DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021, KOLKATA `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

Kolkata

2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

NMDC Ltd.(A Govt. of India Enterprises) (ISO-9001 Company)

Bailadila Iron Ore Mines, Bacheli Complex,Bacheli, Distt.-South Bastar (Dantewada), CG-494553

Phone No.: 07857-230210, Mob.: 9575665681

BIOM/BC/Contracts/Publication/2021-22/045 Date: 21/08/2021

Bailadila Iron Ore Mines, Bacheli Complex, NMDC Ltd. invites e-bidsfor the following works. Intending tenderers may visit and downloadTender Documents from CPP Portal or www.nmdc.co.in orhttp://www.mstcecommerce.com/eprochome/nmdc/. The offer has to besubmitted online at the given MSTC portal only till 03:30 PM and willbe opened on 04:00 PM on respective last dates.

GM (M&S and Contracts)

BIOM, Bacheli Complex

// e-Tender Notice //

MSTCRef.No.NMDC/Bacheli/21-22/ET/

153/212

154/213

155/214

156/215

157/216

1

2

3

4

5

NMDCTender. No.BIOM/BC/CONTRACTS/OTE(45)/21-22/

C-155

LP-016

PE-004

SER-004

P-019

Last Dateof Sub'n

10/09/2021

10/09/2021

11/09/2021

11/09/2021

12/09/2021

Short Description of Work

Construction and Electrification ofWBM Road from TDI Junction toPWD RoadLevelling. Alignment. Repair &Maintenance of track lines atLoading PlantAMC & Calibration of Belt scale(Make-PEL & PBL) for 3 yearslocated at different locations ofOCSL PlantReconditioning of BucketAssembly of CAT992K FrontEnd LoaderComplete Overhauling of M/s.Chitrammake EOT Cranes including supplyof spares at Crushing Plant Den-5

OFFICE OF THE ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF (CIVIL), ODISHANIRMAN SOUDHA, KESHARI NAGAR, UNIT-V,

BHUBANESWAR - 751 001

File No- C-IIM-IFB-06/2019 No. 30575 Dtd. 12.08.2021

1st corrigendum to RFP Identification No. CE-DPI & R-01/2021-22The following changes are made to the NIT for the package vide RFPIdentification No. CE-DPI & R-01/2021-22 issued vide letter No. 28749 dtd.02.08.2021.Modification in Critical Dates

The Request for Proposal documents will be available in the websitewww.tendersodisha.gov.in from 10.00 A.M of 27.08.2021 to 5.30 P.M of27.09.2021 for online bidding.

Interested bidders may download the documents from the StateGovernment web site www.tendersodisha.gov.in from 10.00 A.M of27.08.2021 to 5.30 P.M of 27.09.2021 for participation in the onlinebidding.

The application shall be received only on “online” on or before 5.30 P.M of27.09.2021.

The applications received on line shall be opened at 3.00 P.M. on01.10.2021 in the office of the Engineer-in-Chief (Civil), Nirman Soudha,Unit-V, Bhubaneswar.

One set of hard copy of such uploaded application shall be submitted to theChief Engineer (DPI & Roads) Odisha, O/o the E.I.C (Civil), Odisha,Nirman Soudha, Bhubaneswar on or before 1.30 P.M. on 01.10.2021.

A Pre-Application conference of the interested parties shall be held on07.09.2021 at 12.30 P.M.

All other terms and conditions of Notice remain unchanged.

B-311

Sd/-Chief Engineer (DPI & Roads), Odisha

OIPR-34117/11/0037/2122

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER,

CENTRAL RURAL WORKS CIRCLE, BHUBANESWAR

No.3870/Date. 18.08.2021

"e" Procurement Notice for PMGSY- III (Batch-I & Batch-II) Works for the year 2021-22

Further details can be seen from the web site www.pmgsytenders.gov.in

Chief Construction Engineer

Central Rural Works Circle, Bhubaneswar

Memo No.3871/ Date.18.08.2021

OIPR-25082/11/0024/2122

O-559

1. Name of the work : PMGSY works for the year 2021-22

2. Total No. of Packages : 127 Nos. of Packages

3. Estimated Cost of the Package : Varies from Rs.1.08 Crores to Rs.15.22 Crores

4. Class of Contractor :

a) Estimated cost more than Rs. 40.00 lakhs up

to Rs. 3.00 Crores

: B Class & A class (of Odisha PWD) or relevant class of other licensing authorities

b) Estimated cost more than Rs. Rs.3.00

Crores up to Rs. 6.00 Crores

: A Class & Special class (of Odisha PWD) or relevant class of other licensing authorities

c) Estimated cost more than Rs. Rs.6.00

Crores up to Rs.15.00 Crores

: Special Class & Super class (of Odisha PWD) or relevant class of other licensing authorities

d) Estimated cost more than Rs.15.00 Crores : Super Class (of Odisha PWD) or relevant class of other licensing authorities

5. Period of completion. : Packages costing less than Rs.3.00 Crores-09(Nine) months

Packages costing more than Rs.3.00 Crores & less than Rs.5.00 Crores-11(Eleven) months

Packages costing more than Rs.5.00 Crore -12(Twelve) months

6. Offered rates by bidder : The offered rate by the contractor shall be excluding GST.

7. Other details :

Procurement Officer Bid Identifica-

tion No.

Availability of Tender on-

line for bidding

Last Date &

Time of

seeking tender

clarification

Date & time of submission of

original financial instrument

along with affidavit regarding

correctness of information

Date & Time of opening

of tender

From To Technical Bid Financial Bid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Chief Construction

Engineer, Central Rural

works Circle, Bhubaneswar

Tender-

Online-C.C.- 20

of 2021

23.08.21

at 11.00 A.M.

06.09.21

up to 5.00 P.M.

04.09.21

up to 3.00 P.M.

08.09.2021 to 13.09.2021

Up to 5.00 PM

(During office hour)

07.09.2021

at 11.00 A.M.

To be intimated

lateron

Borrower: M/s Tailors Sujoyat 1182/6, Kalyangarh,Ashoknagar, Pin-743272,Prop. Mr. Sajal Kar at 621/12,Kalyangarh, Ashoknagar,District- North 24 Parganas,Pin - 743272A/c. No. 29680500000007A/c. No. 29680600001236

1) 07.06.20212) 17.08.20213) Rs.26,41,513.73 as on31.03.2021 and furtherinterest, incidental expenses,costs & charges etc. thereon.

All that piece & parcel of a self contained land measuring about 05Cottahs, Plot No. 1182/6 along with building lying and situated atMouza- Banshpul, J.L. No. 32, R.S. Dag No. 228 & 232corresponding R.S. Khatian No. 3364, within the local limits ofAshokenagar Kalyangarh in Ward No. 4, under P.S. Ashokenagar,Dist. North 24 Parganas, Being Deed No. I-275 for the year 2004,which is butted & bounded the property by on the North: ColonyRoad, on the South: Land & House of Kajal Kar, on the East: UjjalKar and on the West: Land & House ofAmal Mullick.

1.

Date: 17.08.2021, Place: Habra Authorised Officer, Bank of Baroda

Whereas, the undersigned being the Authorised Officer of the Bank of Baroda under the Securitization and Reconstruction of FinancialAssets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (54 of 2002) and in exercise of powers conferred under section 13(12) read withRule 3 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 issued Demand Notice calling upon the Borrowers to repay the amountmentioned in the notice together with further interest, cost etc. thereon within 60 days from the date of the said notice.The Borrowers having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrowers/guarantors and the public in general that theundersigned has taken possession of the property described herein below to exercise of powers conferred on them under Section 13(4)of the saidAct, read with Rule 8 of the said rules on the date mentioned below.The Borrowers/ guarantors in particular and the public in general are hereby cautioned not to deal with the property and any dealings withthe property will be subject to the charge of Bank of Baroda, Habra Branch for the amount and interest thereon.The Borrowers’ attention is invited to provisions of sub-section (8) of section 13 of the Act, in respect of time available to redeem thesecured assets.

Appendix IV, [Rule 8(1)]POSSESSION NOTICE

(For Immovable Property)

Borrower: M/s World Communication at151, Baralia Road, Hijilpukuria, 1st Floor,Sangam House, P.S. Habra, NearRupkatha Cinema Hall, North 24 Parganas,Pin - 743263Partners: 1. Mr. Indranil Nath, atDaharthuba, Habra, P.O. Habra, Dist. North24 Parganas, Pin-743263 & 2. Mr. SujoyPodder, at Ram Krishna Lane, SouthHabra, P.O. Habra, District- North 24Parganas, Pin-743263A/c. No. 29680500000033

2.

Name of the Borrowerswith address

1) Date of Demand Notice2) Date of Possession

3) Outstanding Amount

Description of Immovable PropertiesSl.No.

All that piece & parcel of Bastu land measuringabout 9 Satak which is situated at Mouza-Habra, J.L. No. 72, Re. Sa. No. 313, R.S. DagNo. 1423, C.S. Khatian No. 331, R.S. KhatianNo. 1248, P.S. Habra, Municipal Holding No. 22,Ward No. 12 and the Name of the street is G BBye/1, within the limit of Habra Municipality,Dist. North 24 Parganas, Being Deed No. I-04896 for the year 15.09.2008. The property isbutted and bounded by North: R. Saha, South:Smt. Parul Bala Podder, East: House of Mr.ASiland West: House of Mr. R. Saha.

1) 07.06.20212) 17.08.20213) Rs.16,32,060.00 as on31.03.2021 and further interest,incidental expenses, costs &charges etc. thereon.

Jessore Road, Kamarthuba, Opp. Kalika Cinema HallDist. 24 Parganas (N), Pin - 743 263, West Bengal

HABRA BRANCH

Ref No:- BSCL/2021-22/1172 Date: 19.08.2021

Bareilly Smart City Limited, Bareilly invites e-tender for the following projects:-

Sd/-

Chief Executive Officer,

Bareilly Smart City Limited, Bareilly.

BAREILLY SMART CITY LIMITED (BSCL)

BAREILLY (UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA)

S.

No.

Name of the Work Earnest

Money

Deposit (Rs.)

Tender fee

with GST @

18% (Rs.)

Work

completion

Period

Bid Start

Date

01 Upgradation of Gandhi Udhyan with 1

year Defect Liability under Bareilly

Smart City Mission

3.00 lakhs 11,800 03 Months 25/08/21

02 Supplying, installing, Testing and

Commissioning Cum Operatoin and

Maintenance of Smart Health Centre

for 20 Years in 5 Locations of Bareilly

Pan City on BOOT”

9.00 lakhs 11,800 12 Months 25/08/21

1 Detailed NIT and Bid Document shall be available on: - https://etender.up.nic.in and

http://www.bareillysmartcity.in

2 Tender call notice in two Bid systems (Part- I: General & Technical Bid and Part-II financial

Bid/Price Bid/BOQ) from intending bidders fulfilling the eligibility criteria mentioned in this

Notice and other qualifying requirements mentioned in this RFP

3 Amendment to NIT, if any would be published on website only.

4 In case of any queries on this RFP, intending bidders may contact THE GENERAL

MANAGER, BAREILLY SMART CITY LIMITED, Bareilly (Tel. No: - 0581- 25510074,

7055519602) or send an email to: ceo bscl01@gmail.com

KERALA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION

Transport Bhavan , Fort P.O, Thiruvananthapuram–695023

E-TENDER NOTICE

Name of Item Qty Last Date of Bid submission

Fully Built Non AC-6 Cylinder

CNG Propelled Inter City (175Nos.) and City Services (135

Nos.) Buses of BS VI Norms

310 Nos.

06.00 PM

01.09.2021Fully Built Non AC-4 Cylinder

CNG Propelled Bus of BS VINorms

1 No.

For the detailed tender document visit: sd/-

www.etenders.kerala.gov.in, Chairman & Managing Director

www.keralartc.com/tenders/purchase, e-mail : sr@kerala.gov.in 19.08.2021

DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (EAST)-IIE-BLOCK : PREET VIHAR : DELHI-110092

“STOP CORANA; Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene”

PRESS NIT No. 09/ E-II (2021-22)

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in

ISSUED BY PRO (WATER) Sd/- VIJAY SAGAR

Advt. No. J.S.V. 300 (2021-22) EX. ENGINEER (EAST)-II

S.

No.

Name of Work Amount Put

to Tender

Tender

Processing

Fee

Earnest

Money

Tender ID No. & Date

of Release of tender

in E-Procurement

Solution

Last Date/ Time of

receipt of tender

E-Procurement

Solution

1. Installation of high yield tube wells to

boost water supply in ward no. 20E,

Chitra Vihar BPS in AC-59 in East-II.

39,32,772.00 500.00 EMD

Exempted

2021_DJB_207271_1

19-Aug-2021

12:00 PM

30-Aug-21

02:00 PM

PUBLIC NOTICEI, Prashanti Tamang W/o Shri

Yogesh Pradhan, Service No.

9427813F, Rank L/NK, R/o

Melli Paiong, P.O. & P.S. Melli,

South Sikkim, inform that in

some documents my name

wrongly written as Prashanti

Pradhan. But my correct name

is Prashanti Tamang.

OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEER, PHED,

REGION AJMERPHONE No. 0145-2624748 FAX NO. 0145-2627671

No. F. ( )/Ar. MP/2021-2022/6357-397 Dated: 11.08.2021

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS FOR WORKSBids for the CONSTRUCTION OF OHSR, CWR & PROVIDING, LAYING, JOINTING& COMMISSIONING OF DISTRIBUTION PIPELINES OF VARIOUS SIZES/TYPESTO PROVIDE FHTC CONNECTIONS AT RWSS- BRIKCHIYAWAS (091697) ANDITS DHANIES (08 Nos.), GRAM PANCHAYAT- BRIKCHIYAWAS, TEHSIL-PEESANGAN, MLA CONSTITUENCY- NASIRABAD, DISTRICT- AJMER TOPROVIDE FHTC CONNECTIONS UNDER JJM. (Estimated cost of work- Rs.300.96 lacs) are invited from interested bidders upto 01.09.2021. Other particularsof the Bid may be visited on the procurement portal (http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in,http://sppp.raj.nic.in) of the state.UBN No.: PHE2122WSOB06085 NIB No.: PHE2122A2726

Sd/-

(Mukul Bhargava)Additional Chief Engineer,

DIPR/C/8120/2021 PHED, Region, Ajmer.

MMAARRTTYYRRDDOOMM OONN 2200 AAUUGGUUSSTTLLTT NNAAVVDDEEEEPP SSIINNGGHH,, AACC ((PPOOSSTTHHUUMMOOUUSS))((0088 JJUUNN 11998855 -- 2200 AAUUGG 22001111))Lt Navdeep Singh, Ashok Chakra laid down hislife while fighting against an infiltrating terroristcolumn during "OPERATION BAGTOR" in J&K. Inthe truest tradition of the Indian Army, LtNavdeep Singh led from the front and displayed

exemplary courage and conspicuous bravery. He will always beremembered and missed by all of us in the Ordnance Corps for hissupreme sacrifice and gallant act.

DDGG OOSS && SSrr CCooll CCoommddtt aanndd aallll rrkkss ooff tthhee AAOOCC2200tthh AAuugguusstt''11999999

Sashastra Seema Bal fondlyremembers and cherishes thevaliant contribution of the bravehearts, Constable (GD) NabjitTalukdar and Constable (Driver)Nilambar Bora of erstwhile GC,Bongaigaon (15th Bn SSB,Kajalgaon) (Assam) who madethe supreme sacrifice while fight-ing bravely with militants on this

day in the year 1999 at Lal Chowk Market in Srinagar. Their gal-lant action will continue to inspire us all. We salute the sacrificesof our brave soldiers.

SSAASSHHAASSTTRRAA SSEEEEMMAA BBAALL

Constable

(GD) Nabjit

Talukdar

Constable

(Driver)

Nilambar Bora

IYf¹ffÊÕX¹f Ad°fdSXöY ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹fa°ff,þ³fÀUfÀ±¹f Ad·f¹ffad{IYe dU·ff¦f, Ãf`{-´fi±f¸f, þû²f´fbSXTel: 0291-2650750, Email: rj_acejo@nic.in

IiY¸ffaIY A¸fbA/ ªfû./ ´fi±f¸f/ 20-21/ 3688-700 dQ³ffaIY 5/8/2021d¶fOX ÀfaVfû²f³f Àfc¨f³ff, NIB Àfa£¹ff 10/2021-22

BÀf I f¹ffÊÕ¹f õfSf þfSe I e ¦fBÊ d³fdUQf Àfa£¹ff 10/2021-22 ¸fZÔ d³fdUQf ´fi´f{ ¸fZa AfadVfI ÀfaVfû²f³f Wû³fZ IZ I fS¯f d¶fO ÀfaVfû²f³f þfSe

dI ¹ff þfI S https://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in EUa https://sppp.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS A´fÕûO dI ¹ff ¦f¹ffÜ

d³fdUQf Àfa£¹ff 10/2021-22 (UBIN No.PHE2122WSOB04749)

WXÀ°ff./-(³feSXþ ¸ff±fbSX)

Ad°fdSXöY ¸fb£¹f Ad·f¹fa°ffDIPR/C/7863/2021 þ³f ÀUfÀ±¹f Ad·f¹ffad{IY dU·ff¦f, ÃfZ{ ´fi±f¸f þû²f´fbSX

''IMPORTANT''

Whilst care is taken prior to

acceptance of advertising

copy, it isnotpossible toverify

its contents. The Indian

Express (P) Limited cannot be

held responsible for such

contents, nor for any loss or

damage incurredasaresultof

transactions with companies,

associations or individuals

advertising in its newspapers

or Publications. We therefore

recommend that readers

make necessary inquiries

before sending any monies or

entering into any agreements

with advertisers or otherwise

acting on an advertisement in

any manner whatsoever.

I arrive at a conclusionnot an assumption.

Inform your opinionwithdetailed analysis.

indianexpress.com

The Indian Express.For the Indian Intelligent.

Kolkata

DA ILY FROM: AHMEDABAD , CHAND IGARH , DELH I , JA IPUR , KOLKATA , LUCKNOW, MUMBAI , NAGPUR , PUNE , VADODARA

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2021, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DEVENDRAPANDEY

MUMBAI, AUGUST19

A MISSING cricket roller haspitched the Indian cricketerParvezRasool inabizarrebattlewith the Jammu & KashmirCricketAssociation (JKCA).TheJKCAhasissuednoticeto

Rasool, askinghimtoreturntheroller or face “police action”. Inhisreply,Rasoolhasdeniedeverhaving taken the roller, and has

askedtheadministrators,“Isthisthewaytotreataninternationalcricketerwhohas given life andsoul to J&Kcricket?”.Thesituationhasescalatedto

a point where Brigadier (retd)Anil Gupta, a BJP spokespersonwho is on the three-membersub-committee appointed bythe Indian cricket board to runJKCA, has written in an email:“Do we have any proof to nailhimdown.”Rasool was marked on

Gupta's email, along with theotheradministrators.GuptatoldTheIndianExpress

thatthematterwasbeing“hyped

up”—andthatthemailhadbeenwritten to Rasool because themailing addresses of all districtassociationswere not available,and Rasool’s namewas in theJKCAregister forhisdistrict.Rasool hails from Bijbehara

in Anantnag district. JKCA firstsent a notice to MohammadShafi of Bijbehara, and then a

second notice to Rasool. Guptasaid theydid it because the reg-ister showed Rasool’s name intheir records.“Wehavenotonlywrittento

Parvez Rasool but to all districtassociationsandwhosoeverhastaken JKCA machinery fromSrinagar.Machinerywasdistrib-uted at district associationswithout any vouchers. Inmanydistrictswherewe don’t have amailing address, the letter wassent to the concerned personwhose name was registeredwithus.He(Rasool)tookoffencetowhy themail waswritten to

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

PAGE1ANCHOR

JKCA accuses cricketer Parvez Rasool ofstealing pitch roller; he says ‘unfortunate’

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

NOTES ‘PRE-DETERMINEDMIND’OFSTATEONPROBE

Suchincidentsnotgoodforhealthydemocracy:5-judgebench

ATRIMITRA

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

NOTING“THEREaredefiniteandproved allegations” that com-plaintsbyvictimsofviolencefol-lowing theWest Bengal assem-bly polls were “not registered”,the Calcutta High CourtThursday ordered a CBI investi-gation into all alleged cases ofmurder, rape and attempt torape, as flaggedby a committeewhose members were nomi-

natedbytheNHRCchairperson.In a unanimous ruling on a

clutchofpetitions,thefive-judgebench of Chief Justice (Acting)Rajesh Bindal, Justices I PMukerji, Harish Tandon,Soumen Sen and SubrataTalukdarsaid“suchtypesof inci-dents, even if isolated, are notgood forhealthydemocracy”.“Wehavechosenthisoption

because…these fall in the cate-goryof rare cases…the reasonsforwhichthislargescaleviolencehas occurred in the State…The

Committee, NHRC, any otherCommission or Authority andtheStateshallimmediatelyhandoverentirerecordof thecases…to the CBI for investigation. It ismadeclear that it shall beCourtmonitored investigation. Anyobstruction in the course of in-vestigation by anyone shall beviewedseriously,” it said.

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

THEHIGHCourt rulingwill escalate thepoliticalfightbetweentherulingTMCin thestateandtheBJP-ledgovernmentattheCentre. TheBJPhaswelcomedtheruling,and it ispossible that theTMCor thestatemayconsidermoving theSC.

Battlewill

intensifyE●EXPLAINED

West Bengal post-poll violence:

HC orders CBI probe, formsSIT

SHUBHAJITROY

NEWDELHI, AUGUST19

AMID THE rapidly unfoldingevents following the Taliban'stakeoverofAfghanistan,IndiaonThursday flagged “heightenedactivities" of the proscribedHaqqaninetworkandsaidotherPakistan-based terrorist groupssuchas theLashkar-e-ToibaandJaish-e-Mohammedcontinuetooperatewith"impunityanden-couragement".Addressing the United

NationsSecurityCouncil(UNSC),External Affairs Minister SJaishankar said the events inAfghanistan "have naturally en-hanced global concerns abouttheir implications for both re-gionalandinternationalsecurity”.

“The heightened activities oftheproscribedHaqqaninetworkjustifies this growing anxiety.Whether it is in Afghanistan oragainstIndia,groupslikeLashkar-e-ToibaandJaish-e-Mohammed

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

THEFALL OF

KABUL TO

TALIBANWHAT ITMEANS

FOR INDIA

A S E R I E S

FAITHANDHER

FREEDOM

BySYQuraishiPAGE6

Pak-based terror groupsoperate with impunity:Jaishankar at UNSC

Givenlifeandsoul toJ&Kcricket:ParvezRasool

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

SANTOSHSINGH

&LIZMATHEW

PATNA,NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

BIHAR LEADER of OppositionTejashwi Prasad Yadavwill ac-company Chief Minister NitishKumarinanall-partydelegationthat will meet PrimeMinisterNarendraModi onAugust 23 toask foracaste-basedcensus.Thiswillbethefirsttimethat

NitishandTejashwiwill shareaplatform.“I had sought time from the

Hon'ble PrimeMinister tomeetwith a delegation (from Bihar)on caste-based census. Manythanks to the Hon'ble PrimeMinister for giving an appoint-ment on August 23,” the Chief

MinisterpostedonTwitter.Tejashwi's political advisor

SanjayYadavconfirmedthattheRJD leaderwould join theCMatthemeetingwithModi.Allparties inBiharexcept the

BJP have demanded a count ofcastenumbersinthe2021census.Whilethecentralgovernmenthassofarrefusedtoaccedetothede-mand,someBJPleadersincludingBiharDeputyCMRenuDevihavebackedthecastecensus.“All socialist parties,

Congress,andLeftpartiesareonthesamepageonthecastecen-sus. Ironically, the BJP too hadbacked the unanimous resolu-tionpassedbytheBihar legisla-tureaskingforacastecensus,”aJD(U) leader said.

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Nitish, Tejashwi tomeet PM togetherto seek caste census

AVANEESHMISHRA

LUCKNOW,AUGUST19

OVERAyearaftergangsterVikasDubey and five others werekilled in a series of alleged en-counterswiththeUttarPradeshPolice, a three-member judicialcommission, formed on the di-rection of the Supreme Court,tabled its report in the stateAssemblyonThursday, clearingthepoliceaction.The commission — headed

by retiredSupremeCourt judgeJusticeBSChauhan,andwithre-tiredAllahabadHCjudgeJusticeShashiKantAgarwalandformerUPDirectorGeneralofPoliceKLGupta as its other members —also concluded that there was

enough evidence that Dubeyandhisgangwerepatronisedbylocalpolice,revenueandadmin-istrative officials, and recom-mended an inquiry against the"erringpublic servants".On July 3 last year, a police

teamthathadgone toBikruvil-lage in Kanpur to arrest Dubeyhad come under heavy gunfirefrom rooftops near the gang-ster'shome.Eightpolicemen,in-cludingDeputySuperintendentof PoliceDevendraMishra,died

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

BiharCMhasbrokenrankswithhisallyBJPonPegasus issueaswell

EXPRESSNETWORK

COURT:NOTHINGTO

SUGGESTTHAROOR

DROVEWIFETO

SUICIDEPAGE4

EXPLAINED

SIMPLYPUT

BEHINDTHEMOVE

TOPHASEOUTHFCsPAGE11

Dubey encounter: Panel clears UP policebut seeks probe into official collusion

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

AHMEDABAD,AUGUST19

GRANTINGPARTIESininterfaithmarriages protection "frombe-ingunnecessarilyharassed”,theGujaratHighCourtonThursdaystayed the operation of severalsections of the Freedom ofReligion (Amendment) Act,2021, including the provisionthattermedinterfaithmarriages

asmeansforforcefulconversion.The interim relief by a divi-

sion bench of the court camewhile it was hearing two peti-tions challenging the constitu-tionalityof theamendedAct.Tilldate, threecaseshavebeenfiledunderthelaw,accordingtosub-missions made by AdvocateGeneral (AG)KamalTrivedi.The law, which was

amended to bring in the clauseon interfaith marriages as a

means to carry out forced con-version,amongotherthings,waspassedbytheGujaratAssemblyon April 1. After GovernorAcharyaDevvratgavehisassentonMay22,thestategovernmentnotified it and enforced theamended law in theentire statefromJune15.Thetwopetitions—onefiled

bytheJamiatUlama-e-Hindandthe other by an Ahmedabad

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Anti-conversion law: Gujarat HC stayssections linked to interfaith marriages

MAYAPPEAL: TMCPAGE5

NitishKumar,TejashwiYadavtomeetPMonAugust23.PTI file

Thecrowdoutsidetheairport inKabulonThursday.MirwaisKhanAmiri viaReuters SEVERALKILLEDINPROTESTS,PAGE8

NEHRUANDVAJPAYEE

IDEAL LEADERS, ALL

PARTIESMUST

INTROSPECT: GADKARI

PAGE 10

VikasDubeywasshotdead in Julylastyear

OnAfghanistan, flags regionalandinternational security implications

ENSECONOMICBUREAU

NEWDELHI, AUGUST19

LINKING INDIA'S growth to thepace of vaccination, Fitch groupcompany India Ratings onThursday revised down its GDPforecast for the Indian economyto 9.4 per cent in 2021-22 fromitsearlierestimateof9.6percent.Mutedwage growth, rise in

healthexpenditure,anddeclinein household savings coupledwithhighconsumerinflationareexpectedtoweighonconsump-tion demand and hence, eco-nomicgrowth, it said.TheReserveBankofIndiahas

projectedarealGDPgrowthrateof 9.5 per cent in 2021-22. TheGDPestimatesfortheApril-Junequarter will be released by thegovernment on August 31.Because of the extremely lowbaseofaGDPcontractionof24.4per cent in April-June last year,most economists areprojecting

adouble-digitgrowthinGDPforthesameperiod this fiscal.IndiaRatingshadearliersaid

that if thecountry isable tovac-cinate its entire adult (18-plus)populationbyDecember31thisyear, thenGDPgrowthcouldbeexpected to come in at 9.6 percent in FY22 — otherwise, itmight slip to9.1percent.“Going by the pace of vacci-

nation, it is now almost certainthatIndiawillnotbeabletovac-cinateitsentireadultpopulationby31December2021,”PrincipalEconomist Sunil Kumar Sinhasaid.Faster recovery after the sec-

ondwaveofCovid-19,higherex-ports and sufficient rainfall willprovide support to economicgrowth. The agency estimatesthat5.2milliondailydoseswouldhave to be administeredAugust18 onwards to fully vaccinatemorethan88percentoftheadultpopulation, and to administer

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Vaccination pace tooslow, India Ratingslowers GDP forecast

KeralaHealthMinisterVeenaGeorgeatavaccinationcampinThiruvananthapuramon Thursday.PTI

INSIDE

UPSESSION ENDS

WITHIN 3DAYS

PUNJABBJP

LEADERSHIP FACES

FLAK FROMTOPPAGE10

Kolkata

THESECONDPAGE4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Collegiumsuggestions,MeghalayaunrestandAfghanistan

Inthisepisode,wetalkabouttheSCCollegium’snewrecommendationsandtheturmoilinMeghalayaafterthekillingofaformermilitant.WealsogooverthelatestnewsfromAfghanistan

DOWNLOADAPP

EXPLAINED:ANCIENTDRAVIDIANLANGUAGELINKWITHTHEINDUSVALLEYCIVILISATION

Anewresearchpaperpublishedinthepeer-reviewedjournaloftheSpringerNatureGrouphasprovidedsome

interestingnewinsightonthelinguisticcultureoftheHarappans

ENTERTAINMENT IN PICS

BELLBOTTOM

MOVIEREVIEW

AkshayKumar

deliversaracy,

pacyentertainer

WEB

EXCLUSIVE

SCANTHISQRCODETO

DOWNLOADTHEAPP

WORLDPHOTOGRAPHY

DAY

InsideKolkata’s

century-old

photostudio

■VISUAL STORIES

■ DAILY BRIEFING

■ PODCASTS

■ CUSTOMIZABLE

NEWS EXPERIENCE

IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

Gujarat HCresident,MujahidNafees—chal-lenged the amendedAct prima-rilyonthegroundsthatthelawismanifestlyarbitraryandviolatestherighttoprivacy.“Wearethereforeoftheopin-

ionthatpendingfurtherhearing,the rigoursof sections3, 4, 4A to4C,5, 6and6A, shall notoperatemerely because a marriage issolemnisedbyapersonofonere-ligionwithanotherwithoutforce,orbyallurementorbyfraudulentmeans and suchmarriages can-not be termed asmarriages forthepurposeof unlawful conver-sion,” Chief JusticeVikramNathsaid.“The above interim order is

providedonlyon the linesof thearguments advanced by Mr(Kamal)Trivedi,learnedadvocategeneral,andtoprotectthepartiessolemnisingthemarriage(inter-faith) frombeing unnecessarilyharassed,"JusticeNathadded.OnAugust17,AGTrivedihad

submitted before the court thatinterfaithmarriages are “per senot prohibited” although thebench of Chief JusticeNath andJustice Biren Vaishnav had ob-served that the language of theamendedActdoesnotmakethesame clear, leaving a “swordhanging”onsuchmarriages.On Thursday, the AG re-

questedthebenchtoclarifyiftheoperationofthesaidsectionsmaybeallowedifamarriageresultsinforcefulconversion,towhichthebench responded that its orderhassaidthatinterfaithmarriagesdonewithoutforce,allurementorfraudulentmeanscannotbecon-struedasanoffence.Section3of theamendedAct

dealswith“prohibitionofforcibleconversion” and states, “Noper-son shall convert or attempt toconvert, eitherdirectly or other-wise,anypersonfromonereligiontoanotherbyuseofforceorbyal-lurement or by any fraudulentmeansorbymarriageorbyget-tingapersonmarriedorbyaidingaperson togetmarriednor shallanypersonabetsuchconversion”.Section 4 lays downpunish-

ment for violation of Section 3,withimprisonmentofuptofouryears,with section4AprovidingforpunishmentforcontraventionofprovisionsofSection3incaseofmarriagebyunlawfulconversion,withamaximumprison termofsevenyears.Section4Bdefines “marriage

byunlawful conversion” as “anymarriagewhich is done for thepurpose of unlawful conversionbythepersonofonereligionwiththepersonofanotherreligion,ei-ther by converting himself/her-selfbeforeoraftermarriage,shallbe declared void by the FamilyCourtorwheretheFamilyCourtisnotestablished,bytheCourthav-ingjurisdictiontotrysuchcases”.Section4Claysdownoffences

byinstitutionororganisationbe-ing incontraventionof Section3andstipulatespunishmentupto10 years of imprisonment.Sections 5 and 6 stipulate priorpermissionofdistrictmagistrateincaseof conversionanddistrictmagistrate’s permission topros-ecuteoffencesundertheAct.Section6Alaysdownthebur-

denof proof as towhethera reli-giousconversionwas“noteffectedthroughmisrepresentation,force,undueinfluence,coercion,allure-mentorbyanyfraudulentmeansor bymarriage" on the person"whohascaused theconversionand,where suchconversionhasbeen facilitatedbyanypersonbyact, omission, aid, abetment orcounselling,onsuchotherperson”.Reactingtothepassingof the

interim order, Jamiat nationalpresidentMaulanaMahmoodMadani said that the court had"shownamirrorofrealitytothoseinpowerwhomadethislawwithbad intent. The components ofthe law are stricter thanUAPA.Youcannottreatasocialproblemthisway.Itwillfurthercomplicatetheissue".Responding toqueries at the

sidelines of an event atMansa,DeputyChiefMinisterNitinPatelsaid,“Iamnotawareof thecom-mentsonthelovejihadlawbytheHonourable High Court.Whatevermay be the observa-tions or comments, it is naturalthat our Advocate General andother government lawyerswillapprise the chiefminister, homeminister and the legal depart-ment. The governmentwill de-cideonstepstotakeoncewehavefullinformationofthecommentsandobservationsmade.”

WITHENS,NEWDELHI

Parvez Rasoolhim,” Gupta told The IndianExpress.“Wedidthisbecausewewant

to prepare an audit report, aledger book needs to bemain-tained. There is hardly anybookmaintainedhere over the years.Sowhenwe took over after thecourt's order,we saw that thesemachineryarenotbeing found,”Guptasaid.Thesub-committeecameinto

existenceinJuneaftertheJammuandKashmirHighCourt passedanorderthattheBCCIshouldrunJKCAcricket. TwoBJPspokesper-sons—GuptaandadvocateSunilSethi —were appointed to thepanel,alongwithcricketerMithunManhas.Additionally,MajidDarwasappointedtolookintothede-velopmentof cricket at Srinagarandreporttothesub-committee.TheemailtoRasool,signedby

“Committee Members JKCA”,warnedofpossiblepoliceaction.“Youareholdingmachineryof

JKCA... Before taking any harshstep in thedirectionwhichmayinclude invitingpolice action forbreach of trust and in order tomaintaincordialrelationship,youare directed to immediately re-turn all machinerywithin oneweek failingwhich JKCAwill befreetotakeaction,”itsaid.AccordingtoGupta,thethreat

of police actionwas included inthesecondnoticebecause“someof thedistricts feel that they cangetawaywithanythingandnoth-ingwillhappentothem.”In his reply, dated July 26,

Rasoolwrote: “This is to informyou that I ParvezRasool first in-ternational cricketerhave repre-sented my country and alsoplayed in IPL, Duleep Trophy,Deodhar trophy, India A, Boardpresident XI, Irani Trophy, cap-tained the J&KRanji team fromlast 6 years and only cricketerfrom J&K who got best all-rounderawardfromBCCI2times.Today I got a letter stating that IhavetakenrollerfromJKCAwhichisreallyunfortunate...Letmeclar-ify that I haven’t takenany rolleror machine from JKCA. I am aplayerwhoisplayingcricket.Ijustwanttoaskisthisthewaytotreatinternational cricketerwhohasgiven life and soul to J&Kcricket.Youhaveanaffiliatedbody inalldistricts;youshouldaskthemforanyJKCAequipmentifpresentintheirdistrictsratherthanme.”Despite repeated attempts,

Rasool remainedunavailable forcomment.

Nitish KumarAskediftheJD(U)wasindicat-

ing to theBJP that it had theop-tionofjoininghandswiththeRJD,the leader said: “Themedia arereadingtoomuchintothis.NitishKumarhasreiteratedthatJD(U)ispartof theNDA.”A senior RJD leader said the

demand for a caste censuswas“surely common meetingground”.“Butitistooearlytolookforapoliticalmeaning.Castecen-sushasbeenabigissue.Itisgoodthatalmostalloppositionpartieshavebeenunanimouson it,” theleadersaid.The JD(U) broke rankswith

theBJPrecentlyonthePegasusaf-fairaswell,withNitishdemand-ingaprobeintotheallegationsofsurveillanceof phonesusing so-phisticated spyware.Nitish alsodoesnot agreewith thepopula-tion policy that has been pro-posedinBJP-ruledUPandAssam.

TheBJPhasbeeninadilemmaovertheintensifyingdemandfora caste census. UnionMinisterBhupender Yadav has told TheIndian Express in an interviewthatthegovernmentisyettotakeadecisiononit.Highly placed sources in the

government said that the topleadershipoftherulingpartyisofthe view that “the governmentshouldnotagreetosuchanenu-meration soon”. However, thestandingcommitteeonsocialjus-tice,whichwasearlierheadedbysenior BJP leaderGanesh Singh,hasproposedacensusofOBCs.BJPleadersprivatelyconcede

that thedemand for a caste cen-suswouldbeanissueinthestateelectionsofnextyear.Theysaythepartycannotaffordtoantagonisethe OBCs, who have become acrucial support base in recentyears.On July20, inawrittenre-ply to a question in Lok Sabha,MinisterofstateforHomeAffairsNityanand Rai had said: “TheGovernmentofIndiahasdecidedas amatter of policynot to enu-merate caste-wise populationsotherthanSCsandSTsinthecen-sus.”

Jaishankarcontinuetooperatewithbothim-punity and encouragement,”Jaishankar said at a high-levelUNSCbriefing on ‘Threats to in-ternational peace and securitycaused by terrorist acts'. Indiaholds the current presidency oftheUNSC.“It is, therefore, vital that this

Councildoesnottakeaselective,tacticalorcomplacentviewoftheproblemsweface.Wemustnevercountenancesanctuaries for ter-roristsoroverlooktheirraisingofresources.Andwhenweseestatehospitality being extended tothosewith innocents' blood ontheirhands,weshouldneverlackthecouragetocallout theirdou-ble-speak," said Jaishankar,whochairedthemeeting.TheUNSCbriefingconsidered

the 13th report of the SecretaryGeneral on the threat posed bythe Islamic State of Iraq and theLevant (ISIL) to internationalpeaceandsecurity.TheAugust3report states that ISIL-Khorasan(ISIL-K),aself-proclaimedbranchoftheISIL,hasexpandeditspres-ence in several provinces ofAfghanistanandstrengtheneditspositionsinandaroundKabul.Jaishankar said the ISIL-K is

constantly seeking to expand itsfootprint in India's immediate

neighbourhood.HetoldtheCouncil that ISIL's

modus operandi has changed,withthecorefocusingonregain-ing ground in Syria and Iraq andaffiliates functioning independ-ently. “This evolving phenome-non is extremelydangerous andposes anewset of challenges toour collective efforts in our fightagainst ISIL and terrorism,” hesaid, adding, “We must nevercompromisewiththisevil.”InaswipeatChina,Jaishankar

told the Council that countriesshouldnotplaceblocksandholdswithout any reasonon requeststo designate terrorists,warningthat any double standards anddistinctions between terroristswouldbemadeonlyat"ourownperil”.Jaishankar alluded to his re-

marks to the Council made inJanuary,whenhehadproposedaneight-pointactionplanaimedat collectively eliminating thescourgeof terrorism.“Summon the politicalwill:

don't justify terrorism,don'tglo-rify terrorists, no double stan-dards.Terroristsareterrorists,dis-tinctions aremade only at ourownperil.Don'tplaceblocksandholdsonlistingrequestswithoutanyreason,”hesaid.ThiswasinreferencetoChina

repeatedlyplacingtechnicalholdsonbidsbyIndiaandothernationstodesignateMasoodAzhar,headof the Pakistan-basedmilitantgroup Jaish-e-Mohammed, as aglobalterrorist.Jaishankarsaidthattheinter-

national communityholdsacol-lectiveviewthatterrorisminallitsformsandmanifestationsmustbecondemned. “In spite of theprogresswehavemadetotightenthe legal, security, financingandotherframeworkstocombatter-rorism, terrorists are constantlyfindingnewerwaysofmotivating,resourcingandexecutingacts ofterror. Unfortunately, there arealso somecountrieswhoseek toundermineorsubvertourcollec-tiveresolvetofightterrorism.Thatcannot be allowed to pass,” hesaid,adding, “It isalso important,therefore, to end the stalematepreventing the adoption of aComprehensive Convention onInternational Terrorism,whichIndiahaschampionedforsolong.”He also drew parallels be-

tween the Covid-19 pandemicand the scourge of terrorism,tellingthe15-nationUNbodythat“let us always remember thatwhatistrueofCovidisevenmore

trueof terrorism:noneof us aresafeuntilallofusaresafe.”Speaking at theUNSCmeet-

ing, DavoodMoradian, DirectorGeneraloftheAfghanInstituteforStrategic Studies,who escapedfromKabul as the Taliban tookcontrolofthecountry,saidoneofthe passengerswho fell to thegroundfromaUSplanethatwastakingoffwasreportedlyamem-berofAfghanistan'snationalfoot-ballteam.

Vaccination pacesingledoses totherestbyMarch31nextyear.The consumption demand

storydoesnot look encouragingeven fromamedium-termper-spective,withonlyexportsbeingseenasthebrightspot.“UnlikeCOVID1.0,whichwas

largely an urban phenomenon,COVID2.0spreadtoruralareasaswell.Evenif theagriculturalout-put/income remains intact inviewoftheprogressofmonsoonso far, rural households are un-likelytoloosentheirpursestringsinviewof theCOVID-19inducedrise and/or a likely rise in thehealthexpenditureasalsotheun-certainty/insecurity associatedwith the likely futurewaves ofCOVID-19,”IndiaRatingssaid.Ruralwage growth both for

agriculturalandnon-agriculturalactivities has declined lately.“Wagegrowtheven inurbanar-eashasbeenmuted.Infact,urbanhouseholds, besides the rise inhealthexpenditure,arefacingthedouble whammy of incomeloss/stagnationcoupledwithhighconsumerinflation.Allthishasse-verelydentedtheirdisposablein-come,”itsaid.The jobs sector has been

showingindicationsoftheimpactofthepandemicbeingmorepro-nouncedincaseofbetterqualityjobs in urban areas, especiallysalaried jobs after the secondwaveof thepandemic.Thedisproportionate impact

onbetterqualityjobsisevidentinCMIEdatathatshowsalariedjobsat 76.5million in July2021wereactually 3.2million fewer thantheywereinJune,notwithstand-ingthebroadereconomicuptickinJuly.The July number is also 3.6

million short of the pre-secondwave level of 80 million inJanuary-March2021.Citingcorporatetaxratioand

income tax ratio to GDP, it saidthatwhile corporateshavebeenbenefitingfromthereducedcor-

porate tax announced in FY20,suchbenefithasremainedelusiveso far for urbanhouseholds, de-spite the Covid-19 induced in-comeshockthatwilllimitgrowthofconsumptionexpenditure.Sinhasaidtherecoverytrend

pointstorisinginequalityafterthepandemicthathaspushedalargenumber of people back intopoverty. “Whatever recoverywetalk about now will be a 'K-shaped' recovery and not V-shapedrecovery,”hesaid.A 'K-shaped' recoverypoints

toinequality,withthepoorersec-tions bearing the brunt even asthereisanoverallrecoveryintheeconomy,benefittingmainlythebetter off. The agency sees a lowchanceofrevivalinprivatesectorinvestment during this fiscal.“...Whatwearewitnessing rightnow ismaintenance capital ex-penditureandnotgreenfieldproj-ects,”Sinhasaid.Theratingagencyexpectsthe

nominal GDPgrowth to be 15.6percentandtheaverageretailin-flationat5.6percent.Theriseinfuelpricesisoneof

thebiggest factors feeding infla-tion, IndiaRatings said, pointingout thatRBI hasbeenurging thegovernment to reduce taxesanddutiesonthecommodity,whichleadtoinflationarypressures.“There are first roundeffects

andtherearethenindirecteffectsof hike in fuel prices andusuallythe impact is greater in the indi-rect effects,” Sinha said, addingthattransportationcostsforpro-ducershavegoneupsignificantly.Sinhasaid thegovernment is

notheedingsuchcallsbecause itfeels the resentment among thepublicisnothighenoughforittoact.Soitiscontinuingtokeepthetaxes and duties at high levels,which lead to higher revenuesthat can then be distributed forpublicschemes,hesaid.

Dubey encounterintheambush.Ofthe21peoplenamedinthe

FIR, police gunneddownsix ac-cused,includingDubey,inallegedencounters over the followingweeks. On July 10, Dubeywaskilledwhenapolice vehicle fer-rying him from Ujjain, fromwherehewasarrested,toKanpurmetwith an accident. Police al-leged thathe tried toescapeandopenedfire,andthathewaskilledinretaliatoryfire.On the alleged collusion be-

tweenDubey and officials, thecommission report says, "Police

and revenueofficers patronisedhimandhis gang. If any personlodged any complaint againstVikasDubeyorhisassociates,thecomplainantwasalwayshumili-ated by the police. Even if thehigher authorities directed tolodgethecomplaint,thelocalpo-licedictatedtheterms,”thereportsaid, pointing toDubey'swife'selectionasZila Panchayatmem-ber andhis brother’swife's elec-tion as pradhanof the village asevidenceof Dubey's clout in thelocaladministration.“Investigation in any case

lodged against themwas neverimpartial.Sectionsrelatingtose-riousoffencesweredroppedbe-forefilingthechargesheet.Duringthetrial,mostwitnessesturnhos-tile. VikasDubey andhis associ-ates got bail orders from thecourtseasilyandquicklyastherewasnoseriousoppositionbythestateauthoritiesandgovernmentadvocates.Stateauthoritiesneverconsidered it appropriate to en-gageaspecialcounselforhispros-ecution. The state nevermovedanyapplicationforcancellationofbail or approached the superiorcourtforcancellationofanyofthebailorders,”thereportsaid.On the July 3police ambush

thatendedupinthedeathofeightpolicemen, the report said someof thepolicepersonnelpostedinChaubeypurpolicestation,whichhas jurisdiction over Dubey'sBikru village, had tipped off thegangster about the impendingpoliceraid.“Therewasatotalfail-ure of the intelligence unit inKanpurincollectinginformationabout the criminal activities [ofDubey]andpossessionofsophis-ticatedweapons.Nopropercau-tionwastakeninpreparationforthe raid, andnoneof thepolice-menwerewearing bulletproofjackets.Only18ofthemhadarms,theresthadgoneempty-handedorwithsticks,”thecommission'sreportsaid.Recommendingactionagainst

thosewhose allegedly colludedwithDubey,thereportsays,“TheCommissionrecommendsinitia-tionof disciplinaryproceedingsagainsttheerringpublicservantsforlossofrecords,particularlytherecordof cases relating toVikasDubey,afterholdingaregular in-quiry, andpassnecessaryordersagainstthosefoundguilty.”Givingacleanchit to the first

encounter that took place justsevenhours after theBikru am-bush andwhich resulted in thekilling of two of the accused,Dubey's maternal uncle PremPrakashandhisaideAtulDubey,the report said the injuries sus-tainedbypolicepersonneldidnotappeartobeself-inflictedandthatmostofthefirearminjuriesontheaccused "were on the non-vitalpartsof theirbodies".Thecommissiongavesimilar

cleanchitstotheencountersthatlater killedAmarDubey, PravinKumar Dubey and PrabhatMishra.Ontheallegedencounterthat

killedDubeyonJuly10,thereportsaidthatthepoliceteamwereontheirwaybackfromUjjainwhena herd of cows and buffaloesstartedcrossingtheroad,causingthevehicle toskidandturnover.Thecommission'sreportsaidthattheaccidentcaused"momentaryunconsciousness"tosomeofthepolicepersonnelsittingintheve-hicle, followingwhich the ac-cused,takingadvantageofthesit-uation, allegedly snatched therevolver of a policeman andstartedrunningtohisleftalongakutchharoad.According to the commis-

sion'sreport,Dubeyshotfromthepoliceman'spistolevenasthepo-lice chasedhim, injuring twoofthemen in uniform. The reportadds that police fired at the ac-cused in self-defence, leading toDubeycollpasing.Hewasrushedto thedistrict hospital,wherehewasdeclared brought dead, thecommission said, adding the in-juries sufferedby thepolicemencouldnothavebeenself-inflictedorfabricated.

FROMPAGEONE

Bengal: HC orders CBI probe, forms SITThe bench said a Special

InvestigationTeamwillbecon-stituted for all other cases re-ferred to in the report of thecommittee. It said the SITwillbe headed by Suman BalaSahoo, and its othermemberswill be Soumen Mitra andRanveer Kumar, all IPS officersof theWestBengalcadre.“It ismadeclearthat itshall

be Courtmonitored investiga-tion. TheState shall spare theirservicesforthepurpose,asandwhen required and shall nottakeanyadverseactionagainstthemwithout specificpermis-sion of the Court. Theworkingof the SIT shall be overviewedbyaretiredHon’bleJudgeoftheHon’ble Supreme Court, forwhich separate order shall bepassedaftertakinghis/hercon-sent.His/her termsof appoint-mentshallbedecidedlateron,”theorderstated.DirectingtheCBIandtheSIT

to submit their status reportwithin sixweeks – thematterwillbeheardnextonOctober4-- the bench said: “As the coreissueregardingthepost-pollvi-olenceand theaction requiredtobetakenthereonhasbeenre-solvedwith the directions forproperinvestigationofcasesbytheCBIandtheSIT…, themat-tersnowshallbeplacedbefore

theDivision Bench for dealingwith other issues in the reportandfurtherproceedings.”Explainingwhyitwasorder-

ingaCBIprobe, thebenchsaid:“Itisforthereasonthatinnum-berofcases,theStatehadfailedto register the FIRs andopinedthe same tobenot the cases ofmurder. Insomecases,evenaf-terregistrationofFIR,theobser-vationbytheState is that thesemay result in ‘no case’. Thisshowspre-determinedmindtotake investigation intoapartic-ular direction. Under such cir-cumstances,investigationbyin-dependent agencywill inspireconfidencetoallconcerned.”The bench said: “Notice is-

sued to Rashid Munir Khan,DeputyCommissionerofPolice,South Suburban Division,KolkatavideorderdatedJuly13,2021, to show-cause as towhyproceedings for contempt benot initiated against him, shallbedealtwithlater. “Rejectingthestatepleafora

time-framethatcoulddescribepost-poll violence, the benchsaid: “One of the argumentsraisedbytheStatewastofixtheperiod of the crime reportedduringwhichcanbeconsideredaspost-pollviolence.Butwedonotwishtoenter intothatareaforthereasonthatifanyaggres-

sorpartycommitsanoffenceonaccount of someone’s partici-pation in the election processandsupportingaparticularpo-litical party, the same shall beconsideredaspost-pollviolenceandnotimelimitassuchcanbefixed.”It said “polling in the State

was in eight phases startingfromMarch27, 2021 andend-ing onApril 29, 2021. In everyphase of polling, some of thepersonswho support orworkfor a particular party arewellknown. If any offence is com-mittedevenbeforedeclarationof result and has connectionwithelectionprocess,eventhatcanalsobeconsideredaspartofthepostpollviolence.Anythreattoavictimoracomplainantaf-terwardsisalsocontinuationofoffencerelatedtothepolls.Itwillbe for the investigating agencytofindoutfromthefactsofeachcase. The investigating agencyshallalsofindoutastowhetherthe police had registered FIRsunderpropersectionsornot.”On the role of the Election

Commission of India, it said:“Strong argumentwas soughtto be raised by the learnedAdvocate General time andagainthattillsuchtimeelectioncodewas in force, entirepolicewas under the control and su-

pervision of the ElectionCommission of India, hence, itis responsible for any violencetillMay03,2021,whenthecodewaslifted…Noprovisionoflawrules or instructions to that ef-fect have been referred to insupport of the argument. Theargument deserves to be re-jectedoutrightly.Civilorpoliceadministration is under thecontrol of the ElectionCommissionduringtheprocessof electionsonly toensure freeandfairelections.Thatdoesnotmean that the police stop dis-charging its normal duties tocontrol lawandorder.”“The State cannot be al-

lowed to blowhot and cold atthesamebreath.Thereisnoth-ingplacedonrecordbythestatethatevennormallawandorder,and registration of criminalcases comes within thepurview of EC. Constitutionalobligations of the State do notget vested in the ElectionCommissionduringtheprocessofelections,” itsaid.Thebenchorderedthestate

governmenttopaycompensa-tion to thevictimsof crimes inaccordancewith the policy oftheState,afterdueverification.Thecompensationamountwillbe directly transferred to theirbankaccounts.

ANANDMOHANJ

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

INITSWednesdayorderdischarg-ingCongressMPShashi Tharoorin the death of his late wifeSunanda Pushkar, a Delhi courtsaid that "in the absence of spe-cificallegationsandsufficientma-terial", the accused "cannot becompelledtofacetherigmarolesofacriminaltrial"."Nodoubtaprecious lifewas

lost.Butintheabsenceofspecificallegationsandsufficientmaterialtomakeouttheingredientsofthevariousoffencesandonthebasisofwhich the court could, at thisstage, presume that the accusedhad committed the offence, theaccused cannot be compelled toface the rigmaroles of a criminaltrial," Special Judge GeetanjaliGoelsaidintheorderthatwasup-loadedonThursday.Pushkarwasfounddeadinthe

suiteofaluxuryhotel inDelhionJanuary17,2014.TheDelhiPolicefirstfiledanFIRagainstunknownpersonsonchargesofmurderonJanuary1,2015.Tharoorwaslaterbookedunder IPCSections498A(husbandorhis relative subject-ingawomantocruelty) and306(abetmenttosuicide).Additional Public Prosecutor

Atul Kumar Shrivastava had inhearingsstretchingovertwoyearsmade the case that Tharoor hadsubjectedPushkartomentalandphysical cruelty and that hehadabettedhersuicide.Toconstituteanoffenceunder

Section306(abetmenttosuicide),theprosecutionhastoprovethatthedeceaseddiedbysuicideandtheaccusedabettedthecommis-sionofsuicide.Tharoor'slawyer,senioradvo-

cateVikasPahwa,hadarguedthatit has been held in a cantena ofjudgments thatwhere the causeofdeathwasnotdefinite,itwouldnotattractSection306.Thiswasapoint thatwent in

Tharoor'sfavour,asthecourtnotedthat"noneofthe(medical)reportson recordconfirmthat thedeathinthepresentcasewassuicidal".In its first report, the

PsychologicalAutopsyBoard—aBoardof independentdoctorssetupbytheMinistryofHealthontherequestoftheinvestigatingagency—had stated that thedeathwasnothomicideor suicidewhile initssecondreport,itstatedthatthedeceasedhad "suicidal ideationsbutdidnotstate that itwasasui-cidenor there is anyothermate-rialtoconfirmthesame".Thecourtsaid that as such, "none of theBoards had confirmed that thedeathwasasuicide".Thecourtnotedthatthe"pros-

ecutionitselfhastakenthestanceatonepointthat itwasahomici-daldeathandatanother that thedeathwas a suicide". It said that"evenifitispresumedthatthede-ceasedhadsuicidalideationsandshe had committed suicide orcausedgrave injury or danger tolife, limborhealthasperthecaseoftheprosecution",thereisnoth-ing, evenprima facie, to suggestthat therewas any "willful con-ductonthepartof theaccusedofsuchanatureaswaslikelytodrivethedeceasedtocommitsuicide..."

Nothing tosuggestTharoordrove wifeto suicide,says court

SunandaPushkarwasfounddeadinahotel in2014

Kolkata

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

WESTBENGAL

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

THEBJPonThursdaywelcomedtheCalcuttaHighCourtorderofaCBIprobeintoallegedincidentsof post poll violence in WestBengal even as the rulingTrinamool Congress said it waslookingtochallengetheorderintheSupremeCourt.BJP national general secre-

tary and party in-charge ofBengal,KailashVijayvargiyasaid,“Wewelcomethisdecision.Thishasvindicatedourstand.Thein-cidents of post-poll violence inBengaltookplaceunderthepro-tection of the state governmentand the Trinamool. This is amoralvictory forourparty.”BJP state president Dilip

Ghosh echoed the same senti-ment:“The high court order to-day is a victory of theConstitution.Thevictimsofsuchincidents will get justice now.Democracy will be restored toBengal. Opposition parties willbe able to exercise their rights.Wealsowelcomethecourt’sde-cisiontoordercompensationfor

theaffected families.”The high court on

Thursday ordered a CBI probeinto cases of murder and rapeduring alleged post-poll vio-lence in the state. A five-judgebench headed by Acting ChiefJustice Rajesh Bindal also or-dered the formation of a spe-cial investigation team (SIT) toprobe all other offences. Thebench said the courtwillmon-itor both the investigationsanddirectedCBI and the SIT tosubmit their reports withinsix weeks.The Trinamool,meanwhile,

said it was planning to move ahighercourtchallengingtheor-der.“The Calcutta High Court

court has issued an order andwe respect the judiciary. But iftheCBI intervenes inevery law-and-ordermatter,whichiswell

withinthedomainof stategov-ernment, it isa transgressionofthe state’s right. I am sure thestategovernmentwill look intotheorderandmighttakeadeci-siontoappeal toahighercourt,if necessary. I am not veryhappywith the order,” veteranTrinamoolMPSougataRoysaid.Trinamoolstategeneralsec-

retary Kunal Ghosh tweeted,“Beforethevote, theBJP leadershad made provocative state-ments such as ‘Wewill kill youand you won’t get people totake thebodies to thecremato-rium’. Every threat is known toall.TheBJPhasrepeatedlymadesuch provoking statements inorder to incite violence. Theyare doing the same now inTripura.”He added, “The HC order

cannot be openly opposed. Ithas given certain instructions.Thegovernmentandtheparty’s(TMC) top leadership will re-spond to these directions.Possible legal aspects will beconsidered.WethinktheNHRCreport ispurelypoliticallymoti-vated. I will not comment ontheHCorder now.”

Victimscanget justicenow:DilipGhosh

HC ORDERONPOST-POLLVIOLENCE

TMCmaymovetopcourt,BJPclaimsmoral victory

Mamata tovisit SSKMevery weekfor review

COOCHBEHAR

4 injuredas 2 TMCcamps clashEXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

AT LEAST four TMC workerswere injured inaclashbetweensupporters of party’s two lead-ers, includingSitaiMLAJagadishChandraBarma,inCoochbehar’sDinhata area on Thursday.Sources said one campwas notinvited to a programme atDinhata, triggering toaclash.Threeof theinjuredreceived

arrow injuries while another,identified as Abdul Jalil Mian(45),wasshotat.Hewasadmit-ted to Dinhata Sub-DivisionalHospital.Sources attributed the clash

to a political rivalry betweenBarma and former TMC MPPartha PratimRoy,whowas re-movedfromTMC’sdistrictpres-identpost andappointedas thechairman of the North BengalState Transport Corporation intherecentparty reshuffle.“At least four people have

been injured in the clash be-tweentwogroups,”saidapoliceofficer.Sources said the infighting

betweenBarmaandRoy campsin the district, especially atDinhata-1block,hadbeengoingon for sometime.In the TMC reshuffle,

Prasanna Dev Sharmawas re-moved as the Dinhata-1 blockpresident and replaced withSanjayBarman.Royhadsuccess-fullydemandedthatSharmabereplaced by his loyalist SanjayBarman.However,thisdidnotprevent

infighting between Sitai MLABarmaandRoy.District TMC chairman

UdayanGuhasaid that such in-cidentswouldnotbe toleratedand appropriate steps wouldbe taken to “prevent suchthings”.

Cops unfair in enforcing curbs: BJPEXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

THEBJP slammed the police ac-tion against the Narayani Senamembers ahead of the party’sscheduledShahidSammanYatraatMaynaguriinJalpaiguridistrictonThursday.Addressing a news confer-

ence, BJP spokesperson SamikBhattacharya said, “We stronglycondemn the police action

against them.Thishasbecomeatrend in Bengal.Whenever theBJP plans to organise a pro-gramme, thepolice stop it citingCovid-19 related restrictions.Theydon’tactsimilarlywhentherulingTrinamoolCongressorgan-isessuchprogrammes.”The Narayani Sena is an or-

ganisationsetupafewyearsagoby the Greater Cooch BeharPeople’s Association to press itsdemand for a separate GreaterCoochBeharstate.NarayaniSena

wasalsothenameofthearmyoftheerstwhileMaharajaofCoochBehar.OnThursday,membersofthis

organisationentered intoascuf-flewith the police in Jalpaiguridistrictaheadof theBJP’sShahidSammanYatrawhichwas to beattended by Union ministerNisith Pramanik. About 250members of theNarayani Senawere arrested on charges of at-tacking police personnel and vi-olatingCovid-19restrictions.

People can soon pick time slotsfor vaccination at KMC centres

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

CHIEF MINISTER MamataBanerjee on Thursday said shewould visit the state-run SSKMHospitaleveryThursdayandre-viewdevelopmentworks for anhour.During her

visittothehos-pital on herway to thestate secre-tariat,Banerjeesaid, “I willcome at 4 pmand will stayfor an hour.Myhealthsecretaryand sometimeschief secretarywill also accompanyme. SincetheHealthdepartmentbuildingisfaroff, Ihavemadeanarrange-mentinSSKMhospital,andfromthere, I will monitor develop-mentworks that SSKMhas un-dertaken."Stressingthathernexttarget

is employment generation andindustrialisation, Banerjee saidshehadformedacommittee forthe purpose, and itwouldmeetevery15days.Speakingaboutherleginjury

sustained during her campaignintheAssemblypollsinApril,shesaidthattheinjurywouldhealinoneandahalfmonths.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

Peoplelookingtogetvaccinatedagainst Covid at the KolkataMunicipalCorporation-runcen-tresin144wardscanchoosetheday and timing for their slotsfromMonday.Currently,theycanwalk-inat

thesecentresanddependingontheavailabilityofthevaccinecanreceivetheshots.AccordingtoaKMC official, the first dosewillbe given between 10 am and3pm, and the second dose be-tween 3pm and 4pm. One canbookaslotonWhatsApp.Thecivicbodyhas,sofar,ad-

ministered 44 lakh vaccinedoses.Across the state, 2,85,472

shots were administered onThursday,takingthecumulativefigure to 3,55,05,572 doses. ThenumberofpeoplevaccinatedonWednesdaywas2.6 lakh.“In the special category of

peopleagedbetween18and44years, 94,11,766 doses in totalhave been administered sincethedrivebegan,”anofficialsaid.Meanwhile, the state

recorded 731 new Covid-19casesand12deathsoverthelast24 hours, taking the total num-berofcasesto15,40,989andthetoll to18,337.North 24 Parganas

recorded the highest numberof fatalities at three, followedby Darjeeling at two. Thestate’s active case count cur-rently stands at 9,653.

KIIThonoursspiritual leaderBhubaneswar: TheKalinga Institute ofIndustrial Technology(KIIT) in Bhubaneswarhas conferred an hon-orary degree, D. Litt.(Honoris Causa), on spir-itual leader Sri MataAmritanandamayi Devi.Thedegreewasbestoweduponhervirtuallyaspartof thedeemed-to-beuni-versity’s17thannualcon-vocation ceremony lastSaturdayinrecognitionofher “great contributionsin the fieldof spirituality,education, environmen-tal issues, humanitarianefforts, loveandcompas-sion".ENS

DGPtoheadrecruitmentboardforcopsKolkata: West BengalDirectorGeneralofPoliceVirendra has beennamed the new chair-man of the PoliceRecruitment Board. Thestate police chief, whowillberetiringonAugust31, has been vestedwithadditional charge of therecruitment board.Accordingtosources, theDGP, on retirement, willremain in the post ofchairman of the PoliceRecruitmentBoard.ENS

BRIEFLY

With big processionsbanned, people asked tostay home on MuharramEXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

KOLKATA,AUGUST19

INVIEWofCovidrestrictions,po-lice have appealed to people tostay home and banned big pro-cessionsonMuharramonFriday.Though no big procession is

plannedinKolkata,thetrafficpo-lice in its advisory said move-mentofgoodsvehicleswouldberestrictedatsomeplaces.ShafiqueQasmi,theimamof

Kolkata’sNakhodamosque,saidpeople can, however, visitmosques."Wewill followgovernment

guidelinesandaccordinglysocialdistancing will be followed.Peoplemayvisitmasjidandkeeproza, but we have appealed tothemtonotparticipateinanybigprocession.Itisourresponsibilityto ensure everyone's safety.Wehope that everything remainspeaceful," saidthecleric.Kolkata Policehas beefedup

security especially at importantintersections.Specialpoliceforcepersonnelwillbedeployedinar-easwhereMuharramwillbeob-served.On the traffic advisory, a po-

liceofficersaid,"Itisnecessarytominimuse inconvenience tocommuters duringMuharramonAugust 19-20; hence,move-ment of goods vehicles shall berestrictedat someplaceswithinKolkata.” According to the advi-sory,goodsvehiclescannotenterareas under the jurisdiction ofKolkata Police from 4pm onThursdayto5pmonSaturday."All types of vehicles may

also be diverted from any ofthe arterial and / or feederroads by the traffic police onduty, as andwhen considerednecessary today and tomor-row," read the order by trafficdepartment.Every year, hundreds of

Muslimstakeoutprocessions inKolkata at many places to ob-servetheday.

Thetrafficpolice in

itsadvisorysaid

movementofgoods

vehicleswouldbe

restrictedatsome

places

CMMamataBanerjee

Amidanuncertain future,Afghans living inKolkatacelebrate their IndependenceDayonThursday.ParthaPaul

AFGHANS HOPE FOR BETTER FUTURE

Kolkata

6

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

WELCOME THE NINETheCollegium’s listof recommendations toapexcourtbreaks

adeadlock—andleavesa trace

THEBEGINNINGOFtheendof a judicialdeadlockonvacancies in thehighest

court is immenselywelcome. The recommendation by the Supreme Court

CollegiumheadedbyChief Justiceof IndiaNVRamanaofninenamesforap-

pointmentasjudgestothetopcourt,breaksthe22-month-longimpassedur-

ingwhichnoconsensuscouldemergewithintheCollegiumevenasvacanciesremained

unfilled. The forwardmovement on appointments — the government’s response is

awaited—isalsohearteningbecauseitbringsintosightthepossibilityof thefirstwoman

chief justiceof India.Buttheprolongedstalematehasnotgonewithoutatrace. Ithadre-

portedlydevelopedaroundtheinsistenceof JusticeRohintonNariman,whoretiredonly

daysago,onthe inclusionof thetwosenior-most judges intheall-India listofHCjudges

in any list of recommendations — one of the two judges, Chief Justice of Tripura High

CourtAkilKureshi, isabsentfromthefinalnine.Yes,aninstitutioncannotbekeptonhold

becauseofoneindividual.Andyet,themissingnameontheCollegium’slistraisesunan-

sweredquestions.

Theunderlyingproblemis theopaquenessof the judicial appointmentsprocess.No

reasons are given for the choice of those selected, or left out. Thiswas not always so. In

October 2017, the Collegium, then headed by CJI DipakMisra, had decided that “deci-

sionshenceforthtakenbytheCollegiumindicatingthereasonsshallbeputontheweb-

siteof theSupremeCourt,whentherecommendation(s) is/are sent to theGovernment

of India…”,because“oneachoccasionthematerialwhichisconsideredbytheCollegium

is different”. And briefly, for about two years, the court did try to bring inmore trans-

parency inmattersof elevationand transferof judges.Butnowtheabsenceof anypub-

lic reasoning has cast the spotlight on a judgewhose elevation became a point of con-

tention even earlier. In September 2019, the SC Collegiumheaded by CJI Ranjan Gogoi

reverseditsMay2019recommendationappointingJusticeKureshiaschief justiceof the

MadhyaPradeshHighCourt, after thegovernmentsent thefilebackforreconsideration

and instead recommended him for the position of chief justice of Tripura. Earlier, in

November2018,whenthepostofchief justiceofGujaratHighCourtfellvacant, itwasnot

JusticeKureshiwhotookchargeasactingCJ,asthesenior-mostjudge,asperconvention.

Hewas,instead,transferredtoBombayHCasitsfifthsenior-mostjudge.Itisthissequence

of events thatmakeshisabsence fromtheCollegium’s listmoreconspicuous.

WhilethepossibilityofawomanCJIhasnowcomeintoview,thefactthathertenure

will last just over amonthhighlights theurgencyof planningahead,widening thepool

—morewomen judgesneed tobeelevated in thehighcourts. This isnecessaryand im-

portant, as never before, in an institutionwhose centrality in keeping constitutional

democracyhonestandtetheredtoitsfoundingideals,commitmentsandrulesonlygrows.

THE REST IS NOISE

Delhicourtverdict inSunandaPushkarcaseaffirmsdue

process:Factsandevidencematter,notprimetimebullies

SEVENYEARSAFTER the death of hiswife Sunanda Pushkar, a Delhi court has

clearedCongressMPShashiTharoorof chargesof crueltyandabettingheral-

leged suicide. It is reassuring andwelcome that the lastword in this unfortu-

nate case belongs not to the high-decibel proclamations of primetime juries

andexecutioners,buttotherigourofdueprocess.Thecourtfoundnogroundstosustain

thecaseagainstTharoor.Theprosecutioncouldnotconclusivelyconvincethecourtthat

Tharoor “provoked, incitedor induced thedeceased to commit suicide”. It decided that

hedidnotdeserve to stand trial on thebasisof the flimsyevidencepresented: “…crim-

inal trials require evidence.Nodoubt a precious lifewas lost. But in the absence of spe-

cificallegationsandsufficientmaterial…onthebasisofwhichthecourtcould,atthisstage

presumethattheaccusedhadcommittedtheoffence,theaccusedcannotbecompelled

to face the rigmarolesof acriminal trial,” thecourt said.

InthesevenyearssincePushkar’sdeath in January,2014,Tharoorwascompelledto

face a vicious, fact-free, slander-heavymedia trial. Television channels and prize an-

chors criedmurder and broadcast dubious tapes, reporters pursuedhimat press con-

ferences.SomuchsothattheDelhiHighCourthadtoreprimandachannelandrestrain

it fromrunninga“parallel” investigation.ThehoundingofTharooronlyfollowedatem-

plate that has beenusedbynews televisionmany times in thepast. Amixof salacious

unverifieddetail, vigilante indignationandvoyeurism isused toappeal to theworst in

viewers’ instincts, and tap their insecurities to scapegoat a victim. This is theplaybook

thatwasputinactionintheAarushiTalwarcase;andthat ledTVwarriorsandsocialme-

dia intoa terrainof alt-facts andconspiracyas theybayed foractorRheaChakraborty’s

arrest for the suicideof SushantSingh. Spikedwithcommunalpoison, itwasalsoused

todehumanisetheTablighi Jamaat. InthePushkardeathcase, theprivatelifeofapromi-

nent politician became the easy target.While Tharoor had the resources to fight this

case and stare down the vilification, ordinary citizens have little defence against such

campaignsof cynicism.

Themegaphonesof thepowerfulmightwishtoconvince thegullibleotherwise,but

thecourthasreaffirmedthatjusticeisarrivedatbyaconsiderationof factsandevidence.

Therest isnoise.

WORD POLICE

Haryanagovernment’sdecisiontoban ‘gorakhdhanda’ isan

exampleofpolicy thatgoesdowntheslipperiestof slopes

LANGUAGE,” THE LITERARY critic Terry Eagleton oncewrote, “is the root of all

identity.Totamperwithit iseitherpoetryortreason.”TheManoharLalKhattar

government in Haryana, though, does not seem constrained by these high-

mindedsentiments. In themost recent salvo in the seeminglyperpetualbattle

betweenfreespeechand“hurtsentiments”,ithasdecidedtogotobatindefenceofthelat-

ter.Accordingtoastategovernmentspokesperson,thechiefministerofHaryanahasdecreed

that theuseof thephrase “gorakhdhanda”bebannedinthestate. “Theexpressioncannot

beusednowinanycontext.”Gorakhdhanda isacolloquialismusedin largepartsofnorth

India todescribeunethicalpractices.Reportedly,Khattardecidedtooutlawthephraseaf-

termeetingadelegationoftheGorakhnathcommunity,whoareostensiblyoffendedbyit.

Words, of course, are curious things. Language can enforce inequalities, jokes cande-

humanisepeople.Ontheotherhand, languageevolvesandnoteverywordandphrase—

particularlywhenitmorphsintometaphor—isaninsult.Banningwordsforpoliticalcon-

siderations—or,infact,foralmostanyotherreason—isgoingdowntheslipperiestofslopes.

Arepoordancersthetargetofasayinglike“naachnajaane,aangantedha”?Shouldschool-

childrennolongerhearthephrase“andhonmeinkaanaraja”, lest it isdeemedtooableist?

Afterall,takenliterally,thesetermscanbeseenasoffensivetosomeclassofpeopleorother.

In fact,by trying toprevent “hurt sentiments”, thegovernmentdoesagreatdisservice

to the people it claims to protect. Itmakes children of adults, thinking of themas being

swayedbytheopticsofbanningwordsbyanover-interferingfatherfigureofthestate.There

aremany followersofGorakhnath, an11th-century religious figure, but touse theirpiety

asapoliticalploytotamperwithlanguageiscertainlynotpoetry.

S YQuraishi

SunandaMehta

Islamictenetsprescribeequalityforwomen.NotjustTaliban,manyMuslimsdonotfollowthem

LIFE AFTER SUNANDATrialbymediahas takena toll, tested the tenacityofher familyand friends

EVER SINCE THE Taliban captured power inAfghanistan,themediahasbeenspeculatingonhowtheywouldconductthemselves,par-ticularly towardswomen. Imagesofwomenwrappedinblueburqasfromtheirearlierrulein1996-2001arebeingflashed.Atrocitiesonwomen,especiallygirlsbeingprohibitedfromgoingtoschool,arebeingrecapitulated.Mercifully, the Taliban’s first statement

givescauseforoptimism.“Wearegoingtoal-lowwomen toworkand study.Wehavegotframeworks, of course.Womenare going tobe very active in the society butwithin theframeworkofIslam,”ZabihullahMujahid,thegroup’sspokesmantoldapressconferenceinKabulonTuesday.Hedeclaredthat“therewillbenodiscriminationagainstwomen”addingthat“theyaregoingtoworkshouldertoshoul-derwithus”.Questions are being asked:What is the

“framework of Islam?”What’s the Taliban’sversionofit?Sincetheyclaimtoactaccordingto Shariah, let’s understand themeaning ofShariah.InArabic,itmeansthepathtobefol-lowed byMuslims. It can be described asIslamic law. The original sources of Shariahare: The Quran, Sunnah or the “HabitualPractices”oftheProphet(PBUH)andAhadees(recorded sayings of the Prophet). Based onthese,andsubservienttothem,aretwoothersources—Ijma(Theconsensusofjurists),andQiyas(analogy/ interpretation).The internationalmedia often projects

Islamas a religion that cageswomen. Theseperceptions ignore, or are unaware of, theIslamictenetswithrespecttowomen,asspec-ified in the holyQuran and the traditions ofProphetMuhammad.Thisarticleattemptstoshedlightonsome

suchtenets.Fourteencenturiesago, Islamrecognised

womenasequalpartnerstomen:Theypartic-ipatedinbusiness,warandseveralotheractiv-ities.Islamwasalsothefirstreligiontorecog-nise property and inheritance rights forwomen — which many other religionsgrantedonlyinthe20thcentury.TheHoly Quran andHadith are replete

withinjunctionsongenderequality.HerearesomesamplesfromtheHolyQuran:“Andoneof His signs is this:He created for youmatesfromyourselfthatyoumightfindtranquilityin

them,andHeordainedbetweenyouloveandmercy…”(SurahArRum—TheRomans30:21).“Andforwomenarerightsovermensim-

ilar to those ofmenoverwomen.” (SurahAlBaqarah—TheCow2:228)“They(yourwives)areyourgarment,and

youareagarmentforthem.”(SurahBaqarah2:187)“Inever fail to rewardanyworkeramong

you for anywork youdo, be youmale or fe-male—youareequaltooneanother.” (SurahAleImran—TheFamilyof Imran3:195)“The believers, men and women, are

helpers,supporters,friendsandprotectorsofone another.” (Surah At Tawbah — TheRepentance,Quran,9:71)TheAhadeessupplementtheversesofthe

Quranwith explanations and elaboration.Herearesomesamples:“Verily, women are the twin halves of

men.” (Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi). “Men andwomenareequalhalves.”(AbuDawud).“Themost completebeliever in faith is thebest inmorals,andthebestamongyouisthebesttotheirwives.” (Tirmidhi). “Observe your dutyto Allah in respect to thewomen, and treatthem well” (Prophet Muhammad’s LastSermon). Please note: Respectingwomen isseenasadutytoAllah.The followinganecdote isalsoeducative:

“AmanaskedtheProphet,‘Whodeservesmycompanionshipmost?’TheProphetsaid,‘Yourmother.’ Theman asked, ‘Who next’? TheProphet said, ‘Yourmother.’ Theman asked,‘Whonext?’ Prophet said, ‘Yourmother.’ Heasked, ‘Whonext?’ The Prophet said, ‘Thenyour father’.” (Narrated by AbuHurairah-BukhariandMuslim)ItiswellknownthatmanyIndians,driven

bythetraditionalpreferenceforsons,continuetohavechildrenuntiltheygetamalechildandendupwithalargefamily.Lately,withthein-vention of sex determination tests, femalefoeticidehasbecomerampant,despitestrin-gentlawsagainstit.TheQuranforbadefemaleinfanticide 14 centuries ago: “When one ofthemgetsababygirl,his facebecomesdark-enedwithoverwhelminggrief.Ashamed,hehides from the people, because of the badnewsgiventohim.Heevenponders:Shouldhe keep the baby grudgingly or bury her indust?Miserable indeed is their judgement.”

(SurahAnNahl—TheBee16:58-59)“Donothatehavingdaughters,fortheyare

the comforting dears.” (Al-Tabarani)“Whoeverhas threedaughters, andcares forthem, ismerciful to them, andclothes them,then paradise is certain for him.” (Jabir ibnAbdullah)AbdelRahimOmran,Professorof Islamic

Lawat theUniversity of Al-Azhar, Cairo, hassummedupthepositionofwomeninIslamasenunciated in SurahAnNisa 4:11,12: “Islamchampioned equality forwomen in allmat-ters—religious,social,economicandfamilial.Awomancannotbe forced intomarriagebyher family or guardian— shehas to give herconsent. Islamendorses awoman’s consenttosuchanextentthatamarriagecouldbean-nulledwhenithasbeenforcedonawomanbyherguardian.”OneofthemostsignificantfacetsofIslam’s

recognition of awoman’s individuality per-tains to her retaininghermaidenname. Shecandowithhermoneyas shepleases,whileher husband—or father or brother— is re-sponsible for providing for her andher chil-dren.Shehastotalcontrolofherpossessions.As amother, she is placed ahead of her hus-bandinregardtothechildren’sloyaltyandaf-fection.Shehasarighttodemand,atthetimeofthemarriagecontract,thepowerofdivorceand also the power to disallowpolygyny byherhusband.Islam gives women equal legal status.

Thismeansshehastherighttoenter intoallkinds of contractual arrangements and toconduct business on her ownwithout theneed of her husband’s consent. As regardsgirls’righttoeducation,ProphetMuhammadtoldhisfollowers:“AcquisitionofknowledgeisbindingonallMuslims,maleandfemale…The person who goes forth in search ofknowledge is striving hard in the way ofAllah,untilhis/her return.”It isunfortunatethatnotonlytheTaliban,

butalsoMuslims inmanypartsof theworlddo not understand and follow the tenets ofIslam. It is clearly a case of Islamversus theMuslims.

Thewriter is theauthorofThePopulationMyth:Islam,FamilyPlanningand

Politics inIndia

SEVEN-AND-A-HALF YEARS IS a long timeindeed. A long time towait for a case to beclosed. Even longer when you are waitingfor closure.At leastoneof theseoccurred thisweek

when, in a rare and bold judgment, a casewas disposed of before a trial had begun.Make that the trial in court. Because, fortheverymanywhowere involved, a trialofa different kind had been underway allthese years. A trial by public perception,which tested both official machinery andpersonal tenacity.On January 17, 2014, when Sunanda

PushkarwasfounddeadattheLeelaHotelinNewDelhi,nooneexpectedthistobeaneasy,open-and-shutcase.Becausethiswasnotjustanotherwoman. Shewas thewife of one ofIndia’s most well-known and influentialpoliticians,andawomanwhoheldherown,thanks to her bold and commanding pres-ence.Nottoforgetthescandalthathadspilledout of Twitter and onto the nationalmediajustadaybeforethetragedy.Whatallof thiscollectivelyset inmotion

was a chain of actions and reactions, twistsand turnarounds that converted themyste-riousdeathintoaragingcontroversy.Startingasearlyasthefuneral itself (“heldtoosoon”)tothepost-mortemreport(doctoredornot)tomultipletheoriesaboutthecauseofdeath(accidental drug overdose/murder/suicide),itwasacasethatchallengedeveryinvestiga-

tiveagency,evenasitcapturedtheattentionof thenation.Sixpolicecommissionerscameandwent,

fourdetailedmedicalreportsweredrawnup,multipleviscerareports, includingonefromthe FBI, obtained, FIR filed, polygraph testsand even psychological forensic tests con-ducted, a detailed Vigilance CommitteeReport filed, SITs formed, over 100 peoplequestioned, raids conducted and a humon-gous 3,000-page chargesheet presented inthecourt.If it strained the system, infinitelymore

damagingwas the havoc itwreaked on thehumanspirit.AndherewearenottalkingjustaboutShashiTharoor,though,admittedly,astheoneaccusedbythepoliceforabettingthesuicideof hiswife, hiswasoneof theheavi-estburdenstocarry.If Sunanda’sdeathcameunderacloud,

her life was nothing short of spectacular,markedbyanextraordinarydisplayof gritand courage. If there was one thing shehad learnt, itwas toalways landonher feetandbounceback.A singlemother, shehadchanged continents in search of a betterlife for herself and her young son andtransformed their lives from bankruptcyto riches.Attheotherendof thespectrumwasher

son Shiv, trying to balance his irreparableemotionallosswiththepragmaticdemandsof financial stability, given that hismother’s

Rs 100 crore-worth assets remainedmostlyinaccessibletohimduetothenon-closureofhercaseandtheabsenceofawill.Twogriev-ingbrothers,a fathersufferingfromdemen-tiaandeventuallypassingawayin2019,aseaoffriendscaughtbetweensorrowandthean-guishof notknowingwhathappened—theSunandasagaseemedtobeanunendingtaleofmysteryandmisery.Till Wednesday, when Tharoor was

clearedof all thechargesagainsthim.A trialconducted outside the court had beenbroughttoanend.Whilethecourthasdeemedwhatcould

not have been, there is no revelation yet ofwhat did happen on that fateful day ofJanuary 17, 2014. Officials have long com-plained that high-profile cases, where theauthoritiesarecompelledtocarryoutinves-tigationsunderthemediaandpubliceye,arenot just hampered by pressure, but tend togetsocomplicatedthatanoriginallystraight-forward situation gets obfuscated, some-thingthat isunfairbothtothedeceasedandthe family and friends left behind. TheSushant Singh Rajput case is often cited asanotherexample.AswestoptorememberSunanda’sfeisty

lifeandmournitsend,closurewilltakemuchlonger.

Mehta is theauthorofTheExtraordinaryLifeandDeathofSunandaPushkar

The international media

often projects Islam as a

religion that cages women.

These perceptions ignore, or

are unaware of, the Islamic

tenets with respect to

women, as specified in the

holy Quran and the

traditions of Prophet

Muhammad.

Officials have long

complained that high-profile

cases, where the authorities

are compelled to carry out

investigations under the

media and public eye, are not

just hampered by pressure,

but tend to get so

complicated that an

originally straight-forward

situation gets obfuscated,

something that is unfair

both to the deceased and the

family and friends left

behind. The Sushant Singh

Rajput case is often cited as

another example.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

B E C A U S E T H E T R U T H I N V O L V E S U S A L L

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

WORDLYWISE

Agood judge... is not themaster,

but theminister of the law.

— Thomas F.WilsonTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Faith and her freedom

WEAPONS NEEDED

PRIMEMINISTERINDIRAGandhi is in favourof getting thebestweapons, even if they arefrom abroad, in view of the danger arisingfrom themassive Americanmilitary aid toPakistan.Abalancehastobestruckbetweenself-relianceandsophistication,shesaidintheRajya Sabha on August 19. The issue of thethreat to India’s security arising from theUSdecisiontosupplyF-16fighterjetstoPakistanandothersophisticatedarms,hasbeenraisedby 23members in theHouse, across partylines.SeveralOppositionMPsquestionedthewisdomof including an expressionuphold-ingPakistan’srighttoacquirearmsfordefence

in a joint statement issuedby the twocoun-trieswhenPVNarasimhaRaovisitedPakistan.

RAO ON SRI LANKA

EXTERNALAFFAIRSMINISTERPVNarasimhaRaosaidonAugust19inNewDelhithatIndiadidnotconsideritnecessarytoholdtalkswithSriLankaontheracialriotsinthatcountryandthought itwouldnot be proper to offer helpin restoringnormalcy.He said the riotswereaninternalaffairofSriLankaandthattheyhadnotaffectedclosebilateralties.RaosaidthathehadheardreportsofTamiliansbeingattackedinJaffnabypolicemen,butsaidthatIndiahadbeen informed that action had been taken

againsttheoffendingpolicemen.

ASSAM TALKS

ONEOFTHEmainpointsdiscussedduringtheAssamtalksinNewDelhiwasbordersecurityarrangements. Some other points coveredwere:Howforeignerscouldbedetectedanddeported, dispersal of foreign nationals anddeletionoftheirnamesfromtheelectoralrolls.Thetalks,whichwereheldinacordialatmos-phere,aresettocontinue.Onbordersecurityarrangements, theAssamagitators have re-portedlysuggestedtheimplementationoftheplan suggested by the former IntelligenceBureauchief,BNMalik.

AUGUST 20, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

Kolkata

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“Washington has limited cooperation with China within the sphere where the

US can unilaterally benefit. China will never accept such logic. Cooperation

must be mutually beneficial.” —GLOBALTIMES,CHINATHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The 40 per cent in the

informal non-agricultural

sector is the most worrying.

These workers are most

vulnerable as they’ve borne

the brunt of the economic

disruption that the

pandemic has unleashed.

One half of this group lives

in rural India. They’ve not

done as well as their farming

counterparts. Most of them

involved in construction,

trade and manufacturing

have seen wage growth fall.

The sharp rise in demand for

rural unemployment

benefits is an indicator of the

disruption faced.

INArecentstatementonthe30thanniver-saryof the1991economicreforms, formerPrimeMinisterManmohanSinghindulgedinsomeself-praise,creditingtheCongresspartyandhiscolleaguesforpaving“anewpath” for the country’s economic policy.However, besides themuch-needed andmuch delayed 1991 reforms under theleadership of Prime Minister P VNarasimha Rao, Singh and his party havelittletobacktheircredentialsascommittedeconomic reformers.While claiming credit for the 1991 re-

forms, Congress leaders must introspectwhythesereformswererequiredinthefirstplace. The economic crisis in 1991was aninevitable consequence of disastrousNehruvianeconomics.Congresswasfinallycompelled to give up on Nehruvian eco-nomicswhenthenationwaspushedtothebrinkofeconomiccollapseandnootherop-tionwas left. But such are the contradic-tionswithin the Congress that on the onehand, it takes credit for the reforms doneundercompulsionin1991,andontheotherhand, it celebratesNehruvianeconomics.Despite knowing the pitfalls of the

Nehruvianconsensus,Singhhadremainedsilent while holdingmany top offices inCongressregimesofthe1970sand’80s.Thiswas tantamount to being complicit in de-railing the Indianeconomy.TheformerPMhadquotedVictorHugo

andendedhisbudgetspeechin1991withthewords, "nopoweronearthcanstopanideawhosetimehascome.”However, thelack of conviction in those ideas was ondisplaywhen reforms came to a grindinghalt under the decade-long UPA govern-mentheheaded.Inthatdisastrousdecade,landmarkeco-

nomicreformsliketheGoodsandServicesTax (GST) remainedadistantdreamas theUPA government failed to build a consen-sus among state governments. Similarly,keysectorsof theeconomylikebanking,fi-nance, insurance, etc. were starved for re-forms. The governmentwas disinterestedintheeaseofdoingbusinessandentrepre-neursremainedpariahs,excepttheirpoolofcronieswith their scams in telecoms, coalandmore.Despiterecognisingthefarmers’difficultiesinsellingtheirproduce,agricul-turemarkets were never considered. TheUPA government did not even try to initi-ate reforms in labour and environmentlaws, considering themtoopoliticallysen-sitive.Withsomanymissedopportunitieswith Singh at the helm, anybody shouldthinktwicebeforeendorsinghisteam’sre-formist credentials.NumerousCongressleadershavehigh-

lighted the importanceof reformsby con-sensus rather than stealth. It is helpful to

lookbackathistorytocheckwhethertheiractionsmatchedtheirwords.SeniorCongress leader JairamRamesh,

an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in thePMOduring1991,wrote inhisbookonthe1991 economic reforms— “The two-stepdevaluationdecisionwastakenpurelybe-tweentheprimeministerandthe financeminister, andwas conveyed to the gover-nor and deputy governor of the RBI. Thefinance minister had wanted it that waybecause he felt that given the 1966 expe-rience, the cabinet would never give itsconsent.”Forgetgettingvariousstakehold-ersonboard, thethenfinanceministerandfuturePMdidnoteven trusthisowncab-inet colleagues.In a recent interview, Montek Singh

Ahluwalia,SecretaryofCommercein1991,proudly recalled the speed with whichtradepolicyreformswereinitiated.Hesaid,“Thewhole process of abolishing importcontrols and moving to market-basedmethodsof allocating imports,withanul-timate shift to amarket-based exchangerate,wasdoneinthespaceofeighthours.”One of the landmark decisions in 1991

wasthenewindustrialpolicy,announcedafewhoursbefore theUnionbudgeton July24. The draft of such an important policywith far-reaching impactwas prepared ina fewweeks.Acabinetnotewasdiscussedon July 19. Due to opposition within thecabinet, the PM formed a group of minis-ters. The GoMmet the next day itself andmanyministers had apprehensions aboutthepolicyaccording to JairamRamesh.OnJuly 23, the cabinet eventually passed thepolicy. To save time, thePMcalledameet-ing of the entire council of ministers andCongressWorkingCommitteeonthesamedayandgot itpassed.Despiteadvocating“reformsbyconsen-

sus”,didSinghorhiscolleaguesadvise thePMtoconsultvariousstakeholderswiththefinal draft of the policy? Howmany stategovernments gave their suggestions andfeedbackonthisdraftpolicywithfar-reach-ing consequences? Despite the lack of ef-forts to build a consensus, the Congresspartycontinuestorecallthe1991economicreformsasagloriousachievement.Economicreformshavealwaysbeena

matter of political opportunism ratherthan a policy commitment for theCongress.Duetoinsecuritiesoversharingcredit for the1991economic reforms, theparty and its leaders nevermention theroleofPrimeMinisterPVNarasimhaRao.In his statement, Singh attributed creditfor the reforms to his party and his col-leaguesandfailedtoevenmentionthefor-merprimeminister.TheCongresshaspaidlipservicetoeco-

nomic reforms but has never hesitated inclaimingcredittoappeasethemiddle-class.Singh ended his statementwith the poetRobertFrost’sfamousline,“ButIhaveprom-isestokeep,AndmilestogobeforeIsleep”.Perhaps,heandhispartyneedtointrospectwhytheyhaveprioritisedpoliticsoverpol-icy to prevent theNarendraModi govern-ment fromkeepingthose“promises”.

Thewriter isNationalVicePresident,BJP

THE LACKOF frequent and up-to-date eco-nomicindicatorsmakesithardtotrackIndia’slarge informal sector,whichemploys around80per cent of the labour force andproducesabout50percentofGDP.A lot isat stakehere. Ignoringproblems in

theinformalsectorcanbecostlyas itcanleadto job andwage losses, higher inflation andevenriskthelivelihoodofmigrantworkers.Forinstance, followingdemonetisation, adispro-portionatelyhighernumberof jobswerecre-ated in rural Indiawhich isn’t the positive itmightseemaswagesare2.5timeslowerthaninurban India. As a result, overallwage levelsandGDPdeclinedoverthenextfewyears.Informalsectorworkerssufferedfarmore

fromthenationallockdownin2020thantheirformalsectorcounterparts.Withaninadequatesafetynet, therewerepainfulaccountsofdis-placed informalworkers trying toget back totheirruralhomes.Suchdisruptions can be inflationary too.

Indiawasoneof the fewcountrieswithhighinflationthroughoutpandemic-stricken2020.Someof this is likelytobeassociatedwiththedisruption in informal firms,who innormaltimes are very active in theproductionof es-sentialgoodslikefoodandtextiles.Of the384million employed in the infor-

mal sector, half work in agriculture, livingmostly in rural India, and theotherhalf are innon-agricultural sectors. Of those, abouthalflive in rural India and the remaining inurbanareas. Eachof these groupshave fareddiffer-entlythroughthepandemic.Thefortunesof thoseintheformalsector,

whomake up 20 per cent of theworkforce,havebeen relatively good. Through thepan-demic, large and listed firms have done bet-terthansmallerfirms.Acombinationofcost-cutting, a lower interest rate environment,accesstobuoyantcapitalmarkets,andongo-ing formalisation are likely to have helpedkeepprofitabilityhigh.Thesalariesofindivid-ualsworkingatthese larger listedfirmshavealsohelduprelativelybetter,thoughtheyarelowerthanthepre-pandemictrend.Thesein-dividualsmayalsohavebenefittedfrombuoy-antstockmarkets.Will they continue to lead the recovery?

Most likelyyes, butdifferently.Recall that theurbanaffluentclassledtheriseindemandpostthefirstCovid-19wavein2020bybuyingcon-sumerdurableslikefurniture,electronics,carsandevenhouses.Theseitemsaregenerallynotpurchasedyearafteryear.Asvaccinationsarerolledout,theseconsumersmayinsteadswitchfromspendingongoods to services.Over thelonger term, theprospects for this groupwilldependontheprogressofpolicyreformsandeconomicgrowth,whicharetheleadingdriv-ersof realwages.Theprospectsforthe40percentinthein-

formal agricultural sector havebeen surpris-ingly resilient too. Ruralwages have held upwell over the pandemic, led by goodmon-soons,anexemptiontothefoodtradefromthevariouslockdowns,andmorerecently,higheragricultural exports. Higher governmentspendinginvarioussocialwelfareschemeshasalsohelped.

As this group emerges from the secondCovid-19wave, theymaywant toconsumegoods that make them feel more secure,such as two-wheelers and home repairservices. Longer-termconsumptionwillde-pend on agricultural reforms which willhelp diversify income sources and raiseagricultural productivity.The40per cent in the informal non-agri-

cultural sector is themostworrying. Theseworkers aremost vulnerable as they haveborne the brunt of the economic disruptionthatthepandemichasunleashed.Onehalf of this group lives in rural India.

They have not done aswell as their farmingcounterparts.Most of them involved in con-struction, tradeandmanufacturinghaveseenwagegrowthfall.Thesharpriseindemandforruralunemploymentbenefitsisanindicatorofthedisruptionfaced.TheotherhalflivesinurbanIndiaandisem-

ployedacrossthetrade,hotels,transport,man-ufacturingandconstructionsectors.Thisgrouphasbeenatthereceivingendofformalisation.Welookcloselyat theconstituentcompaniesoftheFTSEindex,whobydesign,belongtotheformalsector.Wefindthathistorically,nominalGDPgrowthhasbeenagood indicator of theformal sector corporate sales. But during thepandemicandalsoduringeventslikedemon-etisation,formalcorporatesaleshaveexceedednominalGDPgrowth.Webelievethismeansthatsomedemand,

whichwaspreviouslysuppliedbytheinformalsector,begantobesuppliedbytheformalsec-tor.Otherdatashowshowspendinghasmovedfromsmallfirmstobiggerones.Itisnosurprisethatemployeesoflargefirmshavedonemuchbetterthansmallandinformalfirms.Several surveysover this timealsoshowa

riseinurbanunemploymentandself-employ-ment,withthelattercategoryseeingthehigh-estearningsloss.What does all of thismean for economic

growth?Formalisationcanbeadouble-edged

sword.Whiletraditionallyassociatedwithef-ficiencygains, if itcomesatthecostofputtingsmall informal firmsout of business, and thedisruption inthe informalsector, it canweighondemandinsubsequentperiods.The constructiveway to think about this

is to differentiate between “forced” and “or-ganic” formalisation. Formalisation thatcomesonlyonthebackofexternalpressureorleads to deep distress in the informal sector,maynotbesustainable.Bycontrast, formali-sation that happens on the back of policychanges that help small and informal firmsgrowovertimeintomediumorlargerformalsector firmsismoresustainable.Whatis,perhaps,needednowisprotection

for informal sectorworkers via socialwelfareschemessothatthedisruptiontheyarefacingdoesnot lead to apermanent fall indemand.There is a case for remaining generouswithprogrammes such as the rural MGNREGAschemeforlonger.Indiadoesn’thaveanequivalenturbanso-

cialwelfarescheme.Governmentcapexdou-blesupasone,providingshort-termjobs.Butthissourceofexpenditurecanbeunreliable.Webelievethereisagoodcaseforsettingupamore permanent direct urban social wel-fare structure.Inthemeantime,stepstopromotereforms

thatareneededtohelpsmallbusinessesgrowarecritical. For example, lowering the regula-toryburdenassociatedwithgrowingfirms.Onabroader level, onebig learning from

thepandemichas been that India can’twishawaytheinformalsector.Andneithercanitbeassumed that the fortunes of the formal andinformalsectorsmovetogether.Bringingtheinformalsectortotheforefront

ofpolicydecisionscanleadtoasignificantpay-off fortheentireeconomyforyearstocome.

Thewriter is chief Indiaeconomist,HSBCSecuritiesandCapitalMarkets

(India)PvtLtd

Pranjul Bhandari

Baijayant Jay Panda

OnebiglearningfromthepandemichasbeenthatIndiacan’twishawaytheinformalsector.Neithercanitbeassumedthatthefortunesof theformalandinformalsectorsmovetogether

Informal sector to the fore From stealth to

consensusEconomicreformswereamatterofpolitical

opportunismratherthanapolicy

commitmentforCongress

CR Sasikumar

PATRONISING POLICY

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Northeastwarning’ (IE,August19).Whenitcomestousheringdevelopment andpeace totheNortheast,theprevalentviewisthatof“mainstreaming”oftheregionanditspopulation.However,thismindsetisten-dentious andmyopic. It is like telling aDelhiiteoraMumbaikarthattheiriden-tityexistsonlyifitfindsresemblancewiththatofanaverageAmerican.Suchimpo-sitionuponanyoneworkstoirkapopu-lationanddestabilisearegion.Luxuriantcultures, like theones in theNortheast,have been flourishing on their own forcenturies anddonot require ourhand-holdingtoprogressnow.

VinaySaroha,Delhi

EMPOWER WOMEN

THISREFERSTOthearticle,‘Thefutureisfemale’(IE,August19).Thespectreofau-tomationhasputthespotlightonunem-ployability,particularlyonwomen’spar-ticipation.Althoughmulti-facetedtalentwithathrustonsoftskillsishighlysoughtafter today,classbarriersandpatriarchyoftenhinderwomenfromachievingtheirtrue potential. Recent data showing afallingshareofwomenintheworkforceisworrying.Sensitisationregardingtheseissuesat thehighest levels isneededforbetter-roundedorganisations.

IlaRailkar,Mumbai

SPEAKER’S ROLE

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘GuardianoftheHouse’(IEAugust19).Theconductofsuccessive LokSabhasandstate assem-

blies in thepastcoupleof decades,withafewexceptions, isreflectiveof thegen-eraldeteriorationinthedemocraticspiritof thecountry.Partypoliticssupersedesall. Having the Speaker resign fromhispartywhenelected is a goodwayof in-jectingimpartialityandindependenceinthelegislature.

HemantContractor,Pune

SUDOKU LIVES ON

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘Fortheloveof Sudoku’ (IE, August 19). The mandubbedthe“godfatherofSudoku”forhisroleinpopularisingthenumericalbrain-teaser,MakiKaji,giftedusthepleasureofsolvingwonderfullychallengingpuzzles.Manyofthepuzzlesareagreatstimulantto the thinking process. Theywill con-tinuetoenthrallmillions.

SSPaul,Nadia

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

IDEAS

ONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●NODEMOCRACYWITHOUT

FRATERNITY:ABHISHEK

MISHRA,HRITHWIKSINGH

● TOWARDSAN

ARBITRATION-FRIENDLY

JURISDICTION:ABHISHEK

SHIVPURI

www.indianexpress.com

RAJIVGANDHIwouldhavebeen77yearsoldtoday.Asanaccidental, reluctantandyoungprimeminister,hepiloted Indiathroughthetumultuous1980sandhelpedshapethenewworldorder.Heshowedexemplaryequanim-ity and dignity and gave new confidence tothenation.I am fortunate to have watched and

workedwithhimclosely.Hehadadisarmingpersonalityandcharm,courage,fortitude,dig-nityanddecency.Hewaskeentobeperceivedas a break from the past and symbolised achange inpolitics, economyandmorality inpublic life, throughconsent andconciliation,participationandpersuasion.Hewasadeter-minedpeacemaker andworkedhard toputan end to agitations and violence in Punjab,Assam,Mizoram, Nagaland and Kashmir.Ironically,hefellvictimtotheviolencethathehadfoughtallhislife.Hesaid,“Indiaisanoldcountrybutayoung

nation;andliketheyoungeverywhere,weareimpatient.Iamyoung,andItoohaveadream.IdreamofanIndia—strong,independent,andself-reliantandinthefrontrankofthenationsoftheworldintheserviceofmankind.”Heex-horted thenation, “Our task today is tobringIndiatothethresholdofthe21stcentury,freeoftheburdenofpovertywhichisthelegacyofour colonial past andcapableofmeeting therising aspirations of our people. Thiswill re-quiresustainedeffortonourpart.”Hepursuedhisdream,undeterredandvigorously.He firmlybelieved that “Indiawouldnot

hold togetherwithout democracy” and dideverything to save, strengthen and spreaddemocratic systems, symbols andvalues. Inearly 1990, during theMehamby-election(infamouslyknownasMayhemofMeham),whichsawrigging,violenceandintimidation,Gandhi, alongwithyoungRahul, visited thehouseofindependentcandidateAnandSinghDangi.Threepeoplehadbeenkilledinpolicefiring there. I waswith him throughout thevisit.Hestoodwiththestrugglingpeopleanddared themight of the then-chief minister,OmPrakashChautala,whowasseekingelec-tion to theVidhanSabha to retainhis office.Afterthisvisit,ChautalahadtoresignonMay22,1990.Ifeelprivilegedthat,forthe10thLokSabha

elections,GandhichosemeasacandidatefromRohtak to opposeDevi Lal, the then-deputyprimeminister,whowas trouncednot oncebutinthreeconsecutiveelections.Alas,Gandhiwasnomorewhenelection resultswerean-nounced: TheCongress got to form thegov-ernmentsinHaryanaandintheCentre.Gandhiwasconvincedthatpeaceandpo-

litical stability are sine qua non for progressandprosperity.Therefore,tocheckthemalaiseofpoliticalhorse-tradingandtocurbcorrup-tion and political opportunism, he got the52nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1985,passedwithinafewmonthsoftakingoverasprimeminister. Itprovidedforthedisqualifi-cationofanelectedmemberoflegislatureonthe grounds of defection to another political

party.Itwasamendedsubsequentlythroughthe91stConstitutionAmendmentAct,2003.Thoughattemptsarebeingmade tocircum-venttheprovisionsofthisAct,ithassucceededtoalargeextent.Tomakedemocracybroad-basedandto

harness the emerging advantage of India’s“demographic dividend”, Gandhi, throughthe61stConstitutionAmendmentAct, low-ered the voting age from 21 to 18.Undoubtedly,theidealismandenergyoftheyouthhavechangedthepoliticaldynamicsofthe country. Moved by the abject povertyprevalentinruralKalahandi,RajivGandhifa-mouslysaidthatofeveryrupeespentbythegovernment, only 15 paisa reaches the in-tended beneficiary. He realised that decen-tralisation of democracywas imperative tomagnify the ambit of a democratic system.He decided to revitalise the panchayati rajframework and introduced the 64thConstitution Amendment Bill in the LokSabhain1989,whichprovidedforlocalself-governance.TheCongressmanifestoforthe1991 Lok Sabha elections promised settingup of panchayati raj institutions. TheCongressgovernmentfulfilledthisdreambyenacting the 73rd and 74th ConstitutionAmendmentActs.Theseenjointhestatestoestablish three-tier panchayats andmunic-ipalitieswith decision-making powers andadequate finance.To arrive in the 21st centurywith a fair,

just, peaceful and educated society, Rajiv

Gandhi emphasised the education of theyouth.HeestablishedtheMinistryofHumanResourceDevelopmentin1985tomoderniseand expand higher education programmesacross the country. He conceived of theJawaharNavodayaVidyalaya(JNV),afreeres-idential school, for providingquality educa-tion to theyoung in the rural areas. The firstJNVinthecountrywasopenedinavillageinJhajjar district, a part of my parliamentaryconstituency.Atpresent,thereareabout660JNVs inthecountry.Gandhi left the imprint ofmodernity on

this ancient country. He is rightly acclaimedas the architect of Digital India. The seeds ofinformationtechnology,telecommunicationand computer revolutionswere planted byhim.Several institutions likeMTNL,VSNL,C-DOTetc.wereestablishedtospreadthecom-munication network through PCOs in far-flungruralareas.Gandhilaunchedseveralotherinstitutions

toliberatethemind,economyand cultureofthiscountrybysheddingtheslothofcenturiesand infusing itwith the dynamismand en-ergy of the youth.He changed India forever.His heart throbbed for India and exhortedeveryIndiantoproudlysay“meraBharatma-han”.Hismemoryisetchedintheheartsandmindsof Indians.

Thewriter is formerchiefministerofHaryanaandLeaderof theOpposition in the

HaryanaLegislativeAssembly

Bhupinder SinghHooda

A dreamer and moderniserRajivGandhilaidthegroundforIndia’scomputer,communicationrevolutions

Kolkata

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

CUBA

Newdecreetightenscontrolsonsocialmedia,sparkingoutrageCUBA INTRODUCEDtightercontrolsontheuseof socialmedia thisweek,includingabanonpublica-tions thatmight damage“the country’s prestige”,angering many citizensandinternationalrightsac-tivists. Decree 35, pub-lishedintheofficialgazetteon Tuesday, comes amonth after the mostwidespread anti-govern-ment protests in theCommunist-run countryin decades,which spreadinpartdueto informationshared on social media.The legislation bans thespread of false news ormessages and contentdeemed offensive orwhich “incite mobilisa-tionsorotheractsthatup-setpublicorder”.REUTERS

Atarally inHavanalastmonth.Reuters

TOPOFTHEWORLD

PAKISTAN

3killedinblastduringMuharramprocessionA POWERFUL explosionripped through aMuharram procession incentral Pakistan’s Punjabprovince on Thursday,killing at least three peo-ple, including a seven-year-old girl, andwound-ing 59 others, the localgovernmentandpoliceof-ficials said. The incidenttook place inBahawalnagar, some 260kilometres from Lahorewhen a Shia processionwas heading to anImambargahaspartoftheannualAshuracommem-oration. The Punjab gov-ernment issued the list ofthedeadand injured. PTI

MEXICO

HurricaneGracemakeslandfallHURRICANEGRACEstruckMexico’s Caribbean coastjust south of the ancientMayan temples of Tulumearly Thursday, pushing adangerous storm surge.Heavy rain and strongwinds threatened to de-stroy flimsier homes andkeeptouristsoffwhitesandbeachesuntil it crosses theYucatan Peninsula. TheCategory 1 stormhad al-ready soakedearthquake-damagedHaiti,Jamaicaandthe Cayman Islands enroute to adirect hit on theRivieraMaya, theheart ofMexico’s tourismindustry.Grace’s centre struck justsouthofTulumwithmaxi-mumsustainedwinds of130km/h. AP

ISABELKERSHNER

JERUSALEM,AUGUST19

LASTSPRING,Israel’sremarkablyswift vaccination campaignwasseen as a global model.Coronavirus infections plum-meted,anelectronicpassallowedthe vaccinated to attend indoorconcertsandsportingevents,anddistancing rules andmaskman-dateswereeventuallyscrapped.Israel offered the world a

hopeful glimpse of theway outof thepandemic.No longer.A fourthwaveof infections is

rapidlyapproachingthelevelsofIsrael’s worst days of the pan-

demic lastwinter. The daily rateofconfirmednewviruscaseshasmorethandoubledinthelasttwoweeks,makingIsraelarisinghotspotontheinternationalcharts.Restrictions on gatherings

and commercial and entertain-ment venues were reinstatedthisweek, and the governmentis consideringanewlockdown.“Ibelieveweareatwar,”Israel’s

coronavirus commissioner, ProfSalmanZarka, told aparliamen-tarycommitteeonWednesday.Scientists are still assessing

howIsrael’spandemic responseplunged from shining exampleto cautionary tale, and the stun-ningreversalhasprovidedacru-cial test for Israel’s new prime

minister, Naftali Bennett, whostaked a claim for leadershippartlyonthestrengthofhisman-ifesto,“HowtoBeataPandemic.”

But some experts fear thatIsrael’s high rate of infectionsamong early vaccine recipientsmay indicate a waning of the

vaccine’s protections over time,afindingthatcontributedtoaUSdecisionWednesdaytobeginof-fering booster shots toAmericansstartingnextmonth.Thevaccinemaybelesseffec-

tive at preventing infectionwiththehighly contagiousDelta vari-ant, now theprimary versionofthevirusinIsrael.Andthefirstco-horttobevaccinatedwasanoldergroupwhose immune systemsmayhavebeenweaker.By June, Israelis, convinced

the worst was over, had aban-doned social distancing andotherprecautions.“Everyone went about the

business of trying to put thememory of a very difficult year

andahalfbehindthem,”saidProf.RanBalicer,chairmanofanexpertpanelthatadvisestheIsraeligov-ernmentonCovidresponse.“Atthatpointintime,”hesaid,

“theparadigmformanywasthatIsraelisthemostvaccinatedcoun-try in theworld, that vaccinatedpeople rarely become infected,thatevenmorerarelydotheybe-comeseverelyillandthatbasically,withveryfewprecautionsinplace,thepopulationwasvery close toherdimmunity,all thingsconsid-ered.Thatwasnotamistake.”Theproblem,hesaid,wasthat

what was true for the originalvirus “did not necessarily holdtrue for future variants coupledwithwaningimmunity.” NYT

ONE OF THE MOST VACCINATED SOCIETIES, ISRAEL NOW HAS ONE OF WORLD’S HIGHEST INFECTION RATES

Israel, once a model for beating Covid, faces new surge

Peoplewait toreceiveathirddoseof thevaccine lastweek inJerusalem.Reuters

REUTERS

KABUL,AUGUST19

FLAG-WAVING PROTESTERStook to the streets of moreAfghan cities on Thursday aspopular opposition to theTaliban spread, and a witnesssaid several peoplewere killedwhen the militants fired on acrowdinAsadabad in theeast.“Our flag, our identity,” a

crowdofmenandwomenwav-ingblack, redandgreennationalflagsshoutedinthecapitalKabul,avideoclippostedonsocialme-dia showed, on the dayAfghanistancelebratesindepend-encefromBritishcontrolin1919.Awitnessreportedgunshots

firednear the rally, but they ap-peared to be armed Talibanshooting in theair.Someof thedemonstrations

aresmall,butcombinedwiththeongoingscramblebythousandsof people toget toKabul airportandfleethecountry,theyunder-line the challenge the Talibanface togovern thecountry.The Islamistmilitantmove-

mentconqueredAfghanistanatlightningspeedasforeigntroopswithdrew, surprising even itsleadersandleavingthemtofillapowervacuuminmanyplaces.Since seizing Kabul on

Sunday, the Taliban have pre-sented amoremoderate face tothe world, saying they wantpeace, will not take revengeagainst oldenemies andwill re-specttherightsofwomenwithintheframeworkof Islamic law.In Asadabad, capital of the

easternprovinceofKunar,severalpeoplewerekilledduringa rally,but itwasnot clear if the casual-tiesresultedfromTalibanfiringorfromastampedethatittriggered,witnessMohammedSalimsaid.Protests also flared up in the

city of Jalalabad and adistrict ofPaktia province, both also in theeast.OnWednesday,Talibanfight-ersfiredatprotesterswavingflagsin Jalalabad, killing three, wit-nessesandmediareported.Mediareported similar scenes inAsadabad and another easterncity,Khost,onWednesday.“Salute thosewho carry the

national flag and thus stand fordignity of thenation,” First VicePresident Amrullah Saleh, whoistryingtorallyoppositiontotheTaliban, saidonTwitter.

Talibangunmenconfrontedprotesterscarryingtheflagof thedeposedAfghangovernment,inKabulonThursday.NYT

ROBERTBURNS,

ELLENKNICKMEYER

&ZEKEMILLER

WASHINGTON,AUGUST19

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden saysevenwith the Taliban in powerinAfghanistan,heseesagreaterthreatfromoutpostsofal-Qaidaand itsaffiliatedgroups inothercountries, and that it was nolonger “rational” to continue tofocusUSmilitarypower there.“We should be focusing on

wherethethreatisthegreatest,”Biden said in an interview thataired on ABC’s “GoodMorningAmerica”Thursday.“Andtheideawecancontinue

tospendatrilliondollars,andhavetens of thousands of Americanforces inAfghanistan,whenwehaveNorth Africa andWesternAfrica— the ideawecando thatand ignore those loomingprob-lems,growingproblems,isnotra-tional.” Biden has said that

AmericawillnotsendsignificantlymoreforcestofightinAfghanistan.TheUShasnothad tensof thou-sands there for several years andhad2,500to3,000deployedtherewhenBidentookoffice.Biden named Syria and East

AfricaasplaceswheretheIslamicStategroupposesa“significantlygreater threat” than inAfghanistanandsaidthatISIShas“metastasised”.HesaidwhiletheUSdoesn’thaveasizablemilitarypresence in a place like Syria, itdoes have an “over the horizon

capability totakethemout.”The comments come as the

Biden administration has facedsharpcriticismforthetiminganddirectionoftheAfghanistanwith-drawal, after theTalibancame topowermorequicklythanadmin-istrationofficialspredicted.Bidenalsopushedbackagainst

concerns about the treatmentofwomenandgirls in the country,arguing that it’s “not rational” totry to protect women’s rightsaroundtheglobethroughmilitaryforce. Instead, it shouldbedonethrough“diplomaticandinterna-tionalpressure”onhumanrightsabuserstochangetheirbehaviour.Up to 15,000Americans re-

main in Afghanistan after theTalibantookfullcontrolofthena-tion. Biden saidduring the sameinterviewthathe’s committed tokeepingUStroopsinAfghanistanuntileveryAmericanisevacuated,even if thatmeansmaintainingamilitarypresencebeyondhisAug.31deadlineforwithdrawal. AP

TRACICARL&

RICKGLADSTONE

AUGUST19

TALIBANMILITANTSareintensi-fyingasearchforpeopletheybe-lieveworkedwithUSandNATOforces, including among thecrowdsofAfghansatKabul’sair-port,andhavethreatenedtokillorarresttheirfamilymembersifthey cannot find them, accord-ing to a confidential UnitedNationsdocument.The document, from a UN

threat-assessment adviser, di-rectly contradicted themilitantgroup’spublicassurancesthatitwould not seek revenge onmembersandsupportersof the

toppledgovernment.Thereweremultiple reports

thattheTalibanhadalistofpeo-pletheywantedtoquestionandpunish—andtheirlocations,the

documentsaid.Already, the document said,

theTalibanhadbeengoingdoorto door and “arresting and/orthreateningtokillorarrestfam-

ilymembersoftargetindividualsunless they surrender them-selves to theTaliban.”The document, dated

Wednesday,wasprovidedtotheUnitedNationsbytheNorwegianCentre for Global Analyses, agroup that provides intelligenceinformation to agencies of theglobalorganisation.Itwassharedinternally at theUnitedNationsandseenbyTheNewYorkTimes.Membersof theAfghanmili-

taryandpolice, aswell aspeoplewhoworkedforinvestigativeunitsof thetoppledgovernment,weremostatrisk,thedocumentsaid.TheTalibanhaverepeatedlyis-

suedassurancesthattheywillnotusetheirvictorytowreakrevengeonpeoplewhoopposethem.NYT

REUTERS

KUALALUMPUR,AUGUST19

FORMER MALAYSIAN DeputyPrime Minister Ismail SabriYaakobmovedcloseronThursdayto forming thenext governmentafter securing a parliamentarymajorityfromthesamecoalitionthatcollapsedearlierthisweek.MuhyiddinYassinresignedas

primeminister onMondayafterconceding he had lost supportfromhis alliance, bringing to anenda fraught17months inofficeandthrowingthecountryintofur-therpoliticalchaosamidstaCovid-19surgeandeconomicslump.If confirmed, Ismail Sabri's

appointment wouldmark thereturn of the United MalaysNational Organisation (UMNO)party to leadership, three yearsafterit lostageneralelectionbe-cause of corruption allegations,especiallyaroundthemulti-bil-liondollarscandalatinvestmentfund 1Malaysia DevelopmentBerhad (1MDB).Muhyiddin,whoisnowserv-

ing as caretaker PM, said onThursday his alliance unani-mously backed his formerdeputy to ensure continuity ofpolicies on “fighting Covid-19and the nation’s recovery” untilitwassuitable toholdelections.The supportwas conditional

onIsmailSabriensuringthat thenewcabinetmemberswerefreefrom graft charges, he said in a

statement.SeveralUMNOpoliti-cianswerechargedwithcorrup-tionafterthe2018electiondefeat.IsmailSabri,61,hasthesupport

of 114 lawmakersoutof the222-seatparliament,UMNOlawmakerAhmadMaslansaidonTwitter.KingAl-SultanAbdullah, the

constitutionalmonarchwhowillbe appointing anewpremier, isscheduled to meet with thecountry’s other senior royals onFriday. A decision on the newgovernment head is likely to beannouncedafter that.UMNO,governedthecountry

forover60yearsuntiltheelectionrout and two governments thatcameafterthepollsprovedtobefragile andshort lived. Thepartywas part of the last one, butMuhyiddin’s coalition collapsedwhen someUMNO lawmakerspulledout.OhEiSun,aseniorfellowatthe

SingaporeInstituteofInternationalAffairs, said Ismail Sabri’sgovern-ment may not be stable eithergivenhisslimmajority.

YEWLUNTIAN

BEIJING,AUGUST19

CHINAONThursdaymarkedthe70th anniversary of the found-ing of the Tibet AutonomousRegionon the roof of theworld,with a call to accept the rule oftheCommunistParty.Beijinghas ruled the remote

westernregionsince1951,afteritsPeople’sLiberationArmymarchedinandtookcontrolinwhatitcallsa“peacefulliberation”.“Tibet can only develop and

prosperunder theparty’s leader-shipandsocialism,”WangYang,whoheadsanationalorganisationresponsibleforunitingallracesandallpartiesundertheleadershipoftheCommunistParty, saidat theeventintheregion’scapital,Lhasa.Thecelebration,attendedby

almost 10,000people,washeldat the foot of the iconic PotalaPalace,asacredBuddhistsiteas-sociatedwith theDalai Lamas.A nationwide live telecast of

thecelebrationprominentlyfea-turedafour-storeyhighportraitof Chinese President Xi Jinpingtoweringover theaudience.Propagandists in the 1950s

and 1960s used to extensivelydisplayMao Zedong’s portraitsat rallies and celebrations towhip up a personality cultaroundhimandcultivateloyalty.Most leaders afterMao for-

bade the practice, although un-derXi'srule,hissoloportraitsaswell as thosewithhimand fourprevious leaders have beenplacedextensively inTibet.Theparty’satheistHanlead-

ersinBeijinghavealsomadeex-tra efforts to cultivate loyaltyamongTibetans,manyofwhomaredevoutBuddhists and tradi-tionallyviewtheDalaiLamasastheirspiritualleaders.REUTERS

EMILYCOCHRANE

& MARIACRAMER

WASHINGTON,AUGUST19

THEUNITEDStatesCapitolPolicewerenegotiatingwithamanwhoclaimed to have a bomb in apickup truck outside the Libraryof Congress on Thursday,promptingevacuationsfromgov-ernmentbuildingsinthearea.The man drove a black

pickuponto the sidewalk of theLibrary of Congress at about9.15am(localtime)onThursday,and the police responded to adisturbancecall,Chief J.ThomasMangeroftheCapitolPolicesaidinanewsconference.Whenthepolicearrived, the

mansaidhehadabombandoneoftheofficersobservedwhatap-peared to be a detonator in hishand,Manger said.The police are negotiating

withtheman,hesaid. Itwasun-clearwhetherthemandidactu-allyhaveexplosives.“We don’t know what his

motivesareatthistime,”Mangersaid.Heconfirmedthatsomeofthose negotiations had beenstreamed liveonsocialmedia.“We’re trying togetasmuch

information aswe can to try tofind away to peacefully resolve

this,” he said. Chief Manger de-clinedtodescribe theconversa-tion between theman and thenegotiators.The man, whom officials

identifiedasaresidentofGrover,NorthCarolina,namedFloydRayRoseberry, about 50 years old,was making anti-governmentstatements, according to a lawenforcementofficial.A spokesman for Facebook

confirmedthatthecompanyhadtaken down a postwith a videobroadcastfrommaninthetruck.In the rambling video, he ad-dressesPresident JoeBiden, de-mandingtospeakwithhimorarepresentative, and sometimesshows ametal object in his lap.He describes himself as “a pa-triot” and expresses grievanceswithDemocrats. NYT

REUTERS

AUGUST19

AN AFGHAN national teamfootballer died in a fall from aUS plane at Kabul airport onMonday, the Afghan newsagency Ariana said onThursday.Crowdsof people seeking to

flee Aghanistan have throngedthe airport since Taliban insur-gentsswepttopoweronSunday,many seen trying to board amovingplane.Ariana said Zaki Anwari fell

from a USAF Boeing C-17 andthat the death had been con-firmed by the GeneralDirectorate forSport.

EARLYCHALLENGETOTALIBANRULE

Biden: Greater threats thanTaliban-controlled AfghanistanSayswillkeeptroopsincountryuntilAmericansevacuated

Biden:Weshouldbefocusingonwherethethreat is thegreatest

Report: Afghanfootballer dies infall from plane

In contact withAfghan Taliban,says Beijing

KJMVARMA

BEIJING,AUGUST19

CHINAONThursday said it is in“contact and communication”with the Taliban and called foran “objective judgement” ontheir actions after it seizedpowerinAfghanistan,sayingthemilitant group appears to bemore “clear headed and ra-tional”andhopedthatitwillde-liver on its promises, includingprotectionofwomen’s rights.“Chinamaintainscontactand

communicationwith theAfghanTaliban andother parties on thebasisof full respect for thesover-eigntyofAfghanistanandthewillof all parties,” Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesperson HuaChunying said in updated com-mentsontheministry’swebsite.OnWednesday,Chinasaid it

would decide on extendingdiplomatic recognition to theTalibaninAfghanistanonlyaftertheformationofthegovernmentin thecountry. PTI

Taliban intensify search for those whoworked with foreign forces: UN document

Talibanfighterspatrol inKabulonThursday.AP

Malaysia ex-deputyPM Ismail Sabri poisedto clinch premiership

Police probe ‘bombthreat’ near US Capitol

IsmailSabriYaakob

WangYang,chairmanof theChinesePeople’sPoliticalConsultativeConferenceNationalCommittee,arrivesinLhasa,Tibet.Reuters

China marks Tibetanniversary with call toaccept Communist rule

ONEOFthebiggestchallengesfacingtheTalibanasthenewrulersofAfghanistanistheshortageoffoodandmoneythatthecountryisfacing.TheheadoftheWorldFoodProgrammecalledthesitua-tiona“humanitariancrisisofincredibleproportions”.Around40%ofAfghanistan’scrophasbeenlostduetodrought,theUNagencysaid.AndtheTalibantakeoverhasmadetradewiththeland-lockedcountrymoredanger-ousandmoreexpensive.HowmuchaidAfghanistanwillre-ceiveundertheTalibanalsoremainstobeseen.ThiscomesatatimewhenthevalueoftheAfghancurrencyisplummeting,withexpertssayingordinarypeoplemayfindithardtobuybread.

Unfolding

humanitarian

crisisE●EXPLAINED

Several killedasprotestsagainstTalibanspread tomoreAfghancities

Apolicemannear theUSCapitol inWashingtononThursday.Reuters

“Movesby somecountries globally to introduce

booster shots threaten thepromise of abrighter

tomorrow forAfrica...As some richer countries

hoardvaccines, theymakeamockeryof vaccine

equity.”—MATSHIDISOMOETI,WorldHealthOrganisation’sAfricadirector

Kolkata

NAVAL SHIP REPAIR YARD, KOCHIAPPRENTICESHIP TRAINING

Applications for 230 vacancies are invited from ITI

(NCVT) qualified candidates for undergoing

Apprenticeship Training at Apprentice Training

School, Naval Ship Repair Yard, Naval Base,

Kochi- 682004 under Apprenticeship Act-1960.

Complete details published in “Employment

News” of 21 Aug 21 and “Rozgar Samachar” of 21

Aug 21.davp 10702/11/0022/2122

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SUSHANTKULKARNI&

ANURADHA

MASCARENHAS

PUNE,AUGUST19

IN THE wake of the SupremeCourt's interim order to allowwomentoappearfortheupcom-ing entrance exam of theNational Defence Academy(NDA), top retired and servingmilitaryleadershavehighlightedtheneedtoaugmentexistingin-frastructureandrecalibratepoli-cies towards training standardsandcurriculum.Theinterimorderwaspassed

by the SC onWednesdaywhilehearingapleaseekingdirectionsto allow eligible women to ap-pear for the entrance examina-tions of the NDA and NavalAcademy, conducted by theUnion Public ServiceCommission (UPSC). The apexcourtaskedUPSCtoissueacorri-

gendum in keepingwith its in-terimdirection. Thecourt, how-ever, said that admission ofwomen candidateswill be sub-ject to the final rulingon thepe-tition.Former Chief of Naval Staff

Admiral Arun Prakash (retd),who had also served as theCommandant of theNDA in thelate 1990s, said, "Immediatelyimplementing the ruling of theSupremeCourtwouldbeadiffi-cult task,mainly due to the ad-ministrative and infrastructuralaspects--forexample,construc-tion of newaccommodation fa-cilities and changes required tobe made in the existing ones.Trainingmodulesmayalsoneedtobealtered."Atpresent,studentsbetween

age group of 16 to 19 and thosewhoare inClass12orabovecanapply for the NDA,which is lo-cated at Khadakwasla in Pune.Those who pass the entrance

exam conducted by UPSC un-dergoaServicesSelectionBoardprocessandlaterundergoamed-ical test. After completing threeyearsof training,cadetsmovetotheir respective service acade-mies.There are several women

civilian academic officers whoarepermanentfacultymembersat the NDA and a number ofwomen officers from the tri-services regularly comeondep-utations to teach academic orservicesubjects.Former Chief of Air Staff, Air

ChiefMarshalPVNaik(retd),saidallowingwomen in NDAwas agood step towards providingequalopportunitiesintheArmedForces.“WhentheArmedForcesstarted recruitingwomen offi-cers,30yearsago,somechangeshadtobemade.Thelatestrulingby the SupremeCourtwill haveto be followed by policy recali-bration and infrastructure

changesatall levels-- forthese-lection of women into theNDA,for their trainingat theNDAandrespectiveserviceacademiesandthird, their deployment in theservices, once theypassout,” hesaid.Lt GenPunita Arora (retd), a

former Surgeon Vice Admiral,said itwasa“positivestep”."Everything has to be taken

step by step – development forwomenintheArmedForceshasbeen gradual but very firm andthe government has plannedverywellonwhatisthewayfor-ward.Thisisapositivestepbytheleadership,” Lt GenArora (retd),whowas the firstwoman to se-cure the rank of LieutenantGeneral in the Indian ArmedForces, toldTheIndianExpress.In 2005, shewas appointed

thefirstwomanVice-AdmiraloftheIndianNavy.Shealsobecamethe firstwoman officer to com-mand theArmed ForceMedical

College,whenshetookchargeofit in2004.LtGen(Dr)MadhuriKanitkar,

Deputy Chief of IntegratedDefenceStaff (Medical),toldTheIndianExpress that trainingandworking conditions in theMedicalCorpsarequitedifferentand hence she can't provide adeeper insight into this. "Whilethefinalplanswillbeworkedoutby the leadership, womenmaybe able to start on a commonplatformwithapermanentcom-mission and a standardised rig-oroustraining.Trainingtogethermayhelpdevelopgender sensi-tisationatanearlystage,makingtheprocess ofworking togethershouldertoshouldereasierwithbetter camaraderie. The organi-sationwill need toworkout thelogistics, including trainingschedule and support systems,”LtGenKanitkarsaid.A senior servingofficer from

theArmy,whohasservedat the

NDAinthepast,saidonthecon-dition of anonymity, "TheNDA,in its present structure, is notmeant to admitwomen cadets.But thewomenwill certainlybebetter trainedat theNDAdue totherigoroustrainingmodules. IftheacademyistoimplementtheSupremeCourtruling,theprepa-rationswill have to be done notjust at the level of the academybut also at the Headquarters,IntegratedDefence Service, un-derwhosepurviewtheacademyfalls.While the final order willcome in due course of time,wewill have to start early tomakesure thatwe do not fall behindschedule. Theycan initially startthe training by adding newsquadrons.Overaperiodoftime,we can have squadrons whichwill have boys and girls trainingtogether.Wecanalso lookattheservice academies abroad fornotes on transition from beingboys-only institutions."

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

LUCKNOW,AUGUST19

A LOCAL court in Varanasi hassought responses fromtheUttarPradesh government, GyanvapimosquecommitteeandBoardofTrustees of Shri KashiVishwanathTempleonapetitionfiledbysomewomenseekinganorder allowing them toworshipdeities inside the Gyanvapimosquecomplex.Thepetitionwas filed by five

womenledbyRakhiSingh,ares-identofDelhi, throughAdvocateHariShankarJainandothers.The court of Civil Judge,

Varanasi passed the order onWednesday,sayingthataspotre-port shouldbe submittedbeforethenextdateofhearingbyanad-vocate froma list of the court’slawyers. The matter has beenlistedforhearingonSeptember10.The court has also said that a

notice should be issued to re-spondents – Varanasi DistrictMagistrate, Varanasi PoliceCommissioner, State of UP,Committee of ManagementAnjumanIntazamiaMasajidandBoard of Trustees of Shri KashiVishwanath Temple – withinthreedays.“Putupforresolutionof objections on September 10,”theCivil Judge’scourtsaid.The petitioners have prayed

thatanorderbepassedallowingthem toworshipMaa ShringarGauri, Lord Ganesh, HanumanandNandijiwithoutanyinterfer-ence. “Decree the suit for decla-rationdeclaringthatPlaintiffsareentitled to haveDarshan, PoojaandperformalltheritualsofMaaSrinigarGauri,LordGanesh,LordHanuman andother visible and

invisible deitieswithin old tem-ple complex situated at settle-ment PlotNo.9130 in the area ofWard and P.S. DashwamedhDistrict Varanasi,” the petitionread.Thepetitionershaveprayedthatnorestriction,hindranceandinterference should be imposedby the defendants in perform-anceofdailyDarshan,pooja,aarti,bhogandobservanceofritualsbydevoteesof thevisibleandinvis-ible deities “within old templecomplex situated at settlementPlotNo.9130 in theareaofWardand P.S. Dashwamedh DistrictVaranasi”.The petitioners said security

arrangementsshouldbemadebytheUP government and districtadministration to facilitate dailyritualsbydevoteesforthedeities.OnWednesday,theAllahabad

High Court had granted threeweekstotheCentreandtheUttarPradeshgovernment to file theirresponses toapetitionchalleng-ing a Varanasi local court orderthathadordered“acomprehen-sive archaeological physical sur-vey” of the disputed KashiVishwanath Temple-GyanvapiMosquecomplex.OnApril 8,while stating that

“thematterindisputepertainstohave connectionwith our deephistory”,aVaranasicourthador-deredtheDirectorGeneraloftheArchaeologicalSurveyof Indiato“get a comprehensive archaeo-logical physical survey” done ofthe complex and “find out as towhether the religious structurestanding at present at the dis-puted site is a superimposition,alterationoradditionorthereisastructural overlapping of anykind,with or over, any religiousstructure”.

SCNODFORWOMEN INNDA Varanasi court seeksresponses on plea toworship deities inGyanvapi complex

Tough to implement, need infra:Military leaders

File

DESPERATE TIMES

Theircountry inastateof chaos followingTalibantakeoverof capitalKabul, agroupofpeople fromAfghanistanwaitoutsidetheUSEmbassy inNewDelhi,Thursday.PTI

Mumbai: The father of jailed ac-tivist RonaWilson,whowas ar-restedin2018overhisallegedin-volvementintheElgaarParishadcase,passedawayWednesdayathisresidenceinAlappuzha,Kerala.Hewas84.Wilson had last met him in

April 2018when he had visitedKerala.HislawyerswillapproachthecourtseekingtemporarybailforWilson so that he can traveltohishomefor the final rites.WilsonwasarrestedonJune

6,2018bythePunepolice.Apleafiled by him, citing a report of aUS-based digital consultant‘Arsenal Consulting’ that stated“incriminatingevidence”wasal-legedlyplantedonhiselectronicdevice twoyears prior tohis ar-rest, is pending before theBombayHighCourt.TheHighCourt had recently

granted temporary bail toWilson’s co-accused, lawyerSurendraGadling,toperformfi-nal rites on his mother’s firstdeathanniversary. ENS

Rona Wilson’sfather dies; toseek temporarybail for final rites

EXPRESSNEWS

SERVICE

NEWDELHI, AUGUST 19

AS CLASSROOMS tentativelyopen up after what has beenamong the longest school clo-sures in theworld,whatawaitschildren, educators and gov-ernments?Giventhedigitaldivide that

hasdeniedvirtual schooling toa largesectionof children,whatdoes this prolonged absencefrom school mean in terms oflearning loss?Doesthisworsenan already bad situation?Thesearesomeof theques-

tions that a panel will unpackon Friday during IE Thinc, anExpress platform where ex-perts confront some of themost pressing issues of ourtimes.The session, titled

'RebuildingSchoolsPostCovid',is being organised by TheIndian Express in associationwith Central SquareFoundation, an or-ganisation work-ingwith the visionof ensuringqualityschool educationfor all children inIndia.The panellists

for Friday's sessionare Rukmini Banerji, CEO ofPratham, theorganisation thatreleases the Annual Status ofEducation Report (ASER);Atishi, MLA of the AamAadmiParty andoneof the architectsbehind the transformation inDelhi's public education;UshaMenon, founder, Jodo Gyan, asocial enterprise that is part ofa unique experiment in devel-oping conceptual understand-ing of mathematics amongchildren; andBenPiper, SeniorDirector, Africa Education, forRTI International based inNairobi, and PrincipalInvestigator for Learning at

Scale, a multi-coun-try study of large-scale education pro-grammes. Thesession isbeingmod-erated by UmaVishnu, SeniorEditor,The Indian Express.With a vast sec-

tion of children already strug-glingwithfoundational literacyandnumeracy skills—asASERand other surveys have shown— is catch-up possible oncetheygetbacktoschoolafter theprolonged closure? What arethetoolseducatorshaveastheyattempt such a catch-up?Thepanellistswill also dis-

cuss the available tools tomeasure learning loss andwhether these can be repur-posed to measure not justwhat the child doesn’t know,but what the child has learntduring nearly two years of be-ing at home.

IE Thinc sessiontoday on rebuildingschools post-Covid

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

MUMBAI, AUGUST19

THE JAMSHEDPUR JesuitProvince,whichElgaarParishadcaseaccusedFatherStanSwamywas associated with, recentlysought removal of the “odium”attached to his name and repu-tationdue tohisarrest.Through written submis-

sionsfiledbeforetheHighCourt,Swamy'slawyerssubmittedthatas per Criminal ProcedureCodeandSupremeCourtrulings,eventhoughSwamypassed awayonJuly 5 pending hearing of hismedicalbailpleainthecourt,hisnextofkinhadarighttoclearthe

stigmasurroundinghisname.Submissionsweremadetoa

division bench of Justice S SShinde and Justice N J Jamadar,whichhasbeenhearingposthu-mously the appeals filed byFatherStanSwamyagainst spe-cialcourtordersrejectinghisbailpleas onmedical grounds andmerits.The court had kept the

pleas pending to ascertain ve-racity of claims by Swamy'scounsel of "apathy, negligenceand lack of medical facilities"given by NIA and state prisonauthorities, despite the octo-genarian suffering frommulti-ple ailments that require closemonitoring.

Stan Swamy’s kin havethe right to clear stigmaaround his name, HC told

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA

KOZHIKODE (KERALA),

AUGUST19

THEMOPLAH rebellion of 1921was one of the first manifesta-tions of a “Talibanimindset” inIndia and the Kerala’s Left gov-ernment is whitewashing it by

celebrating it as a communistrevolution, RSS leader RamMadhav claimed on Thursday.He said the national leadershipis aware of the “correct history”andwill not give space to suchforces. Madhav,amemberoftheNational Executive CommitteeofRSS,wasspeakingataneventheldatKozhikode.

Kerala’s Moplah rebellionmanifestation of Talibanimindset: Ram Madhav

Giventhedigitaldivide

thathasdeniedvirtual

schoolingtoa large

sectionof children,

whatdoesthis

prolongedabsence

fromschoolmeanin

termsof learningloss?

Doesthisworsenan

alreadybadsituation?

Kolkata

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

GOVT&POLITICS

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

TRAINTALK

ONHISJanAshirwadYatrainOdisha,RailwayMinisterAshwiniVaishnawboardedatrainandinteractedwithpassengers.Notstoppingattakingtheirfeedbackaboutthequalityoftheserv-ice, theminister also informed themaboutwhat the govern-mentwants to dowith Railways andwhat PrimeMinisterNarendraModi'svisionforthenationaltransporteris.SpeakinginOdia,healsotoldthepassengersthatPrimeMinisterModihasgiventhecountryits firstRailwayMinister fromOdisha.

WAITANDPRAY

THE AFGHANISTAN crisis echoed in Supreme Court onThursdaywith the Advocatewho appeared for its Embassyin an arbitrationmatter urging the court to grant sixmoreweekstogetinstructionsfromhisclientinviewofthechangedsituationinthatcountry.Abenchof JusticesVineetSaranandDineshMaheshwari askedAdvocateEjazMaqbool if the sit-uationwillbe“betteroffbythen”.Maqboolreplied,“Canonlyprayforthestabilityofourneighbour.”Headdedthatatleasthewill beable toget instructionsby that time.

MOVEMENT,FINALLY

AFTERHOME Secretary Ajay Bhallamet IPS officers of 1988batch lastmonth, speculation has been rife that the govern-mentisintheprocessoffillingupvacantpostsincentralagen-cies.Currently, therearesixcentralagenciesandparamilitaryforceswithout chiefs. Some of themhave beenwithout topleadershipformonths.WithITBPDGretiringattheendofthismonth,therewillbejusttwoDGsamongfivecentralarmedpo-lice forces. TheNIA toohasbeen functioningwithout a regu-lar chief for almost threemonths now. Sources said there ismovementontheissueingovernmenttopbrassandsomeap-pointmentsmayhappenbytheendof themonth.

CMYogiAdityanath intheAssembly:ThosebackingTalibantalkingaboutwomenwelfare . Express

1cryouthstogettablets,smartphones;housesforpooronmafialand:Adityanath

AJAYJADHAV

PUNE,AUGUST19

A BJPworker, who had set up atemple with the bust of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inAundh, has removed the sculp-ture after he was pulled up bytheBJP leadership inDelhi.MayurMunde had set up a

smalltemplealongsidearoadinAundh area a few days ago andinstalled a bust of Modi in it. “Iama followerof PrimeMinisterNarendra Modi and I worshiphim...andtakehisblessings.Thetemplewouldalsoenableotherfollowers to seek his blessings,”Mundehadsaid.His action, however, at-

tractedsharpcriticism,notonlyfromoppositionpartiesbutevenlocal BJP leaders. After the bustwasremoved,bothNCPandShivSena used this opportunity to

takepotshotsattheBJPandsaidtheywere"disappointed".“Wecametothetempleand

wanted tooffer petrol, LPG, andfood items to the idol as theirpricesareatanall-timehigh.Wehaddecided topray in the tem-ple to bring down the prices ofnecessary items, provide em-ployment to youth and solvecivicproblemsofthecity,butweweredisappointedasthebustofthePrimeMinisterhasbeen re-moved,” said city NCP chiefPrashant Jagtap.Leaders of the city unit of

ShivSenaalso said theywantedtoofferprayersatthetemplebutthe bust of the PrimeMinisterwas removed before that."Inflation is at an all-time highand it is difficult for the poor tosurvive in the current situation.Wewanted topray... tohelp thepoor," saidaSena leader.While Munde initially re-

mained unavailable for com-ments, he addressed themedialate on Thursday. “I am here toclear my stand but my lawyerMadhukarMusalewillspeakon

mybehalf,”hesaid.Musale saidMunde had set

up the temple and it was re-centlyinauguratedbylocalresi-dents. “News about the temple

spreadacrossthecountryduetothe respect and love for thePrimeMinister. It also reachedBJP's national leaders... theycalledmeupandaskedmetore-move thestatue,”hesaid.“Anationalleadercommuni-

cated... that the construction ofthetempleofthePrimeMinisterwas not in accordancewith theprinciples and values of the BJP.The leader said, 'we can under-stand the respect and love ofpartyworkerstowardsthePrimeMinisterbutthiswayofexpress-ing it was incorrect. The bust ofthe PM should be removed',"saidMusale.The bust has nowbeen kept

inthelocalBJPoffice,thelawyersaid, adding, “Wewill not wor-ship the bust but it will inspirepartyworkersvisitingtheoffice.”Musale, however, empha-

sised that the bust was not re-movedbecauseofcriticismfrom

opposition parties, but “in re-sponse to thedirectionsof ana-tional leader”.“The national leader from

Delhi communicated tomeandI passed on the message toMunde,” Musale said withoutrevealingthenameoftheleader.Earlier in the day, Siddharth

Shirole, BJP MLA fromShivajinagarconstituency,whichincludes Aundh, had com-mentedonthecontroversy.“It istruethataBJPworkerhadsetupa temple in Aundh where thebustofPrimeMinisterNarendraModi was kept for worship. Hemight have done so due to hisfeelings towards the PrimeMinisterbutthepartyhadnoin-formationaboutit.Theinitiativecameundersharpcriticismfromevery quarter... the BJP does notaccept suchbehaviour. It seemshehas removed the bust due tothe thecriticism,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

CALLING FORMER PrimeMinisters Jawaharlal Nehru andAtalBihariVajpayee“idealleadersofIndiandemocracy”,Unionmin-ister and senior BJP leaderNitinGadkarionWednesdaysaid thatthoseintherulingpartyaswellasthose in theOpposition should“introspect”andactwithdignity.“Vajpayee aur Nehru, yeh

Hindustan ke loktantra ke doadarshnetathe,aurdonokehtethekimain apne loktantrikmaryadakapaalankarunga (VajpayeeandNehruwerethetwoidealleadersof Indian democracy. And bothused to say that theywould actwith democratic dignity),”Gadkari saidata functionorgan-isedbyHindinewschannelNewsNation.“Atalji’s legacy is our inspira-

tionandPanditJawaharlalNehrualso had a big contribution to

Indiandemocracy,”hesaid.Gadkariwastalkingaboutdis-

ruptionsinParliamentduringthejust-concludedMonsoonSession,whichwasas goodas awashoutwiththeOppositionprotestinginbothHousesover the three agri-culturallaws,riseinfuelpricesandallegations relating to Pegasusspyware.RecallinghisyearsasLeaderof

Opposition in MaharashtraAssembly,Gadkarisaidtherewasa timewhenhe ledthecharge indisruptingtheHouse.“Oncedur-ingthosedaysImetAtalji,andhe

toldmethiswasnowaytoactinademocracyandthatitwasimpor-tant to convey yourmessage tothepeople,”hesaid.Hesaidallparties,bothruling

andopposition,must introspect.“Sabhi partyon ne — main bhipartykaadhyakshrehchukahoon— ekbar iska atma parikshankarke... sattarudh party aurvipakhsh,kyunkiaajjovipakshhai,wohkalkasattarudhpartyhai.Aajke sattarudh party kal ka vipakshhai. Humaare role badalte rehtehain (All parties should intro-spect. The one who is inOppositiontodaywillbeinpowertomorrow,andthoseinpowerto-daywill be in Opposition. Ourroleskeepchanging),”hesaid.“Main toh jeevan ke anek

saalon takvipakshmeinhi kaamkar chuka hoon. Toh kahin nakahin sab log maryada ka palankarkejaaye(IhaveworkedintheOppositionforsomanyyears.Soeveryone must act with dig-nity),” he said, adding that the

recentdisruptionsinParliamentpainedhim.Speakingaboutthestateofthe

Congress party, Gadkari said a“strongopposition”was “neces-saryinasuccessfuldemocracy”.Calling the ruling party and

the Opposition “twowheels ofdemocracy”,theministersaid:“AstrongOpposition is also neces-sarytomakethisdemocracysuc-cessful. Nehru always respectedVajpayee ji and said theOppositionwasalsonecessary.”He said a strongOpposition’s

checks on the ruling partywasnecessary for the success of ademocracy. “Aur iss liye Congressparty vipaksh ke roopmeinmaj-boot banni chahiye, aur vichar keadhaar par unko zimmedarvipaksh ka kaam karna chahiye,yehimeriunnkeliyeshubhkamanahai (Forthis, theCongressshouldemerge as a strong Oppositionand act act as a responsibleOpposition.ThisiswhatIwishforthem),”hesaid.

MAULSHREESETH

LUCKNOW,AUGUST19

INANabruptendtotheMonsoonSession, the UP LegislativeAssemblywasadjournedsinedieon Thursday after the Housepassedthesupplementarybudgetof Rs7,301.52crore tabledby theBJPgovernmenttomeettheaddi-tionalexpenditure.TheMonsoonSession,whichwas scheduled tocontinuetillAugust24,functionedforonlythreedays.Whilereplyingtoadebateon

thesupplementarybudget,ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathhit outat theOpposition for their criti-cismof his governmentover thelaw and order situation, saying“those shamelessly supportingtheTalibanaretodaytalkingaboutwelfareof women”.“Therearesomewhoaresup-

portingtheTaliban...TheywanttoTalibaniseIndiatoo...Suchpeoplearetalkingaboutwomenwelfare.Allsuchfacesshouldbeexposed,”theCMsaid.Inaspeechthatlastedforover

an hour, Adityanath shared thedetailsofRs3,000crorefundssetaside for “employment” in thesupplementary budget. The CMsaid that themoneywill beusedto digitally equip one crore stu-dentspursuinggraduation,post-graduation, technical educationand diploma courses by givingthem tablets or smartphones.“Andasperneed,effortswillalsobemade to provide themwithfreedigitalaccess,"theCMsaid.

Rejecting the Opposition'schargeofmismanagementduringthesecondwaveofCovid-19, thechiefministerclaimedthatUP,de-spitebeingthemostpopulousstate,reportedthelowestpositivityrateandhighestrecoveryrate.Pointingtowards theOppositionbenches,hesaidthathowwouldtheyknowthegroundrealitywhenmostofthemhavebeenin“homeisolation”duringthepandemic.Earlierinthedebate,Congress

LegislatureParty leaderAradhnaMisha had sought protection ofwomenandsupportforgirlswholost an earningmember in thefamily. She also demanded thatprovisionshouldhavebeenmadein the budget for those families,who have lost their loved onesfromCovid-19.Oppositionleaders, including

SP'sRamGovindChaudharyandBSPLegislaturePartyleaderShahAlam,saidtherewasnoneedforasupplementarybudgetasthegov-ernmentwasfarbehindinutilis-ing themajorchunkof the fundssetasideinthemainbudget.To this, Adityanath said that

the previous governments' ap-proachwas “narrow-minded”and that iswhy theirbudget sizewasalsosmall,closetojustRs2.5lakhcrore.“AfterIcametopower,the budget size has been in-creasedsteadilyandisnowaboutRs6lakhcrore.“Bigthinkingleadstobiggerworksandthereforethebudgetisalsobig,”theCMsaid.Later, Chaudhary termed the

CM's reply “ubau (boring)” and“farfromreality”. —WITHPTI

Chandigarh: Punjab Congresschief Navjot Singh SidhuThursdayappointedformerDGPMohammadMustafaashisprin-cipalstrategicadvisor,daysafterthe retired IPS officer left himred-facedbydecliningthecrick-eter-turned-politician's offer toappoint him as one of his fouradvisors. This time,Mustafa ac-cepted theofferand thepost.“MohdMustafa isherebyap-

pointedas theprincipal strategicadvisortothePPCCpresident,theundersigned,Navjot SinghSidhuwithimmediateeffect.HewouldactasaPCCcoordinatorwith theAICConissuespertainingtohisdo-mainandanyothermatters thatthe presidentmay deem fit,” astatement issued by PunjabPradeshCongressCommitteesaid.Earlier, Sidhu went to

Mustafa’shouseinPanchkulaandhandedhimtheappointmentlet-ter.Mustafa did not respond tomediacallsbut it is learntthatheacceptedtheoffer,asSidhupostedpictureswithMustafaandhiswifeand Punjab minister RaziaSultanaholdingtheappointmentletter.“LovetobeassociatedwithRazia Ji andMustafa sahib,” hetweeted. ENS

New Delhi: The AppointmentsCommitteeoftheCabinethasap-pointedApurvaChandra,servingas theSecretary,UnionMinistryofLabourandEmploymentsinceOctober 2020, as the newSecretary, Union Ministry ofInformationandBroadcasting.Before the Labour and

EmploymentMinistry, ChandrahadservedastheSpecialDirectorGeneral, DefenceAcquisition, intheMinistryofDefence, “aposi-tionwhere he played a key rolein contributing towards AtmaNirbhar Bharat in terms ofgreaterdefenceacquisitionfromdomestic industry and at thesame time keeping DefenceForcesequippedwithallitschal-lenging requirements,” a state-menthadsaid lastyear. ENS

DEBRAJDEB

AGARTALA,AUGUST19

ATRIPURABJPMLAhastriggeredarowforaskingpartysupporterstolaunch'Talibanistyleattacks'onTrinamool Congress leaders iftheylandattheairportinAgartala.BJP Tripura chief spokesper-

sonSubrataChakrabortysaidthecommentmade byBhowmik ishis own and the party does nottakeanyresponsibility.Speaking at an event organ-

isedhereonWednesdayeveningto felicitate Pratima Bhowmik,whowasrecentlyinductedintheUnioncabinetasMinisterofStatein theMinistry of Social Justiceand Empowerment, senior BJPleader andMLAArun ChandraBhowmiksaidTMCleaders fromWestBengalaretryingtodamagethe BiplabDeb-led BJP govern-mentinTripura.“Theyarebeinginstigatedby

Mamata Banerjee... I appeal allof you that we have to attack

theminTalibani style.Weneedtoattackthemoncetheylandatthe airport here. We shall pro-tect our government herewitheverydropof blood,” Bhowmiksaid.Avideo clip of his comments

hasgoneviralonsocialmedia.When contacted, Bhowmik

saidhehadmade the remark asan example to justify how tocountertheTMCseriously.Tripura TMC leader Subal

Bhowmik has demandedBhowmik's arrest for his inflam-matoryremarks.HealsosaidTMCleaders were harassed at anAgartala-based hotel onWednesday night shortly afterthiscomment.

WITHPTIINPUTS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

LUCKNOW,AUGUST19

UTTARPRADESHChiefMinisterYogiAdityanath,BJPstatepresi-dent Swatantra Dev Singh andparty general secretary SunilBansal on Thursday eveningrushed toNewDelhi toattendameetingbyHomeMinisterAmitShahandBJPnationalpresidentJPNadda.Speculation in the statewas

rife that themeeting at Shah’s

residencelateonThursdaynightwas to discuss the poll strategyfor the2022stateelections, andtocountertheOpposition’salle-gations of Covid mismanage-ment, law and order, andwomen’s safety in the statewhile highlighting the govern-ment’s achievements. Reportssuggestedthatapossiblereshuf-fleinthepartyorganisationwasalsodiscussed.This is the third suchmeet-

ing between the leaders in thelastonemonth.

MANAMANSINGHCHHINA

CHANDIGARH,AUGUST19

THE BJP central leadershipThursdaysummoneditsPunjabunitpresidentAshwaniSharmaand other senior office-bearersto New Delhi and is learnt tohave expressed unhappinessover themanner in which sev-eral party leaders in the poll-bound state have quit to joinotherparties.Therehas been considerable

unrestwithinthePunjabBJPunitandseveralknownfacesareallsetto join the party’s former allyShiromani Akali Dal.While for-merminister,AnilJoshi,whowasrecentlyexpelledfromtheBJPforsix years for anti-party activities,has alreadymade it clear that hewill join SADwith scores of hissupporters, a two-term formerMLA from Ferozepur, SukhpalSingh Nannu, quit the partyThursday citing BJPs poor han-dlingof thefarmers’agitation.At least six BJP leaders from

PunjabarereportedlyjoiningSADalongwithJoshi.SourcesintheBJPinDelhisaid

that the continuing exodus hascaused concern among the cen-tral leadershipIt is also learnt that there are

somewidespread changes to bebroughtintotheparty'sorganisa-tional structure in Punjab. Therewere also reports that organisa-tionsecretaryDineshSharnawasbeingremovedaspartycadrewasunhappy.However,partynationalgeneralsecretaryTarunChughde-niedthesereports.“Nooneisbe-ing removed... Themeeting inDelhi was called today byDushyant Gautam, the state in-charge,onotherissues.Itisnotun-derstoodfromwhereallthistalkisemanatingfrom,”hesaid.

Under criticism from Opp, his own party, BJP workerremoves bust from temple he had built for PM Modi

MayurMundeat thetemple forPrimeMinisterNarendraModiatAundh,beforethebustwasremoved.ArulHorizon

TRIPURA

UP CHEERS FOR SPORTS, ITS HEROES

GatheringataneventatAtalBihariVajpayee InternationalCricketStadiuminLucknowtofelicitateathleteswhoparticipated intheTokyoOlympics.UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathannouncedsettingupof asportsuniversity,namedafterhockey legendDhyanchand, inMeerut.Healsosaid thestategovernmentwilladopt twosports, includingwrestling,andfinancetheirpromotion inthestate for thenext10years.Cashawardsweregiventotheathletesandsupportstaff ontheoccasion.Vishal Srivastav

Sidhu nowappoints ex-DGPMustafa as hisstrategic advisor

PunjabBJPchiefAshwaniSharma

ArunChandraBhowmik

Disquiet in Punjab BJP:Party central leadershipsummons state unit chief

BJP MLA asks partyworkers to attack TMCleaders in ‘Talibani style’

Apurva Chandrais new I&B Secy

UPmonsoonsession endswithin 3 days

Yogi meets Shah, Nadda

NitinGadkari

Nehru, Vajpayee ideal leaders, allparties must introspect: Gadkari

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

BENGALURU,AUGUST19

AMINISTERintheKarnatakagov-ernmentandthestatepolicehavebeen issued a notice by theKarnatakaHighCourtoverazerotrafficclearancegrantedtotheBJPMLA—shortlybeforeher induc-tioninthestatecabinet—inanal-legedviolationofrules.Thecourtorallyobservedthat

a clearance like this can be pro-vided formedical emergenciessuchasahearttransplantandthecaseviolatedtherightsofthepeo-ple tomove around freely in thecountry.Shashikala Jolle,minister for

theMuzraidepartmentwhopre-viouslyheldthewomenandchilddevelopmentportfolio,hadman-agedtoreachRajBhavaninabout30minutes to take her oath to-wardstheendoftheceremonyonAugust4,coveringadistanceof37km from the Bengaluru airport.

She had arrived late fromNewDelhi for the event, reachingBengaluruwhentheswearing inceremony for CM BasavarajBommai’snewcabinetmembershad already begun at the RajBhavan.OnThursday,theministersaid

shewasnotawareofazerotrafficclearancegiventoheronAugust4.Sheclaimedshehadnotaskedforit.A resident of Bengaluru has

filedapetitioninthecourtagainstclearance given in alleged viola-tionofrules.Adivisionbenchof theHigh

Court Wednesday issued no-tices to Jolle, the state govern-ment and the police and askedthestatetotreatthepetition“asarepresentationandpassanap-propriateorderthereonwithinaperiodofonemonth”. Jolle,whowastheministerforwomenandchild development in the BJPgovernment led by B SYediyurappa, hada falloutwithYediyurappa andwas expectedtobeleftoutof thecabinet—es-pecially after allegations of anattempttoseekbribestoclearacontracttosupplyeggstoschoolchildren surfaced in the daysaheadof thenamingof thenewBommai cabinet.

Shashikala Jollehadreceivedtheclearancetoreachheroath-takingceremonyontime.PTI/File

Karnataka minister, cops get HCnotice over zero traffic clearance

Kolkata

THESENSEXand theNifty are trading at all-timehighs,andthereisstillenthusiasmamongretail investors about participating in equitymarkets. But the free ridemay be over, andeverythingthatoneinvestsmaynotrise.Infact,Augusthasseenacleardivergenceinperform-anceacrossvariousindices.Whilethebench-markSensexhasrisen5.8%inAugusttotradeatover55,500,themid-capindexhasrisenjust0.1% and the small cap index is down 2%.Investorsmovingfrommid-andsmall-capstoblue chip companies amidhighvaluations isanindicationofcautioninthemarket,andisasignal for retail investors to followaproperstrategy.As investorsweightheiroptionsbe-tweenwaitingforacorrectionandmissingoutonapossible rally, experts saytheywoulddo

welltofollowastrategyofasystematictrans-fer plan instead of a lump-sum investment,andgoforlarge-capfundsorfundsinthediver-sifiedorhybridcategory.

Whatshouldaninvestorconsider?Both fundmanagers and investment ad-

visers see the currentmarket situation as atrickyone:Whilethereisconcernovervalua-tion, there isalsoapossibilityof a further riseinmarketsinthewakeoftheongoinghighliq-uidityandhopesofanuptickineconomicac-tivity.So,whilevaluationsmaynotlookveryat-tractive, there isnomajor foreseeable reasonforacorrectioneither.Besides,corporateearn-ingstoohavebeensupportive.Whilerisksex-ist in the formof theUS Federal Reserve an-nouncing a tapering-off of its monetarystimulusprogramme, alongwith theproba-bilityofathirdwaveofthepandemic,marketexpertssaythatmostof theseareknownfac-torsandlargelyfactoredintotheprice.The US Fed is set tomeet for its annual

Augustpolicyretreatlaterthismonth.Throughitsstimulus,itiscurrentlybuyingbondsworth$120billioneachmonth.So,whileinvestorscancontinuewiththeir

existing investments, theywouldbewise tonot put lump-sum investments and can in-steadopt forarrangementssuchasasystem-atictransferplan(STP).

Whereshouldyouinvest?While themarket rally is drivenmoreby

liquidity, and it is gettingmoreandmoreex-pensivewitheveryrise,anunexpectedhiccupcan lead to a correctionandmay first impactthecompaniesinthemid-andsmall-capsseg-ment.Expertssaythatinthisuncomfortablezone

intermsofvaluationandthefearoflosingoutonarally, it istimetogetintolargecapsfundsorcompanies.Whiletheyprovidebetterpro-tectionintimesofcorrection,investorscanalsolookat companies thathave significantbusi-nessesfocusedoutsideIndia.“Onemustavoidsmall-capsandevenmid-

capsatthistime.Investorsshouldeithergoforlarge-caps, flexi-capsorhybrid fundsandthebetterwaytodoisthroughSTPsinsteadof in-vestinglump-sumamount,”saidSuryaBhatia,founder,AMUnicormProfessional.

HowdoesanSTPwork?AnSTPallowsaninvestortogiveconsentto

amutualfundtoperiodicallytransferacertainamount fromoneschemetoanotherat fixedintervals. This facility allowsdeployment offundsinastaggeredmannerandhelpsthein-vestor take advantage of a correction in themarket.For example: If an investorwishes tode-

ployRs10lakhintoequities,insteadofinvest-ingitalltogetheratonego,he/shecaninvestalump-sumofRs10lakhinadebtmutualfundand thereafter set up an STP of a certainamountinanequityfund.

The investor needs to select a fund fromwhichthetransfershouldtakeplaceandafundtowhich it is taking place. Transfers can bemadeweekly,monthlyorquarterlydepend-ingupontheSTPchosenandtheoptionsavail-ablewiththeassetmanagementcompany.InavolatilesituationwhileanSTPprovides

protection to thepart of the investment thatremainsparkedinadebtfund,italsohelpsin-vestorsaverageoutthecostof investment.“Aconservativeinvestorcangofora12-24-

month STPwhere the fund can be divertedfromdebt to equity funds— large-cap, flexi-caporhybridfunds.OnecandoaweeklySTPwhereRs1lakhcanbeputinadebtfundanditcangetinvestedintoequityschemeover50weekly instalments. It providesagoodrupeeaveraging,”saidBhatia.

WhatarethevarioustypesofSTPs?Apart fromtheplain vanilla STPs,mutual

fundhousesoffer innovativevariants suchasFlexSTP, formula-basedSTPandbooster STP.UnderFlexSTP,aninvestorcanparkmoneyinadebtfundwhichisthentransferredtoaneq-uity fundbasedontheP/E(Price toEarnings)bandoftheNifty50Index.Incaseof formula-

based STP, as the name suggests, the STPamount isdecidedbasedonaformula.Thereare several fund houses that offer either ofthesevariantsofSTPs.BoosterSTPisaneweroption,recentlyin-

troducedbyICICIPrudentialMutualFund.Thisallowsaninvestortoinvestvariablesumsintoequityfundsbasedonmarketvaluation.Whilethe investor is required toprovide a base in-stalment amount (amount intended to betransferred) and the frequencyof transfer—whichcanbeweekly,monthlyorquarterly—booster STP gives the flexibility to the fundhousetovarytheinstalmentamountfrom0.1×to5×thebaseamount,andthatisbasedonthefund house’s equity valuation index. Thismeansthatwhenmarketvaluationsareveryexpensive,theSTPinstalmentamountwouldgodownto0.1×,andwhenthevaluationsareattractive,theycangoupto5×.Soonabasein-stalmentofRs10,000,theinvestmentamountcanvarybetweenRs1,000andRs50,000.So, compared to a traditional STP, in a

booster STP the instalment amount and theperiodicityoftransferisvariableandisdecidedbythefundhouseinlinewithinvestmentop-portunityitsees.

EXPLAINED YOURMONEY

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARDAMITABHSINHA

PUNE,AUGUST19

FIVEYEARSafteritfoughthardtosuccessfullynegotiatefavourabletermsfor itself, IndiaonWednesday decided to ratify a key amend-menttotheMontrealProtocol,whichturnedthe1989ozone-savingagreementintoanex-tremelypotentweaponinthefightagainstcli-matechangeaswell.TheKigaliAmendment,negotiatedinthe

Rwandan capital in October 2016, enablesthegradualphase-downofhydrofluorocar-bons,orHFCs,afamilyofchemicalsusedex-tensively in the air-conditioning, refrigera-tionand furnishing foamindustry.HFCsareknowntobemuchworsethancarbondiox-ideincausingglobalwarming.Infact,accord-ing to the UN Environment Programme(UNEP), theaverageglobalwarmingpoten-tial of 22 of the most used HFCs is about2,500times thatof carbondioxide.India’s decision to ratify the amendment

was never in doubt and is littlemore than aformality at this stage. Itwaswidely antici-pated after theUnited States andChina, theworld’stopproducersandconsumersofHFCs,tooksimilardecisionsinthelastfewmonths.Theamendmenthasalreadycomeintoforcefromthestartof2019.Butthedecisiontorat-ifyitdoescreatetherightatmosphericsaheadof the annual climate change conference inGlasgowthisNovember.

Ozone and climateThe 1989Montreal Protocol ismeant to

protect the ozone layer of the upper atmos-phere. Itwasn’t originally an instrument tofight climate change. A set of chemicals,mainly the chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs,whichwerebeingusedintheair-conditioningandrefrigerationindustryearlier,werefoundtobedamaging theozone layerof theupperatmosphere. Their extensive use had led todepletionoftheozonelayer,andformationofan“ozonehole”overtheAntarcticregion.TheMontreal Protocolmandated the completephase-outofCFCsandotherozone-depletingsubstances (ODS),which it has successfullymanagedtodointhelastthreedecades.CFCs were gradually replaced, first by

HCFCs,orhydrochlorofluorocarbons,insomecases, and eventually by HFCswhich haveminimalimpactontheozonelayer.Thetran-sition fromHCFCs toHFCs is still happening,

particularly inthedevelopingworld.HFCs, though benign to the ozone layer,

werepowerfulgreenhousegases.Withglobalwarming emerging as one of the biggestglobalchallengesinthenewmillennium,theuseofHFCscameunderthescanner.HFCsstillformasmallpartof thetotalgreenhousegasemissions,butwithair-conditioningdemandshowing a significant increase, especially incountrieslikeIndia,theiruseisrisingatabout8%everyyear.If leftunabated,theircontribu-tiontoannualgreenhousegasemissionsisex-pectedtoreachupto19%by2050.BecauseHFCswerenotozone-depleting,

theywere not controlled substances undertheMontrealProtocol. Theywerepartof theproblematic greenhouse gaseswhose emis-sions are sought to be curtailed through cli-mate change instruments such as theKyotoProtocol of 1997 and the 2015 ParisAgreement. But theMontreal Protocol hasbeenafarmoreeffectiveandsuccessfulagree-mentthantheclimatechangeinstruments.Ithasalreadyresultedinthephase-outof98.6%of ozone-depleting substances. The remain-ing1.4%aretheHCFCsthatare intheprocessof being transitioned.Accordingly, itwasde-cided to use theMontreal Protocol to phase

outHFCsaswell,ratherthanleavethematthemercyofclimatechangeagreements.Forthatto happen, an amendment to theMontrealProtocolwasrequired.

TheKigali AmendmentIn2016,countriesagreedtoincludeHFCs

in the list of controlled substances underMontrealProtocolanddecidedonaschedulefor itsphase-down.Before themiddleof thiscentury, currentHFCuse has to be curtailedbyat least85percent.Countrieshavediffer-ent timelines to do this. India has to achievethistargetby2047whilethedevelopedcoun-tries have to do it by 2036. China and someothercountrieshaveatargetof2045.Whilethereductionsfortherichcountries

have to begin immediately, India, and someother countries, have to begin cutting theirHFCuseonlyfrom2031.If implemented successfully, the Kigali

Amendment is expected to prevent about0.5°Criseinglobalwarmingbytheendofthiscentury. No other single intervention to cutgreenhousegasemissionscomesevenclosetothis in terms of returns offered and the easeof implementation. It is thusconsideredcru-cialtoachievingtheParisAgreementtargetof

restrictingtemperaturerisetowithin2°Cfrompre-industrial times.AndtheMontrealProtocolhasafairlygood

track record on ensuring climate benefits aswell.CFCs,thepredecessorstoHFCs,werealsogreenhouse gases, apart frombeing ozone-depleting. Their phase-out has alreadyavoidedanestimated135billiontonnesofcar-bon dioxide equivalent emissions between1990and2010.Thisisthreetimesthecurrentannualgreenhousegasemissions.TheUNEPestimates that,withKigali Amendment, theavoided emissions could touch 420 billiontonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by theendof thecentury.

India’s effortsIndiahadplayedakeyrole innegotiating

theKigaliAmendment. Ithad foughthard togetanextendedtimeline for itself, andsomeothercountries, forthereductionofHFCuse.Thiswasconsideredimportantforthedomes-tic industrywhichwas still in the process oftransitioning fromHCFCs to HFCs. The cli-mate-friendlyalternativestoHFCsarenotyetwidely available at low cost. The extendedtimelinewasmeanttogivetheindustrysomecushiontomakethetransition.Despitebeingoneofthemainarchitectsof

theKigaliAmendment,Indiawasthelastma-jor country to announce its decision to ratifyit.Therewasn’teveranydoubtoveritsratifica-tion,anditwasmorelikeawaitinggametoseewhat China or theUnited States did. In themeanwhile, however, India hadunveiled anambitiousactionplanforthecoolingindustrywhichaccountsforthephase-outofHFCs.The20-year‘IndiaCoolingActionPlan’,or

ICAP, released in2019, describes coolingas a“developmental need” and seeks to addresstherisingdemandincooling, frombuildingsto transport to cold-chains, throughsustain-able actions. Theplan estimates that thena-tional cooling demandwould grow eighttimes in the next 20 years,whichwould re-sultinacorrespondingfivetoeight-foldriseinthe demand for refrigerants that involve theuseofHFCs.TheICAPaimstobringdowntherefrigerantdemandby25to30percentinthenext20years.As part of the ICAP, the government has

also announced targetedR&Defforts aimedat developing low-cost alternatives toHFCs.Such efforts are already underway at theHyderabad-basedIndianInstituteofChemicalTechnologyandIITBombay.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.com11 E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

KAMALDEEPSINGHBRAR

AMRITSAR,AUGUST19

ANINE-FOOT-TALLbronzeequestrianstatueofMaharajaRanjit Singh, the founderof theSikhEmpire,was vandalised in Lahore Fortearlierthisweek.AmanwhowasidentifiedinthePakistani

media as Rizwan, a member of far rightIslamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan(TLP),toreoffthestatue’sleftarmandpusheditoffthehorsebeforehewaspulledawaybyanothermanandrestrainedbyafewothers.A videoof thevandalismwas circulated

widely, and FawadChaudhry, the Pakistanifederal minister for Information andBroadcastingpostedonTwitter,“#Shamefulthisbunchof illiteratesare reallydangerousforPakistanimageintheworld”.Dawnreportedthevandalhadbeenar-

rested, and quoted Lahore’s Capital CityPoliceOfficerGhulamMahmoodDogar assaying “strict legal action”would be takenagainsthim.On Tuesday, theMinistry of External

Affairssaid:“Suchattacksontheculturalher-itage ofminority communities in PakistanhighlightthegrowingintoleranceandlackofrespectforminoritycommunitiesinPakistanisociety…ThePakistanistatehascompletelyfailed in its duty toprevent suchattacks.” ItcalleduponthePakistanigovernment“toen-surethesafety,securityandwell-beingof itsminoritycommunities”.The followingday, thePakistanForeign

Office retorted that India’s “unwarrantedand gratuitous remarks” on the incidentwereakinto“feigningconcern”and“highlyhypocritical”givenits“state-sponsoreddis-crimination” against its ownminorities,Dawn reported.

Ranjit SinghandLahoreMaharajaRanjitSingh(1780-1839)seized

Lahorein1799afterhewasinvitedtorulethecitybyitsHindu,Muslim,andSikhelite.Lahore,onceamongthebiggestandmost

developed of the cities of Punjab,was in ashambles at the time— the dyingMughalEmpirewasno longer able to extend it pa-tronageandprotection,itwasbatteredbyre-peatedassaultsfrombandsofAfghanraiders,andweakened by infighting among someSikhgroups.ResidentsofLahorecomplainedofbeingforcedtopayexorbitanttaxes.RanjitSinghbroughtpeaceandsecurityto

Lahoreandreviveditseconomicandculturalglory.HeproclaimedhimselfmaharajaofthePunjab in1801, andproceeded to rulewithreligious tolerance for communities otherthanSikhs.He carriedout repairs to the Lahore fort

—whichwasbuilt byEmperorAkbarat the

siteofanoldermud-brickstructureandwassubsequently beautified and expandedbyShahJahanandAurangzeb—andbuiltawallaroundit,andusedapartofthefortashisres-identialquarters.

Admired inPakistanAs the founder of amighty empire that

sprawledover a largepart of northwesternIndia,theMaharajaisidentifiedbymanywiththeidentityofPunjab.Around a decade ago, Pakistani video

bloggersstartedtopaintaglowingportraitoftheMaharajaonplatformssuchasYouTube.TheyunderlinedRanjit Singh's 'secular' val-ues,andrecalledhisappointmentof severalHinduandMuslimministers. They recalledthathehadhandedoverthefamousSunehriMasjidofLahore,whichhadbeenconvertedintoaGurdwarabysomeSikhmilitias,backtoMuslims,andhadfundeditsrenovation.

The statueat theFortAsustainedcampaignbysocialmediaac-

tivists,thePunjabidiaspora,especiallySikhs,and several small but vocal political groupsculminatedintheinstallationofRanjitSingh’sbronzestatueatLahoreFort in June2019ontheoccasionof theMaharaja's 180thdeathanniversary.Thelife-sizestatuewasgiftedtotheWalledCityof LahoreAuthority(WCLA)bySKFoundationUK,anorganisationbasedintheUnitedKingdom.GurdwaraDeraSahib,built on the spotwhere the fifth Sikh guruArjanDevwasmartyred, andRanjit Singh’ssamadhi,locatedadjacenttotheLahoreFort,drawa large number of Sikh tourists fromacrosstheworld.

Attackson the statueCritics in Pakistan complain that the

WCLAmadethedecisiontoinstalthestatuewithout due consultation, and that itwas

driven by commercial considerations. Thethreattothestatuehas,however,comefrompoliticalquarters,especiallyIslamistsandfun-damentalists.TheMEA's official spokespersonnoted

thatTuesday'svandalismwas“thethirdsuchincidentwherein the statue has been van-dalised,sinceitwasunveiledin2019”.InAugust2019,notlongaftertheinaugu-

rationof thestatue, “twomenstruck itwithwoodenrods,resultinginthebreakageofoneofitsarmsanddamagetootherparts”,Dawnreported.TheattackersraisedslogansagainsttheAugust5,2019constitutionalchangesinJammuandKashmir,thereportsaid.InDecember2020, amanbrokeanarm

of the statue. Thisman,whowas arrested,toldpolicethat“RanjitSingh'sstatueshouldnot have been built as he had committedatrocities againstMuslimsduringhis rule”,Dawnreported.

TOTALVACCINATED IN INDIA (at least one dose)

44,01,02,169

DOSESONAUG1858,36,403

AUG17:59,21,421 (45,25,247 st doses; 13,96,1742nd)

Aug09 Aug18

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

80,00,000

40,00,000

0

COVISHIELD

87.4%

COVAXIN

12.5%TOTALDOSES

56,64,88,433

(Sputnik V's 6,71,688doses

not represented in pie)

INDIAACTIVECASES 3,65,240

Aug09 Aug18LAST 10 DAYS

INDIATOTALCASES3,23,22,258Source:Ministry of Health& FamilyWelfare, updated at 11 pmonAugust 19

4,00,000

2,00,000

0

Note: TheAugust18 figures in thesegraphsarebasedon thegovtupdatesonAugust19

LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

3,65,2403,88,508

43,82,11344,90,464

13,45,04514,54,290

Sandeep Singh

SummerinNewDelhi,2018. Air-conditionersandrefrigeratorsextensivelyuseHFCs,whichcontributemoretoglobalwarmingthancarbondioxide.TheNewYorkTimes

SIMPLYPUT

Ozone pact in climate fightIndiahasratifiedtheKigaliAmendmenttothe1989MontrealProtocolforprotectionof theozonelayer.This isforphasingoutcompoundscalledHFCs,whichhappentobepowerfulgreenhousegases.

MOVINGTOWARDSLARGECAPS

July30 Aug18 Change

Sensex 52,586 55,629 5.8%

BSE 23,087 23,121 0.1%mid-cap

BSE 26,786 26,237 -2.0%small-cap

Why a statue ofMaharaja Ranjit Singh has been vandalised in Lahore

Where to invest amid divergence of market indices

Kolkata

12SENSEX: 55,629.49 ▼ 162.78 (-0.29%) NIFTY: 16,568.85 ▼ 45.75 (-0.28%) NIKKEI: 27,281.17 ▼ 304.74 HANG SENG: 25,316.33 ▼ 550.68 FTSE: 7,024.43 ▼ 144.89 DAX: 15,650.82 ▼ 315.15

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

*Domesticequity, forexandbullionmarketswereclosedonThursdayonaccountofMuharram; internationalmarketdata till1900IST

GOLD

`46,328*

RUPEE

`74.24*

OIL

$68.91

SILVER

`62,131*Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarketasofAugust18;goldper10g,silverper1kg;Crudeoil(Indianbasket)asonAugust18,2021

SUNNYVERMA

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

THEGOVERNMENT expects tostarttradeandsettlementofdebtsecurities on the internationalEuroclear platform, amove thatwouldpavethewayfor inclusionof G-sec in global bond indicesanytimesoon.“Wehavemadethearrangements,most of thebondplatformrequirementshavebeenmet. This should open anotherchanneltoattractoverseascapitalin Indiandebtmarkets,” a seniorFinanceMinistry official said onWednesday.“Taxationissuesincludingthe

exemption fromcapital gainsontheinternationaltransactionshavebeenamicablyaddressed.Weex-pectthatattheirnextreviewofin-dex constituents, entities like JPMorgan andBarclays should beabletoincludeIndiangiltsintheirindices, givingaccess to investorstoparticipate inourmarket,” theofficialsaid.Theplantolistasetofgovern-

mentsecuritiesinglobalbondin-dices has been in theworks formany years now. Then Finance

MinisterArunJaitley,intheUnionBudget2014-15,proposedallow-ing international settlement ofIndiandebtsecurities,asitwasex-pected to result in a reduction inbondyieldsandanincreaseinliq-uidityindomesticbondmarkets.TheBudget2020-21hadpro-

posed to remove limiton foreigninvestment in somegovernmentsecurities, as a first step towardstheir inclusion inglobal bond in-dices. TheReserveBankof IndiahadonMarch30notifiedafullyac-cessible route for investmentbynon-residents ingovernment se-curitieswithoutanyceilings.

Thecentralbank, inconsulta-tionwith theFinanceMinistry, isexpected to put caps on theamountof specific securities thatwillbeallowedtobetradedontheEuroclearplatformunderthefullyaccessibleroute.Withfiscaldeficitrising sharply after Covidhit theeconomy, additional sources offunding into government debtmarket are expected to aid theCentre’sincreasedborrowingpro-grammeofmore thanRs12 lakhcroreannually.Lastmonth,theRBIunveileda

schemeallowingdomestic retailinvestorstodirectlyparticipatein

theG-secmarket. Theycanopenandmaintain a ‘RetailDirectGiltAccount’with theRBI throughaportal,whichwillalsoprovideac-cesstoprimaryissuanceofG-Secsandthesecondarymarketaswell.Inclusion in bond indices,

alongwith thesemeasures, areaimedat supporting thegovern-ment’s borrowing programme.TheFinancialMarketsRegulationDepartment of theRBI,which isentrustedwith thedevelopmentandregulationandsurveillanceofG-secs market, has created aframework for international set-tlementofgilts.Thiswouldallowoverseas investors toputmoneyingovernmentdebtpaperswith-outtheneedtoregisterasFPIs.“TheDepartmentinitiatedthe

process of international settle-mentofIndiangovernmentsecu-ritiesthroughInternationalCentralSecurities Depository (ICSD) inconsultation with theGovernment of India, ICSDs andother stakeholders. Clients ofICSDswouldbe able to invest inIndianG-secwithout registeringthemselvesasforeignportfolioin-vestors (FPIs),” theRBI said in itsannualreportreleasedonMay27.

EXPECTEDTOAIDCENTRE’SBORROWINGPROGRAMME

‘FPI investment value in equities

rises to $592 bn in June quarter’The value of foreignportfolio investor (FPI) holdings indomestic equities reached $592billion in the June quarter, a7% rise over the preceding quarter, aMorningstar report said

$552BILLION:VALUEOFFPI INVESTMENTS

IN INDIANEQUITIES IN

JANUARY-MARCHQUARTER

$344BILLION:VALUEOFFPI INVESTMENTS

IN INDIANEQUITIESASOF

JUNE2020

Source:

Morningstar/PTI

Factors thatboosted

investment inequities:

■Robust net inflows fromFPIs■ Strongperformanceofequitymarkets

19.1%Overseas investors’contribution to domesticequitymarket capitalisation in

June quarter, slipping from19.9% inMarch quarter

Majorcomponentsof foreign

portfolio investmentapart from

largeFPIs:

■Offshoremutual funds■ Offshore insurancecompanies■ Hedge funds■Sovereignwealth funds

More cautious in July: FPIs turned cautious toward Indian equity markets again in July.The US Federal Reserve’s hawkish statement that it might raise interest ratesmuchearlier than assumedwas the precursor for the change in their stance. Rising valuations,surging oil prices, and firmness in the US dollar toomade themwary of the near-term risks

E●EXPLAINED

Frameworkfor

international

settlement

THEFINANCIALMarketsRegulationDepartmentof theRBI,which isentrustedwiththedevelopmentandregulationandsurveillanceofG-secsmarket,hascreatedaframeworkfor internationalsettlementof gilts.Thiswouldallowover-seas investors toputmoney ingovernmentdebtpaperswithout theneedtoregisterasFPIs.

Giltssettogoglobal:Overseasinvestorsgetanotherchannel

BRIEFLY

DieselpricecutNewDelhi:Diesel price onThursdaywascutby20paiseper litre toRs89.47per litre—thesecondstraightdayofreduction—butpetrol rateswereunchangedatRs101.84.

ADBloanpactNewDelhi:TheAsianDeve-lopmentBankwillgive$500millionloantoexpandmetronetworkinBengaluru.PTI

BHELstationsNewDelhi:TheDelhi-Chan-digarhHighwayhasbecomeIndia’sfirste-vehiclefriendlyhighway,withsolarchargingstationssetupbyBHEL.

UjjivanSFBCEOMumbai:Nitin Chugh,MDand CEO of Ujjivan SmallFinanceBank,hasresigned,citingpersonal reasons, ef-fectiveSeptember30. ENS

IndianBankNewDelhi:ShantiLalJainhasbeen appointed MD andCEO of Indian Bank for3years,aPersonnelMinistryordersaid.PTI

KHUSHBOONARAYAN

MUMBAI,AUGUST19

ACUSTOMSandexcisetribunalinMumbaiwill begin hearing theappeal filedby theDirectorateofRevenueIntelligence(DRI)againsttwoorders that struck downallproceedings against threeAdaniGroup companies in powerequipmentovervaluationcasesofRs5,500crore, fromAugust30.Thedecisiontohearthecases

cameonJuly26afterAdaniPowerMaharashtra Ltd, Adani PowerRajasthan Ltd andMaharashtraEasternGridPowerTransmissionCompanyLtd—thatwonthefirstround in the legal battle — ap-proachedthetribunalseekinganearlyhearingofthematterastheyfeeltheDRIprobehasraisedcon-cerns among their independentdirectors,auditors,lenders,foreigninvestorsandshareholders.However,theDRIopposedthe

Adanifirms’pleastatingthattheyhave alreadybeengranted reliefin the cases and “no prejudice”willbecausedtothem,“if theap-peals are takenup for hearing induecourseoftime”.Italsosaidthetribunalorder inasimilarcaseofanothercompanyhasbeenchal-lengedbytheagencyintheSupr-emeCourt and the case againstAdanifirmsshouldbeheardonlyaftertheSCdecidesthatcase.TheAdaniGroupfirms,intheir

petitiontothetribunalinsupportof an early hearing of the cases,said, “... the issue involved in thepresentdisputehasbeenwidelypublicized, causing concernamongst the appellant’s lendersandshareholders.Thevilificationcampaignedbyvested interests,including in and throughmedia,has resulted in erosionof equityvalue, and thereby, triggering acascadingeffectontheapplicants’business. Thedispute arisingoutof thepresentcasehasavital im-pact on the appellant’s groupcompanies inasmuchasvariousforeign investors, lenders, finan-cial institutions have time andagainpursuingforascertainment

of thestatusofpendingdispute”.Earlier this year, theDRI had

petitionedtothepresidentof thetribunaltoreconstitutethetribu-nalbenchhearingtheAdanicasesasitfelttheRevenueDepartmentwill not get justice if the case isheardby theoldbench that pre-viously ruledagainst thedepart-ment in a similar case. Sourcessaid theAdani casewill nowbeheardbyabenchcomprising tri-bunal president Justice DilipGuptaandPAnjaniKumar, tech-nicalmemberof thetribunal.The threeAdani group firms

areaccusedof allegedly inflatingthe total declaredvalueof goodsimportedunderpowerandinfra-structure heads,which attractszeroorlessthan5percentdutytotheextentofRs5467crore.In thesecases, theDRIhasal-

legedthatwhilethegoods(powergeneration and transmissionequipment)werebeing shippeddirectlytoIndiabyoriginalequip-ment manufacturers (OEM)based inChina andSouthKorea,“the documents were routedthrough an intermediary entitycreated in UAE, who raised in-flated invoices (inflating the val-ues in original invoices of OEMseveraltimes)ontheIndiancom-pany,againstwhichmoneyisre-mitted toUAE”. TheDRI has al-legedthattheactualinvoicevalueof theOEMwas remitted to thesupplierwhile the inflated extraamountwas sent to accounts oftheparentcompanyof the inter-mediary.The intermediarycom-pany,accordingtotheDRI,iscon-trolled by the Adani Groupthroughitsrepresentativefirms.

Fullreportonwww.indianexpress.com

■ThefirmssoughtanearlyhearingfeelingtheDRIproberaisedconcernsamongauditorsandinvestors

INVESTOR, AUDITORCONCERNS

Goods ‘overvaluation’:Tribunal to take upDRI plea against reliefto Adani Group cos

REUTERS

WASHINGTON,AUGUST19

THEUSFederalTradeCommissionrefresheditsantitrustcaseagainstFacebookThursday,addingmoredetailontheaccusationthesocialmedia company crushed orboughtrivalsandonceagainask-ingajudgetoforcethesocialme-dia giant to sell Instagram andWhatsApp.An expanded portion of the

complaint argues that FacebookdominatestheUSpersonalsocialnetworking market. The FTCvoted3-2alongparty lines to filetheamendedlawsuitanddeniedFacebook’s request that agencyhead LinaKhanbe recused. Theagency also repeated its requestthat the court order Facebook tosellInstagram,whichitboughtin2012for$1billion,andWhatsApp,which it bought in 2014 for $19billion.TheFTCaccusedFacebookof an“illegalbuyorburyschemetocrushcompetition”inthehead-line of the press release on itscomplaint.Facebook said that itwould

continuetofightthelawsuit.“It isunfortunate that despite thecourt’sdismissalofthecomplaintandconclusion that it lacked thebasis foraclaim,theFTChascho-sentocontinuethismeritlesslaw-suit,”acompanyspokesmansaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAU

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

INDIAISclosetoagreeingtoan“early harvest” trade agree-ment as part of the ongoingdiscussionswithAustralia.Thegovernmentisalsoworkingona similar deal with the UK,CommerceMinister PiyushGoyal saidonWednesday.Headded theearlyharvestdealswouldaddress trade issues inareasofimmediateinterestforIndiaandothercountriesandthat negotiations on the re-mainingareaswouldcontinue.“Australia has shownsig-

nificant interest todoanearlyharvest. Theyhavekindof al-mostagreedtodoanearlyhar-vest,” Goyal said while ad-dressing Export PromotionCouncils in Mumbai. TheMinister noted that the gov-ernment hadheld intensivetalksonanearlyharvestagree-mentwithSpecialTradeEnvoyand formerPrimeMinisterofAustraliaTonyAbbott.“So,Iwouldurgeallofyou

toquicklyassesswhicharetheareaswherewecanfinalisetheearly harvestwithAustralia,whatare theareasof your in-terest, what are the areaswhereyouallcanletgoalittlebit,” Goyal told exporters,adding anearlyharvestwithAustraliawouldhelpIndiaen-gagewithotherWesterncoun-triesontradeagreements.“The UK is something

whichisprogressingwell.Weareworkingthroughlinemin-istries to identifyareaswherewecanquickly close thedealinthetermsofearlyharvest,ifpossible,” saidGoyal, notingthat the governmentwould

looktoaddressareasofimme-diateinterestinsteadofrequir-ingagreementontheentiresetof about 11,000 goods thatIndiatrades.He said theUS had indi-

catedthatitwascurrentlynotlooking at new trade agree-ments but that the govern-ment was looking to workwith themtoaddressmarketaccessissues,suchasaddress-ingnon-tariffbarriersanden-teringintomutualrecognitionagreementswithhigherqual-ity standards. Goyal addedtradenegotiationswiththeEU,Canada,theUAE,GCCnationsand Israel had also achieved“positivemomentum.”TheMinistersaidtherehad

beenmistakesmadeinprevi-ous Free Trade Agreements(FTAs) but this time thegov-ernment is engagingwith in-dustryandotherMinistriestoensurethattheFTAsare“fairlyandequitablycrafted”.Goyal did note, however,

that FTAs could not be one-waytraffic, saying:“We’llalsohave to openourmarkets toothers, if you’re wanting alargerpieintheirmarkets,andthereforemyappeal and re-quest to all of you is to alsoidentify areaswherewehavethe confidence thatwe canwithstandcompetition.”

POLICYWATCH

BILATERALCOMMERCE

‘Finalising earlyharvest trade dealwith Australia;talks on with UK’

KHUSHBOONARAYAN

MUMBAI,AUGUST19

SAMSUNG INDIA ElectronicsPvt Ltd has deposited Rs 300crore with the Directorate ofRevenue Intelligence (DRI), af-ter the agency found the com-panyhadallegedlymisdeclaredimportsof RemoteRadioHead,an apparatus used for 4G tele-com technology, sources toldThe Indian Express.In July, the DRI began inves-

tigating imports of RemoteRadio Head by Samsung India.The agency found the company

hadmisdeclared and classifiedthe imports as telecom goodsthat attract zero duty. The DRIalso searched theMumbai andDelhi office of Samsung as partof theirprobe.Subsequently,theagency questioned the chief fi-

nancialofficerofSamsungIndiaand a fewother officials in con-nectionwith thecase.“The imports of Remote

Radio Head were declared aseNodeB that attract zero duty.The short paid duty on the con-signmentsimportedbySamsungIndia is over Rs. 500 crore.However,onAugust17,thecom-panyhasdepositedRs300croretowardstheirdutyliability,”saidasource.The Indian Express had

reached out to Samsung viaemail, phonecalls and textmes-sage,butdidnotreceiveareplyatthetimeofgoingtopress.

ALLEGEDDUTYEVASIONCASE

CommerceMinisterPiyushGoyal.PTI file

■InJuly,theDRIbeganinvestigatingimportsofRemoteRadioHeadbySamsungIndia.

‘MISDECLARED

IMPORTS’

Samsung deposits `300 cr with DRI US FTC saysFB ‘bought,buried’ rivalsin renewedantitrust fight

COCALLSSUIT ‘MERITLESS’

USFederalTradeCommissionChairLinaKhan.AFP/PTI file

‘WorkingwithUSonmarketaccessissues’

HDFC Bank raises $1 bn via AT-1 bonds at 3.7%ENSECONOMICBUREAU

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

HDFCBANKhasmobilised$1bil-lion(overRs7,400crore)throughanadditionaltier-I(AT-1)perpet-ual bond issue at a coupon ratesubstantially lower than the ini-tialguidance.Whiletheinitialguidancewas

4.125percent,thebankhasbeenabletogetafinalpricingof3.7percent, despite concerns aboutAT-1 bonds after the Yes BankAT-1write-off. The bond offering re-ceived strong demand from in-vestors acrossmarkets, and theoveralldemandwas$4.5billion.

“HDFCBank’s $1billionAT-1bondsale,thelargestoffshoresaleofthesebondsbyanIndianentity,was subscribed several timeswithinhoursofitslaunchonWe-dnesday,”saidabankingsource.“TheNoteswillbelistedonthe

India International Exchange(IFSC),”theprivatebanksaidinanexchange filing. Global investorslike GIC Singapore, Blackrock,FidelityInvestment,HSBCGlobal

AssetManagement, JPMorganAsset Management, LombardOdierandValuePartnershavere-portedlyinvestedinthebonds.AshishParthasarthy,treasurer,

HDFCBank,said,“Webelievethatthis successful issuancewill setthe road for other Indianplayerslooking to raise AT-1 bonds inoverseasmarkets.”According tomarket sources,

the AT-1 issue fromHDFCBank

hadcomeata timewhenthe in-vestor community raised con-cerns about such bonds as theyhad suffered losses when YesBankextinguisheditsAT-1bondsaspartof thebailout.HDFCBankbonds are ratedBa3byMoody’s.ABa3ratingisbelowinvestmentgradeandbondsthatgetthisrat-ingarecategorisedasjunkbonds.Thebank’sAT-1 issue camea

dayaftertheRBIallowedthebankto issue credit cards tonewcus-tomers. Sashidhar Jagdishan,HDFC Bank’sMD and CEO, hassaidthatthelenderwillbeaggres-siveand“comebackwithabang”asitseekstowinbacklostmarketshareinthecreditcardsegment.

Whiletheinitialguidancewas4.125%,thebankgot

afinalpricingof3.7%,despiteconcernsaboutAT-1

bondsaftertheYesBankAT-1write-off

ENSECONOMICBUREAU

NEWDELHI,AUGUST19

STATE-OWNEDPOWERgenera-tion company NTPC Ltd hasthreatenedtocutsupplyof5,512MWof power to Uttar PradeshstartingFridayif thestatediscomdoesnotclearduesofRs919crorethathavebeenpendingformorethan45days,accordingtosourcesawareofdevelopments.TheUttarPradesh Power Corporation Ltd(UPPCL)hasduesofRs2,873crorepayabletoNTPC.ThenoticebyNTPCcitedguid-

elinesbyCentralElectricityRegul-atoryCommission (CERC)whichprovide that apower generatingcompanyhastherighttodiscon-tinuesupplytoadefaultingentityin case of non-payment of out-standingdues.NTPCsaid“inspiteof repeated followupsatvariouslevelsinpersonaswellasthroughourletters...UPPCLhasnotyetliq-uidatedoutstandingdues.”NTPCnotedthat100percent

of thepower supply allocated toUPwouldbecutinitiallyforape-riodof15days,asperCERCregu-lations.Expertsnotedthatsucha

large supply cut byNTPCwouldlead to blackouts inUP, but thatsuch a cutwas unlikely and thenoticewasaimedatputtingpres-sureonthediscomtocleardues.

NewDelhi: TheMinistry ofPower has proposed toamend rules for facilitatingelectricity producers to sellpower to thirdparty,whichcan reduce fixed costs andcut retail tariff for end con-sumers,accordingtoastate-ment. The Ministry onThursdaycirculatedthedraftElectricity (Late PaymentSurcharge) AmendmentRules, 2021, seeking com-mentsforthesame,themin-istry said. Theministrypro-poses to takeonemoresteptowardsreducingtheburdenof the distribution licensee(discoms)inordertoreducethe retail tariff for the elec-tricityconsumers, thestate-mentsaid. PTI

Draft rules onelectricity sale

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

HYDERABAD/MUMBAI,AUG19

KARVY STOCK Broking Pvt Ltd(KSBL) chairman andmanagingdirector CParthasarathywas ar-rested byHyderabad police onThursdayforallegedlydefaultingonbankloans.IndusIndBankhadlodgedapolicecomplaintagainsthimfordefaultingonRs237croreof loantakenfromthebank.TheDetectiveDepartmentof

Central CrimeStationhad regis-tered the FIR and took him into

custody. Joint Commissioner ofPolice (Detective Department)AvinashMohanty said Partha-sarathywas arrested fordefault-ingonaloantakenfromIndusIndBank in 2019 and diverting thefundstootherbankaccounts.Officials said hehad also de-

faultedonaloanfromHDFCBankandaninvestigationisgoingon.The banks alleged in their

complaintinJunethatParthasara-thypledged shares of his clientsandavailedtheloans,anddivertedthe money to other firms andstarteddefaultingonrepayment.HDFC Bank had extended a

loanofRs350crore,saidofficials.In 2019, the Securities and

Exchange Board of India (Sebi)bannedKSBL from taking freshbusiness for allegedlymisappro-priatingmoney and securities,worthnearlyRs 2,000 crore, be-

longingtoitsinvestors,tofunditsrealestatearmKarvyRealty.Lend-ers, includingHDFC Bank, ICICIBank, IndusInd Bank and BajajFinanceLtd,hadallowedKarvytoborrowmoneybypledging clie-nts’shares,puttingtheinvestmentofover90,000investorsatrisk.KSBLcreditedthefundsraised

bypledgingof clientsecurities tosix of its ownbank accounts in-steadofitsclientaccountsandfur-ther has not reported these sixown bank accounts to theExchange,whichismandatedun-derSebiprovisions,Sebihadsaid.

NTPC warns UP ofcutting supply over`919 cr unpaid dues

REUTERS

BENGALURU,AUGUST19

AMAZON.COMINCisplanningtoopen several largephysical retailstoresintheUnitedStatesthatwilloperate like department stores,theWallStreetJournalreportedonThursday, citing people familiarwiththematter.Someof the company’s first

department stores are expectedtoopeninOhioandCalifornia,theJournal reported,addingthat thestoreswillbeabout30,000squarefeetinsizeandofferproductsfrom

well-knownconsumerbrands.Amazondidnotimmediately

respond to aReuters request forcomment.

The e-commerce giant hasbeen benefiting froma surge inonline purchases from home-boundshoppers.However,vacci-nations are now encouragingmore US shoppers to return tobrick-and-mortar stores to buyclothes,footwearandelectronics.Traditional retailers also saw

online sales surge, though totalsales fell as theywere forced toshut stores,whichmake up thebulkoftheirrevenue.Steadyvac-cinerolloutsarenowencouragingmore Americans to return tobrick-and-mortar stores to buyclothes,footwear,andelectronics.

DEFAULTINGON`237CROREEXTENDEDBY INDUSINDBANK

‘Loan default’: Karvy Stock Broking CMD arrested

AnAmazonFulfillmentwarehouse inShakopee,Minnesota.Someof thefirstdepartmentstoresareexpectedtoopeninOhioandCalifornia,theWallStreetJournalreported. AP file

‘Amazon plans physical retail stores in US’

KSBL chairmanandMD

CParthasarathywas

arrestedbyHyderabad

policeonThursday

Kolkata

SPORT/ CALENDAR13 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

PTUsha’s ‘guiding light’ nomore

NIHALKOSHIE

AUGUST19

WHEN A young PT Usha first spotted OMNambiar, the retired air force sergeant-turned-coachwaswearingacapandacoatwhile scouting for talent at a sub-juniormeet.UsharecallsNambiarvividlyfromthatdaybecausehewastheonlypersonwearinga suit despite thehumidity.A fewmonths later, Usha and Nambiar

would meet for the first time when, as aClass 8 student, she joined the newly-formedSportsDivisioninKannur.Thepart-nership between the coach and the athletewould become one of themost successfulinIndiantrackandfieldhistory,takinghertothecuspofanOlympicpodiumfinish,whilemintinggoldmedals inAsia.On Thursday, Nambiar, 89 passed away

at his residence near Vadakara due to age-related illness. But his legacywill live on asthe coach who groomed Usha into one oftheall-timegreats.“Thepassingofmyguru,mycoach,my

guiding light is going to leave a void thatcan never be filled,” Ushawrote on socialmedia.“Wordscannotexpresshiscontribution

tomylife.Anguishedbythegrief.WillmissyouOMNambiar sir. RIP.”Talking about her early days with

Nambiar, Usha said on Thursday that shewas first noticed byhimbecause she couldcomplete all the warm-up drills exactly ashedemonstrated.“He was a stickler for discipline. He

closely watched how students were doingtheir warm ups. I made it a point to followeverythinghesaid.Whoeverdidthewarm-updrills thebestwouldgetatoffee. Iamtheonewhogot themost toffees,”Usha says.She’d use some of his trainingmethods

when she started her own academynearlytwodecadesago.Aspiringathletes trainingunder Usha’s tutelage would warm-up byrunningonthesandsof thebeachinPayyoli,where she had trained as a teenager withNambiar. The last time Usha visited hercoachwasonAugust8, thedayafterNeerajChoprawon the historic gold in the javelinthrowat theOlympics.“Hehadbeen inhospital recently. Sohe

was sedated and could not talk. But heopenedhiseyesandlookedatme. I thinkherecognizedme,”Ushasaysof theirlastmeet-ing. Right through the 1980s Usha andNambiar became household names as shescorched tracks around theworld.Usha finished fourth andmissedout on

bronzebyone-hundredthofasecondinthe

400m hurdles at the 1984 Los AngelesOlympics.Evengettingthatclosewouldnothave been possible without the vision andwise counsel of the coach.Nambiar was keen to challenge Usha,

whowas still lickingherwoundsafterbag-ging only silver in the 100m and 200msprints at the1982Asiad inDelhi.The coach, after studyingUsha’s stride

pattern, told her she was suited for thehurdles, a relatively neweventwhichwasadded to the Olympic roster for the firsttime.The 1983 Asian Championships in

KuwaitCity iswhereNambiartestedUsha’spotential bymaking her run in the 400m.Shewon the gold, making Nambiar confi-dentof his studentbeingon the right track.“Nambiarsir toldmeIhaveagoodstride

pattern and he said I have the potential tobecomea top400mhurdles runner,”Usha,57, had told thispaper earlier this year.ThoughthebidtowinanOlympicmedal

didn’twork,Usha,withNambiarbyherside,won five gold medals and a bronze at theAsianAthleticsChampionshipsinJakarta in1985.

Back in the 1980s, Nambiarworemanyhats.Hewasnot justUsha’spersonal coachbut doubled up as a nutritionist, recoveryexpertandsoundingboard.Ushaknewshewouldbe lostwithouthim.Before she left for the meet in Kuwait

City, she knocked on the door of the PrimeMinister’s office to convince federation of-ficials to allow Nambiar to travel with heroverseasasherpersonalcoach. Itwasacon-ceptwhichwasunheardof back then.“Therewasnoscopeforapersonalcoach

of an athlete to travel abroad in those days.Only coaches decided by the federationwould travel. But I was keen that Nambiarsir travel with me. The Prime Minister(Indira Gandhi) was not in her office but ImetPCAlexander (principal secretary)andtold himwhy itwas crucial forNambiar sirto travelwithme.MrAlexander said, ‘don’tworry, itwill bedone,’”Usha recalls.Another fruitful overseas stint for the

coach and athletewas at the Crystal PalaceSportsTrainingCentreinLondon,wheretheseedsof successforthecontinentalevent inJakarta were planted. Usha participated inthe competitive European circuit withNambiarbyher side.Born inKannur in1932,Nambiar joined

the armed forces and continued to pursueathletics.Heretiredfromtheair forceintheearly1970s,completedhisdiplomafromtheNational Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patialaand joined theKerala SportsCouncil.Hewasoneof thethreerecipientsof the

firstDronacharyaAward in1985.However,itwasonlyearlierthisyearthathewascon-ferredwith thePadmaShri.

Hurdler RohanKamble bookssemifinal berth

A course correction thatcomes too late for SemenyaNEWYORKTIMES

AUGUST19

CONTROVERSIAL RULES regarding intersexathletes,whichkeptCasterSemenyaofSouthAfricafromdefendinghertitleinthe800-me-terrunattheTokyoOlympics,havecomeun-derrenewedscrutinyasscientistshaveissuedacorrectiontoastudythat indicatedacausalconnectionbetweenhigh testosterone levelsand enhanced athletic performance amongelitefemaleathletes.The study, published in 2017, has been

among theevidenceused to restrict athleteswithararegeneticconditionthatresultsinel-evated testosterone levels fromentering cer-tainwomen’sevents.Semenya’s attorneys and a prominent

American critic of the restrictions onWednesdaycalledfortheregulationstobesus-pended,followingacorrectionprintedbytheBritishJournalofSportsMedicineof the2017article,whichwaswrittenbytwoscientistsaf-filiatedwithtrackandfield’sworldgoverningbody. The scientists acknowledged that theirstudyindicatingapivotalrelationshipbetweenhightestosteronelevelsandenhancedathleticperformanceamongtopfemaleathleteswas“exploratory”and“couldhavebeenmislead-ingbyimplyingacausal inference.”Thestudywasusedtoimplementregula-

tionsin2018thatrestrictintersexathletesfromcompeting inwomen’s running events from400meterstothemileunlesstheylowertheirnaturallyhightestosteronelevels.Theregulationsgovernathleteswithadis-

orderofsexualdevelopmentknownas46,XYDSD.TheseathleteshaveanXandYchromo-some in each cell, the typicalmale pattern;genitaliathatarenottypicallymaleorfemale;and testosterone levels in themale range,which,doctorssay,suggestthepresenceoftes-ticulartissueorinternaltestes.WorldAthletics,whichgoverns trackand

field,hasacknowledgedthatitsregulationsarediscriminatory, but argues that they are fairandnecessary to ensure that female athletescanparticipateonalevelplayingfieldintermsofstrength,musclemassandoxygen-carryingcapacity.ButchallengestotheDSDregulationsimplementedbyWorldAthleticsseemcertaintobeginanewafterthecorrectionintheBritishJournal of SportsMedicine. OnWednesday,GregoryNott, oneof Semenya’s lawyers, toldtheBritishnewspaper The Telegraph that theathlete’s legal teamhopedWorld Athleticswould“supportsettingasidetheregulations.”Semenyahas lost appeals to continue to

runthe800metersat internationalcompeti-tionsbeforetheCourtofArbitrationforSport,a kind of Supreme Court for internationalsports; and the Federal Supreme Court ofSwitzerland. Her case is now before theEuropeanCourtofHumanRights,thoughlegalexpertshavesaidthatarulinginSemenya’sfa-vorwouldnotmeanWorldAthleticswould

havetoallowhertorunhersignatureevent.She won the 800 meters at the 2012

LondonOlympicsandthe2016Games inRiodeJaneiro.Excludedfromthe800inTokyobythenewrules,shesoughttorunthe5,000me-tersattheTokyoOlympics,butdidnotachieveaqualifyingtimeintheevent.“It is more than surprising thatWorld

Athletics did not reveal this evidence beforetherecentTokyoOlympicsandallowCastertodefendher800-meter title,”Nott, Semenya’slawyer,toldTheTelegraph.

WorldAthleticsunder fireRogerPielkeJr.,aprofessorattheUniversity

ofColoradowhoforseveralyearshascriticizedthescienceusedbyWorldAthleticstorestrictSemenyaandotherintersexathletes,saidinatelephone interviewonWednesday that theDSDregulationsshouldbesuspendedpendinganindependentreview.“This is a test forWorldAthletics to show

thatthey’reactuallylisteningtoevidenceandscience,versustryingtobendsciencetosomepredetermineddecision,” Pielke said. Earlier,hewrote onhis Substack that the correctionwasan“admissionoferrorbyWorldAthleticsintheonlyempiricalanalysiswhichunderpinsits eligibility regulations for female athletes.”“Theimplicationsaremassive,”headded.WorldAthletics downplayed the signifi-

canceof the correctionWednesday.After re-ceivingcriticismofthe2017study,itacknowl-edgedina2018articleintheBritishJournalofSports Medicine that the study was ex-ploratoryanddidnotconfirmacausalrelation-shipbetweenelevated testosteroneandper-formanceadvantagesforelitefemaleathletes.In2019, CAS ruled in its favor andagainst

Semenya.Amoreformalcorrectionwaswrit-ten,accordingtotheWorldAthleticsscientists,to clarifypersistentquestions raisedby inde-pendentobserversregardingalackofevidenceofacausalrelationship.

Nairobi:RohanKamblegavethe Indiancon-tingent reason to smilebymaking it to themen's 400m hurdles semi-finals in theWorld Athletics U20 Championships onThursday.He was the only Indian athlete who

progressedtothenextroundadayafter thecountry's 4x400m relay mixed teamclaimed bronze. On a daywhen theWorldAthleticsPresidentLordSebastianCoemetand encouraged the Indian team, Kamblebooked a berth in the 400mhurdles semi-finals by finishing fourth in the last of thefiveheats.He clocked 55.00 seconds when all he

needed todowas finish the race after SaadHinti (Morocco) did not start and AmarEded (Qatar) was disqualified for a falsestart. Hardeep Kumar hit a hurdle in theopeningheatsandwascreditedwithatimeof 1:12.80.Earlier,India'sAnuKumarmissedoutona

berth in themen's 800m semi-finals. Heclocked1:50.26infinishingfourthinhisopen-ingroundheats,justoverasecondslowerthanhis personal best time, clocked in theFederation CupAthletics Championships inPatialaonMarch18thisyear.Pooja warmed up for the women's

1500mheatstoberunonFridaythoughshedidnotmakeittothewomen's800msemi-finals. She clocked the 16th fastest time inthe first round heats, finishing sixth in2:10.66. Shehas apersonal timeof 2:06.22clockedinSeptember2019andayear'sbesttimeof2:07.96clockedinFebruarythisyear.AmandeepSinghDhaliwal,whoputthe

shot over 17.92monWednesday toqualifyfor themen's final, fouled his first two at-tempts and managed a disappointing17.08monhis third attempt to finish 12th.Barely three weeks ago, Amandeep

Singh Dhaliwal secured a personal best of19.15m in the Federation Cup JuniorAthletics Championships in Sangrur.

Coe praises juniorsWorldAthleticsPresidentSebastianCoe

has congratulated the Indian mixed4x400mrelay teamfor itsbronze-winningperformance at the U-20World AthleticsChampionships, saying that the country ismaking great progress in the sport.“This iswhatyouneedat thestartof the

championship. Congratulations to your4x400mmixed relay team, fantastic per-formance in theheats aswell,” he said.The double Olympic gold medallist in

1500madded: “Thatmeansyouhavego todowhat they have done, there is big pres-sure there. I lovedwatching you guys per-formand this is a sport and country that isreallymaking great progress.”PTI

CROSSWORD4513

ACROSS1 Evidence followsconcerningblame(7)

5 Plead foronetroddenunderfoot (5)

8 Withportunclebecomesportly (9)

9 Irishman’sportionofbutter?(3)

10 Pulls leg roundchest (4)12 Isn’t love tobewrittenabout?Yesoneoftendoes (8)

14 Reachaswirlingriver(6)

15 Fights for food leftover (6)17 Nota friendlyvisitmadebyabugler? (4,4)

18 SimpleplantFatherBenedictprovides (4)

21 Joshua’s father’s sister (3)22 Notknowing-howtomendafuse? (2,3,4)

24 Theoffenceof onecomingtolight (5)

25 Recklesspersonpulledupshort (7)

DOWN1 Comeagainabout thedog(5)

2 Standardsparepart (3)3 Theresponsibilitywebearapparently (4)

4 Someislandsareof Easternorigin (6)

5 Awoman’s resignation(8)

6 Notauniquetypeof bridge(9)

7 T.S.Eliotplayshowingunderstatement (7)

11 Vocalists inboatersperhaps(9)

13 Peoplewillbeputoutby it (8)14 Putona finish toa literarysupplement (7)

16 Seizesomeeggs (6)19 Breakarrangedforonewhoworks in theheat (5)

20 Theothers taketimeout(4)

23 Apoliticianconcerned incurrentaffairs (3)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Mostastrologerssaythat it isnecessary toflowwiththedominantplanetary

influencesof thetimes.Yet, ifyouwish,youmaybuckthetrendanddealwith issueswhicharenotnowofgreatestimportance, suchas travelplans,educationalarrangementsandlegalquestions.

TAURUS(Apr.21-May21)Lifehops fromonesetof lunaralignments toanother.At this stage

in thecycleyoumaybe forcedtoget ridof anythingofnolastingvalue,muchas thismaygoagainst thegrain.Youhavemuchtogain frommakingafreshstart inall closefamily relationships.

GEMINI (May22- June21)You'reunder theMoon'semotionalswaytoday,andthepace isboundtopick

up.Somuchappears tobeaffectedbycircumstancesoverwhichyouhave littleornocontrol. There isnothingstrange in this.Afterall,wearealldependentonpartners,friendsandassociates toonedegreeoranother.

CANCER(June22- July23)There isa realdangerat themomentofsayingmorethansituationswarrant.

Yetotherpeoplewillbesurprisedwhenit turnsout thatyourbite is indeedeverybitasbadasyourbark.Althoughyousometimescan't findthebestwords,whenyoudo,yourfamoussharptonguewillgivethemareal sting.

LEO(July24-Aug.23)Youwoulddobestnottotrytopredicttheoutcomeofanyemotionalwrangles

orconflictsuntil thedusthassettled.Atpresent, itstill looksasifanythingmay,andprobablywill,happen.Youstillhavetounravelafinancialquestion,though,sogetonwithit.

VIRGO(Aug.24-Sept.23)It'sheaddownandshoulders to thewheel foryou,nomatterwhereyour

dreamsandfantasieshaveledyouover thepastweek.There ismuchtobedonebeforeyoucanafford torestonyourlaurels. In fact, I'dsaytherecouldbeanothereight tonineweeksbeforeyouachieveyourgoals.

LIBRA(Sept.24-Oct.23)Venus'evolvingpositionisboundtoboostyourmoraletonewheights.

However,foranotherfewdaysyoumaystillbeunabletodomorethanwaveyourarmsineffectually,aspartnersfailtotakeaccountofwhatyouaretryingtosay.Theymightnotnoticewhatyou'redoingeither,andthatcouldworkinyourfavour.

SCORPIO(Oct.24-Nov.22)Noonehastrulybeenabletocomplainthatyoulackambition,foryouhavesucceeded

inpromotingyourowninterestsverydiscreetly.Success,though,isrelative,andcanonlybemeasuredagainsthowwell,orbadly,otherpeoplehavedone.Don'tjudgeyourself tooharshly.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov.23- Jan.20)Likeanumberofotherpeople,youhavebeenexperiencingmany

changesofmood.Yetyourlifehasbeensmootherthanmost,largelyduetothestabilisingrelationshipbetweentheSunandyourownsign.Onceyouhaveworkedoutaproblemwithauthority,Isuspectotherdifficultieswillsortthemselvesout.

CAPRICORN(Dec.23- Jan.20)Jupiter'spowerfulandbroodingrelationshipwithSaturnmeansone

thing:partnersandcloseassociatesaregoingtobedisagreeablysurprised if theyimaginethat theycanget thebetterof you,especially ifthey're tryingtoget theirhandsonyourmoney.

AQUARIUS(Jan.21-Feb.19)All the indicationspoint to thisbeingatimeofupheavalsandenforced

changes,particularly inrelationship topartners.Peoplewhoare involvedwithyouemotionally,professionally,sociallyandfinancially, areall reassessing theirprioritiesandthatcovers justabouteverything.

PISCES(Feb.20-Mar20)You'vebeenable toduckanddive in thepast.Nowyoumustbetotallyhonestand

onehundredpercentobjectiveaboutyourattitudes tootherpeople.Quiteaside fromyourpersonal relationships,yourcareer interestsdependonhowwellyougetonwithpartnersandcolleagues.

SUDOKU4569

DifficultyLevel2s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4568

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Theremustbequiteafewthingsthata_____won't__,butIdon'tknowmanyofthem-Sylvia

Plath(3,4,.,4)

SOLUTION:AFIRE,TAROT,PUNCHY,HOBBLEAnswer:Theremustbequiteafewthingsthatahotbathwon'tcure,butIdon'tknowmanyofthem-SylviaPlath

FIAER NPYCHU

AROTT BELOBH

SolutionsCrossword4512:Across:1Casanova,5Emma,9Tight,10Learner,11Hair-restorer,13Tussle,14Getoff,17Intheinterim,20Piastre,21Laird,22Draw,23Clarinet.Down:1Cots,2Signals,3Naturaldeath,4Valuer,6Manor,7Aircraft,8Cattledealer,12Stripped,15Opinion,16Anneal,18Tiara,19Adit.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

CasterSemenyafailedtoqualify for theTokyoGames.AP

Fromawardingherwithtoffeestointroducinghertothe400mhurdles, thelegendaryathleticscoachhelpedUshacomewithinthecuspofOlympicsuccess

PTUshawithcoachOMNambiar.Usha'spersonalphotoalbum

JUNIORWORLDSO M NAMBIAR 1932-2021

Thepassingofmyguru,mycoach,

myguiding light is going to leave a

void that cannever be

filled...words cannot express his

contribution tomy life. Anguished

by thegrief.Willmiss youOM

Nambiar sir. RIP.”

PTUSHA

Kolkata

R.N.I.No.WBENG/2005/20789VOL.XVIINo.129PrintedbyV.SrinivasanandPublishedbyV.Srinivasanonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LtdandPrintedatSaraswatiPrintFactoryPvt.Ltd,789,Chowbhaga (West),Kolkata-700105andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P) Ltd JLNo.29&30,N.H.-6,Mouza-Prasastha&Ankurhati, P.O. - Salap,P.S.-Domjur,Howrah-711409.Ph: (033)66043800Fax: (033)66043825&66043847.Chairmanof theBoard :ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor :RajKamal Jha,Editor :UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Kolkata):RakeshSinha*

(*Responsible for selectionof newsunder thePRBAct)Copyright :The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner,electronicorotherwise,inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited.The IndianExpress®

SPORT14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY,AUGUST20,2021

‘We can’t stop now. Next target is that theflag is raised in the centre and is topmost’

Indianmen’shockeyteamcaptainManpreetSinghtalksaboutovercomingCovid,monthsaheadof theGames, comingtogetherasa team, theheart-stoppingfinal sixsecondsagainstGermany inthebronzemedalmatch,andwritinganewchapterofhistory for thesport’smostsuccessfulOlympicnation.

ThesessionwasmoderatedbySpecialCorrespondentNITINSHARMA.

NitinSharma:Howwasthereceptiononarrival?Outstanding.AlltheTokyomedallistswere

inoneflightandwedidn’thavespacetowalkbecauseofthenumberofpeoplewantingourphotos.

NitinSharma:Howimportantwasthismedalforyourmotherandforthememoryofyourfather?Personally, itwasveryimportanttomeas

itwasmyfather’sdreamthatIwinanOlympicmedal.Whenwewonthebronze,Itriedtocallmymother but shewas crying because shemisseddadand then I started crying aswell.Allhisdreamscametruebut,ontheday,whereIreceivedsomuchloveandsupportafterwin-ningthemedal,hewasn’theretoseeallofthis.Mymother toldmehe'dhavebeenproudofme.

MihirVasavda:HowwasthatnightinTokyo?Iheardeveryonehadcometoyourroomandcelebratedlateintothenight?Thenightwewonthemedal,wewerebusy

takingphonecallsandmessagesanditgotverylatetalkingtoeveryone.Isleptwithmymedaland so did others. The next daywe sat andtalkedabouthowhappywefeltandhowmuchourfamilieshadstruggledtowatchuswinthismedal.

MihirVasavda:YouscoredfivegoalsagainstateamlikeGermany...Ourheartshadstoppedinthelastsixsec-

onds.Whentheygotthepenaltycorner,allwecaredaboutwastostopagoalfromhappening.Therewere just six seconds left on the clock.Wehadaquickhuddle and then rushedoutforthepenaltycorner.Werushedinsuchawaythatthedragflickwouldn’tcomeontotheleftside.Whenwedefendapenaltycorner,wetrytomakesurethattheshotisnothitontheleftsidesothatthegoalkeeperhastheentirerightsidecoveredandhasanopportunitytomakea stop.And that is exactlywhathappenedastheydrag flicked theball andSreejesh savedtheshot.

NitinSharma:Whatwasgoingoninyourmind,andeveninyourteammates’minds,inthatwinningmoment?Everyonestartedcrying.Ourcoachstarted

crying.Sreejeshgotontopof thegoal.

SandeepDwivedi:WhobroughtSreejeshdownfromthegoalposts?Hehimself didn’twant to comedown. I

askedhimwhyandhesaidthatsincehe’sbeenplayinghockey,he’sspentallhis timeonthatpole. Ithasbecomehisbestfriend. Intimesofsadnessorhappiness, thepolehas remainedwithhim.

ShahidJudge:NoneofthecurrentteamwasevenbornwhenIndialastwonahockeymedalattheOlympics.Whenyoufinallygotthemedal,wasitthesameasyouhadvisualised?True.Idon’tthinkevenSreejeshwasborn.

Whenwewore ourmedals at thepodium, Iwas standingnext toHardik andwesawthethree flags goup and I said to him, ‘41 yearshave passed and our flag is finally going upnow.Wecan’tstopnow.Ournexttargethastobe that the flag is raised in the centre andshouldbethetopmost.’

NitinSharma:PastIndianteamshavefacedpressureofnotwinningamedalsince1980..Actually, it isn’t pressure.Wehave sucha

richhistoryofhavingwoneightgoldmedals.Wefeelproudtoplaythatsport.This timewehaddecided thatnomatter

which teamwecomeupagainst,wewillnotunderestimatethem.ThisistheOlympicsandanything can happen at theOlympics. This

time, South Africa defeated Germany.Whatever teamcomes to theOlympicsgivesits100percent.SobeforeleavingforTokyo,allplayersweregoingwithagoodmindsetofhighconfidencebecausewehadbeaten some re-ally good teams last year:Holland, Australia,Belgium. And Argentina right before theOlympics.Sotheconfidencewasskyhigh.

SandeepDwivedi:YouweretrailingGermany3-1,andthefamiliarfearoflosingamedalindyingmomentsmight'vestruck.Butyourecoveredandcouldpulloffthiscomebackinacrucialmatch.Wewent in not just to participate but to

win.Theselast15monthshavebeenverydif-ficult.Wewere inBangalorewhen the lock-downwasannounced.Andcouldn'tmeetany-one,orgoout.Itwasjustusgoingtotheground,toourroomsortothedininghall.Sothatwasthethinkingthatwehavestruggledsomuch,worked sohard, stayedaway fromfamily forso long,weshouldkeep this inmind thatwehavetowinthemedal.Whenwelost thesemi-final toBelgium,

everyonewasdisappointed.WehadonedayrestdaysoItoldtheplay-

ers, ‘Look,westillhaveonechancetotakethebronzehome. Ifwegohomeemptyhanded,thenwe'llruethisfortherestofourlives’Evenwhenwewere3-1down,tobehon-

est,noplayerwasboggeddown.

MihirVasavda:TheteamfinishedlastatLondon2012,andyouwould’venoticedthereceptionthosemedallistsgot.Howwillyoucomparethatexperiencewiththisone?

Itwas verydifficult thenbecausewehadfinished12thdespitebeingagood team.Butwe couldn'twin even onematch... That stillhurts. Evennow it irksme thatweplayed sobadlythen.Iwas a junior then, butwhenwe sawall

themedallists,wesawthereceptiontheygot.Anditwasswirlinginmymindthatevenifwedidn't dowell now,wewouldnext time.Weimproveda lotafter that.And Ipersonally fo-cussed on improvingmyowngame to playbettersoIcouldcontributemoretotheteam.

SandeepSingh:IstherestillafitnessandtechnicalgapbetweenAustralia,Belgiumandrestoftheworld?OrwasitanoffdayforIndia(againstAustralia)?The 7-1marginwas disappointing. But

whenweanalysedthematchandcheckedthedata,we realised that itwasAustralia’s luckyday.Everythingtheythrewatus,evenapushtowardsgoal,wasgoingin.Butnotforus.Dataoncirclepenetrationspointedtoa3-2,2-2kindofscores.Sowedecidedtohavethemindsettonotloseanyothermatch,toputinour100percenteverytime.

SriramVeera:FormercoachRoelantOltmanshadsaidthatyou’reasure-shothockeystarinthemaking,butyougettooexcited,tooemotional,oftenfightingwithreferees.Ascaptain,whatgoesinthemindwithallthatemotionandexcitement?I don’t like losing. I alwayshave the fight-

ingspiritinmymind.InpracticealsoIhavethetendency to fight for everything andgivemy100percent.Idon’twanttohavethisfeelingaf-ter thematch that, “yaar,main aur accha karsaktatha.”

TheyellowcardagainstGreatBritainwassodifficult formetobesittingout.Therewasaround fiveminutes left and the scoreswereclose.Myheartbeatwasgoingcrazy.While Iwassittingoutall Iwasdoingwas

like,“comeon,Hardik!Runforme.Runforme,guys!Doyourbest,don’tgiveup.Justfivemin-utesleft!”Yes, it’s difficult to sit out, but (laughing)

sometimesyougetthecardbecauseofwrongdecision(fromthereferee). It’snotalwaysmyfault.

SriramVeera:Butyouseemtohaveabadrecordwithcards?ThisOlympicsthoughit’sbeenmuchbet-

ter,I’vebeencardedjusttwice.Onegreen,oneyellow. I’dsay itwas80percentnotmyfault,butIstillfeltbadbecauseitwasadifficulttimeand I shouldn't havebeen carded. It causes awholelotmorerunningbecausewhenoppo-nentshave11players.

SriramVeera:Whydidyourteammatescallyou‘Korean?’It’s a funny story. I’m not that tall even

now, I’m just 5’7”, butwhen Iwas younger,my eyes were a bit small. And I was veryquick.Sopeople thoughtmyspeedwas justlike theKoreanplayers, so henceforth Iwastobecalled that. It startedwhen Iwasplay-ing inmyvillage, then later at the academy.Thenwhen Iwasonthenational team.(In the national team) initially people

used to callmeManpreet only. But later onsomepeople frommyvillage and the acad-emyjoined(thenationalcamp)andtheysaid‘arre iska naam toh ‘Korean’ hai, woh he bu-layakaro.’

ShivaniNaik:PargatSinghwasaninfluencegrowingup.Haveyouevermethim,andhaveyouspokentohimaftertheOlympics?Whenever Pargat Singh came to the

ground, the fameandrespect thathegotandthewaypeopleusedtobearoundhimall thetime… ‘Pargat Singh aa gaye, Pargat Singh aagaye…’ThattimehewastheDSPinPunjabPolice.

IfeltthatItoowantedtobelikehim,andhavepeoplesay‘Manpreetaarahahai.’Iwanted to becomeabigger officer than

him.LastweekIgotpromotedastheSPfromDSP.ImethimatthefunctionlastweekwhenIgotthepromotion.Itoldhim,‘Paaji,finallyI’vebecomeanSP.NowI’marankbetterthanyou.Hehuggedmeand said ‘sahimeyaar, jo tunebolatunefinallypurakardiya.’

DevendraPandey:Everyteamhascharacterswhohelplightenthemoodoftheteam.Whoisthatpersoninyourdressingroom?Everyone's a little, Iwon’t say naughty...

Theyarenicepeople.Theyenjoyit,thereisal-waysmusic and laughter evenduring tensemoments. Sreejesh is very jovial and is thepranksterof the teamand jokesaroundwithyoungsterslikeVivekSagarallthetime.IliketoannoyNilakantaSharma.Ourmottois:wearetogetherinbothvictoryanddefeat.

SandeepDwivedi:DoyouthinkaChakDeIndiamoviewillbemadeonthemen’steamaswell?Ifamovieismade,Iwantittobemadeon

thewhole team. I want everyone to knowaboutthebackgroundsoftheseplayers.Theirparents’ stories, their struggles should behighlighted.

SriramVeera:VineshPhogathasspokenabouthowshe’sgoneintodepression.Howshouldthecountryreacttosuchsituations?Whenanathlete loses they feel themost

dejectedanddisappointed.Andwhentheyfailtohit thetarget, they feelbroken.Weneedtosupporther.ShemaynothavewonamedalattheOlympicsbutsheisaworld-classwrestler.Shehaswoneverymedaltherewasintherun-up to theOlympics and then everyonewasproudofher.Atthistime,weneedtostandforher,weneedtosupporther,weneedtoshowthat thewholenation iswithher. Sheshouldfeelthatthisisnotthetimetogiveup.

NitinSharma:NotqualifyingfortheOlympicsin2008,wasconsideredanew

lowforIndianhockey.AstheIndiancaptainnow,andasaplayer,howdoyoulookbackatthatmoment?Every athlete has a dream to play in the

Olympics.Thehockeyplayersoftheteamthatcouldnotqualify fortheGamesin2008werereallydisappointed. Ididnotknowmuchas Iwasakidbackthen.ButIfeltbad.

TusharBhaduri:HowdidCovid-19infectionandisolationaffectyourtraining?Whenmytestsreturnedpositive,Ididnot

knowhowto react.Whenyouare lockedupinaroomandyouknowthatyouarepositive,alotofnegativethoughtscreepintoyourhead.Butmyteamcoachingstaffwerethereforme.They toldmenot to focus onbeingpositive,you just thinkabout your recovery anddon’tworryaboutanything.Returningtothecamp,thecoachingstaffdevisedaplantohelpusre-coverandget fitassoonaspossible.Wewerenotsurehowthebodywouldreactandwhatwouldhappenifwepushedourselvesimme-diately. In Surender Kumar’s case, he had abloodclotwhenhe tried topushhard. Sowewereeased intotraining inagradualprocess.Forthefirstweek,wejoggedandthendidrun-ningandweincreasedtheintensitygradually.Ittookusthree-and-a-halfweeksforthat.Last year,wehadpre-trained ondealing

with isolation. InBengaluru,wewerefollow-ing these protocols. From the ground to ourrooms, rooms to thedininghall, andback totheroom.Thiswasourcycle.Wealwaysworemasksinpublicplaces.Tokyowasnotdifficult.Wegotsousedtothemaskthatwhenwetookit off it feltweird. It felt like somethingwasmissingfromourfaces.

MihirVasavda:Duetothepandemic,thecoachwasnotchangedandoverall,therewasstabilityintheplayinggroup.Didthathelp?WegelledwellasateaminBengaluru.We

gottoknoweachother,thestruggles,families,and perceptions. During the lockdown, ourcoachmadeindividualvideosonall theplay-ers,chroniclingtheirpersonallivesandthesac-rifices undertaken tomake it to the Indianteam.Wealso read about previousOlympicwinners like MCMary Kom and AbhinavBindra.

SandeepDwivedi:Hockey'sstillagameplayedinsmalltownsandvillages.What'sneededtomakeitpopularinbiggercities?Hockeymustbeplayed inacademiesand

schools inbiggercities.Recently, Imetsome-one fromDelhiwho toldme that he startedwatchinghockeyduring theOlympics. Afterseeing Indiawin bronze, he toldme that hewantshissontotakeuphockey.

NitinSharma:11playersinthisteamthathailfromPunjab...Yes, 11 from the current squad are from

Punjab.Butinordertowinamedal,all18play-ersneedtocontribute.ThereareplayersfromKerala, Haryana, andUttar Pradesh aswell.Insteadof saying11players are fromPunjab,weneedtofigureouthowwecanimproveasateam.Ithinkthat'smoreimportant.

ShahidJudge:HasSreejesh(aMalyali)startedlisteningtoPunjabimusic?He'slearningPunjabi.Wealsotaughthim

quite a lot. But there are things that I cannotsayinfrontof thecamera.

SandeepDwivedi:WillyouconsiderenteringpoliticslikeothersportspersonsfromPunjab?I'mnotagoodspeaker,soIdon'tthinkI'm

equipped to be a politician. Once I quit thegame (after seven-eight years), my targetwouldbetogivebacktothesportandhelpup-comingplayersatthegrass-rootlevel.

ManpreetSinghbelieves if amovie ismadeonthemen’s team, it shouldtelleveryoneabout thebackgroundsof theplayersandtheir struggles. File

INTERVIEW:MANPREETSINGH

Talibantoallowmen’scricket;statusofwomen’sprogrammesunclearParis:TheTalibanhavesaidtheywillnotinter-ferewith theAfghanmen's national cricketteam, the country's biggest sporting successof recent years, or stop theexpansionof theflagshipT20league,anAfghancricketofficialsaid.Despite theturmoil causedbythestun-ningfallof theKabulgovernmentonSunday,the board has confirmed a one-day seriesagainstPakistanwillgoaheadinSriLankanextmonth and said it was expanding the"Shpageeza" T20 competition. "TheTalibandon'thaveanyissueorproblemwithcricket,andtheyhavetoldusthatwecancontinueourwork as planned," saidAfghanistanCricketBoard head of media operations HikmatHassan, adding that the teamwas ready forthree ODIs against Pakistan next month.Hassanalso said the teamshouldbeable toplayintheT20WorldCup.Oneareawhichre-mainsuncertainisthefutureof thewomen'scricketprogrammesrunbytheACB.REUTERS

Yorkshireadmitex-playerwas‘victimofinappropriatebehaviour’Leeds:EnglishcountyteamYorkshireapolo-gizedtooneofitsformerplayersonThursdayafteranindependentin-vestigation into hisclaims of institutionalracism found hewas a“victimofinappropriatebehavior.”AzeemRafiq,aformerEnglandunder-19captain,saidininterviewslastyearthatasaMuslimhewasmade to feel like an “out-sider”duringhistimeatYorkshirefrom2008-17andthathewasclosetotakinghisownlife.An investigation was commissioned byYorkshire intoRafiq’s claimsandthe teamiscurrently reviewing the findings of an inde-pendent panel. “It is right... to acknowledgefromtheoutsetthatseveraloftheallegationsmadebyAzeemwereupheldandthatsadly,historically,Azeemwasthevictimofinappro-priatebehavior,”Yorkshiresaidinastatement.

UnitedgreatLawrevealsdementiadiagnosisManchester:FormerManchesterUnitedstrikerDenis Lawsaid Thursdayhehasbeendiag-nosedwith two types of dementia. The81-year-old Law,whose237goals forUnited isbetteredonlybyBobbyCharltonandWayneRooney, saidhewantedtobeopenabouthisconditionafter revealinghehas "mixedde-mentia"—Alzheimer’sandvasculardementia."Thishasbeenanextremelydifficultyear foreveryoneandthelongperiodsofisolationhavecertainlynothelped,"saidLaw,whoplayedforUnitedfrom1962-73andwontheBallond’Orin1964."Youhopethatitwon’thappentoyou,evenmake jokesabout itwhilst ignoring theearlysignsbecauseyoudon’twantittobetrue.Youget angry, frustrated, confusedand thenworried,worriedforyourfamily,astheywillbetheonesdealingwithit."LawsaidhehopestocontinuegoingtoOldTraffordtowatchUnitedplaybutwillbe"adjustingmylifestyleaccord-ingly.""Thetimehascometotacklethisheadon, excuse thepun," Lawsaid ina statementonUnited’swebsite.AP

BarcalooktoreapunexpectedbenefitsofMessiexitatAthleticBarcelona:BarcelonalearnedlastweekthatafuturewithoutLionelMessidoesnothavetobeso bleak and theywill look to build on thegreaterteamunitythatwasondisplayintheirseason-openerwhentheyvisitAthleticBilbaoonSaturday inLaLiga.While theArgentine’sdeparturetoParisStGermainleftBarcawithaholeofroughly50goalsperseasonandhisrareability to change a game in an instant, theirdominant 4-2win over Real Sociedad onSunday indicated they couldbe stronger inotherareaswithoutbeingsobeholdentotheirformercaptain.AgainstSociedadatCampNoutheypressedasanentireunitandscoredtheirsecondgoalthankstohighpressingfromde-fender EricGarcia deep in the visitors’ half.CoachRonaldKoemanravedabouthis side’sdisplay in their first gamewithoutMessi. “IwouldalwaysprefertohaveMessiinmyteambecausehedecidesgameonhisownbutwecanbeabettercollectivenow,”Koemansaid.

Osakafelt‘ungrateful’forattitudetowardstennisMason(Ohio):NaomiOsakasaidshehadfelt"ungrateful"attimesoverthelastyearfornotfullyappreciatingherlifeasoneoftheworld'stoptennis players. TheWorld No. 2 sealed acomeback win overCoco Gauff at theWestern & SouthernOpen inCincinnati onWednesday, her firsteventoutsidetheOlympicssincewithdraw-ingfromtheFrenchOpeninMay."Iwaswon-deringwhywasIsoaffected,Iguess,likewhatmademenotwanttodomedia,"the23-year-oldtoldanewsconference."I'mwonderingifIwasscared,becausesometimesIwouldseeheadlinesof likeplayers losing and then theheadlinethenextdaywouldbelikeacollapseorthey'renotthatgreatanymore...I'mnotsurewhenalong theway I starteddesensitizingthat. Like it startednotbeing like anaccom-plishment forme.So I felt like Iwasveryun-gratefulonthatfact."

BelarusiansprinterwhodefectedplanstorunforPolandMoscow: Belarusian sprinter KrystinaTsimanouskaya who defected during theTokyoOlympicsthismonthsayssheplanstoapplyforPolishsportingcitizenshipsothatshecanrun forPoland.Tsimanouskaya,24,was taken inbyWarsawwhenhercoachestoldhertoreturntoBelarus fromJapanfol-lowing a dispute, an order she refused toobeyfearingforhersafety.Belarushasbeengrippedbyasweepingcrackdownonanti-governmentdissentfollowingmassproteststhat erupted last yearover adisputedelec-tion.InaninterviewwiththeRBCtelevisionchannel aired late on Wednesday,Tsimanouskaya said it can take three yearsto change sporting citizenship, but shehoped her application would be fast-tracked."Wearenowgoingtotrytochangemy sporting citizenship so that I can com-pete for thePolishnational team," shesaid.

REUTERS

BRIEFLY

Kolkata