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

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

Narmada canal to beemptied to find body of‘custodial death’ victimEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER19

THE SARDAR Sarovar NarmadaNigam Ltd (SSNNL) has startedemptying the Narmada maincanal at the request of the stateCrimeInvestigationDepartment(CID), which suspects that thebodyofTelanganamigrantBabuSheikh Nisar, 65, was dumpedthereafterhisallegedcustodialdeath at the Fatehgunj policestation in Vadodara onDecember 10, 2019.This will lead to nearly five

lakh people residing in twozones of Vadodara city goingwithoutwater for 24 hours be-ginningTuesday,once thecanal

is emptiedwithout freshwatersupply fromKhanpur.The Vadodara Fire and

Emergency Services (VFES) de-partment isonstandbytosearchfor the remainsof thebodyafterthe state CID’s request, whichcomes amonth after the local

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

FIRSTTIME since the thirdweekof July, Gujarat onMonday re-ported less than a 1,000 freshCovid-19 cases in a day, even asthemunicipal corporation areas

of Junagadh and Jamnagar areemerging as newhostpots, rais-ingconcerns,accordingtoofficialsfromthecentralhealthministry.Atameetingofthestatehealth

functionaries with the centralministryofhealthandfamilywel-fare (MoHFW) on Monday,

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GUJARAT,CENTREHEALTHOFFICIALSMEET

Daily Covid cases dropin Gujarat; concern overJunagadh and Jamnagar

TheGorwacanal inVadodara.BhupendraRana

MALABAREXERCISENEXTMONTH

India,US, Japan&Australia in jointexercise;BECAbeingreadied for talks

Uptick inrural jobsbut losses inurbanareas, supplychaindisruptions

SHUBHAJITROY&KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,OCTOBER19

AMID THE Sino-IndianmilitarystandoffalongtheLineofActualControlinLadakhandrisingten-sionsintheSouthChinaSea,theQuadrilateral grouping of US,Japan, India and Australia aresending their warships for theMalabarExercisenextmonth.NewDelhi andWashington

are also stepping up efforts toconcludetheBasicExchangeandCooperationAgreement (BECA)aheadoftheIndo-US2+2minis-terialmeetingonOctober26-27–defence and foreignministersof the two countrieswill be in ahuddleat the2+2.A key military pact, BECA

will allow India to use USgeospatial intelligence and en-hance accuracy of automatedsystems andweapons likemis-siles and armed drones. InFebruary, US President DonaldTrump and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had called forearly conclusionof BECA.On Monday, India an-

nounced that Australia will bepart of theMalabar Exercise inNovember, making it the firstmilitary exercise between all

countries that make theQuadrilateral grouping, betterknownasQuad.

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BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

BACK TO SCHOOLAClass9studentat theRajkiya InterCollege inNoidaonMonday.Schools reopenedfor theseniorclasses for thefirst timesincetheCovid-enforced lockdown.AbhinavSaha

Signal to China: Quadnavies to sail together,Indo-US pact on table

Pompeo to visit Sri Lanka,Maldives after Delhi talks

NIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANMUMBAI,OCTOBER19

INTHE finalweekbefore theUSpresidential elections onNovember 3, Secretary of StateMichaelRPompeoplans tovisitIndia's twoIndianOceanneigh-bours, Sri Lanka and the

Maldives,afterattendingthe2+2talks inDelhi,The IndianExpresshas learnt.

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Duringthe2017MalabarExercise intheBayofBengal. File

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,OCTOBER19

A CHINESE soldier was appre-hended Monday in theDemchok sector of easternLadakh amid tensions over theborder standoff. The IndianArmy said the soldier hadstrayedacrosstheLineofActualControl and would soon behandedover to thePLA.Inastatement,theArmysaid,

"A PLA soldier, identified asCorporalWangYaLong,wasap-prehendedintheDemchoksec-tor of Eastern Ladakh on 19October 2020 after he hadstrayedacross theLAC."TheArmysaid,"arequesthas

also been received from thePLA”on“thewhereaboutsof themissingsoldier”,and"asperes-tablished protocols, he will bereturned back to Chinese offi-cials at the Chushul-Moldomeetingpointaftercompletionof formalities".The Chinese soldier, the

Army said, "has been providedmedical assistance includingoxygen, food andwarm clothestoprotecthimfromthevagariesof extreme altitude and harshclimatic conditions".A statement from the

National Defence Ministry ofChinaquotedPLA spokespersonColonel Zhang Shuili saying thesoldierlosthiswaywhilelookingforayakthathadgonemissing.It saidherdershadaskedthe

soldier to trace theyak. Chineseborder guards, Zhang said, in-formedtheIndiansideaboutthe

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PLA soldierstrays acrossLAC, Armysays willreturn him

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI,OCTOBER19

TWO MONTHS after he an-nounced that auniquehealth IDwill beprovided to every citizenundertheNationalDigitalHealthMission,PrimeMinisterNarendraModi on Tuesday indicated thatthe“digitalhealthIDwillbeusedtoensureimmunisation”.Addressing the inaugural

functionoftheGrandChallengesAnnualMeeting2020,thePrimeMinister said, “...India is now at

theforefrontofvaccinedevelop-ment for Covid-19. Some ofthemareinadvancedstages.Wearenotstoppinghere;Indiaisal-readyworkingonputtingawell-establishedvaccinedeliverysys-tem in place. This digitisednetwork, alongwith the digital

health ID,willbeusedtoensureimmunisationof ourcitizens.”Inhis IndependenceDayad-

dress, the PMhad said that theUnique Health ID provided toeverycitizenwouldhavedetailsof diseases, diagnosis, report,medication, etc. in a commondatabase.As reported by The Indian

Express,ahigh-levelexpertgroupon vaccine administration islooking atmechanisms to trackrecipients as andwhen the vac-cineisreadytobeadministered;

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New digital health ID will be usedin Covid immunisation, says PM

AANCHALMAGAZINE&ANILSASINEWDELHI,OCTOBER19

WITHECONOMICactivitypick-ingpaceaftertheeasingof lock-downmeasures, the recoveryhasthrownupsomeparadoxes:revival in employment amid afall in labourforceparticipation,surging inflation rate despitedisinflationary impact fromweak demand, and improve-ment in future outlook surveysevenasthesituationworsensinhouseholds.In September, as lockdowns

wereprogressivelyeased,anun-usual labourmarket phenome-non was observed in India --while several workers got jobs,many who did not went on toleave the labour force, data col-lated by the Centre forMonitoring Indian Economy(CMIE)showed.Typically,when

more people find jobs, as hadhappened during September, agreater number should havecomeinlookingfor jobs.There-verse seems to have happened,theCMIEestimates suggest.The unusual trend is ex-

plained by a rural-urban disag-gregationof thedata:ruralIndiais seeing an increase in jobs

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Covid puzzles: jobsback, labour shrinks,demand low butinflation still high

Datasuggestsmigrationbacktocitiesnothappeningasexpected

Tejashwi attacks Nitishover Chirag; RJD says onCM, both ‘on same page’

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,OCTOBER19

FISHING in NDAwaters mud-died by the LJP's grow-ing ambition, the RJDMonday appeared toreach out to ChiragPaswan, with TejashwiYadav accusing JD(U)chief Nitish Kumar oftreatinghimbadly.Talking to reporters

whilecampaigning,RJDchiefministerial candi-date Tejashwi said, “It is ChiragPaswanwhowould be needinghis fathermost now.We are allsadthatRamVilasPaswanisnotamong us. But the way Nitish

KumartreatedChirag, it is injus-tice tohim.”Tejashwiwastheonlysenior

BiharOpposition leader tohavemet Chirag to offer his condo-

lences after Paswan'smortal remainsarrivedatPatnaairport.Earlier, in an inter-

view to The IndianExpress, Chirag haddodged a questionabout Tejashwi's abili-ties as a leader, saying,“He is the Leaderof theOpposition and has

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HisLankavisitcomesamidconcernsoverChina

GEOSPATIALSPECIFICSsharedunder theBECAwillhelpenhance theac-curacyof Indianmissiles,andwill bekey toplansforarmeddrones. Itwillcomplete the troikaoffoundationalpacts–COMCASAandLEMOAbeing theother two--with theUS forgreatermilitarycooperation.

ThetroikaofpactsE●EXPLAIN

ED

DECISION2020BIHAR

DECISION2020PAGE12

Modihadannouncedhealth ID inI-Dayspeech

DEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI,OCTOBER19

THE IPL that you see is beingplayed inDubai, AbuDhabi andSharjah. Butwhat about the IPLthatyouhear?With teams playing in front

of empty stands due to Covidcurbs, theanswer lies2,000kmaway from the UAE, where a“sound bank” compiled in aMumbai studio has recreatedthemood and buzz of a throb-bing stadium — be it theWankhede in Mumbai,

Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru orChepauk inChennai.Getting this right, says the

broadcaster, involved threemonths of preparation and re-search.

“Wewent back and studiedthe sounds of over 100 IPLmatchesstartingfrom2018.Westudied the sounds associatedwithaspecificteam,andalsotheteam they are playing against.For example, if Chennai SuperKings andMumbai Indians areplaying, thedecibel level is verydifferent from a game betweenKings XI Punjab and DelhiCapitals,” says Star India's head(Sports) SanjogGupta.“Wehadtoarriveataframe-

work of sound that is unique toevery player and every team.WhenMSDhoni,Rohit SharmaorViratKohlihitsasix,thecheerisdifferentcomparedtoaplayerwho is unknown or an upcom-ingyoungster,” saysGupta.

And so, whenMumbai cap-tain Sharma or Bangalore skip-perKohliwalk in tobat, a soundengineerinLowerParelgetsintothemix.WhenDhoni connectsthose sixes, there is applausefromChepauk, with a vuvuzelaplayingalongandthetrademarkfan whistles. There are roarsfrom the Chinnaswamy for ABde Villierswhile the Kotla rootsfor Delhi Capitals' captainwithchantsof“Shreyas,Shreyas”—alldubbed inside thestudio.“Thereactionfromthecrowd

toacatchdroppedsoundsdiffer-ent from the onewhen aplayermissesahit,”saysGupta,pointingout that everydipof disappoint-menthasitsbespokedecibel,and

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PAGE1ANCHOR

WhenRohitSharmahitsasix, thecheersaredifferent. File

To bring empty IPL stands alive in UAE, engineersin a Mumbai studio cut-paste audio from archives

THE WORLD

CONFIRMEDCOVID-19CASESCROSS40MN

THAI GOVTSEEKS TOCRACKDOWNONMEDIA COVERAGEOFPROTESTSPAGE14

KARISHMAMEHROTRASANFRANCISCO,OCTOBER19

WITH A fortnight left for theNovember3ElectionDayintheUS, Democrat nominee JoeBiden's once-encouraging leadover incumbent Republican

Donald Trump has narrowed,leavingbothcampaignsonedge.BidencampaignmanagerJen

O'MalleyDillon said in amemoto donors, reported by Reuters,“WecannotbecomecomplacentbecausetheverysearingtruthisthatDonaldTrumpcanstillwinthis race, and every indicationwehaveshowsthat this thing isgoingtocomedowntothewire.”“New polling shows this

election isgoing tocomedowntoa fewswingstates likeNorthCarolina, Minnesota, Arizona,Florida, Pennsylvania, andWisconsin... Simplyput,we canwin this but we've got to rampupourcampaign,” saidTrump'scampaignmanager Bill Stepien

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RACE FOR

THEWHITE

HOUSE

EXPRESS INTHEUS

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

INDIA-CHINA:ALONGWAYFROM1962BY SANJAYABARU

PAGE8

Two weeks to go for polls,Trump narrows gap, butBiden still has the edge

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,OCTOBER20,2020

Daily Covid casesdrop in Gujaratseveral issueswere flaggedby the latter, in-cluding the observation about districts ofGandhinagar, Vadodara and Rajkot wherehalf thepatientswhosuccumbedtoCovid-19 diedwithin 48 hours of detection of theinfectionorhospitalisation.Presided over by Union healthminister

Harsh Vardhan, themeetingwas attendedby National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC)directorDrSujeetKumarSinghandhealthsecretarywith theMoHFW.DrSingh,whogaveapresentationhigh-

lighting theCovidconcerns inGujarat, said,“Ourmain concerns on thebasis of test permillion and sample positivity rate areJunagadh Municipal Corporation andJamnagarMunicipal Corporation that areemergingashotspotsandmaybecomeareasof continued transmission in future. Suratrural, VadodaraMunicipal Corporation andGandhinagarMunicipal Corporation are inborderline areas... Jamnagar sees 80-100casesadayandJunagadhsees30-40casesaday.Samplepositivityrateisaround9.01percent and 7 per cent respectively... wemustfocusontestinghereandstrategiseaccord-ingly todetectcasessooner...Timingof test-ing isalso important.”Pointing out that fatalities have come

down,Singhsaid,“Fortypercentofour3,600deaths (in Gujarat) was in the age range of15 years to 60 years, which is an active agegroup(workingdemography)...”HeaddedthatinGandhinagar,Vadodara

andRajkotwhere50percentofdeathswerereported within 48 hours of detection orhospitalisation, there isaneedtopayatten-tiononsurveillanceorearlydetectiontore-duce fatality.“Surat rural is seeing a case fatality rate

of up to three per cent, which has to belookedinto...thespreadofinfectioninSurat’speri-urbanareaisofconcern...Mostperi-ur-banareasofmunicipalcorporationareasareaffectedbutweneedtounderstandthelevelof spreadwith respect to the rural areas,”addedSingh.Rajesh Bhushan, health secretary at

MoHFW,saidthatstateshavetobemindfulof the spread and monitor the situationcloselyat least for thenext threemonths.“It is important to retest 100 per cent of

thesymptomaticrapidantigennegativetestsampleswith RTPCR tests and not a singleoneof themaremissedout. Secondly, onceapersontestspositive,notimemustbe lostand tracking should be completedwithinthree days. Thirdly,with the festive season,wesuggestthecollectorsconductameetingwithsuperintendentofpolice(inrespectivedistricts) so that in case festivities are per-mitted,thewrittenpermissionmustalsoin-clude conditions related to Covid norms...withpenaltymentioned...”

‘H1NI can’t be neglected’Bhushanremindedthat timelyreportingofH1N1 cases to the Centre should not be af-fecteddue toCovid-19. “This is the time forseasonal influenza (swine fluorH1N1)andhad Covid-19 not been there, reportingwould have started andNCDCwould havereceivedthereport...Butwehavefoundthatsomestates are sending reports,while oth-ers aren’t and some others are sending in-complete reports. District surveillance offi-cers and state surveillance officers have tobeenergised,”hesaid,directingGujaratprin-cipalhealthsecretary JayantiRavi toensurethesamewithofficials.Addingawordof caution,DrSinghsaid,

“We have to see in Gujarat in the comingmonthsifH1N1iscoexistingwithCovid-19or ifH1N1casesexceedthatofCovid-19.Asperthepastfiveyears’data,thedistrictsthatwere most affected by H1N1 in terms ofcases andmortality, include Ahmedabad,Surat, Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Kutch andRajkot.”“Let there not be a casewhere a certain

districtisseeingaspikeinseasonalinfluenzacases and we are not detecting them ontime,” saidBhushan.

Narmada canalcourtinVadodaraonSeptember11rejectedCID plea for extension of remand of the sixpolicemen, then attached to the Fatehgunjpolicestation—inspectorDBGohil, sub-in-spector DM Rabari and Lok Rakshak DaljawansPankajMavjibhai,YogendraJilansinh,RajivSavjibhaiandHiteshShambubhai.Theyhadrefusedtocooperateintheinvestigationafter surrenderingonSeptember2.Officialssaidthatbasedonthemobilelo-

cation of the accused at that time, the CIDhasnarroweddownonthecanalnearGorwaarea in Vadodara as the spotwhere the ac-cused could have possibly dumpedNisar’sbody.TheCIDbelievesthattheaccusedusedmultiplevehiclestodisposeof thebody,one

of whichwas a hatchback car belonging totheHeadConstableMaheshRathwa,whoisnotanaccused in thecase.Superintendent of Police, CID, Girish

Pandya,confirmedthattherequesthasbeensent to SSNNL. “We have asked SSNNL toemptythecanalsothatthefiredepartmentcan carry out a search,” Pandya told thisnewspaper.VMC Additional city Engineer (Water

works) and Executive Engineer (Watersupply),AmrutMakwana, saidthat thoughthe CID sought to stop water supply forthreedays, theVMChasconsented toonlyoneday.Makwanasaid, “In the jurisdictionof theVMC, thecanal is44kilometres long.The SSNNL conveyed that the CID needsthreedays inwhichwater supplymust bestopped. But we told them that it is notpossible tostopwatersupply for threedayssince thecanalbrings75MillionLitresperDay(MLD)water to thecity fromKhanpur,serving nearly 5 lakh people. We haveagreedonly to24hoursof no supply. Theywill have to complete the search duringthat time.”With the consent of the VMC, the

SSNNL stopped the water supply fromMonday, to ensure that the canal will beemptybyTuesday,Makwanasaid.Thecanal,which passes through Vadodara city fromChhani to Sevasi, is amajorwater source toWest andSouth zones of the city, includingGotri, Harinagar, Vasna, Tandalja,Subhanpura, Akota, Atladara, Kalali, VadsarandManjalpur.SSNNL has stopped freshwater supply

intothecanalfromMondaymorning,whichwill ensure that the canal will drain byTuesday. Insomeparts, the firedepartmentwill drain the water. Makwana said, “Wehave distributed water today (Monday)though the SSNNL stopped supply.Waterwillalsobesuppliedinareasthathavemorn-ingschedulebutwewillfaceproblemsfromTuesdayevening,”Makwanasaid.ChiefFireOfficer,ParthBrahmabhatt,told

thisnewspaper that the teamisonstandbyto launchthesearchoperation for thebody,themomenttheVMCinformsthemthatthecanalhasbeendrainedsufficiently.“WewillcarryoutthesearchaspertheinstructionsoftheMunicipal Commissioner, who has re-ceived the communication from the CID,”Brahmabhatt said.Nisar allegedly went missing on

December 10, 2019, after he was appre-hendedbytheFatehgunjpoliceonsuspicionofatheft.The first FIR filedby theVadodarapolice in July thisyear reliedheavilyon thestatement of Assistant Head ConstableShaktisinh,whohas said thathesawNisartied to a chair with a belt and rope in thecomputer roomof thepolicestation to“re-strict his movement”, while the six ac-cused tortured himtoextract a confessionof the theft.Shaktisinh has said that he saw the ac-

cused inserting a pen between Nisar’s fin-gersuntilhebledand“hisvoicefadedaway”and he “did not appear that he could bealive”, theFIRstated.Nisar’ssonhadsubmittedanapplication

totheCommissionerofPolice,Vadodaracityalleging foul play in the disappearance ofhis father from the city, afterwhich an in-quirywas initiated thatdidnot lead toanyconclusions. On June 20, the family filed ahabeas corpus petition in the GujaratHigh Court. On June 25, both the investi-gations were merged and handed over toVadodara E Division. On August 6, theGujarat HC directed the probe to be trans-ferred to thestateCID.

PompeoIn Delhi, the talkswill involve Pompeo,

USDefence SecretaryMark Esper and theirIndian counterparts, External AffairsMinister S JaishankarandDefenceMinisterRajnath Singh. Pompeo's stop in ColombolatercomesamidUSandIndianconcernsatChina's stepped-up engagement with thegovernment of recently elected PrimeMinisterMahindaRajapaksaandhisbrother,PresidentGotabayaRajapaksa.Earlierthismonth,ahigh-profileChinese

delegationledbyYangJeichi, formerforeignminister,CommunistPartyPolitburomem-ber and head of the Central Foreign AffairsCommission, had visited Colombo.Following discussionswith the delegation,Gotabaya Rajapaksa had said that the twosides would restart negotiations for a freetrade agreement, and aim to complete theColomboPortCityandotherprojectsquickly.HealsosaidhewantedaChina-styledevel-opment forSri Lanka.Meanwhile, a $480millionUS develop-

mentassistance fund forSri Lanka, throughMilleniumChallengeCorporation(MCC),anaidagencysetupbytheUSCongress,isgath-ering dust. The funding was meant for atransport project and an agricultural proj-ect,butnevergotoff thegroundamidpolit-

icaloppositiontothepreviousgovernment'splan to renew a 1995 Status of ForcesAgreement (SOFA)with theUS.Pompeo,who lashedout atChinaat the

recentQuadmeetinginJapan,blamingitforthe tensions in the Indo-Pacific and at theLACwith India, aswell for the coronavirus,will aimtorevive thestalledprojectsundertheMCC, sources said. But theremay be apushback, theysaid.Pompeo'svisittoMaldiveswillbeeasier.

The two countries recently signed a“Framework for a Defence and SecurityRelationship”. The US Department ofDefence said the agreementwas intended“todeepenengagementandcooperation insupport of maintaining peace and securityin the Indian Ocean, andmarks an impor-tant step forward" in the partnership be-tweenthe twocountries.Maldives DefenceMinisterMariya Didi

said the agreement would add “immensevaluetotheexcellentUS-Maldivespartner-shipdefinedbysharedprinciples&interestsinpeace&securityof theIndo-Pacific&IORamid rising threats likepiracy&terrorism”.India, competingwith China to keep its in-fluenceinitsneighbourhood,hadsaiditsup-ports defence cooperation between theMaldivesandtheUS.

Covid puzzleswhile employment in urban India is ona slide.Forpolicymakers,therecouldbetwosig-

nificanttakeaways:whilelabourdatashowsarecoveryinemployment,thequalityof re-coveryisaproblem—inotherwords,betterqualityandhigherpayingjobsinurbanareasarebeinglostandsubstitutedbylower-paidrural jobs. And this points to the fact that areversalofmigrationbacktothecitiesisnothappeningtotheextentthat itshouldhave.In September, according to CMIE, while

overallemploymentincreasedby5.1millionfrom392.5million to 397.6million, unem-ploymentdeclinedby7.3million from35.7million to 28.4million. The greatermarginof the fall indicates thatwhilemanyunem-ployedpersonsfoundjobs,othersexitedthemarket, leading to the labour force shrink-ing by 2.2 million from 428.3 million inAugust to426million inSeptember.Disaggregated data show that in rural

India, employment increasedby7.4millionandunemploymentdeclinedbyalittleover5million, pointing toapost-harvest-led in-crease in economic activity. At the sametime, employment in urban India declinedby 2.3 million and unemployment by 2.3million.As a result, the labour forcewas re-duced by 4.6million in towns and cities inSeptember — amonthly fall in the labourforceof3.3percent that is thehighestsincethemeltdownmonthofApril 2020.

ThisisqualifiedbysurveysdonebyCMIEup to August, which have shown that thebiggest losses inemploymentare inqualityjobs— salaried employment. Salaried jobstypically offer better terms of employmentandwages, and households with salariedjobs are better placed to build savings andplan a sustained improvement in standardof living. Such households are also betterplaced toborrowandservice their borrow-ing because of the steady nature of theirearnings.Going forward, this couldhaveanimpact on consumption trends and the re-coveryprocess in India.Thereareothereconomicparadoxesthat

thepandemichas thrownup.For instance, as against the general ex-

pectationgloballythatthemassivedemandshock from the pandemic would over-shadowanysupplyshockandwouldthere-forebedisinflationary,theoppositehashap-pened in India. While CPI inflation hasconsistentlysurgedfromjustover6percentin in June tonearly 7per cent in eachof thethreemonthsbetweenJulyandSeptember,some of it led by food inflation, the unex-pected trend is the rise in core inflation --non-food,nofuelinflation--duringaperiodwhenGDPgrowth is set to register a recordcontraction.Whilemuch of theworld is seeing be-

nign inflation trends, India is a clear excep-tion.Amongthedriversofheadlineinflationin India in recent months has been foodprices, especially those of vegetables. Also,thefrequentroundsofhikesinexcisedutieson fuel, thrice in the last one year, coupledwithincreaseinstateleviesofsalestax/VAT,are having a pass-through effect on the re-tail inflation.But,thecollapseindemandsinceMarch

shouldhave ideally triggeredadrop in coreinflation--pricelevelsinnon-foodandnon-fuel items. In the latestprint forSeptember,thoughcoreinflationsoftenedmarginallyto5.67 per cent from5.77 per cent in August,it continued to stayabove5per cent for thefifthconsecutivemonth.Themostcompellingexplanationoffered

by economists is the disruption in supplychains post-March. Even after the nationallockdownwas lifted, the local lockdownshaveimpactedthesupplychainsthatensuregoodsaretransportedthroughoutthecoun-try. The severed links created shortages,adding to prices across the board. The re-peated local lockdowns in states added touncertainties for business and forced cur-tailments in their supply chains -- impact-ingrawmaterials, intermediategoods, finalproducts.While real GDP in India is projected to

contract in2020-21underthebaselinesce-nario, reflecting both demand and supplyshocks,consumerprice inflationremaining

elevated points to the fact that supply bot-tlenecksareoutweighing the softening im-pact expected fromweakerdemand. These“counterintuitive inflation dynamics”, theReserve Bank of India said in its latestMPCreport, “have complicated themacroeco-nomicoutlook”.

Digital health IDthis is because there could be two or threedoses, and population groupsmust be fol-lowedaccurately.The PrimeMinister underlined India’s

globalreputationonvaccinemanufacturing.“Beyond Covid too, India is known for itsprovencapacitytoproducevaccinesatalowcost.More than 60 per cent of the vaccinesforglobalimmunisationarebeingmanufac-tured in India.We included the indigenousRotavirus vaccine in our Indradhanush im-munisationprogramme.Thisisasuccessfulexample of a strong partnership for long-lastingresults.TheGatesFoundationhasalsobeenapartof thiseffort,”hesaid.“With India’s experience and research

talent, we will be at the centre of globalhealth care efforts.Wewant to help othernations, enhance their capacities, in thesesectors.”Disease,Modisaid,doesnotdiscriminate

ongroundsofreligionorrace,andtheglobalcommunitymust fight it together. “..It hastakenaglobalpandemic tomakeusrealise,yetagain,theimportanceofteamwork.Afterall,diseasedoesnothavegeographicbound-aries; disease does not discriminate on thegroundsof faith, race, gender, or colour,”hesaid.“...India’ssize,scale,anddiversityhasal-

waysmade the global community curious.Our population is almost four times that oftheUS;manyofourstateshaveasmanypeo-pleasothernations inEuropeandAsia.Yet,thankstopeoplepowerandapeople-drivenapproach, Indiakept itsCovid-19deathratevery low. Today, we are seeing a decline inthe number of cases per day and in thegrowth rate of cases. India has one of thehighest recovery rates of 88 per cent. ThishappenedbecauseIndiawasoneof thefirstcountriestoadoptaflexiblelockdown,whenthetotalcaseswerejustafewhundred,”thePrimeMinister said.“...Indiawasoneof thefirsttoencourage

the usage of masks. India actively began toworkoneffectivecontacttracing;itwasoneof the earliest to deploy the rapid antigentests.”

Tejashwibeendoinghis job.Myentire focus isonthecurrent CM and to ensure that he does notreturn to thepost.”Asked about Tejashwi's remarks, RJD

spokespersonMrityunjay Tewari said they

were on the same side against the JD(U).“Tejashwiji and Chiragji are young leadersand have been raising valid points againstthe Nitish government. Our leader has ex-pressedsolidaritywiththeLJPleaderastheyare on the same page on attacking the cur-rentgovernment.”RJD leaders said that while Chirag

Paswan's support base is limited, he hasgiven the Opposition a handle to targetNitish.LJP principal general secretary Abdul

Khalique,however,dismissedanychanceofthepartycoming togetherwith theRJD.“Since Tejashwi is sensing upper-caste

consolidation in our favour, he is trying tocreate confusion in the minds of voters,”Khalique said. “Letme clarify that there iszero per cent chance of the LJP goingwiththeRJDunderanycondition.”Whilewelcomingthefactthat“Tejashwi

stands by us in time of our grief”, Khaliqueadded,“Howabouthisparty'sbehaviourto-wardsour leader in thepast? Itwas theRJDthat had used the pejorative adjective‘weather vane’ for our leader Ram VilasPaswan...Tejashwi'sfakesympathycanhurtusandhelpNitish.”

US electionin amemosharedwithhis party campaignmailing listonSunday.Republicanshaveattemptedtokeepthe

narrative on “law and order”, painting thissummer'sBlackLivesMattersprotestsasvi-olenceendorsedbyBiden.Morerecently, inthe debates and town halls, the campaignhasemphasisedBiden'staxplans.“Hello...,”aTrumpcampaignmasstextmessageread.“Bidenwill raise taxes. That's it, that's thetext.”Democrats have tried to focus on the

pandemic and a need for amoral and fairleader. “I feel so deeply that this countryneedstobeaplacetorepresentopportunityin theworld,” said Biden's Chief FinancialOfficerSaloniMultanitoTheIndianExpress.“I lookatmyyounggirlsandIhopethatthatfoundationalpartofAmerica remains. Thatis on the ballot. We need a functioningdemocracy forgenerations tocome.”With Biden's leads in national polls, all

conventional political understanding sayshe shouldwin. But, the landscape feels likedeja vu for punditswho remember formerDemocratic nomineeHillaryClinton's poll-lead in the run-up to the 2016 election. AnNBC News/Wall Street Journal poll hadClintonat+10percentagepointsoverTrumpback then. The same poll has +11 for Bidennow. Poll aggregation done by data analyt-icsoutletFiveThirtyEighthasBidenat+10.6.“Still,Trumphasameaningfulchanceper

ourforecast—alittleworsethanthechancesof rolling a 1 on a six-sided die and a littlebetter than the chances that it's raining indowntown Los Angeles. And remember, itdoes rain there,” reads an analysis byFiveThirtyEight.In American political punditry, national

pollshavetobeunderstoodalongsidestate-leveldynamics.TheElectoralCollegesystemgiveseachstateadesignatednumberofelec-toralvotesthatgotothecandidatewhowinsthepopularvote in that state.

IPLeveryhighadifferentecho.“DuringtheCSKvsSRHmatch,weintroducedthe'GoRavindraJadeja' chant. The idea is to keep creatingchantsaswegoalongandplayersstarttodowell,”hesays.After the Mumbai vs Chennai game,

AustralianstarShaneWatsonhadthistosay:“as close tonormalaspossible... Somethingassimpleashowthespeakersinthestadiumwereabletohavethewhitenoise.Thecheer-ing and chanting, forMumbai andCSK andparticular players. It really did createmoreof an atmosphere compared towhat I wasexpecting.”AccordingtoGupta,thebroadcastershad

to build a library of ambient score fromscratch.“Weformedasoundbank.Werecorded

thesoundagaininastudio.Wecouldnotusethe actual game sound because it has toomany things like fireworks, cheerleaders,songsplayinginthestadium.Therearevar-ious layersof sound, the first is the stadiumambience. There is another sound,which isadded to themoment, like for a six or four.Themostinterestingsoundisinteractiveau-dio, likewhenDhoni hits a six andweheartheDhonichant. It'stodowiththesituationof thematch,”hesays.Whileopinionsvaryonhownatural the

sounds are, Gupta says he has been gettingcalls“fromallovertheworld”, includingor-ganisersofotherleagues.Allofthem,hesays,want to know how to get the backgroundscore right.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

Signal to China, Quad navies to sail together

PLA soldier strays across LAC, Army says will return him

Since2017, the yearQuadwas revived,Malabarhadbeenatrilateralexerciseinvolv-ing thenavies of US, India and Japan. It in-cludes simulatedwar games and combatmanoeuvres. Last year, it was held inSeptember off the coast of Japan, and in-cludedcomplexmaritimeoperationsinsur-face,sub-surfaceandairdomains,withfocuson anti-submarinewarfare, anti-air andanti-surface firings,maritime interdictionoperations (MIO) including Visit BoardSearchandSeizure(VBSS)andtactical sce-nario-basedexercisesatsea.The fast-trackingofworkonBECAand

thedecisionof the fourQuad countries toparticipateintheMalabarExerciseareper-ceivedtobeastrategicsignaltoanaggressiveChinawhich External AffairsMinister SJaishankardescribedlastweekasa“criticalsecuritychallenge”attheborder.IndianandChinese troops have been in a militarystandoff along the Ladakh frontier sinceearlyMay.USSecretaryofStateMichaelRPompeo

andSecretaryof DefenseMarkTEsper areexpectedtocometoIndia for the2+2min-isterialmeetingwithJaishankarandDefenceMinisterRajnathSinghonOctober26-27.Sources said that ever since February,

when Trump visited India and the jointstatementunderlined“earlyconclusion”ofBECA,negotiators fromthe twosideshave

beenworkingtofinalisethepact.Thisisoneofthelastofthefoundational

agreements,andlargelypertainstogeo-spa-tial intelligence, sharing information onmapsandsatellite images fordefencepur-poses. TheUShad submitted a draft pact,andIndiahadsoughtmoredetailsontheex-tentofinformationneededtobesharedun-der this arrangement. “It’s comedown todotting the i’s and crossing the t’s now,” asourcetoldTheIndianExpressMonday.EvenifBECAisnotsigned,thetwosides

are likely to announce conclusion of theagreementduringthevisit, thesourcesaid.InSeptember2018,afterthefirst2+2di-

aloguebetweenthetwocountries–thethenExternalAffairsMinisterSushmaSwarajandDefenceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanmetvisitingUScounterparts Secretaryof StateMichaelRPompeoandSecretaryofDefenceJamesMattis--thetwosideshadsignedtheCommunicationsCompatibilityandSecurityAgreement (COMCASA)whichpaved thewayfortransferofcommunicationsecurityequipmentfromtheUStoIndiatofacilitate“interoperability”betweentheirforces--andpotentiallywithothermilitariesthatuseUS-originsystemsforsecureddatalinks.Earlier, inAugust2016,IndiaandtheUS

signed the Logistics ExchangeMemorandum of Agreement (LEMOA),which allows themilitary of each country

toreplenishfromtheother’sbases.ThesepactstieinwellwiththeMalabar

Exercise, since Indiahas signedversionsofLEMOAwithallQuadcountries.Confirming the Malabar Exercise, a

MinistryofDefencestatementMondaysaid:“AsIndiaSeekstoincreasecooperationwithothercountriesinthemaritimesecuritydo-main and in the light of increaseddefencecooperationwithAustralia,Malabar 2020will see theparticipationof theAustralianNavy.”“Thisyear,theexercisehasbeenplanned

ona ‘non-contact-at sea’ format. Theexer-cisewill strengthen the coordination be-tweentheNaviesoftheparticipatingcoun-tries,”thestatementsaid.“The participants of ExerciseMalabar

2020areengagingtoenhancesafetyandse-curityinthemaritimedomain.Theycollec-tivelysupportfree,openandinclusiveIndo-Pacific and remain committed to arules-based internationalorder,” thestate-mentsaid.Responding to this announcement,

Australian ForeignMinisterMarise Paynesaid, “Following an invitation from India,AustraliawillparticipateinExerciseMalabar2020. Theexercisewill bring together fourkey regional defence partners: India, theUnited States, Japan and Australia inNovember2020,”shesaid.

missing soldier “and hoped that theIndian side would assist in search andrescue”.India, the PLA said, “notified the

Chinese side that amissing person fromthe Chinese side had been found andwouldbehandedovertotheChineseside

aftermedical examination”.The incident comes at a time when

India and China have stationed around50,000 soldiers each along the Ladakhfrontier as part of the military standoffthat beganearlyMay.Seven rounds of Corps Commander-

level talks andmultiple rounds of diplo-matic talks have been held as part of ef-forts to resolve the situation. With themercury plunging in the region, troopson either side are bracing for extendeddeployment through the harsh wintermonths.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

HowTRPsworksandwhat thescamisaboutNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

Todayonthe3Thingspodcast,wetakealookat theTRPscambeing investigatedbytheMumbaipolice,andunderstandhowtelevisionratingsarecalculated

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I JUSTWANTEDTOKEEP THEMORALEUP’: ASSAM’S PPE-CLADDANCINGDOCTOROnSundayevening,DrSyedFaizanAhmad,tweetedaclipofhiscolleague,aPPE-cladSenapati,slickly

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FROMPAGEONE

Ahmedabad

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,OCTOBER20,2020

GUJARAT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ON OCT 20, 23 AND 27

ELECTIONOBSERVERTOMEETVOTERS INKARJAN

JataShankarChoudhary,theElectionObserverappointedbytheCentralElectionCommissionforthe149

KarjanAssemblyConstituencyinVadodara,whichgoestobypollsonNovember3,willholdmeetingswithvot-

ersoftheConstituencyonthreedays--October20,23and27atthecircuithouseinKarjan’sNavabazaararea.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,OCTOBER19

THREE PERSONSwere arrestedfororganisingaGarbaeventinvi-olation of government rules inDaherivillageofUmargamtalukaonSundaynight.The state government, on

October 9, said that itwouldnotallowanytypeofGarbaanywhereinthestateduringNavratriinthewakeof Covid-19pandemic andthat people could install idols inpublic andworship itmaintain-ingsocialdistancenorms.

Umargampolice teamwereonnightpatrolinthevillagewhentheyfoundseveralpeopleplayinggarbaonJawaharstreetinthevil-lage.Whentheyaskedforpermis-sion, the organisers - BharatSuryavanshi, KishorMayavanshiandNareshMayavanshi-failedtoshowpolicepermitfortheevent.Umargampolice constable

JayramDesai then lodged anof-fence against the trio under IPCsection188andGPAsection135andarrestedthem.UmargampoliceinspectorJG

Dabhisaid,“Thegovernmenthasbannedcommercialortraditional

streetGarbas in the state for thecurrentyearowing to theCovid-19pandemic.Theorganisersbla-tantly violated the rule and alsodidn’tseekpolicepermission.Wehave registered offence againstthethreeorganisers.”Valsad district superinten-

dent of police Rajdeepsinh Zalasaid, “We have directed all ourpolice teams in the district tovisit each and every village andcheck whether such Garbaevents are being held or not.Legalactionwillbetakenagainstthose flouting norms.” Theywere later releasedonbail.

3 held over Garba ‘violating’ Covid rules

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

A 24-YEAR-OLD youth inGandhinagarwasarrestedwith151 tablets ofMethylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) worth Rs 7.4lakh onMonday.Accordingtopolice,ateamof

SpecialOperationsGroup(SOG)of Gandhinagar police heldRushik Dave (24), a resident ofsector 2C in Gandhinagar, with

74.75 grams of MDMA in theformof 151 tablets.“Based on specific input, the

accusedwasfoundwiththenar-cotics in his car outside his resi-dence.Hehasrevealedtousthathewas given theMDMA tabletsby oneNihal Salviwho stays inMoteraofAhmedabad.WehavebookedacaseofNarcoticsDrugsand Psychotropic Substances(NDPS)ActagainstbothDaveandSalvi at sector 7 police station.Salviisabsconding,”saidapoliceofficerofGandhinagarSOGteam.

Gandhinagar man arrestedwith MDMA worth Rs 7.4L

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER19

THREE PRIMARY school teach-ersareontherunaftertheywerebookedinaprohibitioncasereg-istered at Sankheda police sta-tion in Chhota Udepur district,on Saturday, after purportedvideos of them in an inebriatedstateandpartyinginsideaclass-room,atGunderprimaryschoolinSankheda,wentviral.The FIR, based on a com-

plaint filed by the taluka edu-cation officer, refers to the al-leged incident as “Kaifi pinatatha,masaharnimejbaninuay-ojan kari, masaharni mehfil”(Consumptionof alcohol andaspread of non-vegetariandishes) for the alleged party—a term that finds mention inthe FIR five times.Twoofthethreeteachersare

the head and the deputy headteachers,respectively,atGunderprimary school, while the thirdteacher is said to be attached toanother primary school inAjitpuraofVadodaradistrict.The said incident occurred

onOctober 15,when the teach-ers were allegedly partying in-side the school from 6 pm tomidnight, the FIR stated. Localvillagers, who had raided thepremisesaftermidnight, filmedvideos of the roomwhere theteacherswerefoundalongwithseveralemptybottlesof alcoholand a vessel filledwith an “eggpulav”preparation.Inthevideos,thevillagersare

seencheckingthericevesselwitha spatula andheard concludingthat it is “only egg pulav”. Theyalsofindaplasticbagwithbrokeneggshellsandotheritemsusedtopreparethedishandconfrontthethree teachers,whoappear visi-blyinebriated,policesaid.

The deputy head teacher,whoisseendressedinavestandshort pants in the video, is seensleeping on a dhurrie on thefloor and is woken up by vil-lagerswhoconfronthimandaskif hewants tovisit adoctor.Thevideo, educationdepart-

mentofficials said,went viral onOctober 16, after which theDistrict Development Officer(DDO)orderedaninquiry.Ateamofofficialsofthedistricteducationdepartmentvisitedtheschoolthesamedayandfoundtheheadandthedeputyhead teachers on thepremises,whiletheteacherfromVadodarahadalreadyleft.The FIR registered at

Sankheda police station onOctober 17, under various sec-tions of the Prohibition Actbased on a complaint filed byincharge taluka officer JigneshVankar, stated that it “appearsthat the three teachers werefound living inside the prem-ises of the primary school”,which has been closed sincethe Covid-19 lockdown.The FIR stated that apart

frombedding items, theeduca-tion department teams alsofoundutensilsandkitchenitemsthatare “needed forastay”.“On being asked why they

were in the school as well as

the presence of a third personat the party, they had no satis-factoryanswers.Wealso founda bottle of foreign brand ofwhiskey in the chamber of thehead teacher,whichcontainedabout 150 ml of alcohol,”Vankar has said in the FIR.Vankar further said that the

district education departmenthas decided to pursue a caseagainst the three teachersafterreceiving the videos of thepartywhichwentviralbecause“the criminal act is against theexpected conduct of a teacherandit isextremelydamagingtothe reputation of an educa-tional institute”.While the Chhota Udepur

district education departmenthas already suspended the twoteachersattachedtoGunderpri-mary school, Vadodara DistictPrimary Education OfficerArchanaChaudharysaidthatac-tion isyet tobe initiatedagainsttheteacherfromAjitpuraschoolas the department “has not re-ceived any official communica-tion from the administration ofChhotaUdepuror thepolice”.Police said that the three

teachers have been on the runsince Saturday. A local villagerof Gunder said that the resi-dents had been watching theteachers misusing their accessto the premises for severalweeks since the issuance ofCovid-19unlock guidelines.“A fewweeks ago, they had

another party in which morepeople were involved and wecould hear their drunken riot.Theyhadalsocookednon-vege-tarian dishes inside the prem-ises, but we could not catchthem then. So, we decided tokeepawatchontheirnextgath-ering and expose them red-handed.Thisisunbecomingofateacher,” thevillager said.

AnartistgivesfinaltouchestoanidolofGoddessDurgainVadodaraonMonday.BhupendraRana

Afewweeksago,theyhadanother

party inwhichmorepeoplewere involvedandwecouldhear theirdrunkenriot...Wedecidedtokeepawatchontheirnextgatheringandexposethemred-handed.This isunbecomingofateacher”—AVILLAGERFROMSANKHEDA

CHHOTAUDEPUR

3teachersbooked for‘alcohol, non-veg’partyEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

RECORDINGTHE lowest single-daysurgeinnearlythreemonths,Gujarat’s tally reached1.61 lakh,whileeightotherssuccumbedtothediseaseacrossthestate.With central healthministry

observingthatthemunicipalcor-poration areas of Jamnagar andJunagadhindicatinganemerginghotspot region, and higher testpositivity rate in the state, RaviShankar,Jamnagarcollector,said,“Weareseeingthat themorewearetesting,themoreweareseeingan increased test positivity ratebut our OPDnumbers have re-duced. We were once testingaround3,400aday...ourstrategyis to encouragepeople to opt for

homeisolation...ourtestpositivityrateisatround7percentnow.”In Jamnagar, on Sunday, the

collectoralsodeclared55areasascontainment zones, 46ofwhichwere fromthemunicipal corpo-rationareas.Surat’s tally crossed 34,000-

markwithanadditionof227newcasesonMonday.Theruralpartsof Surat which has seen morecases compared to that of otherrural areas, and had asmany as1,600activecasesasonOctober1,now has around 1,000 activecases,accordingtodistrictcollec-torDhavalPatel.InRajkot,accordingtothedis-

trict collector, nearly 67%of totalbeds, includingprivate andgov-ernmenthospitals, are vacant atpresent.Overa1,000patientsarecurrentlyundergoingtreatment.

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 39,388 1,876 178

Amreli 2,607 26 18

Anand 1,313 16 7

Aravalli 680 24 3

Banaskantha 2,525 28 16

Bharuch 2,703 15 11

Bhavnagar 4,560 69 6

Botad 814 5 4

ChhotaUdepur 607 3 4

Dahod 1,810 6 6

Dang 116

Devbhoomi 701 5

Dwarka

Gandhinagar 4,452 87 40

GirSomnath 1,654 20 12

Jamnagar 7,758 35 66

Junagadh 3,428 32 23

Kheda 1,479 15 8

Kutch 2,474 33 21

Mahisagar 1,204 13 8

Mehsana 3,440 30 32

Morbi 1,988 18 13

Narmada 1,139 1 9

Navsari 1,309 7 8

Panchmahal 2,717 22 10

Patan 2,297 42 26

Porbandar 897 4

Rajkot 12,338 162 83

Sabarkantha 1,441 11 14

Surat 34,175 817 227

Surendranagar 2,147 13 15

Tapi 761 6 5

Vadodara 14,230 217 112

Valsad 1,234 8 6

Newcases:967

Cumulativedeaths:

3,671

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

1,42,799

Totalcases:1,61,003

STATECOVIDTALLYCROSSES1.61 LAKH

Lowest single-day surgerecorded in 3 months

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,OCTOBER20,2020

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,OCTOBER19

ASMANYas59candidatesareinthe fray for by-election to fiveAssembly constituencies inSaurashtra-Kutch region asnineIndependents withdrew theircandidature on the last day ofwithdrawingnominationpapers,onMonday. Limbdi Assemblyconstituency in Surendranagardistrict has 14 candidates,whileDhari seat in Amreli has 10, theleastamongthefiveseats.Whilearoundfivedozencan-

didates have been left in con-tention for the by-election toLimdi,Morbi,Abadasa,DhariandGadhdaseats,themaincontestinall of the segments is betweencandidatesofBJPandCongress.With14candidatesintherace,

Limbdihasthehighestnumberofcontenders.TheyincludeformerministerKiritsinhRanaoftheBJPandChetanKhacharofCongress.Total23candidates,includingonedummyeachofCongressandtheBJPhadfiledtheirnominationpa-persforLimdi.However,nomina-tion papers of nine, includingthosefiledbytwodummies,wererejected during scrutiny onSaturday.GopalMakwana, a relativeof

formerMPSavshiMakwana,wasamong thosewhosepapers hadbeen rejected. “Hehadattachedan incomplete affidavit to hisnomination papers.Wehad in-formedhimaboutthisinwrittenandhadgivenhimopportunitytoprovideacompleteaffidavit. Buthe failed todo it in due time. So,we informedhim thatwewererejectinghis nominationpapersanddidn’t object,” HMSolanki,

returning officer for Limbdi by-election,toldTheIndianExpress.Rana,thenasittingMLAfrom

Limbdi, had lost to SomaGandaPatel of Congress in the 2017Assembly election but the seathad fallen vacant after Patel re-signed in the run up to RajyaSabha(RS)electioninthestate.MorbiandGadhdaAssembly

seatshave12candidateseachleftin the contest. BrijeshMerja, theCongressturncoatMLA,istheBJPcandidate this bypoll, whileCongress has given ticket to in-dustrialistJayantilalPateltochal-lengehim. Total 20personshadfiledtheirnominationpapersforMorbibypoll.WhilepapersoftwowererejectedduringscrutinyonSaturday, eight otherswithdrewtheir candidature on Saturday.HushenBhattiofAllIndiaMajlis-E-Inquillab-E-Millat and nineIndependents have been left inthecontest.In Gadhda, formerminister

AtmaramParmaristheBJPnom-ineewhile Congress has fieldedMohan Solanki, a builder fromBhavnagar district. GadhdaAssemblyconstituencyreservedfor candidates of the ScheduledCastes(SC)hadfallenvacantafterCongressMLA PravinMaru re-signedasMLAalsofromthepartyintherunuptotheRSelectioninthestateinJunethisyear.Incidentally, Maru had de-

featedParmarinthegeneralelec-tion to theGadhda seat in 2017.Total 16personshad filednomi-nationpapersforGadhdabypoll.During scrutiny, papers of threecandidateswererejectedonvar-iousgroundswhileonecandidatewithdrew his candidature onMonday.VinuParmarofRashtiyaJan Chetna party and nine

Independents are among thoseleft inthefray.JV Kakadiya of the BJP and

SureshKotadiyaofCongressareamong the 11 candidates left inthefrayforDhariAssemblyseg-mentinAmrelidistrict.Kakadiyawas electedMLA fromDhari in2017but he too resigned aheadof the RS poll. The ruling partyhas given him ticket to contestthebypollwarranteddue tohisresignation. Suresh, son of lateUnionministerManuKotadiya,ishismainrival.Total15persons,including two dummies of BJPand Congress had filed theirnomination papers. Papers oftwo dummies were rejected,while one Independent with-drewfromtheraceonMonday.InAbadasaseatinKutchdis-

trict,stageissetforacontestpri-marilybetweenPradyumansinhJadejaoftheBJPandDrShantilalSenghani of Congress eventhoughtotal10candidateswereleft in the race after nine otherswithdrew their candidature onMonday. Nomination papers ofseven others were rejected onSaturday.Thisseathadfallenva-cant after Jadeja, the sittingCongressMLA, resigned aheadof RS poll and later defected totheBJP.BesidesJadejaandSenghani,

YakuvMutva of BahujanMutkiParty, Ramji Maheshwari ofBharatiya Jan Parishad andBhimji Meghwal of BahujanMaha Party as well as fiveIndependents have been left inthe race.Polling of the five seats is

scheduled to be conducted onNovember 3while counting ofvotes will take place onNovember10.

59candidates in frayfor bypolls to 5 seatsin Saurashtra-Kutch

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

SAVINGTHEannual rental costsofdifferentresultprocessingcen-trestakeneveryyearonrent, theGujarat Secondary andHigherSecondary Education Board(GSHSEB)will soonhave itsowncentralisedprocessing centre atSector 22 in Gandhinagar. Thefoundation stoneof thebuildingwas laid by BhupendrasinhChudasamaonMonday.Sourcesrevealedthatthiswill

savetheGSHSEBnearlyRs1croreas rental cost spent annually forthree centres (schools) takenonrentinAhmedabad,whereinan-swersheetsarestored,dataentry

work isundertakenandverifica-tionof evaluation is donebeforetheresultsareannounced.The laying of the foundation

stone for the ground-plus-two-storeyed buildingwith a base-ment, at an estimated cost of Rs24 crore, will come up at thepremises of Aryabhatt Govern-mentSecondarySchool,sector22inGandhinagar,with a built uparea of 9,825 squaremetre,wasdone by Education MinisterBhupendrasinh Chudasama onMonday. The schoolwas closednearlyadecadebackandwasal-readyallocatedtotheboard.“Apartfromsavingtherental

costs, it is also aimed at a safeand secure result preparationprocessatoneplace,whichwill

be in close vicinity to the boardheadquarters.Thecentrewillbeequipped with a strong room,assessmentcentreandalsousedin training programmes. Theboard has been using rentalbuildings for this purpose sinceits inception,” said GSHSEBChairmanAJShah.Foranexamination,thepro-

cessing centre is used for threemonths where the answersheets are currently stored atone of the three centres inAhmedabad.Owing to theclas-sified nature of work under-taken in the processing centre,the new buildingwill have ad-vancedsecurity facilities.The GSHSEB was set up in

1960atVadodara.Thefirstinter-

mediateexamof class11by theboardwastakeninOctober1960where 27,962 candidates ap-peared. This increased to over10.83lakhinMarch2020inclass10andanother6.50lakhinclass12.Further,theGujaratCommonEntrance Test, supplementaryexams and other talent searchcompetitions have nearly 25lakhstudentsastakers inayear.OutofanestimatedcostofRs

24crore,Rs16crorehasalreadybeen sanctioned by the stategovernment,whiletheprovisionof remaining Rs 8 crore is ex-pected in 2021-’22. The con-structionwork that had got de-layed by six months due toCovid-19is likelytocomplete inoneyear.

Chudasama lays foundation stone ofGSHSEB’s result processing centre

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,AHMEDABAD,

OCTOBER19

AHEAD OF the by-election toDangs seat, two-time CongressMLAMangalGavitwhoquit theparty, joined the BharatiyaJanataParty(BJP)inthepresenceofstateminister,GanpatVasava,at an event in Ahwa, Dangs, onSunday,whichcouldgiveatwistto thecontest.Gavit was reportedly in

touch with state BJP leadersahead of the Rajya Sabha elec-tionsinJunewhenhewasprom-ised ticket to contest bypollsfromDangs seat. He submittedhis resignation after the assur-ance,sourcessaid.However,theBJP chose Vijay Patel to contestfromDangs.After the Congress party

nominated Suryakant GavitfromDangsseatinanattempttowooChristianvoters,theBJPor-ganisedameetinginAhwatownon Saturday, chaired by statecabinetministerGanpatVasava,who welcomedMangal Gavitandhissupportersintothepartyon Sunday, at a functionwhereVijayPatelwasalsopresent.Talking to The Indian

Express,MangalGavitsaid,“Iamhappy that BJP leaders wel-comedmetothepartyfinally... Iwill work for the victory of BJPcandidate Vijaybhai Patel. I amnotunhappythatIwasnotgiventhe ticket... my aimwill be towork for the victory of BJP can-didate in thebypolls.”The BJP has won the Dangs

seat only once in 2007 since itcame to power, whichwas fol-lowingtheShabriKumbhorgan-ised in the district, when Patelwon the seat. Gavit contestedAssembly election for the firsttime in 2012 against sitting BJP

MLA Vijay Patel and won by2,422votes. In 2017, the assem-blyfightwasbetweensametwocandidates and again Gavit de-featedPatelby768votes.“ManyCongressworkersare

unhappy after the party gaveticket to SuryakantGavit... Iwillmeet them and convince themtojointheBJP... I leftCongressasmanydevelopmentworksthatIwished todo inDangswerenotdone,”Gavit added.State BJP president and

Navsari MP, CR Paatil, visitedDangs andheld ameetingwiththe party leaders andworkers,including BJP MLA from SuratwestandinchargeofDangsseat,PurneshModi,andVijayPatelonMonday.TheDangsAssemblyseathas

over 40,000 Christians. SeniorCongress leader andDangs seatincharge, Gaurav Pandya, said,“Our election campaign is clearas wewill tell people of Dangswhether they want a radicalleaderof theirdistrictorasecu-lar leader... If a radical leadercomes to power, there arechancesofriotsbetweentribals,

Hindus and Christians.Wewillask people whether theywantpeaceor riots inDangs...”Atotalof81candidatesarein

the fray for bypolls to eight as-sembly seats in Gujarat sched-uled to held on November 3.Monday was the last day forwithdrawalofnominations,offi-cials said.The lowest number candi-

datesisontheKaprada(ST)seatwhere only four candidates areinthefray.Withatotalof14can-didates, Limdi has the maxi-mum number of contestants.The bypollswerewarranted onthe eight seats after sittingCongress MLAs deserted theparty before the crucial RajyaSabhapolls in June.All the five Congress MLAs

who quit the party and laterjoinedtheBJPhavebeenfieldedby the saffron party for the by-polls.ThisincludesBrijeshMerja(Morbi), Akshay Patel (Karjan),Jitu Chaudhary (Kaprada), JVKakadiya (Dhari) andPradyumansinhJadeja(Abdasa),whowill takeon Congresscan-didates.

Mangal Gavit joins BJP after Congpicks name to woo Christian voters

Ahmedabad: Twomenwere ar-rested from Anand on Sundayfor theallegedrapeandmurderof awomanalmostaweekago.According to police, the ac-

cusedidentifiedasSureshParmarand Vishnu Parmar, both resi-dents of Anand, have been heldunder IndianPenalCodesection376forrapeand302formurder.OnOctober 12, police found

thebodyofawomanaged30-35years,atthesideofacanalnearacold storage company in Anand

rural. After postmortem, a caseof rape andmurderwas lodgedatAnandRuralpolicestation.“The bodywas unidentified

forafewdays...UsingCCTVcam-eras,wefoundamotorcycleandtwomen near the crime spot.The bikewas then traced to theaccusedandtheyweredetained.During interrogation, they con-fessed to have abducted thewoman before raping her andstrangulatinghertodeath,”saidaseniorpoliceofficer.ENS

Two from Anand held for‘rape, murder’ of woman

MangalGavit joinedBJP inAhwa,Dangs,onSunday. Express

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,OCTOBER19

FOURPERSONSwere injuredaf-ter close to two dozenmen gotintoafightandoneopenedfireatVadodara's Dumad junction onMonday, police said.While onepersonsufferedgunshotinjuries,theotherthreewereinjuredintheclash,policeadded.Assistant Commissioner of

Police B B Rathod said that abrick factory owner from Savliarea of Vadodara district hadgone to Dumad to "convince" alabourertoreturntowork,whensome auto rickshaw drivers atthe spot intervened and as-saulted theowner."Thebrickfactoryownerwas

trying to convince the labourerandhiswife to return to the fac-tory forwork. The labourer cou-ple, however, were not keen ongoingbackandanargumenten-sued. Meanwhile, some autorickshawdrivers,whowerepres-ent at the site, joined in to sup-

portthelabourersandaskedtheownertoleave.Soon,aheatedar-gumenttookplaceandoneofthedrivers assaulted the factoryowner. In no time, groups fromboth thesidesof thedrivers andthe factory owner clashedwitheachother,"Rathodsaid.Themob indulged in stone-

pelting, beat each other with

sticksandoneoftheaccusedevenfired five rounds, Rathod said.Police said that the man whoopenedfiredwasinpossessionofa licensedweapon. Police havealsodeniedanypersistingrivalrybetweenthetwogroups,despiteallegations that the incidentwasrelated to the allegedmurder ofan auto rickshawdriver inAjwaroadareaearlierthismonth.Rathod said, "This was a

spontaneousincidentandhasnoconnection with the previouscase.Furtherprobeisunderwaytoestablishif thelabourerswereboundbysomecontractthatthefactoryownerwasrefusingtoletthemgo.Wearealsoprobingtheallegation of the factory ownerthathewascarryingRs1lakhonhis personwhen the riot brokeoutwhich he claimswas stolenin theruckus."Thefourinjuredwererushed

to SSG hospital for treatmentand are stable. Forensic teamshave recovered five empty bul-letshellsfromthespot.AnFIRatHarnipolicestationisunderway.

4 persons injured in groupclash, firing in Vadodara

Onepersonwhowasinjured inthefiring. Express

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

CHILD LABOURERS continue tobe employed in large numbersatcottonseedfarmsintribalar-eas of Gujarat, said SudhirKatiyar from the Centre forLabour Research and Action onMonday. The organisation hadundertakenasurveyof farmsinDanta taluka of BanaskanthadistrictalongwithanotherNGO,Adivasi SarvangiVikasSangh.Katiyarsaidtheyhadvisited17

farms in Danta and DeodhartalukasofBanaskanthadistrictandKotada, in theneighbouringstateof Rajasthan, during Septemberthisyear. “Thesechildrenareem-ployedtocrosspollinatethemaleflowerwith the female flowerof

theBTcottonplant in farms thatproducecottonseeds forbigcor-poratecompaniesengagedinmar-ketingandsaleofcottonseeds,”hesaidwhileaddressingavirtualme-diaconferenceonMonday.Sharingpicturesandvideosof

thechildrenengagedinthecrosspollinationprocess, Katiyar saidthat thesefarmsemployingchil-dren in the under 14-age groupare part of the contract farmingundertakenby the seed compa-nies.“Theyarepaidwagesaslowas Rs 150 a day,” said DeepakDabhi of Adivasi Sarvangi VikasSangh, Danta. Dabhi shared hispersonalexperiencesofvisitingafew farmswhere childrenwereengagedinagricultureprocess.The issue of child labourers

beingengagedincottonfarmsinGujarathadcometolightin2007-

’08. “It has continued since then.Themigration and trafficking ofchildrenhas comedowndrasti-cally.Buttheseedproductionhasshifted to tribal farms inNorthGujaratandSouthRajasthan.Thisincludes tribal farms ofKhedbrahma in Sabarkantha,Bhiloda andMehgraj in Aravalidistrict, Pavi JetpurandBodoli inChottaUdepurandLunawada inMahisagar,”Katiyarsaid.“A lotofworkhasbeendone

by both Gujarat and Rajasthangovernments in the past to cur-tail child labour in cotton seedsfarmsof Gujarat.Wehave againstartedconductingraidsineverydistrict since August after theCovidlockdownwaslifted,”saidMC Kariya, additional deputylabour commissionerwho tack-lesactivitiesagainstchildlabour.

Child labour exists in cotton seedfarms of north Gujarat: NGOs

AVINASHNAIRAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

OVER131HECTARESoflandin14villageson thebanksof the riverNarmadawill beacquiredby theGujarat government for theRs5,300-croreBhadbhutbarrageprojectinBharuchdistrict.Thelandacquisitionisspecifi-

callymeanttobuildfloodprotec-tionembankmentsonbothsidesof the river nearBharuch. These

embankmentswillbeginfromtheBhadbhutreservoirwhichwillbelocatedjust25kmawayfromthemouthof riverNarmadaandwillbebuiltupstream,officialsourcessaid.“Atotalof131.53hectareswillbeacquired for theproject.Mostoftheselandparcelsbelongto377farmersin14villages,”aseniorof-ficial of theKalpasardepartmenttoldTheIndianExpressrequestinganonymity.Anofficial notification in this

regardwaspublishedacoupleof

weeks ago. “The embankmentswill be several kilometres longandwillprotectboththebanks,”theofficialadded.Therightbankflood protection embankmentthatwill fall on side of Bharuchcitywill be 14 km long andwillhave an average height of fourmetres. The left bank floodpro-tection embankment, falling ontheAnkleshwar side,will be 27kmlongwithanaverageheightofeightmetres.Boththeseembank-mentswillrunupstreamfromthe

barragetotheGoldenBridge.“When Sardar Sarovar dam

overflowsduringmonsoon, thearea of 13 villages on the rightbank of Bharuch and Vagratalukasgetssubmerged.Similarly,large scale soil erosionalso takesplaceduringthefloodswhichalsoinundates14villagesonleftbankofAnkleshwarandHansottalukasof the district. These embank-mentswillhelpsavethebanksinthefuture,”theofficialadded.Though local villagers have

not protested so far against thelandacquisition, local fishermensaid they have been protestingagainst the barrage project forlong. “Nowthat thegovernmenthasstartedimplementationoftheproject, the fishermen commu-nitywillbegettingtogethertore-view their demands before thegovernmentwhichincludesjobsfor theyouth in families affectedby the project,” said KamleshMadhiwala, president of SamastBharuchMachimarSamiti.

OnAugust2020,GujaratChiefMinister Vijay Rupani hadlaunchedtheconstructionof theBhadbhutbarrageproject,whichinvolvesbuildinga1.7kmcause-way-cum-weir barragewith 90gates across theNarmada rivernear Bharuch city. This barragewill create a sweetwater lakeof600million cubicmetres on theriver. A joint venture of DilipBuildcon Ltd and HindustanConstructionCompanyhasbeenawardedtheproject.

RESERVOIRUPSTREAMNARMADA

131 hectares to be acquired for Bhadbhut barrage project

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,AHMEDABAD,

OCTOBER19

IN THEmiddle of campaigningforthebypollstoeightAssemblyconstituencies in the state, theGujaratBJP, onMonday, aggres-sively took on the OppositionCongress and alleged the latterof indulginginactswhichdonotsuitaresponsiblepoliticalparty.Holding the Congress party

responsible for an incident re-ported from Surat on Sunday,when a fewpeople had throwneggs during the election cam-paignmeeting of BJP candidateJV Kakadiya, BJP’s media con-vener Prashant Vala said in apressstatement,“BJPisgettingahuge response from people onall the (eight) Assembly seats.WhentheblessingsofpeopleofGujarat are with BJP, Congress,whichhas realized adefeat, hasbeen indulging into petty actswhich do not suit a responsiblepolitical party. The incident ofthrowingeggsinSuratisshame-ful. Congress has not been suc-cessful indirectfightagainstBJPand therefore it is trying to getsuch petty acts done throughsomerowdyelements tovitiatetheatmosphere (sic).”Vala also alleged that

Congress does not have any is-sue against BJP and therefore, isspreadingcanardstomisleadthepeople of Gujarat. “Yesterday,they said that 200members ofBJP’s IT Cell joined Congress.However,thisiscompletelyfalse.Congress is only doing a falsestage show by offering (its)scarves to its ownworkers. Noresponsible workers of BJP’s ITCellhave joinedCongress.”AccordingtoGujaratCongress

leaders, asmany as 200 formersmembersoftheBJPITCelljoinedthe Gujarat Pradesh CongressCommittee (GPCC) in an eventheld at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan inAhmedabadonSunday.“We have welcomed 200

personswhowere formerly as-sociated with BJP IT Cell inCongressparty.TheyarefromalloverGujarat andmaximumarefrom Dahegam. They haveclaimed that they are disillu-sioned by the tactics of the BJPespecially the way they haveasked the IT cell to do rumourmongering and hate speech onsocial media,” said JayrajsinhParmar, spokesperson,GPCC.Also speaking on the specu-

lations about resentment of BJPMLA from Umreth GovindParmar over certain issues, Valasaid, “BJP MLA from Umreth,Govind Parmar, does not haveany resentment towards theparty and so, the Congress doesnot need to be happy about it.Today, Parmar has met ChiefMinisterVijayRupani.”Vala attacked Congress and

said that 23 of its top leadershaveexpressedtheirresentmentbefore theparty leadership.The by-elections to eight

Assembly constituencies -Dangs, Kaprada, Dhari, Abdasa,Morbi, Gadhada, Karjan andLimbdi - are scheduled onNovember3.Theelectionshavebeennecessitatedfollowingtheresignations of CongressMLAsfrom the eight seats; five ofthem joined BJP and have beennominatedbythelatterpartyasits candidates in the by-elec-tions.With this,Congress isun-der pressure towinback all theeight seats.

Congressindulging inpetty acts...does not suita responsibleparty: BJP

ASSEMBLYBY-ELECTION

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,OCTOBER19

THE AHMEDABADMunicipalCorporation’s leader of opposi-tion Dinesh Sharma resignedfromhispostonMonday.“I have submittedmy resig-

nation to state president AmitChavdatoday(Monday)evening.It isuptohimtotakeadecision,”saidSharma.SharmahasservedastheleaderofoppositionofBJP-ruled AMC for nearly five yearssucceeding late BadruddinShaikhwhosuccumbedtoCovidinApril thisyear.Onthereasonsforhisresigna-

tion,Sharmasaid,“Ihaveresignedin party’s interest. There are dif-ferencesamongpartymembers,itisnormal.Iwillacceptwhateverthepartywilldecide.”However,itissaidtobetherift

between Sharma and two cityMLAs—DanilimdaMLAShaileshParmar and Bapunagar MLAHimmatsinhPatel—asthereasonfor this suddenmove at a timewhenhis term isnearinganendandthecorporationelectionscanbeannouncedanytime. Party in-siders revealed that the twocityMLAswerealsothereasonbehinda strong demand to removeSharmatwoandahalfyearsback.Theparty,however,tookadecisioninSharma'sfavouratthattime.Partymembersclaimedthat

the move will hit the party'sprospects in the upcoming ur-banlocalbodyelectionandsendwrongmessage among votersand party workers. It is only tosatisfy one's ego, stated one oftheCongressMLAs.Whencontacted,AMCsecre-

taryArunRPandyasaid,“DineshSharmahasresignedbutneitherhe nor the party had communi-catedthistomyoffice.Ifthepartychief accepts his resignation, hehastosurrenderhisofficialvehi-cleandaccommodation.”AsperAMCrules, it is thepartythatde-cides to appoint or remove theleaderofoppositionandcommu-nicatethesametoAMC,headded.

Thebypollstoeight

AssemblysetsofDangs,

Kaprada,Dhari,Abdasa,

Morbi,Gadhada,Karjan

andLimbdiisonNov3

AMC’s leaderof oppositionresigns fromhis post

EducationMinisterBhupendrasinhChudasamaat thefoundationstone-layingceremonyinGandhinagaronMonday. Express

Ahmedabad

ADVERTORIAL

Please tell us something about theSmolensk State Medical University.The Smolensk State Medical University is a RussianGovernment Medical University recognised byWHO and by all countries of the world includingUSA,UK, India etc.SSMU was founded in 1920 andso is celebrating its 100 years in 2020.

SSMU is very popular among Indian students.Since 2002 SSMU has been giving admission to In-dian students. Since then more than 3000 Indianstudents have taken admission and more than 2000Indians have received a Medical degree from theSSMU.Right now,1350 Indian students are studyinghere,out of whom about 600 are girls.

We have 3 separate hostels for our Indian stu-dents;one of them is for Indian girls.We have an In-dian mess running on a no-profit-no-loss systemand 3 Indian cooks are working in it. This mess isserving Pure-Vegetarian and Non-Vegetarian In-dian food. Very high standards of hygiene aremaintained at the mess.

In 2020 again,342 seats have been reserved forIndian students and admissions are going on.Theduration of Medical education is 6 years and In-dian students are taught in the English medium.

The popularity of SSMU is rising among Indianstudents every year because of the top results itsgraduates are getting in the FMGE or ScreeningTest in India. I am proud to say that the passingpercentage of SSMU graduates in FMGE is thehighest among all foreign medical colleges andthis fact is confirmed by the National Board of Ex-amination which conducts this exam. Actually,FMGE was never a target for our students;we pre-pare them for Pre-PG exam and for real challengesin a doctor’s professional life. I am again very proudto say that our graduates have got a 100% passingresult in USMLE also. Our graduates are workingin almost all developed countries of the world.

Your graduates are very proud to bealumni of SSMU;why so?Well, we don’t make just doctors, we first of all

make good human beings.A doctor who is not hu-mane enough cannot be a doctor.We don’t want tobe ashamed of having produced a bad doctor,so wealways keep our quality standards very high.

What are the required qualifications foradmission?■ 17 years of age.■ Minimum 50% marks in 12th in PCB and a pass

in English.■ Should have qualified NEET in 2018, 2019 or

2020.

What is ‘Cosmos Educational Consultants’?We at the SSMU understood that we need a firm towork in India.So,Cosmos Educational Consultantswas designed and it works for the assistance of In-dian students seeking admission to the SSMU only.

CEC does not give admissions to any other med-ical college. I am the Director of CEC.We are helpingstudents in documentation for admission proce-dure,visa and air-tickets.CEC continues to help thecandidates even after they graduate.All assistanceand documentation after getting admission andafter graduation is provided free of cost. Becausethese students and then graduates become like myown children. Actually, I also offer them differentscholarships.

For granting admissions, have you ap-pointed agents in India?No, we do not appoint agents; we don’t want ourstudents to pay any agent’s fee.

From where can a desiring candidate getinformation about SSMU?It’s very easy; the candidate has to visit our sitewww.sgmu.info. All information in detail can befound there.

What is the procedure for taking admis-sion in SSMU?On the site in the menu there is a list of InformationCentres in India. Click on it. A list of Indian infor-mation centres with their mobile numbers willopen. On this list find the nearest possible infor-mation centre and give them a call.

Who runs these information centres?These information centres are actually our gradu-ates or parents of students currently studying inSSMU. Because they have first hand informationso they can explain you everything in detail.Actu-ally, this works in 4 ways:

A new candidate does not have to go to anyagent who will be interested only in his commis-sion.Commission agents usually don’t have full in-formation about universities abroad.

The new candidate and his parents can meet anactual student or graduate of SSMU and can un-derstand the system of education in SSMU and,

further,what to do after getting the degree.The graduate or student of SSMU will assess the

candidate and can judge if this candidate will bea good student for SSMU or not and accordinglycan recommend or not recommend that candidateto us.

The Information Centre will then provide an ap-plication form and related documents, and help infilling and then sending them to the head-office ofCEC.The rest is done by the CEC head office.

What is the fee structure of SSMU for In-dian students in 2020?The per year fee is USA $6000 which has to be paidin Russia only and there’s a one-time payment in In-dia of Rs. 1,50,000 which includes Admissionprocess,Visa,Air-Ticket,GST etc.

Please tell us about the scholarships yougive to Indian students at SSMU.Well, actually, I have been giving these scholar-ships since 2002 to deserving and hardworkingstudents.These scholarships are in memory of myparents and are open to all Indian students ofSSMU.After the completion of every year, I give anamount equivalent to the tuition fee to the studentwho secures the highest marks among Indian stu-dents of his class for every year of education.Everyyear, I provide approximately Rs 25 lakh as scholar-ship to Indian students.

These scholarships have been motivating mystudents for the last 18 years now.

I always tell them that this scholarship is like aloan they have been given; they will have to doubleit and repay it when they start earning, not to me,but to any deserving and hardworking person whois not a relative or friend.

This year, that is 2020, because our Universityhas completed 100 years, I have announced inaddition to the aforementioned scholarships,one more scholarship of approximatelyRs 37000 per year to every Indian student takingadmission in 2020.

MESSAGE

Official website of Smolensk State Medical University: www.sgmu.info

Dr. Roman S. KozlovChancellor, SSMU

for higher specialisation in all surgical & non-surgi-cal disciplines across the world.They are clinicallysound and have a unique and immersive culturalexposure not only to Russia but also to places allaround the globe, that brings about an everlastingchange in their personality and helps them exceedexpectations in their careers and personal lives.

DR. PRIYANK PATEL(SSMU graduate 2008, Gold Medalist)MD, D.M. Cancer Specialist, USA

dented international health experience,which helpedme achieve my residency goals in the USA.The sixyears of exposure facilitated not only the accumulationof medical knowledge but also the honing of interper-sonal and communication skills essential to the effec-tive practice of medicine.The Dean of the foreign de-partment sees it as his mission to aid medical studentsin pursuit of these long-term goals.Good luck!

DR. JAI BHATT(SSMU Graduate 2011) M.D. Physician, New Jersey, US

SSMU, I found a ray of hope. I find no words to ex-press my gratitude towards this reputed medicaluniversity. I graduated from this university in 2011with flying colours. I confidently cracked the MCIScreening test in the1st attempt.Today I am enjoy-ing my professional career as a neurology residentat Erfurt, Germany.

DR. KUNAL PATEL(SSMU Graduate 2011)M.D (Neurology), Erfurt, Germany

its alumni are serving patients and participating inresearch work in virtually all the continents of theplanet. I am proud to say that I’m a valedictorian ofSSMU. My experience at the University was simplygratifying.The professors are clinically and peda-gogically accomplished and have impeccable skillsin basic as well as clinical sciences. I am really fortu-nate to have had SSMU as my alma mater becauseit gave me the required zest and the motivation onerequires in medical school.The training that I re-ceived in my undergraduate studies helped me inmy quest to develop astute clinical skills. I have justcleared the USMLE and will be pursuing a speciali-sation in the United States ofAmerica.

DR. NEHAL B. NEUREKAR(SSMU Graduate 2018, Gold Medalist)

the world. I found that medical education in Russia wasthe best and SSMU was the top-most for MBBS.Throughout my admission process Dr. Alok Aeron, Di-rector of Cosmos Educational Consultants,and his teamhelped me and they made it feel very simple.When mystudies started, I understood that my decision was ab-solutely correct, because firstly education is entirely inEnglish medium and secondly relations between theProfessors and Indian students were so nice that Pro-fessors became like our local guardians. The practical

and theoretical knowledge which I gained at this univer-sity has proved very helpful in my career. Apart fromthis, Dr.Alok Aeron, in memory of his parents, providesscholarships to Indian students. I proudly say that I wasa scholarship holder throughout my education (2011-2017) and got a degree with GOLD MEDAL from SSMU.At present I am pursuing my PG degree inAnesthesiol-ogy. SSMU has played a crucial role in making me agood doctor who can serve patients and the Nation.

DR.AKSHAY BHUMKAR(SSMU Graduate 2017, Gold Medalist)

A doctor has to be humane first : Dr Alok Aeron

Dr. Roman S. Kozlov and Dr.Alok Aeron

100 years of SMOLENSK STATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY:Indian Students’ Favourite Foreign Medical University

Testimonials from distinguished Alumni

Hostel Buildings

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,OCTOBER20,2020

Ahmedabad

CALENDAR6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,OCTOBER20,2020CROSSWORD4254

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SUDOKU4267

DifficultyLevel5s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

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nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

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SEIOR DJOCNU

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7673.31 lakhsRs.20,000/- +12% GST EMD

Rs.76.73 lakhs

Pre Bid Mee�ng 12th November 2020, 11.00 A.M

Last Date and Time of Submission of Bid 25th November 2020, 03.00 P.M

Bid Opening Date and Time 26th November 2020, 04.00 P.M

DELHI JAL BOARD: DELHI SARKAR

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SOUTH) IV

O.H.T O.I.A Ph-II: OPFOSITE GOVIND PURI: NEW DELHI - 20.

e-mail: eesouthiv498@gmail.com/Tel. 011-26388976

Press N.I.T. NO: 21 S-IV (2020-21)

Further details in this regard may be seen at (https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in)

Sd/-

ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) (Rajeev Kumar Gupta)

Advt. No. J.S.V. 190 (2020-21) EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SOUTH)

S.

No.Name of work

Estimated

Cost (In Rs.)

Date of release of tender in e-

procurement solution

Last date/time of receipt of tender

through e-procurement solution

1.

Providing laying internal D.I. water distribution

system in Abul Fazal Enclave Block E to N in

Okhla Constituency AC-54 under EE (South)IV

3,54,94,067/-2020_ DJB_ 195675_1

16.10.2020

17.11.2020

up to 3.00 pm

"STOP CORONA; Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene"

T TAMILNADU MEDICAL SERVICES CORPORATION LTD.

DIPR/3887/Tender/2020 General Manager (Services)For details visit www.tenders.tn.gov.in and TNMSC website www.tnmsc.tn.gov.in.

No.417, Pantheon Road, Egmore, Chennai-600 008.Phone : 28191890 / 28190259; Fax: 044 –28190636 E-Mail: equipment.tnmsc@tn.gov.in

1. The Tender due date is extended as follows:INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING – TENDER EXTENSION NOTICE

1) Tender No.PKG6/ICB/TNUHP/JICA/C2/OPE-I/TNMSC/ENGG/2020, dt.04.02.2020 –Mul�para Monitor (4),Mul�para Monitor with IBP (4), Mul�para Monitor with EtCO2 (18), Defibrillator (15), Anesthesia Worksta�on withMonitor (18), AnesthesiaWorksta�on (20), Opera�on Theatre Fracture Table (17) andOpera�on Theatre Table (10)

Sl. No. Sale period Submission of Bids Opening of Bids

1 Upto 09.11.2020 10.11.2020, 03.00 PM 10.11.2020, 04.00 PM

Commissioner,Madurai City Municipal CorporationDIPR/3886 /TENDER/ 2020

GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU

Arinagar Anna Maligai, Tallakulam, Madurai, Tamil Nadu.MADURAI CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

INVITATION FOR BIDS

Date

Deadline forSubmission of Bids

th19 October 2020

03.12.2020, upto 15.00 Hrs.

Loan No. and Title

Contract No. andTitle

Tamil Nadu Urban Flagship Investment Program (TNUFIP): Tranche 2

Tender Notice No. Ma.Po. 2/12276/AMRUT(WS) 4/2020-2021Dedicated Water Supply Scheme for Madurai City Municipal Corporation from MullaiPeriyar River at Lower Camp - Construction of Distribution Network System (DI &HDPE), House Service Connections, and Instrumentation for Madurai City MunicipalCorporation Added Area - Package 4 – Phase II

1. India has applied for financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) towards the cost of Tamil NaduUrban Flagship Investment Program (TNUFIP) – Tranche 2. Part of this financing will be used for paymentsunder theContract namedabove. Bidding is open toBidders fromeligible source countries of theADB.

2. “The Commissioner, Madurai City Municipal Corporation” (“the Employer”) invites sealed bids fromeligible Bidders for the followingworks.

Dedicated Water Supply Scheme for Madurai City Municipal Corporation from Mullai Periyar River at LowerCamp - Construction of Distribution Network System (DI & HDPE), House Service Connections, andInstrumentation forMadurai CityMunicipal CorporationAddedArea -Package 4 – Phase II (“the Works”).

3. National competitive bidding will be conducted in accordance with ADB's Single-Stage: Two-Envelopebidding procedure and is open to all Bidders fromeligible countries as described in theBiddingDocument.

4. Only eligible Bidderswith the following key qualifications should participate in this bidding:

Minimumaverage annual construction turnover of INR.114.55 Crores, calculate