JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,RAJKOT,SURAT,VADODARA, JUNE25

AHMEDABAD SAW a drasticdropinitsshareofnewCovid-19cases in the state by Thursday,while Surat continued to see aspike since June 20,when it re-portedmore than 100 cases forthe first time. On Thursday, 577cases were reported across

Gujarat, 164of them fromSuratandabout238fromAhmedabad.Asmany as 18 patients suc-

cumbed to the infection, thelowest number of deaths in a

single day since April 30when17patientshaddied.Three more leaders of the

Gujarat Congress, includingJamjodhpurMLAChiragKalaria,testedpositiveforthevirus,daysafter the party’s Rajya Sabhacandidate Bharatsinh Solankitestedpositive.According the Gujarat

Pradesh Congress Committee(GPCC), Kalaria, formerAhmedabadCongress president

Chetan P Raval and GujaratCongress vice-president fromVadodaraMaulinVaishnavtestedpositiveonThursday.Speaking to The Indian

Express, GPCC spokespersonJairajsinh Parmar said, “The re-sultof threeofourseniorleadershavecomeoutpositiveandtheyareallstable.Ourotherleaders—Himmatsinh Patel, ShaktisinhGohil, Lakha Bharwad and

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

THEGUJARAT government hasdecided tocap the rateof Covid-19 testing inprivate laboratoriesin the state at Rs 3,000, DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patel an-nouncedonThursday.Whilegov-ernment laboratories test freeofcost, private labs used to chargeRs4,500foraCovid-19test.According to Patel, who also

holds the Health portfolio, pri-vatelaboratorieshavebeentest-inganaverageof500peopleperday. The decision to slash therates cameafter a chiefministe-riallevelmeetingonWednesday.Addressing themedia, Patel

said, “Private laboratories andhospitalschargearoundRs4,500forCovid-19test...Thereisapeti-tion at the Gujarat High Courtthat is ongoing on various is-sues...Duringthis,thehealthde-partment and the state govern-ment felt that the testing rateofRs 4,500 in private laboratoriesneeds tobereduced... Itwasde-cidedbythehealthdepartmentthattheprivate laboratoriescanchargeRs2,500ifapersonvisitsthe labtoget testedand if aper-sonistestedattheirresidenceorat a hospital (by the privatelaboratories) where a lab em-ployee has to be called for test-ing, then the laboratory canchargeRs3,000.”

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As Ahmedabad slows down, cases rise inSurat; 3 more Cong leaders Covid-positive

JamjodhpurMLAChiragKalaria

A CORONA TEST

Atanexamcentre inBengaluruforClass10examsonThursday.Over7.5 lakhstudentsappearedfor theKarnatakaboardexams,originallyscheduled inMarch,withthestateorderingonestudentperbenchand18-20studentsperclassroomtoensuresocialdistancing.Theexamswillgoontill July4. PTI

WORLD

AT36,880CASES,U.S.RECORDSHIGHESTSINGLE-DAYCOUNT

WEEK-LONGVOTEIN RUSSIA ONEXTENDINGPUTIN’STENUREPAGE14

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

ONOUROWNINNEIGHBOURHOODBY PRATAPBHANUMEHTA

PAGE8

LARGEDEPLOYMENTSREMAIN:MEA

Delhi draws red line: Ifsituation continues,will vitiateBeijing tiesChineseAmbassadorurges India toavoidanyactionthatmaycomplicatesituationalongLineofActualControl

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE25

ADAY after Indian and Chinesediplomatsagreedto“sincerelyim-plement the understanding ondisengagement and de-escala-tion” along the Line of ActualControl,NewDelhi drewthe redline Thursday, saying “continua-tionofthecurrentsituationwouldonly vitiate the atmosphere forthedevelopmentof therelation-ship”betweenthetwocountries.Amid reports of satellite im-

agesshowingChinesestructuresback at the site of the June 15clash in Galwan Valley andmassing of PLA troops in theDepsang plains, AnuragSrivastava,spokespersonfortheMinistryofExternalAffairs,said“both sides remain deployed inlarge numbers in the region” ofthe Galwan Valley “whilemili-taryanddiplomaticcontactsarecontinuing”.

In a strongly worded state-ment, Srivastava said “at theheart of thematter is that sinceearlyMay, the Chinese side hasbeen amassing a large contin-gent of troops and armamentsalong theLAC”.

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Remaining Board examsfor July cancelled, Class 12to have option of re-test

High positivity, fatality rates: Centre sendsteams to Gujarat, Maharashtra, TelanganaKAUNAINSHERIFF MNEWDELHI, JUNE25

WITHMORE than 16,000 freshcoronavirus cases reported onThursday in a new single-dayhigh, the Centre announced itwillbesendingateamofexpertsto Telangana,Maharashtra andGujarat—threestateswithhigh

positivity rates that are consid-eredcriticalintheeffortsagainstthepandemic.Sources said experts may

also be sent to Tamil Nadu andWestBengal,whicharealsoseenas requiring advice and assis-tance on clinical management.The Centre is already closelymonitoring the Covid-19 situa-tion in Delhi, the city with the

mostnumberof cases.Thegovernmentissaidtobe

especially concerned aboutTelangana,wheretestinghasre-mained low and positivity ratehigh. Sources said the Centralteam, including specialists andepidemiologists led by JointSecretary (Health) LavAgarwal,will be stationed for two daysthere, against one each in

MaharashtraandGujarat.A senior HealthMinistry of-

ficialsaid,“Furtherhandholdingand assistance are required inthethreestates.Seniorepidemi-ologists from the DirectorateGeneral of Health Services andteam doctors will visit them.On Friday, the team willvisit Gujarat, followed by

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Trade bodies say needtime to stop relianceon imports from ChinaPRABHARAGHAVAN&AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI, JUNE25

ASSEVERALministriesmovetoblock imports and investmentsfromChinafollowingtherecentborderclashesalongtheborderwhere20armymenwerekilled,theindustryisconcernedaboutthe adverse impact on severalsectors.From pharmaceuticals to

telecommunications and auto-mobiles, industry associations

are of the view that “knee-jerk”offensiveagainsttheneighbour-ing country till alternative ven-dorsarefinalisedordomesticca-pacities are built will hurtcompaniesandtheeconomy.Federation of Indian Export

Organisation’s(FIEO’s)President,Sharad Kumar Saraf, andDirector General, Ajay Sahai,hintedonThursdaythata“blan-ketban”maynotbefeasible.TheIndia Cellular and ElectronicsAssociationandtheAutomotiveComponent Manufacturers

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SURBHIGUPTANEWDELHI, JUNE25

ALMOST FIVE decades after itpatentedthenameFair&Lovely,Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL),theIndianarmoftheglobalcon-glomerate,announcedThursdaythat it will move towards a"moreinclusivevisionofbeauty"— by dropping theword “Fair”andchanging thebrandname.Itwillalsoremovethewords

“fair/fairness”, “white/whiten-ing”,and“light/lightening”fromitsproducts’packsandcommu-nication.“We are fully committed to

having a global portfolio of skincare brands that is inclusive andcares for all skin tones, celebrat-inggreaterdiversityofbeauty.Werecognise that the use of thewords‘fair’,‘white’and‘light’sug-gestasingularidealofbeautythatwe don’t think is right, andwewanttoaddressthis,”saidSunnyJain,President,Beauty&PersonalCare,Unilever, inastatement.Jain said that after changing

theadvertising,communicationand packaging in South Asia,they are taking the next step ofchanging the brand name.According to a PTI report, thecompany approached theController General of Patent

Design and Trademark on June17 to get the name ‘Glow &Lovely’ registered.The conglomerate derives

$500million from the brand inIndia alone, and is popular incountries like Bangladesh,Pakistan, Indonesia andThailand, apart fromcatering totheAsiandiaspora in theWest.Themovecomesinthewake

of theBlack LivesMattermove-ment, andprotests in theUS af-ter the death of George Floyd,which has compelled compa-nies, globally, to reassess theirbusinesses and marketingstrategies for signs of racism,colourismanddiscrimination.

Therehavebeenanumberofonline petitions recently, de-manding that HUL take ac-countabilityforthebrandnamewhich, one of them said, is a“product of colourism”. In Asia,a number of cosmetics compa-nies, includingL’Oréal,ShiseidoandProcter&Gamble,havede-voted a huge part of their busi-nesses to fairness creams. And,prominentBollywoodactors, in-cluding Priyanka Chopra,KatrinaKaif,DeepikaPadukone,Sonam Kapoor, Yami Gautamand Shah Rukh Khan have atsome point in their careers en-dorsed fairness creams.Over the last few decades,

Fair& Lovely gainedmuchpop-ularity in India but in recentyears it has received flak forequating a fair skin tone withself-worth, beauty, confidenceandbettermaritalprospects.“It’s amilestone in our jour-

ney ending colourism in India.But what is sad is that it hastaken us 10 years.We didwritetomanycompaniesbutwewerealways ignored,” said KavithaEmmanuel,who startedDark isBeautiful,anadvocacycampaignagainst colourism, in2009.“Advertisements and prod-

uctsthatweputontheshelfplaya huge role in endorsing the

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Onashopshelf inAhmedabadonThursday.Reuters

Unfair & Lovely, Unilever admits, will change cream name

USNationalSecurityAdvisorRobertO’Brien,atapressmeetcalledonChina inPhoenix,Arizona,wherehesaidAmerica“willact tocheckthespreadofBeijing’sideology”.AP

First faceoffin Galwanwas in earlyMay, weeksbefore clash

KRISHNKAUSHIK&SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE25

INDIANANDChinesetroopshadtheir first faceoff in the GalwanValley in the first week of May,around the time they came toblows on the banks of thePangong Tso, andmore than amonthbeforetheJune15show-downinGalwanValleyinwhich20 IndianArmypersonnelwerekilled.This came to light Thursday

when theMinistry of ExternalAffairsmentioned it for the firsttime and the ChineseAmbassador to India, SunWeidong, detailed the incidentin an interview to PTI, a tran-script of which was posted bytheChineseembassy.TopsourcesintheArmycon-

firmed that scuffles similar toPangong Tso, though not as in-tenseorviolent,hadtakenplaceinGalwanValleynearPatrollingPoint14(PP-14)inthefirstweek

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RITIKACHOPRA&ANANTHAKRISHNANGNEWDELHI, JUNE25

WITH THE Covid graph risingsteadily,theremainingBoardex-ams for students of Classes 10and12inschoolsaffiliatedtotheCentral Board of SecondaryEducation(CBSE)andCouncilforIndian School CertificateExamination(CISCE)willnotbeheldas scheduled in July.Instead, the studentswill be

assessed on a special markingscheme. If they are not satisfiedwiththeresultsbasedonthissys-tem,theycanappearfortheexamwhenever it isscheduledlater.However,Class10studentsof

CBSE will not have the secondoption— for them, the remain-ingexamshavebeenscrapped.TheBoardandtheCouncilin-

formed the Supreme Court ofthis decision Thursday duringthe hearing on a plea seekingcancellationoftheremainingex-ams. The examinations, whichwerestalledinMarchduetothepandemic, had later beenrescheduledtobeheldbetweenJuly1and July15.ThependingexamsforClass

12 inCBSE-affiliated schools in-cluded 12 core subjects —Business Studies, Geography,Hindi (Core), Hindi (Elective),Home Science, Sociology,Computer Science (Old),

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

In talks withRBI to recastloans forcompanies:Sitharaman

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, JUNE25

INWHATmay bring borrowersa huge relief, the government isin active discussion with theReserve Bank of India to offer aone-timeloanrestructuringplantocompaniesforthemtosurvivethe adverse impact of Covid-19pandemic, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman saidThursday. She also stressed ontheneedforbankstopassonthebenefits of repo rate cuts by re-ducinginterestrateaggressively,andindicatedthatthebenefitofemergencycreditlineguaranteescheme (ECLGS) would be ex-tended to individual borrowerssuchas truckowners.“In these pandemic times, it

has actually caused a lot of painand stress. We are talking toReserveBanktoseeifaone-timerestructuring can be offered sothat everyone comes out a bitmore honourably (out) of this(crisis),” shesaid inavideocon-ference interactionwith senior

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ALOANrestructuringscheme,especiallyatatimewhencompaniesareunderhugestresswillhelpcompaniesstrengthentheirbooksandbeeligibletoborrowagain.Thereisariskthatlargescaledefaultsmayforcepermanentclosureofmanyunits.

Bigrelief inCovidtimes

115DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATES

TOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Telangana

■Delhi

■TamilNadu

■Haryana

7 DAYS EARLIER:

3.33NOW:

3.15

7 DAYS EARLIER:

7.57NOW:

6.26

DETECTED TODAY

16,922RECOVERED TODAY:

13,012

TOTAL

CASES

1,42,900

10,444

70,390

67,468

12,010

DOUBLING

RATE**

24.58

7.91

12.19

16.68

16.04

SURGEIN

24HOURS

3,890

891

3,788

2,865

490

7-DAYAVG

GROWTH*

2.93%

9.10%

5.91%

4.32%

4.49%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:4,73,105TESTS: 75,60,782 | DOUBLING RATE: 19.48**

RECOVERED:2,71,696DEATHS: 14,874

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatafromUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch, trendsbasedondailynumbersare indicative,notdefinitive

CASE FATALITY RATIO

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

Positives againstnumber tested (in%); indicator of thespread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

INSIDE

83DEAD INLIGHTNINGSTRIKES INBIHAR

PANDEMICHITSSPACEMANNEDMISSION: ISROCHIEFPAGE13

Gujarat govt caps ratefor Covid test in privatelaboratories at Rs 3,000

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

Cases risein SuratCJ Chavda—have been put un-der quarantine. The test reportof our GPCC president AmitChavdacamenegative.”On June 22, three days after

the RajyaSabhaelectionsinthestate,Solankihadtestedpositiveand nearly a dozen politicianswho came in contact with himduringthepollswereplacedun-der quarantine especially RavalandVaishavwhohadaccompa-niedhimtoGandhinagar.Chavda took to Twitter to

wish for their early recovery.While MLA Kalariya has beenadmitted inahospital inRajkot,Vaishnav has been admitted inBanker’s Hospital in Vadodaraand Raval being asymptomatichasbeenputunderhomequar-antine.Speaking to The Indian

Express, Vaishnav said, “I gotmyself admitted in Banker’sHospitalonTuesdayandmyre-ports came out yesterday. I amstablenow.”Before Kalaria, Imran

Khedawala, the CongressMLAfrom Jamalpur-KhadiaAssembly constituency inAhmedabad,hadtestedpositiveinApril.Dr Mitesh Bhanderi, Chief

DistrictHealthOfficerofRajkot,confirmed that the 42-year-oldMLA from JamjodhpurAssembly constituency inJamnagar district had testedpositiveonWednesdaynight.Kalariya told this paper,

“After the Rajya Sabha election,I had stayed back inGandhinagar for two days. OnWednesday,IfeltIhadatemper-ature,so, insteadof returningtomyhomeinJamjodhpur, Iwenttoahospitalandmysamplesre-turned positive later on.However, the fever has sincegone and I am feeling normalnow,”addinghehadgothimselfadmittedtoaprivatehospital inMavdiareaof Rajkot.Meanwhile in Kutch, where

five new cases were reported,among those to test positivewere two defence personnel —a 30-year-old Armyman fromBhuj anda34-yearoldBSFper-sonnel from Abdasa. An addi-tional civil judge fromGandhidham also tested posi-tiveforCovid-19.InNarmada,10more SRP Group 18 police per-sonneltestedpositivewhilean-other case was reported fromTilakwada talukapolice line.Since June20,Ahmedabad’s

fresh cases each day has con-tributed only about 40-50 percent of the state’s total share ofcases.Until June 17, while Surat’s

dailynewcasesmadeupsome-where between 12-14 per centofthestate’sdailynewcases,thedistrict’s share has now nearlydoubled,comprising30percentof thestate’s cases.Surat Municipal

CommissionerBNPanisaidthatwith thespike in thenumberofCovid-19 cases, themunicipalcorporation has signedMoUswith37privatehospitalsinSuratto reserve 50 per cent of theirhospital beds for patients re-ferredbytheSMCandNewCivilHospital.Thisisexpectedtoaddanadditional2,000bedstomeetfutureneeds.Surat, at present, has 3,000

beds to treat Covid-19 patientsin SMIMER hospital, SamrasCentre, NewCivil Hospital, and10privatehospitals. Apartfromthis, theCovid-19 tests are con-ducted inNCH, SMIMERhospi-talandfourprivate labs inSuratcity.One-third of Surat’s new

caseswerefromKatargamzone,which has reported the mostnumber of cases in the city —960 — followed by Limbayatzonewhichhas913cases.Vadodara crossed 2,000

casesafter44peopletestedpos-itiveonThursday.

The state broke its recenttrend of discharging as manypeopleasthosetestingpositive,or more on some days, asThursday saw 410 patients dis-charged against the 577 whotestedpositive.

GujaratAddingthatthedecisionwas

taken by the state government“core group”, Patel said, “Thiswill be effective from today(Thursday). If any lab is foundcharging more than what hasnow been decided, their ap-provalwillbecancelled.Ifwere-ceive any complaint of over-chargingandthesameisproven,the approval for the labwill berevokedwithimmediateeffect.”Subsequently,acircularfrom

the office of additional directorin health department, DrPrakashVaghela,wascirculatedon Thursday, stating that thetworateslabsarethemaximumthat can be charged. The circu-lar,however,didnotspecifyanypunitiveactions, incaseofnon-compliance.“On an average, 500 people

get tested daily in private labo-ratories,” addedPatel.According to the deputy

chief minister, state-run hospi-tals andmedical colleges withRT-PCRtestinglaboratoryfacili-ties test on an average of 4,000to 4,500 samples in a day.However,Patelalsosaidthatthestatehasacapacityof testingupto 6,000 to 6,500 samples perday.Patelalsoassuredthatthereare sufficient testing kits avail-able in thestate.After a brief spike in testing

samples where on June 17 thestate tested more than 7,000samples,thenumberofsamplestestedeachdayhasgonedown.The test positivity ratehas seenamarginal increase to 8.5 percent from last week’s 8.2 percentacross thestate.On two days — June 22 and

23— fewer than5,000 sampleswere taken while on June 24,5,700 samples were taken,muchlowerthanthestate’stest-ing capacity.Of the24days thismonth, the number of samplestested exceeded 6,000 only onfivedays.TillThursday,3,45,170sampleswere taken across thestate.InthelastweekofMay,ICMR

had revoked the price cap of Rs4,500andhadfurtherwrittentostate chief secretaries, suggest-ing a renegotiation of RT-PCRtest priceswith private labs, onthe ground that the kits costmuch lower than the earliercapped price, owing to indige-nousmanufacturingof thekits.However, proprietor of an

Ahmedabad-basedlabthatusesimportedkits said theprice capwill be applicable for them aswell.Several states, including

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,Telangana and NewDelhi, hadcapped their testing prices ear-lierthismonth,followingwhichAhmedabad MedicalAssociation (AMA) had ralliedfor similar price capping inGujarat.

Anti-China callsAssociation are among othertrade and industry associationswhichhaveechoedtheseviews.Saraf said the decision to

boycott non-essential productsmade inChinacanbe left to theindividual . "Banning the im-ports of raw materials fromChinawithoutwhich productsover here cannot bemadewillbedifficult. Itwouldbebettertomaybe raise the duties oncheaperrawmaterialsinsteadofgoinginforanyblanketban,"hesaidatapressbriefingonIndia'scurrent and future trade sce-nario.“What can help a smooth

transition from reliance on im-ports toAtmaNirbhartaarecer-tainpolicymeasuresbythegov-ernment like allowinggrandfathering of duties on

modules and cells for projectswhich have already been bidout,” said Sumant Sinha, CMD,ReNewPower.Over the last threemonths,

therehasbeenaconcertedpushto reduce reliance on unneces-saryimportsandpotentiallyop-portunisticinvestmentscomingespecially from China. Clearsigns of such amovewere firstseen on April 18 after China’scentral bank raised its share-holding in the HDFC Ltd, thelargestprivatesectorhousingfi-nance company. At that time,the Department for Promotionof Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) had said firms in neigh-bouringcountrieswishingtoin-vestinIndiancompanieswouldnow only be able to do so aftergovernment approval — at atimewhenvaluationsofcompa-nies were low following theCovid-19 outbreak and subse-quent lockdown.“Thereisatargetwearepur-

suinginlinewith ‘AtmaNirbharBharat’ which is to reduce un-necessaryimports,notcountry-specific imports,” said DPIITSecretary GuruprasadMohapatra.TheIndianExpressonJune23

had reported that import con-signments from China at portslikeChennai andMumbaiwerelearnt to be facing hurdles overthe last fortnight, with clear-ancesbeingheldupbycustomsauthorities.Thismayhaveinad-vertently affected imports ofcrucial components and rawmaterialsusedinseveral indus-trieshere.Among those impacted are

certain pharmaceutical firms,which have been unable to re-ceive their consignments of es-sential rawmaterials likeactivepharmaceutical ingredients(APIs) and key startingmateri-

als (KSMs) from the Mumbaiport.Thishappeneddespiteanyinstructions from the authori-ties.“Someofourmembercom-panieshavebroughtittoourno-tice that consignments of APIsand KSMs only from China arestuckupattheport inBombay,”Indian Pharmaceutical AllianceSecretary General SudarshanJain toldThe IndianExpress.In a letter to the Finance

Minister and the RevenueSecretary, Pankaj Mohindroo,Chairman, India Cellular andElectronics Association, said:“The industry is already in verydeep distress having lost pro-duction of over Rs 40,000 croreand has only recovered to lessthan 40 per cent of normalcy.Indiaisataverycrucialmomentwith the launch of the PLI (pro-duction-linked incentive)scheme and two others whichrequire a high level of motiva-tion in the headquarters ofglobal and local companies.They need to move largeamountofplantandmachinery,components, sub-assemblies,and in some cases, finishedproducts, to India.Regardlessofthe reasons, suchamove, espe-cially without any prior notice,canbecounterproductive.”An Automotive Component

Manufacturersof India (ACMA)representative said that, giventhattheindustryisemergingoutofalockdown,a“kneejerkreac-tion” may disrupt the valuechain and impact the recoveryprocess.Theissue,whichhasalsoim-

pactedasmanyas50Americanmanufacturing firms in Indiaacross sectors like telecom, au-tomobilesandfast-movingcon-sumergoods,promptedtheUS-India Strategic PartnershipForum (USISPF) to flag its con-cernswiththecommerceandfi-

nanceministries thisweek.But with China’s overt ag-

gression,someleadersinIndianindustryarealsooftheviewthatIndiacanoverthenext4-5yearsstart producingmany of theseproductsinIndia.Whileinitially,SN Subrahmanyan, CEO andManaging Director, Larsen &Toubro,thecountry’slargesten-gineeringandconstructionfirm,said in an interview cautionedthat"totakeatotalviewthatwecanboycott the Chinese goods"wasnotfeasible,thenextdayhesaidIndiacan“drasticallyreducedependence on Chinese prod-ucts”.Power Minister R K Sinha

also said on Thursday hismin-istrywasplanningtoimposeba-sic customs duties (BCD) ofaround 15-25 per cent on solarequipmentstartingAugust.Thisduty would subsequently beraisedupto40percent,hesaid.TheDirectorateGeneralofTradeRemedies (DGTR) has been in-vestigating around 35 cases ofdumping from China acrossproducts, including chemicals,steel,polyesteryarn,copperandvariousyarns.

Central teamsMaharashtraonSaturday. Itwillbe in Telangana on Sunday andMonday.”Telangana’s high positivity

rate has led to fears that a largenumberofcasesmightbegoingundetected. “The confirmationrateisashighas18%,”thesourcepointed out, nearly three timeshigherthanthenationalaverageof 6.3%.On Telangana’s testing rate,

theofficialsaid,“Whileithasin-creased,testspermillionarestillverylow.Againstthecountryav-erage of around 4,800 tests permillion, Telangana is at 1,200tests permillion. Neighbouring

AndhraPradeshistesting9,000per million and Tamil Nadu,8,600 per million. Even UttarPradesh is at around1,900 testspermillion.”Of the67,318samplestested

sofar,thestatehasfound10,444cases and seen 225 deaths. Thelast five days since testingwasramped up alone have seen2,999cases.Ofthem,2,053wereasymptomatic while the re-maining showed Severe AcuteRespiratory Illness symptoms.“The Central teamwill dis-

cuss how to increaseTelangana’s testing. It has thephysical capacity, both in thepublicandprivatesectors. Theywill also discuss how to opti-mallyutilisethecapacityinbothcentralandstategovernmentfa-cilities,” theseniorofficial said.InMaharashtra,sourcessaid,

theconcernis“clinicalmanage-mentofcases”,withthecasefa-tality ratio of 4.7% higher thanthenationalaverageof3.2%,and“new areaswhere cases are in-creasing”. Maharashtra has sofar reported6,739deaths.Theofficialaddedthatwhile

thingswere“broadlystabilizing”in the Mumbai metropolitanarea, places like Thane, Pune,Palghar and Solapur continuedto reportmorecases.Regarding Gujarat, the

Central team’s focus would bethe high fatality rate, at 6%. ItsCovidtollstandsat1,736deaths.Gujarat, at 8.5%, and

Maharashtra at 17% also havehighpositivity rates.Bothstates,alongwithDelhi,

continuetoreporta fatalityratehigher than the national aver-age.

Unileverbias...Therebrandinganddrop-ping of productswill definitelyhelp in ending colourism," said

the Chennai-based founder ofWomen ofWorth, a non-profitorganisation.HUL'sannouncementcomes

afterJohnson&Johnson(J&J)de-cided to stop the sale ofNeutrogenaFineFairnesscream,soldinAsiaandMiddleEast,andClean & Clear fairness cream,sold only in India, earlier thismonth. Matrimonial site,shaadi.com,has alsodecided todiscontinue the option that al-lowed users to filter potentialmatchesbyskin tone.In February, theMinistry of

Health had said that advertise-ments promoting fairnesscreams could soon be bannedandattractajailtermextendingupto fiveyears.“The catwas set among the

pigeons by J&J, which happenstobeasmallplayerintheIndianmarket. The biggest player isHULwith Fair & Lovely, whichhas Rs 2,400 crore in turnover.Thisisasignificantmove,butthebig challenge is that a fairnesscreamwill nowhave tomorphitself into a beauty cream," saidbrandstrategyspecialistHarishBijoor.According to the recently

publishedreport,"IndiaFairnessCream & Bleach MarketOverview, 2018-2023", byIreland-based Research andMarkets, thewomen's fairnesscreamcategoryisanticipatedtoachieve market revenues ofmore than Rs 5,000 crore by2023.The HUL move has been a

longtimecoming,saidMumbai-based Pallavi Chakravarti,Executive Creative Director,Taproot Dentsu. "This is a boldandwelcomemove, given thenumbers that thebranddoes inthecountry.Havingsaidthat, it'snot justabouttherebrandingofthelabelbuthowtheycrafttheirmarketing communications,"she said. “If they start (makingsuch changes) now, we canachieve this in possibly adecade.”

(WITHBENITAFERNANDO)

Sitharamanmembers of ChennaiInternationalCentre.Banks argue that the RBI

needs to give operational flexi-bilitytobanksforacomprehen-siverestructuringoftheexistingloansandalsoamodificationofthe90-daynormforassetclassi-fication.Asofnow,theJune7cir-cular on loan restructuring isstringentandgiveslittleflexibil-ity to banks, industry sourcessaid.OntheECLGSschemerunby

the National Credit GuaranteeTrustee Company Ltd (NCGTC),the government had approvedfunding of upto Rs 3 lakh crorefor the MSME sector. Bankscould extend an extra 20 percent of outstanding loans totheir MSME borrowers with acleancredithistory.This scheme currently does

not provide any benefit to indi-viduals.Aseniormemberof theChennai International Centrepointedout to the financemin-isterthatnearlytwo-thirdofhisborrowers are individuals in-cluding truck owners.Respondingtothesecomments,Sitharamansaid:“Ithinkwearevery close to give that opportu-nitytoincludeindividualstoointhisNCGTCscheme.”TheFinanceMinisterdenied

thatprivatebankswerehesitantin disbursing credit under thescheme to MSMEs and notedthat 16privatebankswerepro-viding data on disbursementsregularly. While public sectorbankshavedisbursedRs22,197croreunderthescheme,privatesector banks have given Rs10,697 crore, she said. “Privatesector banks will have to defi-nitely buck up a bit more be-causemanyofMSMEsarewiththem,” shesaid.She also said her ministry

wasintenselyengagedwiththeReserve Bank, along with the

banks,tounderstandwhytrans-missionofratecutswasnothap-pening.

Board exams

Computer Science (New),Information Practice (Old),Information Practice (New),Information Technology andBio-Technology.The CISCE had eight papers

left for Class 12 and six for theClass 10when the governmentasked all school boards to post-pone theexams.The CBSEwill announce re-

sults based on the markingscheme by July 15 so that stu-dents can seek admission tohighereducationinstitutionsontime. TheClass 12 studentswillalso be eligible to sit for the op-tional exams to improve theirperformance,whichwillbecon-ducted “as soon as the condi-tions are conducive”. However,if thestudentchoosesthelatter,the marks secured in the op-tional examswill be treated asfinal.According to sources, the

HRD Ministry will soon holdmeetingswithDelhiUniversity,to ensure that CBSE's alternateschemedoesnothurt students.DUmay be asked to extend itsdeadline(July4)forapplications.Thegovernment isalsocon-

sideringaskingallhighereduca-tion institutions to not closetheir admission process till thestudents,whoappearfortheop-tionalBoardexams,gettheirre-sults.In the case of students of

CISCE, Senior Advocate JaideepGupta, appearing for theCouncil,saidtheremainingClass10 and 12 exams are optionalthisyear.The CISCE students will be

evaluated on performance inschool assessment, and willhave the opportunity to appearfortheexamatalaterdatetoim-provetheirmarks--bothClasses10,12.The CBSE’s decision was

taken in consultationwith theHRD Ministry. The HomeMinistry also approved theCBSE’s stand before theSupremeCourtThursday.TheBoard’s expert commit-

tee cited letters written by theTamil Nadu, Delhi andMaharashtra governmentsseeking cancellation or post-ponementof theexams.Hearingthematter,theBench

told Solicitor General TusharMehta that thebeginningof thenewacademic yearwouldhavetobeclarifiedbytheBoard.Itwillhave to start in September if theoptionalexamsareconductedinAugust, the court said. The courtalsodirected the central govern-ment todevise a “pan-India” so-lutionfortheexamsatalaterdate.Italsodirectedthegovernmenttocomeupwitha“timeframe”.ThenexthearingisonFriday.

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Continuation of situation will vitiate ties

First faceoff in Galwan Valley was early May

Underlining that this is“not in accordance” with thepacts since 1993, he said:“Obviously,theIndiansidehadtoundertake counter deploy-ments and the resulting ten-sion has thereafter expresseditself.”On June 20, the Prime

Minister’s Office had said“Chinese forces have come inmuch larger strength to theLAC and that the Indian re-sponse is commensurate”.TheMEAalsohitoutatob-

struction of Indian patrollingby Chinese troops in “com-plete disregard” to all mutu-ally agreednorms.“Thedeploymentofalarge

bodyof troopsandchanges inbehaviour has also been ag-gravated by unjustified anduntenable claims. The recentshift intheChinesepositiononthe Galwan Valley is one ex-ample,” Srivastava said, refer-ring to Beijing’s claim toGalwanValley.DescribingtheWednesday

meeting between diplomats

under the WorkingMechanism for Consultation&CoordinationonIndia-ChinaBorder Affairs (WMCC) as a“significantdevelopment”andreferring to the agreementsand understanding reachedbetweentheForeignMinisterson June 17 and ArmyCommanders on June 6 and22, he said, “We expect theChinese side to sincerely fol-lowupon this understandingand ensure the expeditiousrestorationof peaceand tran-quility in theborder areas.”Responding to queries,

Srivastava, reading from astatement,said:“InearlyMay,theChinesesidehadtakenac-tion to hinder India's normal,traditional patrolling patternintheGalwanValleyarea.Theresulting face-off was ad-dressed by the ground com-mandersaspertheprovisionsof the bilateral agreementsandprotocols. Inmid-May,theChinesesidesoughttochangethestatusquoinotherareasoftheWesternSector.”

“We had registered ourprotestontheChineseactionsthrough both the Diplomaticand Military channels, andmade it clear that any suchchange was unacceptable tous. Subsequently, the SeniorCommanders met on 6 June2020andagreedonaprocessfor de-escalation and disen-gagement along the LAC thatinvolved reciprocal actions.Both sides had agreed to re-spectandabidebytheLACandnot undertake any activity toalter the statusquo,”he said.“As I mentioned in my

statement on 20th June, theChinese side departed fromthese understandings in re-spectof theLACintheGalwanValleyareaandsoughttoerectstructures justacross theLAC.Whenthisattemptwasfoiled,Chinese troops took violentactions on 15 June 2020 thatdirectly resulted incasualties.Thereafter, both sides remaindeployed in large numbers intheregion,whilemilitaryanddiplomatic contacts are con-

tinuing,” he said.Meanwhile, Chinese

Ambassador SunWeidong, inan interview to PTI, said hiscountry was ready to workwith India to properly dealwith the border standoff. Hesaid "suspicion and friction"was a wrong path that goesagainstthefundamentalaspi-rations of people of the twocountries.Saying IndiaandChinaare

able toproperlymanage theirdifferences, Sun called uponNewDelhi to avoid taking ac-tions that may "complicate"the situation in easternLadakh. He went on to addthatatpresent, theoverall sit-uationintheChina-Indiabor-der areas is "stable and con-trollable.""We hope the Indian side

meets the Chinese sidehalfway,avoidstakingactionsthatmay complicate the bor-der situation, and takes con-crete actions tomaintain sta-bility in the border areas," hesaid.

of May between patrollingunits of the two sides. It wasafter the clashes at these twosites that the standoff began,sources said.Anurag Srivastava,

spokespersonfortheMinistryof External Affairs, told re-porters: “In early May, theChinesesidehadtakenactionto hinder India's normal, tra-ditional patrolling pattern inthe Galwan Valley area. Theresulting face-off was ad-dressed by the ground com-mandersaspertheprovisionsof the bilateral agreementsandprotocols.”AmbassadorSun,whilere-

iterating Beijing’s position,said: “On May 6, the IndianbordertroopscrossedtheLACin theGalwanValley by nightand trespassed into China’sterritory. They resorted to vi-olentmeanstocreateastand-offbetweenthetwosidesandbuilt infrastructures in an at-tempt to maintain a perma-nentpresence.”TheChineseenvoysaidthe

first faceoff in Galwan Valleywas on May 6. On May 5-6,IndianandChinesetroopshadclashed on the banks ofPangongTso, triggeringaface-offthatledtomassingoftroopsbybothsidesalongtheLAC.

Referring to the June 15clashes, the Chinese envoysaid: “First, the incident hap-pened on the Chinese side ofthe Line of Actual Control(LAC), and the Indian sidecrossed the LAC first. TheGalwan Valley is located onthe Chinese side of the LAC,wherethegroundsituationofcontrol and management isveryclear.Thetwosidesbasi-cally have kept peace fordecades. However, since thebeginning of this year, theIndian side has continuouslybuilt facilities at or crossingthe LAC in the Galwan Valley,constantlychangingthestatus

quoof groundcontrol.”On the way forward, Sun

said, “Themerits of this inci-dent is very clear. The onus isnotonChina.”“The two sides agreed to

fairlyaddresstheserioussitu-ationcausedbytheconflict intheGalwanValley, jointly ob-serve the consensus reachedatthecommander-levelmeet-ing between the two sides,cooldownthesituationontheground as soon as possible,andmaintainpeaceand tran-quilityintheborderareainac-cordancewiththeagreementsalready reached between thetwocountries,” he said.

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In the latestepisodeof the3Thingspodcast,wetalkabout theproblemsbehindRamdev’sclaimsandthequestionsit raisesaboutPatanjali.

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■Appeared inoneortwo:Boardperformanceand“internal/practicalprojectassessment”.

Ahmedabad

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

GUJARAT

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

POLICE SEIZED 720 bottles ofIndian Made Foreign Liquor(IMFL)hiddeninaMaruti800car,claimingthatthedriverofthecarallegedly absconded after aban-doning carwhenhewas chasedbyapolice team inBanaskanthaonWednesday.According to a First

InformationReportfiledatTharadpolice station, a police teamwaspatrollinginKarbanvillageunderTharad taluka of Banaskanthaaround 4 pm on Wednesdaywhentheincidenthappened.As many as 480 bottles of

whiskey and240bottles of beerworthRs75,000were stuffed indifferentcompartmentsofthecarwithnumberGJ8A6745,theysaid.“We found aMaruti 800 car

moving suspiciously on theKarbanvillageroadandaskedthedrivertohalt.However,insteadofstopping, the accused tried tospeedaway.Onchasing,heaban-donedthecarwith liquorbottlesandescaped,”readtheFIR.Policehavebookedacaseun-

der Prohibition Act against un-knownperson.

720 bottles ofIMFL seizedfrom carabandoned bydriver: Cops

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,JUNE25

THEDISTRICTandsessionscourtofRajkothasrejectedthebailap-plication of BharaiyaMeena, anagricultural labourer fromRajasthanarrestedbytheSpecialOperationGroup(SOG)ofRajkotcitypolice for allegedlypeddlingheroinfromRajasthantoRajkot.

TheSOGarrested62-year-oldMeena from Surpur village inRajasthan’sPratapgarhdistrictonMay 30. SOG officials said thatMeenaworks as a farm labourerforJamshedPathanofSurpurvil-lageandhadactedasacouriertodeliver a consignment of heroinsent by Pathan to Salma ofJungleshwarareaofRajkotcity.Theracketcametolightwhen

an SOG team intercepted Imran

PathanandhiswifeFatmaPathannear Sorathiyavadi CirclewhiletheywerereturningtotheirhomenearRailway Junction in the citywith33gramsofheroinworthRs3.3lakhonMay1.Theyreportedlytold thepolice that they sourcedthe contraband fromSalma viaSalma’sman Bhuro. Salma andBhurowere arrested. SalmahadtoldpolicethatMeenahaddeliv-eredthecontrabandtoher.

Meena,whoisinjudicialcus-tody,moved the Rajkot districtandsessionscourtwithabailap-plication. Thecourtof additionaldistrictjudgeDigantVoratrashedhisapplicationTuesday.“Thereissubstanceintheargumentoftheprosecutionthatco-accusedandthemastermindof thecrimearestillontherunandthatapplicantcanhinderinvestigationifheisre-leasedonbail,” judgeVoranoted.

Bail rejected for farm labourer who ‘peddled heroin’

Saritaben,anumbrellavendor,near theNational InstituteofDesign inPaldiofAhmedabadonThursday. Sheclaimsthat themonsoonsalesaredownduetotheCovid-19 lockdown. JavedRaja

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,JUNE25

AN ASSISTANT sub-inspector(ASI) attached toMuli police sta-tioninSurendranagardistrictandanaideweredetainedbytheAnti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) afterthey allegedly took Rs 30,000bribeinMulionThursday.Actingonacomplaintfiledon

Wednesday, anACB team ledbyinspector MayurdhwajsinhSarvaiyalaidatrapatRavirajHotelnearbusstationinMuliwheretheaide, Mansukh Labkamna, ac-ceptedRs30,000bribe fromthecomplainant. TheACB teamde-tainedhimsoonafterheinformedASIMahendrasinhJhalaaboutac-ceptingtheamount.Later,theASIwasalsodetained.“HimanshuDoshi,Assistantdi-

rectorofRajkotunitoftheACB,saidthattheASIdemandedRs50,000bribefromthecomplainantwhilethelatterwasinthecustodyofMulipoliceearlierthisweekinconnec-tionwithaprohibitioncase.“ASI Jhalawas investigating

thatcase.While thecomplainantwas inpoliceremand, theASIde-mandedRs50,000bribefromhimfornotbeatinghimupwhileincus-tody and also not to seize hisiPhone. After negotiations, thecomplainant agreed to pay Rs30,000bribetotheASIafterhisre-leaseonbail.However, he filedacomplaintwiththeRajkotcityunitoftheACB.Basedonthecomplaint,welaidthetraptoday,”Doshisaid.Sarvaiya said that the com-

plainant, a native ofMuli taluka,wasarrestedbyMulipoliceafter110bottlesofliquorwerefoundinhispossession.“Hewalkedoutonbail onWednesday and filed acomplaintwiththeACB.Actingonhis complaint,wecaught theASIandhis friendwhoaccepted thebribemoney onhis behalf fromthecomplainant,”Sarvaiyasaid.The inspector saidLabkamna

wasafarmerofSadlavillageofMulitaluka.AfteracceptingRs30,000cash from the complainant,Labkamna borrowed the com-plainant’sphoneandcalledtheASItoinformhimthattheamounthadbeenreceived,ACBsaid.“AdifferentACB team is con-

ducting a search at Jhala’s resi-dence.Wearegettingthetwoac-cused tested forCovid-19. If theytest negative, they will be ar-rested,”theinspectoradded.

ASI, aide heldfor takingRs 30,000bribe: ACB

RITUSHARMAAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

NEARLY25‘buddycolleges’havebeenidentifiedforanequalnum-berofcolleges,whichlackonlineinfrastructure facilities,majorlyintheruralandinteriorareas,un-der a schemeof theGujarat ed-ucationdepartment introducedtoimplementonlineclassesdur-ingcoronaviruspandemic.The education department

launchedonlineacademicworkforallgovernmentandgrant-in-aid technical andnon-technicalcolleges in the state on June 22under the project ‘UnlimitedDigital Advanced YearlongAcademic Method of learning(UDYAM)’. The fees for suchclasseswillbetakenonline,andthesewill run till the situationgetsnormal forphysicalclasses.A list of seven government

collegesand18grant-in-aidcol-legeswithcorresponding‘buddycolleges’ has been prepared bythe education department.Some of the districts listed areChhota Udepur, Poshina (Saba-rkantha), Ghogha (Bhavnagar),Suigam(Banaskantha),Lakhpat(Kutch), Dahod andDhrangadhra (Surendranagar).“Manycollegeslackcomput-

ers, webcams, interactive pads,microphones, internet connec-tionandother infrastructurefa-cilities required to conduct on-line classes. For such colleges,buddycollegeshavebeen iden-tifiedwhichhaveall these facil-ities,” said principal secretary,education,AnjuSharma.“The education department

hadconductedasurveywhereincollegeswere asked to sendde-tails of the infrastructure facili-tiesavailable.Wehaveprovidedhelptothosewheresomeminorrequirementswere sought. Forotherswhichdonothavethere-quiredfacilities,alistwaschalkedoutsothattheycanusethefacil-itiesavailableintheirnearbycol-leges,” saidMNagarajan, com-missioner,highereducation.Asmany as 3,400 staff from

49 government technical col-leges, 1,700 from 109 govern-menthigher colleges and4,600facultyfrom357grant-in-aidin-stitutes and 12 vidyapiths havealready registered underUDYAMscheme.A state-levelmaster trainer

group has been created atKnowledge Consortium ofGujarat(KCG),Ahmedabad.“KCGhasalreadycompletedoneroundoftrainingof9,013facultystaffoftheseinstitutes.Fromnextweek,

classes in these colleges are ex-pectedtostart,”MNagarajansaid.A platform - Common

Gateway of Education andTechnology (COGENT) - hasbeen developed for dataman-agementandexchangeof infor-mation.Itwillalsoactasasingleplatform formanaging centraldigitalrepositoryofall informa-tionpertainingtoacademicandnon-academicstaffofallgovern-mentandgrant-in-aidtechnicalandnon-technical colleges.All these higher education

institutes including gramvidyapithhave toget registeredonthisportal.Ontheonlineplat-form,providedbyMicrosoftfreeofcost,teacherscanalsogiveas-signments,conductquizandas-sess studentsonline.Recordedonlinelecturesare

alsobeinguploadedondifferentsocial media platforms likeYoutube, Namo App and othermediums.Aneducational tech-nologyresourcepersonhasbeenappointed as nodal officer foreachuniversityorcollege.Theonlineclasseshavebeen

launched in view of theUniversityGrantsCommission’s(UGC) suggestion as part ofguidelines issuedonApril 29 tocover 25 per cent syllabusthroughonlinemedium.

25 ‘buddy colleges’ to helpinstitutes with online classes

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

AROUND500 acres of landwillbe earmarked for developing adefence aviation hub near theproposedairportatDholeraSIR,said Air Marshal R K Dhir,Advisor,DefenceandAerospace,Government of Gujarat, onThursday.Addressing the 3rd Defence

Conclave here through video-conferencing, Dhir said, “This500acres for adefenceaviationhub will be connected to thetaxiway of the proposed inter-national airportatDholera.”

The proposed airport willhavetwotaxiways.Thisaviationhub is in addition to the 300acresthatthestategovernmentis reserving for MROs(Maintainance, Repair andOverhaul) foraircraft inDholeraSIR(Special InvestmentRegion),he added. Union Minister ofStateforDefence,ShripadYessoNaik also attended the confer-ence throughavideo link.During a similar defence

conclave in 2019, the Gujaratgovernment claimed to haveearmarked200squarekilome-tresof landatDholeraSIRtosetup a firing range for the IndianArmy. However, little progress

has beenmade on the grounddespite the state governmentfloating a dedicated policy foraerospaceanddefencesector in2016 and promoting DholeraSIR as an investment destina-tion for almost a decade.On the firing range project,

the retired IAF official told TheIndianExpress, “It takestimetoimplement such projects. Wearereadyfromthestategovern-ment’s side. Thematter iswiththeChief of Defence Staff.”The official spoke about

DRDOsigning amemorandumofunderstandingwiththestategovernment to setupcyber se-curity lab at Gujarat university

in the past. “Wemay progresson that,” saidAirMarshalDhir.Speakingatconclave,Union

ministerNaiksaid,“Theslowingdown/ saturation ofmarkets inother sectors has also been re-sponsible for directing their in-terest towards the unexploreddefence sectorwhichpromisessustained business opportuni-ties. I have been informed thatthere are already over 8,000MSMEswhoservethisstrategicsector as tiered vendors toOrdnanceFactoriesandDefencePublic Sector companies. Thereis aneed toexpand thisbasebyhand-holding more andmoreMSMEs toparticipate.”

500 acres for defence aviation hub in Dholera

HONESTY RULES FOR 28 YEARS

ShahidBhikapurwala, ownerof aprovision store inKevadi villageof ChhotaUdepurdistrict, says thatheneverkeepshisstore closed.Whenhe isnotpresent at the shopor is travelling, the store remainsopenas there isno fearof anyonestealingor fleecinghim. Thevillagerswhobuyessential items fromhis shop inhis absenceeitherdeposit theamount inapiggybankkept at the store, and if theydonothavemoney then, theyeither informhimover thephoneormakeanentryina costumerdiarykept there. “I havenever experiencedany issues. All thevillagershavebeenveryhonest,which iswhyIhavebeen running the store for28years,” Shahid says. JavedRaja

RepresentativesofGujaratParentsEktaMandal, ledbyCongress leaderHardikPatel (fifthfromright), submittedarepresentationtotheAhmedabadDistrictEducationOfficerdemandingthat thefee for firstquarter inschoolsbewaived.Therepresentationsubmittedthatprivateschoolswerechargingexorbitant feesdespite thethree-monthrelaxationannouncedbythestategovernment.Theyalsodemandedactionagainst schools floutingtherelaxationandthreatenedtostageprotests if theirdemandsarenotmet. JavedRaja

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA, JUNE25

VADODARA’SCOVID-19tallyhasdoubled in 25 days since theopening of the lockdown. Thenumbers, officials sayaremuchbelow the estimated figures forJune, going up from 1,057 onMay31to2,042on June25.Outof thedoublednumbers

of Covid-19, the district areashave gone up from 38 cases onMay31 to221cases on June25.Of these, close to 72 cases arefromPadra taluka alone,wherethe vegetablemarket became ahotspot.Inthecity limits,NorthZone

—which includes the clusteredold city area aswell as the firstcontainment zone of the city ofNagarwada-Saiyedpura — hasseen the highest number ofcases of 753 on June 25, whileEast, South and West zonerecorded572,248and130cases,respectively.Vadodarahastestedanaver-

ageof145samplesperdayuntillastweekbutseenanincreaseintestingnumbersfollowingapol-icyrevisionbythestategovern-ment for testingnumbers.Vadodara is now testing an

averageof225samplesaday,ofwhich, close to 90 samples are

fromtheruralareas.Officialssaytheslowgrowthrateof thevirusisagoodsign.Dr Devesh Patel, VMC

Health Officer, says, “We hadexpected the numbers to dou-ble in 12-14 days after theUnlock, asperour calculations.However, it has been slowerandit isagoodsign.Therecouldbemany factors— frompeoplebeingcautioustoperhapssomekind of immunity around. Wedon’t know yet but the virus

spread seems to have sloweddown inmost cities in the lastfewdays.Weareexpectingthatas thedaysproceed, at the cur-rentrate, thenextdoublingwillbe about 25-26days later.”Patel agrees that the sam-

pling ratecouldalsobea factorin slower growth. “We havebeentestingabout240samplesa day for the last few days,which is 50% of the testing ca-pacity we have to serve ninedistricts of Central Gujarat.

Earlierwithanaverageof about150 samples a day, we weretakingupalmost 70%of the al-lotted testing capacity for allcentral districts. The rate ofpositivecases is about20%anditcouldbeareasonfor theslowdoubling of figures but we aretesting to our full capacity,”Patel said.TheVadodaradistrictadmin-

istration has distributed pulseoximetres to over 600 villagepanchayats in the district tomonitor oxygen saturation lev-elsinpersonsshowingCovid-19symptomsafter several villagesrecordedcases.District Collector Shalini

Agarwal said, “The rise in num-bers is expected.Withover600villages,oneortwocasesinafewvillagesarenotamajorconcern.However,ourhealthofficersandsurveillance teams are visitingeachvillage.WehavecreatedtheCovid committees as per gov-ernmentguidelinesatthetalukalevel as well as the gram pan-chayat levels...”Vadodara nowhas 914 peo-

ple in quarantine, of whom 14are in institutional quarantine,as against 1,614 onMay 31. TheCovid-19death toll inVadodaraisat50,withseveraldeathssinceMay 7 under audit as per theguidelines.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT, JUNE25

WITHTHEspikeinthenumberofCovid-19 cases, the SuratMunicipalCorporation(SMC)onThursdaysignedaMemorandumofUnderstanding(MoU)with37privatehospitalsinSurat,whereinfacilityofextra2,000bedswillbemadereadytotreatCovid-19pa-tients referred by the civic bodyand theNewCivil Hospital. Thetreatment cost for patients re-ferred to these hospitalswill beborne by the state governmentandthecivicbody.Surat, presently, has 3000

beds to treat Covid-19 patientsin SMIMER hospital, SamrasCentre, NewCivil Hospital, and10 private hospitals. The Covid-19 tests are conducted in theNCH,SMIMERhospitalandfourprivatelabsinSuratcity.Keepingin mind the rise in number ofpositive cases and tomeet thefutureneeds,theSMChasasked37privatehospitalstokeepfiftypercentoftheirhospitalbedsre-served for those patients re-

ferredbythecivicandbodyandNCHto treatCovid-19patients.SMCcommissioner BNPani

said, “In these private hospitals,entiretreatmentwillbegivenfreetothosepatientsreferredbySMCor NCH, andmedical expenseswillbebornebytheSMCandstategovernment. If a patient directlygoestothehospitalandgethim-self admitted, hehas tobear themedicalexpenses.Inthese37pri-vatehospital,wewillhavefacilityof 2,000beds ready tomeet thefutureneeds and if required,wewillincreasethenumberofbeds.”Under the tag line of “early

treatmentatdoorsteps”,theSMChas also started 105dhanvantriraths(mobilemedicalvan),whichroam in the city and give treat-ment to the patients sufferingfrom normal cold, cough andfeverattheirhomes.“Wehave started 105dhan-

vantri raths, which comprisesdoctorsandmedical stafferscar-ryingmedicines.Theaimbehinditistogivetreatmentatdoorstepsto patients suffering from cold,coughand fever.Wehave foundthatmanypatientssufferingfrom

normal cold, coughand feverdonotgetadmittedinthehospitals,and hide their illness. They usehome remedies for such illness.We have also started feverhelplinenumber104,forpatientssuffering fromsuch illnesses forearlytreatment.Surat has the secondhighest

numberof Covid-19 cases in thestate after Ahmedabad. OnThursdayevening,153morepos-itive caseswere reported takingthe district tally to 3,836.Withthreemorepatientssuccumbingtotheinfection,thedeathtollhasreached149.Among153newcases,52pa-

tients are fromKatargamzone,which has reported the mostnumber of cases — 960 — fol-lowedby Limbayat zonewhichhas 913 cases. OnThursday, 102patientswere discharged fromthehospital after theywere fullyrecovered. With this a total of2,432peoplehavebeen fully re-coveredanddischargedfromhos-pitalsinSurattilldate.AttheNewCivilHospital,263patientsareonoxygensupport,33onBiPapand15onventilatorsupport.

SMCSIGNSMOUWITHHOSPITALS

37 pvt hospitals to provide 2,000beds for Covid treatment in Surat

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,JUNE25

A35-YEAR-OLDmanwithCovid-19symptoms,whose test resultswere awaited, died at the SirSayajiraoGaekwad(SSG)HospitalinVadodaraonThursdayafterheallegedly inflicted wounds onhimselfwithbrokenglasspieces.The incident happened

around 10 am in the lavatory oftheisolationwardatthehospital.Whenhe stopped responding tocalls, themedical staff forced thedoor of the lavatoryopen to findhimseverelywounded.Hediedwhileundergoingtreatment.Hospital authorities said that

itwasasuspectedcaseofsuicide.“The causeof death is unknown.HisCovidtestresultsareawaitedbuthewasadmittedinourisola-tionwardandhisnasalswabsam-pleswerecollectedforCovidtest-ing... In the lavatory, he tried tobreak the window pane andwoundedhimselfwith theglasspieces.Therewasheavybloodlossand subsequently he died.Wehavegiventhispreliminaryinfor-mationtothepoliceaswell,”saidDr Rajeev Daveshwar,MedicalSuperintendent,SSGHospital.DrSunilBhatt,inchargeofthe

forensicdepartmentofthehospi-tal, who also conducts post-mortems,confirmedthatthepa-tientdiedofheavybloodlossandnotduetoanyother illness.“Thisis a clear case of suicide. Hehaddeep wounds on his stomachwhich led to heavy blood loss...There is no suspicion about anyother causeof death in this case.Our final reports will state thesame,”DrBhattsaid.TheRaopurapolicehasmade

a station entry (janva jog) and isawaiting intimation from the

hospitalonthecauseofdeathbe-fore registering a case. AssistantCommissioner of Police, CDivision, Megha Tewar, said,“Thereisnoconfirmationonthecause of death yet as the post-mortem report is awaited.Wewere informed that hewas un-well.However,wewillgoaheadwith thepunchnamaandbasedonevidences,ifthisappearstobea case of suicide, wewill file acaseof accidentaldeath.”Theman, anative of Handod

villageinKarjan,wasadmittedintheisolationwardofSSGHospitalafter complaining of severebreathlessness onWednesday.His bodywill be handedover tothefamilyonlyifthepatienttestsnegative,medicalofficialssaid.Thepatient’syoungerbrother

said, “Two days ago, he startedfeelingfeverish.Weaskedhimtoconsult a doctor but he refused.Yesterday(Wednesday)whenhecomplainedofseverebreathless-ness,we immediatelyrushedhimtothehealthcentreinKarjanfromwheretheyreferredustoSSG.”“Todaymorningwe received

a call saying that hehad injuredhimself.Whenwe reachedhere,he was alive but severelywounded.Wewereinformedthathe hadwoundedhimself whiletryingtobreakawindowpane.Hediedlater.Wearewaitingtoclaimthe body as his test results areawaited,”thebrothersaid.Onwhatcouldbethereason

behind him taking the extremestep,hesaid,“Therewasnootherissue but he was scared of thevirus and what it could do tohim,which iswhy he refrainedfrom consulting a doctor. Wetook him to the doctor onlywhenhisconditiondeteriorated,but we did not expect that hewoulddoanythingof thiskind.”

Railwayofficials removeoxygencylinders fromtraincompartments thatwere turned intoCovid-19 isolationcoaches. The coaches stationedonPlatform4and5of theVadodara railway stationhavenot yetbeenused to isolateCovid-19patients. BhupendraRana

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

ANOTHERPUBLICinterestlitiga-tion (PIL) has been registered attheGujaratHighCourtchalleng-ing orders by various universi-tieswhich caused “chaos in theeducational system” amidstCovid-19pandemic.Thepetition filedbytwo25-

year-oldsseeksthecourt’sdirec-tiontothestateandcentraledu-cationauthoritiestoformulateastandardoperatingproceduresothatexamsandadmissionstakeplace inauniformmanner.Expectedtobeheardon June

29, the petition has sought thatthe University GrantsCommission (UGC)presents be-foretheHCallthegrievancesithasreceived fromother parts of thecountrywithrespecttoexamina-tions and the steps takenby thenationaltaskforceinthisregard.The petitioners have sought

that an order or notification beissuedby theauthorities to staythe examinations and admis-sionsacross thecountry.

ManwithCovid symptomsdiesafter ‘inflictingwoundsonhimself’

SSGHOSPITALVADODARA

Petition seeksuniform SOP forvarsity examsand admissions

Vadodara’s Covid tally doubles in 25 days

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 19,839 1,390 238

Surat 3,876 142 164

Vadodara 2,042 50 44

Bhavnagar 218 13 5

Gandhinagar 602 27 15

Rajkot 217 5 14

ChhotaUdepur 47 3

Patan 154 13 2

Valsad 88 3 8

Porbandar 14 2

Mehsana 228 11 4

Morbi 11 1 1

Kutch 116 5 5

GirSomnath 67 1 4

Junagadh 74 1 4

Sabarkantha 158 8 2Anand 174 13 7

Panchmahal 178 15 6Bharuch 181 6 9

Banaskantha 168 8

Jamnagar 174 4 14

Kheda 142 5 6Narmada 79 11

Aravalli 186 15 2Mahisagar 144 2

Botad 78 2 1

Amreli 54 5 3

Tapi 10Dang 5

Dahod 55 1DevbhoomiDwarka 20 1

Surendranagar 102 5 2Navsari 64 1 5Fromotherstates 59 1

Totalcases:29,624 Deaths:1,758Newcases:577

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

21,498

Ahmedabad

Academic

initiatives:All the principals of

GTU-affiliated colleges

were informed to

implement the online

teaching-learning

process for the

students to avoid delay

in course completion in

lieu of completion of

academic term.Forengagingthestudentcommu-

nity, faculty members of GTU PGschoolsadopteddigitalplatformwiththe help of A-VIEW, Google ClassRoom,FacebookliveandZoomCloudMeetingetctoconductonlineclasses.

All students were instructed nottovisit industries/companies for theirIDP/ Summer Project work.

The information of MHRD digitalinitiatives in Higher Education suchas Swayam, MOOC Platform,National Digital Library of India,Virtual Labs, e-Yantra, etc., wasshared with the students to utilisethese platforms for enhancing theiracademic activities.

◆◆Variouse-bookswerealsosharedwiththe students to understand the conceptsin better way.

◆◆TheGoogleClassroomwasalsoutilisedfor submission of assignment and shar-ing of course material.

◆◆ Students were encouraged to down-load the Aarogya Setu app and followsocial distancing norms.

◆◆ Details of various ICT initiatives ofMinistry of Human ResourceDevelopment (MHRD)wereuploadedonGTU website for the benefits of students.

◆◆ GTU organised more than 100 webi-nars/expert talk on various topics like

innovation,startups,nutrition,crosscul-tural factors in international business,cyber security etc.

◆◆GTU's Integrated Training andPlacement cell organised a webinar on"PostCovid19EraEmployability" fromMay 18 to May 20, 2020 on differentemployability related topics.

Innovative products

developed by

students of GTU

innovation council◆◆ Design Innovation Centre of GTU

developed3Dprintedfaceshield topre-vent the coronavirus and distributed tostaffmembersofpolicedepartmentwhoare serving the nation in this pandemic.

◆◆Dronelab-StudentsofGTUinnovationcouncil developed drones to fight thispandemic which are really helpful in dis-infecting common areas, social monitor-ing and delivery of critical supplies.

◆◆ Airoking - GTU students developed awireless robot tohelpnursesandmedicalstaff intransferringfoodandmedicineetc.

◆◆ Smart multi-layer hand gloves - GTUStudents developed smart gloves to stopspreading coronavirus.

◆◆ San Burn - a small fully automatic ma-chine to burn used face mask, handgloves, tissue papers and hair caps etc.

◆◆ Sanitiser tunnel/cabinet - Flexibletunnel with minimum resources for allsocieties, government units, hospitalsto make everyone virus free before en-tering into building.

◆◆AsperthespecificationofWorldHealthOrganization (WHO), Professors ofGraduateSchoolofPharmacydevelopedasanitiserunder theguidanceofProf (Dr)NavinSheth,Hon'bleViceChancellor,GTUand distributed to police officers inAhmedabad city.

◆◆During the laboratory research,Graduate School of Pharmacy, GTU de-veloped a first-time novel method withthe Fourier Transform - InfraredSpectrophotometer (FT-IR) for thequalitytesting of alcohol-based hand sanitiserwhich is nowadays mainly used for theprevention of coronavirus.eSwasthya is one of the start up incubated and

supported at GISC Ahmedabad. This start up has

created one-stop solution for all your health and

wellness needs. In this global epidemic situation

of COVID-19, eSwasthya has brought in medicine

delivery at your doorstep to avoid moving out of

home. The order can be placed online or by call.

ADVERTORIAL

Gujarat Technological University, being the largest technical university in Gujarat with a network of more

than 430 colleges and approximately 5,00,000 students studying in various disciplines like Pharmacy,

Management, Engineering, Computer Applications and Architecture, actively took major steps to protect

the interest of students and issued guidelines for all affiliated colleges. GTU took many initiatives

tominimise theacademic lossof thestudentsduring this lockdown.Toensure thesafetyofall

stakeholders, GTU adopted novel ways to promote online teaching - learning methods to

effectively communicate with the students and to keep them engaged.

Initiatives taken by Gujarat Technological Universityduring lockdown period of coronavirus pandemic

Other initiatives

taken by GTUHomeopathic medicines were

distributed to employees to boost

up the immunity level. Appeal to

contribute in PM Relief Fund:

Prof (Dr) Navin Sheth, Hon'ble Vice

Chancellor, GTU and Dr K N Kher,

Registrar, GTU appealed everyone to

contribute generously to Prime

Minster Relief Fund and shared

account details of PM-CARES fund.

❖❖ FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION

TO THE CM RELIEF FUND:

University decided to contribute one day

salary of all employees to Chief Minster

Relief Fund and also urged to affiliated

institutes to contribute in the relief fund.

❖❖ Online Fitness Training Programme

was initiated by the university.

❖❖ GTU organised the Dr Vikram

Sarabhai Documentary Competition.

❖❖ 12 international students ofBhutan studying in GTU were sent totheir country by special flight.

❖❖ A Live Classical Music Programme wasorganised for one week from April 11 toApril 16, 2020 for relaxing mind andboosting mental health.

❖❖ GTU supported the initiative ofHon'ble Prime Minister Shri NarendraModi and appealed for switching off thelights for nine minutes on April 5, 2020and lighting the lamp.

❖❖ Prof (Dr) Navin Sheth, HonourableVice Chancellor, GTU, appealed to thecitizens of the country through videomessage to follow the guidelines oflockdown to save themselves and others.

❖❖ GTU started a 24x7 helpline forsolving the queries of students and par-ents. The team consists of expert profes-sors of psychology, psychiatrists, skilledofficers who provide guidance and coun-selling. Hundreds of students take ben-efit of this helpline. The helpline has re-ceived over 2,000 calls in the last week.

❖❖ Corona Warriors Competition - GTUorganised an e-competition of drawing,essay writing and poetry writing to paygratitude to corona warriors on theoccasion of Gujarat State Establishmentday. A total of 1,133 studentsparticipated in the e-competition i.e.559 entries for drawing, 355 for essayand 219 for poetry.

❖❖ On May 16, 2020, GTU celebrated13th Foundation Day virtually whereShri Vijaybhai Rupani, Honourable ChiefMinister, Gujarat was the chief guest. ShriBhupendrasinh Chudasama, EducationMinister, Gujarat and Smt VibhavaribenDave were guests of honour.

Thus, the university ensured students'

learning and engaged students' community in

the current critical situation to fight against

Covid-19 with stay safe and work from the

home approach. It is expected that

strategies, action plans and innovative

methods implemented by Gujarat

Technological University would prove to be a

very useful document for the future

generations to help them to cope up with the

similar situations that arise in future.

Shri.V. Muraleedharan, Hon. Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India as a Cheif

Guest in “LaunchofBookonCountryStudyProjectsandFelicitationofForeignStudents’’atGujarat

Technological University (GTU) on 5th January,2020.

Sanitizers distributed to the Police personnel by GTU

UnionHomeMinisterShriAmitShahat the inaugural functionof the 9th ConvocationCeremonyof Gujarat TechnologicalUniversity, along

with the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijaybhai Rupani and the Vice Chancellor and Governor of Gujarat, Shri Acharya Devvrat.

GTU organised 'Tech Guru Award Ceremony'on September 5 2019 to appreciate the noble work of

teachers.Two professors were honored with the ‘Tech Guru’ award. Shri Vajubhai Vala, Honorable

Governor of Karnataka was the chief guest of the programme and Shri Bhupendrasinh Chudasama,

Hon’ble Education Minister graced the award ceremony as a guest of honour.

GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITYGUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITYAn International Innovative University

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

Ahmedabad

6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

SOUTHERNPOWERDISTRIBUTIONCOMPANYOFTELANGANALTD.

TSSPDCL intends to float tenders for procurement of a) 55 sq.mm AAAConductor, b) New Transformer Oil, C) 3-PH 315 KVA DTR with BIS EELevel-3, d) 11KV 220V Fed VCB,CTs,CR Pnl& IED Relays, e) 11KV CTs900-450/1-1-0.577A, 0.2S Class, f) 33KV Lightning Arrestors (Line Type),g) 24V 40AH BatteryCharger (Conventional type) and h) 11KV, 3Cx185+70Sq.mm XLPE AB Cable on e-procurement platform. For furtherdetails,please visit www.tssouthernpower.com and www.tender.telangana.gov.in. Phone: 040-23431360, 1034

DIPR R.O. No. : 680-PP/CL-AGENCY/ADVT/1/2020-21Sd/- CHIEF GENERAL

MANAGER (P&MM)

e-Procurement Tender Notice

Tenders are invited for Design, Supply, Installation,

Testing and Commissioning with 5 years Comprehensive

Maintenance of Solar Powered Lights and Fans for 1027

nos. of Anganawadi Centers of “Department of Women

and Child Development (DWCD)” throughout the State

of Karnataka through e-procurement portal under two cover

system. Intending bidders can download the tender

documents from the e-procurement website:

www.eproc.karnataka.gov.in on or after 26.06.2020.

Sd/- Assistant General Manager

Solar Off Grid-1, KREDL

Karnataka Renewable EnergyDevelopment Limited(A Government of Karnataka Undertaking)# 39, "Shanthigruha", Bharath Scouts & Guides, Palace Road,

Bengaluru-560 001. Karnataka.

Mobile:9449817158/9620945670

Website: www.kredlinfo.in, e-Mail:kredlmd@gmail.com,

agm.sogkredl@gmail.com

No. KREDL/07/SOG-1/366/2019-20/ Call-2 Date: 25.06.2020

SHORT-TERM TENDER NOTIFICATIONSolar Power Pack for Anganawadi Centers

(Through e-procurement platform)

ARVALLI PANCHAYAT R & B DIVISION MODASA

TENDER NOTICE NO. 05/2020-21

On behalf of the Government of Gujarat The Executive Engineer Arvalli

Panchayat R & B Divison Modasa Dist:-Arvalli (Phone No 02774-250020) invite

Tender for new Angnwadi building at various taluka, c.c. road and deep work in

Arvalli District of the cost of work Rs. 6.41 Lacks to 49.91 Lacks through E-

Tendering System from Government approved contractor Registered with road

& building department, Gujarat State. Which will be available on the web-site

http://rnb.nprocure.com from Dt. 29/06/2020 & last Date of online submission up

to Dt. 13/07/2020 The work wise details for these work will viable on the Notice

Board at the Executive Engineer, Arvalli Panchayat R&B Divison Modasa and on

website of information Department on WWW.STATETENDERS.COM For further

information of the above works will viable during the office hours at this office.

INF/HMT/95/2020

Ref. No.: 11/PIU(Health), UDRP-AF Date: 25/06/2020

NOTICE FOR NATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDINGNAME OF PROJECT: Uttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project - Additional

Financing (UDRP AF) Loan No. - 89210-IN

The Government of India has received financing from the World Bank towards the

cost of the UDRP-Additional Financing and intends to apply part of the proceeds for

following packages of Machines & Ambulance Hence National Competitive Biddings

are invited for the following Machines & Ambulances and the bid document of which

can be downloaded from the website https://uktenders.gov.in Bids must be

submitted online on the website https://uktenders.gov.in on or before 11:00 AM,

17 July, 2020 A complete set of bidding documents in English may be downloaded

by interested eligible bidders from the website https://uktenders.gov.in which will

be available on the website from 01/07/2020 to 17/07/2020. Bids will be opened on

17 July, 2020 at 3:00 PM

Note- 1. The corrigendum for the above works will be uploaded on website www.

uktendersgov.in & www.ukdisasterrecovery.in

2. Email id piu.health.udrpaf@gmail.com may be contacted for any

information or complaint related to the works under PIU (Scope, Bridge &

Irrigation), UDRP-AF or the complaint/grievance may also be uploaded on

the website www.uk disasterrecovery.in

Sd/-

Program Manager

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION UNIT-HEALTHUttarakhand Disaster Recovery Project-Additional Financing (UDRP-AF)

4TH Floor, DDPM Tower, Haridwar Bypass Road, Ajabpur Khurd, DEHRADUN

Ph. No. 8126148268; Email id: piu.health.udrpaf@gmail.com;

Website: www.ukdisasterrecovery.in

SI.

No

Package No. Name of Work Bid

Security

(In INR)

Cost of Bid

Document

(In INR)

1 2 3 5 7

1. 01/PIU-Health/CERC/

UDRP-AF/2020

Supply & installation of CT Scan Machines

in 4 Tertiary Care Hospitals of Uttarakhand

INR 40.00

Lakh

5000+GST

2. 02/PIU-Health/CERC/

UDRP-AF/2020

Supply of Ambulances (100 Basic Life

Support-BLS & 40 Advance Life Support-

ALS) for Health Department, Uttarakhand

INR 68.34

Lakh

5000+GST

GUJARAT STATE ELECTRICITY

CORPORATION LIMITEDKUTCH LIGNITE THERMAL POWER STATION

S.K.V. Nagar, Panandhro, Kutch, Gujarat - 370 601

GSECL: www.gseb.com, E&P Dept-GOG: https://guj-epd.gov.in

TENDER-NOTICE No: e-Tender KLTPS-13/2020-21.

Tenders for Supply of various materials and other works

are put on website: https://gsecl.nprocure.com,

www.gseb.com / www.gsecl.in. For Tender above Rs.

5.00 Lacs. Vendors/Manufactures and contractors are

requested to view, down load, participate and submit

online from https://gsecl.nprocure.com.Tender below

Rs. 5.00 Lacs may be view, download & participate only

from www.gseb.com / www.gsecl.in

Addl. Chief Engineer (G)

Station Head, KLTPS.

Tenders are invited by the undersigned on behalf of Managing

Director, VJNL, Bangalore, from eligible contractor for the Work

“Extension of Holalkere Tank Filling Scheme to ill up 06 nos. of

tanks including construcion of one impounding reservoir along

with one addiional tank illing (Kereyagalahalli) in Talya hobali

under Upper Bhadra Project in Holalkere Taluk of Chitradurga

District with operaion and maintenance for 05 years ater

successful compleion of work” (INDENT No: VJNL/2019-20/IW/

WORK_INDENT1363” Amount put to tender is Rs. 5653.36 Lakhs,

the contractors can submit the tenders in Two cover system through

www.eproc.karnataka.gov.in from 25.06.2020 to 10.07.2020 ill

16:00, The Pre-bid Meeing is Scheduled on 07.07.2020, 11.00 AM

in the oice of Chief engineer, VJNL UBP Zone, Chitradurga. Last

date for queries up to 06.07.2020, 5:00 PM, Opening of Technical

bid is on 11.07.2020, 16:30 onwards in the oice of Execuive

Engineer, VJNL, UBP Division No.05, Chitradurga. Financial bid will

be opened ater the approval of technical Bid.

(Only through E-prOcurEmEnt pOrtAL)

SHOrt tErm E-tEnDEr nOtIFIcAtIOn

Sd/- Execuive Engineer

VISVESVArAYA JALA nIGAmA LImItED

No:EE/UBP/VJNL/Div-5/CTA/TALYA/2020-21/229 Dt: 23.06.2020

(Government of Karnataka Enterprises)

Uppar Bhadra Project, Div. No.5, Chitradurga.

Ph/Fax: 08194-230102 E-Mail: eeubp.d5cta@gmail.com

rO no. 182: DIpr/ctA/mcA/2020-21

PERSONAL

Classifieds

I HAVE CHANGE MY OLD

NAME FROM MISS SALONI

CHANDRESHKUMAR MEHTA

TO NEW NAME AS

PUBLISHED BY GAZETTE

VIDE NO.240 Mrs. SALONI

PRADIPKUMAR

SHIROYA & I WILL BE

KNOWN AS NEW NAME.

WHICH PLEASE NOTE.

Mrs. SALONI

PRADIPKUMAR SHIROYA

Address : 16, Naklank Karuna,Laxminagar, Jalalpore,

Navsari - 396421

CHANGE OF NAME

Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance of advertising copy, it is not possibleto verify its contents. The Indian Express (P) Limited cannot be heldresponsible for such contents, nor for any loss or damage incurred as a result

of transactions with companies, associations or individuals advertising in its newspapers or Publications. Wetherefore recommend that readers make necessary inquiries before sending any monies or entering into anyagreements with advertisers or otherwise acting on an advertisement in any manner whatsoever.

IMPORTANT

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHAOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER,

JEYPORE (R&B) CIRCLE, JEYPORE

INVITATIONS FOR BIDS (IFB)Bid Identification No. S.E.J.C. (R&B)- 08/2020-21

No. 2493 Date. 22.06.2020

Further details can be seen from the e-procurement portal

https://tendersodisha.gov.in

Any addendum / corrigendum / cancellation of tender can also

be seen in the said website only.

Sd/-

Superintending Engineer

Jeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

OIPR-34108/11/0006/2021

B-111

1. Name of the Work : ROAD & BUILDING WORKS

2. Total No. of Works : 02 (Two) Nos.

3. Estimated cost : Rs. 128.52 Lakhs to 738.00 Lakhs

4. Period of completion 09 Months to 10 (Ten) Months

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

6. Class of Contractor : “B”, “A”, “Special” & “Super” Class

7. Date & time of availability of

bid document in the portal

: From 10.00 hours of 30.06.2020

to 17.00 hours of 15.07.2020

8. Last date/ Time for receipt of

bids in the Portal

: 17.00 hours of 15.07.2020

9. Opening date of Bid : 10.00 hours of 16.07.2020

10. Name and address of the

Officer Inviting Bid

: Superintending Engineer

Jeypore (R&B) Circle, Jeypore

With a view to maintain high ATM availability, a new vertical for Anytime Channels

has been rolled out recently at Ahmedabad. The Local Command Centre will

monitor all activities centrally in respect to ATM / SWAYAM Passbook Printer /

GREEN CHANNEL ( GCC), Dukhabandhu Rath Chief General Manager in the

presence of R K Agrawal (GM -NW 1), P S Bedekar (GM -NW 2) and Madhukar

Anand (GM -FIMM) inaugurated the Local Command Centre.This will be using

robust technology platform and will centrally monitor all activities of all

ATM/SWAYAM /GCC of all SBI Branches in Gujarat and will help in maintaining

the highest availability of ATM 24 X 7 365 days. In view of lockdown during the

spread of COVID-19 pandemic, SBI launched Mobile ATM Van Services at 5 cen-

ters i.e at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bhavnagar and Rajkot so as to pro-

vide door to door ATM Services. Krishna Kumar Sriwastawa Deputy General

Manager, AlTernate channel oversee the whole operation of the Local Com-

mand Centre.

ANNOUNCEMENT – STATE BANK OF INDIA

International Day ofYoga was recently celebrated over Rajkot Division of West-

ern Railway with this year's theme - "Yoga at Home with Family" amidst the back-

ground of Corona Pandemic by encouraging sessions at home or at work places

by observing all protocols of social distancing.Divisional Railway Manager of Ra-

jkot Division Parmeshwar Funkwal and President of Western Railway Women

Welfare Organization Kavita Funkwal performed various Yoga Asans at their

residence and motivated others to follow suit too.Large number of staff of Rajkot

Division practicedYoga from their home along with their family throughYou Tube

link under the guidance of Kishor Rathod,Yoga Trainer from PatanjaliYog Peeth.

CELEBRATION – RAJKOT DIVISION OF WR OBSERVES 'INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY'

Divisional Railway Manager of Rajkot Division ofWestern Railway felicitated 15 em-

ployees of Commercial Department with the award of 'Corona Rail Warriors' by giv-

ing them merit certificate and medal.These employees have worked fearlessly with

utmost dedication during Corona Pandemic and played a crucial role in success-

ful running of Shramik Special Trains, Parcel Special Trains and providing Meals to

the needy persons outside railway station premises during the time of nationwide

lockdown. Funkwal has highly appreciated the contribution made by these em-

ployees in railway working in such a challenging situation. ADRM Govind Prasad

Saini, Sr. DCM Ravindra Shrivastava, ACM (Goods) Rakesh Kumar Purohit and

ACM (Coaching) Aslam Sheikh were also present on this occasion.

FELICITATIONS – EMPLOYEES OF WR RAJKOT DIVISION, FELICITATES AS 'CORONA RAIL WARRIORS'

Ganpat University, Mehsana has organized an online webinar on Role ofYouth in

Self-reliant India Mission.Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya, Hon'ble Union Min-

ister of State for Shipping (India) (Independent Charge) and Union Minister of

State for Chemical and Fertilizers (India) was the Distinguished speaker of this

webinar.Padma Shri Ganpatbhai Patel, President and Patron-in-chief of Ganpat

University also joined this webinar online from California, USA. Mansukhbhai

Mandaviya, the distinguished speaker of today's webinar discussed the role de-

tails of this Abhiyan. Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) is the vision of the

Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi of making India a self-reliant nation.

INITIATIVE – WEBINAR ON ROLE OF YOUTH IN SELF-RELIANT INDIA MISSION

Charotar University of Science and Technology (CHARUSAT) recently hosted a

Webinar on "Science, Technology and Development" (STD). The esteemed

speaker for the session was Suresh Prabhu, Member of Parliament, and In-

dian Emissary to the G 20, Member of United Nations Commission for Biodi-

versity & Land Use Change, and the Chair of the Global Water Partnership.The

webinar was streamed live on YouTube and Facebook. The webinar was at-

tended by more than 1,265 participants around the world. Dr. Devang Joshi,

Registrar, CHARUSAT hosted the seminar and thanked Mohanbhai Patel, former

Sheriff of Mumbai, for his support in making the event possible.

INITIATIVE – WEBINAR ON "SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT", CHARUSAT

WRWWO MOTIVATED WOMEN EMPLOYEES

TO PRACTICE YOGA IN THEIR DAILY LIVES

With the Coronavirus Lockdown, this

year's theme of the International Yoga

Day 2020 was "Yoga for Health - Yoga

at Home". On this International Yoga

Day 2020, Mrs. Tanuja Kansal - Presi-

dent of Western Railway Women's Wel-

fare Organisation, connected online

with women employees of Western

Railway to encourage to practice yoga in

their daily lives. The pandemic has

clearly shown the utmost importance of

immunity and healthy lifestyle which

yoga embodies as a whole.

INITIATIVE – YOGA FOR HEALTH, YOGA AT HOME

Starting from 2nd May to 20th June, 2020, Western Railway has suc-

cessfully run 1,229 Shramik Special trains to ferry stranded migrant

labourers and their families to their hometowns in different states of the

country.To appreciate the efforts ofWestern Rly's concerned officers & em-

ployees, Alok Kansal - General Manager of Western Railway has awarded

all six divisions of WR, for their exemplary performance and endeavors in

successful operation of 1229 Shramik special trains by WR. It is pertinent

to mention that the role of Western Rly in running of Shramik special

trains, was also appreciated by Minister of Rlys Piyush Goyal & Chief

Minister of Gujarat Vijaybhai Rupani. CM conferred Divisional Rly Man-

agers of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Mumbai Cen-

tral Divisions of Western Railway with appreciation trophies for the same.

CM of Gujarat also sent appreciation trophies to Alok Kansal - General

Manager of W. Rly & V. K.Yadav - Chaiman of Rly Board for their instru-

mental roles in successful operation of Shramik special trains.

AWARD – WR AWARDED FOR SUCCESSFUL RUNNING OF SHRAMIK SPECIAL TRAINS

One of the most important initiatives of Govt.of India in its fight against Covid 19virus is the announcement of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana(PMGKAY) providing free food grains to the needy population.For the State of Gu-jarat, a quantity of 1.91 LMT of food grains per month has been allotted underPMGKAY for 3 months from April to June'20, to be distributed free of cost to3.82 crore NFSA beneficiaries. The total expenditure to the tune of aboutRs.1721crores for providing free food grains to people of Gujarat is being borneby Government of India. Gujarat Government has so far lifted 4.73 Lakh MTfood grains valued at Rs. 1486 Crores under this scheme upto 16.06.20. StateGovernment is distributing these grains to the needy people.During the lockdownperiod, a quantity of 4.26 LMT food grains has also been lifted by the State Gov-ernment under NFSA. The total quantity of food grains supplied by Governmentof India in Gujarat during the lock down period for distribution under variousschemes is 10.34 Lakh MT.

INITIATIVE – FOOD CORPORATION OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT

SBI Foundation and " Streedhan" members of ladies of SBI family contributed to-

wards the establishment of three hospitals at Ahmedabad, Jamnagar and Bhuj

cantonments.Under the present Covid 19 Pandemic situation the SBI foundation

has come forward to establish the three hospitals by providing, 1000 PPE Kits,

1000 N95 Masks, 1300 Bed sheets with pillow covers, 650 pillows and 500 Lts of

Sodium hypochlorite to the Army at Ahmedabad on June 4, 2020. SBI Ahmed-

abad Circle Chief General Manager Dukhabandhu Rath along with General

Managers Ramesh Agrawal, PS Bedekar and Madhukar Anand handed over the

article to Major General Dinesh Shrivastava. GOC in the presence of Dy. GOC

Brigadier Ajit Millu and Wing. Commander Puneet Chadha PRO and

Spokesperson Min. of Defence Gujarat Region. The Major General conveyed

his thanks to State Bank of India, Ahmedabad Circle for this noble gesture.

CSR INITIATIVE – SBI FOUNDATION AND LADIES MEMBERS OF SBI FAMILY

NOTICEBOARD CORPORATE ASSOCIATE DIARY A P P O I N T M E N T S , M O V E M E N T S , C E L E B R A T I O N S , H O N O U R S

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

GOVERNMENT OF ODISHA,“e”-PROCUREMENT NOTICE

WORKS DEPARTMENTE-mail- ceworldbankprojects@gmail.com

Bid Identification No. CE-W.B.P. (O) - 06/2020-21

1. The Chief Engineer (World Bank Project), Odisha on behalf

of Governor of Odisha invites percentage rate bid in double

cover system in ONLINE MODE from eligible contractors for

construction of Bridge works as detailed below:

8. The Bidders have to participate in ONLINE bidding only.

Futher details can be seen from the website:

https:tenderodisha.gov.in. Any addendum/ corrigendum/

cancellation of tender can also be seen in the said website.

Chief Engineer

World Bank Project, Odisha

OIPR-34003/11/0008/2021

B-110

2. Nature of work : Bridge works

3. No. of work : 01 Nos.

4. Tender cost : Rs. 10,000.00 (on-line)

5. Class of Contractor : Super / Special Class Contractor

6. Available of bid

document in the

website

: From 10.00 A.M. of 30.06.2020 to

05.00 PM of 16.07.2020.

7. Date of opening of Bid : Dt. 17.07.2020 at 11.30 AM

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT 7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

AMRELI POLICE arrested a 31-year-oldman fromAhmedabadon Thursday for allegedly kid-napping a 17-year-old girl fromAmrelidistrictoneyearago.According to police, the ac-

cused,aworkerwithadiamondcompany, had allegedly elopedwithaminorgirl after influenc-ing her and had brought herfrom Amreli to Dhandhuka inAhmedabad rural. A case waslodged under 363 for kidnap-pingatSavarkundla ruralpolicestationagainst theaccused.“The accused had abducted

thegirlwhowas16yearsoldlastyear in a village in Amreli andbroughthertoAhmedabad.Thecrimewentundetectedformorethan a year andwe recently re-ceived a tip that the accusedstays in a village underDhandhukataluka.AteamthenbroughtbacktheminorgirlfromAhmedabadandarrestedtheac-

cused,” said a police officer atAmreli.In another case, police ar-

rested a Narol area-basedmaninAhmedabadwhohadelopedwith a 16-year-old girl to UttarPradesh onMay 19. Apart fromsectionsofabduction,hehasalsobeenbookedforrapetakingcog-nizanceofthecomplaintfiledbythevictim’sparents.“The accused worked in a

factory inNarolandwasstayingin Ahmedabad. OnMay 19, hekidnapped the girl by convinc-inghertomarryherandtookherto Uttar Pradesh. A case waslodged against the accused atNarol police stations under IPCsections363forkidnapping,376for rape and sections of theProtection of Children againstSexual Offences (POCSO) Act.Usingtechnicalsurveillance,wetrackedthemovementoftheac-cused and the girl and a policeteam brought her back to herparents on Thursday.We havearrestedtheaccused,”saidanof-ficial atNarolPoliceStation.

Two men arrestedon abduction chargein Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad:Daysafterabstainingfrom voting in the Rajya Sabhaelections in Gujarat, the twoBharatiyaTribalParty(BTP)MLAs- Chhotu Vasava and his son

Mahesh - have sought security,claiming their "lives are in dan-ger", and written a letter toPresidentRamNathKovind.

PTI

MLAs seek security, write to President

Ahmedabad

8

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

UNMAKING IN INDIAIdentifyingcountryoforiginofproductsisanideawhosetime

shouldnevercome—servesnoeconomicpurpose,willhave costs

ONWEDNESDAY,THEDepartmentforPromotionofIndustryandInternal

Trade (DPIIT) reportedly directed e-commerce companies such as

Amazon,FlipkartandPaytmtofigureoutamechanismthatwillallow

consumers to identify thecountryoforigin forall theproductssoldon

theirplatforms.Thelatestdirectivecomesamidagrowingclamourfor

theboycottofChineseproducts, intheaftermathoftheclashbetweenIndianandChinese

soldiers on the LAC. This is a troublingdevelopment. It signals awillingness on thepart

of thegovernmenttoallowthediscrimination,possiblytheshunning,ofproductsonthe

basis of their place of origin. Coupledwith the government’s push for “atmanirbharta”

orself-reliance,markedbymorezealthanprudence,andreportsof itcontemplatingthe

raisingof tariffs on imports,moves suchas theseappear to showcaseanopportunepo-

litical optics at ahigheconomic cost— it couldendupundoing thebenefits and revers-

ingthegainsoverthelastfewdecadesof freetrade. Itcouldpresageamisguidedshiftto-

wardsprotectionism, sliding into the failedpolicyof import substitution.

The idea of specifying the country of origin in products in today’s integratedworld

serves no rational economic purpose. The difficulties in executing it only underline its

absurdity. At the crux of thematter is defining the “country of origin”.While products

maybeassembledinonecountry,therawmaterialsorcomponentsareoftensourcedfrom

several other countries. Thismakes it challenging to identifywho “manufactures” the

product.Adistinctionthushastobemadebetween“assembling”and“manufacturing”,

and the extent of value added at each stage has to be estimated. Take, for instance, the

iPhone.Itscomponents,suchasthetouchscreendisplay,memorychipsandmicroproces-

sorscomefromamixofUS, Japanese,KoreanandTaiwanesecompanies,notallof them

manufactured in China. These individual components are shipped to China,where it is

assembled,andthenshippedacrosstheworld.SowillaniPhonesoldonane-commerce

website in India identify China as the country of origin? Evenproducts that are assem-

bledinIndiahavecomponentsfromseveralcountries.Howwill thecountryoforiginbe

workedout?Will itbebasedonvalueadded?Whowillberesponsible forprovidingac-

curate informationabout theproduct—theplatformor theseller?

Seenalongsiderecentdevelopments, this latestdirectiveraisesconcernsoverthein-

creasingprotectionist impulsesandinwardlookingsignalsemanatingfromthegovern-

ment.Suchpoliciesopenthedoorfor further lobbying,andfacilitaterent-seeking.From

theexcessivelywiderhetoricofself-reliancetoreportsofthegovernmentconsideringrais-

ing tariffs to boost domesticmanufacturing, India seems to have forgotten the lessons

learnt fromitspastmistakes.

TALL CLAIMSRamdev’s so-calledcure forCOVIDfloutsmedicalandbusinessdueprocess,whilediscreditingAyurveda

WITH THE COUNTRY’S COVID graph surging past the 4.5 lakh

markandnearly15,000peoplesuccumbingtothedisease,any

claimofa“100percentcure”isboundtogeneratehope.Butin

such difficult times, it’s also important to regulate and guard

againstthepropagationofafalsesenseofsecurity.TheMinistry

ofAYUSHhas,therefore,donewelltoaskBabaRamdev’sPatanjaliAyurvedtostopadver-

tising that ithas foundacure for thecontagion,until it examines thematter.Asa report

inthispaperhasbroughttolight,thecompanydidnotfollowdueprocessesbeforelaunch-

ing the “Corona Kit”, which it advertised as a panacea for COVID-19. The Uttarakhand

governmenthassaiditslicensingauthoritydidnotgrantapprovaltotheHaridwar-based

Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali’s medicine unit, tomanufacture the “Corona Kit”. And, the

Rajasthangovernmenthasdisclaimedanyknowledgeof clinical trialsof thedrugat the

NationalInstituteofMedicalSciencesandResearchinJaipur.ThelitanyofPatanjali’sun-

ethical practicesdoesn’t endhere.Whenmildly symptomaticpatientsdeveloped fever

during the trials, theywereadministeredallopathicmedicines.

TheadvertisingofAyurvedicdrugs isgovernedbya lawthatdatesback to1954—the

Drugs andMagic Remedies (ObjectionableAdvertisements) Act. TheAct does talk about

“falseclaims”and“directlyor indirectlygivinga false impressionregarding the truechar-

acterof thedrug”.But seriousdiseases suchasAIDSorencephalitis,whichhaveemerged

inthepast40years,arenot listedunderthelaw. InFebruary, theUnionMinistryofHealth

andFamilyWelfarereleasedadraftofanamendmenttothe1954Acttocorrectsuchshort-

comings.But thenthecountrywasovertakenbyCOVIDandtheCentrehasusedthe1954

ActtoscrutinisePatanjali'stallclaims—theAYUSHministry’snoticetoBabaRamdev’sout-

fitwasservedunderthis law.Perhapsthegovernmenthasto findwaysto includeCOVID-

19under its purview. Its use of the ordinance route to amend the 123-year old Epidemic

DiseasesAct, tocurbviolenceagainstdoctors,couldbeinstructiveforthepurpose.

This isnottounderminetheroleofAyurvedicremediesforpeople’shealthandwell-

being,especiallyduringthepandemic.Someherbsareknowntobeimmunityboosters.

In fact, Patanjali, reportedly, sought regulatoryapproval for individualmedicines, that it

later included in the “Corona Kit”, as “immunity boosters” and as remedies for “cough

andbreathlessness”. InclaimingthatthesemedicinescureCOVID,Ramdev’scompanyis

guiltyof floutingmedical—andbusiness—ethics,whilealsodiscreditingAyurveda.

DJOKOVIC AND COVIDSportand itsprimadonnasarehavinganespeciallyhardtime

resting itout in theshadows

WORLDNO1tennisplayerNovakDjokovicwillhaveafortnightof

isolation tomullover thehavoc thatcanbewreakedonthehu-

manbodyshouldaviruslatchontoitsrespiratoryairways.Itwas

Djokovic's casualness that sawhimmake light of a global pan-

demic,resultinginfourtopplayers,hiswifeJelenaandsomeoth-

ers, test positive for the virus. But this isn't just aboutDjokovic inviting top tennis play-

ers foranexhibition tournamentandthumbinghisnoseat social-distancingprotocols.

Sportanditsprimadonnashavebeenfinding itdifficult torest itout in theshadows.

Allacrosstheworld,thecallsforsporttoresume,frombusinessinterests,growsbecause

abunchof supremelyfit superstarscannot fathomthatthehumanbodycancaveunder

an infection, at amere sneeze or a cough. Sequestered in their bubbleswheremillions

adorethemforfeatstheirbodiescanperform,sportspersonsrefusetoacknowledgethat

somethingthat'snotpaintedinglory, likewar,canhalttheirathleticexuberance.So,golf

goesoninAmericabeforeabunchisfelledbyCOVID-19.Andfootballispullingoutallstops

acrossEurope tocomplete theirbigdollar leagues.

Mercifully theOlympics got postponed, but global superstars, all super fit, just can't

wrap their brains around a body that can beweakened by a flu. This bull-headedness

workswell for theheavily-investedofficials,broadcastersandsponsorswhoare indan-

gerofgoingbankrupt if livesportsdon't resumequickly.Weretheplayersmorecircum-

spect about taking to the field, the resumption of sports would be much later and

smoother.Djokovicjustwentandgotinfected, insteadofwaitingforsciencetodoitsjob.

Pratap BhanuMehta

Howdid India, inquest forglobalprestige,manageto lose itsneighbourhood?Answers lieathome

property,regulation,agriculture, labourmo-bility, the very areaswhere freedom is vitalfor India’s economy?Will aUShell-bentonbringingmanufacturingjobsbacktotheUS,easilygelwithan“atmanirbhar”Bharat?Toseewhat is at stake,we just need to look attheway inwhich friction over thedevelop-mentparadigmisdrivingtensionsontrade,taxationand regulatory issuesbetween theUSandEU.There is sometimes a complaint in the

US that India is invited but refuses to cometothetablewithenthusiasm.Thereissometruth to this, despite the salutary culturaland political momentum in this relation-ship.But thedriversof thishaveoftenbeenlegitimatedifferencesoverdevelopment, in-cludingclimatechange. Ithasalsobeenthat,at various points, that ask was antitheticalto India’s other strategic commitments.Indiawaswisetostayoutof thewar in Iraq,itwaswisenottospurnRussiaentirely,andit iswisenot to throwitsweightbehindtheUS’s Iran policy. There is morematurity inthe US to understand India’s position. Butthereisasectionof India’sstrategiccommu-nitythatseesIndia’sreluctancetogoinwiththeUS,hooklineandsinker,asakindof ide-ological wimpishness, not a sign of moredeeply thought out realism, which it hasbeen.It is an odd moment in global affairs,

where there is recognition of a commonchallenge emanating from China, but noglobal appetite to take concertedaction.Aninterestingexamplemightbe theglobal re-sponsetotheBRI.Manycountriesarestrug-gling to meet their BRI debt obligations.Many Chinese loans have become amill-stonearoundthedebtorcountries’necks.Butitisdifficulttoseetherestoftheinternationalcommunity helping all these countries toweantheir regimesawayfromdependenceonChinese finance.Similarly, therearenowgreatconcernsoverfrontierareasofconflictlikecybersecurityandspace. It isdifficult toimagine concerted global action to createrules in these area, partly because GreatPowers like the US and Russia will alwayswant tomaintain their exceptionalism. Sowe are in a paradoxical world where the

strategicnecessityof therestof theworldtocome together on China has never beenhigher;yettheappetiteforconcertedactionhasneverbeenweaker.Fundamentally, fewcountriesaregoingtoputtheirmoneywheretheirmouth is.The value of global alliances andpublic

opinioninsettlingour localconflictshasal-waysbeenlimitedfortworeasons.First, theinternationalcommunityhasnotbeenveryeffective inneutralising lowcostasymmet-ricoptionsexercisedbysomepowers. Thisis thetacticPakistanhasused.Second,whatmilitaryoptions India canexercise, fortify-ing defences, gaining strategic leverage inareaswherewe can, is formilitary expertsto decide. But don’t count on the fact thattheworldwill supportan Indianescalationbeyond a point. The efforts of the interna-tionalcommunity, in the finalanalysis,willbe to try and throwcoldwater on the con-flict; no one has a serious stake in the fateof theterrain IndiaandChinaaredisputing.At the end of the day, India has tomanageChina andPakistan largely on its own.Thelogicof theChineseopeningsomany

fronts together is baffling. Reassuringly, itcouldmeanChinaisoverreaching.Lessreas-suringly, itcouldmeanthatratherthandis-playing strategic coherence, China is nowaregime that, like so many authoritarianregimesof thepast, iswilling todamage it-self andtheworld.Suchregimesarealwaysharder to handle because it is not straight-forwardlyinterestthatdrivesthem.Evenaswe deal with themilitary situation on theborder, the test of India’s resolvewill be itsabilitytoreturntosomefirstprinciplethink-ingabout itsownpower.Howdoesitcreatethe space for accelerating its development— in the long run, theonly cornerstoneof adefence policy?Howdoes it stay true to itsgreatest strength, its political identity as aliberal, pluralistic democracy? How didIndia, in its quest for global prestige, man-agetoloseitsownneighbourhood?Ourma-jorvulnerabilitiesareallathome,andsoarethe solutions.

Thewriter is contributingeditor,The IndianExpress

The value of global alliances

and public opinion in

settling our local conflicts

has always been limited for

two reasons. First, the

international community

has not been very effective in

neutralising low cost

asymmetric options

exercised by some powers.

This is the tactic Pakistan

has used. Second, what

military options India can

exercise, fortifying defences,

gaining strategic leverage in

areas where we can, is for

military experts to decide.

But don’t count on the fact

that the world will support

an Indian escalation beyond

a point. The efforts of the

international community, in

the final analysis, will be to

try and throw cold water on

the conflict; no one has a

serious stake in the fate of

the terrain India and China

are disputing.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020WORDLYWISE

Quacks pretendtocureother

men's disorders, but fail to findaremedy

fortheirown. — MARCUS TULLIUS CICEROTHEEDITORIALPAGE

Daksh Panwar

THE DEATH OF A MAGAZINE‘CricketSamrat’wasawindowtothesport intheHindheartlandbeforeTV, internet

LIKETHEELDERLY, theCOVID-19pandemichas ravaged old media. Earlier this week,CricketSamrat,aonce-influentialandwildlypopularHindimagazinebutonethatwasonlifesupportforsometime,announceditwasshuttingdownafter42years.Gen Z and non-Hindi readersmight not

haveheardof it,butforacricket-lovingkidintheBIMARU region of the ’80s and ’90s, theimportanceofCricketSamratcan’tbeencap-sulated. But I will attempt here. It was likeESPNCricinfo,SportsIllustratedandStarSportsinonepackage.LikeCricinfo, itwouldcontaindetailedre-

ports, in-depthanalyses,statisticsandscore-cards of domestic and international cricket—contentthatinthepre-interneterawouldotherwise have been inaccessible. CricketSamratwasalsoSportsIllustrated inthesensethat themagazine’s pull-out posterswouldadornourwalls. For this reason,manynon-Hindi readers also avidly collected CricketSamrat’s issues.And in an erawhen TV setswere a lux-

uryinmofussil IndiaandcableTVhadn’tar-rived, it was our Star Sports in that its vividprose in a language that we lived andbreathedwould help us “see” thematchesthatwecouldn’twatch.Thewritingofmanyof its contributorswas a breath of fresh airfrom the stoic style prevalent amongHindinewspapersof the time.Cricket Samratwasall thatandmore.FromitshumblebeginningsinWestDelhi

in 1978, it rode on cricket’s expanding foot-printinthecountry.BetweenLord’s1983andBombay1987,itgrewexponentiallyasIndiancrickethit itsapogee. Itwasasymbiotic rela-tionship,withIndiancricketalsogainingfromCricket Samrat. It acted as a forcemultiplier,democratising the game by taking it to theblind spots—blind swathes, in fact— in thenorth.The seeds of the small-town revolution

that would hit Indian cricket in the 2000swereperhapssowedbyCricketSamrat. It fu-elled the dreams of young kids hungry tomake their name in the game. ItwasNorthIndia’s very ownWisden — the globallyreveredBibleof Cricket.Cricket Samrat used to be a rage at the

SportsHostelsofKanpurandLucknowthatthrew up international cricket stars likeMohammad Kaif, R P Singh and SureshRaina. The centrefolds would be found inmost rooms where budding cricketerswould spend restless nights dreamingabout theheroeswhowatched them fromthewalls.Mumbai Ranji cricketer Iqbal Abdulla

learned the basics of the game throughCricket Samrat, quite literally.Growingup inAzamgarh,UP,Abdulladidn’thaveaccess toTV. This couldhave limitedhisunderstand-ing of cricket, but he had an alternative inCricket Samrat. If it put young cricketers onthe right path, it also showed theway for-wardtofailedones.Inmycase,atleast,when

it becameevident that I didn’t have it inmetobeacricketer,themagazineinspiredmetobecomeasportswriter.At its peak, it was the top-selling sports

magazineinIndia,butits importancebegantodiminishwith the advent of the internet.Themonthly news cycle became outdatedandcricketwebsites suchasCricinfo,whichprovided real-time updates, cornered themarket.Till2013,themagazinehadanaver-age issue readership of over amillion, buthardly any advertisements. Its one-timestrengths—Hindiandniche—wereturningagainst it.For some reason, Cricket Samrat never

made the transition to the digitalmedium,eventhoughitcanbearguedthat therewas— and perhaps still is — an audience for aquality cricketwebsite inHindi.Cricket Samrat’s biggest service to Indian

cricketwascoveringthedomesticgameassid-uously.AtatimewhentherewaslittleTVcov-erage,itgavetheplayersamuch-neededplat-form.Youdidn’tneedCricketSamrat toknowaKapilDev,butwithoutit,youwouldn’thaveunderstoodwhatanAshishWinstonZaidioranAmarjitKaypeeoranAtulBedademeanttoIndian cricket. Itwas coincidental but fitting,then,thattwodaysafterthedeathofRajinderGoel, arguably the tallest among domesticcricket stalwarts,Cricket Samrat alsodrew itsfinalbreath.

daksh.panwar@expressindia.com

From its humble beginnings

in West Delhi in 1978, it rode

on cricket’s expanding

footprint in the country.

Between Lord’s 1983 and

Bombay 1987, it grew

exponentially as Indian

cricket hit its apogee. It was a

symbiotic relationship, with

Indian cricket also gaining

from Cricket Samrat. It acted

as a force multiplier,

democratising the game by

taking it to the blind spots —

blind swathes, in fact — in

the north.

ASSAM BANDHTHESPONSOROFtheAssammovementap-peared to be in for a confrontationwith thegovernmentwhichdecidedtomaintainnor-malfunctioningoftheadministrationinfaceof theagitators’plantoparalyseit througha24-hour state-wide bandh tomorrow. Thegovernmenthaswarneditsemployeeswithpaycutsandotherdisciplinaryactionforab-senceof dutybecauseof thebandhthatbe-gins at 6 am. It was taking steps to preventpicketing in front of offices and to providetransportwitharmedescorttohelptheem-ployees attendwork. All air and train serv-ices from Assam have been cancelled be-causeof thebandh.Meanwhile the firstday

of the48-hourLakhimpurbandhpassedoffpeacefully.Allvehiculartrafficwasoff fortheday.

CARTER’S PROPOSALSTHEUSPRESIDENTJimmyCarterproposeda transnational arrangement for governingAfghanistan to prevent amass slaughter ofpro-Soviet elements if Soviet troops arewithdrawn. He said that assurances that aslaughter would be prevented, and astaunchanti-Sovietgovernmentwouldnotemergemight be the necessary conditionforaSovietwithdrawal. InitsfirstreactiontoCarter’s proposals, Moscow has termedthemvague.

AFTER SANJAYTWO-DAYS AFTER Sanjay Gandhi’s death,Congress Imembersof Parliamenthavebe-gun discussing inwhatways the function-ing of the ruling partywill changewith itsmost important decision-maker becomingthevictimof anunfortunate air crash.Mostpartymembers are of the opinion that thecrucialdecisionswillhavetobetakenbyMrsGandhi herself, and grief stricken as she is,the PrimeMinister will have to find sometime to unfold hermind on some of the is-sues. There is a view that is emerging thatMrs Gandhi should draft Sanjay Gandhi’swife,Maneka,orRajivGandhi,whoisanAirIndiapilot intopolitics.

JUNE 26, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

ASTHEBORDERstand-offwithChinadeep-ens, India will have to think of all possiblestrategic options that give it leverage in thiscrisis. One element often discussed in thiscontext isnewarrangementswithavarietyof powers. Many strategic experts are sali-vating at the prospect of an even closer al-liancewith the US. This is a propitiousmo-ment tomobilise international opinion onChina. The degree of global alienationwiththeXi Jinping regime isunprecedented.Butcan this be translated into concerted globalactiontoexertrealpressureonChina?Indiashould pursue all possible avenues. Butweshouldalsohaveaclear-eyedviewofthelim-itations of what new alliances or arrange-mentscando for India.It is important to remember that inter-

national relationsare formed in thecontextofacountry’sdevelopmentparadigm.India’sprimaryaimshouldbetopreservethemax-imumspace for itsdevelopmentmodel, if itcan actually formulate one. India is notuniqueinthisrespect.TheUS-Chinarelation-shipmayhavehaditsoriginsinthestrategicattempt to create aSino-Soviet split. But fordecades,thisrelationshipwassustainednotbyastrategiclogic,butbythelogicof thepo-litical economyof development in both theUS and China, where they reciprocally de-pended on each other. What has changedprofoundly in the US is the view that thisarrangementlargelybenefittedbigbusinessinAmericaattheexpenseof itsowndomes-ticmanufacturingbase.The political legitimacy of the develop-

mentmodel waned, and it is this fact thatwill largelybethedriverof theUS-Chinare-lationship. The question for India is not justwhether theUShas a stake in India’s devel-opment, which itmight. But it is, rather, toaskwhetherIndia’sdevelopmentneedswillfit into theemergingUSdevelopmentpara-digm.Will thevery samepolitical economyforces that create a disengagement withChina also come in thewayof a closer rela-tionship with India? Some sections ofAmerican big businessmight bat for India;but the underlying political economy dy-namics are less propitious.Will the US giveIndiatheroomitneedsontrade, intellectual

On our own

Ahmedabad

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“Regardlessof the grandstanding of hawkish Indian elements, Pakistan

should respond maturely to New Delhi’s provocations. The government has

made clear that adventurism will not be tolerated, and extremist Indian

hawks would do well not to beat the war drums.” — DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Xi has acquired more power

than Mao ever could. There

is an unprecedented

concentration of power at

the top. Like any other

dictator, he believes in

confrontational tactics and

uses both muscle and money

as tools of geopolitical

strategy and to further

hegemonic ambitions.

Understanding Xi’s China First, easeof living

COVID-19HAScausedahealthcarecrisisinIndia. Consequently, concerns about theethicsofthemedicalprofessionhavearisen,withquestionsaboutthepriceschargedbyhospitals for treatments, and by pharma-ceuticalcompanies formedicines.Thefundamentalquestionseemstobe,

howmuchqualifiesassufficientprivategainwhileprovidingapublicservice?Thisques-tionwill arisewhenever any industry be-comes attractive for investors, whowanttheir investees to run their enterprise as a“business”ratherthanasapublicservice.Doctorswhoprescribe tests andmed-

icinesthatpatientsdonotreallyneedtoin-crease the revenues of hospitals and salesof pharmaceutical companies (and im-prove their own bonuses) are placing theneeds of business owners above those ofthepublic they serve. The sameapplies toother industries: Professional journalistsbecome less professional when the newsmedia becomes a business, and they arepressed by the owners of the business toproducewhatsells—toattracteyeballsandincrease TRPs and advertising revenues.They lose sight of the purpose of profes-sional journalism,whichrequires thedili-gentuncoveringof truths.Threeeminentsocialpsychologistssaw

the crises in professions brewing in the1990s with the accelerating advance ofbusinessesintothedomainofpublicgoods.Intheirbook,GoodWork—WhenExcellenceand EthicsMeet, Howard Gardner, MihalyCsikszentmihalyi andWilliam Damon,write: “We have no fundamental quarrelwith the operations of themarket in eco-nomic spheres;we recognise the positiverole thatmarkets can play, for example incompetition amongpublications orphar-maceutical companies… But not allspheres of life are best run on amarketmodel.Manyprofessionalspheres—med-icine, science, education, art — ought nottooperate inthesamewayascommercialenterprisesdo,inthewaysuggestedbytheAdam Smith-Friedrich vonHayek-MiltonFriedman view of the marketplace.Medicinerequires financialprudence,butthe purpose of the profession should notbe toachieve thegreatestprofit for share-holdersofahealthmaintenanceorganisa-tion. Nor should legal protection, educa-tionalopportunities,andothervitalhumanneedsandprivilegessimplybeallocatedtothe highest bidder. In the words of theFrench primeminister, Lionel Jospin, ‘Wearenotagainstmarket-basedeconomy,butmarket-basedsociety’”.TheCOVID-19crisishasrevealedmany

weaknesses in economies and societies.Healthcaresystemsinmostcountrieshavenot been able to copewith the pandemic:The crisis was too large and too sudden.However, countrieswith stronger publichealthsystems,suchasVietnam,forexam-ple, seemed to havemanaged far better

than those with large, and very well-equipped, private health systems, such asthe USA. Countries with universal socialsafetynets,liketheScandinaviancountries,Japan, SouthKorea andGermany, seem tobemanaging the effects of the economicbreakdownonthepoorer sectionsof theirpopulationsmuchbetterthanthecountrieswithoutuniversalsocialsecurity,likeIndia.COVID-19 has revealed the deep fis-

sures ineconomics,betweentheschoolofeconomicsthathasdominatedpublicpol-icyacross theworld since the1980s—the“freemarket” school that the authors ofGoodWork refer to— and another schoolwhichsaidthattheneedsofhumanbeingsmust trump theneeds of business in eco-nomic policy, and not the other wayaround.Theprofessionofeconomicsmustbe reoriented. Societal (and environmen-tal) well-beingmust be the goal of eco-nomic policies, not the size of the GDP.Citizens’ “ease of living” must becomemore important than “ease of doingbusi-ness”. No doubt, the health of businessesand the economy is good for thehealth ofa society. However, the growth of busi-nesses and the economymust not be al-lowed to harm societal and environmen-talwell-being.All professional institutions including

businesses,arebuiltonthreefundamentalstructures,accordingtotheauthorsofGoodWork—mission, standards, and identity.Missionisthepurposeof theinstitutioninsociety.Ahealthcare institution’spurposeisto improvethehealthofallcitizens;andanewsinstitution’spurposeistorevealthetruth to society. In contrast, a business in-stitution’spurposecanbeaveryselfishone,ofproducingwealthforitsinvestors,espe-cially when it is run on the principle that“the business of business must be onlybusiness”, which has become the domi-nantviewsince the1990s.Professionalsareexpectedtomaintain

high standards in their work and in theirconduct,suchastheHippocraticOaththatall themedicalprofessionalsswearto.Thestandards can be voluntarily determinedand applied by the professionals them-selves,asaccountingfirmsdo—oraresup-posedto.Otherwise,theymustbeimposedon themby the public they claim to servethroughgovernment regulations.Identity, according to these psycholo-

gists, comprises of a person’s own valuesand traits, addingup to “aperson’sdeeplyfeltconvictionsaboutwhosheis,andwhatmattersmost toherexistenceasaworker,citizen, andahumanbeing”.The lockdowns following COVID-19

have causedmany people to introspectabout the purposes of their lives, and thepurposes of the enterprises they serve. Ithas also provided an opportunity to resetthe course of economies. Business associ-ations, and thosewho lead them, shouldusethiscrisistodeterminehowtheymustreform their associations to not merelylobby for the ease of doing business, andhowtheywillregulatetheconductof theirmembers.Orelse,businesswillhavetoberegulatedmore firmlyby thegovernmentfor increasingcitizens’ easeof living.

Maira, formermemberof thePlanningCommission, isauthorofReforming

Capitalism: ImprovingtheWorld forEveryone

Beijing todayusesmuscle,moneyandsoftpower to further itshegemonicambitions.IndiaunderModihasnodelusionsabout thenewChina

FORMER PRIME MINISTER ManmohanSingh’s letter to PrimeMinister NarendraModi on the recent stand-off between thearmiesof IndiaandChinadeservesattentionformore than one reason. It represents theviews of the Congress and it follows the al-legationsmade by both Sonia Gandhi andRahulGandhi that Indiahas lost someof itsterritory to China and the governmentwashiding this fact.The Indian Army and the government

havedeniedthattherehavebeenChinesein-cursions on Indian territory. The IndianArmy’s integrityandapoliticalcharacterarebeyonddoubt.Political regimeschange,butthe armed forces largely remainunaffectedby it. The army has safeguarded itself fromvices such as casteism, communalism, re-gionalism etc, which have inflictedmost ofIndia’sinstitutions.Thenarmychief,GeneralJ J Singh, showedgreat resilience in the faceofpressurefromtheUPAgovernmenttopro-videcommunity-wisestatisticsofthearmy’scomposition to the Sachar Committee in2008.Hecategoricallystatedthatpatriotismwas theonly religionof thearmy.Anydiscoursewhichunreasonablydrags

the armed forces into political controversydamages its reputationanddemoralises it.Being a former prime minister,

Manmohan Singh is expected to know thisbetter than any of his party colleagues. Thethreat perception fromChinaneedsno evi-dence; it has beenmore than obvious. Butrestatingitexposespre-Modigovernments,particularly the ones that were headed bytheCongress.The1962warthat led India tolose 38,000 sqkmof strategic territorywasthe result of self-betrayal by the Nehru ad-ministration.Warnings from the socialists,RSS, and prominent faces in his own partywere ignored. Congress governments, in-cludingtheUPAunderManmohanSingh,left3,800kmof India-Chinaborder openwith-out adequate infrastructure. The Chinesemilitaryhasengagedinterritorialadventur-ismeverysingleyearsince1962.Thepaceofconstruction of roads, rail bridges and air-ports on the Indian side of the border hasbeenslowcompared to thesituationontheChinese side. Then defence minister, A KAntony, admitted asmuch in Parliament in2013. The speed at which infrastructure isbuiltonthe Indiansideof theborderhas in-creased since theModi government tookcharge. Therefore, theCongress lacksmoralgroundtotutortheModigovernmentonde-fencepreparedness.We should not allow domestic political

concerns to influence the public discourseon China. In 1959, the Jana Sangh leaderDeendayalUpadhyaydescribedtheChinesecreed as “cartographic aggression”. Thosewho denigrate it as “jingoism” not only failtounderstandnationalismbutarealsoguiltyof condoning China’s strategy of perpetualexpansionism. India cannot neutraliseChina’s territorial ambitions by chantingpeace; it candosoonlybyacquiringpower.Hollow idealism cannot protect nationalboundariesandsovereignty.

China’s speedingeconomicgrowthcan-not—and shouldnot—be the only param-eter to judge its character. It is devoid ofdemocracyandabhorsliberalism,bothhall-marksof themodernworld.Xi’sphilosophyis to convinceEurope, theUSand India thatits political system and ideology of gover-nanceare superior to theirs. A report by theGlobalPublicPolicyInstitute(‘AuthoritarianAdvance’, February 2018) says the Chineseleadership“aimstopresentitspoliticalcon-ceptsasacompetitive,andultimatelysupe-rior,political andeconomicmodel”.Xi has acquiredmore power thanMao

ever could. There is an unprecedented con-centrationofpoweratthetop.Likeanyotherdictator,hebelievesinconfrontationaltacticsanduses bothmuscle andmoney as tools ofgeopoliticalstrategyandtofurtherhegemonicambitions.TheUSCongressrealisedthisbackin 2005, when it overwhelmingly votedagainst Chinese state oil company, CNOOC,makingan$18.5-billionbid forUnocal.Sincethe outbreak of COVID-19, countries such asAustraliaandJapan,waryofChinesedomina-tion,havestartedsafeguardingtheireconomicsovereignty.Theresurrectionof aneraofna-tionalself-relianceandnon-hegemonicrela-tionships in economic and tradematters iscausingpaintoChina.Ximade another tactical shift to further

hisagendaincountriessuchasIndia.Thepre-Xi regimesusedcommunistparties to servetheirinterestsandimageunderthefacadeof“ideological fraternity”. Xi realised the limi-tationsofthisstrategyandtooktwostepsfor-ward,surprisingnon-communistforces.TheChinese Communist Party (CCP) unhesitat-inglymingleswithnon-Leftpartiesandtriestocultivatepro-Chinesesentimentsusingsoftpower.At the19thpartycongressof theCCPinOctober2017,Xiunravelledanewideolog-ical roadmap for China in unambiguousterms. It proposed to export “Chinesewis-domand a Chinese approach to solving theproblemsfacedbymankind”and“contribut-ing Chinesewisdomand strength to globalgovernance”. This is the advocacy of illiber-alismandarejectionofopensociety.Chinesepolitical interest in India isnota

newphenomenon. Earlier, itwasguidedbyideology and closely linked to Indian com-munists. The conflict between the formerSoviet Union and China cast its shadow onthe Communist Party of India (CPI) and the1962warbecameareasonfortheCPItosplit.The32membersof theCPINationalCouncil

whoprotestedtheparty’sresolutionthatde-claredChinaanaggressorformedtheCPI(M).The CCP engineered another split in theCPI(M), leading to the formationof CPI(ML)in 1967. Peking Radio and Chinese mediaopenly encouraged the rebellions in theCPI(M).ThingshavenowchangedunderXi.NotallareinthesameboatbutallroadsleadtoRome.Systematically, Chinese influence in-

creased inthemedia, academia,opinion in-dustry,NGOsandevensocial-culturalorgan-isations,notonly inIndiabutalsoinEurope.Theyusedproxylobbiestoreachouttothosewhoseemed inaccessible to them.Thepactbetween the Congress and the CCP and theinvitations extended to ideological adver-sariesareapartof thisoutreachstrategy.Thehospitalityextendedtothemandthefacadeofcollaborationsinart,culture,scholarships,etc helpBeijing trivialisenarratives that ex-pose authoritarianism, restrictions on indi-vidual liberties, distortion ofMarxism, and,above all, the human rights violations inChina.Beijing’s role in Taiwan andHong Kong

caused no consternation among the Indianpeople. This is a reversal of Indian people’sconsciousness against Chinese expansion-isminthe1950sand1960s.Leaders, includ-ing Rammanohar Lohia, JayaprakashNarayan, Deendayal Upadhyay and J BKripalani, openly professed the independ-ence of Tibet and sovereignty of Taiwan.Raghu Vira, a member of the ConstituentAssemblywho left the Congress in opposi-tiontoNehru’sChinapolicyin1961,saidtheoverwhelmingsupporttoNehru’sChinapol-icyinbothHousesofParliament“constitutesa picture of fatuity and fickleness, whichthoughdevoidof guile isnotdevoidof guilt,for it has prepared the ground for unleash-ing upon the Asianworld horrors andmis-eriesunknownto thehistory”.Modi’s unambiguous policy towards

ChinaisreflectedinNewDelhi’sdefencepre-parednessandpragmatisminworldpolitics.China’sdispleasureshowsthelegacyofpas-sivityandinactionthatModiinheritedfromhis predecessors has been buried. It is alsoclear that India has comeout of the self-in-flicteddelusionthatChinaunderXidoesnotcarry the legacyofMaoZedong’sdeceptionand lies.

Thewriter isaRajyaSabhaMPandmemberof theBJP

Rakesh Sinha

BJP’S GLASSHOUSE

THIS REFERS TO the article, 'Whendemocracywasshackled' (IE, June25).The writer, while patronising dis-senters, is also deftlywarning themofconsequences. FromNehru to IndiraandSanjayGandhi, theBJPlookstothepast for examples to outshine its ownactions and inactions.With a chunkofthemainstreammedia singingpaeanstothegovernment,the“gag”wasneverfurther in thannow. Freedom is an in-alienableright;itisnotforademocraticgovernment to “give”, let alone beproudof “giving”.

YusufGhazali,Patna

THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Whendemocracywas shackled’ (IE, June 25).Thewriter shouldkeep inmind, beforecastingstones, the irrational invocationof theUAPA, NSA, sedition lawand re-cently,theDisasterManagementActandEpidemicsDiseases Act by BJP govern-ments.

SuchakDPatel,Ahmedabad

WATCH OUT

THIS REFERS TO the article, 'Disengagebutverify'(IE,June25).Evenaftertakinga stand on the “mutual consensus” formilitarydisengagementbetweenChinaand India, it would be too perilous forIndia to disband the assembled troopspresentatthelineofconfrontationafterthe breakdown of June 6 agreement.

Besides, only Indian sources have pub-liclyconfirmedthejointideasofthemu-tual consensuswhereas China has notannounceditasacommonobjectiveyet.

ParulSrivastava,Prayagraj

VIRTUAL ASYMMETRY

THISREFERSTOthearticle, 'Anurturingplace’(IE,June25).Amajorlacunainvir-tual learning lies in the top-downteacher-student communication path-way it offers. School education, as thebedrockofpersonalitydevelopment,de-mandsinteractiveengagementtobringout the best in students. Improving theteacher-studentratiobyropinginbrightgraduatesisanoptiontobridgethegap.AnjaliBhavana,Thiruvananthapuram

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

THEPUBLICDistributionSystemhasplayedanimportantroleinprovidingrelief topeopleintheaftermathofthenationallockdown.WithCOVID-19 cases increasing and theeconomycontinuingtobeinadownturn,somecorrec-tivemeasuresneedtobeputinplacetoensurethat there arenoexclusions and that this ba-sic support of subsidised foodgrains reacheseverybodypreventinglarge-scalehungerandstarvation.Despitegaps, thePDSisoneof themosteffectiveinstrumentstoreachpeopleinthe current situation. The COVID-19 surveyconducted by the Azim Premji Universityfound that during the lockdown, 89per centof ruraland69percentofurbanrespondentsreportedthattheywereabletogetfoodgrainsfromagovernment rationshopcompared toonly30percentofhouseholdssayingthattheyreceivedtheJanDhantransfer.Under the National Food Security Act

(NFSA),about60percentof thecurrentpop-ulationhaspriority ration cardswhile somestatessuchasTamilNadu,AndhraPradeshandTelangana have additional coveragewhichthey support through their own budgets.Providinganadditional5kgoffoodgrainsand1 kg of pulses for free under the PradhanMantriGaribKalyanAnnaYojana(PM-GKAY)wasonly for the81crore individualswhoarecurrentlycoveredbytheNFSA,andlateraspartof theAtmanirbharpackage, another 8 croremigrantshavebeenincluded.However,there

arestillmanywhoareleftoutofthefoodsecu-ritynet.JusttofulfiltheNFSArequirementof67percent,theupdatedpopulationestimatesof2020mustbeusedinplaceofthecurrent2011numbers.Moreover,inthepresentcrisiswheremanyhave lost their livelihoods, the require-mentwouldbemuchmore.Unfortunately,thegovernmenthasnotmadethePDSuniversal.There is no announcement of extending thereliefmeasures from July onwards, ignoringthecontinuingdespairinruralandurbanareas.What isdisturbing is that inthemiddleof

the current crisis someare nowcalling for amassivedownsizingof thePDSanda shift tocash transfers inplaceof foodgrains. Thisde-batehasbeengoingonforsometime,andsuchapolicydirectionhas also been reiterated inthe Economic Survey2019-20 to reduce thefiscalburdenposedbythefoodsubsidy.Itistocontainthe fiscaldeficit that thegovernmentis reluctant to expand the PDS despite bur-geoning stocks. Cash transfers are an impor-tant form of welfare provision, especiallythroughschemessuchasoldage,widowanddisability pensions andmaternity entitle-ments.Theamountsgivenunderthesetrans-fersarewoefully inadequate.But toargue forthePDStobereplacedbycashtransferswouldbe erroneous andmisplaced in the currentcontext.First, theFCIfinancesareindeedinamess

with anoutstanding loanof overRs 2.5 lakh

crore from theNational Small Savings Fund(NSSF).Butthisisentirelyaresultofmisman-agement and off-budget accounting by thegovernmenttoshowalowerfiscaldeficit.Thiscomes at the cost of the sustainability of theFCI,whichhasalreadypaidforthegrainithasprocured. In fact, a perusal of thedata showsthattheactualfoodsubsidyandtheNSSFloancombinedstillaccountsforlessthan1percentof the GDP per annum. Excluding the off-budgetborrowings,thefoodsubsidyinthelastthreeyears isbetween0.53and0.59percentofGDP,muchlessthanwhatitwasintheyearsprecedingNFSAwhenitwasbetween0.8-0.85per cent. Therefore, it is not entirely true thatthefoodsubsidy is increasingatanexponen-tialpace.Second, there are several issueswith re-

placingPDSwithcashtransfers.Cashtransferscannotbeasubstitutefortheprovisionofsub-sidisedfoodgrains.Thereareahighernumberof fairpriceshopsthanbankbranchesandal-thoughmostpeoplenowhaveabankaccount,manyof theseaccountsaredormantandthetransactioncostsofwithdrawingthecasharehigh. Going by the experience of other cashtransferschemesinIndia, itcanbesafelysaidthat thesewill not be inflation-indexed andthus their real valuewill keep decreasing,whichisnotthecasewithfoodtransfers.Thereare also fears that if there is no distributionmechanisminplace,thentheamountoffood-

grains procuredwill also be reduced,whichwouldmeanthatfewerfarmerswouldbeabletoaccessminimumsupportprices.WithdrawingthePDSisalsonotfavoured

bystategovernments.SincetheNDAcametopower,ithastriedrepeatedlytopressurestatestoshifttocashtransfers.Thefactthatnostatewasforthcoming,andthecentralgovernmentfinallymanagedtoinitiateDBTinPDSonlyinChandigarh,DamanandDiuandPuducherrysays something. In Puducherry, following lo-cal protests, its share in PDSwas convertedbacktoanin-kindtransferinafewmonths.These debates can continue, but it is ab-

solutelyunethicaltohavestockslyinginpub-lic godownswhile people are goinghungry.Currently, there aremore than 100milliontonnesintheFCIgodowns,morethanenoughtomeet thepresentNFSArequirements for ayear. With the next kharif harvest in fivemonths,thegovernmentisrunningoutofstor-agespace.The last timethereweresuchhighstocksinthegodowns, in2001-02,theyweregiven away at BPL prices to exporterswhilemanypartsofthecountrywerefacinghungerandstarvation.Weareyet again facedwithasituation of excess stocks andpeople in dis-tress.Unfortunately,itseemslikewewillonceagainmakethesamemistakes.

ThewriterteachesatAmbedkarUniversityDelhi

Thatfoodgrainstockslie inpublicgodownswhilepeoplearegoinghungryisascandal

A time to universalise PDS

Dipa Sinha

IDEAS

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Ahmedabad

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 4,73,105 (14,894 DEATHS)

1,42,900Maharashtra

67,468Tamil Nadu

16,009Rajasthan

12,448MP

19,557 UP

70,390 Delhi

28,943Gujarat

15,173West Bengal

12,010Haryana

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

10,444Telangana

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,June25.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.

2,71,697PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN35STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 56AndhraPradesh 10331ArunachalPradesh 158Assam 6198Bihar 8209Chandigarh 420Chhattisgarh 2419DadraandNagarHaveli 120Goa 951HimachalPradesh 806JammuandKashmir 6422Jharkhand 2207Karnataka 10118Kerala 3603Ladakh 941Manipur 970Meghalaya 46Mizoram 142Nagaland 347Odisha 5752Puducherry 461Punjab 4627Sikkim 84Tripura 1259Uttarakhand 2623

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

A TEAM of engineersandphysicianshasde-veloped a low-cost,easy-to-use emer-gency ventilator forCovid-19patients.Theyworkisdescribedinanupcoming issue of thejournalMedicalDevicesand Sensors, accordingtoastatementreleasedby University ofCalifornia-San Diego.TheteamwillbeseekingapprovalforthedevicefromtheUSFoodandDrugAdministration, it said.Thedeviceisbuiltaroundaventila-

tor bag usually found in ambulances.The teambuilt an automated systemaroundthebag.Itscomponentscanbe

easily fabricated andtheventilatorcanbeas-sembledinjust15min-utes, according to UCSanDiego.Itsaidthede-vice’s electronics andsensorsrelyonarobustsupplychainfromfieldsthat are not related tohealthcare, and hencethey are unlikely to beaffectedbyshortages.The cost of a venti-

latorwouldbejust$500perunit.IthasbeennamedUCSDMADVentMarkV.It offers pressure-controlled ventila-tion equippedwith alarms to signalthatpressure is too lowortoohigh.

Source:Universityof

California-SanDiego

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

A low-cost, easy-to-use Covidemergency ventilator

AMITABHSINHAPUNE, JUNE25

THE GOVERNMENT on Wednesday ap-provedthecreationofaneworganisationtoensuregreaterprivateparticipationinIndia’sspaceactivities,adecisionwhichitdescribedas “historic”, and which Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO) chairman KSivansaidwaspartofanimportantsetof re-formstoopenupthespacesectorandmakespace-basedapplicationsandservicesmorewidelyaccessible toeveryone.The new Indian National Space

Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which is expected to be functionalwithinsixmonths,willassesstheneedsanddemands of private players, including edu-cational and research institutions, and, ex-ploreways to accommodate these require-ments in consultationwith ISRO. ExistingISROinfrastructure,bothground-andspace-based,scientificandtechnicalresources,andevendataareplannedtobemadeaccessibleto interestedpartiestoenablethemtocarryout their space-relatedactivities.

Whyprivate participantsItisnotthatthereisnoprivateindustryin-

volvement in India’s space sector. In fact, alargepartofmanufacturingandfabricationofrocketsandsatellitesnowhappensinthepri-vate sector. There is an increasing participa-tion of research institutions aswell. But asSivantoldthisnewspaperonThursday,Indianindustryhadabarelythreepercentshareinarapidlygrowingglobalspaceeconomywhichwasalreadyworthat least $360billion.Onlytwopercentofthismarketwasforrocketandsatellite launchservices,which require fairlylarge infrastructure and heavy investment.Theremaining95percentrelatedtosatellite-basedservices,andground-basedsystems.Indian industry, however, is unable to

compete, because till now its role has beenmainlythatof suppliersof componentsandsub-systems. Indian industries do not havetheresourcesorthetechnologytoundertakeindependent spaceprojectsof thekindthatUScompaniessuchasSpaceXhavebeendo-ing,orprovidespace-basedservices.Additionally,thedemandforspace-based

applications and services is growing evenwithin India, and ISRO is unable to cater tothis.Theneedforsatellitedata,imageriesand

space technology now cuts across sectors,fromweather to agriculture to transport tourbandevelopment,andmore.AsSivantoldthis newspaper, ISROwould have to be ex-panded10timesthecurrentleveltomeetallthedemandthat is arising.At the same time, there were several

Indian companies waiting formake use oftheseopportunities. Sivansaid therewereafew companies that were in the process ofdeveloping their own launch vehicles, therockets like ISRO’sPSLV that carry the satel-litesandotherpayloadsintospace,andISROwould like tohelp themdo that. Right now,all launchesfromIndiahappenonISROrock-ets, thedifferent versionsof PSLVandGSLV.Sivan said ISROwas ready to provide all itsfacilities to private players whose projectshad been approved by IN-SPACe. Privatecompanies, if theywanted,couldevenbuild

theirownlaunchpadwithin theSriharikotalaunch station, and ISROwouldprovide thenecessary land for that,hesaid.IN-SPACe is supposed to be a facilitator,

andalsoaregulator. ItwillactasaninterfacebetweenISROandprivateparties,andassesshow best to utilise India’s space resourcesand increasespace-basedactivities.

How ISRO gainsThere are two main reasons why en-

hancedprivateinvolvementinthespacesec-torseemsimportant.Oneiscommercial,andthe other strategic. Of course, there is needforgreaterdisseminationofspacetechnolo-gies,betterutilisationofspaceresources,andincreasedrequirementofspace-basedserv-ices. And ISRO seems unable to satisfy thisneedon itsown.TheprivateindustrywillalsofreeupISRO

to concentrate on science, research andde-velopment, interplanetary exploration andstrategic launches. Right now, toomuch ofISRO’sresourcesisconsumedbyroutineac-tivities that delay its more strategic objec-tives. There is no reason why ISRO aloneshould be launchingweather or communi-cationsatellites. Theworldover, an increas-ingnumberofprivateplayersaretakingoverthis activity for commercial benefits. ISRO,like NASA, is essentially a scientific organi-sationwhosemain objective is explorationofspaceandcarryingoutscientificmissions.Thereareanumberofambitiousspacemis-sionslinedupinthecomingyears, includingamissiontoobservetheSun,amissiontotheMoon, a human spaceflight, and then, pos-sibly, ahuman landingontheMoon.Anditisnotthatprivateplayerswillwean

away the revenues that ISRO gets throughcommercial launches. As Sivan said, thespace-based economy is expected to “ex-plode” in the next few years, even in India,and therewould bemore than enough forall. In addition, ISRO can earn somemoneybymaking its facilities anddata available toprivateplayers.

Beyond IN-SPACeIN-SPACe is the second space organisa-

tion created by the government in the lasttwo years. In the 2019 Budget, the govern-menthadannouncedthesettingupofaNewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a public sectorcompany that would serve as amarketingarm of ISRO. Itsmain purpose is tomarketthe technologies developed by ISRO andbring itmore clients that need space-basedservices.Thatrole, incidentally,wasalreadybeing

performed by Antrix Corporation, anotherPSU working under the Department ofSpace,andwhichstillexists. It isstillnotveryclearwhy therewas a need for another or-ganisationwithoverlapping function.OnWednesday, however, the govern-

mentsaiditwasredefiningtheroleofNSILsothat it would have a demand-driven ap-proachratherthanthecurrentsupply-drivenstrategy.Essentially,whatthatmeansisthatinstead of justmarketingwhat ISRO has tooffer, NSILwould listen to the needs of theclients and ask ISRO to fulfil those. ThischangeinNSIL’srole,Sivansaid,wasalsopartof thereformsthathavebeeninitiatedinthespacesector.

11

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GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI, JUNE25

ON JUNE 23, a UK court ruled in favour ofSrichandHinduja,chairmanoftheHindujagroup,andhisdaughterVinooontheissueof control ofHindujaBank,headquarteredin Switzerland, against the wishes of histhreeyoungerbrothers.TheHindujagroup,onceconsideredaclose-knitbusinessfam-ily, isfacingabigchallengeoverthedivisionof assets. Three Hinduja brothers —Gopichand,PrakashandAshok—hadcon-testedtheclaimofSrichandandhisdaugh-ter,saying“everythingbelongstoeveryoneandnothingbelongs toanyone.”

What’s thetussleabout?

On July 2, 2014, the four brothers pur-portedly signed an agreement that assetsheld by one brotherwill belong to all, andeachbrotherwillappointtheothersastheirexecutors. Srichand and Vinoo went tocourtstatingthelettershouldhavenolegaleffect. Justice Falk of the High Court ofJustice, Business and Property Courts ofEngland andWales said the three otherbrothers tried touse the letter to takecon-

trol of Hinduja Bank which was inSrichand’s sole name. The court saidSrichandhadinsistedin2015thattheletter“doesn’treflecthiswishesandthatthefam-ily’sassetsshouldbeseparated”.ThethreeyoungerbrotherssaidSrichandwassuffer-ing fromaformofdementia.

Whatwasthecourt’sdecision?

“VinooisappointedasSrichand’slitiga-tionfriend.Stepstakeninthelitigationpriortothatappointmentwillhaveeffect,asper-mittedunderCPR21.3(4),” JusticeFalksaid.CPR21.3(4)providesthatanysteptakenbe-foreaprotectedpartyhasalitigationfriend“hasnoeffectunlessthecourtordersother-wise”.Thethreeyoungerbrothershadusedthe July 2014 letter to take control ofHindujaBank.This isnotvalidnow.

Whatarethethreebrotherssaying?

They claim that the litigationwill nothaveanyimpactonthefamily’sglobalbusi-nesses, whichwill continue to function asthey have been. They say it will be appar-entfromthejudgmentof theHighCourtinEnglandthatSrichand'shealthhasbeende-teriorating for a number of years sufferingfromLewybodydisease,whichisaformof

dementia.“Vinoo,his youngerdaughter, actingas

his Litigation Friend is bringing these pro-ceedings on his behalf. It is very unfortu-natethattheseproceedingsaretakingplaceas they go against our founder’s and fam-ily’s values and principles that have stoodformanydecades,especially,everythingbe-longs to everyone and nothing belongs toanyone,” theysaid.“Weintendtodefendtheclaimtouphold

thesedearlyheldfamilyvalues,”theysaidina statement, hinting that the legal fight islikelytocontinue.Observersdon’truleoutadivisionintheempireinthefuture.

WillSrichand’sassetspassontohis

daughter?

The three brothers noted that if theclaim succeeds, all assets in SP’s namewould pass to Vinoo and her immediatefamily on SP’s death, including the entireshareholdinginHindujaBank,accordingtothe judgment. Theymaintain that a num-berof thecomplaintsaboutthe2014letterrelate to its impact on Vinoo personallyrather than Srichand. They also contendthat Vinoo has shown disregard forSrichand’s best interests in bringing the

claim,anditwasnotinhisbestinterestsforthe proceedings to continue. Srichand hastwodaughters, ShanuandVinoo.

What’satstake intheHindujaempire?

TheBloombergBillionairesIndexvaluesthefamilyfortuneat$11.2billion.The$50-billionHindujaGroup, controlled fromtheUK,isactiveinoldeconomysectorssuchasbanking& finance, transport, automobilesandenergyaswellastheneweconomysec-torsliketechnology,mediaandrenewables.It’snowaninternationalconglomeratewitha footprint across 38 countries and a150,000-plus strong team.Ashok Leyland,flagshipof theHindujagroupinIndia, isthesecond largestmanufacturer of commer-cial vehicles in India. DheerajHinduja, sonof Gopichand, is on the board of AshokLeyland. IndusInd Bank, a leading privatesector bank, is also controlled by theHindujas. Gulf Oil controlled by the grouphassales in100countries.PDHinduja, fatherof thefourbrothers,

whoiscreditedwithestablishingtradelinksbetween India and Persia set up the busi-nessin1914.Twoofhismajorphilanthropicprojects are Hinduja Hospital inMumbaiandHindujaFoundation.

In space, growing private roleSIMPLYPUT

Governmenthasannouncedaneworganisation, IN-SPACe,partof reformstoincreaseprivateparticipationinthespacesector.Alookatitsobjectives,andwhatitmeanstothefutureofspaceexploration

PRABHARAGHAVAN&AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI, JUNE25

AGROUPrepresentingsomeAmericancom-panies that havemanufacturingoperationsin India haswritten to the Department forPromotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT), saying they are experiencing diffi-cultiesinaccessingcrucialcomponentsfromtheir facilities inChina.

The issueImport consignments from China are

learnttobefacinghurdlesatsomeports, in-cludingChennaiandMumbai.Itislearntthatover the last fortnight, Customs authoritieshave indicated to importers that therewillbedelaysinclearingChineseshipments,buthavenotcitedanyreasons.Therehasnotbeenanywrittenorverbal

instructionsfromtheCustomsauthoritiesorthe Central Board of Indirect Taxes and

Customs(CBIC)either, the importers say.Several importers in Chennai said

Customs officials have been advised not toclear any container that has arrived fromChina, even if anOutof Charge (OOC)orderfor clearancehasbeen issued.

Ladakh link?SomeChennaiCustomszoneofficialssaid

that checkswere being carried out on theconsignmentsbasedonspecificintelligence-based inputs. Importers and industry, how-ever, see itasanudgetochangetheir importpattern, especially of non-essential goods,amid calls for reducing the consumption ofChinesegoods inthewakeof thetensionsatthe Line of Actual Control in Ladakhwhere20 Indian soldiers lost their lives in adeadlyclashwiththeChineseArmyonJune15.

The concernTheUS-IndiaStrategicPartnershipForum

(USISPF), a group representing someAmerican firms involved inmanufacturing

activities in India, said theywere “increas-inglyconcerned”thatcomponentpartsandother inputs “necessary” to theirmanufac-turingoperationswerebeingdetainedattheports.The forumhas sought the restoration of

portoperationsor,“ataminimum”,thatthegovernmentpublishanychangeinportpol-icy“toprovidethebusinesscommunitywiththevisibility theyneedto function.”Consignments of around 50 US firms

with manufacturing operations in Indiaacross sectors suchas telecommunications,automobiles, medical equipment, and fastmoving consumer goods (FMGC) are learnttobeamongthoseaffected.The government has issued “no formal

orders” or provided a “specific” reason fornot clearing their consignments, the grouphassaid,andexpressedconcernthattheab-sence of transparency “threatens” the con-tinuity of their businesses. The “unantici-pated” embargo on imports of goods fromneighbouring countrieswill have repercus-

sions on supply chains andmanufacturingin India, andwill send a “chilling” signal toforeign investors, who look for predictabil-ityandtransparency,theUSISPFhasargued.

The China tradePossible curbs on imports fromChina in

theformoftariffornon-tariffbarriersarebe-ingdiscussedwithinthegovernment,whichis understood tobe considering a list of im-ported items for imposition of various re-strictivemeasures.BetweenApril 2019 and February 2020,

China accounted for around 14% of India’simports; themain itemsbeingcomponentsfor smartphones and automobiles, telecomequipment, plastic andmetallic goods, ac-tive pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), andotherchemicals.Inpharmaceuticalsparticularly, Indiade-

pends heavily on China for crucial ingredi-ents.In2018-19,around68percentof India's$3.56billionworthof bulkdrugsorAPI im-portswere fromChina.

China shipments stuck: why business is concerned

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

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

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

Hinduja brothers: what property dispute is about, howmuch is at stakeT H E F O U R B R O T H E R S

SRICHANDHINDUJA,84,current headof thefamilyandChairmanofHindujaGroupandcharitablefoundations.After joiningthe

familybusiness in1952,hestrategised itsdiversification.

PRAKASHHINDUJA,Chairmanof theHindujaGroupinEurope.Since2008,hehasbeenbasedinMonaco.Having initially

joined the familybusiness inTehran,he latermoved toGeneva in2008 toMonaco.

GOPICHANDHINDUJA,Co-ChairmanofHindujaGroup.Oneof thearchitectsof itstransformationfromanIndo-MiddleEast

tradingoperationintoamulti-billion-dollartransnationalconglomerate.

ASHOKHINDUJA,based inMumbai,isChairman,HindujaGroupofCompanies(India).Hsbeendrivingthegroup's

diversificationsince it re-enteredIndia inthemid-1980s.HeadsseveralGroupcompanies.

473,105India

239,410Italy

215,096Iran

308,337United Kingdom

254,416Chile

247,486Spain

2,388,865US

1,188,631Brazil

264,689Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED:9,478,266 DEATHCOUNT:483,613Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonJune25. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

613,148Russia

Rocketprototypesat theentranceof ISRO'sSriharikota launchrange.AmitabhSinha

Ahmedabad

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR, JUNE 25

A BJP corporator fromVadnagar Nagarpalika ofMehsanadistricthasbeensus-pended from the party’s pri-mary membership after shewas arrested by Gandhinagarpolice in an alleged job racketcase.Thecorporatorandherhus-

bandwerearrestedrecently forallegedly cheating a personfrom Gandhinagar to the tuneofRs1.5 )))0crorebypromisingjobs to the latter’s three chil-dren in banks and the IndianSpace Research Organisation(ISRO). The corporator and herhusband were identified asRinkuben Patel and Bharat

Patel and charged with cheat-ing and criminal breach oftrust.Rinkuben is a BJP corpora-

tor from Ward No. 7 ofVadnagar municipality ofMehsanadistrict. Shehasbeensuspended from the primarymembershipof thepartybyanorder of president of MehsanaBJPNitin Patel.He said the acts committed

by the corporator are contraryto the ideologyof thepartyandtherefore she has been sus-pended from the primarymembership of the partywithimmediate effect.“We will also initiate legal

procedure to get her ousted asBJP corporator from VadnagarNagarpalika,” he added.Sector 21 Police Station of

Gandhinagar registered a caseof cheating andbreach of trustagainstRinkubenandherhus-band on the basis of a com-plaint lodged by one KishorPrajapati.Sources fromthepolicesta-

tionsaidthatRinkubenandherhusband had allegedly takenaround Rs 1.56 crore fromPrajapati bypromising jobs forhis threechildren inbanksandISRO between 2014 and 2015.Prajapati’s complaint waspending for some time nowand an FIR was registered re-cently. After registrationof theoffence, the twowere evadingarrest.Actingonatip-off,policear-

rested the two from Vadnagartown recently. They are undertwodays’ police remand.

BJP corporator suspended, arrestedfor duping man on pretext of jobs

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT, JUNE21

A WOMAN was allegedlystabbedtodeathbyherloverin-side a hotel room and themanhimself was critically injured inthe brawl, in Limdi town ofSurendranagar district onThursday.Policesaidthattheduohada

fight inside their room in YogiHotel andGuestHouse inLimditown at around 3:35 pm onThursday.“The man stabbed the

womanandshediedonthespot.Themanhimself sustainedseri-ous injuries in the fight andhasbeen rushed to a hospital inRajkot for treatment,” DadubhaBasiya, Deputy Superintendentof Policeof LimdiDivisionsaid.Police said the womanwas

identified as daughter of oneYasinbhai Sheikh, a resident ofDholka taluka in Ahmedabaddistrictwhilethemanwasiden-tified as RavirajsinhRana, a res-ident of Kanthariya village inChuda taluka of Suredranagardistrict.Sources said that the couple

stabbed each other inside thehotel room even as police saidinvestigationwasontoascertainas towhat led to the fight.

Woman ‘stabbedto death’ byher lover inSurendranagar

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT, JUNE 25

DAYS AFTER residents ofManharpur village on city’snorthernoutskirts complainedof a leopard entering their vil-lage, the forestdepartmentres-cued the animal from near Ajidam-II onThursday. This is thesecond leopard captured fromthe city’s outskirts in the pastfourmonths.“We placed trap cages near

Aji Dam-II near Gavaridad vil-lage. At around 2 am onThursday, we trapped the ani-mal,” said Parasotam Shiyani,deputy conservator of forests

(DCF) of Rajkot social forestrydivision.Shiyani said that the male

leopardwasaroundsixtosevenyearofage.Hesaidthatafterre-ports of leopard presence inManharpur and neighbouringPara Pipaliya village around 15days ago, trap cages wereplaced in Parapipaliya wherethe carnivore had preyed on acalf. “But itsmovement shiftedtowards Gavaridad village andwealsoshiftedthecagestothatarea,” he said.This is second leopard tobe

captured from the city’s out-skirts. In February this year, aleopard managed to scale theperimeter wall of Rajkot

ZoologicalParkandpreyedonahog dear. The animal, a maleleopard around six to sevenyears of age, was captured onFebruary 24.The DCF said he was not

sure if the leopard rescued onThursdaywas the same as onecaptured inFebruary. “Usually,once a leopard is rescued fromthe wild, we tag it with a mi-crochip as an identificationmark and Sakkarbaug Zoo inJunagadh keeps record of suchtags. The leopard captured onThursday didn’t carry any mi-crochip,” said Shiyani.The captured animal to

Sakkarbaug Zoo, added theDCF.

Male leopard rescued from outskirts ofRajkot, second to be captured in 4 months

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE25

ANINVESTIGATIONintoacallre-ceived by a sitting judge of theGujaratHighCourtfromapersonwhoidentifiedhimselfasanMLAfromPetlad inAnanddistrict re-vealed that thecallerwasa thirdparty allegedly actingon thebe-hestofanaccusedwhowasseek-inganticipatorybail.Justice Bela Trivediwhowas

hearingtheanticipatorybailmat-ter of Vijaybhai Shah, accusedofrioting, unlawful assembly, rashdrivingamongotherchargesun-der Gujarat Epidemic DiseasesRegulation,2020,receivedthecallfromanunknownnumberonJu-ne23whenShah’spleawaslistedfor hearing. The caller identifiedhimself as Niranjan Patel, Con-gressMLAfromPetladinAnand.According to the judge’s ob-

servation, it appeared that thecaller sought to compromise theindependenceof the court, afterwhich Justice Trivedi ordered apoliceinquiry.OnThursday, police submit-

tedstatementsbytheMLAaswellastheregistereduserofthenum-ber, TofikVohra. It emerged thattheMLAknew the accused andhiswife, but deniedmaking anysuchcalls.Vhora,whohasapho-

tocopyshop,submittedthatatthesaid timeof the call, a customervisitedhisshopandrequestedtouse his phone “tomake a call toDelhi as he had some urgentwork”.The person was identified

fromCCTV footage and appre-hendedbythelocalcrimebranchofGandhinagar.OnThursday,themysterycaller,AlpeshPatel,ares-ident of Jitodiya village nearAnand,working as an insurancesurveyor, submitted before thecourtthathemadethecallatthebehest of Vijaybhai ShahandhiswifeVignatriben.AccordingtoAlpesh,Vijaybhai

requested him tomake a call inthe name of theMLANiranjanPatel tothejudgetohelphimgetanticipatorybail. Alpeshwas as-suredduecompensation.Alpeshstatedbeforethecourt

that on June23,whenhewas atDakor,Vijaybhaiinformedhimofthe court’s inquiry andwarnedhimtobecareful. Following this,Alpesh left for Gandhinagar,where hewas apprehended bytheLCB.Healsostatedthathehadall theWhatsAppmessages andcallrecords.JusticeTrivedidirectedhimto

state all the facts in detail in theformof an affidavit by Friday sothat appropriate action couldbeinitiatedagainstall involved.

‘Mystery caller’ posed asMLA, called HC judge tohelp get bail for accused

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE25

UNION MINISTER for RoadTransport and Highways NitinGadkari on Thursday an-nouncedthefirstgreenfieldna-tionalhighwayprojectbetweenSurat in Gujarat andAhmednagar in Maharashtra.Work on the 421-km highwayproject, estimated to cost Rs12,000 crore, will commenceApril 2021.Addressing a virtual

'Jansamvad'rallyforBJPinwest-ernMaharashtra, Gadkari said:“Iwouldliketoannounceanewgreenfield national highwayproject between Surat andAhmednagar... The plans arereadyandtheprocessof landac-quisition isbeingworkedout.”The stretch, when com-

pleted, is likelytosee50,000ve-hicles daily. “It would go a longway to decongestant vehiculartraffic between Surat andMumbai, thereby also impact-ingtrafficbetweenMumbaiandPune,” theminister said.Gadkari said that

Maharashtra has benefittedmaximum in national roadhighwaysinlastsixyearsunderhis tenure,Gadkari said

Next semester to be fully online atIIT-Bombay, others likely to followABHAGORADIA&RITIKACHOPRAMUMBAI,NEWDELHI,JUNE25

THE INDIAN Institute ofTechnology (IIT) inMumbai hasbecome the firstmajor educa-tionalinstitutioninthecountrytoscrap all face-to-face lectures forthe next semester due to theCovid-19pandemic. Thismeansitwillholdonlyonlineclassestilltheendof theyear.In an announcementmade

late Wednesday night, IIT-Bombay Director SubhasisChaudhuri said the institutewould teach the next semester“purelyintheonlinemodesothatthere is no compromise on the

safety andwell-beingof the stu-dents”.“The Covid pandemic has

made us at IIT-Bombay rethinkthewaywe impart education toour students. To ensure that ourstudentsbegintheacademicyearwithout further delay, we areplanning on extensive onlineclasses,detailsofwhichwillbein-formed to all students in duecourse of time,” he said in aFacebook post shared close tomidnight.This is the first time in the in-

stitute's 62-year-oldhistory thata newacademic yearwill beginwithnostudentsoncampus.TheotherIITsarelikelytofollowwithsimilarannouncementsonhold-ingvirtuallecturesfortheAutumn

semester.Chaudhuri has also sought

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhavThackeray's permissiontograduallybringbackseniorPhDscholarstothecampustoresumeresearch activities. “Wehave al-readywritten a request letter tothe Hon’ble CM to allow us toslowly open up research activi-ties... It isaboutthepermissiontobring in someof the senior PhDstudents to thehostels. Itwouldbe a small group, (whichwill beallowed) after appropriate quar-antine, andwillmaintain all ap-plicable social distancingnorms.Oncethefirstgroupsettlesdown,then (we will) try for anothersmall group and so on,” he toldTheIndianExpress.

KARISHMAMEHROTRANEWDELHI, JUNE25

WITHFATALITIESfromthenovelcoronavirus infection doublingevery 14-16 days in India,morethan half the country’s districts(407 out of 720) have nowseenat leastoneCovid-19death.However, around7outof 10

Coviddeathsinthecountryhavebeen concentrated in only ahandfulof districts.Sowhile the number of dis-

trictsthathavebeentouchedbyatleastoneCoviddeathhasrisenfrom 272 a month ago to 348two weeks ago to the currentnumber,the10districtswiththemostdeathshaveaccountedforabout 70 per cent of fatalitiesthroughout thisperiod.Districts that are not in this

top 10 list but have recorded

more than10deaths each, havecontributedroughly20percentof totaldeaths.Butthenumberofdistrictsin

this category has gone fromabout30amonthago to50 twoweeks ago to 80 now— also anindication of the increasing

spreadof thedisease.Thereisasetof50districtsthat

hadseenat leastonedeathmorethan amonth ago, but have nothadanysincethen.Butthereisan-othersetof 145districts thathadnodeathsatthebeginningofthisperiod,buthaveatleastonenow.Whilethetop10listremains

largelystatic,someMaharashtracities such as Aurangabad,Solapur, and Nashik are begin-ning to see a faster increase indeaths than larger cities suchasKolkata, Indore, and Jaipur.These cities inMaharashtra

alsohaveanunusuallyhighcasefatality rate of between 6 and 9percent.Gurgaon,Faridabad,andGhaziabad too, are have shownan abnormally high deathgrowthover thepastmonth.Delhi has been counted as

one “district” in this analysis.The data is not perfect because

bulletinsof somestates, includ-ing Telangana and Assam, donotgiveconsistentdistrict-wisedata.Alsodatamatchingexercises

have seen death toll surges inMumbaiandDelhi,andscrutinybystatedeathauditcommitteesmay lead to varying definitionsof aCoviddeath.India’s overall fatality rate

has increased from2.8per centtwo weeks ago to 3.2 per centnow, according to HealthMinistry data. But the recoveryrate too, has increased from 47per cent to 57 per cent. Activecases have doubled in the pastthreeweeks.Deaths in Haryana, Tamil

Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka,Uttarakhand,Assam,andPunjabhavemore than doubled in thelast two weeks, according toHealthMinistrydata.

Covid deaths now across half thedists, but 70% fatality still in top 10

Amedicmarksasample forrapidantigentestatKadipurCommunityCentre, inGurgaononThursday. PTI

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE25

THE RAJASTHAN HealthDepartmenthassentanotice toNIMSUniversity over the clini-cal trials that were reportedlyconductedonCovid-19patientsby a joint research team ofPatanjali Research Institute andNational Institute of MedicalSciences and Research, NIMSUniversity, Jaipur, officials said.According to senior officials

of the stateHealthDepartment,theuniversityhasbeenaskedtoclarify its position and replywithin threedays.“In the notice, we have said

thatwelearntfromnewspapersthat theyhaveviolated thepro-tocol by conducting clinical tri-als. NIMSwas acquired by thegovernment and designated byit as a Covid care institute andasymptomaticpatients are senttherewhoaretreatedaccordingtotheguidelinesof thestateandcentral government. We haveasked foranexplanationwithinthreedays,otherwiseactionwillbe taken,” said Dr NarottamSharma, Chief Medical andHealthOfficer, Jaipur.He said the notice was sent

onWednesdaynighttotheman-agementofNIMSUniversity.Following the launch of an

ayurvedic ‘Corona Kit’ byRamdev’sPatanjaliAyurvedLtd,claiming it cured Covid-19, theRajasthangovernmenthad saidthat they were not informed

about the clinical trials whichwere conducted and that dueprocesseswere not followedbythemakersof thesaidmedicine.During the launch on

Tuesday, Ramdev had claimedthatthemedicine,manufacturedby Haridwar-based DivyaPharmacyandPatanjaliAyurvedLtd,istheresultofajointresearchof Patanjali Research InstituteandNationalInstituteofMedicalSciences and Research, NIMSUniversity, Jaipur.Rajasthan Health Minister

Raghu Sharma had said thatstrict actionwill be taken if anyattemptismadetosell thisdrugas a potential medicine forCovid-19 inRajasthan.TheIndianExpresshadearlier

reported that during the trial,whenmildly symptomatic pa-tientsdevelopedfever,theywereadministered allopathicmedi-cines.Thetrialswereconductedonly on asymptomatic andmildly symptomatic patients,whileseverelysymptomaticpa-tients and thosewith acute res-piratorydistresssyndromewereexcluded forenrolment.

Ramdev ‘corona kit’:Rajasthan sends notice toNIMS over clinical trials

RaghuSharma,Ramdev

DIPANKARGHOSENATHNAGAR(BHAGALPUR),JUNE25

THE LARGE first-floor roomhasneverbeensofull:silkclothevery-where, someof itwithoutwrap-ping paper, others in cardboardboxesreadyfor transport. ForZiaUrRahman,thepromisethattheroomwouldbe emptied evapo-rated longago. Instead,whathasbeen emptying quickly over thelast fivemonths in Nathnagar,hometoBhagalpur’s famoussilkindustry, are bankbalances, sav-ingsaccounts—andhope.Bhagalpur is amicrocosmof

Bihar thesedays,with returningmigrants,arisingCovidgraph,andan economy showing signs ofdeepdistress. Thedistrict is alsothefocusofamonth-longassign-mentbyTheIndianExpresstotrackhowlivesandlivelihoodsinsmall-town India are copingwith theunlockdown.Bhagalpur’sstoryisinextrica-

blylinkedtoitssilkindustry,span-ning generations. Traffic signalshave“SilkCity”writtenonthem,thedistrictadministrationsweb-site says “Silk City of Bihar”. Thepast 30years has seen consider-

abledecline,duetopoliticalapa-thy, mismanagement and thecommunal tension of 1989. Buttoday,afterthelockdown,it'stee-teringontheedge.ZiaUrRahmanrunsoneofthe

largest weaving units inNathnagar, 6 km fromtownandhome to 6,000weaver families.He estimates that the industrywasonceworthRs500crore,be-foreslidingtoaroundRs100crore.“Myunitproduced10,000sqmofsilk a day, earned Rs 30 lakh amonthandemployed3,000peo-ple. Now, since February, noth-ing...more than 95 per cent ofbusinesshascollapsed,”hesays.“Silk is an expensive cloth

product, and in today’smarket,nobody wants to spend thatmoney.Ourdemandcamemostly

fromcompaniesbasedinEuropeorAmerica. But now,with logis-ticsaproblem,andthecompaniesstruggling, there are no orders,”Rahmansays.It isn’t just that new orders

aren’t coming in, he says, theoldones are being cancelled. For in-stance,theclothstackedinboxeswas for an order from Englandworth Rs 40 lakh. “There is nowordfromthem.OrdersworthRs80lakhfromEuropeandAmericahave been cancelled sinceFebruary,” says Rahman, sig-nallingthepandemic'sglobaltra-jectory. “On topof that, embroi-deryandprintinghappeninDelhi,Bengaluru,SuratorVaranasi,andtheyareallshut.”In the lanes of Nathnagar,

barelywideenoughforonevehi-

cle to pass,Mohammad ShoaibAnsari'ssmallstoreroomforclothis nowagrocery shop. “Earlier, IearnedRs 500-600 a day. Therewas no work so I opened thissmallshop.Isitherefrom6amto8 pm, and earn about Rs 100 aday...nowherenear fulfilling ourneeds,”hesays.Yet,despite thedeepdistress,

the romance of Bhagalpuri silkmeansitisalwayspartofconver-sation. OnMay 25, Bihar ChiefMinisterNitishKumararguedforindustries to set up shop in thestateandassuredhelpforreturn-ingmigrants. His example of anavenue filledwith opportunity?Bhagalpursilk.Asked if the administration

hadanyplansforrevivalandres-cue, DistrictMagistrate PranavKumar says they are “definitelylookingatthissector”.“Inthelongterm,weare looking at identify-ing two-three placeswherewewillplanttreesforcocoonssothatthereisrawmaterial. Intheshortterm,we have requested thosewho have small factories to in-creasework,buttherearelimita-tions. Even those that produce,theyonlymake the cloth, stitch-ingandbrandinghappenoutside.Wewill create a brand, do somestitchingandthensee.Wewillde-velopaclusterforthosewhowanttowork,andthencreateforwardandbackwardlinkages,”hesays.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

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UNLOCKSANEXPRESS SERIES

In Bhagalpur silk hub, loomstell a story: ‘95% collapse’

MohammadShoaibAnsariathisgroceryshop.DipankarGhose

Migrantworkersat theLokmanyaTilakTerminus inMumbaionThursday.TheyhadleftMaharashtraduringthe lockdownbutarenowreturningtothestateas industriesresumeoperations.PradipDas

RETURN CHECK

Gadkari: Workon greenfieldnationalhighway fromApril 2021

SURAT-AHMEDNAGAR

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBHOPAL,NEWDELHI, JUNE25

THE RULING BJP targeted theCongress Thursdaybyquestion-ing a purported donation thatRajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF)had received,withBJPpresidentJPNaddasayingthatthefounda-tiontook$300,000fromPeople’sRepublicofChinaandtheChineseembassyin2005-06tocarryoutstudies thatwerenot innationalinterest.The Congress did not com-

ment on the specific allegation,butsaidtheBJPshouldnotlivein

2005 and instead discuss thefreshChineseincursions.Naddasaid theCongresshas

nomoral right to talk about thecountry’s security after havingtakenmoneyfromChina.“TodayI was shocked to watch on TVthat in 2005-06 People’sRepublic of China and theChineseembassygaveafatsumto RGF. This is a secret relation-ship between Congress andChina. These people take fundsfrom China and then conductstudies that arenot in the inter-estof thecountry.Thesestudiescreatetheenvironmentforthat.The nation wants to know for

what theywere paid andwhatstudy they conducted,” he said,addressingMadhyaPradeshJanSamvad, avirtual rally.ReferringtotheCongressrais-

ing questions over the govern-ment’s handling of the GalwanValley standoff, Nadda said, “Allpolitical parties said for the in-terestof thenation,wearewithyou Modi ji, you move ahead.Only one family, and its inten-tions and policy, began raisingquestions…. today they arestandingagainstChinaasif thereisnosentinellikethem.Themis-takesofonefamilymadeuslose43,000sqkmof land.”

BJP questions China donation to RGF,Congress says talk about incursions

Ahmedabad

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

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AMITABHSINHAPUNE, JUNE25

ALLMISSIONS,includingthetestflight for sending humans intospace, planned by the IndianSpace Research Organisationover thenext twoyears facede-lay because of the disruptioncaused by COVID19 pandemic,ISRO chairman K Sivan has toldThe IndianExpress.A rescheduled timeline has

notbeenworkedoutbecauseofcontinuinguncertainty,hesaid.“Inourwork strategy,many

of thedesignanddevelopmentactivities happen in theprivate

sector. Because of this pan-demic, these industries havenotbeenabletooperateat theiroptimumlevel.Asaresult, theyare not in a position to supplytherequiredsubsystemsforthemissionsbyISRO.Sothiswillaf-fect all our targeted missionsover the next few months,”Sivan said.“Inaddition,therehavebeen

travelrestrictionsinmanystatesbecauseofwhichouremployeeshave not been able to movearound.Ithas,naturally,affectedourwork,”hesaid.The missions that would

have be rescheduled includeChandrayaan-3,plannedforthis

year end, and the unmannedtest flightforGaganyaan, India’sfirstattemptatsendinghumansintospace.ThemainGaganyaanmission is slated for 2022, and

that could also be delayed, al-thoughSivansaidtherewasstillsome scope for making up onlost time.“Our in-housedevelopment

activities, and research and de-velopment has been going on.These have not stopped thoughthey too have been affected abit,”hesaid.Sivansaidtheongoingtrain-

ingoftheselectedastronautsfortheGaganyaanmissioninRussia,which had been disrupted dueto the pandemic, had resumedand was going on “with fullsteam”.ISRO had planned 36mis-

sions in the financial year 2020-

21,accordingtoagovernmentre-ply to a Parliament question inMarch. These included thelaunchesof10earth-observationsatellites, three communicationsatellites, and two navigationsatellites, besides Chandrayaan-3andGaganyaanunmannedtestflight.“Wehavenotyetworkedout

the new timelines for all thesemissions.Thereisnopointinde-ciding now. There is still a lot ofuncertainty. Sowe have towaitfor the situation to normalise.Only then we will be able tomake a correct assessment anddecideonrealistictimelines,”hesaid.

Pandemic hits spacemannedmission,all other projects, says ISRO chief

Sivan: Training inRussiaofastronautsbackontrack.

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,JUNE25

IN AN unusual case for Jammuand Kashmir Police, it has re-ceivedacomplaintfromaseniorIPS officer against the UnionTerritory’s top cop, DGP DilbagSingh,overanalleged threat.In a written complaint ad-

dressed to the SHO of GandhiNagarPoliceStationinJammudis-trict, InspectorGeneral-rank IPSofficerBasantRathonWednesdayurged theofficer to “takenote ofmyapprehensionsaboutmylife,libertyandbaldhead”.The “reason”, Rathwrote, is

“certainactivitiesof Sh.DilbaghSingh, IPS,1987batch,currentlyDGP,UTof J andK”.Rath marked a copy of the

writtencomplainttoDGPSingh.Making clear that that he is

doing this “as a private citizen”—inhis“personalcapacity”,andnot as a civil servantor apolice-man—Rathwrote,“Iamnotask-ing you to lodge an FIR againstthepersonmentioned. Iamjustasking you tomake this letter apartofthedailydiaryinyourpo-lice station. Today.Now.”Hewrote,“Incasesomething

bad happens tome, you shouldknow whose number youshoulddial...”Pointing out that he expects

theSHOtoacknowledgehis let-ter, Rath wrote that the officercan send hima screen shot of it

onWhatsApp or a direct mes-sageonhisTwitterhandle.HealsoappreciatedtheSHO

and his team's “brilliant job inthese testing times”. Hewrote,“MayAllahprotectyouandyouryour brilliant team and yourfamilymembers. Stay safe andkeepthepeopleof J andKsafe.”Rath,presentlypostedasIGP,

HomeGuard, in J&K, refused tosayanythingonthematter.DGPSingh did not respond to re-peatedphonecalls.Promoted as IGP in 2018,

Rathbecamepopularamongthepeople for his effective regula-tionof traffic in J&K.But despite themassive fan

following,especiallyamongtheyouth,hisstintasIGP-Trafficwasshort-lived.While discipliningtraffic andmaking roads in J&Ksaferforpedestrians,heissaidtohavehadrun-inswithsomesen-iorandpowerfulpoliticians,bu-reaucratsandpoliceofficials.Rathwas shifted tohispres-

ent posting following a run-inwith the mayor of SrinagarMunicipal Corporation, JunaidAzimMattu, lastyear.

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI, JUNE25

TheNationalGreenTribunal(NGT)onThursdaydirectedgov-ernment-owned Oil IndiaLimited (OIL) to deposit an ini-tial amount of Rs 25 crorewithAssam’sTinsukiadistrictadmin-istration,afterhearingtwopeti-tions in connection with theBaghjannaturalgasblowoutandsubsequent fire.The ecological disaster at

Baghjan in Tinsukia districtwasprecipitatedbyablowoutatwellnumber5,reportedonMay27.OnJune9, thewell—locatedclose tothe Dibru-Saikhowa nationalpark—caught fire, leading to thedeaths of two OIL firefighters.

Around11,000 people from thesurrounding villages are now inreliefcampssetupbytheadmin-istration. Both the Central andstategovernmentshaveinstitutedinquiriestoprobetheincident.On Thursday, a principal

benchof theNGT—comprisingJustice S PWangdi and expertmemberSiddhantaDas—heardtwoseparatepetitionsviavideo-conference: one by Kolkata-based environmentalist BananiKakkarandtheotherbyWildLifeand Environment ConservationOrganisation, whichworks forconservation awareness inUpperAssamdistricts.The petitioners alleged that

OIL had failed to prevent theblowout at Baghjan 5, resultingin “a massive fire causing ir-

reparable loss to the entire bio-diversity of the region and lossof livesandproperty”.The NGT order stated, “In

view of the prima facie casemadeoutagainstOILon theex-tentofdamagecausedtotheen-vironment and biodiversity,damage to both human andwildlife, public health and, hav-ingregardtothefinancialworthof the Company and the extentof damage, we direct the OIL todeposit an initial amount of Rs25 crores with the DistrictMagistrate, Tinsukia District,Assamandshallabidebyfurtherordersof theTribunal.”The bench also constituted

aneight-memberCommitteeofExperts — to be chaired by for-mer Gauhati High Court judge

Justice(retd)BPKatakey—toin-vestigatethematterandsubmit

itspreliminaryreportwithin30days. The committee also in-

cludes Member Secretaries ofboth the Central and StatePollutionControlBoard,aseniorexpert from the Council ofScientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR), DistrictMagistrateofTinsukiadistrict,aswell as Dr Sarbeswar Kalita,Professor and Head of theDepartment of EnvironmentScience, Gauhati University,Abhay Kumar Johari, formermember of Biodiversity BoardandiAjitHazarika,Ex-Chairman,OilandNaturalGasCorporationLtd (ONGCL).The Committee of Experts

hastospecificallyinvestigatethecause of leak; extent of loss anddamage caused to human life,wildlifeandenvironment;dam-ageandhealthhazardcausedto

the public;whether therewereanymitigationmeasures put inplace by OIL to offset the inci-dents, amongothers.“While dealing with the

abovequestions,theCommitteemay also dwell on the actiontaken thus far either by theGovernment or by theOIL or byanyotheragencyandtheexpen-diture incurredtowardsmitiga-tion. Opportunity may also beprovidedto theRespondentOILto give its views and submis-sions” said theorder.OIL spokesperson Tridiv

Hazarikasaid that thecompany“respectsandwelcomestheNGTorder”.TheNGTorderstatedthatthe

matter will be heard again onJuly29.

Assam gas leak and fire: NGT directs OIL to deposit Rs 25 cr

Workersat thesiteof thegasblowoutandfire inAssam’sTinsukia.Operationstocontrol ithavehitaroadblockduetotorrential rains.Courtesy:OIL

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA, JUNE25

LIGHTNING STRIKES killed asmanyas83people, including26children,onThursdayinBihar—itsworst such single-day toll inrecentyears.Confirmingthetoll, theBihar

DisasterManagementAuthoritysaidthesedeathstookplace ina12-hourperiod.The deaths were spread

across 23 districts in Bihar.Gopalganj was the worst-hitwith 13 casualties, followed byNawada and Madhubani hitwitheightdeathseach.In most cases, people were

hitbylightningwhentheywereout of their homes. Bhagalpurand Siwan reported six deathseach. East Champaran, Bankaand Darbhanga reported fivedeaths each, followed by twodeaths each in Khagaria andAurangabad.Gopalganj sub-divisional of-

ficerUpendraPalsaidthe13peo-

plewhodiedinthedistrictwerestruck by lightningwhilework-ing in the fields. In Gopalganj,

BarauliandUchkagaonreportedfourdeathseach.Bihar Chief Minister Nitish

KumarannouncedRs4lakheachfor thenextof kinof avictim.Prime Minister Narendra

Modi tweeted condoling thelightningdeaths inBihar andaswell as Uttar Pradesh—wherethree people died. The PrimeMinister said that both stateshave immediately begun reliefwork.

Small locust groupenters Bihar's RohtasA small swarm of about

2,500 desert locusts enteredKochasareaofBihar'sRohtasdis-trict on Wednesday eveningfrom Prayagraj. Rohtas agricul-ture officer Radha Raman toldTheIndianExpress:“It isasmallgroup.Generally, it isaswarmof1 lakh plus locusts but it was astray case. They did not attackany crop but some trees. Wehave started chemical sprays todrive them away. There is noneedtopanicasof now.”

KAMALDEEPSINGHBRARAMRITSAR, JUNE25

FOUR MEMBERS of a familyalong with their driver werekilled at village Kairon ofPunjab’s Tarn Taran district onWednesdaynight.Head of the family Brij Lal

(60), his son Bunty (25), twodaughters-in-law AmandeepKaur(24)andJaspreetKaur(28),andfamilydriverGursahibSingh(35)werefoundmurderedinthehouse.Thethroatsofall fivevic-timswere slit while theyweresleeping inseparate rooms.However, four children

sleeping in the housewere notharmed. A seven-year-old girlfromthefamilyinformedneigh-bours about the blood-soakedbodiesof herkin.BrijLalandhisfoursonswere

booked in at least 49 cases un-der the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act,1985.Theywereall outonbail.It isnotclear ifGursahib, the

driver,wasbooked inanycase.“At least 49 cases of drug

smuggling were registeredagainstBrijLalandhisfoursons.Itseemstheyallwereoutonbail.Wehavebeen checking recordsto see if any of themwas con-victed in any case.We have ze-roedinonsomepersons.Wewillsoonarrestthemurderers,”saidDSPPattiKuljinderSingh.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE25

MUMBAIPOLICEispreparingtotakewithinamonththecustodyofgangsterRaviPujari,whowasextraditedtoIndiafromSenegalearlierthisyear.Currently,Pujariis in the custody of the CentralCrime Branch of the Bengalurupolice in connection with the2017murder of builder SubbaRao.Further,MumbaiPolicewillonlybecharginghimin19ofthe49cases registeredagainsthim.Senior officers in the

Mumbai Police Crime Branchsaid that of the remaining 30cases, while a few are being in-vestigatedbytheCBI,othershadtaken place decades ago and itwouldbedifficulttofindanyev-idenceagainsthim.Aseniorofficersaid,“Wehad

written to the government ofSenegal with details of ninecases against Pujari, for whichwe want to charge him inMumbai. This is in addition tothedetailsofthe10caseswehadsent immediately after his de-tention inSenegal.”The officer added that as per

extraditionlaws,onecanonlytryapersonforthecasesmentionedin the plea seeking extradition.SinceMumbaiPolicehadsentde-tailsofonly10casesintheextra-ditionplea, theyhad to intimatetheSenegalauthoritiesaboutthenineother casesbefore they for-mallychargePujariinthosecases.Theofficerfurthersaidittook

the police all this time— PujariwasarrestedinFebruary2019 —

as it had to translate thechargesheets fromMarathi toFrench, the official language ofSenegal. “It had to be sent in aparticularformat... Itwasacum-bersome process. Finally, lastweek,wesentdetailsof theninecases and have decided not tochargehimfor the rest.”“In a few of these 30 cases,

Pujariisaco-accusedwithgang-sterChhotaRajanandhence,theCBIwillbeinvestigatingthem.Insome cases, while the co-ac-cusedhavealreadybeenacquit-ted, inothers, thecall recordsorothersuchevidenceisnotavail-able.Wehavejustgonebycaseswherewehavestrongevidencelike audio or video clippings onrecord...,” theofficer said.Pujari, whowas on the run

foralmost15years,wasarrestedin South Africa and later de-ported to Senegal. Later, hewasextradited to India and broughtto Bengaluru on February 23.Prior to2017, theBengalurupo-lice had filed two chargesheetsagainstPujari–theShabnamde-velopers double murder caseandanextortioncase.

New Delhi: The IndianNewspaper Society’s president,ShaileshGupta,hascondoledthedeath of VishwaBandhuGupta,whowas chairman and editor-in-chiefofTej-BandhuGroup,onbehalf of the Society. VishwaBandhuGupta,aformerMemberof Parliament famously knownastheBalloonMan,passedawayonJune21.Hewas93.GuptastatedVishwaBandhu

Guptawas a former INS presi-dent, and the Society had im-menselybenefitedfromhisvisionand leadership. His demise is anirreparablelosstotheentireprintmediaindustry,hestated. ENS

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE25

TWO LASHKAR-E-TAIBA (LeT)militants were killed in a jointoperationbysecurityforcesandthe police in North Kashmir’sSoporeonThursday,authoritiessaid.AnotherencounterwasoninSouthKashmir’sTral.Officials said the first gun-

fightbrokeout inHardshivavil-lage area of Baramulla districtearly on Thursday after the po-licereceivedaninputonthemil-itants’ presence there.“Duringthesearchoperation,

as the presence of terrorists gotascertained,theyweregiventheopportunity to surrender.However, they fired indiscrimi-nately upon the joint searchparty,whichwasretaliated,lead-ing to an encounter,” said a po-licespokesperson.“Theidentifi-cationandaffiliationofthekilledterrorists is being ascertained.However,aspercrediblesources,the killed terrorists belonged toproscribedLeT terroristoutfit.”

This is the latest of severalbloodyencountersthathaveun-folded in the Valley this year, inwhich 110militants have beenkilledso far.The J&KPolicesaidtheother

gunfight started at Chewa Ulararea of Awantipora. “Police andsecurity forces are on the job.Furtherdetailsshallfollow,”reada tweetbyKashmirPoliceZone.

Terrormodule busted

The J&K Police said it hadbusteda“terrormodule” linkedtotheLeTandarrestingfivemil-itant associates in Budgamdis-trict of Central Kashmir. “On acredible input, Budgam policealongwith02RRhavearrested5terrorist associates fromNarbalarea,”apolicestatementsaid.Accordingtothepolice, they

have recovered “28 AK-47rounds, 1 AK-47magazine and20 posters of LeT”. “As per thepolice records, they were in-volvedinprovidinglogisticsup-portandsheltertotheactiveter-rorists of LeT operating in thearea,” thepolice said.

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI, JUNE25

THREEPEOPLE,includingatwo-year-oldgirl,werekilledinland-slides and floods in Assam andArunachalPradeshaslargepartsofbothstatesonThursdayreeledunderheavyrainsandrisingwa-ters thataffected lakhs.Twoof thedeaths, including

that of the minor, were fromArunachal Pradesh. Thebodyofawomanwho had drowned in

the swollen Lagun river inNaharlagun town a day earlierwas recovered on Thursdaymorning,officials said.The two-year-old girl, an

Itanagar resident, died after herhouse collapsed under a land-slideonThursday.Herbodywasdug out of the debris and shewas declared brought dead at ahospital. Chief Minister PemaKhandu has announced Rs 4lakh tohernextof kin.InAssam,apersonwaskilled

in Dhemaji district, where 383

peoplewere lodged in three re-liefcampsonThursday.Thedeathtook this year’s flood toll in thestateto13.Earlier thismonth,21

peoplewerekilled ina landslidein the Barak Valley region ofAssam. The RegionalMeteorological Centre inGuwahati has predicted heavyrainfall formajorpartsofAssam,ArunachalPradesh,NagalandandManipuronFridayandSaturday.The day’s bulletin from the

Assam State DisasterManagement Authority saidnearlytwolakhpeoplewere“af-fected” by the floods, while11,500-oddpersons are in reliefcamps.Ninedistricts—Dhemaji,

Lakhimpur, Biswanath,Golaghat, Jorhat, Majuli,Sivasagar,Dibrugarh,Tinsukia—were on Thursday impacted bythe floodwaters.Meanwhile, neighbouring

Bhutan releasedwater from itsKuricchu dam from 5am onThursday, rampingup thewaterlevelinriversflowingthroughthebordering districts of Chirang,BaksaandBarpeta.TheKurichhuHydropowerPlant—arun-of-the-river project—is located on theriverbythesamenameinBhutan.

Relativesof avictimkilled in lightningstrikes inBihar’sGopalganjonThursday.Gopalganjdistrict reportedthemostdeaths—13—followedbyeight inNawadaandMadhubani. PTI

Mumbai Police setto get Ravi Pujari’scustody in a month

RaviPujariwillbechargedin19cases. File

GARGIVERMARAIPUR, JUNE25

THE CHHATTISGARH govern-ment will now buy cow dungfrom livestockowners and con-vert it to fertiliser, amove it saidwould help prevent open graz-ing and make cattle-rearingprofitable.The initiative is part of the

'Godhan Nyay Yojana', an-nounced by Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel at an onlinepressconferenceonThursday. Itwill commence from 20 July,when 'Hareli', a local festival, iscelebrated.Baghel said the scheme had

multipleobjectives,includingin-come generation and environ-ment conservation.“Chhattisgarhhashadthetradi-tion of cattle grazing in open,whichharmsboththecattleandthe crops of farmers. Stray ani-malsonroadsof citiesareama-jorcauseofroadaccidents.Oftencow owners leave the cowsastray after milking, whichcauses various problems. Thiswillchangeaftertheimplemen-tation of Godhan Nyay Yojana.Livestock owners will provideproperfodderandwatertotheircattle and keep then tied up.”Baghel said.Thecowdungthuscollected

canbeconvertedtofertiliserand

sold for additional profit, headded.BaghelalsosaidtheCongress

government in the state willutilisecowsheds,setupinthou-sands of villages under a differ-ent scheme, as a source of ver-micompost. This fertiliser willthenbesoldtofarmersaswellasothergovernmentdepartments.Afive-memberpanelofmin-

isters is expected to fix a pro-curement rate for themanure,besides working out othermodalities associatedwith thescheme.Thiscommitteewillde-liberate upon suggestions fromfarmers, livestock owners,cowshed operators and“intellectuals”.

Lightning kills 83 in Bihar

Banda/Lalitpur (UP):Threepeopleincludinga12-year-old girl were killed inlightning strikes in Bandaand Lalitpur districts, policesaidonThursday.RajNarayan,38,afarmer,

was killed when he wasstruck by lightning whileworkinginhisfieldinBandaonWednesdayevening.The12-year-old girl died and awoman received seriousburns after being struck bylightning in Chakora villageof Lalitpurdistrict.In another lightning

strike in Lalitpur, a 37-year-old farmerwas killedwhileworking inhis field.PTI

UP: Lightningkills three

Four of Punjabfamily ‘involvedin drug trade’murdered intheir sleep

Money for cow dung: Chhattisgarhlaunches scheme for livestock owners

INS condolesdeath ofTej-BandhuGroup chief

Floods in Assam, Arunachal: 3 killed, lakhs affectedAssamStateDisaster

ManagementAuthority

said11,500-odd

personsare inrelief

camps,and9districts

were impacted

Two LeT men killedin Sopore gunbattle

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAPANAJI, JUNE24

GOA ARCHBISHOP Filipe NeriFerraohas said that churches inthe state will be allowed to re-openwithstrictconditionssuchas social distancing. Those incontainment or buffer zonesidentified by the state adminis-tration will not be allowed toopen.The state's churches, closed

for public worship since thelockdown, will have to obtainpermissionfromthearchbishopbeforeopeningup.TheGoagov-ernmenthadallowedreopeningof religiousplacesonJune8,butmany such places, includingchurches,werereluctanttodosofearing a spike in coronaviruscases.

Goa Archbishop:Churches canopen with strictconditions

J&KDGPDilbagSinghandIGPHomeGuardBasantRath

‘APPREHENSIONSABOUTLIFE, LIBERTY’

In IPS vs IPS,complaint filedagainst J&K DGP

Ahmedabad

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

NASAnames

HQafterMary

JacksonNew York: NASA an-nounced onWednesdaythat it would name itsWashington, D.C., head-quarters after MaryJackson, the organisa-tion’s first black femaleengineer and a pivotalplayer in helping US as-tronauts reachspace. JimBridenstine,theadminis-trator of NASA, said theagencywouldcontinuetohonour thosewhosehis-tories have long beenoverlooked. “It appropri-ately sits on ‘HiddenFiguresWay,’ a reminderthatMary isoneofmanyincredible and talentedprofessionals in NASA’shistorywho contributedto this agency’s success,”hesaid.

Mary Jackson.NASA

TOPOFTHEWORLD

FRANCE

EiffelTower

reopensafter

104days

Paris: Marking anothermilestone in France's re-covery from the lock-down,theEiffelTowerre-opened to visitorsThursdayafteritslongest-everclosureinpeacetime:104days.Touriststricklingback to Paris were de-lighted to find it openwhen someother attrac-tionsintheFrenchcapitalremainclosed.TheLouvreMuseum isn't reopeninguntilJuly6.Of thetower'sthreedecks,onlythefirsttwo reopened. Thosewho made the climbThursdaywererewardedwith far-awayviews anda light breeze in scorch-ing summerweather.

PAKISTAN

PIAgrounds

150pilotswith

‘dubiouslicences’

Islamabad: PakistanInternational Airlines onThursdayannounced thatithasgrounded150pilotswith "dubious licences", aday after thepreliminaryprobereportoftheKarachiplanecrashblamedthepi-lotsandtheair trafficcon-trol for the tragedy thatkilled 97 people.“GroundingsomanypilotswillaffectthePIAflightop-eration,”thespokespersonforthenationalcarriersaid,adding that theyhave al-readydismissed sixpilotswith fake degrees. Thosepilots who get their li-cences verifiedwill be al-lowedback onduty, GeoNews quoted the PIAspokespersonassaying.

‘YOU THINK ALL BLACK MEN LOOK ALIKE?’

Wrongfully accused by algorithm, US man’s arrest highlights tech biasKASHMIRHILLNEWYORK, JUNE25

ON A Thursday afternoon inJanuary, Robert Julian-BorchakWilliamswas in his office at anautomotive supply companywhen he got a call from theDetroit Police Departmenttellinghimtocometothestationtobearrested.Hethoughtatfirstthat itwasaprank.An hour later, when he

pulled into his driveway in aquietsubdivisioninFarmingtonHills, Michigan, a police carpulled up behind, blocking himin. Two officers got out and

handcuffedWilliamsonhisfrontlawn,infrontofhiswifeandtwoyoungdaughters,whoweredis-traught.Thepolicewouldn’tsaywhyhewasbeingarrested,onlyshowing him a piece of paperwith his photo and the words“felonywarrant”and“larceny.”Hiswife,Melissa,askedwhere

hewas being taken. “Google it,”sherecallsanofficerreplying.The police drove Williams

to a detention centre. He hadhis mug shot, fingerprints andDNA taken, and was heldovernight. Around noon onFriday, twodetectives tookhimto an interrogation room andplaced threepiecesof paperon

the table, face down.“When’s the last time you

went to aShinola store?”oneofthe detectives asked, inWilliams’s recollection. Shinolais anupscaleboutique that sellswatches, bicycles and leathergoods in the trendy Midtownneighbourhood of Detroit.Williams said he and his wifehad checked it out when thestore firstopened in2014.Thedetectiveturnedoverthe

first piece of paper. It was a stillimagefromasurveillancevideo,showing a heavyset man,dressed in black andwearing aredStLouisCardinalscap,stand-ing in front of a watch display.

Five timepieces, worth $3,800,were shoplifted. “Is this you?”asked thedetective.The second piece of paper

was a close-up. The photowasblurry, but it was clearly notWilliams. He picked up the im-ageandheld itnext tohis face.“No,thisisnotme,”Williams

said. “You think all black menlookalike?”Williams knew that he had

not committed the crime inquestion. What he could nothave known, as he sat in the in-terrogationroom,isthathiscasemaybe the first knownaccountofanAmericanbeingwrongfullyarrested based on a flawedmatch from a facial recognitionalgorithm, according to expertson technologyandthe law.A nationwide debate is rag-

ingaboutracisminlawenforce-ment.Millionsareprotestingnotjust theactionsof individual of-ficers, but bias in the systemsusedtosurveilcommunitiesandidentifypeople forprosecution.This month, Amazon,

Microsoft and IBM announcedtheywould stop or pause theirfacial recognition offerings forlaw enforcement. The gestureswerelargelysymbolic,giventhatthe companies arenot bigplay-ers in the industry.Clare Garvie, a lawyer at

GeorgetownUniversity’sCenteron Privacy and Technology, haswrittenaboutproblemswiththegovernment’suseof facialrecog-

nition.Shearguesthatlow-qual-itysearchimages—suchasastillimagefromagrainysurveillancevideo— should be banned, andthatthesystemscurrentlyinuseshould be tested rigorously foraccuracy and bias. “There aremediocre algorithms and therearegoodones, and lawenforce-ment should only buy the goodones,”Garvie said.AboutWilliams’sexperience

in Michigan, she added: “Istrongly suspect this is not thefirstcasetomisidentifysomeoneto arrest them for a crime theydidn’t commit. This is just thefirst timeweknowabout it.”Williams and his wife have

not talked to their neighboursabout what happened. Theywonder whether they need toputtheirdaughtersintotherapy.“My mother doesn’t know

about it. It’s not something I’mproud of,” Williams said. “It’shumiliating.”Hehassincefiguredoutwhat

he was doing the evening theshopliftingoccurred.Hewasdriv-ing home fromwork, and hadposted a video to his privateInstagrambecauseasonghelovedcameon—1983’s “WeAreOne,”byMazeandFrankieBeverly.He had an alibi, had

the Detroit police checked forone.NYT

ASSOCIATEDPRESSMOSCOW,JUNE25

POLLS OPENED in Russia onThursday for a week-long voteon constitutional changes thatwouldallowPresidentVladimirPutintostayinpoweruntil2036.Thevoteona slewof consti-

tutionalamendments,proposedbyPutin in January,was initiallyscheduled for April 22, butwaspostponedbecause of the coro-navirus pandemic. It was laterrescheduled for July 1, withpollingstationsopeningaweekearlier and staying open forseven days in an effort to avoidcrowdsonthemainvotingday.The proposed amendments

includeachange in theconstitu-tionthatwouldallowthe67-year-oldPutin,whohasruledRussiaforover twodecades, to run for twomoresix-yeartermsafterhiscur-rent one expires in 2024. Otheramendments talkabout improv-ingsocialbenefits,definemarriageas a union of a man and and awomanandredistributeexecutivepowerswithin the government,strengtheningthepresidency.The changes have already

beenapprovedbybothhousesofparliament, the country's

Constitutional Court andweresigned into lawby Putin. He in-sisted that they be put to a vote,even though it is not legally re-quired,inwhatmanyseeasanef-forttoputaveneerofdemocracyonthecontroversialchanges.Russia is still reporting over

7,000newvirus cases daily andhas 606,000 confirmed infec-tionsinall, thethird-worstcase-load in theworld.The Kremlin has repeatedly

dismissed these concerns, say-ing that Russiawas able to slowdowntheepidemicandassuringpeople that all necessarymeas-ures have been to ensure thesafetyof thevoters.The country's dividedoppo-

sition,meanwhile, has failed tomobilisea significantprotest.

Some Moscow politiciansand journalists launched a“No!” campaign against theamendments, but the viruslockdown prohibited rallies,and authorities have detainedeven single pickets.

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, JUNE25

THE FINANCIAL Action TaskForce(FATF),anindependentin-ter-governmentalbodythatde-velopsandpromotespolicies toprotect the global financial sys-tem againstmoney laundering,terrorist financing and the fi-nancing of proliferation ofweapons of mass destruction,has released its first ever reporton illegalwildlife trade (IWT).The report, released on

Thursday, comes amid increas-ing international concern thatthe crime could lead to morezoonotic diseases in the future.

Estimating theproceedsof IWTat between $7 and $23 billionper year globally, the FATF hassuggestedtoallmembergovern-ments that the financial aspectof wildlife trade needs to belooked at more carefully, andthat money laundering laws

should be applied to wildlifetrade, since theproceedsentersthe global market throughmoney laundering."The illegal wildlife trade is

devastatingourwildlifeandput-tingtheglobalecosystematrisk.Time is running out. To ensurethe survival of endangeredspecies,weneedtobuildstrongpublic private partnerships toprevent, detect and disrupt thisactivity following the moneythat fuels it and the organisedcrime gangs, poachers and traf-fickersbehindit,"saidFATFpres-identXiangminLiu."The illegal wildlife trade

(IWT)isamajortransnationalor-ganisedcrimethat fuelscorrup-

tion,threatsbiodiversity,andcanhavesignificantpublichealthim-pacts. Inparticular, thespreadinrecentyearsofzoonoticdiseasesunderlinestheimportanceofen-suringthatwildlife is tradedinalegal, safe and sustainableman-ner, and that countries removethe profitability of illegal mar-kets,''says thereport.Initsreport,theFATFpointed

outthatfollowingthemoneyal-lowscountriestoidentifyawidernetworkofsyndicateleadersandfinanciersinvolvedandtoreducethe profitability of the crime. Italso stated that syndicates in-volved in the crime are usuallyengaged in other illegal enter-prises,andthattacklingIWTwill

helpdismantlesuchnetworks."Combating criminal organ-

isations through their financialflowsisasignificantlegalandin-vestigative tool to preventwildlife trafficking and the po-tential proliferation of zoonoticdiseases," it stated, suggestingtheuseofmoneylaunderingof-fencessincetheycarrymorese-verepenaltiesinmanycountries.While the exact connection

between the trading of pan-golins and pangolin scaleswiththe Covid-19 outbreak is yet tobeestablished,researchersinter-nationally are looking into pos-sibleconnections.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Robert Julian-BorchakWilliamshadanalibi.NYT

BRITAIN’S DAY OUT

ThousandsdefiedcoronavirussocialdistancingrulesandgatheredatabeachinBournemouth,England,onThursday—thehottest dayof theyearso far.A ‘major incident’hasbeendeclared intheareatoallowauthorities to takeemergencymeasures inresponsetothebreachof rules. AP

SAJJADHUSSAINISLAMABAD, JUNE25

PAKISTANPRIMEMinisterImranKhanonThursdaycalledslainalQaeda chief and 9/11 master-mind Osama bin Laden a "sha-heed" (martyr) and said thatIslamabad faced "embarrass-ment" by taking part inAmerica'swaronterror.Speaking inparliamentdur-

ingthebudgetsession,Khansaidthe American forces enteredPakistan and killed Ladenwith-out informing Islamabad afterwhich everyone started abusinghiscountry. "Idon't thinkthere'sa countrywhich supported thewaronterrorandhadtofaceem-barrassment for it. PakistanwasalsoopenlyblamedforUS'failureinAfghanistan,"Khansaid."For Pakistanis across the

globe, it was an embarrassingmoment when the Americanscame and killed Osama binLaden at Abottabad...martyredhim. The whole world startedabusing us after that. Our allycame inside our country andkilledsomeonewithoutinform-

ing us. And, 70,000 Pakistanisdied because of US' war on ter-ror,"hesaid.Khan's remarks drew criti-

cism from the Opposition."Osamabin Ladenwas a terror-istandourPMcalledhimamar-tyr. Hewas behindmassacre ofthousands,"saidKhawajaAsifofPakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz.Pakistan on Thursday ex-

pressed its disappointment overtheUSStateDepartment'sreportwhichdescribedthecountryasa"safe harbour" for regionally-fo-cusedterroristgroups."...Pakistanwillnotallowanygrouporentityto use its territory against anycountry," the ForeignOffice said,commentingonthereport.PTI

VladimirPutin

ImranKhan.Reuters/File

Imran Khan callsOsama ‘martyr’ in PakParliament, faces flak

Illegal wildlife trade putting global ecosystem at risk: FATF

FATFpresidentXiangminLiu

THENEWYORKTIMESNEWYORK, JUNE25

THE UNITED States reported36,880newcoronaviruscasesonWednesday,thelargestone-daytotal since the start of the pan-demic and more than twomonthsafter theprevioushigh.Thenumber of infections in-

dicated that the countrywasnotonly failing to contain the virus,but also that the caseloadwasworsening—apathatoddswithmanyothernationsthathaveseensteady declines after an earlierpeak. Cases in theUnited Stateshadbeenonadownward trajec-tory after the previous high of36,739casesonApril24,buttheyhaveroaredbackinrecentweeks.The resurgence is concen-

trated largely in the South andWest. Florida,Oklahoma,SouthCarolina and Texas reportedtheir highest single-day totalsonWednesday, but case num-bers have been rising in morethan 20 states.The tallyof newcases, based

on aNew York Times database,showed that the outbreakwasstronger thanever. Theelevatednumbersarea resultofworsen-ingconditionsacrossmuchofthecountry,aswellasincreasedtest-ing—but testing alonedoesnotexplain the surge. Increases inhospitalisations also signal thevirus’s spread.Some states, includingNew

York,whichatonepointhad themost daily virus cases, havebroughttheirnumbersundercon-trol. Hoping to keep it thatway,

New York — along withConnecticutandNewJersey—saiditwouldinstituteaquarantineforsomeout-of-statetravelers.AsofWednesday,morethan

2.3millionAmericanshavebeeninfectedandabout122,000havedied. Governor Gavin Newsomof California said that his statehad recordedmore than 7,000newcasesoverthepreviousday.The WHO warned

Wednesdaythatif theAmericaswerenotable tostopthespreadof thevirus,theremaybeaneedtoimpose—orreimpose—gen-eral lockdowns.

NATECOHNNEWYORK, JUNE25

PRESIDENTDONALDTrumphaslostsignificantgroundinthesixbattlegroundstatesthatclinchedhis Electoral College victory in2016, according to New YorkTimes/Siena College surveys,with Joseph R Biden Jr openingdouble-digit leads inMichigan,PennsylvaniaandWisconsin.Trump’s once-commanding

advantage amongwhite votershas nearly vanished, a develop-mentthatwouldallbutprecludethepresident’sre-election.Bidennowhas a21-point leadamongwhitecollegegraduates,andthepresidentislosingamongwhitevotersinthethreeNorthernbat-tlegroundstates.Four years ago,Mr. Trump’s

strength in the disproportion-ately white working-class bat-tlegroundstatesallowedhimtowin the Electoral Collegewhilelosingthepopularvote.Thesur-veys indicate that the presidentcontinues to farebetter in theserelatively white battlegroundstates thanhedoesnationwide.AseparateTimes/Sienasurvey

released onWednesday found

Bidenleadingby14pointsnation-wide, 50 percent to 36 percent.Bidenwouldwinthepresidencywithat least333electoralvotes,farmorethanthe270needed, ifhewon all six of the states sur-veyed and held those won byHillaryClinton fouryearsago.With a littlemore than four

months to go until the election,there is still time for the presi-dent’s political standing to re-cover,justasitdidonsomanyoc-casions four years ago. Hemaintains a substantial advan-tage on the economy, whichcouldbecomeanevenmorecen-tral issue in what has alreadybeenavolatileelectioncycle.Andmanyof theundecidedvoters inthesestatesleanRepublican,andmay end up returning to theirparty’snominee. NYT

RACE FOR

THEWHITE

HOUSE

Trump loses groundin key states: Survey

SPIKE INOVER20STATES

At 36,880,US recordshighest 1-dayspike so far

Sydney:Australia’s secondmost populous state de-ployed ambulances andmobile test centres in atestingblitzasthecountryrecorded the biggest dailyriseincasesintwomonths.Victoria state said 33

peopletestedpositiveinthepast24hours,markingninedays of double digit newcases in the state. It hasaround 200 current casesoutofacountrytotalof270.Victoria state Premier

DanielAndrewssaidauthor-itiesarestartingwiththe10most affected suburbs.Hesaidabout100,000testswillbeconductedover thenext10days.REUTERS

AUSTRALIAREPORTS

BIGGEST24-HRRISE

INCASES IN2MONTHS

UNEARTHS TWO OF LARGEST TANZANITE GEMSTONES

MINERTURNSMILLIONAIREOVERNIGHT

A small-scale miner in Tanzania has become an overnight millionaire after

unearthing two of the biggest rough tanzanite gemstones ever found. Tanzania's

government bought the book-sized stones weighing 20 pounds (9 kg) and 11

pounds (5 kg) from miner Saniniu Laizer for $3.4 million

E●EXPLAIN

ED

ATA timewhenRussia isstill strugglingwith thepandemic,pollorganisersreportedlyfacedifficultyinensuring a good turnout.There are also concernsthatmeasuresputinplacedue to the outbreak, likestretching the poll over aweektoavoidlongqueues,leave room for potentialfraud.Forexample,asperareport, it isuncertainhowballot boxeswill be sur-veilled during sanitising,when everyone mustleavethevenue.

Concernovervirus,turnout

Russia opens polls for week-longvote on extending Putin’s tenure

Ahmedabad

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THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

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O/o The Chief Engineer/TS, B-1, Shakti Vihar, PatialaTel/Fax: 0175-2303093; e-mail: ce-ts@pspcl.in : setransdesign@gmail.com

TENDER ENQUIRY NO. TSQ-1109/PSPCL/TD-II

Tender are invited through e-Tendering under three part bid system for specification formanufacture, testing, supply & delivery of 220 MT hot dip galvanised nuts, bolts and 15MT electro-galvanised spring washers.

IMPORTANT DATES:

1) Start date for downloading of tenders: From the date of publication2) Last date of downloading of tender: 27.07.2020 upto 11.00 A.M.3) Last date & time for bid submission: 27.07.2020 upto 11.00 A.M.4) Date & time of opening of bid: 29.07.2020 at 11.30 A.M.Note:-

1. It is informed that in case tender process is not completed due to any rea-son, no corrigendum will be published in newspapers. Details regardingcorrigendum may be seen on Punjab Government e-tendering website(https://eproc.punjab.gov.in (GePNIC Portal)

2. Detailed NIT and Specification can be downloaded from Punjab Governmente-tendering website (https://eproc.punjab.gov.in (GePNIC Portal)

Sd/-Dy. CE/TL (D).

PSPCL, Patiala.C 206/202040343/PB

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE25

LACKOFadequatepolicysupportfromthegovernmentishamper-ingresearchanddevelopment,aswell innovation in the clean en-ergy sector,which is in turn im-pactingthegrowthofstartupsandsmall andmediumenterprises,theWWFIndiasaidinarelease.“While almost 140 govern-

mentinterventionsfocusdirectlyor/andindirectlyoncleanenergyand startups and SMEs, only 38policiesactuallytargetSMEsinthecleanenergyecosystem,makingit

difficultforSMEstoreaptheben-efitsoftheprovisions,”areportbyWWFIndiasaid.In its report,WWF India has

identified six segments, solarrooftop, electricmobility, energyefficiency, smart energy,waste-to-energy,andenergyaccess,thatit believes could have consider-able impact across industries,buildingsandtransportation.Apartfromlackofpolicysup-

port, the is also verydifficult forstart-ups and SMEs in the cleanenergy techspace to findandre-tain trained anddedicated staffover longerperiodsof times, thereportsaid.

NewDelhi:CommerceandIndus-tryMinister PiyushGoyal Thurs-daysaidhewillbetalkingtoUSTRRobertLighthizer inthenext fewdays to “quicklywrap” up initialaspectsoftheproposedtradedeal.IndiaandtheUSarenegotiat-

ingatradedeal to ironoutdiffer-ences and promote two-waycommerce.Goyalsaidheisinreg-ulardialoguewithUSTradeRepr-esentative(USTR)andUSComm-erce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “IthinkMrWilburRossandIwillbemeetingwith businessmen ofboth countries sometime in themiddleof July.” PTI

Goyal: To talk toLighthizer onproposed tradedeal in few days

BRIEFLY

Trai’s‘channel

selectorapp’NewDelhi:TheTelecomRe-gulatoryAuthority of India(Trai) Thursday launched a‘channel selector app’, thatenables users to select andpay only for channels theywishtoseeinsteadofreceiv-ingall channels inaspecificbouquetandpayingforit.

Newproductby

KarnatakaBankNewDelhi:KarnatakaBankhaslaunchedanewproduct,KBLMicroMitra,togivefina-ncial assistanceup toRs10lakhcantomicromanufact-uringandserviceenterpris-eseitherforworkingcapitalorforinvestmentpurposes.

PFC:FY20net

profitof`6.8KcrNewDelhi: Power FinanceCorporation(PFC)ThursdaysaiditregisterednetprofitofRs 6,788 crore for FY20, asagainst Rs 6,953 crore inFY19, excluding one-timeimpactofDTAduetochangeincorporatetaxrate.

CanaraBankQ4

netlosswidensNewDelhi:CanaraBankpos-tedwidening of its stand-alonenetlosstoRs3,259.33crore for thequarter endedMarch2020.Ithadreportedanet lossof Rs551.53croreintheyear-agoperiod. ENS

SANDEEPSINGH&AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,JUNE25

MONEY PARKED by Indians inSwiss Banks fell for the secondstraight year— this timebyCHF55million,or5.8percent, toCHF899million (Rs 7,100 crore)— in2019.While the figurewas at itshighestatCHF6.46billionin2006,it stood at CHF 1.81 billion (Rs14,400crore) in2014whenNDAgovernmentcametopower,andithas comedown in linewith theCentre’s steps over the last fewyears to curbblackmoney in theeconomyand following the set-tingupofnewframeworkin2016that allowed exchange of infor-mationbetweenSwitzerlandandIndia to help check the blackmoneymenace.Whileoveralltotalforeignde-

posits roseby3.1percent toCHF1.44trillionfromCHF1.39trillionin 2018, China sawamajor 13.1per cent jump inmoneyparkedbyitsresidents,fromCHF13.5bil-lionin2018toCHF15.3billion.India’s neighbour Pakistan

witnessed a sharpdecline in themoneyparkedby its residents inSwitzerlandlastyearasitdeclinedby45percentfromCHF745mil-lionin2018toCHF410million.The latest data fromZurich-

basedSwissNationalBank(SNB)

releasedfortheyear2019showsasharpriseindepositsbyAmericanresidentsinSwissbanksasitroseby CHF 17.8 billion, or 12.5 percent,toCHF160billion.Even as some nations wit-

nesseda jump in2019, therehasbeenanoveralldeclineinmoneyparkedbyresidentsacrosscoun-triesinSwissbankssincetheyearoftheglobalfinancialcrisis.Whiletotal foreign deposit in Swissbankshitanall-timehighofCHF2.43trillionin2007,theyhavede-clined since then.While overallforeigndepositshavefallen41percentsince2007,thatforIndiahasdeclined by 79 per cent since2007.ForIndia,thetotalliabilitiesof Swiss banks stood highest in2006atCHF6.46billion.TheSNBdatacomesafter the

firstsetofdetailsofbankaccountsheld by Indian nationals were

sharedunderthenewframeworkfor automatic exchangeof infor-mationbetweenSwitzerlandandIndia to help check the blackmoneymenace last September.WhileSwitzerlandbegansharingforeignclientdetailsonevidenceofwrongdoingprovidedbyIndiaand someother countries, it hasagreedtofurtherexpanditscoop-eration on India’s fight againstblackmoneywith thenewpactfor automatic exchangeof infor-mation(AEOI).IndiaandSwitzerlandhad,for

automaticsharingoffinancialac-count information, signeda JointDeclaration on November 22,2016 foractivationofAEOI in taxmattersbetweenthetwonations.Theuse anddisclosureof the in-formationreceivedisgovernedbythe confidentiality provisions oftheIndia-Switzerlandtaxtreaty.

TOLEVERAGEbenefitsofe-retail,sellershavemadeabeelinetogetonboarde-commerceplatforms.Amazon India’s vice-president—seller servicesGOPALPILLAI toldPRANAVMUKUL that theonlinemarketplacehasconsistentlyseen50per cent rise in seller registra-tion post-lockdown, as againstpre-lockdownnumbers.He alsospoke about the government’splan tomandate ‘country of ori-gin’tagonproductsandifitcouldplayaroleincustomer’spurchas-ingchoice.Editedexcerpts:

AmazonIndiaishavingits

SmallBusinessDayonJune27.

Traditionalretailerssaythat

sales,schemes,etcmaynot

pushdemand.Whatmakes

youhopefulthisprogramme

coulddrivedemand?

Wewant to give anopportu-nitytoMSMEstoshowcaseuniq-ue products becausewe’ve no-ticed that Indian entrepreneursare coming upwith innovativeproducts during this tough time.Forexample, I foundasellerwhomanufacturedmatchingmaskstoshirts.Therearealsopeoplecom-ing outwith products that havedemand in the COVID world.Theseareworkfromhomegoods,cleaningproducts,appliances,etcforwhichthereisalotofdemandanywayandthisgivestheoppor-tunity to small businesses to

showcasetheirofferings.

HasAmazonIndiarecovered

fromthelockdownslumpin

termsofordervolumes?

Wehaveseenaspikefromthepre-COVIDnumbersconsistentlyfor the last onemonth sinceweopenedup.Forthelastfourweeks,wehaven’t seenanydrop in thatspike.Secondly,newsellersarere-alising that e-commerce andmoderndigital commerce givesthemanadditional opportunitytosellthroughadifferentchannelandwehaveseen50percentplusin search terms like ‘sell online’,‘sellonAmazon’,etcandwehaveseen a 50 per cent rise in newsellerregistrationcomparedwithpre-COVID. This shows that e-commerceprovidesdualpurposebenefits:one,helpingcustomersgettheirproductswhilemaintain-ing social distancing ... two, this

canhelpsmallbusinessesatscale.

Howdoyourespondtothe

government’splanon

mandating‘countryoforigin’

tagforproductsone-

commerceplatform?

Wecontinueto look forwaystooffermostrelevantandrobustdetailpagesasprovidedbysellersand search capabilities to offerseamless customer experience.Sellersareresponsibleforprovid-ingallrequiredinformationabouttheproducttheylistandtherefore,we continue to educate themabouttheneedfordisplayingac-curate, complete informationabouttheirproducts.Ourfocusisto be absolutely compliantwithall Indianlawsandregulations.

Hascountryoforiginfora

productbecomeamajor

decision-makingfactorfor

customerspurchasing

productsonline?

Acustomer looks for variousinformationpoints ...what theirfriends and family think about it... reviews.Therewasastudythatsaid therewere over 20 eventsanddecision-making attributesthat peopleuse to findproducts.Every customer has their ownwayof findingaproductbecausetheylookforcertaininformation.

Full interviewonwww.indianexpress.com

India China US Total foreign

2019 0.9 15.3 160.6 1,440.9

2018 1.0 13.5 142.7 1,398.0

2017 1.0 16.1 166.6 1,463.2

2016 0.7 9.6 177.0 1,420.4

2015 1.2 7.4 196.5 1,418.5

2014 1.8 8.2 244.9 1,476.6

All Figures inCHFBillion, Source: SwissNationalBank

DEPOSITS IN SWISS BANKBYCOUNTRIES

2019: Indian money in Swiss banksfalls 5.8%; total foreign deposits up 3.1%

GopalPillai,AmazonIndiavice-president—sellerservices. File

‘Amazon India has seen a 50% rise innew seller registration post-lockdown’

‘Limited policy supporthampering research,innovation in clean energy’

ASSOCIATEDPRESSWASHINGTON,JUNE25

THEUS economy shrank 5 percent in the first quarter with amuchworsedeclineexpected in

the current three-month eco-nomic period,whichwill showwhat happenedwhen the pan-demicbeganspreadacrosstheUS.TheCommerceDepartment

reportedThursdaythatthedeclineinthegrossdomesticproduct,the

totaloutputofgoodsandservices,intheJanuary-Marchquarterwasunchanged from the estimatemadeamonthago.The 5 per cent dropwas the

sharpestquarterlydeclinesincean8.4percentfallinthefourthquar-

ter of 2008during thedepths oftheworstfinancialcrisissincetheGreatDepression.The first quarter period cap-

turedjust twoweeksof theshut-downs thatbegan inmanypartsofthecountryinmid-March.

US GDP contracts 5% in Q1; worse likely on the way

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE25

THEBOARDof theSecuritiesandExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi)hasmade it easier for listed compa-niestoraisemoneybytemporar-ilyrelaxingpricingnormsforpref-erentialallotmentofshares.Italsotweaked its takeover regulationsto ensure that shareholders re-ceiveinterestifopenoffersarede-layed.The boardhas allowed com-

panies to use the higher of vol-ume-weightedaverageofpreced-ing twoweeksor 12weeks for apreferentialallotment.Currently,companies have to necessarilyprice such issues at the volume-weightedaveragepriceofthepre-ceding26weeks(6months).This pricing option “shall be

availableforthepreferentialissues

made between July 1, 2020, ordateofnotificationofamendmentto theRegulations,whichever islater, andDecember 31, 2020,”saidastatementfromtheregula-tor. The securities allottedon thebasisofthispricingwillbelocked-inforthreeyears, itadded.Relaxingthepricingnormwill

allow companies to price theirpreferentialissueslowerbecauseshare prices have come down

since COVID-19has struck. Thiswillmake itmore attractive forpromoters, who are the typicalbuyersofpreferentialshares,toin-vestmorecapitalintheircompa-nies and stave off hostiletakeovers. It is also particularlyusefulforlistedcompaniestoraisecapital at a timewhenbanks areriskaverseandunwillingtolend.In a relief for shareholders of

companieswhich are being ac-quired,theregulatorhasimposeda10percentpenaltyonopenof-ferswhichgetdelayedbytheac-quirer owing to reasons such asvaluationdisputes,investorcom-plaints, litigationandsoon.Separately, the regulator also

said the acquirer shoulddeposit100 per cent of the open offeramount payable into an escrowaccount for indirect acquisitions.Currently,sucharuleisapplicableonlyfordirectacquisitions.Inadi-

rectacquisition,theacquirertakescontrolofalistedtargetcompanybybuyingitsshares;inanindirectacquisition, control is gained bybuying thesharesof aholdingorparentcompanyofthetargetfirm.TheSebiboardalsosought to

strengthen regulations for pre-venting insider trading. It ap-provedmaintaininga structureddigital databasewhichwill con-tain the nature of unpublishedprice sensitive information andthe names of the personswhosharedtheinformation.It alsopermitted automating

the process of filing stockexchangedisclosures and liftingrestrictions on the tradingwin-dow for transactions prescribedbySebi.The regulator has also

tweaked its settlement regula-tions to streamline the processandmakeitfaster.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE25

COALINDIALtd(CIL)hasnoplanstogiveupanycoalblocksforcom-mercial mining, CIL ChairmanPramodAgrawalsaidonThursday,noting that the PSUwould con-tinuetobeviable inthecompeti-tiveeraofcoalmining.TheCentrehadannouncedthecommerciali-sation of coal as part of theAtmanirbharBharat plan. PrimeMinisterNarendraModihadan-nounced the first auctionof coalblocks for commercial use lastweek. Earlier, only end-users ofcoalsuchaspowerandsteelcom-panieswerepermitted tobid forcoalblocks.“There is noproposal to give

awayanyCILblock for commer-cialmining,sothereisnocauseforconcern,”saidAgrawal,addingthecompany had sufficient blockswithabundant resourcecapacitytocontinueasacommerciallyvi-

able entity in the “competitionera.” CIL is theholderof 463coalblockswithacombinedestimatedminingcapacityofcloseto170bil-liontonnes.“...takingintoaccounttheprojectedgrowthintheensu-ingyears, CILwill be able topro-duceandfuel theexpandingcoaldemandof the country toa con-siderableextentintheforeseeablefuture,” saida releaseby thePSU,addingthatithastargetedannualproductionof 1billion tonnesofcoalby2023-24.ACILreleasesaid itsexpertise

inexploration,mineplanning,in-frastructureengineering,andenvi-ronmentalmanagementgaveitanedgeoverpotentialcompetitors.

REGULATORALSOSEEKSTOTIGHTENRULESONINSIDERTRADING

REUTERSBRUSSELS,JUNE25

ALPHABET’S GOOGLE onThursdaytookasteptoresolv-ing its spatwith publishers,sayingitwouldpaysomeme-diagroups inAustralia, BrazilandGermanyforhigh-qualitycontent and expects to domoredealswithothers.TheUS internetgianthas

for years tried to fendoff de-mands for payment fromnewspublishersworldwideinreturnforusingtheircontent,withEuropeanmediagroupsamongtheirfiercestcritics.“Today,weareannouncing

alicensingprogrammetopay

publishers for high-qualitycontentforanewsexperiencelaunchinglaterthisyear,”BradBender, Google’s vice-presi-dent for news, said. “Wewillstartwithpublishersinanum-berofcountries,withmoretocomesoon,”hesaid.Theprod-uctwillbeavailableonGoogleNews andDiscover. He saidGooglewouldalsooffertopayforfreeaccessforuserstoreadpaywalled articles on apub-lisher’ssitewhereavailable.Publishersthatwillbepaid

for their content includeGermany’s Der Spiegel,FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung,Australian groups SchwartzMedia, TheConversationandBrazil’sDiariosAssociados.

MEDIAWATCH

ONLINENEWS

Google to pay somepublishers in Brazil,Australia, Germany

CIL: No plan to giveup any blocks forcommercial mining

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE25

OF THE 41 blocks that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi an-nouncedwouldbeauctionedforcommercialcoalmining,33werepreviouslyallottedtopublicsec-tor or private sector companiesbutlatersurrendered.Previously,coalblockswereonlyallotted toindustries, such as power andsteel industry,whichuse coal asan input.Experts noted that the

surrenderoftheseblocksdidnotindicateanyissueswiththemin-ing potential of these blocks asmanyweresurrenderedaftertheallottees did not develop theblocksforproductioninlinewithtimelinesagreedupon.“Someoftheseblockshadnot

beendevelopedaspertheirminedevelopment plans and (the al-lottees) had to give year on yearupdates on their status. SomeoftheblocksallocatedtoPSUswerenot developed and thereweresomequeries raised by industrythat these had not been devel-oped as per themining plans,”saidSreyaMajumder,deputydi-rectorand lead forenergypolicyat industry body Confederation

of IndianIndustry.Only eight of the 41 blocks

set to be auctioned have notbeen allotted previously andhaveatargetminingcapacityof24.1million tonnes per year, asagainst the total target miningcapacity of around 223milliontonnesperyear.Majumdersaidalotoftherm-

al power plants thatwere set tousecoalfromsuchblocksdidnotcome up as state governmentsmoved towards renewable en-ergy. She noted thatmany suchplantscurrentlyoperationalwerealso operating at only 30-40percentof theirplant loadfactor.Ofthe41blocks,30havebeen

classifiedas“explored”,withan-otherfourcoalblocksclassifiedas“explored in detail”. The auctionof these blocks reduces the per-ceivedrisk forbiddersaccordingto Vipul Tuli, chairman of FICCIPowerCommittee.

Most blocks already allotted &surrendered as allottees ‘failedto develop within deadline’

COMMERCIALCOALMININGOF41BLOCKS

E●EXPLA

INED

THErelaxation inpricingnormswillbeparticularlyuseful forlistedcompanies toraisecapitalata timewhenbanksareriskaverse.

Willhelpinraisingcapital

Sebi relaxespreferentialpricingnorms, tweakstakeovercode

MSIL sees end of road for diesel vehiclesafter its price overtakes petrol in Delhi

SMALLERCARSEGMENT

Coal India is theholder

of463coalblockswith

acombinedestimated

miningcapacityof

closeto170bntonnes

Expertsnotedthat the

surrenderof the33

blocksdidnot indicate

anyissueswiththe

miningpotentialof

theseblocks

SANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE25

ASTHEperlitrepriceofdieselhasovertaken that of petrol inDelhiand the gap has narrowed inmanystates,MarutiSuzuki IndiaLimited(MSIL) feels itwillbe theend of road for diesel cars — atleast in the smaller car segment.Having stopped production ofdieselcarsbeginningApril1,2020andbettingbigonCNGasthefu-turefuel,MSILplanstointroduceCNGvehiclesacrossallmodelsgo-ingforwardandithasalreadyin-troduceditacrosseightmodels.Astheshareofdieselcarsales

inthepassengervehiclesegment

has comedown fromaround60percentin2012-13to 28percentin 2019-20 (17per cent share inQ4 FY20), Shashank Srivastava,ED, sales andmarketing atMSIL,said ownership of diesel cars donot make much of economicsense.“IntheBS-VIregime,theac-quisitioncostofdieselcarishigher

by anywhere between Rs 1.25lakh and Rs 2.05 lakh over thepetrol variant and if the runningcostofdieselcarisnotlower(asitwasbefore), itdoesn’tmakeeco-nomicsensetobuyadieselcar.”While the average price gap

between per litre of petrol anddiesel stood at a highof Rs 31 in2011-12,itcamedowntoaroundRs 7 per litre in 2019-20 and isdowntoRs5onanaverageacrossthe country. There has been asharp rise inprices of diesel andpetroloverthelastthreeweekstoaboutRs80perlitreinDelhi.Withthe price of diesel overtakingpetrolinDelhi,therunningcostofadieselvehicleisashighasthatofpetrolcarnow.

New Delhi: Petrol price inDelhiwashiked toRs79.92perlitrefromRs79.76,whiledieselrateswereincreasedtoRs80.02alitrefromRs79.88,as per anotificationof stateoilmarketingfirms.PTI

Diesel crosses `80

Ahmedabad

THEINDIANEXPRESS,FRIDAY, JUNE26,2020

SPORT

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MovecomesafterDelhiHighCourt issuesorder relatedtogovernanace issues;ministry to fileapplication

Sports federations lose recognitionMIHIRVASAVDA&PRITAMPALSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE25

INANunprecedenteddevelopment,thesportsministrywithdrewtheannual recognitionofall National Sports Federations (NSFs) onThursday followingaDelhiHighCourtdiktatonthematter.Thedecisioncomesonthebackofadecade-longcourtcaseinrelationtogov-ernanceissueswithinthefederations.Earlierthismonth,thesportsministryhad

extended the federations’ recognition untilSeptember 30, 2020. However, theywereforcedtoreversetheorder. Ina letter toall54federations, sportsministrydeputysecretarySPS Tomarwrote: “… in compliance of theOrderdated24.06.2020passedbytheHon’bleDelhiHighCourt…,theDepartment’sletterofevennumberdated02.06.2020grantingpro-visionalannualrecognitionof54NSFsstandswithdrawn.”The decisionmeans the suspension of

threefederations—IndianGolfUnion,SchoolGames Federations of India and RowingFederationof India --will continue. A sportsministry official said theywill file a fresh ap-plicationbeforethebenchand‘sortoutthecri-sisattheearliest.’The annual recognition is granted to the

federationsinJanuaryeachyear.Accordingtothoseintheknow,theprocesstooklongerthanusualthisyearbecauseofsomedetailssoughtbytheministryfromthefederations.Beforeitcouldbeconcluded,thepandemicstruckanda lockdownwas imposed. “Tomake sure theoperationsremainedsmooth,theministryex-tended the provisional recognition tillSeptember,”asourcesaid.Theprocess to grant provisional recogni-

tion, according to lawyer and activist RahulMehra,was‘inviolationofsportscode’.Heal-leged that “the IndianOlympic Association(IOA)wastryingtoderecognisealotof sportsfederationsandsimultaneouslycreateparallelbodieswhilethesportsministryplayedball.”“TheIOA’smodusoperandiistheywritea

letter to the international federationof apar-ticular sport, bring up certain disputes andpiggy-backingonthat,theycallforthecreationofanewbody,”Mehrasaid,addingtherewerearound five instanceswhere this sequenceocurred.Heaccused IOAoffice-bearersof in-

dulginginthis“tocreateasuitablevotebank”.“Theministrywasnotstoppingthem.WhenIbrought this to thenotice of the court, anor-derwaspassed inwhichonepara said if theministryandIOAseektotakeanydecisionwithregard toNSFs, theywill file thematerial be-forethecourtandsubsequentlytakethedeci-sion,”Mehrasaid.Theministrywas forcedtowithdrawtherecognitionbecauseithaddonesowithoutinformingthecourtinadvance.IOApresidentNarinderBatra,meanwhile,

deniedtherewasanywrongdoingontheIOA’spart. “I amall for goodgovernance. The gov-ernmentdoesnotgiveanyfederationasinglepaisa.Allthefundingisdirectlycreditedintheaccountsofconcernedparties.Pleaseshowuswherearegovernanceissues,”Batrasaid.TheDelhiHighCourt’sordercouldhavefar-

rangingimpactonthewayIndiansportisrun.Innormaltimes,thedecisiontowithdraw

recognitionofall federationswouldhavecre-ated a highly complex scenario for India’sOlympicsportsandathletes.Thegovernmentissupposedtograntfundingandpermissionsfornational campsand international tourna-mentsonlytosportsbodiesitrecognises.Owingtothepandemic,therearenotrain-

ing camps currently underway apart fromweightliftingandathleticswhileparticipationininternationaltournamentsisoutoftheques-tionuntilglobalsport,andtravel,resumes.A federationofficial, however, expressed

concern that Thursday’s development coulddelay the resumptionof their activities. “Wehadsharedwith thesportsministryourplanto resume thenational camps inphases Julyonwards.However,wedonotknowifwewillbeeligibleforfundingforthesame,”theofficialsaid.ThegovernmentandtheIndianOlympicAssociationarealsoperplexedwiththecourt’sorder that theywill first have to inform thebenchaboutanydecisiontaken inrelationtotheNSFsbeforeimplementingit.TheIOAisconcernedthatthiscouldbecon-

strued as ‘interference’ by the InternationalOlympicCommittee(IOC),whichwouldbeaviolationofitscharter.“Wewillacceptandho-nour the court’s order. Butmy only fear iswhether this leads to a suspension from theIOC. If youhave to takepermission forevery-thing, then the autonomygoes away,” Batrasaid.“In2012,whentheIOCsuspendedIndia,one of the reasonswas interference in IOA’sfunctioning.”

Hockey India isoneof the54NationalSportsFederationswhichhave lost theirrecognitionfollowingacourtorder. File

FORMER SLMINISTER BACKTRACKS

After asserting that the 2011 World Cup final was “sold” by

"certain parties" in Sri Lanka to India, the island nation's former

sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has now called his

claim a "suspicion" that he wants investigated.

CROSSWORD4154

ACROSS

1 Safeanchorages foundonenteringNigerianport (7)

5 Goback inpublic transportintendedtotake inothers(5)

8 AmbitiousRuth isworriedbyasharppain (9)

9 Analternative toakeyring (3)10 Theytakeoneoverwaterorroundapoint (4)

12 Youhavetoputupwithhim(4-4)

14 Chewsasortof nut (6)15 Betooclever forone-butnotin intelligence?(6)

17 Strives tostudyminds (8)18 Meansof transport,sometimessprung(4)

21 It is charged foraportionwithoutwine(3)

22 HarrydoesworryaboutDobbin (9)

24 Asteponthestairs (5)25 Steeped inthemostintensifiedway(7)

DOWN

1 Thegameis to followone’sdestiny(5)

2 Itmaybecaught ina fishingarea (3)

3 Toturnus inor turnusout?(4)

4 Soagin ismixedwitholdport(6)

5 Suchunionsaren’t recognised(8)

6 Therewouldbeuniversalhostility if it came(6,3)

7 Subordinate theme(7)11 Soundvibrationonascreenperhaps (9)

13 Playedback?(8)14 He’ll getnowhereunlesshepusheshimself forward(7)

16 Kingof fittedwardrobes(6)

19 Petal shapedfold (5)20 The lastworker’sproject? (4)23 Regretexpressed intheFrenchway(3)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)

Youmay feelexploited or takenfor granted, but thisis not really the

point. The fact is that this is apositivemoment forputting yourself out onbehalfof others, even if you thinktheydon't deserve it.Get things into perspective—andput your feelings intheir place.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)

All artistic andcreative types arefavouredby today'scompassionate

Moon. If youdon't thinkthat you fall into this bracket,you can still do your bestto be spontaneous anddevelop thoseunique andwonderful gifts that youhavealways ignored.

GEMINI (May22- June21)

It's timetogobacktofirstprinciplesandstart fromscratch.Thisdoesmean

dealingwith left-over familyquestions,aswell asall thoselingeringpracticaldomesticchores.But it'salso important tohaveavisionof the future, justtoputeverything intocontext.

CANCER(June22- July23)

Youhavedoneextremelywell inmany respects, butthere is still some

way further to go. Over thenext fewdays, youmaygatherfresh information, discussyour plans and re-arrangesomeof your long-heldopinions aboutwhat is rightandwhat iswrong.

LEO(July24-Aug23)

Thereseemstobesomesortof powerstrugglegoingon,andsuperficial

causesofdisagreement, suchasmoney, couldbenothingmorethanadistraction. If yourpersonalplansand ideasbecomethecentreof attention,youmayconcedethatyoumight justbewrongforachange.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)

There's awonderfulworldwaiting justaround the corner -inyourdreams.

Today's bold lunar alignmentsencourage flights of fancy.If you're ready, thenyoumay set your imagination free,leavedaily concerns to takecareof themselves, and focusonwhat couldbe, insteadofbeingweigheddownbywhat is.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)

Forgetallpettyconcernsandtrivialdetails. If youcanseebeyondsurface

appearances,you'll glimpsethetimeless realityconcealedbehindthedaily facade.Youshould listentoyourimaginationandfollowyourdreams.Youdon'tknowwherethey'll lead,butyou'llnever findoutunlessyou look.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)

Social lifecouldbetakingaturn for thebetter, andyourromantichopes

shouldbehigh.Dobeaware,though,of therisksof over-committingyourself financially,andonlymakepromisesyouknowyoucanfulfil.Giveyourself awayoutuntilyou'reabsolutelysure.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)

Youshould findthatotherpeoplearemuchbetterable totakecareof

themselves,whichmeansthatyoucanconcentrateon long-termambitions. It's timetoshapeuptonewresponsibilities,particularlyif youhavesomefavourstoreturn.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)

Today's superstarsholdoutsuperbprospects forallCapricornsplanning

tostartanewcourseof study,fighta legalbattleor traveloverseas. Inallmatters it isnecessary toseize themoralhighground.Plus, there'sachancethatwhat isgoodforyoumaybeevenbetterforothers.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)

Thetimelooksrightfor takingatreasuredrelationshipone

stagedeeper, enteringanewlevelof intensity. It alsohappens tobean idealmomentformakingextraordinarilyprofitable investments,sokeepa look-out forpassingopportunities.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)

Youreallymustshapeuptothe truthinrelationships,suchas it is. The

problemlies indistinguishingthewaypeoplereallyare fromthewayyouwould like themtobe. In themeantime, takeyourpleasureswhereyoucan,andappreciatepeople's strengthsinsteadofdrawingattentiontotheirweaknesses.

SUDOKU4151

DifficultyLevel3s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4150

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Thesearenotbooks, lumpsoflifelesspaper,but___aliveonthe___.-GilbertHighet(5,.,7)

SOLUTION:SEIZE,LASSO,MONIED,BEHAVEAnswer:Thesearenotbooks,lumpsoflifelesspaper,butmindsaliveontheshelves.-GilbertHighet

SZEEI EIODMN

SOLAS ABEEHV

SolutionsCrossword4153:Across: :1Hospital,5Arms,9Rimed,10Exhibit,13Larder,14Spread,17Horsesoldier,20Bifocal,21Stock,22Tory,23Prospect.

Down:1Hardandfastrules,2Seminar,3Indifference,4Averse,6Rebel,7Setaside,8Chiropodists,12Alphabet,15Eyesore,16Cooler,18Refer,19Skit.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Whatdoesthisdecisionmean?GRANTINGRECOGNITIONtosportsfederationsisanannualritualthatmakesthemeligibleforgovernmentfundsaswellasassistancefortrainingandcompetition.Intheabsenceofrecognition,theprocessdoesnotnecessarilycometoahaltbutratherbecomesalotmorecumbersome.TheDelhiHighCourt,

however,hassaidIOAandministrycannottakeanydecisionsinrelationto

theunrecognisedsportsfederationswithoutitspriorconsent.

However,withtheongoingpandemicforcingsportinglockdownofsorts,theimpactofthecourtdecisionwillbeminimal.ButoncethesportsresumeandpreparationoftheOlympicsgetsunderway,thepresentstand-offcoulddelayadministrative

decisionsandthatinturncanhamperthetrainingofathletes.

ASSOCIATEDPRESSLIVERPOOL, JUNE25

LIVERPOOL ISon thevergeof ending its 30-year league title drought after cruising to a4-0 victory over Crystal Palacewith an at-tackingdisplaythatexemplifiedadominantcampaign. Jurgen Klopp's team can evenclinch thePremierLeague titleonThursdaywithout playing if Manchester City fails tobeat Chelsea. It thenplays City, the second-placeddefendingchampion,nextThursday."I'llwatchthegametomorrownightnot

toprepareacelebration, I'llwatchthegamebecausewe play against City aweek later,"Klopp said. "Whatever happens tomorrownightwehave no influence on it, so I'mnottoomuch interested tobehonest."AllthatmatterstoKloppiscollectingthe

maximum twomore points from seven re-maining games to clinch the trophy. Afterstuttering in a 0-0 drawwith Everton aftertherestartonSunday,Liverpoolwasauthor-itatively rampant again against Palace onWednesday.Trent Alexander-Arnold curled in a free

kick to start the rout against Palace andMohamedSalahsweptinthesecondbeforehalf timefromFabinho'sdinkedball.Fabinhopowered in the third from distance in the55th minute and Sadio Mane raced ontoSalah's throughball to complete a counter-attack in the 69th tomake it 16wins in 16homegames in the league this season."Itwas thebestcounterpressingbehind

closeddoorsever,"Kloppquipped."Theatti-tude we showed tonight, the passion weshowed, was exceptional and we playedsomeoutstanding football."The victorymoved Liverpool 23 points

ahead of Citywith seven games remainingofacampaignthatwillendwithoutanyfansin the stadium to celebrate the Reds' firstchampionship triumphsince1990."We've waited a long time for this and

we'veworkedhard for thisover the last fewyearsasateam,"Salahsaid. "Asaclubthis iswhatwe'vedreamedof andwe're inagoodposition, so hopefullywe'll be able to get itacross the lineverysoon."

Liverpoolthrash Palace,inch closer toEPL title

ENS/PTINEWDELHI, JUNE25

THEWRESTLING Federation of India (WFI)has said theywill sackwomen’s team for-eigncoachAndrewCookbecause,accordingtoaseniorfederationofficial,he‘worksonlyforsalaryandisnotpassionateaboutIndianwrestling’. TheWFI has alleged that theAmerican coach refused to take part in aSports Authority of India (SAI) webinar fornon-payment of salary. Cook, who termedWFI’s decision as ‘shocking’, argued that heonlyaskedforachangeinsubjectof theses-sion, which SAI ‘declined, makingme lookdefiant I guess.’Cook, who left for home in Seattle after

thenational campwassuspended inMarchafter the outbreak of the pandemic, hadclaimedhehadnotbeenpaidforthemonthsofMarch, April andMay despite several re-minders.Recently,SAIgotintouchwithCooktoattendoneof itsonlinesessions.However,theWFItoldthePressTrustof IndiathatCookrespondedbysayingthat ‘unlesshereceiveshis pending salary, hewon’t attend them’.Cookhas refuted theallegations.“Thisbehaviourisnotacceptable.Itshows

thatCookworksonlyforsalaryandisnotpas-sionate about Indianwrestling. TheSAI offi-cialsshowedusthescreenshotsofhisrefusalmessages,"WFI assistant secretary VinodTomarwasquotedassayingbyPTI.“AfterthatwetoldCooktoattendsessionsandassuredhimthathissalarywillbecleared.Hedidpar-ticipate in a fewsessionsbutwedidnot likehisbehaviour.Weaskedourwrestlersif theyreallyneedhim.Thewrestlerstoldusthatheis not indispensable, sowe have decided toterminatehisservices.”Cook, whose contract was till August

2020 at a salary of $4,500 permonth, saidSAI andWFI ‘wanted him out’ because hespokeupabouthissalaryissues. “Iattendedthe classes they required. They askedme tospeak on athletes’ selection in the USA,” hetold The Indian Express. “I only asked tochange (the) topic becausewe don't selectathletes (in USA). They attend school andworkthroughthatsystem. Theydeclinedtochange,makingme lookdefiant.”

16Coach set tolose job afterspat overwebinar topic

Ahmedabad

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