2Scribe’S murder: congreSS goeS all gunS blazing againSt Yogi

11two-captain theorY won’t work in india: irfan pathan

3carVed from pink Stone, ram temple to haVe 300 pillarS

u.S. aSkS china to Shut itS conSulate in houSton in 72 hrSWashington: the United states on Wednesday abruptly asked China to shut its consul-ate in houston within 72 hours. Confirming this on social media, hu Xijin, the editor of the global times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party government in Beijing, said, “the Us asked China to close the Consulate general in houston in 72 hours. this is a crazy move.” Calling it “unprecedented esca-lation”, China’s foreign ministry said the move was unilaterally initiated by the Us and Beijing would “react with firm coun-termeasures” if the “erroneous decision” was not revoked.

Sex racket operator Sonu punjaban getS 24 YearS in jailneW Delhi: a Delhi court has awarded 24 years of rigorous imprisonment to sonu Punjaban, who has been one of Delhi’s biggest sex racket operators with a deep nexus with gangsters in north india. sonu Punjaban, alias geeta arora, was given the pun-ishment by the Dwarka District Court. her accomplice, sandeep Bedwal, has also been sent to 20-year imprisonment. the Delhi Police had booked sonu Punjaban in a case related to forcing a minor girl into prostitu-tion. announcing the punishment, the court said sonu Punjaban

“crossed all limits to be called a woman and deserves severest punishment”.

aSSam flood Situation again worSenS, death toll riSeS to 89gUWahati: after a marginal improvement earlier this week, the flood situation in assam again deteriorated on Wednesday while two more persons died in Barpeta and Morigaon districts, taking the death toll to 89, while around 26.32 lakh people in 26 of the state’s 33 districts continue to be hit. at least 120 animals have been killed in floods and 147 rescued even as 90 per cent of the 430 sq km Kaziranga national Park, home to 2,200 one-horned indian rhinoceros, remained inundated.

23 july 2020 | Issue 78 | new delhi

Calling for greater US in-vestments in areas such as agriculture, defence, civil

aviation, healthcare, energy, infra-structure and finance and insur-ance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said there has never been a better time to invest in the country and rise of India will lead to a rise in “trade opportunities with a nation that you can trust”.

Addressing the India Ideas Sum-mit hosted by US-India Business Council, the Prime Minister said that India has what is needed to power the global economic recov-ery. He said India is emerging as a land of opportunities. “The rise of India means a rise in trade op-portunities with a nation that you can trust, a rise in global integration with increasing openness, a rise in your competitiveness with access to a market which offers scale,” he said.

“When the markets are open, when the opportunity is high and the options are many, can optimism be far behind. You can see the op-timism when India rises in key business ratings, particularly the Ease of Doing Business ratings of the World Bank,” he added.

The PM said options to invest in India are extensive. “India invites you to invest in the hard work of our farmers. India has done historic reforms in the agriculture sector recently. There are investment op-

portunities in agricultural inputs and machinery, agriculture supply chain management, ready-to-eat items, fisheries and organic pro-duce,” he said, adding that India’s food processing sector is expected to be worth over half a trillion dol-lars by 2025. To grow more streams of revenue, the best time to tap in-vestment opportunities in Indian agriculture sector is now, he said.

“India invites you to invest in healthcare. The Healthcare sec-tor in India is growing faster than

22% every year. Our companies are also progressing in production of medical-technology, tele-medicine and diagnostics,” he said.

Noting that India and the US have already built a robust partnership in the pharma sector, he said “now is the best time to expand your in-vestment in Indian health-care sector” to achieve scale and speed. Calling for investment in the energy sector he said there will be big in-vestment opportunities for US companies as India evolves into

a gas-based economy. “There are also big opportunities in the clean energy sector. To generate more power for your investment, this is the best time to enter the Indian power sector,” he said.

Referring to infrastructure, The PM said India is witnessing the largest infrastructure creation drive in its history. “Come, be a partner in building housing for millions, or building roads, highways and ports in our nation.”

pm modi callS for u.S. inVeStmentS, SaYS india iS land of opportunitieS

lord’s coming

A man works on the idol of Lord Ganesh, before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, at a workshop in Mumbai on Wednesday. ANI

india ideaS Summit

Stalemate

reaSon to cheer? interViewmandatorY

SC all set to hear Rajasthan Assembly Speaker’s plea today

Silver lining: India records highest-ever coronavirus recoveries in 24 hours

we’ll win aS gujaratiS feel connected to pm modi: new gujarat bjp chief

International flyers coming to Delhi to undergo 7-day quarantine at their own cost

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks greater investments in the field of agriculture, defence, civil aviation, healthcare, energy, infrastructure, and finance and insurance.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra will hear on Thursday the appeal filed by Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi against the Rajasthan High Court order which asked him to postpone disqualification proceedings against former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other rebel MLAs till 24 July.The court will also hear Sachin Pilot and other rebel MLAs, since they have filed caveat petitions and no orders can be passed without hearing them.

In his petition, the Speaker has said that HC order “com-pletely destroys the delicate balance envisaged by the Constitution between the Legislature and the Judiciary” and called the HC order “il-

legal, perverse, and in dero-gation of the powers of the Speaker”. On Tuesday, the Rajasthan High Court had reserved its order on a peti-tion filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 MLAs challenging the disqualification pro-ceedings initiated by the Speaker against them. The High Court had requested the Speaker to defer action on disqualification notices till Friday.

The Rajasthan High Court was hearing a petition filed by Pilot and 18 Congress rebel MLAs against the dis-qualification notice issued by Assembly Speaker to disqualify them as MLAs. The petition stated: “None of the petitioners herein have either by express conduct or implied conduct, indicated to the members of their con-

stituencies and/or the public at large of their intention to leave or voluntarily give up the membership of Indian National Congress.” The pe-tition junked the allegations as baseless and said that pe-titioners had no intention to voluntarily give up member-ship of the Congress party.

Petitioners claim that mere expression of disagree-ment with certain policies or decisions taken by some members of the party can’t be held tantamount to act-ing against interests of the party or the continuation of the state government. The petition also highlights that even if a person is expelled from a political party, he/she continues to be a member of the said political party for all practical purposes under Explanation (a) to Para (2) of the 10th Schedule.

India added 37,724 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the country›s tally to 11,92,915, while recoveries surged to 7,53,049 with 28,472 people re-covered in a day, the highest so far. The death toll due to the disease rose to 28,732 with 648 people succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours. There are 4,11,133 active cases of coronavirus cases presently in the country, while 7,53,049 people having recovered so far. Thus, 63.13% people have

recovered.Maharashtra reported an un-

precedented surge of more than 10,000 new Covid-19 cases on in last 24 hours, with the spike of 10,576 cases making it the high-est single-day surge till date, tak-ing the state›s total case tally to 3,37,607. The state also recorded 280 deaths which took the total death toll to 12,556. Of the total case tally, 1,36,980 are active ones. With 5,552 patients discharged in last twenty-four hours, the recoveries till date has gone up to 1,87,769. With 1,310 new

cases reported, Mumbai›s total case tally reached has 1,04,678 of whom only 23,393 are active though. With 58 new deaths re-ported, the city›s death toll has risen to 5,875.

Delhi reported 1,227 new Co-vid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,26,323. Twenty-nine more deaths have been reported, tak-ing the total number of deaths to 3,719. Of the total cases, 1,07,650 people have recovered and there are 14,954 active cases.

thiS iS the initial Step in the path towardS the countrY'S fineSt dailY newSpaper.

SharpeSt kid on the block

top of the day

During the 2019 elections, the whole world was looking at the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency as Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi was contesting from there. The world media had gathered there and were constantly looking for a story. I too, be-ing an editor of a reputed newspaper at that time, had gone to cover the seat. I reached the BJP’s office in Varanasi and saw Gujarat’s Navsari MP Chandrakant Raghunath Patil along with some local leaders managing the elections. PM Modi was contesting from Varanasi but he was campaigning for the

party across the country. Be-ing preoccupied elsewhere, Modi had given the charge of Varanasi to his most trusted man from Gujarat — Patil — who has now been made Gu-jarat BJP’s president ahead of the state elections.

While talking exclusively to The Daily Guardian, the newly-appointed Gujarat BJP chief opened up on the initial days of his career. Patil said, “I got a job in the police department in Gujarat in 1975. In 1984, a union was formed over the problems faced by the police personnel in the controversy in which I was suspended, and then I quit my job and took up politics. I joined the BJP in May 1989 and worked

Amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, all international passengers arriving at the Delhi airport will have to undergo mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by one-week of home quarantine.

The AAI has now rolled out new quarantine guidelines for the passen-gers arriving at the Delhi airport. As per new guidelines, all travellers arriv-ing via overseas flights will be required to register for institutional quarantine for at least 7 days. The passengers will also have to undergo mandatory health screening including a primary screen-ing by airport health officials followed by another screening by Delhi gov-ernment after which passengers will be allowed to proceed to the approved quarantine location. All international

passengers will also have to sign a doc-ument stating that they agree to insti-tutional quarantine norms and submit the same to the concerned embassy.

However, there are some exemptions which will be given to only four catego-ries of people. These categories include pregnant women, those who have suf-fered death in the family, those suffer-ing from serious illness and parents of children below 10 years of age. Proper documentation is needed in these cases.

Travellers arriving on a Vande Bharat flight or a connecting domestic flight will have to follow quarantine norms of destination state if they do not exit the airport. Such travellers will not be put under institutional or home quarantine in Delhi. Those passengers planning to board another domestic flight will have to obtain an authorised exemption cer-tificate, if they are coming through non-Vande Bharat international flights.

AishvAryA jAinneW Delhi

P2

P2P2

Dilip singh KshAtriyA ahMeDaBaD

Arun DhAntAneW Delhi

Ashish sinhA neW Delhi

Our COrrEspOnDEntneW Delhi

The apex court will also hear Sachin Pilot and other rebel MLAs, since they have filed caveat petitions.

Covid-19 recoveries surge to 7,53,049 with 28,472 people getting discharged from hospitals in a day, the highest so far.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the ap-pointment of three-member commission, headed by Jus-tice B.S. Chauhan for inves-tigating the killing of eight policemen and the subse-quent encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey and five of his associates.

The three-member com-mission also includes former Allahabad High Court judge Justice S.K. Agarwal and for-mer Director General of Po-lice K.L. Gupta.

Seeking a report from the commission within two months, the top court empha-sised: “Why Dubey was out on bail or parole despite so many criminal cases against

him, is the single-most im-portant factor of the entire matter.”

The apex court also directed the UP government not to re-sort to any further encounters to eliminate dreaded gang-sters in the state.

Representing the UP gov-ernment, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the top court that former SC Judge (Retd.) B.S. Chauhan had agreed to head the inquiry committee when he was ap-proached. The Uttar Pradesh government also chose the other two members of the commission. About monitor-ing the case, the CJI clarified that the apex court will not monitor the investigations into Dubey’s encounter.

“Just because it has received so much publicity, we can’t

start monitoring criminal investigations,” observed the CJI. Earlier, the SC had directed the UP government to reconstitute the present committee formed to probe Vikas Dubey encounter, which is headed by a retired HC judge. The top court has heard a batch of petitions questioning the encounter killing of Vikas Dubey and his close aides by Uttar Pradesh Police after eight of their col-leagues were killed by the gangsters on 3 July.

The first petition was filed by a Maharashtra-based law-yer Ghanshyam Upadhyay, hours before Dubey was shot dead on 10 July. UP Police had claimed that Dubey tried to jump custody after a vehicle in the convoy bringing him to Kanpur turned turtle.

The Indian Medical Asso-ciation (IMA) has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating the need for a central cadre to resolve the problems faced by doctors across the coun-try. The IMA has made a demand for the formation of the Indian Medical Services, along the lines of the IAS and IPS, which has been a pend-ing concern since Indepen-dence. Keeping the Covid-19 crisis in mind, the IMA has asked that this process be ex-pedited by the government.  

According to the IMA, “One Nation One Guideline” has always been required for ensuring health and safety in India, and could relieve help-less doctors during the cur-rent pandemic. Addressing this concern, IMA National President Dr Rajan Sharma formed a national working group with Dr Ved Prakash Mishra as Chairman and Dr R V Asokan as Convener. The committee presented an official report by Dr Ra-jan Sharma to Health Secretary Preeti Sudan and Health OSD Rajesh Bhushan yesterday.

In its letter to the Prime

Minister, the IMA has stated that, “Indian Medical Ser-vices is an intervention that the Government could bring in as a game-changer in this difficult situation. It is a mat-ter of record that such an All India Service existed in Brit-ish India. The need for such an All India strategic force is all the more relevant and imminent today. Whatever the constitutional consid-erations were there in 1948 to disband the services, the health emergency of 2020 has overcome. An All India Medical Service is a lifeline for the safety and health of our people.”

PM Modi calls for increased Us investMents, says india is land of oPPortUnitiesindia ideas sUMMit

reason to cHeer?

interview

Petition

BrigHt fUtUre

‘goonda raj’ investigation

aMid covid-19

2 news t h e da i ly gua r d i a n2 3 j u ly 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

As soon as the news of the death of a Ghaziabad-based journalist came in the morning, the Congress along with other Opposition par-ties launched a scathing attack over the law and order situation in UP. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to hit out at UP CM Yogi Adityanath, calling his regime a “Goonda Raj”. He wrote, “Journalist Vikram Joshi was killed for opposing the molestation of his niece. My condolences to the be-reaved family. The promise was of giving ‘Ram Raj’ but gave ‘Gunda-

raj’.” Journalist Vikram Joshi was shot

at by a group of men who were ha-rassing his niece. Police have ar-

rested 9 people in this regard and suspended the SO.

However, the police action imme-diately after the shootout failed to cut out much ice, as the family had been approaching the police for the past several months but to no avail. After Rahul Gandhi’s tweet, his par-ty colleague and chief spokesper-son Randeep Singh Surjewala did a press conference and said: ‘Joshi’s ruthless murder has exposed the face of ‘goonda raj’ in Uttar Pradesh.” He also listed a number of crimes against journalists in the state. Surjewala also said, “When the situation is like this in Ghazi-abad which is adjacent to Delhi-

NCR, then you can guess how gooda raj and jungle raj in Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh are on their peak.”

Congress general secretary and in-charge of UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had already slammed the government after the attack on the journalist. On Tuesday she tweeted in Hindi, saying: “Ghaziabad falls in NCR. Going by the state of law and order here, one can get an idea of the situation in the entire state of UP. A journalist was shot at because he complained to the police against molestation of his niece. How will a common man feel safe in such a jungle raj.”

Scribe’s murder: Congress goes all guns blazing against Yogi

sc tells ProBe Panel to sUBMit vikas dUBey encoUnter rePort in 2 MontHs

iMa writes to PM Modi deManding forMation of indian Medical services

PM Modi said civil aviation is another area of great potential

growth. “The number of air passengers is expected to more than double within the next eight years. The top private Indian airlines plan to include over a thousand new aircraft over the coming

decade. This is a huge oppor-tunity for any investor who chooses to set up manufactur-ing facilities in India, which can become a base for supply-ing regional markets,” he said.

Referring to defence and space sectors, he said India is raising the FDI cap for in-vestment in defence sector to 74%. “India has established

two defence corridors to encourage the production of defence equipment and platforms. We offer special incentives for private and for-eign investors. A few weeks ago, we cleared path-breaking reforms in the space sector. Come, be a part of these up-coming sectors,” he said.

Pointing to finance and

insurance, he said India has raised FDI cap for invest-ment in insurance to 49%. “Now 100% FDI is permitted for investment in insurance intermediaries. The insur-ance market in India is grow-ing at a rate of more than 12% and is expected to grow to $250 billion by 2025,” he said. The PM said that with

the success of Ayushman Bharat, health assurance scheme, PM Fasal Bima Yojna, our crop insurance scheme and Jan Suraksha or social security schemes, the government has laid the ground for quick adoption and acceptance of insurance products. “There are large untapped opportunities for

increasing insurance cover in health, agriculture, busi-ness and life insurance. To generate long term and as-sured revenues, the Indian insurance sector is one of the best investment options right now,” he said.

“I have given you a few op-tions and that too without any consultancy fees,” he

quipped. The Prime Minister said there are about half a bil-lion active internet users in India now. “India is emerging as a land of opportunities. Let me give you one example of the tech sector. Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It said for the first time ever, there are more ru-ral internet users than even

urban internet users. Imag-ine the scale! There are about half a billion active internet users in India now. Half a bil-lion connected people. Does this sound huge to you? Hold your breath. Because, there are over half a billion more people who are being con-nected,” he said.With ANI inputs

Tamil Nadu re-

ported an all-time single day high of 5,849 fresh coro-

navirus cases, taking the total tally to 1,86,492, while recoveries rose to 1,31,583 with 4,910 people getting recovered. 74 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 3,144 in the state. Meanwhile, Ker-ala too reported a single day high of 1,038 fresh Covid-19 cases in last 24 hours, taking the infection tally to 15,032, while 1.59 lakh people are under observation.

Andhra Pradesh registered new single day high of 6,045 new coronavirus cases, 6,494 discharges and 65 deaths in last the 24 hours. The aggre-gate number of cases stands at 64,713 and death toll to 823. The state now has 31,763 ac-tive cases after a total of 32,127 patients recovered so far.

In Uttar Pradesh, a total of 1,263 people tested positive for coronavirus infection which is the largest single-day rise till date in the state, while 34 persons died of it in the last 24 hours. The death

toll rose in the state to 1,263 and total cases to 55,588. The active cases in the state, however, stands at 20,825. As many as 33,500 Covid-19 patients have been cured and discharged so far.

The Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment announced that lockdown in Bhopal will re-main from July 24 to August 3 to contain the spread of virus. The state has recorded 747 new cases, taking the cumu-lative count to 24,842 in the stat. At 157, Bhopal reported the highest number of cases in the day, followed by 114 in Indore and 43 in Gwalior. The total count of cases in Indore, Bhopal and Gwalior districts now stands at 6,339, 4,669 and 1,798, respectively.

Haryana reported another big spike with 724 fresh cases

in last 24 hours pushed the infection count to 28,186, while eight more people scumbled to death due to coronavirus, raising the toll to 372. The active Covid-19 cases in the state currently are 6,117, while 21,697 have been discharged after re-covery.

Gujarat recorded 1020 new coronavirus positive cases and 20 deaths in the last 24 hours. The state tally rose to 51,485 including 12,016 active cases. The state has witnessed 2,229 deaths so far.

West Bengal saw a surge of 2291 new Covid-19 positive cases and 39 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total number of cases now stands at 49,321 including 18,450 active cases, 29,650 discharged cases and 1,221 deaths.

with Kashi-ram Rana.”

After several rounds of discus-sions and amidst

many rumours, PM Modi selected the most outspo-ken Patil as the state BJP’s first non-Gujarati president. However, Patil didn’t agree to this and said he never con-sidered himself an outsider.

“Look, I am not a non-Gujara-ti, this controversy is wrong because I was born on 16

March 1955 in Pipri-Akraut, a small village in Edlabad in the then Jalgaon district of Bombay State, meaning Ma-harashtra and Gujarat were one and the same. When Maharashtra and Gujarat were formed, then my fam-ily came to Gujarat, I studied in the school of south Gujarat and I studied in the Industri-al Training Institute of Surat,” he explained.

Though Patil now has strong roots in the inner

circles of his party, it is said about him that in the 1990s, when there was a rift between Keshubhai Patel and Narendra Modi in Gu-jarat BJP, then he chose to side with Modi. Patil never looked back in politics af-ter this. When Gujarat Lok Sabha constituencies were reconstituted in 2009, then Navsari Lok Sabha constitu-ency in south Gujarat came into existence and the BJP put its trust on Patil for this

seat. Although the BJP lost the 2009 general elections, Patil won his seat by a land-slide margin, and took the first big step into politics.

Now that he has become the state president, he won’t be confined to south Guja-rat. The toughest challenge would be to take the Saura-shtra lobby together which has a stronghold of the BJP.

Patil’s immediate challenge would be to deliver victory for the BJP in eight Assembly

by-elections, supposed to be held in October-November, and then in the corpora-tion and district panchayat polls. “The BJP will win the elections because the Oppo-sition has neither an issue nor a leader. Society and the whole country are connected to Prime Minister Modi,” Pa-til said.The writer is former editor of Gujarat’s oldest (156-year-old) vernacular newspaper, ‘Guja-ratmitra’.

The Supreme Court will hear the issue of population con-trol law, including a two-child norm, on 14 August, exactly a year after Prime Minister Na-rendra Modi raised the issue of population explosion in his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort.

In a Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging a last year’s order of Delhi High Court, BJP leader Ashwini Upad-hyay said that while passing the impugned order, the High Court has failed to appreci-ate that right to clean air, right to drinking water, right to health, right to peaceful sleep,

right to shelter, right to liveli-hood and right to education guaranteed under Articles 21 and 21A, cannot be secured to all citizens without control-ling the population explo-sion.

“The High Court failed to appreciate that after detailed discussion, debate and feed-back, Entry 20-A was insert-ed in List III of the 7th Sched-ule through 42nd Amendment in the Constitution in 1976, which permits Central and State to enact law on Population Control and Family Planning,” the petition said.

In January, the SC had sought the Centre’s reply to the petition. It had issued

notices to Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Law Commission of India.

The court, he said in the SLP, also failed to appreci-ate that after compressive discussion, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC), one of the most eminent Judicial Commis-sion, headed by former Chief Justice of India Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah on 31 March 2002 recommended to insert Article 47A in the Constitu-tion to control population explosion. This is to be noted that the MGNREGA, RTE, RTI and RTF were recom-mended by the NCRWC.

At present, around 125

crore Indians have Aadhaar, around 20% viz. 25 crore citizens (including children) are without Aadhaar, and around 5 crore Bangladeshi and Rohangiya intruders il-legally reside in India. From this, it is evident that the total population of our country is more than 150 crore and we have marched much ahead of China. We have around 2% agriculture land of the world and merely 4% drinking water. However, our popu-lation is 20% of the world. If we compare ourselves with China, our agricultural area is around one-third of China, however, the rate of population growth is more than three times of China. In

China 11 children are born every minute and in India 35 children born every minute.

He said population explo-sion is the root cause of most of our problems including shortage of drinking water, forests, land, food, clothes, house, poverty and unem-ployment, hunger and mal-nutrition and air, water, soil and sound pollution. “It is also the root cause of crowds in trains, police stations, teh-sils, jails and courts. It is the root cause of theft, dacoity and snatching, domestic vio-lence, separatism, fanaticism, etc. Population explosion is the root cause of more than 50% of the problems of our country,” he added.

Students are the future of our country and we at NewsX spoke to some bright young-sters who are leading the path at a very young age.

Starting with Vivhan Rekhi, a student of The British School, New Delhi, where he serves as the Commu-nity Service Representative, and works directly with the School Director and Board to plan, initiate, and lead school-wide outreach initiatives. At the age of 16, he founded Rescuing Wisdom, a social service initiative that advo-

cates for elderly responsibility through philanthropy. In this role, he has facilitated mul-tiple partnerships to benefit local old-age homes, raised over Rs 13 lakh to support their operations, and contin-ues to fund the organisation’s work through the sale of his book, The Knife’s Edge. An-other bright youngster is Ra-jveer Singh. The 16-year-old is currently studying at Oberoi International School. Singh, who used to study in Doon School, says: “One of my big-gest accomplishments in the field of community service whilst at the Doon School are working with The Angelique

Foundation to raise funds for and complete a library for a school where unprivileged students can study free of cost.”

Another youngest we spoke to is Aviraj Singh Machre, who is 19 years old and is currently studying at the Uni-versity of St Andrews in Scot-land. Reminiscing his days

as a Doon school student, Machre says: “As a member of the school’s economics society I set up a model on smart cities that focused on innovative and efficient meth-ods to produce electricity and supply of water. I found this particularly useful when I volunteered with the Adarsh Buniyadi Primary Municipal

School in Sanjan, Gujarat to set up a water filtration sys-tem for the students.”

Last but not the least, Sa-sha Singh, a student of Class 12 at the Shri Ram School, Moulsari, Gurgaon, says that her compassion towards the underprivileged started from her regular visits to her ancestral village Tohana. During her previous visit to Tohana she noticed that the civil hospital was lacking basic Covid-related medi-cal and personal protection equipment. Sasha raised funds from her community to supply critical healthcare equipment.

India records highest-ever Covid recoveries in 24 hours

we’ll win as gUjaratis feel connected to PM Modi: new gUjarat BjP cHief

SC to hear plea on population control on 14 August, a year after PM’s I-Day speech on it

Meet India’s young change-makers

Ashish sinhANEW DELHI

sAbysAchi Roy chowdhARyNEW DELHI

nAvtAn KumARNEW DELHI

ouR coRRespondentNEW DELHI

sumit dubeyNEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi speaks on fuel price hike issue, in New Delhi on Monday. ANI

3newsthe daily guardian23 july 2020

new delhi

The rising death toll and Covid-19 cases in Bihar have in-vited severe criticism for the Nitish Kumar government. The Opposition has blamed the state government for failing to curb the spread of the coronavirus and the recent jump in cases.

Within the last 24 hours, 1,502 new cases were registered in the state, with 452 cases being registered in Patna alone. This has taken the total number of positive cases in Bihar to 30,066. Meanwhile, complaints about patients being de-nied treatment or turned away by hospitals have continued to pour in. Several videos showing hospitals where patients were left without treatment and bodies left unattended for days have gone viral on social media. Doctors have also complained about the lack of proper facilities in hospitals.

The rise in Covid-19 cases and the state of hospitals have generated much political debate in Bihar. Leader of Oppo-sition Tejashwi Yadav has blamed the BJP and the JDU for prioritising elections over the health of the people of the state. “The focus of the government right now should be to control the growing cases of coronavirus and improve health services. But the BJP and the JDU only want elec-tions. Will it be right to conduct elections over dead bodies in the state?” Tejashwi asked. He also raised questions re-garding the transfer of the NMCH director, saying it was done because he had “dared to expose the state government before the central team which was in Patna to take stock of the Covid-19 spread and the state government’s measures taken to control it.” Meanwhile, Congress MLC Premchand Mishra has called for the deferral of the Monsoon Session of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha.

In the meantime, coronavirus has claimed the lives of BJP MLC Sunil Kumar Singh. Also, the Civil Surgeon of Samastipur and a PA of a state minister have succumbed to the virus.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said he was going into self-quarantine after a deputy secretary in his office tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

“As per coronavirus protocol, I am going to quarantine myself,’ Thakur told the media before

leaving his office for his residence.

He then quarantined himself at his official residence at Oakover here.

The CM’s sample will soon be collected for testing for the virus, a senior health official said.

T h a k u r s a i d t h a t samples of officials and mediapersons who came in contact with the deputy secretary will also be collected for testing as per the protocol.

A d d i t i o n a l C h i e f Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said samples of the chief minister’s family members will also be taken for testing and all the contacts of the officer have been asked to home-quarantine.

M e a nw h i l e , a l l t h e ap p o i nt m e nt s o f t h e chief minister have been cancel led t i l l further orders, an official said.

Bihar sees a massive spike in Covid cases, Opposition targets Nitish govt

HimacHal cm in self-quarantine after deputy secretary tests positive for virus

flood situation grim in BiHar witH rivers flowing aBove danger mark

Within the last 24 hours, 1,502 new cases have been registered in the state.

‘Historic ceremony’no respite

carved from pink stone, ram temple to Have 300 pillarsWith the grand preparations going on for the ‘bhumi pujan’, The Daily Guardian talks to Chandrakant Sompura, the architect of the Ayodhya temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of other VIPs will attend the “his-

toric” ceremony for the Ram temple in Ayodhya on 5 August, the temple trust said. The grand preparations are going on for the ceremony which will revolve around the installation of a 40kg silver brick as the foundation stone by the Prime Minister, as per the statement by Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, which has been tasked with the temple building.

The Daily Guardian exclusively spoke to Chandrakant Sompura, an architect of the temple who apprised us that the Ram temple will be built in Nagara style of ar-chitecture and carved from pink stone.

According to Nritya Gopal Das, president of the trust man-

dated by the Supreme Court, the “bhumi pujan” will be performed by placing the silver brick at the sanctum sanctorum. Three-day-long Vedic rituals will be held be-fore the main ceremony that will commence from 3 August and more than 50 saints and VIPs will grace the function.

Sompura informs that he made a Ram temple design 30 years ago and seeing the overwhelming re-sponse of the devotees, the temple trust decided to make it large. Now

the temple will have five domes, one on the left side, the other on the right and one in front.

The temple will have over 300 pillars and its completion will take three-and-a-half years. Its struc-ture will encompass carving on a pink stone with multiple designs of the Hindu goddess on it. Once the “bhumi pujan” is done by PM Modi, the work will begin in full swing.

All senior BJP leaders associ-ated with the temple movement have been invited, the trust con-firmed. The list will include BJP veterans Lal Krishna Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi, and senior leaders such as Uma Bharti, Vinay Katiyar and Sadhvi Ritambhara. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aadityanath and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will also join the ceremony. Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar are also likely to attend.

Preeti SomPuraMuMbai

Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday urged Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to take strict action against the miscreants who broke the boundary wall of Gurudongmar gurdwara in North Mangan district of Sikkim.

In a letter to the Sikkim CM, the Union minister requested for ensuring ad-

equate security arrange-ments at the gurdwara premises.

A few miscreants had recently tried to break the boundary wall of the Gu-rudongmar shrine. While asserting that this is in vio-lation of the directions of the High Court as well as the Supreme Court, she urged the Sikkim CM to ensure that the status quo of the gurdwara is not dis-

rupted.She further said that ear-

lier, a local panchayat had attempted to take over the gurdwara land by removing the holy Sri Guru Granth Sahib and dismantling the Nishan Sahib. The Gu-rudongmar gurdwara is a revered place for Sikhs as it was constructed at the sa-cred site that was blessed by Guru Nanak with his holy touch.

To further ramp up Covid testing capacity in the state, the Punjab Government will procure seven automat-ic RNA extraction machines for the viral testing labs at three Government Medical Colleges in Patiala, Amrit-sar and Faridkot, in addi-tion to four more for the newly set-up viral testing labs in Mohali, Ludhiana and Jalandhar.

The Punjab Cabinet, which met on Wednesday under the chairmanship

of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, gave the go-ahead for the procure-ment of these machines within next 3-4 weeks, amid increasing cases of Covid in the state. The move is aimed

at controlling the spread of the pandemic through in-creased testing by augment-ing the state’s fight under Mission Fateh.

The expenditure on these machines and test kits

would be incurred from the State Disaster Response Fund, and the entire pro-curement process would be handled by the Vice Chancellor, Baba Farid Uni-versity of Health Sciences, Faridkot.

The Department of Medi-cal Education & Research had established two viral testing labs in March 2020 itself at Government Medi-cal Colleges Patiala and Amritsar. Thereafter, in April 2020, the third viral testing lab was set up in Guru Gobind Singh Medi-cal College, Faridkot.

wall demolition

covid-19

no govt Help

Harsimrat seeks strict action against Gurudongmar miscreants

Punjab to boost Covid fight with 7 new RNA extraction machines

anil BhardwajChandigarh

Shiv Pujan jhapatna

anil BhardwajChandigarh

The proposed model of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

CM Jai Ram Thakur.

Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das chairs a meeting with trust members, in Ayodhya on Saturday.

rivers originating from nepal are in full spate and most of these rivers are still flowing well above the danger mark in several parts of the state. an alert had been sounded across more than 10 districts and a 24-hour vigil on the embank-ments and low-lying areas is being maintained. Meanwhile in aurai and Katra area of Muzzafarpur, the connecting roads have been washed away as bagmati Lakhandai and Manusmara rivers have wreaked havoc in the state.

people have been forced to take shelter on the embank-ments and even on nh 57. people of the area complained that they have not received any government help. ndrF and SdrF relief teams were spotted at several places evacuating people. but in several areas people had to rely on country-mate boats in absence of any government help to salvage their life and belongings. people in the flood hit areas lamented that they had shown paddy after borrowing money but now the flood waters have destroyed almost everything.

in Muzaffarpur, budhi gandak too is in full spate and has already inundated several low-lying areas forcing people to take shelter on the main darbhanga-Mizaffarpur national highway. the situation in East Chamaparan remained grim. Several connecting roads got washed away in Chiraiya and baswariya area. people have been forced to take shelter on the embankments or the highways. Meanwhile, rJd leader tejashwi Yadav paid a visit to flood-affected areas in Mad-hubani and darbhanga area. he distributed relief material among the flood-affected people in the area and used the opportunity to attack Chief Minister nitish Kumar for having failed to control the situation. he accused the government of having failed to effectively deal with either the spread of Covid-19 or the flood.

testing capacity

Shiv Pujan jhapatna

CorreSPondentShiMLa

amidSt riSing CaSeS

no weekend curfew in cHandigarH Chandigarh: the ut administration has decided not to impose curfew in the city. While the decision has disappointed some, given a sudden surge of Covid-19 cases in the city, the traders are more or less happy. the ut administration had writ-ten a letter to the chief secretaries of punjab and haryana seeking their consent, in which both the states refused. it is currently decided that weekend curfew will not be imposed in the city. the proposal for weekend curfew was discussed with doctors, officers, traders associations and political lead-ers. it was felt that since Mohali and panchkula have not agreed for a tri-city closure on weekend, a fresh view on this issue will be taken in the next week. Meanwhile, the administrator directed that there must be strict implementation of social dis-tancing and mask wearing in all public places. he also directed screening of persons coming from outside at the borders and strict action against those, who violate curfew orders from 10:00 pM to 05:00 aM. KuMAR MADhuKAR

vigilant Citizen

police department dismisses two traffic cops on graft cHarges Chandigarh: two traffic cops, have been dismissed by ut police department. dismissal orders were issued by dig traffic Shashank anand on corruption complaints against them. the cops have been identified as head Constable daljeet Singh and Constable Vikas. Complainant rakesh gupta, had alleged that two cops, had taken rs 500 cash as a bribe from him during his visit to the city.

gupta had alleged that while returning from Solan on 9 august, he drove through Chandigarh. he was stopped by cops for jumping a red light even though, he claimed, he had not committed the offence. he claimed that he paid rs 500 to the cops, after which they allowed him to go. PARiKShiT SiNGh

Blind eye

diesel autos ply in cHandigarH despite Ban Chandigarh: despite being completely banned, diesel autos continue to ply on Chandigarh roads while MVi and the traffic police remain silent spectators. Surprisingly, on many routes, hundreds of autos are running without registration and tamperi numbers. When this reporter asked an auto driver about him driving without registeration, the auto driver replied that he had been driving on Chandigarh roads for the past two and a half years without registeration and proper paperwork. this has been a common site with authorities turning a blind eye to rampant flouting of traffic rules, endagering many lives in the process. DiGviJAy MiShRA

A waterlogged street in Patna following heavy rainfall on Wednesday.

harsimrat Kaur Badal

Sushant Singh Rajput died on 14 June. He was found hanging,

say the police. Was it a sui-cide? Or, was it a murder made to look like a suicide? Did he hang himself, or did some people get together and hang him? He had, after all, partied till wee hours of the morning, played PUBG and had a glass of juice in the morning after waking up and then suddenly locked himself up and supposedly hung himself. Why and how he died the police are still in-vestigating.

The only thing — the pro-visional post-mortem re-port submitted by doctors at Bandra Police Station says — that the provisional cause of death is asphyxia due to hanging. However, literally the moment the news of his death broke the film indus-try along with tweeting their shock said that he was bat-tling depression, he was de-pressed. Police did say they found medication meant to treat depression, but they also said that there was no suicide note.

So far, there has been no statement from the doc-tors on his depression or any kind of disorder; in fact even when Dr Kersi Chavda was first quoted and then slammed for breaking cli-ent therapist confidential-ity; DCP Zone 9 Abhishek Trimukhe refuted that claim and said that they had not

even spoken to him at that time. Then later one heard that not one, but Sushant Singh Rajput went to four different doctors. And none of them have gone on record to say what the problem was with him. If he had depres-sion then when did it start? How severe was it? And was he bipolar? Was he suicidal? Also, while depressive peo-ple can commit suicide how many actually do that? How many people are battling depression in the film indus-try? Nothing is known.

Could it not be a murder? What if somebody or people killed him or got him killed because of some reason not related to his depression or the film industry?

But murder was not even considered by the film in-dustry. So then this is how the self-goal by the film in-dustry played out.

Here was a young, good looking, successful actor who passed away (and let us ignore the lack of atten-dance at his funeral — Co-vid times I agree, but then Rajkumar Rao, Shradha Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Anita Lokhande, Vivek Oberoi, etc did go for his last rites). Immediately, Mukesh Bhatt said that he had feared that the actor “was going the Parveen Babi way and that he was depressive and was a very disturbed soul”. Karan Johar posted: “I have felt at times like you may have needed people to share your life with”. Film journalists talked about his depression

and suddenly there was this conversation about mental health within the industry people. Abhishek Kapoor said “Fragile mind”; even Deepika posted about men-tal health issues. That his fa-ther in his statement said he wasn’t aware that he was in depression or being treated for the same was overlooked.

So now, when the film Industry people them-selves said he was battling depression, they immedi-ately pointed the fans and people to look for reasons why a young, good looking, successful actor could be depressed enough to take his life.

And that is when all the flood gates opened up. With lockdown in place and in these times of so many dif-ferent platforms where all shows, videos, articles, com-ments are freely available on the net--along with Su-shant Singh’s films, shows and interviews on films, life and his plans for his fu-ture — like say his and NITI Aayog’s flagship initiative Women Entrepreneurship Platform where he was an investor and had put his

money in start-ups along with lending his name and spreading awareness, to the times when he gave cheques to Assam and Kerala dur-ing floods, etc--all this just made people connect and reconnect with him. This, along with silence from the film industry–as though it was guilty — was enough to bring forth a very strong reaction on the social media, a platform where all people can say what they want to. And Sushant Singh started trending.

On social media , on you tube, on Instagram, Twitter — people started pushing back, highlighting/scrutinis-ing — every fun show, action or mean comments or blind items or interviews as the reason for Sushant’s depres-sion — implying that since the film industry says it is a suicide, here is the reason why he must have done what he did. Nothing was not ana-lysed and conclusions not made. Also, there was no one person who seemed to be leading this outpouring of grief and angry reactions. It was spontaneous and very clear in its positioning.

At this stage instead of say-ing #JusticeforSushant or #WeStandByYou … nobody — not one of the so-called big names — came out with any-thing to tell people that “yes we are with you”. Not his young colleagues, not indus-try seniors, nor his co-stars.

Instead, what did the film industry do? While the si-lence on Sushant Singh con-tinued, some stars started taking on trolls who came back harder at them and with “proof” and soon it became about what the film industry is, how it oper-ates and treats talent vs the people. Shekhar Suman and Manoj Bajpayee came out to say this case needs to be in-vestigated as it seems to not fit in with what they know of him nor does it seem like a suicide.

Nobody took a cue from that. Instead, when did the film industry react?When KanganaRanaut bashed Karan Johar & Mahesh Bhatt. When she started her videos taking cues from people on social media. Then came Shekhar Kapoor and Sanjay Leela Bhansali vs Aditya Chopra and YRF contradictory remarks. And predictably, it then moved to nepotism, outsider vs in-sider debate with Anubhav Sinha saying, “The Bolly-wood Privilege Club must sit down and think hard”; and Shekhar Kapoor say-ing, “Karma will get them”. Apurva Asrani, Ranvir Sho-rey, Raveena Tandon, Simi Grewal, all talked about

their experiences on the ways of the industry. And then came Kangana Ranaut all guns blazing. On being named, Swara Bhaskar, Tap-see Pannu, Anurag Kashyap jumped in — with lots of to and fro and old videos of one and all being brandied around by the other. Along with actors and directors, other things too came tum-bling out. Sonu Nigam sup-ported by Salim Merchant, Monali Thakur, Adnan Sami came out against the “music mafia” and Bhushan Kumar. Chetan Bhagat and Harinder Sikka opened the authors’/writers’ front of not getting their due credit or ac-colades, etc. Ironically, it is outsiders fighting outsiders and the ugly face of industry

is there for all to see.Now the fire is truly lit.

Sure the industry is not a fair place, sure there is a cozy club and sure it needs to clean up its act. And hope-fully it does.

But my question is back to the first line: Sushant Singh Rajput died on 14June.The police are still investigating the case. No doctor–not one but four of his doctors--has said how depressed he was? If he was suicidal or not? The police have yet to finish their investigation. So, can anyone from the film industry say for sure if he had depression and was it so serious that it led him to take his life?

Can anyone say that the film industry with all its warts and all killed him?

Remember pushing people to commit suicide is pun-ishable by law for up to 10 years. Can anyone say it was not a murder? (After all there are many evidence-based questions that need to be answered).

Yes. The film industry it seems can. For the film in-dustry has decided that it is not a murder, but a suicide due to depression. Why was he depressed? That they are still fighting about. It could be nepotism, ganging up or his weak nature and inabil-ity to fight the system. So, the only thing that seems to be clear in this is that the film industry it seems has killed its star and people are angry with the industry for killing him.

SuShant Singh Rajput: Bollywood’S Self-goalSuiCide oR MuRdeR?

Geeta Dattanew delhi

news plus the daily guardian23 july 2020new delhi4

The film industry seems convinced from the very first day that it is not a murder, but a suicide due to depression.

With an overly expansion-ist and hege-

monic China perilously confronting India, it re-quires no great geopoliti-cal prudence to conclude that it is imperative for India to not only confront China but also strive for a harmonious environment in its neighbourhood. Be-ing involved in diverse fronts simultaneously is never a good strategy. China, despite countless overtures and assistance in international forums since 1950 by successive Indian governments, still persists in its strategy to belittle India and confine the latter’s influence to South Asia. Accordingly, it is time for India to adopt a proactive stance to com-bat the revisionist Chinese in all fields, including the military, economic and diplomatic turfs. One such significant endeavour for India, unquestionably, lies in reviving its traditional friendly ties with another big country of the region — Iran.

In the last couple of years, owing to a large number of factors, India moved away from its long-established ties with Iran. Meanwhile China, attrib-utable primarily to its deep pockets, has succeeded in weaning Iran away from India. This cannot be de-nied that India getting closer — both militarily and commercially — to the United States has irked the Iranians and the wily Chi-nese, smelling an opportu-nity, are now working for an alliance with Russia, Iran and Pakistan. India’s growing military ties with Iran’s sworn rival, Israel, has also adversely impact-ed India-Iran relations to an extent. Iran’s strategic significance for India can never be overstated.

Till the last few years, Iran had been the second largest energy supplier to India, supplying nearly 4,25,000 barrels of crude oil per day and with In-dia purchasing annually over $12 billion of oil from Iran. However, this an-nual oil trade got discon-nected due to the exten-sive UN sanctions against Iran which then resulted in India paying off these bills through a banking system in Turkey. India, one of the world’s largest oil importers, pays for its oil imports in far larger amounts in precious for-eign exchange, as Iranian oil is not being imported because of the sanctions. The ready availability and

geographical proximity of Iranian oil imports to Indi-an ports can never be over-emphasised. This aspect, vital for Indian interests, should have been strongly emphasised with its stra-tegic partner — the US — and despite American opposition, India should have continued importing oil from Iran for a variety of reasons.

In the last few months, two disconcerting devel-opments for India and its relations with Iran have surfaced. Recently, India’s Ministry of External Af-fairs (MEA) has confirmed that India is no longer in-volved in the Farzad-B gas field project of Iran. It was way back in December 2005 when a consortium of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh, Indian Oil Corpo-ration and Oil India had signed a contract with the Iranian authorities for carrying out exploration of the Farzad-B block. In May 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Iran, he discussed the progress of this proj-ect with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. This block has reportedly more than 19 trillion cubic feet

of gas reserves. The ONGC has invested approximate-ly $100 million. Now after commerciality of this oil field has been established, the Iranians appear to have shown India the door, however reiterating that they will involve India ap-propriately at a later stage. This cooperation agree-ment needs to be sorted out by India and Iran.

The other major conten-tious issue between the two nations which has erupted recently has been the contract to develop the 628-km Chabahar-Za-hedan railway line which would run along the Iran-Afghanistan border. This agreement was signed in 2016. After all the formali-ties were over, it was only this month that without taking India into confi-dence, Iran commenced work on this railway proj-ect. As of now, India has been kept out of this proj-ect. India has, however, conveyed to Iran that India is open to joining the de-velopment of this project later. Nevertheless, a sig-nificant project between the two nations which is progressing well is the Chabahar Port complex whose genesis was laid

in the New Delhi Declara-tion signed in 2003. This port development was exempted from sanctions. India has taken over op-erations of one terminal and has handled 82 ships with 12 lakh tonnes of bulk cargo in 8,200 containers since December 2018. It must be emphasised that Chabahar is not only sig-nificant to maritime re-lations between the two nations but also provides an opportunity to India to reach Central Asia and Russia by the land route. It also permits India to by-pass Pakistan which does not allow Indian cargo to move by the land route via Pakistan to Afghanistan.

Importantly, India is home to the second larg-est Shia population in the world, after Iran. India’s Shias do look up to the Iranian clergy for spiritual guidance. This is one fac-tor which has also kept the two nations together, for Iran knows that their Shia brethren in India are treat-ed with respect, unlike in Sunni-dominated Pakistan which traditionally has been riding roughshod over its indigenous Shia population. What is inex-plicable to many across the

world is that despite the Chinese indulging in mas-sive violence and atrocities targeted against their Ui-ghur Muslims in its restive Xinjiang province, the en-tire Islamic ‘Ummah’ has remained quiet on China’s worsening human rights record. Perhaps a case of China’s overflowing cof-fers satiating the greed of many Muslim nations.

For India, Iran’s near sudden proximity to China is indeed a cause for con-cern. Iran too is hardly ap-preciative of India’s grow-ing proximity to the US. China will not leave any stone unturned to widen the chasm in economic and strategic ties between India and Iran and assist Pakistan, in whatever manner, to keep India oc-cupied along its vast bor-ders. Triggering the cur-rent serious face-off with India in eastern Ladakh is part of China’s grand de-sign for the region.

Diplomacy is a complex interplay of many factors which go to define na-tional interests. Nations once close to each other do, at times, drift apart. Notwithstanding India getting closer to the US, it will be in our supreme interest that we maintain our strategic autonomy in foreign affairs and keep the otherwise divided and restive Islamic world also on our side. It will be in the interest of both Iran and India for peace, stability and economic growth amongst them and the region to foster closer ties with each other. That is the cardinal imperative dictated by our geography.

The author is India’s first chief of the Defence Intelligence Agency and now president of the Delhi Forum for Strategic Studies.

Why India must revive traditional ties with IranFor India, Iran’s sudden proximity to China is a cause for big concern. Beijing will not leave any stone unturned to widen the chasm in economic and strategic ties between the two nations.

If Rahul Gandhi is serious about politics, he should first become a full-time politician, and raise issues that matter to the masses.

POLITICS

DIPLOMACY

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar must be con-gratulated for overcoming decades of diffidence in-grained in India’s foreign policy establishment and ac-knowledging that India needs to take more “risks” on the “big issues” internationally. He is absolutely cor-rect in saying that “the era of great caution, and greater dependence on multi-lateralism” is over and that “we need to take risks”. But then the realist in him gives way to the status quoist, and dare we say diffident and risk-averse diplomat, when almost in the same breath he utters that “we were never part of an alliance sys-tem and we will never be”. It’s like taking one step forward and two steps back, especially at a time when China is forcing the world to move towards a G-2 con-struct—Group of 2, where you are either with China or with the United States. It’s all very fine to say that independence of policy was an important component of non-alignment and that part of non-alignment still continues; the other part of non-alignment, according to Mr Jaishankar, was apparently about staying out of trouble. Surely someone as illustrious an ex diplomat as Mr Jaishankar would not have to be reminded that non alignment in reality was a firm alignment with a socialist Soviet bloc where India blindly sacrificed both its independence in foreign policy and its interests. But that was in the Soviet era. This is 2020. No one is asking India to sacrifice its independence—known as “strategic autonomy” in fancier parlance—and become a US satellite. We are talking robust partnership here. But Mr Jaishankar’s “doctrine”, if it can be called that, is akin to fence sitting in the name of “independence”—of trying to be everything to everyone. The time for such vacillation is over. If India was truly pursuing a policy of “strategic autonomy” it would have enhanced its relationship with Iran and not allowed it to slip into China’s lap. “Strategic autonomy” starts resembling “strategic short-sightedness” when it is not taken into account that a clear US vs China-plus-Russia binary is developing, with Pakistan firmly ensconced in the lat-ter camp. Breaking status quo has been the hallmark of the Narendra Modi government, revoking Article 370 being one of the bravest examples of it. The time to be bashful is over. As Mr Jaishankar himself said, it is time to take risks. At stake is India’s Indo-Pacific ambitions as well as the formalisation of the Quad and a possible formulation of an Indo-Pacific charter, where the sign-ing countries are treaty bound to help each other when militarily threatened by China. By dint of its geogra-phy, India is surrounded by malign neighbours and it is geography that should decide India’s policy. It’s in China’s interest for India to follow the path of “non al-liance”. For far too long India has tried to please China. Those days are over. It is time for a united front against China. The very fact that we are carrying out naval ex-ercises with the US in the Indian Ocean along China’s trade routes shows that containing China is one of the cornerstones of India’s foreign policy. Banning the 59 Chinese apps is a manifestation of that containment policy and in this case the world will follow India. In-dia under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already chosen—chosen to be in the grouping where its inde-pendent interests are best served. In fact, in a larger context, at a time when the US Congress is unabashed about its criticism of China’s attack on India’s interests, the least the mandarins in the external affairs ministry can do is to avoid working in silos—out of sync with the PM’s policy. The days of being the sorry collective working under Dr Manmohan Singh are over.Joyeeta Basu

perspectiveIN INDIA’S INTEREST

NON ALLIANCe NOT AN OPTION

Going by the TV rants of his detractors, headlines in the media and aggressive trolls on social networks, the former president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, must be the most mocked, ridiculed and hounded politician in India today. But can he blame anyone

else for this unenviable sit-uation? The answer is: No.

People forget that he has been in politics for 15 years; he is a 3-time MP. And, he hasn’t been sitting idle and doodling at home either. He criss-crossed India to rediscover it like his great grandfather; he was the principal mascot of his party and campaigned energetically in 2014 and 2019 general elections while mounting personal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Unfortu-nately, notwithstanding his vigorous campaigning, the fortunes of his party have been steadily shrinking, touching a dismal figure of 44 seats in the current Lok Sabha. In 2019, in Ut-

tar Pradesh which has pro-duced 4 Congress prime ministers and many cabi-net ministers, Sonia Gan-dhi was the sole Congress winner. Rahul suffered the ignominy of losing his own seat in Amethi after having won it twice. Without the support of Malayalee Mus-lims in Wayanad in Kerala, he won’t have been in Par-liament.

Recently, Rahul turned 50. Barack Obama, Tony Blair, David Cameron, Justin Trudeau and Em-manuel Macron had made history by this milestone. When one looks at Rahul’s political journey so far, one gets a feeling that his train isn’t going anywhere and he is metamorphosing into a frustrated, clueless angry leader desperately strug-gling to remain relevant in Indian politics.

His upbringing, mindset, inability to connect and the company he keeps, lack of passion to achieve goals, narrow base of advisers and opposition from the party old guards have con-

tributed to this sorry state of affairs.

Hailing from an illustri-ous political family with a silver spoon in his mouth, insulated and elitist up-bringing, educated in pre-mier institutions, Rahul betrays an inherent dis-like for people of humble origin. He isn’t alone. Mani Shankar Aiyar and Sonia Gandhi have in the past used terms like ‘Chaiwala’, ‘Neech kisma ka insaan’, and ‘Maut ka saudagar’

for PM Modi. This attitude alienates a large number of voters whose social profile has changed over the years.

Rahul’s close aides, most-ly from Wharton, Harvard and MIT in the US, are intelligent, hard-working, well-meaning and loyal technocrats. But having never contested any elec-tion, they are clueless about what clicks with vot-ers and what it takes to win an election. Depending on their advice is short-sight-

ed. Taking the British For-eign Secretary to sleep on the roof of Kalawati’s home in Amethi (she didn’t vote for the Congress) and tell-ing villagers to develop at “Jupiter’s velocity” showed his disconnect with or-dinary people and their problems.

During UPA-I and II, his sudden disappearances without telling his party officials where he was go-ing and for how long, pro-jected him as a part-time

leader who didn’t take his responsibilities seriously and wasn’t too concerned about discomfiture of his party. His alleged state-ment in some sections of the media that becoming PM wasn’t a big deal and tearing off the Ordinance issued by the then UPA government underlined his arrogance and disrespect to the sitting Prime Minis-ter of his own party.

He was reportedly keen to organise his party from the grassroots level by holding organisational elections but couldn’t take the exer-cise to logical conclusion. This didn’t catapult him as a harbinger of change. By the end of 2013, thanks to Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, a series of scams tumbling down the closets of several ministers, CAG scathing reports, stinking strictures of the Supreme Court, paralysis in governance, Congress’s defeat in 2014 seemed a foregone conclu-sion. Rahul couldn’t stop it. With his administrative

and organisational experi-ence, exceptional oratori-cal skill and ability to con-nect with the masses, Modi was unstoppable. Still he could have fared better had he offered a well-argued, practical and convincing alternative to governance. Rahul must realise that constantly attacking the PM is unproductive. PM Modi is the most popular national leader today.

Harping on Rafale deal, ‘Chaukidar chor hai’, ‘Sur-render Modi’, etc, seems juvenile jabs and won’t harm the PM; instead, Ra-hul looks out of touch with prevailing mood. As Sha-rad Pawar says, while the country confronts the Chi-nese at the LAC, question-ing PM Modi isn’t in order. If Rahul is serious about politics, he should first be-come a full-time politician, and raise issues that matter to the masses. Just attack-ing PM Modi won’t do him any good. The author, a former Ambas-sador, writes on political and strategic affairs.

Just attacking PM Modi won’t do Rahul any good

5comment & analysisthe daily guardian23 july 2020

new delhi

opinionSurendra Kumar

opinionLt Gen KamaL davar (retd.)

File photo of Prime minister narendra modi with Iranian President Hassan rouhani.

Congress leader rahul Gandhi.

We are living in an increasingly glo-balised digital

society, where personal data is the biggest asset of a per-son, legal or natural. Data is being touted as the new oil and there is horde of cor-porate activity flourishing this sphere. This has evoked strong policy responses and efforts are being made from

all stakeholders to protect personal data against the risk of being compromised. Accordingly, many coun-tries have enacted robust data protection laws, and some are in the process of deliberations and discus-sions. Recent developments in this area have catalysed the brewing of intricate le-gal issues and courts across

jurisdictions are grappling with complex litigations.

One of the leading set of data protection laws is Gen-eral Data Protection Regula-tion (GDPR) which has been enacted by the European Union (EU) and also forms the basis of the proposed data protection law of India which is currently pend-ing approval of the Parlia-ment. The effectiveness and success of GDPR lies in the stringent mechanisms for safeguarding the data, both within the EU and also over-seas.

Facebook, a corporation whose legal woes do not seem to end has faced severe backlash for its lax handling of personal data of users. Notwithstanding that data is at the core of its genesis, it seems to have become its nemesis in recent times. It was in the eye of the storm once more in 2020 when transference of personal data by Facebook, Ireland to Facebook Inc. in the USA, on the strength of the Stan-dard Contractual Clauses (SCC), was challenged by Mr. Schrems.

The recent blow came

through a judgment passed by Court of Justice of the European Union, (CJEU), in the case of Data Protec-tion Commissioner V. (1) Facebook Ireland Ltd., (2) Maxmillian Schrems (C-311/18), popularly known as Schrems II, whereby, the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework has been de-clared invalid. However, the SCC which have been issued by the EU and deal with the transfer of personal data to the data processors situated overseas have been upheld.

The dispute is centrally based on a premise that the data protection regime of the USA is not as stringent and watertight as that of the EU and the data of EU citizens being transferred to the USA, was vulnerable to risk. This is because the USA does not have a policy of limiting the access to, and use of, the personal data by the concerned state officials by placing restrictions on the use of such data beyond intended purpose. On the contrary, the USA allows the unbridled collection of data, which is evidently inconsistent with the legal

framework of the EU.The seeds of this dispute

were sown in the year 2014 when Mr. Schrems, who happens to be an Austrian activist, approached the Data Protection Commis-sioner (Ireland) against Facebook alleging that Face-book is transferring data to the USA and granting US authorities an unrestricted access to such personal data in a manner which is at vari-ance with the data protec-tion standards of the EU. Pursuant to the adjudication of the dispute, the CJEU, in the case which is com-monly known as Schrems-I, declared the Safe Harbor Framework as invalid. Safe Harbor Framework was the agreement between the USA and EU which governed the way American companies could deal with the personal data of EU citizens. The judgment in Schrems-I was also passed on the grounds of inadequate safeguards provided by the USA when it came to handling of per-sonal data transferred from the EU.

After the invalidation of the Safe Harbor Frame-

work, Facebook took a ref-uge in SCC to continue the transfer of data from the EU to the USA. In 2015, Mr. Schrems filed another complaint with the Data Protection Commissioner (Ireland). This time, he chal-lenged the adequacy of SCC when it came to maintain-ing the sanctity of the data transferred from the EU to the USA. The case, once again, went up to the CJEU and, it was in July 2020, that CJEU upheld the validity of the SCC but declared the EU-US Privacy Shield as in-valid.

Interestingly, SCCs have been upheld by the CJEU on the pivot that they have been issued by the EU and gener-ally tend to protect the data even after it goes outside the EU by providing privacy re-quirements which are simi-lar to those in the EU. Apart from this, SCCs provides a possibility for analysing the privacy laws of the country where the data is being re-ceived and ensures that ff a state authority comes to a conclusion that the laws of the receiving State are not adequate for the protection

of data or go beyond the lim-it required for the intended purpose, the flow of data to that State may be prohib-ited.

This judicial development is slated to send ripples across the IT Industry vari-ous jurisdictions. Although, SCCs have been upheld and the doors are not entirely closed, the IT companies must revamp their strate-gies when dealing with data flows from the EU. With Schrems-II, EU has, once again demonstrated that it holds the data of its citizens on the highest pedestal and the same cannot be dealt in a casual manner. Pursuant thereto, the corporations may have to formulate new policies to limit access to the data from EU to only that which is necessary for the intended transaction. This may also have considerable impact on Indian companies based in the USA or EU, as it is likely that they will be required to align their poli-cies with the judgment. At the same time, the subsid-iaries of American and EU companies operating in dif-ferent countries, including

India, also follow American and EU policies. As such, they too will be affected by this judgment. It is quite predictable that some com-mercial practices across the world will undergo some behavioural change when it comes to data flow from the EU.

While the resolve of the EU is appreciable and portrays the non-cavalier judicial at-titude towards integrity and sanctity of personal data, the judgments in Schrems-I and Schrems-II have tacitly approved the questionable policies adopted by Face-book in the SCCs. However, one cannot overlook the fact that this judgment is likely to cause some operational and logistical problems for cor-porations if the flow of data is impeded or prohibited due to non-compliant policies. Looking forward, it is only with prompt policy response that the IT corporations and others dealing in data can tide over this pressing issues in the coming times.Siddharth Jain (Partner), Suvigya Awasthy (Associate-Partner), PSL Advocates & Solicitors.

Court of Justice of European Union invalidates EU-US Privacy Shield Is it time for companies to rethink their privacy policies because in case of Data Protection Commissioner V. (1) Facebook Ireland Ltd, (2) Maxmillian Schrems (C-311/18), popularly known as Schrems II, whereby the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework has been declared invalid?

Murder diary

data Privacy

In a gruesome incident, businessman Lalji Sharma alais Avnish Kumar, a resi-dent of Patel Nagar, Bake-war town in Etawah district was allegedly murdered by five people, which was al-legedly made to look like an accident. The incident happed at around 8 pm July 9, but the police filed a case of murder only on July 13th after several pleas from the family of the deceased. The names of the accused mur-derers are Manish Kush-waha, Kaisav Kushwaha, Rakesh Kushwaha, Mohit Tiwari and Ajay Pandey. The murder is believed to be a result of a land dispute being contested in court between the Sharma and Kushwaha families.

When I accessed the copy of the FIR and spoke to the family of the deceased,

I found out that on July 9, accused Mohit Tiwari and Ajay Pandey came to Avnish`s residence on a white colour Hero Honda Karizma motorbike and took Avnish’s accompa-nied them to Lakhna’s goldsmith shop. At 7.45 pm Avnish’s sister in law got a phone call that the bike that Avnish has been seriously injured in an accident that happened at Bakewar in-tersection. When Avnish’s family reached the location, they saw him being pulled out from under the Bolero (UP 75 T 1596) which had run over the motorcycle he was riding on. Avnish was taken to Motijheel hospital in Etawah, doctors recom-mended to take him to Sai-fai hospital, where he was declared dead. “My brother has been killed and a con-spiracy has been hatched to make it look like an accident case. Three people were rid-ing on the motorbike, my brother Lalji Sharma al-ais Avnish Sharma, Mohit Tiwari and Ajay Pandey. Both Mohit and Ajay went absconding after the ac-cident, even the Rs. 2 lakh that my brother was carry-ing with him are missing. So, in effect, my brother

was murdered as the bo-lero run over him multiple times. Only my brother was

serious injured, Mohit and Ajay didn’t suffer any inju-ries, and also ran away after

the incident. And before running away, they have de-leted all phone records and

messages from my brother’s phone. The the police has been able to arrest since

July 9. We hope to get jus-tice from our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,” said Ash-wani Sharma, brother of the victim Avnish Sharma.

The police has not been able to arrest any of the five accused so far. In the case number 0367 registered by the Bakewar Police Sta-tion on July 13, the five ac-cused have been booked on charges of murder (section 302 IPC), criminal conspir-acy (section 120B), causing grievous hurt (section 338 IPC) and rash and negligent driving (rash and negligent driving). The investigating officer in the case is Suresh Chandrsa, while the SHO in charge of the police station is Ramesh Singh and the SSP of Etawah is Akash Tomar.

“We wrote to everyone, from Chief Minister’s Of-fice in Uttar Pradesh to Prime Minister’s office and after a lot of efforts the FIR was registered. My uncle Avnish is survived by a four year old daughter and an 18 month old son. We have full

faith in the government run by Yogi Adityanath that we will get justice. We have also requested Akash Tomar, the SSP in charge that since the accused have not been ar-rested 12 days after the mur-der happened, they should be arrested and brought to justice as soon as possible,” said Ashwani Sharma, Avnish’s brother

“The murder is a result of a land dispute between the family of Lalji Sharma alias Avnesh Sharma and Rakesh Kushwaha, son of Harikrishan Kushwaha, a resident of Lohiya Nagar in Bakewar town in Etawah district. The victim Avnesh Sharma is survived by four brothers, who work and reside outside Etawah. The Kushwaha family, Manish Kushwaha, Kesshav Kush-waha and Rakesh Kushwa-ha wanted illegal possession of our land through the use of strength and hooligan-ism,” Ashwani Sharma said. Tarun Nangia is the host and producer of Legally Speaking .

Murder in Patel Nagar, Bakewar town, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, family pleads for justiceFive accused for murder—Manish Kushwaha, Kaisav Kushwaha, Rakesh Kushwaha, Mohit Tiwari and Ajay Pandey—have not been arrested yet.

opinionSiddharth Jain &

Suvigya awaSthy

legally speaking

tarun nangia

“We wrote to everyone, from Chief Minister’s Office in Uttar Pradesh to Prime Minister’s Office and after a lot of efforts the FIR was registered. My uncle Avnish is survived by a four-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. We have full faith in the government run by Yogi Adityanath that we will get justice. We have also requested Akash Tomar, the SSP in charge, that since the accused have not been arrested 12 days after the murder, they should be arrested and brought to justice as soon as possible,” said Ashwani Sharma, Avnish’s brother.

legally speaking the daily guardian23 july 2020new delhi6

akash tomar, (iPS-2013), SSP, Etawah.

Mohit tiwari, one of the five accused for murdering avnish.

Lalji Sharma alias avnish Sharma was allegedly murdered on 9 July.

victim avnish’s son and daughter.

Ashish singhNew Delhi

Ashish singhNew Delhi

Ashish singhNew Delhi

Ashish singhNew Delhi

LAC STANDOFF

MAke iN iNDiA

7TH eDiTiON

3-DAY CONFeReNCe

7defence t h e da i ly gua r d i a n2 3 j u ly 2 0 2 0

n ew d e l h i

Zhao Lijian, the Chinese for-eign ministry spokesperson, in a press conference held

earlier in the month stated that the PLA and Indian Army had begun disengagement in certain sectors along the LAC. Zhao’s statement would of course be taken with a pinch of salt in India, firstly since the statement was prepared by the CCP and second, because Zhao rep-resents the combative and bombas-tic ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats of the CCP. Zhao himself is also a victim of the CCP’s divisive agenda. A Ui-ghur Muslim, Zhao had adopted his given name Muhammad on his Twitter profile while he was posted in Islamabad. However, a new CCP policy for Xinjiang region banning 29 Islamic names in 2017 forced him to discard his given name. In a sense, Zhao’s dilemma is also the dilemma of the Chinese peo-ple. Ruled by a ‘Party’ which has a non-inclusive and hegemonic at-titude towards governance, there is no scope for dissent. CCP’s an-nouncement of disengagement of troops in Ladakh therefore has to be contextualised in respect of the CCP’s strategic culture and their internal situation.

The CCP’s trade war with the US has visibly aggravated pressure on the Chinese economy. Domestic criticism is on the rise and unem-ployment has risen from 20 Million to 70 Million in Mainland China. Intellectuals, academia, students and activists’ voices are growing louder while retired CCP heavy-weights are upset with Xi Jinping’s proclamation of one-man rule. Mi-norities such as Uighurs, Tibetans, Taiwanese, Tajiks, Manchus, Ka-zakhs etc and restive regions such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau,

Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet are brimming with disgruntlement. In response, Xi’s CCP is countering internal dissent and discontent by creating imaginary external en-emies, their ‘Trump Card’.

By provoking and instigating con-flicts and tensions with the US and its neighbours, the CCP has sought to throw wool over the eyes of its own citizens. With the world busy tackling the Wuhan virus, the CCP has been engaged in unreasonable behaviour with its neighbours. Regular transgressions into the Japanese Senkaku islands; fighter-jets and bomber aircraft intruding South Korean air space; repeated violation of Taiwanese air space; attacking Vietnamese fishing boats in South China Sea; pres-surising Indonesia and Malaysia in the South China Sea with exag-gerated territorial claims; carrying out targeted cyber-attacks against Australia; occupying large tracts of Nepal; asserting illegal claims over Doklam in Bhutan; intimidat-ing Philippines; illegally occupy-ing territory in desolate Ladakh and now even startling Russia by claiming that Vladivostok belongs to CCP’s China!

Since 1949 the CCP has been en-gaged in foreign policy using an old Chinese dictum ‘Follow the established path and proceed step by step, one step and one footprint at a time’. This revisionist slicing behaviour is apparent in the CCP’s policies towards all its unfortunate neighbours, who have already suf-fered the frustrating policy of revi-sion of status quo ante by the men-dacious CCP.

In India’s context, the CCP has also followed a customised policy of the ‘3 Nos’ — ‘No Posts, No De-marcation, No Hurry’. This at-titude was visible in the ongoing standoff on the Himalayan bor-ders. Irrespective of what the CCP may pronounce, the writing on the wall remains clear — the CCP views the undemarcated LAC as a golden opportunity. By continu-ously threatening to cut off India’s link to the Siachen Glacier, the CCP is attempting to create a narrative that India’s Achilles’ heel stands exposed in the glacial peaks of east-ern Ladakh.

The world, however, seems to have other plans. An unspoken swell is rising against the CCP and its policies, especially after

the outbreak of the Chinese virus pandemic. The western world for once stands united against China’s belligerence; Russia has been re-cently alarmed by the Chinese Ambassador in Pakistan claiming that Vladivostok belongs to Chi-na; ASEAN has stood up against the piratical attitude of the PLA Navy in the South China Sea; an unwilling WHO has been arm-twisted into sending a probe team to Wuhan to determine the source of the virus; India has shown for the second time in 3 years that it would stand-up to and push-back against CCP’s territorial theft, the list in endless…

The current border situation is not very different from the one In-dia found itself in 1962, which also occurred during the Great Chinese Famine, when the CCP was facing the ire of its subjects. Indian strate-gic and military community should keep in mind that the Galwan in-cident on 15 June escalated with-out warning and was over within 5 hours. Avoiding a repetition of Galwan valley incident would re-quire a robust surveillance mecha-nism and an expeditious decision-making chain. Further, all possible avenues must be explored to apply pressure on the CCP’s vulnerabili-ties, across the spectrum.

There is an overwhelming re-quirement to ride this tide against the CCP at its flood and continue to apply pressure through dip-lomatic, informational, military economic means. Given the com-prehensive national power of the CCP, this would require a comity of like-minded partners to drive home the point, both on land and in the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific. It is probably time to apply the dogma of One Step-One Footprint back unto the CCP.

The Indian Air Force Com-m a n de r s ’ C o n f e r e n c e (AFCC) was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bha-wan) in New Delhi. Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria welcomed the Defence Min-ister and other senior offi-cials from the MoD.

In his address to the Air Force Commanders, Ra-jnath Singh appreciated the proactive response by the IAF in bolstering its opera-tional capabilities over the past few months. He stated that the professional manner in which IAF conducted the air strikes in Balakot as well as rapid deployment of IAF assets at forward locations in response to the prevailing situation in Eastern Ladakh has sent a strong message to the adversaries. He said that the nation’s resolve to de-fend its sovereignty stands firm on the faith its people have in the capability of its Armed Forces. The minister alluded to the ongoing efforts for de-escalation on LAC and urged the IAF to stand ready to handle any eventuality. He praised the stellar contribu-tion by IAF in supporting the nation’s response to Covid-19 pandemic and the role played during several HADR missions.

Rajnath Singh highlighted the need to achieve self-reli-ance in defence production and noted that the theme chosen for this AFCC -- ‘IAF in the Next Decade’ -- was very apt for enhancing efforts towards indigenisa-tion in the days to come. He lauded the progress made towards enhancing syn-ergy and integration within the three services since the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of the Department

of Military Affairs (DMA). The minister concluded by acknowledging IAF’s role in adapting to changes in technology and adopting emerging capabilities in Nano Technology, Artifi-cial Intelligence, Cyber and Space domains. He assured the commanders that all requirements of the Armed Forces, whether financial or otherwise, would be ful-filled.

The CAS in his address to

the commanders stated that the IAF was well prepared to counter short term as well as strategic threats and the units were evenly poised to counter any aggressive ac-tion by the adversary. He noted that the response by all commands in ensuring deployment and readiness of forces was prompt and laudable. He emphasised on the need to focus on the abil-ity to handle situations at a short notice for ensuring a robust response. During the three-day conference, com-manders will review the current operational scenario and deployments before de-liberating on building the IAF capabilities in the next decade to tackle all emerging threats.

ONe STeP, ONe FOOTPRiNT With an eye on China, IAF begins Commanders’ meet

The Chinese Communist party’s recent announcement of disengagement of troops in Ladakh has to be contextualised in respect of its strategic culture and internal situation.

LOCkHeeD MARTiN ANNOuNCeS iNDiA SuPPLieRS CONFeReNCe AND exHibiTiON

MoD signs deal with BEML for 1,512 mine ploughs for T-90 tanks

With an aim to boost Make in India initiative of the gov-ernment, with the approval of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the acquisition wing of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has signed a contract with Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) for procurement of 1,512 mine plough (MP) for T-90 tanks. The contract has ‘Buy and Make (Indian)’ categorisation with a minimum of 50 per cent indigenous content in make portion of the contract.

These mine ploughs will be fitted on T-90 tanks of Indian Armoured Corps which will facilitate individual mobility to Tanks while negotiating mine field. Mobility of Tank Fleet will enhance manifold, which in turn would extend the reach of Armoured Formation deep into enemy terri-tory without becoming mine causality. With the induction of these 1,512 mine ploughs, planned to be completed by 2027, the combat capability of the army will be further enhanced.

L ockheed Mart in an-nounced on Wednesday that it would hold its 7th edition of the annual India Suppliers Conference and Exhibition in the last week of July 2020. Themed ‘Mak-ing India part of the Global Supply Chain’, the 5-day conference will be the first-of-its-kind to be held vir-tually. Organised by the Society of Indian Defence Manufacturers (SIDM), the 2020 India Suppliers Con-ference is co-hosted with the Confederation of Indian In-dustry (CII) and Lockheed Martin to strengthen the supplier ecosystem in India.

The conference and ex-

hibition will be held in a virtual-only format on ‘CII HIVE’ platform this year in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will anchor conversations around part-nership opportunities that fuel ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ Abhiyaan, strengthen In-dia-U.S. defence industrial strategic ties, particularly ‘Make-in-India’ partner-ships into the future.

Commenting on the con-ference, William L. Blair, Vice President and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India said, “We are excited to host the annual Indian Sup-pliers Conference and Exhi-bition for the seventh year running and facilitate mean-ingful discussions and in-teractions between current

and prospective defense and aerospace industry partners in India.For over three dec-ades, Lockheed Martin has been a committed member of the Indian aerospace and defense industry. We contin-ue to contribute to industry and look forward to further strengthening the founda-tions of the defense ecosys-tem and support the vision of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.”

The key highlights of the conference and exhibition will include four elements. (1) Presentation by Lock-heed Martin businesses and their partners. (2) Ca-pability Presentations by Indian Industry / Micro, Small & Medium Enter-prises (MSMEs). (3) Virtual B2B meetings with Supply

Chain team of Lockheed Martin. (4) Virtual exhibi-tion area for Indian MSMEs

to showcase their company. Lockheed Martin continues to build upon its more than

three-decades of partner-ship with India, nurture and expand collaborations

with local industry to sup-port the evolution of indig-enous defence manufactur-

ing ecosystem, and further advance India’s strategic security and industrial ca-pabilities.

The conference will pro-vide an opportunity to the Indian Industry to under-stand and interact with all of Lockheed Martin busi-nesses along with their partners who are looking to source from India. It will be attended by representa-tives from Indian Ministry of Defence, US government, Indian and global industry leaders and participation from industry.

The last two conferences were attended by close to 300 delegates and saw participation from around 120 companies of all sizes — large, MSMEs and startups.

File photo of the indian and Chinese troops.

The indian Air Force Commanders’ Conference being inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath singh on Wednesday at Air headquarters in new Delhi.

change-makers

Policy talk

I had travelled to more than 20 states during the initial months of by

stint as Secretary, School Education and Literacy, Government of India during 2016-17. It was heartening to see some fabulous work being done in the hinter-land in the context of school education. However, what I witnessed as I walked into this Zila Parishad school in a village called Pashtepada was incredible. The proud teacher, Sandeep Gund had received me and he took me around the school that was now totally digital even in the absence of regular elec-tricity supply.

Pashtepada is a small ham-let, situated 40 km from the block headquarters at Shahapur and 80 km from

the district headquarters at Thane, Maharashtra. Sand-eep Gund got his first post-ing in this village, with a population of 350, as a Zila Parishad primary teacher. The village was hard to reach as the last bus halt was in a village 2 km away. Still, the teacher was eager to start his work. When he reached his destination, he saw a ne-glected school building and barely 50% attendance of the enrolled children. Nei-ther children nor the par-ents expected much from the school and its teachers. But Gund was optimistic and had bright dreams for his students.

Noticing that the chil-dren were fascinated by the screens and moving im-ages, Gund decided to use the computer as a learning tool. He got an old com-puter as donation from an NGO, the first digital tool in this school. Experimenting on a computer he developed simple learning lessons, screened films, and made PPTs to show to the chil-dren. A TV set like device attracted children to the school.

Gund succeeded in achiev-

ing complete attendance with this first step. The stu-dents in Pashtepada were free from schoolbags. Each child has a tablet with pdf textbooks and references uploaded on them.

Tablets were also used as recording devices to record lectures, classroom activities and answers by students in their own voices.

The school was well-equipped with digital de-vices like interactive smart boards, infrared camera, interactive projector, inter-active monitor, e-desk, and e-podium, and it also had digi-tal content library with wi-fi

connectivity accessible to students. All these systems ran on solar energy, with a one-time investment of INR 1.25 lakh. The solar unit was portable, as the panels were foldable. Once charged the school devices could run for 5-6 hours.

The upgradation took place gradually as it was depen-dent on availability of funds. The primary support for this came from the community through cash donation and labour. They were joined by a few NGOs and other donors.

As I took a selfie with Sand-eep Gund and tweeted , he

suddenly got noticed at the national level. Later, when I had the occasion to meet the President of India in a different context, I narrated this wonderful story to him and asked him if he would like to meet Sandeep Gund. The meeting did take place when Gund was accorded a national award. Sandeep be-came a national hero and his model came to be replicated in more than 50,000 schools of Maharashtra. It was this experience of witnessing good work in a remote loca-tion, the impact of its appre-ciation and recognition and, finally its scaling led to the

idea of Nexus of Good.To begin with there was

just a Twitter handle but now it is evolving as a move-ment to bring around peo-ple to identify, understand, appreciate, replicate and scale good work that is be-ing done in the society as a whole. The idea is to evolve an alternative narrative to the negativity that is be-coming all pervasive in the social media and other me-diums of communication. Such negativity is impact-ing thoughts and actions of a large number of people, especially the young minds.

There is no doubt that a lot

of good work is happening around us but unfortunate-ly, on account of all perva-sive negativity, it gets lost. The “premium” on good work seems to have been lost in the din of the high decibels used for promot-ing negativity

The “good” are strug-gling for recognition and a number of them are fight-ing their battles against a much more organised set of “negative mongers” all alone. Can the good work in tandem? Should the good work in tandem? Is it possi-ble to convey the benefits of positive thinking and good

work? The idea is not to discuss

ideas. The objective is to ide-ate from a practice that has worked on the ground. The aim is not merely to appre-ciate this good work which indeed is the initial step, it is to explore the potential of replicating and scaling this practice. It also to foster public-private partnership because the belief is that quality usually comes from the private domain and scale from public. There a number of such examples. Likes of Kaivalya Founda-tion, Akshara Foundation, Sampark Foundation, Ak-shay Patra, Lend a Hand and Humana People to People are demonstrating that good work can be rep-licated and scaled through public-private partnership.

There are also a large number of individuals like Sandeep Gund, around. We need to locate them, under-stand what they have done and how they have done it and then attempt to replicate and scale these practices. That is what Nexus of Good all about. The movement has already got going with hundreds of positive stories on the portal nexusofgood.org, most of them set to be replicated and scaled. Anil Swarup has served as the head of the Project Monitoring Group, which is currently under the Prime Minister’s Office. He has also served as Secretary, Ministry of School Education and Secretary, Ministry of Power.

“Jiyo Befiqar” — the tagline of one of India’s 30 general insurance companies — aptly describes the role in-surance has played since its inception. Back in 1688, what started off as a concept to in-demnify the financial losses of shippers, merchants and cargo owners from marine perils, dacoits, and theft, is now become a more ubiqui-tous part of our daily lives. Right from multi-billion-dollar corporate deals to an athlete’s foot, insurance is be-ing widely used to mitigate uncertainty. Although the penetration of insurance in India stands at 3.69%1 (just shy of half of the global aver-age which stands at 6.19%2),

this figure is only expected to grow in the times to come owning to increasing aware-ness, sectoral boost by the government, increase of FDI to 100% for insurance inter-mediaries, emergence of new cross-selling channels such as bancassurance, online and NBFCs, and digitization and innovation of products. Un-doubtedly this gives a reason for insurance companies to smile, but simultaneously also entails the responsibil-ity of putting in place a faster claim disbursal process, robust fraud-prevention system, and an efficient dis-pute resolution mechanism, among other things. Keeping aside the former two points

for time being, this article talks about insurance dis-putes and existing mecha-nisms to resolve them, and later dives into a 21st-century solution which provides ag-grieved party the opportu-nity of resolving disputes from the comfort of their homes and offices, and that too within 45 days!

Disputes are inevitable – and this fact is no different for the insurance sector too. Non-payment of claims on technical grounds and dis-satisfaction with company procedures are the most common grievances which exist. To effectively dispose them off, the Insurance Reg-ulatory and Development Authority of India (“IRDAI”) together with the companies have set up a three-tier griev-ance redressal system. Let us understand them:1. Company-level: Every in-sured who has a grievance has to mandatorily approach the complaints/grievance redressal cell of the con-cerned insurer as the first step. If they do not receive a response from the insurer within a reasonable period of time or are dissatisfied with the response of the company, they may register their griev-ance with IRDAI.2. IRDAI-level: If unsuc-cessful or dissatisfied with the insurer’s internal griev-ance redressal system, ag-grieved insured can register their complaint on IRDAI’s

Integrated Grievance Man-agement System. Post regis-tration, IRDAI forwards the complaint to the concerned insurer. A pre-defined time of 15 days is given for satis-factory resolution, failing which the insured has the option of escalating and sending the complaint for re-examination or approaching the Insurance Ombudsman/civil court/consumer forum.3. Ombudsman-level: In-surance Ombudsman are appointed by the Governing Body (IRDAI in this case) and are empowered to enter-tain complaints. The insured always has the remedy of approaching the Insurance Ombudsman in case the dis-pute remains unresolved or is unsatisfactorily dealt with. He has to lodge the com-

plaint with the Insurance Ombudsman under whose territorial jurisdiction the insurer’s office falls. The pe-cuniary limit for the amount under dispute which the Ombudsman can entertain is Rs. 30 lakhs.

In addition to this, the ag-grieved can always knock the doors of traditional dispute resolution forums, namely civil court, and consumer court. That would however mean countless visits to court, lakhs of rupees spent on advocate fees (sometimes even more than the disput-ed amount!), and an air of uncertainty over when the dispute will meet its end (and will it be in favour!?). Suddenly, a dispute over the thing whose function was to eradicate worries of uncer-

tain events in the first place, becomes the most worrisome thing of our life. Does there exist an efficient approach of dealing with this? In a world where a majority of things can be done by a mouse click, can insurance disputes be re-solved in a similar fashion? The answer to this is affir-mative and lies within the increasingly-popular con-cept – Online Dispute Resolu-tion (“ODR”)

ODR is a term which is used quite often in the West. It has existed in the legal dic-tionary (and in foreign land) for a long time but is gaining traction in India only now – thanks to the pandemic. It is the use of technology to resolve disputes between people or businesses using various out-of-court mech-

anisms (which is popularly known as ‘Alternative Dis-pute Resolution’, or ‘ADR’). Yes, there are techniques and methods recognized by law (eg. arbitration, conciliation, mediation, etc.) that assist in resolving disputes without the involvement of courts. When blended with tech-nology, these mechanisms provide a convenient, cost-effective, time-saving, and efficient way to amicably settle conflicts.

Although in its nascent stage, ODR in India has been used by different do-mains within the country for speedy redressal of grievanc-es / disputes. Here are some precedents:1. Online Consumer Me-diation Centre (“OCMC”): Started as a pilot project by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of In-dia, this platform specifical-ly deals with the resolution of e-commerce consumer disputes. OCMC aims to provide a state-of-the-art infrastructure for resolving consumer disputes through in-person and online media-tion.2. RTI Online: The Depart-ment of Personnel & Train-ing, Government of India, has built a portal (https://rtionline.gov.in/) for filing Right to Information appli-cations and first appeals on-line in respect of ministries, departments and other pub-lic authorities of the central

government.3. MahaRERA Conciliation and Dispute Resolution Fo-rum: With a view to facili-tate amicable conciliation of disputes between promoters and allottees, the Maharash-tra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (“MahaRERA”) set up the MahaRERA Con-ciliation and Dispute Resolu-tion Forum.

From an insurance per-spective, ODR can cater to disputes related to delay in claim settlement, repudia-tion of claim, company pro-cedures, premium paid or payable in terms of policy, legal construction of the poli-cies in so far as such disputes relate to claims, and policy servicing related grievances against insurers and their agents and intermediaries. ODR has the potential to be an effective tool to amicably settle disputes pertaining to own damage and third par-ty in motor accident cases, low-value travel insurance related disputes, and even disputes arising from high quantum marine insurance policies, among others.Bhaven Shah is a lawyer (GLC’09), a chartered ac-countant and founder of legal tech firm Presolv 360. Srinath Sridharan has been a board member strategic counsel for nearly two decades with lead-ing corporates across diverse sectors, including automobile, e-commerce, advertising, realty, and financial services.

Making things happen: Need to build positive narrative

Insurance companies: Is the time ripe for an Online Dispute Resolution policy?

A story of good projects and ideas in government that can be replicated all over India.

opinionAnil SwArup

opinionBhAven ShAh &

SrinAth SridhArAn

Sandeep Gund succeeded in achieving complete attendance with one step. The students in Pashtepada were free from school bags. Each child has a tablet with PDF textbooks and references uploaded on them.

policy & politics the daily guardian23 july 2020new delhi8

The Audi RS7 is the kind of car that makes sportscar

enthusiasts go weak in the knees. The car was on sale in India in the first generation and now the German luxury carmaker has launched the sportback in a brand new second generation at a cost that again is not for the weak-hearted. With a range of personalisation options, the RS7 starts at Rs 1.94 crore (ex-showroom). Audi says it is now available as a wide-bodied five-seater and delivers improved per-formance along with en-hanced efficiency delivered by a mild hybrid system. But is it worth that exorbi-

tant price tag? Well sit back, read further on and decide for yourself.

LooksThis car has got some broad shoulders and distinctive roofline that lend it an ath-letic stance. The flat, single-frame grille features a three-dimensional honeycomb mesh and the car also gets LED headlamps with dy-namic indicators as standard or HD Matrix LED head-lamps with laser lights as option. On the profile flared wheel arches and low stance give it an aggressive race car look. High-performance impression is also accentu-ated by RS-specific door sills with black inlays. The brake calipers are painted in black as standard or red upon re-

quest. There’s a lot of drama on the rear with the strip of lights getting an impres-sive design. The RS-specific oval exhaust pipes and rear bumper with diffuser add to the sportiness. A powered spoiler is there too which au-tomatically extends from the tail-gate when speeds cross 100 km/h. A panoramic sun-roof though only comes as an option on the car.

InterIorsAccording to Audi the idea is to make the cabin

look sporty and futuris-tic. What you cannot miss are the special RS displays that use the Audi virtual cockpit to provide details of tyre pressure, torque, per-formance, oil temperature, boost pressure, lap times,

acceleration, and G-forces. A flat-bottomed, fully perfo-rated RS Sport leather steer-ing wheel sports new large RS aluminium shift paddles. The driver can use steering buttons to enable the new Audi drive select RS1 and

RS2 modes. This automati-cally opens the RS-specific displays in the Audi virtual cockpit. A standard B&O sound system features a 3D front surround system and 16 speakers with a 705 W output. RS sport seats up-holstered with black pearl Nappa leather or RS Sport Seats covered with Valcona leather are available as op-tions. Offered with five seats for the first time, the car has luggage capacity of 535 litres, which can be increased to 1,390 litres with the split rear seat backs folded down.

engIneThe real magic is surely in the heart of the RS7 and most will buy this car purely for this reason. The loud and fast 4.0 L twin-turbo TFSI petrol V8 engine produces 600 bhp and delivers 800 Nm torque. It works with an eight-speed Tiptronic transmission with optimized shift times. The car races from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.6 seconds and while the top speed is electroni-cally limited to 250 km/h; this can be increased to 280

km/h with the optional dy-namic package and to 305 km/h with the RS dynamic plus package. Mild Hybrid System (MHEV) comes with a 48-volt main on-board elec-trical system and this does help in slightly better fuel efficiency. To make it even better, in higher gears at low to medium loads and engine speeds, 4 cylinders automati-cally deactivate to save some more fuel. And finally the famed Quattro permanent all-wheel drive system is there too and also includes launch control function.

rIde & HandLIngThe RS7 gets five-link front and rear axles with standard RS adaptive air suspension which can be set to three modes, and can also be set on automatic level control. Dynamic all-wheel steering, high performance RS ce-ramic brakes and RS sport suspension with Dynamic Ride Control (DRC) come as options and promise to take the fun quotient to a new lev-el. Depending on traction, up to 70% drive force can flow

to the front wheels and up to 85% to the back wheels. Wheel-selective torque control optimises handling through bends, it provides power to the wheels that need it when cornering.

VerdIctThe five-seater RS7 com-bines a striking coupé-like grand tourer look with everyday practicality. It is loaded with technol-ogy where the main aim to make sure the driver enjoys the experience every single time she takes to the wheel. If the car is already not ex-clusive enough there are a host of optional extras, as mentioned earlier, that pro-vide even more exclusivity. But in that case be ready to shell out some more money, maybe a lot more money. Audi has confirmed that the RS7 isn’t the only RS model scheduled for 2020, which means you can hope to save some money and still get the RS experience.

The writer is Senior Editor at carandbike.com.

OnePlus launches affOrdable Premium ‘nOrd’ in indiaOnePlus on Tuesday launched an affordable premium smartphone OnePlus Nord at a start-ing price of Rs 24,999 for the base 6GB+64GB model in the India market. The 8GB+128GB a n d 1 2 G B +2 5 6 G B models will be avail-able for Rs 27,999 and Rs 29,999, respectively. The smartphone will go on sale via Amazon India and OnePlus.in starting 4 August. However, the base 6GB + 64GB model won’t be available until September. The device has begun pre-booking from 22 July at OnePlus Experience Stores and on Amazon.in starting 28 July. The dual-SIM (Nano) OnePlus Nord runs Android 10-based OxygenOS 10.5. The smartphone features a 6.44-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,400 pixels) Fluid AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate and 20:9 aspect ratio. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and supports features including Night Mode, Reading Mode, and Video Enhancer.

ZebrOnics’ new dOlby digital-POwered 5.1 sOund barAudio accessory maker Zebronics on Tuesday announced the launch of a new Dolby Digital-powered 5.1 sound bar designed to make your entertainment experience, be it while watching TV or listening to music, larger than life with hi-fidelity surround sound. The new “ZEB-Juke Bar 9400 Pro Dolby 5.1” sound bar is cur-rently available at leading retail outlets across India at a price range starting from Rs 3999 to 13,999, the company said. The 5.1 soundbar comes with a total of six channels -- three front speakers embedded in the sound-bar, two rear satellite speakers and a powerful 16.5cms sub-woofer and 525Watts output for full impact surround sound. The two rear speakers are designed to give users the surround sound effect and the promising Dolby Digital audio to maximise the full poten-tial of entertainment. One can switch up to the hi-fidelity audio on the soundbar with a total output of 225Watts and precision sound from 150Watts from the rear satellite, Zebronics said.

nikOn’s full-frame mirrOrless camera enters indiaJapanese imaging giant Nikon on Tues-day launched a new full-frame mirrorless camera Nikon Z 5 in India at a starting price of Rs 1,13,995. Accord-ing to the company, the Nikon Z 5 is compact and light-weight, allowing users to move freely as the camera only weighs ap-

proximately 675 grams, and will be avail-able from 27 August. The camera features improved user-friendliness, which eases

the handling and operation via a touch screen and its customisable “i-Menu” that provides shortcuts to frequently used settings in one interface. The

camera has 20 different types of Creative Picture Control, which works like favourite app filters

that apply to both stills and movies, so cre-ations get an immediate uplift. One can also easily upload photos on social media with Nikon Snap Bridge.

2022 iPhOnes tO feature PeriscOPe telePhOtO camerasApple is reportedly planning to introduce peri-scope telephoto cameras into its iPhone lineup in 2022. A periscope lens offers optical zoom capabilities not otherwise possible in a smart-phone camera, allowing for 5x or even 10x op-tical zoom. Periscope lenses have already seen their way into some smartphones including the OPPO Find X2 Pro and the Huawei P40 Pro Plus. A new research note from Ming-Chi Kuo claims that the two strongest lens suppli-ers in Korea and China, Sunny Optical and Semco will join Apple’s lens supply chain later this year and at the beginning of next year re-spectively, reports The Verge. Kuo said that Semco will begin shipping iPhone lens-es, including periscope motors, telephoto lenses in 2022 and a periscope telephoto lens, as well as voice coil motor technol-ogy which will ship in 2022.

redmi nOte 9 with quad rear camera system nOw in indiaChinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Monday launched Redmi Note 9 with a quad rear camera setup at a starting price of Rs 11,999 for the 4GB RAM+64GB storage variant. The phone also has a 4GB RAM+128GB storage option that is priced at Rs 13,499 while the 6GB RAM+128GB variant comes for Rs 14,999. The Redmi Note 9 in three colours - Peb-ble Grey, Arctic White and Aqua Green, will be available from July 24, informed the com-pany. The smartphone features a 6.53-inch full-HD+ (1,080x2,340 pixels) Dot Display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Under the hood, the phone has an octa-core MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, coupled with up to 6GB RAM. The phone houses a quad rear camera setup that houses a 48MP primary sensor, an 8MP secondary sensor, 2MP sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies, there is a 13MP camera sen-sor at the front.

The big, powerful & loaded Audi RS7 arrives in India

class aPart

With a range of personalisation options, the RS7 is available as a wide-bodied five-seater and delivers improved performance along with enhanced efficiency. But is it worth Rs 1.94 crore?sHams naqVInew delhi

auto & tech the daily guardian23 july 2020

new delhi 9

Hyundai has just launched in India the Venue compact SUV with the new intelligent manual transmission (iMT). The clutch, pedal-free iMT is available with the 1.0-litre Kappa Turbo-GDI petrol engine in SX and SX(O) variants of Hyundai Venue with the former priced at Rs 10 lakh (ex-showroom, India) and the latter available for Rs 11.08 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The Venue is currently available with three different BS6-compliant powertrains -- 1.0-litre Kappa Turbo-GDI petrol (120PS/172Nm), 1.2-litre Kappa petrol (83PS/114Nm) and 1.5-litre U2 CRDi diesel (100PS/240Nm). Hyundai has also introduced the Sport trim in Venue with the 1.0-litre Kappa Turbo-GDI petrol and 1.5-litre U2 CRDi diesel engines. Sport trim in Venue now features sporty D-Cut steering with paddle shifters on Kappa 1.0 l T-GDi petrol engine with 7DCT that is available on SX+ trim.

hOt wheels

correspondentnew delhi

The impact of Covid-19 is likely to be seen and felt over the next decade, with both technology and business witnessing massing changes, says a new report from market research firm Forrester.

Despite modern healthcare and the implementation of extensive pandemic management protocols, the effects of Covid-19 will cause profound near-, medium-, and long-term impacts, said the report titled The New, Unstable Normal: How Covid-19 Will Change Business And Technology Forever.

“The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we do business. It has forced firms and policymakers to do things that were previously considered impossible,” Stephanie Balaouras, VP and Group Director at Forrester, said in a statement.

“As a result, business leaders are

quickly embracing new, iterative ways to engage with customers, adapting to new ways of working, investing in technology innovation, and revisiting their business resil-iency plans for long-term success.”

The research showed that the pan-demic has affected global consum-ers in different ways, with their risk sensitivity and desire for conve-nience varying across region, age, and culture.

In the medium term, financial strain and lack of in-person group interaction will cause consumers to feel a lack of meaning and purpose. This will influence spending on trusted brands that connect them to a greater cause.

In the long term, consumers will opt for brands that offer the most control over buying experiences.

Second, businesses will ride the digital engagement wave to create hybrid experiences. In the short term, as values-based consumers

question the ethics of brands and as all experiences become digital in some way, new design practices will emerge that blend emotion and insights, said the report.

Moreover, the pandemic has re-vealed the ability to do things that once seemed infeasible, including shifting entire workforces to re-mote working. Remote working will boost regions around global economic hubs in the medium term as firms shed more than a quarter of their city-center office space, said the report.

Tech and business leaders that ac-celerate digital outputs -- by retiring technical debt -- will in the short term acquire a robust digital operating platform and the needed flexibility to overhaul business models.

In the long term, leaders will invest in enterprise risk management capa-bilities to better evaluate and respond to risk in real time, said the report.With IANS inputs

new rePOrt

hOw cOvid-19 will change tech and businesshyundai venue imt launched in india, Price starts at rs 10 lakh

New arrivals

The Jawa Perak has started delivering from this week after the Co-vid-19 pandemic delayed the process by more than three months. The deliveries were earlier scheduled to begin on 2 April 2020. Jawa Perak has been BS6-compliant from the moment it first arrived in India in November 2019. Its 334cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, four-stroke, DOHC engine earlier made 30.64PS and 31Nm of peak torque. Its chassis has been “completely reworked”, claim the makers. There is a new swingarm as well. The front gets telescopic hydraulic forks, 18-inch tyre, and a single 280mm disc, while the rear has 7-step adjustable monoshock, 17-inch tyre, and a single 240mm disc. Priced at Rs 1,94,500 (ex-showroom, Delhi), Jawa Parek is work the money. It features a single-floating seat and an LED tail-lamp that is integrated into the seat. There is also a halogen headlamp at the front.

Jawa Perak starts delivering in india after 3-mOnth delay

Mu s i c m ae st r o A.R. Rahman on Wednesday paid

a musical tribute to late ac-tor Sushant Singh Rajput. Multiple artists like Shreya Ghoshal, Sunidhi Chau-han, Mohit Chauhan, Ari-

jit Singh, Aditya Narayan, Jonita Gandhi, Raja Kumari, who have lent their musi-cals in the actor’s last film Dil Bechara’s playlist, joined him.

In the virtual concert, the singers performed all the tracks of Dil Bechara, which are receiving a lot of love and appreciation from fans.

These include Dil Bechara, Taare Gin, Khulke Jeene Ka, Main Tumhara, Maskhari, Afreeda and more. Ahead of Taare Gin, singer Mohit Chauhan told the audiences that this particular song is dedicated to Sushant’s love for astronomy.

All praises for Rahman, Mohit had earlier said in an interview, “I’m amazed at A.R. Rahman’s under-standing of music. He plants songs so wonderfully into the story of the film. Shreya and I have tried our best to deliver what the maestro ex-pected of us.”

With this, the countdown for Dil Bechara has be-gun. Directed by Mukesh Chhabra, the film star-ring Sushant Singh Rajput alongside debutant Sanjana Sanghi, will premiere on Disney+Hotstar on 24 July. As a tribute to the late actor, the movie will be available to all subscribers and non-subscribers, free of cost.

Actor Vidya Balan has urged every-one to let late actor Sushant Singh Rajput “really” rest in peace. She has also expressed that no one can be blamed if someone decides to end his or her life.

In a recent interview with a news portal, Vidya Balan said, “With Su-

shant Singh Rajput passing away, people who felt wronged, ignored, there was a sense of identification with him. Now the point is rightly or wrongly we do not know, be-cause we do not know why he took the step he did. To show respect is to keep quiet. To speculate is... people can come up with all sorts of theo-ries and that’s unfair to him more than anyone else, and his loved

ones, who’re probably grieving.”Talking about her own experi-

ence, the actress added, “I’ve been through ups and downs and I’ve had all sorts of experiences in the industry. I am not saying nepotism does not exist, but I didn’t let that stand in my way. That said, every-one is different. It’s a tumultuous time and it really helps to talk to someone.”

entertainment Rahman hosts Dil Bechara’s virtual concert, Shreya, Mohit, Raja Kumari join in

No oNe caN be blamed if someoNe takes owN life: Vidya balaN

TV actor Sharad Malhotra has expressed concern over rising Covid-19 cases in India and said with the process of unlocking the country, life may be slowly getting back to normal but everyone is still scared of the deadly pathogen.

Sharad, who became a household name with the popular serial Banoo Main Teri Dulhann felt that this pandemic has made everyone look at each other with suspicion. “I don’t think Covid scare has reduced. When I step out of my house in Mumbai, I feel a lot of anxiety, despair amongst the people.

Everyone has one question in their mind that what if the person next to them is infected? The environment we live in is very unpleas-ant” Sharad said.

He further said that there is a section of people who is oblivious to Covid-related threats but then there is a major section who is still tak-

ing precautions to reduce the chances of getting infected or spreading the virus. “The majority of the population is still scared of coronavirus. I think the new normal is not a very happy normal. It has become clear that face masks are here to stay”

When the Maharashtra government eased restrictions on outdoor activities, a photograph from Marine Drive went viral on the Internet, wherein people were seen flouting social distancing norms. Talking about the same, Sharad said, “When I saw the Marine Drive photo, I was very agitated. I was very irritated that we need to be responsible individually, but I wouldn’t blame them because they were stuck in their homes for 90 days.” The actor, however, urged everyone to be careful while step-ping out.

New Normal isN’t a happy Normal, says tV actor sharad malhotra

Priyanka SharmaNew Delhi

Shweta VermaMuMbai

Priyanka SharmaNew Delhi

Sushant’s family deserves

an apology: Swara Mumbai: Actress Swara Bhasker says the family of

late actor Sushant Singh Rajput deserves an apology for the way his name has been dragged into various

arguments. “Had an introspective moment. I think we owe Sushant Singh Rajput’s family an apology for the number of times they must’ve read his name in our ar-guments. This is not about us,” Swara wrote on Twit-ter. “Sushant has a release coming up, let’s celebrate the memory of the bright life we lost. Let’s be kind,”

she added. On 14 June, Sushant was found hang-ing in his Bandra residence by his domestic

help, which left his fans shocked. His demise sparked off discussions on the

issue of nepotism in Bollywood.

the daily guardian23 july 2020new delhi10

Ben Stokes’ contribution to his team can never be summed up in mere num-bers; his name will be men-tioned with utmost respect in English cricket. Stokes’ brilliance was evident in the second of the three Test match series against West Indies. He hit his slowest century — 176 of 356 balls in the first innings — which was the need of the hour. He hit a vital half-century in the next innings as well, which is the fastest knock by any English opener.

Providing major break-throughs on crucial times for his team, his bowling performance was equally impressive. Not to forget, he not only outperformed other players but also marked vic-tory in a high-pressure game which was a prerequisite for the English team to maintain their chance of winning the tri-match series.

Stokes, surpassing Jason Holder, has become the number one all-rounder in the world, with an impressive margin of 38 points after his phenomenal performance against West Indies. The 29-year-old English cricketer ended Holder’s streak of 18 months at the top spot, the first from England since An-drew Flintoff in May 2006. His 497 points are also the high-est by any Test all-rounder since Jacques Kallis’ 517 in April 2008.

Not only this, earlier this year, Stokes even ended Virat Kohli’s three-year reign of Wisden’s Leading Cricketer Of The Year when he was honoured with the title for his exceptional performance last year. He is also now the third-best Test batsman only behind Steve Smith and Virat Kohli in ICC Test ranking of batsmen.

Ben Stokes anchored the most phenomenal victory in recent times for England and has emerged as the man of the moment for his team with an all-round performance against the most competitive

teams. Since 2019, he has been a leading run-scorer for his team with 1,355 runs in 16 Tests, averaging 52.11.

Indeed, he has evolved as one of the prolific players for England. His contribution to England’s run is most by any batsmen with 17.79 percent, ahead of Joe Root who scored 1,114 runs in as many Tests, with 14.86 percent of England’s run since 2019. Stokes has been equally efficacious with the ball -- 36 wickets at 29.61, only behind Stuart Broad with 52 wickets.

Stokes’ greatness has many pieces of evidence and in the process, he is adding many feathers to his cap. He is in the elite club of players scored 4,000 plus Test runs and over 150 Test wickets and second fastest to mark his presence in the club, after the legendary Garfield Sobers. The club consists of giants like Jacques Kallis, Garry Sobers, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Daniel Vettori.

Stokes has been an intel-ligent cricketer in interna-tional cricket but he also proved his worth in one of the most high-profile club cricket -- IPL. In 2017, he was included in the auction and bought by Rising Pune Supergiants, and soon with his much-needed knocks, which also include a century, grabbed everyone’s attention. He smashed 300 runs and with 10 wickets at crucial stages, he was considered

one of the valuable players of the season. Since then he has an impressive IPL record and is still considered one of the most-watched players.

In the World Cup 2019 final, one of the most heart-pounding and cliffhanging matches ever, Stokes, the man of moment, stepped up to lead his team to the maiden title and without dis-appointing anyone he halted New Zealand a run before the margin victory and took the match to first ever super-over in the WC final. He again came to face the super-over with the bat and scored 8 of 3 balls and led England to defendable 15 runs. Though, Kiwis made it to the exact score and lost the title by boundary count-back rule. Thus, Stokes was awarded “Man of The Match” and listed his names amongst players who won the award in the WC final.

A dream does not become reality through magic, but with determination, hard work and sweat. Stokes has it all and he is clinching remarkable feats. His style of cricket and skill of decisive efforts has been a knack for England in recent times and the manner he is playing turned out to be an inspira-tion for youngsters all across the globe. Stoke is one guy taking the baton of game inventors with pride and honors. Pleasure watching Stokes!

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, all the sporting activities across the world came to an unprecedented halt. Some of the sports however, including Football and Cricket, saw a resump-tion behind the closed doors and without the au-diences.Nevertheless, the fate of the much awaited 2020 Olympics lies in the murky waters. However, the statement lately made by the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Organising Committee President, Yoshiro Mori cleared off the dust from the story.

Mori has finally admitted that it won’t be possible to host the Games next year if the current situation around the coronavirus pandemic prevails in the Japanese capital.

Tokyo hit a new daily record of 293 cases last week, and the figures have stayed above 200 in recent days. With experts warning a rapid spread of the infec-tion, the city’s Governor Yuriko Koike has asked residents to stay at home.

“If current situation continues, we couldn’t,”

Mori said when asked if the Games can go ahead in the prevailing circumstances on Japanese news channel NHK.

Mori, however, also said that it is not appropriate for him to answer hypothetical questions at this point and he doesn’t believe that the situation will remain the same a year later.

Originally scheduled to be held from July 24 to August 9 this year, the Tokyo Olym-pics was postponed in an unprecedented move due to the outbreak of coronavirus in mid-March.

The Games are now scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8 in 2021,

but a number of health experts have expressed doubts over whether the situation around the pan-demic will be stable enough for the Games to go ahead.

Mori admitted that whether the Games will take place will depend upon the availability of a vaccine for Covid-19.

“Whether the Olympics can be held depends on whether humanity can beat the coronavirus,” Mori said, adding, “Specifically, to develop a vaccine or drug is the first point.”The organis-ers have made it clear since the postponement that the Games won’t be postponed one more time.

With an objective of ensur-ing continuity in the train-ing of athletes, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Wednesday extended the contract of 32 foreign coaches in 11 disciplines till 30 September 2021.

The contracts of many coaches were to end in September this year. The decision to extend their contracts was taken to en-sure that athletes bound for the Tokyo Olympics could retain continuity in their training with the same coaches.

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju said, “The postpone-ment of Tokyo Olympics by a year makes it impera-tive that the same coaches be retained so that athletes are not disadvantaged in any way. A new coach takes time to understand an ath-lete and the athlete needs time to understand the training process of a coach. We don’t have that kind of time now.”

This comes after Ri-jiju earlier announced that coaches, both India and foreign, will be hired for at least 4 years or one Olym-pic cycle to ensure continu-

ity in training. The 4-year contract will be handed out with an eye on the 2024 and 2028 Olympics.

The interim extension till 2021 is an immediate step to ensure athletes have the same coaches till the Tokyo

Olympics.The further extension of

contract for 4 years will be decided on the basis of the performance of the coach-es and recommendation from the respective NSFs. The contracts, though for 4 years, will be reviewed annually and extended on the basis of overall perfor-mance of a coach, indicated by the performance of ath-letes in major international events.

Th e To kyo Oly mp i c Games will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021, while the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5, 2021.

Ben StokeS: the herculeS Incarnate

current SItuatIon not congenIal for olympIcS: morI

Eyeing at Tokyo 2021, SAI extends contract of 32 foreign coaches

Q. How do you see cricket amid the Covid-19 pan-demic, especially since the

Test cricket has returned to the field after several months?A. It is a completely differ-ent thing. We never thought that without using saliva we will use the ball, there will be social distancing among the players, and the way play-ers celebrate now — without hugging and high-fiving — is something different. Seeing Jofra Archer getting sus-pended because of breaking the protocol, you see, cricket has altogether returned in a new avatar. Nevertheless, sports have started. Thank God for that. Q. We saw English bowlers hav-ing a tough time. Do you see — amidst the new web of rules, especially the saga of ball shining — that bowlers are struggling?A. Of course! Shining the ball is an indispensable ritual for a swing bowler. Even for the spinners for that matter, when you can shine the ball well, you get an extra amount of drift. Since the ban of saliva has been imposed, bowlers

will struggle. But I am sure there is some way out, though undiscovered yet, and we can get through it very soon. Q. James Anderson did not get a place in the second Test because he could not scalp many wickets in the first Test. What do you think about the bowler who has also troubled batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar at times?A. The cricketer has not played cricket for a long time and it is very difficult for the fast bowler to make a come-back; the fast bowler has to practice more, and as you see practicing has been nearly impossible amidst the pan-demic. Moreover, I am quite confident that a legendary bowler like Anderson will catch his rhythm very soon. Q. Your commentary is being praised a lot these days, what is the secret?A. I guess that once you play cricket and experience the things on the field, you have a great deal to offer in the com-mentary box. Moreover, be-sides presenting the game to the viewers and entertaining them, I always try to impart knowledge through my com-ments Q. What do you think about the

batting duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma?A. They are two of the great-est batsmen the white-ball cricket has ever seen. Virat Kohli is a run machine, we all know the way he wins the match and chases the scores. He can mould himself in ev-ery situation and his fitness is his biggest strength. Again, Rohit Sharma is pure class. His timing is the same as Pakistan’s legendary batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq. Inzi used to have a lot of time against the fast bowler, Rohit Sharma is

also like that. He has a lot of time while playing fast bowl-ers. Moreover, both of them have a great converting abil-ity; they easily convert a 50 into a hundred, and hundred into a double and so on. That is tremendous. Q. Do you feel in the two formats, having two captains is going to be beneficial for India? Do you think Rohit can lead the white ball and Virat can take the charge of Tests?A. Rohit Sharma has played a big role in the success of Mumbai Indians. The way he has led the team is impecca-ble. However, I doubt the fact

that it would be successful to have two different captains for two formats. India being a country where cricket is al-most a religion, I do not think that the two-captain theory would fit in the cricketing culture. Q. What is the most memorable moment for you? Your Test debut or the hat-trick against Pakistan?A. I would always remember Sourav Ganguly giving me my cap at the Adelaide Oval, the moment I would cherish forever. Whatever contribu-tion I made to India, all of it started with that cap, that moment is very close to my heart. Whenever I sit alone, I miss the moment. Q. Under whose captaincy did you enjoy playing the most, Ra-hul Dravid or Sourav Ganguly?A. Both of them were special in their own ways. Sourav would always be special to me because he was my first captain. I learned a lot under his leadership. Again, Dravid was the one who utilised me in a way that all my potential and capabilities were used. It was under Dravid’s captaincy that I emerged as a better all-rounder and a more mature player.

Anil Kumble, the legendary former leg-spinner of In-dia, has opened up regard-ing his stint as head coach of Team India and stated it was a great feeling to again become a part of the dress-ing room following his re-tirement.

In 2017, Kumble resigned from the high-profile role after his relationship with skipper Virat Kohli be-came ‘untenable’. There were reports that things were wrong between the two heavyweights for quite some time but Kohli brushed aside such talks during the Champions Tro-phy.

However, after the con-clusion of the tournament where India lost to Pakistan in the final, Kumble stepped down as head coach.

Kumble stated he holds no regrets but did concede that end could have been better.

“I was very happy that

I took up that role. It was great...the one year I spent with the team was fantas-tic,” Kumble told former

Zimbabwe cricketer Mpu-melelo Mbangwa during a live chat on the latter’s Ins-tagram handle.

“Having been with great performers and again be-ing a part of the Indian dressing room was a great feeling.

“We did well in that one year. I was really happy that there were some con-tributions made and there are no regrets.

I was happy moving on from there as well. I know the end could have been better but then that’s fine,” he added.

The 49-year-old also opened up regarding his re-lationship with off-spinner Harbjahan Singh and he gave an insight into how the two bowled in tandem and helped India achieve multiple victories during their time together in the national team.

“I had a very special bond with Bhajji (Harbjahan) because we played a lot more. Also, Venkatpathy Raju, who was my first spin partner along with Rajesh Chauhan. Towards the sec-ond half of my career, Har-bjahan Singh was pretty special,” Kumble said.

“To have someone who could pick up fifers, for me, that was like a big ad-vantage because when you have two spinners and both are capable of picking five wickets then as a batsman you know...even before the start of the match that you are under pressure.

“That kind of pressure certainly helps bowlers pick up wickets,” he added.

Kumble represented In-dia in a total of 132 Tests and 271 ODIs in which he scalped 619 and 337 wickets respectively.(With inputs from IANS)

Two-captain theory won’t work in India, says Pathan

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IntervIeW

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan talks to The Daily Guardian about his experiences with Team India and how Covid has impacted cricket.

End could have been better: Kumble on stint as Team India head coach

Former cricketer Irfan Pathan.

Former cricketer Anil Kumble.

Yoshiro Mori.

English all-rounder Ben Stokes.

RAJEEV MISHRANEW DELHI

OUR CORRESPONDENTNEW DELHI

AISHVARYA JAINNEW DELHI

AAkASH SRIVASTAVANEW DELHI

OUR CORRESPONDENTTOKYO

sportsthe daily guardian23 july 2020

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