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JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

‘GAMEOFWHOBLINKSFIRST… ITWON’TBEMYMOTHER’ILTIJAMUFTIDAUGHTEROFMEHBOOBAMUFTI

THE EXPRESSINTERVIEW

P6

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI, JULY28

THEY ARE calling. FromWestBengal, UP, Bihar, Karnataka,evenKerala,andofcourseDelhi.Almost every call carries a toneofdesperation—andthisrefrain:“I will handle whatever workyouwantmeto,pleasehireme.”Withintwodaysof theDelhi

government launching a newjobportal— jobs.delhi.gov.in—torevive the local economy fromits Covid slump, it’s a virtualstampede for slots, say severalemployers.ByTuesdayevening,thepor-

tal had logged 1.89 lakh job-seekers for 1 lakh openingsposted by 4,294 employersacross32categories.The platform connects job-

seekers and employers, whohavetoregistertheircontactde-tails, through phone orWhatsApp.AndAbhishekWadhwa,who

wantsworkerstorestarthisjeansmanufacturingunitineastDelhi’sGandhi Nagar, says “the phonejustdoesnotstopbuzzing”.“Igotcallsandenquirieseven

fromWestBengal. Inour sector,men engaged in stitching aremostly from UP and Bihar.During the lockdown, out of

about 35 workers, only sevenstayed,” saysWadhwawho putupanoticefor10-15openingsatWadhwaGarments.“We have 50 openings for

labourers.Buteversinceweputup a notice on the portal, wehave been inundated withcalls...from as far as Karnatakaand Kerala. Therewere 10 callsfromKerala.Theworkerswese-lect will be paid between Rs12,000andRs18,000permonthand put up in hutments at thesite,”saysBablooMishra,whoishandlinglabourrecruitmentforHari Construction, which is en-gaged in work on a flyover insouth-westDelhi’sDwarka.

Officials say that while thecapital’s economy is unlocking,businesses are struggling to getbackontheir feet intheabsenceof workers. According to ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal, wholaunchedtheportalMonday,theaim is to bridge the divide be-tween job-seekers and job-givers.Officials also point to a sec-

tor-wise break-up of openings,which shows thatmost are fordata entry, constructionwork,foodjoints,driversandgarmentsmanufacturing--manyof themsectors dominated bymigrantworkers who left Delhi during

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Amongjob-seekers,mostpostingsontheportalhavebeenmadeunder“backoffice/dataentry”. File

On Delhi portal, job-seekers call in from Bengal to Kerala

EXPRESSNETWORK

NC LEADER AGASYEDRUHULLAHQUITSASSPOKESPERSONPAGE6

COUNTDOWNTOAUGUST5

Commentsbyotherauthoritiesinterferewithourmandate:EC

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JULY28

THEELECTIONCommission(EC)on Tuesday took exception toLieutenant Governor (L-G) GCMurmu’s recent comments inthemediaonthetimingofpollsin JammuandKashmir (J&K).The Commission issued a

stronglyworded statement as-serting that all decisions on theconduct and timingof electionsare its “sole remit”.The poll panel was reacting

to a series ofmedia inter-views given byMurmuoverthelast week. In aninterviewtoTheTribune, the L-Gsaidelections tothe J&KAssemblywould be heldaftertheconclu-sion of the de-limitation exer-cise.

Responding to a question onreviving political activity in J&K,MurmutoldtheHindustanTimes,“TheECisthecompetentauthor-ity to takea call ondelimitation.Except Covid, I don’t see anyprobleminholdingelections”.Toasimilarquestion,hetold

The Indian Express that theCovid-19 outbreakmarred theefforts to conduct panchayatelections in J&K. On theAssembly election, he said,“Secondpart is that thedelimi-tationcommittee is alreadyap-pointed, now delimitationwillstart. The Assembly electionsshould also come simultane-ously or after that. So, this par-allelworkisgoingon. Ithinkthis

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

THEPORTALaimstoplugtwokeygaps inthe localeconomyonasingleplat-form. Ithelps tradersandsmallbusinessesreopenbyreconnectingthemtotheworkforce,andgen-eratesemployment forreturningmigrantwork-ersandlocal residentswholost their jobs intheCovid lockdown.

PluggingthegapsE●EX

PLAINED

Ahead of military talks,China claims troops havedisengaged at most sites

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, JULY28

A SERO-SURVEY conducted inMumbaishowedthatmorethanhalf the people, or 57 per cent,tested in slums had been ex-posedtoanddevelopedantibod-ies against SARS-CoV-2 virus ascompared toonly16per centofthose tested in residential soci-eties. The survey, conducted by

the Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation in three wards ofMumbai, was done on 6,936people – 61 per cent of themslum-dwellers and the remain-ing39percent inresidentialso-cieties.The survey also found that

morewomenthanmenhadde-velopedantibodies.Amongpeo-pleinslums,59.3percentof the2,297 women tested, and 53.2percentof the1,937mentested

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Delhi riots murder accused was a 2008murder convict out on bail: chargesheetKAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, JULY28

LOCAL BUSINESSMANNareshTyagi, one of the 16 accused inthemurderof48-year-oldsocialworker Parvez during theDelhiriots,wasconvictedsixyearsagofor murder and got a life sen-tence,court recordsreveal.

OnFebruary25thisyear,whenTyagi, according to thechargesheet filed by the DelhiPolice, joined a rioting mob inBhajanpura,hewasonbailgrantedbytheAllahabadHighCourt.Parvez succumbed to a gun-

shot injury in the right chest;Tyagi hasbeenbooked formur-derandrioting.TheDelhiPolicechargesheet

mentions his earlier convictionand the bail granted by theAllahabadHigh Court. That bailitself hadbeena subject of con-troversy.Thatcaserelatestothekilling

of a resident in Baghpat onDecember 17, 2008. Courtrecords said thevictimwasshotwhile hewas going to purchase

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

TestingatShivajiNagar inMumbai.GaneshShirsekar

Higher share in slums exposed to virusthan in societies: Mumbai sero survey

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR, JULY28

THE IMPASSE between theAshok Gehlot government andGovernor KalrajMishra contin-uedonTuesdayasthestatecab-inetsentanotherrecommenda-tiontoRajBhavan—thethird insixdays—stickingtoitsdemandfor calling an Assembly sessionon July31.This comes a day after

Mishra sought a revised pro-posaladdressingthreepoints:a21-day notice for calling a ses-sion, live broadcast of the pro-ceedings in case of a trust vote,and adequate social distancingmeasures in theHouse.Hehad,however,saidthat“if

thegovernmentwants toseekatrustvote,thenthiscanbearea-sonablebasisforcallingasessionon short notice”. But, he said,while the Gehlot government’scomments, as reported in themedia,makeitclearthatitwantsa trustvote, ithasn’tmentionedthis in itsproposal.The state government, in its

fresh recommendation, has re-

fused tomentionwhether it isseekingatrustvote.SourcestoldThe Indian Express that the gov-ernment has said that theagenda of the House is decidedby the Business AdvisoryCommittee (BAC).“Regarding how a trust vote

is to be held, whether it is to berecordedetc. all that is tobede-cidedbytheSpeakertoo,”saidasource.The Speaker is the ex-officio

chairman of the BAC, which in-cludesmembersfromtherulingpartyandOpposition.Section 22 under Chapter 6

of the Rules of Procedure andConductofBusinessofRajasthanAssembly says: “On days allot-tedforthetransactionofgovern-ment business, such businessshallhaveprecedenceandthe

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Gehlot govt sticks todemand for July 31House session, still nomention of trust vote

Childrenof theBakarwalcommunityattendschoolatDoodpathri inBudgam.Thegovernment isholdingopen-airclasses forchildrenofnomadic tribes.. ANI

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Centre to SC: Need toverify L-G statement onno objection to 4G


THECENTREonTuesdaysoughttimefromtheSupremeCourttoverify Jammu and KashmirLieutenant Governor G CMurmu’s statement favouringrestoration of 4G internet serv-ices in theUnionTerritory.The Indian Express reported

onJuly26that the J&Kadminis-tration has told the UnionMinistry of HomeAffairs that itdoes not have any objection torestoring4G internet services.

“We have beenmaking (a)representation for this… I feelthat 4Gwill not be a problem. Iam not afraid (of) how peoplewill use this. Pakistanwill do itspropaganda,whether it is 2Gor4G. Itwill alwaysbethere…ButIdon’tseeanissue,”MurmutoldThe IndianExpress lastweek.Raising thematter before a

bench headed by Justice N VRamana on Tuesday, SeniorAdvocate Huzefa Ahmadi, ap-pearing forNGOFoundation forMedia Professionals, said: “TheLieutenant Governor hasmade

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

THEEDITORIALPAGE

PRESIDENTXI’SLONGGAMEBY VIJAYGOKHALEPAGE10

Oneof thefiveRafale jets,headedto India fromFranceonMonday,beingrefuelledmid-air. Tweetedby IAF, viaPTI

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JULY28

FOURDAYS afterNewDelhi an-nouncedthatIndiaandChinahadagreed on “early and completedisengagement”alongtheLineofActualControl inLadakh,BeijingTuesday said border troops ofbothcountries“havedisengagedinmostlocalities”followingclosecommunicationviamilitaryand

diplomaticchannels.Therewasnoofficialconfirma-

tionor response fromeither theIndiangovernmentor the IndianArmy to the Chinese ForeignMinistry’sstatementaheadofthefifthroundoftalks,likelylaterthisweek, between CorpsCommandersofthetwoarmies.The Chinese reluctance to

stepback fromPangongTsohasstalled the disengagement

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

(Political)vacuumtemporary,hehadtoldExpress

THEWORLD

W.H.O. SAYSCOVID‘ONEBIGWAVE’, NOTSEASONALPAGE15

148DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Delhi■TamilNadu■Karnataka■AndhraPradesh

7 DAYS EARLIER:

2.43NOW:

2.25

7 DAYS EARLIER:

8.03NOW:

8.56

DETECTED TODAY

47,704RECOVERED TODAY:

35,176

TOTALCASES3,83,7231,31,2192,20,7161,01,4651,02,349

DOUBLINGRATE**26.7885.6121.7311.977.47

SURGEIN24HOURS7,9246136,9935,3246,051

7-DAYAVGGROWTH*2.69%0.84%3.31%6.01%9.64%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:14,83,156TESTS: 1,73,34,885 | DOUBLING RATE: 19.81**

RECOVERED:9,52,743DEATHS:33,425

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

DataasonJuly27, releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch, trendsbasedondailynumbersare indicative,notdefinitive

CASE FATALITYRATIO

Deaths as a ratio ofpositive cases (in %);indicator of progressin averting deaths

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANMUMBAI, JULY28

MEHBOOBAMUFTI’Scontinueddetention was intended to“break her” and to force her toaccept the “disempowerment”of Jammu & Kashmir that hadtaken place on August 5, 2019,thedaughterof theformerChiefMinister, Iltija Mufti, told TheIndian Express in an interviewfromSrinagar.“It iskindofunderstoodthat

if shewants to get out, her free-dom is contingent on her nottalking about Article 370. Nowit’sbecomeagameofwhoblinksfirst. But thebadnews for them

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Iltija Mufti: Mymother not freeas she will speakfor the people

DEEPTIMANTIWARY,ARANYASHANKAR&SADAFMODAKNEWDELHI,MUMBAI, JULY28

IN THE 12th arrest in the ElgarParishadcaseofDecember2017,the National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Tuesday tookintocustodyDelhiUniversityas-sociateprofessorHanyBabuMT.Babu,whoiswiththeuniver-

sity’sDepartmentofEnglish,wasputunderarrestafterthreedaysof questioning inMumbai. In astatement,theNIAsaid“accusedHany Babu MusaliyarveettilTharayilwas propagatingNaxalactivities andMaoist ideologyandwas a co-conspirator withother arrested accused (in theElgarParishadcase)”.The 54-year-old associate

professor had been deliveredsummonson July 14 for appear-ancebeforetheinvestigatingoffi-cer inMumbai, the next day. HearrivedonJuly24forquestioning.Babu’s wife Jenny Rowena,

whoteachesatDelhiUniversity’sMirandaHouse,calledhisarresta “a joke and farce”. “Someoffi-cer calledme around 5 pm andsaid Hany Babu was being ar-rested. I asked if I could talk tohim,buttheyrefused.Thisarrestis ridiculous,” shesaid.NIA officials claim to have

proof of Babu’s linkswith otheraccusedinthecasesuchasRonaWilson. In September 2019,Babu’s home in NCR had beensearched by the Pune police,which first registered a case inthematter. It had booked Babuunder charges of sedition andtaken away two laptops, amo-bilephoneandpendrivesalongwith twobooks.The Pune police claimed to

have recovered a letter fromWilson, arrested fromDelhi inJune2018, inwhichasuspected

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DU prof isthird arrestby NIA inElgar case

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA, JULY28

ACTORSUSHANTSinghRajput’sfather has filed an FIR in Patnaagainst actor Rhea Chakrabortyand five others, including threeofherfamilymembers,forabet-

mentof suicide,police said onTuesday.Inspector

General ofPolice, PatnaCentral, SanjaySingh con-firmed that theFIRwas filed onSaturday.“Mysonwas

at the peak of his acting careertillMay2019.Duringthatperiod,Rhea and her relatives devel-oped an acquaintancewithmyson,underadeliberateconspir-acy,sothatRheacouldestablishherself in the film industry and

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Rhea’skinalsonamed

HanyBabuaccusedoflinkswiththosenamedearlier

EXPRESSNETWORK

GEHLOTBROTHERTOLDTOAPPEARBEFOREEDTODAYPAGE5

J&KONEYEARAFTER

AUGUST5AN EXPRESS SERIES

EC frownsonJ&KL-G talk of electiontiming, says poll decisions its ‘remit’

Sushant’s fatherfiles FIR againstactor’s friend forabetting suicide

New Delhi

4G, elections(political)vacuumistemporary.”OnthetimingoftheAssembly

polls, he said, “The ElectionCommission has to take a deci-sion,whethertheywilldoitasperearlier delimitation, or theywillworkasperthenewdelimitation.Ihopethatbytheturnofthisyear,somekindofprocesswillstart.”Such statements, the EC said

in itsTuesday's statement, inter-feredwithitsmandate.“Itwouldbe proper for authorities otherthantheElectionCommissiontorefrain frommaking such state-ments which virtually tanta-mount to interferingwith theConstitutional mandate ofElectionCommission.”Elaboratingonthefactorsthat

go into deciding an electionschedule,thepollpanelsaid,“TheCommissiontakesintoconsider-

ation all the relevant factors in-cludingtopography,weather,sen-sitivities arising out of regionaland local festivities in thearea(s)wheretheelectionistotakeplace.Forexample,inthecurrenttimes,Covid 19 has introduced a newdynamic, which shall be takenintoconsideration.”“In the instant case, the out-

comeofDelimitation is alsoger-mane to the decision. Similarly,availability of central forces andrailwaycoaches,etc.forthetrans-portationof CPFs are importantfactors.Allthisisdoneaftermetic-uloushomeworkbytheseniorof-ficials of the Commission and adetailed assessment indue con-sultationwithconcernedauthor-ities. The Commission itselfschedulesavisittotheconcernedState wherever required,” theCommissionfurthersaid.The Commission had simi-

larly objected in 2016when thethen Tamil Nadu Governor KRosaiahhadaskedthepollpanelto hold thepostponed electionsinAravakurichiandThanjavur. Itsaid theGovernor “should haveavoided writing to theCommission”.

Centre to SCa statement that 4G internetshould be restored. Even RamMadhav,whowasthechiefinter-locutor, says internet can be re-

stored. I am only requestingSolicitorGeneralTusharMehtatolookintothis.”“Wewill have to verify this,”

AttorneyGeneralKKVenugopalsaid.MehtaisappearingfortheJ&K

administrationinthematter.The bench, also comprising

JusticesRSubhashReddyandBRGavai,washearingapleaseekingcontemptproceedingsagainstthegovernment. The NGO hasclaimedthatthegovernmentdidnotcomplywiththecourt'sMay11directiontoconstituteaspecialcommittee, to “immediatelyde-terminethenecessityofthecon-tinuation” of limitingmobile in-ternetspeedintheregion.Rejecting theNGO’s claims,

theCentresaidinanaffidavitlastweekthatthespecialcommitteehasmet twice – onMay15 andJune10–anddecidedagainstanyfurther relaxation in restrictionsoninternetservices.Mehta on Tuesday sought

more time to file a reply to theNGO's rejoinder to the govern-ment’s affidavit. The courtgrantedtherequest.Thebenchfirstfixedthehear-

ingforAugust5,butchangedittoAugust7ontherequestofMehta,who saidAugust 5wouldmarkoneyearofthewithdrawalofspe-cialstatustoJ&K.Murmu’s standwas adepar-

turefromthepositionofthegov-ernment.OnMay11, the J&Kadminis-

trationhad sought thedismissaloftheNGO'spleabypointingoutthat high-speed internetwouldenable the spreadof fakenews/rumours, and could be used byterroroutfits.TheCentre, initsaffidavit last

week, also said that “basedon aconsideredandwide-rangingas-sessment”,thespecialcommitteehaddecided that “no further re-laxationof therestrictionsonin-ternetservices... couldbecarriedoutatpresent”.

Military talksprocessanditislikelytobethefo-cus of talks between the CorpsCommanders.In Beijing, Chinese Foreign

Ministry spokesperson WangWenbin said: “As border troopshavedisengaged inmost locali-ties, the situationon thegroundisdeescalatingandthetempera-ture is coming down. Currentlythetwosidesareactivelyprepar-ing for the fifth round of com-mander-leveltalkstoresolveout-standingissuesontheground.WehopetheIndiansidewillworkto-wardsthesamegoalwithChina.”Last Friday, after a virtual

meeting of the WorkingMechanism for Consultation&Coordination on India-China

Border Affairs, NewDelhi saidboth sides agreed on “early andcompletedisengagement”.

Gehlot govtSecretaryshallarrangethatbusi-ness insuchorderasmaybede-terminedbytheHouseontherec-ommendation of the BusinessAdvisoryCommittee.”Section 28(1) says: “A list of

businessforthedayshallbepre-paredbytheSecretary,andacopythereofshallbemadeavailablefortheuseofeverymember.”Citing the Covid pandemic,

Mishra had said that a sessioncannot be called “without anyspecial urgency”. “Fromwhat Iknow, there isno seatingplan toaccommodate all the 200MLAswhilemaintainingsocialdistanc-ing,”hehadsaid.“This,again,istheprerogative

of the Speaker. Hehas the juris-dictionwithinthepremisesoftheHouse.Eventhegovernmentandthe Chief Minister have no in-volvementinit,”sourcessaid.“The Constitution has laid

downtherightsof thePresident,PrimeMinister, Governor andothers.TheGovernorisboundtoaccept the recommendation ofthe Council of Ministers. Heshouldspecifythedate(onwhichhewantstocallanAssemblyses-sion),weare ready for all dates,”said State Transport MinisterPratapSinghKhachariyawas.“TheGovernor is askingwhy

wewant toprovemajority ifwealreadyhavemajority–hedoes-n’t have the right to ask this. Onfour occasions, the sameGovernorcalledanAssemblyses-sion on short notice,”Khachariyawas said, adding thatifMishrareturnsthefile,itwillbesentbacktohimagain.“The Sachin Pilot camp and

BJPneedmore timeand,byask-ing thegovernment togivea21-daynotice,theGovernorisensur-ingthesame,”allegedaCongressleader.

DU professorundercoverMaoistleadermakesmention of a “ComradeH.B” inconnectionwith the “solidaritymovement in support ofComradeSai (GNSaibaba)”. Thepolice said they suspected thatH.BwasHanyBabu.Saibaba is aDelhiUniversity

professor convicted for allegedMaoist links, andBabuhasbeenassociatedwith a committee forhis 'DefenceandRelease'.This is the third arrest since

the NIA took over the ElgarParishadcaseearlierthisyear,af-teractivistsAnandTeltumbdeandGautamNavlakha.Babuhadbeenvocalagainsttheirarrests.Rowena saidwhenBabu re-

ceivedthesummonsaroundtwoweeksago,hehadtoldtheNIAhecouldn't complydue to thepan-demic."Theysaidhewouldgetaweek's extension but hewouldhavetocome.OnFridayhewenttoMumbaiwith just one extrapair of clothes and his mobilecharger,becauseeveryonesaidhewouldjustbequestionedasawit-ness since he was in theCommittee for theDefence andReleaseofGNSaibaba,"shesaid.Rowena said Babu told her

they questioned himabout thecommitteeandafolderonhislap-topwith "highly incriminatingmaterial"."Theysaiditwasa'MyDocuments'folderwithonlyonesubfolder,whichhadletterswrit-tenbyotherpeoplementioninghim, and onewritten byhim tosomeone else. But his (Babu's)'MyDocuments' folder doesnotlook like that. It had subfolderscalled'Life','Love','Linguistics'etc,"saidRowena."He asked them why he

wouldkeepafolderwithsuchin-criminatingmaterial onhis lap-topaftersomanyotherswerear-rested. They then asked him ifRona's(Wilson)assistanthadputit in his laptop, or anyof his stu-dents.Theysaidifhecanexplainhow it was on his laptop, theywouldlethimgo.Buthejustsaiditwasnothisfolder,"sheadded.

Earlier thismonth, the NIAwasgranted90moredaystofileachargesheet against Teltumbdeand Navlakha in the ElgarParishadcase,withaspecialcourtacceptingitspleathatithadfailedto make any "substantiveprogress in the investigation"onaccountof thelockdown.TheNIAisprobingthecharge

that"provocativespeeches"madeat an Elgar Parishad event onDecember31,2017,hadledtothecasteviolenceinBhimaKoregaoninPune thenextday,whichhadlater spread to other parts ofMaharashtra.TheNIAclaimsthatmembers of the Elgar ParishadwereintouchwithseniorMaoistleaders.

WITHINPUTSFROMCHANDANHAYAGUNDE,PUNE

Delhi riotsmedicines.In2014,threepersons,Hari Om, Praveen and NareshTyagiwereheldguiltyofmurder.All three filed a criminal ap-

peal against the conviction. OnApril 4, 2015, Tyagi andPraveenwere granted bail by theAllahabadHighCourt. But HariOm’sbailwasrejectedonJuly21,2015.CourtrecordsaccessedbyThe

IndianExpressshowthat in2015,the complainant in theBaghpatmurder case told theHighCourtthatthepolicehadbeen“favour-ing” the accused, gave “all-outhelptotheaccusedtoescapecon-viction,” and the other accused(Praveen andTyagi) got bail be-causetheywerenotnamedinthechargesheet.This submissionwas placed

on record by the High Courtwhichrejectedthebailplea filedbyHariOmonJuly21,2015.Significantly, in the Parvez

murder case, as reportedby TheIndianExpress,anoffice-beareroftheVHP,amongthosequestionedbypolice,haslodgedacomplaintthat“falsecases”arebeingfoistedon“innocentHindus”.OnApril 9 this year, Devesh

Mishra, VHP vice-president ofYamuna Vihar Vibhaag, wasamong22peoplesummonedbytheCrimeBranchofDelhi PoliceinconnectionwiththeprobeintothemurderofParvez.The samenight, six of them,

includingMishra,were allowedto leave.Mishra claims hewascalledforquestioningonthebasisofa“falsecomplaint”filedbythevictim’s sonSahil Parvez, statingthatMishrawasleadingthemob.Inhisletter,healsomakesspe-

cificmentionofaccusedNaresh:“Naresh Tyagi and his elderbrother Virender Tyagi, alongwith their entire family, at 7:00am, on February 22, left toBaghpatforafamilyfunctionandreturnedat11:00pm.”According to theDelhi Police

chargesheet,however,Tyagiwasidentified as amemberof a riot-ingmobinthearea.

Iltija Muftiis that it's not going to be mymother, it'sgoingtobethembe-cause she's going to stick to herguns," said the32-year-old,wholiveswith the leader of the PDP,whohasbeenchargedunderthePublicSafetyAct,attheirgovern-menthomeinSrinagar,nowdes-ignatedasasub-jail.The BJPwas determined to

"politically incapacitate every-one",allowingonlythosewhoen-dorsed its actions to function inKashmir,Muftisaid.Mufti, who has been vocal

overthelastyearonsocialmedia,saidthathermother'sviewfromthe time the constitutionalchangeswerebeing anticipated,wasthattheBJP'splanwas"todis-empower us, to push theHindutva agenda in the onlyMuslimmajoritystate."People in Kashmir still had

highexpectationsof hermothertofightontheirbehalf, saidMufti. "Theymightresenther,butthey have a lot of love for her.Naraazgi bhi usiseyhoti hai jis sey(You are angry onlywith thosepeoplefromwhom)youhaveex-

pectations... That's the moodamongpeople,thatnowshe'sthelastperson,thereasonwhyshe'sstill notbeenreleased isbecauseshe's the one who is going tospeakforus,"Muftisaid.Shewas certain thatwhen-

ever the former Chief Ministerwas released, shewouldworkwith all the other signatories ofthe August 4 "Gupkar declara-tion", leaders of all political par-ties in J&K, "to remainunited toprotect anddefend the identity,autonomy and special status oftheJKstateagainstallattacksandonslaughtswhatsoever.”Muftisaidthoughshewasnot

under detention, she had beendenied permission to visit hergrandfather'sgrave inAnantnag,andhadtotakepermissionfromthesecurityguardspostedattheirhome any time shewanted tostepoutof thegates.

Sushant’s fatherwithaneyeonSushant'swealth...Hewaslatermadetorentahousethatwashaunted,andthathadanimpact onmy son,” Rajput's fa-ther,KKSingh,hassaidintheFIR.Singh,aretiredengineer,lives

inRajivNagar, Patna. Rajputwasfoundhanging inhis apartmentinMumbaionJune14.The FIRhas been filedunder

IPCSections306(abetmentofsui-cide), 341 (wrongful restraint),342(wrongfulconfinement),380(theft in dwelling house), 406(criminalbreachoftrust)and420(cheating).A police officer said Rajput's

family has also alleged thatChakrabortyusedhiscreditcardsduringaEuropetour.BesidesChakraborty,theoth-

ersnamed in theFIRare threeofherrelatives,IndrajitChakraborty,Sandhya Chakraborty andShobhik Chakraborty, and twoothers — SamuelMiranda andShrutiModi.A four-member teamof the

PatnaPolicehasleft forMumbai.“We have spoken to MumbaiPolicetoseektheircooperation,”saidapoliceofficer.TheMumbaiPoliceisprobing

the alleged suicide case andhasquestionedseveralpeople.InherstatementtotheMumbaiPolice,Chakraborty had claimed thatRajputwasupsetoverthenatureofhiscontractwithaleadingfilmproductionhouse.On July 23, she had sought a

CBIprobeintohisdeath.TaggingUnionHomeMinisterAmitShah,she had tweeted: “I’m SushantSingh Rajput's girlfriend RheaChakraborty, it is now over amonthsincehissuddendemise.Ihavecompletefaithinthegovern-ment.However, intheinterestofjustice, I requestyouwith foldedhandstoinitiateaCBIenquiryintothismatter.”Earlier thismonth, she had

alsolodgedacomplaintwiththepoliceagainst two Instagramac-count holders who allegedlythreatenedtorapeandkillher.

–WITHENS,MUMBAI

Sero surveyhad antibodies against Covid. Innon-slumareas, 16.8per cent ofwomen testedand14.9per centofmentestedhaddevelopedan-tibodies.However, until now, RT-PCR

tests in Mumbai had showedmoremen (55per cent) gettinginfected than women (45 percent).Overall,thesurveyfoundthat

40.5 per cent hadbeenexposedto coronavirus in Mumbai’sMatunga, Chembur andDahisarareas,wheretheserosurveywasconductedinthefirstfortnightofJuly. At 57.8 per cent,Matunga,whichisclosetoDharavi,hadthehighestexposurerate.Officialswho conducted the

surveysaidshared facilities suchastoilets,highpopulationdensityand lack of physical distancingmaybeamongreasonswhythoseliving in slumswere 3.5 timesmore exposed to the virus thanpeopleinhousingsocieties.The high exposure in slums

indicates that fatality rate inMumbaimaybe"as lowas0.05-0.10percent", insteadofexisting5.5percent,thesurveyobserves.Despite thehighexposure in

slums, the survey found that fa-talities hadnot beenhigh. "Thiscouldbeduetomultiplefactors...thiscouldalsobeduetoapossiblyhigher percentage of youngerpopulationinslums,”saidDrUllasSKolthur fromtheTata Instituteof FundamentalResearch (TIFR),which conducted the surveyalongwithBMCandNITIAayog.Noneofthenearly7,000peo-

ple tested had taken anRT-PCRtest for Covid-19, which eithermeans theywere asymptomati-cally infected, or theymay nothavehad serious enough symp-tomstosuspectaninfection.“This is a surprise,morepeo-

ple remain asymptomatic thanweexpected,”saidSureshKakani,Additional MunicipalCommissioner.Onwhetherthehighpresence

ofantibodiesisindicativeofherdimmunity,Maharashtrastateepi-demiologist Dr PradeepAwate,said, “Development of only IgGantibodies is not immunity, abody needs to develop cellularimmunity.Butyes,slumswillat-tain herd immunity faster thanthegeneralpopulation.”Awate said if this data is ex-

trapolated to the larger popula-tion,50-70lakhmayhavealreadybeenexposed.“Butweshouldgetappropriate geographical repre-sentation of all 24 wards ofMumbaitoreconfirm.”Onwomendevelopingmore

antibodiesthanmen,clinicalsci-entist DrGagandeepKang said,“We need to repeat the surveyovertimeandinotherareastoseeif thetrendcontinues...Whilein-fection occurs similarly inmenandwomen,oestrogeninwomenprotectsthemfromdisease.”TIFR and BMC officials

claimed the sample for the serosurvey –which included slum-dwellers and others, men andwomen, young and old – wasbroadlyrepresentativeofthepop-ulation, unlike antibody testsdone by private labs, coveringwhocouldaffordtogettested.BMCofficials said that a sec-

ond roundof sero surveywill beconductedamonthlater.

Job-seekersthelockdown.Recordsshowthatmostofthe

vacancies so far are in the cate-gories of “sales/marketing”(53,656), “beautician/spa/well-ness” (6,219),“housekeeping/peon” (6,070),“customer support/tele caller”(6,060)and“accountant”(4,944).Among job-seekers, most

postingshavebeenmadeunder“backoffice/dataentry”(70,166).Therearealso30,814registrationsbyapplicantswhowanttoteach,either in schools or as home tu-tors,and28,816registrationsun-der“sales/marketing”.“Noteveryworkingclassindi-

vidual will have access to theInternet. Butmost people havesmartphones and since thepor-talisbilingualwithasimpleinter-face, we are expecting them tosignup,"saysaseniorofficial."Ihavereceivedover500calls

and texts so far for fiveopeningswithasalaryofaboutRs9,000foreach,” says Pradip Kumar,whorunsPizzaKart, anoutlet inwestDelhi'sRaghubirNagar,adenselypopulatedworking class neigh-bourhood.SaysWadhwa, the jeansunit

owner:“Barring10to15percent,mostarethosewhosaytheywilldowhateverjobtheyget.”AmanShergill,whoislooking

tohire forhis transport businessinsouth-eastDelhi'sGovindpuri,saysmany“don'tevencheckthejobdescription”.Tapan Kumar, who posted

two openings for his “Chinesefood”outletinGhaziabad,saysheis happywith the response buthasaquestion:“Willthegovern-mentcomeaftermeifIamforcedtosacktheseworkerslater?”

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

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28.07.2020,PAGE14

THEARTICLE‘Governor’srole, inreview’ incorrectly said S RBommai’sgovernmentwasdis-missed in 1988. It should havebeen1989.Theerror is regretted.

New Delhi


VISITING THEGhazipur landfillsite Tuesday, East Delhi MPGautamGambhirsaiditsheighthasbeenreducedby40feet,andin the days ahead, four newtrommelmachines will be en-gagedto reduce it further.“There are eight trommel

machines working there. Fourmore machines will arrive inAugust, afterwhich the processof processing thewastewill beeven faster,”hesaid.

Over 140 lakh tonnes ofwastecollectedsince1984liesinthe landfill, causing hazardousliving conditions for thosenearby.Gambhirsaidthatmorethan

2,500 metric tonnes of wastewould be processed when themachines are brought and en-gaged toservice.“However,tofixthisproblem

permanently, the focus will beonwastesegregation, forwhicha fresh pushwould be given bytheEastcivicbodysoon,”hesaid.AAP MLA Kuldeep Kumar

said thatwhile the corporation

hasclaimedtoreducetheheight,in reality the garbage has beenthrown on the other side.“Around 2,600 tonnes of wastecomes every day and only 600tonnes is being removed. Thenhowhastheheightdecreased?”hesaid.A senior official of the East

corporation said the civic bodyisnow in the first stageof clear-ing the landfill site and theheight has to be reduced be-cause it is dangerous and canlead to cave-in or collapse ofsomeportion,whichhascausedaccidents in thepast.

‘THEREAREALLEGATIONSTHATPROBE ISBIASED’

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI, JULY28

INAcabinetmeetingchairedbyChief Minister Arvind Kejriwal,the Delhi government TuesdayrejectedthepaneloflawyersthattheDelhiPolicehadchosentoar-gue the Northeast Delhi riotscases in the High Court andSupremeCourt, saying itwouldimperila freeandfair trial.“Therehavebeenallegations

that the investigations of DelhiPolice in these cases are biasedandnot impartial. The judiciaryhas alsomade adverse remarksagainst Delhi Police investiga-tions on several occasions.Therefore,inordertoensurethat

all factsarepresentedbeforetheHon’ble judges, it is extremelycritical that thegovernmentad-vocates are independent of thePolice,” theCabinetobserved.The Delhi Police had sent a

proposaltotheDelhigovernmenttoappointsixsenior lawyers, in-cludingSolicitorGeneralof IndiaTushar Mehta and AdditionalSolicitor General Aman Lekhi asSpecial Public Prosecutors in theHC and SC in 85 cases related toriotsandanti-CAAprotests.TheCabinet decision,mean-

while, sets the stage for LtGovernor Anil Baijal to invokeArticle239AA(4),aconstitutionalprovisionthatauthoriseshimtorefer any matter over whichthereare“differencesofopinion”

with the elected government tothe President of India. The L-Ghadearliersuggestedtothegov-ernment to approve the panelchosenbythepolice.Inastatement, theDelhigov-

ernment also targeted the L-Gfor his “repeated interferences”inthematter.TheL-Ghadprevi-ously invoked Article 239AA(4)afterasimilardisputearoseovertheappointmentofpublicpros-ecutors to argue the riots casesin the lowercourts.“Under theConstitution, the

LieutenantGovernorofDelhihasspecial powers to intervene andoverturn any decision of theelectedgovernmentofDelhi. ButtheSupremeCourthas said thattheLieutenantGovernorcanexer-cise this rightonly in therarestofrarecases.Otherwise, it isagainstthe spirit of democracy.Appointmentofapaneloflawyersdoesnotfallintoanyrarecategoryand it is anormalprocedure. For

thisreason,theDelhigovernmentis fully empowered to appointlawyers,”thestatementsaid.The Cabinet directed the

DelhiHomeDepartmenttoforma panel of “best possiblelawyers”inthecountrytorepre-sentthesecasesintheHCandSC.TheL-Ghasalreadyrejectedthegovernment’s proposal that ateamunderitsstandingcounsel(criminal) RahulMehra be en-gagedtoargue thecases.The government statement

also said that the Cabinet tooknote of questions raised by sev-eralcourtsagainst“bias”inDelhiPolice’sactiononriotcases.Itob-served that investigation andprosecution should be inde-pendent of each other, describ-

ingitasa”fundamentalprincipleof thecriminal justicesysteminIndiaandaroundtheworld”.“During the meeting, the

CabinetnotedthatJusticeSureshKumaroftheDelhiHChadearlierobserved that theDelhi Police istaking the entire judicial systemon a ride in theDelhi riot cases.The Cabinet has also noted thatvarioussessioncourtsandmediahave questioned the role of theDelhiPoliceduringtheriotanditsinvestigation. TheDelhi Cabinethasobservedthatinsuchasitua-tion, the panel of lawyers of theDelhiPolicewouldnotbeable toensurejusticeinthesecases,”thegovernmentstatementsaid.TheL-GHousedidnotreactto

thedevelopment.

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SWEET DREAMSIcecreamvendors inchbacktobusinessatRajpathnear IndiaGate, thoughwitha lull incustomerfootfall, Tuesday. TashiTobgyal

Covid patient says molestedby doctor at Noida hospitalSOMYALAKHANINOIDA, JULY28

AN FIR has been registeredagainst a 35-year-old doctor ofNoida’s Jaypee Hospital for al-legedlymolesting a 20-year-oldpatientwhowasadmittedthereforCovid-19treatment.The doctor, a critical care

specialist, was also admitted tothe hospital in Sector 128 forCovid-19 and had been giventhe same room as the womanona sharingbasis.“Wereceivedacomplainton

Monday and have registered acase under IPC section 354 (as-saultorcriminalforcetowomanwith intent tooutragehermod-esty).Weare investigating neg-ligence by the hospital for put-ting aman and awoman in thesame room,” SHO ExpresswayNoidasaid.Police said theman is under

home quarantine at the mo-ment.“Assoonashistestcomesnegativeandallpost-Covidpro-tocols are done, wewill arresthim,” said theSHO.A spokesperson of Jaypee

Hospital told The Indian Express

that thedoctorhasbeenavisit-ingconsultantforaroundsevenmonths:“Policearelookingintothematter.Thehospitalhaster-minatedhis services.”The spokesperson said that

“in private hospitals, there is noconcept of different wards formenandwomen”.Hospitalauthoritiessaidboth

thewoman and the doctor arestill positive but don’t requirefurtherhospitalisation.Thewoman’s sister said the

incident took place onMondaywhenthe20-year-oldwasbeingdischarged: “For a fewdays,mysisterwasaloneintheroom,andthen the other patient, who in-troduced himself as a doctor,was put in the same room. OnMonday, both were being dis-

chargedwhenhestarted tellingher about ‘post-Covid’ symp-tomssuchasbloodclotting.”She said that the accused al-

legedly “offered to checkher sis-ter for clots and asked her to liedown”. “He thentouchedher in-appropriately…Mysisterimme-diately calledme up to tell mewhat had happened…shewasshaken.Icalledourrelative,whoisadoctoronCoviddutyinMumbai,whosaidtherearenosuchsymp-toms.Hehadnobusiness touch-ingherlikethis,”shesaid.The doctor on dutywas in-

formedandacomplaintwaswrit-tentothepolice.Later,thewomanalleged, thedoctor sentherpho-tos of his minor daughter onWhatsApp,with amessage thathewouldcommitsuicide.Healsoallegedlysentheraphotoofaceil-ingfanwithasimilarmessage.The woman’s brother said

that as soon as they found outthat a man was sharing theroomwith his sister, there wasapprehension.“Evenatgovern-ment hospitals, the wards formen andwomen are different.This formatonlymakes sense ifpatients have attendants withthem”he said.

Cabinet rejects Delhi Police panel of sixlawyers to argue riot cases in courts

FollowingtheriotsatShivVihar.Archive

GautamGambhirat thelandfill site,Tuesday.Express

Thedoctor,acriticalcarespecialist,wasalsoadmittedtothehospitalforCovid-19.Policesaidhewillbearrestedassoonasherecoversfromthevirus

TENDER NOTICENational Book Trust, India, an autonomous organization under Department of HigherEducation, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India invites sealedTenders from reputed contractors/service providers in the prescribed Tender form forproviding following services for its Hqtrs, ROs and BPCs in the following Categories:

Tender Form can be obtained from the Deputy Director (Admn.), National Book Trust,India, 5, Institutional Area, Phase-II, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070 on any working daytill 4.00 p.m. or can be downloaded from NBT Website: www.nbtindia.gov.in. and e-procurement portal : www.eprocurement.gov.in.For further amendment, kindly visit our website regularly as no communication will bemade separately.Director, NBT reserves the right to accept/reject any or all Bids without assigningany reason whatsoever. davp 21103/11/0002/2021

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Phone:011-26707873/868/831Email: [email protected]:www.nbtindia.gov.in

HCseeksgovtstandonCovidfinesbypoliceNewDelhi:TheDelhiHighCourtonTuesdaysoughttoknow the Delhi govern-ment’sstandonapleachal-lengingaprovisionwhichempowerspoliceofficersofsub-inspectorrankoraboveto imposefinesonanyonewho is found violatingCovid-19regulations. Thepleabyalawyercontendedthat imposing a fineamountstohandingdownapunishment,whichcanonlybeawardedbyajudgenotapoliceofficer.

DUexaminerrobbedofcash,jewelleryNewDelhi:A40-year-oldDelhiUniversity assistantexaminer, Sunil Sharma,was allegedly robbed atgunpointofcashandjew-elleryworth lakhs at hishome inNortheast Delhibytwounidentifiedarmedmen.DCP(Northeast)VedPrakash Surya said CCTVfootage fromaround thearea isbeingscannedandthematter is being inves-tigated.

60-year-oldfounddeadNewDelhi:A60-year-oldwomanwas found deadon Tuesday in the bath-room of her house inNoida Sector 15, policesaid. “She had three chil-dren, who are workingabroad. After she did notrespondtophonecalls,herson calledhis friend,whothencalledthepolice,”saidSankalp Sharma, DCPNoida.Policesaidthecaseis being treated as amur-der as the circumstancesweremysterious.

HeadconstablekillshimselfNewDelhi:A34-year-oldDelhi Police head consta-ble, Sanjay, allegedly shothimselfdeadwithhisserv-ice pistol in SouthDelhi’sLadoSaraiareaonTuesday.Police said the deceasedwaspostedatSaketpolicestation. No suicide notewasrecovered,policesaid."He hailed fromRajasthan’sAlwardistrict.Preliminary enquiry re-vealed hewas in depres-sionduetotheillnessofhisbrother,"saidDCP(South)AtulKumarThakur.

17-year-old‘killed’byfriendNewDelhi:A 17-year-oldboywas killed allegedlyby his friend, in a shantyat Northwest Delhi’sJahangirpuri. Police saidtheincidenttookplaceaf-ter an argument brokeout between them overpaying foraparty.ENS

BRIEFLY

SHIVAMPATELNEWDELHI, JULY28

THETIMELINEforsettinguptwosmogtowersinDelhiwillhavetobe revised as IIT-Bombay,whichwasheadingthepilotproject,has“backed out”, The Indian Expresshaslearnt.SourcesattheinstituteandseniorDelhigovernmentof-ficials confirmed to The IndianExpressthattheproject,aimedatcombating air pollution in thecapital, “didnottakeoff”.Sources at the Environment

Ministry, meanwhile, said IIT-Bombay has not completelybacked out but sought a “re-ducedrole”fromwhathadbeenoriginallyplanned.AseniorDelhigovernmentof-

ficialsaid,“IIT-Bombayisrethink-ingitsrole...Thereisonlyonesuchtower in the world — in Xi’an,China, which the University ofMinnesotahelpeddesign.Buttheeffectivenessofthetower’stech-nologyisunprovenasdataisun-available. IIT-B had submitted aproposal for theproject andhadbeenleadingit.”The official also said, “... The

project will study the impactsuch towers would have on airquality. However, the timelinefor its completion will be af-fectednow,inadditiontothede-layalreadycausedbyCovid.”The project, which has a

budget of over Rs 36 crore, isfunded by the Centre andDelhigovernment. ItwasinitiatedlastNovemberfollowingaSupremeCourtdirectiveontheneedtoin-stall such towers in thecity.Undertheproject—acollab-

oration between IITs Bombayand Delhi, and University ofMinnesota—twotowersweretobe comeup at AnandVihar andConnaught Place by April 2020,as per a deadline set by the SC.TheAnandVihartowerwastobeinstalled by the Centre, the CPonebyDelhigovernment.Lastweek, a SupremeCourt

bench headed by Justice ArunMishraexpressed“shock”thatau-thorities had still not compliedwithitsJanuary13order.

The bench said: “It was di-rected that smog towers be in-stalled in 3months... unfortu-nately,neithertheagreementhasbeen entered into nor requisitedrawings obtained... there is ab-solutelyno respect shown to theorderpassedbythiscourt.”It added, “We direct MoEF

(Ministry of Environment) andgovernmentofDelhitocollectthedrawings, in case the drawingshavenotbeencollectedsofar,andenter into an agreement posi-tively within 7 days and placecompliance before this court onthenextdateofhearing,July29.”Prashant Gargava, member

secretaryoftheCentralPollutionControl Board, which had beenengaging with IIT-Bombay onthe agreement for the project,did not deny or confirmmes-sagesfromTheIndianExpressonthe withdrawal of IIT-Bombayandreasonsbehind it.

Smogtowersarestructuresdesigned towork as large-scale air purifiers. Theyareusuallyfittedwithmultiplelayers of air filters, whichcleantheairofpollutantsasit passes through them. Inthe capital, two towers, 20metreshigh,wereplannedtobesetup.Eachtowerwasexpected to reduce 50% oftheparticulatematter loadinanareaof1kminthedi-rectionof thewind,aswellas200metreseachalongitssidesandagainstthedirec-tionof thewind.

HOWSMOGTOWERSWORK

Project lookstotackleDelhi’sairpollution

City’s smog towerproject delayed asIIT-B backs out

Gambhir drops by to assess Ghazipur landfill

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARSatisfactory

0 500

63AQI

Pollutant:OZONE

SIRIFORTSatisfactory

0 500

SHADIPURSatisfactory

0 500 500

51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe

DWARKA- SECTOR8Satisfactory

0

64AQIPM:10

80AQIPM:10

74AQIPM:10

New Delhi

ASHNABUTANINEWDELHI,JULY28

EVER SINCE he recovered fromCovid-19 in April, Tabrez Khan(37)hasdonatedplasmasixtimesand is ready to donate again.“Each time I donate, I get anup-datefromthehospitalorthefam-ilythatthepatienthasrecoveredand that they are grateful…Tillnow, I’ve donated plasma sixtimes,helping12people.”Ithasbeenover14dayssince

Khan’s last donation. He is nowawaiting a call from LokNayak

Hospital,whereaplasmabank—the second in the capital— wasset up earlier thismonth, to do-nateagain.A resident of Jahangirpuri,

Khan recovered a fewmonthsago. “My sister, mother and Itestedpositive.Mysisterhadtrav-elled fromSaudi Arabia, andwethink she contracted it there orwhiletravelling,”hesaid.Khanbegandisplayingsymp-

tomssuchashighfever,coldandcough onMarch 12 and his testreport came positive. He wastakentothehospitalonMarch20.After recovering, Khan sawa

government advertisement onplasma donation. He donated

plasma for the first time at theInstitute of Liver and BiliarySciences(ILBS)onApril21,whentheywereconductingplasmatri-als.Afterthat,hebegangettingre-quests frompeopleforplasma.“Someone calls and says he

needs it forhis father.Someoneelse says they need it for theirsister. They call me looking fora plasma donor, with bloodgroup B+… If there is away forme to help them, then whynot?” he said.Inmostcases,Khanknewthe

name of the person hewas do-nating plasma to— the last pa-

tienthedonatedtowas60yearsold.Hesaidtheman’ssonkeptintouch andwanted to invite himovertothankhim.Khan has donated twice at

ILBS, once at Max, twice at SirGangaRamHospitalandonceatShree Aggarsain InternationalHospital inRohini.Hesaidallthosewhorecover

fromthevirusshoulddonate:“Itdoes not cause any weakness,and it will not cost anything todonate.”Hismother,who is 65, is not

eligible to donate. His sister,meanwhile,hasdonatedtwice.


THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DRAWING BOARDDrawingsbyyoungpatientsatCWGVillageCovidcarecentre, Tuesday. PraveenKhanna

‘IF THERE’S A WAY TO HELP, WHY NOT?’

Man donates plasma 6 times, ready for round 7

SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, JULY28

CHILDREN’S SCHOOL fees un-paid, EMIs on hold, borrowingmoney from relatives— irregu-laranddelayedsalariesthrough-outthecoronavirusoutbreakhasmeant that NorthMCD schoolteachershavebeenstrugglingtomakeendsmeet.Till the beginning of July,

3,600teachershadnotbeenpaidsince February. Theywere paidtheirMarchsalaryinearlyJuly—four months late. As many as5,400teacherswhohadbeenonCovid duty were paid theirMarch salaries in June, and re-ceivedtheirAprilsalariesearlierthismonth.In June, theDelhiHighCourt

had come down heavily on theNorthMCDfornon-paymentof

salaries. In court, this issue tookthe formof the corporationandDelhi government locked in adisputeoverthereleaseof funds.Rakesh Bansal (50) has

taught at MCD schools for thelast20years.Theloneearnerforhis family, he had not been putonCoviddutybecausepolioatayoung age has made him de-pendentoncrutches formobil-ity. Last paid his salary for themonth of March, which he re-ceived on July 4, he finds him-selfunabletomeettheneedsofhis two daughters — aged sixand two.“My younger daughter has

had three vaccines, includingDTP, pending for the last fourmonths. The frustration inmyfamilyhasjustbeenbuilding.I’vebeengettingby throughmoneyborrowedfromrelatives,andbe-causeI’vereachedapointof just

trying to get food on the table, Ican’t afford the vaccines alongwithallthis. Ialsohavenotbeenable to pay fees for my olderdaughter’sschoolforthelastfourmonths and I have EMIs for aproperty loan on hold aswell,”

hesaid.Satya Prakash Chabdi (54),

whohas taught atMCDschoolsfor 24 years, said: “It’s very em-barrassingformetohavetobor-rowmoney at this stage of mylife but I have no choice. I hadeven gone to the bank to get apersonalloanbutthereputationof the NorthMCD has becomesuch that theyarenotwilling togive us loans. As of now, I haverenttopayaswellascollegefeesfor twodaughters.”Ramnivas Solanki, head of

theMCD teachers’ association,said“thereneedstobeaperma-nent solution to this paymentproblem”."There should be a separate

salary head for North MCDteacherssothatfundscannotbeusedinanyotherway.Ormaybethethreecorporationsshouldbeintegratedorprimaryeducation

should be handed over to theDelhi government. Someactionneeds to be taken for a perma-nent solution,”hesaid.On the salaray delay, North

MCD deputy commissioner IraSinghal said: “There is a generalshortageof funds.Wearetryingto augment our resources; no-body is sitting on anybody’ssalary or using those funds forotherpurposes.WhenthefundsarereleasedbytheDelhigovern-ment, salarieswill bepaid.”The Delhi government had

earlier claimed in High Courtthattheyhavereleasedthesanc-tioned sum of over Rs 49 croreeach forApril,May and June to-wards grant-in-aid for disburs-ingsalariestotheteachersof thecorporation, under the schemeofprimaryeducationfortheyear2020-21. NorthMCDhad, how-ever,disputed theclaim.

TabrezKhanrecoveredfromCovidafewmonthsago


FOOTPATHS THAT are 10 feetwideandhavededicatedspacesfor trees, plannedspaces for ve-hicles and rickshaws, and rain-water harvesting systems builtinto thedrainage systemalong-side roads — if all goes to plan,thisiswhat500kilometresofar-terialroadsinDelhiwill looklikein thecomingyears.The city has been looking at

redesigningroadstomakethemmorepedestrian-friendlyaswellas removing bottlenecks thathamperthemovementof trafficfor thepast severalyears.On Tuesday, Chief Minister

Arvind Kejriwal met PublicWorksDepartmentofficialsandasked them to prepare a list ofroads,all100feetwide,tobe“re-designed as per internationalstandardsandalong the linesofthe newly redesigned ChandniChowkmainroad”.While the Chandni Chowk

redevelopmentmadea1.3kilo-metrestretchvehiclefree,theel-ements used to make it morepedestrian friendly, such asplacestosit,widewalkwaysandshrubs and trees, will be incor-porated in the roaddesign.Last year, the government

announced a similar project fornine road stretches. This waslater cut down to seven and thefirst two stretches to be under-

takenwere AIIMS and Ashram.Workwas supposed tobe com-plete by the endof this year butthe CM Tuesday said that thedeadline has been extended tillAugust2021becauseof Covid.PWDhas to provide a list of

the different stretches in threeweeks. Officials said that theproject will be undertaken in aBuild-Operate-Transfermodel,wherethefirmthatbuildsorre-designstheroadwillbeaskedtomaintain it for15years.Atpres-ent, roads are handed over toPWD andmunicipal corpora-

tions after they are built, formaintenance.Experts say that poor road

design is responsible for trafficjams and many accidents onDelhi’s roads.Under the new project, the

prioritywillberemovingbottle-necksforasmoothflowoftrafficand an organised lane system,official said.“Therewillbemeasuredand

plannedspacesforvehicles,non-motorised vehicles, footpaths,and side-lanes. The footpathswillbewidelymappedtoanav-erage of 10 feet for the conven-ienceofpedestrians.Thesefoot-paths will be redesigned andreconstructed as per a standardheightfortheconvenienceofdif-ferently abled,” the Delhi gov-ernmentsaidinanofficialstate-ment.Officialsalsosaidthatallsur-

faceswillbeeitherpavedortreesand shrubs will be planted onthem to reduce dust. Accordingto the only source apportion-ment study commissioned bythe government, to IIT Kanpur,roaddust is among theprimarysources of pollution in the city,especiallyduringwinters.“Notevenan inchof thesur-

faceof any roador roadsidewillbeleftuncoveredinordertoen-sure that there is nodust on theroads. Adequate grasses andshrubswillbeplantedonallsur-facestoensuredustcontrol,”thestatement said.

Wider footpaths, more treesas CM calls for roads revamp

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,JULY28

THE DELHI BJP state presidentand the BJP-ruled SouthMCD’sleadersarenotonthesamepageontheissueofincreasingtaxes,itislearnt.Thecash-strappedSouthCorporationintroducedaprofes-sional tax,hikedproperty taxonrented commercial properties,and also hiked transfer duty ofproperties on Monday. Thesemeasures should yield an addi-tionalrevenueofRs400crorean-nuallyforthecorporation.Delhi BJP chief AdeshGupta

had on Sunday tweeted, “I havetalked to themayorof theSouthMCDand requested to roll backthe proposal to increase taxesbrought by the corporation.Mayor is ready. Also requestArvindKejriwal topaycivicbod-ies as per recommendations ofFourthFinanceCommission.”ButonMonday, the corpora-

tion went ahead and passed aproposalonthetaxes.Whencon-tacted, Gupta said, “Taxes havenot been increased, professionaltax is a proposal, it has not beenfinalised.”Healsosaidtherewereplans to levy tax on electricity,whichhasbeenshelved.South civic body mayor

Anamika Mithilesh, however,said, “Wework on the guidanceofthestatepresident...WedonotwantSouthMCDtogothewayofotherMCDs,where staff are notpaid formonths and hikes arenominal.”Leader of the house, South

MCD, Narender Chawla, said,“The decision was taken afterbringing the party into confi-dence.Adeshjiishimselfaformermayorandunderstandsthepainof thecorporationandpublic.”A senior leader in the civic

body said there was pressurefrom BJP higher-ups not to goahead with the proposal.However, the leader said, theSouthcorporation’sfinanceshavereachedapointwhereif thepro-posalwas not cleared, it wouldhave led to a situation wheresalary of staff would have beendelayedformonths.“Somewhere,youhavetostop

populism. Every year, there issome election. Taxes have notbeenincreasedforadecadewhilethe value of properties has in-creasedover ahundred times in

manycases,”saidtheleader.“Therewereplanstoincrease

electricitytaxaswell;asthestateleadership is already protestingover the issue, a decision wastakennottoincreaseit,”hesaid.A preamble on increasing

electricity taxwas placed in thehousemeeting onMonday, butnotapproved.Self-employedprofessionals

such as doctors, lawyers and ar-chitects, those employedbypri-vate firms in South Delhi, andthosewith office spaces that fallunderSouthMCD,willnowhavetopayprofessionaltax.As per the proposal, those

earning less than Rs 50,000 amonthwill not be charged any-thing; those earning Rs 50,001-Rs75,000willbechargedRs100per month; those earning Rs75,001-Rs1 lakhpermonthwillhave to pay Rs 150; and thoseearning above Rs 1 lakhwill bechargedRs200amonth.

Pay delayed, North MCD teachers struggle tomeet needs: ‘Borrowing money to stay afloat’

HChadpulledupNorthMCDover the issue.Archive

BJP MLA sparks row withcomments on Eid sacrifice

60 inmatespositiveacross 3 jails Lucknow:TheBJPMLAfromLoni

inGhaziabadhas sparkedacon-troversy, saying his supporterswould not allow the sacrifice ofanimals inhis constituencydur-ing Bakrid, and added that ifsomeonehastomakeasacrifice,theyshouldinsteadsacrificetheirchildren.NandKishor Gurjar claimed

animal sacrifice was beingstopped to “check the spread ofcoronavirus inthearea”.“Wewill ensure that there is

nospreadof coronavirus inLoni,and if animal sacrifice is per-

formedthenthosepeoplewillberesponsibleandwewillnotallowthattohappen,”hesaid.“In sanatan dharma, there

wasaprovisionearlierofbali,butithasbeen replacedbybreakingof a coconut. It ismy request tothose following Islamnot tosac-rificeanimals...Agar jyadakoike-htahaikikurbanidenihaitohapnebachekide(Ifsomeonesays,theyhavetomakeasacrifice,thentheycansacrificetheirchild,”hesaid.His comments were con-

demnedbyhisownpartyaswellasbytheSamajwadiParty.ENS

New Delhi: At least 60 inmatesacrossTihar,RohiniandMandolijails have tested positive forCovid-19 sinceMay12. “Of this,55haverecoveredandtwodied.An inmate was released and isunder home quarantine, andthere are twoactive cases,” saidDelhiPrisonsDGSandeepGoel.He said that 161 staffers

acrossthethreeprisonstoohavetestedpositivesincemid-May,ofwhich 122 have already recov-ered.ENS

GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESHOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, SEPPA DIVISION,

PWD, ARUNACHAL PRADESH, SEPPANo.: SEPD/Agmt/2020-21/ 562-67 Dated - 28/07/2020.

Notice Inviting TenderThe Executive Engineer, Seppa Division, PWD, Arunachal Pradesh Seppa on behalf of the Governor ofArunachal Pradesh invites Sealed Item Rate Tender in Single Bid System from all registered contractors inClass-I and contractors eligible for National & International competitive bidding, eligible as per ArunachalPradesh District based entrepreneurs and professionals incentives (Development & promotional) Act 2015published vide Notification No. SPWD/W-66/2012 dated 13th August 2015 and amendment of ArunachalPradesh enlistment of contractors in Works Department Rules 2008 vide Notification No. SPWD/W-336/Contract/ 2006-07/1079 dated 01.10.2018 for following work(s).

1. Tender documents can be purchased from the office of the Executive Engineer, Seppa Division, PWD, AP,Seppa, East Kameng Dist., A.P. on all working days by submitting application along with requisiteexperience certificate and on payment of Cost of Tender Paper in cash (non-refundable) up to 4.00 PM on8/8/2020 Receipt of application for issue of forms shall be up to 4.00 PM on 7/8/2020

2. Tender paper shall be received up to 11.30 AM on 10/8/2020 at the office of the Executive Engineer, SeppaDivision, PWD, AP, Seppa, East Kameng Dist., A.P. and shall be opened on the same day at 3.00 PM inpresence of intending contractors or their authorized representatives.

3. The Earnest Money of the amount specified above in the form of Fixed Deposit Receipt/Term DepositReceipt/Demand Draft in favor of the Executive Engineer, Seppa Division, PWD, AP, Seppa should beenclosed with the tender document in separate sealed envelope.

4. The Earnest Money (EM) from APST contractors shall be accepted as per Government OrderNo.SPWD/W-182/2013 (pt)/ dated 06/07/2015 on production/submission of valid document i.e., ScheduledTribe Certificate in original as proof of his/her being as APST Contractor at the time of opening of Tender.

5. The Tender without Earnest Money in proper form shall be summarily rejected.Criteria of eligibility for APPWD as well as Non-APPWD contractors.1. In the larger interest of the public and for equitable distribution of development works amongst eligible

contractors and also to ensure effective management and quality of works, a contractor shall be allowedto have only 3 (three) works in hand in any of departments under Government of Arunachal Pradesh at atime and for which he shall make a declaration to be executed in an Affidavit that he is not engaged inmore than two tenders works under the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh.

2. 3 (three) similar works each of value not less than Rs.392.13 lakh (40% of estimated cost) or 2 (two)similar works each value not less than Rs.588.19 lakh (60% of estimated cost) or 1(one) work of value notless than Rs.784.26 lakh (80% of estimated cost) [all figures rounded to nearest convenient figure], in thelast 7 (seven) years ending last day of the month previous to the one in which the tenders are invited.

The value of executed works shall be brought to current costing level by enhancing the actual value of workat simple rate of 7% per annum, calculated from the date of completion to the last date of receipt ofapplications for tender.For the purpose of this clause 'similar work' means the works of "Road Construction" (including FormationCutting, Pavements, Culverts & Retaining/Breast Walls) in hilly/Plain terrain with same nature".

Sd/-Executive Engineer

Seppa DivisionDIPR/ARN/10709-11 PWD, AP, Seppa

SI.No.

NIT No. Name of work&Location

Estimatedcost put to

tender

Earnest Money Cost ofTenderpaper

Time ofcompletion

1. SD/NLCPR/2020-21/01

Construction of Roadfrom Lumdung NH-229to connect 9.00 Km pointof PMGSY road Nere(4.50 Km).

Rs.9,80,31,602/-

Rs.9,80,316/- ForAPST and

Rs.19,60,632/- forNon-APST

Contractors.

Rs.10,000/-

24(Twenty Four)

Months

Thetax isalsoapplicable toprofessionalsworking inSouthDelhi firms.Archive

New Delhi: Senior AAPleader Durgesh PathakTuesdaysaid thepartywillhold a protest against thetax hike by the BJP-ruledSDMC in front of the BJPheadquarters onWednesday. “The problemis not increasing tax butthat it has been done at atimewhenpeople’sincomeis down due to Covid. TheCorporationshouldfirstfixits internal leakageswhichleadstorevenuelosses,”hesaid.ENS

AAP TOHOLDPROTEST TODAY

THEPLAN

■Parkingforrickshaws■Specificparkingspace■Greenbelt■Openspacesforpublic■Dedicatedcycleandpedestrianlanes■Parksvisiblefromtheroadswillnotbecoveredbywalls

ASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, JULY28

HOTELS THAT had been at-tached to hospitals to increasebed capacity for Covid patientsmight be delinked, after theysawonlyahandfulofpatientsforclose to a month now. ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal willholdameetingwith senioroffi-cialstodiscussthepossibilityonWednesday.Inthefirstweekofthismonth,

the Southwest district adminis-tration had passed orders todelinkthreehotelsfromhospitalsaftertheygotonlythree-fourpa-tients. The hotels had set asidearound600bedsforpatients.Theorderwaslaterrevokedandsim-ilar requestsmade by other ho-tels anddistrict administrationswererejected. Sourcessaidnowthat thesituation inDelhi seemsto be under control, the hotelscouldbedelinked.On Tuesday, the city

recorded1,056 fresh cases, tak-ing the tally to 1,32,275. Thedeathtollclimbedto3,881with28 more fatalities reported inthe last 24hours.Delhi,officialssaid,wasalso

looking to restart economicac-tivity in all sectors based onbroad guidelines from theCentre. At present, hotels arenot allowed toopen, except se-lect ones accommodatingpeo-ple travelling fromother coun-tries and assigned mandatoryquarantine.After panic spread through

the city during the first two-three weeks in June and somepeople died after being deniedtreatment at hospitals, hotelswere linked to hospitals while

smallclinicsandnursinghomeswereorderedtoadmitCovidpa-tients. Around 40 hotels werelinkedtohospitals.Atpresent,al-mostnonehaveanyadmissions.Overthepastmonth,admis-

sionsathospitalshavebeendip-ping—ofthe16,038beds,12,996areunoccupied.The number of deaths has

also dipped. Where approxi-mately73peoplediedperdayinthe second week of June, thisnumber dipped to 28 in theweek thatendedon July26.Several government hospi-

tals have also beenwitnessingdays with no death being re-ported—many of them for thefirsttimeinatleasttwomonths.Delhi government’s biggest

Covid hospital, Lok Nayak, didnot report a single death for 24hours till Tuesdayevening.RajivGandhiSuperSpeciality

hospital did not report a singledeath on four consecutive days,between July 24 and July 27.Similarly, the Centre-run RMLhospital did not report anydeathson July27.“Over the last three-four

months,thisisthefirsttimethatnotasingleCoviddeathhasbeenreportedfromthehospital.Thisisa clear indication that the curvehas begun to flatten in Delhi.EvenonMonday,wehad45ad-missions as compared to dayswhenhundredsweregettingad-mitted,”DrSureshKumar,med-icaldirectorof LokNayakhospi-tal, toldThe IndianExpress.“The fatality rate has gone

downsignificantlyinDelhi;two-three deaths on an average arebeing reported now. Bed occu-pancy rate has also comedownto almost 50%,” said Dr DKSharma, the AIIMSmedical su-perintendent.

MANYSAWFEWPATIENTS,NOADMISSIONS

Covidtestinginprogressataconstructionsite inCentralDelhi.PremNathPandey

*Total active cases

CORONAVIRUS IN THECAPITAL

TOTAL CASES

1,32,275Total Vacant

HOSPITAL BEDS 16,038 12,996VENTILATORS 1,206 799

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths TestsJuly 27 613 1,497 26 11,506July 28 1,056 1,135 28 18,544Total 10,887* 1,17,507 3,881 9,76,827

Delhi govt set to delinkhotels fromhospitals

BJP-ruled MCD,party at odds onincreasing tax

New Delhi


GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JULY28

AMONTHafterIndiabannedtheChinesemessagingappWeChat,BeijngonTuesdaysaidthatithaslodged adiplomatic protest andaskedNewDelhi to “correct itswrongdoings”.Sources told The Indian

Expressthattheprotesthasbeenlodged by the Chinese embassyin NewDelhi to theMinistry ofExternalAffairs.WeChat, themultipurpose

messagingandsocialmediaplat-form developed by theShenzhen-headquarteredInternet services giant TencentHoldings, is extremely popularamongChinesenationals living,working,andstudying in India.ItisalsousedbyIndiannation-

als inChina, andbymany Indianbusinesses that have dealingswithChineseclients.WeChat was among the 59

mobileapplicationswithChineselinks that India banned on June

29,afortnightafter20Indiansol-dierswere killed in a clashwiththe Chinese army in Ladakh.TikTok,Helo,UCBrowser,ShareIt,Shein, Club Factory, andCamScanner were among theotherappsthatwerebanned.Some clones or lighter ver-

sionsofsomeoftheseappswere,however, still functional in India.On Monday, the governmentbanned another 47 apps withlinkstoChina.WeChatstoppeditsservicesinIndiaonSaturday.Chinese embassy spokesper-

sonJiRongsaidonTuesday:“Wehavenoted the relevant reports.On June 29, the Indian govern-ment banned 59 mobile appswithChinesebackgroundinclud-ingWeChat,whichseverelydam-agedthelegitimaterightsandin-terestsofChinesecompanies.TheChinese sidehas lodged solemnrepresentation to the Indian sideandasked the Indian side to cor-rectitswrongdoings.”“I want to reiterate that the

Chinese government consis-tently asks Chinese enterprises

to abide by international rulesand local laws and regulationswhenconductingexternalcoop-eration. The Indian governmenthas the responsibility to protectthe legitimate rights and inter-estsof international investors inIndia, including Chinese busi-nesses, inaccordancewithmar-ketprinciples,” Ji said.“Practical cooperation be-

tweenChina and India ismutu-allybeneficial,”thespokespersonsaid. “Deliberate interference insuch cooperationwill not servethe interests of the Indian side.China will also take necessarymeasurestosafeguardthelegiti-mate rights and interests ofChinesecompanies.”On Saturday,WeChat users

started to receive a notificationthatsaid,“PursuanttoIndianlawweareunabletoofferyouWeChatatthistime.Wevalueeachofourusers, anddata security andpri-vacyareofutmostimportancetous.Weareengagingwithrelevantauthoritiesandhopetobeabletoresumeserviceinthefuture.”

RAJASTHANPOWERPLAY Mauritius PM,Modi to unveilSC building inPort Louis

Correctwrongdoings:Chinato IndiaonWeChatban

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,JULY28

RAJASTHAN CHIEF MinisterAshokGehlot’s allegation abouthisMLAs being poached by theBJP is akin to the pot calling thekettleblackbecausehe“unconsti-tutionally”mergedsixBSPMLAsintheCongresslastyear,saidBSPchiefMayawationTuesday.“The Congress is saying that

theirMLAsarebeingstolen,whichisunlawful,andisagainstthepub-lic mandate. But their claim islaughable since they themselvesdid the same when they tookaway our BSP MLAs… TheCongressiscryingfoulnowwhenits stolen assets are being stolen.It is akin to theproverbulta chorkotwal ko daante (thepot callingthekettle black),”Mayawati saidinastatement.“Evenbefore theRajyaSabha

elections, the BSP raised this(merger)issueinwrittenwiththeChiefElectionCommissionerandthereturningofficeroftheVidhanSabha Chairperson. But the

ElectionCommissioner rejected(theapplication),sayingtheissueisbeyondhisjurisdiction.TheBSPthenhadnooptionbut to go thecourt.Ourpartycouldhavegoneto the court earlier, butwewerewaitingfortherighttimetoteacha lesson to them (Congress)… Ifwe do not get justice from theHigh Court, we will go to theSupremeCourt," the formerUPchiefministersaid.TheBSPhadearlieraskedthe

six MLAs to vote against theCongress government during atrust vote or any other proceed-ingsintheLegislativeAssembly.“It is known that after the

AssemblyelectionsinRajasthan,

the BSP provided the uncondi-tional support of all its sixMLAsto theCongress so that thecom-munal forces were kept awayfrom power. Sadly, after beingelected chief minister, AshokGehlot did the unconstitutionalandillegalworkofaddingthesixBSPMLAsintotheCongress.Thiswas not the first time he didthat…As this was completelyagainst theConstitution, theBSPissued awhip to its sixMLAs onJuly 26, directing them to voteagainst the Congress in the as-semblyotherwisetheirmember-ship(fromBSP)willbecancelled,”shesaid.She rejected the speculation

thatherdecisionwasinfluencedby theBJPandsaidherpartydidnotcarewhoformedthegovern-mentinRajasthan.The BSP chief said Gehlot

would be responsible if his gov-ernmentstayedinpowerornot.The Congress and BSP had

fought the 2018 state and 2019Lok Sabha elections together. InSeptemberlastyear,allthesixBSPMLAsjoinedtheCongress.

BSPchiefMayawati

DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR, JULY28

ADAY after the RajasthanHighCourtdismissedapetitionbyBJPMLAMadanDilawar,seekingthedisqualificationofsixBSPlegisla-torswhojoinedtheCongresslastyear, the BJPMLATuesday filedtwofreshwritpetitionschalleng-ingtheAssemblySpeaker’sdeci-sioninthematter.“In the firstwrit petition,we

havechallengedthecommunica-tion sent to us by theAssemblySpeaker yesterday, informingusthatDilawar’s petitionhas beenrejected. This communicationdidn’t mention any date as towhenourpetitionwasrejectedbytheSpeakerandwewerenotpro-videdacopyoftheoriginalorder.We were also not given anychance of a hearing.We filed awrit petition challenging thiscommunication,”Dilawar’scoun-selAshishSharmasaid.Sharmasaidafterthefirstwrit

petitionwas filed, DilawarwasgivenacopyoftheSpeaker’sdeci-sionrejectinghispetition filed inMarch. “TheorderoftheSpeakerrejectingourpetitionisdatedJuly22. In the order, it has been saidthatthepetitionwasrejectedbe-cause the documents we fur-nished in support of ourpetitionunder Schedule X were notsigned.Thisisaflimsygroundandreflectsbias. Itwas important forus to challenge this too, as itwastheprincipalorder.Thereafterwefiled our secondwrit petition..."Sharma said, adding thematterhas been listed for hearing onWednesday.The petition had also ques-

tioned the RajasthanAssemblySpeaker’s “inaction” over a pleasubmitted byDilawar inMarch,requestingtheSpeakertodisqual-ifythesixlegislators.


DAYS AFTER conductingsearchesatpremisesassociatedwith him, the EnforcementDirectorate(ED)hassummonedRajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot’sbrotherAgrasenGehlotinconnectionwithitsprobeintoallegeddiversionof fertiliserbe-tween2007and2009.Agrasen has been asked to

appearbeforeinvestigatingoffi-cer of the case at the ED head-quartersinDelhionWednesday.“He has been summoned

and will be questioned on thefindings of the CustomsDepartment,whichhad first in-vestigatedthematterandlevieda penalty,” an ED official said.“We are probing the case withthe angle of money laundering.He will be interrogated aboutmovement of money in the en-tireaffair.”The development comes

amid a political crisis inRajasthan,whereformerdeputychiefministerSachinPilot,alongwith 18 other Congress, hasfallen outwith the Gehlot gov-ernment.On July 22, the ED had con-

ductedraidsat13places, includ-ing in Rajasthan,West Bengal,GujaratandDelhi, inconnectionwith the case. The premises in-cluded those associated withAgrasenGehlotandhiscompany–AnupamKrishi.The scam concernsMuriate

of Potash (MoP), which is im-portedbyIndianPotashLimited(IPL)anddistributedto farmers,through companies, at sub-sidised rates. IPL is concernedwith import-handling, promo-tion andmarketing of Potash inthe entire country, and is pro-vided at subsidised rates tofarmers.

BJP MLA movesHC againstSpeaker’s decisionon BSP legislatorsjoining Congress

After raids, ED summons Gehlotbrother for questioning today

‘Pot calling kettle black’: Maya rapsGehlot for merging MLAs in Cong

Police cordon off Ambala air base toprevent photography of Rafale jets


MAURITIUS PRIME MinisterPravindJugnauthwillinauguratethe country’s new SupremeCourt building in the island-na-tion’s capital, Port Louis, jointlywith PrimeMinister NarendraModionThursday.The inauguration is sched-

uled to take place via video-conference in the presence ofsenior members of that coun-try's judiciary.ThebuildingisthefirstIndia-

assisted infrastructure projectwithinPortLouis. It isoneof thefiveprojectsbeingimplementedunder the ‘Special EconomicPackage’ of US$353million, ex-tended by the Indian govern-ment toMauritius in2016.The structure is spread over

anareaofmore than4,700sqmwithover10floorsandabuiltupareaofaround25,000sqm.Ithasbeenconstructedwithafocusonthermalandsound insulation.

MANAMANSINGHCHHINACHANDIGARH, JULY28

ADAY before the arrival of fiveRafalefighterjetsfromFrance,po-lice onTuesday threwa securityblanket around the Ambala AirForceStationontherequestoftheIAFtopreventphotosandvideosof thejets’arrival.Thefivejetshadtakenofffrom

Merignac Air Base in France onMondayen route toAmbala—adistanceofaround7,000km.Theaircraft landed at Al Dhafra AirBase near AbuDhabi the sameday,andaretocontinuetheirjour-neytoAmbalaonWednesday.

Chief of Air Staff Air ChiefMarshal RK SBhadauriawill bepresentinAmbalaonWednesdaytoreceivethefiveaircraft.HaryanaHomeMinisterAnil

Vij said the IAFhadaskedfora3-kmcordonandtoensure thatnophotographswere taken of thejetsfromtherooftopofthehousesadjoiningtheairbase.AMinistryofDefencePROsaid

nomedia interaction has beenplanned. Amessageinformedthejournalists that “photographyofmilitaryequipmentingeneralandinsideamilitaryairfieldinpartic-ular is punishable asper law”. AformalinductionceremonyoftheRafalejetsissetforAugust.

New Delhi

GOVT&POLITICS6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

PRESSURE POLITICSAFTERINTERNALfissures inrulingCongress ledtouncertaintyinRajasthan, anymove from ‘unhappy’ leaders in other statesseemstobecreatingnervousnessinpoliticalcircles.TheabsenceofKarnatakaDeputyCMLaxmanSavadifromthefirstanniver-sarycelebrationsoftheBSYediyurappagovernmentonMondayhas, thus, leftmany in theparty a littleworried.While Savadiwasexpectedtodeliveraspeechatthecelebratoryevent,hewasin Delhi, apparently to meet a senior central BJP leader.Yediyurappa is said to still enjoy the trust of PrimeMinisterNarendraModi,butrebels inthestateunitdonotmissanyop-portunitytogettheirvoicesheardbythenational leadership.

NO COINCIDENCE, PLEASETHESUPREMECourt gave theCentre 10days to look into theaffidavitsandclarifyitsstandinthecaseseekingrestorationof4GInternet inKashmir.Whenthecourtsaid itwouldhearthecasenextonAugust5,SolicitorGeneralTusharMehtarequestedthebenchtodefer it toAugust7.Mehta’srequestwasmadetoavoidthecrucialhearingonAugust5,whichmarksayearsinceJ&K’s special status underArticle 370was revoked and curbsonmovementandInternetwereimposed.Thecourtagreed.

COMINGS AND GOINGSRAVINDRAPRATAPSingh,a2007-batchOdishacadre IASof-ficer,will be newprivate secretary toNITI Aayog vice-chair-man Rajiv Kumar— the third officer in the post in Kumar’stenure of less than three years. Earlier this year, Jharkhandcadre IAS officerManjunath Bhajantri’s tenure as PS in thesameofficewascurtailedwithinafewmonthsofhis joining.Hispredecessor in thepost– IRSofficerNidhiSharma—hadalso left before theendof her tenure.Kumarhad joinedNITIonSeptember1,2017.

NAVEEDIQBALSRINAGAR, JULY28

WITH THE Central land lawbe-ing extended to the UnionTerritoryof JammuandKashmirand the armed forces no longerrequiring clearance of the UT’sHomeDepartment for acquisi-tion and requisition of land, thedepartment on Tuesday re-turned cases of acquisition ofland that were pendingwith itover the last fewyears.Of the 16 cases, 14 are in

Jammu region while one is inLehandoneinBandiporeareaofKashmir.This comes four days after

the J&K administration with-drew a 1971 circular that re-quiredanoobjectioncertificate(NOC) from its home depart-ment for acquisition or requisi-tion of land “in favour of theArmy,BSF,CRPFandothersimi-larorganisations”.Suchacquisi-tionwill nowbe covered underthe Right to Fair Compensationand Transparency in Land

Acquisition, Rehabilitation andResettlementAct, 2013.The pending cases include

acquisition of 7,307 kanals (ap-proximately 913 acres) of landfor“constructionofammunitiondump” in Jammuregion.The order from the Home

Departmentnotesthat,withtheearliercircularwithdrawn,“Iamdirectedtoreturnthecases…re-ferred to theHomeDepartmentfrom time to time which arepending on account of deficientdocumentsandotherproceduralformalities, with the request toproceedfurther inthematter...”Therearealsoacquisitionre-

questspertainingtoborderfenc-inginareasof JammubytheBSF.Therearealsorequestsforacqui-sitionof land inLehand Jammutoaugmentexisting facilities.Theletter,withthedetailsof

these pending cases, has beensent to GOC NorthernCommand;GOC,XVCorps;GOCXVI Corps; Director General ofthe BSF, J&K Police, SpecialDirectorGeneralof theCRPFandInspectorGeneralBSFinJammu.

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,JULY28

SENIORNATIONAL Conference(NC)leaderAgaSyedRuhullahonTuesday resigned as the party’schief spokesperson.WhileRuhullah,aformermin-

ister in the erstwhile state ofJammuandKashmir, remainedsilentoverhisresignation,itisap-parentlyafalloutofthepartylead-ership’s silenceover theCentre’sdecisiontoabrogateJ&K’sspecialstatusinAugust2019.“Ihavesentacrossmyresigna-

tion from the post of ChiefSpokesperson of @JKNC. Fromhere on none ofmy statementsshould be considered as such,”RuhullahtweetedonTuesday.The resignation came two

monthsafterhehaddroppedtheNC chief spokesperson tag fromhisTwitterbio,ostensiblytoshowhisdispleasure about anopinionarticlewritten by his colleagueTanvir Sadiq,whichwas seenbymanyastheparty’sofficial line.Immediatelyafterhetweeted

his resignation, Ruhullah, de-tainedathomesinceAugust5lastyear,switchedoffhisphonesandwentincommunicado.The resignation comes a day

after NC president FarooqAbdullahandpartyvice-presidentOmarAbdullahbroketheirsilenceontheissueofabrogationofJ&K’sspecialstatusandbifurcatingthestateintotwoUnionTerritories.Ruhullah’s resignation on

Tuesday has highlighted differ-enceswithintheparty.WhencontactedonTuesday,

Omarrefusedtocomment.OnMonday,Omar,inanopin-

ion piece for The Indian Express,

wrotethathewillnotcontesttheAssemblyelectionsaslongasJ&KremainsaUT.In a subsequent interview—

his first in a year—Omar said itwouldbea“challenge”fortheNCto find a political plank. “I can’tspeak for theparty but Iwill notsupportasloganthat ismere lip-service or hoodwinking. I thinkweneed to behonestwith peo-ple, even if itmeans that in theshort termwewillbe lessattrac-tivetopeoplethanwewouldliketo be,” he had saidwhen askedwhetherNCwouldchangeitsau-tonomysloganafterabrogationofspecialstatus.

In the Valley, Omar’s state-mentsareseenasNC’sreconcilia-tion to the abrogation of specialstatus and limiting the party’sfightforrestorationofstatehood.InMay,Ruhullahwasthefirst

NC leader to speak out sinceAugust2019whenheaskedwhatisstoppingNCanditsleadersfromexpressingtheparty’s“principledstand” on abrogation of specialstatus and downgrading of thestateintotwoUTs.InaninterviewwithTheIndian

Express,Ruhullahhadsaiditistruethat theCentre’s response couldbe “ugly andbrutal” if the partybreaksitssilenceoverthetwinis-sues,butaskedhisNCcolleaguestobe“readyforthat”.Athree-timeMLA,Ruhullahis

from the influential Aga clan, astrongShiaclergythatholdsswayon Shia population in centralKashmir.Hewasbroughtintopol-iticsbyFarooqAbdullahaftertheassassination of his father, AgaSyedMehdi,inanIEDblastbymil-itants in 2000. A strong voice intheparty,hewasseenasclose toformerCMOmarAbdullah.

Land law: Clearance notrequired, J&K home deptreturns pending cases

ESHAROYNEWDELHI,JULY28

A CHURNING is in the offing intheManipur Congress, with amajority of Congress councillorsin the Imphal MunicipalCorporationexpectedto join theBJPinthenextfewdays.Asignif-icant number of CongressMLAsare also likely to join the BJPinAugust.Thiscomesjustamonthafter

Manipurwitnessedapoliticalcri-sis,with three BJPMLAs resign-ingfromtheAssemblytojointheCongress, and the NPP— BJP’smain ally— threatening to pulloutof thegovernment.The developments in the

Congress come on the heels oftwo partyMLAs—RK Imo andOkram Henry — being sentshowcause notices by the

Congress for having voted infavour of the BJP in the RajyaSabhaelectioninJuly.WhiletheCongress seemed to havemorenumbers, a last-minute ma-noeuvrebytheBJPensuredthatits candidate LeisembaSanajaoba, Manipur’s formerroyal,wontheRajyaSabhaseat.Sonof formerCongress chief

minister of Manipur R KJaichandra Singh, Imo is also in-cumbent ChiefMinisterNBirenSingh’s son-in-law and aCongressMLA from Sagolbandconstituency. Henry is formerCongress CM and CLP leaderOkramIbobiSingh’snephewandan MLA from Wangkhei con-stituencyinImphal.“ThechasmbetweenImoand

Ibobi was widening over theyears,with Ibobi perceivinghimas a threat. Several assurancesfromthecentralCongressleader-

ship andAICC to accommodateImo inNewDelhi have come tonaught.NowImoisinasensitivepositionofbeingintheCongresswhile being a BJP CM’s son-in-law,”saidaCongresssource.Sources said that Ibobi also

hadafallingoutwithhisnephewHenry “on personal grounds”.“Henryhadlefthisfirstwifetore-

marry.HehasbeenostracisedbyhisentirefamilyincludingSingh,”saidaCongresssource.Thecross-votingisbelievedto

bejustthetipofastrategytheBJPhasbeenworkingtowardstose-curestability for itsgovernment.BirenSinghhashadatumultuoustenure since the stategot its firstBJP government in 2017,with afaction of the BJP led by ThBiswajitSingh,aCMaspirant,setin opposition to the CM. An at-tempt to remove Biren Singh in2019cametonaughtwiththeBJPcentralleadershipsteppinginandthrowingtheirweightbehindtheincumbentCM.TheCongresscouncillorsjoin-

ing theBJP thisweek is believedtobeanotherstepinsecuringtheBJP’sposition.Thereare27coun-cillors inManipur, of which theCongress has nine, andmost ofthemareexpectedtojointheBJP.

Later in August, Congresssourcessaid,asmanyasone-thirdof the Congress MLAs are ex-pectedtojointheBJP.ThiswillputtheCongressinaminorityforthefirsttimesincetheAssemblyelec-tionsin2017,whenithadsecured28ofthe60seats.Sincethen,oneMLA, ShyamKumar, had shiftedtotheBJP,whilethreeotherswererecently disqualified from theAssembly, bringing theCongress’s number down to 24MLAs.TheBJPhadonly21MLAsaf-

ter theelections. ThreeMLAsre-cently quit the party to join theCongress.ButwiththeBJPhavingre-secured its allies NPP and aloneTMCMLA,apartfromMLAsfrom theNPF and LJP, andmoreCongress MLAs set to join theparty, the BJP may soon havemorenumbersthantheCongressinManipurforthefirst time.

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI, JULY28

A SEDITION case has been filedagainst Manipuri political ac-tivistErendroLeichombamoverallegedly inflammatoryFacebook posts, police said onTuesday.JogeshchandraHaobijam,SP

of Imphal East, told The IndianExpress, “A case has been regis-teredunderSections153,124(A)and505of theIPC. Investigationisgoingon.”He confirmed that the case

was filed over allegedly inflam-matory Facebook posts, but didnot specifyanyparticularpost.Leichombam, who holds a

postgraduate degree fromHarvard University and is theconvener of a regional party inManipur called Peoples’

Resurgence and JusticeAlliance(PRJA), wrote on Facebook onTuesday, “I have been chargedwith sedition by theGovernment for exercisingmyFreedomof Speech…You can’tgag all your critics. Some of usstill loveourhomeland.Youcanimprisonmybody,buthowwillyou imprisonmymind?”Leichombam is not in

Manipur now, but he said thata police team visited his housein Imphal on July 26 to arresthim. He told The Indian Expressover phone, “The BJP govern-ment in Manipur wants to si-lence every critic and arrestsevery critic. This is a misuse ofexecutivepower.”The case against

Leichombam adds to a list ofcases that were recently filedagainstthosewhoallegedlycri-tiqued the state government.

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,JULY28

THECONTROVERSIALreconver-sion of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophiaintoamosquehassparkedapo-liticalrowinfarawayKerala,withtherulingCPI(M)questioningtheCongress’sstandontheissueaf-ter a senior leader of its ally,Indian Union Muslim League(IUML),hailedTurkey’sdecision.In an article in party daily

Chandrika, senior IUML leaderPanakkad Sadiq Ali ShihabThangal said that the US hasprotested the decision but it isnoteworthythatRussia,where25per cent of Orthodox Christianslive, has not interfered. “ManyEuropean countries,whichhaveopposed Turkey’s decision onHagia Sophia, have not allowedMuslims the right to offer na-maz…when all contemporaryChristian religious and politicalleadersdisagreewiththeconver-sion...theydonotmakeanystakeover its ownership realising thathistoricallythereisnogroundforsuchademand,”hewrote.Sadiq Ali, part of the IUML’s

highpowercommittee, is alsoaprominent member of theMalappuram-based Panakkadfamily,whichhasaconsiderablestake in north Kerala politics.“Turkey president TayyipErdogan,whoisraisinghisvoicein the international communityforthesystematically-oppressed

Muslims across the world, hasbeenattackedundertheguiseofpseudosecularism,”hewrote.In a Facebook post on

Tuesday,CPI(M)politburomem-ber and party state secretaryKodiyeri Balakrishnan askedhow the IUML can nowopposethe BJP government’s move toconstructaRamtemplewhereamosque once stood. “Jamaat-e-Islami is an organisationwhichsupports the Turkey govern-ment.WiththeIUMLleaderhail-ing the conversion of SophiaHagiaintoamosque,thelinkbe-tween IUML and Jamaat-e-Islami has come to the fore.Congresshasdecidedtomakeanalliance with Jamaat-e-Islamiand Social Democratic Party ofIndia(SDPI),thepoliticalwingofPopular Front of India.What isthe stand of Congress towardsIUMLapproachof acknowledg-ing theactof Turkeyruler.”The pro-Congress Catholic

Church in Kerala has also op-posedtheIUMLleader’sremarks.Inastatement,KeralaCatholic

BishopsCouncil spokespersonFrVargheseVallikkatt said, “Beforeglorifying the encroachment ofHagiaSophiaChurch,IUMLleaderSadiqAlishouldhavelearnedhis-tory.To justifyErdoganwouldbea liability of political Islamists inKerala... that shouldnotbeat thecostof endangering the futureofIndian secular democracy andpeacefulco-existenceofreligions.Thereisdangerinunilaterally in-terpretingthehistory.”

Ex-minister quits as NC spokespersonamid debate in party over J&K statehood

Manipur activist bookedfor sedition over FB post

BJPGOVT INMANIPURLOOKSTOCONSOLIDATEPOSITION

Imphal: The ManipurPradesh CongressCommittee on Tuesdaymoved a no-confidencemotionagainsttheBJP-ledgovernment. This comesthreedaysafterGovernorNajma Heptulla sum-monedtheAssemblyses-siononAugust10.CongressMLAKMeghachandrasaidthedecision followed thestate’s failure toheed theCongress’sdemandtohandover thedrugseizurecaseallegedly involving formerBJPleaderLukhoseiZoutotheCBI. ENS

Cong movesno-confidencemotion

Cong councillors set to join BJP, MLAs may follow soon

MLARKImohasbeensentshowcausenoticebytheCongress

CPM questions Congstand as IUML leaderhails Turkey move

AgaSyedRuhullah;OmarAbdullah

ILTIJAMUFTI,32,daughterof for-mer JammuandKashmir ChiefMinisterMehboobaMufti, saysshe is no politician, but hermother's detention sinceAugust5,whichshehaschallengedintheSupremeCourt—therehasbeennohearing after the first one onFebruary 26—has forcedher tospeakupagainst all that hasun-folded in Kashmir over the lastyear.Iltijalivesinthesamehome-turned-sub-jail where the PDPleader, charged under PublicSafetyAct,hasbeenheldinhousearrest since April, after sevenmonths at a government facilityontheoutskirtsofSrinagar.Almost a year since the

Centre’smove to bifurcate theerstwhile state into twoUnionTerritories, ILTIJAMUFTI speakswith NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIAN about thepres-entandthefutureofpoliticsintheValley.

Didyouanticipatethechangesthatweregoingtocome,andthatthepoliticalleadership,includingyourmother,formerChiefMinisterMehboobaMufti,wouldbedetained,andforsolong?Wethought(Article)35Awas

going.Butthiswasaverysinister,psychological agenda (of theCentre)—wewill take (Articles)370, 35A, butwewill also taketheirstatehood,sothatwhentheyfinallycometothetabletonego-tiate,itwillbelikeafavourthatweare even agreeing to restorestatehood.OnAugust 5 (after the deci-

sions were announced inParliament),agroupofpolicemencamewith this sketchywarrant.Itsaidweanticipatethere'sgoing

tobebreachofpeaceandlawandorder if wedon’t arrest you.Mymumtook a small suitcasewiththreepairsofclothesandsomees-sentialsandIthoughttheywouldtakeherawayforaday,thentwo,three, four days — every day Ithought she’s going to comehometoday....Mymotherhasin-nerstrength,butthewholepointofputtingherinisolationlikethatwasverysinister:itwasverycruel,itwastobreakher.

Howdoesyourmotherseewhat’sgoingon?Doyoutalktoheraboutallthis?Shecamehomeonly inApril.

Itwas very hard. But she is verystrong, andwhatever plans shehas inmind—her views—she’snotgoingtorevealtome.Shehasbeensayingthisistodisempowerus, topush theHindutva agendaintheonlyMuslim-majority[erst-while] state.We are being pun-ishedbecauseweareKashmiris,and we are Muslim. But fromwhatIknowofmymother,Iknowshewillwanttoworkwithevery-bodyandupholdtheGupkardec-laration,whichwas the last doc-ument that was forgedcollectively (byall J&Kparties onAugust 3, 2019 at FarooqAbdullah’shomeonGupkarRoadinSrinagar).

Whyhaven’ttheyreleasedheryet?InOctober,shewastoldtosign

abond.Ifyoureadit,youwill feellike you are in a dictatorship.Literally, (itwould havemeant)that (she) can’t speakabout any-thing thathappened. It is kindofunderstoodthatifshewantstogetout,herfreedomiscontingentonhernottalkingaboutArticle370.Now it’s become a game of

whoblinksfirst.Butthebadnewsforthemisthatit’snotgoingtobemymother, it’s going tobe thembecauseshe’sgoingtosticktoherguns.

Sowhatdotheywanthertodoaftersheisreleased?It’s not just Kashmir; in India

today, you have to agree withwhattheBJPissaying.Theyessen-tiallywanttopoliticallyincapaci-tateeveryone.Ifyougivecredibil-itytowhattheyaredoing,youwill

get all the space to function inKashmir.ButnotifthatpersonisaMehboobaMufti,whoisgoingtooppose themtooth andnail.Mymother is...the tallest womanleader this state has ever pro-duced. But noother chiefminis-ter hasutteredawordaboutherincarceration except perhapsMamata Banerjee because theywillbebrandedanti-national.

ThesensethatIgotwhenIvisitedKashmirlastAugustisthatpeoplewerehappythatpoliticianshadbeenjailed.Theyweresaying,‘theseleadershadpromiseduseverything,deliverednothingandnowevenArticle370isgone’.Whenpeople lumpuswith

theNational Conference, that’sverywrong. They (NC)were inpowerformanyterms.Mygrand-fatherandmymotherwereinof-ficecollectivelyfornotmorethan

five or six years. (During) mygrandfather’s term from2002 to2005,Kashmirwasamorepeace-ful place. (The cross-LoC) Uri-Muzaffarabad trade routewasopened. Insurgency, infiltrationwentdown,thewholefocuswasonprovidingahealingtouch.When themedia sayspeople

are happy that politicians are injail,theydon’ttelltheotherhalfofthestory.What is theotherhalf?ItisthatKashmirisdonotbelievein this country anymore.Mainstreampartiesworkedas abuffer here (for the Centre). Themain culprit is theGoI. Even theCongresswasn’t verydifferent—370 was hollowed out by theCongress.They(people)resentallpoliticalpartieshere,buttheyre-sentGoIevenmore.

ButthereisangeragainstPDPfortyingupwithBJP,andthatresentmenthasbeentherefrom2016...

Thesedecisionsweretakenbymygrandfather,andmymother.Iamnotapolitician. Iwasnotpartof those decisions. But, in hind-sight, you can see it backfired. Itwaslikeoilandwater.Whenyoudosomething,theintentionmat-ters.Did theydo it for thesakeofpower?No.Mygrandfathertookthisdecisionkeepinginmindpeo-ple’s welfare, as BJP had thishuge sweeping mandate (attheCentre)...J&K is such a complicated

state.PDP,NC,all regionalpartiesarealreadylumpedasanti-Hindu,Muslimparties. So if BJP gets theJammumandate,doyoubrazenlykick thatmandate?Mygrandfa-ther’s thinkingwas thatwehavetorespectthemandateinJammuaswell.

Doyouthinkthere’sanyscopeformainstreamregionalpoliticalpartieslikePDPandNCnow?They obviously obliterated

thatground,theylumpeduswiththeHurriyat.Butnothinglastsfor-ever.Youthinkthisregimeisgoingtolastforever?Whenyouseethecourseofhistory,itisneverlinear.Howdoyouknowtherewon’tbearevolutionhere?Itisnotalabex-perimentwhereBJPfeeltheycancontrol everything. Theyhaven’tbeen able to do that. Clearly thenarrative has slipped out oftheirhands.This place is an open-air

prison.Ihaveneverseensomanysecurity forces here before this.They are saying since the 1990sthatmilitancy is finished. Ifmili-tancy is finished,whywas a BJPpresident (of Bandipora inKashmir) shot dead?Why arepeopletakingtomilitancy?Theseyoung disillusioned guys don’tknowwhere to go. There are nopoliticalrepresentatives.Allbabusworkingherearenon-Kashmiris,sotheydon’tcare.What have they done in the

last one year? You are literallypushingpeople.Youhavebroughtinnewdomicilerules(tobringinoutsiders).Theyarenotevengiv-ing us back our 3G (internet).Nothingworks on2Ghere. Kidshaven’t had an academic yearhere....Touristsareallowedbutlo-cals can’t goout. Areweanimals

inacircusthatoutsiderswillcomeandseeusinourcages?

DoyouthinkPDPwillcontesttheAssemblyelectionswhentheytakeplace?This is something only my

mother cananswer. It’s for themtodecide.Butinmypersonalview,thesearegoingtobeelectionsformunicipality.Icantellyouthatmymother isnot thinkingabout theelectionsrightnow.That’sthelastthingonhermind.

HowdoyouseethesplitinPDP.AnewpartyhascomeupwithsomepeoplewhowerePDPmembers.Ireallyseeitthroughtheprism

of my mother not agreeing towhat they are asking for. Youknowhoweasy it is—theysum-monpeople toDelhi, that’swhatthey have been doing to all ourparty members. My mother’sbeen jailed for the last one year,herpartyhasbeensplinteredintopieces.Butapoliticalparty,grass-rootsleaders,arenotatechstart-up that you can create inanincubator.

Butwasn’tPDPalsolikeastart-up?Not at all. The PDP doesn’t

have a dodgy origin; its growthwasorganicandspontaneous. Itwasn’tcreatedinthemidstofanoppressive atmosphere orfoisted on peoplewhen the en-tire political leadershipwas de-tainedtomakesweepingillegal,unconstitutional changes. Itspolicies of dialogue withPakistan,self-rule,etc,wererad-ical even then when viewedthrough the perspective of na-tionalparties.Therewasnoovertorcovert support fromGoI.

Howdoyouandyourmotherspendtime?She’s started reading a lot

morethansheusedto.Ialsoreada lot. I startedmeditating, and Ialsotrytokeepcalm.It’sveryhard,butthisexperiencehastaughtusalot.

It'sjustthetwoofyouinthehouse?No, it’sme, her,mysister and

mygrandmom.

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

ILTIJAMUFTIDAUGHTEROF J&KEX-CM

ANDPDPCHIEFMEHBOOBAMUFTI

“They [Centre] obviously obliterated that ground,they lumpeduswith theHurriyat.But nothinglasts forever. You think this regime is going to lastforever?Whenyou see the course of history, it isnever linear.”

“Inmypersonal view, these are going tobeelections formunicipality. I can tell you thatmymother is not thinking about the elections rightnow.That’s the last thing onhermind.”

‘Game ofwho blinks first, but bad newsfor them is it’s not going to bemymother’

New Delhi

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EXPRESSNETWORK8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in81975/HRY

SOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD, JULY28

THEGUJARATHighCourthassaiditwasdisappointedwiththe“pas-siveandyieldingapproach”ofthestate government over taking atimely decision on barring theRath Yatra in Ahmedabad andelsewhere inGujarat lastmonthinviewoftheCovid-19pandemic.In adetailed judgmentdated

July7—theHCmadeitpubliconTuesday— thedivisionbenchofChief Justice VikramNath andJusticeJBPardiwalasaid,“Asasec-ular body heading the fightagainst Covid-l9 in the state, thegovernment’smain focusshouldbeprotectingthehealthandwell-beingofthepeopleatallcost,evenifitmeanshurtingreligioussenti-mentsofsomereligiousleaders.”Thecourtobserved:“Within-

fectionratesgoingupandourre-sources gradually depleting, it ismandatory to focus on healthrather than religion.... Instead oftakingafirmstanceandboldlyre-fusingtoallowtheRathYatracit-ingpublichealthreasons,thegov-ernmentchose to followapolicyof appeasement and coaxing toconvince the religious leaders,templeauthoritiesandorganisersconnectedwith Shri JagannathRath Yatra to avoid holding theRathYatraprocessions.“During a pandemic, we do

nothave time for blandishment.Weneed action— strong, prag-maticandrobustaction.”Thecourtnotedthatforagov-

ernment to function effectivelyduringapandemic, it is “param-ount tohaveaclear list of priori-ties” tomakequickandeffectivedecisions. The government, itsaid,“cannot,andshouldnot,fol-lowapolicyofappeasingculturalandreligiousheads,”sincethatis

notthetimeto“sit,negotiateandpersuade”.Thebenchobserved that the

government'snonchalanceontheissueof religiousgatheringsmayinturnleadthepublictobe“incr-easinglyrelaxedandeasy-going...”Inararemidnighthearing,ho-

ursbefore theRathYatraon June23, theHighCourthadupheld itsstayon theprocession inAhme-dabaddespite the state govern-mentmovinganapplication,seek-ingtheprocessiontobepermittedinalimitedcapacityinthecity.Thecourthadsoughtexplana-

tionsfromadditionalchiefsecre-tary(home)SangeetaSingh,stateDGP Shivanand Jha andAhmedabadPoliceCommissionerAshishBhatiaonwhyanapplica-tion of the Jagannath Templetrustees seeking permission forholding the processionwas notdecided upon in more than amonthpreceding theprocessionday.Thecourthadexpressed“as-tonishment”attheinactionbytheseniorbureaucrats.Subsequently, the three offi-

cershadfiledaffidavitsonJuly3,

with Sangeeta Singh submittingthatshewas“informallygiventounderstand”byDGPJhathat“be-fore expressly declining thepermission” to the temple trust,the commissioners of police,heads of police range, etc, were“coordinatingwith the templeauthorities, organisers, religiousleaders...to arrive at a consensusregarding cancellation or sym-bolic celebration in view of theCOVID19pandemic”.Reacting to the submissions,

the division bench noted in itsjudgment that “whatwasdisap-pointing was the passive andyieldingapproachofthestategov-ernment.”Thebenchheldthatthelitiga-

tionshouldnothavereachedthecourt in the first place, and thatpublic health should takeprece-dence over religious expression,which is how the state govern-ment“asasecularbody”mustact.It underlined that “if thegovern-mentdecidestoactfeebleandin-decisive,thiswouldsendawrongmessageofgovernmentprioritiesbeingambiguousandunclear....In

such critical times, there is noneed to consult or discuss any-thingrelatingtoreligiouspracticeswith religious leaders, etc, at thecostofpublichealth.Weempha-sise upon the need to prioritiseprotection of public health overreligiousexpression...”On permission for religious

processions, the court held, “Thedecision as towhether theRathYatra, or anyother religiouspro-cession, should be permitted ornot is amatterwhich predomi-nantly fallswithin thedomainoftheexecutivewing(State).Thead-ministrative authorities, whileconsideringsucharequest,mustkeep inmind relevant statutoryprovisionsandadministrativecir-cularsissuedbytheState....theas-sessmentof the situation shouldbebasedonexisting / prevailingfactsandcircumstances.”Thebenchalsoremarkedthat

theHC’sdecisiontostay thepro-cessionhadresultedinavertinga“major catastrophe” that couldhave “completely derailed thestategovernment’s fight”againstthepandemic.Elaboratingon this, theorder

stated,“Theemotional,socialandeconomic cost of the lossof livesfollowingamajorpublicgatheringwouldhavebeendevastating.Thesupport andunderstanding sho-wnbythemasseswascommend-able.Despitehavingtheirreligioussentimentshurt,mostpeoplecor-rectly understood the publichealth concernsbehind the can-cellationoftheage-oldRathYatra.”The court’s common judg-

ment came in light of two PILsfiled in June, in effect seeking astayontheRathYatraonJune23—onewasfiledbyHiteshChavda,ajournalist,representedbyadvo-cateAumKotwal;andanotherbyRameshMarand, representedbyadvocateNandishThacker.

Rathyatrachariotswerebrought insidetheLord JagannathTemple inAhmedabadonJune23. File

AmidCovid,govt’smainfocusshouldbeprotectinghealthofpeople, sayscourt

ANDHRAPRADESH

Delay in testresults, people’sreluctance tostay in behindsurge: Officials

RathYatra:Gujarat drawsHC ireover ‘passive, yielding’ approach

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD, JULY28

THEHUGE volume of samples,thetimetakenforresultstocomeand the reluctance of suspectedcases to quarantine themselvesare contributing to spread ofCovid-19 inAndhra Pradesh, ac-cordingtostatehealthofficials.According to theofficials, the

testresultsaretakingatleastfourdays to comeandpeoplewhosesampleshavebeen collected arenot staying inquarantine till theresultscomein.“Ourtestingnum-bers arehigh. Large-scale spreadishappeningbecausetestresultstakeatleastfourdaystocomeandpeople refuse to stayathome tillthe results areout,”DrASrikant,thestate’snodalofficerforCovid-19,toldTheIndianExpress.“While the results are

awaited, those infected are un-knowinglyspreadingittoothers.Onlyafter the result comespos-itive, they go into quarantine athomeoratCovidcentres.This isthereasoninfectionisspreadingsoquickly,”hesaid.“Trade andbusiness is going

on in full swing across the state,especially in East Godavari,Chittoor, Guntur, Anantapur andKurnool, andpeople aremovingacrossdistrictswithouttakingba-sicprecautions.Alargenumberofpeoplearearrivinginthestateontrainsandgoingtotheirnativevil-lages.Manyof themare infectedand they are spreading it un-knowingly in the villages,’’ DrSrikantsaid.Andhra Pradesh conducted

62,979 tests on July 27. The statehasreported1,10,297casessofar.Thedistricts of EastGodavari

(16,063 cases), Kurnool (13,380cases),Guntur(11,692cases)andAnantapur (10,987) haveemergedashotspotsinthestate.

Bengal extends restrictions tillAug 31, biweekly curbs to continueEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA, JULY28

THEWESTBengalgovernmentonTuesdayextendedtherestrictionsinthestatetillAugust31.Thetotallockdownacrossthestatetwiceaweekwillalsocontinue.Announcing the decision,

ChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeetold reporters, “Thebiweekly to-tal lockdownacrossthestatewillalsoremaininplacetilltheendofnextmonth.”Thestategovernmentalsore-

leaseddatesofthebiweeklylock-down,butrevisedthemtwice.Initially,theChiefMinisteran-

nounced10datesforthebiweeklyshutdowninAugust.Accordingtosources in the government, theadministrationinitiallydecidedtoimplement restrictions only onweekends. However, it thende-cided to accommodate festivalsand events such as Eid, RakshaBandhanandIndependenceDay.“Wetriedtoimposelockdown

onweekends toavoiddisturbingtheworkingdays.But,wehad toaccommodatesomefestivalsandother importantdays. Independ-ence day and Raksha Bandhancannotbeondaysoflockdown.Sowe had to change the dates,”Banerjeetoldreporters.Later,atapressmeet,theChief

Minister announceda change in

dates as two of the dates an-nounced earlier coincidedwithGaneshChaturthiandMuharram.The number of dayswhen thestatewould beunder lockdownwas reduced tonine—August 2,5,8,9,16,17,23,24and31.Late on Tuesday night, the

HomeDepartmentsaidlockdownwouldnotbeimposedonAugust2 and 9. “After announcing thestatewide complete lockdowndates...thegovernmenthasbeenreceiving requests and appealsfromdifferentquartersnottoob-servestatewidelockdownoncer-taindatescoincidingwithfestivals

and important communityocca-sions,”ittweeted.Thedepartmentadded,“Respectingthesentimentsofthepeoplewearewithdrawingcomplete lockdownannounce-mentforAugust2andAugust9.”Meanwhile,theChiefMinister

said schools and collegeswouldremain closed till the end ofAugust.However, if the situationimproves, schools can reopenfromSeptember 5, and functiononalternatedays,shesaid.The Chief Minister also said

thatthestatehadrampeduptest-ing. “Over 16,000 tests are hap-peningdaily,”shesaid.

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,JULY28

THEBJP inKerala haspetitionedGovernorArifMohammedKhan,seekingwithdrawal of BookerPrize winner Arundhati Roy’s‘ComeSeptember’speechof2002fromCalicutUniversity’stextbookfortheBAEnglishcourse.InalettertotheGovernor,who

istheChancelloroftheuniversity,state BJP presidentK Surendransaidtheessayquestionedthesov-ereigntyandintegrityofthecoun-try.“Dissentisbrewingamongac-ademics and the general publicagainst the inclusionof this spe-ech,whichisanti-national.Royhasstated that India has unleashedterroronthenon-violentstrugglefortheindependenceofKashmir.Shewas introducedby textbookeditorsMuruganBabuandAbidaFarooqi as the sane voice whospokeagainstthehangingofAfzalGuru.Thehangingwastermedasadarkchapterinthehistoryofthecountry,”hewrote.SurendransaidthatRoyinher

speechallegedthatHindusarefas-cists. “Thetextof thespeechsho-uldberemovedfromthesyllabus.”

The speech is included in thetextbook ‘Appreciating Prose’,meantforthethirdsemesterofBAEnglish LanguageandLiterature.The syllabuswas implementedlast year and the text is slated tobetaughtintheongoingthirdse-mester.DrAbidaFarooqi,chairperson

fortheuniversityboardofstudies,said the speech was recom-mendedby a 10-member com-mittee last year and attested bytheAcademicCouncil beforebe-ingincludedinthesyllabus.“Thespeechhadappeared inperiodi-cals.Sofar,nonehasraisedanyal-legationagainstit.Inthetextbookcommitteealso,nobodyobjectedtoitsinclusion,”shesaid.CalicutUniversityRegistrarDr

CLJoshisaidnodecisionhasbeentaken,andtheAcademicCouncilwouldtakeadecisionaftergoingthroughtheissue.“Wecannotsaywhethercollegeshaveunofficiallydecidednottoteachthatspeech,”headded.

ArundhatiRoy

Pune hospital nurses withdraw boycott

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE, JULY28

AS MANY as 200 nurses ofJehangirHospital,whohadboy-cottedwork since Sunday tode-mandbetter pay, resumed theirdutyonWednesday,saidhospitalauthorities. “We have assuredsalaryincrementsduringthenextappraisal cycle,” VinodSawantwadkar, CEOof JehangirHospital, toldTheIndianExpress.

“Wehave restored our serv-ices... during the two days, wewereunable to take inmore ad-missions. However, the hospitalhasnearly145Covidpositivepa-tients and they are recoveringwell,”saidSawantwadkar,adding,“Wehavebeenlisteningtothem,talking to themandunderstand-ingtheirconcernsasateam”.The nurses had boycotted

work to protest long workinghoursand lowsalaries.MatthewJohn,jointsecretaryoftheUnited

Nurses Association, which hadsupportedtheboycott,saidthataday-long meeting was held,whereauthoritiesandnursesdis-cussedvariousissues.Hospital authorities have in-

formed them that due to theCovid-19 crisis, raising nurses’salarieswilltakesometime,saidJohn. The authorities have alsoagreed to give PPE kits, reducedailyworking hours from12 tosix, and grant a rest period fornurses.

Delhi, Kolkatapeople will add9 yrs to life ifair pollutionchecked: report


INDIANS ON average lose 5.2years of their life due to in-creased air pollution, andDelhiand Kolkata stand to gain themostifairpollution,particularlyconcentration of PM2.5,meetsWHO standards, according totheannualAirQualityLifeIndex(AQLI)broughtoutbytheEnergyPolicyInstituteattheUniversityof Chicago (EPIC).WhileDelhiites stand togain

9.4years if PM2.5concentrationdropsto10microgramspercubicmetre — theWHO standard —Kolkata residentswould gain al-mostnineyears,thereportstated.If the countrymeets its own

standard of 40micrograms percubicmetre of PM 2.5 concen-tration, the overall gainwill be2.3years, it said.The report found Lucknow

hasthehighestlevelofpollutionin thecountry, at11 timesmoreparticulateconcentrationthanisdeemed acceptable byWHO.“Residents of Lucknow stand tolose10.3yearsof lifeexpectancyif pollutionpersists,” it stated.“India’s1.4billionpeoplelive

in areas where annual averageparticulate pollution level ex-ceeds theWHO guideline,” thereport noted. “Eighty-four per-cent(people)liveinareaswhereitexceedsIndia’sownairqualitystandard...”Thereportalsosaid that248

millionpeopleinnorthIndiaareon track to losemore thaneightyears of life expectancy if thepollution levelspersist.Fourcountriesaccountingfor

nearly a quarter of the world’spopulation—Bangladesh, India,Nepal and Pakistan — are alsoamong the most polluted, itreported.

BJP wants Roy speech outof Calicut varsity textbook

Ahealthworkercollects swabsamples forCovid-19testing,atapolicestation inKolkataonTuesday. ParthaPaul

New Delhi


EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JAYMAZOOMDAAR&SHIVAMPATELNEWDELHI, JULY28

POINTING OUT that OIL “doesnot have, till date, the requiredconsenttoestablishand/orcon-sent to operate to either carryoutdrillingandtestingofhydro-carbons inWell Baghjan-5,” apanel of experts set up by theNational Green Tribunal (NGT)hasflaggedaseriesofviolationsin the company's Baghjan proj-ect inAssam'sTinsukiawhereagaswell eruptedonMay27.In a preliminary report, the

panel has recommended“scrutiny of all existing projectsofOILinAssam”inviewof“seri-ousandgrave infractionagainstthe statutory environmentalsafeguards”.Thereportblamed“deficiency

in understanding” and “properplanningofcriticaloperations”forthe blowout. “Therewas a clearmismatchbetweenplanninganditsexecutionatsiteanddeviationsfromthestandardoperatingpro-cedure. Therewere seriousdefi-ciencies,ofproperlevelsofsuper-visionof critical operation at thewellsite,bothfromthecontractoraswellasfromOIL,” itsaid.Among several instances it

referred to, the report said “the

wellgavemorethanonehourtotake some correctivemeasuresbutprecioustimewaslostinde-cisionmaking as no senior offi-cerswereatsite,onlytelephonicdiscussionsweregoingon”.The report further said that

OILdidnothave themandatoryprior environmental clearancefor the project. It noted thatwhile OIL started operations inBaghjanWellNo5inNovember2006, the clearance was notsought until November 2007 --itwasgrantedonly in2011.Thecommitteealsonotedthat

thecompanywasyettoconductabiodiversity impact assessmentstudyasmandatedbyaSupreme

Courtorderthatallowedittoseekclearanceforexploringhydrocar-bons under Dibru SaikhowaNationalParkin2017.SetupunderformerGauhati

HighCourtjudgeBPKatakeyonJuly2,theCommitteeofExpertssubmitteditspreliminaryreportto theNGTon July24.According to the report, the

panel found “conclusive evi-dence” of “violations and non-compliance by OIL of key envi-ronmentalsafeguardsandsafetyoversightthatappearstorendertheenvironmentalprotections”guaranteed under various laws“ineffective.”Thewellcontinuestoremain

on fire since the explosion onJune 9 after the blowout,whichhas displacedmore than 9,000peoplefromtheirhomesinto10relief camps.Thereportsaidthefallout has “severely affected”theareainaradiusof6kmfromthe well, close to the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park andMaguri-Motapungwetland.“The impact assessment re-

portof theWII (Wildlife Instituteof India) states thathigh levelsofcarcinogenicPolycyclicAromaticHydrocarbonspollutants,whichhavebeenfoundintheecosystemsurrounding the site of incident,willeventuallypercolateintothegroundandevencontaminatethegroundwater,”thereportwarned.The committee has recom-

mendedinterimcompensationtothe affected families: Rs 25 lakhforhouses thatwere completelydestroyed,Rs10lakhforthosese-verely damaged, andRs2.5 lakhforthosemoderatelydamaged.Meanwhile, in an update on

theblowoutpostedon itsofficialTwitter account Tuesday, OILlistedvariousmeasuresthatwere“inprogress”under“EnvironmentImpactAssessment”and“prepa-rationforcappingthewell”.Italsosaidthata“surveyforassessmentof damage for compensation....isinprogress”,andthat2,258fami-lieshadbeensurveyedtillJuly27.

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, JULY28

UNION MINISTER forEnvironment, Forests andClimate Change, PrakashJavadekar, on Tuesday releasedthe detailed Status of TigersReport2018.Accordingtothere-port, released on the eve ofGlobalTigerDay,tigerswereob-served to be increasing at a rateof6percentperannuminIndiafrom2006to2018."There were nine tiger re-

serves when Project Tigerstarted in 1973. Now, India has50 tiger reserves. Seventy percent of theworld’s tigers are inIndiaandtheconservationefforthasbeenahugesuccess...Wearereadytohelptheother13coun-tries with tiger ranges in con-

serving, capacity building andtraining in tiger conservation.Theministrywillalsostartawa-ter and fodder schemewithinthereservessothat lessanimalsstray out of these reserves andthisminimalisesanimal-humanconflict,” Javadekar said.DG Forests Sanjay Kumar,

meanwhile, said since the tigerwas an “umbrella species”, itsconservationenablestheconser-vationoftheirentireecosystems.“Many studies have shown thatthese reserves harbour newspecies,which are foundpracti-cally every year. Tiger reserveshave also improved the waterregimesinregionswheretheyarelocated,improvinggroundwatertables and other water bodies,thus contributing favourably totheclimate,"saidKumar.But while tiger populations

remainstableinthecountry,thereportwarnsthatwiththepop-ulationsbeingconfinedtosmallProtectedAreas, someofwhichhave habitat corridors that per-mit tiger movement between

them,“mostofthecorridorhabi-tatsinIndiaarenotprotectedar-eas,andaredegradingduetoun-sustainable human use anddevelopmentalprojects”.There have been gains and

losses in individual landscapes,says the report. Most of thesevariations have taken place inhabitatpocketswithlowdensity.Tiger occupancy has in-

creased inMadhyaPradeshandAndhraPradesh.Theformeralsoregisteredasubstantial increasein tiger population, and alongwithKarnataka,rankshighestintigernumbers.The Northeast has, mean-

while,sufferedlossesinpopula-tion. The tiger status inChhattisgarh, Jharkhand andOdisha has steadily declined,which the report stated “is amatterof concern”.The largest contiguous tiger

populationintheworldofabout724 tigers was found in theWestern Ghats (Nagarhole-Bandipur-Wayanad-Mudumalai-Satyamangalam-BRTblock).

MANISHSAHULUCKNOW,JULY28

IN ANOTHER case of abductionandmurderinUttarPradesh,po-liceinKanpurDehatonTuesdayrecoveredthedecomposedbodyofa27-year-oldaccountantwhohadgonemissingon July16.Police have arrested a truck

owner, 35-year-old SubodhSaxena, who has confessed tokillingBrijeshKumarforransom.ThedecomposedbodyofBrijeshwas recovered from a drywelloutsidehisvillage,Chaura.According to police, Brijesh

and Subodh were friends andkneweachotherforalongtime.While Brijeshworked as an ac-countant at a truck-weighingshop,Subodhwasatruckowner.“Debt-ridden Subodh

planned the kidnapping ofBrijeshtoextortmoneyfromhisfamily. On the night of July 16,Subodh reached Brijesh’s shopinacar.AfterBrijeshwrappeduphis work, Subodh asked him tosit in his car where he offered

him cold drinks laced withdrugs.SubodhthenkilledBrijeshby strangulating him. He laterdumped his body in a drywell.WhenBrijesh's family called onhiscellphone,Subodhpickedupthe call and demand Rs 20 lakhforhisrelease,”KanpurDehatSPAnurag Vats said, adding thatSubodhhasconfessedhiscrime.Laterintheday,ChiefMinister

YogiAdityanathdirectedKanpurDehatpolicetoconsiderinvokingNational Security Act (NSA)against the accused andput thecase on a fast track. He also toldthepolicetofindif therewasanylapse on their part and an-nouncedRs5lakhascompensa-tiontothevictim’s family.This is the sixth such case of

kidnapping in the state in thismonth.Witha seriesof casesof kid-

napping and murder takingplace in the state, DGP HCAwasthy on Tuesday directeddistrictpolice chiefs toexpediteinvestigation of kidnappingcases and ensure safe recoveryof victims.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,JULY28

THEAGRApoliceonTuesdaybe-gan a probe after a Dalit familywasallegedlynotallowedtocre-matebodyof awomanat a cre-mation site meant for uppercastesandwasforcedtoperformthe last ritesatanotherplace.The incident occurred at

Kakarpura village under theAchhnerapolicestationlimitsonJuly20.Pooja, belonging to the Nat

community,diedduetocompli-cations caused after her seconddelivery one-and-a-half yearsago, saidher family, adding thather body was taken to the thecremationgroundinthevillage.Pooja’s father-in-law Brijpal

(60) on Tuesday alleged, “ShediedonJuly19duetosomecom-plications. The land where wearesupposedtoperformthelastriteshasbeenencroacheduponbypeoplefromtheThakurcom-munity and sold off. On July 20,we took the body to the crema-tiongroundwherepeople fromthe Thakur community inter-rupted the proceedings. They

said we can’t perform the lastrites here as it is for the Thakurcommunity. We pleaded withthem to allow us to undertakethelastrites,buttheydidnotlis-ten.Leftwithnochoice,wetookthebodytoadifferentcremationground for the Nat communityinanothervillge.”Askedwhytheydidnotlodge

a police complaint, Brijpal said,“Wedidnotwant adispute.Weare very poor and can’t take onthepeopleas theyareaffluent.”Agra Additional SP (West)

RaviKumarsaidaprobehasbeenordered into the matter. “Wetooksuomotocognizanceof theissueafter seeing reports inme-diaandhadsentapoliceteamtoinquire intothematter.Nowrit-tencomplaintwasreceivedfromthe family of Pooja, but we aregetting the matter probed byCircleOfficer(Achhnera)BSVeerKumar and actionwill be takenaccordingly,”Kumarsaid.BSP chiefMayawati tweeted

about the incident: “This is ashamefulandcondemnableinci-dent.Tostopsuchincidentsfromhappening again, the state gov-ernmentshouldorderahigh-levelprobeandtakestrictaction...”

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,JULY28

THEAyodhyadistrictadministra-tionhasdirectedthatnewschan-nelsseekingtocoverthebhoomipujan of the Ram temple nextweekmust give an undertakingnot to invite any “vivadit pak-shakar (controversialparty)” foranydebate.Theundertakingalsorequiresthemtoensurenocom-ment is made on any religion,community or sect, or any spe-cific individual.As per the formatdevisedby

thedistrictadministration,theun-dertakingsaysheadsofelectronicmediahouseswouldbeheld ac-countable in caseof any lawandordersituationarisingbecauseofa channel. “Kanoon vyavastha kobanayerakhajayegatathaagarkisiprakar se koi garbari hogi to iskijimmedarimeri vyaktigat roop sehogi (Law and order would bemaintained and if there is any-thinguntowardthen itwouldbemypersonalresponsibility),"saystheundertaking, to be signedbyheadsofmediahouses.The format, sent to news

channels, requires permissionstobetakenundernineheads,in-cluding that a private indoor

space has been identified for aprogrammeandnopublicplaceselectedfor thepurpose.Onpartiestobecalledforde-

batesonshows,theundertakingseeks a guarantee that “isskarikarammeinkisivivaditpak-shakarkonahibulayajayega(nocontroversial litigant would beinvitedforthisprogramme)".Nocomment can bemade on any“dharma,sampradaya,pant(re-ligion,communityorsect)",ora“vyakti vishesh (any specific in-dividual)".The channels havebeen told

to ensure social distancing ismaintained,thereisnocrowdor

audienceattheirrecordingapartfrom panelists, andmasks arewornbythoseattending.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,

Deputy Director, Information,Murli Dhar Singh said, “Mediawouldhavenoproblemcoveringthe event, all the arrangementsarebeingmade.Therewouldbeaseparatemedia centre, and livetelecast. InordertomaintainlawandorderandconsideringCovid,news channels would have totakepriorpermissionandensurethereisnopublicgathering,thereare no controversial statementsand that proper protocol ismaintained."

Preparations inAyodhyaaheadof theAugust5event. PTI

AYODHYAEVENT

Dos and don’ts for TV includeno ‘controversial’ parties

OILworkersat thesiteof theblowoutonJuly22.Courtesy:OIL

NGT panel red-flags violationsat OIL’s Baghjan project

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JULY28

THEAHMEDABADPoliceissueda showcause notice to an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) activist Kaleem Siddiqui,askingwhyheshouldnotbeex-terned from the city and threeadjoining districts for the nexttwoyearsforhisallegedinvolve-ment incriminal activities.KaleemSiddiqui,39,wasone

of the organisers of the two-month Shaheen Bagh-like anti-CAA agitation in Ahmedabad.The protest which started onJanuary 14 was called off onMarch14due to thepandemic.Siddiquireceivedashowcause

noticefromtheofficeofACP‘A’di-visionofAhmedabadCitypolice,inwhichhehasbeensummonedon July 30 around 12 pm to ex-plainhimselfastowhyheshouldnotbeexternedfromAhmedabadcity,Ahmedabadrural,Mehsana,Kheda andGandhinagar for twoyears.Thenotice furthermentions

ten anonymous complaintsagainstSiddiquiwherethecom-plainantshaveclaimedSiddiquiallegedlyassaulted them.Identifyinghimself as a free-

lance journalist and activist,Siddiqui claims that the anony-mouscomplaintsagainsthimarebogus in nature. “Iwill take thematter toGujaratHighCourtbe-causeeventhenoticeofsummon-ingmeforbanishmenthasnoba-sis,”hetoldTheIndianExpress.Speaking to The Indian

Express,MAPatel,ACPAdivisionsaid,“TherearetwoFIRsagainsthimandwearechecking if theyweremadeontechnicalbasisorhis involvementwas there. Thedecision to extern himwill betakenafter that.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JULY28

THE BOMBAY High Court onTuesday directed the NanavatiSuper-SpecialtyHospitaltosub-mit a health report of Telugupoet and activist Varavara Rao,anaccusedintheElgaarParishadcase,withinthreedaysfromthetimethehospital receivedcom-municationonthecourt’sorder.Adivisionbenchof JusticesR

DDhanukaandVGBishtalsodi-rected the hospital to elaborateonthelineof treatmentgiventoRao,whohadtestedpositive forthenovelcoronavirusonJuly16.“Nanavati Hospital is di-

rected to submit a report as pernatureof thetreatmentgiventothepetitionerandhishealthsta-tusinthreedaysfromthedateofcommunication of this order,”the bench said. The court said itwillexaminethereportandthenconsider a plea filed by Rao’sfamily seeking a copy of suchreport.On Tuesday, the high court

also permitted Rao’s familymemberstovisitRaointhehos-pital. “In view of the statementmade by Additional SolicitorGeneralAnilSingh,familymem-bersofthepetitionerarepermit-tedtovisitRao,whoisadmittedat Nanavati Hospital, subject tohospital protocol and in accor-

dancewith government normsin respect of the Covid-19patient.”


THESUPREMECourtonTuesdaydeclinedtointerferewiththeor-der transferring CBI DSP A KBassi to Port Blair. Bassiwas theinvestigating officer in the caseofcorruptionagainstformerCBIspecialdirectorRakeshAsthana.A bench headed by Chief

Justice S A Bobde, however,sought toknowwhyhehadnotjoinedduty inPortBlair.The bench, also comprising

Justices A S Bopanna and VRamasubramanian, said it didnotwanttointerfereatthisstageandaskedBassi toapproachtheappropriate forumfor relief.Senior Advocate Rajeev

Dhavan, appearing for Bassi,thensoughtpermissiontowith-drawtheplea.Allowingthis, thecourtaddedintheorderthat“allcontentionsare leftopen”.Dhavanpointedout that the

SC had earlier allowed him tomake a representation againstthe transfer, which he did, andthe transfer order was with-drawn by the then director onJanuary 9, 2019. However, thiswasreversedon January11byanew director who restored thetransfer, he added. “Do I followtheSCorderor thisneworder?”Dhavan asked, adding that theJanuary 11 order “is in the teethof theSCjudgement”.TheCJI,however, toldhim“if

you say that this order is incor-rect, youstill have to followit”.Dhavanrepliedthatthecourt

had granted permission to filerepresentation. The benchpointedoutthatthepreviousor-der of the court had not givenanyprotection toBassi.Dhavan said Bassi would

movetheCentralAdministrativeTribunal and sought protectionfromthechargesheetuntilthen.Thebenchhoweverdeclinedtherelief.

Thakurs ‘prevent’cremation of Dalitwoman in Agravillage, probe ordered

UnionMinisterPrakashJavadekarwithMoSBabulSupriyoatabookrelease inNewDelhionTuesday. PremNathPandey

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,JULY28

THE JAMMUandKashmirPoliceonTuesdayseizedtwoposters inKishtwartown,oneofwhichsaidwomenwouldbeshotinthefeetif theydidnotstoppostingdancevideos on socialmedia and theother asking residents to stayawayfromsecurityforces.

Both posters bear the nameofHizbulMujahideen.WritteninEnglish,oneofthe

posterswaspastedon themaindoorofahouse,reading:“Thosegirls who are uploading theirdancing videos on socialmediaare warned either stop doingthese evil deeds or be ready forlegshot”.The other poster, written in

Urdu and pasted on the wind-

screen of a car, asked people tostay away from security forcesandpolicepersonnel.KishtwarSSPHarmeetSingh

said they have registered a casein thematter.The posters appeared nearly

twomonths after the J&KPoliceand security forces, in amajorsetback to HizbulMujahideen,killed onemilitant in Doda andarrestedanother fromKishtwar.

70%OFWORLD’STIGERS IN INDIA, SAYSJAVADEKAR

Tiger population rising at 6% per annum from 2006-18: report

NewDelhi:Thefourthcycleofthe national tiger status as-sessment 2018-19 covered381,400kmof forestedhabi-tats in20states.Afootsurveyof 5,22,996kmwasdone forcarnivore signs and preyabundance estimation. Inthese forests,3,17,958habitatplotswere sampled forvege-tation, human impacts andpreydung.Cameratrapsweredeployedat26,838 locations,with the total effective areasampled about 1,21,337 km.Theeffortinvestedinthesur-veywas over 6,20,795man-days. It is believed this is thelargest effort in anywildlifesurveytilldateglobally. ENS

THE ENUMERATION

Ahmedabad copssummon activistagainst CAA for‘criminal acts’

UP Police recoverbody of accountantwho was abducted

Nagpur:NagpurbenchoftheBombay High Court onTuesday denied temporarybail to former DelhiUniversity professor G NSaibaba,who is servinga lifesentence inNagpur CentralPrison.A bench comprising

JusticeAtulChandurkarandJusticeAmitBorkarrejectedhisbailplea,whichhadbeensoughtontwogrounds--hisco-morbidhealthproblemsand the need to see his ail-ing mother, who is on herdeathbed, inHyderabad.“We are not inclined to

grantbail,”statedthebenchafter hearing argumentsfrombothsides.Saibaba, who is wheel-

chair bound,was convictedunder the UAPA for “linkswithMaoists and indulgingin activities amounting towaging a war against thecountry.ENS

ELGAARPARISHADCASE

HC directs Mumbaihospital to produceVaravara’s medicalreports in 3 days

HC rejects bailplea of ex-DUprof Saibaba

ASTHANACORRUPTIONPROBE

SC declines to stopBassi transfer order

J&K: Poster tells women to not post dance videos


THESUPREMECourtTuesdayre-jectedpetitions seeking removalof formerUPDGPKLGuptafromthe three-member commissionsetuptoinquireintothekillingofgangsterVikasDubey in apoliceencounterongroundsofbias.“He is not taking sides in the

controversy.Hehas also said theinquiryisgoingonandtheywillbepunished…Youareonly lookingatonepartofit,”saidCJISABobde,headingathree-judgebenchcom-prisingJusticesASBopannaandVRamasubramanian.AdvocatesGhanshyamUpad-

hyayandAnoopAwasthi,whore-ferred toGupta’s remarks to themediapurportedlysupportingthepolice version of the encounter,weretoldbytheCJIthattheformerDGPhadtakena“balancedview”.“Whyareyouworried?There

isanSCjudge,aHighCourtjudgealso, on the panel. The inquirycommissionwill not be vitiatedbecauseofoneofficer,”theCJIsaid.Initially, the bench seemed

concernedbyGupta’sreportedre-marks. TheCJI toldSolicitorGen-eralTusharMehta,whoappearedfor theUPgovernment, that“oneof yourmembers, this DGP, hastakenapublicstandthat’snotap-propriate...youneedtofileareply”.Mehta then took the bench

through the entire statement ofGupta. “He says therewill be aninquiry. This was before theCommissionof inquirywas cre-ated…He only said let inquiryhappen,apetitionisthereandthecourtwilldecide,”Mehtasaid.The CJI then told Upadhyay

that “wewerewithyou initially”butthe“officerhassaidifafterin-

quiryheisfoundguilty,hewillbepunished”.TheIndianExpressonJuly23re-

portedthattheex-DGP,inadebateon IndiaTodayTV, said itwasnotright todoubt thepoliceover theencounter. Asked about his re-marks,Guptahad toldThe IndianExpress,“Oncewearemadeapartoftheinquiry,weshouldnotspeakmuchontheprocess...Wewillbeobjectiveandfairtotheinquiry.”WhenUpadhyay referred to

Gupta’s remarks to say thathe isbiased,thebenchasked“whyareyoucastingaspersionsonhim”.WhenUpadhyayargued that

Guptahadpreconceivednotionsoftheincidentandthatthereisnoreasonwhyotherofficialscannotbe appointed, the bench asked“what'syourinterestinhavingan-otherofficerappointed”.AwasthireferredtoGupta’sre-

markstonewsagencyPTI,sayingthat he had said that the policeversionmustbeacceptedat facevalue. ButMehta said “the state-mentshouldbereadfurther”.“Inatrialalsoyoufirsttakethe

chargesheet and you accept it.Acceptingdoesn’tmeanyoube-lieve it...A right-minded personwho reads thewhole statementwill not believe thisman is bi-ased,”theCJIsaid.TheUPgovernmenthadfirst

set up a one-member commis-sionunderformerAllahabadHCjudge Justice (retired) ShashiKant Agarwal to probe Dubey’skilling. However, the SupremeCourt asked it to expand thepanel by including a former SCjudge and ex-police officer. OnJuly 22, the court approved thenewcommissionheadedbyfor-merSCjudgeJustice(retired)BSChauhan, Gupta and Justice (re-tired)Agarwal.

VIKASDUBEYENCOUNTER

SC rejects pleasfor former DGP’sremoval fromprobe commission

New Delhi

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RAJBHAVAN DHARMARajasthanGovernor’sroleincurrentcrisisreinforcesimpression

thatofficetakescuefromCentre,notConstitution

T HEPOLITICALTURMOILinRajasthanhas,onceagain,shoneunflatteringlightontheofficeof thegovernor.OnMonday,GovernorKalrajMishrastalledtheAshok Gehlot government’s recommendation for an assembly session. Afewdaysago,hevetoedthestategovernment’sproposal forafloor test.The

governorhassaidthat“theRajBhavanhasnointentionofnotcallinganassemblysession”andaskedthestategovernmenttosubmitafreshproposal.Buthisrepeatedqueriesandthedelay inconvening theassembly—citing theCOVIDsituation, amongother reasons—invitequestionsabouthiscommitmenttoplaybythebookinascenario inwhichnei-ther of the leading players seems to be playingwith a straight bat. By all accounts, thechiefministerhimselfhasvacillated inthe last fewdaysonthequestionof thefloor test.Articles163and174of theConstitutiondealwiththegovernor’sroleinconveningan

assemblysession.The lattergivesRajBhavanthepowertosummon,“theHouseoreachhouseofLegislaturetomeetatsuchtimeandplaceashethinksfit”.However,theSupremeCourt has removedany confusion thatmight arise over the governor’s discretion in thematter. In2016, inNabamRebiaandBamangFelixvsDeputySpeaker, theCourtreferredtodiscussions intheConstituentAssemblyandnotedthat the framersof theConstitution,“decidednot tovestdiscretionwith theGovernor, in thematterof summoninganddis-solving theHouse, orHousesof theState Legislature.”Observing that thegovernorwasa nominee of the president, the SC said that “such a nominee cannot have overridingpowers over the representatives of the peoplewho constitute the House or Houses oftheStateLegislatureand/oreventheexecutivegovernmentfunctioningundertheCouncilofMinisterswith theChiefMinisteras itshead”.Accusations of political partisanship, or failure to abide by the letter and spirit of the

Constitution,haveforlongdoggedthegovernor’soffice.Butitwasinthe1980sand1990s,whenitbecamecommonforindividualsstillinactivepoliticstobeensconcedinRajBhavans,that chargesof blatantpoliticisationof thegubernatorialofficebecamemore frequent. In1994,theSC’slandmarkBommaijudgmentsoughttocurbthemisuseofArticle356toun-seat state governments led byparties opposed to the ruling party at the Centre, and laiddownclearlimitsofthegovernor’sauthority.However,thetrendofgovernorsexceedingtheirbriefintheformationandbringingdownofgovernmentshaspersisted.Thegovernor’srolehasbeenquestionedatleastsixtimesaftertheNarendraModigovernmentassumedoffice—theSupremeCourthasbeencalledtointerveneonthreeoccasions.TheseinterventionshavemeantthathoweverpoliticallymurkyRajasthan’scrisismightbe,itslegalandconsti-tutionalaspectsarelucid.Againstthisbackdrop,theRajasthanGovernor’sprocrastinationinconveningtheassemblysessiononlyconfirmsthewidelyheldimpressionthatthehighofficemaybetakingitscuesfromtheCentre,nottheConstitution.

RUNNING DRYGSTCouncilmustdecideonhowtoprotect states’GST

revenues, reduceuncertainty

THEISSUEOFcompensatingstatesfortheshortfall intheirgoodsandservicestax (GST) collections has been contentious. Several states have argued thattheCentrehasbeendelaying the compensationowed to themdue to lowercollections through the compensation cess route. To address this issue, on

Monday,theCentralgovernmentannouncedthatithadreleasedRs13,806croretostatesfor thecompensationowedto themforMarch2020,alsonoting that theentireamountupto2019-20hadbeen released. According to thedata, as against cess collections of Rs95,444 crore, the total compensation paid to states stands at a staggering Rs 1.65 lakhcrore in2019-20, underlining the extent of slippage in stateGST collections in2019-20.Thesituationislikelytoworsenthisyear.Witheconomicactivitylikelytoremainwellbe-lowpre-COVIDlevels,stateGSTcollectionswillfallwellshortofexpectations.Collectionsthroughthecompensationcesswillnotbeenoughtooffsettheshortfallinstates’revenuesasmeasured against their protected revenuegrowth. As income fromGSTaccounts fora significant shareof state revenue, thisneedsattending to.TheGSTCouncil, inwhichtheCentreeffectivelyhasaveto,isexpectedtomeetshortly

todeliberateonthis issue.Whiletherationaleforassuringstatesafixedgrowthrateof14percentfortheirGSTcollectionscanbedebated—linkingittonominalGDPgrowthmayhavebeenabetteralternative—notabidingbyitspromiseiscertainlynotinlinewiththespirit of cooperative federalism espoused by the Centre. Itwill set a bad precedent. Thechallenge,therefore,facingtheGSTcouncilistwo-fold:First,howtocompensatestatesforthegreater thanexpected shortfall this year, and second,whetherornot the compensa-tioncessshouldbeextendedbeyondthefive-yearperiodthatwasoriginallyagreedupon.Several optionshavebeendebated. First,market borrowinghasbeendiscussedas a

possiblewayoutof thisquagmire.However, its legalitywillneedtobeexamined.Hikingtaxrates,orthecompensationcess,maynotbeappropriateatthecurrentjuncture.Withstatesalsolikelytowitnessasignificantshortfall intaxdevolutionthisyear,ascomparedto the budget estimates, further shortfalls in their revenue, despite the additional bor-rowing space,will severely restrict their spending.Given that states are at the forefrontof fighting theCOVIDpandemic, the councilmust ensure adequate flowof resources tothem,andreduce theuncertainty instate finances.

IPL IN THE DESERTAmidthepandemic, a long lost romancecouldberecreated,a

newchaptercouldbegin

I TSEEMSEVENthepandemiccannotpreventanothereditionoftheIndianPremierLeague fromrolling forth.With theEmiratesCricketBoardconfirmingthe Indiancounterpart’s intentand interest in shifting thepremierdomestic tournament totheUAE,itwouldbeonlyamatterofclearingtheministerialandbureaucraticfor-

malities before theworld’s best cricketers descend in the country for the13th editionoftheleague, tentativelyscheduledfrommid-SeptembertoearlyNovember.Thoughtherecould be logistical hurdles, the leaguewon’t be trimmedor crunched, itwill run the fullcourse.Theauthoritiesmightallowspectatorsaswell.TheUAEcouldbeanoasisforcricketenthusiasts, like ithasbeenforPakistancricketsincetheLahoreshootings in2009.Cricket in theGulfwould surelywhipupnostalgia and romance for cricketwatchers

of a certain vintage, thosewho have grownupwatching the game in the ’80s and ’90s,whentheannualsummerfixturesinSharjahhadthefervourofaWorldCup.Someof themost remarkable (and heartbreaking)moments were etched in Sharjah. The SachinTendulkarknocks,Miandadsix,Javedhat-trickorthoseFridayfinals—memoriesthatde-finepersonalities, rivalries, teenageandearlyadulthood.But the times have changed and itmaywell be that the romance of Sharjah cricket

wouldneverberecreated.Yetthereacquaintanceof IndiancricketwiththeUAEcouldbesignificantonseveralgrounds.First, itwouldassure fans that thisyear’s IPLwouldnotbesuspended, saving the board, franchises and players severalmillions. Second, the UAEcouldalwaysbeabuffervenueinthefuture intimesof crisis.Third, itcouldpavethewayfor India-Pakistanencounters if thepoliticalweatherclearsbetweenthetwocountries.

President Xi’s long game

VijayGokhale

Vikramajit Sen

Worldisdealingwithaleaderdrivenbysenseofhisowngenius,whobelieveshewillshapeaChineseCentury

COURT AND A FINE LINERajasthanHighCourtmusttakeintoaccountSCverdict,Speaker'spowers

OVER THE LAST sixmonths, in the shadowof COVID-19, President Xi Jinping has be-comeChina’sSupremeLeader.The July 15 issue of the Chinese

Communist Party journal,Qiushi (SeekingTruth), has declared in an editorial that it isthehighestdutyofallChineseto“safeguardthe core position of General Secretary XiJinping”. It then, astonishingly, goes on tomakecrystalclearthat“tosafeguardthecoreposition of General Secretary Xi JinpingmeansonlyXi Jinpingandnoother individ-ual.” Inshort, thereisnootherleaderandnopower-centreother thanXi.It took many years for Mao Zedong to

dominate a party that he had literally builtandledtovictory.Eventhen,attheheightofhispower,hewasstillcompelledtoshareau-thority at timeswith others like Liu Shaoqiand Zhou Enlai, and PLAMarshals Zhu DeandYe Jianying.PresidentXiJinping,bycontrast,appears

tohavemanaged this inameresixyearsaf-ter2013,andwithinjustthepastsixmonths,he seems to have risen to the position ofSupreme Leader of China. His red pedigreeaswell ashis family’s experiences of powerand deprivation may have given him hissense of entitlement and desire for power,but it isnot thewholeexplanation.It is worth recalling that hewas chosen

as general secretary inNovember 2012, be-causetheparty fearedthatBoXilai, anotherRedChild of the Revolution, displayeddan-gerous traits of megalomania andMaoism.Xi had given no hint of such traits. Bo Xilaiwas handsome, flamboyant and media-friendly;Xiwasmodestinbothdressandde-meanour and, in a word, underwhelming.Such comparison is important to compre-hendhowhe rosewithout being viewed asa “threat”. Thosewhoencounteredhimbe-fore2012tendedtojudgehimonlybyhisap-pearance or outward demeanour. Perhapsfor this reason,peoplemisjudgehimstill.A rare interview that he gave in August

2000 to a Chinese journal revealed threequalities:Persistence,patienceandastrongbelief in himself. He admitted that politicswasariskybusinessandhewasplaying thelonggame.Inhiswords,“onceyouhavegoneintopolitics, it islikecrossingariver.Nomat-ter howmany obstacles youmeet, there isonly oneway, and that is forward.” Hewasnot tobedeterredbyobstacles: “If youhaveapositiononsomething, thethingistostick

withitandcontinueone’swork.Then,inthefinalanalysis, itwillgiveresults.”Whatcameacross through the interviewwashis steelyresolve.In the last seven years, President Xi has

systematically neutralised his political op-ponents through arrests and trials; that in-cludesSunZhengcai,whowas theheirpre-sumptive.Theanti-corruptioncampaignhascreated awave of “terror”. President Xi haskept his promise to take down “tigers andflies”,byremovinghundredsofofficialswhobelongedtothefactionsofhistwopredeces-sors. InMarch 2018, the two-term limit fortheChinesePresidentwasremovedfromtheConstitution to allow President Xi to con-tinuebeyondMarch2023.President Xi has tightened his grip over

the state’s security apparatus. The People’sArmedPolice(PAP)hasbeenbroughtunderhis direct authority. The People’s LiberationArmy(PLA)hassimilarlybeenpurged.Someof itshighest-rankingservingmilitary lead-ers like Generals Zhang Yang and FangFenghuihavefallenin2017.PresidentXihasassumedthepositionoftheCommander-in-Chiefof thePLAin2016,atitleevenMaohadnotassumeddespitehisconsiderableexpe-rience of highermilitary command. Xi hasensured, at least onpaper, that the PLA andPAPwill not be an independent player in apalace coup, aswas the case during the fallof theGangof Four in1976.To secure constitutional legitimacy, in

2017 and 2018, “Xi Jinping Thought” waswrittenintothepartyandstateconstitutionsrespectively. No leader after Mao had at-tempted this; in Deng’s case itwas posthu-mous. The party speaks of a “NewEra” thathasbegunwithXi.Deng’spolitical arrange-ments are considered outdated and, there-fore, not suitable. Collective responsibilityhas ended. Even the Premier of the StateCouncil isapaleshadowofhispredecessors.Thepandemicwasa“blackswan”,butXi

sensedopportunity. Inhisownwords, intheinterviewquotedabove, “If youwant tobe-comeageneralyoumustbeabletowinabat-tle…Even if youhave theability towinbat-tles, you don’t have battles every day, inparticularnotintimesofpeace.Onlyif therearebattles, thereareopportunities.Onecansaythatonlyifachanceshouldariseandyoumakeuseof it rightaway,youwill succeed.”Xi sawhis chanceandactedswiftly.AfterdeclaringvictoryoverCOVID-19 in

early April, Xi has deftlymoved to removethe last vestiges of opposition. Earlier thismonth,theSecretaryGeneralof thePoliticaland Legal Affairs Commission called for“scrape(ing)thebonetoremovethepoison”.The security forces arebeingasked to showpersonal loyalty to President Xi. New regu-lations onBuilding theCommunist Party ofChina’sMilitaryhavealsobeen formulated.TheMilitaryReservesarenowunderhiscon-trol. In short, all the armed instruments ofthestateareathis service.According to one media report, party

membersareforbiddenfromcertainactions,including inter alia, expressing opinions ormaking statements that deviate fromXi asthe“core”,discussingpolitical rumoursandforming cliques. Earlier, inMay, Xi Jinpingspoke at a special Democratic LifemeetingofthePolitburo,virtuallycounsellingChina’shighest leadershipthat therewillbenosec-ond chances. A revised set of Guidelines forPoliticalLife fortheNewErawill replacetherules of behaviour for party cadres put intoplacebyDengXiaoping in1982. Theoldor-der no longer holds, the new era requiresnewrules.It is reported that the Ministry of

Education issued new guidelines forIdeologicalandPoliticalDevelopmentof theHigher Education Curriculum to include XiJinping’s ideas on “China Dream” and“Socialismwith Chinese Characteristics inthe New Era”, as mandatory universitycourses. On July 21, the Chinese ForeignMinistry established a Xi Jinping ResearchCentre for Diplomatic Thought. SimilarCentres exist in the Chinese Academy ofSocialSciences,theCentralPartySchoolandleadinguniversities.StudyingXi’swordsandthought is now a national priority in everyfield.Theworldis,therefore,likelydealingwith

aChineseleaderunlikeanysinceMao,drivenby a sense of his own genius, and believingthathewillbetheshaperof the21stcenturyastheChineseCentury.InJuly2021thepartywill mark its 100th anniversary. Xi Jinpingintends to be the Leader of the “SecondHundred”justasMaoZedongisregardedastheLeaderofthe“FirstHundred”.Thismeanstheworldwill be dealingwith President XiJinpingforsometime.It is, therefore, impor-tant togetapropermeasureof theperson.

Thewriterwas India’sAmbassador toChina

THE SPEAKER OF the Rajasthan StateAssemblyhasrequestedtheSupremeCourttopermitthewithdrawaloftheSpecialLeavePetition filed by him, and his request wasgrantedwithoutado.Thechallengetothein-terimordersof theRajasthanHighCourtdi-recting that status quo bemaintainedwithregard to the impugned notices dated July14, 2020, issued to the Sachin Pilot splintergroup of the Indian National Congress is atthispass.Thewritpetitioninwhichthissta-tusquoorder came tobepassed is yet tobefinallydecided,andwillbelistedforhearingonmentioningbythecounselfortheparties.The public would have expected thechief justicetofixanactualandearlydateofhearing.The Kihoto Hollohan decision of the

SupremeCourtdelivered in1992will indu-bitablyconstitutethefulcrumofarguments.The Constitution Benchwhich heard itwassplit 3:2. The plurality upheld the constitu-tionality of the Tenth Schedule of theConstitution. However, theminority struckit down on the premise that it violated thebasic structure of the Constitution andshould have been circulated to all the statelegislaturesandshouldhavereceivedtheas-sentof theirmajority.Inthecourseoftheverybriefhearingbe-

foretheSupremeCourt,theBenchhadcom-

mented that the correctness of KihotoHollohan needs to be considered. If this ex-ercisehadbeenundertakenand themajor-ity opinion overturned, it would have re-quiredaseven-judgeBenchtobeconstitutedinrespectoftheconstitutionalityoftheTenthSchedule, which challenge has not beenvoicedfromanyquarter.Thecherishedtenetof independenceof theexecutive, the legis-lature and the judiciary has presently re-ceivedrepose.TheHighCourt isnotempoweredtoun-

settle Kihota Hollohan and must apply itsratio. This is that the Chairman/Speaker isthe finalarbiterofwhetheranymember(s)of Parliament or a legislature has becomesubject to disqualification. The very finedistinction or issue inter alia culled out bytheRajasthanHighCourt toexercise itsex-traordinaryconstitutional jurisdictionun-derArticle226 iswhetherKihotoHollohanhad tested the vires of Para 2 (1)(a) of theTenth Schedule in the context of “intra-partydissent”.ThisParapostulatesdisqual-ification of a member of a House belong-ing toanyparty“if hehasvoluntarilygivenuphismembershipof suchpoliticalparty”.This is against thebackdropof theopinionin paragraph 21 of the judgment of theSupreme Court in Kihota Hollohan that“paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule of the

Constitution is valid. Its provisions do notsuffer from the vice of subverting demo-cratic rights of elected members ofParliament and the legislatures of theStates. It does not violate their freedomofspeech, freedomof voteandconscienceascontended”.Equallyremarkableistherejectionbythe

RajasthanHighCourtonthegroundsof lackof jurisdiction of the prayer for “upholdingthe status of the petitioners asmembers ofthe Rajasthan Legislative Assembly on ac-countof themcontinuingtobemembersofthe Indian National Congress” and “declar-ing that the alleged actions of the petition-ersasmembersof theRajasthanLegislativeAssembly do not fall within the purview ofdisqualification envisaged under para 2 ofthe Tenth Schedule”. Nevertheless, the sta-tusquocametobeordered.The high courts and the Supreme Court

routinelyrefusetointerfereinmatterswherethe concerned authority hasmerely issuedashowcausenoticeorgrantedanopportu-nityofbeingheard.Thisisaninviolabletenetof natural justice. TheRajasthanHighCourtwillhavetodecidewhethertheSpeakerhasdoneanythingelse.

Thewriter isa former Judgeof theSupremeCourtof India

The pandemic was a ‘blackswan’, but Xi sensedopportunity. In his ownwords, in an interview, ‘If youwant to become a general youmust be able to win a battle…Even if you have the ability towin battles, you don’t havebattles every day, in particularnot in times of peace. Only ifthere are battles, there areopportunities. One can saythat only if a chance shouldarise and you make use of itright away, you will succeed.’Xi saw his chance and actedswiftly. After declaring victoryover COVID-19 in early April,Xi has deftly moved toremove the last vestiges ofopposition. Earlier thismonth, the Secretary Generalof the Political and LegalAffairs Commission called for‘scrape(ing) the bone toremove the poison’.

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,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

WORDLYWISEThe power to tax is the power todestroy.

— JOHN MARSHALLTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM ACCORDFORTHESECONDday, the latest situation inAssamwasreviewedatahigh-levelmeetingin the context of the accordwhichManipurChief Minister Dorendra Singh last weekclaimedtohave reachedwith theAASUandAAGSPonending the10-month-long agita-tionontheforeignnationals'issue.Themeet-ingwaspresidedoverbyHomeMinisterZailSingh, and attended, among others,KrishnaswamyRao Saheb, Secretary to thePM. According to official sources, DorendraSinghwhohadbeennegotiatingwiththeag-itation leadersasan“emissary"of thePrimeMinisterhadanhour-longmeetingwithRao

Sahebwhenhereportedonthe“accord”andhis talkswiththeagitation leaders.

CRPF IN KASHMIRTHECENTREISrushingadditionalunitsoftheCRPFtoKashmirtohelpthelocalauthoritiesmaintainlawandorderinthetroubledareasof the state. According to HomeMinistrysources,thereinforcementwasbeingsentinresponse to an SOS from the Chief MinisterSheikh Abdullah. The CM talkedwith theUnionHomeMinister on the telephoneanddiscussedthelatestsituationinSrinagar.TheSheikh assured ail Singh that the situationwasundercontrol.But,heurgedtheCentreto

sendadditionalunitsoftheCRPFasaprecau-tionarymeasure.

BIHAR FLOODSTHEWIDENINGOFthebreach in theretiredembankment off Piprasi-Pipraghat inChamparandistrictwidenedalarminglyfromamere 50 feet 3.200 feet and thewaters ofswollenGandakhavesofarsweptacrossoveradozenvillagesandfloodedtheMaddhunaiandBasicanals.Thesituationcreatedbythisbreach causing concern because, despitemeasures purporting tohavebeen takenbylocal engineers the breach has widenedalarmingly inthe last threedays.

JULY 29, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

The High Court is notempowered to unsettle'Kihoto Hollohan' and mustapply its ratio. This is thatthe Chairman/Speaker is thefinal arbiter of whether anymember(s) of Parliament ora legislature has becomesubject to disqualification.

New Delhi

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“Without testing and tracing, it is only a matter of time before pocketlockdowns turn national and push the country further into uncertainty. Onlythis time, it could kill more people and completely kill public confidence in thegovernment.” —KATHMANDUPOSTTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Growth is the only way outof this vicious cycle, as itwould provide more taxesand improve debtsustainability. As privateinvestment andconsumption settle at farlower levels than earlieranticipated, thegovernment’s role in theeconomy over the next twoyears or so would need to bemuch larger than it has beenin the last three decades.While the financing andsustainability aspects of thisissue have been discussed, itmay also need a newinstitutional architecture tomanage this temporary butsignificantly larger role.

A little less certainty,a little more empathyIf anything,thedebateovercancelculturehasshownusthatit’s imperativetointrospectonwhowearewhenwearenotperformingtoanaudience

DAYS AFTER NEW York-based Harper’smagazine published a letter, that hadamongitssignatoriesacademics, intellec-tualsandwriterssuchasNoamChomsky,Margaret Atwood, Martin Amis, JohnBanville and JKRowling,warningagainstthe rising tide of intolerance in civil dis-course, inMumbai, comedienne AgrimaJoshuawas being panned for an act she’ddoneinApril2019. Inthesegment,aclipofwhichhadfounditswayontotheinternet,JoshuaisspeakingontheupcomingstatueofShivaji inMaharashtra, thehomeof the17thcenturyMaratha leader.Before long,condemnationandthreatsofbodilyharmwerepouringinbothonlineandoff it,witha YouTuber delivering rape threats in anexpletive-laden Instagrampost.How are the two connected, though?

Inthe letter, thesignatorieswrite, “Whilewe have come to expect this on the radi-cal right, censoriousness isalsospreadingmorewidelyinourculture:anintoleranceof opposing views, a vogue for publicshamingandostracism,andthetendencyto dissolve complex policy issues in ablindingmoralcertainty…it isnowall toocommontohearcalls forswiftandsevereretributioninresponsetoperceivedtrans-gressions of speech and thought.” It fur-ther states, “The restriction of debate,whether by a repressive government oran intolerant society, invariably hurtsthosewho lack power andmakes every-one less capableof democraticparticipa-tion.Thewaytodefeatbad ideas isbyex-posure,argument,andpersuasion,notbytrying to silence or wish them away.”Looselyspeaking, theletterwascallingforcancelculture—thesamethat Joshuawasfacing— tobe cancelled.Asmanycriticsnoted,despiteits inten-

tions, the letterwasnotwithout its flaws.Rowling was already under fire for hercontroversial views on LGBTQ rights andthepositionofprivilegeenjoyedbythesig-natorieswasnotlostonanyone. Ifwelookaround,cancelculturehasalwaysexisted.It’sbeenthereineliteinstitutes, inthepriv-ilegedcoteriesofoldboys’associations, inthe corridors of power,where oldmoneyspoketoitsown,and,inprofessionsmeantto fosterdiversity. Cancel culturehas fun-damentallyworked in favourof theprivi-leged because getting their voices todrownoutthosewhodidnotconformhasneverbeenanissue.FromHollywoodpro-ducerHarveyWeinsteintoaformerIndianunionministeraccusedof sexualmiscon-duct, if the#MeToomovementthatbeganin2017showedanything itwas this:Thatit takes decades for those at the receivingendof apower imbalance tomake them-

selvesheard,and,oftentimes,thatmaynotbeenough.What thecall-outcultureachieved, at

least initially,wastopushbackat this im-balance of power by creating a sense ofcommunity among those who share along history of marginalisation and forwhomtraditionalmodesof redressalhaveoftenproventobe ineffective.Andso, inadecade that has seen a remarkable num-berofpeople’smovements,cancelculturehas been both a solace and a sharp scim-itar. Ithas fosteredasenseof solidarity,analignment of forces to counter injustice,but ithasnotbeenanimpulseprivytothemarginalisedalone. Inbandyingtogetherandprotectingtheir interests, thepower-ful have long determined who gets tomake the rules of the game and there isno equality in that.Theproblemwiththeageofwokeism

is that it does not allow us room formis-takes.Compartmentalisedintous-versus-them binaries, it makes a virtue out ofmoral certitude. A couple of years ago,during an interview at a literary festival,the feminist historianMary Beard spokeof thenecessity to accommodatenuancein conversations. “The fact that we don’teasilyagreedoesn’tmeanthatwehavetobeatwarwitheachother.Thesearethingsthat are very hard, and rightly hard, toagree upon.What people are allowed tosay is one of the big issues that every po-liticalculturehasalwaysfaced.Wearenotnewinfacingthis.Weneedtoexamine it,talk about it outside some kind of echochamber,” she said.If anything, thedebateovercancelcul-

ture has shown us that it’s imperative tointrospect on who we are when we arenotperforming toanaudience. Indisqui-etingtimes, speakingupisavirtueandsois taking sides. But, sometimes, pausingto come up for air is an equally bravechoice. Howmuch of our outrage is to-kenism? How far are we prepared toshrugoffourprivilegestounderstandthatwhich affronts us? Is it possible that wearearticulatingourwell-meaningsupportin ways that can come across as conde-scension? Can one feel equally stronglyabout every injustice in the world? Is itpossible toadmit tobeingwrongandbe-gin again? In this constant masculinisa-tion of our social discourse, uncertaintyteaches us to listen and tounlearn. Thereisempathyinvulnerabilitybecauseother-wise, in trying to findourselvesmirroredineverysecondperson,weinevitably failto do so even in the best of our allies. Intheend,wefallbackuponwell-rehearsedrhetoricofumbrageandone-upmanship.And, it ishere, in thecertainties that it

seeks, that cancel culture falters. Whenwejudgewithoutknowing,wedenyour-selvesempathy.Theworldhasneverbeenideal, now, even less so. Unless we learnto soften the angularity of our rage withgrace, temperour insecuritieswithcour-tesy, the conversationwill alwaysendupas amonologue— full of sound and fury,achieving little.

[email protected]

WITHTHELOCKDOWNSliftingfromMayon-wards,most companies have reported a ro-bustreboundinruralsales.Notonlytractors,butruralsalesofcementandsoaparealsodo-ingbetterthanurbansales,andarenearlybacktopre-crisis levels. Thishasoccurredevenasactivity indicators likerail freight,GSTe-waybill generation,powerdemandandmobilitytrackershavepointedtoastagnationsincethemiddleof June. Even fromunacceptably lowlevels,several indicatorsshowadipinJuly.Iftrendsinsalesbookedbycompaniesdi-

verge from those shownby indicators, onemust trust the former, as they reflect actualtransactions.Further,mostof theconcurrentindicators being trackedhave anurbanbias,and likely do not capture rural trends accu-rately.Mobility indicators, forexample, trackmovementsofsmartphones,whichstillhavelowruralpenetration.What explains the rural recovery?

Understanding this is important to under-standitssustainability.The shift of the population may have

helped.Reversemigrationhasmeantanearly5percentlowerurbanpopulation(nearly10percentinlargercities),hurtingdemandandactivity in essential goods and services, andboosting them in rural areas by about 3 percent. However, the drop in remittances thisentailscounterssomeof this impact.Other commonly cited reasons are a

strong rabi harvest and rural-focused gov-ernmentspending.Butaswewillsee,thenetimpact is too small inmagnitude to explainthe revival.Let us startwith the rabi harvest.While

agriculture is by definition rural, rural is nolonger just about agriculture— a pointwehavebeenmakingformanyyears('Rethinkingthe rural', IE,May23, 2013). Agriculture is inour estimate nowonly 29 per cent of ruralGDP, even though it employs 58 per cent ofthe ruralworkforce. Further, rabi crops ac-count foronlyaroundasixthof totalagricul-turaloutput,andnotallofitismarketablesur-plusasalargenumberoffarmersonlyharvestenough to feed themselves. The rise in pro-curementofwheatandcottonhelpsruralcashflowsbut issmall inthecontextof thenearlyRs95lakhcroreof ruralGDP.On theotherhand,weakdemand inper-

ishablescouldbedraininguptoRs10,000croreamonthfromfarmers'cashflows.Milkismorethana fifthof all agricultural outputbyvalueandhas seenweakdemanddue to roadsidetea stalls, hotels and restaurants being shut.Subduedcelebrationsintheupcomingfestiveseason could further pressure demand formilk-basedsweetsandghee.Similarly,disrup-tionsindistributionhavehurtfarmerincomesfromfruitsandvegetables(withafewexcep-tionslikepotatoes),meatandfish.Now,letusconsidertheimpactofgovern-

mentspending.TheCentrehasrampedupex-pendituretargetedatthepoor,likefreegrains,direct cash transfers towomen’s bank ac-counts,higherMGNREGAspending,andhasalso front-loaded PM-Kisan payments.Togetherwith thehigher cropprocurement,theseadduptoanadditionalRs35,000croreamonth, so far. Annualised, this would beabout4.5percentofruralGDP—indeedasub-stantial sum.However, offsetting these cashinflows is a sharp drop in agricultural credit

growth,weakdomesticremittances(ifweas-sume25million returnedmigrants,whoonaveragesentRs6,000everymonth, thedropis Rs 15,000 crore), and lower income fromagricultural perishables. The net impactcomestojustRs7,500croreamonth—0.9percentof ruralGDP.Thus,governmentspendinghasservedto

negatethestressfromsomeoftheknownfac-tors in agriculture anddue tomigration. Butwehavenot yet accounted for the impact ofactivityrestrictionsinnon-agriculturalactiv-ities,which are71per cent of ruralGDP. Thescaleof theincomelossherewouldnotbeindecimal points of GDP but inmultiples of 5percent.TherapidgrowthinMGNREGAper-son-days indicates a paucity of other jobs intheruraleconomyasitis,afterall,ademand-driven scheme intended topreventdepriva-tion. Atwages of Rs 200 per day, someoneworkingall30daysinamonthwouldearnRs6,000—enoughonlyforsustenance.Statesthathaveseenreturninginter-state

migrantworkers have seen faster growth inperson-days and states likeMaharashtra,PunjabandTamilNaduhaveseenadrop,sup-porting this hypothesis, and serving the in-tendedpurposebehindtheincreaseinMGN-REGAbudgetsthisyear.Thus,abiggerdriverof therapidrural re-

vivalpostthelockdownsisthefasternormal-isation of non-agricultural activities in ruralareas.Giventhatoutsidetheworst50districts,whichareallurbancentres,reportedcasespermillionpopulationwerelessthan100tillJune,compared to nearly 10,000 in theworst-af-fectedmetros, activitiesare likely tohave re-boundedfasterintheformer.Notonlywastheadministrative impositionof lockdownsandcontainmentzoneslesswidespread,eventhe

people were less afraid to move around.Anecdotally, marketmovement in smallertownsandruralareashadnormalisedrapidly.However, this is changing now. As the

virus spreads geographically, the number ofdistrictsreportingalargenumberofCOVID-19casesanddeathsisgrowing.Thismeansmoreadministrative restrictions, aswell aspeoplebecomingcautiousas theybecomeawareofinfectionsanddeathsaroundthem.Thisposesnewpolicychallenges.Though

citieslikeMumbaiareshowingsomesignsofthecurveflattening(giventhelackofreliabil-ity of case anddeath numbers,we track thenumberofoccupiedoxygen-beds,whichhasbeenunchanged for twoweeks), the level ofactivity curtailed toachieve this isunaccept-ablyhigh.Localtrains,schools,restaurantsandmallsareshut,andofficesarepermittedonlyathirdof theirworkforce.Given the low tax compliance, govern-

ment spending in India as a share of GDP islowbyglobal standards. Further, a largepartofthatexpenditureisundercommittedheadsof interest, salary, pension and subsidies.Growthistheonlywayoutof thisviciouscy-cle, as itwould providemore taxes and im-prove debt sustainability. As private invest-ment and consumption settle at far lowerlevels than earlier anticipated, the govern-ment’sroleintheeconomyoverthenexttwoyearsorsowouldneedtobemuchlargerthanithasbeeninthelastthreedecades.Whilethefinancingandsustainabilityaspectsofthisis-sue have beendiscussed, itmay also need anewinstitutionalarchitecturetomanagethistemporarybutsignificantly largerrole.

Thewriter isco-headofAPACStrategyandIndiaStrategist forCreditSuisse

COUNTERING CHINATHIS REFERS TO the article, 'Indiaand democracy's ten' (IE, July 28).The rise of China as a superpowerwill not be a smooth one due to itsexpansionist and radical approachtowards other nations.While theUSis willing to make an “alliance” tocounter theCCP, Indiamust considerits pros and cons effectively to takethe fullest advantage of the currentColdWar like situation between theWashington DC and the Beijing.Though Indiawill not be joining anyalliance as clarified by the externalaffairs minister, it may consider theUS proposal of an alliance as a“coalitionof democracies” to counterthe CCP and its ideological rise.

DakshSolanki,Delhi

NO, GOVERNORTHIS REFERS TO the article, 'On adark path' (IE, July 28). Rajasthan'spolitical crisis highlights two exigentissues. One, the vile priorities ofpolitical parties in capturing powerin the face of a deadly andunprecedentedmedical emergency.A similar game was witnessed inMadhya Pradesh with the topplingof theKamalNath government. Suchtactics tend to undermine theConstitution. Second, the role ofgovernor has been doubted giventhe dubiousmachinations deployedby him/her to bring the ruling partyin the Union to power in the states.These incidences tend to erode theprinciple of federalism which

constitutes one of the “basicstructure of the Constitution”.

Sagar Ganesh Borade, Thane

ELDERLY MATTERTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Womanabandoned by family finds anunlikely newhome’ (IE, July 26). Thegovernment must devisesustainable strategies to deal withissue of abandoned elderly people.This issue is pertinent in the timesof the pandemic. The kindness ofAAP MP Sanjay Singh should bepraised but such personal gestureswill not solve this longstandingproblem. The need of the hour isimmediate intervention by thegovernment for providing basicnecessities to such people.

Chandramaulika, Bhubaneswar

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

OFALL THAT happened in her eventful life,Olivia deHavilland is best remembered forherroleasMelanieHamiltonWilkesinGoneWith TheWind (1939). This is unfair for tworeasons.Memorableassheis inGWTW,it isby nomeans her finest role. Her countlessfanswillpoint tothetworoles thatwonherAcademy Awards, the two others (besidesthesupportingroleinGWTW)thatwonhernominations, andmore. The second reasonisthatherlegacygoesbeyondherroles.Filmhistorians,evenlawhistoriansandlabourac-tivists,will point to theDeHavillandLaw.DeHavilland,whodied thisweekatage

104, fought the system—andwon. In1943,when Hollywood’s powerful studios con-trolledthefateofactors,WarnerBrothersre-fused to lether goat theendof their seven-yearcontract.Thestudiotaggedextratimetothecontracttocompensateforperiodswhenshe had not been working. She sued in aCalifornia court, leading to the landmark1944 ruling— informally known as the DeHavilland Law— that the years in the con-tractmean calendar years. It loosened for-

ever thestudios’ griponactors.Fromherlife,thatisthebiggesttakeaway.

Fromher death, the big takeaway is sober-ing:TheGoldenAgeofHollywoodisslippingaway.Yes,wewillalwayshavethefilms.Butthestarsaremostlygone—withduerespecttothefewwhoremain,deHavillandwasourstrongest surviving link to the Golden Age.Theerahas trulyended.Weareat that stageof historywhenthis

wasinevitable.Actorswhowereoldenoughtoplaytheleadwhentalkingpicturesarrived(notdeHavilland,whowas11whenthefirstsoundfilmreleasedin1927)wouldhavebeenatleast110todayif itwerepossibletolivethatlong (GretaGarbo, for example,wouldhaveturned 115 this year). Those old enough tohaveplayed the lead towards the endof theGoldenAge(mid-1960sorthereabouts)willnowbeatleastintheir70s,andmorelikelyintheir80sor90s.Orgonealready.Ingrid Bergman and Bette Davis, de

Havilland’sclosestfriendintheindustry, leftin the1980s. Barbara StanwyckandAudreyHepburndiedinthe1990s,GregoryPeckand

Katharine Hepburn in the 2000s, andElizabethTaylorandLaurenBacall inthefol-lowingdecade. ThenKirkDouglas andnowdeHavillandhave left in theverybeginningof the2020s—bothof thempast100.Howmany are still with us? An online

searchthrowsuplong lists thatbringa falsesense of relief. Most of the names, it turnsout, are of actorswho played smaller roles,orwhowerechildactorsduring theGoldenAge. Indeed,every link isvital inavanishingchain, includingMickeyKuhn,now87,whoplayedMelanie's young son in GWTW81yearsago.Butit’sthestarswewanttocount.Ifoundaboutadozennamesmorefamil-

iar than others. Two of the bigger ones areAngela Lansbury and Jane Powell, both intheir90snow.Fiveotherswillbe familiar tofans of Alfred Hitchcock— six if you counthisdaughterPatricia,now92,whoappearedinthreeofhisfilms.VeraMiles,90, isMarionCrane'ssister fromPsycho (1960)andHenryFonda’sdisturbedwifefromTheWrongMan(1956). ShirleyMacLaine, 86,made her de-but in Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry

(1955).TippiHedrenofTheBirds (1962)andMarnie (1964) is now 90. Kim Novak ofVertigo (1958) is87.Themost important among them isEva

Marie Saint,who turned 96 on July 4, threedaysafterdeHavillandturned104.Saintwasin Hitchcock's North by Northwest (1959)with Cary Grant (died 1986), and in EliaKazan’s On the Waterfront (1954) withMarlonBrando(died2004).WesawSaintatthe Oscars in 2018, as a presenter. Cherishthese moments, for a day will come, in-evitably,whenwewillhaveonlytheir films.DeHavillandneverdidaHitchcockfilm.

HersisterJoanFontaine(died2013atage96)did two, winning an Academy nominationforRebecca(1940)andbaggingtheawardforSuspicion (1942). They remain the only sib-lingstohaveeachwononeormoreAcademyAwards. Joangottherefirst,beatingOliviainthe 1942 race, but this is not the time to re-flectontheirfamedsiblingrivalry.Fortoday,weonlyhave their films.

[email protected]

OliviadeHavillandwasoneofthelastofthegreatsofHollywood’sgoldenage

The beautiful peopleKabir Firaque

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●HAGIASOPHIA,ERDOGAN’SSHAME:SHAHIDAABBASI

●●EPIDEMICDISEASESBEYONDCOVID:

NIRMALKUMARGANGULY

www.indianexpress.com

NeelkanthMishraParomitaChakrabarti

Asthevirusspreadsgeographically, thenumberofdistricts reportinga largenumberofCOVID-19casesanddeaths isgrowing.Thisposesnewpolicychallenges

After the rural recovery

CR Sasikumar

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

LLoossttmyoriginal General PowerofAttorneyagainstmyDDAJanta FlatNo.CD-102C,Pitampura, Delhi-110034.FindermayContact-ManjuLalawat atM-9999423098

0040543099-1

I, VANSHIKA D/O RAVINDERSINGHR/o-47APOCKET-D1,MAYUR-VIHARPHASE-3DELHI-110096,HAVEchangedmyname toVANSHIKABASRA.

0040543146-4

I,SURAJKUMARS/OBHOLASAHR/O487/36-B,PEERAGARHIVILLAGE,SUNDERVIHAR,DELHI-110087.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOSURAJ.

0040543155-6

I, SIDODIYAAVILASHBENW/OOFNO17002311LCFNSINDHAVAJIT SINH JIVABHAIVILL&POSTVADIYA (GIR) TEHSILMALIYA (HATINA)DISTTJUNAGADH SETGUJRATPIN-362245 I,CHANGEDMYNAME-FROMSIDODIYAVILASHBENTOSINDHAVVILASBENAJITSINHvideoaffidavit dated 27July2020beforemadan lal Gupta(Delhi) 0040543155-2

II,,PPrriiyyaaRanjan,S/oSh.BhagwanPrasadVermaR/o-LP-43/D,Maurya-Enclave, Pitampura,Delhi-110034.have changedmyname,fromPriyaRanjan toPriyeranjanAmbashtha,forall,futurepurposes.

0040543146-2

II,,LLaakkeesshhKumar Jain,s/oLate.Niranjan Lal Jain,r/o-77-C/3,Mukesh-Nagarshahdara,Delhi-32,declare thatLakeshKumar Jain andLokeshKumar Jain arebothnames ofmineandsameperson.

0040543155-1

II,,DDHHRRUUVVVIGS/OANILVIGR/ORZ-17B 230,DAYALPARK,WESTSAGARPUR,DELHI-110046.CHANGEDMYNAMETODHRUVKUMARVIG.

0040543155-5

II,,AAsshhiisshhAgarwal S/o-KeshavRamAgarwal R/o-18, Harsh-Vihar, Pitampura,Delhi-110034,have changedmyminorson’s name,fromShoryaAgarwal to ShhoryaAgarwal.

0040543149-2

II,, SushmaSinghD/o-KaushalKumarR/o-RZC-60,UpperGround-Floor, Street.No.9,Dabri-Extension, Delhi-110045,have changedmynametoSushmaYadavPermanently.

0040543146-5

II,, SatyenderMalik,S/oHarbansLalMalik R/o-M-22,West Patel-Nagar,Delhi-110008havechangedmyname toSatyenderKumarMalik.

0040543155-3

II,, SandeepKumar s/o-SumanBhagatR/o-H.No-A-75, StreetNo-1,WestKamal-Vihar,Karawal-Nagar, Delhi-110094,have changedmynametoSandeep,Permanently.

0040543149-4

II,, SUBHASHCHAND , S/o LateMadanGOYAL, R/oC-3, SHIVPARK, KHANPUR, DrAmbedkarNagar, SouthDelhi 110062havechangedmyname toSUBHASHGOYAL 0070709729-1

II,, PriyankaKanchanW/oManishSahani R/oH.No.36, FlatNo.G2,PawanVihar, Jagatpura,Jaipur, have changedmynametoAasthaSahani for allpurposes. 0040543174-1

II,, PradeepKUMAR , S/oSUBHASHGOYAL, R/oB-202,1ST FLOOR,GUJRAWALATOWNPART1,MODELTOWN,NorthWestDelhi 110009havechangedmyname toPRADEEPGOEL 0070709728-1

II,, NehaAlmiaW/oPradyumnTewari R/o FlatNo-602, Tower-E, AjnaraGrandHeritage,Sector-74, Noida,MaharishiNagar, G.B. Nagar(U.P.) havechangedmyname toNehaTewari for all futurepurposes.

0040543108-1

II,, NeetuKumariW/oRakeshSinghR/oPlotNo-131B,Gali No-3, Gurgaon,Haryana-122001,have changedmyNametoNeetu 0040543149-1

II,, AshokKumar S/o-HarNarainR/o-B-3/37, 3rd Floor, Sector-16, Rohini, Delhi-110089havechangedmyname toAshokYadav for all purposes.

0040543109-1

II,, AGHA IRFANAHMADSHAHS/oMrAgha Jamil AhmadShahR/OFA-14/15, 3rd floor, RoadNo.4,Abul Fazal EnclavePart -1,NewDelhi-110025have changedmypreviousname fromAghaIrfan, Agha IrfanAhmad&AghaIrfan Shah sameperson toAGHA IRFANAHMADSHAH.Now I shall be knownasAGHAIRFANAHMADSHAH for allfuturepurposes.

0040543102-1

II,, BHAGWATSINGH S/O-PADAMSINGHRAWATR/O-232,HANSNAGAR-COLONYPANDWALANKALAN-NAJAFGARHDELHI-110043.HAVEchangedmyname toBHAGWATSINGHRAWAT. 0040543149-9

II SheeleshGuptaW/oManojGuptaR/oHouseno.312, 1stfloor, sector 3, VasundhraGhaziabad 201012havechangedmyname toShaileshGupta 0040543134-1

II,,ManishGargR/o-318Kailash-Nagar,Ward.No-3Narnaul,Mahendragarh-123001,HaveChangedMySon’sNameFromShushantGargToShushankGarg. 0040543149-5

II,,Munni DeviW/oSh.VikramSinghR/oVillage-SilothiTeh.BahadurgrhDistt.Jhajjar(Haryana),havechangedmy nameMunni,forall purposes. 0040543146-1

II Lalit Kumar S/oChanderMohanR/o-1324/11BadshahibaghcolonyAmbalaHaryana-134003have changedmynameto Laliit Joshi 0040543120-1

II,,motisagar s/o-gordhanSinghYadavh.no-14,Rampura,Gurgaon,have changedmyname toMoti sagarYadav.

0040543146-3

II Deepanshi D/oSh.BrajMohanR/o FlatNo.F-235/A,MIG Flats,GTBEnclave,OppositeGTBHospital,Mandoli Saboli, Delhi-110093have changedmynametoDeepanshi Vasan for allpurposes. 0040543116-2

II Chand Ji P S/O-PremNathR/O-895/C,Wardno-8,NearHill TopApartment,Mehrauli,New-Delhi-110030.HaveChangedmyName toChand JiMuttu.

0040543149-10

II ArunKardamS/O,Heera LalKardamR/o 330-b, Dda Flats,GroundFloor, Pocket 2,MayurVihar Phase-1, Delhi 110091have changedmyname toArunRajput 0040543111-1

II,,MohdTahir s/oMohammadAllauddinR/o-A-178/1,Shaheen-Bagh, Abul-FazalEnclave-2, Jamia-Nagar, Okhla,Delhi-110025,have changedmyname toMohammadTasirPermanently. 0040543149-3

II,,MadhuRaniW/oLateSurenderKumarThapaR/o-B-13/102,Type-II Police-LinePitampuraDelhi-110034,changedmynameaftermarriageMadhuThapa.

0040543149-8

II,, Km. KamleshKumariW/o.Mr.Bharat, R/o.B-27,Major BholaRamEnclave,Pochanpur,Sector-23, Dawarka,NewDelhi,have changedmy-NamefromKm.KamleshKumari toKamleshDevi for all,futurepurposes. 0040543131-1

II,, KalpanaW/OLate Sh.SanjayR/o-2256Gali-Shankar, SitaRamBazar, Delhi-110006,mynamehasbeenWronglyWrittenasAlpana inmyLICPolicy,the actual nameofmy isKalpana 0040543129-1

II,, INDUBALAW/OKAPILKUMARR/O1-B/90,GROUND-FLOOR,RAMESHNAGAR,DELHI-110015. HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETO INDUKUMAR.

0040543155-4

II,, FOUZIASHAHIDW/oMrAghaIrfanAhmadShahR/0 FA-14/15,3rd floor, RoadNo.4, Abul FazalEnclavePart -1,NewDelhi-110025have changedmynamefromFauzia Shahid&Fauzia toFOUZIASHAHID. Now I shall beknownas FOUZIASHAHID forall futurepurposes

0040543094-1

II Aniket S/oSh.BrajMohanR/oFlatNo.F-235/A,MIGFlats, GTBEnclave,OppositeGTBHospital,Mandoli Saboli,Delhi-110093have changedmyname toAniketVasan for allpurposes. 0040543116-1

II,,VViicckkyy S/oMohanLal,R/O-UN-31/45Old-Chandrawal, Civil-Line,Delhi,NothDelhi-110054,have changedmyminorSonAge-12 year name,fromGarvit toGarvit Singh,forall,futurepurposes.

0040543149-7

II,, DharamKaur,W/oLateParamjeet Singh, R/o.F-88, FirstFloor, VikasPuri, NewDelhi-110018have changedmynametoTorumKaur for all futurepurposes 0040543105-1

II PoonamRawatD/O, LateRajeSinghBisht R/oHouseNoA4,KasturbaNiketanComplex,LajpatNagar 2NewDelhi-110024have changedmynametoPoonamBisht for allpurposes. 0040543115-1

II PRAGATI SINGHW/O-SUNILKUMAR, R/O-C-705,METROVIHAR,SHASTRI PARK,GARHIMENDU,DELHI-110053,HAVEchangedmyname toPRAGATI,FORall,futurepurpose. 0040543149-6

II Rahul SharmaS/oRajenderprasadSharmaR/o-RZ-26P131/6, indra-parkpart-2Gali-3 palamcolony, Delhi-110045,have changedmynametoRahulMudgal S/oRajenderprasadMudgal 0040543120-2

OOrriiggiinnaall DDARegistryDocument, DDAPaidChallanCopy&DemandLetter cumAllotment Letter in respect ofFlat no. 28C, Pocket 2, Sector 7,Dwarka, NewDelhi-110075belonging to Shri SanjeevKumarBhattacharyaS/o LateShri ArunKumarBhattacharyaR/oC-1NIHFWcampus,Munirka, NewDelhi-110067havebeen lost. Founder informat 9899995606. 0040543100-1

II,, ShivMakkar S/oSumitMakkarR/o- E-30Rajouri Garden, firstfloorNewDelhi-110027. havelostmyoriginal Certificate/Marksheet of Class-10th,Year(2016). Roll No.8232254issuedbyCBSE-Delhi.

0040543068-2

II,, ShivMakkar S/o-SumitMakkarR/o-E-30RajouriGarden, first floorNewDelhi-110027.have lostmyoriginalCertificate ofMain SecondaryExaminationof yearYear-(2018) of class-12th,RollNo.9190272 issuedbyCBSE-Delhi. 0040543068-1

PPEERRSSOONNAALL

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

Classifieds PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all concerned that myclient Smt. Bimla W/O Late Sh.Chander Pal Khari R/O 186, Rampura,Delhi-110035 has disowned /debarred his son namely Raj KumarBhole Khari from all movable andimmovable properties due to hisconduct, misbehavior and as he is outof her control. My client has notsevered any relations with herdaughter in law Anita and her threechildren but with her son only. Anyperson dealing with him in any mannershall be on his/her risk andconsequences. My client shall not beresponsible for any acts, things orliability done by them.

ISHWAR SINGH ADVOCATE306, BLOCK-III, LAWYERS' CHAMBERS,

DELHI HIGH COURT, NEW DELHI

PUBLIC NOTICEKNOW ALL MEN, THAT MY CLIENT MR.MADAN LAL KALRA, S/O LATE SH. NANDLAL KALRA, R/O G-130, VIKAS PURI, NEWDELHI-110018, HAVE SEVERED ALLRELATIONS WITH HIS SON NAMELY MR.DHIRAJ KALRA AND DISOWNED HIM FROMALL OF HIS MOVABLE/ IMMOVABLEPROPERTIES WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT,DUE TO HIS MISCONDUCT, CHEATING,FRAUD AND MALTREATMENT. MY CLIENTSHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYKIND OF CLAIMS, ACTS AND DEEDS INFUTURE DONE WITH/BY DHIRAJ KALRA,AS HE IS NOT IN CONTROL OF MY CLIENT.

Sd/-MUKUL GIRDHAR & ASSOCIATES

ADVOCATES AND LEGAL ADVISORSC-33, G.F. MANSA RAM PARK

NEW DELHI-110059Ph: 9811572430

PUBLIC NOTICEGeneral Public is hereby notified thatHouse No. 205 and 206, both in GaliNo. 4, Durgapuri Extension,Shahdara, Delhi are owned by myClients namely Smt. Jugnu Bansal &Shri Goverdhan Dass Bansalrespectively. Both the said propertiesare / were under litigation and HouseNo. 206, Gali No. 4, DurgapuriExtension, Shahdara, Delhi isalready adjudicated in favour of ShriGoverdhan Dass Bansal by Hon’bleHigh Court of Delhi. Civil suit is alsopending in respect to House No.205, Gali No. 4, DurgapuriExtension, Shahdara, Delhi inKarkardooma Courts, Delhi.Anyone dealing with/ intending toenter into and/ or pay any amount toany third party, in respect to anytransaction relating to saidproperties, shall do so solely at theirown risks and consequences and myClients shall not be responsible forany losses.

Sd/- Anand SinghAdvocate

G-10, LGF, Nizamuddin West,New Delhi-110013 Ph. 9868347568

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to public that my clients SMT.SHEELA DEVI W/O SH. ISHWAR DASS andSH. ISHWAR DASS S/O SH. MADHOPRASAD GUPTA R/O C-458 & C-459RESETTLEMENT COLONY, KHAYALA,TILAK NAGAR WEST DELHI-18, havesevered all their relations from their sons SH.HEMANT KUMAR & SH. SANJEEV KUMAR,S/O SH. ISHWAR DASS and SMT.KANWALJEET KAUR @ VINITA GUPTAW/O HEMANT KUMAR and their childrenalso. Because of their ill behavior towards myclients. My clients have also debarred themfrom their property i.e. 1st floor and 2nd floorsituated at plot no. C-458 & C-459RESETTLEMENT COLONY, KHAYALA,TILAK NAGAR WEST DELHI-18, for allpurposes in future. It is clarify that they are notdebarred from the shops situated at theground floor situated at above said plot no. C-458 & C-459. Any body dealing with themshall be doing so at his/her own risk andresponsibility and my clients shall not beresponsible for any act of the aforesadpersons.

Sd/- DEEPAK KUMAR SHARMAAdvocate

Chamber No.: B-1320, L.C. Block,Rohini Courts, Delhi-85

PUBLIC NOTICEUnder the instruction and on behalf of my clientbe it known to general public at large that myclients Sh. Mahender Sharma S/o Sh. RamSwaroop, Hindu, adult aged about 53 years andSmt. Bimla W/o Sh. Mahinder Sharma, Hindu,adult aged about 45 years both presently residingaddress at 1411, Gali No. 48, Swatantra Nagar,Narela Delhi-110040, have disowned anddebarred their son namely Mr. Naresh Kumarhindu adult age 26, and their daughter-in-lawMrs. Karishma W/o Sh. Naresh Kumar, Hinduadult age 24, from their all movable andimmovable properties and assets and severed allrelations, social with them because of their Acts,conducts and behavior towards my clients, Thus,my clients don't want to have any relationshipwith them and all their relationships standsevered and hereby also withdraw all their rightseven to perform my clients last rituals. Anybodydealing with them shall do so at her/his/their ownrisk and cost my clients shall not be responsiblefor any social economic retations.

Sd/-LOKESH KUMAR AGGARWAL

ADVOCATE(D/275/03) FOR ACE CONSILIUM

B-101, B.G.S. Block.Tis Hazari Courts. Delhi-110 054

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client Sh. Bauddin and his wifeMrs. Roshnara R/o Rz P-10B/ 366,Dayal Park, West Sagarpur, Delhi-110046, Hereby disown his sonSh. Badridin his wife Mrs. NagmaR/o Rz P-10B/ 366, Dayal Park,West Sagarpur, Delhi-110046,from his all movable andimmovable properties whatsoever.Hence, they shall have no right orclaim qua the same and anybodydealing with them shall be doing athis own risk.

MUNEET BEDIADVOCATE

P-14/B, Lower Ground Floor,Jangpura Extn., New Delhi-110014

PUBLIC NOTICEThis is to inform to public at large thatmy clients Shri Surjan Singh S/o ShriJagga Singh having Aadhaar CardNo. 9864 7779 9905 and Smt.Surjeet Kaur W/o Shri Surjan Singh,having Aadhar Card No. 6924 92113325 both R/o Harnam Singh WaliGali, Jhangola North West, Delhi-110036, disowned and debarredtheir son Mr. Jaswant Singh, age 25years, having Aadhaar Card No. 31460658 3262, Passport No. P5438746valid upto 31.01.2027, from all theirmovable and immovable properties,belongings, assets etc. My clientsshall not be responsible for their son’sacts, deeds, transactions, deals. Ifany person indulge or involve himselfwith our son in any deals ortransactions then he/she will be doingit at his/her will and sole discretioncompletely at his/her own risk, costand consequences.

Sd/- VINOD DAHIYAADVOCATE

LAWVINO LEGALAdvocates & Solicitors

309, Pearls Best Heights-III,NSP, Pitampura, Delhi-34

PUBLIC NOTICE”Public in general, is hereby informed that myclient Naresh Kumar S/o Late Sh.Chanderbhan R/o H. No. 382-A, ChanderQuarter, Rampura, Delhi-110035 hassevered all his relations and connection withhis son Rahul Kaushik and his wife Poonamand their successor debarred them from allhis movable and immovable properties asthey have proved to be most disrespectful,Disobedient and harmful toward my client. Myclient in his family members shall not beResponsible for their any legal or illegalactivities. Any dealing with the son of myaforesaid client namely Rahul Kaushik andhis wife namely Poonam, shall be done attheir risk and cost persons who would dealwith them.

Sd/-PALVINDER SINGH

AdvocateCh. No. 1118, Lawyer’s Chamber Block

Rohini Court, Delhi-110085Mob. 9968507844, 7042667844

PUBLIC NOTICEOn behalf of my client Smt. Kavita W/oVinod Kumar R/o X/2195, Raghubir puraNo.1 Near Hathi Park Mahila ColonyDelhi-110031, it is being informed to thepublic at large that my above-said clienthas severed all her relations and has noconcern whatsoever in any manner withher son namely Sh. Honey S/o VinodKumar due to his misdeeds, acts andomissions. My client has furtherdebarred him from any share in all hermovable and immovable properties. Anyone dealing with the above-said personsmay do so at his own risk and my clientshall not be responsible for the same inany way.

Sd/- (VIMAL RATHI)ADVOCATE

Chamber No. 456, Patiala HouseCourts, New Delhi-110001

PUBLIC NOTICEKnown to all that my client Sanjay is the partner ofM/s Ginni Land Base is the owner of 3rd floor, A-35, Rangpuri (Vasant Kunj) Nangal Dewat, NewDelhi. And he has lost original sale deed related toabove property, executed by M/s ShakuntalaProperties Pvt. Ltd., in favour of M/s Ginni Landbase partnership Firm registered vide sale deedno. 14498 dt. 18.12.2012. Police complaint dt.26.07.2020 was lodged with Delhi Police. It isinformed that any deal with said lost deed by anyperson except my said client regarding saidproperty, shall be deemed as null and void. If anyperson found said deed or is having right in saidproperty then he may contact and handover thesame and apprise his claim to undersigned andwithin 8 days of this publication.

Sd/-For AD REM LEGAL SOLUTION

Ch. No. 760, Dwarka CourtSector-10, Dwarka, New Delhi-75

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client Licy Aloysius W/o LT Aloysius T,R/o H.NO. RZ-G-83 Mahavir Enclave (Palam)Delhi-110045, have decided that my elderson Shibu Thomas and his wife Anila Shibucannot continue to be my legitimate Legal heirfor any purpose and I debar them from mymovable and immovable properties/ assetsand my personal life. Since he has thrown meout from my house and have not taken care ofme which is his primary responsibility duringmy old age. Also request any 3rd party not topurchase the above property, if you choose topurchase, all the legal cost andconsequences will rest on you. This is givento protect the interest of Licy and the generalpublic.

Sd/-(S. GOWTHAMAN)

AdvocateM/s. 1454/1996

PUBLIC NOTICEKnow all men by at large that my client,SH. SHIV KUMAR S/O SH. RAM LAL &SMT. KALAWATI W/O SH. SHIV KUMAR,R/O T-701, J.J. COLONY, MANGOL PURI,DELHI-110083 have disowned andsevered all relations with their daughterSIMRAN and debarred her from all theirmovable and immovable properties andtheir personal life absolutely and foreverdue to her wrong acts and behaviour. AnyBody dealing with her in civil and criminalmatter shall be doing at his/her/their ownrisk, cost and expenses & my clients andother family member will not beresponsible for the same at anycircumstances. With immediate effect.

Sd/- S.K. Taarik (Sheenu)(Advocate)

D/063/08, RU-1, Sub Registrar Office,Pitampura, Delhi.

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to the public at largethat my clients S. Sarabjeet Singh,S/o late S. Sukha Singh and SmtHarwant Kaur W/o S. SarabjeetSingh, both R/o WZ-49, First Floor,Mukherjee Park, Tilak Nagar, Delhi110018 has disowned and severetheir all relations with their son S.Karanbeer Singh, his wife Smt.Gurpreet Kaur and their childrenMaster Jasmeh Singh and Ms.Meerab Kaur, all R/o WZ-49, FirstFloor, Mukherjee Park, Tilak Nagar,Delhi 110018 from the right ofinheritance in respect of their allm o v a b l e a n d i m m o v a b l eproperties, at present held or to beheld and purchased in future andthey shall have no concern right,interest or lien in the same in anymanner whatsoever for all the timeto come as they both are not takingcare of my clients and eventhreatening them to initiate civil aswell as criminal proceedingsagainst them. My clients have noconcern with the above named S.Karanbeer Singh and his family infuture as my clients have severedtheir relations, socially andeconomically with them. Any bodydealing with the above named S.Karanbeer Singh and his familymembers in any manner shall bedoing at their/his/her own risk andmy c l ien ts were not he ldresponsible for any misconductoffence / action/act done orconducted by them in any manner

NEERAJ SURI ADVOCATEChamber No. 211, Civil Side,

Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054

Purvanchal Vidyut VitranNigam Limited (PuVVNL)(A subsidiary of UP Power

Corporation limited) PurvanchalVidyut Bhavan, Vidyut Nagar,P.O. - D.L.W., Varanasi -221004Website: http://www.etender.up.nic.in Tender Date ExtensionThe date of submission & openingof e-tender no., EAV-11/2020-21is here by extended up to06.08.2020 (15:00 PM) &07.08.2020 (15:00 PM)respectively. Further details can beseen at website www.etender.up.nic.in. Other terms and conditionsshall remain same. Sd/- (RajeshKumar) SuperintendingEngineer (MM-I) “SAVEELECTRICITY IN THE INTERESTOF THE NATION” ´fÂffaI : 2034/´fc.d½f.d½f.d³f. d»f.(½ff.)/Àff.´fi.-I/AA-I/d½fÄff´f³f dQ³ffaI : 27.07.2020

CX.´fi. ´ff½fSX MXÑfaÀfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSmXVf³f d»fd¸fMZXOX BÊX-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ WZ°fb BÊ-d³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Qû·ff¦fûÔ ¸fZÔ (ªfe.EÀf.Me.) ¸fZÔ ´faªfeIÈ °f, ´fid°fd¿N°f E½faA³fb·f½fe NZIZ QfSûÔ/ R ¸fûË ÀfZ Afg³f»ffBÊ³f BÊ-d³fd½fQf´fûMÊ»f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM khttp://etender.up.nic.inl´fS Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W` aÜ d³fd½fQf ¸fc»¹f ªfeEÀfMe ÀfdW°f°f±ff ²fSûWS SfdVf AfS.Me.ªfe.EÀf./E³f.BÊ.ER .Me. IZ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ Ad²fVffÀfe Ad·f¹f³°ff, d½fôb°f 400 IZ .½fe.C´fIZ ³ýi J¯O, C.´fi. ´ff½fS MÑf³Àfd¸fVf³f I fS´fûSmVf³fd»f., ¸fbSfQf¶ffQ I f¹ffÊ»f¹f IZ ¶f`ÔI Jf°ff ÀMZM ¶f`ÔIAfgR Bd¯O¹ff, dÀfd½f»f »ffBÊ³Àf, ¸fbSfQf¶ffQ ¸fZÔ Jf°ffÀfa£¹ff-10896364236, ¶f`ÔI AfBÊER EÀfÀfe I ûO-SBI0000682 (MICR No. 110024101) ¸fZÔd³f²ffÊdS°f Àf¸f¹f °fI ªf¸ff I SmÔÜ A³¹f d³f¹f¸f E½fa Vf°fZËd½f·ff¦f IZ d³f²ffÊdS°f d³f¹f¸f E½fa Vf°fZË C.´fi.´ff½fSI fS´fûSmVf³f d»f. IZ R f¸fÊ E/¶fe IZ A³fbÀffS Wûa¦fe dªf³WZÔdI Àfe ·fe I f¹fÊdQ½fÀf ¸fZÔ A²fûWÀ°ffÃfSI °ffÊ IZ I f¹ffÊ»f¹f¸fZÔ QZ£ff ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü d½fÀ°fÈ°f d½f½fS¯f BÊ-d³fd½fQf ´fûMÊ»f½fZ¶fÀffBM ´fS d³fd½fQf £fb»f³fZ I e Ad³°f¸f d°fd±f E½fa Àf¸f¹f°fI C´f»f¶²f SWZ¦ffÜ d³fd½fQf ¸fZÔ dI Àfe ·fe ÀfaVfû²f³f ¹ffd°fd±f d½fÀ°ffS BÊ-d³fd½fQf ´fûMÊ»f ´fS A½fV¹f QZ£f d»f¹ffªffEÜ BÊ.-d³fd½fQf Àfa£¹ff-05/2020-2021 d½fôb°f 400IZ .½fe. C´fÀfaÀ±ff³f ¸fbS fQf¶ffQ ´fS À±ffd´f°f 50E¸f.½fe.E.AfS. ¶fÀf dS¹fZ¢MS (E.Àfe.BÊ.Àfe. ¸fZI ) IZMÑf³ÀfR f¸fÊS Afg¹f»f I e ÀfZ³MÑeµ¹fcdªfa¦f I f I f¹fÊÜ ²fSûWSS fdVf ÷ . 1200/- ¸ffÂfÜ d³fd½fQf Vfb»I ÷ .250.00+18% ªfe.EÀf.Me. ¸ffÂfÜ Jb»f³fZ I e d°fd±f 27-08-2020. WXÀ°ff./- (Ad²fVffÀfe Ad·f¹f³°ff) d½fôb°f400 IZY.½fe. CX´f ÀfaÀ±ff³f J¯OX, CX.´fi. ´ff½fSXMÑXf³Àfd¸fVf³f IYfSX´fûSmXVf³f d»f. ¸fbSXfQf¶ffQÜ kkSXfáÑX dWX°f¸fZÔ d¶fªf»fe ¶f¨ff¹fZÔll ´fÂffaIY 747 d½f. 400IZY.½fe.CX´f.J(¸fb.)MXe dQ³ffaIY 28/7/20

PANKI THERMAL POWERSTATION, PANKI, KANPUR UTTARPRADESH RAJYAVIDYUTUTPADAN NIGAM LTD. TENDERNOTICE Sealed and SeparateTenders are hereby invited containingrequisite Tender Cost, Earnest Money(Re-fundable) through NEFT/RTGS inthe CBI Account no. 1439501795(IFSC- CBIN0280983, MICR-208016020) in Name of Dy. CAO,CFA & BO, PTPS, Panki, Kanpur andTendered will have to provide thesigned copy of UTR Number, Name ofAccount and photo copy of Pay in Slipalong with relevant required Tenderdocuments as per Pre-qualifyingCondition and other commercial terms& conditions. Details of Tender Noticeas well as Tender Specifications/Corrigendum may be seen on ourWeb Site: www.uprvunl.org/ e-tender portal www.etender.up.nic.in1. E-Tender- 05/1x660 MW PTEP/SE (CIVIL)/ CCD-III/ 2020-21PREPARATION OF DIFFETENT BILLMONTHLY ACCOUNTS ETC. FORCFA & BO, PTPS, PANKI KANPUREstimated Cost 6,21,500.00 TenderFee: 826.00 Earnest Money: 12,500/-OPENING DATE OF E-TENDER:22.08.2020 2. E-Tender- 08/PTEP/SE(CIVIL)/ CCD-III/2020-21 CATERINGSERVICES IN GUEST HOUSE,PTEP PANKI KANPUR EstimatedCost: 3,26,000.00 Tender Fee: 354.00Earnest Money: 6,500/- OPENINGDATE OF E-TENDER : 20.08.2020 3.E-Tender- 09/PTEP/ SE (CIVIL)/CCD-III/ 2020-21 CLEANING OFNALA FROM CISF BARRACK TOETP AND SURROUNDING ASH DAMIN PTEP PANKI Estimated Cost:3,98,000.00 Tender Fee: 354.00Earnest Money: 7,500/- OPENINGDATE OF E-TENDER : 06.08.2020 4.E-Tender- 10/1x660 MW PTEP/ SE(CIVIL)/ CCD-III/ 2020-21 GENERALCLEANING WORK OF OFFICERCOLONY AND PROJECT HOSPITALOF PTEP, PANKI, KANPUREstimated Cost: 8,73,000.00 TenderFee: 1,062.00 Earnest Money:17,500/- OPENING DATE OF E-TENDER: 22.08.2020 5. E-Tender-11/1x660 MW PTEP/ SE (CIVIL)/CCD-III/ 2020-21 MAINTENANCE OFPARK AND PLANTATION INOFFICERS COLONY AT PTEP,PANKI, KANPUR Estimated Cost:17,43,442.00 Tender Fee: 2,124.00Earnest Money: 35,000/- OPENINGDATE OF E-TENDER: 22.08.2020 6.E-Tender- 12/1x660 MW PTEP/SE(CIVIL)/CCD-III/2020-21 ANNUALMAINTENANCE OF FRONT LAWNOF PROJECT HOSPITAL &GROUND BEHIND CHIEFENGINEER OFFICE PTEP, PANKI.Estimated Cost: 3,85,914.00 TenderFee: 472.00 Earnest Money: 8,000/-OPENING DATE OF E-TENDER:22.08.2020 7. E-Tender- 02/ PTPS/E&MCC-III/ E&MCD-VIII/ 2020-21RATE CONTRACT FOR REWINDINGAND REPAIRING OF SUBMERSIBLEPUMPS AND MOTORS OF PTPS,PANKI. Estimated Cost: 4,90,259.00Tender Fee: 590.00 Earnest Money:10,000/- OPENING DATE OF E-TENDER: 28.08.2020 Sd/-EXECUTIVE ENGINEER Web Sitewww.uprvunl.org “SAVEELECTRICITY FOR THE NATION” Àfa.07/´feMe´feEÀf/¸fb.A./Àfe.´fe.Oe./d½fÄff´f³f dQ³ffaI 28.07.2020

PUBLIC NOTICEMY CLIENT PUSHPALATA DEVI W/OLALAN PANDIT R/O PAKARI, SIWAN,BIHAR, NOW AT: PLOT NO: 38 & 39,R-BLCOK PART-II, VIKAS NAGAR,DELHI SEVERE ALL RELATIONS &DEBAR HER SON/ DAUGHTERSANDEEP KUMAR, SMT. BABITAKUMARI & PANDIT ASHISH LALANFROM ALL MY MOVABLE &IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES DUE TOTHEIR MISCONDUCT & BEING OUTOF CONTROL. MY CLIENT WILL NOTBE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ANYACTS/DEALINGS IN FUTURE.

Sd/-RAMESH THAKUR

AdvocateCH. NO. 424,

PATIALA HOUSE COURTS, DELHI

VARINDERBHATIACHANDIGARH, JULY28

THREEYEARS after reject-ing ‘VIP culture’ by remov-ing red beacons fromatoptheir vehicles, HaryanaMLAswill soon be out onthe roadswith their vehi-cles supporting a differentsymbolof theirspecialsta-tus -- red flags. The use ofthese‘redflags’willbeper-mittedforboththeirofficialaswellaspersonalvehicles.HaryanaVidhanSabha

Speaker Gian ChandGupta, however, said thatthese flagswere not sym-bols of VIP culture, andwere being given only toensure "identity and duerecognition of the MLA,whileonroad".Allthe90HaryanaMLAs

willsoongetared-flageach

bearing Haryana VidhanSabha logoandMemberofHaryana Vidhan Sabha,MLAwrittenonit.It was in April, 2017

whentheUnionCabinethaddecided that red beaconlightswillberemovedfromallvehicles,includingthatofPrimeMinister.The reasons given by

theVidhanSabhaSpeakerGian Chand Gupta for in-troducingthenewsystemare that “in the absence ofany proper identificationon their vehicles, MLAsfaceharassmentatthetoll-plazas,havetowaitinlongqueues sometimes evenfor 30minutes". Further,the Speaker said, “in cer-taincasespolicepersonnelhadmisbehavedwithcer-tain MLAs due to lack ofadequateidentificationontheirvehicles”.

AFTERREMOVALOFREDBEACONS

Haryana MLAs to getred flags for vehicles toensure ‘due recognition’

Ghaziabad: Six armed robbers barged intoa house in Ghaziabad and stole cashamounting to Rs 2 lakh aswell as gold or-naments worth Rs 10 lakh, police said onTuesday. The incident took place onMondaynight intheKaviNagarpolicesta-tion area, they said. The robbers held thefamily hostage and committed the crime.They also held an 8-year-old child at gun-point, SP (City)ManeeshMishra said.PTI

Family held hostage,robbed in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi

13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY29,2020

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION KOTA(NORTH/SOUTH) (RAJASTHAN)

RAJEEV GANDHI BHAWAN DUSHERA GROUND KOTATel Ph.No.: 0744-2500197, email: [email protected] website: www.kotamc.org

No:- NNK/Fire/2020/236-251 Date: 27.07.2020

NIB No 15 / 2020-21 (Re-Tender)Notice Inviting online Bids for Supply of Fire Fighting Vehicles andEquipments for Municipal Corporation, Kota- (Raj.) (as perfollowing Vehicles/Equipments/works) on behalf of KSCL through e-procurement portal http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in from eligible biddersin accordance with RTPP Act 2012 and RTPP Rules 2013, amended upto date and under national Competitive bidding with Single Stage, Two-Envelop Bidding procedure for following Vehicles/Equipments/works.Detailed NIT & Bid Documents can be seen at the websitesSPPP.raj.nic.in, http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in & kotamc.org.

Sd/-Commissioner

Municipal Corporation, Kota North

GOVT. COLLEGE FARRUKH NAGAR,GURUGRAM

Advt. No. 01 Dated: 27.07.2020

AdvertisementSealed Quotation are invited from the author-

ized vendors for manpower supply under HaryanaGovt. Policy-I rules in the name of the undersignedlatest by August 03, 2020. The quotations shouldbear superscription “Quotation for ManpowerSupply.” The quotation will be open on the sameday i.e. 03.08.2020 at 2.30 P.M.

Sd/- PrincipalGovt. College Farrukh Nagar

Gurugram81969/HRY

New Delhi

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

1,480,073India

296,273Iran

395,489Mexico

302,290United Kingdom

347,923Chile

452,529South Africa

4,309,230US

2,442,375Brazil

389,717Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 16,540,137 DEATHCOUNT:655,300

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonJuly28. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealthMinistry’stally(below)maynotmatchiftheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD822,060Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 14,83,156 (33,425 DEATHS)

3,83,723Maharashtra

2,20,716Tamil Nadu

41,244Bihar

70,493 UP1,31,219Delhi

56,874Gujarat

60,830West Bengal

1,02,349Andhra Pradesh

57,142Telangana

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

Write to [email protected]

1,01,465Karnataka

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,July28.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.9,52,743PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN35STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands338ArunachalPradesh 1239Assam 33576Chandigarh 910Chhattisgarh 7745DadraandNagarHaveli 946Goa 5119Haryana 32127HimachalPradesh 2270JammuandKashmir 18390Jharkhand 8683Kerala 19727Ladakh 1306MadhyaPradesh 28589Manipur 2286Meghalaya 738Mizoram 384Nagaland 1385Odisha 26892Puducherry 2872Punjab 13769Rajasthan 36878Sikkim 555Tripura 4049Uttarakhand 6328

ANILSASINEWDELHI, JULY28

MARKETS AROUND theworld have surgedsinceend-March,seeminglyoblivioustothepandemic. TheNASDAQComposite has hitnewlifetimehighs,DowandDAXhaveregis-teredover50%gainssinceMarch,andBrazil'sBovespa Index hit amore than four-monthhighthismonth.TheSensexhasgainedover40% since hitting a low of 25,981 onMarch23–andcontinues to rise evenasdaily casenumbershavegonefromaround9,000inthefirstweekof Juneto40,000-45,000now.

Signs of a bubble?Financial assetbubbles typicallybuildup

whenthesurgeinfinancialmarketindicesfailtoreflecttheunderlyingvaluationsof theas-setclassforanextendedperiod.Theprimaryreasonwhymarkets are rallying is themegastimuluspackagesannouncedbyglobalcen-tral banks. TheUS rally started at the sametimewhen the deckswere cleared for themost expensive bailout inUShistory. Threeweeks later, the Federal Reserve announceditwould inject another $2.3 trillion throughunprecedentedemergencyinitiativestargetedatsmallandmidsizebusinesses,andstateandmunicipalgovernments.With the Fed starting tobuyupgovern-

mentdebtandundertakingtopurchasepri-vateassets–includingthecorporatedebtofcompanies such as AT&T, Tesla, Apple andCoca-Cola–while also lendingdirectly to arange of market participants, share andbond prices have soared. Most companiestried togetover the slide in revenuesbyat-tempting to raise freshcapital, bothbysell-ingsharesandissuingnewbonds.Globally,nearly$5.5trillionisestimatedtohavebeenraised so far this year. This has triggered awindfallonWallStreet,andacascadingrallyacrossotherbourses.

What’s the problem?The stimulusmay have juiced themar-

ketrecoverysinceApril,butanalystssaytheS&P500—anindexthatmeasuresthestockperformanceof500largecompanies,andisone of the best representations of US stockmarkets—hasunderlyingweaknesses:un-realistic valuationmultiples and overlever-agedcorporatebalancesheets.Anothermajordistortiontriggeredbythe

Fed's intervention is that stocks and bondsarenowmoving in tandem,whichdoesnottypicallyhappen.TheFedwilldeliveranup-dateoninterestratepolicyandtheeconomyonWednesday.Thereisagrowingviewthattherallycould

crashonce it runsoutof the fuelof fiscal andmonetary policy support. There are signs ofdistressalready:tradingvolumesinAmericanbourseshavedipped,andthereareindicationsthatbigbusinesses,alreadysaturated,willnotneed somuchnewmoney. Another signifi-cant signal is comingup— the boosted em-ploymentprovisionundertheCARESActwillexpireonJuly31.WhileCongressisdiscussingthe second stimulus, reports suggest it’s un-likelytocomethroughbyJuly31.The US Fed and Treasury have together

backstopped over 10% of America’s entirestockofbusinessdebtduringthisperiod,butall this could change once the governmentstimulus tapers off. The largest Americanbankshavestashedawayover$50billiontoprepare for the fallout. “We are in a com-pletely unpredictable environment... Thepandemichasagripon theeconomy, and itdoesn’t seem likely to loosen until vaccinesarewidelyavailable,”CitigroupCEOMichaelCorbat saidearlier thismonth.Kevin Smith, founder of the hedge fund

Crescat Capital, has predicted that theDowand S&P 500 are on the verge of a GreatDepression-levelcrash.Smithhasrepeatedlysaidthatthestockmarkettrendnowissim-ilar to the 1930 “relief rally” in thewake ofthe ‘BlackMonday’crash.Duringthatcrash,stocksfell45%inmid-1929—butanear50%

rally followed from late 1929 until March1930. After that, stocks fell more than 80%,and the unprecedented bear market ulti-matelywipednearly90%off theDow.

Situation in IndianmarketsAUScrashcouldhaveacascadingimpact,

and India couldbe caught in themaelstromonaccountofboththeslideintheUSandin-trinsic issuesrelatingtothefundamentalsofIndianmarkets. Both BSE andNSE have re-boundedabout43%sincecrashingtoa four-yearlowinMarchashugeflowsofcheapcap-ital provided by central banks have turnedheavily-discountedstocksattractive.Atpres-ent, though, the Sensex earningsmultiplierofover24,andPrice/Bookmultipleofnearly3areuncomfortablyhigh—andawidespreadsell-off isadistinctpossibility,analystssay.(Earningsmultiplier pegs a company’s

current stock price in terms of the earningsper share, and provides an idea of whetherit is overly expensive. P/B is the ratio of afirm'smarketcapitalisationtoitstangibleas-setvalue;ratiosofunder1aretypicallycon-sidered tobesolid investments.)Given that companieswon't see a sharp

increaseintheirearnings,thevulnerabilitiesintheSensexvaluationsappearall tooobvi-ous.EarlybirdresultsfortheJune2020quar-ter point to a slightly better-than-expected

showing by India Inc, helped largely by agood showing by IT companies, financialservices,andPSUs.Thecombinedgrossprofitof the90-oddcompaniesthathavedeclaredresults was down nearly 10% year on year,while net profit and toplines were downabout 3.5% in the April-June quarter.However,thesenumbersarelikelytoworsenasmorecompaniesannounceresults.Also, in India,muchof thegovernment’s

relief package has been liquidity driven, fo-cusedonpushingbanks toextendcreditonthebackofgovernmentguaranteestosmallbusinesses, non-banking financial compa-nies,microfinanceinstitutions,andhousingfinance companies. Over the last threemonths,RBIhascutitskeypolicyrateby115basis points, and announced a liquidity in-jectionofaroundRs8lakhcroreinthefinan-cialmarketssinceitsfirstannouncementonMarch 27.Market analysts say thatwith somuch liquidity worldwide and very fewplacesforittogo,muchofthemoneyisfind-ing itsway intostockmarkets.Another concern is non-performing as-

sets forbanks,whichmaybegin toshowupafterthemoratoriumperiodendsonAugust31. An MSME distress funding scheme isopenuntilOctober31.Onceend-bydatesarereached, a shockcould follow.Foreignportfolioinvestment(FPI)inflows

havejumpedaftertherecordnetoutflowsofnearlyRs62,000croreinMarch2020.InMayand June, FPIshave investedanetRs36,400crore in Indianequities. Therehasalsobeenasharp jumpinthemarketshareofnon-in-stitutional (retail) investors in the cash seg-ment—thehighest sinceAugust2009.In themedium term, the fundamental

riskstotheglobaleconomylooklikeincreas-ing,with the pandemic nowhere near end-ing. FY21 is awashout in terms of earnings,and this distresswill start getting reflectedinmarketvaluationssoon.Therearealsoredflags in freshNPAs forbanks,whichwill be-gin toshowupafter themoratoriumperiodends on August 31. In its July FinancialStabilityReport, theRBInotedthatthegrossNPAratioofallscheduledcommercialbanksmay increase from 8.5% inMarch 2020 to12.5%byMarch2021underthebaselinesce-nario. If themacroeconomic environmentworsens, the ratiomay increase to 14.7% intheveryseverelystressedscenario, itadded.Expertsfeelthatalagineconomicrevival,

demandintheeconomy,andreinstatementof incomelevelsmayleadtostressinallseg-ments — corporates, MSME and retail – intheDecember2020quarter. Ifasell-offwereto start in the US, many stockmarkets, in-cluding in India, could be pushed into thedoldrums.

14WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

MANOJCGNEWDELHI, JULY28

ON TUESDAY, the Ashok Gehlot Cabinetsentyet another recommendation—thethirdsuchcommunicationinaweek—toGovernor KalrajMishra asking for a ses-sionoftheRajasthanAssemblyonJuly31.None of the three proposals, however,mentionswhetherthegovernmentwantsto hold a vote of confidence in theAssembly, although that is being seen asthe unstated reason behind convening asessionamidapolitical crisis.Ever since the crisis began in the sec-

ondweekof July,Gehlothadbeenclaim-ingthathisgovernmenthasthemajorityin the200-memberHouse.What then isstoppingthegovernmentfrommention-ingaconfidencevoteorafloortestastheagenda for the Assembly session?WhatistheCongress’sgame-plan?Overafort-night into the crisis, what is the state ofplay inRajasthan?

Gehlot and CongressTheCongressand itsGehlot campar-

gue that the government and theAssemblywill decide the agenda for thesession, and the Governor cannot raisequeries or interfere on suchmatters as itis not in his jurisdiction. In otherwords,hehasnodiscretionarypowersregardingsummoning of the session. They say theGovernor’s queries are a tactic to delayconvening of a session. If the Governorturns down the recommendation onceagain, the Congress’s political responsewouldbe toseekhis removal.Unofficially, theCongress’spositionis

that stating the reason for convening asession could lead to the Governor rais-ingmore queries or laying down condi-tions that the party and the governmentwould rather avoid. “If we state the rea-son, theGovernor could saymove amo-tionforafloortest,give10daysor15days’notice and all. Why should we give it?

There is noobligation to give it,” a seniorleader said.CongressleaderssaytheChiefMinister

neednotshowhismajorityintheconven-tionalwayofmovingamotionforexpress-ingconfidenceintheCouncilofMinisters.“Hecando it inanymanner forashowofsupport to the government. Awhip canalsobe issued,”asenior leadersaid.TheCongresscites the2016Supreme

Court judgment in Nabam Rebia andBamang Felix vs Deputy Speaker(ArunachalPradeshAssemblycase)toar-guethatwhentheChiefMinisterandhisCouncilofMinistersenjoytheconfidenceof themajority of the House, the powervestedwith the Governor under Article174 to summon, prorogue and dissolvethe Housemust be exercised in conso-nance with the aid and advice of theCabinet.

Sachin Pilot campSachinPilot and the18 rebel Congress

MLAs,whoare fighting adisqualificationbattle in the RajasthanHigh Court, havebeensilentonthequestionofconveningasession.Sincetheyhavenotbeenexpelledby theCongress, abstaining from the ses-sionor voting against theGehlot govern-

mentwould violate theparty’swhip andattractdisqualification.ButthePilotcampclaimsAshokGehlot

doesnothaveamajorityanddescribesthedemand for a session as political postur-ing,sayingthatiswhythegovernmenthasnotmentionedavoteofconfidenceastheagenda.TheSachincampclaimsthegov-ernment has not given theGovernor thelist of MLAs supporting it. While theCongresshasclaimedthatithadgiventhelist when Gehlotmet the Governor lastweek,thePilotcampaskswhythelisthasnotbeenmadepublic.The Pilot camp believes that the two

CPMMLAshavenotcommittedtheirsup-port to the government and there is un-certainty overwhichway the three BTPMLAswillmove. This camp is also bank-ing on a disqualification petition it hasfiledintheHighCourtagainst6BSPMLAswhohadjoinedtheCongress,arguingthata national party cannot bemergedwithanothernationalparty.

BJPInterestingly,theOppositionBJPisnot

demanding a floor test. Normally, such ademand would have come from theOpposition. A BJP delegation metGovernorMishraearlierthisweekbutdidnotdemandafloortest. Infact, its leadershave argued that while it is within therightof theCabinet to sendaproposal totheGovernorforcallinganAssemblyses-sion, it cannot pressure him into gettingitdone immediately.TheBJP seems in themood toprolong

theimpasse,hopingthatsomeMLAsintheGehlot camp could switch sides. It is notjumpingintothegameopenlyandiswait-ing for the right time tomakeamove. Forthe timebeing, all indicationsare that it isacting from behind the scenes. TheCongressallegesthattheGovernor’srecal-citrance, the appearance of lawyers likeHarishSalveandMukulRohatgiforthePilotcampand the stayof rebelMLAs in aBJP-ruledstateallleavefingerprintsofaBJProle.

In market high, some fearsSIMPLYPUT

Theprimaryreasonwhymarketsaroundtheworldarerallying is themegastimuluspackagesannouncedbyglobalcentralbanks.AcrashintheUScouldhaveacascadingimpactonIndia

APURVAVISHWANATHNEWDELHI, JULY28

THEBSP is gearingup for a legal battle of itsownintheRajasthanpoliticaldramaaroundCongressChiefMinisterAshokGehlot’sclaimtopower.TheBSPistryingtowinbackitssixMLAswho later joined the Congress, or atleast to keep them fromsupportingGehlot.Doestheanti-defectionlawapplyhere?

WhatexplainstheBSPstand?The BSPwon six seats in Rajasthan but

all itsMLAs—RajendrasinghGudha,LakhanSingh, Deep Chand, Joginder SinghAwana,SandeepKumarandWajibAli— joined theCongress inSeptember lastyear.Politically, theBSPhastakenastandnot

tosupporttheGehlotgovernment. If thesixMLAswere to be disqualified, the effectivestrength of theHouse reduces and so doesGehlot’smajority.However, the Speaker has rejected the

disqualificationplea.

Whatdoesthe“merger”ofBSPwithCongressmean?The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution

prohibits defection toprotect the stability ofgovernmentsbutdoesnotprohibitmergers.Paragraph4(2)oftheTenthSchedule,dealingwithmergers,saysthatonlywhentwo-thirdsof themembers agree to “merge” thepartywouldtheybeexemptfromdisqualification.The “merger” referred to in Paragraph

4(2)isseenaslegalfiction,wheremembersaredeemedtohavemergedforthepurposesof being exempt from disqualification,rather thanamerger in the truesense.

HowdoesthecentralBSPleadershipviewthemerger inRajasthan?The BSP is arguing that a state unit of a

national party cannot bemergedwithoutthepartybeingmergedatthenationallevel.However, the Tenth Schedule identifies

thisdichotomybetweenstateunitsandna-tionalunits.AsperParagraph4(2),“merger”ofapartymeansmergerofalegislativepartyof that House. In this case, it would be theRajasthanLegislativeunitof theBSPandnottheBSPat thenational level.Paragraph1oftheTenthSchedulewhich

definestermsspecifiedinthecontextof theanti-defection lawstates this clearly.“Legislature Party” for the purposes of

Paragraph 4 (which deals with mergers)“meansthegroupconsistingofallthemem-bersofthatHouseforthetimebeingbelong-ingtothatpoliticalpartyinaccordancewiththesaidprovisions.”Additionally, thewhipissuedbyBSPna-

tionalgeneralsecretarySatishMishratothesixMLAs would have no impact becausesuchadirectionhastonecessarilybeissuedfor voting on the floor of the House. Everylegislative party identifies the party’swhipatthebeginningoftheAssembly’stermandconveys this to the Speaker. A nationalleader’s direction cannot be considered awhipinthecontextoftheanti-defectionlaw.

Onwhatgrounds isBSP’scasebased?TheBSP’scontentionisthatthemergeris

illegalandunconstitutionalbecauseforana-tionalparty,suchmergerhastotakeplaceatthenationallevel.Supportingthisargument,SatishMishrahas cited twodecisionsof theSupremeCourt: a three-judge 2006 benchruling in Jagjit SinghvStateofHaryana, andafive-judge bench 2007 ruling in RajendraSinghRanaAndOrsvsSwamiPrasadMaurya.The first decision relates to four legisla-

tors from single-member parties in theHaryana Assembly, who said their partieshadsplit and later joinedtheCongress. Thecourt upheld the Speaker’s decisions dis-qualifying them.The second decision, involving the BSP

itself and the Samajwadi Party, also dealswith“split”. Inthe2002UttarPradeshelec-tions, 37 MLAs — one-third of the BSPstrength — “split” from the party after itsgovernmentfell, tosupportSP.TheSCruledthat the split cannot be recognised prima-rilybecausenotalltheseMLAssplitatonce.The key aspect is that these cases deal

with splits where when one-third of themembers of a legislative party splits; theycould not attract disqualification as perParagraph3of theTenthSchedule.In2003,throughthe91stConstitutional

Amendment,Paragraph3wasdeletedfromthe Tenth Schedule. The amendmentwasmadeastheone-thirdsplitrulewasgrosslymisusedbypartiestoengineerdivisionsandindulgeinhorse-trading.One-thirdwasre-gardedas aneasy target to achieve and thelawnowexemptsdefectiononlywhen it isat two-thirds (inamerger).

Arethereanysuchprecedents?In July2019,10of the15CongressMLAs

in Goa joined the BJP taking the rulingparty’s tally to27 in the40memberHouse.Sincetheyformedtwo-thirdsofthestrengthof thelegislativepartyunit,theyareexemptfrom disqualification. However, theSpeaker’sdecisionnot todisqualify themisunderchallengebeforetheSupremeCourt.InJunelastyear,VicePresidentVenkaiah

Naiduissuedordersto“merge”theTDPwiththe rulingBJP inRajyaSabhaafter fourof itsfiveMPs defected. Although TDP still has apresenceintheUpperHousethroughitsloneMP, the partywas deemed to havemergedonlyforthepurposeofnotattractingpenaltyunder the Tenth Schedule for the fourMPswhodefected.TheTDP,too,raisedargumentssimilar towhat BSP is now claiming that a“merger”canonlytakeplaceatanorganisa-tionallevelofthepartyandnotintheHouse.In2016, twoyearsafter theTDPwon15

seats in the Telangana elections, 12 of itsMLAs joined the ruling TRS. The Speakerrecognised the defection as amerger sincemore than two-thirdshadmoved.

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to [email protected] EXPLAINED


DAXreadingsat thestockexchange inFrankfurt.Reuters

WhyGehlot—or Pilot or BJP— is notasking for a floor test in Rajasthan...

Inhis requests foraHousesession,CMhasn’tmentionedtrustvote. PTI

... And how BSP is banking on SCrulings to hold back formerMLAs

CONGRESSBREAK-UP

88 (including 6 ex-BSP)

GEHLOTCAMP

19 PILOTCAMP

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

INDIAN-ORIGIN AUTHOR BASED IN DUBAI

AVNIDOSHI ON 2020BOOKERLONGLISTDubai-based Indian-origin author Avni Doshi is among the 13 authors longlisted for the2020 Booker Prize for her debut novel Burnt Sugar (released as Girl in White Cotton inIndia), alongside double Booker winner Hilary Mantel for The Mirror and The Light.

ISRAEL

NetanyahusonapologisesaftertweetfacesflakfromIndiansISRAELI PRIMEMinisterBenjamin Netanyahu’seldest sonYair has apolo-gised to Hindus after hefaced flak from someIndianswho foundoneofhis tweets tobe “quite of-fensive”. On Sunday, the29-year-old Yair, who isveryactiveonsocialmediaand often defends his fa-ther’s policies, posted apicture of theHindugod-dessDurga,with the faceof Liat BenAri, theprose-cutorinhisfather’scorrup-tion cases, superimposedoverthegoddess’face.“I’vetweeted ameme from asatirical page, criticisingpolitical figures in Israel. Ididn’t realise thememealso portrayed an imageconnected to themajesticHindufaith.AssoonasIre-aliseditfromcommentsofour Indian friends, I haveremovedthetweet.Iapol-ogise,”Yairsaid.PTI

YairNetanyahu

TOPOFTHEWORLD

IRAN

JailedBritishacademicmovedtoremoteprisonABRITISH-AUSTRALIANacademic serving a 10-year sentence in Iran forespionage has beenmovedtoaremoteprisonsouthofTehranthatissaidto be riddledwith coron-avirus cases, according tohuman rights activists,raisingconcernsaboutheralready deterioratinghealth. Kylie Moore-Gilbert,aCambridge-edu-catedprofessor in IslamicstudiesattheUniversityofMelbourne,wasdetainedin 2018 at the Tehran air-port as she tried to leavethecountryafteraconfer-ence.NYT

EGYPT

Egyptianwomenget2yrsinjailforTikTokvideosANEGYPTIAN court sen-tenced several youngwomen to two years inprisonMondayforposting“indecent” dance videosonTikTokinafraughtcasethat critics describe as afurthercrackdownonself-expression in the conser-vativesociety.Thewomenwere also fined 300,000Egyptian pounds (nearly$19,000) each for “violat-ing thevalues andprinci-ples of the Egyptian fam-ily,” inciting debaucheryand promoting humantrafficking, according to astatementfromthepublicprosecutor.AP

LORIHINNANT&SAMMEDNICKHOUNDE(BURKINAFASO),JULY28

THE LEAN season is coming forBurkina Faso’s children. And thistime,thelongwaitfortheharvestis bringing a hungermore fero-ciousthanmosthaveeverknown.Thathunger isalreadystalk-

ingHaboueSolangeBoue,anin-fantwhohaslosthalfherformerbodyweightof 2.5kg in the lastmonth.Withthemarketsclosedbecause of coronavirus restric-tions,her familysoldfewerveg-etables. Hermother is toomal-nourished tonurseher.

“Mychild,”DanssaninLanizouwhispers, choking back tears assheunwraps a blanket to revealherbaby’sprotrudingribs.Thein-fantwhimperssoundlessly.All around the world, the

coronavirus and its restrictionsarepushingalreadyhungrycom-munities over the edge, cuttingoff meager farms frommarketsand isolating villages from foodandmedical aid. Virus-linkedhungerisleadingtothedeathsof10,000more children amonthover the first year of the pan-demic,accordingtoanurgentcalltoactionfromtheUnitedNationssharedwithTheAssociatedPressahead of its publication in theLancetmedical journal.

Further,more than 550,000additional children eachmontharebeingstruckbywhatiscalledwasting, according to theUN—

malnutrition thatmanifests inspindlylimbsanddistendedbel-lies.Overayear,that’sup6.7mil-lion from last year’s total of 47

million.Wastingandstuntingcanpermanently damage childrenphysically andmentally, trans-formingindividualtragediesintoagenerationalcatastrophe.“The food security effects of

the Covid crisis are going to re-flectmanyyearsfromnow,”saidDr. FrancescoBranca, theWorldHealthOrganizationheadofnu-trition.“Thereisgoingtobeaso-cietal effect.”InBurkinaFaso,forexample,

one in five young children ischronicallymalnourished.Foodprices have spiked, and 12mil-lion of the country’s 20millionresidentsdon’tgetenoughtoeat.FromLatinAmerica to South

Asiatosub-SaharanAfrica,more

families than ever are staringdown a futurewithout enoughfood. The analysis publishedMonday found about 128,000moreyoungchildrenwilldieoverthefirst12monthsof thevirus.Manynewpatients in South

America are the children ofmi-grantswhoaremakinglongjour-neysbacktoVenezuelafromPeru,EcuadororColombia,wheretheirfamilies became unable to buyfoodduringthepandemic.Othersarechildrenofmigrantswhoarestillabroadandhavenotbeenabletosendbackmoney.The rise in child deaths

worldwidewouldreverseglobalprogress for the first time indecades.AP

CORONAVIRUS AND RELATED RESTRICTIONS PUSH ALREADY HUNGRY COMMUNITIES OVER THE EDGE

Virus-linked hunger tied to 10,000 child deaths each month

REUTERS&APGENEVA, JULY28

THEWORLDHealthOrganisationonTuesdaywarnedagainstcom-placencyaboutnewcoronavirustransmission in the northernhemispheresummer,sayingthatthis virus did not behave like in-fluenzathattendedtofollowsea-sonaltrends.“Peoplearestillthinkingabout

seasons.Whatweall need togetourheadsaround is this is anewvirusand...thisoneisbehavingdif-ferently,” WHO spokespersonMargaret Harris told a virtualbriefing in Geneva, urging vigi-lance in applyingmeasures toslowtransmissionthatisspread-ingviamassgatherings. Shealsowarnedagainstthinkingintermsof viruswaves, saying: “It’sgoingtobeonebigwave.It’sgoingtogoupanddownabit.Thebestthingis to flatten it and turn it into justsomethinglappingatyourfeet.”Meanwhile, Madrid has

madethewearingof facemasksmandatory in all public areas,and has limited the number ofpeople who can gather in oneplaceto10.Nightlifevenuesmustclosetheirdoorsat1amandcus-tomers will have to give theiridentificationdetails toget in.Vietnamhaslockeddownits

third-largest city for twoweeksafter 15 cases of Covid-19werefoundinahospital.Publictrans-port into and out of the centralcityofDaNangwascancelled.

It is going to be onebigwave:WHOsaysCovid not seasonal

CECILIAKANG,JACKNICAS&DAVIDMCCABEWASHINGTON, JULY28

AFTER LAWMAKERS collectedhundreds of hours of interviewsandobtainedmore than1.3mil-lion documents about Amazon,Apple,FacebookandGoogle,theirchiefexecutiveswilltestifybeforeCongress onWednesday to de-fend their powerful businessesfromthehammerofgovernment.The captains of the New

Gilded Age — Jeff Bezos ofAmazon, Tim Cook of Apple,Mark Zuckerberg of Facebookand Sundar Pichai of Google —will appear together beforeCongressforthefirsttimetojus-tify their business practices.Members of the House judi-ciary’s antitrust subcommitteehaveinvestigatedtheinternetgi-ants formore thanayearonac-

cusations that they stifled rivalsandharmedconsumers.The hearing is the govern-

ment’s most aggressive showagainst tech power since thepursuit to break up Microsofttwodecadesago. It is set tobeabizarre spectacle, with fourmen who run companiesworth a total of around $4.85trillion—andwho include twoof theworld’s richest individu-als—primedtoarguethat theirbusinesses are not really thatpowerful after all.

And it will be a first in an-other way: Zuckerberg, Pichai,Bezos andCookwill all be testi-fyingviavideoconference,ratherthan rising side-by-side for aswearing-inatawitnesstableinWashington. Perhaps appropri-ately, their reckoning will bebroadcastonline.Thehearing,whichcapsa13-

monthinvestigationbytheHousesubcommittee, will be closelywatched for clues that could ad-vanceotherantitrustcasesagainstthecompanies.NYT

Spain,Vietnamimposemorerestrictionsas infectionsrise

Arestaurantwasconverted intoaclinic forsuspectedCovid-19patients inBishkek,Kyrgyzstan.Withthecountry’shealthcaresystemstrugglingwiththepandemic,makeshiftfacilitiesandvolunteershavetriedto fill thegap.AP

Amazon, Apple, FB, Google CEOs toappear before US Congress together

SundarPichaiofGoogle, Jeff BezosofAmazon,TimCookofAppleandMarkZuckerbergof Facebook.Reuters

3 billion animals harmed inAustralian bushfires: WWF

REUTERSSYDNEY, JULY28

NEARLY3billion koalas, kanga-roos andother nativeAustraliananimalswerekilledordisplacedbybushfires in2019and2020, astudybytheWorldWideFundforNature (WWF) said onTuesday,triplethegroup’searlierestimates.Some 143 million mam-

mals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180million birds and 51 million

frogs were impacted by thecountry’s worst bushfires indecades, theWWFsaid.Whenthefireswerestillblaz-

ing, the WWF estimated thenumber of affected animals at1.25 billion. The fires destroyedmorethan37millionacresacrosstheAustraliansoutheast,equaltoabout half the area of the UK.“This ranks as one of theworstwildlifedisasters inmodernhis-tory,” saidWWF-Australia CEODermotO’Gorman.REUTERS

Taliban announce three-daytruce for Eid, starting Friday

ABDULQADIRSEDIQIKABUL, JULY28

AFGHANISTAN’S ISLAMISTTalibanmilitants announcedonTuesday that theywill observe athree-dayceasefirefortheMuslimreligiousholidayof Eid al-Adha,starting Friday, offering somerespitefromweeksofviolence.Disagreementsoveraprisoner

exchange and the violencehavedelayedpeace talks between an

Afghan government-mandatedcommitteeandtheTaliban,asen-visaged in an agreement signedbetween theUSand themilitantgroupinDohainFebruary.“In order for our people to

spend the three days of Eid inconfidence and happiness, allfighters are instructed not tocarryoutanyoperations,”TalibanspokesmanZabihullahMujahidtweeted.However, he said if theTalibancameunder attack, theywouldretaliate.REUTERS

InBurkinaFaso,1in5childrenischronicallymalnourished.AP

FormerMalaysianPMNajibRazakat thecourthouse inKualaLumpur,Malaysia,Tuesday.AP

ROZANNALATIFFKUALALUMPUR,JULY28

MALAYSIA’S FORMER leader,NajibRazak,was foundguiltyofcorruption and sentenced to 12years in jail on Tuesday in thefirst trial over a multi-billion-dollar scandal at state fund1MDBthatstretchedtotheGulfstatesandHollywood.Inacasewidelyseenasa test

of the nation’s resolve to stampout corruption andwhich couldhave big political implications,high court judge MohamadNazlanMohamadGhazali sen-tencedNajibto12yearsandafineof210millionringgit($49million)onachargeofabuseofpower.Najib,67,alsoreceived10years

in jail oneachof threechargesofcriminalbreachoftrustandthree

chargesofmoney laundering forillegallyreceivingnearly$10mil-lionfromSRCInternational,afor-merunitof thestatefund.The judge allowed a request

by Najib’s lawyers to delay thejail sentence and the financialpenalty. Najib had pleaded not

guilty,andhadsaidhewouldap-peal theverdict if convicted.Prosecutorssaymorethan$1

billionof1MalaysiaDevelopmentBerhad (1MDB) fundsmade itswayintoNajib’spersonalaccounts,overwhichhe faces a total of 42criminalcharges.REUTERS

Malaysia’smassive 1MDBscandal

STATE-OWNEDinvest-mentfund1MalaysiaDevelopmentBerhad(1MDB)wassetupin2009,whenNajibRazakwasPM.In2015,suspicionswereraisedwhen1MDBmisseditspaymentstobanks.MalaysianandUSauthoritiessaythat$4.5billionhadbeen

divertedfromthefundintoprivatepockets.Moneyfromthefundwastracedtothepurchaseofamega-yachtandworks

ofartbyPicassoandVanGogh,aswellasintheproductionoftheHollywoodhitWolfofWallStreet. ItisallegedthatNajibhimselfpocketed$1billion.

Malaysia ex-PM Najib given12-year jail term in graft case

Spain slams UK,Germany overtravel advisorySPAIN REACTED angrily onTuesday to recommendationsfromBritain and Germany thattheir citizens avoid its islandsand beaches because of an in-crease incoronaviruscasesdur-ingwhatshouldbetheheightofthe tourism season.With advi-soriespilingupontopofaquar-antineorder fromBritain for re-turning travellers, Spain, whichdepends on summer visits bysun-seeking northernEuropeans, is facing a majorblowtoanyhopesof revivingitseconomy.REUTERS

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU, JULY28

NEPAL PRIME Minister KPSharmaOliappearedtohavelostground Tuesday in a bitter turfwar aftermajoritymembers ofthe rulingparty’s standing com-mittee,angryoverhislast-minutecancellationofyetanothermeet-ing of the panel,met informallytodemandhisresignation.ShouldOli not resign, hewill

be offered a six-pointworkingarrangement,devisedbyaseniormember. It clips hiswings andgivestherulingNepalCommunistParty and rival Pushpa KamalDahal‘Prachanda’agreatersayinthegovernment’sfunctioning.This was the seventh time

since the startof thepower tus-sleinKathmanduthatthestand-ingcommittee,thekeydecision-makingbodyoftheNCP,wasnotallowed to convene. Oli andPrachanda, a formerPM,areco-chairpersonsof theNCP.Ofthecommittee’s44mem-

bers,29met informallyafterOliordered cancellation of themeetingTuesdaymorning.Minutes before the sched-

uled start of themeeting at 11am, Surya Thapa, press adviserto the PrimeMinister, tweetedthatthemeetingstoodcancelledbecausethereweresomeissuesstill to be discussed and settledbetweenthe twochairpersons.Bythen,committeemembers

werealreadyon theirway to thePrimeMinister’sofficialresidencein Baluwatar, the venue for themeeting.“ItwasnotproperonthepartofPrimeMinisterOlitohavecalledoffthemeetingforwhicha

datehadbeen fixedby the com-mittee,” Narayan Kaji Shrestha,spokespersonoftheNCPtoldme-diapersonsaftertheinformalas-semblyof themembers.Olihasbeenmakingeveryef-

forttodeferthemeetingandnotallowit toadoptany formal res-olutionsincemajoritymembershave been seeking his resigna-tion from the posts of partychairpersonandPrimeMinister.It is learnt thatafterOli called

off themeeting, Prachanda andJhalaNathKhanal, also a formerPM, asked him to reconsider.WhenOli remained unmoved,membersgotagitatedandwantedto censure him for “insulting”them. Prachanda and MadhavNepal, another formerPM,askedmemberstocalmdown.BamdevGautam, vice-chair-

manof the party, put forward asettlementformulawhich,amongotherthings,suggestedthatOlibeallowed to remainPMfor the re-maininghalf termof the currentParliamentwhile Prachanda begivensoleexecutivepowersoftheparty organisation though Olicould remain chairperson.Gautamalso suggested that thecabinet should consult thepartyonmajor policy issues, appoint-mentstoconstitutionalbodiesandpromotionofseniorofficials.

CRISIS INNEPALRULINGPARTY

Oli loses ground,rival formula givesparty, Prachandagreater say in govt

OliandPrachandaareco-chairpersonsof theNepalCommunistParty

Trump again pushes HCQ as Covidtreatment, amplifies Fauci criticismASSOCIATEDPRESSWASHINGTON, JULY28

US PRESIDENTDonald Trump’sattempt to project amore seri-ous tone about the coronaviruslasted foraboutaweek.On Tuesday, he resumed

spreadingmisinformationabouthowtofightthevirusandampli-fying criticism of Dr AnthonyFauci, thenation’s top infectiousdiseaseexpert,whosaidhe’dkeephisheaddownanddohisjob.Trump retweeted a series of

tweets advocating for the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloro-quine(HCQ)tobeusedinCovid-19 patients. Numerous studieshaveshownthathydroxychloro-quine isnoteffectiveandtheUSFood and Drug Administrationrecentlywithdrewanorderthatallowedthedrug’suseasaemer-gency treatment.Trump also shared a post

from the Twitter account for apodcasthostedbySteveBannon,a former topWhite House ad-visertoTrump,accusingFauciofmisleading the public over hy-

droxychloroquine.

Twitter halts Trump JrTwitter temporarily halted

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr,from tweeting after he shared avideoofdoctorstellingAmericanstheydonotneed towearmaskstopreventcoronaviruswhilealsopitchinghydroxychloroquineasasure-firewaytotreatcoronavirus.Thevideodirectly refutes advicefrom Trump's own medicalexperts,whohaveurgedpeopletoslowthevirus'spreadbywear-ingmasks.

Barr slams ‘rioters’ in House testimonyERICTUCKER,MARYCLAREJALONICK&MICHAELBALSAMOWASHINGTON, JULY28

USATTORNEYGeneralWilliamBarr defended the aggressivefederal law enforcement re-sponsetocivilunrestinAmerica,sayingonTuesday“violent riot-ersandanarchistshavehijackedlegitimate protests” sparked byGeorge Floyd’s death at thehandsofMinneapolispolice.Barr told members of the

House Judiciary Committee ata much-anticipated electionyear hearing that the violencetaking place in Portland,

Oregon, and other cities isdisconnected from Floyd’skilling, which he called a “hor-rible” event that prompted anecessary national reckoningon the relationship betweenthe Black community and lawenforcement.Barr has defended as neces-

sary the broad use of law en-forcement power to deal withthe situation, but the depart-ment’s internal watchdog hasopened investigations into useof forceandothertacticsbyfed-eral agents in thosecities.AP

PRAVEENMENONWELLINGTON, JULY28

NEWZEALAND has suspendedits extradition treatywithHongKong and made a number ofotherchangesfollowingChina’sdecisiontopassanationalsecu-ritylawfortheterritory,ForeignAffairsMinisterWinston PeterssaidonTuesday.“NewZealand canno longer

trust thatHongKong’s criminaljusticesystemissufficientlyinde-pendent fromChina,”Peters saidinastatement. “If China in futureshowsadherencetothe‘onecoun-try,twosystems’frameworkthenwecouldreconsiderthisdecision.”Beijingimposednewlegisla-

tionontheformerBritishcolonyearlier this month despite theprotestsofHongKongresidents

andWesternnations,settingthefinancialhubonamoreauthor-itarian track.Australia, Canada and

Britain all suspended extradi-tion treaties with Hong Kongearlier thismonth.USPresidentDonald Trumphas ended pref-erentialeconomictreatmentforHongKong.REUTERS

WinstonPeters,NewZealandForeignMinister

New Zealand suspendsextradition treaty withHK over security law

USAttorneyGeneralWilliamBarrat thehearing

New Delhi

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THE DEPARTMENT ofBiotechnology (DBT)hasbeenatthehelmof thegovernment’sef-forts to boost vaccine develop-ment and testing in IndiaduringtheCOVID-19pandemic.Inanin-terview,DBTSecretaryDrRENUSWARUP tells PRABHARAGHA-VANabouthowthisbackgroundworkmay speed up access to asafe,effectiveandindigenousvac-cinehere.Editedexcerpts:

WhendoyouthinkwecanrealisticallyseeavaccineforCOVID-19becomingavailable?Globally, thenon-replicating

viral vector-based vaccine fromOxford-AstraZeneca andone in-activated alum platform fromSinoVac are the leads being inPhaseIII.Fromourcurrentindige-nousportfolio, theplasmidDNAcandidatefromZydussupportedby DBT has become the firstIndianvaccineforCOVIDtoenterAdaptivePhaseI/IIhumanclinicaltrials.WehavestartedworkingonthepreparednessforthephaseIIIclinicaltrialsof theOxfordcandi-date in India and, irrespective ofthecandidate,ouraimremainstostrengthenthemanufacturingca-pacitiessoastohaveequitabledis-tributionof thevaccine toall ourcitizens.WeareontrackandIamhopefulwewillhaveasafeandef-fectivevaccinesoon.

VaccinesusingnewertechnologieslikeDNAandm-RNAhaveseldombeensuccessful.Whatisthe

significanceofexperimentationwiththeseplatformsduringthispandemic?TheDNAvaccineshavebetter

cellular responses, aremore sta-ble and offer ease of large-scalemanufacturing. Similarly, them-RNAcandidatesofferrapid, inex-pensiveandscalablemanufactur-ingbesidesbeingsafeduetotheirnon-integratingplatform. (They)have shown significantmerit inpreclinicalstudiesandmovedfor-ward in a leads-basedmannerdrivingthemintoclinicaltrials.

WhatisIndia’sbiggestchallengeinvaccinedevelopment,testingandsupplyrightnowandhowdoyouplantoovercomethem?There aremany challenges.

But, the capacity building weinvested inover the lastdecade,the far-sightedpolicydecisionswe took in building the infra-structure and the support weoffered to the industry helpedus respond in thewaywehave.

Full interview onwww.indianexpress.com

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER

PHED CIRCLE KARAULIPH NO. - 07464-250327 [email protected]

NOTICE INVITING TENDEROnline tenders are invited on behalf of the Governor of Rajasthan for the following works from contractorsenlisted in suitable Class with the PHED Rajasthan and meeting eligibility criteria, Contractors enlisted withother Departments of Government of Rajasthan and enlisted with CPWD postal, Telecom, Railways, MESstate Govt./Central Govt. Undertaking Organizations equivalent to "AA" class of Rajasthan meeting eligibilitycriteria may apply after giving prescribed Earnest Money. Tender documents can be downloaded from theweb site http:eproc.Rajsthan.gov.in. Details of the tender notification can also be seen onSPPP.rajasthan.gov.in/www.dipronline.org.

Term and Conditions:1- Bidders who to participate in bidding will have to procure digital certificate as per IT Act 2000 to sign their

electronic bids. Tenders are to be procured and to be submitted only in electronic format on websitehttp.//eproc.rajasthan.gov.in

2- Cost of processing fee will be Rs. 500/- for less than 50 lacs & Rs. 1000/- for 50 lacs or more and EarnestMoney as describe in tender, has to be deposited before submission time of tender in the office ofundersign will be acceptable Earnest Money In favour of Executive Engineer, PHED, DivisionKarauli/Hindaun city. Tender cost will be acceptable in favour of Superintending Engineer PHED CircleKarauli

3- Earnest Money Tender Cost will be acceptable separately for each tender NIT.4- If holiday is declared on submission & opening date of tender the scheduled activity will take place on next

working day.5- Tender may be cancelled by undersigned authority without asking any reason.

Sd/-(Ram Niwas Meena)

Superintending EngineerDIPR-5722 PHED Circle Karauli

NIT No. Name of work Estt.Cost

In lacs

TenderFee In

Rupees

EarnestMoney inRupees

2%

Last Date ofdownloadingof T.D. upto

Last date ofBid Submis-sion end &Time upto

Bidopeningdate &

Time upto

CompletionPeriod

17/2020-21 Parallel Rate Contract ofsupply/laying/jointing/ testing& Commissioning of internaldistribution network andproviding Functional HouseWater Connection fromalreadylived/New DistributionPipe Line to property line,including, all material and alllabour under jurisdiction ofPHED Division Karauli,UBN:-PHE2021WSRC03858

250.00 2500/- 500000/-11.08.20

upto6.00 PM

13.08.20upto

2.00 PM

13.08.20At

4.00 PM

RateContract

18/2020-21 Parallel Rate Contract ofsupply/laying/jointing/ testing& Commissioning of internaldistribution network andproviding Functional HouseWater Connection fromalreadylived/New DistributionPipe Line to property line,including, all material and alllabour under jurisdiction ofPHED Division Hindaun,UBN:-PHE2021WSRC03859

250.00 2500/- 500000/-11.08.20 upto

6.00 PM

13.08.20upto

2.00 PM

13.08.20At

4.00 PM

RateContract

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPURNo. NIT/2020-21/6059-67 Date: 27.07.2020

BÊ-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ff Àfa£¹ff 105/20-21d³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ IZ d»fE IZ ³ýi/Sfª¹f ÀfSI fS IZ Ad·f¹ffadÂfI e d½f·ff¦fûÔ õfSf ´faªfeIÈ °f E½fa A³fb·f½fe Àfa½fZQI ûÔ ÀfZ d³f²ffÊdS°f ´fi´fÂf ¸fZÔ BÊ-´fiû¢¹fcS¸fZ³M ´fidIi ¹ff WZ°fb Afg³f»ffB³f d³fd½fQf¹fZÔ Af¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`Ô:

d³fd½fQf ÀfZ Àfa¶fad²f°f Àf¸fÀ°f d½f½fS¯f E½fa ÀfaVfû²f³f ½fZ¶fÀffBÊM http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, http://sppp.rajasthan.nic.in°f±ff http://roads.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS QZJf ªff ÀfI °ff W`Ü B¨LbI Àfa½fZQI ûÔ I û A´f³fZ dOdªfM»f WÀ°ffÃfS IZ ¸ff²¹f¸f ÀfZ ½fZ¶fÀffBÊMhttp://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in ´fS SdªfÀMOÊ I S½ff³ff Af½fV¹fI W`Ü

¸fWXf´fi¶fa²fIY

IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f A³fb¸ffd³f°f SXfdVf (÷Y.)

Construction of Judicial Court Complex Building Nohar Distt.Hanumangarh. UBN No.: RRC2021WLOB00136

581.00 Lac

INTERVIEWWITHSECRETARY,DBT

‘Confident that we willhave a safe and effectiveindigenous vaccine’

RenuSwarup. File

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JULY28

PRIMEMINISTERNarendraModiwillWednesdayjoinstakeholdersfrombanks andnon-banking fi-nancialcompanies(NBFCs)todis-cussanddeliberateonvisionandroadmapforthefuture.“Thetopicsonagendainclude

credit products&efficientmod-elsfordelivery,financialempow-ermentthroughtechnology,pru-dential practices for stability andsustainabilityof financial sector,”thePrimeMinister’sOfficesaidina statement Tuesday. “Bankingsector plays an important role incontributing to India’s economicgrowth through financing infra-structure, agriculture, localman-ufacturing including MSMEs.Financial inclusioncanplayabigrole in financial empowermentthroughtechnology,”itadded.Finance Minister Nirmala

SitharamanandtopgovernmentofficialswillattendWednesday’smeeting. Inanonline interactionMonday,theFMsaidtheCentreiswillingtolisteningtoallissuesbe-ing faced industry and has anopenmindwithregardtofurthermeasures thatmaybeneededto

supporttheeconomy.To a query on whether the

Centrewill provide support tosmall finance banks andNBFCs,theFMsaid shewill reviewtheirsituationduringthemeeting.Even as the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI) has provided addi-tionalliquiditytothefinancialsec-tor,NBFCswithbelowAAAgradeinvestment rating are finding ithardtoraiseresources.Banksareseekingonetimerestructuringofloans and further liquidity infu-sionfromtheRBItosupportthemduringthepresentdownturn.


OVER RS 8,500 crore has beenwithdrawnbyemployeesunderthe COVID-19 advances facilityfrom the Employees’ ProvidentFundsOrganisation (EPFO), tak-ingthetotalwithdrawalsthis fis-cal to Rs 27,000-30,000 crore sofarbynearly80 lakhsubscribers.Thehighnumberofthesewithdr-awalshasmostlybeenfromlow-incomeworkers, mainly thoseearningbelowRs15,000amonth,amember of the EPFO’s CentralBoardofTrustees(CBT)said.“Onanaverage,nearlyRs104

crorehasbeendisburseddailyforthepurpose of COVID-19 claimssincethelaunchoftheadvancefa-cility,”thepersonsaid,addingthattherestofthedisbursalsareaver-agingatthesamerateforthealre-adyexistingprovisionsformedi-calemergencyorunemployment.In thewakeof thepandemic,

theCentrehadinMarchannoun-cedanonlinefacilitytoallowwit-hdrawal not exceeding thebasicwages anddearness allowancesfor threemonthsorup to75percentof theamount standing toamember’screditintheEPFaccou-nt,whicheveris less.TheschemeallowingadvancewithdrawalwasnotifiedonMarch27andtheon-linefacilitylaunchedonMarch29.Theexistingwithdrawalcon-

ditions allowsubscribers to take

non-refundableadvanceorwith-drawmoneybeforeretirementforspecifiedpurposes,suchasamed-icalemergency,highereducation,etc. Also, subscriberswhohavebeen unemployed for over amonthcanwithdrawupto75percentof theirbalance.As per the last officially re-

leaseddatabyEPFOonJune9, inApril-May,36.02lakhclaimsweresettled,disbursingRs11,540croreintotal.Ofthese,15.54lakhclaimsweresettledundertheCOVID-19advance facility, disbursingRs4,580croretothesubscribers.The EPFOhad then said that

over74percentoftotalclaimantsduring lockdownwere earningbelowRs15,000.Thehighincomecategory, withwages above Rs50,000, accounted for 2per centoftheclaimants,whilearound24percentoftheclaimsweremadebymemberswithwagesbetweenRs15,000-50,000.The36.02lakhclaims this April-Maywas a 6.7per cent rise from 33.75 lakhclaimssettledinApril-May2019.Further, Rs 875.52 crorewas

disbursedbyexemptedPFTruststo 79,743 subscribers under thisschemeinApril,ofwhich222pri-vate sector establishments dis-bursedRs338.23crore to54,641employees,76publicsectorestab-lishments disbursed Rs 524.75croreto24,178employeesand23cooperativesectorestablishmentsdisbursed Rs 12.54 crore to 924employees.

BRIEFLYRelaxationinexportnormsNewDelhi:Thegovernmenton Tuesday relaxednormsfortheexportoffaceshields,certain kind of surgicalmasksandmedicalgoggles

ThierryBollorenewJLRCEONew Delhi: Jaguar LandRover (JLR) Tuesday saidThierryBollorehasbeenap-pointedasitsCEO.

Civilaviation:FDIpolicychangeNewDelhi: The Centre hasnotifiedchangesinFDInor-ms on civil aviation,whichwill permit non-residentIndiannationalstoown100percentstakeofAir India.

NSivaramanisIcraMD-CEONew Delhi: Icra TuesdaynamedNSivaramanitsnewMDand groupCEO, over ayear after his predecessorwasforcedtogoonleave.

‘ApplicationsforMEISblocked’NewDelhi:Asper an officememoofDGFT, followingacommunicationbyrevenuedepartment inMay, Com-merceMinistryhasblockedonlinesystemforexporterstoapplyforavailingtaxsopsunderMEISfromJuly23.PTI

NewDelhi:ThedisputesettlementbodyoftheWorldTradeOrganiz-ation (WTO)on July29will con-sider requests of Chinese TaipeiandJapanforsettinguppanelsinacaseagainstcustomsdutiesim-posedonICTproductsbyIndia.InMay 2019, the two nations had

filedacaseagainst Indiaoverdu-tiesoninformationandcommun-icationstechnology(ICT)productsIn another development, the

UnitedStateshasraisedquestionsinacommitteeoftheWTOoncer-tain fishery schemes of India, acommunicationTuesdaysaid.PTI

WTO to weigh pleas for dispute panel

AMIDDEMANDSbybanksforone-timere-structuringofexistingloansandNBFCspitchingforgovernmentfundingevenforlowerratedcom-panies,PrimeMinisterNarendraModiwillattendareviewmeetingwithtopfinancialsectorplayers.

LoanrecastonagendaE●EX

PLAINED

Vision, roadmap for future:PM to meet stakeholdersfrom banks, NBFCs today

INDIA ICTDUTYCASE

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,JULY28

ASMANYassixglobalelectronicsequipmentmanufacturers, in-cludingSamsungElectronicsandTaiwan’s Pegatron, are in finalstages of discussion with theMinistry of Electronics andInformationTechnology (MeitY)to either set upunits or expandtheirpresentones in Indiaundera specialwindowthat expires inthreedays.Thesecompanieshadapproached theMeitY to availbenefitsunder thegovernment’sProduction-LinkedIncentive(PLI)scheme, notified inApril, seniorgovernmentofficialssaid.“The talks are in final stages.

Mostofthesedealswillfornowbein the sub$1-billion (roughlyRs7,500crore) range fornow.Moreapplicationscouldcomeinbefore

July31,”anofficialsaid.Among theotherglobal elec-

tronicmanufacturingcompanies,Singapore-basedFlextronics,nowre-christenedasFlex,hasalsoap-proachedthegovernmenttoavailbenefitsunderthePLIschemebyexpanding its Chennai unit, thesources said. The company cur-rentlyhas10otherunits in India,inadditiontotheoneinChennai.Detailedquestionnairessentto

Samsung, Pegatron, and Flex onthenatureandquantumofinvest-mentdidnotelicitanyresponse.The government had earlier

thisyearinAprilnotifiedthenewPLIscheme,underwhichcompa-nieswhichsetupnewmobileandspecifiedequipmentmanufactur-ingunitsorexpanded theirpres-entunitswouldget incentivesof4-6percentonincrementalsalesfromgoodsmadeinIndia.Thescheme,openforatotalof

fiveyears, aimstogiveout incen-tivesworthRs5,334croreintotalin the first year, to be dividedamong all the successful appli-cants. The total incentive to begiventoeachcompanywillbede-cidedbyanempoweredcommit-tee,whichwill have secretariesfromtheDepartmentofEconomicAffairs, Department ofExpenditure, Department ofRevenue, Department forPromotionofIndustryandInternalTrade, Directorate General ofForeign Trade, apart from theMeitYsecretaryandthechiefexec-

utiveofficeroftheNITIAayog.Apartfromnewentrantslook-

ing to expand their presence inIndia, existingcompaniessuchasLGIndia,whichhasamobileman-ufacturingunitinNoida,islookingtoexpanditsunitandhasappliedunder the scheme, officials said.“YouhaveApple’sFoxconn,whichismaking the latestmodels fromitsChennaiplant. In thebudget-categoryphonesegmentalso,Lava,DixonandKarbonnhaveapplied.Wearereviewingtheirplans,”theofficialquotedabovesaid.Under the PLI scheme, for

companies making mobilephoneswhichsellforRs15,000orabove, the incentive for first yearhasbeenkeptat6percentoftheirincrementalsales,whileforcom-panieswhichareownedbyIndiannationals, thetotal incentiveoverfouryearswouldbecappedatRs200crore.ThePLIschemealsoen-

visagesincentivesformanufactur-ing someelectronic equipmentsuchastransistors,diodes,thyris-tors,resistors,capacitorsandnano-electronic components such asmicroelectromechanicalsystemsamongothers.TheexpenditureonPLIschemeoverthenextfiveyearsisexpectedtobearoundRs41,000crore,accordingtoofficials.Thegovernment’sinitialplans

tomake Indiaahub forhigh-endlargeelectronics equipment andsemiconductor units hit a road-blockaftermostglobalcompaniesopted toassemble in India ratherthansetupmanufacturingunits.TheEconomicSurvey2019-20

noted this and observed Indiashould followtheChinesemodelof becominganassemblinghubfor theworld for ‘networkprod-ucts’suchascomputers,electron-ics, and roadvehicles to raise itsshareintheworldexportmarket.

PRODUCTION-LINKEDINCENTIVESCHEME:SAMSUNGELECTRONICS,PEGATRONLOOKTOEXPAND

Sensex soars558 points on USstimulus hopes,buying support

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JULY28

THESENSEXonTuesdayralliedby558 points to 38,492.95 amidglobalcuesonhopesoffurtherUSstimulus,whichcouldhelpcush-ion the economic impact of thecoronavirusoutbreak.TheNifty50jumped169pointsto11,300.55onsustainedbuyinginterest,buoyedbydecent corporate earnings fortheJunequarter.As per analysts,markets are

keenly awaiting theUS FederalReservepolicymeetingscheduledonWednesdaywhere the Fed isexpected to reaffirm its dovishstance. US Senate Republicanshaveproposeda$1trillioncoron-avirus aidpackage to salvage theeconomy.On the sector front, allthe indices ended in greenwithauto, IT andmetal remaining thetopgainers. Thebroadermarketstooparticipatedintheupmovebutunderperformed thebenchmarkasbothmidcapandsmallcap in-dexendedhigherby0.8per centand0.6percent,respectively.


DESPITEMACROECONCOMICin-dicators such asGST collection,railwayfreighttraffic,peakpowerdemand,electronictollcollection,etcpointing towardsaV-shapedrecoveryintheeconomyposttheun-lockdown,repeatedinterven-tionsby localauthoritieshavere-sultedincorporatesbeing“unabletoplanbeyondahorizonofafewweeks, affecting all operations”.Thishas resulted ina stunted re-coverywithnumbersof thesein-dicatorsbeinglowerthanthepre-COVIDlevels.“In order tonurture thenas-

centsignsof recovery, it is impor-tant tomitigate theuncertaintiesthat are currently prevailing re-garding the restrictions. Corp-oratesareunabletoplanbeyondahorizonof a fewweeks, affectingall operations”, said ChandrajitBanerjee,directorgeneral,CII.Thepatchynature of the recovery isalsoevidentfromthesluggishnessinhiringactivityaftertheliftingoflockdown restrictions. As perNaukriJobSpeakIndex,amonthlyindex forhiringactivitybasedonthe job listings onNaukri.com, amonth-on-month improvementwas seen inhiringactivity, rising33percentinJune(sequentialim-provementoverMay), evenas itremained44percent lowerthanthesameperiodlastyear.Thedecline inhiring activity

washighestforMumbaiandDelhiat56percentand54percent,re-

spectively. Other cities faredslightlybetterwith52percentde-cline in Chennai, 46 per cent inBengaluru, 45 per cent inHyderabad,44percentinKolkataand42percent inPune.Therail-way freight traffic reporteda re-covery inMay and June to 82.6million tonnes and93.6milliontonnes,respectively,from65.4mil-lion tonnes inApril— lower than110.6milliontonnesinJanuary.Contrarily, asperCII, the rural

sectorhaswitnessedfasterrecov-

ery. The tradebodypointedoutthat while a normal monsoon,healthysowingandaslewofgov-ernmentschemeshavesupportedthe rural economy, interventionsbycentralandstategovernmentstoensure that the lockdownsdonotaffectrabiharvestinMarchandAprilandthesowingofkharifcropinJune,hasledtoexpectationsofabumper agricultureproduction.Consequently,NBFCsectorlendinginruralareashasbeenashighas80percentofusuallevels.

FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanonTuesdayattendedtheAsianInfrastructureInvestmentBankmeetingviavideoconferenceinNewDelhi.SheinvitedthemultilateraldevelopmentbanktoparticipateinIndia’s$1.4trillioninfrastructuredevelopmentprogramme.ChinesePresidentXiJinpingalsoaddressedthemeet,wherecurrentpresidentJinLiqunwasre-elected. ANI

Thescheme,openforatotalof5years,aimstogiveout incentivesworth`5,334cr intotalinthefirstyear

5THANNUALMEETINGOFAIIBBOARDOFGOVERNORS

GlobalelectronicgiantsseektorampupIndiaplay

ITC buys SunriseFoods for `2,150 cr

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,JULY28

ITCLTDhasannouncedacquisitionof spicesmanufacturer SunriseFoodsPrivateLtd (SFPL) inanall-cashdealvaluedatRs2,150crore.According to the

company,ithasacquiredsharesofSFPLatan“upfrontconsiderationof Rs 2,150 crore on a cash-free,debt-freebasis”.SFPL is a Kolkata-based firm

engagedinthespicesbusiness.

Month Petroleumconsumption(millionmetric tonne)

Digital retailtransactions(Rs lakhcrore)

Railwayfreight traffic(milliontonnes)

December2019 18.9 13.6 108.9January2020 18.5 14.1 110.6February2020 18.2 15.5 106.5March2020 16.1 13.2 103.1April2020 9.9 6.7 65.4May2020 14.6 9.7 82.6June2020 16.3 11.9 93.6

GSTCOLLECTION(` LAKHCR) 1.03

1.11 1.05

0.98

0.320.62

0.91

Source:CII EconomyDashboard (Data currentasof July19)

... WHILE GROWTH INDICATORS PICK UP PACE

Corporates cite uncertainties as locallockdowns slow pace of recovery

BUTSTILLSHYOFPRE-COVIDLEVELSDec 2019 Jun 2020

EPFOCOVIDADVANCES

`8,500 crore disbursedso far this fiscal; dailyaverage release at `104 cr

New Delhi

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY,JULY29,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

VolLXXXVIIINo.224 Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedatThe IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress,A-8, Sector-7,Noida -201301andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg,NewDelhi-110002.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P)Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector -10,Noida -201301.Phone:0120-6651291.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Delhi):RakeshSinha** **Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct. Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,

withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

17

CROSSWORD4182

ACROSS1 Equipagirl fornavalwarservice (6)

4 Earlyairmanwhobecameunstuck(6)

9 Onecouldmakethepepperpotmine(7)

10 Heplaysa tinypart thatmaybesuperfluous (5)

11 Vaultwithashoutbefore thegymnastics (5)

12 Caterergets involved inadomestic row(7)

13 Helpful interventionprovidesniceplaces towork(4,7)

18 I singaboutone Italiandrink(7)

20 Restrict it after fiftyonethousand(5)

22 Onewasn’t there tomakesuchadefence (5)

23 Greek lettervaries inslope(7)

24 Beam,butallownothing inreturn(6)

25 Lovesonesodearperhaps(6)

Down1 Look forpiano inaschool(6)

2 Wellpreservedparent?(5)

3 Gaveamanthewrongdate(7)

5 Emptyvault (5)6 Desertpeopleengaged infiercecompetition(3,4)

7 Areas forawalkonboard(6)

8 Labourexchanges?(4,7)

14 Whatonethinksof love takingwing?(7)

15 Iwill shortlybecomeaccustomedtobeingmaltreated(3-4)

16 Abadhand(6)17 Notesamistakeandmakesamends (6)

19 Numberone’sdirection issound(5)

21 It’sheldat theback,bygum(5

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Youcanworkwithyourhoroscope,rather thanwaitingaroundwhile fate

makesupyourmindforyou.Theonlywaytocopesuccessfullywithyourcurrenttransits is tobuildasbroadabasisof supportasyoucan.Yoursocial relationshipswill actasasafetynet,preservingyoufromapromisedhard landing.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)I am sure that aloved onehas beenall too ready topursue a cavalier

approach. It has been easy tododgepersonal issues byimmersing yourself inworkor someotherworldlyambition, but perhaps youdonowneed to face upto intimate, deeplyemotional questions.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Pushyourself to thelimit. Thebestestimationof yourprospects indicates

thatyoumustmakeupfor losttime inadditiontocopingwithfreshresponsibilities.Don’t fallbackonoldexcuses toavoidfacingyourdestiny.Havecourage,Gemini.

CANCER(June22- July23)Certaindoorsmaynowhavetobeclosed. I amnottellingyoutoturn

yourbackonopportunity,but Idothinkthatyoushouldbemoreselective in future.Concentrateyourenergyonareaswhichareboundtobringsuccess, andavoid time-wastingoffers.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Youarealmostcertainlyunawareofdeeperplanetarymovementswhich

areevennowaffecting themosthiddenrecessesof yourpsyche.Butdobeassuredthatfor therestof theyear,authority, traditionandstabilityare thekeywords inyourpersonal life.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)There’s no rest forthewicked, as theold saying goes.There’s no rest for

you either, so youmay aswellrecognise that relaxationwill be in short supply. Keepyour nose to the grindstoneandget asmuchdone as youcan. Themore youdonow,themore timeyou’ll have offlater on.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)All youhave to do isbe yourself. Easyadvice, I know. Ialso realise that

thismaybe thehardest thingin theworld to achieve, butthere’s noharm in trying,is there? The generalplanetary picture is veryoptimistic, so set off with asong in your heart.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)There’sbeenagreatdealof talk latelyabout theneedtosave face.This isa

conceptwhichmeansagreatdeal toyou,andpeopleyou livewithhadbetter recognise this.Thebestwaytoplacateyou istomakeyoufeel thatyou’vewon-even if youhaven’t.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)ReassuringrelationshipsconnectMars,Jupiterandother

helpfulplanets. Inplainlanguagethismeans thatpersonal relationshipsdovetailwithoverseas links.Aperfecttimefora long-distance tripperhaps?Youshouldcertainlypayspecialattentiontoallforeignconnections.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Thebenevolentplanet Jupiterbalances theaggressive planet

Mars. The result?Well,for a start, I’d say you’re beingset up for an increase inyour earnings. Luckdoesn’tcome into it. Instead it’s allthanks to your ownhardwork. Give yourself a pat ontheback.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Itwillbearareindividualwhodoesn’t recognisethateverydifficulty

concealsahostof benefits.There is somuchgoing foryouat themoment thatyoumayfinallyhaveyourcake-andeatit!Otherpeoplemaybeenviousofwhat theysee,rightlyorwrongly, asyourgoodfortune.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)There isgood ineveryoneandabrightside toeveryoffer. Inmany

respectsyouwill farebetterthanmostpeople, if onlybecausewhat isawkwardforthemcomesperfectlynaturally toyou.May I remindyouthat this isnotimeformoralback-sliding, sostiffenthatback-bone.

SUDOKU418

4

DifficultyLevel1sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

SOLU

TIONSUDOKU418

3

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.______occurswhenyouaretooyoungtotakeupgolfandtoooldtorushuptothenet.-FranklinPierceAdams(6,3)

SOLUTION:AERIE,COLIC,DOOMED,MUGGERAnswer:Middleageoccurswhenyouaretooyoungtotakeupgolfandtoooldtorushuptothenet.-FranklinPierceAdams

IRAEE EMOODD

CCOIL EGRUGM

SolutionsCrossword4181:Across:1Disdain,5Digit,8Fataldecision,9Rondo,10Extreme,11Fuhrer,12Themes,15Offices,17Upset,19Generalstrike,20Dread,21Redress.Down:1Defer,2Sitonthefence,3Allgone,4Needed,5Drift,6Guidedmissile,7Tenders,11Flogged,13Haunted,14Ostler,16Cured,18Teens.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

@indianexpress.com

AAJJIITTAAGGAARRKKAARRtalkstoDDeevveennddrraaPPaannddeeyyabouthistonatLord’sREADTHESTORYON indianexpress.com

THOSEMONTHS,THOSEMINUTESForced intoanunprecedented lockdown,sport is staringatanunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiventhecountryreasonstorejoice inthepast.

Pacer joins theelite500-wicketclubashe leadsEnglandtoserieswinoverWI

SANDIPGJULY28

EVENINtheir500thwicket,StuartBroadandJamesAnderson, fast-bowlingdouble acts ofthedeadliestnature,seemtoshareasleightofdestiny.Their500thvictimwasthesamebats-man: Kraigg Brathwaite, the West Indiesopener, whose middle-stump Andersonknockedoverthreeyearsago,andwhosehalf-forwardpadBroadstruckplumbinfrontofthestumpsonTuesday.Broad ended the day on 501, which

wrappedupthematchandWisdenTrophyforEngland.Betweenhis twowicketsof theday,ChrisWoakescollectedfiveforhimself asthetourists surrenderedwithoutawhiff of fight,resistingEnglandbowlers’onslaughtforbarely31overs.Whentheir inningsendedat129, itseemed their ordealwas finallyover, and the269-runvictorymarginwasanaptreflectionof the superiority EnglandhadenjoyedoverWestIndiesintheManchesterlegoftheseries.Broad’s500th,onlythefourthfastbowler

in this list, had a very familiar feel to it, themethodofdismissalbearingallhishallmarks.Aquick,lowstraightballthatscurriedontohisBrathwaite’spads.Thebuild-up, though,haslazinessaboutit,asBroadwasstrugglingwithhis lengths, often pitching fuller than usualanditseemedhehadtowaitbeyondhis firstspell. Given the rush that accompanies hiswickets, the21-ballwaitseemedaneternity.ButBroadhastheknackofstrikingwhenhe’sleast expected to. As Brathwaite retreated tothe pavilion, Broadheld the ball andwaved.Just the England balcony and empty standsgreeted himback. But hewas at least fortu-nate thathis father, Chris, thematch referee,wasinattendance.Itcouldnothavebeenmoredifferentfrom

hisfirstwicket,taken13yearsagowithashortball that tookChamindaVaas’swrist-bandtoIanBell at slips inColombo. If the settingandthedismissallookeddissimilar,theteamshavechanged out of all recognition. No onewhoplayedoneither side in thatmatch still playTestcrickettoday.EvenBroadhaschangedal-most beyond recognition. Fromabang-it-inenforcer,hehasmaturedintoaknow-it-allvet-eran, a bowler of thehighest echelons, fit torankwithanywhohasplayedforEngland.

Broadhimself admitsof change.Butagehasitscompensations.Hehasanexpertun-derstandingof his gameand thebatsmen’smind,whichheblendswithascholarlyeyefor unseen details that determine a cricketmatch.At35,heisplayingaswellasever,sorelentless in his aggression and so clear inhis intentions thathe seems togetyoungerwithevery spell.Significantly,hehasretainedtheolddrive

totakewickets,aswellastheenergyandstam-ina,areasonhefelthurtafterbeingleftoutforthe first Test.Whatever the rationale behindthatwas.Hewasthenon484wickets,thesightofthe500thdistantanddreamy,likeEnglandreclaiming the trophy. Buthis journey to the501stcouldbewellthecompellingstoryoftheseriestoo.HowBroadbouncedbackfromthesnubandhowEnglandralliedtoovercomethesetback in Southampton. Both scripts inter-twineandoverlap.Bothareincompletewith-outeachothertoo.InthelustreofBroad’smilestone,thesheen

ofWoakes’seffortshouldnotbelost.Woakesis anunderstatedbowler.Maybe, it’s his lackoffrighteningpaceorartistryofswing.Buthereinforced that he’s as smart an exponent ofseambowlingasany intheworldaround.Allhiswickets, fashionedbyimpeccable lengthsandsubtletyofseam-movement,cameeithersideofthelunchinterval.HewinkledoutShai

HopeandShamrahBrooksbeforetheinterval,the latter inside-edged to the keeperwhileHopeperishedtoanungainlyheave.Hisbizarrestrokesymbolisedthemuddled

approach ofWest Indies, whose responsemechanismtothissituationwasdevoidoflogicandresolve.Withspellsofrainofteninterrupt-ingthematch—thematchwasstoppedthricein theday—andmorepredicted in theday, itwasamatterofhangingaroundandtakingthematch as deep as possible. But they self-de-structedtotheirend.Uponresumption,Woakespickedupthree

morewickets, all leg-before todeliveries thatfractionallyseamedin. Inbetween,hisunfor-tunatecolleagueDomBess,whobowlednotasingledelivery in thematch, affected the runoutofRostonChasetoleavethetouristsinut-ter shambles. The signs of resurgence theyshowedinSouthamptonseemedamirage inhindsight.Atthesametime,thegraphofBroadkeepssurging.So what next for Broad?Matching his

friendAnderson?GoingpastGlennMcGrath?Enteringthe600club?Somuchfor thespec-ulation.Whatweknowisthatwehavesomemore years to admire amasterful seamer atwork,providedhisbodydoesnotrebel.BRIEF SCORES: England 369 & 226/2declbt West Indies 197 & 129 (Woakes 5/50,Broad4/36)by269runs

Long-runningBroadwayhit

StuartBroadcelebratesafterscalpinghis500thvictiminTestcricket.Reuters

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH, JULY28

GURMEJSINGHrecallslookingthroughatel-escopeatDeraBabaNanaktoofferobeisanceto the historic Kartarpur Sahib GurudwarainPakistan,sincethe57-year-olddidn’thaveapassport tocrosstheborder.Theproudfa-therwillneedthedocumentsoonasthetel-escoperefocusesonashootingstarrisingonthehorizon-his19-year-oldsonPrincepal.SignedbyNBA’sdevelopmentalteamfor

a select squad announced on Tuesday, thestepuptakesthe6’10”hoopsterclosertohisdream of playing in the world’s snazziestleague.“Todayisabigdayinmyson’scareerandoncetheKartarpurCorridoropens,Iwillget my passport made and go to pray atKartarpurSahib,” says theelated father.Sixyearsback,thePunjabyoungsterfrom

villageQadianGujjran- fivekmoff the Indo-Pak border nearDera BabaNanak -was ob-sessedwithvolleyball -asportheplayedvo-raciously inthefields.However,avisitbythesitting MLA from Batala, Lakhbir SinghLodhinangal,toaschoolcompetitionsawthethen 6’4” youngster scouted out for theLudhianaBasketball Academy, Punjab’s pro-lific nursery. “Back then, I only knew aboutvolleyball andmywhole timewasspent insetting up the volleyball net. WhenLodhinangal sir’s son Kunwar MandeepSinghtoldmeaboutbasketball, Iwas fasci-nated by the game. Controlling the ball allover the court looked enjoyable to me,”Princepal says.He looked up to senior Palpreet Singh.

“Palpreet paajiwas the first Indian to bepicked for the developmental league and itfeelsgreat to followinhis footsteps.”While Gurmej works as an Upper

Division Clerk with the Punjab StateElectricity Board, Princepal, his youngest,wouldmove to Ludhiana in 2014 to train atthe facility that has groomedSatnamSinghBhamra, Palpreet and Amjyot Singh. CoachJaipalSingh,assistanttolegendarycoach,thelate Subramanian at LBA, and PunjabBasketball Association secretary Teja SinghDhaliwalwould spend hours thinking howtohandle thisexceptional talent.Princepal was 6’4” at 14, and needed

work on fitness to strengthen his core and

add agility to his tall frame. A quick learner,his ball-carrying skills were immaculate.Twoyears later, Princepal earneda$75,000scholarshipwith SPIRE Institute in Geneva,Ohio, USA, but saw his visa rejected. ButJaipal ensuredhedidn’t staydejected.“It was a huge opportunity. But like any

village kid, his English was poor and hecouldn’t explain the purpose of his US visittothevisaofficer.Buthedidn’tallowittoaf-fecthis confidence,” said Jaipal.PickedbyNBA’sIndiaAcademy,Princepal

would soon head to the league’s GlobalAcademyinCanberra,Australia.Thestintim-proved his dribbling and he became versa-tileplayingasaforwarddespitehisimmenseframe.In2018,Princepalwouldalsoplayforthe Indian U-18 team in the FIBA U-16Championships where he averaged 22.17points and13rebounds. Thesameyear sawhimcaptaining Indiaat theFIBAU-18AsianChampionships where he averaged 15.5pointsand9.8rebounds.In2018,theyoung-sterwasalsooneof25NBAGlobalAcademyprospectswho took part in awinter show-caseinLasVegas,attendedbytopscoutsandexecutives. Leading Punjab to theU-19 titlelast year, Princepal debuted for the seniorIndian team at the 2021 FIBA Asia CupQualifiersearlier thisyear.“Being in the same teamwith players

from different countries and coaches inAustraliahelpedmeunderstandthetechni-calities of the sport more. I would play as

point guard or a forward and understoodhow to be a good defender too.While wewould try tomatch each other in terms ofstrength, wewould also try to outdo eachother in terms of rebounds and dribbling,”remembersPrincepal.BasedinLasVegas,theleagueselectteam

spot is offered to elite playerswho becomeeligible for anNBAdraft the following year.Princepal will be among other draftprospects such as Jalen Green, MVP of theFIBA U-17World Cup in 2018, Isaiah Todd,Jonathan Kuminga, Daishen Nix and KaiSotto and the teamwill be coached by five-timeNBAchampionBrianShaw.“I haveheardabout JalenGreenand7’2”

SottoandIwillberubbingshoulderswithplay-erstallerthanme,whichisrareinIndia. IhavealsobeenwatchingvideosofLALakers’AnthonyDavis and Iunderstand thatUSAwill bea lottougherintermsofcompetition,”hesays.President of the developmental league

Shareef Abdur-Rahim said, “We are thrilledtobeable tooffer Princepal theopportunitytobeginhisprofessional basketball journey.We’ve long hoped that our developmentpathway for elitehigh school playerswouldinclude roster spots for emerging interna-tionaltalent,includingplayerswhohavepar-ticipated in theNBAAcademyprogramme,andwe’reexcitedtohavePrincepalforgethisnewpathanddevelophisskillsinourleague.”Princepal’smotherHardeepKaur,herself

a regal 5’10”, has already started preparinghome-madepinnisforhersontotaketotheStates.“HelikestoeatpinnisandIwillmakesure there’snoshortagewhilehe is inUSA,”sharedthemother.Whentheiryoungestwasborn,thepriesthadpickedout‘P’ foranamefrom the Guru Granth Sahib. “He is like aRajkumartoussowenamedhimPrincepal,”themother recalls. He’s now the prince-in-waitingas IndiaawaitshisNBAcoronation.

Punjab’s Princepal is fourth Indianpicked for NBA developmental league

PrincepalSinghhastakenastepclosertowardshisdreamofplayingintheNBA.

Princepalwas6’4”at14,andneededworkonfitness tostrengthenhiscoreandaddagility tohis tall frame.Aquicklearner,hisball-carryingskillswere immaculate

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