DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2021, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES SINCE 1932 `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00(`12INNORTHEAST STATES &ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM MANN RECUSES HOURS BEFORE FIRST MEETING NEWMONOPOLIES: OBJECTIONS WEREOVER-RULED SCcommitteecracks,keymember Finance and Niti had raised red flags before Adani’s optsoutsayingheiswithfarmers clean sweep of six airports Tomar confirms talkswith farmer Behind trust deficitbetween Govt leaders today, with ‘an open mind’ PRANAVMUKUL and farmers,misreading of protests &ANILSASI NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 SUKHBIRSIWACH, members pulling out of the pro- ground in Punjab, indulged in RAAKHIJAGGA& LIZMATHEW& posedresolutioncommittee, the name-calling that misfired,and BOTH THE FINANCE Ministry HARIKISHANSHARMA HARIKISHANSHARMA challenge, manyinthe party and brushedasidefarmers’ concerns and Niti Aayoghad put on record CHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI, NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 government admit, is to address by attributing political and ide- objections regarding the 2019 JANUARY14 the deeptrust deficit betweenthe ological motivestothe protest. airportbiddingprocess, which Addingtothe AS THE farmers’ protests acquire protesters and the government. Forsix months between May were over-ruled, clearing the TWODAYSafter theSupreme anew dimension with the Thereare voices within who 15,the dayFinanceMinister wayfor aclean sweep of six air- Courtnamedhim as one of the confusion Supreme Court’s controversial in- suggestthat the government Nirmala Sitharaman first ports by the Ahmedabad-based four members of an expertcom- tervention and one of thefour misread the signals on the CONTINUEDONPAGE2 Adani Group, records accessed mittee, tasked THE EXIT of Bhupinder by The Indian Express show. to listen to Singh Mann has put a This assumes significance LastAugust,Adani Group signeddeal to acquireacontrolling grievances of question markonthe giventhat on August31lastyear, interest in country’s second largest airportinMumbai. File farmers op- consultation process. It In season of farm protests, record govt the Adani Group signedanother posedtothe remains to be seen if the dealto acquireacontrolling inter- newagriculture courtnames anew purchases of cotton, paddy from Punjab estinthecountry’ssecondlargest laws andthe member to replace him. airport, in Mumbai —the Airports Concentration of power views of the What also complicates trict.Hegot thefull minimum on time at the season’s start Authority of Indiacleared that Bhupinder government, the process is the out- ANJUAGNIHOTRICHABA supportprice (MSP) of Rs 5,665 when narma rateswere takeoveronJanuary12. in India Inc: Regulator Singh Mann Bhupinder right rejection of the JALANDHAR,JANUARY14 per quintal forhis medium-long Rs 4,600-4,800/quintal. That’s a Aviation is one sectorthe Singh Mann, panel by farmer unions. staple fibrecropthat waspro- viewalso echoedbyNirmal Competition Commissionof president of RAJVIRSINGHGoltasold52quin- cured by the Cotton Corporation Singh Tiwana,afarmer from the India (seeinterview)has marked reviews seven key sectors BKU (Mann) and tals of narma/kapas (raw un- of India (CCI) betweenearly- same villagewho sold 21 quin- forreviewofmarketdominance. chairman of All India Kisan panelandsaid“Iwillalwaysstand ginnedcotton)overthreepickings October and mid-December. tals of the crop, grownontwo From running aprivate air-strip Telecom to pharma, airports to ports: CoordinationCommitteerecused withmyfarmersand Punjab”. from hisfive-acre landinJhumba The 42-year-old is pleased out of his four-acreholding, to at Mundra,the Adani Group is to- himself fromthecourt-appointed CONTINUEDONPAGE2 villageofPunjab’s Bathinda dis- that the CCI entered themarket CONTINUEDONPAGE2 daythe country’s largest private concession agreementstobereviewed CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PRANAVMUKUL P11 &ANILSASI TAKINGOFF NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 INDIAN BUSINESSASUSUAL 20months AMID THE unprecedented con- ARMY DAY BY UNNY Timeperiodofgrowth centration of powerinatleast sevencoresectors in corporate THEEXPRESS 8* India, from pharma and telecom Airportscontrolledby to airports and ports,the INTERVIEW AdaniGroup Competition Commission of India has launchedaset of de- ASHOK KUMAR GUPTA 7.90crore tailedinvestigations on the mar- CHAIRPERSON, COMPETITION Numberofpassengers ketdynamics of eachsector. COMMISSION OF INDIA handled Simultaneously, it hasstarted (23.2%ofdomestictraffic) areviewofall model concession ports, electricity and railways. *Mumbai, Ahmedabad, agreements—the legal contract The goal is to ensurethat Mangalore, Lucknow, Jaipur, that forms the basis of the public- competition remains “vibrant” Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, private partnership—across four and “thereare enough players WEST BENGAL greenfield Navi Mumbai keyinfrastructuresectors:airports, CONTINUEDONPAGE2 PM to launch vaccine drive, Govt seeks first list of beneficiaries up voter data TMC’SSHATABDI for vaccine VOICESDISSENT PAGE 3 RINGSIDE VIEW KAUNAINSHERIFFM drive, EC NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 agrees THE EDITORIAL PAGE Congress leaderRahul Gandhi attendsajallikattuevent in Madurai on Thursday. PTI PRIME MinisterNarendraModi will launchthe startofthe Covid- 19 vaccination drive Saturday, AFTERBLOCKING connectingwith 3,006 vaccina- RITIKACHOPRA& TRUMP tion sites across the countryvia KAUNAINSHERIFFM BY CHINMAYI ARUN Bid to bring back ‘bungalow video-conferencing. NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 PAGE 6 The Prime Minister's Office said Modi will address the sites, THE ELECTION Commission (EC) peons’ after Railway said no whereoverthree crorepriority has agreedtoarequestfromthe WORLD groups will be vaccinatedover The newly inaugurated genome sequencing laboratoryat MinistryofHomeAffairs(MHA) the next fewmonths, at 10.30 the IGI AirportinNew Delhi on Thursday. Tashi Tobgyal to share electoral roll data for Under the newpolicy issued Almostnoone wantstogiveup am. “Around 100beneficiaries identifyingthe agegroup tar- AVISHEKGDASTIDAR by EastCoastRailway,“with the the facility arguing that it is in- will be vaccinated at eachses- getedfor thefirstphase of the NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 approval of the General trinsic to thenatureoftheir job. sion siteonthe inaugural day,” loadedonthe Co-WIN platform. pens in elections,” an official said. Covid-19vaccination drive, Manager", bungalowpeons al- Railway officers, liketheir coun- the governmentsaid. “The vaccination session is from “Since the bulk registration sources told The Indian Express. AMONTH afterthe Railway ready engaged with officers be- terparts in the Army, areentitled Senior HealthMinistryoffi- 9amto5pm. Whoevercomes of healthcareworkers hasal- The Commission, sources Ministryissuedapolicy to dis- fore theRailway Ministrydis- to keeping aGroup Demployee cials said the beneficiarylistfor till 5pmwill be vaccinated even ready takenplace, theyneednot said, is nowwaiting forare- continue the 100-year-old prac- continuedthe practice, will be posted24X7attheir homes. The the firstday has already been up- after5pm, justlikehow it hap- CONTINUEDONPAGE2 sponse on the specific datare- tice of hiring "bungalowpeons" screened andabsorbed in the logicisthatrailway officers get quired by the Ministry. TRUMP IMPEACHED forits officers, plans areonto Railwayslikeearlier.“Around postedinremote,often inhos- According to the bring them backinanew avatar. 30-40 officers,bothfromthe pitable, locations, routinelycarry Government’s blueprint, the FOR ‘INCITEMENT Severalzonal railways are field and from the headquarters, work homeorare occupied at Brazil to send special flight to pick vaccine will be offeredfirstto OF INSURRECTION’ said to be in theprocess of draft- arewaitingtoget bungalowpe- odd hours, and hence needhelp healthcareworkers, frontline W.H.O. FINALLY ing their ownlocal policies that ons as per their entitlement,” at home. “That is whythis prac- workers and thoseabove 50 would enable an officer to retain said aspokesman of the East tice has been theresince the be- up 2million doses from India years of age, followedbythose LANDS IN CHINA aTelephoneAttendant cum Dak CoastRailway. ginning,” said asenior officer. below50with associated co- TO BEGINTRACING Khalasi or “bungalow peon”. The While the central policy says Typically, officers choose The move follows arequest Brazil indicating that the Chinese morbidities. The priority group THECORONAVIRUS Odisha-basedEastCoastRailway existing Level1staffcan be en- someone to be employedattheir SHUBHAJITROY from Brazilian President Jair vaccines deployedinthe coun- of above 50 maybefurther di- PAGE 12 has already finalisedapolicy for gagedasbungalowpeons on home, and afterthree years, he NEWDELHI,JANUARY14 Bolsonaroinaletterlastweek to tryare of less efficacy than videdintothose above 60 and hiring people on contractfor of- their consent as per the new gets regular employment in the PrimeMinisterNarendraModi claimed. The Pune firm has tied those between50and 60 for a ficers’ residences.Sourcessaid rules issuedbythe ministry,offi- Railways following ascreening THE DAYbeforeIndia launches forthe vaccines without jeopar- up withAstraZeneca to manu- phasedrollout. EXPRESS NETWORK other zones mayfollowsuit soon. cers sayitishardlyfeasible. “In process. itsnationwide vaccination drive dising the Indian vaccination facture the vaccine developed by According to sources, theEC’s The Railway Ministryhad au- anycase, bungalowpeons, after Railway MinisterLalu Prasad againstCovid, aspecially programme, whichisstarting the University of Oxford. electoral