JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

ENS& PTIAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

ASPARTof its drive against ille-gal firearmnetworkinthestate,theGujaratAntiTerrorismSquadarrested14peopleandseized51weaponsworth Rs 1.5 crore, anofficial saidonTuesday."On June19,wehadarrested

oneMushtaqBaloch andWahidPathan and seized 54 foreignmade weapons from them,

throughwhichwediscovered aracketofillegalguns.Theaccusedhaverevealedthattheyprocuredthe guns fromone TarunGuptawhorunsTarunGunHouseshopinRamdevnagarofAhmedabad.Itwasfurtherinvestigatedandto-day,14morewerearrestedfromparts of Gujarat and asmany as51weaponswere seized," said aseniorofficialofATS.Accordingtoofficials, thear-

rested are from Rajula inSurendranagar,AbdasainKutch

Bhuj, Halvad in Morbi, Rapar,BhachauandAhmedabad.Amongthemwas Digvijaysinh Zala ofHalvadtownofMorbidistrict,whohadacquired14importedgunsintherecentpastandsoldanauto-maticpistoltoGupta,theagencysaid ina release.Another key accused held

during the raids was MukeshBhukiya,ownerof JayAmbegunhouseinMandalinAhmedabaddistrict, andpartofGupta'snet-work, it added.

In raids across state, Gujarat ATS seizes51 weapons worth Rs 1.5 crore, arrests 14

ADDRESSTONATION

Poor hardesthit, PMextendsfree rationsuntil NovemberCredit for this safetynetgoes to farmerswhoworkedhard,honest taxpayers:PM

DEEPTIMANTIWARY&HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI, JUNE30

ACKNOWLEDGING THAT theCovid pandemic and the lock-downhavehitthepoorthehard-est, Prime Minister NarendraModi Tuesday announced ex-tension of the PradhanMantriGarib Kalyan Anna Yojana(PMGKAY)for80crorepeopletilltheendofNovember.Theschemetodistributefree

ration to the poor during thelockdownwas to end Tuesday.By announcing the five-monthextension in an address to thenation,thePrimeMinisterchoseto lend weight to the govern-ment’seffortstoaddressapress-ingdomesticproblematatimeitis being targeted by theOppositionovertheplightof the

poorandthemigrants.Modi also underlined the

need for a One Nation, OneRation Card: “Wehave a dreamforthewholecountry,andsomestates have really done

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, JUNE30

TALKS BETWEEN XIV CorpsCommander Lt GeneralHarinder Singh and SouthXinjiang Military RegionCommanderMajor General LiuLin todiscussa roadmap forde-escalationanddisengagementoftroops along the Line of ActualControl continuedwell into thenight Tuesday at the Chushulborderpoint.The meeting, the third be-

tweenthetwocommanderswhofirstmetonJune6,startedaround11amatChushul—themeetingson June6and June22wereheldatMoldo on the Chinese side oftheborderwithChushul.

While there was no officialword onwhat transpired at themeeting, sources in the Army,pointing to a trust deficit giventhe build-up along the LAC andthe loss of 20 Indian Army per-sonnel in a violent showdownwith Chinese troops in GalwanValleyon June15, said: “Armyispreparing for the long haul andthe standoff is expected to con-tinuewell into thewinter.”“Theprocesstodefinethede-

tails of disengagement,” sourcessaid,wastakenupatthemeeting

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

120DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATES

TOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Delhi

■TamilNadu

■Haryana

■Telangana

7 DAYS EARLIER:

3.18NOW:

2.98

7 DAYS EARLIER:

6.17NOW:

6.58

DETECTED TODAY

18,522RECOVERED TODAY:

13,099

TOTAL

CASES

1,69,883

85,161

86,224

14,210

15,394

DOUBLING

RATE**

22.15

16.06

14.99

19.50

8.43

SURGEIN

24HOURS

5,257

2,084

3,949

381

975

7-DAYAVG

GROWTH*

3.25%

4.48%

4.80%

3.69%

8.54%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:5,66,839TESTS: 86,08,654 | DOUBLING RATE: 19.58**

RECOVERED:3,34,821DEATHS: 16,893

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

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

CASE FATALITY RATIO

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

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

SURBHIGUPTANEWDELHI, JUNE30

THEORDERbanning59Chineseapps, including TikTok, came asasurprisetoMujeebKhan,amu-sicianwithafollowingofalmosttwo million people — fromhometown Rudrapur inUttarakhand, to metro citiesDelhi andMumbai.Hesupportsthegovernment,

he says, as themove is linked tothe standoff with China and“nothing comes before the na-tion”.So,onMondaynight,soonafterthegovernmentannounce-

ment,hewentliveonTikTokandurgedhis fans to start followinghimon Instagraminstead.At 6 pm on Tuesday, TikTok

went inactive in India. It can no

longer be downloaded fromGoogleandApple storeseither.Fond of creating cover ver-

sionsofhitsongs,Khan,24,joinedtheplatformin2018.Hedidn’tgetmuchresponseinitially,butthenavideohepostedwithhistoddlerniecegotoveramillionviews.Thechacha-bhatijiduoweresoonahitpair, putting up videoswith thehashtag#chachukiamyra,whereKhan lip-synced to songs asAmyralaughedalong.Last summer, Khanwas in-

vited by TikTok to attend a cre-ators’ lab in Mumbai. “I was

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

Nothingcomesbeforenation:MujeebKhan;AdnaanShaikh

Fan base gone, TikTok stars hit but readyfor options: ‘App is banned, not talent’

PrimeMinisterNarendraModichairsameetingtoreviewpreparations for vaccinationagainstCovid-19,asandwhenavaccine isavailable, inNewDelhionTuesday.ANI

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,JUNE30

TWO DAYS after Nepal PrimeMinisterKPSharmaOli claimedthatIndiawastryingtotopplehisgovernmentwith support fromsomepoliticians at home, partyleaders, including three formerprimeministers, Tuesday asked

himtoprovehisallegationsorquit.Speaking at a closed-door

standing committeemeeting ofthe ruling Nepal CommunistParty, Pushpa Kamal DahalPrachanda,MadhavKumarNepaland Jhalnath Khanal, aswell asformer deputy PM BamdebGautam, demanded thatOli re-sign,havingfailedoneverycount.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

DAVIDSHEPARDSONWASHINGTON, JUNE30

THE FEDERALCommunicationsCommissiononTuesdayformallydesignated China's HuaweiTechnologiesCoandZTECorpasposing threats toUSnational se-curity, adeclaration thatbarsUSfirmsfromtappingan$8.3billiongovernment fund to purchaseequipment fromthecompanies.TheUStelecommunicationsreg-ulator voted inNovember5-0 toissue the declaration and pro-posed requiring rural carriers toremove and replace equipmentfromthetwoChinesecompaniesfromexistingUSnetworks.“We cannot andwill not al-

low the Chinese CommunistPartytoexploitnetworkvulner-abilities and compromise ourcritical communications infra-structure,”FCCChairmanAjitPaisaid in a statement Tuesday.Huawei and ZTE did not imme-diately respond to requests forcomment but have previously

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Huawei, ZTEare securitythreats, saysUS FCC

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE30

BROADCASTERSWILL have to“figureout adifferentmonetisa-tionmodel” if the current anti-

Chinasentimentpersists in thecountry amidthetenseborderface-off and thegovernment'sban on 59 mo-bile apps withChineselinks,ac-cording toUday

Shankar, president, The WaltDisney Company (Asia Pacific)andchairman,Star&DisneyIndia.Shankar said the Covid pan-

demicandtheChinaissuepresentCONTINUEDONPAGE2

AASHISHARYAN&PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI, JUNE30

THECENTRE'Sdecisiontoban59mobile applications withChineselinks,includingthepop-ular social media platformTikTok,is“interiminnature”andthefirmsbehindtheseappshavebeen given 48 hours to provideclarifications on key issues, offi-cials and executives told TheIndianExpress.The firms will mainly be

asked to clarify their data-shar-ing norms under a Chinese lawthat requires companies ofChineseorigintosharedatawith

thatcountry’sintelligenceagen-cies, irrespective of where theyoperate. Additionally, thegovernment is expected to askcompanieswithoutapresenceinIndiatoappointalocalgrievanceofficer.On Tuesday, reacting to the

government's ban, ChineseEmbassy spokesperson Ji Rongsaid his country is “seriously

concernedwith and firmly op-posed tosuchaction”.TikTok’s India chief, Nikhil

Gandhi,saidthegovernmenthas“issued an interimorder for theblocking of 59 apps, includingTikTok,andweareintheprocessof complyingwith it”.“We have been invited to

meet with concerned govern-mentstakeholdersforanoppor-tunity to respond and submitclarifications. TikTok continuesto complywith all data privacyand security requirements un-der Indian law and has notshared any information of ourusers in India with any foreigngovernment, including the

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

EXPLAINED

SIMPLYPUT

THETOPBANNEDCHINESEAPPSPAGE15

China data-sharing law a keyissue, apps get 48 hrs to clarify

GOVT&POLITICS

INDIAREACHESOUT,JAISHANKARDIALSCOUNTERPARTINFRANCE PAGE13

LAC de-escalation talks stretch,Army prepares for the long haul

Atthemeeting inKathmanduonTuesday.ANI

Nepal party leaderstell PM Oli to proveIndia charge or resign

THEDECISIONmaycastashadowoverZTEandHuaweiparticipationin5GtrialsandspectrumauctionlikelylaterthisyearinIndia.TheDoThadtargeted5GspectrumauctioninMarch-Aprilbutcouldnotbeginduetothepandemic.Barringthemmayhaverevenueimplications,butnationalsecurityislikelytobeseenasmoreimportant.

Willcast

shadowhereE●EXPLAIN

ED

‘If anti-Chinamood persists,broadcastersmust rethink’

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

UdayShankar

WORLD

EUOPENSBORDERSTO 14COUNTRIES,BUTNOT INDIA, U.S.

CHINAPASSES LAWWITHSWEEPINGPOWERSOVERHONGKONGPAGE16

GUARDINGTHEGUARDIANSBYABHISHEKSINGHVI

PAGE8

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

FROMPAGEONE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Decodingtheeffectofbanning59appswithChinese linkNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

Howthebanon59China-madeappsmayaffect their Indianusers,butnotnecessarily theircompanies

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CLARIFICATIONS &

CORRECTIONS

27.06.2020,PAGE9IN THE article ‘Healthy stock inreservoirs’, the all-India figuresunder the subhead StorageStatus, reflectingexistingstocksas a percentage of capacity,should have read: 33 (2020), 17(2019),and19(10-yearaverage).Theerror is regretted.

Data-sharinglaw a key issueChinese government. Further,ifweare requested to in the fu-ture,wewouldnot do so,” saidGandhi.Club Factory, which is

amongthebannedapps, said ina statement: “We complywithall data security norms andhave not compromised withthe security or privacy of anyusers... We have always beenwillingandcontinue to remaincommittedtoworkingwiththegovernmenttoresolveanycon-cerns.”The government has al-

ready asked Google and Appleto remove the apps from theirstores for users in India, andwill issue similar instructionsto Internet Service Providers(ISPs) such as Jio, Airtel, andVodafone, sources said. In astatement issued Monday, thegovernmentsaid ithas invokedpowers under Section 69A ofthe IT Act, read with relevantprovisions of the IT (Procedureand Safeguards for Blocking ofAccess of Information byPublic)Rules2009, tobantheseapps.In response, the Chinese

Embassyspokespersonallegedthat themove “selectively anddiscriminatorilyaimsatcertainChinese apps on ambiguousand far-fetched grounds, runsagainst fair and transparentprocedure requirements” andcould be “violating the WTOrules”.The spokesperson also

claimed that the action “goesagainst thegeneral trendof in-ternational trade and E-com-merce, and is not conducive toconsumer interests and themarket competition in India”.RongsaidChinaexpected Indiato acknowledge “the mutuallybeneficial nature” of bilateral“economic and trade coopera-tion”.Meanwhile, a seniorofficial

at the Ministry of Electronicsand Information Technologyconfirmed that the govern-ment's statement Monday“served as an interim order”.Theofficial saidthata joint-sec-retary levelpanel,withofficialsfrom the ministries of IT,Telecom, Law and HomeAffairs, have been tasked withhearing clarifications fromcompany representatives.Given the Covid situation, theofficial said, the meetings willlikelyhappenviavideo-confer-encing.Based on the hearing, the

committeewill send its recom-mendations to another panelcomprisingthesecretariesof IT,Law, Telecom and HomeAffairs, with the PrimeMinister’s Office being kept inthe loop. The joint-secretarypanel may also issue a show-cause notice to these apps andask themtoplaceonrecord thenumberof timesChineseagen-cies have asked for data andwhether they complied withsuch requests. Details regard-ingthenatureofdatasoughtbyChineseauthoritiesandthefre-quency is also likely to besought, sources said.“The final decision on

whether to ban the apps per-manently or ask for somechanges in compliance normsis left to the secretary-levelpanel. Until this panel takes itsfinaldecision, the interimorderwill remain in force,” the offi-cial said. Further, the govern-ment could ask these compa-nies to appoint a nodal orgrievance officer, who can bequestioned in case of com-plaints about phishing or databreach.The IT Ministry has previ-

ously raisedred flagsabout theChinese lawondata-sharing.Tobypass this, several companieshaveestablishedheadquartersoutside China with a complex

web of ownership for theirIndian entities.In its statement Monday,

the ITministryhadsaidthat thedecision toban these appswastaken given the “emergent na-tureof threats” fromtheseappsand based on information thattheywereengaged inactivities“prejudicial to sovereigntyandintegrity”,defence, securityandpublic order.According toanothersenior

official, the Centre had studiedthe flow of data from theseappstoChinawhich, incongru-ence with “recent credible in-puts that such apps posed athreat to sovereignty and in-tegrity of India”, led to theban.

(SHUBHAJITROY&

KARISHMAMEHROTRA)

PM extends freerations untilNovemberwell. We are requesting otherstates also to take it forward…OneNation,OneRationCard…the entire nationwill have oneration card. The poorwill ben-efit the most from this. It willhelp those who go to otherstates in search of employ-ment.”Saying “we are now enter-

ing Unlock-Two in our fightagainst the corona pandemic”,heurgedpeoplenot tobecare-less. He said adherence to pre-cautions such as use of masks,social distancing and hygienewere of utmost importance. Inthis context,hesaid the“PrimeMinisterof acountrywas finedRs 13,000 for not wearing amask in a public place” – thereference was to the penaltyimposed on Bulgarian PrimeMinisterBoykoBorissov fornotwearingaprotective facemaskduring a visit to a church.But the issue of free ration

to the poorwas the focal pointof thePrimeMinister’saddress:“Over 80 crore people weregiven free ration for threemonths. Itmeans, everymem-ber of the family was given 5kilogramwheat or rice, free ofcost. In addition, every familygot one kilogram of dal permonth, free of cost. In a way,over 2.5 times the populationof the United States, 12 timesthe population of the UnitedKingdomanddouble thepopu-lation of the European Unionwere given free ration by ourgovernment.”“In our country, there are

many activities in agricultureduring and after the rainy sea-son. Other sectors do not havemuch activity. July also marksthebeginningof thefestivesea-son. 5th July is Guru Purnima,then the month of Saawanstarts. Then 15th August iscoming, Raksha Bandhan, SriKrishna Janmashtami, GaneshChaturthi, Onam will follow.Further, Kati Bihu, Navratri,Durga Puja are coming, thenDussehra, Diwali and ChhathPuja. This festive season in-creases necessities as well asexpenditure. Keeping all theseinmind, it has beendecided toextend the Pradhan MantriGaribKalyanAnnaYojanauptoDiwali and Chhath Puja, tillNovember-end.”“It means this scheme of

giving free ration to 80 crorepeople will continue throughJuly, August, September,October, November. The gov-ernment will provide free ra-tion to 80 crore poor brothers-sisters for five months. Everymember of the family will getfive kilogram wheat or rice.Also, every family will get onekilogram of whole chana permonth, free of cost.”“Over 90,000 crore rupees

will be spent on this extensionofPradhanMantriGaribKalyanAnna Yojana. If we add expen-diture of the last threemonthson this scheme, then it comes

to around 1.5 lakh crore ru-pees.”He said “if the government

is able to provide free ration totheneedyandpoor, thencreditfor it goes to two categories.One, hardworking farmers ofour country. Second, honesttaxpayers of our country. It isyourhardworkanddedication,due towhich thenation is ableto do it. You have filled thestocks of the nation, therefore,there is food in the kitchens ofthepoor,workers.Youpaid thetaxhonestly; you fulfilledyourduty. That is why the poor ofthe country are successfullycopingwithsuchabigcrisis.Onbehalf of all the poor of thecountry, I expressmy heartfeltgratitude to all taxpayersand farmers, and also salutethem”.“In thecomingdays,wewill

further strengthen our effortsand continuously work to em-power the poor, downtroddenand deprived sections of soci-ety.While takingall theprecau-tions, we will further expandeconomic activities. We willwork ceaselessly forAtmanirbharBharat.Weallwillbe vocal for local,” he said.The PMGKAY is one of the

main components of theCentre's Rs 1.70 lakh crore re-lief packageunder thePradhanMantriGaribKalyanYojana forthepoor to“helpthemfight thebattle against coronavirus”. Itwas announced by FinanceMinister Nirmala SitharamanonMarch 26.The scheme involves pro-

viding additional 5 kg food-grain free to 80 crore benefici-aries of the National FoodSecurity Act (NFSA), over andabove their monthly entitle-ment. Initially, it was for threemonths -- April, May and Juneonly.Earlier, thegovernmentwas

distributingonekilogramofdalalong with 5 kg wheat or rice.Themillingof pulses,however,endedupdelayingdeliveryanddistribution of dal. Changing itto chana is expected to speedupdelivery.Incidentally, several state

Chief Ministers and Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi hadwritten to the Prime Minister,asking him to extend theschemeThe government hadmade

additional allocation of 1.20croremetric tonsof foodgrainsunder PMGKAY for threemonths (April-June2020). Outof about themonthlyallocationof 40 lakhmetric tonnes, stateshave distributed about 93 percent inApril,92percent inMayand 74 per cent in June. WestBengal is theonlystate thathasnot distributed food grains forMay and June. Some states, forinstance Bihar and Delhi, havedistributed less food grainsthan the national average.According to the latest

buffer norms, which are inplace since July 2017, the gov-ernment has to maintain astockof at least210.40 lakhMTof food grains as on April 1;411.20 lakh MT as on July 1;307.70 lakh MT as on October1; and 214.10 lakh MT as onJanuary 1.According to the Food

Ministry, “As on June 29, 2020,FCI has 266.22 lakh metrictonnes of rice and 550.49 LMTwheat. Therefore, a total stockof 816.71 LMT food grains isavailable. (Excluding theongo-ing purchase of wheat andpaddy, which have not yetreached the godown).”“UnderNFSAandotherwel-

fare schemes, about 55 LMTfood grains are required for amonth,” the Ministry stated.Speaking to The Indian Express,Minister of Consumer Affairs,Food and Public DistributionRam Vilas Paswan hailed thePrime Minister’s announce-ment on extension of the

scheme until November-end.Calling it “a historic step in theinterest of poor”, Paswan said:“I would like to urge all stategovernments toensurethat thebenefits of this scheme reachthe poor immediately. Theyshould start lifting food grainsfrom today.”

TikTok starssurprised to find that so manytop creators knew me. Fanskept approaching for photo-graphs evenwhen Iwas roam-ing in the city,” he says.The TikTok fame helped Khangetmusic shows and gigs backhome,apart frombrandcollab-orations. TikTokmadestarsoutof many such youngsters insmall towns, cities, even vil-lages across India.One of the most popular,

RiyazAly,allof16,hasalmost43million followers on the plat-form. Hailing from Jaigaon, atown in West Bengal on theIndia-Bhutan border, he is nowbased in Mumbai, is a fashionicon and is known for his dancemovesandmusicvideos.Another TikTok star is

KishoreBargal, 30, acottonandcornfarmer fromAurangabad’sPokharivillage.Hegotonto theplatform over two years ago,andwould post videos sharingfarmingtips, aswell asdancingto Marathi and Bollywoodsongsand lip-syncing filmdia-logues.While Bargal says he can

move to a new platform, heworries itwill taketimeforhimto build a similar following.“Looking at the likesthat my videos got gave mehappiness likenothingelse,”hesays.Pratik Gaur, who runs the

talent management companyCelebistaan, says thereareover25,000creatorswithmorethanone million followers onTikTok. Gaur has discoveredand groomed most of the topnames — including Aly, NishaGuragain, Faisu,AashikaBhatiaand Jannat Zubair.Noting how TikTok surged

in India aftermergingwith theapp Musical.ly, Gaur, 22, says,“This increased thevisibility ofcreators 10 times, and allowedthem to follow global trends.The youngsters got to learnnew languages, music anddance forms… Each of my topcreators charges about Rs 2.5-3 lakh per video, and earnsabout Rs 50 lakh a month.”There are hundreds of talentmanagement agencies like hisall over thecountry.BollywoodandTVstarsareamongcelebri-ties on the platform. Last year,when TikTok was brieflybanned following an order bytheMadras High Court, ownerByteDance approached thegovernment torunpromotionsandawarenesscampaignsonit.The company also created

EduTok,where experts in vari-ous fields, such as teachers,gym trainers, doctors, carpen-ters, shared tips.Big brands such as Pepsi,

Puma,CleanandClear, FlipkartandMyntra,amongothers,alsoruntheir campaignsontheappthroughhashtagpromotion, in-fluencer outreach and homescreen ads. The ad rates, be-tweenRs5 lakh-Rs50 lakh, aremore economical thanYouTubeandInstagram,partic-ularly given TikTok’s high en-gagement throughuser-gener-ated content and deep reachdownto townsandrural areas.One of the most popular

creators on TikTok, AdnaanShaikh, says his love for dance,acting andmodelling foundanoutlet on the platform. A grad-uateofMumbai’s Rizvi Collegewho lives in Dharavi, Shaikhhasover13millionfollowersontheapp.Over the last twoyears,he has collaborated withBollywood names such as AliaBhatt, Ranveer Singh, Varun

Dhawan,Shaan, amongothers.Explaining what TikTok

meant forhim,Shaikh,23, says,“A lot of people like me, whohaveno connections in the en-tertainment industry, got aplatformtoshowcase their tal-ents.” Shaikh adds that he willfocus on Instagram andFacebook,whilewaiting foran-other creator-friendly app.“Every star, trend and app hasan expiry date. We’re thankfulto TikTok, let’s see where thefuturetakesus.” Gaursays theyarealsowatchingout foranappthat becomes as popular asTikTok.While “there are over ahundred similar Indian appsthat have cropped up in thepast onemonth”, he says thesewill take time to provide thereach of TikTok.“Therewillbeadefinite loss

of business. Over the last twoyears, TikTok groomed young-sters, made them confident,and gave the voiceless youth aplatform… If the users scatteracross all these (new)apps,wewon’t be able to recreate thatmagic again.” However, Gaurremains confident. As he un-derlines, “TikTok isbanned,notthe talent.”

Uday Shankaran “unprecedented mix ofstorm and crisis”. “Rationalityisnot thedefaultmode forany-one at this time. This is totallyunprecedented.Probably thereareotherwaysandbetterwaysof handling this, frankly, be-cause it doesn’t help anyone, itdoesn’t help resolve thetension,” Shankar said atThe Indian Express E-AddaTuesday.Shankar was in conversa-

tion with Anant Goenka,Executive Director, The IndianExpress Group, and NationalSportsEditorSandeepDwivedi.Asked if hisnetwork,which

holds the IPL broadcastingrights,willbe impacted if thereis a boycott of Chinese firmsand products in India, Shankarsaid: “If company X or Y is nottherebecause in largersocialornational interest ithasbeende-cided (to ban them), then wewill have to figure out a differ-entmonetisationmodel.”In 2017, Star India bought

the IPL broadcasting rights forRs16,347.50crore ina five-yeardeal.TheBCCI lastmonthsaid itwas reviewing the IPL’s spon-sorship deals with Chinesecompanies.Shankar,however, said their

investment was not made “onthebackof anycountryor spe-cific company”. “We believecricket has a power and thatpowercomes fromthedepthofengagement it haswith Indianconsumers. If people likesome-thingsopassionately, therewillbe people willing to back it fi-nancially,” he said.Shankar was also asked

about the possibility of sportscommentators being droppedbecause of public opinion.“There is a distinctionweneedto make between cricket jour-nalists and cricket commenta-tors. A journalist is at liberty tosay what you want to say. Acommentator, in my view, isnot a journalist. A commenta-tor ispartof theentirepackagetomake the gamemore enter-taining, more popular. I rou-tinely see a tendency amongcommentators whomake thismistake. There is a role for ajournalist and role for a com-mentator. I have very clearviews on that,” he said.However,Shankaradmitted

that “commentary, especiallyin cricket, has been too sani-tised”. “That iswhy a lot of funhas gone out of the matches.What we call colour, and I amnot saying colour in a flippantway, the more well-rounded,lively description of the sporthas gone away. We keep talk-ing about the life going out of

cricket and it becoming tootransactionalbut I thinkwearealso responsible for that. Weneed to think about how wecreatewell-rounded, lively ex-periences forpeople thatgobe-yond scores and runs,” he said.On the possibility of conduct-ing the IPL this season,Shankarsaid it is “important that peo-ple get the IPL experience forthe love of cricket and sig-nalling that life triumphs”. Thecricket boardwas forced to in-definitely postpone the IPL,which was to begin in March,because of the pandemic andthe nationwide lockdown.“Internally, we are discussingand planning (about IPL) butwe also wouldn't want thetournament to be held unlessthe atmosphere is safe,”Shankar said.

LAC de-escalation

talks stretchthough “concentration andmobilisation of troops contin-ues and hasn’t shown signs ofabating”.Since the last meeting on

June 22, there has only been“miniscule reduction of troopsin the frictionpockets,” sourcessaid.In the previous two meet-

ings, India has sought restora-tion of status quo ante – oftroops returning to locationsbeforethefaceoff beganinMay.It has also expressed concernovertheChinesemilitarybuild-up in the depth areas.The “friction” areas likely

discussed at the meeting in-clude the north bank ofPangong Tso, Galwan ValleyandtheGograPost-HotSpringspockets.As reported by The Indian

Express earlier, Chinese troopshavealso crossed theborder inDepsang Plains. Sources saidthe "massing of troops" inDepsang Plains was also to betaken up at themeeting of theCorps Commanders. TheDepsang Plains is an area closeto the strategic Indian base atDaulat Beg Oldie near theKarakoramPass.While China has been

strengthening its positions inthe Pangong Tso area and atPatrolling Point 14 (PP-14) inGalwan Valley, another majorconcern for India has been themilitary build-up in the depthareas in the region. MirroringChina’sadditionaldeployment,India too has brought in addi-tional troops,airdefenceequip-ment.

Huawei, ZTEsharply criticized the FCC's ac-tions.FCC CommissionerGeoffreyStarkssaidonTuesdaythat “untrustworthy equip-ment” remains in place in U.S.networks and said the U.S.Congressmustallocate fundingfor replacements.InMay 2019, Trump signed

an executive order declaring anational emergency and bar-ringU.S. companies fromusingtelecommunications equip-mentmadebycompaniespos-inganational security risk. TheTrump administration alsoadded Huawei to its tradeblacklist last year. The FCC hastakenan increasinglyhard lineagainst Chinese firms. In April,the FCC said it may shut downU.S. operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecom-munications companies. TheFCC required China TelecomAmericas, China UnicomAmericas, Pacific NetworksCorpanditswhollyownedsub-sidiary ComNet (USA) LLC toexplainwhy it should not starttheprocessof revokingauthor-izations enabling their U.S. op-erations.The FCC granted its ap-

provals to the firmsmore thana decade ago. InMay 2019, theFCC voted to deny another

state-ownedChinese telecom-munications company, ChinaMobileLtd, the right toprovideU.S. services, citing risks thattheChinesegovernment couldusethecompanytoconductes-pionage against the U.S. gov-ernment.

REUTERS

Nepal leadersPrachandasaidat theoutset

that Oli’s allegation againstIndia was wrong. “Not India, itis me who is demanding yourresignation. You must furnishproof of such irresponsible re-marks,” Dahal is believed tohave said.According to a member of

the standing committee,Khanal, Madhav Nepal andGautamaccusedOliofbeing in-sensitive and irresponsible inhis remarks against a friendlycountry.Trying to defend his allega-

tions, the PM shot back, “Howcomeaccountsof aconfidentialmeeting are getting reportedverbatiminthe Indianmedia?”Speakingata functionathis

official residenceonSunday,Olihad said Indiawas out to bringdown his government in col-laboration with some Nepalileaders, andthat thecontent incertain Indianmedia aswell asactivitiesof the IndianEmbassyin Kathmanduproved this.Meanwhile, inan interview

to the Nepal government-owned The Rising Nepal pub-lished on Tuesday, ChineseAmbassador to Nepal HouYanqi criticised remarksmadeby IndianArmyChief GenMMNaravane that the anti-Indiaprotests in Nepal over borderissues might be “at the behestof China”.Without mentioning

Naravane by name, Hou said,“Anyso-called ‘Nepalat thebe-hest of China’ accusation isbaseless and comes with ulte-rior motives… Such accusati-onsarenotonlyan insult to thewill of the independent coun-try of Nepal and the consensusof the Nepali people , but arealsoendeavoursdirectedat thedisruption of China-Nepalrelations.”Gautam,whowas themost

strident inhiscriticismofOli atthe party meeting, demandedthat he resign both as PM andparty chief.Oli has come under criti-

cismoutsidetheparty forumaswell. Former PM BaburamBhattarai, holding a rally, saidOli must furnish proof to sub-stantiatehisallegationsagainstIndia. “If the Embassy of Indiais so actively engaged intoppling him, why don’t youexpel their Ambassador?” heasked.DrPrakashChandraLohani,

co-chairmanof thepro-monar-chy Rastriya Prajatantra Partyand a former foreign affairsminister, said, “Oli will not re-quire anyone tooust him.He isin a hurry to oust himself.”Rabindra Mishra, who

heads the Sajha Party, said Olineeded “psycho-social coun-seling”.In her interview,

AmbassadorHou said the sup-port to the Oli government byall parties over the dispute re-gardingborderareaswith Indiashowed that public opinionwasonhis sideoversafeguard-ing Nepal’s “sovereignty andterritorial integrity”.She added, “I would like to

reiterate that the Chinese sidehas always respected the sov-ereignty and territorial in-tegrity of the Nepali side. Theissue of Kalapani involvesNepal and India. We hope thetwocountrieswill resolve theirdifferences properly throughfriendly consultations and re-frain fromtakinganyunilateralaction thatmaycomplicate thesituation. China’s position onthis issue has not changed.”

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI, JUNE30

ANUMBERof high-value, tech-nical work for the bullet trainproject,earlierslatedtobedoneby the Japanese, will now bedonebyIndiancompanies,pro-viding a major boost to Indianengineering capability.India is in discussions with

Japan to explore if the highlytechnical work of laying thetrack of the bullet train can bedone by an indigenous engi-neering firm.The 27 steel bridges on the

508-km stretch of the corridorbetween Ahmedabad andMumbai—earlierthoughttobethe sole domain of expertJapanesefirms—willbedonebyIndiancompanies.ConsideringnoIndianplayer

has worked on layingShinkansentrackcapableofcar-rying trainsat320kmperhour,the National High Speed RailCorporation Limited (NHSRCL)hasreachedouttoIndianindus-try to assess the requirementandcapabilityofdomesticplay-ers in order to get this highlyspecialised engineering jobdone.As part of this exercise, the

NHSRCL hosted a webinar lastWednesday to sensitise Indiancompanies and consultantsaboutthejob.Sourcessaidtrain-ingforupskillingIndianplayersis alsobeingplanned.Officials said that Indian

companies laying the trackwouldbeamajorcapabilityup-grade for domestic engineersand go a long way towards“AtmanirbharBharat” intheen-gineering space.The Indian side has con-

vincedthe Japanese that Indianengineers aremore than capa-ble of making complex steelbridges. Sources said they citedthe Chenab bridge in Kashmir,which is coming up as theworld’s tallest rail bridge.The work for 65,000-ton

steel fabrication for the 27bridges in thebullet train corri-dorwillbecertifiedbyWeldingResearch Institute inTiruchirapalli,sourcessaid.Theytold The Indian Express that thecost of the work could be“slightly cheaper” with Indiancompanies thanwith Japanesefirms.Signalling, control systems

and rolling stock would, how-ever, be fromJapan.Sourcessaid thatearlier this

year, Indianofficialswereseizedof the concern that the cost ofsomeworks by Japanese-onlyplayerstendedtohaveescalatedbeyond what they had beengiven toexpect.Sourcessaidthatforatender

for the undersea tunnel — partof the 21-km undergroundstretch inMaharashtra — Indiais learnt tohaveheld its groundthat escalation of the cost afteraccounting for inflation wouldnot be acceptable beyond alevel.

High-techwork forbullet trainproject tobe done byIndian firms

Ahmedabad

3 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

THE INSTITUTE OFCOST ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIAStatutory Body under an Act of Parliament

Formed in the year 1944 under the Companies Act and

Established under an Act of Parliament in the year 1959

CMA Balwinder Singh

President

CMA Biswarup Basu

Vice PresidentCMA Niranjan Mishra

Chairman,Indirect Taxation Committee

CMA Rakesh Bhalla

Chairman,Direct Taxation Committee

CMA H. Padmanabhan

Chairman, Regional Council &Chapters Co-ordination Committee,

CAT and AAT Board

To celebrate 3 years of Successful implementation in India, the Institute is observing

The Institute congratulates Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and nation on successful

completion of 3 years of GST implementation- Historical tax reform in India

GST DAY

“GST DAY CELEBRATION WEEK”

Date: 1st July, 2020 to 7th July, 2020

Inauguration by CHIEF GUEST on 1st July, 2020 at 10:00 am

WEBINTTHROUGH

THEME

“G S TROWING TRONGERWITH IMES -

SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF

GOODS & SERVICES TAX”

Smt. Aparajita SarangiHon'ble Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha

Bhubaneswar (Orissa) Constituency

Weblink: https://icmai.in/icmai/Webint.php

Benefits of GST to the Indian Economy Institute’s Contribution in Successful GST regime

o One Nation, One Market, One Tax.

o Maximum Governance, Minimum Government.

o Good and Simple Tax.

o Reduced tax compliance and a simplified tax policy.

o Convenience for small businesses - Composition scheme.

o Convenient online procedure.

o Lesser compliances.

o Ease in Interstate movement of goods.

o Improved efficiency of logistics.

o Unorganized sector is regulated under GST.

o Leakage of revenue is plugged in GST.

o Boost to the Indian economy in the long run.

o Removal of bundled indirect taxes prevalent in previous regime.

o Removal of cascading effect of taxes as prevalent in previous regime.

o Reduction of manufacturing costs due to lower burden of taxes on the

manufacturing sector.

o More than 1200 Seminars, conferences and training sessions organized across India.

o More than 100 GST helpdesks opened across India during implementation period.

o GST certificate course launched for members & industry.

o Students training program on GST launched.

o Contribution by providing regular suggestions to Government and GST Council.

o Fortnightly Tax bulletin for members and industry launched.

o Guidance Notes and Handbooks on GST released:

• Input Tax Credit

• GST Audit & Annual Returns

• GST Notifications & Compilations

• E-way Bill

• Works Contracts

• Anti-Profiteering

• Impact of GST on MSME Sector

• GST on Exports

• GST on Education Sector

• GST on Service Sector

• GST on Cooperative Sector

• GST on Real Estate

• Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme) 2019.

Behind every successful business decision, there is always a CMA

Headquarters: CMA Bhawan, 12, Sudder Street, Kolkata - 700016, Ph: +91 33-22521031-34-35 | Delhi Office: CMA Bhawan, 3 Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003, Ph: +91 11 24622156-58

THE INSTITUTE OF COST ACCOUNTANTS OF INDIA

Good and Simple Tax

One Nation, One Market, One Tax

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4THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

GUJARAT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GUJARAT UNIVERSITY

PROFHIMANSHUPANDYAREAPPOINTEDASVC

The state government reappointed Prof Himanshu Pandya as the Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat University

for the term of three years. The appointment was pending since March when Prof Pandya's term expired.

“I will take charge in a day or two,” Prof Himanshu Pandya said.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR, JUNE30

ASPARTof Unlock2provisions,Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupaniTuesdaydeclaredcurfewbetween10pmand5amacrossthestateandgrantedpermissiontohotelsandrestaurantstofunc-tiontill9pmfromJuly1toJuly31.An official statement from

theChiefMinister’sOfficestatedthat theCMhas takentwodeci-sions related to shops, restau-rants andhotels in the state fol-lowingnewdirectionsregardingUnlock 2 declared by theUniongovernmentonMonday.As per the statement, now

hotelsandrestaurantscanfunc-tiontill9pmandothershopsre-main open till 8 pm from July 1to July 31. Before this, the dead-line for shops was 6 pm, whilethecurfewhourswerebetween9pmand5am.Later, thestatehomedepart-

ment issued a notification stat-ing that the relaxations in lock-down will be applicable onlyoutside containment ormicro-containment zones,where onlyessentialserviceswillbeallowed.

Unlock 2: Hotelscan open till 9 pm,curfew between10 pm and 5 am

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT, JUNE30

SURATCITY,whichhasbeenwit-nessingaspike inCovid-19casesover the past oneweek,will gettwonewCovidcarefacilitieswith1000-bed capacity at theInternational Convention CumExhibitionCentreoftheSouthernGujarat Chamber of Commerceand Industry (SGCCI) and com-munityhalloftheSuratMunicipalCorporation(SMC)inaweek.The SMC authorities along

withSuratdistrictadministrativeofficials,visitedtheInternationalConvention Cum ExhibitionCentreatSarsanaonJune12andstartedworktogetclearancesforaCovid-care facilityonitsprem-ises. The exhibition hall, thePlatinumandthesix-storeyasso-ciationbuildingwillbeutilisedtosetupthe facilityequippedwithoxygenlines,workforwhichbe-ganonTuesday.“Talkswith SMCanddistrict

administration were going onsincethefirstweekofJuneanditwasdecidedtodevelopaCovid-

19carecentreatthethreeprem-ises of SGCCI at Sarsana.We arehappythatwecouldofferahelp-inghandtothemunicipalcorpo-ration at such a critical period,”saidSGCCIpresidentKetanDesai.SMC commissioner

Banchhanidhi Pani said, “TheSarsana Covid-19 centre willhave facilities, includingoxygenlines, ventilators andBiPap. Thestate governmentwill provideequipment andmedical staff.Sarsana Covid centrewill have826 beds, while at AlthanCommunitycentre,wewillgetafacilitywith182beds.Thisisourpreparationforcomingdays.”Till date, Surat city has

recorded 4,530 positive casesandover165deaths,while2,822patients were fully recoveredand discharged. At present,Covid-19 patients are beingtreatedattheNewCivilhospital,SMIMERhospital,Covid-19cen-tre at Samras in the universityand 10 private hospitals. Allthese premises have around2,000beds.TheSMChasalsoen-teredintoanagreementwith37privatehospitalswhere30to50

per cent of their beds are re-served forCovidpatients.BJP MLA of Majura seat

HarshSanghaviisspearheadingtheworktosetuptheCovidcarefacilityatSMC’sCommunityhallin Althan area, work for whichbegan on Monday. Sanghvi,alongwithBJPMPCRPatil,helda meeting with themunicipalcommissioner and put up theproposal,whichwasaccepted.Sanghvi told The Indian

Express, “We first painted thewallswhite so that patients canget positive energy.My friendsaretakingupvariousresponsibil-ities and the facility is estimatedtocostaroundRs1crore.Wewillalsoinstall20LEDtelevisionsetsforthepatientsandwillalsosup-ply newspapers andmagazines.Weareaimingtocompleteworkonthis facilitybyJuly3.”“Wewill also construct 20

additional toilets and 20 bath-rooms.Wehavealso takenhelpfromaprivatehospitaltosupplythree ventilators for critical pa-tients.Once the facility is ready,wewillhandovertoSMCtorunit,”headded.

Two new Covid facilities at SMCcommunity hall, SGCCI premises

RITUSHARMAAHMEDABAD,JUNE30

THEPLAYGROUPofathree-year-old boy in Ahmedabad, havingbeen shifted online, is nothingshortofanightmareforthechild’smother.TheboywasregisteredatTapovan pre-nursery classes inDharnidhar area, which beganonlinesessionsfromJune1. “Thisis like an examination for us. Achildwhohasneverseenaschool,orknowswhatteachers,classma-tesandfriendsare,hastoexperi-ence the first steps towards for-malschooling,virtually,”shesaid.“It isverydifficult tokeepthe

childengrossedonthescreenforlong. I have to lure himwithhisfavouritefoodtogethimtofocusonhisclasswheneverhelosesin-

terest.Whenthistrickfails, I takethelessonsmyselfandteachhimlater,”themothersaid.OnMonday, a public interest

litigation(PIL)filedattheGujaratHighCourt, seekingabanonon-line classes for childrenagedbe-tween18months and six years,wastakenupbyadivisionbench.Thepetitioner,a30-year-oldres-identofAhmedabad,saidthatfol-lowingthelockdowneasing,sev-eralplaygroupsandkindergartenschools “are forcing parents totake the classes for the termofJune2020online”.Hesubmittedthat parents were directed bytheseplaygroupstositwiththeirtoddlersinfrontofacomputerorlaptopforanhourormoreevery-day.ThebenchkeptthemattertobetaggedwiththePILpertainingtootherCovid-19matters,which

willbeheardonJuly17.While older children are

learning to accept virtual class-rooms,itistheparentsofchildrenenrolled in pre-primary classeswhoare finding it difficult to ad-just to the newnorm. They feelthe burden has shifted fromteachersovertothem.Theparentthat thispaperspoketosaid thatearlier, their involvementwaslimited to dropping andpickingup their children, but it hasnowextended to accompanying thechildthroughoutthe“class”.“In addition to keepingmy

daughter occupied, I have to sitwithher throughout the sessionof 45minutes, taking notes ofwhat is being taught. Althoughtheteachersmakeeffortstokeepthemengrossedwithsurpriseel-ements...,howcanoneforcesuch

a small child to sit in front of thescreen for long?” asks anothermotherofatwo-year-oldgirlen-rolledintheplaygroupatSatelliteSchoolforChildren.Although schools have re-

stricted the time limit of onlineclasses, a section of parents feelscreen time for suchyoung chil-dren is doingmore harm thangood.“Forthefirsttwoweeks,theclasseswere for fivedaysaweekbutwhentheparentscomplainedthat these aremore binding onparents,especiallywhereboththeparents areworking, the schoolalso declaredWednesdays as aholiday starting thisweek,” saidanotherparentwhosechildisalsostudyingatTapovanpreschool.“Sincemyhusband is in the

construction business,which isyettopickupafterthelockdown,

wecanaffordsparingtimeforourfour-and-a-half-year olddaugh-ter’stwoonlinesessionseveryday.If we both had jobs, one of uswould have to either leave it ordrop the idea of enrolling ourdaughtertoschoolthisyear,”saidan ITprofessionalwhosedaugh-ter is in junior kindergarten atBodakdevSchoolforChildren.ArpitShah,trusteeatTapovan

preschoolthathasnearly300chil-dren enrolled at four branchesacrossthecity,said, “Wehavede-velopedour owncontent, amixof entertainmentandeducation,with interactive sessions andhomeassignments to overcomesomeoftheissues.”“Ourfirstaimistosetuparou-

tine and then work slowly to-wardsincreasingthescreentimeoractivities.Everyonehasslowly

learnttoadoptit.Eventhosewhowere not well-equipped withcomputer skills or have internetconnectivityissuesarelearningtoovercomeit,”saidMananChoksi,executive director of UdgamConsultancy,thatrunsBodakdevSchool for Children andSatelliteSchool. Amajority of schools areusingplatformssuchasMicrosoftTeams, ZoomandGoogle Class-rooms, while some privateschools have initiated amix ofvideo calls and storytelling ses-sions by teachers, parents andevengrandparents.“We are not calling it online

teachingbutstudent-teacheren-gagement for pre-primary chil-dren,wherein teachers connectwithstudentsonaweeklybasis,”said Nirali Dagli, Principal ofCalorxPublicSchool,Ghatlodiya.

Preschools embrace virtual learning, parents try to keep up

GOPALKATESHIYARAJKOT, JUNE30

DESPITETHECottonCorporationof India (CCI) purchasingmorethan11lakhbalesofcottonfromGujarat, cottonprices inagricul-tural producemarket commit-tees(APMCs)inthestateremaindepressed due to low demand,withexpertssayingthatthephe-nomenon is likely to persuadefarmers to decrease cottonacreage in favourof groundnut.CCI officials said they have

purchased more than 11 lakhbales (each containing170kgoflint)or55 lakhquintalsof kapas(raw, unginned seed cotton)inthe2019-20 season, thehighestprocurementfromGujaratsince2008."Wearewithdrawingfromthemarketnow.Wearealreadya fewweeks into themonsoonand rain is affecting purchasingoperations,"saidaseniorofficial,adding that the CCI procuredaroundone lakhbales in June.Though the peak cotton

marketingseason,whichbeginsin Gujarat in October and runsthroughJuneisover,APMCsarestill recording significant ar-rivalsof thenaturalfibreontheiryardsandthewithdrawalofCCIfromthemarketcanfurtherde-pressprices,marketinsiderssay.Botad APMC, one of the

biggest cotton markets in thestate, recorded arrival of 3,000quintalsofcottononTuesdayand

theaveragepricewasRs4,250.InRajkot APMC, 1,600 quintals ofcotton arrivedwhere themodalpricewas again Rs 4,250,whichiswaybelowtheminimumsup-portprice(MSP)ofRs5,525fixedbytheCentralgovernment."Farmerscouldnotsell their

cotton for twomonths, begin-ning late March due to lock-down... Therefore, we are wit-nessing comparatively higherarrivals even though normalcotton marketing window isover,"saidBabulalTejani,secre-taryof RajkotAPMC."The cotton processing

pipeline is choked. Due to re-strictions on movement oflabour and goods during lock-down, cotton couldn't be trans-ported to textilemills in south-ern India and export was alsovery little. Therefore, pricescrashed. As APMCs were shutduring lockdown, arrivals nowarehigherevenasbuyersarenotupbeat.Therefore,pricesarere-maining low," said KantitlalLadola,secretaryofBotadAPMC.The sowing of the crop this

kharif season is trailing togroundnut.AsofMonday,farm-ers had sown cotton in 15.71lakh hectare (lh), datawith thedirectorofagricultureofGujaratshows. This represents just58.88percentof26.68lhwhichwas under cotton the previousseason. On the other hand,groundnut has gained groundwith its acreage standing at

16.36 lh, up from 15.52 lhrecorded the previous season.Agriculturedepartmentofficialssay these figuresare likely togoup in the comingweeks.BhimjiSagarka,directorofex-

tension education at JunagadhAgriculturalUniversity,Junagadh,says,"Lastseason,firsttwoflushesin cotton failed due to excessiverain andpinkbollworm infesta-tiontroubledfarmers inthelaterflushes. So, the productionwasnot satisfactory. No suchuncer-taintiesaregenerallyattached togroundnut.Withweather per-mitting,groundnut isanassuredcrop, which also provides pre-miumfodderbesidesmarketableoilseeds. Unlike cotton, ground-nutalsoallowsrelay-croppingofred gram (tur) and castor seeds.So,we estimate that groundnutacreagewillgoup20percentandcotton acreagewill comedowncommensurately."Groundnuthasbeentrading

at average Rs5500 per quintal,whichishigherthantheMSPofRs5090.Sagarkasaidbesidesreward-

ingpricesof groundnut,migra-tionof labouerswerealsoaffect-ing farmers choices. “Cotton ismore labour-intensive as com-pared to groundnut. Last year,labour charges for picking cot-tonwere high and farmers ex-pect them to even higher thisyear with labourers having re-turnedtotheirnativestatesdueto lockdown," addedSagarka.

CROPACREAGEMAYDECREASE

Cotton prices stay low despiteCCI’s purchase of 11 lakh bales

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT, JUNE30

VALSADPOLICEhave arrested amaulvirunningamadrasainParditownofthedistrictfornotadher-ingtosocialdistancingnorms.Actingonatip-off,policereac-

hedthemadrasaatDamanibazaarstreetinPardionMondayevening.The officials found thatMaulviYusufKhalifa(64)wasteaching15studentsinasmallroom.Nosocialdistancewas beingmaintainedand themaulvi hadnotput onafacemask,policesaid.Themaulviwas arrestedun-

der IPC sections 188 (Disobed-iencetoorderdulypromulgatedbypublicservant),269(Negligentact likely to spread infection ofdiseasedangeroustolife),sectionthree of the Epidemic DiseasesActandsection51(b)oftheDisa-sterManagement Act. The chil-drenwereallowedtogohome.Pardipolicesub-inspector.SB

Zala said, “During the lockdownperiod,allschools,tuitionclassesandgatheringshavebeenputonhold due to the Covid-19 pan-demic.Anotificationwasalsois-suedforthesamebythedistrictmagistrate. The maulvi hadcalled students to themadrasaandwas teaching them, violat-ing the rules and regulations ofthemagistratenotification.”

Maulvi runningmadrasa heldfor violatingCovid protocol

Longqueuesofpeoplenoticedoutside (fromleft)Torrentpowerhousetopayelectricitybill;outsideabank;andtemple for free foodinAhmedabadonTuesdayasUnlock2guidelineswere issuedbythegovernment. JavedRaja

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA, JUNE30

THECATHOLICChurchofGujarathasexpressed“shockandsorrow”over the alleged custodial deathofafatherandsoninTuticorininTamilNadulastweek.InastatementissuedTuesday,

the Bishops of the CatholicDioceses termed the incident inwhichP Jeyrajand JBennixwereallegedlykilledinjudicialcustodyas“ghastly”andsaid,“Weconveyour heartfelt sympathies to thebereaved family and assure oursincere prayers for them. TheCatholic Church of Gujarat st-ronglycondemnstheviolationof

humandignity in the gruesomebrutality unleashedupon thesecitizensbythelocalpoliceofTamilNadu similar to the heinouskilling of George Floyd...Wede-mand that a procedure forrestorationof Justice andhumanrights be set inmotion immedi-atelybythestategovernmentandthe perpetrators be brought tobookwithsternaction.”Thestatementissuedthrough

thespokespersonof theCatholicchurch, Father Vinayak Jadhav,urges for prompt action to sendacross“amessagethatprotectorscanneverturnpredators”.TheCa-tholicChurchofGujaraturgedforcompensationtothefamilyofthevictimsbytheauthorities.

Catholic Church of Gujaratexpresses shock, sorrow

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,AHMEDABAD,JUNE30

PRINCIPAL SECRETARY (HealthandFamilyWelfare) Jayanti Ravivisited Surat on Tuesdaywhenthe district reported 199 newCovid-19 cases, exceeding thenumberofnewcasesreportedinAhmedabadwhere 197 peopletestedpositive.The total number of positive

cases reported in the state so farneared 32,700 with 618 newcases reported across the state.Valsad sawa surge innewcaseswith20peopletestingpositive.Raviwillbecamping inSurat

till the situation does not nor-malise.Suratsawasuddenspikein Covid-19 cases since June 1whenthecurbswereeased. ShealsoconductedmeetingswiththeCovid-19nodalofficerandmunic-ipalauthorities,andtookstockofthe situation. This is the secondtourof JayantiRaviinSurat.Addressingmediapersonsaf-

ter taking stock of the situationwith district officials, Ravi said,“We will increase the beds inCovid-19 hospital in NewCivilHospital.Iwillcamphereforafewdays, andwill observe the situa-tion.Asmanyas100moreventi-latorswill be coming to Surat incomingdays,addingtotheexist-ingstrength,andkeepinginmindthe rise innumberof patients infuture. The reason behind thespike is people arenot followingproper Covid-19 guidelines likeuse ofmask,maintaining socialdistance and use of sanitisers.Manycasesamongdiamondpol-ishers in Katargam zone hadcomeintolightandthemajorrea-sonistheirseatingarrangementsas no social distancing ismain-tainedandnotusingsanitisers.”Surat Municipal

Commissioner BanchhanidhiPani had put diamond tradingmarkets in Mahidharpura andVarachha under cluster zone.

Majority of the small, mediumand big diamond factories inKatargam zone had been shutdown after several diamond

polishers tested positive forCovid-19.“Ifanybodycomplainsrelated

tomoremedical treatment fees

beingtakenbytheprivatehospi-tals, not as per the prescribednorms, action will be takenagainstthem.Thoseinhomeiso-lationhavetotakeextracareandif their health deteriorates, theyshould call 104 services, or canavail the facility of Dhanvantrirath,”sheadded.InSurat,Katargamzonecon-

tinuestobeapainpoint,with60people testingCovid-19positiveon Tuesday. The zone has re-ported a total of 1,235 cases tilldate.Apartfromthis,22newpos-itivecasescamefromsix talukasin Surat district, taking the totalcases in the rural Surat jurisdic-tion to547. Surat, however, tookabout725samplesonTuesday.InAhmedabad,wheretheto-

tal cases neared21,000, thedis-trict reported as few cases as itdid on April 27. The district atpresent has 3,500 patients un-dergoingtreatment,whilenearly16,000havebeendischargedtilldate. Ahmedabad also tested asmany as 2,200 samples in a 24-hourspan.On the other hand, AMCde-

clared twonewmicro contain-mentzones,oneeachinthesouthand north zone. These includeeight households in AsopalavSociety inVatva and175house-holds in Rajavir Society inThakkarbapaNagar.Thetwonewzonestogethercontainapopula-tionofapproximately845.Sixmicrocontainmentzones

were delisted. The six zonescombinedhaveanapproximatepopulation of 940 across 240households.Jamnagar reported 18 new

cases, crossing 200 cases as didPatan after reporting 11 newcases. A Covid-19 patient suc-cumbedtoinfectioninPatantak-ingtheCovidtoll inthedistrictto16with the case fatality rate ofoversevenpercent.Navsari reported its second

Covid-19deathwhile the deathtoll inJunagadhreachedthree.

Health secy visits Surat, 199newcases reported in district

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

THEAHMEDABADHospitalsandNursing Homes Association(AHNA) in association withAhmedabad Municipal Corp-oration(AMC)Tuesdaylauncheda24-hourhelplineforinformationonavailabilityofbedsforCovid-19treatment inprivatehospitals inthecity.Thehelplinewill alsoprovide

informationonavailabilityofam-bulance service forCovid-19pa-

tients alongwith informationonhomecarefacilitiesforthem.“This service has been

launched so thatpatientsdonothavetomovefromonehospitaltoanotherand the treatment isnotdelayed.Atpresent,thebedavail-ability is updated twiceadayonthe associationwebsite. So thiswill move on a real time basisgradually.Atpresent,thecallerwillget informationoncehecallsandthe call centre executive checksavailabilitywiththeprivatehospi-tals,” says AHNA president DrBharatGadhavi.

Thehelplinenumbersare079-26409999and079-26403333.OnJune16,theAMCdropped

the idea of launching amobilephoneapplicationforCovid-19pa-tients justacoupleofdaysbeforeitwas slated to launch. Tobe runjointlybyAHNAandAMC,theappwasaimedtoaddressquerieswithrespect to locating beds and re-ceivingthestatusoftheiravailabil-ityin55privatehospitalsrequisi-tionedbytheAMC.Theappwasbeingdesignedto

providesimilarinformationontheavailabilityofbedsandhomecare

servicesof eachprivatehospital,along with package details ofrooms and other charges alongwithafacilitytocallanambulancewasalsotobemadeavailable.Atpresent,theAHNAwebsite

providesinformationonbedsanditisupdatedonlytwiceadayandattimes,onlyonceaday.Thefacil-itywasmadeavailableinthesec-ondweekofJuneandhasabreak-up of isolation beds, HighDependencyUnits (HDUs), Inte-nsive CareUnits (ICUs)withoutventilatorsandwithventilators—ofbothoccupiedandvacantbeds.

Helpline launched for info on availability of beds

MOREFRESHCASESTHANAHMEDABAD

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 20,913 1,441 197

Surat 4,829 161 199

Vadodara 2,280 55 52

Bhavnagar 261 13 8

Gandhinagar 654 31 16

Rajkot 271 7 6

ChhotaUdepur 56 3

Patan 206 16 11

Valsad 150 3 20

Porbandar 19 2 3

Mehsana 276 12 7

Morbi 22 1 2

Kutch 151 5 9

GirSomnath 76 1 3

Junagadh 101 3 8

Sabarkantha 174 8 4Anand 221 13 14

Panchmahal 194 14 3Bharuch 228 9 8

Banaskantha 178 10 1

Jamnagar 216 4 18

Kheda 169 6 6Narmada 90 1

Aravalli 207 18 5Mahisagar 148 2 2

Botad 90 3 4

Amreli 85 6 3

Tapi 12Dang 5

Dahod 59DevbhoomiDwarka 23 1 1

Surendranagar 142 7 4Navsari 97 2 2Fromotherstates 87 1 1

Totalcases:32,688 Deaths:1,856Newcases:618

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

23,662

AHMEDABAD

TNCUSTODIALDEATHS

Ahmedabad

ADVERTORIAL

CELEBRATED IN the loving memoryof the legendary physician, philan-thropist, and the second Chief Minister

ofWest Bengal, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, theNational Doctors' Day is observed on July 1of every year to honour and emphasise onthe value of doctors in our lives and to offerthem our respects by commemorating oneof their greatest representatives. Honouredwith Bharat Ratna on 4 February 1961, In-dia's highest civilian honour, a year beforehis death, Dr. Roy was a hugely popularstatesman and renowned physician whobrought laurels to the realms of medicineand politics with his exemplary public ser-vice.He dedicated his life to the profession ofmedicine.

Playing a key role in the establishment ofmany prominent medical colleges and hos-pitals in Calcutta and West Bengal, he en-sured his presence in politics did not hinderhis attention and care to people whoneeded it the most. Believing in thisthought, he used to still devote an hourevery day to serve the poor with his medicalknowledge. His stature as a medical profes-sional and his involvement in the freedomstruggle later on made him close to Ma-

hatma Gandhi and Jawahar Lal Nehru. Helater on went on to become MK Gandhi’spersonal physicians.

Speaking about his popularity among themasses, the British Medical Journal in itsobituary for Dr. Roy called him the “firstmedical consultant in the subcontinent ofIndia, who towered over his contemporaries

in several fields.” The obituary went on toargue that “at his professional zenith hemay have had the largest consulting prac-tice in the world, news of his visit to a cityor even railway station bringing forth hordesof would-be patients.”

Clearly, it is evident from the above adu-lation that being a doctor is a noble profes-

sion with a noble cause. This is even moreclear in the light of the current scenariowhen the people are wholly and solely de-pendent on doctors to save them from suc-cumbing to COVID-19. Recently, the COVID-19 cases surpassed 1 crore mark throughoutthe world and has continued to wreak havocamong citizens, governments and even

healthcare professionals. In these times ofunprecedented health scare, it is truly ad-mirable to see how doctors and the entiremedical fraternity have braced themselvesup to tackle the whole situation head-on.

This is undoubtedly a very difficult timefor doctors and the healthcare community.On the one hand, there is a fear for theirown health because it is a highly infectiousdisease, and it has been seen worldwidethat the biggest casualties due to COVID-19are among the medical fraternity. Still, theyare coming and doing their duty towards thenation, fully aware of the health risks. Onthe other hand, a bigger risk they take is interms of their family. Many of them do notwant to go home thinking of the risk theymight put their family or friends in. There-fore, they are not only performing tough du-ties, they are also isolating themselves forweeks altogether – either staying at the hos-pital or at hotels. Even wearing the PPE gearfor hours is extremely difficult. It is physi-cally drenching, dehydrates them, makesthem feel claustrophobic, they cannot usethe washroom, drink water, or eat anythingwhile being in those shift duties. This is notonly physically demanding but requires im-

mense mental strength as well. These aretough times, in spite of that, they are will-ingly coming forward and working as COVIDWarriors.

While we are self-isolating safely at ourhomes, it is the doctors and the entire med-ical community which are at the grave risk ofcontracting the disease. Since the caseshave peaked recently, with an average of15K to 20K cases daily, it has become verychallenging for doctors to ensure that everylife is saved. It is thus a collective responsi-bility on part of the citizens to ensure thatwe have nothing but only ‘kind words’ forthe medical community that is in deep dis-tress now. Doctors are special, and this yearis one where we have seen them as our real-life heroes. Doctor’s Day is an opportunityto thank all the heroes in the medical fra-ternity for their selfless contributions, asthey continue to work round the clock,pulling long hours to safeguard and protectpatients. This pandemic has further provedthat doctors are like blessings to our societyand without them the entire human racecannot subsist when faced with a diseasethat singularly threatens to wipe out its ex-istence.

Doctors are the Real Heroes of Our Life Today!As the COVID-19 cases accelerates in the country, it has never been more important to appreciate the toiling efforts of doctors whocontinue to serve selflessly and devotedly for the safety and security of our lives amidst the life-threatening risks from the pandemic

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

Ahmedabad

6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

Tender No.: 05/e-ITDA-PRJ/DEPT/1/2020-PROJECT Date: 30 June 2020

e-TenderSelection of Service Provider for CCTV Installations and Horizontal

Connectivity for Udham Singh Nagar Police

Request for Proposal (RFP) is being issued by ITDA, Department of IT, Uttarakhand to the

reputed IT companies meeting the qualification criteria, for Selection of Service Provider for

CCTV Installations and Horizontal Connectivity for Udham Singh Nagar Police. The RFP

document can be downloaded from www.uktenders.gov.in from 30/06/2020. The Tender

documents fee Rs.10000/- (Rs. Ten Thousand Only) non refundable acceptable only through

Demand Draft/Banker's Cheque favouring "Director, ITDA" payable at Dehradun should be

submitted along with the Bid. The parties willing to participate in the bidding will have to apply

through the Electronic Tendering Procedure (e-Tendering) as per the guidelines issued by

Government of Uttarakhand available on the above mentioned website under the link "Bidders

Manual Kit".

DIRECTOR

Information Technology Development Agency (I.T.D.A.)

(Department of IT, Government of Uttarakhand) IT Bhawan,

Plot No. IT-07, Sahashradhara Road, Dehradun - 248001

ITDA

Ref No:S6/14918/HEFA/VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER/19-20/E241Online Tenders are invited under two bid system from the Manufactures/AuthorizedResellers/Service Providers for the Purchase of Vector Network Analyzer-40 GHz (Bench TopModel).

Kindly visit the URL www.nitc.ac.in & https://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app for tender schedule,Specification, Corrigendum & other details.Tel : 0495 2286134, 2286116 Email : purchases6@nitc.ac.inDate: 22-06-2020

National Institute of Technology Calicut

NIT Campus P.O, Calicut, Kerala-673601, India

E-TENDER NOTICE

Date of pre-bid meeting 01.07.2020

Start date of Bid submission 02.07.2020

Closing date of bid submission 24.07.2020

Opening date of bid 29.07.2020

davp 21344/11/0001/2021 DIRECTOR

''IMPORTANT''

Whilst care is taken prior to

acceptance of advertising

copy, it isnotpossible toverify

its contents. The Indian

Express (P) Limited cannot be

held responsible for such

contents, nor for any loss or

damage incurredasaresultof

transactions with companies,

associations or individuals

advertising in its newspapers

or Publications. We therefore

recommend that readers

make necessary inquiries

before sending any monies or

entering into any agreements

with advertisers or otherwise

acting on an advertisement in

any manner whatsoever.

Gujarat State Board of School Textbooks"Vidhyayan", Sector-l0/A, Gandhinagar–382010

Online tender are invited for Request for proposal of empanelment for

job work of Offset Printing of Textbooks, Year 2020-21 from offset

printing press all over India.

● The Detail and terms & conditions are given in the tender.

● Board reserves the rights to reject the online tenders without

mentioning any reason.

● More details regarding the tender are available on the website

www.nprocure.com.The tender downloading and submitting facility are

available on www.nprocure.com only.

● Kindly contact in person this office for further details regarding the tender

during office hours.

Director

Gujarat State Board of SchoolTextbooks

Gandhinagar.

E-Tender/Two Bid

No. Details Date Hrs.

1 Bid Document Download Start Date 01/07/2020 11.00 a.m.

2 Pre-bid meeting Date &Time 08/07/2020 12.30 p.m.

3 Bid Document Download End Date 22/07/2020 5.00 p.m.

5 OpeningTechnical Bids 24/07/2020 11.30 a.m.

6 Verification of Original Documents

8 RA Bid

7 Opening of Commercial Bid

(Only for Qualified Bidders)

4 Last Date andTime for Receipt of

Bid Submission of EMD,Tender Fees,

Other Document

23/07/2020 5.00 p.m.

Date will be

notified to

qualified bidders

separately.

DIPR/ 2431 /Tender/2020

TAMILNADU NEWSPRINT AND PAPERS LIMITED

TNPL - Maker of bagasse based eco-friendly Paper

NOTICE INVITING TENDER

Tender No. Material Descripion Due Date

1Supply and Installaion of Freight, cum Passenger Lit andElevator System for Recovery Boiler in TNPL Unit-II MEP

17.07.2020

2Design, Engineering, Manufacture, Supply, Erecion, Start-up and Commissioning of FRP Tanks for Hardwood Fibreline

17.07.2020

3Design, Manufacture, Supply, Erecion & Commissioning ofChip Conveying System at Site for Hardwood Fibreline areaof TNPL Unit-II MEP

21.07.2020

202113001223

Enlistment of Vendors for Supply of Sulphuric Acid, SulphurDi-Oxide & Ortho Phosphoric Acid

11.07.2020

202113001420

Steaming (Non Coking) Coal in bulk (South African Origin)on delivered at TNPL factory basis

07.07.2020

Email: Sl.No: 1 - pmd1@tnpl.co.in , Sl.No: 2 & 3 - pmd5@tnpl.co.in &T.No: 202113001223 - purchase.rawmatl@tnpl.co.in ,202113001420 - purchase.fuel@tnpl.co.in

Bidders may request the tender document at the above address by post/mail.Detailed NIB may be viewed in websites: www.tnpl.com / www.tenders.tn.gov.in .

Kagithapuram - 639 136. Karur Dist. Tamil Nadu Ph: 04324 - 277001 (10 Lines)

Ahmedabad

ADVERTORIAL

Doctors are indispensable part of the society. Irrespective of anything, A Doctor is always committedtowards well being of the society. An honest, ethical & caring doctor is priceless asset should be cherished.

What is cervical cancer?

Cervix is the lower most part of theuterus. It’s cancer is called cervical cancer.It is caused by a virus called HPV.

Why it is dangerous?

It is no. 1 cancer in female body in In-dia. Every day 200 women die due to thiscancer in our country. A staggering1,32,000 no. of new cases are detectedevery year in India , of women who sufferfrom this dreaded cancer . Its dangerousbecause It lies silent with no symptomsin the initial stage when it potentially canbe cured or removed. Later, there can bepain or bleeding, but detection aftersymptoms is too late and it is probablytoo advanced and not curable. So it is ofparamount importance to prevent it fromhappening or to detect it early at precan-cerous stage. Every female should beaware of this fact and should consult aspecially trained gynecologist for this pur-pose from time to time as advised.

How can it be prevented?

HPV vaccine: for younger age groupThis vaccine is a miracle drug in the ar-

mamentarium to fight this dreaded can-cer. It yields ALMOST 80% PROTECTIONagainst cervical cancer. It is given toyoung girls in the age group of 11-23years. Lack of awareness is the majorcause whereby very few girls are immu-nized in our country. Every mother shouldtake her daughter in this age group forvaccination to a gynecologist with specialinterest in this field who keeps this vac-cine.

PAP TEST: for older age groupsPAP test is a method of cervical screen-

ing whereby sample of cells is taken fromcervix and is sent to laboratory for test-ing. It is a pain OPD procedure done inconsulting only, very safe, very cheap and

needs no admis-sion. The resultcomes within afew days and Itdetects this can-cer at pre cancerstage. Its accu-racy and speci-ficity is as highas 80-90% . Allwomen between25-70 yearsshould undergothis test regu-larly. It is to berepeated every 3years.

In countrieswhere aware-ness amongstwomen is high,these measureshave almosteradicated thisdreaded cancer.However, lack ofawareness is themajor factor

why India has one of the highest inci-dence and death due to this cancer.

Women are strongly advised to consulta gyencologist with a special expertise inthis cancer to seek these preventive mea-sures and safeguard themselves from afuture cancer cervix.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT:

Dr. Sushma Dalal, (MBBS, MD,)

Consultant Gynecologist, Cancer preven-

tion specialist, Srushtil Hospital,

Opp.Akota Garden,Akota,Vadodara.

Phone: 9998156746

whatsapp business: 9998156746

Email: srushtilhospital12@gmail.com

What is spine?

Spine, or the “backbone” is actually a seriesof bones (vertebrae) in column connected by astrong set of muscles, ligaments and tissuesand cushioned by intervertebral discs at eachlevel (buffers). More importantly, It houses andprotects the nervous system elements, theSPINAL CORD and NERVES. Hence, potentiallyevery spine ailment can damage this nervoussystem. An early neuro spine surgeon consul-tation is essential.

What are spine ailments?

Backache, Sciatica (nerve pain), cervicalnerve pain, neckache, slipped disc, spondylitis,trauma to spine, spine infections, spine TB,spine tumors , congenital (birth related) defectsof spine etc are common spine ailments whichessentially involve nervous system .

Treatment Focus:

It is very important to understand thatnerves are NOT REPAIRABLE nor it can regen-erate. All spine ailments listed above damagethe nerves leading to their progressive irre-versible deficits (sciatica, nerve pain, tingling,numbness, limping, paresis and finally com-plete paralysis of that nerve). So, essentiallyEARLY NEURO SPINEASSESSMENT and a treat-ment focused at SAVING THE NERVE ratherthan just pain relief is the most scientific ap-proach to any spine ailment. Seeking neuro-spine treatment as a last resort is totally a self-destructive approach.

Treatments:

Backache and cervical (neck ) pain: Simplebackache/neck pain can be treated conserva-tively with rest, exercises, pain killers and goodspine habits. Timely neuro-spine consultationcan actually prevent its progression to sciatica/cervical root pain, slipped disc and a potentialsurgery.

Slipped disc, sciatica, spondylitis, cervicaldisc prolapse, spine trauma, spine infections,spine TB, spine tumors, birth defects etc:>> all

these spine ailments are serious and needEARLY NEURO ASSESSMENT. Based on clinicalfindings , MRI andother investiga-tions, a neurospine surgeon candetermine actualnerve damage andhow it can besaved. Conserva-tive managementis advised wherenerve elements arenot at risk. Oncethe nerve deficit isdetected on neuroexamination &MRI detects nervecompression, asurgical release isessential. Resort-ing to non opera-tive managementsat this stageisharmful as it pro-gresses to perma-nent nerve dam-age. Fear ofsurgery is artificialand should be

shunned. Nowadays, Endoscopic, microscopicand minimally invasive spine surgeries are ap-plied in most cases and are very safe, effectiveand economic with much better outcome.

So, early neuro spine consultation andtimely surgery is scientific and not as a last re-sort as is fearfully believed.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT:

Dr.Yashesh Dalal (MBBS, MS, M.CH.)

Consultant neuro – spine surgeon

Endoscopic, microsurgery specialist

Srushtil hospital,

Opp.Akota garden, akota Vadodara.

Phone: 9998156746

Email: srushtilhospital12@gmail.com

CONSULTANT NEUROSPINESURGEON

SPCIALIST FOR SURGERY OF

BRAIN & SPINEE N D O S C O P Y / M I C R O S C O P Y / M I N I M A L LY

INVASIVE SPINE SURGERY (MISS) BY 22 YEARS

EXPERIENCED NEUROSPINE SPECIALIST

Rajvi Complex, Akota Garden Char Rasta,

Akota, Vadodara-390020

Time : 11-1 & 5-7 (Mon - Sat)

Mo : 99981 56746 (WA)

email Id : srushtilhospital12@gmail.com

SPINE & BRAIN

SURGERY TREATMENT

SPINE & BRAIN

SURGERY TREATMENT

Sciatica, Slipped disc

(cervical & lumbar)

Neuroendoscopy for brain &Spine

Injuries to Head & Spine &Nerves

Tumors of Brain & Spine &Nerves

Tumors of orbit & pituitary

Brain Hemorrhage, Abscess

Paralysis

Head & Spine birth defects

Micro Surgery for brain & Spine

Modern Operation theatre withvideo microscope endoscope

Monitoring system

Ventilator

Microdrill Craniotome

Nerve Monitoring Device

Radiofrequency Neuro

Cautery

Defibrillator

Oxygen Generator, Central line

Neuro care high density unit

Stretcher lift Power back upinvertors

HOSPITAL

FACILITIES

HOSPITAL

FACILITIES

' ' SRUSHTIL HOSPIT' ' SRUSHTIL HOSPITAL ' 'AL ' '

How to prevent cancer cervix Scientific approach to spine problems

DOCTOR'S DAY {whenever the artof medicine is loved, there is also alove of humanity} was established

by the Government of India in 1991 tobe recognized and celebrated on July 1every year in India. If we did not recog-nise the importance of doctors before,we are certainly learning just how muchthey contribute to society, amid the coro-navirus pandemic.While we are self-iso-lating, it is the doctors who are con-stantly fighting for the lives of peoplewho have been infected with the deadlyvirus.With the number of infected peopleon the rise every day and hospitals arefilled hundreds of people, it has neverbeen more important to appreciate theefforts that doctors make to ensure thatwe sufficiently recover from whatevermay be ailing us and continue to remainhealthy. Doctors are truly the greatestheroes, of not just the present but of alltime.

The art of doctrine is to heal the soul,not only patient. The doctors’ day high-lights and brings awareness to the publicthe important and precious work doc-tors do in saving lives. Says Dr. JitendraMohan (Bachelor in Homeopathy medi-

cine and surgery , MHMC ) . On this daycampaigns are held all over the countrywith free medical check-up camps, con-sultation workshops, general screeningtest camps set up.

Dr. Abhinav Srivastava ( MBBS, MS-ENT surgeon at Government Institute of

Medical Sciences, Greater Noida) was onduty in a Covid-19 ward when a smallgirl was wheeled in with severe breath-ing difficulty. She was scared and prayingfor her life. Sh crona positive. She pled “will I be Ok doctor uncle” . “you willsoon be at your home and heathy” he

says and shifted her in Critical care ward(corona ward). Seeing patients in criti-cal care wards is not uncommon for doc-tors like him. But, he says, nothing cancompare to the psychological stress ofworking in a Covid-19 ward. Above allwe have to smile for patients and their

health because we are the only peoplethey can interact with, after this hit.Wehave to treat them both ways (physicallyand emotionally), he added.

On this special day Dr. Charu Srivas-tava (MDS -Oral & Maxillofacial Sur-geon)says he will never forget A hope in

eyes of patients when they walk in hos-pitals. Some are out of money but bringlot of hope, we know the patient is criti-cal but a fine line of hope connect us anda doctor does all possible treatment tocure his patient. Its not the disease wefight with, lot of emotions, hopes,trauma comes in our way. We have toconstantly deal with the emotional out-bursts of patients. They panic but wehave to be calm – be a friend and a doc-tor at a time. He added.

There is no respite for doctors andnurses even when they are not directlyinvolved in the fight against any disease.People with other ailments are continu-ing to come to hospitals. And there hasalso been a surge in the number of peo-ple who are turning up at hospitals withserious disease or coronavirus-likesymptoms.

Doctors are saving lives, risking theirlives every day. They need respect, lovenot fear."

Salute to all medical heroes. HappyDoctors Day

Thank you for spreading smiles !!Be healthy and happy !!

—Elina Srivastava

Doctors "Our real heroes"

Cataract in Children

CATARACT (motiyaibdu) nor-mally occurs in adults and isone of the most common surg-eries for restoring vision in theeyes. Cataract can present in

children also. It could be congenital (sincebirth) or could be developmental. Any kidof injury to the eye may also result in trau-matic cataract. Rarely, it could be due toexcess usage of steroids and systemicproblems.

A cataract in a child’s eye is bigger prob-lem and surgery is part of the solution.Vi-sion in children’s eyes develop if they cansee clearly. In the presence of cataract, thevisual development is halted.We all needto understand that it is a long term com-mitment and would need regular fol-lowups to the pediatric ophthalmologistfor changing refraction and for regainingthe vision if lost due to delay in surgery.The cataract surgery is under general anes-thesia which requires a pediatric anesthe-sia setup.The child needs to be taken careof postoperatively more carefully byputting the eyedrops and parents have totake care of the child’s needs. The childwith a pediatric cataract needs urgent at-tention and should be taken as an emer-gency surgery as every day that the child ispassing with cataract the vision whichcould have developed is not developing.

Cataract surgery in a child is a special-ized job both in terms of surgery and interms of deciding which intraocular lensto be placed as the eyeball size keeps onchanging with the age. It requires a pedi-atric ophthalmologist (who is a specialist inpediatric eye diseases and surgery) to per-

form the surgery and keep doing the man-agement on follow up. Better IOLs are nowavailable for children, better ways of exer-

cising are now available. Remember thechild is going to grow and needs all thesupport.

Removing glasses throughLASER is done routinely. It isindeed a safe and an effectivesolution for removal ofglasses. However, there are

some patients whose glass power is veryhigh and are told that a LASIK surgerycannot be done in their eyes as it is notsafe for these patients to undergo theLASER surgery.

The good news is that these patientscan also remove their glasses if they wishto with the help of implantable phakicintraocular lens (IPCL). This can be usedfor very high powers upto -28.0 D and inpatients who have been rejected for aLASIK procedures.The surgery is a routinesurgery and pa-tient becomesglass independentfor both near anddistance despitehaving such highpower glasses.

An ImplantablePhakic Intraocularlens helps in bet-ter field andpreservation of ac-commodation incomparison to anormal intraocularlens. It is a won-derful solution forpatients who can-not go for LASIKsurgery duetoreduced or ab-normal cornealthickness.

Dr. Jitendra Jethani

Pediatric Eye Surgeon and Squint Specialist

Baroda Children Eyecare and Squint Clinic, Vadodara

Removing high power glasses

Dr. Monika Jethani

Lasik and Refractive Surgeon, The Eye Clinic, Vadodara

Dr. Jitendra Mohan ( Bachelor of homeopathic

medicine and surgery, MHMC)

Dr. Charu Srivastava, BDS, MDS (Oral &

Maxillofacial Surgeon)

Dr. Abhinav Srivastava, MBBS,

MS- ENT

Dr. Sushma Dalal

Dr. Yashesh Dalal

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

Ahmedabad

8

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

NEW RED LINEIndia’sdecisiontobanChineseappssendsaclearmessageon

theroadahead.Thereisneedtotreadfirmlyandcarefully

ONMONDAY,THEgovernmentbanned59mobileapplicationswithChinese

links such as TikTok, UCBrowser, Shareit, and CamScanner. The decision,

which comes amid continuing tensionsbetween India andChina, after the

killingof20IndiansoldiersontheLineofActualControl,isthefirstclearmes-

sagefromNewDelhithatitwillreviewtherulesofengagement.Thisisaninterimorderand

firmshavebeengiven48hourstorespondtoquestionsontheircompliancewithdatase-

curityandprivacybutthismarksadecisivebreakfromthepast. Itservesasastatementof

intentwhilesendingaclearsignaltoChinathattherewillbecosts foractsofaggression.

Howtomanageand respond toChina’s growingassertiveness in the faceof agrowing

powerimbalanceisachallengeforIndia.Thereisanasymmetryinpower,avisibleeconomic

disparity.TheChineseeconomyisroughlyfivetimeslargerthanIndia’s.WhileIndiaaccounts

foronly3percentofChina’sexports,China(excludingHongKong)accountsfor14percent

ofIndia’simports,and5percentofexports.ButthesituationattheLACdemandsaresponse.

Inthiscontext, thebanonChinesemobileappsmaybeconstruedas lowhangingfruitand

a relatively soft target, but it is, at the same time, a decision thatmakes thepointwithout

leadingtoarevenuelossforIndiaorhurtingiteconomically—forthatsamereason,callsfor

boycottingallimportsfromChinainthismomentareill-judged.Thoseusingtheseappshave

other readily available alternatives butChinese firms stand to lose a fast-growingmarket.

GiventhatIndia’sdigitaleconomyistrackedglobally—itisoneofthelargestmarketsinthe

worldfortheseapps—blockingaccessheredoesimpactthevaluationsof thecompanies.

Other retaliatory steps are being considered. E-commerce firms have been asked to

explore the idea of listing the product’s country of origin amidst a growing clamour in

somesectionsforboycottofChineseproducts;thereistalkofraisingtariffs,curbsoncon-

tractsinsomeinfrastructureprojects. Infact,earlier, inamovethatwasapparentlyaimed

at Chinese firms, the government hadmade itmandatory for foreign direct investment

fromneighbouringcountries to takepriorapproval tocurbopportunistic takeoversdur-

ingthisperiod.However,givenhowpervasiveMadeinChinais,howsweepingitspresence

inthetechnologyspace in India—its investments ina long listof Indianunicorns—each

stepwillcomewithitsownsetof consequences.NewDelhishouldpreparefortheseand

calibrate its response, stepbycareful step.

AS GEELANI EXITS

It’s amoment formoderateandmainstreampartiesand

politics in theValley that iswaiting tobeseized

THE DECISION BY Syed Ali Shah Geelani to step down from the All Parties

HurriyatConferenceisanimportantmilestoneinKashmirandintheseparatist

strainof itspolitics. ItalsomarksaturningpointfortheHurriyat,partofwhich

is based in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The resignation of the 90-year-old

Geelani, whowas “chairman for life” of the APHC, appears to have been prompted by

howmattershaveunfolded intheValleyafterAugust5,2019,whentheCentrestripped

J&K of its special status and bifurcated the state into two union territories. His long ill-

nessalsoappearstohaveplayedarole.Theresignationletter lamentsthefailureof lead-

ersoftheAPHCconstituentstospeakoutagainstthechangesmadeinKashmir.Hemakes

nomentionof themoderateAPHCfactionledbyMirwaizUmarFarooq,who,alongwith

YaseenMalikof theJKLF,hadjoinedhandswithGeelani intheproteststhatfollowedthe

2016killingof BurhanWani.

Curiously,muchofGeelani'sireisreservedfortheHurriyatbasedinPoK.Hehasspared

only its leader, AbdullahGeelani,whohehas declared “would continue to perform the

dutiesasmyrepresentative”ontheothersideof theLoC,whileflayingothersinthePoK-

basedHurriyat for “connecting familymembers”withpowerstructures inPakistan, for

infighting, financialmisappropriationandothermisdeeds.Fromthe letter, it seemsas if

Geelaniwishes to leave this actof rebellionagainsthisownpartyas the lastmemoryof

hispolitics ina fraughtmoment inKashmir. Be that as itmay, theHurriyat leadership is

nowup for grabs, and the rumblings in its corridors,whichbegan tobeheard since the

National InvestigationAgencybeganenquiring into the financesof severalof its leaders

and their associates twoyearsago,will grow louder. Separatismmaystill bealive in the

Valley,but there isnowavacuumintheseparatist leadership.

This shouldhavebeenanopportunemoment formoderateandmainstreamparties

andpolitics intheValley.Unfortunately,Delhihasfollowedanolderplaybookinseeking

toundermineanderodethelegitimacyofpartiesandleadersthatespousemoderateand

mainstream views.While Farooq andOmar Abdullah of the National Conference have

seemedtongue-tiedaftertheirrelease,MehboobaMuftiof thePeople'sDemocraticParty

continuestobedetainedunderthestringentPublicSafetyAct.Whileeliminationofmil-

itancyisanimportantelementintheCentre'sKashmirpolicy, italsoneedstothinkabout

itsnextpolitical steps inKashmir.

CALL OF THE ARTS

Lockdownhasrobbedartistsof theircanvasandstage, those in

margins insmall townsandvillagesneedsupport

THEARTISTCOMMUNITY,too,hasbeenhitbyCOVID-19,especiallythoseinthe

margins in small townsandvillages. The lockdown imposedby thegovern-

mentinlateMarchhasforcedthemtostayathomewithoutanyopportunity

to earn. Since social distancing is central to the strategy to contain the pan-

demic,publicperformancesandactivitiesareunlikely to restart soon.Thishas left thou-

sandsofartistsandartisansinlimbo.Manyofthem,survivingprecariously,couldslipinto

poverty.Theymayevenbeforcedtoabandonartandcraftandturntounskilledwork.

Intheabsenceof asocial securitynet forartistsandartisans, inmanyplaces, individ-

ualshavecometogether tocrowd-source fundsandprovideaid toneedyartists. This is,

however, insufficient. There is a compelling need to look beyond individual initiatives

andworkoutinstitutionalmechanismstoaddressthiscrisis.Theproductionofartneeds

tobeseenintheframeworkoftheculturaleconomyandartistsmustberecognisedaspro-

ducers/workersinthateconomy.Artproduction—fromtempleartists,traditionalandfolk

performers tomodernmusicians andgallery-supported artists— is anessential part of

humanexistenceandnecessary fora society that ishappyandatease.

Inaninterviewtothisnewspaper,CarnaticmusicianTMKrishnasuggestedawelfare

programmeonthelinesof theMGNREGAtoprovideasafetynetformarginalisedartists

andartisans.Thegovernmentcouldstepuptocreateopportunitiesforperformanceand

teaching in schools, colleges and other public spaces. Such assured supportwould en-

surethat the less“market-friendly”art formstoocanflourishandpractitionerscanpur-

sue their vocationwith dignity and self-respect. The existing support, including from

government-sponsored academies, is limited to a small number of established artists,

thosewho are engaged in art forms patronised by the social elites. Those living in the

margins dependon religious festivals, carnivals, localmarkets tomake a living. It is im-

portantthattheseartistsarenotforgotteninthistimewhenthepandemiccastsalength-

eningshadowontheir canvasandstage.

Guarding the guardians

Abhishek Singhvi

MaheshRangarajan

ImplementationofDKBasujudgments,monitoringbycivilsociety,canprotectagainstcustodialtorture,death

NATURE’S HISTORIANRichardGroveraisedquestionsaboutempireandecologythatarerelevanttoday

INTHECURRENTcontextof thereprehensi-ble custodial deaths in TamilNadu, I am re-minded of my own tryst with this seminalissue,beingtheSupremeCourt’sAmicusonthe subject, through the importantDKBasujudgments, since1987.Startingwithalettercomplaint of 1986, this converted PILspawned four crucial and comprehensivejudgments— in 1996, twice in 2001 and in2015, layingdownover20commandments.Additionally, it led to at least five other

procedural,monitoringandcoordinatingju-dicialorders, inthebesttraditionsofcontin-uingmandamus.Thesehavecreatedavalu-ableandseamlessweboflegalprinciplesandtechniquestoreducecustodialdeathandtor-ture.Littlemorebywayof theoreticalstruc-ture is required ifDKBasu’s comprehensivecoverage is genuinely implemented. Butwherewe fail — as inmany other things inthiscountry—isinoperationalisingthespiritofDKBasu, inpunitivemeasures, inlastmileimplementation, in breaking intra-depart-mentalsolidaritywitherrantpolicemenandin ensuring swift, efficacious departmentalcoerciveactionpluscriminalprosecution.AsAmicus,westartedwiththeexistential

Roman dilemma: “Who will guard theguardians”,theso-called“rakshakbhakshak”syndrome. Justice ASAnand,whopiloted ittill theend, basedhis approachonmywrit-ten submissions, generously adding praise,tracinghow torture is anathema todemoc-racy, tracing Royal Commissions in the UK,LawCommissions and Police CommissionsinIndia,SupremeCourtprogressivecaselaw,like Joginder Kumar (1994) and NilabatiBehera(1993),tograpplewiththecoreissue,not really soluble even today: Relatively lit-tle highhandedness occurs after formal ar-rest,mosttortureisdonebeforethearrest isrecorded. Safeguards obviously kick in onlyafter thearrest is shown.This is aperennial,insoluble dilemma and all devious policeforcesgloballyuse it.The first 11 commandments in 1996,

therefore, focused on vital processual safe-guards:Allofficialsmustcarrynametagsandfull identification,arrestmemomustbepre-pared, containing all details regarding timeand place of arrest, attested by one family

member or respectablemember of the lo-cality. The location of arrest must be inti-mated to one family or next friend, detailsnotifiedtothenearest legalaidorganisationand arresteemust bemade known of eachDKBasu right, all suchcompliancesmustberecorded in the police register, hemust getperiodicalmedicalexamination, inspectionmemomustbesignedbyarresteealsoandallsuch informationmust be centralised in acentral police control room. Significantly,breachofthiswastobeculpablewithseveredepartmental action and additionally con-temptalso, andthiswouldallbe inadditionto,not substitutionof, anyexisting remedy.This first judgmentwent further, apply-

ing the principle that rightswithout reme-dies are illusory and futile. Hence, all of theabove preventive and punitive measurescould gowith, andwerenot alternatives to,fullcivilmonetarydamageclaimsforconsti-tutional tort.The decades in between detailed judg-

mentswerespentinvitalordersofmonitor-ingandgoadingcompliance.Eachstateandunionterritorywasforcedtofileinformationinpre-designedchartsbyour teamtomakecomparisonsandcollationssimple.Togetallresponsesanddata fromstatesafterseveraladjournments for a country of India’s sizewas nomean achievement of the SC. Theywerethenpresented,analysedincourtstate-wise, and general and state-specific direc-tionswere then formulated, based on datafound in thesepre-prescribed formats.Hence, the eight other intermediate or-

ders till 2015 sought precise detailed com-pliance reports oneachparameter, shameddeficientanddelayedresponses,directedanystatehumanrightsbody,whereconstituted,tosetupspecialsub-committeestomonitorand report as eyes and ears of the SC andwhere no SHRC existed, directed the chiefjustice of the high courts to somonitor ad-ministratively. It emphasised that existingsimplebutpotentpowersformagisterial in-quiries under the CrPCwere lackadaisicalandmustbecompleted in fourmonths,un-less sessions court judges recorded reasonsforextension.ItalsodirectedSHRCstobesetupexpeditiously ineachpartof India.

The third and last phase ended in 2015,ironicallywithanotherchief justicefromJ&K,CJITSThakur.SterndirectionsweregiventosetupSHRCsbut,moreimportantly,tofilluplargevacancies inexistingbodies.Theasyetunused power of setting up human rightscourtsunderSection30oftheNHRCActwasdirected to be operationalised. All prisonshadtohaveCCTVswithinoneyear—asim-ilardirectionsoughtbymeforallpolicesta-tionswasgivenasacourtexhortationtostarta phase-wise CCTV in every police stationwithoutformulatingitasamandatorydirec-tion. Itwasdirectedthatnon-officialvisitorswoulddosurprisechecksonprisonsandpo-lice stations and prosecutions and depart-mental action were unhesitatingly man-dated.I amamusedby the ignorance andmul-

ishness of both the Tamil Nadu police andtheir political masters when they suggestthatDK Basu applies only in police and notin judicial custody. That is a travesty and apitiabledistortion.DKBasu isall-encompass-ing, loopholecoveringandmakesabsolutelynosuchdistinctionamidstcategoriesofcus-tody.Ourdemocracy tax is toohighand toodilatory:A1985LawCommissionreportdi-recting enactmentof section114-B intoourEvidenceAct, raisingarebuttablepresump-tion of culpability against the police if any-oneintheircustodydiesorisfoundwithtor-ture, has still not become law, despite a billintroduced as late as 2017. We still haveabysmallydeplorableratesofeveninitiatingprosecutionsagainstaccusedpoliceofficers.Actual convictions are virtually non-ex-

istent.Figuresforinitiatingdepartmentalac-tion are better butwoefully lowandhardlyevertakentosuccessfuldismissal.Notmuchisneeded.Monitoringand implementationofDKBasubyindependentandbalancedcivilsocietyindividualsateachlevel,undercourtsupervision, is sufficient tominimise thisscourge. Sadly, this is sonearyet so far.

Thewriter isanMP, formerchairmanParliamentaryStandingCommitteeonLaw,

formerASG, Indiaandnationalspokesperson,Congress.He is SCAmicus

since1987oncustodialdeath/torture issues

THE DEMISE of Richard H Grove, environ-mental historian and polymath extraordi-naire at Lewes, Cambridge, this June, leavesavoid.Apioneeringlobalenvironmentalhis-tory,hemadeamajorcontributiontostudy-ingtherootsofmodernenvironmentalcon-cernand linking it to the colonial era and toearly scientificdebates.Professor Grove had taken up a position

in the Australian National University,Canberra, Australia, in 2006 a fewmonthsprior to a serious automobile accident.Thoughitimpairedhisworkandmobility,hewas a fighter to the last. Prior to this, hehadheld appointments at Cambridge and Yaleuniversities.HefoundedtheCentreforWorldEnvironmentalHistory inSussex in2002.Grove’s early career showed a rare abil-

ity to cross the boundaries of disciplines.BorninJuly1956andsonof theeminentge-ographers,AlfredTandJeanGrove,hisworkspannedseveraldisciplinesandcontinents.He got a BA in geography fromHartford

College, Oxford and then a Masters inConservation Biology from UniversityCollege, London. His doctoral degreeawarded in 1988 at Cambridge traced thestoryofearlyecologicalconcernbackintimeand literallyacross theoceansandseas.Inanutshell, rapidchanges in theecolo-

gies of islands such as St Vincent in theCaribbean and St Helena andMauritius inthe Indian Ocean followed on the heels ofcolonial rule. Surgeon botanists in the EastIndia Company and its Dutch equivalentwereamongthefirst to tracechanges inhy-drology due to loss of forest cover. Inwest-

ern and southern India, the early botanistswarned of famine and unrest, promptingearly steps for forestprotection.Hisbook,GreenImperialism,basedonhis

doctoral thesis, is a citation classic. A greatraconteur, hewas happy to share the storyof how the thesis got past his examinersthoughitwastwicethewordlength.These-cretwashisextra-longfoot-notes—heusedarchives inoveradozencountries.Grove blazed the trail for a new kind of

history of ideas that spanned continents.Mostcrucially,heplacedIndia,AfricaandtheCaribbean at the centre of global environ-mental change. The absence of strong locallanded interests, as was the case withinEurope,maderegulationof forests, landandwater easier. Over time, hisworkpaid care-fulattentiontolocalresistanceandconflicts.HisworkonElNinoand long-termrela-

tionships of climate change and economicand social events published in 1998 wasahead of its time. Global warming, heshowed, had been studied and known inVictorian times, though earlywarning sig-nalswerebrushedasideand ignored.Butheraisedalargerquestionaboutem-

pireandecology thathasmuchrelevance toourtroubledtimes.Waspowercapableofbe-ingmoderatedbyknowledge?Couldenlight-ened self-interest control untrammelledgreed?Thepast,forhim,didnotgiveeasyso-lutions.Butthehistoryof thecolonialworld,andIndiaevenmoreso,heldmanyclues.In particular, he saw the emergence of

early scientists in the Company as harbin-gers of a newautonomous actorwho could

try and check the use and abuse of nature.Whyandhowseriousideasaboutachievingharmony with nature could become a“Trojan horse” to punish the poorwas a re-current themeofhis laterwork.The titles of his coeditedworks are im-

pressiveenoughbutacloserlookshowshowheservedasaconnecting linkacrossgener-ations, disciplines and regional studies spe-cialists.Conservation inAfrica, 1987,was fol-lowed by a volume on Zimbabwe and in1998, by Nature and the Orient, whichbroughttogetherSouthandSouthEastAsia.Noassessmentofhiscontributioniscom-

pletewithouthisremarkableabilitytomen-tor younger scholars. A generosity of intel-lectandpersonwashishallmark.In1996,hefounded the journal, Environment andHistory. It wasmy privilege towork closelywithhimonthisventure for fiveyears.A reverence for powerwas not his pre-

ferredtrait.Hisplainspeak,whilecourageous,alsomeant hehad fewpowerfulmentors. Asenior scholar onceprivately remarkedhowtheuniversityasinstitutionhadbeencreatedso thatminds such as Grove’s could thrive.Whathe left unsaidmatters. If only theyhaddoneso—andwoulddoso—to their fullest.Are narrowdepartmental bounds and cele-brationofconformitynotworthasecondlook?Grove’swas an intellect that broke such

barriers. His workwill now find new audi-ences on a planet where all are nowmoreconsciousof the fragilityof life.

Thewriter teachesHistoryandEnvironmental StudiesatAshokaUniversity

The first 11 commandments

in 1996 focused on vital

processual safeguards: All

officials must carry name tags

and full identification, arrest

memo must be prepared,

containing all details

regarding time and place of

arrest, attested by one family

member or respectable

member of the locality. The

location of arrest must be

intimated to one family or

next friend, details notified to

the nearest legal aid

organisation and arrestee

must be made known of each

‘DK Basu’ right, all such

compliances must be

recorded in the police register,

he must get periodical medical

examination, inspection

memo must be signed by

arrestee also and all such

information must be

centralised in a central police

control room.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020WORDLYWISE

Art is the lie that enables us

to realize the truth.

— PABLO PICASSOTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM ERUPTSWHILEVIOLENCEERUPTEDagain inpartsofAssam,theagitatersannouncedtheirplanstodisrupt thestate’s roadandair linkswiththerestof thecountryandparalysetheadminis-trationfromJuly4. Intwoseparateincidents,armedassailantskilledfivepersonsinSibsagarvillagebymountinggrenadeattackonamar-riage partywhile a youthwas shot dead atpoint-blankrange.TheannouncementofthenewagitationprogrammecamefromtheAll-AssamGanaSangramParishadandtheAASUamidstfalteringprospectsofresumptionofadialogue to end the nine-month-long dead-lockontheforeigners' issue.

TRIPURA VIOLENCEAN EXODUS OF Bengalis from the riot-hitKhowai, Kalyanpur and Teliamura in westTripura began as the death toll inmob vio-lenceandarsonsinceSaturdaynightrosetofour. The troops fired several rounds at dif-ferent places to disperse rioting tribals andnon-tribals. More than one hundred hutswere burnt down at Moharchara,Narayandas Para, Vishnumaster Para,Barakath,Kalamsimuraand JaykrishnaTila.Miscreantsalsoset fire toahouse in frontofthe police chowki at Takarjola. CM NripenChakravortyblamedvested interests for in-stigatingmobviolence.

ADVICE TO BREZHNEVWEST GERMAN CHANCELLOR HelmutSchmidtmade a stronger appeal to SovietPresident Leonid Brezhnev for a completewithdrawal of Russian troops fromAfghanistan. In remarks at aKremlin dinnerafter the first round of his official talks,Schmidt told Brezhnev: “I am sure that you,MrGeneralSecretary,wouldcontributecon-siderablytothedefusingofthisdangerouscri-sis if you could declare that the announcedwithdrawal of some Soviet troops fromAfghanistanisthestartofacontinuousmove-ment,whichwill be continueduntil there iscompletewithdrawal.”

JULY 1, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

Grove blazed the trail for a

new kind of history of ideas

that spanned continents.

Most crucially, he placed

India, Africa and the

Caribbean at the centre of

global environmental

change. The absence of

strong local landed interests,

as was the case within

Europe, made regulation of

forests, land and water

easier. Over time, his work

paid careful attention to local

resistance and conflicts. His

work on El Nino and long-

term relationships of climate

change and economic and

social events published in

1998 was ahead of its time.

Ahmedabad

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“The symbolism of the target cannot be missed. The PSX represents the beating

heart of economic activity in the country’s commercial capital, and is located in

an area where the State Bank of Pakistan, the Central Police Office, and other

major public and private institutions are based.” —DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Some will misconstrue and

say that I am hinting at some

sort of policing. Please do

not be misled or trivialise

what I am honestly putting

up for a rational and civil

discussion. One is talking

about responsibility and

regard for the audience and

its milieu. After all,

shouldn't cognisance be

taken of the share of voice of

the people, whose wallets’

share is desired?

Putting reformto the test

AsGSTentersitsfourthyear,Covidhashitcollections.Muchdependsonmeasurestocompensatestates

GST FACES ITS toughest test as it enters itsfourthyear.TheupcomingchallengetoGST,however, does not stem from its design orstructureorthewayithasbeenrun. It isupagainstapandemicthathaswreakedhavocon the global economyand India is no ex-ception.DespitethediversitythatGSThashadto

contendwith,ithasbeenaremarkablesuc-cessasataxinthefirsttwoyears.Facedwithanunusuallyhighbenchmarkof14percentCAGR,GSTwas very productive in the firsttwoyears. The base year revenue in 2015-16 stood at aroundRs 8 lakh crore and forthe ninemonths of 2017-18 that GSTwasoperational, the benchmark stood at Rs7,79,760 crore (at 14 per cent CAGR from2015-16).Asagainstthis,theactualGSTrev-enuestoodatRs7,40,650crore,whichis95per cent of a very tall target. 2018-19waseven betterwith an actual collection of Rs11,77,368crore(99.34percentofthebench-markedcollection).However,withtheeconomybeginning

toslowdownin2019-20,GSTcouldnotre-maininsulated.BarringApril2019,noothermonthwitnesseddouble-digitgrowthoverthe last year,with September,October andMarch clockingnegative figures. The aver-age growth rate duringMay-August 2019was5.4per cent,which turnednegative inthe subsequent twomonths.With alarmbellsringing, thetaxadministrationstight-ened the beltwhich contributed to the 8.4per cent growth during the threemonthsending February 2020. And then the pan-demichitandcollectionstumbledbymorethan8percent inMarch.Aswehead into 2020-21, the toughest

challenge for theGSTCouncilwould be todeviseways to compensate the states. Theusual compensation cycle got delayed andthesituationisnotlikelytoimproveanytimesoonwith the collection for the first twomonths of the current fiscal at just 46 percentof2019-20levels.The pandemic struck just as the econ-

omyseemedtobelookingup,whichhasledto all reformmeasures being put on hold.Thenewreturnsystem,raterationalisations,measurestoimprovecomplianceandcom-plianceverificationshaveallbeenheldback,which has further dented revenueprospects.The biggest challenge is the possibility

of a huge deficit in the compensation ac-count.The14percentCAGRformulawouldleadtoasituationwheretheprotectedrev-enueofthestateswouldrisebyabout92percent from thebase year figures and even a20 per cent drop from last year’s figureswouldmean that theaccruals to the stateswouldbejustabovetheirbaseyearrevenue.Inthisscenario, thecompensationrequire-

mentwouldbeonlyalittle lessthan50percent of the actual protected revenue for2020-21. Toput this in perspective, the ac-tualcompensationcesscollectionhasneverexceeded 20 per cent of the total revenueaccrualtothestates.Itistimetotakemeasurestopreventthe

states fromslipping intoaserious financialcrisis. Thesemeasureswill not only definethe futureofGSTbutalso thecourseof theunique cooperative federalism that it hasusheredinthecountry.Of late, there has been a lot of specula-

tion on the subject andmost of it has cen-tred around some kind of borrowing.However,borrowingisnotthesolutiontoacrisis of this nature, particularly in viewofthefact that thefinancial impactofCOVID-19defiesquantificationandmoresoinviewof theassured14per centCAGRguaranteeto thestates.Manycomplex issuescropupin the context of borrowings. For instance,howandwhenwillitbepaidback.If,assug-gested, thecompensationperiodwastobeextendedbeyond2021-22andthecessdur-ing the extendedperiod used to repay theloan,willitnotmeaneatingintofuturerev-enue streams of both the Union and thestates. Itwouldsimplybedeferringthecri-sis insteadof reallysolvingit.Alternatively, it is being urged that the

Centremayborrowlong-termtofinancethecompensation. Thiswould give theCentreenoughbreathing space and the situationwouldease in the really long-term, castinglittle burden on the Centre’s finances. Thisidea too is notworth pursuing since thereare borrowing limits and the Centre is asmuchboundbyfiscalresponsibility.Anothervariant suggests that theCouncilmaybor-rowontheCentre’s guarantee. Inmyview,theCouncilisprobablynotanentitythatcanundertakeanysuchventure.Thisleavesuswithlittleoptionbuttore-

jig theGST rates. I strongly feel that this isnotthetimetotinkerwiththerates.Buttheideamustbedebatedwhentheworstisbe-hindus.GSTwasintroducedwithratesabout20

percentlowerthantheeffectivetaxburden(allexistingcentralandstate leviesandthecascadingeffect).Thisratehasbeenfurtherlowered,mostlyintermittently,butmajorlyontwooccasions—inNovember2017andJuly 2018.With a tax base of aroundRs 60lakh crore, a 1 per cent increase in the taxrateswould yield additional revenue of Rs60,000crore.Another idea thatmay be considered

alongwiththeratehike,orevenindepend-ently, isre-arrangingtheGSTratestructurewherein60percentor65percentoftheto-tal taxonacommodity is thestatecompo-nentandtheremaining is thecentralcom-ponent.Forinstance,the18percentGSTratecould be 11 per cent SGST and 7 per centCGST or some such combination.Historically, too,with themajor cascadingbuiltintothestates’VATrates,thestates’taxrateswerehigherthanof theCentre.Theseadjustments in theGST rateswould yieldadditional revenue to the states, therebybringingdownthecompensationburden.

Thewriter isDeputyChiefMinister,Bihar

CURRENTLY, DISCUSSIONSARE on about afewwebseriesthathavecomeintofocus,notsomuchforexcellencebutfortheirunbridledcontent.Itwouldbeinterestingtoexplorethisera of entertainment and understand thebuilding blocks of this emerging industry,which is slated to snowball. BCG estimatesIndia'sOTT(applicationsandservicesaccessi-bleovertheinternet)markettobeintherangeof about $5 billion by 2023. Moreover,whetherasmarketers,brandcustodiansorin-formed citizens,weneed to decode andun-derstand the sentiment unleashedmore in-tricately.Comparisons between cinema andOTT

are apparent.While cinema is amoremass,publicconsumptionproduct,webseriesandOTTplatformsareostensiblymore individu-alisticandwatchedoverpersonalscreens.Thecontent codes, therefore, are considereddif-ferent.However,thepandemichaschangedper-

spectivesandconsumptionhabits.Thelacunathatcinemaviewingandotheroutdoorleisureactivitieshavelefthasresultedinanincreasedintake of content on OTT platforms. Sincemost people across age groups are confinedtotheirhomes,thereisalsoanincreaseincol-lectiveviewing.Thisnewreality,insomeways,has led to a greater scrutinisation of contentbytheviewers.Ihavealwaysbelievedinthepowerof in-

formedchoice,especiallywithregardtochil-dren. Transparent classification of content isimperative.Manywillpointtothe13+,16+orotherageratingsofonlineseries.Weneedtounderstandmore clearlyhowthis classifica-tion is done. Are these categorisations donesolelybythecontentcreatorswhoseektogaincommercially from them?Or by independ-entmindswhotakeonboardconcernsofpar-ents,teachers,expertsinchildpsychologyandthosewell-versedwith socio-cultural nu-ances?Whatarethestandardisednorms,duediligencefollowedbythecontentcreatorsspe-cific totheIndiancontext?Thereneedstobemore transparency and a fair sense of in-formedchoice.Reportsinthemediacitetheinstanceofa

Digital Content Complaint Council (DCCC),whichhas been joinedby ahandful of play-ers, butmost of the OTT players are said tohave opposed themove and refused to jointhecouncil.Somewillmisconstrueandsay that I am

hintingatsomesortofpolicing.PleasedonotbemisledortrivialisewhatIamhonestlyput-tingupforarationalandcivildiscussion.Oneis talkingabout responsibility and regard fortheaudienceanditsmilieu.Afterall, should-n't cognisance be takenof the share of voiceofthepeople,whosewallets’shareisdesired?Let's peer through another lens:

Companiesoftentermtheircontentasenter-tainmentproducts.Throughmyprofessionallife, I have observed branding and productscarefully.Every industryvalues itsconsumerandmarketing books are repletewith refer-ences to treating the consumer as the king.Afterall,asoundproductreflectsaninherentconcernfortheconsumer.Theculturalfabricofthemarketiscrucialtoresponsiblecompa-niesaroundtheworld.Therearefabulousandrobustcodesofconductinreputedorganisa-tions aswell as a fair degree ofmindfulnessandrestraint.Yes,youwanttoenticeyourconsumeror

viewer; sure, there is hyperbole in the com-munication.Butnowhereisconsumersenti-mentdevalued.Andincase, if thatdoeshap-pen, therearechecks,balancesandredressalforums.GiventhatOTT,webcontentisatitsinitial

stage,itwillhopefullymatureinitsapproachtotheconsumer.Thenascentindustryneedsto be ready to evolve and heed contrarianpoints of view. Inmany countries, there arerobust frameworks inplace.However, tryingtoimportbusinesspracticesandforce-fittingthemwill create only turmoil if the indige-nous,nuancedpointofviewisdisparaged.Myexperience inbrandbuildingandde-

signing communication for various interna-tionalandnationalbrandshastaughtmethatthoughonecanhaveaglobaloutlook,cogni-sanceneeds to be taken of the inherent cul-turalsensibilitiesinvariedmarkets.Theyneedtobeembraced,not flouted.Afterall, culturegives us a context for life. Amundaneobjectfindsmeaning and significance becauseweattribute a certain narrative to it. Societiescherishtheirnarrativesdeeply.Understandingtheculturalunderpinningoftheovertisvital,for life's beauty lies in intricacy, in nuance.Significant brandskeep this context inmindandarenotdrivenbyashort-sighted,oppor-tunisticmindset.I understand artistic products aremore

complexthanmanyothers.Creativethinkingandartisticprowessneedtobefinelybalancedwithmarket needs and consumer sensibili-ties.Self-expressionandexperimentationareintertwinedwith business realities. I do notdoubt thatmanyseek thisbalance, butdeepdown, it also boils down to intent.Fundamentally, I believea trueartisthas im-menserespectfortheaudience,knowingthattheir audiencemakes them. Butwhen thisgets compromised, the very intent gets cor-rupted, it results inadistortedreality.The highest pricewepay for this distor-

tion is the loss of trust between the creatorandtheaudience.Therecouldbedisillusion-ment, andtheaudiencecanbecomewaryofcontentcreators.Thislossoftrustcandestroytheveryfun-

damentalsofthecreativeworld,especiallythecommerciallycreativeworld.For,thereisadif-ference between pure art and an artistic“product”.Whenartispackagedandsoldasacommercialproduct,itacquiresanotherhue.As far as entertainment products are con-cerned, in an industrywith a balance sheet,artismorecommercial.It'sdifferentwhenwespeakoffineartists.Intheircase,self-expres-sion is thedominantemotion.Anintense in-ner compulsion exists, and creation takesplace regardless of consequences. Marketforcesmatter little, forarestlesssoul is inthe

questtofindmeaning,notmoney.Andit'sim-portantforhumanitythatthisunadulteratedintrospection and expression takes placeunhindered.One cannot, and is not, undermining the

calibreofpopulargenreproducts.Incommer-cialart, thereareinstancesof staggeringself-expressionandmanyof themaredeliciouslypoisedbetweenartandcommerce.Butthereisundoubtedlyadifferencewhenyoutailor-make an entertainment product afteranalysing and pressing convenient buttonsaimed to please or cater to the lowest com-mondenominator.Oneinvokingpureartisticlicensewhile promoting a commercial artproductwillbeseenthrougheventually.Let'snotforgetthatapieceofcreativework

is almost like a journey,where the audiencehaspracticallysurrenderedandsubmittedtothe will of the artist and content creator.Literally a frame ofmind of, takemewhereyouwant, Iwanttoseewhatyouseeandex-periencewhatyouexperienced, senseeverybitofjoy,pain,despair,jubilation,melancholythatyoudid.Iamundoubting,andIhopethatyouwon't abandonmemidway. Youmaywant to shakeme, butnotwith the intent todestroy. Tomakeme finer and evolve. Thissentiment is a reflection of the relationshipthatmakesapieceofartconnectandresonate.Currently, introspection is required

whether this very fundamental relationshipbetweenthecreatorandtheaudienceisbeingcompromised.Letmereiterate,nomatterhowfrantically

wewantourentertainmentproducts tosuc-ceed,certainthingsmustbenon-negotiable.Many of us talk aboutwomen’s empower-mentandgivelofty lectures.However,whenitcomestotheportrayalofwomenincinemaandentertainmentproducts,weturnablindeye. There has to be a correction—dare onesay,over-correction—inthisregard.Also,wecannot, in thenameof art, and for commer-cialgains,compromisethevulnerablesectionofoursocietylikechildren.Asmakers,let’snottake clever shelter under “context” or othersuchnomenclature;orconvenientlyblameiton the audience'smuddied understanding.Thisshouldbethelastjustificationforcreators,especiallywhenconcernsloomaboutatrustdeficitbetweenthemandtheaudience.Whilstwe collectively explore the next

phase, for starters, I believeweneed to stopdefendingmissteps.Andwithanopenmind,coursecorrectanddiscusstheemergingreal-ity,genuinelyandhonestly.Then,theroadaheadwillbebrighterand

smoother.

Joshi isawriter,poetandcommunicationprofessional.Viewsexpressedarepersonal

PV’S LEGACY

THISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Theshrink-ingofPV’(IE, June30). Indiaisbetteroffas a country because Narasimha Raowas its primeminister in theNineties.It is remarkablethatamanwithsuchalightpolitical base, and surroundedbymorepowerfulpoliticalstalwarts,couldchangethedirectionoftheIndianecon-omy.His failures flowedfromhisweakpolitical base. The anti-Sikh riots of1984 and the demolition of BabriMasjidtookplaceunderhischarge.Yetunderhim, Indiaemergedasoneofthetop10economies in theworld.

J SBandukwala,Baroda

SIGNAL TO BEIJING

THIS REFERS TO the report, 'Virtualstrike'(IE, June30).TheNarendraModigovernment is under intense pressureto act against China. The banning ofappsthathavelinkstoChinaismeanttopander to domestic anti-Chinese sen-timents. To believe that this will seri-ouslyhurtChinaisnaive.Butthemovedoes send a clear signal to Beijing thatDelhi ispreparedtorespondtoChina’sbullying tactics inEasternLadakh.

VijaiPant,Hempur

A MORAL FRONT

THISREFERSTOthearticle, 'Diplomacyafter Galwan', (IE, June 30). At a timewhen China ismaking dubious refer-ences to traditional rightswhile legit-imising its unlawful encroachment onforeign territories, making a counter-claim in a similar tone would mean

playing into Beijing’s hands. Instead,openingupamoral front in support ofthe victims of Chinese oppressionwithin and outside its territory couldhelprallymoresupportfromtheinter-national community against Chineseadventurism, thereby denting theglobal image of brand China. India'sTibetancommunity in-exile shouldbegivenmore visibility, their part of thestorydeservesawiderglobalaudience.

SudipKumarDey,Kolkata

NOT BY FEAR

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, 'Deathincustody', (IE, June 30). Extraordinarytimes don't imply losing the grip overruleof law.Custodial violence inTamilNadu, leading to the loss of lives,mustbecondemned. Peopleshouldn’thaveto fear thegovernment.

DivyaSingla,Patiala

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

INDIAN FOREXRESERVES have crossed anunprecedentedmark—overhalf trillionUSdollars,placingIndiaonlybehindChinaandJapaninAsia.Andwhile thismayseemlikea rayof hopeamidst theeconomic turmoilin the country, onemust scrutinise its util-ity. The issue is not about a “few extra” re-serves but unused “excessive” reserves,whichmayindicatethat theIndiangovern-ment is likely anticipating the need of anenormous economic stimulus and hence,isbankingonthesereserves tosupport thefailing Indian economy. If so, over-relianceon forex reserves to provide this stimulusmay be dangerous andmerely keeping re-serves parkednow is anopportunity lost.The recent forex reserves surge was a

result of two things: A spike in foreign in-stitutional investments and savings inIndia’s importbill. Foreign institutional in-vestors reinvested in the Indianmarket inMay-Juneaftertheyexitedtheirpositionsinpanic inMarch. On the other side, a globalfall in fuelpriceshasreducedIndia’soil im-port bill, allowing it to save up forex re-serves.Butwhydoes Indiakeephugeforexreserves despite the government’s claim

thatthe“fundamentals”of theeconomyarestrong?Sufficiency of forex reserves is some-

times measured on howmany months’worthof importsacountrycanafford.Whilesixmonths is considered sufficient, theRBIinDecember2019saidithadenoughtosus-tain for10months (the forex reserveswerethen $0.4 trillion). Today, the cover is 12months! This is despite having a sufficientcredit line from the IMF, should there be acreditshock. It isunderstandableforoil-richcountriestomaintainhighforexreserves—a single oil trade hiccup can derail theireconomy. Economists have theorised thatholdinghighforexreservesisunnecessary—infact,notusingthemtofinancemegainfra-structure projects are lost opportunities —and yet the Indian government has heldthese reserves in liquid, possibly for itsfearedD-day.Has the Indian governmentbeen antic-

ipating an economichiccup strong enoughtoderail the Indianeconomyforsometimenow?Indeed,excessforexreservesarelikelythegovernment’scontingencyfund, incasethe economy suddenly topples. The pan-

demic has increased the government’s in-security.Anotherpossibility is thatthegov-ernment is accumulating these reserves as“Plan-B” savings should its strategic disin-vestmentplansfail.Third, forexreservesarealsolikelyawayforIndianowtomaintainitsglobalratingaftermultiplereductionsinitsGDPgrowthestimates.Lastbutnotleast,thefundamentaluseof

India’sforeignexchangeshouldbetoensuretheRupee(INR)stability.However, thathas-n’tbeenthecase.Despite steadily rising re-serves, INR fluctuated between 77 and 75againsttheUSdollar inthelasttwomonths,between71and77inthelastthreemonths,and 68 and 77 in the last year. INR has be-come one of Asia’sworst currencies— andthe RBI may allow it to devalue further tosupport its balance sheet, enabling it totransferabigchunkof its realisedprofitsasdividend to the starvinggovernment.With“Atmanirbharta”or“self-sufficiency”inthespotlight, even financing imports is out ofthepicture.Neitherwill theybeusedtobidINRagainstothercurrencies,sinceinvestorswill not hold INR. Not using forex reservesfortheirprimepurposedespitehavingthem

in excess suggests that they are being heldfor anulteriormotive.But if the foreign funds’ influx is a plus,

over-reliance on these floating funds tostimulatetheeconomymightbepoorly in-formed. The potential of these funds toswitch direction should not be underesti-mated. InMarchalone, foreigninstitutionalinvestments in India fellbyRs65,000crore(duetotheCOVIDpanic). India’s foreignex-change reserves registered this impact —they shrunk by $12,577 million over ap-proximatelythesameperiod.Reversingthedip, investmentswent up inMay and nowin June (bothmonths have addedRs 12-13thousandcrore inFII)withsomebigcorpo-rate deals that restored forex reserves totheir early 2020 levels. If the governmentintends to use forex reserves as an emer-gency fund, it should ensure that they donotshrinkjustwhentheyaremostneeded.

Jaffrelot is senior research fellowatCERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian

Politics andSociologyatKing’s IndiaInstitute, London. Jumle is aproject officer atTRAFFICWWF India. Viewsarepersonal

Over-relianceonforexreservesisproblematic,notusingthemalostopportunity

An unreliable emergency fund

Christophe Jaffrelot andVihang Jumle

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AscontentonOTTplatformsbecomesmorewidelyviewed,weneedtoask:Whatare thenormsandduediligence followedbycontentcreatorsspecific to the Indiancontext?

Regard for audience, its culture

Ahmedabad

RITUSHARMAAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

TWOWEEKS since the south-west monsoon arrived inGujarat, Kutch and Saurashtraregionshavereceivedaround25per cent of the average rainfallwitnessed during this period.The southwest monsoon offi-ciallyarrivedGujaratonJune14covering districts of Valsad,Navsari, Tapi,DangandSurat.Kutchdistrict has already re-

ceived25percentof theaveragerainfallduringmonsoon,whichisthehighest in the last fiveyears -in2017ithadreceived15percentof the average rainfall. TheSaurashtraregionhasreceived22percentof itsseason’sshare.Further, nearly 100 talukas

have already recorded rainfallbetween126-250mm(nearly5-10 inch) during this monsoonseason, the highest in the lastfiveyears.Subsequently,comparingthe

rainfalldatatillJune30forthelastfiveyears,thisyeartheleastnum-ber of talukas - 32—received0-50mmrainfall,whichisthelow-

est rainfall bracket.While 172talukasreceived0-50mmrainfallin 2016, the highest in last fiveyears, itwas116in2018.Attributingtheearly rains in

KutchandSaurashtraregionstothe Cyclone Nisargawitnessedin the first week of June, theIndia MeteorologicalDepartment(IMD)officialssaidthatitwasalsoconducivefortheentire state.“DuetotheCycloneNisarga,

a lot of moisture could come tothe state and especially to theSaurashtra and arid Kutch re-

gions,whicharebereftofmois-ture. Also, due to this, Gujaratwas quite conducive and thusrainfallwasactive inmostpartsof the state,” said ManoramaMohantyAdditionalDirector ofIMD’sAhmedabadregion.KutchandSaurashtraregions

thatcoveralmosthalfofthestategeographically are expected tocontinue to add to its receipt ofrainfall as the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) forecasts rainfall for theseregions,throughoutthisweek.“Due toacyclonic circulation

oversouthGujaratnowandneig-hbourhoodbetween1.5 kmand4.5kmabovemeansea level tilt-ing towards the southwestwithheight isexpectedtobringmod-erate rainfallwith thunderstormin the districts of Saurashtra,Kutchalongwithnorthandcen-traldistricts,”Mohantyaddedontheforecastforthisweek.On Tuesday, the 131 talukas

thatreceivedrainfall includedal-mostalldistrictsofSaurashtraandKutch.KalavadtalukainJamnagardistrictrecordedthehighestinthestate(till4pm)—73mminbarelytwohoursfrom12pmtill2pm.Among the five regions the

state has been divided into, theSouthGujarat has received thelowestrainfall thisseason—9.01per cent. This is the region’s sec-ond lowest share in the last fiveyears—inthemonsoonof2016,itbarely received4per cent of theaveragerainfall.TheNorthGujaratregionhas

received 10.50 per cent of itsmonsoon sharewhile the EastCentral region 14.15 per cent,which isalso itshighest share inlast fiveyears.Thestatehasrecorded122.24

mm,anaverageof14.71percentrainfall till June30, secondhigh-est after2017, theyearwhen thestatewitnessed one of itsworstfloods, devastating the NorthGujarat districts of Banaskanthaand Patan. In 2017, the averagerainfall received till June30was15.43percent.The IMDhas issued a heavy

rainfall warning for districts ofNorthGujarat includingBanask-anthaandPatan,SouthGujaratin-cludingValsad,NavsariandSuratand inSaurashtra regionnamelyGirSomnath,Amreli,Bhavnagar,Junagadh,Porbandartill July5.

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT, JUNE30

SIXPERSONS,includingtwochil-dren, were killed after beingstruck by lightning,while a girlwhowassweptawayinafloodedrivuletwasfounddeadaspartsofSaurashtra experienced heavyrainonTuesday.Authorities said that three

persons each died in Jamnagarand Botad districts after beingstruck by lightning during theday.Officialsof thedistrict floodcontrol room in Jamnagar saidthat Nitaben Sitapara (35) andher sonVishal (12)were struckby a lightning bolt in Raka-Khatiyavillageof Lalpur taluka.Pankaj Pambhar, a resident ofNana Vadala village of Kalavadtaluka,wasalsokilled inasimi-larmannerwhile a buffalowasalsokilledinalightningstrikeinChorbedi villageof Lalpur.In Botad, the deaths were

reported from Lathidad andSarvai villages. District floodcontrol room officers said thatGhansyam Chauhan (50), afarmer and his granddaughterJhanvi were killed after beingstruckbylightning,while intheneighbouring Sarvai village,Guddi Bhatvasiya (18) waskilled. Officers said all thesedeaths were reported around11.30 pm as the district experi-

enced light showers.While Kalavad taluka of

Jamnagar experienced 73mil-

limetre(mm)rain,neighbouringDhrol logged 49mmprecipita-tion. Lalpur registeredninemm

rainwhileJamnagartalukagot24mmrain.InBotaddistrict,Ranpurtaluka registered eightmmrain,followed byGadhda and Botadwith fivemmrain and Barwalawithfourmmrain.Aschoolgirlwhowasswept

awaywhile crossing a floodedcauseway in Satapar village ofJamjodhpur talukaof Jamnagardistrict onMonday, was founddeadonTuesday.ThegirlAnandiSolanki (10) was a resident ofRanavav,Porbandardistrict.Theareaexperiencedaround50mmrainMonday.Anandi,hermotherRamju (30), sister Jeenal (3) andmaternaluncleAvalSindhva(33)were crossing the causewaywhile on their way to a localshrinewhenthefourweresweptawayintheswellingwaters.“WhilebodiesofSindhavand

Ramju were recovered onMondayitself,Anandi’sbodywasrecovered downstream onTuesday.Jeenalisstillmissinganda search operation is on,” FirozMulima, deputymamlatdar indisastercellofJamjodhpurtaluka,toldTheIndianExpress.HeaddedSindhav andRamju are siblingsandthesistercametoherparentshomeinUdepurvillagetoattendareligiousevent.Rajkot city experienced a

thunderstorm on Mondaymorning with flood controlroomsaying19mmrainwasre-portedduring theday.

Peoplemaketheirwaythroughrain inVadodaraonMonday.BhupendraRana

Twochildrenamong6killed inlightningstrike inSaurashtra

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA, JUNE30

OVER 3,500 employees of theMadhyaGujaratVijCorporationLimited (MGVCL) announcedthe undertaking of a massCasual Leave (CL) onWednesday, citing “high-handed attitude and harass-ment of staff” by ManagingDirector Tushar Bhatt.According to the MGVCL

union, theemployees—includ-ingtechnicalandnon-technicalstaff — have decided to take amassCLduringwhichtheywillnot attend to any calls. The de-cision was taken following ameetingwithCabinetMinistersSaurabh Patel (Energy) andPradeepsinh Jadeja (Home)Theemployeesareprotesting

over 700 notices sent to themconcerningvarious issues in thelast twomonths. According tothe union, the two chief engi-neersofMGVCLhavealsojoinedtheprotest insupport.The agitationof the employ-

ees is being lead byGirish Joshi,generalsecretaryofAkhilGuj-aratVidhyutKamdaar Sangh,mem-ber of the Association of ChiefEngineersand theAssociationofSupervisorystaffofMGVCL.Joshi said, “Weareexasper-

ated with the harassment be-ingmetedout toall employees,including theengineeringstaffaswellas fieldClass-IIIemploy-ees, because of the high-handedattitudeof themanag-ing director, Tushar Bhatt. Hehas served over 700 notices tostaff in the last two months.Someof themare fornon-pay-ment of dues by consumersfromas farbackas1960,whereofficershavebeenasked to ex-plain why the amount has notbeen recovered. They haveservednoticesof differentout-standingamounts toofficersatall levels. Itmeans that theyarenotevenawarewhat theactualoutstanding bills are.”Joshi added that several

Class-III officers who are in-volved in maintenance activi-tiesonthefieldhavebeenfined

upto Rs 1,000 for not usingsafety gear.“This, after ithasbeentaken

on record, in the minutes of acommittee meeting held lastyear, that most of the safetyequipment has not even beenprocured and handed over tothe employees. Safety shoes,for instance, are the most im-portant for ensuring the ab-sorptionof shock.Mostof theseClass-III employees rush to thesite of fault even at unearthlyhours. It is unfair and mentalharassmentto finethemfornotusing what has not been pro-cured,” said Joshi.Thepresidentof theMGVCL

unionisBJPMLAKetanInamdarfrom Savli assembly con-stituency, who joined the em-ployees in their meeting withPatel and JadejaonTuesday.When contacted, Tushar

Bhatt refused to comment onthe allegations and said thatthe MGVCL has a contingencyplan inplace toattendtoemer-gencycalls fromconsumersonWednesday.

Alleging harassment by MD,MGVCL staff take mass leave

LIGHT AND PRAYERS

Asmanyas786 lampswere litat thetombof SultanAhmedShahatManekChowkonTuesday,asaprayer inviewof theCovid-19pandemic.SultanAhmedShahisconsideredtobethefounderof thecity. JavedRaja

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

THREEPOLICEMENandapolicedriverwere injured inanallegedambushattackby amob in JunavillageofBhujtowninKutchdis-trictonMondaynight,whenapa-trolteamhadvisitedthevillagetostopillegalsandmining.Accordingtoofficials,amobof

100-150personsattackedapolicepatrolling party belonging toKhawada police station (PS) atJunavillage inBhujaround8pmonMonday.AsperanFIR filedatKhawadaPS, asmanyas 36per-sonswerebooked for attempt tomurder,riotingandothersectionsoftheIPC.AcrackdownoperationbyKutchBhujWestPolicewasini-tiatedonTuesdaymorning.“Wehave formed six teams

andacombingoperationisongo-ing. A total of 22 persons havebeenarrested till nowandmorewillbeheld.Theincidentoccurredwhenapolice teamhadgone tostopillegalsandminingandanti-socialelementsstartedstonepelt-ing,” said Sourabh Tolumbia,SuperintendentofPolice,Bhuj.The injured officials are

police sub-inspector andincharge officer of KhawadaPS,YuvrajsinhJadeja;policecon-stable Mahipatsinh Vaghela;head constableManek GadhviandpolicedriverKesharPatel.Accordingtoacomplaintfiled

by PSI Jadeja, a police patrollingteamhad reached Juna villageroadaround8pmonMondayre-spondingtoacomplaintofatrac-tor full of illegal sand mining.“Whenwe reached the spot, asmanyas100-150villagersstartedpelting stonesatourpolice teamwith the intention to kill us.Wewerealsoattackedwithsticksandrodsintheambush,”saidJadejainhiscomplaint.While Jadeja received 19

stitchesonhishead,Mahipatsinhreceived23 stitches onhis headandManekreceivedeightstitchesonhishead.Allthreewereadmit-tedtoahospitalandarestable,asperseniorofficials.AccordingtotheFIR,theprime

accused has been identified asSuleimanSadhakSama,aresidentof Junavillage.

Three copsinjured in‘mob attack’in Bhuj, 22arrested

SHAREOF AVERAGEMONSOONRAINFALLREGION 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

Kutch 25.17 6.27 0.24 15.35 3.01

NorthGujarat 10.5 12.52 7.21 12.3 3.77

Eastcentral 14.15 9.88 7.77 11.84 3.09

Saurashta 22.86 15.78 2.51 15.24 7.08

SouthGujarat 9.01 13.76 13.39 18.71 3.93

State 14.71 13.07 8.14 15.43 4.61

(Figures in percentage; shared byGSDMAas on June 30)

Saurashtra, Kutch get 25% average rainfall

Ahmedabad

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UTTAR GUJARAT VIJ COMPANY LIMITED

CIN – U40102GJ2003SGC042906

Circle Office : Palanpur

www.ugvcl.com www.guj-epd.gov.in

E-TENDER NOTICE NO: PALANPUR-1 DO-01/2020-21

Tenders are invited, Erection work of HT LT TC for various

scheme under various S/Dn under PALANPUR-1 Division office.

The details of the tender can be viewed on www.ugvcl.com &

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TENDER NOTICE NO: PALANPUR-1 DO-02/2020-21

Tenders are invited, Hiring of Closed body AC Vehicle ETRI-

CA/MARUTI NEXA XL6/BOLERO OR OTHER SIMILAR

VEHICLE Taxi/Maxi passing for PALANPUR-1 DIVISION

OFFICE, Replacement of Failed Transformer in DANTIWADA

S/dn & Gadh-Chandisar S/Dn Under UGVCL, Palanpur DO-I.

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Addl. C. E. , UGVCL, CO, PALANPUR

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Selection and appointment of

Consultancy services for

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

RESEARCHERS AT the IndianInstituteofTechnologyGandhin-agar (IITGN)claimedtohavede-velopedanArtificial Intelligence(AI)-baseddeeplearningtool forthe detection of Covid-19 fromchestX-rayimages.Thetoolhasamachinelearn-

ing architecture and has beentrainedusingdeeplearningalgo-rithmsanddatasetsofpooledX-rayimages.Theresearchersclaimthatitcanbeusedinremoteandearly diagnosis of the disease toease the additional burden onmedical infrastructure.ItwasdevelopedbyKushpal

SinghYadav,anMTechstudentofComputerScienceandEngine-er-ing at IITGN,under theguidanceof Prof Krishna PrasadMiyapu-ram, associate professor ofCognitiveScienceandComputerScienceat IITGN.Thisonline toolindicates theprobability if aper-son is infected with Covid-19,whichcanbeusedforpreliminarydiagnosisbeforethemedicaltest.Sharing themotivation and

ideabehinddeveloping the tool,Prof Krishna PrasadMiyapuramand Kushpal Singh Yadav said,“Given the limited testing facili-tiesforCovid-19,thereisarushtodevelopAItoolsforquickanalysisusing X-rays. Developing a reli-

able tool requires the combina-tionofrightalgorithmsanddata.This is where our tool wouldproveuseful...itcanbetrainedfordiagnostic purposes andmadeavailableforwideruse.”TheyaddedthattheAItoolis

only indicativeandclinical con-sultation is essential to confirmthe diagnosis. The system is liveas a web-interface onhttp://covidxray.iitgn.ac.in/.Anyuser canuploadadigital copyofthechestX-rayorCT-scaninstan-dardimageformats.Theresult isavailablewithinafewseconds.

How itworksThe researchers pooled thedataof X-ray images of Covid-19 in-fectedpatientsaswellashealthypersonsfromdifferentsourcesonthe internet and trained trainedamachine learning architectureusingdeeplearningalgorithms.Themodel has 12 layers of

neural network, similar to theneurons in the human brain. Itlearns the disease diagnosingfeatures from the X-ray imagesin an automatic way and alsouses images fromother lung in-fectionstoensurethespecificityofdetectionofCovidfromotherlungdiseases. IITGNresearchersare collaborating with DrDeepak Saxena from the IndianInstituteof PublicHealth (IIPH),Gandhinagar, for furthertestingof theAI-based tool.

IITGANDHINAGAR

AI-based tool to detectCovid from chest X-ray

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

A51-YEAR-OLDconvictaccusedin the2002NarodaPatiyamas-sacrecasewasallegedlyattackedbytwounidentifiedpersonsout-sidehishouseontheinterveningnight of Monday and Tuesday.Following the attack,Krushnanagar police station of-ficials registered an offenceagainst the unidentified as-sailantsandinvestigationsareon.Theconvicthasbeen identi-

fied as Umesh Bharvad, a resi-dent of Mahasukhnagar inKrushnanagar area ofAhmedabad.Inhiscomplainttothepolice,

Bharvadstatedthatherunsaho-tel cum guesthouse inKrushnanagar area. Bharvadstated that while hewas goingto his hotel with his managerRahul onMondaynight, he sawawoman soliciting on the roadnearMahakali temple. He hadinformed the police controlroom and then gone toKrushnanagar police stationwith his manager. Thereafter,Bharvadadded,heandhisman-ager went back to their homesondifferentvehicles.According to Bharvad’s FIR,

two persons riding a two-

wheeler without a numberplate attacked himwith a steelrodandasharp-edgedknifeandran away, after he had reachedhomearound3am.Theallegedincident happened whenBharvadwasgettingoffhistwo-wheelerandenteringhishome.Bharvad has also provided thenames of some people as sus-pectsbehind theattack. Theat-tack at Bharvad’s hou-se hasbeencapturedonCCTVcamerasandithasbeensubmittedtothepolice as evidence.Bharvadsustainedminorin-

juriesandreceivedtreatmentatthecivilhospital.Police inspector of

Krushnanagar police station, JKRathod said. “Initially, Bharvaddidnotwanttolodgeacomplaint,but nowhehas.Wehave regis-teredacaseofassaultagainsttwounidentifiedpersons.”Bharvad is anaccused in the

2002 Naroda Patiya case inwhich 96 personsweremassa-cred. He was acquitted by thespecial trial court in the case.However, in 2018, the GujaratHigh Court had convictedBharvad and sentenced him to10 years of imprisonment. Hisappeal against conviction ispending before the SupremeCourt. Bharvad said thathewasoutonbail onmedicalgrounds.

Convict in NarodaPatiya case attacked,probe on, say police

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, JUNE30

THREE PERSONShave been ar-restedTuesdayforallegedlysteal-ing asmany as 67,000 litres ofcrudeoilworthRs13.4lakhfromapipelineof IndianOilCorp-ora-tion(IOC)inAhmedabadRural.According to officials of

AhmedabadDetectionofCrimeBranch(DCB),thethreeaccusedhaddugaholefor70metresun-dergroundtofindtheoilpipeline

and created a two-inch hole inthepipeline of IOC and then in-stalled a valve into it in order tosteal67,000 litresof crudeoil.“Thematterhadcometolight

onJune8thattheIOCpipelinelaidfromViramgam inAhmedabadoutskirts to Vadodara has beenleaking in Jetalpur areawhere ahole had been dug at a plot be-longing to Shakti ConstructionsandRoadBuildersLimited.Anin-vestigationwaslaunchedintothematter and it was found thatcrude oilweighing 67,000 litres

hasbeenmissing,”saidanofficialofAhmedabadDCB.Police said that the three ac-

cused,MohsinRangrez(27),ana-tiveofDanilimdaofAhmedabad,JagdishPrajapati (42), a residentof Daskroi in Ahmedabad andRatilal Rawal (40), a resident ofDaskroi,havebeenarrested.“The three made a plan in

June2019tostealcrudeoil.Theyrented two plots near ShaktiConstruction plot in Jetalpur inguise of keeping their vehiclesoverthereandduga13foot-well

inoneof theplots. Through thatwell, a tunnelwasmade to theplot of Shakti Construction andfurtherdugaholetoreachtheun-derground pipeline. They thenstartedstealingcrudeoilthroughfittingavalveandtransferringtheoil to a tanker in the past sixmonths,”saidanofficial.The accused have been ar-

rested under Indian Penal Codesections 379 (theft), 427 (mis-chief),285(negligentconductre-lated to fire) alongwith sectionsofDamagetoPublicPropertyAct.

IOCPIPELINEBREACHED

Three arrested for stealing 67,000 litre crude oil

GUJARAT

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI, JUNE30

ACCOUNTS SUBMITTED to theMadras High Court regardingaround a dozen victims of al-leged torture at theSathankulam Police Station atThoothukudi in Tamil Nadu,which is under probe followingthe death of a father and son,show similarities in theirwounds. Following the court’sintervention, the officers at thestation are now facing probe inanother case of custodial death,involving a 28-year-old, whichhappened just days beforeP Jeyaraj andson JBennixdied.Meanwhile,thefamilyofa33-

year-old autorickshaw drivercameforwardtoallegetortureonhim at Arumuganeri PoliceStation, about 40 km fromSathankulam, leaving him ondialysis.Havingsuspendedallthefive

officers at the Sathankulam sta-tion earlier, the TamilNadugov-ernmentonTuesdaytransferredTuticorin SP Arun Balagopalanandputhimunder“compulsorywait”. S Murugan is the newSouth Zone IG.Tirunelveli CB-CIDDSP Anil

Kumarwillnowtakeoverthein-vestigation into Jeyaraj andBennix’s deaths, following theHigh Court’s orders.While thestate government onMondaynight transferred the case to theCBI, the court said the CB-CIDshouldprobe, followingconcernoverpossibilityofdisappearanceof the evidence before the CBItakesover.A source at the High Court

saidithadreceivedcomplaintsaswellasphysicalevidenceregard-ingtortureofaroundadozenvic-tims. The officersmostly hit thevictims on the buttocks, leavingdeepwounds, the source said.Attemptswere on to determinethe instruments used “to inflictsuchinjuries”.A source attached to the

forensicwing of the TamilNadu

Health Department, who hasseen someof the evidence, saidinmanycasesthewoundsgotin-fectedastreatmentwasdelayed.In the case ofMuthukumar, oneof the alleged victims, woundsseemed over twoweeks old. “Itcouldbehourslongbeatingwithalathiorusingaheatedbluntin-strument,”saidthesource.Lastweek, theMadras High

Court had noted that Rajasingh,oneofthoseallegedlytorturedatthe Sathankulam station nearlytwoweeksago,haddeepwoundson his buttocks. Hewas hospi-talisedonlyonJune24,followingjudicial intervention.The third case of custodial

murder that the Sathankulamstation officers are now facing isofMahendran,amasonwhowasarrested onMay 23 by police,whowerelookingforhisbrotherDurairegardingamurdercase.Inher complaint to the court,Mahendran’smother S Vadivuhas said he died on June 13 fol-lowing torture overMay23 and24attheSathankulampolicesta-tion. The Sub-Inspectorwho ar-rested the 28-year-old, RaghuGanesh, is alsoanaccused in thedeathsof JeyarajandBennix.“After he was released on

May24,Mahendrankept cryingsaying he couldn’t bear the painleft by the torture,” Vadivu hassaid,addingthatthe28-year-old’scondition kept deteriorating.Eventually, he lostmovement inhis right hand and right leg, anddiedattheThoothukudigovern-menthospitalonJune13.Vadivusayspolicethreatened

hertokeepquiet.“Duraihadsur-renderedbythen.Sub-InspectorGanesh saidwe should refuse apost-mortemor caseswould befoistedonDuraiandhiswife.Wehad no other option,we buriedhimwithoutapost-mortem,”herpetitionbeforethecourtsays.The auto-driverwho is now

dependentondialysishasallegedthat hewas tortured bywomenofficersattheArumuganeriPoliceStation.HabeebMuhammed,33,whobelongstoKayalpattinamin

Thoothukudi,wasarrestedfornotwearing amask and smoking abeediwhiledrivinghisauto.Inhispetitionbeforethehigh

court, Habeeb has said twowomenconstablestookhimintocustody on June 9morning. Atthestation,hesaid, fourconsta-bles beat him, while a womaninspectorkickedhimintheface.“Then they used a blue plasticpipe to hitme on the legs. Theytoldmetogetupand jump,andmademe sit and stood onmythighs,” he said, adding that thetorture went on for two hourscontinuously before hewas letoff at2.30pm.A source aware of the case

said severe kicks to his stomachleft Habeeb injured, and he re-ported to a private hospital atKayalpattinam after noticingbloodinhisurine.Whenthedoc-tor there arranged for him to betakentotheThoothukudigovern-menthospitalinanambulance,aSub-InspectorfromArumuganeristation stopped the vehicle andHabeeb said hewas dischargedandsenthome.Withinafewhours,hiscondi-

tionworsenedandtheyreturnedto the sameprivate hospital. OnJune 12, Habeebwas shifted toanother private hospital, inTirunelveli,whereheunderwentdialysis till June18. “I amunder-goingdialysiseveryalternatedaynow,myhealthisdeteriorating,”hehassaid inhispetition.According toHabeeb, police

came to the hospital too to stophis family from filing a formalcomplaint.Lastweek,thedistrictlegal aid authority helped thefamily file a petition before thehighcourt.Thechoiceof Jeyakumarand

MuruganasthenewSPandIGofTuticorinandSouthZone,respec-tively, couldalso sparkoff a con-troversy. Jeyakumar had beenquestioned in connectionwiththe 2018 gutkha scam involvingtop police officers,while the in-fluentialMurugan is accused ofsexually harassing a seniorwomanpoliceofficer.

TAMILNADUPOLICESTATIONS

Wounds, beating leadingto dialysis: Cases pour in

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI, JUNE30

INAN interim relief to RepublicTV editor-in-chief ArnabGoswami, the Bombay HighCourt on Tuesday suspendedtwo First Information Reports(FIRs) against him for allegedlymakingprovocativeandinflam-matory statements over the in-cidents of lynching at Palgharandgatheringofmigrantwork-ers outside Bandra railway sta-tion inMumbai.The court saidno coercive steps be takenagainst himuntil further ordersand“primafaciethereisnocasemadeout”, andnooffencesdis-closedagainstGoswami.Thedivisionbenchof Justices

UjjwalBhuyanandRiyazChaglaobservedthattherewasnothingto show that Goswami tried tocause public disharmony. It ad-mitted his petition and said in-terim protection from coercivestepswillbecontinueduntilfur-ther orders. The bench heardthrough videoconferencingGoswami's criminal writ pleaseekingreliefs includingquash-ingof twoFIRs filedagainsthimonApril 22andMay2.Goswamihasbeenbookedin

connectionwithanewsshowonApril 29 over his comments onmigrants gathering outsideBandra railway station on April14 during the lockdown. Apartfrom this, multiple FIRs havebeen filed against him over ashow on April 21, in which hequestioned Congress presidentSonia Gandhi over the lynchingof twosadhusandtheirdriverinPalghar, Maharashtra. On June12, the HC extended protectionfromcoerciveactiontoGoswamiuntilfurtherordersandreserveditsorderonGoswami'splea.Afterhearingsubmissionsof

bothsidesandexaminingmate-rial on record, the court said, “Itwould bewrong to say that thepetitioner hadmade the state-ments in the broadcast with aviewtodefameorinsultthefeel-ings of any religious group orcommunity.”FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

Bombay HCsuspends FIRsagainst ArnabGoswami

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE30

THE NATIONAL InvestigationAgency(NIA)lastweekopposedthe bail application of lawyerand former professor SudhaBharadwaj,arrestedintheElgaarParishadcase,beforethespecialNIAcourtstatingthatsheis“tak-ingunduebenefit”of theCovid-19pandemic in seeking interimbail onmedicalgrounds.The NIA filed its reply to an

appeal filed by Bharadwaj’slawyersagainstthespecialcourtrejectingbail toher.In her plea, 58-year-old

Bharadwaj, who is lodged inBycullawomen’sjail inMumbai,had sought interim bail on thegroundthatshesuffersfromtwosevere co-morbidities — dia-betes and high-blood pressure.Shehas submitted that she alsohas a history of pulmonary tu-berculosis and therefore, is at a

high risk of contracting coron-avirus inprison,whichcouldbelife-threatening due to her pre-existingmedical condition.TheNIA, in its reply, said that

theargumentabouthermedicalconditionhasnomerit,asshehasbeen suffering from “somechronicillness”since20yearsandisundergoingprescribedmedica-tion for the same. It added thatsheisbeingprovidedwithneces-sarymedicalassistanceinthejail.“It is clear that the pleading

withregardtothemedicalcondi-tionof thepetitioner ismerelyarusetoobtainanorderofinterimrelief,whichisnotavailabletothepetitionerotherwiseonthemer-its of the case,” the reply stated.Theagencyclaimed that theev-idence against Bharadwaj so fardoes not entitle her to seek anyrelief onanygrounds.Withastate-appointedhigh-

poweredcommitteeconstitutedon the orders of the SupremeCourt recommending the re-

leaseof all undertrialswithcer-tain exceptions, Bharadwaj hadsaid inherappeal thatgivenhersusceptibility to the virus, shecan be considered for interimbail. The NIA, however, whilemaintainingthatthecommitteehasdirectedthatbailbeconsid-eredbasedonperusalof thecir-cumstances of each case, hasclaimed that Bharadwaj wasworking for PersecutedPrisonersSolidarityCommittee,a “frontal organisation” ofbannedCPI (Maoist).It has further said that two

otheraccusedinthecase—aca-demicAnandTeltumbdeandac-tivist GautamNavlakha— havebeen arrested on April 14 andfurther investigation is inprogress, which could face “se-riousdamage”ifBharadwajisre-leased.Shehasbeenbehindbarssince2018alongwitheightoth-ersbookedinthecase.Themat-ter was listed on Tuesday butdidnot comeup for hearing.

On Bharadwaj bail plea, NIA said:Taking undue benefit of pandemic

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABAD, JUNE30

TWOPEOPLEdiedandfouroth-ers were hospitalised withbreathing difficulties after theyinhaled poisonousBenzimidazole gas that leakedfromareactoratapharmaceuti-calmanufacturing company inVisakhapatnam,officialssaidonTuesday. A probe has been or-dered intothe incident.According to officials, on the

interveningnightofMondayandTuesday,sixpersonnel,includingthe two deceased— chemists RNarendraandGShankar—wereworking near a reactor in themanufacturing plant of SainorLife Sciences Pvt Ltd, located inPharma City, when the leak oc-curred. At least 30-35 peoplewereworking in the factory atthe time. The facility was shutdown immediately as a precau-tionarymeasure,officialsadded.

Theyaddedthatfouremployeeshadbeenhospitalisedwithseri-ousbreathingdifficulties.Visakhapatnam Police

Commissioner R KMeena saidone of them is criticalwhile theothers are stable. He added thattheleakdidnotspreadoutsidetheplant. This is the third gas leakcausingdeathsinAndhraPradesh

inthelasttwomonths.OnMay7,a styrene vapour leak at the LGPolymers factory inVisakhapatnamhadkilled10peo-pleandleftthousandsunwell.OnJune27,onepersondiedof inhal-ing ammonia at the SPY AgroIndustryplantinKurnooldistrict.

FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

Officials inspect the industrialunitwheregas leakwasreported inVisakhapatnamonTuesday. PTI

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA, JUNE30

FOLLOWING PRIME MinisterNarendraModi’sannouncementtoextendtheschemetodistrib-ute free food grains to 80 crorepeopletillNovember-end,WestBengal Chief MinisterMamataBanerjee on Tuesday said thathergovernment toowill extendtheschemetogivefreerationtothepoor till June2021.Referring to the PM’s an-

nouncement, Banerjee said,“They extended the scheme toNovember?Wewill also be ex-tending the free ration schemeuptoJuneofnextyear…Wewillgive ration in our Khadya Sathiprakalpa for free. But if otherswill get free or not, wewill de-

cideafterNovember.”The Chief Minister alleged

that the Centre “procured ricefromFCI”while“weusedtopro-cure rice from farmers straightaway,soourricequalityismuchbetter.” She said “only 60%peo-pleinBengalgetCentralration”.Banerjee also targeted the

Centre over the decision to banChinese apps, saying “banningsomeappswill not give a result.WewanttogiveChinaabefittingreply”.However,shesaiditwas“asubjectoftheExternalAffairsde-partment” and "wewill support

theCentralgovernment’sstand”.Responding to the Centre’s

‘One Nation One Ration’ pro-posal,Banerjeesaidshewillwaitto understand the details andfeasibilityofthescheme.Shehadearlierobjected to theproposal,saying initiatives such as “onenation one ration, one nationoneelection,one leaderonena-tion" are confusing, and de-mandeddefinitebenefitsforthepeople for the timebeing.TheChiefMinister also criti-

cisedthePMGaribKalyanRojgarYojna and said it excludesWestBengal.Shesaiditlacksclarityonhowitwillbenefitmigrantsorifthere is any financial aid forworkers who have returned totheirhomesamiddistress.

FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

HARISHDAMODARANNEWDELHI,JUNE30

PRIME MINISTER NarendraModihassaidthatextendingthePradhan Mantri Garib KalyanAnnaYojana(PMGKAY)–whichprovides5kgofriceorwheatpermonth to80crorepersons,plus1 kg of pulses to their families,free of cost – for another fivemonths, tillNovember,will costthe exchequer over Rs 90,000crore. This, along with the Rs60,000 crore supposedly spentunder the schemeduringApril-June, would take the total to Rs150,000crore.However, an analysis of data

from the department of food&public distribution’s latest Foo-dgrainBulletinforMayshowstheactualnetoutgotobemuchlower.Tostartwith, consider the5

kg of cereals given free to 80crorepersons,whichaddsupto12 million tonnes (mt) overthree months from April toJune. Extending it tillNovember would mean addi-tional quantity of 20mt.According to the Foodgrain

Bulletin data, the FoodCorporationof India(FCI) ispro-jectedtoincuraneconomiccostofRs37.27forprocuringanddis-tributing every kg of rice in2020-21,whileatRs26.84perkgin the case of wheat. The 12mtallocated during April-June in-cluded10.44mtof riceand1.56mtofwheat.Thetotaleconomicvalueof thisgraingivenout freewould,therefore,havebeenjustoverRs43,100crore.The above economic cost,

further,doesnotaccountfortheexpenses onholding andmain-taining excess grains in itsgodowns. This “carrying cost” –basically interest and storagecharges”–isestimatedatRs5.40per kg for the current fiscal. AsonApril1, riceandwheatstocksin theCentral pool, at almost 74mt,werethree-and-a-half timesthe required operational-cum-

strategicreservelevels.Withtheprocurementofnewwheatcrop,these inventories had furtherrisen to97mt-plus.The carrying cost of Rs

5.40/kgon12mtofgrain,whichwasclearly“excess”,wouldhaveworked out to around Rs 6,480crore. Even after adding theroughlyRs3,900crore spentonproviding1kgof freepulsespermonthfor20crorefamilies–theaverage cost of procuring, stor-ing,milling, packing and distri-butionhereispeggedatRs65/kg– the net outgo under PMGKAYduring April-June would havebeen Rs 40,500 crore – and notRs60,000crore.Coming now to the addi-

tional20mtofcerealstobepro-vided free during July-November,theeconomiccostofthat–taking10mtofriceand10mt of wheat – will come to Rs64,100croreorso.Again,deduc-ing the carrying cost of Rs5.40/kg on 20 mt, will reducethat outgo by Rs 10,800 crore.After adding the economic costof Rs 6,500 crore on onemt ofpulses, at Rs 65/kg, the Centre’snetexpenditurewillbebelowRs60,000crore.In otherwords, the total ef-

fective burden on the excheq-uer fromPMGKAYmaybeonlyin the region of Rs 100,000-105,000 crore and not Rs 1.5lakh crore.

MamataBanerjee

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE30

HOURS AFTER PrimeMinisterNarendraModi announced ex-tension of the free foodgrainscheme till November, theCongress on Tuesday hit out athim for neither unveiling anysubstantivesteptoproviderelieftothepeopleandbringtheecon-omy back on track nor givingChinaatoughmessage.Itsaidhisaddress was much ado aboutnothing.“Tu idhar udhar ki na baat

kar/yehbatakikafilakaiseluta/mu-jhe rehzano se gila to hain/par terirahbari ka sawaal hai,” tweetedsenior Congress leader RahulGandhi, rephrasinganUrducou-plet,soonaftertheaddress.“We had great expectations

from the Prime Minister, andonce again, he belied all our ex-pectations. We expected theprimeminister to talk about asubstantialstepagainstthepan-

demic.Wewere expecting himto talk about the fact that therehas been a massive economicruin.Howis theeconomygoingtocomebackontrack?“Wethoughthewasgoing to

speakaboutthe14crorejobsthatareextinguished.Howwill thosejobscomeback?Wethoughthe'sgoingtotalkaboutpeoplewhosewageshavebeencutdown,howcould that be restored. Wethoughthe is going to talk about10croreworkerswhohavegoneback to their villages….aboutthem, about their well-being,”Congress spokesperson SupriyaShrinatesaid.Leaders of Left parties toohit

outatthePrimeMinister.CPI general secretaryDRaja

said,“Ithastakensuchalongtimefor thePrimeMinister tounder-stand the huge devastation oflivelihoodcausedbyCovid-19likemass unemployment, povertyandhungerinthecountryandthemigrantlabourcrisis.”He said all the parties have

beendemanding free ration andRs7500cashtransfer tothepoorfor six months. “But no wordabout cash transfer andnowordaboutuniversalisationofthepub-lic distribution system eventhoughhereferredtoonenation,one ration card andnoword onincreasing the work days andwages ofMGNREGA andno in-crease inMSP for farmers. Thegovernmentisburdeningthepeo-plebyhikingthefuelpriceseveryday...”hesaid.CPM general secretary

Sitaram Yechury tweetedTuesdayevening,“Modimustre-leasemoneyfromthethousandsof crores of rupees collected intheprivatetrust fundtocombatCovid for freeprovisionof 10kggrains permonth for 6monthstoallneedy.”TheCongress said theexpec-

tation was that the PMwould“lookChinaintheeyeandgatherthecourageforsometoughtalk.”

FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

Much ado about nothing: Oppn

PM’sspeech:ActualexpenditureunderPMGKAYmaybeRs50,000crore less

Abroadcastof thePM’sspeechinAhmedabad,Tuesday.Reuters

Two dead, four hospitalised after gasleak in Visakhapatnam pharma plant

Free ration scheme until June 2021: Mamata

Ahmedabad

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

GOVT&POLITICS

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

GRACE IN GIVING UP

THEGOVERNMENT’SnotificationonMondayextending thetermof the country’s two top legal officers tookmany in thefraternitybysurprise.WhileSolicitorGeneralof IndiaTusharMehra’s tenure has been extended by another full term ofthreeyears,AttorneyGeneral for IndiaKKVenugopal’s termhasbeen extendedonly for a year. The truth is, although thegovernmentwaskeenonretainingtheveteranforafullterm,Venugopal himself had expressed doubts owing to his ad-vancedage.He turns90nextyear.

PORTRAIT PLAN

ALTHOUGHLOCKDOWNhasputaspannerinmanyplans,theIndianCouncil forCulturalRelations(ICCR)ishopingtonot letthis pause its plans for August. ICCR president VinaySahasrabuddhehadplannedtoinstallalife-sizeportraitoffor-merPrimeMinisterAtalBihariVajpayeeat ICCRheadquartersonhisseconddeathanniversaryinAugust.Whilethelockdownthreatened toupsethisplans, it appearsoncourseagainafterUnlock1.0wasannounced. In fact, thetrickier issuewasmak-ing a case for the portrait. But this issuewas negotiated on atechnicalground—thatVajpayeewasaformerICCRpresidentwhowent on to become the PrimeMinister. Vajpayee hadservedasex-officiopresidentofICCRunderitsthenruleswhenhewasForeignministerinthepost-EmergencyJanatagovern-ment.Incidentally,PVNarasimhaRaoistheotherformerICCRpresident to become the PM. One wonders whether theCongresswillnextpushforRao’sportrait tobeputup.

POWER PLAY

EVENAS the coronavirus outbreak rages in Delhi, there aremurmurswithin theRailways that its central hospital treat-ingCovid-19patientsinthecapital isplaguedbyapowertus-sle between the two top doctors. A position in the hospitalwasrecentlyelevatedwithoutapprovalof theAppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet,whereas a similar position in themedicaldepartmentwasnotgiventhatelevation.Theeleva-tion, officials say, resulted in creating two administrativepowercentresinthehospitalandisnowcreatingproblemsinmicro-managementof issuesevenascases rise.

BJP GENERAL secretary RAMMADHAV speaks to The IndianExpress on the LAC showdownand India’s prospects in post-Covidworld.Excerpts:

Youhavebeentalking

aboutIndia’sprospectsof

emergingasagloballeaderin

thepost-Covidera.Howdo

youassessthescenarionow?

Alotofchangeswilltakeplacein the global order post Covid...There’s already a lot of talk overtheefficacyof global institutionscreated 25 years ago. This is the75th anniversary of theUNalsoandthere’ssomuchtalkabouttheless effectiveness or relevanceoftheUNinthepresentsituation.Allthesesuggestthatpost-Covid,theworldorderisgoingtoseealotofnewdevelopments... and in thatchanged scenario, India has toplayaproactiverole.Becausethenewworld order is going to bemoreIndo-PacificcentricasitwascentredoverPacificAtlanticinthelast century...We are one of themajorpowersinthisregion,soweshouldbepreparedtoplayama-jorrole.

Doyouseerecent

developmentsattheborder

changingit?

Firstly, wemust rememberwhateverhappenedat the Indo-TibetanborderbetweenIndiaand

China is not something that hashappened for the first time.Casualties happenedafter a longtime, but incursions andbordertension have been there fordecades. After PrimeMinister(Narendra)Moditookover, thereis a change in approach.What Imeanbychange is that todayweareconfronting,weareengagingphysically also to prevent themfromapproaching intoour terri-tory. It happened in Doklam in2017andGalwanValley in2020.Thathascertainlyattractedtheat-tentionnotonlyofChina,buttheentireworld...

Doesthisepisodenot

underlinethefailureof

summit-leveldiplomacywith

China?

India has alwaysmaintainedgood relationswith all its neigh-bours, including China. Evenwhen Indian andChinese forceswere standing eyeball to eyeball1986onwards,summit-levelvisittook place and then PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi visitedChinaandmetDengXiaoping... Idon’t think there is any reasonwhyweshouldassumethatbor-derconflicts,whateverishappen-ingnow,shouldleadustoendbi-lateralrelations.WeshoulduseittoputpressureonChinatodesistfrom these activities. That’swhyourgovernmenthastakenanew

approachi.e.proactivediplomacywhile having strong groundposturing...

Butthenwhatwentwrong?

Whythesethingsarehappen-ing at the Indo-Tibetanborder isanyone’sguess.Differentscholarshave given different interpreta-tions. One fact is that in the lastfive-sixyears,thereisanoticeablechangeonoursidewithregardtobordermanagement.Wearenolonger taking incursions by PLA

lightly. We are determined tostrengthenourborderinfrastruc-ture,secureeveryinchofourter-ritory forwhichweare ready tophysicallyengagewiththeintrud-ers. This policy shift which hasstarted in the last 4-5 years hascertainlyalertedtheChineseside.The Doklam stand-off fromChina’s point of viewwas totallya big jolt to them— that Indiacouldmobiliseitsforces,refusetochangemobilisationuntil Chinawithdrew its structure... Manyotherreasonsarecitedandoneofthemisthepresent internalsitu-ation inChina.Whatever is hap-pening intheChinese leadershipandtheCPCinfluencesitsmoves.CPCisaveryhierarchicalorganisa-tionwith former elders, formerpresidentsandtheirfamilieshold-ingalotofcommand,respectandaswayovertheparty’sinfrastruc-tureandmechanism.It’snotpru-dentformetospeakatlength,butmanysuchthingscouldhave ledtotherecentdevelopments.

There’saviewthat Indiahad

succumbedtoChinese

pressurewhenMEAissued

instructions in2018against

participationinanyeventto

mark60yearsof theDalai

Lama’sexodusfromTibet.

Yourcomment?

HisHolinesstheDalaiLamaisourreveredguest,heisspreading

themessageofBuddhismandwerespect him for hiswisdomas aspiritualleader...Inthelastfive-sixyears,ourgovernmenthasalwayssentofficialrepresentativestopar-ticipate in the events of hisHoliness. Iattendedlastyearandtheyearbeforethat...

But in2018,MEAadvised

centralandstate

functionaries toavoidevents

organisedbyTibetanleaders.

Nottomyknowledge.

Therulingpartyandthe

governmentareunder

criticismforthe

neighbourhoodpolicy.Even

Bangladeshwasriledupby

theCitizenshipAmendment

Act?DidNepalsurpriseyou?

Wehave good relationshipswithourneighbours...someoftheneighbourhoodcountrieswouldhaveanissueasafalloutof inter-nalissues.Butthoseareverytem-porary and through diplomaticchannels,wesortthemout.Today,other than the traditional prob-lemwithPakistanandChina,wehave noticed somemisunder-standingontheIndia-Nepalfront.With others,wehave very goodbilateralrelations.Nepal’spositionishistorically

not tenable. There couldbe theirown internal reasons for takingthisposition.Buttherelationship

between India andNepal is notjust a relationship between twocountries, it is a relationship ofthousandsofyears.Atthegovern-mentlevel,atthediplomaticlevel,there’s an engagement and I amconfident the issue will beresolved.

Thegovernmenthastaken

somestepsagainstChinese

businesses.Aretheygoingto

beeffectivewhenyoudoit

withoutevenmentioning

China?

Thinking about the actionagainstChineseappshasbeengo-ing on for sometime... Now thegovernmenthastakenadecisiontobansomeofthem.Asfarastheboycott of Chinese products isconcerned, onemust rememberthegovernmenthasnotgivenanycall, it’sapeople’ssentiment.

Doesthisveiledthreatwork

withChina?

Well, why did MahatmaGandhigiveacalltoboycottforeignproducts during the freedommovement?Why did Savarkartakethatcall?It’sanationalsenti-ment.Whenpeoplefeelanguishedaboutaneighbour’s action, therewill be a strong sentiment.Obviouslyitwillhaveitsowneco-nomicimpact.

FULL INTERVIEWON

www.indianexpress.com

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEWWITH

RAMMADHAV

BJPGENERALSECRETARY

‘India’s policy shift in last four-five yearsalerted China, Doklamwas big jolt to them’

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAISLAMABAD, JUNE30

A DAY after India rubbishedPakistan’s claim that it was be-hind a deadly terrorist attack inKarachi, PrimeMinister ImranKhan on Tuesday raised the is-sue inParliament.Fourheavilyarmedmilitants

onMondaymadeanattempt totake over the Pakistan StockExchange building in Karachi,killingthreesecurityguardsandapoliceofficerbeforebeingshotdead by security forces. TheBalochistan Liberation Army-linkedMajeed Brigade claimedresponsibilityfortheattack.Thegroup isbanned inPakistan, theUKandtheUS.“WhathappenedinMumbai,

they wanted to do the same.They wanted to spread uncer-

tainty. We have no doubt thiswasdonebyIndia,"KhansaidintheNationalAssembly.“But our security forces

averted abig tragedy as the ter-roristswerecarryingheavyarmsand ammunition to take thepeople hostage in the StockExchangeandkillthemtocreatean environment of fear andun-

certainty,”hesaid.OnMonday,PakistanForeign

Minister Shah MehmoodQureshi had made a similarclaim, referring to “externallysupported terrorism”.ReactingsharplytoQureshi’s

remarks, India described it as“absurdcomments”.Ministry of External Affairs’

spokespersonAnuragSrivastavahad said, “Pakistan cannot shifttheblameonIndiaforitsdomes-ticproblems.”Initsstatement,theMEAhad

said, “Unlike Pakistan, India hasnohesitationincondemningter-rorism anywhere in theworld,including in Karachi… ForeignMinisterQureshimaywishtore-flectonthis,asalsohisowngov-ernment’sposition,includinghisPrimeMinister’s description ofthe global terrorist (Osama binLaden)asamartyr.”

MANOJCGNEWDELHI, JUNE30

SETTOtakeoverformallyaspres-ident of the Karnataka PradeshCongressCommitteeonThursday,DKShivakumaronTuesdaysaidhewantstoconverttheCongress’smassbase intoa cadrebase.AndheisattemptingtodosomethingwhichnoCongress stateunithasdonebefore.Virtualralliesenteredthepo-

litical lexicon recently after theBJPheldaseriesofsuchralliesto

reach out to people in the post-Covidworld.Shivakumar,aformerminis-

terinthestategovernment,nowplans to go one step further bytakinghisfunctiontoeverygrampanchayat inKarnataka.So,LEDtelevisionscreensare

being put up at 7,800 locationsacrossthestate, includinginthe6,200-odd gram panchayats ofthestate,andtheywillallbecon-nectedusingtheZoomplatform.Shivakumar said a total of

nearly 10 lakh peoplewill wit-ness the function. A big screenwhichwill formthebackdropofthemain function in Bengaluruwillshowimagesofthefunctionstakingplace at these7,800 loca-tions. “Theywill take thepledgewithme,”saidShivakumar,whoisgoingtoheadafaction-riddenstateunitwheremostofthesen-

ior leadersdon’t seeeyetoeye.TheCongresshighcommand

thought about namingShivakumarastheKarnatakaunitchiefin2017,butmanyinthestateunithadthenopposedtheidea.Shivakumar said his first

agenda is tomake a cadre basefor the Congress. “The voice of aCongressworker should be thevoiceoftheCongresspresident...What is thedesireof themasseshas to be first viewed by theleaderandthenitshouldbepre-sentedtotheleadership,”hetoldThe IndianExpress.

SUKHBIRSIWACHCHANDIGARH, JUNE30

UNIONMINISTER of State andFaridabadMPKrishanPalGurjarseems all set to replace incum-bentSubhashBaralaas thenextHaryanaBJPchief.Highly-placedsourcesinthe

party have told The IndianExpress thataformalannounce-mentnamingGurjarasthenextHaryanaunitchief is likely tobemade soon. They said the partyhigh command hasmade a de-cision following Haryana ChiefMinisterManohar Lal Khattar’s

consent forhisappointment.BJPleaders,meanwhile,have

startedcongratulatingGurjarforthenewresponsibility.TheUnionMinisterhadheld

the responsibility of Haryanapartychief from2009to2013.This time, sources said, for-

merHaryanaministers CaptainAbhimanyu and O P Dhankar,

two-timeMLAsMahipalDhandaand Kamal Gupta, KurukshetraMPNayabSainiandBJPHaryanaunit general secretary SandeepJoshiwerealso intherace.Sources said a few senior

functionaries in the party highcommand were supportingCaptain Abhimanyu andDhankar. However, the ChiefMinisterapprovedGurjar’snametoensure“unanimityintheelec-tionof stateBJPchief”, theysaid.Dhankar is considered close

toBJPpresidentJPNadda,whileCaptainisknownforhisproxim-itytoUnionHomeMinisterAmitShah. Dhankar and Abhimanyu

had earlier held important or-ganisational responsibilities inthe party. On the other hand,Mahipal Dhanda, Kamal Gupta,Nayab Saini and Sandeep Joshiwere considered to be from theChiefMinister’s camp.Gurjar,who belongs to a vil-

lage in Faridabad district, hadjoinedpoliticsduringhis collegedays. In 1994, hewas elected ascouncillor for FaridabadMunicipalCorporation.Twoyearlater, hewas elected toHaryanaAssemblywhenhedefeatedsen-iorleaderMahenderPratapfromMewlaMaharajpurconstituencyofFaridabaddistrict.

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE30

USSENATORMarcoRubio,whowas one of the RepublicanPresidential candidates in 2016beforebeingdefeatedbycandi-date Donald Trump in the pri-maries,hascalledChina’sactionsat the LAC in Ladakh “unwar-ranted& lawless armedaggres-sionby theCommunist Party ofChina”. He also said that NewDelhihasmadeitclearthatitwillnotbebulliedbyBeijing.BritishMPs have also raised

concerns in British Parliamentover China’s “bullying behav-iour” in the dispute with Indiaandthe“delayeddeclaration”ofCovid-19 and urged an internalreviewintotheUK’sdependenceon Chinawith a view to reducecollaborationwith thecountry.On Tuesday, Marco Rubio

tweeted that he spoke withTaranjit Singh Sandhu, India’sAmbassador to the US, “to ex-press our solidarity with thepeople of India as they firmlyconfrontunwarranted&lawlessarmed aggression by theCommunistPartyofChina.Indiahasmade it clear, theywill notbebulliedbyBeijing.”Earlier,USCongressmenTed

Yoho, Ami Bera, Brad Sherman,Lance Gooden and SenateMajority Leader MitchMcConnell have slammedBeijing for theongoing tension.In London, Conservative

Party MP Ian Duncan Smithraised the issueaspart of anur-gent question in the House ofCommons onMonday onmis-treatment by the Chinese gov-ernmentoftheUyghurminorityinXinjiangprovince.Given Beijing’s appalling

recordonhumanrights,theirat-tackonfreedomsinHongKong,bullyingbehaviourinborderdis-putesfromtheSouthChinaseasto India, among others, the(British) government will nowinitiateaninternalreviewof theUK’sdependenceonChina,witha view to significantly reducingthatdependence, Smithasked.UK’sMinister for Asia Nigel

Adamsrespondedtosaythatthegovernment has been regularlyraising its concernswith Chinaover various issues.WITH PTI

INPUTSFROMLONDON

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,JUNE30

EXTERNAL AFFAIRSMinister SJaishankar spoke tohis counter-part inFrance Jean-YvesLeDrianonTuesdayanddiscussed issuesof “contemporary security andpoliticalimportance”,aclearrefer-ence to the border stand-off be-tweenIndiaandChina.Jaishankar’scall totheFrench

foreignminister indicated thatIndia has started briefingmem-bers of the United NationsSecurity Council (UNSC) on thesituation on the Line of ActualControl. Top Indian officials andministershave spokenbyphoneand had meetings with theircounterpartsinothercountries.“Wide-ranging discussion

with French FM @JY_LeDrian.Covered issues of contemporarysecurityandpoliticalimportance.Also agreed to address#COVID-related challenges in health andaviation. Thanked him for thestrongsupportin#UNSCandlookforward toworking together,”JaishankarpostedonTwitter.The defence minister of

France, Florence Parly, hadwrit-ten toDefenceMinister RajnathSinghonMonday tocondole thedeaths of 20 soldiers inGalwanValleyintheJune15clashwiththeChinesearmy.“Thiswasahardblowagainst

thesoldiers,theirfamilies,andthenation,”shewrote.“Inthesediffi-cult circumstances, Iwish to ex-pressmy steadfast and friendlysupport, alongwith that of theFrencharmedforces.Irequestyoutokindlyconveymyheartfeltcon-dolences to the entire Indianarmed forces as well as to thegrievingfamilies.”Officials said the French de-

fenceminister had recalled that“IndiaisFrance’sstrategicpartner

intheregion”,and“reiteratedhercountry'sdeep solidarity”.“The French armed forces

ministeralsoexpressedherreadi-ness to meet Rajnath Singh inIndia,athisinvitation,tofollowupontheirongoingdiscussions,”anofficialsaid.India is likely to receive six

fully-loaded French Rafalefighteraircraftbytheendofnextmonth. The warjets will comefitted withMeteor long-rangeair-to-airmissiles,whichareex-pected to boost the capabilitiesof the IndianAir Force.Also on Monday, Foreign

SecretaryHarshVardhanShringlaand his counterpart, SecretaryGeneraloftheMinistryofEuropeand Foreign Affairs of France,FrançoisDelattre, reviewedovera video link the progress of themultifaceted cooperation be-tween the two countries, theMinistry of External Affairs said.The two officials “exchangedviews on regional and global is-sues ofmutual interest”, andonthe Covid-19 pandemic, theMinistrysaidinastatement.In Moscow, India’s

Ambassador D Bala VenkateshVarmametwithRussia’sDeputyMinisterofForeignAffairsSergeyARyabkovonMonday.“Duringtheconversation,top-

ical issues of the internationalagenda ofmutual interestwerediscussed,” the Russian foreign

ministry said ina statement. TheRussian embassy in NewDelhitweeted, “The diplomats dis-cussedurgentinternationalissuesofcommoninterest.”Varma had spoken with

Russia’sDeputyForeignMinisterIgorMorgulovonJune17,twodaysaftertheclashinGalwan.“Theof-ficialsdiscussedregionalsecurity,includingdevelopments on theLineofActualControlonthebor-derbetweenIndiaandChinaintheHimalayas,”Russia’sforeignmin-istryhadsaidinabriefstatement.On June 26, India and

Germanyheld foreign secretary-level consultations virtually.Foreign Secretary Shringla andMiguel Berger, state secretary oftheGermanfederalforeignofficediscussedbilateralcooperationinvarious areas, and exchangedviewson “regional andglobal is-suesofmutualinterest”.Germanyisakeypartner—it

is on theUNSCas anon-perma-nent member, and holds theUNSCpresidency for themonthofJuly.Germanywillalsoassumepresidency of the Council of theEuropeanUnion (EU) from JulythroughDecember 2020. Itwillchair the meetings of the EUCouncil, andwill be responsibleforpushingEUlegislation.“The two sides took stock of

the extensive cooperation in ad-dressingthechallengesofCovid-19,includingsupplyofmedicines,equipmentandtechnology.Theyagreedtoadvancethevariousar-eas of bilateral cooperation andinitiate consultations in the con-textofIndia’supcomingmember-ship of theUNSecurity Council(2021-22) andG20 Presidency(2022) andGermany’s presentmembership of theUNSecurityCouncil and forthcomingPresidency of the EuropeanUnion,” theMEA said in a state-mentissuedlastweek.

India starts to reachout, Jaishankar dialscounterpart in France

EMBASSY OFFICIALS RETURN

Twenty-eightstaffers, includingdiplomatsof the IndianHighCommission,cameto Indiawhile39staffmembersofPakistanHighCommissionreturnedtoPakistanvia theAttari-Wagahborder.Thiscameaweekafter IndiaaskedPakistantoreducethestrengthof itsHighCommission inDelhiby50%,andsaid itwoulddothesameat itsmission in Islamabad.Themovecameafter twoIndianHighCommissionstaffersweredetained inPakistan.ANI

Day after Delhi’s denial, Imranstresses: Attack done by India

S JaishankarspoketoJean-YvesLeDrian

DKShivakumar

MarcoRubio

FaridabadMPandUnionMinisterofState

‘WhathappenedinMumbai,theywantedtodothesame’

As Shivakumar takes charge, Karnataka Congto put LED at every panchayat to screen event

Krishan Pal Gurjar set to be Haryana BJP chief

US Senator slamsChina’s ‘lawlessarmed aggression’,UK MPs raise concern

Ahmedabad

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

THEOUTBREAK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

In Assam’s flood relief camps, tackling Covid comes as a new challengeABHISHEKSAHAGOALPARA(ASSAM), JUNE30

ARATI DAS, a housewife in her30s,hadto leavehomewithherfamily when No. 1 BaladmariChar,ariverinesettlementonthebanks of the Brahmaputra inAssam’s Goalpara district, wasinundated four days ago infloods.Das’shusbandisafisherman.

The couple realised that acrowded relief camp could beharmful for their children, aged10 and 14, in the times of thecoronavirus pandemic. So theysent both to her sister’s home

and came to the relief camp inNewGoalparaHighSchoolinthetown, some 150 km from statecapitalGuwahati.“We saved ourselves from

the flood, but at the camp wehave to be careful to not get in-fectedbythevirus.Weareaskedto wash hands frequently andwe are wearing masks,” Dassaid.Leaving home – for days –

every year during floods is notnewforthefamily.Whqatisnewthis time is the fearof Covid-19.By Tuesday, the floods had

left 27 people dead, includingthree today, and over 25,000were lodged in different relief

campsacross thestate.At the same time, Covid-19

cases have also increased — byTuesday,thestatereported7,835cases,ofwhich2,488wereactiveand 12 patients had died.Guwahati, which is goingthroughaspike, isunderastrictlockdownuntil July12.In Goalpara, 1,443 people

were in 14 flood relief campsacross thedistrictonTuesday.Krishna Sarma, a teacher at

thehigh school and in chargeofthe relief camp, has to ensureeveryone follows norms of hy-gieneandphysicaldistancingasprescribed by the government.For many years, Sarma has

helpedadministrativelyruntheschool whenever it has beenturned into a relief camp.“Thingslikemasksandsoapsaresuppliedbythegovernment,butI have tomake sure people fol-lowthenorms,”hesaid.A Goalpara resident, he

worksforover12hourseachday,looking after relief material atthecamp,maintainingadetailedlist of people lodged there, andadvisingpeople.Earlier this year, the state

government had issued a set ofnewguidelines toall districts toprovide flood relief in the timesof Covid. Lessening thenumberof inmates, re-calculating the

spaceeachpersongetsandpro-viding masks and sanitisersweresomeof therevisedmeas-ures that the state governmentadvised in its freshguidelines.Officials said that once a

campreachesdesignatedcapac-ity, they are required to requestpeopletoshifttothenextnearbycamp,with transportation pro-videdby thegovernment.Sarmasaid, “Iamrepeatedly

warning people that theymustbecareful,becauseif theyarenot—andif therearemorethanthefixed number of people in a re-liefcamp—thenallmightgetin-fected even if one person is in-fected.” Nonetheless, the

challenges for the administra-tion andHealthofficials are im-mense.Thepermittedcapacityatthe

school—keepingCovid inmind—was80,butonTuesdayatleast154 peoplewere being accom-modated.“Despiteourrequests,people

want tostay togetherwith theirfamilies and relatives in thesamecamp.Thereisnowayout.Whatwillyoudo?Thereisanis-sue of humanity —we cannotjust drag away people,” saidBipulKumarSarma,principaloftheschool.

FULLREPORTON

www.indianexpress.com

Healthofficials takeaccountofhealthof those lodgedatarelief campinGoalpara.AbhishekSaha

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD, JUNE30

ALARMEDBY the high numberof Covid-19 positive cases afterit ramped up testing, theTelanganagovernmenthasnowscaled it down. The increase intestinghadresultedinthenum-ber of positive cases in the statetripling ina fortnight.Till June15, therewere5,193

Covid-19 cases in the state. Thiswent up to 15,394 by June 29.Afterincreasingtheteststoover4,000 per day on June 24, au-thorities brought it down to2,648on June29.After facing flak from the

High Court for low testing, thestategovernmenthadonJune17submittedanaffidavitthatitwill

conduct50,000 tests in10days.Thegovernment scaledup test-ing from an average of 700 perday to over 3,000, but wasalarmed by the high number ofsamplestestingpositive.Forex-ample, 2,477 tests were con-ducted on June 19 out of which499samples testedpositive.OnJune 26, 4,374 tests were con-ducted and 985 samples testedpositive. Asmany as 1087 sam-ples tested positive on June 27outof the3,923samples tested.On June 29, the authoritiesscaled down to conducting2,648testsbut975samplesstilltestedpositive.Chief Secretary Somesh

Kumarsaidthegovernmentwastesting as per ICMR guidelines.“We are doing focused and tar-geted testing wherever neces-

sary.Wearedoingenough testsasperICMRguidelines,’’hesaid.More than74per centof the

cases -- 11,527 -- have been re-portedfromGreaterHyderabadMunicipalCorporation(GHMC)area. Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao has calledfor a Cabinet meeting onWednesday to decidewhetherto imposea lockdown inGHMCareastocontainthespreadoftheoutbreak.Askedwhy the government

washesitant to increase testing,HealthMinister Etela Rajendersaid theywere conducting therequirednumberoftestsperdayonhighlyvulnerablegroupslikemedicalstaffandhealthandsan-itationworkers. “These groupsare more exposed to the virusthananyoneelse sowearecon-

ducting tests among thosegroups. Hyderabad is a big, cos-mopolitancityand likeallotherbig cities, there is an increase inthe number of cases,’’ he said.The government has also askedprivate labs not to entertain re-quests frompeoplewithoutanysymptomstoget tested.Meanwhile,thegovernment

on Tuesday told the high courtthat it was postponing all com-mon entrance tests in the stateafter thecourtaskedhowitwasplanning to hold the exams iftherewasapossibilityof impos-inga lockdown.The court has also asked the

state government’s opinion byJuly 9 on cancelling final examsofUGandPGcoursesexamsandpromoting students based onpastperformance.

Alarmedbyspike inCovidcases,Telanganascalesdowntesting

MAKING SPACE

WorkerssetupbedsforaCovid-19centreatanindoorstadiumatDelhi’sCommonwealthGamesVillageTuesday.PraveenKhanna

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, JUNE30

RESEARCHERSLEADINGtheRE-COVERYclinicaltrialintheUKonMondayannounced that forpa-tientshospitalisedwithCovid-19andnotonaventilator,lopinavir-ritonavir,theantiviraltreatmentcommonly used to treat HIV, isnotaneffectivetreatment.Announcing results of the

lopinavir-ritonavir arm of thetrial, researchers from OxfordUniversity said in a statementthatthedata“ruleoutanymean-ingful mortality benefit oflopinavir-ritonavir” in hospi-talisedCovid-19patients.The researchers, however,

alsounderlined that they “wereunable to study a large numberofpatientsoninvasivemechan-ical ventilation because of diffi-culty administering the drug topatientsonventilators”.“As such, we cannot make

conclusionsabouttheeffective-ness inmechanically ventilatedpatients. Full results will bemadeavailableassoonaspossi-ble,” the researchers said.

The anti-retroviral druglopinavir is a protease inhibitor,the class of drugs approved forthe treatment of HIV; lopinaviris formulated in combinationwith another protease inhibitorritonavir,toincreasethehalf-lifeof lopinavir, which is the dura-tionof actionof adrug.Inthetrial,atotalof1,596pa-

tients were randomised tolopinavir-ritonavirandcomparedwith 3,376patients randomisedto usual care alone; of these pa-tients, 4 per cent required inva-sivemechanicalventilationwhentheyenteredthetrial,70percentrequiredoxygenalone,and26percent didnot require any respira-toryintervention.“Therewasnosignificantdif-

ferenceintheprimaryendpoint

of 28-daymortality and the re-sultswereconsistentindifferentsubgroupsofpatients.Therewasalsonoevidenceofbeneficialef-fects on the risk of progressionto mechanical ventilation orlength of hospital stay,” the re-searchers said.Peter Horby, Professor of

Emerging Infectious DiseasesandGlobalHealthintheNuffieldDepartment of Medicine,University of Oxford, and ChiefInvestigator of the trial, said,“Todaywe release the third setof results from the RECOVERYtrial. These preliminary resultsshow that for patients hospi-talisedwithCovid-19andnotona ventilator, lopinavir-ritonaviris not an effective treatment. In100days,theRECOVERYtrialhasprovided results enablingchange in global practice threetimes. This extraordinary na-tionalefforthasshownthattwodrugs used to treat hospitalisedCovid patients throughout theworld,hydroxychloroquineandlopinavir-ritonavir, do not im-prove survival, whilst one drugthat was not recommended,dexamethasone, saves lives.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, JUNE30

THEMIRABhayanderMunicipalCorporation (MBMC) and theThaneMunicipal Corporation(TMC)will observe a total lock-downfor10daysbeginningJuly1 and 2, respectively, in view ofthe rising number of Covid-19cases in theseurbancentres.On June 3 when lockdown

ruleswereeasedinMaharashtra,TMC had reported 4,019 casesand84deaths.Sincethen,whilethe number of cases has in-creasedby139percentto9,644,fatalities have jumped by 275percent to315.MiraBhayander,meanwhile,

has registered a 385 per centjumpinthenumberofCovid-19cases during the same period –from699to3,396cases.Itsfatal-ityratehasincreasedby861percent–from13to125deathsdur-ing thesameperiod.While lakhs of people who

workinMumbaistaywithinthejurisdictionof thesetwomunic-ipal corporations, authoritiessaid only government employ-ees and staffers of private com-paniesinvolvedinessentialserv-iceswill be allowed to travel toMumbai forwork.InMiraBhayandar, the lock-

downwill begin from 5 pm onWednesdayandcontinuetillJuly

10midnight. Apart from relax-ations granted to pharmaceuti-cal companiesandmilkshops–between 5 am and 10 am – allother shopswill remainclosed.People can order in eatables

like vegetables and meat be-tween9amto11pm.Atpresent,there are 812 active positivecases in thearea.On Monday, TMC had first

announced and thendeferred acompletelockdowninThane.OnTuesday, however, it issued anorder announcing a lockdownfromJuly2to12,withminorex-ceptions for industrialunits.While by and large, people

havebeenadvisedtoremainin-doors unless there is an emer-gency and shops apart fromthose selling essential supplieshavebeenaskedtoremainshut,leeway has been given to someindustrial units to remainopen,especially those linked withpharmaceutical units andfarming.AnorderissuedbyTMCchief

Dr Vipin Sharma said the lock-downwillbebeginfrom7amonThursday and end on 7 am onJuly12. It added that apart fromavailingemergencyservicesandpurchasing perishable goods,people should not step out oftheirhouses.Those foundviolatinghome

quarantine ruleswill be sent toaTMCquarantinecentre.

SOFIAHSANCHANDIGARH, JUNE30

THE PUNJAB andHaryanaHighCourtTuesdayruledthatallpri-vate schools inPunjab,whetherconductingonlineclassesornot,willbeentitledtocollect tuitionfee and also permitted them tocollect theadmission fee.A single bench of Justice

Nirmaljit Kaur also allowed theschools to collect other chargesfor the lockdown period, butwitha rider.Thecourtalsorestrainedthe

schools from increasing the feefor the ongoing academic ses-sion (2020-21) and orderedthem to adopt the same feestructureasof previousyear.The court declined to inter-

ferewiththegovernmentdirec-tionaskingschoolstoallowpar-ents to pay fee on monthly orquarterlybasis,andalsowiththegovernment order asking themnot to resort to removal of anyteacher or reduce themonthlysalaryof teachingornon-teach-ingstaff.The government earlier had

allowed only those schoolswhichwere conducting onlineclasses to collect tuition fees.

While all the schools had beenalso asked to defer the last datefordepositingadmissionfee,thegovernment had prohibitedthemfromtakingotherchargesliketransport,buildingexpensesduring theperiodof closure.The orderswere challenged

before thehighcourtbyvariousschoolmanagements includingIndependent SchoolsAssociation andPunjab SchoolsWelfareAssociation.Thecourtsaidevenifschools

donotprovideonlineeducation,theyarestillrequiredtomeettheexpenses likepaymentof salaryandbuilding, andelectricity ex-penses.Itaddedtherewasnora-tionaleincreatingaclassificationwhen obligations and basic ex-pensesoftheschoolsremainthesame, irrespective of whetherthey are conducting onlineclassesornot.“In these circumstances,

therecannotbeaseparatedirec-tion for the schoolswhoarenotoffering online classes.Therefore, direction to the pri-vatelyunaidedinstitutionswhoarenotgivingonlineclassesnottochargetuitionfeeforthecon-cerned period is definitely dis-criminatory and arbitrary,” theHCruled.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,JUNE30

AFTER A video emerged on so-cialmediapurportedlyshowingbodiesofCovid-19victimsbeingbroughtoutof ahearsevananddumped intoacommonpit, thedeputy commissioner ofKarnataka’s Ballari district hasorderedan inquiry.“Iwillnotliketocommenton

the video. I will check up aboutthe visuals and order for actionas required,” Ballari DeputyCommissioner S S Nakul said.“The standard operating proce-duredoesnotspecifyanymeth-ods of disposal of bodies. Butpreferablyit isbettertodosepa-rateburials.”In thevideo,whichwasshot

on a mobile phone, workerswearing PPE kits are seen pur-portedlydumpingbodies into apit.Snatchesofconversationsinthe video seem to indicate oneworker asking whether all sixbodies should be put in one pitor inseparatepits.Reacting to the video, state

Congress president D KShivakumarsaid,“It'sdisturbingto see bodies of Covid patientsbeingdumpedinhumanlyintoa

pit inBallari. Is thiscivility?Thisisareflectionofhowthegovern-ment has handled this Coronacrisis... Iurgethegovttotakeim-mediate action and ensure thatthisdoesn'thappenagain.”Withnoofficial funeralsper-

mitted in Covid-19 deaths, andfamilyandfriendsusuallynotal-lowedonaccount of being con-tactsof thevictim, thefinal ritesinmostcaseshavebeendonebymunicipal andhealthworkers.SomeNGOs have facilitated

dignifiedcremationsandburials

incities suchasBengaluru.Bellari has reported 834

Covid-19 cases and asmany as29 of the 246 deaths related tothe virus in Karnataka have oc-curred in thedistrict.According to the official

health department bulletin, sixdeaths occurred on June 29alone, including thatoffourwomen.Amongthefour

womenwas a 31-year-oldwhowasadmittedtohospitalonJune28 after complaining of breath-lessness.

In thevideo,whichwasshotonamobilephone,workerswearingPPEkitsareseendumpingbodies intoapit.

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA, JUNE30

AWEDDINGinruralPatnaafort-night ago has emerged as a su-per-spreaderofCovid-19,settingoffwhatseemstobethebiggestinfection chain in Bihar so far,with113peopletestingpositive.Thegroom,whowasrunning

high fever, died on June 17, twodays after thewedding in a vil-lage in Paliganj sub-division ofPatnadistrict,about22kmfromthe state capital, and was cre-mated without a coronavirustest. Over 360 people fromPaliganj and adjoining towns ofNaubatpur and Bihta, to whichmembers of the bride’s familybelong, were tested as part ofcontact-tracing,andeffortswerestill on to find others, HealthDepartment officials saidTuesday.Thebrideisnotamongthe113whohavetestedpositive.Thoseinfectedincludeeither

the30-year-oldgroom’srelativesorguestsatthewedding.Fifteenof themare believed to have in-fected others.Most of them areasymptomatic and admitted toisolation centres in Bihta andPhulwarisharif.ThePaliganjsub-divisionhasbeendeclaredacon-tainmentzoneandsealed.A softwareengineerworking

inGurgaon, the 30-year-old ar-rivedathisvillageinPaliganjinthelastweekofMayforthewedding.A relative said, “Even thoughhewasfeelingunwellbyJune14andwanted thewedding deferred,familyheads frombothsidesad-visedagainstit,citinghugefinan-ciallossesifthearrangementshadtobecancelled.”Another relative, who at-

tended thewedding and testednegative,saidthatsincesomanydays had passed since the 30-year-old’s arrival, and he hadbeen keepingwell all along, no

onesuspectedCovid-19.“Asruralareas are almost Covid-free, wewererelaxed,” therelativesaid.By the day of the wedding,

the engineerwas running hightemperature. The relative saidthey were concerned but“prayedthatitwasnotCovidin-fection”. “He performed all thepre-weddingfunctionsaftertak-ingparacetamol.”On June 17, as his condition

worsened,thefamilyrushedthe30-year-old toAIIMS,Patna,buthe died on theway. It was afterthe family had cremated himthatsomeonetippedoff thedis-trict authorities.All close relatives who at-

tendedtheweddingweretestedon June 19, and 15 tested posi-tive. Between June 24 and 26, aspecial camp in the village col-lectedsamplesof364people.Ofthem,86testedpositive,officialssaid.OnMonday,thesenumberswere part of the state’s highestsingle-day spike, of 394 coron-aviruscases.Paliganj BlockDevelopment

Officer Chiranjeev Pandey said,“Our first prioritynow is topre-vent the infectionandbreakthechain.We have sealed parts oftheneighbouringMeethaKuan,Khagari and some parts of thesub-urban marketplace ofPaliganj.”Biharhassofarrecorded9,988

cases of coronavirus,with Patnaseeingthemaximum,at713.Thestate has a recovery rate of 77%,withactivecasesonly2,132.Sixty-eightpeoplehavediedsofar.

--WITHPTIINPUTS

Video shows Covid bodiesdumped into pit, probe ordered

MEANWHILE,INMUMBAI:Shopssellingnon-essentialgoodsreopenasapartof thelockdownrelaxations.AmitChakravarty

KARNATAKA

Groom dead, 113positive: Weddingemerges as Biharsuper-spreader

Accordingtoarelative,

thegroomperformed

all thepre-wedding

functionsafter taking

paracetamol

RECOVERYTRIAL

HIV drug not effective forhospitalised Covid patients noton ventilator: Researchers

HC: Punjab schools cancollect fee whether or notoffering online classes

Researchersalso

underlinedthat they

“wereunabletostudya

largenumberof

patientsoninvasive

mechanicalventilation

Complete lockdownin Mira Bhayander,Thane for 10 days

Ahmedabad

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

566,840India

240,578Italy

227,662Iran

314,159United Kingdom

275,999Chile

249,271Spain

2,683,000US

1,368,195Brazil

282,365Peru

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 10,350,645 DEATHCOUNT:506,827

Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonJune30. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

646,929Russia

A LARGE number ofCovid-19 cases areasymptomatic, but re-searchers have differedon what percentagethese constitute of allcases. Now, a team hasstudied almost the en-tire population of asmall, quarantinedtown—VòinItaly,pop-ulation 3,200 — andfound that 40% of its cases wereasymptomatic. The studywas pub-lished inNatureonTuesday.The town of Vò experienced

Italy’s first Covid-19 death onFebruary21. Itwasput into immedi-ate quarantine for 14 days. Duringthis time, researchers testedmost of

the population forCovid-19, both at thestart of the lockdown(86% tested) and aftertwoweeks(72%tested).The testing revealed

that at the start of thelockdown, 2.6% of thepopulation (73 people)werepositive forCovid-19. After a couple ofweeks, only 1.2% (29

people)werepositive.Atbothtimes,around 40% of the positive casesshowed no symptoms (asympto-matic). The results also show it tookon average 9.3 days (range of 8-14days) for thevirus tobeclearedfromsomeone’s body.

Source: Imperial College London

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

Covid testing of entire townfinds 40% cases asymptomatic

15

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The business of Chinese appsSIMPLYPUT

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

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

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 5,66,840 (16,893 DEATHS)

1,69,883Maharashtra

86,224Tamil Nadu

17,660Rajasthan

22,828 UP

85,161 Delhi

31,938Gujarat

17,907West Bengal

14,210Haryana

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

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

14,295Karnataka

15,394Telangana

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,June30.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.

3,34,822PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN35STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 90AndhraPradesh 13891ArunachalPradesh 187Assam 7752Bihar 9640Chandigarh 435Chhattisgarh 2761DadraandNagarHaveli 203Goa 1198HimachalPradesh 942JammuandKashmir 7237Jharkhand 2426Kerala 4189MadhyaPradesh 13370Ladakh 964Manipur 1227Meghalaya 47Mizoram 148Nagaland 434Odisha 6859Puducherry 619Punjab 5418Sikkim 88Tripura 1380Uttarakhand 2831

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI, JUNE30

THE CENTRAL Drugs Standard ControlOrganisation (CDSCO) has allowed BharatBiotech India (BBIL) toconducthumanclin-ical trials for ‘Covaxin’, an indigenously de-veloped Covid-19 vaccine candidate. Trialsare scheduled tostart across India in July.

HowwasCovaxindeveloped?

ThevaccinecandidatewasdevelopedbyBBIL in collaboration with the NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV). NIV isolated astrain of the novel coronavirus from anasymptomatic Covid-19 patient and trans-ferred it to BBIL in earlyMay. The firm thenused it to work on developing an “inacti-vated”vaccine—avaccinethatusesaninac-tivevirus—atitshigh-containmentfacilityinHyderabad.“Once the vaccine is injected into a hu-

man,ithasnopotentialtoinfectorreplicate,since it is a killed virus. It just serves to theimmunesystemadeadvirusandtriggersanantibody response towards it,” a company

representative said, adding that inactivatedvaccinesusuallyhaveaprovensafetyrecord.Covaxin then underwent pre-clinical

testing on animals such as guinea pigs andmice tosee if itwassafe,before the firmap-proachedCDSCOforapproval tomoveontohumantrials.

Whatdoestheapprovalmeanfor India?

TheDrugControllerGeneralof India,whoheads CDSCO, has given BBIL approvals forPhaseIandPhaseIIclinicaltrials.ThisbringsIndiaastepclosertofinalisingadomesticallydevelopedCovid-19vaccineata timewhenthecountry’s casescontinue tosurge.The first phase, usually conducted on a

small group, tries to findwhat dosageof thevaccineissafeforuse,whetheritiseffectiveinbuilding immunity to thevirus, andwhethertherearesideeffects.Thesecondphaseiscon-ductedonagroupofhundredsofpersonswhofit thedescriptionof thoseforwhomthevac-cineis intended,usingcharacteristics likeageandsex.Thisphasetestshoweffectivethevac-cineisonthepopulationgroupbeingstudied.

Howmanystagesof testingwill follow?

Vaccines, likemostnewdrugs,aremeantto follow a testing process of four stages,startingwith pre-clinical tests and endingwith Phase III studies conducted on thou-sands of patients. After approval from theregulator, thefirmhastocontinuemonitor-ingtheuseof itsvaccineonpatientsandsub-mit post-marketing surveillance details,whichchecksforanylong-termunintendedadverseeffects.BBIL plans tobegin Phase I andPhase II

trials in July, but has not yet finalised thefull timeline for testing and seeking finalapproval.

Whichother Indiancompaniesare

workingonCovidvaccines?

These include Zydus Cadila, SerumInstitute of India and, since earlier thismonth,PanaceaBiotec.While Panacea is still in the pre-clinical

stage, it is not clear whether Zydus andSerum have completed their pre-clinicalstudies or have applied to CDSCO for ap-proval toconducthumantrialsyet.

HowdoesCovaxincomparewithother

vaccinecandidatesaroundtheworld?

Covaxin has reached amore advancedstage of testing than the other two vaccinecandidates that BBIL is developing throughglobalcollaborations—oneincollaborationwith Thomas Jefferson University, and theother with the University of Wisconsin-Madison and vaccinemaker FluGen. Bothcandidates are currently in the pre-clinicalstage, according to the World HealthOrganization’s draft landscape of Covid-19candidatevaccines.However,itisfarbehindintheglobalrace.

Thefrontrunner isAstraZeneca,whosecan-didate ChAdOx1-S with the University ofOxford isalreadyat thestageof Phase III tri-als. Serum Institute has an agreement tomanufacture thisvaccine.Moderna is close to beginning Phase III

trialsforitsLNP-encapsulatedmRNAvaccinecandidatewith the USNational Institute ofAllergyand InfectiousDiseases.Apart fromCovaxin,which isnot listed

among the vaccines being tried globally,at least six other candidates are in PhaseI/II trials, and another five are in Phase Itrials globally.

Covaxin, India’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU, JUNE30

TWOYEARSafterNepal'stwomajorleftpar-ties joined hands to form the NepalCommunist Party, laying a basis for power-sharing, a rift between PrimeMinister K PSharmaOli and former PMPushpa KamalDahal,betterknownasPrachanda,hasraisedquestionsaboutthefutureof theirunity.Oli, who steered a recently passed

ConstitutionAmendmentBillendorsingthecountry’snewmapthatincludesterritorieswith India, has beenprojecting Prachandaas conspiring to dislodge him.WhenNewDelhi mediated a peace process in 2006bringing insurgency to an end, Prachandawas the key figure. Now, Oli accuses Indiaof instigating theeffort to topplehim.“The activity in Delhi, a certain section

of politics inNepal and their collaborationismeant to dislodgeme formy stance onthe border dispute. Nobody should thinktheywillsucceedindislodgingme,”OlisaidataprogrammeonSunday.AndPrachanda said at ameeting of the

party’sstandingcommitteelastweek:“Itwasamistakeonmyparttohavegivenuponthe

turn-by-turnPrimeMinisteragreement.”Six months ago, Prachanda made a

statementthathehasagreedtoletOlicon-tinue for the five-year term, apparently af-terOli assuredhimthathewould functionas party chief with all executive authority.However, Oli takes allmajor decisions andexercisesthepartychief’sduties,reportedlywithout informingPrachandaat times.Until a general convention takes place,

both are chairpersons of the NCP. At thetime of unification, Oli headed theCommunistPartyofNepal-UnifiedMarxistLeninist (UML) and Prachanda theCommunistPartyofNepal-Maoists.

Rivals-turned-alliesOli, at 69, is three years older than

Prachanda. A school dropout, Oli was im-prisoned at age 22 for the murder ofDharmaPrasadDhakal,afarmerineasternNepal, during the Naxalitemovement. Hespent 14 years in prison from the early1970s before getting a royal pardon in themid-1980s. His election to Parliament in1991 launchedhis rise inpolitics.Prachanda,likeOli,enteredunderground

politicsduringhis studentdays in themid-1970s.Whenamulti-partydemocraticsys-

tembegan in1990,Prachandachosenot tojoin and instead launched armed insur-gency, adoptingMaoism in 1996with anavowed objective to finish themonarchyandmulti-partydemocracyincluding‘revi-sionist’ Communists. Oli was among thestrongest critics of Maoists all through theinsurgency,which left17,000peopledead.When the conflict ended in a peace

process in2006—withNewDelhi’smedi-ation—Prachandaemergedasthehero.Oliwas sceptical about the transition from aHindukingdomtoasecular, federalrepub-lic, and famously said: “Youwill not get totheUSridingonabullockcart.”But the transition to coalition rule also

broughtthetwoleaderstogether.Theyde-cidedtocontestthe2017electionstogetherandmerge after the results, with Oli pro-jectedasPM.Theywon174seatsinahouseof275.Sincethen,it isOliwhohasemergedahero, especiallyafterhestoodupto Indiaagainsttheblockade,andsignedatradeun-derstandingwithChina.

Why they fell outDifferencesbetweenthetwoleaderswere

visiblerightfromthebeginning.OlineededaPresidentwhocouldprotect him ina crisis,

and chose BidhyaDevi Bhandari, his long-timeallyinUML'sfactionalfeud.Prachanda,forhispart,neededaSpeakerwhocouldpro-tecthisgroupfromdisqualificationasHousemembers if the unity broke, and got AgniSapkotaelectedasthenewSpeakerafterKBMaharaquitfollowingasexscandal.Lastmonth,Olibroughtanordinancethat

said40%support inthepartyworkingcom-mitteeor in theparliamentarypartywouldqualifyasasplit(ratherthanboth)andnotat-tractdisqualificationofHousemembership.“Many in thepartymisunderstood it, but itwas actually to give an easy exit to the

Prachandagroup,"anadvisertoOlisaid.Theordinancewashowever,withdrawnfollow-ingallegationsthatOliwasouttosplitoppo-sitionpartiestosecureatwo-thirdsmajority;hisgovernmentisshortbyninemembers.Factionalismwithin the party has not

beenbasedentirelyonpreviousassociations.Thenine-membercentralsecretariat,whichhas the seniormost party leaders, is seenasheavilyweighted againstOli. Besides threeformer PMs — Madhav Nepal, JhalnathKhanalandPrachanda—threemoreleadershaveopposedparliamentary endorsementof a $500-million grant fromMillenniumChallengeCorporation,whichtheysayispartof US security interests. Oli commandsenoughsupportinParliamentastheopposi-tionNepaliCongresshaspledgeditssupport.

The two camps, today“AlthoughOliisinaminorityinthestand-

ingcommittee,hewillnothavetoresignim-mediately, but therewill beaclearmessagegiven to him that he has only fewmonths,perhapsnotmorethanthreeorfourmonthsleft,”aninfluentialleaderofthepartysaid.“Ifhegoesnow,hewillblameus—thatwere-movedhimwith Indian support as hewastakinguptheborderissuewithNewDelhi.”

According to Prachanda, Oli has hintedattimesthat“weshouldpartwaysifwork-ingtogetherisnotpossible”.Attheinaugu-ral session of the standing committee, hesaid he had been hearing about the likeli-hoodofcoupsofthe“Afghanistan,Pakistanor Bangladeshmodels” —which is beingwidelyinterpretedasimplyingthatOlimayuse theNepalArmyto take total control.From Oli's camp, former

CommunicationMinisterGokulBaskotahassaid—manyfeltitwasatOli’sbehest—thatPrachandamaybeinvestigatedforacorrup-tion case as he is accused of appropriatingmoneymeant forMaoistmembers duringthe peace process of 2008-2013. Besides,many in Oli’s camp have demanded thatPrachandaandhisfollowersbetriedforhu-manrightsviolationduringtheconflict.“Well thereare these issues, ultimately

what both sides are demanding today is aconsolidated party, and dignified power-sharing and that will be achieved,” saidManoj Jung Thapa, amember of the partycentral committee.But with daggers drawn, Prachanda’s

campexpects thatOliultimatelyhas togo.It isnotclearif it isPrachandawhowillsuc-ceedhim, though.

WhyNepal PMOli blames India in tusslewith old rival Prachanda

Oli (left)& Prachanda: riftwideopen

Severalof the59ChineseappsbannedbythegovernmenthaveawidereachinIndia.Whoownsthemostpopularones,whorunstheir Indiaoperations,

andwhat is their reachinthecountry?

Co rpo r a t e s t r uc tu r e : T IKTOK (By teDance L td [Cayman ] )

TikTokLtd. (Cayman)

TikTokLLC(US)

TikTokInc(US)

TikTokKK(Japan)

TikTokPte.Ltd. (Singapore)

SEAOperatingEntities

IndiaOperatingEntity

TikTokInformationTechnologiesUKLtd

EUOperatingEntities

LarkTechnologiesLtd. (Cayman)

LarkTechnologiesPte.Ltd. (Singapore)

LemonInc.(Cayman)

ByteDancePte.Ltd.(Singapore)

ByteDance(HK)Limited(HK)

MainChinaOperatingEntities

ByteDanceInc. (US)

Note:AsofDecember31, 2019; showsonly themainoperatingentitiesofByteDanceGroup

PRANAVMUKUL&AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI, JUNE30

ONMONDAY, the Centre announced an in-terimbanon59appswithChineselinks,cit-ing“emergentthreats”tothecountry’ssov-ereignty and national security. TheseincludedpopularmobileappssuchasTikTok,CamScannerandUCBrowser,whichtogethercommand several hundredmillionusers inthe country. Some of the larger ones likeTikTok, UCBrowser and ShareIt also have asignificantpresence in thecountry in termsof revenue and number of employees ontheirpayrolls.A look at someof themorewidely used

appsamongthe59banned:

TikTok&HeloThe two socialmedia

apps,whichareoperatedby an entity calledBytedance (India)Technology Pvt Ltd, to-

gethercommandmorethan170millionac-tive users across the country. Notably, Indiais the largestmarket for TikTokwithmorethan 611million downloads, representingnearly a third of the video-platform’s base,followedbyChina (where it operatesunderadifferentbrand)andtheUS.However, India isnot among the top rev-

enue-generating geographies for the app. In2018-19, the first full year of the company’soperations in the country, Bytedance IndiapostedrevenuesofRs43.6crore,andthecom-panytargetedrevenuesofRs100croreforthefollowing year. In the US, the app has beendownloaded165milliontimes,withrevenues

of $86.5million (over Rs 650 crore) in 2019.China, with nearly 197million users, con-tributed$331million(aroundRs2,500crore)duringtheyear,accordingtoSensorTower.The company also has administrative

presenceacrosseightcitiesinthecountryandemploysover1,000people.BytedanceIndia,however, is not owned by a Chinese entity.AccordingtocorporatestructureavailableonBytedance’s website, the parent entity —BytedanceLtd—isregisteredintheCaymanIslands. This parent company has five sub-sidiaries, one of which is TikTok Ltd— alsoregistered in Cayman Islands. Under TikTokLtd, a Singapore-basedentity TikTokPte Ltdisregistered,underwhichentitiesoperatingfromIndiaandSoutheastAsiaareregistered.TheITMinistryisspecificallyexpectedto

seek details from the companies runningtheseappsondatasharingbythesecompa-nies under a Chinese law, which requirescompanies of Chinese origin to share datawiththatcountry’s intelligenceagencies, ir-respectiveofwhereverintheworldtheyareoperating. Last year, Bytedance had an-nounced an investment of $1 billion in theIndianmarketoveraperiodof threeyears.

UCBrowser andUCNews

The Alibaba Groupplatforms are run by anentity called UCWeb

MobilePvtLtd,whichhasmorethan130mil-lion active users. UC Browser, in fact, is thesecondmostusedmobileInternetbrowserinthe country only behind Google Chrome,with amarket share of around 22%, com-paredwith Chrome’s 70%. UCWebMobile,

which has less than 100 employees in thecountry, recorded revenues of Rs 226.68crorefromthecountryin2018-19,primarilyfromadvertisingincome,accordingtofilingswith theRegistrarof Companies (RoC). Thisis part of AlibabaGroup’s digitalmedia andentertainmentsegment,whichclockedcon-solidated revenues of $3.59 billion for theyearendedMarch31,2019.According to filingswith theRegistrarof

Companies, the India entityUCWebMobilePvtLtdisheld99%byUCMobileNewWorld,basedinBritishVirginIslands.However,gov-ernment data has recorded investment bythisentityunderFDI inflowfromChina.Theremaining1%stakeinUCWebMobilePvtLtdisheldbyanentityUCMobile InternationalLtd, registered in theCayman Islands.

ShareItShareIt is one of the

mostpopularfile-sharingtools,withmorethan400million active users inIndia.Theapp,whichwas

almost entirely marketed on the basis ofword of mouth, has more than 1.8 billionusersworldwide.However,thecompanyhasnot been able tomonetise its platform be-yondapoint,makingonlyRs14.73croredur-ing 2018-19 from its India entity ShareItTechnologyIndiaPvtLtd.Intermsofrevenue,the Indian segment contributes 15-20% tothe company’s global revenues. The com-pany acquired entertainment platformFastfilmz in 2018, and appointed its CEOKaramMalhotraas theCEOof ShareIt India.The Indian entity ShareIt Technology IndiaPvt Ltd is held 99.99% byHongKong-basedShareItHKTechnologyLtd.

Club FactoryThe online market-

place,whichclaims tobeIndia’s third-largest e-commercecompany,hasmanaged to onboard

30,000sellersonitsplatform.Thecompany’sIndianentityGlobeMaxCommerceIndiaPvtLtd, is99.99%ownedbyaHongKong-basedcompanyUnbeaten Price Ltd. During 2018-19, the GlobeMax Commerce clocked rev-enues of Rs 172.14 crore. Club Factory hasaround90employeeson its rolls.

SheinShein is another e-

commerce platform fo-cused on fashion andlifestyle products. InIndia, itsoperationswere

being run by XIYIN India Pvt Ltd, based inGurgaon. The company, which targetedsmaller tier-II andtier-III towns in India,hasaround 50 employees in the country. Thecompany had crossedmore than 1millionactive users in India but last year partiallyshut down its operations after the Customsdepartmentcrackeddownonthecompanyoveralleged importdutyevasion.

CamScannerCamScanner,whichis

the most widely usedmobile scanning app intheworld,hasmorethan100millionusersinIndia.

The app, which is run by INTSIGInformation Co Ltd registered in Shanghai,China, does not have an entity registeredin India.

Ahmedabad

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AFRICA

LOCUSTSDEVASTATEPARTSOFKENYA

Numbers of locusts have exploded in East Africa and the Red Sea region,

exacerbated by atypical weather patterns amplified by climate change. In Turkana,

Kenya’s poorest region, the locusts are eating everything in sight. Their spread

threatens to worsen conditions in a region where 20 million people struggle for food.

BELGIUM

Kingexpresses

regretforviolence

duringcolonialruleBrussels:ForthefirsttimeinBelgium’shistory,areigningkingexpressedregretfortheviolence carried out by theformercolonialpowerwhenitruledoverwhatisnowtheDemocraticRepublic of theCongo.Inalettertothepres-ident of the DRC, FelixTshisekedi,whichwaspub-lishedon the60th anniver-saryoftheAfricancountry’sindependence, Belgium’sKingPhilippe conveyedhis“deepest regrets” for the“actsofviolenceandcruelty”and the “suffering andhu-miliation” inflicted onBelgian Congo. “To furtherstrengthen our ties..., wemustbeable to talk to eachother about our long com-monhistory inall truthandserenity,”Philippewrote.

KingPhilippe

TOPOFTHEWORLD

VENEZUELA

Maduroorders

EUenvoyto

leavefollowing

freshsanctionsCaracas: VenezuelanPresidentNicolasMaduroonMonday ordered theEuropeanUnionenvoy toleavethecountry,hoursaf-ter the EU announcedsanctions against severalofficialsloyaltothesocial-istleader.TheEUsubjected11 officials to financialsanctions, citing their ac-tions against the demo-cratic functioning ofVenezuela’s NationalAssembly. The Europeanblocearlierthismonthsaida decision by the SouthAmerican nation’sSupremeCourt inMay toratifyanallyofMaduroaspresident of theNationalAssemblywasillegitimate.

USA

Bidennames

US-Indian

expertasdigital

chiefofstaffWashington: Indian-AmericanMedhaRajwasnamed by DemocraticpresidentialcandidateJoeBidenashisdigitalchiefofstaff, akeyrole inhiselec-tioncampaignwhichisgo-ingvirtualduetothepan-demic.Inthiscapacity,Rajwillwork across all facetsof thedigital departmentto streamline and coordi-natehowtomaximisetheimpact of its digital out-puts, theBidencampaignsaid."ExcitedtosharethatI'vejoinedJoeBiden'scam-paignastheDigitalChiefofStaff. 130days to theelec-tionandwe'renotgoingtowasteaminute!"shesaidonLinkedIn.

MIKEIVESHONGKONG, JUNE30

ANEWstrainoftheH1N1swineflu virus is spreading silently inworkers on pig farms in Chinaand should be “urgently” con-trolled to avoid another pan-demic, a team of scientists saysinanewstudy.H1N1 is highly transmissi-

ble and spread around theworld in 2009, killing about285,000 people andmorphinginto seasonal flu.The newer strain, known as

G4EAH1N1,hasbeencommononChina’s pig farms since 2016and replicates efficiently in hu-man airways, according to thestudy published onMonday. Sofar, it has infected some peoplewithout causing disease, buthealth experts fear that couldchangewithoutwarning.“G4viruseshavealltheessen-

tialhallmarksofacandidatepan-demic virus,” the study said,addingthatcontrollingthespreadin pigs and closelymonitoring

human populations “should beurgently implemented”.The study, published online

in the journalProceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences, isbasedonthesurveillanceofpigsin 10 Chinese provinces from2011 to 2018. In the last threeyears of the study, researcherscollected 338 blood samplesfromworkers on 15 pig farmsand 230 frompeople in nearbyhouseholds.Thestudyfoundthat10.4per

cent of theworkers and 4.4 percentof theotherstestedpositiveforG4EAH1N1, and thatwork-ers between the ages of 18 and35 tested positive at a higherrate:20.5percent.NYT

CHARLIESAVAGE,ERICSCHMITT,NICHOLASFANDOS&ADAMGOLDMANJUNE30

AMERICANOFFICIALS providedawrittenbriefinginlateFebruaryto President Donald Trump lay-ing out their conclusion that aRussianmilitaryintelligenceunitoffered and paid bounties toTaliban-linkedmilitantstokillUSand coalition troops inAfghanistan,twoofficialsfamiliarwiththemattersaid.Theinvestigationintothesus-

pectedRussian covert operationtoincentivisesuchkillingshasfo-cusedinpartonanApril2019carbombing that killed threeMarinesasonesuchpotentialat-tack, according tomultiple offi-cials familiarwiththematter.The new information

emerged as theWhite Housetried onMonday to play downtheintelligenceassessmentthatRussia sought to encourageandrewardkillings—includingreit-erating a claim that Trumpwasnever briefed about thematterandportrayingtheconclusionasdisputedanddubious.Butthatstanceclashedwith

the disclosure by two officialsthat the intelligence was in-cludedmonths ago in Trump’sPresident’s Daily Brief docu-ment. One of the officials saidthe item appeared in Trump’sbrief in lateFebruary; theothercited Feb27.Moreover, the assessment

thattheRussianunithadcarriedout the bounties plot was seenas solid enough to disseminateacross the intelligence commu-nityinaMay4articleintheCIA’sWorld Intelligence Review, aclassified compendium com-

monly referred to as TheWire,twoofficials said.LateMonday, John Ratcliffe,

the recently confirmed directorof national intelligence, issuedastatement warning that leaksabout thematterwereacrime.The disclosures came amid

agrowing furor inWashingtonover the revelations in recentdays that the Trump adminis-tration had known formonthsabout the intelligence conclu-sion but theWhite House hadauthorised no response toRussia.NYT

Beijinglookstoexpandcontrol insemi-autonomouscityafterayearofprotests

New strain of swineflu virus spreading tohumans in China: study

Trump briefed in Febon possible Russianbounties, say officials

Twitch suspendsTrump’s channel

KELLENBROWNINGNEWYORK, JUNE30

TWITCH,THElivestreamingplat-form,saidonMondaythatitwassuspendingUSPresidentTrump’schannel for “hateful conduct,” inwhatappearedtobethefirstde-liberate suspension of one ofTrump’ssocialmediaaccounts.The site, which is owned by

Amazon, said two recentstreamsonTrump’s channel vi-olated its rules.Onestreamwasof a rebroadcasted 2015 cam-paign event in which Trumpmade comments aboutMexicosendingdrugs,crimeandrapistsovertheborder.Theotherwasofhis recent rally in Tulsa, Okla.,where he talked about a “verytough hombre” breaking into awoman’shouseat1am.NYT

Pro-Trump groupbanned on Reddit

MIKEISAACSANFRANCISCO, JUNE30

REDDIT,ONEof the largest socialnetworking andmessage boardwebsites, onMondaybanned itsbiggest community devoted toPresident Trump as part of anoverhaulofitshatespeechpolicies.The community or “subred-

dit,”called“The_Donald,”ishometomorethan790,000userswhopostmemes,videosandmessagesabout Trump. Reddit executivessaidthegroup,whichhasbeenin-fluentialincultivatingandstokingTrump’sonlinebase, hadconsis-tentlybrokenitsrulesbyallowingpeopletotargetandharassothers.“Reddit is aplace forcommunityandbelonging, not for attackingpeople,”SteveHuffman,thecom-pany’schiefexecutive,said.NYT

Iran journalistsentenced todeath over rolein 2017 protests

ASSOCIATEDPRESSTEHRAN,JUNE30

IRANSENTENCEDaonce-exiledjournalist to death over his on-lineworkthathelpedinspirena-tionwideeconomicproteststhatbeganattheendof2017,author-ities saidTuesday.RuhollahZam’swebsiteanda

channelhecreatedonthepopu-larmessagingappTelegramhadspreadthetimingsoftheprotestsand embarrassing informationabout officials that directly chal-lengedIran’sShiatheocracy.Thosedemonstrations repre-

sented the biggest challenge toIran since the 2009 GreenMovement protests and set thestageforsimilarunrestlastNov.Thedetailsofhisarrestremain

unclear. Thoughhewasbased inParis,ZamsomehowreturnedtoIran and foundhimself detainedbyintelligenceofficials.Aseriesofatelevisedconfessionshaveairedinrecentmonthsoverhiswork.Judiciary spokesman

Gholamhossein Esmaili an-nounced Zam's death sentenceTuesday,sayinghewasconvictedof“corruptiononEarth”,achargeoftenused in cases involving es-pionageorattemptstooverthrowIran’sgovernment.

JOSEPH DEANGELO PLEADS GUILTY TO 13 MURDERS, DOZENS OF RAPES IN DEAL THAT SPARES HIM EXECUTION, BUT KEEPS HIM JAILED FOR LIFE

Case of Golden State Killer, who terrorised US for decades, ends with guilty pleaHEATHERMURPHY&TIMARANGOJUNE30

FOR DECADES, a killer was onthe loose in California, terroriz-ing victims from the southerncoast totheCentralValleytotheBay Area and the tidy subdivi-sions near Sacramento. As theyears went by, he bore his wayinto the state’s consciousness,provokingmanhuntsandtelevi-sion shows, and the obsessivesleuthingofamateurdetectives.

Hewentbymanynicknames— East Area Rapist, the OriginalNight Stalker, the VisaliaRansacker — before a last onetook hold: the Golden StateKiller.Thefinalaccountingofhiscrimespreewas13knownmur-dersandnearly50rapes.The crimes began in 1975

and the case, finally, reached itsdenouementMondayinahear-ing inside a ballroom atSacramento State Universitythat, because of the pandemic,was livestreamed.JosephJamesDeAngelo,74—

no longer the agile youngmanwho sneaked into women’shomes — had to be helped upwhenthejudgeenteredtheroom.Heworeanorangeprison jump-suit and aplastic face shield andwassurroundedbydistrictattor-neys from several jurisdictionswherehecommittedhiscrimes.The hearing went on for

hours, as DeAngelo, who wascapturedtwoyearsagoafterbe-ing arrested using a novel DNAtechnique that has upendedhowmany violent crimes arenowsolvedintheUnitedStates,

pleaded guilty, again and again,to13countsof first-degreemur-der that he committed acrossCalifornia in the1970sand ’80s.In front of victims and their

families,theSacramentoCountydeputy district attorney, an-nouncedthepleaarrangement,whichtookthedeathpenaltyoffthe table in exchange for guiltypleasthatresultedin11consec-utive life sentences.In addition, she said, he also

agreedtoadmitguilt inamulti-tudeof crimes forwhichhewasnotcharged,someofwhichhad

passedthestatuteof limitations.Throughout the hearing,

prosecutors from countiesacrossCaliforniaapproachedthepodiumanddescribedaseriesofmurders,rapesandburglariesindetail. Michael G. Bowman, ajudgefortheSacramentoCountySuperior Court, then askedDeAngelo forhisplea.“Guilty,”DeAngelosaidafter

eachone.Asked by the judge if he un-

derstood he would receive 11consecutivelifesentenceswith-outparole,DeAngelo said “yes.”

DeAngelohadeludedtheau-thoritiesforfourdecadesbeforehe was arrested in 2018 in aSacramentosuburb.The crimes associatedwith

the man who would becomeknownastheGoldenStateKillerbegan in themid-1970s, and by1977, after a series of horrifyingrapes of women in their homesin Sacramento County, he wasnicknamedtheEastAreaRapist.The community held packedpublic forums to discuss thecases that seemed to be occur-ringonceeverymonth.NYT

JosephDeAngelowithhisattorneyatahearingMonday.AP

LORNECOOKBRUSSELS, JUNE30

THE EUROPEAN Union an-nouncedTuesday that itwill re-openitsborderstotravellersfrom14countries, andpossibly Chinasoon, butmost Americans havebeenrefusedentryforatleastan-other twoweeks due to soaringcoronavirusinfectionsintheUS.Travellers from other big

countries like Russia, Brazil andIndiawill alsomissout.As Europe’s economies reel

from the impact of the coron-avirus,southernEUcountrieslikeGreece, Italy and Spain are des-perate toenticeback sun-lovingvisitorsandbreathelifeintotheirdamagedtourismindustries.UStouristsmakeupabigsliceoftheEUmarketandthesummerhol-idayseasonisakeytime.Citizens from the following

countries will be allowed intothe EU’s 27members and fourother nations in Europe’s visa-free Schengen travel zone:Algeria, Australia, Canada,Georgia, Japan, Montenegro,Morocco,NewZealand,Rwanda,Serbia, South Korea, Thailand,TunisiaandUruguay.TheEUsaidChinais“subject

to confirmation of reciprocity,”meaningitshouldliftall restric-tions on European citizens en-

tering China before EuropeancountrieswillallowChinesecit-izensback in.Thelist istobeupdatedevery

14days,withnewcountries be-ingaddedordroppedoffdepend-

ingonwhether theyarekeepingthepandemicundercontrol.US touristsmade 27million

trips to Europe in 2016 whilesome10millionEuropeansheadacrosstheAtlanticeachyear.AP

CHRISBUCKLEY&KEITHBRADSHERJUNE30

CHINAPASSEDacontentiousnewlaw for Hong Kong on Tuesdaythatwouldempowertheauthor-itiestocrackdownonoppositiontoBeijing,riskingdeeperriftswithWesterngovernments that havewarnedabouttheerosionoffree-domsintheterritory.The law’s swift approval in

Beijingsignalledtheurgencythatthe Communist Party leader, XiJinping, has given to expandingcontrol in Hong Kong after theterritorywas convulsed by pro-democracyprotests lastyear.The lawunderscoresBeijing’s

resolve to achieve apolitical seachange inHongKong, a formerBritish colonywith its own legalsystemandcivillibertiesabsentinmainlandChina. It couldbeusedtostifleprotestslikethosethatlastyearevolved intoan increasinglyconfrontational, and sometimesviolent,challengetoChineserule.The Chinese legislature ap-

provedthelawadaybeforeJuly1,the politically charged anniver-saryofHongKong’s handover toChina in 1997, which regularlydrawspro-democracyprotests.Tam Yiu-chung, Hong

Kong’s representativetothetoplegislative body in China thatreviewedthe law,confirmeditspassage Tuesday.“Thosewho have stirred up

trouble and broken this type oflaw in the past will hopefullywatch themselves in the future,”Tamsaidinatelevisioninterview.

“If they continue todefy the law,theywillbeartheconsequences.”Opposition politicians

quickly criticised the law for itspowertosilencedissent.ClaudiaMo,apro-democracylawmaker,citedlocalnewsreportsthatthelaw would introduce heftyprisonsentencesforvaguelyde-

finedpolitical crimesassourcesof concern. “It’s meant to sup-press and oppress, and tofrighten and intimidate HongKongers,”Mosaid.“Andtheyjustmight succeed in that.”Thelawcalls forHongKong’s

government to establish a newagencytooverseeenforcementof

thenewrules.Beijingwill createits own separate security arm inHongKong,empoweredtoinves-tigatespecialcasesandcollectin-telligence. Carrie Lam, HongKong’s top official, has said thelawwilltargetonlyan“extremelysmallminorityofillegalandcrim-inalactsandactivities”.NYT

China passes new security law withsweeping powers over Hong Kong

HongKongactivistsgatheratamalltoprotestthenationalsecuritylawonTuesday.AP

CURBSONOPPOSITIONFull details havenot beenreleased, but the securitylaw is expected todeterspeech, protests andnewsmedia critical of theChinese government,threatening the territory’sindependent press anddemocratic opposition.

NEWSECURITYAGENCIESThe lawwill establish anewsecurity agency inHongKong to enforce the securityrestrictions, andBeijingwill create its ownseparate security arm in thecity, empowered toinvestigate special casesand collect intelligence.

WESTERNGOVTSOBJECTTheGroupof7industrialiseddemocraciescalledonChinathismonthtoabandonthelaw.USsaiditwouldimposevisarestrictionsonChineseofficials involvedinthedecision,whileUKsaiditwouldallow3millionfromHKtoliveandworkinBritain.

CURBINGPROTESTS,WEST’S OBJECTIONS:WHAT ITMEANS FORHK

LISTTOBEUPDATEDEVERY14DAYSBASEDONCOVID-19SITUATION

ChinesetravellerstoalsobeallowedifBeijingliftsallrestrictionsonEuropeansenteringthecountry

Europe reopens its borders to14 nations but not to US, India

Passengersat theBarcelonaairportTuesday.Spain isamongthecountriesdesperate toenticebacksun-lovingvisitorsandbreathe life intotheirdamagedtourismindustries.AP

LookingforcomparableCovidrecord

ACCORDINGTOtheEU,fortravellersfromacountrytoenterthebloc,thatcountry’spercapitanumberofCovid-19casesmustbecom-parabletothatof the31countriesinthevisa-freeSchengentravelzone.TheEU

willreviewtheper-formanceofeachcountryover14daysandupdatethelist.Theblockalsotakes

intoconsiderationacountry’svirustesting,contacttracingandtreatmentrecordbeforeaddingittothe‘safe’ list.

Thenewswineflu

strain,knownas

G4EAH1N1,has ‘all the

essentialhallmarksof a

candidatepandemic

virus’, researcherssay

PresidenthaddeniedbeingtoldaboutbountiesonUStroopsinAfghanistan

Islamabad:US Secretary ofStateMikePompeohascalledandspokenwiththeTaliban’schiefnegotiator,aspokesmanfor the insurgents saidTuesday, amid a raging con-troversy inWashingtonoverwhen President DonaldTrumpwastoldaboutUS in-telligence that Russia waspaying the Taliban to kill USsoldiers in Afghanistan.However, therewas appar-entlynomentionduring thecall about allegations thatsome Talibanmilitants re-ceivedmoney to kill US andNATO soldiers. PompeoandMullahAbdulGhaniBaradarheld a video conference inwhichPompeopressedthein-surgentstoreduceviolenceinAfghanistan and discussedwaysofmovingthepeacedealsigned between theUS andthe Taliban forward, theTalibansaid.AP

Pompeo holdstalks withTaliban leader

ONLINEFIRMSACTAGAINST ‘HATESPEECH’

AcarbombinginAfghanistanlastyearkilledthreeMarines.AP

RuhollahZam

Ahmedabad

17SENSEX: 34,915.80 ▼ 45.72 NIFTY: 10,302.10 ▼ 10.30 NIKKEI: 22,288.14 ▲ 293.10 HANG SENG: 24,427.19 ▲ 125.91 FTSE: 6,187.48 ▼ 38.29 DAX: 12,286.70 ▲ 54.58

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD

`49,306

RUPEE

`75.51

OIL

$41.80

SILVER

`49,483Note:Gold, silverratesatspotmarket inDelhi;goldper10g, silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof2330IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

For detailed NIT & Tender specification please refer tohttps://eproc.punjab.gov.in.Note: It is informed that in case tender process is not completed due toany reason, no corrigendum will be published in newspapers. Detailsregarding corrigendum may be seen on official PSPCL website:www.pspcl.in.

Sd/- Chief Purchase Officer/MM,Central Purchase Organisation,

PSPCL, Patiala.

Short Description Procurement of ISI Marked Polypropylene Yellowcoloured rope, 3 strand, Hawser Laid, conformingto IS: 5175-1992 (with Latest amendments) andPSPCL specification QQ-222 for the followingsizes:-

1. 10 mm dia = 02.70 MT2. 16 mm dia = 01.50 MT3. 20 mm dia = 08.10 MT

Total = 12.30 MT

Starting date for downloading of 03.07.2020specification/ tender documentsfrom PSPCL’s website:https://eproc.punjab.gov.in

Last date for downloading of 31.07.2020 upto 11.00 A.M.specification/ tender documentsfrom PSPCL’s website:https://eproc.punjab.gov.in

Last date for Bid submission 31.07.2020 upto 11.00 A.M.

Bid Opening date 05.08.2020 at 11.30 A.M.

C-214/202042712/Pb.

Regd. Office: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala)C/o CE/MM, Room No. 212, 2nd Floor, Multi Story Building, PSPCL,

Head Office, The Mall, PatialaPhone No. 091-175-2213047, Fax No. 091-175-2225024; Mob.: 96461-19383, 96461-11036

E-mail: apoconductors@gmail.com, apo-c@pspcl.in,Corporation Identification Number (CIN): U40109PB2010SGC033813

Website: www.pspcl.in; E-tendering Portal: https://eproc.punjab.gov.in

TENDER ENQUIRY NO.: QQ-222/PSPCL/PO-C

BRIEFLY

‘Housingprices

indexup3.9%’NewDelhi:All-Indiahousingprices index roseby3.9percentinQ4ofFY20comparedtotheyear-agoperiod.PTI

UnionBankMD’s

termextendedMumbai: The governmentextendedthetermofRajki-ran Rai G, MD & CEO ofUnionBankof India, till hissuperannuation date,May31,2022,oruntil furtheror-ders.ENS

8%growthfor

FY22:FitchNewDelhi: FitchRatings onTuesday cut India’s growthforecastfor2021-22fiscalto8percent from9.5percentprojected last month. It,however,retaineditsprojec-tion of the economy con-tractingby5percent in thecurrentfiscal.

Forexreservesup

$64.9bninFY20New Delhi: The country’sforeign exchange reservesin nominal terms in-creased by $64.9 billion inFY20comparedtoareduc-tionof$11.7billioninFY19,asperRBI.

I-Texemptionon

buyingsharesNewDelhi: TheCBDThasex-emptedfromincometaxthepurchase of shares at rateslowerthanthemarketpricein companies undergoinginsolvencyproceedingsandwhoseboardhasbeentakenoverbythegovernment.PTI

KHUSHBOONARAYANMUMBAI,JUNE30

THE NATIONAL Company LawTribunal(NCLT)Tuesdayreservedits order in a case where StateBankof India (SBI) hasmoved torecoverRs1,200crorefromRComchairmanAnilAmbaniunderthepersonal guarantee clauseof theInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode.

TheMumbai Bench of NCLTwillnowdecideifanRPshouldbeappointedtomakeareportonthebasis of which the tribunalwilltake a call onadmitting thepeti-tionofSBIagainstAmbani.Whilebriefingshareholdersat

theRelianceGroupofCompanies’AGM on June 23, Ambani hadsaid,“AsregardstheproceedingsfiledbySBI, thisalsodoesnotre-late to any personal borrowing

butaroseoutofaguaranteegivenfor a loanwhichwas availed byReliance Communications(RCom) and Reliance Infratel(RITL),wayback in2016torepaythedebts of Chinese and certainotherIndianbanks.”

NCLT reserves order on SBI plea seekingrecovery of `1,200 crore from Anil Ambani

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE30

STATE-OWNEDOIL andNaturalGasCorporation(ONGC)TuesdaypostedastandalonenetlossofRs3.098croreforthequarterending

March 31, hit by an impairmentlossduetotheglobalslumpinoilprices. The loss brought the oilmarketingcompany’searningsforFY20 down 49.8 per cent to Rs13,445crorefromRs26,765intheprevious fiscal. It had reported aprofit of Rs 4,239.5 crore in the

correspondingyear-agoquarter.ONGC Chairman and MD

ShashiShankersaidthecompanyhadbooked an impairment lossof Rs 4,899 crore in Q4 FY20,through revaluationof the firm’sassetsbasedonestimated futurepricesofcrudeoilandnaturalgas.

ONGC Q4 standalone net loss at `3,098 cr

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE30

ABOUTHALFofworkingprofessionals inIndiancompaniesdonothaveconfidencethat theirwhistle-blower complaintswillbeaddressedandabouttwo-thirdsreporthavingfearsabouthavingtheircomplaintshandledconfidentiallyasperaDeloitteInd-iasurvey.Listedcompanies,companiesthatacceptpublicdepositsandcompaniesthat

haveborrowedRs 50 crore ormore frombanksorpublicfinancialinstitutionsarere-quired to set upavigilmechanism for di-rectorsandemployeestoreportconcerns.“Therearecaseswherecompaniesmay

simply appoint the company secretary orCFO as the ombudsman. This can lead tolowconfidenceamongstemployees,”saidNikhil Bedi, partner and leader, forensicservices–financialadvisory,DeloitteIndia.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

Whistle-blowing: ‘50% professionalsthink complaints won’t be addressed’

SANDEEPSINGHNEWDELHI,JUNE30

BEGINNINGJULY1,allsharesandmutualfundpurchaseswillattractastampdutyof0.005percentandanytransferofsecurity(MFunits)will attract a stampdutyof 0.015percent.Thegovernmenthadin-troducedchangestotheStampDutyActlastyearby introducing a uni-formrateofstampdutyontradingofsharesandcommodities.Whileallcategories of mutualfunds (except for ETFs)willattractstampdutyforthefirsttime,sharepurchasebyindividu-als at exchangeswere chargedstampdutyatdifferentratesbyre-spective states.While theexecu-tionofthesamewasearliersetforJanuary9, 2020, itwasextendedtoApril1,2020andthenagainex-tendedtoJuly1,2020.

Whereallwillitbeapplicable?

Thestampdutywill beappli-

cableonalltransactionsincludingshares, debt instruments, com-moditiesandallcategoriesofmu-tualfundschemes.As formutual funds, itwill be

applicableonall freshpurchasesincluding the freshmonthlypur-chases in previously registeredSIPs. It will be applicable if in-vestors switch fromonescheme

to another and also incase of dividend rein-vestmenttransactions.

Howdoesitimpact

theinvestor?

Theimpactonlong-terminvestmentsbyre-

tail investor isnominal. Since thestampdutywillbechargedasone-timecharge, if an investor investsRs1lakhinamutualfundschemeor in a stock andholds it for twoyears,hewillhavetopayadutyofonly Rs 5. It will bemarginallyloweras the stampduty is appli-cableonthenetinvestmentvaluei.e.,grossinvestmentamountlessanyotherdeduction like transac-tioncharge.Thereisnodutyatthe

timeofredemption.However,theimpactishigherforinvestorswithshort-terminvestmenthorizon.

Howmuchrevenuecanit

generateforthe

government?

In FY20, theMF industrymo-bilisedaggregatefundsofoverRs188 lakh crore. Ahighportionofthatwasinovernightfundsorliq-uidfunds.A0.005percentstampdutyonthisamountworksouttoRs940crore. If the industry con-tinues tomobilise funds to thetuneofRs190lakhcroreorhigher,itwillgeneraterevenuesofnearlyRs1,000croreforthegovernmentfromMFtransactionsitself.

Whatshouldinvestorsdo?

RetailMFinvestorsshouldnotworrytoomuchasthefeeisnom-inal.However,iftheypickawrongcategoryandthenkeepswitchingfromoneschemetoanother,theywillenduppayingdutyrepeatedlyonthesameinvestmentamount.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

Stamp duty on MF purchases from today

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE30

THEHEAVYengineering armofLarsen& Toubro (L&T) Tuesdayflaggedoff thefinalassemblyofacryostat,thelargeststainless-steel,high-vacuumpressure chambertoCadaracheinFrance.Thecom-pany has already delivered thebase section, lower cylinder anduppercylinderforthecryostat.The cryostat’s function is to

provide cooling to the fusion re-actorandtokeepveryhigh tem-peraturesatitscoreundercontrol.L&THeavy Engineeringwon

the contract from ITER India, awingoftheDepartmentofAtomicEnergy,forthescientificprojectin2012. Itwasconducted incollab-orationwith seven countries in-cludingIndiaandtheprojectout-lay is around $20 billion. L&T’sscopeofworkforthecryostatwas

tothetuneofRs1,300crore.Explaining the project’s im-

portance,AnilVParab, executivevice-president&head,L&THeavyEngineering, said this is the firsttimea500-megawattreactorhasbeenbuiltwhichisthecommerci-aldemonstrationoffusionpower.L&Tnon-executive chairman

AMNaikonTuesdaywasquotedby PTI as saying hewas “appre-hensive” of bidding for the Rs1,338-crore ITER’s cryostat con-tractfortheworld’slargestexper-imental thermo-nuclear fusionreactorinCadaracheasitwascon-sideredas“toorisky”abet.“L&T’smanagement band-

widthand teamsexecuting suchanenormousprojectandthattoofarfromIndia...thiswehaveneverdonenorhaddonebefore.Hencethe projectwas perceived to betoorisky,”Naiksaidduringthevir-tualflag-offceremonyofthefinalassembly at L&T’sHaziramanu-facturingcomplex.However,Naikcalled it “moment of pride forIndiaandLarsen&Toubro”.SNSubrahmanyan,CEO&MD,

L&T,said,“Thiswillfurtherpaveawayfortheinstallationofcryostatattheprojectsite...andeventuallyleadtothedemonstrationoflargescalefeasibilityof fusionpower.”

L&Tnon-executivechairmanAMNaiksaidhewas“apprehensive”ofbiddingforthecryostatcontract. File

L&T flags off final assembly ofcryostat for $20-bn fusion reactor

HUL CMD:Govt should stepin if demanddoesn’t pick up

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE30

HINDUSTANUNILEVERChairmanandMDSanjivMehtaTuesdaysaidthe Centre should keep a closewatchon thedemand situationandstepinunhesitatinglyifitdoesnotpickupinnextfewmonths.Headdedtheriskof recession

remains real, but itmustnotbeaforegoneconclusion.TheCentre’seffortsinprovidingrelieftothevul-nerableandMSMEs,structuralre-formsintheagriculturalsector,andincreasedFDIlimitsindefencewillhavea trickle-downeffectonde-mand,hesaidwhileaddressingtheHULAGM. “... but thedebate re-mainsifthesearesufficienttokick-startavirtuousspiralofgrowthorwoulditrequireasubstantivede-mand-sidestimulus,”hesaid.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE30

PRODUCTION IN the eight coresectors of India’s economy con-tracted for the thirdmonth in arow,with output declining 23.4per cent inMay amid the pan-demicandtheensuinglockdown.Overallgrowthhasbeenhitbyde-clining production inmost coresectors,saveforfertilisers,accord-ing to data shared by theCommerceMinistryTuesday.Coresectorgrowthhadplum-

metedbya record37per cent inApril.Thegrowthofthecountry’seightcoresectors—coal,crudeoil,naturalgas,refineryproducts,fer-tilisers,steel,cementandelectric-ity — is a lead indicator of themonthlyindustrialperformance.These sectors had grownby 3.8percentinMay2019,andtheircu-mulativegrowthduringthe2019-20financialyearwas0.3percent-—thelowestineightyears.The steepest decline inMay

wasobservedinsteelproduction,

whichdropped48.4percent.Thiswas followedby cement,whichsawa22.2 per cent fall, refineryproducts,whichdeclined21.3percent andnatural gasproduction,whichdropped16.8percent.Electricity production,which

makesupnearly20percentoftheindex, dropped 15.6 per cent in

May, while coal production,whichcontributesaround10percent,dropped14percent.Fertiliser production,which

accounts for nearly 3per cent ofthe index, grew 7.5 per cent inMay. Output in this sector hadbeenonadeclinefortwoconsec-utivemonthsbeforethis.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE30

GREATERFISCALpolicysupport,alongwithclearanceofpendinggovernment dues to MSMEs,states, industry and income-taxrefunds,advancepaymentofGSTcompensationtostates,pledgingofgovernment’sshareswithRBI,issuanceofcorona-bondstoraisefunds,one-timeloanrestructur-ing,wage support to urban em-ployers and direct cash transferto self employedwere some ofthe suggestions put forward onTuesday by various economistsand industry experts for theeconomy’s revival from theCOVID-19pandemic.Inadialogueseries titled ‘The

Rs21lakhcrorestimuluspackage-did it packapunch?’ organisedbyCII-IEG,PronabSen,IGCcountrydirector and former ChiefStatisticianof India, said theRBIhasalreadydonetheheavyliftingthroughthemonetarypolicy,nowthe fiscal policy needs to do theheavy lifting. “Nowit’sbecomingan increasingly demand con-strained situation.Wemaywellmove into another supply con-straint scenariowhichwouldbeverydifficulttoovercomebecausenoamountof liquidity isgoingtohelpthat.Youaregoingtobelook-ing at the need for fresh invest-mentsandthatcansetusbackbythreeyears,” he said, adding thatgiventhelevelofuncertainty, thefocusneedstobeonmeasures toboostdemand.Senfurthersaidtheadditional

governmentborrowinghastakenintoaccountlowerrevenuecollec-tions,anditcannotbetreatedasafiscalstimulus.Naushad Forbes, past presi-

dent,CII,saidtheimportantthingis to see “actual fiscal flowshap-pening soon”. “Themost directwaythatthegovernmentcanputmoney into the economy is if itpaysitbills.ThegovernmentowessomethinglikeRs3lakhcrorethatcanbepaid...youpaylargecompa-nies, state governments, smallcompanies,payyourbills.Second,biggest transfers to states arethroughsharingofGSTrevenues.Weknow that in thepast stateshavebeenpaidwellbehindwhattheywere supposed to be paid.

Theyhavebeenpaidafterdelaysof 3months, 4monthsetc,whatabout paying them in advance.First clear theduesand thenpaythem in advance so that stateshave funds availablewhether tospendforhealthcarespendingorforanythingelse,”hesaid.Ajit Ranade, chief economist,

AdityaBirlaGroup, said thegov-ernmentcouldconsiderpledgingitsRs12trillionworthsharesandborrow fromtheRBI alongwithsuggestingpartmonetisationandclearingincometaxrefundsworthRs1-1.5 lakh crore.HDFCBank’schief economist Abheek Baruasaid the joint issuanceof corona-bonds by states and the Centrewould help in raising resourcesspecificallyforthepandemic.Forbessaidemployersdidnot

treatworkerswell andmigrantworkers returned to their states,but theywould return for eco-nomic needs in the next fewmonths. “Weshouldput inmini-mumsocial contract, if they aremovingback for temporary jobs,say,intheconstructionsector,canweprovideadecentlevelofhous-ing and aminimum insurancescheme,”hesaid.

FALLSFOR3RDSTRAIGHTMONTH:FERTILISERISSOLEEXCEPTION

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,JUNE30

WITHINDIA’SCOVID-19infec-tions’ tally climbing steadily,generalinsurershavereceived28,000claimsforRs445croretillMonday.Claimshaveactu-ally doubled in aweek,withmost claims coming fromMaharashtraandDelhi,insur-anceofficialssaid.Asperofficials in thenon-

lifeindustry,averageclaimsforcoronavirus isRs2-2.5 lakhinurban areas and Rs 50,000-75,000insemi-urbanorruralareas.Inmanycases,wheretheconditionof patient is severeandhavebeenadmittedinanintensive careunit (ICU), theclaimsareintherangeofRs6-8 lakh. Alongwith the rapidrise of COVID-19 cases in thelastfortnight,theclaimsonac-count of COVID-19have alsogoneupinequalproportioninthe country, they said.“Insuranceclaimshavepracti-cally doubled during theweek,’’saidindustrysources.Thegeneralandhealthin-

surershadreceivedover18,100claims amounting to Rs 281crore till June19. Thehighestnumber of cases (8,950) hascome fromMaharashtra fol-lowedbyDelhi(3,470).With18,522peopletesting

positive for coronavirus in asingle day, India’s COVID-19tally climbed to 566,840 onTuesdaywhile thedeath tollroseto16,893with418newfa-talities,accordingtotheUnionHealthMinistrydata.Marketparticipantssaythat

goingforwardclaimsarelikelytogoupinMaharashtra,DelhiandTamilNaduastheseplaceshaveseenhigheractivecasesinthepast fewdays. ClaimsarealsocomingfromredzoneslikeDelhi, Mumbai andAhmedabad, amongothers.Theawarenessofhealthinsur-ancehasgoneupandpolicy-

holdershaveanoptiontobuyeitherCOVID-19 standalonecoverorcomprehensivecover.IfmanystateswerenottreatingCOVID patients free of cost,claimswouldhavegoneupfur-ther. “Whencomparedto thereportedcasesofcoronavirusinIndia, theclaimamount lookslower. This is becausemanystateslikeKeralaandTelenganaaretreatinglargenumberofpa-tientsingovernmenthospitalsfreeofcost,”saidaseniorindus-tryofficial.Inorder to cover thecosts

of treatments for thedisease,Insurance Regulatory andDevelopment Authority ofIndia (Irdai) issuedguidelinesonintroductionofshort-termhealthinsurancepolicies.Irdaihas said all life, general andhealth insurers can offerCOVID-19-specificshort-termhealthinsurancepolicies.Guidelineswereissuedfor

CoronaRakshakpolicywhichis a standard benefit-basedpolicy and Corona KavachPolicy, a standardhealthpol-icywhichwill be offered onindemnitybasisandinsurershavebeenaskedtolaunchtheproductfromJuly10,2020.AsperguidelinesissuedbyIrdai,minimum sum insured forCoronaKavach Policywill beRs 50,000 and maximumsum insuredwould be Rs 5lakh. However, for CoronaRakshakPolicy,theminimumsum insured would be Rs50,000andmaximumlimitissetatRs2.5 lakh.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

COVID-19WATCH

INSURANCE

Virus cover claimsdouble in a week; mostfrom Maharashtra, Delhi28,000requestsworth`445crore

Asperofficials inthe

non-life industry,

averageclaimsfor

coronavirus is`2-2.5

lakhinurbanareasand

`50,000-75,000insemi

urbanorruralareas

Economists highlightrole of fiscal policy, wagesupport, loan recast to helpeconomy bounce back

(Top)PronabSen, IGCcountrydirectorandformerChief Statisticianof India.NaushadForbes,pastpresident,CII. File

Mumbai: India’s current ac-countbalance(CAB)recordedamarginal surplus of $600million(0.1percentofGDP)inthefourthquarterof2019-20asagainstadeficit of $4.6bil-lion(0.7percentofGDP)inQ4of2018-19and$2.6billion(0.4percentofGDP)inthepreced-ingquarter(Q3of2019-20).AsperRBIdata,thesurplus

inthecurrentaccountinQ4of2019-20wasprimarilyonac-countof a lower tradedeficit

at$35billionandasharpriseinnet invisible receipts at $35.6billion, comparedwith thecorrespondingperiodof lastyear. Therewasa current ac-countbalanceof$600millioninthefirstquarterof2019-20.For full fiscal2019-20, the

CADnarrowedto0.9percentof GDP from2.1 per cent in2018-19 on the back of thetradedeficitwhich shrank to$157.5billionin2019-20from$180.3billionin2018-19.ENS

India records current accountbalance of $600 million in Q4

Lockdownhitsbizactivity:Maycoresectoroutputshrinks23.4%

Fiscal deficittouches 58.6% ofBudget estimatesin end-May

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI/NEWDELHI,JUNE30

THEFISCALdeficitduringthefirsttwomonthsof thecurrent finan-cial yearwidened toRs4.66 lakhcrore,or58.6percentofBudgetes-timatesonaccountofpoortaxcol-lectionduetothelockdown.The fiscal deficit during the

year-agoperiodwas52percentofBudgetestimates.India’sexternaldebtwasplacedat$558.5billionasofMarch2020,recordinganin-creaseof$15.4billionoveritslevelat end-March2019. Thegovern-ment’stotalliabilitiesincreased0.8per cent toRs94.62 lakhcrore inMarch-end 2020, compared toyear-ago period, a FinanceMinistryreportsaid.WITHPTI

Ahmedabad

THEINDIANEXPRESS,WEDNESDAY, JULY1,2020

SPORT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SIXPAK PLAYERS TEST NEGATIVE

Six Pakistani cricketers, who were found to be COVID-19 positive

ahead of the team's departure for England last week, have now tested

negative for the second time in three days making them eligible to

join the squad in the UK. Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hasnain,

Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan and

Wahab Riaz have been found negative in the latest round of testing.18

When the grass was greenestSHAHIDJUDGEMUMBAI, JUNE30

OVER THE past 60 years, RamanathanKrishnan would often meet people whowould hand him photographs they hadtaken of him at the WimbledonChampionships in1960.It helped the now-83-year-old build a

good collection of cherished polaroidmo-ments that captured his historic run to theWimbledonmen’ssinglessemi-finals. Itwasafeathewouldrepeatthefollowingyear.NoIndian, before or since, has gone that far insinglesataGrandSlam.Just as surely, though, he’dmeet people

whowould ask for those black-and-whitephotographsaswell.Krishnanwouldoblige,granting his fans a piece of memorabilia. Ithas got to a point where, now, he doesn’thaveanyphotographs left forhimself.“But Ihavemymemory,”hequips.Inaheartbeat,hebeginstopiecetogether

theeventsfromJune20,1960toJuly1,1960.Buthestartsayearearlier.“To understand what happened at

Wimbledon in 1960,” he says, “wemust goback to the1959season.”“I had a very good year andwonmany

tournaments, including the USChampionship played on hard courts (theGrandSlameventwasplayedongrassatthetime).Becauseof thewins, Ihadreachedno.3 in theworld rankings.”Thatrunwasexpectedtogethimaseed-

ingatWimbledonthefollowingyear.At thetime, Grand Slams had only eight seeds inthesinglesdraw,unlike the32of today.“That meant that you’dmeet a seeded

player only in the quarterfinals,” explainsKrishnan, who in 1954 became the firstIndian to win a junior Grand Slam eventwhenhecaptured theWimbledoncrown.“Sonaturally,thevalueofbeingaseeded

player was very high. It’s almost similar tobeinggivenhomecourtadvantageinaDavisCuptie.”

Stuck in quarantineAtWimbledon,he’dbeennamedthesev-

enth seed – the first time he’d ever beengrantedaseedingatamajor.Buthisarrivalin

EnglandcameatatimewhenKrishnanwas-n’t in thebest conditionphysically.“In April that year, a fewmonths before

Wimbledon,IhadgonewiththeIndianteamto Thailand for a Davis Cupmatch, but hadtopulloutbecauseIcamedownwithchick-enpox,”herecalls.“Iwasstuckinquarantinefor14daysatahospital inBangkok,withnochanceof getting topractice. Just as I recov-ered, I had to rush back to Madras (nowChennai) because I was scheduled to getmarried. And I come from a very religiousfamily,sowehadtovisitseveraltemplesoverthenext fewweeks. Thatmeantno tennis.”BythetimeJunecamearound,Krishnan

managed to play a Davis Cup tie in thePhilippinesbeforeheadingtoEnglandforhishoneymoon.AndWimbledon.HereachedEngland later thanhewould

have liked, leaving him notmuch scope toplaymany tune-up events –which had be-come all themore important since he hadtakentimeto recover fromhis illness.AttheeventinQueens,wherehewasthe

defending champion, Krishnan lost in thequarterfinalstoSpaniardAndresGimeno.Hisnextmatchwould be at the Grand Slam it-self. “The only thing I had going forme,” hesays,“wasthatIwasaseededplayer.Butnot

muchmatch fitness.”

Tough passageIn thefirst round,hecameupagainst lit-

tle-known Australian qualifier JohnHillebrand. But Krishnan struggled to findanyrhythm,managingthewinthematchinthe fifthset. “Iwasverynervousduringthatmatch,”heexplains.“IknewIwasn’t ingoodphysicalshapeandhadn’tplayedmuchten-nisof late.So,theshotswerenotcomingwellforme.Icouldhavebeatenhimeasilyonanyother day, but now I was struggling. I justmanagedtoscrape through in the fifth.”The following day, he played a five-set

doubles match, paired with compatriotNareshKumar againstAmericanduoButchBuchholzandChuckMcKinley.“That was a longmatch,” he says. “Well

over three hours. But we played on CentreCourt,anditgavemeachanceto,morethananything else, get some good practice. Findsomeformandrhythm.Thoughwelostthatmatch, I feltsomuchbetteraboutmygame.Andthathelpedmeprepareforthesingles.”In the second round, Krishnan faced

Gimeno.Helostthefirstsetandwasdown0-3 in the second when he noticed peoplestarting towalkoutof thestadium.

“I had lost to Gimeno at Queens aweekback.Sopeoplethoughtthiswasgoingtobeover soon,” he says. “That’s when I tried todraw inspiration frommy doubles matchfromthe1959 seasonwhichwas very goodforme. I started to fight back andwoneachof thenext12games.”Heclosedoutthefive-setcontestagainst

theSpaniard–whowentontowinthe1972FrenchOpen – before seeing off Germany’sWolfgangStuck in threequicksets.Inthefourthround,theIndianplayedan-

othertoughfive-setteragainstSouthAfricanIanVermaak,winning3-6,8-6,6-0,5-7,6-2.Thismeant that he’d reached the quarterfi-nals of a Slamfor the first time inhis career.Andnowhe’dbecomingupagainst seededplayers, startingwith fourthseedLuisAyalaof Chile.Four years Krishnan’s senior, Ayala had

beena two-timeFrenchOpen finalist – los-ing the 1960 titlematch just over amonthearlier. He had also never lost to the Indianbefore,andwascomingintothematchasthefresher player having played just one five-setterinfourmatchescomparedtothethreethat tookKrishnanthedistance.But the Indian had found his form by

then.Heheldonandcameupwithawin inthreelengthysets,winning7-5,10-8,6-2,tobecomethefirst Indiantoreachthesemi-fi-nalsof aGrandSlam.Butoncethatthoughtkickedin,sodidthe

nerves. “Somehow these thoughts juststartedcomingtomyhead,thatI’minasemi-final,” Krishnan recalls. “I kept thinking thatI’monematchawayfromthefinal.Andthenif I win that, I’ll be champion. I should havestayedcalmandcomposed.But instead, I letmyselfgetoverawed.Thattooagainstsome-oneIhadbeatensomanytimesbefore.”Inthesemi-final,hecameupagainstan-

otherseniorplayer-topseedNealeFraserofAustralia.Atthetime,FraserwasthereigningUSOpenchampion,andhadwon10doubles(seven inmen’s and three inmixed) titles.On topof that, the reigningworldno. 1wasingood form.“IhadbeatenFrasertowintheQueensti-

tleayearearlier.AndIhadbeatenhimmanymore times on the tour,” Krishnan says. “Inmy entire career, I’d lose to him just twotimes. Once atWimbledon, and then at the

Davis Cup. Thatwas oneweird thing abouttheAustralians.They’dlosethetourmatches,but theones that count, thebigones, they’dplayata levelyoudidn’t seebefore.”On Centre Court, in windy conditions,

Fraser’salreadybigservestartedtogetmoreoomph.“I just couldn’t handle it. I was already

nervous and let the occasion get tome.Myshots were all closed, and I wasn’t playingfreely.Butevenif Iwantedto, therewas justtoomuchonhis serve,”Krishnanadds.His runwould end there in the semi-fi-

nals after the 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 loss to a playerwho would eventually go on to win thechampionship.

HeroandpioneerBut Krishnan had done enough. Back in

India, his achievementwas celebrated in awayhehadneverexpected.“I was being called for interviews and

award functions everywhere,”Krishnan re-calls. “Therewas somuch love forme. Iwasplaying well, but I was also behavingwellwhen I was on tour. So maybe that’s whytherewasmorerespect forme.”Awholegenerationof Indiantennisplay-

ersgrewup idolisinghim.In an earlier interviewwith The Indian

Express, Vijay Amritraj – the only IndianplayerapartfromKrishnan’ssonRamesh,tohave reached as far as the quarterfinals of aGrandSlam in theOpenEra – rememberedbeatingKrishnaninthefinalof the1972na-tionalsasa19-year-oldyettomakehismark.“Thatwas themajor turningpointofmy

career,”hehadsaid.Krishnan, a year later, stumbled at the

same hurdle atWimbledon 1961, this timetothegreatRodLaver.Butbythen,hehadal-ready established himself as one of the topplayers in thesport.If one asks him today, on the 60th an-

niversaryof thatgreat run inEngland,whatWimbledon 1960 means to him, what itmeant forhis career, hedoesn’t take long toanswer.“I’m83now,”hesays,theexcitementunmasked in his voice. “It’s something thathappened60years ago, andwe’re still talk-ing about it. I have a goodmemory of it, inmymind, no photographs. I remember itwell. So, yes, itmeanteverything.”

THOSEMONTHS,

THOSEMINUTES

Forced intoanunprecedentedlockdown,sport is staringatanunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiventhecountryreasonstorejoice inthepast.The IndianExpress looksbackatabunchof thesememories.

RAMANATHAN

KRISHNAN recallshis trailblazingruntothesemi-finalsofWimbledon1960 inachatwithShahidJudge .

@indianexpress.com

60YEARSSINCEWIMBLEDON1960

Ministryapproaches

HConNSFstatusNew Delhi: The Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports on Tuesday ap-proachedtheDelhiHighCourt seek-ing its consent to give annual recog-nitionprovisionallytillSeptember30to 54 National Sports Federations(NSF). The ministry's application,which is likely to come up for hear-ingonJuly2,alsosoughtcourt'scon-sent to revoke the suspension ofrecognitionof threeNSFsandrenewtheir annual recognition provision-ally.Theapplicationwasfiledinviewof the high court's June 24 order bywhich the decision of the ministrygiving provisional renewal of recog-nition to the NSFs was recalled. Abench of Justices Hima Kohli andNajmiWaziri had said that themin-istry tried to "overreach" the highcourt's February order while pro-ceeding to take this decision, even ifitwasprovisional innature,withoutfirstapproachingthecourtandseek-ing its consent. PTI

F1driverstodecide

ontakingakneeLondon:FormulaOnedriverswilldis-cusstakingakneeattheopeningraceof the delayed season in Austria onSunday.“Someof thedrivershaveal-readybeenspeaking,”McLarendriverLandoNorris said. “If weare going todoit,weshouldalldoitasagrid.Itwillbe discussed following the drivers'briefingwith theGrand PrixDrivers'AssociationonFriday.”TheBlackLivesMatter movement has been sup-portedbyfootballplayersinGermany,ItalyandEnglandtakingakneebeforeandduring games. “Wewill dowhatisrightwhenthetimecomes,"Norrissaid.Six-timeworldchampionLewisHamiltonhasbeenvocalaboutBlackLivesMatterandF1'sdiversityissues.Like Hamilton, Norris will carry the"EndRacism"messageonhiscar. The20-year old driver recently encour-agedhissocialmediafollowingtosignpetitions following Hamilton's criti-cismofhispeers for stayingsilentonthematter. AP

BRIEFLY

Illustration:

SuvajitDey

CROSSWORD4158

ACROSS

1 Getoutof breathbeingnolonger fit (6)

4 Wellacquaintedwith themetric system(6)

9 Evenstart (7)10 Hewon’tpass falsenotes(5)

11 Germancurrencybetweenbanks?(5)

12 Businessworry (7)13 Brought into force?(11)

18 Funfair turnsout toberough(7)

20 Forcepolitician intoclumsy lie(5)

22 Figures it’sonlyoneamonghundreds (5)

23 Recreation for thepotter(7)

24 Appearedtobesoundly joined(6)

25 Providecompensation for theprinter(6)

DOWN

1 Possibly runandsee(6)

2 Noahwentaroundonecapitalcity(5)

3 Naturallyshehasherpride(7)

5 Point toanumberconsumed(5)

6 Mightbenicer in theSouth-East tobehonest(7)

7 In thecourseof theFrenchtelephonecall (6)

8 Acaseofmixeddates (11)14 Misdemeanourof areceiver(7)

15 Put twoandtwotogether(4,3)

16 Stopthese jokes (6)17 Winecartel reorganised(6)

19 Children found inargument(5)

21 Keepswilddogs (5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)

For the third dayrunning theMoon ismakingsupportive

alignments,which shouldsurely be cause for rejoicing. Itis important, by theway,not to blameother people, butto acknowledge yourown role in causing certaindifficulties orawkward situations.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)

Youmayfeel slightlyresentfulat theapparenteasewithwhichotherpeople

areable toexploityouor treatyou likepartof the furniture.However,onewayto fit in is togoalongwith thetrendandbecharitable, recognising theways inwhichyoucanhelpstrangers.

GEMINI (May22- June21)

Your newplanetarydevelopments aregenerallyfavourable. Perhaps

youwill nowhave a bit of timeto stop, think and separate thelies from the truth. Someonehas certainly been spinning aline, even though theyprobably believe everywordof it.

CANCER(June22- July23)

If you're a trueCancerian, youshould comeoutfromunder your

stone andhead for thenumberone job. Forget pastembarrassments and realisethat everyonemakesmistakes,not just you!You should alsotry to convince a friendorloved one that your feelingsare genuine.

LEO(July24-Aug23)

It's good to give upwhenyou areahead. In viewofcurrent

developments, you shouldlook atwhatever area of life isdoing verywell anddowhatyou can tomaintain yourcurrent positionwhilebeginning to put your energyelsewhere. Your timingmustbeperfect.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)

Itwould do you apower of good if yougot your financialsituationon a

proper footing. Therewill besuggestions and schemescomingupover thenextyearwhich require aninjection of cash, and itwillobviously be very useful ifyou are solvent.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)

Youmaybepuzzlingoveramystery,orperhapsstrainingtokeepasecret.My

advicewouldbetomaintaindiscretion fora littlewhilelonger,perhapsuntil theweekend.This shouldn't inhibityoufromdoingwhatyouknowtoberight,or fromsettingagoodexample.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)

Just a quickwordabout your physicalwell-being: it looksas if youmaybe

overdoing it. Indeed,someof youhave alreadyoverdone it, so take asmuchrest and relaxation as youneed to get back on course.You really shouldmaintaina balance betweencompetingpressures.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)

There is somuchplanetaryactivityalignedwithambitiousregionsof

yourchart thatyoumightnowexpect toreceivepublicacclaim.But forwhat?All thesignsare thatyourskillsasanentertainermaysoonbemostadmired,perhaps toyoursurprise.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)

Therearenosignsthatyourchart isanylesssensitive thanbefore.Neitherare

youabout tobecomeany lessassertive.Whatyoumust learnnowis theartof avoidingbananaskins.Onamoremundanenote,youcandrawvariousdomestic threadstogether, today.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)

Youcan'talwaysbeputtingyourselfunderpressure toget thingsdone,and

inmanyways this isadaytorelaxandtakestock.Athomehelpmaycomefromasurprisingsource,whileatworkanemployermayholdout theprospectof increasedmoneyorstatus—butwill thepricebeworth it?

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)

Thewholerangeofpersonalaffairsandrelationships isnowupfor re-

consideration.Partly, this isbecausecertain irritatingandunsettlingalignmentsarenowmovingon,butalsobecauseyouareabout toextendyoursocialnet.Newfriendsareboundtochangethewayyouthink.

SUDOKU4156

DifficultyLevel2s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4155

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

The____ofmerit istoknowthatmymerit isnot___.-FrancisQuarles(11,..,11)(sameword

twice)

SOLUTION:IVIED,NEXUS,CHANCY,PUFFINAnswer:Thesufficiencyofmeritistoknowthatmymeritisnotsufficient.-FrancisQuarles

DVEII AHNCCY

EXNSU INPUFF

SolutionsCrossword4157:Across: 1Macrame,5Accra,8Boardinghouse,9Loire,10Senator,11Crease,12Spared,15Matches,17Groom,19Assassination,20Taste,

21Extends.Down:1Mabel,2Clarinettists,3Address,4Ernest,5Ashen,6Countermotion,7Averred,11Compact,13Pageant,14Aspire,16Haste,18Minus.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Ahmedabad

Vol. LIII No. 128 RNI No. 15048/1968. Printed and Published by Hareshkumar K Bhagdev on behalf of The Indian Express Private Limited. Published at : 3rd Floor, Sambhav House, Bodakdev, Ahmedabad 380 015.Phone (Board) : 26872481- 82- 83, Fax No. 26873950. Printed at : Bhaskar Print Planet, Survey No. 148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad. Chairman of the Board : Viveck Goenka, Chief Editor : Raj Kamal Jha, Editor : Unni Rajen Shanker, Editor : (Gujarat) Leena Misra *

(*Responsible for selection of News under the PRB Act) Copyright : The Indian Express Private Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited. The Indian Express®