayoffs because of un- important as otherwise individual house- Capitalistsystems with privatisedhealth- Concerns of population growth have always milk wascostly, he would getthe water, coordinated behaviour.The bottomline is an goods are defined as non- holds can alwaysdefect unilaterally because carehavefared theworst,despiteagood been partofapopulistagenda in whichthe while the others getmilk.The end result outcome thatthe regulator will neverwant. excludable and non-rivalrous it givesthem ahigher payoff and thus both health infrastructureintermsofthe avail- population of the poor is the main concern. wasthatall the ministers broughtwater. Letusnow extend this analogy to the in nature,suchaslaw could end up defecting. This is aclear exam- ability of state-of-arthealthcaretechnol- We fail to understand that the path to pop- When this experiment wasdone subse- Indian debt markets.The Bank of Japan was, ple of Jan Bhagidhari. ogy.The US is aclassic example of the latter. ulationstabilisation passesthrough the quentlywith proviso of apunishment, perhaps, the firstcentral bank to proclaim enforcement. There is plenty Similarly,wearing masksisaperfect ex- In termsofgood response to the ongo- overall socio-economicdevelopmentof the everyone cooperatedand got milk.Inasim- that the yield curveisapublic good and it is of literature on the use of ample of apublic good, as thereisalwaysa ing pandemic, one countrywhichstands people,andthistheCOVID-19 pandemichas ilar vein, the RBI governor communicated heartening to seethe RBIechothe same. public good in financial proviso that the personnot wearing amask out in the Australasia region is NewZealand. handsomelyrevealed. through the policy that market players In the Indian markets,itiscommon to markets —ifagents could benefit and hence, again, both defect- With around 1,757casesand alow death To conclude,aquickglanceshows that should always be competitive and notcom- find debt marketplayers behaving differ- ing and notwearing maskscould be an rate of 4.56per millioncases, NewZealand socialismisnot an odd contraptionready to bative so as to getthe best results. Central ently. Forexample, if one setofplayers act cooperate well, all players eventuality.Inthis case, we,however, need has one of the best COVID-19figures in the fallapart.Even in itsmostdeactivated, meta- bankscan onlyact to oversee the market. pro-cyclically, selling government securities have the opportunityto aharsh punishment forthose notwearing world. The countryisatpresent governed morphosed,desultoryform, it has been a Againstthis background, it is important with the RBI’s monetary policystance, the benefit; if agents work in masks. This is aclear example of Jan Chetna. by the Labour party,which hasleft-of-cen- handy weapon in successfully fighting the to understand howthe breakdown of trust otherset of players act counter-cyclically, isolation, all are likely to Clearly,adhering to JanBhagidhariand treleanings. The totalexpenditure on health COVID-19pandemic. India’s questfor aso- across agentsinthe use of public goods of- buying government securities —sometimes Jan Chetna, as the Prime Ministerhas been as apercentage of the GDPfor New Zealand cialistsystemmay have been waylaid but tenresults in minimal payoffs. Both agents both the players arecombative.While there suffer.The Bank of Japan espousing, requires an intelligent applica- is around 11 per cent. ForIndia, despitehav- socialist principles provide asemblance of have twooptionsbetween them —either is nothing wrong in taking twoway posi- was, perhaps, the first central tion of game theoryinpolicy making. ing “socialism” in itsPreamble, the figureis hope concerningissues pertaining to peo- cooperate or defect. Thus, we effectively tions in the market,the problemarises when bank to proclaim that the adismal one per cent. ples’ health even in acountrylikeours. have four policy options, and eachofthe op- suchbuying/selling faroutstrips selling/buy- yield curve is apublic good The writer,group chief economic advisor, MostEuropean nations that have per- tions will have aparticular benefit/payoff. ing that the RBI would prefer.Thisalsore- StateBankofIndia, is thankful to Sudipta formed well in the current pandemic are The writer is professor, Our endeavour is to find out whichpolicy sultsinayield structurenot in sync with and it is heartening to see the Sarangi and IndranilBhattacharyafor useful thorough welfarestateswith socialisttilts department of orthopaedics, optioncan resultinaNash equilibrium, macrofundamentals. Forexample, during RBI echo the same comments. Viewsare personal or leftcoalitions in power. Germanyhad a All India InstituteofMedical Sciences

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

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

Nilekani explains his three-phase Covid -19vaccination process, says he doesn't see an advertisingglobal giant likeFacebook,Google coming out of India, asserts Indian IT is mor‘ethan “back-end”, and believestechnology will become partofglobal geo-politics.The session wasmoderated by Executive Editor(National Affairs) PVaidyanathan Iyer

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

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

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

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 MEANWHILE SPACECRAFT TO TRY TO COLLECT ASTEROID SAMPLE After almost twoyearscircling an ancient asteroid hundreds of millions of milesaway, a NASA spacecraft on Tuesdaywill attempttodescend to the treacherous, boulder-packedsur- 13 THE WORLD face and snatchahandful of rubble. TheOsiris-Rexmission is looking to bring back at least 60 grammes worth of asteroidBennu,the biggestotherworldlyhaul from beyond themoon.

TOPOFTHE WORLD Trumpsetsoutoncampaignblitzin bidtoclosepollinggapwithBiden

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

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

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

other parentsfloodedthe board likelyanundercount,sincenotall learningfor all students. of the worst” in the countryand Canyons is also an example KATETAYLOR with messages, and the school studentsand staffwho were ex- Since then, with schools and “unacceptable”. of howthe nation’s 13,000 OCTOBER18 stayed open. Within aweek,the posedorsymptomaticgot tested. colleges open, things have only Yetdespitethe conditions at school districtsare struggling to number of cases had nearly And Corner Canyonwas not worsened, as both the county the startofthe school year, find workable policies in the ab- ON AFridayinmid-September, quadrupled. Ateacher washos- theonlyschool in the district to and Utah have become hotspots. CanyonsSchoolDistricttookonly sence of clearstandards from the SunnyWashington got atext pitalised and put on aventilator. have an outbreak.BySept28, In the twoweeksthat ended modest steps to preventthe virus federal government and many from another mother at her When the boardfinallyclosed Canyons School District, with Thursday, SaltLakeCounty had from spreading in itsbuildings. stategovernments.The result daughter’s high school in an afflu- the school temporarily, 77 stu- roughly33,000 students, had nearly 617cases per 100,000 The statehad mandated that has been apatchworkofpolicies ent suburb of Salt LakeCity,Utah. dentsand staffmembers, includ- temporarilyclosedthree high people. Over the lastweek,Utah studentsandstaffmemberswear varying from statetostate and Threeweeksintothe schoolyear, ing Washington’s daughter, had schools and amiddle school, had the sixth-highestrateofnew masksinschool, allowing un- oftendistrict to district. thenumber of coronavirus cases tested positive. telling about 8,000 studentsto cases per 100,000 people of any maskedsports practiceandcom- The Centers forDisease at theschool wasrising, and the “We’retalking 30 days in, and learn from home. stateand setanew staterecord petition. But with nearly80per Control and Prevention, which districtwas considering shifting it went completely out of con- The storyofCanyons is an ob- forthe number of people hospi- cent of Canyons studentsopting have facedpressurefromthe to online instruction. The text trol,” Washington said. ject lesson in what can happen talisedwith the virus. forin-person school, the district WhiteHouse to avoid discourag- urgedparentstobeg the school Her daughter’s school, Corner when schools reopen in com- Corner CanyonHigh School in Utah. NYT On Tuesday, Governor Gary seems to have made fewadjust- ing school districtsfromreopen- boardtokeep classroomsopen. CanyonHighSchool,experienced munities that arefailing to con- Herbertordered stricter restric- mentstoaccommodatesocialdis- ing, have declinedtoprovide Washington ignored the text one of the biggestcoronavirus tain the virus. In the twoweeks tions on social gatherings and tancinginclassrooms.Thedistrict specific guidance on whatdis- —she thought the school should outbreaksataschoolinUtah,and before the district reopened, Salt levelatwhich someexpertshave twoand ahalf times higher than mask wearing in Salt Lake also did notmakecoronavirus trictsshould do when infections be taking advice from public possiblythe country, with 90 LakeCounty had roughly187 advisedagainsthigh schools the standardWashington State County and otherhard-hit coun- testing partofits reopening plan, rise in aschool or the surround- healthexperts, notparents. But cases within twoweeks—most newcases per 100,000people, a opening in person; thatlevel is uses to recommend distance ties, calling Utah’soutbreak“one leavingthosedecisionsto families. ing community. NYT WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 MarketWatch GOLD IMPORTS DOWN 57% IN H1FY21 NewDelhi: Gold imports, whichhaveabearing on the current account deficit,fell 57 per cent to $6.8 billion (around Rs 50,658 crore) during the first half of this fiscal amid aslump in demand 14 ECONOMY PTI due to the Covid-19,showeddatabythe Commerce Ministry.

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 ELAVENIL WINS GOLD AT VIRTUAL MEET World number one Indian Elavenil Va larivan wonagold medal and Shahu Tushar Mane bagged asilver in the SheikhRussel InternationalAir Rifle Championship, held virtually on Sunday. In the 60-shot competition in 15 whichshootersfrom six nations participated,including hosts Bangladesh SPORT PTI and India,Elavenil shot amodest 627.5 to come out on top.

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

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

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

Vol. LXIV No.247 Printed forthe proprietors, The Indian Express (P) Ltd by Ms Vaidehi Thakar at The Indian Express Press, PlotNo. EL-208, TTCIndustrial Area, Mahape, Navi Mumbai -400710and publishedfrom1st floor,Express Towers, Nariman Point, Mumbai -400021.Editorial &Administrative Offices: Express Towers, Nariman Point,Mumbai -400021.Phone: 22022627/67440000.Fax: 022-22835726. Chairman of the Board: Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor:Raj Kamal Jha, Editor:Unni Rajen Shanker,Editor (Mumbai): Nirupama Subramanian.* (*Responsible forselection of News under the PRB Act) Additional air surcharge of `1 .00-Goa. Copyright:The Indian Express (P) Ltd. All rightsreserved.Reproduction in anymanner,electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.The Indian Express® WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM 16 SPORT THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,OCTOBER19,2020 Condensed Champions League group stage to get begin under Covid-19 cloud

The 32-team contestwill startone month United on TuesdayinGroup H, bringing back Bayern MunichvAtletico Madrid and Ajax v Ronaldo is among the players who have UEFAhas drawnupadetailedhealth pro- REUTERS later than usual, aknock-on effect of the pan- memories of the English side's comeback Liverpool.European soccer body UEFAset- tested positive recently, and he will miss tocol which, in principle, allows teams to play BERN,OCTOBER18 demic interrupting lastseason forthree twoseasons agowhen theywon on away tledonthe newtimeframe in early June Juventus' opening matchawaytoDynamo even if members of their squad test positive. months, although the group stagewill finish goals afterlosing 2-0 at home. when the pandemic appeared to be under KievonTuesday. As long as ateam has aminimum of 13 avail- ACONDENSED version of the Champions as usual in early December with six match- Barcelona hostHungarians Ferencvaros, control in Europe. The Portuguese could also be forced to sit ableplayersincludingonegoalkeeper,matches LeaguegroupstagegetsunderwayonTuesday, days squeezedintoa50-dayperiod. backinthe group stageafter a25-year ab- But with the recent surge in infection out the following week's matchathome to cango ahead.Clubswillalsobeallowedtofield with COVID-19-related disruptions an ever- It kicks offwith aheavyweight clash be- sence, in another Tuesdaymatch, while numbers around the continent, it has begun Barcelona, when he is due to face his old rival players who were notinitiallyregisteredfor present threat hanging over the competition. tween Paris St Germain and Manchester Wednesday's games include titleholders to look increasingly ambitious. Cristiano Lionel Messi forthe firsttime in over twoyears. the competition to makeupthe numbers.