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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

New Delhi

CALENDAR2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

CROSSWORD4545

ACROSS1 Dictatorial soldiers inkhaki forexample (11)

9 Gapesat spectacles(7)

10 Apie is turneda fineshadeofbrown(5)

11 Recordapieceofmusic(4)

12 Idraggunout forprotection(8)

14 Plantonehundredandfiftytoomany(6)

16 Cold tart(6)

18 Makeasuit?(8)

19 Temperature in the freezerordinarily (4)

22 Apoisonouscreeper(5)

23 This is irritating forsightseers,naturally (7)

24 Waythat isperfectlyclear(5,6)

DOWN2 Senseof anxietypossiblynagsthe thirdmate (5)

3 Donothing inmidLent(4)

4 Anevenchance thematadorwill try toavoid(4-2)

5 Stopandrelaxwithashower(8)

6 Fixaquiet spot (7)7 Mostappealing featureof anewspaperperhaps(5,6)

8 Supplementarybenefit forworkers lackingsecurity(6,5)

13 Clothworker;one inamess(8)

15 Chooseonemother - thebest(7)

17 Aproblemfor thebridge-builder toemphasise(6)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)TheMoonupsthestakes, andshouldgiveyoutheemotionalenergy

anddeterminationtogetoff toagoodstart. This isnecessary ifyouarenowtotakedecisionsrelatingtoa long-termpartnership.Allyouneed is thestayingpowertosurviveuntil arivalbacksdown.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Lookinwardfortheanswerstoday, forthekeytoyourhopesandthesolutionto

yourfears lieswithyouratherthanwithfriends, loversoremployers.True, theymayhavearoletoplay,buttheyalsodependonyour imaginativelead.Doyourbit.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Gofor teamworktoday.Youhaveastrong individualiststreak,butyou'renot

beingaskedtosubordinateyourinterests to thoseof otherpeople.Youmayhavethechance, if youwish, tocallonthemtoserveyou.Of course,youcan'tmakethemagree,butif youdon't try,you'llneverknow.

CANCER(June22- July23)Professional affairsmust take firstplacetoday. Even if you'renotatwork, it's time

topromoteyourself in thecommunity, acceptingresponsibilityandattractingpraiseandapplause.Don'tbeafraid to takeanunusualapproachas theelementofsurprise couldwork inyour favour.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Thebroad, far-reachingconnectionbetweenMercuryandVenus is

increasingyourcharmlevel.Therewillbemomentsover thenext fortnightwhenyouaregrievouslyprovoked,butyou'llbe foolishtorespondinkind.You'lldomuchbetter toreact toasnarlwithasmile.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sept23)There is a case tobemade for spendingtimeonbusinessmatters. Inpointoffactyou'll be ina

rather charitablemood, andcouldbeasoft touch fordeservingcauses. It's all aquestionofmakingsure they'regenuine.Mindyou, thatmightbeeasier said thandone.

LIBRA(Sept24-Oct23)Youhave topaymoreattention topartners' hopes anddesires, if only

because that's thebestway tokeep themquiet. There is agreat deal tobe said formakinga fewconfessionsof yourown,butpickyour time. If you catchpartners at thewrongmomentyoumight give completely thewrong impression.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov22)Harmoniousconnections linkaregionof yoursolarchart representing

thedailyworkroutineto thatsignifyingprofessionalambitions.Yourdesire forstatusamongstyourpeerscouldbeachieved,butonlywithextraeffortonyourpart.Luckdoesn't comeinto it.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov23-Dec22)Thebroadplanetaryalignmentisprofoundlyhelpful.Itdoesn'ttakemuch

imaginationtoseethat,withconfidence,youcouldleaveplanetearth,flytothecloudsandsoarwiththebirdsoverthenexttwodays-atleastinyourdreams.Inotherwords,it'sgoodtotrytotakeanoverviewofallyourdailyactivitiesandpressures.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Yourattentionwillbedrawntodomesticaffairs,probablybecauseof

whatpartnerssayordo, ratherthanbecauseofwhatyouwant.Theanswerscouldbefinancial,anditmaybesufficienttothrowextramoneyatdiscontentedpeople.At least,youcanhopethatthiswilldothetrick.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)You'renotalwaysknownforyourwillingness to thinkthings through,but

today'sdecisionsandchoicesshouldbegivena littleextraconsideration.Aboveall, bepractical, especiallywherechildrenareconcerned.And if ayoungerrelationcomestoyouforadvice, try tosee theworldthroughtheireyes.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Youcanbesurprisingly resolutewheremoney isinvolved,and it looks

as if youwillbedeterminedtoseethatan investment isreturned.Youmay,however,berequiredtoput in justa littleextraeffort.But then, itmightbeanemotional favour thatneeds toberepaid.

SUDOKU4607

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4606

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Ittakesawisemanto___ awiseman.-Xenophanes(9)

SOLUTION:ERODE,PATIO,THENCE,GUZZLEAnswer:Ittakesawisemantorecognizeawiseman.-Xenophanes

DOEER EEHTCN

APTIO ELUZGZ

SolutionsCrossword4544:Across:1Stifle,4Acrimony,9Ordain,10Estrange,12Digs,13Relay,14Arid,17Wonderstruck,20Numismatists,23Noon,24Cairo,25Loaf,28Insomnia,29Senior,30Gremlins,31Pounce.Down:1Slowdown,2Indigent,3Laid,5Casualremark,6Inre,7Owners,8Yields,11Perspiration,15Hetup,16Scott,18Estonian,19Useforce,21Ending,22Mousse,26Emil,27Veto.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

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

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

ONGC, as part of celebrations of the 75th year of thenation’s Independence, has organised visits of studentsfrom Kendriya Vidyalaya and engineering colleges to its oil-fields in different parts of India. These field trips havearoused the interest of the younger generation of India inthe oil and gas business, which is a vital element of India’senergy independence.

TPDDL has launched its popular ‘Pay Bill and Win’ schemein a bid to promote digital mode of payments and ensurethe safety of its consumers. TPDDL, through an array ofinitiatives, encourages its consumers to stay at home andopt for digital modes of bill payment.

OIL held its 62nd Annual General Body meeting at its Cor-porate Office in Noida. The AGM was held on a virtualplatform, necessitated by the extraordinary demands ofpresent time. SC Mishra, CMD started the AGM.

NBCC has recently organised an in-house free health check-up camp for employees NBCC Zonal office in West Bengal.During this camp, a team of Doctors examined about 43employees including ex-employees / contractors.

CRPF; Manoj Sinha, lieutenant Governor of J&K, flagged-offthe Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav CRPF Cycle Rally from GCCRPF, Jammu. The rally will traverse across several statesto reach Raj Ghat on 02nd October. The rally is an initiative ofthe Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75years of progressive India and the glorious history of itspeople, culture, and achievements.

IGNOU; Dharmendra Pradhan, M/o Education, laid thefoundation stone of the IGNOU Regional Centres buildings ofRCs Bangalore, Noida and Pune through virtual mode. TheMinister addressed the students and staff on the occasionvirtually.

The Muhtoot Group donated an Ambulance (MobileMedical Unit) to DAV Educational & Welfare Society forhelping the poor and venerable people for their medical test,vaccinations etc. in Delhi NCR. The Ambulance (MobileMedical Unit) was Flagged off by Alexander GeorgeMuthoot, Dy MD, at Corporate office of The Muthoot Groupin Alaknanda, ND, in presence of officials of DAVEducational & Welfare Society.

CWC IS organizing the 4th Rashtriya Poshan Maah whichcomes under POSHAN ABHIYAAN. The campaign ofPoshan Maah is to be celebrated under 4 different themesduring 4 weeks in the month of September, 2021.

POSHAN ABHIYAAN – CWCCelebratingWorldRhinoDay, IndianOil has recently rolled outseveral initiatives towards protecting the One-Horned Rhino,categorizedas 'vulnerable' asperExtinctionRiskbyWWF.SMVaidya, Chairman, IndianOil, visited the Delhi Zoo and partic-ipated in various activities to generate awareness.

INITIATIVES – IOCL

PHDCCI has recently organised Gata Rahe Mera Dil – aMusical Evening to commemorate 75th India’s independe-nce&PHDExcellence Award at PHDHouse,ND. S Bhosle,Sunali Rathod,RKRathod, Papon, Shibani Kashyap & Dan-ish Khan were felicitated with PHD Excellence Award.

MUSICAL EVENING – PHDCCINHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station, Sikkim conferredwith ‘Blue Planet Prize’ by International Hydropower Associ-ation (IHA). AK Singh (CMD; NHPC), YK Chaubey (Dir Tech;NHPC) & other senior officers alongwith IHA-Blue PlanetPrize Trophy.

AWARD - NHPC

The International Women's In-solvency & RestructuringConfederation (IWIRC) ispleased to announce the recip-ient, Mamta Binani, of the 4thedition of the IWIRC Woman ofthe Year in Restructuring (Asia)Award ("WOYR(A) Award"). The WOYR(A) Award is open toany female professional in the restructuring & insolvency in-dustry based in Asia, including lawyers, judges, bankers, ac-countants, turnaround managers, restructuring advisers &academicians. Mamta Binani practises as both a lawyer &an insolvency professional in India.

AWARD – IWIRC

NFL has recently bagged 7 awards in the 11th PRCI Excellen-ce Awards held at Goa. In the individual category, BV Vittal(GM-HR) won Best HR Person of the year & Sanjeev Randeva(DGM - CC & HR) received ‘Communicator of the year Award- Corporate Branding’.

AWARD - NFL

Bank of Maharashtra received “Rajbhasha Kirti Puraskar”for better implementation of Rajbhasha Hindi. AS Rajeev (MD& CEO – BoM) received the award from Nisith Pramanik,MoS Home Affairs, at Vigyan Bhawan, ND.

AWARD – BOMDFCCIL’s 3rd Stakeholders Meet for Eastern DFC’s 374 kmSonnagar (New Chiraila Pauthu) – New Andal section on PPPmodel, over 40 enthusiastic participants from Indian & MNCCompanies, Financial Institutions, Banks, & ConsultancyFirms etc., participated.

MEET – DFCCIL

TRIFED and Big Basket have entered into a MoU, recently.The MoU was exchanged between Seshu Kumar (CMO;BIG BASKET) and Pravir Krishna (MD; TRIFED) in the pres-ence of Arjun Munda, M/o Tribal Affairs.

MOU – TRIFEDTATA Power -DDL and Genus Power signed a MoU to pro-vide education and training related to AMI Development in thepresence of S Verma, Chief-HR, IR& EHS, TPDDL & A Tan-don, Executive VP, Genus Power.

MOU -TPDDLPNB sanctions loan worth Rs 1791 crore at Mega CreditCamp organised across North-East India. Dr HimantaBiswa Sarma, Assam Chief Minister, lauded the Bank at thesigning of MoU between PNB and Assam Bio Refinery.

MEGA CREDIT CAMP - PNB

Dr Nalin Shinghal, CMD, BHEL, addressed sharehold-ers through video conferencing, at 57th Annual GeneralMeeting in the presence of the Board of Directors of thecompany in New Delhi.

AGM – BHEL

II,, Sneh LataW/oDharamVirSinghR/oA-3/340paschimViharNewDelhi solemnlyaffirm&declare thar SnehLataChauhanAndSnehLataare sameperson. For all futurereferencemynameshouldbeconsideredasSneh Lataonly

0050184681-1

I, Karunakar Rao PeddiRaju,R/o X-176, Regency Park 2,DLF Phase 4, Sector 27,Gurugram 122009 andpurchaser of Flat No. 5C,Pocket A13, DDA MIG Flats,Kalkaji Extension, New Delhihave lost the original DDAAllotment letter, Possessionletter, Demand letter, andNOC of water and electricityof this DDA flat on 31/07/21in Gurugram. Finder pleasecall: 9873048033

PUBLIC NOTICEÀFFUÊþd³FIY ÀFc¨F³FF¸ F Z S e ¸ F b U d ¢ I Y » F F ß F e ¸ F ° F e ³ F S d ¦ F À F ´ F b Â F e ß F eA»Fe¸Fbïe³F d³FUFÀFe ÀFe-49, ¦F»Fe ³Fa¶FS 19, ³FF±FÊ§FFZ³OF, ¦FPÞe ¸FZ³PcXa, dQ»»Fe-110053 ³FZ A´F³FZ ¶FZMZ¸FF`× AFd¸FS CÀFIYe ´F°³Fe ¨FFaQ³Fe CRÊY °FF³¹FF õFSF ¸FZSZX¶FZMZ ¸FF`.× AFdQ»F, ¶FZMe ÀF»F¸FF EUa CÀFIZY ´Fd°F ¸FF`×A³FeÀF, LFZMe ¶FZMe B»¸FF ÀFZ »FOXÞFBÊ ÓF¦FOÞF IYS³FZ,QbUÊÐ¹FUWFS IYS³FZ, U ¸FZSZX d³F¹FaÂF¯F ÀFZ ¶FFWS WXFZ³Fm IZYIYFS¯F A´F³Fe ÀF¸FÀ°F ¨F»F U A¨F»F ÀFa´FdØF¹FFZÔ ÀFZ¶FZQJ»F IYS dQ¹FF W`X °F±FF ÀF¸FÀ°F ´FFdSUFdSIY ÀFa¶Fa²FdU¨LZXQ IYS d»FE W`ÔXÜ ¸FF`×. AFd¸FS U CÀFIYe ´F°³Fe¨FFaQ³Fe CRÊY °FF³¹FF IZY dIYÀFe ·Fe IYF¹FÊ/»FZ³F-QZ³F,»FOXÞFBÊ ÓF¦FOXÞZ WZX°Fb ¸FZSZX ¸FbUd¢IY»F U C´FSXFZö »FFZ¦F UCÀFIZY ´FdSUFS IZY A³¹F ÀFQÀ¹F dþ¸¸FZQFS ³FWeÔ WXFZa¦FZÜ

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ClassifiedsPPEERRSSOONNAALL

II,, NamrataDeswalD/oShisaSinghR/oDDAHouseKothi No,51, Sector-10, Dwarka, NewDelhi-110075 have changedmyname fromNamrtaDeswal toNamrataDeswal for all futurepurposes.

0040585946-1

II ,, Anita Deswal W/o ShisaSingh R/o DDA HouseKothi No, 51, Sector-10,Dwarka, New Delhi-110075have changed my namefrom Anita to AnitaDeswal for al l futurepurposes.

0040585948-1

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SINCE 1932

New Delhi

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,RANCHI,BHUBANESWAR,BHOPAL,SEPTEMBER26

THELACKofdevelopmentisthemain reason for dissatisfactioninthedistrictswhereMaoistsareactive,anditisimportanttohaveuninterrupted development towean the youth away from themovement,HomeMinisterAmitShahsaidonSunday.Shahmetwith top officials

fromninestatesaffectedbyLeft-WingExtremism(LWE)toreviewthesecuritysituationandprogressofdevelopmentprojects.Sixchiefministerswerepres-

ent;fourstateswererepresentedonly by their chief secretariesanddirectorsgeneralof police.“Therootcauseofdissatisfac-

tionisthatdevelopmenthasnotreached there...since independ-

ence and...it is very essential toensureaccessibilitytofast-paceddevelopment so that commonandinnocentpeopledonot jointhem,” the Ministry of Home

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

SOURAVROYBARMANNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

MOUNTING PRESSURE on theBJP, Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar Sunday reiterated hiscall for a caste census, saying itwillbe“inthenational interest”,andurgedtheCentreto“recon-sider” its position against suchanexercise.Nitish’s latest call comes

threedaysaftertheCentreeffec-tivelyruledoutacastecensusin2021, and told the SupremeCourt that such an exercise“wouldnotbefeasible”,andthatits stance on the issue is a “con-sciouspolicydecision”.Pointingoutthatunanimous

resolutions backing a caste cen-sushavebeenpassedintheBiharAssembly and LegislativeCouncil, Nitish told reporters in

Delhi: “All of us have alreadyjointly placed our demand. Theissue has come up now in con-nectionwiththesocio-economiccastecensusmatter inthecourt.Ithasnoconnectionwithourde-mand.Wewould like to requestthatthe issuebeconsideredand

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY



SINCE 1932

UP,PUNJABREJIGCABINETS

JitinPrasadamadeCabinetMinister;threeOBCnamesamongsixMoS

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER26

WITHBARELYmonths to go forAssemblyelectionstobenotifiedinUP, theBJP Sundayexpandedits stategovernmentbynamingsevennewMinisters inanexer-cise that Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said reflects “socialbalance”and“gives representa-tion toall sections”.The party's move comes in

UP barely 10 days after it re-vamped the entire Cabinet in

Gujarat,whichgoestopollslaternextyear.Topping the list in UP's ex-

pansion is former Union MoSJitin Prasada, who had recentlyswitched to the BJP from theCongress.While Prasada, a Brahmin

representative, took oath as aCabinet Minister, the other sixareMinisters of State, includingawoman:ChhatrapalGangwar,Sangita Balwant Bind andDharamveer Prajapati (OBC),Paltu Ram and Dinesh Khatik

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

Rajasthanshuts downInternet as16 lakh sit forteacher exam

HAMZAKHANJAIPUR,SEPTEMBER26

ATEACHERS’entranceexamina-tionheld onSunday sawanun-precedentedshutdownof inter-net services and businessesacrossRajasthanontheordersoftheadministration.Nearly16lakhcandidatesap-

peared for the RajasthanEligibility Examination forTeachers(REET)—heldtorecruitLevel 1 (class 1-5) and Level 2(classes6-8)teachers—in4,019centres across the state onSunday. The last REETwas con-ducted in2018.OnFriday,PrincipalSecretary,

Home, Abhay Kumar hadwrit-ten to the state, divisional anddistrict officials to take a call onsuspending internet services toenforcelawandorder,andtopre-vent fraud during the exam.“About16lakhstudentswillpar-ticipate in REET 2021 andwilltravel from one district to an-other.Insuchasituation,thereisapossibilityofdeteriorating lawand order situation due to fakenews, rumoursof accidents, pa-per leak, etc,” he wrote. Thus,keepinginmindtheCentralgov-ernment’s 2017 notification on

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

Seven new faces in Channiministry; Amarinder criticsget berths, 8 ministers stayKANCHANVASDEVCHANDIGARH,SEPTEMBER26

AWEEK after Capt AmarinderSingh stepped down as chiefminister of Punjab, and follow-ing an eleventh-hour change inthe list of members of the newministry,15MLAswereinductedinto the Charanjit Singh ChannicabinetonSunday.Therearesevennewfaces in

theministry,whileeightformerministers have been retained.GovernorBanwarilalPurohitad-ministeredtheoathofofficeandsecrecy to theministers at RajBhawan.ChiefMinisterChanniandhis

two deputies, Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa and OP Soni, hadtakenoathonSeptember20.Those who took oath on

Monday included BrahmCONTINUEDONPAGE6

‘Caste censuswillhelp formulate

policy for poor.Noone has anything tolose... Nitish raiseddemand earlier too...’RAJIVRANJANSINGHNATIONALPRESIDENT, JD(U)

PAGE14

AmitShahat themeeting inNewDelhionSunday.PTIWITHSTATEpollsaroundthecorner, theemphasisintheUPCabinetexpan-sion isonpolitical sig-nallingtothenon-YadavOBCcommunityandnon-JatavDalitcommu-nity.TheBJPhasalsotriedtowooBrahminsby in-ducting JitinPrasadagivenhowoppositionpartiesarecourtingthecommunityvote.

SignalbeforestatepollsE●EX

PLAINED

Nitish turns up heaton caste census, saysGovt must reconsider

Afghan universities draw up segregationplan: shifts for women, curtains with jaaliSOURAVROYBARMAN&RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

CURTAINS BISECTING rooms“like inhospitals”, cubicleswithcurtains fitted with jaalis, and

separate shifts for women andmen. More than amonth afterthe Taliban took overAfghanistan, these are amongtheelaborateplansdrawnupbyprominentpublicuniversitiestoimplement the new regime’sgender segregationpolicy.

In the absence of any clearroadmap from the Talibanregimeonthefutureofwomen'shighereducation,publicuniver-sities in the country such asKabul University, established in1932, or the three-decade-old

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

Development push is key, Shahtells states in meeting on Naxals

Don’t fearcontempt ofcourt, who hasgone to jail:Tripura CM

DEBRAJDEBAGARTALA,SEPTEMBER26

IN A speech to the Tripura CivilServiceOfficers’Association,stateChief MinisterBiplab KumarDeb asked offi-cials and execu-tives towork forthepeoplewith-out fear of com-mitting con-tempt of court,because “wearea by-the-peoplegovernment,notby-the-courtgovernment”.The Trinamool Congress at-

tackedDeb as a “disgrace to theCONTINUEDONPAGE6

Atanexamcentre in Jaipur,Sunday.Rohit JainParas

OppTMCattacksBiplabDeb

‘Itwillbe inthenationalinterest’

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

COUNTTHECASTESBYTEJASHWIPRASADYADAVPAGE10

Election coming, UPexpandsCabinet:7 newministers in BJP ‘social balance’

SPOT INSPECTIONOnSundaynight,PrimeMinisterNarendraModivisitedtheconstructionsiteof thenewParliamentbuilding inNewDelhi.ANI

INSIDE

CYCLONEGULABCROSSESCOAST,FISHERMANDIES INANDHRA PAGE 12

BHARATBANDHTODAY, SEVERALOPPPARTIES EXTENDSUPPORTPAGE9

New Delhi

UP Cabinet(SC),SanjeevKumarGond(ST).“Today'sexpansiongivesrep-

resentation to all sections, hasbeendonewiththefeelingofso-cialbalance,andcarriesthemes-sage of harmony,” Adityanathsaid, adding that it gives an op-portunity to those at the lowerstrataof society.State BJP leaders told The

Indian Express that apart fromPrasada, the others are leaderswho“workedtheirwayupfromthegrassrootswithintheparty”.They include Chhatrapal Gang-war,whohails fromBareillyandrepresents the Kurmi commu-nity, Sangita Balwant Bind fromGhazipur, and DharamveerPrajapati fromAgra.PaltuRamisfromBalrampur,

Dinesh Khati from Meerut inwesternUP,andGondfromeast-ern UP’s Sonbhadrawhere hiscommunity is a key player inelectoralpolitics.While Adityanath stressed

that the expansion gives repre-sentation to all sections fromacrossthestate,theoppositionSPdescribedtheexerciseasa“mereillusion”withaneyeonthepollstobeheldearlynextyear.“It isadramabeingplayedto

give representation to thosewhoserightsweresnatched...Bythe time the ink on the name-platesof theseMinistersdry, theelectionnotificationwouldbeoutfor the2022Assemblypolls,” SPchiefAkhileshYadavsaid.While the stress in Sunday's

expansionisontheOBCcommu-nity,Prasada’sinductionisinlinewith a push from all parties towootheBrahminvote.Theinduc-tions,however,didnotcover theinfluential Jat community fromwesternUP,which is protestingovertheCentre'sfarmlaws—thestategovernmenthasannouncedahikeinsugarcaneprices.Theexercise ignoredformer

bureaucrat-turned-politicianAK Sharma, who had served in

the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO).While someparty lead-erssaySharmahasmainlybeengiven an organisational role,others point out that he hadtaken VRS to enter politicsaheadof theUPelections.Theinductionsalsoindicatea

sense of desperationwithin theBJP,withthestatepolls looming,asitcomesduringthe“pitri-pak-sha”period considered tobe in-auspiciousbyHinduswhensuchchanges,especiallyinpolitics,areusuallyavoided.

Channi ministryMohindra,ManpreetBadal,TriptRajinder Singh Bajwa, ArunaChaudhary, Sukhbinder Sarka-ria, Rana Gurjit Singh, RaziaSultana, Vijay Inder Singla,BharatBhushanAshu,RandeepSingh Nabha, Dr Raj KumarVerka, Sangat Singh Gilzian,Pargat singh, Amarinder SinghRajaWarring,andGurkiratKotli.Warring, Verka, Gilzian, Par-

gat, Nabha, Kotli (who is grand-son of former chief ministerBeant Singh) and Rana Gurjit(who resigned from the Ama-rinderministryin2018amidstal-legationsofcorruption)werethenewfaces.TheDoabaregion,whichhad

only one representative in theAmarindercabinet,hasgotthreeministers now. Themost popu-lousMalwaregionhasninemin-isters, and Majha seven. TheAmarindercabinethad11minis-ters fromMalwa, including thechiefministerhimself.Sadhu Singh Dharamsot,

Sunder Shyam Arora, RanaGurmeet Sodhi, Balbir SinghSidhu,andGurpreetKangar,whowere part of the previousmin-istry,havebeendropped.The Channi ministry has

Rahul Gandhi’s stamp on it. Hewascloselyinvolvedintheselec-tion ofministers, and remainedin touchwith the chiefministeruntilthelastminute,whenKuljitNagrawasdroppedfromthelist.

Themin-istryhasnine

Jat Sikhs, fourHindus, threeSCs,and one OBC. Two of theCongress’s threewomenMLAsare in the cabinet. Theparty hastried to strike a balance amongregions,castes,communities.ThereisnoMazhbiSikhinthe

cabinet,thoughSidhuhadpush-ed for SukhwinderSinghDannyinplaceofArunaChaudhary.Whilethepartyhasdropped

the closest aide of Amarinder,RanaGurmeetSinghSodhi,ithasaccommodated eightministersfromhis cabinet. The attempt isto not allow a larger number ofleaders to join the former CM’scamp, and become a threat forthe party. The induction of aleader with a clean image likePargat Singh is also intended tosendasignal.The inductionofRanaGurjit,

which has triggered protestswithin the party, is intended tocounter the SAD-BSP in Doaba,sourcessaid.Nabha, 54, was included in

the list of ministers at theeleventhhour.Hehadprotestedafter the list was finalised, andhad threatened to chalk out hisfuture course of action himself.The Congress high commandgave in topressureandreplacedPCC working president KuljitSinghNagrawithNabha.DrVerka,58,theValmikiface

oftheparty,hadbeenintherun-ning for aministerial berth eversincetheAmarindergovernmentcame to power. Gilzian, 67,whois alsoworking president of thePPCC,hadresignedfromallpostsafter hewas denied a berth byAmarinder. Hockey OlympianPargat,acloseaideofSidhu’s,hadbeen vociferous in criticisingAmarinder.Amrinder Singh RajaWarr-

ing,43, istheyoungestminister,who has beaten back strongprotestsagainsthisinductionbyManpreetBadal.AbaiterofSADleader Sukhbir Badal and hiswife Harsimrat, who defeatedhim from Bathinda Lok Sabhaseatin2017,WarringwasanIYCchief from 2015 to 2018, and is

considered close to RahulGandhi.

ShahAffairs (MHA) quoted Shah ashavingsaidduringthemeeting.Withoutthat,“neitherwewill

be able to spread democracy tothebottomnorwillwebeabletodeveloptheunderdevelopedar-eas”, he said, according to theMHAstatement.Chief Ministers Uddhav

ThackerayofMaharashtra,Hem-ant Sorenof Jharkhand,KChan-drashekarRaoofTelangana,Nit-ishKumarofBihar,ShivrajSinghChouhanofMadhyaPradesh,andNaveen Patnaik of Odisha at-tended themeeting.West Ben-gal, Andhra Pradesh andKeralawererepresentedbytopofficials.Severalstatesaskedforsecu-

rity-relatedexpenditureandde-velopment funds for LWE dis-trictstobeincreased.Invoking “cooperative feder-

alism”,Sorensaidit“didnotseempragmatic”fortheCentreto“de-mandmoney”fromstatesforthedeployment of central forces inLWE-affectedareas.“Thecentralandstategovern-

ments have to deal with thisproblem together on theprinci-pleofcooperativefederalism...Tillnowabill of Rs10,000crorehasbeen raised by theMinistry ofHomeAffairsagainstthestateofJharkhandinthis regard. It ismyhumble request that these billsbe written off. Also, theGovernmentofIndiashouldtakea decision not to send such billsto state governments in the fu-ture,” Soren said, according to aJharkhandgovernmentrelease.Patnaik listed five develop-

mentproposalsforLWE-affectedareas,includingfour-laningofNH326 from Jeypore toMotu viaMalkangiri uptoBhadrachalam;railway networks betweenMalkangiri and Bhadrachalam(153 km), andNabrangpur andJunagarh(118km);mobilephoneaccess to all villages of the statethrough an estimated 2,000moremobile base stations; set-tingupbanksinLWE-affectedar-easwithinayearortwo;andcon-ducting a study to determinehowmany children from LWE-affectedareasacrossthecountrygetintonational-levelexamslikeNEET, IIT,or JEE.Sources said Thackeray de-

mandedRs1,200croreundertheSecurity-Related Expenditure(SRE) scheme and for develop-ment projects inMaharashtra.Thestatetoldthemeetingthatitwantedtoincreasethenumbersof police posts, develop newschools,andsetupmobilephonetowersintheNaxal-affecteddis-tricts, thesourcessaid.Chouhanspokeabouttheef-

fortsmadebythestate'ssecurityforcestocombattheMaoists,andthe various development initia-tives of his government in LWE-affectedareas.Sources said it was empha-

sised during themeeting thatstatesshouldconductjointoper-ationsbecauseNaxalskeepmov-ingacrossstateborders.According to theMHA, Shah

urged chief secretaries of LWEstates to hold reviewmeetingswithDGPsandofficersofcentralagenciesatleastonceeverythreemonths.The homeminister holds a

Naxal reviewmeetingwith af-fectedstateseveryyear.Themee-ting could not be held last yearduetotheCovid-19pandemic.

WITHABHISHEKANGAD,AISHWARYAMOHANTY,IRAM

SIDDIQUE

Nitish Kumarreconsidered,andcastecensusbecarriedout.”Askedif theJD(U)wouldexit

the NDA in the event of theCentre rejecting his request,Kumar said: “There is no pointdiscussing all that now.Wewillsittogetheranddecidethefutureroadmap...andifyoulookclosely,this is not just our demand. Thedemandhasbeenraisedinmanystates, not just inBihar. Itwill beinthenational interest.”Nitishsaidpoliticalpartiesin

Biharwill now chart the futurecourse of action on thematteroverwhichhehadleda10-partydelegationfromthestate,includ-ing JD(U)'s principal rival RJD, tomeet PrimeMinister NarendraModionAugust23.OnSeptember23,submitting

an affidavit in response toMaharashtra’s request that thedataof the2011socio-economiccensus be revealed, the UnionMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowermenthadinformedtheapexcourtthatthedatawas“un-usable”asitcontainsmanytech-nical flaws.Referringtothatsubmission,

theBiharChiefMinisterstressedthatrulingoutacastecensuscit-ing errors in the 2011 exercisewould be “wrong”. He said thatsuchacensuswasneededtoget“aclearideaaboutthesituation”.

Tripura CMentirenation”andaskedwhetherthe Supreme Courtwould takecognizanceofhisstatements.Themediaadvisertothechief

minister retorted that criticsshould listen to the full speechbefore spreading “fake” news.TheBJPsaiditwas“wrong”toin-terprettheCM’scommentsasanendorsement of contempt ofcourt. Deb himself did not re-spond to the criticism after thevideoofhisspeechwentviralonsocialmediaonSunday.In the video, the CM says:

“...(Officials)say,‘Sir,therewillbeproblemswiththesystem’.Whatproblemswill happen? (Theysay), ‘Sir, we can’t take the risk,therewillbecontemptofcourt’...WhohasgonetojailinTripuraforcontempt of court? I amhere; ifyougo, Ishallgobeforeyou...“It’snot thateasy to takeyou

tojail.Inordertotake(you)tojail,policeareneeded.Thechiefmin-ister runs thepolice... Thepolicewill say theyhaven’t foundany-one.Whatwill theydo?”The CM is heard saying that

fearsofcontemptofcourtareex-pressed as though it is “a tiger”.“(But) I am the tiger,” he says.“Powerlieswiththepersonrun-ning the government. Thatmeansallpoweriswiththepeo-ple.Weareaby-the-peoplegov-ernment, not by-the-court gov-ernment. We keep hearing'contempt of court, contempt ofcourt'.Hascontemptbeencom-mitted?(The)formerchiefsecre-tary said there would be con-temptofcourtand(he)wouldgotojail,hewoulddie.Arey, lethimdie.Webidhimadieu...”Debwasspeakingatthe26th

biennial conference of the Tri-puraCivil ServiceOfficers’ Asso-ciationatRabindraShatabarshikiBhawaninAgartalaonSaturday.TMCgeneral secretaryAbhi-

shekBanerjeetweetedthevideoon Sunday evening, saying:“@BjpBiplabisaDISGRACEtotheentire nation! He shamelesslymocks Democracy,MOCKS theHon'ble JUDICIARY and seem-ingly gets awaywith it!Will theSUPREME COURT take cog-nizanceofhiscommentsthatre-flectsuchgravedisrespect?”In response, the CM'smedia

adviserSanjayMishrapostedonTwitter: “Youmust listen to thefullspeechbeforespreadingyourfakepropagandawhichyouhavelearned fromyourpolitical guruCPMandhowmuchrespectyouhaveforgovernmentinstitutionsweallknowthat”.TheWestBengalchiefminis-

ter too reacted to Deb’s video,saying it was “too much”.“Whatever I (Deb) say, the courthastolisten,Idonotlistentoany-one... (thiscannotbe)...Asachiefministerwhateverhehassaid, itistoomuch,itisadevastation,es-peciallyfromthejusticedeliverypoint of view...Wecandiscuss ajudgment,thatisourright,butitcan'tbethatonlyIdecide,nooneelsematters...”Tripura CPM state secretary

Jitendra Chaudhury said: “It isverymuch astonishing and un-fortunate. How can a personholding the chair of the highestconstitutional person of a statepassacomment,whichistotallyagainst the spirit of theConstitution!ACMdirectly un-dermined the court and rule oflaw.Theresultwillbeencourage-mentformiscreants,anti-socialswhohavebeenbreachingpeacesincethelast3.5years...”Tripura Congress president

Birajit Sinha said: “Everypersonshould honour the judiciary,shouldobeythecourtorder.Theclash between judiciary and ex-ecutive is not desired tohappenforthesakeofdemocracy.”BJP spokespersonNabendu

Bhattacharya said: “This is awronginterpretationofhisstate-

ment.Manypro-peopledevelop-mentworksaredelayedwiththepretext of contempt of court.Manyofficershaveatendencyofdelayingthingswiththispretext.Thiswastheoldsystemof(CPM-ruled) Tripura... The CM tried toencourage officials towork forpeople, he didn’t endorse con-temptof court.”

Afghan varsitiesKandahar University — with26,000and10,000 students re-spectively — face an anxiouswait. There are nearly 12,000women studying in KabulUniversity and 1,000 inKandahar University, including300 from other provinces ac-commodatedinthedormitories.Many private universities

with fewer students have re-sumedclasses.“Public universities can only

reopen once they have themo-ney.We also have to rememberthat public universities havemanymorestudentsinoneclassthan private universities. In pri-vate universities, there are onlyabout 10 to 20 students in eachclass andhence separatingmenand women in such classes ismuch simpler.We have about100 to150students inoneclass.So it's not that easy for us, espe-cially in cases where there arevery fewwomen in one class,”KandaharUniversity ChancellorAbdul Wahed Wasiq told TheIndianExpress.“Our plan is to hold classes

separately formen andwomenwherevermore than15womenare in one class. To do this, weplantointroduceshifts:morningand afternoon. If there are lessthan 15 women, we will pur-chasedividers,astheyuseinhos-pitals, to separate men fromwomen in the classroom,” saidKhairuddinKhairkhah, chancel-lorofTakharUniversity.The Kandahar University

chancellorsaidtheissuehasbeendeliberateduponintheinstitute'sacademic council, followingwhich a planwas forwarded tothe government, including a re-questtoallowtransferofwomenstudentstoinstitutesintheirownprovinces.Like Takhar University, for

classes with more than 15women,KandaharUniversityhasproposedtocallstudentsinshifts—morningforwomenandafter-noonformen.But implementing the pro-

posalswill put a strainon the fi-nances of the cash-strapped in-stitutes, someofwhichhavenotbeenabletopaysalariestoteach-erssinceKabulfelltotheTaliban.Fornow,KandaharUniversityhassought roughly $6,200 from thegovernment, Takhar University$19,000, andHelmund $12,000to introduce the segregationmeasures,andforclassroomfur-niture.Undergraduate education in

Afghanistan'spublicuniversitiesis free. Students are not chargedany tuition fee, and those livingin hostels and dormitories are

providedfreefoodandlodging.Meanwhile, a recent devel-

opmentatKabulUniversityhasdeepened worries that theTaliban administration's ap-proach leaves very little roomfor institutional autonomy. AsourceintheuniversitysaidtheTalibansackeditschancelloraf-ter the institute sought someflexibility in implementing thegender policy, such as permit-ting women to sit in separaterows where putting up parti-tionsappeared impractical.“Kabul University runs

around560programmesandhasaround250classes.Wehadtoldthegovernment(beforethenewChancellor's appointment) thatsplittingupclassesandteachingwomenseparately isnot imme-diately feasible. It's not possibleto carveout separate spaces (forwomen)foreverything.Howdowedothatforlibrariesandlabo-ratories?Also, there isanexpec-tation thatwomen should onlybe taught by women. Femaleteachersmake up about 20% ofthe 900 faculty of KabulUniversity. How can 170 to 180women teachers teach almost12,000femalestudents?Splittingupclassesmeansdoublingteach-ing hours, soweneed twice thenumberoffacultymembers,”thesourcesaid, adding that theuni-versity, initsplantotheMinistryof Higher Education, had sug-gested“gradualimplementation”of thegenderpolicy.TheKabul University source

saidtheTaliban,initsresponsetotheproposal,reiteratedtheneedto strictly enforce gender segre-gation. It has also asked theuni-versity to consider shiftingwomen students to their localprovinces if it cannothold sepa-rateclassesformenandwomenunderthepresentcircumstances.“ButKabulUniversityhasitsowncurriculum.Somovingstudentsto other institutions is not feasi-ble,” thesourceadded.

Rajasthan“publicsafety”and“publicemer-gency”, Kumar asked theDivisionalCommissionerstotakea call on suspending internetservices.BarringJaisalmer,whereVice

PresidentMVenkaiahNaiduandhiswife UshaNaidu arrived onSunday, internet services re-mained suspended for differentdurationsacrossthestateontheorders of the DivisionalCommissioners.In Jaipur division, Divisional

Commissioner Dinesh KumarYadav issued orders for suspen-sionofinternetservicesinAlwar,Dausa, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu andSikar. In his order, Yadav said ithas become necessary to sus-pend, “2G/3G/4G/Data (mobileinternet), internet services, bulkSMS/MMSWhatsApp,Facebook,Twitter and other SocialMediaServicesthroughInternetServiceProviders(exceptvoicecallsandbroadbandinternet).”

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.comGOVERNMENT OF ODISHA

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERRURAL WORKS CIRCLE, KENDRAPARA-JAJPUR.

AT/PO- Nayabazar, Cuttack -753004,Tel No. 0671-2444488, [email protected]

No. Tender Online RCK-20/21 Letter No.- Date:-E-Procurement NOTICE

The Chief Construction Engineer, R. W. Circle, Kendrapara-Jajpur on behalf of Odisha State Rural Road Agency invites thepercentage rate bids in electronic tendering system for construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in thedistricts of Kendrapara for 6 (Six) numbers of packages with estimated cost totaling to Rs. 29.67 Cr (Approximately) includingtheir maintenance for five years from the eligible contractors registered with State PWD / CPWD / MES / Railways. Theregistered bidder of outside Odisha, can also participate in this process, but shall have to subsequently undergo registrationwith the appropriate authority of the State Govt. preferably within a month of the deadline for bid submission, but prior to signingof the contract. Date of release of Invitation for Bids through e-procurement: dtd 28.09.21Availability of Bid Documents and mode of submission: The bid document is available online and should be submittedonline in www.pmgsytenders.gov.in. The bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. Forsubmission of the bids, the bidder is required to have a valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorizedCertifying Authorities. The bidders are required to submit (a) original Demand Draft towards the cost of bid document and (b)original bid security declaration and(c) original affidavit regarding correctness of information furnished with bid document as perprovisions of Clause 4.4B (a) (ii) of ITB with Chief Construction Engineer, R. W. Circle, Kendrapara-Jajpur on a date notlater than three working days after the opening of technical qualification part of the Bid, either by registered post or by hand,failing which the bids shall be declared non-responsive.Summary for key dates is provided below:

Procurement Officer BidIdentification

No.

Availability of Tender On-line for bidding

Last Date & Timeof seeking tender

clarification

Date & Time of opening oftender

From To Technical Bid Financial Bid

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Chief Construction

Engineer, Rural WorksCircle, Kendrapara-Jajpur

Tender OnlineRCK-20/21

28.09.2021 at11.00 A.M.

18.10.2021 to5.00 P.M.

18.10.2021 up to1.00 P.M.

21.10.2021 at11.30 A.M

Will be intimatedlater

O-761

Date of Submission of original documents such as Bid Security Declaration, Cost of Bid document and Affidavit: Dt21.10.2021 at 11.30 A.M. to 26.10.2021 at 3.00 P.M.Further details can be seen from the website www.pmgsytenders.gov.in

Chief Construction Engineer,Rural Works Circle, Kendrapara-Jajpur

OIPR-25129/11/0017/2122

Nominated Authority, Ministry of Coal, GoI120, F-Wing, 1st Floor, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi-110001, 011-23384106

Invitation of Bids for Auction of Coal Mines/ Blocks for Sale of Coal”In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 4(1) and 4(2) of the Coal Mines(Special Provisions) Act, 2015 and Section 11A of the Mines and Minerals(Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 and in accordance with the Rules madethereunder, the Nominated Authority conducted the first attempt of auction of 11coal mines, under 12h Tranche of Auction under CM(SP) Act and 2nd Tranche ofAuction under MMDR Act, vide tender document dated March 25, 2021.

However, since the number of Technically Qualified Bidders pursuant to thistender process were less than 2, the tender process for these 11 coal mineswere annulled. Pursuant to Para 2.2.(b) of the Office Memorandum No.CBA2-13011/2/2020-CBA2 dated June 1, 2020 issued by Ministry of Coal, theNominated Authority is initiating the second attempt of auction under 12thTranche of Auction under CM(SP) Act and 2nd Tranche of Auction underMMDR Act for 11 coal mines with the same terms and conditions as in the firstannulled attempt and the highest Initial Offer of Technically Qualified Bidder, ifany, from the first annulled attempt of auction becoming the Floor Price for thesecond attempt of auction.

The tender process shall be launched on Monday, September 27, 2021. TenderDocument and other details of the auction process can be accessed onhttps://www.mstcecommerce.com/auctionhome/coalblock/index.jsp

davp 04101/11/0001/2122

AIR FORCE SCHOOL,PRAHLADPUR 27 ED;

LIMITED TENDERENQUIRY

On behalf of Air Force SchoolPrahladpur, bids in sealed cover areinvited for Renovation of Children’sWashrooms at AF School Prahladpur.The firms dealing with Civil works mayquote for technical bid as well asCommercial bid sealed separately insingle envelope. The firms interestedare to visit the school for assessmentand obtaining RFP before submittingbids. The last date for submission of bid(Technical bid as well as Commercialbid) is 11 Oct 21. The bids are to bedropped in the tender box kept at themain gate of Air Force StationPrahladpur, 27ED. Date of opening ofTechnical bid is 13 Oct 21 andCommercial bid is 20 Oct 21. The bidsare to be addressed to Chairman, AirForce Prahladpur 27ED. For any querykindly contact on: 8826889490.Address: 27 Equipment Depot AirForce Palam, Delhi Cantt New Delhi110010.

h8 1RLY(4)

Contact for Advt. Booking: M/s Friends Publicity Service

(M): 9212665841, 9212008155

EXP E S EDU TIONR S CA

THESECONDPAGE6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

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FROMPAGEONE

New Delhi

AMILBHATNAGARDADRI, SEPTEMBER26

ANGERAGAINSTtheUPgovern-ment simmered at amahapan-chayatinDadrionSunday,whichwas called bymembers of theGurjarcommunitytoprotesttheremovaloftheword‘Gurjar’fromthe plaque on a statue of 9thCenturykingMihirBhoj.ThestatuewasunveiledbyUP

CMYogiAdityanathatMihirBhojInter College on Wednesday.Localsclaimtheword‘Gurjar’wasdeliberately omitted from theplaque.Severalspeakers,fromvil-lage leaders to Gurjar organisa-tionmembers,addressed2,000-oddpeopleandsaidtheywantedto send a “message” to the gov-ernment through the gathering.Theysaidtheomissionwasan‘in-sult’,andthatthegovernmenthas10daystorestorethetitle.“Thishasnowbecomeamat-

terofhonourfortheGurjarcom-munity.We cannot be insultedanymore.Wehavetosendames-sagetotherulinggovernment inadignifiedfashion.Wearenotde-pendent on anyparty or organi-sationforourself-respect...,”saidAvtar Singh Bhadana, a GurjarleaderandformerBJPMP.OnWednesdaymorning,be-

fore theCMarrived for the inau-guration, locals claimed some“miscreants” blacked out the‘Gurjar’ before the nameMihirBhojontheplaque.However,onanother portion the statue, a listofdonorshasbeenengravedandthe title above reads ‘GurjarSamratMihirBhoj’.A BJP leader put up a sticker

thatreadGurjaroverthepaintedportion,whichwasalsoremovedlater, localssaid.

This triggered a controversyonce the speech ended, withsome locals saying the CMhad“denied”Mihir Bhoj his actuallegacy.“ItisevidentthattheChiefMinister did not come as YogiAdityanath but as Ajay Bisht. IfyouareaYogi,youwillnotgointothe religion or caste of someoneand rather give due recognition.Withthisact,thecommunityhasbeengivenawrong signal. All ofus have gathered to planmoreprotests andmake them realisethe unity of theGurjar commu-nity,”saidSonuGurjar,convenor,RashtriyaGurjarVeerSena.Shortly after the function, a

callforSunday’smahapanchayatwasmade in the college. Heavypoliceforcewasdeployedandthegatestothecollegeandthestatuepodiumwerelocked.Thegather-ingwas then shifted to the ShivMandirafewmetresahead.Police detained nearly 200

people for violating Section 144andsaidnopermissionhadbeengiven for thegathering. “Itwas apeaceful gathering and heavyforce had beendeployed at sev-eral corners. A few protesters

were taken to Police Lines andlater released.Wewill continuetomonitor the situation,” saidVishal Pandey, ADCP, GautamBuddh Nagar. An FIR was alsofiled in Jewar police stationagainst 150named and600un-namedpeople for alleged viola-tionofthegovernmentorderandtheEpidemicAct,saidpolice.Tensionshavebeensimmer-

ing intheregionafter localKarniSenamembers had earlier saidMihirBhojwasaRajputiconandwas being “misappropriated” asa Gurjar leader. A 9th Centuryleader,hehadledsuccessfulcam-paigns in Deccan, Malwa andGujaratregion.HealsoledbattlesagainstArab invaders and rulersfromRajasthan.Prior toWednesday’s event,

somemembersoftheGurjarandRajput communities entered atruceanddecidednottoraisetheissueofBhoj’slineage.Thereisalsoangeragainst areaMLA fromBJPandGurjarleaderTejpalNagarassome feel hehas abandoned thecommunitytotoethepartyline.Nagarcouldnotbecontacted

despiterepeatedattempts.

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Over2,000peoplewereatSunday’sgathering.GajendraYadav

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

DAYSAFTER a 40-year-old yogainstructorwasfounddeadinsideherhouseinModelTown,policearrested her husband for al-legedly strangling her to deathinside their room.Senior police officers on

Sunday said the accused,Paramjit Sahni, allegedly killedRavneet Kaur after a fight onMonday night. On Tuesdaymorning,Sahnicalledhisdaugh-ter and said hermotherwas ly-ingunconsciousintheroom.ThefamilyrushedKaurtoPentamedHospitalwheredoctorsdeclaredherdeadonarrival.“We received information

from the hospital at 5.30 amonTuesday. They told us that Kaurwasbroughtdeadandshehadnoexternalinjuriesonherbody.Herhusband told us she had Covidearlierandwasunwellandtriedtomisleadus.Wewaited for theautopsyreport,” saidtheofficer.The post mortemwas con-

ductedand the report cameouton Friday, showing that thewomandiedof strangulation.Kaur’s fatherManjit also al-

legedthathusbandandwifewerehaving issues for the last two tothree years. Police apprehendedParamjitandquestionedhim,fol-lowingwhichheconfessed.The couple got married 20

years ago and have two daugh-ters, aged19and12.

Man shot dead, wife claims 4men who raped her killed him


MOST OF the non-forest landusedforcompensatoryafforesta-tioninDelhihasneitherbeende-claredasprotectedforestyet,norhas its ownership been grantedto the Forest Department, leav-inglargeswathesoflandusedforcompensatory afforestationun-protected.Aresponsetoarequestforin-

formationfiledundertheRTIActbylawyerPratyushJainshowedthata totalof 136.55hectaresof

land is to be notified as ‘pro-tected’or ‘reserved’forestunderthe Indian Forest Act. These arenon-contiguousparcelsof land.Theprocessofdeclarationof

compensatory plantation areasin non-forest land as protectedforest is “underway”, accordingto the RTI response which an-swered a question on details ofthe non-forest land that hasbeendeclaredprotected.On the mutation of com-

pensatory afforestation land infavour of the ForestDepartment, the RTI responsesaysthat“consideringDelhiasa

special case, the condition ofmutationof landinfavourof thestate Forest Department hasbeenwaivedoff.”Kanchi Kohli, researcher at

the Centre for Policy Research,said, “If the land is mutated tothe Forest Department, it pre-determines theuse— it shouldbe put to forest use. If it is notforest land, it canbeput tovar-ious uses. The DDA can, if itwants, say that the land can beput to a particular use. But theDDA has a mandate to ‘de-velop.’Onone level, it is a juris-dictional issue.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

ADAY after a 35-year-oldmanwas shot dead by unknown as-sailants outside his house inNortheastDelhi, hiswife has al-leged that four men who hadraped her six months ago inGhaziabad were responsible.Police have registered amurdercase against unknown personsbased on the woman's com-plaint.In the FIR, the woman has

namedthefourmenandallegedthattheyrapedherinGhaziabadduringHoli this year. She filed acomplaintagainst them,but theaccusedallegedlythreatenedherandaskedhertowithdrawit.Thewoman alleged that they thenplanned tokill herhusbandand

sentassailants toherhouse.Police said the incident took

place lateSaturdayandthemanwas declared dead on arrival atthehospital.DCP (Northeast) Sanjay Sain

said, “Weconductedanenquiryand found that two unknownpersons came to the couple’shouselateatnight.Whenthevic-tim came out of his room, theyfiredathim.Hiswifesaidshewasrapedandacasehadbeenregis-teredinLoni.Sheallegedthatsheandherhusbandreceivedthreatsfromtherapistswhomightbein-volved inthemurder...”Police found that the family

had shifted from Loni to Delhiaround threemonths ago. Thedeceasedwas involvedinadrugpeddling case and his wife ad-mittedtothesameintheFIR,saidpolice.

IntheFIRshehadnamedfourmen—Guddu,Meraj, Vashi andTamjit—andoneofthemwasar-rested. “Theotherswere threat-eningmeandkeptaskingmetowithdraw the complaint. I toldpolice and also shifted to Delhioutoffear,”sheallegedintheFIRfiledbyDelhiPolice.Iraj Raja, SP (Rural

Ghaziabad), confirmed that arape case had been registered.“The woman had only told usaboutoneoftheaccusedandwearrestedhim.Later,shesaidmoremenwere involved. Her state-ment has been recorded by themagistrateandthematter isun-der enquiry. Today, we came toknow that her husband waskilled.Wedon’t knowif the twoincidents are related. The DelhiPolice haven’t approached usyet...,”hesaid.

Compensatory afforestationland not declared protected: RTI

Man helddays afterwife wasfound dead

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

ALL THREEmunicipal corpora-tionshaveseenanincreaseinstu-dent enrolment this academicyearascomparedtothelast—byover 10,000 students in SouthMCD,around40,000 inEast andaround20,000inNorth.This,however,maynotarea-

son to cheer as senior civic bodyofficials attributed it to reasonssuchasghoststudentswhoexistonpaperbutenrollforperkssuchas direct benefit transfers; thepandemic forcingprivate schoolstudents to shift toMCDschoolsdue to decreased parental in-come;andbudgetprivateschoolsremaining shut during Covid asopposedtocivicbodyschools.There are 568 schools under

SouthMCD, 354under East and700underNorth.The East MCD has seen an

uptick in enrolment,which hasconstantlybeendecreasingoverthe years— fromover 2.33 lakhstudents in 2012-13 to 1.62 lakhstudentsin2020-21.Inthe2021-2022 academic year, the enrol-menthasincreasedtoover2lakh,asperdatagivenbytheEDMC.NorthMCD,which had 2.67

lakh students till last year, saw2.86 lakh students enrollingthisyear.The South body had seen a

riselastyeartoo.Therewere2.34lakh students in 2019-20, 2.54lakh in2020-21,and2.64 lakh in2021-2022.Directorof theeducationde-

partmentofNorthMCDRanjeetSingh said students whowereunable to afford private schoolfees are shifting toMCDschools.“Private ones are charging asusual... while inMCD schools,there is no fee. Besides, studentsget several benefits. Also, our in-frastructurehasimproved.”Director Education of South

MCD Pradeep Kumar said:“Enrolmenthasincreasedbuttheactualtestwouldbeonceschoolsre-openandhowmanystudentscanberetained.”A senior SouthMCDofficial

said studentsmayhaveenrolledthemselves in private aswell asMCDschoolsforDBTperks:“It iseasier to bluff when classes areonline...andtrackingisnotpossi-

ble. Once schools reopen, reten-tionwouldbeatoughtask.”According to Director (edu-

cation) East RMenka, there arecaseswheremohalla-level pri-vate schools were shut duringthe lockdown, but corporationschools continued teaching-learning in the form of onlineclasses,givingphysicalsheetsorassignmentswhichcouldbecol-lectedfromschools.“Directben-efit transfers for stationery,uni-form are also incentives thatdrew students to our schools,”shesaid.In the pre-pandemic period,

enrolmentconstantlydecreasedduetoreasonssuchassomegov-ernment schools admitting stu-dents from nursery onwards,poorstudent-teacherratioatcor-porationschoolsaffectingqualityofeducation,andprivateschoolsadmitting students under theRighttoEducationAct.

2.64 2.86

2.02 2.542.67

1.62 2.34 3.51

1.74 2.38 3.28

1.76 2.48 3.28

1.87

2022-21 2021-20 2020-19 2019-18 2018-17

OVER THEYEARS■SDMC ■NDMC ■EDMC (figuresin lakh)

Enrolment up in MCD schools,officials skeptical of celebrating


DAYSAFTERtwoassailantskilledgangster Jitender Maan aliasGogi inside a Rohini districtcourtroombeforebeinggunneddown,seniorpoliceofficersfromDelhi Armed Police recom-mendedout-of-turnpromotionsforthethreepersonnelwhoshottheattackers.Thethreecommandos—two

constablesandanassistantsub-inspectorfromtheArmedPolice—have been recommended forthe promotions for controllingthesituation,gunningdowntheattackers in time, and savinglivesofotherpersonspresentin-side thecourtroom.OnFriday, the twoattackers,

Rahul Tyagi and Jagdeep Jagga,posedas lawyersandfiredmul-tiple bullets at Gogi inside thecourtroom.Policepersonnel re-

taliated, killing the two as-sailantsonthespot.On Sunday afternoon, Delhi

Police Commissioner Rakesh

Asthanaalsovisitedthespotandstayed foralmostanhour.A senior police officer said,

“The Commissioner contacted

us and said the policemenwhocontrolledthesituationatRohinicourtwillberewardedsuitably.”ADelhiPolicespokesperson

said, “We have come to knowthat the Special Commissionerof Police (ArmedPolice)willbesending a file to theCommissioner, requesting forapromotion for the three per-sonnel.”

‘Planwas for 4men tokill Gogi, surrender’TheSpecialCellSaturdayhad

arrested twomen, Umang andVinayMota,andrecoveredacarused to drop the assailants tocourt.Oneofthearrestedmenisa close associate of Sunil aliasTilluTajpuriya,Gogi’s long-timerival. Investigationalsorevealedthat the murder plot was al-legedlyhatchedbyTillufromin-sideMandoli jail.Thetwomentoldpolicethat

theassailantsmetthemsixdays

agoand stayedat their house inHaiderpur.Themenalsopartiedand dropped Tyagi and Jagga atthe courtonFridayandshowedthemthecourtroomwhereGogiwas toappear, saidpolice.After questioning the ar-

restedmen,policefoundthattheinitial planwas for fourmen—Rahul,Jagdeep,Umang,andtheirassociate — to enter the court-roomposingaslawyers,killGogi,andsurrenderbeforethe judge.“Their plan changed as

Umang and the associateweren’twearingproperclothes.They sent Rahul and Jagdeep tothecourtroomandstayedinsidetheir car. CCTV footage, mean-while, showed their associate,dressedinblack,walkingaroundthe court. He will be arrestedsoon,” saidanofficer.Police are also questioning

gangsters Tillu andNaveen Balito get more details about theirplan.

Heightenedsecurityat theentranceofRohinicourt, adayafter theshootout. PraveenKhanna

GANGSTERGOGI’SMURDER

Rohini firing: Out-of-turn promotionsfor 3 commandoswho killed gunmen

NHAIsubmitsproposaltoclear14.08hectaresof‘forest’ landNewDelhi:Delhi is likelyto losemore of its greencover,thistimeforahigh-wayproject.TheNationalHighways Authority ofIndia has submitted aproposal to clear 14.08hectaresof ‘forest’ landinEast andNortheastDelhitomakewayforasix-lanehighway.The proposal isfortheDelhi-Saharanpurhighway from theAkshardhamNH-9 junc-tion to theDelhi/UP bor-der. The stretch will be14.75km.Theprojectfallsunder the Centre’sBharatmala Pariyojanaroad developmentscheme.

CongresswantsRs5lakhfinefromrestaurantsrefusingentryinIndianattireNew Delhi: DelhiCongressvice-presidentand SDMC councillorAbhishek Dutt has de-manded that a fineof Rs5 lakh should be im-posedagainst establish-ments if theydenyentryto visitors wearingIndiantraditionaloutfits.This was prompted by arecent incidentwhereina womanwas allegedlydeniedentryatarestau-rant in South Delhi’sAnsalPlazaasshewas inasaree.Dutt,whoisalsothe councillor fromAndrews Ganj, hasmovedaproposal in theSouth MCD. The pro-posal is likely to betabled in the SDMCHouse meeting onSeptember 29.ENS

BRIEFLY

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 16,344 16,088ICU BEDS 3,556 3,486

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsSept25 27 39 00 68,498Sept26 29 37 00 62,546Total 371* 14,13,258 25,085 2,74,09,022

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL *T

otalactivecases

TOTAL CASES

14,38,714VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS2,09,860

At Gurjar mahapanchayat,anger against UP govt overlineage of 9th Century king

New Delhi

ABHINAYAHARIGOVINDNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

SHORT-LIVED,solitaryanddwin-dlinginconcretisedurbanspaces,butterflies are far fromthe lime-light in bustlingDelhi. However,effortsareunderwaytocarveoutspaces for thewinged insects inthe city. September is beingmarked as the Big ButterflyMonth-India,asanationwideat-tempttocelebratebutterfliesandconservetheirhabitats.At the nursery and butterfly

park at theAsola BhattiWildlifeSanctuary,butterfliesflitfromleafto leaf. “Butterflieshaveclosere-lationshipswithplants.Oncethefemalebutterfly layseggsontheleaves,itneverseestheoffspring.The plant is the surrogatemother,”saidSohailMadanoftheBombayNaturalHistory Society(BNHS),wholeda‘butterflywalk’at the park Sundaymorning aspartof theBigButterflyMonth.Atthewalk,a30-minutelong

count of butterflies reveals thepresenceof16speciesinthenurs-ery. A longer count for aroundthree-four hours,might revealaround 30-40 species, Madansaid. The commonones includethePlainandStripedTigerbutter-flies, Lemon Pansy butterfly,CommonMormonbutterfly,andtheRedPierrotbutterfly.Thenurs-ery also houses amore uncom-monRedFlashbutterfly—brown-ishwingswhen closed, open toreveal a flashof red. Such countsaretakingplaceacrossthecountryaspartoftheBigButterflyMonth.On some plants, the leaves

have several holes in themchewed up by caterpillars.Butterflies lay eggs on tenderleaves and caterpillars thatemergeeattheleavesbeforetheybuild a coffin-like chrysalis forthemselves andmetamorphoseintofully-grownbutterflies.Different species of butter-

flies depend on different ‘larvalhost’ plants, marking the deeprelationshipthatbutterflieshave

withplants, rather than flowersas is popularly construed. ThePlainTigerbutterflyforinstance,the most commonly found inDelhi, hasmilkweed or ‘aak’ asthehostplant.“Theroleofbutterfliesasspe-

cialistpollinatorsintheecosystemis only a secondaryone,”Madansaid.Theirprimaryrole is tocon-stitute foodforothercreatures inalltheirlifestages,heexplained.Ifbutterflies disappear, food forotherpredatorsisdisrupted.“Theyhaveaspecificpurpose

ineverystageoftheirlifecycle.Ascaterpillars, they are food forbirds, wasps and spiders. Asadults,theirpurposeistoprocre-ate.While they lay hundreds ofeggs, the survival of only two isnecessary tomaintain a stablepopulation,”headded.BNHShadlaunchedaproject

afewyearsagotodevelopa‘but-terflycorridor’inDelhibycreatinghabitats for them. “Around 67suchdiscreethabitatshavebeencreatedsofar.Thesehabitatscon-

nectforestpatchesinthecity.Theideaistocreateasafecorridorforthemtotravelandincreasetheirdiversity,withnopoison andnoheavypruningoftreesandplantsintheseareas,”hesaid.Themore diversity of plants

inanarea, themorebutterflies itislikelytoattract.TheBNHSiscol-laboratingwithcitizenstocreatesuchgardens.Ithasbeendoneinhomes, schools, DDAparks, andinsmallgardensincollaborationwiththelocalRWA.“The BNHS provides some

plants,whilecitizensmightbringothers.Wealsoprovidetechnicalsupport anddrawdata from thehabitatstostudythepopulation,”he said. For instance,whichbut-terflies can cross a flyover?Hostplantscanbeplanteddependingonsuchfactors,headded.Insects are closelyassociated

with moisture and climateregimesof anareaandresearch-ingthemcanprovideinformationon the surrounding nature,Madansaid.


HARDLOOK

Copyright vs wrongAcasebetweenthreeacademicpublishersandthecreatorofpiratewebsiteSci-Hubiscurrentlybeingfought intheDelhiHighCourt.Butunlikeelsewhere intheworld,wherethelatterhas ignoredsuchchallenges, sheisgettinghelp in India fromagroupofpeoplewhobelieveresearchpapersshouldbeopenaccess

SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

ACASEcurrentlybeingheard intheDelhiHighCourthasgot theattention of academicians, sci-entists, and researchers acrosstheworld.InDecember2020,threema-

jor academic publishers —Elsevier, Wiley, and AmericanChemical Society —moved thecourt against Kazakh computerprogrammer AlexandraElbakyan and website LibGenand its related additional do-mains. Elbakyan is the creatorand owner of Sci-Hub, a piratewebsitewhich enables users todownload research papers forfree,bypassingpaywallsandre-strictions.Onitswebsite, itclaimstobe

“the first pirate website in theworldtoprovidemassandpub-lic access to tensandmillionsofresearch papers”. The creatorsand owners of LibGen are un-knownandthesiteprovidesfreeaccess tomillions of journal ar-ticlesandtextbooks.The publishing giants have

appealed for a permanent in-junction against them for copy-rightinfringementby“unautho-rised hosting, reproducing,distributing,makingavailabletothepublic and/or communicat-ing to the public, or facilitatingthe same, of theOriginalWorksowned by the Plaintiffs”. Theyhave requested the court to or-der theMinistry of ElectronicsandInformationandTechnologyand Ministry of Communi-cations and its Department ofTelecommunications to issue anotificationtointernetandtele-comserviceprovidersregisteredunder it to block access to thesites inquestion.The hearing is listed for

September28.

■■■

This is not the first lawsuitagainst Elbakyan. In 2015,Elsevier had first filed a lawsuitagainst her in aUS court,whichfoundher liable forwilful copy-right infringement and enteredapermanent injunction againstherandchargedher$15millionasstatutorydamagestoElsevier.WiththeserversbasedinRussia,outsideUS jurisdiction,Sci-Hubdidnotpay thedamages.In the years that followed,

this has been followed by simi-lar cases leading to blocking or-ders in Austria, Belgium,Denmark,France,Germany,Italy,Portugal, Russia, Spain andSweden. Elbakyan had not de-fendedherself in court inanyofthese cases. What is uniqueabout thecase in theDelhiHighCourtisthatitisthefirsttimesheisdisputingthroughlegalrepre-sentation.“Inmost countries, Iwasnot

aware that Sci-Hubwas beingsued. For example, in Italy,France, Sweden, Russia and

Austria I had learned about thelawsuit only after the websitewasblocked.Perhaps theynoti-fied me by email that I do notcheckregularly,ordidnotnotifyat all. Or perhaps I had not no-ticed. In the Indian case, I re-ceived a notification about thelawsuit on December 21, if I re-memberwell, and I shared thenews on Twitter. Many peoplereacted, and lawyers from Indiacontacted me to support. In2015, therewas a lawsuit in theUnited States. At thatmoment,theSci-HubTwitteraccountdidnot have many subscribers...Therewasaphoneconferenceinthe US court that included ajudge, Elsevier lawyers andme.The judge advisedme to find alawyer. I later tried to reach outto lawyers through theElectronic Frontier Foundation.Someresponded, but therewasnot a lot of interest. I found thewholeprocessofparticipatinginalegalcasecomplicated,expen-sive, andpotentially dangerous,sinceIwouldhavetodisclosemyphysical location... Today, Sci-Hubhas a lotmore support andIhavemoreexperiencesoformeit is also less complicated,” shetold The Indian Express overemail.The legal representation for

Sci-Hub in Indiabeganbuildingmomentum when a younglawyer inDelhi—a regularuserof the site himself — decided totry reachingout toElbakyan.“I completedmy LLM from

Delhi University in 2019. Theonly place where we could ac-cess journals in the university’ssystemwas through the com-puters in its central library, butthe infrastructurewasvery lim-ited. Therewereonly twooper-ationalcomputersofwhichonlyonewas functional all the time,andtherewerethousandsofstu-dents.Ididn'thavemuchmoney,so I was dependent on Sci-Hubto get access to law journals Ineededformywork.Ithadbeena valuable resource forme andthatgotthreatenedwhenIfoundthat there was an attempt toblock access to it through thecourt. I got to know about thecase when Alexandra postedabout itonTwitter.When I readtheplaint, Ithoughtthismustbechallengeddirectlythroughher,”said28-year-oldNilesh Jain.He said hemessaged her on

Twitter but did not get a re-sponse.HethenfoundheremailIDand reachedout toher there,afterwhichsheagreedtolethimrepresenther.Originally from Rajasthan,

Jainhasworkedonpolicyandre-search with different agenciesand organisations. Last year, hehad worked with CitizensCollective for Peace to set upmedico-legal camps in riot-af-fected areas inDelhi.He saidheapproachesthiscaseasamatterof “great public interest to thescientificandacademiccommu-nity”.Requestingthecourtfortime

torespondtotheplaintafterfirstrepresenting Elbakyan onDecember 24, he managed tobringmore experiencedpeopleon board, including intellectualpropertylawyerRohanKGeorgeand senior advocate GopalSankaranarayan.This was followed by im-

pleadmentapplications filedbyscience organisations such asDelhiScienceForum,KnowledgeCommons and a set of variousscientists seeking to be madeparty to thecase.“Researchers have a very

tough time in India. Except fortopuniversities, institutesdon’thaveaccesstointernationaljour-nalsbecauseofhighsubscriptionfees for various journals. Youneed somemechanism for re-searchers to be able to accesspublished papers, and it has al-ways been the forum’s positionthatknowledge isuniversalandshould be shared publicly...Researchers whowrite articlespublished in journals don’t re-ceive any royalty and surrender

theirabilitytosharetheirknowl-edge to journals which chargehuge amounts for access... Ofcourse, there are some otherswho are legally sharing papers,buttherepositoriesarenowhereas large as Sci-Hub,” said DRaghunandan,memberofDelhiScienceForum.He stated that there are two

questionsathandthathearguesneedtobeaddressedseparately:of the ability of researchers inIndia to access thematerial onthesitesandofthelegalityoftheway the sites are procuring thepapers.The plaintiffs in the case,

however,raiseissuesofdatapro-tectionandphishingattacks.

Stating that they promote“lawful sharing”of scholarly ar-ticles, the plaintiffs told TheIndian Express in a statementthrough their lawyers that siteslikeSci-Hubcompromisethese-curityof institutionsandindivid-uals throughtheirmethods.“Pirate sites like Sci-Hub

threaten the integrityof thesci-entific record, and the safety ofuniversity and personal data.Theycompromisethesecurityoflibraries and higher educationinstitutionstogainunauthorisedaccesstoscientificdatabasesandother proprietary intellectualproperty, and illegally harvestjournalarticlesande-books.TherisksposedbySci-Hubareexac-erbated by theway it operates:usingstolenusercredentialsandphishing attacks to illegally ex-tract copyrighted journal arti-cles.”Theyalsostated that “unlike

academic publishers and soci-eties, they have no incentive toensuretheaccuracyof scientificarticles, no incentive to ensure

published papers meet ethicalstandards, and no incentive toretractorcorrectarticlesif issuesarise”.The lawyers for the defen-

dant said did not want to re-spond on themerits of the casesince thematter is sub judice.

■■■

Sci-Hub’s usage appears tohavebecomenormalisedacrossuniversities and among re-searchers in India. In fact, thecountry forms the platform’ssecondlargestuserbaseand,ac-cordingtoElbakyan,thereare7-8 lakhuniquevisitors to the siteeverymonth from India. This isbehind only China, fromwherethe site receives from8-10 lakhuniquevisitorseverymonth.Wiggin LLP, a UK-based law

firm,puttogetherareportdatedDecember16,2020,onthefunc-tionalityofSci-Hubfortheplain-tiffs.Accordingtothereport,be-tweenAugustandOctober2020,thesci-hub.twdomainreceived3.529million visits from India.That domainwas taken offlinearound September 20 afterwhichabulkofthetrafficmovedto thedomain sci-hub.sewhichreceived 7,39,870 visits fromIndiaduring thesameduration.It also found that as on

December 7, 2020, sci-hub.sehad a global Alexa rank of 3,137andan India rankof 1,155.Thesite claims tohavemore

than 87.99million research pa-pers in its library. Researchersfrom the Department ofComputer Sciences at BanarasHindu University and CSIR-NISTAD, Dr Vivek Kumar Singh,Dr Sujit Bhattacharya andSatyaSwarup Srichandan, haveanalysedthedownloadrequestsoriginating in India received bySci-Hub in 329 days in 2017. Inthat period, they found 13mil-lion downloads from India formore than 5million unique re-search papers. Their analysis ofthe disciplinary distribution ofthedownloadedpapersshowedthat21%werefromEngineering,19% from Health andMedicalSciences, 15% from ChemicalSciences, 11% from ComputingSciences, 8% from BiologicalSciences, 5% from PhysicalSciences and 5% fromTechnology.In conversations with stu-

dents and research scholars indifferent universities across thecountry, they stated that usingthe site toaccesspapershasbe-comea“norm”,apracticewhichisalsoleadingthemtonotques-tion limitations in the servicesprovidedby theiruniversities.Anurag Sharma, anM.Tech

studentatIIT-Delhi,saidheendsupusingSci-Hubfrequentlyde-spite his institute having accesstomost journalshe requires.“I think now for me it’s be-

comemore of amatter of con-venience because of how quicktheprocess is. I justneed to findtheDOI of the paper I need and

download it, without having togo through a log-in process andputinapapertitle.Butitwasdif-ferent when I was doing myM.Sc. in Physics from Jamia.Then,IusedonlyonSci-Hubbe-causeIwasnotawareof thepro-cedure to access subscribedjournals.Ithinktherewerecom-putersintheuniversitylibrarytoaccess them,butwewerenevertoldabout it,”hesaid.A Ph.D. research scholar at

DRDO inDelhi said his institutehas subscriptions to a limitednumber of journals: “I’m noteven surewhich ones are avail-able through the institute’s sys-tem.Wheneverthere’sapaper Ineed to access, I first look for itontheinstitutesystem. If Idon’tfind it there, I just download itfrom Sci-Hub. I frequently usethe Sci-Hub Telegram bot towhich I cansendtheDOIor linkto the paper on Telegramand itsends thepaper tome.”A PhD candidate in the

DepartmentofChemistryatIIT-Madras — one of the country’stop research institutes — saidthatwhile his institutehas sub-scriptions to the publisherswhosejournalsheusesthemost,whicharethethreeplaintiffsandthe Royal Society of Chemistry,he has difficulty accessing pa-pers more than 15 year oldthroughthem.“I don’t know the reason for

thisandhonestly, Ihaven’tboth-ered to try to find out becauseSci-Hub has been there. I canplace a request atmy library forthepapersIrequireandtheycanprobably get it done, but that’slaboriousandwill takeat leastafew days, and I don’t have timefor that because I’m rushingaroundtheclocktogetmyworkdone,”hesaid.Headdedthatus-ageofthesiteis“universal”attheinstitute, as well as other insti-tutes in the city such asUniversity of Madras and CSIR-CLRI.Aniruddha Seal, an under-

graduate student of ChemistryatNISERBhubaneswar,saideversince college has gone onlinewith the pandemic, the site hasbeenhisonlyaccess-pointforre-searchpapers:“Myinstitutehassubscriptions tomajor publish-ersbutremoteaccessisavailableonlytoPhDstudents.Allourpa-pershavearesearchcomponent,sowealsoneed to refer to jour-nalsandpapers. It’ssuchanormto use Sci-Hub that no one hasreally raised concern over this,almost everyone inmy class isusing it.”In fact, in the case of Jain’s

almamaterDelhiUniversity,TheIndian Express had reported in2019thattheuniversityhadnotupdated its subscription inovertwoyearstoover40onlinedata-bases providing access to jour-nals and other resources. DelhiUniversityreneweditssubscrip-tionto34of theseonlythisyear,restoring access to required re-search materials after severalyears to its researchers.


THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BETWEENAUGUSTANDDECEMBER2020■sci-hub.twdomainreceived3.529millionvisits fromIndia

■sci-hub.sedomainreceived7,93,870visits fromIndia

■ Indianusersaccountedforbetween4.55%and6.64%oftraffic tosci-hub.twandsci-hub.sedomains

BETWEENSEPTEMBERANDNOVEMBER2020■gen.lib.rus.ecdomainreceived32.38millionvisitsglobally,ofwhich2.436millionwerefromIndia

(Data fromreportsbyWigginLLP)

TRACKINGUSAGE IN INDIA

Illustration: SuvajitDey

Waterlogging at RingRoad: PWD looks forpermanent solutionASHNABUTANINEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

AFTERMINTOBridge, a perma-nentsolutionforwaterloggingisbeingdesignedatRingRoadneartheWHObuildingastheareahasreported instancesof heavywa-terlogging,particularlythisyear.Officials of the PublicWorks

Department have discussed thecreationofanalternatedischargerouteforstormwater.Thetenderwill be floated by the endof themonth andwork on the projectwill begin soon. A PWDofficialsaid,“Themainreasonforwater-loggingintheareaisoverflowingof the Delhi Jal Board line. Thestormwater system cannot taketheburdenof excesswater.”SincethelineisundertheDJB,

the two departments have dis-cussedthematterandtheDJB isworkingonupgradingitssystem.Further ahead on the line nearOkhla, the PWDwill undertake

constructionof anundergroundsump. The official said a 5 lakh-litrecollectiontankwillbemadeand excesswaterwill flow intoSDMC drain 12. As of now,stormwater from the area flowsintoanMCDpumpingstation.Thecreationof thisalternate

routeshouldreducethepressureontheexistingsystem.Officials explained that the

drainage system in the city,whichwasbuiltovera100yearsago, is not equipped to handlethe needs of an ever-increasingpopulation. Further, there hasbeenanunprecedentedamountof rainfall thismonsoon.For the first time in years,

MintoBridgesawmuchlesswa-terloggingthanitusedtobefore.This is because a new pipelinefor pressurised flow had beenlaidfurtheraheadonMintoroad.Such projects cost approxi-

mately70lakheachandthereareplans to implement similar ini-tiativesacrosscritical locations.

SohailMadanof theBombayNaturalHistorySociety leda‘butterflywalk’atAsolasanctuaryonSundaymorningaspartof theBigButterflyMonth.Mallica Joshi

67 SUCH SPACES CREATED SO FAR

In bustling Delhi, efforts on to create butterfly habitats

0-50 Good

ASHOKVIHARSatisfactory

0 500

75AQIPM10

SIRIFORTSatisfactory

0 500

SHADIPURModerate

0 500 500

51-100 Satisfactory 101-200 Moderate 201-300 Poor 301-400 VeryPoor 401-500 Severe

IHBASSatisfactory

0

80AQIPM10

118AQIPM10

75AQIPM10

FORECAST: Sep27Generallycloudysky.Lightrain/thundershowersatisolatedplaces

S K Y WA T C H

MAX: 331.0°Cbelownormal

MIN:251.1°Cabovenormal

New Delhi


GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,SEPTEMBER26

AHEAD OF the next year’sAssembly elections, UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Sunday an-nouncedanincreaseinthestate-administeredprice(SAP)ofsug-arcane by Rs 25 per quintal,takingtherevisedpricetoRs350perquintal.Addressing the Kisan

Sammelan organised inLucknow,thechiefministeralsoannounced towaive interest onpendingelectricbillsof farmers.Announcing that the hike

wouldcomeintoeffectfromthe2021-22 sugarcane crushingseason, Adityanath said, “Thepurchasepriceof theearly vari-ety of sugarcanewill be raisedfromRs325perquintaltoRs350perquintal.TheSAPforthegen-eralvarietyhasbeenraisedtoRs340per quintal fromRs315perquintal earlier.”Thegovernmenthasalsode-

cidedtobuytherejectedvarietyof sugarcane, of which barelyone per cent is left, at an in-creasedpriceofRs335perquin-tal fromRs310perquintal.According to a statement is-

sued by the state government,thehikewillboosttheincomeof45.44lakhsugarcanefarmersinthestateandwillresultinanad-ditional annual payment to thetuneof Rs4,000crore.During the 2007-2012 BSP

government, the SAP for sugar-canewasraisedfromRs125perquintal for general and Rs 130per quintal for early-maturingvarietiestoRs240-250perquin-tal in the 2011-12 crushing sea-son(October-September),mark-ing an overall increase of Rs115-120perquintal.

PM’S US TRIP: 20 MEETINGS IN 65 HRSPrimeMinisterNarendraModi,whoreturnedfromtheUStriponSunday,waswelcomedbyBJPleadersattheairport inDelhi.Duringhisthree-daytriptotheUS,Modi’sschedulewaspackedwithaseriesofmeetingswithtoppoliticalandbusiness leaders.HemetUSPresidentJoeBiden,VicePresidentKamalaHarris, JapanPMYoshihideSuga,AustralianPMScottMorrisonandfiveCEOS, includingBlackstoneCEOStephenSchwarzman.BesidesattendingtheQuadleaders’ summit intheWhiteHouse,healsoaddressedtheUNGeneralAssemblyforthefourthtimeasIndia’sPrimeMinister.PTI


ANFIRwasfiledagainst36farm-ersonSaturdayforallegedlytry-ingtoshowblackflagstoBJPMPVarun Gandhi while hewas onhiswaytoattendapublicmeet-ing in his constituency, Pilibhit,twodaysago.Theaccusedwerebookedfor

flouting Covid protocol. Policesaid the accused farmers alsotried to stop vehicles in Varun’s

cavalcade which resulted in aheatedargumentbetweenthemandthepolice.Harish Vardhan Singh

Rathore,SHOofPooranpurpolicestation,saidthefarmerswerede-manding rollback of the threeagricultural laws.

The PilibhitMPhas not onlytweeted support for the agitat-ing farmers, but also wrote toChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathafewdaysbackseekingasubstan-tial increaseinsugarcaneprices,bonusonwheatandpaddy,dou-blingofgrantsunderPM-KISANscheme and subsidy on diesel,amongother reliefmeasures.According topolice, the cav-

alcadeoftheBJPMPwaspassingthroughMohanpur crossing onFridaywhen BKU farmers triedtoshowhimblack flags.


WEEKSAFTER it carried a coverstory on Infosys, inwhich it ac-cused the company of support-ing"tukde-tukdegang",RSS-af-filiatemagazine Panchjanya initslatestissuehascarriedacoverstory on Amazon, equating theretail giant with East IndiaCompany,andaccusingitofcor-ruptpractices.It also accused Amazon for

allegedly assaulting Hindu val-ues throughPrimeVideos.Titled “East India Company

2.0”, the cover story, written byPanchjanya Bureau, says,“Actually, Amazon toowants tohave sole rights on the Indianmarket. For this it has startedtakingstepstoencirclethepolit-ical, economic and individualfreedomof people here. It is ac-cused of floating shell compa-nies to capture the e-marketplatform,ofbribingtohavepoli-ciesinitsfavor,andofairingpro-grammesopposedtoIndiancul-ture throughPrimeVideos.”

ItallegedthatwhileAmazoninvestedinIndiawithapromisetohelpsmall tradersgeta largerplatformtosellproducts, itactu-allyfloateditsowncompaniestodo the same. “The companyfloated supplier entities suchasCloudtail and Apiria inwhich ithadsignificantstakeandindirectcontrol,”itsaid,claimingthatthetwo companies account for 35percentofallAmazonbusiness.Comparing its tactics with

East India Company, which itsaidfirstattackedtheIndiancul-tureandthenpromotedconver-sion, the article said, “Today thesamethingisbeingdonebyfor-eigncompanies.Amazonisnowstuck in such a controversy.Followingcognizanceof certainanti-HinducontentinprogramssuchasTandavandPaatalLokonitsOTTplatformPrimeVideosbytheMinistryof InformationandBroadcasting and some stategovernments, the companyhasapologised. People had allegedthat Prime Videos is regularlyairing such shows in whichHindu deities are made fun ofandfamilyvaluesareassaulted.”

PUNJABCABINETEXPANSION

KANCHANVASDEVCHANDIGARH,SEPTEMBER26

IT TOOKsixdays, threephysicalmeetings and two V-Cs for theCongresspartytodecideonafi-nal Cabinet list—and even thatwas tweaked at the lastminuteonSunday.The partywas barely able to

decideonall thenamesofmin-isters till a fewhours before theoath-takingceremony.Ithadnotsubmitted the list till afternoon.At the lastminute, PPCCwork-ing president and FatehgarhSahibMLA, Kuljit Nagra’s namewasdropped.AmlohMLA,KakaRandeep Singh Nabha was in-cluded instead.While the list was finalised

by senior party leaders includ-ing Rahul Gandhi, K CVenugopal, Harish Chaudhary,Harish Rawat and Punjab CMCharanjit Singh ChanniWednesday, they had to tweakit further late Friday. After aprotest by Nabha, Channi hadtwo V-Cs with Rahul Gandhi.They had deliberated on drop-ping Gurkirat Singh Kotli fromthe list, but later changed theirminds as he was former chiefministerBeantSingh’sgrandson.His grandfatherwas associatedwith routing of the militancyfrom the state and was well-

liked inPunjab.Sources said they finally de-

cidedtodropNagra,whosaidhewas never on the list. “I had re-signed from the Vidhan Sabhaon farm laws. I am not even anMLA.Howcan I be aminister?”he asked. His resignation wasneveracceptedby theSpeaker.Congress general secretary

in-charge Harish Rawat de-fendedthepartyaftertheswear-ing-in: “Therewas no flip-flop.Ourlistwasfinal.Themediacre-atedan issueoutof nowhere.”Defending the induction of

RanaGurjit Singh,whosenamehad come up in a 2017mining

scandal, Rawat said, “Where isthe controversy? Hewas exon-eratedbyadepartmentalinquiryagainsthim.Whereisthetaint?”On two former ministers,

BalbirSinghSidhuandGurpreetKangar, protesting over beingdropped, he said, “The partywill accommodate everyone.Wehaveroles foreveryone.Wewill not let anyone be upsetwithus.”BrahmMohindra, whowas

the second-most seniorminis-ter in Amarinder’s Cabinet, hasbeen demoted to no. 4 afterChannitookoathwithtwootherministers.


WOMENLAWYERSshouldraisetheir voices “with anger” for 50per cent reservation in the judi-ciary,whichtheyareentitledto,Chief Justiceof IndiaNVRamanasaidSundayashecalled for “ur-gent correction” of the genderimbalance.“...With anger you have to

shout,demandthatyouneed50percent reservation. It’s not asmall issue. It's (an) issue ofthousands of years of suppres-sion.Youareentitled. It’s amat-ter of right. Nobody is going togive charity. It’s unfortunate,somethingswerealiseverylate.With thehelpof all of you, aftersome time, wemay realise andreach thisgoal in theapexcourtas well as other courts,” the CJIsaid at a felicitation ceremonyorganisedbytheLadyAdvocatesof SupremeCourtof India.InvokingKarlMarx’s “work-

ersoftheworld”call,theCJIsaid:“Womenoftheworld,unite.Youhave nothing to lose but yourchains.”CJIRamanasaidwomencon-

stituteonlyabout30percentofthelowerjudiciary,11.5percentof the High Courts, and 12 percent of the Supreme Court. Of

India’s 1.7 million advocates,only 15 per cent are women,theymakeuponly2per cent ofthe elected representatives intheStateBarCouncils,andthereare nowomenmembers in theBarCouncil of India,hesaid.“This needs urgent correc-

tion,”headded.TheCJI spokeabout thediffi-

cultieswomenfacewhileenter-ing the legal profession, includ-inggenderstereotypesthatforcethemtobeartheresponsibilitiesof the family, the preference ofclientsformaleadvocatesandanuncomfortable environmentwithin courts— includinga lackofinfrastructureandwashrooms,andcrowdedcourtrooms.Elaboratingoninfrastructural

issues, CJI Ramana said out of6,000trialcourts,nearly22%havenotoiletforwomen.“TheNationalJudicialInfrastructureCorporationIhaveproposedwillensureinclu-sive design of Court complexes.We need to create amorewel-coming environment,” he said.TheCJI also favouredmoregen-derdiversity in legal education.

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

THE STEREOTYPE of a govern-mentoffice—full of archaic cab-inets with dusty old files—maysoonbea thingof thepast.TheGovernmentof India,on

directions of Prime MinisterNarendraModi, will in Octoberdispose of all pending publicgrievances and complaints,along with all pending assur-ances given to Parliament, MPsandstategovernmentsaswellasconclude all inter-ministerialconsultations.Aspartof thisex-ercise, the government will beweedingoutold,unwantedfiles

alongwithallobsoletematerial.Starting September 13, all

ministries, departments andsubordinate offices, as per in-structions from CabinetSecretariat,havebeenpreparingthematerialandidentifyingthescopeof thework tobedone.While doing this, ministries

are also to review the existingrulesandoldordersthatincreasepaperworkingovernmentwork-ing. “…The existing processesmaybe reviewedwithaviewtoreducingcomplianceburdenandunnecessary paperwork doneawaywith, wherever feasible,”says the letter to all ministriesfrom Cabinet Secretary RajivGauba,whowrote“toconveythe

directionsofthePrimeMinister.”“Itmaybe recalled that dur-

ing his Independence Day ad-dress this year, the PrimeMinister has emphasized theneedtoreviewexistingrulesandprocedures on a continuing ba-sis,” the letter states.This process is set to last till

September 29, and the disposalexercise will start October 2,Gandhi Jayanti.Thedisposalex-ercise is part of the nationwidecleanlinesscampaignstartedbytheNDAgovernment.Typically the Centralised

Public Grievance Redress andMonitoringSystemwebsiteoftheMinistry of AdministrativeReformsandPublicGrievancesre-

ceives complaints fromcitizensconcerninganyministry. It is thenodal body to oversee this driveaswell.Itforwardsthecomplaintstoministriesconcernedandthereisaprotocolforredressal.Along with disposing of all

pendingmatters, the directivefrom the Cabinet Secretary alsolists out thatministries shouldreviewrecordretentionrulessothat records areneither prema-turelydestroyednoraretheyre-tainedbeyondanecessary timeframe. Redundant scrapmate-rial and obsolete items are alsotobe identified fordisposal.As far as assurances to

Parliament and MPs are con-cerned, eachParliament session

throws up numerous “assur-ances” for a ministry duringQuestionHour,whereinthemin-istry or theminister concernedassures theHouses of some ac-tion. Each assurance becomes aseparate file to be dealtwith bytheministry,andit istherightofParliament to seek an explana-tiononassurancesgiventoit.Thedisposal exercisewill ensure noassuranceremainspending.This year, the government

hasreducedthemaximumtimefor the redressal of a complaintfrom 60 days to 45 days. This isbecause the government hasfound that 87 per cent of thecomplaintsonCPGRAMSgotre-solved in45days.

Govt to weed out old files as PM directs clearanceof all pending grievances, assurances by Oct 31

Panchjanya targetsAmazon, compares itwith East India Co

CJI Ramana bats for50% reservation forwomen in judiciary EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

PANAJI, SEPTEMBER26

AMIDSPECULATIONof a seniorCongress leaderbeing “in talks”with the All India TrinamoolCongress (TMC), MLA and for-merGoachiefministerLuizinhoFaleiro is expected to join theMamataBanerjee-ledparty, it islearnt. The TMC has said that itis “very serious” about contest-ing legislativeAssemblypolls inGoa, scheduled forearly2022.Accordingtopoliticalsources

in the state, TMC is aiming atcontesting all 40 seats in thestate. SeniorTMC leadersDerekO'BrienandPrasunBanerjeear-rived in the state last week andhave been holding discussionswithpoliticiansandcivilsocietymembers, thesources said.Earlier, Goa Congress presi-

dent Girish Chodankar had dis-missed speculation over FaleirojoiningTrinamoolas“rumours”.Seventy-oneyearoldFaleiro,

who is the sitting MLA fromsouth Goa's Navelim, served aschief minister of the state in1998-99. A Congress veteran,Faleiro has also served as AICCgeneral secretary in-charge ofNortheast states.His imminent exit from

Congress may come at a timethat the party has fiveMLAs inthe 40-member house. In 2019,tenMLAsfromtheCongressde-fected to theBJP in2019.A team from the Prashant

Kishore-led I-PAC has been as-sessing thepolitical situation inGoa for the last threemonths.

Goa polls: SeniorCong leader mayjoin TMC ranks

‘Withangeryou’vetoshout,demand...Notasmall issue. It’samatterof right’

UP hikes canepurchase priceto Rs 350/quintal

Before oath-taking, last-minutedrama of additions, omissions

VarunGandhi

CJI N VRamana

Farmers booked over black flags to Varun

ControversialMLARanaGurjit Singhtakesoathat theRajBhawaninChandigarhonSunday.Express

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

BIRTHDAY WISHESFORMERPRIMEMinisterManmohanSinghcelebratedaquiet89thbirthdayonSunday. Therewere restrictionsonvisitorsandhespentthedaywithhis familymembers.All topdigni-taries, including President Ram Nath Kovind and VicePresidentVenkaiahNaidu,calledhimtowish.PrimeMinisterNarendraModi,whoreturned to India fromhisUSvisit, andExternal AffairsMinister S Jaishankar alsowished him. Thefoundation for the Quad initiativewas laid by Singh duringhis stint as the PM, and the India-US nuclear deal was thegame-changer in the ties between the two countries.Jaishankar, incidentally,waskeytotheIndia-USnucleardealinitiative, as he had played an instrumental role as a diplo-mat.CongresspresidentSoniaGandhiandseniorleaderRahulGandhiandmanytopleadersof thepartytoospoketoSingh.

RAISING A POINTFORTHEpast fewweeks, formerUnionministerUmaBhartihasbeenmakingherpresencefeltinBJPcircleswithhercom-mentsonsocialmedia.OnSunday,whenthenewsofCabinetexpansion in the Yogi Adityanath government came out,BhartiinaseriesoftweetsremindedpartyleadersthattheBJPcame to power at the Centre and the stateswith support ofbackwardcommunities.“ButwhengovernmentsareformedattheCentreandinthestates, thebackward,Dalitsandtrib-als look for theirplace inpowerandat timesthey feeldisap-pointed,”shetweeted.Sosheadvisedthechiefministerthathe should see that the communities are represented in hisgovernment.

SMOOTH BEGINNINGSENIOR IAS officer Devendra Kumar Singh, whowas ap-pointed secretary of the newly created Ministry ofCooperation, has had a good beginning.Within twodays oftaking charge, Singh oversaw the organisation of the first ofits kind national cooperative conference on Saturday at theIGI Stadium, where Home and CooperationMinister AmitShahunveiledtheroadmapofthenewministry.A1989-batchKeralacadreIASofficer,Singhmadehisfirstpublicappearanceby delivering a short speech at the event. His predecessorSanjayAgarwalwasalsopresenton theoccasion.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUDHIANA,CHANDIGARHSEPTEMBER26

SHIROMANI AKALI Dal (SAD)president and Punjab's formerdeputyCM,SukhbirSinghBadal,Sundaysaid thatallministersoftheCongresswhohad indulgedincorruptionwouldbe taken totask if theSADisvotedtopowerin the 2022 elections. Sukhbirsaid that the next SAD-led gov-ernmentwouldestablisha spe-cial commission to probe themisdeedsofCongressministers.TheAamAadmiParty,mean-

while,condemnedtheinclusionofministerswhohadcorruptionchargesagainsttheminthenewPunjabCabinet,headedbyChiefMinister,CharanjitSinghChanni.Addressing a press confer-

ence, Sunday, Sukhbir said theCongress should not think thatoustinga fewcorruptministerswillwashawaytheirsinsorhadmadetheothermembersof theCabinet clean. “It is a fact thatthe entire Congress party isstained in corruption,” heclaimed.Answering a query, Sukhbir

said theSADhadwelcomedtheappointment of Charanjit

ChanniastheCM.“Howeverit ispainful towatch the new ChiefMinisterbeingovershadowedbyPPCCpresidentNavjot Sidhu, aswell as deputy CM SukhjinderRandhawa.It isalsounfortunatethat Channi does not have anysay ingovernance.”Senior AAP leader Harpal

SinghCheemathattheCongress,by changing the mask of theChief Minister (AmarinderSingh),hasonlychangedthe‘AliBaba’, while his ‘forty thieves’were still there. Cheema alsocriticisedCongressforincludingcontroversialMLARanaGurjeetSingh in thenewCabinet.

SAD vows to probe Cong ‘misdeeds’,AAP says Capt’s ‘40 thieves’ still there

PraveenKhanna

BKUleaderRakeshTikaitat akisanmahapanchayat inPanipat,Haryana,onSunday.ManojDhaka

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,LUDHIANA,NEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

AHEAD OF the Bharat Bandhcalled onMonday by farmers'unions protesting against thethreecontentiousfarmlaws,sev-eralOppositionpartiesonSundayextendedsupporttothe10-hournationwidestrike.The Congress, SAD, SP, BSP,

TMC,AAP,YSRCPandLeftpartiesannouncedthattheywouldsup-port the bandh, with some ofthesepartiesaskingtheirworkerstojointhestrike.The Samyukt KisanMorcha

(SKM),anumbrellabodyofmorethan40 farmer unions,which isspearheadingtheprotests,saidinastatement,“ItwasonSeptember27,2020 thatPresidentShriRamNath Kovind assented to andbrought intoforcethethreeanti-farmer black laws last year.Tomorrow, therewill be a totalBharat Bandh observed aroundthecountryfrom6amto4pm.”Itsaidallemergencyestablish-

mentsandessential serviceswillbeexemptedfromthebandh.TheSKMsaidalthoughallpo-

litical partieshavebeenasked tosupportMonday'sstrike,noneofthem,ortheirrepresentatives,willbe given space on the farmers'stage. They can set up their ownstagesinsupportof thefarmers.Calling for a peaceful bandh,

SKMmember Dr Darshan Pal

said, “We will ensure that nomarkets or shops are closedforcibly.Thereisnoplaceforvio-lence in ourmovement. Sundayalsomarkedthecompletionof10monthsoffarmagitationagainstfarmlawsatDelhiborders.”FarmersonSundayalsohelda

mahapanchayatinPanipat,whichwas addressedby senior farmerleaders, includingRakeshTikaitandGurnamSinghChaduni.Extending support to the

bandh, Congress general secre-tary (organisation) K CVenugopal tweeted, “All PCCpresidents, chiefs of frontal or-ganisations are requested to goout in frontwithourAnnadatasin their peaceful Bharat Bandhacrossthecountry.”InatweetinHindi, BSP chief Mayawati said,“The farmers of the country donotendorsethethree farmlawsbroughtinahurrybytheCentre,and are sad about it.” She saidher party supports their call forapeacefulbandh.In Kolkata, TMC chief and

ChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeesaid she supports the farmers.Addressing apublicmeeting fortheBhabanipurby-poll,shesaid,“Tomorrow, there is a call forBharatBandh.Ourpartydoesnotsupportbandhs.Butwesupporttheir issue. If needed,wewillgoto Punjab, Haryana, and UttarPradeshtosupporttheirprotest.”InKerala,boththerulingLDF

andUDFsupported thestrike.WITHPTIINPUTS

BharatBandhby farmerstoday,Opppartiesback it

New Delhi

10WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

IN STEP WITH USPMModi’svisit sets thestage for transcendingdifferencesbetweenthetwonationsonbilateral, regional, global issues

ALTHOUGH THEREWERE nomajor announcementsmade during PrimeMinisterNarendraModi’s visit to theUnitedStates lastweek, the stagehasbeensetfortransformingIndia’spartnershipwithAmerica,advancingDelhi’sQuadrilateralpartnershipwithCanberra,Tokyo,andWashington,andboost-

ingIndia’sglobalimpact.Thethreelevelsof IndianengagementwiththeUS—bilateral,re-gional, andmultilateral—areno longer in separate compartments, reinforceeachother.Havingtranscendedsomeoftheirtraditionaldifferencesonbilateral,regional,andglobalissuesduring the last twodecades,DelhiandWashingtonarenowfree to frametheirbi-lateralrelationsinmoreambitiousterms—asapartnershipforregionalstabilityandglobalgood.Bilateraldefencecooperation, Indo-Pacific regionalbalance,vaccinedevelopment,andmitigatingclimatechangenowcutacrossbilateral, regional,andglobaldomains.ThisdoesnotmeanModiandtheUSPresidentJoeBidenareneglectingurgentbilateral

agenda on conventional issues such as trade— in the end the sinewsof anypartnership.Althoughthepoliticsoftradehavebecomealotmorecomplexinbothcountries,thetwolead-ershave agreed to resume their tradedialogue. Beyond trade,Modi andBidenaddressedseveralotherareasripefordeepercooperation—homelandsecurity,energy,highereduca-tion,andtechnologicalcooperation.Thebilateraldiscussiononterrorisminevitablybringsintheenduringchallengesofcross-borderterrorismpromotedbythePakistanarmy.ModiandBidenhavealsotocometotermswiththeconsequencesofPakistan’ssuccessinbring-ingthemedievalTalibanbacktopowerinAfghanistan.Theinterestsof IndiaandtheUSap-pear tobe inconvergenceonboth the issues,butDelhi shouldnotunderestimate thecon-tinuingleverageofthePakistanarmy,backedbyChina,asa“regionalspoiler”ifnothingelse.AlthoughAfghanistanremainsakeyareaof continuingconcernforbothIndiaandthe

US,bothsidesarenowlookingatthebiggerchallengesemergingintheIndo-Pacific,drivenby the rise and assertion of China. That is where the first in-person summit of theQuadrilateral forumcomes in. Delhi andWashingtonhave found anewcomfort level inthe sharedunderstanding that theQuadwill notbeamilitary coalition. Thathasallowedthem to focus on a very expansive and consequential non-military agenda of providingpublicgoodsacross the Indo-Pacific. ThisallowstheQuadtoofferacrediblealternative toChinaonarangeof issues—fromhealthtotelecommunicationsandinfrastructuredevel-opment.ItalsoundercutsBeijing’spropagandabrandingtheQuadas“AsianNato”anden-hancestheforum’sacceptabilityandsustainabilityintheregion.TheissuestobetakenupintheQuad—pandemicmanagementandclimatechangearenotmerelyregional issues,but global and inevitably figured prominently inModi’s address to theUnitedNationsGeneralAssemblyalongwiththequestionof terrorism.Tobesure, thereismuchdistancetobecoveredinbuildingaglobalconsensusontheseissues.ButIndia’sownemergenceasamajoreconomicpowermakesitacriticalplayerinshapingtheoutcomesontheseissues.Delhi’scloserpartnershipwithWashingtonwillinturnboostIndia’sglobalstrategicsalience.

GRAIN DIPLOMACYIt canbesymbolicof anewIndia—thatDelhi,with its foodabundance,willnot letanyonestarve inSouthAsia

THEREWASAtimewhentheUSused foodaidasapowerfuldiplomacytool tocontainhunger-induceddiscontentthat,itfeared,couldtriggercommunistrev-olutions inunderdevelopedcountries.Successivepost-WorldWarIIadminis-trationsmade theFood forPeaceprogramme,betterknownasPL-480, a cor-

nerstone of US foreign assistance. India alone importednearly 24million tonnes (mt) ofwheatunderPL-480during1964-66.TheUSevensuppliedsome9.1mtofsubsidisedwheatandcorntotheSovietUnionin1973,whoseideologicalsignificancewasn’tlostonanybody.For theUS, foodshipments,onconcessionaloroutrightgrant terms, servedbothasabul-warkagainstcommunismandameanstorelieveitsmassivefarmsurpluses.JohnFKennedyestimated that it cost 20 cents a year to store a bushel of wheat and38 cents to ship thesamegraintoIndia.Exportinggrainfree,then,wascheaperthanstockingbeyondtwoyears.The sameopportunity—whatKennedycalled “turningourgreat agricultural abun-

dance into a blessing, for ourselves and for all theworld” — presents itself, albeit in asmallermanner,toIndiatoday.At90.41mtasonSeptember1,thecountry’spublicstocksofwheat and ricewere thehighest ever for this date,with thenewpaddyarrivals fromOctoberonlygoingtoaddtothese.Moreover, thestockpileuphas takenplace,despitearecord 93mt-plus grain offtake from theCentral pool during 2020-21,muchof it givenoutfree/near-freepostthepandemic.Withgovernmentagenciesprocuringover103mtlast year, thequantities flowing into the FoodCorporationof India’swarehouses are farinexcessof that goingout. The “carryingcost”— interest, storageandotherexpenses—of theexcessbufferhasbeenestimatedatRs5,589per tonne for2021-22.Clearly, thereiseconomicaswellasdiplomaticsenseindonatingorbarteringthissurplusgrainabroad.Andwherebetter todo it than inour immediateneighbourhood?Afghanistan is now facing an acute food crisis from a combination of prolonged

drought, regimechangeandassociated instability. Sri Lanka, too, is grapplingwith foodshortages,worsenedbydwindling foreigncurrencyreserves.Whatstops India fromof-fering, say, 2mt of wheat to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid and onemt of rice to SriLanka against payment in local currency similar to that under PL-480?Wheat canonlybe eaten or, atworst, diverted as animal feed. There should be nomoral compunction,hence, insupplying iteventoaregimethat Indiacannotrecognise.Graindiplomacy—asimplemessage thatnobody inSouthAsia shall starvewhilewearehere—canbesym-bolicof theNewIndia:One that caresandmatters to theworld.

Realcasteistpolitics istoprotecttheprivilegeofafew,andnotaddressinjusticeof themany

IWRITE THIS IN the context of the affidavitsubmitted by the Union government onSeptember23 in theSupremeCourt statingthat the caste census in 2021would not be“feasible”.Thisexcusestonewallsthecollec-tive demand fromacross India for data thatwouldhaveprovidedacontextforanewpar-adigm for inclusive development based oncontemporaryrealities.Further,thegovern-ment’s argument that their stance followsfrom the “conscious” decision taken since1951tonothavesuchanenumerationisbadinbothreasoningandintent. It isbadinrea-soningbecausesuchgranulardatawillallowthegovernmentanopportunityfortargetedpolicy-making.Whywoulditletsuchanop-portunitypass?It isbadinintentaswellbe-cause the government need not go back to1951— just a fewyears ago several of its in-cumbent ministers explicitly promised acaste census. It is not “feasible” for the gov-ernmentbecause,likemanyotherpromises,the promise to conduct a caste censuswasalsoa jumla, justempty rhetoric.Thedemandforacastecensusorupdated

numericalstatusofcasteshasbeenstronglyraisedbyseveral leadersandcivilsocietyac-tivistscommittedtothephilosophyandide-ologyofsocial justiceforoverthreedecades.My father, Lalu PrasadYadav, togetherwithcolleaguesfromotherpoliticalpartiesraisedtheneed for suchdata insideaswell asout-side Parliament. The objective behind thisdemandwastobringouttheunseenaspectsofvariouscastegroupsandtheirshareinre-sources.Suchdatawouldtellusnotonlytheexactpopulationofvariouscastegroupsbutalso help assess the so-called inclusive de-velopment since independence. In the lightoftheseimportantconcerns,anddespiteop-positionby somemainstreampolitical par-ties, in 2011 the then UPA government de-cided to conduct a caste census underpressure fromsubalternvoices.Formore than 70 years, we have heard

fromallgovernmentsaboutpovertyallevia-

tion, ending unemployment, and equitabledistribution of resources. While absolutepovertyhasincreasedmanifold,theinequal-ity between castes and classes is wideningdaybyday.Severalnationalandinternationalpieces of research have revealed the bittertruth about the precarious life situation ofDalits, backward classes, and minoritygroups on the parameters of education,health, and employment, and their furthermarginalisation is a tragedy of our times.Numerousstudieshaveshownthatthedom-inant elite, comprising less than10per centof thepopulation,corners90percentof theresourcesandalargesectionof thesegroupshasbeenpreventingthepoliciesof thestatefrombecomingpro-people. Eachandeveryvoice against these dominant groups havebeensuppressedbysuccessivegovernmentsunderonepretextoranother.If inclusivedevelopment is theconstitu-

tionalpriorityof ourcountry, thenwemustdemandthesocio-economiccasteenumer-ation andmake it publicly available so thatourdevelopmentpoliciesandprogrammescan be accordingly shapedwith an avowedcommitmenttoempoweringthepeopleandcommunitiesonthemargins.Developmentindeedisaveryimportantconstituentofem-powerment, so the decision to prioritise itcannotbe left to thosewhoown90percentof the resources. In contemporary discus-sions, it does not seem right or appropriatethatthemeaningofgrowthshouldbedeter-minedonlybythefluctuationsoftheSensex,whichmoreoftenthannotlacksthehumanfaceandtouch.Therulingeliteaswellassomemembers

ofthemainstreammediahavebeensuggest-ingthatthedemandformakingthecastecen-sus public may lead to casteism in everysphere.Suchfear-mongeringneedstobedealtwith objectively.We shall counter themis-leading propaganda around this issuewithfacts andwell-grounded arguments. Let usasksomevalidquestionswithregards to the

contemporarydevelopmentparadigm,whichgoeswith the rhetoric of Sabka Saath, SabkaVishwas.Whoarethepeoplecarryingoutoc-cupations that offer neither dignitynor ade-quate livelihood?Whoare theworkerswhohaveabsolutelynosocial securityandareal-waysonecrisisawayfromdestitution?Whoarethepeoplemigratingfromourvillagesforuncertainfuturesincities?Whydoesthewel-farestateoratleastthegovernment—whichis otherwise very inquisitive—not seem in-terested in knowingwho these people are?Does their caste determine their economicstatusortheiragencytospeakforwhatisfair?Wewerealsotoldthatanalarminglyhigh

percentage of the people in rural India arelandless.Today,thereisaneedtomakepub-licthefiguresofcasteandlandownershipsothatwe can dealwith this dire situation bydevelopingsensitiveandinclusiveinterven-tionplans. Is it spreading casteism ifweaskwho is homeless in urban areas or what isthe social background of the daily wageworker?Justqueryingthecastecharacterofpoverty,backwardness,andmarginalisationcannot be and should not be dubbed an at-tempt at promoting casteism. In fact, goingby the spirit of the Preamble of theConstitution,wemustensure thatourpub-lic policy is in syncwith the critical realitiesof our times.Many friends claim that poverty has no

caste.Butall studiesandresearchconductedaround inequality show that poverty is en-trenchedamongthesubordinatecastes.Howdoesquestioningtheparticipationandlackofengagementof thesegroups inourdevelop-mentstorybecomespeakingforcasteistpol-itics?Thebittertruthisthatrealcasteistpoli-ticsistheonethattakesa“conscious”decisiontocoveruptheprivilegesofahandfulofpeo-ple anddoes not find it “feasible” to redressthedireconditionofcroresof itscitizens.

Thewriter is LeaderofOpposition,BiharLegislativeAssembly

The ruling elite as well assome members of themainstream media have beensuggesting that the demandfor making the caste censuspublic may lead to casteismin every sphere. Such fear-mongering needs to be dealtwith objectively. Who are thepeople carrying outoccupations that offerneither dignity nor adequatelivelihood? Who are theworkers who have absolutelyno social security and arealways one crisis away fromdestitution? Who are thepeople migrating from ourvillages for uncertainfutures in cities? Why doesthe welfare state or atleast the government —which is otherwise veryinquisitive — not seeminterested in knowing whothese people are?

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,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021WORDLYWISE

This is the storyofAmerica. Everybody’sdoingwhat they think they’re supposed todo.

— JackKerouacTHEEDITORIALPAGE

DHAKA PROTESTSTHE INDIAN GOVERNMENT has brushedaside reports from Dhaka that 18BangladeshcitizenshadbeenkilledwithinBangladeshborders inanattackby Indiansecurity personnel earlier this week. NoIndiansecuritypersonwasinvolvedinthereported incident, a spokesperson of theUnion external affairs ministry said. Thespokesperson said that therehasbeennorequest fromtheBangladeshigovernmentin response to the request from localIndian officials for a meeting to sort outthe problem. He said about 5,000 peoplebelonging to tribal communities hadcrossed into India from Bangladesh inthe last few days. Meanwhile, theBangladesh government had lodged a

strong protest with India alleging borderviolations by 500 miscreants in theChittagongHill Tract Areas.

CM DENIES CHARGESDENYINGTHECHARGESofcorruptionlev-elled against him, Bihar Chief MinisterJagannath Mishra launched a counterof-fensive against Karpoori Thakur who healleged was attempting “to give authen-ticitytohis fabricated liesbasinghis infor-mation on an imaginary homeministryreport”. In his lengthy rejoinder, MishraaccusedThakurof earningmorethanRs2crore from contracts given by the BiharElectricity Board. Denying that he had ahand in the raising of the price of spirit

from75paisa toRs1.80per litre, thepricehadbeensettledbytheexcisedepartmentafter negotiations with the manufactur-ers.HealsosaidthatUnionHomeMinisterGiani Zail Singh had told him that no in-quiry had been initiated into the chargesagainst him.

STORM WARNINGMOVEMENT OF SHIPS to and from theCalcutta port and Haldia dock complexand normal work in these dock systemsweredisruptedbyseverecyclonicstorms.AdangersignalwashoistedattheCalcuttaports and theHaldiadockcomplexwarn-ing ships, fishing boats and trawlers of asevere cyclonic storm.

SEPTEMBER 27, 1981, FORTYYEARSAGO

Feza TAzmi

LEARNING WITHOUT BARRIERSDevelopments inonlineeducationopenupaccess fordisabledchildren

GLOBALLY, ABOUT15per cent of the popu-lation liveswith some formof disability. Ofthis,80percentlivesindevelopingcountries.Personswithdisabilities (PwDs)areamongthe most marginalised groups. They en-counter a range of barriers and are morelikely toexperienceadverse socioeconomicoutcomes. Limited support infrastructurecanhaveasignificantdebilitatingimpactoneveryday life.WHOnow considers disabil-ity a human rights issue. It emphasises thatpeople are disabled by society and not bytheirbodies.Over the last 65 years, the overall global

literacyratehasincreasedby4percenteveryfive years— from42 per cent in 1960 to 86per cent in 2019. However, the global liter-acyrateforthedisabledisaslowas3percentwith just 1 per cent for females. Ninety percentofdisabledchildrenindevelopingcoun-triesdonotattendschool,saysUNESCO.Theschool drop-out rate is also high due to thelackofadequateinfrastructure, inaccessiblereadingmaterialanduntrainedteachers.Aninsignificantnumbermakeittoinstitutesofhigher learning.Lackof educationhas a trickle-downef-

fect.Mostdisabledchildrenarenotequippedwith foundational skills for employability.AccordingtotheUN,indevelopingcountries,80 to 90per cent of PwDs are unemployed,whereas in industrialisedcountries, it isbe-tween 50 to 70 per cent. Inmost countries,theunemployment rate for PwDs is at leasttwice thatof thosewhohavenodisability.The pandemic hasmade us realise how

technology is reshaping education.

Lockdownsmadeschoolsrapidlymigratetoonlineeducation.Thismetamorphosisofed-ucation systems has far-reaching implica-tionsfordisabledchildren.Onlineeducationhas thepotential tomake learningmoreac-cessible for PwDs. It takes care of physicalbarriers created by transportation andmo-bility issues.Childrenhavetheadvantageofaccessinglearningfromthesafetyandcom-fort of their homes. It saves them fromun-necessary inhibitions in attending physicalschools.Disabled students inhigher educa-tiontoocanhaveaccesstolectures, librariesandresourceswithouttheneedtophysicallynavigate remotecampuses.Onlinelearning,bothinthesynchronous

andasynchronousmodes,offersaddedflex-ibilityandtheadvantageofself-pacedlearn-ing.Withtechnologicalaidsandassistivede-vices, it ispossible totraindisabledchildreninvariousskills.E-learningallowsthereviewof materials and repeated viewing of videolectures. Various assistive technologies likescreen readers, text magnifiers, speechrecognitionsoftware,braillekeyboards,signlanguageinterpreters,videoswithsubtitles,audio recordings, etc, canbeused.Internetpenetrationisincreasingfast.As

of January 2021, therewere 4.66 billion ac-tive internet usersworldwide— almost 60per cent of the global population. In 104countries,morethan80percentoftheyouthpopulation is online. Out of the 830millionyoung people who are online, 320million(39 per cent) are in China and India, whichareamongthecountrieswiththehighestin-cidenceof disability.

Prices of internet serviceshavedroppedby50percentonaverageoverthelast threeyearsandbroadbandandmobileservicesareavailableatmuchhigherspeeds.Thisaugurswellforonlineeducation.Childrenarequicklearnersandadapt fast.Withadequatesup-port,adoptinge-learningmaynotbeahugechallenge.The 2030 Sustainable Development

Goalsfocuson“inclusiveandqualityeduca-tion for all”.With barely nine years left forthe target, greater strides have to bemade.Governments and educational bodies havean important role to play inmaking ICT ac-cessible to disabled students. Those at theforefrontofeducationadministrationcanfa-cilitatedesigningonlinecoursesandlearningmodules in easy-to-deliver formats. Initialchallengesdoexist,butstudentswhodidnotattendschoolsduetophysical limitationsatleast have an alternative now. This can be agoodstartingpointtobringinstudentswhohavebeendeniedaccess toschools.Advancesinthedigitaleconomyarecre-

atingunprecedentedworkopportunitiesforthe disabled, a report by ILO says.With therise of the gig economy,mostwork is beingdonefromhomes,creatingnewjobopportu-nities forphysically restrictedPwDs.Onlineeducation could prove to be a turn of thewheel in thequest of PwDs togain amean-ingful life.

Thewriter isprofessor,DepartmentofBusinessAdministration, Facultyof

ManagementStudies&Research,AligarhMuslimUniversity

Online education has thepotential to make learningmore accessible for personswith disabilities. It takes careof physical barriers createdby transportation andmobility issues. Childrenhave the advantage ofaccessing learning from thesafety and comfort of theirhomes. It saves them fromunnecessary inhibitions inattending physical schools.

Freeze Frame E P Unny

Count the ladder’s rungs

Tejashwi Prasad Yadav

New Delhi

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021 WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“While Mr [Imran] Khan may be sincere in urging the international communityto lend a hand, the Taliban government is doing itself no favours by refusing toaccommodate any demands of the international community, includingPakistan.” —DAWN,PAKISTANTHE IDEASPAGE


What these survey resultsindicate is that the scope foraugmenting farmers’incomes is going to be more,and from rearing animals(including fisheries). It isworth noting that there is nominimum support price(MSP) for products ofanimal husbandry orfisheries and noprocurement by thegovernment. It is demand-driven, and much of itsmarketing takes placeoutside APMC mandis. Thisis the trend that will getreinforced in the years tocome as incomes rise anddiets diversify.

ATKAMLABHASIN’S funeral on Saturday,peoplestoodsilentlyashersister,Bina,per-formed the last rites. Shortly after, a youngwomanbegana“conversation”withKamla,addressingherasifshewerestillalive.Wordsturnedintosongandsoontheentiregather-ingoffeministactivists—working-class,elite,religious,non-religious,old,young andoth-erswhose lives Kamla had touched, brokeintosong.As Kamla’s favourite songs,many that

have become anthems for the women’smovement, rang out across the cremationground, people tapped their feet, clappedtheirhands,swayedtotherhythmandthen,gradually, fell silent. A group of women—her close friends, her beloved relatives —thenliftedherandtookherinforherlastde-parture.Insidetheyraisedslogans,thoseshehadshoutedinsomanyfeministgatherings,andonceagain they sang songsof farewellandlove.Eversinceheraggressivecancerwasdi-

agnosedthreemonthsago,Kamlaknewshedid not have long to live and jokedoften ofthe bulawa thatwas imminent. In hospital,onwhatwas to be her last day, she foughtenergeticallytolive,anddemandedthatherhairbeblow-dried,hertoenailspainted.Backhomethenextday, the lifenowgoneoutofher,herfacestillheldhercharacteristicsmile,mischief lurkingat itsedges.It was some 40 years ago that Kamla

BhasinarrivedonthefeministsceneinDelhi.In one of our early encounters at an anti-dowry protest, she brought along her hus-bandanddaughter—atthetimeaninfant—andtheysoonbecameaconstant featureofourmarches.Later, in our street play,OmSwaha, she

becamethe sutradhar, energetically sound-ing the damru, laughinglymaking upnon-senserhymestoinvitebystandersandcuri-ous onlookers into the play, disarminglymaking spontaneous comments onnowashirt,nowadupatta,makingthemfeelspe-cial.Ithinkitwasperhapsthatmomentthatturnedher into the ace communicator shewastobecomelaterinlife,talkingwithequalease to a grassrootsworker or an interna-tionalofficial.At the time, she had a day jobwith the

FoodandAgriculturalOrganisation,andherofficeswerelocatedinsidetheUNbuildinginDelhi, an unlikely locale for awomanwhowasmuchmoreathomespinningandrock-ing onher feet in the streets. But itwas theSouthAsian regional remit of that job thatKamlawouldreturntoinheractivistyears,tobuild enduring solidarities and friendshipsacross the SouthAsian region, and tomakeSouthAsianfeminismaforce.Shedidthisthroughherformidableand

unusual “arsenal” of feminist weapons:Laughter, joy, friendship, songs, slogans,art,dance,booksandsomuchmore.Sheorgan-ised—oftenwith thedancerChandralekha—someof theearlyfeministposter-makingworkshops. Inoneof thesewascreated theiconic poster that announced the arrival ofherparticularbrandof feministmath:One-plus-oneequals11.She set up institutions and campaigns:

Jagori, of which shewas an integral part,Sangat, throughwhich she shared feministconceptswith less privilegedwomen, OneBillionRising,acampaignthatattemptedtoshowthatthenumbersofwomendemand-ingtheirrightsranintobillions.Herenthusiasmandcommitmenttothe

women’smovement—her home and herbelonging — meant that even personaltragedies,thelossofheryoungdaughter,thelifelong illness of her son, did not deter herand she bounced back from each one, thelaughterintactonherface,thehurthiddeninherheart.Oneofherfavouritecoinageswas:“Onedoes not fall in love, one rises in love”— something thatwas the truth of her life.Many suchwere shared privatelywith herfeminist comrades amidmuch laughter:“Mary conceivedwithout sinning, oh Lordletme sinwithout conceiving”, “Wedon’twantcopper-T,wewantproperT”andasong,“Amma dekh, amma dekh, teramovementbigdajaye”!Kamla’s lifewasalsoatestamenttothat

mostpreciousofthingsthatfeminismacrosstheworld has given us: The strength of fe-malefriendships.Whenapowerfulcritiquewasmountedagainstheronsocialmediaforstatementsshemadeontrans issues, itwasherclosegroupof friendsthat ralliedroundherandhelpedherunderstandtheharmherwordscoulddo.Itwasthesesamefriends, spreadacross

differentcitiesandcountries,whocameto-getherwhen her illnesswas diagnosed tohelpher sort outher affairs— themost im-portant ofwhichwas the care of her son—andwhocreatedarosterofweeklysupport,puttingtheirlivesonholdtobewithherfulltimeascarersforthatperiod.Tobeabletosogenerouslygiveoftheimmensestoreoflovethatyouhave,andtobeitsrecipientinequalmeasure,was something that cameeffort-lesslytoKamla.Inourpatriarchalworld,thepassingofa

feministlifeisrarelyseenasalosstosociety.Inthelastfewmonths,wehaveseenseveralsuch departures: Gail Omvedt withoutwhosewritings and activism our under-standingofcastewouldhavebeensomuchpoorer;SonalShukla,who,likeKamla,madefun, reading, song, dance, and learning thecentral plank of her work; RatiBartholomew,whogaveher life to theatre.AndKamlaherself.Theyleavebehindaworld,morespecif-

icallytheworldof thewomen’smovement,both enriched and impoverished. Enrichedbythelivestheyfullyandgenerouslygavetoit and impoverishedby the loss of somuchmorethattheyhadtogive.

Thewriter ispublisher, Zubaan

the cultivation of crops has decreased from45.8percentto37.7percent.Three,theshareofwages and salaries has goneup from38.7percentto40.3percent.Four,theshareofin-come coming fromnon-farmbusiness hascomedownfrom11.2percentto6.4percent.Whatthesesurveyresultsindicateisthat

thescope foraugmenting farmers’ incomesisgoingtobemore,andfromrearinganimals(including fisheries). It isworth noting thatthere is nominimum support price (MSP)forproductsofanimalhusbandryorfisheriesand no procurement by the government. Itisdemand-driven,andmuchofitsmarketingtakesplaceoutsideAPMCmandis.Thisisthetrend thatwill get reinforced in theyears tocome as incomes rise and diets diversify.Thosewhobelievethatfarmers’ incomecanbeincreasedbycontinuouslyraisingtheMSPofgrainsandgovernmentprocurement,irre-spectiveof thefactthatgrainstockswiththegovernment are already overflowing andmorethandoublethebufferstockingnorms,arelivinginthepast—andadvocatingaveryexpensive foodsystem.Thatwill fail soonerorlater.Wisdomliesininvestingmoreinan-imal husbandry (including fisheries) andfruitsandvegetables,whicharemorenutri-tious.Thebestwaytoinvest is to incentivisethe private sector to build efficient valuechains based on a cluster approach. TheNarendra Modi government has startedworking in this direction, but muchmoreneeds tobedone.

Gulati is InfosysChairProfessor forAgricultureandRoy isaResearchFellowat ICRIER

A BLOTTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Plugtheleak’ (IE 25 September). It is distress-ing to see that a state,which has per-formed relatively better than othersin welfare implementation, shouldfind itself in themidstof a corruptionscandal in its most prestigiousscheme. The manner in which thebeneficiaryminister in theBihargov-ernmenthas shruggedoff theexposeshowsblatantdisregard forproprietyand isdeplorable. TheCMmustget tothe bottom of the scandal and takecorrectiveactionagainstall responsi-ble if his image isnot tobesullied. Fora start, hemust get thewater schemeand all such schemes audited to findout if there aremore skeletons in thecloset.

Hemant Contractor, Pune

PUBLIC VS PRIVATETHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Thestrategicpublic sector’ (IE, September25).Theproblemofpoorperformanceand lossesof PSEs is largelyduetopo-litical and bureaucratic interferencein their functioning. Left to theirman-agements, PSEs would earn reason-able returns, as NTPC has done.Another facet of the issue is that theprivatisationwill lead tomonopoliesfor fewcapitalists,whowilldominatemarket with high prices for theirproducts and services.

GangadharKaralay,Nagpur

RSS TOKENISMTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘WhyMohanBhagwat is rightabout theRaj’

(IE, September25). I believeRSSchiefMohanBhagwat’swordsaremere to-kenism. The largerproject thathe is apart of is to preserve and safeguardthesocialorderandoligarchyof castein Hindu society. How, otherwise,wouldheadvocate foraHindutvathatrepulses and excludes the larger in-terests of the Muslim community,which has been forced to fend for it-self eversince the inaugurationof thisregime in2014?WherewashewhenMuslimswerebeingbrutallymaimed,lynched and assaulted on one or an-other pretext?

Ritwik Trivedi,Delhi

THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘WhyMohanBhagwat is rightabout theRaj’(IE, September 25). While certainlywelcome, thearticle is likely to fall ondeaf years. The Hindutva project isfundamentally opposed to fraternity.

BiswadeepChatterjee, via email

VP’S SIGNALTHISREFERSTOthereport, ‘ModiandHarris discuss Pak support for terror'(IE, September 25). In the joint pressconference, the US and India’s com-monconcernwithregardtoPakistan’srole inspreadingcross-border terror-ism was expressed along standardlines, in a proforma manner. But USVice-PresidentKamalaHarris confab-ulating about necessary measures tostrengthen democracy in their owncountries is a surprising and unso-licitedcounsel toPM,whorepresentsthemost populous democracy.

LRMurmu,Delhi

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

Criticsofassetmonetisationoverstatepitfalls,holdittounreasonablestandards

The choice tomonetiseMichael Pinto

Augmentingfarmers’ incomewill require investment inanimalhusbandry, fisheriesandfruitandvegetablecultivation.Privatesectorneedstobeincentivisedtocreatevaluechains

Singing likea feminist

Withherunusualweapons—laughter,songs,slogansandart—KamlaBhasinbuiltinstitutionsandsolidarities,madeSouthAsianfeminismaforce

Urvashi ButaliaAFTER TWOSUCCESSIVE droughts in 2014-15 and 2015-16, PrimeMinister NarendraModi set out an ambitious target to doublefarmers’ incomesby2022-23.Manyanalyststhought hewas talking about nominal in-comes. But the Ashok Dalwai Committee,whichwas set up to chalk out a strategy toachieve this,made it clear that the target ofdoubling farmers’ incomeswas inreal termsand the goalwas to be achieved over sevenyearswiththebaseyearof2015-16. Itclearlystated thatagrowthrateof 10.4per centperannumwouldberequiredtodoublefarmers’realincomeby2022-23.Accordingtoanesti-mate of farmers’ income for 2015-16 byNABARDin2016-17,theaveragemonthlyin-come of farmers for 2015-16was Rs 8,931.However,unlessasimilarsurveyisconductedin2022-23,wewon’t reallyknowwhathap-pened to the target of doubling farmers’ realincome.Wedohavetherecentlyreleaseddatafor

2018-19 based on the SituationAssessmentSurvey(SAS)ofagriculturalhouseholdscon-ducted by the National Statistical Office(NSO).Asperthissurvey,anaverageagricul-turalhouseholdearnedamonthlyincomeofRs 10,218 in 2018-19 (July-June) in nominalterms.We have a similar SAS for 2012-13,when the nominal incomewas Rs 6,426. Innominal terms, the compound annualgrowthrate(CAGR)turnsouttobe8percentbetween2012-13to2018-19.Butweneedtoknow the growth rate of real incomes. Forthat,thechoiceofdeflatorbecomescritical.Ifonedeflatesnominal incomesbyusingCPI-AL (consumer price index for agriculturallabour),which should be the logical choice,thentheCAGRturnsouttobejust3percent.If oneusesWPI (wholesaleprice indexof allcommodities), the CAGR in real incomesturns out to be 6.1 per cent. This vast differ-ence is just due to the choice of deflator.However, there is another SAS that theNSOconductedfor2002-03.Althoughthedefini-tionofagriculturalhouseholdinthatSASwasbasedonsomeareaoperatedduringthelastyear of the survey— replaced byminimumincomeearnedfromagricultureintheSASof2012-13and2018-19—whenonecomparesCAGR in farmers’ real income (deflated byCPI-AL)over2002-03to2018-19,itturnsouttobe3.4percent(and5.3percentifdeflatedbyWPI). Obviously, in such point-to-pointcomparisons, the situation in the base yearandterminalyearinfluencesthegrowthratesdramatically.Abettermethodwouldhavebeentolook

at average annual growth rates (AAGR), ifyearlydatawasavailable.TheAAGRforagri-GDP is availableandatanall-India level, be-tween2002-03to2018-19, it turnsouttobe3.3percent—this isveryclosetothereal in-come growth (CAGR) of 3.4 per cent for thesameperiod.However, at thestate level, thevariation is muchmore as state agri-GDPgrowth is volatile anddependson themon-soon— this is especially true for states that

haveamuchlowerlevelof irrigation.Forex-ample, Punjabwith almost 99 per cent irri-gation cover, will have amuchmore stableincome than sayMaharashtrawith just 19percent irrigationcover.Adisaggregatedstate-levelanalysisshows

a huge gap between agriculture GDP andfarmers’ income growth inmany states —Kerala,Gujarat, Jharkhand,MadhyaPradesh.Butacloserlookatindividualstatesindicatesthat theGujarat regionhada27per centde-ficient rainfall than its Long Period Average(LPA)andSaurashtra,KutchandDiuwere38per cent rainfall deficient in 2018-19.Jharkhandhad31per cent deficient rainfall,while Kerala experienced amajor flood in2018-19. Nowonder, the agricultural GDPgrowthofGujaratwasnegative(-8.7percent)in 2018-19. This would surely depress thefarmers’incomesinthestatefor2018-19.Butoverall, for the period 2002-03 to 2018-19,Gujarat’s agri-GDP growth is 6.5 per cent—oneof thehighest inIndia.Theupshotof thisanalysis is that at the state level, it is impor-tant to consider both the indicators (growthinagri-GDPaswellasfarmers’incomesbasedonasurveyofthespecificyear)togetaclearerpictureofthestateofaffairsatthefarmerlevel.What is thepolicymessage thatonecan

derivefromcomparingthesethreeroundsofSAS—2002-03, 2012-13 and 2018-19? Thefigure gives the changing composition offarmers’ real income.What isclearfromthiscomparisonisthe

following:One,theshareofincomefromrear-ing animals (this includes fish) has gone updramatically from4.3percent in2002-03to15.7percent.Two, theshareof incomefrom

INOURPRESENTpolarisedatmosphere,neg-ative reactions fromthoseonopposite sidesof thepoliticaldivideareonlytobeexpected.Partiesthatsupportedcertainpolicieswhentheywere inpowerhavenowbecome theirbitter opponents when in opposition. Ofcourse, those now advocating themwereequally vocal in their oppositionwhen theywere out of government.Whether it is thefarmlaws,monetisationorahostofotherini-tiatives, we have seen the same drama playouteach time.Facedwith a slowing economy that only

becameworseafterthepandemicandahugeshortageof fundsforinvestment,thegovern-mentlookedtomonetisebrownfieldassetsbyunlockingtheirpotentialvalue.Theproceedsare to be used for fresh investment in infra-structure.So,therighttocollecttollonexistinghighwayswouldbeoffered for30yearsor soto private investors in return for an upfrontpayment. Oil and gas pipelineswould simi-larlybeleasedtoprivateplayersaswouldsea-ports andairports.Assetsproposed formon-etisation include airports, terminals inseaports,railwaylines,railwaystations,stadi-ums,warehousesandahostofothergovern-mentassetswithunutilisedpotential.One of the earliest salvos against this

schemewasfiredbyaformerChiefEconomicAdvisor.Hismainthrustwasthatleasingwasnot the best option because outright salewould bring in greater value and avoid the

ticklishquestionsofassetstrippingandmain-tenanceoftheleasedassets.Thereisnodoubtthat an outright salewould bring in higherreturnsbutgiventhecriesof “sellout”byop-positionpartieswhenevenleasingismooted,it is unlikely that salewould have been fea-sible. Potential buyerswouldbewaryof theconsequences of an unpopular sale. It maywellhaveledtothekindofstalematewehaveseen in the implementation of the agricul-tural reforms.Criticsalsoraisethevalidpointthatleased

assetswouldnotbeproperlymaintained.Afterall, no onewashes a hired car. But the agree-menttoleasecouldcontainclausesthatman-datethereturnofassetsinthesameconditioninwhichtheywereoffered,normalwearandtear excepted. There couldbedifferingviewsonwhatconstitutesnormalwearandtearbutanindependentauthoritywhosedecisiononthiswouldbefinal,couldbepartoftheagree-menttolease.GovernmentundertakingslikeONGC routinely lease their offshore vessels(OSVs)foroperationandmanagementtoout-siders.Portsdothesamefor theirvessels liketugs or pilot launches. In each case, there is aprotocol formaintenance and return. In thecaseofthelease,theprotocolwouldonlyhaveto cover the return and could address bothmaintenanceandassetstripping.Other objections relate towhethermon-

etisationisintendedtosubstitutetheskillandefficiencyoftheprivatesectorforthesupposed

lethargyofgovernmentcontrol. If leasingoutagovernmentassetbringsimprovedefficiencyinmanagement thatwould be an additionalbonus.Butitisnotthepurposeoftheexercise.So,weneed not debatewhether the privatesectorisinnatelymoreefficient(thejuryisouton this one) or has fewer constraints (it defi-nitely does) because these are neutral to theworthof thisscheme.Similarly, fears expressed that themove

would bring greater concentration of powerinthehandsof theprivatesectorarenotrele-vant.Everytimethegovernmentcedessomegroundbyopening sectorshitherto reservedexclusively for itself, it runs this risk. This hasnotpreventedthemfromallowingprivateop-eratorstooperatefreighttrainsorterminalsinseaports.Ithasnotevenstoodinthewayofal-lowingprivateoperatorstorunairports.Onecriticismisthatwhentheprivatesec-

torbids for theseprojects, theywouldproba-blyrequireinstitutionalfinanceforatleastpartof their outlay and this would result in a“crowding out” of other investments. Surelythiswouldapplytoanyinvestment,privateorpublic?Publicsectorundertakings(PSUs)raisefunds from banks and even the NationalHighwaysAuthorityofIndia(NHAI)resortstopublic funding.We do not ban PSUs or theNHAIfromraisingfundsinthemarket.Infact,we actively encourage it since it reduces theburdenongovernmentaloutlays.Sowhyquib-ble if it isdonehere?

Couldthisprogrammeleadtotheconcen-tration of economic power in a fewhands?Certaindistressing trendshavebeenseenre-cently inareas like telecom,airportsandsea-portsbutthistrendpre-datedthecurrentpro-posal.Itdoes,however,soundanoteofcautionthat policymakers should guard against.Necessary checks can easily be built into theoffer documents that will ensure that theschemedoesnotcreateorreinforcemonopo-liesofanysort.The fact is thatourexpectations fromthis

schemehavebeenmuchtoohigh.Whenitwasfirstmooted,ithadthelimitedaimofunlock-ingtheintrinsicvalueofbrownfieldassetsbyleasingthemoutandusingtheproceedstofi-nance infrastructure projects. From that,wehave raised the bar so high that the pro-grammeisnowfaultedfornotimprovingtheperformanceofPSUs,forriskingcrowdingoutof other investments and even for notmeet-ingthegovernment’sentireinfrastructureout-lay.Outof a totalof Rs111trillion for thegov-ernment’s ambitious infrastructure plan,monetisation is likely to net less than 5 percent.Doesthatmeanthatweshouldabandonit? Can any one scheme finance such a hu-mungousplan?Differentschemesandsourceswill bring theirownofferings to swell the to-talkitty.Letusnotbelittletheirsize.

Thewriter isaformersecretary(shipping),Governmentof India

Not the MSP route

FROM PLATE TO PLOUGH

ByAshokGulati andRanjanaRoy

CRSasikumar

COMPOSITIONOF FARMERS' INCOME

■ Incomefromwages&salaries ■Netreceiptfromcropcultivation■Netreceiptfromfarmingofanimals ■Netreceipt fromnon-farmbusiness

2002-03 2012-13 2018-19

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

11.2%4.3%

45.8%

38.7%

8.0%11.9%

47.9%

32.2%

6.415.7

37.7

40.3

New Delhi

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER26

INWHAT is being seenas a can-didassessmentof thechallengesinIndia-Chinaties,India'sambas-sadortoBeijingVikramMisrihaslisted “avoid shifting goalposts”,“take a one-sided view of con-cerns and sensitivities”, and“viewing bilateral relationsthrough the prism of relationswith other countries” as “obsta-cleswhichcouldblockprogress”intherelationship.Misri,whospokeattheIDSA-

Sichuan University VirtualDialogueearlierthisweek,said,“Iremainconvincedthatwecanre-solveourcurrentdifficultieswith-out theoutcomenecessarily ap-pearing to be a win or loss foreitherside.”Thisisthemostfrankanalysis

of theprobleminthebilateralre-lationshipby the Indian envoy, ayear-and-half after the borderstand-off in Ladakh began. ThespeechwasmadeonSeptember

23, butwasmade public by theIndian embassy in Beijing onSaturday.Followingthedisengagement

in theGalwanValley in July lastyear, the two sideswere able todisengage from the North andSouthBanksof thePangong lakein February 2021, andmost re-centlyfromGograinAugust2021.“The conversation between

thetwosidescontinuesregardingthe remaining locations andwehope that disengagement at theremaining friction areaswill en-ableustoreachapointwherewecanpickupthethreadsofbilateralcooperation,”Misrisaid.On the challenges facing the

relationship, he said, “The first isto avoid shifting goalposts. Forlong,theIndianandChinesesideshave adhered to awell-under-stooddistinctionbetweenresolv-ing the BoundaryQuestion andmanagingborderaffairs.”Underliningthepactssigned

since the 1988 understandingbetween the two countries,Misrisaid,“...Anyattempttocon-

fuse border affairs with theBoundaryQuestion is adisserv-icetotheworkof thoseinvolvedin finding solutions. This iswhythe Indiansidehasbeenconsis-tentlysayingthatthecurrentis-sueisaboutrestoringpeaceandtranquillity to the border areas,and is not about the resolutionofthelargerBoundaryQuestion,on which our stance has notchanged, despite what hap-pened lastyear.”The second obstacle, the

Indianambassadorsaid,isto“takeaone-sidedviewofconcernsandsensitivities, where one’s ownpreoccupations trump any ofthoseflaggedbytheotherside”.“Affixingblameexclusivelyon

theotherside isnotahelpfulap-proach. And to press one’s own

concernsanddisregardtheotherside’s concerns and sensitivitieswithout any explanation or re-coursegoesbeyonddisrespect. Itactuallycreatesevenmoreobsta-clestofindingsolutions,”hesaid.Misri said these issues need

not be limited to the “realm ofhighpolitics”.Farlesscomplexis-sues,whichhaveapurelyhuman-itarian context and are not con-nected to bilateral diplomaticpositions—suchasfacilitatingthemovement of students, busi-nesspersons,andstrandedfamilymembers fromIndiatoChinaforoverayearandahalfnow,awaitamorebalancedand sensitive ap-proach,hesaid.India, he said, has also at-

tempted tokeep tradeandcom-mercial relationships insulatedfromcurrent differences, for in-stancebycontinuingtoissuevisasto Chinese businesspersons tovisit India.“However, we are disap-

pointedtoseeanunscientificap-proach with regard to severalproblemscurrentlybeingfacedby

Indian students, businessmen,marine crew and exporters, tonameafew,”theIndianenvoysaid.Thethirdobstacle,Misrisaid,

is “viewing bilateral relationsthrough the prism of relationswith other countries”. Thiswassaid in the context of the Quadleaders’ summit, and Beijing’spublicly-articulated concernsover it.The ambassador underlined

that India andChina are twoan-cient civilisations and twomod-ernAsiannationsthathavedevel-oped their independent foreignpolicies,andcherishtheirstrategicautonomy.He said that India formulates

itsnationalandforeignpoliciesonthebasis of national interest firstand foremost.Manyof these fo-rums include China— the SCO,BRICS,andRICaresomeexamples—and thesedialogueshavecon-tinued evenduring the difficultphase that thebilateral relation-shipispassingthrough.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

Needn’tbewinor lossforeitherside:Misri

2 militants involved inmurder of BJP leaderkilled in J&K encounter

‘Conversionracket’ in UP:Three morearrested


PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi on Sunday greeted thepeople ahead of the upcomingfestival season even as he cau-tioned them tomaintain Covidprotocols and to ensure thatthosewhoareyettoreceivetheirvaccinationsarealsoinoculated.InhismonthlyMannKiBaat

radiobroadcast,recordedbeforehe left for the US for an officialvisit,Modisaideveryoneshouldget the vaccine administeredwhenhisorher turncomesandshouldalsoensurethatnooneisleftoutof this “circleof safety”.“Withregardstovaccination,

the country has made manysuch records which are beingtalkedabouttheworldover,”hesaid. “Those around you whohave not gotten vaccinated alsohave to be taken to the vaccinecentre. Even after getting vacci-nated, the necessary protocolhas tobe followed.”ThePrimeMinisteralsogave

acall tomark thisyear’sGandhiJayantibyachievingrecordsalesat Khadi Gramodyog outletsacross thecountry.“Bapuconnectedcleanliness

with independence; the samewayhemadekhadi the identityof freedom. Today in the 75thyear of freedom, whenwe arecelebrating the Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav, we can saywith sat-isfaction today that our young

generationtodayisgivingkhaditheplaceofpridethatkhadihadduring freedomstruggle...“On October 2, on revered

Bapu’s birth anniversary, let usaimforanothernewrecord...Forthe festive season, every khadi,handloom,cottageindustrypur-chaseofyoursshouldstrengthenthe campaign for ‘Vocal forLocal’, it should break all oldrecords,”saidthePrimeMinister.Modidedicated thismonth’s

MannkiBaattoWorldRiversDay,which ismarkedonSunday. ThePrimeMinistersaidinIndia,were-vererivers,butontheotherhand,wepollutethem.Pointingoutthatgreat progresswas beingmadethrough the government’sNamamiGangeprogramme,Modisaidthemoneycollectedthroughthee-auctionofgiftswhichhehasreceived(launchedonSeptember17andtocontinuetillOctober8),willbegiventoNamamiGange.The Prime Minister also

mentioned the feat of the teamof eight specially-abledpersonssetting aworld record by hoist-ingtheIndianflagontheKumarPost at SiachenGlacier, at an al-titudeofmore than15,000 feet.He pointed to the ‘One

Teacher, One Call’’ campaign inUttarPradeshforspecially-abledchildren. Spearheaded by theprincipalofaschoolinDabhauraGangapur, Deepmala Pandey,more than 350 teachers havebeenmaking house calls to en-sure the admissionof specially-abledchildren in theschool.

Envoy on hurdles in India-China ties:Shifting goalposts, blame game

AISHWARYAMOHANTYBHUBANESWAR,SEPT26

ARECENTLYconcludedserologi-calsurveycovering12districtsofOdishatoestimateandcomparethe age-specific prevalence ofSARS-CoV-2antibodieshasfoundthat 70 per cent children in theagegroup6-10yearswerefoundto have developed antibodies,

while the figure for the 11 -18yearsagegroupwas74percent.Thesurvey,conductedbythe

ICMRRegionalMedicalResearchCentre (RCMR), also revealed aweighted community seroprevalenceof 73.5percent.“70percent seroprevalence

wasfoundintheagegroup6-10years while for 11 -18 it was 74per cent. Most children espe-cially inthe6-10agegrouphave

notbeenexposedtothevirusastheywere expected to stay in-doors.Theirexposuremusthavebeen from immediate familyand friends. Our findings aresimilar and are at par with thenational sero survey,” RCMRdi-rector Dr Sanghamitra Pati toldThe IndianExpress.Conducted betweenAugust

29 and September 15, the sur-vey covered 6,000 people, in-

cluding1,200healthcarework-ers, in12districts.Of those surveyed, 25.6 per-

centwere fully immunised, 41.4percentwerepartiallyvaccinatedand 33 percentwere not vacci-natedatall.Inthe19-44yearsagegroup,thesurveyrevealedaseroprevalence of 75.68 per cent —higherthantheagegroups45-60years (72.65 per cent) and 60+years (66.04percent).

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,SEPTEMBER26

ALASHKAR-E-TOIBA(LeT)com-manderwasamongthetwomil-itants killed in a gunfight innorth Kashmir's Bandipore onSunday. Police said the slainLashkarmilitantswereinvolvedin the killing of BJP leaderWaseem Bari and his familymembers lastyear.On Saturday evening, a joint

team of police, Army and theCRPF cordoned offWatrina vil-lage of Bandipore after specificinputsaboutthepresenceofmil-itantsthere.OnSundaymorningas the joint teamof forces tight-ened the cordon, they estab-lishedcontactwiththemilitantstrapped in thevillage.“During the operation the

holed-up terrorists were givenrepeated opportunities to sur-render.However,theyrefusedtosurrender,” thepolice said in anofficial release. “[They] insteadfired indiscriminately upon thejointsearchparty,whichwasre-

taliatedleadingtoanencounter.”Thepolicesaidthat twomil-

itantswerekilledinthegunfight.The twowere identifiedasAbidRashid Dar alias Haqqani andAzad Ahmad Shah, both resi-dentsof Pakistan.Haqqani,thepolicesaid,was

a topLashkar commander,whotravelled to Pakistan on visathroughWagah border in 2018.The police said Haqqani infil-trated back into the valley in2019 after receiving arms train-ing inPakistan.They said the slainmilitants,

together with a Pakistanimili-tant,were involved inthekillingof BJP leader SheikhWaseemBari and his family members.Bari,hisbrotherandfather–whowerealsoassociatedwiththeBJP–werekilled in July lastyear.The police said that both

HaqqaniandShahwereinvolvedin “planning and executing ter-ror attacks” on security estab-lishmentsandcivilians.Haqqaniwas also involved inmotivatingthe youth to join the militantranks, theysaid.

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

12

SEROSURVEYCOVERED6,000PEOPLE IN 12DISTRICTS

Over 70% Odisha kids developed antibodies: survey

FishermenbringtheirboatsontothePuribeachonSundayhoursbeforecyclonicstormGulabmade landfall. PTI

ENS&PTIVISAKHAPATNAM,BHUBANESWAR,SEPT26

AFISHERMANfromSrikakulamdistrict of Andhra Pradesh diedandanotherwentmissingasthecyclonicstormGulabcrossedtheBayof Bengal coastSunday.Gulab’s landfall process

started at around 6 pm onSunday. The cyclone is likely toattainamaximumgustingspeedof95kmph.TheIMDsaidGulabcrossed the coast about 20 kmnorthofKalingapatnam,AndhraPradeshasacyclonic storm.InOdisha,peoplefromlow-ly-

ingareasofGanjam,GajapatiandKoraputdistrictswereevacuatedto safe locations. ChiefMinisterNaveenPatnaik announced thatschools in 11 districts that arelikelytobeaffectedbyGulabwillremain closedMonday. He alsoemphasised on a zero-casualtytargetinthevulnerableparts.42 Odisha Disaster Rapid

ActionForce,24NationalDisasterResponseForceand103fireserv-ices teams have been deployedintheareas likely tobeaffected.Engineering departments

have been asked to keep a closewatchonriverembankments inGanjam and Gajapati. The cy-clonewillhaveamajorimpactonland-locked areas like Koraputand Rayagada apart from the

coastal districts of Ganjam andGajapati,officials stated.This will be the second cy-

clonic storm in fourmonths toimpactOdisha, afterYaas.InAndhraPradesh,sixfisher-

men from Palasa returning totheirvillagebyseainaboattheypurchased in Odisha two daysago were caught in the storm.One of the six called his villageover phone and informed themthat theirboathadcapsizedandthat five of his fellow fishermenwerelostatsea.Subsequently,hismobile toowent silent, indicat-ingthathemayhavegonemiss-ing. Three fishermen swam tosafety while one perished.Another fisherman, assumeddead, returnedhome.TheAndhraFisheriesMinister

hascontactedNavyauthoritiestocarryoutarescueoperation.The three coastal districts of

Visakhapatnam, VizianagaramandSrikakulamhadbeenreceiv-ing moderate to heavy rain.Srikakulam,whichhasbeenintheeyeof the storm, received inces-santdownpourwithheavywind.District Collector L Srikesh

Balaji Rao said 61 relief campshavebeenopenedin13mandalswherecloseto1,400peoplehavebeen lodged.Telangana Chief Secretary

SomeshKumardirectedallDCstokeep vigil as IMDhas predictedheavyrainsinthestate.

Cyclonic storm Gulabcrosses coast, Andhrafisherman dies

RAJASTHAN

VenkaiahvisitstemplenearIndo-PakborderJaisalmer:Vice PresidentM Venkaiah Naidu onSunday visited the tem-ple of Tanot Mata andLongewala battle site inRajasthan’sJaisalmerdis-trict. Naidu, who is on afive-dayvisit to the state,arrived in Jaisalmer onSunday.HewenttoTanotMata temple and alsopaid homage tomartyrsby laying awreath at theVijayStambh.TanotMatatemple is located120kmfrom here, close to theIndo-Pakborder.Afterthetemple visit, the vicepresident went toLongewala Yudh SthalandWarMemorial. Thememorial is situated onthe site where theLongewala battle of the1971 Indo-Pakwar. PTI

MVenkaiahNaidu

BRIEFLY

GOA

Wardboyheldformolestingminors:PolicePanaji:Ahospitalwardboywasarrested for allegedlymolestingtwominorsinahospital elevator inNorthGoa, police said Sunday.Theaccusedwasarrestedbasedonacomplaintthathe had inappropriatelytouchedthecomplainant’ssisters, aged17 and13, inanelevatorof thehospitalin Mapusa, where theirmotherwasbeingtreatedforan injury.Accordingtothecomplaint,theaccusedmolested theminors ontwo occassions onSeptember 23 andSeptember 25. He wasbookedunderrelevantIPCsections and the GoaChildren’sAct. ENS

UTTARPRADESH

TwoheldforissuingfakeroadtaxslipsNewDelhi: Two personswerearrestedbyAgracy-bercrimeofficialsforissu-ing fake online road taxslips. The accused havebeen identified as RahulSingh andPraveen Singh.Six persons had earlierbeenarrestedafteracom-plaintwasfiledbyanAgraresident,andamulti-crorescamof faketaxslipswasunearthedduringinvesti-gation. “The accusedmadea fakewebsitesim-ilar to that of the officialTransport Department.Themodus operandi in-volved issuing a fake taxslip which seemed au-thentic. During question-ing it was found the ac-cused operated acrossmultiple states,” AgraPolicesaid. ENS

MAHARASHTRA

ManheldforbidtokillwifeashumansacrificeJalna:Policehavearrestedafemaletantrikandamanat Jafrabad tehsil in Jalnadistrictforallegedlytryingto kill hiswife for humansacrifice under the beliefthat itwouldgethimhid-den treasure, an officialsaid Sunday. Police havealso arrested one morepersoninconnectionwiththeincidentthatoccurredinMaujeDongaonvillageearlier thisweek, he said.The accused have beenidentified as SantoshPimple, Jeevan Pimple,bothresidentsofDongaon,while thewoman tantrikhails fromBuldhana dis-trictof thestate. PTI

IAF officer heldfor sexuallyassaultingcolleague: cops


THE UTTAR Pradesh Anti-TerroristSquad(ATS)onSundayarrestedthreepeoplefortheiral-leged involvement in a sus-pectedillegalconversionracket.The three were identified asMohammad Saleem andMohammad Idrish Qureshi —bothresidentsofMuzaffarnagar— and Kunal Ashok Chaudharyalias Atif from Nasik inMaharashtra. Chaudhary con-vertedtoIslamwhilepursuingamedical degree in Russia, saidthepolice.The police claimed that the

threewere arrested after beingquestioned, taking the numberof people in custody in connec-tionwiththeallegedracketto14.According to investigators, theyare close associates of 64-year-old cleric Kaleem Siddiqui whowas arrested in Meerut onTuesday night. Their namescameupduringSiddiqui’s inter-rogation.On June 21, the ATS arrested

twoclerics–MohammadUmarGautamandMuftiQaziJahageerAlam Qasmi – in Delhi, andclaimed to have busted a “hugeconversion racket” that was al-legedly involved in the conver-sion of “thousands of people”.The group allegedly targetedchildren with disabilities,women, the unemployed, andthe poor by promising them agood education,marriage, jobs,andmoney.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHENNAI, SEPTEMBER26

AN INDIANAir Force (IAF) FlightLieutenant was arrested byCoimbatorepoliceandsenttoju-dicialcustodylateonSaturdayforallegedly sexually assaulting alady officer. According to police,theladyofficerfiledthecomplaintagainsttheaccusedwithlocalpo-lice after she felt that the com-plaintsheraisedinternallywasn’thandledinasatisfyingmanner.“The incident happened

abouttwoweeksago.Shefiledacomplaintwithpoliceasshewasnot satisfied with the actiontaken internally. Bothwere un-dergoingtrainingattheAirForceAdministrative College here,”said the Coimbatore City PoliceCommissionerDeepakDDamor.“Hewas sent to judicial cus-

tody. The victimwas his junior,bothwere undergoing training.The investigation is inprogress,”saidanofficerprobingthecase.Hesaidtherewerenojurisdictionis-suesinthearrestandthattheIAFauthoritiesmay be seeking hiscustody soon toclaimthe trial ofthecaseinadefencecourt.

ASADREHMANMAINPURI, SEPTEMBER26

THEHOUSEof Daudapur villagepradhanManjuDeviinMainpuridistrict of Uttar Pradesh waslockedon Sunday.Her husband,SahabSingh, is thepradhanpra-tinidhi (the village head’s repre-sentative) and had complainedaboutcastediscriminationinthevillageprimaryschool.WhencontactedbyTheIndian

Express on his mobile phone,Singh,aDalit,saidthathewasbe-ingthreatenedbytheThakursofhis village after he complainedthatutensilsofScheduledCastesschoolchildren used for theirmid-daymealswere kept aparton thepremises, andwashedbythechildrenthemselves.“They are openly saying that

theywon’t letaDalitcontinueto

remainthevillagepradhan.Theyused caste slurs onme aswell.Theyarethreateningtobreakmybonesandevenshootme... Theyaredoing thishungama (ruckus)inthevillage. IhadcometomeettheSuperintendentofPoliceandDistrictMagistrate,buttheywerenotavailable.Iwillsubmitacom-plaint toeveryone, includingtheChiefMinister(YogiAdityanath),"Sahab Singh said as he discon-nectedthecall.His wife, Manju Devi, was

electedvillagepradhanfromtheSC reserved seat in the recentlyconcludedpanchayatelectionsinthestate.After the issue of caste dis-

criminationwasraised,Mainpuridistrict administration sus-pended school headmistressGarima Rajput and relieved thetwocookswhoallegedlyrefusedto touch the utensils of the

ScheduledCastestudentsduringthevisitofofficials.The village has an almost

equal number of Thakurs andDalits(nearly35%),whiletherestbelongtotheOBCcategory.Ontheothersideofthevillage

where Thakurs live, a group ofmen,mostly Thakurs, had gath-eredat the residenceof 50-year-

oldGajendra Pratap Singh,whodenied that he had threatenedSahab Singh. “What do I have todowiththeissue?”hesaidandac-cused Sahab Singhof spreading“casteanimosityinthevillage”.School headmistress Garim

Rajput, whowas suspended onFriday,couldnotbereached.Mainpuri Basic Shiksha

Adhikari (BSA) Kamal Singh onSaturday said the complaint ofcastediscriminationattheschoolwas found tobe true. “Theuten-sils usedby the ScheduledCastechildrenandotherchildrenwerekept separately. During the visitoftheBlockDevelopmentOfficerand other officials to the school,cooksSomvatiandLaxmiDevire-fusedtotouchtheutensilsof theScheduled Caste students, andsaidtheycan’tworkattheschoolif theywereforcedtodoso.Theyalso used caste slurs,” Singhhadsaid, adding that action againstthecookshadbeen takenby theSchoolManagementCommitteeKamal Singh claimed that a

“compromise”hasbeen reachedamong thevillagers. “Both sideshaveagreedtolettheschoolfunc-tion.Thesuspensionandremovalofthethreepersonswillcontinuefornow.Everyoneinthevillagehas

agreedthattheschoolshouldrun...Fromtomorrow,theschoolwillre-openandthemiddaymealwillbeserved,”saidtheBSA.“Wewill see whose fault it

was.Onwhether thesuspensionhas tobecontinuedornot, thosethingswillbelookedatlater.Afewpoliticianshavealsogot involvedandareensuringthat the issue isresolved,”KamalSinghsaid.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress

on Sunday,Mainpuri SP AshokKumarRaisaidthatactionwillbetaken once he receives a com-plaint from the village pradhanregardingthethreats.“I did not meet the village

pradhan's husband, but if hecomes tomeet tomorrow, Iwilltakehiscomplaintandifneeded,actionwillbetaken.Ifneeded,hewillbegivensecurity,"saidRai.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

MAINPURISCHOOL ‘CASTEDISCRIMINATION’ROW

I’m being threatened: Dalit pradhan’s husband who complained

TheprimaryschoolatMainpuri’sDaudapurvillage.AsadRehman

574DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

TRACKING THE SECOND SURGE

NEWCASES: 26,305ACTIVE CASES:3,01,489TOTAL VACCINATION:85,60,81,527

DAILY DEATHS278

TOTALDEATHS4,47,196

WEEKLY CFR0.87%

OVERALL CFR1.34%

TESTS TODAY: 13,68,992 | TOTAL TESTS: 56,46,12,237

WEEKLY POSITIVITY: 1.83% | OVERALL POSITIVITY: 5.96%

STATESREPORTINGMOSTCASES

STATE NEW ACTIVE WEEKLY TOTALCASES CASES POSITIVITY VACCINATION

■Kerala 15,951 1,63,776 15.86% 3,50,64,877

■Maharashtra 3,206 37,860 2.33% 7,81,02,782

■TamilNadu 1,694 17,285 1.10% 4,41,52,468

■Mizoram 1,478 15,788 16.01% 11,05,944

■AndhraPradesh 1,184 13,048 2.18% 3,89,96,073

STATESREPORTINGMOSTDEATHS

STATE TODAY’S TOTAL WEEKLY OVERALLDEATHS DEATHS CFR CFR

■Kerala 165 24,682 0.60% 0.56%

■Maharashtra 38 1,42,438 3.12% 2.19%

■TamilNadu 14 35,490 1.37% 1.35%

■AndhraPradesh 11 14,136 0.76% 0.70%

■Karnataka 9 37,726 1.87% 1.27%

Note:DataasonSept26;vaccinationnumbersasofSept25.Deathsincludethosecausedbycomorbidities.

PM in Mann Ki Baat: No one shouldbe left out of vaccine’s circle of safety

New Delhi

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

TOTALVACCINATED IN INDIA (at least one dose)

63,08,31,085

DOSESONSEPT2571,52,367SEPT24:74,11,134 (1st doses: 42,72,481; 2nd: 31,38,653)

■Firstdose ■Seconddose

COVISHIELD88.3%

COVAXIN11.6%

TOTALDOSES85,60,81,527(Sputnik V's 9,24,468dosesnot represented in pie)

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,SEPTEMBER26

LASTWEEK, an eviction drive in Sipajhar inAssam’sDarrangdistrict took a violent turn,leaving twodead and several injured, afterclashesbrokeoutbetweenthepoliceandpro-testers.Ahorrifyingvideoshowedaprotesterarmedwithalathibeingshotbyapoliceman,thenjumpedonandstompedonbyacivilian.ChiefMinisterHimantaBiswaSarmahas in-stituted a judicial probe into thedeaths, andthecivilianhasbeenarrested.In Assam, ethnic conflict over land goes

backdecades,andsuchevictiondrivespredatethecurrentregime.

WhatwastheSipajhardriveabout?Theevictiondrive inDholpur of Sipajhar,

where primarily Bengali-speakingMuslimslive,wasaimedatremoving“illegalencroach-ers” to freeupgovernment land for “landlessindigenous communities”. According to au-thorities, thedriveonMondayandThursdayevicted 1,200-1,300 familieswhohad “ille-gally”occupiedroughly10,000bighasofgov-ernment land.Thedrive is rooted in theCM’svisittotheareainJune,whenhe“promised”lo-cal communities that the encroached landwouldberecoveredandthattheDholpurShivaMandir in thevicinitywouldget amanikut, aguesthouseandaboundarywall.Later, the state Budget earmarkedRs 9.6

crore for an ‘agriculture project’, called theGarukhuti project, on the cleared land. Theprojectwouldpromoteafforestationandagri-cultureactivities,involvingindigenousyouth.Ontherequest oftheAgricultureDepartment,thedistrict administrationdeclared the area“community agricultural land”. In June, asmallerdriveevictedsomesevenfamilieswholivednearthetemple.

Whowerethepeoplebeingevicted?PrimarilyBengali-speakingMuslims,they

aremostly peasants anddailywage earners.While thegovernment alleged theyhave “il-legallyencroached”ontheland,mostfamiliesTheIndianExpressmetsaidtheymovedthereat least 40 years ago, fromdistricts such asBarpetaandGoalpara,afterlosingtheirhomestorivererosion.Manyclaimedtheyhadboughtthelandfromlocalsatthetime.However,mosttransactionshappenedwithout documents,andholdlittlelegalvalidity.On Saturday, CMSarmaaccused the set-

tlersofusingtwothingslikea“mantra”:floodsanderosion. “TheAssamgovernmentcannotcowdown.We(theAssamese)aregettingout-numberedeveryday.”hesaid.Hesaidtheland-lessamongthoseevictedwillbegiven2acres.Sipajhar, incidentally, is part of the

MangaldoiLokSabhaseat,fromwheretheAllAssamStudents’Union(AASU)hadlauncheditsanti-foreignermovementof1979-85.Are-vision of rolls had showna large number ofnewvoters—thetriggerfortheagitation.

Whatdoindigenouslocalssay?Portionsof the land inDholpur—aswell

asthelargerGarukhutiarea—havebeenasite

of conflict for decades,with indigenous resi-dentsclaimingtheirlandhasbeenusurpedbymigrants.Conflictsfromtimetotimehaveof-tenledtospurtsof eviction.Organisationssuchas Prabajan Virodhi Manch (PVM) andSangramiSatirthaSammelan,whichspeakforindigenouscommunities,havebeendemand-ingthatencroachedlandbefreedup.In2015,someAssamese residents led byKobadAli,president of Dakhsin Mangaldai GowalaSantha (anorganisationofmilk producers),filed a case under theAssamLandGrabbing(Prohibition)Act, 2010, seeking aMangaldoicourt’s intervention in evicting encroachersfromVillageGrazingReserveandProfessionalGrazing Reserve in a number of villages inSipajhar. In2013,anRTIresponsesaidaround77,000bighasofgovernmentlandinthearearemainedencroachedforyears.TheBJPprom-isedtoclearitafteritcametopower.UpamanyuHazarika, convenor of PVM,

saidinapressstatementonSeptember20thatthere hadbeen five earlier evictiondrives inthearea,butitwasthe“localindigenous”whoweremade to suffer as their landswere ac-quiredfortheagricultureproject,andtheen-croachersremained“undisturbed”.

Didanyoneamongthosetargetedforevictionseeklegalrecourse?According to activists, 200 families from

Dholpur3moved theHighCourt against theevictionlatelastmonth. Inresponse,thegov-ernmenthad filedanaffidavit saying theset-tlerswereongovernmentland.TheevictionsonThursdaycamebeforethepetitionerscouldfile a reply. “Propriety demands that theyshouldwaitforthefinaloutcomeofthecase,”said SantanuBorthakur, an advocate repre-sentingthefamilies.

Howdidtheevictionturnviolent?LastMonday, about 800 families were

evictedfromDholpur1and3villages.Whileithappenedwithout resistance, locals and ac-tivistswere unhappy because it was donewithouta“properrehabilitationplan”.OnThursday,organisationssuchastheAll

AssamMinority Students’ Union (AAMSU),alongwith thepublic, carried out a demon-stration,demandingrehabilitation.Thereafter,

the authorities held a discussionwith themandasettlementwasagreedupon.Thoseevictedallegethat theevictionwas

carriedout despite the agreement, inwhichtheauthoritiesreportedlysaidtheywouldputtheevictiononholdtillfacilitiesasdemandedwerearranged.“Thisiswhenthesituationbe-cametense,andthenspiralledintoviolence,”said AAMSUmember Ainuddin Ahmed ofMangaldai, near Sipajhar. The authorities, onthe other hand, alleged that even after theagreement,thelocals“suddenly”begantoat-tackthepolicewithsticks, stonesandspears.Darrang SP SusantaBiswaSarma saidpolice“didwhattheyhadtodo”in“self-defence”.OnSaturday,ChiefMinisterSarmaclaimed

the involvementof thePopularFrontof India(PFI), theMuslimoutfit.

WhatistheextentofencroachmentoflandinAssam?Landhas longbeenatthecentreofethnic

contestationsinAssam,withthecommonbe-lief thatthe“indigenous”Assamesewerelos-ing its land to “migrants fromBangladesh”.Often,itisallegedthatgovernmentlands,landsaround xatras (monasteries) and forest landsaroundnational parks and sanctuaries havebeenencroachedupon.The BrahmaCommittee, formed by the

previousSarbanandaSonowalgovernmenttomake recommendations on land rights, saidinitsinterimreportin2017that63lakhbighasof government landwasunder “illegal occu-pation”.Thesameyear,thenMoSforRevenuePallab LochanDas (nowTezpurMP) told theAssemblythat6,652sqkmgovernment landwasencroachedupon;in2019,ParliamentaryAffairsMinisterChandraMohanPatowarysaid22%of forestlandwasunderencroachment.However, officialswill agree such figures

are ambiguous. Das, theMP, told The IndianExpress: “The figure keeps varying. Afterweevict, newareas are encroachedupon. Someareas are not reported. So, it is never a staticnumber,”hesaid.

Isitlimitedtomigrantcommunities?No,not all of it. Somegovernment land is

oftenoccupiedbypeople considered indige-noustothestate,especiallyindistrictssuchas

Tinsukia, Dibrugarh etc. The BrahmaCommittee’s report suggestedthatmanyna-tivesdonotownlanddocuments.“Manypeople–includingindigenouspeo-

ple—havesettledintheselands.Sincenoonehas legal titles in principle they can all beevicted . But the vulnerability to eviction islargelydeterminedbypoliticalcircumstances,”said political scientist Dr Sanjib Baruah,Professor,BardCollege,NewYork.Hereferredto theAssamAccordof 1985: “The first AGPgovernmentlearnedthislessonthehardway.OneofthepromisesoftheAssamAccordwasevictionsfromprotectedpublic lands.Clearlywhen theAssamMovement leaders negoti-atedthistheyonlyhadso-called‘foreigners’inmind. They ignored the fact that some ofAssam'smost indigenouspeople like Bodosthatwere shifting cultivators hadalso foundtheirwayintotheselands.”

Whataboutevictiondrives?EvictionsarecommoninAssambutcritics

allege theyhave increased after BJP came topower.DriveswerecarriedoutbytheSonowalgovernment including inDarrang, Sonitpur,Amchang (near Guwahati) and Kaziranga,whereviolencelefttwodeadin2016.OneoftheBJP’spromisesintheMay2021

Assembly electionswas to free governmentlandfrom“encroachers”,andallotthemto“in-digenous landlesspeople”. Since then, driveshaveevicted70 families inHojai’s Lankaand25familiesinSonitpur’sJamugurihat.According to Baruah, the eviction in

Sipajharwas "planned to anunprecedenteddegree". “Even the FinanceMinister in herBudgetspeechreferredto‘oneexperimentofour governmentwas to removeencroachersfrom more than 77,420 bighas of land inGarukhutiunderSipajharBlockinDarrangdis-trict’,” he said. “One can only infer thatwhowouldbeevictedduringthisevictiondrivehadfeaturedintheplanningof theproject.”Abdul KalamAzad, a human rights re-

searcher,saidthedifferencebetweenevictiondrivesaimedatindigenouscommunitiesandminority communities is that in eviction inplaces like Sipajhar, onewill see “dehumani-sation”ofthosewhoarebeingevicted.“Ithadpoliticalandcommunalintentions,”hesaid.

13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RECENTDATAsuggestthattheeffectivenessofCovid-19vaccineshasbeendeclining.Thisarticleexploresthepossiblereasons,andtheimplicationsofathirddose.The table alongside shows some sum-

maryfindingsfromIsrael,theUK,andtheUSfor vaccine effectiveness (VE) inpreventingCovidinfections.Thedataindicatethatwhileprotectionagainstinfection(asshownbyef-fectiveness against symptomaticCovid)hasdeclined (especially in Israel andUSA), pro-tectionagainsthospitalisationremainshigh.TheIsraelstudyalsoshowedindividualsvac-cinatedinearly2021aremoresusceptibletoinfectioncomparedtothosevaccinatedlater.

Isthisacauseforalarm?No,becauseprotectionagainsthospitali-

sationisstillhigh.Ideally,apublicvaccinationprogramme should protect the populationfrom infection, transmission, andhospitali-sation(andsubsequentmortality). Initialvac-cinedatashowedhighefficacyversus infec-tion and hospitalisation. (The correlationbetweeninfectionandtransmissionisnotau-tomaticandhastobeproven.Somepost-clin-icaltrialdatashowedthisforthecurrentvac-

cines.) Even if protection against infectiondecreases,vaccineshighlyprotectiveagainsthospitalisation are still beneficial becausehospitalisationsplacethemaximumburdenonhealthcarecapacity.Aslongasthediseasecanbemanagedathome(andtherearenolingeringeffectssuchaslongCovid)thenisitanyworsethanflu-likediscomfort?Thedatadoshowprotectionversushos-

pitalisationremainshigh.

Whatcouldbetheexplanationforthedifferencesineffectiveness?Thestatement“Theimmunesystemisin-

crediblycomplex”isawoefullyminimalde-scriptionoftheintricatesetofinterconnectedreactionscollectivelycalledtheimmunesys-tem that protects us fromdisease-causingagents.Theexplanationbelowisabasicout-line,andaswithanysimplificationsomein-accuracies creep in, but thesedonotdistorttheoverallmessage.Thevirus,asit‘infects’thebody,isprima-

rilyfoundintwolocations.Oneisthecircula-tion systemthat it uses to travel around thebody.Thesecondisthecellsthatthevirusin-vadesandusestomultiply.Theimmunesys-temhastwomain‘arms’toconfrontthevirusin these two locations. One is the antibodyarm. Antibodies ‘lock in’ on certain surfaceproteinsofthecirculatingvirus,therebypre-venting it from invading our cells. Further,they ‘tag’ thevirus fordestruction.Thus,an-tibodies canbe thought as a first line of de-fence, but theybecome ineffectiveonce thevirus enters the cells. At this point, the sec-ondarmbecomesrelevant.This arm is aptly named theKiller T cell

arm.Thesecells targetourownbodies’ cells

that harbour the virusandwithinwhichitrepli-cates.TheTcellskill suchcells,therebyeliminatingtheviruswithinthem.Vaccination estab-

lishesthetwoarmsoftheimmuneresponse,whichcan mature differentlywithtimeandinresponsetovariants.Circulatingan-tibodylevelsdeclinewithtime. Even though thereis “memory” to produceantibodies on demand,jumpstarting thismem-ory at a subsequent en-

countercantaketime. Aweak anddelayed anti-bodyresponsewouldre-sultininfectionbutiftheT-cell response is intact,the individualwouldbeprotected from severedisease.Additionally,vaccine

effectivenesscanreducebecause the immunesystem primed by onevariant has to counter anewvariant. Evenhere,the differences in re-sponse of the twoarmsto a variant are crucial.

The antibodyarmreacts to theviral surfaceproteins(primarilytheshape,orthe3Dcon-figuration), and thus changes in this surfaceprotein can reduce the effectiveness of theantibodyresponse. Tcells,however,reacttosmallerfragmentsofthesurfaceandothervi-ralproteins.SinceTcellsrespondtoabroaderset of targets—moreproteins (surface andnon-surface)andmoresitesontheproteins(multiple fragments) as compared to anti-bodies that respond to a specific site con-trolledbythe local “shape”at thesite, theT-cellresponsecanbemoreresistanttovariants.So,thetablecanbeexplainedbyadecline

inantibodyeffectivenesscausedbytimeandvariantsthatreducesVEversussymptomaticdisease.ContinuingeffectivenessoftheT-cellresponse explains the ongoing protectionagainsthospitalisation.Animportantnoteisthatatpresent,thisexplanationisconjecturebasedon thegeneral principles of immunesystemfunction.Recentstudiestrackingafewindividuals have reported that theT-cell re-sponse to vaccines is durable and effectiveversusthevariants.Moredatawillberequiredtoconfirmandperfectthisbasicexplanation.Thesimplifiedpicturealsoindicatesthat

circulatingantibodiesarenot theentiretyoftheavailableprotective resources.Antibodytestsareeasiertoimplementatlargescaleascompared to T-cellmeasurements and arethereforewidelyavailable.Individuals,how-ever, shouldnot base lifestyle decisions onsuch tests. The best practice is to get vacci-nated and follow the local guidance onap-propriatebehaviour.

Willathirddosehelp?Given that a two-dose regimen is still

highlyprotectiveagainsthospitalisation,theprincipalbenefitof a thirddosewouldbe inimproving effectiveness versus infection.Currentlimiteddatashowsimprovementinantibodylevelsandincreaseineffectivenessafterathirddose.Consequently,somecoun-triesareconsideringatargetedroll-outofthethirddose—inhigh-riskpopulations.Nevertheless,thereareotherquestionsto

consider.Sincethevaccineisstillbasedontheoriginal ‘Wuhan strain’, the longer-termef-fectivenessisoneconcern.Ifimmunitywanesaftertwodoses,howlongwillthethirddoseremaineffective?Will it protect against po-tential newvariants? Another vital topic isthebalancebetweenreducinginfectioninanalreadyvaccinatedpopulationviaathirddoseweighed against denying a first or seconddose–onethatprotectsfromhospitalisation–tothepartiallyorcompletelyunvaccinated.An imperfectanalogy is thechoicebetweengiving a lifejacket to an individual alreadywearingoneversustoapersonwithoutone.Theanalogyalsohighlightstheconflictingin-terestsoftheindividualversusthecollective.InIndia,themajorityof thepopulationis

not fullyvaccinatedandisthereforesuscep-tibletohospitalisation.Furthermore,thereisno data in the Indian population assessingpossiblereductionintwo-doseeffectivenessandbenefits of a third.With such lingeringquestionsandcontinuedsupplyconstraints,thepriorityshouldremainfullvaccinationoftheeligiblepopulation(includingapprovalofavaccineforchildren)tocontrolhospitalisa-tion. The basic precautions to control thespreadsuchasmasking,distancing,basichy-giene, andensuring appropriate ventilationincrowdedindoorspacesshouldcontinue.

Assam’s conflict over landAvideoofaprotesterbeingshotbypolice,thenstompedonbyacivilian,hasthrownthespotlightonanevictiondriveinAssam.Butthestate’sconflictoverland,withethnicfaultlines,goesbackdecades.

Note: TheSept25 figures in thesegraphsarebasedon thegovernmentupdatesonSept26Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare, updatedat11pmonSeptember26

Sept16 Sept25

1,50,00,000

75,00,000

0LAST 10 DAYS (daily)

36,56,211

39,60,154

34,96,156

Sept16 Sept25LAST 10 DAYS

4,00,000

2,00,000

0Source:MoHFW

INDIAACTIVECASES 3,03,476

3,39,506

SIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

E EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

Evictedvillagersinspect theremainsof theirhomes inDholpur.SadiqNaqvi

RECENTDATAONVACCINE EFFECTIVENESS

1: Initial VE is efficacy in clinical trial. Efficacy measure in clinical trials is against severedisease not hospitalization. 2: Initial VE as measured prior to delta variant. 3: Jan ’21 - 16May ’21 for Initial data. Latest data from 17 May ’21 for study versus symptomaticdisease. 12 Apr ’21 – 4 Jun ’21 for study versus hospitalisation and data was spilt intoAlpha and Delta population based on genetic sequencing.

Country Main Fully VEversus VEversus ApproximateVaccine vaccinated Symptomatic Hospitalisation studydates

population DiseaseasonAug31,2021 Initial Latest Initial Latest

Israel mRNA 60.6% 95%1 40.5% 89%1 88.0% 20Jun ’21-17 Jul ’21

USA mRNA 53.0% 90%2 42%-80% 90%2 75%-90% Initial:Mar‘21Latest: Jul’21

UK AstraZeneca 64.4% 97%2 71-84% 92%2 94% Twodifferentstudies3

THE EXPERTDRTUSHARGORE’sfocusarea ispharmaceuticals.Hestudiedat IIT-Bombayand theUniversityofMinnesota, andhasworkedatMcKinseyandNovoNordisk.He is theformerMD/CEOofResonanceLaboratories,anichepharmaceuticalsmanufacturer.

EXPLAINED THEPANDEMIC

27,48,453

3,03,476

TELLINGNUMBERS

Source:PewResearchCenter

APewResearchCenterreport releasedlastweekhas foundthatUSPresidentJoeBiden’sapproval ratingshavefallensharply inthe last twomonths.This is the first timehisratingshavegonedownsincehebecamePresident,Pewsaid.Thesurveywasconductedamong10,371adultsbetweenSeptember13-19. It foundless than44%ofUSadultsnowapproveofBiden’swayofhandlinghispresidencyand53%disapprove. In July,55%hadapprovedofhisperformanceand43%disapproved.Duringthefirstyear inoffice,amongrecentPresidents,GeorgeWBush(2001)hadthehighestapprovalratingsat78%.DonaldTrump,whobecamePresident in2017,hadthelowestapprovalratingsat38%.Significantly,amongrecentPresidents,Bidenhaslowerratingsthanmostatsimilarpoints, thesurveynotes.

US Presidents’ ratings in theirfirst year: Biden’s numbers slip

BIDEN’RATINGS SINCEMARCH

2021 (FOR SELECTMONTHS)Month Approval Disapproval(2021) ratings ratingsMarch 54 42April 59 39July 55 43September 53 44

OTHERPRESIDENTS’ RATINGS

DURING FIRST YEAR

President March FebruaryReagan(1981) 60 47GHWBush 54-59 73(1989)Clinton(1993) 54 51GWBush(2001) 54 78Obama(2009) 59 49Trump(2017) 44 38

EXPERTEXPLAINSTusharGoreFromThe IndianExpresspanelof specialists, exclusive insight

Why vaccine efficacy is declining, and the implications of a third dose

New Delhi

RAVISHTIWARI:Canyouelaborateonthechurnthat isunderwaywithintheJD(U)?UpendraKushwahawasinductedintothepartyandappointedchairmanof theJD(U)’sNationalParliamentaryBoard.Also,the JD(U) joinedtheNDAgovernment,whichitwasunsureaboutearlier. Isthereconfusionwithintheparty?No, there is no confusion. These are

just efforts to expand the party.(Kushwaha’s)RashtriyaLokSamataParty(RLSP) merged with the JD(U).(Kushwaha) should not be considerednew to the party, hewas part of the cre-ationoftheSamtaPartyin1994byGeorgeFernandesandNitishKumar.As far as the decision to join the gov-

ernment goes, there has been no confu-sion about it... As president of the party,NitishKumarhadtakenadecisionin2019,andthenadecisionwastakenin2021.Soit is theparty'sdecision.

RAVISHTIWARI:TheBiharBJPhasthesamenumberofMPsasyourparty.TherearetwoCabinetministersandtwoMinistersof State fromtheBiharBJP intheUniongovernment,whileyousettledfor justoneCabinetminister.Therewouldhavebeensomecompulsionsfromwithinthepartyto jointhegovernment?Therewere no compulsions. The BJP

hasamajority,andthereisafixednumberofCabinetministersthatthegovernmentcan have. It is their prerogative to decidehowmany people they choose tomakeministers fromeachstate.

RAVISHTIWARI:Howdoyoureadtheresultsof the2020BiharAssemblyelections?TheVidhanSabharesultsof2020were

messed up because of many reasons. Inmanyplaceswemayhavefaultedincan-didate selection. There may have beensome sabotage within.We believe thatthere was a conspiracy against NitishKumar from all quarters and the resultswerea reflectionof that. But even in thatadversesituationwemanagedtogetseatsandthat showsthatpeople supportus.

RAVISHTIWARI:SodidtheBJPconspireagainst the JD(U)?Thereweremanysections...Butletby-

gonesbebygones.Wearefocusingonthefuture...ChiragPaswanputupcandidatesagainstours.Theyalsoputupcandidatesagainst the BJP. Therewere somepeoplewho were possibleBJP candidates, theybecame (Paswan’s)Lok Janshakti Partycandidates. All thisaddedup.

RAVISHTIWARI:Soitwasn’tavoteagainstNitishKumar’sgovernance?No. In the 2019

general elections,(theNDA)got39of the state’s 40 seats. Ifthe2020votewasagainstNitishKumar’sgovernance,thenthe2019resultsshouldhavealsoreflectedthat.NitishKumarhaspeople’s support now, he had it in the2020Assemblypolls,andithasincreased.

RAVISHTIWARI:But2019wasavoteforPrimeMinisterNarendraModi.The2020votewasforNitishKumar...SotheNDAgotthevotes.Whoislead-

ing theNDA (in Bihar)? During the 2020polls, itwasclearthatNitishKumarwouldcontinueasChiefMinister.Soifpeopledidnot want Nitish Kumar, the NDAwouldnothavegotamajority...Thereweresomecircumstances (that led to the 2020 re-sults)andourpartywasunawareofthem.

RAVISHTIWARI:WhyhastheJD(U)

backedthedemandforacastecensus,puttingtheBJP inaspot?The demand for a caste census is not

new. Nitish Kumar had raised the issuewhen V P Singhwas the primeminister.But Singh said that work on the (main)Censushadalreadybegunandsoitcouldnot be done. Now that a Census is abouttobeconducted,weraised the issue.Thelast caste censuswas conducted in 1931during British rule... If we consider theclaimsmade by communities, then thetotalpopulationof thecountryshouldbe390croreinsteadof thestated130crore!Thatiswhyitisimportanttoknowtheex-actnumberofpeoplefromeachcommu-nity based on a caste census. It will alsohelp in formulating policy to help thecountry’s downtrodden sections. So noonehasanything to lose fromit.

LIZMATHEW:ComparedtoyourpeersintheJD(U),youhavealwaysbeenconsideredmuchclosertotheBJP.Butsinceyouhavetakenchargeaspartypresident, the JD(U)hasbeentakingontherulingpartyovercastecensus,floodrelief, Jal JeevanMission. Is thisasignofanyfuturepoliticalrealignment?No, that is not correct. I have always

had good relations with everyone. WetookonLaluPrasadoverthefodderscam,butthatdidnotruinmypersonalrelation-shipwith him. Therewas no bitterness.My commitment is to the JD(U)... I havegood relationshipswith everyone in theBJP. But it is about thepolicies and viewsof my party, I move ahead with that inmind... There isnoquestionof any futurerealignment, we are a strong partner oftheNDA.But thatdoesnotmeanwewillnot have our own views on policymat-ters.Wehadopposed the triple talaqBillintheLokSabha,Article370...ButwehavebeenwiththeNDA,andnowweareapartof the government too. It is hypotheticaltoassumeany future realignment.

LIZMATHEW:TheJD(U)hasalwaysbeenopposedtoChiragPaswan.ButnowheiscosyinguptotheOpposition,whichmayhurt theNDA.Areyoureadytoforgivehim?Itisnotforustoforgivehim.Theyhave

noMLAintheBiharNDA,sowhere is thequestion of including him in the BiharNDA?IntheLokSabhaalso,he isaloneinhis party, five of his people have left.Webelievetheyleftbecauseofhisstubborn-nessduring theBihar elections. They say

hebehavedthatwaybecause of certainadvisors. His fatherRam Vilas Paswanwas a grassrootsleader. ChiragPaswan did not faceanystruggle.Hewasairdropped,andthenhebecameanMP.Hehad no understand-ingof thegroundre-alities.

HARIKISHANSHARMA:HastheJD(U)givenuponitsdemandforspecialstatus forBihar?Also, inUttarPradeshelectionsnextyear,will theJD(U)contestpolls ineasternUP,andwill itdosoundertheNDAumbrella?The Finance Commission report said

that instead of special status, the back-wardstatesshouldbegivenapackage.Wearediscussingthepackage.Thereisnois-sue of special status, no state is getting itnow.We are focusing on the backward-ness of our state now... Since 2005, ourgrowth rate has been in double digits. Ifyouseepre-2005Bihar,therewasnoelec-tricity, no law, poor education, the busi-ness of abductionswas flourishing, andtherewerenoroads.Today,wehaveroads,electricity...Nowweare saying that ifwecouldmanage all this with our own re-

sources,thenimaginethegrowththatcanhappen in the state with a (financial)package.Asfaraselectionsgo,wehavedecided

that if there is consensus on seats in UPandManipurundertheNDA,wewillfightpollsfromthetwostates...Butif thereisnoconsensus,thenwewill identifyseatsandcontest polls on our own in these twostates.

VANDITAMISHRA:Sometimeago, theJD(U)hadtalkedaboutacoordinationcommittee intheNDA.Youtalkedaboutthe issuesyourpartyhas, itsconvictions,but is thereanyhearinggiventothem—Article370,CAAorfarmlaws?Which coalition has a coordination

committee... exceptmaybe inAtal BihariVajpayee’s time? There can be informaldiscussions too... there is notmuch of adifference...Aboutthefarmlaws,wethinkthatthelegislationthathasbeenenactedisforthebenefitof farmers...theyhavethefreedom to sell their produce anywhere.Bihar too had APMCs (AgriculturalProduce Marketing Committees), andChiefMinisterNitishKumarabolishedthesamein2006.Boththeproductionofourfarmers and themoney they get it for it

hasgoneup...As for the rest of the issues, we had

concerns,wehaveregistered thesame.

RITIKACHOPRA: Inseveral states inwhichyourallyBJPhasagovernment,peoplehavebeenarrested, facedseditioncharges, fordifferingwithit,includingactivists, journalistsetc.Onedoesn’thearof sucharrests fromBihar.Bihardoesn’thaveanysuchissue,peo-

ple have full freedom to say what theywant against the government... HowcanI talkaboutotherstatesandthesituationthere?... This is an issue of democraticrights...Weemergedfromthe1974agita-tion,wehit thestreets for the freedomofthecountry,against theEmergency, tookphysical blows, went to jail even. Sowearefirmlyofthebelief thatthepressisthefourthpillarof ademocracy.

RAVISHTIWARI:Butyoujustsaidyouwouldhavenoissues fightingunderYogiAdityanath’s leadership inUttarPradesh,whichproudlyproclaimsitsstrong-armtactics.It’s up to the janata of UP to decide

who itwantsas its leader,notyouorme.

RINKUGHOSH:Yourparty leaderKCTyagirecentlycalledNitishKumarprimeministermaterial.Tyagiji’s statement should be seen in

theright light.HesaidNitishji isPM‘ma-terial’, as inhehas theabilitiesneededtorunthecountry.Thereisaworldofdiffer-ence between being able to be PM andlayingclaimtobePMorbeingaPMcon-tender... There are many examples toshowwhy Tyagiji or other JD(U) leaderstalkofhimbeingPM-worthy.In2015,theNitish Kumar government launched theHarGharNalKaJalscheme,underwhichwe have spent Rs 27,000 crore to getdrinking water to wards; the CentreadoptedthisasJalJeevanMissionin2019.It was Nitishji’s vision that the Centreadopted. Then, providing electricity toevery household... it was a promise byNitishjiduringtheBiharelectionsof2015.By October 2018, power connection hadreachedeveryhome,andnowevenruralareashave20-22hoursofelectricityaday.Similarly,theCentreadoptedthisin2017...Sowhenwe say Nitishji is PMmaterial,weare talkingabouthisvision.

SANTOSHSINGH:TheIndianExpresshascarriedaseriesof investigativereportsonthepoliticalpatronage incontractallotments forHarGharNalKaJal.Ourpartyhasabigstructure,wehave

nothing to dowith the business of partyleaders andworkers. In anycase, there isasystemof e-tenderingwhichcannotbemanaged.Itcannotbeknownwhichper-sonistakingpartinthetenderingprocessfromwhere. Butwe have a business cellin the party. There is nothing wrong in

partyworkersdoingbusiness.

SANTOSHSINGH:AmongthosewhogotthecontractswereBJPleaderandDeputyCMTarkishorePrasad’skinandaides.He(Prasad)hasexplainedhisposition.

LIZMATHEW:YouworkedwiththeBJPunderVajpayeetoo.What’s thedifferencecomparedtotheModi-ledBJP?AnddoesthecurrentBJPtake itsalliesalonginsignificantdecisions?Yes,thereareconsultations,withlead-

ersof theparty,andthereareagreementsaswellasdisagreements, forexampleonArticle 370or triple talaq. But theygot intouchwith us on both.We express ouropinionbasedonourstand.There is a crucial difference from the

timeofVajpayeeji. TheBJPdidnothaveamajorityonitsownthen.Now,ithas.Soittakes the decisions and then consults itsallies.

RAVISHTIWARI:Whendotheseconsultationstakeplace,half-an-hourearlieroraweekearlier?Inseveralmatters,thetalkstakeplace

oneday, twodaysearlier.

RAVISHTIWARI:Youhave listedtheachievementsof the JD(U)government.Butmanyof thesewereinNitishKumar’spreviousterm,anddespite this, in2020,heperformedworse.What ishisvisionforthisnewterm?We have been

working continu-ously... During thepandemic, around24-25 lakhmigrantsworking in otherstates came back.NitishKumardidalotof work for them—set up centres, quar-antined those whotested positive... Butgovernance wasnever affected...whether selecting school headmasters,building roads, medical colleges, infra-structurefornurses...Workhasn’tstopped.

RAVISHTIWARI:TheBJPseemstobethedominantpartnerinthealliance.HasthereeverbeenaninstancewhentheJD(U)hasstoodfirmonsomethingandtheBJPhasagreedtoit?We objected to the NRC (National

RegisterofCitizens).Whentheysaidtherewould be such a survey, we objected...Workon theNRCmayhavebeenpausedbecause of the pandemic, butwheneverit happens, our stand will remain thesame.

HARIKISHANSHARMA: InhisIndependenceDayspeech, thePMsaidtheCentre’s Jal JeevanMission

hastakenwaterconnectionsto4.5crorehouseholds,mostof theminBihar.Sanjay Jha,aminister inyourgovernment, saidonly8.5 lakhconnections inBiharareunder JalJeevanMissionandtherestarepartofyourHarGharNalKaJal.Whatdoesthis tellyouaboutthecurrent levelofpoliticaldiscourse,wheregovernmentsexaggeratetheirworkto lookgood?Sanjay Jha said the right thing, Nitish

Kumar started the scheme in 2015...Anyonecanmakeclaims...wecanonlytellyou the truth.

RAVISHTIWARI:HowdoyouseetheCentre’shandlingof thesecondCovidwave?Nobodyimaginedthesecondwaveto

hit theway it did. And because nobodyanticipatedit,nobodywaspreparedforit.But when the crisis hit and there was ashortage of several things like oxygen,remdesivir etc, the Central governmentworked on awar-footing to ensure thattheseessentials reachedpeople.

RAVISHTIWARI:WhywasPrashantKishor letgofromtheJD(U)?Hewassayingdifferentthings,wasas-

sociated with different parties. It’s notrighttothenholdapartypost. If I,aspartypresident, think I am everything, thatwon’twork.Workshouldhappenaccord-ing to thedemocratic processwithin theparty.

SANDEEPSINGH:TheJD(U)hasbeeninandoutof theNDA.WithOppositionpartiesattemptingtocometogether,hasanyonegot intouchwithyou?We are not in

touch with anyone.We are in the NDA...there’snoconfusion.

HARIKISHANSHARMA:ThePegasusissuestalledtheMonsoonSessionofParliament.What isyourparty’sstandonit?Areyouinfavourof aparliamentarycommitteeoraSupremeCourt-monitoredprobe?Thematter is in the Supreme Court...

But no fact has come out on Pegasus. It’scuriousthatthedaybeforetheHouseses-sion,Pegasuscomesout...Whereistheev-idence?TheCongresshasnoagendaandfinds itself takingupunnecessary issues.This is not politics... That’s why theCongressisshrinking.Lookatwhat’shap-pening inPunjab.

RAVISHTIWARI:WhatturndoyouseeOppositionpolitics takingby2024?LikeIsaid,theCongressisshrinking.It

will shrinkevenmore.

RAJIVRANJANSINGH,NATIONALPRESIDENT, JD(U)

‘


IDEAEXCHANGE Newsmakers in theNewsroom


‘

‘There is a crucial differencefrom Vajpayeeji’s time. TheBJP did not have a majority

on its own then. Now, ithas. So it takes decisions,

then consults allies ‘

‘People have freedom to saywhat they want against thegovt in Bihar... This is about

democratic rights... Wefought Emergency... So wefirmly believe in the press

Caste censuswill helpformulate policy for poor.No one has anything tolose... Nitish raiseddemand earlier too...JD(U)leaderRajivRanjanSinghassertsthe2020pollresultswerenotanti-Nitish,denieschargesofpoliticalpatronageinstatewaterschemecontracts,andtalksabout whyPrashantKishorwasletgo.ThesessionwasmoderatedbyChiefofBureauandPoliticalEditorRAVISHTIWARI

‘

WHYRAJIVRANJANSINGH

ABhumihar leader ina party that largelyderives its base from

among extremely backwardclasses, four-time MP RajivRanjan Singh was recentlymade JD(U) nationalpresident. With Shiv Senaand Akali Dal exits, theJD(U)’s voice is now theweightiest among BJP allies.And as Bihar CM, JD(U)anchor Nitish Kumar tries toleverage that to project an‘autonomous’ image, it isupon his confidant Singh tomake it stick

Illustration: SuvajitDey

New Delhi


THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

Billionaire,philanthropistWalterScottdiesat90BILLIONAIREWALTERScott,the past top executive ofPeterKiewit Sons Inc. con-struction firmwhohelpedoverseeWarren Buffett’sconglomerateanddonatedto various causes, particu-larly constructionprojectsaroundOmaha, has died.He was 90. The Suzanneand Walter ScottFoundation that Scottfounded said Scott diedSaturday. The foundationdidnotmentiona causeofdeath. Scott served as aboardmemberof Buffett’sBerkshireHathaway con-glomerate from1988untilhisdeath,andeveninvestedalongside Berkshire in thecompany’s utility and en-ergyunit. Scott held about8%of BerkshireHathawayEnergy’sstockand105ClassA Berkshire shares withBuffett’s Berkshireholdingnearlyalltherest. AP

WalterScott

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WESTASIA

Israeli troopskill4PalestiniansinshootoutATLEAST four Palestiniangunmen were killed inshootoutswith Israeli se-curity forces during asweepingWest Bank ar-rest operation crackingdownonthe Islamicmili-tant group Hamas onSunday,theIsraelimilitarysaid.Itwasthedeadliestvi-olence between IsraelitroopsandPalestinianmil-itantsintheoccupiedWestBank inrecentweeksandcame amid heightenedtensions following thisyear’s11-daywarbetweenIsrael and Hamas in theGazaStrip. AP

USA

ThousandstraversePanamaonwaytoUSUP TO 4,000 migrants,most of them Haitians,have passed through thetreacherousjunglesof theDarienGap inPanamaonthe Colombian border astheymaketheirwaynorthtotheUS,twoPanamaniangovernment sources said.An impromptu camparose in recentweeks onthe US-Mexican borderthat included Haitians,adding to President JoeBiden’smigration policyheadaches. At its peakonSept 18 therewere some15,000 people there asHaitians flee economic,politicalandsocialchaosintheirhomeland.REUTERS

DAVEPHILIPPSSEPTEMBER26

ALMOSTEVERYmorningforfiveyears, 1st Lt. Sukhbir Toor haspulledontheuniformof theUSMarine Corps. On Thursday, healsogottoputontheturbanofafaithful Sikh.It was a first for theMarine

Corps, which almost never al-lows deviations from its hal-lowed image, and itwas a long-awaitedchancefortheofficertocombine two of the things heholdsmostdear.“I finally don’t have to pick

which life I want to commit to,myfaithormycountry,”Toor,26,

said in an interview. “I can bewhoIamandhonourbothsides.”Hiscaseisthelatestinalong-

running conflict between twofundamental values in the USmilitary: the tradition of disci-pline and uniformity, and theconstitutionallibertiesthearmedforceswerecreatedtodefend.While Sikh troops in Britain,

Australia andCanada have longworn turbans in uniform, andscoresofSikhsdosonowinotherbranches of themilitary, Toor’sturbanis thefirst inthe246-yearhistory of theMarine Corps. Forgenerations,theMarineCorpshasfoughtanychangetoitsstrictap-pearancestandards.TheMarine Corps hasmade

theallowanceonlytoapoint.Toorcanwear a turban in daily dressat normal duty stations, but hecannotdosowhiledeployedtoaconflict zone, orwhen in dressuniform in a ceremonial unit,wherethepubliccouldseeit.Toorhasappealedtherestric-

tivedecisiontotheMarineCorpscommandant,andhesaysthatifhedoesnotgeta full accommo-dation,hewill sue theMarines.“We’vecomealongway,but

there isstillmoretogo,”hesaid.“The Marine Corps needs toshowitreallymeanswhatithasbeensayingaboutstrengthindi-versity — that it doesn’tmatterwhat you look like, it just mat-ters thatyoucandoyour job.”

For theMarineCorps leader-ship,anexceptionassmallasoneman’s turbanwas seenas sopo-tentiallydangerousthatToor’sre-quest went all the way to top

Marine Corps authorities. TheirinitialreactioninJunewaslargelyadenial. In a stern response, oneMarineCorpsgeneralwarnedthatindividualexpressionofthatkind

could fray the fabric of disciplineand commitment that binds theMarines. It could erode the na-tion’strustintheMarines.Itcouldunderminecombateffectiveness.Toor appealed to the com-

mandant of theMarine Corps,which retreated a bit in August,allowinghimtowearabeardandturbaninlimitedcircumstances.TheMarineCorps’argument,

time after time, has been thatchangecouldhobbleitsabilitytofight. “In order to build squadsthatwillmoveforwardinacom-bat environmentwhere peoplearedying, a strong teambond isrequired,” Col. Kelly Frushour, aspokesperson for MarineHeadquarters,saidinwrittenre-

sponses to questions from TheNew York Times about Toor’scase. “Uniformity is one of thetoolstheCorpsusestoforgethatbond.WhattheCorpsisprotect-ingisitsabilitytowinonthebat-tlefield, so that theConstitutioncanremain the lawof the land.”Toorgrewup inWashington,

DC,andOhio,thesonofIndianim-migrants.HejoinedtheMarinesaf-ter college in 2017, knowing hewould initially have to forgo thephysicalsymbolsofhisfaith,buthewaswillingtomakethesacrifice.Believing itwaswrong toask

for anythingbeforehehadgivenof himself, he shaved daily andworeaMarineCorpsutilitycapforyearswithout complaint.When

hewasselectedthisspringforpro-motion to captain, he decided itwastime.Hewrotehisformalre-questforareligiousaccommoda-tioninApril.Twomonthslater,hegotalet-

terthatgrantedtheaccommoda-tion—butwith somanycaveatsthat itamountedtoadenial.Toorwould be allowedwear a beardandturbanwheneverhewanted,aslongasitwasnotwhilehewasdeployed,servinginacombatunitthatmightdeployordoingcere-monialdutiesindressuniform.Howoftenmight those cir-

cumstancesoccur?“Like, every day,” Toor said

with a laugh. “That is justwhat Ido.I’macombatarmsofficer.”NYT

THE US MARINE CORPS ALMOST NEVER ALLOWS DEVIATIONS FROM ITS DRESSING STANDARDS

Marines reluctantly let a Sikh officer wear a turban; he says it’s not enough

FirstLt. SukhbirToorataMarineCorpstraining facility inTwentyninePalms,California,onFriday.NYT

Candidate forchancellorArminLaschetandhiswifeSusannecast theirballots inAachen,Germany,onSunday.AP

SocialDemocraticPartycandidate forchancellor,OlafScholz, castshisvote inBerlin.AP

THOMASESCRITT&PAULCARRELBERLIN,SEPTEMBER26

GERMANY’S CDU/CSU conser-vatives and their SocialDemocrat rivals were virtuallytied in Sunday’s national elec-tion, exit polls showed, leavingopenwhichofthemwillleadthenext government as AngelaMerkel prepares to stand downafter16years inpower.The CDU/CSU blocwon 25%

of the vote, theirweakest resultin a post-war federal electionandonaparwiththecentre-leftSocial Democrat (SPD), the in-fratest poll for broadcaster ARDshowed. A ForschungsgruppeWahlenpollforbroadcasterZDFput the SPD and its chancellorcandidate Olaf Scholz on 26%andtheCDU/CSUon24%.“The SPD is back. We are

wherewebelong,”SPDSecretaryGeneralLarsKlingbeilsaidshortlyafter first exit polls. He said thepolls showed the SPD and its

chancellorcandidateOlafScholzhadthemandatetogovern.CDUGeneral Secretary Paul

ZiemiaktoldARDafterthepubli-cationof theirpoll:“Thathurts”.Attentionwillnowshifttoin-

formaldiscussions —likelywiththe Greens, on 15%, and liberalFreeDemocrats (FDP), on11%—followed bymore formal coali-

tion negotiations, which couldtakemonths, leavingMerkel incharge inacaretaker role.The election pitted Armin

Laschet, of the CDU, againstScholz, the financeminister inMerkel’s “grandcoalition”whowonall three televiseddebatesbetween the leading candi-dates for Chancellor. REUTERS

VOTINGENDS INTIGHTGERMANELECTION

GermanChancellorAngelaMerkelappearsat theCDUpartyheadquarters inBerlinonSundayafter the firstexitpollswerereleased.Reuters

REUTERSSEPTEMBER26

THE TALIBAN government inAfghanistanappealedonSundayfor international flightstobere-sumed, promising full coopera-tionwithairlinesandsayingthatproblems at Kabul airport hadbeenresolved.The statement from the for-

eign affairs ministry comes asthe new administration hassteppedupeffortstoopenupthecountry and gain internationalacceptance following the col-lapse of the Western-backedgovernment lastmonth.A limitednumberof aid and

passenger flightshavebeenop-eratingfromtheairport.Butnor-mal commercial services haveyettoresumesinceitwasclosedin thewakeof the chaotic evac-uation of tens of thousands offoreigners and vulnerableAfghans that followed theTaliban’s seizureof thecapital.Theairport,whichwasdam-

agedduring theevacuation,hassincebeenreopenedwiththeas-sistanceof technicalteamsfromQatarandTurkey.Whilesomeairlinesincluding

Pakistan International Airlineshave beenoffering limited serv-ices andsomepeoplehavebeenabletogetplacesonflights,priceshave been reported to bemanytimeshigherthannormal.

ForeignministryspokesmanAbdul Qahar Balkhi said thesuspension of internationalflights had left many Afghansstranded abroad and also pre-vented people from travellingforworkor study.“As the problems at Kabul

InternationalAirporthavebeenresolved and the airport is fullyoperationalfordomesticandin-ternational flights, the IEA as-sures all airlines of its full coop-eration,” he said, using anabbreviationforIslamicEmirateof Afghanistan, the Taliban’stermfor theirnewgovernment.Since taking power, the

Talibanhavegrappledwithase-vere economic crisis and havefacedpressureonissuesrangingfrom girls’ education to allega-tionsof reprisals against formerofficials and others associatedwith thepreviousgovernment.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIATORONTO,SEPTEMBER26

CANADA WILL allow directflights fromIndia fromMonday,lifting the ban on them after agapofmore than fivemonths.Announcing the decision,

TransportCanadaonSaturdayinatweetsaid:“Beginningat00:01EDT on September 27, directflights from India can land inCanada with additional publichealthmeasures inplace.”“Travellersmusthaveproofof

anegativeCovid-19moleculartestfrom the approvedGenestringsLaboratory at the Delhi airporttaken within 18 hours of thescheduleddepartureoftheirdirectflighttoCanada,”itadded.In April, Canada had banned

alldirectflightstoandfromIndia.

AMYBETHHANSON&TAREKHAMADAJOPLIN,SEPTEMBER26

AT LEAST three people werekilledSaturdayafternoonwhenan Amtrak train that runs be-tween Seattle and Chicago de-railedinnorth-centralMontana,toppling several cars onto theirsides, authorities said.The westbound Empire

Builder train derailed about 4p.m.near Joplin,atownofabout200, Amtrak spokesman JasonAbramssaid in a statement. Theaccident scene is about 241 kmnortheastofHelenaandabout48kmfromtheborderwithCanada.Liberty County sheriff’s dis-

patcher Starr Tyler told TheAssociated Press that three peo-plediedinthederailment.Shedidnot havemore details. Amtrak

confirmed the deaths and saidthereweremultiple injuries.“We are deeply saddened to

learn local authorities are nowconfirming that three peoplehave lost their livesasaresultofthis accident,”Abramssaid.The trainhadabout141pas-

sengers and 16 crewmembersonboard,Abramssaid.Thetrainhadtwolocomotivesand10cars,eightofwhichderailed,hesaid.“We are deeply saddened to

learn local authorities are nowconfirming that three peoplehave lost their livesasaresultofthis accident,”Abramssaid.Residents of communities

nearthecrashsitequicklymobi-lized tohelp thepassengers.Chester Councilwoman

Rachel Ghekiere said she andothers helped about 50 to 60passengerswhowerebroughttoa local school. AP

WILLIAMJAMESBRIGHTON,SEPTEMBER26

TRANSPORT MINISTER GrantShapps on Sunday called onBritons to behave normallywhenbuyingpetrol,sayingtherewas no shortage of fuel and thegovernmentwas stepping in toeaseashortageofdriversbring-ing it topetrol stations.Inrecentdayslonglinesofve-

hicles have formedat petrol sta-tions asmotoristswaited, someforhours,tofillupwithfuelafteroilfirmsreportedalackofdriverswas causing transport problemsfromrefineriestoforecourts.Some operators have had to

ration supplies and others toclosegasstations.“There’splentyoffuel,there’s

noshortageofthefuelwithinthecountry,”he toldSkyNews.“Sothemostimportantthing

is actually that people carry onas they normallywould and fillup their cars when they nor-mally would, then you won'thavequeuesandyouwon’thaveshortagesat thepumpeither.”Shapps said the shortage of

driverswasdowntoCovid-19dis-

ruptingthequalificationprocessfor drivers, preventing newlabourfromenteringthemarket.Others pinned theblameon

Brexit and poorworking condi-tionsforcingoutforeigndrivers.The government on Sunday

announced a plan to issue tem-porary visas for 5,000 foreigntruckdrivers. readmoreBut business leaders have

warnedthegovernment’splanisshort-termfixandwillnotsolvean acute labour shortage thatrisksmajor disruption beyondfuel deliveries, including for re-tailersintherun-uptoChristmas.Shappscalled thepanicover

fuel a ‘manufacturedsituation’.“They’re desperate to have

more European drivers under-cuttingBritishsalaries,”hesaid.

REUTERS

EGILLBJARNASONREYKJAVIK,SEPTEMBER26

ICELANDHASelecteda female-majorityparliament,alandmarkforgenderequality in theNorthAtlantic island nation, in a votethat saw centrist parties makethebiggestgains.After all voteswere counted

Sunday, female candidatesheld33seatsinIceland’s63-seatpar-liament, the Althing. The threeparties intheoutgoingcoalitiongovernment led by PrimeMinisterKatrinJakobsdottirwona total of 37 seats in Saturday’svote, twomore than in the lastelection, and appeared likely tocontinue inpower.The milestone for women

comes despite a poor outcomeforparties on the left,where fe-male candidatesaremoreoftenfrontrunners.Politics professor Silja Bara

Omarsdottir said the genderquotas implemented by left-leaning parties for the past

decadehadmanagedtocreateanewnormacrossIceland’spolit-ical spectrum.“It is no longer acceptable to

ignoregenderequalitywhense-lectingcandidates,” shesaid.Opinionpollshadsuggested

avictory for left-leaningpartiesin the unpredictable election,whichsaw10partiescompetingfor seats. But the centre-rightIndependence Party took thelargest share of votes, winning16 seats, seven of themheld bywomen.ThecentristProgressivePartycelebratedthebiggestgain,winning13seats, fivemorethanlast time. AP

ALANFRAMWASHINGTON,SEPTEMBER26

DEMOCRATSPUSHEDa$3.5tril-lion, 10-year Bill strengtheningsocialsafetynetandclimatepro-gramsthroughtheHouseBudgetCommittee, but one Democratvoted “no,” illustrating the chal-lengesparty leadersfaceinwin-ning the near unanimity they’llneedtopushthesprawlingpack-agethroughCongress.

The Democratic-dominatedpanel, meeting virtuallySaturday,approvedthemeasureonanearparty-line vote, 20-17.Passagemarkedanecessarybutminor checking of a proceduralboxforDemocratsbyedgingitastep closer to debate by the fullHouse. Under budget rules, thecommittee wasn’t allowed tosignificantly amend the 2,465-pagemeasure,theproductof13otherHousecommittees.More important work has

beenhappeninginanopaquepro-cessionofmostly unannouncedphone calls,meetings andotherbargainingsessionsamongpartyleadersandrank-and-filelawmak-ers. President Joe Biden, HouseSpeakerNancyPelosi,D-Calif.,andSenate Majority Leader ChuckSchumer,D-NY,haveledabehind-the-sceneshuntforcompromisesto resolve internal divisions and,theyhope, allowapproval of themammothbillsoon.PelositoldfellowDemocrats

Saturday that they “must” passthe social and environmentpackage thisweek, alongwithaseparate infrastructure Bill anda third measure preventing agovernment shutdown onFriday. Her letter to colleaguesunderscored the pile of crucialworkCongress’Democraticma-jority faces in coming days andseemed an effort to build ur-gency to resolve long-standingdisputesquickly.“The next fewdayswill be a

timeof intensity,” shewrote.ModerateRep.ScottPeters,D-

Calif.,joinedall16RepublicansontheBudget committee inoppos-ingthelegislation.Hisobjectionsincludedonethat troublesmanyDemocrats:areluctancetobackaBill with provisions thatwouldlaterbedroppedbytheSenate.ManyDemocratsdon’twant

tobecomepoliticallyvulnerablebybacking language thatmightbecontroversialbackhome,onlytosee itnotbecome law. AP

Taliban ask airlines toresume internationalflights to Afghanistan

Atthe internationalairportinKabul.A limitednumberof aidandpassenger flightshavebeenoperatingfromtheairport.Reuters

Women candidateswin majority of seatsin Icelandic election

Iceland’sPrimeMinisterKatrin Jakobsdottir

Behave normally, transport ministertells Britons as many queue up for fuel

Driversqueuetoentera fuelstation inLondon.Reuters

Atthesceneof theAmtraktrainderailment innorth-centralMontanaonSaturday.AP

Three dead after Amtraktrain derails in Montana

House panel clears $3.5-tn Bill, crunch time for Biden agenda

Canada lifts banon direct flightsfrom India

ASSOCIATEDPRESSGENEVA,SEPTEMBER26

SWITZERLANDVOTEDbyawidemargin to allow same-sex cou-plestomarryinareferendumonSunday, bringing theAlpinena-tion into linewithmany othersinwesternEurope.Official results showed the

measurepassedwith64.1%ofvot-ers in favour andwonamajorityinallofSwitzerland’s26cantons,or states. Switzerlandhasautho-risedsame-sexcivilpartnershipssince2007.Supporters said passage

wouldputsame-sexpartnersonequal legal footingwithhetero-sexualcouplesbyallowingthemtoadoptchildrenandfacilitatingcitizenship for same-sexspouses.

Swiss approvesame-sex marriageby wide margin

THE2021electionschangealotforGermany,withMerkelsteppingawayasthecountry’sleaderafter16yearsincharge,andherpartyfacingitsworstresultssince1949.However,thebroadpoliticallandscaperemainslargelyunaltered.Merkel’sCDUanditsmainri-valSPD,bothofwhichareef-fectivelyinatieaccordingtoexitpolls,aswellastheGreens,whohavemadesignificantgainsintheseelections,areallmoderatecentristpartieswhohavepreviouslybeeningov-erningallianceswitheachother.TheLeft,themostleft-wingpartyintheGermanpar-liament,seemstobehoveringatjust5%ofthevotes,andthefar-rightAfDdidnotmakethegainsitexpected.

Amidchange,somethingsremainsameE●EX

PLAINED

Conservatives, Social Dems tied invote to decideMerkel’s successor

New Delhi


ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Market WatchM-CAPOFTOP-10VALUEDCOS JUMPSNew Delhi: The top 10 valued firms added a total Rs 1,56,317.17crore to their market capitalisation (m-cap) last week, helped byacross-the-board rally which catapulted the benchmark indexSensex to the record 60,000 mark for the first time. PTI

TWOGROUPSOFMINISTERSFORMEDFORGOODSANDSERVICESTAXREFORMS

AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

A “REVIEW” of the current rateslab structure of Goods andServices Tax (GST) has been ex-plicitlyincorporatedintheTermsofReference(ToR)ofthetwomin-isterialpanelsformedforspellingoutablueprintforGSTreforms.Thepanels’brief incorporates

anoverarchingmandate:aneval-uationof“specialrates”withinthetax structure, rationalisationmeasures that include“amergeroftaxrateslabsforsimplifyingtheratestructure”,alongsideareviewof instances of inverted dutystructureandanidentificationofpotential sources of evasion toshoreuprevenues.TheFinanceMinistryhascon-

stituted a seven-memberGroupofMinisters(GoM)underKarnat-aka Chief Minister Basavaraj SBommaifor“raterationalisation”andanothereight-memberGoM

underMaharashtraDeputyChiefMinisterAjit Pawar for “GST sys-tem reforms”, orders issued onSeptember24stated.Incidentally, themandatean-

nounced for theGoMs after theGST Council meeting onSeptember17didnotincludeare-viewoftaxslabs.FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanhadthensaidtheToRwouldrelatetocorrectionof inversionand rate rationalisa-tion. The Indian Express had re-portedonSaturdaythatamidcon-cernsofrevenuebuoyancyunderGST, theGoMswill reassess thecurrenttaxslabsincludingapos-siblemergerofsometaxslabs.The ToR for theGoMon rate

rationalisationstatedthat it shallreview inverted duty structureotherthanwheretheCouncilhasalreadytakenadecisiontocorrecttheinvertedstructureandrecom-mendsuitable rates to eliminateit so as tominimise instances ofrefundsduetoinvertedstructure,and review the current tax slab

rates and recommend changesneeded to garner required re-sources. It shall also “review thecurrentrateslabstructureofGST,including special rates, and rec-ommend rationalisationmeas-ures, includingmergerof taxrateslabs, required for a simpler ratestructureinGST”.“TheGoMmaysuggestchan-

gesthatmaybeimplementedim-mediately and the roadmap forimplementation for the changesthat should be implemented intheshortandmediumterm,”theordersaid.TheGroupmaysubmitaninterimreportforsuchimme-diatemeasuresasitmaydeemfitandwillhavetosubmititsreportintwomonths, itadded.Membersof theGoMonrate

rationalisationincludeBiharDep-utyChiefMinisterTarkishorePra-sad;Goa’sMinister forTransportand Panchayati Raj, Housing,Protocol and Legislative AffairsMauvinGodinho;KeralaFinanceMinister KNBalagopal; Rajasth-an’sMinister for Local Self Gove-rnment,UrbanDevelopmentandHousing, Law and Legal AffairsShanti Kumar Dhariwal; UttarPradeshFinanceMinisterSureshKumarKhannaandWestBengalFinanceMinisterAmitMitra.TheotherGoMonGSTsystem

reformswill review IT tools andinterface availablewith tax offi-

cers and suggest measures tomake the systemmore efficientand effective, identify potentialsourcesofevasion,identifypossi-ble use of data analysis towardsbetter compliance and revenueaugmentationandsuggestuseofsuch data analysis and identifymechanismsforbettercoordina-tionbetweenCentralandStatetaxadministration.ThisGoMwillgiveits recommendation to theCouncilfromtimetotimeandwillreviewtheimplementationofre-formmeasures approvedby theCouncil, theordersaid.MembersofthisGoMinclude

DelhiDeputyCMManishSisodia,Haryana Deputy CMDushyantChautala,AndhraPradeshFinanceMinister BugganaRajendranath,AssamFinanceMinister AjantaNeog, ChhattisgarhCommercialTaxes Minister TS Singh Deo,Odisha Finance and ExciseMinisterNiranjanPujariandTamilNaduFinanceMinister PalanivelThiagarajan.

BRIEFLYDieselpricehikeNewDelhi:Dieselpricewashiked by 25paise per litre,risingtoRs89.07inDelhi.

e-ShramportalNewDelhi:Over 1.71 croreunorganisedsectorworkersareregisteredone-Shram.

IECdeactivationNewDelhi: TheCommerceMinistrywill deactivate allimporter-exporter codes(IECs)thathavenotbeenup-dated after January 2005fromOctober6. PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER26

FINANCE MINISTER NirmalaSitharamanonSundaysaidIndiawouldneedfourorfivemorebigbankslikeStateBankofIndia(SBI)toscaleupbankingandmeetthechanging requirements of theeconomyandindustry.“Theway inwhich the econ-

omyisshiftingtoadifferentplanealtogether, theway inwhich in-dustry is adapting, somanynewchallenges keep arising. To ad-dress these challenges,weneednot justmore,butbiggerbanks,”she said while addressing theAnnual GeneralMeeting of theIndianBanks’Association(IBA).TheFMaskedtheindustryto

imaginehowIndianbankinghastobeintheimmediateandlong-term future. “If we look at post-Covid scenario, India’s bankingcontour will have to be veryunique to India,where therehasbeen an extremely successfuladoptionofdigitisation,”shesaid.While banks inmany coun-

tries couldnot reachout to theirclientsduringthepandemic, thelevel of digitisation of Indianbanks helped us to transfermoneytosmall,mediumandbigaccountholdersthroughDBTanddigitalmechanisms,sheadded.Sitharaman underlined the

importance of seamless and in-terconnected digital systems increating a sustainable future forIndian banking industry. “Long-term future of Indian banking isgoingtobelargelydrivenbydigi-tisedprocesses.”The benefits of digitisation

notwithstanding, the FinanceMinisterobserved that therearewidedisparitiesaswell inaccessto financial services. “There arepartsofourcountrywherebrick-and-mortarbanksarenecessary,”shesaid.The FMasked the IBA to im-

proveaccessof banking ineverydistrictthrougharationalisedap-proachandoptimalutilisationofdigital technologies. To achievethis, sheadvised the IBA tocarryoutdigitisedlocation-wisemap-ping of all bank branches foreverydistrictof thenation.“Almost two-thirds of nearly

7.5 lakhpanchayats have opticalfibreconnection,IBAshouldcon-siderthisandconductanexerciseanddecidewhere banks shouldhave a physical presence andwherewe are able to serve cus-tomers evenwithout physicalbranch,”shesaid.IBAshouldtakethe initiative and complementthe government’s efforts for fi-nancial inclusionandenhancingaccesstofinancialservices,espe-cially in unserved and under-servedareas,Sitharamanadded.TheFMremindedbankersof

theneedtoadaptinlinewithfastchangesintechnology.“Whatwethink is latest todaywill be out-dated in a year or so,wehave tothus acquire resources to con-stantlyupdateourselves.”“Suchnimblenessandagility

areespecially important in Indiabeing able to achieve the ambi-tious export targetswehave setforourselves,”shesaid.Thegovernmenthasgivenan

export target of $2 trillion by2030, $1 trillion inmerchandiseexports and $1 trillion in serviceexports.“Inanageofrapidchangepost thepandemic, therearego-ingtobealotofchallengesinhowwelookatcustomers.Thesechal-lenges cannot be addressed un-lessbanksaregoingtobenimble,withsoundunderstandingofvar-iousbusinessesandsectors,” theFinanceMinistersaid.Hence, the banking industry

needs specialists to understandthe unique business require-mentsof diverse sectors and themanybusinesseswhoarerapidly

relocatingtoIndia,shesaid.Sitharamanalsospokeof the

high potential for banking out-reachintheeasternregion.“The eastern region of this

countryhasmorethanadequateCASA (current account savingsaccount), but thereareno takersforcredit.Youneedtoaddressthisissueandseehowyoucanlendinthose regions, in states such asBihar,”shesaid.TheFinanceMinistersaidthe

UPIneedstobestrengthened.“Inthepaymentworldtoday,IndianUPIhasactuallymadeaverybigimpression. ARuPay cardwhichwasnotasglamorousasaforeigncard isnowaccepted insomanydifferentpartsoftheworld,sym-bolic of India’s futuristic digitalpaymentintentions.“FintechunderstandsthatUPI

isitsbackbone,youhavetogiveitits flesh and blood, you have tostrengthenUPI,”shetoldbankers.ShestressedthattheNational

Asset Reconstruction CompanyLtd is not a bad bank. “It is a for-mulation intended to clean upbankassets anddisposeof NPAsin a speedymanner. Banks arenowabletoraisemoneyfromthemarket,hencetheburdenongov-ernmenttorecapitalisebankswillbeless,thisishowwewantbanksto function—a lotmore profes-sional,withachangedmindset.”Sitharaman said this is ab-

solutelytherighttimetobecomeprofessional,adding,“Bankvalu-ationsshouldberazor-sharp,en-ablingyoutoraisetherightkindsofamountattherightcost.”

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

THEFAIRLYswiftrecoveryfollow-ing the secondwaveof thepan-demicwilllikelygainmomentuminthefestiveseasonahead.However, even as tax collec-

tions exceed expectations andhigh-frequencyindicatorsshowapick-up, employment numbersremainworrisome.Headlineun-employmenthas fallen in Septe-mbertojust5.89percentbuturb-anjoblessnessishoveringaround8percent;CMIEestimatesthenetcumulative increase in employ-mentinthepast12monthsatjust44,483. That’s just 0.044milliononabaseof400millionjobs.Hopefully, the recoveryproc-

esswon’tlosesteamandthesup-ply-sideissueswillbesortedout.Whileexportsaresurging,an

analysisbyHSBCshowshigh-skillexports —mobile phones,ma-chinery,pharmaceuticalproducts,andITservices—havegainedglo-

balmarket share,while low-skilland labour-intensive exports—textiles and agriculture—havebeenweak.It is good news curbs on ex-

penditure have been lifted andthat several central governmentdepartmentscannowspendfromtheir allocated budgets startingOctober; the curbs had limitedspending by somedepartmentstojustafifthof theFY22outlay.The other big concern is the

capex cycle: An analysis byNomura shows thatwhile FY23mayseesomeimpactofdeferredinvestments, originally plannedduring FY22, thephasingprofileofenvisagedcapexrevealspersist-ingnear-termriskstotheprivateinvestmentoutlook. FE

NewDelhi:ANewYorkcourthaspausedCairnEnergy’spursuitofUS assets of Air India for the re-covery of $1.2 billion arbitralaward, so as to allow theBritishfirm to reach a settlementwiththe Indian government on thelongdrawndispute.The New York district court

delayedthetaxsuittoNovember18, according to court docu-ments reviewedbyPTI. This fol-lowsCairn Energy andAir Indiajointly asking the court to stayfurtherproceedings. PTI

New York courtpauses tax suitto allow Cairnto settle dispute

REUTERSBEIJING,SEPTEMBER26

SEVERALLOCALgovernmentsinChina have set up special custo-dian accounts for property proj-ects of itsmost indebted devel-oper,Evergrande,toprotectfundsearmarked for housing projectsfrombeingdiverted,mediaoutletCaixinsaidonSunday.Reelingunder$305billionof

debt, Evergrandemissed a pay-ment deadline on a dollar bondlastweek, and its silence on the

matter has set global investorswondering if theywill have toswallow large losseswhena30-daygraceperiodends.The special accounts have

beensetupsincelateAugustinatleast eight provinces whereEvergrande has themost unfin-ishedprojects,theChineseoutletsaid, citing a source close to thedeveloper’smanagementteam.These include Anhui,

Guizhou, Henan, Jiangsu andcities in the southernPearl RiverDelta, itadded.The custodian accounts aim

toensurehomebuyers’paymentsare used to completeEvergrande’s housing projects,andnotdivertedelsewhere,suchastocreditors,Caixinsaid.Insomesoutherncities, such

as Zhuhai and Shenzhen, the of-ficesofthehousingregulator,theMinistry of Housing andUrban-RuralDevelopment,werealsoin-volvedinoverseeingandreview-ing fund use by Evergrande’sprojects, itsaid.Evergrande and the housing

ministrydidnotimmediatelyre-spondtorequests forcomment.

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

THECOMPETITIONCommissionof India(CCI)hasimposedpenal-ties of Rs 873 crore on UnitedBreweries Ltd (UBL), CarlsbergIndia Pvt Ltd (CIPL), All IndiaBrewers Association (AIBA) and11 individuals for cartelisation inthe sale and supply of beer.Anheuser-BuschInBevIndiawasalso foundtobepartof thecartelfixingbeerpricesbutdidnotfaceafineasitwasthefirstcompanytoprovidekeyevidenceintheprobe.

Whyhavebeercompaniesbeenpenalised?The search and seizures con-

ductedbytheDirectorGeneralofthe CCI during an investigationfound regular communicationsbetween the three companies tocoordinatepricehikessubmittedtostateauthoritiesforapproval.The investigation found that

key managerial personnelemailed competitors about thepricehikestheywereplanningtoproposetostateauthoritiesinvar-

ious states and sought to coordi-natepricehikes.Representatives of the beer

companies held discussionsamong themselves aboutprospective quotes and thewayforwardwithstateexcisedepart-mentsandusedtomeetwiththeexcise authority un-der the umbrella oftheAIBAsothat theywould have a betterchanceofgettingpro-posedpriceincreasesapproved.TheAIBAwasalso

finedforitsroleinar-rangingdiscussionsbetweenbeercompanies on various issues in-cludingpricing.TheCCIcitedmul-tiple instances of the companiesmaking identical price revisionsforcompetingproducts.InthecaseofMaharashtra,the

CCI found that price revisionsbyUBL and AB InBev since 2011showedan “uncanny closeness”in timing,with CIPL also joiningthe two companies inmakingprice revisions around the sametimesinceApril2014.The CCI found that the beer

companiesalsocoordinatedcutsin supply of beer in Odisha,MaharashtraandWestBengal toopposemoves by state govern-mentstohikeexcisedutiesorre-ducethepriceofbeer.ItalsofoundthatUBLandABInBevhadagree-mentsonthepriceatwhichthey

would procure usedbottles from bottlecollectorsforreuseattheirbreweries.

Whatwastherationaleofthebeercompanies?Key managerial

personnel fromthebeercompa-nieswhowere alsopenalisedbytheCCIcitedtheneedtoseekap-provals fromstateauthorities foranypricerevisionsasakeyreasonfor the need for coordinationamongcompetitors. In one case,an executive at UBL said that asprice changeswereonlypermit-tedonthreespecificdatesinayearinKarnataka,competitorswouldexchange notes and pricemainproductssimilarlyto“ensurethatwedonot sufferhuge losses as aresultof thispolicy.”

In its submission to the CCI,UBLsaidthat“draconianlawsandpractices adopted by the statesmakeitimpossibleforbeercom-paniestocompeteintheordinarycourseof business,” highlightingthefactthatthefinalpriceoftheirproductswas subject to the ap-provalofstateauthorities.TheCCInoted that such state

policies“cannotbetakenasanex-cuseforenteringintopricecoordi-nationbytheparties.”

WhywasABInBevnotpenalised?Allthreebeercompanies,UBL,

CIPLandABInBevhadappliedfora reduction inpenalty. AB InBevwas given a 100per cent reduc-tioninpenaltyasthecompanyex-plained the nature of the cartelandsubmittedevidenceofemailcommunications between keymanagerialpersonnelatanearlystageintheinvestigation.The final penalty of Rs 751.8

crore onUBL andRs 120.6 croreCIPL also included reductions inpenaltiesof40percentand20percent,respectively,forcooperationwiththeinvestigationbytheCCI.

Recovery to gatherpace, but worries overjobs, capex remain

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER26

HDFCBANKonSunday said it isplanningtodoubleitsreachtotwolakh villages in the next 18-24months and hire 2,500 peoplemoreinthenext6months.“The bank plans this expan-

sion through a combination ofbranchnetwork, business corre-spondents, business facilitators,CSCpartners,virtualrelationshipmanagementanddigitaloutreachplatforms,”thebanksaid.Thiswillincreaseitsruraloutreachtoaboutathirdof thecountry’svillages.

HDFCBankcurrentlyoffersitsproducts and services toMSMEsinover550districts.Itsruralbank-ingservicesextendto1,00,000vil-lages. The private sector lendersaid it aims to double this to2,00,000 villages and as part ofthis plan, it plans to hire 2,500peoplemoreinthenext6months.On the rural expansion strat-

egy, Rahul Shukla, grouphead—commercial and rural banking,HDFCBank,said,“India’sruralandsemi-urbanmarkets are under-served in credit extension. Theypresent sustainable long-termgrowth opportunities for theIndianbankingsystem.”

HDFC Bank to doublerural presence, hire 2,500

Beer companies penalised for ‘cartelisation’:What were the findings of CCI investigation

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER26

THEMINISTRYof Electronicsand Information Technology(MeitY)is likelytosooncomeoutwithdetailedguidelinesorstandardoperatingprocedure(SOP)forproperimplementa-tionofITRules,whichwillpro-vide clarity on thepowers toauthorities, especially underSection69(A)andSection79of the IT Act, senior govern-mentofficialssaid.The SOP is also likely to

outline the civil and criminalliabilitiesof thenodalcontactperson,residentgrievancesof-ficerandchiefcomplianceof-ficer in case of non-compli-ance of any of the rulesprescribedundertheInterm-ediaryGuidelines andDigitalMediaEthicsCodeRules,bet-terknownastheInformationTechnology(IT)Rules,aseniorMeitYofficialsaid.“Wehave received repre-

sentations from the industryandareawareof the fact thatthere has been some confu-sion, especially on the crimi-nal liabilities part andwhichgovernmentagencieshavethepower to send takedownno-tices. TheSOPswill laydowntheguidelinesveryclearlyanddemarcatepowers,”oneoftheofficialssaid.Section69(A)oftheITAct

gives theCentre thepowerto“blockforaccessbythepublicor cause tobeblocked for ac-cess by the public any infor-mation generated, transmit-ted,received,storedorhostedinanycomputerresource”.Meanwhile,underSection

79,anyintermediaryshallnotbeheldlegallyorotherwiseli-able for any thirdparty infor-mation,data,or communica-

tion linkmade available orhostedonitsplatform.This protection, the Act

says, shall beapplicable if thesaid intermediarydoesnot inanyway,initiatethetransmis-sion of themessage in ques-tion, select thereceiverof thetransmittedmessageanddoesnotmodify any informationcontainedinthetransmission.Overthelastmonth,exec-

utivesfromseveralsocialme-diaintermediariesmetseniorofficials from theMeitY andexplainedtheneedforurgentrelease of the SOP. The needwasfeltbytheintermediariesonce again inAugust, follow-ingcontroversyoverCongressleader Rahul Gandhi’s postacrosssocialmediaplatforms,wherein he had posted aphotooftheparentsofanine-year-oldDalitgirlwhowasal-legedlyraped.Thephoto stoked contro-

versy andwas subsequentlytaken down by Twitter,Facebook, and Instagram.Simultaneously, theNationalCommission forProtectionofChildRights (NCPCR) sent le-galnoticestotheplatformsaswell as Gandhi. Though allthree platforms removedGandhi’stweetandpost,theyclaimeditwasdonebasedontheir internal guidelines onpostingandnotonthenoticessentbytheNCPCR.Twitterwasthefirsttolock

Gandhioutof hisaccount, al-lowing him access only todelete the tweet. ThoughGandhihad latersubmittedaconsentletteroftheparentsofthe girl on Twitter, the plat-formhadstillnotallowedgen-eralpublicaccesstothetweetandsaiditwouldremainhid-denasitisagainstrulesunderthe Protection of ChildrenfromSexualOffencesAct.

POLICYWATCHINFORMATIONTECHNOLOGY

SOP for IT Rules:Clarity on sections69 (A), 79 of IT Act,liability of cos likely

SITHARAMANSTRESSESNEEDFORFOURORFIVEBIGBANKSLIKESBI

FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamanattheAnnualGeneralMeetingof IndianBanks’Association, inMumbai,Sunday. PTI

FM: Not just more, but biggerbanks needed; future to bedriven by digitised processes

PANDEMIC IMPACT

‘Biz leaders feel Covidpressedneedto improve crisismanagement’Over 90% of the Indian business leaders opined that theCovid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to improvecrisis management capabilities, says a survey byconsultancy firm PwC India

Investment in technology:Over80%of India’s businessleaders have already investedin technology in the aftermathof the pandemic

Evaluatingpandemiclessons: In India, businessleaderswere substantiallymore confident than globalleaders about their ability toevaluate the lessons of thepandemic and put them into

action,with92%of Indianorganisations saying theywere ‘confident’, against just75%of global leaders

Topprioritiesforbusinessleaders:Topprioritiescitedbybusiness leaders include:acceleratetransformations inorganisationalareas identifiedduringthecrisis (99%);adaptstrategyto respondnimbly tomajor interruptionsand implementchanges(96%);and implementafter-actionreviewprocesstoassessresponsetofuture incidentsandcrisis (89%)

Survey details: As part of PwC’s Global Crisis Survey 2021- India Insights,the consultancy said more than 2,800 business leaders around the worldshared company data and personal insights into the impact of the Covid-19pandemic and the future of enterprise resilience

Source:PwCIndia/PTI

ADVERSE IMPACTOFCOVID:About59%ofIndian businessadmitted havingadversely impacted bythe coronaviruspandemic

■TheFinanceMinistryhasconstitutedaseven-memberGoMunderKarnatakaChiefMinisterBasavarajSBommaiandanothereight-memberGoMunderMaharashtraDeputyCMAjitPawar,orders issuedonSeptember24stated

ORDERS ISSUEDONSEPTEMBER24

GSTpanelsconstituted:Focusontaxslabreview,dataanalyticstoshoreuprevenue

‘Funding oversight of Evergrandeproperty projects in China stepped up’

HeadquartersofEvergrandeGroupinShenzhen,Guangdongprovince inChina. Reuters

Evenashigh-frequencyindicatorsarerising,employmentnumbersremainworrisome

New Delhi

SPORT17 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021

Yastika strikes the right chord in India women’s record chase21-year-old’s64off 69againstAustralia is thebedrockof team’shighest-everchase inODIs;AustraliawinODIseries2-1;oneTest, three3T20Is to follow

SHAHIDJUDGEMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER26

WHENYASTIKABhatiawasinquarantinefora fortnight in Australia before the One-dayInternational series began, she forwardedvideosofherplayingtheguitartoherfather.She had picked up the instrumentwhen inlockdownduring thesecondCovidwave.OnSunday,Harishrememberedonesuch

videohehadreceivedonhisphone.“ShesentoneofanoldBollywoodsong, ‘Papakehtehaibada naam karega,’” he says, laughing as hedescribes it. “Andnowshehas.”Harishwokeupat 4 am, a good90min-

utesbeforeYastikawastoplayherthird-evermatch for thenational team.Whenshecameout tobat in the second

innings, Yastika scored64 runsoff 69deliv-eries in the Indianwomen team's highest-ever successfulODIchase.ThewinsnappedAustralia’sworldrecord

of 26 ODI wins on the trot, a streakwhichcomprised wins over the likes of NewZealand,SouthAfrica,andworldchampionsEngland.ThoughtheIndianshadalreadylostthe three-match series, thewin in the finalgameon Sundaywould give themamuch-needed boost. There is a Test match nextweekandthreeT20Internationalstofollow.Opener Shefali Verma had chipped in

with a steady 56 off 91, and so did DeeptiSharma and Sneh Ranawith 31 and 30 re-

spectively. ButYastikaplayed a central roleand laid the founda-tion fora famouswin.

More's helpIn Sunday’s in-

nings, Harish saw theresultofthethousandsof throwdowns he and her personal coachSantosh Chaugule would launch at themakeshift-netsathome.FormerIndiawick-etkeeper Kiran More helped her developpower-hitting.“She’s a very complete player, the ap-

proach and technique are very good,” ex-plainsMore, whoworkedwith Yastika fortwo months ahead of the Australia tour.“There’s a long way to go and she’s justplayedthreegames.It’sagoodstartthough.”Formernational teamcoachWVRaman

hadcontactedMoreandaskedhimtomeetwithYastikainApril. “Wedidsomeworkonhertechniqueandsomedrillsonpower-hit-ting. Indian girls need power, compared totheforeigngirlswhoaregenerallystronger,”he adds. “But she's a very good student andshehad the talent. The areas shewanted toworkonwedid, likehookshots, square cut,hittinglongaswell. Itoldherwhatsheneedstodoonthe international stage.”ForthoseaggressivestrokesonSunday–

she notched up nine boundaries – HarishcreditsMore’swork.Atthesametime,here-

members the earlymorning sessionswithhisdaughterwhenthepandemicstrucklastyear.“Thesocietyweliveinwasveryhelpful.Theymoved a few vehicles around in theparking area to help us set up amakeshiftbattingnet,”herecalls.“Wecouldn’tusethehard leather ball because it could get noisyandalotof residentsareelderly,soweprac-ticedwithtennisballs.Thebouncewassud-den and unpredictable, but that’s whatAustralianpitchescanbelike.Andyouneed

tohavequickwrists towork in thosecondi-tions. Training with Chaugule sir reallysharpened her batting reflexes, and thenKiranMore’shelppolished it further.”Apart fromworking on her batting and

wicket-keepingskills,shealsouppedherfit-ness levels. “Shehada fitness traineraswellwhowouldconduct earlymorning sessionsoverZoomcalls,”saysRajkuvardeviGaekwad,chairmanofthewomen’sselectioncommit-tee at the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA).

“She’d spendanhoureverymorning lockedinherroomdoingherfitnessdrills.Andshe’ddoallthiswithouttheneedtoprodher.She’sbeenaveryself-drivenperson.Likehowshe’dfinishamatchwhileontour,headbacktoherroom,freshenupandstartstudyingwithoutanybodytellingher to.”

The young left-hander has been an A-grade student all her life. She’d get only 15daystoprepareforherClass12Boardexamsbut scored89percent.It was a surprise at the time, but when

Harish looksback, itwasn’tunexpected.“She’s always been fond of learning.

Eitherit’ssomethingincricket,orsomethingelse. She learnt the guitar recently becauseof the second lockdown. During the firstlockdownlastyear, shesignedupforonlineclassesand learntFrench,”hesays.Her journey in cricket startedwhen she

wasfive.SheandhereldersisterJositawouldtrain togetherandeventuallyplayed for theBarodaU-19 team. Josita, however, decidedshewanted to pursue a career inmedicine.Yastika thoughwascertainaboutcricket.She’dgoontocaptainstateUnder-19and

Under-23teamsbeforegettingthecall-uptothe national team. She’s played threematches for Indiaso far,butSunday’sknockina recordrunchasewasherbest.“She’squiteajovialcharacterwhenshe’s

not playing. No doubt thewin todaywouldspark something in her, but I’m sure theremightbeafewcelebratoryguitarsessionsinthe teamhotel tonight,”GaekwadaddsBRIEF SCORES:Australiawomen: 264/9 in50overs(AshleighGardner67,BethMooney52; Jhulan Goswami 3/37, Pooja Vastrakar3/46) lost to Indiawomen:266for8 in49.3overs (Yastika Bhatia 64, Shafali Verma 56;AnnabelSutherland3/30).

YastikaBhatia (R)withher fatherHarish,eldersister JositaandmotherGarima.

“She’s a very complete player, theapproachand techniqueare verygood. There’s a longway togoandshe’s just played threegames. It’sa good start though.”

KIRANMOREFORMER INDIAWICKETKEEPER

NUMBERPLATE

265Thiswas IndiaWomen’s highestchase inODIs.Their

previousbestwas248againstSouthAfrica twoyearsago.

26Numberof consecutivegamesAustraliawomenwonbefore losingthe

gameonSunday.This is the longestwinningstreakformenorwomeninthehistoryofODIs.

Mirza-ZhangwinOstravaOpenOstrava: SaniaMirzawonherfirstti-tle of the season as she and herChinesepartnerShuaiZhangbeatthepair of Kaitlyn Christian and ErinRoutliffeinthewomen'sdoublesfinalof theOstravaOpenhereonSunday.ThesecondseededIndo-Chineseduodefeated the third seeded pair ofAmerican Christian and NewZealander Routliffe 6-3 6-2 in thesummit clash in one hour and fourminutes. The 34-year-old Sania andZhanghaddefeatedtheJapanesepair6-27-5 in the semifinals of theWTA500event. ItwasSania'ssecondfinalof the season, following a runner-upfinish at the WTA 250 Clevelandevent in the USA last month withChirstinaMchale.

JohnsonhelpsUSAtakehugeleadSheboyan:DustinJohnsonhelpedtheUnited States take a commandingleadintheRyderCupbydoingsome-thingnoAmericangolferhasaccom-plishedinoverfourdecades- sweep-ing all four of his team matches.Johnsonwent undefeated over twodays atWhistling Straits to help theUS lead Europe 11-5 heading intoSunday's singles matches. He's thefirst American since Larry Nelson in1979 to go 4-0 in team play."Everything's been working forDustin," said CollinMorikawa, whoteamed with Johnson on three ofthosevictories.

ParthivPatel’sfatherpassesawayMumbai:FormerIndiawicketkeeperParthiv Patel's father Ajaybhai diedon Sunday, the cricketer informedthrough social media. Parthiv, 36,played25matchesfor Indiainwhichhe scored 934 runs, with 71 as hisbest. "It iswith thedeepest grief andsadness,weinformthepassingawayof my father Mr. AjaybhaiBipinchandra Patel. He left for hisheavenly abode on 26th September2021.We request you tokeephim inyour thoughts and prayers. May hissoul rest in peace. Om NamahShivay," tweetedParthiv.

AGENCIES

BRIEFLY

MORGANCAMPBELLSEPTEMBER26

ANTHONYJOSHUAneededaknockout.Entering the final round of his heavy-

weighttitledefenseagainstOleksandrUsyk,Joshua,apower-punching31-year-oldfromLondon, and one of boxing’s largest globalstars, trailed on the judges’ scorecards, los-ing rounds early to a smaller, craftier chal-lenger.When the bell sounded, he pressedforward.ButUsykclosed theshow.Usyk, an undefeated 34-year-old from

Ukraine, landeda left and right early, quiet-ing the crowd at a sold-out TottenhamHotspurStadiuminLondon.Late in the 12th, Usykwobbled Joshua

witha lefthand,andatwo-handedflurryofpunchessentJoshuatotheropesasthefinalbell approached.ThatemphaticlastroundcarriedUsykto

aunanimousdecisionwininafightmostob-servers expected him to lose. The judgesscored the bout 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113, all forUsyk.Theoutcomequietedtheroughly70,000

spectatorspresent,mostofwhomsupportedJoshuabysinginginunisonthroughtheearlyrounds.But itdidn’t surpriseUsyk,a formerundisputed cruiserweight championwhomoveduptoheavyweight in2019.“The fight went exactly the way I ex-

pected it togo,” saidUsyk,who isnow19-0.“There were a couple of moments whereAnthonypushedme,butnothingspecial.”Joshuaenteredtheboutwithnaturalad-

vantages in size—he stands 6-foot-6, com-pared with 6-foot-3 for Usyk, and at 240pounds he outweighed the challenger bymore than18pounds.He also held heavyweight champi-

onshipsfromfourdifferentboxinggoverningbodies: theWorld Boxing Association, theWorldBoxingOrganization,theInternationalBoxing Federation, and the InternationalBoxingOrganization.But Usyk, a calculating southpaw,

showedupwithsuperiorfootworkandwonthefirstthreeroundsbyfindingthebestan-glesandthenlandingpunches:Astraightleftthatgrabbed Joshua’s attention inRound1;alefttotheheadthatbuckledJoshua’skneesin the third. Usyk said his early successtempted him to applymore pressure, butthenherememberedhisgameplan.“InthebeginningIhithimhardandtried

to knock himout,” Usyk said. “But thenmytrainers said stopanddoyour job.”

Joshuawon roundsmid-fight by relyingonhisjabandbodypunching,dialingbackhispower to increasehis accuracy, andwearingUsykdown.Bythe10th,Usykhadredmarksunder each eye, and a divot in his right eye-brow. Joshua’s right eye had also swollen,makinghimaneasier target forUsyk’s over-handlefts.Leading up to the fight, Joshua and his

backers framedtheeventasacelebration—the first stadium show andmost-attendedboxing event in England since the coron-aviruspandemicbegan.NYT

Oleksandr the greatUkrainiandethronesworldheavyweightchampionAnthony Joshuawithastunningdisplay inLondon

OleksandrUsyk(L) seizedtheWBA,WBO, IBFandIBObeltswiththethree judgesscoring it117-112,116-112,115-113.

Hamilton wins milestone 100th race, wrests back lead from VerstappenASSOCIATEDPRESSSOCHI, SEPTEMBER16

TOWINhis 100th Formula One race, LewisHamilton drewonmuch of his vast experi-ence fromthe first99.Hamilton used his overtaking skills,

strategic thinking and driving skills in therain to fight back fromseventhplaceon thefirst lap to a landmark victory to retake thechampionship lead fromMaxVerstappen.Hamiltonwas chasing Lando Norris for

theleadwhentherainstartedlateintherace.Hamilton heeded his team’s advice to stopfor intermediate tires — though hewas re-luctant to break off chasing Norris — butNorris stayedout on slick tires andpaid theprice when he slid off the track and letHamilton through.“It’stakenalongtimetogetto100andat

times,Iwasn’tsureitwouldcome,”Hamiltonsaid. It was Hamilton’s fifthwin of the sea-sonandhis first since theBritishGrandPrixin July. “It’s amagical moment,” Hamiltonadded.“Icouldonlyhavedreamedofstillbe-

inghereandhaving thisopportunity towinthese races and get to drivewith such phe-nomenal talents this late inmycareer.”HamiltonturnedVerstappen’sfive-point

championship lead into a two-point leadofhis ownafter theDutchdriver finished sec-ond after a dramatic drive from last on thegrid. Carlos Sainz led the race early on andfinished third forFerrari.The race had plenty of echoes of

Hamilton’spast.After his tough start, the British driver

startedmoving upwith a tough overtakearoundtheoutsideofFernandoAlonso.Theywere fractious teammates and title rivalswhen Hamiltonwas a rookie in 2007. Thechaoticwetfinishalsobroughtbackmemo-riesfromHamilton’slongrecordofvictoriesin the rain.Verstappenstartedlastafterapenaltyfor

an engine change in his Red Bull but slicedthrough the fieldandhadHamilton in sightby the halfway stage. Hamilton’sMercedesworked better on the hard tires in the sec-ondhalfof theraceandVerstappen’schargeseemed to have stalledwhen hewas over-

taken by the Alpine of Alonso and stuck inseventh.But then the rain came andVerstappen

switchedtointermediatetiresearly,allowinghim to claim an unexpected podium finishandlimitthedamagetohishopesofafirstti-tle. “Wedidn’t lose somanypoints today, sothat’sreally, reallygood,”Verstappentoldhisteamovertheradio.OnekeyquestionfortherestoftheseasoniswhetherHamiltontoowillneedtouseanextraengineandtakeapenalty.Verstappen’sverdictonhistitlechances?

“Fifty-fifty.”Hamilton too predicted a close fight.

“Undoubtedly, it’s going tobe tough. I thinkfor the two-thirds of the season so far (RedBull) had the edge,” he said. “However, it’sbeendifficultwithall sortsof things, curve-ballssenttobothofusandourteams.It’sstilleverything toplay for in thesenext races.”It doesn’t takemuch rain tomake a dif-

ference inSochi,where the flat trackmeanswaterbuildsuponthesurface.Norris finally finished seventh after his

failed gamble to stay on dry tires despitewarningsfromhisteamabouthowslippery

the trackwasbecoming. If not for the rain,Hamilton said, “it would have been toughtogetpastLando.Hehadgreatpace.”Norrishadbeenaiming togiveMcLarenback-to-backwins after Daniel Ricciardo took vic-toryatthelastrace inItalywhenHamiltonandVerstappencollided.Hamilton has nowwon the Russian

Grand Prix on five of eight occasions, andhisvictorySundaycontinuesacleansweepof victories inRussia forMercedes.Ricciardonarrowlymissedthepodium

forMcLareninfourthandHamilton’steam-mateValtteriBottaswasfifthafteranevent-ful race for the Finn.Mercedes’ decision toswap the engine in Bottas’ car and take apenalty prompted speculation the teamwas deploying Bottas to hold upVerstappen, something the team denied.Regardless, it didn’t take long forVerstappentoswooppastBottas.Driver'schampionshipstandings:1.LewisHamilton (Mercedes) 246.5 points, MaxVerstappen (Red Bull) 244.5, V Bottas(Mercedes) 151, Lando Norris (McLaren)139, SergioPerez (RedBull)120.

RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX

New Delhi: India's Jehan DaruvalacappedoffhisweekendinRussiawithathirdplace finish inthefeatureraceof theFormula2Championshiphereon Sunday. Jehan, whowas secondfastest in the qualifying, dropped aplaceat thestart tosettle for the finalpodiumposition.Itwasalsohisfourthpodiumthisseason. TheRedBulljun-ior driver remains seventh in thestandingswith96points. Oneof thetwo sprint raceswere scrapped thisweekend due towetweather. Jehanfinishedoutofpointsinthesolesprintrace held. Oscar Piastri took his sec-ondconsecutivefeatureracewinandextended his lead in the drivers'standingswith a commanding driveat theSochiAutodrom.PTI

Third-place finishfor Daruvala

Mercedes’ LewisHamiltonnowleadsthechampionshipracebytwopointsfromRedBull’sMaxVerstappen.

HeavyweightdivisionwideopenOleksandrUsyk'sworld-titlewinoverAnthonyJoshuameansthe

latter's long-anticipatedclashwith fellowBritTysonFury isbackonhold.Earlierthisyear,theJoshua-FurysuperfightfortheWBA,WBO,IBFandWBCchampionshipslookedcloserthanever.InMay,anarbi-

tration hearing, however, ruled that Fury had to fight AmericanDeontayWilder forthethirdtime,promptingJoshuatoprepareformandatorychallengerUsyk.Minutesafter thedefeatonSunday, Joshuawas talkingaboutevoking the rematchclause.HehaddonesoagainstAndyRuizJr,whenhelosthisbeltstotheMexicanin2019butre-claimedthemsixmonthslater.FurydefendshisWBCtitleagainstWilderonOctober9.Thefirstfightbetweenthetwoendedinadraw,thesecondwasaone-sided,seventh-roundstoppageforFury.The33-year-oldisthefavouritetoretain,andifhedoes,afightwithatitle-lessJoshuawouldn'tmakesense.Thequest,then,willbetopitUsykagainstFurytogivethefour-beltboxingeraits firstundisputedheavyweightchampion.However, if Fury loses toWilder, a fightwith Joshua (without any titles on the

line) could be back on, for 'Britain's best' bragging rights. Usyk, Fury,Wilder andJoshua are the top four players in themix. But there are others in the fray. BritonDillianWhyteholdstheWBCinterimheavyweightbeltandcouldgethisfirstworldtitleshotagainst thewinnerof Fury-Wilder.AmericanTrevorBryanholdstheWBAregular title.Ruiz Jr, too, is looking to rejoin the title race.

Joshuaenteredtheboutwithnaturaladvantages insize—hestands6-foot-6, comparedwith6-foot-3forUsyk,andat240poundsheoutweighedthechallengerbymorethan18pounds.

REUTERSSEPTEMBER26

Roger Federer says he is "in a really goodplace"with his recovery from lastmonth'skneesurgerybutclarifiedthathewouldnotrush into returning tocourt.The40-year-oldFederer,whosharesthe

men's record of 20major titles with RafaNadalandNovakDjokovic,hadtwokneeop-erationsin2020thatkepthimoutofthetourformore thanayear.He returned to action inMarch but in-

jured theknee againduring thegrass courtseasonandsaidheneededmoresurgery inorder to resumeplaying."Itwasatoughprocesstotakethatdeci-

sion, just because I already had couple ofknee surgeries last year," Federer toldAmerican former world number one JimCourier in an interviewat the Laver CuponSaturday."I was really unhappywith how things

wentatWimbledon.Iwasjustnowherenearwhere Iwanted tobe toplay at the top, toplevel. But I triedmy best and at the end, atsomepoint, toomuchistoomuch.NowI'vejustgot to take it stepbystep."Federerreachedthequarter-finalsatthe

All England club but lost in straight sets toPoland's Hubert Hurkacz, failing to win agame in the thirdset.The Swiss, who is a co-creator of the

Laver Cup,made a late decision to travel toBoston for the fourth edition of the exhibi-tioneventfeaturingTeamEuropeandTeamWorld.Federer has been seen movingaroundoncrutches andhas received thun-derous applause from spectators at the TDGarden arena during the three-day eventconcludingonSunday.

Step by step"I'vegot to firstwalkagainproperly, run

properly and then do the sidesteps and alltheagilityworkandtheneventuallyI'vegottobebackonthe tennis court,"hesaid."But it's going to take me a fewmore

monthsandthenwe'llseehowthingsareatsome point next year. I've got to take mytime. I don't want to rush into anything atthis point. This is also formy life. I want tomake sure I can do everything Iwant to dolater on. There's no rushwith anything, soI'mactuallyinareallygoodplace. Ithinktheworst isbehindme. I'mreallyhappy."

Federer sayshe’s in a goodspace but notrushing back

New Delhi

THEINDIANEXPRESS,MONDAY,SEPTEMBER27,2021


VolLXXXIXNo.274Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.506/57. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedatThe IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress,A-8, Sector-7,Noida -201301andDBCorpLtd,DainikBhaskarVillageUnanTola,NearDanapurCantt, ShivylyaRoad,Post

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SPORT TODAY’S MATCH■ SRHvsRR, 7:30 pm18

Glenn’s Max ImpactRoyalChallengersBangalorehandMumbai Indiansa54-rundefeatasMaxwell comesgood

SANDIPGSEPTEMBER26

GLENNMAXWELLscriptedoneofthemostun-forgettable nights for Royal ChallengersBangalore—heshellacked56runsoff37balls,took twowickets for 23 runsand snatchedaterrificcatchtofurnishViratKohli’ssideamem-orablewinoverMumbai Indians.Hehadtwocannyaccomplicestoo—hat-trickheroHarshalPatelandcomebackmanYuzvendraChahal.

Maxwell'sperfectnightTotheassortmentof conventionalstrokes

GlennMaxwellhasreversed—thesweep,pull,slog—youcouldaddtheramptoo,asthoughheis planning topublish a cricket lexiconof hisown.Asifpullingofftheusualrampisnotcom-plicatedenough—thoughaT20staple,fewac-complishitwithahighsuccesspercentage—hedoes it the opposite way to his own utteramusementandwithoutanyeye-shirkingcon-tortionsofthebody.TwiceheunfurledthestrokeagainstAdam

Milne.The first cameasashockwhennoonewasexpectingdaredevilry. Pirouetting like agymnast, heopenedhimself up, anddinkedtheballpastthethirdman.ThenextarrivedinMilne’s17-runover -- after reverse-sweeping(orwasitreverseslog?)him--dabbinghimfineof the short third-man fielder,with anothernimbleflip.TheVictorian seemed to relishhisbattles

withMilne,whohehadcreamedforacoupleof boundaries, ofmore conventional hue, tokickstart his innings. To the spinners, heem-ployed themore straightforward switch-hitovermid-wicket, as he illustrated toKrunalPandyaandRahulChahar.Hisknock injectedmomentumtoRCB’s innings,whichwasflail-ingasKohlistruggledfortiming.Itwasanun-characteristic knock by the captain—hestormedofftoastart,ransacking28runsoffthefirst15balls,butinthenext27balls,hehoardedjust 23 runs, soakingupmoredot balls thanusual (18). But fortunately for him, he hadMaxwellin(reverse)swingingforthefences.Itwasnotthelasttime,Maxwellcameback

totormenthisoldteam.Hegrabbedtheopen-ing-partnershipbreakingcatchtoejectaram-pagingQuintondeKock, before snaffling thewickets of Rohit SharmaandKrunal, all thewhileconceding just23runs. Somuch fuss ismadewhenever he underperforms, but onSunday, hewasworth everypennyRCBhadspenttoacquirehim.

Patel'sdreamnightHarshalPatelisalreadythehighestwicket-

takerinthisedition,unprecedentedlyso.Tothisalreadyrichhaul, andburgeoningreputation,headdedahat-trick to stub the last flickeringembersofMumbaivictory.Whenhestrodeintobowlthe17thover,Mumbaihadalreadylosthalftheircrew,at105.However,HardikPandyaandKieronPollardwerestillinthemiddleandwerecapableofhuntingdown61off24balls.ButtheunsungPatelknockedthewindout

oftheirsails.HefoxedHardikwithafull,slowerball.Pollardthenwantedtobreakfreeandshuf-fled across the stumps topulverisehimoverlong-on.Instead,anotherslowerball,thistimedipping intohim,beathisbat andclippedhisleg-stump. Patel, seeing Pollard shuffle, hadsmartly floated one onhis legs, next nailedRahulChaharinfrontofthestumpstoembel-lishaheart-warmingstoryofaforgottencrick-eterparachutingtofame.BRIEF SCORES: RCB 165 for 6 (Maxwell56,Kohli51;Bumrah3-36)beatMI111allout (Rohit 43; Patel 4-17, Chahal 3-11) by54 runs

HarshalPateltookfourwicketsfor17runs,includingahat-tricktodismissHardikPandya,KieronPollardandRahulChahar.He iscurrently the leadingwicket-taker this seasonwith23. iplt20.com

SYNOPSIS:Maxwell'sperfectnight,Patel'shat-trickconjureanightmareforMI

Jadeja stars in cameo role asCSK beat KKR in last-ball thriller

SHAMIKCHAKRABARTYSEPTEMBER26

TWOWICKETS inside threeballs, andsud-denly Chennai Super Kings’ chase threat-ened to fall apart. Until the 17th over, theywere incontrol, chasing172forvictory.ButSuresh Raina and MS Dhoni departed inquicksuccessionandCSKrequired26runsfrom the last two overs.Ravindra Jadeja found shots which re-

leased thepressure.KolkataKnightRidershad lost Andre Russell to a hamstring pulland Prasidh Krishna bowled the penulti-mateover. Jadeja tookhimto thecleaners,hitting two sixes and two fours. Four runsrequiredoff the finaloverandSunilNarineupped his game to almost force a super-over. The KKR spinner dismissed SamCurranandJadeja,butDeepakChaharkeptcalm in the final ball of the match to takehis teamover the line.CSKwonthe thrillerby twowickets.

Glorious driversAmid the bludgeoning of T20 cricket,

such glorious driving from CSK openerswas so easy on the eye. Ruturaj GaikwadandFaf duPlessishavea lot incommon.Atthe same time, they complement eachother.Gaikwadset the ‘drive’ rolling, stand-

ingonhis toesanddrivingoff theback footpast cover-point to a Krishna delivery. DuPlessisgot into theact throughanon-driveagainst Krishna followed by a lofted onestraight over the bowler’s head.Eoin Morgan brought on Varun

Chakravarthy, his trump card. But unlikethe majority of modern-day batsmen, duPlessisandGaikwaddidn’tplay the length.They picked it from the hand and theirstance and backlift allowed them to staylight on their feet. Du Plessis drove a fulldelivery from Varun with princely ele-gance.Thespinnerdraggedhis lengthbackbut the South African respondedwith an-other rasping drive off the back foot.Gaikwad attacked Narine at the other

end.Hedanceddownthetrackandplayedalofteddriveovermid-off.Whenhecameoutofthecreaseagain,itwasasix.Throughtheirdecisive footwork, the CSK openers hadmanaged to upset the spinners’ length.

Narinedroppedone short andGaikwadef-fortlessly pulled it over the wide long-onboundary. Coming down to Andre Russelland lofting him over the sightscreen wascontemptuous.Gaikwadgotoutnextball,aleading edge thatwent toMorgan at cover.Butthewayhehasbeenplaying,anIndiaca-reer beckons for the 24-year-old. A 74-runopening partnership in 8.2 overs allowedCSKtokeeppacewiththerequiredrunrate.Andwhenthegoinggot toughat thedeath,Jadeja’s eight-ball 22did the job.

Jadeja’s allround brillianceThere’sarefreshingchange inKKR’sap-

proach in this leg of the tournament.Morgan’s team is now playing fearlesscricket. Thedefeat notwithstanding, theywere very good.After ShubmanGill perished to adirect

hitfromAmbatiRayudu,VenkateshIyerandRahul Tripathi took KKR to 50/1 after fiveovers. Then Shardul Thakur came and dis-missed Iyer in his very first ball. Awicket-maidenwaswhatCSKrequiredatthatstage.Jadeja from the other end tightened thenoose.The left-arm spinnerwent on to bowl a

game-turning spell – 21 runs from fourovers, including Tripathi’s wicket. Thakurcastled Russell in his second spell and re-turnedwith 2/20 from four overs. KKR stillmanagedtopost171/6,buttheydidn’thaveJadeja’s allroundquality in their ranks.BRIEF SCORES: CSK172 for 8 (duPlessis43, Gaikwad 40; Narine 3-41) beat KKR171for6 (Tripathi45,Rana37;Thakur2-20) by twowickets

AGENCEFRANCE-PRESSELONDON ,SEPTEMBER26

ARSENALSTRUCKthreetimesinside35min-utes to beat Tottenham3-1 on Sunday andmove above their north London rivals in thePremierLeaguetable.Just threeweeks ago Spurs sat top and

Arsenal bottom after their worst start to aleagueseasonfor67years.However, theGunnershavebeen rejuve-

natedbysixsummersigningsandthereturntofitnessofanumberofkeyplayers.EmileSmithRoweopenedthe floodgates

bytakingadvantageofsomeawfulTottenhamdefendingon12minutes.Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then

rounded off a brilliant teammove beforeBukayoSakarolledhomethethird11minutesbeforehalf-time.SonHeung-minpulledagoalbackforthevisitors11minutesfromtime,butit was too little, too late for Nuno EspiritoSanto'smen. Arsenal climb to10th aheadofSpurs on goal differencewith both sides onninepointsfromsixgames.However,theyaregoinginoppositedirec-

tionswith Tottenham losing their last threeleaguegamesbyacombinedscoreof9-1.Thelast time north Londonderby took place infrontofafullcrowd,UnaiEmeryandMauricioPochettinowerestillinchargeofthesides.Both

clubshavehadlittlereasontocelebrateinthetwoyearssince.ButthereareencouragingsignsforArsenal

thatthedecisiontoinvestheavilyinyouthdur-ing the transferwindow is beginning topayoff. TheGunners spentmore thananyotherPremierLeaguecluboverthesummer,invest-ing£150million inplayers agedbetween21and23,despitefailingtoqualifyforEuropeanfootball for the first time in 25years. Four ofthenew faces startedwith all 11of the start-ingline-upeithersignedinthetwoyearssinceMikelArtetawasappointedorhandedacon-tractextensioninthattime.Saka andSmithRoweare twoof those to

havecommittedtheirlong-termfuturetotheclubwheretheycamethroughtheranksandwere the stars of a first 45minutes that senttheEmiratesintoraptures.SmithRowewasallowedahugeamount

of space toamble into theboxandslothomeSaka's cross. The hosts rampaged throughSpurswitheaseforabrilliantsecondgoalina

movereminiscentofArsenal'sglorydaysun-derArseneWenger.Tottenhamclaimed in vain for a foul on

Pierre-EmileHojbjergasGranitXhakaturnedontoAaronRamsdale'spassoutfromtheback.Aubameyangthenflickedtheballthrough

forSmithRowetochargeinontheSpursgoalbeforehaving thepresence to turnback andpickouthiscaptainforacoolfinish.The TottenhamHotspur stadiumplayed

hosttoAnthonyJoshualosinghisworldheavy-weight boxing titles to Oleksandr Usyk onSaturday.AndNuno'smenweredealtaknock-outblowbeforethebreak.HarryKanefoundhimselfbackinhisown

boxtryingtomakeatackle,buttheballbrokekindlyforSakatosweeptheballpastLloris.Kane's frustratingday continued into the

second-half as he proddedwidewith justRamsdaletobeatbeforeseeingstrongappealsfor apenaltywaivedaway for a challengebyBenWhite.TheEnglandcaptainisstilltoscorein the Premier League this season afterTottenham refused to relent toManchesterCity's interest.Spurshavescoredfourgoalsintotal in their opening six games, but SonhasthreeofthemashisshotfromSergioReguilon'scrosshadtoomuchpowerforRamsdale.But theEngland international goalkeeper

ensuredtherewasnotagrandstandfinishwithastunningsavetoturnLucasMoura'sdippingeffortontothebar.

Sir-Lord guarding Kings’ galaxy

EMOTIONALROLLERCOASTERHot heads, calmminds and everything in between at the game

‘LordShardul’ and ‘Sir Jadeja’bowledfourovers inthemiddle intandemandgaveawayjust20runs. iplt20.com

AGAINSTAteamof knights,ChennaiSuperKingsneeded a Lord anda Sirto pull things back. Annointed LordShardul and Sir Jadeja, they bowledfour overs in the middle in tandemand gave away just 20 runs. Ladyluckwas smiling on Kolkata KnightRiders.A leading edge from Venkatesh

Iyer fell inches short of a diving Fafdu Plessis. MS Dhoni took a sharpcatch of Rahul Tripathi off SamCurran, but it was a no-ball forheight.Only in T20 cricket, can a per-

fectly well-directed bouncer becalled a no-ball, not for overstep-ping. Riding their luck and somelively hitting, KKRwere 50/1 in fiveovers. Shardul Thakur cameand in-duced an edge behind the stumpsfrom Iyer in his very first ball. Whythebatsmanasked for a reviewwasanybody's guess and Iyer walked

back admonishing himself.Ravindra Jadejabowledhisovers

through, out-guessing Tripathi inthe process.By the time the latter realised

that his attempted reverse sweepwas a little too pre-meditated, hewascleanbowled. Tripathiwas lividwith himself. Jadeja had spun CSKinto ascendency.

Mighty AngryRahul ChaharWith his braided locks, eye-piercingstare, andpenchant for snarls andver-bals, Rahul Chahar has all the requi-sites of a pantomime villain. Heclearly was one on Sunday evening.He didn’t take kindly to KS Bharatslog-sweeping him after he hadbeatenhimwithhis firstball and theninduced a leading edge. In his nextover of an intense game, Virat Kohliflayed him for a four before HardikPandya dropped a difficult catch atpoint.Compounding his woes, Bharatsmacked him over deep square-leg.Chaharwas furious,withhimself andthe world. But the very next ball, heundid Bharat with a clever change ofpace, and he vented out all his anger.Eyeballs jumping out of the socket,veins popping on his neck, he fren-ziedlykeptpunching theair andevenpunched at the gloves of wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock. He almostcharged towardBharat for a send-off,beforehewaswhiskedawaybyRohitSharmaand Jasprit Bumrah.A stormypetrel so to say.

Gill-Dhoni playTom & JerryA cat-and-mouse game eventuallyweighedheavyonSubhmanGill. TheKolkataKnightRidersopener targetedthe extra cover and mid-off regionagainstDeepakChahar, butMSDhoniwas one step ahead.In themid-daydesertheat, Chahar

barelyhadanyswing tohisassistance,abreezenotwithstanding.Dhoni tookout secondslipafter thevery first ballandputMoeenAli at shortextracover.Gill accepted the challenge. HedanceddownthetrackandclearedFafdu Plessis atmid-off.Then he drove uppishly past

Moeen for another four. Chahar re-spondedwithan incutterand trappedGill in front. DRS overturned the on-field LBWdecisionandGill looked re-lieved, butDhoni's gamewasputtinghimunder pressure.Rotating the strikewas a goodop-

tion, but he erred in his judgement. A36-year-oldAmbatiRayuduknockingdown the stumps with a direct hitfrommid-wicket added tohismisery.Gill returned to the dug-out disap-pointed.

POINTS TABLEM W L NRR Pts

CSK 10 8 2 +1.069 16DC 10 8 2 +0.711 16RCB 10 6 4 -0.359 12KKR 10 4 6 +0.322 8PBKS 10 4 6 -0.271 8RR 9 4 5 -0.319 8MI 10 4 5 -0.551 8SRH 9 1 8 -0.637 2

SYNOPSIS: GloriousdriverssetupSuperKings’ win. Jadeja oozes all-roundbrilliance

Arsenal’s fast start secures derby delightARSENAL 3-1 TOTTENHAMSmith-Rowe21’ Son79’

Aubameyang27’

Saka34’

Ridingtheir luckandsomelivelyhitting,KKRwere50/1 infiveovers.ThakurcameandinducedanedgebehindthestumpsfromIyer inhisveryfirstball.Jadejabowledhisoversthrough,out-guessingTripathi intheprocess.

New Delhi