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JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

ADOOR’SWORLD

PAGES 17, 18, 19

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZ INE

Conversations with AdoorGopalakrishnan as he steps

into his 80th year

eyeeyeNEWDELHI,LATECITY

JUNE28,202020PAGES,`6.00

(`8 PATNA&RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR)

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

New Delhi

Sunday June28Harmoniousstarsareonthehorizon.Thenextoneyearcouldbeeasierthanyouimagine.Thechanceofamassiveupheavalisdisappearing.

Monday June29A selection of intense planetary aspectsmakeseveryoneelsefeelthewayyoudoallthetime.Forthisveryreasonyoumustlistencarefullyandseewhatyoucanlearn.

Tuesday June30At times like theseyouknowthatonly thebestwill do, and you should try tomakeothers accept yourhigh standards.With alittle luck, you’ll reach number one.

Wednesday July1You’re reaching anhistoric turningpoint -in a very positiveway.What seems to behappening is that lots of tiny events couldadd up to a major forwards shift.

Thursday July2Today’s stars bring qualitieswhich are atoncetheatricalandmagical. If youwant todressupandshowoff,you’llbeintunewiththeheavens.Thisyearcouldworkoutbestifyoubringyourcreativepowerstothefore.

Friday July3Jupiter’s generous alignment emphasisesall open-hearted offers. And, when theMoon sends an adventurousmessage toPluto, passionswill deepen. Think about askillthatyouhavealwayswantedtolearn.

Saturday July4There are somenice romantic indications.Thatdoesn’tmeanthatsomeoneisgoingtobesweepingyouoffyourfeet.Itmeansthatyouwillbeseeinglife’sdeepermeaning.

If it’s yourBirthday

2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020CALENDAR

SUDOKU4153

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4152

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Anexpertissomeonewhotellsyou________something.-AlecIssigonis(3,3,4,2)

SOLUTION:KAZOO,FOUNT,IDIOCY,WHIMSYAnswer:Anexpertissomeonewhotellsyouwhyyoucan’tdosomething.-AlecIssigonis

KZAOO IIOCDY

FUTON IMSHWY

JUMBLEDWORDS

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Therewillbeurgentdomesticmatterstotackle,sobesuretoorganiseyourself

carefullyandseetoitthatfriendsandpartnersshareresponsibilities.Makesurethatyoudon’tmissoutonsocialopportunitiesnowthatVenus,planetof love,isbeingsohelpful.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Awonderfullysociableatmosphereoffersplentyofrelaxationwith

pleasantpartners,sosetouttohavefun.However,seeingasyourcurrentemotionalcyclesaresober,seriousandintense,matureactivitiesareboundtopredominate.Forexample,youmayattractpeoplewhoaremoreexperienced.

GEMINI(May22-June21)Thisperiodshouldstartontherightnotealthough,youwillhaveincreasing

difficultyintakingrationaldecisions.But,whenallissaidanddone,thereisnothingwrongwithfollowingyourdeeperbeliefs, justforachange.Besides,sometimesyouneedtofollowyourintuitions.

CANCER(June22-July23)Youhaveeveryreasontobewellpleasedwithyourprogressoverthepast

fewmonths.Now,however,youarereachingagenuineturning-pointunderastrikingastrologicalalignmentthatlastoccurredagesago.Makethemostof it.Anddon’tturndownaninvitationnowintheexpectationthatitwillberenewednextmonth.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Friendsandrelationscertainlyhavetherightideas.Whatismoreimportantis

thattheyhavetheforceofpersonalitytomakesurethattheirproposalsareputintoeffectandthatyourowndesiresmayhavetowaitforawhile.Youmaythereforehavetogrinandbearit,makingavirtueoutofnecessity.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)It’sagoodtimetopullstrings,soundpeopleoutandtrytogetawordintoan

influentialear.WhatisreallyfavouringyouatthemomentisMars’ impactonyourhouseofromanceandcreativity.AsVenus,ladyof love,comesintothepicture,andcombineswithotherfavourableplanets,youmayreceiveromanticopportunities.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Oncepersonalaffairsaredealtwithyou’llbegivingthoughttocashandcareer

matters.Heedthecommentsputforwardbyfriendsandloversasyou’llgetafreshslantonthingsandyoumightevengainusefulinformation.Asyoumoveintogear,yourromanticprospectswillpickupaswell,whichhastobeagoodthing.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Youoftengetthefeelingthatyourlifeissubjecttoforcessogreatthattheyare

beyondyourcontrol.However,theoccupationofsensitiveregionsofyourchartbyMarsandPluto,yourtwospecialrulingplanets,meansonlyonething:theballisnowfirmlyinyourcourt.Decidewhereyouwanttobeinamonth.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec23)Takeheart,forthefinancialsituationcannowonlyimprove.Whenwe

lookatthefactthatJupiter,yourplanetaryruler, issohelpful,theoutcomeofrecenteconomicupsanddownswillbeaperiodofsustainedprosperity.Youngerpeoplemaycomeupwiththebestadvice.

CAPRICORN(Dec23-Jan20)Thecosmos istreatingyouhandsomelyat themoment.Theone

mistakeyoumustn’tmake is toregardeverydifficultyasasignthat theplanetshavegot it in foryou. In fact, theyaresendingyou lessonsto learnandchallenges toovercome, thenetresultof that isyouwillbe farmoreskilledathandlingpersonal relationships.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)You’reinabrilliantmood.Mercuryhasbeenmovingcarefully,aligning

withthepartofyourchartwhichgovernsyourprofessionalfuture.However,somuchthatyouhavewantedtosayseemstohavecomeoutwrong,thatpeoplemaymisunderstandyourtrueintentions.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Itnowseemssometimesincetherewereanygenuinelyprofoundchangesin

yourlife.Whatthismeansisthatyouarestillbuildingondevelopmentsthattookplaceoverthelastthreeyears.Ifyouwish,youmaymakeaconsciousefforttocreatethefutureyouwant,ratherthanwaitingforthestarstopushyou.

YOURWEEKAHEADBRIDGE

Miraculously,youandyourpartnerarrivein6S(yourgreatbidding,ofcourse)andtheopeningleadfromsilentopponents istheDK.Plantheplay.

NORTH♠ K107❤A87♦ J1064♣AJ8SOUTH (you)

♠ A92❤K5♦ AQ98♣Q1096

NORTH♠ A10982❤ KQ3♦♣J9763

SOUTH (YOU)♠ KQJ73❤A105♦ 107543♣

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2275QUICKCLUESACROSS8. Facile inspeech(6)9. Created,originatedorwrote (8)10. Renovated(8)11. Letgo(6)12. Softhatwithband(6)13. Culinaryherb(8)14. Only thinghe isgood in isbungling?(7)

16. Idleness (7)20. Attackedorassaulted(8)

23. MarkTwain’sTom___(6)25. Trinidadand____(6)26. Country inSEEurope(8)27. Fancythat ( inamannerofspeaking)! (4,4)

28. Becomes interestedoraroused, inaway?(4,2)

DOWN1. Skinemollient (8)2. Flowingwithsuccessivenotesconnected(6)

3. Obstruction(8)4. Sparsupportingsail(4-3)

5. Walks inastiff pompousmanner(6)

6. Agenialmanner- inFrance (8)7. Moreenthusiasticorsharp(6)15. Cobbler’snail (8)17. Divulge (8)18. Notgenuine(8)19. Eccentricperson(7)21. Inclined(6)22. Inchworm(6)24. Ghost (6)CRYPTICCLUESACROSS8. Becausebuzzer isoutside it’searlier (6)

9. Cleaner fuel,of adarkgreycolour(8)

10. Conflict inwhichcounterchargesmaybethedeciding factor? (5-3)

11. Boygivesuntruthaboutadirectdebit (6)

12. Of lighthairandcomplexionwhenhavingaspell frombroadcasting(3,3)

13. Runningwaterprovideshimwithemployment (5-3)

14. Storiesofmembersretainingambition(7)

16. Theysecuredsuperior itemsforladies (3-4)

20. Standard featureofmostcitystreets (8)

23. Nun’sAidapart is left to the

imagination(6)25. Startdrivingonacourse(3,3)26. Onlyoddsocksof apair(3,5)

27. Enduringadviceonhowtogetold?(4,4)

28. Ina fair state -nodisease,notice(3,3)

DOWN1. Fruit fliesnearly ruinedweapon(3,5)

2. Openerskiespullbefore tea (6)3. OldWrendesignabsorbedtheWest - theWesternHemisphere!(3,5)

4. Theyputupthepointsorput themdown(7)

5. Hestudieddroolingandballetdancer lostone(6)

6. Sweetaccount I’dpursuenofurther (4,4)

7. Girlgoesroundnortherndocks (6)15. Expeloddcharactersshowntobefalse (8)

17. Breather inaswamp, leftunattached(8)

18. Fixvanthat ishitwithhammer(4-4)

19. Unusual towander fromthestreet(7)

21. Ladyclaimingtobe lamb(6)

22. Walkingwhere thecorn’sgrowing?(2,4)

24. Shortperiodswithslightcolour invessel (6)

QUICKCLUESAcross:8Gamester,9Ennead,10Vegetative,11Inks,12Mitten,14Earrings,15Nitride,17Flutist,20Efficacy,22Nectar,24Nara,25Silverware,27Severn,28Fondness.Down:1Samedi,2Were,3Attained,4Arrives,5Meteor,6Antibiotic,7Packages,13Terminates,16Inflamed,18Lanterns,19Eyelift,21Assent,23Atrest,26Wine.CRYPTICCLUESAcross:8Desolate,9Waving,10Preferable,11Lark,12Dik-dik,14Salonika,15Heating,17Off-hand,20Nicholas,22Onsets,24Non-U,25Quidproquo,27Mumbai,28Nominees.Down:1HenryI,2Golf,3Larrikin,4Seabass,5Awheel,6Avalanches,7Unbroken,13Dutchbulbs,16Epilogue,18Footpump,19Assigns,21Liquid,23Touted,26Oink.

Solutionsto2274

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTHINTPass 3NT Pass PassPass

DealerSouth,NSvulnerable

West leadstheH3.Youwininhandwiththeking,andonceagainyouhaveto dealwith the twominor-suit kings beforeWest gets his suit running.Whichsuitdoyouplayfirst,andhow?TheWestHand:S-54 H-J9632 D-K3 C-7532TheEastHand:S-QJ863 H-Q104 D-752C-K4AssumingWesthaschosenhislongestsuit,theleadcouldcomefromafouror five-card suit. If it is four,wecannever losemore than two tricks in thesuittogetherwiththetwominor-suitkingsandthecontractisinnodanger.Inthiscase,howweplaytotheheartsisirrelevant.WemustthereforecreditWestwithfiveheartsandnowthedefendersarethreateningtotakethreehearttricksandthetwominor-suitkings.Wehavefourtoptricksinthema-jorsandat least three ineachminorbutbothkingswill have tobeknockedout ifwearetomakeninetricks.ThedangeroussituationthereforeariseswhenWesthastheDKandEasttheCK:The order of losing tricks is nowcrucial. Firstly, let us consider the hearts.Weobviously cannotwin both the first and second rounds as thatwouldleaveEastwithanothercard, leavingcommunicationsbetweenthedefendersopen.Thuswinningthefirstroundontheboard(whichwouldforceustowinthesecondroundinhand)isruledout.Wehaveachoicebetweenrefusingthefirst roundorwinningthefirstroundinhand, intendingtorefusethesecond.Oncewewinaheart,wemustconsiderwhichminor-suitfinesseweshouldtryfirst.TheaimmustbetoloseatricktoEastafterhehasrunoutofhearts,and to knockWest’s entry out early, i.e. before thehearts are established.Thereforediamondsmustbeplayedfirst.Thequestionthenarisesastohowtoget todummyto take the finesse.Wecannotuse theCAas thatwouldmeanforegoingtheclubfinesse.ItislessobviousthatitisalsodangeroustocrosstodummywiththeSK.OntakinghisDK,Westwouldrealisethatthereisnownohopeforthehearts,andhewouldturntospades,settingupthreetricksforhispartner,whohastheCKasentry.Winthefirstorsecondroundofheartsinhandandplaytheaceandanotherdiamond, losing toWest.Henowclears thehearts.Wewindummy's aceon the third round and cross to hand in diamonds to take the club finesse(startingwiththequeen,tenorninetoholdthelead), losingtothenowsafehand,East.Wearenowassuredofthreetricksineachminorandtwoineachmajortototaltentricks,againstaheartandtwominor-suitkingslost.Youshouldalsonotethat, ifthereisreasontobelievethatEasthasthelonghearts(forexample,ifhehadbidthem)thentheordermustbereversedandclubsmustbeplayedfirst;wecannowsafelytrythefinesse.

DealerSouth

SHORT NOTICE INVITING TENDER

e-NIT No. 31 of 2020-2021/Div-2 Dated 25-06-2020Executive Engineer PW (R&B) Construction Division No. II, Jammu

Department Jammu on behalf of Lt. Governor of Union Territory of J&K, invite tendersby e-tendering mode from approved and eligible registered Firm with J&K UnionTerritory Govt. upto 1800 Hrs on 01-07-2020 for the following work.

OFFICE THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER PWD (R&B) CONST.DIV. NO. II, JAMMU

1/ Date of Publishing from 25-06-2020

2/ The Bidding documents can be downloaded from the websitehttp://jktenders.gov.in from on 25-06-2020 to 01-07-2020 (1800 Hrs).

Sd/- Executive Engineer,PWD (R&B) Const. Div. No. II

Jammu

No :- 2304-18Dated :- 25-06-2020DIP/J-1756/20

S.No.

1

1

Name ofWork

2

SoilInvestigationTest for pro-posed New

District CourtComplex,Jammu.

Estima-ted

Cost(In lacs)

3

13.38

Costof doc-ument(in Rs.)

4

600

EarnestMoney(in Rs.)

5

26,760

Time anddate of

opening oftender

6

02-07-20201400 hours

Eligibility

7

Firm registeredwith J&K Govt.having valid:-i) Registrationii) GST Numberiii) Latest GST 3Biv) PAN

GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH,WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER,MAHANADI GODAWARI BASIN RAIPUR (C.G.)

eProcurement Portal: https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in(2nd Call)

SYSTEM TENDER No.65342/NIT No:06/SAC/2020-21, Gariaband, Dated:23.06.2020

Online Tenders are invited for the following works up to10.07.2020 at 17.30 Hour (IST):-

Name of Work:-CONSTRUCTION OF DIAPHRAGM WALLON TELNADI IN VILLAGE SENMUDA OFDEOBHOG BLOCK IN GARIABAND DISTRICT.

Probable amount of Contract- Rs. 209.68 Lakhs

The details can be viewed and downloaded onlinedirectly from the Government of Chhattisgarh Integratede-Procurement Portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) from Date30/06/2020, at 17.31 Hours. (IST) onwards.

Note:- All eligible/interested contractors/bidders are mandated toget enrolled on the Integrated e-procurement portal(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) and get approval on specificvendor class from PWD under Centralized Contractor/SupplierRegistration in order to download the tender documents andparticipate in the subsequent bidding process.

sd/-Executive Engineer

Water Resources Division GariabandFor, Chief Engineer Mahanadi Godawari Basin

81884 Water Resources Department, Raipur (C.G.)

e-Procurement Tender Notice

TENDER DATE EXTENSION NOTICEThe Date of opening of tender specification no. PVVNL-MT/COM/20/19-20 for supply of 500 nos. 33KV TVM Cat-C Meter is hereby extended from 25.06.2020 to 14.07.2020. Time of opening tenderand other terms & conditions shall remain unchanged.For detailed information please log on www.pvvnl.org & E-Tendering websitewww.etender.up.nic.in till the date of submission of bids. Superintending Engineer (Commercial)"Help line Number for Information of Theft of Electricity: "1800-180-3002 (Meerut) & 9412207451"Remark www.etender.up.nic.in

Sd/-Superintending Engineer (Commercial)

For Managing Director“SAVE ELECTRICITY IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION”

´fÂffaI : 5168 dQ³ffaI : 27.06.20

Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.,Victoria Park, Meerut

New Delhi

ADOOR’SWORLD

PAGE 17, 18, 19

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZ INE

Conversations with AdoorGopalakrishnan as he steps

into his 80th year

eyeeyeNEWDELHI,LATECITY

JUNE28,202020PAGES,`6.00

(`8 PATNA&RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR)

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

DIPANKARGHOSEBHULNI (BHAGALPUR),JUNE27

THEY HAD dreamt of Bhulni.Their green fields, mango treesandfamilies.Itiswhatkeptthemgoingevenashungryinthespe-cial trains, or on the back oftrucks, for days and nights. Butnow that they are here, that

dream is falling apart, infectedbyreality.Bihar’svillageshavenowork,

no sustenance. Itwaswhy theyleft. And it is why, despite theyearning tobehomeat a timeofcrisis,theywillhavetoleaveagain.With 63,962 returning mi-

grants,a risingCovidcurve,anda town full of aspirations,Bhagalpur is a microcosm ofBihar—wherethesystemistot-tering under the weight ofnumbers and the scale of un-employment.Bhagalpurisalsothefocusof

a month-long assignment byTheSundayExpress totrackhow

lives and livelihoods in small-town India are copingwith theunlockdown.InasmallcourtyardinBhulni

panchayat'sMehesletivillage,20men share their stories, eachechoingtheother.Noonewearsamask,andsocialdistancinghasbeen thrown to thewind, eventhough the district, with 430cases, is second in the state be-hind Patna, with 557. There arenoofficialstocheck,andtheres-idents themselves gave up longago. Here, fear of the virus hasbeenreplacedbyfearofhunger.Rakesh Ranjan Singh left

homeduringhis teens in2004.

Hewaslast inAndhraPradesh’sKurnool, earning Rs 400 as adailywage labourer. “I got backby train in the middle of May,and was told by officials that Iwouldgeta job.Theyregisteredmynameat therailwaystation,andtheHajipurquarantinecen-tre. It has been a month, andthere is nowork,” he says.So far, all that he has re-

ceivedisamessageonhissmallfeaturephone: anumber andamessage of congratulations,saying he has been registeredwith the IndustriesDepartment. “What do I dowiththismessage?”Singhasks.

Over the past month,Mehesleti has seen promisesmadeonTV,innewspapers,andon WhatsApp for those withsmartphones.Theyreadthatthestatewould give Rs 1,000 to re-turningmigrantsunderaCoronaSahayata scheme, or that MN-REGAwould be expanded. Butnotoneofthemhasreceivedthemoney, or a rural job card. Therefrain: “Where will we go toask?Everything is shut.”About a kilometre away, the

walls of the panchayat buildingin Chara Badgaon village arefreshlypaintedinyellow,andthetreesaroundshowsignsofman-

icure.Thefoundationstonespro-claim that ChiefMinister NitishKumarinauguratedthebuildingon January 9, 2020. But byMay,partsof theblockwereusedasaquarantine centre which, likemany others in Bihar, was shutby June15.At 11.30 am on a bright

morning lastweek, therewas alock on the Panchayat Bhavan.Inside a complaint box was apackoftornplayingcards.Acrossanewlybuiltpond,anMNREGAbhavanwas open, andmannedbySharanDevSingh,whoiden-tifiedhimselfasa“pratinidhi”.He

CONTINUEDONPAGE4ThepanchayatbuildinginBhulnilies locked.DipankarGhose

First Covid, now hunger, Bhagalpur migrants start packing — again

INSIDE

EDQUESTIONSAHMEDPATEL

COVID CLAIM: FIRAGAINSTRAMDEVPAGES8, 12

AMIDSLIDE INTALKS

Pakistanoffers toreopenKartarpuronMonday, Indiasaysshort noticePandemichaltedtravel,Paktryingtocreatemirageofgoodwill:Officials

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE27

FOURDAYSafterDelhiinformedIslamabaditwasdownsizing itsmission staff strength by halfand asked it to do the same,Pakistan Saturdaymade a sud-den offer to reopen theKartarpurSahibpilgrimcorridoron June29.Noting that it was being

given a two-day notice asagainst the mutually agreedseven-day notice for travel,India said itwouldevaluate theoffer before making any an-nouncement,andthatPakistanwas trying to create a “mirageof goodwill” by proposing re-sumptionof thepilgrimagesus-pended in the wake of theCovid-19outbreak.The pandemic forced the

government to order closure ofpublicplacesandthepilgrimagevia the corridorwas suspendedonMarch16.Thecorridor,whichopened in November last year,was used by 44,951 Indian pil-grimsuntil January thisyear.On Saturday morning,

Pakistan ForeignMinister ShahMahmoodQureshi, in a Twitterpost, said: “Asplaces ofworshipopenupacrosstheworld,PakistanpreparestoreopentheKartarpurSahib Corridor for all Sikh pil-grims, conveying to the Indianside our readiness to reopen thecorridoron29June2020, theoc-casionofthedeathanniversaryofMaharajaRanjeetSingh.”The Pakistan Foreign

Ministryissuedastatement,say-ing “Pakistan has conveyed its

readinesstotheIndiansidetore-open Kartarpur Corridor… thecorridorwastemporarilyclosedon 16 March 2020 due to theCovid-19pandemic.Asreligiousplacesaregraduallyopeninguparound theworld, Pakistan has

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Localsandrelativesat thefuneralofNaikSachinMore,whodied inGalwanValley,atSakurivillage inNashikSaturday.PTI

117DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Delhi■TamilNadu■Haryana■Telangana

7 DAYS EARLIER:

3.28NOW:

3.08

7 DAYS EARLIER:

5.97NOW:

6.36

DETECTED TODAY

18,552RECOVERED TODAY:

10,244

TOTALCASES1,52,76577,24074,62212,88412,349

DOUBLINGRATE**24.1113.1015.6317.687.55

SURGEIN24HOURS5,0243,4603,685421985

7-DAYAVGGROWTH*2.99%5.49%4.61%4.07%9.54%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:5,08,952TESTS: 79,96,707 | DOUBLING RATE: 19.54**

RECOVERED:2,95,880DEATHS: 15,685

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

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

CASE FATALITY RATIO

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

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

HC rejected, Delhipolice repeated: bailwill ‘send adversemessage to society’JAYMAZOOMDAARNEWDELHI, JUNE27

ONMAY29,theDelhiHighCourt,grantingbailtoanaccusedinacaselinked to the February riots, re-jected thepolice argument thatgivingbail “maysendanadversemessage(to)society”--andsaiditsremit is “todispense justice”and“nottosendmessagestosociety”.RecordsshowthatDelhiPolice

used this argument in at least 19riots cases, 15 of themafter theHighCourt'sMay29observations.InitsordergrantingbailtoFiroz

Khan,anOldMustafabadresidentsentto judicialcustodyonApril3in a case lodged inDayalpur, theHighCourtsaid:“Prisonisprima-rilyforpunishingconvicts;notfordetainingundertrials in order to

sendany‘message’tosociety.Theremit of the court is to dispensejusticeinaccordancewithlaw,nottosendmessagestosociety.”Subsequently,onJune6,Khan

wasgrantedbailbyadistrictcourtin fourothercasesonthegroundthatthefactsinthosecaseswerenodifferent fromtheonedecidedbytheHighCourt.However, despite the High

Courtorder,recordsshowthatthepolicehavepursuedthislineofar-gument, with mixed results.Considerthefollowing19cases:JUNE11:Oneof thegrounds

for opposing a bail applicationfromAmit,namedasanaccusedin a case registered in KhajuriKhas,was that releasing “theap-plicantmaysendanadversemes-sage (to) the societyandweaken

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, JUNE27

AN INTERVIEW of the ChineseAmbassador to India by newsagency Press Trust of India hasearned it the ire of the nation’s“autonomous” public broad-caster, Prasar Bharati, whichcalledits“recentnewscoverage”detrimentalto“nationalinterestandunderminingIndia'sterrito-rial integrity."A letter was sent Saturday,

with the subject “news report-ing by PTI not in national inter-est,” written by Samir Kumar,head of Prasar Bharati NewsService, and addressed to PTI’sChiefMarketingOfficer.The letter said that “taking

intoviewintotalityPTI’sconduct,CONTINUEDONPAGE4

GurdwaraDarbarSahibKartarpur. File

THEKartarpurSahibcorridor isoneof the fewconstants in the turbu-lent tiesbetween IndiaandPakistan, apart fromthe IndusWatersTreaty.Thesuspensionof thecorridor isonlybecauseof thepandemic.One-upmanshipover thecor-ridor threatens toupendthis initiative.

AfterIndus,apossibleconstant

ASADISTRICTUNLOCKS

ANEXPRESS SERIES

DELHIRIOTS THEWORLD

EU BORDER CONTROL:AMERICANS SET TO BEEXCLUDED

RUSSIA TARGETEDUS TROOPS INAFGHANISTAN: INTELPAGE16

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE27

CHINA CONTINUES to consoli-date its positions in the faceoffwithIndiansoldiersonthenorthbankof Pangong Tso at the Lineof Actual Control (LAC) inLadakh,butthefirstsignsof ten-sion in the area emerged lastSeptember, days after the gov-ernmentannouncedabrogationof Article 370 in Jammu andKashmirandcreationof LadakhasaseparateUnionTerritory.Ever since a brawl on

September 11 last year — 10Indian security personnelwereinjured in the incident — theChinese side has been attempt-ing to block Indian patrols fromproceeding towardsFinger8onthenorthbankof the lake.India says the LAC in the

area iscoterminouswithFinger8,while the Chinese claim it tobe a few kilometres further tothewest — ‘fingers’ aremoun-tainous spurs jutting out fromthe ridgeon thenorthbank to-wards the lake.

An official told The IndianExpress that therewasnophysi-cal clashbetween the two sidesformore than two years in thePangong Tso area, after a videoof IndianandChinesesoldiersin

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI, JUNE27

MUMBAIHASstarted reportingsymptoms similar to Kawasakidisease among young patientswith coronavirus. Reports re-garding this had first appearedintheWest,butitisthefirsttimethese symptoms are being re-ported in India.One such patient, a 14-year-

old,wasfirstbroughttoaprivatehospital in Mumbai this weekwith rashes and high fever, twoclassicKawasakisymptoms.ShesubsequentlytestedpositiveforCovid-19,andwastransferredtoICUonFridaynightafterhercon-ditionworsened. Doctors, whohave put her on a high dose ofsteroids, immunosuppressantdrug tocilizumab and im-

munoglobulins, believe she gotcoronavirusfromherfather,whohadtestedpositive lastweek.The US, UK, Spain, Italy and

ChinahavebeenreportingcasesofchildrenwithCovid-19show-ing Kawasaki-like symptomssinceApril.A study in The Journal of

American Medical Associationthat studied 58 children withCovid-19 and Kawasaki-likesymptoms, termed the rarecombination‘PaediatricInflam-matoryMultisystemSyndromeTemporally Associated WithSARS-CoV-2’. TheWorldHealthOrganisation has labelled itMultisystem InflammatorySyndrome.Kawasaki disease, whose

causeremainsunknown,mainlyaffects children agedbelow fiveyears. It results in high-grade

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Mumbai hospitals areseeing Kawasaki-likesymptoms amongyoung Covid cases

First sign of trouble in Pangongwas last September, days afterchange in status of J&K, Ladakh

Afighter jet takesoff fromLehAirBaseSaturday.PTI

2 more deaths in Galwan:Soldiers building bridgedrown in river accidentsDIVYAGOYAL&SRINATHRAOLUDHIANA,MUMBAI, JUNE27

TWO SOLDIERS, Naik SachinVikram More (37) fromMalegaon and Lance NaikSaleemKhan (23) from Patiala,diedafterdrowning inariver inLadakh's Galwan Valley area.Their last rites were held onSaturday.While there was no official

statement from the Army,sourcessaid“theseareaccidentsandnotconnectedtothecurrentsituation in the region”.The families of the two sol-

dierssaidtheyweretoldthatthetwomenwerepartofateamin-volvedin“constructingabridge”in the area. While defencesources saidMore's death was“reported on Thursday”, Khan'sfamily said theywere informed

thathediedonFriday.“We have been told that a

bridge was being constructed,and Saleem was part of that

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

Shortage ofbeds led torise in deathtoll, admitsKejriwal

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE27

CHIEF MINISTER ArvindKejriwal said Saturday thatDelhisawashortageofbeds forCovid-19 patients in the firstweekof June, becauseofwhichthedeath toll rose.“In the firstweekof June,we

started noticing a shortage ofbeds,of testinginDelhi.Andbe-cause of the shortage, whensome people couldn’t get beds,thedeath toll started torise,”hesaidduringawebcast.Kejriwal also said that the

speed at which Covid-19 casesrose in the city after the lock-down was eased in May wasmorethanwhatthegovernmenthadexpected.Of thetotalcases inDelhi till

Friday, 73% have been reportedsince June 1 — the numberssurging from 20,834 then to77,240 on June 26. From 426Covid-19 deaths in the firstweek of June, the toll is now2,492.There have been several

complaintsintheCapitalofpeo-plebeingturnedawaybyhospi-tals—somebecausetheirCovidreportwasawaited.KejriwalsaidSaturday that the situation hasimproved considerably andDelhiisinacomfortablepositionnowregardinghospitalbeds.Headdedthatfive“weapons”

CONTINUEDONPAGE4

PTI coveragenot in nationalinterest, willreview ties:Prasar Bharati

CHINA INTERVIEW

LADAKH’SHOT SUMMERAmid border tensions,

the UT deals withCovid, hit to tourism

UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahandCMArvindKejriwalataCovidcentre inDelhiSaturday.GajendraYadav

SUNDAYSTORYPAGE 14

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Impactof Covid-19onenvironmentalclearancesIn the latestepisodeofTheSandipRoyShow,KanchiKohli (Centre forPolicyResearch) talksabouthowthepandemichasaffectedthedecisionmakingprocessintheMinistryofEnvironment

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First signs oftrouble inPangong waslast Sept, daysafter Ladakhbecame UTa brawl on the north bank onAugust 15, 2017did the rounds.That scuffle, inwhich fourArmyandITBPpersonnelwereinjured,had occurredwhile soldiers ofboth countrieswere locked in atense 73-day standoff on theDoklam plateau at the India-Bhutan-Chinatrijunction.Whilebothsidescontinuedto

object topatrollingandfollowedthebannerdrill–eachsideshow-ingabanner for10minutes,ask-ing the other side’s patrol to re-turn to its area – therewas nophysicalclash,theofficialsaid.Indianpatrolswereallowedto

proceedonfoottowardsFinger8,while theChinesepatrolswouldcome in vehicles up to Finger 4.Thepatrolswouldoftenbeinter-ceptedshortof theirdestination,buttherewasnoattempttocom-pletelyblockthem.ThechangeintheChineseap-

proach, theofficial said, cameonSeptember10lastyearwhenPLAtroopsvehementlystartedblock-ing Indianpatrols fromproceed-ing towards Finger 8. This wasbarely amonth after the Bill forabrogation of Article 370 inJammuandKashmirandcreationof Ladakh as a separate UnionTerritory was passed inParliamentonAugust5.Tensionswerehighandthings

wentoutof handwhentwoPLAcompanies came in eight heavyvehicles up to Finger 4 on themorningof September11. Sharpwordswereexchanged,andavi-olent scuffle ensued, the officialsaid, leaving 10 Army and ITBPpersonnel injured.Thebrawlex-tended to thewaters of the lake,where three Army boatsweredamagedbyChinesesoldiers.TheIndian side also damaged twoChineseboats.PLA soldiers also removed a

semi-permanent structure ofstonesmadebytheIndianside,akind of an observation post, atFinger4.TheythenconstructedasimilarstonestructuretothewestoftheirbaseatFinger8,theofficialsaid, and startedblocking Indianpatrolsfromproceedingtowardstheirdestination.Indiantroopsbegantakingan

alternate track to reach Finger 8onfoot,goingbehindtheheightsatFinger4.Thiswasstronglyob-jectedtobytheChineseandten-sionsmounted in thearea, lead-ing to the violent scuffle on theinterveningnightofMay5/6thisyearwhichnotonlyleftmanysol-diers on both sides injured butalsotriggeredthestandoff.Inthepasttwomonths,there

have been at least three clashesbetweenIndianandChinesesol-diers in thePangongTsoarea.Asseen in satellite images, theChinesesidehasconstructedpill-boxes, shelters, breast-walls andbunkers at Finger 4, both on thebank and the ridge,where theyhave deployed troops in largenumbers.The location of LAC in the

PangongTsoareahasbeenacon-tentious issue between bothcountries, as evident from thenumberofChinesetransgressionsrecordedbytheIndianside.Therewere142Chinesetransgressionsin 2019, up from72 in 2018 and112in2017.

2 more deaths inGalwan: Soldiersbuilding a bridgedrown in riverteam,”saidKhan'suncle,BudhdinKhan. “Hewas in a boatwhichoverturned,andhedied,”hesaid.More's family said theywere

toldthathedivedintotherivertorescue twoother soldiers.Whilehe managed to rescue them,Morewasseriouslyinjuredwhenhehit his head on a submergedrock.Heissurvivedbyhisparents,wifeandthreechildren,includinganinfant.His father,VikramMore, said

he last spoketohim10daysago.“Sachinhadtoldmethatthesitu-ationintheGalwanValleywasse-rious.Heassuredmehewasfineand said I shouldn'tworry,” hesaid.Khan's mother, Nasima

Bagum,saidshelastspoketohimtwodaysback.“Hesaidhewouldcomehomesoon.Henevergavedetailsof thesituationthere...Hesaidtheremaybeaproblemwithphoneconnectivity,andIshould-n'tworry if he didn't call. I havelost everything.Hewasouronlysupport,”shesaid.Khan,whojoinedtheArmyin

2014, is survived by hismotherandtwosiblings.

‘PTI’s coveragenot in nationalinterest’Prasar Bharati is reviewing theneed for continued relationshipwithPTIandadecisioninthisre-gardwillbeconveyedsoon”.Whencontacted,PTIsaid:“We

have received a letter from thePrasarBharati thisafternoon.Weareexaminingitandwillrespondinduecoursewiththefacts.”Thiscomesamidtheongoing

border standoff between IndiaandChinawhichhasclaimedthelivesof20Indiansoldiers.“It is alsomentioned that the

PTI had...been time and againalertedbythePublicBroadcasteroneditoriallapsesresultingindis-seminationofwrongnewsharm-ing public interest,” the letteradded.Prasar Bharati, which runs

DoordarshanandAllIndiaRadio,is an autonomous institutionowned by the UnionGovernment. Since 2013, PrasarBharati paidRs 9.15 crore annu-allytoPTIforitsservices.However,since2017,thepublicbroadcasterhas beenholdingback about 25percentasitwantstorenegotiatethecosts.China’s ambassador to India

SunWeidonghadpublishedhisversionofthePTIinterviewonthewebsite of China’s embassy inIndia. This had just three ques-tionsandhisanswers.In the interview, Sunblamed

India for the LAC stand-off and,whenaskedabouttheresolutionofthedispute,saidthatthe“onusisnotonChina.”PTI, in a subsequent report

fromBeijing,saidthatithadques-tionedSunonChina’s transgres-sions across the Line of ActualControl(LAC)anditsbuild-upbuttheenvoydidnotanswerthese.Incidentally,thePTIinterview

marked the first instance that aBeijingofficialhadgoneonrecord

toadmitthatduringtheviolenceinGalwanValleyonJune15,therehad been “casualties” on theChinesesideaswell.PTI, registered in1947, began

its operations in 1949. An esti-mated 99media organisationsown all 5,416 of its shares as ofMarch2019.ThePTIboardhas16members, including four inde-pendentdirectors,andtheboard’schairpersonship is rotatedeveryyear.PunjabKesari’sCEOanded-itor-in-chief is the current chair-man.Itisthelargestnewsagencyinthecountryandearnsthroughsubscriptionsfrommediagroups.

HC rejected,Delhi policerepeatedthefaithof thepeople inthesec-ular image (of) the country.”Hewasdeniedbail.The same day, bail applica-

tionsofanotheraccusedAshwani,infourcasesregisteredinKarawalNagar,were opposedon similargrounds. He got bail in all fourcases.JUNE 9: Bail applications

from four riot-accused --Ashutosh (1 case, Khajuri Khas),Mitthan (1 case, Khajuri Khas),Surender (1 case, NewUsmanpur) and Suaib (1 case,Bhajanpura)--werecontestedtoavoidsendinga"wrongmessage".OnlyAshutoshgotbail.JUNE4: Bail applications in

two cases registered in KhajuriKhas against accusedAsif wereopposed on the ground that“grantingofbailatthisearlystagemay send adversemessage (to)society andweaken the faith ofthepeople(inthe)country'ssec-ularimage”.Thesameargumentwasused against Taseem inonecase in Bhajanpura. Bail wasgrantedinallthreecases.JUNE3:Bailapplicationsfrom

accused Deepak (2 cases,Welcome) and one from RajKamal (1 case,Welcome)wereopposedsothatno"wrongmes-sage"wassent.Bailwasdeniedinallthreecases.MAY22:Theinvestigatingof-

ficer (IO) opposed bail applica-tions in three cases registered inNewUsmanpur against accusedManish, submitting that “grant-ing himbail at this stagewouldsendaveryadversemessage(to)the society”. Bailwas granted inallthreecases.MAY3:“Grantingofbailmay

sendwrongmessagetothesoci-ety”wasoneofthesixgroundsonwhich the IO opposed accusedGulfisha’sbailapplicationinacaseregistered in Jaffrabad. Bailwasdenied.TheHighCourtorderhasbeen

citedbydefense counsel, too, topressforbail intheriotcases,butagainwithmixedresults.For example, reliance on the

orderbrought relief forZiauddininacaseregisteredinDayalpur--bailwasgrantedonJune19.ButasimilarreferenceonJune6didnot

getreliefforShadabAhmed,whohasbeen charged inDayalpur inthemurder of a police official. Adistrictcourtruledthattheappli-cantwas“notentitledforbailcon-sideringtheoverallimpactoftheincidentonthesocietyatlarge”.

Mumbai reportsKawasaki-likesymptomsamong youngCovid casesfeverand inflammation inbloodvessels,andcansometimescausepermanent damage to coronaryarteries.OfMaharashtra’s 14,474un-

der-20Covid-19 cases, 5,103 areunder10 years, and 9,371 be-tweentheagesof11and20.The 14-year-old’s father is a

stafferatKokilabenHospital.Lastweek an ELISA test showed hehaddevelopedantibodiesagainstCovid-19, indicating he had thevirus andhis bodyhad fought itoff. The14-year-oldwasbroughttohospitalonWednesday.“These children candeterio-

rate fast. She came tous early sowewere able to stabilise her fortwodays,butherconditiondete-riorated again,” said Dr TanuSinghal, a paediatric infectiousdiseases expert at the hospital,addingthattheteenagerhadhighwhitebloodcellcount(indicatinganinfection)andlowbloodpres-sure.Dr Singhal added thatwhile

Kawasakidiseasegenerallyaffectsthoseagedlessthanfive,childrenbetween10-14yearswithCovidwereshowingitssymptoms.“ItisnotKawasakidisease,butsimilarto it,” Singhal underlined,withKawasakipatientsgenerally alsoexhibiting red tongue and eyes.“Children mostly develop theKawasaki-like symptoms two-threeweeks after aCovid-19 in-fection.”Dr Singhal said shehad seen

twosimilarcasesinMumbai,oneattheSRCCHospitalandanotherataprivatehospitalinJogeshwari.Bothhadinflammation,feverandrashesandbothwerenegativeforCovid-19. “It is possible theytested negative because theirCovidviralloadhadreduced,”shesaid.CEO of Bai Jerbai Wadia

HospitalDrMinnieBodhanwalaalsosaidtheyhadstartedrecord-ing cases of Covid-19alongwithsymptomsofKawasaki.DrBiswaRPanda,apaediatriccardiacsur-geonatthehospital,saidtheyhadseenfourcasesofchildrenshow-ing symptoms similar toKawasaki but testing Covid-19negative. “It is possible theyhaddevelopedantibodiesbythen.Weare still in the initial stages andneedmoredata todrawconclu-sions,”Pandasaid.DrMukesh Sharma, head of

the paediatric department atKEMHospital,saidtheyhadseen

symptoms of Kawasaki surfacemore than three weeks afterCovid-19infection.“Kawasakidis-easeisanimmunologicalreactionto a virus.We cannot be sure ifcoronavirus is directly responsi-ble for it. Inchildren it ispossiblethat the signs emerge as a re-sponseoftheimmunitysystem.”KEMHospital is yet to note

suchcases,saidDeanDrHemantDeshmukh.

Kejriwal admitsbed shortage ledto death spike,thanks Centre for‘holding hand’hadhelpedDelhidealwiththecri-sis.“Thefirstweaponwasincreas-ing thenumberof beds. Earlier, Iusedtogetcallswellintothenight,peopleaskingmetohelparrangebeds. Iwouldtrytohelpallnight.Wethenorderedprivatehospitalsto reservebedsandturneda fewprivateandgovernmenthospitalsinto dedicated Covid facilities.Hotelswereattachedwithhospi-tals. Theywereangry, theywenttocourt, butwe foughtandwon.Now,3,500bedsarereadyinho-tels and thecapacityof hospitalshas been increased. The RadhaSoami centre in Chattarpur has10,000bedsand2,000havebeenmade functional… There arearound13,500hospital beds inDelhinowandclose to7,500areavailable. Butwewill not sit idle.We will make more arrange-ments,”Kejriwalsaid.The secondweapon, accord-

ingtotheCM,wastestingandiso-lation. “Initially, some labs gavewrongresultsandwehadtotakeaction against them. In the firstweek of June, we were doing5,000 tests. Nowwe are doing20,000daily…IthanktheCentreforgivingusantigenkitsandhold-ingourhand.”Distribution of pulse

oxymetrestopeopleinhomeiso-lation and sending oxygen con-centrators topeople if their oxy-gen saturation levels drop,Kejriwal said, was the thirdweapon,addingthatsoonallgov-ernmenthospital bedswill haveoxygenfacilities.Creditingplasmatherapyand

surveysandscreeningas the lasttwoweapons, Kejriwal said thatplasmatherapyhadbeenseentoworkbest inmoderate patients,stopping themfromsinking fur-ther.Hesaid20,000peoplewouldbescreenedaspartoftheserolog-ical survey in the city startingSaturday.Thedatawillgiveabet-ter idea of transmission acrossDelhi.During thewebcast, the CM

saidthatinitially,whennotmuchwas knownabout the virus andthecitydidnothavemanytestingkits, close to 35,000 people re-turned to Delhi from variouscountries.“People from all over the

world, especially from thosecountries where therewas anoutbreak,wanted to comeback.TheCentretooktherightdecisionand brought them back andaround 35,000 came to Delhi.Theywere screened for fever attheairport.Thosewhohadfeverweresent tohospital. Theothersweresenthome.Somewerealsoquarantined.Whenthesepeoplewent back home, naturally, co-ronagottransmittedtotheircon-tacts.Inthosedays,therewerenotesting kits or testing labs avail-able, testingwasnotdoneat thescale it is done today. Then, thelockdown was announced.Peoplestayedindoorsandtherateof transmission slowed.Whenthe lockdownwaseased,weex-pectedariseincasesbuttheyrosebeyondourexpectations,”hesaid.He also said that the idea of

anotherlockdownwasdiscussedafter the spike. “Wehad twoop-tions–tolockdownonceagainorto fight corona. People said thatthe lockdown will have to beeased sooner or later, sowede-cidedtofight.”

First Covid,now hunger,Bhagalpurmigrants startpacking — againsaidMNREGAworkwas on therise,butdidn’thavethenumbers.In front of him, four labourerswerediggingupdirtforthepond.They were MNREGA workerswhohadneverleftthevillage.In Bhagalpur, the number of

households thatworked underMGNREGAdeclined to40,118 inMay this year in comparison to43,431 during the samemonthlastyear. Thenumberof person-days generated, too, camedownto7.55lakhagainstlastyear’s9.16lakh.In the absence ofwork, con-

versationturnstothefuture.AnilSingh earned Rs 600 a day as amason in Delhi. More than amonthago,hepaidRs3,500tobeoneof70people,squashedinthebackofatruckforthreenightsandtwodays.Heateonepacketofbis-cuits and six bananas over thattime. But now? “Chori karenge(Wewill steal),” he says, half injest,halfinpain.Then,hiseyesbe-gin towell up, “They say soil isgoldhere. Is the soilmore fertileinPunjabthanhere?There, theyputup industries.Here, theyputupnothing.”Thereiscomfortinfamily,and

thefieldsprovidesomefood.Yet,the residents are buying fewersoap bars and lesser salt; fewervegetables andno fruit; and, noshampoo. “There is also theweight of debt,” says DiwakarKumarwhoworkedinRajkot,andhastakenaRs50,000advanceonhissalary.OthershavetakenfromRs 4,000 to Rs 5000 from theiremployers.Fornow,theseareloansinter-

est-free.“Butif thereisamedicalproblem, or something else,where will the money comefrom? The mahajans (moneylenders)will give youmoney atan interest of five per cent permonth. Nobody survives that,”saysaresident.“Wemustgobacktoourjobs

andearn,”hesays.RakeshRanjanSinghandKailashPrasadwillstayfor amonth, until paddy trans-plantation is over. Some otherswillholdouttill“ChhatPuja”,andperhaps the state elections. ButRanjit, 21, is clear: “I will leavesoon.”Heworkedinanadvertis-ingcompanyinRanchi,fixingbill-boards. “The companyowesmeRs 15,000, and I amafraid Iwilllose thatmoney,” he says. He isafraidofCovid,too.Andwhenhehadsetoffforhisvillageonamo-torcycle,hewasbeatenbypolice-men,several times,hesays. “All Iwant is to stay home andworkhere. But I can’t. Every day, I tellmyself, Iwill leavetomorrow.”

FROMPAGEONE

Pakistan offers to reopen Kartarpuron Monday, India says short noticealsomadenecessary arrange-ments to reopen KartarpurSahib Corridor for Sikh pil-grims.”“Toensureadherencetothe

health guidelines, PakistanhasinvitedIndiatoworkoutneces-sary SOPs for reopeningof theCorridor,” itsaid.Sources inNewDelhi said

“cross-border travel has beentemporarily suspendedaspartofmeasurestopreventandcon-tain the spreadof coronavirus.Furtherviewswouldbetakeninconsultationwith health au-thoritiesandotherstakeholders

concerned.”“It is to be noted that

Pakistanistryingtocreateami-rageofgoodwillbyproposingtoresume theKartarpur corridoron June29, at a short notice oftwodays,whilebilateralagree-mentprovides for informationto be shared by Indiawith thePakistansideatleastsevendaysbefore the date of travel. ThiswouldneedIndiatoopenuptheregistrationprocesswell in ad-vance,”sourcessaid.“Besides, Pakistan has not

built the bridge on their sideacross the flood plains of Ravi

riverdespitehavingcommittedto it in thebilateral agreement.Withtheadventofmonsoon, itwould need to be evaluatedwhether pilgrimmovement ispossiblethroughthecorridorina safe and secure manner,”sourcessaid.On June 23, India asked

Pakistantoreducethestrengthof itsHighCommission inNewDelhi byhalf, and said itwoulddo the same at itsmission inIslamabadwithinaweek.This isa falloutof tensions

between the two sides in thepast few weeks over intimi-

dation and harassment ofdiplomats.Thedecisionwastakenafter

two IndianHigh Commissionstaffers were detained byPakistani authorities and re-leased only after New Delhiprotested.Lastmonth,Indiaex-pelled two officials of thePakistanHighCommission forspyinginDelhi.Tenmonths ago, Pakistan

haddowngradedbilateral tiesafter India revoked the specialstatus granted to theerstwhilestateofJammuandKashmirun-derArticle370.

Locust attack: controloperations underway inUP, Haryana, RajasthanNewDelhi, Lucknow:As a locustswarm entered the outskirts ofDelhi, the Union AgricultureMinistry onSaturday saidmoreteamsfromRajasthanhavebeendeputed to help in the controloperationsbeingundertaken inHaryanaandUttarPradesh.ThecontroloperationsareunderwayinRajasthan,HaryanaandUP.Meanwhile, locusts invaded

severalpartsofUttarPradesh,in-cluding the homedistrict of theUP AgricultureMinister Surya

PratapShahi,inthepast48hours,officialssaidSaturday,addingtheywere takingsteps toeitherchasetheinsectsawayorkillthem.The agriculture department

said locustattackswere reportedfromJhansi,Chitrakoot,Allahabad,Pratapgarh, Bhadohi, AzamgarhandAmbedkarNagaronFriday.Itsaidauthoritiesoftheneighbour-ingdistricts—Hamirpur, Banda,Fatehpur, Kaushambi,Mirzapur,Sultanpur,MauandBallia—havebeenaskedtoremainalert.PTI

7 cops exonerated inHapur custodial deathAMILBHATNAGARNOIDA,JUNE27

SEVEN POLICEMEN in UttarPradeshhavebeenexoneratedinconnectionwithanallegedcusto-dial death inHapur district lastyear,officerssaidonSaturday.The family members of

PradeepTomarhadalleged inanFIR that DSP Santosh Mishra,PilkhuwaStationHouseOfficer(SHO) Yogesh Baliyan, Sub-InspectorAjabSingh,andfourun-namedpolicemenhad torturedthe35-year-oldtodeathonthein-terveningnightofOctober13and14.WhileMishrawasdeclaredin-

nocent thenextmonth, the dis-trictpoliceabsolvedtheotherac-cused in a final report filed inMarch.“The final report in the case

was filed inMarch andwas ac-ceptedbythecourtshortlybeforetheywereordered to stop func-tioning(duetothepandemicandlockdown). Theallegationswerefoundtobebaselessandtherewasnoevidencelinkingtheactionsofpolicemen to thedeath... themi-norsonofthedeceased,whowasawitness, and familymembers,recordedtheirstatementsinfrontof themagistrate, statingthat thepolicemenwere not involved,”said Hapur Superintendent ofPoliceSanjivSuman.PradeepTomar’sfamilymem-

bers toldTheSundayExpress thatTomarhadlefthomeinPilkhuwatownon the evening of October

13, telling hiswife Rajni that hewas going to help his youngerbrother,whosemotorcyclehadaflat tyre.He tookhis 11-year-oldsonalongwithhim.He died a fewhours later in

police custody.According tooffi-cials, hewas called to the stationby policemen, and detained inconnectionwiththemurderofhissister-in-law.Tomar’ssonsaidhisfatherwas kicked, punched, hitwithplanksofwood, givenelec-tric shocks, and repeatedlypiercedwithascrewdriverbypo-licepersonnel.However, the police denied

torturingTomar,andclaimedthathis injurieswere the result of aclash over an accident that oc-curredonthenighthewascalledforquestioning.“AwomannamedPreetiwas

murdered in August, but shecould not be identified then.Once identified, we found thatherhusbandDigamberallegedlygothermurderedwith thehelpof a relative. Two people werehiredforRs1.5lakh,andPradeepTomarwas allegedly supposedtopay them.Hewasmarried toDigamber’s sister,” then SPYashweer Singh had told TheSundayExpress.The official said the35-year-

oldwas taken toa local hospital,and then to amedical facility inMeerut afterhe said thathewasnot feeling well. Following hisdeath, threepolicemenwere ini-tiallysuspended,andDSPSantoshMishrawastransferredtoanothercircle.

New Delhi

NORTHMCDMAYORSAYS ISSUERESOLVEDNOW

JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI, JUNE27

ON SATURDAY, as Hindu RaoHospital was being convertedintoaCovidfacility,medicalstaffandnursesstagedaprotestout-side over alleged lack of infra-structure and delay in salaries.This was the second protest atthe hospital, the biggest undertheNorthMCD.Dr Peeyush, an orthopaedic

surgeon, said, “We have not re-ceivedoursalaryfortwomonths.The administration didn’t pro-vide uswith proper accommo-dationandtransport.Ihadtoaskmyrelativestohelpmewithfoodand stay. There are no cleanwashrooms or donning roomshere.WewearPPEkitsbutdon’thave proper cooling systems.Howcanweworklikethisinthisweather?” Nurses alleged thatsomeofthemwereevictedfromtheirrentedaccommodationsbylandlords, but the hospital ad-ministrationdidnothelp.Anurse,whodidnotwish to

beidentified,said,“Wearescaredasthehospitaldoesn’thaveade-quate infrastructure todealwithCovid patients. When I wasevicted, I had to take help fromdoctors,who spoke to the land-lord. The administration keepssaying our salarieswill be cred-itedinouraccountinadayortwo.Wearewaiting.Myparentshavebeen very supportive and sendmeextramoneyeverymonth.”DrAbhimanyuSardana,pres-

ident of the Resident Doctors’Association, said doctors andMCDofficialsmet onSaturday. “Theprotestwasimportantasthehospitalcan’tbeconvertedintoaCovidfacilitywithoutfixingothermatters. They arenow installingnewACsandrepairingsomeoldones.Wehavebeen told salarieswillbepaidtostafferssoon.Twohotelshavebeenbookedfordoc-torsandnurseswillbeaccommo-dated at nearby Fab hotels,” he

said.TheDelhi governmenthadorderedthatthehospitalbecon-verted into a Covid facility onJune 14. However, doctors saidtheprocesswasdelayedastherewas “no segregation and facili-ties” inside the premises. OnSaturday, after the protest, doc-torsadmittedoverfourCovidpa-tientsat thehospital.NorthMCDmayorJaiPrakash

said,“Weagree therewereissuesbut this was because the Delhigovernment didn’t support us.We couldn’t get money fromtaxes,stampdutyandotherworkduringthelockdown.WeusuallygetoverRs500croreamonthbutnowweonly getRs200crore. Itwas difficult to give salaries todoctors during this time. Now,we have generated enoughmoney to help our healthcareworkers.Iwill inspectthehospi-taltoensureallrequirementsaremet,” adding, “We took time toconvert the hospital as manypreparations had to be made.There was paperwork and thesalarydelay.Wehadtodealwithall thisonourown”.

ANANYATIWARINEWDELHI,JUNE27

WITH FIELDworkers not goinghouse to house to take meterreadings during the lockdown,residentshavebeengettingsteeppowerbills—insomecasesuptoRs15,000—foronemonthofus-age. Thesebills, officials said, arebeingpreparedwithoutsubsidiescalculatedintothetotalamount,leadingtosomeconfusionamongcustomers.The BSES, which runs two

sub-discoms—theBYPLandtheBRPL—has been issuing provi-sional electricity bills ever sincethe lockdownwas imposed andthefieldworkersofthecompany

wereunabletogoon-spotforme-ter readings. The discomhas al-lowed customers to check themetersthemselves,andapplyforarevisedbillasperprotocol.However, inmanycases,bills

have been inflated despite pro-vidingmeter readings and resi-dentsarenowhavingtoapproachdiscomsoffices to rectify the er-rors.SushilKothari(43),asalesper-

sonlivinginHarshNagar,saidhehad been noting readings andsending it to the BSES. He said,“ForMay, I consumed176units,butIstillgotaprovisionalelectric-ity bill of over Rs 2,000." Kothariliveswithhis familyandhasoneair conditioner in his house. OnJune 26, he reached out to BSES

againandgotthematterrectified."Igotitchecked,andmybillcameouttobezero,”hesaid."For bills raised till June 30,

2020,consumerscangetarebateofuptoRs220intheirelectricitybills. All they have to do is paytheirbillswithin7daysofbillgen-eration and do ‘self meter read-ing’oftheirelectricityusage.Thiswill ensure that apart fromget-ting the rebate, they canalso getelectricity bills based on actualmeter reading and not provi-sionalreading,”BSESofficialssaid.Theformula beingusedtoset

the amount billed in the provi-sional bills is set by the DelhiElectricity RegulatoryCommission (DERC). “Suchpro-visional billswill get regularised

in futurewhen the actualmeterreadingfortheprovisionalperiodisavailable,”saidBSESofficial.AspertheDERCorder,dueto

thelackofregularstaff todome-ter readings, discomswere di-rectedtoissueprovisionalbillstocustomers. Asperaninformationbulletin released by the BSESDelhiinMay,theprovisionalbillsare based on the correspondingpowerconsumptionof thesamemonth lastyear. If this reading isunavailable, then the averageconsumptionof preceding threebillingcyclesisused.Thediscomhasalsoplacedamoratoriumonfixedchargestill June30.Theac-cumulatedchargeswillbespreadover thenext threebillingcyclesafter June30.

AsHinduRao turnsCovidonly,staff sayunpaid formonths

Amid lockdown, Delhiites complain of highpower bills, BSES suggests self meter reading

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020 THECITY

Lackofproperaccommodation, transportandcleanwashroomsareamongother issuesallegedbythestaff

ADVERTORIAL

At what point should womenand men start considering pro-fessional help for thinning &hairloss?We must understand the differencebetween hair shedding/ hairfall andhair thinning. Excessive shedding orhairfall can be caused by a lot of ex-ternal reversible factors like stress,nutritional insufficiency, sleep distur-bance, hormonal fluctuations, post-injury or illness or seasonal shedding.It may improve in a couple of monthsby taking care of diet & regulating thesleep cycle. If this excessive hairfallpersists beyond 3 months, we mustsee a dermatologist. On the otherhand, hair thinning & increased visi-bility of scalp are always serious con-cerns as they are mostly irreversiblewithout treatment and requires im-mediate dermatology consultation.

Who is a trichologist?People are confused about whom toconsult for hair loss. Actually a spe-cialized dermatologist or skin spe-cialist is the most appropriate personfor treating disorders of hair & nails.

In a typical hairloss consulta-tion, what does a dermatolo-gist look for?It’s a comprehensive approach involv-ing history, examination & certaintests if required.We first ask about thehistory of onset, family tendency, di-etary pattern, medicinal history, pre-vious treatment history, stress, sleepcycle etc. We examine the pattern ofhairloss, quality & thickness of hair,presence of scalp infections/dandruffetc.,Certain tests like trichoscopic ex-amination ,hair pull test etc.may beperformed in the OPD. We mayalsoask for certain blood tests to rule outdeficiencies or hormonal problems.

What are the few things youtell people who come to you?The two most important things arepatience and persistence. Any im-provement in hairloss is apparentonly after 3-4 months of regulartreatment & to improve hair health.We have to take care of our routine &diet as well.

Is there anything women &

men can start doing on theirown as soon as they notice thefirst signs of hair loss?Apart from taking a nutritious & bal-anced diet, improving their sleep cy-cle, regularly cleansing the scalp andcutting down on smoking and/or junkfood, the best thing would be to con-sult a dermatologist as soon as possi-ble. It is always easier to prevent hair-loss than getting back lost hair.

Hairloss is a common problemwith uncommon expensive so-lutions.Why is it so ?

Actually a lot of money is wasted onunscientific, non-proven treatmentsbefore the patient eventually reachesa dermatologist. Initially the therapy isa bit expensive but long termmonthly average expense would beless than that of a fancy pizza!!

On a serious note its fairly simpleto prevent baldness in a safe, scien-tifically sound and cost effective way.

What kind of hairloss treat-ment does your clinic offer?Our centre offers all kinds of most ad-vanced, globally available and suc-

cessful anti-hair loss treatments likeplatelets rich plasma therapy, PRF,microneedling with growth factors,low level light therapy etc.

But our focus is on determining theexact cause of hairfall/ baldness ineach patient and offer an individual-ized comprehensive treatment planto take care of the underlying prob-lems rather than mitigating thesymptoms.

Because of this holistic approach,we have been very succesful in arrest-ing hairloss & attempting regrowth invast majority of our patients.

Dr. Gaurav Nakra, MD ( Skin & V.D) GoldMedalist is founder and consultant Dermatalogist atCentre for Skin, New Delhi. He has worked in bothGovernment Institutions and state of art AestheticCentres to gain rich experience in the field of ClinicalDermatology as well as Aesthetic Dermatology.

He has completed his Fellowship in Laser Medicineunder the guidance of Prof. Laubach in Toulouse, France.He is actively involved in conducting trainings in Lasersand Fillers for young Dermatologists & Post Graduatestudents in various forums and societies.

His fields of interests are Paediatric Dermatology, DrugInteractions in Dermatology and other Systematic Drugs,Scar management with Lasers, Periorbital Rejuvenationwith Fillers and Dermal Hyperpigmentary Disorders.

He is most passionate about treating Hair Disorders.He has been actively involved in Anti Hair LossProcedures like Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapysince its introduction in India almost ten years back andhas large number of extremely satisfied patients whowere suffering from hair fall or baldness.

Address your hair loss concerns at the earliest!

Dr Gaurav Nakra M.D.

CCEENNTTRREE FFOORR SSKKIINN178- Saini Enclave,Near Karkardooma Metro Station, Delhi-110092Contact No . 011-46052234, 9711374342

Apart from taking a nutritious & balanced diet, improving their sleepcycle, regularly cleansing the scalp and cutting down on smoking and/orjunk food, the best thing would be to consult a dermatologist as soon aspossible. It is always easier to prevent hairloss than getting back lost hair.

New Delhi

ANANDMOHANJNEWDELHI, JUNE27

THEDELHI Police chargesheetintotheTablighiJamaatgatheringatMarkazNizamuddin,whichbe-cameaCovidhotspot, refers to asimilargatheringinMalaysiaanda cancelled event in Indonesia,wherecoronaviruscaseswerere-ported inMarch, before theout-breakinthenationalcapital."It isneedlesstopointoutthatsomeoftheseforeignershaveactedascar-riersofthehighlyinfectiouscoro-navirusandhadthusbroughtovertheinfectionfromtheirrespectivecountries to India,” thechargesheetstates.Accordingtothechargesheet,

theMalaysia gathering, whichtookplacebetweenFebruary27andMarch 1, led to 500 Covidcases in that country. The gath-eringinIndonesiawascancelledonMarch18amidconcernsoverthe Covid outbreak, which hadkilled25peopleandinfected309peopleinthecountryatthetime.Police stated that foreigners

fromMalaysia, Indonesia andother countries then came to

India and participated in thegatheringatNizamuddin,actingascarriersof thevirus.Thechargesheetalsorecords

the subsequent response by theadministration. It is stated thatthe CDMO/Southeast district,who contacted theMarkaz au-thorities for the first time onMarch 19, advised “social dis-tancing and to ensure homequarantine” after an IndonesianmanwithatravelhistorytoDelhi

testedpositiveforcoronavirusinTelangana.Onthesamedate,theDelhi Police contacted HajiYunus, aMarkaz official, to en-sure“Jamaatisdonotexceed20”.OnMarch21,DelhiPolicecon-

tactedMufti Shahzad and askedhim to send foreign nationalsbacktotheirrespectivecountriesand Indians fromother states totheirhometowns.OnMarch 24, the lockdown

hadcomeintoeffectandtheDelhi

Police issuedprohibitory orders,however "no one at theBanglewaliMasjidMarkaz,HazratNizamuddin paid any heed totheselawfuldirections”, itstates.Amedical teamwas sent to

visit the Markaz gathering forthefirsttimeonMarch25, whentheyreportedthatnosocialdis-tancing was followed and oneBangladeshinationalwasfoundhaving Covid symptoms. Thenext day the Delhi Police in-spected the premises and got alist of 526 foreignnationals and1,183 Indians, it states.OnMarch28, SHOof Hazrat

Nizamuddinpolice stationgavea written complaint to DCPCrimeBranch regardingallegedviolation byMaulana Saad andtheMarkazmanagement.AdvocateMujeed Rehman,

the lawyer for Tabhligi Jamaat,however, said, "Whatgood isanadvisory by the administrationatthattime,askingtoensureso-cial distancing? Tablighimem-bers were self-isolated inNizamuddin.Authoritiesshouldhave shut down airports,screenedpassengersandunder-takencontact tracing.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE27

UNION HOME Minister AmitShah and Delhi Chief MinisterArvindKejriwalvisitedtheRadhaSoami Satsang centre in SouthDelhi’s Chattarpur, which is be-ing converted into a Covid facil-ity for 10,000 patients, onSaturday.Ofthe10,000beds,2,000are

ready and over 300 personnelprovided by the Indo-TibetanBorderPoliceandCentralArmedPoliceForce (CAPF)will bepres-entatthefacilityinitially.Thisin-cludesdoctors,nursesandpara-medic staff. No patients havebeensent tothefacilityso far.During the visit, district and

ITBPofficialstookthetwoaroundthe facility and explained theprocess throughwhich patientswillbeadmittedandtreated.Thefacility is spread over around12,50,000square feet.The twoalso interactedwith

doctorswhohavebeenpostedat

thefacility.Beforethevisit, though,Aam

Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPSanjaySinghandBJPMPGautamGambhirsparredonTwitterover

the“inauguration”of thecentre.“We hear that the Home

Minister Amit Shah is going totheworld’sbiggestCovidhospi-talbuiltbytheDelhigovernment

toinaugurateitstealthily,quietly(chori-chori, chupke-chupke). IsBJP fighting corona or ArvindKejriwal,”hetweeted.Gambhir,whoistheMPfrom

East Delhi, replied to Singh andsaid: “Sanjay ji, I spoke toHomeMinister ShriAmit Shah regard-ingthisafteryourtweet.Hesaidthat hewasn’t going to inaugu-ratethecentrebutforaninspec-tion, forwhich Arvind Kejriwalhas also been called.DoyounotspeaktoKejriwaljiorhadyoude-cidedtotakethecreditalone?”ThecentreatChattarpurhas

beenbuildoverthepastfewdaysbythe localadministrationwithhelp from the Radha SoamiSatsang administration, privatecompanies such as Sleepwellthat donated beds and mat-tresses as well as the Centre,which is providing personnelthroughITBPandCAPF.BSESRajdhaniPowerLimited

hadinitiallyprovidedanelectricload of 18,000 KW (18 MW),which was later increased to23,000KW(23MW).The centre was named the

Sardar Patel Covid Care Centreand Hospital after the HomeMinister’svisit lastweek.On Saturday, DelhiMLA and

senior AAP leader Atishi calledthecentrea“truetribute”toPatelandpostedtwophotosontwitter—oneofthecentreandtheotherof theStatueofUnity.While Kejriwal has thanked

theCentreseveraltimesoverthepast twomonths for their “helpand guidance” during the pan-demic, other AAP leaders haveroutinely hit out at the CentreandBJP.Afterthevisit,Shahtweeted:

“I applaud our courageous ITBPpersonnel, whowould be oper-atingthisCovidCarefacilitydur-ing these trying times. .. Modigovernmentatthecentreiscom-mitted to provide all possiblehelpto itscitizens.”The CM also tweeted after

the visit: "In this hour of diffi-culty, I soughthelptosaveDelhiandeveryonehascomeforwardto contribute enthusiastically.With the support of the centralgovernment and Radha SoamiSatsangBeas, sucha largeCovidcentre has come up forDelhiites."

SUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI, JUNE27

WITH INDIVIDUAL donationsand corporate contributionsdryingupamidthecoronaviruspandemicandthelockdown,aninstitution that has supportedthe education of visually im-paired children in Delhi fordecades is on its last legs.Since April, the National

Association of Blind has beenstruggling to pay its 100-odd

staff members. Since the edu-cation support it provides toover 300 disabled children isfree of cost, it is dependent onexternal support.However, thepandemic and lockdown havedealt a heavy blow to the char-itable organisation.“Wetrytocovermostof our

expenses, around60-70%,withcorporate contribution whichcomes intheformofCSRfunds.ButwiththeCovidsituation,wehave seen this completely dis-appear, including with corpo-

rateswhohadactiveMoUswithus. Around seven corporatesturnedusawaysayingthattheirCSR allocations are now goingtowards Covid. Individuals areobviously hard hit. In any casetheir contributions would besporadic — along the lines ofsponsoring ameal. In a humanresource centred effort such asthis, we find ourselves unableto support our staff as weshould,” said Nandita Saran,projectcoordinatorat theasso-ciation.

Normally, the centre is ameeting point for a variety oflearning activities. Around 50youngchildrenwerebeingpre-pared for mainstream schoolthrough Braille and computeractivities; itwasanafter-schooleducation support centre foraround 150 children in main-stream schools such as DPS RK

Puram and TagoreInternational School, many ofwhomalsostayed inahostel atthe centre; around40 childrenandadultswerebeingtaughttousecomputers; and foraround80 visually impaired childrenwith multiple disabilities, thecentre was a daily school withtherapy and special education.For thesechildren,online learn-ing has not been a part of theirlockdown life.“The situation has really hit

the disability sector very hard,

especially for the visually im-paired. Everything is abouttouch, sohowdoweworkwithsocial distancing?Mainstreamschools arenowdoinghoursofonline classes every day butthat’s not possible for us. Thechildren inthehostelweresentback to their villages — inJharkhand,Bihar,UttarPradesh,HaryanaandPunjab.Therewillbeatimewhenchildrenwillbebacktoschool,wehopewe’llbeable tokeep standing till then,”said Saran.

Swarmsof locustsseenoverGurgaon’sDLFarea,Saturday.PTI

Markaz chargesheet talks of Malaysia,Indonesia foreigners as virus carriers

CONTRIBUTION FROM CORPORATES DOWN

Donations drying up, institution for blind children struggles to stay afloat

As Kejriwal and Shah inspect Covid centre,their partymen spar onwho gets credit

UnionHomeMinisterAmitShahandDelhiChiefMinisterArvindKejriwalvisit theRadhaSoamiSatsangcentre inChattarpuronSaturday.GajendraYadav

Astudentandteacherat theNationalAssociationofBlind.Archive

6THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Policesaidtheforeignerstookpart intheNizamuddingatheringaftertheCovidoutbreakintheircountries .Archive

SAKSHIDAYAL&SHIVAMPATELGURGAON,NEWDELHI,JUNE27

SEVERAL PARTS of SouthHaryanawere hit by swarms oflocusts Saturdaymorning,withofficialssayingthatalthoughthegroups had flown throughGurgaon, Faridabad, and Jhajjar,theyhadnot inflictedanymajordamage in theareas.InGurgaon, a locustwarning

hadbeen issuedby theadminis-trationonFridaynight, advisingresidents tokeep theirwindowsand doors closed since someswarms had reachedMahendragarh. Residentswerealsoaskedtogathertogetherintheeventofanattackandmakeloudnoisesbybeating tin cans, platesanddrumstowardofftheinsects.According to the Deputy

Director of the AgricultureDepartment in Gurgaon,Atmaram Godara, the locustswarm that passed throughGurgaonSaturdaymorningwasaround5kilometreswide and8kilometresinlength.Beforecom-ingtoGurgaon,hesaid,theswarmwas divided into four — twopassed over Gurgaon towardsDelhi, while onewent towardsJhajjarandtheothertoNuh.“However,duetothechange

in wind direction, eventually,eventhegroupsthathadmovedtowards Delhi and Jhajjar wenttowards Faridabad andNuh in-stead,” saidGodara.Accordingtoofficials,around

200 tractor trolleyswith spraypumpswerearrangedinthedis-trict, and around 2,000 litres ofChloropyriphos,adrugusedasachemicaldeterrent,wasprocuredtosprayonlocusts inGurgaon.“Fortunately, there has been

nodamageinGurgaonduetothelocusts,whosimplyflewthroughthe districtwithout descendinganywhere,”Godarasaid.In Jhajjar, where locusts ar-

rivedaround8am,officials saidthey had already received awarning on the arrival of theswarms fromRewaridistrict.Laterintheday,asmallswarm

of locusts had entered SouthDelhi’s Asola Bhatti WildlifeSanctuaryareaandMehraulinearthe Haryana border. DelhiDevelopmentMinisterGopalRaisaid the state forest departmentwasaskedtosounddhols,drumsandDJmusicandspraychemicalstocontroltheswarm.South and southwest Delhi

districts are presently kept onhigh alert and the districtmag-istrates were asked to makepreparations.Rai held ameeting in the af-

ternoonwith the developmentsecretary, divisional commis-sioner,andthedirectorofagricul-tureandhorticultureinviewofapossible locustattackonDelhi.“A big swarm was slowly

movingtowardsPalwal,Haryana,but a small group broke off andenteredAsolaBhattiontheDelhi

border.Wehave a land that be-longstotheforestdepartmentinthe area.We immediately gavedirections to the forest depart-menttosounddhols,drumsandDJs and to spray chemicals,” hesaidafterthemeeting.Following themeeting, the

Delhigovernmentalsoissuedanadvisorythatadvisedalldistrictmagistrates to remain on highalertandcoordinatewithfirede-partmentpersonnelforsprayingprescribedpesticides.The advisory directed the

DMstoguideresidentsinvillagesto drive away locusts bymaking"high decibel sound throughbeatingofdrumsorutensils,play-inghighvolumemusiconmusicsystem or DJs, firing crackers,burningofneemleavesandothersimilarmeasures”.Keepingdoorsandwindows

closed, covering outdoor plantswithplasticsheets,andsprayingpesticides melathion orchloropyriphos at the swarmatnight while wearing a PPE kitwere also among themeasuressuggested in theadvisory.A forest department official

saidtheswarmhaddescendedintheAsolaBhattiWildlifeSanctuaryarea around 2.30pm and wasdrivenawaybystaff inanhour.“They ate some leaves from

the plants and trees but overallthedamagewasveryminor.Theswarmwasasmallone,andourstaff drove it awayphysicallybyclapping and not letting themstayontheground.Wehadalsokept water tankers ready butthey were not needed as thewinddirectionchangedandtheswarmfled,” theofficial said.Therewerealsoreportsofthe

swarmbeing spotted inareasofsouth Delhi, includingChattarpur andMehrauli. SamDalrymple, onwhose residenceaswarmdescendedinMehrauli,said:“Itwasallverysurreal.Hugenumbersofthemswirledaroundlikewaves in the sky formaybehalfanhour.Thentheysuddenlyvanishedandmovedon.”AfterleavingfromDelhilater

in the afternoon, the swarmheaded in the direction ofBulandshahr district in UttarPradeshwhere it was expectedto settle downby8pm, saidK LGurjar, Deputy director of theCentre’s Locust WarningOrganisation. “We will try toeliminateit thereandnot itpro-ceed,”hesaid.

MALLICAJOSHI&ASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, JUNE27

BANQUET HALLS will soon belinkedwithhospitals in the cityto provide an additional 11,229beds,asthenumberofCovid-19cases rises in thecity.On Saturday, 2,948 fresh

Covid-19caseswererecordedinthe city, taking the total to80,188, of which 28,329 are ac-tive. Total death toll touched2,558with66peopledyingbe-tween early Friday and earlySaturday. Delhi has conducted4.7lakhtestssofar,outofwhichover 19,000 were conductedwithin the last 24hours.Thereare13,411bedsinhos-

pitals, of which 7,343 are unoc-cupied. In Covid Care Centres,

4,209of5,909bedsareavailable.The district administration

inthe11districts in thecityhadbeenaskedtosurveyandrequi-sition banquet halls in their ju-risdictionearlier thismonth.Since then, 77 halls have

been requisitioned andwill beattached to hospitals soon to

add to the city’s bed strength.This will include a 500-bedCovid care centre inCommonwealthGamesVillagein Akshardham, which will beoperated by a voluntary organ-isationcalledDoctorsAndYou.“Inviewofthedecisiontopro-

vide1,000railwaycoachestoac-

commodate16,000patients, it isproposed that one banquet hallin eachdistrict of the capacityofmore than 100 beds may bestartedbylinkingwithfivedesig-natedCovidhospitals,threeban-quet halls eachmay be linkedwiththebiggerhospitals(suchas)LokNayakhospital,GTBhospitalandRajivGandhiSuperSpecialtyhospitalandlinkingonebanquethall each with Deep ChandBandhuhospital and SatyawadiHarishChandrahospital,”saidtheorder passed by theHealth andFamilyWelfaredepartment.The decisionwas taken in a

cabinetmeetingheldonFriday.Mostof the77banquethalls,

whicharelocatedinNorthwest,SouthwestandWestDelhi,wererequisitioned on June 12. Eastand South East districts havehigh population density and

while there are two recognisedbanquet halls in East Delhi forthe purpose, none have beenrequisitionedinNortheastDelhi.One hall each in Old Delhi,

Samalkha and Kapasheda havebeenattachedtoLokNayakhos-pital,whichwillhelpincreaseitsbedcapacity (2,000atpresent),by360beds.Two banquet halls, one in

Vishwas Nagar and one nearSarita Vihar, will add 235 bedstoGTBhospital.The district administration

has been asked to hand overthe locationswith housekeep-ing staff and caretakers, alongwith sufficient bedswithmat-tresses andpillows, to thehos-pitals. The linkedhospitalswillprovide doctors, medical staff,consumables and other infra-structure.

New Delhi: The Delhi PoliceSpecial Cell has arrested a 36-year-old owner of a coachingcentre in connection with theNortheastDelhiriotsinFebruary,under the stringent UnlawfulActivities (Prevention)Act.Police claim the accused,

Tasleem Ahmad, a resident ofSouth Delhi’s Sangam Vihar,wascloselyassociatedwithac-tivist Gulfisha,whowas earlierarrestedonthesamechargesofcriminal conspiracy.“He was first arrested by

Jafrabad police station in thelastweekofApril andcameouton bail twoweeks ago. Hewasthen summoned and subse-quently arrested by the NewDelhi range of special cell,” anofficer said, adding that hewasproduced before a Delhi courtonSaturday and sent to14-dayjudicial custody.Police believe he was al-

legedly part of a conspiracy torally protesters for the sit-inagainst the new citizenshiplaw under JafrabadMetro sta-tion. ENS

Coachingcentre ownerfaces UAPAin riots case

DUpostponesonlineexamNew Delhi: DelhiUniversity Saturdaypostponed its onlineopen book examina-tions by 10 days citingrising cases of Covid-19in the capital. The ex-ams,whichwereearlierdue to start on July 1,will now begin on July10. The announcementcomes on a day whenthe Delhi UniversityTeachers’ Associationwrote to HRD MinisterRameshPokhriyal seek-ing cancellation of ex-ams.

Constablefires atcolleagueNew Delhi: A DelhiPolice constable al-legedly fired at anotherconstable insideSeemapuri police sta-tionafteraheatedargu-mentover theirbeatdu-ties, said the officials onSaturday.Police sourcessaid theaccusedconsta-ble was upset after hisbeatwasgivento the in-jured colleague.

3 ‘Khalistanisupporters’arrestedNew Delhi: The SpecialCell of the Delhi Policehas arrested threemen,who they claim are“hardcore supporters ofthe Khalistan move-ment” and were “plan-ning to execute targetkillings in various northIndian states on the di-rection of Pakistan ISI-sponsored Khalistanileaders”. The accusedhave been identified asMohinder Pal Singh(29), a resident ofDelhi,Gurtej Singh (41), whohails from Punjab, andLovepreet (21), who isfromHaryana.ENS

BRIEFLY AtAsolaBhattiWildlifeSanctuaryonSaturday

Locusts keep Delhi,Gurgaon officialson their toes

CORONAVIRUS IN THECAPITAL

TOTAL CASES

80,188Total Vacant

HOSPITAL BEDS 13,411 7,343VENTILATORS 747 159

Dailycases Recoveries Deaths TestsJune26 3,460 2,326 63 21,144June27 2,948 2,210 66 19,180Total 28,329* 49,301 2,558 4,78,336

*Total active cases

Over 11,000 more beds to be available in capitalas banquet halls are attached to hospitals

0-50 Good

ANANDVIHARModerate

0 500

111AQI

Pollutant:CO

SIRIFORTModerate

0 500

SHADIPURGood

0 500 500

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

DWARKA- SECTOR8Moderate

0

136AQIPM:10

47AQI

Pollutant:CO

109AQIPM:10

New Delhi

7WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

THE term NGO in India denotes widespectrum of organisations whichmay be non-governmental, quasi or

semi-governmental, voluntary or non-vol-untary.

Non-Governmental organisations playvital role in mobilising public attention tosocietal problems and needs.They are theprincipal vehicle through which commu-nities can give voice to their concerns.Theyact as a catalyst in improving governmentperformance.They broaden government’saccountability by ensuring that the gov-ernment is responsive to citizens at large

and not to particularly sectarian interests.Enhancement in the efficiency of delivery ofmany services by continuously involvingresidents is another primary role that anNGO plays.

Since the advent of Covid-19 pandemicin India, the NGO community has beensteadfast in its approach to mitigate the ef-fects of the disease through manysteps. The focal point in these dis-tressed times has been to addressimmediate relief activities rightfrom providing supplies to migrantsand providing support to end ben-

eficiaries. In every possible way they areacting as the saviours- the face of humanity.

Rapid globalisation during the 20thcentury has given impetus to the rise ofthe importance of NGOs throughout theworld. It has been observed worldwidethat international treaties and are cen-tered mainly on the interests of capitalist

enterprises. In an attempt to counterbal-ance this trend, NGOs have developed toemphasise humanitarian issues, develop-mental aid and sustainable development.The NGOs may work on any level, be it na-tional, international or community level.NGOs have also been major players in pro-moting human-oriented development

strategies at their own level, without thehelp of government and have emerged asa major force in driving the growingmovement of corporate social responsibil-ity. They are a powerful force for promot-ing good, clean governance and upliftingthe deprived. They provide social supportthat governments are unable or unwilling

to provide.These organisations offer alternative

perspectives and present the capacity toconduct a meaningful dialogue with dis-advantaged communities.They foster plu-ralism, diversity and freedom. NGOs pro-mote the diverse culture, something withwhich India is recognised worldwide.

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“I had nothing left to take care of my wife and two childrenduring the lockdown. I lost my job in the laundry and exhaustedmy meagre savings. Living in a chawl, to follow physicaldistancing was impossible. I desperately wanted to go back tomy native place”, shared Devendra. Nine years back, Devendramigrated from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai and was working in aLaundry, till the lockdown was imposed. Scores of migrantworkers were desperately trying all possible means to reachtheir homes.

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Constructedwaterconservationstructures.

Facil i tatedaccess ofto safedrinking water.

Increasedfood andnutri t ionsecurity.

Renovatedgovernmentschools andanganwadicentres.

+60,000

Providedrel ief to mostaffectedpeople bydisasters.

Farmers

Famil ies Famil ies

Liters

Schools & Anganwadi Centers People

Supported labourers, domestic workers, streetvendors and homeless to access enti t lements.

842,031 99 21Districts States

REACHED

IGSSS HASALWAYSBEEN AFRONTLINERESPONDER

Over the last 20 years IGSSS has acted as afrontl ine responder to disasters l ike f loods,cyclone, earthquake in different geographiesacross India. We believe in building back better!

COVID-19RELIEFWORK

67,304 90,312People in Urban Areas People in Rural Areas

RELIEF SUPPORT

community based groups have beensupplying rel ief material, sanitat ionkits, spreading the importance of socialdistancing through posters and publicannouncements. IGSSS also arrangedbuses for migrant workers to travelback home.

*An initiative byNGOs – The Face of HumanityNGOs – The Face of HumanityEnsuring sustainable development in society

* ( READ. ENGAGE. DELIVER.) IS THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS TEAM OF THE INDIAN EXPRESS GROUP

EXPRESSNETWORK

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,JUNE27

URGINGEVERYONEinthecoun-trytojoinranksfortheadvance-ment of the nation, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSaturday said his governmenthasbeen“drivenbythedesiretoempower132croreIndians”andthat the Constitution has been“itsguiding light”.Addressing the 90th birth-

day celebrations of Rev JosephMar Thoma Metropolitan inPathanamthitta of Kerala viavideo conference, the PrimeMinister said that his govern-mentdoesnotdiscriminatebe-tweenfaith,gender,caste,creedor language.“Our government has al-

ways been guided by sensitiv-ity and a long-term vision tomake India a growth engine.We have taken decisions notfrom comfortable offices inDelhi but after feedback fromthe people on the ground,”Modi said. The call forAtmanirbhar Bharat (self-re-liant India) will ensure eco-nomic strength and prosperity

for every Indian, he said.Listing the welfare pro-

grammes initiated by his gov-ernment, the Prime Ministersaid the Ayushman Bharatscheme is the “largest health-care scheme in the world”through which more than acrore people have got “qualitytreatment”.The PrimeMinister said the

recently-introduced PradhanMantri Matasya SampadaYojana, with an investment ofoverRs20,000crore, isgoingtotransform the fisheries sector,increase export earnings andprovideemploymenttoover55lakhpeople.

“The Holy Bible talks exten-sively about togetherness. Nowis the time to join ranks andwork together for the advance-mentofournation.Thinkofthis,howcanouractioncontributetothedevelopmentof thenation.”Pointing out that “the peo-

ple-driven fight” against Covidhasgivengoodresults so far forthe country, Modi cautionedpeople to not let their guardsdown. He also lauded the MarThomaChurchfor its role in thefreedom struggle and for itscontribution in the health andeducation sectors. “Wehave tobe evenmore careful now andwearingmasks, social distanc-ing, avoiding crowded places,remains more important now.Covid-19 is not only a physicalsickness that is a threat to thelives of people but also takesour attention to unhealthylifestyles. A global pandemicimplies humanity as a wholeneeds healing.”ThePMsaidhistoricreforms

undertaken in the space sectorwill ensuregreateruseof spaceassets and activities. He saidyoungsters in Kerala and SouthIndia,whoare takingakeen in-terest inscienceandtechnology,will gain fromthese reforms.

PrimeMinisterModiduringthevirtualaddress

PM: Constitutionguiding light, govtdoesn’t discriminate

State Congress in pieces,says Gujarat BJP chief

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR, JUNE27

WELCOMING FIVE formerCongressMLAs,whoquitthepartybefore the recently concludedRajyaSabhaelectionsinGujaratonJune19, into the saffron-fold onSaturdayafternoon, presidentoftheBharatiyaJanataParty(BJP)inGujarat, Jitu Vaghani, said theCongresspartywhichsupportedthe“tukde-tukdegang”wasitselfbreakingintopiecesinthestate.Hesaidthatduringhistenure,

therehadbeen four suchdefec-tionsfromCongresstoBJP,evenastwoof the fiveMLAswho joinedfumbled in their speeches andmixedupBJPwithCongress.Fourof theseMLAshadformerlybeen

withBJP,beforetheygotelectedonaCongressticket.Inaformaleventattendedby

seniorofficebearersatBJPhead-quarters in Kamlam ofGandhinagar,VaghaniwelcomedformerMLAsJVKakadiya(Dhari)and Pradyumansinh Jadeja(Abdasa),bothofwhomhadquitCongressafterRajyaSabhaelec-tionswereannouncedinMarch.Alongwith the duo, three otherMLAsBrijeshMerja (Morbi), JituChaudhary (Kaprada) andAkshay Patel (Karjan) had quitCongressinthefirstweekofJune.These five exits sinceMarch

not only cost Congress a RajyaSabha seat, but helped BJP —whichdidnothave the requirednumbers of MLAs — to win athirdseat inthepolls.

In Jharkhand, social auditfinds nearly half the peopledidn’t get full lockdown rationABHISHEKANGADRANCHI, JUNE27

■FORTY-EIGHTpercentpeopledidnotreceivefull twomonths'ration, as promised by theJharkhand government duringthe lockdownperiod■ Out of 1,255 families in-spected, which hadpregnant/lactating women orchildrenbelowfiveyearsof ageeligible forAnganwadisupport,only1,086familiesreceivedthebenefits; and among themmore than a third –34per cent– did not receive nutritionalsupport■Out of 1767 families eligibleunder Mid-MayMeal scheme,around 20 per cent did not getthebenefits.These are some of the find-

ingsmentioned inareportpre-pared by Jharkhand’s SocialAudit Unit, under the RuralDevelopmentDepartment, cre-ated to “promote transparencyand accountability in imple-mentation of the programs”.Theauditwas conducted in

23 districts and 254 blocks ofthe state betweenApril 27 andMay 7, covering 4,428 familiesfor three types of food safetyschemes: Public DistributionSystem (PDS), IntegratedChildDevelopment Services (ICDS)or Anganwadi centre, and theMid-DayMeal plan (MDM).Thereportwassubmittedto

the respectivedepartmentsonThursday.The audit assumes signifi-

cancesince this is the first suchinspection done by the SocialAuditUnit (SAU)onPDS---FIRshave been initially registeredagainst several PDS dealers af-ter complaints of irregularitiesin grain distribution.Thereport said thatbesides

the Covid-19 pandemic,“hunger is amajor communityissue facedbymigrantworkersand other vulnerable commu-nities”. It reported that a “largepopulation of Jharkhand is af-fected by poverty”.SAU state coordinator

Gurjeet Singh said, “Though alarge number of eligible fami-lies are gettingbenefits of foodsecurity schemes, the smallpercentagenotgetting itmightbemost vulnerable.”The report said that “2062

beneficiaries that received twoor more months' ration saidthat the quantity was given asper provisions, whereas 1898people (48%) didn’t receivequantity as per provision…”The SAU reported that 91.9 percent households in Jamatra,73.4 per cent in Palamau, and65.2 per cent inDumka “didn’treceives right quantity quotedfor twomonths ormore”.Jharkhand had distributed

double the specified ration inApril — one month's was ad-vance for May — and anAntodaya Aay Yojna card-holder was eligible for 70 kgrice. Under PriorityHouseholdCard, eachperson eligible for 5kggrainswas togetdouble theamount.

Theaudit foundthatamongthe eligible 1,255 families,which had pregnant/ nursingwomen or children under 5years, 1,086 were registeredandtheremaining139 familieswere left out.“Out of 1086, only 717 fam-

iliesregisteredwithAnganwadireceivednutritional food,while369 (34%) families did not re-ceive nutritious food…(and)maximumfamiliesbelongedtoRamgarh with 32.4%, 23.0% inJamtara and 21.0% of Goddafamilies didn’t get nutritiousfood from Anganwadi centre,”the report said.Under the Mid-Day Meal

scheme, the audit found 1,767families eligible — familieswhich had children attendinggovernment schools in classVIII or below --- and duringlockdown they were providedwith foodgrain athome.Outofthis, 353 families—20percent– did not receive any grain, theaudit reported.“We found that among 353

families, 27.3% families be-longed toGodda and14.9%be-longedtoGiridih thatdidn’t re-ceive foodgrains underMDM…Out of 1414 families,853 families said that they re-ceived quantity based onMidday Meal plan, while 561families said the quantity ofgrains receivedwerenotasperprovisions,” the report said.It said that the districts of

Koderma (34.2%), Gumla(29.8%) and Pakur (29.6%) hadthe “highest such share”.

KERALACHURCHEVENT

New Delhi

8THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

GOVT&POLITICS

MediapersonsoutsideCongress leaderAhmedPatel’s residence inNewDelhion Saturday.PTI

DEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, JUNE27

THEENFORCEMENTDirectorate(ED)onSaturdayquestionedsen-iorCongress leaderAhmedPatelin connection with an allegedmoneylaunderingcaseinvolvingthe Sterling Biotech group ofGujarat.TheEDhadearliersummoned

Patel (70) forquestioning, buthecitedtheCovid-19guidelinesad-vising senior citizens to stay in-doors.Sources said an ED team

reachedPatel’sresidenceat11.40amonSaturday, andquestionedhimuntilevening.TheVadodara-basedpharma-

ceutical firmissuspectedtohavedefraudedbanksofmorethanRs14,000crore.Itspromoters—NitinSandesara,ChetanSandesaraandDeepti Sandesara—are currentlyinAlbania,wheretheyhavetakencitizenship.TheIndianauthoritiesaretryingtogetthemextradited.After the questioning,which

lasted eight-and-a-half hours,Patel told reporters, “Friends ofNarenderModi and Amit Shahcametomyhouse. I repliedtoallquestions thatwere asked. I feelsorry for theseofficials that they

are being used to divert atten-tion—at a timewhenChina hastakenourland;insteadofgettingourlandback,theyaregoingafterOppositionleaders.”According to sources, Patel

was questioned about his linkswiththeSandesarasbasedonthestatement of a witness, SunilYadav, an employee of theSandesaraGroup.Last year, EDhadquestioned

Patel’s sonFaisal, andson-in-lawIrfan Siddiqui.While Faisalwaspresent at Patel’s residence onSaturday,itwasnotclearwhetherhewasalsoquestioned.In his statement to the ED,

Yadav has said he bore the “ex-penses of Rs 10 lakh” for a partyattendedbyFaisal,“arranged”en-tryatanightclubforhim,andde-livered“Rs5lakh”tohisdriver inKhanMarket, Delhi, on the in-structionsofChetanSandesara.The EDprobe is based on an

FIR registered by CBI againstSterling Biotech Ltd in October2017.TheCBIhadallegedthatthegroupwillfullydefaultedonloansofoverRs5,000crorefromabankconsortium ledbyAndhraBank,anddiverted themoney for per-sonalpurposesof thepromoters.Since then, the quantumof thescamhasrisentoRs14,000crore.

“It is revealedduring investi-gationthattheloanfundsweredi-verted for non-mandated pur-poses, layered and launderedthroughawebofmultipledomes-ticaswellasoffshoreentities.Themainpromotershavenotonlysi-phonedoff loan funds to financetheirNigerianoilbusinessbutalsofor their personal purposes,” theED said in a statement last year,when it attached foreign assetsworth over Rs 10,000 crore be-longingtothecompany.According to ED, investiga-

tionshaverevealedthatthegroupwasengagedinround-trippingofStandbyLetters of Credit (SBLCs)fundstothetuneofRs4,500crorebyviolatingtheRBI'sconditions.“ThesaidSBLCswerelaterde-

volved on the guarantor banks,causingwrongful loss to thesepublic sector banks and to thepublic at large. Their strategy in-cluded incorporationofmultipleshell companies, conducting cir-culartransactionstoartificiallyin-flateturnoverof flagshipcompa-nies, claiming higherdepreciations on non-existingmachinerytoavoidtaxliabilities,artificial share tradingwith theshell companies, layering andlaundering of proceeds of crimewithin Indiaandabroadthrough

thewebofmultipleshellcompa-nies,”theEDstatementsaid.In a statement later in the

evening,Patelsaid,“Ifyouweretodoananalysis,youwillseeaclearpatternoverthepastmanyyears.Every time there is Rajya Sabha,LokSabha,VidhanSabhaelection,orthegovernment is facingacri-sis, one or more investigativeagenciesbecomeactiveonthein-structions of one individual.Unfortunately,thistimetheModigovernment’sfailuretomanageaeconomic,healthandnationalse-curity crisis is sohuge that noneof theagencies canhelp spin thenarrative.“Rather than fighting the

(coronavirus) pandemic andChina, this government ismorekeentofighttheOpposition....Wehavenothing tohide, nor areweafraid to criticise andexpose thegovernment’s failures and theirpastcorruption.”Reactingtothedevelopments,

Congress leaderKapil Sibal said,“If you reallywanted to investi-gate,why don't you investigatethenamesinSaharadiary,Birladi-ary...whydoesn'tCBIprobethem?Theseareallmotivatedissuesbe-cause theywant to divert atten-tion from the problem that thecountryisfacing.”

EDquestionsPatel in SterlingBiotechmoney laundering case

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIASATARA(MAHA), JUNE27

AMIDAwar of words betweentheCongressandtheBJPovertheface-off with China, NCP chiefSharad Pawar on Saturday saidthatmatters of national securityshould not be politicised andadded that one cannot forgetChinahadcapturedabout45,000sq. kms of Indian land after the1962war.Pawar’s remarks came in re-

sponse to a query aboutCongress leaderRahulGandhi’scharge that Prime MinisterNarendraModihadsurrenderedIndian territory to the Chineseaggression.Pawar also said the Galwan

Valley incident in Ladakhcannotimmediatelybelabelledasafail-ure of the DefenceMinister, asIndiansoldierswerealertduringpatrolling. Speaking to reportershere, the formerUnionministersaidtheepisodeis“sensitive”.ItwasChinawhichplayedthe

provocateurintheGalwanValley,hesaid.Twenty Indian soldierswere

killedinaviolentclashwiththeirChinese counterpart in easternLadakhonthenightof June15.“What happened was they

(theChinesetroops)triedtoen-croach on our road and werepushed physically. It was notsomebody’sfailure.If somebodycomes (within your territory)

while you are patrolling, theymay comeat any time.Wecan-notimmediatelysayitisthefail-ure of the DefenceMinister inDelhi,” Pawar said. “Patrollingwasonthere.Therewasascuffle,which means you were alert.Hadyounotbeen,youwouldnoteven have realised when thethey (Chinese) came andwent.Hence, I don't think it is right tomake such an allegation at thisjuncture,”headded.On the allegation raised by

Gandhi, Pawar said one cannotforgetthatChinacapturedaround45,000sqkmafter the1962war.“That land is still with China. Idon't know if they (China) haveencroached on some area nowagain.ButwhenImakeanallega-tion, I should also seewhat hadhappenedwhen Iwas there (inpower). If suchbig landwas en-croacheduponthen, itcannotbeignored. It is amatter of nationalsecurity and it should not bepoliticisediswhatIfeel,”hesaid.At the same time, the NCP

chiefhitoutattheCentreovertherisingpricesoffuel,sayinghehadnever seen the rates going updaily.

Pawar on Ladakh:Matter of nationalsecurity, should notbe politicised

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI, JUNE27

CHINAWILLhavetopaya“heavyprice”fordecadesforresortingtoaggressivemilitarybehaviourto-wardsIndiaineasternLadakhasitwill isolate the country globally,strategic affairs experts said onSaturday.Theysaidtheeconomiccostof

China'smisadventure in the lastcouple of months in easternLadakh and SouthChinawill be“massive” as it has “exposed”Beijing’s “real face” when theworld is fighting the coronaviruspandemic. The experts also re-ferred to China's tariff warwiththeUS, growing bickeringwithAustralia on trade-related issuesand the fast-deteriorating situa-tioninHongKong.“Chinahasmadeahugemis-

take by resorting to aggressivemilitary behaviour in easternLadakh.Bytriggeringthestandoffwhen theworld is fighting thecoronaviruspandemic,Chinahasexposed itself globally,” formerDeputyChiefofArmyStaffLtGenGurmitSinghsaid.“The cost for China will be

huge. Itwillbeheavy. Itwillkeeppayingthecostforseveraldecadesfor killing Indian soldiers in

Galwanvalley on June15. Chinahas lost its goodwill in India andelsewhere,”headded.Referring tobrutal attackson

IndiansoldiersintheGalwanval-ley, he said the action has rein-forced the view that China'sPeople'sLiberationArmyis“justapolitical”forcethatdoesnotcon-formtomilitarystandards.FormerDeputyChiefofArmy

StaffLtGenSubrataSahatoosaidChina is getting itself isolatedbyitsunacceptablemilitaryaggres-sionandthecountrywillhavetopayaheavydiplomatic andeco-nomicpriceforit.“Chinaisisolat-ingitselfbyitsaggressiveconductbothmilitarilyanddiplomatically.So therewill be aprice for it. It isputting itself into a corner,” hesaid.Lt Gen Saha said therewill a

significant economic price thatChinawillhavetopayforits“mis-adventure”.The Indian and Chinese

armiesarelockedinabitterstand-offinmultiplelocationsineasternLadakhforthelastsixweeks,andthetensionescalatedmanifoldaf-ter20 IndiansoldierswerekilledinaviolentclashinGalwanvalleyonJune15. Followingtheclashes,theArmyhas sent thousands ofadditionaltroopstoforwardloca-tionsalongtheLAC.

Beijing will have topay heavy price foraggressive militarybehaviour: experts

MILINDGHATWAIBHOPAL, JUNE27

SENIORBJPleaderBhanwarSinghShekhawat on Saturdayblamedparty general secretary KailashVijayvargiya for the BJP govern-ment’sdefeatinthe2018MadhyaPradeshelectionsandallegedthathewas again trying toderail thethree-month-old Shivraj SinghChouhangovernment.TheBJPhadsecured109seats

whiletheCongresswon114seatsin the last Assembly elections.Shekhawat,theformerchairmanof the Madhya Pradesh StateCooperative Bank, had lost fromBadnawar seat in Dhar districtwhich is among the 24 con-stituencieswherebypollsaredue.“Hehadproppedup10 to12

rebel (BJP) candidates inMalwa

regionwhocutintoofficialcandi-dates’ voteswhichwas themainreason for the party’s defeat in2018. Vijayvargia funded therebels.He is over-ambitious andwantstobecomethechiefminis-ter,” Shekhawat told The IndianExpress.He said he hadbroughtVijayvargiya intopolitics but thelatterpushedhimout.The trigger for the former

MLA’soutburstwasthereentryofRajesh Agarwal—whowas sus-pendedby theBJP afterhe stoodasanIndependentcandidatefromBadnawar and got more than

30,000votesinthe2018poll—intothepartyfold.Vijayvargiyacouldnotbecon-

tacteddespiterepeatedattempts.Shekhawat saidVijayvargiya

wasin-chargeof35seats in2018andensured theparty got lesserseatstounseatChouhan,whohadoccupiedtheCM’schairformorethan13successiveyears.AccusingVijayvargiya of makingmoneythrough corrupt deeds,Shekhawat alleged that hestashedmoneyintheparty’shel-icoptersandfundedrebels.The veteran spoke to state

partypresidentVDSharmatoairhis grievance and complainedthat hewasmaking another at-tempt to destabilise the ShivrajSinghChouhangovernment.Hesaid if action is not takenagainstVijayvargiya, hewill approachpartypresidentJPNadda.

Vijayvargiya trying to derail Chouhangovt, says senior BJP leader in MP

LIZMATHEWNEWDELHI, JUNE27

WHILENAGALANDGovernor RN Ravi's letter to Chief MinisterNeiphiu Rio, in which he ex-pressedhisconcernoverthede-teriorating law and order situa-tion in the state, has surprisedmany,officials familiarwith thematters said it was “bound tohappen, givendevelopments inthestate”.Ravi, inhisJune16letter,had

givenhisdetailedassessmentofthelawandordersituationinthestate to Rio's NationalistDemocratic Progressive Party(NDPP)-led coalition govern-ment. TheBJP is akeyally in thegovernment.Ravi's letter stated that he

would exercise his power asGovernor, provided underArticle 371 (A) of theConstitution, since the govern-ment has failedmiserably in asensitive border-state, sourcessaid.Withtheletter,theGovernor

has taken full charge of the im-portantlawandorderdecisions,includingtransferandpostingofofficials.According to an official,

Governorshadusedpowersun-der the Article until 2013, butwhenAshwaniKumartookover(inMarch 2013), he did not in-terferemuch into the adminis-trativeaffairs.“ButGovernorRavihasbeen

hands-on with the state's af-fairs,” theofficial said.Ravi has been the interlocu-

tor for the Centre to finalise theNaga accordwith the NationalSocialist Council of Nagaland(NSCN)toendtheinsurgencyinthestate.Article166Clause3alsogives

powers to theGovernor to allo-cate business of governmentamongtheministers.

Therehavebeenseriouscon-cerns over law and order situa-tion in the state for the Uniongovernment too, it is learnt.Officials pointed out that therehavebeenanumberof incidentsofextortionbyorganisedarmedgangs–asmentionedbyRavi inhis letter – in the last one year,

includingonewithafamilycloseto a senior politician at the na-tional level,whohad to face thegangswhiletheywereonvisittothestate.In his letter, Ravi wrote: “...I

can no longer abstain frommyConstitutional obligations forlawandorder inthestateunderArticle 371 A (1) (b) of theConstitution of India. I herebypropose that hereafter impor-tantlawandorderdecisionsliketransfer and posting of officialentrustedwithmaintenance oflawandorderresponsibilitiesofand above the district level willbe after the approval of theGovernor.”He also proposed periodical

reviewoflawandordersituationin the state and issue requiredlawful directions, as well as re-

viewing of the AnnualPerformance Appraisal Reportsof officers involved in the lawandorderprocess.Clause 1b in Article 371(A),

whichdealswithspecialpowersgiventoNagaland,provides im-mense powers to theGovernor.It says: “The Governor ofNagaland shall have special re-sponsibilitywith respect to lawand order...for so long as in hisopinion internal disturbancesoccurring in Naga Hills-TuensangAreaimmediatelybe-fore the formation of that Statecontinue therein or in any partthereof...” In discharge of hisfunctions, it states, “theGovernor shall, after consultingtheCouncilofMinisters,exercisehisindividualjudgmentastotheaction tobe taken”.

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,JUNE27

THE JAMMU and Kashmir ad-ministration on Saturday is-sued domicile certificates tomore than 50 West Pakistanirefugeesaswell asmembersofthe Balmiki and Gorkha com-munities who have long beenliving in the region but werenot eligible for full citizenshiprights under the erstwhilestate's laws.Thecertificatesweredistrib-

uted by Jammu DivisionalCommissionerSanjeevVermaata special camp in Jammu. Thebeneficiarieshailedfromdiffer-ent areas of Jammu district, in-cluding R S Pura, Bishnah, Bahuand Jammu South, an officialstatementheresaid.The families of the refugees

had come from areas of WestPakistan and settled in parts ofJammuafter the 1947partition.Themembers of Balmiki com-munity, meanwhile, were in-vitedtothestate fromPunjabin1957 to work as cleaning staff.Theywerepromised rehabilita-tion in Jammu and Kashmir inrelaxation of rules concerningpermanent residents.UntilAugust2019,whenthe

Centre scrapped Article 370,thesecommunitieswerepartofelectoral rolls of parliamentaryelections, but theywere not al-lowedtovote.Now, in the wake of new

rules notified last month, theyhave been given full citizenshiprights.Saturday's distribution of

domicile certificates comesthree days after Naveen KumarChoudhary, a senior IAS officer

hailing from Bihar, became thefirst civil servant from outsideUnionTerritory toget thestatusof domicile of Jammu andKashmir.Asper thenewrules, people

residing in the Union Territoryfor 15 years, or thosewho havestudied in it for seven years, orappearedintheClass10or12ex-amination from an educationalinstitution in the region, aswellas their children, are eligible fordomicile.Also eligible are children of

officials of the Central govern-ment, all India services, banksand PSUs, statutory bodies andCentral universities, who haveserved in Jammu and Kashmirfor10years.BoththeNationalConference

and the Peoples DemocraticPartyhavereiteratedtheiroppo-sition to thenewrules.

KailashVijayvargiya

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAPATNA, JUNE27

FORMER BJP leader YashwantSinhaonSaturdayannouncedhisreturntopartypoliticsbyvowingto launchanoutfit to contest theBiharassemblypolls,duelaterthisyear.Sinha’sannouncement,made

atameetingofhisoutfit,RashtraManch, came as a surprise—hehad taken sanyas (retirement)fromparty politics and said hewould work towards “savingdemocracy” in the country. HehadquittheBJPtwoyearsago.Sinha,whoheld the finance

and external affairs portfolios intheAtal Bihari Vajpayee govern-mentandhasbeenseverelycriti-calof theNarendraModidispen-sation’s policies and style offunctioning, left thedooropentopoll tie-up with the Grand

Alliance inBihar,which includestheRJDandtheCongress.“Wewillwelcomeeveryone

whocomesandjoinsus,”hesaid.“So far as (Bihar assembly) elec-tionsareconcernedmypartywillcontest it. It’s not that I have anykindofreservationsoncontestingelections.We (the proposed al-liance)willfightthepollswithallour strength in order to create abetterBihar,”Sinhasaid.Quizzedabout theparties in-

terested in theproposedalliancebyhim,Sinhasaiditwouldbepre-mature to divulge it butmanyleaders fromBiharwere intouchwithhimoverit.About thenameof his party,

Sinha saidhewill announce it assoonas it isdecided.Theveteranpolitical leader replied curtlywhenaskedbyreporterswhetherhehimselfwouldcontest theas-sembly polls. “I will cross thatbridgewhenIcometoit.”

SharadPawar

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE27

STEPPING UP its attack on theCongress,whichhasbeenhittingout at the government over theLACstandoff, theBJPonSaturdayaskedCongress president SoniaGandhi not to hide behind“CoronaorthesituationinChina”to avoid answering answers onfunds received by Rajiv GandhiFoundation(RGF).BJPpresident JPNaddacame

outwithmore of “the deeds” ofthe Congress during the UPAregime,andsaidthepartyleader-shiphadbreachedpeople’strust.Hesaid:"IwanttotellSoniajinotto try to avoid the original ques-tionsbecauseofCoronaorthesit-uationinChina.TheArmyofIndiaisabletoprotect thecountryandourbordersandthecountryissafeunder the leadership of PMNarendraModi.”TheCongresshitback, saying

Naddahas lost his “political bal-anceinhisflailingattemptsatdis-tractionanddiversionfromtheis-sues of national security andterritorial integrity”.Addressingapressconference,

Nadda alleged that former PMManmohan Singh gave Rs 100crore to RGF in the 1991UnionBudget and that RGF accountswerenotallowedtogoforCAGau-dit, nor is it underRTI. Posing10questionsforSonia,Naddaasked:"Iwant to knowhow such pre-cious land on which JawaharBhawanisbuiltwasgiventoRGFonperpetuallease."He alleged that NGOs and

companiesthathave“deepcom-mercial interests” had donatedmoneyanditis“ashameandsac-rificingthenationalintereststoac-ceptmoneyfromforeignpowers”.NaddasaidRGF“notonlytook

themoneyandtherewerescamsbut also gavedodgydonations”.HesaidCongress,whichhadtar-getedBJPovertheissueofMehulChoksi, should answer whyChoksitookmoneyfromRGF.HesaidRCEPwasnotinthein-

terest of Indian farmers and

MSMEs, hence PM NarendraModi did not join it, but theCongress governmentwas keento join it. “Whatwas theneed tobepartof RCEP?Howdid India'stradedeficitwithChinarisefrom$1.1billion to $36.2 billion?Wasthisnotquidproquo?"heasked.Reacting to the allegations,

Congresscommunicationdepart-ment head Randeep Surjewalasaid the “wild and insidious ha-tred of the BJP vis-à-vis theCongressunfoldseveryday inanembarrassinganduglierfashion”.“Noamounthasbeenreceived

as donation fromMehul Choksipersonally ashasbeen falsely al-leged.NorhasanyloaneverbeengivenbyRGFtohim.TherecordsofRGFreflectreceiptofamodestdonation of Rs 10 lakh fromNavirajEstatesPvt.Ltd.(intheyear2013)ofwhichChoksiwasoneoftheDirectors. The entireworldknows the connection ofMehulChoksi to theModi governmentandhis consequent escape afterduping banks of thousands ofcroresofpublicmoney,”hesaidinastatement.“Will BJP, like Rajiv Gandhi

Foundation has done, askVivekananda Foundation andIndiaFoundationtomakepublicthe list of its donors (includingforeign individuals), companies,entities,organisations includingthose of Chinese origin, if any?”Surejwala asked. “Will the BJPdeclarethenameofdonorsfromwhomithasreceivedthousandsof crores in donations throughelectoralbonds?WilltheBJPdis-close the source of funding,name of donors (including ofChinese origin) for ‘OverseasFriendsof BJP’ ?...”

JPNaddaandRandeepSurjewala. File

BJP, Congresscontinue war ofwords on fundsreceived by RGF

J&K admin gives domicile certificatesto West Pakistani refugees, others

Yashwant to launch outfitto contest Bihar elections

GovernorRNRaviandChiefMinisterNeiphiuRio. File

As Nagaland Governor takes charge of law & order,those familiar with state say it was ‘bound to happen’

New Delhi

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

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FOUR decades ago Karnataka FoodCentre set shop in Moti Bagh,nearSector-12, R.K. Puram a colonywith residents who mostly were

employed by the Government of India.Shekar Bangera, founder of KarnatakaFood Centre wanted to introduce theuninitiated to the Udipi style idli, vada,dosa and its variant cuisine, includingsambhar and combination of chutneys.Forthe scores of South Indians, the outlet wasa go to place to experience the homelytaste of the choice of food available.

Bangera’s intention to provide simpleto digest, healthy food that was easy onthe pocket of people. The mild spice inthe coastal Karnataka cuisine which isliberally laced with jaggery, gives aunique flavour, which is easy to go overall three meals in a day.

The centre is open for breakfast, lunch,evening snack and dinner. The vegetar-ian cuisine served is well sought after atall the times. Idli, vada, dosa, upma, vari-ety of rice preparations including dailyspecials are the favourite of the patrons.The sizeable portions with a good doseof chutney and sambhar go well with themenu. It is a paradise for foodies acrossall age groups, which can be gauged bythe crowds that throng to this centre andthe waiting area which also frequentlygets filled on occasions.

The dessert and beverage offeringsare also in demand with filter coffeelovers getting their dose of authentic cof-fee at this place. Equally in demand is thekesari bhath which is a must have to con-clude any meal. All these are availablethrough the day, but the big draw is thelunch served here.The South Indian Thaliis an experience one must try. Combina-tion of rice, chapathi and poories makes

the meal not just elaborate but some-thing to look forward to.

Further the mixed rice of the day issomething that can be a meal of its ownfor ardent food lovers.The famous thingat Bisibela Bhaath, Lemon Rice, Puliyog-are (Tamarind Rice), Coconut rice,Tomato rice, etc are the day’s special.

Evening snacks laced with pakora, dalvada and bonda can make you feel that

you are in Udipi. The evening dinnerstarts from 7PM with meals

For Bangera, the mission has alwaysbeen to provide quality and hygienicfood since inception.To achieve this ob-jective, the cooks and staff is picked withcare, with many of them working for sev-eral years at the outlet. Ability to man-age the walk-ins as well as takeaway or-ders has over the years made this centre

work well for all types of customers.Bangera is a pleased man for his experi-ment has not just worked at this centre; ithas also worked at its other outlet at ITO.

The Udupi Restaurant at ITO has foryears served scores of journalists whowork in the vicinity for long hours. Thisrestaurant has a similar fare to offerfrom breakfast to dinner for even themedicos across the road from the

MaulanaAzad Medical College and asso-ciated hospitals. With service, qualityand a set menu, both the restaurantshave managed to strike the balance be-tween quality and pricing. At the sametime, the south Indian fare served isunique and finds takers among a wideset of regular patrons and many otherswho travel from far and wide to experi-ence the south Indian cuisine.

Bringing Udipi eating to the Capital

9

New Delhi

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI, JUNE27

AS THE number of Covid-19deaths in Tamil Nadu jumpedfrom160 onMay 30 to 1,025 asonJune27,andthefigureofcon-firmedcasesfrom21,184onMay30to78,335,seniorbureaucratsworkingoncontaining thepan-demicandscientistsanddoctorsmonitoring the pattern of out-break say the state did a fewthingswrong at a crucial stage,which led to thepresentcrisis.Many of these experts also

said that thecurrentsituation isunlikely to overwhelm thestate’s health system in comingweeks if the ongoing efforts tocontaintheoutbreakinChennai—with an intense lockdown—succeed.Chennai has 68 per cent of

thestate’s total case load.Aseniorbureaucratmonitor-

ing the situation said the statewouldhavebeen inabetterpo-sitionhad it escalated testing inMay, especially inChennai. “Fora combination of reasons—po-litical, wrong calculations, andlackofcoordinationbetweenthe

Health Ministry and theMunicipal AdministrationMinistry (which controlsChennai city corporation)—wedelayed;waiteduntilthesecondweekof Junetoincreasethetest-ing rate,” thisofficer said.While 2,526 cases and 28

deaths as onMay 1went up to13,191 cases and 87 deaths byMay30, daily testing sawonlyaminimal increase: from 9,615samplestestedeachdayonMay1 to 12,000 by month-end. Ittookanother10daysforthedailytestingtotouchtotouch17,000.Therehassincebeenasteadyin-crease in testing—33,000 sam-ples, forinstance,weretestedonJune20.When the state finally de-

cided to increase testing, therewasanexpected increase in thenumberof casesaswell,but thequestionwashowdidthedeathfigure also rise: from 160 Coviddeaths as onMay 30, to 326 onJune10, and704on June20.MultiplesourcesinthePublic

Health Department said datawas being “managed” — orfudged—sincethebeginning,asitwas “amatter of pride for thepolitical leadership”.Thereason

for the steady increase in deathcountafter June10wasdue toa“reconciliation process,” inwhich the state authoritiesstartedadding“missingdeaths”todailybulletins,aseniordoctor

attached to the HealthDepartmentsaid.Thiswas followingacontro-

versy thatnearly200deaths re-portedtoChennaicorporation’shealthdepartmentwerenot re-

ported to the state HealthDepartment since lateApril.And, like in many other

states, a complex bureaucraticsystemcompoundedmatters.According to a senior ICMR

scientistwhohasseenthefight-back in Chennai, Mumbai,Ahmedabad and Delhi, therewere two common challengeseverywhere:“Ahugepopulationliving in slums, and lack of ad-ministrative control of the stateHealthDepartmentson thecityhealth department, whichcomes under these municipalcorporations.”The civic body’s health de-

partmentisdetachedfromstatehealth system in all these cities,includingChennai,whichplayeda big role in delaying the in-creased testing strategy inChennai,theICMRscientistsaid.State Health Secretary J

Radhakrishnan said the rise indeaths was proportionate toconfirmedcases. “Everypatientwhocomestohospital isgettingtested now; several deaths, in-cluding that of cancer patientsand other critical illnesses, getaddedintotheCovidcount irre-spectiveofcomplexmedicalrea-

sons. If you look at figures fromApril toMay and June, you cansee Covid cases have gone upand the increase indeathswereproportionate to cases.Compared to other citieswith ahuge population and cases, ourdeath rate is still not alarming—at1.2now,”hesaid.DrPrabhdeepKaur,deputydi-

rectorof ICMR-National InstituteofEpidemiology,Chennai,saidthebiggest lessonhere is theneces-sityforgoodpublichealthsystemsin cities. “However, I believeChennai shouldnot face a situa-tionwhereourhealthsystemsaregetting overwhelmed by cases,likeelsewhere,”shesaid.“Theon-going strategyof aggressive test-inginChennaiandotherhotspotsshould be giving results in twoweeks.”Dr JayaprakashMuliyil, for-

mer principal of ChristianMedical College, Vellore, saidcitieswith largepopulationanda high number of slums arebound towitness the outbreak.“Thequestioniswhetheryouarecapable of handling cases withenough doctors and hospitalbedsandotherhealthinfrastruc-ture,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU, JUNE27

THE CLOSURE of two key gov-ernment testing labs for Covid-19inBengaluruforaweek,afterpersonnel at both labs testedpositive for the virus, has re-sulted inaconsiderablebacklogof sampleswaiting to be testedinthelast fewdays,evenascasecounts hit a new high inKarnatakaonSaturday.A record 918 Covid-19 cases

were reported in Karnataka —now the highest in a single day—andBengalurualonesaw596

casesbeing reported.SinceJune1,therehavebeen

2,183 cases and 84 deaths inBengaluru, compared to 358casesand10deathsfromMarch8 toMay 31. As of Saturday, thecityhas1,913officialactivecases.

Sunday lockdownThe sharp spike in cases re-

sulted in Chief Minister B SYediyurappa calling an emer-gency meeting on Saturdayevening inwhichadecisionwastakentoimposeacompletelock-down in Bengaluru on SundaysfromJuly5, andto imposeacur-fewfrom8pmto5am.Thedeci-

sion was announced by stateHome Minister BasavarajBommai.Itwas alsodecided tohavea

centralised bed allocation sys-tem to speeduphospitalisationof Covid-19 patients.Yediyurappa told theofficials topublish details of nodal officersworkingforCovidManagement.Crucially,thenumberofsam-

plesawaitingtestinginBengaluruhit 11,640 on Friday — a largebacklog given that pendencyrarely crossed the 4,000-markwhenall labswerefunctional.AlaboratoryattheBangalore

Medical College and Research

Institute, which is part of theICMR’s Virus Research andDiagnostic Laboratorynetwork,anda laboratoryat theNationalInstitute of Mental Health andNeuro-SciencesinBengaluruto-gether handled about 2,000samples each day. They wereshut foraweekonMonday.Despite the overall testing

numbers being in the range14,733 RT-PCR tests on Fridayand 14,078 tests on Thursday,thenumberofsamplespendingrosesharplyfrom3,038to7,469on Thursday and 11,640 onFriday,accordingtogovernmentdata.

“Twomajor labs have beenclosedbecausetheirstaffgotin-fected. Around 2,000 to 2,500samples used to be tested be-tween BMCRI and Nimhans...Fromtomorrow, theyshouldbeback online for carrying outtests,” said Dr C NManjunath,thestatenodalofficerfortesting.The BMCRI, Nimhans and

ICMR-NIV labshavehandled thebulk of Covid-19 testing inKarnatakawitheachtesting1,000samples eachday—more at thepeakof testingfourweeksago.There are 76 labs in

Karnataka, including 44 in thegovernmentsectorand32inthe

private sector.Thelast timealargenumber

of samples piled up in the statefor Covid-19was at end of MaywhentheICMR-NIV,BMCRIandNimhanslabswentofflinetore-calibratemachines.Abacklogofcasesbuiltupin

districtsborderingMaharashtrasuch as Kalaburagi, Vijayapuraand Bidar as a large number ofreturnees from Maharashtrawere tested.SomeofthenorthKarnataka

districts also send samples toBengalurudue to testing capac-itiesbeinglimitedinsomeofthedistricts.

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, JUNE27

THECENTRESaturdayissuedre-visedclinicalmanagementpro-tocols fortreatmentofCovid-19patients, including the low-costanti-inflammatory drugDexamethasone as an alterna-tive to another steroid,Methylprednisolone,formoder-ate toseverecases.The move by the Union

Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare comes after Oxford re-searchersleadingtheRECOVERYclinical trials in the UnitedKingdom had announced thatDexamethasone reduced deathby up to one-third in hospi-talised Covid-19 patients whodevelop acute respiratory com-plications.Both Dexamethasone and

Methylprednisone are corticos-teroids,whichcloselymimiccor-tisol, a hormone naturally pro-duced in humans by adrenalglands. Dexamethasone is com-monly used for treatment ofrheumatological inflammatoryconditions:inflammationofmus-cles, inflammationof bloodves-sels,chronicarthritis,andlupus.Even before Oxford

University had announced theresults of the Dexamethasone

armof the trialon June16, Indiahad already allowed the use ofMethylprednisolone,ascorticos-teroid therapy inmoderate andseverecases.In themanagementof severe

cases,therevisedguidelinesstate:“Forpatientswithprogressivede-teriorationofoxygenationindica-tors,rapidworseningonimagingand excessive activation of thebody’s inflammatory response,glucocorticoids canbeused for ashortperiodoftime(3to5days).”The guidelines add a note of

caution:“Alargerdoseofgluco-corticoidwill delay the removalof coronavirus due to immuno-suppressiveeffects.”In the Oxford

Dexamethasone trial, 2,104 pa-tients were administered thedrug for 10 days, and the re-searcherssaidtheysawfatalitiesfallbyone-thirdinventilatedpa-tients and by one-fifth in pa-tientsonoxygen.“Based on these results, 1

(one)deathwouldbepreventedby treatmentof around8venti-latedpatients, or around25pa-tients requiring oxygen alone,”theuniversity said.However,thestudyhadfound

noevidenceofbenefitforpatientswhodidnot requireoxygen.Thetrial did not study patients out-sidehospitalsettingseither.

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI, JUNE27

THENUMBER of migrantswhohave died taking ShramikSpecials sinceMay 1 is likely tocrossthe100-mark,accordingtosources instates.While the RailwayMinistry

isintheprocessofcollectingthefinal data from all states as thelatter had conducted the post-mortems, sources in Bihar andUttar Pradesh, which receivedthemaximumnumberof thesetrains, indicated to The IndianExpress that the figure is a littleover100sofarwithmanystatesyet tocompletedatacollection.Railways has officially said

that it is still collecting the dataandtheexercise isnotcompleteas states are yet to send the re-quireddata.

WiththeMonsoonSessionofParliament approaching, theprocessof theCentregettingthedatafromstatesmightgetexpe-dited,sourcesinDelhisaid, indi-cating that deaths on Railwayspremises would be counted.“ShramikSpecials arestill oper-ationalsotheprocessisnotcom-pleteyet,” saidasource.An interim list had pegged

the number of deaths at 80 amonth ago—with a lot of datamissing — and the RailwayMinistryhadtriedtodistanceit-self fromthelistcontainingdataondeathsfromMay9toMay27.Facingcriticismonsocialme-

diaoverthecasualties,Railwayshad attributed many of thedeaths to pre-existing healthconditions."This isastatesubject.States

will share the information afterthey have completed the inves-

tigations...Allthestateshavenotshared the information yet,"Railway Board Chairman V KYadav said on Friday. Regardingcompensation,Yadavpointedtoprocedures under the RailwayClaims Tribunal on a "case-to-case"basis.A former chairman of the

Tribunal has told Railways thatcompensation can be given un-der the"eggshell theory" in law,based on which the RCT hasawarded compensation in thepast to the kin of a passengerwhodiedona train.The list includes cases such

as a body found in a toilet in anemptytrain,a four-year-oldboywhodiedonaplatforminBihar,passengers “not feeling well”through the journey, and thosewith cancer, heart problem,paralysis,etc.Afewdeathswerealsoattributed toCovid-19.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SURAT, JUNE27

GUJARATONSaturdayreportedits highest single-day spike of621newCovid-19 cases, takingthe overall count to 30,820.While Surat broke its dailyrecord on Saturday, adding 174fresh cases, Ahmedabad’s dailycountcontinuedtodropasitre-ported197cases.Themajorityof Surat’s cases

are from the diamond hub ofKatargam, which accounts formore than 25 per cent of thecity’s total caseload.Besides,11Armyjawans,who

hadrecentlyreturnedafterleave,reportedpositiveintheBhujcan-tonmentof theborderdistrictofKutch. It is the thirdmajor inci-dentofdefencepersonneltestingpositive inthestate.Explainingthesurgeincases

inSurat,NewCivilHospitalmed-ical superintendent Dr PreetiKapadiya said, “Cases are risingbecause of community trans-mission.Itwillcontinueforafewmoredaysandforthat104serv-

ices and Dhanvanti raths havebeenput intoaction.”Surat municipal commis-

sionerBNPanisaid,“Wearecar-ryingoutmeetingswiththedia-mond industry to ensure thatthey followtheCovid-19guide-linesof socialdistancing,masksand sanitisers. They should alsoshare correct informationwiththesurveillanceteam.Thereare1,600small,mediumandbigdi-amond factories in Katargamareawhich are operational andwe have set up teamswhowillvisit the diamond factories tocheckif theyarefollowingrules.”SuratMunicipalCorporation

(SMC)hasshutdownthreelargediamond units wheremultiplecaseswere reported, andmicrocontainedseveralothers, so far.Surat Deputy Health

Commissioner Dr Ashish Naiksaid,“Wewereexpectingsuchasurge in the number of cases...Earlierwe sawa rise in numberof cases in thewalled city areaand Rander, but now the casesare reducing there. Now,Katargam and Limbayat zonesarebadlyaffected.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH, JUNE27

PUNJAB CHIEF MinisterAmarinder Singh on Saturdaysaid a decision on lockdown inthe statewill dependon the sit-uation but he was prepared totakewhatever steps needed tocontrol thespreadof Covid.“It is in your hands,” he told

a Ludhiana resident during the#AskCaptainFacebookLiveses-sionafteraquestionthatHealthMinisterBalbirSinghSidhuwasindicating imposition of lock-down in the state.Notingwithconcernthatex-

perts had projected Punjab’speak tobe still some timeaway,

Amarinder said the state couldnot afford to be lax in anyway.Onitspart,thestategovernmentwas increasing testing, he said,adding,inresponsetoaquestionfromaHoshiarpurresident,thattestinginPunjabwouldgoupto20,000 a day by the end of thismonth.The Punjab CM agreedwith

the questioner that the lowertesting in Punjab, as compared

to Delhi, had to be addressed,and said that fourmore testinglabshadalreadybeenapprovedby his Cabinet, whichwill helpscale up testing two-fold overthenext fewdays.With the coronavirus cases

spreadingacrossthecountry,theCM said the norm of wearingmasks in public, besides otherssafety norms, had to be strictlyadhered to. He appealed to thepeople of Punjab not to violatesafetyprotocols.“If we are able to control the

pandemic then therewould beno need for lockdown but if itgoesoutofcontrolthenwehaveno choice... I will not let myPunjabis andmy children con-tractCOVID,”hesaid.

Low-cost steroidnow part of govt’streatment protocol

Delay in testing surge, data ‘managing’ andhighpopulation led toChennai, TN spike: experts

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE27

THE HIGH-LEVEL Group ofMinisters (GoM) on Saturdayhelditsseventeenthmeetingonthe current status of Covid-19casesinthecountry. Itwashigh-lighted that eight states —Maharashtra,TamilNadu,Delhi,Telangana, Gujarat, UttarPradesh, Andhra Pradesh andWest Bengal — contribute 85.5per cent of the active caseloadand 87 per cent of the totaldeaths in India.Themeetingwaschairedby

Union Minister of Health andFamily Welfare Dr HarshVardhan and included UnionForeign Minister Dr SJaishankar, Union Minister ofCivil Aviation Hardeep S Puriand Minister of State, Healthand Family Welfare AshwiniKumar Choubey. Memberswere briefed about recoveryand mortality rates, doublingrate, ramped-up testing andstrengthened healthcare infra-structure in various states.TheGoMwas informed that

thekeyfocusareasarestrictcon-tainmentmeasuresandsurveil-lance;utilisingfulltestingcapac-ity; focus on monitoring ofco-morbid and elderly popula-tion; predicting emerging

hotspots;leveragingdigitaltoolssuch as Aarogya Setu; ensuringseamless patient admissionprocesses;fatalitymitigationbyeffective clinical management;focus on infrastructure pre-paredness (critical care beds,oxygen,ventilatorsandlogistics).“TheGoMwasalsoinformed

that,asondate,15centralteamsconsisting of public health ex-perts/epidemiologists/cliniciansandaseniorJointSecretary-levelhave been deployed to providetechnical support to the states.Another central team is cur-rently visiting Gujarat,Maharashtra and Telangana tostrengthen ongoing efforts formanagement of Covid-19,” thegovernment said.During the meeting, Dr

Balram Bhargava, DG (ICMR),gave a detailed presentation onthetestingstrategyof ICMR.“Heexplainedtheserologicalsurveyaswellastheincreasingcapacityfor enhanced per day testingthrough various tests,” the gov-ernment said.In a detailed presentation by

K Shivaji, chairman of theEmpoweredGroup-10, theGoMwasbriefedthatthestipulatedre-dressal time onCovid-19 publicgrievances was brought downfromtheusual60daysfornormalpublicgrievancestothreedaystoprioritisetheirquickdisposal.

Ahmedabad: Former GujaratChief Minister ShankersinhVaghelaonSaturdaytestedpos-itiveforCovid-19andisinhomeisolation, his IT andmedia in-chargePartheshPatel said.“He had fever for the last

three days and so he got tested.Hisreports todaycameoutpos-itiveandhehasbeen isolatedathis home in Gandhinagar,” saidPatel.Vaghela (79)will seekmed-

ical advice on Sundaymorningbeforedecidingtoshift toahos-pital. “Hehasbeenvisitingvari-oushospitalsandCovidcarecen-tres tomeetpatients for the lastseveraldays,”Patel said.Vaghelahadrecentlyquitthe

NCP and launched the ‘PrajaShaktiMorcho’ to fight theBJP.

ENS

Cases rise in Surat,11 Army jawans testpositive in Gujarat

Chennaicitycorporationarrangedauto-rickshawservicestotakesymptomaticpeople fromcrowdedneighbourhoodstonearbymedicalcampsandtesting labsduringthe intenselockdown. Express

OPEN-AIR CLASSWithmanystudents facingdifficultiesduetothe lockdownandpoor internet,MuneerAlam,ateacher,hasstartedgivingmaths tuitions forClass11andClass12 inanopengroundinEidgahareaofDowntownSrinagar. ShuaibMasoodi

Rlys collects data on Shramikdeaths, final toll may cross 100

8 states contributing85.5 pc cases, 87 pcdeaths, GoM told

10THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

THEOUTBREAKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ShankersinhVaghelatests positive

Policeconductaroutemarch inBengaluru. PTI

Inhomeisolation

DrHarshVardhanwithotherUnionministersatthemeetingTwitter

Closure of two key labs leads to backlog in test results in Karnataka

Lockdowndecisiontodependonsituation:AmarinderSingh

Covid testing capacity to be20,000 by June-end: Punjab CM

New Delhi

GARGIVERMARAIPUR, JUNE27

INAfirstsinceChhattisgarhwascarvedoutasaseparatestate in2000, the state police have re-leasedinpublicdomainaposterwith names and images of 34senior "most wanted" Maoistleaders and cadres operating inthe state, and announced re-wardsforinformationleadingtotheir arrest.The list includes two

women.Whileseveralsuchlistshave

been prepared by police in thepast, this is the first time theyhavereleasedthelistalongwithpictures, and rewards for infor-mation on each one, in publicdomain.The poster, with slightly

blurryandmostlyoutdatedim-ages,carriesallknownaliasesof34 senior Maoist leaders andcarries themessage: “completesecrecy would be maintainedforpeoplecomingforwardwithinformation.”Thepostercarriespicturesof

nineMaoistswitharewardofRs1 crore each for informationleadingtotheirarrest,nineoth-erswithRs40 lakheach, and17operativeswithrewardofRs25lakheach.Amongothers, it lists senior

CPI(Maoist)politburomembersNambwala Keshav Rao, aliasWasavraj, (64) and MupallaLakshman Rao, alias Ramannaor GudsaDada (72), alongwithPeople's Liberation GuerrillaArmy's 'battalion' number oneleader Hidma, alias MadviHidma.According to Bastar I-G P

Sundarraj, this is a broad list atthe divisional level, and moresuch lists — at the levels of dis-tricts and police stations—willbemadepublic soon.“This is the list of most-

wantedMaoists,withseveral in-cidents and crimes to theirname,” he said. “They have had

a hand in more than 1,800deaths in the state in the pasttwodecades.Wehavemadethelist public so that people knowhow leaders from other stateshaveonlytriedtobenefitoff thetribals, andnothelp them.”Sundarraj said, “If anyone

has any information, they canpass it on to us; theywill be re-warded, and wewill maintaincomplete confidentiality.”The Maoists are learnt to

havemet between June18 and20 along the borders of SukmaandBijapur, oneof thesecurityvacuums in the state whereforces are trying to make in-roads. "According to our infor-mation, theeventwasheldasacommemorative meet to paytributes to their leaderRamanna, who died inDecember 2019. Between3,000 and 4,000 people at-tended it, including (Maoist)cadres and local villagers,” asenior officer said. “As of now,theyhavenot finalised thesuc-cessor for Ramanna. For the

eventand forother formalpur-poses, Sujatha, the seniormostrank-holder (among Maoists)inChhattisgarh ishandling thepost.”Sujatha is one of the two

women whose names are onthe poster, with a reward of Rs25 lakh for information leadingtoher arrest.According to Sundarraj,

while themainTacticalCounterOffensiveCampaign(TCOC)pe-riod is almost over, securitypersonnel will continue tocarry on their exercises evenduringmonsoon. InMarch thisyear, rightbefore the lockdownwas imposed, 17 security per-sonnel were killed by Maoistoperatives in an encounter inSukmadistrict.Meanwhile, after remaining

untoucheduntil lastmonthLeft-WingExtremism-hitdistricts inBastar region have seen con-firmed cases of coronavirus,with several infectedCRPFper-sonnel returning to camps.Whiledistrict authorities

11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

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EXPRESSNETWORK

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI, JUNE27

THEFAMILYmembersof the fa-therandsonwhodiedofallegedtorture in police custody, atSathankulamnearThoothukudiinTamilNadu,haveaccusedthejudicial magistrate of sendingthem in remand without dueprocess.Magistrate P Saravanan sent

P Jeyaraj (62) and J Bennix (32)into police custody on July 20.Twodays later, theyweredead.S Joseph, who ismarried to

Jeyaraj’s sister Jaya, says thetwoof them were present whenJeyarajandBennixwerebroughtto themagistrate’s court, func-

tioningoutof his residencecur-rently, around 11.45am.According to Joseph, theywerevisiblyinjured,withbloodseep-ing throughtheir clothes.“Thetwoweremadetostand

rightattheentranceof thecom-plex, near the gate, surroundedbyseven-eightpolicemen.Theywerenottakeninside.Themag-istrateappearedonthefirstfloor,

waving his hand at the police-men.Anofficerwith JeyarajandBennix shouted out, ‘Kovilpatti,remand’. And the magistratecleared it.”The twowere then taken to

theKovilpatti Sub-Jail.Asked about theway the re-

mand hearing was allegedlyconducted, Thoothukudi SPArunBalagopalansaidtheongo-ingjudicialprobewillbelookingintoall aspectsof thecase.FormerMadras High Court

judge K Chandru said if true, itwas a clear case of judicialmis-conduct and violation of theSupremeCourtguidelinesonar-rest.“Itisthedutyofamagistrateto examine the accused. Heshould have asked themwhy

theywereinjuredandbleeding,if police had informed their rel-atives before the remand, and ifthey had a lawyer. These ele-mentary constitutional rightsshouldhavebeenensuredbythemagistrate,”Chandrusaid.The family members have

also questioned the role of thegovernment hospital whereJeyaraj and Bennix were takenformedical examinationbeforebeingproducedbeforethemag-istrate. “A doctor who came toexamine them did not do soproperly, with policemen sur-rounding the two at all times,”said Joseph.A senior government doctor

inChennaisaidtheSathankulamhospital doctor should have

doneafullexamination,checkedfor injuries or anyhealth issues.“Only after an examination canadoctordecide ifmedical inter-vention is needed. A doctor caneven admit the person con-cernedif requiredandaremandhearing can be held at the hos-pital,” the doctor said, addingthatthemedicalreporthastobemadeavailable to the family.Jeyaraj’s relatives say they

nevergotone.Aseniorpoliceofficer,whois

aware of the preliminary probeand did not want to be quoted,earlier told The Indian Expressthat Jeyaraj and Bennix werekept at the hospital for aboutthreehourstostabilisethemandtoreduce thebleeding. Theposterhasnames,picturesof 34seniorMaoist leaders

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI, JUNE27

FLOODS IN Assam killed twopeople on Saturday and inun-dated 21 districts, with largeparts of the state experiencingheavy rains and thousandslodged in relief camps.The Brahmaputra river and

manyofitstributarieswereflow-ing above the danger mark atmultiple points in the state—in-cludingitslargestcity,Guwahati.The Assam State Disaster

ManagementAuthoritysaidtwowere people killed in Goalparadistrict, taking the toll in thisyear’s floods to16.Over4.6 lakhpeople in around 1,300 villageswere “affected” in Assam onSaturday.Around19,500peoplewere lodged in98relief camps.On Saturday, landslides hit

Guwahaticity,itsoutcroppingonthe northern bank of theBrahmaputra, andHaflong dis-trict.Thelandslideinthecityoc-curredattheRajBhawan,theof-ficial residence of the GovernorofAssam.Officialssaidincessant

rains had caused land to gradu-ally slide at the posterior of thecomplex.Aprivateclinicandhos-pital,adjacenttoawallof theRajBhawan,was asked to vacate itsstaff andpatients immediately.TheKamrup(Metro)district

administration, under whichGuwahati falls, hasappealed topeopleresiding inareasvulner-abletolandslidestovacatetheirhomes and shift to a safer loca-tion till the heavy monsoon

rains persist.Biswajit Pegu, Deputy

Commissioner,Kamrup(Metro),said:“DuetoincessantrainfallforthelastfewdaysinGuwahaticity,severalincidentsoflandslidehaveoccurred leading to loss of pre-ciouslifeandproperty.Moreover,thereiseverypossibilityofoccur-renceofmoresuchlandslideinci-dentsinthecomingdaysconsid-ering the incessant rainfall thedistrict.”

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI, JUNE27

OIL INDIA Ltd (OIL) on Saturdaytemporarily called off its opera-tions to contain the fire andblowout at theBaghjan5well inUpper Assam's Tinsukia districtaftertheareawasravagedbydaysofheavyrainandfloods.“Workingconditionatsitehasbeenconsid-eredunsafeforthedayandallop-erations at site have been calledoff,”statedareleasefromOIL.The interruption in opera-

tionswill prove tobeabig chal-lenge for the energymajor, as ithas struggled to plug theblowout, first reportedexactlyamonth ago. The well subse-quently caught fire on June 9,complicatingmatters further.“Oneday loss is ahugeprob-

lemforusbecauseeverydayisac-countedfor,”saidOILspokesper-sonTridivHazarika,““Thedebrisclearingaround thewell area—acrucialpartofthepluggingoper-ations—wasslatedfortoday.”The

authorities had estimated thatthewellwouldbecappedbyJuly7.However,withweatherreportsindicatingthatrainwillcontinueforthenextfewdays,thisislook-ingunlikely,saidHazarika.The OIL release stated the

Dangori river—fromwhich it ispumpingwater—isoverflowing.“The Kill Pump area is com-

pletely flooded. OIL CMTWaterPump area is submerged withfloodwater” the releasestated.Asaresult, themainwellop-

erations had to be halted butoperations at OIL workshopscontinued.Currently, the three main

routestothewellsiteareinacces-sible.While the Doomdooma-Baghjan bridge collapsed onThursday, the condition of thebridgenearDaisajanTeaEstateonTiphuk-Kordaiguriroadisfastde-teriorating.OnSaturday, thedis-trict administration announcedthatthepartofthethirdrouteviaPlasticParkroadhasbeenclosedforallvehiculartrafficsinceitwasinundatedandunderpressure.

Assam: Two killed in floods,landslide warning in Guwahati

AtChanakavillage inMorigaononSaturday. PTI

Assam gas leak and fire:Severe floods force OILto pause blowout ops

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE27

THE CBI has filed a chargesheetagainst 24 people, includingleadersof variousRajputoutfitsand a Congress MLA fromRajasthan,inacaserelatedtothe2017 violence and riots inSanvrad in Rajasthan’s Nagaurdistrict, in the aftermath of thedeath of gangster AnandpalSingh inapoliceencounter.In a statement released by

CBI spokesperson RK Gaur onSaturday, the agency said it hadfiledthechargesheetintheCourtofACJM,CBICases, Jodhpur.Singhwas killed in a police

encounter inJune2017.Thevio-lence in Sanvrad — Singh'shometown — had taken placeduringamassivemeetingcalledby various Rajput outfits whohad termed the encounter fakeanddemandedaCBIprobe.The accused include

LokenderSinghKalvi,thepatronof the Shri Rajput Karni Sena,while MahipalSinghMakranaisthe outfit's president andSukhdevSinghGogamedi is the

presidentof theShreeRashtriyaRajput Karni Sena— a rival fac-tion. A P Singh is an advocatewho has appeared as a counselfortheconvictsofthe2012Delhigangrapecase.Among those named is

Congress MLA Rajendra SinghGudha—currentlyrepresentingUdaipurwati constituency inJhunjhunu. He had switched toCongresslastyearafterwinningthe2018Assembly elections onaBSP ticket.“CBI had registered the case

(oftheviolence)on05.01.2018ona request from RajasthanGovernment&subsequentnoti-fication issued byGovt. of India,and takenover the investigationof the FIR No. 115/2017, earlierregistered at Police Station,Jaswantgarh,Nagaur(Rajasthan).It was alleged that after the en-counter with police on24.06.2017, Sh. Anand Pal Singhdied&hisbodywasnotcrematedandinstead,aShradhanjaliSabhawasorganisedatVillageSanwrad,thenativevillageofdeceased,forpressurising the government toaccept their demands,” read theCBIstatement.

2017NAGAURVIOLENCE

CBI files chargesheetagainst Cong MLA,Karni Sena leaders

ThoothukudiSPArunBalagopalansaidtheongoing judicialprobewillbe lookingintoallaspectsof thecase

TRADER,SON ‘TORTURED’ INPOLICECUSTODY

TN deaths: Family saysmagistrate sawthe two from floor above, cleared remand

INFORMATIONSOUGHT,SECRECYPROMISED

In a first, Chhattisgarhpolice make public listof most-wanted Maoists

New Delhi

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAMANDLA (MP), JUNE27

A 28-YEAR-OLD leader of theNationalStudents’Unionof India(NSUI), the Congress’s studentwing,wasshotdeadatMandlainMadhyaPradesh,followingwhichtwomenwerearrestedinneigh-

bouringChhattisgarh,officialssaid.The killing, a fall-

out of some past en-mity, took place dur-ing the interveningnight of Friday andSaturday,theMadhyaPradeshpolice said.

“Sonu Parochia, local office-bearer of NSUI, was returninghomeaftercelebratingthebirth-day of his uncle at a roadsideeatery in a suburban area ofMandla,” AdditionalSuperintendentofPoliceVikramSinghKushwahasaid.AccusedMayurHappyYadav

(30) fled from the spot after thecrime,hesaid.“Asperthepreliminaryinfor-

mation,Parochia'stwo-wheelerwashit byYadav's car. Yadav al-legedly opened fire on Parochiawho died on the spot,”Kushwahasaid.NSUI's district president,

Akhilesh Thakur, said that

Parochiawas the general secre-taryof theMandladistrictunit.Hesaidthattheaccusedhails

from Jabalpur and has been liv-ing inMandla for the last five tosix years. "We had complainedtothepoliceagainsthimonsev-eraloccasions,"hesaid.Hourslater,theChhattisgarh

policearrestedMayurYadav andPiyushMaravi fromGudhiyariareaof Raipur.“During the interrogation,

the two confessed to their in-volvement in the killing.Wehave informedMandla po-lice about the arrest and theirteamhas left forRaipur,” theof-ficial said.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,JUNE27

THREE-TIME president of Jammu andKashmirHighCourtBarAssociationandaprominentfaceinalmostallmajorag-itations in Jammudivision, B S Slathia,died at PGI, Chandigarh, on Saturdaymorningaafterbrief illness.Hewas70.Be it theagitationagainstdiscontin-

uationof thebiannualJ&KDurbarmovepractice in 1987-88, demands for landallotment to the Shri Amarnath ShrineBoard in South Kashmir Himalayas in2008, or demands for a separate AIIMSfor Jammuin2015,Slathiahadplayedakeyrole inall these.Duringthe2008Amarnathlandrow,

SlathiawasAdditionalAdvocateGeneral(AAG) and considered close to the thenChief Minister and senior Congressleader Ghulam Nabi Azad. He quit asAAGandplayedaprominentrole intheagitationinJammutopressthedemandfor allocation of land to the AmarnathShrine Board for setting up logistics forpilgrims,recalledPawanMaini,alawyer.Theagitationeventuallyledtothefall

of the Azad government, as the PDPwithdrewsupport.In 1987-88, hewas chairman of the

ActionCommitteeoftheBarAssociationspearheading the agitation against thethenFarooqAbdullahgovernment’sde-cision to discontinue the practice ofbiannualDurbarmovebetweenJammuandSrinagar.After87days,theagitationwascalledoff followinginterventionbythenUnionHomeMinister Buta Singh,whomade the then state governmentwithdrawitsdecision,Maini said.

EXPRESSNETWORK12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

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CHRISTIAN

II,, hitherto knownasGulafshaParveenD/oSharif Alvi residingat,H.No-D-46,Gali No.-7,OldMustafabad, Delhi-110094,havechangedmynameandshallhereafter be knownasPayal.

0040540576-3

II,, SwathiMalik,D/oStanderSinghMalik R/o-Plot.No.-275,Vipin-Garden, Uttam-Nagar,NewDelhi -110059,havechangedmyname toSwatiMalik, Vide-affidavit no.-10AE927358dated-27/06/2020atGhaziabad.(U.P)

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II,, SunitaW/o Jaipal SinghHoodaR/oPanaDudan, Village&PostOffice Sanghi, Tehsil Rohtak,District Rohtak, Haryana –124303havechangedmynametoSunitaHooda. 0070707479-1

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PUBLIC NOTICEInformation is given to the general public atlarge that my client Raja Singh s/o PyaraSingh wants to purchase the property: B17,Kirti Nagar, New Delhi area measuring 500sq.yd. Property is owned by Anamika Ahuja andDayanand Parshad Sinha having 50% shareseach.If any person is having objection and right ofclaim against the said property, contact theundersigned alog with supporting documentswithin 7 days from the date of publication ofthis notice and or the same to theundersigned if found by anyone.

Sd/-Mohit Bhardwaj

AdvocateOffice:- 18, Radhey Shyam Park,

Gali No. 1, Parwana Road,Near Preet Vihar, Delhi-110051

Mob. No. +91-9899520069

Any person claiming any right, interest,having any objection or found inpossession of original documents, maywrite/ contact with the above namedperson at above Address/ Phone No9953262914 within 7 days from thedate of Publication of this notice.

PUBLIC NOTICETo be known to all that I, Saroj W/o Mr.Satya Veer Singh R/o Flat No. EU-2-B,Pitampura, Delhi, have lost the theoriginal Sale Deed Dated 06-08-2013Executed by (1) Mr. Vijay Khanna (2).Mr. Pradeep Khanna and (3). AnilKhanna in favor of (1) . Sanjay KumarSaraf and (2). Mr. Kamal KumarManchanda in respect of my PropertyNo. 259, Second Floor, Block andPocket-AG, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi.

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client Raghu Bansh Pandey S/o LateUdayraj Pandey R/o H.No. B-5, 697/2,Gali No. 2, Ganesh Nagar-II, Shakarpur,Delhi-92, has severed his relations anddebarred his son Surya Kant Pandeyfrom all his moveable-immoveableproperties due to his misbehavior andmisconduct. My client and his familymembers shall not be responsible for hisany act (s) /deed (s)/transaction(s).

Sd/-(V.K. SINGH)

AdvocateEnrl. No. D-63/90

CHAMBER NO. D-623, 6TH FLOOR,KARKARDOOMA COURTS, DELHI-32

OOrriiggiinnaall SaleDeedexcutedbySmt.MamtaKaushik,W/O-ShriAjayKaushik to Smt. RaniKhanna,W/O-Shri RaviMohanKhannaon 12/06/2001,inrespect of property no.B-4/15,Third-Floor, Sector-15,Rohini, Delhi.An FIR to thiseffect hasbeenLodged inPolice station, CrimeBranch,Delhi, LRno.187677/2020.Anyperson claimingany rightinterest havinganyobjectionor Found inpossessionoforiginal SaleDeed.Maycontact Smt.Aarti Dhingra,W/O-Shri Rohit Dhingra, Ph-9988656179. 0040540579-8

GOVERNMENT OF HIMACHAL PRADESHHIMACHAL PRADESH STATE ROADS TRANSFORMATION PROJECT (HPSRTP)

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST-CUM-REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL/ REQUEST

FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST PROPOSALName of Project: Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project (HPSRTP)Loan No./Credit No. 9066-INGrant No.: Date: June 26, 2020

The Chief Engineer-cum-Project Director, State Roads Project, HPRIDC Nirman Bhawan, Nigam Vihar Shimla-171002, Himachal Pradesh India invites the Request for Expression of Interest-cum-Request for Proposals/Request forExpression of Interest Proposal from national consultants for the consultancy services as detailed in the table below:

Note: Any further addendum/Corrigendum to this Request for Expression of Interest-cum-Request forProposals/Request for Expression of Interest Proposal Documents shall be available to all interesting firms onofficial web site of HPRIDC under http://himachalservices.nic.in/hpridc/HPSRTP.html. link.

Chief Engineer-cum-Project Director,State Roads Project, HPRIDC, Nirman Bhawan, Nigam Vihar,

Facsimile: +91-177-2620663; Tel: +91-177-2627602,E-mail: pdsrp-hp@nic.in0177/HP

Sr.No.

1.

2.

Description of the ConsultancyServices

Selection of Consultant (NGO) for sup-port to implementation of ResettlementAction Plan (RAP) for Tranche-I Roadsunder HPSRTP (Approx. 90 km.)

Selection of Biodiversity/WildlifeExpert for World Bank FundedHimachal Pradesh State RoadsTransformation Program (HPSRTP)

Date of availability of Detailed Request forExpression of Interest-cum-Request for

Proposals/ Request for Expression of InterestProposal Document on HPRIDC web site

June 27, 2020(Request for Expression of Interest Proposal

Document)

June 27, 2020(Request for Expression of Interest-cum-Request

for Proposal Document)

Last date/Timefor submissionof Proposals

July 14, 2020

July 25, 2020

EMPLOYMENT NOTIFICATIONNo.: 04 of 2020 (NT) Dated: 27-06-2020

Online Applications are invited from the eligible candidatesfor appointment to following temporary vacancies of non-teaching posts:

1) Internal Audit Officer (01-UR)2) Deputy Registrar : (01-UR)3) Lower Division Clerk : 06 (04-UR, 01-OBC,01-SC)4) MTS/Peon/Office Attendant : 03(01-UR, 01-OBC, 01-SC)The Last date for submission of online Application forms is13th July 2020 and the detailed notification along with thelink is available on University website.Dated 27.06.2020 Sd/-GANDERBAL I/c Registrar

CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF KASHMIRGanderbal (J&K) 191201, Website: www.cukashmir.ac.in

HIMACHAL PRADESH STATE ELECTRONICSDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED

Ist & Ground Floor, I.T. Bhawan, Mehli, Shimla-171013 H.P.Tel. No. 0177- 2623513, 2623259,

FAX: 0177-2626320, Website: www.hpsedc.inEmails: hpsedc@hpsedc.in gm@hpsedc.in

e-Tender No: F-905/HPSEDC/Tender/Smart School/2020 –969 Dated: 27/06/2020

NOTICE INVITING TENDER

e-Tender is invited for selection of implementation agency forimplementation of Smart School Project in Govt. High SchoolKrishnanagar, Shimla and virtual classrooms in identifiedschools of Himachal Pradesh. Detailed tender document con-taining technical specifications and terms & conditions is avail-able on e-procurement portal https://www.hpsedc.in andhttp://hptenders.gov.in. Online pre-bid meeting will be held on07-07-2020 (2:30 PM) and last date of e-bid submission is 30-07-2020 (2:30 PM).

Sd/-MANAGING DIRECTOR0175/HP

TENDER DATE EXTENSION NOTICEThe Date of opening of tender specification no. PVVNL-MT/COM/01/20-21 forsupply of 1500 nos. 11 KV CTs (Different ratios) is hereby extended fro,m25.06.2020 to 14.07.2020. Time of opening tender and other terms & conditionsshall remain unchanged.For detailed information please log on www.pvvnl.org & E-Tendering websitewww.etender.up.nic.in till the date of submission of bids. Superintending Engineer(Commercial) "Help line Number for Information of Theft of Electricity: "1800-180-3002 (Meerut) & 9412207451"Remark www.etender.up.nic.in

Sd/-Superintending Engineer (Commercial)

For Managing Director“SAVE ELECTRICITY IN THE INTEREST OF THE NATION”

´fÂffaI : 5169 dQ³ffaI : 27.06.20

Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.,Victoria Park, Meerut

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d½f°fSX¯f ¸f¯OX»f, d¨fÂfIcYMX, A»´fIYf»fe³f BÊ-d³fd½fQf Àfc¨f³ffEa A²fûWÀ°ffÃfSI °ffÊ õ fS fd³f¸³fd»fdJ°f I f¹fÊ I û I Sf¹fZ ªff³fZ WZ°fb BÊ-d³fd½fQfAf¸fadÂf°f I e ªff°fe W`Ü d½fÀ°fÈ°f ªff³fI fSe E½fa d³f¹f¸f½f Vf°fZË C.´fi. VffÀf³f I e Afd²fI fdSI BÊ-´fiû¢¹fûS¸fZÔM´fûMÊ»f https://etender.up.nic.in ´fSC´f»f¶²f W`:- 1. BÊ-d³fd½fQf d½fdVf¿MXeIYSX¯fÀfa£¹ff- 21/ SE/ EDCCkt/ 2020-21:IYf¹fÊ: d½fôb°f d½f°fS¯f J¯O, d¨fÂfIc M I eÀfe¸ff³°f¦fÊ°f 33/11 IZ ½fe d½fôb°f C´fIZ ³ý-¸ffd³fI ´fbS¸fZÔ ªfªfÊS 11 IZ ½fe ½fe.Àfe.¶fe. B³fI d¸fa¦f E½faAfCM¦fûBa¦f ¶fQ»f³fZ IZ I f¹fÊÜ WXÀ°ff./- A²feÃf¯fAd·f¹f³°ff d½fôb°f d½f°fSX¯f ¸f¯OX»f d¨fÂfIcYMXÜ´fÂffaIY- 295/ d½f.d½f.¸fa.d¨f./ d³fd½fQf ´fiIYfVf³f/2020-21, dQ³ffaIY 27.06.2020

UKSWAN FACILITY MANAGEMENT SERVICESTender Notice No. 04/e-ITDA-PRJ/SFMS/1/2020-PROJECT dated 08/05/2020

Corrigendum- 1Please refere to the Tender Notice No. 04/e-ITDA-PRJ/SFMS/1/2020-PROJECTDATED 08.06.2020, in this regards the amendment is being made in Bid submissionend date and bid opening date as following:

All other terms and conditions remain unchanged. Director

IT DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (ITDA)Department of Information Technology

Government of UttarakhandIT Bhawan, Plot No. IT-07, IT Park, Sahastradhara Road,

Dehradun Email: diritda-uk@nic.inITDA

S. No. Critical Dates Date Extended toFollowing Date

1 Last Date & Time for Submission of Bids electronicallyon https://www.uktenders.gov.in/

03 July 15.00 Hrs

2 Date & Time of Opening of Bids (Technical Bids) 03 July 16.00 Hrs

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR, JUNE27

AN FIR has been registered inJaipur against yoga guruRamdev, his aide and PatanjaliAyurvedLtdmanagingdirectorBalkrishnaandthreeothers,ac-cusing them of cheating andconspiring to sell fake medi-cines claiming to cure coron-avirus following clinical trialsonCovid-19patients.The others named in the FIR

are Anurag Varshney, an em-ployee of Patanjali, Balvir SinghTomarandAnuragSinghTomar,chairman and director, respec-tively, at the Jaipur-basedNational Institute of MedicalSciencesandResearch (NIMS).TheFIRwasregisteredatJyoti

Nagar police station in the cityonthebasisofacomplaintbyin-dividuals, including a Jaipur-basedadvocatewhoquestionedthe clinical trials which report-edly tookplace onCovid-19pa-tientsatNIMS.Jyoti Nagar SHO Sudhir

KumarUpadhyaysaidtheFIRhasinvoked IPC Section 420 (cheat-ing) and Sections 4 and 7 of theDrugs and Magic Remedies(ObjectionableAdvertisements)Act,1954. “WeregisteredtheFIRon Friday and are investigatingthematter.Noarrestshavebeen

madetillnow,”hesaid.Launchingwhat he claimed

was the first ayurvedicmedicineto cureCovid-19 inHaridwar onJune23,Ramdevhadclaimedthat‘Coronil tablet’, ‘SwasariVati’ and‘Anu Taila’ had shown “100 percent favourable results” duringclinicaltrialsonCovid-19patients.The Union AYUSHMinistry

subsequentlysoughtdetailsaboutthe purportedmedicine anddi-rected Patanjali and Ramdev tostopadvertisingsuchclaims.TheRajasthan government had saidthat it had no knowledge aboutthe clinical trials conducted atNIMS,andthatnopermissionwassoughtforanysuchtrial.TheChiefMedicalandHealth

Officer, Jaipur, has served a no-tice toNIMS over the issue, andstate Health Minister RaghuSharmahassaid thatactionwillbe taken if any attempt ismadeto sell the purported drug as apotentialmedicineforCovid-19patients inRajasthan.“The main accusation is

cheatingpeopleunder thegarbof selling medicines of Covid-19. I will also approach thecourt,demandingaCBI inquiryinto the matter. It is our de-mand that action be takenagainst the accused,” advocateBalram Jakhar, oneof the com-plaints in the case, said.Jakhar,whoidentifiedhimself

asanindependentadvocatesub-scribing to the “ideology of theCongress party”, cited previouscases registered against BalvirTomar to demand a detailed in-vestigationintothematter.Stating that FIRs had earlier

been registered against Tomarhimindifferentmatters, andhewas also in judicial custody,Jakharsaid,“Itshouldbeinvesti-gated how Tomar, who runs ahospital not related to ayurved,launched this alleged Covid-19medicinewithRamdev.Wede-mand a detailed investigationintorolesofeveryaccusedinthecase,” Jakhar said.Tomar’s son Anurag, also

named in the FIR registered onFriday,wasarrested in2017 inacaselodgedbyhisfatherfollow-ingadispute.CallsandmessagestoTomar

forhisresponseremainedunan-swered;AnuragTomardeclinedtocommentonthematter.In 2018, awomanemployee

hadlodgedanFIRatAmerpolicestation against Tomar, accusinghimof rapingher.In 2016, Tomarwas arrested

by Jharkhand police based on acomplaintofallegedlyoutragingthe modesty of a woman. TheFIRwasfiledbyaformerstudentofNIMSUniversity,whoaccusedTomarofallegedlymisbehavingwithher inRanchi in2015.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABAD, JUNE27

AMANdiedandatleasttwooth-erswere incritical conditionaf-terammoniagasleakedatafac-tory in Nandyala town ofKurnool district in AndhraPradeshonSaturdaymorning.The gas leak occurred at a

buildingof SPYAgro Industries,owned by former MP S P YReddy. Welding work was be-ingcarriedoutonagaspipelineinthe factorywhenthe leakoc-curred. The company's generalmanager, SrinivasuluRao, diedon the spot while four othersfell ill. District Collector GVeerapandian said fire andemergency services personnelbrought the situation undercontrol."The gas leak has been con-

tained,thereisnodangernearby.Only a small amount of gasleaked and fire and emergencyservicescontainedthesituation.After the LG Polymers incident,we had issued advisories to allfactories in the district to checkequipment and ensure thatsafetymeasuresare inplacebe-fore starting operations. SinceJune19,repairandmaintenanceworkwas going on this factoryand they noticed aweakweld-ingjoint... Itwasbeingtestedto-daywhen it exploded due to a

pressure build-up. The generalmanager,whowasnotwearinganyprotectivemask,diedonthespot.Therestof theworkersareoutof danger,'' he said.Joint Chief Environmental

EngineerofAPPollutionControlBoardKVenkateshwaraRaosaidammoniaisusedintheagrounitasachillingagent.“RepairswereonsinceFriday

and todaymorning the pipelinewas being tested when it ex-ploded, killing themanager onthespotandaffectingfourothers.Theammonialeakislimitedtoin-side theplant.Duringan inspec-tionlastweek,wehadidentifiedsomeissuesoverthesafetyofthepipeline, followingwhichthere-pairsweretakenup,’’Raosaid.Apartfromthedistrictcollec-

tor, pollutioncontrolboardoffi-cials also visited the site to takestockof thesituation.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBHOPAL, JUNE27

A35-YEAR-OLDVHPleaderwasshotdeadnearPipariya town inMadhyaPradesh'sHoshangabaddistrictonFridayinwhatthepo-licebelieveisacaseofrivalrybe-tweentwogroups.Ravi Vishwakarma, a district

gauraksha(cowprotection)chief,was returning to Pipariya fromHoshangabadwith two friendswhen his carwas stopped by agroupofmencarrying ironrods,sticksandfirearms.Avideo shotby a passerby showed the as-sailants damaging his car, firingat him, dragging him out of thecar and beating him, even asthey allowed the two other oc-cupants in thecar toescape.Acaseofmurderhasbeenreg-

isteredagainst tenpeopleon thebasis of a complaint filed by thevictim’sbrother. HoshangabadSPSantosh Singh Gaur told TheIndian Express a dozen cases, in-cludingmurder and attemptedmurder,hadbeenlodgedagainstthevictim.Theassailants,too,hadcasesregisteredagainstthem.Gaur said the killingwas an

outcomeof battle for control inthe Pipariyamandiwhere lakhsof tonnes of grains are tradedevery year. During auction andweighing,asmallportionofgrainsis left on the floor and accumu-latesintoasubstantialquantity.

FIRAGAINST5OVERCOVID ‘MEDICINE’ CLAIM

Ramdev, Patanjali MDbooked for ‘cheating’

Ammonia gasleak at Andhrafactory, 1 dead

Atthesiteof thegas leak inKurnooldistrict. Express

VHP manin MP shotdead by rivalgroup: Police

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE27

TWENTY-NINEforeignmilitantsareactiveintheupperreachesofSouth Kashmir, which has seenmajoranti-militancyoperationsin the last fewmonths, accord-ing to thepolice.Vijay Kumar, Kashmir

Inspector-General of Police, saidtherearemoremilitantsinSouthKashmir as compared toNorth

Kashmir.“They(foreignmilitants)arenotinthehinterland,butthereisapresenceof(foreignmilitants)intheupperreachesofKokernag,TralandKhrew.Intheseareas(ofSouthKashmir)thereispresenceof FT (ForeignTerrorists). About29 FTs are in SouthKashmir. Assoon theywill come down, oursourceswillinformusandwewillneutralisethembylaunchingop-erations,” Kumar told themediaonSaturdayon the sidelines of awreath-laying ceremony for the

CRPFconstablekilledinamilitantattack in South Kashmir’sBijbeharaonFriday.Kumar said that South

Kashmir is a “priority” eventhough the police are currentlyfocussingonNorthKashmir.“Numberofmilitantsismore

in South Kashmir. We havestarted operations in NorthKashmir. Recently two local LeTmilitantswere killed in Sopore.Theywere locals, but they hadcarriedalotof incidents.Weare

focusing on that (North), butthere are militants in SouthKashmir,anditisonpriority,”hesaid. “In May first week, therewerehugelossesonoursideanda perception became thatmili-tants had an upper hand. InNorth Kashmir, the number ofmilitants is still less.Whateverthe lessnumber is,wewill neu-tralise themsoon.”According to J&K Police

records,113militantshavebeenkilled thisyear in theValley.

29 foreign militants in South Kashmir: J&K cops

NSUI office-bearer shot dead inMP, two arrested in Chandigarh

Prominent face ofJammu agitations,Slathia dies at 70

New Delhi

13THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchOIL SETTLES LOWERNew York: Oil settled lower as new coronavirus cases spiked in the USand China, and on growing concerns about rising US output whilecrude stockpiles sat at record highs. Brent crude futures settled down 3cents at $40.91 and WTI crude futures fell 23 cents to $38.49.REUTERS

TRANSACTIONPEGSPHARMABIZATENTERPRISEVALUEOF$2.77BN

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI, JUNE27

CARLYLE GROUP has agreed toacquire20percentstakeasfreshequitycapitalinPiramalPharmaLtd, awholly-ownedsubsidiaryof Piramal Enterprises Ltd, at acost of $490 million (aboutRs3,700crore).The transaction values the

pharma business at an enter-prise value (EV) of $2.77 billion,withanupsidecomponentofupto $360million depending onthe company’s FY21 perform-ance.BasedontheEV(excludingthe upside component), ex-changerateandpharmanetdebtasofMarch2020, theestimatedequity capital investment forCarlyle’s 20 per cent stake inPiramal Pharmawouldamountto$490million.CA Clover Intermediate II

Investments, anaffiliatedentityof CAP VMauritius Limited, aninvestment fundmanaged and

advised by affiliated entities ofthe Carlyle Group Inc hasmadethe purchase agreement.Piramal Pharma will includePiramal Pharma Solutions, anend-to-end contract develop-ment and manufacturing(CDMO) business, PiramalCriticalCare,acomplexhospitalgenericsbusinesssellingspecial-ized products across over 100countries, Consumer Products

Division,aconsumerhealthcarebusiness selling over-the-counter products in India andPEL’s investment in the jointventure with Allergan India, aleader in ophthalmology in thedomestic market andConvergenceChemicalsPvtLtd.This transactionisoneof the

largestprivateequitydealsintheIndian pharmaceutical sector,andisexpectedtoclose in2020,

subject to customary closingconditions and regulatory ap-provals.Ajay Piramal, chairman,

Piramal Enterprises, said, “Thisinfusion of funds will furtherstrengthen our balance sheetandprovideuswithawarchestfor the next phase of our strat-egy.We are pleased to have aninvestor of this caliber join thePiramal family and continueour stellar track record of part-nerships.”NeerajBharadwaj,managing

director, Carlyle Asia Partnersadvisory team, said: “Givenglobal pharma industry trends,we see attractive opportunitiesfor organic as well as inorganicgrowth in each of these busi-nesses.We are excited toworkwith the company’s experi-encedmanagement team, andwill leverage our global net-work, extensive knowledge ofthehealthcaresector,andoper-ating experience to seek to ex-pand its platform, develop

strategic opportunities and fa-cilitatebroadermarket access.”Following the sale of its do-

mestic pharma business toAbbott in 2010 for $3.8 billion,Piramal has demonstrated itsability to build a solid and re-silientpharmabusinessoverthelast 10 years. Leveraging its dif-ferentiatedbusinessmodel andstrongqualitytrackrecord,PEL’spharma revenue since theAbbottdealhasgrown3.5timesat15percentfromRs1,537croreinFY11toRs5,419croreinFY20.Last month, Carlyle an-

nounced its majority stake in-vestment in SeQuent Scientific,the largest Indianpure-playan-imalhealthcarecompany,whichis expected to close in the thirdquarterof2020.Itsotherinvest-ments in the Indian healthcaresector include MedantaMedicityHospital,aleadinghos-pital in the National CapitalRegion, andMetropolis Health-care, a chain of diagnostic cen-tersand laboratories.

BRIEFLYGSTR-1:FilingsalesstatementviaSMSNewDelhi:GSTtaxpayersfil-ing ‘NIL’ returnswillbeabletofilefinalmonthly/quarterlysales statement GSTR-1throughSMS from July 1stweek. The CBIC said themovewill improve ease ofGSTcompliance forover12lakhregisteredtaxpayers.PTI

Nalconetprofitat`138croreinFY20New Delhi: NationalAluminium Company Ltd(Nalco)haspostedanetprofitofRs138.23croreforFY20,asperarelease.ENS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI/MUMBAI,JUNE27

EVENASpublicsectorbankshavetakenthe leadinsanctioninganddisbursing loansunder the gov-ernment’scollateral-freeworkingcapitalfinanceschemeannouncedby the FM and SBI has alreadygivenloansworthRs19,000croreto4lakhMSME’s,UdayKotak,CIIpresidentandMD&CEOofKotakMahindraBank, said that thoughprivatebankshavebeen slow tostart, theywill catchupandoverthe next 3-4 weeks and theywouldhavedoneasizeablebusi-nessunderthegovernmentguar-anteeschemeforMSMEs.Kotak said theeligibility con-

ditions for thegovernment’sRs3lakhcroreMSMEpackageshouldberelaxedinviewoftherevisioninturnoverlimitforMSMEsfromRs100croretoRs250crore.Addressing theMSMEs from

acrossthecountryoverawebinarconductedbyCII,RajnishKumar,chairmanat SBI, andUdayKotakacknowledgedthatwhileMSMEsaremorevulnerabletostressintheexternal environment, they saidthatthefinancingtothesegmentneedstoimprove.Kumar said that evolutionof

digital technology at bankswillplayabigrole ineasier lendingtoMSMEsasitismakingiteasierforbanks toverify the credentials of

MSMEsandismakingtheassess-menteasy.““Useof tech in lending is en-

ablingthebankstounderwriteinamore scientificmanner. Latestexampleistheguaranteedemer-gencycredit linewhereRs3 lakhcrorehasbeensetasideandwithinmonthSBIhasdone4 lakh loansworthRs19,000crore,”hesaid.Kumar further said thatSBI is

shiftingitsfocusfromhomeloanstoMSMEs in a bigway andhasasked 90 DGMs to focus onMSMEs. “Housing loanwas safe,easyandthatwas the focus. I amshiftingthefocus…Wearedoingalot of improvements aroundprocesses. It isnotaneasytaskforbanks and thehesitation comesfrompastexperiencebutmethodsof lendingandqualityof lendinghastoimprove.WearetakingstepsandhopefulthatwewillbeabletosupportMSMEs.,”headded.Emphasising that building

newIndia inanewworldwouldneedMSMEsas an integral part,Kotak, stressed on the fact thatMSMEs should look to raise riskcapitalandgoodcorporategover-nanceasthatwouldenhancetheirability to raise financing fromhebanks.“Moreriskcapitalneedstobe

brought in as that would helpthemwithstandtheriskof shockof external environment and forthatventurecapitalandangel in-vestorsarecrucial….Besidesprin-ciplesof runningagoodbusinessinvolvedproperaccounting,auditsandensuring that themoney inbusinessremainsinbusinessanddoesn’t go into real estate.Availabilityofriskcapitalandcor-porategovernanceisthebedrockforgrowthofMSMEs,”saidKotak.Hepointedthatweakequitybaseof MSMEsmake it difficult forbankersfromtimetotimetosup-portthem.Both the bankers hailed the

government schemes to supportMSMEswhichtheysaidwerethebackboneoftheeconomyandsaidthattherecentredefinitionofmi-cro,smallandmediumenterpriseswillenable themtogrowandgetlarger. Kumar said that theschemesby thegovernment arevery timely andwhile theymaynoteliminatethepainofMSMEs,theywould reduce thepain andhelpthemcomeoutofthecurrentpeculiarsituation.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE27

INSURANCEREGULATORY andDevelopmentAuthority of India(Irdai) on Saturday announcedguidelinesonCOVID-19standardbenefit-basedhealthpolicyandin-dividual COVID-19 standardhealthpolicy.Guidelineswere is-suedforCoronaRakshakpolicy,astandardbenefit-basedpolicyandCoronaKavachPolicy, a standardhealthpolicy,whichwillbeofferedon indemnitybasis and insurershave been asked to launch theproductfromJuly10,2020.All life, general andhealth in-

surancecompanieshavebeenen-couraged tooffer standardbene-fit-based policy, while everygeneralandstandalonehealthin-surershallofferstandardhealthin-demnitypolicy.Accordingtotheguidelinesby

Irdai,minimumsuminsured forCoronaKavach Policywill beRs50,000 andmaximumsum in-sured would be Rs 5 lakh.However, for Corona RakshakPolicy,theminimumsuminsuredwould be Rs 50,000 andmaxi-mumlimitissetatRs2.5lakh.Thepremiumunderboth the

products shall bepan Indiabasisand no geographic location orzone-based pricing will be al-lowed. RashmiNandargi, head,RetailHealthUnderwritingatBajajAllianzGeneral Insurance, saidthesestandardpoliciesspecifictoCOVID-19wereawelcomemoveconsidering thecurrent situationwherepeople areworriedabouttheCOVID-19treatmentcosts.“These policieswill cater to

peoplewhocurrentlydon’thavea

holistic health insurance policyand are looking to cover them-selvesagainstCOVID-19.Thepol-icycoverages, terms&conditionsare standardacross insurers; theUSPwould bewide network ofhospitalsforcashlessfacility.TheseCovid-19specificpolicieswillcer-tainlybeanattractivepropositionforpeopletooptforhealthinsur-ance, and latermay encouragethemtoopt for a comprehensivehealth insurance cover,” addedRashmi.CoronaKavachpolicywill be

anindemnity-basedpolicybutop-tional cover shall bemadeavail-able on benefit basis. The basecoverwillofferhospitalizationex-penses like roomand boardingchargesalongwithPPEkits,gloves,masksandsuchothersimilarex-penses and even AYUSH treat-ment. While inCoronaRakshakpolicy, insurers shall pay lump-sumbenefitsequalto100%ofsuminsuredonpositive diagnosis ofCOVID-19,requiringthehospital-isation forminimumcontinuousperiodof72hours.Underindem-nityhealthinsuranceplans,insur-ers cover the cost ofmedical ex-penses during hospitalization,while in definedbenefit plans alump-sumispaid irrespectiveoftheactualhospitalexpense.FE

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,JUNE27

THEGOVERNMENThasdecidedto launch Floating Rate SavingsBonds2020(Taxable)fromJuly1,givinganopportunityto invest insecuredgovernmentinstruments.The new scheme has been

brought inplaceof 7.75per centSavings (Taxable) Bonds, 2018,whichwaswithdrawn fromthecloseofbankingbusinessonMay28,2020,thefinanceministrysaidinastatement.Theinterestontheseven-year

bondwill bepaid semi-annuallyonJanuary1andJuly1everyyear.TheinterestonJanuary1,2021

willbepaidat7.15percent.Theratefornexthalf-yearwill

bereseteverysixmonths,thefirstresetbeingonJanuary1,2021,theofficialreleasesaid.Therewillbenooptiontopay

interestoncumulativebasis,itsaid,addingthebondswillberepaidontheexpiryofsevenyearsfromthedateof issue.However, themin-istry added, premature redemp-tionwill beallowed for specifiedcategoriesofseniorcitizens.TheinterestontheBondswill

be taxableunder the IncomeTaxAct, 1961asamended fromtimeto timeandasapplicableaccord-ingtotherelevanttaxstatusoftheBondsholder, itadded.ItwillbeissuedatparatRs100

for a minimum amount of Rs1,000andinmultiplesthereof,therelease said, adding therewill benomaximumlimitforinvestment.Subscriptiontothebondswill

be in the formof cash (up to Rs20,000 only)/drafts/cheques oranyelectronicmode.

‘Moreriskcapitalneedstobebrought inasthatwouldhelpthemwithstandtheriskofshockofexternalenvironmentandforthatventurecapitalandangelinvestorsarecrucial’

UDAYKOTAKCII PRESIDENTANDMD&CEOOFKOTAKMAHINDRABANK

Irdai asks insurers tooffer corona standardpolicy by July 10

ARUNJANARDHANANCHENNAI,JUNE27

THEDEPARTMENTforPromotionof Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) on Friday ordered thescrappingofaRs1,950croreten-der for the BharatNet project inTamil Nadu stating the biddingconditionswere“restrictive”and“discriminatory”.In a communication to state

Chief Secretary K Shanmugam,theDPIIT asked for floating freshtenders.The communication stated

that Tamil Nadu FibernetCorporation Limited (TAFINET)should immediately scrap theRs1,950-croreBharatNet tenderand should float fresh tenderswith “non-restrictive” qualifica-tioncriteria.The tender gotmired in con-

troversywith allegations of cor-ruption and charge raised byChennai-basedArapporIyakkam,that changes in the tenderwere

madetofavourafewcompanies.The Union Commerce and

IndustryMinistryalso soughtanurgent reportonactiontakenfol-lowingitsordertoscrapthetender.TheBharatNetprojectaimsto

connectIndianvillageswithhighspeed broadband connections

through optical fibre. In TamilNadu, theplanwastoconnectall12,524grampanchayats.Theprojecthadfirstgenerated

controversywhenan IASofficer,Santhosh Babu, who was incharge it, opted for voluntary re-tirement,reportedlyafterhewaspressuredtomakechangesinthetenderafteritwasuploaded.In January,Opposition leader

MKStalinhadaskedShanmugamtoensureprotectionfor“truthful”IASofficers,referringtoSanthoshBabu’s VRS request. “Was Babu,whowasin-chargeof theproject(BharatNet), under pressure? IstheInformationTechnologymin-ister behind this? The ChiefMinistershouldreply,”Stalinhadsaidthen.“However, Babu’s request

was later withdrawn owing topressure from his senior col-leagues,” a senior official, in theknowofdevelopmentsintheini-tial stage, said.AfterBabu,HansRajVerma,a

seniorIASofficer,wasgivenaddi-

tionalchargeoftheITdepartment.In a complaint questioning

the government’s move,Arappor Iyakkamwrote to theCentre, “When thewhole stateis focused on fighting the pan-demic, TANFINET has broughtabout big changes in the tenderin the form of a Corrigendum,themajor of which seems to bewith the intentionof restrictingcompetitionandto favoura fewspecific companies.”TheCommerce and Industry

Ministry’s decisioncame follow-inganonlinemeetingonJune23,inwhich the allegations raisedwere heard in the presence ofstate government’s experts andofficers, includingVerma.Referring to themeeting, the

Centre’sordertoscrapthetendersaidthat“baseduponcommentsandfeedbackreceivedfromstake-holders, it has been consideredthatthebiddingconditionsincor-poratedbyTANFINET in thebid-ding documents are restrictiveanddiscriminatoryinnature.”

Govt to launchfloating ratesavings bondfrom July 1

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,JUNE27

THE PRINCIPAL Bench of theNational CompanyLawTribunal(NCLT)heldthattheaffairsofDelhiGymkhanaClubwerebeingcon-ductedinamannerprejudicial to“publicinterest”andthereforethesamemust be probedby a five-membercommittee.Thefive-membercommittee,

tobeappointedbythecentralgov-ernment,asingle-memberBenchof actingpresidentBSVPrakashKumar said, should look into theaffairsoftheclub,theutilityoftheland leased by the governmentandwhether the constructionsdoneat the clubweredonewithorwithoutrequisiteapprovals.Thecommitteeshallalsosug-

gest changes in the articles ofMemorandumof Associationofthe club, themembership rulesand regulations, thewaitlist, andwhetherthecolonial-eraclubwasfollowingalltherulesofSection8oftheCompaniesAct.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE27

THE CENTRAL Board of DirectTaxeshasallowedindividualswhohaveoptedforthenewincometaxregimetoclaimexemptionontourand conveyance allowance re-ceivedfromemployers.The income taxdepartment

has now amended income taxrules toprescribecertainexemp-tions tobeavailedbyemployeessuchasanyallowancegranted tomeet thecostof travelon touroron transfer, any allowance,whether,grantedontourorfortheperiodof journey in connectionwithtransfer,tomeettheordinarydaily charges incurredbyanem-

ployeeonaccountofabsencefromhisnormalplaceofduty.It also includesexemption for

anyallowancegrantedtomeettheexpenditure incurred on con-veyanceinperformanceofdutiesof an office or employment ofprofit, provided that free con-veyanceisnotprovidedbytheem-ployer. Further, blind, deaf andmuteororthopedicallyhandicapemployeescanalsoclaimad-hocexemptionoftransportallowanceofRs3,200permonthwhilecom-putingsalariedincome.CBDThas, however, clarified

while determining value ofperquisites,noexemptionshallbeavailableinrespectoffreefoodandnon-alcoholicbeveragesprovidedbyemployerviapaidvouchers.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE27

STATINGTHE importance of ex-portorientationaswellasimportsubstitution, MSME MinisterNitin Gadkari Saturday said thecountryisproducinglargequan-tities of Personal ProtectiveEquipmentkits,addinghehasre-questedtheCommerceMinistrytoallowtheirexport.“Overtwomonthsago, India

imported PPE kits from Chinathroughaspecialflightandnow,the country is producing over 5lakh PPE kits per day. I have re-questedtheCommerceMinistryto allow export of PPE kits,”Gadkari saidwhileaddressingawebinar organised by GAMEtask force on InternationalMSMEDay.The government had on

January31bannedexportsofPPEkitsandothermedicalcoverallsin-cluding N-95 masks. Gadkarilaunchedthereportof theGAMENational Task Force forMSMEs,entailing industry-wide recom-mendationstoboosttheunitsandentrepreneurialdynamism.KPKrishnan,formersecretary,

MinistryofSkillDevelopmentandEntrepreneurship, saidMSMEsneedfinancialandregulatorysup-port in the short term. He sug-gestedNPAclassification shouldberedoneforthesector,sothattheborrowerscangetmoretime.

Deadline to submitbids for Air Indiaextended again

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE27

THECENTRESaturdayextendedthedeadline— for the third time—to submit bids forAir India tillAugust31.Priortothechange,thedeadlinefor interestedbidderstosubmit anexpressionof interestforthenationalairline’sdisinvest-mentprocesswasJune30.“Theabovechangesareasper

therequestsreceivedfromtheIBs(interestedbidders)inviewoftheprevailing situationarisingoutofCOVID-19,”asperanotificationbytheDepartment of InvestmentandPublicAssetManagement. InJanuary, theCentre hadput 100percentofitsstakeinAirIndia,in-cluding theairline’s100per centstake inAir IndiaExpress and50per cent stake inAir India-SATSAirportServices,ontheblock.

Not an easy task for banks ... butmethods of lending and quality oflending has to improve: SBI chief

AspertheguidelinesbyIrdai,minimumsuminsuredforCoronaKavachPolicywillbe`50,000andmaximumsuminsuredwouldbe`5 lakh

E●EXPLAINED

THENCLT’Sdecisionthatworkingof theDelhiGymkhanaClubwasprejudicial to “pub-lic interest” couldalsoputother similar clubsacross the countryun-dergovernmentscrutiny.

Otherclubsmaycomeunderscrutiny

‘Requested ComMin toallow export of PPE kits’

ThegovernmenthadonJanuary31bannedexportsofPPEkitsandothermedicalcoverallsincludingN-95masks

IDBI Bank to sell27% in insuranceJV, Belgian firmraises stake to 49%

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,JUNE27

IDBIBANKhasdecided to sell 27percentofitsstakeinIDBIFederalLifeInsurancetoBelgianinsurancecompanyAgeas Insurance andFederal Bank for Rs 595 crore.Ageas will acquire 23 per centstake,whileFederalBankwillbuy4percent.Ageas Insurancewill hold49

per cent in the venture whileFederalBankwillhave30percentstake,with IDBIBankholdingtheremaining21percentstakeintheinsurancefirm,afterthestakesale.IDBIBankhas48percentstakeintheinsurer,whileFederalBankandAgeas Insurancehave26percenteach.AsLIChadacquireda51percent stake in IDBIBank, thestakesaleof IDBIBank’s insuranceven-turewasaregulatoryrequirement.

CBDT allows individualsto claim exemption on tour,conveyance allowance

NEWTAXREGIME

Pune can witness a drop of 79 percent to 2,160 units from 10,490 units

Hyderabad may see 85 per cent dipto 660 units from 4,430 units

Sales inChennai are likely to fall by84per cent to480units from2,990units

ASMANYAS68,600unitsweresoldduringApril-June2019acrosssevenmajorcities-Delhi-NCR,MumbaiMetropolitanRegion(MMR),Pune,Bengaluru,Hyderabad,ChennaiandKolkata

NEWLAUNCHESmayplungeby98percenttoonly1,390unitsasagainstnearly69,000units inthecorrespondingperiodof2019

AMASSIVEdropinbothnewlaunchesandhousingsaleswere,ofcourse,expectedonthebackofacompletelockdownformostofthisquarter

TECHNOLOGYADOPTIONhasplayedabigrole inhousingsalesof late,withmanydevelopersnowstrengtheningtheirdigitalsalescapabilities

HOUSINGSALESarelikelytofallby83percent inDelhi-NCRto2,100units inApril-June2020from12,640unitsduringthecorrespondingperiodofthepreviousyear

INTHEMumbaiMetropolitanRegion(MMR),salesmaydropby83percent Source:Anarock/PTI

Housing sales are estimated to decline by 81 per cent to12,740 units during April-June period of this calendar yeardue to COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown,property consultant Anarock said

‘Housing salesmayplunge 81% in Apr-Jun’

COVID IMPACT WHYISTHISIMPORTANT?ThenationwidelockdownwasimposedonMarch25tocurbthespreadofcoronavirusdisease,bringingtheconstructionaswellassalesactivitiestoagrindinghalt.Layoffsandpaycutsbyvariousorganisationswouldalsomeanthatpeoplewill thinktwicebefore investinginbuyingahouse.

RBI extendshigher overnightborrowing facilityof banks to Sept

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI, JUNE27

THERESERVEBankhasdecidedtoextendtheenhancedborrow-ingfacilityprovidedtothebankstomeet their liquidityshortagestill September 30 in thewakeofthe continuing lockdown anddownturn intheeconomy.The RBI, as a temporary

measure,hadincreasedthebor-rowinglimitof scheduledbanksunder themarginal standing fa-cility (MSF) scheme from2 percent to 3 per cent of their NetDemand and Time Liabilities(NDTL) — or deposits — fromMarch27,2020.This relaxation, which was

granted till June 30, 2020, hasnow been extended tillSeptember30.

Delhi Gymkhana Clubfunctioning prejudicial to‘public interest’: NCLT

■Ordering to scraptheRs1,950-croreBharatNetproject inTamilNadu, acommunication fromtheDPIIT of theUnionCommerceMinistry tostateChief SecretaryKShanmugamsaidfresh tenders shouldbe floated, as biddingconditionswere“restrictive” and“discriminatory.

‘FRESH TENDERSTOBE FLOATED’

Centre cancels `1,950-cr BharatNet project in TN

■CACloverIntermediateIIInvestments,anaffiliatedentityofCAPVMauritiusLimited,aninvestmentfundmanagedandadvisedbyaffiliatedentitiesof theCarlyleGroupInchasmadethepurchaseagreement■ThistransactionisoneofthelargestprivateequitydealsintheIndianpharmaceuticalsector,and

isexpectedtoclosein2020,subjecttocustomaryclosingconditionsandregulatoryapprovals■Lastmonth,CarlyleannounceditsmajoritystakeinvestmentinSeQuentScientific, thelargestIndianpure-playanimalhealthcarecompany,whichisexpectedtocloseinthethirdquarterof2020

ONEOFTHELARGESTPEDEALS INPHARMASECTOR

CarlyleGroup tobuy20%stake inPiramalPharma for about`3,700cr

New Delhi

14THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

SUNDAYSTORYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

TASHIWANGMO,38,runsasta-tionery-cum-bookstore shetookonrenttwoyearsago,atamarket complex near the LehDeputyCommissioner’soffice.

OnWednesdaymorning, she isbusynegoti-ating the three-month lockdown rentwithher landlord, TsewangNorbu, as her daugh-terYangchan,10, attendsonline lessonsonaphone. Schools shut, the Class 4 student hasclasses for two hours a day — noon andevening.But, theskiesarerarelysilent inLehthesedays.AndastheIndianAirForce’sfighterjetsortiesscreamoverhead,WangmoquicklycoversYangchan’searswithheadphones.That alsomeans Tashi, a single parent,

can talk freely about the difficult times sheis facing,with almost zero sales at her shopsince the lockdown began inMarch end, apendingrentthatamountstoRs54,000perannum,schoolfeesthatneedstobepaid,andthewarcloudsnowhoveringoverhead.It is10dayssinceIndiaandChinaclashed

in GalwanValley, with 20Indian troops including aCommandingOfficerkilledin theworst face-off bet-ween the two countries infourdecades.However,ten-sions have been brewingsinceMay, particularly inPangong Tso, around 200kmaway.Itstransitionfromatouristhotspotayearagoto a hot zone, amidst thelingeringshadowofcoron-avirus, is casting a pall ontherestof Ladakh.LandlordNorbusayshe

understands Wangmo’sproblem,butadds theyarealso facing a crisis. “Shopowners likemehave requ-estedtheadministrationtogiveus some relief too,” hesays.“ThetensionbetweenIndiaandChina,andCovid,are twodemons that haveruinedourlives.”

The clampdownLadakh,especiallyLeh,isundertotallock-

down,givenboththesituationattheborderand the Covid-19 surge. Officials ward offqueries, there are numerous check-postsacrosstheUT’sCapital,andanybodycomingfrom outside, by road or air, must spend aminimumofsevendaysinquarantine—thewait can get prolonged due to the delays ingetting test results.Anodd-even formula is inplace to check

thenumbersofbothprivateandcommercialvehicles.Whileessentialcommodityshopsareopenthroughtheweek,Leh’straditionalclothmarketisallowedonlyFridayandSaturday.In this stillness, themovementof troops,

plustheIAFaircraft,isaconstantpresence.The14 Corps of the Army’s Ladakh Scouts andseveral units of the ITBP and Border RoadsOrganisationarebasedinLeh.SincethefirstcasewasreportedinMarch

—aresidentwhohadreturnedfromIran—thedrumbeatof coronavirus toohasbeenrising.On June24, the tally stoodat242 inLeh—87of themcured. Kargil has nearly three timesthatnumber—690—with187cured.Withallcasesasymptomaticormild,and

only onedeath across theUT, ChiefMedicalOfficer,Leh,MotupDorje,isconfidentoftheirreadiness.“Wearefullyprepared,withenough

isolation and ICU beds.”Community leaders arehelpingmonitorpatientsinhomeisolation.WhatLadakhisstrugg-

lingwith is testing,with itssole lab, inChuchotYokmavillage,equippedtohandlejust25-30casesaday.Afterflightsfromoutsideresum-ed and cases surged, theauthorities started flyingsamplesdowntoDelhiandChandigarh.Whileofficiallythewaitingtimeforresultsis 48-72 hours, it usuallytakesseveraldays.The checkpoints across

the twonational highways—fromSrinagarandManali— to control movementfrom outside are slowingsupplies. The trucks fromoutsidestophere,andgoodsaretransferredtolocalvehi-cles, followingsanitisation.

PhuntsogWangyal,thepresidentoftheLehMerchantAssociation,says,“Scarcityofessen-tial commodities isamajor issue... Theentirerationforthecitycomesfromoutside.Bythetimetheyreach,thegoodsarefarcostlier.”GhulamMustafa, a leading Lehhotelier,

adds,“Transportersarenotwillingtobringinsupplies because they fear getting stuck ontheway due to both the Armymovementandthecurbs.Entirestockscanget ruined.”The Ladakah Transport Cooperative

SocietybasedinLehhasanetworkofaround1,200trucks.ManyhavebeenrequisitionedbytheArmyfortransportingrations,ammu-nitionandtroopstoforwardareas.Thesoci-ety’ssecretary,Nawang,saystheyaregrate-ful for thebusiness.

The economyApril to September is peak tourist season

for Leh— this year, it threatens to be a totalwashout.Comparedtothe1.33lakhtouristsitgot in2019till June (over2.79 lakh theentireseason),Lehhasgotbarely6,050sofar.Itsover400guesthousesandhotelsareshut.With70%of Ladakh’s economydependenton tourism,hoteliersputtheexpectedlossatoverRs600crore. Theborder tensionsmean therewon’tbeanyearlyrespite.TsetanAngchuk, thepresident of the Leh

TravelAssociation,saystheyexpectlittlebusi-nessforanother12-18months.“Tourismistheonlyfull-fledgedindustryhere... Lehhas4,000taxisand300touristbuses.Allarejobless.”Angchukaddsthatthegovernment’slaws

forthesensitiveregionhavealwaysbeenadragon Ladakh’s tourism. “When Ladakhwasopenedfor tourists, theywereallowedtoex-ploreverylimitedplaces.Inthe1990s,restric-tedareaslikeNubravalley,PangongTsowereopened.Now, Inner LinePermit is needed tovisittheseplacesandtheChineseandTaiwan-eserequireanotherpermit,fromtheMinistryof HomeAffairs inNewDelhi. Nearly 15%ofthe tourists here are fromChinaandTaiwan,Buddhistscomingtovisitmonasteries.”AccordingtoAngchuk,encouragingtour-

isminborderareasnear theLACwouldalsofortify India’s claims regarding thesewhenitcomestoChina. “Takethenomadic tribes.Whilewehaveimposedsomanyrestrictionson them, not allowing them to go to theirpasturelands,theChinesehavebeenencour-aging themtospreadout.”Stanzin Chospel, the president of a taxi

union, says, “During the five-month touristseason,ataxidriverearnsRs3-3.5lakh,whichsupportshim theentire year.Duringnormalconditions, theArmyalsohires a largenum-beroftaxis.Butthesedays,wearesittingidle.”TheCovidblowcameevenastheindustry

wasstillworkingouttheglitchessinceJammuandKashmirwassplitintotwoUnionTerrito-ries—ofJ&KandLadakh.TashiGyaltsonKhac-hu,ChairmanoftheLadakhChamberofIndus-try, points out the absenceof aprocurementpolicy. “Whenwewereapartof J&K, the J&KSmallScaleIndustrialDevelopmentCorpora-tionpromotedthelocalMSMEsector.WehadrequestedtheUniongovernmentandLadakhLtGovernorRKMathurthattillthetimetherewasasimilarbodyforLadakh,haveatender-ingprocess for projects aboveRs1 lakh, andrestrictthesametoonlythoseunitsregisteredwithrespectivedistrictsintheUT.”Amongthebusinesseshitduetothebor-

der tension is themuch-coveted Pashminawool, worth Rs 13-14 crore annually. Thesheep fromwhich thewool is acquired arefound in regions near the LAC. Pashminatraders claimmost of the livestock grazingpasturesarenowoutofbounds.SonamTsering,aformercouncillorfrom

Chushul and one of the leading PashminatradersofLeh,saysaround1,200-1,300fam-iliesinthecityareinthebusiness.“Thereare

about 2.5-3 lakh Pashmina goats in theNyoma andDurbuk sub-divisions. Most ofthe traditional pastures are along the IndusRiver in the area of the LAC and used to beshared by Tibetans and our nomads.Whileour Army has imposed restrictions, Chinahas been sending Tibetan nomads to thesepastures.Firsttheypushthemtotheforwardareas,thentheyputupmobiletowers,shop-pingcomplexesthere,andstakeclaimtotheland. On our side are a few dilapidatedkuchcha houses. So the few people livingtherearealsomigrating.”While theborder tension is set to further

hit business, Tsering says evenpreviouspay-mentsarepending.“InMarch-April,wereceivepayments forPashminasoldduringthewin-ter.Due toCovid-19, our clientswhoprocessthe rawwool said theywere not able to selltheirgoodseither,andhencecouldnotpayus.”

SchoolsTsewang Norbu and his friends Jigmet

Dolkar and Jigmet Dolma, all students ofClass 10, climb up a 30-feet hilltop on theoutskirts of Leh every day with a laptop.That’s theonlyplace in theareawhere theygetproperInternetconnectivity,forsessionswith their class teacher.Leh has 358 government and 46 private

schools,with7,782enrolledintheformerand15,840inlatter.PunchokPaldan, theheadofthe National Informatics Centre in Leh, ad-mitstheInternetisamajorissue,nowemerg-ingasamajorproblemwithschoolsshut.

Chetan Dorje, District Education andPlanning Officer, Leh, says, “To ensure stu-dentsdon’tmissout,wehavedeputedteach-erswholiaisonwithsarpanchs invillages toprovidehomeworkandlessons.Teachersalsoshare lessonsonWhatsApp.”The administration is also reaching out

throughradioandtelevision.SinceApril11,theLehEducationDepartmenthas beenbroad-casting lessons to students of Classes 10 and12ontheradio.“Theorysubjects likeEnglish,Social Studies, Urdu, Bodhi language andScience are taught ona station from11 to12noondaily.ForsubjectslikeMathematics,Phy-sics,Chemistry,Biology,whichinvolveequati-ons,diagramsetc,wehavebeenusingaDoor-darshanchannelsinceMay19,”Dorjesays.However, the tension along the LAC

means officials fear disruption in reachingout to students in the forwardareas. “AreaslikeChangthang,Zanskar,Nyoma,Nubraandvarious zoneshave40-45villages.Wesendteachers there once amonth, to share les-sons, evenstationery items,” saysDorje.NoneyPWangchuk, theownerof Ladakh

PublicSchoolinLeh,saysmanyoftheir1,200-oddstudentshavereturnedhometofar-flungareas after the lockdown. Asmany familiesshare one phone or device between them-selves,Wangchuksays,“Wegivelessonstilllateinthenight.Teachersteacheventill2-3am.”

The road toPangongNational Highway 3, connecting Leh to

Pangong,runsalongtheIndusRiver,withtheStokandMathoglaciersononesideandhillson the other. But the picturesque villages, amixof Tibetan,MuslimandChristian fami-lies, hide an underlying anxiety these days—aboutCovidasmuchasChina.The Shey village, the ancient seat of

Ladakhi kings, is located down this road, aswell as the historic Thikseymonastery andaresidenceof theDalai Lama.Resembling Lhasa’s Potala palace,

Thikseymonastery is a 12-storey structurehousing Buddhist art. In 1970, a Maitreyatemple came up on the premises to com-memorate the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama.Usually, at this time, the place is throngingwith tourists.Now,everything is shut.An Army checkpostmarks Karu, where

NH-3 splits into two— one road going uptowardsSaktivillageandfurthertoPangongTso, and theother towardsManali.Sakti, a villageof 3,600people, lies at an

altitude of approximately 11,800 feet. Itsgreenery, with fields of potatoes, tomatoesand peas (the region’s summer staple), is arare sight forLadakh.Sitting at a roadside dhaba near the en-

trance to the village, Chamba Gelek, a 60-year-oldfarmer,saystheyhavebeenhithardby coronavirus. “We do not have any case,but due to the numbers in Leh, no touristsarecoming towardsPangong.”StanzinTashi,36,theownerofthedhaba,

says,“If thetensionsincreaseinPangongTso,our livelihoodwill be ruined. I will be leftwithnomoneyto feedmyfamily.”Gelekremarksthatformonthsnow,their

efforthadbeentoensurenooutsidersenteredthevillage, topreventcoronavirus.“Villagerseven told their relatives and friends not tocome.”Now, there is almost no break in thecontinuous streamof Army vehicles goingpast.“Forhours,wedon’tseeanyprivatecar.”The road to Pangong Tso, about 104 km

away, stretches next to him — empty formiles, but for theArmytrucksandtroops.

Ladakh’s long, hot summerWhenIndiaandChinaclashed in theirworst stand-off in fourdecades, leaving20 Indiansoldiersdead, therippleswere felt inLadakh.Thetensionsareset to furtherdelayrecovery in theUTthat, insteadof tourists, is seeinghuge losses, a20timessurge in

Covid-19numberssinceMay,andastrict lockdown.VARINDERBHATIAontheroadfromLehtoPangong

(Top)Saktivillage inLeh,which is locatedonthehighwaytoPangongTso.BeyondthevillagecanbeseenthePangongarea; (Above)schoolchildren inLehclimbupahillnearbyfor Internetconnectivity toattendonlineclasses.VarinderBhatia

0

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0

100

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941Confirmedcases

COVID IN LADAKH

ACTIVE CASES

■10patients inhospitals inLeh,38inKargil;noneonventilator;1deathsofar

■Ladakhhas42ICUbeds,21ventilators

1Death

10 530

582

March

*till June25

April May June*

358Recovered

THEBORDERwithChinais thehottest ithasbeen in4decades. Thecoronavirusnumbershavesurged followingabrief, comforting lull.And it’s all coinciding towashouta touristseason thatLadakhdependson fora living.

Thedoublewhammy

ANKITADWIVEDIJOHRI

O NMAY23,saysthe28-ye-ar-old, heboardedaShra-mik train fromMumbai,

alongwith135residentsofLadakh’sKargil district, to return home.“About30of us arrivedonMay26.Wewere put in institutional qua-rantine,withoursamplescollectedforCovid-19testingonJune1.”Refusingtorevealhisidentity,he

adds that for the next twoweeks,none of themheard anything ontheir testresults. “OnJune12,all30of us gatheredoutside thequaran-tinecentreandprotested,”herecalls.Finally, on June 14, his results

camepositiveforCovid-19.“Ihadal-readyspent14daysinquarantine.SoIhadtoundergore-samplingonJune16,”hesays.Thatresulttoowaspos-itive,andnowheiswaitingforresultsofthethirdtest,doneonJune24.HavingdeclareditselfCovid-free

onMay15,Kargilisseeingasurgeincasesthismonth.OfLadakh’snearly1,000cases,70%areinKargil.Says FerozAhmedKhan, Chief

ExecutiveCouncillor of the LadakhAutonomous Hill DevelopmentCouncil,Kargil,“Thosewhoreturnedmixed freelywith residents sincetheirresultswerenotout....”Kargil has no testing lab, with

the nearest 200 km away, inChuchot Yokma in Leh district.“Earlier, wewere sendingmost ofour samples to theNCDC inDelhi.InJune,thetestresultsstartedgett-ingdelayed.Recently,wehavebeg-unsendingsamplestoChandigarh.We hope thiswill reduce delays,”saysDrAbdulJalil, in-chargeof theonly dedicated Covid-19 hospitalinKargil,with100beds.Asof June24,63bedswereoccupied.Khansaysapartfromthehospi-

tal,theyhave10ICUbeds,CovidCareCentres in all12 blocks, isolationbeds, quarantine centres, andbedsinhotels—about1,000inall.Among thosewaiting for their

resultisa25-year-oldresearchscho-laratDelhiUniversitywhoreturnedtoKargil onMay14andremains inhomequarantine since.He iswait-ing for results of a second sample.“Thelabhasbeenconducting80-90testsdailyasperpressreleaseoftheadministration.Of these,at leasttillJune17,notmorethan10testswerefromKargil,”hesays.Khansays theyare trying tosee

to it thatmoresamples fromKargilaretestedattheLehlab.Kargil Deputy Commissioner

BaseerUlHaq Choudhary did notrespondtocallsandmessages.Kargilresidentsarenowonedge

overthebordertensionwithChina.SocialactivistSajjadHussainsaysthemixedmessages from the govern-mentaren’thelping,despitethesiteof the June15-16night clashbeing400kmaway.“SincetheKargilwar,therehasbeennoceasefireviolationfromPakistan’ssidehere.Nowpeo-plefeartheremightbeshelling.Theadministration should reachout tostakeholders like village heads tosoothenerves.”

In the dark,says Kargil, astests delayed,China looms

New Delhi

15 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE28,2020OPINION

THECONGRESS Party’s former presidentshouldhavebeenmorecautiousbeforehemadehis‘SurenderModi’tweet.Itdidnottake the PrimeMinister long to hit backhard. Lastweekhisgovernment revealedthattheRajivGandhiFoundationacceptedlargesse fromChina in 2005 afterwhichSoniaGandhi’sgovernmentstartedshow-ingunusualcamaraderiewithourolden-emy. Concessionsweremade inmattersof trade that benefited Chinamore thanIndia and theGandhi family appeared todevelop a close relationship with theChineseCommunistParty.Thedisclosurethat theDynasty’sper-

sonalfoundationreceived$300,000fromthe Chinese government in 2005 is trulydamning. But, personally, I was not sur-prised.ThisisbecausewhenSoniaGandhiwas India’s unofficial primeminister andRahul her designated heir, I noticed thatthey tookakeen interest in closingdownmajorprojectsthatwouldhavebenefitedIndia enormously but that China clearlydidnot like.Oneexamplewill suffice.IfVedantahadnotbeenstoppedfrom

refiningbauxiteintheNiyamgiriHills,be-cause of the personal intervention ofRahul Gandhi, Odisha may today havebeen the world’s centre for aluminiumproduction. Anil Agarwal, who investedmorethanRs11,000croreintheLanjigarhrefinery,hassaidmorethanoncethattheinternational price of aluminiumwouldhave come down by half if the refineryhadbeen allowed tomine bauxite in thesurroundinghills.And,JayanthiNatarajanhas publicly admitted that she was or-deredtoclosethisproject,andotherma-jorprojects, bySoniaGandhi.ChinaknowsthatIndiawillonlymatch

itsmightif itsucceedsinbuildinganecon-omy as powerful. In the decade beforeSonia became India’s de facto leader, wewere beginning to get there. The Indianeconomywas booming. This is becauseAtalBihariVajpayeecontinuedtheprocessinitiatedbyPVNarasimhaRaotodisman-tletheawfullicenceraj.So,ourprivatesec-torcompaniesbegantocompetewiththebest. Itwas around 2006, as I remember,that the dead hand of the governmentreappearedandmanifesteditself throughtheMinistry of Environment. People likeme supportedModi in the hope that hewouldunshackle theeconomyandbringbackrealgrowth.Sadly,hehasturnedouttobeasocialist andacentralplannerandtheeconomywasalreadyinserioustrou-blebeforetheChinesevirushit.Itismyconsideredopinionthatapow-

erful economy is our greatest weaponagainst both ourmain enemies. China isruledbyatotalitariandictatorwhoknowsthiswell. Sohegot theDynasty to submitand then lulledModi into a false sense ofsecurity by agreeing to all those pictur-esquebutfutilesummits.Atthat firstone,even as he shared aGujarati swingwithModi, Chinese troops entered Ladakh forwhatthenseemedlikeapicnic.Theynowcomewithmuchmoreugly intentions. Itisunfortunatethatourresponsehassofarbeensurpriseandnotstrategy.Whereare themenwhoare incharge

ofnationalsecurity?WhereistheNationalSecurity Advisor? He has not been seensincehetrottedofftotheTablighiJamaat’sheadquarters inDelhi in theearlydaysofthepandemic.Thatshouldhavebeenthejobof the city’s police chief.What is hap-pening now is his.Where is the generalwho became our first Chief of DefenceStaff?Hehasnotbeenseeninavery longwhile. InthistimeofopenhostilitieswithChinaitshouldbehisjobtobriefthecoun-tryonwhatishappening. Itshouldbethejob of theNSA. Instead, all we have seenare BJP spokesmenwhose job it is not tospeakfor theGovernmentof India.At thebest of times these spokesmen

arebadandtheyhavebeenatrocioussincethe crisis began in Ladakh. Theyhavebe-havedlikechildish,belligerentschoolboys.Whenever they have been cornered insome primetime debate they have re-sorted tediously to either invokingJawaharlalNehru’sChinawarortoaccus-ingthoseaskingquestionsoftreason.Thisisatimeofnationalcrisis,theyshriek,howdareyouaskquestionsthatcouldhurtthemoraleof ‘ourbravehearts’.Actually,itisbecausenotenoughques-

tionshavebeenaskedaboutnationalsecu-rity that not enough has been done tostrengthen India’s defences.We did notask enough questions after 26/11 so ourcities remain as vulnerable to another ji-hadi attack asMumbaiwas in 2008.Wedidnotaskenoughquestionsaftertheat-tackonaCRPFconvoy inPulwamasowedonotknowhowthesuicidebomberac-quired RDX. He could not have been act-ingalonebutwedonotknowthenamesofthosewhohelpedhim.If itwasPakistanbehindthatattackthenweshouldatleastknowifitwastheworkoftheStateorfree-lance jihadists.In the Kashmir Valleywe have asked

so few questions since the abrogation ofArticle370thatwenowhearof jihadiat-tacks every other day.Werewe not toldthat one of the reasons for Kashmir tocomeunderdirectrulefromDelhiwastostop jihadi groups from continuing theirhorribleviolence?Ifwecannotcontrolat-tackswithinourborders,what chance isthere for us to be able to control attackson our borders? Things have gone verywrongwith national security for a verylongwhile.

Chinesecheckers

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

Can you see me as Iam, an Indian Chinese?

I WAS grabbingmymask to rush to thenearbygrocerystorewhenthecellphonerang. It was mymother. I thought shewould be (once again) fussing over my‘outing’amidthepandemicbutshespokeinanextremelyserioustone:“Ihopeyouknowwhat is happening between IndiaandChina.Alwayskeepyourfacecovered.Staysafeanddonot respondtoanytrou-blemakerout there.”Whilethewordsofcautionaren’tany-

thingnew,thefearsandanxietyof apos-siblebacklashratchetupwheneverthereis a fresh confrontationalong theborder.The undercurrent of tension bouncesback, perhaps each timewith a greaterforce, leavingmewondering if the aver-agemanonthestreetwouldunderstandthat I am an Indian Chinese and shouldnotbeblamedforanythingthathappenswith theneighbouringcountry.It was during the initial days of the

coronavirus pandemic, when I had goneto a familiar store for some purchases.Little did I expect that one of the staffmembers,wearingamask,wouldappearin front ofme, pass someunpleasant re-markandwalkaway. It didn’t turnout tobeaprettysightafter Iconfrontedhiminfront of other customers and the owner,whoforcedhimtoapologise.EventhoughIwasn’t at fault, it didn’tmakemewantto return to thesamestoreagain.But it took only a couple ofweeks for

metorethinktheentiresituationasnewsof the latest border face-off between thetwonationspoured in.Would someone catch

meagainifIwentoutorwillit prove to be worse thistime?Iamnota“spy”.Ihaveno connection with theChinese government, sowhyshouldIsuffer?MostthinkthatIamgo-

ing overboard with theword “spy” but that’s howI was portrayed the lasttime I tweeted somethinginfavourof IndianChinese.I was cornered for being a“Chineseagent”withafewpeopletaggingtheNationalInvestigation Agency. I re-member I couldn’t sleep thatnight.The current spiralling tensionmakes

mewonderwhatitwilltaketomakeoth-ers understand the need for cordial ex-changes and support rather than hostil-itywiththeirveryownpeople.AnIndianChinese friend recently askedme if the

various Chinese associations should putoutamessageof harmony.

What I find unusual ishow we are most of thetime treatedwith respectbut it isonlyduringacon-flict that we are lookedupon with suspicion. Itdoesn’t appear difficultfor anyone to turn theirbacks on us just becausewe look similar to thosefrom the enemynation.Such situations often

call for measures to healthe festering distrust be-tweenpeople.Atthesametime, they also leave youwondering if you should

succumbtoridiculousideassuchas#boy-cottchinese goods and give up Chinesefood,onlyforthesakeofpeaceandtoen-sure thatyour life isnothampered.Itmightsoundslightlycrazybutatone

point, IwassuggestedbyacloseonethatIwearmoreof ethnic clothes andwear a

bindi to “prove”mynationality.Am I not just one of the 1.35 billion

Indians out there? Why are peopledemanding thatminorities change theirownculture toberegardedasacitizenoftheverycountry theywereborn in?ImightbeofChineseoriginbut Ihave

no knowledge ofMandarin. Rather, I amwell-versed inHindiandBengali.Recently, a friend left me annoyed

when she said, “Don’t mindme sayingthisbutChina...”. Idon’tunderstandwhyothers need to worry about how I feelabout a remark against the neighbour-ing country.The scars of the1962warwill always

hauntmycommunity.Fearfulofdrawingattention,wehavealwaysremainedquietabout the injusticemeted out to us backthen. Picking on uswill onlyworsen oursuffering.

LiuChuenChen is aSenior Sub-Editorwith IEOnline

National Editor Shalini Langer curatesthe fortnightly ‘SheSaid’ column

SUDDENLY,WITHOUTanyplanningorco-ordination,acrosstheglobecountriesaredeciding that they want to ‘normalise’lives. Infectionsmay still be found anddeathsinevitablyandsadlyoccur.Butthetime has come to get back towork, endlockdownsandsocialdistancing.Covid isno longer the unknown fear of theArmageddon.Weknowitssizeanditsef-fects. It isdomesticated inourminds.People have died of a previously un-

known infection and died in large num-bers.Attheoutset,afteradelayofamonth

ortwo(blametheChineseorWHO),every-onewasbewildered,unpreparedandmys-tified.Scientistswerecaughtwithouttotalcommandover the nature of the disease,its spread, its impact. Itwas global and sofrighteningthat,likeintheOldTestament,peoplebegantothinktheywillneversur-vivethiscurseor,iftheydid,theworldtheywill go back towill be totally different.Many people thought that this was achanceofalifetimetoreordertheworldasgreener,safer,moreequal,morejust.Alas that fear or expectation is gone.

We yearn for the Old Normal. In the UK,the arrival of a lovely hot summer, onehundreddays of lockdown later, has un-

leashedall theoldpleasurespeopleusedtoenjoy.Theydonotcare if theclosenessmayleadtoasecondcomingof theinfec-tion.Beenthere,donethat.Behaviouralscientistsarereallynobet-

terthaneconomists,whatevertheythink.ButtheydidwarnbackinFebruarythat ifyouimposelockdownfortoolong,peoplewill begin to flake off and become impa-tient for the old routines. Scientists, thehardtype,wereundecidedamongthem-selvesbutkeptonurgingcaution, as theyarestilldoing.Theyknowtheydon’tknow.Ultimatelywhen thechoice camebe-

tween the infection and the economy, astimepassed,thecostsoftheshutdownbe-

cameunbearableforthepeople.Thepoorwere hit theworst but businesseswerealsohit. Richorpoor, a50%cut in incomehurts.Governmentsaroundtheworldbe-gan to underplay the novelty of the pan-demic. Yes therewere deaths but peopledied anyway inwinter in the NorthernHemisphere. Theywere just dying of anewdisease. Butmost of thesewere theelderlyortheunhealthy(peoplewithun-derlyingconditions).Sothecostoftheliveslostwasargueddown.Thehigherpercapitadeathshavebeen

inEurope.EventhoughtheUSrecordsthehighestnumber,givenitssizeitsnumbersare fewer than theUK, Spain, France and

Belgiumput together. Evenadeath scoreof700permillionislessthanone-tenthof1 per cent. Of course politicians add thatevery life isprecious, but thosewhohavelongertoliveareevenmorepreciousthanthoseabove65/70. Inanycaseevenglob-ally the number of deaths is belowhalf amillion.TheSpanishfluwasmuchworse.Covid has become familiar. A vaccine

is faraway,butwewantCovid routinisedinourlives.Ithasexposedappallingweak-nessesinoursocietiesbutsoonotherprob-lemswill take priority. In every country,the hospital facilities proved inadequate.The poor of all ages and races suffered.Theywill staythatway...Relax.

Why it’s time for post-Covid worldOut ofMYMINDMEGHNADDESAI

SOMEHAVEperfectvision.Somearebet-ter, they are seers, they can see thingsthat ordinarymortals cannot. Someareevenbetter,theyaresages,theycanfore-tellthefuturethatisbeyondthegraspofaveragepeople.Letmereportwhat I seearoundme

and you can compare itwithwhat yousee around you. In a big city likeChennai, everything is open, theneverything is suddenly closed. It is abewilderingswingbetweenLockdownand Unlockdown and Lockdown, nooneknowswhatwillbeopenorclosed,or when. The rich and the uppermiddle class stay home, falling backupontheirwealthorsavings,andpray-ingthatthenightmarewillgoawayby....nobody knows when. The lower mid-dle class play hide and seek with theirworkplaces, venture out only ifabsolutelynecessary,andreturnquicklyto theirhomes.Theprevailingemotionis fear.It is the poor, especially the

shopkeeper, the self-employed auto ortaxi driver, and the tradesman likecarpenter, plumber or electrician, whoperforcemust try their luck, go out insearch of work, and return homewithearningsthatarelessthan50percentofusual earnings. The prevailing emotionis frustration.The very poor are devastated. They

had migrated for work, they havemigrated back to their villages, and theonlytwothingsthatsustainthemaretherationunder theNational FoodSecurityScheme (many state governmentshave

madeit free)andMGNREGAwork,bothinitiativesoftheUPAgovernment.Many,however, are still dependent upon thecharityofNGOs.Theprevailingemotionsare disgustwith the governments andresignation to fate.In small townseverything is open—

the bazaar, the shops, the serviceproviders.Except in the bazaar for vegetables,

fruit, meat and fish, there are fewcustomers for footwear, clothing,barber’s services, etc.

AGRICULTURESHINES...Rural India is completely open. Very

fewwearmasks.Therehasbeenaboun-tifulharvest, theRabicrophasbeenpro-cured,thesowingseasonhasstarted,andtherearehappyfaces.Peoplearebuyingessential items and staples, but not be-yondthat.Packagedfooditemsanddietandnutrition supplements arepopular.Therichfarmersarebuyingtractorsandagricultural equipment. Sale of two-wheelersandsmallcars(notothercars)has picked up smartly. The pent-up de-mand for commercial vehicles hasspurred CV sales, but the relentless in-crease in petrol and diesel prices is adampener.Supply chains are being restored,

though there are some bottlenecks likeGST.Agriculturewill dowell in 2020-21.

Doing well means, at best 4 per cent

growth. That will contribute 0.60 percent tooverallGDPgrowth.

.... BUT GLOOMELSEWHERE

Everything else is surrounded bygloomanduncertainty.MSMEsfeeltheyhave been abandoned by the govern-ment. The FinanceMinister promisedRs3lakhcroreto45lakhMSMEs(outof10 croreMSMEs) as a credit guarantee.Assuming an NPA level of 10 per cent,that works out to Rs 30 lakh crore oflending.OnlyRs70,000crorehavebeensanctioned so far and only Rs 35,000crorehavebeendisbursed.ThousandsofMSMEs have closed down and lakhs ofjobshavebeen lost—maybe forever.Travel,tourism,airlines,bustransport,

hospitality, hotel industry, consumerdurables, construction, exports, etc. arelanguishing. Many of themwill sufferhugelossesrunningintocroresofrupeesandsomewillfileforbankruptcy.Millionsofdirectandindirectjobswillperishwiththe failed businesses.Many companieshave announced debt reduction andsharpcuts incapitalexpenditure.Demandisstillabysmallylow,hitting

theManufacturingandServices sectorsvery hard. People are hoarding cash.Year-on-year,currencyincirculationhasrisen 14 per cent. The reasons are two:one, fear of Covid infection and the costofhospitalisation.Theotheristheloom-ing threat of China. Both Covid fear andChinathreatwilldrag India intoareces-

sion in 2020-21, the first in 42 years. Itcould be up to -5 per cent. A recessionwillmeanmoreunemployment(exceptrural, mostlymanual, work) and fallingincomes/wages. Per capita income isexpected to fall by 10-12 per cent. Thepeopleatthemarginsof thepovertyline(just above thebottom30per cent)willbepushed intopoverty.

STILL CONTRACTINGTheMinistry of Finance sees green

shoots in wheat procurement (382LMT), kharif sowing (13.13million ha),fertiliser sales and foreign exchangereserves (USD 507 billion). The rest aredata about lower contraction inManufacturing and Services, though ithas conceded that y-o-y growth is neg-ative. Y-o-Y, Manufacturing has con-tractedby27.4 per cent and Services by5.4 per cent, consumption of electricityby12.5per cent, consumptionof petro-leumproductsby23.2percentandcon-sumption of coal by 4 per cent. Railwayfreight traffic is lower than last year.Differentsectorsoftheeconomyhavere-portedhuge job losses.Almost alone, the MoF predicts a

V-shaped recovery.Down 5 per cent in2020-21andup5percentin2021-22mayappeartobearecovery, butit isnot.Onlywhen total output (GDP) exceeds the to-taloutputof2019-20will thatbeconsid-eredarecovery,andthatmaynothappenuntil 2022-23. If theMoF is so sanguine,why does it not predict positive GDPgrowthin2020-21?TheMoFdarenot!

Do you see green shoots ?

Almost alone, the MoFpredicts a V-shaped recovery.Down 5 per cent in 2020-21and up 5 per cent in 2021-22may appear to be a recovery,but it is not. Only when total

output (GDP) exceeds thetotal output of 2019-20 will

that be considered a recovery,and that may not happen

until 2022-23. If the MoF isso sanguine, why does it not

predict positive GDPgrowth in 2020-21? The MoF

dare not!

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

THE COLD-bloodedmurder of African-American George Floyd onMay 25 hassparkedarevolutionintheUnitedStates.Floydwaskneedbyawhitepoliceofficialin Minneapolis while his colleague, ofAsianorigin,stoodasabettor.Thisbrutal-itywas recorded onmobile phone cam-erasbyonlookerswhoprotestedbuttonoavail. The video galvanised global com-munities to demand justice for GeorgeFloydandcallforanendtoAmerica’smis-treatmentof itsblackandbrowncitizensby the cruel world of white supremacyandracial capitalism.TheUShas reverberatedwithcriesof

abolition of racialised policing and therehave been calls for defunding the police.Unjust incarceration of black and brownpeopleandacapitalismthatpreysonthepoorandvulnerableofallshadesisatem-plateof theAmericanDream.MalcolmXsaw this as an American nightmare forAfrican-Americans.BigUScorporations,globalfinancialin-

dustriesandliberaleducationalinstitutionsimmediatelylenttheirsupporttotheBlackLivesMattermovement.Somecourageousonesacknowledgedtheirculpability,witha resolve to correct their pastmistakes. Intheentertainmentindustry,whitecelebri-tiesco-createdavideoclipacceptingtheircomplicities:assuming,overlooking,shut-tingdownornotsayinganythingonracialbiaswhenitwasrequired.BackinIndia,DalitrightsactivistsRavi

Keerthi (50), Mayuri Keerthi (49) andBhimraoKanshiramKeerthi(12)tookouta public protest in Nagpur against anti-black racism inAmerica. Theypointed tosimilarities of caste and race discrimina-tion.Theychanted“Ican’tbreathe”,addingtotheechoesof Floyd’s finalwords.IwasbusyfieldingTVandothermedia

interviews. Everyone, it seemed,was in-terestedinunderstandingmyperspectiveontheracialquestioninAmerica.Noone,it seemed,was interestedto lookatobvi-ous parallels. I had to force this analogyinto thediscussions.Onepanelist inaTVdebatesaiditwasaUS-centredconversa-tionand,hence,bringingupcasteissuesofIndiawouldbeadiversion.As usual, Indian celebritieswere apa-

thetic.While somewoke ones did lendtheirsupport,nooneseemedinterestedinacknowledging the oppression of Dalitswhohave to live throughhellunder simi-larandsometimesfarbrutalcircumstancesin India. FromSambhal toMoradabad toPune toNagpur, be it overpracticeof reli-giousritualsorapropertydispute,couplesin loveor crimesof hate, thereare severalexamplesofDalitsbrutalisedandkilledbyupper-casteperpetrators.This tragedy also underlines the role

ofpolicebrutalityagainstDalits,AdivasisandMuslims in India. Inmany cases, themurderofaDalit ispassedoffas“anotherDalit murder”. The SC/ST (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act is rarely invoked and po-lice crudely discourage any reference tocasteatrocities.Manytimes,anFIR isnot filed. If filed,

investigationanddueprocessaredelayed.Perhaps, thatexplainshowaThevarmanfoundguiltyinTamilNaduoforderingtheviciousmurderrecordedonaCCTVcam-eraofhisson-in-lawShankar,aDalit,wasset freeby theMadrasHighCourt.Police, in general, is an anti-Dalit,

AdivasiandMusliminstitution.Theirlackofempathyforvictimsofthesegroupsin-directlymakethemco-convicts. Thishastodowiththewaypolicearetrainedandtaught to respond to cases involvingDalits,AdivasisorMuslims.Manytimes,thecharacterofacriminal

is assumed. S/he must have a certainname,dressacertainway,worshipapar-ticular religion. There are also commu-nalised, casteist elements in the forcesthat are often not discussed. There is lit-tledebateontheseaspectsof the lawen-forcementmachinery.LookingatthedamningDalitmurders

andthecoldresponsefromthecourtandpolicesystem,thereisneedforarenewedsociety-ledresponsetotheseatrocitiesonDalits.Need foramoral force that isded-icated to fighting the injusticemetedouttothepoor,vulnerable,weakDalits. Intheface of lawlessness and the lack of Stateand police interest in curbing atrocities,therehastobeaConstitutionallydevoted,socially conscious force that keeps vio-lence incheck.Sometimes, it is themoral force that

draws attention to it. This moral forcehelped Indiawin its independence fromBritishbrutality.AstheworlddebatesFloydandsystemicprejudiceandoppression,thepowerandtheneedforsuchamoralforcecouldn’tbemorerelevanttoday.

SurajYengde,authorofCasteMatters,curatesthefortnightly ‘Dalitality’column

Floyd’s last breathhas an echo here

IndiansofChineseoriginprotestingagainstChina’a incursions inLadakhinKolkata’sChinaTownareaonJune20.ParthaPaul

A close friendsuggested I wearethnic clothes and abindi to “prove” mynationality. Am Inot just one of the1.35 billion Indiansout there? Whymust minoritieschange culture to beseen as citizens?

SheSAIDLIUCHUENCHENliu.chen@indianexpress.com

DalitalitySURAJYENGDETwitter@Surajyengde

New Delhi

16THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

‘SIMPSONS’ PRODUCERS MAKE BROAD CHANGES

‘WHITEACTORSWON’TPLAYNON-WHITEROLES’The producers of “The Simpsons” said that the show would “no longer have white actorsvoice non-white characters”. The show, which made its debut in 1989, had faced criticismfor its depiction of the character Apu, an Indian immigrant played by a white actor, HankAzaria. Earlier this year, Azaria had said he would no longer play Apu.

PAKISTAN

Pakanti-graftbodyfilesnewcaseagainstNawazSharifLahore: Pakistan’s anti-graftbodyhasfiledafreshcorruption case againstdeposed primeministerNawaz Sharif and threeothersfortheirallegedin-volvement in the illegalallotment of land inPunjabprovinceabout34years ago. An arrestwar-rant has been issuedagainst the 70-year-oldembattled three-timepremierwhoisinLondonfor treatment. Severalcorruption cases havebeen filedby thegovern-ment of PrimeMinisterImranKhanagainstSharifsince his ouster from theoffice by the SupremeCourt in July 2017 in thePanama Papers case.Sharifwasdisqualifiedasprimeministerin2017bytheSupremeCourt inthePanamaPaperscase.

TOPOFTHEWORLD

BANGLADESH

4RohingyamenkilledingunfightwithpoliceDhaka: Four suspectedmembers of a Rohingyagroupallegedlyinvolvedinkidnapping for ransomwere killed in a gunfightwith Bangladeshi policenearthesprawlingrefugeecamps where refugeesfromMyanmar live, offi-cials said. The gunfighttookplace Fridaywhenateamof security officialswassearchingforthegangleader in a forest near theRohingya camps at Cox'sBazar,saidpoliceInspectorPradeep Kumar Das.Anotherinspectorsaidthesuspectsopenedfireatpo-lice,sparkingthegunfightthatledtotheirdeaths.

HONGKONG

NopermissionformarchtomarkhandoverHong Kong: The HongKong police departmenton Saturday denied per-mission for an annualmarch in the formerBritish colonyon July1 tomark the anniversary ofthe city’s 1997 return toChina, the organiser andthepolicesaid inseparatestatements. In a notice totheorganiser,CivilHumanRights Front, police citedthecity’scurrentruleslim-itinggatheringstonomorethan50peopledue to thepandemic, saying publicdemonstrations are notexempted.Thenoticealsocitedviolentincidentsthattookplace after rallies or-ganisedbythegroupoverthepast12months.

CECILIAKANG&SHEERAFRENKELWASHINGTON,JUNE27

FOURMINUTESintoavideothatwas posted on Instagram lastmonth,JustinBieberleanedintothe camera and adjusted thefrontofhisblackknitbeanie.Forsome of his 130million follow-ers, itwasasignal.In the video, someone had

postedacommentaskingBieberto touchhishat if hehadbeenavictimof achild-trafficking ringknownasPizzaGate.Thousandsof comments were flooding in,and therewas no evidence that

Bieber had seen that message.Butthepopstar’sinnocuousges-ture set off a flurry of online ac-tivity, which highlighted theresurgence of one of socialme-dia’s earlyconspiracy theories.Viewers quickly uploaded

hundreds of videos onlineanalysing Bieber’s action. Thevideos were translated intoSpanish, Portuguese and otherlanguages, amassingmillions ofviews.FansthenleftthousandsofcommentsonBieber’ssocialme-diapostsaskinghimifhewassafe.Withindays, searches for “JustinandPizzaGate”soaredonGoogle,and the hashtag #savebieberstartedtrending.

Four years ago, ahead of the2016USpresidentialelection,thebaselessnotionthatHillaryClintonandDemocratic eliteswere run-ningachildsex-traffickingringoutof aWashingtonpizzeria spreadacross the internet, illustratinghowacrackpotideawithnotruthto it couldblossomonsocialme-dia—andhowdangerousitcouldbe. InDecember2016,avigilantegunmanshowedupattherestau-rant with an assault rifle andopenedfireintoacloset.In the years afterward,

Facebook, Twitter andYouTubemanaged to largely suppressPizzaGate.Butnow,justmonthsbeforethenextpresidentialelec-

tion, the conspiracy theory ismaking a comeback on theseplatforms — and on new onessuchasTikTok—underliningthelimits of their efforts to stampout dangerous speech onlineand how little has changed de-spite risingpublic frustration.This time, PizzaGate is being

fuelledby a younger generationthatisactiveonTikTok,whichwasinitsinfancyfouryearsago,aswellasonothersocialmediaplatforms.The conspiracy groupQAnon isalsopromotingPizzaGate inpri-vate Facebookgroups andcreat-ingeasy-to-sharememesonit.Driven by these new ele-

ments,thetheoryhasmorphed.

PizzaGate no longer focuses onClinton andhas taken on less ofa political bent. Its new targetsandvictimsareabroaderassort-ment of powerful businesspeo-ple, politicians and celebrities,includingBieber,BillGates,EllenDeGeneres, OprahWinfrey andChrissyTeigen,whoarelumpedtogether as part of the globalelite. For groups like QAnon,PizzaGatehasbecomeaconven-ientwayto fomentdiscontent.The theory has also gone

global.Whileitpreviouslyfoundtraction mainly in the UnitedStates, videosandpostsabout ithaverackedupmillionsofviewsin Italy,Brazil andTurkey.

“PizzaGateneverwentawaybecauseitencompassesverypo-tentforces,”includingchildren’ssafety and the power of elites,said AliceMarwick, a disinfor-mation expert at theUniversityofNorthCarolina atChapelHill.“But nowthere is somuch scaf-folding from people who haveresearched it, it wasn’t hard forothers topickup fromthere.”PizzaGate is reachinga level

that nearly exceeds its 2016fever pitch. TikTok posts withthe #PizzaGate hashtag havebeenviewedmorethan82mil-lion times in recent months.Google searches for PizzaGatehave skyrocketed.NYT

HatefulcommentshavesurgedonthesocialmediapagesofCometPingPong,apizzaparlor inWashingtonthat isat thecenterof thedebunkedPizzaGateconspiracytheory.NYT

PHILIPBLENKINSOPBRUSSELS, JUNE27

EUROPEAN UNION countriesfailed to settle on a final “safelist” of countries whose resi-dents could travel to the blocfrom July, with the UnitedStates, Brazil and Russia set tobe excluded.Ambassadors from the 27

EU members convened fromFriday afternoon to establishcriteria for granting quaran-tine-free access from nextWednesday.A redrawn text of 10-20

countrieswas put to them, butmany said theyneeded to con-sult first with their govern-ments, diplomats said. The listdid not include the UnitedStates, Brazil or Russia, onediplomat said. The countriesare expected to give informalreplies by Saturday evening.The European Commission

had advised that the bloc firstlift internalbordercontrolsandthen gradually openup to out-siders. However, the first stephasnotgoneaccording toplan.Greece ismandating Covid-

19 tests for arrivals froma rangeofEUcountries,includingFrance,Italy, theNetherlandsandSpain,with self-isolation until resultsareknown.TheCzechRepublichassaid

itwillnotallowintourists fromPortugal, Sweden and part ofPoland.There is broad agreement

that the bloc should only openup to those with a similar orbetter epidemiological situa-tion, but there are questionsabouthowtoassessacountry’shandling of the epidemic andthereliabilityof data.REUTERS

CHARLIESAVAGE,ERICSCHMITT&MICHAELSCHWIRTZWASHINGTON, JUNE27

AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE offi-cials have concluded that aRussianmilitaryintelligenceunitsecretly offered bounties toTaliban-linked militants forkilling coalition forces inAfghanistan—includingtarget-ingAmericantroops—amidthepeacetalkstoendthelong-run-ningwar there, according to of-ficialsbriefedonthematter.TheUnited States concluded

monthsagothattheRussianunit,whichhasbeenlinkedtoassassi-nationattemptsandothercovertoperationsinEuropeintendedtodestabilise theWest or take re-vengeonturncoats,hadcovertlyofferedrewardsforsuccessfulat-tackslastyear.Islamistmilitants, or armed

criminalelementscloselyassoci-atedwith them, are believed tohave collected some bountymoney,theofficialssaid.TwentyAmericanswere killed in com-batinAfghanistanin2019,butitwas not clear which killingswereunder suspicion.The intelligence findingwas

briefed toPresidentTrump,andthe White House’s NationalSecurity Council discussed theproblemataninteragencymeet-ing in late March, the officialssaid.Officialsdevelopedamenuof potential options — startingwithmakingadiplomatic com-plainttoMoscowandademandthat it stop, alongwith an esca-lating series of sanctions andotherpossibleresponses,buttheWhite House has yet to autho-riseanystep, theofficials said.Anoperationtoincentivisethe

killing of American and other

NATO troopswould be a signifi-cantandprovocativeescalationofwhatAmericanandAfghanoffi-cialshavesaid isRussiansupportfortheTaliban,anditwouldbethefirsttimetheRussianspyunitwasknown to have orchestrated at-tacksonWesterntroops.Any involvement with the

TalibanthatresultedinthedeathsofAmericantroopswouldalsobea huge escalation of Russia’s so-called hybrid war against theUnitedStates,astrategyofdesta-

bilising adversaries through acombinationofsuchtacticsascy-berattacks, the spread of fakenews and covert and deniablemilitaryoperations.The Kremlin said it had

not been made aware of theaccusations.Zabihullah Mujahid, a

spokesmanfortheTaliban,deniedthattheinsurgentshave“anysuchrelationswith any intelligenceagency” and called the report anattempttodefamethem.NYT

NOMAANMERCHANTHOUSTON, JUNE27

A FEDERAL judge on Friday or-dered the release of childrenheldwiththeirparentsinUSim-migration jails and denouncedtheTrumpadministration’spro-longeddetentionoffamiliesdur-ing thecoronaviruspandemic.USDistrict JudgeDollyGee’s

orderappliestochildrenheldformorethan20daysatthreefam-ily detention centers in Texasand Pennsylvania operated byUS Immigration and CustomsEnforcement. Some have beendetainedsince lastyear.Citing the recent spread of

the virus in two of the three fa-cilities,Geesetadeadlineof July

17 for children to either be re-leasedwiththeirparentsorsentto family sponsors.The family detention cen-

ters “are ‘on fire’ andthere isnomore time for half measures,”shewrote.Gee’s order said ICEwas de-

taining 124 children in its cen-ters,whichareseparatefromUSDepartment of Health andHumanServicesfacilitiesforun-accompaniedchildrenthatwereholdingaround1,000childreninearly June.Thenumbers inbothsystemshavefallensignificantlysince earlier in the Trump ad-ministration because the US isexpellingmost people trying tocross the border or requiringthemtowait for their immigra-tioncases inMexico.AP

ASSOCIATEDPRESSNEWYORK, JUNE27

MILTONGLASER, a graphic de-signerwhochangedthevocabu-lary of American visual culturein the 1960s and ’70s with hisbrightly coloured, extrovertedposters,magazines,bookcoversand record sleeves, notably his1967 poster of Bob Dylanwithpsychedelic hair and his “I(HEART) NY” logo, died Friday,his91stbirthday, inManhattan.

Hiswife, Shirley Glaser, saidthecausewasastroke.

Glaser broughtwit,whimsy,narrative and skilleddrawing tocommercialartatatimewhenad-vertisingwas dominated by theseverestricturesofmodernismononehandandthecozyrealismofmagazines like The SaturdayEveningPostontheother.AtPushPinStudios,whichhe

andformerclassmatesformedin1954,heopenedupdesigntomyr-iad influencesandstyles thatbe-gantograbtheattentionofmaga-zines and advertising agencies,largelythroughthestudio’s influ-

entialpromotionalpublication,thePushPinAlmanack(laterrenamedPushPinMonthlyGraphic).“I (HEART)NY,” his logo for a

1977 campaign to promotetourism inNewYork, garneredglobalattention.Sketchedonthebackofanenvelopeduringataxiride,itwasprintedinblackletters,withacherry-redheart standinginfortheword“love”.Almostim-mediately,thelogobecameanin-stantlyrecognisedsymbolofNewYorkCity, as recognisable as theEmpireStateBuilding.NYT

BASELESS CLAIM THAT DEMOCRATIC ELITES RUN A CHILD TRAFFICKING RING FROM A PIZZERIA WAS VIRAL ONLINE AHEAD OF 2016 POLLS

PizzaGate conspiracy theory thrives in TikTok era, now featuring Bieber

BLOCTOALLOWTRAVELLERSFROMSOMECOUNTRIES

EUholdsoff reopeningdecision,Americansset tobeexcluded

LinesofcarswaitatacoronavirustestingsiteinMiamiGardens,Florida,onFriday.FloridabannedalcoholconsumptionatitsbarsFridayasitsdailyconfirmedcoronaviruscasesneared9,000,anewrecordthatisalmostdoublethepreviousmarksetjusttwodaysago.AP

Despite early warnings, nationsmissed silent spreaders of CovidMATTAPUZZO,SELAMGEBREKIDAN&DAVIDDKIRKPATRICKMUNICH, JUNE27

DRCAMILLARothewasabouttoleave for dinnerwhen the gov-ernment laboratory calledwiththe surprising test result.Positive. It was Jan 27. She hadjust discovered Germany’s firstcaseof thenewcoronavirus.But the diagnosis made no

sense. Her patient, a business-man from a nearby auto partscompany, could have been in-fectedbyonlyoneperson:acol-league visiting fromChina. And

that colleague should not havebeencontagious.The visitor had seemedper-

fectly healthy duringher stay inGermany.ShetoldcolleaguesthatshehadstartedfeelingillaftertheflightbacktoChina.Dayslater,shetestedpositiveforthecoronavirus.Scientistsatthetimebelieved

thatonlypeoplewithsymptomscould spread the coronavirus.Theyassumeditactedlikeitsge-neticcousin,SARS.Butiftheexpertswerewrong,

if the virus could spread fromseeminglyhealthycarriersorpeo-plewhohad not yet developedsymptoms,theramificationswerepotentially catastrophic. Public-

awareness campaigns, airportscreening and stay-home-if-you’resickpoliciesmightnotstopit. More aggressive measuresmight be required — orderinghealthypeopletowearmasks,orrestrictinginternationaltravel.Rotheandhercolleagueswere

amongthefirsttowarntheworld.But even as evidence accumu-lated, global health officials ex-pressed confidence that symp-tomless spreadingwasnot imp-ortant,delayingstrictmeasures.It is impossible to calculate

thehumantollof thatdelay,butmodels suggest that earlier, ag-gressiveactionmighthavesavedtensof thousandsof lives.NYT

Russia offered Afghanistanmilitants bounties to kill UStroops, say intel officials

WashingtonhasmadeadealwiththeTalibanthatallowstheUStograduallypull its troopsoutofAfghanistan.NYT

TheordersaidICEwasdetaining124childreninitscentres.AP

Free migrant childrenfrom family detention,US judge orders govt

Trump gratefulfor US-Indians’support, saysWhite HouseWashington:USPresidentDonaldTrumpis“incrediblygrateful” forthe“widespreadsupport”hehasreceivedfromthepeopleof IndiaandIndian-Americans,theWhiteHouse has said in response to asurveysuggestingthatover50percentofthecommunitymembersin somekeyAmerican states areswitchingovertohiminthepres-identialelectioninNovember.White House Deputy Press

SecretarySarahMatthewsmadethecommentswhilerespondingtoaquestiononrecentsurveyre-sultsthatIndian-Americans,whotraditionally vote for theDemocrats,areswitchingtowardsTrumpintheNov3election.PTI

BARBARAORTUTAYOAKLAND, JUNE27

FACEBOOK SAID Friday that itwill flagall “newsworthy”postsfrom politicians that break itsrules, including those fromUSPresidentDonaldTrump.Facebook’s stock has

droppedmore than8%,erasingroughly $50 billion from itsmarket valuation, after theEuropean company behindbrands such as Ben & Jerry’sand Dove announced it wouldboycott Facebook ads throughthe end of the year over theamount of hate speech and di-visive rhetoric on its platform.Later in theday, Coca-Cola also

announced it joined the boy-cott for at least 30 days.CEOMark Zuckerberg had

previouslyrefusedtotakeactionagainst Trumpposts suggestingthatmail-in ballots will lead tovoter fraud, saying that peopledeserved to hear unfilteredstatements from political lead-

ers.Twitter,bycontrast,slappeda“get the facts” labelon them.Until Friday, Trump’s posts

with identicalwording to thoselabelled on Twitter remaineduntouched on Facebook, spark-ing criticism from Trump’s op-ponents as well as current andformer Facebook employees.Now, Facebook is all but certaintofaceoffwiththePresidentthenext timeheposts something itdeemstobeviolating its rules.“The policies we’re imple-

menting today are designed toaddress the reality of the chal-lengesour country is facingandhow they’re showing up acrossour community,” Zuckerbergwrote onhis Facebookpage an-nouncing thechanges.AP

FB set to label rule-breaking posts,even Trump’s, following boycott

Facebookstockfell8%asbigfirmsannouncedboycott

‘I Love NY’ logo designer Milton Glaser dies at 91

Glasergot theNationalMedalofArts in2009.AP

Irish Parliamentpicks MicheálMartin as newPrime Minister

PADRAICHALPINDUBLIN, JUNE27

IRELAND’SPARLIAMENTpickedveteran opposition leaderMicheál Martin as PrimeMinisteronSaturdaytoheadthefirst ever coalition uniting thetwo parties that have battledeachotherforpowersinceacivilwarnearlyacenturyago.HepledgedtorescueIreland

fromthe“thefastest-movingre-cession ever to hit”, brought onby thecoronaviruscrisis.Martin’sFiannaFailpartywas

forced to join forceswith its foesFineGael, after anelection surgefor leftist Irish nationalists SinnFein leftneitherof the traditionalcentristpartieswithenoughsup-porttogovernonitsown.TheyarejoinedincoalitionbytheGreens.Under a novel agreement,

Martin is expected to stepasidehalf way through the five-yeartermtoallowFineGael’s leader,outgoingPMLeoVaradkar,tore-turn to thepost.“Thereisnoquestionwhatour

mosturgentwork is. There is nocommunity,nopartof our coun-trywhichhasescapeduntouched”bycoronavirus,Martintoldaspe-cialsittingofMPs,heldinDublin’slarge Convention Centre as theHousesofParliamentaretoosmallforsocialdistancing.REUTERS

Russia’sGRUunderspotlightagain

USINTELLIGENCEoffi-cialstoldtheNewYorkTimesthattheallegedropinginofAfghanmilitantstokillcoali-tiontroopswastheworkofaRussianmilitaryintelligenceunitknownasGRU.ThisisthesameunitthattheUKgov-ernmentblamedforthepoi-soningofSergeiSkripal,afor-merRussiandoubleagentlivinginEngland.AccordingtoWesternintelligenceoffi-

cials,GRU’smissionsusuallyinvolvethedestabilisationofWesterncountriesthroughvarious

means.AccordingtoNYT, theunitwasbehindanat-temptedcoupinMontenegroandthepoisoningofanarmsmanufacturerinBulgariainrecentyears. It isalsobelievedtobebehindRussianat-temptstointerveneinthe2016USelections.

New Delhi

Ashutosh Bhardwaj

THATWASour fourthconsecu-tiveeveningtogether.Wewereatmy cottage, on the seconddrink.Inthelastfourdays,Ihaddrivenhimaroundthehills,wehad been to a brewery at the

Mall and trekkeduptoChadwickFalls in thejungle. Realising that the word “sir” nowsoundsdryanddistant,Iasked:“WhatdoyoucallavenerableoldmaninMalayalam?”“Sir.”“I mean, what do people call you back

homeinKerala?”“AdoorSaar.”

■ ■ ■

Thenovelandthecinemaareoftenauto-biographiesindisguise;theycanbemorein-timateandrevealingthandiariesormemoirs.During long afternoons and evenings inShimla last summer with AdoorGopalakrishnan,whostepsintohis80thyearthisJuly, I foundmyselfsearchingfortheper-son behind Elippathayam (1982) andMathilukal(1990).CriticsnowhailvulnerablemalecharactersinrecentMalayalamfilmslikeKumbalangi Nights (2019); few recall thatAdoor has beenportraying such fragilemenforfivedecades.Menwhodon’timposethem-selvesonwomen,arealwaysunsureandanx-iousof their choices andnot ashamedof ad-mittingtheirvulnerabilities.Perhaps, the last poet in amajor Hindi

filmwas in Kabhi Kabhie (1976), a hesitantmanwhowrites poems for his beloved butdoesn’t lay any claim on her and quietlywatches her go away. Contrast the increas-ingly toxic arrogance of the leadingmen ofHindi cinema in the recent decades withAdoor’sprotagonist-writersinMathilukalortheautobiographicalKathapurushan (1995)—amovieheshot in thehousehewasbornin. If it reflects the cultural difference be-tween the Hindi heartland and Kerala, it’salso the statement of an artiste whose lifewasshapedby tworemarkablewomen,hismother Mouttathu Gouri Kunjamma andwifeSunanda.Hewas the sixthof sevenchildren.Gouri

Kunjammabroughthimupafterhisparentsseparated inhis childhood. As a child, Adoorwasverypossessiveofhismother,agenerousandcompassionatewoman,whocamefromafamilythatpatronisedthearts.Sheplayedthe violin, her brothers had studiedpainting and sculpture under RajaRaviVarma’ssonRamaVarma.SheconstitutedyoungAdoor’sworld.“Ourfamilywasatraditional,feu-dal kind. Butmymotherwasvery kind and considerate to-wards the people whoworked for us. Allmy basiclessons in human relationswereimbibedfromher,”hesaid.GouriKunjammadiedin1962,theyearhejoinedthe Film and TelevisionInstituteof India,Pune.Her life and de-

meanour had ensuredthat he could never“imagineawomanbe-ing ill-treated” andwould “always oppose it”.“I amverysensitiveaboutany inde-cency, atrocities onwomen,” he said. Evenwhenhisfilmsdepictanycrueltyonwomen,like in Vidheyan (1993), the predatorymalegaze is completely absent, as violenceneverturnsvoyeuristic.TheparentsofKathapurushan’s protago-

nist, too, separate after his birth and hismotherbringshimup. IwonderedwhetherAdoor created amotherly figure in severalfilms,likeRajammainElippathayam, inorderto traceandretrievehismother inhisart. “Ithappensnaturally. Idon’tdo itdeliberately,”hesaid.

■ ■ ■

Sunandawastheotherinfluence.Shediedof cancer in September 2015, creating anachingabsenceinhislife.“Shewasmymem-ory,myclosestfriendinwhomIcouldconfideanything,”hetoldmeoneevening.“Soulmates?”“Yes,weweresoulmates.There’snowayto

fillupthegap. It’sapermanentabsencenow.We lived together for43years. I never imag-ined that I would be alone inmy old age.Duringtheday,Iambusywithmanythings.IfeelverylonelywhenIretireforthedayandgoto bed. Those fewminutes before I sleep, Ithinkabouther. Ihaveher inmydreams.”“Evennow?”“Yes. Iwakeup frommydreamandshe’s

notthere. It’saterriblefeeling.”Itwas an arrangedmarriage. His family

wenttoseethegirl.“Itwasloveaftermarriage.”“Shewas a very strongwoman. She had

great interest in cinema,was very active be-hind the scenes and had amajor role in hismovie-making.Shewouldalwayspushacon-trarypointofviewandprompthimtolistentoher,”AswathiDorje,Adoor’sdaughter,nowasenior IPSofficer inMaharashtra, recalled.

■ ■ ■

Likemanygreat filmmakers,his first lovewas theatre. Thoughhewatcheda lotof cin-ema in childhood because his uncleMouttathuGopalanUnnithan owned a fewcinemahalls, he always found cinema “dis-tant”and“notrelatedtoourlives”.He wrote and acted in plays, made

somemark as a theatreperson during hisstudent days, obtained a degree from

Gandhigram RuralInstitute, Tamil Nadu,before he suddenly de-cided to join FTII, whichhad just come into exis-tence. He spent his firstyearattheinstituteread-ing only about theatre.Soon, Ritwik Ghatakjoinedas thevice-princi-pal of the institute andSatishBahadurasprofes-sor of the film apprecia-tiondepartment.Thetwogiants invigorated thecampus and the young theatre artiste wasdrawn to35mm.Hegraduatedin1965,but it tooknearlya

decade for his first full-length feature film,Swayamvaram (1972). In these five decades,

he has made 12 featurefilms,besidesseveraldoc-umentaries on Kerala’sclassical arts and theatre.Thetwoarenotmeredis-tinct genres, but differentways of looking at reality.One primarily reflects acreator, the other an ob-server,adocumenter,and,yet, they forma cohesive,creativeoeuvre.Theatrealsoseepsinto

his cinema. In a play, theviewerformsadirectbond

withactorson thestage,whereas incinema,the camera intervenes. The chemistry be-tweenmovingactorsandthestaticstagecre-ates tension inaplay,whereas incinemathetensioncomesfromthecamera’smovements.

Adooruseshiscamerainawaythathisframesoftencometoresembleastage.Hisfilmsweremadeoverseveralyears,as

he tookto thesetsonlyafterdeep introspec-tion.Hechosetoworkonoriginalideas;whenheadaptedliterarytexts,hedidso“withfree-dom”. “The original inspirationmay comefromthestory,butthatisapointfromwhereItakeoff,”hesays.Adoorchooseshisactors,handsthemthe

script he hasmeticulouslywritten and theyare required to followhim strictly—no im-provisations at all. He completely pervadeshis cinema. “I ampresent in allmy films, inone form or the other. Sometimes as a de-testable character, sometimesasacharacterwhomyoulove,”hesays.Anartisteforwhomfilmmaking is an act of absolute concentra-tion. “Evenwhenyouarenotmakinga film,you are into dhyaanam. It’s like hatching

eggs,”hesays.Adoorhasmade several films in co-pro-

ductionswithcountrieslikeJapanandFrancebut none of his producers ever interferedwith hiswork. KRavindranathanNair,whoproducedseveralofhismovies,nevervisitedthe sets. “I have never compromisedwithanything. I always did what I felt proudabout,”hesays, addingthat “thebestof cin-emamakesyouabetterperson.Thiscinemais always about humanity. But not manyfilmmakersmakesuchfilms.Manyfilmmak-ersmakeahundredtimesmoremoneythanIdo.ButIamhappyandcontentedwithade-cent subsistence,”hesays.WhenIaskedhimaboutanymoviethat

madehimfeel thatheshouldhavemade it,he replied: “It works both ways. There aremanymoviesthat Iadmire, Iwatchsomeofthebadones,too,onceinawhilebymistakeand tell myself — I should notmake a filmlike this. I carryacreator, anaudienceandacriticwithinme.”Once, heheaded the juryof thenational filmawards.TheUnionmin-isterforInformationandBroadcastingcalledhim, requesting him to favour a certainmovie. The requestwaspromptlydenied.

■ ■ ■

Wediscussed cinema, politics, even thefamous 1905 trial of Kuriyedath Thathri, awomanfromtheNamboodiriBrahmincom-munity,whowaspilloriedforhersexuallife.He allowedme to takephotographs, recordvideos and conversations — as if the film-makernowwanted tobe filmed.He recalled his childhoodmemories of

baby elephants, their joy when someonesplashedwateronthem.HeadmiredNehruand shared his vision. “We have been veryluckytohavesomeonelikeJawaharlalNehru—adreamer,apoet,avisionaryandastates-man.” The conversation also turned toArundhati Roy’s famous novel, perhaps themostknownworkoffictiononKeralainsev-eral decades. I find The God of Small Things(1997) deeply problematic, as it chooses aDalit’s body as an instrument of revenge foran upper-caste Christianwoman, and com-pletelydenieshimanyvoice.The“novel’spol-itics is bunkum,” Adoor says, pointing out ithasnotbeenreceivedwell inMalayalam.He wistfully remembered his oldfriends Satyajit Ray and URAnanthamurthy, Ashis Nandy andAshok Vajpeyi. Hewas sad that whilemanymediocrewritershavereceivedthe Nobel, it continues to eludeMilan Kundera. We both agreedthat Elias Canetti’s Auto-da-Fe(1935) is a greatnovel. Its protag-onist believes that books have agreater value than human life.“Hewasnotborn intotheworldfor love.Hehadnotmarried forlove. He had wanted to safe-guard the futureof hisbooks,and she had seemed a suit-able person for this pur-pose.” The self-destructivepassion, witnessed inmany creative artistesthroughtheages, eventu-ally consumes him.

■ ■ ■

AdoorisamongthefewIndianfilm-makers with a vision for the form, whosemethod and frames have contributed to theart. RaycapturedBengal’s archetypalvillage,Adoor isperhapsevenmore firmly rooted inKerala. The villages and townsof his cinemathatportraythedecayof a feudal lifeandtheemergence of newcommunitiesmake himarguably themost authentic chronicler ofKerala post-Independence. Both Ray andAdoorhaveauniversalvision,buttheyarees-sentially the narrators of the backyards andbasementsof theirprovinces.I recalled thatAbbasKiarostami, another

giantwhose art lies in unveiling an Iranwenever knew, floundered in Certified Copy(2010)whenheshiftedhislocalefromIrantoEurope.Adooragreed: “ItwasapoorcopyofLastYearatMarienbad (1961).”But for every rooted artiste, there are

alsomanyinperpetualexile, shiftinggeog-raphies and assimilating various cultures.And even the seemingly rooted ones carrycollective memories that transcend theirimmediate lives.InAnantaram(1987),ateacheraskshisstu-

dents to name the first publishedwork inMalayalam.Thechildreplies:“TheEssenceoftheHolyBible.”Heasksagain:“Wherewasitprinted?”Thechildagainreplies:“Italy,writtenand

publishedbyFatherClement.”That’sAdoorandhisKerala.

AshutoshBhardwajisajournalistandtheauthorofTheDeathScript

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

ARTSetc

Under the Red MoonAnvita Dutt on Bulbbul, her directorial debutfeature film set in 19th century Bengal, and theimportance of the female gaze

JUNE 28, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 17

eyeAdoor’s World

The mother who finds a way into his films. The meditation that leads to his cinema.Conversations with Adoor Gopalakrishnan as he steps into his 80th year

INTERVIEW

‘Start NREGA for the arts’TM Krishna on how artistes are

being pushed into poverty

EXPRESSARCHIVE

ILLUSTRATION:SUVAJITDEY

Critics now hail vulnerable male characters in recent Malayalam films like KumbalangiNights (2019); few recall that Adoor has been portraying such fragile men for five decades

New Delhi

THE GREAT DIVIDE(Clockwise from left) Chatterjee; a still from

his film Dostojee; Mahajan; a still from hisdocumentary, The Borderlands

DARKMATTERS

(Top) A still from thefilm; Anvita Dutt

A R T S E T C18EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 28, 2020

Alaka Sahani

MERE PAIR thode ulte hain(I’ve inverted feet),” saysAnvitaDutt, thewriter-di-rector of the film Bulbbul,thatreleasedonNetflixon

June 24. Dutt’s allusion to the popular be-lief thatchudails (witches)canbeidentifiedby their inverted feet is an explanation forhercompulsiveurgetogiveeverystoryshewrites a dark twist. “All the stories that Iwrite, barring the commissioned ones, in-advertently introduce some supernaturalor fantasy elements,” says Dutt, whose di-rectorial debut is a dark fable set in 19th-centuryBengal.Bulbbulcritiquesthehorrorsofpatriarchy

that exist beneath a veneer of aristocracy.Bulbbul, a child bride, is married off to anolder landlord.When the story takes a 20-year leap to theyear1901, Bulbbul is callingthe shots in a gorgeous haveli. Casting ashadowover thischarmingworld isaseriesof killings attributed to a chudail. SatyaThakur, Bulbbul’s brother-in-lawandchild-hoodplaymate,doggedlyinvestigatesthesedeaths.Dutt, 47, wrote Bulbbul nearly a decade

ago, in betweenher commissioned filmas-signments. Themoment she finishedwrit-ing it,Duttexperiencedacertainamountof“possessive love and greed” for it. She de-cidednot to pitch it to anydirector. Instead,she wanted to direct the movie herself.“Strangely, on the first dayof the shoot, I al-mostheardanaudiblesnapofajigsawpiecefallingintoplace. I feltasif Ihadcomehome.Now,Iwouldpickdirectionoverotherthingseven though I will always say that I am awriterfirst,”saysDutt,anadvertisingprofes-sional whomade a career switch 13 yearsago towrite lyrics and screenplays inHindifilms.Afterstartingherfilmcareerasthedi-alogue and lyrics writer of Neal ‘n’ Nikki(2005),sheworkedonmanymoviessuchasHeyy Babyy (2007), Bachna Ae Haseeno(2008), Patiala House (2011), Student of theYear (2012)andQueen (2014).

Dutt says that she decided on a perioddramabecausesheisdrawntotheneoclassi-cal period of Bengal. Thewriter-director se-lectedBawali Rajbari, about twohours fromKolkata, outof themanybeautifulmansionsshe visited during the recce because it ap-pealed toherasa “beautifulprison”. “What Ireallylikedaboutthishousewasthatit islike

aboxwithhighwalls.Theonlyexitfromthathouseisasmalldoor,”saysDutt,whohasalsoworkedonPhillauri (2017)andPari (2018).RabindranathTagore, too, influencedthe

period setting of the film. “Tagore’swomancharactersarewrittensosensitively—some-where,thattooinspiredmetotellthestoryinaperiodwhenhisstorieswereset,”saysDutt,who has named one the key charactersBinodini(PaoliDam)afteraTagorecharacterin thenovelChokherBali (1903).Bulbbulhaspronounced shades ofNastanirh (Tagore’s1901 novella onwhich filmmaker SatyajitRay’s 1964 filmCharulatais based), especially theway it looks at the rela-tionship that Bulbbulshares with Satya andtheirjointliterarypursuit.Tripti Dimri and AvinashTiwary—theleadactorsofLaila Majnu (2018), whoessaythecharactersoftheadult Bulbbul and Satyarespectively — share abeautifulchemistry.The film’s action fre-

quentlymoves toamistyforestwheremen, undertheredmoonlight,areonawitch-hunt.Yet,Duttre-frains from callingBulbbul“ahorrormovie”.“It’smoreof a fairy tale. It has a lot ofmoodandintrigue,”shesays.Havingreadfantasiesand science fiction since childhood, thatmodeofstory-tellinghasalwayshadapecu-liar appeal for her. “Onmy bookshelf, youwill find books by Neil Gaiman, TerryPratchettandUrsulaLeGuin.The firstbookthat I ever read when I was five was aRussian fairy tale. Theywere not the sani-tised fairy tales that children read today.Theyweredark. I remember readingaboutBaba Yaga, the Russian chudail. There wasbeauty, emotion and spookiness in it,” re-calls Dutt, whose childhood was spent incantonments of Assam, Chennai, Jodhpurand Haryana, thanks to her father’s job inthe IndianAir Force.

Bulbbul is a chilling reflection of patriar-chalsocietyinthewaythatJordanPeele’sGetOut(2017)isaboutracialalienation.MakingastatementwasnotonDutt’sagendawhenshestartedwriting.“Whenyousitdowntowrite,the first thingthatcomestoyourmindis thestory. You are spinning a yarn and saying,‘Onceupona time...’. You justwant topull intheaudience.Butthethingsthataffectyou—it couldbemisogynyor the fact thatwomentakesomuchtimetocomeintotheirownbe-causeofthewaytheyarebroughtup—mightreflect in the story,” says thewriter,whohas

“Once upon a time”,“aparajita” and “kathakavita” tattooed on herarms,alongwithasymbolof “devi”(goddess).Inan idealworld,Dutt

says, people would stopcallinghera“femaledirec-tor”. “No one says amalelyricist. The term ‘female’gets attached becausetherearesofewthatitisananomaly,”shesays.While“female gaze” is essentialto storytelling, theonus isnot onwomen alone, shesays. “Therearemenwhohave told sensitive storiesandhave the femalegaze.Tagorewasoneof them.If

youhearthe lyricsofGulzar saab, theyaresodelicate.BimalRoy’smovieshadoutstandingfemalecharacters.”With five feature film scripts and three

web-series outlines in her bank, she has noplans of slowing down as a director.“Fortunately,CleanSlateFilmz(formedbyac-torAnushkaSharmaandherbrotherKarneshSsharma)isinterestedinmakingallof them.All I can sharewith you is that they are sto-ries of interesting girls and they all have anelement of the supernatural,” says Dutt. Toher surprise, Indian filmmakers haven’t ex-plored dark and supernatural tales mucheven though the subcontinent has a richreservoirofthem.“That’sfine,though.I’mgo-ingtotellthesestories,”shesays,withasmile.

All That YouNeed Sometimes

EYE SPYEVERYFORTNIGHT,WEPICK,YOUWATCH

ALONE, TOGETHERA still from the film

Shubhra Gupta

HAVINGAproblemthatyouhavetodealwithallbyyour-self canbehard. If youhavesomeonewithyou, itcangetbetter,but itstill remainsyourproblem.ElizaHittman’sNeverRarelySometimesAlways (on

severalstreamingplatforms)usesanunwantedteenagepregnancytotellabiggerstory.Ofbeingfemale, inaman’sworld.Ofhavingtostruggletobeheard.Yousee17-year-oldAutumnhitherselfonherbelly, repeatedly.Ofcourse, thatdoesn’thelp.Whatsheneedsis isanabortion,whichshecannotgetwhereshelives, inasmall towninPennsylvania.Autumn’s journey,onthebustoNewYork,accompa-

niedbyhercousinSkylar, isn’tonlyaboutescapingtoaplacewhereshecangethelp. It’salsoaboutescapingfromaplacewhereshecouldn’taskforhelp:clearly,shehasn’tbeenabletoturntoanyoneathome,wherelivesamen-acingstepfather.Wearenevertoldwhy,butwedoseethedepthsofher loneliness.There’snothingexpositoryinHittman’streatmentofa

subjectwhichcansoeasilyturneithermanipulativeormaudlin,orboth.Autumnspeaksverylittle.Herfaceishercanvasandweseeamultitudeinhereyes:beinghurt,helplessandfrustrated.Thebondbetweenthetwogirls isstrongandwithstandsburstsof temperandname-call-ing: it isalsothebulwarkbetweenthemandthesolesig-nificantmaleinthemovie,ayoungmantheiragewhoex-tendssupport,whichis,yes, transactional.First-timerSidneyFlaniganissobelievableasAutumn,

thatyouneverstopfeelingprotectiveofher,evenwhensheishavingameltdownandlashingoutatheronlyrealfriend, thecousin.TaliaRyderasSkylar,andThéodorePellerinasJasperareequallyreal: thetwogirlsmillaroundtheManhattanPortAuthorityBusTerminal,wheelingastrolleybetweenthem,gettingameasureoftheboy,astheywaitthroughthenightforAutumn’sap-pointmentatthefacility.Themostdevastatingpartof thefilmisalsothequi-

etest.Anempathetic,experiencedstaffertakingAutumn’sdetails,whichincludeshersexualhistory, requeststhatsheanswerwithjusttheoneword,choosingbetween“neverrarelysometimesalways”.Apauseafteronetellingquestionisrevelatory:Autumnhasbeenthevictimofabuse. Is it fromherpartner/s?Or,someoneinthefamily?Wedon’tknow.Allweknowisthatthepainis forreal.

Just likeCristianMungiu’s2007Cannes-winner4Months,3Weeksand2Days, inwhichacollegefriendhelpsan-othergetanabortion(illegal inRomaniainthe1980s,whenthemovieisset),whichthis filmwill remindyouof,thereisnotimeforsentimentality.Onlytimetogetthisdone,hereandnow.IsawthissombreyetbracingfilmattheInternational

FilmFestivalofBerlin inmid-Februaryearlierthisyear,whereitwonajuryaward,andeveryonceinawhileAutumn’sfaceflashesinfrontofme:willshegetpastthis?Icrossmyfingers.

Eliza Hittman uses an unwantedteen pregnancy to tell the story ofbeing female in a man’s world

Under the Red MoonLyricist and screenwriter Anvita Dutt on her directorial debut, Bulbbul, set in 19th-century

Bengal, her love for fantasy and the importance of the female gaze

Tanushree Ghosh

THEBENGALIlandscapeisresplendentinthetrailer of Prasun Chatterjee's debut featureDostojee (Two Friends)— vast, rainwashedpaddyfieldsstretchalongtheriverPadmaandtheglint intheeyesof thetwoyoungprotag-oniststakeviewersbacktoanothervillageboy,Apu,fromSatyajitRay’sPatherPanchali(1955).Thelocationistheremote,no-man’s-land

nearDomkal(inMurshidabad)—thelastsub-division on the Indian side. The Padma riverseparates it fromBangladesh's Rajshahi. Thebackdrop is an early-’90s Bengal, shaken bythe communal violence that followed theBabriMasjiddemolitionandthe‘92Bombayblasts, butDostojee speaks of the friendshipbetweentwoboysfromdifferentfaiths,livingin a border village. “Iwanted to showangerand love through the eyes of children,” saysChatterjee,34.For over two years, he stayedwith and

trained150localresidentsashiscastandcrew.One afternoon,whenhewas packing to re-turntoKolkata,anangrynine-year-oldcamebanging on his door. The boy, Arif Sheikh,whose friendAsik Sheikhwas cast as one of

theleads,said,“Ekhanecinema’rjonnobacchaleyahoye?Boitelyenamake,Debermotokoyeedebo (Are children being cast in films? Takeme, I’ll act like the Bengali hero Deb).”Chatterjee,bowledoverbyhisconfidence,castArif astheother lead.Chatterjee, who traces his roots to

Bangladesh,hasalwaysbeeninterestedinthelives of border dwellers. “Yourwork shouldmake the provincialmanwin at the end, or,even if hedies, show that there is a flicker ofhope for their lot,” says the filmmaker,whotakesinspirationbyRitwikGhatak’sideologyandRay’scraft.Frompaper to screen, the crowdfunded

filmchartedaseven-yearjourneysince2013.Co-producers Prosenjit Ranjan Nath andSoumyaMukhopadhyay came on board in2017, and Taiwan’s Ivy Yu-Hua Shen afterNFDC Film Bazaar selected Dostojee inNovemberinitsRecommendssection.NFDCsent it, among five films, to ‘Goes toCannes’:20work-in-progress(WIP)filmsfromacrosstheworld,whosepitchesweremadetoglobalbuyersanddistributorsat theonlineMarchéduFilmsegmentofCannesFilmFestivalfromJune22-26.There,Asia’s leading filmprojectmarket Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing

Forum(HAF)pickedupDostojee(feature)andtwo documentaries, including SamarthMahajan’s The Borderlands—the only threefromSouthAsia— among its 22 shortlistedprojectsforitsWIPprogrammeinAugust.HAFpresentedTheBorderlandsatMarchéduFilm.The sense of invisibility runs deep in vil-

lagesandtownsalongtheborders.Mahajan,29, recounts how, when in 2015 his townDinanagar, 10miles from the India-Pakistanborder in Punjab, faced a terrorist attack, hismother sounded excited over the phone—Dinanagarhadmadenationalnews.“Thesto-ries thatwehearaboutborderareascreateaspecificimageofarmymenandterroristsbutnocommonpeople. I have lived throughex-perienceswhichdon’t fit theseperceptions,”says the Indian Institute of Technology,Kharagpur, graduate,whogaveuphis cushyFMCGjobtomakedocumentaries.Aftermoving toMumbai in2015,hemet

his IIT-KbatchmateAshayGangwar andbe-gan collaborating. Gangwarwas the cine-matographer forMahajan’s first documen-tary,Kazwa—AMillion Lanterns (2016), hiscompany Camera and Shorts produced TheUnreserved (2017),whichwon theNationalAwardfor‘BestOnLocationSoundRecordist’,He is also one of the co-producers of thecrowdfundedBorderlands.For his latest, Mahajan took a four-part

journey to different borders: Pakistan,Bangladesh, China-Myanmar, Nepal andBhutan.Helearntthatbordershavetheirownecosystems.WhathappenswhenatigerfromArunachal Pradesh’s DibangValleywildlifesanctuarycrossesoverintoChina?Or,howdopeopleoneithersideofaborderinteractwitheachother?Hisfilmexploresthesequestions.“TherearetwoIndias.Oneisupper-classpriv-ilegedandtheotherwehavestoppedengag-ingwith.Atthispoint,weneedtohearstoriesofpeoplefromthegrassroots,”hesays.

Whose Line isit Anyway?

The theme of border seams two Indian film projects thatare part of ‘Goes to Cannes’ at the prestigious festival

● ● ●

Inanidealworld,Duttsays,peoplewouldstopcallinghera

‘female’director. ‘Thetermfemale is

attachedbecausethereareso fewof

them,’ shesays● ● ●

PHOTOS:NETFLIXINDIA

New Delhi

limits in numbers, it is essential that all or-ganisations, local temples and public socialspacesfindawaytobringbackperformances.This is importantnot just intermsofprovid-ing livelihood, but on the larger question oftheneed forart.Art shouldneverbeconsid-ered an ‘add-on’. Art gives society access toimagining,hopeandquestioningthroughtheemotionalexperienceitinduces.Withoutart,

societycollapses,empathy,evenreason,dies.

Youhavebeeninvolvedineffortstohelpartistes,especiallythenot-so-well-knownones.Canyouspeakaboutit?Our effort to support artistes, especially

thosewho aremarginalised, began in lateMarch.Isanganonlineconcertandraisedtheseed fund for this project. Five of us fromSumanasaFoundationbeganmakingcallstoartistes in rural Tamil Nadu, impresarios,NGOsandotherorganisationstofindouthowwecouldsupportthem.WebeganwithTamilNadu,butoverthelastfewmonthsworkedin17statesacross India.WehavebeensharingwithartistesonanaverageRs3,500viabanktransfers.Thisisasmallsum,butwedohopeithelpsthematleastcoverfoodexpensesforamonth. As ofMay22,wehave transferredRs51,11,900to1,545artistefamilies. Inorderto address the anomaly of the digital space,we also conducted an online festival of artformsthatusuallyremainbeyondthedigitaleconomy.Wemade sure that people had tocontribute to the fund in order towatch thefestival.This isababystepingettingindivid-uals topayforallart.

Youhaveflaggedtheneedtohavestate-fundedinstitutionalmechanismstoaddress theplightof thecommunity—onthelinesof anemploymentguaranteeschemeforartistes.Canyouelaborateonthat?Asindividualsorcollectives,thereisonly

somuchwecandoandwearemerelytouch-ing the surface. If the situation for artistes istochange,thestatehastorecognisethisneedandfillthisgap.Untilnow,thestatehasdonehardlyanythingformarginalisedartistesandtheschemesthattheymaypointtoarebadlyexecuted.WeneedaNREGA-typelegislatedprogramme for artistes and artisans. Therehas tobeayearlyguaranteeofworkand in-come for artistes/artisans living below thepovertyline.Thiswouldmeanthatatthedis-trictlevelthegovernmentmustprovideper-formance, teaching, lecture-demonstrationopportunitiesforartistesatschools,colleges,publicspacesetc.Thegovernmentcouldalsopurchasetheworksof localartisansandpro-vide special access tomarkets, both locallyandbeyondtheregion.Allthesewillhelpre-juvenatetheartformswithintheircommu-nitiesandbestowrespectontheartistes.Wehave had some preliminary conversationswithfriendsintheartandsocialsectortobe-gin work on a proposal using NREGA as abasemodel.

Howhasthepandemicimpactedyouasanartiste, teacher,writer, thinker?Ithasnotbeenthateasytoworkonthings

unrelated to thepresent crisis. I amuncom-fortablewith the onlinemedium, yet havemanaged to takea fewonlineclasses formystudents. Learningandwritinghas revolvedaroundissuesemanatingfromthepandemic,but over the pastweek I have been reading,thinkingandmakingnotesformynextbookonthesymbolsof India.

Amrith Lal

THEPANDEMICstruckjustaheadof thefestivalseasoninMarch.Howhasthisimpactedtheartistecommunity?Theimagethatthewordartisteelicits,es-

pecially in theminds of the privileged sec-tionsofsociety,isthatof individualsfromthemiddleclassortherich.Artistesandartisansfrommarginalised sections are clubbed to-gether as the ‘poor’ and rarely is respect ordignity given to them. Theirworkmanshipand artistic talents are part of the ‘ethnic’makeofourcountryandonlyusefulforustobrandishourso-calleddiversity.Thismindsetmakes us blind to the fact thatmost art andartistes live on themargins of society. Theireconomic status is not very different fromagriculture labourersordaily-wageearners.Itisinthiscontextthatweneedtounderstandthepresent situation. ThemonthsofMarch,AprilandMay,especially insouthIndia,pro-videmostperformingartistesthebulkoftheirearnings for theyear. Thepandemicandtheresultant lockdownwiped this out entirely.Whilemigrantworkerswere stuck in theirplaceofwork,performingartisteswerestuckat their homes unable tomove fromvillageto village or town to town to perform.Mostart is specific to geographies, cultures and isverylocalinperformance.Whenthatisshut,theentireecosystemcollapses.Inthisworld,thephysicalcannotbereplacedbythedigital.Thefuturealsolooksgrimbecauseevenin

the unlocking process, allowing the assem-bly of peoplewill probably be the last thingthegovernmentdoes.Insuchasituation,withno system for them to fall back on, artistesmay become full-time daily-wageworkers.Theironyisthatwewill,atthatpointoftime,lamentaboutthelossofart.Therearealreadycasesof artistescommittingsuicideduetoalackof income.

Socialmediahasprovidedaplatformforliveperformances,buttheabsenceofastageandanaudiencecouldimpactperformersbadly,right?Socialmedia as a performance platform

isonlyapplicabletoartformsthatoccupytheupperechelonsofsocialhierarchyoraremassinappeal.Mostperforming-artformsdonotfall into this bracket. Peoplemay argue thatthemobile phone penetration in India is solargethatthismustbeaviableoption.Butthetruth is that thoughsomeartistespractisingmarginalisedartsareattemptingtofindawayinto this space, these art forms still remainwithin the ‘physical’ domain as far as audi-enceexperience isconcerned.Theother andmorecomplexquestion is

aboutviability. Ifwewere toobserve theso-cial media performances by Hindustani,Carnatic or Bollywoodmusicians, everyoneisveryhappytoconsumeallthisforfree.Thequestion is,will theypay?Now, even if theydo,itwouldbeonlyforthe‘bignames’. If thisisthesituationevenwithinartformswithso-cial leverage, one can only imagine whatwould be the condition of artistes and art

forms that continue to remain beyond thisdigital imagination.

Whatsuggestionsdoyouhavefortemples,sabhasandotherpublicspacesonhostingperformances,evenonalimitedscaleinthecomingdays?If the government, at somepoint, allows

the gathering of peoplewith restrictions or

S P O T L I G H T 19EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 28, 2020

Suanshu Khurana

“AURBATAObitiya.” Fromher daughter’s liv-ingroominLucknow,FarrukhJafferbeginsaSkypeconversationwithtypicalAwadhicour-tesy.The88-year-oldactorisasspunkyasthecharacter sheplays in Shoojit Sircar’sGulaboSitabo—FatimaBegum,theownerof FatimaMahal,acrumblinghaveliinLucknowwhereSarkar’sfilmplaysout.Itwasa performance that held itsowninaformidableensem-blecast.“Ilovebeinginfrontofthecamera.Iamgladthatpeople have enjoyed myperformance,”saysJaffer.Despitetheappreciation,

shehasonegrouse.Shewasexpecting her co-actorAmitabh Bachchan to bemore forthcoming andchatty. “I remember himasthe romantic hero fromSilsila (1981) and KabhiKabhie (1976). I thought, onthe sets,we’d talk about our lives, our fami-lies.Buthe’dcome,dohissceneandgoaway.Therewasnoconversation.Iwishtherewas,”shesays.FarrukhJafferisn’tanamethatmightring

abell in Indianmainstreamcinema. Shehasworkedinlessthan20projects,mostofthemover the past 20 years. Her last few films in-clude Photograph (2019), Secret Superstar(2017) and Ashutosh Gowariker’s Swades(2004),amongothers.Oneofhermostmem-

orable roles was as the grouchy Amma inAnushaRizvi’sPeepli Live (2010). “I amgivenmy lines but I also enjoy improvising. PeepliLivehadthescopesoIwentaheadandaddedafewthings,”saysJaffer.Bornin1933inJaunpurinazamindarfam-

ily, Jaffermoved toLucknowat theageof 16,afterhermarriage to journalist and freedomfighterSyedMuhammadJaffer.Herhusbandencouraged her to study and participate in

theatre and films. “I recallhim being perpetuallyamusedbyherrestlessness,”saysdaughterMehruJaffer,ajournalistandauthor.She graduated from

Lucknow University andwas spendingher days as ahomemaker when shelanded a job at All IndiaRadio,Lucknow,byaccident.“Ihadaccompaniedafriendwhowantedtoaudition fortheannouncer’sjob.WhenIwas there, Iwas fascinatedbytherecordingequipment

and the idea of everyone being able to hearmyvoiceintheirhomes.IaskedtheproducerifIcouldaudition,too.Theyagreed,”saysJaffer.She got the job. Her friend didn’t. This alsomadeheroneof the first femalevoicesatAllIndiaRadio,Lucknow.Shequitin1966tohelpherwidowedmother take care of their agri-cultural landsinJaunpur.After a fewmonths, her husbandmoved

toDelhiasacorrespondentforTheWashingtonPost and Chicago Times and she joinedAIR’s

Urdu service. She also attended a fewactingworkshops held by EbrahimAlkazi. But herheartwasnotinDelhi.Soshequitherjobandreturnedhome.Lucknowmayhavechangedovertheyearsbutitisherethatshefeelsmostathome.So,whenanotherLucknowgirl,JuhiChaturvedi, mentioned that the shoot forGulaboSitabowillbeinLucknow,shewasex-cited.HerfirstfilmprojectwasMuzaffarAli’sUmrao Jaan (1981) in which Jaffer playedRekha’s mother. That, too, was shot inLucknow.Shelandedtheroleataget-togetherwhereAliwas alsopresent. “Humara ekmu-lazim tha, Purdil. (We had an employee,Purdil).Iwasimitatingandimprovisingonthe

wayhespoke,”says Jaffer.Aliwas lookingonfrom the balcony and told her that hewasmakingafilmandwouldliketocasther in it.“Icamefromaconservativefamily.Itoldhim,actingwagerah humare yahan nahi hota. Buthepersisted.Heaskedsonicely,Iagreed,”saysJaffer,whomet Rekhamany years later at aprivatepartyinMumbai.“Woboli,yemerimahain (She said that she’smymother). I wastouched,”saysJaffer.Hernext filmSwadescame23years later,

followed by Peepli Live, Chakravyuh (2012),Sultan(2016)andTanuWedsManu(2011).Shealso played the lead in Narayan Chauhan’sAmmaakiBoli(2019),thestoryofafamilyandtheir second-hand scooter. “I never thoughtI’llmake a career as an actor. It is not aboutfameormoney.Humkocamera sebohotmo-habbathai,” shesays.HerupcomingprojectsincludeMehrunisa,

a film shot in LucknowbyAustria-based di-rector SandeepKumar, that has Jaffer in thelead role. There are also three short filmsawaitingrelease,apartfromBabaAzmi’sRaks.Shewas to shoot KundanNandy’s next filmbutthat isonholdduetoCOVID-19.

‘There are cases of artistes committingsuicide due to a lack of income’

Carnatic musician and author TM Krishna on why only a programme similar to the NREGAcan help artistes tide over the pandemic

RanjitLalRanjit Lal isanauthor,environmentalist andbirdwatcher

DOWNINJUNGLELAND

I’VELIVEDlikealandlockedlandlubberinDelhi forover40yearsnow–andstill,especiallyatthistimeof theyear—Isorelymissthesea.Mychildhoodandadolescencewerespent incoastalmetros—Madras

andBombay(astheywerethenknown),where,withoutevenrealisingit,youkindof imbibedthesea. If yourmindgotovercrowdedoryoueverfeltclaustrophobic,youcouldalwayswanderdowntothebeachorthesea’sedgeandfeelyourmindopenupaswideasthehorizoninfrontofyou. Itgaveyouasenseof freedomthatnootherlandscapecouldprovide—themountainshaveyougasp-inginawe, forestsmakeyoutenseandtwitchywithex-citementandaridplainsdesiccateyou.Perhaps, itsonlytruerivalwouldbethevastrollingdesert,providedyouhadenoughdrinkingwateranddidn’tdieofheatstroke.Buttofillyourselfwithsheerexultation, therewas

nothingtocomparewiththebeachonamonsoonday.Notonlyyou, itaffectedourBoxer, too.Wellbeforewereachedthebeachfortheweekend,shewouldbeaquiv-eringmassofexcitementinthecar,happilytreadingonyourtoesanddroolingcopiously intoyourlap.Outonthebeach,shewouldfreakout—flyingsofastherfeetbarelytouchedtheground.Gentletoafault, insheer,unbridledjoy,sheoncechasedarheriwallaontohisrheri,wherehestoodamonghisclinkingmulti-colouredsoft-drinkbot-tles,yellingforhelp.Backhomeafteralunaticweekend,shewouldspendthenexttwodayssleepingitoffonthesofa,herpawstwitchingasshechasedcrabsinherdreams.(Theyalwaysbefuddledher.)As foryou,youcouldwalk formilesonthevarnished

sandsat lowtide,wading throughshallowtidepools,keepingaway fromthepurplebottle-cap-likestains thestrandedPortuguesemen-o-war lefton thebeach,buteyes skinned foragleamingcowrieor strandedstarfish.Itwasastonishing to think that someof themostbeauti-ful shellsprovidedhomes tosomeof themostven-omousseacreatures in theworld—steponthemandyouwouldnever forget theexperience,unless it killedyou.There’dbe tiny fishandshrimps twisting thiswayandthat, crabswhichwouldscuttle sideways. Thewind

wouldbuffetyou in theback likea friendmeetingyouafteragesandsilverbulletsof rainwouldmakeyouhead forcover.When it calmeddown,youcouldmakeyourway

gingerlyover the rocks—serratedandscalpel-sharp —whichcouldviciously lacerateyouthemomentyoutouchedthemunthinkingly. Sometimes, youwouldhearaclatteringamongst the rocks—giantgreencrabsmaking theirwayaroundponderously. If youwereex-ceptionallydaring (or silly), youcouldsettleonarockrightnear theedge tobroodbut itwouldbewise tokeepaneyeonthegreatbruisedpurple frontof thenextbat-talionof cloudsadvancingacross thehorizon. Ignore itatyourperil. Suddenly, you’dbesent staggeringbackbyanexplosionof shrapnel, asagiantwavebarreling inlikeanexpress train, andrearingup likeawall of glasswouldcommitharakiri on therocks justaheadof you,all thunderandboom.Timetoretreat, on thedouble.Certainly, theoceanandthebeachcasta strange

magneticpull onyou.Backhome inBombayaftera sur-gery thatkeptmeaway for threemonths, the firstplace Iwanted togo towas thebeach.Every time IvisitGoaandtakemyfirstdrawof thebriny, fishyair, it’s likeahome-coming (even though I’venever lived there).Oncalmsunnydays (in summer), youcouldsit at the

tidelineandwatch thewaveletswashuptoyou, alllacey, asacoolbreeze fansyour face. Suddenly, youareawareof adeeptruism: thebrinyseaairdoesmakeyouhungryveryquickly.Andthere isalwaysabounty fromthesea—basketsheapedwith freshprawnsconjuredup intodeliciouscurries for lunch (washeddownwithbeer,naturally, and followedbyanap).Of course, youweren’t theonlyone thinkingof lunch!Perchedhighupat the topof acasuarina tree, amajesticwhite-belliedseaeaglecontemplatedher realmandkeptaneyeoutforher lunch.Beach-brownsandpipers scuttledbackand forth,deftlypickinguptheir farewhile tryingnot toget their feetwet!Stock-still amid the rocks,patientasthebest fisherman, an Indianreef heron, in smartashygreywaited inambush.Especially today, in thesecorona-riddled times, the

beachseems likean idealplace toescape to. Perhaps, thewindwouldwhiskanysignsof thevirus tokingdomcomeandenableyoutoshoutwithexultation.Butberespectful. Regardlessofwhoyouare—billionaireorbeggar, crookor saint,primeministerorpretender—asinglewavecansendyouandyourdignity tumblingheadoverheels inawelterof frothandmirth.

THE WIND BENEATH ITS WINGSA white-bellied sea eagle

RANJITLAL

EXPRESSARCHIVE

The Call ofthe TideWhy, even after 40 years as alandlubber, I still miss the sea

Farrukh Jaffer, 88, who plays the feisty Fatto Bi in ShoojitSircar’s Gulabo Sitabo, on her love for the camera

The LucknowConnection

Social media as a performance platform is only applicable to artforms that occupy the upper echelons of social hierarchy or aremass in appeal. Most performing arts don’t fall into this bracket

OLD IS GOLD(Clockwise from

above) Farrukh Jafferin stills from GulaboSitabo; Peepli Live; ayoung Jaffer playingdress-up at home

New Delhi

Vol.XIXNo.15Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I.No.DELENG/2002/10884.PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedatThe IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress,A-8, Sector-7,Noida -201301andPublishedatThe IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, Express

Building,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding,9&10,BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice:The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector -10,Noida -201301.Phone:0120-6651291.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Delhi):RakeshSinha** **Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct. Copyright: The IndianExpress (P)

Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited.TheSundayExpress®

WhileWWE'sonlyconcernseemstobethebottomline, Japanesepromotions takeaholisticviewtodealwith thecoronaviruspandemic

Wrestlers open the lock in TokyoGAURAVBHATTNEWDELHI, JUNE27

IN JAPAN, the Covid-19 outbreak left in itswake a crushed Olympic dream. Nowpro-fessional wrestling is helping unlock thecountry, onesuplexata time.While it tried, and failed, to avoid the

TokyoGamespostponementtonextyear,theJapan government seems to have success-fullyflattenedthecurve,withdailycasesbe-lowahundredsinceMay15.Thenationwide state of emergencywas

liftedonMay25,andlastMonday,NewJapanPro-Wrestling(NJPW)—thelargestpromo-tion in Japan—held its first show since thelockdown,becomingthefirstsporttorestartin thecountry.Pro-wrestling’s return, facilitated by

working closelywith the sports and healthministries, also highlights cultural differ-encesbetween JapanandAmerica.Whilepromotionsworldwidecontinued

torunshowsthroughthepandemic—mostnotably WWE which held its annualWrestleManiaeventovertwonightsbehindcloseddoorsinApril—NJPWandmostotherJapanese promotions effectively shut shoplateFebruary.“The responsibilityweholdasan indus-

try leader in Japan andworldwideweighsheavilyonourshoulders;ultimatelythiswasthe only sensible decision we could havetaken as a responsible corporate citizen,”NJPWpresidentHaroldMeij tellsThe IndianExpress. “A business must be viewed as along-termentity,andIbelieveourdecisiontosidewithcautionoverprofitwill in the longtermbeseen tohavebeentherightone.”It certainlywasn’t an easy one. On track

forarecordprofitthisyear,NJPWhadtocan-cel 56 events which left a huge dent in therevenue.Thecompanyexecutives,however,tookpaycutsrangingfrom15to95percenttoshield theworkforce.Conversely,WWE,whichalsohadaprof-

itablequarter,releasedcloseto30workers-

includingwrestlers,producers,referees,andwriters - in April; two days after being al-lowed to run shows as an “essential busi-ness”inFlorida.OnApril15,whileWWEwasbusyannouncingthelayoffs,representativesof seven different companies in Japanmetgovernmentofficials todiscuss thewayfor-wardandrequesttestingkitsandcompensa-tion for lostpay.“Not being able towrestle doesmake a

lotofusconcernedforourlivelihoods,butintheworldofsports,bethatbaseball, football,or sumo, I feel that professional wrestlingshould be the anchor,” Hiroshi Tanahashi,NJPW’sbiggeststarforovertwodecades,toldthe government officials. “I think it shouldbe acceptable for professional wrestling tobe the last sport to return to full activity.”

SAFETY PROTOCOLSBefore returning to action, the company

drew up safety protocols based on a set ofguidelines devised by the Japan SportsAssociation, andwith the help of the JapanSafetyAgency.Wrestlers undergo temperature tests

twicedailyandkeepa logofwho theyhavebeenincontactwith.Lockerroomsarezonedandhavestaggeredentry,conversationsarelimited and buffet-style catering has beendoneawaywith;containersof foodandbev-erageshave individual nameson them. Thering and ringside area are disinfected be-tweenmatches.Plansarealreadyinplaceforthereturnof

socially-distanced fans. NJPW will holdshows at Osaka-Jo Hall on July 11-12, withonly one-third of the 16,000-seater venuefilled. In addition to the basic measures ofmasksandtemperaturetests, fansmustalsonottouchthewrestlers,submitaddressandcontactdetails, andnotcheer!WWE, meanwhile, has been allowing

familyandfriendsofperformers tobe inat-tendance at the Performance Center venueinOrlando,Florida,butwithnodisclosedde-tailed safety protocols. And on Thursday,whenreportsemergedofmultipleemploy-

ees testingpositive, thecompanysimply is-sued a statement: “WWE will continueCOVID-19 testing of its talent, productioncrew and employees in advance of TV pro-ductions for the foreseeable future.”

GOING THE EXTRAMILEWhileVinceMcMahon,WWEchairman

and CEO, was named as an industry leadertaskedwithhelpingrestarttheUSeconomyby President and WWE Hall-of-FamerDonaldTrump,it ishiscounterpartsinJapanwhoareputting in thework.“Inourcorporatelogoarethewords‘King

of Sports’,” saysMeij about prowrestling’simportance as a Japanese sport. “It is beingseenthiswaythatweledaninitiativebyvis-

itingelectedofficialstopushforgovernmentsupportincreatingclearpolicies,sustainableprogrammes,guidelines,andtestingsupportforourandother sports in Japan.”Hase, the government official who

presided over the April meeting withwrestling promoters, represented Japan atthe1984Olympicsandwenton tobecomeapro-wrestlinggreatwithNJPWandAJPW(All JapanPro-Wrestling).HealsoservedastheMinister of Education, Culture, Sports,Science and Technology under currentPrime Minister Shinzo Abe, and workedcloselywiththeJapaneseOlympiccommit-tee in 2016.“The perception and acceptance of pro

wrestlinginJapanisalittlebitdifferent,”says

Fumi Saito, wrestling historian and sociol-ogy professor. “It is still ‘sports entertain-ment’.Somepeoplejustwatchitandbelieveeverything. Somepeople like it because it’sentertainment. Most people understandwrestling forwhat it is. The things they aredoing in the ring is incredible... But basicquestions like ‘is it real or is it fake?’ Listen,doyou like it?Does itmatter?”Wrestling match results are carried

alongsidebaseballscoresinnewspapers,andtherearededicatednationalmagazinesandawards. But it was the American soldierscirca 1950 who brought pro wrestling toJapan after the SecondWorldWar. A NorthKorea-bornSumowrestlerRikidozantookitup,andhisrise, coincidingwithPanasonic’sfirstblack-and-whiteTVsmadehimawork-ing-classphenomenon.Pro wrestling became ‘puroreso’.

Rikidozan, inturn, inspiredAntonioInoki—awrestlinglegendwhofoughtMuhammadAli in 1976,was elected to the parliament’supperhouse in1989, andwent to Iraqdur-ingtheGulfWarandsuccessfullynegotiatedthe release of Japanese hostages withSaddamHussein.“Theywere sports heroeswho became

politicians, movie stars,” says Saito, beforeadding:“InIndiatoo,youhadasimilarstoryin Dara Singh. A professional wrestler whobecameabig-time filmstar.”

COMFORTABLEWITHMASKSDuringthepandemic,maskshavedeep-

enedapoliticaldivide inAmerica.TheOrlandoInternationalAirport,where

260employees testedpositive lastTuesday,onlynecessitatedmasksadaylater.Theair-port is frequented by employees of WWE,wherethemakeshiftcrowdofdevelopmen-tal wrestlers, family and friends duringshowscontinues toappearmaskless.Amid reports thatmasks,much like any

mentionofcoronavirus, isnotallowedinthecompany, ReneeYoung, aWWEannouncerwho tested positive on Thursday, tweeted:“Wearyourmasksandwashyourhands”

In contrast, masks are nothing new inJapan. “Whenyouhaveacold, flu,yougotothe drugstore or general store and buy amask,andyoudon’tcoughallovertheplace,on people on the trains and subways,” saysSaito. “It’s so rude. It is an accepted thinghere. Sure, wearing it every day now is noteasy.Butyoudon’twanttocatchit.Youdon’twant tokeep it.”Numerous half-hidden faces could al-

waysbespottedatpro-wrestlingshows,butNJPWhasmandatedmasksforeveryvisitor,wrestlerandcrewmembernow.

BRAINSTRORMINGWith less than a month remaining for

the Tokyo Olympic Games, this was sup-posedtobeabusyseasonfor Japanesepro-wrestling promotions as well. While thecompanies would have beenmuscled outof regular venues during the Games, pro-motersweremulling ideas to capitalise.“Itwouldbeashameifwegottotheend

of the year and all people remember wasthe Olympics,” Kazuchika Okada, NJPW’scurrent poster boy and five-time heavy-weight champion, told reporters last year.Okada, whowas chosen as an Olympic

torchbearer, suggested an ‘All-Star card’,bringing top talent from all Japanese pro-motions together for a super show.“Thatwouldn’tbeabadidea; if thereare

anybuildingsfree. It’sabigopportunity,youdon’t knowwhen Japanwill ever host theOlympics again.”As it stands, Japan will get another

chance next year. Meij calls the postpone-ment a “great disappointment”.“Thesummerperiodcoincideswiththe

peakofourannualevents,andwehavehadto modify our plans accordingly with theinability to use many of the large-scalesports arenas,” says Meij. “The postpone-ment has been a great disappointment...However,ourspiritshavenotbeendashed,and we look forward to embracing theOlympic spirit of Citius, Altius, Fortius in awrestlingway.”

@indianexpress.com

PPUULLLLEELLAAGGOOPPIICCHHAANNDDtells SSHHIIVVAANNIINNAAIIKKhowhis2001AllEnglandtriumphbroughtbadminton into limelightafter twodecades.

THOSEMONTHS,THOSEMINUTESForced intoanunprecedented lockdown, sport is staringat anunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiven thecountry reasons to rejoice in thepast.20

THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE28,2020

SPORT

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,JUNE27

SIXOFthe10PakistanplayerswhohadtestedpositiveforCovid-19lastweekhavereturnednegativeresults followingasecondroundoftests.However, theywill notbeon the flighttoManchester on Sunday as the PakistanCricket Board,which conducted these tests,wants them to undergo a third one. If thethirdroundoftestsalsoreturnsnegative,theywillbeabletotraveltoEngland.MohammadHafeez, Wahab Riaz, Fakhar Zaman,MohammadHasnain,MohammadRizwanandShadabKhanaretheplayerswhotestednegative in the second round of tests con-ductedbyPCB.Asper thePCBtestingprogramme,play-

erswho have tested positive have to showtwonegative tests before entering Englandin adherence to theUKgovernment regula-tions.TheBoardconfirmedthat20playersand

11 support staff will leave for England onSunday to play three Tests and asmanyT20Internationals.HafeezandRiazunderwenttestsata lab,

which thePCBdoesnotuse, and thoughtheresults returned negative it has not beentaken into consideration, chief executiveWasimKhansaid.“I am aware Mohammad Hafeez and

WahabRiaztookpersonaltestsoutsideofourprocesspriortothesecondPCBtesting.Whiletheirresultscameupnegative,asperthePCBtestingprogramme,theyaredeemedtohaveone negative test following a positive test.“Therefore,oncetheyareretestedandreceivea secondnegative resultunder thePCB test-ingprogramme,theywillbeavailabletojointhesquadinEngland,”Khansaid.Out of 10 players and one support staff

whohad initially tested positive, Haider Ali,Haris Rauf, Kashif Bhatti, Imran Khan andmasseurMalang Ali tested positive again.They have been advised to observe “strictquarantine”.ThePCBoriginallyhadpickeda29-mem-

berplayingsquadforEngland.Followingthepositiveresults, itincluded

fast bowlerMusa Khan and Pakistan U-19captainandwicketkeeperRohailNazirinthefirst batch of travellers. After reachingEngland, thesquadwillundergoECBtestingatWorcestershire followed by a 14-day iso-lationperiod,duringwhichtheycantrain.The first Test is scheduled for July 30 at

Lord’s. First batch of players leaving forEngland: Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam(vice-captain),AbidAli,AsadShafiq,FaheemAshraf, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmad, ImadWasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah,Mohammad Abbas, Musa Khan, NaseemShah,RohailNazir,SarfarazAhmed,ShaheenShah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan,UsmanShinwari, andYasirShah.

Six Pak playersget negativeresult in 2nd test

NJPW legendHiroshi Tanahashi (kneeling) spokewith the governmentofficials onbehalf of Japanesepro-wrestlers. NJPW

Battle of 64 squares spillsonto 280 charactersCarlsenvsGiri:Virtualwarofwordsor friendlybanter?AnishGiri holds a finger tohis lips, in avideoclipping,asiftosilenceallhisdoubters-andinparticular, his vanquishedopponentMagnusCarlsen.Hewasplayingagameofonlinechess,fromthesanctityofhishome,asoneofthecon-testantsintheMagnusCarlsenInvitationalheldinApril. The Dutchman(25)whoiscurrentlyranked10thintheworld,thengetsupfromhischair,walks to theedgeof thecamera’s view,turnsbackatthescreenandthenhopswithhisarmsraised.Hestops,turnstoleave,againfacesthescreenandrepeatshiscelebration.Thiswashow he reacted to beating Carlsen at theNorwegian’s own event. Though beating aplayeras talentedas theworldno.1 isalwaysworth a celebration, inGiri’s case, there hasbeenadegreeof animositybetween the twoin thepast – something that has beenhigh-lightedintheirexchangesonsocialmedia.ThemostrecentonetookplaceonSaturday.Gonearethedayswhenthefeistiestofchessrivalriesbetweengreatcontemporaries–BobbyFisherandBorisSpassky,GarryKasparovandAnatolyKarpov,KasparovandVladimirKramnik–wentbeyond the chess board. Nowadays, theyounger generation, as demonstrated byGrandmastersCarlsenandGiri, all animosityorbantercanbeputforthin280characters.

The latest exchange

Girihasaratherinfamousreputationofplay-ingfordraws,especiallyagainstthetopplay-ers. The duo is currently competing at theChessableMasters Tournament, an onlineevent.OnFriday,Giridrewagainstworldno.6GrandmasterAlexanderGrischukofRussia,a game Carlsen felt the Dutchman shouldhavewon.So the Norwegian tweeted: “Myboy

@anishgiri snatchingadrawfromthejawsofvictory.”OnSaturday,Girisharedascreenshotofames-sagehe received regardinga ‘billingproblem’whenhetriedtorenewhissubscriptionforanonlinechessapplicationdevelopedbyCarlsen.

He tweeted along with the picture:“In light of the recent hateful tweetsfrom@MagnusCarlsenandhisemploy-ees,weatAnishGiri Inc. have (appar-ently)takenadecisiontoherebypausesponsoring his endeavors.#StudyChess”

Tothis,thereigningworldchampionreplied:“The real story here is that youfigured that tactics are notnecessary tomake solid draws.Recommended for peoplewhoplaytowin though!”

How it all started

Aheadof the2018Candidatesevent, formerworld championKramnikemployedGiri asasecond–thisafterGirihadbeatenthevet-eranRussianmonthsearlierattheTataSteelMasters. Upon learning that Giri was help-ingKramnik,CarlsentooktoTwittertomakeapoint.“So supposedly@anishgiriwill besecondingKramnik during thecandidates.BeforeTata (anunbeaten+7with just a fewdrawsforVlad) thiswould havebeenaclear-cut case of “if you can’t beatem, join em”Now it’s rather “if youcan’t drawem, join em.”

The tweet alluded to Giri’s notoriety ofsniffing foradrawinmostmatches.

Giri then repliedwith:“I guess thisdeepjokeonlymakessense inNorwegian?!OrmaybeIamjusttootiredfromalltheworkontheopenings.”Andthebanterwenton,asthe29-year-old

Carlsen challengedGiri towina tournament‘for the first timein(his) life’ andtheyoungerplayedreplyingwithhis joy thatCarlsenwas‘taking (him) seriously and that is flattering!’OnSaturday,therivalrycontinued.

SHAHIDJUDGE

Screengrabof AnishGiriimmediately after hebeatMagnusCarlsen at theMagnusCarlsenInvitational event inApril.

New Delhi