JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

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Satellite imagesof roadconstructionnearGalwanValleyonJune22. MaxarTechnologiesviaReuters

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

INSIDE

CABINET ALLOWSPVTSECTOR INSPACE; COOPBANKSNOWUNDERRBIPAGES5, 11

BOTHMUSTSTRICTLYRESPECTANDOBSERVELAC: INDIA

Diplomats build onmilitary talks: Both need toimplement plan on disengagement of troops

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DELHI

ASHUBHR RANJANAlways Ahead

LOCKDOWNDAY

92

CONCERNDELHI:With testingup, cases to rise too.4,000 on Tuesday— single-daymaxfor any state

CAUTIONPUNJAB: Statewitnessing a

resurgence. Morethan 1,000 cases

last week

A GLIMMERUP: Slight

slowdown in lastone week, but stillgrowing faster thannational average

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Telangana■Delhi■TamilNadu■Haryana■WestBengal

TOTALCASES1,39,0109,55366,60264,60311,52014,728

DOUBLINGRATE**

24.448.5012.2716.6314.8623.36

SURGEIN24HRS3,2148793,9472,516495370

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

2.95%8.47%5.87%4.33%4.85%3.08%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:4,56,183

RECOVERED:2,58,684 |DEATHS: 14,476TESTS:73,52,911 |DOUBLINGRATE: 19.53**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

Now past Mumbai too atCovid top, Delhi to surveyall houses, ramp up testing

ASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, JUNE24

WITH3,788newCovid-19casesbeingreportedonTuesday,Delhihas overtakenMumbai as thecitywith thehighest case count— 70,390 cases so far. The totalcasecountinMumbai,whichre-ported1,118newcasesinthelast24hours, is69,528.While Delhi has conducted

4.2lakhtestssofar(about22,142per million), Mumbai's tally is2.94lakhtests(about22,668permillion). Mumbai's positivityrate(23.2%)remainshigherthanDelhi (16.7%); Delhi also has alower death toll (2,365) than

Mumbai (3,964).Withthenumberofcasesstill

rising, theDelhigovernmenthasprepared an ambitious plan togauge the spread of Covid-19 –house-to-housescreeningincon-tainment zones by June 30, andintherestof thecitybyJuly6.The revised Covid response

plan,whichplacesemphasisonactive surveillance followed byrigoroustesting,wasformulatedafter a high-level panel, led byNITIAayogmemberDrVKPaul,suggested a series of measuresto tackle thevirus spread.In ameeting with the chief

secretary, district magistrateswere asked to form teams by

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE24

INDIANANDChinesediplomatsagreedWednesdayto“sincerelyimplement the understandingondisengagementandde-esca-lation” along the Line of ActualControl in Ladakh where bothsides have massed troops in afaceoff sinceMay.AtthemeetingoftheWorking

Mechanism for Consultation &Coordination on India-ChinaBorderAffairs(WMCC),heldtwodaysafterCorpsCommandersofthe two armies reached a “mu-tual consensus to disengage”troops,theIndianside“conveyedits concerns” on the develop-mentsineasternLadakh,includ-ing the June 15 showdown inGalwanValleyinwhich20IndianArmypersonnelwerekilled.The Ministry of External

Affairs said it was emphasisedthat both sides should “strictlyrespectandobserve” theLineofActualControl.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

BorderAffairsgroupmeetsasChineseDefenceMinistryassertsGalwanclaim

Satellite catches Chinesestructures back at GalwanKRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, JUNE24

AS INDIA andChina hold diplo-matic andmilitary talks to dis-engage troops along the Line ofActualControlineasternLadakh,new satellite images show thatthe Chinese have built a defen-sive position at the GalwanValleysiteof the June15clashesinwhich20IndianArmyperson-

nelwerekilled.Senior sources in the Army

confirmed that “the tentwhichwas removed on June 15 hasbeen reported back by ourground troops at PP-14(Patrolling Point 14)”. Reachedfor comment, the Army did notconfirmordenytheexistenceofChinesestructuresvisible inthesatellite images.The images fromMaxar, a

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

KAUNAINSHERIFFM&DEEPMUKHERJEENEWDELHI/ JAIPUR, JUNE24

ADAYAFTERRamdev launchedanayurvedic ‘CoronaKit’ claim-ing it cured Covid-19, seriousquestions have emerged overthe business practices ofPatanjaliAyurvedLtd,theFMCGcompanythatmarketsPatanjalibrand products and DivyaPharmacy, the unit producingthemedicines.OnWednesday, a day after

theMinistry of Ayush orderedPatanjali to stop publicisingclaims of Covid-19 cure, theUttarakhandgovernmentsaiditslicencingauthoritydidnotgrantany approval to the Corona Kit,and the Rajasthan governmenttoldTheIndianExpressithadnoknowledge of clinical trials atNational Institute of MedicalSciencesandResearch(NIMS), aprivate hospital in JaipurwhereCovid-19patientsareadmitted.Most significantly, when

mildly symptomatic patientsCONTINUEDONPAGE2

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Ramdev Ayurvedic ‘corona kit’: no govtnod, trials that used allopathic drugs

“GALWANWASNEVERDISPUTED..CHINABETRAYED...”AKANTONYSENIORCONGGRESSLEADER&FORMERDEFENCEMINISTER

THE EXPRESSINTERVIEW

P4

PRABHARAGHAVAN&PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI, JUNE24

THE DEPARTMENT forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT)Wednesday directed e-com-mercefirmstoworkoutamech-anism that will enable cus-tomerstoidentifythecountryoforigin forall productsdisplayedon their platforms, The IndianExpresshas learnt.The directionwas conveyed

duringameetingwithrepresen-tatives of 20 firms, includingAmazon, Flipkart, Paytm andPepperfry, followingwhich theplatformssoughtaround10daystoworkouta system,according

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

E-comm firmstold: Let buyersknow country oforigin of goods

THEmovecouldposecomplications incaseofproductswith inputsfromseveral countries.Also, e-commerce firmsdonotownthe inventorysoldontheirplatforms,andwouldneedtoworkout theway forwardwitha largenumberof sellers.

AbigchallengeE●EX

PLAINED

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE24

ASINDIAandChinagrapplewithrising tensions in the GalwanValley,HotSpringsandPangongTsoontheLineofActualControl(LAC), the Chinese army hascrossed the border in anotherstrategic area to the north, theDepsangplains.Thisintrusionisseen as another attempt by theChinese to shift the LAC furtherweston thedisputedboundary.Around 30 km south-east

from the important airstrip ofDaulat Beg Oldie (DBO), theChinese army has moved anddeployedinlargenumbersuptoa place called Y-junction orBottleneck on the Depsangplains. Sources said theChinesedeployments include troops,heavy vehicles, specialist mili-taryequipment.Bottleneck,whichderivesits

namefromarockyoutcrop thatprevents vehicular movementacrosstheDepsangplains, istheplace atwhich the Chinese hadpitched tents after an ingress inApril 2013. The standoff be-tweenthesoldiersonbothsideshadthenlastedthreeweeksandthestatusquoantewasrestoredafterdiplomatic talks.Bottleneckisaround18kmon

the Indian side of the LAC, eventhoughtheChineseclaimlinelies

another five kilometres furtherwest. This location is sevenkilo-metres to the north-east ofBurtse,aLadakhitownwhichfallson the 255-kmDarbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie (DSDBO) roadandhasanIndianArmypost.Whencontacted, theArmy’s

media wing declined to com-ment on thematter,with anof-ficer telling The Indian Expressthat “the report can neither beconfirmednordenied”.Bottleneck is known as Y-

junctionbecausethetrackcom-ing from Burtse forks into twotracks, one going northwardsalongtheRakiNalatoPatrollingPoint-10 (PP-10) and the other

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Closer to strategicDBO, China attemptsingress via Depsang

THEEDITORIALPAGE

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THEWORLD

PAKFAILSTERRORTEST,SETTOSTAYINFATFGREYLISTPAGE10

Jaipur

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DecodingCongress’targetingofPMModi,Covid testingtoriseNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

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Satellitespace technology company, arefromJune22andshowthat theChinese have built a defensiveposition “astride” the LAC nearPP-14. The position has beenbuilt between June 16 and June22because Planet Labs satelliteimages of the location on June16,adayaftertheclashes,donotshowanysuch infrastructure.On June 20, the Prime

Minister’sOffice, inastatement,had said that “as regards trans-gression of LAC, it was clearlystated that the violence inGalwan on 15 June arose be-causeChinese sidewas seekingtoerectstructuresjustacrosstheLAC and refused to desist fromsuchactions”.After analysing the new

satelliteimages,LtGeneral(retd)AL Chavan, who also served asDivisionCommanderof the3rdInfantryDivision,responsibleforeastern Ladakh, told The IndianExpress “it appears to be aproperdefensivepositionwhichhas been developed by theChinese”.Hesaiditappearsthat“the hillside, which is to thesouthernside,hasalsogotsomedefensivepositions”“Between June 15 and June

22, it is clear that the Chinesehave developed that position,”hesaid.Chavan said “about 20-30

soldiers can occupy the posi-tion” which appears to be anequilateral triangle “with ap-proximately 65 metresfrontage”.Hesaidhewasnotsureif the

positionwasbuiltonthe Indianor the Chinese side of LAC “be-causewithout an accurate sur-vey and enlargedmaps, ascer-taining the exact alignment ofthe LAC as claimed by the twosides isnotpossible”.But “definitely one thing is

clearthatitappearstobeastridetheLAC,”hesaid.“If it isonoursideof theLAC,

it changes the status quo, be-causedefenceshavebeendevel-oped,”hesaid.But even if it is not, Chavan

said, “as per the agreements,which we have in force since1996, they are not supposed tobe developing these defenceswhere there is a difference inperception.Suchaconstructionclearlyviolatestheagreements”.He said PP-14 should be

around the junction of theGalwanNalaandtheNalacom-ing from thenorth and that “allthe patrolling points have beenso developed that our percep-tion of the LAC lies ahead ofthat”.AformerArmyCommander,

who has also served in the re-gion, said the structures appeartobe“stonewallswithsheetsontop for protection against theweather,” which can be used“just tohouse troops”.In the meetings between

Corps Commanders of theIndian and Chinese armies onJune 6 and June 22, it was de-cided that as part of stage-wisedisengagement, a de facto‘buffer zone’ will separate thetroops—the clashes on June 15had taken place over vacatingthisbufferzone.

Depsangsouth-eastward towards PP-13.ThesetwotracksarefollowedbyIndian patrols on foot up to PP-10,PP-11,PP-11A,PP-12andPP-13.Thosedealingwith the situ-

ation contend that if China isabletolinkupfromPP-10toPP-13viaBottleneck, itcouldeasilyshift theLACfurtherwestof thepresentIndianLimitofPatrolling(LoP).ThiswoulddenyIndiaac-cess to a significant part of theLACclosetotheDBOairfieldandbring the Chinese closer to thestrategicDSDBOroad.All the patrolling points in

this area–PP-10, PP-11, PP-11A,PP-12andPP-13–fallontheLoP,which ismarked a few kilome-

tres to the west of the LAC onIndian maps. This 20-kmfrontage is the only portion onthe border where the LoP fallsshort of LAC. It has been doneduetohistoricalreasons,andtheLoP has been approved by theChinaStudyGroup.After the 2013 standoff was

resolved, India had created anew patrol base at bottleneck,withakindofpermanentpatroldeployed there, to observe andstop any Chinese patrols frommoving any further. But aChinesepatrolhadstillmanagedtogetthroughtoaplacearound1.5 km short of Burtse inSeptember2015.As reported earlier, there

have been a large number oftransgressions by Chinese pa-trolsintheareawhichhavebeenrecorded by the Indian side.Therewere 157 transgressionsin2019, up from83 in2018and75 in2017.

Patanjali trialsdeveloped fever during the tri-als, theywere administered al-lopathicmedicines. As it is, thetrials were conducted only onasymptomatic and mildlysymptomaticpatients.Severelysymptomaticpatientsandthosewith acute respiratory distresssyndromewereexcludedforen-rolment.Moreover, the study based

on these trials at NIMS, are notpeer-reviewed, admitted DrGanpat Devpura, PrincipalInvestigator,NIMS, Jaipur.When contacted, Devpura

toldThe IndianExpress, “This isjust an interim report with asamplesizeof100Covid-19pa-tients. The final report and thefindingswill be published after15-25 days and then it will besent forpeer review.”When questioned if allo-

pathicmedicineswere admin-istered tomildly symptomaticpatients during the trial whenthey developed symptoms,Devpura said, “Yes, if patientshad developed symptoms likefever, symptomatic treatmentwasgiven.”Elaborating on the interim

findings of the trial, Devpurasaid, “It is a double-blind ran-domised trial. 50 patientswereon placebo and the remaining50 were on active drugs (theAyurvedic therapy).Wedid theRTPCRtestonDay1,Day3, andDay7.OnDay3, 69per cent ac-tive patients testednegative; inthe placebo group, only 50 percentwere testednegative.”“On Day 7, in the active

group,alltheremainingpatients

tested negative; in the placebogroup, 65 per cent were nega-tive, and remaining 35 per centcontinued to test positive forCovid-19,” Devpura said. In theactive group, patients receivedSwasari Ras (500 mg), pureAshwagandhaextract(500mg),pure Giloy extract (500 mg),pureTulsi extract (500mg)andAnutailanasaldrops.In Covid treatment, doctors

continuouslymeasure inflam-matorymarkers tomonitor theseverityof the infection.Aspartof assessing “secondary out-comes”,thisstudytooexaminedan important inflammationmarker – Interleukin 6 (IL-6), acytokine,whichshowsexcessiveresponseontheimmunesystemin severe patients. Devpura ad-mittedthatthereductioninIL-6was“notstatisticallysignificant”inactivepatientsduringthetrial.Balkrishna, Managing

Director, Patanjali Ayurved Ltd,however, claimed the contro-versy was “finally” resolved.AttachinganotebytheMinistryof Ayushwhich acknowledgedthe receipt of documents of theclinical trial including site of aclinical study andmedical re-search, Institutional EthicsCommittee clearance, registra-tiondetailsofCTRI,studyproto-col, sample size and study re-sults data, he said, “Theresolution of AYUSH contro-versy finally.”“Ministrywillhavethestudy

documents verified for valida-tion of the data of the researchoutcome,” the Drug PolicySection,MinistryofAyushsaid.However, the Uttarakhand

government’s notice to DivyaPharmacy and the Rajasthangovernment’s denial that anyapprovalwas accorded for con-ducting the clinical trials, raiseserious questions aboutPatanjali Ayurved’s businesspractices.InalettertoDivyaPharmacy,

theUttarakhandDrugLicensingAuthority categorically statedthatnopermissionwasgrantedto the firm tomanufacture the“coronakit”. Itsaidapprovalwasgiven to swasari for treatingcough and breathlessness, andto the coronil tablet as an “im-munitybooster,speciallyagainstrespiratorytractinfectionandallfevers”.Pointing out that the firm

had displayed an image ofCoronavirusonthetablet,theli-cencing authority said thiswasin violation of relevant sectionsunder the provisions of Drugsand Magic Remedies(ObjectionableAdvertisements)

Act,1954,andaskedwhyactionshouldnotbetakentocancelthelicenceformanufacturingthesemedicines.InJaipur,RohitKumarSingh,

Additional Chief Secretary(Health), told The IndianExpress, that the governmentdid not have any knowledgeaboutthesetrialsanddidnotre-ceiveany request for authorisa-tion. “As per due process, thestate government is informedbefore such a trial, andwe refertherequesttothestate'sclinicaltrialcommitteeandethicscom-mittee.Aftergettingpermissionfromthesecommittees,wefor-ward the request to the DrugController General of India(DCGI)andtheIndianCouncilofMedical Research (ICMR)whogive the final approval,”hesaid.“NIMS had only asympto-

matic patients. It can't be saidthat this particular medicinetreated them successfullywithin a few days,” said DrNarottamSharma,ChiefMedicalHealth Officer, RajasthanUniversityofHealthSciences.Rajasthan Health Minister

Raghu Sharma said the clinicaltrial processwas donewithoutfollowing the due process andwithout informing the govern-ment.“Thereareclearguidelinesfor clinical trials whichweren'tfollowed. During a pandemicthreatening theworld, this sortofactionisabsolutelyunaccept-able.Weweren't informed be-fore these clinical trials tookplace despite the fact that pa-tients admittedatNIMSarebe-ingmonitoredby the state gov-ernment. I have instructedofficials to take action if any at-temptismadetosellthisdrugasapotentialmedicineofCovid-19inRajasthan,”hesaid.

(WITHINPUTSFROMLALMANIVERMA,

LUCKNOW)

Delhi surveyFriday, which must have ahealthcare worker to assess aperson’smedical condition.“Now, all households in the

city will be surveyed by fieldworkers. Till now,wewere car-rying out surveillance in con-tainmentzonesandareaswherepositivity ratewas high. Underthe revised plan, anyone foundwith symptomswill be tested,”saidaseniordistrictofficial.A task forcecomprisingrep-

resentatives of Delhi Police,MCD, district surveillance offi-cials,ITprofessionalsforAarogyaSetu, members frommedicalcolleges and the department ofeducation and youth has to be

set up by each district surveil-lance unit. The revised strategyalso suggests redefining con-tainmentzones,whichcurrentlystandat266.“A 100% household survey

has to be carried out by July 6and all districts have been toldto ramp up work accordingly.Theteamhastovisiteachhomeand note down the health pro-file of residents. Data has to beuploadedonaportalandif any-oneisfoundtobesymptomatic,he or she needs to be testedthrough antigen testing,” saidanotherdistrictofficial.The city has been following

two strategies for testing -- RT-PCR, considered the gold stan-dard for testing, and rapid anti-gen testing, which is faster. Athird strategy, of antibody test-ing, issoongoingtobefollowedthrough ‘sero-surveillance’ of20,000people.Tophealth department offi-

cials,alongwithateamofNCDC,are preparing a roadmap forDelhi to carry out sero-surveil-lance in all 11 districts. This in-volvescollectingbloodsamplestodetermineifapersonisorwasinfectedwithcoronavirus.Sources said a certain share

of thepopulationfromeachdis-trictwillberandomlytested. “Itwill be amix of all age groups,even those below 18. This willhelp identify the spread of thevirusandthenumberof peoplewho have developed immu-nity,”saidaseniorhealthofficial.NCDCwill provide training

to district officials on Thursdayonhowtoidentifyareasforsero-surveillance.

E-comm firmstoseniorofficialsandexecutives.Another meeting with the

firms is expected to take placesoon, possiblywithinaweekor10 days, to take stock of themeasures, executives close tothedevelopmentsaid.Experts say such a require-

mentdoesnothaveaprecedent,may not be easy to roll out andmay requiremore brainstorm-ing,especiallyforproducts,suchas cellphones and laptops, thatmay have inputs from severalcountries.The development comes

againstthebackdropof thebor-der face-off with China and thecentralgovernmentpushingforself-reliance through itsAtmanirbhar Bharat campaign.It also follows the CommerceMinistry’s announcementTuesdaythat sellersonthegov-ernment’se-marketplace(GeMPortal)will have to disclose the

countryof origin forproducts.Wednesday's meeting also

involvedfirmslike1mg,Myntra,JioMart, Bigbasket andShopclues, said sources. “It willbe difficult to get it rollingwiththe urgency that the govern-ment seemed to be pushing itwith because there are thou-sands of products on our plat-form,” said an e-commerce ex-ecutive.Another executive said the

responsibilityofprovidingaccu-rate informationwas with thesellersandnotthemarketplace,which can only educate themaboutcomplyingwiththelawofthe land.“Thiswasthefirstmeetingto

understandwhat exactly they(e-commerce firms) would re-quire. This is very preliminary,because this is the first timewehave taken this up with themand they needed some time toassess,” said a senior govern-mentofficial.“Moremeetingswillbeheld

withtheplatforms,butnodateshave been fixed. Normally, themost important aspect of anyfree market is the customer’schoice when decidingwhat tobuy.Here,informationbecomesacrucialaspect,”saidtheofficial.TheDPIIThadcalledtheplat-

formssincetheyneededtoworkout themodalities throughdis-cussions with sellers, said an-otherseniorofficial.“Thereisnoprohibitionorrestriction.Thisisbasically to help the customerknowwhether they are buyinga productmade in India, if theywantto,andthefocusof thedis-cussion was on how it can bedone,” said theofficial.According to e-commerce

executives, the proposal hadbeendiscussed in earliermeet-ings but the government“seemed insistent” on having itdone this time.Variousonlineretailershave

alreadyrepresentedtotheDPIITthattheywouldneedtimetofi-nalisetechnicalmodalities.Andsomeexpertsanticipatethattheimplementation may be“tricky”.“Itwill be tricky to calculate

the value added of a productsoldonsuchamedium.Nopro-tocolshavebeendevelopedyetfor this in the e-commercespace in any country so far, soI’m not sure how it will bedone,” said Rajat Kathuria,Director and Chief Executive,Indian Council for Research onInternational EconomicRelations (ICRIER).“Even in existing free trade

agreements, the rules of originare agreed upon over manyyearsof toughandextensivene-gotiations.Eventhen, it’sbeenacontroversial issue,”hesaid.“Nowadays, one product is

usually produced through thevalue addition of multiple dif-ferent countries. Even thoseproducts assembled in Indiahave components from severalcountries,sohowthecountryoforigin will be worked out willhave to be seen,” said BiswajitDhar, professor at JNU’s Centrefor Economic Studies andPlanning. “Perhaps, an addi-tional labelling requirementwould have to be imposed inthis situation.”The DPIIT’s meeting comes

nearly 10 days after theConfederation of All IndianTraders (CAIT) approachedCommerce Minister PiyushGoyal to make the origin tagmandatory for private e-com-merce firms.Thedecisionwouldbe “cru-

cial” in CAIT’s “Boycott ChineseGoods” campaign, said thegroup’s secretary general,PraveenKhandelwal.Around70percentofgoodssoldonvariouse-commerce portals areChinese, according to him.“Whenthegovernmentcanim-plementthedecisiononitsGeMportal, why can't the e-com-merce companies do it?” saidKhandelwal.

FROMPAGEONE

Diplomats build on military talks: Needto implement plan on disengagementThe Chinese statement

mentioned the exchange of“candid and in-depth” viewson the border situation andhow both sides said theywill“earnestly implement the im-portantconsensus”reachedbythe ForeignMinisters duringtheir June17phoneconversa-tion, and “actively accommo-date with the two militaryforces to implement the out-come reached” at the June 6and June22military talks.The Chinese Defence

Ministry,however,struckajar-ring note, echoing Beijing’sclaim to the Galwan Valley.“China has sovereignty overthe Galwan Valley region andtheChinesebordertroopshavebeenpatrollingandonduty inthis region formany years,” itsaid. This is the first time thattheChinesearmedforceshavestaked claim to an area that iswellwithin Indian territory.Naveen Srivastava, Joint

Secretary (East Asia) in theMinistry of External Affairs,

and Hong Liang, DirectorGeneral in Department ofBoundaryandOceanicAffairs,Chinese Ministry of ForeignAffairs, ledtheirdelegationsatthemeetingof theWMCC.Thetwodiplomats,assisted

byofficials, held talks for two-and-half hours via videocon-ference. It was their first en-gagement since the talksMonday between XIV CorpsCommander Lt GeneralHarinder Singh and SouthXinjiang Military RegionCommanderMajorGeneralLiuLinatMoldo, theChinesebor-derpointoppositeChushul.The Corps Commanders

reached“mutualconsensustodisengage”with detailed dis-cussionsonthemodalitiesofasector-wise,stage-wisedisen-gagement on the LAC. But notimeline for the disengage-mentprocesswas finalised.Movingonthis,theWMCC,

sources said, decided to “reaf-firm” and “build forward” onthe agreements reached at

Moldo meeting. The idea,sources said, is togiveapoliti-cal framework to the under-standingat themilitary level.In its statement, theMEA

said: “The two delegationsagreedthatimplementationofthis understanding expedi-tiously, inaccordancewiththebilateral agreements andpro-tocols, would help ensurepeaceandtranquilityinborderareas and the development ofbroader relationshipbetweenthe twocountries. In this con-text, theyalso tooknoteof thediscussions in the secondmeeting of the SeniorCommandersheldon22June.”The two sides also agreed

to maintain communicationbothatdiplomaticandmilitarylevel including under theframework of WMCC to “re-solve the existing situationpeacefully", it said.This was reiterated by the

Chinese sidewhich said they“agreedtostrictlyabidebytheimportant consensus reached

bytheleadersofthetwocoun-triesandaseriesofagreementsand protocols signed by thetwo sides, further strengthentheconfidencebuildingmeas-ures in themilitary field so asto jointlymaintain peace andtranquilityoftheborderareas”.Themeeting between the

diplomats came on the dayChinese Defence Ministryspokesperson Senior ColonelWuQianrepeatedBeijing’sde-mandthatIndiaholditsmenac-countable for the June15clash,andworkwithChina tomain-tainpeaceintheborderregion.HeclaimedthatsinceApril,

Indianborder troops began to“unilaterally” build facilitiesalong the LAC in the GalwanValley region, and that Chinahad lodged “representationsandoppositionsmanytimes”.“TheChineseborder troops

havebeenforcedtotakeneces-sary respondingmeasures andstrengthenmanagement andcontrol in these areas,” theChineseDefenceMinistrystated.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA, JUNE24

A RETIRED deputy superinten-dent of police (DSP), who wasknownasanencounterspecial-ist during his time inMokama,nearPatna,diedinhisresidenceinthecity'sMitramandalColonyon Tuesday. The police said heshothimselfonthetemplewithhis licensedpistol.The victim, K Chandra, 68,

wasundertreatmentfordepres-sion for the last 16 years, andtook anti-depressants, his fam-ilyhas told thepolice.The police said Chandra left

a note in which he expressedfrustrationwiththecivicsystem,especiallywaterloggingandcol-lection of garbage outside hishouse.Thenoteaccusesaneigh-bour of allegedly causing thiswaterlogging by dumpinggarbageandconstructionmate-rial on the roadoutside.DSP, Phulwarisharif, Sanjay

Kumar Pandey said, “We havefoundathree-pagesuicidenote.It

looksacaseofsuicideasofnow.”Chandra's son Nischay

Shrestha, an advocate, said hisfather was hugely upset andfrustratedwith continuouswa-terloggingoutside theirhome–aresultofblockeddrainsandthearea's low-lying location. “Hehadcalledaneighbourtodiscusstheproblemofwaterlogging.Hehad been very frustrated withour inability to do anything toaddressthisissue,”Shresthasaid.Shrestha has told the police

thatonTuesdayhehadseenhisfather go to the verandah andwrite something in a notebook.“Before we could comprehendanything, hewent to his room,tookouthispistolandshothim-selfontherighttemple,”thesonsaid.Chandradiedonwaytohos-

pital, thepolice said.Chandra had joined Bihar

Police as sub-inspector in 1975.AsaDSP inMokama in1995,hehad ledmore than four dozenencountersinwhichseveralsus-pectedcriminalswerekilled.Hehadretired in2012.

Retd DSP shoots self deadin Patna home, leavesnote accusing neighbour

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHENNAI, JUNE24

THE MADRAS High Court onWednesday sought a reportfrom the police on the allegedcustodialkillingofamanandhisson near Thoothukudi districtthat has sparkedoutrage acrossTamilNadu.P Jeyaraj (63) and his son J

Fennix (31), both traders, weretaken into custodyonFriday forallegedly violating lockdownrules. They were later shiftedfrom a sub-jail to a hospital,where theydied. Their relativeshave alleged that both werethrashedand torturedbypolicepersonnel incustody.The incident, which

prompted a strike by tradersandshopowners inTamilNaduon Wednesday, was beingheard inthehighcourtafter thefamilyof thevictims sought itsintervention. On Tuesday, too,severalpeoplehadhitthestreetsin Sathankulam, a town nearThoothukudi, to protest the al-leged tortureandkilling.The Madurai bench of the

Madras High Court asked thepolice to submit its report onFriday.Thegovernmenthasalsoorderedajudicialprobeintothematter. JusticesPNPrakashandBPugalendiofthedivisionbenchwanted the state police chief J KTripathy to appear before thecourt on Wednesday, despiteTuticorinSPArunBalagopalandIG South zone K P ShanmugaRajeswaran, being present. DGPTripathywasnotabletocomeashe had an urgent meeting inChennai, thecourtwastold.The victims’ family sought

murderchargesagainsttwopo-lice sub-inspectors, whowere

placed under suspension onTuesday.Thekinsaidtheywouldnot accept the bodies till theirdemandwasheeded.The post-mortemexamina-

tion was carried out at theTirunelveliGovernmentHospitalinthepresenceofamagistrate.Accordingtoseniorpoliceof-

ficer,thepreliminaryinquiryhasfound“seriouslapses”bythelo-cal officers. “On Friday, a policeteam visited the victims’ shopandwarnedthemaboutfollow-ing lockdown timings. Theyobeyed, but allegedly madesome critical remarks. An autodriver overheard their com-mentsandinformedapoliceof-ficer,which led to their custodyand severe torture,” this officersaidonTuesday.An officer under the district

administrationhadsaidbothfa-therandsonwere tortured.The local officer said an in-

quiry by the SP office revealedthat there were 13-15 officersat the station when the inci-dent happened.“When the inspector and

otherofficersstartedbeatingthefather, his son questioned this.Therearetwoversions—onethatthe son was beaten when hequestioned the attack onhis fa-ther,andanotherversionsayingthe son tried to stop the inspec-tor from using force to preventthe torture on his father.However,this ledtoabrutaltor-turesessiononfatherandsonatthe station. They were re-manded in Kovilpatti sub-jailunderSections188,383and506(II). Then they were shifted toKovilpatti government hospitalastheirconditionworsened.Theson died onMonday night andfather died early Tuesday,” theofficer saidonTuesday.

Shops shut in TNto protest custodydeath of trader, son:HC seeks report

Jaipur: Rajasthan reported 199fresh coronavirus cases onTuesday, taking the state's totalnumber of such cases to 15,431,officials said.With no death re-portedinthestateonTuesday,thedeath toll due to the diseasestands at 356.Of the fresh cases,

89 were reported from Jaipur.Jaipur has recorded the mostdeaths due to Covid—150—and2,988positive cases followedbyJodhpur where 34 deaths and2,459caseshavebeenreported.Atotalof11,794patientshave

beendischarged. PTI

Rajasthan sees 199 fresh Covid-19cases; infection tally reaches 15,431

Jaipur

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

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DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR, JUNE24

THENUMBERofcasesregisteredinRajasthanforvariousoffencesunder the IPC has seen an in-creaseofmore than80per centaftertheeasingofrestrictionsascompared to those filed duringthe initial month of the lock-down, reveals data from theRajasthanpolice.Thenumberofcriminalcases

underIPCsectionshaddecreasedby 47.6 per cent in April duringthepeakof thenationwidelock-down as compared to thoserecordedinMarchorFebruary.Several lockdown restric-

tionswereeasedafterApril 20.According to the monthly

crimereportoftheRajasthanpo-lice,criminalcasesfiledunderallheads, including atrocitiesagainstwomenandSCs/STs,sawan increase, returning close tothe figures of March before thelockdown.In March, a total of 2,574

cases pertaining to atrocitiesagainstwomenwereregistered,goingdownto879casesduringAprilandjumpingto1,960casesinMay--anincreaseof122.98%,according to thedata.After the lockdown condi-

tionswereeased,thenumberofrape cases increased by 98.96per cent while cases underSection 498A (husband or rela-tiveofhusbandofawomansub-jectinghertocruelty)sawanin-creaseof146.58percent inMayas compared toApril, accordingto themonthlydata.Similarly, cases of atrocities

against SCs increased by 92.24percentwhilecrimesagainsttheSTs rose by 101.16 per cent inMay as compared to the figuresofApril, according todata.“Duringthelockdown,allac-

tivities came to a halt. Even ifsomething happened, peoplewere still not coming out. Afterthelockdownwaseased,reportsof old incidents during that pe-riod have also been registered.When everybody is locked intheir homes, it is expected thatthecriminalcasesregisteredwillalso go down. Now it has cometoalmostthenormallevel,closetowhat the figureswereduringpre-corona and pre-lockdowntimes,” B L Soni, DGP (CrimeBranch), toldThe IndianExpress.EversincetheCongresscame

to power in Rajasthan in

December 2018, Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, who also holdstheHomeportfolio, has repeat-edly emphasised that everycomplaint by an aggrieved per-son be registered as FIR so thatnobody is turned down by thepolice.Policehavebeenaskedtomandatorily register FIRs uponreceivingacomplaint.

The police havemaintainedthat the increase in thenumberof cases in the past one year isbecauseof beingencouraged toregisterFIRs.The annual crime report re-

leased in January showed a31.08% rise in IPC cases in thestate in 2019 as compared to2018.

Rajasthan sees surgein crime figures aftereasing of lockdown

Residentsshowerflowerpetalsonpolicepersonnelas theyconducta flagmarchtospreadawarenessonCovid-19, inBeawardistrictonWednesday. PTI

Man held for taking bribe from cop on behalf of senior officialPRESSTRUSTOFINDIAJAIPUR, JUNE24

AMANwas arrested in Jaipuron Wednesday after he al-legedly claimed to be an agentof aseniorpoliceofficerandre-ceived Rs 5 lakh bribe from anSHO.The suspect was identified

as PramodSharma,who runs atoursandtravelagencyhere,anAnti-Corruption Bureau (ACB)official said.Sharma was allegedly seen

at the official residence of DIG,

Bharatpur, Laxman Gaur andthebureauhadtheinformationthat the telephone of the DIG’sresidencewas used in contact-ing the station house officer,ADGSaurabhSrivastava said.Sharma had allegedly de-

manded Rs 10 lakh from theSHO, Udhyog Nagar,Chandraprakashinexchangeofprotection from the DIG and agood ACR (annual confidentialreport),but thematterwasset-tled at Rs 5 lakh, he said.The SHOmade a complaint

to the ACB and Sharma wastrapped while accepting the

bribe amount, Srivastava said.The suspect has been ar-

rested under the Prevention ofCorruption Act and the role ofthe DIG in the case is being ex-amined, he said.In another case, the ACB

caughtTonk'schiefdistrictedu-cation officer and a teacherwhile accepting bribe of Rs50,000, officials said.The complainant in this

case,agovernmentteacher, toldtheACBthat theeducationoffi-cer Shivram Singh was de-

manding the bribe through afellowteacherSitaramAgrawal,they said.Singh had allegedly threat-

ened the complainant that aninvestigation will be launchedagainst him for financial irreg-ularities inpublishingexampa-pers ifhedoesnotpaythebribe,the officials said.After verification of the

complaint, both the accusedwere arrested under thePrevention of Corruption Act,they added.

Thesuspect,whowasseenat theseniorofficial’s residence,hadallegedlydemandedRs10lakhfromanSHOinexchangeofprotectionfromaDIGandagoodACR,butthematterwassettledatRs5 lakh,anofficial said.

Jaipur

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE24

A DAY after the CongressWorkingCommitteesoughtde-tails about the situation alongthe Line of Actual Control, BJPpresident JPNaddaWednesdaytargetedtheoppositionparty,al-leging that India has lost thou-sands of kilometres of land duetothemisadventuresofonedy-nasty, referring to the Nehru-Gandhi family.Inaseriesof tweetstargeting

theCongress,Naddasaiditistheopposition’s right to ask ques-tions and the all-partymeetingwith the Prime Minister lastweeksawhealthydeliberationswith several opposition leadersgiving their valuable inputs.“One family was an exception.Any guesseswho?” he tweetedwithoutnaminganyone.TheBJPpresident said other partiesbackedthegovernment.A day after the CWC sought

detailsaboutthesituationalongthe LAC and the India-Chinaface-off,Naddatweeted,“Duetothe misadventures of one dy-nasty: we lost thousands ofsquare kilometres of land. TheSiachenglacierwasalmostgone.And much more. No wonderIndiahas rejected them.”TherulingBJPandtheopposi-

tionCongresshavebeenengagedin a public spat over the violentface-off — between the Indianand Chinese side in Ladakh’s

Galwan Valley on June 15— inwhich 20 Indian soldiers werekilled. The BJP government hadmaintainedthattherehavebeenno incursions but attemptedtransgressionsacrosstheLACandthey were cleared. But theCongresswanted to knowwhatledtothedeathof soldiers.The BJP president further

saidthata“rejectedandejecteddynasty is NOT equal to the en-tireopposition.Onedynasty’sin-terests are not India’s interests.Today, the nation is united andsupportiveofarmedforces.Thisisthetimeforunityandsolidar-ity.Relaunchof thescionandforthenth timecanwait”.Inanothertweet,Naddasaid,

“One ‘royal’ dynasty and the‘loyal’ courtiers have a granddelusionoftheoppositionbeingabout one dynasty. A dynastthrows tantrums and hiscourtierspeddlethatfakenarra-tive.Latestonerelatestotheop-positionaskingquestions to thegovernment.”

India lost thousandsof kms due tomisadventures ofone family: Nadda

‘Adynast throwstantrumsandhiscourtierspeddlethat fakenarrative’

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,JUNE24

AMIDTHEstandoff between theIndianandChineseArmiesineast-ernLadakh,theCongresspartyonWednesdaysought tocorner thegovernment over claims aboutChinese incursions inArunachalPradesh by a BJPMP from thatstate. Theoppositionpartyaskedthegovernmenttocomecleanontheissueanddemandedthecon-vening of a special session ofParliament todiscuss issues suchasnationalsecurity.Thepartyhasalsodecided to

observe ‘ShaheedonKo SalaamDivas’ (martyrs’ day) on June26.FacingcriticismfromtheBJPforitsattack on the government, theCongresswill holdcandlelightvig-ilsandlaunchanonlinecampaigncalled“speakupforourjawans”.Addressingapressconference,

seniorpartyleaderManishTewarisaid that TapirGao, BJPMP fromArunachalEast,hassaidinatele-visioninterviewthatthe“People'sLiberationArmy,onbothsidesoftheSubansiri river inAsapilaandLongju sectors in the upperSubansiri district of ArunachalPradesh, haveoccupied territoryon the Indian side of theMcMahonLine”.Tewari said that according to

Gao, theChineseArmyhad con-structed bridges, roads, housesandhelipadsatAsapilaandMajhaareasinthedistrict.“Gao further goes on to say

thatthePLAhasoccupiedabaseoftheIndianArmy...RememberthePrimeMinisterof Indiaattheall-partymeeting had said that no

posts of the Indian Army havebeen occupied by the People’sLiberation Army. Gao seems tocontradictthePrimeMinister...“This is thenot the first time

thatGaohasmade these revela-tions…Theseareextremely seri-ousclaims,”Tewarisaid.Congress LokSabhaMPfrom

AssamGauravGogoi asked thegovernmenttobemorevigilantintheNortheastandborders.“Wede-mand that the Government ofIndiadoesnotlookatwhatishap-pening inArunachal PradeshorLadakhas isolated incidents. Thisisagranddesignandthisneedstoberesponded...”hesaid.Healsode-mandedconveningofaspecialses-sionofParliament,keepinginmindbothsocialdistancingandtheim-portanceofnationalsecurity.Tewari slammed thegovern-

ment for not allowingParliamentary StandingCommitteestomeetvirtually.“ItisextremelyunfortunatewhileyoucanhaveRussia, India, China tri-lateral summits virtually,whiletheG-20canbeheldvirtuallyandall-partymeetings onChina canbeheldvirtually,thisGovernmenthaswalkedtheextramileinordertohidebehindrules,inordertoes-capeParliamentaryoversight...”

ManishTewari, TapirGao

SENIOR CONGRESS leader andformer defence minister A KANTONY speaks toMANOJ C Gabout the situation in Ladakhand his assessment of thewayforward.

Asformerdefenceminister,what isyourassessmentofthesituationinLadakh?TheChinesearmyisstillthere

in theGalwanValley area. Theirconstructions are there. Eventhough they are not doing any-thingmore, their constructionsare still there. They are yet to bedismantled.Chinesearmyistherein the Pangong Tso lake area tooandeverydaytheyarefortifying.TheyarethereinHotSpringsalso.GalwanValleywasneverapointof dispute. Over the years, theIndian Army and Chinese armyhave identified more than adozendisputedareas.ButGalwanValleywasneveradisputedarea.It is Indian territory. Our sover-eigntywas undisputed. DuringUPA II, we started constructingtheroadtoGalwanValley.Atthattime,therewasnoobjectionfromtheChinese side. Suddenly, theyhavecomeinlargenumbersandpushed into the Indian area,whichendedinthetragicmartyr-domof20bravesoldiers.

China,yousaid,didnotobject toconstructionoftheroad.So,what inyourviewis thereasonforthepresentstandoff?Even though from 1962 on-

wards, all along there had beenincursions along themore than4000-km-longIndia-Chinabor-der.Incursionshappenedduringthe period of all governments.But 1975 onwards, we alsostartedstrengtheninginfrastruc-ture on the Chinese border.Successive governmentsstrengthenedtheinfrastructure.InfrastructurewasstrengthenedthemostduringUPAIandII.UPAI and II spent the maximumamount ondefence. From2006onwards,wemorethandoubledthe defence expenditure. Weconstructedmore roads, morebridges, purchasedhundredsofSukhoi aircraft, MiG 29, we de-cidedtoformstrikecorpsbasedin Panagarh in Kolkata, raisedtwomoremountaindivisionsinTezpur and Rangapahar. Webought transport aircraft likeC-17 andC-130…Now the Indianarmed forces arewell equippedandcan faceanychallenge.

Therewere incursionsduringtheUPAperiodtoo.I told you… incursions had

beentakingplacesince1962be-cause the border is unsettled. Aseriousincursiontookplacedur-ingtheUPAperiodinDepsangin2013 and then in Chumar in2014. It took 21 days in 2013…they had come in large num-bers... put tents and every-thing… there was face to facescuffle…but after 21days…af-termilitaryanddiplomatic-leveldiscussions they went back.

Statusquoantewas restored. In2014... Chumaralso…aftermil-itary and diplomatic-level dis-cussions… theywent back. Thestatusquoantewasrestored.

Whatwentwrongthis time?First of all, nobody imagined

therewould be a betrayal fromChina in theGalwanValley area.Thewholecountrywasundertheeuphoria of theMahabalipuramdiscussions with the ChinesePresident. Galwan valley wasneverapointofdispute.Itisabe-trayal by China. It is for the gov-ernmenttoseetoit thatoursov-ereigntyisprotected.

Whatcouldthegovernmenthavedonetoavoidthebloodshed?Whenboth the armieswere

discussingdisengagement,theyattacked us. It is betrayal. Nowwe have to think about the fu-ture. Strengthen the armedforces. Theultimate aim shouldbethatstatusquoanteshouldberestored.

BJPpresident JPNaddahassaidthatduringUPAtime,43,000kmof IndianterritorywassurrenderedtotheChineseandbetween2010and2013thereweresome600incursions?Totally false. Incursionswere

there all along since 1962. Evenbefore 1962, therewere incur-sions.Butthiskindofmajorincur-siondidnottakeplaceduringourtime.InDepsangandChumar,sta-tusquoantewasrestored.

HowdoyoudealwithChina?India of today is not India of

1962...Nowthearmedforcesare

wellequippedtomeetanychal-lenge. In UPA II, I found somechange inChinesepriority. ThatiswhyinDepsangandChumar...theycameintoourterritoryandafterpersuasiontheywentback.At that time, their priority wastheir conflict in theSouthChinaSea. They were trying to com-pletely bring it under their con-trol.Theyweremoreconcernedabout Taiwan, Hong Kong,Xinjiang. But again, suddenlytheyhavechangedtheirpriority.That way this is unprece-dented… attack on a territorywhich is undisputed. DuringUPAII,whenevertherewasadis-putetheyusedtogobacktotheiroriginalposition…werewillingtohaveapeaceful settlement…butnowtheyhavechangedtheirprioritysuddenly.Thereissome-thingdeepwhichwehavetoas-sess. The government needs tostudy thisdeeply.

TheBJPsaystheCongress isagainstNarendraModiandnotChina...howdidtheCongresssignanMoUwithChineseCommunistParty?Earlier,onlytheCongresswas

going for the ChineseCommunist Party meetings.After the Modi governmentcame,they(theBJP)alsostartedsending their representatives.Both the BJP and the Congressare friendly with ChineseCommunistParty.Everyonefor-gets that theonly chiefministerin India who was invited to

China four timeswas NarendraModi. He met the ChinesePresident 18 or 19 times. TheCongress has categorically saidthatweareonewiththegovern-ment and the armed forceswhenitcomestoprotectingthesovereignty and territorial in-tegrityofthecountry.Wewilldoeverythingtosupportthearmedforces. That has been theCongress tradition.

Whatnext for thegovernment?The country is watching...

whether at the end of the con-flict, the government is able torestore status quo ante. And itwasthePrimeMinisterwhosaidthere are no outsiders in Indianterritory. It was a shock to meand to the whole country. TheChinese army is still in theGalwan Valley and their con-structionisthere.TheyarethereinHot Springs…They are thereuptoFinger4.Everydaytheyarefortifying. Even now themili-tary-level talks are only onGalwanValley.Theyarenotsay-inganythingaboutPangongTso.The Indian Army has told themthat the Chinese must vacatefromall the occupied areas andthe PM hasmade such a state-ment. It is the duty of the PMtocomeoutwithacategoricalpub-lic statement that the govern-ment will do everything to re-store status quo ante. Let himpublicly and categorically saythat.

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

AKANTONYCONGLEADER, FORMERDEFENCEMINISTER

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,JUNE24

DEMOCRATICUS CongressmanBrad Sherman, who is a seniormemberof thepowerfulHouseForeign Affairs Committee, onWednesday described as “pre-meditated” theChinese aggres-sion inwhich 20 Indian troopsdied in the Galwan Valley onJune15.Thisisthestrongeststatement

yet from theUS yet. TheUS ad-ministrationhad so far just con-doledthedeaths.USSecretaryofStateMichael R Pompeo, the se-niormost Cabinetminister fromthe Trump administration, hadtweeted“condolences”.Sherman, who represents

California’s San FernandoValley,onWednesday tweeted, “Goodspeaking with India'sAmbassador@SandhuTaranjitStoday.IofferedmycondolencestotheAmbassador for the approx.20 troopswhodiedas a result ofpremeditatedChineseaggressionat the actual line of control inLadakhlastweek.”

“Wealso spoke in general restrengtheningtheU.S.-Indiarela-tionship,”hesaid.Sherman is currently serving

his twelfth terminCongress andhas served in the House ofRepresentatives since1997.Overthe last fewmonths,hehasbeenvery active commenting onKashmir, theNRC, and hadmetExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar inDecember lastyearalongwithotherCongressmen.InOctober lastyear,Sherman

chairedatwo-and-a-half-hourUSCongressionalhearing,sinceheischairman of the HouseSubcommittee on Asia, on thetopic “Human Rights in SouthAsia: Views from the State

DepartmentandtheRegion”.SeveralCongressmembersin-

cluding Indian-AmericanPramilaJayapal,SheilaJacksonLee(whoisamemberofthePakistancaucus)and IlhanOmarquestionedAliceWells, thenAssistantSecretaryofState forSouthandCentralAsianAffairs,andRobertDestro,AssistantSecretaryof State forDemocracy,HumanRightsandLabour.Sherman, who began the

hearingbydescribingKashmirasthe“mostdangerousflashpointintheworld”,hadsaidthathehasforyearscondemnedtheterroristat-tacks in Kashmir and spokenabout the Kashmiri pandits. HehadsaidthatIndia’sdecisionwithrespect to scrappingArticle 370wasnotindirectresponsetotheseterroristattacks.BesidesKashmir, theNRC is-

suehadalso comeup fordiscus-sion, and as Shermanhad askedwhether it is a serious legislativeproposal or a “crackpot idea”,Destroresponded:“It isaseriouslegislative proposal.” WhenSherman asked “havewe con-demnedit?”,Destroreplied,“Wearedoingitrighthere.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,JUNE24

FIVE INDIAN soldiers were onWednesday awarded‘CommendationCards’byArmyChiefGeneralMMNaravanefordemonstrating exemplary gritand courage in dealing withChinese troops in two separateclashes in Pangong Tso andGalwanValleyineasternLadakh,sources said.The Army Chief visited for-

wardareas in eastern Ladakh tomeet the troops and held a de-tailed briefing in Leh about thesituationonground.General M M Naravane

reachedLadakhonTuesday, ac-companied by Northern ArmyCommanderLtGenYKJoshi.TheArmychief is scheduled

to visit other forward areas ineastern Ladakh on Thursday aspartofhistourtoreviewtheon-groundmilitary preparedness.This is his first trip to the regionafterIndianArmylost20soldiersinGalwanValleyon June15.GeneralMMNaravane’svisit

to the region came in themidstofChinarapidlyincreasingnum-ber of troops and weaponryalong the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in the eastern Ladakh re-gion including in Pangong Tso,Galwan Valley and Gogra HotSpring.TheArmyChiefreviewedthe

overall security situation in theregion with Northern ArmyCommander Lt Gen YK Joshi,commander of the 14 Corps LtGen Harinder Singh and othersenior Army officials on bothTuesday and Wednesday,sources said.“General M M Naravane

#COAS visited forward areas inEastern #Ladakh and reviewedoperational situation on theground.#COAScommendedthetroopsfortheirhighmoraleandexhorted them to continueworkingwith zeal and enthusi-asm,” theArmysaid ina tweet.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE24

A LAWYER and a journalist onWednesday approached theSupremeCourt seeking aprobeinto an “agreement” signedbe-tween the Indian NationalCongressandCommunistPartyOfChinainBeijingonAugust7,2008.In their petition, advocate

ShashankShekhar Jhaandjour-

nalist Savio Rodrigues claimedthat despite hostile relationswithChina,theCongresssignedtheagreementwhen itwas rul-ingthecountryaspartofacoali-tion,andhidthefactsanddetailsof theagreement.Rodrigues saidhehadurged

theCongresstomakethedetailsof theagreementpublicbut“noheedwas shown in that respectwhichshowsthemalafideinten-tionof theRespondents”.

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI,JUNE24

INDIAWILL assert itself on thegroundover itsperceptionof theLine of Actual Control (LAC) andcontinuetoclaimAksaiChinevenas it engageswith China diplo-matically, BJP general secretaryRamMadhavsaidonWednesday.Madhav also took on the

Opposition,particularlytargetingthe Congress for not addressingthe issue under earlier govern-mentsledbytheparty.

Speakingatawebinarorgan-ised by RSS mouthpiece'Panchjanya' on the LAC issue,Madhavsaid:“Indiawillcontinueto stand firmon the ground.Wewantpeace,butnotof thegrave-yard.Wehave close to 60 roadsunderconstruction(intheregion),and that work will go on. Ourclaim is not just the LAC – ourclaimgoesbeyondthat.AfterJ&KandLadakhweredeclaredUnionTerritories, theirmaps includePoK, Gilgit Baltistan and AksaiChin.“We continue to claimAksai

Chin, andwehave to be firmonourperceptionofLAC.”Madhav argued that India is

facing such a situation becausepeople had not tried to under-stand China from “tactical and

strategic point of view”.He said,“China thinks differently com-pared to other countries. It hasborder issueswith 13-14 coun-tries. It believes in continuing togainterritorywithoutengaginginwar.”Hesaid:“Today,theOpposition

asksusaboutborderviolations,butithasnotstartedin2020. In2013,whentheChineseentered19-20kminsideandtherewasstandoff,nothingwasbeingdoneandques-tionswere raised inParliament.(Then PM) Manmohan Singhmerelysaidtherearedifferingper-

ceptionsof theLACbetween thetwocountries.Nowweareinsist-ingonourownershipofLAC,asweperceiveit.”He said, “We are engaging

withChinadiplomaticallybutongroundweareassertive.Wearenot letting China get awaywithsemi-permanent structures onour territory. Unlike in the past,we are not turning our jeeparoundandcomingback.Weareconfrontingandpushing(them)back.”RSS leader and former BJP

general secretary RamLal,who

made the introductory remarks,said: “There somehandmaidensof China who keep justifyingChineseactionshere....Theytrytobringmoraleoftheforcesdown,”Lalsaid.“WTOagreementsarenotapplicableonpeople.TodayevenasmallchildknowsChineseprod-ucts are not to be purchased.China has been forced to thinkthat if itdoesanythingmoreandIndia’speoplegoagainstit,theen-tiremarketwillgooutof itshandand itwill be in economic trou-ble,”hesaid. FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

“It is theduty of thePMtocomeoutwith acategorical publicstatement that thegovernmentwill doeverything to restorestatusquoante”

‘India of today is not India of 1962’

Chinese aggression at LACpremeditated: US Congressman

ArmyChiefGeneralManojMukundNaravane interactswithtroopswhilereviewingoperational situationsontheground, ineasternLadakhonWednesday. PTI

BradSherman

CALLSFORHOUSESPECIALSESSION

Cong questions govtover BJP MP’s claimsof Chinese incursionin Arunachal Pradesh

Army Chiefawards fivesoldiers forPangong Tso,Galwan grit

Probe agreement betweenCong and CPC: plea in SC

RamMadhav,RamLal

‘Our claim is not just LAC — our claim goes beyond that’

MANOJCG&RAVISHTIWARINEWDELHI, JUNE24

THEDEFECTIONoffiveRJDMLCsto the JD(U) and the resignationof RJD co-founder RaghuvanshPrasad Singh as national vice-president has put a spotlight onthe anti-NDA camp in Biharahead of Assembly elections.Amid the rumblings in the RJD,senior leadersof thealliance, in-cluding senior Congress func-tionaries, met formally for thefirst timeonWednesday.With just months to go for

Assembly polls, all is notwell intheRJD-ledOpposition alliance.Thesmallerparties—formerChiefMinister Jitan Ram Manjhi’sHAM(S), Upendra Kushwaha’sRLSP, andMukeshSahni’sVikas-sheel InsaanParty (VIP)—arenotagreeabletotheideaofprojectingLeader of Opposition and LaluPrasad’ssonTejashwiYadavasthechiefministerial candidate. TheRJD,ontheotherhand,maintainstheissueis“non-negotiable”.“Nitish Kumar’s governance

has been very poor this term.Peoplearedissatisfiedwithhim.It is an opportunity to dislodgehim. But, the impression thatLalu’s son(Tejashwi) is thealter-nativegivesNitishanadvantage.Thereisalotofbaggagewithanymemberof Lalu’s family leadingthefight,”saidatopleaderintheanti-NDAallianceinBihar.TheRJDsaiditwasopentodis-

cussionbuthopedtheotherpar-tieswouldunderstanditsview.“Wewilldiscussit.Butthefact

is we are numerically thestrongestparty inBihar, intermsof seat share or vote share. If theparty has decided something,thenhowcanwegoback?Whatwillwetellour rankandfile?So,it is a question that others willsooner or later understand thatissuesarefarmoreimportant.ForRJD, it is non-negotiable,” RJDleaderManojKumarJhatoldThe

IndianExpress.Though they are not sure

whethertheRJDwillconcedethisargument, thesmallerplayers intheOpposition alliance arekeento impress “this ground reality”upontheCongressandareaskingittopersuadeLalutochangetac-tics. Sources said theyhave con-veyed this view to seniorCongress leader AhmedPatel. Itis learnt that Kushwaha andManjhihadameetingwithPatelonTuesday.Patel attendedWednesday’s

virtual meeting with ManojKumar Jha, Manjhi, KushwahaandSahni.AICCgeneralsecretaryin charge of Bihar ShaktisinhGohil,AICCgeneralsecretaryKCVenugopal, Bihar Congress chiefMadanMohanJhaandCongresslegislaturepartyleaderSadanandSingh also joined. Patel andVenugopal attending themeet-ing signifies the importance theCongressattachestosmoothsail-ingof thealliance.Sources said the issueof seat

sharing or Tejashwi’s projectiondidnot comeuponWednesdayas itwas apreliminarymeeting.Sources saidCongress presidentSoniaGandhiandTejashwiwouldsoonmeet. “Everything shall besettled,”aseniorCongress leadersaid. But the smaller parties arestillnotconvinced,andthis issueisfastemergingasastickingpointinthealliance.“Thishandicap(impressionof

Tejashwileading)canonlybead-dressedwiththeconsentofLalu.We hope the Congress realisesthisandpersuadesLaluaboutanalternativemechanismwherethe RJD leads the alliance butdoesn’t give the impression thatitisNitishvsTejashwibattle,”saidthe Opposition leader, pinninghopesontheCongresstolenditsweight.The Congress, which has a

closeworking relationshipwiththeRJDandbenefitedfromtheal-liancein2015Assemblyelectionsisyettomakeupitsmind.

Bihar Oppn leadersmeet amid rumblingsin RJD, uneaseamong partners

Jaipur

EXPRESSNETWORK 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

Institute of Infrastructure TechnologyResearch And Management (IITRAM)(An Autonomous University established by Government of Gujarat)

Applications are invited for (1) Regular and (2) Part-Time Ph.D. Programme from eligiblecandidates in disciplines of (i) Civil Engineering, (ii) Electrical Engineering, (iii) MechanicalEngineering, (iv) Computer Science & Engineering, (v) Humanities and Social Sciences(English, Sociology, Economics) (vi) Basic Sciences (Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics)for the academic year 2020-2021 (Autumn Semester) online through webslte:www.iitram.ac.in as per the following schedule:

Contact Details: Near Khokhra Circle, Maninagar (East), Ahmedabad-380026, Gujarat.Phone: 079 6777 5488 / 6777 5499 I Fax: 079 6777 5475Website: www.iitram.ac.in I E-mail: office@iitram.ac.in

Admission Announcement forPh.D. Program : 2020-21 (Autumn Semester)

Description

Opening of Application Portaland Submission of OnlineApplication

Last Date for submission ofscanned Application Form withall necessary enclosures

Date

25-06-2020to

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● Applicants must follow the proceduredisplayed on the website.

● Incomplete applications are likelyto be rejected.

● Applicants are advised to visitinstitute's website regularly forupdates as well as for otherdetails.

– I/c. Registrar

RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, JUNE24

THE MINISTRY of HumanResourceDevelopment(HRD)islikely to grant centrally-runhighereducationinstitutionsanextra year to implement the 10percentquota foreconomicallyweaker sections (EWS), giventhatmany institutions have notbeenabletocreateadditionalin-frastructurebecauseofthecoro-navirus lockdown.A proposal to this effectwas

recentlymoved in theMinistryafter the IITs and NITs sought ayear's extension to the 2021deadline to add seats to accom-modate thenewquota.Adecisiononthesuggestion,

whichhasbeenmadeby seniorofficers in the Ministry, is ex-pectedsoon.Severaluniversitiesand institutes have already be-gun, or are about to begin, theprocessof admission.The Indian Express had re-

ported on June 3 that IITs andNITshadrequestedanextensionof the deadline citing the chal-lenge of ensuring distancing inhostels,andthedelayinthecon-struction of new hostels due tothe lockdown. The IITs had, infact, submitted a request for anextension as early as inSeptember last year, but it wasnotaccepted.TheHRDMinistryhadsetthe

2021deadlinetoimplementthereservation forEWSbyanexec-

utive order on January 17, 2019.Allcentrally-fundededucationalinstitutions, including IITs,NITs,IIMs, central universities, IISERsandIIITs,wereaskedtoincreasetheiroverallstudentstrengthby25%overtwoyearstoaccommo-datethequota.Thiswasdonetoensure there is no reduction in

theexistingseatsforSC,ST,OBC,andgeneral categorystudents.The IITs have to collectively

increasetheir intakeofstudentsfor the undergraduate, mastersand research programmes byaround 6,700 seats.Approximately 2,300 seats —about500of themin theB.Techprogramme —were added in2019-20; the remaining 4,400seats, includingaround1,300forB.Tech, were expected to beaddedthisyear.“In order to accommodate

the increased student popula-tion, hostel facilities for the stu-dentswere in theprocessof be-ing augmented by constructingnew hostels... However, due totherecentlockdownimposedbyCOVID-19 outbreak leading tothe subsequent stop of all theconstruction-relatedwork, theprocess to complete the abovetask to accommodate this in-creaseinstudentenrolmenthasencounteredamajorobstacle. Itis imminent that the construc-tionworkwillnotbecompletedin time,” the Joint AdmissionBoard of the IITs wrote to theMinistry lastmonth.Sourcessaidthe IITs' request

wasdiscussedatameetingofallbureauheadsintheMinistryre-cently, afterwhich theproposalto allow the extension wasmoved. “TheMinistry doesn'tneedtogoto theCabinet for thedeadlineextensionasitdoesnotinvolve a cost overrun,” an offi-cial said.

TheConstitution (124thAmendment)Bill togrant10percent reserva-tion forEWSwaspassedbyParliamentandbe-came lawin January2019.This is the first timethat reservationhasbeenallowedoneconomicgrounds.AnEWSbenefi-ciary isapersonwhosefamilyhasagrossannualincomebelowRs8 lakh.

FirstquotaoneconomicdeprivationE●EX

PLAINED

Aproposal tothiseffectwasrecentlymovedintheMinistryafter theIITsandNITssoughtayear'sextensiontothe2021deadlinetoaddseats toaccommodatethenewquota

HRD may allow institutes extrayear to bring in EWS quota

MARCHING IN MOSCOWIndianservicemenmarch intheVictoryDayParadeat theRedSquare inMoscowonWednesday.UnionMinisterRajnathSingh,whois inthecity toattendthecelebration, tweeted, ‘Impressiveturnoutof theTri-Servicecontingentof the IndianArmedForcesat theVictoryDayParade inMoscowis indeedanextremelyproudandhappymoment forme’. Reuters

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE24

THERISEinCovid-19casesacrossthe country has prompted theHumanResourcesDevelopmentMinistrytoreconsideritsalterna-tive calendar foruniversities andcollegesthatscheduledexamina-tionsforJuly.This comes evenas aplea on

scrappingtheremainingClass12CBSEexamsisbeingheardintheSupreme Court, a decision onwhichisexpectedThursday.HRD Minister Ramesh

PokhriyalhasaskedtheUniversityGrantsCommission (UGC) to re-visit its alternative calendar, re-leased onApril 29, according towhichthefinalsemesteroryear-endexaminationsforgraduatingstudentsweretobeheldinJuly.“I have advised the@ugc_in-

diatorevisittheguidelinesissuedearlier for intermediate andTerminalSemesterexaminationsandacademiccalendar.Thefoun-dation for revisited guidelinesshall be health and safety stu-dents, teachers and staff,”PokhriyaltweetedWednesday.The “UGC Guidelines on

Examinations and AcademicCalendar for theUniversities inViewofCOVID-19PandemicandSubsequent Lockdown” wasdrafted on the basis of recom-mendations by a committeeheaded by Haryana CentralUniversity vice-chancellor RCKuhad.Thehighereducationreg-ulatorhasreferredtheguidelinesbacktothiscommitteeforreview,saidsources.“Alotofuniversitiesaredoing

a lot of different things as far asconduct of examinations is con-cerned.UGChasbeenaskedtore-viewitsguidelinessothatthereissomeuniformapproach,” said aUGC official who spoke on theconditionofanonymity.TheexamcalendarofApril29

already provides an alternativeoptionincasethesituationinJuly“doesnotappear tobenormal inviewofCOVID-19”.“... inordertomaintain 'social

distancing', safety andhealth ofthe students, grading of the stu-dents couldbecompositeof 50%marksonthebasisof thepatternofinternalevaluationadoptedbytheuniversities and the remain-ing50%markscanbeawardedonthebasisofperformanceinprevi-ous semester only (if available).The internal evaluation can becontinuous evaluation, prelims,mid-semester, internal assign-mentsorwhatevernameisgivenfor student progression,” theguidelinesstate.According to sources, the

Kuhadpanel could reiterate theaboverecommendation.Inotherwords, examscouldbescrappedandstudentsmaybeevaluatedonthebasisofpastperformance.

HRD Ministryasks UGC torevisit examcalendar

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAJAIPUR, JUNE24

SOUTH WEST monsoon onWednesdayhitRajasthancover-ing14districtsof thestate,adayprior to itsusualdateof arrival.“Conditions are favourable

thistimeandtherefore,themon-soonhascoveredover14districtsofRajasthanonthefirstdayof itsarrival today.Monsoon is likelyto be good this time,” theMeteorologicalDepartmentsaid.Monsoon has covered dis-

tricts in western and easternparts of the state. These includeJaisalmer, Barmer, Sirohi,Rajsamand,Udaipur,Dungarpur,Banswara,Chittorgarh,Jhalwara,Kota,BundiandBaran.This is the third time in a

decadewhenmonsoon has hitthestatebefore itsnormal time.Monsoon normally enters

Rajasthanon June25, asper theMeT. Rains lashed several partswithKota recording13.6mmofrainfall, followed by 6.1mm inJodhpur, 2.8mm in Dabok and0.7mm in Jaipur. Light rainfallwas recorded inAjmer.Conditionsarefavourablefor

further advancement of mon-soon and the department haspredicted light to heavy rainfallareas in Udaipur, Bharatpur,Kota, JaipurandAjmerdivisionsduring thenext24hours.

Monsoon hits Rajasthan,covers 14 districts on Day 1

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAJAIPUR, JUNE24

AN ATTEMPT on a CongressMLA's lifewasmadebyaminorboy in Karauli district onWednesdaywhenthelegislatorwasmeeting people at his resi-dence, police said.Theminorboyattemptedto

fireatHinduanMLABharosiLalwitha country-madepistol buttheweapondidn'tgooff,KarauliSPAnilKumar said.The accused has been de-

tained and being questioned to

ascertain themotive.Meanwhile, the opposition

BJP flayed the government forthe 'poor' law and order situa-tion in the state.The law and order situation

hasdeterioratedundertheChiefMinisterAshokGehlot'srule,al-leged Rajasthan BJP presidentSatishPoonia.He said earlier people

trusted police as criminalsfeared them.Now criminals are openly

taking the law into their hands,the BJP leader allegedwhile re-ferring to the firing bid on the

CongressMLA.On a question related to

Rahul Gandhi's re-election asthe Congress chief, Poonia said,“If he becomes the Congresspresident, then it is amatter ofentertainmentforthecountry.”He also objected to the al-

leged removal of MaharanaPratap and his horse Chetak'sreference from theClass 10 syl-labus in the state.“Maharana Pratap's valour

does not matter to ChiefMinister Gehlot. The mood ofthe Nehru-Gandhi family ismore important,” he said.

Minor tries to kill Cong MLA in Karauli;BJP flays govt for poor law and order

This is thethirdtimeinadecadewhenmonsoonhashit thestatebefore itsnormaltime.Monsoonnormallyenters thestateonJune25

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI/PUNE, JUNE24

THE GOVERNMENT onWednesday approved the cre-ation of a new body that willworktowardsagreater involve-ment of private industry, aca-demic institutions and researchorganisations in India’s spacesector.The proposed Indian

National Space Promotion andAuthorisation Centre, or IN-SPACe,will act as a single-pointinterface between Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO),andeveryonewhowantstopar-ticipate in space-related activi-ties, or use India’s space re-sources.Briefing reporters after a

meeting of the Union Cabinet,Minister of State for the PrimeMinister's Office andDepartment of Space JitendraSingh said that the proposedbody would attempt to “en-hancethesocio-economicuseofspace assets and activities, in-cluding access to space assetsdataandactivities”.“It will provide a level play-

ing field for private participantsto use Indian space infrastruc-ture. Itwillalsoguidetheprivateindustries in space activitiesthrough encouraging policiesandfriendlyregulatoryenviron-ments,”headded.

An official source said theoverall ideawasto let ISROcon-centrate on essential activitieslikeresearchanddevelopment,planetary exploration, andstrategic use of space, whilefreeing itself from ancillary orroutineworkwhich could eas-ily bedonebyprivate industry.At the same time, allowing in-dustries and others like stu-dents, researchersoracademicbodies greater access to spaceassets would lead to a muchbetterutilisationof India spaceresources, and more fruitfuldissemination of space tech-nologies.Describing the decision as

“historic” and “pathbreaking”,

Singh said, “This decision of to-day will allow ISRO to focusmore on research and develop-ment activities, while this IN-SPACewill augment the SpaceCommission…”Theministeralsoannounced

a new Indian National SpacePromotion board wold also besetup.“Therewillbestrengthening

of the Department of Space.Somenewpostswillbecreated,some structureswill be createdbut, in a nutshell, wewill havethis new board called IndianNationalSpacePromotionanditwill take care of what is knownas private space entrepreneursornon-governmentspaceentre-

preneurs,” Singhsaid.He added the activities of

NewSpace India limited (NSIL),a public enterprise created lastyear,will alsobeextended froma ‘supplydriven’model toa ‘de-mand driven’ model. NSIL wasset up for commercial exploita-tion of the research and devel-opment of ISRO and its severalcentres and laboratories. Muchof thework NSIL doeswill alsoneed to be routed through IN-SPACenow.“Some of the planetary ex-

plorationmissionswill also beopened up to the private sectorthrough an ‘announcement ofopportunity’mechanism,” readanofficial statement.

Cabinet nod to participation ofpvt companies in space sector

THE CABINET Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA),chairedbythePrimeMinister,approved a proposal ofMinistry of Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry&Dairyingforset-ting up of Animal HusbandryInfrastructure DevelopmentFund (AHIDF) worth Rs15,000 crore.Itwasannouncedaspartof

the Rs 20 lakh crore AtmaNirbhar Bharat package in re-sponse to COVID-19outbreak.Underthisnewscheme,eligible

beneficiaries such as FarmerProducerOrganizations(FPOs),MSMEs, Section 8Companies,PrivateCompaniesandindivid-ualentrepreneurswillgetincen-tiveinformof3percentinterestsubventiononloanstocreatein-frastructureunderthisfund.“Therewillbe2yearsmora-

toriumperiodforprincipalloanamountand6yearsrepaymentperiod thereafter,” said anoffi-cialstatement.MinisterofInformationand

BroadcastingPrakashJavadekar

said,“Themovewillhelpincre-ationfor35lakhnewjobs.”TheUnionCabinet also ap-

proved the extension of theterm of the Commission,headed by Justice (Retd) GRohini to examine the issue ofSub-categorization of OtherBackward Classes, by sixmonthstill January31,2021.The Cabinet also gave its

approval for declaration ofKushinagar Airport in UttarPradesh as an InternationalAirport.

OTHERDECISIONS TAKENDURINGCABINETMEETING

Jaipur

6WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DISENGAGE, BUT VERIFYThat talksare takingplace isagoodsign.China’snewclaimto

entireGalwanValleyhighlightschallengeahead

NEITHERDELHINORBeijinghavegiventoomanydetailsonthe“mutualconsensus”onmilitarydisengagementarrivedat inMonday’smeetingof seniormilitarycommanders ineasternLadakh.Thetalksat themili-tarylevelarebeingreinforcedbydiplomaticconsultationsbetweenthetwogovernments.HavingseenthepreviousagreementonJune6break

down,Delhiwouldbewisetobeextracautiousthistime.Evenwiththebestofgoodwillandpolitical trust, demobilisingmilitaries froma line of confrontation is inherently difficult.Questionsontheinterpretationoftheagreement,thesequenceofwithdrawal,timelinesforimplementationandtheprotocolsforverificationof thestepstakencanallbedeeplycon-tentious.AfterthebloodyencounteratGalwanonthenightof June15,mutualgoodwillatthemilitarylevelandtrustatthepolitical levelareunsurprisingly inshortsupply.Tomakemattersworse,therehasbeenfurthermobilisationofmilitaryforcesonboth

sidessincetheGalwanclash.Itisalsonotclearif thetwosidesfullyagreeonwhattheend-stateof thedisengagementprocessis.Delhihasrepeatedlyaffirmedthat itwouldliketoseecompleteandunambiguousrestorationof thesituationineasternLadakhbeforethemassiveChinesemilitarymobilisation all across the frontier in earlyMay.While Indiansources seem to suggest China is ready to roll back, Beijing has not publicly confirmedthatasasharedgoal.Nor is itclear if BeijingagreeswithDelhionwhat“statusquoante”meansontheground.Thestoryof theChinafrontierinthelastfewdecadeshasbeenthePLA'ssmallbutfrequentlandgrabsacrosstheLineofActualControl.Delhihasnowtakenapublicposition that itwill no longeracceptanoutcomewhere thePLAwalksonestepbackaftertakingtwostepsacrosstheLAC.ThatChinacontinuestoputacrossanewclaimfor theentireGalwanValleyhighlights thepolitical challengesahead.Notwithstandingthisstructuralpoliticaltensionandtheessentialcomplexityofmil-

itarydisengagement, the fact that talksare takingplace isagoodsign.EquallywelcomeisthefactthattheIndianandChinesetroopsmarchedinMoscowataninternationalmil-itaryeventtomarkthe75thanniversaryofRussianvictoryintheSecondWorldWar.TheIndian and Chinese foreignministers also joined the Russian foreignminister in aprescheduled video conference. This is part of the regular trilateral political interactionbetweenIndia,RussiaandChina.ButDelhiappearstohavedeclinedtheopportunityforameetinginMoscowbetweenthevisitingdefenceministerRajnathSinghandhisChinesecounterpart GeneralWei Fenghe. On balance, then, it is too early to celebrate the pre-sumedagreementonmilitarydisengagement intheLadakhfrontier. Indiamustremainvigilant, it’s a longroadahead.

SAFOORA’S TRIALHer legalordeal, statedreasonforgrantof bail, raisequestions.Bail isnotcharity, it flows fromconstitutionalprinciples

APPEARINGFORTHEDELHI Police, on Tuesday, Solicitor General TusharMehtasaidhehadnoobjectiontothereleaseofJamiaMilliaIslamiastude-ntSafooraZargaron“humanitariangrounds”.The27-yearoldwasarrest-edbytheDelhiPolice’sSpecialCell inAprilandchargedunderthedraco-nianUAPA for her alleged role in the communal violence inNortheast

Delhi in February. In her bail plea, Zargar had listed pregnancy as one of the grounds forseekingrelief.FollowingtheSG’ssubmission,theDelhiHighCourtgrantedherbail.Butthe27-year old’smore than two-month old ordeal— shewas denied bail twice by sessionscourtsinDelhi—raisesfundamentaljurisprudentialquestions.Whywasthecardinalprinci-pleofcriminaljustice,“presumptionofinnocenceuntilprovenguilty”—enshrinedinArticle11(1)of theUniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsandinvokedbythe Indianjudiciary inanumberofcases—notappliedinthiscase?Whyshouldanaccusedbecompelledtoseekbailonhumanitariangrounds?Doesn’ttherighttolifeandliberty,guaranteedbyArticle21of theConstitution,offerprotectionagainstprolongedimprisonmenttoanundertrial?TheCodeof Criminal Proceduredoesnot definebail. But inGurbaksh Singh Sibbia vs

theStateofPunjab(1980),theSupremeCourtunderlined,“Theactofarrestdirectlyaffectsfreedomofmovementofthepersonarrestedbythepolice,andspeakinggenerally,anor-derofbailgivesbacktotheaccusedthatfreedomonconditionthathewillappeartotakehistrial”.TheCourttalkedaboutArticle21andaddedthat“personallibertyofanaccusedor convict is fundamental, suffering eclipse only in terms of procedure established bylaw”.More recently, in 2018, inDataram Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh, the apex courtheldthat“thegrantofbail isthegeneralruleandputtingapersoninjail isanexception”.Deliveringtheverdict, JusticeMadanLokurlamented:“Unfortunately,someof theseba-sic principles appear tohavebeen lost sight ofwith the result thatmore andmoreper-sonsarebeing incarceratedand for longerperiods.”He, too, invokedArticle21andsaidthatovercrowdingof prisonsaffects the“dignity”of convicts.The SChas repeatedly emphasised the “humane” treatment of the accused, includ-

ing in theDataramSingh case. As theCourtpointedout, “conditions for thegrantof bailoughtnot tobe so strict as tobe incapableof compliance”. It flows fromthe spirit of theapex court’s rulings, therefore, that bail shouldnotbemade toappear as anact of char-ity, as in theZargarcase—because it emanates fromconstitutionalprinciples.

ROOTS MUSICBarcelonareopens theoperawithplants foranaudience.Their

critical reviewof theperformance isawaited

MUSIC, THE PYTHAGOREAN school felt, has universal resonance. Ithasbeenclaimedthatit improvestheyieldofmilchcows,andthatsinging to indoorplants is therapeutic, both for the singer and thelistener. And Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird’s controversialbook, The Secret Life of Plants, became a publishing phenomenon

because it suggestedthathumansandplantscouldcommunicate.Now, inSpain,oneofthe nations hit hard by the pandemic, Barcelona’s Liceu opera has reopened after thelockdownwith a botanical performance. Therewas a potted plant in every seat in theotherwise emptyhall. Theywerenodoubt enrichedby themusic,which reachedpartsthat impersonal industrial fertilisers cannot.Theperformanceacknowledgedarealitythatwasvisibleduringthelockdown—thera-

piditywithwhichnaturereclaimeditsownwhenhumanfootfallsbecamesparse.Thehu-mandomainwhichcivilisationpolicessoself-importantly is fragile,andisbreachedbythewildthemomentthehumanracefalters.Inthecollectiveunconscious,wehavealwaysbeenawareofthis,fromtheerawhensacredgrovesdottedtheworld,anditisfrequentlyreferencedinpopularculture,whetherinthechapterofTheJungleBooktitled“LettingintheJungle”,orinJethroTull’sJackintheGreen.ButitiscarefullyignoredineverydaylifeintheAnthropocene,inwhichthemythof theworld-shaping,omnipotentandsapientspeciesisgivenfreerein.It isnotimmediatelyknownif thepottedplantsinBarcelonaappreciatedtherender-

ingofPuccini’s“Chrysanthemum”,whichwaschosentogowiththethemeof theshow.But really, would it not have beenmore impressive if the concert had been played in asacredgrovedeepinaforest?Becausethepottedplantspellscontainmentandbreeding,and is theveryantithesisof thewild.

Coomi Kapoor

Ruleralone isnotaccountable, everyonewhosuccumbstoauthority isno lessguilty

ing the Emergency, “When asked to bend itchosetocrawl’’wasnotuntrue.True,censor-ship lawswere in force,butwheretherewasawilltherewasaway.TheIndianExpresswasone of the rare exceptionswhich defied thecensorsfrequently, especiallyafterelectionswere called in January 1977. The Expressfounder, Ramnath Goenka, knew that hewouldhaveto forfeithisnewspaperchain incaseMrsGandhireturnedtopower,buthere-fusedtobend.MrsGandhiimposedtheEmergencywith

a sledgehammer. But dictatorships can alsocreepinslowly,silentlyandinsidiously,with-outanyformalannouncement.Historyshowsus that the ruler alone is not accountable.Everyonewhosuccumbstoauthorityisnolessguilty.TheoftrepeatedquestionastowhetheranEmergencycouldoccurinIndiaagainispar-ticularly relevant in 2020. Adangerous pan-demichasweakened the institutions taskedwithupholding theConstitution. TheCOVIDcrisiscanalsoprovideascreentokeeprealityfromthepublicgazeandassistrulers inarm-ingthemselveswithmorepowers.Because of the pandemic, justice has

been delayed or diverted in some com-pellinghuman rights matters. A telling ex-ample is thehabeascorpuspetitionfiledbythe wife of the 82-year-old leader inKashmir,SaifuddinSoz.TheSupremeCourthas put off thehearing till July. Sozwasde-tained inAugust last year alongwithmanyothersinKashmirwhenArticle370wasnul-lified. He has yet to be informedof the rea-sons forhis imprisonment.While the courts are constrained from

taking prompt action because of the pan-demic, the Delhi Police, on the other hand,was hyper active during the lockdown, ar-resting protesters against the Citizenship(Amendment)Act(CAA).Mostof theallegedtrouble-makers are students andMuslims.Theywerechargedwith“unlawfulactivities’’during the riots in North East Delhi in lateFebruary.Thearrestsareveryobviouslyen-tirely one-sided. Even thosewhose inflam-matoryspeechesandactionsareamatterofrecord,suchaslocalBJPleaderKapilMishra,werenotbooked.WhenanarrestedstudentrecentlyapproachedaDelhilowercourt,thecourtstatedthatbecauseof thepandemicit

was not in a position to ascertainwhetherdue process of lawwas being followed. InMarch,theSupremeCourtrejectedtheantic-ipatory bail pleas of journalist GautamNavlakha and professor Anand Teltumbde,bothrespectedcivil rightsactivists, accusedof involvement in the BhimaKoregaon vio-lence of 2018. The two have been detainedunder the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)ActasamendedinJuly2019.Itisalawmeantfor terroristswhichmakessecuringbaildif-ficult.Itisthegovernment’sdiscretionwhomto designate a terrorist, a throwback to theEmergency-eraMISA.The pandemic has delayed the next ses-

sionofParliamentandthereisnoindicationastowhen the Lok Sabhawill convene and inwhatform.Willmeaningfuldebatesonissues,such as handling of the pandemic or theChinese intrusions, be possible?Orwill theHousemeetmerelytorubberstamp govern-ment decisions, the social distancing normsprovidingahandypretexttokeepthesessionbrief andbusiness-like?AnotherCOVIDvictimisthefourthestate.

Anunfoundedapprehensionthatnewspaperscansomehowbecarriersofthevirushasledtoasteepfall inprintcirculations.Severalgatedcommunities andapartment buildingshavefuelled ill-informedparanoia. The economicconsequencesaredevastatingfortheprintme-dia,oneofthefewcrediblesourcesofnewsinanagewheresocialmediaisfloodedwithfakenews andpropaganda. Venerable languagepublicationshave shut shop,manynewspa-persgroupshaveruthlesslycutdownonout-stationeditionsandstaff.Afinanciallydebilitatedmediawillstrug-

gle for survival after the pandemic. Anotherdisturbing trendof late is for FIRs to be filedon frivolous charges against journalistswhoask inconvenientquestions to stateandcen-tral governments. Over-zealous BJP bhakts,who instigate the police to slap such cases,seemtobefollowinginthefootstepsofSanjayGandhi’s storm troopers during theEmergency.Afreemedia,oneshouldremem-ber, is thetouchstoneofademocracy.

Thewriter isconsultingeditor,TheIndianExpressandauthorofTheEmergency:A

PersonalHistory

A dangerous pandemic hasweakened the institutionstasked with upholding theConstitution. The COVIDcrisis can also provide ascreen to keep reality fromthe public gaze and assistrulers in arming themselveswith more powers. Becauseof the pandemic, justice hasbeen delayed or diverted insome compelling humanrights matters. A tellingexample is the habeas corpuspetition filed by the wife ofthe 82-year-old leader inKashmir, Saifuddin Soz. TheSupreme Court has put offthe hearing till July. Soz wasdetained in August last yearalong with many others inKashmir when Article 370was nullified. He has yet tobe informed of the reasonsfor his imprisonment.

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,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

WORDLYWISEWithoutmusic, lifewouldbeamistake.

— FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHETHEEDITORIALPAGE

Rajni Bakshi

THE RIGHT TO DIFFERArewewilling toplacebasicmoralnormsaboveourpoliticalpreferences?

ON JUNE 3, therewas a nationwide protestagainst thearrestof thosewhoparticipatedin theanti-CAAagitationorhaveotherwiseraised their voice in dissent. While theCitizenship Amendment Act and NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC) are vital issuesthere is adeeperquestionat stakehere.Areenough Indianswilling toplacebasicmoralnormsabovetheirpoliticalpreferences?Forexample, it shouldbepossible for someonewhoisinfavourofCAAtoalsoopposethear-restof protesters.In a healthy polity, there would be no

needtostatethis—itwouldbeatruism.Buttoday, almost the entire political spectrumjudgesapersonnotbytheiradherencetoba-sic norms but by the “side” onwhich theystandregardinganyspecificissue.Therefore,arrestsofanti-CAAprotestersareamomentof reckoning forall of us.Makingexcusesforthosewhoareon“our

side”ofapoliticalpositionisanoldproblem.Itafflictspeopleacrossthespectrum—from“left” to “right”, thoughtheremaybediffer-ences in tonality. This partly explains whythere is no public clamour for the criminalprosecutionof thosewhoopenlyadvocatedviolence against those opposing the CAA.Manywhowant the CAA, but not violence,may have kept quiet lest they help the“other”side.Similarly,therewasatimewhenmany who were appalled by murders of“class enemies” made excuses for theNaxalitemovementbecausetheysupported

its struggle for justice.Howcanthisperennialstrugglebetween

meansandendsshapeourresponsestoday?Those who are opposed to the CAA face arather complicated challenge. Opponents oftheCAAcorrectlysaythattheletterandspiritofIndia’sConstitutionareendangeredbythislaw.ButthisdoesnotmeanthatallthosewhowanttheCAAarenecessarilyindifferenttothecivil libertiesguaranteedbytheConstitution.Yes,amongthosewhosoughttosuppresstheanti-CAAprotests,many openly donot careforhumanrights.Butcouldtheybeinspiredtocare for human rights?Might this becomepossible if their social andpolitical insecuri-tiesweretobeempathicallyaddressed?Ihaveseenthishappeninbilateralconver-

sations. For it tobedoneat a larger level, thehuman rights and civil libertiesmovementwouldhavetomakeroomforpeoplewho,inmany respects,might be deemed to be “po-liticallyincorrect”.Peoplewithwhomwedis-agreeonaspecificissuemightwellbecapableof speaking truth to power and standingshoulder-to-shouldertoasserttherighttodis-sent.Butthisispossibleifwedon’ttreateachotheras“politicaluntouchables”.Themoment of reckoning for thosewho

are pro-CAA is relatively straight forward.SupposeyouareconvincedthattheCAAisim-portanttosecurethefuturestabilityandsafetyofHindusinIndia.Youmayevenhavecheeredthe arrest of anti-CAAprotesters. But surely,at the back of yourmind, there is a niggling

doubt.Oncesuppressionofprotestisvalidatedtomorrow, on some other issue, it could beyouoryourlovedoneswhoarearrestedsim-plyforupholdingtheConstitution.Equallycrucial is thewayinwhichfami-

lieshavebeensharplydivided—withsomemembers, mainly young people, passion-atelycreatingposterstoholdupatanti-CAArallies,whiletheirsiblingsorparentsorotherrelatives condemn and lambast them. Aslong as all sides of the dispute are free andstill together as a family, an ongoing ex-change, a shifting of perspectives, is possi-ble.Whenthoseyoungenthusiasticprotest-ers are behind bars, uncountable creativepossibilitiesareeliminated.Youmaysaythatallof theaboveisapipe

dream,thatpoliticallifeiscontrolledbypow-erfulforceswhoneverputmeansaboveendsandthusindividuals,familiesandgroupsareboundtobesweptaway.Thiswouldbetan-tamount to saying that theparents, siblingsandfriendsofanyof theprotestersnowlan-guishing in prison, should just sit back andaccept their fate.Howmanypeople find this unthinkable

andunacceptable because it is anti-life, notjustanti-democratic?Thiswilldecidethefu-tureofoursocialfabric—thatwhichisdeeperand longer lastingthananypartisanpoliticalagendaoranyparticular law.

RajniBakshi isauthorofBapuKuti: JourneysinRediscoveryofGandhi

People with whom wedisagree on a specific issuemight well be capable ofspeaking truth to power andstanding shoulder-to-shoulder to assert the rightto dissent. But this can onlybe possible if we don’t treateach other as ‘politicaluntouchables’.

V V GIRI DEADFORMER PRESIDENT V V Giri died at hishouse in T Nagar inMadras. His eldest sonShankarGiriandhisgrandsonsGirinathandAmarnathwere at the bedside. The formerpresident is survived by his four sons andsevendaughters.Hewillbegivenastate fu-neral with full military honours. ChiefMinisterMGRamachandranandhis seniorcabinet colleagues, in Delhi for SanjayGandhi’sfuneral,areexpectedtobebackforthe former president’s last rites. PresidentSanjeeva Reddywill be represented by hismilitary secretary. The Union cabinet willmeet tomorrowtocondole thedeathof theformerpresident.

ASSAM CLASHESSECURITY ARRANGEMENTS HAVE beentightened and troops have been asked tostage flagmarches in the trouble prone ar-eas of Assamwhere the overall situationcontinues to be tense, according to KRamamurthy, advisor to the governor. Hesaidthatfivepersonswereseriously injuredinclashesbetweentwogroupsatRaidangavillage in the Nowgong district. The causeof the clash could not be ascertained. In arelated development the All AssamStudentsUnionreiterateditswillingnesstoresumedialogueontheforeigners issuebutsaid itwastheresponsibilityof thegovern-ment, andnot the studentbody, to createa

congenial atmosphere.

PEACE WITH CHINAA TOP CHINESE Communist Party func-tionaryisconfidentthattheborderissuebe-tween India and China could be solved in aspirit “of give and take”.Wang Ping Nan, acabinetminister,toldUNI“thereisnoobsta-cle between us in developing friendly rela-tions”.Wang,whoisalsothepresidentoftheAssociation of Chinese Peoples’ FriendshipWithOther Countries, congratulated IndiraGandhionherreturntopower.HesaidsinceMrsGandhi had returned topower, “we at-tachthegreatestimportancetoherspeecheson foreignrelations”.

JUNE 25, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

MOSTCOMMEMORATETHEEmergency onJune26asareminderof thebleak21monthswhendemocracywasderailed. Actually, theEmergency came into effect on June 25 at11.45pmwhenthenPresident,FakhruddinAliAhmed,signedtheproclamation,eventhoughhewas alertedbyhis secretary that itwouldbe constitutionally untenable. Thepresidentis expected to act only on the advice of thecouncil ofministers. IndiraGandhi’s cabinetmetthenextdayat6amasaformality.President Ahmedwas the first in a chain

ofconstitutionalauthoritiesandautonomousinstitutions in our democracy that caved in,betrayingtheiroathofofficeandabandoningprofessional integrity.While holdingMrsGandhi, Sanjay andhis henchmenguilty fortheEmergency,wegenerallyforgettoappor-tion blame to the others who succumbedwhenpushcametoshove.MrsGandhi’scab-inet fell in line without a murmur. InParliament,theentireCongressparty,barringtwoexpelleddissidents,meeklyraisedhandstoapprove,notjusttheEmergencyproclama-tion, but several illegal laws. Mrs Gandhidemonstrated her contempt for ParliamentbydoingawaywithQuestionHourandCallingAttentionMotions,declaringthathenceforthonly importantgovernmentbusinesswouldbetransacted.The recordof the courts, amajor pillar of

anydemocracy,wasnotquiteasdismal.Ninehigh courts had the courage to strike downthe draconian Maintenance of InternalSecurity Act (MISA), as being ultra vires theConstitution. (Thousandsweredetainedun-derMISA during the Emergency). Most ofthese brave judgeswere later penalised. Butwhenthehabeascorpuswritcameinappealto the Supreme Court (ADM Jabalpur vs SShukla) thesenior-mostjudgesofthelandletdown the country. Of the five-judge bench,fourupheldtheAttorneyGeneral’sargumentthatapersonhasnolegalrights,noteventobeproducedbefore thecourt orbe informedofthe reasons for his detention, as long as anEmergencyisinforce.Theblemishedfourin-cluded twowho projected themselves aschampionsofhumanrightsandcivilliberties.Thesoledissenter, JusticeHRKhanna, threwawayhischancetobethenextchief justice.LKAdvani’sfamousjibeatthemediadur-

1975 lesson for 2020

Jaipur

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY"The consequence is that the country’s exit from lockdown in July will be abigger gamble than it may have been at a later stage."

— THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGEWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

It would seem that fromJawaharlal Nehru’s naïvehopes, encapsulated in the‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’mantra, to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s prolongedcourtship of Xi Jinping,India has been groping in thedark, while grosslymisreading China’s realintent. As we watch Beijing’ssinister border strategyunfold, the absence of amatching counter on India’spart becomes painfullyobvious.

How to play against China When democracywas shackled

AMERICANNOVELISTDavidFosterWallacebegan his commencement speech at theKenyon College of liberal arts in Gambier,Ohio,with an instructive story. Twoyoungfishwereswimmingalongandbumpedintoan older fish swimming the other way.“Morning,boys!How’sthewater?”,askstheolder fish. The two young fish continue toswimon,andeventually,oneof themasks,“Whatthehell iswater?”Reality, formany, becomes so obvious

sometimes that they fail to appreciate itsvalue.Peopleinmanydemocraciesbehavelike thoseyoung fish today. Theydon’t re-alise thatwithall itsdefects, democracy isthebestavailable formof government.Democracy,aHerodotus-erainstitution

ofthe“ruleofthepeople”,tookwingonlyinthe last sevendecades. Therewere137au-tocracies and just 12democracies in 1945.Bolstered by the victory of the democraticAllied forces, more andmore countriesturned democratic. By 2001, this numbergrewto88andequalledautocracies.Today,theworldhasmorethanahundreddemo-craticcountrieswhile80areautocracies.Butdemocraciesareindecline.Inthelast

twodecades,moreandmorecountrieshavebecome less and less democratic. TheEconomist recently reported that only 22countries can be called true democracies,while another 53 countries can, at best, bedescribedasflaweddemocracies.Morethanhalf of the countries in theworldareeithersemi-autocraciesordownrightdictatorships.Liberaldemocraciesare facingmultiple

challenges. This pandemic has becomeanexcuseforsomeleaderstousurpmorepow-ersandbecomemoreauthoritarian.Theriseofthefarleftandleft-liberalanarchistforces,wantingtodestroymankind’svaluablepos-sessionof democracy, is alsodiscernible inmany countries. Post-modernist scholarsare trying to dubdemocracies pejorativelyaspopulist.Theyarguethatdemocraciesareposing a “danger” to “our freedom”. Theyseektopitpeopleagainstdemocracy.It isnobody’scasethatdemocraciesare

perfect. There is no single definition ofdemocracy that is universally acceptable.There are “illiberal democracies” as FareedZakariapointedoutand“liberalun-democ-racies”asYaschaMounkwrote.Butthealter-native to democracy, historically, has onlybeenauthoritariandictatorships.Whenso-cieties fail toappreciatethevalueofdemo-craticprinciples,eitherdictatorsarecreatedor anarchy reigns. It also happened, albeitjust for lessthantwoyears, in India.Forty-fiveyearsago,onthisday,June25,

1975, India’s democracywas shackled byPrimeMinisterIndiraGandhi.Citing“inter-nal disturbance” and “imminentdanger tothesecurityof India”asthereasons,shein-vokedArticle 352 of the Constitution anddeclaredastateof internalemergency.The

countrywaspushedintoadictatorshipthatlasted for 21months. Fundamental rightsweresuspended.Over1.4lakhpeopleweredetained, including oppositionparty lead-ers. Themediawas gagged, and even thehigher judiciary became a pliant hand-maidenof IndiraGandhi. The entire coun-trywasconvertedintoaprisonoffear.IndiraGandhi’sloyalistattorneygeneral,NirenDe,hadominouslytoldtheSupremeCourtthattheEmergencygavepowerstothegovern-menteventotakeawaythelifeofacitizen—and yet not be answerable to anybody.Citizens’ livesandlimbswereunderthreat.Asmonths passed by, the Stockholm

Syndromeset it.Manyeminent journalistsandwritersweresingingpaeanstothegov-ernment. “When asked to bend, theycrawled,” LKAdvani,who spent the entiredurationoftheEmergencyinjailalongwithcolleaguessuchasAtalBihariVajpayee,com-mentedwryly:Hitlerian fascismwas rein-carnatedinIndira’sEmergency.Hitler, after getting elected to the

Reichstag — the Lower House of theWeimarRepublic—in1933,hadmadehisNational Socialist Party redundant. Seniorparty leadersweremade inconsequentialin Hitler’s Third Reich. Sycophants andcourtiersreplacedthem.JosephGoebbels,the propaganda chief, became themostpowerfulleaderduetohisproximitytotheFuhrer.AsystematiccampaignagainstJewswasunleashed,culminatingintheirgeno-cide towards theendof theReich.SomethingsimilarhadhappenedinIndia

during those years. Vidya Charan Shukla,minister for informationandbroadcasting,became thenewGoebbels. SanjayGandhiemergedasthesuperprimeministerwithacoterie of officials running the show.A sys-tematic Islamophobic campaignwas un-leashedbythiscoterie.Sanjayandhiscoteriebecame infamous for their forced sterilisa-tion programmes. Corruption and syco-phancyhadreachedunforeseenheights.DevKantBarooah,presidentoftheCongressdur-ing those years, had acquired sycophanticnotoriety by coining the slogan “Indira isIndiaand India is Indira”, somethingonthelinesof themandatory“HeilHitler”salute.If India’smillennials take to the streets

todaywithanarchistslogans,thatisbecausethey are like those young fish in thewater,whohaveneverseenthedarksideof adic-tatorship.ThankstothevaliantfightagainstthedraconianEmergencybytheforcesthatareinpowertoday,thecountryhasenjoyedliberal democracy for four-and-a-halfdecades.Wedid not have autocrats partlybecauseoftheGulliverisationofourpoliticsformanyyears,wheresmallerpartieswouldpullthestringsofpower.Whenastablema-jorityreturnedafterthreedecades,thecoun-trywasinthehandsofthosewhowerevic-tims of the Emergency regime’s excessesandfoughtfordemocracy.The “freedom” that the anarchists and

theirleft-liberalcohortsenjoyinthecoun-try’smediaandpubliclifetodayisbecausewe have leaders in the governmentwhofoughtforthatveryfreedomandarecom-mittedtoliberaldemocraticvalues,notjustasamatterof compulsionbutasanarticleof faith.

Thewriter isnationalgeneral secretary,BJP,anddirector, IndiaFoundation

Indiawillneedtobringorderandalacrity tocrisismanagement.Andflexibilityandpragmatismto its strategic response

THE SUDDENAND tragic loss of 20 Indianarmypersonnelinatreacherousambushbythe People’s Liberation Army (PLA) inLadakh’s Galwan Valley has caused deeppublicanguishandanger,mollified,onlypar-tially, by the swift retributionvisitedon theassailantsbyourgallant jawans.Equallyex-asperating for thepublichasbeen thecava-lier inconsistency of statements emanatingfromgovernmentsourcesinNewDelhionamatter of grave national importance; espe-cially, since the contradictions have givencomfort to theadversaryandcausedconfu-sionathome.GiventhattheSino-Indianterritorialdis-

putehasbeenfesteringsincethelate1950s,it isdifficult toavoidtheconclusionthat thecurrentlackofclarityamongstourdecision-makers is rootedin incomprehensionof thelong-termstrategicaimsandobjectivesthatunderpinChina’sbelligerentconduct.Thisishardly a surprise, considering thatwehavefailed to devote adequate intellectual capi-tal, intelligenceresourcesandpoliticalatten-tiontoacquisitionofaclearinsightintoChinaanditsmotivations.Evenwhenintelligenceisavailable,analysisanddisseminationhavefallenshort.Consequently, it would seem that from

Jawaharlal Nehru’s naïve hopes, encapsu-latedinthe“Hindi-Chinibhai-bhai”mantra,to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pro-longedcourtshipofXiJinping,Indiahasbeengropinginthedark,whilegrosslymisreadingChina’srealintent.AswewatchBeijing’ssin-ister border strategy unfold, the absence ofamatchingcounteronIndia’spartbecomespainfullyobvious.Indians,asdevoteesofchessor“shatranj”,

have been thinking in terms of strikingblows, fighting pitched battles and finally,checkmating the opponent. A similarChineseboardgame,“weiqui”, isdescribed,thus, by Henry Kissinger: “If chess is aboutdecisivebattle,weiqui isaboutaprotractedcampaignand‘strategicencirclement’whereopponentsseektooccupyemptyspacesandthensurroundandcaptureopposingpieces.Whilechessencouragessingle-mindedness,wei-qui generates guile and strategic flexi-bility.”Since1995, Chinahasbeen issuingade-

fencewhitepaper(DWP)everytwoyearsorso. These thematic public documents artic-ulate China’s national security aims, objec-tivesandvital interestsandalsoaddress the“ends-ways-means” issues related to itsarmedforces.The11DWPs issuedso farareamodel of clarity and vision, and providemany clues to current developments. It is ameasure of our complacency and indiffer-encetowardsnationalsecuritythatnoIndiangovernment since Independence hasdeemeditnecessarytoissueadefencewhitepaper, order a defence review or publish anational security strategy. Hadwe done so,itmayhavepreparedus for theunexpectedandbroughtorderandalacrity toourcrisis-response.

Historically, China is heir to an ancientsystem, based not on sovereign equality ofstates,butonthedivineandboundlessreachandauthorityof theChineseEmperor.Evenin the current discourse there are enoughpointers to show that an ascendant Chinaseesitselfontracktorealisingits“strongna-tion dream”, of becoming theworld’s No 1powerbysurpassingandthenreplacingtheUS.Apartof the“Chinadream”is theestab-lishmentofa“unifiedglobalsystem”,orem-pire, termed tianxia (“all under heaven” inMandarin). Translating its enormous eco-nomic gains into coercivemilitary power,Chinaexpectsneighbouringnationstosub-mit to itshegemony.InordertoshowIndiaitsplace,Chinahad

administered ita “lesson” in1962,andmay,perhaps, be contemplating another one in2020, with the objective of preventing theriseof apeer competitor. ForChina, the lineofactualcontrolorLAC,representinganun-settledborder,providesstrategicleveragetokeep India on tenterhooks about its nextmovewhilerepeatedlyexposingthelatter’svulnerabilities.There is probably no other instance

world-widewhere twoantagonistic neigh-bourshave left sucha longborder, undeter-mined, unmarked and unresolved for solong.Ourdiplomatsderiveconsiderablesat-isfaction from the 1993 Border Peace &TranquilityAgreement,which, according toformer foreign secretary, ShivshankarMenon, “…effectively delinked settlementoftheboundaryfromtherestof therelation-ship”.Buttoalayman,itappearsthatbyfail-ingtouseavailableleveragefor27years,andnot insisting on bilateral exchange of LACmaps,wehavecreatedatickingtime-bomb,withthetriggerinChina’shands.While“dis-engagement”maysoontakeplacebetweentroops incontact, it ismostunlikelythat thePLAwillpullbackorvacateanyoccupiedpo-sitioninLadakhorelsewhere;inwhichcase,

India needs to consider a three-prongedstrategy.At the ground-level, we need to visibly

reinforceourpositions,andmoveforwardtotheLACallalong,enhancingtheoperational-tempoof the three services as ameasure ofdeterrence. Indian warships should showheightened presence at the Indian Oceanchoke-points. Cyber emergency responseteamscountry-wideshouldremainonhighalert.Whilebuilding-upstocksofweapons,ammunition and spares, the Ministry ofDefenceshouldseizethisopportunitytour-gently launch some long-term “atma-nirb-harta” schemes indefence-production.At the strategic level, the government

mustmoot a sustained process of engage-ment with China at the highest politico-diplomatic echelons. The negotiationsshouldseekmulti-dimensionalSino-Indianmodus-vivendi; encompassing the fullgamut of bilateral issues like trade, territo-rialdisputes,border-managementandsecu-rity. Simultaneously, at the grand-strategiclevel, Indiashould initiateadialogue for theformation of an “Indo-Pacific Concord forPeace and Tranquility”, inviting fourmem-bers of the Quad as well as Vietnam,Indonesia, PhilippinesandMalaysia.Finally, in1962,India’sParliamenthadex-

pressed,“thefirmresolveoftheIndianpeopletodriveouttheaggressorfromthesacredsoilof India”, a resolution interpretedasapledgefor the restorationof Aksai Chin. As anation,weneedtobepragmaticenoughtorealisethatneitherconquestnorre-conquestof territoryis possible in the 21st century. Parliamentshould, now, resolve to ask the government,“to establishwithutmost urgency, stable, vi-able and peaceful national boundaries, allaround,sothatIndiacanproceed,unhindered,withthevitaltasksofnation-buildingandso-cio-economicdevelopment”.

Thewriter isa retiredchiefofnaval staff

Arun Prakash

DRAGON'S BREACH

THIS REFERS TO the article, 'India,China, the red lines ‘, (IE, June 24).China'smove is deplorable as they arebreaching every bilateral treaty. Weshouldaimatresolving,notmanaging,thedispute.Unfortunately, ourpolicy-makersdonotappeartohavedrawnupa long-termplan to fix thematter.

NehaKhatri,Sonipat

WRONG CURETHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Thiscrisisisdifferent’(IE,June24).In2008,thefinan-cialcrisisinducedaneconomiccrisis,andthemethodstothefightthatcrisismightnotbehelpfultoday,whenwehavebeenfacinganeconomiccrisisforsometime,nowamplified by theCOVID-19 shock.Weneedtopushconsumption.Our fis-calandmonetarymeasuresareonlyin-flating asset prices and not addressingthe situation on the ground. Inequalityofwealth is alsoplaying amajor role inaggravatingthesituation.

PradeepKumar,Chandigarh

MUMBAI LESSONSTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Mumbaislowdown’ (IE, June 24). Kudos toMumbai’s local administration for ag-gressively tracing and testing the pri-mary contacts of COVID-infected per-sons. There isnosure-shot formula forsuccessinfightingthepandemic.So,all

the states need to work closely witheach other by putting political differ-encesasideandlearnfromeachother'sbest practices. Delhi needs to learn athingor twofromMumbai.

BalGovind,Noida

CHEAP WORDSTHISREFERSTOthereport,‘TotargetPMornot:CWCmeetshowsstrainswithin’(IE,June24).RahulGandhiwilldowelltolisten to someof his party leaderswhoadvisedhimnottouseabusivelanguageagainst the primeminister. Criticismshoulddifferentiatedifferencebetween“PM” as an institution and the incum-bentasanindividual.

YGChouksey,Pune

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

THEVIRUSHASbeenkeepinghumanity onitstoesforthelastfewmonths.Giventhesit-uation inmany other developed countries,wehaveshownmuchsuccess incontainingthewrathofthisdeadlysub-microscopicbe-ing.Evenso,theworldaroundusisnotwhatitusedtobe.Theuncertaintyduetothedis-ease constantly lurking aroundmay lead tofear, anxiety and emotional distress. One ofthemostvulnerablepopulationgroupsisourstudents, especially school students.Children today are quite vulnerable to

mental and emotional stress. This may bedue tomany factors such as small nuclearfamilies, lack of siblings inmany cases, re-stricted community space, sedentarylifestyle, unhealthydietaryhabits, thepres-suretobecomeaggressivelycompetitiveandexhibitprecocity,parentalattentiondeficits,bullying, exposure to violent images and soforth.We need to organise our school spaces

in such a way that these issues are under-stoodwithdeepempathyandeverychild’scapacity to learn is appreciated and nur-tured. It is important thateverychild is en-abled togrow intoa self-reliant individual.Yet, mutual interdependence toomust beemphatically nurtured. School spaces areto be all-inclusive. Each pupil should feelequally includedirrespectiveof gender, so-cio-economic class, ethnicity, home-lan-guage, disability, parental education, etc.Diversitymust be celebratedandusedas a

site for children’s engagement with thewiderworld.Collaborative learningandex-plorationaretobeencouragedandtheideaofmutuallyexclusivecompetitionmustbeactively discarded. Excellence need not besynonymouswithbeing thebest, as “best”connotes the exclusion of others. Ourschools, and parents too, must work to-wards achieving a fine balance betweenself-reliance and interdependence for thechildren.As a part of the curriculum, children

shouldbesensitivelyexposedtoavarietyofaesthetic experiences — listening tomusicand appreciating other art forms. Theyshouldbehelpedtodevelopanaffinitywithnatureandtoappreciate itsmyriadandlay-eredmanifestations.Reading is another in-dispensableactivity.Therelativesolitudeofreading enables children to traversemulti-pleworldsandgainaccesstoavarietyofhu-man experiences across time and space.Without a doubt, it nurtures imaginationandcreativity.Yogaandsportsareanessen-tial part of the school curriculum. Theseshouldbegivenarenewedfocusastheyplaya crucial role in physical, mental and emo-tional well-being. Yoga plays a distinctiverole in spiritual rejuvenation, the unleash-ing of latent energies and their positivechannelisation. All the above-mentionedpursuitsnurtureessential traits—persever-ance, resilience, equanimity ofmind, quickdecision-making, team spirit, ability to ac-

cept failures.Tosupplementthesecurricularactivities,

wemust have remedialmeasures in place.Counselling,foremostamongthese,mustbetreated as an important part of school life.Counselling is essential to discern signs ofdepression and isolation at an early stage.Remedialmeasurescanthenbetakentore-store the child’smental health. Counsellingforadolescenceissuesandforcareers isalsonecessary.Weall realise that theuseof technology

ineducationhasgainedmore tractionandsalience during the pandemic. There is nodoubt that education technology and dig-ital resourceshavebeenput tovigoroususeto keep the teaching-learning process on.Somemay be led to believe that technol-ogy can even replace brick-and-mortarclassrooms. But that does not seem to bethecase. Thestressamongstudents learn-ing in virtual mode during the pandemichas been a matter of concern. Such stressmay also partly be due to the overallchanged circumstances causedby thedis-ease.But shiftingcompletely to thevirtuallearninghas also curtailed someof the es-sential featuresof awholesomepedagogy,andseemstohavecontributedtothestressamongchildren.Sooneror later, thecollec-tivehumanwill tosurviveshallprevail andthe pestilence will be defeated. Then, wewill shift to ablendedmodeof learning, inwhich actual classroom and technology

willwork in tandem.Wemust take this opportunity to un-

derstand that technology isagreatenablerbut it is not an alternative for the whole-some ecosystem called school. During thepandemic, theuse of technology in educa-tion has been put to test on an unprece-dentedscale.Weneedtodrawlessonsfromthisperiodandshapetheevolutionof edu-cational technology in a manner that it isorganicallyadaptivetooureducationalphi-losophyof collaborative and child-centredlearning.Ourpolicydocumentsarequiteeloquent

onalltheissuesdiscussedabove.Yet,groundrealitiesarefar less inspiring. Ifwewantho-listic development of our children, ifweas-pire tohavea capable and robust future cit-izenry, then all stakeholders will have toworkwithrenewedvigourandinunisonto-wardsthesegoals.Wemustalsounderstandthat thepandemic or other such crisesmaynot follow a fixed pattern.We can’t fathomthe uncertainties of the future. Hence, ourchildrenshouldbepsycho-emotionallynur-turedtoshowresilienceandadaptability.Wecanachieveatrulysustainableandcohesivesocietyonlyifourchildrencangrowintofra-ternalcommunitiesofself-reliantandhappyindividuals.

Thewriter isMinisterof State forHumanResourceDevelopment,CommunicationsandElectronics& IT,Governmentof India

Theschoolmustenablechildrentoberesilientandadaptableinuncertaintimes

A nurturing placeSanjayDhotre

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

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RAJKUMARBHATIA

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ANDASHISHGOEL

www.indianexpress.com

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CR Sasikumar

Thosewhohavenotseenthedarksideofdictatorship,or foughtagainst it, don't trulyappreciate thevalueof freedomstoday

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EXPRESSNETWORK8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

IYf¹ffÊ»f¹f ³f¦fSX d½fIYfÀf ´fi³¹ffÀf, CXQ¹f´fbSX (SXfªf.)No.:F-2(01)Acct/Contract/2020/71-73 Date: 24-06-2020

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771.71 II

Gujarat Rural Industries Marketing Corporation Ltd.(A Government of Gujarat undertaking)

Block No.17, 5th Floor,Udyog Bhavan,Sector -11,Gandhinagar - 382011, Tele No.079-232-27243,232 23763

E-mail :grimco_1979@yahoo.com

Gujarat Rural Industries Marketing Corporation Ltd. Invites the OnlineE-Tender for Semi Automatic Solar Loom (without Read and Heald) withPadle and Solar Kit (Approx. Qty. 120 Nos.) Corporation/ Company/Firm/NGO/Proprietor and Solar Charkha (Approx. Qty. 440 Nos.) OnlyKVICapprovalmanufacturer/NGO/firm/Proprietorasper theDemandgivenby Gujarat Khadi Gramodhyog Board under Annual Rate Contract.

AllPhysical tenderdocumentscanbedownloadedfree fromwebsitewww.nprocure.com & www.grimco.nprocure.com. All Onlinesubmitted documents must be submitted physically also.

Managing Director

Description Tender Duration

Online Submission of Financial bidand allTechnical documents.

On 24.06.2020 to 14.07.2020up to 18:00hrs.

Pre – Bid Meeting On 06-07-2020,12:00 hrs.

ONLINETENDER NOTICE : Project/SolarLoom/01/2020-21and Project/SolarCharkha/02/2020-21

N M D C Limited(A Government of India Enterprise)

BAILADILLA IRON ORE MINE, KIRANDUL COMPLEXDist - Dantewada , State - Chattisgarh, Pin- 494 556BIOM/KDL/PER/ADMN/NIT-HI TECH AMBULANCE/2020/Date: 23.06.2020

Sealed tenders are invited in two part bid system for hiring of Two (02) nos. ofAdvanced Cardiac Life Support Ambulance with drivers on 24 hours duty forperforming out-station and local duty for Project Hospital at Bailadilla Iron OreMine, Kirandul Complex, Dist - South Bastar Dantewada, State- Chhattisgarh.Initially for a period of two years. The Management of BIOM reserve the rightto extend the contract for further one more year based on satisfactory perform-ance and same terms and conditions thereafter.

Tender documents can be obtained from Dy. General Manager (Per) onpayment of Rs.5900/- (Rupees Five thousand and nine hundred only) by DD(Non refundable) drawn in favour of Dy. General. Manager (Fin), NMDC Ltd,BIOM, Kirandul Complex, payable at SBI, Kirandul on any working dayduring office hours from 25.06.2020 to 21.07.2020. The tender documents canalso be downloaded from NMDC website ie. www.nmdc.co.in.The last date oftender acceptance is 03.00 PM on 23.07.2020. Corrigendum and Addenda ifany will be posted on our NMDC website only. The prospective bidder shouldvisit our NMDC website from time to time note the Corrigendum and Addendaif any. Dy. General Manager (Per)

Name of thework

Hiring of two(C2)nos. of AdvancedCardiac LifeSupportAmbu1ance withdrivers on 24hours duty

Estimated cost( Two years)

Rs.61.00 Lakhs( Inclusive of

GST)

EMD

Rs.30,500/-per vehicle

Period

2 years(extendablefor further

period of onemore yearbased on

satisfactoryperformance)

Cost of TenderDocument

Rs.5,900/-( including

GST@ 18% )

(Non-refundable)

NOTICE INVITING TENDER

UTKALMANI GOPABANDHU INSTITUTE OFENGINEERING, ROURKELA -769004

Tele FAX: +91661- 2401130, Website:www.ugierkl.ac.in,Email: ugie_principal@rediffmail.com

TENDER CALL NOTICEBIDReferenceNo. 626 / UGIERKL, Dt. 22.06.2020Sealed Tenders are invited from reputed Manufacturers/Authorised Dealers/Distributors/Suppliers forsupply and installation of Machines/Equipments fordifferent Departments and Software to UtkalmaniGopabandhu Institute of Engineering, At:- Jail Road,Rourkela, Odisha. Complete BID document c ontainingthe details of items with specification, terms & condition,cost of tender paper (Rs 500/-) & EMD details can bedownloaded from the Institute’s website-www.ugierkl.ac.in with effect from 24.06.2020. Thecomplete BID can be submitted at the office during theoffice hours in person or by speed post/Regd. Post. Thelast date of receipt of sealed BID at this office is09.07.2020 up to 5PM & the same will be opened on10.07.2020 at 11AM. The Authority reserves the right toaccept or reject any or all the BIDS without assigningany reason thereof. Sd/- Principal,

Utkalmani Gopabandhu Institute ofEngineering,Rourkela - 769004

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE24

THE SHRI Amarnathji Shrine Board(SASB), which conducts the annualAmarnath Yatra, has approachedDoordarshan for live telecast ofmorning and evening pooja on DDNational during the pilgrimage,which is likely tostartnextmonth.Aspertheproposal, therewould

be live telecastof thepooja forhalf-an-hour each in mornings andeveningsonDDNational,anditmaybe telecast on DD Kashmir duringtheYatraperiod,GDTahir,headpro-gramming, Doordarshan Kendra,Srinagar, toldThe IndianExpress.“If it (telecast) takesplace, itwill

be a first ,” he said. “The final deci-sion has to be taken by the head-quarters.”Tahirsaid,“They[SASB]haveap-

proached Doordarshan to explorethepossibilityofconductingthelivetelecast.... It is at theplanning stage.Earlierweranrecordedprogrammesduring the Yatra. This time they areplanninglivetelecastbecauseyatris(pilgrims) are not allowed in bulk(numbers) due to the coronaviruspandemic.”The proposal comes at a time

whendiscussionsareonforashorter

versionof theYatra this year in viewof the pandemic.While officials areyettoannouncethedates,sourcessaidithasunofficiallybeeninformedthatitislikelytostartonJuly21andendinthefirstweekofAugust.Theannualpilgrimagemaybecut

down to 15 days, and take only theshorterBaltalroute,sourcessaid.TheBaltal trek is 14 km from the basecampatBaltal, inGanderbal district,althoughmost pilgrims choose thePahalgam route, which is approxi-mately 30km fromChandanwari inAnantnagdistrict.In a statement, the administra-

tion informed that “all rituals withmorning and evening pooja/artishalltakeplacewitheffectfromJuly5 (Vyas Poornima) to August 3(RakshaBandhan),notwithstandingthedelayinaformalannouncementof thedates.Ganderbal's Deputy

CommissionerShafqatIqbaltoldTheIndian Express onWednesday thatwork to prepare the trek has beencompleted. “We have made thepreparations from our side andwearewaitingforfurtherinstructions,”hesaid.HealthDepartmentofficialsin Ganderbal said the departmenthas suggested that pilgrims below15yearsandabove60yearsshould-n’tbeallowedthis time.

DD approached for livetelecast of Amarnathpooja during Yatra

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT, JUNE24

ACONSTABLEattached to the SuratPolice has been suspended and ar-rested for allegedly assaulting awoman clerk andpushing an assis-tantmanager of a bank, reportedlyafter the latter refused to print thepassbookof theconstable'srelative.ConstableGhanshyamAhirfaced

action after a call from the office ofUnion Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman to Surat PoliceCommissioner RB Brahmbhatt, fol-lowing videos of the incident cap-turedonaCCTVcamera,taggingher,wentviral.TheNCWalsowrote to theDGP,

seeking strict action against thosefoundguilty. PolicesourcessaidtheincidenttookplaceonJune22,whenonlytwoemployeeswerepresentatthebankbranch inSaroli.Twopersons, including the con-

stable,enteredthepremisesandhada heated exchange with assistantmanagerHarshadTiwari. Tiwari,whoisalsothecomplainantinthecase, stated the constable usedabusive language and thrashedtheclerk.Punagam police inspector,

VUGadariasaid, “Weregistereda non-cognisable offence onMondayanddetainedAhir.Later,we added IPC sections to thecomplaint and arrested him onTuesdayevening.”

GUJARAT

Constable suspended, arrestedfor ‘assaulting bank clerk’

IRAMSIDDIQUEMUMBAI, JUNE24

REELINGFROMfinanciallosses,the Maharashtra State RoadTransportCorporation(MSRTC)onWednesdayannounceda50per cent cut in the salaries ofoveronelakhemployeesforthemonthofMay. Inacircular, thetransport undertaking statedthefinancialburdenonithasin-creasedowingtothelockdown,during which movement ofbuses was completely sus-pended.This is the first time the

MSRTChasfailedtopayitsem-ployees.The circular further elabo-

ratedthatstepswillbetakentoensure that employees getminimum25percentsalaryinhand. This has been done asmany employees have takenloans for cooperatives, whichget deducted from salaries. Incertaincases,theapplicationofthe50percentcutwouldhaveled to employees not gettinganymoneyatallaftertheirloandeductions.

MSRTCemployeesareyettoreceivetheirMaysalary,evenasthetransportundertakingfacesa cumulative loss of Rs 6,000crore.Unions have opposed the

decisiontodeductsalaries,ac-

cusingthemanagementofnotforeseeing the crises and notplanning for it.ShrirangBarge, general sec-

retary of Maharashtra STKarmachari Congress, said,“Those in the lower rungwith

salary of Rs 20,000permonthwill be severely affected. Themanagementshouldhavefore-seen the crises andheld a con-sultationwith relevantgovern-ment authorities. Over a lakhemployeesalongwiththeirfam-ilies depend on theMSRTC for

their livelihood.”Barge alleged that despite

incurring a loss of about Rs 22crore per day, theMSRTC de-pended entirely on Rs 1,600crore that the corporation re-ceived annually from the gov-ernment as part of the reim-bursement for payingemployees theirdues.With its passenger services

completelyshutsinceMarch23,itwas only onMay21 that theMSRTCenteredthe freightseg-ment and began transportinggoods in its trucks. In the threeweeks since, theMSRTCmadeaboutRs21lakhbytransporting3,000 tonnesof goods. It trans-portedgrains,fertilisers,vegeta-bles alongwith ironpipes andpaints fromacross 33divisionsin the state. The corporation ishopeful of increasing its earn-ingsthroughthetransportationsector.Soon after the pandemic

struck, the state governmenthad decided to pay salaries ofits employees in two tranchesfor the month of March.Subsequently, salaries havebeenpaidontimewithoutanycuts.

MAHARASHTRA

MSRTCannounces50%cut inMaysalary for over one lakh employees

Healthworkersscreenresidentsof aMumbaihousingsocietyonWednesday.AmitChakravarty

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KANPURINSTITUTE WORKS DEPARTMENT

CENTRAL OFFICENotice Inviting e-Tender - 05/C/D1/2020-21/01

The Superintending Engineer, IWD, IIT Kanpur invites on behalf of Board of Governors ofIIT Kanpur invites online percentage rate open bids on Engineering, Procurement andConstruction (EPC) Contract basis from eligible/ contractors of repute in two bid system(Eligibility cumTechnical bid&Financial Bid) for the followingwork:-

SL.No. Name of Work Estimated

CostEarnestMoney

Period ofCompletion

C/o of Hall of Residencefor BoysNo. 15, consisting3 Blocks of (Stilt + Five)storied & 4 Blocks of (Stilt+ Six) storied includingInternal &ExternalElectri cationWorks,Plumbing, Fire Fighting,FireAlarmSystem, Lifts,Water tanks, Landscape,Roads, etc.at IITKanpur (U.P.)

1. Rs. 57,22,76,030/- i/cCivil works :Rs. 46,23,12,903/-Electrical & Liftworks:10,99,63,12

Rs. 67,22,760/- 20 Months

Last date & time of submission of bid on 21.07.2020 up to 5.00 PM. All details are available onwebsite,http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app, www.tenderhome.com & www.iitk.ac.in/iwd/tenderhall.htm.The bids can only be submitted online at https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app. Any corrigendumregarding this tender will be published only on above mentioned websites.No. 1112 IWD/CO/2020-21/ Dated: 23.06.2020

Superintending EngineerPhone No. 0512-259-7725

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE24

THEENFORCEMENTDirectorateonWednesdaysearchednine lo-cations associatedwith formerEmaar MGF director ShravanGupta acrossDelhi-NCR in con-nectionwith theRs 3,600-croreAgustaWestlandscam.Sources said searcheswere

carriedoutinDelhi,GurgaonandNoida.Gupta and Emaar MGF—a

jointventurebetweenEmaarandMGF that has now separated—havebeenunder the lensof cen-tral agencies over its connectionwith allegedVVIP chopper dealmiddlemanGuidoHaschke. Thedefencebrokerhadbeenanonex-ecutivedirectorinthecompany.SourcessaidEDsearcheswere

basedonquestioningof accusedwhoprovidednew informationon Gupta’srole.In 2016, ED had questioned

Gupta in connection with thecase.EmaarIndiastated:“EmaarandMGF had partedways fewyears back and Mr ShravanGuptahasnoroleinEmaarIndiaand is also no longeron theBoard ...”

ED searchespremises linkedto former EmaarMGF director

VVIPCHOPPERCASE

Jaipur

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 4,56,183 (14,476 DEATHS)

1,39,010Maharashtra

64,603Tamil Nadu

15,627Rajasthan

12,261MP

18,893 UP

66,602 Delhi

28,371Gujarat

14,728West Bengal

11,520Haryana

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

10,002Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,June24.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.2,58,685PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN34STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 50ArunachalPradesh 148Assam 5831Bihar 8153Chandigarh 418Chhattisgarh 2362DadraandNagarHaveli 120Goa 909HimachalPradesh 775JammuandKashmir 6236Jharkhand 2185Karnataka 9721Kerala 3451Ladakh 932Manipur 921Meghalaya 46Mizoram 142Nagaland 330Odisha 5470Puducherry 402Punjab 4397Sikkim 79Telangana 9553Tripura 1259Uttarakhand 2535

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

456,183India

238,833Italy

212,501Iran

307,682United Kingdom

250,767Chile

246,752Spain

2,348,956US

1,145,906Brazil

260,810Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED:9,295,365 DEATHCOUNT:478,289Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonJune24. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchiftheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD606,043Russia

ANEWmodellingstudyhasestimatedthattheCovid-19pandemiccouldsig-nificantly increase the global burdenof tuberculosis due to disruptions tohealthservices,anddelaystodiagno-sisandtreatment.InIndia,itestimatesTB will cause an additional 95,000deaths in the next fiveyears.Thestudyispub-lished in the EuropeanRespiratory Journal.Researchers esti-

mated additional TBdeaths and cases inChina, India andSouthAfricaoverthenextfiveyears. They hypothe-sised that social dis-tancingmight reduceTB incidence as thebacteriabehindthedis-ease is transmitted via droplets —similar to thecoronavirus. Evenaftertakingthisreducedtransmissionintoaccount,themostlikelyscenariowasestimated to result in more than110,000additionalTBdeaths(95,000in India, 13,000 in South Africa and

6,000inChina). Intheworstcasesce-nario, thisnumbercouldrise toupto200,000 additional deaths, the re-searchersestimated.Theresearchersreferredtoearlyan-

ecdotal information fromChina, IndiaandSouthAfricathatsuggeststhatthe

numberofpeoplebeingdiagnosed and treatedforTBhas fallen signifi-cantly. These threecountriesmakeup ap-proximately 40%of theglobal TB cases. The re-searchersmodelleddif-ferent scenarios withvarious implementa-tionsofsocialdistancingmeasures and healthservice disruption last-ing for six months, to

comeupwiththeirestimates.The studywas conducted by re-

searchers fromthe LondonSchool ofHygiene & Tropical Medicine andLancasterUniversity.

Source: LondonSchoolofHygiene&TropicalMedicine

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

Study projects 95k additionalTB deaths in India due to Covid

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI, JUNE24

ONTUESDAY, the IndianCouncil ofMedicalResearch (ICMR)madea largeshift inCovid-19testingstrategy,callingfor“allsymptomaticindividualsineverypartofthecountry”tobetested. It alsourgedprivatehospitals, offices,andpublic sector units to conduct antibodytestingasasurveillancemeasure.A look at how ICMR’s testing protocols

haveevolvedsince theoutbreakbegan:

March: Reserved testingOnMarch17,thestrategywasfarmorehes-

itant thannow.“Toavoid indiscriminatetest-ing and reducingpanic andoptimally utilisethe resources of the country and scaleup fa-cilities for testing,” it said,under“Objectives”.The strategy focused only on three sympto-maticpeople:internationaltravellers,contactsofacase,andhealthcareworkers.“Why should we go on telling people

whohavenohistoryof traveloranycontactwith an actual case?” ICMR Senior scientistNiveditaGuptahadsaidtotheIndianExpressat the time. “In thisprocess, in ahugecoun-trylikeIndia, I’mnotabletotestpeoplewhogenuinely may need testing because I’mwasting it on futile testing. Thoughwe aremaintaining a stringent inventory, we alsoneed tomake sure thatwearenot in a situ-ationwhere I exhaust all my testing capac-ity in futile testingand tomorrow, if there isan upsurge in cases, I say that I have ex-haustedallmytests.”Atthetime,privateplayershadnotyetbeen

ropedintoconducttesting,andtheICMRwasjustinstitutingprocessestoexpandlabcapac-ity.AttheendofMarch,itgraduallyexpandedtesting to includehospitalisedpatientswithsevereacuterespiratoryillness(SARI)aswellasasymptomaticcontactsofcases.Thenewfocusran alongside the agency’s first surveillancemethod— testing SARI patients to see if anywerepositiveforCovid-19.

April: New techniquesICMR advised rapid antibody tests in

hotspotsandmigrantcentresonApril4,leav-ing thedecision to stategovernments. Thesetestsarenotdiagnostic,butcandetermineifapatienthaspreviouslyhadcoronavirus.StateslikeKerala,TamilNadu,andChhattisgarhwereeagertoundertakethistypeof surveillance.Later,theICMRreverseditsdecision,given

a batch of faulty kits fromChina. There alsowas divergence between theWorldHealthOrganization and ICMR in the beginning ofApril,withtheformersayingantibodytestingshouldbeusedforresearch.Subsequentad-visoriesfromICMRdetailedantibodytestingas“supplementary” toRT-PCRtesting.The ICMRalsoadvisedenhancedtesting

in 20 hotspots, including Nizamuddin andDilshadGarden inDelhi, Pathanamthitta inKerala, andMumbaiandPune.OnApril9, itaddedsymptomaticpatients

in hotspots, largemigration gatherings andevacuee centres to the testing strategy.NewICMRresearchatthetimealsofoundtheper-centageofrandompositivesamplesofCovid-19amongSARIpatientsacrossthecountryhasincreasedincrementallyoverthepastmonth.On April 13, the ICMR detailed pooled

samplinginareaswithfewcasesorlowpos-itivityrates. If anypositivesamplecomesforapoolofsamples,thenindividualtestingfol-

lows.StateslikeUPjumpedontothestrategy.TheICMRstill facedabacklashforlackof

testing.Respondingtoaquestionatthedailybriefing, Dr RRGangakhedkar, head of epi-demiology and infectious diseases at ICMR,said:“Asfortestingstrategy,yourchancesoftestingpositivebecomelessasyounear theinfectiontimepoint. Itcomespositivewhentherearesymptoms,sokeepinginmindthecost effectiveness and risk-based approach,your yieldwill become less the sooner youtest.Eventothinkaboutchangingthetestingstrategynow…Icannot say.”

May: Expanded protocolsOnMay18,ICMRaddedsymptomaticmi-

grants,hospitalisedpatients,frontlinework-erstothetestingstrategy.Theinclusionofall“hospitalisedpatientswhodevelopILIsymp-toms” indicated the concern over patientscontracting the disease in hospital. And theinclusion of “returnees/migrants”, irrespec-tive of contact history orwhether they aretravellingfromahotspot,signalledconcernsaboutpossiblecommunitytransmission.Also inMay, theHealthMinistrydecided

nottotestmildandmoderatecasesbeforetheirdischargeorafterahomeisolationperiod.The government also initiated a nation-

wide sero-survey to assess the spread. Thiswas also spurredby ICMR’s validationof itsown“indigenous”antibody testkit.OnMay30, ICMRreintroducedadviceto

states to use antibody tests, focusing onworkers who have returned from otherstates, those who live in dense settings orpoorly ventilated buildings; people whowork in certain sectors; people in contain-mentzones;policeandparamilitaryperson-nel, andprisonofficials, amongothers.ByMay-end, the positivity rate in India

hadbeguntosteepenjustasthecountrybe-gantestingover1 lakhsamplesaday.Alongwith the expanding testing strategy, facili-tiesandtypesofkitsalsograduallyincreased.

June: rapid antigen testsTheICMRapprovedonJune15anewon-

sitediagnostickitforcontainmentzonesandhealthcaresettings,whichcangiverapid,low-costresultswithoutneedingalaboratory.In containment zones, the rapid antigen

testwasencouragedforallpeoplewithfeverandcoughandall contactsof acasewhoaredirect,asymptomatic,andhavehighco-mor-bidities.Inhealthcaresettings,thetestwillbeusedforallpatientsofinfluenza-likeillnessessuspectedofhavingcontractedCovid-19andasymptomatic patients who are immuno-suppressedorhaveotherco-morbidities.Thetestwill also be available for asymptomaticpatientsundergoingcertainproceduressuchasneurosurgeries,dentalwork,anddialysis.Whilepositiveresultswillbeconsideredcon-firmed,incaseofnegativeresults,anRT-PCRwouldbedoneforreconfirmation.Maharashtra,Delhi,Gujarat,Haryana,and

UPhaveprocured rapid antigen testing kits.“Allthestatesaregearingupnowtostartthetestingwith this and almost all states willeventuallybuyit.Manyhospitalsarealsoin-quiringandplacingtheorderforanysympto-matic individuals in their hospital with aheavy viral load,” said an official from SDBiosensor,which issupplyingthetestkit.The advisory on June 23 said: “Despite

newtypesof testingkitsbeingadded,accessto testing still remainsahugechallenge inalargecountry like India.”

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

HARISHDAMODARANNEWDELHI, JUNE24

THERE AREmany parallels one can drawbetween the novel coronavirus-inducedlockdown(gharbandi)anddemonetisation(notebandi), in terms of their impact onIndia’s farmeconomy.Both resulted in thesame thing – demanddestruction – albeitthroughdifferent routes.Notebandicausedahaemorrhagingofliq-

uidity from thepredominantly cash-basedfarmproducemarkets.Inthepre-demoneti-sationera, itwasn’tuncommonfor individ-ualtraderstopurchaseproduceworthRs50lakhorevenRs1croredailyduringthepeakarrivalseasonandmakepaymentstofarm-ers entirely in cash.With demonetisation,andalsorestrictionsoncashtransactionsin-troduced in the 2017-18 Union Budget,wholesalemandiswere suddenly denudedof liquidityand, thereby,demand.In gharbandi, demand destructionwas

wroughtnotbyalackof cash,butofbuyersthemselves. And thesewere institutionalbuyers, asopposed tohouseholds. Theclo-sure of hotels, restaurants, tea stalls, streetfood joints, sweetmeat shops, hostels andcanteens—inadditiontonoweddingrecep-tions and other public functions— led to acollapseofout-of-homefoodconsumption.Even household-level food consumptionwasaffectedbyfallingincomes(inrespectofpoor and lowermiddle class families sud-

denlyfindingthemselveswithoutwork)andreducedrequirementduetoforcedinactiv-ity (aswiththerichandbetteroff).Eitherway, theoutcomewas thesame.

Notebandi and gharbandi both basically“flattened”farmproduceprices,byshiftingthedemandcurvestotheleft.Thedemanddropwasn’tduetopricesgoingup.Rather,withconsumptionbeing limited tohomes—manpower shortages forcedmany foodcompaniestoalsocurtailproductioninfac-tories and, hence, cut rawmaterial pur-chases — therewas less demand now formilk,potatoesortomatoesevenatthesameprice. Thiswasn’t, inotherwords, simplya“movementalong thedemandcurve”, buta “leftwardshift in thedemandcurve”.The other similarity between demon-

etisation and lockdown is that both struckjust after farmers had produced a bumperrabi crop— the former in April-June 2017andthe latterbarely threeyears later.

■ ■ ■

Notwithstandingtheseandothersimi-larities—bothfollowedovernight8pman-nouncementsbyPrimeMinisterNarendraModi— there are differences between thesituationsbroughtaboutbygharbandiandnotebandi.To start with, when demonetisation

happened,thefarmsectorhadalreadygonethrough tough times, with back-to-backdroughtsin2014and2015ontopofaglobal

agri-commoditypricecrashin2014-15and2015-16.Also,notebandiprimarilyhitagri-cultureandinformalenterprises,whileor-ganisedmanufacturingandservicessectorfirmshadactually benefited fromdemon-etisation and the GST regime. The lock-

down,bycontrast,hasaffectedtheseindus-tries farmore thanagriculture.Thetableshowsthatagriculturalgrowth

had surpassed overall economic growthduring the last twoquarters of 2019-20, inreal aswell as nominal terms after factor-ing in inflation. Evenafter lockdowncameintoeffectfromMarch25,farm-relatedop-erations—fromharvestingandsaleofpro-duceinmandis,totheirintra-andinter-statemovement —were exempted from ghar-bandi restrictions.The secondmajor difference has been

government response. India’s imports ofpulsesandedibleoilspeakedduring2015-16to2017-18.Thisperiod,beforeandafterdemonetisation, saw the government for-mally embracing “inflation targeting” andalso giving the Essential Commodities Actanewleaseof life.Stockholdinglimitswereclampedfromtimetotimeononion,pota-toes, pulses and sugar, alongside allowingduty-free imports and placing of exportcurbs.Thesemeasureswerepersistedwithdespiteconsumerfoodpriceinflationrulingbelow general retail inflation sinceSeptember 2016. Import controls came inonlytowardslate2017,partlyinreactiontogrowingagrarianunrest.The government’s approach during

lockdown has, in comparison, beenmoreproactive.Onereasonforitmightbethere-alisation that agriculture—apart frombe-ing“essential” for supplying food inapub-lichealthemergency—offereditself asthe

only feasible economic activity under theexisting circumstances. All administrativesteps were, therefore, taken to permitmovement of labourers andmachines forfarmers toharvest their rabi crop.Itistruethatfarmersthistimeround,too,

haveincurredlossesonsalesofmilkandper-ishableproduce,fromtomatoes,carrots,cap-sicumandgourdstograpes,bananas,water-melonsand totapurimangoes. Thecollapseof institutional demand and out-of-homeconsumptionhasfurtherhurtpoultry,maizeand sugarcane growers, whether throughslideinpricesornon-paymentbymills.Butit’salsoafactthatgovernmentagen-

cies have undertaken record procurementof wheat (38.6million tonnes of the 2019-20crop,withminimumsupportpricevalueofoverRs74,200crore)andpaddy(74.3mt,including15.7mtafterMarch31andworthRs28,500crore).Besides,theyhaveboughtabout 1.8mt of chana (valued at Rs 8,750crore),0.8mtofrapeseed-mustard(Rs3,300crore) and 0.3 mt of tur/arhar (Rs 1,750crore).AddtheRs16,750croredirecttrans-fersto8.37crorefarmeraccountsasfirst-in-stallmentpayment of Rs 2,000eachunderthe PM-Kisan SammanNidhi scheme, thetotal liquidity pumped into the farmecon-omy, post-lockdown, by the governmentworksout tomorethanRs133,000crore.That isn’t smallmoney, given the short

timespan (less than threemonths)withinwhichthisliquidityinfusionhastakenplaceandthesheer logistics involved inphysical

purchasinggrain fromfarmerswithoutvi-olationof socialdistancingnorms.

■ ■ ■

Agriculture’s newfound importance isalso reflected in the twomajor reforms thatmightnothavecomeaboutinnormaltimes.The first one permits sale andpurchase offarmproduce outside the physical bound-ariesofstate-regulatedmandis.That, inthe-ory, gives farmers freedomtoselldirectly toprocessors,exporters,wholesalersandretail-ers bothwithin andoutside their states, in-cludingthroughelectronictradingplatforms.The second reformdoes awaywith the im-positionofECAstockholdinglimitsonfood-stuffs, saveunder extraordinary conditions.Thesewerepowersthatthisverygovernmenthad,ironically,beeninvokinguntilrecently.Ittookanall-roundeconomiccrisis,which

Covid-19brutally lay bare, to recognise thevalue andpotential of Indian agriculture. IftheRs17,622croreofwagepaymentsmadeunder MGNREG from April 1 is also ac-countedfor,thegovernment’stotalspendonfarmers and ruralworkers in thepast threemonthswill bewell in excess of Rs150,000crore.WiththeCovidsituationincitiesshow-ing little improvement, it is clearly layingallhopesofaneconomicrecoveryonBharat.

(Adifferentversionof this articleappearedthisweek in India inTransition, publishedby the

Center for theAdvancedStudyof India,Universityof Pennsylvania)

Evolving strategy on testingSIMPLYPUT

In ICMR’supdatedstrategy,all symptomatic individualsanywherein IndiaaretobetestedforCovid-19.Atonestage, ICMRwascautiousabouttestingindiscriminately.A lookathowtheprotocolshaveevolved

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE24

FORTHEfirsttime,thepriceofdieselinDelhihassurpassedthatofpetrol:Dieselisupby48paise per litre to Rs 79.88, compared to Rs79.76 for petrol. Diesel prices remain lowerthanthoseofpetrolelsewhereinthecountry.The price of petrol has risen by Rs

8.50/litreandthatofdieselbyRs10.50sinceJune 7, when oil marketing companies(OMCs)beganrevisingpricesafteran82-dayhiatusduringwhichtheinternationalcrudeprice fell below$20/barrel.

WhyhasthishappenedinDelhi?Theprice gapbetweenpetrol anddiesel

was Rs 7.30 onMay 5when the Delhi gov-ernmentincreasedVATondieselto30%from16.75%andonpetrolto30%from27%.Dieselalsoattractsanadditionalairambiencelevyof Rs 250/kilolitre. This brought the diesel

pricewithinRs2of thepriceof petrolat thetime; the gap has closed sincewith OMCshikingdieselpricesmorethanpetrolprices.According to experts, there is very little dif-ference between international prices ofpetrol and diesel currently, leading to taxesbecoming the key component in the price

difference.Thepricesofdieselandpetrolarealmost equal in Ahmedabad as the VAT onbothpetrol anddiesel is comparable.Whileotherstateshavealsohikedlevies

on both fuels, most havemaintained lowertax rates on diesel than on petrol, so thatdieselhasremainedcheaperthanpetrolde-

spitegreaterhikesindieselpricesthanpetrolpricesover the last18days.

Whywereprices frozen,andwhyaretheyrisingnow?OMCs stopped revising prices from

March16toJune7wheninternationalpricesofcrudeoilhithistoriclows.Duringthistime,theonly revisions in thepricesof diesel andpetrolwerearesultofchangesinstatetaxes.Representativesof IndianOilCorporation,

India’slargestOMC,saidtheyhaddecidedtostoprevisingpricesinlinewithinternationalpricesofpetrolanddiesel.Hadtheydonesoduring the fall in the prices of crude in lateMarchandApril, itwouldhaveledto“nega-tivemargins” for theOMCs.Now, theOMCsare revising domestic prices of petrol anddiesel are rising in line with internationalpricesofpetrolanddiesel.Andinternationalpricesofbothdieselandpetrolarerisingdueto increasing demand as countries easeCovid-inducedrestrictions.

Howdiesel got costlier than petrol in Delhi

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

Farm* General Farm* General

Apr-Jun 3.84 6.95 6.69 11.922018

Jul-Sep 2.54 6.06 2.88 11.062018

Oct-Dec 1.98 5.62 2.30 9.662018

Jan-Mar 1.62 5.55 6.58 9.452019

Apr-Jun 2.96 4.76 8.60 8.002019

Jul-Sep 3.51 4.33 8.53 6.232019

Oct-Dec 3.60 3.47 13.93 7.022019

Jan-Mar 5.87 3.04 12.99 6.852020

Constant CurrentPrices Prices

*Agriculture,forestry&fishing.Source:NationalStatisticalOffice.

GROWTH IN GROSS VALUE ADDED(%YEAR-ON-YEAR)

` 150,000cr plus: the govt stimulus for rural areas post lockdown

Salestax Price (`/lt) Salestax Price(`/lt)Delhi 30%VAT 79.76 `250/klairambience 79.88

charges+30%VAT

Gujarat 17%VAT+4%cess 77.26 17%VAT+ 4%cess 77.18ontownrate&VAT ontownrate&VAT

Karnataka 35%salestax 82.35 24%salestax 75.51

Mumbai, 26%VAT+ Rs.10.12/litre 86.54 24%VAT+Rs.3.00/l 78.22NaviMumbai additionaltax additionaltax

TamilNadu 15%+Rs.13.02per litre 83.04 11%+Rs.9.62/litre 77.17Source:PPAC

STATE/REGION PETROL DIESEL

DIESEL PRICE HIGHER ONLY IN DELHI

Asamplecollectedforrapidantigentest inNewDelhi. PTI

Jaipur

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UNITED NATIONS

UNURGES ISRAELAGAINSTANNEXATIONUnited Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel on Wednesdayto abandon plans to annex settlements in the occupied West Bank, warning thisthreatened prospects for peace with the Palestinians.

ASIA

SingaporePM’sbrother joinsoppositionpartyaheadofpollsSingapore: SingaporePrimeMinisterLeeHsienLoong’s family feud hasspilled intopolitics,withhis estranged youngerbrother joininganoppo-sitionpartyaheadofgen-eral elections nextmonth. Lee Hsien YangsaidWednesday he hasjoined the ProgressSingapore Party becauseheisconcernedabout is-sues such as governanceandtransparency,butde-clined to saywhether hewill run in the July 10polls. The party waslaunched a year ago byformer ruling party law-makerTanChengBock.

LeeHsienYang,brotherof SingaporePMLeeHsienLoong

TOPOFTHEWORLD

USA

IndianeateryvandalisedinNewMexicoWashington: An Indianrestaurant owned by aSikh man in the city ofSanteFeintheUSstateofNewMexicowasbrokenintoandvandalisedwithhatemessages scrawledon itswalls, according toamediareport.Thedam-age caused to IndiaPalace restaurant is esti-mated to be worth$100,000, the Santa FeReporter newspaper re-ported on Tuesday. Thevandalisationisbeingin-vestigatedbylocalpoliceand the FBI, it said. TheSikh American LegalDefence and EducationFund (SALDEF), a non-profit civil rights organi-sation, has condemnedthe incident.

PAKISTAN

FoundationstonelaidforIslamabad’s1stHindutempleIslamabad: Pakistan hasstarted the constructionprocess of a Rs 10 croreHindu temple— the firstinIslamabad.TheKrishnatemplewill comeup in a20,000 sq ft plot at thecapital’s H-9 area. Thegroundbreaking cere-monyfor thetemplewasperformed byParliamentary Secretaryon Human Rights LalChandMalhionTuesday.TheHindu population inIslamabad has increasedsignificantly in the lasttwo decades and, there-fore, thetemplewasnec-essary, the Dawn NewsquotedMalhi as saying.

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK, JUNE24

MORE THAN35,000 new coro-navirus cases were identifiedacross the United States onTuesday,accordingtoaNewYorkTimesdatabase, thehighest sin-gle-daytotalsincelateAprilandthethird-highesttotalofanydayof thepandemic.AstheUnitedStatescontinues

toreopenitseconomy,casenum-bers are rising inmore than 20states,mostly in the South andWest. Florida onWednesday re-portedanewdailyhighof 5,508cases. Texas reportedmore than5,000casesonTuesday,itslargestsingle-day total yet. Arizonaaddedmorethan3,600cases,alsoarecord.AndinWashingtonState,where case numbers are againtrending upward, the governorsaidresidentswouldhavetostartwearingmasksinpublic.“This is about saving lives,”

saidGov. Jay Inslee, aDemocrat.“It’s about reopening our busi-nesses.Andit’saboutshowingre-spectandcareforoneanother.”The elevated case numbers

are a result of worsening con-ditions across much of thecountry as well as increasedtesting, but testing alone doesnot explain the surge. The per-centage of people in Floridatesting positive has risensharply. Increases in hospitali-sations also signal the virus’sspread. Arizona reported itshighestnumberof virushospi-talizations on Monday. InTexas,more than4,000peoplewith thevirusarehospitalized,more than double the numberat the beginning of June.“I strongly feel we aremov-

ing in thewrong direction andwe are moving fast,” MayorSylvesterTurnerofHoustonsaid.Gov. AndrewM. Cuomo an-

nounced on Wednesday thatNewYork and two neighboringstates will begin requiring cer-tainout-of-statetravellersenter-ingtheirstatestoquarantinefortwoweeksuponarrival.The restrictions, which also

cover New Jersey andConnecticut, will be based onspecifichealthmetricsrelatedtothevirus,Cuomosaid.

DONALDGMCNEILJRJUNE24

AS THE coronavirus pandemichits more impoverished coun-trieswithfragilehealthcaresys-tems, global health authoritiesare scrambling for supplies of asimple treatment that saveslives: oxygen.Many patients severely ill

with Covid-19, the illnesscaused by the coronavirus, re-quire help with breathing atsome point. But now the epi-demic is spreading rapidly inSouth Asia, Latin America andparts of Africa, regions wheremany hospitals are poorlyequipped and lack the ventila-tors, tanks and other equip-ment necessary to save pa-tientswhose lungs are failing.Although the machinery

needed to generate oxygen isrelatively simple, it must besturdyenoughtowithstandthedust, humidity and other haz-ardscommoninruralhospitalsin poor countries. The ma-chines cannot come too soon,doctors said.In May, the Alliance for

International Medical Actiontreated123Covid-19patients inCongo, saidDrBaweyeMayoumBarka,thecharity’srepresentative.Fifty-sixof themneededoxygen,

but not enoughequipmentwasavailable.“So,unfortunately,therewere26deaths,70%oftheminlessthan24hours,”Barkasaid.NYT

ASIFSHAHZADISLAMABAD, JUNE24

THEPILOTSofaPakistanairlinerthat crashed lastmonth, killing97 people, were distracted asthey talked about the coron-aviruspandemicthroughouttheflightbeforeanabortivelandingbid, an initial inquiry reportshowedonWednesday.Presentingthereport inpar-

liament, Aviation MinisterGhulam Sarwar Khan said boththepilotsandofficialsatairtraf-ficcontroldidnotfollowsetpro-cedures, leading to thecrash.Thepilotswerenot“focused”

becauseof thecoronaviruspan-demic,headded,thoughtheair-crafthadnotechnical fault.“Unfortunately...the discus-

sion throughoutwas about co-rona,” Khan said, referring to ex-changes between the pilot and

co-pilot on the cockpit voicerecorderthathesaidshowedtheywerenotfocusedontheirtasks.“Coronawasdominantover

theirmind.Their familywasaf-fected, and they were dis-cussing corona.”Theaircraftsufferednotech-

nicalflaw,Khansaid.“Theunfor-tunateplanewas100%fit tofly,”headded.REUTERS

Transportingoxygencylinders inConakry,Guinea.AP

PUTIN HOLDS PARADE ON EVE OF KEY VOTERussianPresidentVladimirPutinwithBelarusianPresidentAlexanderLukashenko,leaderofGeorgianbreakawayregionofAbkhaziaAslanBzhania,MoldovanPresidentIgorDodonandTajikPresidentEmomaliRahmonattheTomboftheUnknownSoldieraftertheVictoryDayParadeinMoscow.TheparadewaspostponedfromMay9duetotheCovid-19pandemic.Reuters

■PresidentVladimirPutinreviewedtheRedSquaremilitaryparade,whichcriticssaidwasdesignedto lifthis lower-than-usual ratingsontheeveof anationwidevotethatcouldextendhisruleuntil2036.

■Putinwatchedas intercontinentalballisticmissile launchers trundledpast,nuclear-capablebombers flewoverhead,andcolumnsof tanksandover14,000troopsmarchedpastunderhotsunshine.

■Theparadewasheldontheeveof anationwidevote, fromJune25to July1,onconstitutionalchanges, includingonethatwouldallowPutintwomoresix-yeartermsasPresident if re-elected.

Crashed Pak airlinerpilots were distractedby virus worry: minister

Theplanecrashed inaresidentialarea inKarachilastmonth,killing97people.Reuters

THEY OFTEN DEFEND CHINA AGAINST CRITICS. BUT WHEN THEY TRIED TO RETURN DURING PANDEMIC, THEY BECAME TARGETS

Trapped abroad, overseas Chinese students rethink their countryLIYUANJUNE24

JAMES LIU has always consid-eredhimself apatriot.With a lump inhis throat, he

watched a military parade onNational Day, China’s birthday,thatshowedaoncebackwardna-tion thathadbecomestrongandpowerful. He got goose bumpswatching Wolf Warrior 2, aRambo-like Chinese blockbusterfeaturing a superhero veteranwhosingle-handedlyrescueshis

countrymentrappedabroad.WhenChina cameunder at-

tackonline,Liuwasoneof thele-gionsof Chinese students study-ing abroad who posted in itsdefense.Hecondemnedthepro-democracyprotestsinHongKong,whichhesawasanefforttosplitaunitingChina.AfterTrumpcalledthe coronavirus the “Chinesevirus,”LiuturnedtoTwittertocor-rectthosewhousedtheterm.“I was a real little pink,” he

said, usinga somewhatderoga-tory term for the young,Communist-redChinesenation-

alists who use the internet as apatriotic battleground to fightthosewhodisparageChina.ThenLiu, 21, discovered that

the country he had long de-fendeddidn’twanthimback.The fresh graduate from a

Midwestern university had be-comeoneofanuntoldnumberofChinesepeople strandedabroadby the coronavirus pandemic.Flights had vanished. Ticketshomewereoutrageouslyexpen-sive. The Chinese government,fearfulthatpeoplelikehimwouldbring the virus with them, re-

stricted international flights andtolditsexpatriatestostayput.Whenoverseasstudentswent

online to question why theycouldn’tflyhome,peopleinChinatold them to stay away. The stu-dents, they said, were spoiledbrats who could jeopardizeChina’s success incontaining theepidemic. Liu andmany othercountless Chinese peoplestrandedoverseasare,forthefirsttime,runningafoulofoneoftheircountry’s bedrockpolitical prin-ciples:Nationalinterestscomebe-foreanindividual’sneeds.

In this case, the strandedstu-dentsandworkershavebecomeaminoritygroupthatisexpectedtosacrificeforthebenefitofthema-jority.Thatputsthemamongtheranks of government critics andtheHongKong pro-democracyprotesters — people they havelongbattledonline.Someofthelittlepinksarere-

thinking their relationshipwiththe country — which, in theChinesecontext,isthenation,thegovernmentandtheCommunistPartyall inone.“My feelings are increasingly

complicated,”Liuwroteontheso-cial media platform Weibo inmid-May. “The country I loveddoesn’twantmeback.” Readingthemany critical social mediaposts against overseas studentslikehim,he felt as if hehadbeen“beatenupbadly,”hesaid.Their views could someday

help shape China’s relationshipwith theworld. Somewill growuptobe leaders inbusiness, aca-demiaorother institutions.Theywillmost likely remainpatriots,buttheywillhaveamorenuancedviewoftheircountry.NYT

ManyChinesestudentsabroadweretoldtostayput.Reuters

OVER35,000NEWU.S. CASESONTUESDAY

Viruscases inUSrise tohighest level sinceApril

Scarce medical oxygenleaves many gaspingfor life worldwide

THEECONOMICdivideex-posedbyCovid-19,bothbe-tweencountriesandwithinthem,ishighlightedbythescrambleformedicaloxygen.Administeringoxygenisoneofthemostcrucialinterven-tionsinCovid-19treatment,butit’sbecomeararecom-modityinpoornationsfromAfricatoAsia.IntheWest,oxygensupplytohospitalsisseenasessentialaswaterandelectricitysupplyandiswidelyavailable.Butinpoorercountries,medicaloxygenissomethingthatcanbeboughtathomeforaprice,oravail-ableinVIPhospitalsonly.AccordingtotheAssociatedPress,half theworld’spopula-tiondoesnothaveaccesstomedicaloxygen.

Economicdivideinoxygensupply

AGENCIESWASHINGTON, JUNE24

JAMAAL BOWMAN, a liberalBlackmiddle-school principal,was ahead in early DemocraticprimaryelectionresultsTuesdayin his bid to oust long-time USRepresentative Eliot Engel froma congressional seat represent-ingpartofNewYork.If Engel, who has served in

Congressformorethan30years,weretolose,itwouldechoasim-ilar upset in 2018, whenAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez de-feated JosephCrowley, then theNo.4HouseDemocrat.Ocasio-Cortez was also on

course forvictory inhercontestagainst a challenger in a neigh-boring New York district, inraces that testedthestrengthoftheDemocraticParty’s leftwingafter moderate Joe Biden be-

came the presumptive presi-dential nominee.Bowman, 44, was leading

Engel, the chairman of theHouse Foreign AffairsCommittee,by59.48%to35.31%,the New York state electionsboardsaid,with627of732elec-tionprecincts reporting.“EliotEngelusedtosayhewas

athorninthesideof(RepublicanPresident) Donald Trump,”Bowman told supporters. “ButyouknowwhatDonaldTrumpis

more afraid of than anythingelse? A Blackmanwith power.That is what Donald Trump isafraidof,”Bowmansaid.OnTwitter, Bowmanwrote:

“I’maBlackmanraisedbyasin-glemother inahousingproject.Thatstorydoesn’tusuallyendinCongress.Buttoday,that11-yearoldboybeatenbypoliceisabouttobeyourRepresentative. Ican'twaittogettoDCandcauseprob-lems for thosemaintaining thestatusquo.”

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE24

PAKISTAN IS likely to remain onthegreylistoftheFinancialActionTask Force (FATF) for failing tocomplywith the global terroristfinancingwatchdog’sdeadlinetoprosecute andpenalise terroristfinancinginthecountry.Sourcesaidthedecision,taken

at the third and final plenarymeetingonWednesdayundertheChinesePresidencyof XiangminLiu,willbeannouncedsoon.At the FATFmeeting chaired

byChinainParisinFebruarythisyear, Islamabad had been toldthat “all deadlines” had expiredand if theydidn’tprosecuteandpenalise terrorist financing byJune2020, thewatchdogwouldtakeactionwithfinancialconse-quences.AttheParisplenary,theFATF

hadexpressedseriousconcernsover Pakistan’s failure to com-plete its 27-point action plan inlinewith theagreedtimelines–

whichendedinSeptember2019.Wednesday’s development

cameonadaywhenPakistanex-presseditsdisappointmentoverthe US blocking a proposal todesignate an Indian national inAfghanistanasaglobalterrorist.“We are disappointed that

Pakistan’sproposaltodesignateVenumadhav Dongara as a ter-rorist has been objected to,”Pakistan’s Foreignministry saidonWednesday.ButPakistanexpressedhope

that the listingrequestsof other

threeIndiannationalswouldbegiven due consideration by theUNSC 1267 SanctionsCommittee in an objective andtransparent manner. Sourcessaid theywouldmount a diplo-matic campaign, with China’shelp, to convince members oftheUNSC.In Islamabad, the foreign

ministrysaidPakistanhadpro-posed the designation of fourIndian nationals in 2019 underthe United Nations 1267Sanctions List — namelyVenumadhav Dongara, AjoyMistry, Gobinda Patnaik, andAngara Appaji. It alleged thatthese individuals were financ-ing, sponsoring and organisingterrorism inside Pakistan byproviding financial, technicalandmaterial support to terror-ist groups including TTP,Jamaat-ul-Ahrar andothers.As a result of travel restric-

tions caused by Covid-19, theFATF is meeting virtually.Germany takesoverpresidencyof theFATF in July forayear.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIADUBAI, JUNE24

ANINDIANbusinessmanandhiswifewereallegedlymurderedbyaPakistaniman inside their villain Dubai during a break-in androbberybid,accordingtoareport.Hiren Adhiya and Vidhi

Adhiya, both in their 40s, werekilled inside their villa at theArabianRanches.DubaiPolicear-rested the Pakistaniman in lessthan24hours,GulfNewsreported.Brigadier Jamal Al Jallaf,

DirectorofCriminalInvestigationDepartmentatDubaiPolice, saidthedaughterof thecouplecalledpolicetoreporttheincident.The police said the suspect

broke into the villa on June 18whilethefamilywassleeping.Hewentintothebedroomsearchingformore valuables. “When theman woke up, the attackerstabbedhim.Thewifealsowokeupand the suspect stabbedher,”AlJallafadded.

Pak to remain on FATF grey list Dubai: Indiancouple murdered

JamaalBowmanspeakstosupporters inNewYork.

Reuters

AtanFATFmeeting inFebruary, Islamabadhadbeentoldthat ‘alldeadlines’hadexpiredandif theydidn’tprosecuteandpenaliseterrorist financingbyJune, thewatchdogwouldtakeaction

Court orders dismissalof case against formerTrump aide FlynnREUTERS&NYTWASHINGTON, JUNE24

AUSappealscourtonWednesdaydirectedafederal judgetodropacriminal case against PresidentDonaldTrump’s formernationalsecurityadviserMichaelFlynnforlyingtotheFBI,handingavictoryto the JusticeDepartment in an-other twist to the politicallychargedcase.In a 2-1 decision, a panel of

the US Court of Appeals for theDistrictofColumbiaCircuitruledin favor of Flynnand theTrumpadministrationinpreventingU.S.District Judge Emmet Sullivanfromexercisinghisdiscretiononwhether to grant the depart-ment’s motion to clear Flynn,whotwicepleadedguilty.The ruling prevents Sullivan

fromhearingargumentsata July16hearingfromretiredjudgeJohn

Gleeson,whomheappointed asa “friend of the court” to argueagainstdroppingthecase.Flynn, a retired Army lieu-

tenantgeneral,wasoneofseveralformerTrumpaideschargedun-derformerSpecialCounselRobertMueller’s investigation that de-tailedMoscow’s interference inthe2016USpresidentialelection.

‘Stone case politicised’Meanwhile, senior law en-

forcementofficials intervened toseek amore lenient prison sen-tence for Trump’s friendandallyRoger Stone forpolitical reasons,aformerprosecutoronthecaseisexpected to testify beforeCongressonWednesday.“WhatIheard—repeatedly—

was that Roger Stonewas beingtreateddifferentlyfromanyotherdefendantbecauseofhisrelation-ship to thePresident,” theprose-cutor,AaronS.J.Zelinsky,said.

Black school principal set to defeatlong-time Congressman in USprimary upset reminiscent of AOC

Jaipur

11SENSEX: 34,868.98 ▼ 561.45 NIFTY: 10,305.30 ▼ 165.70 NIKKEI: 22,534.32 ▼ 14.73 HANG SENG: 24,781.58 ▼ 125.76 FTSE: 6,188.65 ▼ 131.47 DAX: 12,303.73 ▼ 220.03

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

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OFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEER

Public Health Engineering DepartmentRegion Office Pratap Nagar, Dadabari, Kota (Rajasthan)

Telephone No. 0744-2503651 Fax Number 0744-2501551Email: rj_aceko@yahoo.com

NOTICE INVITING TENDERUBN No. PHE 2021 WSOB 02584

1. Online tenders are invited on behalf of the Governor of Rajasthan forthe following works from contractors registered/ enlisted in Class“AA” or above with the PHED Rajasthan in appropriate Class as perPWF&AR Part II Appendix 16 dated 01.07.1999 and amendmentissued by concerned department up to date. Contractors enlisted withother Departments of Government of Rajasthan and enlisted withCPWD/Postal, Telecom, Railway, MES, other State Govt./ CentralGovt. undertaking organizations equivalent to appropriate Class ofRajasthan shall also be eligible. The duly notarized copy ofRegistration Certificate is to be enclosed. Unregistered contractorsshall not be allowed. The tenderers meeting eligibility criteria mayapply after giving prescribed Earnest Money. The tender documentscan be downloaded from the website http://www.eproc.rajasthan.gov.in and the interested bidders will have to submit their tender inelectronic format on this website with their digital signatures. Detailsof this tender notification can also be seen in NIT exhibited onwebsite www.dipronline.org.

2. GENERAL DETAIL OF WORKS:

S.N. NIT No 02 / 2020-21

1 Work Description Operation & Maintenance of UWSS Baranincluding intake well, WTP, Pump Houses,OHSRs, Transmission/ Distribution Lines ofBaran Town for 03 years (Executed by RUIDP)

2 Estimated Cost Rs 315.13 Lacs

3 Earnest Money Rs 6.30 Lacs (@2%) for the contractor notenlisted in PHED. Rs 1.58 Lacs (@0.5%) forcontractor in enlisted in PHED “AA” Class. Tobe deposit in Budget head 8443-00-108-00-00through e-GRAS portal in favour of 5640-Ex.En P.H.E.D., Baran.

4 Cost of TenderDocuments

Rs. 5,000.00 To be deposit in Revenue head0075-00-800-52-01 through e-GRAS portal infavour of 5640-Ex.En. P.H.E.D., Baran.

5 RISL Charges Rs 1,000.00 To be deposit in Budget head8658-00-102-16-02 through e-GRAS portal infavour of 5640-Ex.En. P.H.E.D., Baran.

6 O&M Period 36 Months

7 Availability of tenderdocuments on web site

From 22.06.2020 at 10:00 Hrs to 13.07.2020(up to 18:00 Hrs)

8 Date & time for onlinesubmission of tender

From 22.06.2020 at 10:00 Hrs to 13.07.2020(up to 18:00 Hrs)

9 Date & time of openingof pre- qualification bid.

14.07.2020 at 14:00 Hrs

Sd/-( K. D. Gupta )

Additional Chief EngineerPHED, Region, Kota

“SAVE WATER – SAVE LIFE”

DIPR/C/4604/2020

NANDAGOPALRAJANNEWDELHI,JUNE24

THE PANDEMIC lockdown inIndiahasunlockednewconsum-erbehavioursthatwillimpacton-line retail andbepivotedaroundthe smartphone, Facebook Indiaand Boston ConsultingGroup’s(BCG) industry report onMobilePhones, FMCG, andApparel hasshown. In themobile segment,there is a clear trend towardslarger digitisation of purchasesandexperiences,thestudyfound.With themobile phone be-

comingmore essential in dailylivesofconsumers,38percentre-spondents suggested theywillspendmoreonthecategoryinthe

comingmonths.However,thede-creasedspendingpowerpromp-tedto29percenttosaytheywillcutspendsonphonesandmaybeoptforacheapervariant.The study also found that as

consumerswere triggered to re-place their existing phones, atleast “70 per cent of urban con-sumersformobilesexpectedtobedigitally influenced”, up froma

highof 60per centbefore. Socialdistancingwillalsomakemoreofthemopt for online researchbe-fore apurchase, evenas the “im-portance of pricing as a choicedrivertogoup”byaround25percent inwhat is already a valueconsciousmarket.Evenamong those looking to

increasespendsinthesegments,59per cent “may trade down intheir choiceof purchase/look foroffersanddeals”.“Mobileasacategoryhashad

ashighonlineaffinityand38percent ofmobile phones arebeingpurchasedonline.Thiswillgoupfurther as this thing plays out,”VikashJain,wholeadsBCG’sTech-nology,Media&TelecompracticeinIndia,told indianexpress.com.

‘Concerned’ over Chinese shipments,India-based US cos seek DPIIT help

‘Passengers wanting to fly toDubai need specific clearance’ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE24

DAYSAFTER theDubai adminis-tration allowed residency visa-holdersandtouriststoarriveintotheemirate, flag carrierAir IndiasaidthattheUnitedArabEmirates(UAE) aviation regulator has notallowedpassengers to fly to thecountryonrepatriationflights.Thosewhowish to travel on

theseflights,AirIndiasaid,wouldneedaspecificapprovalfromtheEmbassyofUAEinNewDelhiandtheUAEMinistryofForeignAffairsandInternationalCooperation.“...allpassengersincludingthe

IndianNationalswhoareholdingvalid Residency Permit/WorkPermit of UnitedArab Emiratesand have procured approval oftheUAE’s Federal Authority forIdentity and Citizenship-UAE(ICA) of UnitedArabEmirates oran approval from the GeneralDirectorate of Residency andForeigners Affairs applicable toDubaiwouldneedtohavespecificapprovalfromtheEmbassyoftheUnited Arab Emirates in NewDelhi and their UAEMinistry ofForeignAffairs and InternationalCooperation to travel from IndiatoUnitedArabEmirates(UAE)onthese repatriation flights,” anAirIndiaspokespersonsaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE24

INDIA’S BORDER disputewithChinahasbecomeacauseforcon-cernforAmericanfirmsmanufac-turinghere,whoarefeelinganim-pactonavailabilityofcomponentsusually shipped fromtheir facili-tiesintheneighbouringcountry.In a letter toDepartment for

Promotionof IndustryandInter-nalTrade(DPIIT)secretaryGuru-prasadMohapatra,agrouprepre-senting someof these firms saidtheywere “increasingly concer-ned” that component parts andother inputs “necessary” to theirmanufacturing operations herewerebeingdetainedattheports.“Members report thatDGFT

and Customs authorities haveabruptly halted the clearance ofindustryconsignmentscomingin

fromChina (and perhaps otherdestinations)atmostmajorportsandairports in India. To thebestof our knowledge, no formal or-ders issued by the governmenthavebeensharedwiththepublic,neither has any specific reasonbeen provided as towhy theseconsignments are not beingcleared,”statedUS-IndiaStrategicPartnershipForum(USISPF)pres-identandCEODrMukeshAghiintheletterdatedJune23.Thelackoftransparency in this process“threatens” business continuityandis“disruptive”tomanufactur-ingoperationshere,itfurtherread.“Whilst we support India’s

ambitiontoexpanditsmanufac-turing capability, we are con-cernedabouttherepercussionsanunanticipated embargo on theimportofgoodsfromneighbour-ingcountrieswillhaveonthesup-plychainandmanufacturing.This

will sendachillingsignal to fore-igninvestorswholookforpredic-tabilityandtransparency,”itsaid.Aghihassoughtrestorationof

port operations or, “at a mini-mum”,thatthegovernmentpub-lishanychange inportpolicy “toprovidethebusinesscommunitywith the visibility they need tofunction.” The Indian Express re-ported on June 23 that importconsignmentsfromChinaatportssuchasChennaiandMumbaiarelearnt to be facinghurdles,withclearances being held upby theIndianCustomsauthorities.Thedisruptioninclearancesis

reported to have emerged overthelastfortnight,evenastherearenowrittenor verbal instructionsfrom the customs authorities ortheCBIC.ItisunderstoodthattheCustomsauthoritieshavehintedatdelayswithout citing any spe-cificreasontoimporters.

Pandemic pushing digitisation of mobilepurchases, experiences: FB-BCG report

Thereportsaidthereisacleartrendtowardsalargerdigitisationofpurchasesandexperiences

Emirates to fly A380 fromDubai to London, Paris againNewDelhi:Withsignsofrisingairtraffic demand on its network,Dubai-basedairlineEmiratessaiditwill resumeflyingAirbusA380superjumbo aircraft on routessuchasDubai-LondonandDubai-Paris, in addition to restartingflightstoDhakaandMunich.“TheA380remainsapopular

aircraft amongst our customersand it offers many unique on-board features.Wearedelightedto bring it back into the skies to

serveourcustomerson flights toLondonandParisfrom15July,andwearelookingforwardtogradu-allyintroduceourA380intomoredestinations according to thetravel demandon specific desti-nations,” Emirates COOAdel AlRedhasaid.Themovecomescloseontheheelsof theDubaiadmin-istrationallowingresidencyvisa-holderstoarriveintotheemirateJune 22onwards and tourists tovisit July7onwards. ENS

Hindujabrothers in UKHigh Court overletter dispute

ADITIKHANNALONDON,JUNE24

UK-BASEDHINDUJAbrothersarelockedinalegaldisputeintheHighCourtinEnglandovertheirbillion-aire familyassets, it emerged inaruling in London. The case hasbeenbroughtbySrichandParma-nandHinduja,84,describedasthe“patriarch”of the family, againstbrothersGPHinduja,80,PPHind-uja,75,andAPHinduja,69,andre-volvesaroundthe“validityandef-fect”ofaletterdatedJuly2,2014.The letter includes

statements to the effect that thebrothers appoint each other astheir executors, and that assetsheld inanysinglebrother’snamebelongtoallfour. PTI

BRIEFLYPAN-AadhaarNewDelhi: The Centre ex-tendeddeadline for linkingAadhaarwithPANtillMarch31nextyear. PTI

YogaDayatNFLNewDelhi:National Fertili-zersLtd (NFL)observed6thInternationalYogaDay.

PompeoonJioNewDelhi:US Secretary ofStateMikePompeo,onTwi-tter, called Indian telcoReliance Jio a “clean telco”for rejecting Chinese ven-dors todeploy5G, and thatworld’s leading telcoswerebecoming“Clean”. ENS

AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,JUNE24

WITHTHECentre rollingoutfreshexpenditurerationalisa-tion plans for the July-Septemberquarter,thecurtail-mentofgovernmentspendingto levels far lower thanwhatwas budgeted for this fiscalraises freshconcerns that theeconomic recovery processcould get more drawn out.While the cut in budgetedspendingispresumablybeingdone to allowenoughhead-roomtodovetail thestimuluspackageanouncedlastmonth,economists point to severalkeyelementsof the stimuluspackage suchas thedistribu-tionof funds toMicro, SmallandMediumEnterprisesun-der the 100% EmergencyCreditLineGuaranteeSchemestruggling to takeoff, therebyworseningthe impactof gov-ernmentexpediturecompres-sionthatisunderway.Alongsidetheredflagsover

growth,concernsbeingraisedover the likelihood of debt-GDP ratio breaching the no-tional red line of 80per centfromthecurrentlevelofabout70percentisnowbeingques-tioned by economists, whopointtotheperilsofbeingsolefocussedonthedebtnumbersratherthantheimmediatetaskofrekindlingGDPgrowth.FormerChiefStatisticianof

IndiaPronabSensaiddebtsus-tainability always remains aconcern,butholdingdownthedebtlevelsshouldnotcompro-miseonGDPgrowthforwhichgovernmentexpenditureises-sential. “Holding the debtdowninasituationwheretheGDP is low,maybecontinuesin thenegative, doesn’t helpyou.Youcanstill becomeun-sustainable.Soit’sacall. If I in-creasemydebt stock, not theratio, then if the GDP startsgrowing strongly, itwill be-come sustainable. But thewhole issue of debt sustain-abilityisalong-termprocess...Peoplearetalkingabout80percent.Thereisnosuchnumber.Thenumber really has to dowhatthenominalGDPwouldbedoingovera longperiodoftime. If byholdingdown thedebt, the GDP growth getscompromised, thenyoumaybemovinginthewrongdirec-tionaltogether,”hesaid.The government’s fiscal

stimulus in thewake of theCOVID-19pandemichasbeenrestrainedwith limited cashoutgo, a factorwhich econo-mists saidhasbeendrivenbytheconcernsofthedebtlevels,possibilityof exceeding fiscaldeficittargetbyahugemarginandtheconsequentactionsbyratingagencies.However, theeconomic costs of reining indebtarebeingseenashigh intermsof unemploymentandlossof livesandlivelihood.Schemesthatwerepartof

the stimulus package arestruggling to take off, withbanksmanagingtodisbursealittle over 7 per cent of theamountearmarkedunderthis

headoverthelastonemonth.Governmentspendinghas

to increase substantially, Sensaid,addingonceeconomyre-coversandprivateinvestmentstartspickingup,thenthegov-ernmentcould start the fiscalconsolidation.“Thenyoubringdown the fiscal deficit, andstart loweringyourdebt-GDPratio. But tohangaroundandhope that the economybot-tomsoutbyitself,itmayworkin the long term, but the in-terimcostsintermsofemploy-ment,people’slivelihoods,per-hapseven lives couldbeverylarge.So,whatismoreimpor-tant,debtsustainabilitywhichis somethingwhichwill hityoumuch later in timeor thetragedy that’s playingout to-day,”hesaid.Anaggressive fiscalpolicy

is the need of the hour andsincetherevenueslippagees-timatesarealreadyhigh,fiscaldeficit is anywaygoing togetpushedtosignificantlyhigherlevels, said SBI’sGroupChiefEconomic Adviser SoumyaKantiGhosh.“Itisnottherighttimetohavediscussionsaboutthe ideal debt-GDP ratio. Ofcourseitwilldeteriorate.Nowit’saround72percent,itcouldgobeyond80percent,a largepartof thatwouldbebecauseof GDP decline. We shouldnow instead think aboutgrowthnumbers,”Ghoshsaid.Ghoshaddedtherevivalof

economy is60-70per centofthe sub-optimal level that itwas alreadyoperating at be-fore thepandemic. “There istalkaboutV-shapedrecovery.Thiscouldbeastatisticalarte-fact,ifthecountryexperiencessaya5percentcontractionthisyear, next year the economycangrow6-7percentbutthatwill only take it back towhatwould have been the 2020level.Weexpecttheeconomytoundergoa swoosh shapedrecovery,”hesaid.India’s fiscalmetricshave

worsened sharply, the gov-ernment’s expenditure re-straint notwithstanding, dueto the impact of the sharpgrowth slowdown on rev-enue, public-sector debtnumbersandthefiscaldeficit.Morethanthedeficit,though,rating agencies arewatchingthedeteriorationofIndia’sfis-calmetricsin‘thecontextofaprolongedordeepslowdowningrowth’,which “would in-vite a ratingsdowngrade”, asMoody’swarnedintheirnoteon May 8. The IMFWednesdayprojected a con-tractionof4.5percentfortheeconomyin2020.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

COVID IMPACTTHE FISC

Challenge to economicrecovery: Govt curbingexpenditure to createheadroom for dovetailingstimulus package

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE24

INORDER toprotect depositors’interests, the government ap-proved plans to bring all urbanandmulti-statecooperativebanksunderthedirectsupervisionoftheReserveBankof India (RBI), em-poweringthecentralbanktoreg-ulate these on the lines of com-mercialbanks.TheUnionCabinetWednesdayapprovedpromulga-tionofanOrdinancetothiseffect.“Inourcountrythereare1482

urbancooperativesbanksandand58multi-Statecooperativebanks,They have been brought underRBIsupervisionprocess,whichisapplicable to scheduled banks.Depositorswillgetmoresecuritybecause of today’s decision,”Information and BroadcastingMinister Prakash Javadekar said

while briefingmedia about theCabinetdecisions.Thesebankshaveadepositor

baseof8.6crore,whohavesaveda huge amount of Rs 4.84 lakhcrorewith these banks, and thisdecisionwill provide safety on

their deposits he said. Thedeci-sioncomesinthebackdropoftheRBI imposing restrictions onde-positwithdrawal at the PunjabandMaharashtra CooperativeBanks andmanyother coopera-tivebanksfailinginrecentperiod.Unlikeinthecaseofcommer-

cialbanks,theRBItillnowhasnopowers to draw up an enforce-ableschemeofreconstructionofaco-operativebank.TheCabinethad in February approvedamendment to BankingRegulationActtostrengthenco-operative banks and avoid PMCBank like crisis after an an-nouncement wasmade in theBudget2020-21tothiseffect.Currently, these banks come

underdual regulationof theRBIandtheRegistrarofCo-operativeSocieties, resulting in regulatoryandsupervisorylapsesatmanyofthesebanks.

In another decision, theCabinet approved a scheme toprovide 2 per cent interest sub-ventiontoShishucategoryofbor-rowersunderthePradhanMantriMUDRAYojana(PMMY),onloansoutstandingasonMarch31,2020.Theseborrowerscanraisecollat-eral free loansof up toRs50,000under the scheme. The interestsubventionwillbeforaperiodof12monthstoeligibleborrowersAbout9.37croreloanaccounts

undertheShishucategorywithatotal loanamountof Rs1.62 lakhcrore were outstanding as onMarch31,aspergovernmentdata.Theinterestreliefwillbepro-

videdonlytothoseShishuloanac-countswhich are notNPA (nonperforming assets). The scheme,estimatedtocostgovernmentRs1,542crore,willbeimplementedthrough the Small IndustriesDevelopmentBankof India.

SANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE24

TAKINGTHEsharpfallinmarketsin the quarter endedMarch 31,2020asanopportunity to invest,retail investors rushed in hugenumberstobuypieceofbluechipcompanies.The10companiesthatwitnessedthehighestadditioninshareholdernumbersduring thequarter added an aggregate ofnearly 30 lakh investors in thecompanies.Thenamesinclude—State Bank of India, RelianceIndustries,HDFCBank,ICICIBankandITCamongothers.Data sourced from nsein-

fobase.com shows thatwhile SBIadded5.89lakhretailinvestorsinthequarter,HDFCBankadded3.78lakhinvestors.RelianceIndustriesandTataMotors added3.13 lakhand2.53 lakhrespectively.ONGC(2.13 lakh), ITC (2.11 lakh), ICICIBank(1.96lakh)tooaddedsignif-icantly.Besidesthese,YesBankandVodafone Idea thatwitnessed asharp fall in their sharepricesonaccountof business concerns re-lating to the company, alsowit-nessed huge inflowof retail in-vestors and the two companiesadded3.78lakhand2.08lakhre-tailinvestors.Retail holding in companies

listedontheNSEwentupduringthequarter from6.42per cent inDecember2019to6.55percentasonMarch31,2020.RIL,whichadded4.2 lakh in-

vestors in theyear endedMarch2020,witnessednet investor ad-ditionforthefirsttimein10years.Thecompany,whichhadsawade-clineinitsinvestorbasefrom35.62lakhintheyearendedMarch2010to 22.11 lakh in the year endedMarch2019, saw it rise to 26.32lakhattheendofMarch2020.Pranav Haldea, MD, Prime

Database,saidretailinvestorsgen-erallyarenotthemostprudentin-vestors. Stating the retail holdingin penny stocks is three timesmorethanFPIsthatretailinvestorsmostly fall for thewrong stock.Stating that the retail holding inpennystocks is three timesmorethanFPIs,Haldeasaid,“UnlikeFPIswho cut losses and exit from acompanythatisonadecline,retailinvestorstendtoholditinthehopethatsomedayitwillrise.Whenthepriceofastockstartsfalling,whileexisting retail investors try toav-erage out their holding, new in-vestorsgetintotimethestockforquick gains andmoreoften theyendupwithlosses.”ReliancePowerandReliance

Communicationsareamong thetop10companiesthathavehighestnumberofretailinvestors.ReliancePower is on topwithover 30.61lakhretailinvestorsandisfollowedbyRILthathas25.41lakhretailin-vestors.Marketplayers saywhileretail investors entered the twocompanieswhentheyweredoingfine, they failed toexitwhen thetideturned,evenasotherinvestorsincludingDIIsandFPIsexitedthem.

CABINETDECISION:2%SUBSIDYTO‘SHISHU’BORROWERSUNDERMUDRAYOJNA

Company Retailshareholders Retailshareholders IncreaseasonDec31, asonMar31, (inlakh)2019(lakh) 2020(lakh)

SBI 18.23 24.11 5.89YESBANK 16.18 19.97 3.78HDFCBANK 8.78 12.56 3.78RIL 22.29 25.42 3.13TATAMOTORS 10.56 13.09 2.53Note:Rise inMarchquarter; source:nseinfobase.com

COSWITHHIGHESTRISE INNO.OFRETAILSHAREHOLDERS

Retail investors shrugoff market volatility,invest in blue chips

Thegovt’s fiscalstimulus inthewakeofthepandemichasbeenrestrainedwithlimitedcashoutgo,a factorthateconomistssaidhasbeendrivenbytheconcernsofdebt levels

E●EXPLAINED

CURRENTLY, URBANandmulti-statecooperativebanksareregulatedbyRBIandRegistrarofCooperativeSocieties,withthecentralbanknothavingpowersthatithasforcommercialbanks.DirectRBIsupervisionandregulationwillprovidecomforttodepositors.

RBIgetsmorepowers

Govtbringsco-opbanksunderRBIsupervisionforbetter regulation

Jaipur

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI, JUNE24

WHENBERGAMO-BASEDAtalanta playedtheir home game against Sassuolo behindcloseddoorsonSundayevening, itmarkedawinning return for the football club fromtheepicentreof Covid-19 in Italy’s Lombardy re-gion. Stefano Fusco, the founder of citizens’groupNoiDenunceremo,whichtranslatesto‘Wewill report’, for bereaved relatives, did-n’tturnonthetelevisiontowatchtheteam’sfirst game innearly fourmonths.The31-year-oldwent tohisbest friend’s

housetocatchupoverdinner.HeadmitsnotbeinganAtalanta loyalistandroots for InterMilan.Fuscodidn’ttuneintoseehisfavouriteclubbeatSampdoriaeither.Every second family in Bergamo,which

registerednearly3,000deaths,haslostsome-onetothepandemic.Fuscoprioritisingtimewith a close friend overwatching a footballgamewasunderstandable. “Ihadn’tmetmyfriendformonths, so itwasgoodtohavegotsome timewithhim,” Fusco says.Of course,heknowsInterwon2-1.Footballisn’taprior-ity for this salesconsultant involved inhelp-ingpeoplegetlegalhelptopetitionofficialstohighlightgovernmentnegligence.The spread of the virus in Bergamo is

linked toanAtalantagame.FansreturningafteraChampionsLeague

match against Valencia at the San Siro inMilan on February 19 are believed to havebeencarriers.A thirdof the townof 1.2 lakhresidentswere reported tohavegone to thegamewhere therewasnosocialdistancing.Fourdayslater,thefirstpositivecasewasre-portedinBergamo.Ittookafortnightforthelockdowntobeenforced in the town.Over13,500peopletestedpositiveandthe

match is nowcalled ‘GameZero’. Health ex-pertshavereferredtoitasa‘biologicalbomb’.Shortly after his grandfatherAntonio testedpositive for the coronavirus anddiedwithintwodays of developing a fever and cough inmid-March,FuscoandhisfamilylaunchedNoiDenunceremo.His father, sister,mother andauntwere the firstmembers. People startedjoiningindroves,withinadaythecommunitygrewto5,000andcurrentlythereare60,000.Earlierthismonth,50peoplefiledpetitionsat

theprosecutor’sofficeinBergamoandanother220 indifferentpartsof Italy. Top lawyersareworking pro bono for members of theFacebookgroupandprosecutors haveques-tionedthecountry’sprimeminister.The pandemic curve has dipped in

Bergamo,yetFuscobelievesit istooearlyforfootball to returnevenbehindcloseddoors.“Well, I disagree with restarting the

championships.FootballinItalyisnotasport,it is a mix between drugs and a religion.Peoplegetveryemotionalwhentheyspeakabout football. I am afraid people whoweren’ttouchedbytheviruscanforgetveryquickly what happened here. The club isplayingreallywellthisyear.Peoplewillstarthugging, partying together, drinking beerfromthesamebottle. I amItalianbut Idon’ttrust Italians. I know itwould be a very bigdanger for all of us,” Fusco tells The IndianExpress,worryingaboutthepossibilityofso-cial distancing going out of thewindow atbarsandrestaurantswhicharenowopen.Sunday’swin is beingprojected as a suc-

courtohelppeopleinBergamoovercomethepain causedby thepandemic. AtalantacoachGianPieroGasperini,whohadhimself testedpositive forcoronavirus, spokeabout football’sabilitytogivejoytothepeople.Entryofspecta-torsattheGewissStadium,Fuscofeels,should

notbeallowedrightaway.Ifhehadhissay,theSerieAwouldhaverestartedonlynextyear.“Therewere30,000ormorepeople from

Bergamoatthestadiumthatnight,”hesaysre-ferringbackto‘GameZero’.“Wewerealreadyin a pandemic emergency situation sinceJanuary31. Idon’tsupportAtalantasoIdidn’tgotothestadiumbutafriendwhowentthereknewtwoguyswhodiedbecauseofCovid19,”Fusco says.Hauntingmemories are too freshforpeople inBergamo tomoveonwithout ashudderwhen thinking about thehorrors ofthepast fewmonths. Fusco,who lives in thecountryside,narratesastoryaboutambulancesirenswhenthepandemicwasatitspeakandcoffinswerebeingstoredinchurchesaroundBergamobecausetheonlycemeterywasfull.

Counting sirens“I am still finding away to describe it. It

was like being in themiddle of thewar andyour enemy is bombing you and you don’tknowwherethenextbombwillfall. Inanor-mal situation, I hear the ambulance once inthree days and during the peak of the pan-demic, I counted up to 128 ambulances inone day, and every time youwent out, forfoodforexample,youdiscoveredsomebodyyouknewwasdeador inhospital,”hesays.HisoctogenariangrandfatherAntoniowas

anaccountantandwashealthyenoughtodrivetwice aweek to the firmhehad set up andpassedontohissonLuca,Fusco’sfather.Antoniowasadmittedat ahospital followinga strokewhenhewas infectedby thevirus.His bodywas taken inacarof a funeralhomeandcre-matedawayfromBergamobecauseofshortageofspace.HisashesarekeptatLuca’shome.“Wecreatedavirtualcommunitywhere

all of our family and friends and relativescould join and share stories about grandpa.Otherpeoplejoinedtooanditwaslikeavir-tual meeting roomwhere everybodywasfree tosharepainandtell thestory.”NoiDenunceremo’scoreteamconsistsof12

members, nine of whomare lawyers fromacrossItaly,includingTurin,Naples,RomeandFlorence.Complaintsandpetitionsarefirstfiledonlinebeforepeopledetailexperiencesaroundthedeathofafamilymember, inordertogiveofficialsasmuchinformationaspossible.Theobjectiveof thecitizens’groupisnot

to point fingers at doctors or hospitals, butaskauthoritiestoinvestigatewhatledtothepandemic spiralling out of hand. The nextdateforhearingpetitionersislikelytobeJuly6andoverathousandtestimonieshavebeencompiled.Fuscoexplainswhymanypeoplebelieveauthoritiesdidn’t react fast enough.“The first case in Bergamo was on

February23but the townwas lockeddownonly onMarch 8. That is twoweeks later,”Fusco says. The nearby town of Codogno inLodi province was quick to act and a lock-downwasimposedonthesamedaythefirstcasewasdetected on February 21. “There isa lotof angeraroundinBergamoandalso inItaly, and the public opinion is that our au-thorities and our government didn’t do toomuch to contain the virus, especially inplaces likeBergamo. For twoweeks, peoplewerefreetomovearoundwithoutsocialdis-tancingandwithoutmasksandthatisprob-ablythecauseofthepandemicwehadhere.”Italy has seen a steady decline in cases

and the number of deaths has fallen to twodigits daily signalling a turnaround in thebattle against Covid-19. In Bergamo, life isgetting back to normalwith shops openingand people heading back towork and so isFusco.“Basicallylifehasrestarted,butpeoplehere are still scared because lots of peoplehave lost familymembers.”

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY, JUNE25,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

R.N.I.No. RAJENG/2015/64747 Vol. IVNo.166PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandprintedatDBPrintSolutions (AunitofDBCorp. Ltd.), BhaskarPrintingPress, Shivdaspura,RailwayCrossing, TonkRoad, JaipurandpublishedatD-54,GroundFloor,ResidentialRoad, SardarPatelMarg,ChomuHouse,C-Scheme, Jaipur -302001 (Rajasthan). Phone:0141-4043972. Fax:01414043973.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector–10,Noida–201301.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingofficephone:0141-4043972.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor :P.Vaidyanathan Iyer * (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct.) Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,

withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

12HowBergamo is picking up the piecesAs football returns to Italiancityworsthitbypandemic, acitizens’group ishelpingpeoplesharegrief

CROSSWORD4153

ACROSS1 Inwhich illnessesarewardedoff? (8)

5 Theymayholdone inaffection(4)

9 Frosted lookseenwhenI’mindebt? (5)

10 Showpartof theevidence incourt (7)

11 See1Down13 Roomforavarietyofprovisions (6)

14 Layouta feast(6)

17 Fightingmanaudibly theworse forshouting?(5,7)

20 Thesespectaclesgiveyoudoublevision(7)

21 Shares thesoup(5)22 Right-mindedman’sessayabout love (4)

23 Outlookshowspromise(8)

DOWN1 and11Across:Rigorousandfleetingreigns?(4,3,4,5)

2 StudentgroupofMarines(7)

3 Apathyshowninaquarrel(12)

4 Maintainsapoint, thoughopposedto it (6)

6 Arevolting individual(5)

7 Gethard ideaschangedorreject them?(3,5)

8 Qualifiedcorn-dealers?(12)

12 Every letter iswritten in it (8)15 It’snotpleasant toseeamutilatedrose (7)

16 It’snotashot in the jug(6)

18 Appealonewayor theother(5)

19 Takeoff skirt if it’snot right (4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Don'texpecteverythingtobeeasy,because itwon'tbe!Onthe

otherhand, if yougetstuckinto life's littleproblemswiththerightmixtureofcompassionanddetermination,youcouldsettleaseriesofdifficultiesatastroke. Life is likethatsometimes.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)The fact that therecouldbeagradualrelaxationof youroverallmood

doesn'tmean that you shouldlet upyour guard.Whilecertainpeoplewill be allsweetness and light, someindividualswill beout to createhavoc. Steer a careful course,andavoid thetrapssetforothers.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Everythingnowfocusesonyourpersonal life, and ifyouknowwhat's

goodforyou,youwillnipdomesticdiscontent in thebud.Don'tbehardonpeople,butdobe firm, includingwithyourself.A littlebitof disciplineanddeterminationwill enhanceyourchances.

CANCER(June22- July23)Questionsof cashdrift to the frontofyourmind. If youwishtospendthe

dayshopping,oreven justwindow-shopping, that's fairenough.Althoughit looksas ifnecessitiesmakeabetterbuythan luxuries, the importantthing is topamperyourself—andfeelgood.

LEO(July24-Aug23)If youdo feel likesounding off atother people, thenpleasemake

sure youhit the righttarget. If you are able to becompletely saintly, and are in amood topolish your halo,replace resentment andsuspicionwith compassion forthehumanpredicament.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)There's a newset oflunar alignmentsapproaching fastand,when it

does finally arrive, itwillsignify an emotional turning-point. This,more thananything, iswhyyou shouldwelcome change rather thandigging in your heels.There is nothing to fear, just aslong as youkeepyour eye ontheball.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Youshouldbe justalittlemorecautiousaboutmakingsocialcommitments

over thenext fewdays, forwhenitcomesto thecrunchyouwouldratherbebyyourself. It's all aquestionofpickingandchoosing,andhangingoutwiththepeoplewhomakeyoufeel fine.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Don'tbebashfulaboutbeingself-centred. If youdon'tpromoteyourown

interestswhenyouhavethechance,you'llbenousetopartnersatother times.Romance is theoneareawhereyoushouldputothers' feelingsfirst, justas longasyoudon't letthemwalkalloveryou.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)It'snotwhathappenstoyouthat's importantasmuchaswhataction

youtakeonyourownbehalf.This is thereforeoneof thosetimeswhenyoucanalter theworldaroundyoubyrearrangingyouropinions,strangeas itmayseem.Animprovement inattitudenowleads toachange inactiondowntheroad.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Clear thedecksofoutstandingemotionalbusiness,ready forapositive

endtoan intimatephase.Dealwithpersonal frustrationsandfinancialpassions today,anddon't letotherpeoplepushyou intosayinganythingyou'll regret.And if you'rewaiting foranapology,don'tholdyourbreath.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Thereare timeswhentheemotionalcurrentknocksyousideways,butyou

haveyour feetplanted firmlyonthegroundat themoment.Youshouldthereforebeable topickyourself up—andevenfeelbetter for theexperience. In thebackground,bytheway, familyresponsibilitiesarebuildingup.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Thisshouldbearoutinesortof aday,whichmaynotsoundterribly

exciting.Butsometimes it'snicetosurroundyourselfwiththefamiliar. If youcankeepyourattention focusedonessentialactivities,you'll createspace forfulfillingyour favouritepleasures lateron.

SUDOKU4150

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

DifficultyLevel1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;3s=Medium;4s=Hard;5s=VeryHard;6s=Genius S

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4149

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Peopleseldombecomefamousforwhatthey__untilaftertheyarefamousforwhatthey've___-CullenHightower(3,.,4)

SOLUTION:ELAND,SWOOP,HINGED,HOMILYAnswer:Peopleseldombecomefamousforwhattheysayuntilaftertheyarefamousforwhatthey'vedone-CullenHightower

LADEN EGHIDN

OPWOS HILMOY

SolutionsCrossword4152:Across: 1Headlines,8Opera,9Freeman,10Scheme,11Plight,12Improved,15Optional,18Yachts,20Acacia,21Clarets,22Radii,23Nectarine.Down:2Enrol,3Dredge,4Inaction,5Soccer,6Reserve,7Calendars,11Putonairs,13Polyglot,14Strands,16Origin,17Scorer,19Titan.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

@indianexpress.com

JWALAGUTTAandASHWINIPONNAPPA tellShivaniNaikhowtheymadebadmintondoubleshistory for India

THOSEMONTHS,THOSEMINUTESForced intoanunprecedented lockdown, sport is staringat anunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiven thecountry reasons to rejoice in thepast.

Noplantoreducespending: RijijuNewDelhi:SportsministerKirenRijijuassuredthenationalsportsfederationsonWednesdaythat‘thereisnoplantoreducespendsonanyof theverticals’.Rijiju’scomment,madeonhisTwitterhandle, came a day after The IndianExpressreportedabout theminister’smeetingwithfederationchiefswherethe issue of salary cuts of foreigncoachescameupfordiscussion.Aseniorfederationrepresentative

present at themeeting had told thispaper that the ideawas put on holdafter the federation representativesraised fears that a pay cutmight re-sult in a mass exodus of coaches. ASportsMinistryofficial,presentatthemeeting, toohadconfirmedthis.Reacting to the report, Rijiju

tweeted:“Thenewsisincorrect.Thereisnoplan to reduce spendsonanyoftheverticals.All futuredecisionswillbemadekeepingthebestinterestsofall stakeholders inmind& in discus-sionwithNSFs. I conveyed toNSFs inyesterday'sVC.”

MohdHafeeztestsnegativeforCovid-19Karachi: Former Pakistan captainMohammedHafeezhas testednega-tive forCOVID-19, adayafter thePCBfoundhimpositiveforthedeadlyvirusaheadoftheteam'smuch-anticipatedtour of England. Hafeez andWahabRiazwereamongthe10Pakistanplay-ers,whotestedpositive forCOVID-19on Tuesday. The team is due to leavefor England on Sunday for a Test andT20 series inAugust. OnWednesday,Hafeez took to twitter and clarifiedthatheandhis familymembershavetested negative and also posted themedical report to back his claim. ThePakistanCricketBoardsaiditwasverydisappointedwiththeseniorplayer."Ispoke to Hafeez today and Imade itcleartohimourdisappointmentatthewayhehadhandledthisentireaffair,"PCB CEO Khan told the Cricket BaazYouTubechannelonWednesday.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE/PTI

BRIEFLY

(L-R)Playersobserveaminute’s silencebeforeAtalanta’s firstSerieAmatch inBergamo, theepicentreof thepandemic in Italy, after the lockdownwaseased;StefanoFuscowithhis lategrandfatherAntonio inhappier times.AP/StefanoFusco

Recognition forNSFs on holdafter HC rapssports ministryPRITAMPALSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE24

THEPROVISIONALrecognitiongrantedto54National Sports Federations (NSFs) will be‘recalled’ after the Delhi High Court, onWednesday, expressed its displeasure overthe manner in which the sports ministrywentabout theprocess.A bench comprising Justice Hima Kohli

and Justice NajmiWaziri confronted thesportsministry’s counsel with its February7 order, inwhich it had directed the IndianOlympicFederation(IOA)aswellasthemin-istry tonot take adecision in relation to thefederationswithout informing thecourt.Observingthat‘inteethoftheorderdated

February 7, 2020,MYAS (Ministry of YouthAffairsandSport)hasonitsownproceededtoprovisionallyrenewtheannualrecognitioninrespectof54federations’,thebenchaskedthesportsministry to ‘issuea freshnoticewithintwodaysintimatingall54NSFsconcernedthatits order giving provisional renewal tillSeptember30,2020,standsrecalled.’Theannualrecognitionfromtheministry

isofhighimportanceforthefederations,es-peciallythesmallerones,astheylargelyde-pendonthegovernmentforfundingtoman-age their everyday expenses. Citing thecoronavirus outbreak and the consequentlockdownasthereason, thesportsministryhad renewed the recognition of 54 federa-tionstillSeptember30.Thecourt'sdirectionwas based on an application filed by thesportsministry, seeking certain directions.TheapplicationwasmovedinapendingPILby sports activist and lawyer RahulMehra,whosoughtproperregulationandcontrolinthe functioningof numerous federations.Central government’s standing counsel

Anil Soni, appearing for the sportsministry,conceded before the court that the said or-derhasnotbeencompliedwith.Thecounselsubmittedthattheministrymaybepermit-ted to withdraw the decision taken alongwith the present application. Allowing thesame, thebenchrecorded in itsorder that itis refrainingfromimposinganycostsontheMYASfor thepresent.

Jaipur