2CM Kejriwal sets up first plasMa banK in Delhi

10Dhoni was a straightforwarD Captain, says praveen KuMar

6the forgotten general who never lost a war

franCe to Deliver rafale CoMbat airCraft by july enDNew Delhi: As expected, the twin-jet Rafale combat aircraft would be delivered to the Indian Air Force by July end, top de-fence officials said, adding that France, at the very beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, informed India of this delivery date. “French company Dassault Aviation is expected to deliver the much awaited twin-jet combat aircraft Rafale by July end,” a senior IAF officer said. “It would inform us of the delivery date and also if there would be any delay. As of today, everyone is ex-pecting that it would be delivered as told by the French company,” he added.

pM MoDi to aDDress the nation at 4 pM on tuesDayNew Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 4 pm on Tuesday. The Twitter handle of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released this information on Monday night. It is believed that Modi will share his views on Unlock 2.0, which will kick in from Wednesday. On Monday night, the government released the new guidelines for Unlock 2.0. It said the new rules will be in force till 31 July. Almost all activities have been allowed outside the containment zones save a few like function-ing of schools and colleges and international travel, among others. National broadcaster Doordarshan will telecast the Prime Minister’s address live.

MoDi govt profiteering froM petrol, Diesel: rahulNew Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday ac-cused the BJP-led government of “profiteering” from petrol and diesel and called for reduction in excise duty on petroleum products. “Government should stop profiteering from petrol and diesel, reduce excise rate immediately and reduce the price! SpeakUpAgainstFuelHike,” Gandhi said. In the video, the former Congress president said there had been an adverse eco-nomic impact of coronavirus and unemployment has risen.

30 june 2020 | Issue 58 | new delhi

Intense speculation has commenced on a pos-sible Cabinet reshuffle to

be preceded by the overhaul-ing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the next few days. While there has been widespread talk regarding the re-structuring of the party and the government, the latest conjecture follows

a high-powered meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence on Saturday.

The three-hour-long meeting in the evening was attended by BJP president J.P. Nadda, RSS joint gen-eral secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, RSS in-charge of organisation B.L. Santosh, senior RSS leader Dr Kris-han Gopal, besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Curiously, both Nitin Gad-

kari and Amit Shah were not present.

Informed sources said that at least ten Cabinet minis-ters were summoned to the meeting in a well-planned and structured manner to ensure that they were not present at the venue at the same time. The ministers were asked to make pres-entations regarding their performance in the govern-ment and told that the Prime

Minister and the party shall take the final call on their fu-ture role.

The idea was that the top leadership of the party and RSS should be able to as-sess their contributions and accordingly take an appro-priate decision. There has been an overall dissatisfac-tion over the performance of some ministers, who could be asked to either return to the party fold or be prepared

for a new role in the govern-ment.

In this context, it is be-lieved that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman could make way for somebody else as and when the Cabinet re-shuffle takes place. She was one of the ministers who was called to present her point of view at the meet-ing. Other ministers who also came in one by one in-cluded, Rajnath Singh, Ravi

Shankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal and S. Jaishankar. The Prime Minister has made it clear to his Cabinet colleagues that they would be accountable for their ac-tions and shall be judged by their work.

Within the BJP circles there has been specula-tion on the continuation of Rajnath Singh as the De-fence Minister since it is

MoDi liKely to revaMp Cabinet after party reshuffle

103 not Out!

The 103-year-old Sukhasingh Chabria, who has recovered from Covid-19, receives warm discharge by the staff of a Thane hospital on Monday. ANI

restruCturing exerCise

paK terror plan

exClusive

borDer tensions striCt aCtion

400 terrorists ready to infiltrate into India via 24 routes: Intel

Another blow to China as govt pushes drug security schemes

TikTok to Xender, IT ministry bans 59 Chinese apps

MuMbai poliCe iMpounDs 16K vehiCles for Crossing 2-KM ‘laKshMan reKha’

A high-powered meeting at PM Narendra Modi’s residence triggers intense speculation; 10 Cabinet ministers summoned to present their report card.

Intelligence agencies have revealed that terrorists are trying to infiltrate into India in large numbers from ar-eas of PoK through Line of Control (LoC) and interna-tional border. Sources have revealed that the Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and Pakistani Army are helping the terrorists to infiltrate into Indian border through existing routes and also via new routes. After the Indian Army wiped out terrorists in large numbers in the valley, the Pakistan Army is upset and now, it is planning to infiltrate terrorists in large numbers in June and July.

According to the agencies, more than 400 terrorists are

on the launch pads, ready to infiltrate into the Indian bor-der. According to the latest report, the intelligence agen-cy has complete information about the number of terror-ists on the launch pads, apart from new infiltration routes. The terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Al-Badar and Hizbul Mujahi-deen are looking to infiltrate from 24 routes along the Line of Control. Pakistan Army is planning to infiltrate these terrorists into the Indian bor-der and also gave training to 60 terrorists of Al-Badar at the training camp of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

According to the intelli-gence reports, Drass sector has emerged as a new launch pad of terrorists and 26 ter-rorists of Hizbul are planning

to infiltrate from this area. Information that intelligence agencies havereveals that ter-rorists are in the process of infiltrating into the Indian border from the Keran sec-tor, Tangdhar sector, Machil sector, Poonch in Jammu, and Krishna Ghati. The ter-rorists are also planning to infiltrate from Bimbar Gali of Pir Panjal range. In these areas, infiltration routes al-ready existed for terrorists in the past. 

There is a possibility of BAT attack and IED blast in Bhim-ber Gali and Krishna Valley sector. There are 16 terror-ists who can conduct an IED blast here. The Pakistani Army has specially trained them and later reinforced them on the border. These

The Ministry of Electron-ics and Information Tech-nology (MeitY)has banned 59Chinese applications due to the ongoing tension with China at the Lineof Actual Control (LAC). The governmenton Monday decided to banwidely used mobile apps such as Tik-Tok, ShareIt, Likee, UC Browser,WeChat, and Bigo Live.

There have been nation-wide protests and criticism against Chineseapplica-tions and products since

the bloodshed of Indian sol-diers inthe Galwan Valley of Ladakh on 15June. Section 69A of the Information-Technology Act (Procedure and Safeguards for Block-ing of Access ofInformation by Public) Rules 2009 has been enforced by the Minis-try toact against the Chinese companies which are “prej-udicial tosovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security ofstate and public order.”“There have been raging concerns on aspects relat-ing to data securityand safe-guarding the privacy of 130 crore Indians. It has been

notedrecently that such concerns also pose a threat to sovereignty andsecurity of our country. The Min-istry of Information Tech-nology hasreceived many complaints from various sources including sever-alreports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOSplat-forms for stealing and sur-reptitiously transmitting users’ data inan unauthor-ized manner to servers which have locations out-side India.The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elementshos-tile to national security and

defence of India, which ul-timatelyimpinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter ofvery deep and immediate con-cern which requires emer-gency measures.”

A recommendation for blocking these Chinese ap-plications has been sentby the Indian Cyber Crime Co-ordination Centre under the Ministry ofHome Affairs as well. “This Ministry has also received manyrepre-sentations raising concerns from citizens regarding se-curity ofdata and risk to pri-vacy relating to operation

this is the initial step in the path towarDs the Country's finest Daily newspaper.

sharpest KiD on the bloCK

top of the day

A day after drawing a new “Lakshman Rekha” for Mum-

baikars at a 2km radius from their homes, Mumbai Police stepped up its action against lockdown violators and im-pounded 16,291 vehicles on Monday. The police had al-ready seized 7,075 vehicles and booked 2,065 people for violation on Sunday.

In fresh guidelines issued on Sunday, the police had said that whether it is visit-ing markets, grocery shops, salons or barber shops, Mumbaikars will have to stick to areas that fall with-in the 2km radius of their homes/local areas. Only people who are exempted are office goers, essential

service-related people and people travelling for medi-cal emergency. 

The Maharashtra govern-ment has decided to extend the lockdown in the state till 31July. Maharashtra is the worst affected state with 1,69,883 cases and 7,610 deaths reported in which Mumbai has maximum number of 76,765cases with 4,463 deaths reported. In view of the surging num-bers in the city, Mumbai police has come up with new restrictions to remind people that corona still ex-ists and people should not walk around unnecessary. Easing of lockdown was done under “Mission begin again” by the Maharashtra government where partial public and vehicular move-

ment was allowed, but seem-ingly throwing caution to the winds, people have been thronging streets and roads have been clogged with traf-fic.

On Monday, massive traffic congestion was witnessed at various locations like West-ern Express Highway, East-ern Express Highway after extensive steps taken by cops at various places across the city. Citizens took to twit-ter to express their worries about the traffic havoc. ID proofs were checked at vari-ous locations and vehicles outside 2km radius of their local areas were impounded. On Sunday itself, Mumbai police booked 2,061 peo-ple under IPC section 188 (disobedience of order duly

urvashi KhonaMUMBAI

Brijesh Pandey and saByasachi roy chowdhuryNeW DelHI

P2P2

P2

P2 P2

raKesh singhNeW DelHI

atir KhanNeW DelHI

PanKaj vohraNeW DelHI

In another major blow to China, the government has started developing Bulk Drug Industrial Parks and Production Linked Incentive Schemes on a high priority. This will cut India’ reliance on China for mass manufac-turing of life-saving drugs.

These schemes are touted as being crucial in the face of the India-China standoff amidst the alarming rise in coronavirus cases. Once these parks are operational, India would be self-suffi-cient in production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, which make base for produc-

tion of majority of life-saving medicines.

Sources said a high-level meeting was held in the Cab-inet Secretariat to discuss the modalities of the ambitious schemes. Several important decisions were taken in the meeting attended by top officials of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Electronics & Informa-tion Technology and, Indus-trial Finance Corporation of India and Niti Aayog.

A number of states have shown interest in the gov-ernment’s Bulk Drug Parks and Medical Device Parks Scheme. Selection of the lo-cations is being jointly done

Move follows nationwide protests against Chinese applications and products after death of Indian soldiers in the Galwan Valley clash.

paK terror plan

exClusive borDer tensions

exit strategy

Covid-19  fighting CoviD

repatriation

repatriation

400 terrorists ready to infiltrate into India via 24 routes: Intel

Another blow to China as govt pushes drug security schemes

tiKtoK to xenDer, it Ministry bans 59 Chinese apps

2 news t h e da i ly gua r d i a n3 0 j u n e 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

The Ministry of Home Af-fairs (MHA) has issued new guidelines for Unlock

2.0 starting from 1 July. As per the guidelines, lockdown in all contain-ment zones are to be strictly imple-mented till 31 July, but outside the containment zones, more activities will be opened up in phased man-ner.

After extensive consultation with the states and UTs, it was decided that schools, colleges and coaching institutions will remain closed till

31 July. International air travel of passengers has been permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat mission.

The guidelines are based on the feedback received from the states and UTs and consultation with the Central ministries and Depart-ments. Salient features of this Un-lock 2.0 are: The operation of do-mestic flights and passenger trains, which have already been allowed in a limited manner, will be expanded further in a calibrated manner. Night curfew timings are being further relaxed from 10 pm to 5 am to ensure seamless operation of in-

dustrial units in multiple shifts and movement of persons and goods on national and state highways. Shops, depending on their area, can have more than five persons at a time, but social distancing has to be followed.

Decision on opening up of Metro Rail, cinema halls, gymnasium, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatre, bars auditorium, assembly halls, Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural-religious functions, and other large congregations, will be taken later based on the assessment of the situation.

Activities in the containment

zones shall be monitored strictly by the state/UT and the guidelines re-lated to the containment measures in these zones will be strictly imple-mented. MOHFW will monitor the proper delineation of containment zones and implementation of the containment measures. States and UTs based on their assessment of the situation may prohibit certain activities outside the containment zones. However, there will be no restriction on the inter-state and intrastate movement of people and goods. No separate permission/ approval/e-permit will be required for such movements.

unloCK 2.0 guiDelines releaseD, sChools & Colleges to reMain shut till 31 july Brijesh Pandey & raKesh singhNeW DelHI

aishvarya jainNeW DelHI

PulKit nagar, saByasachi roy chowdhuryNeW DelHI

arun dhantaNeW DelHI

ashish sinha NeW DelHI

The world’s largest repara-tions exercise, Vande Bharat Mission, is all set to start its fourth phase from 3 July, with national carrier Air India and its subsidiary operating 414 flights and private air-lines operating 498 flights. The government started this mega mission to evacu-ate stranded Indians from abroad on 6 May as sched-uled international passenger flights had been suspended in India since 23 March due to Covid-19 pandemic. 

“VBM enters phase 4 on 3 July 2020. In this phase, Air India will operate 114 flights between July 3-15, including 31 flights to US; 19 to UK; 9 to Canada and 8 to Australia. AI Express will operate 300 flights in July 136 upto July 14 and 164 from July 15-31. Private airlines have volun-teered for significant par-ticipation in this phase with 498 flights to be operated by them. Among others, IndiGo will operate 238 flights from Qatar and 219 flights from Kuwait; while GoAir will op-erate 41 flights from Kuwait. Number of private carriers,

flights and destinations is likely to increase,” said the Ministry of Civil Aviation. 

Under the this phase of Vande Bharat Mission, Air India and Air India Express will repatriate people from 17 countries -- Canada, the US, the UK, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Thailand, South Africa, Rus-sia, Australia, Myanmar, Ja-pan, Ukraine and Vietnam. 

More than 147,000 Indi-ans have already returned on Vande Bharat flights, and more than 52,000 have flown out to different countries.

The Supreme Court on Mon-day asked the Centre to re-ply on the status of Tablighi Jamaat’s foreign members currently staying in India, questioning why many of them are still in the country after cancellation of their visas. The Union govern-ment will also have to clarify whether any orders to cancel visas or blacklist foreign par-ticipants of Tablighi Jamaat were also issued by the state authorities. 

Adjourning hearing on pleas by foreign participants of Tablighi Jamaat for 2 July,

the top court also asked the Centre to clarify if there was any general direction or in-dividual orders sent to each blacklisted foreigner whose visa was cancelled. Over 900 foreign participants from 35 countries have been blacklisted from travelling to India for 10 years by a government press release, without mentioning if that has been done on a case to case basis.

Foreign participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congrega-tion seek to remove their names from MHA blacklist, reinstatement of visas and facilitation of return to their home countries. Petitions in

the top court claim unilat-eral blacklisting of foreign nationals by the Ministry of Home Affairs is arbitrary and violative of right to life and liberty. They argued that individual orders were not given to all blacklisted per-sons, rather press releases were issued with hundreds of names, and no one was given any prior notice.

The MHA order had blacklisted several for-eigners for 10 years from entering India for alleged involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities and stay-ing in India in violation of visa rules during the period of nationwide lockdown.

Mission Vande Bharat phase 4 to see 900 flights, mostly by private carriers

sC asKs Centre to Clarify visa status of foreign tablighis

being said that Amit Shah could probably replace him. The

Prime Minister is yet to take a view on a pending proposal to bifurcate the Union Home Ministry. Therefore, Shah’s transfer would depend on whether the bifurcation move gets the final approval. Sources said that the internal secu-rity segment of the ministry could be taken away so as to get a full-fledged minister to head this particular as-signment. The government could announce this divi-sion simultaneously with the reshuffle.

The party re-organisation could happen as early as the next two days since the RSS has already given its approv-al to the new inductees who may find a berth in Nadda’s

team. So far, Nadda has been continuing with the same team he had inherited from his predecessor, Amit Shah, and therefore the party re-vamping has no element of surprise. Earlier, there was a suggestion to include Nadda in the government while al-lowing some other senior to take over the reins of the party. Sources said that the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and PM Modi were to have the final word in this matter.

Political circles, particu-larly the opposition, is likely to view the restructuring ex-ercise as an attempt to divert the attention from the nega-tive perception that has been building up over the manner in which first the Covid-19 pandemic fallout was tack-led and subsequently, the mounting India-China ten-sions on our borders.

MoDi liKely to revaMp Cabinet after party reshuffle

MuMbai poliCe iMpounDs 16,000 vehiCles for Crossing 2-KM ‘laKshMan reKha’

restruCturing exerCise

striCt aCtion

teams have been tasked to cross the bor-der and return to their territory safely after the

attack on the Indian Army. BAT includes Pak Army special com-mandos, Pakistan army personnel and some terrorists. Movement of

terrorists is also seen in Akhnoor sector and Gurez sector. Pakistan Army and Pakistani intelligence agency ISI are annoyed that more than 110 terrorists have been wiped out since January in the valley. Movement of terrorists remains constant in Poonch too. 

According to the intelligence re-port, the terrorists are changing their strategy and preparing new routes of infiltration. Rauf As-ghar, brother of Jaish Chief Azhar Masood, wants to carry out a major attack in India. During the last few days, he has come twice to meet

the terrorists who have gathered at these launching pads. Looking at this threat, all agencies have been alerted. Supporters of terror-ists in Jammu and Kashmir are also being closely monitored. Vigil has also been increased along the Line of Control and international border.

Since the clash between Indian Army and Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley of Ladakh, Pakistan has been continuously firing in the adjacent areas of LoC. The Indian Army has said Pakistan’s continuous firing on LoC is one of their strategies to di-vert attention.

on a competitive basis by the Department of Pro-motion of Industry & Inter-nal Trade and Niti Aayog.

A senior government official said the focus is to urgently work out a selec-tion process based on objectivity and transparency.  

A couple of months ago Union Cabi-net had approved the schemes with a plan of pumping in Rs 9,940 crore. It is estimated that the schemes would lead to an estimated incremental sales of Rs 46,400 crore. And would catalyse size-able employment generation over the next eight years.

A decision seems to have been taken that the Industrial Finance Corporation of India would be the project manage-ment agency, which will process the applications, while Invest India would be working on allaying fears of the pro-spective investors.

Department of Pharmaceutical has also constituted a bureau to work on simplifying the regulatory processes and to handhold potential investors. Several rounds of consultations have been held between the bureaucrats and the stakeholders for finalising the guidelines. 

The Ministry of Electronics and In-formation Technology has already released guidelines for schemes for promotion of manufacturing of com-ponents and semiconductors and elec-tronic manufacturing cluster scheme.

All these schemes would be collective-ly useful for manufacturing of electron-ic devices required for manufacturing of medical equipment. Sources said a

targeted promotion campaign has been initiated and several rounds of meetings between private companies and state governments have also happened.

The government has entrusted MeitY and Department of Pharmaceuticals to identity all approvals, processes, li-cences required for each of the schemes across various Central ministries/de-partments and state governments.

There is a clear cut direction to streamline the process and mechanism and encourage stakeholders through the entire process till the manufactur-ing unit is operational. Both MeitY and Department of Pharmaceuticals have been directed to intensify their engage-ment with the investors. And work to-wards convincing them regarding any apprehensions and concerns they may have related to the investment process.

Just to give a backgrounder, Indian pharmaceutical industry is the third largest in the world by volume. However, despite this achievement, India is signifi-cantly dependent on import of basic raw materials, viz, bulk drugs that are used to produce medicines. In some specific bulk drugs the import dependence is 80-100%, primarily from China.

Continuous supply of drugs is neces-sary to ensure delivery of affordable healthcare to the citizens. Any disrup-tion in supplies can have significant ad-verse impact on Drug Security, which is also linked to the overall economy of the country. The scheme on Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks for financing Com-mon Infrastructure Facilities in 3 Bulk Drug Parks proposes government in-vestment of Rs 3,000 crore for the next

five years.Government investment in Produc-

tion Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for promotion of domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials/Drug Intermediates and APIs in the country would be to the tune of Rs 6,940 crore for the next eight years.

The government decision is to develop three mega Bulk Drug Parks in India that would be executed in partner-ship with states. Government of India will give Grants-in-Aid to states with a maximum limit of Rs 1,000 crore per Bulk Drug Park.

Parks will have common facilities such as solvent recovery plant, distil-lation plant, power and steam units, common effluent treatment plant, etc. A sum of Rs 3,000 crore has been ap-proved for this scheme for next 5 years.

In Production Linked Incentive Scheme financial incentive will be given to eligible manufacturers of identified 53 critical bulk drugs on their incre-mental sales over the base year (2019-20) for a period of 6 years.

Out of 53 identified bulk drugs, 26 are fermentation-based bulk drugs and 27 are chemical synthesis-based bulk drugs. Rate of incentive will be 20% (of incremental sales value) for fermen-tation-based bulk drugs and 10% for chemical synthesis-based bulk drugs.

These schemes are aimed to boost domestic manufacturing of critical Key Starting Materials/Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients by attracting large investments in the sector to ensure sustainable domestic supply.

of certain apps.”

The Computer Emergency Re-

sponse Team (CERT-IN) has also informed theMe-itY of receiving representa-tions from Indian citizens regarding datasecurity. The issue has also been flagged by Parliamentarians.“On the basis of these and upon receiving recent cred-ible inputs thatsuch apps pose threat to sovereignty and integrity of India, the-Government of India has decided to disallow the us-age of certain apps,used in both mobile and non-mo-bile Internet enabled devic-es. Theseapps are listed in the attached appendix. This move will safeguard thein-terests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decisionis a targeted move to ensure safety and sovereignty of Indiancyber-space,” the Ministry stated.

Over 5.5 billion dollars have been invested by Chi-nese investors likeTencent, Alibaba, TR Capital and Hillhouse Capital in Indian start-upsover the last four years. This data has been received through Venture-

Intelligence which tracks private equity, M&A, ven-ture capitaltransactions and valuations in India.

The list of banned Chi-nese applications includes: TikTok, Shareit, Kwai, UCBrowser, Baidu map, Shein, Clash of Kings, DU battery saver, Helo,Likee, Yo u C a m m a ke up, Mi Community, CM Brow-ers, Virus Cleaner, APUS-Browser, ROMWE, Club Factory, Newsdog, Beauty Plus, WeChat, UC News,QQ Mail, Weibo, Xender, QQ Music, QQ Newsfeed, Bigo Live, SelfieCity,Mail Master, Parallel Space, Mi Video Call–Xiaomi, WeSync, ES FileExplorer, Viva Video – QU Video Inc, Meitu, Vigo Video, New VideoStatus, DU Recorder, Vault- Hide, Cache Cleaner DU App studio, DUCleaner, DU Browser, Hago Play With New Friends, Cam Scan-ner, CleanMaster–Cheetah Mobile, Wonder Camera, Photo Wonder, QQ Player, WeMeet, Sweet Selfie, Baidu Translate, Vmate, QQ Inter-national, QQSecurity Cent-er, QQ Launcher, U Video, V fly Status Video, MobileLeg-ends and DU Privacy.

promul-gated by public servant) for vio-lating the lock-

down norms. Out of those who were booked on Sun-day, 1,046 were arrested and released in bail, while 701 were served notices, and 314 are reportedly shown wanted, said Mumbai police. 

On Monday, city police set up 137 checkpoints across the city and checked 30,072 vehicles which in-clude 6,640 four-wheelers,

11,579 two-wheelers, and 1,366 three-wheelers. They have registered 6,860 cases under the Motor Vehicles Act. “The threat of Covid-19 still persists and as the lock-down eased, many people have been found violating the norms endangering their own health and that of others. It is our appeal that all citizens behave responsi-bly and avoid unnecessary movement,” said DCP Pra-nay Ashok, Mumbai police spokesperson.

As the number of corona-virus cases increase by the day in the national capital, the AAP government is leav-ing no stone unturned to ar-rest the slide. The Kejriwal government has set up the country’s first plasma bank to reduce deaths caused by the virus. According to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, this plasma bank will start functioning in the coming 2 days and it has been set up at Delhi’s ILBS Hospital. This bank will be helpful in treating patients whose con-ditions have worsened due to Corona.

The government believes that plasma therapy shows positive results for critically

ill patients but the biggest underlying problem was for such patients to get plasma on time, this is why the Kejri-wal government has decided to set up a plasma bank.

Kejrieal said, “I get calls from people asking for plas-ma. There has been a lot of chaos in the last few days re-garding plasma. Delhi was the first state in the country to have a plasma trial two and a half months ago. The trial was conducted on 29 patients. The results were very encouraging. It has been observed that if plasma is given, the oxygen level in-creases and the respiration level falls. There are two problems in the fight against corona - 1. The patient’s oxy-gen level falls, 2. The level of respiration increases a

lot. Now plasma therapy is allowed but where will the plasma come from? Plasma can only be given by those who suffered from corona and are now recovered. We had provided plasma to 29 patients who are doing well now. As a result, we submit-ted the report to the Central government and on the basis of it, the Central government has allowed plasma therapy in Delhi government and private hospitals. The Delhi government has decided that we will set up a Plasma Bank in Delhi.”

The results of plasma ther-apy have been quite good. In the last few days, 35 people were given plasma therapy at Lok Nayak Hospital, out of which 34 people recov-ered completely.

With 19,459 new patients infected from Covid-19 in-fection, India’s coronavirus tally has reached 5,14,318. The death toll rose to 16,475 with 380 casualties in the last 24 hours. Over 3.2 lakh patients have recovered, while 2.1 lakh infections are still active. With the big spike, India is now the fourth worst-hit country in the world after the United States, Brazil and Russia. India›s coronavirus recov-ery rate has reached 58.67 per cent, according to the

Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat have in total report-ed 2,87,063 cases of Covid-19 infection, which is almost 60% of the total cases. Ma-harashtra has been the most affected in the country by this epidemic. In the last 24 hours 5,257 new cases have been registered in the state and 181 people have died, the total number of people affected has increased to 1,69,883 and the death toll from this deadly virus has increased to 7,610. 88,960 people have become disease-free in the state.

inDia fourth worst-hit Country with 5.48 laKh Corona Cases

CM Kejriwal sets up first plasma bank in Delhi

Bruce Schneier, in his book Data and Goli-ath, talks about the

“hidden battles to collect your data and to control your world”. In 2015, this notion did not seem so sinister. The nightmare unfolded so slow-ly that the world missed the horror since. Various kinds of data are used for corporate and government surveillance around the world. This in-cludes location, identity, transaction, activity and communication details. Sources of these data points include desktop computers, email accounts, social media platforms, networks and now the most potent source are our mobile devices.

While most apps initially originated in the US-Europe region, they inherently com-plied to applicable privacy and security regulations prevalent locally. This, how-ever, changed when apps from regions and countries, with entirely different legal environments, came up. Take for instance, WeChat, which functions differently for a Chinese and its for-eign subscribers. It is fully compliant to real-time cen-sorship of the Chinese state which is implemented by the Great Fire Wall (GFW). The Internet has no boundaries, de facto and de jure, hence hundreds of millions of In-dians today are subscribers of apps made in the US and China. The Cambridge Ana-lytica scandal has proved be-yond doubt that subscriber data can be put to use for sinister purposes, including regime change. Little bits and

bytes of data leak informa-tion about individuals but if this is aggregated, it can have severe national security im-plications.

Data threatsA closer look at the data col-lected by mobile phone apps would give us a glimpse into the possible threats from a geopolitical perspective. The apps on your cell phone col-lect data about:

1. Who you are: Which in-cludes biometrics like finger-prints and retina, a person’s physical characteristics and other personally identifiable information.

2. What you do: Your ac-tivities like travel and GPS location, a person’s behav-iour and movement patterns.

3. What you have: This includes documents and numbers such as a national identity number, passport, bank account numbers, etc.

4. What you know: Entail-ing information known only to the beholder personally, like personal identification number (PIN), usernames and access tokens.

Recently when govern-ments across the world start-ed to utilise contact tracing for prospective identification of Covid-19 exposure, serious concerns regarding privacy were raised. It is high time that similar questions were asked about hundreds of oth-er apps used by a very large percentage of the Indian population. These questions include, legal and regulatory issues surrounding collec-tion, processing, retention and use of the personal data

processed by these apps.While apps arising out of

Europe have to be compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the US tech ecosystem is also demo-cratically regulated (you can go to a court). Data protec-tion principles in totalitarian states like China are highly questionable. Thus, regard-ing Chinese apps there is no transparency and informa-tion about the data subjects’ rights, one knows nothing about principles of consent and other legitimate grounds for the processing of person-al data. Similarly, data trans-fers and processing by third parties is also opaque. This leaves an Indian citizen very vulnerable to exploitation by a totalitarian non-democrat-ic state, which puts surveil-lance on -- and censors -- its citizens 24x7.

Looking at the prolifera-tion of the Chinese apps, a single app TikTok has been downloaded by 467 million users in India and boasts of a user base of about 120 mil-lion. It was downloaded by 277.6 million users in India in the first 11 months of 2019 alone. Another Helo app is now used by 40,000,000 Indian users. UC Browser, which has been repeatedly flagged for serious data privacy violations, is used by more than 430 million users worldwide, has over 130 million Indian users. The list is endless, and liter-ally hundreds of terabytes of sensitive data is flowing to these Chinese firms on a daily basis.

In a totalitarian state, the lines between government and business interests are opaque. Giants like Apple can resist the US government (supposedly) and decline to share data on the grounds of individual privacy, but the record of Chinese cor-porations in compliance to data requests by their state is unclear.

LegaL provisionsThe Union Ministry of Electronics and Informa-tion Technology (MeitY), as per Section 69 of Infor-mation Technology Act (IT Act) is empowered to block public access to any online information under specified circumstances like sovereignty and integ-rity, defense and security of the state, friendly relations

with foreign states or public order or for preventing in-citement to the commission of any cognizable offence re-lating to the above.

The procedure for block-ing of websites/URLs is laid down in Information Technology (procedure and safeguards for blocking for access information for pub-lic) Rule, 2009. The said blocking by Meity is done in compliance of the court or-der or on the recommenda-tion of a ministerial commit-tee as specified in the rules. The said rules also make it mandatory for such blocking requests to be given through the nodal officer of such gov-ernment department.

Blocking such apps during emergency situations are dif-ficult as they work through multiple IP addresses and on different protocols, and hence there is a need for a reasonably good solution to protect national security.

In the area of mobile apps and privacy there is still a serious gap between legal requirements and the trans-

lation of these requirements into practical solutions. The requirement of incorporat-ing maximum possible in-formation principles for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information such as accountability, identifying purposes, consent (wherever possible), limiting collection, limiting use, disclosure, and retention, accuracy, safe-guards, openness; individual access and challenging com-pliance does exist.

Existing recommendations to app developers usually provide insights only into what the developers are re-quired to do, without further guidance on how they will be able to fulfil these require-ments. It is the requirement of the day that the guidelines by the state should be issued providing recommendations to app developers that shed more light on how privacy requirements can be fulfilled in practice.

Moreover, the under-standing of how the apps practically operate is often complex, due to their dy-

namic environment, reuse of software libraries and in-terconnection with different networks and systems, thus making it even more difficult to assess their privacy and security characteristics. Al-though few app developers might maliciously oversee data protection obligations, in many cases poor data pro-tection and security practices are due to lack of awareness, knowledge or understand-ing (from app developers) on how to practically organise for and engineer privacy and security requirements into their tools.

From a privacy perspec-tive it has to be noted that the knowledge level of a us-ers’ choice of an app could constitute personal data or even sensitive personal data.

Censorship & surveiLLanCeThe possibly malicious apps are originating from China, Russia, Pakistan, among others; these are the nations that do not score highly on global indices of Internet

freedom. China’s stance to legalise its digital barrier is a step closer to Internet sov-ereignty. The said “Golden Shield” of China is a giant mechanism of surveillance that blocks hundreds of millions of websites which are not in consonance to the Communist party’s agenda/control including giants like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. It was also reported by US Officials that eight out of 25 most trafficked sites globally are blocked in China. China has rules that restrict foreign companies from publish-ing online content and pro-posed tighter rules requiring websites to register domain names with the Chinese gov-ernment.

China has even strength-ened the control on virtual private network (VPN) pro-viders which allows tunnels under the firewall. VPNs ex-ist at the pleasure of the gov-ernment. Using VPN service to access blocked websites might attract a trip to the local police station. Google

is still blocked in China with alternative local search en-gine Baidu which has its re-sults heavily censored. As Chinese companies and its apps are spreading beyond the geography of China, the concerns over their activity is coming under scrutiny for tracking, monitoring users across the globe and not re-stricted to Chinese citizens. Though China is known for censoring content on its platform that would be sensi-tive in China, such platforms with growing popularity and its existence in the world are expected to follow rules and regulations from Chinese au-thorities and lead to content surveillance.

ConCLusionDuring hostilities and con-flict between China and other countries, data from these apps will put the Chi-nese regime to a great geopo-litical advantage. It can have a real-time picture of various strategic and tactical initia-tives undertaken by the other country for its defence and combat preparedness. Apart from the data gathered in due course of business, de-liberate vulnerabilities left in the software and hardware of ubiquitous cheap Chinese smartphones can lead to severe compromise of indi-viduals as well as organisa-tional information. Ill-pro-tected and insecure coding of Chinese operating systems and apps can also allow for further targeted attacks by providing an initial foothold into the victim’s devices. A rapid and thorough assess-ment of Chinese apps from the point of view of national security as well as individual privacy is the urgent need of the hour.

Time is also ripe to learn from the Dragon; it first blocked the popular plat-forms, created a sovereign data space, and rapidly in-novated to create viable al-ternatives, which generated trillions of dollars for domes-tic IT companies. While we may not be able to replicate what it did, we can put bril-liant Indians’ minds together to transition from a passive market to a primary pro-ducer of cutting-edge tech-nology.Brijesh Singh is Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Maharashtra, and Khushbu Jain is a practicing advocate in the Supreme Court.

Chinese apps & geopolitical threatsA rapid and thorough assessment of Chinese apps from the point of view of national security as well as individual privacy is the urgent need of the hour, especially in the wake of the LAC standoff.

Virtual battles

3comment & analysisthe daily guardian30 june 2020

new delhi

opinionBrijesh singh &

KhushBu jain

Monday’s attack on Pakistan’s Karachi stock exchange, alleg-edly carried out by the Baloch Liberation Army, while bring-ing the Balochistan issue to the attention of the world, did some disservice to the Baloch movement. The Baloch cause is just. Balochistan is suffering immensely under Pakistani military boots. Abductions, deaths, massacres, bombing the civilian population—all these “weapons” are part of Pakistan military’s arsenal when it comes to attacking the freedom movement raging in that part of the subcontinent. Pakistan is having a tough time keeping this restive province, which comprises nearly half of Pakistan’s landmass—and through which the China-Pak-istan Economic Corridor pass-es—under control. A province

rich in minerals, gold, oil and gas, Balochistan has always been exploited by the rulers in Islamabad and Rawalpindi GHQ, who have never brought any development to the region in over seven decades of Paki-stan’s existence. Balochistan continues to be one of the poor-est regions of Pakistan, with even clean drinking water not easily accessible. The sheer neglect that Balochistan has been facing has been cause for much resentment there, which in turn has been feeding the independence movement. Lest we forget, Balochistan—the kingdom of Kalat to be spe-cific—became an independent entity on 15 August 1947. And it was only in April 1948, eight months after its existence as an independent country with its own Parliament that Kalat

was annexed by Pakistan and was merged with a few other princely states to form the current Balochistan. So the struggle for an independent Balochistan started right from the time the province came into existence. In fact, that Pakistan could turn Kashmir into a dis-pute and a global cause for a section of the Muslim ummah, while India did nothing about lending a voice to Balochistan’s legitimate cause for decades, says a lot about India’s foreign policy short-sightedness and inability to realise its strategic interests. This was compound-ed by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s “Balo-chistan blunder”, when in 2009 in a joint statement after a bilateral summit in Sharm-el Shaikh, with his Pakistani counterpart, Yusuf Raza Gi-

lani, the Indian side allowed the reference of Balochistan to creep in, with the oblique sug-gestion that India was behind the terrorism in Balochistan.

It is only in the last six years that India seems to have wo-ken up to the sufferings in Balochistan, even though all appeals by Baloch leaders to

have a government-in-exile in India or at least some sort of a formal diplomatic office, seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Of course the downside of allow-ing such an office is that it will add grist to Islamabad’s spuri-ous claim that India is behind terrorism not only in that prov-ince but also the rest of Paki-stan, when it should be looking inwards to find out how the pet snakes in its backyard are bit-ing it now—as Hillary Clinton had once said, would happen. Pakistan is the mother country of the worst kind of Islamist terrorist groups in the world. The Baloch Liberation Army is a force fighting for the inde-pendence of Balochistan. If it starts attacking civilian enti-ties, it risks being branded a Wahhabi terrorist group and the Baloch cause loses its mor-

al high ground. However, one cannot discount the possibility that Karachi was a Pakistani ISI operation to garner sym-pathy from the world and to discredit the Baloch national-ists, apart from an attempt to point a finger of accusation at India, which Pakistan has al-ready done. India has rightly dismissed the claim as outra-geous. Terror is Pakistan’s state policy. It thinks it gives it power and relevance. The world knows what Pakistan is all about. Baloch national-ists should not give the biggest terror sponsor of the world the opportunity to portray itself as a victim of terrorism.One doesn’t have the luxury of time to figure it all out, because at stake here is the education of an entire generation.Joyeeta Basu

perspeCtivePAKistAn is nO ViCtiM

Karachi stocK exchange attacK brings balochistan in limelight

Pakistani forces kill all four gunmen, allegedly linked to the Baloch Liberation army, who attacked Pakistan stock exchange in Karachi on Monday. (ani Photo)

During hostilities and conflict between China and other countries, data from these apps will put the Chinese regime to a great geopolitical advantage. It can have a real-time picture of various strategic and tactical initiatives undertaken by the other country for its defence and combat preparedness.

Referring to the Pakistan government’s offer to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor, Pun-jab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Mon-day said that the state gov-ernment had no issues in this regard but a final call would be taken by the Centre. Inter-acting with media-persons here, he said that in case the Centre seeks any opinion from the state government, he would certainly request it to open the corridor with strict adherence to health protocol and social distanc-ing amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Reacting to the statement

of Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh on the issue of Khalistan, the Chief Minister said no one wants Khalistan, even he doesn’t want it. Captain Amarinder questioned why the Sikhs, running business almost in every state across the country and leading a prosperous life, would demand Khalistan?

He said, “People like Pannu were spinning money by

exploiting the religious sen-timents, which was unfortu-nate. He had neither any sup-port base even in United States amongst Sikhs, which was reflective from his decision to postpone Referendum-2020 due to tepid response.

On the issue of ongoing probe by the SIT in the Behbal Kalan firing incident, the CM said that the investigation is still underway and none could be declared accused at this stage. Asked to comment whether Navjot Singh Sidhu could be given any new responsibility, he quipped it is up to the party high command to take a final decision whether Sidhu is to be given any responsibility in state or Centre.

State govt iS Ready to open KaRtaRpuR CoRRidoR: punjab CMAnil BhArdwAjChandigarh

Manali sees an in-flux of tourists in the peak tourist

season of summer which lasts about 90 days. The number of tourists exceeds the capacity of the town by about 27 times. However, in this summer of 2020 the streets of this Himalayan town are silent and devoid of any tourists. The streets of Manali’s Mall are quieter than its quietest off-season months, forming an unimag-inable sight for all those who associate gloom and solitude with its dreary winter. What makes the sunny months of April, May and June even gloomier is that there is no sign of any respite from Co-vid-19 in the coming time.

Regardless of their opti-mism or pessimism, hote-liers amidst this pandemic

have reached a point of sur-render and have accepted it as fait accompli. For there is only so much news and speculation that one can digest before feeling a little numb. Being an independent hotelier based out of Manali, I hesitantly try to believe the veterans of the trade when they say, “It cannot get worse than this”, because as per credible reports, it is about to get much worse before getting any better. Despite knowing this only too well, I find the extended lockdown dissolving the initial anxiet-ies that I had.

For the sake of my pru-dence and sanity, I have be-gun to periodically assess the buffer amount, I had stacked up for a rainy day. Without a single doubt, these are the very same rainy days we had saved up money for. But how many infected months will this finite sum outdo? The relief measures by the state for subsidised electricity and employee provident funds offer us some momentary respite. But there are more pressing expenses that need to be taken care of, for hotels ranging across all sizes, there are fleets of staff that need their livelihoods sustained.

I, for one, stand among the

more fortunate hoteliers who have a tinier strength to up-hold through the Covid-19 jolt. The industry’s moguls brace tightly, many of whom have had to disperse a sizable chunk of their workforce due to unaffordability. This, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg that we are jointly (and inadvertently) sailing over.

Regardless of our walks of life, the refusal of the Covid-19 curve to flatten anytime soon causes dread among each of us. Even a layman can ascertain that a dwindling economy cannot provide for any purchase be-yond the bare necessities, let alone the leisure of travelling.

The hospitality and civil aviation industries have been the hardest hit worldwide. However, unlike air travel,

the hospitality industry isn’t as likely to regain its impe-tus. Hopeful analysts point towards the preferential benefit of road trips over air travel when it comes to the conveyance of leisure tour-ists. But only time will pro-vide a definitive answer to whether a locked down citi-zen would be willing enough to risk an outstation trip to refresh their senses. What if this contradicted their very reason for remaining locked for all these months?

Ironically, the already frail medical infrastructure of Himachal Pradesh negates a tourism influx in the near future. Ours isn’t the only state administration in a Catch-22 situation between its economic reparation and medical safety. However, it survives on a narrower win-dow of profitability than its neighbours, and doesn’t have healthcare biceps to flex. The extent to which our future parameters will offer a re-laxation of borders and trade in the Himalayas, time alone will tell. And even though I cannot make this time pass any faster than it does, I oc-cupy myself nowadays strat-egising how I can best ensure the safety and wellbeing of my future visitors.

It would be myopic of me to brace for the storm and not for its passage. Hence, along-side an uphill race against mounting expenditures, I am brainstorming for the brighter days, if and when they arrive. I am making do with the existing features of my boutique property in upper Manali to facilitate the safest and Covid-proof stay that I can afford for my fu-ture guests. The absence of constricted spaces and cross-ventilated air conditioning hints at some prospective so-cial distancing assets. More-over, it is easy to envision a minimal dining distance of two metres atop the lush gardens amidst our apple or-chards. An entirely in-house team of staff residents and a relatively low footfall aid the precautionary measures that I am willing to take. In all, the thorough sanitation of a 23-room small, owner-run bou-tique resort proves to be far more promising than that of a chock-a-blocked giant with clustered suites.

That said, even the safest reopening plan does not come without the risk of de-serted preparations. What if the Covid-19 monster contin-ues to lurk under our ultra-luxurious beds?

Manali haS neveR been So quiet in SuMMeR SeaSon

Captain SpeaKSloCKdoWn WoeS

UrvAshi singh

news plus the daily guardian30 june 2020new delhi4

The veterans of the tourism industry say, ‘It can’t get worse than this.’ So, will the sector, worst hit by Covid-19, see any respite in coming days?

CM Amarinder Singh.

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, hoteliers have reached a point of surrender and accepted it as fait accompli.

InherItance

legally speakingthe daily guardian30 june 2020

new delhi 5

If we look at the prob-able statistics of litiga-tion in this country, at

least 50% of the litigation is against government au-thorities. From the remain-ing 50%, at least 30-40% is related to property dis-putes alone.

Succession law, though a very important and in-trinsic part of the whole conspectus of laws, is also a very interesting but ex-tremely difficult subject due to its intricacies. Suc-cession to property has, in the past, the world over, led to wars between siblings. The era of Kings being over, the arena then shifted to the courts in the mod-ern world. Acrimony over property has always been the reason for long drawn disputes.

OriginsIn India, since many years in the ancient past, and es-pecially in case of Hindu’s, we had what can be called the Shastric or traditional Hindu Law, the predecessor of modern statutory Hindu Laws, as we have them to-day.

Any person professing or following a particular religion should be aware of rights and obligations under their personal law. Before the enactment of the four laws governing Hin-dus these complex issues were regulated by Dharma, the Vedas and other sources which were believed to be either of divine origin or were formulated by Acha-ryas and Rishis who were well versed in the study of religion and its various in-tricacies which were recog-nised as the law. This was because it was strongly be-lieved that morals and eth-ics when combined with self imposed restrictions and conditions were expedient to regulate society. These were in the past, the law of the land and any breach was considered as a breach of the law. This was the foun-dation of the laws relating to Hindus, which has, with the passage of time evolved into the present legislations of Hindu Law as we know them today1.

The COdifiCaTiOn Of hindu LawsFour laws governing Hin-

dus namely the Hindu Succession Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, The Hindu Adoptions and Mainte-nance Act and the Hindu Minority and Guardian-ship Act, came into force in 1955 and 1956. The laws have taken care to incor-porate some of the ancient aspects coupled with pro-gressive thinking in their application. In fact, many principles of the old law were introduced into the modern Hindu Law. Cer-tain aspects were, however abandoned, which has been rued by many as a decima-tion of the old Hindu Laws. But the words of J.D.M. Derret , a legal scholar on Hindu Succession in his book titled “Introduction to Modern Hindu Law”, say it all. He wrote “In India the law of inheritance has been so re-cently and so comprehensively reformed that no one need fear dying intestate, that is to say, without leaving a will which is capable of taking effect. In a sense Parliament has made, in the Hindu Succession Act a will for everyone, and whoever proposes to make  a will should consider whether every even-tuality bas not been foreseen by Parliament, and whether his own preferences would be an improvement.

The hindu suCCessiOn aCT,1956That brings us to the Hindu Succession Act 1956 as we know it today. I propose to discuss albeit briefly, some important provisions. The act deals with succession to property of a male Hindu (section 8), Rights of a fe-male Hindu over property (section 14), succession to property of a female Hindu (section 15) and most impor-tantly, succession in case of coparcenary property (sec-tion 6, which I propose to discuss in a subsequent article). The Act lays down a uniform and comprehen-sive system of inherit ance.

suCCessiOn TO The prOperTy Of a hindu MaLe dying inTesTaTeWhen a male Hindu dies in-testate the following section applies. It stipulates that;

S.8 General rules of suc-cession in the case of males

The property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the provisions of this Chapter-(a) firstly, upon the heirs, be-ing the relatives specified in class I of the Schedule;(b) secondly, if there is no heir of Class I then upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in Class II of the Schedule;(c) thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the agnates of the

deceased; and(d) lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the deceased.

THE SCHEDULE(See section 8)HEIRS IN CLASS I AND

CLASS IIClass ISon; daughter; widow;

mother; son of a prede-ceased son; daughter of a predeceased son; son of a predeceased daugh-ter; daughter of a prede-ceased daughter; widow of a prede cease son; son of a predeceased son of a predeceased son; daugh-ter of a predeceased son of a predeceased son; widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son [son of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-deceased son].

Class III Father.II (1) Son’s daughter’s son; (2) son’s daughter’s daughter; (3) brother; (4) sister.III (1)Daughter’s son’s son;  (2)  daughter’s son’s daughter; (3) daugh ter’s daughter’s son; (4) daugh-ter’s daughter’s daughter.IV (1) Brother ’s son; (2) sister’s son; (3) broth-er’s daughter; (4) sister’s daughter.V Father’s father; father’s mother.V I Fa t h e r ’s w i d ow; brother’s widowVII Father’s brother; fa-ther’s sister,VIII Mother’s father; mother’s mother.IX Mother ’s brother; mother’s sister.

E x pl a n a t i o n —In t h i s Schedule, references to a brother or sister do not in-clude reference to a brother or sister by uterine blood.

As is evident, the section states the mode of succes-sion to a Hindu male dying intestate. The schedule to the section divides the heirs into classes. The distinction amongst the two classes of heirs being that while heirs in class I take the property simultaneously, heirs in class II take the property to the exclusion of the heirs in the subsequent entry. To explain this, suppose a male Hindu dies intestate and leaves behind a wife a son and a daughter, all the three being heirs in class I will take the property si-multaneously. If however a male Hindu dies intestate without leaving any heir in class I, in such a situation the heirs in class II will be entitled to his property. But there is a difference here. To explain, suppose a male Hindu dies without any heirs in class I, and sup-pose his father is alive, the father being the first entry in class II, will be entitled to the sons property to the exclusion of the heirs in the other entries. It is only if no heir is present in a particu-

lar entry , that the heirs in the subsequent entry are entitled to such property. Sections 9 to 13 contain the rules as regards the distri-bution.

seCTiOn 14 Of The hindu suCCessiOn aCT, 1956This provision deals with the status of property pos-sessed by a female Hindu.

Section 14. Property of a fe-male Hindu to be her absolute property.—(1) Any property possessed by a female Hin-du, whether acquired be-fore or after the commence-ment of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner.

Explanation.—In this sub-section, ‘property’ in-cludes both movable and immovable property ac-quired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not, before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or by purchase or by prescrip-tion, or in any other man-ner whatsoever, and also any such property held by her as stridhana immedi-ately before the commence-ment of this Act.(2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to any prop erty acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instru ment or under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the terms of the gift, will or other instru-ment or the decree, order or award prescribe a restricted

estate in such property.The section brought

about an extremely im-portant change from the Shastric Hindu law, where there were restrictions and conditions imposed upon a woman’s ownership of property. As can be seen. The first part of the section stipulates that any property possessed by a female Hin-du, whether acquired be-fore or after the commence-ment of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner. Therefore the law made it amply clear that a woman has full ownership of property possessed by her. The explanation to the section also makes it abun-dantly clear that the modes of ownership stipulated therein constitute the prop-erty as her own. But it is the second part of the section that states that if a Hindu female has got property in the manner described, and if a restricted ownership is prescribed then she does not become full owner.

The second part of the sec-tion has come up for inter-pretation on various occa-sions before the courts. In a benchmark decision of the Supreme Court in V. Tula-samma & Ors vs V. Sesha Red-dy (reported in AIR 1977 SC 1944), the court held that a wide interpretation ought to be given to such an ame-liorative provision and de-claired that property ,even though conferred as a lim-ited estate but for the pur-pose of maintenance of the woman would confer full ownership upon her. This section can have no applica-tion where a female Hindu

never acquired any prop-erty at all or where having acquired it she happened to have lost her title thereto by alienation, surrender or otherwise. Explaining the ethos of the provision , the Supreme Court has stated in C. Masilamani Muda-liar & Ors vs The Idol Of Sri Swaminath Swamy, (1996) 8 SCC 525 that if the acquisi-tion of the property attracts sub-section [1] of Section 14, sub-section [2] does not come into play. If the acquisition is for the first time, without any vestige of pre-existing right under the instrument, document or device etc. then sub-section [2] of Section 14 gets attract-ed. Sub-section [2] being in the nature of an exception, it does not engulf and wipe out the operation of sub-section [1]. Sub-section [2] of Section 14 independently operates in its own sphere.

Therefore it can be clearly seen that the legislative intent was to see to it that a Hindu female was con-ferred with adequate rights in property, and that the concept of restricted estate would only apply in stricter circumstances where re-strictions were stringent.

seCTiOn 15 Of The hindu suCCessiOn aCT, 1956This section deals with the distribution of property of a Hindu female dying intes-tate. It stipulates that;15. General rules of succes-sion in the case of female Hindus.—(1) The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the rules set out in section 16,—

(a) firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-de-ceased son or daughter) and the husband;(b) secondly, upon the heirs of the husband;(c) thirdly, upon the mother and father;(d) fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and(e) lastly, upon the heirs of the mother.(2) Notwithstanding any-thing contained in sub-sec-tion (1),—

(a) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother shall de-volve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the de-ceased (including the chil-dren of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the or-der specified therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and(b) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her father-in-law shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband.

This section propounds a uniform scheme of succes-sion to the property of a fe-male Hindu who dies intes-tate. The section groups the heirs of a female intestate into five categories as En-tries (a)–(e) in sub-section (1). That sub-section is the general mode of succession to a female intestate. Here too, as in case of a male Hindu, if the heirs specified in entry (a) are alive, they inherit simultaneously but to the exclusion of heirs in the other entries. The real difference in the mode of succession is brought out in sub-section(2) which is again in two parts. This sub-section is in the nature of an exception to sub-sec-tion (1). Broadly stated, the two exceptions are that if the female dies without leav-ing any issue, then: (1) in re-spect of property inherited by her from her father or mother, that property will devolve not according to the order laid down in the five Entries in sub-section (1), but upon the heirs of the father; and (2) in re-spect of property inherited by her from her husband or father-in-law, it will de-volve not according to the order laid down in the five Entries but upon the heirs of the husband. In case of a Hindu female having self acquired property section 15(1) will apply and not section 15 (2) . The distinc-tion is that the first portion deals with all categories of heirs and the source of property would be self ac-quired, whereas insofar as the second sub-section is concerned, it deals with not only a situation in case the female does not have any children, but also the source of the property be-ing either from her father

or mother but also from her husband or father-in-law.

The basis of inheritance of a female Hindu’s proper-ty who dies intestate would thus be the source from which such female Hindu came into possession of the property and the man-ner of inheritance which would decide the manner of devolution as held by the Supreme Court in Bha-gat Ram v. Teja Singh AIR 2002 SC 1. The Court in a subsequent decision in S.R. Srinivasa v S. Padmavat-hamma, (2010) 5 SCC 274 stated that in case of prop-erty of an issueless female, this particular provision has been enacted to prevent the property going into the hands of strangers.

TesTaMenTary suCCessiOnThe Hindu Succession Act deals mainly with intestate succession but section 30 of the Act deals with tes-tamentary succession. It states that;

Section 30. Any Hindu may dispose of by will or other testamentary dispo-sition any property, which is capable of being so dis-posed of by him, in accor-dance with the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (39 of 1925), or any other law for the time being in force and applica-ble to Hindus.

Explanation: The inter-est of a male Hindu in a Mitakshara coparcenary property or the interest of a member of a tarward, tavazhi, illom, kutumba or kavaru in the property of the tarward, tavazhi , illom, kutumba or kavaru shall, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law for the time being in force, be deemed to be property capable of being disposed of by him or by her within the meaning of this section.

Under Shastric law, wills were alien to Hindu’s. This was in view of the joint family system. It was only in 1870, with the pass-ing of the Hindu Wills Act that wills for Hindus were codified. Section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, rec-ognises the right of a Hindu to execute a will. The words ‘ capable of being disposed of ’ assume significance. The explanation makes it clear that a Hindu can, apart from self acquired prop-erty, also include in the will ‘interest in Mitakshara copar-cenary property...’. I add a cautionary caveat here. The will can only deal with a portion of the property by virtue of being a member of a Mitakshara coparcenary, but neither of a specific portion nor of the whole of the property. It has to be re-stricted to his share alone.

These then are some im-portant provisions as to succession to Hindus, both male and female.Senior Advocate Satyajeet Desai practices at the Gujarat High Court and is a Revising Author – Mulla’s Hindu Law & ST Desai on The Law of Partnership.

Hindu succession & inheritance: An analysis of some provisionsSection 30 of the Hindu Succession Act recognises the right of a Hindu to execute a will. The words ‘capable of being disposed of’ assume significance. The explanation makes it clear that a Hindu can, apart from self-acquired property, also include in the will ‘interest in Mitakshara coparcenary property...’.

opinionSatyajeet DeSai

(a) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and (b) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her father-in-law shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband.

At a r o u n d 170 0 hours on Sunday, 17 December 1961,

Governor General Manuel António Vassalo e Silva was addressing a teachers’ function at Vasco da Gama Hall in Goa, the Portuguese enclave on India’s western coast. A person walked up to him and whispered, “Sir, the Indian Army has arrived at our borders.” For a moment the Portuguese Governor General’s mind went com-pletely blank.

The brisk Indian armed as-sault codenamed “Operation Vijay”, in a three-pronged advance with over 30,000 Indian troops was under-way. By the early hours of Monday, 18 December, all the naval threats were effec-tively neutralised and the Indian Air Force achieved complete air supremacy. That day Goans woke up to the sound of explosions as the Portuguese Army blew up over thirty bridges to stall the advancing Indian Army. Hugely outnumbered the main Portuguese strength was concentrated in the capital Panjim (later Panaji). Consequently the city be-came the military objective of the Indian Army.

Rushing in the direction of Panjim was the Bikaner-born Rajput, Brigadier Sagat Singh along with his 50th Para brigade. The 42-year-old Brigadier was a remark-able commander who fought in the gruesome Second World War. He went on to become one-of-a-kind mili-tary mastermind that India produced. With indomitable fortitude and resolve Briga-dier Sagat led the 50th Para brigade into the arena of war. Towering above everyone at six feet two inches, he had earned his “Para Wings” in record time by making four Para jumps in a span of two days, an astonishing feat at his age. The daring Briga-dier ordered his men to take the smugglers route to enter Goa clandestinely. Notwith-standing the blasting of bridges, mines and culverts, the Indian troops still armed with WW-II era weapons surprised everyone. In a race against time they made a whirlwind advance against the Portuguese forces and streamed towards Panjim. On hearing the firing across the Mandovi river at Betim, the Portuguese flag in front of Palacio de Idalçao in Pan-jim was lowered and the white flag was hoisted to indicate surrender.And thirty-six hours after

the commencement of the operation at 0600 hours on Tuesday, 19 December, India’s 50th Para brigade crossed the river Mandovi along with the 2nd Sikh light infantry. They became the first Indian troops to en-ter Panjim and liberate the capital. Brigadier Sagat or-

dered the troops to remove their steel helmets and don their maroon berets. In the black and white archival news footage shot that day Goans can be seen waving Indian flags and welcoming the Indian soldiers. The of-ficial Portuguese surrender ceremony was conducted at 2030 hours on 19 December. Under the headlights of a car the official letter of surren-der was signed by Governor General Silva and delivered to Major General K.P. Can-deth. A few days later Ron-ald C.V.P. Noronha, an ICS officer, was transferred from Madhya Pradesh to Goa as the Chief of Civil Admin-istration. An area of about 1,500 square miles on our western coast was reunited with India.

It was Brigadier Sagat’s au-dacious leadership that tilted the balance in India’s favour. Interestingly, Major General V.K. Singh in his book, Lead-ership in the Indian Army: Biog-raphies of Twelve Soldiers, has recorded that Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Salazar had announced an award of $10,000 to anyone who captured and delivered the Indian Brigadier Sagat Singh to Republica Portu-guesa. Inexplicably back home the Defence Ministry of India disallowed gallantry awards for the liberation of Goa.

Six years later, on Wednes-day, 6 September 1967, seven-ty Chinese soldiers intruded across India’s northern bor-der south of Nathu La located at 14,200 feet in Sikkim and were challenged by 2 Grena-diers, the battalion holding the defences. Thereafter, in-trusions by the Chinese were reported on a regular basis.

Since the war in the Hima-layas in 1962 the relations with China were strained. In June 1967 a diplomatic fracas erupted due to Chinese bel-ligerence. Two Indian dip-lomats K. Raghunath and P. Vijai were unfairly accused of espionage and sentenced to “immediate deportation” by the Peking Municipal People’s Higher Court. The Indian Minister for Exter-nal Affairs Mohammadali Carim Chagla was outraged by the public humiliation of our diplomats. In those ad-verse circumstances Indian diplomacy matched China at every step and eventually outmanoeuvred the adver-sary.

Three months later, the Chinese provoked India by crossing the line at Nathu La. At that time the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, post the 1962 debacle, was hesitant to incite the Chinese. The Command is-sued a directive to the Indian forces to vacate the border posts. Major General Sagat Singh, the General Officer Commanding, 17th Moun-tain Division in charge of that border since July 1965, disagreed with the order. He had walked along the crest line himself and was of the view that Nathu La com-prised the natural boundary. Reacting to the intrusion in early September 1967 he or-dered the building of a fence and asked his men to vehe-mently defend the remote Nathu La pass come what

may. The Chinese mounted loudspeakers at Nathu La, and cautioned the Indians that they would suffer as they did in 1962, if they did not withdraw. On Major General Sagat’s instructions Indian loudspeakers broad-cast tape-recorded Chinese language with counter mes-sages.

On Monday, 11 September 1967, Lieutenant Colonel Rai Singh, Commanding Officer of 2 Grenadiers, was super-vising the erecting of the iron pickets from Nathu La to Sebu La along the perceived border. The Chinese Politi-cal Commissar and his men arrived and objected to the laying of the wire. Lt Colonel Rai Singh had orders not to blink. An intense argument followed and resulted in a scuffle. This escalated into medium machine gun fire by the belligerent Chinese on the Indian troops. Out-numbered the Indian troops faced overwhelming odds against a ruthless enemy. Then with fierce fire, the In-dian troops launched a coun-ter-attack on the Chinese frontier guards. According to an official note issued by Chinese Foreign Affairs,

“Up till noon, the Indian ag-gressor troops already killed or wounded 25 Chinese fron-tier guards.” The note added a clear warning, “Do not misjudge the situation and repeat your mistake of 1962.” It was actually the Chinese

who had underestimated the Indian reaction.

On orders from Major Gen-eral Sagat the Indian Army men stood their ground in brazen defiance. The Indian Army retaliated with their weaponry, and fought brutal hand-to-hand battles at the pass. In the end Nathu La Pass remained firmly in the control of the Indian Army. A few weeks later another at-tack at Cho Pass, northwest of Nathu La, was similarly repulsed. The Chinese forces met more than their match and eventually backed off. The New York Times in a news report on 1 October 1967 detailed, “In the Natu pass incident, Chinese cau-salities were estimated un-officially as 600 and Indian losses as at least half of that.” In total 47 Gallantry awards were bestowed on the Indian troops who fought at Nathu La. Major General Sagat Singh proved to the adver-sary that the Indian Army was unyielding. The myth of Chinese invincibility was wrecked.

On the evening of 3 Decem-ber 1971, Pakistani aircraft attacked Indian airfields. Immediately General Sam Manekshaw, the Chief of Army Staff, ordered the com-manders to put into effect their operational plans. The war to liberate Bangladesh was underway.

On the sixth day of the war, Thursday, 9 December

1971, Lt General Sagat, corps commander of the IV Corps, stood on the east bank of riv-er Meghna in East Pakistan visualising the unimagina-ble. At the planning stage, Lt General Sagat envisaged that the capture of Dacca (Dhaka now) was the key to winning the 1971 war. But Indian Generals remained scepti-cal about Dacca as a military objective since two rivers protected it. The top brass in the operations room were impressed with Lt General Sagat’s daredevil capturing of towns and he had kept the enemy off-balance. He was credited for capturing Chandpur single-handedly. For his bosses his role in the War of 1971 was over.

On that very cold winter morning of 9 December, Lt General Sagat thought oth-erwise. From his perspective the only thing that stood be-tween the Indian Army and absolute victory was the 4,000 feet wide Meghna river. The Pakistan Army had strategically destroyed the Ashuganj link the soli-tary bridge that spanned one of the broadest rivers in the region.

Boarding an Indian Air Force helicopter Lt General Sagat undertook a danger-ous reconnaissance mission. Over Bhiarab Bazar his chopper was targeted by very accurate machine gun fire by the Pakistani troops. Bullets narrowly missed Lt General

Sagat’s forehead. The main windshield shattered and the splintering glass injured him. The pilot received seri-ous bullet wounds. The co-pilot managed to return to base despite sixty-five hits. The Army doctors dressing Lt General’s arm and fore-head insisted that he take rest for twenty-four hours before resuming command. But the Lt General who had narrowly escaped death many times before immedi-ately embarked on another mission in a chopper and returned to lead his men

into the battlefield. Then in an astounding “helibourne operation” Lt General Sagat accomplished the impossible. Under his command on the night of 9-10 December, the squad of brave pilots of the fourteen IAF Mi4 choppers flew 110 sorties. Using the element of surprise Group Captain Chandan Singh magnificently airlifted the entire 311 Brigade with 23 troops in each flight. Si-multaneously, 73rd Brigade moved across Meghna on boats and riverine crafts.

The next day USS Enter-prise and the US Seventh Fleet were poised to enter the Bay of Bengal. At that crucial time, Lt General Sa-

gat, with 3,000 troops and forty tonnes of equipment and heavy guns, was stra-tegically positioned on the western bank of the mighty Meghna. Ahead of them lay the gates of fortress Dacca and the road to victory. The message that Lt General Sa-gat and his men had reached the other side of Megna was delivered in the office of the Prime Minister of India in distant New Delhi. It has been recorded that on hear-ing the news, Indira Gandhi beaming with joy and with wind in her hair ran across

the corridor of her office. The Prime Minister person-ally commended Lt General Sagat and sent congratula-tory messages to the Indian forces now racing towards Dacca.

Few notable moments can change the outcome of any war. The crossing of the Meghna by the Indian Air Force and Army was the most important and decisive operation in the Bangladesh War. The dare and dash initiative of the field com-mander that smashed its way through the pride of the Pakistani Army was a major factor in India’s triumphant march towards Dacca.

On the 12th day of the

war the first artillery shell of the Indian Army fell in-side the Dacca cantonment. Pakistan’s Marshal Law Administrator Lt General Abdullah Khan Niazi, the man behind the “impregna-ble fortress Dacca strategy”, had in an impromptu press conference at Dacca airport promised to fight to the “last man, last round”. But with-in hours Lt General Niazi reached the breaking point.

On Thursday, 16 December 1971, a date that will live in infamy in Pakistan, a su-premely confident Lt Gen-eral Sagat was introduced to the grim faced Lt General Niazi at the Race Course in Dacca. The Pakistani com-mander is reported to have exclaimed in admiration,

“Oh my God, you accom-plished the inconceivable.”

At 1631 hours, on the dark-est day in Pakistan’s history, Lt General Niazi borrowed a pen from Surojit Sen of All India Radio and signed five copies of the Instrument of Surrender. Lt General Jagjit Singh Arora accepted the surrender on behalf of India. No words were exchanged. There was nothing left to be said. That Instrument of Surrender was the first and the only public surrender in world history. Simulta-neously 93,000 Pakistani officers, soldiers, civilian of-ficials, and allies laid down their arms. This was a feat unparalleled in the annals of warfare. It was the fast-est successful military cam-paigns of modern times and the swiftest liberation of a nation ever.

This was a defining mo-ment in modern India’s his-tory.

In the celebrated black-and-white photograph of that evening, the strikingly handsome Lt General Sagat Singh can be seen stand-ing directly behind Lt Gen-eral Niazi and between Vice Admiral N. Krishnan, Air Marshal H.C. Dewan and Lt General Jack Jacob.

In 1972, Lt General Sagat Singh, PVSM, was awarded the Padma Bhushan and in March 2013 the Government of Bangladesh acknowl-edged his achievements. Af-ter retirement from the In-dian Army he settled down in Jaipur and appropriately named his house “Meghna”. On 26 September 2001, thirty years after ensuring the victory in the Bangla-desh War, our nation’s war hero who changed the his-tory and geography of India breathed his last.

Lt General Sagat Singh, PVSM, Padma Bhushan (14 July 1919 to 26 September 2001), arguably the great-est combat general of the contemporary world, was a remarkable Indian. An ef-fort should be undertaken by the Government of India to include his wartime ex-ploits in school textbooks. And finally on the eve of the golden anniversary of the Bangladesh War this out-standing combat leader is the right candidate for the Bharat Ratna.Bhuvan Lall is the author of

‘The Man India Missed The Most Subhas Chandra Bose’ and ‘The Great Indian Genius Har Dayal’.

Bhuvan LaLL

WAR HERO

6 defence t h e da i ly gua r d i a n3 0 j u n e 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

THE fORgOTTEn gEnERAl WHO nEvER lOsT A WARLt Gen Sagat Singh played a pivotal role not only in the liberation of Goa (1961) and Bangladesh (1971), but also led from the front to save Nathu La from being captured by intruding Chinese troops in 1967.

Lt Gen Sagat Singh stands right behind Gen a.a.K. niazi (signing the Instrument of Surrender). Photo courtesy: Ministry of Defence.

Lt Gen Sagat Singh at his Jaipur house which he named ‘Meghna’ after the Bangladeshi river.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to growth not only in areas like digital businesses, but also in areas like Online Dispute Resolution (ODR). At its very core, ODR is a service which enables the economy to leap forward as disputes are settled quickly. This is especially help-ful for businesses whose meter

for interest on finance is ticking every minute and a dispute increases the cost of doing business manifold, also rendering the business unviable.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to watch the speech and points made by Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, at a webinar named Online Dispute Resoluton – Opportunities and Challenges. He highlighted some good points at the webinar regarding the use of artificial intelligence in dispute resolution, which Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, Chief Justice of India had spoken about.

For the benefit of you, dear reader, we are publishing excerpts from the speech made by Amitabh Kant, which reveals im-portant point on ODR, and comes to us from man sitting on top of India’s top of India’s policy organisation.

I also had the opportunity to listen to Richard Wilmot-Smith, Queen’s Counsel (QC), Barrister-Arbitraor, and head of 39, Essex Chambers, London; Shobhna Iyer, Barrister-Arbitrator, Swan Chambers, London and Adv. Tanmaya Mehta, who prac-tices at the Supreme Court of India and Divyansh Hanu-Rathi, Managing Partner, Lexidem & Rathi. The online event was organised by Indian Dispute Resolution Centre (IDRC).

In his address, Richard Wilmot-Smith, QC shared that, ‘Ini-tially people had hesitations and some kind of fear in adopting Virtual hearings but now all that is fading away. Now Online Dispute Resolution has made it possible that Arbitrator is in one Country, Expert Witness and Lawyer in other and they all carry on proceedings in an Electronic room. This is also reducing the travel related Carbon Footprints.’

In her address Ms. Shobana Iyer, Barrister detailed the de-velopments taking place in the United Kingdom. She high-lighted that, ‘Being the Chair on Remote Hearing in UK she has realised that enhanced use of technology has solved many problems thrown to us by Covid-19 Pandemic but there are several challenges relating to Fair Hearings, recording of de-position of witnesses, poor broadband connectivity and like’

The World Bank publishes ‘Doing Business Report’ every year and ranks Countries on Ease of Doing Business. In 2014 India was 142nd rank on EoDB – Ease of Doing Business, whereas in 2020 Report it has improved to 63rd rank out of 191 Countries. However as far as ‘Enforcement of Contract’ is concerned India was 178th in 2016 and is currently still at poor 163rd rank. India aspires to jump at least 50 ranks by the time 2021 World Bank Report is published. Tarun Nangia is the host and producer of Legally Speaking

Online Dispute Reso-lution (ODR) uses technology to make

access to justice more ef-ficient, affordable, and can help reduce the pendency in courts. It can be used as a mechanism for solving dis-putes outside of the formal court system in an afford-able and quick way.

The Covid-19 pandemic has completely altered how we function, and while it is a great challenge that we must all combat together, it is equally important that we use any opportunity avail-able to help alleviate the challenges faced by those most vulnerable to its over-arching impact. One of the most encouraging develop-ments recently is just how progressive and in fact in-novative the Supreme Court has been in adopting tech-nology.

Chief Justice S.A. Bobde has on a few occasions men-tioned the potential benefits of AI in non-decision mak-ing technology adoption to make courts more efficient. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who leads the e-courts ini-tiative, has initiated critical changes that are already noticeable. The introducing of e-filing from anywhere in India making it available 24x7 is nothing short of a game changer.

Indian courts today are quickly adopting leading practices, in a sustainable and forward thinking man-ner. I have great hope that

we are witnessing a vision-ary period in the history of India’s court system. NITI Aayog recently held a closed door meeting on ODR where Justice Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kaul, Justice Indu Malhotra, and retired Justice A.K. Sikri spoke positively of ODR’s potential.

We also greatly benefited from the contribution of Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Mr. Colin Rule, and representatives from the legal fraternity, the government and from industry during the meet-ing. Through a combination of several factors, we are at the cusp of transformative change, and with alterations necessitated by the pandem-ic technology will play a key

role in widening equity and affordability.

The pandemic has forced a shift towards solutions that minimize contact and can be activated through technol-ogy, including for resolution of disputes. The unfortunate circumstances have iterated the crucial role of technology in allowing remote contact-less support to daily work roles, flagging its importance to a flat and affordable form of access to justice. In today’s age of data-driven solutions and machine learning, ODR is much more than just rep-licating existing processes of ADR online.

This is because technol-ogy can aid the resolution of disputes by providing ana-lytic insights for the benefit of dispute resolution. Even before the Covid crisis there was a growing recognition of the fact that in a country as large and fast-growing as ours, it was essential to resolve a large number of disputes collaboratively out-side of courts to sustain trust between the parties.

So, while we digitize our courts and make them far

more efficient, we will still need collaborative mecha-nisms of resolution that do not require parties to ap-proach courts. Most small and medium value disputes could potentially be resolved without approaching courts, allowing courts to focus on more complex cases or that of high public interest. A collaborative mechanism of ODR provides this potential to resolve a substantial per-centage of disputes at the site of their occurrence without

burdening the courts.Progressive and disruptive

changes in justice delivery are critical components now that can alter the course of access to justice in an un-precedented way. Each arm of the Indian system must and is working towards a solution driven future, and that is where the change will be visible. It is highly likely there will be a deluge of dis-putes in the courts - most notably in lending, credit, property, commerce and re-tail - in the coming months that will require expedient resolution.

This is why new innova-tion models such as ODR need explicit support. Sup-port now, would encourage businesses to build ODR mechanisms into their part-ner and customer relation-ships. Banks, NBFCs and MFIs could then prioritize ODR before they approach debt recovery tribunals. Families would take re-course to ODR to address sensitive issues, and so on. Hence, with ODR, a “mech-anism of justice” would be made accessible, affordable and easily available for citi-zens.

On April 8, the Hong Kong Government took cogni-zance of a similar situation by initiating the Covid-19 ODR Scheme. The new Scheme aims to provide speedy and cost-effective means to resolve disputes relating to COVID-19, espe-cially those involving micro,

small and medium-sized enterprises. It recognizes that MSMEs cannot survive through this period with the repeated postponement of legal proceedings and the uncertainty which follows for a long period of time.

A robust ODR ecosystem in India will have potential to: Reducing the load on courts by resolving high vol-ume of disputes outside the courts. Facilitating access to justice and the ease of doing business by making dispute resolution cheaper, quicker and most importantly equal-ly credible as conventional methods of dispute reso-lution. Increasing trust in businesses and also within society by prioritizing col-laborative resolution. It is vital that key stakeholders come together to see what steps can be taken to remove the barriers to scalable ODR solutions.

The result could be a range of creative, technology driven and ADR inspired solutions that could signifi-cantly reduce the load on the courts. We will be looking closely into ODR in the com-ing months, and working with the key stakeholders to help enable it as a viable and sustainable form of dispute avoidance and dispute reso-lution.Excerpts from Amitabh Kant’s speech made at Indian Dispute Resolution Centre- Lexidem even on Online Dispute Reso-lution- Opportunities & Chal-lenges.

Online Dispute Resolution takes off

NITI Aayog and the SC judges’ meeting on ODRJustice Chandrachud, Justice Kaul, Justice Malhotra and Justice Sikri spoke positively of the ODR’s potential.

Data & Responsibility

oDR talk Dispute Resolution

A lot is happening in the world of corporate ethics, and it is heartening because it heralds the beginning of a new corporate-society-regu-lation tango.

Social responsibil ity among corporations is not new. Corporate founda-tions have invested in public education and healthcare, helped in disaster relief and village electrification. Many traditional Indian corporations in particu-lar have based their values in spiritual teachings and have believed in charity and philanthropy as a way of thanksgiving, sometimes go-

ing beyond their own stake-holder communities.

These efforts are laud-able. One common missing feature is a change at a level that transcends geographic or contextual boundaries. Let me explain how what’s happening now is different.

Taking responsibility. In 2013, the Indian government took a somewhat paradoxi-cal step, making social obli-gations mandatory for larger companies under the Cor-porate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of the Compa-nies Act, whereby a percent-age of profits must be spent on specific activities or do-nations. It was paradoxical because until then, corporate responsibility had been seen as a nice thing corporations do. The obligation had not been enshrined, barring in specific activities.

Unlike governments, cor-porate responsibility to society does not have the mandate to reach all geog-raphies. On the other hand, persuasive lobbying for

policy change has typically been to ask for changes to benefit specific industries. A genetically modified seeds company will lobby for lib-eralisation of the GM seeds policy, a power company may seek policy in introduc-ing a new innovative hybrid of two sources.

In an ideal case scenario, social ethics as a part of a corporation’s DNA should be undeniable and well-entrenched. Governments have had the role of the social monitor, regulating how corporations should have minimum standards to meet their social obligations. So we expect that merely by complying with government norms, corporations serve societies well.

What happens, though, when the slip starts to show—when governments either do not recognise a problem, or take advan-tage of it? Corporations will vouch that it happens all the time. But arguably, never have corporations been so proactively acted on their responsibilities even at the cost of their bottom lines.

The problem with data. Data capture is one such. As corporations and govern-ments went about their task of mining big data through connected devices, getting connected with entire pop-ulations, watchdogs such as the media have raised

questions about privacy. But how far should govern-ments and private corpora-tions go in such a capture? In India, UIDAI went about its assigned task clinically, leaving it to the government policymakers to determine to what extent it should be harnessed. As governments and corporations shake hands on private citizens’ data, surveillance no longer remained some Orwellian concept. Someone had to play referee. But watch-dogs—the media, for ex-ample—themselves stood to gain from big data capture, so with notable exceptions, there have at best been per-functory murmurs of protest from them.

Mass use of facial recog-nition technology can be a form of weaponisation, and has been particularly criti-cised for pushing the enve-lope too far into the private lives of free individuals. So when Microsoft decided in June not to sell its facial rec-ognition technology to the police, it should be a big deal. It is as though, having built the atom bomb, Robert Op-penheimer and others at the Manhattan Project refused to part with it. IBM has fol-lowed suit, refusing to part with its facial recognition technology. Conscious gov-ernments will ponder this pushback.

Fair is unfair. Another,

much more widely publi-cised change is the decision by Unilever to delink “fair” from “lovely” in its skin-whitening cream “Fair & Lovely”. Soon, that product will be called something else. The criticism of this name—and the product—has happened over decades of activism, relentlessly show-casing of the problematic messaging to the brand. Fair & Lovely advertisements have added insult to injury by making fair-skinnedness not just professionally and personally desirable, but re-inforcing the discrimination through various scripted an-ecdotes in advertising that if you’re dark-skinned, you will be rejected everywhere.

Unlike a Black movement, or a Dalit movement, the marginalised dark-skinned woman—and man (in urban Tamil Nadu, for example, skin-whitening products and beauty parlours are popular among men)—has very little by way of col-lective identity. He or she therefore remains a voice-less subaltern, forced to grin and bear insults at home and in peer groups, and hence deem himself or herself less worthy professionally and personally. The skin-whit-ening is therefore a “correc-tive measure” to gain better social and professional ac-ceptance. So the change in the name of the brand is the

beginning of a social change.Facebook’s change of

heart. A third development that reached a crescendo last month is a conflict be-tween advertisers and social networking platforms. In the context that Twitter de-cided to label US President Donald Trump’s tweets as kosher or fake, Facebook’s co-promoter Mark Zuck-erberg protested and said it went against free speech. Meanwhile, pressure was mounting on Facebook to regulate hate and inaccu-rate discourse from Trump. During the last week of June, its stocks fell 8 per cent. Ma-jor global advertisers such as Unilever, Levi-Strauss, Coca-Cola, Hershey and Ve-rizon called for a boycott of advertising.

Whether this powerful campaign has been against a US president or whether corporations are genuinely standing for fact-based truth (so to speak!), it is precipitat-ing a value change. In 2019, 98 per cent of Facebook’s $70.7 billion revenues came from advertising, so the blink came not a moment too soon. In the last week of June, Facebook announced that it would label hate speech, “even those postaed by leaders”.

Acting in common interest. Such lateral action—corpo-rate pressure to maintain socially accepted “good”

values—has gathered mo-mentum recently. Think-ing laterally—the ability to innovatively connect dots across seemingly different planes of activity—is noth-ing new in pedagogic train-ing and corporate strategy. But the involvement of cor-porations in social ethics and social change is our new-age version of lateral thinking. Thinking across mandates, obligations and responsibil-ity to attain a singular goal is quickly becoming the norm among corporations. Our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is emblematic of a socially fruitful public-private partnership.

Why is this happening now? Hidden in the em-blematic tango is a new form of corporate ownership, one that takes responsibility that goes beyond its own brands. In a world of interactive and social media where any-body can be a critic and can make or mar a corporation’s reputation, such corporate action is understandable. The third factor—society at large as influencer of corpo-rate values—is a big factor in this change. In the social media ecosystem we live in, users can be quick to tag and call out what they believe is a socially unfair corporate practice. Corporations, more than ever, want to be seen as good, and a good story to tell is more important to them

than ever before in this en-vironment.

A non-starter in India. So global MNCs are boldly fight-ing for values of democracy and fair speech. When will it happen in India? When will Facebook label hate speech “even by leaders” in India? When will corporations ap-ply the standards they are fighting for elsewhere to the world’s largest democracy, push back against social media platforms for the right reasons, stand up to abuse and hate speech on the very platforms they advertise on?

In my recent work with an MNC, I designed a policy that aimed to change—through internal storytelling and training—the way the com-pany’s stakeholders saw its vision. There, I had the op-portunity to understand how forward-thinking corpora-tions are viewing traditional corporate values these days. As corporations aim to take a step back from the competi-tive rat race and look collab-oratively at change-making, the “new good practices”—if we can call them that—must be universalised. Otherwise, the company will be called out—not as much by our selectively stringent insti-tutional watchdogs, but by merciless social media users. Shashidhar Nanjundaiah has led media institutes of repute and is the founder of BeingRespon-sible.

Three to tango: Global corporations are beginning to fight for universal values

opinionAmitAbh KAnt

dean’s deskShAShidhAr nAnjundAiAh

policy & politicsthe daily guardian30 june 2020

new delhi 7

Tarun nangia

A robust ODR ecosystem in India will have potential to reduce the load on courts by resolving high volume of disputes outside the courts. Facilitating access to justice and the ease of doing business by making dispute resolution cheaper, quicker and most importantly equally credible as conventional methods of dispute resolution.

Coronavirus is hav-i n g a p r o f o u n d impact on our eat-

ing and drinking habits as people are becoming more conscious of what they are eating and how it is going to impact their overall well-being. Due to Covid-19, they are keen to maximise their fitness to build and enhance the im-munity, while minimising their vulnerability to the infection. Thus, people are making greater at-tempts towards a healthier lifestyle.

Concerns about Covid-19 encompass a wide range covering health as well as financial qualms. People are making efforts to be health conscious but, on a budget. They are turn-ing to everyday food items or what can be termed as ‘back to basics’ approach towards nutrition. It in-cludes eating more fruits, increasing protein intake and reducing sugar in-take. The impact of the pandemic can also be seen on people’s mental health, therefore many of them are turning to ‘comfort food’ to improve their mood and mental state in these times which can be deep-fried or cheesy snacks, desserts and more. Indulging once in a while is alright but do not make it a habitual pat-tern. Some of the healthier alternatives are nuts (al-monds and walnuts), vi-tamin C rich food (lemon, orange, bell peppers, green chilli and kiwi), green leafy veggies and dark chocolate.

Dietician and fitness coach Venu Adhiya Hirani, who is also the founder of BODYWORKS Weight Management Specialists, shares some healthy food items which can be includ-ed in everyday life. She says, “Those foods which will aid in improving re-sistance will build the im-munity. Include foods rich in protein such as milk and milk products, eggs, pulses and lean meats. At least, four to six servings of fresh vegetables and fruits throughout the day will provide the body essential vitamins, minerals and fibre. Traditional Indian

spices and herbs which are known for their medicinal properties should be used liberally while cooking. Also, try to have ‘chyawa-nprash’, ‘kaadha’, nuts and seeds.”

Are healthy eating habits and immunity co-related? Manasa Rajan, Health Coach & Food Design, Eat.fit, answers, “A nutrition-rich diet ensures that the body’s micronutrient re-serves are adequate of zinc, selenium, folic acid, Vita-min A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6 and more. These are critical as they impact the natural infection-fighting response of the body. A colourful plant-rich diet with a variety of fruit, veg-gies, lentils, nuts, seeds and whole grains can im-prove the (micro) nutri-tion intake. Gut health and a healthy microbiome ensure healthy digestion, efficient absorption and elimination, which are needed to create a strong immune response. Immu-nity boosting spices such as ginger, turmeric, cloves and peppercorns contain a variety of antimicrobial and antibacterial proper-ties that can improve our immune response.”

In the initial days of lockdown, people began consuming meals cooked at home and to further boost their immunity they inclined towards healthy food, exploring organic alternatives. The pan-demic increased people’s consciousness in terms of their dietary choices. Yuvraj Parasrampuria, Director, Sales & Market-ing, Truefarm Foods In-dia Pvt Ltd, says, “Due to lockdown those who were avidly consuming junk food switched to regular home-cooked meals. Now that people have the option to cook at home and most Indian families have multi-ple members it’s natural to make choices in line with their overall health. Thus, people started consuming healthier alternatives such as jaggery powder, honey and coconut sugar instead of sugar. The food that ap-pears healthy on the out-side may contain harmful chemicals and pesticides and lead to complications in future. Thus, Covid-19 has led to roughly 10-20%

people opting for organic food.” The high price of organic food cannot be ig-nored and makes people hesitant to purchase it. He explains, “It is true but these days retail spending has considerably reduced which people are using to try organic products. India being a competitive mar-ket, the price of organic food is not that high in comparison with regular food.”

The pandemic has made people to switch to healthy fitness and lifestyle re-gimes. Talking about its significance Hirani says, “Lack of physical activity and emotional stress are challenging that the pan-demic has brought with it and those with comorbidi-ties are at a greater risk. Physical activity, in any form, will aid in dealing with stress, improve im-munity and overall well-being. It will help to con-trol weight, blood sugar and blood pressure besides keeping joints and muscles in good shape. If you are completely homebound try and walk for five minutes every waking hour within your house. Include yoga and callisthenics-based ex-ercises which don’t require equipment and space.”

Rishi Jaggi, dietician and sports nutritionist adds, “Consume turmeric water first thing in the morn-ing. Make sure that the level of Vitamin D in your body is high as Vitamin D and Vitamin C help to boost immunity. Accord-ing to examine.com, In-dians have low Vitamin D levels so make sure you do not have any micronu-trient deficiencies. Try to have adequate protein in-take throughout the day which is mostly neglected by females. Those with a sedentary lifestyle are higher risk so they need to make sure of engaging in one hour of daily activity such as walking, jogging or light exercises. Fancy Di-ets are not required if you follow the basics includ-ing consuming neem and amla juice and fruits. Also, avoid refined sugar as when one eats even a half teaspoon of refined sugar it lowers their immunity by 50%. Try to avoid refined sugars and fats.”

TurmericIs there anything turmeric cannot do? Seems not. Turmeric is a strong flu-fighter, has both antiviral and antioxidant proper-ties so can help the body ward off viral in-fections. Warm the milk, add some pure powdered haldi to it and a pinch of pepper. One can also boil the milk with shavings of raw turmeric root, sprinkle some pepper and drink at night before going to bed. The body will restore and cleanse as you sleep. If milk does not work for you then just add some raw turmeric to your morning cup of tea with ginger and pepper (both are potent infection busters)GooseberryGooseberry or Amla is one of the richest natural sources of Vitamin C, an antioxi-dant that helps protect against infections and keeps the immune system buzzing.Drink your lemons!It is the ideal food for restoring the acid-alkaline balance in the gut and helps main-tain the body’s internal “climate” at a pH which supports healthy bacteria instead of the viruses and harmful bacteria that thrive in a more acidic environment. You can drink freshly squeezed lemon juice in warm water or add a squeeze to the cup of

tea. Remember how your grandpa used to begin his day with this simple but wondrous drink… now you know why!FlaxseeDsFlaxseeds contain ALA omega-3 fatty acid and Lignans – compounds that are crucial in maintaining the efficiency of our immune system. Just add a liberal tablespoon of flaxseeds to your breakfast smoothie made with yoghurt which will have good bacteriaGarlicThis has been every mom’s favourite rem-edy for cold and fever and offers more than just a warm and cozy feeling. It can pump up your immune power and help you steer clear of the infections in the air. Chicken delivers protein and zinc, both are effec-tive immunity boosters. Just make sure you have it freshly made at home and don’t forget to add lots of garlic to it. Garlic stimulates the activity of “natu-ral killer cells” in the body that destroys viral-infected cells. It also contains sulfur which helps your body absorb zinc better. Zinc is another amazing infection-fighting nutrient.

— Kavita Devgan, Nutritionist

HealTHy FooD recipe

nacHni anD oaTs cHilla wiTH sprouTsPrep time: 10 minutes; Cooking time: 25 minutes; Serves: 4

Ingredients:For Chilla½ cup Nachni flour (Ragi flour)½ cup Oats¼ cup Yogurt¼ cup Onions, finely chopped1 Green chilli, chopped¼ cup Coriander leaves, chopped Salt to taste½ tsp Cumin powder1 tsp Oil to cookFor the sprouts1 cup Moong sprouts, steamedpink salt1 tsp roasted cumin seedsAccompaniment1 cup curd (seasoned with salt)

meTHoD: l Dry roast the oats in a

non-stick pan for five minutes on medium flame. Take them out then let it cool down

l Add roasted oats to a grinder and grind into a fine powder forming oats flour

l Add nachni flour, oats, yogurt and water in a mixing bowl and mix till a smooth and lump-free batter is formed

l Take the batter out in a bowl and add on-ion, green chilli and coriander. Mix well. Season with salt. Mix well

l Heat a non-stick pan and brush it with oil. Make chillas of the size you like

l Cook from both the sides till they are brown

l For the sproutsl In a bowl add moong sprouts and add salt

and turmeric powder to it. Mix welll Have the warm nachni and oats chilla with

moong sprouts and hung curd— Ranveer Brar, Celebrity Chef

The Itch, that sense of restless-ness that people experience when they are without their gadgets, is often just a start-ing point that can end in a full-blown social media addiction. Aamir’s anxiety and restless-ness, brought on by a technical problem with an app, reflects

how social media can wind up controlling our lives. Addiction can simply be understood as our compulsive need to engage in certain behaviours and our inability to control our impulses when it comes to showing re-straint. In this context, it is the intensity of the Itch, followed by the frequency and time spent on devices or gadgets, that defines what ‘social media addiction’ looks like.

The signs are checking phone first thing in the morning; wak-ing up at midnight to use the washroom but also taking a quick look at your notifications; battling nomophobia, a fear or anxiety linked to being in an area where there is no or dif-ficulty accessing the internet;

not having your phone around, even for a few minutes; scrolling down your social media pages or messages any time you are bored; experiencing ‘phantom’ vibrations when the phone is not ringing; taking your phone with you to the washroom and normalisation of phubbing and social media loafing.

The only way to work through most of these problems is to re-set your relationship with how you use technology. I have come up with an acronym — RESET — that can help us develop a healthy relationship with social media. Recognise, Examine, Self-sabotaging beliefs, Engage-ment, Time out.Recognise: Learning to identify when this social comparison

process starts is the first step. Ask yourself—when do you wind up in a zone where you are sourcing information about other people’s lives? Recognize

the beginnings of the downward spiral that ends with you, hating your own life.Examine: Take a moment to ex-amine what drove you to social media at that time. Is it an exist-ing belief that others lead a bet-ter life than you? Examine if you have any unmet needs that are compelling your behavior.Self-sabotaging beliefs: We have all had thoughts such as, ‘Things are going well for every-one other than me; nothing is happening to me.’ These are very powerful self-sabotaging beliefs and often people find themselves stuck in a pattern of looking for information that allows these beliefs to grow.Engagement: Some research shows that our emotional well-

being is linked to the degree we use social media to engage with others. People who post infor-mation and engage in dialogues with others have better mental health than those who just pas-sively consume information. The study titled ‘Envy on Facebook: A Hidden Threat to Users’ Life Satisfaction?’ found that people most susceptible to social media envy are those who didn’t ac-tively engage with the platform. Engagement isn’t just sharing; it is a deeper narrative of what you are using social media for. Is it to connect with friends, the causes you like or just consume infor-mation without participating? People, who contribute and of-fer resources, end up being more mindful and less dissatisfied in

my view. Time out: Engage in a process of time out and set boundaries and guidelines for what to do when social media heightens your anxiety. Choosing to have an up-per limit when it comes to how much time you spend online on weekdays as well as weekends goes a long way towards ensur-ing that digital boundaries are in place. It is hard to pinpoint a fixed number of hours, given many people’s careers depend on the information they post online. What helps is having slots of time allocated in the day when you don’t look at your phone..

Excerpts from the book, ‘Anxiety: Overcome It and Live without Fear’ (HarperCollins India).

A 5,000-year-old practice, Ayurveda is much more than medicine. My clients and I have relied on Ayurvedic philoso-phy for 40 years and it has kept our immunity on prime. A lifestyle of India and now spreading around the world, shap-ing and redesigning quality of life via building immunity for wellness. Here are three teas that help keep your body’s de-fence strong and prevent from forming mucus. Along with anti-inflammatory properties, it also helps promote heart health, breaks down mucus formation and helps with me-tabolism. 1) Warm Alkaline Tea: It reduces inflammation and has a positive effect on your gut-brain-axis, GBA. Helps switch your body’s acidic level to alkaline which helps with build-ing immunity if had regularly especially during pandemics like Covid-19.

Ingredients:1 tbsp Cumin seeds1 tbsp Coriander seeds1 tbsp Fennel seeds6-8 Mint leaves6-8 Ginger wedges1 Lemon500 ml Warm waterMethod: Boil 500 ml filtered water in a steel boiler and add all the ingredients except lemon till the water turns yellowish-brown in colour. Take the tea in a thermos flask and keep for the day or to share it with the family between mealtimes. Keep the lemon ready and squeeze it in the cup just when ready to drink it to keep the alkaline properties from getting disrupt-ed. For kids, you can add natural organic honey or jaggery.

2) Turmeric Latte: We have been drinking turmeric milk for a long time. Currently, it is the most trending latte in the West. There are over 10 benefits, to name a few: a) Antioxidants, essential for cell functioning and lower the risk of infections fighting against pathogens and germs; (b) Improves brain function and memory, as curcumin in turmeric increases neurotrophic factor BDNF which is a compound that helps form connections and promotes the growth of brain cells. Cognitive fitness is most essential for mental wellness.

Ingredients:½ tsp Organic Turmeric powder 1 cup Almond milk for vegans, regular milk for milk tolerant individuals or rice milk (great in probiotics)½ tsp jaggery or natural honey (if needed)1 piece Clove (bio-compound activator)Method: Mildly boil the milk and add the ingredients in it, strain and drink warm.

3) Ginger, Lemon and Dandelion Tea: Dandelion tea has many effects on the digestive system keeping your digestion and hormones humming. It cools the body by detoxifying the liver, kidneys, removes toxins and is one of the most powerful underrated herbs in the world. It is also a diuretic and helps fight diabetes.

Ingredients:3-4 wedges Ginger¼ Lemon½ tsp Dandelion Tea300 ml WaterCinnamonMethod: Warm filtered water in a steel vessel and add all the ingredients except lemon. Allow it to boil, strain, squeeze the lemon and drink.The writer is Integrative Nutritionist and Gut Health Coach.

When an itch grows into social media addiction

3 Ayurvedic drinks to boost your immunity

book eXcerPt

the daily guardian30 june 2020new delhi8

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health & wellness

Fix your health with food amid lockdown

FiGHtinG coronA

As Covid-19 highlights the interplay between food and health, people are reconsidering their eating habits. Is it driving the demand for healthy food?kriTika DuaNew DeLHI

5 FooDs you neeD To baTTle coviD-19

Richa chadha

apologises foR heR

‘bipolaR’ joke

MuMbai: actress Richa Chadha has apologised for joking about a

person’s “bipolar” condition last year, saying she now understands

what mental health means. “i think last year i made a joke about

someone being ‘bipolar’. The joke was borne out of a petulant

desire to seem witty in even less than 280 characters. as i am

now only beginning to grasp what mental health means,

i just want to apologise and couldn’t have said this

sooner,” she tweeted on Monday. Netizens lauded

the actress for her honest confession.

9t h e da i ly gua r d i a n3 0 j u n e 2 0 2 0

n ew d e l h i

Uday PrataP SinghNew Delhi

entertainment

CorreSPondentNew Delhi

Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth confesses he is as vulner-able as anybody else and grapples with uncertain-ties just like everyone. “i’m as vulnerable as an-ybody else,” Hemsworth told in an interview with iaNS. “You know, any-thing involving children, children (being) in jeop-ardy or if their safety is threatened, having children myself, it’s certainly easier to sort of draw upon the visceral

nature of what that the circumstances would evoke in you.”

Picking his recent digital film Extraction as an example, he continued: “We shot this movie in india, bangla-desh and Thailand, i didn’t have my family with me, so having that distance, i was certainly

missing them more than usual. and so to sort of tap into those emotions was a little more accessible.”

Due to Covid-19, our life-styles have changed, our work pattern has changed, our perceptions have changed and now it is set to transform our movie-viewing experience too. in one of the biggest shifts in the dynamics of the OTT space, Disney+Hotstar has made an entry and how! On Monday, it announced seven bollywood films that are going to skip theatrical release and stream directly on its platform.

in the virtual launch event, ‘bollywood ki Home Delivery’, on Monday, ac-tors like akshay Kumar, ajay Devgn, alia bhatt and abhishek bach-chan announced the

digital release of their up-coming films, which the fans have been eagerly waiting for since months. Varun Dhawan, on the other hand, turned host for the event. although the release date of these films is yet to be announced, these films are likely to be releases between July and October 2020.

Eagerly waiting to know these films? Take a look:

Dil Bechara: Starring late actor Sushant Singh Ra-jput and debutant Sanjana Sanghi, Dil Bechara will pre-miere on 24 July and is one of the first films to release on the plat-form.

Laxmmi Bomb: Starring akshay Kumar and Kiara advani, Laxmmi Bomb is one of the most anticipated films of the year and has kept the fans on the edge of their seats for months. The film is slated to clash with Salman Khan’s film Radhe on the occasion of Eid.

Sadak 2: Starring alia bhatt, aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt and Pooja bhatt, Sadak 2 marks the first ever collaboration of alia with her dad Mahesh bhatt.

Bhuj: The Pride of India: Starring ajay Devgn, San-jay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Parineeti Chopra, bhuj is yet another highly antici-

pated film set against the backdrop of the

1971 india-Pakistan war.

akshay, ajay, alia & abhishek

go the ott wayfilms such as laxmmi bomb, bhuj, sadak 2 and the big bull are going to skip theatrical release and stream directly on disney+hotstar.

Priyanka SharmaNew Delhi

actor Deepika Padukone may not be the one to discuss at length about her process to get into “challenging” film roles, but we have heard some infor-mation on how she is gearing up for her next character. 

a source close to the actor revealed, “Deepika dedicates some time of her day daily to read at least a few pages

of her Shakun batra film script. While she doesn’t want to over-pre-

pare, she also doesn’t want to lose touch with her character completely as that’s the film she will start shoot-ing for after the lockdown is lifted.”

if not for the lockdown, the actress would have finished one schedule of the film in Sri Lanka. 

Deepika had earlier shared her ex-perience on working next with batra and his taste in cinema which excites her to get on the sets for his next that she is a part of. 

Deepika has time and again brought some memorable characters to life on the screen. With every film, the actress has successfully brought a new character that the audiences have loved and celebrated. be it Nai-na, Veronica, Padmavati or Leela — the characters are proof of the inten-sive preparation that she makes to go through each time.

Well, let’s hope the wait is worth it for the audience.

heRe’s how deepika is pRepaRing foR shakun batRa film

i’m as vulneRable as anybody else: hemswoRth

Former World No. 1 Deepika Kumari, the only Indian ar-cher to win World Cup gold medal, is all set to tie the knot with star archer Atanu Das on 30 June, at Morabadi in Ranchi. While Das will make his second successive appear-ance at the Games, it will be the third straight Olympics for Deepika in Tokyo 2021. The wedding celebrations will not be extravagant and all the attendees, in the wake of the pandemic, will follow strict hygiene protocols and maintain social distancing. According to sources, only 60 invitation cards have been printed.

However, it is not the first time that sportspersons an-nounce their marriage out of the blue. There have been prior surprises as well. It is no wonder that sportspersons from the same or different fields often form a great friend-ship that later culminates into something stronger. Many pairs have married and are still going strong! Here are some of the worthy mentions:

Sania Mirza and Shoaib MalikThe most popular sports star couple is the duo of Sa-nia Mirza and Shoaib Malik. Sania, the former doubles world number one tennis player, married Shoaib Malik, the former Pakistani cricket captain, on 12 April 2010. Their marriage did not only cross the barriers of sports but the borders too.

iShant SharMa and PratiMa Singh

Indian pacer Ishant Sharma got married to Pratima Singh who belongs to the family of illustrious “Singh Sisters”, who play basketball at the international level. Pratima Singh was the part of the In-dian team at the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games. She also represented the Indian team in the 2006 Commonwealth Game in Melbourne.

SakShi Malik and Satyawart kadianIn April 2017, Sakshi Ma-lik, the first Indian female freestyle wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics, married Satyawart Kadian in Rohtak. Satyawart shot to prominence in the wres-tling world after representing India in the 2014 Common-wealth Games and finishing with a silver medal in the 97 kg weight class.

Saina nehwal and ParuPalli kaShyaPStar shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap tied the knots in a simple cer-emony in December 2018. The badminton duo, which

was training under the guidance of the badminton player-turned-coach Pul-lela Gopichand, had fallen in love during their training sessions.

geeta Phogat and Pawan kuMarWrestler Geeta Phogat, eldest among the Phogat sisters, married Delhi-based wres-tler Pawan Kumar in January 2017. Aamir Khan, the ace ac-tor and director, was the star attraction at the ceremony as his movie Dangal was based on the exploits of the Phogat family.

VineSh Phogat and SoMVir ratheeAsian Games champion Vinesh Phogat married a fel-low wrestler Somvir Rathee in December 2018. The cou-ple got married in a private ceremony in Vinesh’s home-town Charkhi Dadri, Hary-ana. And, surprisingly, the couple during the ritual took eight vows instead of seven, the eighth being “Beti bachao, beti padhao, beti khilao (save daughters, teach daughters and to let them play)”. The writer is a former Associate Professor, Delhi University.

Archers DeepikA, AtAnu to tie the knot toDAy AmiD coviD concerns

Q. How do you look at the 2007-08 tour of Pakistan, it is said that the army of Indian fast bowlers started coming from 2008?R.P. Singh (RP). A lot of work was already been done by the BCCI, the wickets in do-mestic cricket were changed. Turfs were made for the fast bowlers so that they could do more. You see, our fast bowl-ers have more confidence and as soon as the skill and the pace were added, the de-liverables came out bigger.Q Praveen, you bowled in Aus-tralia’s tour in 2006, became the man of the match in the finals. Can you tell us more about your beginning?Praveen Kumar (PK). I still remember RP bowling very strongly, and as far as Australia is concerned, I did not understand any-thing. I would sprint and take the wickets. I took the first 4 wickets, then took 4 more, I did not understand anything, it was just to keep bowling, and keep taking wickets, and I ended up earning man of the match! I remember RP too, he took a fiver in his debut.Q. Can you tell us why you and Praveen didn’t play longer, con-

sidering that both of you had a brilliant start?RP. Yes, looking back, I also think I could have played more matches instead. All players feel that they could have played more than they played, but there is always more than that meets the eye. Injuries wear down a bowler; even after recover-ing you are never the same. I guess that the pace also at-tenuates. Things get difficult. And in my case, I did not give enough time to recover. I went to play again too early.Q. You were in the 2011 World Cup squad, but after that, you did not get any luck with the se-

lectors. Why does that happen?PK. I guess I agree with RP here, after the injury or any fitness issue, it is the hurry that ruins a player. Recovery needs time and especially, the fast bowler must not hurry to go into the field.Q. RP, would you shed some light on the process of the selec-tion, and how it was communi-cated to you?RP. When a player is in the

process of decline, he needs moral support. I did not get any. Moreover, I will tell you a story, I was selected in the Dilip Trophy, but lat-er I was removed from the sheet. I asked the selectors about it over the phone and they said that they wanted to check out Pankaj Singh and Ishwar Pandey. Both of them were fine bowlers, however, they were juniors. So the selector told me that I was pretty senior and they could not bench me during the matches, which would mean that either of the two bowlers would have to be dropped.

Q. Since the time you were out of the team, did you get a call from anyone? Did M.S. Dhoni ever call you?PK. It is not that Mahi didn’t call me, he doesn’t call any-one at all. I have met Raina for sure, he told me that Bhuvi (Bhuvaneshvar Ku-mar) has come, he is doing well with the ball. Howev-er, Dhoni has always been straightforward, he would tell me to focus on pace and skill. He once told me di-rectly, “You need some time, I don’t think I will include you in the team for the next Test match in India.” Mahi was a straightforward captain.

‘M.S. Dhoni was a straightforward captain’

WeDDingsuLtAns oF sWing

Former ace bowlers Praveen Kumar and R.P. Singh talk about their past, and how injury can wreak havoc on a sporting career.

Fast bowlers R.P. Singh (left) and Praveen Kumar (right).

Atanu Das with Deepika Kumari.

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sports the daily guardian30 june 2020new delhi10

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