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TheFUTUREPOLIS

PAGES 11,12,13

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

How will the pandemicchange the city?

eyeeyeJAIPUR,LATECITY

JUNE21,202014PAGES,`5.00

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMD A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P U N E , V A D O D A R A

SREENIVASJANYALA,SANTOSHSINGH&ABHISHEKANGADHYDERABAD,PATNA,RANCHI,JUNE20

THE PRINCIPAL of a privateschool inKhammamis runningafoodcart,tryingtosellidli,dosaand vada. A Social Scienceteacher in Ranchi isworking onhis paddy field. And an Englishteacher inNalgondahas started

selling insurancepolicies.The sweeping economicdis-

tress triggeredby theCovidpan-demicandlockdownhaspushedcountlessoutofjobs,setoffoneofthebiggest reversemigrations inrecenttimesandpushedmillionsofsmallbusinessestotheedge.One of the hardest hit has

beenprivateeducation. Incitiesand small towns across thecountry where private schoolswere seenas apassport to aspi-ration, teachers are on theirknees, with parents unable topay fees andmanagements leftwithoutmoney topaysalaries.Inmostcases,theseteachers

are the sole breadwinners,which has meant that the dis-tresshasaffectedentirefamilies.And several of them, headinghouseholds in cities like PatnaandRanchi, say they don’t havetheluxuryofpackingupandgo-ingback to theirvillages.“If thestudentsdonotreturn

to school by July-August, thingswill get worse for us,” saysVidyasagar,a28-year-oldScienceteacher in Bihar’s Shekhpurawho is supporting his familywith loansandacreditcard.“Schools are telling teachers

that they cannot pay salaries asstudentshavenotpaidfeessince

their parents have not gotsalaries or are out of jobs,’’ saysShabbirAli,whoheadsaprivateschools teachers’ association inTelangana.“What can we do?” asks

SanjayKumar,whoownsAnkurPublic School in Danapur nearPatna. “We have started onlineclasses but over 70 per cent ofparents are still not able to paythefees.Manydon’thavesmart-phones for their children to ac-cesstheonlineclasses.Wearealltryingnot tosink together.”The Sunday Express tracked

down several private schoolteachers, fromnorth to south—

andfoundallof themcaughtbe-tween the Covid distress andtheir dream of providing a bet-ter life for their families.

MARAGANIRAMBABU,36PRINCIPAL,KHAMMAM;SALARY:Rs22,000,NOW:ZEROHewasinchargeofMillenium

English Medium School inTelangana’s Khammam till thelockdownwas announced andtheschoolmanagementdecidedthattheydon’tneedaprincipaltilltheschoolreopens.Withnoothersource of income to support hiswife, two children andmother,

Rambabu started a food stallwhen the lockdownwas relaxedon June 5. “It felt odd at first... Ibought a cartwithRs2,000, andstartedsellingidli,vadaanddosa,alongwithmywife.Attheendofthe day, we make a profit ofaroundRs200,’’hesays.

BADETIRAVI,30ENGLISH,NALGONDA;SALARY:Rs16,000,NOW:ZERORavi was a teacher at

Krishnaveni English MediumSchool in Nakrekal nearNalgonda in Telangana. “The

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

MaraganiRambabu,aprivateschoolprincipal,nowrunsafoodcartwithhiswifeatSathupalliinTelangana.Express

Meet private school principal in Telangana, forced to sell idli on a cart

India hopesup as 26/11wanted Ranare-held in US

PMO admits: Chinacame in much largerstrength to LACMEArepeats:ChinesesidesoughttoputupstructuresacrossLAC

SHUBHAJITROY&KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, JUNE20

WITHQUESTIONS being raisedabout PrimeMinister NarendraModi’s remarks Friday that nei-ther has anyone intruded intoIndian territory nor has anyonecaptured anymilitary post, thegovernment made it clearSaturday that his remarks per-tainedtothesituationinGalwanValley after the violent clasheson thenightof June15.This came on the day Delhi

rejected Beijing’s claim to theGalwanValley, underlining thatitwas going against its ownpo-sition in thepast.The PrimeMinister’s Office,

inastatement,saidthe“focusofthe PM’s remarks” at the all-partymeeting Friday “were theeventsof15JuneatGalwanthatledtothelossof livesof20Indianmilitarypersonnel”andthat“at-tempts are beingmade in somequarters” to give it “amischie-vous interpretation”.“Thesacrificesof thesoldiers

of the 16 Bihar Regiment foiledthe attempt of the Chinese sideto erect structures and alsoclearedtheattemptedtransgres-sion at this point of the LAC onthatday,” thePMOsaid.“As regards transgression of

LAC,itwasclearlystatedthattheviolence in Galwan on 15 Junearose becauseChinese sidewasseeking to erect structures justacrosstheLACandrefusedtode-

sist fromsuchactions.”Hours later, Anurag

Srivastava,spokespersonfortheMinistry of External Affairs,whilerespondingtotheclaimbyChinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Zhao Lijian that“GalwanValleyis locatedontheChinesesideoftheLineofActualControl”,echoedthePMOstate-ment.He said “theChinese sidedeparted from these under-standings in respect of the LACin the Galwan Valley area andsought to erect structures justacrosstheLAC”andthatBeijing’sclaim to Galwan “are not in ac-cordancewith China’s own po-sitioninthepast”–notsincetheSino-Indianwarof 1962.ThePMOdid,however, say

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

MANOJCGNEWDELHI, JUNE20

PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi’sstatementattheall-partymeeting that nobody had en-tered Indian territory triggeredapoliticalfirestormonSaturdaywith the Opposition askingwhether he had “surrendered”Indian territory toChina.TheCongressaskedthegov-

ernment to immediately clarifyits position on China’s claim tothe entire Galwan Valley inLadakh.“PMhas surrendered Indian

territory to Chinese aggression.

If the land was Chinese: whywereoursoldierskilled?Wherewere they killed,” seniorCongress leader Rahul Gandhitweeted.“China has nowclaimed the

entire Galwan Valley as theirs...the Chinese are present in theGalwan Valley. The PrimeMinister says there are noChinese troops in Indian terri-tory. Keep the two statementsnext to each other, the conclu-sion is horrifying,” senior partyleaderPChidambaramsaid.“Before we spell out those

horribleconclusions,Iwouldaskthe government to answer

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Opp asks why Armysaid opposite, whysilence on Pangong

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE20

THEMOODontheLineofActualControl has changed dramati-cally ever since the death of 20Indian soldiers in clashes withChinese troops in the GalwanValleyonthenightof June15.Sotense is the situation that thereis a possibility it could deterio-rate rapidly should there be an-other faceoff any timesoon.The Galwan incident – the

first deaths on the Sino-Indianborderin45years,andthemostserious breakdown of the 1993understandingbetweenthetwo

nuclear-armedneighbourswhoalso agreed not to use firearmsalongtheirlargeandoftenunde-fined border – has stalled theprocessofdisengagementbythetwosides inLadakh.Moreworryingly,thecircum-

stancesofthedeathofthe20sol-diers have increased chances ofanescalationintoamilitarycon-flict on the LAC since adherenceto old protocols and SOPs willnowbeveryhardtoenforce.“If de-escalation does not

take place fast, the chances ofmore such clashes taking placewill increase. When you havetroopseyeball-to-eyeball, there

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

LAC remains on edge,fear of fresh flare-ups,calls to de-escalate

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, JUNE20

ONE OF the key accused in the26/11 Mumbai attacks, Taha-wwurHussain Rana, is likely tosoon face extradition proceed-ingsintheUSbasedonarequestfromIndia.Released recently after test-

ing positive for coronavirus,Ranahasbeenre-arrestedbyUSauthorities based on a provi-sionalrequestfromtheNationalInvestigationAgency.Thispavesthewayforextraditionproceed-ingstobeginagainsthiminaUScourt, sources said. India’s re-questforhisextraditionhasbeenpending foryears.A Pakistan-born Canadian

citizen,Ranaisservinga14-yearsentence in the US for his in-volvement in a terrorism plot

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA, JUNE20

ISSUINGAcallto“turnadversityinto opportunity”, PrimeMinister Narendra ModiSaturday launched the GaribKalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, a skill-based employment schemeaimed primarily at migrantworkers who have returned totheirvillagestoescapetheCovidlockdowndistress.“This programme is dedi-

cated to workers. We under-stand your sentiments and alsoyourneeds.Thisprogrammeisabig platform to achieve this. Sofar, you had beenmaking citiesshinewithyourefforts,nowyouwill boost your villages and lo-calities,”Modi said.With a 125-workdayman-

date to create public infrastruc-ture,with the involvementof 11central departments, theRs50,000-croreinitiativewillfo-cusonjobcreationin116districts

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

State govt caps testing,treatment fees at pvtfacilities for CovidEXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE20

THE RAJASTHAN HealthDepartmentonSaturdayissuednotificationsfixingalimitonthecharges for Covid-19 testing atprivate laboratories to Rs 2,200as well as limiting the per daygeneral ward charge for treat-ment at private hospitals to Rs2,000. Italsolimitedtheperdaycharge for a bed in the ICUwithaventilator toRs4,000.The notifications came on

Saturday, a day after ChiefMinisterAshokGehlotchairedameeting regarding the issue.The notification on testing

pricelimitcoversallprivatelab-oratories accredited by the

NationalAccreditationBoardForTesting and CalibrationLaboratories (NABL) and ap-proved by the Indian Council ofMedicalResearch (ICMR).In another notification, the

government said a private hos-pital cannot charge a Covid pa-tientbeingtreatedinthegeneralward more than Rs 2,000 perday.Thispriceisinclusiveofbedcharges, meals, consultationscharges, PPE kits andmonitor-ing, along with investigationssuch as CBC, urine routine,serumcreatinineandchestX-rayas well as procedures such asRyletubeinsertion,urinarytractcatheterisation and IV cannula,said thenotification.The charges excluded from

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ArmyvehiclesnearKhuruinLehonThursday,onwaytoEasternLadakh,whichsawaclashwithChinarecently.Wangailkaya

CHINESESOUGHTTOERECTSTRUCTURESJUSTACROSSLAC:MEA

Govt rejectsChina’s claim toGalwan, saysPMno-intruder remarkwason situation after clash

LOCKDOWNDAY

88

CONCERNDELHI:More

than 3,000 newcases on Friday. Setto overtake TamilNadu case load

CAUTIONHARYANA: Thenumbers had beengoing down, butmore than 200 inlast two days

A GLIMMERTRIPURA: One ofthe fastest growingnot too long ago,

growth now below 3per cent

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Delhi■TamilNadu■Bihar■WestBengal

TOTALCASES1,24,33126,19853,11654,4497,29013,090

DOUBLINGRATE**

24.0633.3613.4016.9627.8220.20

SURGEIN24HRS3,8275383,1372,115250355

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

2.99%2.16%5.37%4.25%2.59%3.56%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:3,95,048

RECOVERED:2,13,830 |DEATHS: 12,948TESTS:66,16,496 |DOUBLINGRATE:20.16**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

SUNDAYSTORY

Unlock,unlock,unlock,PMModirecentlytoldCMs.Beginningtoday,TheIndianExpressdropsanchorinBhagalpurtotrackthisunlockdown

ASADISTRICTUNLOCKSANEXPRESS

SERIES

PAGE 8

SANJANABHALERAOMUMBAI, JUNE20

DHARAVI,the2,400-squareme-ter slum sprawl, which hademerged as a Covid-19 hot spotinMumbaibymid-April,andhadthe Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) deeplywor-ried, haswitnessed a steadyde-clineinthenumberofnewcasesin June.OnSaturday, addition tocaseswas in single digit for thefirsttimesincetheareareportedits firstcaseonApril1.The drop in new cases in

Dharavi is characterised by asteepfall inthedoublingtimeof18days in the lastweekof Aprilto 78 days as of June 19. At 78days, ithasthe longestdoublingtime inMumbai, where overallthe cases are now estimated todouble in34days.OnApril 1, Dharavi reported

its first Covid-19 case and alsothe first death due to the virus,albeit in amulti-storey residen-tialcomplexinBaligaNagarwithgood sanitisation facility andscope for social distancing. Butalarmbells rang four days later,

when thevirus found itsway tooneof the largest andmost

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

FROMROPINGinprivateand localmedicalpracti-tioners toclassifyingeveryCovid-19contactas ‘highrisk’ given thedensity in theDharavislums, theBrihan-mumbaiMunicipalCorporation tookboldandsmart callsover thelast twomonths.

MakingofanewmodelE●EX

PLAINED

SOMYALAKHANINEWDELHI, JUNE20

SWARAJ INDIA presidentYogendra Yadav, student leaderKawalpreetKaurandadvocateDS Bindra find a mention in achargesheet filed by the DelhiPoliceinthemurdercaseofheadconstableRattanLal (42)duringthe riots in Northeast Delhi inFebruary.While the three are not part

of the list of 17 accused, thechargesheetstatesthatthe“linksof the organisers of the (ChandBagh) protest sitewith the likesof D S Bindra (AIMIM),Kawalpreet Kaur (AISA),Devangana Kalita (Pinjra Tod),Safoora, Yogendra Yadav, etc it-self indicates a hidden agendabehind theviolence”.According to police, the

ChandBaghprotesthadbeengo-ingonsincemid-January.

As per the chargesheet, onFebruary24,“seriouscommunalriots took place in NortheastDelhi, in whichmore than 750cases were registered, 53 per-sons lost their lives, includingheadconstableRattanLalof theDelhiPolice”.The chargesheet states: “Lal,

alongwithACP (Gokalpuri) andDCP(Shahdara)andsomeotherpoliceofficials,waspresentclos-est to the protest site at ChandBagh.Apparently,duringtheat-tackbymob, he couldnot jumpover the five-feet-talldividerontheWazirabad road, and col-lapsedafterbeingshotatandhitbystones.”The chargesheet mentions

thatLalwas“beatenwithsticks,rods...Hewas taken toGTBhos-pital where he was declaredbroughtdead.”Hispost-mortemwas conducted on February 25,and, as per the chargesheet,

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

The Dharavi ‘unlock’:How daily new casesdown to single digit

Doublingrate inslumnowhighest inMumbai.Express

PMModilaunchesGaribKalyanRojgarAbhiyaanSaturday.ANI

Make villages shinenow: PM at launch ofjob scheme for poor

Delhi constable deathin riots: Chargesheetnames Yogendra Yadav

BRAZIL PAST 1MNMARK INCASESPAGE7

INSIDE

READY,DETERMINED,SAYSIAFCHIEF

KATHMANDU,KABULHOPEFORPEACEFULLCOVERAGEPAGE6

Jaipur

Opp on PMChina’sclaimtodayandnotwaituntil tomorrow... so that ourpo-sitionismadeclear,”hesaid.Saying thatModi's remarks

had “left all of us confused andconcerned”aboutthethinkinginthegovernment,seniorCongressleader Anand Sharma said itamountsto“over-simplification”and“denial of thegravity”of thesituation.OtherOppositionpartiesalso

questionedModi'sremarks.“Thenation standswith the govern-mentagainstChineseincursions.Butwastheincidentinwhichoursoldiersweremartyredanincur-sion?Ifnot,thenwhydidtheMEAask for status quo ante? Is theGalwanValleyIndianornot?Wedo not need clarifications.Weneed the truth,” said SamajwadiParty’sAkhileshYadav.“Whatever the government

may say, the reality is thatChinahas occupied someof our terri-tory,”SPleaderRamGopalYadavsaid at the all-partymeeting onFriday.“MrModi should firstmake

uphismindandthenspeak,un-lesshisattemptwastomisleadallthepolitical parties andweakenourpositionindiplomatictalks,”saidCPI(M)’sSitaramYechury.CPI leaderDRaja askedhow

Modicouldbeso“ambivalent”onsuchasensitiveissue.“Theleadersweremisled in away.Whethertoday’s clarificationwas correctoryesterday’sstatementwascor-rect…nobodyknows,”hesaid.“ThePM'sstatementisaway

fromreality. Inhispresentation,theForeignMinisterhighlightedthe intrusion.Howcanhe (PM)make such an asatya bhashan(falsespeech).Heshouldnotin-dulge in jumlebaazi on border-relatedissues,"saidaleaderwhoparticipated in the all-partymeeting.Rejecting the government's

clarification,theCongresscalledit a “lame attempt to obfuscatethe truth.”“IsGalwanValleynotpart of

Indianterritory?Whyisthegov-ernment not coming forwardand strongly rebutting theChinese claim over GalwanValley? If Chinese troops arepresentthere,doesitnotamounttointrusionintoandoccupationof Indian territory? Also,why isthegovernment silent on intru-sions in the Pangong Tso area,”CongressspokespersonRandeepSurjewalasaid.Addressing a press confer-

ence, Chidambaramsaid: “PM’sstatementclearlyrunscountertowhat the Army chief said, runscounter to what the DefenceMinistersaid-- that theChinese,in large numbers, have enteredIndia – and clearly contradictswhat the ForeignMinister said,thatwewantrestorationofstatusquoante.”Asking if Modi had “given a

cleanchittoChina”,hesaid:“IfnoChinesetroopscrossedtheLAC...whatwasthe‘face-off’onMay5-

6? BetweenMay 5 and June 6,whatwastheissueonwhichlocalIndiancommandersweretalkingto their Chinese counterparts?Whatwas the subjectmatter ofthe negotiations between theCorps Commanders of the twocountries on June 6?...If noChinesetroopswereinsideIndianterritory,where did the clashestakeplaceonJune15-16?Wherewere20Indiansoldierskilledand85injured.”“If no Chinese troops are in

Indian territory,whydidForeignMinister Jaishankar’s statementand otherMEA statements de-mand the 'restoration of statusquoante'?Whatwas themean-ingof 'statusquoante'Whatwasthemeaning of the 'disengage-ment' that the government saidwas 'underway'? If no Chinesetroopsare inside Indianterritoryin Ladakh, why did 20 soldiershavetomakethesupremesacri-fice,”hesaid.Referring to Modi's earlier

statement that the deaths of 20soldierswouldnot go invain, hesaid:“Whatdidhehaveinmind?Whyandwheredid the soldierssacrifice their lives, andhowwillthegovernmentensurethattheirsacrificewillnotbeinvain?”“The clarification issued on

behalf of the PM says: China'sstructureswere across the LAC.The MEA statement had said:China's structureswere on oursideoftheLAC.WillthePMOnowissueaclarificationontheclarifi-cationtoenlightenthenationonthe situation,” said seniorCongressleaderJairamRamesh.

26/11 wantedagainstaDanishnewspaperandforprovidingmaterialsupporttotheLashkar-e-Taiba.The59-year-old resident of Chicagowas ar-restedin2009onchargesofplot-tingthe26/11terrorattacks.AccordingtoIndianagencies,

hewasaclosefriendofconvicted26/11 accused David ColemanHeadley andhadhelped the lat-ter set up an immigration busi-nessinMumbaiasacoverforhisreconnaissance activities. Ranahad also helped Headley getforgedidentitydocuments.In2013, Ranawas sentenced

to14yearsof imprisonment, fol-lowedbyfiveyearsofsupervisedrelease.“Hewasrecentlyreleasedaf-

terhereportedthathehadtestedpositive for Covid-19. FollowingthistheUSauthoritiesonJune10executedourrequest forhispro-visionalarrest.ThispavesthewayforhisextraditionproceedingstobegininacompetentcourtintheUS…WehopetogethimtoIndiaafter his sentence in the US isover,”anNIAofficersaid.Sincehecannotbetriedforof-

fenceshehas alreadybeen con-victedforintheUS, Indiaisseek-ing extradition of Rana on theground that hewas actively in-volved in planning an attack onthe NewDelhi-basedNationalDefence College and ChabadHouses in several cities. There is

also a forgery case registeredagainsthiminIndia.AnNIA teamhadtravelled to

theUSin2018totryspeeduptheprocessofextradition.

LAC on edgeis a lot of tension, anger, andanysmall incident can flareup,” for-merArmyChiefGeneralVPMaliktoldTheIndianExpress.At the timeof the clashes on

June15,thesoldierswerearmed–and with ammunition, as perArmyofficers–butdidnotopenfireinaccordancewiththeestab-lishedpracticeontheLAC,evenastheirCommandingOfficerand19otherswerebludgeonedtodeath.Thedecision tonotopen firehascomeunderheavycriticism,espe-cially frommilitaryveterans,andis unlikely to be repeated if an-otherclashtakesplace.And the chances of another

clasharehighastroopsremainde-ployed inproximity– eyeball toeyeball – atmultiple locationsalongtheLAC.Thisriskisthehigh-est at PangongTso,where latestsatellite imagery shows newlyconstructedChineseoutpostsandforwardpositions,thatsitexactlyon the ridgeline separating thetwoforces.Thecurrentroundoftensions

startedfromPangongTso,wheretherewasamajorbrawlbetweenthetwosidesonthenightofMay5/6, leavingmore than70 Indiansoldiersinjured.Brawlsbetweenpatrolshavebeencommonevenearlierinthatarea,becauseofthedisputednatureoftheLAC.Butinthecurrentenvironmentof hightensionandanger,thenextbrawlis unlikely to remain limited tofisticuffs,pushingandjostling,orfightingwithsticksandstones.Therulesofengagementhave

never prohibitedopeningof fireif thelivesofsoldiersareatstake,andthatmessagehasgonehometoallsoldiersandcommandersataveryhighcostthisweek.Once initiated, even inadver-

tently,militaryengagementstakealifeoftheirown.The1967NathuLa conflict between India andChina startedwithpushing andjostling, before aChinese soldieropened fire and shot dead theIndianCommandingOfficerdur-ing an eyeball-to-eyeball situa-tion. Soon, it escalated to use ofmediumartilleryandtheChineseeventhreatenedtobringinfighterjetstobombIndianpositions.InNathuLa,thefaceoffwasat

a single location andboth sideshadlimitedweaponryattheirdis-posal.Now,thetensionsarehighacrosstheborderandsoldiersarein a standoff situation atmanyplaces inLadakh itself. Theavail-abilityofmodernweaponryandsupportprovidedbytheairforce

is likely tomake any escalationmuch worse than Nathu La,where88Indiansoldierslosttheirlives andChinese casualties to-talled340.InLadakh,therehavebeenno

talks at themilitary level sinceThursday.“Military-leveltalksatvarious

levelsareunlikelytoyieldanyper-ceptibleresults.Anamicableres-olution is now possible onlythroughdiplomatic andpoliticalchannels,” former Army ChiefGeneralBikramSinghsaid.

WITHMANRAJGREWALSHARMA

Scheme for poorinsixstates—UP,MP,Jharkhand,Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar --that sawthemaximumnumberof migrant workers returningoverthelastthreemonths.With32ofBihar's38districts

on the list, the scheme waslaunchedfromKhagaria'sTeliharpanchayatbythePrimeMinistervia video-conferencing fromDelhi,alongwiththechiefminis-ters of five of the states involvedandarepresentativeoftheOdishagovernment.Strikingapersonalnoteatthe

launch,Modisaidthathe“gotthisidea fromaquarantine centre inUnnao(UP)wheremigrantwork-ers gave a facelift to the schoolwiththeirwhitewashingskills”.Praising the workers for

“standingstrong”inthefaceoftheCovid crisis thathas “shaken theworld”, the PrimeMinister saidthatwhile the central govern-menthadbeentryingtogivejobstopeople in their homestates, ithadalsobeenlookingtoboostru-raleconomyandinfrastructurebyprovidingmodernfacilities,espe-ciallyhigh-speedInternet.Stressingthatthecentraland

stategovernmentswerefocussedon thewelfare of workers, thePrimeMinister flagged someofhis government's key initiatives,sayingthatitwasonlybecauseofJanDhanaccountsthatitwasabletotransferrelief fundstolakhsofmigrantworkersandthepoor.During the video-confer-

ence,Modi also interactedwithsome workers who had re-turned to Khagaria from otherstates andmanaged to obtainjobsneartheirhomes.Referringto one of them, Smita umari,whohasstartedbee-keepingaf-ter her husband returned fromDelhi, he said, "We have to im-port honey andwax. You havechosen therightbusiness."The PrimeMinister also ap-

preciatedtheeffortsof about9.5lakhself-helpgroups inBihar forencouragingpeopletotakeupan-imalhusbandryandotheroppor-tunitiesavailable invillages."We

arealso investingRs1 lakhcrorefor creating cold storages so thatfarmers get better price for theiragricultureproduce,”hesaid.Earlier, Bihar ChiefMinister

Nitish Kumar said: "Afterwhatpeople fromBiharwentthroughrecently in other states,most ofthemdesiretoworkhere.Wedonotwantourpeopletosufferbe-causeofhelplessness.”

Rajasthan feesthedailypriceofRs2,000includeinvestigations likeHIV spot, antiHCV,HbsAg,LFT,USG,2DECHO,ECG,CTscan,MRI,PETscan,med-icines and interventional proce-dures like insertion, chemoportinsertion, bronchoscopic proce-dures, biopsies, ascitic/pleuraltapping, amongothers. Chargesfor individual rooms/isolationwardsdonotcomeundertheam-bitof thenewnotification.Similarly, for an ICU with

ventilator, the maximumcharge per bed has been fixedat Rs 4,000 per day.The notification states that

all private hospitals “identi-fied/acquired/authorised fortreatment of Covid-19 pa-tients”, treat patients at theseprices and not direct them togovernment hospitals.Strict action will be taken

against those flouting these or-ders,saidthegovernment.

Delhi riots“it revealed thathehaddied

due to gunshot injury. In all, hehadsustained21 injuriesonhisbody”.The17accused inLal’smur-

der are between the ages of 18and50years,andwhilemostareresidents of Chand Bagh, somearefromneighbouringareaslikePrem Nagar, Mustafabad andJagatpuri.In the chargesheet, Yadav's

name also appears in the state-ment of a witness from theChand Bagh protest site:“...Protest started here. Peoplefrom outside were called andadvocate Bhanu Pratap, Bindra,Yadavandmanystudentsof JNU,Jamia and DU used to come,who used to speak against thegovernmentandNRCandwouldsaythatMuslimsshouldbeanx-ious. This continued fromJanuary to February 24, for 50days”.Underthesectionthatmen-

tions the role of one of the ac-cused and the evidence againsthim,thechargesheetstates,“Heis acquaintedwith KawalpreetKaur (AISA), Devangana Kalita(Pinjra Tod), Safoora, YogendraYadav, etcwhoused to visit theprotest site and deliver hatespeechesandinstigatethepub-

lic tobeviolent”.YadavtoldTheIndianExpress,

“EverythingthatIspokeisinthepublicdomain.Pleasepointoutone instance where I have di-rectly or indirectly incited vio-lenceof anykind."Kaur said that she "will go

through the chargesheet andthencomment”.AdvocateBindraisalsomen-

tioned as “one of the conspira-tors” in the chargesheet. “It hasbeen revealed that he put up acommunity kitchen 'langar' atChand Bagh at first. He wasjoined by some local residentswhomwemaytermas localor-ganisers. Conspirators were infrequenttouchwiththelocalor-ganisers since the inception ofthe protest site till the violencebroke out on February 24,” itstates.In the chargesheet, police

claim that the “riot at this sitewas the handiwork of Bindra,Salman Siddiqui, Salim Khan,Salim Munna, Shahdab, andAtharandothersincahootswithlocal rioters”. Threewitnesses,in the chargesheet, claim that“on the request of Bindra andothers”, arrangements such as“tent” and “langar were pre-pared for theprotesters”.Bindra told The Indian

Express, “I havebeenorganisinglangar for five years, and I re-ceivedarequestforoneatChandBagh... I don't remember thedate. Ionlyorganiselangar,howamIresponsible forviolence?”Delhi Police PRO MS

Randhawa declined to com-mentonthechargesheet.

Dharavi ‘unlock’dense slum clusters, MukundNagar. Controlling the spreadofinfection in an area,where 9-10peoplestayina10x10sqftroom,wasseenasalmostimpossible.BMC swung into action:

within48hours,itbarricadedtheentranceandexittotheslumclus-ter,carriedoutdisinfectionof425publictoilets,begandoor-to-doorscreening, andprovided food topeople in the firstmonth of theworld’sstrictestlockdowntoslowdownthespreadofthepandemic.Induecourse,itbroughtinpri-

vatepractitionerstocreateanen-vironment of trust for people tocomeout and report symptoms.Fever capswere set up to isolatevulnerablepeople,andshifthighriskcontacts fromslumstoinsti-tutional quarantine. The civicbodyalsotookoversomeprivatehospitals,sothat ithadadequatetreatmentcapacity.Againsta5-daycompounded

dailygrowthrateofalmost23percentonApril20,Dharavi’s5-dayCDGRonJune20hasdroppedto

0.85percent.In fact, a steady decline in

caseshaspromptedBMCtocon-sideran‘unlock’planforDharavi.This may include opening ofsmall scale industries, and pot-teryworkwithminimumstaff.Thefocusofthecivicbodyisnowrestrictedtojustfourhotspots—Matunga Labour Camp, 90 ftroad,DharaviCrossRoad,KunchiKorve Nagar —which are stillshowingarise incases.With just seven cases on

Saturday, the total number ofCovid-19cases inDharavistandsat 2,158. Its daily growth rate is1.57percentcomparedwiththecity’s3percent.WhiletherewerenodeathsrecordedbetweenMay30andJune8,sevendeathshavebeenreportedsince,takingtheto-taltoll inDharavito79.Intheinitialweeks,withagar-

gantuantaskofscreeningthe8.5lakh population, the BMC staff,with full personal protectionequipment (PPE), carried outdoor-to-door screening of citi-zens.Butthestrategydidn'tyieldresults.Manystafferssaidcitizenswere non-responsive. “Citizensliedabout thenumberof peopleliving, aboutmedical conditionsafterhearing thehealthworkersare from the civic body,” said acommunity health volunteerworkinginDharavi.Afterscreening47,000citizens,

BMCchangeditsapproach.Thecivicbodyropedin350privateandlocalpractitionersfromwithinthearea,providedthemPPEkits,andaskedthemtoopenclinics;nineBMCdis-pensarieswerealsoincludedalongwithfevercamps,bringingdetec-tiontothedoorstepofpeople.Vansweredispatchedinslumsannounc-ingthesymptomsofCovid-19andthelocationoffevercamps.“There is a trust deficit be-

tweencitizensand theadminis-tration. People feel that if aBMCstaff has come in their area, thenit isonlytoevictthem.Hencemystaff couldnoteffectively screen,isolate, and transfer people toquarantinefacilities.The350localpractitionersworkedasabridgebetween us and the people inDharavi.Peoplehadfaithinthelo-caldoctorsandfollowedtheir in-structionsdiligently,” saidKiranDighavkar, AssistantMunicipalCommissionerof administrativeG-Northward,which includesMahim,DharaviandDadar.This approach yielded divi-

dends.Localauthoritieswereableto screen 3.6 lakh people apartfromanother1.2 lakhsenior citi-zens,whoaremorevulnerabletotheinfection.“Sincepatientswerescreened,

and isolated early, they couldbecontinuouslymonitored, thusavoiding a rise in themortalityrate,” Dighavkar said. The BMChasconductedaround7,000testsofhighriskcontactsfromDharavitilldate,andanadditional2,000-2,500 tests are being donethroughreferenceofdoctorsandfevercampsinthearea.BMCofficials said theexodus

ofmigrantworkersfromDharavialso meant lesser number ofcases. Other than the congestedsettlementswithnearlyimpossi-ble social distancing, Dighavkarsaid around 70 per cent ofDharavi’s population comprisesdailywageearners,ofwhich,over1lakharemigrantworkers—em-ployedinsmall-scaleleatherandpackagingindustries–andauto-rickshawdrivers,amongothers.Mostofthem,withlittleorno

savings,hadtostepoutdailyamidthelockdowntoeitherarrangeforfoodandessentialitemsorcollectfood packets. “Nearly, 1.5 lakhwho live inDharavi left the cityand returned to their homes. Itdefinitelyeasedtheburdenonthecivicbody,”saidDighavkar.Thecivicbodyalsochangedits

strategyonclassifyingcontactsofCovid-19patients followingde-liberationswiththevisitingteamfrom theCentre. Earlier, contacttracingfollowedamodelofquar-antiningaround15highriskcon-tacts of every patient. Until thesecondweekofMay,patientcon-

tactswere classified ashigh andlowrisk.Laterallcontactsstayingin slum settlements and usedcommunity toiletswere consid-eredhighriskandshiftedtoquar-antinefacilities.

Teachersschool management told methereisnoneedtocometoschoolunless called. I have not gotmysalarysinceApril.Afriend,whoisan insurance agent, introducedmetoa fewcompaniesand Iamnowselling insurance policies,’’he says, adding that he earnsabout Rs 5,000, which is “notenough”tosupportafamilyofsix.LAGANLAALMAHATO,40SOCIALSCIENCE,RANCHISALARY:RS5,000.NOW:ZEROHetaughtstudentsuptoClass

8atSaraswatiSishuVidyaMandiratRanchi in JharkhandandusedtoearnRs5,000amonth.Mahatostopped receiving his salary inApril, andnowworksonhis 1.5-acrepaddyfieldwithhisfamilyofof six, including hiswife, theirthreechildren--theeldestisacol-lege-going son -- andhis father.“Until last year, I used to hirelabourers.Butnow,Iamworkingmyselfbecausethereisnomoneytopaytheworkers,”hesays.MUTUKLAAL,68MATHEMATICS,RANCHISALARY:RS4,930.NOW:ZEROHe is one of the founding

members of Prastaavit UcchaVidyalaya inRanchi,with about500students.Helastreceivedhissalaryof Rs4,930 inApril, and isdependentonhissonwhorunsamobile repair shop. "I don'thavemoneytobuyevenacupof tea,”hesays.“OurschoolchargesonlyRs150-200perstudentintuitionfees. But the students can't paynow,” says Laal,who stayswithhis familyof three inSukruhuttuvillage.ABHISHEKRANJAN,31IT,PATNASALARY:RS18,000.NOW:RS9,000Withanadditionalincomeof

Rs 5,000-7,000 from tuition,Ranjanwas “livinghappily” at arented home in Danapur withhiswifeandtheir four-year-son."But since April, the school hasbeen giving us only half oursalaries. I had to sendmywifeand son tomy parents in Gaya,wheremy father is a smalltimefarmer growing grain and veg-etables.IhavesavedonRs3,000,whichwas spent onmilk everymonth, andRs2,500on rations.Ihavestoppedeatingnon-vege-tarian, and get rice andwheatfrommyvillage,”hesays.Ranjanis looking for home tuition buthas not got any response fromparentswhoarefearfulofaCovidspike.

VIDYASAGAR,28SCIENCE,SHEKHPURASALARY:RS25,000.NOW:ZEROVidyasagar supports a fam-

ilyof seven, includingagedpar-entsandayoungerbrotherwhois pursuing an ITI course. Butwithout a salary since April, hehas not been able to pay hisbrother's fee. These days, hetravels22kmdailyonhisbiketoreachhisworkplace,UshaPublicSchool in Shekhpura, on petrolpaid by credit card, so that hecanconductonlineclasses.“Weledacomfortable lifebeforethelockdown. And I had taken aloan of about Rs 1.25 lakh forotherpurposes. Butnow, I havetaken another loan of Rs30,000...no salarymeansmoreloans,”hesays.Owners of some of the

schoolssaythattheydon'twanttoputpressureonstudentsbe-cause their parents may havelosttheir jobs."Wewanttogivethem some time but we don'thavethereservestolastforlong.We are alsoworried thatmanymaydropout,"saysthemanag-ingdirectorofaschool inPatna."No one talks about us whentheydiscussastimuluspackage,all we can do is to wait andhope."

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

CLARIFICATIONS & CORRECTIONS

19.06.20,PAGE1

RESPONDINGTOareport inThe IndianExpress titled ‘‘ForClass10,NCERT lists topics for self-study,nomarking", a spokesperson fortheNCERTsent the following rejoinderSaturday: “Thearticle is anattempt tomisguidestudents, teachersandparents in thisCOVID-19period...NCERThasnotpublishedanyguideline, or issuedcir-cularor sharedwithpublic thecontent,which this article reports.Therefore, this article isbaselessanduntrue.Given thesensitivityof the issues related tosyllabusandtextbookswhichhasbearingonmore than25crorestudents,NCERTattempts togo throughanumberof steps including thoroughdiscussionnotonly internallybutalsowithoutsideexperts.NCERTalsodiscusseswithstates’educational agencies includingschooleducationboardsbefore fi-nalizinganydocument."

The IndianExpressreplies:Thereport clearly states that theNCERThaspreparedadraftdocument that is "still underdiscus-sionandcouldundergo furtherchanges."The IndianExpresshasaccessed the13-pagedraft that lists, sub-

ject-wise, topicsand themes thatClass10studentscancoverthrough“self-study, assignmentsorprojects” thisyear. Itskeypointswerehighlighted in the report. Thisdraftwascirculatedwithin theNCERTthisweek.The IndianExpress standsby its report.

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Govt rejects China claim to Galwan, says PMremark on Galwan was on situation after clashthe all-partymeetingwas in-formedthat“thistime,ChineseforceshavecomeinmuchlargerstrengthtotheLACandthattheIndian response is commensu-rate”.Thisisthefirsttimethatthe

PMOhasmentioned the largeChinese presence. On June 2,DefenceMinisterRajnathSingh,in an interview toNews18 TV,said“theChinesehavecomeinsizeable numbers (achhi khasisankhya). Butwhatever needstobedone,Indiahasalsodone”.OnFriday,Moditoldtheall-

partymeeting that neitherhasanyoneintrudedintoIndianter-ritorynorhasanyonecapturedanymilitarypost:“Nawahankoihamareseemameinghusaayahai, nahi koi ghusahuahai, nahihamarikoipostkisidoosrekekabzemeinhai.”ThePrimeMinister,thePMO

said,“wasclearthatIndiawouldrespond firmly toanyattemptsto transgress theLineof ActualControl(LAC). Infact,hespecifi-

callyemphasizedthatincontrasttothepastneglectof suchchal-lenges, Indian forcesnowdeci-sively counter anyviolationsofLAC (“unhe rokte hain, unhetoktehain”).”“The words of Prime

Minister ‘Those who tried totransgressourlandweretaughta befitting lessonbyour bravesonsofsoil’,succinctlysummedup the ethos and the values ofour armed forces. The PrimeMinister further emphasised, ‘Iwant to assure you, that ourarmedforceswillleavenostoneunturnedtoprotectourborders’.“What is Indian territory is

clearfromthemapofIndia.ThisGovernmentisstronglyandres-olutely committed to that.Insofar as there is some illegaloccupation, the APM wasbriefedingreatdetailhowoverthe last 60 years, more than43,000sq.kmhasbeenyieldedunder circumstances withwhichthiscountryiswellaware.Itwasalsomadeclear that this

Governmentwillnotallowanyunilateral change of the LAC,”thePMOsaid.“At a timewhen our brave

soldiers aredefendingourbor-ders,itisunfortunatethatanun-necessary controversy is beingcreated to lower theirmorale.However,thepredominantsen-timentat theAll PartyMeetingwas of unequivocal support totheGovernmentandthearmedforces at a timeof national cri-sis.We are confident that theunity of the Indianpeoplewillnot be undermined bymoti-vatedpropaganda,” itsaid.Later in the day, MEA

spokesperson Srivastava said:"ThepositionwithregardtotheGalwan Valley area has beenhistorically clear. Attempts bytheChinesesidetonowadvanceexaggerated and untenableclaimswith regard to Line ofActual Control (LAC) there arenot acceptable. They arenot inaccordancewith China’s ownpositioninthepast.”

OncasualtiesintheGalwanValley incident, Srivastava said“Chinesetroopstookviolentac-tions on 15 June 2020 that di-rectly resulted in casualties” –theMEA on June 16 had said“bothsidessufferedfromcasu-alties”.Meanwhile, the Prime

Minister,speakingatthelaunchof Garib Kalyan Rojgar YojanafromKhagariaviavideoconfer-encefromDelhiSaturday, said:"Thecountry takespride in thesacrificemadebythebravesol-diers in Ladakh. Todaywhen Iam talking topeople toBihar, Ican saywith pride that itwasparakram (valour) of the sol-diers of Bihar Regiment, andeveryBihari isproudof it.”Salutingallsoldierswhofell

in the line of duty,Modi said:"Letme assure families of sol-diersthatthecountryhasbeenwithyou, thecountryhasbeenwithitsArmy,andiscommittedtothebrightfutureof thefami-liesofsoldiers."

Jaipur

3WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

Jaipur

EXPRESSNETWORK4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

Glenmark announces launch of Favipiravirfor treating mild to moderate Covid patients

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICETHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,JUNE20

ADAYafterCongressstatepres-ident MullappallyRamachandran said stateHealth Minister K K Shailajawanted “to become Covidqueen”,herefusedto tenderanapology on Saturday, even asChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayanreferredtotheremarksas“anti-women”.While addressing a

Congress protest over theCentre’s decision to makeCovid-19 tests mandatory forexpats, Ramachandran hadsaid, “The health minister hasdone little for the state's fightagainst Covid-19 and Nipah.When the Nipah outbreakwasreportedinKozhikode(in2018),a fewpersons had tried to takethe credit (for containing theoutbreak). It was the work ofdoctors andnurses thathelpedcontain Nipah. Congress lead-ers Ramesh Chennithala,Oommen Chandy and I hadbeen there on various occa-sions. The minister (Shailaja)

had camped inKozhikode onlyas a guest artist. She had thenbeentryingforthetitleofNipahprincess.Now,shewants tobe-comeCovidQueen.”He refused to apologise on

Saturday, saying, “There is noreason to tender an apology. Iam not Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan to insult womanhood.The credit of containing Covid-19goestohealthworkers,nottotheCMor thehealthminister.”Responding,Vijayansaidthe

attackonShailajareflectedape-culiarmentalstatus,andthatthecommentswereanti-women.“Wedon'tseethisasacheap

criticismof theleaderof theop-positionparty. Instead, it showsthathegetsdisturbedwhentheworld lauds the state.We havebeen fighting against Covid-19in a manner praised by theworld. We have arrested thepandemic, winning the atten-tionof the entireworld.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHENNAI, JUNE20

WESTILLknowvery littleaboutCovid-19, Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister Edappadi KPalaniswamisaidSaturdayasheexpressed his inability to fore-castatimeframeforbringingthecoronavirus under control,pointing instead todivinewill.

“…onlyGod knowswhen it willgo,” he said,when askedabout the endof the out-breakinTamilNadu.The Chief

Minister, whowasvisitinganewlyset-upinsti-tutional quarantine facility inChennai, saidthestatewastest-ing the maximum number ofsamples as compared to othersin thecountry.Heappealedto thepeople to

follow the Covid-19 guidelines:maintainsocialdistancing,wearmasks and stay indoors.Comparing the lockdown de-clared inChennai and threedis-trictswithspeed-breakersontheroadtopreventaccidents,hesaidthe government’s fight againstCovid-19will not succeedwith-out thehelp fromthepublic.“Oppositionhasbeenmaking

statements blaming thegovern-ment…This isanewdisease.Nomedicine has been found so far,we are following guidelines andinstructions frommedical ex-perts, we are taking all possiblesteps in that regard.We expectthesupportofpublicandallpolit-icalparties inthis fight,”hesaid.Emphasizing the govern-

ment’saggressiveeffortstocon-taintheoutbreakanddecisiontotest the maximum number ofsamples, Palaniswami said no-bodyknowspreciselyabouthowexactly the virus came andspread.Tamil Nadu, he said, had

tested a total of 33,231 sampleson Saturday alone, the highestnumberof samplestestedsofarinaday,takingthetotalcountinthestateto8.21lakh.TamilNaduhastested8,935peoplepermil-lion and Chennai city region,with about one-crore popula-tion, has tested 23,660 samplespermillion.

Asked about endof outbreak, TNCM says onlyGod knows

EdappadiKPalaniswami

Kerala CM hits out atstate Cong chief over‘Covid queen’ remark

PinarayiVijayan

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, JUNE20

AMIDOPPOSITIONpartiesseek-inganswersoverdevelopmentsat the Line of Actual Control(LAC),theBJPonSaturdaytalkedup Prime Minister NarendraModi’s remarks at the all-partymeeting and attacked theCongressfor“raisingquestions”.BJPPresident JPNadda,who

addressed party cadres inRajasthanandTelanganaonvir-tual platforms, accused theCongress of being an “irrespon-sible” opposition party and al-leged that its leaders have beentryingto“demoralise”thenationandthesoldiers.“Yesterday, in the all-party

meeting,everyoneunanimouslystoodwith the PrimeMinisterandaskedhimto resolve the is-sue.But theCongresswantedtoknow how did it happen, whydidithappen...wheredidithap-pen…You have been in power,don’tyouknowhowstatementsaremadebythegovernmentonsuch issues?” Nadda saidwhileaddressing the BJP Rajasthanunit.

“The Prime Minister hasmadeitclearthatnoonehasen-teredandnooneisthere. IndianArmedForcesarecommitted toprotect the borders on land, airandwater.Butthe irresponsibleOpposition is trying to blame,”Naddasaid.Nadda’s remarks came after

leadersacrosspartylinessoughtanswers over the killing of 20soldiersfromPMModi,whotoldthe all-partymeeting on Fridaythat there was no intrusion onIndian soil and no capturing of

anymilitaryposts.The PrimeMinister's Office

onSaturdayissuedaclarificationsayingtheviolencetookplaceonJune 15 because Chinawas try-ing to erect structures “justacross the LAC” and did not de-sist fromsuchactions.Quotingcommentsof thefa-

ther of an injured soldier whocriticisedCongressleaderRahulGandhi, HomeMinister AmitShah tweeted, “A brave army-man’s father speaks and he hasa very clear message for Mr.

Rahul Gandhi. At a timewhenthe entire nation is united, Mr.Rahul Gandhi should also riseabovepettypoliticsandstandinsolidaritywithnationalinterest.”Nadda ridiculed Rahul

Gandhi for askingwho sent thesoldiers unarmed towardsdan-ger. “Why is the Congress partyshowing off its intelligence?Heasked why the soldiers wentthereunarmed?Don’tyouknowtheinternationallaws?Whyareyou exposing the limits of yourknowledge? You have no infor-mation.Youhavecaughtontoanissue that could demoralise thesoldiers,”Naddasaid.Addressing BJP workers in

Telangana, Nadda said, “On thisissue of Galwan valley, thewayRahul Gandhi speaks, the lan-guage he used, the way he putforward baseless allegationswould only help to demoralisethe soldiers, nothing else.” HesaidBJPasanoppositionalwaysstood by earlier governmentsduring such crises. “But by rais-ing various kinds of questions,Opposition is trying to demor-alisethenationandthesoldiers.Icondemnthisirresponsiblebe-havior in thestrongestwords.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE, JUNE20

GLENMARKPHARMACEUTICALSonSaturdayannouncedthelaunchof antiviral drug Favipiravir(brand name FabiFlu) for thetreatment of mild tomoderateCovid-19patients.Glenmark has received

manufacturing andmarketingapproval fromIndia’s drug reg-

ulator, making FabiFlu the firstoralFavipiravir-approvedmed-ication in India for the treat-ment of Covid-19, officials saidatapressconferenceorganisedonline.Favipiravir is backed by

strong clinical evidence show-ing encouraging results in pa-tients with mild to moderateCovid-19.The antiviral offers broad

spectrum RNA virus coverage

with clinical improvementnoted across age groups 20 to>90 years. Favipiravir can beused in Covid-19 patientswithco-morbid conditions such asdiabetesandheartdiseasewithmild tomoderate symptoms. Itoffers rapid reduction in viralload within four days and pro-vides faster symptomatic andradiological improvement. Ofmost importance, Favipiravirhas shown clinical improve-ment of up to 88 per cent inmild to moderate Covid-19cases, a statement said.

RajasthanBJPchief SatishPooniaandformerCMVasundharaRajeattendthe JanSamvadRallywithotherseniorstateleaders in JaipuronSaturday.Rohit JainParas

Jaipur: BJPpresident J PNaddaon Saturday slammed theCongress government inRajasthan,allegingthestatewas“witnessing an eclipse thesedays” in termsof developmentworksandtherewasa“scandal”in the health sector amid theCovid-19pandemic.He also accused the state gov-ernment of harassing the BJPworkers.“Talkingaboutthedevelopment

works of the Narendra Modigovernment, I have to saywithgreat sadness that Rajasthan iswitnessinganeclipsenowadays.WhiletheGovernmentof Indiaisdoingdevelopmentworkatarapid pace, I find that (inRajasthan) 2.5millionmaskshavedisappeared...PPEkitshavedisappeared... therehasbeenascandal in the health sector.Developmentworkwas hin-dered,”Naddaalleged.PTI

Nadda: Oppn bid to demoralisenation…Cong irresponsible

Eclipse on development works inRajasthan these days, says BJP chief

Martyr of CISF on 21th JuneCISF proudly remembers the supremesacrifice of this brave-heart. On this day, helaid down his life at the altar of duty whilefighting with the terrorists. His courage andbravery would remain an abiding source ofinspiration for the force. The force willremain eternally indebted to him for hisnoblest deed.

SALUTE THE SOLDIER

ASI/EXE ISHWAR

SINGHSHEP SALAL

21-06-1995

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,JUNE20

THE UTTAR Pradesh govern-ment on Saturday further re-laxed the rule for discharge ofasymptomatic coronavirus pa-tients from institutional quar-antine. It said that they can bedischarged after spending 10days in hospitals followed byhome isolation for aweek.Until now, asymptomatic

Covid-19 patients were dis-charged if their second test,taken on the 12th day from thedate of the first test result, re-turned negative, and they hadthe oxygen level of more than94 per cent and no symptomsor fever in the last threedays. Ifthese conditionsweremet, pa-tients were asked to isolatethemselvesathomeforaweek.Before this rule, aCovidpatienthad to obtain two consecutivenegative reports before beingdischarged.However, symptomatic pa-

tients still have to test negativeon the12thday for discharge.Speakingatamediabriefing

onSaturday,PrincipalSecretary

(Health) Amit Mohan Prasadsaid, “Amodification has beenissued to amend the dischargepolicy in the state.Asymptomaticpatientswithnosymptoms can be dischargedafter 10 days and will have tostay in home quarantine forseven days, whereas sympto-matic patients will only be al-lowed to go home after theirCovid-19 report is negative.”According to a government

bulletin on Thursday, the statehad 1,01,236 isolation beds, ofwhich, 5,661were occupied.In UP, all asymptomatic

Covid patients have to be hos-pitalised. The Supreme Courthadearlier thisweekpulledupthe UP government for themandatory institutional quar-antine for patients with nosymptoms. “Don't put asymp-tomatic people in quarantine,you will have a big problem.Noida is doing it and the UPgovernment is in a denialmode," the court said.During aprevioushearing, the court ob-served that the rulemaycreate“chaos 15 days down the line”and ran counter to thenationalguidelines.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath ordered that“doctorspostedonadministra-tive posts may also be consid-ered for clinical jobs”.Presiding over a Team-11

meeting at his residence,Adityanath instructed officialstoensure that surveillance sys-temismademoreeffectiveandthat thenumberof surveillancecommittees should be in-creased to1 lakh.“He asked Health, Medical

Education departments alongwithdistrictadministrations towork in this direction as it willbe an important effort to breakthe infection chain,” said astatement issued by the stategovernment.Apart from all hospitals in

the state, the government alsosaidCovid-19helpdeskswillbeestablished in offices.Adityanath also congratu-

lated PrimeMinister NarendraModi for thestartof theGareebKalyanRozgarYojna.Under thescheme, 31 districts in UP havebeen shortlisted. Workers willbeassignedworkdependingontheir interests and capabilitiesunder the scheme.

After 10 days in UP hospitals,asymptomatic patients can bedischarged without 2nd test

Three Gujaratdiamond firmsget notice afterworkers positive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT, JUNE20

DAYSAFTER itmicro-containedthree diamond polishing units,theSuratMunicipalCorporationonSaturdayslappedclosureno-tices on three major diamondfirms in Katargam zone aftermore than 20 employees atthesefactoriestestedpositiveforCovid-19.Out of the 3,018 Covid-19

casesinSuratsofar,720werere-portedfromtheKatargamzone,which is among the city's dia-mondhubs. OnSaturday,atotalof 77 Covid-19 positive caseswerereportedfromSuratcity,ofwhich26were fromKatargam.SMCDeputyHealthcommis-

sioner Dr Ashish Naik told TheIndian Express, “Our teams hadfound 13 positive cases fromDharmanandanDiamonds, fivepositive cases from ShivamExports and four from J & Bbrothers.Therearethousandsofdiamondpolishersworkinginallthesefactories. Wehaveslappedclosure notices on all the threefirms.Thefactorieswillbedisin-fectedandkeptclosedforatleasttendays till furthernotice.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE20

THE CHIEF servitor of theJagannath Temple in Puri hasmovedtheSupremeCourtaskingit to recall its order refusingper-mission for this year’s RathYatrascheduled to begin on June 23.PattajoshiMohapatrasaidthean-nual procession, attended bylakhs, is an “essential religiouspractice” protected by theConstitution,andthatnon-obser-vanceofthesame“affectstheverysanctity”of theshrine.ActingonapleabyanOdisha-

basedNGO, the topcourthadonJune18 refused to grant permis-siontoholdthefestival,citingtheCovid-19 pandemic. In his plea,Mohapatraclaimedthattheyatrahad been held even during theSpanishFluoutbreakof1919.“Unlike the Rath Yatras of

other Deities of other TempleselsewherewhereonlytheUtsavaMurtis are taken out of theTemple, in the case of the ShriJagannatha Mandir the mainDeities i.e., Jagannatha,Balabhadra & Subhadra them-selvesmoveoutoftheMandirandthereforethisRathYatraisuniqueandhasanunbrokentradition.Itishumblyreiteratedthatthisritualisnotamerecelebratoryfestivity

for public consumption, but is amandatory andessential part ofthe Temple’s religious practice,whichtheTempleoritsadminis-trators are religiouslymandatedtoobserveandperformunderanyand all circumstances”, the pleasaid.Mohapatra,who is also theheadof theNijoga—the associa-tion of Sevaks/Sevayats recog-nized by the TempleManagingCommittee under the ShriJagannath Temple Act, 1955—claimed the practice “has beenrecorded in the Skanda PuranaandtheNiladriMahodaya,whichattest to the validity and signifi-canceof theRathYatra”.“In fact, it is treated a formof

annualconsecrationaccordingtothetraditionsof theTemple”and“any interruption in the obser-vanceofthismandatoryreligiouspractice affects the very sanctityoftheTempleandallitsfuturerit-uals,aswellasthefaithofmillionsofdevoteesacrosstheworldwhounderstandandreverethesignif-icanceoftheRathYatra”,thepleafiledthroughSeniorAdvocatePSNarasimha and Advocate J Sai

Deepaksubmitted.Mohapatra contended that

“the Rath Yatra has been con-ducted under all circumstancessince time immemorial (includ-ing during the Spanish Flu pan-demic in1918). TheRathYatra isanessential,mandatory, integralandindispensablereligiousprac-ticewhichhasscripturalsanctionandisprotectedbyArticles25,26and29of theConstitution”.In its June18order, the court

had declined to entertain a re-quest to allow the rituals relatedto theyatra tobeconfined to thetempleminusanygathering.Thefreshapplicationhowever

saidthepetitionerorthestategov-ernmenthadnotplacedthecom-pletesetofrelevantfactswithre-spect to conduct of the Yatrabefore the court. Had they beenplaced, “it would have demon-stratedthatallthenecessarypre-cautionsandpreparationsfortheconduct of theRathYatra,with-outviolatingtheCovidGuidelines,have already been put in placewiththeknowledgeandconsentof theState”,thepleaadded.

ActingonapleabyanOdisha-basedNGO, thetopcourthadonJune18refusedtograntpermissiontoholdthefestival, citingtheCovid-19pandemic

Jagannath Temple moves SCagainst Rath Yatra cancellation

BJP MLA who attended legislature partymeet and voted in RS polls test positive

EXPRESSNEWSERVICECHANDIGARH, JUNE20

WITH480newcases,thenumberof coronavirus caseshas jumpedto10,223inHaryanaonSaturday.Gurugram witnessed four

deathstodaywhileFaribadadone.Withthesefivedeaths, thenum-ber of casualties who died be-cause of coronavirus has in-creasedto149inHaryana.AccordingtoHaryana’scovid-

19bulletin,thestatehas4,946ac-tive cases of the deadly diseasewhile 5,128persons have eitherrecovered or have been dis-chargedfromthehospitals.Asperthe current rate, the number ofpatientsisdoublingintendays.Amongtoday’s480newcases,

maximumhave been reportedfromGurugram(171), Faridabad(97)andSonipat(71).Inthestate,asmanyas48personsareonoxy-gensupportwhile20areonven-

tilators. However, in a positivesign,therecoveryratehasstartedimproving at 50.16%nowwhilethefatalityrateis1.46%.Haryanahas 39, 416 bedded

quarantine facilities indedicatedcovid care centerswhile 11,248beds are available in dedicatedcovidHospitals and indedicatedcovidhealthcenters.Thegovernmentsays special

campaignforscreeningtheurbanslums in districts namelyFaridabad,GurugramandSonipatisbeingdoneapartfromintensivesamplingofcovidintheseareas.Asmany as 312 regular doc-

tors and206ayushmedical offi-cers have been recruited by thestaterecentlytotacklethecrisisofcovid effectively. Theofficials to-day said the chief ministerManoharLalKhattarhasaccordedthe approval for the creation ofpostsof419ayushdoctorsand419ayushpharmaciststoo.Due toCOVID-19pandemic,

noprogrammewillbeorganizedat the Brahma Sarovar Ghat inKurukshetra during the solareclipsefairscheduledforJune21.Anofficialspokespersonsaidthatthe timeof solar eclipse in Indiawillbefrom10:20amto1:47pmonJune21.Butthisyear,theStateGovernmenthas decidednot toorganize a group event inKurukshetraontheSolarEclipseFairduetoCOVID-19.

Covid cases cross10,000 in Haryana

MILINDGHATWAIBHOPAL, JUNE20

HOURSAFTERhecasthisvoteintheMadhya Pradesh assemblypremises during Rajya Sabhaelections, BJPMLAOmprakashSaklecha tested positive forCOVID19lateonFridaynight.The 62-year-legislator from

Javad in Neemuch district hadalsoattendedtheBJP legislaturepartymeetinginthepartyhead-quarters onThursdayand inter-actedwith senior local and na-

tionalleadersoverlastthreedays.WhilesomeBJPMLAsvolun-

teered to get themselves testedonSaturday,theassemblysecre-tariat after going through CCTVfootage informed fewmemberswho stood in the voting queueimmediately before and afterSaklecha to get themselvestested.Saklechabecamethesecond

legislator from the state to con-tracttheinfectionafterCongressMLA Kunal Chaudhary. TheCongress legislator cast his votelastwearingaPPEsuit.

SaklechahadcometoBhopalonJune16,threedaysbeforevot-ing. He told The Indian Expressthat he had shifted to his farm-housefromhisresidenceinJavadtownafteraneighbortestedpos-itivethreeweeksago.The legislator said his wife

hadfeverbutbecausebothcamefrom a hotspot they got them-selvestested.BothtestedpositiveHeclaimedtheygavetheirsam-ples to a private laboratoryaround 3.30 pm on Friday andgot their results around10.30pm.

Jaipur

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

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EXPRESSNETWORK

RITUSARINNEWDELHI, JUNE20

ON JUNE18, twodays after theviolent faceoff in the GalwanValley, theMinistry of Defencecontacted manufacturers ofprotective gear and bullet-proof jackets worn by Armypersonnel in forwardareas, in-cluding in Leh, for “urgent” re-inforcementof supplies—esti-mated at 2 lakh units.What has added a twist to

this is the fact thatamajorityofthe existing OriginalEquipment Manufacturers(OEMs)useChinese rawmate-rials. This includes the com-panythatgot the2017contract—it’s in thedeliverystage—forsupplying 1.86 lakh bullet-proof jackets to the Army.Announcing the Rs 639-crorecontract to SMPP Pvt Ltd,DefenceMinisterRajnathSinghhad said, in in Parliament, thattherewas"noembargo"on theimport of raw materials fromChina for the manufacture ofprotective jackets for theArmy.With the changed circum-

stances, there are calls for a re-think. Niti Aayogmember andformer chief of the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation V K Saraswat hasurged a “re-look” at these im-ports.

Speaking to The IndianExpress, Saraswat said: “A yearago, we discouraged import ofChinese rawmaterials for crit-ical itemssuchasbullet-resist-ant jackets for their doubtfulquality.Wehadevencalled thecompanywhich had the exist-ing Army contract and toldthem to ensure testing of allimportedrawmaterialsat theirend.NowI feel there shouldbea clear re-look at all such im-ports which are made fromChina just because of the pricedifferential.We shouldnot en-courage import of Chinese rawmaterial for strategic sectorslike telecom and protectivegear including bullet resistantjackets worn by our troops.”On Saturday, the PHD

Chamber of Commerce andIndustry,whichwasearlierpartof a committee formed by theDepartment of DefenceProduction on “indigenisationof critical raw materials formanufacturing defence prod-ucts,” sent a letter to theDefenceSecretaryonthesub-jectof “renouncing theusages

of Chinese products.”That letterspecificallymen-

tions imports of HighPerformance Polyethylene(HPPE) from China for manu-factureof bullet-resistant jack-ets. Citing steps taken by theTelecom Ministry to “avoidChineseequipment inupgrada-tion” it says: “Generally all themanufacturers (of protectivegear) are importing this mate-rial from companies based inthe Republic of China and verysizeable foreignexchange isdi-verted to thesecompanies...werequest you to kindly make apolicy to reduce dependenceon the Chinese materials sub-stantially so that the securityand safety of our fighting sol-diers is not compromised...”Meanwhile, industry repre-

sentatives said that besidesHPPEand fabric, boroncarbideand other ceramics were alsoimported fromChina forman-ufacture of bullet-resistantjackets. Said S C Kansal,

ManagingDirectorof SMPPPvtltd,which is executing thecur-rent contract to supply bullet-resistant jackets to the Army:“Yes, we are reliant upon im-ports fromChinabutwillmovewith the mood of the country.If requiredwewill lookatalter-native routes for imports andwe have a vast Research &Development wing for doingso.”Sodependentonimportson

China, the industry waits forMoD directions. MahendraGupta, Managing Director ofStar Wire (India) Limited, saidthat his firm uses Chinesema-terial for manufacturing pro-tective gear but given thekillings and the standoff, “theprotective gear industry needsa clear direction on imports ofcritical raw materials fromChinaandwhat ispermissible.”Neeraj Gupta, Managing

Director of MKU, said the firmimports rawmaterials fromei-ther US or European countrieswhich pushes their prices up.“Chinese raw materials are60%-70%cheaperthanother in-ternational firms but this is asectorwherequalityof thegearandminimumlossof lifeonthefrontlines is of utmost impor-tance,” he said.

AfterGalwanclash,MoDcontacted firms for2 lakhbullet-proof jackets

Army’s protective gear hasMade inChina link, Niti member says relook

IndustryrepresentativessaidthatbesidesHPPEandfabric,boroncarbideandotherceramicswerealso importedfromChinaformanufactureofbullet-resistant jackets

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR, JUNE20

THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-ministrationplanstoopenabout200 liquor shops in JammuandKashmir, 67 of whichwill be intheValley. Themovehas drawnoppositionfromreligiousleadersintheValley.In a letter to J&K’s Financial

Commissioner, ExciseCommissioner Rajesh Kumar

Shavan sought approval to starttheprocess.“Aspersurveyconductedand

in exercise of the powers underRule 28 of J&K Liquor & LicenseRules 1984&section4(B) of theExciseAct, a total listof 183 loca-tionsincluding116inJammuand67inthezonesofKashmir isen-closed,”ShavanwroteintheletterdatedJune16.“Itisrequestedthatnecessary approval may kindlybe granted enabling to proceedfurtherstrictlyundertherulesby

wayof any transparentmethod,eithere-auctioningzonewiseorlocationwiseasthegovernmentdeemsfitasamatterofpolicy.”The letter suggests theopen-

ing of 183 liquor vends in theUnion territory—116 in Jammuand 67 in the Valley. The list ofproposed sites in the Valley in-cludes 18 in north Kashmir'sBaramulla district, eight inSrinagar and seven each in cen-tral Kashmir's Ganderbal andBudgam,amongothers.

J&K admin plans to open 200 liquorvends, religious leaders in Valley object

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,JUNE20

THE BSF on SaturdaymorningshotdownaPakistanidronecar-rying arms and ammunition atRathuavillageinKathuadistrict’sHiranagarsectoralongtheLineofControl—months after PunjabPoliceclaimedtohaverecoveredweapons dropped by Pakistanidrones.The incident comes amid re-

portsofmilitantsfacingshortageof weapons and increased vigilalongtheborders.Pakistan’s attempt to use a

dronetoairdropweaponsaddsanewdimension to themilitancyin Kashmir, said BSF InspectorGeneral for JammuFrontiers,NS

Jamwal. He said a patrol partyfromPansarborderoutpost(BOP)noticedahexacopterdroneflyingat a height of 150-200 ft fromPakistan towards the Indian sidearound 5.10 am. The drone fellnearly250metreson this sideoftheborderaftertheBSFpartyfiredseveralroundsatit.

Fittedwithfourbatteries,ara-dio signal receiver and twoGPSdevices,itwas8x6.2ftinsizeandweighedaround18kg.Thedronewas carrying apayloadof nearly5 kg, including a US-madeM4semi-automatic carbine, twomagazines, 60 roundsandsevenChinese grenades. The payloadcarried thenameof oneAli Bhai,Jamwalsaid,addingthathe,mustbepresentwithin1-1.5kmrangeofthespottoreceivetheconsign-ment. At a high-levelmeet onThursday,J&KDGPDilbaghSinghhad called for “extra attention”along the UT’s border withPakistan, saying that the neigh-bouring countrywill try topushinmoreterroristsandgiveimpe-tustoviolenceinviewofthebor-dersituationinLadakh.

BSF: Pak drone carryingweapons shot down at LoC

Thedowneddrone

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE20

SIXCIVILIANSwere injuredandat least a dozen homes weredamaged in cross-bordershelling inNorthKashmir's Urion Saturday, anofficial said.Army officials said Pakistan

violated ceasefire in Uri andRampur sectors of Baramulladistrict along the Line ofControl.Srinagar-based15Corpsput

thenumber of injured civiliansat four. “On 20 Jun 2020, in themorning hours, Pakistan initi-ated an unprovoked ceasefireviolationalongtheLoCbyfiringMortars&otherweapons. Fourcivilians injured. Befitting re-sponse is being given,” theArmy tweeted.Inanother tweet,Armysaid

Pakistan violated ceasefire inUri sector in the afternoon.Officials said the shelling

stopped aroundevening."Sixcivilianswereinjuredin

the shelling and nearly onedozenhousessuffereddamagesintheshelling.Shellingstoppedin the evening and it startedaroundafternoon.TwovillagesNambla and Kamalkote wit-nessed shelling today and theinjured are from Nambla vil-lage,” said Sub DivisionalMagistrateUri ReyazAhmad.

Six civilianshurt in Pakshelling inJ&K’s Uri

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI, JUNE20

ASSAM'S POLLUTIONwatchdoghastoldOilIndiaLtd(OIL)toshutdownproduction anddrilling atall installationsinUpperAssam'sBaghjanoilfieldafterdiscoveringthat the companyhad allegedlystarted operations “without ob-taining prior consent toestablish/consent to operate”from it. OIL’s set-up in Baghjan,whereawellhasbeenburningfordays after a blowout, is said tohavebeenfunctioningsince2003.The closure notice, sent by

Pollution Control Board, Assam(PBCA) to the chief executive ofOIL,alsocitedanumberofallegedenvironmentaltransgressionsby

thePSU.TheecologicaldisasteratBaghjan in Tinsuika districtwasprecipitated by the blowout atwell number5, reportedonMay27The ecological disaster atBaghjan in Tinsuika districtwasprecipitated by the blowout atwell number5, reportedonMay27. On June 9, thewell—locatedclose to theDibru-Saikhowana-tional park—caught fire, leadingtothedeathsof twoOILfirefight-ers. Around11,000people fromthesurroundingvillagesarenowin relief camps set upby the ad-ministration.The developmentwas con-

firmedbyYSuryanarayana,chair-

man, PCBA. “Wehad earlier (onJune10) issuedashowcauseno-tice toOIL. Theyhadaskedus foranextensionof timetoreply.Butweissuedtheclosurenoticeafteroneweek,” said Suryanarayana,adding that thenotice applies toallwells inBaghjanoilfield.Aspertheclosurenoticefrom

PCBA— issuedon June19—OILhas beenoperating the Baghjanoil field installation “withoutob-taining prior consent toestablish/consenttooperatefromPollutionControlBoardAssam...”OILspokespersonTridivHazarikasaid that the company did notwanttocomment“asofnow”.

Assam pollution control board tells OILto shutter operations at Baghjan oilfield

ThedisasteratBaghjanwasprecipitatedbytheblowoutatwellnumber5. File

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE20

INDIANCOMPUTEREmergencyResponse Team (CERT-In), thegovernment’s cyberwatchdog,haswarnedof large-scalephish-ing attack across the country,taking advantage of the Covid-19pandemic.In an advisory issued on

Friday, CERT-In said that the“phishingcampaignisexpectedto impersonate governmentagencies,departmentsandtradeassociations who have beentasked to oversee the disburse-ment of the government fiscalaid”.Itwarnedpeopletobeaware

of “malicious phishing” emails,textmessages,andmessagesonsocialmediaplatforms“inciting

you to provide personal and fi-nancial information”. Itsaidthattheremaybe several emails, in-cluding [email protected], thatspoof---orcreatefakeemailad-dresses that impersonate vari-ousauthorities–whichcouldbeused forphishing.“Themaliciousgroupclaims

to have 2 million individualemail addresses and the attackcampaignisexpectedtostartonJune21,”theadvisorystated.The“maliciousactors”,itwarned,areplanningtosendemailswiththesubject “free COVID-19 testing”

for residents of Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai, Hyderabad andAhmedabad.CERT-In stated: “The phish-

ingcampaign isexpected tousemaliciousemailsunderthepre-textof localauthoritiesinchargeof dispensing government-fundedCovid-19support initia-tives. Such emails are designedto drive recipients towards fakewebsites where they are de-ceived into downloadingmali-cious files or entering personaland financial information.”Theagencyhasadvisedpeo-

ple to not open attachmentsfromunsolicitedemails,notsub-mit personal or financial infor-mation to unknownwebsites,and be cautious about phishingdomains and spelling errors inemails as some of themethodsof protection.

Cyber watchdog warns oflarge-scale phishing attack

CERT-INhasadvisedpeoplenottoopenattachments fromunsolicitedemails

Jaipur

6THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

LACSHOWDOWNWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABAD,JUNE20

REFERRINGTO the situation ontheLineofActualControl,AirChiefMarshal RKS Bhadauria said onSaturdaythattheIndianAirForceis“wellpreparedandsuitablyde-ployed to respond toanycontin-gency”andis“determinedtode-liver”.Addressingacombinedgrad-

uation parade at the Air ForceAcademy in Dundigal, he said:“Wearewell prepared and suit-ably deployed to respond to anycontingency. I assure the nationthatwearedeterminedtodeliverandwillnotletthesacrificesofour

soldiersgoinvain.”Speaking to mediapersons

later, Bhadauria,whovisited theLehairbaseearlierthisweek,said:“TheArmyisintotalcontrolofthesituationattheGalwanValleyandtheAir Force is ready to supporttheArmy’s efforts by deployingadditionalforcestomeetanycon-tingency’’.HesaidtheIAFhassteppedup

deployment in LehandSrinagar.“Weareawareofthefullsituation.BeitatLAC,beitdeploymentsbe-yondLAC.Alltheairdeployments,theirpostures,thekindofdeploy-ments...Wehavefullanalysisandwehave taken thenecessary ac-tionthatweneedtotaketohandleany contingency thatmay arise

withthiskindofdeployment.Allactionshavebeentaken,"hesaid.“We know what their

(Chinese) fields are.We knowwhat their air fields are, wherethey are deployed,what are theoperational bases,” he said.Responding to aquestion, he

saidIndiaisnotatwarwithChinabut isprepared to faceany situa-tion. “You are aware of the talksthatarehappeningatthemilitarylevel...butwearepreparedforanycontingency,”hesaid.He said that despite the

Chinese action after agreementsreachedduringmilitary talks, ef-fortsareunderwaytoensurethatthesituationattheLACisresolvedpeacefully. –WITHPTI

IAF ‘well prepared’, analysts say Indiahas geographical advantage in air powerMANRAJGREWALSHARMACHANDIGARH, JUNE20

FROMLANDING themammothtransport carrier Hercules onDaulatBeigOldie (DBO)airstripin2013tomorerecentlydeploy-ing Apache helicopters to pro-vide air support to troops inLadakh, andmoving fighter jetstoairfieldsclosetotheLACinthelastfewdays,theIndianAirForcehas been consistently rampingup itsoperations inLadakh.EvenasAirChiefMarshalRK

SBhadauriaonSaturdaysaidtheIAF is “well prepared and suit-ablydeployed” todealwith anyeventuality arising out of theGalwan standoff, analysts toldTheSundayExpressthatalthoughIAFenjoysageographicaladvan-tage over air power of China’sPLA, anydecisionon its usewillhave to be taken after carefulconsideration by the govern-ment.Also, occupation of the

GalwanheightscouldimpacttheDBOairstrip, theysaid.AirViceMarshalKKNowhar

(retd),oftheCentreforAirPowerStudies(CAPS),saidutilisationofairpowerindirectsupportoftheArmyalong the LAC in these ar-eas has never been contem-plated.“Butit isfeasible.Wewilldefinitely be asked if the chipsaredown,”hesaid.Any escalation, saidAir Vice

Marshal Manmohan Bahadur(retd), can either be horizontal,wherein you can fanyour forcesacross the LAC fromGalwanandPangongTsotoSikkim,orvertical.“Use of air power enhances theforceusedandwould constituteverticalescalation. Butifoneside

usesit,sowouldtheother,”hesaid.Bahadur said it would be

prudent to assume that theChinesewould have factored inair power as well. Sources saidthe forwardbasesof ThoiseandLeh, which have been opera-tional for several years, are see-ingheavymobilisationof troopsand machinery. Nowhar saidthese bases are of tremendousimportance in deployment ofmen andmachinery to the for-ward areas in the eventuality ofa conflict. The IAF transport air-craft can also undertake air-drops, besides landing on vari-ousunpreparedsurfaces.More recently, IAF has de-

ployed Apache, an attack heli-copter, and Chinook, a strategiclifthelicopterwithanimpressiveability to transport troops, ma-chinery and deliver heavy pay-loadstohighaltitudes,inLadakh.The Chinooks were inductedinto the IAF airbase atChandigarhinMarch2019.ThenAir Chief Marshal B S Dhanoahad called theie induction a

“game-changer for IAF”.Group Capt Ravinder S

Chhatwal, formerSeniorFellow,Centre for Airpower Studies,New Delhi, who is pursuing aPhDon Chinese air power fromJawaharlalNehruUniversity,saidIAFholdsageographicaladvan-tage over the Chinese Air Forcedespite the latter’s large fleet ofcombat jets. “The Chinese have2,100 combat aircraft — thenumbers they have given up-front though they could havemore — against (IAF's) 850. Insheernumbers,theyoutscoreus,but to run an air campaign youhavetogetthesejetsclosetotheborder, and they have a limitednumber of airfields in the area,with most of these in Tibetplateau at an average height of10,000 feet,”hesaid.The Chinese are also at a

slightdisadvantagedue to loca-tion of their airfields at a greatdistancefromoneanother,mak-ing it difficult for a jet to be di-vertedtoanother field incaseofanymechanical failure.

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, JUNE20

INDIA HAS certain advantagesoverChinaasfarasairwarfareisconcerned, former Indian AirForcechiefFaliHomiMajorsaid,adding that military action toforce the PLA towithdraw fromtheirpositionsintheGalwanval-leyareashouldbethelastoption.MajorwasAirChiefMarshal

between April 2007 and May2009 and earlier commandedthe Air Force in Leh (Ladakh) intheaftermathof theKargilwar.“AsfarasourAirForceprepa-

rationsareconcernedinthatre-gion,wearewonderfullyplaced.Thereisnodoubt.Wehavemanyadvantages of air fields, heightsandaltitude,etc. Iamnottalkingof a war, but in the local area ifthere is some requirement, theAir Force is very well preparedand alert. It has always been soin that area. At themoment, AirForce’s operational prepared-nessistopoftheline,”Majortold

TheIndianExpressonthesitua-tion inLadakhvisavisChina.The former air chief, how-

ever, said thatmilitary action toforce the PLA towithdraw fromtheir positions in the Galwanareashouldbe the lastoption.“IF everything else fails and

the government feels a smallmilitaryactioncouldachievethedesiredaims,thenprobably(itisan option). Unless a situation

arises, one cannot say. The PMhasalreadymadeitclearif thereis a provocation then thewholethingwill take a different turn.To exercise amilitary option isthewillof thegovernment.Andthey won’t do it till such timethey stop making headwaydiplomatically.Theprudentop-tionwouldbetode-escalatethesituationdiplomaticallyandper-haps raise the required levels todo that. Only then would it beclear as towhat thenext courseof actionwouldbe,”Major said.TheAirOfficerCommanding

Leh(Ladakh)in1999,Majorsaid,“I don’t knowifwhathappenedin the Galwan valley was aprovocation or a localised scuf-fle that turned bad. It shouldn’thavehappened. Iwouldnotputit as provocation on either side.These perception lines, like theareabetweenfingerfourandfin-ger eight, these are patrol areaswhich bothparties are doing sofar.Intheabsenceofadelineatedborder, thiskindofanuncertainposition will remain. The final

solutionwill be todelineate theborderwhichwehavebeentry-ing to do for a long time but it’snothappening,”hesaid.He was non-committal on

whether China was forcing achange instatusquowith its re-centmoves.“Iwouldn’tmakeanattempttosaywhetherit’srightor wrong. That’s taking an ex-tremeviewonbothsides.That’snotaneasyquestiontoanswer,”hesaid.Hedidagreewiththegeneral

view that China was typicallypushingitscauseatatimewhenIndiawas facing a difficult situ-ationwiththepandemic.“Chinahasmade suchmoves in the re-cent past in many parts of theworld and not just here.Whether it is South China Sea,Indonesia,Vietnamoranywhereelse, these kinds of moves havebeenmade. Everyone iswatch-ingChina across theworld. As aregionalpower, all thatwehavedone so far is indicative of howwearegoingtodealwithChina,”Major said.

Ready and determinedto deliver, says IAF chief

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE20

AFTERTHEfailureofdialogueattheMajorGeneral level tobreakthedeadlockoverthestandoffatthe LAC in Ladakh, discussionsare underway between IndiaandChinatohaveanotherroundofmilitary anddiplomatic talksnextweek.A government official told

The Indian Express that themili-tarytalkswillbeheldatthelevelofCorpsCommanderinLadakh,wheretheIndiansidewillbeledby GOC 14 Corps Lt GeneralHarinderSinghwhile thediplo-matic talks inBeijingwill be ledby India’s ambassador to China,VikramMisri. Preliminary dis-cussionstofinalisethescheduleoftalksarecurrentlyonbetweenthe twosides, theofficial said.“The talks at the Major

Generallevelhavefailedtobreaktheimpasseandmakeprogress.We thus need talks at a higherlevel, at the Corps Commanderlevel, and both sides have beentalkingoverthehotlinetofixthedates for the talk,” the officialexplained.“Themilitarytalkscanbeex-

pectedtobeheldinthenext4-5days, say next week,” theofficial said.Chinese foreign ministry’s

statement late Friday had alsosaidthat“asecondcommander-levelmeetingshouldhappenassoonaspossibletodealwiththesituationontheground”.Theofficial also said that the

agendaof themeetingwillbefi-nalised in due course, but it islikely to build on the decisionsagreed upon in the previousmeeting of the two CorpsCommanders. The lastmeetingof the 14 Corps Commanderwith his Chinese counterpartwas held on June 6, where cer-taindecisions aboutdisengage-mentonthetheLACweretaken.These decisions were to be

implementedaftermeetingsbe-tweenthemilitarycommanderson the ground. But the wholeprocesswasderailedafterthevi-olent faceoff between the sol-diers of both sides on June 15,which left 20 Indian soldiersdead, 76 injured and 10 inChinesecustody.The last meeting between

themilitary commanders tookplace at theMajorGeneral levelon Thursday, where 10 Indiansoldiers, including four officers,were released by the Chineseside. The Indian delegationwasled by GOC 3 Infantry Division,MajorGeneralAbhijitBapat.The Army has clarified that

nobridgehasbeenmadeontheGalwanriver, on the trackgoing

toPP14,duringtheperiodof thestandoff. Army said that thebridgeisontheShyokRiver,veryclosetotheShyok-Galwanmeet-ing point, aligned in North toSouthdirection,andlinksDaulatBegOldie toShyokandDarbuk.Theclarificationassumessig-

nificance as the June 6meetingat the Corps Commander levelhas decided to create a kind ofbuffer zone between the junc-tionof ShyokandGalwanriverson thewest and the LAC on theeast.ItwasalsomentionedintheChineseforeignministry’sstate-mentFridaythat“theIndiansidepromised (in June 6 meeting)thattheywouldnotcrossthees-tuary of theGalwan river to pa-trol and build facilities”. The vi-olent faceoff of June 15 alsohappened while undertakinggradual disengagement in this‘bufferzone’aftertalksbetweenlocalmilitarycommanders.Meanwhile, the situationon

thegroundcontinues to remaintense with reports of massiveChinesemilitary buildup alongthe Line of Actual Control (LAC)opposite Indian positions inDepsang, Galwan, Hot Springs,PangongTsoarea,Koyul,Fukcheand Demchok. The Indian sidehasalsomobilisedanddeployeda large number of troops in thearea to respond to any situationontheborder.

DiscussionsonwithChinaforanother roundofmilitary,diplomacytalks

Nepal, Afghan hopefor Delhi-Beijingdialogue to workout differencesSHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,JUNE20

IN THEIR first comments on theongoingstand-offbetweenIndiaandChinainLadakh,twoofIndia’sneighbours — Nepal andAfghanistan – on Saturday saidtheyareconfidentthatNewDelhiandBeijingwillresolvetheirmu-tual differences “throughpeace-fulmeans”and“dialogue” forbi-lateral, regional andworldpeaceandstability.They are the first neighbour-

ingcountriestocommentonthedispute,which is on since earlyMay andhas claimed lives of 20Indian soldiers in a bloody clashinGalwanValley.On Saturday, the Nepalese

Foreign ministry said, “Nepalmaintainsthatdisputesbetweenthe countries shouldbe resolvedthroughpeacefulmeans. Nepalhas always stood firmly for re-gionalandworldpeace.”“Inthecontextofrecentdevel-

opments inGalwanValley areabetweenourfriendlyneighbours,India and China, Nepal is confi-dent that both countrieswill re-solve, in the spirit of goodneigh-bourliness, their mutualdifferences through peacefulmeans in favour of bilateral, re-gional andworldpeace and sta-bility,”NepalForeignministrysaidinastatement.India and Nepal have a

strainedrelationshipinthewakeofaborderdispute.

Inastatement,Afghanistan’sForeignMinistrysaid,“Asacoun-try that has suffered immensehumanand financial loss due toconflict, and in light of ourfriendly relations, historic con-nections and strategic partner-shipswithbothChinaandIndia,Afghanistan is concerned aboutthe recent border incident be-tweenthetwocountrieswhoareAfghanistan’spartnersforpeaceand development.We believeconsequencesof theoccurrenceof such incidents are not in theinterest of regional and globalpeaceandstability.”Afghanistanalsostatedthatit

“hopesthat thetworegionalandglobalpowersresolvetheirdiffer-encesthroughdialogueandbasedongoodneighbourlyrelations”.Nepal set itself ona collision

course with India on Thursdayafter its Upper House ofParliamentunanimouslycleareda constitution amendment Bill,endorsing the country’s newmapthatincludesterritoriesthatarewith India.So far, none of India's neigh-

bourshavecommentedsubstan-tivelyontheclashesalongtheLACinLadakh;onlyMaldiveshasex-pressed condolences.MaldivesForeignministerAbdulla ShahidhadtweetedonFriday,“Maldivesextendsdeepest condolences tothepeople of #India for the liveslost in recent clasheson thebor-der.Ourthoughtsandprayersarewiththefamilies,lovedones,andcommunitiesof thesoldiers.”

YUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU, JUNE20

NEPALISwillingtosettlethecur-rent disputewith India throughdialogue based on “sovereignequality andmutual respect”,PushpaKamalDahalPrachanda,co-chairmanof the rulingNepalCommunistParty(NCP),hassaid.In amessage delivered in a

video conference, jointly hostedbytheInternationalDepartmentof theCommunistPartyofChina(CPC)andtheschoolsdivisionoftheNCPonFriday,PrachandasaidNepalwants to resolve bilateralissueswith any friendly country“basedonsovereignequality,mu-tualrespectandunderstandings”.Althoughhedidnotmention

India,hisreferenceinthecontextof the current dispute over cer-tain territories, includingKalapani, was obvious. “We be-lievethatinacivilisedworld,co-ercion,intimidationandselfwillshould not have any role in re-solving conflicts between andamongnations,”hesaid.Prachanda,whopraisedChina

—“Chinatodayhascapabilityandwillingness to take appropriaterole in handling global humani-

tariancrisis,”hesaid—alsomadeitclearthatNepalwillnotendorsethe$500-milliongrantundertheMillennium ChallengeCorporationagreement(withtheUS).“Anykindofsupportattachedwithsecurityalignmentthatcon-tradictswithourConstitutioncan-notbeaccepted,”hesaid.“Anyde-velopmentsupportfromfriendlycountriesthathonourNepal'ssov-ereign independence and non-alignedpolicywillbewelcomed.”Thevideoconferencethathas

triggered a divisionwithin theruling party, with half-a-dozenprominentleadersquestioningitstiming and intent in the contextof ongoing India-China tensionalong the LAC in Ladakh, is be-lieved to have takenplace at thebehest of the CPC. The ChinesesidehadassuredNepalthatits16hilly districts that shared borderwithTibetstoodgreatchancesofdevelopment,thewayChinahasdevelopedTibet.

IAFchiefRKSBhadauriaat theAirForceAcademyinHyderabad,Saturday.PTI

Prudent option is to de-escalatesituation diplomatically: Ex-air chief

Former IndianAirForcechief FaliHomiMajor File

TopNepalrulingpartyleader

Talks on basis ofsovereign equalitywelcome: Prachanda

Soldiers’ mothers carry the heaviest load:their sons’ coffins wrapped in the TricolourDIVYAGOYALLUDHIANA, JUNE20

AS MORTAL remains of NaibSubedar Satnam Singh (41)reachedGurdaspur’s Bhojraj vil-lage,itwashis65-year-oldmotherand 19-year-old daughterwhostepped forward to carry the tri-colour-wrapped coffin on theirshoulders in the soldier’s finaljourney.Theact indefianceof societal

normswasthewayKashmirKaur(65) and Sandeep Kaur (19)wanted togive the family brave-heartabefittingsend-offformak-ing supremesacrifice for thena-tion.The sceneswere reminiscent

of another martyr's funeral inGurdaspur's Pabbarali Kalan vil-lage last year,where hismothertoo led the funeral procession,drowninghergriefinsloganshail-ingherslainson.On Thursday, themother of

SatnamSinghdidthesametopaytributetohersonwhodiedfight-ing the Chinese in the GalwanValleyclash.“Mysonhassacrificedhis life

for the country. This is the least Icould do for him. Guru GobindSingh ji's Chaar Sahibzade (foursons)weremartyred,Ihavegivenone for the country,” said the

grievingmother, amid an emo-tionally-charged crowd that hadturned out to pay its respects tothemartyr.As the slain soldier’smother

stepped forward, tears-stainedfacesinthecrowdrattledoutslo-ganspraisingherandpiercingthepallofgloomthathaddescendedonthevillage.“Shaheed di bahadurmata

zindabad, Shaheed di bahadurmatazindabad.(Salutetomartyr'sbravemother).”Themother,stoicinthefaceof

unspeakable grief, carried herson’scoffinallthewaytillthecre-

mation site for his final rites onThursday.TalkingtoTheIndianExpress,

KashmirKaur,whoneverwenttoschool,said:"Ohdashouksideshdelayikuchkarkemarna.Ohdaviehne logmarde ne par oh deshlayikuchkarkemareyahai..Saddanaaucchakarkegayahai.. (Heal-wayswanted to die after doingsomething for the country. Somanypeopledieeveryday,buthehas died for the country. Hehasgoneaftermakingusproud)."Her other son, Sukhchain

Singh who also servers in theArmy,saidthatitwashermother’s

act that gave the family strengthtocometotermswiththetragedy.Hesaid:"SheisanAmritdhari

(baptisedSikh).Sheisthestrengthofourfamily.ShefollowsSriGuruGranthSahib'steachingsandthatiswhyshedidnotthinktwicebe-fore giving shoulder to mybrother'scoffin.Shealsohelpsmyfather in the fields. She is an ironladywhosestrengthhaskeptourfamilytogetherinthistoughtime.Weare soproudof her...Suchbigheart that she hid her tears anddisplayedthiscourage.Noonecanunderstand her pain of losing ason she raised but she is proud..

Ourfatherisalsoproudofher."Also part of Satnam’s final

journeywasRavinderSinghVicky,generalsecretary,ShaheedSainikParivaarSurakshaParishad.Vickyrecalledwatching similar sceneslast yearwhen another grievingmothergaveasimilarsend-off toherArmymansonkilled fightingterroristsinJammuandKashmir’sMachhilsectoronJuly27lastyear.PalwinderKaur,themotherof

LanceNaik Rajinder Singh (26)from village Pabbarali Kalan ofDera BabaNanak inGurdaspur,hadledherson’slastjourneyfromthe front, giving shoulder to his

coffinandraisingslogansasloudlyas she could: “ShaheedRajinderSinghamar rahe...” Thevideosofthefuneralprocessionwerelaterwidelysharedonsocialmedia.Dalwinder Singh, brother of

RajinderSingh,said, “Mymothergaveshouldermybrother’scoffinbecauseshewantedtogivemes-sage to all mothers that theyshouldnotstopsendingtheirsonsto theArmy. She is a very strongwomanandfeltpeaceinherheartafter giving a farewell tohim thewayshewanted.."About Satnam’s funeral pro-

cession, Vicky recalled: "I wasstanding at the front andwhenwewerereadytotakeSatnamforlast rites, and hismother camefrombehindandsaid tomethatIalsowanttogiveshouldertomyson. I immediately told her tocome ahead and do it. She andSatnam's daughterwere at thefront.Lastyear,Rajinder'smotherdid the same. Shewas so bravethat she did not stop raising slo-gansforhersonforaminute.IstillwonderfromwhereGodgivessomuchstrengthtothesemothers.It is not easy to take on yourshoulders coffins of childrenwhomyougavebirthto.Howof-ten dowemeet suchmothers,who keep country above theirpersonal lossandsay finalgood-byeswithsuchpoise."

(Left)PalwinderKaur,motherof LanceNaikRajinderSingh,helpedcarryhiscoffin in July lastyear. (Right) KashmirKaur,motherofNaibSubedarSatnamSingh,carries thecoffinofhersonwhowaskilled inGalwanValley.RanaSimranjit Singh

TheChinesearealsoataslightdisadvantageduetolocationoftheirairfieldsatgreatdistancefromoneanother

Jaipur

7THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE21,2020 “The climate and sustainability crisis is not a fair

crisis. Theoneswho’ll behit hardest from itsconsequences are often theoneswhohavedonethe least to cause theproblem in the first place.”—GRETATHUNBERG, 17-year-old climate activistTHEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

Navyreversesmovetoreinstatevirus-hitaircraftcarrier’scaptainWashington: In a reversal,the Navy on Fridayscrappeditsrecommenda-tion to reinstate CaptainBrett Crozier and insteadupheld a decision to firehimfromhiscommandofacoronavirus-strickenair-craft carrierwhere hebe-came a hero to his crew.TheNavysaidan in-depthinvestigation showed thatCrozier, despite imploringtop brass to do more tosafeguard his sailors, hadhimselffailedtodoenoughto try tohalt the spreadofthecoronavirus. Iteventu-ally infected more than1,200personnelaboardtheTheodoreRoosevelt,killingoneof them.

CaptainBrettCrozierwascommanderoftheUSSTheodoreRoosevelt

TOPOFTHEWORLD

USA

TennesseelawmakerspassBilltobanabortionaftersixweeksTENNESSEE LAWMAKERSpassed one of the tightestabortion restrictions in thecountry on Friday, banningthe procedure once a fetalheartbeat is detected ataroundsixweeks,whichisof-tenbeforeawomanrealisesshe ispregnant. The “heart-beat” bill follows awave ofsimilar strict anti-abortionmeasures passed byRepublican-majority legisla-tures in aneffort topromptthe US Supreme Court tooverturn Roe v Wade, thelandmark1973casethatguar-antees awoman’s constitu-tionalrighttoabortion.Inthelast twoyears, federal judgeshavestruckdown“fetalheart-beat” lawsbanningabortionafter six weeks in severalstates on the grounds thattheywereunconstitutional.

BRITAIN

MayorpromisestoprotectLeicester’sGandhistatueLondon: Themayor of thecityofLeicesterhascommit-ted to protecting the statueof MahatmaGandhi in theheartof thecentralEnglandcity,asanonlinepetitioncre-atedtosavetheunder-threatmonument attracted over6,000 signatures. PeterSoulsby confirmedhis sup-port for themonument asthecity’s“greatpride” inhisresponsetoaletterfromfor-mer Indian-origin LeicesterEastMPKeithVaz,whohasbeen leading a campaigneversinceanonlinepetitioncalled for the statue’s re-moval lastweek.

‘COVID’ CASKET ELIMINATES PRECIOUS WOODS, DETAILED CARVINGS AND GLASS PANES IN FAVOUR OF FAST-TO-PRODUCE PLAIN BOX

Chileans mass producing caskets to deal with coronavirus onslaughtEVAVERGARASANTIAGO, JUNE20

NICOLÁSBERGERIE’S family hasbeenmakingcoffinsforfourgen-erations, with barely any alter-ation.Butwhenhesawthecoro-navirus ravaging Europe, hedecidedtorolloutanewproduct.The “COVID” is a casket that

eliminates preciouswoods, de-tailed carvings and glass view-ingpanes in favor of a plain boxof cheaper wood that is fast toproduceinquantity. It’s theper-

fectproductforChile,whichhasbecome a hot spot for the virusdespite aggressive governmentmeasures tocontrol its spread.On Friday, Chile’s 230,000

casesmade it ninth in theworldinthenumberofconfirmedcoro-navirus infections,despite itsrel-ativelysmallpopulationof fewerthan19millionpeople.Withmorethan5,000newcasesreportedona typical day, nextweekChile isexpectedtopassItalyintheranksofmost-infectedcountries.Withmore than 4,000 dead

in Chile, Bergerie’s business,

BergutFuneralServices,hasseenits orders boom. He said theworkshopismaking100coffinsa week, double the pre-pan-demic number, although thecheaper caskets mean his in-comehasdroppedbyhalf.“We looked at the interna-

tionalexperienceandwestartedtoturnoutmorecoffinsbecausewe understoodwhatwas com-ing,”' saidManuelGonzález, theheadof theworkshop.TheChilean government re-

ported252deathsFriday,thehigh-estnumbersincethevirusthatcan

causeCOVID-19diseasearrivedinChile in earlyMarch.Most infec-tionsanddeathsareconcentratedinthecapital,Santiago.Thetruescaleoftheoutbreak

goesfarbeyondtheofficialnum-bers—Chileisdailycarryingoutas many as 20,000 virus tests,and about 30% are coming backpositive,astrongsignthatmanyinfectionshavegoneundetected.Officialsadmit theireffort to

battle the virus is falling short,particularlyintracingandisolat-ingthosewhocomeintocontactwith infectedpeople.

ThepandemichaspushedtheChileanmedical systemclose tocollapse—intensive-careunitsinSantiago are at 96% of capacity,andthatisonlybecausedozensofpatients have been sent to re-gional hospitals to ease the bur-denonthoseinthecapital.Thecoronaviruswasbrought

toChilebywell-offtravelerswhovacationedinEurope.Chileanof-ficials in April replaced a strictquarantine of several wealthyneighborhoodsofSantiagowithastringofconstantlyshiftingclo-sures in neighbourhoods

throughout thecity.“For a shortwhilewe had a

window of opportunity,”' saidPabloVillalobos, a public healthresearcheratHarvardandadvisertotheWorldHealthOrganization.“Itwasalostopportunity.”Thevirusstartedspreadingvir-

tually uncontrolled throughSantiagoatthestartofMay,helpedbyofficials’ refusal to shutdownpublictransport.“Thegovernmentdidnottakethenecessaryrestric-tive measures,” said ClaudioCastillo, apublichealth expert attheUniversityofChile.AP

Aproduction lineof coffinsat theBergutFuneralServices inSantiago,Chile.AP

KENMORITSUGU&JILLLAWLESSBEIJING, JUNE20

CHINA’SCAPITALrecordedafur-ther drop in coronavirus casesamid tightened containmentmeasures, while Brazil sur-passed 1million confirmed in-fections, secondonly to theUS.Europe,incontrast,continues

toemergewarilyfromlockdown,withhard-hitBritainconsideringeasing social distancing rules tomake it easier for restaurants,pubsandschoolstoreopen.Officials reported 22 new

cases in Beijing on Saturday,alongwithfiveotherselsewherein China. There were no newdeathsand308peopleremainedhospitalized for treatment.South Korea recorded 67

new cases, the largest 24-hourincrease in about three weeks.Most of them come from thedensely populated Seoul area,whereabouthalfofthecountry’s51million people reside.Manycaseshavebeen linked toexpo-sure innightlifeoutlets.Theheadof theWorldHealth

Organization saidFriday that thepandemic is “accelerating” andthat more than 150,000 caseswerereportedthedaybefore.Tedros Adhanom

Ghebreyesus told reporters inGeneva that nearly half of the

newlyreportedcaseswerefromtheAmericas.Brazil’s HealthMinistry said

thetotalnumberofcaseshadrisenbymorethan50,000fromthepre-viousday.PresidentJairBolsonarostill downplays the risks of thevirusafternearly50,000fatalitiesinthreemonths,sayingtheimpactofsocialisolationonBrazil’secon-omycouldbemoredeadly.Thenewcoronavirushas in-

fected more than 8.5 millionpeople worldwide and killedmore than454,000.AP

YEWLUNTIAN&GREGTORODEBEIJING,HONGKONG, JUNE20

CHINAWILL have overarchingpowersovertheenforcementofa new national security law inHongKong, according todetailsreleased on Saturday that sig-nalledthedeepestchangetothecity’swayof lifesinceitreturnedtoChinese rule in1997.Theplannedlawhasalarmed

foreign governments aswell asdemocracy activists in HongKong, who were already con-cernedthatBeijingiserodingthehighdegreeofautonomygrantedto the territory when it washandedoverfromBritishrule.Accordingtodetailsreleased

by the official Xinhua newsagency,HongKongwillestablisha local national security counciltoenforcethelegislation,headedby the city’s leader Carrie Lamandsupervisedandguidedbyanew central government com-mission created by Beijing. AmainlandadviserwillalsositonthenewHongKongbody.Lamwillalsohavethepower

toappointjudgestohearcasesre-lated tonational security, anun-precedentedmove likely to un-nervesomeinvestors,diplomatsandbusiness leaders inthecity.Currentlysenior judgesallo-

cate judicial rosters up throughHong Kong’s independent judi-cial system.“Fromtheseinitialdetails,this

newlawpresentsunprecedented

legalquestions thatwewill haveto confront in coming years,”SimonYoung,abarristerandpro-fessor at theUniversity of HongKong’slawschool, toldReuters.Youngsaidhewastroubledby

theapparent“broadsupremacy”of thenew lawover current andfutureHongKonglaws.Officials inBeijing andHong

Konghavesoughttoreassurein-vestors that the law will noterodethecity’sautonomy,insist-ing itwill target only aminorityof “troublemakers”.Xinhuasaidhumanrightsand

freedomofspeechandassemblywouldbeprotected,echoingpre-viouscommentsbyauthoritiesinBeijingandHongKong.REUTERS

LISABAUMANNSEATTLE, JUNE20

ONEPERSONwaskilledandan-other was in critical conditionin a pre-dawn shooting inSeattle’s protest zone, authori-ties said Saturday.The shooting happened at

about 3 am in the area neardowntown known as CHOP,which stands for “Capitol HillOccupied Protest” zone, policesaid inastatementonTwitter.Seattle Police Sgt. Lauren

Truscott told The Seattle Timesthat she didn’t knowwhetherpolice had taken anyone intocustodyandthatshehadnoim-mediate details about how theshootingunfolded.Investigatorswerereviewing

reviewing public-source videoandbody-cameravideoforcluesand authorities planned to dis-close more information abouttheshooting later, Truscott said.Two males with gunshot

wounds arrived in a private ve-hicle at Harborview MedicalCenteratabout3am,saidhospi-tal spokesperson Susan Gregg.Onediedandtheotheronewasincriticalconditionintheinten-sive careunit.Protestershavecordonedoff

several blocks near a police sta-tion in Seattle’s Capitol Hillneighborhood in the wake ofdemonstrations against policeviolence since the police killingof George Floyd inMinneapolisseveral weeks ago. Police havelargely retreated from the zoneafter clashes with protestersended with people throwingthings at police and police teargassing people and using othercrowdcontrolmunitions.AP

NATHANLAYNE&SARAHNLYNCHWASHINGTON, JUNE20

A TOP US federal prosecutorwhoseofficehasbeeninvestigat-ing President Donald Trump’spersonallawyer,RudolphGiuliani,onFridayrefusedtostepdownaf-ter the administration abruptlysaiditwasreplacinghim.Attorney General William

Barr, in a surprise late-night an-nouncement,saidtheUSAttorneyinManhattan,GeoffreyBerman,was stepping downand that hewould nominate Securities andExchangeCommissionChairmanJayClaytontotakeBerman’sspot.Berman,wholeadsapowerful

officeknownforprosecutinghigh-profileterrorismcases,WallStreetfinancialcrimesandgovernmentcorruption,saidhefirstlearnedofthemovefromBarr’spressreleaseandwouldnotgoquietly.“I have not resigned, and

have no intention of resigningmy position,” Berman said in astatement. “I will step downwhenapresidentiallyappointednominee is confirmed by theSenate.Untilthen,ourinvestiga-tionswillmoveforwardwithoutdelayor interruption.”Since being appointed in

January 2018, Berman has notshied from taking on figures inTrump’sorbit.HisofficeoversawtheprosecutionofMichaelCohen,Trump’s formerpersonal lawyer,indicted twoGiuliani associatesandlaunchedaprobeintoGiulianiin connectionwithhis efforts todigupdirtonTrump’spoliticalad-versariesinUkraine.REUTERS

ANOTHER CONFEDERATE STATUE GOES DOWNThestatueofAlbertPike,which is theonlystatueof aConfederategeneral in theUScapital,was toppledbyprotestersandsetonfire inWashingtonearlySaturday. It comesas theUSobserved Juneteenth, thedaymarkingtheendof slavery intheUnitedStates,amidcontinuinganti-racismdemonstrations followingthedeathofGeorgeFloyd inMinneapolis.AP

BRITAINCONSIDERSEASINGSOCIALDISTANCINGRULES

Brazil infections cross 1mnas Beijing sees drop in cases

ACONCERTFORTHEQUARANTINED:AgroupofmusiciansplayingSambaofferedasmallconcert totheresidentsofRio’sTuranofavela,mostofwhomremainquarantinedtocurbthespreadofCovid-19.Residentscouldwatchtheperformancefromtheirwindows,balconiesorvia internet.AP

Indian crew stranded on cruiseships appeal for repatriationLondon: Hundreds of Indiancrewaboardcruiseshipsdockedon the UK coast have appealedforrepatriationtoIndiaamidtheongoingcoronavirus lockdown.The All India Seafarer and

GeneralWorkers Union claimsthataround1,500crewmembersfromIndiahavebeenstrandedatUKportsacrosstheseships.“This is regarding 164 crew

membersstrandedIndiancitizensonthevesselMVAstoria,”notesaletterfromtheunionaddressedtothe External Affairs Minister SJaishankar, in reference tooneofthevessels.“Inthispandemiccoronavirus

outbreak,ourIndiancitizensstuckin foreignwaters from past 90days,andneedhelp,”notesthelet-terdatedJune16.PTI

China unveils details of newsecurity law for Hong KongBeijing tohavesweepingpowersoverenforcingnewlaw

HongKongactivist JoshuaWongannounceshisplantorunintheupcomingLegislativeCouncilelections.AP

Shooting inSeattle protestzone leaves 1dead, 1 injured

US Dept of Justicetries to oust attorneyprobing Trump allies,but he refuses to go

REUTERSWASHINGTON,JUNE20

AUS judgeonSaturdaydeniedarequestbytheTrumpadministra-tion for an injunction to blockpublicationofabookbyPresidentDonaldTrump’s formernationalsecurity adviser JohnBolton thatalleges the president soughtChina’shelptowinre-election.“While Bolton’s unilateral

conductraisesgravenationalse-curityconcerns,thegovernmenthas not established that an in-junction is an appropriate rem-

edy,” US District Judge RoyceLamberthsaid inhis ruling.The administration had

sought a temporary restrainingorderandpreliminaryinjunctionagainst the publication of TheRoom Where It Happened: AWhite House Memoir, saying itcontainedclassifiedinformationandthreatenednationalsecurity.The book, scheduled to hit

stores Tuesday, is already in thehandsofmediaorganisations.“Defendant Boltonhas gam-

bledwiththenationalsecurityoftheUnitedStates.Hehasexposedhis country toharmandhimselftocivil (andpotentiallycriminal)liability,” thejudgewrote.But he said an injunction

would be too late to stem theharm. “With hundreds of thou-sandsofcopiesaroundtheglobe—many in newsrooms — thedamage is done,” Lamberthsaid.In a tweet shortly after thedecisionwas released, Trumplashed out at Bolton. “Hemustpayaverybigpriceforthis,asoth-ershavebeforehim,”Trumpsaid.Trump drew some solace

fromthejudge’srebukeofBolton.“BIG COURT WIN against

Bolton.Obviously,withthebookalready given out and leaked tomany people and the media,”Trumptweeted.REUTERS

GEOFFREYBERMAN,thefed-eralprosecutorinManhattan,wasappointedtothepostonaninterimbasisbythenA-GJeffSessionsin2018.AlthoughhewasaTrumppick,thePresidentneveroffi-ciallysenthisnominationtotheSenateforconfirmation,whichishowfederalprosecu-torsareusuallyappointed.After120daysasinterimUSAttorney,Berman’sappoint-mentwasmadepermanentbytheUSDistrictCourtfortheSouthernDistrictofNewYork.RefusingtoquitdespiteA-GBarr’sannouncement,Bermanpointedoutthathecouldn’tbefiredbythePresidentashewasn’tap-pointedbythePresident,andthathewouldremaininofficeuntilanothernomineewasconfirmedbytheSenate.

Crisisafterunusualappointment

GeoffreySBerman

Judge denies Trump bid to block Bolton book

Boltonwascriticisedbythejudge,whosaidhe ‘gambledwiththenationalsecurity’

NEWNATIONALSECURITYCOUNCIL,POLICEUNITSHONGKONGwillestablishalocalnationalsecuritycounciltoenforcethelegislation,headedbythecity’s leaderCarrieLamandsupervisedandguidedbyanewcentralgovernmentcommissioncreatedbyBeijing,accordingdetailsofthenewlegislation.

NEWLOCALpoliceand

prosecutionunitswillbesetupto investigateandtoenforcethe law,backedbymainlandsecurityandintelligenceofficersdeployedtoBeijing’snewcommission.

LAMWILLalsohavethepowertoappoint judges tohearcasesrelatedtonational security.

Jaipur

Here we are, at a labourmandi. Amarket where we sell ourselves for Rs 200 a day.Hamaari halaat itni kharaab haiki hum bolte hain, humein khareed lo. Nahin toh bhukhe rah jayenge poore din

VISHNUDAS,ADAILY-WAGERWHOTURNSUPATTHECHOWKEVERYDAY

TILKAMANJHICHOWK

8THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

SUNDAYSTORYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ASADISTRICTUNLOCKS

FORONEweek,ithasbeenthesame.Arriveat6am.BowattheMahavirmandir.SpendRs5fora cupofchai.Counttherestofthemoney:Rs160today.Then,wait.Atfirst,patiently.

Sitting onhis haunches, staring out into thedistance. Or engaged in conversationwiththosearoundhim.Inanhour,VishnuDas’seyesaremoredesperate,huntingforsignsofacon-tractor, or somebodywhowill offerwork.Sometimes,heasksapasser-by,“Kaamchahiyekuchch(Doyouwantworkdone)?”By8.30am,thecrowdaroundhimbeginstothin,theshopspreparetoopen.Anothermorninghaspassed.Das has not foundwork this entire week.Tomorrowhehopes,willbebetter.Das, 46, is an old-timer at TilkaManjhi

Chowk, the sitewhere daily-wagers collectevery day before dawn to find work. Thechowk is the centre of Bhagalpur town byday. But now, in these uncertain times, thecentre and the groundbeneath it is shiftingformostpeoplelikeDasastheygrapplewiththeeffectsof apandemicandthe lockdownthat followed.Bhagalpur,itsdistrictheadquarters239km

fromPatna,hasallthetrappingsofsmalltownsraringtobreakintothebigleague,itsaspirationdefinedby its coaching centres, themarketsthatsellsilksarisandtheshoppingarcadesthatdisplay flatscreen televisions. It’s oneof fourBihar townson theCentre’s list of proposedSmartCities, yet, thedistrict isdraggeddownbyhighlevelsofpovertyandmalnutrition.In away, Bhagalpur is illustrative of chal-

lengesacrossthecountryasdistricts,especiallythose facing thebrunt ofmigrant distress—exodusorinflux—trytogetbackontrack.

TilkaManjhi ChowkAtthechowk’scentreisastatueofManjhi,

oneofIndia’sfirstrecordedtribalfreedomfight-ers,whowashungbytheBritishforhisirrever-ence,asfolkloresays,rightatthischowk.Das chuckles, “Manjhi may have died

fighting forour freedom.Buthereweare,atalabourmandi.Amarketwherewesellour-

selves for Rs 200 a day.Hamaari halaat itnikharaabhaikihumboltehai,humeinkhareedlo. Nahi toh bhuke rah jaenge poore din (Oursituation is so bad, we put ourselves up forsale, sayingwewill gohungryotherwise).”LifehasalwaysbeenhardforDas,wholives

alone in a shanty2kmaway.Hedoesn’t talkmuchabouthispast,exceptthathewasbornandraisedinBhagalpur.“Akelahoon,”hesays,whenpushed.“Koinahinhai,”headds,withafinalitythatresistsmoreproddingquestions.He ismoreopenabout his present situa-

tion.Whenthelockdownwasfirstannounced,the chowkwas empty, he says. Das tried tomoveout to look forwork, butevery timehedidso,hewasheckledorchargedatwithapo-lice lathi. “Istoppedafterfourdays,”hesays.Foramonth,fromtheendofMarchtothe

endofApril,Das stayedhome.By thesecondweekofMay, though, therewasanewprob-lematthechowk.Migrants,whohadlostjobsinMaharashtra,Gujarat,orDelhi,beganarriv-ing, desperate formoney. According to staterecords, an estimated63,962migrants havereturnedtoBhagalpursincethelockdown.Among them, ShyamSundarYadav,who

worked in awarehousing company inPune.Hewalked, and hitched rides to Bhagalpur.Oncehere,hearrivedatthechowktolookforwork. “Ihavebeenhere foramonthnow.Foroneweek I liftedcement sacksat a construc-tionsite.Afterthat,nothing,”hesays.Dascontinues,“Whenthemigrantscame,

therewasahugenumberatthechowk.Maybe400peopleaday.Thenslowly,peoplerealisedtherewasnowork.Noweventhosewhocameforyearshavestopped.Thereare onlyaboutahundredaday,andeventheyhavenowork.”Askedwhy there is nowork even after

the government announced the ‘un-lock-down’,Dasandtheotherssaytherecanonlybeonereason:Fear.RamKrishan Singh, amason, says con-

struction drives the economyof the labourmarket.“Thosewhowerebuildingsomethinghavestoppedputting inmoneybecausetheyareafraid.Whatifanotherlockdownhappens?Also,moneyishardtocomebythesedays.Soif someone needs five people, hemakes dowithtwo.Evenwhenwegetwork,wegetpaidless. Earlierwe could get Rs 300-400 a day.NowitwillbenomorethanRs150,”Singhsays.Frustratedwiththewaitforwork,themen

have begun talking about “other options”.Many,theysay,havetakentoroamingtheby-lanes of Bhagalpur, asking for odd jobs byknocking on doors of shops. Somehave re-turnedtovillageshopingtogetMNREGAjobs.Then,thereistheotheroption.Rightnext

to TilkaManjhi, everymorning, people lineup on either side of the road to sell vegeta-bles. Here, alongside the established oneswho sell out of carts, there are the new en-trantswhositonmatsontheroad.Ifnothingelse, Yadav says, he will do that. “Some ofthoseat thechowkhavebegungoing to themandi...TheyearnbetweenRs50-100aday.At least it is something.”

JLNMedical College andHospital, MayaganjApavedroad,withwildgrassoneitherside,

snakes around themainbuildingof the800-bed Jawaharlal NehruMedical College andHospital.Pastaparking lot, anadministrativeblock and some shanties, the road ends in aplacethat’sunsettlinglystill,withonlyawhitebuilding in sight. It’s a newbuilding,with aboardthatsays ‘MCH’—the100-bedMotherandChildHealthcarewing.Today,itistheiso-lationward of JLNHospital, the dedicatedCovidcarehospital inthedistrict.At11amonaWednesday,BalramDasar-

rivesinhistempothathasa‘COVIDduty’sticker.

He sits on thebench, amaskhanging looselyaroundhis face,playingagameonhisphone.Heiswaitingforthehospitalstafftohandhimthegarbage.Therearethreebigbagstoday;twoweeksago,thereweremanymore,hesays.Bhagalpur district now has the second

highest number of Covid cases in Bihar —348,comparedtoPatna’s377.Butrecoveryisstrong, with 266 already discharged, andonly81activecases.Thedistricthasrecordedonedeathso far.SaysDrRCMandal,ChiefSuperintendent

of the hospital, “About twoweeks ago,wechangedstrategy.Werealisedthatavastnum-ber of our cases are asymptomatic. Sowhileearlier, all caseswere in the isolation centre,nowweonlyhavethosewhoaresymptomaticandserious.AymptomaticpatientsareplacedintheCovidcarecentres.Rightnow,wehaveno serious cases at the isolation centre, andonlyfourwhoaresymptomatic,”Mandalsays.Thus thedeserted surroundings, and the

threegarbagebags.“Everythingisundercontrol.Thereareonly

fourcasesthatrequiremedicalattention,andtwopatientswhohavefever.Eventheoneper-sonwhodiedhadcancer.Fornow,thereisab-solutelynoreasontopanic,”addsMandal.Thelackofseriouspatientsisreasonforsol-

ace,fornow,butthenumbersshowhowsmall

themarginforerroris.MandaladmitsthatJLNHospitalistheonlylargemedicalcollegefora200-sq-kmareacoveringthreestates. “Thereisabighospital like this inPatna,Dhanbad inJharkhand, and Siliguri in West Bengal.Everyone comes here, and we need to beready,”Mandalsays.Besides, theCovidnum-bershavebeenrisingsteadily(seebox).Forahospitalthatservessomany,thenum-

bers tooallow fornocomplacency. Thereareallof22ventilators,10ofthemnew,and64ICUbeds.Plusnotenoughprotectiveequipment.Adoctoratthehospitalsaysoncondition

ofanonymity,“Oneof thereasonsasympto-matic patients weremoved to Covid carecentreswas that the hospital couldn’t han-dle100patients.Thereweren’tenoughpro-tective equipment. Even now,wemake dowithkits thatarehardlyprotective.”The testing numbers are also abysmally

low.DrVijayKumarSingh,CivilSurgeoninthedistrict,saysthedistrictisconducting315testsa day. Overall, till June 15, it had conducted5,632tests.With333testingpositiveuntilthatdate, it’s a confirmation rate of 6.2 per cent,higher than the national average of 5.7 percent. Of the 333who testedpositive, 311 arefromtestson1,801returningmigrants,acon-firmationrateof17.26percent.Thereareotherconcernstoo.WithJLNset

asideforCovidcases, thenon-Covidcasesarebeinghandledbytheolder,smaller,andmuchlessadvancedSadarHospital.DrMandalsayshe shifted at least 10 senior doctors to Sadar.But thehospital is showing signsof creakingunderthestrain.Therearepatientswaitingonthefloor,somesleepingonit.Singh,thedistrictCivilSurgeon,admitshe

isworriedaboutthemonsoon.“Incrucialde-partmentslikepaediatricsandanesthesia,wehave twoand threedoctors respectively. Theloadisgettingtoomuch.Whichiswhydespitebeing a Covid-only hospital,wehavehad toopen the emergencyward of JLNwith 150beds,”Singhsays.

KhalifabaghMarket, BhagalpurBhagalpurhasearneditselfmanymonikers

overtheages.The‘cityofacademia’,becauseoftheancientVikramshilaUniversity, isnowas-sociatedwiththe1989Bhagalpurriotsandtheinfamousblindingsof the followingyear. It iscalledBihar’ssilkcityaswell.Andyet,forlocals,whatsticksistheimageofatownoftrafficjams.ShyamSundarNewetia, a shopkeeper at

Khalifabagh, the town’s busiestmarket, bris-tlesatthesightof thecrowdoutsidehisshop.“Thesepeoplewhoareouton the street...

Youthinktheyarecomingtobuy?No.Theyareboredathome,sotheyarehere.Fools!Idon’tal-lowthemtositinmyshopanymore,”hesays.

Eversincerestrictionsbegantoease,traffichas returned to Bhagalpur’s narrow streets,whereshopsopenby11am.Themotorcycles,rickshawsandpedestriansarealloutinforce,enoughtomakemockeryofanyintendedso-cialdistancing.Maskshanglooselyonfaces,ifatall,andpedestriansbrushpasteachother.Theroadsmightsuggestnormalcy,but,as

Newetiasays,itisallamirage.Shopsareempty,saleregistersbare. It’satimeofdeepdistress.Newetiaowns‘MatchingCornerBoutique’,

a50-year-oldstorethatsellsclothes,primarilyforwomen.HeopenedthestoreonJune1andsincethen,businesshasbeendire.“About75%ofbusinesshasgoneaway.Peoplewanttoholdon to theirmoney in these uncertain times.Eventhe25percentsaleIamdoingisofnight-iesorundergarments,”Newetiasays.Buttherearethingstobethankfulfor.Such

asthefactthatheownstheshop.“Thoseonrenthave let go ofmost of their staff. There is nomoney. Last year, oneof those rickshawsyouseewouldrefusetotakeyoutotherailwaysta-tionforRs40;today,hewillgofor10,”hesays.MostbusinessmeninBhagalpuralsocom-

plain about the timing of the shutdown.Newetiasays,“FromJunetoNovember, thereis thewedding season,Durga Puja and thenChhat festival. Right now iswhenweshouldbehavingfestivesales.”AnemployeeatHotelChinmayeInn,oneof

thecity’sbiggest,saysthatduringtheweddingseason,their59roomswouldbefullybooked.“Asoftoday,onlyfourroomsareoccupied.Also,alotofourclienteleusedtocomefortradefromPatnaorKolkata.Aslongastrainsdon’trestart,thatwon’thappen,”saysastaffmember.A kmaway, isMayfair restaurant, one of

Bhagalpur’smost popular eating joints. At 2pmonaThursday,thereisonefamilyatatable.OwnerNavinNishchal says, “Peoplehave

just stopped coming. I reopened the restau-rantonlyearlierthismonth.MostoftheordersaredeliveriesfromeitherZomatoorSwiggy...Ihad22peopleworkingwithme.Ihavesevennow,”hesayswistfully.On somedays,whenhis cellphone rings,

heferventlyhopesit’sanorder,butthesedays,therearemorecallsaskingforjobs.“One of them told me he worked in a

restaurant in Pune and is now back inBhagalpur. He said he earned Rs 22,000 amonth but couldmake dowith Rs 12,000now. It brokemyheart, but I could donoth-ing,”hesays.Rightnext toNischal, a familyof threeare

waitingfortheirorder.Thekitchendoorswingsopenandthreeplatesofdahivadaemerge.Thewaiter serves themand asks, “Aur kuchch?”Theanswer to thatquestion, in timessuchasthese,maywelldecidehisfuture.

BHAGALPURPatna

B i h a r

NEPAL

U UT TT TA AR R

P PR RA AD DE ES SH H

COVID-19CASES IN BHAGALPUR

Date Cases Discharged Active

May15 33 8 25

May20 59 12 47

May25 76 27 49

May30 140 53 87

June4 204 85 118

June9 267 141 125

June14 324 197 126

June20 348 266 81

Note:The1deathinBhagalpurtookplaceonMay31

75%ofbusinesshasgoneaway.Eventhe25%salesIamdoingareofthingslikenighties,undergarments.Clothes

peopleneedathome.Beyondthat,nothing.”SHYAMSUNDARNEWETIA,WHOOWNS ‘MATCHINGCORNERBOUTIQUE’

KHALIFABAGHMARKET JLNMEDICALCOLLEGEANDHOSPITAL,MAYAGANJ

Thereareonly fourCovid-19casesthat requiremedicalattention,andtwopatientswhohavefever...Eventheone

personwhodiedhadcancer.Fornow, there isnoreasontopanic.”DRRCMANDAL,CHIEFSUPERINTENDENT

AnExpress Series

DIPANKARGHOSE

Unlock,unlock,unlock,PrimeMinisterNarendraModirecentlydefinedthewayforwardtochiefministers.Beginningtoday,The IndianExpressdropsanchor inBhagalpurtotrackthisunlockdown.Withitssecond-highestCovid

burdeninBihar, its labourchowkswellingwithreturningmigrants,itssocialdividesdeepening inanelectionyear, thisdistrict,of overthousandvillagesandwiththethird largestcity inthestate,capturesbothruralandurbandistress—andcharts thechallengesahead

Photos:DipankarGhose

Jaipur

Life&WORKPROSENJITCHATTERJEE

9 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE21,2020OPINION

ASA soldier’s daughter, one ofmymostvividchildhoodmemoriesisofthewarwithChinain1962.Inboardingschool,wewereinfusedwithpatriotismand so spent ourfree timeknitting socks for the troopsandmaking cards to send them. Butwhen Icamehome to theArmy station inwhichmyfatherwasposted,allIheardwasangrytalkabouthowthepoliticalleadershiphadbetrayedoursoldiers.Theyweresenttowarwithoutproperclothing,bootsorweapons.And,intheordnancefactories,Irememberhearing,theywereproducingcoffeeperco-lators instead of ammunition. I did notknowmuchabout JawaharlalNehruthen,but remember that afterhisChinawarhewasveryunpopularintheArmystationsofmychildhood.Buriedmemoriescamebacklastweek

when 20 of our soldierswere beaten todeath by Chinese thugs in the desolateheightsoftheGalwanValley.TheModigov-ernmenthasnotbeenablesofartofullyex-plainwhyoursoldierswereunpreparedforwhattheChiefMinisterofPunjabhascor-rectlydescribedasa‘stoneage’battle.FromtheArmywehaveheardnothing and thesilence of theDefenceMinister has beendeafening. But, theMinister for ExternalAffairstellsusthatoursoldierswerenotun-armed.Theychosenottousetheirweaponswhilebeingclubbedtodeathwithironrodsclad in barbedwire. This explanation isbizarrebecauseevenanamateurwouldusehisweaponifhewasbeingbeatentodeath.Thesemenweretrainedsoldiers.It is formilitary experts to investigate

whatreallyhappened.Formypart,Iwanttoconcentrate on themanner inwhich thisugly episodewashandledpolitically. Thisneedsanalysisbecauseinmorewaysthanone,themannerinwhichthepoliticalfall-outhasbeenhandledhasbeendisastrous.Whenopposition leaders and themediastartedtoquestionwhathappenedontheborder,thefirstresponderscamenotfromthegovernmentbutfromtheBJP.Theyap-peared on primetime TV shows to de-nounce as traitors anyonewhodared askquestionsaboutwhathappenedonthebor-der. This is a time for nationalism, theyhollered,notatimefor ‘anti-nationalism’.This is an old playbook that has been

usedsooftensinceNarendraModi’ssecondtermbeganthatithasbecometatteredanduseless.Nationalismasdefinedinthisplay-bookmeansnotquestioninganythingthatthe government does. To questionModipersonallyamountstotreason,because intheviewofthosewhowrotethisplaybook,thenationandthePrimeMinisteraresyn-onymous. Insteadof fielding arrogant BJPspokesmen itwould have beenwiser tofieldthosewhoareactuallyresponsibleforthedefenceofthiscountry.WherewastheChief of Defence Staff?Wherewas theArmy Chief? Where was the NationalSecurity Advisor?We should hear fromthembecause from themwemight getwhat really happened insteadof silly lec-tureson‘nationalism’.We should also hear from the Prime

Minister. So far,wehave seenhimgrievepubliclyforthedeadwhilesolemnlychant-ing ‘OmShanti’. He needs to tell usmuchmore.Areweon thevergeof anotherwarwithChina?AreChinesesoldiersstilloccu-pyingIndianterritory?IsittruethatIndiansoldiersremaininChinesecustody?Whatisourfuturestrategy?Thesearequestionstowhichonlyhehasanswerssinceherunshisgovernmentinahighlycentralisedfash-ionfromthePMO.Healsoconductsforeignpolicyinahighlypersonalisedway,andhaschosentoinvestagreatdealofcapitalinhisfriendshipwithXiJinping.Thereisnootherworld leaderhehasmetmoreoften sincebecomingprimeminister.Whenever there have been tensions

withPakistan,thePrimeMinisterhasbeenvocal, aggressive and assured.When theIndian Air Force conducted its strike onBalakot itwas fromModi that thecountryheard thedetails.Hewent to theextentofsayingthathepersonallyorderedthestrikeona‘cloudynight’becausehebelievedthatthiswouldhelpourfighterpilotsflyundertheradar.Intheelectioncampaignthatfol-lowedimmediatelyafterwards,Balakotbe-came his symbol for being a tough,decisiveleader.This time thePrimeMinisterhasbeen

unusually reticent, but those ‘proud tobefollowedbyModi’onTwitterhavenot.LiketheBJPspokesmentheyhavehurledabuseat anyonewho has dared ask questionsaboutwhy20Indiansoldierswerekilledsobrutally. If IweretorecountthenumberoftimesIhavebeencalledatraitorinresponseto the questions I have asked about theGalwanmassacre, Iwouldhave towrite awhole separate column. Does the PrimeMinister realise thedamage that his sup-portersaredoingtohim?What ismore important is for him to

understandthatwhenthecountryappearstobeteeteringontheedgeof anotherwarwith China, it is not ‘anti-national’ to askquestions. The opposite is true. Twomenwhohaveaskedexactlythequestionsthatneed to be askedbypatriots and truena-tionalists are theChiefMinister of Punjabandanotherex-soldier,LieutenantGeneralHSPanag(retd).Iamwillingtobetthatthequestions they asked lastweek are beingasked in Army towns across India.Whensoldiersarebatteredtodeath,ques-tionswillbeasked.

Questions,questions,questions

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

IN THE second millennium of theCommonEra,EnglandandFrancefoughteach other off and on for 800 years —across the English Channel, in Europe, inIndia, andNorthAmerica. The resultwasadraw, thougheach thinks itwon. Then,in the twentieth century, they madeEntenteCordiale— analliancewhichhasstayed forahundredyearsandmore.IndiaandChinahavebeeninstand-off

hostility since the late 1950swhen Indiadiscovered the Chinese incursion intoAksaiChin, ‘a regionwherenotabladeof

grass grew’ as Jawaharlal Nehru told theLokSabha,hopingtoavoidconflict.Hisat-tempts at negotiating with Zhou Enlaifailed.ThenationwantedNehrutoact.Hegave orders to the Army to throw theChineseout.Weknowtheresult.India and China are the two oldest

civilisations in Asia, the only two in theworld which have lasted fourmillenniaor more. They were never at war witheach other until 60 years ago. You couldblameforeigners—theBritish—forpro-voking this division. It was themove byBritish Raj in the first decade of the lastcenturywhichmadeTibetcedeterritorytoBritish India.Chinarefusedtosign theIndo-Tibet Treaty.

India’s territorial boundaries weredrawnbytheBritish.BeforePartition,theDurand line in the Northwest and theMcMahonline intheNorth,andthentheRadcliffe lines in thewest and in Bengalin 1947. All our borders have foreignnames.WhatIndia’sborderswerebeforetheBritishRulewasconfirmedin1857,nooneknows.China has a different history. It had a

singleState—theChineseEmpirethroughthe20 century, andeven somecenturiesbefore, but with breaks. The last rulerswereforeignbutsettleddownsomewhatliketheMughals.Inthe17thcentury,IndiaandChinawerethetwomostprosperouscountries,withChinaasingleEmpire.

China’s defeat by the British in theOpiumwars forced them to concede ar-eas intheirportcities toWesternPowersasconcessionswhichtheyresented.Chinahad to cede Hong Kong to the British.Tibetwentautonomous.Since China threw over theManchu

rulers and had its own government in1911, ithaswantedtoregain its lost terri-tory.ChiangKai-shekrefusedtorecognisethe Indo-Tibet Treaty.WhenNehru con-vened the Asian Relations Conference in1946, the Chinese delegation refused tosit if theTibetdelegationwasrecognised.There was no difference betweenChiangandMao.This is a long battle, normally dor-

mant but occasionally flaring up. Thereis no solution which will satisfy bothsidesaseachnation thinks thedisputedterritory belongs to it. India cannotsuffer loss of territory anymore than ithasalreadylost, includingwhatPakistanhas given away from its occupied bitof Kashmir.The Chinese feel that two centuries

sincetheOpiumwarsignalleditsdecline,it isnowapowerfulnation. Itwantstobeon top, theMiddle Earth— as it believesit was. India neverwas a single Empire;noteventheMughals ruledoverall of it.Thereisnoconceivablesolutiontothis

problem. Indiamustdefend itsownpeo-pleasmuchas territory.

India vs China: No easy solutionsOut ofMYMINDMEGHNADDESAI

AREINDIAandChinaatthebeginningofanewandcontentiousera?So it seems.Inchapter1,Chinesetroopsstealthilyin-trudeda fewkilometres into Indian ter-ritory—without being detected— andoccupiedkeypointsintheGalwanValley,HotSpringsandPangongTso. The face-offonMay5-6broughttolighttheintru-sion.Inchapter2,onthenightof June15-16, Chinese troops clashedwith Indiantroops leaving 20 men dead on theIndianside;80soldierswereinjuredand10 were taken prisoner and releasedon June18.The India-China border— or Line of

ActualControl(LAC)—hasbeensimmer-ingsincethe1962war,butthisisthefirstoccasionsince1975whenliveswerelost.To hold the peace for 45 years was nomean achievement. Under MrModi’swatch, that tenuous peace has beenshattered.

A FALSE NARRATIVEThe narrative that theModi govern-

menthadassiduouslybuilt inthe lastsixyears was absolutely false. ThatMrNarendraModi, thenthechiefminis-ter of Gujarat, was a favourite of theChinese,who hosted himon four occa-sions; that MrModi, unlike any otherprimeminister, visited China on five oc-casions,underscoringthespecialrelation-shipbetweenthetwocountries;andthatMrModi andMrXi had a special chem-istrybetweenthemasreflectedinWuhan

(2018) andMahabalipuram (2019)—allthesewerepartofthefalsenarrative.ThebubbleburstonJune15-16.After the bloody confrontation and

lossof lives, India remainedconciliatory.TheMEAput out aweak statement thatread“...aviolentface-offhappenedasare-sult of an attemptby theChinese side tounilaterally change the status quo... allIndianactivitieswereonitssideoftheLACanditisexpectedthesameofChina”.TheChinesecounterwasswiftandaggressive.The PLA said “the sovereignty of theGalwan Valley region has always be-longed to China” and China’s ForeignMinister admonished India to “stop allprovocative actions........The Indian sidemustnotunderestimateChina’sfirmwilltosafeguardterritorial integrity.”

INTELLIGENCEFAILURE

There aremany theories aboutwhyChinaacted in themanner it did inMaythisyear.Thescaleoftheintrusionpointstocarefulplanningoverseveralmonths— maybe going back to August 2019whentheModigovernmentchangedtheconstitutional status of Jammu &Kashmir. The government either over-lookedorbrushedaside(morelikelythelatter)thefactthatChinahasbeeninoc-cupationofalargetractof landinLadakhoverwhich it claimssovereignty; that itis building theBelt andRoadconnect to

PakistanthroughGilgit-Baltistanwhichis a part of Ladakh; and that it had ob-jectedtoIndiaconstructingafeederroadto linkwith theDBO roadon the Indianside of the LAC. China must also havetakennoteof theHomeMinister’sstate-mentthatAksaiChinwillbepartof India.It isasoberingthoughtthatIndiadid

notsuspectChina’sintentions.Ifanyonemusttaketheblamesquarelyfor India’scomplacency, it is our external intelli-gence agencies aswell as defence intel-ligenceagencieswhichhavebootsontheground inLadakh. Ina sense, it is anun-forgivablerepetitionofKargil,andespe-cially inexplicable in an age of satellitesand images and photographs beamedregularly fromspace.Thedifferencebe-tween Kargil and the Galwan Valley isthat the adversary is not a bumblingPakistanbutawilyChina.InDepsang(2013), Indiataughtales-

son to China andChinawithdrewcom-pletely. InDoklam(Bhutan,2017),Chinalearned a valuable lesson about India’sstrengths andweaknesses. India cele-brated thewithdrawal of someChinesetroopsfromthetri-junction,butmeeklyacquiesced in the structures built byChina on the Doklam plateau, and theChinese are ensconced till date in theDoklamplateau!

MR MODI’S ERRORTheChineseareapplyingtheDoklam

lesson to the Galwan Valley and will,

eventually, apply it to Pangong Tso andthe area between Finger 4 (the LAC ac-cording to China) and Finger 8 (the LACaccordingtoIndia).Therewasanoppor-tunity to avoid the Galwan Valley loss.Immediately after the CorpsCommanders-levelnegotiationsonJune6,MrModishouldhavedialledMrXiandpersuadedMrXi to agree to a commonreadoutbybothsidesendorsingtheout-come of the negotiations. Maybe thetragedy of June 15-16 would not havehappened.ItwasagraveerroronthepartofMrModi.MrModi’s dream that the 21st cen-

turywillbeaChina-India ledAsiancen-tury is practically over. It is obvious thatMrModididnot takeacorrectmeasureof Mr Xi.WhetherMr Xi took a correctmeasureofMrModi isamatterof spec-ulation.Thetwoleaderscannotbeclosefriends again. They can still do businessandsignone-step-at-a-timeagreementsin themanner thatMr Narasimha Rao,Mr Vajpayee and DrManmohan SinghdidwiththeircounterpartsinChinaandkeep the peace on the 4,056-kilometreborder that includes theLAC.Itiscertainthattherewillbenomore

‘summits’or‘swings’. Itwillbejusthard-nosed negotiations. It will be useful forMr Modi to remember what SaintThiruvalluvarsaidover2,000yearsago:“Fate’s strength,one’s strength, theadver-sary’s strength, allies’ strength, weigh allthese and decide your course of action”(Kural 471).

Dance of death

Mr Modi’s dream that the21st century will be a China-India led Asian century is

practically over. It is obviousthat Mr Modi did not take a

correct measure of Mr Xi.Whether Mr Xi took a

correct measure of Mr Modiis a matter of speculation.The two leaders cannot be

close friends again. They canstill do business and sign

one-step-at-a-timeagreements in the manner

that Mr Narasimha Rao, MrVajpayee and Dr Manmohan

Singh did with theircounterparts in China

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

IN MARCH this year, I was shooting inSouth Africa for my film KakababurProtyaborton. Itwasabigunit,around35-40people.AroundMarch15,as informa-tion about the coronavirus started flow-ingin,ourteamgrewtense.Inthenext48hours, theworld changed— flightswerestopped,lockdownswereimposed,therewas a lot of uncertainty. We somehowmanaged tickets to return to India onMarch19, and theentire crewwasput in14-dayhomequarantine.Ishiftedtothefourthfloorofmyhouse

inKolkataanddidnotmeetanybody.Myfoodwassenttomebylift. Iwasdoingthedishes and all other chores onmy own. Iam not somebody who spends a lot oftimeonthephone,butItried.Iwouldtalktomy family,my son, who had returnedfrom abroad too, through video calls. Attimes, I gotvery lonely, evenupset, I onlyhadmyphone.After14days,whenIcamedownfrom

the fourth floor of my house, it felt like Iwasreturningfromanexile.Bythen,bothourChiefMinisterandthePrimeMinisterhad announced the lockdown, and sincethen it has definitely not been a holiday,especiallywiththecrisiscontinuingtoun-foldaroundtheworld.Ihavestartedwakinguplate.Waking

upearlyandbeingathomemadethedaystoo long. To change mysleep cycle, after finishingworkInowwatchshowsonNetflix till 4-5 in themorn-ing. When I wake up late,the evening comes sooner.It feels like the day hasended.Many people inmyteam also feel the sameway. They want to maketheirdaysshorter.AlongwiththeCovid-19

crisis,mystateisalsorecov-ering from the devastationcausedbycycloneAmphan.We are fighting back all ofthis, but it is not a healthysituation. Even ourmentalstate is not very healthy.Everybodyistryingtodotheirbestforoth-ers,but thereare limitationsAftermy shoot in South Africa, I was

supposedtostartafilmwithShiboprosadMukherjee and Nandita Das. And then,fromApril, IwasslatedtoworkonaHindiseriesbyVikramadityaMotwane(directorofSacredGames,Udaan). Itwasanimpor-tant project for me, but we can’t shootnow.However,we are trying to keep thewheels turning. Frommypersonalman-

ager tomy sister, who looks at the busi-ness side of my production company,everybodyhas come together in this dif-ficulttimetomakethesituation‘normal’.The time at home has alsomademe re-alisewhat is important. Ihavestarted fo-cusing on my health, reading scriptswhich have been lying around for long,

and discussing ideas withmyteam.Oneday,Igotacallfrom

Mr Amitabh Bachchan tobe a part of a ‘made-at-home’shortfilm,Family, tospread awareness aboutthe importance of stayingat homeduring the coron-avirus pandemic. Actorssuch as Mohanlal,Rajinikanthwerepart of it.I agreed to do it. I realisedthat in such times peoplehaveexpectations fromus,from celebrities. Whileshooting the videos fromour homes, all of us spokeabout how grateful we

wereforgettingachancetoact,tobepartof a shoot, even if itwas in front of amo-bile phone. Later, as part of an idea con-ceptualisedbyourCM,MamataBanerjee,I shotasongtohelpraise funds for juniortechniciansof our film industry.Theentertainmentindustryacrossthe

worldisgoingthroughatoughtime.Filmsaremadewithlargecrewsandareconsid-ered successful onlywhen a large crowdwatchesitinthetheatres.Unlessthereisa

miracle, no one can say with certaintywhenthatwillhappen.Butyes,wehavetofightback.InBengal,thesilverliningisthatfilmingoftelevisionshowshasbegun.Filmshoots,however,willtakesometimesincewe are directly linked to cinema halls—malls have openedbut not theatres. And,even if cinemahalls open their gates,willlargecrowdsrushtobuyticketsagain?Duringthelockdown,onlinestreaming

platformsandwebserieshavegainedmorepopularity.Theyhavealotofpotentialandmany international companies are nowcoming to India to set upOTTplatforms.Thishasalsogivenaplatformtomanytal-ented actors and technicians.Having saidthat,cinemawillstay.Ithasaspecialmagicwhichunfoldsonthebigscreen.Itcannotbecomparedtowatchingcontentinisolation.AstelevisionshootsresumeinBengal,

for the first time in India there has beenan insurance guarantee for actors andtechnicians. Talks are now on for insur-ancecoverageinfilmstoo.AsperourChiefMinister’s instructions, we can beginshooting any time and I can’t wait to re-turn. Imiss the smell of the set, the cam-era,myco-actors, technicians,mymake-upvan.Forthepast38years, Ihavespentall my timewith these people, in thosesurroundings. I need togetback to them,tomyaudience.

Theauthor is aNationalAward-winningactor, directorandproducer fromWest

Bengal.Hehasbeenpart of over300 films.

As told toAmitavaChakraborty

‘I miss the cameras, smellof sets, can’t wait to return’

RIDING HIGH, BUT RIDER

INMODI 1.0, Rajnath Singhwas fairly in-visible though he held the key HomeAffairsportfolio andwas the senior-mostCabinetminister.ArunJaitleywasusuallyinthespotlightongovernmentissuesandAmitShahonthepoliticalfront.AtthestartofModi2.0,AmitShahasHomeMinisterprojected a larger than life image. But inFebruary this year, Shah seemed to havegoneonatemporaryhiatusandSinghdidmost of the talking on behalf of the gov-ernment, whether on the lockdown, themigrant problem, the India-China con-frontation or India-Nepal relations.Political observers were surprised thatSinghwas even included in theGroup ofMinistersontheCovid-19crisis.Byvirtueof his seniority, Singh automaticallychaired the key committee, though epi-demicmanagementfallsundertheHomeMinistry.Singhmaybepoliticallyfarmorerelevanttodaythanbefore,butthedangerof being pushed upwards is that he canalsobeaconvenientscapegoat.

PAWARFUL RUMBLINGSTHE outsourcing of the administrationof Maharashtra to bureaucrats by ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeray has infuri-atedhisalliancepartnersandsomeinhisparty.TheCMisseldomtobeseenathisoffice or official residence, and is notavailable on the phone after 11 pm. HeclearsfilesonlyaftertheChiefSecretary’sapproval.FrustratedCongressstate lead-ers may make the most noise but theman towatch is Sharad Pawar. The NCPleader has objected more than once tothe CM’s overcautious bureaucratic ap-proach. For instance, the CMwanted todelaytheresumptionofdomestic flightsto Mumbai, hence the contradictorymessages emanating fromMumbai toairlines for thefirst twodaysafter flightsstarted. While Pawar believes the onlyway to revive the economy is to lift thelockdown, Thackeray favours the bu-reaucracy’s pleas for amore gradual re-turntonormalcy.Thackeray’s lackofpo-litical leadership is seen in his inabilityto engage with Mumbai’s industry,which should have played a major roleinorganisingrelief andhealthcare.AftertheNisarga cyclone, Thackeraywent ona single aerial survey of Raigad district,while the 79-year old Pawar, a cancersurvivor,madeagruellingroadtripof thedevastated region.

CRYING WOLF

Rajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot’soperation ‘Wolf Wolf’, where he cartedCongressMLAstotheJWMarriottresort,Jaipur,foroveraweekwasnotbecausehefeared a threat from the BJP in engineer-ingdefectionsandsabotagingtheelectionof the Congress’s twoRajya Sabha candi-dates.UnlikeGujaratandMadhyaPradesh,where the Congress is vulnerable, thenumbersinRajasthanarestackedsquarelyin favour of the Congress. There are 126MLAs, 107 from theCongress alone, sup-porting the government. The Congressneeded just 101 votes for both its RajyaSabha candidates to romphome. Gehlotlaid out an elaborate game plan— sum-moningallpartyMLAstotheShivVilasho-tel on the pretext that hewas holding ameeting; keeping the MLAs thereovernight;andthenextdaysendingthemhometopacktheirclothesashewassend-ing them on aweek’s sojourn. If Gehlotwas truly suspicious of hisMLAs hewashardly likely tohavegiven themadvancenotice! The dramawas orchestrated byGehlot simply to paint himself as theCongresssaviourwiththeDelhihighcom-mand andundercut his rival, Deputy CMSachinPilot,by insinuatingdisloyalty.

WHAT’S IN A NAMEIAS officer V K Pandian has beenOdishaChiefMinisterNaveenPatnaik’sright-handman since 2011whenhewas his privatesecretary.Pandian,infact,issopowerfulthatheisoftendescribedasthede-factorulerofthe state. But themiddle-rank IAS officercouldnothaveremainedalowlyPSforever.Hewaspromoted to thepost of secretarylastyearandgiventhefancifuldesignationof ‘Secretary of 5 Ts’. The Ts stand forTransparency, TeamWork, Technology,Timeliness andTransformation. Aworka-holic, Pandian starts his day at 4 amandkeepsaneyeonthefunctioningofallmin-istriesonthegroundasthisfallswithintheambitof hisworkdescription.Hesits inatallmajor governmentmeetings anddoesmostof thetalking.

AGE NO BARMembers of Delhi’s prestigious IndiaInternational Centre were delighted tolearnthat thecentrewasre-openingafterthe lockdown. TheelderlymemberswhoconsiderthemselvestheCapital’sintellec-tualeliteoftenspendtheentiredaybrows-ing the library or holding addas over tea,coffeeandsnacks.Butthere-openingcamewitharider.Thoseover65wereadvisedtostayhome.Themeanageof themembersisaround60.Take,forexample,theIIClife-timetrustees.SoliSorabjeeis90,NNVohra,84,KapilaVatsyayan,91,BNSrikrishna,79,andShyamSaranis73.Itwassubsequentlymade clear that the age restrictionwasmerelyanadvisory.

insideTRACKCOOMIKAPOOR

After threemonths, shooting isonforaBengaliTVshowinKolkata.ParthaPaul

In Bengal, filming oftelevision shows hasbegun. Film shoots,however, will takesome time since weare linked to cinemahalls — malls haveopened but nottheatres. And, evenif cinema halls open,will crowds rush tobuy tickets again?

Jaipur

10THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchOPEC+CUTBOOSTSOILNew York: Oil prices rose Friday but pulled back sharply from earlyhighs on concerns that continued spread of the novel coronaviruscould stall the US’ economic rebound. Brent crude settled up 68 centsa barrel at $42.19. US crude settled at $39.75, up 91 cents.REUTERS

MARQUARTER: LOSSOF`697CR, TOTAL INCOMERISESTO`16,388.32CR

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI, JUNE20

AIDEDBYadecline inbadloansand lower provisioning, publicsector bank Punjab NationalBank (PNB) has posted a lowerstandalone loss of Rs 697 crorefor the fourth quarter endedMarch31,2020asagainsta lossof Rs 4,750 crore in January-Marchperiodof 2018-19.The bank has reported a di-

vergenceinnon-performingas-sets (NPAs) atRs2,617crore forthe year endedMarch31, 2019.While the bank announcedNPAs of Rs 78,472 crore for theyear, the RBI’s assessment putthe figure at Rs 81,089 crore.Accordingly, the adjusted lossfor the year works out to Rs11,335 crore for March 2019 asagainst a loss of Rs 9,975 croreestimatedby thebankearlier.Thebankalso reportedadi-

vergence in provisions at Rs2,091 crore forMarch2019.The bank’s gross NPAs de-

clinedto14.21percentof grossadvances at the end of March2020, as against 15.50 per centin March 2019. In absolutevalue, gross NPAs stood at Rs73,478.76 crore at the end of2019-20, lower than Rs78,472.70 crore reported in theprevious fiscal. Similarly, netNPAs were valued at Rs27,218.89 crore as against Rs30,037.66 crore.

The bank’s total incomeduring theMarch quarter roseto Rs 16,388.32 crore from Rs14,725.13 crore in the year-agoperiod. The provisioning forbad loans during the Marchquarter almost halved to Rs4,618.27 crore.The bank has done the cash

recoveryofRs10,000croredur-ing the fiscal, while containingthe freshslippages toRs20,000

crore.Thebank isexpectingtherecoveryofRs6,000-8,000croreduringthecurrentfiscalandre-covery will gathermomentumfromthethirdquarteronwards.Net NPAs also came down to5.78percentasagainst6.56percent in theyear-agoperiod.OntheCOVIDpandemic, the

banksaid,“thesituationcontin-ues to be uncertain and thebankisevaluatingthesituationon ongoing basis. The majoridentified challenges for thebankwould arise fromerodingcashflowsandextendedwork-ing capital cycles. The bank isgearing itself onall the fronts tomeet these challenges.”“Themanagement believes

that no adjustments are re-quiredinthefinancial resultsasit does not significantly impactthe current financial year.Despite these events and con-ditions, therewouldnotbeanysignificant impactonthebank’sresults in futureandgoingcon-cern assumptions as atpresentlymade,” it said.

PNBsaid theamalgamationof Oriental Bank of Commerceand United Bank of India intoPNBhasbecomeeffective fromApril1,2020.Thebanknowhasa network of 10,910 branchesand13,530ATMsin India. Ithasacustomerbaseof17crore,de-positsofRs10.71lakhcroreandadvances of Rs 7.62 lakh crore.DuringthefinancialyearendedMarch 2020. the governmentinfusedRs16,091crore intothebank. The government holdingin the bank has increased to83.19 per cent as onMarch 31,2020.If provisioning for NPAs as-

sessedbytheRBIexceeds10percent of the reported profit be-fore provisions and contingen-cies or additional gross NPAsidentifiedbytheRBIexceeds15percentof thepublished incre-mentalgrossNPAsfortherefer-enceperiod, thenthebanksarerequiredtodisclosedivergencefrom prudential norms on in-comerecognition,assetsclassi-fication andprovisioning.

BRIEFLYDieselhitsrecordhighNewDelhi:Diesel price onSaturdayhitarecordhighaf-ter rateswere hiked by 61paise per litrewhile petrolpricewasup51paise.

PMGKP:42crgotassistanceNew Delhi: Over 42 crorepeople have received Rs65,454 crore in assistanceunder the PradhanMantriGarib Kalyan Package, theFinanceMinistrysaid.

SuggestionstoamendMVrulesNewDelhi:Suggestionshavebeeninvitedfromstakehold-ers toamendthemotorve-hicle rules, thegovernmentsaidonSaturday.

PiramalPharmaacquisitionNew Delhi: PiramalEnterprises; pharma solu-tionsbusinesssaidithasen-tered intoapactwithG&WLaboratories to acquire itssolidoraldosagedrugprod-uctmanufacturingfacilityfor$17.5million.

GovtinvitetoglobalvesselsNewDelhi:Thegovernmenton Saturday said it has in-vitedglobalvesselownerstoflag their ships in India totakeadvantageof theMakeinIndiapolicy.

PawahisBMWGroupIndiaprezNew Delhi: BMW has ap-pointedVikramPawahpres-identof BMWGroup India,effectiveAugust1,2020.PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, JUNE20

THE COUNTRY’S forex reservesjumpedsubstantiallyby$5.942billion to touch a life-time highof $507.644 billion in theweekto June 12, helped by a signifi-cant jump in foreign currencyassets (FCA), the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) data showed.In the previousweek ended

June5, the foreignexchangere-serves had crossed the half-a-trillionmark for the first time,after it surged by a massive$8.22 billion and reached$501.703 billion, according totheweeklydatareleasedbytheRBI.In the reporting week, the

foreigncurrencyassets,amajorcomponent of the overall re-serves, rose by $5.106 billion to$468.737 billion. Expressed indollar terms, the foreign cur-rencyassetsincludetheeffectofappreciation or depreciation ofnon-US units like the euro,pound and yen held in the for-eignexchange reserves.Accordingtoeconomists,the

increaseinforeignexchangere-servesisduetohighercapital in-flows and also due to the nar-rowing current account deficitas trade activities have come toa standstill due to the disrup-tions caused by the COVID-19pandemic.The gold reserves in the re-

portingweek rose by $821mil-lion to $33.173 billion, the RBIdata showed.The special drawing rights

withtheInternationalMonetaryFund (IMF) was up by $12mil-lion to$1.454billion. Thecoun-

try’s reserve position with theIMF also rose by $3 million to$4.280billionduringthereport-ingweek, thedata showed.Therisingforexreservesgive

a lot of comfort to the govern-ment and the RBI inmanagingIndia’s external and internal fi-nancial issues at a time wheneconomicgrowthmaycontractin 2020-21. It’s a big cushion inthe event of any crisis on theeconomic front and enough tocover the import bill of thecountryforayear.Therisingre-serves have also helped the ru-pee to strengthen against thedollar. Reserves provide a levelof confidence tomarkets that acountry can meet its externalobligations, demonstrate thebackingofdomesticcurrencybyexternal assets, assist the gov-ernment inmeeting its foreignexchange needs and externaldebtobligationsandmaintainareserve fornationaldisastersoremergencies.Experts say that in times of

dwindling economic activityand growth, the rising forex re-serves provide a lot of strengthas they now cover one year ofimport expenditure. WITH PTI

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI, JUNE20

THE NATIONAL Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) hasruled that liquidationprocessofacompanyundertheInsolvencyandBankruptcyCode(IBC)holdsprecedence over outcomeof anarbitrationproceeding.A three-member Bench,

headedby JusticeVenugopalM,ruled that just because BharatHeavy Electricals Limited hadwonanarbitrationawardagainstSuranaPower,whichwasunder-goingliquidation,theprocesswouldnotbestopped to favour it.TheChennaiBenchofNational CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT)had earlier ruled infavourofBHEL.

WhatdoestheNCLATordermean?Initsjudgment,theNCLATset

aside an order of Chennai NCLTon the grounds that BHEL’schargeoverSuranaPowerassetswereequaltotheother10finan-cial creditors, and therefore itcouldnotbegivenprecedence.BHEL’s claim that it the first

rightovertheassetsandproper-tiesofSuranaPower,waswrongas all other creditors had giventheassenttoliquidatethecorpo-ratedebtor, theNCLATheld.

TheNCLAT’sjudgmentessen-tially holds that if a corporatedebtorisbeingliquidated,acred-itor can not claim superiorityover other secured creditors inthe same band, and that every-onemust receive their fair sharebyfollowingthewaterfallmech-anismof liquidation.

Whatisthewaterfallmechanismforliquidation?As the name suggests, the

waterfall mechanism underInsolvencyandBankruptcyCodegivesprioritytosecuredfinancialcreditors over unsecured finan-

cial creditors. Themechanism saysthat if a company isbeing liquidated,thesesecuredfinan-cial creditors mustbe first paid the fullextent of their ad-mittedclaim,before

anysaleproceedingsaredistrib-uted to any other unsecuredcreditor.Under Section 53 of the IBC,

which deals with waterfallmechanism, the topmostprior-ity, however, is given tocosts re-lated to the liquidation processandduesofworkmenofthecor-porate debtor. The dues of theworkmen include all theirsalaries, provident, pension, re-tirement and gratuity fund, aswell as any other fundsmain-tained for the welfare of the

workmen.

WhydidBHELobjecttoliquidationofSuranaPower?State-run BHEL, whichwas

alsoasecuredcreditorforSuranaPower, hadwon an arbitrationaward against the company. Itgave BHEL complete andundis-puted rights over all the assets,equipment, goods lying at thesite of the power plant. It alsogave BHEL title rights over thefinished and unfinished build-ings.BHELobjectedtotheliquida-

tionprocessasitheldonly26.24per cent share by value in theSuranaPower,whichisbeingliq-uidated. Going by thewaterfallmechanism, though it wouldhave got themoney over otherunsecured creditors, its sharewouldcomedownbya lot.The arbitration award route

would have, on the other hand,given it complete rights over allproperties, assets and equip-ment,whileleavinglittletonoth-ingforothercreditors.Though the NCLT Chennai

bench had held that BHELwasright in claiming priority overother creditors, theNCLAT heldthat in order to claim priority,BHELshouldhavehadatleast60per cent sharevalue. Since itdidnot have the same, it would beunfairtostoptheliquidationpro-ceedingsbecauseofonedissent-ingcreditor.

COVID IMPACT

How central banks aretrying to soften the blowCentral banks worldwide have slashed interest rates inrecentmonths, providing in some cases unprecedentedamounts of stimulus to help soften the blow to the globaleconomy from the coronavirus pandemic and to keepmarkets functioning.

WHYISTHISIMPORTANT?Thecoronaviruspandemichasputcountries inatightspotassubsequentlockdownshavehamperedtaxcollections,businessesandlivelihoods.Governmentshavetriedtokickstarttheireconomiesbyannouncingstimuluspackages.However,centralbankshaveplayedakeyroletoo.Theyensurestabilityof interestandexchangeratestoprovideadequateliquidityforproductivesectorsandensureadequatesupplyofcurrencyinthesetoughtimes.

THEUS■BuyingunlimitedquantitiesofUSTreasuries,mortgage-backedandagency■ securities,buyingmunicipalbonds,corporatebondsandETFs,anddollarswaplinessetup$2.3trillion in loanarrangementsfor localgovernments,smallandmid-sizedbusinesses

EUROZONE750billioneuros inadditionalassets

■Nochangetomainpurchases,takingthetotaltoabout1.1trillioneurosthisyear,after initiallyadding120billioneurostoits

existingasset-purchaseprogramme

BRITAIN■Willbuyinvestment-gradecommercialpaperwithmaturitiesupto12months■ Increasesbond-buyingprogrammeby100billionpounds

CHINA■ Lowers1-yearmedium-termlendingfacility(MLF)rateonloans■ Cutstheamountofcashthatsmallbanksmustholdasreservesby50bpsto6.50%,releasingaround400billionyuan

Source:Reuters

INDIA■Targetedlong-termrepooperationsandotherregulatorymeasuresforbanksworthupto500billionrupees■Cutreversereporate40bpsto3.35%,opensaspecial liquidityfacilityofuptoRs500billiontohelpMFscopewithliquiditystrain

■Centralbankshaveresortedtocuttingbenchmarkpolicyratestoinfuseliquidity intotheireconomies.Nationshavealsocutcapitaladequacyrequirementsforbanksandannouncedmoratoriumsonloanrepayments

Expressedindollarterms, foreigncurrencyassets includeeffectofappreciationordepreciationofnon-USunits liketheeuro,poundandyenheld intheforeignexchangereserves

PRESSTRUSTOF INDIADHAKA, JUNE20

IN A bid to woo Bangladesh,Chinahasprovidedahugetradeboost to the country by an-nouncing tariff exemption for97 per cent of Bangladeshiproducts effective from July 1.The decision has come one

month after Bangladesh PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina andChinese President Xi Jinpingheld a discussion to upgradetheir bilateral relations duringtheCOVID-19pandemic.

The Ministry of ForeignAffairs of Bangladesh an-nounced on Friday that 97 per

cent of items would be ex-emptedof Chinese tariffs.Aspart of the government’s

economic diplomacy and theoutcome of exchange of lettersbetweenBangladeshandChina,Tariff Commission of theChinese State Council issued anoticerecentlyongrantingzerotreatment to97per cent of tar-iff products of Bangladesh, theDhaka Tribune reported, quot-ing theministry’s statement.With this announcement, a

totalof8,256Bangladeshiprod-uctswill comeunderthe97percent of products thatwould beexempted from tariff.Currently,3095Bangladeshi

productsenjoyduty-freeaccessto Chinese market under Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement(APTA). With the new an-

nouncement, 97 per cent ofBangladeshi products will jointhis zero-tariff club from July 1that raised the numbers ofBangladeshiproductswithzeroduty access to Chinese marketto 8,256, the report said.During the Asian-African

Conference which took placethisweekin Indonesia,Chinesepresident Xi announced thatChinawill grant duty freemar-ket access for Least DevelopedCountries (LDC) 97 per cent ofthe tariff lineswithin a year.This beneficial market ac-

cess scheme will be appliedonly for imports fromLDCsthathave diplomatic relationswithChina. China’s tariff exemptionis expected to help BangladeshcushiontheeconomicimpactoftheCOVID-19pandemic.

■PunjabNationalBankhasreportedadivergence innon-performingassets(NPAs)atRs2,617crore fortheyearendedMarch2019.While thebankannouncedNPAsofRs78,472crore fortheyear, theRBI’sassessmentput thefigureatRs81,089crore■Thebank’sgrossNPAsdeclinedto14.21percentofgrossadvancesat theendof

March2020,asagainst15.50percent inMarch2019■Thebankhasdone thecash recoveryof Rs10,000croreduring the fiscal,while containing the freshslippages toRs20,000crore. Thebank isexpecting the recoveryofRs6,000-8,000croreduring the currentfiscal year

GROSSNPAsFALLTO14.21%OFGROSSADVANCES

Aviation Secy:Limits onairfares maybe extendedbeyond Aug 24

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI, JUNE20

THE GOVERNMENT-IMPOSEDupper and lower limits on air-faresmay be extended beyondAugust24dependinguponhowthe situation turns out, AviationSecretary P S Kharola said onSaturday.The government resumed

domesticpassenger flights fromMay25afternearlytwomonthsof suspension to combat thecoronavirusoutbreak,butplacedlower and upper limits on air-fares depending upon the flightduration.It had said on May 21 that

theselimitswouldbeinplaceforaperiodof threemonths.“Dependingonhowthesitu-

ation turns out, the fare bandmay have to adjusted beyondthat (August 24) also. But rightnow,it isonlyforthreemonths,”Kharola said at a press confer-encehere. Internationalpassen-ger flights continue to remainsuspendedinthecountry.However, the government

startedVandeBharatMissiononMay 6 to help stranded peoplereachtheirdestinationsthroughspecial flights.AviationMinister Hardeep

SinghPurisaidattheconferencethatduringphase3andphase4of themission,privatedomesticairlines have been approved tooperate750internationalflightsto repatriate people strandedamidthecoronaviruspandemic.Commercialflightoperations

had been shut sinceMarch25.

REUTERSNEWDELHI,JUNE20

AMAZON.COM INChas securedclearance to deliver alcohol inWestBengal,accordingtoadocu-ment seenbyReuters, signallingtheU.S. e-commercegiant’s firstforayintothecountry’smulti-bil-lion-dollar sector.In a notice onFriday, West Bengal StateBeverages Corp, the authorisedagencytocarryoutonlineretailofliquor trade in the state, saidAmazonwasamong thecompa-nies foundtobeeligible forregis-trationwithauthorities.Alibaba-backedIndiangrocery

ventureBigBasket has alsowonapproval todeliver alcohol in thestate,thenoticesaid.

Amazonhas been invited tosign amemorandumof under-standingwith the state, said thenotice,whichhasnotpreviouslybeenreported.Amazondidnot respond toa

request for comment. BigBasketalsodidnot respond toa request

forcomment.Amazon’sinterestindeliveringalcohol inWestBengalmarks a boldmove tomake in-roads intoamarket that isworth$27.2 billion, according to esti-mates by IWSR DrinksMarketAnalysis.Over theyears,Amazonhasexpandeditse-commereop-erationsinIndiaasmoreandmorepeoplegoonlinetoshopforevery-thing fromgroceries toelectron-ics. Thecompanyhascommitted$6.5billionininvestmentsinIndia,oneof itskeygrowthmarkets.India’s top two food-delivery

startups, Swiggy and Zomato,starteddeliveringalcoholinsomecitieslastmonth,astheylookedtocash in on the high demand forboozeasmanystatescomeoutofa lockdownaimedattacklingthecoronavirus.

EPFO records 1.33 lakhnew enrolments in AprilPRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,JUNE20

THENETnewenrolmentswithre-tirement fund body EPFOrecordedat1.33lakhduringApril2020,accordingtoitspayrolldata,providing an employment per-spective in the formal sector im-pacted by COVID-19-inducedlockdown.Thegovernmenthadimposed

lockdownfromMarch25tofightCOVID-19inthecountry.Theprovisionalpayrolldatare-

leasedbytheEPFOlastmonthhadearlier showed that thenetnewenrollmentsdippedto5.72lakhinMarchthisyearcomparedto10.21lakhinFebruary,2020.Thenetnewenrollmentswith

the EPFOhovers around 7 lakheverymonthonanaverage.

However,during2019-20,thenumber of net new subscribersrose to 78.58 lakh compared to61.12lakhrecordedbyEmployees’Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) during2018-19, showedthelatestpayrolldatareleasedonSaturday.EPFOhas been releasing the

payroll data of new subscriberssinceApril2018,coveringaperiodstartingfromSeptember2017.Thedataalsoshowedthatdur-

ing September 2017-April 2020period, the number of net newsubscriberswasaround1.56crore.Thenetnewenrolmentswith

EPFO was 15.52 lakh duringSeptember2017-March2018.EPFO said thepayroll data is

provisionalasupdationofemploy-ees’ records is a continuousprocessandgetsupdated in sub-sequentmonths.

COVIDEFFECT

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,JUNE20

THEAIRPORTSAuthorityof India(AAI) has given three moremonthstotheAdanigrouptotakeoverthemanagementofthreepri-vatised airports of Ahmedabad,Mangaluru andLucknowdue totheCOVID-19scenario,accordingto theCivil AviationMinistry onSaturday.Thismeans theAdani group,

whichwasexpected to takeovertheoperations,managementanddevelopmentofthethreeairportsbyAugust 12, cannowtakeovertheairportsbyNovember12.?“On the advent of COVID-19

scenario, AEL (Adani EnterprisesLimited)has cited forcemajeureand filed for extension inMarch2020andsoughttimetillFebruary15,2021(totakeoverthethreeair-ports),”saidthestatementbytheCivil Aviationministry. “AAI hasagreedtotheextensionoftimeofadditionalthreemonthstoachieveCommercial Operation Date(COD) by the concessionaire inviewof forcemajeureonaccountofCOVID-19,”itadded.

Fall inbadloans, lowerprovisioninghelpPNBcutlosses;reports`2,617crNPAdivergence

What does recent NCLAT ruling— liquidation of a firm underIBC holds precedence — mean?

Rising foreign currencyassets propel forexreserves to record high

■Amazonhasbeeninvited to signamemorandumofunderstandingwiththe state, said thenotice byWestBengalStateBeveragesCorp.

‘AMAZONSETTOSIGNMoU’

‘Amazon, BigBasket get nod forliquor delivery in West Bengal’

Trump intendsto nominatesDeven Parekhto IDFC Board

LALITKJHAWASHINGTON,JUNE20

USPRESIDENTDonaldTrumphasannouncedhis intentiontonom-inate leading Indian-Americanglobal venture capitalist DevenParekhasamemberof theBoardof Directors of an independentagency of the government thatprovidesfinancingforprivatede-velopmentprojects.Thenominationof Parekh to

be a member of the Board ofDirectors of the InternationalDevelopment Finance Corp-orationwillbefor threeyears.HeistheMDatsoftwareinvestmentfirmInsightPartners.PTI

Atotalof 8,256products is set tobenefit fromthis

PRESENT STATUS

■Currently,3095Bangladeshiproductsenjoyduty-freeaccess toChinesemarketunderAsia-PacificTradeAgreement.Withthenewannouncement,97percentofBangladeshiproductswill jointhiszero-tariff clubfromJuly1thatraisedthenumbersofBangladeshiproductswithzerodutyaccess toChinesemarket to8,256.

3,095

China woos Bangladesh, provides tariffexemption for 97% of exports from Dhaka

ThethreeairportsareAhmedabad,MangaluruandLucknow

AAI gives more timeto Adani group to takeover 3 privatised airports

Jaipur

T H E S U N D A Y E X P R E S S M A G A Z I N EeyeShiny Varghese

T HINKOFacitythathasaskinthat can inflate and deflate,dependingonthenumberofpeopleitneedstoaccommo-date. A house that can beliftedonacraneandperched

on skyscrapers and detached when yourwork in the city is done.What if a city canhang off an airship and land overnight in aplace,withakitofmoveableparts?Inthelate1960s,whenmodernismwasmakingchunkycubesofhousesforpeopletoliveinandgridsforurbanlayouts,agroupofsixBritisharchi-tectscametogethertoformArchigram.Theybeganwithasingle-pagemagazinethatwasfilled with collages, poems and visuals ofutopianpossibilitiesof a city— flexible,mo-bile and adaptable. The groupwould chal-lenge generations of architects to build,dreamandenvisionpossiblefutures.ThoughArchigram never built any city and criticscalledthemoutfortheirassumptionthattheearth had endless resources, many of theirideas seemtohave found theirway intooureveryday, fromescalators tomonorails.Thenovelcoronaviruspandemicandthe

lockdownsthatwereput inplaceacrosstheworld to tackle it pose questions about thefuture of urban living. In India, among theimagessearedintopublicmemoryarethoseofcrowdscheeringonbalconiesof toweringapartments and private homes, and that ofworkersstreamingoutofcities,walkinghun-dredsof kilometres to theirhomes.Someof“us”, forwhomhomeremainedasafeplace,raised the drawbridges, switched on ourWiFianddisconnectedfromtheoutside.Wecreated islands for ourselves within ourhomes,whilethemigrantworkermovedoutof hisdwellingplace.“Today it’s the pandemic, tomorrow it

couldbeanintenseheatwaveoraglobalcli-matecrisis.Confined livingwillbecometheway forward,” says Thiruvananthapuram-based urban designer and architectManojKumarKini. Apossiblefuturemodel,hesays,lies in theexampleofArcosanti.Sometime in the 1970s, Italian architect

PaoloSoleriplannedafuturecitythatwouldmeldecologyandarchitecture.IntheArizonadesert,heenvisionedtheutopianmetropolis,Arcosanti. Its ribbed vaults allowed amplelightandairtofilter intospaces,andencour-agedasenseof community.Onecouldwalktotheofficeorworkshop,compostwithone’sneighbourorwalkoutofone’shouseintothethickofculturalaction.Whileithaditsfaults,be it the peoplewho lived there or the un-adaptability of the structure, it offered aworldviewthatcouldchangethewaywelive.Closerhome,AurovillenearPuducherry

aimed tobe aplacewith “anewconscious-ness”,withlike-mindedpeoplefromallovertheworldmaking it their home. “In the fu-ture, urban living could be like somethingbetween an apartment and a township likeDwarka inDelhi,where compact livingwillbe thenorm,withpeople choosing towalk,cycle or take public transport, because dis-tancewillcompress.Wewilltravelless,haveasmallerecologicalfootprint,andhavemoretimewith family,” saysKini.Could buildings of the future be about

empathy, about an architect who “placeshimself/herself intheroleofafuturedwellerandteststhevalidityoftheideasthroughthisimaginativeexchangeofrolesandpersonal-ities?” asks Finnish architect and thinkerJuhaniPallasmaainthebookArchitectureandEmpathy (Peripheral Projects; 2015). Willbuildings becomea shared resource?Can auniversity and a corporate office be in thesamecampus?Cangovernmentadministra-tionandcultural centres coexist? “Maybe itwill open up spaces in the city, betweenbuildingandnon-building,wheredesignersandarchitectswillneedtointervenetorevi-talise, renovate, and renew.Wewill have togetoffourAutocadsandgetourhandsdirty.Just thewayyounowwant a hairdresser tocomehome,peoplemightwantanarchitectto come home and use what they have tobuild anew, sincemoney and building re-sourceswillbehardtocomeby,”saysarchi-tectMoulshri Joshi of the Delhi-based firmSpaceMatters.

■ ■ ■

“Untilnow,wewereawareof thosewholivedonpavements, inslumsandchawlsandovercrowdedsmallapartments.Butwedid-n’t realisethere isanother lotofpeoplewholiveincorridors,garages,attics,mezzanines,andloftsineverycity,andtheirnumbersarestaggering.When the city turns its back onthem,wherecantheygo?”saysarchitectandhabitat professional Kirtee Shah, who lives

inAhmedabad.Forthepoormigranttothecity,thereisa

place called home in the village and a citywhere he earns his daily bread. “For some,thehomeisa‘resort’butforthosewhodon’thave thatprivilege, thecitywas theirhome.Itgavethemcertainty.Whatdoesitmeantonot have that in a lockdown? There are noeasyanswers, butweneed to thinkof ideasof care andhowwecancreate those spacesinourcities.Howcanwecreatedifferentlev-els of communities and what will thosespaces be?” saysMumbai-based architectandurbanistRupaliGupte.InarecentlettertoPraveenPardeshi, for-

mermunicipal commissioner of Mumbai,Shah offered suggestions for handling theslum crisis in the city. From using vacanthouses andunsold inventory inhousing formigrantsandusingrooftopsofpublicbuild-ingstocreatetemporaryhousingstock,Shahpushed formoredignifieddwellingunits.He recounts his keynote address at the

openingofthe“StateofHousing”exhibitioninMumbai in 2018. He asked an audience ofnearlya100people,amajorityofthemarchi-tects,iftheyhadheardofIndiraAwaasYojana.“Onlya fewhandswentup. Itwasoneof the

world’sbiggestsocialhousingprojects,whichlastednearly30yearsandbuiltmorethan20million houses, but India’s architects barelyintervened. It speaksvolumesabout thedis-connectarchitectshavewithsociety,”hesays.While architects design on a computer,

the drawings are executed bymasons, car-penters and unskilled labourers. “They aretheoneswhoconvertourdreamsintobeau-tiful projects. So I asked, ‘Sincemost of youvisityoursitesatleasteverytwoweeks,howmany of you have seen the conditions inwhich the workers live?’ Barely one handcame up,” says Shah. “We need to rethinkand reshape our cities which are inhumanandhostile to thepeoplewhobuild them.”Intheletter,Shahsuggestsrenegotiating

termswith employers so that workers areprovidedbetterplacestolive.“... [It]couldbea rented place in a slum redevelopmentcolony, in an affordable low-income settle-ment, in a slumwhere a family iswilling torent a room, or in a liveable tent on apublicbuilding terrace.”

■ ■ ■

Thecomfortof homeformigrants isalso

the sense of security that comes from thephysical and figurative boundaries in a vil-lage.Numerousmigrants testified to theur-gent need of going home, even if it meantstarvationordeath. “Homes invillageshavetheirownlayering.Theepidermisthatholdsyou in. You have the aangans (courtyards),andwithinthatthepublicthreshold,andthenwithin them bigger rooms, and then yourownroom,yourclothes,yourbody.Here,theepidermisof lifehasalwaysexisted,whichisnotaffectedbythecommoditiesoftheworld.Withitcomesimmunity,whenyourfoodandshelterishomegrown,”saysBengaluru-basedarchitect Varun Thautam, who conductsworkshopsonhandmadebuildings. “Today,incities,wedon’tknowwhogrowsourfoodorwhereourwatercomes from.Butstayinglocalistheonlywayforward,”heargues.Caseinpoint:thelockdownprovedthatthekiranashopandtheimmediateneighbourhoodwasequippedtohandlemostof ourneeds.“It is inacrisis thatour truebelonging to

aplace is revealed.Wewanttoreturntoourvillages because our heart is at home,” saysChennai-based architect-academic Durga-nand Balsavar. He speaks of what he learntfrom his experiences of working with Sri

Lankan civil war refugees and those dis-placed by the 2004 tsunami inNagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.Many of the SriLankanwomen, for instance,wereskilledatweaving mats. Balsavar, with his team atArtes-Human Settlements DevelopmentCollaborative,encouragedthemtousetheseas partitions for their new homes. “Thatshould be theway forward for families re-turningtotheirvillages,too,duringthelock-down. None of themwant anything free,they are glad to engage their skills in a pro-ductivemanner. That iswhatwe should bedoing, respecting dignity and pride in theirwork,”hesays.Home is about identity and self-defini-

tion, an expression of belonging.While ourcities privilege privacy and gated elementsand also disconnection from the largermasses, inourvillagesnetworksarecyclicalandformthebasisof life.Thecityanditslackof interdependency is what causes alien-ation.PratikDhanmerofDesignJatra,aruralresearch and architectural firm in Dahanu,Maharashtra, speaks of how the layout ofhouses in villages enhance interaction,where verandahs face each other and chil-drenaresecureplayingonthestreets.Balsavar recounts what he noticed in

Nagapattinam soon after the tsunami.Severalfamilieshadabandonedtheirnewly-builtconcrete-boxshelters.Thesefineengi-neeredsolutionsforlivingputthekitchensatthe back of the house. The original homeshadthekitchensinthefront,whichenabledwomen to talk among themselves, keep aneye on their children playing on the street,not tomention the excellent cross-ventila-tion they afforded. However, in the newhomes, the kitchenwaspushed to the backof the house, which meant the womenworked in isolation, their front doorswereshutandthestreetsempty.“Theideaofaru-ralhomehasmany layers,whicharchitects,sociologists and engineers can learn from,”saysBalsavar.Whilewerejoiced inemployingourcity

balconiesasastageforapproval,withallthebellsandwhistles, ithasrarelybecomeasitefor interaction all these years. It’s the parkviewweseekandnot the senseof commu-nity. In fact, inmany homes, balconies areseenasobstacles in thewayof carpetarea.

■ ■ ■

Delhi-basedarchitectGautamBhatiahasplanned a designwhere the community isnot compromised. In citieswhereweprivi-legeprivacy,whatarethepossiblecombina-tionswhichallowforthepublicandthepri-vatetocometogether?“Overthelastcoupleofdecades,lifehasbeengoingintolockdownby itself.Withinhomes, too, entertainmentwas becoming private and recreationwasgettingisolated.So,theideaofanapartmentthatsharescommunityvaluesyetallowsyoutokeepyourprivacyistheaim.Thesewouldbe about 800-1,000 sq. ft houses, varyingfrom one-two bedrooms. The remainingspacesaregivenovertothecommunity,withmeetingroomsandgamesareas.Theideaisto force you out of your confinement. Youpaymuchlessforprivatespaceandgetmoresharedspace.Youwillbeforcedtogooutintoverandahs.Unlikehigh-endapartmentsthatare self-contained, where there is no senseof sharing,” he says. There is the need tochangeby-lawsinourcitiestoaccommodatemorepublic spaces and integrate all classestolivesidebyside.Thefuture,Bhatiasays, isin smallerhomesandrentalhousing.The coronavirus has exposed the artifi-

cial and abnormal in society, argues Delhi-basedShuddhabrataSenguptaofRaqsMediaCollective,which is curating the YokohamaTriennale 2020. “There is an enormousamountofresourcesspenttoensurethatoursocietyisnotdemocratic.Delhi, forinstance,is a lot about gated communities and largeresources are used to keep people out.Weare living in a highly artificiallymaintaineddystopia.Architectsandurbandesignerscanshowanewwayandplanhowourcitiescanbeforthenext100years.ButIdon’tseethemcomingtogether todemandacommitmentto urban housing from any regime.”“Ultimately, itwill notbeaboutbigprojectsbutkeepinglifecyclesintact,whichourver-nacular societies have always done, wherelifeisnotastraightlineandrelationshipsareimportant,” saysThautam.Maybe,ourcitiesought tobe likeErsilia,

from Italo Calvino’s novel Invisible Cities(1972),whererelationshipsnurturelife,and“its inhabitantsstretchstrings fromthecor-nersof theirhouses”across thecity tomarkconnections,be it for tradeor fellowship.Sothat,evenwhenwallscomecrumblingdownand homes cease to exist, the “labyrinth oftaut strings”will continue toexist.

BOOKS● Review of Chandan Gowda’s A Life in theWorld: UR Ananthamurthy in Conversation

with Chandan Gowda

● Historian Ira Mukhoty on her new book onAkbar & why his vilification is a British legacy

SPOTLIGHT

Stronger TogetherMental health is not an individualproblem, it is a collective responsibility,writes Shelja Sen

THE FUTUREPOLISHow will the pandemic change the city?

ILLUSTRATION:SUVAJITDEY

JUNE 21, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 11

Jaipur

Getting Sweeton SpidersSpiders are remarkable creatures,and it’s possible to have healthyrelationships with them

RanjitLalRanjit Lal is anauthor,environmentalistandbirdwatcher

DOWNINJUNGLELAND

ALOTOFpeoplehavearachnophobia—anirrationalfearof spiders.Manypeople,especiallyredneckstryingtoshowhowmachotheyare,gototheother

extremeandhavehugefurrytarantulasorblackwidowsstrollingupanddowntheirbeefyarmsorthicknecks.There’snoneedtoeitherscreameverytimeyouseeaspi-derorhaveacuddlewithatarantulatodevelopahealthyrelationshipwiththeseabsolutelyremarkablecreatures.While Iwillkeepahealthydistancefromthelargefurrykindsthatprowlabouttheundergrowthorcrouchbe-hindbathroomdoors inforestresthouses, Iamequallygob-smackedeverytimeIseeaweblookinglikestringsofpearlsonadewymorning,andwilleyeball thosesmall,fierce, jumpingspiderswhosebrightobsidianeyesre-mainfixedonyouasthoughthey’re inlovewithyou.If youwouldliketogettoknowthembetter, itmaybe

sensibletostartoffwiththesmallerones—they’renor-mallysparkly,sprightlyandhugelyentertaining.Oneofmyfavourites is thejumpingspider,alsoknowastheze-braspiderorzebrajumper.They’resmallchocolate-brown-and-caramelandspendtheirtimefiercelypostur-ingonwalls, feintinglikeboxersbeforeabout.Letamosquitoorflysettlecloseandthey’ll fixtheireyesonthemandwham!Theyleapsofastyoucan’tseethemovementtill theylandontheirvictim.Always, likealloftheirclan, they’ll trailasafety linebehindthem, just incasethejump,say,off atable,goeswrongandtheyhavetohaulthemselvesbacktosafety.Their leapsarelikevan-ishingtricks—theydisappearfromonespotandappearatanother inatrice.There’sanothertinylittle jumpingspiderwhichlookslikeit’smadeoutof iridescentmetal:itcanappeargoldoremeraldgreendependingonthean-gleof thelight.Youmightfinditonyourcar, too,espe-cially if ithasametallicpaint finish.Thegardenorlargegreenplantsmaybeothergood

hauntstolookoutforspiders.Onemorning, Isteppedoutintothebalconyoverhungwithamadhumalticreeperandcasually lookedatthepalepink-and-whitebloomsasbeeshoveredaround.Suddenly,onebeeseemedtobe

havingafit.WhenIglancedat it, I froze.Atranslucentpearl-whitecrabspider,half thebee’ssize,hadpouncedandwasholdingthehairybeeinanembrace.All toosoon,shehadsunkhermandibles intothebee, injectingitwithvirulentvenomandthebeeceasedtostruggle.Thespiderremainedstock-still. Iknewshewassuckingupthenour-ishingjuicesfromthebee,havingdissolvedits insideswithhervenomanddigestive juices.Shewouldsuckitdryandthendiscardtheemptyhusk.Youmightfindthisrevolting,buthowis itdifferent fromwhatpoliticiansandtaxmendotous?Crabspidersarebeautifulbecauseoftenthey’rethesamecolourasthatof theflowerstheyhideamongandcanchangetheircoloursaccordingly.Anothercommonspiderthat livesamongplants is the

lynxspider,anelongatedlittlecreaturethatoftenlookslikeit’sbeenmadeoutof fineblownglass. I’vefoundthemlurkingontheundersidesofkumquat leaves,wait-inginambushforsomethingsmallandedibletolandonthesurfaceof theleaf.Lynxspiders(likeseveralof theclan)makefiercelyprotectivemoms—toadegree.She’lllayhereggsinasilkeneggcase, tetheredtoherbyathread,andshe’lldragthecontraptionalong.Shewillthreatenintrudersandpullherpreciouseggcaseunderleavesif itstartsraining. Iwatchedjust-hatchedspider-lingsemergefromtheireggcaseonce,and,boy,werethesetinyangel-whitecreatures intosiblingrivalry!They’dsaunterdownasilk line,meeteachotherheadfirstandtrytothrowoneanotheroff it.But itcangetworse. Iftherearetoomanybabiesandtoolittle food, they(eventheirmom)will turnoneachotherandturncannibals.Therearethefamousorbweavers,whichmayrange

widely insize. It isamazinghowtheircleverlycraftedstickynetscanvanish,untilyoustepintothem!Someorbspiders, likethosebelongingtotheArgiopeclan,sketchaconspicuouszig-zagpatternaroundthecentreof theweb,whichcanserveasawarningforanythingtoolarge.Buteventheserelatively largespidersareworthwatchingforthedeftwaywithwhichtheyshroudtheirvictimswithsilk,keepingtheirmeals foranothertime.Walkintothewebofagiantwoodspiderandyou’ll feel likeyou’vewalkedintoatrapmadeof finesteelwires.It’susuallythespidersthatyouencounterunexpect-

edlythatgiveyouthebiggest frights.Shufflingintothebathroominthemiddleof thenighttofindamonstrouswolf spiderbeadilyeyeingyoufromthepotty lidcanbetraumatising.Butunlessyou’reacockroachorsomethingsimilar,you’regenerallysafe.Sogentlychivvyitaway,usethelooandgobacktobed...andsweetdreams!

SIZE MATTERSSmall spiders are normally sparkly and hugely entertaining

RANJITLAL

S P O T L I G H T12EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 21, 2020

RIGHTFROManearlyage,wearerecruiting our children into be-lievingthatthereisonerightwayto live their life. In a talk or in aworkshop,Igenerallyasktheau-

dience if they knowsomebodywhohas ex-periencedmental-health struggles. Somehands shoot up right away, thenothers startraisingtheirhandstentatively,lookingaroundandtakingsolaceinthesenseofsolidarityun-til all the hands goup. Then, Imake it a littlemoredifficult andcheck if theyknowsome-bodywhohas dealtwith suicidal thoughts.Majority of the hands go up again. It is allaroundus— in our homes, our schools, col-leges, workspaces, public places— staringbackatus,askingustolook,listen.Butweturnaway,leavingthemwiththeirsilences.Maybesometimes,thatsilenceandshamebecomestoomuchtolivewith.It takes the death of a public figure to re-

mind us howmuchmental healthmatters.Forthecomingweeks,therewillbeaflurryofInstagram, Facebook and Twitter posts bywell-meaning people, but then itwill all goaway,as itgenerallydoes.Dowerealisehowdifficultitisforpeoplelivingwithdepressionoranxietytobetheirownadvocatesateverystep, especiallywhen they have been con-vinced that something is inherentlywrongwiththem—thattheyaretheproblem?

The person is not theproblem, the problem isthe problemRight fromanearlyage,wearerecruiting

our children into believing that there is onerightwaytolivetheirlife.Theyareconstantlystrugglingagainsttheillusionaryyardstickofsuccess.Theyarebeingsoldtheideathatthehighertheygo,thebettertheywillbe.Butthentheywonderwhyeveryrungupleadstomoremisery?Off-the-chart suicide rates of IIT as-pirantsinKotacoachingcentresshouldshakeusoutofourcollectivestuporofwhatweseeas themaking of a “good life”. A study con-ductedbyAssochamin2018foundthat42.5percentofemployeesarestrugglingwithde-pressionand/oranxietyintheirhigh-pressurejobs.Theypossiblyclimbedtheladderofsuc-cessandsecuritytofinditisamyth.Theyhaveinternalisedthepropagandathattheonlywaytheyareworthsomething is if theyget intoagoodcollege,“beproductive”andgetintoafi-nanciallystablecareer.Therefore, it isnosur-prise that the chilling statistics indicate thatone in four youngpersons is strugglingwithdepressionoranxietyandthat Indiatopstheworldinyouthsuicide.

The person is not theproblem, the problem isthe problem, and theproblem is social!*

Shiv isayoungmanImetwhohadbeenluredintothesociety’sideaofsuccess. Inourdiscussion,hestartedrealisingthathiscom-pany’sworkcultureofconstantpressure,of

“never being good enough” was pushinghim into depression. Aswe unspooled thisproblematic notion of success, he realised,“Mylifecan’tbejustaboutmeetingthenexttarget, paymy bills and die.” He renegoti-atedhispurposeinlife,hadaclearchatwithhisbossonwhathewouldbeabletodeliverand started doing things that alignedwithwhathevaluedthemost. Forexample, get-tingtogetherwithhisoldbandandjammingevery weekend and not “wasting precioushours of my life thinking of how to getahead.”There ismuch talk about the “epidemic”

ofmental-healthproblemsreachingunprece-dented proportions.Wehave beenmade to

believethatitcanallbeunderstoodas“chem-ical imbalance”but thatdoesnotholdmuchwaterinthefaceofgrowingresearchandbegsthequestion,“Whohasachemicallybalancedbrainandwhatdoesitlooklike?”Tothepointof beingprovocative, I can say it is pretty fic-tional andnot helpful as it locates the prob-lemwithintheperson.Itisanextremelycom-plex problem within our socio-culturalcontextwhichneedsanuancedunderstand-ing.Ouridentitiesareformedattheintersec-tionofgender,sexuality,age,caste,class,reli-gion, looks (let’s not underestimate thedemandfor“fair& lovely”)andthemost im-portantofitall—socialacceptanceandsocialsuccess.Mental-healthproblemsaschemical

imbalance absolves us of the collective re-sponsibilitywe need to take as adults. Thispushes us to think it is not our problemandweendupmakingtheproblemindividualis-tic, leadingto,whatIcall, the3Ds.

Dismissal—trivialisingtheproblemwithnor-mativejudgementssuchas“Stopcomplainingall the time”; “This is sosilly”; “You justneedtobestronger”.Defining—making the problem the singlestoryaboutthem—“Idon’t thinkyouwillbeabletodomuchinlife if youaresoweak.”Dumping—mental-healthproblemshideis-sues of gross social injustice. For example,women being diagnosedwith depressionwhentheyreacttomaritalabuse,younggirlswho feel rejectedandsuicidal as theydonotfit the rigiddefinitionof “fair& lovely.” Theirmental-healthproblemsarejustamirrorofasocietythat isunfairanddamaged.Sometimes, all people need are these

simplemessages:“I seeyou”“Ihearyou”—Peoplearemulti-storiedso let’snotdefine thembysinglesto-riesof“failure”and“unworthiness.”Thisdoesnotmeanwehave to “bepositive” and“lookatthesilverlining”asthatcanbequitedismis-sive. Itmeans to listen to their problemsandalso keep sight of their stories of courage,hopesanddreams.“Tellmehow I can help”—Wemight notknowwhattosayordo,soaskingmighthelp.Itiseasytogetintothe“let’sfixit”oradvisingmode but step back from it, as itmight stopthemfromaccessingtheirownskillsandabil-itiestofindtheirsolution.“Ihaveyourback”—Ifeachpersonknewthatthere issomebodyouttherewhowillacceptthemtheway theyarenomatter howdam-agedtheyarefeeling.

It is not a mental-healthproblem but a problem ofsocial justiceAsanarrativetherapist(NarrativeTherapy

was pioneered byMichaelWhite & DavidEpston), Istronglybelievethatthesolutionisnotanindividual’sorafamily’sresponsibility.It isasocialproblem,and,therefore,weneedtotakethelensofsocialjustice.Thereisanoldlegend-now-turned-to-a-metaphor that ca-nariesweresentdownintocoalminestotestfor gas leaks. Our young people are the ca-naries of our present time.Wehave createdthetoxicsociety inwhichtheyarestrugglingtosurvive.Maybe,thispandemicisanoppor-tunity forus to let goof thedeadwoodof so-cial expectations of success and carve outsomethingnewcollaboratively.Ratherthanquicksolutions,herearesome

questionswecanreflecton:

■Whatdoyouthinkarethesocialbeliefsandnorms that contribute to the risingmentalhealthproblems?■Howfairarethesesocialnormsandexpec-tations?■ Inwhatwayscanyouresist theseexpecta-tionsandsupportothers?Weneednothing short of a socialmove-

ment tomake this happen.Wehave lost toomanylivesandtoomuchtime.Nobodyisgo-ing tocomeandsort thisout forus.Wehavetodoitourselves.

*QuotedbyDavidDenborough,narrativepractitioner, inaworkshop

DrSheljaSenisanarrativetherapist,co-founderChildrenFirst,writer,and,inthiscolumn,she

curatestheknow-howofthechildrenandyoungpeoplesheworkswith.Writetohershelja.sen@childrenfirstindia.com

Tora Agarwala

ONE OF the more moving arcs in theacclaimedweb series Paatal Lok belongs toMaryLyngdoh,alsocalledCheeni,who is oneof theaccused in the murderplot thatopens the show.PlayingCheeniis19-year-oldMairembamRonaldoSingh fromManipur. Inthisinterview,SinghtalksaboutplayingCheeni,thechallenges faced by thetransgender communityand lifebackhome:

FromMoirang,Manipur, toMumbai—howdidthathappen?I grew up watching

Manipuri cinema. Actingwas always a passion formebutneverdid I think Iwouldbeactinginfrontofa camera in a Hindi lan-guage series! The geo-graphical remoteness oftheplaceIcomefromandthe language barrier —theseare justsomeof thechallengeswenortheast-erners face regularly in life. Last December,Eliza Ngangom, a transgender activist fromManipur(alsomymake-upteacher),toldmethatpeoplefromMumbaihadcomelookingfor someone to play the role of a transgen-der character. Nikita (Grover) ma’am, the

casting director, came down tomy home-town inMoirang tomeetme.Wemet at achai stall andmy audition happened in thebackseat of a car! I was very, very shy butsomehowtheydecided topickme.

Didyourfamilyneedmuchconvincingto letyouplaythispart?Initially, my parents

were not ready to sendmetoMumbai.Theyevenasked ifmypart couldbeshot in Moirang! Ofcourse, thatwas not pos-sible. They were notagainst the idea of meplaying the roleof a transwoman but had a prob-lemwith the place I wasgoingtoshootin.Mypar-ents are simple peopleand they don't reallyknowmuch about film-making. Moreover, theyhad hardly watched anyHindi movies. But withEliza’s help andmy con-stantbeggingforpermis-sion, they ultimately hadtoblessme.

Howwasyourexperienceof filmingtheseries?Therewas both joy andworry. I did not

knowHindi — so they had to hire a Hinditeachertogivemelessons.Moreover,beforethisseries, Ihadneveractedprofessionally. Iwas nervous because Iwas sharing camera

spacewithknown facesof the industry, so Ifelt likeIneededtoprovemyself totheteamall the time.

DidyouconnectwithCheeni?Cheeni is a victim of human greed and

lust. To some extent, the series showcasesthechallenges transgenderpeople facereg-

ularly,suchasinthejailscenewhereshewasforcedtosharetheroomwithothermalein-mates.PaatalLokalsohighlightssociety’sig-norance about the existence and problemsofthetranscommunity.Ithinkitsentames-sage that we are also human beings whowant to live a dignified life. Honestly, itwasagoldenopportunityformetoplaythisroleand tell our story. I representmy transgen-dercommunity in theseries.

Canyoutellusa littleaboutyourearlylife inManipur?Iwasbornandbroughtup inMoirang, a

historicallyandculturallyimportanttownofManipur.My familywas notwell-to-do— Ionlyattendedgovernmentschoolsas itwasdifficult formyparents togetmeadmissioninaprivateschool. Inmyearlyyears, I couldnot come to terms with my sexuality.Gradually—withsupportfromthetransgen-dercommunity—IlearntthatitissomethingI shouldbeproudof. In thepast, Ihavebeenmockedandsubjectedtonumerousderoga-toryremarks.ButwhatPaatalLokhastaughtme is thatwecandowhatwetruly love, re-gardlessof theobstaclesthatcomeourway.

Hasyour lifechangedafterPaatalLok?Theoverallresponseandacclaimthatour

series has received so far is amazing. As forme, I am living the same life in Moirang,where I am a make-up artist. People inManipur — except a few—don’t recognisemeevenafter thesuccessof theseries sincemostarenotevenawareofPaatalLok.Firstofall, thiswasnotamainstreamBollywoodse-ries, and, second, the culture of Manipur istotallydifferent frommainlandIndia—alotof young people followKoreanmovies andsongs. However, I do get a lot of comments,praises and appreciation onmy Instagramhandle and I do not havewords to expresshowgoodthatmakesmefeel.

IMAGINEby Shelja Sen

‘It was a golden opportunity to representthe transgender community’

A Manipuri teenager on facing the camera for the firsttime for the web-series Paatal Lok

STRONGERTOGETHER

Mental health is not an individual problem,it is a collective responsibility

Before the series, Ihave never actedprofessionally. I

was nervous...I feltlike I needed to

prove myself to theteam all the time

REACH OUT,HOLD TIGHT

We need to reflect onhow to help eachother overcomemental-healthimpediments

SCREEN TIME(Left) MairembamRonaldo Singh in ascene from the web-series on Amazon

Prime; Singh

GETTYIMAGES

Jaipur

HIGH AND MIGHTYA painting depicting Akbar during a Qumargha hunt, which

served to demostrate the emperor’s wealth and power

B O O K S 13EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 21, 2020

The LongDark TeatimeA historic crime thriller focuseson the underbelly of the Britishempire’s slave trade

Paromita Chakrabarti

FROMTHEzenana inyoursecondbooktothemonarchwhowouldbecomethefaceof thedynasty,whatdrewyoutotheMughalsinthefirstplace?TheMughals are very close tous in time.

Onlyaround250yearsseparateusfromtheirglory days, followingwhich they continuedtoexist,diminished,foranother100years.Soinaveryphysical,immediatesense,thelegacyof theMughals isallaroundus. Itcanbeseenin the buildings that litter the landscape ofIndia,intheclotheswewear,theattarweuse,thewords that seep intoour vocabulary, theingredientsinourkitchens.Itiseventhere,inthe faux-Shahjahani arches and overly-creamy dishes served in ‘Mughalai’ restau-rants inwateryBritishtowns.Inmyfirstbook,Heroines(2017),Iencoun-

tered the story of Jahanara Begum, ShahJahan’s daughter. I was struck by her inde-pendence, wealth, her search formeaningoutsideofheropulentlifestyle.Thatledhertothe Sufi path and the two biographies shewroteglowwiththeambitionofbeingtakenas seriouslyasherbrotherDaraShukoh, andherfather,andnotallowinghergendertoun-dermineher. I foundhermessageverymov-ing,giventhathermemoryhadalmostcom-pletely been erased, and that broughtme towriteDaughtersoftheSun(2018).Sinceitwasa re-evaluation of the zenana of the ‘GreatMughals’, a fascination for Akbar was in-evitable. Akbar casts a huge shadow onMughalhistory andon India as it is today.Atthe same time, there is a great deal ofmyth-making that inevitably accompanies such apersonality.Ithoughtitwouldbeaninterest-ing exercise to re-examine Akbar and hislegacy using some fascinating new insightsfromarthistorians.DespitethefactthatAkbar

issuchatalismanicfigure,notnearlyenoughmodern biographies in English have beenwrittenoverthepast fewdecades.

Howdoyoureacttothepresent-dayvilificationoftheMughaldynasty?The vilification ofMughal history is, un-

fortunately, a product of a colonial legacy. ItistheBritishwhobeganspeakingintermsofapristine,unsulliedearlier‘Hindu’eratodis-tinguish fromthe later ‘Muslim’one, as sep-arate entities, in the 19th century. Thiswasdone to justify their own incursion intoHindustan but, unfortunately, this narrativecontinues to gain traction. Identities wereneversosimplisticasHinduorMuslim,orin-deed Christian, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, etc.Identitieswere complex things, shaped byclan loyalties, geography, language, culture,etc,with religionbeingoneofmany factors,often not even the most important one.Which iswhy, I believe, it is all themore im-portanttowritenarrativehistoriesforthelayperson, so that these nuances can bemadeeasilyaccessible for interestedpeople.

WouldyousayAkbarwasthefirstof theMughalstohaveanuancedunderstandingofthesyncreticnatureofIndia?Isthatwhyheeventuallymovedawayfromthescorched-earthpolicyofhisChittorgarhsiege?Akbarwas the first to respond to the di-

versenatureofHindustanandhemade thatresponse the very scaffolding of the empire.BothBaburandHumayunwerealreadyawareofthisdiversityandalsoquitepragmaticabouttheneedtoworkwithanon-Muslimmajor-ity. They both had a large number of Hindusoldiers in their armies due to their Timuridlegacy,whichwas entirely practicalwhen itcame to religion. But neither ruled long

NS Gundur

RENOWNEDKANNADAwriterURAnanthamurthy (1932-2014) isbestknowntousastheauthorofSamskara (1965)andasapublicintellectual. URA restlessly re-

flectedontheproblemsofthisworldandhadanurgetosharethesereflectionswithfriendsandvisitors.He,therefore,immenselyenjoyedconversingwith others asmuch as thinkingandwritingaboutour life. Thepresentbook,A Life in the World: UR Ananthamurthy inConversationwith ChandanGowda, is the re-sultofonesuchconversation.These conversationswere shot at URA’s

residence by Chandan Gowda, an eminenttranslatorofURA’sfiction,alongwithateamof members fromAzim Premji University,Bengaluru.Thisbook,aby-productofsuchadocumentary exercise, is structured into10chapters.Thesechaptersnotonlyreveal themindof oneofmodern India’sgreatwritersbutalsohispenetratinginsightsintothevar-ied issues of 20th century India. The firstthree chapters ‘Early Years’, ‘Mysore’ and‘Birmingham and After’ reconstruct the in-tellectualformationofURA.FromaBrahminagrahara through Maharaja’s College in

MysoretoBirminghamUniversity,hisexpe-riences with this world contributed to his“worldmaking”. He did not completely re-ject one space for another, but critically im-bibedthevirtuesofall.Therefore,hebecamea critical insider, as the famous descriptionof himgoes.TheMysoremilieuproducesinURAavo-

raciousreaderbeyondthesyllabus,andthere,in the company of a poet likeGopal KrishnaAdiga,hediscovershimself asanavyawriter.However, a completelynewworldopensupfor himas he arrives in Birmingham topur-suehis PhD. InEngland, his associationwithgreat cultural critics likeRaymondWilliams,RichardHoggart,EPThompson,DavidLodgeandthelikedoesnotinfluencehimtobecomeyet another Indian cultural critic, but hisEnglish days help him rediscover Kannadadeeplyandimbibetheartofwritinganovel.Theremainingsevenchaptersareconver-

sations that cover the cultural and politicalproblems of India. Particularly, the chapters‘Tradition’, ‘Language’, ‘A Few Friends’ and‘Karnataka’offerdeepinsightsintoliterature,language, Kannadawriters, theVeerashaivamovement,penportraitsofKannadawriters,intellectualsandpoliticians,amongothers. ItisinonesuchconversationthatURAmakesadistinctionbetweentraditionalismandtradi-

ALIFE INTHEWORLD:URANANTHAMURTHYINCONVERSATIONWITHCHANDANGOWDAHarper Collins204 pages`399

The Critical InsiderA glimpse into the mind of UR Ananthamurthy and his reflections on

the many issues of 20th century Indiation.Hesays,“Howtopreservethepastistheconcern of the traditionalists.My concern isnothowtopreservethepast,buthowtomakethepastuseful forthepresentworld.”In the chapter ‘Being in Public’,we come

acrosstheideaofacommonschoolwhichhebelievesisnecessaryforbringingaboutsocialchangesinIndia.Thechapter‘Language’con-tinues his public concern, particularly hisviewsontranslation,languageingeneral,andthe interface betweenKannada andEnglish.ForURA,translationisaneverydaypracticeinmultilingual spaces like India as we oftenswitchoverfromonesetofcodesandregisterstoanother.In yet another chapter ‘Karnataka’, URA

contemplates on the making of modernKarnataka and the Kannada tradition. Thechapter‘India’sPoliticalLife’addsanotherdi-mension to the conversation as URA exam-ines Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar,Jawaharlal Nehru and RamManohar Lohia.In his view, Gandhi, who playedwith ideas,wassuspiciousof themodernworldsystembecausewecanhurtanypartoftheworldbydoing somethingwrong inanyotherpart ofthe world. URA looks at Gandhi andAmbedkar as complementaryminds. “BothGandhiandhe(Ambedkar),”URAsays,“takedifferentspiritualjourneys.Onetakesaspir-

itualjourneyandsays‘HeyRam’anddies,andAmbedkar takes to Buddhism and dies.GandhiusesRamforpoliticsandAmbedkarusesBuddhaforpolitics...”Inthefinalchapter ‘InConclusion’,weget

toknowaboutURA’spersonal tastes, includ-inghisfavouritecuisine,favouritewriters,at-tachments,hisdislike formiddle-classback-biting, among other things. As a finale, hestates thathewishes tobe rememberedasateacherandawriter—aKannadawriter.Gowda’s questions, asmuch straightfor-

wardaspossible,donotinterferemuchinthecourse of the conversation. However, for awriterlikeURA,deeplyprobingquestionslikethe craft of his fiction—howhe constructedplots and fashioned his Kannada for his fic-tional narratives; howhewrestledwith hiswriting—andsuchotherquestionsof technewouldhavemadethisvolumericher.Gowda’s introduction, which gives an

overviewofURA’sworksandthought, couldhave expanded on how such conversationsextend the boundaries of autobiography.However,after readingURA’sautobiographySuragi(2012),itisadifferentexperiencetolis-tentothisspeakingautobiography.

NSGundur is thechairman,departmentofEnglishStudies,DavangereUniversity,Karnataka

‘Akbar understood the complex nature of Hindustan’Ira Mukhoty, 51, on writing about Akbar in her new book, the Mughal response to medical emergencies and why their present-day vilification is a British legacy

enough to translate that into a coherent re-sponse.Akbardid,andthatwaspartofhisge-nius— tounderstand the complexnature ofHindustanandtocreateasystemofadminis-tration, inwhichallmemberswere investedinthesystem.Peoplewouldnotberewardedor punished because of their religion, butthroughtheir talentandabilities.ThesiegeofChittorcameearly inAkbar’s

reign(1567-68),whenhewasyetto formulate a clear policy. Hewas still facing challenges on allfronts.ItwastheverybrutalityofChittor that allowed Akbar tothenusehispowerasadeterrent.ItwasonlyafterthefallofChittorand Ranthambore that manypreviously recalcitrant Rajputclansjoinedtheempire,bringinglasting peace. So, Akbar mayhave viewed it as a necessarystage in the formationof a large,wealthyandstableempire.

Akbar’sreignbeganwithapandemicandtherewasanotherepidemicafterhisGujaratcampaign(1572-73).Howdidherespondtothesemedicalchallenges?Therehavebeenfamines,followedbyepi-

demics,throughouthistory.Famineswerefre-quent and led towidespread deaths,whichthen causeddiseases. Thepeople seemed tohave an awareness that contagion could bespreadthroughcontactbecausethereareac-counts of entire families dying together intheirhomesbecausetheylockedthemselvesin.AsfarasAkbarisconcerned,thereisanac-countofafaminetowardstheendofthe16thcenturyinSrinagar.Akbartookactivestepstoalleviate suffering—hesetup foodkitchens,

abolishedmorethan50harshtaxesandbeganthe construction of a fort onHari Parbat, forwhichhundredsof paid labourerswereem-ployedsothattheyhadmoneyforfood.

You’vedealtwiththeindependenceoftheMughalwomenandAkbar’s sensitivity tothem, but during his reign, the assimila-tionwithHindustanicultureslowly invis-

ibilised them.Howdo you ex-plainthisdichotomy?When Akbar married his

Rajputwives in a bid to stabilisethe empire, hewas very young.The influence of the elite Rajputclan culture on the youngPadshahwas,therefore,substan-tial. Oneof these influenceswasvery probably a desire, like theRajput clans, to ‘invisibilise'womenbehindastricterconceptofpurdahandafixedanddefinedzenana space. At the same time,Akbaralsosought tobringorderand structure into all aspects ofMughal lifeandsociety. If yougothroughAbu’lFazl’sAin-i-Akbari,youwillseethatthereareelabo-rate procedures noteddown fora range of activities, almost baf-

flingintheirminutiae,fromrulesforthefeed-ingoftheroyalelephantstothekeepingoftheroyaltents. Inasense, the ‘ordering’of thefe-male componentof theMughal royal familyfellwithinthissameframework. Itdidnot, inanyway, suggest thatAkbaralteredhis viewtowardswomen,whichremainedempatheticandcaring.Hecontinuedtochallengeprevail-ingattitudestowardswomen,whetheritwasthe practice of sati or the stigma againstwidow remarriage inHinduismor the dis-criminatorylawsof inheritanceinIslam.

AKBAR:THEGREATMUGHALBY IRAMUKHOTYAleph BookCompany624 pages`799

THINK TANKUR Ananthamurthy (right) with Chandan Gowda

COURTESY:ALEPHBOOKCOMPANY

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Seema Chishti

READERSOFcrimefictioncannotfullyexplain,evenif theyfeel it intheirbones,whatmightbesocomfortingaboutreadingaboutbloodandgoreinthemiddleofapandemic.Thefactthat

thereisacrimeinanotherwiseplacidworld,whichgetsresolvedbythelastpage,givesasenseof (false)comforttothereader.Thesettingof thecrime,usually idyllicorwell-known,givesasenseofdoubleeasethatthingshavestayedtheway“theywere”oncethecrimeissolved.Onbothcounts—indescribingthesulphuricairof

Londonaswellasthegrislymurderofanabolitionist—debutnovelistLauraShepherdRobinsonisunsparing. InBloodandSugar, avividly-toldmurderstoryset in1781,youarethrust intoaLondonjustaboutbeginningtosavourthejoysofEmpireaswellasgettoseetheunder-bellyof theslavetradewhichmadeitprofitable.

Adecoratedwarveteran,CaptainCorsham,fancyinghischancesofmovingupintheHouseofCommons,hashis lifeturnedupsidedownashefacesuptothemurderofhisoldestfriend,killedincircumstancesconnectedtotheEmpire’sdarkestdimensions.Corshamrecognisesthatunveilingwhathis latefrienddiedfor isgoingtoputhimatoddswiththeinfluentialWestIndianlobbyinLondon,butthetruthofwhatheuncoversforceshimtocontinueregardless.Theatmosphericdescriptions

of late18thcenturyLondoncon-frontthedarknessthatcolonialprosperity isbuilton.Theprofitthatcomesfromtreatinghuman

beingsworsethanchattels isconfrontedeachtimeato-baccoleaforthestirringof sugargrains inteacupsismen-tioned.Thehistoricalcontext isskilfullywovenintotheplotwhich, thoughfictional, isbasedonareal incidentaboardaslaveship,TheZong. Inthemiddleof theAtlanticOcean,runningshortof supplies, itscaptainkilled132slavesbydrowningthem.His insuranceclaimonthemurderedslavesiswhatbroughtthistocourtandtolight.Theownersdidnotwintheclaimbuttherewasnoprose-cutioneitherasthemurderof slavesdidnotruffleanyfeathers.Formerslave-turned-abolitionistcampaignerOlaudahEquanoandGranvilleSharpusedtheincidenttocampaignfortheabolitionof theslavetrade,eventhoughtheabolitionbillwaspassedonlyin1807inBritain.Slaveryandsystemicoppressionareagaininthenews,thistimeintheUS, followingthemurderofablackman,GeorgeFloyd,byawhitepoliceofficer.Thestainof slaverymaybeseenassomethingoutside

theIndianconsciousnessbut it isnot.MillionswereshippedawayfromIndiatoworkasindenturedlabourinBritishcolonies inanindirectconsequenceof theaboli-tionof slavery.TheGirmitiyas—orthepeopleof the“agreement”thattheysignedandwilledoff their free-doms—hasn’tgottheattentionintheIndianimaginationasit,perhaps,shouldhave.ButbookslikeRobinson’sshakeyouintounderstandingthewaysinwhichtheinsti-tutionalisedsystemof treatingsomeas“lesser-born”stillliveson.Thebiggestachievementof theauthoristo leavethereaderwithadistinctdoubtoverwhichof thetwocrimesit is thatthisnovelseekstoplaceatthecentre. Is itaboutthebrutalmurder,ortheothercrimethatcon-stantlyhangsintheairandmakesLondon,thecapitalofthe“fledglingempire”connectingmercantileandmili-tarypower, flourishwithits“elegantdrawingrooms,washeddownbybowlsof sweetenedteas”?

BLOOD&SUGARBY LAURASHEPHERD-ROBINSONPan Macmillan430 pages; `450

Jaipur

The Pakistan cricket squad will leave forEngland on June 28 to play three Tests andthree Twenty20s Internationals. ThePakistan Cricket Board on Saturday con-firmedthedeparturedateandsaidtheteamwillbequarantinedinDerbyshirefor14days,under restrictions in place for the coron-aviruspandemic,butwillbeallowedtoprac-tice during that period. Selectors have cho-sen an extended squad of 29 for the tour sothat replacements are readily available incase a player falls ill. Pakistan's cricketershavenotplayedanycompetitivecricketsinceMarch 17 when the domestic Twenty20tournament--PSL--wassuspendedbecauseof theCOVID-19pandemic.

The PCB said apart from training andpractice sessions in England, "therewill beintra-squadmatches to compensate for thelack of practicematches due to non-avail-abilityof localteamsastheECBisyettocom-mence itsdomestic season."Englandwillalreadybematchseasoned

after a Test series against theWest Indies.AllrounderShoaibMalik,whowillbeplayingintheTwenty20s,hasbeengivenspecialdis-pensation by the PCB to join the team inEnglandonJuly24afterspendingtimewithhisfamily.Malikhasnotseenhiswife,IndiantennisstarSaniaMirza,andone-year-oldsonIzhaan for fivemonths since the impositionof international travelbans.PTI

Pakistan squad to leave forEngland tour on June 28: PCB

France to open stadiums to fansStadiums in Francewill re-open to fans onJuly11asthecountrycontinuestoliftmeas-ures imposed to contain the COVID-19, thegovernment said on Saturday. Amaximumof5,000fans,however,willbeallowedinthearenas-arestrictionthatcouldbeeasedlaterin the summerwith the new season due tostartontheweekendofAug.22.TheFrenchCup and League Cup finals could now beplayedwith spectators and fanswill alsobeable to watch their teams play pre-seasonfriendlies. The French Ligue 1 2019-20 sea-sonwasofficiallyendedonApril30withPSGcrownedchampions.REUTERS

US reopen plans face setbackHopes that sport in theUnited Statesmightsoon return to business as usual suffered ablowonFridayasathletesfromgolftohockeytestedpositiveforthenovelcoronavirus,trig-geringashutdownofsomefacilities.ThePGATour,which only restarted lastweek after athree-month COVID-19-forced hiatus, con-firmed its first positive test, removingNickWatney fromsecond-roundplay at the RBCHeritageinHiltonHead,SouthCarolina.Overa 24-hour period, Major League Soccer,National Football League, National HockeyLeagueandMajorLeagueBaseballconfirmedpositivetests. REUTERS

ShoaibMalikwill reachEnglandonJuly24 afterspendingtimewithfamily. File

R.N.I.No. RAJENG/2015/64747 Vol. IVNo.97PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandprintedatDBPrintSolutions (AunitofDBCorp. Ltd.), BhaskarPrintingPress, Shivdaspura,RailwayCrossing, TonkRoad, JaipurandpublishedatD-54,GroundFloor,ResidentialRoad, SardarPatelMarg,ChomuHouse,C-Scheme, Jaipur -302001(Rajasthan). Phone:0141-4043972. Fax:01414043973.Editorial office: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector–10,Noida–201301.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingof-ficephone:0141-4043972.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor :P.Vaidyanathan Iyer * (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct.) Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.

Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited.The IndianExpress®

FrenchmanearnsapenaltywhichhelpsManUnitedearnadrawagainstTottenhamHotspur

Pogba, spot to the rescueREUTERSLONDON, JUNE20

JoseMourinho pointed the finger of blameat VAR as his TottenhamHotspur sideweredenied a Premier League victory againstManchester United by a late penalty onFriday. Spurswereoncourse for threevalu-able points in the race for a ChampionsLeaguequalificationslotwhenDaviddeGeafailedtokeepoutStevenBergwijn'sfirst-halfstrike. But Bruno Fernandes's 81st-minutepenalty after Paul Pogbawas bundled overby Eric Diermade sure Unitedwent homewith a 1-1 draw to stay fifth, four pointsaboveeighth-placedSpurs.It could have beenworse for Tottenham

butanotherUnitedpenaltyinstoppagetimewasrescindedbyVARafterFernandeswentdown under apparently no contact fromDier."I am not happywith the penalty andnot happy with the second penalty,"Mourinhosaid."IamunhappywiththeVAR,nottheref-

ereeonthefirst, therefereecanmakeamis-takebutVARistheretodothejob.Inthesec-ond I am unhappywith (referee) JonMossbecausehedidnotgivethefreekick leadinguptoitandthengaveanotherpenalty.Inthiscase the VAR gave the truth.We knew thatwecouldhaveapenaltyagainstbecauseweknow they have an incredible record ofpenaltiesgiven."Mourinho also said VAR should have

beenusedtobookFernandesforsimulationafterappearing to fall theatrically.WhilethePortuguesecoachwasleftfrus-

trated against the club that sacked him lastseason, United manager Ole GunnarSolskjaer praised Pogbawho came off thebench in the second half for only his ninthappearance of the season. The Francemid-fielder has been sidelined by ankle injuriesand had not appeared since January, butsparked United into life when he replacedFred justpast thehourmark."Pauldideverythingamidfieldershould

do,hetackled,wonpassesandshowedsomeskillssofantastictohavehimback,"Solskjaertold reporters."He'shadafrustratingseasonwithhisin-

juries.Paulhasshowntodayhowhecancon-tributeandIjustlookforwardtogettinghim

fitterandseeingPaulgettingbacktohisbest."Solskjaer paid tribute toUnited's fitness

staff as his side ended thematch strongly.Mourinho, however, said his players hadgrowntiredtowards theendof a fast-pacedgame."I likedmy teamperformance for 70minutes, I felt wewere in control and I feltwe gave them the kind of game that theydon't likeverymuch,"hesaid.

Keane hits outFormerManchester United captain Roy

Keanesaidhewas"sicktodeath"ofDaviddeGea and the goalkeeper andHarryMaguireshould hang their heads in shame for theirperformanceinthe1-1PremierLeaguedrawatTottenhamHotspur.DuringahalftimerantonSkySports, the

Irishmansaidhewas"flabbergasted"byer-rors from centre backMaguire and De Geaas Steven Bergwijn raced through to scorethe opener for Spurs. The Dutchman easily

dribbled past sluggish England defenderMaguireandstruckashotwhichDeGeawasunabletokeepout.KeanecriticisedMaguirebut his strongest remarks concernedSpaniardDeGea."I'm shocked at that goal," Keane said.

"I'vewatchedalotof footballovertheyears,but togivethataway, I'mfuming. I can'tbe-lieve (defender Luke) Shaw heads the ballupand then runs forward, I'mstaggeredatMaguire, staggered that an internationalplayer can get done like this. I'm sick todeath of this goalkeeper (De Gea). I wouldbefightinghimathalftime.There isnoget-ting away from that. I would be swingingpunches at that guy. This is an establishedinternationalgoalkeeper. I'mflabbergasted.There'sgottobesomethinggoingonathalf-time. If I was (manager) Ole (GunnarSolskjaer), make some changes... some ofthemaregoing through themotionsat themoment."

Tottenham’sEricDier fouled United’sPaulPogbawhichresulted inapenaltybeingawaredandconvertedbyBrunoFernandes.

@indianexpress.com

NNIIRRUUPPAAMMAASSAANNJJEEEEVVtellsSShhaahhiiddJJuuddggeehowshebecamethefirstIndianwomantowinamatchinthesinglesmaindrawofaGrandSlam.

THOSEMONTHS,THOSEMINUTESForced intoanunprecedented lockdown, sport is staringat anunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiven thecountry reasons to rejoice in thepast.14

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE21,2020

SPORT

Barcelona: Barcelona was held atSevillato0-0foritsfirststumblesincetheresumptionofplayintheSpanishleaguefollowingathree-monthstop-pagefortheCOVID-19pandemic.Theslip gives RealMadrid the chance topulllevelatoptheSpanishleaguewithBarcelona.MadridtrailsBarcelonabythree points before it visits RealSociedad on Sunday to completeround 30 of 38. Madrid holds thehead-to-head goal difference withBarcelonainthecaseofatie.Barcelonadefender Gerard Pique said the twopoints the defending champions leftin Seville on Friday couldbedecisive."It is going to be difficult towin thisleaguebecausewedependonthere-sults of others now, and I don't thinkMadridisgoingtodropmanypoints,"Pique said. "We lost a chance today.Andseeinghowwehaveplayed(...), itisgoingtobedifficult."Coach Quique Setien, however,

said the fightwas far fromover. "Weknewbeforehandthatitwouldbedif-ficult towinall thegamesleft,practi-callyimpossible,andthatthiswasoneof the toughest matches we faced,"Setiensaid.“It is frustration of themoment. I

amsure (Pique)will feeldifferent to-morrow, and I am sure thatMadridwill drop points, too.We have to beoptimistic.”Lionel Messi went closest to

breakingthestalematewhenhisfirst-half free kickwas cleared on the linebydefenderJulesKounde,leavingtheArgentinastaron699careergoalsforclubandcountry.Barcelona'sall-timeleadingscorerwasstifledbySevilla'sdefense anchored by formerManchesterCitymidfielderFernando.Messihadscoredintheprevioustwomatches, both Barcelonawins, sincethe leagueresumed. AP

La Liga race: Barcaheld by Sevilla

Sunday June21You’restillthinkinghardaboutsolidfacts.Althoughyou’vegotmanybigplansyouneedtoputthemintopractice.Inemotionalmatters,youseemtobegrowingclosertothetruth.

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Tuesday June23You still seem to be the boss, but the onlywaytotakecontrol is to letpeopleshare inthefun.Youmayhavetoplayasubtlegame.

Wednesday June24Although life seems to growbusier, you’llactuallyhavelesstodoincertainareas.Yourlong-term cycle reveals that sociableconditions are just around the corner.

Thursday June25Your need for stability and security ismatched by a general increase inrestlessness. Theurge tomoveonormakeyourself scarce is not a newone. You canreally make a genuine new start.

Friday June26It’s a good idea to refine your ideas, clarifyyour plans, and come to a betterunderstanding of your desires before youcommunicatethemtootherpeople.

Saturday June27Moon challenges, yet also supports, yourwonderfullyseriousSun.You’llbedrivenbysincerebeliefsthanusual.Butlistencarefullytofamilymembers.

If it’s yourBirthday

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LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Peopleyoumeetnowwillfall intotwotypes.Therearepeoplewhoaredeep,

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SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)NeveragainshouldyouworrythatFateisabouttooverwhelmyou.Instead,you

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SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec23)TheonewordofwarningnowisthatMarsmaymakeyouratherjumpyand

inclinedtobecomeaggressivewithpeoplewhohavedonenothingtoearnyourhostility.Theproblemisthatyou’reliabletofeelalittleirritated,orangry,whilethecausesofsuchfeelingsareimpossibletopindown.

CAPRICORN(Dec23-Jan20)Romantically,thiscouldbeadeeplysecretivephase,andyouwillresent

partners’attemptstokeepaneyeonyourmovementsorpinyourfeelingsdown.Discreetencounterscouldsoonbecomepublicknowledge,though,sosticktoyournormalintegrity.Atwork,staywithexistingagreements—atleastfornow.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Ifyouaretomakethecurrentsituationcrystal-clearyoumustgetbacktothe

drawing-boardandworkoutexactlywhatitisthatyouwant.OnecomplicationisthatVenus,goddessof love,istendingtoobscureyourromanticfeelings.Andaslongasyou’renotsurewhatyoufeel,youshouldnotbemakingrashpromises.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Themostamazingplanetaryline-upatthemomentconcernsPluto,the

planetofultimatetruth,aninfluenceofthemostremarkablepotential.Nowisthetimetobanishforeverthatshynesswhichhasledtosuchuncertaintyanddoubtinyourromanticlife.Otherpeoplereallydohavefaithinyou,andinyourskillsandexperience.

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NORTH♠ K107❤A87♦ J1064♣AJ8

SOUTH (YOU)♠ A92❤ K5♦ AQ98♣Q1096

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1NT 2H Pass 4HPass 3NT Pass PassPass

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2274QUICKCLUESACROSS8. Gambler (8)9. Groupofnine (6)10. Passive (10)11. Writing fluids (4)12. Handcovering (6)14. Jewellery items(8)15. Compoundofnitrogenreacting

withametal (7)17. Musician-"fit lust"anagram(7)20. Effectiveness (8)22. Drinkof thegods (6)24. Japan’s first capital (4)25. Trophies (10)27. Englishriver (6)28. Liking(8)DOWN1. Saturday inParis (6)2. Usedtobe(4)3. Achievedoraccomplished(8)4. ___at : reachesaconclusionby

deduction?(7)5. Shootingstar? (6)6. Asubstanceusedasagermkiller

(10)7. Parcels (8)13. Endsorconcludes (10)16. Redandsore (8)18. Protectivecases for lampsor lights

(8)19. Cosmeticblepharoplasty

(7)21. Agree to (6)23. Notmoving, free fromtrouble -

maybedead(2,4)26. Juiceof thegrape(4)CRYPTICCLUESACROSS8. Loseout in time,havingbeen left

alone(8)9. Fellowbeing funnyabout french

winetogetattention(6)10. Aclever judge isheld tobemore

beneficial (10)11. Funenjoyed inpopularknock-

about farce (4)12. Boysentbackacoupleof times to

see theanimal? (3-3)14. Nailsoakbadly inGreece

(8)15. Themanwithagiantstewthat

givesusawarmfeeling (7)17. Rather in theairnotonthe leg?

(3-4)20. Colinhas re-written letters for

Santa (8)22. Whereactorsappear, for starters

(6)

24. Lower-class irregularnoun(3-1)

25. Moneyyoudon’tget fornothing?(4,3,3)

27. Mothergraduateandmeinacity(6)

28. Candidatesopposemineonprimeenvironmental sites (8)

DOWN1. NYheir requiringchange fora

sovereign,butwhichone?(5,1)

2. Beatupasamatterof course (4)3. Streethoodlumspinsaroundthe

rinkrail (8)4. Swimmerwithadeepvoice?

(3,4)5. Cyclingout fromawesternhotel

to fish (6)6. Theyhavecausedtrouble in the

highlands, asclanshave inaway(10)

7. Youngboy’svoice iscontinuous(8)

13. Floweryglowers fromthelowlands?(5,5)

16. It’sheardatcloseofplay?(8)18. Downtrodden, it leads to inflation

(4,4)

19. Findsa job fora foolputtingonawrongsign(7)

21. Convertible tocash-ú51?(6)23. Wasasolicitor toyou,Edward(6)26. Oldwriter’smaterial (4)

QUICKCLUESAcross:7Meson,8Underhand,10Revile,11Detained,12Alcatraz,13Chez,15Invests,17Pleaded,20Ajit,22Retailer,25Chowmein,26Toaman,27Eagle-eyed,28Mould.Down:1Revealing,2Motivate,3Anodize,4Vertical,5Shrike,6Sneer,9Lear,14Vegetable,16Tethered,18Animator,19Princes,21Jewels,23Tutu,24Cheat.CRYPTICCLUESAcross:7Zaire,8Allagreed,10Corona,11Birdbath,12Derisory,13Musk,15Belgian,17Snoring,20Well,22Allright,25Previous,26Co-heir,27Comeunder,28Waver.Down:1Can-opener,2Trooping,3Oldboys,4Dairyman,5Erebus,6Beats,9NATO,14Unchained,16All-round,18Railhead,19Parsley,21Envies,23Lice,24Crook.

Solutionsto2273

West's2Swasaweakjumpovercall.WestledtheS8fromSAJ9872,andEastplayedthequeen.Youhaveonespadestopper,butisthereanywaytostopWestfromtakingtherestofhisspadesassoonasEastgetsonlead?TheWestHand: S-AJ9872 H-6 D-32 C- K642TheEastHand: S-Q5H-J1097432 D-K76 C-3Herearesomequestions.1.WhathighcardsdoesWesthaveinspades?,2.HowmanyspadesdoesWesthave?,3.WhatotherhighcardsmightWesthaveforhisvulnerablebid?4.What isSouth'scorrect lineofplay?

Answers: 1. If you apply the rule of 11 after a fourth-best lead (somethingyou should alwaysdowhen youget a spot card led), youwill do this arith-metic.Eightfromeleven isthree.Therearethreecardshigherthantheeightoutsideoftheopeningleader'shand.Eastplayedthequeen,andyouhavethekingandten.Thisaccountsforthehighcards in thespadesuit. Westmusthave the remaininghighspades, soheismarkedwithasuitheadedbytheSAJ98.2.Westbid2S,vulnerable.Eventhemostdaringbidderwill havesixcardsormoreforthisbidwhenvulnerable.Easthadthequeenandmayhaveonemore,butthat isall.3.Westisvulnerableandheoughttohavemorethanjusthisspadesuit.Heprobablyhasoneoftheminorsuitkings.Whoknows?Hemighthaveboth.Ifhehasboth,youcantake13tricks.4.Theanswertothisquestiondependsonhowmanytricksyouwant.Ifyouwant 13, go aheadandwin the first trick and start finessing. Youactuallyhave13tricks ifthefinesseswork.LetEasthavehisSQ.Hewillreturnaspade,andregardlessofwhatWestdoes,youwillhaveninetricks.As longasyoucancountonEastnothavingthreespades, it isokay to losethefirstandsecondandeventhethirdspadebecauseitwillstopWestfromlaterwinningthefourth, fifth,andsixthspades.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1C 2S 3S Pass3NT

Thefirstruleofdeclarerplayistonottakeatrickuntilyouaresurewhatyouwilldonext.Here isanexampleDeclarerSouth(Contract3NT)

Jaipur