JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 2020, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 10 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

SANDIPGNEWDELHI, JUNE19

FOR THE first time in his fouryears as in-charge of the iconicEden Park in Auckland, NickSautner says he witnessed anear-stampedeat the turnstileslast Sunday. A 15-year recordcrowd of 43,000 poured in forthe Super Rugby encounter be-

tweentheBluesandHurricanes,thoughSautnersays theatmos-pherewassoelectricthathefeltitwas twice thatnumber.“Has to be one of the best

nights at this famousground...One of the most his-toric, too,”hesays.Though competitive sport

hasresumedindifferentpartsofthe world without spectatorsandwithstringent regulations-- the English, German andSpanish football leagues, for in-stance--itwasbacktopre-Coviddays in Auckland, and Dunedin

thedaybefore.Itlookslikethisweekendwill

be no different, either, as NewZealandcelebratesitsCovid-freestatuswithout a single case forclose to three weeks and therugbymoves to Hamilton andWellington.“It’s the effort of 5 million

peoplewhomanaged to defeatthe pandemic. It’s time to cele-brate,” saysSautner.Celebratetheydidlastweek-

end -- tickets were discounted,free public transport was

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

Around43,000people turnedout foraSuperRugbyencounteratEdenPark inAucklandlastSunday.Express

New Zealand celebrates its coronavirus-free dayswith a record rugby crowd: ‘It’s life-affirming’

SOURAVROYBARMAN&SHIVAMPATELNEWDELHI, JUNE19

DELHI LT Governor Anil BaijalFriday issued an ordermakingfivedaysof institutionalquaran-tine“mandatory” for “eachcaseunderhomequarantine”,whilestriking down a Delhi govern-ment contract with a privatehome healthcare company forremotemonitoring of patientsunderhome isolation.Till late night, there was no

clarity from Baijal’s office onwhether only new individualstesting positivewill be coveredunder the order or existing pa-tients under home isolation aswell. Besides, the order said, in-steadof remotemonitoring,pa-tients under home isolationshouldbemonitoredphysically.Theshift inpolicy,clearedby

Baijalinhiscapacityasthechair-man of the Delhi DisasterManagementAuthority,wasat-tributed to “lapses” inmonitor-ing of patients under home iso-lation which, the Union HomeMinistry observed, “may be areason for increase” in cases in

theCapital, assuming a “threat-eningproportion”.TheDelhigovernmenttermed

theorder as “arbitrary”, and saiditwill “seriouslyharm”people. Itsaid the newpolicywould dis-courage people from gettingtestedandfurtherstrainthecity’salreadyoverstretchedmedicalin-frastructureandhealthworkers.“After this order, wewould

immediatelyneedthousandsofCONTINUEDONPAGE2

WITHNUMBERSsurg-ingandhealthcare facili-ties fallingshort,Delhihasbeenurginghomeisolation formildorasymptomatic cases tomanageresources. Thenewpolicybrings thatunderacloud.

Will furtherstrainfacilities

All Covid cases to nowbe put in institutionalquarantine in Delhi

LOCKDOWNDAY

87

CONCERNDELHI:More

than 15,000 casesin last week,one-third of itsentire caseload

CAUTIONHARYANA:

Growth rate hascome down, butstill fastest amongTop 10 states

A GLIMMERBIHAR: 1,000cases in the lastone week. Growthrate slows to below

3 per cent

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Delhi■TamilNadu■Bihar■WestBengal

TOTALCASES1,20,50425,66049,97952,3347,04012,735

DOUBLINGRATE**

23.6133.0513.4416.3629.8418.64

SURGEIN24HRS3,7525122,8772,141100435

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

3.05%2.18%5.36%4.40%2.41%3.86%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:3,80,532

RECOVERED:2,04,710 |DEATHS: 12,573TESTS:64,26,627 |DOUBLINGRATE:20.13**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

ALL-PARTYMEETINGONLADAKHSITUATION

Noonehas entered Indian territory or capturedanymilitary post, PMModi tells all partiesWhytheconflictthen,askCPMandAAP;govtsaysarmedforcesgivenall thefreedom,takingnecessarysteps

MANOJCG&HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI, JUNE19

TWODAYSafterExternalAffairsMinister S Jaishankar told hisChinese counterpart thatChinese troops had sought toerect a structure in Galwan val-leyontheIndiansideof theLAC,PrimeMinister NarendraModisaid on Friday that neither hasanyoneintrudedintotheIndianterritory nor has anyone cap-turedanymilitaryposts.“Nawahankoihamariseema

mein ghus aaya hai, na hi koighusa hua hai, na hi hamari koi

post kisi doosre ke kabzemainhai. Ladakhmein hamaare 20jaanbaazshaheedhue, lekin jin-honeBharatmataki taraf aankhuthakar dekha tha unhe wosabak sikhakar gaye,” the PrimeMinistertoldtoppoliticalleadersinhis concludingaddressafteranearlythree-hour-longall-partymeetingthatdiscussedthesitu-ationonthe India-Chinaborder.According to anMEA state-

ment issued on June 17 afterJaishankar spokewith ChineseForeignMinisterWang Yi, theExternalAffairsMinisterhad“re-calledthatatthemeetingofsen-iorMilitary Commanders held

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SUSHANTSINGH&MANAMANSINGHCHHINANEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,JUNE19

TEN INDIAN Army personnel,who ended up in Chinese cus-tody after losing theirwaybackto base following the violentclashes inGalwanValley on thenight of June 15-16, returnedsafelyThursdayevening.A military officer told The

Indian Express that the soldiersweremissing after clashes be-tween the two sides nearPatrolling Point 14. Throughout

much of Tuesday, they tried tofind their way back to the base,theofficer said.Talks at the Major General

level between the two sideswere held in a very tense envi-ronmentwhere both sides dis-cussed the incident.Itwasfinallyascertainedlate

Tuesdaythat10soldiers, includ-ing fourofficers,werestillmiss-ing. This was raised during thetalks Wednesday and theChinese accepted that the sol-dierswere in their custody.On the same day, External

Affairs Minister S JaishankarCONTINUEDONPAGE2

HavildarGaneshHansda’s familybeinghandedoveraTricolourathis last rites inBaharagora in JharkhandonFriday.PTI

10 soldiers lost way,returned by China aftermatter raised in talks

As China claims Galwan,world regrets India deathsSHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE19

CHINAONFridaysaidtheGalwanvalleywas“locatedontheChinesesideoftheLineofActualControl”,makinganunprecedentedformalclaimonanarea that has alwaysbeenunderIndia’scontrol.This claim, made by the

Chinese Foreign Ministry inBeijing on Friday, had earlier

been made only by thespokesperson of theWesterntheatrecommandofthePeople'sLiberationArmy(PLA).TheChinesestatementcame

onadayseveral foreigngovern-ments — the United States, theUnited Kingdom, France,Germany, Japan, and theMaldives—expressedtheircon-dolences on the killing of 20Indiansoldiers.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Sonia asks questions,her Opp colleaguesunderline solidarityWithgovt, saysMamata;Pawar formeasures toevacuateChinese forces

MANOJCGNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THEALL-PARTYmeeting Fridayto discuss the border face-offwith China saw a combativeCongress president SoniaGandhiraiseseveraltoughques-tions and accuse the govern-ment of having lost “valuabletime” and failing to use all “av-enues” todefuse thecrisis.But she stood virtually iso-

lated asmost other Opposition

leaders--fromMaharashtraCMand Shiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray toWest Bengal CMand Trinamool chief MamataBanerjeeandDMK'sMKStalin-- sought to express solidaritywith thegovernment indealingwiththecrisis.TheLeftwasalsorelativelymuted in its criticism.Gandhi, while extending

support to the defence forces,saidthenationwouldhavestoodtogether “like a rock” and sup-ported thegovernment in steps

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Atthevideo-conferencebetweenPrimeMinisterNarendraModi, leadersofotherpartiesonFriday.ANI

THEEDITORIALPAGE

APERFECTSTORMBYVIKRAMPATELPAGE6

Nepal ruling party split on meetwith China, leaders cite India rowYUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,JUNE19

ADAY after its government en-sured the enactment of a Bill toincorporatethreeterritorieswithIndia in the newmap and em-blem of the country, the rulingNepalCommunistPartywasadi-videdhouseFridaywithtoplead-ers questioningmoves to alignwith the Communist Party ofChina at a timewhen tieswithIndiaareunderstrain,andIndianandChinesetroopshaveclashedinLadakh.

Former Prime MinistersMadhavKumarNepal—healsoheads the party’s internationaldivision—andJhalanathKhanalstayed away from a four-hourvideoconference attended byseniormembers of the interna-tionaldivisionoftheCommunistParty of China, CPC TibetAutonomous Region andNepalCommunist Party’s school divi-sion headed by Deputy PrimeMinister IshwarPokharel.While NCP co-chairman

PushpaKamalDahal ‘Prachanda’andsome30centralleadersweretoldtobepresentat thepartyof-

fice inKathmandu, 70delegatesfromtheprovinceswereseatedatdesignatedplacesintheCapital.Oneof thedelegates said the

discussionwasoverissuesrelatedtogovernanceandcorruption.BishnuRizal, deputyheadof

the NCP international division,said: “We had no informationthat such a conferencewas tak-ingplace insuchahurry.”Another senior leader of the

partysaid“it ishighlyobjection-able that the party is co-hostingChinese counterparts at a timeNepal-Indiarelationsareatalow

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Pollingofficers,CongMLAKunalChoudhary,whohasCovid-19, inPPEkits forRajyaSabhaelections, inBhopal, Friday.Thevoting inmoststateswasonexpected lines. PTI P3

CBSE may clear Class 12students without examRITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE CENTRAL Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)may allow Class 12 students tograduate early under a specialmarkingscheme,butofferthemtheoption to take theBoardex-ams at a later date to improvetheirperformance.Inotherwords,CBSEmaynot

holdtheBoardexamsinJulyand,

instead, come upwith an alter-nate method of evaluation.Students who are dissatisfiedwiththeirresultscanoptforthepen-and-paperexamtobecon-ductedby theBoard later in theyear.According to government

sources, given the current loadof Covid-positive cases in thecountry, itmaynotbefeasibletoconduct the CBSE exams fromJuly 1 to July 15. However, any

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Jaipur

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

Nepalovertheborderdisputeandcon-stitutional amendment.Moreover,IndiaandChinaarego-ingthroughheightenedtensionsand therehavebeen clashesbe-tweenthetwoarmies.”“GoingtothelapofChinajust

becausewehaveaproblemwiththeGovernment of India at themoment isneitherwise,norourparty’spolicy,”theleadersaid.It is leant that formerDeputy

PrimeMinister andMinister ofForeign Affairs Narayan KajiShresthahasalsoquestionedthetiming of the videoconference,theintentandsecrecyaroundit.“Just becausewehave some

differencesat themomentwithIndiaovertheborderissue,suchavideoconferencewithChinaonissues like governance and cor-ruption shows bankruptcy ofmind and insensitivity on thepart of the organisers,” a seniorleadersaid.Soonafter ChinesePresident

Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal lastOctober,theCPCandNCPagreedtosetupinstitutionalrelationsatthe party level to educate andtrainmembers on issueswithintheframeworkof ‘Xi’svision’.

Delhibeds in quarantine centres.Wehavebeencompletelysupportiveof theCentralgovernmentinourcollectivefightagainstcorona,butthis arbitrary decisionwill seri-ouslyharmDelhi.Theyshouldre-consider,” a Delhi governmentspokespersonsaid.Baijal also struck down the

contract that theDelhi govern-ment had signed with aBangalore-based private homehealthcare firm, PorteaMedical,to remotelymonitor the healthstatus of every patient underhomeisolation.The order by the LG said,

“Mandatoryphysicalverificationofeachcaseunderhomeisolationistobecarriedoutbythesurveil-lance teams of the DistrictSurveillanceOfficersunderover-all supervision of the DistrictMagistrate.Fivedaysinstitutionalquarantine of each case underhomequarantine is to bemademandatory and thereafter theywillbesentforhomeisolationex-ceptincaseswheresymptomsre-quirefurtherhospitalisation.”As on June 19, there were

10,490 cases under home isola-tion in Delhi. Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal has repeatedlyadvocatedhomequarantine forthosewithmildornosymptoms.So far, Delhi has four cate-

goriesofpatientmanagement—hospitals, Covid health centres,Covidcarecentresandhomeiso-lation. The care centres are forthose clinically assigned as pa-tientswithverymild/mildsymp-toms; health centres for thosewithmoderate symptoms andhospitals for thosewith severesymptoms. There are currently5,974patientsatcarecentres,344at health centres and 10,961 inhospitals.There are 4,831vacan-cies in care centres and 205 athealthcentres.“In addition to the 80,000

beds being planned for seriouspatients in July,wewill have toadd thousands of quarantineroomsnow. ICMRguidelinesarestillapplicabletotherestofIndia,thenwhyare theredifferentpa-rameters for Delhi? There is al-ready a serious shortage of doc-tors and nurses to treat seriouspatients,wherewouldmedicalmanpower come for taking careofthesequarantinecentres?”theDelhigovernmentspokespersonadded.Earlier on Friday, the Centre

wrote to theDelhi governmentsayinghomeisolationforpatientswith Covid-19, especially indenselypopulatedareas,mayre-sult in the spread of the virusamong family members andneighbours.Inaletter,JointSecretaryinthe

Union Ministry of Health andFamilyAffairsLavAggarwaldrew

the state’s attention to theCentre’s guidelines for patientsunder home isolation andstressed theneed to implementthemstrictly,whileobservingthatthenormswerebeing flouted in“certainstates”.Baijalsaidinhisorderthatthe

matterhadcomeupinthecourseof reviewmeetings at theHomeMinistry. “Itwas observed thathome isolationwithoutphysicalcontact tomonitor the patientsmay be a reason for increase inspreadof Covid-19 infections inDelhi,”hissaid.AamAadmiPartyKalkajiMLA

Atishi,whoisamongthoseunderhomeisolationaftertestingposi-tiveforcoronavirus,saidthenewnormswouldbepsychologicallydetrimental. “Being in the com-fortofyourhomesurroundedbypeople you know, even thoughyoucan’tseethem,ishelpful.Thedirectivewouldscarealotofpeo-pleintonottesting,”shesaid.Shesaidthisstepwasjustified

onlywhenpeopledonothavetherequiredfacilitiestoisolatethem-selvesathome.Delhi government advisor

AbhinanditaMathur,whoisalsopositive andunder home isola-tion, said patients get constantmedical support even if theyareat home throughmessaging orphone callswith doctors. “Aftertheinitialscarewithneighbours,the stigmaassociatedwithvirusisremoved,”shesaid.TheCentrealsowrotetoother

states urging themto follow theguidelinesforeffectivehomeiso-lation of patients. “As per theGuidelines, verymild and pre-symptomaticCOVID-19patientscan opt for home isolation pro-vided the patient has a room tohimself/herselfwithtoiletfacilityandhasanadultattendant/care-giver.Also,thepatientshallagreetomonitorhis/herhealthandreg-ularlyinformthehealthstatustotheDistrictSurveillanceOfficerforfurther followupby the surveil-lanceteams,"thecentrewrote.The Centre has also under-

lined that an “important clause”of the revised guidelines is that“the treating doctor is satisfiedaboutthepatientoptingforhomeisolationbasedonmedicalassess-ment andassessment of his/herresidentialaccommodation”.

WITHENSINPUTS

Soniarequired todefendthe territorialintegrity of the country but “weare still in the dark aboutmanycrucial aspects of the crisis”."Onwhich date did Chinese

troops intrude into our territoryinLadakh?Whendidthegovern-ment find out about Chinesetransgressionsintoourterritory?Was it onMay5, as reported, orearlier?Doesthegovernmentnotreceive, on a regular basis, satel-litepicturesof thebordersofourcountry?"sheasked."Didourexternalintelligence

agencies not report anyunusualactivity along the LAC? DidMilitaryIntelligencenotalertthegovernment about the intrusionandthebuild-upofmassiveforcesalong the LAC, whether on theChinese side or on the Indianside?Inthegovernment’sconsid-ered view,was there a failure ofintelligence?”Gandhiasked.EvenaftertheJune6meeting

atthelevelofCorpsCommanders,“efforts shouldhavebeenmadetotalkdirectly,atthepoliticalanddiplomatic levels, to the leader-shipofChina,”shesaid.“Wefailedtouseallavenues,andtheresultisthe loss of 20 lives as well asdozensinjured.”However,most other parties

expressedconfidenceinthewaythe situation was handled,sourcessaid.While Gandhi said the all-

partymove came late,MamataBanerjeesaid themeetingsentagoodmessage, as it showed thecountrywasunitedbehinditssol-diers. She saidherpartywill notsay anything that gave awrongmessage, and called for Chinesefirms tobebarred fromthe tele-

com,railandaviationsectors.“Indiawillwin,Chinawilllose.

Speak with unity. Think withunity.Workwith unity.We aresolidlywith the government,”sources quotedBanerjee as say-ing.NCP leader and former

DefenceMinister Sharad Pawar

favouredintensificationofdiplo-matictalks.HesaidChineseforces“mustbeevacuatedfromoccupy-inghighgroundinGalwanValleyontheIndianside”andaddedthat“if we want PLA toevacuate...compulsorymeasuresarerequired”.Pawar, incidentally, is also

learnttohavesaidthatissuessuchaswhethersoldierscarriedarmswere decided by internationalagreements,andeveryoneshouldrespectsuchsensitivematters.OnThursday,Congress leaderRahulGandhihadtargetedthegovern-ment, askingwhowas responsi-ble for sending “unarmed” sol-

dierstotheborder.Telangana Chief Minister K

ChandrasekharRao,sourcessaid,wascriticaloftheCongressforat-tackingthegovernmentatsuchajuncture. BSP chief Mayawatiasked the government to takestepsontradeandinvestmenttocounter China, adding that this

wasnotthetimeforpolitics.Thackeray said Indiawants

peacebut thatdoesn’tmean thecountryisweak.“Indiaismajboot(strong)notmajboor (helpless),”sources quoted him as saying.And BJD’s PinakiMisra said hisparty standswith the govern-ment fully andunconditionally,andsoughtstrongretaliatoryac-tion.Whilepointingoutthattherearemanyquestionsonlapsesandintelligence failures, CPM’sSitaramYechuryis learnttohaveaskedwhether a committee, onthe lines of one set up after theKargilwar,wouldbeinstitutedto“examine lapses and suggestmeasures to modernise theArmedforces”.CPI’sDRajasaidtherecannot

beanycompromiseonthesover-eignty or the territorial integrityof thecountry.Hesaidthestatusquo of Aprilmust be respectedand restored, and that negotia-tions at a higher levelmust takeplace.

CBSEfurther delaymayputCBSE stu-dents at a disadvantage as far asadmissiontohighereducationin-stitutionsisconcerned.Currently,about19statesand

union territories have finishedconductingtheirBoardexamsforClass 12 students. These includeBihar, Telangana, Chhattisgarh,UttarPradesh,Kerala,Jharkhand,TamilNaduandKarnataka.“Stateswhichhavewrapped

up (their exams)will start theiradmission process (for collegesanduniversities) soon.CBSEstu-dentswill be left behind if theirexamsarepostponedbeyondJuly15,” said a government official.Many universities in Bihar arelikely to start their admissionprocesssoon,theofficialsaid.CBSE is learnt to have dis-

cussed the planwith the HRDMinistry in twomeetings thisweek. The Board is currentlyworkingonthealternateevalua-tionmethodbywhich itwillde-clareresultsforClass12students,including for the paperswhichwill not beheld in July. A formalannouncement isexpectednextweek. The Boardwas forced todecideon the feasibility of hold-ingexamsinJulyafterparentsap-proached the Supreme CourtpleadingfortheBoardtoscraptheexams.CBSEhastimetillTuesdaytorespondtotheplea.Thepending exams forClass

12 include 12 core subjects --Business Studies, Geography,Hindi (Core), Hindi (Elective),Home Science, Sociology,Computer Science (Old),Computer Science (New),Information Practice (Old),Information Practice (New),InformationTechnologyandBio-Technology.The government, sources

added,isunlikelytoscrapthena-tional entrance tests such as JEE(Main),JEE(Advanced)andNEET.“Thesecanbepostponedfurtherbutwillnotbescrapped,” theof-ficialquotedabovesaid.

Soldiers returnraised thematterwith ChinesecounterpartWang Yi during aphonecall.Noreadout, fromei-ther Delhi or Beijing,made anymention of themissing Indiansoldiers.Thematterwasalsoraisedin

BeijingbyIndia’sAmbassadortoChina, Vikram Misri. TheChinesesideagreedtoreturnthesoldierswithoutmakinganyde-mand, the officer said. Thiswasin accordancewith Article VIII(1) of the 1996 Agreement onConfidence-BuildingMeasuresin theMilitary Field Along theLine of Actual Control in theIndia-ChinaBorderAreas.Thesoldierswerereturnedat

PP-14during the third consecu-tivemeeting ofMajor GeneralslateThursdayafternoon.Noneofthe soldiers, theofficer said,wasinjured.Afteramedicalexamina-tion, theywere shifted to Leh. Adetaileddebriefingwilltakeplaceafter they have rested for a few

days,theofficersaid.TheArmyissuedastatement

Thursday evening confirmingthatnosoldierwasmissinginac-tion,whichmeantthatallsoldiersinvolved in theclasheshadbeenaccountedfor.A PTI report from Beijing

Friday quoted Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesmanZhao Lijiantellingreporters:“AsfarasIknow,ChinapresentlyhasnotdetainedanyIndianpersonnel.”AskedifthereareanyChinese

soldiersdetainedbyIndia,hesaid:"ChinaandIndiaareinadialogueto resolve thematter ongroundthroughdiplomatic andmilitarychannels. I don't have any infor-mationforyouatthemoment."Onthenightof June15,inthe

worstflare-upontheLACinmorethanfivedecades,20IndianArmypersonnel, including the com-mandingofficerof16Bihar,werekilled in violent clashes withChinese troops in the GalwanValleywhere disengagement oftroopsoneithersidewasunder-way. Meanwhile, large scalemovement of troops to Ladakhhasbeenorderedfromotherpartsof thecountry inthewakeof theGalwanValleyincident.Whilethebuild-up of forces had alreadytakenplacetoaconsiderableex-tentafterChineseforceshadgath-eredinstrengthalongtheLineofActual Control, theGalwan inci-dent,sourcessaid,hasledtofreshstrategicassessment.

New Zealandarranged,childrenwereadmittedfreeandfansallowedtoenterthefield after the game. The standswere packedmuch before thematchbegan, and fans forgot ri-valriesandshookhandswithany-onetheysaw.“Thematchwas competitive

but it had a friendly vibe. Itwaslike it didn’tmatterwhowonorlost. Some of the playerswererusty,too.Butitjustfeltgoodtobeout there at a rugbygameagain.Wewere all thrilled,watching amatchinthestadiumforthefirsttime,”saysRonaldJones,amem-berof theBlues' fangroup,ashisteamprevailed overHurricanes30-20.“Allaroundthestadium,there

was a celebratorymood, sort oflife-affirming,likesomeoneshak-ingmeawake in themiddle of anightmare.It'sagreatstorytotellyourmates that youwere at thefirst rugby game after NewZealanderswonthefightagainstCovid-19,”hesays.After thematch,muchof the

crowdfloodedintotheturf,click-ingselfiesandsigningautographsfrom the players, and chattingwithsomeof them. “Therewerenobouncers smackingour faceswhenwetriedtojumpthefence.We were picking autographsfromeveryone,”saysJones.But Sautner stresses that all

the standardhygienemeasureswere inplace. “Around50hand-sanitiser stationswere installed.Every fiveminutes, frequentlyused surfaces likedoor handles,lift buttons andhandrailswerecleaned.Fanswereencouragedtopurchaseticketsonlinetopreventdelaysattheboxoffice,andeveninstructed to sneeze on their el-bows,”hesays.Similarly,staffandcontractors

hadtocompleteCovid-screening48hours prior to the game, andagain upon entry to the venue.“Weputeverystepinplacetoen-sure thatwe don’t get anotherwaveof infection,”hesays.New Zealand had been

preparing to resume the leaguewithacappedcrowdof5,000,be-fore the countrymoved to alertlevel 1,meaning restrictions andmassgatheringswerelifted.Butthedaysleadinguptothat

Sunday --when the league re-sumed after 90 days -- werechaotic.“Wehadlessthanaweektoprepare. So itwas likea stormcoming announced, though Iwould say we were not com-pletely unprepared, and weworked our heart out,” saysSautner.

FROMPAGEONE

World condoles death of Indian soldiers

on6th June, anagreementwasreached on de-escalation anddisengagement along the LineofActualControl(LAC)”.“Groundcommanderswere

meetingregularlytoimplementthis consensus throughout thelast week. While there wassomeprogress,theChinesesidesought to erect a structure inGalwanvalleyonoursideoftheLAC.Whilethisbecameasourceofdispute,theChinesesidetookpre-meditatedandplannedac-tionthatwasdirectlyresponsi-blefortheresultingviolenceandcasualties. It reflectedan intenttochangethefactsongroundinviolationof all our agreementsto not change the status quo,”thestatementsaid.A day earlier on June 16,

MEA spokesperson AnuragSrivastava had said that theChinese side had “departedfrom the consensus to respecttheLineofActualControl(LAC)intheGalwanValley”.Indiawas“very clear”, the spokespersonsaid,“thatallitsactivitiesareal-wayswithin the Indian side ofthe LAC”, and “we expect the

same of the Chinese side”.FollowingthePrimeMinister’sremarks that no one had in-truded into Indian territory,CPMgeneralsecretarySitaramYechurysaid:“Thenthereisnoconflict?Why have our bravesoldiers beenmartyred?Whythisall-partymeeting?”AAP leader Sanjay Singh

asked: “Has India dropped itsclaimon theGalwanValley? IfChinahasnotoccupiedourter-ritory then what are we dis-cussingwithChina?”DefenceMinister Rajnath

Singh, on the other hand,tweetedthatthePrimeMinisterhadassuredall political partiesthat Indiawas capable of pro-tecting itsborders,andthat thearmedforceshadbeengiventhefreedomtotakenecessarysteps.The all-partymeeting saw

an aggressive Congress presi-dent SoniaGandhi asking sev-eral questions to theGovernmentonintelligencein-puts regarding the Chinesebuild-upalongtheLAC,andcre-ation of infrastructure for theborderareas.

Most of the other parties,however, expressed solidaritywiththegovernment.ThePMsaid that the entire

countryishurtandoutragedbytheChineseaction.“Iwanttoas-sureyou that our armed forcesare leaving no stoneunturnedtoprotect the county. Be it de-ployment,actionorcounterac-tion,throughland,seaorair,ourforcesaredoingwhateverneedstobedone toprotect thecoun-try,”hesaid.India,Modisaid,hastheca-

pabilitytoensurethat“noonecan even dare look at even aninch of our soil”.While on theone hand, the Army had beengiven the freedom to take allnecessary steps, on the other,India'spositionhadbeencon-veyed very clearly to Chinathroughdiplomaticmeans,hesaid.“India wants peace and

friendship but upholding oursovereignty is foremost to us,”Modi said.He said the govern-ment has given primacy toramping up infrastructure ontheborder areas in the last five

years,andhadfocusedonmeet-ing the requirement of theforces,beitfighterjets,modernhelicopters, ormissile defencesystems.The Army’s capacity to pa-

trol particularly along the LAChas increased because of thenewly created infrastructure,the PM said. “And because ofincreased patrolling... there ismore alertness andwe get toknowtimelythedevelopmentsat LAC and consequently areable tomonitor and respondbetter... Ab tak jinko kuchpoochha nahin tha, koi rokta-tokta nahin tha, ab hamarejawan dagar-dagar par unheroktehain,unhetoktehain,”hesaid.ExternalAffairsMinisterSJaishankargaveapresentationexplaining the chronology ofthe events leading to the vio-lent clash between the Indianand Chinese soldiers in theGalwanvalley.He also briefed the leaders

on the ups and downs in tieswithChina,andtheagreementsandprotocols signedbetweenthetwocountries.

InWashingtonDC, the topUS diplomat on China saidBeijing's actions that led to theclashonthenightof June15-16were “similar to activitywe’veseen in thepaston [other]bor-derdisputes”.Severalrecentstepstakenby

theChinese inplaces includingHong Kong and India “havebeen not really constructive”,the US Assistant Secretary ofState for East Asian andPacificAffairsDavidStilwellsaid.Inastatementissuedlateon

Friday evening, the ChineseForeignMinistryspokespersonZhao Lijian said: “TheGalwanValleyis locatedontheChinesesideoftheLineofActualControlinthewestsectionoftheChina-Indiaboundary.Formanyyears,theChinesebordertroopshavebeenpatrolling andonduty inthisregion.SinceAprilthisyear,the Indian border troops haveunilaterally and continuouslybuiltroads,bridgesandotherfa-cilitiesattheLACintheGalwanValley.”“China”, Zhao said, “has

lodged representations andprotestsonmultipleoccasionsbutIndiahasgoneevenfurtherto cross the LAC and makeprovocations. By the earlymorning of May 6, the Indianborder troops, who havecrossed the LAC by night andtrespassed into China's terri-tory,havebuiltfortificationandbarricades,whichimpededthepatrolofChinesebordertroops.Theydeliberatelymadeprovo-cationsinanattempttounilat-erally change thestatusquoofcontrol andmanagement. TheChinese border troops havebeen forced to take necessarymeasurestorespondtothesit-uation on the ground andstrengthenmanagement andcontrol in theborderareas.”Earlier thisweek, thePLA's

western theatre commandspokesperson Colonel ZhangShiulihadsaidthat“thesover-eignty over theGalwanValleyarea has always belonged toChina”.There was no official re-

sponse from the Ministry of

External Affairs to theChineseForeignMinistry’sstatementonFriday.Earlier,inresponsetothePLAspokesperson's statement,theMEAspokespersonhadsaidthatmaking “exaggerated anduntenable”claimswascontrarytotheunderstandingreachedintalksbetweenthemilitarycom-manders of the two sides onJune6.The Galwan Valley has al-

waysbeenunderIndia’scontrol,and has not figured in China’smapssince1962.Zhao insisted that the re-

sponsibilityfortheborderclashlay “entirely”with the Indianside.“Iwanttoreiteratethatthe

rightsandwrongsoftheseveresituation in theGalwanValleyare very clear and the respon-sibility rests entirelywith theIndian side. The two sides arein communication on easingthe situation through diplo-matic andmilitary channels.China attaches importance toChina-India relations andhopesthatIndiawillworkwithChina to jointlymaintain thelargerpictureof thelong-termdevelopment of bilateral rela-tions,”hesaid.Zhaoclaimedthatfollowing

a “strong demand” from theChinese side, India had agreed“to withdraw the personnelwho crossed the LAC and de-molishthefacilities,andsotheydid”. At the June6meeting, hesaid, “the Indiansidepromisedthattheywouldnotcrossthees-tuaryof theGalwanrivertopa-trolandbuildfacilities”andthatthetwosideswoulddiscussthephasedwithdrawalof troops.But“shockingly”,Zhaosaid,

“on the evening of June 15,India'sfront-linetroops,inviola-tion of the agreement... onceagaincrossedtheLineofActualControl for deliberateprovoca-tion... and even violently at-tackedtheChineseofficersandsoldierswhowentthereforne-gotiation, thus triggering fiercephysical conflicts and causingcasualties.“Theadventurousactsofthe

Indianarmyhaveseriouslyun-

dermined the stability of theborder areas, threatened thelivesof Chinesepersonnel, vio-lated the agreements reachedbetween the two countries ontheborder issue, andbreachedthe basic norms governing in-ternationalrelations.ChinahaslodgedsolemnrepresentationsandstrongproteststotheIndianside.”EarlieronFriday,theForeign

Ministers andAmbassadors ofseveralcountriespostedcondo-lencestoIndiaonTwitterfortheloss of Indian lives. Also onFriday, it became clear thatDefenceMinisterRajnathSinghwouldbetravellingtoRussiatoattend the June24VictoryDaycelebrations.US Secretary of State

Michael R Pompeo tweeted,“Weextendourdeepestcondo-lencestothepeopleof Indiafortheliveslostasaresultofthere-cent confrontationwithChina.Wewillrememberthesoldiers'families, lovedones, and com-munitiesastheygrieve.”Assistant Secretary of State

Stilwell,whilebriefingreporterson Pompeo’s meeting withChinese State Councillor YangJiechi, said: “The actions thatwe’ve seen out of the PRC oflate... havebeennot really con-structiveaswelookatIndia,theSouthChinaSea,HongKongis-sues, and just go around theperimeter.“...We’re obviouslywatch-

ingtheIndia-Chinaborderdis-puteveryclosely,”Stilwellsaid.“It–thisactivityissimilartoac-tivitywe’veseeninthepastonborder disputeswith the PRC,andagain, Iwouldpointyoutothose – I think it was 2015when Xi Jinping travelled toIndiathefirsttime.ThePLAin-vaded this contested areadeeper and longer, withmorepeople,thaneverbeforehistor-ically.Again,whetherthatwasanegotiatingtacticora–justapunch in the nose to demon-strate their superiority, I don’tknow. But then we saw theDoklam issue down nearBhutan,wherewesawsimilarconcerns...Again,wedon’thave

a lot of visibility andwe don’thavealotofopendialoguewithour Chinese counterparts, andhonestly I’d like to seemoreofthatifwecan.”On Twitter, the US

Ambassador to New Delhi,Kenneth Juster, who quote-tweetedPompeo,said,“TheU.S.Mission in India sends ourheartfelt condolences to thefamilies of the soldiers whowerelostatGalwan.Theirbrav-eryandcouragewillnotbefor-gotten.#USIndia”France's Ambassador

EmmanuelLenainandGermanAmbassadorWalter J Lindnerboth posted “heartfelt condo-lences”, and theBritishActingHigh Commissioner JanThompson said “Our thoughtsgoouttothefamiliesandfriendsoftheIndiansoldierslostandin-jured”.Japan’sambassadorSatoshi

Suzuki andMaldives ForeignMinister Abdulla Shahid bothtweeted “deepest condolencestothepeopleofIndia”andtothefamiliesofthesoldierswhohadlosttheir lives.Eachof these countries has

deepand complexbilateral re-lationshipswithChina. The in-ternational community hadbeenquick to express supportforIndiaafterPulwama,sinceitwasaterroristattack.But,incaseof a border clash, countries aremorecareful inpickingaside.Several officials in New

Delhisaidthestatementsfromthe US and other countriescould push Beijing to declarePLA casualties, since the inter-national condolences suggestthat theworld sees India andtheIndianArmyasvictimsofapremeditated and dispropor-tionateattackbytheChinese.Amongallthestatementsis-

sued on Friday, only the onefrom Japan spelt out that theclashes“mayhaveanimpactonregional stability”. DuringDoklamcrisisin2017aswell,thethen Japanese envoyhadbeenthemostvocal—askingthattheparties “donot resort tounilat-eralattemptstochangethesta-tusquobyforce”.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Willvirtual realityhelpsports survivepostpandemic?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

InthelatestepisodeoftheExpressSportspodcast,wetalkabouthowsportsbroadcastersaretryingtore-inventthemselveswiththehelpofvirtualreality

DOWNLOADAPP

HOWARULERGAVE AWAYMOSTOFPAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN FOR500ELEPHANTSISeleucushadfirstsetfoot inIndia in326BCasanewly-appointedcaptainofaninfantryguardinthearmyofAlexanderwhowasfightingagainstKingPorus.However,nearlytwodecadeslaterhewasagainstandingontheshoresofRiver Indusasakinglookingtoprotecthisbordersandexpandhisempire.

FILMREVIEW TECH

‘7500’MOVIEREVIEW:GORDON-LEVITTSHINES

Asapieceofpureentertainment, ‘7500’ issupremelyeffective

WEB

EXCLUSIVE

SCANTHISQRCODETODOWNLOADTHEAPP

BOYCOTTINGCHINESEPHONES

Doyouhaveanoptionif youboycottChinesephones?Well,no.

■VISUAL STORIES

■ DAILY BRIEFING

■ PODCASTS

■ CUSTOMIZABLENEWS EXPERIENCE

IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

No one entered Indian territory: PM

Jaipur

Elite Status and Centre of Excellence- Govt. of MaharashtraNBAAccredited; ‘A’ Grade by MHRD; UNIVERCITY PAR EXCELLENCE

Matunga, Mumbai – 400019, India Tel: 022-3361-1111/2222, Fax: 022-3361-1020Email : admission@ictmumbai.edu.in; Website: www.ictmumbai.edu.in

INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY

Online Applications are Invited for admission to the academicyear 2020-2021 for Masters and Doctoral Programs. Studentsappearing for the qualifying examinations for academic yearending 2020 are also eligible to apply. Details of eligibility,admission schedule are available on www.ictmumbai.edu.in.

REGISTRAR

(University under Section – 3 of UGC Act 1956) (formerly UDCT/UICT, Mumbai)

EXPRESSNETWORK3 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

RAJYASABHAELECTIONS

DeputyChiefMinisterSachinPilotaftercastinghisvote in JaipuronFriday.Rohit JainParas

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR, JUNE19

THE CONGRESSwon two RajyaSabha seats from Rajasthan inthe election held Friday whileBJPtookhomeoneseat,officialssaid.Theresultswereonexpected

lines,with Congress candidatesKCVenugopalandNeerajDangiboth managing a comfortablevictory, while BJP had awinnerinRajendraGehlot.Theonlylos-ing candidate was BJP’s OnkarSinghLakhawat.With their election, the

Congress now has three RajyaSabhaMembers, while the BJPhasseven.With 200 seats in the

RajasthanAssembly, eachRajyaSabha candidate required 51votestobeelected.TheCongresshas a collective strength of 125votes – 107 of its ownMLAs, all13 independentMLAs, 2MLAseachofBhartiyaTribalPartyandCPI(M), and one of RLD.However, in Friday’s election,Social Justice andEmpowerment ministerBhanwarlal Meghwal andDungargarh CPI(M) MLAGirdharilalcouldnotvoteonac-countof theirhealth.Of the 123 votes, Venugopal

garnered 64 first preference

voteswhile Dangiwon 59, saidPramilKumarMathur,ReturningOfficer for the polls andSecretary of RajasthanLegislativeAssembly.TheBJP,meanwhile,received

atotalof75votes–72of itsownand 3 of HanumanBeniwal-ledRashtriya Loktantrik Party.Rajendra Gehlot received 54votes while Lakhawat couldmanage only 20—one BJP votewasrejected.Earlier this month,

Lakhawat’s candidature by theBJPhadsnowballed intoapolit-ical blame game, with theCongressallegingapoachingbidby the BJP, and herded its ownandsupportingMLAstoaresorton the outskirts of Jaipur.Eventually, the BJP also took itsMLAs to ahotel for twodays fora “workshop”.On Friday, Chief Minister

AshokGehlotcongratulatedtheCongress’s legislators and alsothanked “all MLAs from otherparties and independents, whovoted for our candidates andwho remained firm in support-ing us despite several attemptsby the BJP to lure them.We arehappythattogetherweensuredthose forces, which plotted todisrupt the democratic processon basis of money power getsdefeated”.Meanwhile, BJP state presi-

dent Satish Poonia extendedgreetings to Rajendra Gehlot,adding, “I trust you to continuedoing your work for people ofthe state and the organisationwholeheartedly, like you havebeendoingso far.”Rajasthanhas10RajyaSabha

seatsandninewerewiththeBJP;this included three whosetenure ended on April 9 thisyear: Ram Narain Dudi, VijayGoel and Narayan LalPanchariya.Beforetheelections,Congress party’s only RajyaSabhaMP from Rajasthanwasformer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, who waselected unopposed last year af-ter theseat fellvacant followingthedemiseof BJP leaderMadanLal Saini.

SafetymeasuresIn light of the Covid pandemic,therewere added safetymeas-ures for MLAs at the StateAssemblywherethevotingtookplaceonFriday.Outside the entrance to the

mainbuilding,awatertankwithawashbasinandsoapdispenserwas installed for the MLAs to

washtheirhands.Moreover,theAssemblyandelectionstaff hada separate entrance to theAssembly.Legislators,upontheirentry,

were asked to sanitise theirhands andwerehandedgloves,masks and disposable caps tocover their heads. However, in-cluding Chief Minister AshokGehlot, mostMLAs did not usethese things. CM Gehlot, whoentered with his face maskpulled to his chin, sanitised hishands as per the procedure. Hewas handed a cap, gloves and amask, but kept them in hishands. A health worker thentookhistemperature,beforetheCMwalkedawaytocasthisvote.Former Chief Minister

Vasundhara Raje’s temperaturewascheckeduponentranceandas a health personnel sought togive her hand sanitiser, sheshowed that she was alreadywearingglovesbutnevertheless,tooksomesanitiserandwashedhergloves. Shewasthenhandedadisposablecapwhichshehes-itatingly tried to put on, beforeconsultingthosearoundherandfinallydecidingnot towear it.

Rajasthan: Congresswinstwoseats , BJPgets one

Jaipur: CongressMLAWajibAli,who returned fromAustralia onThursday, cast his vote onFridayfor the Rajya Sabha electionswearingaPPEsuitfollowingcom-plaints fromtheBJPthathe invi-olationof Covid-19advisories is-suedbytheCentreandthestate.

TheoppositionBJPfirstraisedan objectionwith the returningofficeroftheelection,accusingAli—whorepresentstheNagarcon-stituency inBharatpurdistrict—of flouting international travelrules bynotundergoingmanda-tory14-day-quarantine.Theparty

then also lodged a police com-plaintagainstAliovertheissue.The objectionwas later dis-

posedoffbythereturningofficerand Ali was allowed to cast hisvoteafterhewastested.“...Weraisedourobjectionbe-

cause Ali had returned from

Australia only yesterday(Thursday)andtoday(Friday)hecame to cast his vote,” said BJPMLA from Chomu, RamlalSharmaonFriday.“Theoppositionraisedthe is-

sue for the sake of a politicalvendetta. ...”saidAli. ENS

Cong MLA casts vote for RS polls wearing PPE suit

Jaipur

EXPRESSNETWORK4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

No.: EE 3/SWM/TEND/01/2020-21 Date: 18.06.2020

‘‘Pay Development Charges, Help to Develop Bengaluru’’Sd/- Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste Management, BBMP

BRUHAT BENGALURU MAHANAGARA PALIKEOffice of the Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste

Management, 2nd Floor, Dasappa Hospital Premises,N.R. Road, Bengaluru-560002

The Executive Engineer-3, Solid Waste Management, invitestenders from eligible bidders for outsourcing manpowerservice - SOLID WASTE INSPECTORS for Solid WasteManagement Activities. The agency shall supply qualifiedmanpower to the BBMP. Two Cover Bid procedure as perRule 28 of KTPP Act shall be followed.

TENDER NOTIFICATION(Through e-Procurement Portal)

Sl.No. Name of the Work No. of

ManpowerEMD

(Rs. in Lakhs)

1

Providing the services ofSolid Waste Inspectorsto Bruhat BengaluruMahanagara Palike.

172

11.50 (Rs. 1.00 Lakhthrough e procurementportal & remaining10.50 Lakh throughBank Guarantee)

Tender Period : 12 Months.Calenderofevents : (1)Tenderdocumentsmaybedownloadedfrom Government of Karnataka e-Procurement websitehttps://eproc.karnataka.gov.in (2) Last date for uploadingqueries on: 06.07.2020 upto 4:00 p.m. (3) Pre-Bid Meeting on08.07.2020 at 4:00 p.m. at office of the Special Commissioner(SWM), BBMP Head Offfice Premises, Room No. 201,2nd Floor,Annexe Building-3, N.R. Square, Bengaluru-560002.(4) Last date for receipt of tenders on: 17.07.2020 upto4:00 p.m. (5) Date of opening of Technical bids are on20.07.2020 by 4:00 p.m. or next working day. (6) Opening offinancial bids will be intimated to technically qualified bidders.Further details may be obtained from the above office duringoffice hours or website https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in

SALUTE THE SOLDIERMartyrs of CISF on 20thJune

CISF proudly remembers thesupreme sacrifice of these brave-hearts. On this day, they laid downtheir lives at the altar of duty whilefighting with the militants. Theircourage and bravery would remainan abiding source of inspiration forthe force. The force will remaineternally indebted to them for theirnoblest deeds.

CT/GD NARENRAJBANSHIOIL DULIAJAN20-06-2003

HC/GD SALAGU MALAIOIL DULIAJAN20-06-2003

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,

JEYPORE (R&B) CIRCLE, JEYPOREINVITATIONS FOR BIDS (IFB)

Bid Identification No. S.E.J.C. (R&B)-06/2020-21No. 2419 Date. 18.06.2020

B-93

1. Name of the work : BUILDING WORKS

2. Total No. of Works : 01 (One) No.

3. Estimated cost : Rs. 490.40 lakhs

4. Period of completion : 11 (Eleven) Months

5. Bid Cost : Rs. 10,000/- (Each)

6. Class of Contractor : “A” & “Special” Class

7. Date & time of availability ofbid document in the portal

: From 10.00 hours of 25.06.2020to 17.00 hours of 08.07.2020

8. Last date / Time for receiptof bids in the Portal

: 17.00 hours of 08.07.2020

9. Opening date of Bid : 10.00 hours of 09.07.202010 Name and address of the

Officer Inviting Bid: Superintending Engineer

Jeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

Further details can be seen from the e-procurement portalhttps://tendersodisha.gov.in. Any addendum/ corrigendum/ cancellation of tendercan also be seen in the said website only.

Superintending EngineerJeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

OIPR-34108/11/0004/2021

J&K: Eight militants killed in two encounters

Rahul Gandhiattacks Centrefor ‘lying’ aboutGalwan incident

MANRAJGREWALSHARMACHANDIGARH, JUNE19

INDIAMUST build up interna-tionalpressureonChina,bothpo-litically and economically,whileworking towards a resolutionoftheGalwan valley standoff, for-merdiplomatshavesaid.Calling this standoff one of

the biggest challenges faced bytheNDAgovernment,KCSingh,aformerdiplomat,saiditcallsfora complete rethink of India’sChina policy. G Parthasarthy, aformer diplomat and strategyexpert, said China’s occupationof theGalwanvalleyhasgeopo-litical consequences andwearein fora longhaul.Singh said China has been

planningthisincursionforawhile,but India seems to have beentaken by surprise. “Last August,ChinaobjectedtoArticle370abro-gationthat ledtothenotificationof Ladakh boundaries inSeptemberandupsetthreeneigh-bours, including Nepal.We ig-nored the firstwarning signs. InSeptember, the PM attended a‘HowdyModi’inHoustonthatsig-nalledour growing tieswith theUS.ThiswasfollowedbyPresidentDonaldTrump’svisittoIndiathisMarch. Then followed the pan-demic and the growing globalchorus against China led byTrump.ShoulditbeasurprisethatPLA,despitepandemicinIndia,in-trudedatmultiplespotsacrosstheLACinLadakh?”saidSingh.Singh said the situation is

worsethanKargil. “UnlikeKargil,wherethePakistanisclaimedtheintruderswerenot theirsoldiers,PLA troops are at Galwanwithheavyweaponry.WhilePakistaniintrudersweretryingtodominate

theLehheights,heretheyaretry-ingtoseekdominanceoverIndia’snewroadtoDaulatBegOldie,be-sidesthecriticalKarakoramPass.”ParthasarthysaidtheChinese

are verynervousof India gettingnear Aksai Chin through infra-structure development. CallingChina’s claimonGalwanValleydisingenuous, he said itwaspartofBritishIndiaandthenIndia.SinghsaidPresidentXiJinping

mayhavemultiplemotives be-hindthismove,includingthede-siretodistract fromdomesticso-cio-economic distress. He saidChinaisalsoupsetwithIndia’sde-siretoacquiretacticalandstrate-gicadvantagebyupgradingitsin-frastructure. “China is wary ofIndia’s emerging allianceswithother nations aswell…” Singhadded.Boththeformerdiplomatsunderscoredtheneedtobuilddo-mesticandinternationalconsen-susontheissue.Parthasarthysaid,“Wehavetoexpressourdispleas-ure to them internationally...Given the arrogance of their be-haviour,itistimeIndiajoinedoth-ers intellingChinaabouttheille-galityofitsbehaviour,beitseizureofterritoryinLadakh,VietnamorinthePhilippines.”Advocatingputtingeconomic

pressure on China, Singh said,“Chinamay relent if businessesmove away, themarkets abroadare affected, and theyareunableto keep their growth rate high.”Boththeformerdiplomatscalledfor encouraging dialogue. AsSingh put it, “Keep the talks go-ing…But time shouldnot allowChina to hardendefences selec-tively,asIamsuretheyhaveafall-backposition i.e. some locationsthattheyreallywantforstrategicdominance.”

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Ex-diplomats callfor global pressure,keeping talks going

Questionspolicyofnotcarryingarmsduringpatrols,saysintrusionpre-planned

Amarinder slamsChina’s‘salami-slicing tactic’MANRAJ GREWALSHARMACHANDIGARH, JUNE19

HOURS AFTER he received atChandigarhairport thebodies ofthree of the 20Armypersonnelkilled in clashes with ChinesetroopsinLadakh’sGalwanValley,PunjabChiefMinisterAmarinderSingh on Friday said Indiamusttell theChinese to vacate the re-gionorfaceconsequences,decry-ing the neighbouring country’s“salami-slicingtactic”toincreaseitsclaimsof Indianterritory.Singh told The Indian Express,

“Of course therewill be conse-quencesforusaswellbutwecan’tletthishappenallthetime…Iama hardliner. There can be talkswith a sensible party but thesepeople are not. Theywait for anopportunetimeandthenstrike.”Dismissing talks of Chinese

belligerencebeing fuelledby theAugust5,2019move toabrogateArticle 370 of the Constitution,and the bifurcation of the erst-while state of Jammu andKashmirintotheUnionTerritoriesof J&K and Ladakh, Singh said,“What has abrogation got to dowiththeChinese?TheyhavebeenclaimingAksai Chin since 1962,ShaksgamValleyalittleafterthat.”The Chinese intrusion at

GalwanValley,accordingtoSingh,waspre-planned. “First, thedis-putewasalong thePangongTso,therewasan8kmareapatrolledbybothofus,thentheybuiltonitand cut the road so that Indians

couldn’t patrol. After that theywent to Patrol Point 14 and an-nounced that the entireGalwanValleyistheirs.”Askedabouthisviewsonadi-

aloguewith China, Singh said,“Wehavebeentalkingsince1962,where havewe got? Gradually,they have been encroaching onour territory. They (Pakistan)do-natedareainPoK(Pakistanoccu-pied Kashmir) to China. They(China) occupied Aksai Chin in1962,andtheyareclaimingterri-toryinArunachal.Everyyeartheyclaimanewarea. Now they saytheentireGalwanistheirs.Thisisabsurd.Icallittheirsalami-slicingtactic.”Whenaskedaboutapprehen-

sionsthatChinahadamuchlargerandbetter-equippedarmedforce,Singh said, “They are a biggerArmy,notabetterArmy.It’sapeo-ple’s Army, not a regular Army...

mostof theirsoldiersareoncon-scription.”SinghsaidChinabacksdown

in the face of an aggressivestance, recounting that in 1967,LtGeneralSagatSinghpersonallywenttotheNathuLapassandsu-pervised artillery action againsttheChinese.“Theykilledathou-sand Chinese, eventually theywent away and for years after-wardswehadnoproblemthere,”hesaid.The CM said hewas against

“thispolicyofappeasement.Indiamustmaintainitsintegrityofter-ritory”.Whenaskedwhether anaggressivestancecouldleadtoanescalationinhostilities,hesaid,“Idon’tknowwhatthegovernmentisplanningbut20menneedare-sponse. I justwent to receive thebodiesofthreeofthem,theywereyoung boys... Somebody is re-sponsiblefortheirdeaths.

“Ask the officers whowerepresent therewhy they did notopen fire evenwhen their com-manding officerwas killed, andtheywilladmitthattheywerenotarmed,”headded.Recounting his days in the

Army,Singhsaid,“Wewouldhavetroopscoveralltheareaarounduswhenwewenttomeetsomepeo-ple…How can youmeet theseguyswithoutweaponsandwith-outtroopscoveringyoufromthehilltops around so that they canopen fire in case of an emer-gency?”Singhblamedthepolicyof not carrying firearms duringpatrols for the deaths, adding, “Ispent three years atNDA, one atIMA, thenat the college of com-bat,neversawanydandaorstonethrowing. Army ismeant as thelast resort; deploypara-militaryfordandas."Hestatedthatonecannothave

an agreement with a hostileneighbourandaskedwhythepol-icy of beingunarmedwasappli-cable only to Indian troops.“Anythinginhandisaweapon…Had I been there, I would haveaskedmymen to open fire. Youcan’tletyourcommandingofficerbekilled. It’s an insult to theunit,totheIndianArmy.”SpeakingofpossiblePakistan

collusionwith the Chinese, theCMsaid, “If something big hap-pens,theywillcollude.Chinanowhas a port in the Indian Oceanthanks to Pakistan. TheKarakoramhighwayhascometoLahore and all the way to theGwadarport…”

PunjabCMAmarinderSinghpaystributetofoursoldierskilledinLadakh’sGalwanValley,atChandigarhAirbasewhereherecievedtheirmortalremainsonFriday.Courtesy:DPR

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE19

FORMER CONGRESS presidentRahulGandhi on Friday accusedthe Centre of lying to protectPrimeMinister NarendraModiovertheattackinGalwan.Sharing a video of the father

of an injured soldier who hailsfromAlwar,he said that “It’s sadto see senior GOIministers re-ducedtolyinginordertoprotectthePM.Don’t insultourmartyrswithyour lies.”Thevideosharedbyhimwas

ofinjuredjawanSurendraSingh’sfatherBalwantSingh,whorecallsa conversationwithhis son. “Hecalled me up yesterday(Thursday),Iaskedwhereareyou,he said he is getting treated in ahospital near Leh.” Balwant re-calls.Hesaidhissontoldhim“wewere300-400theywere2,000–2,500, they encircled us all of asudden.Theyhadrods,sticksandhurled stones, and we did nothave anything.We fought andtriedtosaveourselves.”TalkingtojournalistsinAlwar,

hiswifeGurpreet Singh readingthenews,thefamilywas“tensedanddidn’t knowwhatwashap-pening.” “I spoke tohim, hewasunconsciousfor10-12hours.WerequestthePMtotakerevenge.”“Wedidn’t talk a lot, he just

saidthatheisokay.Sincewewereworriedathome,hetoldusnottocryorworry, thathe is fine. ”Shesaidthatshehadearlierspokentohimaweek ago aswell but thatconversationwasn’t long eitherduetoconnectivityissues.“HedidtellusthatChinesemenandpeo-ple of his regiment are aamne-saamne(facingeachother).”

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE19

SECURITY FORCES killed eightmilitantsintwoseparateencoun-ters in a 24-hour period in theValley, Jammu and KashmirPolice said, adding that the slainbelonged to the HizbulMujahideenandLashkar-e-Taiba.Boththeencounters—onein

Shopian district’s BandhpawaMunand area and the other inPampore area of Pulwamadis-trict’s Awantipora— started onThursdayandsecurityforceshad

initially said twomilitantswerekilledintheoperations.OnFriday,whentheoperationsconcluded,officialssaidatotalof eightmili-tantshavebeenkilled.A J&K Police spokesperson

saidonFriday,“Fourmoreterror-istswerekilled inShopian (totalfive)while twomore terroristswerekilled inAwantipora (totalthree). Inthesaidencountersto-taleightterroristswerekilled.”Anofficial said themilitants

in Shopianwere affiliatedwiththe HizbulMujahideen, whilethose inAwantiporawerewiththeLeT.

IGPKashmirVijayKumartoldThe IndianExpress, “Intwooper-ations,wehaveneutralisedeightmilitants in twodistricts in thelast24hours.Thisisabiggestsuc-cessforthesecurityforcesintheValley.Boththeoperationswerecleanandtherewasnocollateraldamage.Thenumberofmilitantskilled this yearhasnowcrossed100.Operationswill continue inthesamemanner.”Policeofficialssaidinboththe

operations, the identity of theslainmilitantisbeingascertained.“TheywillbeburiedinBaramulladistrict,”saidapoliceofficer.Officials said after the

Awantipora encounter began,twomilitantsmovedtoanearbymosque. A senior police officersaid local residentswere sent toconvincethemilitantstosurren-

der. “They (themilitants) didn’tagree to surrender. Since theywerehidinginsideamosque,weused chilli grenades and tearsmokeshellstokillthemilitants.”IGP Kumar said, “In

Awantipora operation forcesworkedveryprofessionally andno IEDand firingwasused...Weeliminated them ensuring nodamageiscausedtothemosque.”FayazAhmad,theclericofthe

mosque where the militantswerehiding,aftertheencountersaid that themosque had suf-ferednodamageandwasintact.Addressingapressbriefingby

the joint forces, GOC of theSrinagar-based15CorpsLtGenBSRajusaidthatoutof49newre-cruitswho joined themilitantranks this year, 27 have beenkilled.

‘OFFENSIVE’REMARKSONAHOMKING

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI, JUNE19

CHIEF MINISTER SarbanandaSonowal on Friday directedAssam Police to arrest Kolkata-based political commentatorGarga Chatterjee for allegedlymaking objectionable com-ments against first Ahom kingChaolung Sukapha and theAhomcommunity.Sonowal said that Sukapha

was the architect of the greaterAssamese identity andmakingderogatory statements abouthimcouldnotbe tolerated.“Postingofoffensiveremarks

onsocialmediamisinterpretinghistorical facts could lead to riftbetweendifferentcommunitiesinanethnicallydiversestatelikeAssam,” said Sonowal, addingthat the statements had “hurtthe sentiments of Assamesepeople”.Following Sonowal’s direc-

tion, a three-member policeteamwasscheduledto leaveforKolkataFridaynight.Chatterjeecouldnotbecon-

tacted despite repeated at-tempts.Chatterjee, who describes

himselfasa“Bengalinationalist”on Twitter,wrote on themicro-blogging site on June 17, “Whydoes @sarbanandsonwal regu-larlycelebrateaChineseinvaderand his invading army? Whydoes banned separatist groupULFAalso celebrate theChineseinvader? Do real Indians knowthat Indian taxmoney is beingused by BJP in Assam to put upstatuesof aChinese invader?”

Assam CMdirects arrest ofKolkata-basedcommentator

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE19

A METEORITE-LIKE objectlanded inRajasthan’s Jaloredis-trict onFridaymorning, saidof-ficials.According to the district ad-

ministration, the incident tookplace on Friday early morningwhentheobjectfellfromtheskyinSanchore town.“Themeteoritecrashednear

a road in Sanchore at around7am today. Ahole of around1.5feet was formed on the groundbecause of the impact. Theweightoftheobjectis2.788kilo-grams. No persons were in-jured,” said Bhupendra KumarYadav, sub divisional officer,Sanchore.He added that preliminary

inquiry has suggested that theobjectismadeofvariousmetals.“We conducted a test and

found that the object is made

largely of nickel, iron, platinum,germanium and antimony.Wewere contacted by theGeological Survey of India (GSI)and theymay send their teamssoon for further analysis,” saidYadav.ArvindKumar,stationhouse

officer, Sanchore police stationsaidthattheareawheretheme-teoritefellwascordonedoffandthe object is being kept at theSanchore police station for thetimebeing.

Meteorite-likeobject falls in Jalore

Theobject landedinSanchoretown. Express

DEEPMUKHERJEEJAIPUR, JUNE19

ASOCIALSCIENCEe-textbookforclass 10, available for downloadfrom the Rajasthan Board ofSecondaryEducation(RBSE)web-site, says 16th Century king ofMewarMaharanaPratap“lackedthepatience,controlandplanningwhich is required in amilitarycommander during hostile cir-cumstances”.“Senanayak me pratikul

paristhitiyon me jis dhairya,sanyamaur yojana ki avashyaktahoni chahiye, Pratapmeuska ab-havtha(Thepatience,controlandplanningwhich is required in amilitarycommanderduringhos-tile circumstances, Pratap lackedit),”readsapartofthechapter2—‘SangharshkalinBharat-1206AD-1757AD’—inthetextbook.The chapter covers theBattle

ofHaldighati.Thesectiongoesontosaythat theMughalarmywasnotadeptatfightinginhillyareaswhile theMewar armywas notused to fightingonopengroundand when the Mughal armystarted to retreat, Pratap’s armyreached Badshah BaghMaidanfollowingthem.TheresultswereadverseforPratap, itadds.This particular portion in the

e-textbookhowever, isnotmen-tioned in the2020editionof theclass 10 social science textbookdistributedbytheRajasthanStateTextbookBoard.Inthetextbookpublisheddur-

ingthepreviousBJPgovernmentin 2017, it wasmentioned that

AkbarhadfailedtocaptureorkillPratap or conquerMewar. Thebook had awarded the battle infavour ofMaharana Pratapwiththe argument that theMughalarmydidnot follow the armyofMewarandspenttimeinfear.In2019,thetextbookswerere-

vised after theCongress govern-mentcametopowerandsetupatextbookreviewingcommittee.Inthat edition,it is alsomentionedthattheclashbetweenPratapandAkbarwasnotareligiouswar,buta clash for superiority betweentwopoliticalforces.The2020edi-tionhasthesamecontent.Dr Chandrasekhar, associate

professor,Udaipur’sgovernment-runMeeraGirls’College, toldTheIndian Express that he had notwritten this content and that itwas changedwithout notifyinghimwhilestill carryinghisnameas theauthor.RBSE Board chair-manDPJarolisaidthatif thereisa mistake in the e-textbook, itwill becorrected.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

E-textbookwasavailable fordownloadontheRBSEwebsite.Express

E-textbook says MaharanaPratap lacked planningneeded in military chief

Jaipur

380,532India

238,159Italy303,281

United Kingdom

225,103Chile

245,268Spain

2,196,998US

978,142Brazil

244,388Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED:8,546,919 DEATHCOUNT:456,726Source: Johns Hopkins University, updated at 11 pm on June 19 . JHU’s India tally and

Health Ministry’s tally (below) may sometimes not match.

THEWORLD568,292Russia

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 3,80,532 (12,573 deaths)

1,20,504Maharashtra

52,334Tamil Nadu

7,944Karnataka

13,857Rajasthan

9,218Haryana

11,426MP

15,181 UP

49,979 Delhi

25,601Gujarat

12,735West Bengal

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 44AndhraPradesh 7518ArunachalPradesh 103Assam 4777Bihar 7025Chandigarh 374Chhattisgarh 1946DadraandNagarHaveliandDamanandDiu 58Goa 705HimachalPradesh 595JammuandKashmir 5555Jharkhand 1920Kerala 2794Ladakh 687Manipur 606Meghalaya 44Mizoram 130Nagaland 193Odisha 4512Puducherry 271Punjab 3615Sikkim 70Telangana 6027Tripura 1155Uttarakhand 2102

200,262Iran

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,June19.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.2,04,711PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN35STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

COVID-19patientswithveryhighlev-elsofcortisol—ahormoneassociatedwithstress— in theirbloodaremorelikely to deteriorate quickly and die,researchers have re-ported in The LancetDiabetes &Endocrinology.Cortisolisproduced

by the body in re-sponsetostress,butex-cessive levels (and lowlevels) are associatedwith various condi-tions.Thedrugdexam-ethasone,whichrecentresearch has shown toreduce death rates inCovidpatients, acts by imitating cor-tisol and reducing the production ofcortisol. In healthy people, cortisollevels are 100-200 nm/Lwhen rest-

ing, andnearlyzerowhenwesleep.ThenewstudywasledbyImperial

College London. The observationalstudycovered535patients, including

403 Covid cases.Cortisol levels inCovidpatients were signifi-cantly higher (up to3,241). Among Covidpatients, those with abaseline cortisol levelof 744 or less survivedonaverage for36days.Patients with levelsover 744 had an aver-agesurvivalof 15days.Over the study pe-

riod, just under 27 percent of the Covid group died, com-pared to just under 7 per cent of thenon-Covidgroup.

Source: ImperialCollege London

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

Study connects higher levels ofstress hormone to Covid deaths

UDITMISRANEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE INDIAN government has tried to re-spond to the border disputewith China bytraining its gunson trade. The idea resonat-inginIndianstreetsisthatIndianshouldboy-cottChinesegoodsto“teachChinaalesson”.Unionminister Ramdas Athawale has

evendemandedabanonrestaurantssellingChinese food even though thesewould beIndian restaurants, employing Indian chefsandusinglargelyIndianagriculturalproducetoservesuchChinesedishes.While Indians understandably feel out-

raged when they hear about the brutaldeaths of their soldiers, turning a border ordefencedispute intoa tradeone isan ill-ad-visedmove.Thereareseveral reasons.

Trade deficits are notnecessarily bad

1One of themain reasons why calls forbanning trade have been the first reac-tion is the notion that having a trade

deficit is somehowa“bad” thing. The fact isaltogetherdifferent.Tradedeficits/surplusesare just accounting exercises and having atradedeficitagainstacountrydoesn’tmakethedomesticeconomyweakerorworseoff.For instance, if one looks at the top 25

countries withwhom India trades, it has atrade surplus with the US, the UK and theNetherlands. But that doesn’t mean theIndianeconomyisstrongerorbetteroff thananyof these three.Similarly, it has a trade deficit with the

other 22 of them — including China,Germany,Nigeria,SouthAfrica,SouthKorea,Indonesiaamongothers.Yet, a trade deficit doesn’t necessarily

mean that the Indian economy isworse offthanSouthAfrica’s.A trade deficit with China only means

thatIndiansbuymoreChineseproductsthanwhatChinesebuyfromIndia.Butperse thatisnotabadthing.Why?Because it shows that Indiancon-

sumers —whomade these purchase deci-sionsindividuallyandvoluntarily—arenowbetter off than theywould have been hadtheyboughteither,say,aJapaneseorFrenchorevenan Indianalternative.Essentially, it shows that Indian con-

sumers, as well as the Chinese producers,gainedthroughtrading.Itisthisveryprocessthat generates the gains from trade. Bothsidesarebetteroff.Of course, running persistent trade

deficits across all countries raises twomainissues.One,doesacountryhave the foreignexchange reserves to “buy” the imports?Today, India hasmore than $500 billion offorex—goodenoughtocoverimportsfor12months. Two, it also shows that India is notcapable of producing for its own people inthemostefficientmanner.At one level, no country is self-sufficient

andthatiswhytradeissuchafantastic idea.Itallowscountriestospecialiseinwhattheycandomostefficientlyandexportthatprod-uct while importingwhatever some other

countrydoesmoreefficiently.Sowhileapersistent tradedeficitmerits

agovernmenttoputinplacepoliciesandin-frastructure that raises competitiveness, itshouldnot“force”oreven“nudge”peopletomoveawayfromtradebecausedoingsowillundermine efficiency and come at the costof theconsumer’sbenefits.

The poor in Indiawill behurt themost

2More often than not, the poorest con-sumersaretheworsthit inatradebanof this kindbecause theyare themost

price-sensitive. So if Chinesepens/fridges/TVs/ACswere banned, poorerIndian households, who could have other-wise afforded these, would either have toforgo buying one because the other foreignalternative is too costly or suffer (as a con-sumer)bybuyingalessefficient Indianone.It is also important to understand that

ChineseproductsthatareinIndiaarealreadypaid for. By banning their sale or avoidingtheir purchase, Indianswill be hurting fel-lowIndianretailers.Again, thishitwouldbeproportionatelymoreon thepoorest retail-ers — say the roadside seller — because oftheir relative inability to copewith the un-expected losses.

A trade banwill punish Indianproducers/exporters

3Some may argue that trading withChina hurts many Indian producers.This is true but it is also true that trad-

ing hurts only the less efficient Indian pro-ducerswhilehelpingthemoreefficientones.

Contrarytopopularbelief,alargepropor-tionof India’s imports fromChinaarenot inthe formof final consumergoodsbut in theformofintermediategoodssuchaselectricalmachinery, nuclear reactors, and fertilisersetc (see Chart 2). Such imports are used toproduce final goodswhich are then eithersold in Indiaorexported.A blanket ban on tradewill hurt all do-

mesticproductivity.

A trade banwill barelyhurt China

4Still,somemayarguethatIndiashouldsingleoutChinaandpunishitthroughtrade. But, that presumes India can

hurtChinabystopping trade.The truth is the exact opposite. A trade

banwillhurt Indiaand Indians farmore.As Chart 3 shows, India is a relatively in-

significant entity inChina’s global trade. Theoutrage in India over the $60 billion tradedeficitwithChinaneedstobeseeninperspec-tive.Inthatyear,Chinaexportedgoodsworth$2,495billionandimported$2,134billion.Moreover, if one takes the notion of not

lettingChinaprofitfromtheIndianpurchas-ing power strictly, then Indians should alsoavoid buying all products that use Chinesegoodsandlabour.Thiswouldmeanforgoingmanynon-Chineseforeignproductssuchasthe iPhoneetc.Data also suggests that it ismuch easier

forChinatoreplaceIndiathanforIndiatore-placeChina.Whatwould happen if China decides to

equally abruptly ban all trade and forbid allprivate investmentviaanyroute into India?

Ofcourse, Indiawouldsurvive,butatahugecost to common Indians while deprivingmany Indianbusinesses (the start-upswithbillion-dollarvaluations)ofChinesefunding.Why? Because in the short tomedium

terms, it would be both difficult and costlyto replace Chinese products. If we simplychoose another country’s product, such ashiftwill increaseIndia’stotaltradedeficit—acounter-productiveresultsincethedebatestartedwithreducingtradedeficit. If,ontheother hand, we decide to use Indian prod-ucts, that toowould cost usmore — albeitjustinternallyattheconsumerlevel;itwouldeat into incomesandsavings.

Indiawill lose policy credibilitybefore foreign investors

5Similarly, India should avoid renegingonexistingcontractswithChina.Whileintheshorttermthismayassuagehurt

sentiments, itwoulddeterall foreigninvest-ments in India.Why?Oneof the first things an investor

— especially foreign — tracks is the policycredibility and certainty. If policies can bechanged overnight, if taxes can be slappedwith retrospective effect, or if the govern-mentitself renegesoncontracts,noinvestorwill invest. Or, if they do, theywill demandhigher returns for the increasedrisk.

Raising tariffs ismutuallyassured destruction

6It has also been argued that Indiashould just slap higher import dutieson Chinese goods. Others have sug-

gested that India can allowprimary and in-termediate goods from China at zero dutybut apply prohibitive tariffs on final goods.Even leaving aside the rules of theWorldTradeOrganizationthat Indiawouldbevio-lating, this is a poor strategy since others—not justChina—canandmost likelywill re-ciprocate in thesameway.Whatwill also go against Indiahere is its

relativelyinsignificantpresenceinglobaltradeandvaluechains.Inotherwords,itisrelativelyeasy for theworld to bypass India and carryontradingif Indiadoesn’tplaybytherules.

The upshotThefirstthingtounderstandisthatturn-

ing a border dispute into a tradewar is un-likely to solve the border dispute.Worse, itwill hurt India farmore thanChina. Thirdly,suchashockwillbemostpoorlytimedsincetheIndianeconomyisalreadyatitsweakestpointever—facingasharpGDPcontraction—andcandowithout amove that raises itscosts, erodes its competitiveness.In the past, India has tried—andmiser-

ably failed—makingmantras like “self-re-liance”,“import-substitution”and“protect-ing infant (domestic) industries”work.Trade helps countries grow fast, boost

incomes, reduce poverty, and improvehealthcare.If Indiaturnsprotectionist—likerefusing

to join Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP) Free Trade Agreement(FTA)—muchsmallercountrieslikeVietnam(which has just signed an FTAwith the EU)will furthereat into India’s share.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Why China trade ban is bad ideaSIMPLYPUT

Theoutrageoverthekillingof Indiansoldiershas ledtocalls forbanningtradewithChina.However,IndiawouldstandtolosemorethanChinaif tradeweretobebanned.Herearesixreasonswhy

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THEPOLITICALslugfestonTwitterbetweenCongress MP Rahul Gandhi and ForeignMinisterSJaishankaraboutthedeathof20soldiersinaviolentfaceoffwiththeChinesein Ladakh brought home the fact that theIndiantroopswerearmed,butdidnotopenfire. Theminister said that “all troops onborder duty always carry arms, especiallywhen leaving post. Those atGalwanon15Junedid so. Long-standingpractice (asper1996 & 2005 agreements) not to usefirearmsduring faceoffs”.

■ ■ ■

TheprotocolsJaishankarreferredtoarefromagreementssignedbetweenIndiaandChina in 1996 and 2005. The 1996 agree-ment is onConfidence-BuildingMeasuresintheMilitaryFieldAlongtheLineofActualControl in the India-ChinaBorderAreas.“With a view topreventing dangerous

military activities along the line of actualcontrol in the India-China border areas…Neither side shall open fire, cause bio-degradation,usehazardouschemicals,con-duct blast operationsorhuntwithgunsorexplosiveswithintwokilometres fromthelineofactualcontrol.Thisprohibitionshallnotapplytoroutinefiringactivitiesinsmallarmsfiringranges,”saysArticleVI(1)of the1996agreement.However, it is Article VI(4) that ismore

applicable in the current instance: “If theborderpersonnel of the twosides come ina face-to-face situation due to differenceson the alignment of the line of actual con-

trolof anyother reason, theyshall exerciseself-restraintandtakeallnecessarystepstoavoid an escalation of the situation. Bothsides shall also enter into immediate con-sultationsthroughdiplomaticand/orotheravailable channels to review the situationandpreventanyescalationof tension.”But the 1996 agreement comeswith a

proviso inArticle X(1) that “the full imple-mentationof someof theprovisions of thepresentAgreementwill dependon the twosidesarrivingatacommonunderstandingofthealignmentof the lineof actualcontrol inthe India-Chinaborder areas, the two sidesagreetospeeduptheprocessclarificationandconfirmationof thelineofactualcontrol”.InArticle 1of the2005agreement, “the

twosideswillresolvetheboundaryquestionthroughpeacefulandfriendlyconsultations.Neithersideshalluseorthreatentouseforceagainst the other by anymeans”. The 2013agreementonBorderDefenceCooperationalsostatedthatneithersideshalluseitsmil-itarycapabilityagainsttheother.Noneofthesearticlespertainsdirectlyto

thesituationthatemergedonMondaywheresoldierswerebrutally assaulted todeathbythe Chinese side inGalwanValley area. AsJaishankarexplained,itwasasperlongstand-ing practice in the area flowing from theseagreementsthatthesoldiersdidnotopenfire.

■ ■ ■

TheIndianExpressspoketoArmyofficers,who confirmed thatmost of the soldiers inthat groupwhich clashedwith theChinesesoldiers were carrying their personalweapons, andhad ammunition onperson.Thisisasperprevalentpractice,borneoutbyvideos andpictures of certain patrols com-

ingface-to-faceintherecentpastthatshowsoldierscarryingweapons,butwiththebar-relspointingdownwards.Thatispartofalo-caldrill followedtoavoidanyaccidental fir-ingormisunderstandingbecauseoftheriflebarrelpointingtowardseachother.Even though not strictly coded in any

rules, officers said these practices haveevolvedoveraperiodof timeandhavebeen

firmedaspartofaroutineontheLAC.Sincenoroundhasbeen firedon theSino-Indiabor-der in Ladakhafter1962andwithaviewtopreventinganyescalation, these routinesofnotfiringhavebeendrilledintothesoldiers.In such an environment, every other

weaponshortof firinghasbecomeaccept-able touse for the soldiers,whohaveusedthemduringpreviousclashes.Eventhough

people have been injured in such clashes,no one has died due to use of rocks andsticks. However, the ferocity of the use ofthese weapons has been increasing overtime, as observed during the clash atPangong Tso onMay 5/6which left morethan70 Indiansoldiers injured.Asper somereports, eventheArmyre-

centlyorderedfullbodyprotectorsandanti-

riotgearforitssoldiersdeployedthere,fur-ther lending credence to the notion thatopeningof firewasstrict tabooontheLAC.The incident onMonday happened underthese circumstances, even though theArmy’s rulesof engagementallowsoldiersfromopeningfireif livesof theiruniformedbrethren is threatened.Questionshavebeenraisedinmanyquar-

ters, including by Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinderSingh,aboutthefactthatnooffi-cerinthechainofcommandthoughtit fit toopen fire in a clash that lasted a fewhours.Somemilitaryveteranshaveevenarguedthatevencallingforartilleryfirewouldhavebeenfullyjustifiedasperrulesinsuchascenario.Armyofficers,however,arguethatthere

isanothersidetothestory.Inthemeleedur-ingtheclash,whereIndianandChinesesol-dierswere grapplingwith each other in ahand-to-handcombat, itwasverydifficultto open fire without hitting one of yourmen.That,theysay,wasthereasonsoldiersdid not open fire even when theirCommanding Officer and 19 other menwerekilled, and10others takencaptive.

■ ■ ■

Arriving at judgments about complexmilitarysituations is fraught,especially forthosenotpresentontheground.Decisionsaretakenonthespurofthemoment,whichchangethecourseofevents,andtheircon-sequences have to be borne by posterity.Whateverbethereasonfor Indiansoldiersnot opening fire, their decision preventedthesituationfromescalating.Thatsaid,thekillings have put a questionmark on theterms of engagement between the twoarmiesgoing forward.

Chart-3: Indiaplaysafairly insignificantrole inChina’sglobal trade

India’sexports toChinaasapercentageof its totalexports 5%

India’s imports fromChinaasapercentageof its total imports 14%

China’sexports to Indiaasapercentageof its totalexports 3%

India'sexports toNetherlandsasapercentageof its total imports 2.7%

China’s imports fromIndiaasapercentageofChina's total imports 0.9%

India's imports fromAngolaasapercentageof its total imports 0.8%Chart-3 figures for2018-19 Source forall data:MinistryofCommerce&Industry

BILATERAL TRADE: THEBROADTRENDS

10.31%Tradewith

China

Export

$16,752.20mnImport$70,319.64mn

India's total trade$844,156.51mnTotal tradewithChina$87,071.84mnChart2:Mostof India’s imports fromChinaare intermediategoods

Goodstype Importsbyvalue Share intotal imports

Electricalmachineryandparts $18bn 29%Nuclearreactors,boilers $13bn 21%Organicchemicals $7.5bn 12%Fertilisers $2bn 3%Ironandsteel $1bn 1.5%

TOTALIMPORTSFROMCHINA: $62BILLION(2019-20)

Chart1:10%of India’s trade iswithChina(2018-19)

If soldiers on LACwere carrying arms,why did they not open fire?

Themortal remainsofRajeshOrang,oneof thesoldierskilled inGalwan, laid torestatBelgoria,BirbhumonFriday, PTI

5

Jaipur

6WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BEIJING SHOULD NOTEImperial Japan,NaziGermanybelievedtheywereunstoppabletoo.Chinaisnotthefirstpowertobeoverwhelmedbyhubris

INPUSHINGINDIAtoa tippingpoint,China isclose to losing thehard-wontrustoftheworld’ssecondmostpopulousnationandalargeneighbour.If the1962warsaw the freezingof bilateral relations for thenext quarter of a century, the cur-rent crisis could lead to a chill that lasts longer. Keeping India’s trust, however,might look likea trivialmatter to thecurrentChineseCommunistParty leader-

ship.Indiamightbetheworld’sfifthlargesteconomy,butit isone-fifththesizeofChina’s.Beijingisacutelysensitivetopowerdifferentials,andseesanIndiathatisstrugglingtofindaneffectiveresponsetotheChinesemanoeuvreinLadakh.Ofcourse,CommunistChina’sdisdain is not exclusively for India. Beijing, which once benchmarked itself againstWashington,isnowcontemptuousoftheUSandmorebroadlyoftheWestthathasfoundit hard to copewith theCOVID crisis and seemsat oddswith itself. TheCCP is telling it-self that “Xi JinpingThought” is theessenceof “twenty-first centuryMarxism”andthat“socialismwithChinesecharacteristics”has triumphedoverWesterncapitalism.By all accounts, Beijing feels confident that it can confront all themajor powers si-

multaneously. Itbetsthateconomicinterdependenceandpolitical influenceoperationscaneasilybreakupanypotentialhostilecoalitionthatmightemergewithinandamongthem.Coming to theAsianneighbours, theCCPbelieves that it owesnoexplanation fortaking territories andwaters that it claims as its own. It is convinced that China’s “his-toricrights”takeprecedenceoverinternationallawandgoodneighbourliness—whetherit is intheSouthChinaSeaorintheHimalayas.Thesensitivitiesof itsneighbours—fromJapantoIndonesiaandPhilippinestoIndia—hardlymakeanimpressionontheChinesesenseof entitlement today.Appealing toChina’s better angels at this juncture, then,might be futile. Yet, theCCP

shouldknowthatChinaisnotthefirstpowertobeoverwhelmedbynarcissismandhubris.Imperial JapanandNaziGermanybelievedtheywereunstoppable inAsiaandEurope inthe run-up to the SecondWorldWar. Soviet Russia, too, believed in the late 1970s thatAmericawas in irreversibledeclineafter itshumiliatingdefeat inVietnamandastringofsocialistrevolutions,fromCambodiatoNamibiaandfromAfghanistantoMozambique.Butthe tide eventually turned against all the three great powers that ended up in history’sdustbin. Just as India struggles to understand the power impulses that drive China, theCCPcouldnever fathomIndia’spolitical culture. Ithasbeeneasy forBeijing tounderesti-mate India’s strategic resiliencethatproducesunityamidstcrises.TheCCPmightalsobeunder-estimatingIndia’straditionof “non-cooperation”. IfBeijingdoesnotstepbackandrestorethestatusquoantethatexistedpriortothecrisisthatbeganinMay, itwillcompelDelhi to embark on a radical reorientation of its China policy. The CCP ought to have nodoubt that the Indianpeoplecanandwill stepuptosucharecalibration.

DON’T GRUDGE A NURSENursesabandoningtheirpostsarecontributing to thehealth

crisis,but theymustbetreatedwithcompassion

ASDELHIHEADSforacase loadofhalf a lakhand80percentof ICUbedsarefilled,thehealthcrisisisbeingintensifiedwithnursesinthecapital’sprivatehospitalsreportedlyresigningorrefusingtowork.Insomecases,nursinghomeownersaredoublingupas janitors,whileothersarego-ing to the police to complain that nurses are abandoning patients.

However, theplight of nurses,whohavebeenworking at the front in thebattle againstCOVID-19,mustbeappreciated.Theircomplaintsarewell-known,havebeenrepeatedlyarticulatedandremainlargelyignored.Personalprotectionequipmenthasbeeninchron-ically short supply in thecapital, andhasput the livesof bothdoctorsandnursesat risk.Shiftsarepunishinglylong,nursesinPPEscannottakebreakseventogotothetoilet,andtheybearthecicatriceoftheequipmentforhoursaftertheygooffduty.TheUnitedNursesAssociationhadwrittentothechiefministeraboutsubstandardequipment,butdidnotgetareply.Manynurseswhowerenotabletogotoworkwhenpublictransportwassus-pendedhadtheirpaydocked.Besides, nurses cannot be seen in isolation. Theyhave families, too.Most of themare

fromoutoftown,andrelativesbackhomeworryfortheirwell-beingbecausethepandemichasbeenpresentedasa“mahamari”—agreatkiller.NurseslivingaloneinDelhiarethemse-lvesinsecurebecausetheydonothavesocialsecurityorfamilynetworksthattheycanfallbackoninhardtimes.Thosewhohavefamilyinthecapitalareconcernedbecausetheyaregenerallynotabletoquarantinethemselvesintheworkplace,andcouldcarrytheinfectionhome.Tooffset themultiple risks that theyare facing, somenursesaredemandingbetterfinancialterms,onthelinesofthe“hardshipallowance”whichiscommonlyofferedtoser-vicemenatdifficultpostings.Othersaresimplydroppingouttoseekbetterqualifications.Abandoningpatientsduringapandemicmaybeacrimebutnurses feel abandoned

themselves.Thesolutionistoseethattheyarephysicallysecureandfeeladequatelycom-pensated for the high-risk job that they are performing. If private organisations cannotbear the full burden, the state should remember that it has commandeered their facili-tiesbecauseof the failureof itsownhealthsystem,andcommit tobearpartof it.

GOBI MANCHURIANChinese food in India isamongst themarvelsofmodern

cuisine, inextricablyChineseandIndian

IN THE 1970S, a young chef of Chinese ancestry at a Bombay restaurant coatedpieces of diced chickenwith cornflour and deep fried them. He then tossed thechicken cubes into a brown gravy that combined vinegar, soy sauce and corn-starchwith onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies.Word spread. People lovedthismarriage of Indian and Chinese culinary sensibilities. In less than a decade,

ChickenManchurianbecamesynonymouswith Indian-Chinesecuisine. Itmattered lit-tlethatManchurianwasneveraculinarystyleinthecountryof itscreator’sancestors.Verysoon thewordwas suffixed to gobi (cauliflower florets) and paneer. Tomatoes, corian-derandevengarammasalasaddedtheir flavourstotheManchuriansauce.ButaGooglesearch onManchurian today throws up an unappetisingword— “ban”. In thewake oftensionsbetweenIndiaandChina,amongothers,UnionMinisterofStateforSocialJusticeandEmpowerment,RamdasAthawale,hascalled forabanonChinese food.TheIndianChinesecommunitynumberslessthan5,000people.But“Chinese”isasec-

tioninmenusofeateriesasdiverseasstreetfoodjointsandroadsidedhabas,Udupirestau-rantsandoutfitsthatservegourmetfare.Themash-upof IndianspicesandChinesecook-ing techniques is amongst themarvels of contemporary culinary history. And likemostitemsinculinaryhistory, fixingorigins tomostdishesthatcomprisethisdelectable fare isdifficult. The bland chicken curry that the first-generation Chinese immigrants got fromtheirhomecountry,forexample,issaidtohavebeentransformedintothehighlyaddictivechilly chicken. But another school believes that someenterprising chef took elements ofthespicyIndianchickencurry,infusedthemwithChineseelements,suchasthesoyasauce.TheKungPaopotatoattheroadsideeaterybearsacloserresemblancetothezeeraaloo

thanthedishmadeinChina’sSichuanprovince.ThentherearetheChineseBhelandChineseChaat.Letthetroublesbetweenthetwonationsnotcloudsuchculinaryimagination.

Vikram Patel

This isahistoricopportunity to invest inandtransformIndia’smentalhealthcaresystem

of peoplewho are absolutely impoverishedanda fragmentedmentalhealthcare systemwhich, even before the pandemic, failed toreachmorethan10percentofthepopulation.Thismakesforaperfectstorm.Mental health problemswere already a

major contributor to the burdenof illness inIndiabefore thepandemic,witha thirdof allfemaleandaquarterofallmalesuicidedeathsintheworldoccurringinthiscountry.Mostofthis illness and death goes unnoticed.Celebritysuicidesandtestimoniesattractourattention tomental health because it is theonly explanationwe can invoke for peoplewhoaresoprivileged.Ofcourse,itisthepoor,dispossessedandmarginalisedwhobearthegreatest burden ofmental health problems,butwehavehistoricallydismissedtheirsuffer-ing as a natural extension of their social andeconomic conditions. And it is this vast sec-tion of our populationwhichwill be dispro-portionately affected by the economicrecession.So,what’s the solution?While there has

beenaflourishingofinitiativestoaddresstherising tide ofmental health problems,mostnotablythroughtelemedicineplatforms,theyrely heavily on mental health specialistproviderswhoareveryscarceinnumberandoften unaffordable. This is compounded bythedigitaldivide:Digitalliteracyandadequateinternet connectivity remains a distant goalforlargeswathesofourpeople.Still,theseini-tiativesarewelcomefortheirdemonstrationof the feasibility of remote delivery and thevalueofpsychological therapies,whichhavehistorically played a poor cousin tomedication.Butwhatholdsthegreatestpromisefora

country of our size, diversity and resources,are the frugal innovationswhich Indian sci-entistsandpractitionershaveingeniouslypi-oneered, at thevanguardofwhich is thede-ploymentofcommunityhealthworkerswho,withappropriatetrainingandsupervision,ef-fectively deliver psychosocial interventionsfor conditions ranging fromautismandde-pressiontodrinkingproblemsandpsychoses.A brief psychological treatment for depres-siondevelopedbySangath,oneoftheleadinginnovatorsinthecountry,hastheuniquedis-tinction of now being implemented inwealthy nations like the US and Canada.

Sangath is forgingpartnershipswith severalstate governments to scale up its psychoso-cialinterventionsthroughcommunityhealthworkers and, in doing so, reimagining howmental health care can be delivered even inthemostunder-resourcedcommunitiesofthecountry.For readerswho arewondering how to

managetheirownmentalhealth, there isnoone-size-fits-allprescription forexperienceswhich are intimately intertwinedwith ourunique, personal life stories. Yet, there aresomegeneralprinciplesImightsuggest.First,be aware of and acknowledge yourmentalhealth,asmuchasyoudoyourphysicalhealth.Feelingirritablefornoreasonshouldbeasim-portant to you as feeling pain in your chest.Second, this should leadyoutotalk tosome-one,anyoneyoufeelcomfortablewith,for“It’sOktoTalk”,aslogancoinedbySangathtopro-mote the idea that sharingone’s story aboutmental health is not only a powerfulway tofeelbetter,butisalsothemosteffectivestrat-egytoreducestigma.Third,dosomethingforothers,forscience

has shown that care-giving and communityservicenotonlymakesyourlifemorereward-ing, but also longer. Fourth, remind yourselfthat all of humanity is beingbuffeted by thesameroughseasand,evenifsomeofustravelin yachts, the overwhelmingmajority of uswillsafelyreachtheshore.Thisepochaleventwill pass, as every pandemic has in history.Finally, if yourdistress ispersistentandcom-inginthewayofgettingthingsdone,seekhelpfromaprofessional.Inclosing,apleaforthosewhofinanceand

providehealth care: This is a historic oppor-tunitytoinvestinandtransformIndia’smen-tal health care system.Whilewe certainlyneedmoremoney,we also need to spend itwisely, guided by the best science.Mentalhealthcaremustembracethediversityofex-periencesandstrategieswhichwork,wellbe-yond thenarrowconfines of traditional bio-medicine with its emphasis on “doctors,diagnosesanddrugs”.Icannotimagineamorevaluable investment in response to themostseriouscrisis facingthecountrysinceour in-dependence.

Thewriter is thePershingSquareProfessorofGlobalHealthatHarvardMedicalSchool

Mental health problemswere already a majorcontributor to the burden ofillness in India before thepandemic, with a third of allfemale and a quarter of allmale suicide deaths in theworld occurring in thiscountry. Most of this illnessand death goes unnoticed.Celebrity suicides andtestimonies attract ourattention to mental healthbecause it is the onlyexplanation we can invokefor people who are soprivileged. Of course, it is thepoor, dispossessed andmarginalised who bear thegreatest burden of mentalhealth problems, but we havehistorically dismissed theirsuffering as a naturalextension of their social andeconomic conditions. And itis this vast section of ourpopulation which will bedisproportionately affectedby the economic recession.

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,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020 WORDLYWISEGoverningagreatnation is like cookingasmall fish—toomuchhandlingwill spoil it.

— Lao-tzuTHEEDITORIALPAGE

KhaledAhmed

RELIGION VS REASONNewcoerciveorder spreadingoverMuslimsociety isnotpolitical, but intellectual

PROFESSORPERVEZAMIRALIHoodbhoy,whoteachesphysicsandmathatLahore’sFormanChristian University, has been told that hiscontractwill not be renewed in 2021. In thesameweek,thePunjabgovernorannouncedthatalluniversitiesof theprovincewouldberequiredtoteachtheHolyQuranasacompul-sorysubject.HoodbhoyholdsaPhDinnuclearphysics

and he objects to acts of state and societyagainst reason. His book, Islam and Science:Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle forRationality, explains thesourceofhis troublewiththeideologicalstateofPakistan. It isnotthat he hates religion—heobjects to acts ofirrationality in thenameof religion. The twoscientistshemostadmires,SRamanujanandAbdusSalam,weredeeplyreligious.He protested, however, when the

GovernorofPunjabSalmaanTaseerwasmur-deredbyhispoliceguardwhenhedefendeda Christianwoman accused of insulting theHoly Prophet under Pakistan’s Anti-Blasphemy law. Living underGeneral Zia-ulHaq’s Islamicmartial law, he got put off by a1987 conference on “scientificmiracles” inwhichMuslimscientistsmixedreligiousmir-aclewithscientificdiscovery.Pakistaniscien-tists, encouraged by a funding of Rs 66 lakh(halfofwhichwasprovidedbySaudiArabia),talkedrubbishabout scienceanddemeanedthedivinewritof theQuran.The chief scientist of Pakistan, Salim

Mehmud, tried to give himself a leg-up by

making a hash of the theory of relativity bylinkingitwiththe“mairaj”(ascension)of theHolyProphet(PBUH).Anotherscientist,lucr-ativelyemployedatTheHolyQuranResearchFoundation,proposedthatallenergy-relatedproblems could be solved by taming the“jinns”becausetheyweremadeof fire.Hoodbhoyhasexaminedtherootsofthese

ridiculousattitudesamongMuslimscientistsandhascomeupwithawell-researchedbookaboutthemaltreatmentofthescientificprin-ciple inMuslim societies. He got theNobelPrize laureateAbdus Salam towrite its pref-acebecausetheprofessorhadalreadymadeaplaintiveappealtotheMuslimworldtospendmoneyonscientific advancement insteadof“conquering”sciencethroughdogma.Hoodbhoy tellsus that scientific facts are

contingent. They are empirically provenbutsubject to changeupon further discovery. Inhisview,itiswrongtolinktheeternaltruthofIslam to this evolving understanding of thephenomena.Scienceisobservationandlogicwhose predictability is not destroyedby thenewunderstandingofquantumphysics.Forabeliever, it is important to separate divineknowledge fromempirical fact, but this sep-aration shouldnot impinge on the ferociousIslamicpolemicagainstsecularism.ScienceinIslamwasdestroyedbecauseit

neverbecameappliedenoughto involvethecommonman. Scientistswere employedbythe kings, but these scientistswere at timeskilledafterthedeathofthepatron.Theauthor

quotes Syed Ameer Ali on Islamic thinkerswho thought the scientific method anti-Islamic:Al-Ashari,IbnHanbal,Al-GhazaliandIbnTaymiyya.HeexaminesthecasemadebytheleadingAshariteImamGhazaliagainstthestudy of logic andmathematics and thinksthatthiswastobecomethegreatest intellec-tualhurdleagainstthelearningofscience.Hecriticises contemporary Islamic scholarHusseinNasrforblamingthesciencesforthemisdirectionoftheMuslimmind.HiscritiqueofZiauddinSardarforintroducingthepolemicof secularismintothesciencesis fair.Hoodbhoy stepsbeyond thepaleof anti-

scientismwhenhe gives statistics about thepoverty of science-learning in theMuslimworld. One has to helplessly concede thatwhereMuslimscontroltheirsocieties,theonebranchofknowledgethatbecomesneglectedisthesciences.HoodbhoyhasdiagnosedwhatishappeningtotheMuslimmind.Thismindisnotonlyproducingstrangereactionstothesciences;itisalsotryingtotacklethequestionof governancewithout separating the statefromreligiousbelief.ThenewcoerciveorderspreadingoverMuslimsocietyisnotpolitical,butintellectual.Thetragicfact,however,isthatthisexperimentistoolateinthedayandquiteredundant in light ofwhat the institution ofthestatehasgonethroughinIslam'sownhis-toryandothercivilisations.

Thewriter isconsultingeditor,NewsweekPakistan

Hoodbhoy has diagnosedwhat is happening to theMuslim mind. This mind isnot only producing strangereactions to the sciences; it isalso trying to tackle thequestion of governancewithout separating the statefrom religious belief. Thenew coercive order spreadingover Muslim society is notpolitical, but intellectual.

THE BUDGET EFFECTPROBABLYFORTHE first time, financemin-istryofficialsattheircustomarypost-budgetpress conference refused to hazard a guessonthepossibleimpactofthebudgetpropos-als on prices. But theymaintained that thebudget was definitely aimed at having a“moderatingeffect”onthe inflationaryten-denciesnowevidentintheeconomy.Thefi-nance secretary, G Ramachandran, and thesecretary, economic affairs, R NMalhotra,hadahardtimeexplaining“away”(toquoteRamachandranhimself)someof theanom-alies pointed out by correspondents in theexplanatorymemorandumtothebudget.Allthat they would say was that these were

“mattersof accountingdetails”.

TRIPURA VIOLENCETWO PERSONSWERE killed and seven in-juredinanarmedraidbyTripuritribalterror-ists at Bathaipari, near Khowai, in TripuraWest district, about 80 km from Agartalaearlythismorning.About50extremistswithfirearmsswoopedonthevillageat2amandfired indiscriminately. Two persons werekilled on the spot while seven others sus-tained bullet injuries. The injured wererushedtoKhowaihospitalwherethecondi-tionof twoofthemwasstated"critical” .Theterroristslootedaboutadozenshopsandre-treated into the jungle/

CARTER APPROVALPRESIDENTJIMMYCARTERhassignedanex-ecutive order approving the pending ship-ments of 38 tonnes of lightly enriched ura-nium for the Tarapur nuclear power plant.Theorderwillhave togo toCongresswhichwillhave60daysunder thestatute to rejectorratifyit.ThePresident’sdecisionauthoris-ingtheshipmentswasformallyconveyedtothesenate foreign relationscommitteeear-lierbythedeputysecretaryof state,WarrenChristopher.ChristophersaidthatCarterde-cided to overrule the Nuclear RegulatoryCommissiondespitefearsthatitmightdam-ageAmerica’s attempt tocurb the spreadofnuclearweapons.

JUNE 20, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

THE SUICIDE OF the actor Sushant SinghRajput,daysafter thatof hismanager,whichin turn precipitated a public acknowledge-mentbyMilindDeora,aprominentpolitician,of his own trystwith depression, has oncemorethrustmentalhealthintothespotlight.Theopenandthoughtfulmannerwithwhichthissubject,usuallyinvisibleeventhoughitisat the core of our personhood, is being dis-cussed,isverywelcome.Theimperativenowis tounderstand thenatureofmentalhealthdistressandwhatwemustdotoaddressit inthesetroubledtimes.Ithinkofthementalhealthconsequences

of the pandemic as playing out in twoover-lapping acts. The first act, which began inMarch, is characterised by a “pandemic offear”,largelyasaconsequenceoftheprofounduncertaintieswhich have overwhelmed allourlives.Ifoneconsidersthesheerbreadthoftheseuncertainties,fromourpersonalrisktobeinfected,towhythecountryisfacingasurg-ingepidemicdespitethemoststringentlock-downintheworld,orwhenlifewillreturntoa semblance of what it used to be, orwhatnewswe shouldbelieve in, towhat our eco-nomicprospectsmightlooklike,itisnotatallsurprising that experiences of anxiety, fear-fulness,sleepproblems,irritabilityandhope-lessnesshavebecomewidespread.Thesearemostlyrationalresponsesofourmindstotheextraordinaryrealitieswearefacing.Thatsaid,for thosewhowere already facingmentalhealthdifficultiesbeforethepandemic,theseexperiencesmight be the straw that breaksthecamel’sback.Butit isthesecondactwhichthreatensto

morph into amore sinister pandemic in themonths ahead. “Deaths of despair”, a termcoinedbytheNobelprizewinningeconomist,AngusDeaton,havebeendocumentedasthereasonforthereductioninthelifeexpectancyofworking-ageAmericansfollowingtheeco-nomic recession in 2008. Suicide and sub-stance use relatedmortality accounted formost of these deaths, driven by growing in-equality, theweakening position of labour,deep polarisation of society and the lack ofprospects for the future. By all accounts, theeconomic recession facing Indiawill be in-comparably greater. India not only sharesmanyoftheillsofAmericansociety,buthasto,additionally, contendwithcolossalnumbers

A perfect storm

Jaipur

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“While schools, teachers and families have undoubtedly done their best indifficult circumstances, the pandemic has thrown a harsh light on the Englishsystem’s weakness.” —THEGUARDIANTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

It is time for politicians,diplomats, and the militaryto come together to discusswhether stationing threelakh troops over 3,000 km ofhigh altitude border fornearly 70 years constitutes aviable national strategy. Thearmy has coped valiantly,but by 2060, we would havebeen defending theHimalayan border for acentury, only, because theruling party, whichever partyit may be, is too cautious toforge a national consensuson demarcating anddemilitarising the Sino-Indian border.

What the migrantworker needs

Economic,humanitariancrisisfacedbymigrantworkersisurgent,demandsacomprehensiveresponsethatincludesrelief,structuralchanges

THEISSUEOFmigrantworkershasevokedwidespreaddebateinthedevelopmentdis-courseinIndia.Ihaveadeepandabidingin-terestinthisissuebecauseUttarPradeshandBiharaccountforthehighestoutflowofmi-gration. Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odishaand Rajasthan are the other importantsource states ofmigrants,who aremainlyemployedinconstruction,factories,domes-ticwork, textiles, brick-kilns, transportandagriculture. Further, Rajasthan, nowmykarmabhoomi, hasahugemigrantpopula-tion,whichdependsontourism,manufac-turing andmining industries and agricul-turefor livelihood.Migration is neitheruniquenornewto

India.TheGermanChancellorAngelaMerkelpredictedthattherefugeecrisiswouldbethedefiningfeatureof thedecadebackin2015.InIndia’scase,theFive-YearPlandocumentsbringoutthatmigrationwasnotadequatelyfactored indevelopmentplans. This is sur-prisingbecausemigrationimpactscompet-itiveness, productivity and jobs. This issuehas, however, acquiredheightened signifi-canceduringtheCOVID-19pandemic.The exodus ofmigrant labour is visible

and their suffering is palpable.Weneed toprovideundividedattentiontotheworkingconditions ofmigrantworkers. Out of thetotal labour force of 465millionworkers,around 91per cent (422million)were in-formalworkers in 2017-18. The EconomicSurvey (2017) estimated 139million sea-sonalorcircularmigrants.Circularurbanmi-grantsperformessentiallabourandprovideservicesthatmanypeoplewantbutareun-willing to provide themselves. Hence, thisissuehas implications for livelihoods, agri-culture, foodsecurity, andsafetynetpolicyaswellasprogrammeresponses.Migrantlabourers,whoaremostlyfrom

ruralareasbutlivemostof theyearincitiesforwork, lack regular salaries or incomes.Manyhavenosavingsandliveinfactorydor-mitories,whichwereclosedduringthelock-down.Thereisnocentralregistryofmigrantworkers,despitetheexistenceofTheInter-State MigrantWorkmen (Regulation ofEmploymentandConditionsofService)Actof1979.TheOccupationalSafety,HealthandWorkingConditionsCodeof2019hasbeenintroduced in Parliament to promote thewelfare ofmigrantworkers and legal pro-tection for their rights. The proposed codeseekstomerge13labourlaws,includingtheInter-stateMigrantWorkmenAct,1979intoasingle law.TheCOVID-19lockdownhitagriculture,

supply chains, food andnutrition securityand livelihoods, and adversely impactedharvesting of crops across states. Majoragrarianstatesarefacinganacuteshortageof labourers.TheCOVID-19urbanhotspots

will face a labour shortage of seasonalmi-grants,affectingtheconstructionandman-ufacturingsectors.Thecostofmovingpeo-pleisroughlydoublethatforgoodsinIndia.Theworkerswouldbenefit froma“one

nationonerationcard”,whichaddressestheproblemofration-cardportability.Themovewouldbenefitnearly670millionpeopleandwillbecompletedbyMarch2021.The current situation canbrooknode-

lay. The governmenthas taken cognisanceof the issue and announcedmeasures tocontaintheimpactonthemigrantworkers.Thefinanceminister’ssecondpressconfer-enceonMay14focusedonmigrantworkers,small farmers, street vendors. She an-nounced a provision of Rs 30,000 crorethroughNABARD,inadditiontothealreadyexisting Rs 90,000 crore allocation, for therabi harvest andpost-harvest rabi-relatedwork for small and marginal farmers.Further,Rs2 lakhcroreconcessional creditwillbeprovidedtotwocrorefarmersacrossthecountry.AboutRs11,000crorewasallo-catedfortheurbanpoor,whichincludesthemigrantworkers,forbuildingshelterhomesforthehomeless.Several government-funded housing

projectsinmajorcitieswouldbedevelopedintoaffordablerentalhousingcomplexesonaPPPmode.Further,theCentrewilltransfer8 lakhmetric tonnes of grain and 50,000metrictonnesofchanatostategovernmentstoprovide5kgof grain (wheat or rice) perlabourer and 1kg of chana per family permonthfortwomonthsfree.Thisisexpectedtobenefituptoeightcroremigrantworkers.Theissueofmigrantworkersneedstobe

considered in its entirety to formulate aspeedyandeffectiveresponse.Formanymi-grants, staying home is not an option.Wemustdeviseaprogrammeforsurvivalandamedium-term blueprint for growth andstructuraltransformation.Thisisatallorderandrequiresareviewofnationallegal,regu-latoryandinstitutionalconcernsinresettle-ment and rehabilitationofmigrant labour-ers.Thereisaneedtoadoptahumanrightsapproachtoaddressthesocio-legalissues.Theresolutionofcontradictionsintrade,

fiscal,monetaryandotherpolicies—forex-ample,theimplementationof thereportofthe task force onmigration (2017), expan-sionof theoutreachof the IntegratedChildDevelopment Services–Anganwadi (ICDS-AW)andauxiliarynursemidwives(ANMs)toincludemigrantwomenandchildrenandinclusionofmigrantchildren intheannualwork plans of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan —wouldalsobehelpful.Given the overarching environment of

uncertain livelihoods,wage lossesand lay-offs, it is necessary to strengthen the re-silience of the financial system and skillworkers.The issues and challenges of migrant

workersrequireleveraginginformationandcommunication technologies and the JAMtrinity. The debilitating physical effects ofthecoronavirusnecessitatecoordinatedandconcertedeffortsbyallstakeholderstomeetthechallengesofthepresentandtheexpec-tationsof thefuture.Weshallovercome.

Thewriter is thegovernorofRajasthan

THENEWSTRICKLING in from theGalwanvalley isdeeplyupsettinganddepressing foranyIndianmilitaryprofessional,servingorre-tired, infantry or general service. It appearsthatformanyyears,militarypatrolsfromtheIndianArmyandChina’s People’s LiberationArmy (PLA) have been encountering eachother, and standard operating procedures(SOPs) have beendrawnup to preclude anyfiringfrominfantryweaponstopreventesca-lation, for the process of de-escalation, andforbidding the “tailing” of rival patrols.Commandingofficersofbattalionspostedtothe Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC)arepresumablyfamiliarwiththeagreedpro-cedureswhen their patrols comeacrossPLApatrols. It is alsounderstoodthatcommand-ingofficershaveadequatelybriefedtheirmenonwhatSOPshavebeenagreedto.Inthis instance, theencounter inGalwan

Valley has resulted in a bloody shambles,which, fromallaccounts, the16Biharbattal-ionwasmentallyandphysicallyunpreparedfor. This is despite the fact that even in thegrapevine inDelhi, it hasbeen rumoured forsome time, that PLA patrols are beingmet,whiletheyarearmedwithbatonsorbamboostickswrappedinbundlesofbarbedwirekeptinplacebylongironnails.Ifthepatrolsarenottocarrytheirrifles,accordingtotheSOP,whatistheruleregardingbayonets?Orotherhand-

heldweapons?Photographs circulating in the newspa-

persandsocialmediahave, interestingly, re-vealedtwofactsover theyears. First, thePLApatrolsseemtotakesometroubletomeettheIndianpatrolsonhigherground,andsecond,allphotographsofphysicalencountersshowthattheChineseoutnumbertheIndiansatthepointofcontact.Thiswouldseemtoindicatethat senior officers on the PLA have givensomethoughttothetacticsofanunarmeden-counter.Havewe?If individualcommandingofficershavenotworkedouttacticsforapla-toon-to-platoon encounter, has the DG in-fantry or the infantry school simulated en-counters,toevolvetactics?What,forinstance,wouldhavebeenthereactioniftheIndianpa-trolhadconsistedofGurkhas,orKumaonisorGarhwalis?Would theyhave beenwieldingtheirkhukris?Ifnot,whynot?Because, reading between the lines, it

seems the PLApatrol came, notwith the in-tention of some good-natured pushing andshovingbut,sadly,toteachusalesson.Inthatsense,wasthis1962alloveragain?Thecom-manding officer of 16 Biharwas obviouslyleading fromthe front, andthis is somethingthatCOswilldo.Butinapushandshovesitu-ationwhywas he unescorted, to the extentthathewaskilledbymade-upweapons?It is good that both sideshave takenpre-

cautionstoavoidescalation.Nuclearweaponpowersshouldnotgetintoashootingwar,likewedowithPakistan,which is ratherbizarre.ButthatisbecausePakistanisanirresponsiblenuclear power. In this case, the PLA patrolclearly violated the spirit of the SOPs andhence,wewerestrategicallyambushed.Evennow it is not too late to take remedialmeas-ures,whichamatureandheroicarmyliketheIndian Armywill put into place. Ideally, itwould be visionary to settle the Sino-Indianborder, probably by a swap of territories as

suggestedbyZhouEnlaiin1960,forwhichthebasisof theswapwillhavetobediscussedinParliament,or,withtheOpposition.Meanwhile,wemust be preparednot to

be strategically ambushed by an aggressiveanddishonourablePLA.Butthisiseasiersaidthan done over half a century. It is time forpoliticians, diplomats, and themilitary tocometogethertodiscusswhetherstationingthree lakh troopsover3,000kmof highalti-tudeborder for nearly 70years constitutes aviablenational strategy.Thearmyhascopedvaliantly, but by 2060,wewould have beendefendingtheHimalayanborderforacentury,only, because the ruling party, whicheverparty itmaybe, is too cautious to forgeana-tionalconsensusondemarcatinganddemil-itarisingtheSino-Indianborder.China isgal-loping forward economically and itmakesgoodsensenottogetintoashootingwarwithBeijingeithernoworinthefuture.Butthat isno excuse for political lethargy andpermit-ting the Sino-Indianborder to becomeado-mesticpolitical issue.Itisrightthatthearmyshoulddefendthe

border,butshouldthearmybe“happy”toac-ceptdefendingtheborderfor100yearsisan-otherquestion.Perhaps,thepoliticiansareun-dertheimpressionthatthearmywillwillingly“defend” a 3,000-kmborder for a century,happily,withoutescalation.Perhaps,thearmyis theonethatshouldmake itspositionclearontheissue.Thereisnoneedtogetparanoidabout theoverall Sino-Indianrelationshipasa result of this incident. This is not part of agreater Chinese strategy to curb India.Weshould treat this as a learning incident andtrain our infantry to dominate the PLA in anunarmed encounter, while simultaneouslyworkingontheboundaryissue.

Thewriter isa formerrearadmiralof theIndianNavy

NOT AS EASY

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘EasierSaid’(IE, June19). India’s imports fromChinain 2019-2020 stood at $65 billion, andeven for capital goods India is depend-ent on China. Even during this time ofpandemic, critical medical supplieswhich Indiahasbeen importing forourfrontlinehealthcareworkerscomefromChina.Wecan’topttogodowntheroadof totaleconomicnationalism.

ShubhamChoubey,Gurugram

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial,‘EasierSaid’(IE, June 19). The growing clamour ofboycottofChineseproducts isanaturalprogressionofpublicoutragefollowingthebrutalconfrontationinGalwanValle.But,wemustrememberthatowingitisour sheer nonchalance over the yearsthat has led to a situationwhere Chinahasmade deep inroads into our eco-nomic spheres: Itwould be difficult towriggleoutof thissituationnow.Giventhe circumstances, any knee-jerk reac-tion against Chinese goods shall becounter-productive.

RaviMathur,Noida

UNKINDEST CUTThis refers to the article, ‘Mess inManipur’ (IE, June 19). The first-past-the-postsystemhasbroughttotheforeglaring loopholes in electoral politicsinIndia.Lawmakershavebecomeakinto merchandise. Any expectation ofideological commitment from thepoliticians is looked at with scorn by

them. The saddest part is that the citi-zens don't seem to have any qualmsabout all this. This loss of the demo-cratic instinctamongcommonpeopleis undoubtedly the unkindest cut onthe soulof Indiandemocracy.

MAbdullahGhazali,Patna

MOMENT OF UNITYTHIS REFERS TO the article ‘A time forempathy’ (IE, June 19). The messageholdsgoodinthesetimes.Theeconomyis indoldrums, society isplaguedwithprejudice and the most vulnerablegroups of people have been left inlimbo. It ishightimethatall compatri-ots across thepolitical spectrumstandfirmly together for the tenets of secu-larismandequity.

VarunDas,Zirakpur

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

COVID-19 HAS induced a domino effect inthe global job market. A few days ago, astrangemessage landed inmy LinkedIn in-box: Desperation waswritten all over thepoignantpleaforajobopening.JoblesssinceMarch,withanagedCOVIDpositivemothertosupport,thishighlyqualifiedprofessionalis now part of the gig economy. Theword“gig”, associated till not too long agowith agroup of travellingmusicians, subsumes inits current parlance all freelancers, discon-nected from theworkplace. The drivers ofUber, the delivery boys of Zomato, theplumbers and electricians of Urban Clapmake up the gig world. Mobility connectsthem;mobileempowersthem.Thegigecon-omyisnotconfinedtolow-skilledjobs.Free-spiritedmavericksfindsolaceinit,asdocre-ativegeniuses.Thepre-COVID-19phasehadseenanex-

plosionofopportunitiesinthesharedecon-omy,ridingondigitalplatformtechnologies.AGallupstudyof2018estimatedthat36percentofAmericanworkershadagigworkingarrangement in some capacity. This was amarkerofthegrowingglobaltrend.Thepan-demicisnowreshapingthatgiguniverse. InthewordsofRaghuramRajan“thegigecon-omy, which looked so wonderful whenthingswere going swimmingly, is going tolook a lotmore precarious”. The classic giganchors, including pioneers of the shared

economy, Uber and AirBnB, have laid offthousands of people. In contrast to this,highly skilled professionals — handed pinkslips by employers — are joining the gigbandwagon. Aviation, hospitality, automo-bile entertainment and retail are the hard-est hit sectors. Even journalism is underthreat.Unaccustomedwiththenavigationaltoolsof thegigarena,theseprofessionalsarefacing a new anxiety. Job demandwill faroutstrip supply, at least in the short-term.Downsizingwill becomemorepervasiveascost-cutting becomes inescapable. Whatdoes the future hold for the swelling num-berofpeoplearoundtheworld,hurtlingintothenebulousgig space?ADeloitte report fromApril — Future of

workaccelerated—notes that Indianorgan-isationsareconsideringtoexpandtheshareof gigworkers, as dependence on full-timeworkers reduces.With shrinking full-timejobs, assignment-based hiringwill becomethe norm. For instance, a graphic designerworking from home could be in demandwithamediahouse.Acompany likeNetflixwould seek AI experts, paid by the hour, topersonalisestreamingexperiences.Amatch-makerisneededtoconnectfirmswithqual-ified candidates. Job portals have, hitherto,beengearedtowardsfull-timeemploymentandblue-collaredworkers.Themissinglinkin the talentmarketplace is anationaldata-

base of job seekers and job creators. Aprospectiveemployeewouldneedaccesstoajobdatabase,sortedbyskill,geography,du-rationandemoluments.Companies shouldbeabletodipintothedatapoolof talent,ex-perience,location,qualificationandexpecta-tion.Currently,bothdatasetsarefragmentedand stored in silos. The government couldplay the role of a facilitator, in partnershipwith the private sector, to create a unifieddatabasetoprovideefficienthiringsolutions.Peopleworkingfromhome,outof choiceorcompulsion, would get a crediblemediumto find thebest fit for their skills.Apost-COVIDworldwouldneedtorede-

finetherulesofoffice.Technologyoffersad-equate solutions for distributed, collabora-tiveworkplaces.Insomecases,thisflexibilityeveninfusesgreaterproductivity.Atthesametime, joiningthegigeconomyincreasesem-ployeevulnerability.Hence, this segmentoftheeconomy,sofaroutsidetheambitofreg-ulatorylabourpolicies,nowmeritsattention.The current crisis should force a discussionon the levels of social protection whichshouldbeavailable togigworkers includingwage protection, health benefits and safetyassurance.TheKarnatakagovernment,infact,hasreportedlycommenceddeliberationsforintroducinganewlabourlegislationfocusedonthegigeconomy.Thecompassofhighereducationhasal-

wayspointedinthedirectionofwhitecollarjobs—thiscallsforarecalibration.Theplace-mentcellsofcollegesanduniversitieswouldneedto reorientandfocusonpreparingstu-dents for freelancing opportunities, apartfromregularcampusplacements.Thiswar-rantsareorientationofexpectationsfortak-ingasoloplungeintotheworldofwork.Forthe educated youth, this could be the firststep towards entrepreneurship. Gender isanother crucial dimension of the digitallabourmarkets. The low enrolment of girlsforhighereducation in science, technology,engineeringandmathwouldconstricttheiruniverse of opportunity in the gig world.Goingahead,thiswouldneedgreaterpolicyattention toensuregenderparity.Itmaybe impertinent to hazard a guess

onhowmuch the current contagionwouldalter traditional jobs.Thoseat thethresholdofemployment,aswellasthoseonthebrinkof unemployment, are equally perplexed.Newtoolsandskillsarerequiredtosurviveinthegig economy.Great opportunity cohab-its with great risk in the new economy.Therefore, the government and the privatesectorwouldneedtocollaboratealongwithacademiatobuildadequatesafeguardsintheunfoldingeco-system.

Theauthor isan IASofficer.Viewsarepersonal

Contoursofpost-Covideconomysuggestanewframeworkofemployment

A reworked landscapeAshishKundra

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●WHOISAHISTORIAN?:

NAVNEETSHARMA

●●ANAYURVEDARENAISSANCE:ARVINDCHOPRA

www.indianexpress.com

RajaMenon

KalrajMishra

CR Sasikumar

Weshouldtreat itasa learning incidentandtrainour infantry todominate thePLAinanunarmedencounter,whilesimultaneouslyworkingontheboundary issue

The face-off inGalwan Valley

Jaipur

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BRITAIN

MALALACELEBRATESOXFORDDEGREEShe is known the world over for her campaign for girls’ education. Now Nobel PeacePrize winner Malala Yousafzai has finished her degree at Oxford University. “Hardto express my joy and gratitude right now... I don’t know what’s ahead. For now, itwill be Netflix, reading and sleep,” she said on her Twitter and Instagram feeds.

BELARUS

PresidentsaysfoiledforeignplotafterrivalarrestedMinsk: PresidentAlexander LukashenkosaidonFridayBelarushadfoiled a foreign plot todestabilise the countryaheadof thepresidentialelection in August, a dayafter the arrest of hismain political rivalsparked protests. Therehad been a large-scaleplan to foment a revolu-tion akin to theMaidanstreetprotestsinUkrainein2014,Lukashenkosaid.He said political forcesfrom“bothfromtheWestand from the East” hadconcentrated their inter-ests in Belarus, and that“certain forces” had in-tensifiedtheirefforts,ac-cording to the officialBelTAnewsagency.

BelarusianPresidentAlexanderLukashenko

TOPOFTHEWORLD

UNITEDNATIONS

Emergencyaiddeliverymayendnextmonth:UNJohannesburg: A globalemergencydelivery serv-ice that has kept tons ofhumanitarianaid flowingdespitecoronavirustravelrestrictions could shutdownnextmonthif fund-ingcan’tbe foundtokeepitrunning,theWorldFoodProgramwarned Friday.The shortfall comes “justasdemandforthisserviceis reaching itspeak,”WFPsaid.Ofthe$965milliontokeep the service goingthrough the end of theyear,$178millionhasbeenconfirmed.Whilenationsthat are traditionally theworld’s top donorsweredistractedby thegrowingpandemic, theWFP, theUN’s logistics leader,heavedtheemergencyop-erationintoplacewithun-precedentedreach.

NEWZEALAND

CopshotdeadduringroutinetrafficstopANEWZealandpoliceof-ficer was killed and an-otherseriouslyinjuredonFriday after they wereshotduringaroutinetraf-ficstop, thecountry’spo-licecommissionersaid,asofficials urgently huntedfor the suspect. Schoolsanddaycarecentresnearthe scene of the incidentinAucklandwereonlock-down as police searchedfor the shooter, who alsoinjured amember of thepublic when fleeing bycar.Thetwoofficerswereunarmed,which is usualprocedure in NewZealand.

REUTERSBEIJING,GENEVA, JUNE19

CHINAHASreleasedgenomese-quencing data for the coron-avirus responsible for a recentoutbreakinBeijing,withofficialssaying on Friday it identified aEuropean strain based on pre-liminarystudies.China,whichhadbeenunder

pressuretomakethedatapublicsooner rather than later asCovid-19 cases mount in thecountry’scapital,saidithadalsosubmittedthedatatotheWorldHealthOrganization.TheUShasblamedChina for

nothandling the initial outbreakin central China properly andmovingtooslowlytocontaintheepidemic, leading tomountingcasesanddeathsintheUSChinahasrejectedthataccu-

sation, saying itwastedno timein releasing information aboutthe epidemic including thegenome sequence of the initialcoronavirusoutbreakinWuhan.InthelatestBeijingoutbreak,

theWHO said on Sunday it hadbeeninformedbytheChineseofongoing investigations into thesource of the cluster and the ex-tentoftheinfections.Itrequestedthe genetic sequences to be re-leasedassoonaspossible.

Details publishedonChina’sNationalMicrobiologyDataCenterwebsite revealed the BeijinggenomedatawasbasedonthreesamplescollectedonJune11.That was the same day the

Chinesecapital reported its firstnew local Covid-19 infection inmonths. In the eight days since,Beijinghasreportedatotalof183cases, linked to the sprawlingwholesalefoodcentreofXinfadiin thecity’s southwest.“Accordingtopreliminaryge-

nomicandepidemiologicalstudyresults, the virus is fromEurope,but it is different from the viruscurrently spreading in Europe,”ChineseCentreforDiseaseControland Prevention official ZhangYongwascitedassayinginanar-ticle published on Friday by theCentralCommissionforDisciplineInspectiononitswebsite.Meanwhile, theWHO said

the coronavirus pandemicwasaccelerating, with Thursday’s150,000 new cases the highestinasingledayandnearlyhalf ofthemin theAmericas.“The world is in a new and

dangerous phase,” DirectorGeneral Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesustoldavirtualbrief-ing fromWHOheadquarters inGeneva.“Thevirusisstillspread-ingfast, itisstilldeadly,andmostpeoplearestill susceptible.”

REUTERSJUNE19

FACEBOOKSAIDonThursdaythatittookdownpostsandadsrunbythe re-election campaign of USPresidentDonaldTrump for vio-latingitspolicyagainstorganisedhate. On the same day, Twitteraddeda ‘manipulatedmedia’ la-belonavideopostedonTrump’sTwitter feed that showedadoc-torednewsclipwithamis-spelledbanner flashing “Terrified todlerrunsfromracistbaby”.The ads taken down by

Facebook showeda red invertedtriangle,asymbol theNazisusedtoidentifypoliticalprisoners,withtextaskingFacebookuserstosignapetitionagainstantifa,a looselyorganisedanti-fascistmovement.“Ourpolicyprohibits using a

bannedhate group’s symbol toidentifypolitical prisonerswith-outthecontextthatcondemnsordiscusses the symbol,” said aFacebookcompanyspokesperson.OnTwitter,Trumphadposted

aneditedversionofavideo,whichwentviralonsocialmediain2019,showing a black toddler and awhite toddler running towardseach other and hugging. It waspublishedherewiththeheadline“Thesetwotoddlersareshowinguswhatreal-lifebestieslooklike”on CNN'swebsite last year. TheclipsharedinTrump'stweet firstshowsthepartwhereoneofthosetoddlersisseenrunningaheadoftheother.Atonepointthebannerreads: "Racist baby probably aTrumpvoter".Thetweetedvideothengoes

on to show the original videoand concludes : “America is nottheproblem.Fakenews is.”

US MARKS JUNETEENTH — WITH PROTESTSAJuneteenthAwarenessWalk inBoston,Massachusetts.Reuters

HYONHEESHIN&JOSHSMITHSEOUL, JUNE19

SOUTH KOREAN PresidentMoonJae-inonFridayacceptedthe resignation of theministerresponsible for relations withNorth Korea, as tensions withPyongyang rise over the activi-tiesofdefectorsintheSouthandstalleddiplomacy.South Korean Unification

Minister Kim Yeon-chul, whooversees engagement withNorth Korea, offered onWednesdaytostepdown,mak-ing himself accountable for theworsening ties.After seeing a boost in

favourability over his govern-ment’s handling of the coron-avirusoutbreak,Moon’sapprovalratingfellto55%,thelowestlevelinaboutthreemonths,drivenbyworries over North Korea, ac-cordingtoaGallupKoreapollre-leasedonFriday.North Korea has snubbed

Seoul’s calls for engagement asefforts to restart inter-KoreaneconomicprojectsstalledduetointernationalsanctionsdesignedtoreinintheNorth’snuclearandmissileprogrammes.REUTERS

JAVIERCHERNÁNDEZJUNE19

CHINESEOFFICIALSsaidonFridaytheyhadindictedtwoCanadiansonchargesof espionage, escalat-ing Beijing’s punitive campaignagainstCanadaoverthearrestofatopexecutiveoftheChinesetech-nologygiantHuawei.Thetwomen,MichaelKovrig,

a former diplomat, andMichael

Spavor, a business consultant,were detained in 2018 as rela-tionsbetweenChinaandCanadasouredwhen Canada arrestedthe chief financial officer ofHuawei at the request of theUnited States. They are now atthe center of a heated interna-tional dispute that has pittedChina against Canada and theUnitedStates,atatimewhenre-lationshavedeterioratedtotheirlowestpoint indecades.

InbriefstatementsonFriday,Chinese court officials said thatKovrig had been indicted inBeijing on charges of espionageand“gatheringstatesecretsandintelligence for foreign coun-tries.” Spavor was indicted inDandong,anortheasterncity,onthesimilarchargesofespionageand“illegallyprovidingstatese-crets for foreigncountries.”TheChinese government on

Friday defended the indict-

ments. “The criminal facts areclearandtheevidenceisverifiedandsufficient,”aspokesmanforthe Chinese Foreign Ministry,Zhao Lijian, said at a news con-ference inBeijing.When a reporter asked how

China viewed “hostage diplo-macy”, Zhaobristled. “Youaskaquestion brimming withmal-ice,” he said. “Youbetter ask theCanadian government whathostagediplomacy is.”NYT

WHOsaysvirusaccelerating,Thursdaymarksnewhighformostcasesinaday

COVID-19PANDEMIC

China releasesBeijing virus genomedata, officials say strain European

SINGAPORECURBSRELAXED:TablesinstalledwithplexiglassdividersatafoodcourtinSingapore.Singaporeanscannoweatatrestaurants,workoutatthegymandsocialisewithfivepeopleorless,asthecity-stateremovedmostof itslockdownrestrictionsonFriday.Reuters

Sewage study suggests Covid-19 wasin Italy as far back as December 2019REUTERSMILAN, LONDON,JUNE19

SCIENTISTS IN Italy have foundtraces of thenewcoronavirus inwastewatercollectedfromMilanand Turin in December 2019—suggestingCovid-19wasalreadycirculating inNorthern Italy be-foreChinareportedthefirstcases.

The ItalianNational Instituteof Health looked at 40 sewagesamples collected fromwaste-water treatmentplants innorth-ern Italy betweenOctober 2019andFebruary2020.Ananalysisre-leasedlateonThursdaysaidsam-ples taken inMilanandTurinonDec 18 showed the presence oftheSARS-Cov-2virus.“Thisresearchmayhelpusun-

derstand the beginning of viruscirculationinItaly,”GiuseppinaLaRosa,whoco-ledthestudy,said.Small studies conducted in

Europe and Australia havefound signs the virus thatcauses Covid-19 can be de-tected in sewage, and manycountries are beginning to usewastewater sampling to trackthe spread of the disease.

MUJIBMASHALKABUL, JUNE19

THEUNITEDStateshasreducedthe number of troops it has inAfghanistan to 8,600 in accor-dancewithapreliminarypeacedeal with the Taliban, a topAmerican general said onThursday, evenas other aspectsof the plan to end thewar havefacedsetbacksanddelays.Atthepeakofthenearlytwo-

decade war, there were morethan 100,000 US troops inAfghanistan, alongwith tens ofthousandsfromabout40nationsintheUS-ledNATOcoalition.Thatnumber has dropped in recentyears, as all sides admitted thewar could not bewonmilitarily.The United States shifted to astrategyofseekingapoliticalset-tlement,whichhasproved tobehaltingandcomplicated.The signing of the dealwith

theTalibaninFebruaryinitiateda phasedwithdrawal of the USmilitary personnel who werestill in the country. The agree-ment also included a prisonerexchange and direct negotia-tions between the Taliban andAfghanistan’s government overthecountry’spolitical future.American officials said they

alsohadanunderstandingwiththe Taliban that violence levelswouldbereducedby80percent,though that wasn’t spelled outin thedeal.“Wehavemetourpartof the

agreement,” saidGeneral FrankMcKenzie,who leadsUSCentralCommand. “We’ve agreed to gotomid-8,000 rangewithin 135days.We’reatthatnumbernow.”McKenzie,whowasspeaking

in a video conference organisedbytheAspenStrategyGroup,sug-gested that completing a fullwithdrawal in14months, as thedeal calls for, would depend ontheTaliban.NYT

■ Inanyotheryear,Juneteenth,whichmarksthedayin1865thatthoseenslavedintheUSlearnedtheyweresetfree,wouldbemarkedbyblackfamilieswithacookout,aparadeandacommunityfestival.

■Butin2020,asthecoronavirusravishesblackAmericadisproportionately,andaspolicebrutalitycontinuestodevastateblackfamilies, Juneteenthhasbecomeadayofprotest.

■Friday’scelebrationsweremarkedfromcoasttocoastwithdemonstrationsof civildisobedience,alongwithexpressionsofblackjoyinspiteofanespeciallytraumatictimeforthenation. AP

China indicts 2 Canadians, escalating dispute

Amid tensionswith North,South Korea’sUnificationMinister resigns

SKorea’sUnificationMinisterKimYeon-chul

FB takes down Trumpads, Twitter labels histweet ‘manipulated’

Trumpatameeting intheWhiteHouseonThursday.

Reuters

REUTERSMADRID, JUNE19

SPANISHNOVELIST Carlos RuizZafon, whose book The Shadowof theWind sold more than 15million copies, has died of can-cer aged 55 in Los Angeles, hispublishinghousesaidonFriday.Zafon beganhis career in ju-

venile literature before publish-ing thework,whichbecamethemost read Spanish novel afterMigueldeCervantes’ classicDonQuixote,EditorialPlanetasaid.Thenovel—thefirstofafour-

partseries,whichwastranslatedinto over 40 languages world-wide—was in 2014 selected byBritish publisher PenguinClassics as one of 26 “classics ofuniversal literature”.

Zafon’seditorspaidhomagetotheauthorbyquotingfromoneofits passages: “Every book, everyvolumeyou see, has a soul. Thesoulof theonewhowrote it, andthesoulof thosewhoread it andlived and dreamed with it,”EditorialPlanetapostedonTwitter.Barcelona-born but living in

Los Angeles, California, Zafonwas one of the Spanish lan-guage’smostsuccessfulwriters,withcriticsoftencomparinghimtoCharlesDickensforhisdense,Gothicstyle, fast-pacedintrigueandcolourful characters.Zafon’s enduring fascination

withhisnativecitywasevidentinhisworks,wherethemysteriesofabygoneBarcelonaloomassignif-icantlyasanyhumancharacter.SpanishPrimeMinisterPedro

Sanchez tweeted: “One of themost read and admired Spanishauthorsworldwide has left us.Carlos Ruiz Zafon, a contempo-rary novelist of reference, leavesanimportantmarkinmodernlit-erature. Thank you for letting ustravel throughyourstories.”A message on Zafon’s own

Twitter account said: “We’llcontinue dreamingwith everyword hewrote.”

Bestselling Spanish novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon,author of The Shadow of the Wind, dies at 55

ASSOCIATEDPRESSLONDON,JUNE19

IANHOLM,anacclaimedBritishactor whose long career in-cluded roles in Chariots of FireandTheLordoftheRingshasdied.Hewas88.Holmdiedpeacefully Friday

morning in a hospital, sur-roundedbyhisfamilyandcarer,his agent, Alex Irwin, said in astatement. His illness wasParkinson’s related.A star of stage and screen,

Holm won a Tony Award for

best featured actor as Lenny inHarold Pinter’s play TheHomecoming in 1967.An established figure in the

Royal ShakespeareCompany, hewonaLaurenceOlivierAwardfor

bestactor forhisperformanceinthetitleroleofKingLear in1998.He won a British Academy

Film Award and gained a sup-porting-actorOscarnominationforportrayingpioneeringathlet-

ics coach SamMussabini in thehit1982 filmChariots of Fire.Healsoappeared inTheFifth

Element, Alien, The SweetHereafter, Time Bandits, TheEmperor’s New Clothes and TheMadnessofKingGeorge.’Morere-cently, he portrayed BilboBaggins in The Hobbit and TheLordof theRings trilogies.Holmwas knighted in 1998

forhis services todrama.“His sparklingwit always ac-

companiedamischievous twin-kle in his eye,” Irwin said.“Charming, kindand ferociouslytalented,wewillmisshimhugely.”

British actor Ian Holm, who starred as BilboBaggins in Lord of the Rings, dies aged 88

AnestablishedfigureintheRoyalShakespeareCompany,hewonaLaurenceOlivierAwardforbestactorfortheroleofKingLear in1998

Washington:US PresidentDonald Trump threatenedunspecified action againstanyprotesters at hisweek-endTulsa, Oklahoma, elec-tionrally.“Anyprotesters,an-archists, agitators, lootersorlowlifes who are going toOklahoma please under-stand,youwillnotbetreatedlike you have been inNewYork,Seattle,orMinneapolis.It will be amuch differentscene!”Trumptweeted.

Atlanta:Atlanta police offi-cerscalledoutsicktoprotestthe filingofmurderchargesagainstanofficerwhoshotamanintheback.Prosecutorsbrought felonymurder andotherchargesagainstGarrettRolfe, an officer who shotRayshard Brooks after hegrabbed a Taser during astruggleandran.

Trump warnsprotesters

Atlanta officersprotest charges

THE WITHDRAWAL of UStroops from Afghanistancomes after WashingtonsignedadealwiththeTalibanin February. The dealman-datesthattheUSshouldgrad-uallypullitstroopsout,inre-turn forTalibannegotiationswiththeAfghangovernmentand a reduction of violence.TheUS troopwithdrawal isunderway,buttheTalibanareyettoholdtalkswiththegov-ernment. They have alsosteppedupthefighting,witha number of attacks acrossAfghanistan killing severalcivilians. The deal had alsocalled on the Taliban to en-sureAfghanistanwasn’tusedto launchattacksagainst theUSoritsallies.However,aUNmonitoring group had re-cently reported that theTalibanstillhadclosetieswithAl-Qaeda. This adds to fearsthatwith theUSwithdraw-ing, Afghanistan could beheaded for further chaos,especially inter-Afghantalksfail.

Peacedeal onabumpy road

US reduces troops inAfghanistan to 8,600

Jaipur

9SENSEX: 34,731.73 ▲ 523.68 NIFTY: 10,244.40 ▲ 152.75 NIKKEI: 22,478.79 ▲ 123.33 HANG SENG: 24,643.89 ▲ 178.95 FTSE: 6,302.21 ▲ 78.14 DAX: 12,419.53 ▲ 138.00

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`48,334

RUPEE`76.20

OIL$42.51

SILVER`49,160

Note:Gold, silverratesatspotmarkets inDelhi;goldper10g, silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof1900 IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH(National Centre of Department of Atomic Energy,

Government of India for Nuclear Science and Mathematics)Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai-400 005.

e-Tender NoticeTWO Part e-Tenders are invited for the following job throughNIC e-procurement system.

The Tender documents are available on www.eprocure.gov.in/cpppand TIFR Web site : www.tifr.res.in/e-tenderAll future Corrigendum/Addendum's will be published on TIFR website (e-tender)/CPPP Web site only.Tender Notice No. Pub/1/20-21

Administrative Officer

No. TenderNo. Job

EstimatedCost (Rs.)

EMD (Rs.)Tender

Fee (Rs.)

DueDate

1TFR/PD/CF19-75/192079

S/F/I of Aluminiumframed partition atTIFR, Colaba, Mumbai.

15,40,000/-30,800/-

500/-06.07.2020

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, JUNE19

THE GOVERNMENT onFridayinvitedbidsfromtransac-tion advisors including consult-ing firms, investment bankers,and financial institutions for theproposedinitialpublicoffer(IPO)of Life Insurance Corporation(LIC).The Centre has proposed to

engageup to twopre-IPOtrans-action advisors for assisting theDepartment of Investment andPublic AssetManagement (DI-PAM) in the preparatory proce-sses leadingtothe IPOof LIC.“Biddersshouldhaveadvised,

handled,andcompletedatleastonetransactionof IPOofasizeofRs5,000croreormorebetweenApril12017toMarch31,2020orshould havemanaged a capitalmarket transactionof Rs 15,000croreormoreduringtheperiod,”accordingtotherequest forpro-posal (RFP)document issuedbythe government. The advisorscan submit their bids beginningFriday, till July 13, 2020, which

willbeopenedonJuly14.The share sale of LIC, which

wassetupin1956,isexpectedtobe thebiggest in the Indiancap-italmarkets,giventhesizeoftheCorporation and its dominantposition in the life insurancemarket.The insurer’s total assetshad

touched an all-time high of Rs31.11lakhcrorein2018-19,anin-creaseof9.4percent.

MOVEMAYBECOUNTER-PRODUCTIVE,SOMECOMPANIESSAY

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,JUNE19

INDIA’S TOP drug regulatorFridaygrantedemergencyuseapprovaltoGlenmarkPharm-aceuticals for its antiviralFabiFlu (favipiravir), a drugthatthefirmhasbeentestingtheeffectivenessof inCOVID-19 treatmenthere,The IndianExpresshaslearnt.Theoraldr-ug is tobeadministeredonlyinmildtomoderateCOVID-19patientsandmaycostaroundRs100per200mgtablet.Central Drugs Standard

ControlOrganisation(CDSCO)chief Dr VGSomani allowedrestricted emergency use ofthe antiviral for amaximumcourse of 14 days, a seniorHealthMinistry official toldThe Indian Express on condi-tion of anonymity. This in-cludes a dosage of 3,600mgon the first day followedbyadosageof1,600mgdaily.However,thisapprovalhas

beengrantedontheconditionthatthedrugbeadministeredonlywith informed consent,andthatGlenmarksubmitac-tive postmarketing surveil-lance data for the first 1,000patients as soonas it receivesthesame.“Thedrugisalreadyapproved inRussia. The trialshere have shownpromisingresults,” said theofficial,whoaddedthatdatasubmitted toCDSCO shows that patientshavebeenshowingimprove-mentwithinfourdaysoftreat-mentwiththedrug.Glenmark confirmed the

approval, but did not com-mentonpricinganddetailsre-lated to its trials,whichwereconducted in10hospitals. Atleast150patientsacrossstateslikeGujarat,MaharashtraandDelhiwereapartof thetrials.“This approval has been

grantedbased onevaluationof data and in consultationwiththeSubjectExpertCom-mittee, as part of an acceler-atedapprovalprocess,consid-eringtheemergencysituationand unmetmedical need ofthe COVID-19outbreak,” thefirmtoldBSElateonFriday.“ItisforrestrictedemergencyuseinIndia.Restricteduseentailsresponsiblemedication usewhere every patient musthavesignedinformedconsentbeforetreatmentinitiation.”Unlikeinremdesivir’scase,

favipiravir is not restricted tohospitalsandinstitutionalset-tings, The Indian Expresshaslearnt. “However, it has to begivenwith informedconsentofthepatient,”saidtheofficialcitedabove.Glenmarkhasap-proachedtheNationalPharm-aceutical PricingAuthority tofixtheretailpriceofitsFabiFluandproposedapriceofarou-ndRs100atablet,saidasourceonconditionofanonymity.

COVIDWATCHPHARMACEUTICALS

Glenmark’s antiviralFabiFlu gets CDSCOemergency useapproval, with riders

PRANAVMUKUL,PRABHARAGHAVAN&ANUJBHATIANEWDELHI,JUNE19

ATA timewhen a sentiment infavour of boycotting Chinesegoodsisgatheringsteam,compa-nies across import-dependentsectorssuchasautomobile,phar-maceuticals,electronics,telecom-munications, etc have said thatanymove in this direction couldbecounter-productiveandimpacttheoverallcompetitivenessoftheIndianmanufacturingsector.Theyattribute twomain rea-

sonsforthis:One,automobileandpharmacompanieshaveinvesteddeeplyinbuildingasupplychainthat traces back toChina signifi-cantlyanddisruptingthatsupplychaincouldadverselyaffecttheircompetitive situation in the ex-port segments. Two, for compa-nies inthetelecomandelectron-icssegments,thedisruptioncouldcome from the lack of domesticmanufacturing capabilities andsignificantlyhigherinputcosts.Chinaaccounts foraround14

per cent of India’s imports,withmajor itemsintheimportbasketbeing components for smart-phonesandautomobile,telecomequipment, plastic andmetallicgoods,APIs,andotherchemicals.In telecom, the Department of

Telecommunications(DoT)hasal-readyasked state-ownedopera-tors BSNL and MTNL to keepChinesevendorsoutof thescopefortheirtenders.AdvicetoprivatecompaniestonotuseChina-madeequipment in their networks isalsobeingconsiderednow.“Clearly,thisisnotsomething

thatwewouldprefer to happenbutwehave to seewhat is in thenational interest.Huaweimakes$122 billion globally, and theymake just over $1 billion fromIndia. It’s not that if you go aftertelecom, you’llmakeabigdent,”saidRajanMathews,directorgen-eral, CellularOperators Associa-tionofIndia(COAI).“Whatourop-erators do when they want to

purchaseanypieceofequipmentfortheirnetwork,iscreatealistofall items that are necessary. Nocompanyruns100percentonjustonevendor,itisanaggregationofmultiplevendors,”headded.Further, despitehaving a laid

down plan for the electronicsmanufacturing segment since2015,muchof India’s electronicgoodsareonlyassembled locallywithhighdependenceonimportof parts fromChina.Micromax,whichwas once the topmobilephonemaker in India, lost out toChinese smartphone companieswhich camewith budget offer-ings,andnowhaslinedupseveralnewlaunches.OtherIndiancom-panieslikeIntexandLava,too,metthe same fate, though the latterstillhasagripinsmallertowns.AccordingtotheInternetand

Mobile Association of India (IA-MAI),Indiasuffersfrommanycostdisadvantages compared to na-tions like China, Vietnam, SouthKoreaandTaiwan.Suchdisadvan-tages emanate from challengeslikelogistics,highcostofdebt,lackofutilitieslikehighqualitypowerandwater.ChinaandVietnam,forinstancegiveincentivestoindus-try tomakedomesticmanufac-turingcompetitive,asperIAMAI.Similarly, for the automobile

sector, relations developedwithcomponent suppliers in Chinaoverdecadeshavegivenashotin

thearmtoIndianvehiclemakers.AnexecutiveataPune-based

automotive company said therewasaneedforacoherentstrategyon nations and suppliers. “Thatour company has spent yearsbuildinga supplierbase inChinaand that theyare contributors toour competitiveness, especiallyexternalmarkets likeAfrica andSouthAmericaiskeytoourbusi-ness. Even ifwe import a certainquantity fromChina,ourexportsare15timesthat,”thepersonsaid.While it is unclearwhether

Indiawillimplementabanonim-portsofingredientsusedtomakecrucialmedicines,someindustryexecutives fear rising tensionswithChinamay indirectly createshortages. “Themajor problemwearegoingto face is in importsof intermediates,whichweneedinhugequantitiestoconverttoac-tive pharmaceutical ingredients(APIs).ManyAPIsalsocomefromChina. Therearemanyexamplesof medicines like paracetamol,cephalosporin andpenicillin, forwhichwedonot currently pro-duce intermediates,” said RCJuneja, chairmanof Delhi-head-quarteredMankindPharma.Another fear is that, even if

Indiadoesn’timposeaban,Chinamay increaseprices of the inter-mediatesandAPIsinretaliation.

Full reportonwww.indianexpress.com

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THE GOVERNMENT is closelymonitoring transmissionof reporatecutbybankstocustomersintermsoflowerinterestrates,alongwith closelywatchingdisburse-mentofloansundertheannoun-ced scheme toprovideRs3 lakhcrore collateral free automaticloans for businesses, FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamansaidinavideointeractionwithmemb-ers of PHDChamberof Comme-rceandIndustry(PHDCCI)Friday.“We are closelymonitoring

thesituationinconsultationwithbankssothatreliefmeasuresan-nouncedby theGovernmentareeffectively percolated at groundlevelsespeciallythetransmissionof reporatecuts toconsumers intermsofreducedinterestrates,”aFinanceMinistry releasequoted

theFMassaying.“Hon’ble @FinMinIndia

@nsitharaman assured that shewill personally ensure that#banks transfer benefits of the#ratecutstoendconsumersattheearliest,”PHDCCIsaidinatweet.

‘Closely monitoring situationso that relief measures arepercolated at ground levels’

Theapprovalhasbeengrantedontheconditionthatthedrugbeadministeredonlywithinformedconsent

■ManycompanieshavesaidthatboycottingChinesegoodscouldimpactcompetitiveness

■Chinaaccountsforaround14%ofIndia’simports,includingcomponentsforsmartphonesandauto,telecomequipmentandAPIs,amongothers

14%OFIMPORTSFROMCHINA

StoppingChina importsmayhurt India’sedge,exports: telcos,pharmacompanies

All pleas relatedto FranklinTempleton to betransferred toKarnataka HCKHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,JUNE19

THE SUPREMECourt Friday di-rected transferof allpetitions re-latedtoFranklinTempletonIndiashutting down six of its debtschemesfromvarioushighcourtsin the country to the KarnatakaHighCourtwithintwoweeks.Inanoralorder,theSCalsodi-

rected theKarnatakaHC tohearthesecaseswithinthreemonths.Itsaidtillthematterisdecidedbythehighcourt,theinterimstayonthee-votingprocess forwindinguptheschemeswillcontinue.Further,theDelhiandMadras

highcourtshavesoughtresponsefromthe fundhouse andSebi onpetitions againstwinding up oftheschemes.Thecompanyisyettofileareplyinanyofthesecases.

NewDelhi:Amidst growingtension between India andChina, the FinanceMinistryFridayproposedrestrictionson foreign investment inpension funds from any ofIndia’s bordering countries.A draft notification read, “Agovernmentapprovalwouldberequiredfortheinvestingentityorindividualfromanyoftheborderingcountriesin-cludingChina.”

Curbs on pensionfunds from China

THECENTREexpectstoraiseRs90,000crorethroughstakesaleinLICandIDBIBank,andan-otherRs1.2lakhcroreviaotherdisinvestment.LICisalsoamajorityshare-holderinIDBIBank

Hopesto raise`90,000cr

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

THENATIONALCompanyLawtri-bunal (NCLT) Friday gave somemore time toStateBankof India(SBI) to file its rejoinder toareplysubmitted by industrialist AnilAmbani,inconnectionwithacasewherethelenderhasmovedtore-coverRs1,200crorefromAmbaniunder the personal guaranteeclauseofthebankruptcylaw.The Mumbai bench of the

NCLT,presidedoverbythejudicialmemberMohammedAjmalandatechnical member RavikumarDuraisamy posted the case for

hearingonJune30.SBI has filed applicationsun-

derSection95(1)oftheInsolvencyand Bankruptcy Code (IBC) tonominatearesolutionprofessionalfor the resolutionprocess of thepersonalguarantor. InMarch, theboardofSBIhadapprovedareso-lution plan for RelianceCommunications(RCom)thaten-visagedlendersrecoveringaroundRs23,000crore.RComowesaboutRs5,000croretoSBI.

NCLT gives more timeto SBI for filing rejoinderto Anil Ambani reply

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THECORPORATEAffairsMinistryon Friday invited comments onproposalsto decriminaliseprovi-sions of the Limited LiabilityPartnership(LLP)Act2008toim-prove easeof doingbusiness forlaw-abidingLLPsandtodeclogthecriminaljusticesystem.“Ithasbeendecidedtoreview

thepenalprovisionsof theAct todecriminalize compoundableof-fencesinvolvingminor,proceduralor technical violationsof theAct,oroffenceswhichmaynotinvolveanyharmtopublic interest,” theMinistrysaidinanotice.

Centre plans todecriminalisevarious provisionsof LLP Act

BRIEFLY‘Paneltodevelopjobplatform’NewDelhi:NITI Aayog hasformedapanelincludingtopofficials of tech companieslikeGoogle,Microsoft andTechMahindratodevelopajob platform for migrantlabours,accordingtosources.

Petrol,dieselpricesraisedNewDelhi:Petrol pricewashiked by 56 paise per litreanddieselby63paisealitre.

Bankcreditgrows6.24%Mumbai:Bankcreditandde-positsgrew6.24percentand11.28per cent toRs102.54lakhcroreandRs139.55lakhcrore,respectively,infortnightendedJune5,asperRBIdata.

ICICIBankdivestsstakeNew Delhi: ICICI Bank onFriday said it has divested3.96per cent stake in ICICILombardGeneralInsuranceCompanyforRs2,250crore.

PMCBankcurbsextendedMumbai: The RBI has en-hancedthewithdrawallimitatPMCBanktoRs1lakhbutextendedregulatoryrestric-tionstillDecember22.PTI

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,JUNE19

THE NATIONAL Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) hasheld that the liquidationprocessof a company under theInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC)holdsprecedenceoverout-comeof an arbitrationproceed-ing, andthereforeprocessunderIBCshallnotbestopped.Initsjudgment,athree-mem-

ber Bench of NCLAT held thatBharatHeavyElectricalsLimited’s(BHEL) objections to liquidationof Tamil Nadu-based SuranaPowerwerenotvalidasmajorityof secured creditors had giventheirconsenttoliquidation.“Itwouldbeprejudicialtostall

the liquidationprocessat the in-stanceofasinglecreditorhavingonly 26.24 per cent share (invalue), in thesecuredassets. Therespondent(BHEL)doesnotholdasuperiorchargefromtherestof

thesecuredfinancialcreditorsinthesecuredassets,” itsaid.SuranaPower,whichwasad-

mittedintoinsolvencyinJanuary2019,didnotreceiveanyvalidres-olutionplans, andwas thereforeordered to be liquidated by theChennai Bench of NationalCompanyLawTribunal(NCLT).During the liquidation pro-

ceedings,state-runBHELwonanex-parte arbitration awardagainstSuranaPower,whichgaveitlienoveralltheequipmentandgoods lyingat the latter’sunit, aswell as its partially or fully con-structedbuildings.Followingtheaward,BHEL,whichisalsooneofthe secured creditors, refused togiveitsconsentforliquidationasitwould have resulted in it get-tinglessershareaccordingtoIBC’swaterfallmechanism.BHEL’sre-fusalwas challenged by the liq-uidator at the Chennai bench ofNCLT.The adjudicating authority

hadthenruledinfavourofBHELand said the state-run companyhadfullrightstorealisethesecu-rity interests it hadwon as partof the arbitration. The NCLAThowever, set asideNCLT’s rulingandsaid that sinceBHELdidnothave theminimum60 per centvalueinsecuredinterest,itcouldnot be allowed to stall the IBCproceedings.

‘US mulling over restoringIndia’s status under GSP’LALITKJHAWASHINGTON,JUNE19

THEUS ismullingover restoringIndia’s beneficiary status underits trade preference programmeGSP on receiving a counterbal-ancingproposalfromNewDelhi,US Trade Representative RobertLighthizerhastoldlawmakers.US President Donald Trump

in June last year terminated

India’sdesignationasabenefici-arydevelopingnationunder thekeyGSP trade programmeafterdetermining that it has not as-sured theUS that itwill provide“equitableandreasonableaccess”to itsmarkets.The Generalized System of

Preference (GSP) is designed topromoteeconomicdevelopmentby allowing duty-free entry forthousandsofproductsfromdes-ignatedbeneficiarycountries.PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

RELIANCE INDUSTRIES Limited(RIL)onFridaysaidithasbecomefree of net debt aheadofMarch2021 target after raising Rs1,68,818crorefromstakesalesandarightsissuein58days.Sharesof RIL surged6.23per

cent toRs1,759.50ontheBSEonFriday,withamarketcapialisationofRs11.15lakhcrore.RIL’snet-debtwasRs1,61,035croreasofMarch2020. RIL chairman and MD

MukeshAmbani said, “Wehavefulfilledourpromisetotheshare-holders bymakingReliance netdebt-freemuchbeforeourorigi-nalscheduleofMarch31,2021.”

With over `1.69L cr raisedin 58 days, RIL debt-freebefore March ’21 target

Sensex gainsanother 524 ptson RIL rallyENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE19

LEDBYRelianceIndustriesshares,stockmarketsonFridayralliedan-other 1.5per cent on firmglobalcues,capitalinflowsanddomesticinvestor support. Despite India-Chinaborder tensionsand risingCovid infections, the Sensexgained another 524 points to34,731.73andtheNSENiftyIndexrose153pointsto10,244.40.The gains were led by RIL,

whichcontributedhalfofthegainsforNifty.Therupeeclosed6paiselowerat76.20againsttheUSdollar.

■ SuranaPower,whichwas admittedinto insolvency inJanuary2019, didnotreceive anyvalidresolutionplans, andwas thereforeorderedtobe liquidatedby theChennai BenchofNational CompanyLawTribunal (NCLT)

NOVALIDPLANSFORSURANAPOWER

NCLAT overrules BHEL objections,gives nod to Surana Power liquidation

RILchairmanandMDMukeshAmbani. File

AnilAmbani’sRelianceCommunicationsowesabout`5,000croretoSBI

LIC stake sale: Govtinvites bids for pre-IPOtransaction advisors

Jaipur

R.N.I.No. RAJENG/2015/64747 Vol. IVNo.162PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandprintedatDBPrintSolutions (AunitofDBCorp. Ltd.), BhaskarPrintingPress, Shivdaspura,RailwayCrossing, TonkRoad, JaipurandpublishedatD-54,GroundFloor,ResidentialRoad, SardarPatelMarg,ChomuHouse,C-Scheme, Jaipur -302001 (Rajasthan). Phone:0141-4043972. Fax:01414043973.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector–10,Noida–201301.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingofficephone:0141-4043972.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor :P.Vaidyanathan Iyer * (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct.) Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,

withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

THEINDIANEXPRESS,SATURDAY, JUNE20,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

10PAKPLAYERSTOBETESTEDTWICEThe England-bound Pakistani cricketers and officials will be tested forcoronavirus twice in a space of three days before boarding a charteredflight on June 28. The first test will be taken on Monday and the secondon Wednesday when the cricketers assemble in Lahore for departure. Ifanyone tests positive for COVID-19, he will not travel to England.

A SIGN OF TIMESAfootballmatchwasplayedat theMaracana inRiode JaneiroonThursdaynight, justmetresawayfromamakeshifthospitalinsidethestadiumcomplextotreatcoronaviruspatients.Reuters

■Thefirstprofessional footballmatch inSouthAmerica innearly threemonthswasstaged inastadiumonlymetresawayfromafieldhospital forhundredsofpatientsofCOVID-19,AP reported.

■Morethan47,700peoplehavediedbecauseof thevirus inBrazil,andnearly1millionhavebeeninfected.Butfootballwasallowedtoreturnafterthenumberofavailable ICUbedsshowedimprovement.

■However,a fieldhospitalwith400bedsforpatientsnear theMaracana'sgate2remindedthe200-oddpeopleat thestadiumwhymanyhealthexperts thinkit is toosoonfor football toresume.

Womenandmen’shockeyteams,whichwerestuckatSAI sinceMarch,givenmonth-longbreak

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIANEWDELHI, JUNE 19

CONFINEDTO theSAICentre inBengaluruformore than twomonths because of theCOVID-19 lockdown, "homesick" Indianhockey players were on Friday allowed toleave the facility after being granted amonth's break.Both the men's and women's national

teams were stuck at the Sports Authorityof India (SAI) South Centre in BengalurusinceMarch 25when the government an-nouncedthenationwide lockdowntocon-trol the COVID-19 pandemic.On Friday, barring a few, most of the

team members returned to their nativeplaces after being granted the break."Having consultedwith theChief Coachesof both the teams, Hockey India decidedthat it was important to give the players amuch-needed break," Mohammad.Mushtaque Ahmad, President, HockeyIndia said in a statement."The players have been specifically

briefedthat theyneedtoadhere togovern-mentguidelinesduringthisbreakandcon-tinue to follow social distancing. We arevery proud of how our players have han-dledthis situationover the last3-4monthsand have stayed strong as a unit. It is im-portant they continue to act responsiblyduring this break," he added.The players had spoken about being

homesickduringavirtual interactionwithSports Minister Kiren Rijiju a few weeksago. Barring men's team goalkeeper SurajKarkera,who belongs toMumbai, and thewomen's team trio of Vandana Katariya,Sushila Chanu and Lalremsiami, all otherplayers left theSAICentre for their respec-tive homes on Fridaymorning."Surajdidn'tgobecauseof thegravesit-

uation inMumbaiwhile Sushila, Vandanaand Lalremsiami stayed back because oftheCOVID-19protocols in their respectivestates," a source said.While Sushila is from Manipur,

Vandana and Lalremsiami hails fromUttarakhand and Mizoram respectively."Heading home...It's been more than100days in Bangalore," tweeted men'steam's seasoned goalkeeper and formercaptain P R Sreejesh from the airport.Sreejeshhails fromKerala. Thesupport

staff of the men's team, including chiefcoach Graham Reid had to stay put inBengaluru because of the restrictions oninternational travel. However, women'steam chief coach SjoerdMarijne and ana-lyticalcoach JannekeSchopman,both fromtheNetherlands,arecurrentlyontheirwayback homeviaMumbai.It has been learnt that both the teams

areexpectedtoreassembleat theSAISouthCentre inBengaluruon July19.Theplayershad begun basic sports activities on June10 after lockdown restrictionswere easedand outdoor training was allowed forOlympic-bound athletes.

‘Homesick’ players leavecamp after 100-plus days

Real Madridbeat Valencia3-0 to keep pacewith BarcelonaASSOCIATEDPRESSMADRID, JUNE19

KARIM BENZEMA scored twice andMarcoAsensioaddedanotheronhis return froma10-month injury layoff as RealMadrid beatValencia 3-0 to keep pace with leaderBarcelona in theSpanish league.The homewin on Thursday leftMadrid

twopointsbehindBarcelona,whichdefeatedLeganes 2-0 on Tuesday for its secondstraight win after the pandemic break.Madridtookcontrolofthematchafteralack-luster first half in which Valencia had themost significant scoring chances and a goaldisallowed by video review. Benzemaopened the scoring in the61stminute afterapassbyEdenHazard,whoagainwasdeci-sive forMadrid in his secondmatch after along injury layoff. Asensio, making his firstappearance since a serious knee injury lastyear,scoredwithhisfirsttouchabout30sec-ondsafterentering thematch in the74th."That's thewaytocomeback,"his team-

matescouldbeheardsayingduringthegoalcelebration at the empty AlfredoDi StefanoStadium."Icouldn'twaittocomebackaftersomanymonths of hardwork," said Asensio,whowas injured in a friendly last July. "I'mgladthatI'mbackandthatIwasabletoscore."AsensioalsosetupBenzema's thirdgoal

with a one-touch cross on a counterattackandtheFrenchstriker finishedoff themovesublimely-usinghisrightfoottoflicktheballaway from a defender and then his left tohammer it into the topof thenet. Itwas theFrenchman's 16th league goal to leave himfive behind scoring leader Lionel Messi. ItwasthefifthdoublethisseasonforBenzema,who passed Ferenc Puskas to becomeMadrid's fifth leadingscorerall-time.Valenciawent aman down in the 89th

after a straight red card was shown toSouthKoreanmidfielder LeeKang-in for afoul on Madrid defender Sergio Ramos. Afew moments later, midfielder FrancisCoquelin had to leave injured after theteam had already made all five substitu-tions. Valencia is winless after the breakanddropped to eighth place.

IndiagoalkeeperPR Sreejeshat theBengaluruairportonFriday. Twitter

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIACOLOMBO,JUNE19

SRI LANKA'S sportsministry on Friday or-deredaninvestigationintoformersportsmin-isterMahindanandaAluthgamage's allega-tion that the national cricket team's loss toIndiainthe2011WorldCupfinalwasfixedby"certain parties". The sportsministerDullasAlahapperumahasorderedtheinvestigationand asked for a report on its progress everytwoweeks, theministrysaidinastatement.The sports secretary, KADS

Ruwanchandra,onAlahapperuma'sdirective,had complained to theministry's investiga-

tion unit on Saturday. Aluthgamage has al-legedthathiscountry"sold"thegametoIndia,aclaimthatwasridiculedbyformercaptainsKumarSangakkaraandMahelaJayawardenewhodemandedevidencefromhim.

In an interview with local TV channel'Sirasa', Aluthgamagesaid the finalwas fixed.Set a target of 275, India claimed the trophythankstothebrillianceofGautamGambhir(97)andthenskipperMahendraSinghDhoni(91)."Today I amtellingyou thatwesold the

2011world cup, I said this when I was thesports minister," Aluthgamage, who wasthe sports minister at the time, said. "As acountry I do not want to announce this. Ican't exactly remember if it was 2011 or2012.Butweweretowinthatgame,"addedthe politician, whowas the state ministerof power in the current caretaker govern-mentwhich is in-charge until the electionto beheld onAugust 5.

SL govt launches probe into 2011 WC finalThesportsministerDullasAlahapperumahasorderedtheinvestigationandaskedforareportonitsprogresseverytwoweeks, theministrysaid inastatement

CROSSWORD4149

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Convenientlyenough, theMoonisalignedwithadeeplypersonal

regionof yourchart, signifyingmuch-needed improvementsathomeandinthe family. It’stheperfectmoment forturningyourattentionto taskscloseathand.Remember- littlewillhappenunlessyoutakethe lead.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Yourgenerousinstinctsmeanmorethanever thatyoumustnowbe

preparedto lendahandtothose inneed inwhateverwaysaremostappropriate.Youseemtobeable tooffer soundadvice, assist financiallyandassumeresponsibility, all at thesametime.

GEMINI(May22- June21)Realitymaynotmatch your ideas ofhow things shouldbedone. But, you

must trust that, in thewake ofthe last set of lunaralignments, the right doorswill be opened. All youhave todo is seize your chances asthey come. I know that’seasier said thandone, butyou’llmanage.

CANCER(June22- July23)Forget theways inwhichyou’vebeendisappointedor letdown.Anddon’t try

toscorepointsoff otherpeople,forwhatyougainnowcouldbemorethanoutweighedbylossesnextweek. It’smuchbetter toplay fairandofferothersonlyyoursympathyandcompassion.

LEO(July24-Aug23)It’s generally a laid-back and secretiveday, but the gradualapproach to a

profoundly creative regionofyour chart could getyour juices flowing.With anyluck you’ll soonbe brimmingwith fresh and lively ideas. Youmay consider newpropositions—andputold ones onhold.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Practical andfinancialmattersare set to improve,mainly because of

your ownhard effort andsound judgment. In this, as inother areas of your life, it’s notamatter of good luck, but of ajobwell done. I hope otherpeople remember to say‘thank you’.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)It’sanambitiousday,andmanyof youcouldbeconcernedwithprofessional

goals.Even inyourspare timetheactivitieswhichpleaseyoumostwillbe thosewhichallowyoutocompete, andholdoutthehopeof coming first.Whateveryoudo,do it to thebestof yourability.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Mercury,whichhasbeenresponsible forsomanymisunderstandings,

hascurrentlyeased itscuriousbehaviour. If partnersor lovedonesnowseempreparedtore-opendiscussionsandrenegotiate terms, losenotimeinsecuringagreement.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)This isan idealmoment forgrabbingbargains,orformakingdecisive

moves inall joint financesandinvestments.Thevery fact thatMercury isemerging fromasecretivepositionwill soonrestoreyourgood judgment.But if you’renot readytospeakyourmind justyet, that’s fine.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)TheMoon’scontinuingemotionalmotionshouldnowhave

made it clear thatyoushouldlistentopartners, comewhatmay.Even if theyarespeakingfromtheirheart rather thantheirhead, there ismuchfromwhichyoumaylearn.Youmightalso findoutwhatmakesthemtick, andthatcouldtransformyourownbehaviour.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)It’sa relativelybusyday,andevenromanticrelationshipsmust

tobeworkedat.Domesticpartnershipsareevenmore inneedof a little tinkeringaroundtheedges, just tomakesure thatothersarehappyandcontented. If lovedones feelgoodthensoshouldyou. It’ssimple, really.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Yourchart isacomplexsystemofdifferentqualitiesandcharacteristics,

andtoday’sabundanceofplanetarypressuresprovidesexactly therightcombinationofingredients tomaketodayapotentiallycreativeandpleasurable feast.Hopefullyyoucan invest thetime—youwon’tregret it.

SUDOKU4145

DifficultyLevel4sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU414

4

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Regarditasjustasdesirabletobuilda______astobuildacathedral.-FrankLloydWright(7,5)

SOLUTION:ELOPE,BISON,CHURCH,HOOKAHAnswer:Regarditasjustasdesirabletobuildachickenhouseastobuildacathedral.-FrankLloydWright

LPEEO HHRCCU

BOINS AOOHHK

SolutionsCrossword4148:Across: 1Excel,4Leeward,8Pie,9Armycorps,10Unready,11Aphis,13Deduce,15Amoral,18Capri,19Algebra,21Momentous,23Aid,24Capsize,25Order.Down:1Expound,2Clearedup,3Llama,4Limeys,5Exclaim,6Air,7Discs,12Hardboard,14Chianti,16Leander,17Parole,18Comic,20Gusto,22Map.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

ACROSS1 Heknowshowtocarrydrink(6)

4 Ametaphor ismixedbut thecontent ispithy (8)

9 Wiselyarchabouthowoldoneis (6)

10 Pressedtocall (4,4)12 In favourofpianobeingusedonstage (4)

13 Authorof Latin issue (5)14 Foodbill (4)17 It’s seenasprorataamongtheprofessional section (2,10)

20 Finalaccount for thoseabouttoretire (7,5)

23 Theattractionofmisrule(4)

24 Writerneverworried(5)

25 Noneof it isgood, it’s said(4)

28 Hazardaboutabeard(8)

29 Abendintheroad(6)

30 Possiblyhadaniceestate inSouthAmerica (8)

31 Persiankingtakenabackbysexchanges (6)

DOWN1 Salariedpositionwithstampsprovided(8)

2 Givesapartyanewconstitutionperhaps (8)

3 After thesalmonshegets foodpoisoning (4)

5 Nowit includesmeninanticipationof trouble (12)

6 Well-producedpaintings? (4)7 Accustomsuser innewprocess (6)

8 Manincontrolof agroundedjumbo(6)

11 Arulenotenforced inthemain?(3,2,3,4)

15 Outmodeddescriptionof StPeter’s forexample (5)

16 Gymnasticanimal (5)18 Acase forsmall savings(5,3)

19 Regardsunrefinedmineralsasblotsonthe landscape(8)

21 Bemischievous, switchthe fileandremainquiet (6)

22 Subjectabout right foramundanecircle (6)

26 Bankof Scotland(4)27 Natural reactionof garagesrunningoutof gas (4)

Jaipur