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

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 14 PAGES `5.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

KARISHMAMEHROTRABUCKSCOUNTY,PENNSYLVANIA,OCTOBER28

AMERICA’S TWOworlds, Redand Blue, collide in purplePennsylvania’s geography anddemography. Republicans focusontheruralmiddle,straddledbyDemocraticfootholdsintheeast-ern andwestern cities. And theroadtotheWhiteHouseforbothsideshastopass throughhere.Sure, Democratic nominee

JoeBidenisahead,hischancestotheWhite House— roughly 75percent—matchhismarginsofwinning thismost pivotal state.But this is alsowhere almost allof the limited electoralmaps inPresidentDonaldTrump’sfavourrequire him to win. And he’sthrowing everything into the

Pennsylvania ring.If Trumpwins the state, he

has an 84 per cent chance ofwinning. If Biden does, he has a96 per cent chance of winning,thedatateamatFiveThirtyEightfound.“AsgoesPennsylvania,sogoes the Electoral College,” theanalysis reads.“The President knows his

road to the White House isthrough Pennsylvania,” saidChristopher Nicholas, a veteranRepublican political strategist.“They are both focusing on theplaces here where they arestrong.”SixstraightDemocraticpres-

idential wins in the state have

keptitmoreDemocratic-leaningthan the national popular votesince the 1950s. Suddenly, in2016, Pennsylvania becamemore Republican than the na-tion. Trump garnered 44,292morevotesthanHillaryClinton,carryingthestatewithlessthanapercentagepoint.No wonder that the candi-

dates and their families havespent the most time and re-sources in this state, both sidesvisitingmultipleareaslastweekalone. This election season, thestate has had some of themostimportant voting rights courtbattlesandregistrationoutreach,as well as nowmajor protests

Tuesday after the police killingof aBlackman.Asbothurbanandruralareas

deepenintheirpoliticalcolours,the target is their frontier: thesuburbs.“Suburbanwomen,willyou please like me?” Trumppleaded at a rally in an easternPennsylvania town last week.“Please. I saved your damnneighbourhood,okay?”“Our goal is to rack up votes

in the Philadelphia suburbs,”said Lopa Kolluri, thePennsylvania co-chair for thecampaign’s South Asians forBiden. “Thegoal is tobe focusedin theareaswhereweknewwehad an impact.” In the suburbs

around the state’s largest city,Philadelphia, Clinton won bysmaller margins than formerPresidentBarackObama.Suburbsaresmalltownssur-

rounding the country’s majorcities.TheyusedtohousemostlyWhite Americans, who begandeserting cities in the 1950s.Over recent decades, the sub-urbshavebecomemorediverse,morewealthy, more educated,andmorelikethecities.Butevenin that transformation, theyvoted for Trump by amargin of5per cent in2016, andwerees-pecially crucial in battlegroundstates likePennsylvania.

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Bothsigns jostle forattention inaPennsylvaniasuburb.KarishmaMehrotra

Red & Blue collide in purple Pennsylvania, all eyes on this prize

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

THEEDITORIALPAGE

INDIA-U.S.:PROCEEDWITHCAUTIONBYVIVEKKATJUPAGE6

VOTING IN71SEATS, ECTHANKSVOTERS

Boothsequippedwiththermalscanners&single-usemasks,butvirusshieldslips inseveralplaces

DIPANKARGHOSEBHAGALPUR,MUNGER,LAKHISARAI,OCTOBER28

ONWEDNESDAYmorning, theprimary school atMaheshi vil-lage in Bhagalpur's Sultanpurconstituencyseemedlikeapar-alleluniverse.Around10.45am,aBSFofficerwavedDularinDeviinside, towards two maskedwomen, onewith a hand-heldthermometer, the other with apacket of gloves. Shewas askedto sanitise her hands, cast hervoteanddiscardtheglovesinthedustbin.But then came the question

thatmanyvotershadbeenask-ing, oftenmockingly, since vot-ingbeganhereinthefirstphaseof the Bihar assembly polls —the first election in the countrysince the Covid outbreak. “Basiss school mein hi corona hai?Baharbazaarmeintohbheedhai(Doesthecoronavirusexistonlyinside this school? There is acrowd in themarket outside),”Devi, 28, said.As 71 seats went to

pollsWednesdaywithprovisional figuresmarking a turnout of54.26 per cent —mar-ginallylowerthan54.75per cent for the sameseats last time— thereisasurrealsenseofdis-belief about Covid inBihar’s villages.At the polling booths, there

weremeasures in place to keepthe virus at bay. But amid inter-

mittent shouts for vot-erstokeepdistance,thebizarre disconnectwasvisible even inside.Threeof theofficers in-side the booth at

Maheshihadstrungtheirmasksaround their necks, until theyspottedacamera.

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Overruling owndecisions, Baghelgovt spares TatasRs 200 cr penaltyAfter2extensions in2years,TataProjectscompletes just25%of ruralbroadbandconnectivityproject

GARGIVERMARAIPUR,OCTOBER28

OVERRULING THE decisions oftwo IAS officers whowere suc-cessive CEOs of the key nodalagency foraRs3057-crore ruralbroadbandproject,theBhupeshBaghel-led Congress govern-ment in Chhattisgarh decidednot to deduct Rs 200 crore inpenaltiesithadimposedonTataProjects Ltd for twicenotmeet-ing itsdeadline.Thispenaltywasasperterms

of the agreement between thecompany and thestateand its impo-sition was a deci-

sionratifiedbyaChiefSecretary-led committee, recordsinvestigated by The IndianExpresshave found.That’snotall—thestategov-

ernment also refunded a Rs28.79-crore penalty alreadylevied, despite having grantedTata Projects an extension of

timeline twice in twoyears.Awarded to the company in

July 2018, the BharatNetChhattisgarh project was origi-nallyscheduledtobecompletedin a year. It involves laying an

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BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,OCTOBER28

IN A coordinated action target-ingactivists,NGOsandnewsor-ganisations based in J&K, theNational Investigation Agency(NIA)saidWednesdaythatithasconducted searches at ten loca-tionsinSrinagarandBandipora,andoneinBengaluru,inconnec-tionwith a case of funds beingraisedfrom“Indiaandabroadinthenameofcharitableactivities”andallegedlyused“forcarryingout secessionist and separatist

activities in J&K”.The locations thatwere tar-

geted included the offices ofJammuandKashmirCoalitionofCivil Society (JKCCS), EnglishdailyGreaterKashmir andNGOAthrout -- and the residencesofleadingactivists, includingJKCCS

coordinatorKhurramParvez.The action drew sharp criti-

cismfrompoliticalleadersintheValley,withPDPchiefMehboobaMufti describing it as a “viciouscrackdown on freedom of ex-pression” and PeoplesConferencepresidentSajadLonesaying that the “raids add to theenvironmentof fear”.The Kashmir Editors’ Guild

(KEG)condemnedtheraidsandsaidthatthelocalmedia“contin-ues to get targeted, demonised,villified and raided by both thestateandnon-stateactors...”

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MAYURAJANWALKAR&SADAFMODAKMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

THEIR ghar is gone because therentcannotbepaidsotheBaudhfamily has moved to theirkarkhana whose owner hasgiven themsometimetopay.Seatedon its floor inachawl

near JuhuGally,Anant (8),Arpit(6) and Anshika (2), watch aMarathichildren’srhymeontheonlysmartphonetheyhave.Thiswas where workers employed

by their father Akash Baudhstitchedgarmentsuntilthelock-down inMarch. This has beenthe Baudh home through themonthsofthelockdownafterhemoved out of his rented house,unable to make the Rs 14,000monthly rent. This room, itsmonthly rent of Rs 8000 pend-ingforsixmonths,hassixindus-trial sewing machines andswathes of fabric wrapped inplastic.Inacornerisastove,agascylinderandsomeutensils.Since March, he has sold

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MANOJCGNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THEDEFENCEMinistry has ob-jected to a visit by Parliament'sPublic Accounts Committee(PAC)toLehnextmonthtostudythe working conditions of sol-diers deployed in forward loca-tions in thehighaltitudeareas.In a letter sent on

Wednesday,theMinistrysaid“itmay not be advisable” for theMPs to visit, given the standoffwith China along the Line ofActualControl (LAC).In another letter sent only a

day earlier, however, theMinistry hadmade nomentionof suchconcerns.The PAC, headed by the

Congress leader in Lok SabhaAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury, hadlast month got clearance fromSpeakerOmBirlatovisitLadakhtomeet thesoldiers.

The PACwanted to visit Lehsince it is examining a CAG re-portwhich had earlier this yearsaid that the troopsstationed inareas like Siachen and Ladakhfacedanacuteshortageofhigh-altitudeclothingandequipment,includingsnowgoggles,becauseof delays inprocurement.ThePAChadinitiallydecided

to visit Ladakh on October 28and 29. But some MPs on thepanel sought a change in dates,citing theAssemblyelections inBihar, by-elections in GujaratandMadhya Pradesh, and theprevailingCovid-19situation.ThePACthenreviseditsplan,

and decided to visit Leh fromNovember8to10,instead.Itsentthe revised schedule to theDefenceMinistry,Army,andLokSabhasecretariat.ButtheDefenceMinistryhas

informedthePACthatitmaynotbeadvisabletovisitLadakhnow,

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ONTHEBRINKINTHECITYAN EXPRESS SERIES

M U M B A I

Tracking thenewurbanpoor

No demand, self-employed are hardest hit: Kabhisocha nahi tha kisi ke aage haath phailana padega

House panel wantedto visit Leh, Defencesays ‘not advisable’

‘Fund diversion’: NIA raids activists,journalists in J&K, triggers outrage

Thermalscanningbeingcarriedoutoutsideapollingbooth inPaliganj, inBiharonWednesday.AP

AkashBaudh,whoemployed15workersuntilMarch,hasmovedintohisworkshopwithhis family.Mayura Janwalkar

YUVRAJOFJUNGLERAJ:PMTARGETINGRJD leader Tejashwi Yadavon his promise of 10 lakh governmentjobs, PrimeMinister NarendraModiquestioned the credibility of the“yuvraj” of “jungle raj” in his rallies inDarbhanga andMuzaffarpur. PAGE8

POLLSNOTABOUTFAMILY:RAHULHITTING BACK, Congress leaderRahul Gandhi, at a rally in Darbhanga,said: “This election is not aboutLaluji’s family,my family or Nitishji’sfamily. This election is about thefuture of Bihar.” PAGE5

DECISION2020BIHAR

RACE FORTHEWHITE

HOUSE

EXPRESS INTHEU.S.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

ACommonServiceCentre inKorbadistrictawaits fibreinternetconnectionunderBharatNetPhaseII.GargiVerma

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

IN A rare move, India onWednesdaycameoutinsupportofFrance'sPresidentEmmanuelMacron, whom Pakistan andTurkeyhavetargetedforstronglydefending the French people'sright to freedomof expression.New Delhi joined major

European countries in con-demning the personal attacksagainst theFrenchPresident.OnOctober16,an18-year-old

Chechen refugee in France be-headed a 47-year-old sch-ool teacher,Samuel Paty,daysafterPatyhad showncaricatures ofthe ProphetMohammedto his stu-dents.Condemningthe murder,

Macron said: “We will con-tinue…Wewilldefendthefree-domthatyoutaughtsowellandwe will bring secularism.”France,thePresidentsaid,would“notgiveupcartoons,drawings,even if othersbackdown”.In response, Turkey's

PresidentRecepTayyipErdoganaccusedMacron of running ananti-Islamicagenda,andsaidtheFrench President needed a“mentalhealthcheck”.Pakistan’s Prime Minister

Imran Khan said Macron wasencouraging anti-Muslimsentiments and provokingMuslims; Iran and Saudi Arabia

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India slamsTurkey, Pakfor attackson Macron

J&KREALTYNewland lawswillnothelpgovtbuild trustPAGE6

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

INDIA'SBANKINGsectorisatthecentreof apushtoget theecon-omy back on track, working toeasestressonborrowersandsta-bilise the financial system, afterarecordGDPcontractionof23.9percent in the Junequarter.To discuss theway forward

and reforms needed to boostgrowth,UdayKotak,MD&CEO,Kotak Mahindra Bank, and

President,ConfederationofIndianCONTINUEDONPAGE2

All eyes on economy,Uday Kotak is guest atExpress e-Adda today

UdayKotak,MD&CEO,KotakMahindraBank

EmmanuelMacron

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THEMANAGINGdirectorofoneof India's top private diagnosticlabshasallegedthatgovernmentauthoritiesinsomedistrictshavebeen trying to “control” theprocess of testing for the novelcoronavirus in order to show a“better scorecard”.“Even though testing has

been opened up, the govern-mentisstillcontrollingatdistrictlevelsprivatecentre testing. It is

happeningmoretodaythanbe-fore. We have been told not topick up samples in many dis-trictsindifferentstates,claimingthatwearereporting falseposi-tives,” AVelumani, founder andmanagingdirector of ThyrocareTechnologies, told The IndianExpress.Thyrocare is among the top

five diagnostic centres in thecountry,andhasbeencollectingsamplesinseveralhighCovid-19caseload states includingMaharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil

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THEPOINTof testingmore is toensure thatCovid-19casesarede-tectedandcontained intime.There isaneed fortheCentreandstates toinvestigate theallegationandtakecorrectiveac-tion, if needed.

Accuratepicture isimportantE●EX

PLAINED

Some districts trying to controlthe testing for Covid: top pvt lab

PART-1

LittleCovideffect asover54%comeout tovote inBiharPhase I

TOMORROWALOCALVENDOR’SASSURANCEONPENALTY

Jaipur

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

Uday KotakIndustry(CII),willbetheguestattheExpresse-AddaThursday.Veteran banker Kotak has

playedacrucialroleinthedevel-opmentofthecapitalmarketandbankingsectors.Hehasalsobeena part of several governmentcommittees, including that oncorporategovernance.Twoyearsago,Kotakwasen-

trustedwith the task of turningaround IL&FSafter its boardwassuperseded. In June this year, hetookoverasCIIchief,andhasbeencloselyworkingwiththegovern-ment to revive theeconomyat atimewhen Indiahas record for-eignexchange reserves and sur-plusliquiditywithbanks.In September, several key in-

dicators, including automobilesales,powerdemand, toll collec-tion and petrol consumption,reached the pre-Covid levels ofFebruary 2020, even as creditgrowth in banking remainedmuted.Accordingtoanalysts,therecovery continues to hold inOctober.Establishedin1985,theKotak

Mahindra group has become aleading financial conglomerateovertheyearswithoperationsinbanking,insurance,mutualfundsandbrokingbusinesses.Atthee-Adda,Kotakwillbein

conversationwithAnantGoenka,Executive Director, The IndianExpress,andPVaidyanathanIyer,ExecutiveEditor-NationalAffairs,TheIndianExpress.

Tata penaltyoptical fibre network covering32,466km,linking85blocksand5,987grampanchayatsacross27districtsinthestate.The lightingupof grampan-

chayats inChhattisgarhwith in-ternet is part of thenation-wideBharatNetproject,oneoftheflag-ships under Prime MinisterNarendraModi’s Digital Indiaplan,andaimstoconnect2.5lakhvillages.As on September 25, 2020,

TataProjectscouldensurebroad-band-readyinfrastructureinonly1,394 grampanchayats (24 percent of the target). A detailedquestionnaire mailed to TataProjectsLtdonOctober26didnotelicitaresponse.Under Sameer Vishnoi, ap-

pointedonJanuary23asitsCEO,the Chhattisgarh InfotechPromotion Society (ChIPS), anodal agencyof the state taskedwithmonitoring theproject, setasidethedecisionsofitstwopastCEOs–AlexPaulMenonandKCDevasenapathi, both of whomhad invoked thepenalty onTataProjectsfornotadheringtotime-linesmutuallyagreedupon.But thesedecisionswere set

aside by Vishnoi. When con-tacted, he admitted notmuchwork had been donewhen hejoined in January this year. “Theworkpickeduponly in thepastsixmonths.Westartedwithonly33grampanchayats inFebruary,andnowwithin a fortnight,wewill inaugurate 1,200-1,500 vil-lages,”hesaid.Askedwhyhedecidedtostop

withholding thepenalty and re-fund the amount already levied,Vishnoi told The IndianExpress,“Earlier, procedurewas not fol-lowed. I stopped so thatwe canrestartthepenaltyprocedure.”Hesaidthata freshnotice for invok-ingpenaltyhasnowbeenissuedtoTataProjects.As per the original Master

ServicesAgreement,TataProjectswas required to ensure end-to-end completion and integrationof 10percent of total grampan-chayats with State NetworkOperations Centre (S-NOCs) byOctober26,2018.Havingfailedtodoso,thenCEOofChIPSAlexPaulMenon invoked apenalty equaltoRs164crore (10percentof Rs1,674.62crore,thetotalcapitalex-penditure)onNovember3,2018,after issuingthreenoticesbegin-ningAugust2018.With projectedmilestones

notbeingmet,KCDevasenapathi,

whowasappointedCEOofChIPSinJanuary2019,invokedthemax-imumpenaltyequaltoRs200.95crore(12percentoftotalcapexofRs1,674.62crore)onFebruary23,2019.Notonlythat,ChIPSextended

theproject completiondeadlineby sixmoremonths on June 22this year, beyond the 12-monthextensionalreadyallowedearlierthathadexpiredon June17. TataProjects, however, has soughtmoretimegivenCovid19restric-tions, but a decision on this re-questispending.When contacted, Subrat

Sahoo,AdditionalChiefSecretary,Chhattisgarh, told The IndianExpress that apenaltywasneverissued.“Wehavejustsentthemashowcausenoticeofpenalty.Themoneythatwasgiventothemistheirmoney,keptassecurityde-posit as in all standard tenders.About 90 per cent payment isgenerallymade and thebalance10percentisgivenaftercheckingtheworkquality. This is generalpractice,”hesaid.

Hardest hiteight of his 15 sewingmachinestopayhisbills.BoughtatRs17,000perunit,hepartedwith the five-year-oldmachines for Rs 7,000each. “Aap sochiye agarmera yehhaal hai tohmere neeche ke kari-gar ka kya haal hoga (Imagine ifthis ismystate,what’s theplightof theworkers I employ.)” saidBaudh.Baudh’s isastoryplayingout

across the city as theCovid lock-down winds down but smallbusinessesdon’tknowwherethekeystodemandare.SincehefledhisMauhomeinUPwhenhewas15, tormented by upper-casteschoolmates and teachers, hesaid,Baudhdidoddtailoringjobsand stitched his ownMumbaistorybygrowinghis business toemploy15workers.Hesoldgar-ments to retailers sellingmostlyon footpaths. Everymonth, hemadeatleastRs20,000overandabove salaries, rent and utilitybills.After sixmonths of the lock-

down, however, Baudh has hisbackagainstthewall.HehasoverRs 1 lakh inunpaid rent and thebalance inhisbankaccount is asgoodaszero.“IhadworkersfromUP,Bihar,

West Bengal. As soon as JanatacurfewwasannouncedonMarch22,Iboughtticketsforallofthem,sent themhome, but after that Iwas leftwithnothing.And therewasnoearning,”saidBaudh.His wife Seema and he are

bothskilleddressmakersanddes-perately looking forwork. “I amready to do any kind of work.Stitch, drive or run somebody’sshop but I needwork immedi-ately,”saidBaudh.The young father of three is

amongthousandsinMumbaiyettotheseeanyglimmerattheendofthelockdowntunnel.Survivingondonatedrationsbutunabletoqualifyforreliefschemes,theirin-formalbusinessoutof thesafetynets announced by the govern-ment, they are struggling to stayafloat.“Kabhi socha nahi tha kisi ke

aage haath failana padega (I hadneverthoughtIwouldhavetobegsomeonefor favours),” saidSyedLateefHabib(52),awidowerandafatheroftwodaughtersagedtenand seven. Habib earned Rs15,000amonth.Hesaidthefam-ily lived comfortably in theirrentedhomeinNaigaon,adistantsuburbintheneighbouringVasai-VirarbeltwhereHabibworkedasanautorickshawdriver.InApril,daysaftertheCOVID-

19pandemic struck,work cameto a standstill and he left hisdaughterswithhis sister inKharandhe,meanwhile,foundatem-porary home in a communitykitchen-cum-trainingcentrerunbyNGOGharBachao,GharBanaoAndolanintheAmbujwadisluminMalad.“I had to vacate my rented

roombecause Ihadn’tmadeanymoney for rent. I sleephere,” he

said pointing to the communitykitchen. Habib helps out withwhatever isneededlikecarryingheavyjerrycansofwatertocookthe rice andoddplumbing jobsoccasionallymaking a fewhun-dredrupees.He is behind on repaying a

loanofRs2.10lakhhetooktobuyhis autorickshaw, of which Rs40,000 remain unpaid. “I havemade no money in over sixmonths. How will I repay theloan?Ihavenomoneyforfuelormaintenanceofmyrickshawei-ther,”hesaid.In thepandemic scare, single

parentManjuRaju Sable, had togiveupher jobasahousekeeperin Chembur as she fearedusingpublic transportwould exposeherandhertwodaughterstothevirus. During the lockdown, shegothereldest20-yearolddaugh-termarried."IrealisedthatIhadtostartmy

search for a living afresh," saidMankhurdresidentSable,recall-ingherstruggletodustherselfupafter her husband left her. Shemortgaged her jewellery for Rs15,000tostartasmallbusiness.With the money from her

mortgage set aside for daily ex-penses, she travels to theAPMCmarket in Vashi, NaviMumbai,nearly 10 km awaywhere, likemanywomen, shebuysgarlic insacks,carries themhome.“Sincelocaltrainsareyettoresumeserv-iceforall,veryfewofthemcometobuy thegarlic. I endup sellingmost of it to locals here," Sablesaid.ThisfetchesaroundRs8000amonth that she uses for livingexpenses.RajuNadar’s Idli-Dosa stand

onafootpathneartheIncomeTaxOffice at Churchgatewas staplebreakfast for officegoers for 35years. For the last sixmonths,however, Nadar had towinduphisbusiness.HeoweshislandlordRs 20,000 in rent for a roomheshared with five in a Wadalachawl.Hiswife, back in their vil-lageKaraikudiinTamilNadu,hashadtopawnagoldchaintoalocaljewellerforRs30,000,tohelpherhusbandtideover the lockdownmonthsinMumbai.“We couldmake Rs 4,000 a

day easily before the lockdownand after payingmyassistants IwouldstillmakeaboutRs15,000-Rs 20,000 a month and have

aboutRs5,000tosendbacktomyfamily,” saidNadar.With no in-comeandunexpectedexpenses,Nadarsaidhehasbeentestedlikeneverbefore.“Backhome,wedidn’thavea

phoneforthatbutmysonhadtoattendhis B.Sc lectures. I had toaskmysistertobuyhimaphoneworthRs9,000sohecouldattendclass,”saidNadar.It’s been aweek sinceNadar

hasbeenopenforbusinessagain.“Thecrowdisnoteven20percentofourusualcustomers. It isdiffi-culttomakeeven Rs2,000adayatthisrate.Wehavetokeeptryingsincewehavenothingelsetofallbackon,”saysNadar.In June, the PradhanMantri

Street Vendors AtmaNirbharNidhi Yojanawas announced tofacilitateworkingcapital loanupto Rs 10,000 for street vendorsand hawkers. Hairder Imam,GeneralSecretaryoftheAllIndianTradeUnion Congress ( AITUC)Hawkers’ Union, that has about6,500members, saidso farnoneoftheirunionmembershasben-efited.“TheBMChadaskedusandall

ourunionmembers to fill formsfortheschemebutmostofusgotamessage fromthebankstatingour applicationwas found ineli-gible.Noreasonsweregiven, thescheme seems like somethingdone to contain the anger of thepoor,”hesaid.Across India, about 2 lakh

street vendors have been giventheinterest-freeloansofaroftheover20lakhwhoapplied.PankajKumar,Development

Commissioner (UnorganisedLabour),saidhisofficehasgotre-quests for help from several ofabout300occupationsthatcomeunder unorganised labour.“Whoeverwasself-employedhasbeen affected themost…Manyestablishmentshavebegunworkbutwecannotsaythateveryonewhowasworking prior to thelockdownhasfoundworkagain.Weareworkingtowardsmitigat-ingtheproblemstheyarefacing,”saidKumar.That’s not going to be easy

given the lack of clear targetingmechanisms, saidAmita Bhide,Dean,SchoolofHabitatStudiesatthe Tata Institute of SocialSciences. “The entire economyhas faced losses and the formal

and informal sectors are inter-twined.Sowhiletheformalsectorrevivesthatmaybringdecentop-portunities, but to fewerpeople.Thismaycauseanincreaseintheproportion of destitution,” shesaid.

PennsylvaniaSaidKCBhaskar, a software

engineer who moved fromMumbaitoPennsylvaniasuburbChesterCountytwodecadesago:“This area is in transition. If youlookback twogenerations, all ofthiswas farmland.Now, a finan-cial services outfit is our biggestsupplier.” Jayshree, his wife,added that SouthAsiansused tostayoutofpoliticshere“becauseit’stoxicregardlessofwhichwayyou look.”NowherorganisationTheySeeBlue(aplayonthewordDesi) andother informal groupslikeChittis Brigade are targetingsuburbanwomen.As thehighwayscurveoutof

Philadelphiaandintothesuburbs,theroadsignsforTrumpincreasein a tightmatchwithBiden’s. InmultiplesuburbancountyofficesonTuesday,voterswaitedtovoteearlyin-person.Mostofthemhadappliedformail-inballotsweeksin advance but hadn’t receivedthem.In Bucks County, several

Democratic Party volunteershelped voters navigate theprocess,while a loneTrumpsiteoverseer observed fromacrossthepath silently. Jeff Arnold saidhe’s voting Republican, but hiswife isaDemocrat. “Idon’twantBiden taking the good peoples’guns away. She says she’s afraidTrump is going to take awayourhealthcare.There’snoinfluencingher,”the47-year-oldsaid.Votersrepeatedlybroughtup

storiesofhidingtheiraffiliationordisagreeingwithothers. A regis-tered Republican voter said hewasvotingforBidenthistime,butpreferrednot to sharehis name.“Wehad a threat last night. It’sbeenreallycruel,”hiswife,along-timeDemocrat,said.IntheAsianenclavesofUpper

Darby,makingup12per cent ofthepopulation,SouthAsianstoreownerswere boarding up theirfrontwindowswithplywood, inresponsetotherecentprotestsinPhiladelphia. SaidArshidKhan,Pakistani owner of a halalmeat

shop:“Yahanbhihosaktahai.Kuchtolaganahai,(Itcanhappenhere,need to put something up)”Arshid Khan said.When askedhowhe’s voting, he saidhe’sun-decided.

Macroncondemnedthecartoons.In an official statement, the

Ministry of External Affairs saidonWednesday:“Westronglyde-plore thepersonal attacks inun-acceptablelanguageonPresidentEmmanuelMacroninviolationofthemostbasicstandardsofinter-national discourse.Wealso con-demn thebrutal terrorist attackthat took the life of a Frenchteacher in a gruesomemannerthat has shocked theworld.Weofferourcondolencestohisfam-ilyandthepeopleofFrance.“There is no justification for

terrorismforanyreasonorunderanycircumstance.”India'sstatementcomesaday

before Foreign SecretaryHarshVardhan Shringla's scheduledOctober 29-November 4 visit toFrance,GermanyandtheUnitedKingdom.While France has seen re-

peatedviolent incidents aroundcaricaturesandcartoonsthataredeemedoffensive,itisunusualforNewDelhitowadeintoacontro-versy over religion in anothercountry.FollowingWednesday'sstate-

ment by the MEA, France'sAmbassador to IndiaEmmanuelLenainpostedonTwitter:Thankyou@MEAIndia.FranceandIndiacanalwayscountoneachotherinthefightagainstterrorism.”India's vocal support for

Macroncouldalsohavebeen in-fluenced by the fact that thecharge against thePresidenthasbeenledbyTurkeyandPakistan,two countries that have repeat-edly attacked India over JammuandKashmirandallegedhumanrightsviolations.Europeanleadershaverallied

aroundMacronandcriticizedat-tacks on him, particularly fromTurkey.Steffen Seibert, the

spokesman for Germany'sChancellor AngelaMerkel hassaid:“Theyaredefamatorycom-mentsthatarecompletelyunac-ceptable,particularlyagainst thebackdropof thehorrificmurder

oftheFrenchteacherSamuelPatybyanIslamistfanatic.”Dutch PrimeMinisterMark

Rutte tweeted: “PresidentErdogan’s words addressingPresidentEmmanuelMacronareunacceptable,” adding that theNetherlands stood “for the free-domof speech and against ex-tremismandradicalism.”Italian Prime Minister

Giuseppe Conte tweeted:“Personal insults don’t help thepositive agenda theEUwants tohavewithTurkeybutpushesso-lutionsfurtheraway.”France,Germany,andtheUK,

countries towhich Shringla isheaded,areall strategicpartnersof NewDelhi, and nationswithwhom Indiahas close andwell-establishedrelations.

NIA raidsTheNIA said in a statement

that it “conductedsearchesat10locationsinSrinagar&Bandipora(J&K)and1locationinBangaloreinconnectionwithacasepertain-ingtocertainso-calledNGOsandTrusts raising funds in India andabroad inthenameof charitableactivities and then using thosefundsforcarryingoutsecession-istandseparatistactivitiesinJ&K”.Theagencyclaimedthat“sev-

eral incriminating documentsandelectronicdeviceshavebeenseized.”Itsaidthattheraidswerepart

ofacaseregisteredonOctober8,based on “credible informationthat certainNGOsandTrustsarecollectingfundsdomesticallyandabroad through so-calleddona-tion andbusiness contributions,etc., and are thenutilising thesefundsforsecessionistandterror-istactivitiesinJ&K”.Among the entities raided

was JKCCS, a federationof rightsgroups and activists in J&K thatwas founded in 2000by ParvezImroz. Its coordinator KhurramParvez, whose residence wassearched,alsoservesasChairmanof Asian Federation AgainstInvoluntary Disappearances(AFAD) andwas recipient of the2006 Reebok Human RightsAward.Parvezhadlosthisleginalandminewhilemonitoring the2004Parliamentaryelections.Theagencyalsosearchedthe

residences of Parvez AhmadMatta, a JKCCSoffice-bearer, andParveenaAhanger,chairpersonofthe Association of Parents ofDisappearedPersons(APDP)whowon the 2017 Rafto Prize forHumanRights.The residence of journalist

Parvez Bukhari, whoworks forthewire service Agence FrancePresse (AFP),was also searchedwith theNIA describing himas“anassociate”ofParvez.TheNIA said its raids also fo-

cusedonGreaterKashmir Trust,whichwasfoundedafterthe2014floods and is affiliated to GKCommunications, which runsGreater Kashmir and the Urdudaily Kashmir Uzma. GreaterKashmir founder and ownerFayaz Ahmad Kaloo had beensummoned by the agency lastyear.NIAofficersalsoraidedtheof-

ficeofAthrout,whichisapromi-nentcharitablegroupthatrunsadialysis centre in Srinagar and afleetofambulances,andprovidesmedicineatdiscountedrates.TheNGOhas been active in tacklingtheCovidoutbreakanddonatedsix portable ventilators to theShere Kashmir Institute ofMedicalSciences(SKIMS).Reactingtotheraids, former

chiefministerMehboobaMuftipostedonTwitter:“NIAraidsonhuman rights activist KhurramParvez&GreaterKashmirofficeinSrinagar isyetanotherexam-ple of GOIs vicious crackdownonfreedomofexpression&dis-sent.Sadly,NIAhasbecomeBJP'spet agency to intimidate &browbeat those who refuse tofall in line.”PeoplesConferencePresident

SajadLonesaid:“NIAraidsaddtothe environment of fear. GK es-sentially was one institution

whichstruggleditswaytothetop.The institutionnowstareshelp-lessly as fear and slander takeover. Hoping against hope thatsanityprevails.”The Kashmir Editors’ Guild

said: “ThoughNIA said that theraid was on GK Trust, GKManagementsaidtheinvestigat-ingagencycheckedthecomput-ers and took away the harddisks...KEGexpresses itsconcernoverthemountingcostsofbeinga journalist inKashmir. It hopesthatKashmirmediaispermittedto functionwithout hassles andhurdles.”

Top pvt labNadu,Bihar,WestBengal,Jammuand Kashmir, Jharkhand, UttarPradesh,Delhi,andUttarakhand.“Around2,000ofoursamples

are reduced every day across atleast100districtsbecauseofthis,andoneof themotivationsisob-viously theydon't reallywant toshowahigher positivity score-card.Theywanttoshowabetterscorecard,”Velumanisaid.Thyrocarehasbeenfacingthis

problemin30percentofthedis-tricts it collects samples from,Velumani said. He declined tonamethedistrictswherelabstaffwereallegedlybeingtoldverballytolimittesting.Ameera Shah,managing di-

rector of diagnostic chainMetropolis Healthcare, under-lined the crucial importance oftesting at this stage of the pan-demicinIndia. “Themorewein-crease testing and themore thatwe take care of thosewho areCovid-19positiveanddorigorouscontact tracing, the better ourchances of avoiding a possiblenext spike that is expected tocomeintheOctobertoDecemberquarter,”Shahsaid.Aseniorexecutiveofanother

large diagnostic firmconfirmedtheytoowere facing issuessimi-lar to the ones flagged byVelumani.This executive,whodeclined

tobeidentified,saidcertainpartsofMaharashtra andGujarat hadbeenengaging in suchpracticesintherecentpast.“Wecontinuetoseethishap-

pening. We’re not seeing thisevenlyspreadeverywhere,butincertainplaces.It’srandomandar-bitrary,andhappeningacrossdif-ferent districts across the coun-try,”theexecutivetoldTheIndianExpress.As a result, the firmhasbeenunabletorampuptestingtoitsfullcapacity,theexecutivesaid.“Basically, states have their

ownpressuresfornotwantingtoshowpositivecases.Becausethepressure is trickleddown, at thedistrict level,weare finding thatpeoplearetellingustodoamax-imumtotal number of tests perday,”theexecutiveadded.A top executive of another

major diagnostic firm, however,toldTheIndianExpressthatissuessuch as the one flagged byVelumani had beenmore com-mon“afewmonthsago”.Theexecutiveof thefirst firm

saidsomedistrictauthoritieshadalsoinstructedthemtorunthere-sultsbytheauthoritiesbeforere-leasing the final reports to theIndian Council of MedicalResearch(ICMR).“Theyhavesaidthatiftheytell

us to not release it (the reports),thenweshouldn’treleaseit...Thisis possibly affecting thenumberof testsbeingdoneand,possibly,thenumberof positives comingout,”thisexecutivesaid.Askedforacomment,ICMR's

media coordinator told TheIndian Express: “All the issueshighlighted are within thepurview of the respective stategovernments.ICMRisaresearchbody,whichhasplayedapivotalrole in guiding states on testingprotocolsandmodalities... ICMRdoesnothaveanyregulatoryau-thority. All states are free to de-cideonthelevelsofengagementwith theprivate andpublic sec-tor.”

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

Little Covid effect as over 54% come out to vote

Panel wanted to visit Leh, Defence says ‘not advisable’

About 27 km away, atBariyarpur village inMungerdistrict,maskswereararesightassecuritypersonnelaskedvot-erstowraptheirsareesorgam-chas around their faces. Insidethe booth at a primary school,therewas social distancing. Atthegatethough,thevotersstoodcheekbyjowl.“Iftheyarecreat-ingspaceinside,theyshoulden-sure distancing outside, too,”said Rameshwar Prasad, 48,whowaswaitingtovote.The architecture of each

boothwas the same. A shami-anaat theentranceandpollingagents, unmaskedmostly, sit-ting a little distance away. Andatthegate,two-fourwomenof-ficials, mostly Asha andAnganwadiworkers, on duty,holdingthermometersandsin-gle-usegloves.Asforthevoters,

once their fingerswere inked,theythrewtheglovesoutsideinopenbins, someonthegroundoutside. Insomebooths,maskswerehandedout,too.What did seem to work

though for the ElectionCommission,was thenumberofbooths.Withastipulatedlimitof1,000peopleperbooth,downfrom1500, therewereno longqueues across the districts ofBhagalpur, Munger andLakhisarai. In Munger town,RanjanTiwariwalkeduptotheMiddle School in Puraniganj at1 pm, not to vote, but to see iftherewasacrowd.“Ihaveagedparents. Iwanted to see if theycould come. There is nobodyhere. Iwillbringthemquickly,”hesaid.By3pm, fatigue seemed to

haveset inoverevenbasicpre-

ventivesteps.AtManoRampurvillageinLakhisarai,thegatesofShriGovindHigher SecondarySchool were wide open, andwomenofficialsmeanttochecktemperature and hand overgloveswereengagedinadiscus-sion among themselves. Therewas no attempt to check tem-peratureorissuegloves,andvot-ers went in without protest.“The elections are happening,ralliesaretakingplace,marketsareopen,sowillcoronacatchusin the voting booth?” asked avoter.InMunger,therewereother

elements in play, too. Everyshopintownhadtheirshuttersdown to protest the clash be-tween the administration andDurga devotees on Mondaynight that left a 22-year-olddead. “People are not coming

out as they used to,” said a BJPpoll booth agent. At 5 pm,Munger’sturnoutwasthelow-est of 16 districts at 43.64 percent.In Delhi, meanwhile, the

voting percentage was beingwatched closely amid appre-hensions amongpolitical par-ties over the pandemic. ButChief Election CommissionerSunil Arora said the turnoutvindicatedthepanel'sdecisionto hold the elections on time.“Iwanttothankthevoterswhocame out to vote in these ex-traordinarycircumstances,thepolitical entities for conduct-ingthemselveswithmaturity,andourelectionmachineryonthegroundforensuringallpre-cautionsaretaken,"Arorasaid.

(WITHRITIKACHOPRAINNEWDELHI)

sincetheArmyisfullyengagedwith the situation on the bor-der.“Thepresentsituationwith

soldiers from both sides incloseproximity;allofficersandmen are involved in ensuringfull preparedness, to preventanyescalationinthesituation.Accordingly, itmaynot be ad-visable for such a delegationcomprising VVIPs to visit Leh,Ladakhatthisjuncture.Afreshdatewill be intimated as andwhenthereissomedisengage-

ment on the ground,” a letterdated October 28 from theDepartmentofMilitaryAffairs(DMA) of the Ministry ofDefencesaid.The DMA is headed by

Chief of Defence Staff GenBipinRawat.Interestingly, a letter from

theDMAjustadayearlierhadnot objected to theMPs' visit.This first letter, datedOctober27,mentionedinputsobtainedfrom the ArmyHeadquartersregarding weather and tem-

perature. It said while theweather “appears tobeclear”,temperatures during the pe-riodof thevisit couldbe intherange of 2 degrees andminus10degreesatLeh,andthat thememberswouldrequireaccli-matisationwhen travelling toforwardareas.Based on these inputs, the

visit is “considered feasible”providedtheweatherisstable,the letter said.According to the earlier

itinerary, the MPs were to

have informal discussionswith representatives of theDefence Ministry and theNorthernArmyCommand inLeh on “provisioning, pro-curement and issue of highaltitudeclothing, equipment,ration and housing” on thefirstdayof thevisit. Thepanelwas supposed to visit theDefence Institute of HighAltitudeResearch (DIHAR) ofthe DRDO in Leh, and thenmakea fieldvisit toa forwardarea.

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Whatthe latest2+2meetingdid forIndia-UStiesNEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

In today’s episodeof th ‘3Things’podcast,we takea lookat the impactof the latestbilateraldiscussionsbetween IndiaandtheUS.

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WHYBJP IS CASHING INONTHEMANUSMRITI CONTROVERSY IN TAMIL NADUUnlikeinKerala,wheretheBJPgetstoattackboththerulingCPI(M)andtheoppositionCongress,thesaffronparty’sTamilNaduunithasalimitedcanvastotakeupissuesastheyruleattheCentrewhileallyAIADMKhasbeeninpowerinthestateforalmostadecade.

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IndianExpress★★★★★■4.6

Jaipur

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURALEXTENSION MANAGEMENT (MANAGE)

(An Organization of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,Govt.of India) Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030. Ph: 040-24594509,

Fax: 24015388 Email: pgcell@manage.gov.in

POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT(AGRI-BUSINESS MANAGEMENT)

PGDM (ABM) 2021-23MANAGE invites applications for admission to the 26th batch of its

prestigious two year full time PGDM (ABM) program.(Approved by AICTE)

ELIGIBILITY: The minimum qualification for admission is a Bachelor'sDegree from a recognized university or institution with at least 50%marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of SC, ST and Persons withDisability) in agricultural and allied sciences or any other discipline.Details such as eligibility, selection criteria, reservation, application form,application procedure etc., are placed on MANAGE websitewww.manage.gov.in.The candidate must have a valid Score of CAT-2020 conducted byIndian Institutes of Management.Note: Candidates may apply in anticipation of CAT 2020 results.Score card canbesubmitted separately after declarationof results.

stLast Date for Receipt of Applications:31 December, 2020

EXPRESSNETWORK 3WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

KERALA

Ministersgetbail inAssemblyruckuscaseThiruvananthapuram: Acourt here onWednesdaygrantedbailto two Kerala ministersin a criminal case regis-tered inconnectionwiththe ruckus inside theAssembly in2015duringthe tenure of previousCongress-led UDF gov-ernment. Chief JudicialMagistrate RJayakrishnan grantedbail to Ministers E PJayarajan and K T Jaleel,whoappearedbeforethecourt, and posted thematter for further hear-ingonNovember12.Thedevelopmentcameadayafter Kerala High Courthad declined to stay thesummons issued tothem. PTI

Jayarajan Jaleel

BRIEFLY

TELANGANA

KidnappeddentistrescuedbyAndhracopsHyderabad: Police inAnantapur district ofAndhraPradeshhaveres-cuedadentistkidnappedfromHyderabadTuesdayevening. Alerted byTelanganaPolice that thekidnappers were goingtowards Bengaluru,Anantapur Police set upwatchonseveralroads.Apolice team interceptedan SUV near theRapthadu toll plaza. Twokidnappersfledthen,butpolice nabbed the othertwo and rescued DrBehjas Hussain, workingat Kismatpur DentalClinic at Hyderabad.Later, police trackeddown the two who es-capedandnabbed them.The dentist was kidnap-ped by five burka-cladpersons. The kidnappershad later sought Rs 10crore from his family inbitcoincurrency.Officialssaid the kidnappingwasthe fallout of a financialdispute. ENS

PuneNGOlaunchesGivewithDignityPune: Pune-based NGOMukulMadhav Founda-tion has launched Givewith Dignity, a nation-wideinitiativetosupportmore than 2.8 lakh peo-ple from 70,000 familiesacross24stateswithgro-cery and hygiene kitsthatwouldsustainafam-ily of four for 21 days, astatement issued onWednesday said. As partof the exercise, items forthe kits will be sourcedfromlocalMSMEs,small-scale producers, smallandmediumfarmersandhome-based industries.The project has receivedsupport from the statesand Finolex IndustriesLtd, CavinKare, Marico,Hinduja Foundation,Nestle, Indorama andIndusInd Bank, amongothers. ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,OCTOBER28

FAMILY MEMBERS of a man,whose charredbodywas foundinsidealiquorshopinAlwardis-trict have maintained that hewasmurdered,while thepolicesaytheyhavefoundnosuchev-idenceso far.The two accusedwho have

been booked for themurder ofKamal Kishore, whowas in hisearly20s, areyet tobearrested.“Webelievethatmybrother

wasmurderedandhopethatthepoliceuncoverthetruthinitsin-vestigation. Initially the daywhen the body of my brotherwas found, our suspicion fell onRakesh and Subhash Yadav, theliquorcontractorsinwhoseshopmy brother used towork. Theydidn’tarriveafterhearingofmybrother’s death,” Roop Singh,elderbrotherofKishoretoldTheIndianExpressonWednesday.According to the police, on

Sunday, the charred body ofKishorewas found inside a boxattheliquorshop,whichusedtoberun fromacontainer.“The contractors later ap-

pearedonMondayandsaidthattheydidn’tcomeearlierbecausethey were afraid of publicreprisal. Theymay be innocentornot...Wewantthepolicetoin-vestigateandpunishtheculprits.

Wegottoknowthatthreediffer-ent groups had a fight near theshop a few days ago and hadthreatenedtoburntheshop.Wefear that’s why the liquor shopwas set ablaze andmy brotherwho was sleeping inside wasburnt todeath,” claimedSingh.He added that Kishore was

employedattheshopsinceearlythis year but he didn’t see himbring any salary home, despitethe contractors telling the fam-ily after his death that they hadclearedhisdues.According to the police,

among the two accused themother of Rakesh Yadav is thesarpanch of a village in Alwar.Butofficialssaytheyhaven’tyetfoundanyevidenceofmurder.“Sofarwehaven’t foundany

evidence suggesting murderand further investigation isbe-ingcarriedout.Amongthe twoaccused, Rakeshwas sufferingfromdengue fora fewdaysandwas admitted to a hospital.Kishore’s family has also sub-mitted an application sayingthat themurder was not com-mitted by the contractor,” saidTarachand Choudhary, circleofficer Kishangarh Vas, who isthe investigating officer in thecase.However, Kishore’s brother

saysthatthefamilywantsallas-pects to be investigated includ-ing theroleof the twoaccused.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAJAIPUR,OCTOBER28

THEPRESTIGEofboththemajorpolitical parties, Congress andBJP, is at stake as sixmunicipalcorporations in thestate’s threecitiesgo topollsonThursday.While the ruling Congress

eyestoreturntopowerintheur-ban bodies, riding on the confi-dence that the voters are satis-fied with its performance, theBJPfacesachallengetomaintainitsdominance.More than35.97 lakhvoters

will elect 560ward councillorsin two phases in the six newly-formedmunicipal corporationsof Jaipur, Jodhpur and Kota(Jaipur Heritage, Jaipur Greater,Jodhpur North, Jodhpur South,KotaNorthandKotaSouth).Thefirstphaseofpollingwill

beheldonThursdayintheJaipurHeritage, Jodhpur North andKota Northmunicipal corpora-tions,whereover16.54lakhvot-ers will cast their votes to elect250wardcouncillors.The second phase of polling

will take place on November 1andthecountingofvoteswillbedoneonNovember3.In the last polls, the BJP had

formeditsboardinthethreelo-calbodies,whichincreasedtosixcorporationareasafteradelim-itation exercise carried out bytheCongressgovernment.Thecorporationpollsarebe-

ingseenasabattleofprestigeformanyUnionandstateministers,including Chief Minister AshokGehlot. Jodhpur is Gehlot’shometown andUnionministerGajendra SinghShekhawat alsobelongs to thecity.KotaisthehometownofLok

Sabha SpeakerOmBirla aswellas state minister ShantiDhariwal.The prestige of the

Congress’s chief whip in theAssembly, Mahesh Joshi, andminister Pratap SinghKhachariyawas is at stake inJaipur,alongwithstateBJPpres-identSatishPoonia.All three cities are known to

be strongholds of theBJP. In thelast election, the saffron partyhadformeditsboardsinallthreecities and it hopes to repeat thefeat. According to Poonia, theCongress has failed to live up toitspromisesmadeintherun-uptothe2018stateAssemblypollsand the voters will teach thepartya lesson.

“Development works havecometoastandstill, so the frus-trated and troubled voters arereadytoteachtheCongressales-son in this election. I am confi-dent that people havemade uptheir mind to ensure theCongress’s departure from thestatewiththelocalbodiespolls,”Poonia said.State Congress president

Govind Singh Dotasra exudedconfidencethatthevotersof thethree citieswill give a stamp ofapproval on the work done bytheparty.TheCongresshasworkedfor

development,beit inthecorpo-ration areas or in cities, he toldPTI, adding that people are sat-isfied with the historic workdone by the state governmentduring its nearly-two-yeartenure, inspiteof thechallengesposed by the coronavirus pan-demic.“People are confident that

theCongress isdoingagoodjobby taking everyone along. Theywill surely stand with theCongressandthepartywillformtheboards,”Dotasarasaid.Joshi, who is overseeing the

election management of the

Congress in the Jaipur Heritagecorporation, isalsohopeful thatthe voters will gowith the rul-ingparty.“Excellentplansfordevelop-

ment, excellent managementduring the coronavirus pan-demic and Chief MinisterGehlot’s attempts to live up tothe aspirations of the people....TheboardswillbeformedbytheCongress,”hesaid.It maybe noted that the

RashtriyaLoktantricParty(RLP),aconstituentof theBJP-ledNDAat the Centre, is contesting thecivicbodypollson itsown.

BODYWASFOUND INALWARLIQUORSHOP

Kin claim murder,cops say no evidence

WhileBJPsaysthegovthasfailedto liveuptoitspromises, theCongisconfidentof itsperformance

Prestige at stake for Congress, BJP inpolls to6civic bodies starting today

Electionofficials leave for their respectivepollingstationsaftercollectingElectronicVotingMachinesatBhawaniNiketan, inJaipuronWednesday.Rohit JainParas

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAJAIPUR,OCTOBER28

RAJASTHAN BJP chief SatishPoonia onWednesday allegedthat there is a “well-plannedconspiracy” in the country toconvert people, after police inAlwar filed a case on a com-plaint by aDalitman.A case has been registered

under the SC and ST (preven-tion of atrocities) Act andothersectionsof the IPContheDalitman'scomplaintallegingthathewas forciblyconvertedto IslaminHaryana, accordingto police.Reacting over the issue,

Poonia said, “There is a well-planned conspiracy for con-version in the entire country,including Rajasthan. InHaryana too, a case of love ji-had has come to the fore. Insuchasituation, lawandorderhas becomeabig challenge inthe entire Mewat region inRajasthan.”The man, identified as

Mem Chand, forwarded acomplaintbypost to theofficeof Superintendent of Policeand also filed an ‘Istgasa’(complaint) in a local courtseeking a direction to the po-lice to lodgeacase, apoliceof-ficial said.Basedonthecomplaint re-

ceived by post on Tuesdayevening, SP (Alwar) TejaswiniGautam directed BarodaMevpolice station to fileanFIRun-der the relevant sections.

“The FIR was registeredagainst the accused onWednesday, and the matter isunder investigation,” Gautamsaid.She said the accused were

booked under the SC and ST(prevention of atrocities) Actand Indian Penal Code (IPC)sections for thrashing, hurtingreligious sentiments, etc.

Man files complaint over‘conversion’, state BJPchief alleges conspiracy

Jaipur

4THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Was targeted as I gaveModi a clean chit:Head of 2002 riots SITDEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

FORMER CBI Director R KRaghavan, who headed theSpecial Investigation Team (SIT)probeintothe2002Gujaratriots,has alleged that “false charges”werelevelledagainsthimbecausehegaveNarendraModi,whowasthenChiefMinister of Gujarat, acleanchit.In his autobiographyout this

week, Raghavan has also sug-gestedthat the investigationintothe Bofors scam,which he led,wassabotagedbytheUPAgovern-ment.Raghavanresignedaschiefof

theGujaratSITinMarch2017,andwas appointed HighCommissioner of Cyprus by theNarendraModigovernmentthatAugust.Hehad foundnoevidence to

establishthatModi'sgovernmentinGujaratwas inanywaypartoftheconspiracybehind2002riots.“False charges were aired

againstme... Iwas found incon-venient because I refused tobuythe argument that the state ad-ministrationconnivedwiththeri-oters who were targeting theMuslim community,” RaghavanhaswritteninhisbookARoadWellTravelled, publishedbyWestlandBooks.“The SIT’s unequivocal stand

on the chiefminister’s rolewasunpalatable tohis adversaries inthestateand inDelhi.Theyengi-neeredpetitions againstme, ac-cusingmeof favouring the chiefminister.Thegrapevinehaditthattheymisusedcentral agencies tomonitormytelephonicconversa-tions.Theywere,however,disap-pointednot to find anything in-criminating,”Raghavanhassaid.His investigations into the ri-

otshadbeen“clinicalandprofes-sional”, Raghavan has said.“Looking back, I am supremelysatisfied with what I did inGujarat. Efforts to dislodgemefromthe SITwerebecause Iwaspolitically inconvenient to thosewhowere in great danger of be-ingpermanentlyeliminatedfromtheIndianpolity.Iheldmygroundmuch to the annoyanceof thosewhowere opposed to the chiefminister.”Raghavanhasalsogivenade-

tailed account of Modi’s“marathon” questioning in thecaseattheSIToffice,andhasmar-velledatthe“energyoftheman”.Raghavan has written that

when the SITdecided toquestionModi, it wasconveyed tothe ChiefMinister'sstaffthat hewouldhave to pres-ent himself atthe SIT officeinperson.“He

(Modi) understood the spirit ofour stand and readily agreed tocome to theSITofficewithin thegovernment complex inGandhinagar,”Raghavanhassaid.“Modi’s questioning lasted

ninehoursinmyownchamberatthe SIT office. (Ashok)Malhotra(whoquestionedModi) toldmelaterthatModikepthiscoolrightthrough themarathon sessionwhich ended late at night. Heneverparriedquestions.Nordidhegivetheimpressionofpaddinguphisresponses.“WhenMalhotra asked him

whetherhewouldliketobreakforlunch,heinitiallyturneddowntheoffer.Hebroughthisownbottleofwater anddidnot accept even acupofteafromtheSITduringthemarathonquestioning compris-ingahundredoddquestions.Itre-quiredtremendouspersuasiontomakehimagreetoashortrecess.ThiswaspossiblyModi’sconces-sion to theneed for a respite forMalhotraratherthanforhimself.Suchwastheenergyoftheman,”Raghavanhassaid.Raghavanwas CBI Director

from January1999 toApril 2001.HeheadedtheSITbetween2008and2017.HeservedinCyprusun-tilOctober2019.On Bofors, in which he

chargesheetedRajivGandhiaftertheformerPrimeMinister'sdeath,Raghavanhas said that the casefacedmultipleobstaclesfromthegovernmentwhichhad“deliber-atelysabotaged”it.“The Bofors casewill remain

an example of how a genuinecase can be deliberately sabo-taged by a government run by apartywhichhasalottohidefromthe public. The guilt here restedsquarely on the shoulders ofthosewho controlled the CBI inthe 1990s and later during2004–14. ...The judiciary at themiddlelevelwasawillingaccom-plice, and its ‘holier than thou’claimherewasalmostacharade,”Raghavanhassaid.The CBI investigated the

Bofors bribery case for almost a

decadeandahalfwithpracticallyno result. Through 2004 and2005, charges against all the keyaccused, including theHindujaBrothers andRajivGandhi,werequashedbytheDelhiHighCourt,andtheCBIdidnot fileanappealuntil 2018, whichwas then re-jected by the SupremeCourt onthegroundofdelay.“If the historic investigation

did not ultimately succeed incourt, it was because of severalfactors, the chief amongwhichwere the changeof governmentin2004andcertainquestionablejudicialrulings.IconcedethattheCBI could have acted faster andnot given room for criticism; itwas tardy in its procedure,”Raghavanhassaid.He has, however, conceded

thattherewasnoevidencetoes-tablishthatRajivGandhitookanymoneyinthedeal tobuythe155mm howitzers for the IndianArmy.Raghavan has named some

officers whomhe considers tohavebeenverygoodintheCBI,in-cluding RakeshAsthana,who iscurrentlyDirectorGeneral,BorderSecurityForce.“Ihadsomeverygoodofficers

toassistme,likeGopalachariandPCSharma,bothspecialdirectors,belongingtothe1966batchoftheIPS. A fewof the otherswhom IwouldratehighlyareMLSharma,MSBali, Neerajkumar, ArchanaRamasundaram,AshokMalhotra,RakeshAsthanaandOmprakashGalhotra.”Raghavan has also written

abouthisstintintheIntelligenceBureau. Describing a meetingwith LTTE chief VelupillaiPrabhakaran atMadras airportwhile he was on his way toBhutan,Raghavanhassaid,“Theshort conversation I had withPrabhakaran was uninspiring.Hemumbled somethingwhichwashardlyintelligible.Itwasnotmerely because he spoke in theSri LankanTamil,which is quitedifferent from the standardTamilofTamilNadu.Hegavemethe impression of being ratherunlettered, in sharp contrast tohis alter ego, (Anton)Balasingham, who was suaveandarticulate.Eventssincethenhave proved that Prabhakaranknew only one language: vio-lence.”PrabhakaranwaskilledinMay

2009 in the Sri Lankan Army'sbrutal final assault on theTigers,which ended the civilwar in theislandnation.

Ex-CBIchiefRKRaghavan

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

LAUDINGTHEArmy for its highstandard of operational pre-paredness, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh onWednesdayexpressedconfidencethatwhilethesoldiersarestandingfirmonthe ground at the Line of ActualControl (LAC), the talks forpeacefulresolutionof theongo-ing India-China standoff willcontinue.Addressing the Army

Commanders’Conference,Singhalso paid tribute to the 20 sol-diers killed in hand-to-handcombatwith Chinese troops onJune 15 in Galwan Valley, inwhichanundeclarednumberofChinese troopshadalsodied.TheArmysaidinastatement

thatSingh,“commentingonthecurrent situation along theNorthern borders… expressedconfidencethatwhiletroopsarestanding firm, theongoingtalksfor peaceful resolution of crisiswill continue”.Hecomplimentedtheforces

“for thehigh standardof opera-tionalpreparednessandcapabil-itieswhichheexperiencedfirst-

handduringhisvisitstoforwardareas” and “paid tributes to thebraveheartsofGalwan,Kashmirand the North East for makingthe ultimate sacrifice in the de-fence of the motherland”, thestatement said.“It is our national responsi-

bility to ensure availability ofbest weapons, equipment andclothing to our troops bravingextreme weather and hostileforces to defend our territorialintegrity,”thestatementquotedhimassaying.TheDefenceMinisterlauded

the efforts of the Border RoadsOrganisation “working underdifficult conditions to connectfar-flungareas”.Regarding theWestern bor-

derfacingPakistan,Singhlaudedthe Army’s “response to crossborder terrorism and ceasefireviolations”andcommendedthe“excellentsynergybetween”thecentralforces,thepoliceandtheArmy“intacklingthemenaceofterrorism in Jammu andKashmir”, thestatement said.

FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THE CHINESE embassy in NewDelhi onWednesday slammedUS Secretary of StateMichael RPompeo andDefence SecretaryMark T Esper for their sharplywordedattackonChina,aftertheIndo-US2+2meetingonTuesday,and said that the two “repeatedold lies, attacked andmade alle-gations against China, violatednormsof international relationsandbasicprinciplesofdiplomacy,(and)instigatedChina'srelationswithothercountriesintheregion,which once again exposed theirColdWarmentalityandideolog-icalbias.”Expressing its firm opposi-

tion, the Chinese embassy saidthat the "Indo-Pacific strategy"proposed by the US ismeant to“stir up confrontation amongdifferent groups and blocs, andto stoke geopolitical competi-tion, in a bid to maintain thedominance of the US, organiseclosedandexclusive ideologicalcliques”.Itsaid,“Chinahasbeenadvo-

cating that development of bi-lateral relations between coun-tries should be conducive to re-gional peace, stability anddevelopment, and not infringeupon the legitimate rights andinterests of a third party. Theboundary question is a bilateralmatterbetweenChinaandIndia.The two sides have been dis-cussing disengagement anddeescalationintheborderareasthroughdiplomaticandmilitarychannels. China and India havethewisdom and ability to han-dle their differences properly.There'snospaceforathirdpartyto intervene.”The embassy stated, “We

urge theUS side to respect factsandtruth,abandontheColdWarand the zero-sum mentality,stop hyping up the so-called'China threat', and stop wrongactionsthatundermineregionalpeaceandstability.”

MAULSHREESETHLUCKNOW,OCTOBER28

ADAYof political dramaduringwhich a rebellion by a group ofBahujanSamajParty(BSP)MLAssuggested the possibility of asurpriseintheRajyaSabhaelec-tioninUttarPradesh,endedafterthe nomination of a wildcardeleventh candidate in the fraywas rejected on technicalgroundsduringscrutiny.This candidate, one Prakash

Bajaj, who filed his nominationas an Independentwith the ap-parentbackingoftheSamajwadiParty(SP),couldpotentiallyhavebeen the beneficiary of the BSPrebels' vote.Therejectionofhis candida-

ture has, however, ensured thatthere are only 10 candidates foras many vacancies from thestate, and therewill be no elec-

tion.TheBSP'sofficialcandidate,Ramji Gautam, is assured of aseatdespitehispartynothavingthe votes to push him over theline in theeventof acontest.Bajajhadfiledhisnomination

at the lastmoment on Tuesdayas the 11th candidate for the 10seats, raising the prospect of anelection. It seemedasthoughhewould get the spare SP votes –however, his nomination wascancelled on Wednesdayevening on grounds including awrongnamementionedbyoneofhisSPproposers.Earlier in the day, in what

looked likeamajorpolitical set-back to the BSP, six of its MLAssaidtheywouldnotsupportthecandidatureofGautam,theoffi-cialnominee.TheseMLAsmetSPpresident

AkhileshYadav'sat theSPofficein Lucknow, and alleged theyhad been shown no respect in

the BSP despite having servedthatparty foryears.TheMLAssaidtheywerenot

consultedonthecandidatureofthe official BSP nominee, andsomeof themalleged that theirsignatures had been forged.Ahead of the scrutiny of nomi-nations, this allegation seemedto put the candidature ofGautamunderacloud.While about 37 votes of

MLAs are required to elect onecandidate, the BSP, which hasjust 18 members in the stateAssembly, has fielded its candi-date.The move of the BSP was

seen by many as having beenmade in coordinationwith theBJP,whichhas fielded just eightcandidates forwhom the partyhasclearvotesalongwithitsallyApna Dal. Many believed thattheBSPhadfieldeditscandidateonly after getting an assurance

from the BJP. The SP, with 48MLAs, has fielded one officialcandidate.“We have no respect within

theparty. Iwasrecentlyinfectedwith Covid-19.While the UttarPradesh Chief Minister madearrangementsformytreatment,Akhilesh Yadav calledme per-sonally to know aboutmywellbeing.Butnoonefrommypartycalledme up. After I released avideopraising theCM,acoordi-natorwent tomy constituencyto tell people that there wouldbesomeothercandidate for theupcomingAssemblypolls,” saidAslam Raini, one of the BSPrebels,aftercomingoutoftheSPofficeonWednesday.“We have also given an affi-

davit in the Vidhan Sabha thatour signatures on the nomina-tion papers of the party candi-date have been forged,” Rainisaid.

Another MLA, MujtabaSiddiqui,alleged,“Wehavebeenshown no respect, and no oneconsulted us while taking thedecision to field the candidate.There are six of uswho feel thesame.It ismainlytheco-ordina-tors who are misguiding theparty, andwould lead it to dust.Theycarefornoone.Ihavegiven25 years to the party and havebeenMLA for three terms. Butstill,wehavenosayintheparty.”Besides Raini (Bhinga) and

Siddiqui (Pratappur), the BSPMLAs whomet Akhilesh aftervisitingtheVidhanSabhasecre-tariat were Chaudhary Aslam(Dhaulana), Hakim Lal Bind(Handia), Hargovind Bhargava(Sitapur), and Sushma Patel(MungraBadshahpur).The SP and BSP have been

arch rivals in UP, but had con-tested the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tions inalliance.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

THE CBI told the Bombay HighCourtonWednesdaythatactorRhea Chakraborty’s accusationthat twosistersof deceasedac-tor Sushant Singh Rajput ob-tained fake medical prescrip-tion for him “was presumptiveand speculative” and that suchspeculation cannot be on thebasis of an FIR.Theagencywasreplyingtoa

plea filed by Sushant's sistersPriyankaSinghandMeetuSingh,seeking quashing of an FIR

lodged against them after Rheaaccused them of forging andprocuring a fake medical pre-scription for their brother. RheaonTuesdayhad sought that theplea filed by the two sisters,through advocate MadhavThorat, bedismissed.Facingprobebycentralagen-

cies in connection withSushant'sdeathonJune14,Rhea

had on September 7 filed a po-licecomplaintagainstPriyanka,MeetuandadoctorfromDelhi'sRamManoharLohiahospitalforallegedly getting the late actorpsychiatric drugswithout con-sultation and by using a forgedprescription.In their plea, the sisters had

said that Rhea, as per the con-tentsof theFIR,hadmade“con-tradictory statements” aboutSushant's death. Pending hear-ing, theyhadsought interimre-lief to stay proceedings arisingout of the FIR and restrain theprosecutionfromtakinganyco-erciveactionagainst them.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

AMANwasarrested fromThaneby the Mumbai Police onWednesday in connection to thealleged TRP (Television RatingPoint) scam.Withthis,11peoplehavebeenarrestedinthecase.The police said the accused,

Ashish Chaudhary (50),was in-volvedinhelpingspikeratingsofthreenewschannelsinexchangeformoney.Aspertheremandreportsub-

mitted by the police before themagistrate court, Chaudhary's

namecroppedupduring the in-terrogationofAbhishekKolavde,whowasarrestedonOctober25.“During the interrogation of

Kolavde, it came to light thatChaudhary, who is a partner inCrystalBroadcastPrivateLimited,wasinvolvedinboostingtheTRPsof three channels, including twoHindi news channels, between2017 and2020,” the remand re-port stated. It added thatwhenChaudhary appearedbefore theCrimeBranch,hewasquestionedaboutKolavde'srevelations.“AfterChaudhary admitted to his role,hewasplacedunder arrest,” thereportsaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,OCTOBER28

ANEWdashboard launched onWednesdayprovidesacompre-hensive picture of India’sNational Ambient Air QualityStandards(NAAQS),whichcomeunder the National Air QualityMonitoring Programme(NAMP).TheCentrehadlaunchedthe

National Clean Air Programmeon January 10, 2019 to addressair pollution in122cities. Thesecities are referred to as non-at-tainment cities as they did notmeet the national ambient airquality standards for theperiodof 2011-15 under the NationalAir Quality MonitoringProgramme.The dashboard launched

Wednesday, set up by climateand energy news site

CarbonCopy inassociationwithMumbai-based start-upRespirer Living Sciences, pres-ents a comparative picture ofparticulate matter (PM) for all122cities since2016.It establishes a three-year

rolling average trend for PM2.5andPM10levelsacrossthecitiesfrom2016to2018.Among the key highlights it

haspresentedare:■ A total of 59 of 122 cities

hadPM2.5dataavailable.Noida

ranked theworst with 119, fol-lowed by Agra, Delhi, Lucknow,Ghaziabad, Muzzaffarpur,Kanpur, Chandigarh, HowrahandKolkata.

■Delhi ranked as themostpollutedstateonanaverageof3years’ PM10monitoring data,followedbyJharkhandandUttarPradesh.

■ Of the 23 states listed intheNCAPwithnon-attainmentcities,onlythreestatesorUnionTerritories—Chandigarh,Himachal Pradesh andPunjab—accounted for aboveaverage readings for all threeyears of PM10monitoring

■West Bengal and AssamwereonthemarginRespirerLivingSciencesCEO

Ronak Sutaria said at awebinarWednesday, “When analysingthe data, it is crucial to see thenumberofmonitorsavailableineach city, the increase or de-

crease of monitoring capacityyear over year and the numberof readings available permoni-tor every year. The dashboardgives a clear snapshot of whichcities had howmanymonitors,whatwastheiruptimeandwhatis the confidence in that data.The fluctuations and inconsis-tencyinthisdatawillhugelyim-pact the PM trends for any par-ticular city and will reveal thetruestatus.”Aarti Khosla, Director,

ClimateTrendsandPublisherforCarbonCopy, added, “At a timewhen the Central governmentaspirestobringoutanewlawtoaddress air pollution in theNationalCapitalRegion, it is im-portant to evaluate our existingregulations as the first step to-wards effective crisis manage-ment. TheNAMPdashboard al-lows us to look back and planahead.”

E●EXPLAINED

Willhelpanalyseeffectsonhealth

EXPERTSBELIEVE that there is a need to studyhealthdata in the country by considering air pollution as an im-portant risk factor. DrArunSharma,Director-Professor ofCommunityMedicine atUniversity College ofMedicalSciences, Delhi, said: “Amajority of healthmodelswhichestablish the relationship betweenair pollution andpub-lic health are basedonwesternmodels due to a lack ofhealthdata available in Indian context.When this datacanbemadeavailable, itwill give a true sense of the bur-denof respiratorydiseases in the country by geographi-cal distribution.”

Dashboard to monitor air quality of Indian cities

ARMYCOMMANDERS’CONFERENCE

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHENNAI,OCTOBER28

THE DECISION of the UnionMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare to appoint ABVP na-tionalpresidentDrShanmugamSubbiah as a boardmember oftheupcomingAIIMSinMaduraihas come in for criticism fromOppositionleaders,whoaskedifitwasan“endorsementof inde-cent behaviour” andwhy not asingleMPwas appointed to theboard.SubbiahwasbookedinJulyfor

allegedlyharassinga60-year-oldwomanneighbour by allegedlythrowing garbage andurinatingat her doorstep. The woman’sfamily had later told themediathat they had decided towith-drawthecomplaintdueto“pres-sure” for a settlement. Subbiahhaddeniedtheallegations.With three positions under

the MPs column left ‘vacant’,DMK president MK Stalin saidMPs from the statemust be in-cludedintheboardto"showre-specttopeople’srepresentativesin democracy”. DemandingSubbiah’s removal, Stalin urgedCM K Palaniswami to write totheCentreonboth issues.Thenotification— issuedon

October 15 by Joint SecretarySunil Sharma — came out in

publicdomainonWednesday.“Isthisanendorsementof in-

decentbehaviourandalsoanin-centive for other BJP cadres tofollow suit?” DMK MPKanimozhiasked.“Appointing an accused in a

case involvingwomen’sharass-ment as a member of AIIMS,Madurai. Isn’t this insultingwomen,” asked VCK MP DRavikumar.Karur Congress MP S

Jothimaniwrote to Unionmin-isterHarshVardhantowithdrawSubbiah’snomination.MDMK founder Vaiko and

Madurai CPI(M) MP SuVenkatesan also slammedSubbiah's appointment.Congress MP Manickam

Tagore tweeted, “Unbelievableaction by Health Minister@drharshvardhan . MaduraiThoppur AIIMS gets SubbiahShanmugamasmember.kindlywithdrawtheorderandremovehim from the committee. Howcan Dr Harsh Vardhan justifywhentheharassmentofwomenis still pending?”

DrShanmugamSubbiah

ABVP chief bookedfor ‘harassment’ isappointed to boardof Madurai AIIMS

TAMILNADUOPPNLEADERSSLAMMOVEMumbai Police arrest onemore in TRP ‘scam’ case

DAYAFTER2+2MEET

China slams US: Oldlies... exposed ideologicalbias, Cold War mentality

DefenceMinisterRajnathSinghspeaksat theArmyCommanders’Conference inNewDelhionWednesday.PTI

MikePompeo

RheaChakraborty

Rhea’s accusations against Sushantsisters are speculative: CBI to HC

Rajnath lauds preparedness,pays tribute to Galwan troops

BSP legislators’ revoltbriefly raisesprospectof acontest for the10LokSabhaseats

Day of drama in UP endswithwildcard candidate pushed out of race

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,OCTOBER28

A26-YEAR-OLDmanwaskilledafter a stray bullet hit him dur-inga clashbetween twogroupsof different communities inDakshin police station area ofFirozabad district late onTuesday evening. Three menwere arrestedWednesday. Anunidentified manwas also in-jured in the firing.VictimAmitGuptawas shot

while hewas standing outsidehishouse.HisfamilyWednesdayprotested at the Ghanta Gharcrossing,demandingcompensa-tion and action against the ac-cused.Theprotestwascalledoffafterofficialspromisedaction.“An FIR was lodged against

six named and 15 unidentifiedpeopleatDakshinpolicestationonWednesday. Three persons,whoplayedavital role inthein-cident,havebeenarrested,”saidASP, City, Mukesh ChandraMishra.According to police, one

Rizwanwas unloading banglesfrom his bike at a godown atBadhi Chapati locality onTuesdayafternoon. Meanwhile,ane-rickshawhitthebike,dam-aging some bangles. This re-sultedinaheatedargumentbe-tween e-rickshaw driver RajKumarandRizwan,saidMishra.Thematterwasresolvedfol-

lowinginterventionbylocals, in-cluding businessman SanjayGupta.After sometime,Rizwanandhisfriendscarryingfirearmsand sticks returned to the spotand fired in the air outsideSanjayGupta'sgodown.

UP: 1 shot as twogroups clashover road mishap

Jaipur

EXPRESSNETWORK 5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

Managing Director, Tiruppur Smart City LimitedDIPR /4027/TENDER/2020

Roc.No. E1/6630(XI)/2017 Date: 27-10-2020The Managing Director, Tiruppur Smart City Limited hereby invites “Request for Proposal (RFP)”

for selection of System integrator to Design, Supply, Implement, Operate, & Manage the IntegratedCommand and Control Centre in Tiruppur City under Smart Cities Mission Scheme. The RFPdocument for the subject project will be available at the following addresses on payment ofRs.10,000/- in the form of a Demand Draft from any scheduled bank, drawn in favour of “TheManagingDirector, TiruppurSmartCity Limited”payable at Tiruppur.

The “Request for Proposal” (RFP) document will be available for download at free of cost from thewebsite https://tntenders.gov.in from 29-10-2020 onwards. The RFPs should be accompaniedwith an Earnest Money Deposit as specified in the Tender Document.The RFP documents shall besubmitted on or before 3:00PMon30-11-2020at the following address:

The Managing Director,Tiruppur Smart City Limited,

Tiruppur City Municipal Corporation Campus, Municipal Office Street, Tiruppur-641604.Telephone: 0421-2240153. e-mail:commr.tiruppur@tn.gov.in

The RFP documents received after the due date of submission will not be accepted and suchproposals will be summarily rejected. For any clarifications regarding this tendering, the applicantsmay contact theCity Engineer, TiruppurCityMunicipal Corporation at 0421-2240153 during theoffice hours.

SELECTION OF SYSTEM INTEGRATOR TO DESIGN, SUPPLY, IMPLEMENT, OPERATEAND MANAGE AN INTEGRATED COMMAND AND CONTROL CENTRE IN

TIRUPPUR CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

TIRUPPUR SMART CITY LIMITEDTIRUPPUR CITY MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

SMART CITIES MISSION SCHEMENOTICE INVITING REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP)

240DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Andhra■Karnataka■TamilNadu■Kerala

7 DAYS EARLIER:

1.51NOW:

1.50

7 DAYS EARLIER:

7.87NOW:

7.57

DETECTED TODAY

43,893RECOVERED TODAY:

58,439

TOTALCASES

16,54,0288,11,8258,09,6387,14,2354,02,674

DOUBLINGTIME**184.39180.82121.75175.2738.31

SURGEIN24HOURS5,3632,9013,6912,5225,457

7-DAYAVGGROWTH*0.39%0.40%0.59%0.41%1.88%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:79,90,322TESTS: 10,54,87,680 | DOUBLING RATE: 115.82**

RECOVERED: 72,59,509DEATHS: 1,20,010

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

DataasonOctober28, releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbersincludedatafrompreviousdays.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

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,OCTOBER28

A GIRL, who was kept at a protection home inBareillyaftershehadallegedlyelopedwithayouthfrom another community and brought back fromRajasthan,hasbeensenttolivewithherparentsonthecourt’sdirectives. Policehavealsodropped thekidnapping case against the youth after the girlshowed documents that shewas 19 years old andhadgonewith theyouthonherown.OnOctober17,thegirl’sfatherhadlodgedanFIR

alleging that his “17-year-old daughter” was ab-ducted by a youth from another communitywithan aim tomarry her. He had also alleged that hisdaughter hadRs 8 lakh in cash and jewellerywithherwhenshewasabductedbytheyouth.The case led to the attack on the police station

by a mob allegedly led by local BJP leaders onOctober20.Policelatertracedtheyouthandthegirlfrom a hotel in Ajmer and brought them back toBareillyonSaturday.However,thegirlrefusedtogowith her parents, saying that shewas amajor andhadmarriedtheyouth.Shewasthensent toapro-tectionhome.Meanwhile,policelodgedaforgerycaseagainst

the youth, claiming that they have recovered twofakeAadhaarcardsof thegirl fromhispossession.OnTuesday,thegirlrecordedherstatementbe-

foreajudicialmagistrateinwhichsheclaimedthatshehadmarriedtheyouth.“Butsherefusedtogototheyouth’shouse, and insteadsaid that shewouldstay with her parents. The court then ordered tohandoverthegirl’scustodytoherparents,”saidASP(Bareilly)RavindraKumar.According topolice, thegirl showedhereduca-

tional certificatesasaproof that shewasamajor.Thegirl, however, couldnotproduceanydocu-

mentaryproof of hermarriage.

Bareilly girl decides tostay with her parents,kidnapping caseagainst youth dropped

BASHAARATMASOODSRINAGAR,OCTOBER28

A STUDY conducted byGovernment Medical College(GMC), Srinagar has found thatover 40 per cent of the popula-tion of Srinagar district has de-velopedantibodiesforCovid-19-- a quantum jump from a Junestudy, inwhichonly3.8percentofthepopulationhaddevelopedantibodies for thevirus.Thestudyshowedthathalfto

two-thirds of the sampled pop-ulation in someareasof thedis-tricthadantibodiesforthevirus."The present study showed amanifoldincreaseinseropositiv-ity among the Srinagar popula-tionascomparedtoourpreviousstudyconductedinJunethisyear,where sero prevalence of SARSCoV-2 Infection in Srinagar dis-trictwas just 3.8%. It shows thatthemajority of the populationhas been exposed to SARS COV-2virusandweshallstillcontinuetofollowSOPsreligiouslytopre-ventinfectionamongvulnerablepopulations especially elderlyand persons with co-morbidi-ties," said principal investigatorof the study Dr MuhammadSalim Khan, who heads theDepartment of CommunityMedicineatGMC.

Aspartof theOctobersurvey,whichwasconductedincollabo-ration with the Directorate ofHealthServicesand theNationalHealthMission, over 2,300peo-pleacrossthedifferentagegroupswere tested from20 clusters ofSrinagardistrict,coveringboththeurban and rural areas,with 40.6per centof the samples showingsero-prevalenceforSARSCoV-2.The studywas initiated after

ago-aheadfromtheinstitutionalethical committee. "Blood sam-plesofbothroundsofseropreva-lence study in Srinagar districtwere tested on high-endArchitect analyser of AbbottLaboratories,whichwasalsousedby ICMR during their recentcountrywideserosurveyofSARSCoV-2," said Dr SabhiyaMajid,whoheadsthebiochemistryde-partment at GMCand is the co-principalinvestigatorofthestudy."Ifweextrapolatetheresults

of thestudyonthegeneralpop-ulation of Srinagar district, wemaypresumethataround6lakhpeoplemust be expected to besero-positive to SARS COV-2amongstthe15lakhpopulationin thedistrict,"Khansaid.The study also revealed that

theprevalenceofantibodieswasmoreamongwomen—44.7percent—asagainst37.5percentinmen.

40% of Srinagar hasCovid antibodies,shows sero survey

Panaji: The Goa cabinetWednesday approved theopen-ing of casinos in the state fromNovember 1, Chief MinisterPramodSawantsaid.Casinosarethe second tourist attractions af-tershackstoreopenfollowingthe

lockdown. “Casinos will startfrom November 1. We havegiventhempermission,”Sawanttold reportersafter themeet.Thestatehas6on-shorecasi-

nosand10operatingoutof five-star resorts. ENS

Goa casinos to reopen Nov 1

MANOJCGNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

SENIORCONGRESS leaderRahulGandhionWednesdaysaidbothPrimeMinister NarendraModiand Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumararesilenton jobsandun-employment andare instead at-tackinghis andTejashwiYadav’sfamilies.Thiscomesafterthe

Prime Minister re-ferred to Tejashwi, theOpposition alliance’sChief Ministerial face,as the “prince of thejungle raj”. Kumar toohas been taking potshots at RJD chief LaluPrasad’s family.“Nitishji will talk about

Tejashwi’s family. He will saywrong things. NarendraModiji

will talkaboutmyfamily.Butthequestion that is there beforeBihar… of jobs, of the lives offarmers, about small traders…theywillnotutteraword,”RahulsaidatarallyinDarbhanga.“This election is not about

Laluji’s family, my family orNitishji’s family. This election isaboutthefutureofBihar.Andyoudon’thavethetameez(etiquette)

thatyouarestandingbe-fore the people of Biharand you will not talkaboutwhatthepeopleofBihar wants to hear…about their future, jobs,factories, sugarmills…magarultiseedhibaataapbologe,”hesaid.Rahul said thepeople of

Bihar gave 15 years to NitishKumar and six years to Modi.“Whatdidyouget?Biharisoneofthe poorest states. The youth of

BiharcannotfindajobinBihar. Itisanothermatterthat...theyouthcannot find jobs anywhere inIndia now. Not in Mumbai,Bengaluru or Delhi becauseNarendraModihasfinishedoffalljobsinthecountry…ThefarmersofBiharcan’tgetadequateprices.Bihar’s small traders, middle-sized businessmen…they can’tdreamofagoodfuture.Biharmeinsapna dekhnamanahai…that isthetruth,”hesaid.At Darbhanga and Valmiki

Nagar,Rahulspokeabouttheag-itationinPunjabovertheCentre’sthreefarmlaws.“For the first time I saw that

on Dussehra, the effigies ofRavan, Meghnad andKumbhakarnawere not burnt.For the first time, the effigies ofNarendraModi were burnt onDussehra. The people of Punjabaresmart,”hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

AS BIHAR went to polls onWednesday, thedeathof amaninaclashwiththepoliceduringthe immersion of Durga idolsflared intoamajorpolitical row,withtheOpposition lashingoutattheNitishKumargovernmentforacting like “GeneralDyer”.While RJD leader and chief

ministerial candidate TejashwiYadav demanded aHigh Court-monitoredprobeintotheallegedpolice firing inMunger district,theCongresssoughtanapologyfromtheChiefMinister.Topleadersof theopposition

alliance—Yadav, Congress’sRandeep Surjewala andCPI(ML)’sKavitaKrishnan—ad-dressed a press conference inPatna. Attacking Kumar andDeputy Chief Minister SushilKumar Modi, Yadav sought toknowwho gave permission tothe Munger Police to “act likeGeneral Dyer”—a reference totheinfamousBritishsoldierwhoordered the gunning down ofunarmedcivilians inJallianwalaBagh in1919.In New Delhi, Congress

spokesperson AbhishekManuSinghvi termed the ChiefMinisterandhisdeputy“ApradhKumar” and “Dushil Modi”, re-spectively. The Bihar govern-mentis“barbaric,cruel,unthink-ingand insensitive”,hesaid.Taking a swipe at the Chief

Minister, Yadav asked Kumar,who also holds the home port-folio, what he had done to pre-venttheincident.“Apartfromis-suing a few tweets, what didDeputy Chief Minister SushilModido?”headded.

Congress leaderRahulGandhiatarally inDarbhangadistrict’sGyaspuronWednesday. PTI

‘Poll about Bihar, notTejashwi kin ormine’

‘General Dyer,barbaric’: BiharOppn wadesinto Mungerkilling row

DECISION2020BIHAR

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THE CENTRAL InformationCommission (CIC) has pulledupthe National e-GovernanceDivision (NeGD), Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology(MeitY)andNationalInformatics Centre (NIC) for pro-vidinganevasivereplyonAarogyaSetu appand issued themshowcausenotices.Information Commissioner

VanajaNSarna, in an interimor-der onTuesday, asked theNIC toexplainthat“whenintheAarogyaSetuwebsiteit ismentionedthattheplatformwasdesigned,devel-opedandhostedby it, thenhowis it that theydonothaveany in-formationaboutcreationofapp”.ShehasaskedtheNICthatde-

spitehavingitsnameontheapp’swebsite,why it has no informa-tion about who created theAarogyaSetuapp.CIChaspassedthisinterimorderonacomplaintfiledbyRTIactivistSauravDas.Dashadasked for thecopyof theen-tire file related to the creationoftheAarogya Setu app, includingorigin of proposal, approval de-tails, companies,people, govern-ment departments involved, filenotings related to the app, com-mentson filesbyvariousofficersamongother details, but hewasnot provided the requisite infor-mation.CIChasaskedSKTyagiandD

KSagar(bothDeputyDirectorsatMeitY), RA Dhawan (SeniorGeneralManager-HRandAdmin)at National E-GovernanceDivision(NeGD)oftheMeitYand

SwarupDutta(Scientist-FatNIC)to explainwhyapenalty shouldnotbe imposedagainst themfor“primafacieobstructionof infor-mation”andforgivingan“evasivereply”totheRTIapplication.“TheCommissiondirects the

CPIO,NICtoexplainthismatterinwriting as to how the websitehttps://aarogyasetu.gov.in/wascreatedwith the domain namegov.in, if theydonothaveany in-formationabout it,”Sarnasaid intheinterimorder.NoneoftheCPIOswereableto

explain anything regardingwhocreated the App,where are thefiles, and the same is extremelypreposterous,theCIChaspointedout.Theorderstatesthat“thead-dresseescannotsimplywashtheirhandsoffbystatingthattheinfor-mationisnotavailablewiththem.Someeffortshouldhavebeenputin to findout the custodian(s) ofthe information sought by theconcerned public authoritieswhenapparentlytheyaretherel-evantparties”.CIC has observed in the in-

terim order that “it is a currentissue and it is not possible thatthere was no file movementwhilecreatingthisApp,acitizencannotgoroundincirclestofindout thecustodian”.“TheCPIO,NIC’ssubmissions

thattheentirefilerelatedtocre-ationoftheAppisnotwithNICisunderstandable, but the samesubmissions if accepted fromMeitY, NeGD and NIC in toto,then it becomesmore relevanttonowfindouthowanAppwascreatedandthereisnoinforma-tion with any of the relevantpublicauthorities.”

CIC slams NIC, MeitY forevasive reply on AarogyaSetu, issues notices

Irani tests Covid positive, asks those who came in contact to get tested

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

UNIONMINISTERSmritiIranionWednesday said she has testedpositive forCovid-19.The Women and Child

Development and TextilesMinister asked the peoplewhocame in contactwith her to getthemselvestestedforthediseaseat theearliest.“It is rare formetosearchfor

words whilemakinganan-nouncement;hence here'sme keeping itsimple -- I'vetestedpositivefor #COVIDandwould re-quest thosewho came in

contact with me to get them-selvestestedattheearliest,"shesaid ina tweet.

Irani campaigned for theBJPon Tuesday for the BiharAssemblypolls.Soonaftertheministermade

the announcement, wishespoured in forheronTwitter.Union minister Hardeep

Singh Puri said shewill emergestronger from this fight againstCovid-19.“Wishinggoodhealth&speedyrecovery toSmt@sm-ritiirani Ji. There is nodoubt shewill emerge stronger from thisfight,”hesaid ina tweet.

Smriti Irani

Jaipur

6WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

J&K REALTYNewland lawswillnothelpgovernmentbuild trust in formerstate.Guaranteesareneededtocheck landalienation fears

THE CENTRE APPEARS determined to go out of its way to court anger inJammuandKashmir,asif toconveytothepeopletherethattheyarecom-pletely incidental to its plans for the one-year-old Union Territory. ThenewlandlawsnotifiedonOctober27, likethenewdomicilerulesnotifiedinApril,donothingtoassurethepeopleof theformerstatethattheircon-

cerns on demographic change are being taken into consideration. Lt. GovernorManojSinha telling people, as late as themorning of the notification, to “rest assured” that nolandwouldbesoldtooutsidersfliesinthefaceof thenotificationthatopensoutJ&Klandfor sale to anyone from any other part of the country, with no protectionswhatsoever.Thereare23petitions in theSupremeCourtchallengingtheCentre’sAugust5,2019de-cision,revokingthespecialstatusof J&KandbifurcatingthestateintotheUnionTerritoriesof J&KandLadakh. Itwouldhavebeenproperforthegovernmenttowaitforthecourttopronounceaverdict on thesepetitions, lastheard inMarch, insteadof creatinga fait ac-compliontheground.If theCentrehadhopedJ&K’spoliticalpartiesmightreconcilethemselvestotheAugust

5,2019decisions,thechangestothelandruleshavemadeitevenmoredifficult forthemtodo that. Inaplacewherepeoplehavecometoviewthegovernment’s everyactionasanassaultontheirethnic,politicalandreligious identity, landrightstakeonhugesignif-icance. The sentimentwas reflected in the reactions of all political parties in J&K. ThePeople’sAlliance forGupkarDeclarationcalled ita“massiveassault”ontherightsof thepeople. Fears of demographic change have haunted the people of Ladakh, too, and theJ&Knotificationwouldhave sent shockwaves through thenewlyelected councillors oftheLeh-LadakhAutonomousHillDevelopmentCouncil.ButitisinBJP-dominatedJammuthat the feelingof havingbeen letdownby itsownismostpredominant.FromAugust5,2019,thegovernment’sactionsinJ&Khavesmackedofhubris,as if to

say, “wedowhatwedobecausewecan”.Thatmaywinsomeelections for theBJP,but itisnotasolutiontothelongstandingproblemsinKashmir.PrimeMinisterNarendraModiandUnionHomeMinisterAmitShahhadassuredthatthere isnoplantochangethede-mography of J&K and that the Centrewould take all steps to protect employment andlandrightsof thepeople.Theseassuranceshavetobewrittenintothelawtopreventfur-theralienationof thepeopleof J&K.

VERY NICE!Once,Kazakhstanfound‘Borat’offensiveenoughtoban.Now,

it’sclearthatthetargetof thesatireissomeoneelse

IN2006,whenBorat:CulturalLearningsofAmericaforMakeBenefitGloriousNationof Kazakhstan (or simply Borat), was released, it was promptly banned inKazakhstan.SachaBaronCohen’stitularcharacterisaKazakhjournalist,buthisportrayal bears no resemblance to the country, its culture or people. Many inKazakhstanwere lividat thecaricature in themockumentary—inwhichBorat

interviewedrealpeople,pretendingtobeajournalistandrevealedsomeofthehypocrisiesof American life. The character, meant to be deliberately offensive, also portrayed thecountryasbackward,feudal,deeplypatriarchalandprimitive.Cutto2020,andtheKazakhministry of tourismhas changed its tune in linewith the dictum that PR professionalsandDonaldTrumpliveby—there’snosuchthingasbadpublicity.TheKazakhstangovernmentreleasedashortvideo,whichcoincidedwiththerelease

ofBoratSubsequentMoviefilmonOctober23. In thevideo, touristsareseenenjoying thefood, the spectacular natural beauty and sights in the country, and each of them ratestheirexperienceas“verynice!”—Borat’scatchphrase. It turnsout that in2006, tourismsawaspike as a result of Borat. This time, cleverly, theKazakhgovernmenthasdecidedtocash inonthesequel insteadof banning it.The fact is that the people of Kazakhstan are notwho the Sacha Baron Cohen films

satirise.Borat’sover-the-toppersonalityisjustthehook—thepunchlinecomesfromthepowerful,theeliteofUSsocietyandtheirracismandsexism.Theirsuitsarebetter,thejar-gonmorepolished, but in the interviewswith the “Kazakh journalist”, they reveal theirbigotries and with Borat, say “very nice!” to discrimination. For the filmmakers,Kazakhstanwasclearly justaremotecountry inwhichtobasetheircharacter.But intheUS, particularly for conservativepoliticians, the fictional journalist has shown that per-haps there is sucha thingasbadpublicity.

Proceed with caution

VivekKatju

Excessiveoptimismoverapactwithelection-boundUSispremature

THE INDIA-US 2+2mechanism is the pri-maryvehicle togivemeaningful content totheBilateralComprehensiveGlobalStrategicPartnership. Its third meeting in Delhi onOctober27washeldwithonlyaweektogofor the US presidential elections onNovember3. The timingof this2+2sessionwasmost unusual especially because theelectionis,atbest, tightforPresidentDonaldTrump— the polls indicate that Joe Biden,the Democratic Party candidate, is wellahead of him. Perhaps, the NarendraModigovernmentfeltthatitwasimportanttosealthe Basic Exchange and CooperationAgreement (BECA) without delay and, forthis purpose, disregarded the time-testeddiplomaticconventionofavoidingmajorbi-lateral encounters on the eve of a potentialchange inapartner’s government.What ismore likely is theModi govern-

ment’s assessment that there is bipartisansupport intheUSforhigherandpositivebi-lateral ties. There ismerit in this view,withthecaveatthat,whiletheoverall frameworkand direction of the relationship is con-ducive, it cannotbeentirely insulated fromextraneousfactors. InIndia-USties,thelead-ing outside consideration is China. Here,again, there is littledoubtthataBidenpres-idency, should that be the choice of theAmericanpeople,wouldseektoensurethatChina’s rise is not at the cost of the US’sglobalpre-eminence.However, thestrategyandmethods itemployswouldbedifferentfromthatof itspredecessor. Further, evenaTrump 2 administration, with the electiondone, may change course in its China ap-proach. Hence, caution and prudence aregood diplomatic watchwords. They do notimplyeither timidityordiffidence.India-US ties are in the framework of a

partnership,notanalliance.Whilesomeel-ements of both structures overlap, there isamajordifferencebetweenthemapartfrom

their legal frameworks.Theformermaynotbe based on opposition to an outside ele-ment, the latter almost always is. Alliancesalsodemandamuchhigherpricethanpart-nerships, through loss of autonomy if theally is a bigger power. The crucial questionIndian foreign and strategic policymakershave to ask themselves is:What would bethenatureandcontentof India-USpartner-ship should aBidenadministration’s Chinastrategy, unlike that of the current Trumpadministration’s, rely in part on showingconcernforChina’ssensitivitiesinareasthatinvolve India’s concerns?Thus, it isgoodthattheagreementsfora

full defenceengagementwith theUSare inplace.Butit isonemattertohavethemdoneand an entirely different one insofar as thenatureandintensityofcooperationthatmayoccur is concerned—for, theseareonlyen-abling documents. Naturally, not muchwould be known in the public domain ofwhattheUSisreallysharingwiththeIndiandefenceforcesandtheintelligenceagenciesbut India’s tradition of relying on its ownstrengths in matters of national securityshould not be eroded in the hope that anoutsidepowerwouldprovideuseful inputs.There can be no quarrel with India and

the US jointly calling for an observance ofinternational norms in the Indo-Pacific re-gion.The2+2jointstatementdoesnotnameChina but its thrust is clear. China’s aggres-sivediplomaticposturesandactionsanditsgeneral conduct is also continuing to causedeepworrythroughouttheIndo-Pacificre-gion.TheQuadisbasedonacommonalityofconcernsonaccountofChina’sactions.TheTrumpadministrationhas impartedvigourto the Quad and, in the present circum-stances, India’s decision to go alongwith amore purposive group, including throughitsmaritimeexercises, is inkeepingwithitsinterests. The real direction that the Quad

will takehas toawait theUS’soverall Chinastrategy over the next few years. Excessiveenthusiasm on the Quad frontmay, there-fore, bepremature.Indiahastochangethenatureof itseco-

nomicandcommercial tieswithChina.Thiswill be adifficult process but there is no al-ternative if it wishes to proceed to the en-tirelyvalidobjectiveof reducingitsdepend-ence on Chinese manufactures. There is acongruenceof India-US interests regardingChinesetradepractices.Thus,thejointstate-ment’s reference on the need to “enhancesupplychainresilienceandtoseekalterna-tives to the current paradigm”was timely,thoughhere, again, the futureUSapproachisnot entirely certain.The areas where the bilateral partner-

shiphasthepotentialofevolvingmostpos-itively for India relate to health, educationandscienceandtechnology.Thesearenon-controversial,andthetimewhenIndiaheldbackfromachievingthefullpotentialof tiesin these sectors for ideological reasons islong past. There should not be any reluc-tance in developing ties in defence indus-tries, too, but it cannot be forgotten that nocountrywillpartwithanyof itscriticaltech-nologies. Intheshortterm, itmaybeneces-sary and satisfying to acquire advancedweapon systems needed for national de-fence, as they are being correctly acquirednow,butcantherebeasubstitutefordevel-oping indigenouscapacity for India’sneedsforweaponsystems?India-US ties will move positively for-

ward but there will be imponderablesahead, principally arising out of US strate-giestowardsChina.Also,becauseof thelec-tures that a Biden administrationmay givetheModi government. A close embrace ofanother country is alwaysproblematic.

Thewriter is a formerdiplomat

Alliances demand a muchhigher price thanpartnerships, through loss ofautonomy if the ally is abigger power. The crucialquestion Indian foreign andstrategic policy makers haveto ask themselves is: Whatwould be the nature andcontent of India-USpartnership should a Bidenadministration’s Chinastrategy, unlike that of thecurrent Trumpadministration’s, rely in parton showing concern forChina’s sensitivities in areasthat involve India’sconcerns?

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020WORDLYWISE

Buy land, they're notmakingit anymore.— MARK TWAINTHEEDITORIALPAGE

DishaNawani

ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALLConformityand inequalityarewired intooureducationsystem

WHAT IS ACTUALLY frightening has nowturned intoa joke—“It is probably easier togainentryintoheaventhanadmissionintoaprestigious Delhi University college.” LadyShri Ram (LSR), a popularwomen’s collegeinNewDelhi, this year announceda cut-offof100percentforthreeof itscourses,evok-ingawe,surpriseandevencynicism.It ledtoquestions like: Is it possible to get suchscores? Is it even desirable to numericallyquantify“learning”inthismanner?Inaone-correct-answerformat,whatisthescopeforvaluing diverse responses or perspectives?Whoare these students andwhere do theycomefrom?Arethesemarksafair indicatorofone’sability,competenceandmerit?Howdo they gauge competence or aptitude of astudenttostudyaparticularsubjectinaspe-cific college?What is the role of tuitions inescalatingexamscores?Rather than seeking answers to these

questions, it’s important to recognise thatboard exams bring together students be-longingtodiversefamilybackgrounds,withunequalsocialandculturalcapitalandthosestudyinginstarklydifferentschoolsintermsof resources,qualityof teaching,etc.,onthesame platform, to judge, rank and awardthem. Ignoring fundamental differencesamongstudentsintermsof theirsocial loca-tions, it treats everyone uniformly, giving afalse impressionof impartiality, thereby le-gitimisingbothsuccessandfailurewhilein-dividualisingstructural limitations.So,astu-dentwith99percentmarksonbeingturnedawaybyLSRmayfeelsad,butnotenragedorcheated because she regards the systemasbeing essentially just. In a situationwhereaspirantsfarexceedopportunitiesavailable,

board exammarks are used to eliminatesomestudents fromaccessing certain edu-cational degrees and spaces, such that stu-dentsthemselvesungrudginglyaccepttheirfailure as a result of their own inadequacyor incompetence.It canbesafelyassumedthatmosthigh-

scorersare fromfamiliesequippedwithso-cialandculturalcapital,arehighlymotivated,andproactively supported (orarranged for)in their studies. Most of them study inschoolswith good infrastructure andquali-fiedteacherswhoalsorecognisetheimpor-tanceofmarksintheseexams,and,mostim-portantly, they have acquired the “smart”way of “learning and writing” exams.Debating overwhether these students areacademically brilliant or not is not impor-tant.Buttheonethingwhichiscertainisthatinaneducationsystemwhereallknowledgeis quantified, subject to beingmemorised,evaluatedandranked, thesestudentsknowhowtolearnandpresenttheiranswers.Evenamongthesocially-culturallydisadvantagedgroups, the better-off onesmake it to thisprivilegedcategoryof highscorers.Schools in our country are either affili-

ated to central, regional or internationalboardsof examination.Therearevariationsin thesocio-economicbackgroundsof stu-dents studying in these schools. In addi-tion, there are discrepancies in marks al-lotted tostudentsamongtheseboardsduetopoliciesadoptedbythem, impacting thefuture trajectories available for students.Forexample,eventheUPboardtopper thisyear,withascoreashighas97percent,willnot be consideredeligible by LSR for someof its courses.

So,arelativelyhomogenousgroupofstu-dents gets into a particular college.Differences in caste, religion and ethnicityoftenget submergedunder theumbrella ofacademicexcellence.Thecollegefurtheren-sures its exclusive status, highlights its dif-ferencesfromothers,exertspressureonstu-dentstosecurepositionsinuniversityexams,hankers after awards in inter-college com-petitions, aspires for top rank in college rat-ingsandabhorsweakness/limitation/failureof any kind on part of either the student orcollege. This leads to: Blocking a heteroge-nous group of students from studying to-gether;mitigatingdifferences,ifany,anden-suringcommonality;promotingatendencyamongstudentstohidetheiridentities;com-modification of education as a brand; cele-bratingelitismamongaselectfewandalien-ationamongmostothers.By the timethesestudents complete their education,most ofthemnot just thinkbutact alike. Itwon’tbeanexaggerationtostatethatevenfromadis-tance, one can actually identify the collegethatagroupof studentsbelong to.It’s time that we reflect on the kind of

worldwearecreatingthroughoursystemof“formaleducation,assessmentandrewards”and its implications on young students. Apandemic like COVID-19 should have beena good opportunity to do that. Instead, wehave preoccupied ourselveswith adoptingmoreexclusionarydevicestoteachstudents,ignoringthelargeraimsofeducationanditsrelationshipwithsociety.

Nawani isprofessoranddean, schoolof education,Tata Instituteof Social

Sciences,Mumbai

A relatively homogenousgroup of students gets into acollege. Differences in caste,religion and ethnicity oftenget submerged under theumbrella of academicexcellence. The collegeensures its exclusive status,highlights its differencesfrom others, and abhorsweakness or failure of anykind on part of either thestudent or college.This blocks a heterogenousgroup of students fromstudying together; celebrateselitism among a selectfew and alienationamong most others.

CLASHES IN DIGBOITHESECONDPHASEof theAssamagitationonthe foreigners’ issue,whichcommencedwithastatewidebandh,wasintensifiedwithagheraoofMLAsandblockadeof themove-ment of jute, timber, cane and bamboo.Though a strong police force had been de-ployedattheMLAshostel inGauhati,a largenumberofvolunteerssneakedinatnight. Inan incident unrelated to the agitation but asign of the rising tension in the state, twogroups clashed in the oil town of Digboi inUpperAssam.Thetownhasbeenplacedun-der indefinitecurfew.Ramamurthy,advisertotheGovernor,saidthetroublewassparkedoff bya rumour that someBengali boyshad

beendetainedbyAllAssamStudents’Unionvolunteers. He said 13 Assamese boys andgirlswerekeptconfinedasareprisal ina lo-cal school by students of the All AssamMinoritiesStudents’Union.

HUNT FOR REBELSTROOPS BEGAN COMBING parts of Imphaltown for insurgents in the first such opera-tion in the state capital. The houses of thePeople’s LiberationArmy (PLA) top leaders,including N Bisheswar, are in the localitiesbeingchecked.Theareaswereplacedunderan indefinite curfew. The wholeManipurValley was declared a disturbed area onSeptember8.

NAM PEACE MISSIONITISNOWcertainthatIndiawillbeamemberof thepanel,which thenon-alignednationsare settingup tobring anend to the currentwarbetweenIranandIraq.Althoughnegoti-ationsareoninNewYork,indicationsarethatthepanelwillbechosenfromthePalestinianLiberationOrganisation,India,Cuba,Algeria.Zambia,Pakistan,SriLankaandYugoslavia.

INSURANCE POLICYANEWGROUPinsuranceschemeforcentralgovernment employees on self-financingand contributory basis is being introducedin place of the scheme started in July 1977.TheUnionCabinethasapprovedthescheme.

OCTOBER 29, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

SOCIAL JUSTICE PLUSFirstroundofBiharpolls isanendorsementofelectoral

democracy,campaignpointstoapost-Mandalphaseofpolitics

THE53.34PERCENTturnout inthe first roundofBiharassemblyelections—polling in2015was56.9per cent— is remarkable. Political parties, ex-cept for the ruling JD(U)andBJP,hadraisedapprehensions that fewpeo-plearelikelytoturnouttovoteinviewof theCOVID-19situationandhadcalled for a postponement of the elections. However, electioneering has

been in full swing,withpoliticalpartiesdeployingtheir full armoury inthecampaign—remarkable sincemanyministers and leaders had contracted the coronavirus. Politicalgroups alsoused socialmedia and technology toovercome the restrictions imposedbytheElectionCommissionduetothepandemicandreachouttovoters.Therobustturnoutandrelativelypeacefulvoting in71seats isheartening, for it amounts toacelebrationofthedemocraticprocessandevidence that citizens take their right tovoteseriously. Thisbeing the first election since the virus outbreak inMarch, the ElectionCommissionhasreasons tobeproudof itswork.Bihar,of course,hascomea longwayfromthetimewhenelectionsweremarkedby

boothcapturingandothersuchactsofviolence.Thelastthreedecadeshaveseenadeep-eningofelectoraldemocracy,withacross-sectionof thesocietygettingtoexercisetheirfranchise freelyandfearlessly.Thisprocessofdemocratisationwasfacilitatedbytheso-cial justicepoliticsthatemergedfromtheMandalrevolutioninthe1990s.Casteidentityand empowerment of the lower castesmarked the initial phase of this transformativepoliticsandset theelectoralagendaforthreedecades.Thatseemstohavechanged.LaluPrasadYadavandNitishKumar, facesof social justicepolitics, continue tobepart of theconversation,butthepollnarrativehasbecomeMandal-plus.ThequestionofeconomicjusticehasloomedlargeinthecampaignwithLalu’sheirandtheRJD’sCMface,TejashwiYadav,makingunemploymentakey issue. TheBJP,which initially lampooned theRJD’spromiseof10lakhnewjobs,hashadtorespondwithanevenlargernumber(19lakh) initsmanifesto.Thehighunemploymentrate inBihar—thesecondhighest inthecountry—andpooreducationinfrastructureareissuesthatresonatewiththeyouth,abigchunkof the electorate. Voters acknowledge that Nitish Kumar improved law and order andpublic infrastructuresuchas roads,powerandwater.But theyalsoseehisomissions.Whateverbe theoutcomeof this election, politics inBihar appearspoised for anew

phase.Oldformsof identitypoliticsseemsettorecedeasdevelopmentalconcernsdom-inateelectionagendasandvotersdemandaccountability fromrepresentatives.

Jaipur

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“Unable to take on China for obvious reasons, the US is turning on soft targetslike Sri Lanka dependent on Chinese aid, and has forged alliances with othernations to shore up its diminishing power” —THEISLAND,SRILANKATHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

The expression ‘urbanNaxals’ allegedly designatesurban Maoists, in contrastwith those in rural India.This expression was coinedby Arun Jaitley in 2014 todescribe activists of the AamAadmi Party, a regularpolitical outfit. But thecurrent usage owes much toBollywood film directorVivek Agnihotri, whodefines an ‘urban Naxal asan intellectual, influencer oractivist who is an invisibleenemy of India’. The idea ofsuch a conspiracy waspropagated, however, by theSangh Parivar, via itssupport to Agnihotri.

Mirrors of Bhima Koregaon Alliance,arithmetic andleadership

THE INABILITY of any one political partyto win a majority on its ownmakes al-liance formation crucial for winning anelection in Bihar. This has been the storyof the last seven assembly elections andcontinues to be the story now. Neither ofthetwonationalparties, theCongressandBJP,northetwodominantregionalparties,the JD(U)andRJD, are inaposition towinamajority on their own. Smaller regionalparties like the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP),Hindustan AwamMorcha (HAM) of JitanRamManjhi, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party(RLSP) of Upendra Kushwaha orVikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) of MukeshSahani enjoy limited support. NitishKumar is a popular chief minister but hiscapacitytowinvotesforhispartyremainslimited, given its presence in only a fewdistricts.Evenathispeak,LaluPrasadwasunable towin amajority onhis own. Thispoliticalpluralitymakesalliancekeytotheelectoral success. Any alliancewhich hastwoof thethreemajorparties—theJD(U),BJPandRJD—enjoysadefinitiveleadoverits rivals. The verdict of various electionsin Bihar over the last few decades hasneverdefied this trend.The inabilityof anyparty towinama-

jorityon itsowncouldbeexplainedby itssupportbase,whichremains limited.TheJD(U)andRJDarepopularmainlyamongstcastes in the OBC category—Kurmis andYadavs, respectively. The other two re-gional parties, LJP and HAM, attract theDalit vote. The RLSP enjoys supportamongst one dominant OBC caste, theKoeris, while Pappu Yadav’s Jan AdhikarPartyiseyeingyoungYadavvotersbesidestrying to attract voters from other castecommunities. Keeping inmind the size-ablenumberofMuslimvotersinBihar,theAIMIM hasmade an entry in Bihar elec-tions in recent times.Post-Mandal politics has inculcated a

strongsenseofpartyloyaltyamongstsup-portersof regionalparties, shapedlargelyby their caste identity. The sectional sup-portbaseofparties, their inabilitytomovebeyond their core support base to attractnewvoters,hasforcedpartiestoformpre-poll alliances aimed at transferring thevotes of their core supporters to eachother formaximisingelectoral gains. Theuppercasteshadbeenthecoresupportersof the BJP, and two upper-backwardcastes,KurmisandKoeris,havebeencoresupportersof theJD(U).Theallianceof thetwo along with other parties has helpedconsolidate the votes of these castes fortheNDA.Similarly, Yadavs andMuslims have

beenthecoresupportersoftheRJDandtheCongress still manages to get some votesamongstvariouscastes.Muslimsandvar-ious lower OBC castes have voted for theCongress in some constituencies. The al-lianceof theRJDandCongresswouldcon-solidate theMuslim and Yadav vote. Thejoining of three Left partieswith the RJD-Congress alliance would help furtherconsolidation of votes in favour oftheMahagathbandan.The question is: Which formation is

ahead in theelectoral race?Goingbytheaforementionedinforma-

tion,theNDAseemstobeaheadatthemo-ment. What makes the NDA’s positionslightly stronger is the sub-alliance theJD(U)hasmanagedtoformwithHAMandthe BJPwith the VIP. This alliance shouldconsolidate theuppercastes,Kurmis, sec-tions of lower OBC votes, especially fromtheMallah caste and non-Dushad Dalitvotes. This social coalitionshouldresult inelectoralarithmeticconducivefortheNDAtowintheseelections.Electoralarithmeticnormally pays dividends, but not always.Recall what happened in UP during the2019 Lok Sabha election— even as allies,theSP-BSPcouldnotprevent theBJP fromregisteringabigvictory inUP.ThismaynotworrytheNDAtoomuch,

butwhatmaybeacauseofconcernfortheNDA is the declining popularity of NitishKumar, though he remainsmore popularthananyotherleaderfromtheoppositionparties. The youth seems to be unhappyduetogrowingunemploymentinthestateand large numbers of them blameNitishKumar for this. While the employmentscenariowasnotgoodbeforelockdown, ithas certainly made the situation evenworse.Addtothis15yearsofanti-incum-bencyandpeople’sdissatisfactionwiththesittingMLA.ThedecisionofChiragPaswanto contest elections against JD(U) candi-dateswiththesoleaimofdefeating JD(U)shouldalsobeamatterof concern for theNitish camp.Goingbythispicture,thegoingforNDA

in 2020 could have been tougher than itlooks likeat themoment, had theopposi-tionparties been able to formaunited al-lianceagainstNitishKumar, ledbyapopu-larleader.Buttheoppositionisfragmented.And this could result in a split in the anti-NDAvotes.NotonlywastheMahagathbandanun-

able to retain its 2015 ally, the JD(U), forlong,butevensmallerregionalpartieslikeHAM, RLSP and VIP which were part ofMahagathbandan during the 2019 LokSabhaelectionshavealsodesertedit. Somewere unhappy with the seat-sharingarrangementwhileothershadissueswiththe leadership of the alliance. Such a situ-ation within the opposition camp willhardlyenthuseeventhosevoterswhomayhave thought of switching from the NDAtoMahagathbandan. All in all, the NDAseemstohaveanedgeat themoment.

Thewriter isprofessoratCentre for theStudyofDevelopingSocieties,Delhianda

politicalanalyst.Viewsarepersonal

TheNDAhasaslightedge in theBiharpolls,despiteNitishKumar’sdwindlingpopularity

Thearrests in thecase frameatransformation in India’spolityandpolice force

ONOCTOBER23,StanSwamy,an83-yearoldJesuit priest, was sent to judicial custody intheBhimaKoregaoncase.Hisisthelatestar-rest in a case that illustrates a significanttransformationinIndia’spolityandthecoun-try’spolice force.Bhima Koregaon is a village in

Maharashtra’s Pune districtwhere, in 1818,Dalit soldiers of the British army, mostlyMahars, trounced the troops of the localruler, Peshwa Bajirao II, a Brahmin. OnJanuary 1, 2018, like every year, Dalits ofMaharashtra, mostly Mahars, gathered tocommemorate this event.On theeveof theevent, an Elgar Parishad (“Congress forSpeakingAloud”)inPune,whoseorganisersincluded two retired judges, saw speakerscontesting “homogenising Hindutva” andcriticising the NarendraModi government.Thepolice allege that thiswas theprovoca-tion for violenceatBhimaKoregaon— par-ticipants of the eventwere attacked by up-per-casteHindunationalists.Theyretaliated,leading to thedeathof oneperson.A Dalit activist filed a complaint against

twomen, Sambhaji Bhide, who had pastlinks with the Sangh Parivar, and MilindEkbote, a former BJP corporator who hadbeenjailedseveraltimes—ononeoccasion,forparticipatinginacommunalriot.Thelat-terwenttojailbriefly,butthepolice, inspiteof the report showingbothmenguilty of “awell-plannedconspiracy,” began lookingata different angle after a disciple of Bhide,TusharDamgude, filedacomplaint.This shift took place while the Pune-

basedForumforIntegratedNationalSecurity—seenasclosetotheRSS—wasputtingforththe notion of aMaoist conspiracy. Soon af-ter, the policemade new arrests — the ac-cusedwerepresentedas “urbanNaxals”.The expression “urban Naxals” desig-

nates alleged urbanMaoists — in contrastwith those in rural India, particularly thecountry’stribalareas,whicharethecrucibleof theIndianversionofMaoism,“Naxalism”.This expressionwas coined by Arun Jaitleyin 2014 to describe activists of the AamAadmiParty,aregularpoliticaloutfit.ButitscurrentusageowesmuchtoBollywoodfilmdirectorVivekAgnihotri,whodefinesan“ur-banNaxalasanintellectual, influencerorac-tivistwho isan invisibleenemyof India”.The idea of such a conspiracywasprop-

agated,however,bytheSanghParivar.A2019booklet attributed to the RSS, to whichAgnihotrialsocontributed,arguedthat “ur-banNaxals” had not only been “infiltratingpolice, armed forces, bureaucracy and civilservices”buthadalsomounteda“campaignto overthrow the Indian government” andthat“allLeft-leaningprofessorsandjournal-ists [we]re Naxal supporters and even sup-port[ed]violencebyNaxalgroups…”In September 2018, the then Home

Minister, Rajnath Singh, warned thatNaxaliteshad“cometothecitiesandaretry-ing to influence people.” PrimeMinisterNarendraModihimselftoldstudentsin2019towonderwhether“urbanNaxals,somepeo-plewho consider themselves intellectuals,arenottryingtogainpoliticalmileagebyput-ting a gun over your shoulders […] Youwillhave to findout if this is not a conspiracyby

themtodestroyyour life. Theycannot thinkof anythingelsebuthatredforModi.”In June 2018, theMaharashtra police —

theBJPledtherulingcoalitioninthestateatthe time— in the course of its investigationintheBhimaKoregaoncase,arrestedfive“ur-banNaxals”whowere accused, not only ofinstigating violence (in spite of the fact thatonly two of them took part in the ElgarParishad), but also of plotting a “RajivGandhi-style” assassination of Modi. TheirprofilematchedthatdescribedbyAgnihotri:SurendraGadlingwasalawyer,ShomaSenaretired English professor, Sudhir Dhawale apoet and publisher, andMahesh Raut andRonaWilsonwere human rights activists.Twomonths later, thepolice arrestedpoet-activist Varavara Rao, lawyer and tradeunionist Sudha Bharadwaj and human-rights activists-cum-authors-and-colum-nists,ArunFerreiraandVernonGonsalves.Twomore“urbanNaxals”werearrested

inApril2020:First,AnandTeltumbde,afor-mer Bharat Petroleum executive, regularcontributor to the Economic and PoliticalWeekly (EPW),professorattheGoaInstituteofManagementandauthorof anumberofbooks, includingRepublicofCaste;andthen,GautamNavlakha, anex-editorial consult-antof theEPWandmemberof thePeople’sUnion for Democratic Rights. Earlier thismonth, Swamy,who hasworked amongstthe tribals of Jharkhand, was arrested alsobecause of his allegedMaoist links.Theywereallaccusedunderthedracon-

ian anti-terror law, the Unlawful ActivitiesPrevention Act, of a conspiracy aimed atoverthrowing the government and assassi-nating the PrimeMinister. The accusationsweremadeon thebasisof letters recoveredfrom the computers of two of the arrested.Amnesty Tech, theAmnesty International’sdigital-security team, discovered subse-quently that one of these computers con-tainedmalwareallowingremoteaccessandalleged that the letters could have beenplanted. The allegation that the letters hadbeenmanufactured cannot be dismissedgiventhatthecommunicationof theNaxalsis alwaysheavilycoded.While searching the houses of the ac-

cused, theMaharashtra police listed as evi-dence against the accused literature that isnot banned— they also commented on thepolitical ideasandsocial attitudesof theac-cused.Forinstance,themeninuniformwhosearchedthehouseofVaravaraRao’sdaugh-terPavanaandson-in-lawK.Satyanarayana,

a professor at the English and ForeignLanguages University in Hyderabad, asked,“Why are you reading books onMao andMarx?WhydoyouhavebookspublishedinChina? (…)Why are there photos of PhuleandAmbedkarinyourhouse,butnophotosofgods?’’ToRao’sdaughter, theysaid,“YourhusbandisaDalit, sohedoesnotfollowanytradition.ButyouareaBrahmin,sowhyareyou not wearing any jewellery or sindoor?Why are you not dressed like a traditionalwife?Does thedaughterhave tobe like thefather too?” In trying tomakepeople com-plywiththeupper-casteversionof theirre-ligion and exhorting them to reject leftistideologies in an anti-intellectual manner,such policemen echo the discourses of theHindunationalist vigilantes.The internationally renownedhistorian,

RomilaThapar, andother scholars filedape-titioninAugust2018againstthesearrests.Buttwoof thethreejudgesonthebenchrefusedtoreleasetheaccusedonbail.Thedissentingjudge,JusticeDYChandrachud,observed:“Aclear-cutdistinctionhastobemadebetweenopposition to government and attempts tooverthrowgovernmentbyrisingupinarms.”Forhim,theBhimaKoregaoncasewas“anat-tempt by the state tomuzzle dissent…eachof themisprosecutedforbeingadefenderofpersonssubjectedtohumanrightsviolations.”In other words, the accused in the BhimaKoregaoncasewerevictimsofjudicialauthor-itarianismandpoliticalprisoners.A day after the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress

government—whichhad replaced theBJP-led government after the September 2019elections — decided to review the charg-esheet against the accused, the UnionMinistryofHomeAffairshandedoverthein-vestigation to theNIA.On October 20, Michelle Bachelet, the

United Nations High Commissioner forHumanRights“urge[d] theGovernment [ofIndia] to ensure thatnoone […] isdetainedfor exercising their rights to freedomof ex-pressionandpeacefulassembly—andtodoitsutmost,inlawandpolicy,toprotectIndia’srobustcivil society”.Shealsourged“theGoIto release people charged under theUnlawful Activities Prevention Act for sim-plyexercisingbasichumanrights that Indiaisobligated toprotect.”

Thewriter is senior research fellowatCERI-SciencesPo/CNRS,Paris, andprofessorof IndianpoliticsandsociologyatKing’s

India Institute

Christophe Jaffrelot

SanjayKumar

HOLLOW IDEAS

THISREFERSTOthereport, ‘Dynastyofcorruption fromgeneration to genera-tion makes country hollow: PMModi’(IE, October 28. ) The PM ad-dressed the challengeof “dynastic cor-ruption” and urged citizens to fightagainst it.Anothereventtookplacethesameday—a21-year-oldwomanwasshotby twomen;oneof theaccused isthegrandsonofanex-MLA. Foralmostsevenyears, theModi governmenthasbeen trumpeting hollow ideas.Withcasesofphysical,mentalandsexualha-rassmentbecomingroutine,thegovern-mentandpublichavebrushedthemun-derthecarpet.ThePM’sspeechisfutile.

AnkitaSharma,Panchkula

CHANGE PATTERNTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘ResisttheBinary’(IE, October 28). The long-termsolutiontostubbleburningistochangethecroppingpattern.Milletsandpulsescanbeencouraged. Unfortunately,stategovernmentsrelyonriceandwheat tokeep farmers happy. The Punjab legis-lation to ensureMSP security only forthese twocrops isacase inpoint.

DimpyBhatia,Delhi

IMMATURE POLITYTHIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Give re-formsachance’(IE,October28).Theun-warrantedpoliticisationof theissuebysomestategovernmentsindicatesthat

Indian democracy and federalism areyet tomature. The 1991 economic re-forms have established the urgency ofreforms for us. But politicians invokethewelfare of the poor farmers to jus-tify theirpoliticalmanoeuvring.

BShubhada,viaemail

EDUCATION VISIONTHISREFERSTOthearticle, ‘Makeboardexams irrelevant’(IE, October 27). Theunfinishedagendaof the last twoedu-cation policies of 1968 and 1986/1992havebeencompletedwiththereformsinNEP2020.Onehopesthatthiseduca-tionalrevolutionwillbringaseachangeinemploymentopportunitiesaswell.

RajivBoolchandJain,Zirakpur

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

DOES THE provision of Article 44 of theConstitution of India relating to uniformcivil code target only inter-personal diver-sity in family law? Though not warrantedbythewordingof theprovision, thishasal-ways been the general belief among thecustodiansof stateauthority, includingthejudiciary. Ignoring the words “throughoutthe territoryof India”at theendof thearti-cle, they have invariably understood it as adirective only for the repeal of the tradi-tionalpersonal lawsandtheir replacementby a common family lawAct. The tremen-dous territorial diversity in the country’sfamily law regime, existing since the pre-Independenceera,hasbeenperpetuatedbyexecutive action and has never beenfrownedupon in any court judgment.Thepreliminarysectionsinallcentralfam-

ily law Acts enacted by Parliament sinceIndependencedeclare that theywill apply to“thewholeof Indiaexceptthestateof JammuandKashmir.”Tothesesections,anewprovi-sionwasadded in1968 inall theseActs, pro-nouncingthat“nothinghereincontainedshallapplytotheRenoncantsintheUnionTerritoryof Pondicherry.” A third exception, notmen-tionedintheseActsbutotherwisewellknown,isthatnoneoftheseActsappliesinGoa,DamanandDiu. A fourth exception, relating to thenorth-eastern states of Nagaland and

Mizoram, emanates fromArticles 371Aand371Gof the Constitution, decreeing that noparliamentarylegislationwillreplacethecus-tomary lawandreligion-basedsystemfor itsadministration inboth these statesunless sodemandedbythelocallegislatures.Eatingintotheconstitutionallyordainedprincipleofgen-erality of family law throughout the country,theseexceptionsregulatetheextentofallcen-tral laws— from theHinduMarriage Act of1955uptotheMuslimWomen(ProtectionofRightsonMarriage)Actof2019.In Goa, Daman andDiu, the Portuguese

rulershadrecognised locallyprevailingper-sonal lawsbythename“nativecustomsandusages”,whichwereseparatelycompiledforthethreeterritoriesandgiventheforceoflawby royal decrees issued from Lisbon. ThePortugueseCivilCodeof1867wasextendedto theseplaces in1869,witha rider thatna-tivecustomsandusageswillbesafeguarded“so far as they are not inconsistent withmorality or public order.” The new laws ofcivilmarriages enacted in Portugal in 1910,andofcanonicalmarriagesenforcedtherein1946,were also later extended to the threeterritories,butwithasimilarprotectivepro-visionforthelocalcustomarylaws.Uponthemerger of these territories into the Indianunion after Independence, the Goa, Damanand Diu Administration Act of 1962main-

tainedthestatusquobylayingdownthat“alllaws in force” there earlier shall continue toapplyuntilandunlessamendedorrepealedbyacompetentauthority.None of the central family lawActs has

beenextended to the said territories till date—thePortugueseCivil Code remains in forcetherealongwith thecodesof nativecustomsandusages and thematrimonial decrees of1910and1946citedabove.FormationofGoaas a state in 1987madeno change in this re-gard.ThatGoaisgovernedbyacommoncivilcode is, in fact, a commonlyprevailingmythsharedevenbysomelearnedjudges.Whatwillbe theposition inDamanandDiuafter theirmergerwithDadraandNagarHaveliin2019toformasingleUnionterritoryisyetuncertain.InPuducherry,duringtheFrenchrule, the

nativepopulationhadbeengivenanoptiontochoose between the personal laws then inforce there and the CodeNapoleon of 1804,and thosewhohadopted for the latterwerecalledrenoncants(renouncers).Afterthegrad-ualmerger of the territory into theUnionofIndia after independence, the Pondicherry(Laws) Act of 1968 extended all the centralfamilylawActs,buteachwithariderthattheywouldnotapplytotherenoncants.The exclusionary provision relating to

JammuandKashmirfoundinthecentralfam-ilylawActshademanatedfromArticle370of

the Constitution. Last year, in 2019, theConstitution (Application to Jammu andKashmir) Act and the Jammu andKashmir(Reorganisation)Acthavedrasticallychangedthepositioninthatpartofthecountry.Thelat-ter Act has extended there all central familylawenactmentsandrepealedtheparallellocallaws—asmanyas15.Bringing Jammu and Kashmir into the

country’smainstreamof familylawsisanex-ercisethatneedstobeundertakenalsoforGoa,DamanandDiu, Puducherry, Nagaland andMizoram,wherethepresentsituationisanan-tithesis to the constitutional doctrineof uni-formity in family law for the entire nation.Thereisnojustificationforkeepingsomecho-sengroupsof Indiancitizensperpetually tieddowntofamilylawsbasedeitheronoutdatedforeign lawsoronarchaic local customs. Thecitizens’fundamentalrightstoequalitybeforelawandequalprotectionof the lawsguaran-teedby theConstitution call for a similar ac-tion in respect of these territories aswell. SodoestheprovisionofArticle44enjoiningthestatetomakeendeavourstosecureforthecit-izensauniformcivilcodethroughouttheter-ritoryof India.

Thewriterisdistinguishedjuristchairandprofessorofeminence, InstituteofAdvanced

LegalStudies,AmityUniversity

All statesmustbebrought into themainstreamof family laws

Unfinished taskTahirMahmood

IDEASONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●AGRICULTUREPOLICYFORTHEPEOPLE:ASHISHMITAL

●●LABOURINSECURITY:ATULSARMAANDSHYAMSUNDER

www.indianexpress.com

CR Sasikumar

Jaipur

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

8 DECISION 2020BIHAR

COVID -19UPDATECASES IN 24 HRS*:

780DEATHS: 4

TOTAL CASES: 2,14,163TOTAL DEATHS: 1,069ACTIVE CASES: 8,776

*BiharHealthDept

B I H A R ’ S W O M E N

Diet lowinOmega-3fattyacids

Leadexposure

Noaccess tohandwashingfacility

Unsafesanitation

■ 2019 ■ 2010 ■ 1990 Source:GlobalBurdenofDiseaseReport2019

Source: SRSBulletinonMaternalHealth2016-18,NFHS-IV

DIPANKARGHOSEKORIGAMA(MUZAFFARPUR),OCTOBER28

BEHIND RAM Pukar Thakur, there is whatappears to be a pond, with a few shoots ofgreen poking out. All around, as far as theeye can see, are similar pools, interspersedwith culverts used by villagers as walkingpaths. This water has been here for fourmonths, Thakur says, since the floods, withthedistrict ofMuzaffarpuroneof theworsthit. “It’snotapond, it ismyfield.”In the immediateaftermathof the floods,

that left close to17 lakhpeopleaffected in16districts,with rivers likeGandak andBudhiGandak,andcanalsoverflowingandinundat-ing fields andhomes, theNitishKumar gov-ernment had said it haddisbursedRs 1,000croretobankaccountsof20lakhpeopleacrossthe state—Rs6,000was givenper family to

helpthemtideoverthecrisis.Withthepollsnear,thegovernmentwould

havehoped thiswould also help it tide overpublicanger.Only,noteveryonegotthemoney.StandingnexttohisfieldinSiswanvillage

inKorigamablock,ThakursaysthatinMay,hehad spentmoney onhybrid seeds, fertiliseranda tractor. “Sabnashthogaya (I lost every-thing).Waterenteredthefieldsandhasnotre-cededsoIcan’tevenplantanythingnew."Officerscame,hesaid,a“vikasmitra”asvil-

lage representatives are called, and photoswere taken. “But theydidn’t declare the areaflood-hit,unlikeothervillages,”Thakursays.WhiletheNitishgovernmenthadheldup

themoneytransferdirectlyintoaccountsasacorruption-freedeliverymechanism,thatcutoutmiddlemen, the seemingly arbitraryna-tureofselectionofflood-hitareas,villagerssay,isbecauseof“afsarshahi(officialdom)—awordbeingrepeatedacrossBihartodescribeNitish

Kumar’s third term. “What is it if not official-dom?Theydeclared onepart flood-hit, andnot these. Can theynot see our fields? Theymusthavetakensomemoney,”Thakursaid.

But even thosewho received themoneyaskhowRs6,000isenough.NarayanSahsaysthat in any case, nobody in the area gets fairprice for their paddy. “The rate should be

Rs1,500perquintal,butbecausenobodybuysatMSP,weonlygetRs1,100.Thatdoesn’tevencover the input cost, evenwhen there is noflood.Afarmerhastopayforseeds,fertilisers,tractor, labour,onecycleonanacrecanmeanRs20,000,”Sahsays.While floods arenotnewtoMuzaffarpur

or Bihar,with images of submerged villagesnowayearlyoccurrence,whatisdifferentthisyear is the additional distress causedby thecoronaviruspandemic.Usually,youngRameshSahwouldtraveltonearbyareastofindworkasalabourer.Butthisyear, thatworktoohas-n’t been available. “There is no work inMuzaffarpur.Inourfamilies,thereweremanypeoplewholivedinthecitiesandsentmoneyhome. But in the lockdown, that stopped. Somanyhavetakenloans,wedonotknowhowwewillrepay,”Rameshsays.Ontheground,thedisenchantmentmight

notyetmeanavotefortheMahagathbandhan

—thoughvillagerssaytheyarenowconsider-ing that optionwhen itwas unthinkable forthemnottovoteforNitishagain.TheCMalsoseems to be bearing themost of the anger,though the lockdownwas imposed by theCentre. Siswan falls under the BarurajAssemblyseat,wheretheRJDfacestheBJP.RamPukar Thakur,who is over 60 years

old,says,“Sochengeabhi(Weareweighingouroptions still). Earlier, I gavemyvote toNitishKumar,whentheRJDandJD(U)weretogether(the RJD candidate hadwon in 2015).Modishouldnothavelockedthecountrydown,butwedon’twantNitish.IdonotlikeLaluPrasadeither,”hesaid.Chandan Kumar, 19, is clearer in his

choice for change. “I do not like this ChiefMinister.Nowwewantayoungleader.Theywillunderstandtheproblemsofunemploy-ment that make even these situations offloodsworse,”hesays.

Lockdown on top of flood woes threatens to drown JD(U) in Muzaffarpur

L O O K I N G F O R

SABARAHMANRANCHI,OCTOBER28

SERVINGOUThisprison termat theRanchiInstituteofMedicalSciences (RIMS),wherehehasbeenstayingsinceMay2018,themanwhohasbeensynonymouswithBiharpoli-tics for four decades is away from the heatanddustthistime.EvensonandpoliticalheirTejashwiYadavisaccusedbyrivalsofdown-playing theLaluPrasad influence.However, the72-year-old iswatchingthe

actionclosely. “Laluji iswatchingnewsonTVallthetime,evenwhilehavingmeals.Hedoes-n’t readnewspapersmuch…Hesometimesasksnursestoreadoutheadlines,”saysanof-ficial of theBirsaMundaCentral Jail, Ranchi,whereLaluissupposedtobelodged,whopaidaroutinevisittohimlessthanaweekago.Theofficialadds,“WhenIwenttothehos-

pitalward,hewaseatinglunchandwatchingTejPratapYadav(hiseldersonwhoisfightingfromHasanpur,whichwillvoteonNovember3)addressarally.Easy lagrahethe (he lookedcalm)...Hisbodylanguagewasrelaxed.”Lalu has been serving consecutive jail

termssinceDecember2017sincehisconvic-tionincasesof fodderscamdatingbacktohistermasCMofundividedBiharin1990s.Hehasspentmostofhis termattheRIMS,whereheisbeingtreatedformultipleailments.WiththeRJDfacingamake-or-breakelec-

tion, its founder-president, it seems, ismorethan hopeful. “Laluji is confident of a grandvictoryoftheGrandAlliance,”JharkhandRJDyouth president Abhay Singh said. “He sayssarkaarmera hi aayega… Jitni der jage rehtehain,chunavpracharhidekhtehain.Thodabhivyakulnahinhain,swasthhain(Hesaysit’sourgovernment thatwill come...All the timeheis awake, he is following the election news.He isnotatallanxious,he ishealthy).”ThejailofficialsaysLaludoesn’thaveacell-

phone, and that visitors are allowed once aweek.Afewdaysago,somepartyworkersvis-itedhim.While Tejashwi, theCMfaceof the

RJD-ledalliance,hisdaughtersandwifeRabriDevicamemorethantwomonthsago,theof-ficersays,TejPratapvisitedamonthago.“Lalujiwaswaitingforhimanxiously,askingpeopleif therewas aword fromhim... His samdhiJitendraYadavalsocametoseehimfromUP.”Jitendra Yadav, whomet Lalu for a few

hours in the thirdweek of September, saysLalu looked healthy “but his sugarwas outof range on the day”. “I do not talk politicswithhim. Imeethimasa relative. I seehimevery fewmonths.”Oneof Lalu’sdaughtersismarried to JitendraYadav’s son.TejashwihasbeensayingatralliesthatLalu

willbeoutofjailonNovember9,anditwillbeNitishKumar’svidaai (farewell) thenextday,onNovember10,whentheelectionresultsaredeclared. Lalu’s counsel PrabhatKumar saysthey are confident of this. “Lalujihas alreadyservedhalfofhisjailsentence—three-and-a-half years — in the Chaibasa treasury andDeoghartreasurycasesandwasgrantedbailinthosecasesonthatground.Now,intheDumkatreasurycase(embezzlementofRs3.13crore),he is set to complete50%of his sentenceof 7years.Wewill file bail applicationwhen theJharkhandHighCourtreopensonNovember2,aftertheDurgaPujavacation,andmostlikelyhewillbeoutof jailonNovember9.”Is he looking at arguably the greatest

homecoming for a politician? The RJDhopesso.

Laluata Julymeetingwith JharkhandHealthMinisterBannaGupta. Express

L A L U P R A S A D

Glued to TV, ‘not anxious’,RJD chief waits for twoverdicts: court, elections

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA,OCTOBER28

MARKINGA full circle from the timehehadrefused to share stagewith PrimeMinisterNarendraModi, Bihar CMNitish Kumar onWednesday sought votes in his name.Withhis vikas plank not cutting icewith voters,Nitish devotedhis speechhere toworks un-dertakenbytheCentreinBiharandsaidModiwouldensure the statewasdeveloped if theNDAwasvotedbacktopower.PraisingModiprofuselyandthankinghim

for“takingtimeout”tocampaign,Nitishsaid,“Listen tohisappeal. If yougive theNDAonemore chance, then you can be sure hewilltransformthestate.Biharwillmarchahead.”TheCMreferredtoPatnaMetro,SmartCitiesplan, theUjjwala schemeand roads in BiharwhileapplaudingthePM’s“generosity”.Amid slogans of “Modi,Modi” from the

crowd,Nitishsaidpeoplehadcometotherallyto listen only toModi, and said his efforts incontrolling theCovid-19were “exceptional”.After Nitish’s speech, Modi was invited tospeak,withintroductionas“YugPurush”.While theNDA’s victory in 39 out of 40

seatsin2019waslargelycreditedtotheModifactor, it is the first time in anAssembly pollthattheCMisseekingvotesinthePM’sname.Earlier in the 2009 Lok Sabha and 2010

Assemblypolls,whenhewastheGujaratCM,ModihadkeptoutofBiharduringNDAcam-paignsreportedlyatNitish’sbehest.Ata2010publicmeetingNitishhadsaid, “WhenthereisSushilModiinBihar,thereisnoneedofan-otherModi (Narendra) here.” He had evencancelledascheduledNDAdinner in2010inPatnaoverModi’spresence.Nitish’sdiscomfortwithModiwasattrib-

uted to the 2002 Gujarat riots, though theJD(U)leaderhimselfhadbeenpartoftheNDAgovernmentattheCentreatthetime.NitishpartedwayswiththeNDAin2013.

He fought 2015 polls as part ofMahagathbandhan.Duringthattime,hehadcalledfora“Sangh-mukt”Bharat.In the last fewdays, across Bihar, the BJP

hasputupprominentposterswithPM’spho-tograph underlining the party’s promise ofjobs,whichhasemergedasabigpoll issue.

Naya Nitish: Seeks votes in name ofModi, says PM will develop Bihar

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

RETURNINGTOBihar forhissecondroundofrallies onWednesday, PMNarendraModispokeabout theRamtemple, apart fromtheachievementsoftheNitishKumargovernmentandRJD regime’smisrule. As the state com-pletes the first leg of polls, theModi govern-ment’s “achievements”, essentiallyAyodhya,abrogationofArticle370,handlingofPakistanandChina,theCitizenship(Amendment)Act,and allegations of “tukde-tukde gang”, areemerging as some of themain themes inspeechesoftheparty,asithopestofinishonafootingequalto, ifnothigherthan,theJD(U).SharingthestagewithNitishinDarbhanga,

atownbelievedtobelinkedtothekingdomofMithila,Modisaid,“Today,MotherSitamustbelookingatherplacewithlove,herglancewilldefinitely fall onAyodhya too... The politicalpeoplewhousedtoaskusaboutthedates(ofthetemple)...theyarealsoclappingincompul-sion.ComingtoMaaSita’sarea,Icongratulate-peoplehereforconstructionofRamtemple.”Referring toNitish as the future CM, he

creditedhimforBihar’seconomicturnaround.

Modi,who addressed rallies at Darbhanga,Muzaffarpur and Patna, said people could“saveBihar from falling ill (Bimar),with onevote”,andwarnedagainst“junglerajkeyuvraj”—inanapparentreferencetoTejashwiYadav.“There is a danger in front of thehuman

race,thecoronavirus.TheseconddangerisfromforcesthatmakeBiharill,”ModisaidinPatna.Kicking off his campaign last week, the

PMhadcontrastedtheNDA’sworkona“nayaBihar”with the “misrule” of the 1990s, andwentontotalkaboutPulwama,GalwanandArticle 370. “The country had beenwaitingforyearstoabrogateArticle370...Today,thesepeopleare talkingabout reversing thisdeci-sion...Theyhavethenervetoseekvotesfromthepeopleof Biharwhosendtheir sonsanddaughtersontheborder...”hesaidinSasaram.OnOctober15,addressingarallyinKarakat

inRohtasdistrict,BJPpresidentJPNaddalistedtheModigovernment’sachievements,includ-ingfreerationstopeopleduringthepandemic,beforemovingtoArticle370andRamtemple.UPCMYogiAdityanath,whohasaddressed

several rallies, spoke about Article 370. In aspeech at Jamui, he said, “WhenArticle 370wasabrogated inKashmir,whowashurt themost? RahulGandhi or AsaduddinOwaisi...

PeopleofJamuicannowbuylandinKashmir."AnotherBJPleaderfrontingthepartycam-

paign,DefenceMinisterRajnathSingh,under-linedtheimportanceofthetie-upwithJD(U).“InBihar,theBJP-JDUallianceisliketheopen-ing jodiof Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Virender)Sehwag,”hesaidatarally.UnionMoS for Finance Anurag Thakur,

who was served a notice by the ElectionCommissionduringtheDelhipollsforeggingonacrowdagainst“deshkegaddar(traitorsofthe country)”, said duringhis appearance inBihar:“IwanttoaskRJDanditsleaderTejashwiPrasadYadavwhydidhealignwiththeCPI(M-L), tukde-tukdegangs,orthosewhobelieveinperpetratingmassacres?”Kapil Mishra, accused of making hate

speeches aheadof theDelhi riots, said, “TheCPI-M-L,Naxalites,thosewhowantstodividethe country,will not be allowed to thrive inBihar... They come so innocently and ask forvotes, but if you vote for thembymistake...within15days...Delhipaidtheprice.”Among thosewho campaigned for the

BJP is its controversial MP and youthwingheadTejasvi Surya,whosaid theRJDcould-n’t talk for jobs with its previous regimemarkedby“scandals”.

HEAVY DUTYSecuritypersonnelonwaytodepositingEVMs, atANCollege inPatna,after the firstphaseofpollsonWednesday. Asperprovisional figures,pollpercentage for71seatsstoodat54.26%(54.75%in2015),withBankaregisteringthehighestvotingpercentage(59.57%;56.43%in2015)andMunger the lowest (47.36%;52.24%in2015).PTI

Athis field inSiswanvillage,Thakursayshedidn’tget relief fund.DipankarGhose

PMModibackedNitishKumaras futurechiefministerathisPatnarally,warnedagainst forces“thatmakeBihar ill”. PTI

P O L I T I C SH A S H T A G

saying in a singsong way, “Bihar haselection, Bihar has a chance!... Modi’sposters have replaced Nitish’s. Thisindicates NDA’s acknowledgement ofthe fact that the public is not withNitish. It is... way of saying: ‘you wantchange? wait, we will go change ourattire.’.. Vote for the Grand Alliance.”

●@INCIndia) tweeted avideo of @ShashiTharoor

SECONDLEGBEGINS

100%

100%

100%

93%

97.1%

99.1%

69.7%

69.4%

64.9%

53%

77.7%

86.1%

H E A L T H R I S K F A C T O R

WHERE SHE STANDSBihar India

Maternalmortalityrate 149 113(maternaldeathsper lakh livebirths) (highest inthecountry)

Anaemia 60.3% 53.1%Spousalviolence 42.7% 30.9%

Modi raises Ram temple, BJP campaignrallies round Central govt’s schemes

●WHO’SWHERETODAY

RLSPCHIEFUPENDRAKUSHWAHAINBARHARIA,

GORIAKOTHI,EKMA,MINAPUR;AIMIMCHIEF

ASADUDDINOWAISI INKISHANGANJ

WHYCONTRACTUALTEACHERSAREAPOLLISSUE?

FORMORELOGONTOINDIANEXPRESS.COM/ELECTIONS

●POLLPITCHPMMODI'SPATNAADDRESS,

RAHULGANDHI'SVALMIKINAGARSPEECH

Jaipur

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

@ieExplained#ExpressExplainedIf there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould likeexplained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINED

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

‘From next Budget, we need big infrastructurepush, government spending to drive growth’

Ontheworldeconomyninemonths intothepandemicThequestionwe should be asking ourselves

is,what is the permanent damage that Covid isgoingtodotoeconomiesaroundtheworld?Twoyears fromnow,will there be permanent dam-agetooutput?AndthisiswheretheIMFanalysisis important. There are actually estimates thattherewill be $11 trillion of lost output in 2020-2021,butoverthenext5years,therewill$28tril-lion of lost output. In particular, the Fund esti-mates that for developedmarkets, GDPwill be3.5%belowwhattheywouldhavebeenpre-pan-demic,andemergingmarketswillbe5.5%ofGDPcompared towhat theywould have been. So,whatever growth forecastwehad inDecember2019, for the next 4-5 years economieswill beproducingbetween3-5%lessthanthat…Chinaistheonlycountrythatbuckedtheodds.

IfyoutakeChinaoutoftheequation,alldevelopedandemergingmarkets, even in2021,will not beat their 2019-level output. Evenwhenwe talkaboutIndia,youhavetosaywhatwillGDPbetwoyears from now and compare it to what wethoughtGDPwouldhavebeenpre-Covid.

Ontheimpactof India'smeasures fromApril tomid-OctoberWell, there's been a lot ofmeasures...We've

seenRBIconstantlyrolloutnewinstruments,therewas regulatory easing,we saw forward guidingintroduced for the first time in India. I amsureatsomepointwewill talkabout trade-offs that theRBImayfaceifinflationissticky.Onthefiscalside,thegovernmenthasmadeaconsciousapproachtogoaboutthisinastep-wisemanner.Oneration-alecouldbethatas theeconomyopensup, fiscalmultipliersgethigherandwecanspend.Now,thequestionisthattherewillbeperma-

nent damage to India aswell—howmuch fire-powerdoyousaveforlater,howmuchfirepowerdoyouusefornow?Myownviewissoonerratherthanlater,becausethinkofwhattheobjectiveis—youwanttopreventeconomicnon-linearity,youwant toprevent firms fromgoingbankrupt, youwant toprovide income support tohouseholds,and youwant to backstop the financial system.Thetrade-off isthatontheonehandthelateryouwait,maybeyougetahigherfiscalmultiplier,butyouwanttoactsoonenoughtopreventthesenon-linearities because that hurts theproductive ca-pacityof theeconomy.

Onwhya10%contractionisexpectedwhenall indicatorssuggestrecoveryoncourseRemember,muchof that 24% contraction in

April-Junewas because the economywas shutdown.So,as theeconomyopensup,we’llexpecta rebound. Thegoodnews is thatwe’re seeing apretty strong rebound, particularly ingoods andindustry.Number two, the infectionrate in Indiacontinues to get lower, so someof that fear pre-miumhasgoneaway,andyouareseeinghouse-

holdsgraduallybegintonormalisetheiractivity.Ifyou lookat thehouseholdconsumerconfidencesurveys,forthefirsttimesinceSeptemberhouse-holdsarealittlebitmoreoptimisticaboutthefu-tureoneyearout,versuswheretheywereinJuly.Now,weneedtointerpretthisdataverycare-

fully, at least for three reasons. One is, some ofthiscould justbepent-updemand—theglobaleconomy in the thirdquarter is growingat35%annualised,butthefourthquarterwillbe7%.So,wemay well be seeing that households willspend in September-Octoberwhat theywouldhave otherwise spent inApril-August. So let ussee if this sustains.Themoreimportantpointis,rememberserv-

icesare55%ofGDPandwhatwearemeasuring—mainlyexports,imports,freight,cargo—theseareallgoods,andaroundtheworldyouareseeingthatthe goods sector is recoveringmuch faster thanthe services sector. If you look at hotel services,professionalservices,constructionservices,these

arerecoveringmuchmoreslowly.ThelastpointI’llmakeis,ultimatelywehaveto

ask ourselves, two years fromnow,wherewillIndia’sGDPbe?Thatwilldependcruciallyonthehysteresis in the labourmarket and the financialmarkets.On the labourmarkets,we still need tobealittlebitworriedandvigilant.

Onwhenhotels,tourism,restaurants,aviation—the worst-hit—canhopetorecoverI thinkwe’ll have to open in a calibrated and

intelligentmanner.Europeopenedtoosoon,peo-ple got too relaxed, now they are seeing ahugesurgeininfection.Intheservicessector,Ithinktheopeningwillbefarmorecalibrated.Ithinkwewilllearn to livewith social distancing,we’ll learn tolivewithmasking,butit’sonlywhenthereisavac-cine and the fear completely dissipates that hu-manbehaviourwillgobacktonormal.

Wheregrowthcancomefromif services

remainsubduedConsumptiongrowthinthelastfiveyearshas

beenverystrong,7%.Butwhat’s lessappreciatedis that a lot of that consumptionwas driven byhouseholdsrunningdownsavingsandtakingondebt. The key to future consumption is theper-ceivedpermanenceof theshock.That’swhatweare seeing in the household surveys already.Householdsaretellingus,goingforward,Iwillbemarkingmyconsumptiondown,mysavingswilllikelygoup.Householdsperceivepermanent in-comeasbeinghit,sodon’texpectconsumptiontogobacktothesame7-8%growththatwesawpre-pandemic.Exportswillalsobechoppy.So if con-sumptionandexportsarenotgivingyoumuchfi-nal demand, then it is hard to expect privateinvestmenttobebooming...Paradoxically,eveninthenextcoupleofyears,

thegovernmentmayhave todrivegrowth.NowwhatdoImeanbythat?Mypersonalpreferenceisalargeinfrastructurepush,fromthenextBudgetweneedabiginfrastructurepush,thegovernmentspending todrive growth.Why is this so impor-tant?Becauseinfrastructurehasveryhighmulti-pliersoftheeconomy,infrastructurewillboostag-gregatedemandandhopefully crowd inprivateinvestment. Itwill fill someof the jobs vacuum.Infrastructure also boosts potential growth, sothereisagoodreasoninmymindforthenexttwoyearsforgrowthtobedrivenbyinfrastructure.Themillion-dollar question is, howdoyoupay for it,givenall the fiscal issueswespokeabout? Inmymind,theobviousanswerisaggressiveassetsale.Thereis noshortageofassetstosellinIndia—in-frastructure assets, landassets, public sector en-terprises...Thisisagoodtimetodoit.

Onwhetherthegovernmentcouldriskahigher fiscaldeficitIthinkitisatrickyquestionbecauseofwhere

ourstartingpointsare.Withafiscaldeficitof10%of GDP and debt-to-GDP at 72, India does nothave unlimited fiscal space. Now, India’s fiscaldeficitwill increasebyabout4.5to5%ofGDP,sowe keep saying that there is no fiscal stimulus,but deficit goes up by 4.5% of GDP. In ordinarytimes youwould look at that increase and say,that’s a fairly substantial fiscal injection...

Onhowtomakethemostof thecurrent

accountsurplusexpectedthisyearAneconomy’scurrentaccountsurplusisnoth-

ing but the savings-investment balance and byrunninga surpluswhatwe’re saying is that sav-ings-investment surplus of the private sector,households and corporations is higher than thesavings-investmentdeficitofthegovernmentandthepublicsector.Inotherwords,Indiahasexcesssavingsatthispointbecauseofacurrentaccountsurplus,about1.5%ofGDP.Now,capitalflowshavebeen very strong, so the balance-of-paymentssurplus is actually 3.5%of GDP—excess savingsavailable totheeconomy.Sowhatarebanksdo-ing? They are essentially buying governmentbonds. Youhave got excess savings, banks havethis liquidity, and they are going to buy govern-ment bonds because they don’t want to takecreditrisktolendtorealeconomies...Soinawaythis is a safety valve for the economy, because itmeansthat ifyouhavetheextrasavings, thebadnewsis, it issymptomaticofweakaggregatede-mand. A current account surplusmeans aggre-gatedemandisveryweak.Thegoodnewsisthatitgivesyouspace.Ifpolicymakersdecidetohavemore fiscal stimulus this year or earlynext year,thereisspaceintheeconomytoabsorbthatwith-out the RBI having tomonetise that deficit andconfrontdifficult trade-offs.

WhetherthiswindowofopportunityshouldbeusednowratherthanlaterMypersonal view is, yes. I think around the

worldyouneedtoseetwokindsoffiscalresponses.Inthecrisishere,it’saboutkeepingthepatientalive,it’saboutmakingsureaggregatedemandisstrongenoughtokeepthesesmall/mediumenterprisesalive.We’vedoneaverygoodjoboncredit,butre-memberwhat credit does. SMEswhoget credit,that allows themtopay salaries andother costs,but ultimately it also increases debt levels, ulti-mately economic viability comesdown to rev-enues. So if thegovernment canboost aggregatedemand, which then spills down into small/mediumenterprises, their economicviability in-creases.So Iwoulddowhat’snecessary inthere-mainingpartofthisyear.Nextyear,thinkaboutin-frastructurebutfinancethatthroughassetsales.

OnwhetherthegovernmentshouldintervenewithwagesubsidiesThe question again is, how do you target,

whichfirmsdoyoutarget?Dowehavedataforin-formalfirms?ThecreditguaranteewasavailabletoSMEs thathadalreadyborrowed,whataboutSMEs that hadn’t borrowed? I think the impor-tantpointaboutwagesubsidies isthattheypro-vide certainty of income and therefore precau-tionary savings will go down if people havecertaintyof jobs.Butit isasupplysideissue,ulti-mately a firmwill only hold on to labour if rev-enues goup and aggregate demandgoes up. Soweneedtodowhatwillboostaggregatedemand.If SMEs can see revenue demand, revenues arestrong,demandisstrong, itwillbe intheir inter-esttoholdontotheirworkers.

TRANSCRIBEDBYMEHRGILL(Editedexcerpts)

VVIIDDEEOO:: youtu.be/lndV0fbQQG8

AUDIENCEQUESTIONS

OntheriskofpossiblestagflationinIndiaWhy is inflation being so sticky? I think

there are two elements to this. One is thatin the last 3-4months, core inflation actu-ally went up from below 4% to 5.5%. Thegoodnewsis,overthelastthreemonths,themomentum of core inflation has begun tofall...The worry is more on the food front,

wherewe'veseenverysticky foodinflationforthelast12months.Butagainthehopeisthat over the next 4-5months, food infla-tionwill comedown.A lot of theRBI's abil-itytosupportthebondmarketandsupportgrowth is predicated on the fact that infla-tion over thenext sixmonths comesdownfrom 7% plus towards four percent in thesecondquarter of next year. Let’s hope thatthathappensbecause if food inflationstayssticky and there is any evidence of thatspilling intocore, thenthat’ll really compli-cate economicmanagement further.

WheregovernmentshouldbespendingininfrastructurepushIndia is oneof those countrieswith such

alargeinfrastructuredeficitthatthequestionshouldbe,whereshouldn’titbe.Ifwearego-ing to position ourselves as joining globalvaluechains,ashavingexportsdrivegrowth,then youwant to have infrastructure con-nectingthehinterlandtoports.Healthinfra-structurewillneedabigboost,publichealthfacilities,urbaninfrastructureneedsupport...I think there is no shortage of infrastructureopportunitieshere.Nowagain, this is easiersaid than done. There are last-mile imple-mentation challenges, landacquisition is anissue,youhavetofindshovel-readyprojects,so I amnotarguing that youcanbuild infra-structure in two quarters and boost aggre-gatedemandnow.Iamjustsayingthatif theprivatesectorisgoingtotaketimeinthenthenext 12, 18, 24months to recover, thenweshouldhavealargepublicworksprogramme,findshovel-readyprojectsandexecutethat.

Ninemonths intothepandemic,where is theeconomyheaded?Inthis interactionwithanationwideaudience,SAJJIDCHINOY,Chief IndiaEconomistat JPMorganandPart-timeMember inPM’sEconomicAdvisoryCouncil,discussesthechallengesandsuggestswaystomeetthem

SajjidChinoyinconversationonZoomwithPVaidyanathanIyer,NationalAffairsEditor,TheIndianExpress

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

A STUDY in 216 Covid-19patients has found over80% have vitaminDdefi-ciency. The patientswerehospitalised at HospitalUniversitarioMarqués deValdecilla in Spain. MenhadlowervitaminDlevelsthanwomen. ThosewithlowvitaminD levels alsohad raised serum levels ofinflammatorymarkers. The study ispublished in the Journal of Clinical

Endocrinology &Metabolism.“Oneapproachis to identifyand treatvita-minDdeficiency,especiallyinhigh-riskindividualssuchastheelderly,patientswithcomorbidities, andnursinghomeresidents,whoarethemain target population fortheCovid-19,”studyco-au-thor José LHernández said

inastatement.Source:TheEndocrineSociety

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

Study finds 80 per cent Covidpatients deficient in vitamin D

INDIAACTIVECASES 610,803

WORLDTOTALCASES44,159,482

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonOct28

INDIATOTALCASES7,990,322

Source:MinistryofHealth&FamilyWelfare,updatedat11pmonOct28

800,000

700,000

600,000Oct18 Oct27

LAST 10 DAYS

772,055

610,803

Note: TheOct27 figure in this graph isbasedon thegovernmentupdateonOct28

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

THERESERVEBankof India’sstudyonstategovernments’finances,releasedonTuesday,indicates that gross fiscal deficits (GFDs) ofstategovernmentsaresettodoublein2020-21.With theCovid-19pandemichavinghitthefinancialpositionofstateshard,thenextfewyearsaregoingtobechallenging.

WhereareGFDsofstatesheaded?In 2020-21, about half the states have

budgetedtheGFD-to-GSDP(grossstatedo-mestic product) ratio at or above the 3%threshold, althoughmost of thesebudgetswerepresentedprior to theonsetof Covid-19,theRBIsaid.Thedirectionofpossiblere-visionisevidentfromthefactthattheaver-ageforstatespresentingtheirbudgetbeforetheoutbreakofthepandemicis2.4%ofGSDP,while it is4.6%fortheremainingstatesthatmade their budget presentations after theoutbreak.Thus,statesaregrapplingwiththepandemicwith constrained fiscal space. Intermsof primarybalances,most states areincurring primary deficits in 2019-20, asagainstprimarysurplusesattheonsetoftheglobalfinancialcrisis, theRBIstudysaid.

Howlongwillthestresscontinue?Thecrisis literaturefocusesontheoper-

ation of ‘scissor effects’— loss of revenuesdue to demand slowdown, coupledwithhigherexpenditureassociatedwiththepan-demic. The duration of stress on state fi-nanceswilllikelybecontingentuponfactorssuchasthelockdowntenureandtheriskof

newwaves of infection, all ofwhichmaketraditionalbackward-lookingtaxbuoyancyforecastingmodelsunreliable, according totheRBI study. Thequality of spending andthe credibility of statebudgetswill assumecritical importance. Thenext fewyears aregoingtobechallengingforthestates, itsaid.

Whatwillbetheimpactonstates?Given the clear inter-linkagesbetween

growth and tax revenues and consideringthe fact that tax revenues fall faster thanGDPwhengrowthisnegative,taxrevenuesare likely to be reduced for the next fewyears, the RBI said. Pandemic-relatedspending,particularlyonhealthandothersupportmeasures, are likely to keep theseexpenditures high, prolonging the ‘scissor

effects’. Inaddition, states’ fiscalpositionislikelytobeaffectedbyasurgeincontingentliabilities (guarantees). In thismilieu, stategovernmentsmay have to face the toughchoice of putting investment projects onhold, but, given themultiplier associatedwith capital spending, thiswill inevitablyentail growth losses in a vicious cycle.“States’indebtednessissettorise,andif itisnot accompanied by an acceleration ingrowth,fiscalsustainabilitywillbecomethecasualty, overwhelming themodest gainsof theprudence inrecentyears,” it said.

Whathappenedduringearlierpandemics?Anevent studyanalysis using fourpan-

demicsinIndia—the1896plague,the1918Spanish flu, the1957Asianfluandthe1974smallpox—showsthatallof thesewereas-sociatedwitha contraction/deceleration inGDP, with the 1918 flu registering thesharpestdownturnofabout13%.Therecov-erypattern is similar—a sharp rebound inthe immediate subsequentyearbecauseoffavourablebaseeffects,followedbycontrac-tionagain, and theGDPgrowth rate finallyreturningtopre-pandemiclevelsin3-4years.Theseoutbreakshavealsodepressedper

capitaeconomicoutput,withvariedmagni-tudes. The recovery, however, hasbeenob-servedtobeswiftandcompletewithintwoyears of theoutbreak, except in the case ofthe 1918 fluwhenGDPper capitawas re-storedtopre-outbreaklevelsonlyin1922.

WhatdoestheRBIsayaboutthepandemicresponseinspecificstates?KERALAMODEL:Thepresenceofem-

powered local governance institutions andcommunityparticipationhelpedtheKeralastate in effectively reachingout to affectedpeople, theRBIsaid.Withtheresurgenceinnewcases, Kerala is actively roping in theservicesof local self-governments (LSGs) inits fight against the pandemic. LSGs havebeenentrustedwith collectionof informa-tion, spreadingawareness, identifying vul-nerable sections, ensuring quarantine andlockdownguidelinesbeing followed,disin-fectingpublicplacesandensuringthesupplyofessential servicestothoseunderquaran-tine.Thestatemanagedtocontainthespreadof the pandemic in the firstwave of infec-tions.However,thestatewitnessedasecondwaveof infectionswith the arrival of non-residentKeralitesfromoutsidethestateandwiththeeasingofrestrictions.DHARAVIMODEL:TheRBIsaidpublic-

privatepartnershipandcommunitypartici-pation played a crucial role in combatingCovid-19inDharavi.Thegovernmenttiedupwith local privatedoctors, hospitals,NGOs,volunteers andelected representatives andcivilsocietyorganisations,whilefollowingarapidactionplanofaccessibletesting,proac-tive screening, earlydetection, contact trac-ing, timely isolationandputting suspectedandhigh-risk contacts in institutionalquar-antinefacilitiesinlargenumbers,theRBIsaid.Community participation, communitykitchensandcollectivesolidaritywerethekeyfeatures that helped contain the spread.Enforcingastrictlockdownandblockingthemovementof residents except for essentialservicescontrolledthecontagion.Dharavihasflattened thecurveand isworthyof emula-tionworldwide(WHO),itsaid.

HowCovid-19 has impacted state finances,and how long the stress is likely to continue

Public-privatepartnershipandcommunityparticipationplayedakeyrole incombatingCovid-19 inDharavi,RBIhassaid. ExpressArchive

Jaipur

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ASIA

SKoreatargetscarbonneutralityby2050PRESIDENTMOONJae-inof SouthKorea, oneof theworld’smostfossil-fuelre-liant economies, said onWednesday the countrywill go carbonneutral by2050. TheannouncementcomesdaysafterJapansaiditwould cut greenhousegases tozeroby2050andbecomeacarbon-neutralsociety.“Togetherwiththeinternational community,wewillactivelyrespondtoclimatechangeand targetcarbonneutralityby2050,”Moonsaid inaspeech.Hepledgedtospend8trillionwon ($7.10 billion) on a“GreenNewDeal” aimedat creating jobs andhelp-ing the economy recoverfromthecoronavirus fall-out by replacing coaldependence withrenewables.REUTERS

SouthKoreanPresidentMoonJae-in

TOPOFTHEWORLD

NIGERIA

Judgedismissescasesagainst47menchargedunderanti-gaylawA NIGERIAN court onTuesday threwout a caseagainst 47men chargedwithpublicdisplaysofaf-fectionwithmembers ofsamesexbecauseofwhatthejudgecalledthefailureofprosecutorstoappearincourt and call witnesses.The trial, heard in Lagos,waswidely seen as a testcase for a law introducedin 2014 that bans same-sex “amorous relation-ships.” The law carries ajail termofupto10years.ThemenwerearrestedinapoliceraidonaLagosho-telinthecity’sEgbedadis-trictin2018.Policesaidthemenwerebeing initiatedintoagayclub.REUTERS

THEGULF

Qatarapologises,probesforcedexaminationsQATAR APOLOGISEDWednesdayafterauthori-ties forcibly examined fe-male passengers from aQatar Airways flight toSydney to try to identifywho might have givenbirth to an abandonednewborn baby, even asAustralia said itwas onlyoneof10flightssubjectedto the searches. Underpressure after Australiacondemned the searches,Qatar said it began an in-vestigation into the inci-dent.Qatarofferednoex-planationof howofficialsdecided to perform inva-sive examinations on thewomen.AP

YANZHUANG&DAMIENCAVEOCTOBER28

AS IF from hibernation,Australia’s second-largest cityemergedfromoneoftheworld’slongest andmost severe lock-downsWednesday,feelingbothtraumatized and euphoric afterweeks of shared sacrifice thatbroughtadeadlysecondwaveofthecoronavirus toheel.It took 111 days, but

MelbourneandthesurroundingstateofVictoriarecordednonewinfections Monday, and

Wednesdaythousandsofstores,cafes,restaurantsandbeautysa-lons opened their doors for thefirst time inmonths.“That isanachievementthat

everysingleVictorianshouldbeproudof,”saidthestate’stopof-ficial,DanielAndrews.Thecollectiveexitforacityof

5 million came suddenly andnone too soon— Andrews hadinsistedonavery lowthresholdof cases before lifting the lock-down. It ended a dizzying andlonely experience thatmany inMelbournedescribedasanemo-tional roller coasterwitheffectson the economy, education and

mentalhealth thatwill linger.TheturnaroundsinceJulyhas

beendramatic: Infections at the

timewerethreateningtospiraloutof control, hittingapeakofmorethan700aday.Schools,businesses

and houses of worship closed.Peoplecouldnottravelmorethan3milesfromhomewithoutaper-mit.Theycouldgooutsideforonlyanhour(thentwo),andforweeks,theyfacedanightlycurfew.Now, Victoria has subdued

the viruswhile European coun-triesthathadsimilarcaseloadsafew months ago — and thatended their lockdowns afterovercoming initial waves of in-fections—arestrugglingwithanexplosionofnewcases.Thehard-wonsuccesshasallowedpeoplein Melbourne to reenter theircity, Australia’s capital of coffeeand culture, even if they areun-

surehowtenseor loosetobe.“Is there enormous relief?

Absolutely,enormouscelebration,yes,”saidDrStephenDuckett,thehealthprogrammedirectorfortheGrattan Institute, a policy thinktank based inMelbourne. “Butnoneofuswanttogothroughthisagain,sowealsoknowwehavetobecautious.”“Ithinkit’shardtothinkofan-

othercommunityanywhereelse—Ithinkinternationallyaswell—that’s been so stoically acceptingof theverystrictrestrictionstheyfaced,” said Paul Strangio, a pro-fessor of politics at MonashUniversityinMelbourne.“They’ve

madeadecision, Victorians, thathealthhadtobeputfirst.”Still,ifthere’spride,there’slit-

tlehubris.AlloverMelbourneonWednesday, people crawledoutoftheirhomestoseekaversionofthelivestheyhadputonhold.Theearlyadoptersappeared

atmidnightinsidethehandfulofbars across the city thatopenedattheexactmomenttheycould.AtCherryBar,ahole-in-the-wallrockvenue, 20people (the legallimit for now) ordered drinksandswapped lockdownstories.“It feels surreal,” said Ryan

Gribble,37,whowasaregularpa-tronbeforethepandemic.NYT

AUSTRALIA’S SECOND-LARGEST CITY WAS LOCKED DOWN FOR 111 DAYS

Melbourne’s lockdown that felt like it might last forever has ended

InMelbourne,Australia,onWednesday.AP

NEWYORKTIMESOCTOBER28

FORMERUS Vice President JoeBiden filled Democrats withhope and fear when he an-nouncedastheweekbeganthathe would be campaigning inIowaandGeorgia, inadditiontomore traditional end-of-racestops inWisconsinandFlorida.As Biden campaigned on

Tuesday in a region of Georgiathat is filledwithsignsandflagssupporting President DonaldTrump,nervousDemocratshadunpleasant flashbacks to 2016,whenHillary Clinton famouslyinvested resources and visitedArizona in the final days of therace, while failing to set foot inWisconsin.Risk-averseDemocratic vot-

erswondered:Whywasn’tBidensimply spending the rest of hiswakinghoursuntilNov3livinginPennsylvania,withitstroveof20electoralvotes,almostasmanyasGeorgia and Iowaput together?Therewas no need to spike anyfootballs — just a need for thecampaigntoavoidlosing.The Trump campaign tried

to paint Biden as overly confi-dent, just as Clinton was fouryears ago. “We encourage himto spend time and resources inGeorgia,where thepresident isdefinitely going to win,” saidTim Murtaugh, the Trumpcampaigncommunicationsdi-rector. “He’s wasting time instates he can’twin.”Meanwhile,theTrumpcam-

paigndeployedMelaniaTrump,the first lady, to Atglen,Pennsylvania, a very rare cam-paign stop — the only one thisyear—foroneof thePresident’smostpopularsurrogates.Trumpspent Tuesday shoring up sup-port in states in the Midwest,with rallies in Michigan,WisconsinandNebraska.Other Democrats, however,

said theywere encouraged thatthe Biden campaign felt com-fortable enough to devote re-

sourcestostateslikeGeorgiaandTexas,forcingTrump’scampaigntousesomeof itslimitedcashtoplay defence in Georgia, whilestill spendingontargetedads inPennsylvaniaandFlorida.Meanwhile, the floodofpeo-

plemoved to cast their ballotsearlyhasgrownsostrongthattheearly vote has already exceededhalf of the number of votes thatwere counted during the entire2016 presidential election, ac-cording to data compiled by theUS Elections Project.More than73millionAmericanshadalreadymailedintheirballotsorvotedinperson,accordingtotheproject.The early vote is evenmore

dramatic in a number of battle-groundstates.Texashasalreadyreceived over 90per cent of thevotesitcountedinthe2016elec-tion,NorthCarolinaandGeorgiahavealreadyreceivedmorethanthree-quarters,andFloridamorethan70percent.

MATTHEWLEEMALE,MALDIVES,OCTOBER28

US SECRETARY of State MikePompeoonWednesdaybroughttheTrumpadministration’santi-China campaign to two IndianOceanislandnationsconsideredparticularly at risk for whatAmerican officials allege isChineseexploitation. Inonesig-nificant step, Pompeo an-nounced that the United Stateswould for the first timeopenanembassy in theMaldives.PompeovisitedSriLankaand

the Maldives to press the twocountriestobeonguardagainstpotentialpredatorylendingandinvestmentbyChina.Pompeo, whowill also visit

Indonesia,pressedeachcountryto push back against increasingChinese assertiveness in theIndo-Pacific.USofficialscomplainthatde-

velopment and infrastructureprojectsbenefitChinamorethanthepresumed recipients—a re-frain Pompeo repeatedwith SriLankan ForeignMinisterDineshGunawardena. Pompeo said thecountry could be “a beacon” forfreedomanddemocracyinthere-gionas longas it retained its “fullsovereignty.”“That is quite a contrast to

whatChinaseeks,”Pompeosaid.“The Chinese Communist Partyis a predator. The United Statescomes in a different way. Wecomeasa friendandapartner.”TheMaldives is facingmajor

debt of more than $1 billion forChinese infrastructureprojects.InanodtoUSconcernsabout

Chinese influence, Pompeo an-nouncedthattheUSwouldopenan embassy in theMaldives forthe first time since the countriesestablisheddiplomatic relationsin1966.CooperationbetweentheUSandtheMaldiveshas“takenonnew importance as the ChineseCommunist Party continues itslawless and threatening behav-ior,”Pompeosaid.AP

LALITKJHAWASHINGTON,OCTOBER28

ANAMERICANspiritmakerhasagreed to pay $19.5 million tosettle abriberyprobe in theUSafter theDepartmentof Justicealleged that itpaidabribeof Rs10 lakh to a senior Indian gov-ernment official for the ap-proval of a licence to marketand sell its “ready-to-drink”products in India.According to its admissions,

from the time Chicago-basedcompany acquired the Indianbusinessin2006,throughtotheendof the thirdquarterof 2012,Beam India paid bribes andmadeotherimproperpaymentstovariousIndiangovernmentof-ficials, including corrupt pay-ments to obtain or retain busi-ness in the Indianmarket.The Department of Justice

(DoJ)allegedthatBeamSuntoryInc had a scheme to pay bribestoanIndiangovernmentofficialinexchangefortheapprovalofalicence to bottle a line of prod-uctsthatBeamsoughttomarketandsell in India.This among others included

efforts by a then-member ofBeam's legal department to af-firmativelyavoiduncoveringin-formation related to improperactivities and practices by thirdpartiesengagedbyBeaminIndiathatpresentedcorruptionrisks.According to its admissions,

Beamconspiredwithotherstovi-olatetheForeignCorruptPracticesAct by engaging in a scheme topayabribeofRs1milliontoasen-ior Indiangovernmentofficial inexchange for that official’s ap-provalofalicencetobottle“ready-to-drink” products that BeamsoughttomarketandsellinIndiathrough its subsidiary, BeamGlobal Spirits & Wine (India)PrivateLtd.(BeamIndia).The Department of Justice

did not name the Indian officialor officials who allegedly re-ceived thebribes.PTI

Finalweekofcampaign:Biden looks toexpandsupport, Trumprallieshisbase

Trump atarally inOmaha,Nebraska,andBideninAtlanta,Georgia,onTuesday.Reuters

USSecretaryof StateMikePompeowithSriLankanPresidentGotabayaRajapksa inColomboonWednesday.AP

US firm bribedIndian officialsfor licence:Dept of JusticeANDREASRINKE&

SUDIPKAR-GUPTABERLIN,PARIS,OCTOBER28

GERMANY AND France pre-pared to announce restrictionsapproaching the level of lastspring’s blanket lockdowns onWednesday as Covid-19 deathsacrossEuroperosealmost40%inaweek, sending financial mar-ketssharplyloweronfearsofthelikelycosts.German Chancellor Angela

Merkel isdue tomeet statepre-miers to discuss closing restau-rants and bars but keepingschools and nurseries open,while allowingpeople to gooutin public onlywithmembers oftheirownhousehold.In France, which has seen

more than 50,000 new cases aday, President EmmanuelMacronwill give a televisedad-dress onWednesday eveningwhen he is expected to an-nouncefurthercurbsonpeople’smovements following the cur-fewmeasuresintroducedacrossmuchof thecountry lastweek.The measures, following

similarmovesinItalyandSpain,areexpectedtoleaveschoolsandmost businesses working andwould be less severe than thenear-total lockdowns imposedat thestartof thecrisis inMarchandApril.But the economic cost is

likely to be heavy, wiping outthe fragile signs of recoveryseenover thesummerandrais-ing the prospect of a double-dip recession. European stockmarkets dived onWednesday,hitting their lowest levels sinceJune,while theeuro fell againstthe dollar.REUTERS

Peopledemonstrate insupportof theeventssectoraffectedbyCovid-19curbs,inBerlin,Wednesday.Reuters

US charges 8 inalleged Chinesesurveillance bidWashington: The JusticeDepartmenthaschargedeightpeoplewithparticipatinginacovert effort onbehalf of theChinese government thataimedtolocateChinesedissi-dents and others in the USwhowerewantedbyBeijingand coercing them into re-turning to China. Five of theeight were arrestedWednesday, accusedof par-ticipatinginacovertoperationthatofficials saywasbuilt onintimidation, bullying and“verydisturbing” tactics. Theotherthreearebelievedtobein China. The arrests areamong a series of recentUSactions againstChina,whichPresidentDonaldTrumpre-gardsasaprimeadversary.AP

Pompeo slams Chinain quick visits to SriLanka and MaldivesUSset toopenembassy inMaldives

THEMIDWESTERNstatesofWisconsinandIowa,whichTrumpwonin2016,arecru-cialforhimtoholdontoasheseekstoovercomethesub-stantialnationalleadthatBidencurrentlyholds,ac-cordingtopolls.ButthesurgeinCovidcasesthatthesetwostateshaveseeninrecentdayscouldnothavecomeataworsetimeforthePresident.HehasrepeatedlysaidCovidis“goingaway”,andhascon-sistentlyplayeddownthevirus.PollsshowthecontestinWisconsinandIowaaretight,butTrump’shandlingofthepandemicisnowreceiv-ingnegativeratings,andmaycosthimthemust-winstates.

Midwest’sCovidsurgehurtsTrump

Germany, France setfor new lockdowns

UK expert saysfirst set of Covidvaccines likelyto be ‘imperfect’

ADITIKHANNALONDON,OCTOBER28

THE FIRST set of Covid-19 vac-cinestoberolledoutarelikelytobe imperfect and might notwork equally for everyone, thechief of the UK government’sVaccineTaskforcehaswarned.Kate Bingham, chair of the

Vaccine Taskforce set up earlierthisyeartocoordinateglobalef-fortsinsearchofaviablevaccineagainst the novel coronavirus,saiditwasimportanttomanageexpectationsastheearlydiscov-eries are unlikely to be the “sil-verbullet”thattheworldishop-ing for to get to grips with thepandemic.“The firstgenerationof vac-

cines is likely to be imperfect,andweshouldbepreparedthatthey might not prevent infec-tion but rather reduce symp-toms,and,eventhen,mightnotwork for everyone or for long,”Binghamwrote inanarticle forthemedical journal The Lancetthisweek.PTI

MARCYGORDONWASHINGTON,OCTOBER28

WITHNEXTweek’selectionloom-ing,theCEOsofTwitter,Facebookand Google were scolded byRepublicans at a SenatehearingWednesday forallegedanti-con-servative bias in the companies’socialmedia platforms and re-ceived awarning of coming re-strictionsfromCongress.The Trump administration,

seizing on accusations of biasagainst conservative views, hasaskedCongress to strip someoftheprotections that havegener-ally shieldedthe techcompaniesfromlegalresponsibilityforwhatpeoplepostontheirplatforms.“The time has come for that

freepasstoend,”saidSen.RogerWicker, chairman of the SenateCommerce, Science andTransportationCommittee.He spoke at the opening of

the hearing as Twitter CEO JackDorsey, Facebook’s MarkZuckerbergandGoogle’sSundarPichaiwaitedtotestifyviavideo.Wicker cited themove this

monthbyFacebookandTwitterto

limitdisseminationof anunveri-fiedpolitical story fromthe con-servative-leaningNewYork Postabout Democratic presidentialnomineeJoeBiden.ThestorycitedunverifiedemailsfromBiden’ssonHunter thatwere reportedlydis-closedbyTrumpallies.In their prepared testimony,

Dorsey,ZuckerbergandPichaiad-dressedtheproposalsforchangesto aprovisionof a 1996 law thathas served as the foundation forunfetteredspeechontheinternet.Criticsinbothpartiessaythatim-

munity under Section 230 en-ables socialmedia companies toabdicate their responsibility tomoderatecontent.Zuckerberg acknowledged

thatCongress“shouldupdatethelawtomakesureit’sworkingasin-tended.”DorseyandPichaiurgedcaution inmaking any changes.“UnderminingSection230willre-sult infarmoreremovalofonlinespeechandimposeseverelimita-tionsonourcollectiveabilitytoad-dressharmfulcontentandprotectpeopleonline,”Dorseysaid.AP

At Senate hearing, social mediafirms’ CEOs scolded over ‘bias’

(Fromleft)TwitterCEOJackDorsey,FacebookCEOMarkZuckerbergandAlphabetCEOSundarPichai testifyremotelyduringaSenateCommerce,ScienceandTransportationCommitteehearing.Reuters

73millionAmericanshavealreadyvoted,more thanhalf the totalvotes in2016election

LAURIEKELLMANWASHINGTON,OCTOBER28

GARYKAUFFMANsayshedoesnot scare easily. So whenmenwaving President DonaldTrump flags drive by his housein downtown Gettysburg,Pennsylvania, he stands on hisfront stepsandwavesabannerfor Democrats Joe Biden andKamalaHarris.“Sometimes I yell at them.

They yell back at me,” saysKauffman,54.Still,Kauffman iskeeping a closer eye after see-ing some of the Trump sup-porters carrying weapons. “Ifthere’sguns, I’mabitmorecau-tious,” he said.Americans aren’t accus-

tomed to worrying about vio-lenceorsafetyaheadof anelec-tion. But after months filledwith disease, disruption andunrest, Americans areworriedthatElectionDaycouldbecomea flashpoint.With Election Day next

week, voters can point toplenty of evidence behind theanxiety. More than 226,000

people have died of the coron-avirus in the US, and cases arerising. A summer of protests ofracial injustice and sometimesviolent confrontations has leftmany on edge. Gun sales havebroken records. Trump hascalled on supporters to moni-tor voting and has refused tocommit to a peaceful transferof power or to explicitly con-demn a white supremacistgroup.Those worries have shown

up inpolling.About7 in10vot-ers say they are anxious aboutthe election, according to anAP-NORC poll this month.Biden supporters were morelikely tosaysothanTrumpsup-porters—72% to 61%.AP

Anxiety 2020: Manyvoters worry aboutsafety at the polls

RACE FORTHEWHITE

HOUSE

TIMREIDLOSANGELES,OCTOBER28

TWENTY FORMER RepublicanUS attorneys on Tuesday ac-cused President Donald Trumpof threatening the ruleof lawasthey declared their support forDemocraticWhiteHousecandi-date JoeBiden.The former senior federal

prosecutors, who collectivelyservedundereveryRepublicanpresident from DwightEisenhower toGeorgeW.Bush,said in a publicly released let-ter that Trump treated theDepartment of Justice as hispersonal law firm by pressur-inggovernment lawyers topro-tecthisalliesandattackhispo-litical foes.Thegroupisthelatestofsev-

eral Republican-led organisa-tions opposing RepublicanTrump’s re-election.Others include Republican

Voters Against Trump, FormerRepublican National SecurityOfficials for Biden, and 43AlumniforBiden,whichconsistsof hundreds of officials whoworked forGeorgeW.Bush, the43rdpresident.REUTERS

20 Republicanformer federalprosecutorsendorse Biden

Jaipur

11SENSEX: 39,922.46 ▼ 599.64 NIFTY: 11,729.60 ▼ 159.80 NIKKEI: 23,418.51 ▼ 67.29 HANG SENG: 24,708.80 ▼ 78.39 FTSE: 5,622.14 ▼ 106.85 DAX: 11,650.24 ▼ 413.33

THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`51,220

RUPEE`73.87

OIL$39.29

SILVER`62,712

Note:Gold,silverratesatDelhispotmarket;goldper10g,silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof2200IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

Insurers shell out `660 crorefor AI Express crash, largestin domestic aviation market

What does the tie-up betweenHarley-Davidson & Hero entail?

Dr Reddy’s looks to complete late-stagetrials of Sputnik V by mid-May next yearPRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

ENROLLMENTOFvolunteers formid-stage human trials of theRussianCovid-19vaccineSputnikVislikelytobegininthenextfewdays, said a senior official of DrReddy’s Laboratories. The firm,which will be conducting thetestinghere,expectstocompletelate-stage trials of the vaccinecandidatebymid-Maynextyearatthelatest.“As forthetiming,westart in

the next few days,” said DrReddy’sCEOErezIsraeliduringavirtual briefing following thefirm’s Q2 earnings onWednesday.Thefirmwillbeen-rollingaround100participantsinthephase2trials.Onceitreceivesapproval it will be recruitingaround1,400participantsforthe

phase3trials.“The phase 2, I hope,will be

finishedbyDecember—not justtheenrollmentandthetrials,butalso compilations of the resultsand,hopefully, the relevantposi-tive response from authoritiesthatwecancontinue(withthetri-als),” he said. “Phase3 shouldbefinished somewhere around

March...itcanbeasearlyastheendofMarchtoAprilorMay,”hesaid.Any decision to grant emer-

gency use approval for the vac-cine here will be left up to theIndian regulator, according tohim.“Thiswillbeadecisionoftheauthorities...we hope we canbringtheproductassoonaspos-sible,”hesaid.While SputnikValready re-

ceived approval andwas regis-teredbytheRussianMinistryofHealth in August, Dr Reddy’shasnotheldanydiscussionsonthe pricing of the vaccine withthe Indian government so far,said Israeli.The Russian Direct

Investment Fund (RDIF), DrReddy’spartnertosupplythevac-cine,isintalkswithmanufactur-erstoproduceSputnikVinIndia.“Theproductwillbeproduced

inIndiawithapartner,”hesaid.

SputnikVuses‘humanaden-oviral vector’ technology, usingtwo different geneticallymodi-fied adenoviruses to carry thespike protein. The vaccine con-taining the secondadenovirus isgiven 21 days after the first oneand is expected to “boost” thebody’s immune response andbuild“long-lastingimmunity”.Dr Reddy’s received regula-

tory approval earlier thismonthtoconductphase2/3trialsof thevaccine,whichwasdevelopedbyMoscow’s Gamaleya ResearchInstitute.Onceitreceivesregula-toryapprovalhere,RDIFwillsup-ply around100million doses ofthevaccinetoDrReddy’s fordis-tribution. Thevaccine is alsoun-dergoingphase3clinicaltrials inRussiawith a proposednumberof40,000subjects, aswellasad-ditionalphase3trials in theUAEthatcommencedthismonth.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THE TIE-UP announced byHarley-Davidson with HeroMotoCorp is part of the corpo-ratemakeover by theAmericancruiser bike brand, which in-volves exits from nearly 40globalmarkets.

Whatdoesthetie-upentail?On Tuesday, Harley-

Davidson said it has decided tohandoversales, serviceanddis-tributionof itsproductstoDelhi-based HeroMotoCorp.Herowillalso take care ofsalesofparts,acces-sories, generalmer-chandise,ridinggearand apparels ofHarley-Davidson.This arrangement issimilartorevampeddistributionmodels being piloted byHarleyin 16 othermarkets outside theUS, apart from India. WhileHarley-Davidsonannouncedtheshutting down of Bawal, theHaryana-basedassemblyfactorya month ago, Hero MotoCorp

clarified that it won’t be takingover theplant.Speaking to ana-

lysts, Jochen Zeitz,chairman, presidentand CEO, Harley-Davidson, said:“Under our focussedparticipationmodel,we are exiting about

40marketswhere lowvolumesand little profit do not warrantinvestments.We are establish-ing dealer-direct or distributormodel in about 17markets, andour36highestpotentialmarketswill have the leadership, re-sources and clearly defined op-

erating framework that we be-lieve will derive desirablegrowth and profitability in thefuture.”

Doesthedeal involveequitytransfer?This is being defined as a

non-equity tie-up is a distribu-tion-basedpartnershipthatdoesnot involve transfer of technol-ogy from Harley. A licensingagreement allows Hero to de-velop and sell a range of pre-miummotorcycles under theHarley-Davidsonbrandname.“With a complete reset of

our regional structure, we nowhave a less cumbersome andmuchmoreefficientset-upandhave defined a clearer regionalstrategyinNorthAmerica, India,AsiaPacific andLatinAmerica,”Zeitz said.InSeptember,Harleyhadan-

nouncedtheclosureof Indiaop-erations after 11 years of poorperformance, which saw thecompany sell only 25,000 units–way short of its annual targetof selling10,000units annually.Harley did not offer any clarityabout the futureof theHaryanafactory in its statement.

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

THE CRASH of Air India (AI)Express Boeing737plane at theKozhikode airport in Kerala hascost global reinsurers and IndianinsurersRs660crore($89million),the largest claimpay-out in theIndianaviationmarket.Of the reinsurers’ total claim

provisionof $89million,$51mil-lionisforthehulltotallossand$38millionfor liabilitythatmayariseforpassengerswhodiedorwereinjured,TPLandbaggage lossetc,saidAtul Sahai, CMD,New IndiaAssurance(NIA).State-ownedNIA,whichhas

ledtheAIinsuranceaccountasthelead primary insurer, has paidRs373.83croreashullclaimtoAirIndia, thehighesteverpay-out inthe Indian aviation insurancemarketinthissegmentarisingoutof thecrash.On August 7, an AI Express

flight fromDubai to KozhikodeovershottherunwayinoneoftheworstaviationdisastersinIndianhistory.Theaircraftwhilelandinginthenightovershotthetabletoprunwayfallingintoavalley35-feetbelow and broke into pieces,killing21peopleonboard,includ-ing both the pilots, and leavingmanyothersseverelyinjured.The majority of claims are

funded by a few global reinsur-ers including GIC Re,which haspaid $7 million as its share ofclaimsettlement.Besidespayingforthefullset-

tlementfortheHullclaim,NIA,thelargestgeneralinsurerinthecoun-try,hasalsopaidRs3.50croreforli-abilityasimmediaterelief topas-sengers affected. “Wehavepaid$51millionequivalenttoRs373.83croreforAir IndiaHullclaimaris-ing out of crash landing at

Kozhikode.Besides this,wehavealsopaidRs3.50croreforliabilityasimmediaterelieftopassengersaffected,”Sahaisaid.All liabilityclaimswillbepaid

after completion of profiling ofeachandeverypassenger, docu-mentationandassessmentof allotherliabilitieswhichmayariseinduecourse,Sahaisaid,addingthatliability claimpaymentmay takeafewmonthstocompletethedoc-umentationprocessat reinsurersend.“ThepaymentforaircraftHullhasbeenmadewithintwowork-ingdaysafterreceivingtheneces-sarydocuments fromreinsurers,settinghighstandardsof service,reliability and always standingwith our clients in the times ofneed anddistress. It speaks vol-umes of our financial strength,cash liquidity and the trust be-stowedonusbytheentireIndianairline industryaswearewritingalmost all commercial airlines inIndia,”hesaid.Air India had paid a higher

premiumof$30millionforasumassured of $10 billion during2020-21 renewal starting fromApril 1. The total liability underthe liability policy taken byAI isabout$750million.

The AI insurance account ismajorlyreinsured—above95percent—intheLondonmarketwithglobal re-insurers likeAIG, AXAAllianzandGICReproviding thereinsurancecapacity.Leadingspe-ciality broker Global InsuranceBrokerswas thebroker for theAIcover. TheAIExpresswillhave topayacompensationofaroundRs1.30croreeachtothenextofkinofvictims of the plane crash atKozhikodeInternationalAirportasper the Montreal Conventiontreaty,whichimposespenaltiesonaircarriersforthedeathofpassen-gersduetonegligence.As an interimcompensation,

familiesofall190peopleonboardhavebeenpaidbytheairline’sin-surance company, Air India hadsaid.A consortiumof fourpublicsector insurers — New IndiaAssurance, National InsuranceCompany, Oriental InsuranceCompany and United IndiaInsuranceCompany—arethepri-maryinsurersofAirIndia.The share of NIA in the pre-

miumand claimswill be 40percentandthebalance60percentisshared equally by NationalInsurance,OrientalInsuranceandUnitedIndia.

RUPEECLOSESATOVER1-MONTHLOW

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

DOMESTIC STOCKmarkets onWednesdaycameunder intensesellingpressure as resurgenceofCovidcasesinEuropeandtheUS,lockdownsandworries over an-other economic slowdown hitsentiment acrossmajorbourses.WithUS election uncertaintiesadding to theworries, the BSESensex fell 599.64 points to39,922.46andtheNiftyIndexde-clined159.80pointsto11,729.60.The rupeedepreciatedby16

paise to settle atmore thanone-month lowof 73.87 against theUScurrency.Analystssaidsharesacrossthe

worldplungedonWednesdayascoronavirus infectionsgrewrap-idlyinEuropeandtheUS,igniting

fears of possible strict lockdownmeasures that coulddamageal-readyfragileeconomicrecoveries.Theuncertainty surrounding theupcomingUS election also hasmarketplayershesitant tomakebigmoves.“Europeanmarketstouched4-

6monthlows.UncertaintyaroundUSPresidentialelectionshassuc-ceeded in triggeringa correctionin globalmarketswhichwas al-ready reeling under Covid-19cases.TheNiftylevelof11,661re-mains a crucial support on thedownside,” saidDeepak Jasani,

head of retail Research, HDFCSecurities.Indianmarketsarenowfalling

in tandemwith theweakglobaltrendastheworld’seconomicre-coverywill slowdownthisquar-terwithimplicationsonworldeq-uities,saidananalyst.Themarket

isalsokeenlywatchingthedevel-opments in theBiharAssemblyelectiononthedomesticfront.IndusIndBankwasthetoplag-

gard intheSensexpack, skidding3.45per cent, followedbyHDFC,ICICI Bank, TechMahindra, BajajFinance, UltraTechCement andHDFCBank.Meanwhile,thedomesticcur-

rency settled atmore thanone-monthlowduetomonth-enddol-lar demand from importers andthegreenback’sgainsagainstma-jorcurrencies.Lossesindomesticstockmarkets and uncertaintyaheadof expected freshstimulusmeasuresalsoweighedonthein-vestorsentiment.Attheinterbankforexmarket,

the rupee opened on a positivenote at 73.70 against the green-back,butsoonparedgainstotouchanintra-daylowof73.93.

‘87% households have accessto grid-connected power’Amajority of households (87 per cent) in India haveaccess to grid-connect electricity, as per a surveyby NITI Aayog and the Rockefeller Foundation

62%usersofnon-gridsources

areagriculturalcustomers

4% ofhouseholdstodaydonot

haveaccesstogrid-basedelectricity

FINDINGS:Overall87percentrespondentssaidtheyhaveaccesstogrid-basedelectricity.Theremaining13percenteitherusenon-gridsourcesforelectricityandlightingordon’tuseanyelectricityatall

KEYPOSITIVES:Indiahasemergedasoneofthe

leadersinprovidingelectricityaccess,almostdoublingtheaccessrateinthepast20yearsfrom59.4percenttoextendinggridconnectionsto100percenthouseholdsinthecountry

MAJORISSUES:Despiteachieving100percenthouseholdelectrification,access

toreliableandaffordableelectricitysupplycontinuestobeachallenge

66%ofsurveyedcustomersare

satisfiedwiththeoverallservicesfromtheirutility

Differences insatisfactionlevelsbetweenurbancustomers(75percent)andruralcustomers(63percent)

UttarPradesh’sutilitieshaveperformedfarbelowtheothers’,asperthesurvey

METHODOLOGY:Itwasconductedacross10stateswithasamplesizeofover25,000respondents Source:NITIAayogand

Rockefeller Foundation/PTI

39200

39400

39600

39800

40000

40200

40400

40600

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HEADINGHEADING

40,664.35

9:15 15:30

39,922.46

SENSEX: INTRA-DAY

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

BHARATBIOTECH,whichwillsoonbestartinglate-stagehu-mantrialsofitsCovid-19vac-cine on over 20,000 volun-teers in India, is trying toensure its candidate can im-proveclinicaloutcomesbyatleast 60 per cent. If itworks,this vaccine — Covaxin —would be able to prevent atleast 60 per cent of those in-oculatedfrombeingclinicallydiagnosedwithCovid-19.Thiswouldbehigherthan

the50percentefficacycut-offthattheIndiandrugregulatorand various internationalcounterparts have suggestedwouldbeenoughforfirmstomeetinorderfortheirCovid-19 vaccine to be consideredsuccessful.“Whatgloballyhasbeen accepted byWHOandtheUS FDA (American regu-lator),MHRA (UK regulator)andourNRA(Indiandrugreg-ulator—CDSCO)is50percentas the lower-bound efficacycutoff.We are designing ourtrial for a60per centefficacycutoff, soweareabovewhatthe NRA wants,” said SaiPrasad, executive director,Bharat Biotech. “But, again,thetrialwill telluswhereweare,”headded.“Wehavesomeinklingsof

efficacyfromouranimalchal-lenge data in primates,” saidPrasad. “Wehavenowtestedthe neutralising antibodiesfromourvaccineagainstthreeor four circulating Covid-19strainsinIndia,anditprotectsagainstthem,sothat’sagood

sign,” he said. “Thatmeans,even if there are anymuta-tionstothisvirus,thisvaccinewillhopefullyprotectagainstit,”headded.Even on the safety front,

theearly-andmid-stagetest-ing on humans so far showsthat the vaccine has notthrownupcauseforconcern,accordingtohim.“Our initial reactogenic

eventshavebeeninthat10to15percentrange,whichisthenormwhenwecompare it toallourothervaccines,Wehavenot seen thehigh amount ofSAEs(SeriousAdverseEvents)or reactogenic events com-pared to some of the otherpublished vaccines that areoutthere,soweareverycon-fident,”saidPrasad.The Central Drugs

Standard ControlOrganisation(CDSCO),India’stop drug regulator, inSeptember released guide-lines that showed it wouldonly approve Covid-19 vac-cinesthatmetparametersliketheir ability to show theycould improve clinical out-comesbyat least50per centduringhumantesting.Bharat Biotech plans to

test 25,000-26,000 volun-teers in the third phase of itstrialsforCovaxin,whichisex-pected to take place in sitesacross12-14states inIndia.

VACCINETRACKERCOVAXIN

Bharat Biotech aims toimprove clinical resultsby at least 60%, aboveregulator cut-off mark

AnAir IndiaExpress flightenroute fromDubaiskiddedofftherunwaywhile landing, inKozhikode,onAugust7.PTI file

International passenger flightsuspension extended till Nov 30ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THE SUSPENSION of scheduledinternational passenger flightshas been extended tillNovember 30 amid the coron-aviruspandemic,theDirectorateGeneralof CivilAviationsaidonWednesday.“However, the international

scheduled flights may be al-lowedonselected routesby thecompetent authority on a case-to-case basis,” the Indian avia-tionregulator said inacircular.The scheduled international

passenger services have beensuspended in India sinceMarch23 due to the coronavirus pan-demic. But special internationalflights have been operating un-

der the Vande Bharat MissionsinceMayandunderthebilateral‘air bubble’ arrangementswithselectedcountriessince July.India has formed air bubble

pactswith around18 countries,including the US, the UK, theUAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France.Under an air bubble pact be-tweentwocountries,special in-

ternational flights can be oper-ated by their airlines betweentheir territories.The Directorate General of

Civil Aviation (DGCA) circularalsomentionedthatthesuspen-sion does not affect the opera-tion of international all-cargooperations and flights specifi-callyapprovedby it.WITHPTI

New Delhi: Hong Kong hasbannedAir India flights fromMumbaitillNovember10af-terfivepassengersonitsflightearlier thisweek testedposi-tiveforCOVID-19postarrival,theairlinesaidonWednesday.

ThisisthefourthtimethatAir India flights from Indiahave been banned by theHongKong government forbringing passengers whotested positive for the infec-tionafterarrival.PTI

Hong Kong bars AI flights for 4thtime as flyers test Covid positive

NewYork: The S&P 500 andtheDowhittheirlowestlevelssince late-September onWednesdayasasurgeincoro-navirus cases in theUS andEurope dashed hopes of aquickglobaleconomicrecov-ery.At10:52a.m.ET,theDowJones Industrial Average fell841.00points,or3.06percentto26,622.19, theS&P500lost

100.22points,or2.95percentto 3,290.61 and theNasdaqCompositelost348.70points,or3.05percentto11,082.65.Meanwhile, Brent futures

fell $1.91, or 4.6 per cent, to$39.29abarrel by10:47a.m.EDT (1447 GMT), while USWest Texas Intermediatecrudefell$2.05,or5.2percent,to$37.52.REUTERS

Dow resumes slide, Brent falls 4%

Sensexcracks600points:Covidcases,growth fears,USpollsweigh

Thecompanyplanstotest25,000-26,000volunteers inthirdphaseof its trials

InSeptember,HarleyhadannouncedtheclosureofIndiaoperationsafter11yearsofpoorperformance,whichsawthecompanysellonly25,000units–wayshortof itsannualtargetofselling10,000unitsannually

BRIEFLYSebidiscussesdirect listing,IPOreformsNewDelhi:Earlyfinalisationof thedirect listing scheme,developmentof the corpo-rate bondmarket, and re-formsinIPOnormsweredis-cussed between Sebi andinvestorsfromtheUS.

DPIITreleasesnexteditionofFDIpolicyNewDelhi:TheCommerceand Industry Ministry onWednesday released thenexteditionof its consoli-dated foreign direct in-vestment policy docu-ment, incorporatingall thechanges made over thepast year.PTI

L&T revenuedrops 12%`25K-crorder forGujstretchofBullet train

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

LARSEN&Toubrohas recordeda12 per cent fall in consolidatedgrossrevenueofRs31,035croreforthe September quarter. Withlabour at various sites reachingnearpre-Covid levels, businessessaw a pickup in executionmo-mentum,comparedtoJunequar-ter, and achieved 46 per centgrowth.Theboarddeclaredaspe-cialdividendofRs18pershare.Thenetprofit andshare inprofit andlossof joint ventures andassoci-ates fromcontinuingoperationsbefore exceptional items for thequarterwasatRs1,410crore.It added it has won a

Rs25,000-croreorder toexecutea portion of the Mumbai-Ahmedabadbullettrainproject.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

THECOVID-19crisisisaclarioncalltoSCOmembercountriestolever-age their economic strength toboosttradeandinvestmentintheregion,CommerceMinisterPiyushGoyalsaidonWednesday.

Addressingameetingoftradeand economy ministers ofShanghai CooperationOrgani-sation (SCO)member countries,hesaid:“ThecurrentcrisisduetoCovid is a clarion call to the SCOcountriestoleveragetheeconomicstrengthandexplorepartnershipsthat enhance trade and invest-mentintheregion.”WITHPTI

CommerceMinisterPiyushGoyalattendsthe19thShanghaiCooperationOrganisationmeeting.@PiyushGoyalTwitterhandle

Covid crisis a clarioncall to SCO to exploretrade alliances: Goyal“Thephase2,Ihope,willbe

finishedbyDecember—notjusttheenrollmentandthetrials,butalsocompilationsoftheresultsand,hopefully,therelevantpositiveresponsefromauthoritiesthatwecancontinue(withthetrials)”

EREZ ISRAELICEO, DRREDDY’S LABORATORIES

Jaipur

CALENDAR12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

CROSSWORD4262

ACROSS1 Allbeingwell, it shouldbeempty(8)

5 and11Across:Harshandfleetingreigns? (4,3,4,5)

9 Pullsbackthegrass(5)

10 Inspires tenothersperhaps(7)

11 See5Across13 Gaveencoresnaturally(6)

14 Figure it’sall round(6)17 Fightingmanaudibly theworse forshouting(5,7)

20 It’sessential to reformacadanda liar (7)

21 Abadtimetosellwildplums(5)

22 Threadof thestory(4)

23 AwaytoshowtheemblemoftheTurks(8)

DOWN1 Itmaybeplayedonthe lawninsummer(4)

2 Damloyal (7)3 Lackof interest incontrast(12)

4 Reluctantaseverperhaps(6)

6 Leading ladyof theyear?(5)

7 Diana’sbloomerwill result incatastrophe(8)

8 Qualifiedcorndealers?(12)

12 Hotheadgreatlyputoutbystateof apathy(8)

15 Finishoff the job?(7)

16 Awavethatmakesawave(6)

18 Yet itmaybequiteapedestriancause(5)

19 Notice inawkwardsituation(4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Youshouldspareyourself sometimeforquietcontemplation.

Reflectiononyourpast,presentandfuturewillbevitalif youare togetacurrentpartnership intoperspective.Anddon'tworry if apartner isbehavingoutof character. Itshouldpass in time.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Let's face it, you’renot inclinedtocompromise ifyou’renot in the

wrong.Youcanbecourteous,sensitiveandwilling tohelpsomeof the time,butsometimesotherpeoplehavetorecognise that theycan’t sitonyouwithout facing theconsequences!Mindyou,youdoneedtoconsiderotherpeople’s feelings.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Themostpositiveareaof your lifeshouldbework,eventhoughthere is

aseriousdangerof emotionalexplosions.Youmayalsobeinclinedtoworryaboutyourphysical fitnessandenergylevels, inwhichcaseyoushouldseekreassuranceandget thebestadvice.

CANCER(June22- July23)Aseriesof planetsplaces thespotlightclearlyonpassion,adventureand

romance.Theconclusionseemstobe fairlyclear:everythingthathappenswillbereflectedthroughyourdeep-seateddesire foremotionalecstasy.That’s thetheory.Therealoutcomemightbedifferent.

LEO(July24-Aug23)It’sdifficult toseewhetheryouwillbevowingto leavehome,evicta

partnerormerelyspendyourtimeshifting the furniturearound.Onewayoranother,youshould indulge thepressure foremotionalchange.Andconfide in thepeoplewhounderstandyou.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sept23)Youmaydevotewhateversparetimeyouhavetomakingsure that,

even if apartnership iscomingtoanend,at leastyouhaveyourmemories.Onapurelymaterial level, youmayallowfinancialandbusinessplans todrift,unlessyou’re facinganimmovabledeadline.

LIBRA(Sept.24-Oct23)Your daily starsindicate theneed toget onwithwork,but yourweekly

andmonthly cycles revealthat thismaybewell-nighimpossible. Life, as usual, iscomplicated. Your colleagues,partners and lovedones areall likely to create anemergencywhich throwsyouoff course.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov22)Oneof yourmajorstrengths isyourability tostick toaparticularcourseof

action.Somepeoplecall itstubbornnessbut, at themoment, it’swhatyouneed ifyou’re toachieveyourromanticgoal.And if otherpeople laughatyourdreams,that’s theirproblem.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov23-Dec22)You are bound to beirritated by a closefriendor relation,whether you get

what youwant or not. You’llbe troubledby the thoughtthat the grass is greener onthe other side, convincedthat a partner is having aneasy ride. But the truth isthat youmight have got thebest of a deal. Be a bitmore tolerant.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Youmaytakedecisionsandholddiscussions. It’simportant tohave

anexchangeof views,becausethere’saslimchancethatalittle intelligentdialoguecouldhelpbreakthroughtheday’sgeneralemotional turmoil.Allyouhavetodo ismaketheeffort.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Youmustknowthatyouaresecure, andin thisknowledgeyoucanaffordto

takea fewriskshereandthere.Atworkthepositiveangle isprovidedbythepossibility thatoldwoundsmaynowbehealed.Buildbridges,mendfences, andmaketheworldabetterplace.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Your talent forsurvival is basedonyour ability toswim in andout of

difficult situations beforepartners evennotice you’vearrived, or left. This is one ofthosemomentswhenyoucan, if youwish,makeyourself invisible.Mindyou,don’t take chances.

SUDOKU4277

DifficultyLevel2sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4276

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Loveisnottobe_____,andaffectionhasno___.-Jerome(9,..,5)

SOLUTION:EARED,RUINS,ACCORD,UPPISHAnswer:Loveisnottobepurchased,andaffectionhasnoprice.-Jerome

DAEER AORCCD

NIRSU ISUHPP

SolutionsCrossword4261:Across:1Panoplied,8Igloo,9Tropics,10Tinsel,11Reason,12Sergeant,15Notabene,18Leadon,20Supple,21October,22Opera,23Dissenter.Down:2Agree,3Oppose,4Licensee,5Dining,6All-star,7Pollution,11Roundshot,13Re-elects,14Stapler,16Ballad,17Racoon,19Obese.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

Superintending Engineer, SouthernIrrigation Circle-I, Berhampur.

e-Procurement Notice No. SE SIC-06/2020-21e-mail id: se_sicbam@yahoo.com

1. Type of Work :- Flood Control works2. Total No of Works :- 02 (Two) Nos.3. Amount put to tender :- Rs. 651.29 to Rs. 666.94 lakhs4. Period of completion :- 17 Months (Seventeen) calendar months

Date of opening of the Technical Bid:- 18.11.2020 at 11.30 A.M.Further detail can be seen from the Govt. website www.tendersorissa.gov.in

Sd/-Superintending Engineer,

Southern Irrigation Circle-I, Perhampur.OIPR-32061/11/0005/2021

A-266

Procurement officer Bid IdentificationNo.

Bid Amount(Rs. in lakh)

Availability &Submission of Bid

On-lineSuperintending

Engineer, SouthernIrrigation Circle-I,

Berhampur, Ganjam

SE, SIC, (BNID)-01/2020-21

666.94 From 03.11.2020,10.00 A.M. to

17.11.2020, 5.00 P.M.SE, SIC, (BNID)-02/2020-21

651.29

Jaipur

R.N.I.No. RAJENG/2015/64747 Vol.VINo.105PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P)LimitedandprintedatDBPrintSolutions (AunitofDBCorp. Ltd.), BhaskarPrintingPress, Shivdaspura,RailwayCrossing,TonkRoad, JaipurandpublishedatD-54,GroundFloor,ResidentialRoad,SardarPatelMarg,ChomuHouse,C-Scheme, Jaipur -302001 (Rajasthan). Phone:0141-4043972. Fax:01414043973.Editorialoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,B1/B, Sector?10,Noida?201301.Phone:0120-6651500.Advertisingofficephone:0141-4043972.Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka,Chief Editor:RajKamal Jha,Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor :P.Vaidyanathan Iyer * (*Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct.) Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicorotherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The

IndianExpress®

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

SPORTWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SHAKIBSETTORETURNFORB’DESHBangladesh’s cricket establishment is waiting to welcome Shakib Al Hasanas he completes his one-year anti-corruption rule violation ban onThursday. Shakib was handed a two-year ban, with a one-year suspendedsentence, by ICC's Anti-Corruption Unit on October 29 last year, for fail-ing to report multiple corrupt approaches by an Indian bookmaker. PTI

India’sfirstmatchoftourtoAusonNov27TheIndiancricketteamwillgetanad-ditionalDay/Nightwarm-upgameinSydney as a tune-up to the series-opening Pink Ball Test againstAustraliainAdelaidefromDecember17, the host board announced onWednesdayunveiling the full sched-ule of the 69-day engagement. Thetourwillincludea14-dayquarantine-cum-trainingperiod inSydneystart-ingNovember12fortheIndianswhowill fly in after the IPL final onNovember10.ODI SERIES: Nov 27: 1st ODI, SCG(D/N);Nov29:2ndODI, SCG(D/N)Dec2:3rdODI,Canberra (D/N)T20I: Dec 4: 1st T20, Canberra(Night);Dec6:2ndT20,SCG(Night);Dec8:3rdT20, SCG(Night)TEST SERIES: Dec 17-21: 1st Test,Adelaide(Day/Night);Dec26-30:2ndTest. Melbourne; Jan 7-11: 3rd Test,Sydney; Jan15-19:4thTest,Brisbane

CL:Realsnatchapoint,AtletiwinWithonepoint from its opening twogames, RealMadrid is facing anotherfight to preserve its proud record ofqualifyingfortheknockoutstageinallofitsseasonsintheChampionsLeague.Itcouldhavebeenawholelotworsefortherecord13-timeEuropeanchampi-onsonTuesday, though.Heading intothe 87th minute against BorussiaMonchengladbach,Madridwaslosing2-0 and on course for four straightlossesintheChampionsLeagueforthefirst time. However, goals by KarimBenzemaand thenCasemiro - in thethirdminuteofstoppagetime-rescueda2-2drawfortheSpanishchampions,whosecity rivalsAtleticoMadridbeatSalzburg3-2 lossathome.NextupforMadridisadouble-headeragainstInterMilan, the teamwhichwas supposedtobe its toughest rival inGroupBbutwhich is also still without a win.Defending championBayernMunichbeat LokomotivMoscow 2-1whileManCitydefeatedMarseille3-0.

NADApanel letsoff junior judokaTheNational Anti-Doping Agency'sDisciplinaryPanel(ADDP)hasexoner-ated junior judoka JiteshDagar of thechargethatheevadedadopetestdur-ing a selection trial last year afterNADA'sDopeControlOfficer failed toproduceanyclinchingevidenceagainsthim. The event in questionwas theopenselectiontrialfortheAsiaOceanicandJuniorJudoChampionshipheldinBhopalonJune13,2019.Dagarwaspro-visionally suspendedon charges thatheleftthevenuewithoutprovidinghisurinesampleformandatorydopetest-ingafter finishing third in the+100kgcategoryfollowingasemi-final loss.

NationalTTcampgetsunderwayWithfocusfirmlyonqualifyingfornextyear'sTokyoOlympics,theIndiantabletennisplayersonWednesdayresumedtheir training after almost sevenmonthsatthenationalcamp,whichgotunderway at Sonepatwithninepad-dlers. A total of 11 players and threecoacheshavegiventheirconsentforthe42-day-longcampwhichwillconcludeon December 9. Four-timeCommonwealthGames gold-medal-listAchantaSharathKamalandAnushaKutumbalewillbejoiningthecamponThursday. Senior players G SathiyanandHarmeetDesaiareexpectedtojoinonce they return fromabroad,wheretheyarecompeting.

PTI/AP

BRIEFLY

SANDIPGOCTOBER28

MSDHONImade his and Chennai SuperKings fans go through awhole gamut ofemotionsinthislargelydisappointingedi-tion.Hehasbeenknowntobeinscrutableasheplotshisteam’sprogressonthefield,but betrayedhis emotions on several oc-casions this season.

SMILING STARTSeptember19,beatMIby fivewicketsDespite the pre-series turbulence —

ranging from Suresh Raina’swithdrawaltosupportstaff testingpositive,andtrun-catedpracticesessions,theyavengedtheirdefeatinlastyear’sfinalincrushingman-ner.Dhoniwasallspunkandbounce,asifhewereyouthfulagain.Rubbinghisstub-bleatthepresentationceremony,heem-phasised the balance of youth and expe-rience inhis side.“What reallyhelpsyoungsters in the

IPL is the fact that thereare lotsof seniorplayers from different countries for 60-70 days,” he stressed. It was the perfectadvertisement for his philosophy too:twomen in their early 20s, Lungi NgidiandSamCurran,setthetempowiththeircrafty bowling before two batsmen rid-ing their mid-30s, Ambati Rayudu andFaf duPlessis, completed the victory.

RUSTY STILL!September22, lost toRRby16runsThe first sign of muddled thinking.

Chasing 217, Dhoni bizarrely strode outatNo7.Hestruckafluentunbeaten29off17 balls, explained his rationale of com-ing down the order thus: “Oh! I haven’tbattedforaverylongtime,youknow,andthe14-dayquarantinedoesn’treallyhelp.I’m slowly trying to get into the tourna-ment.” Itwassounusual forDhonitonotsense thegamedriftingaway fromhim.

TIREDAND TESTEDOctober2, lost toSRHbysevenrunsItwas thenightDhoni’s body rebelled

against hismind. On thehottestOctober

night in the Emirates, Dhoniwas calmlyshepherdinga chase,when fatigue seizedhim.Hesanktohisknees,pouredbottlesofwateroverhishead, andstaggeredback tohisfeet.Foronceinhissturdycareer,Dhoniseemedknackered.Intheend,heseemedadefeatedman.Asmirk replaced the smile,beforehetore intothelackofprofessional-ismthatresultedinthethirdstraightdefeatof the season: “It’s the professionalism -droppingcatches, bowlingno-balls.We’remakingthesamemistakesagain.”Buthere-mainedhopeful:“We’llcomebackstronger.”

FLYINGDHONIOctober7, lost toKKRby10runsHewas spectacular, lunging and leap-

ing,daringanddetermined.Heshowedhisreflexesarestillintact,asheflungsidewaysto snaffle a thick outside edge off ShivamMavi’s swipe.Nowinthough,Dhonihim-selfstrugglingtoplayboomingstrokes.Heblamed it on the batsmen’s “lack of inno-vation,”with a deadpan expression. Onlythatinnovativenesshaddesertedhimtoo.

UMPIRING THEUMPIREOctober14,beatSRHby20runsDhoni’s stone-eyed glare andwaving

hands intimidatedumpirePaulReiffel intochanginghisdecisionregardingawideball.

Reiffelwas about to signal awide,whenDhoni’s spontaneous reaction, apparently,forcedarethink.CSKwereextraspiritedthatdayand thewin seemedapreface to a fa-mous comeback. Dhoni emphasised on“processes”, abuzzwordduringhis tenureas India captain: “I thinkweneed to thinkmoreabouttheprocess.Youkeepwinningthegames,thepointstablewilltakecareofitself.Nopointlookingatthetable,butwe'llstill look atwhatwecan improve.What'simportantistonotbrushanythingunderthecarpetjustbecauseyou’vewonthegame.”

WORDS THAT SPARKEDOctober19, lost toRRbysevenwicketsSufferingtheseventhlossin10games,

theirseasoncurtainedforallpracticalpur-pose,Dhonilethisdismayevident,andun-characteristicallypinnedtheblameontheyoungsters. “Thisseason,wewerenotre-allythere.Therewereafewchancestotheyoungsters andmaybewe didn’t see thekindofsparkthattheycouldhavegivenustosay,‘okay,pushouttheexperiencedguyand maybe make some space for theyoungsters’,”hesaid.Itseemedhewasde-fendinghimself—thetiradethatCSKwereateamofhas-beens, includinghimself.He regained his fabled cool and said:

“Today,theresult,whatitreallydoesisgivethose guyswhatever is left in our leaguestages,theywillgetachanceandtheywill

have no real pressure on them. They cangooutandexpressthemselves.”Infairness,barringSamCurrannootheryoungsterre-ally stood up under pressure — but thepointwas lost in the reality of the team’selderlyhandsmakingnegligible impact.

APOCALYPSENOWOctober23, lost toMIby10wicketsThesymbolicendtoacatastrophiccam-

paign.CSKbattedlikezombiesandbowledlikeghosts.Therewasasenseofresignationintheend.Dhoni,withoutsheddingadropofemotion,expressedhisprecisefeelingatthatmoment.“It hurts.” Thewords rolledoutofhismouthwithoutanyperceptibleobstructions. Then he saidmost filmy ofall lines: “Evenwhenyou're hurting, youtry tosmileandtake iton thechin.”

RENEWALANDHOPEOctober25,beatRCBbyeightwicketsTheperfectgame,theperfectpitch,the

perfectriposte.Dhoni laterexplainedthemindset:“Itdoeshurtwhenyoudon’tdowell so you try to amplify certain emo-tions. So that theguys justdon’tdrop thegame. That can leave with 12 painfulhoursoftheremainingtimeinthetourna-ment.Youhavetoenjoythegamenomat-terwhere you are on the table. If you arenot enjoying the cricket, it can becomecruel andpainful.”

MSDhoniwasall spunkandbounceat thestartof theseason.BCCI/IPL

Thefirst signofmuddledthinkingcameinthe loss toRR.BCCI/IPL

Dhoni’sglare ‘forced’PaulReiffel tochangehisdecisiononce.BCCI/IPL

Therewasasenseof resignationafter the10-wicket loss toMI.BCCI/IPL

The many moodsof MS DhoniAshisempirecrumbledaroundhim,

ChennaiSuperKingscaptainhasn'talwaysbeenhiscomposedself

How ‘X’mas shopping’ cost Coleman a shot at Tokyo goldEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,OCTOBER28

REIGNING 100Mworld champion and thefastest man on the planet at themoment,Christian Colemanwas handed a two-yearban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) onTuesday for breaching its whereaboutsclause. The ban effectively rules him out ofnext year’s Tokyo Games. The 24-year-oldAmericansprinterwassuspendedprovision-allyinJunefor ‘whereaboutsfailure’, includ-ingmissed tests.

WhatwasColeman’soffence?Coleman,who is part of the Registered

Testing Pool (RTP), had failed to presenthimself twice for sample collection andprovided incorrect details on another oc-casion, all in 2019. As perWADA rules, anathlete can face a two-year ban if he/shecommits threesuchviolationswithinape-riod of 12months.

Christmasshoppingor intentionalevasion?The100mspecialistadmittedtomissing

outonadopetestonDecember9 lastyear -thethirdandthemostcrucialmiss.Colemanclaimed he was out for a quick Christmasshopping stint and would have reachedhomeforthetestif theofficialshadjustgivenhim a call. Sample-collecting officials testi-fied before a disciplinary tribunal that theywerepresentoutsideColeman’shousedur-ing theentire timeallotted (7:15pmto8:15pm)onDecember9.Colemanhadsubmittedshopping bills in his defence but the AIUfound that the receipts showed that he hadpurchased16itemsfromastoreat8:22pm,sevenminutesbeyondtheallotted time.

WhatdidAIU’sdisciplinaryreportsay?The 22-page report, available on AIU’s

website, dismisses Coleman’s Christmasshopping claim. It says if Coleman had ar-rived fiveminutes before the allotted time,ashehadclaimed,hecouldhavenotmissed

the two officials waiting at the door. Theshoppingreceiptsalsopuncturedhisclaims.“Wesee this case as involvingbehaviour bytheathleteasverycarelessatbestandreck-lessatworst,”theAIU’sthree-memberjudg-ingpanel said in its report.

Whoisrequiredtofilewhereabouts?Athleteswho are part of the Registered

Testing Pool (RTP) created by the nationalanti-dopingagencyor an international fed-erationwill have to submit details. The de-tailsof theseathleteswillbemadeavailableto theWorld Anti-Doping Agency via theADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration andManagementSystem)database.Athletes included in theRTParethose ‘highest-priorityathletes’,includingmedalwinnersatma-jorgames.

Whatdetailsdoesanathletehavetoprovide?Whereabouts filings have to

include the address where anathleteislivingandalsoadditional informa-tionas towhere theywill bewhile compet-ing and training for the upcoming quarter.Buttheathleteisalsoencouragedtogivede-tailsabouther/hiswhereaboutsoutsidethe60-minuteslot.

Whatwill theColemancampdonow?The sprinter’s manager Emanuel

Hudson said theywill knock at thedoor oftheCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) forareprieve.Colemanisnotexpectedtocom-mentonthe issueuntil thecase isheardbyCAS. “The decision of the DisciplinaryTribunalestablishedunderWorldAthletics

Rules is unfortunate and willbe immediately appealed tothe Court of Arbitration forSport,” Hudson tweeted fromthe account of his HSI com-pany.

WithColemanout,whoisfavouritetotriumphatTokyo?Noah Lyles and Canadian

star Andre De Grasse are two runnerswhohave it in them to take the top spot on thepodium in Coleman’s absence. Lyles’ 9.86srunat Shanghai last year is the second-besttiming in theworld this Olympic cycle, be-hindColeman’smark.

Batsmanleads thechaseasMumbai IndiansbeatRoyalChallengersBangalore toedgecloser toplayoffs

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAABUDHABI,OCTOBER28

SURYAKUMAR YADAVmade a statementwith an unbeaten 43-ball 79 as MumbaiIndiansputone foot in theplay-offs follow-ing their five-wicket victory over RoyalsChallengers Bangalore in an IPLmatchhereonWednesday.Not considered for the tour of Australia

despitehisconsistentrunindomesticcricketand IPL, Suryakumar ledMI's chase of 165andhelped thedefendingchampions reachthe targetwith fiveballs to spare.Earlier, Jaspirit Bumrah (3/14) was his

usual devastating self in the death overs asMI pulled things back to restrict RCB to 164for six.During thegame,Bumrahpickeduphis100th IPLwicket in the formofRCBcap-tain Virat Kohli, who, incidentally, alsowashis first scalp in the lucrativeevent.The win meant that Mumbai Indians

continued to top the table with 16 points.With another two games left, they are allbut through to the play-offs. The secondhalf belonged to Surya,who plundered 10fours and 3 sixes, and he not only took theteam out of trouble after early jitters, butalso took them home. Hardik Pandya (17)played a useful cameo.MIwere inspotof botherat72 for three,

having lost openers Ishan Kishan (25),Quinton De Kock (18) and Saurabh Tiwary(5)cheaply.ButthatdidnotdeterSurya,whoinitially upped the ante in the 10th over,hammering a six and four off YuzvendraChahal (2-37).Surya and Krunal Pandya (10) collected

13 runs off the 12th over and then he tookonDaleSteyn,hittinghimfor three fours.AdeterminedSuryakeptplayingshotsatwillandhammeredthreeboundariesinthe16thover as theequationcamedownto35 runsfrom24balls.He played round the park and fittingly

finished the gamewith a boundary. Earlier,Devdutt Padikkal pummelled theMumbaiattack intosubmissionwitha45-ball 74.Put in tobat,Padikkal,whosmashed12

foursandasix, added71runs for theopen-

ing wicket with Josh Philippe (33).However, the RCB then suffered amiddle-ordercollapseasMumbai roaredback intothe game with lead pacer Bumrah doingthe bulk of damage.Padikkal began with a boundary over

deepextracoverandthenstrucksuccessivefours off Krunal Pandya, as RCB fetched 12runsinthethirdover.Thetwoopenerscon-tinuedplayingtheirshots, thehighlightbe-ingPhilippe's sixoverTrentBoult'shead inthe fifth over.Padikkal then went on the offensive

against James Pattinson, collecting twofours, as RCB raced to 54 for no loss in sixovers. However, leg-spinner Rahul Chahar(1/43) pulled things back for Mumbai, re-moving Philippe, who was stumped byQuintonDeKock.

Padikkal, who hit another two bound-ariesoffChahar,completedhisfiftywithan-other four. Skipper Virat Kohli (9) perishedearly as RCB slipped to 95/2, but Padikkalcontinued his onslaught against Chahar,hammering a six and two fours, as RCB got16runs in the15thover.Mumbai then took fourwickets inquick

succession, removing AB De Villiers (15),ShivamDube(2), Padikkal andChrisMorris(4), asRCBslumpedto138/6.Gurkeerat Mannmade a quick 14 but

Mumbai Indians, known for their effective-ness in thedeath, allowedRCBonly35 runsin the last fiveovers.BRIEFSCORES:RCB164/6in20overs(D

Padikkal74,JPhilippe33;JBumrah3/14)lostto MI 166/5 in 19.1 overs (S Yadav 79*, IKishan25;MSiraj2/28)by5wickets

Saha’s injury beingmonitoredWriddhimanSaha'sgroininjuryis"notse-

rious" but his IPL franchise SunrisersHyderabadisexpectedtoadoptacautiousap-proachafterconsultationwiththeBCCI'smed-icalteamastheseniorwicketkeeper-batsmanisAustralia-boundaftertheT20event.Sahahadpickeduptheniggleduringhis

match-winning innings of 87 off 45 ballsagainstDelhiCapitalsonTuesdayanddidn'tkeep wickets with substitute ShreevatsGoswamireplacinghim."Unfortunately,he'sgot a little groin niggle but hopefully it isn'ttoo bad," SRH skipperWarner said at thepost-matchpresentationceremony.Sahaispartof India'sTestteamwhichwill

playfourgamesstartingmid-Decemberdur-ingthetour,whichbeginsnextmonth.Asen-ior BCCI source said that all the franchiseshave been told to be a bit cautiouswith re-gards to fitnessof national teamplayers."Itdoesn'tlookveryseriousatthemoment

butthere isathree-daygapbeforeSunrisers'nextgame(vsRCBonOctober31).Let'skeepourfingerscrossed," theofficialsaid.

Playing tonight:CSKvsKKR,7.30pm

Surya rises to the challenge forMI

POINTS TABLETeam Matches Won Lost NR PointsMI 12 8 4 0 16RCB 12 7 5 0 14DDCC 12 7 5 0 14KXIP 12 6 6 0 12KKR 12 6 6 0 12SRH 12 5 7 0 10RR 12 5 7 0 10CSK 12 4 8 0 8

Father infectedwith Covid-19,Lakshya pulls outin SaarbruckenSHIVANINAIKMUMBAI,OCTOBER28

ISOLATEDINhishotel roomatSaarbruckenin Germany, DK Sen, father-cum-coach ofshuttler Lakshya Sen, says it was unfortu-nate his son had to pull out from theSaarLorLuxOpeninGermanywherehewasdefending champion.Whilehisfirstthoughtsaftertestingpos-

itive for Covid-19 in a test onWednesdayhavebeenabouthisson'scareerandsafetyofotherplayers,thiscasethrowsintosharpre-lief theperils of sport continuing tooperatein its older circuit format, making travel -however short the distance between twohostcities-imperative.Andalsoperilousfortheolder support staff."There's nothing toworry. I am fine and

well and praying to god for a speedy recov-ery,"DKSen,however,toldTheIndianExpress.Sen Sr is asymptomatic and nowawaits in-structions fromlocalhealthauthorities. "Weare in different rooms - Lakshya with hisphysioAbhishekandIaminaseparateroom.Ihavenosymptomsandwill followeverylo-cal protocol.We'll take a second test soon tocheckwhenwecanreturn,"headded.AfterplayingintheDenmarkOpenmid-

month, Lakshya had camped at Peter GadeAcademyandtravelledtoGermanyforSuper100tournament,whichhehadwonlastyear."Wecameon25thandtravelledtoFrankfurtforthemandatorytest.Thankfully,theybothtestednegative,andI'mnowinisolation.It'ssadbecausehehadworkedhard, butwith-drawingwasthebestoptionkeepingevery-one's safety inmind,"SenSr said.WhiletheOdenseSuper750hadoperated

within confines of a bubblewith two testsclearedbyplayersandallsupportstaff, travelinEurope,wherecasesaresurging,isfraught.Whilebadmintontookitstimetorestart,

theDenmarkOpenhadgonewithoutaglitch,theGermaneventwithfiveotherIndianshut-tlersinthedrawsawitsbiggestwithdrawalinformofthedefendingchampionontheopen-ingday.DanishfinalistRasmusGemkeisalsoplaying in Saarbrucken, as the tournamentgoesaheadonschedule.Earlier, theThomasUberCupscheduled

forearlyOctoberhadbeencancelledafteraraftofAsiancountries, including IndonesiaandKorea,hadexpressedtheirreservationsabouttravelingtoEurope.Therewerehopesafter the successful conduct of DenmarkOpen which saw a couple of top Japanesenames, that badminton will settle into anewnormalwithtournamentsgoingaheadwith restrictionsanda fractionof in-stadiaaudience. The Asian leg of three consecu-tive tournaments is scheduled for nextJanuary in Thailand."We'lltravelbackoncewegetthego-ahead

andfocusonthenexttournaments,"Sensaid.This is Lakshya's first full season on the

seniors circuit and after a good showing atAll England, the Bangalore lad had shownover-eagernesstofinishthepoints, flubbinghissecondroundinhislast lossatDenmark.However,thecurtailedEuropeanswingwasimportant to get into some sort of top-levelsparringavailableatGade's academy.

ChristianColemanhasbeenhandedatwo-yearsuspension.Reuters

SuryaKumarYadav’sunbeaten79helpedMumbaicross the finish line.BCCI/IPL

Jaipur

14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,THURSDAY,OCTOBER29,2020

Jaipur