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

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2020, AHMEDABAD, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `4.00, WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

PARIMALDABHIAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

PURVANG PANDYA, 22, joinedMastersinSocialWorkcourseatthe Gujarat Vidyapith last year.Hehadnever expected that in ayear, he would be in a PPE suitservingCovid-19patientsatoneof the largestpublichospitals inGujarat.FromDakor town in Kheda

district, Pandyawas interestedinmedical social work andwas

scheduled for an internship atthehospitalformentalhealthinVadodara, but with the lock-down,hehadtostayathomefortwomonths, till the secondhalfof May when he saw a postabout a project to provide psy-chological support to Covid pa-tients,onthecollegeWhatsAppgroupanddecidedtovolunteer."I was ready to join, but no-

bodyinthefamilywantedmetogo. But I explained to them thatthis would giveme experiencewhichwillbehelpfulingettinga(government) job in future. So,eventually parents agreed (re-luctantly),”saidPandyawhoisacommercegraduatefromSardar

PatelUniversity inAnand.Postedinthe1,200-bedded-

icated Covid-19 hospital at theCivil hospital in Ahmedabad,Pandya remembers aparticularwoman patientwhowas aban-doned by her family and hadonly one saree to wear. Hebrought her two gowns tochangeintoandthatmovedher.“One day, she touchedmy feetout of gratitude. OIt over-whelmedme... the satisfactionofwhatIwasdoing.Thisexperi-ence of serving Covid-19 pa-tients is amazing,” saysPandya.The woman, in early 50’s,

stayed in thehospital for nearlyCONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

Oneof thestudentcounsellorswithapatient. Express

When students turned counsellors for Covid patients

INDIA-CHINASTANDOFF INLADAKH

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

TWODAYS ahead of his trip toMoscowwhere he is likely tohold discussions on the borderstand-off with China’s ForeignMinister and State CouncillorWang Yi, External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar Mondaylaiddownthebroadcontoursofthe upcoming bilateral conver-sation by underlining that “thestate of the border cannot bedelinkedfromthestateofthere-lationship."Acknowledging that the cur-

rent situation along the Line ofActualControlwas"veryserious,"

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BJP leaderatcremationofNyimaTenzinof SpecialFrontierForce. Twitter

TheForeignMinisteratAdda

In messageto Beijing,Madhav atTibetan unitsoldier funeral

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

SENDING A strongmessage toChina,BJPgeneralsecretaryRamMadhav attended the funeralMonday of Subedar NyimaTenzin of the Special FrontierForce,acovert Indianunit,com-prising mostly of Tibetans inIndia, tasked to carry out classi-fiedmissions.Nyima died on August 30

when he, according to Armysources, stepped on a vintagemine near the south bank ofPangong Tso. This was aroundthe time Indian forceswere oc-cupying strategic heights in ar-easof theChushulsectortoturnthe tables on the Chinese – thePLA has been reluctant to com-plete the disengagement oftroops along the Line of ActualControl.Whilethegovernmentorthe

ArmyhasnotcommentedonthedeathofNyima, thepresenceofMadhav,aseniormemberof therulingparty,atthefuneralinLehwill rile the Chinese given thatthe Vikas regiments of the SFFlargely comprise Tibetans in

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Pangong on boil again:China claims Indiafired warning shotsKRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

DAYS AFTER Indian troopsthwarted Chinesemanoeuvresand occupied strategic heightson the south bank of PangongTso and Rechin La near RezangLa,thesouthbankofthelakeap-peared to be on the boil againlate Monday night with theChinesePLAclaimingthatIndiantroops had firedwarning shots,prompting it to “take counter-measures to stabilize the situa-tionontheground”.

Therewasno immediate re-sponse fromthe IndianArmyortheMinistryofDefence.In a statement, Colonel

Zhang Shuili, spokesperson forthe PLA Western TheatreCommand, claimed the IndianArmy “crossed the line and en-teredBangongHunan,thewest-ern section of the Sino-Indianborder”andthe“Indian actions seriously vi-

olated the relevant agreementsandagreementsbetweenChinaand India, pushing up regionaltensions, and easily causing

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Stateof bordercan’tbedelinkedfromstateot relationship,hesays, aheadofmeetingwithChinese in Moscow

Serious situation... needdeep conversations atpolitical level: Jaishankar

Districtstaffbriefedoncontainment,training;newmanualscommissioned

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THE CENTRE has received de-tailed feedback from officers atthe district level, identifyingloopholes in the implementa-tion of containment, surveil-lance, andclinicalmanagementstrategiesforCovid-19inseveralstates.Theselapses,sourcessaid,wereamongthekeyreasonsforthemassive spike incases in re-centweeks.Following the detection of

nearly 6 lakh new infections intheweek beginning August 31,the Centre has over the last fewdaysmade a significant changein targeting its messaging ontackling thenovel coronavirus.It hasmoved away from ad-

dressing states at the level oftheirhealth secretaries, andhasinstead begun to communicate

directlywithadministrativeoffi-cials and chief medical officers(CMOs)whoarefightingthepan-demicatthelevelof thedistrict.India on Sunday recorded

90,802 new infections, theCONTINUEDONPAGE2

MANYMONTHSintothepandemic,andwithcon-tainmentandsurveil-lancestrategieswellknown, thecontinuinghighnumbers indicateblockages inthepercola-tionof themessagetothoseontheground.ThatiswhytheCentre isnowtalkingdirectly tothem.

TakingthemessagetogroundE●EX

PLAINED

FOCUSON3STATES, 17DISTRICTS

Cases surge, Centre reaches out tohotspot districts, finds glaring gaps

Adesertedmetrostation inAhmedabadonMonday.Metroservicesresumedwithcurtailedoperationsacross thecountryafterbeingclosedforover fivemonthsduetotheCovidpandemic. Express

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

AS THE Centre and non-BJPruledstatescontinueto faceoffover the mechanism to meetthecompensationdeficitunderthe Goods and Services Tax(GST) regime, the UnionFinance Ministry is unlikely tocede to thestates’demandthatthe borrowing should be doneby the Central government. Infact, government officialspointed out that states hadparked about Rs 1.8 lakh crorein T-Bills, suggesting that theywerenot short of funds.“While it is true that states

tooarekeepingthepowderdry,just liketheCentre, forthecom-ing quarters, they cannot com-plain that they do not havemoneytospend,”saidagovern-ment official who did notwantto be named. The official saidstates have, on an average, bor-rowed about 2.75 per cent oftheir GSDP so far, against 3 percentof theirGSDP.States, however, said not all

of themhadhugefundsinvestedinT-Bills.“Thereisalsoavariancein the expenditure needs ofstates.Forsome,thecommittedexpenditure (salaries, pensionsandinterestpayments)asaper-centage of total expenditure ishigh. On top of this, their rev-enueshavetakenabadhit,”saidastategovernmentofficial.In the case of Communist-

ruledKerala, forinstance,theof-ficial said, committed expendi-turewasashighas56.4percent.“Covid-19andthelockdownad-verselyimpactedstaterevenues–withtourism,asignificantcon-tributortostateGDP,takingabighit,” said theofficial.For BJP-ruled states like

MadhyaPradeshandKarnataka,andevenBihar,whereBJPhas acoalition governmentwith theJD(U), committed expenditureasapercentageof totalexpendi-tureisjust27.6percent,31.7percent and 24.4 per cent, respec-tively. For these states, it is defi-nitelynotasbadasitisforKerala

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FinanceMinistryunlikely tocedetothestates’demand

Amid GSTrow, Centresignals itwill notborrow

In Gujarat, 4 test Covid positive again in 4 monthsSOHINIGHOSHAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

AHMEDABAD MUNICIPALCorporation(AMC)hasreportedfour cases of Covid-19 reinfec-tion between August 18 andSeptember6,nearlyfourmonthsafter they testedpositive for thefirst time.Thefourwhotestedpositive

againaretwomaleresidentdoc-tors aged 33 years from theGujarat Cancer and ResearchInstitute(GCRI)andLGHospital,a 26-year-old woman resident

doctor from LG Hospital and a60-year-old homemaker fromBehrampura. They had firsttestedpositivebetweenApril13and April 21. All had subse-quentlyrecoveredandweredis-charged after testing negativethroughRTPCRtestsatthetime.The resident doctor and the

homemaker were also part ofthe recent seroprevalence sur-veyconducted inAMCjurisdic-tionthatfoundanabsenceofan-tibodies in 40 per cent cases ofthe 1,816 known confirmedcases’sampleswhichwerestud-ied.The60-year-oldwasamong

the 60 per cent in whom anti-bodieswere foundand the resi-dent doctor was in the 40 percent in whom no antibodieswere found.A press release from AMC

said that among the four pa-tientswhotestedpositiveagain,“onehashistoryofvisittoKeralajust before the second infectionwhereastheotherthreewereinAhmedabad.”OnMonday, the60-year-old

woman, whowas admitted atRatan Hospital under the AMCbed quota, was discharged.Among the three resident doc-

tors, one is undergoing treat-ment at GCRI and is stable andtheothertwoareinhomeisola-tion, according toAMC.Thegenesisof thesaid"rein-

fection" in the four remain in-conclusive and according to anAMC health official, while thethreeresidentdoctorsmayhavebeeninfectedatthehospital,thesourceremainsunknowninthecaseof the60-year-oldwhowasalso incidentally the first caseof‘reinfection’ inAhmedabad.Thereleasestatedthatthere-surfac-ingof thevirusincuredpatients

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DEEPTIMANTIWARY&LAXMANSINGHNEWDELHI,MUMBAI,SEPTEMBER7

THE UNIONMinistry of HomeAffairs (MHA) has accorded Y+category security to BollywoodactorKanganaRanaut.Thedeci-sioncomesinthewakeofaspatbetween Ranaut and Shiv SenaMP Sanjay Raut, with the actorcomparingMumbai toPakistanOccupiedKashmirandclaiminga threat toher life in thecity.“An assessment has been

made by intelligence agenciesand it has been concluded thatthereisathreattoherlifeandac-cordingly security is being pro-vided,”aHomeMinistryofficialsaid. Theministry’s order saidshewouldbeprovided securityacross the country.Thanking Union Home

Minister Amit Shah, Ranauttweeted,"Thisshowsthatnoonecan crush a patriot in the coun-try...Hadhe(AmitShah)wanted,he would have toldme to visitMumbai later but he respectedIndia’s daughter and acknowl-edgedmyself-respect. JaiHind."Ranaut,whoisinherhomestateHimachalPradeshcurrently,hassaid shewould be returning toMumbaionSeptember9.Accordingtoasource,under

the Y+ category, Ranautwill beallocated 11 commandos in all,

with two armed ones for hermobilesecurityatanytime,andoneguardingher residence.Maharashtra Relief and

Rehabilitation Minister VijayWadettiwar called the Centre’smove"politicallymotivated"andaccused Ranaut of being theBJP’s "parrot". State HomeMinisterAnilDeshmukhsaidthemove was "surprising", givenhow the actor had "insulted"MumbaiandMaharashtra.Calling Ranaut Himachal

Pradesh’s"daughter",stateChiefMinister Jai Ram Thakur saidthey had requested for a para-militaryforcetoprovidesecurityto the actor, after being ap-proached by her father and sis-ter. Inavideostatement,Thakursaidthestatepolicewouldguardtheactor’sManaliresidenceandadded that he had told theDGPtoassessthethreattoher."Ifnec-essary, Himachal Pradesh isready to provide her securityduringhertours...hersecurityisimportant forus."

In what Ranaut called a re-lated development, onMondayafternoon, a team of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) visited heroffice atPaliHill to check for "il-legalconstruction".BMCofficialssaid a team from the BuildingProposal Department and H-Westward inspectedtheprem-isestocheckfordeviationsfromapprovedplans.Officials termed the inspec-

tion a routine exercise. TheDeputy MunicipalCommissioner of Zone 3, ParagMasurkar, said aBMC teamhadinspectedaboutfivetosixprop-erties in Pali Hill lane, includingRanaut’sproperty.AspertheBMCplansof1979,

the two-storey bungalow,CONTINUEDONPAGE2

ICICI loans:ED arrestsDeepakKochharDEEPTIMANTIWARYNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THEENFORCEMENTDirectorateMonday arrested DeepakKochhar,husbandofformerICICIBank MD and CEO ChandaKochhar, in connectionwith its

probe into anallegedmoneylaunderingcase.D e e p a k

Kochhar, EDsources said,hadbeencalledforquestioningin connection

with some “fresh evidence ofmoney trail” in the case involv-ingloansdisbursedbyICICIBankto the Videocon Group for al-legedpecuniaryconsiderations.DeepakKochhar, ED sources

said, declined to come to Delhiciting the pandemic. He wasquestionedby a teamof officersinMumbai. “Hedid not cooper-atewithus,andsowehadtoputhimunderarrest,”aseniorEDof-ficersaid.DeepakandChandaKochhar

and Videocon Group promoterVenugopal Dhoot are the sub-jectsof anEDprobe intoallegedmoneylaunderinginthematterof loansdisbursed to the

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

‘Newmoneytrailproof’

ASWETAUGUSTDELAYSHARVEST,ONIONPRICESRISEINMARKET PAGE 4

GUJARAT

THEWORLD

KHASHOGGIMURDERRULING: EIGHTSENTENCED TOPRISON PAGE 14

‘Noonecancrushapatriot’

Y+ security for Kanganaas Centre sees threat

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Ahmedabad

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Whatcountsas‘ActofGod’?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

In today’sepisodeof the3Thingspodcast,wetalkabout the legalprovisionActofGod–whendoes itapplyanddopandemicscomeunder itspurview

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Pangongmisunderstandingsandmisjudg-ments”.Describing these as “serious

military provocations…of verybad nature”, Zhang urged “theIndian side to immediately stopdangerousactions, immediatelywithdraw cross-line personnel,strictlyrestrainfront-linetroops,andstrictly investigateandpun-ishpersonnelwho firedshots toensure that similar incidents donotoccuragain”.Exactly a week ago, Indian

troopsoccupiedstrategicheightsonthesouthbankofPangongTsoand Rechin La, giving them acommandingviewoftheterrainintheChushulsector.Troopscankeep an eye on China’s MoldogarrisonandpreventanyattempttoingressviatheSpanggurGap.On September 4, Army chief

GeneralMMNaravane,whilere-viewing operational prepared-ness in eastern Ladakh, said thesituationalongtheLineofActualControlwas“tense”.He said Indian actions had

only been along the LAC— thiswas his way of counteringChinese allegations that Indiantroops crossed theLAC, a chargethePLArepeatedMondaynight.Withtheoccupationofthese

heights,theIndianshopetomaketheChinese return to the disen-gagementtalkstable.ThePLAhasbeenreluctanttostepbackfromthe north bank of Pangong TsoandGograPost after agreeing tototaldisengagement.

Ram MadhavIndia.Raisedduringthe1962warwithChina, theSFF remainsun-der the Cabinet Secretariat butfunctions under the operationalcontrolof theArmy.Madhav paid tribute to

Nyima. He also posted a tweetwhich he deleted later. He toldTheIndianExpress:“Letthesacri-ficesofsuchvaliantsoldiersbringpeace along the Indo-Tibetanborder.Thatwillbethereal trib-utetoall thesemartyrs.”Retired SFF Havildar Yeshi

Tenzin told The Indian Expressthat his 24-year-old son LondenTenzin,alsowiththeSFF,wasse-riously injuredwhen themineexploded, killing Nyima. YeshisaidLondenwasprovidedmed-icalassistanceandlatermovedtothemilitaryhospital inLeh.He said his sonwas on a re-

connaissancemissiononAugust29. And the next day he waswith Nyima near the southbank of Pangong Tsowhen theincident happened.The Army has not com-

mentedon theSFFor its role inthe Chushul sector operations.Armysourcessaidtherewasnodirect contactorclashwith theChinese when Indian troopsraced to occupy heights onAugust 29-30 and August 31,thwarting PLAmanoeuvres inthe area.

Centre signalsorWest Bengal (56.4 per centand39.7percent, respectively.)On the issue of borrowing

by the Central government in-steadof states,FinanceMinistryofficials saidthecompensationcesswasa taxownedbystates.Under Article 292 of theConstitutionof India, theCentrecan borrow on the security ofits own taxes and resources,whichis theConsolidatedFundof India (CFI),but it cannotbor-row on the security of taxwhich it doesnot own.“Compensationcess isactu-

ally a resource dedicated tostatesandonlytheycanborrowon the strength of future flowsfromcesswhichwilleventuallygetcreditedtotheconsolidatedfundof states,” theofficial said.Finance Ministry officials

alsosaidthestates'entitlementis for the full compensationamount, andthemechanismisonly toassesshowmuchof theshortfall shouldbemetbybor-rowingandhowmuchcouldbe

deferred. “Borrowingformeet-ing the entire shortfall whenthe private sector is strugglingtogetbackonits feetcouldhurtthembadly,” said anofficial.TheCentreandOpposition-

ruled states are in conflict overthe financing of GST shortfallamountingtoRs2.35lakhcrorein the current fiscal. Of this, asper the Centre’s calculation,about Rs 97,000 crore is on ac-count of GST implementationand the remainingRs1.38 lakhcrore is the impact of Covid-19on states’ revenues. Last week,the Centre proposed two op-tionstothestates: toborrowei-ther froma specialwindow fa-cilitatedbytheReserveBankofIndia or from themarket.

DeepakKochharVideocon Group by the ICICIBank. The loans later turnedinto non-performing assets.The Videocon Group allegedlymade investments in compa-nies held by Deepak Kochharfollowing disbursal of loansclearedbyacommitteethat in-cludedhis spouseChanda.According to ED, its probe

revealed that loans were refi-nanced and new loans aggre-gatingRs1,730croreweresanc-tioned to Videocon IndustriesLimited (VIL) and its groupcompanies. These loans be-came NPAs for ICICI Bank onJune30, 2017.In June this year, the ED at-

tached assets worth Rs 78.15crore belonging to theKochhars. These included resi-dential flats, land, cash andplantandmachinery located inTamilNaduandMaharashtra.“Investigation further re-

vealed that amount of Rs 64crore, out of the loan of Rs 300crore sanctioned by a commit-teeheadedbyChandaKochharto M/s Videocon InternationalElectronics Limited,was trans-ferred to M/s NuPowerRenewablesPvtLtd(NRPL,ear-lier known as M/s NuPowerRenewables Limited, a com-pany of Deepak Kochhar, hus-bandofChandaKochhar)byVILon08.09.2009, just oneday af-ter disbursement of loan byICICIBank.Further,netrevenueofRs10.65crorewasgeneratedby NRL from these taintedfunds. Therefore, proceeds ofcrime amounting to Rs. 74.65crore were transferred to/gen-erated in NRPL,” stated an EDstatementat thetimeof theat-tachment of assets.

Kanganaspreadover3,000sq ft, is a res-idential property. Ranaut hadbought it in2017andinJanuarythis year, opened an officethere. "Prima facie there aresomedeviations fromtheplansandwe found a change of user(from residential to commer-cial).TheBMCteamispreparingareportbasedontheinspectionand approved planswhichwillbe ready in two days. Furthercourseof actionwillbedecidedafter that," a civicofficial said.TaggingaSeptember1news

reportquotingRautaspurport-edly saying that she should notcomebacktoMumbaiifshewasafraid of the city police, Ranauttweetedafewdaysback,“WhyisMumbai feeling like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir?”AddressingtheAssemblyon

Monday,ChiefMinisterUddhavThackeray said, "Some peoplehavegratitude towards thecitywhere they live and earn theirlivelihood, but somedon’t."

Former CM DevendraFadnavis said the BJP does notsupportRanaut’sremarksliken-ingMumbai to PoK, but addedthat itwas the responsibility ofthe government to protect her.Even terrorists have to be pro-videdsecurityunderthelaw,hesaid. "We are not living in a ba-nana republic."

WITHENS,SHIMLA

Four test Covidpositivewas,“verymuchinlinewithAMCsero-prevalencesurvey.”TheAMC’s study concluded

thatthe40percentof caseswhotestedpositive,lostantibodiesandtheoreticallythismeantthattheyaresusceptibletonewinfection.HoweverDrAtul Patel, infec-

tiousdiseases specialist andpartofthemedicalexperts’panelofthestategovernment, iscircumspectof theAMCserosurveystudyanditsfindings,withrespecttotheab-senceofantibodiesin40percentoftheconfirmedpositivepatientsandadvisescaution“beforeclaim-ing lossof antibodies fromprevi-ouslyantibodypositivesubjects.”“Weneedtogoforverification

withbetter antibody testingbe-causeanumberof therapidanti-bodykitshaveshowna lowsen-sitivity(fordetectingantibodies)...Thereare somany intricacies in-volved indetermining thepres-enceofantibodies...Antibodytest-ingshouldincludemeasurementof total antibodies aswell as theIgGantibody...,”saidDrPatel.AccordingtoAMC,allfourhad

mild tomoderate symptoms thefirst time, and fourmonths later,the three residentdoctors’ sam-plesreflectanabsenceofantibod-ieswhile the60-year-oldon theotherhandhasantibodies.Globally,therewereinstances

ofpurportedreinfectiondeclara-tions which were eventuallyfound tohavebeen instances ofprolongedandintermittentshed-dingofthevirusoritsgeneticma-terial. However, AMCsaid thesefour arebeing consideredas the(removedquotations)statisticallyrarecasesofreinfection,sincetwoof themhadcoincidentallybeenincludedinthetwoserosurveysofAMC,andthustheyhavesomeev-idencetotrackthetrajectoryofthesupposedcasesofreinfection.(re-movedquotations)DrPatel,how-ever, said this is a “premature”conclusiontodraw.“InGujarat,wedonothavethecapacitytodiffer-entiatebetweenprolongedviralshedding versus reinfection. AnRTPCRtest cannotdifferentiate ifwhat it is detecting is anactivelyreplicating virus or a dead viralparticleorfragmentedviralparti-cle.Thebestmethodtodetermineitwouldbetogoforviralculture,availableat theNational InstituteofVirology(NIV),Pune,whichwilldetermine if the said virus is ac-tivelyreplicating,”saidDrPatel.DrPatel alsopointedout that

therehavebeeninstanceswherepatients have continued to testpositiveforamonth,andcitedthecaseofaBhujpatientwhotestedpositive for more than twomonths,thusestablishingthecaseforprolongedviralshedding.AnAMCofficialsaid,“Adraw-

backwearefacingatthemomentistherewasnopolicyinplacethatpermittedstoringof thesamplesofwhosoevertestedpositive.Wedon’t have previous samples tocomparewithforthepatientsre-infected,”andhopedfor"apolicychange"nowwith the reportingof these cases to theWHOandICMR.DrPatelalsomentionedasec-

ondscenario.Covid-19has ledtoan increasednumberof patientsdevelopingmultiple system in-flammatorysyndromewheretheCovid-19 symptoms aremim-icked. He explained thatwhilesuchcaseswouldideallytestneg-ative for Covid-19, theremaybecaseswheredeadorfragmentedviralparticlescontinuetoexistinthesystem,leadingtoaCovid-19positive test, thus leading to thediagnosis that the patient hasCovid-19.While blood and nasopha-

ryngealsamplesofthecaseshavebeen sent to GujaratBiotechnology Research Centre(GBRC) in Gandhinagar forgenomesequencingandfurtheranalysisofvirusgenetics,accord-ing to a an AMC press release,when The Indian Expressreachedout toGBRCdirectorDr

Chaitanya Joshi, he said, “Wedon’t have proper samples toanalyse reinfection, so I can’tcommentonit.”Dr Patel added, genome se-

quencing aswell cannot deter-mine if a said case is thatof pro-longed viral shedding orreinfection.

Counsellorsamonth. “Likemany other pa-tients, sheused to seeher son inme,”saysPandya.Inaunique initiative, around

30 students in the age group of

21-23 fromSocialWorkdepart-ment of Gujarat Vidyapith (GV)weretakeninbytheGujaratgov-ernment on a stipend of Rs10,000amonthtocounselCovid-19 patients at Ahmedabad CivilHospital sinceMay. And follow-ingencouragingresults,thestatehealthdepartmenthasextendedthe counselling services inNewCivilHospitalofSuratandisplan-ning to do the same in Rajkotwhich has recently seen a spurtincases.LikePandya, parentsof a22-

year-old girl student from GV

werealsoreluctanttosendhertodothis job.Thegirl studentsays,“Themoment I got themessageaboutthisproject, Iwasreadytojoin. I wanted to get the feel ofworkinginaPPEsuit.Butmypar-entswerenotready.Itriedtoper-suadethemtoletmego,buttheydidnotbudge.AndthenIcriedalotandtheyeventuallyagreed.”Thegirl,afinalyearstudentof

psychiatricsocialworkatGV,wasdeployed at Ahmedabad CivilHospitalfortwomonthsandwasthenshiftedtoNCHinSuratalongwith 15 other social work stu-

dents of GV. She recently testedpositive and isolated herself attheassignedquarters inSurat.“Initially,wewere16students

who started counselling.Whenwesharedourexperienceswithother students at GV, they alsojoined.TheCovidpatientshavealot of possibility of slipping intodepression or ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder.Andhereacounsellor’srolebecomesimpor-tant because thedoctors cannotgive somuch attention to a pa-tient,"shesays.Theywould talk to the pa-

tients,getthemtalktotheirrela-tives through video and audiocalls, distribute books, fruits, getthem involved in various groupactivitieslikestorytelling,singing,prayers. They also celebratedRakshabandhan andIndependenceDaywith the pa-tients.“...Everyday,aftertheprayers

andstretching, there isa sessionof Hasyasan (laughter yoga)whichismostpopularamongthepatients.Thelevelofpositivityisdifferent when they do theHasyasan.Itisthetimewhenthewardwhich is otherwise verysombre, lightsup,”saysPandya.“They (students of GV)were

extremelygood.AlotofCovidpa-tientswereunderalotofmentalstress. So, it was important tocounsel them evenwhen theywere in the hospital. Therefore,we decided to have the MSW(MasterofSocialWork)studentsfromGujarat Vidyapith toworkas counselors. That had a verygood impact. After Ahmedabadand Surat, we are (planning) togetGujaratVidyapithstudentsascounsellorsincollaborationwithsomeothercolleges, inRajkotaswell,” says Principal Secretary(Health) JayantiRavi.Theinitiativewaslaunchedin

MaythisyearwhenAhmedabadwasat itspeakofCovid-19casesand a teamof experts from theCentre had recommended thestate health department to pro-videcounsellingtoCovidpatientsat the government-run treat-ment facilities apart frommed-ication. The health departmentapproachedtheauthoritiesofGVto avail the services of the socialworkstudents.Head of the Social Work

Department of GV, AnandibenPatelsaid,“Becauseitwasalock-down period, all our studentswere at their respective homes.Weputoutamessagetothestu-dentsaboutservingthepatientsin Ahmedabad as counselors. Itwas a difficult phase as allwerevery scared of the coronavirus.We told the students thatwhileitwillbeagreat learningexperi-ence,thechoicetojoinwascom-pletelyvoluntary.Weevenaskedthe students to take consent oftheirparentsaswell.”“Weneededtotal30students.

Initially, we did not get the fullnumber asmany parentswerenot ready. But, gradually, on thebasis of experiences of studentswho joined the Civil Hospital,other students also joined,”addedAnandiben.As the students got ready to

servetheCovid-19patients,theywere first trainedby thementalhealth wing of the health de-partment and then put intoservice.Arpan Nayak, a psychiatric

socialworker(PSW)atHospitalfor Mental Health inAhmedabad,iscoordinatingtheentireinitiativebetweenthestu-dentsofGVandthestatehealthdepartment.Nayak, who himself is an

alumniof GV, said, “Initially,weprovided the students a basictrainingforthetaskandthenputthem into service. They are be-ingkeptataspecialfacilityatthecampus of Hospital forMentalHealth near Delhi Darwaza (inAhmedabad).”While the students are at-

tendingpatientsatCovidhospi-tals,theauthoritiesatGVarealsocomplementing their efforts.“We are constantly in touch

with our students and the au-thorities of hospital. After all,they are young students. Wekeepasking themtobehealthyand stay away from junk food.Their immunity andwellbeingisofparamountimportance.WehaveformedaspecialWhatsappgroup of these students wheretheyposttheirregularupdates,”saidVipinMakwanaand IshaniPatel, assistant professors atSocialWork Department of GVwhoare supervising theoverallprojectat theuniversityend.

FROMPAGEONE

State of border can’t be delinked fromstate of India-China ties: Jaishankar

secondstraightdayof90,000-plusnumbers,signallinganex-traordinarysurgethathasseendaily detections rise sharplythroughthepreviousweek.On Saturday, central offi-

cials hada lengthyvideo con-ferencewith officials from17districts in Maharashtra,Andhra Pradesh, andKarnataka,whicharecurrentlycontributing 46 per cent ofIndia'snationalcaseload.Ameetingwas also held

withofficialsfromDelhi,whichhasreportedasecondsurgeincases.“Thereisnodenyingthatthe

infectionisspreadinginspecificstates.Itisgoingtonewerareas,but thesearealsodenselypop-ulated; it is not going into vil-lages to that extent. The out-break is still restricted tosemi-urbanareasbecause thatiswherethevirusthrives,”atopsourcesaid.While the increase in case

numbers in Maharastra,Karnataka,andAndhraPradeshhas been incremental andnotexponential,“sincetheirbaseintermsofpopulationisbigger,theincrementalincreaseisalsobig-ger”,thesourcesaid.Saturday'smeetingwas at-

tended by district officers ofPune,Nagpur,Kolhapur,Sangli,Nashik, Ahmednagar, Raigad,Jalgaon, Solapur, Satara, andPalghar in Maharashtra;Prakasam and Chittoor inAndhra Pradesh; and Koppal,

Mysuru,Davangere,andBallariinKarnataka.“Thechallengeforusisthis:

nowthat the states knowhowthevirusspreads,andareawareof strategies for containment,surveillance,contacttracing,andtreatment,why is it that thesestates are still reporting suchhigh numbers?” top govern-ment sources,who are part ofthe teammonitoring the pan-demic,toldtheIndianExpress.“That is whywe have had

longmeetingswithdistrictcol-lectorsandchiefmedicalofficersto discuss these issues,” theysaid.Inthecourseofseveral long

meetingswith theofficials, theCentrefoundglaringdiscrepan-ciesincontainmentandsurveil-lancestrategies,thesourcessaid.“Werealisedinthesemeet-

ingsthatatthedistrictlevel,theyhave between 200 and 800

physical teamsof ASHAwork-ers, volunteers to do surveil-lance,containment,andhouse-to-house searches of activecases. They also have a largenumberofsupervisorstomon-itor these teams. But a largenumber of the members ofthese teams do not actuallyknowwhattheyareexpectedtodowhen they go to a contain-mentzone.Theyhavenotbeentrained,”asourcesaid.“For instance, in the caseof

contact tracing, these districtshavenot been told the averagenumberofcontactsperpositivethat needs tobe traced. That isimportant. Therefore, the sur-veillance officers aremissing alarge number of infected per-sons,thesourcesaid.“We found thatmunicipal

commissioners and districtmagistrateshavetheknowledgebutpeopledown the line,who

should actually be trained,have not been trained,” thesourcesaid.The Centre has nowpre-

paredtwoseparatemanuals–oneforsurveillanceofficersonthe ground, the other for su-pervisors monitoring theteam. “Themanuals addressfinerpoints,andhavebeencir-culated to thesedistricts.Wealso asked them to translatetheminlocallanguages,”anof-ficialsaid.The CMOs were ques-

tionedonbringingdown themortality rate to below1percent. “We realised that evenatthelevelofchiefmedicalofficer,therewas a feeling thatmoral-ity cannot be brought below1per cent.Wequestioned themon CFR. Their reply was thatmost of the patients had co-morbiditiesandwereseniorcit-izens.”The CMOs were asked to

makedetailed submissions onmeasures taken to address is-sues related to vulnerablegroups, the sources said. “Weasked if the CMOshad soughtthehelpofAIIMS,NewDelhi,ontreating co-morbidandelderlypatients.Thedistrictofficersre-mainedsilent,”thesourcessaid.The CMOs have nowbeen

directed to avail the services ofthe AIIMS team that has beenholdingmeetingswithdoctorsheadingICUsacrossstatesonef-fective clinicalmanagementofcases.

Jaishankarsaidthatitcalledfor“very,verydeepconversations”betweenthetwosidesata“po-litical level”.HewasspeakingatExpress

Adda moderated by C RajaMohan, The Indian ExpressContributing Editor andDirector,InstituteofSouthAsianStudies, National University ofSingapore;andAssociateEditorandDiplomaticCorrespondentShubhajitRoy.Jaishankar is going to

MoscowtoattendtheShanghaiCooperationOrganisation for-eign ministers’ meeting be-tweenSeptember9to11,wherehe is likely to have his first in-person meeting with hisChinese counterpart since thestandoffbeganearlyMay.He said that “if peace and

tranquillityontheborderisnota given, then it cannot be thattherestoftherelationshipcon-tinuesonthesamebasis”.“If you look at the last 30

years,becausetherewaspeaceandtranquillityontheborder-- therewere problems also...Iamnotdisregardingthat--thatallowedtherestoftherelation-ship to progress. As a result,Chinabecame(India's)secondlargesttradingpartner...Clearlypeaceandtranquillityistheba-sis for therelationship.”There are several under-

standingswithChinaonbordermanagementwhichgobackto1993, he said, and these “fairlyclearly stipulate" that bothcountrieswillkeepforcesattheminimumlevelattheborder.“Andthesubsequentagree-

mentswehad, they shape thebehaviourof troops, andwhatare the restrainswhichshouldbeonthem.If thesearenotob-served, thenitraisesvery,veryimportant questions. At thismoment, I note that this veryserious situation has been go-ing on since the beginning ofMay. This calls for very, verydeep conversations betweenthe two sides at a politicallevel.”Askedwhatwas a tangible

diplomatic marker to signalmovement forward in the ne-gotiations, he said: “(I have) avery practical issue right now,whichistheissueofdisengage-mentandde-escalation."Asked howhe saw the fu-

tureoftheIndia-Chinarelation-ship,Jaishankarsaidthat“thisisoneareamycrystalball isa lit-tleclouded”.He said he would leave it

“open-ended” andboth coun-tries “must try to findmutualaccommodation,becausetheirabilitytodothatwilldetermine(if there's) anAsian centuryornot”.

Jaishankar’smuch-awaitednew book, The India Way:Strategies for an UncertainWorld (Harper Collins India),wasreleased lastweekend.Regarding India’s relation-

shipwith theUnitedStates, theforeignminister,whohasservedas India’s ambassador to bothChina and to theUS called the“suspicion of America a veryLutyens’ Delhi problem” andaddedthat“theIndianstreetac-tually realised the valueof theAmerican relationshipmuchearlierthanLutyens’Delhidid”.India,hesaid,has“engaged

successive AmericanPresidentswho had differentworldviews,differentpriorities,withafocusonhowtotaketherelationship and our nationalinterests forward”.“We have to look at what

washappeninginUnitedStatesfromtheperspectiveofour in-terests…If there is theadmin-istration of the day, I have en-gaged that administration, Ihaveengagedthatadministra-tionmuchbetter thanmost oftheworlddid. IhaveadvancedIndiannational interests.”On not engaging with

Pakistan, or using “zero diplo-macy” as a tool, the ForeignMinister said that it is “not aquestionofzero-diplomacy”.Heexplained,that“Ihaveacorein-

terest, I have a problem andthereforeIamnotengaging”.The issue, he said, is about

“whoissettingthetermsoftheengagement, what are theterms of engagement,what istheframeworkofengagement”and“whatisthekindofconver-sation, who will determinewhoismakingamovetoshapethe agenda, determine theagenda inaway.”“For any country, and that

too a country like India, toforego that option… I don’tthink that’s the foreign policyweshouldhave.”Talking specifically about

Pakistan, Jaishankar said thatIndia cannot continue to en-gage because of their “attach-menttocrossborder-terrorismalltheseyears”anditcannotbeacceptedas a “normal anden-gagewith them on the termstheyhaveset”.OnJapanesePrimeMinister

Shinzo Abe who recentlystepped down due to healthreasons, Jaishankar referred tohis stint as an "era" and saidthatithad“extraordinary”sig-nificance for Japan's relation-shipwithIndia.Jaishankarsaidthat not only did Abe changethe relationship for India buteven how the Japanese thinkabout the relationship withIndia

STEADYRISE IN CASESDistrict Cases Cases Growth Deaths CFR

(Sep6) (August30) Rate (Sep6)

Pune 199303 173174 2.03% 4429 2.22%

Nagpur 38144 27241 4.93% 900 2.36%

Nashik 45790 38940 2.34% 962 2.10%

Prakasam 29074 22306 3.86% 320 1.10%

Chittoor 42561 35713 2.54% 473 1.11%

Mysuru 22080 17544 3.34% 503 2.28%

Bellary 23800 20976 1.82% 294 1.24%

Cases surge, Centre targets districts inchange of strategy, finds glaring gaps

Ahmedabad

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,RAJKOT,

SEPTEMBER7

ASMIGRANTSreturntoGujarat,Ahmedabad started testing forCovid-19 at the railway stationfor arriving passengers. Of theover 1,800 passengers who ar-rived in three trains, 33 testedpositive. InRajkot,15employeesof the Gujarat State RoadTransport Corporation (GSRTC)testedpositive.Gujarat crossed 1.05 lakh

cases after adding 1,330 casesonMonday.At the Ahmedabad Kalupur

railway station, of the 823 pas-sengers who arrived via Delhi-Ahmedabad Rajdhani Express,26 testedpositive.Seven others among the to-

tal of 1,050 arriving passengers,that is 519 passengers who ar-rivedviaGorakhpurExpressand530 others via MuzaffarpurExpress, testedpositive.AsRajkotreportednearly150

cases, days after theworkshopsuperintendentandanadminis-trative officer at theRajkot divi-sionofGSRTCtestedpositiveforCovid-19,15moreemployeesofthe public transport provider

testedpositivefortheinfectiousdiseaseonMonday."After thetwoofficers tested

positivetwodaysago,weorgan-ised a campand tested 201 em-ployeesofthedivision,includingthoseworking in theworkshopandstore,enmasseforCovid-19on Monday. Samples of 15 ofthem have returned positive,"YogeshPatel,divisionalcontroller(DC)ofGSRTCinRajkotsaid.TheDC said that the 15have

beenordered to remainquaran-tined in their homes. "Wehavealso askedapprenticesnot to re-port for duty for a fewdays andhavedecidedtoworkwithmini-mal staff. However, this, in nowway, will affect operations ofbusesofourdivision,"Pateladded.Meanwhile, the Rajkot

Municipal Corporation onMonday said that it had set upfacilities for Covid-19 testing atall the 21 urban health centres(UHC) in the city and that any-one canwalk in anUHCandgetherself tested freeof cost.As per the district adminis-

tration, the test positivity ratefor its municipal corporationlimits stands at 4.14 percent atpresentwhilethetestpositivityis higher for the district’s rurallimits - 6.6per cent.

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

GUJARAT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RAJKOT

DIVORCEDCOUPLE FOUNDDEAD INSIDE SHED

AdivorcedcouplewasfounddeadinsidetheshedofaceramictiledepotinKothariyaareaofRajkotonMonday.Policesaidprimafacie, thecouplediedbysuicide.ThevictimswereidentifiedasRaviMakwana(26),residentofPirvadiareainthecity,andPoonamVaghela(23),residentofSantKabirRoadofthecity.

Gujarat Pollution Control BoardParyavaran Bhavan, Sector 10A, Gandhinagar 382010

Tel 079-23232152 Fax 079-23222784 www.gpcb.gujarat.gov.in

It is hereby informed that asperpublic noticepublished indaily

news paper The Indian Express, Dated 03/04/2020, public

hearing of M/s. Nirma Ltd. for Expansion of Soad Ash from

2,800 TPD to 4,300 TPD, Caustic Soad from 750 TPD to

1,000TPDandCaptive PowerPlant from197.18MWto350

MW, at Kalatalav, Ta. Bhavnagar, Dist.: Bhavnagar, Project

category ‘A’ is scheduled to be held on 15/04/2020 at 04.00

hrs. Venue : Project site of M/s. Nirma Ltd., Survey No.:

478/P, 447-453, 455-457, Kalatalav-364320, Ta.

Bhavnagar, Dist : Bhavnagar. Public hearing was postponed

due to Covid-19 pandemic and now the Public Hearing is

scheduled to be held on 12/10/2020 at 13:00 Hrs, Venue :

Project site : M/s. NirmaLtd. R. S. No.: 478/P, 447-453, 455-

457,Village :KalaTalav, Ta.Bhavnagar,Dist :Bhavnagar.

Considering the present situation of pandemic of Covid-19

all concerned are hereby informed to follow Government

guideline regarding Covid-19 pandemic.

Place : Gandhinagar

Date : 03.09.2020

A. V. Shah

Member Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEGANDHINAGAR,SEPTEMBER7

CHIEFMINISTER Vijay Rupani,onMonday,virtually flaggedofffive Covid-19 Vijay Raths (chari-ots) infivedistrictsof thestate–Ahmedabad,Bhuj,Banaskantha,SuratandJunagadh-whichwillraiseawarenessaboutCovid-19alongwithfivedifferentwelfareschemes of the Central govern-ment across the state, stated anofficial release from the stategovernmentonMonday.The Covid-19 Vijay Raths is a

project of the Press InformationBureau (PIB) inpartnershipwithGujarat University and theUNICEF (United Nations

Children'sFund)thatwillcoverall33districtsofthestateinthenext44days,coveringaspanof60kilo-metreeveryday.Apart fromrais-ingawarenessaboutCovid-19andCentral government schemes, itwillalsofelicitate thepeoplewhohavedefeatedcoronavirus.AdditionalDirectorGeneralof

PIB, Dhiraj Kakadiya, said thateachrathwillhavefourtofiveat-tendants. Three of these atten-dantswill be artists registeredwith the governmentwhowill

spread awareness about Covid-19 and the Centre’s schemes invariousmanners.Duringthe44-dayjourney,workersonthechar-iotswillalsodistributemasksandimmunityboosterstopeople.Flaggingoff thechariots,CM

Rupanisaidthattheserathswillstrengthen the Gujarat govern-ment’sresolutiontodefeatcoro-navirus.Headded thatwith theintense efforts of the Gujaratgovernment and cooperationfrom people of Gujarat, the re-covery rate in the state hasreached 82% and the death ratehascomedownto2.9%from7%.The CM said that the rate of

positivity inGujarat is between3.5% and four percent againsteight-ninepercentofthecountry.

Palanpur: Threepersons, includ-ingawomanandhertoddlerson,werekilledandfiveothersinjuredwhenawallcollapsedontheminBanaskanthadistrictonMonday,police said. The incident tookplace in Sejalpura villagewhenthewall of a dilapidated housecamecrashingon thevictims, allhailingfromRajasthan,theysaid.Thewall of the unoccupied

house collapsed on a group oflabourersandtheir familymem-berswhentheywerecarryingoutdiggingwork for the plinth of anewhousebeing constructed initsvicinity,aPalanpurruralpolicestationofficialsaid.Threepersons,SitabenVasaiya

(38) her sonRaju (3), and a five-year-oldchild,RahulVasaiya,weredeclareddeadatthePalanpurcivilhospital,policesaid. PTI

Woman, twominors killedin wall collapse

LAUNCHED IN5DISTRICTSOFGUJARAT

‘Vijay Raths’ to raise awarenessabout pandemic, welfare schemes

ChiefMinisterVijayRupani

PLACES CONFIRMED DEATHS NEWCASES

Ahmedabad 31,696 1,737 172

Surat 22,643 657 286

Vadodara 8,922 152 128

Bhavnagar 3,176 49 42

Gandhinagar 2,678 58 34

Rajkot 6,514 109 148

ChhotaUdepur 388 3 6

Patan 1,156 38 19

Valsad 1,042 8 7

Porbandar 345 4 6

Mehsana 1,766 28 22

Morbi 1,095 17 27

Kutch 1,350 31 35

GirSomnath 1,079 14 15

Junagadh 1,973 30 36

Sabarkantha 807 9 11Anand 875 16 12

Panchmahal 1,690 20 30Bharuch 1,723 12 20

Banaskantha 1,307 19 19Jamnagar 3,490 28 107

Kheda 1,051 15 9Narmada 715 9

Aravalli 469 24 3Mahisagar 677 8 3

Botad 555 5 7

Amreli 1,478 21 24

Tapi 398 4 14Dang 73 1

Dahod 1,303 6 18DevbhoomiDwarka 357 4 12

Surendranagar 1,316 10 20 35Navsari 973 7 13

Fromotherstates 148 3

Totalcases:1,05,862 Deaths:3,147 Newcases:1,330

CASE TRACKER

Cumulativedischarge:

85,907

Healthofficials testpassengersofGorakhpurExpress forCovid-19 inAhmedabadonMonday.NirmalHarindran

VAIBHAVJHAAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

THE DIRECTORATE of ForensicScience (DFS) in Gujarat ac-counted for tracing the highestnumber of finger prints in asmany as 69,636 cases in 2019across the country, as per datareleased by National CrimeRecordsBureau (NCRB).Accordingto‘FingerPrintsin

India 2019’ report recently re-leasedbyNCRBundertheUnionHomeMinistry, theFingerPrintBureau under DFS Gujarattopped the list by tracing asmany as 69,636 search slips in2019 followedbyTamilNaduat11,524 cases and Delhi at 8,517cases.Search slip refers to the

processwherea10digitimpres-sions (ten fingers) document isused to trace previous connec-

tion of the accused person/sfrom the record being availableat thestateFingerPrintbureau.Among the search slips is-

sued in 2019 in Gujarat, maxi-mumofthemamountedtomis-cellaneoussectionsoftheIndianPenal Code with 1,87,235 slipsfollowed by SLL(Special and lo-callaws)with1,09,963,burglarywith 7,276 and grievous assaultcaseswith4,748.According to the data re-

leased, Gujarat also accountedfor the largest data record ofsearch slip finger prints with15,53,048followedbyTelanganawith5,84,752andMaharashtrawith 4,70,075. Apart from that,italsohasrecordoftotal2,17,293fingerprint slips of convictedpersons tillDecember31,2019.Thestatisticswerereleasedin

the23rd editionof Finger PrintsinIndiastudyreportwhichtakesinto account the data compiled

by fingerprintbureausofdiffer-ent states when it comes to onspotvisitsbyfingerprintexperts,tallyingandtracingfingerprintsof accused persons throughsearch slipsandopiningexpert-iseincourtsforbetterconvictionincriminalcases.In Gujarat, the finger print

bureauhasbeenworkingunderthe Directorate of ForensicScience since 2002 and has theFACTS 7.0 (Fingerprint AnalysisTracking System) version in-stalledattheGandhinagarbasedcentralizedofficeof theDFS.An honourary case from

Gujaratmentioned in theNCRBreport is of theworkof ForensicScienceLaboratory(FSL)headedby Finger Prints expert ACPrajapati in the arrest of eightpersonsbytheNarcoticsControlBureau (NCB) in Porbandar in2017 related to seizure of 1,445kilogramofheroin.

The FSL team collected five‘chance prints’ (accidental im-pressions left by friction ridgesskin on a surface by an accusedat a crime site) and then tracedit with fingerprint records ofeight accused, where one ofthemmatched.Speaking to The Indian

Express, JM Vyas, director ofDirectorate of Forensic Science(DFS) said ”Majority of the SLLcasespertain toProhibitionAct,GujaratMotor Vehicles Act andall others local Acts of Gujarat.We are extremely proud of ourteam for their excellent workwhich has resulted in Gujaratgetting on top of list when itcomestotracingofsearchslips."The NCRB report further

states that inGujarat, theFingerprint experts visited asmanyas2,396 scenes of crime in 2019compared to 2,735 in 2018 and2,645 in2017.

State ranks first in tracing record ofaccused through finger print database

COVIDTALLYCROSSES1.05LAKH

33passengers test positiveatAhmedabad railwaystation

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

GOPALKATESHIYARAJKOT,SEPTEMBER7

WHILE POTATOprices are soar-ing in the retail market inSaurashtra,onionpricestooseemtobeheading in the samedirec-tionasheavyrains inAugusthasdamagedKharifcropanddelayedharvest.Onionpriceshavemorethan

doubledoverthepastonemonthatMahuva agriculture producemarket committee (APMC), thebiggestwholesalemarket of thebulbsinthestate,asarrivalshaveremainmoreor lessstablewhilefreshcropisyettoarrive.Themodalpriceof redonion

in the Mahuva APMC inBhavnagarwas quoted Rs 1,725perquintalonMonday.Thatwasmore than double as comparedtoRs768quotedinthesamemar-ket on August 4. In fact, the thehighestquoteonMonday wasashigh as Rs 2160, data availablewiththeMahuvaAPMCshows.In Rajkot district’s Gondal

APMC, the other bigwholesalemarketofonioninSaurashtra,ar-rivalsonMondaywere5384quin-talsandmodalpricewasRs1,305.“Due to very heavy rain in

August in Saurashtra, theKharifonioncrophasbeendamagedanditsarrival in themarkethasbeendelayed. Presently, only farmerswhohave holding capacity andstockistshaveonionsandtheyarecarting themtomarket inastag-geredmanner. As there is short-supply, just like potato prices,onion prices are also risingsteadily,”PravinJoshi,presidentofMahuva APMC CommissionAgentsAssociation(MACAA),said.Arrivals of the red onion,

whichisconsumedfresh,havere-mained in the range of 3,500quintal to 4,000 quintal per dayin Mahuva APMC in recentweeks. “Usually, Kharif onionstartsarrivingbySeptemberandhitpeakinOctober.Butthisyear,thefreshharvestisyettoarrivein

themarket,” Joshi furthersaid.This is a relief tooniongrow-

ersofSaurahstraafterpricescol-lapsedtoaroundRs450perquin-talinMay-Junethisyearfromthehistoric peak of Rs 10,500 inJanuary, says Mahuva APMCpresidentGhanshyamPatel.“Prices of almost all vegeta-

blesarehighduetounfavourableweatherconditionsoverthepastone-and-a-half-month.Especially, onion crop inKarnatakahasbeendamagedor

harvest has beendelayeddue tovery heavy rain,” said the chair-man. Incidentally, potatoes arebeingsoldatRs35perkginretailmarketsinSaurashtra.Otherveg-etables tooare costly as thecon-stantwetweather has affectedcrops,sayfarmers.FarmersofAmreli, Junagadh,

Rajkot, Jamnagar and GirSomnath districts of SaurashtragrowonioninKharifseason.“Thiscropcan’twithstandcontinuouswetweather.Therefore, thecrop

hasbeendamaged.Theextentofthatdamagewillbecomeclearerincomingweeks,”Pateladded.Joshi said that farmerswho

couldnot sell theirproducedur-ingthelockdownarecartingittoAPMC now. “During the lock-down, only premium qualityonionwas attracting goodpricebids at auction on the yard ofMahuvaAPMC.Therefore, farm-erswhoseproducewasnot thatgoodwere dissuaded to sell atthat time. The current shortagehas offered themawindow. Butas the quality is not that good,tradersarenotgoingtovillagestodirectly purchase from farmersandinsteadarepreferringtobuyfromtheyard,” Joshisaid.Mahuva APMC secretary

Vishal Pachani said they are tak-ingallprecautionsontheyard tokeepCovid-19atbay.“Wearedis-tributing face masks for freeamong farmers.Wegot our stafftestedforCovid-19lastmonthandall of them tested negative,” hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER7

UNHAPPYWITHtheguidelinesofUnlock4.0, theweddingsandevents industry in Gujarat,which is badly hit due to theCovid-19 restrictions, onMondaysoughtPrimeMinisterNarendra Modi’s interventionforallowingmoreattendees formarriages in wake of the up-comingwedding season.“From September 21, as per

the Unlock 4.0 guidelines, 100attendeeswillbeallowedtoat-tend marriages. That is notenough to sustain our industrywhichhasbeenshut for the lastsixmonths.With foldedhands,I want to appeal to the PrimeMinisterNarendraModi,HomeMinister Amit Shah and CM(VijayRupani) toallowustobe-comeAtmanirbhar.Wewanttostand up on our own feet. Asyouhave allowed, buses, trainsand flights to ply, do allow ussimilar relaxations,” said

Narendra Somani, president ofFederationofAll IndiaCateringwhichwasoneof thesixassoci-ations linkedwiththeweddingindustry that addressedmediapersons onMonday.Theassociations linkedwith

weddings and events de-manded that the governmentallows guests up to 50 per centof the capacity of themarriagehall or the event location.Claiming that lakhsof fami-

lies associated with the wed-ding and events industry have

lost jobs, “Scores of caterers,event managers, decorators,sound and light technicians,photographers,garments,wed-ding card designers and print-ers, sound technicians, hotels,food suppliers, are all amongthose affected. This is a highlyunorganised industry, wheremostaredailywageearners.Sowe cannot put a figure on thequantum of losses,” Somanisaid adding that letterswrittento the PMO in the past regard-ing the issuewentunheard.

Four months after govern-ment allowedmarriages to beheld with a maximum of 50guests, the government inUnlock 4.0 guidelines allowed100 people to attendmarriageceremonies. According to in-dustryestimates,notmorethan100 weddings happened be-tween May and August whenthegovernmenthadrelaxedtheguidelines forguests.However,the wedding season betweenNovember and May, sees atleast50,000weddingshappen-

ing inGujarat.JaydeepMehta, founderand

president, Event ManagementFederation said, “The industrycannot runwithrevenues from50-100attendees. If thegovern-mentpermitsguestsequivalenttoat least50percentof capacityof the event, then this industrycan be saved.” Mehta said theindustrywill followthegovern-ment SOPs.The representatives of vari-

ousassociationssaid itwas im-portant for the government to

makeanimmediateannounce-ment in this regard as peoplewill take their time to bookweddingandeventvenuesandsimilarlysometimewouldalsobe needed for planners whowouldorganiseorconductsuchevents.“If a wedding has to take

place anytime betweenNovember and May, then thegovernment needs to make aannouncement now so thatthere is sufficient time forpeo-ple to plan and book. During

theweddingseasonmore than50,000 weddings take placeacross Gujarat and it is a hugerevenue earner for us,”Mehta said.Therepresentativesoftheas-

sociations said that 70-80 percent of the contractual staff inthewedding and events indus-try have either been laid off orhave taken salary cuts. “We donothaveanyrevenuesandmanyof us are finding it difficult toeven pay 50 per cent salaries toouremployees,”Mehtaadded.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

AFTERMAKINGitmandatoryforcommercial establishments, in-stitutions and offices to appointa Covid co-ordinator, theAhmedabad MunicipalCorporation(AMC)hasnowim-plementedthistoresidentialar-eas including apartments, soci-eties and other residentialpremises.The order issued by

Ahmedabad MunicipalCommissionerMukesh KumaronMonday,whichis tobeeffec-tive immediately, has made itmandatory for the secretary,chairman or themanager to actas a Covid co-ordinator or ap-pointsomeoneelseasaCovidco-ordinator in the format releasedbytheAMCandinformtheassis-tantmunicipalcommissionerofthe respectivewards about theco-ordinator.For any negligence or non-

complianceoftheguidelines,thechairman, secretarywill be heldresponsibleandwillinviteprose-cutionunderIPCSeciion188,andrelevant sections of theDisasterManagementAct, 2005, and theEpidemicDiseasesAct,1897.AMCwillbeconveyingthisto

the secretary or chairman of allthe residential societies, apart-ments, colonies concernedthrougha letteralso.The co-ordinator has been

made responsible for enforce-mentofallprotocolsissuedfromtimetotime,toensureallCovid-19 norms for home quarantineare followed. In case of anybreachofguidelines,itshouldbereportedat theassistantmunic-ipal commissioner of thewardconcerned.Further, theco-ordinatorhas

to ensure that all those includ-

ingresidentsandvisitorsareal-lowed entry or exit only if theyare wearing face masks andhave downloaded the AarogyaSetu app. The visitors will bescreened for body temperatureat the entrypoint andwill haveto sanitise their hands beforeentering. No entry or exit shallbe permitted if any person ishavinganysymptomslikefever,cough, sore throat.“It is theresponsibilityof the

co-ordinator to inform theAMC’s 104 service for Covid-19testing and also to inform thenearesturbanhealthcentreandif foundpositiveit istherespon-sibilitytoreportinaformat,”theorder stated.For all the positive patients,

theco-ordinatorshavetopreparethe history of contact tracing oflast 14 days and report to theAMCwithin48hours.Further, the AMChas issued

stricterguidelinesforthemicro-containmentareas.AMCwill bewriting individual letters to allsuchhomequarantinedpatientsinforming them about theseguidelines.The secretary, chairman, or-

ganizer, manager or owner ofthatparticularresidentialcolony,society or flat ismade responsi-bletoensurethatnopositiveper-sonoranypersonwhohascomeinhiscontactstayinginamicro-containment area comes out oftheirresidenceduringthatquar-antineperiod.“Theywillhavetoalsoensure

that antigen test for Covid-19 isdone for all the residents of thatmicro-containmentarea.Onlyincaseofmedicalemergency,ares-identof thatmicrocontainmentarea can be permitted to go outand that too only aftermakingnecessary entry in the registerkeptwith the police assistant,”theorderstates.

AMC makes Covidco-ordinator mustfor residential areas

EVENASpricesofonionsareheadingnorthinwholesalemarketsofGujarat,theyaremuchlowerthanlevelsseeninlastDecemberandthisJanuary.However,muchrideonSeptember-Octoberweather.Iftheweatherremainsnormal,andfarmersareallowedtoharvestwhateverisleftofthecropafterdamagecausedbyexcessiveAugustrain,pricesmaysoften.Butthatwilltakeawhileandconsumerswillhavetoprepareforshellingoutmorefortheseasonerandsaladsinshortterm.

Anormal

weathermay

softenpricesE●EXPLAIN

ED

Aswet August delays harvest,onion prices rise inmarket

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

A COURT in Ahmedabad sentPopular Builders owner RamanPatel, his brotherDashrathPatel,sonMaunangPatel andnephewVirendraPatel to judicialcustodyonMondayafternoonafter theirpoliceremandperiodended.

ThePatels are facing a crimi-nalcaseofdomesticviolence,mo-lestation, dowry demands andotherchargesleviedbyFizuPatel,wife of Maunang Patel, atVastrapurpolicestation.On August 16, Fizu had ap-

proached the police stating thatshewasassaultedbyherhusbandonAugust1,whichleftherwithafracturednose and in anuncon-

sciousstate.Shehadnamedthreeothersinthefamilyasaccusedinthe case. OnAugust 28, Ramanand his son Maunang surren-deredbeforethepoliceafterwh-ichpolicehadreceivedinitialpo-lice remandof 15hours. Later, allfourweresenttojudicialcustody.OnSeptember5,theAhmedabadruralcourtsentthemtopolicere-mandtill1pmonSeptember7.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER7

AFTER 277 labourers testedCovid-19positivefromtwocon-struction sitesmanaged by PSPProjects, the AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation (AMC)onMonday issued show-causenoticeforfloutingsocialdistanc-ingandotherCovid-19norms.The urban local body has

giventheconstructioncompanythree days to respond to theshowcase notice as to whyshould they not be penalisedRs1crorefor floutingthenormsto be followed with respect toconstruction sites, as wasframed in an office order datedAugust13.The order stipulated social

distancingnormsaswell as ap-pointingaCovid-19coordinatorat the site,whowill bedeemedresponsible for adherence tomeasures to avoid contractingthevirus.The two sites are at IIM-

Ahmedabad,withthelabourers

living in quarters fixed at theGMDC ground near Vastrapur,and second at amall construc-tion site inThaltej.When these sites were vis-

itedbyAMCofficials inperson, itwas observed that social dis-tancing was not maintained,personal hygiene was not fol-lowed and no Covid-19 coordi-natorwas appointed, thus put-tingthehealthof theworkersatrisk.Testing teams from two ur-

banhealthcentresatBodakdevandThaltejweresentatthetwositesrespectivelyandrapidanti-gen tests were conducted for1,050of theworkers.With 277positive cases, the

test positivity of the two sitescombined stand at awhopping26per cent.TheAMC,inapressnote,also

mentioned that the testing andtreatment costs arebeing com-pletely borne by the AMC andthepenaltyamount shall go to-wards treatment of Covid-19patients by the urbanlocal body.

After 277 workerstest Covid positive,PSP Projects issuednotice of Rs 1 crore

Raman Patel, 3 others sent to judicial custody

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,SEPTEMBER7

TWOLABOURERS died inside amanhole of a sewage line inNanpura area of Surat, allegedlyofasphyxiationafterinhalingpoi-sonous gases, onMonday after-noon.Policehaveregisteredanof-fence against the concernedcontractor in this regard. SuratMunicipalCommissionerBNPanihasalsosetupateamheadedbyacityengineer toprobe the inci-dent.The twodeceased labourers

havebeenidentifiedasMonsinghAmaliya (52) and JayendraAmaliya (25), both residents ofJahangirpurainSuratandnativesofDahod.According to sources in the

Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC), Jogramagencywasgivena contract by the SMC tounder-take repairwork of awall in thestorm water drainage line atMachhiwad Circle in Nanpuraarea. Sourcessaid that inviewofheavy flow of water into thestormwater line, the contractorwas facinggreatdifficulty in im-plementing the repair work.Subsequently, two labourersen-tered themanhole to divert thewater flow to a nearby sewageline, without any safety equip-ment.Owingtopoisonousgasesin the dried manhole, bothlabourers fell unconscious andfailed to respond when otherlabourerscalledouttothem.Suspectingsomethingamiss,

thelabourerscontactedthecon-tractor, Jogaram Sen, who inti-matedtheSMCfiredepartment.Fireofficialsbeganrescueopera-tions at 1 pm. Two firemen en-tered themanhole and hauledbothlabourersusingropes,asperSMC Chief Fire Officer BasantPareekh.Athwalinespolice,SMCCentral Zone Chief DebashishBasakandothertopmunicipalof-ficials also reached the spot tospeaktoother labourers.

Bothlabourerswereimmedi-atelyrushedtoNewCivilHospitaland SMIMER hospital, respec-tively,wheretheyweredeclareddeadonarrival.Anil Amaliya, the son of de-

ceased labourer Monsingh,lodgedapolicecomplaintagainstcontractor Jogaram Sen and hewas booked under IPC sections304 (Punishment for culpablehomicidenotamountingtomur-der), the Atrocity Act and theProhibition of Employment asManualScavengerAct.Surat Municipal

CommissionerBNPanisaid,“Theworkofrepairingthestormwaterdrainage linewas in progress atMachhiwad circle in Nanpura.Due to the flow of water in thestormwater line, the contractorfaced difficulty in repairing thewall.Weareshockedathowthetwo labourers directly enteredthe nearby sewerage line,with-outanysafetymeasures.Wehavesetupan inquiryand ithasbeengiventothecityengineer.Afteraweek,wewilltakefurtheraction.We have gotmachines to cleanthe sewerage line and are sur-prised as towhy theywere notused.Wewill not sparewhoso-ever is responsible for this inci-dent.”AthwalinespoliceinspectorJP

Jadejasaid,“Wehaveregisteredacomplaint on the basis of thestatementsgivenbyotherlabour-ers. During investigation, if evi-dence of other people's involve-ment comes out, we will notspare them. The labourersweremade to go into the manholewithoutanysafetyequipment.”

Surat: 2 labourersdie inside manhole,contractor booked

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

AS THE controversy over thedeathofBollywoodactorSushantSingh Rajput rages, the GujaratCongress alleged in a press con-ferenceonSundaythat theBJP issilent about its relationshipwithBollywood producer SandipSsinghwho has been recentlyquestionedbytheCentralBureauof Investigation(CBI) inthecase.Gujarat Pradesh Congress

Committee(GPCC)spokespersonManish Doshi alleged that theGujaratgovernmententeredintoamemorandumof understand-ing (MoU) of Rs 177 crorewithSandipSsinghin2019duetotheir“closerelationship”.ProducerSsi-ngh,whowasoneof the acquai-ntancesofRajput,wasquizzedbythecentralagencyinthecase."Talented filmactor Sushant

Singh's death is beingprobedbytheCBI and I havehope that theprobewillresult inemergenceoftruth. But in the entire case, the

manner in which names ofSushant's friends, includingSandipSsingh,hascomeoutandinformation related to it is star-tling. Ssingh's company LegendGlobalisintofilmproductionandhasproducedfourmoviesinclud-ing PMNarendraModi biopic.What is therelationshipof Singhandhis companywith the BJP?Popular actor VivekOberoi hadservedasdirectorofthiscompanyforonlythreedaysafterwhichanMOUwassignedof Rs177crore.Whatistheaccountabilityof thisMoUsignedwithacompanythathas a loss of Rs 6 lakh shownbythem?,"allegedDoshi.On January 20, 2019, during

VibrantGujaratGlobal Summit,thestategovernmententeredintoanMoUwith Ssingh's companyLegendGlobalinordertopromoteGujaratiartsandfilms.Doshialleged,"Itisourrightas

tax paying citizens to questionwhydid the BJP government gointoanMoUwithSsingh."Governmentofficialswerenot

availableforcomments.

Congress questionsBJP’s ‘closeness’ withBollywood producer EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

RAJKOT,SEPTEMBER7

THREEMOREblackbucksfleeingflooding were chased andhunted by stray dogs inSavainagar village, around 25kilometres away from theBlackbuckNationalPark(BNP)inVelavadaronMonday,whileninemore have died after drowningin floodwaters in Undvi village,forest officers said, taking thedeathtoll to22thismonsoon."Threeblackbuckwerefound

deadinSavainagarvillagetoday.The herbivoresmanaged to fleethe flooding in their habitat butwere chased and killed by straydogs,"MaheshTrivedi,AssistantConservator of Forests (ACF) ofBNPsaid.With this, the number of

blackbuckswhichhavediedduetofloodingandrelatedincidentsin the jurisdiction of BNP hasgone up to 13. The series ofdeathshadstartedonSeptember1whenstraydogshunted threeblackbucks who were fleeingflooding in theBhal region. Twoother blackbucks had drowned

after huge volumes of waterdrainedby rivers likeGhelo andKalubhar following torrential

rainfall in the basins causedflooding in this low-lying area.Fiveotherswerefounddeadoverthe next five days. "Most of thedeathshavebeenduetohuntingbydogswhilethreeanimalshavedrowned.Most of these deathshave been reported fromSavainagar, a revenue village,some25kmawayfromthebor-dersof theBNP,"Trivediadded.

Meanwhile, officers ofBhavnagar (territorial) forest di-vision said that nine blackbuckshave been found dead inUndvi,avillagenearSavainagar."Undviis a revenue village near KamlejReserve Forest. Two days ago,farmers informed us that car-casses of blackbuckswere spot-ted in thickets of acasis juliflorasurroundedbywater.Therefore,with the help of officers fromVelavadar,we undertook a jointoperationintheareaandspottednine carcasses of blackbucks.Theyall haddieddue todrown-ingwhiletryingtofleeflooding,"VojayRathod, ACFof BhavnagarsaidonMonday.This is second consecutive

yearwhenblackbuckshavediedwhiletryingtofleefloodsinBhal.

Lastyear,19herbivoreshaddied.Blackbucks have been in-

cluded on Schedule-I of theWildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,and thus enjoy thehighest legalprotection in the country. Thepopulation of this flagshipspecies of Bhal, a grasslandspread in Vallabhipur andBhavnagartalukasofBhavnagardistrictisestimatedtobearound6000. But this part of Bhal isflooded everymonsoon, forcingtheherbivores to run for shelteron elevated grounds near vil-lages. But thismakes themvul-nerabletohuntingbystraydogs.Lastyearalso,morethanadozenblackbucks were killed in thismanner."Stray dogs have emerged as

amajorthreattotheseherbivores,especiallyinmonsoon.Theblack-bucktrytoruntohighergroundsinabidtofleeflooding.Butintheprocess, they losemuch energyandstaminaastheterrain,whichturnsmarshy,makes it difficultfor them to sprint. Alreadystrainedwhile trying to reach tohighergrounds,animalsbecomevery vulnerable to stray dog at-tacks,"Trivedi furthersaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD, SEPTEMBER 7

THE AHMEDABAD MunicipalCorporation(AMC)hasallowedthe resumption of trading op-erations at the JamalpurAgriculture Produce MarketCommittee (APMC),Ahmedabad city’s largest veg-etablemarket yard,whichwas

closed since April owing to in-creasingCovid-19casesamongtraders andvegetablevendors.It will start operations fromTuesday, according to AMC'sDeputy Estate OfficerRamesh Tadvi.The resumption of opera-

tions has been allowed withconditions that include one-third of the total number oftraders being allowed to trade

on a day.Out of the 157 total traders,

53 are allowed to trade on thefirst day, 53 on the second dayand 52 on thethird day.The timings have also been

fixed from1pmtill 5 pmand8pm till 8 am. Thus, during thepeakhours-between8amand1pmand5 till 8pm- themar-ket yardwill remain closed for

vegetables.All tradersandtheiremployees have to compulso-rily followCovid-19guidelinesincluding wearing masks, us-ingsanitisersandpractisingso-cial distancing norms, theAMC's order stated.After a large number of

coronavirus cases were re-ported from the vegetablemandi, it was closed down bythe authorities. Later, it was

shiftedto thePanditDeendayalAPMCGrainMarket in JetalpurontheNarol-Mumbaihighway.This made available a spacefromtheexisting16,000squaremetre yard area to a 1,00,000square metre yard at theJetalpur APMCgrainmandi.The Jamalpur APMC veg-

etablemandi tradesvegetablesanywherebetween13,000and18,000 quintal everyday.

Jamalpur APMC to resume operations from today

Allow more guests for functions: Weddings and events industry

POPULARBUILDERS

SuratMunicipal

CommissionerBNPani

hasalsosetupateam

headedbyacity

engineertoprobethe

incident

Blackbuck death count in Bhavnagarduring this monsoon goes up to 22

ForestofficersnearUndvivillageduringanoperationtorescuestrandedblackbucks. Express

Onionauction inprogressontheyardofMahuvaAPMC, inMahuvaofBhavnagar,onMonday.Express

SUSHANTSINGHRAJPUTDEATH

Ahmedabad

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

''IMPORTANT''

Whilst care is taken prior to

acceptance of advertising

copy, it isnotpossible toverify

its contents. The Indian

Express (P) Limited cannot be

held responsible for such

contents, nor for any loss or

damage incurredasaresultof

transactions with companies,

associations or individuals

advertising in its newspapers

or Publications. We therefore

recommend that readers

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any manner whatsoever.

Gujarat Pollution Control BoardParyavaran Bhavan, Sector 10A, Gandhinagar 382010

Tel 079-23232152 Fax 079-23222784 www.gpcb.gujarat.gov.in

It is hereby informed that asperpublic noticepublished indaily

news paper The Indian Express, Dated 03/04/2020, public

hearing of M/s. Nirma Ltd. for Setting up of Cargo handing

Facility throughCaptive Jetty-(1)Limestone2.5MMTPA, (2)

Coal/Pet Cock 1.7MMTPA, (3) Gypsum0.05MMTPAand (4)

Rock Phoshate 0.25 MMTPA - Total Capacity 4.5 MMTPA at

Plot No: Khar 1 and Khar 2, Bhavnagar Creek, Village :

Kalatalav, Ta. Bhavnagar, Dist : Bhavnagar, Category ‘B’ is

scheduled to be held on 15/04/2020 at 10.30 hrs, Venue :

Project site ofM/s. Nirma Ltd., Survey No.: 478/P, 447-453,

455-457, Kalatalav-364320, Ta. Bhavnagar, Dist :

Bhavnagar. Public hearing was postponed due to Covid-19

pandemic andnowthePublicHearing is scheduled tobeheldon

12/10/2020 at 11:00 Hrs, Venue : Project site : M/s. Nirma

Ltd. R. S. No.: 478/P, 447-453, 455-457, Village : Kala Talav,

Ta.Bhavnagar,Dist :Bhavnagar.

Considering the present situation of pandemic of Covid-19

all concerned are hereby informed to follow Government

guideline regarding Covid-19 pandemic.

Place : Gandhinagar

Date : 03.09.2020

A. V. Shah

Member Secretary

PUBLIC NOTICE

CIN : L67190GJ1984PLC006746Regd. Office: - 11-B, New Ahmedabad Industrial Estate, Sarkhej-Bavla Road,

Village:- Moraiya -382 213 Dist.- Ahmedabad.Corporate Office: 606, 'Swagat', Near Lal Bungalow, C.G. Road, Ahmedabad - 380006.

Phone: (079) 2642 1422-1499 Fax: (079) 2656 9898E-mail: ausom.ael@gmail.com Website: www. ausom.in

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT1. The Thirty Sixth (36th) Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the members of the Company is to be held on

Wednesday, the 30th September, 2020 at 01.00 p.m. through Video Conferencing (VC) / OtherAudio Visual Means (OAVM) to transact the Business as set out in the Notice convening the said AGM,in compliance with the provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (the Act), SEBI Listing Regulations and MCACircular dated 5th May, 2020 read with circulars dated 8th April, 2020 and 13th April, 2020 and Securitiesand Exchange Board of India vide Circular No. SEBI/HO/CFD/CMD1/CIR/P/2020/79 dated 12th May, 2020,without the physical presence of the Members at a common venue.

2. Electronic Copies of the Notice of AGM and Annual Report for the financial year 2019-2020 have beensent to all the members whose email IDs are registered with the Company/Depository Participant(s).Members may note that the Notice and Annual Report will also be available on the Company's Websitei.e. www.ausom.in and website of stock exchanges at www.bseindia.com, www.nseindia.com and thewebsite of National Securities Depository Limited i.e. https://www.evoting.nsdl.com/.

3. In compliance with the provisions of section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 read with Rule 20 of theCompanies (Management and Administration) Rules, 2014 and Regulation 44 of the SEBI (ListingObligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the company is pleased to provide itsmembers the facility to cast their vote electronically through the remote-voting services provided byNational Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), on all resolutions set forth in the notice.The details of remote e voting process are as follows pursuant to amended Rule 20 of the Companies(Management and Administration) Rules, 2015

i. The business as set forth in the Notice of the AGM may be transacted through voting by electronic means.ii. The Remote e-voting shall commence on Sunday, the 27th September, 2020 at 9.00 a.m. and shall end on

Tuesday, the 29th September, 2020 at 05.00 p.m. thereafter the facility of Remote e-voting shall beblocked by NSDL.

iii. E-voting rights of the Members shall be in proportion to the paid-up value of the shares in the equity ofthe company. Members of the company holding shares either in physical form or in dematerialized form,as on the cut-off date i.e. 23rd September, 2020 may cast their vote by Remote e-voting at the meeting;

iv. Any person who acquires shares of the company and becomes members of the company after dispatchof the Notice and holding shares as on the cut-off date i.e. 23rd September, 2020 may obtain the login lDand password by sending a request at evoting@nsdl.co.in. However, if you are already registered withNSDL for Remote e-voting then you can use your exiting user ID and password for casting your vote:

v. Members are further informed that ;

vi. For electronic voting instructions, shareholders may go through the instructions in the 36th AnnualGeneral Meeting Notice. In case of any queries / grievances pertaining to electronic voting shareholdersmay refer the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Shareholders and e-voting user manual forShareholders available at the download section of www.evoting.nsdl.com or call on toll free no.:1800-222-990 or send a request at evoting@nsdl.co.in. or contact Mr. Rupesh Shah, Chief FinancialOfficer at (079) 2642 1422-1499 or e-mail at ausom.ael@gmail.com.

BOOK CLOSURENotice is also hereby given pursuant to section 91 of the Companies Act, 2013 and Regulation 42 of theSEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the Register of Members andShare Transfer Books of the company will remain closed from Friday, 25th September, 2020 to Wednesday,30th September, 2020 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of 36th Annual General Meeting of the Company.

For AuSom Enterprise LimitedSd/-

Place : Ahmedabad Kishor MandaliaDate : 07/09/2020 Managing Director (DIN: 00126209)

NOTICE OF THE 36TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,REMOTE E-VOTING INFORMATION AND BOOK CLOSURE

a. Remote e-voting shall not be allowed beyond 5.00 p.m. on 29th September, 2020.b. The facility for voting through e-voting system shall be made available at the meeting and members

attending the meeting who have not casted their vote by remote e-voting shall be able to exercisetheir vote at the meeting through E-voting facility provided by NSDL.

c. A member may participate in the Annual General Meeting even after exercising his right to votethrough Remote e-voting but shall not be allowed to vote again in the meeting; and

d. a person whose name is recorded in the Register of Members or in the Register of beneficial ownersmaintained by the depositories as on the cut -off date only shall be entitled to avail facility of Remotee-voting as well as voting in the Annual General Meeting.

EXTRACT OF THE AUDITED STANDALONE FINANCIAL RESULT FOR THE YEAR ENDED ON MARCH 2020st

31

Sr.No.

Par ticularsYEAR ENDED

`. in Crore

31.03.2020

Total Income from operationsNet Profi t for the period (before Tax, Exceptional and Ex traordinary item)from continuing operationNet Profi t for the period before Tax (af ter Exceptional and Ex traordinaryitem) from continuing operationNet Profi t for the period af ter Tax (af ter Exceptional and Ex traordinaryitem) from continuing operationNet (Loss) from discontinuing operationsNet Profit for the period af ter Tax (af ter Exceptional and Ex traordinary item)Total Comprehensive income for the period [(Comprising Profi t for theperiod (af ter tax) and Other Comprehensive income (af ter tax)]Paid up equity share capital (Face value of `.5 each)Reserve excluding revaluation reservesNet wor thPaid up Debt Capital / Outstanding debtOutstanding Redeemable Preference SharesDebt equity ratioEarnings per share (of `. 5 each)Continuing operationsBasic & DilutedDiscontinued operationsBasic & DilutedContinuing and Discontinued operationsBasic & DilutedCapital redemption reserveDebenture redemption reserveDebt service coverage ratioInterest service coverage ratio

1

CIN : U24240GJ1980PLC003670, Email: info@nirma.co.in, Phones (079) -27546565, 27549000,Fax (079)-27546603,27546605 Website : www.nirma.co.in

*31.03.2019

NIRMA LIMITEDRegd. Of fice : Nirma House, Ashram Road, Ahmedabad-380009.

2

3

4

56

7

8

9

10

1112

13

14

1516

17

18

* Refer note no 6 for restatement

Notes :

1. The above results were reviewed by the Audit Commit tee in their meeting held on 7th September,2020 at Ahmedabadand approved by the Board of Directors in their meeting held on 7th September, 2020 at Ahmedabad.

2. The financial results of the Company have been prepared in accordance with Indian Accounting Standards ("Ind AS")prescribed under Section 133 of the Companies Act, 2013, read with relevant rules thereunder and in terms ofRegulation 52 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 read with SEBI CircularNo. CIR/IMD/DF1/9/2015 dated November 27, 2015 and Circular No. CIR/IMD/DF1/69/2016 dated August 10, 2016.

3. The Company has adopted IND AS116 Leases, ef fective April 01,2019 as notified by The Ministry of Corporate Af fairs(MCA) in the companies (Indian Accounting Standards) Amendment Rules 2019,using modified retrospective method.The adoption of this standard does not have any material impact on the profi t and earnings per share for the periods.

4. In the earlier year, company has decapitalised assets of `. 29.70 crore due to damage. The Company has insurancecover for the damage. It is probable that insurance claim will get set tled. Income towards insurance claim will berecognised when receipt of the insurance claim becomes vir tually cer tain.

5. Exceptional i tem represents gain of `. 189.71 crore on sell of investment in Equity Shares of Subsidiary CompanyNovoco Vistas Corporation Limited.

6. The National Company Law Tribunal ("NCLT"), Ahmedabad and NCLT, Mumbai on 25th November, 2019 and 9thJanuary, 2020 respectively, sanctioned the scheme of arrangement amongst Nirma Limited and Nuvoco VistasCorporation Limited ("NUVOCO") and their Shareholders and creditors ( the "scheme") for demerger of CementUnder taking of the Company. The scheme became ef fective on 1st Febuary, 2020 upon filling of cer tified copies of theNCLT orders sanctioning the scheme with the respective jurisidictional Registrar of Company. Pursuant to schemebecome ef fective, the cement under taking is demerged from the Company and transfered to and vested in NUVOCOwith ef fect from 1st June, 2019 i.e. the Appointed Date. The Appointed Date is deemed to be the date of demerger for thepurpose of accounting and consequently financial information for the year ended on 31st March, 2019 has beenrestated.

7. The Composite Scheme of Compromise and Arrangement between Core Healthcare Limited (CHL), the DemergedCompany, i ts Lenders and Shareholders and Nirma Limited, the Resulting Company and its Shareholders (the Scheme)under Sections 78, 100, 391 to 394 of the Companies Act, 1956, has been sanctioned by Hon'ble High Cour t of Gujaratvide an Order dated 01.03.2007. The Scheme has become ef fective with ef fect from 07.03.2007. Three par ties havefiled appeals before the Division Bench of Hon'ble High Cour t of Gujarat. The Scheme is subject to the result of the saidappeal. The demerged under taking i.e. healthcare division has been transferred to Aculife Healthcare Private Ltd. from01.10.2014.

8. The Statement includes figures for the half year ended on 31st March, 2020 as repor ted in this financial results are thebalancing figures between all Audited figures in respect of full financial year and the restated published year to datefigures upto 30th September, 2019 which were subject to Limited Review.

9. The COVID -19 pandemic is rapidly spreading throughout the world.Nirma’s plants and of fices are under nationwidelockdown since March 24, 2020. As a result of lockdown the volumes for the month of March 2020 has been adverselyimpacted. The Company is monitoring the situation closely and will resume operations in a phased manner taking intoaccount directives of Government of India.

10. The above is an ex tract of the detailed format of annual financial results filed with the Stock Exchanges under Regulation52 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The full format of the half yearlyand yearly financial results are available on the Company's website www.nirma.co.in and Stock Exchange websitewww.nseindia.com.

11. For the items referred in sub-clauses (a), (b), (d) and (e) of the Regulation 52 (4) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations andDisclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, the per tinent disclosures have been made to the National StockExchange and can be accessed on the www.nirma.co.in.

12. Defini tion of ratio

1 Debt Equity Ratio = (Total debt -Cash and Cash Equivalents) / (Total Equity)

2 Debt Service Coverage Ratio = Earnings before Interest, depreciation and Tax / ( Interest + Principal Repayment )

3 Interest Service Coverage Ratio = Earnings before Interest,depreciation and Tax / Interest Expense

13. Previous period figures have been reclassified / regrouped wherever considered necessary to confirm to the currentperiod figures.

5,506.27794.76

984.47

784.09

(8.83)775.26767.47

73.045,211.185,284.224,417.09

Nil0.92

53.68

(0.60)

53.0742.3578.171.894.14

5,752.34968.88

968.88

762.82

(141.38)621.44637.54

73.045,207.995,281.034,403.32

Nil1.02

52.22

(9.68)

42.5442.35

298.161.024.29

For and on behalf of Board of Directors ofNIRMA LIMITEDSd/-HIREN K. PATELManaging Director

Place : AhmedabadDate : 7th September, 2020

Audited Audited

Ahmedabad

6

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SIGNS OF RECOVERYGlobalfoodpriceslookingupwouldhelpmorethanhurtthe

onlyperformingsectorof Indianeconomy

THEUNFOODandAgricultureOrganisation’s global FoodPrice Index (FPI) has

risenforathirdsuccessivemonthinAugustandreacheditshighestvaluesince

February.This indicatestwothings.Thefirst isasteadydemandrecoveryafter

theslumponaccountofthenovelcoronavirus-inducedlockdownsimposedin

mostcountries,whichsenttheFPIcrashingtoa48-monthlowinMay.Thecurrentrecovery

isprimarilyledbyChina,whichsawitsconsumerfoodinflationsoarto13.2percentyear-on-

yearinJuly,withpricesof thepolitically-sensitiveporkup85.7percent.Chineseimports—

thecountryhasbeenbuyinguphugequantitiesofsoyabean,corn,wheatandfeedbarley,in-

cluding(andperhapsironically)fromtheUS—andaweakdollar(inwhichmostworldtrade

isdenominated)arefuellingwhatseemstobearenewedsurgeininternationalprices.

Thatlinksupwiththesecondpoint.TheFPIhadactuallyhita61-month-highinJanuary,

whichwasreflectiveofsupplytightnessbuildingupacrossmanycommodities—frompalm

oilandsugartoriceandskimmedmilkpowder—followingaprolongedperiodof lowpro-

ducerrealisations.Inasense,whatisnowbeingwitnessedisaresumptionofatrendthatwas

interruptedbytheCOVID-19pandemic.Aseconomicactivityisrestored,howsoevergradu-

ally, thepreviousloomingshortagescouldassertthemselvesinsomeform.Dryweather in

theUSMidwest,ArgentinaandFrance—plusforecastsofadevelopingLaNinathatcouldpose

drought risks in SouthAmerica—will only add to the supplyuncertainties, even though

thesemaystillbeoutweighedbyconcernsaboutdemandatleastinthenearterm.Inother

words, it isadelicatebalance.

What should the responseof thegovernment and theReserveBankof India (RBI) be?

Risingglobalpriceswould,onthefaceofit,beaworrywhendomesticconsumerfoodinfla-

tionwasalreadyat9.62percentinJuly.TheRBI’staskiscomplicatedbythefactthatfooditems

constitute45.86percentoftheall-Indiaconsumerpriceindex,whichmakesitdifficulttokeep

overall inflationwithin thecentralbank’s4percentcomfort level.Butonthepositiveside,

the rupeehas appreciated against thedollar— from75.03 to73.34 sinceAugust 20. That,

alongwiththeRBI’sownrecentchangeofstrategytoallowtherupeetostrengthen,should

somewhatoffsetanyimportedinflationarypressures.Evenmorepositiveistheprospectof

abumperkharifcropthatwillsoonstartarrivinginthemandis.Moreover,LaNinaisn’tbad

for Indianfarmers,as therains fromitnormallybenefit thewinter-springrabicropaswell.

Rightnow,theonlyperformingsectoroftheIndianeconomyisagriculture.Globalfoodprices

lookingupwouldhelpmorethanhurt.

MISOGYNY, LEFT & RIGHT

BidtobullyKanganaRanautrecallsSena’sbadolddays.

Italsomirrorsapervasivesexism

THEPUBLICDISCOURSE around the death of Sushant Singh Rajput is being

draggedtonewlowsbyaprimetimecircus.Inthisunfortunatedrama,theShiv

SenaplungingintoabattleofheadlinesandhashtagswithactorKanganaRanaut

standsout as anotablemisstep. Shiv SenaMPSanjayRauthas responded to

Ranaut’stiradeagainsttheMumbaiPolicebyabusingheraswellasaskinghernottoreturn

toMumbai. He appears to have forgotten that as a partner in the ruling coalition in

Maharashtra,theShivSenacanansweranindividual’sbaitingbyalackofcivility,byissuing

threats—andbystandard-issuemisogyny—onlyatitsownperil.

Suchmisogyny,unfortunately,comesalltooeasilytomanyIndianpublicfigures,across

thespectrum.Ifthereisanythingthattheraucoussideshowsthatthreatentoengulfthelaw-

ful investigationintoRajput’sdeathhaveunderlined, it isthis:Theplayersof thisunseemly

spectaclemightbedividedbypolitical differencesor stateborders, but theyareunitedby

sexism.Onlydaysago,seniorBiharpoliceofficer,DGPGupteshwarPandey,declaredthatac-

torRheaChakrabortydidnothavethe“aukat"(socialstatus)toquestiontheBiharchiefmin-

ister,slippingintothefeudal,patriarchalargotthatalwayscomesinhandytosilencewomen.

It isabiasthathaswarpedtheTVmedianarrativethathoundsChakrabortyandherfamily

—who,despite thedailydeclarations frompulpitTV, remain innocent till the investigative

agenciesandthejusticesystemprovethemguilty.

GiventheShivSena’shistoryofintimidationandviolenceagainst“outsiders”,itsleader’s

grandstanding is a throwback toa record that theSenashouldbeembarrassedabout, and

shouldbetryingtolivedown,nowthatitisingovernment.Itisjustthekindofopticsthatsaner

voicesintheNCP-Senaallianceshouldcounselagainst.Ranaut,whohasdemandedandgot

theCentre to giveherY-plus security cover, has clearly positionedherself as anationalist

agentprovocateur.Butagovernment,unlikeTwitterwarriorsortelevisionjuries,mustgoby

thelawandisaccountabletothepeople it represents. It cangetentangledinpetty fights, it

canappearlikeabully,onlyattheriskoffritteringawaypreciouspoliticalgoodwill.Inthiscase,

ithasonlyhandedanotherarrowtoRanaut’squiverof complaintsandmoreoxygentoher

self-styledcampaign.TheShivSenawillneedtolearntoholdfire,discarditsoldanddiscred-

itedplaybookandaddressitsattentiontomorepressingconcernsof thestate.

LEGACY THAT ENDURESKesavanandaBharaticaselaiddownimportantredlines,set

scopeandlimitsofamendingConstitution

THE LASTING LEGACY of Kesavananda Bharati, who died on Sunday, is the

case that bears his name as the first petitioner.His Holiness Kesavananda

BharatiSripadagalvaruandOrsvStateofKeralagavetheheadofEdneerMutt

inKasaragodanational profile andan importantplace in legal studies. The

irony is that he lost the case— Bharati had pleaded in the Supreme Court against the

KeralagovernmentacquiringMuttpropertyover300acresunderthelandreformlawon

thegroundthatitviolatedtheconstitutionalrighttoproperty.Butthecaseturnedoutto

beabouttheextentofParliament’spowertoamendtheConstitution:Themajorityruled

thatParliamentcannotremovefundamentalrightsbyamendingtheConstitutionthough

it upheld the amendment that removed the fundamental right to property. The Court

said thatwhile Parliamenthadvastpowers toamend theConstitution, it couldnot vio-

late its “basic structure”.

Thebasic structuredoctrinehas sincebecomethe touchstone to judge theconstitu-

tionality of any amendment to the Constitution.Kesavananda Bharati (1973) judgment

cameinthebackdropof theIndiraGandhiregime,ridingalargeparliamentarymajority,

claimingimmensepowersforthelegislatureandupsettingthedelicatebalanceof insti-

tutions. Interestingly,therewasnounanimityinthemajorityaboutwhatconstitutedthe

basicdoctrine—eachjudgehadhisownlistofessential features.Parliamentarydemoc-

racy, fundamental rights, judicial review, secularism etc. have been held as part of the

basic structureandthe listhasbeen leftopen-ended.

Criticshaveargued that thebasic structuredoctrineupsets thebalanceof powers in

favourof theSupremeCourtoverParliament,andhence,canhurtdemocraticprinciples.

But the intentof thedoctrine isnot to freeze theConstitution in time,but to remind the

legislatureandexecutivethatchangesmadetoitmustnotviolatethespiritof thefound-

ingdocumentof therepublic,whichisthatallcitizensareequalandtheirfreedomscan’t

becompromised.

The mirror of epic

CRajaMohan

DRaja

Strategiccommunitiescanlearnfromalltraditionsofstatecraft. Jaishankar’sbookisacalltofill Indiandeficit

FAILING THE PEOPLE

FrommismanagingCovidtoworseningeconomicdistress,governmentmisstepsabound

ONEOFTHEmany interesting aspects of thebook,TheIndiaWay:StrategiesforanUncertainWorld, just publishedby the external affairsminister,SubrahmanyamJaishankar,istheuseof a rare lens— theMahabharata— to framethe current global strategic problems andIndia’s foreignpolicy challenges. Jaishankar’sjudgmentsonthemesrangingfromnon-align-ment to balance of powerwill surely drawmuchcriticalinterestwithinIndiaandbeyond.Whether scholars and diplomats agree

with Jaishankarornot, there isnodoubt thatthe book opens an importantwindow intoDelhi’schangingworldview.HisexcursionintotheMahabharata should also reinforce thegrowingglobal interest in engagingwith theIndianclassicsontheenduringsourcesof,andnewpossibilitiesfor,Delhi’sgrandstrategy.For Jaishankar, theMahabharata is “the

most vividdistillationof Indian thoughts onstatecraft”anda"graphicaccount"of real-lifesituations and the complex challenges theypresent leaders.“Thecouragerequiredtoim-plement policy is, perhaps, itsmost famoussection—theBhagavadGita.”Hepointstootherelementsthatpersistin

modern international relations—acceptingtactical compromises for strategic gain, pro-moting regime change, ensuring balance ofpower, observing and violating acceptednorms,shapingthediscourseandcontrollingthenarrative. Jaishankar drawson episodesfromtheepictoillustratethesethemesintheircontemporary context. Anyone reading thebooktodaywouldnaturally look forclues forDelhi’s current thinkingonhowtocopewiththe growing power gap with China andBeijing’smilitarycampaigntochangetheter-ritorialstatusquoineasternLadakh.Jaishankar argues that “our current con-

cernshaveanancientreflectioninthattale,es-pecially leveragingtheexternalenvironmentto addressbilateral imbalances.”What, then,aboutnon-alignment, theholygrailof India’sforeignpolicy?Jaishankardrawsontwochar-acters in theMahabharatawho choose vari-antsof non-alignment thatmake themmar-ginal to the greatwarbetween theKauravasandPandavasatKurukshetra.Krishna’s brother, Balarama, “opts out of

theconflictbytakingalongpilgrimageduringthewar. He comes back angered by its out-comeandyetunabletoinfluenceitinanyway”and “Rukmiof Vidarbha is theother notablewarriorwhostaysoutofthewar,butforaverydifferentreason.Heoverestimateshisvaluetobothsidesandendsupacceptedbyneither.”Jaishankar sums up the problemswith

India’s preference for perennial hedging andthe reluctance to make difficult choices:“Wherewehaveremaineduninvolved,wearenevertheless left to face consequences. Onsomequestions,werunthedangerofdispleas-ingallparties.Wherewehavealignedonlargercontradictions,ourreluctanceindoingsofullyhasnotbeenwithoutcosts”.He grappleswith the importance of ex-

plainingmodern India’s refusal to see theworldintermsofpower.Hepointstotheinter-national context of the twoworldwars, theColdWarandtheeraofglobalisation,thathavemarkedthelasthundredyears.But inamoredemandingandcomplexworldthatisunfold-ing today, Jaishankar suggests, rediscoveringtheartsof realpolitikanddeveloping thedis-ciplinetopursueitarecritical.Thegeneticcodeofmodern India’sworld

viewwasindeedformedduringtheinter-warperiodwhenliberalinternationalismemergedas apowerful force globally amidst the ruinsof the FirstWorldWar and influenced themainstreamnationalmovement. The risingleft in theearly20thcenturyofferedastrongcritiqueofliberalinternationalism.Buttheleftwasfarmoresweepinginitsrejectionoftradi-tionalstatecraft.If liberalschampionedbourgeois interna-

tionalism, the communistsweremobilisingtheworkers of theworld to overthrow theglobal order. The global divisionswithin theleft had their impact on India,where the so-cialistsbrokeawayfromthecommunistsonarangeof issues.Communiststhemselvessplitrepeatedlyasthegloballeftbegantofragment.Therewerearangeofotherworldviews,fromTagore's universalism tomultiple strands ofnativistresentmentagainsttheWest.Butfewofthemcouldsurvivetheextraor-

dinaryhegemonyof liberal internationalismpersonifiedby JawaharlalNehru,whodomi-natedthe Indian foreignpolicydiscourse im-mediately before and after independence.NehruandhisgenerationhadlittletimefortheancientIndiantraditionsofstatecraft.Thiswasnotsurprising,sincetherewaslit-

tle intellectual codificationof it. The story ofIndian statecraftwas alive inmythologyandthepopularreadingoftheepics.Butitwasnotpart of either the studyof international rela-tionsinIndiaorthediplomaticpractice.Therewasagoodreasonforthefailure.Afterall, thestoryofAshokacameintofullviewonlyinthelastdecadesof the19thcenturyandamanu-scriptofKautilya’sArthashastrawasrediscov-ered inMysore accidentally during1905. Asawareness of India’s footprint beyond the

Subcontinent emerged, theGreater India so-cietywasestablishedinCalcuttainthe1920s,triggeringanAsianistmovementacrossIndia.The Indian study of international rela-

tionsandforeignpolicy,however,remainedrootedinEuropeanhistoryandWesternpo-liticalthought.Allthat,however,isbeginningto change. There is growing interest acrosstheworldintakingafreshanddeeperlookatKautilya’sArthashastra, forexample.ThelateRoger Boesche at Occidental College, LosAngeles, Subrata Mitra at HeidelbergUniversity,PradeepKumarGautamatDelhi’sInstitute of Defence Studies and Analyses,and most recently Delhi University’sDeepshikha Shahi and South AsianUniversity’sMedha Bisht are amongmanywho offer fresh interpretations of theArthashastra. Their work is part of amuchbroaderintellectualeffortofreclaimingnon-Westernorglobal traditionsofunderstand-ing international relations.Indologists around theworld have long

studied the Indian epics, including theMahabharata. GurcharanDas, BibekDebroyandRameshMenonamongothershavedrawnattentiontothecontemporaryrelevanceoftheMahabharata.Butnotmanyhavereadtheepicfordetailed insights into India’s internationalrelations.One exception is the work of Amrita

Narlikar,whoheads theGerman Institute forGlobalandAreaStudies inHamburg,andherpolymathmotherArunaNarlikar.Theirwork,BargainingwithaRisingIndia:LessonsfromtheMahabharatatriestoexplainDelhi’srecentne-gotiatinghistorybydrawingonthediscoursesintheMahabharata.Theissue isnotaboutprivileging“Indian”

over “Western”. Thenew international rela-tionsscholarshipontheMahabharataunder-lines its universal relevance. For, the epic is adeep reflection on the struggle for poweramong sovereigns,whomust resolvemulti-plestrategicandethicaldilemmas.Theemergingcohortofstrategiccommu-

nitiescanandmustlearnfromalltraditionsofstatecraft— includingWestern, Chinese andIndian. The last fewdecadeshaveunsurpris-inglyseenanexplosionof internationalstud-ies on the Chinese tradition of statecraft.Jaishankar’sTheIndiaWayisatimelycalltofillthedeficitontheIndianend.

ThewriterisDirector, InstituteofSouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandcontributingeditoroninternationalaffairsfor

TheIndianExpress

THEPOLITICS of the RSS-BJP combine is re-sponsibleforthecurrentstateoftheeconomy—theunprecedenteddeclineof theGDP to -23.9 per cent—and the immiserationof thecountry’s toiling people. Barely a year ago,FinanceMinisterNirmalaSitharamansaidthatthegoalofa$5-trillioneconomyby2024-2025wasrealisable.Lastweek,theFMinvokedthenotionof an “act of God"while shruggingoffthe Centre’s responsibility of payments tostatesunderGST.There is nodoubt that COVID-19has en-

gulfed theentireworld in just a fewmonths.The closure of industrial units and the com-pletehalt of air, rail and road traffic added tothewoesofaneconomyunderstrain.Butthegovernment had received severalwarningsabouttheloomingcrisis.TheCPIhadwarnedit about a recession andpointedout that theso-calledreforms—commercialisationofed-ucationandhealth,privatisationofpublicsec-torundertakings, reckless liberalisation toal-lowforeigncapital invirtuallyeverysector—arenotthesolutiontowhatailstheeconomy.The first five years of theNarendraModi

governmentweremarkedbytwomajorsteps—demonetisation andGST.Demonetisationruined the informal sector, caused immensemisery to thepoor and failed in curbing cor-ruption, terrorismandblackmoney— its os-tensible aims. GST delivered a blow to the

MSMEsector, cut into the revenuesof states,underminedthefederalspiritofthecountry’spolity andmade states dependent on theCentre’smercy. Today,when state govern-ments unable topay salaries, theCentre ad-visesthemtotakeloansfromtheRBI.State governments had to give up60-70

percentof their taxingpowers, includingtheentireVATregime,tousherinGST.TheydidsoontheCentre’sassuranceofcompensationfortheshortfallduetoGSTcollectionforfiveyears.Theglobalfinancialmeltdownof2008ex-

posed the realities of the neoliberal order.During the debate on this issue, the thenFinanceMinister PranabMukherjee and thethen Prime Minister Manmohan Singhclaimed that the fundamentals of the Indianeconomywere strong enough towithstandthe impact of the crisis. They also acknowl-edged the role of public sector banks and fi-nancial institutions. This crisiswas triggeredbythecollapseofthetwofinancialinstitutionsbecauseofexcessivelendingandfailureinget-tingthe loansrepaid.NPAsaretodaythema-jor problem facedby thebanking sector. TheModi governmenthas failed to take tangibleactiontorecovertheseloans.TheCOVID-19 lockdownwasdeclared in

thelastweekofMarch,eventhoughIndiare-ported its first infectionat theendof January.The governmentwasbusymakingprepara-

tions forUSPresidentDonald Trump’s Indiavisit.TheBJPandRSSwereaggressivelybreak-ing anti-CAAprotests across the country, es-peciallyinDelhi,andpolarisingthepeopleoncommunallines.Pseudo nationalism is being used to re-

strain resistance to suchmisrule, to stifledis-sent.Thefederalcharacterofthepolityisbeingdestroyed.Weknowof thealmost summaryabrogation of Article 370. The CitizenshipAmendmentActisablowtotheConstitution’ssecularcharacter.Thedilutionofreservationsformarginalised people shows the govern-ment’slackofcommitmenttotheprinciplesofsocialjusticeenshrinedintheConstitution.Atthesametime,thereisnolet-upintheatroci-ties against people fromSC/ST communities.DespitedailyCOVID-19casescrossing70,000andoppositionfrommanystategovernments,studentsarebeingforcedtoappearinall-IndiaexaminationsliketheJEEandNEET.Facedwithaninsensitivegovernment,the

people should not bemade to feel insecure.TheLeftshouldmobilisepeopleandleadtheminthestruggleagainstthispro-corporateandcommunalgovernment.Atatimewhenright-wingideologuesdeclarethatthereisnooppo-sition in thecountry, theLeft shouldunite allseculardemocraticforces.

Thewriterisgeneralsecretary,CPI

For Jaishankar, theMahabharata is ‘the mostvivid distillation of Indianthoughts on statecraft’ and a‘graphic account’ of real-lifesituations and the complexchallenges they presentleaders. ‘The courage requiredto implement policy is,perhaps, its most famoussection — the Bhagavad Gita.’He points to other elementsthat persist in moderninternational relations —accepting tacticalcompromises for strategicgain, promoting regimechange, ensuring balance ofpower, observing andviolating accepted norms,shaping the discourse andcontrolling the narrative.Jaishankar draws on episodesfrom the epic to illustratethese themes in theircontemporary context.Anyone reading the booktoday would naturally lookfor clues for Delhi’s currentthinking on how to cope withthe growing power gap withChina and Beijing’s militarycampaign to change theterritorial status quo ineastern Ladakh.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020WORDLYWISE

As longas she thinks of aman, nobody

objects toawomanthinking.

— VIRGINIA WOOLFTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM TALKS IN PERILTHERESUMPTIONOFAssamtalkshasbeenjeopardised with the agitation leadersthreatening to resume their struggle. TheAllAssamStudentsUnionandAssamGanaSangramParishadinseparatecommunica-tionsdeniedreceivingany invitationtotheproposed talks. They also deniedManipurChief Minister R K Dorendra Singh state-mentaboutAASU leadersagreeing to senda delegation to the talks. They urged Singhto not make any such statements. Singh’sstatement gave a false impression that thegovernmentwastrying itsbest tobringtheAssamleaderstothenegotiatingtable,Atul

Bora the convener of theAGSPalleged.

EVERYDAY SUGAR DAYSUGARWILL BE sold at Rs 6.10/kg even onholidaysatgovernmentoutlets suchas theSuper Bazaars and cooperative societystores. Delhi Lt Governor Jagmohan saidthatthisdecisionwastakentoensureavail-ability of sugar to all and to remove “thescarcity of sugar created by the press”. Hesaideventhoughsomeagenciesweremak-ingbigprofits by selling sugar at this price,nodecisionhasbeentakentoreduce it.Theadministration will review the decisionsoon, he added.

NEW CHINESE PMPREMIERHUAGUOFENG told China’s par-liament thathehadsubmittedhis resigna-tiontotheCommunistParty,and ithadde-cidedtoreplacehimwithZhaoZiyang.Huawill retain his post as party president andchairman itsmilitary commission.

MONKEYS IN MYSOREFEAROFMONKEYSandmosquitoeshas ledto thecancellationof the two-day retreatoftheCommonwealthheadsofgovernmentinMysore. Karnataka CMGunduRao cited anearlier incidentof amonkeysneaking intoahotelwhere theSingaporePMwasstaying.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

There is no doubt that theCOVID-19 pandemic hasengulfed the entire world injust a few months. Theclosure of industrial unitsand the complete halt of air,rail and road traffic added tothe woes of an economyunder strain. But thegovernment had receivedseveral warnings about thelooming crisis.

Ahmedabad

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“Pakistan must continue its moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris,while countering malicious attempts to have the Kashmir question removedfrom the international agenda.” —DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Spain and the UK arenegative outliers as theirGDP declines in Q1 wereworse than that predicted bythe intensity of theirlockdowns. The US andBrazil — positive outliers oneconomic growth but thetwo countries with thelargest number of deaths —have paid an enormoushuman cost for notimposing stringentlockdowns. Apart from theabsolute number of deaths,India’s death per lakh is anorder of magnitude lower.This reinforces India’shumane economic policybased on the principle thatwhile GDP growth willrecover — and the evidenceestablishes the same —human lives that are lostcannot be brought back.

Degrees of distrustUAE-Israelibreakthroughmustbeseeninthe

contextofmovestocontainIran

THE AUGUST 13 announcement that theUnitedArabEmiratesandIsraelwouldbe-gin the process of fully normalising theirrelations is a significant blow to thegeostrategic position of the IslamicRepublic of Iran in the region. How theagreement impacts the Iranian politicaland strategic positioning in Yemen, SyriaandLebanonwill,however,bedeterminedby the broader context in which it playsout in the comingyear.Though thenormalisation agreement

between theUAE and Israel has elicited afrenzy of media coverage, its impact onIranian politicswill depend on two otherfactors, which are the result of the presi-dential election in the United States andthe outcome of Benjamin Netanyahu’scorruption trial. Undoubtedly, other GulfandArabcandidatesarewaiting to followthe UAE in normalising relations withIsrael. Each country has specific strategiccalculations for beingwilling to considersuch a step, but altogether their anxietyabout Iran as a hegemonic power with anuclear bomb is singularly intense.Oman and Bahrain may be further

alongthepathofnormalisationwithIsraelthanSaudiArabia. It ishighlydoubtful thatKing Salman bin Abdulaziz would takesuch a step while he remains on thethrone. Beyond the Arab countries of thePersian Gulf, Sudan has clear reasons fordeveloping formal ties with Israel. TheSudanese-Israeli dialogue will certainlytake place, because, since the February2019ouster of former PresidentOmar al-Bashir, thenewSudanesegovernment ledby Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has shown in-terest inhavingpoliticalandeconomicre-lationswiththeUnitedStates,whiletryingtomoveintotheregionalorbitof theUAE.In addition to solidifying its partnershipwith Israel,Khartoumwouldbehopingtofinally be removed from the USDepartmentofState’s listof statesponsorsof terrorism.Manyof thenewpoliticalandstrategic partners of Israel share a deepdistrust of Iran among themselves. Andwith many other Middle Eastern andNorthAfricancountries, theyarealsokeenonbuildingstrongtieswiththeTrumpad-ministration.Bybuildingclosepoliticalandmilitary

linkswith theUSand Israel, these Islamiccountriesarehopingtokeepatbayanide-ological power such as Iran and its Shiiteand Sunni proxies. Let us not forget that

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah AliKhamenei had heavily criticised theEmiratigovernment fornormalisingrela-tionswith Israel. TheAyatollah said: “TheUAE committed treason against theIslamic world, the regional nations andPalestine.”AyatollahKhamenei’sattitudeisunderstandablewhenweknowthattheUAE-Israeli deal has, by and large, put anendtotherapprochementof Iranwithanyof thePersianGulf Emirates,especiallyontwoissues—thewarinYemenandthekeyIranian foreign policy tenet of refusal torecognise Israel.Iran, however, continues to pursue an

ideologicallydetermined,universalist for-eign policy in the region. Also, with theIranianRevolutionaryGuards(IRGC) into-tal charge, it is unlikely that Iranwill alterits uncompromising position regardingthe question of Israeli statehood. As a re-sult,with Israel’snewnormalisationwithsome Arab governments, and with keyPersianGulf statesmaintainingtheirhos-tility towards Iran, no one is rushing tosupportTehran.Meanwhile,a failedecon-omy,alongsidesociallyandpoliticallycon-servativemeasuresandtheuseofextremeviolenceduring the turmoil of November2019, have led to the flight of people andcapital fromIran.Unfortunately, thefinan-cialandeconomicstrangulationof IranbyAmerican sanctions is not helping either.If things continue in the same vein, Iranwill be heading directly towards a majorsocial andpolitical crisis.Yet, despite all the regional and inter-

nationalpressuresontheIslamicRepublicof Iran, the IRGC is preparing to win theupcomingpresidentialelections in Iran in2021.Thissimplymeansareturntoamorezealouscommitmenttoregionalmilitancyandmilitarisation,whichwouldbeunac-ceptable in the eyes of the Arab Emirs ofthe PersianGulf, Israel and theUS. It goeswithout saying that while the Iranian ul-tra-conservatives are hoping to consoli-date their domestic and regional powers,Israel and itsnew friendswill be thinkingin termsof containing Iran.The danger, of course, is that these

provocationscouldescalate intoanall-outwar between Iran and Israel, which bothcountries are trying toavoid. But the like-lihood of war will continue to increase ifeither Netanyahu or Trump sees a politi-calopportunity inconfrontingthe Iranianregime. It is doubtful that such a con-frontation would actually help Trump towin the next presidential elections in theUSor to saveNetanyahu fromhis corrup-tion trial. But unfortunately, nobody canrule out the possibility of relationswors-ening in theMiddle East.

Thewriter isNoor-YorkChair in IslamicStudies,YorkUniversity, Torontoandprofessor-vicedeananddirector,

MahatmaGandhiCentre forPeace, JindalGlobalUniversity

THEGDPDECLINE in theApril-June quarter(Q1) is primarily due to the pandemic anddoesnotrelatetotheeconomy’sperformanceleading into the pandemic. The data unmis-takablyestablishthisfactandalsosuggestthattheeconomyisrecoveringstronglyintheun-lockphase.Letusfirstcorrectanelementary,concep-

tualmisunderstanding among some com-mentatorsthat“onequarterof theGDPasonJune30, 2019, hasbeenwipedout in the last12months”.AsGDPisaflowvariable,theGDPintheApril-Junequartermeasureseconomicactivity undertaken in these threemonths.ChangesinGDParecomparedtotheGDPdur-ingthesamequarterlastyearonlytoadjustforseasonality ineconomicactivity. Therefore, itis conceptually incorrect to infer that “onequarterof theGDPhasbeenwipedout inthelast 12months”. The correct inference is thateconomicactivityinApril-June2020was23.9percentlowerthaninApril-June2019.Indiahadthemostintenselockdownstart-

ingfromMarch25.Thiswasrequiredbecause,by definition, network effects that drive thepace of a pandemic’s spread aremore pro-nounced in larger populations, andparticu-larly sowhenthepopulationdensity ishigh.But for the intense lockdown, the pandemicwouldhave spread likewildfire fromMarchitself, therebyprovidingno time to rampupthehealthortestinginfrastructure.UsingthefatalityratesinMarch-April,wecanestimatethatif caseshadgoneto90,000adayinAprilwhentheinfrastructurewasill-prepared,wewouldhavelostabout3,000-4,000morepeo-

pleonadailybasis,therebygrievingathigherordersofmagnitudeofdeaths.Figure1showsthatIndia’sGDPbeing23.9

percent lowerwasprimarilyduetothepan-demic-induced lockdown. Spain and theUKarenegativeoutliersas theirGDPdeclines inQ1wereworse than those predicted by theintensityoftheirlockdowns.TheUSandBrazil—positiveoutliers oneconomic growth, butthetwocountrieswiththelargestnumberofdeaths—havepaidanenormoushumancostfornot imposingstringent lockdowns.Apartfrom the absolute number of deaths, India’sdeathperlakhisanorderofmagnitudelower.ThisreinforcesIndia’shumaneeconomicpol-icy based on the principle that while GDPgrowthwill recover— and the evidence es-tablishesthesame—humanlivesthatarelostcannotbebroughtback.This inference isalsostrengthenedbythe

factthattheeconomywasundeniablydisplay-inggreenshootstillFebruary,whentheCOVIDpandemicstruckIndia.Google’s indexofmo-bilityrevealsthatthepandemicstartedaffect-ing economic activity in India fromMarch,whenmobilitydroppedbyabout20percentvis-à-vis January and February. The servicessector— the dominant engine of growth inIndia—hasbeenmostaffectedbytheneedforsocialdistancingandthelockdown.Figure 2 establishes unambiguously that

economicgreenshootsweredevelopingun-til February. First, all the key economic indi-cators showed positive growth for the firsttime insevenmonths inFebruary2020; thisoccurred last in July 2019. Second, each ofthese indicatorshadbeen trendingupwardsfromOctober 2019 to February 2020. Third,thepurchasingmanagersindex(PMI),whichcapturesthefuturedirectionofeconomicac-tivity, had trendedup sharplywith ServicesPMI registering thebest growthbyFebruarybefore dropping precipitously below50percent inMarch.Absent the impactof thepan-demic inMarch, the Q4 growth ratewouldhave been significantly higher than 3.1 percent. The green shoots before the advent ofthe pandemic display undoubtedly that thegovernment’s policy thrust since July 2019

washavingthedesiredimpact.Critically, the high-frequency indicators

showthattheeconomyisrecoveringstronglyin the unlock phase. As seen in Figure 3 andTable 1, several indicators such as PMIManufacturing,eightcoresectors,e-waybills,power consumption, railway freight, cargotraffic,passengervehiclesalesandkharifsow-ing are converging to levels observed at thesametimelastyear.TheV-shapedrecoveryinthese indicators suggests that the govern-ment’smeasures are enabling a recovery intheunlockphase.Specifically,allcountriesin-cluding India usedmeasures for liquidity,creditandtransfersasallof thesecollectivelyimpactaggregatedemand.Therecoveryintheunlockphaseisanoutcomeof thesesteps.Thepandemic,however,isasevereexoge-

nous shock that affects consumer sentimentinanunprecedentedmanner.Everycrisiscre-ates uncertainty that leads individuals andfirms to save rather than spend. However,everycrisiswitnessedbeforeoriginatedfromeconomic factors. Incontrast, this crisisorigi-natesfromapandemicthatrequiressocialdis-tancing. Therefore, the effect on consumerspending, especially discretionary spending,and thereby on investment, is unmatched.Further, in an economywhere private con-sumptionandinvestmentcontributeabout90percenttoGDPandgovernmentspending(ex-cludingtransfers)about10-12percent,every1percentdeclineinconsumptionandinvest-mentrequiresan8-9percentincreaseingov-ernment spending to keepGDPat the samelevel.Whilethegovernmentremainscommit-tedtorespondingtothisenormouscrisis,thisbasicarithmeticmustbekeptinmind.The Q1 decline has sparked debate —

rightlyso — asan informeddebate isessen-tial topolicymaking. Theevidence,however,clearly demonstrates that the decline is pri-marilyduetothepandemicanddoesnotre-late to the economy’s performance leadinginto thepandemic. Crucially, theeconomy isrecoveringstronglyintheunlockphase.

Thewriter isChiefEconomicAdvisortotheGovernmentof India

GET IT RIGHT

THISREFERSTOthereport, ‘Govtworksona freshstimulus’. (IE, September7).Asthegovernmentfinallyrealiseshowthemiddle classhasbeenhit andpre-pares the secondwave of stimulus, itmust learn from its mistakes and notonly ensure proper execution of thisstimulus package but also focus onboosting public spending. It's dire toknow that among all the sectors thathavecontracted,publicadministrationalsowent down by 10 per cent. Sinceindustrial undertakings are still re-strained,thegovernmentshouldfocuson building a robust unemploymentnet for thosewhoareoutof jobs.

Saundarya Jain,via email

RHEA DISTRACTION

THISREFERSTOthefrontpagepicturecaptioned ‘The TVirus' (IE, September7). It isaniconic imagethatsummariesthe irony of our times.Media personsare risking their lives by jostling at akissing distance of each other sur-rounding Rhea Chakraborty as ifheaven is going to fall. Or in a politicalcontext, is it a case of what Romansatirical poet Juvenal described as“means to generate public approval,not by excellence in public service orpublic policy, but by diversion,distraction”?

LRMurmu,Delhi

CUT A DEAL

THIS REFERS TO the editorial ‘Keeptalking’ (IE, September7).Withdiver-gent views on what constitutes theLAC, accusing fingers pointed at eachother for “transgressions” and obdu-racy on the part of China, continuousdiplomaticdeliberationsservenopur-pose. It is to be understood that a“climbdown”willnotbeeasyforeitherof the two countries due to the hard-enedpositions taken. The onlyway to

resolve the impasse is some smart“backroom”talks,withaquietgiveandtake,eachsideeventuallyproclaimingvictory (farcical) over theother.

VijaiPant,Hempur

FIX NRCTHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Livingonthe edge’ (IE, September 5). The finalupdatedNRC for Assam left out about1.9millionapplicants,whoseemtobedivided roughly equally betweenBengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims andother Hindus from various parts ofIndia. The year-long anxieties of 1.9million“stateless”Indiansmustbedis-pelled immediately.

SSPaul,Nadia

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Livingonthe edge’ (IE, September 5). The issueof“foreigners”inAssamhasbeengoingon for decades, and with the currentdispensation at the Centre, it has be-comeaboutmuchmorethanalinguis-tic-cultural ideaofcitizenship. It isalsoaboutreligion.Therewasmuchtalkofa nation-wide NRC. Hopefully, theAssamdisasterwon’t be repeated.

BiswadeepChatterjee,via email

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

WITHTHEIMPOSITIONofanationallockdowninMarch, it was clear that the first quarter(April-June)ofthecurrentfinancialyearwouldbealostquarterforgrowth.TherevelationthatGDPhasshrunkbynearly(-)24percentcon-firmedthatthedamagetotheIndianeconomywasamongst themost severeglobally. Therewere some saving graces: Agricultural per-formancewasrobust,thegovernmentdidin-deed increase its spending, and lowoilpricesaswellas lower importsduetoweakdomes-tic demand offered some arithmetic relief.However,thesesilverliningswerelargelyover-shadowedby themassive contraction inpri-vateconsumptionandinvestment,withlargelyhamstrungindustrialandservicessectors.WhydidIndiaperformsobadlyrelativeto

other countries? First, India had one of theworld’s most draconian lockdowns. Eventhoughtheeconomytheoreticallystartedun-locking fromMayonwards, states continuedto enforce local lockdowns. Second, unlikeother countries, Indiawas farmoreparsimo-nious in its fiscal response. The “survival kit”fiscal responseof free food, subsidised creditandahandfulof transfers tothemostvulner-ablenotonly limited thecontributionof gov-ernment spending to the economy, butwasalso insufficient to offset the drag caused byhouseholdsand firmsscalingbackconsump-tionand investment.Third, theeconomywasinaclassicbalancesheetcrisisbeforethepan-demicbegan.Themajorenginesof growth—

consumption, investment,andexports—hadbeendecelerating since the endof 2018. Thepandemic aggravated the already frayed fi-nancesofcorporates,banksandshadowbanks.Thatsaid,thereisaquestionoverthereliabilityof data. The lockdown required the statisticsagencytorelyonapproximationsfromuncon-ventionalsourcesofdata.Thismakesitsuscep-tibletofuturerevisions.Weseebroadlyfourphasesinvolvedinthe

returntonormalcy.Thefirstinvolvesthegrad-ual process of unlocking,with supply-chainnormalisationandpent-updemandresultingin faster sequentialmomentum. The secondinvolves exiting from the lockdowns, but notfrom the pandemic. During this phase, thepost-lockdown pent-up demand typicallyfades,whileoperationsplateaubelowthepre-pandemic levels. The thirdphase involves anexit path from thepandemic, either throughthe flattening of the curve, the emergence ofvaccines or thedevelopment of herd immu-nity,resultinginactivitycobblingbacktopre-pandemic levels. This brings us to the fourthphase(thatisthepost-pandemicnewnormal),inwhichpotentialgrowthsettleslower.WebelievethattheIndianeconomyiscur-

rentlystraddlingbetweenthefirstandsecondphases. High-frequency data for the secondquarterpaintsapictureofanunevenrecovery,primarily ledby thesupply side, in rural con-sumptionandintheindustrialsector.Earlyin-dicators suggest that the recovery inAugust

mayhavebeenbetterthanthestagnationob-served in July, reacting to the easing of lock-downsandthere-emergenceofdemand.Thekey concern is the sustainability of thismo-mentumasasecondwaveofCOVID-19casesenvelopesa“rollingwave”intraditionallysaferstates (in the south andeast) and in the ruralhinterlands.Whilewemayestimateasequen-tialimprovementinGDPgrowthinthesecondquarter, there is likely to be anothermassivecontractionof(-)10.4percent.Growthislikelytoremaininnegativeterritoryforthenexttwoquarters, clocking in at (-) 5.4 per cent inQ3and(-)4.3percentinQ4,averaging(-)10.8percentin2020-21.Thisissignificantlylowerthanourpreviousgrowthoutlookof(-)6.1percent.Whatdoes thismean forpolicy?Thepre-

cipitous fall in growth should serve as a grimreminderof the cost of havinganexcessivelycautious fiscal response. Left unchecked, alonger period of below-normal activity risksthe knock-on effects on the labourmarket,MSMEsandultimatelyonthebankingsystem.Monetarypolicyhasover-delivered,andwithaboutofhighinflationeffectivelyhamstring-ingtheRBIfromcuttingpolicyratesfurtherinthenearterm,theballisinthefiscalcourt.Thiscould involve cash transfers and public em-ploymentprogrammesinurbanareas,amongother supportmeasures.When inflationarypressureseventuallyebb,whichweexpectbyend-2020, this should create the legroom tocutrates.Cumulatively,weseeanother50ba-

sispointsbpof ratecutsinthepipeline.The elephant in the room is the limited

amountof fiscal supportofferedso far—pre-sumablyduetoconcernsoverthefiscalspace.Yet, evenwith the limited fiscal package an-nounced,fallinggrowthandplummetingrev-enuesmaycausethecentralgovernment’sfis-caldeficittowidentoabove7.5percent.Stategovernmentsalsoremaininafiscallyprecari-ous position. As the conventionalmonetarypolicy space is narrowing,weexpect the im-plementationof coordinated fiscal andmon-etary policies as the RBI endeavours to keeplong-termgovernmentbondyieldslowtoen-suresmoothfinancingofhigherdeficits.The hugeGDPgrowth contraction in the

firstquartertechnicallytriggersoneofthe“es-cape clause” conditions (real output growthfalling by at least 3 percentage points belowthe average of the previous four quarters),whichcouldresultintheRBIdirectlymonetis-ing government debt of up to 0.5 per cent ofGDP.Sofar,theRBIhasfocusedonsupportvialiquidity insecondarymarketsandotherreg-ulatorymeasurestobringyieldsdown,flattenthe yield curve, and incentivise banks to buymore government paper. If these fail, debtmonetisation, as Indonesiahas alreadydone,mightbethesecondroundofdefence.

VarmaistheChiefeconomist forIndiaandAsiaex-JapanatNomura,NandiistheIndia

economistatNomura

Coordinatedfiscalandmonetarypolicieswillbeneededto financehigherdeficits

How to take on negative growth

SonalVarma andAurodeepNandi

IDEAS

ONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●MASSMOVEMENTFOR

LITERACY:RAMESH

POKHRIYALNISHANK

●TOOSOONFORSCHOOL:

PRABHATRAIANDPRACHI

VASHISHTHA

www.indianexpress.com

Ramin Jahanbegloo

KrishnamurthySubramanian

Evidenceclearlydemonstrates thatQ1GDPdecline isprimarilyduetoCOVID-19.Crucially, theeconomyis recoveringstrongly in theunlockphase

On economy, follow evidence

BrazilBrazil

FIGURE 1: GDPDECLINE IN Q1 AND INTENSITY OF LOCKDOWN

FIGURE3: THE RECOVERY IN THEUNLOCKPHASE TABLE 1

GreenshootstillFeb-20beforethepandemicstruck inMar-20

IntensityofLockdown(asmeasuredbyOxfordUniversity)

Apr-JunGDPGrowthrate

Percent

Index

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

--30

20

10

0

(10)

(20)

(30)

(40)

Bubblesizecorrespondsto

numberofdeaths;deathsper

lakh indicatedwiththebubble

Germany11.2

Italy

58.8Spain62.6

UK62.6

France45.8

India5.0

Mexico52.6

USA57.1 Brazil

59.5

67 72 77 82 87

Aug,19 Sep,19 Oct,19Nov,19Dec,19Jan,20Feb,20Mar,20

60

56

52

48

44

PMIManufacturing(RHS) PMIServices(RHS)

MerchandiseExportsgrowth IIPgrowth

RailFreightVolumeGrowth EightCore IndexGrowth

Cementproductiongrowth Electricitygenerationgrowth

FIGURE2: ECONOMIC GREENSHOOTS TILL FEB-20BEFORE COVID STRUCK INMAR-20

RsLakhCrore

MegaUnits

16

12

8

4

0

20%

0%

-20%

-30%

-40%

-60%

-80%Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug

2020 2019 Growth(YoY,RHS) 2019 2020 Growth(YoY,RHS)

VALUEOFE-WAYBILLS POWERCONSUMPTION

4100

3700

3300

2900

2500

20

0

-20

-40

6-Jan

3-Feb

2-M

ar

30-M

ar

27-Apr

25-M

ay

22-Jun

20-Jul

17-Aug

OTHERINDICATORS RECOVERYINAUG-20(YOY)

RailwayFreightTraffic 107%

SteelProduction 86%

CementProduction 87%

GSTcollection 88%

ValueofUPIPaymentTransactions 198%

CoreIndustriesIndex 90%

AreasownKharifcrops 107%

IIPGrowth 83%

7

Ahmedabad

CALENDAR8 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

CROSSWORD4218

ACROSS

1 Theytellushowtowriteendlessbadverseperhaps(7)

5 Skinhead(5)8 Heexplains to thepupilswhathashappened(7,6)

9 It is said inFrancetobethesame(5)

10 Guaranteedsafe in theend(7)

11 Hefailed to turnthetide(6)

12 Followanoisyanimal - to itsearthpresumably(3,3)

15 Hedidn’t trusthiswife toreturnagreeting(7)

17 Satperplexed(5)19 Yet itmight incurasharpanswer (5,8)

20 Howbread’sgoneup(5)

21 Scentofpeculiarquality(7)

DOWN

1 Painedexpression(5)

2 Right timefor thehealthytobeadmittedtohospital(8,5)

3 Tour toocomplicatedtoget ridof completely (4,3)

4 PenusedbytheFrenchtoportray fashions(6)

5 Navigationalaids forasailor inaship (5)

6 Moreor less followingastyle(5,1,7)

7 Knockupanotebefore ten? Itcanbetrue(7)

11 It gives liftwhena fliercomestoanobstacle (7)

13 Stronglydisapprovesofwhatamodeldoesafterwork(7)

14 Contentof abook(6)16 Languageof aquarterofParisians (5)

18 Needstobeclose(5)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)

It is almostimpossible to saywhether youwillend theday in the

black, or deeply in the red, forwhat is a correct choiceonemomentmay turnout tobewrong thenext. It’s all inthe timing. But, then,what’sreally important to you isthat youhaveapartner’semotional trust.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)

Eventrivial andapparentlyinsignificanteventscouldreveal the true

gravityof yoursituation.Andeven if life is complex,youshoulddoyourbest tosee thatthere is somesortof guidingpattern. It seemsthatsimplesolutionsarenever thatfaraway.

GEMINI (May22- June21)

Youmaybeconfused. In fact,seen fromoneperspective, the

morebewilderedandmuddledyouare, thebetter, foryou’llhaveachancetoquestionyourcurrentcommitmentsandrelationships.Andonceyouadoptacriticaleyeyou’ll soonidentifyareaswhichareripefor improvement.

CANCER(June22- July23)

Forget rivalries.Teamwork isessential, butprobablybecauseof

what is likely to takeplacetomorrow,or thedayafter,rather thanwhatmayhappentoday.Tothatend,youshouldmakesure thatyouhaveplentyof allies, especially if there’safinancial connection.

LEO(July24-Aug23)

Youmaypressaheadwithprofessional goals,even if it seems that

others are holding youback.Those of younot atworkshould concentrate onactivitieswhich bring youenhanced status andprestigein the community.Whatyou’re really after is respect. Ihope youget it.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)

There are emotionalpressures atwork,but onepart of yourhoroscope indicates

escapist tendencies. Doyourself a favour andplan along-distance trip or, at least,spare some time for a decentday-dream. Imean, you reallyshould spendmore energyonyourself.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)

Businessandfinancialaffairsmaybecomplicated,butthat’san indication

that there’s increasedopportunity for theoddprofit.It’s thereforeasuitableday forbargains for idleshoppers, andsmartmoves for those in thepropertymarket.Oh,anddon’tbeputoutbypartners’ rashjudgements.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)

Asmuchas familymembersorpeopleyou livewithmaybedeterminedtogo

theirownway, theywill alsobereadyto listen.This is thereforean idealmoment topersuadepartners thatyouare indeedright.Butwill theypayattention? Yes, if youchooseyourwordswithcare.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)

There’sa fairdegreeof stressaroundatthemoment.Astrologersblame

thatoldplanet,Pluto.Youmightwant to lookcloser tohome,andbeawareof causesofdiscontentamongstpeopleyouliveandworkwith.Takeevasiveactionnowandyou’ll thankyourself lateron.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)

Althoughthestarsarepushingyouthiswayandthat,keepingyoubusy,theMoon’s

positionoffersyousometimeoff.Ifyouareespeciallydetermined,youmaymakethisadayofleisure,puttingdutytooneside.If someoneexpectsyoutowaitonthem,perhapsyouneedtosetthemstraight.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)

Theworldismovingyourway,andyou’llhaveabriefmomenttoseize

opportunities. It’simportanttoexertyourownauthority,especiallyathome.Perhapssurprisingly,familymembersmaybehappyforyoutodrawthelineanddefinethelimitsbeyondwhichtheymaynotpass.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)

It’snotabadday forshort trips,butwhatismore important isanexchangeof

views. Itdoesn’tmatterwhereyougo. If youstill fail togetyourpointacrosswhenyouarrive, itwillbea journeywasted.And ifsomebodytellsyouthatyou’renotallowedtodosomething,theymightbewrong,but thatdoesn’tmeanthatyoushouldn’t listen.

SUDOKU4225

DifficultyLevel5s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4224

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Thestarsthathavemost___haveno__.-SamuelDaniel(5,.,4)

SOLUTION:ERROR,FOIST,NEATLY,TINGLYAnswer:Thestarsthathavemostgloryhavenorest.-SamuelDaniel

ORERR AENYLT

FITOS ILNTGY

SolutionsCrossword4217:Across: 1Towed,8Partings,9Again,10Glasseye,11Knots,12Add,16Osiers,17Around,18Hub,23Scowl,24Spectres,25Abeam,26

Endanger,27Angle.Down:2Organist,3Epistles,4Ballad,5Stash,6Sneer,7Askew,12Ash,13Dab,14Logcabin,15Snowball,19Uneven,20Usher,21Ready,

22Stink.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

DIPR/3337/Tender/2020 TNPL - Maker of bagasse based eco-friendly Paper

TAMIL NADU NEWSPRINT AND PAPERS LIMITED

NOTICE INVITING BIDS

For Provision of Services for Erecion and Start-up &

Commissioning of New Plant andMachinery for HardWood Pulp

Mill and Auxillaries at TNPL Unit II - MEP

Bidders may request the tender document at the above

address by post/mail. Detailed NIB may be viewed in websites:

www.tenders.tn.gov.in/www.tnpl.com

Date of Issue of Bid Document: 09/09/2020

Due date for submission: 30/09/2020

Kagithapuram - 639 136, Karur District, Tamil Nadu,

E-mail: pmd5@tnpl.co.in , Web: www.tnpl.com

Phone No. 04324-277001 (10 lines), Extn. 4402/4568

Tender Notice No: AMD/WR/ESG(Civil)/Internal & External Painting MIG & Elect/2019-20/148&01Dated: 24/01/2020

GOVERNMENT OF INDIADEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY

ATOMIC MINERALS DIRECTORATE FOR EXPLORATION AND RESEARCH1-10-153/156, BEGUMPET, HYDERABAD - 500016

Detailed tender notice along with other documents are available on website: <www.tenderwizard.com/DAE>Detailed NIT is also available on website <www.amd.gov.in> for view only. For further clariication, pleasecontact: 040-27776342/27776335/27776387.

BRIEF E-TENDER NOTICENIT NO.:AMD/CD/CR/DTH/2019-20/T-(174), DATE: 27.08.2020

ItemNo

1

Period ofCompletionin Months

6 (SIX)

Estimatedjob value

(in Lakhs INR)

83.00

EarnestMoney(in INR)

1,66,000/-

Tender No & Scope of Work

AMD/CD/CR/DRMU-KHAPA/DTH/2019-20/T-17410,000 m DTH drilling in Dharangmau-Khapa-Jhapri-Kalapani area, Betul District, MadhyaPradesh with borehole depth varying from 300to 350 metre

The Director, (AMD), Begumpet, Hyderabad invites for and on behalf of the President of India, sealedtenders in two parts (TecHnIcAl& coMMercIAl) from eligible DTH Drilling contractors, for the followingDrilling works in Madhya Pradesh.

DIPR/3336/Tender/2020

TAMILNADU NEWSPRINT AND PAPERS LIMITEDKagithapuram – 639 136, Karur Dist. Tamil Nadu. Ph : 04324-277001 (10 Lines)

NOTICE INVITING BIDSFor Procurement of Packages of TNPL Unit-II Mill Expansion Plan

S.No.

DescripionBid IssueDate

Bid DueDate

1.

Installaion, tesing & commissioning ofInstruments including supply of miscellaneousaccessories for the instrument installaion worksat MEP areas.

09.09.2020 30.09.2020

2. Supply of GI Cable Trays. 08.09.2020 29.09.2020

3.Design, Manufacture, Supply, Erecion andCommissioning of Chip Conveying SystemLot-2 (from Chipper to Chip Silo).

08.09.2020 29.09.2020

4.Design, Manufacture, Supply and Supervision ofErecion, Tesing & Commissioning of Hoists forChemical Recovery Island.

09.09.2020 30.09.2020

Email: S.No. 1 & 2 - pmd6@tnpl.co.in , S.No. 3 - pmd5@tnpl.co.in &S.No. 4 - pmd4@tnpl.co.in

Detailed Terms & Conditions, Tender Fee, EMD etc., are available in the Tenderdocument at our websites: www.tnpl.com / www.tenders.tn.gov.in

TNPL - Maker of bagasse based eco-friendly Paper

ONLINE TENDERING Road & Building Department

SHORT TENDER NOTICE NO. 11 OF 2020-21

Executive Engineer, (R&B) Division, Jamnagar Dist.

Jamnagar, Phone No.0288-2550362 has invited online

tenders from contractor registerd in R & B Department,

NWRWS & K Department for 2 works. The estimated cost of

the works is between Rs.16.22 lakh to Rs.24.68 lakh.

Tender Documents are available for Works upto Dt.14/9/2020

on https://rnb.nprocure.com. For More details visit on given

website. For Detailed Tender Notice visit

www.statetenders.com INF/Jam/324/2020

Ahmedabad

GUJARAT 9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

SURYAKRUPA FINANCE LIMITEDCIN: L60200GJ1986PLC083845

Regd. Office: Plot No. 267, Ward 12/B, Gandhidham, Gujarat - 370201Email: investorsuryakrupa@gmail.com

Website: www.suryakrupafinance.in Contact: 9979898027

Notice is hereby given that the 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) ofthe Company will be held on Monday, 28th September, 2020 at 09:00A.M through video conference (VC)/ Other Audio Visual Means.

The Notice of the AGM and the Annual Report for the F.Y 2019-20 hasbeen sent in electronic mode to all those Members whose emailaddresses are registered. The Annual Report along with the notice areavailable at the website of the company at www.suryakrupafinance.inand the website of BSE Ltd at www.bseindia.com

Notice is also given that the Register of Members and Share Transfer Booksof the Company will remain closed from Tuesday, 22nd September, 2020 toMonday 28th September, 2020 (both days inclusive), for the purpose of AGMof the Company.

Pursuant to provisions of Section 108 of the Companies Act, 2013 readwith Rule 20 of the Companies (Management and Administration) Rules,2014, members holding shares either in physical form or dematerializedform, as on the cut-off date on 22nd September, 2020 have an option tovote electronically on the Ordinary and Special Business as set out in thenotice of 33rd AGM through electronic voting system of CentralDepository Services (India) Limited. All the members are informed that:

1) The remote e-voting shall commence from Thursday, 24th September,2020 (10.00 AM) till Sunday, 27th September, 2020 (05:00 PM). Theremote e-voting shall be disabled by CDSL thereafter.

2) The cut-off date for determining the eligibility to vote by electronicmeans or at the AGM is 22nd September, 2020.

3) Any person, who acquires shares of the Company and becomesmember of the Company after dispatch of the notice and holdingshares as on the cut-off date i.e. Monday, 22nd September, 2020, mayobtain the login ID and password by sending a request athelpdesk.evoting@cdslindia.com.

4) The procedure for e-voting and attending the AGM throughVC/OAVM facility have been provided in the notice of the AGM.

5) A member may participate in the AGM even after exercising his rightto vote through remote e-voting but shall not be entitled to voteagain at the AGM.

If you have any queries or issues regarding attending AGM & e-Votingfrom the e-Voting System, you may refer the Frequently Asked Questions("FAQs") and e-voting manual available at www.evotingindia.com,under help section or write an email to helpdesk.evoting@cdslindia.comor contact Mr. Nitin Kunder (022- 23058738 ) or Mr. Mehboob Lakhani(022-23058543) or Mr. Rakesh Dalvi (022-23058542).

For, Suryakrupa Finance Ltd.Sd/-

Place : Gandhidham Akansha PithaliyaDate : 07/09/2020 (Compliance Officer)

NOTICE OF 33rd ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,EVOTING AND BOOK CLOSURE

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,SEPTEMBER7

TWO JEWELLERSwere injuredinanallegedattemptedrobberyby armed men at a shop inBharuch onMonday. Bharuchdistrict police have initiated aprobe in this regard and calledfor forensic teamstogatherevi-dence fromthesite.Theincidentoccurredaround

2 pmonMonday in Panchbattiarea of Bharuch town. Fourarmedmen,ridingtwomotorcy-cles,arrivedatAmbica jewellersand asked the attendants toshow themgold chains for pur-chase. As the staff fetched thechains, the twomen attemptedtorobjewelleryfromthecounter."When the owner, Nikhil

Soni, raised an alarm, themen

opened fire at him. On hearingSoni's scream, the owner of theadjoining jewellery shop alsorushedintohelpandchaseawaythe thieves. By this time, one ofthemen had already run awayandSonihadmanagedtosnatchthepistolfromtheotherattacker.Eventually, all of them fled, in-cluding the onewith the pistol.Thelocalshadrushedtonabhim,but hemanaged to runawayonfoot,"aseniorpoliceofficersaid.TeamsoftheBharuchSpecial

Operations Group, Local CrimeBranch as well as the BharuchDeputySuperintendentofPolicevisitedthespot.WhileSonisus-tained a bullet injury in his ab-domen,theowneroftheadjoin-ing shop, Mahesh Soni, alsosustainedminor injuries. Bothhave been admitted to theBharuchCivilHospital.

Vadodara: A team of officials,headed by the Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) of GujaratEducationandMedicalResearchSociety (GMERS), visitedVadodara on Monday to takestock of the oxygen usage andavailability at the GMERS-runGotriMedicalcollege,whichhasacapacityof500Covid-19beds.On Monday, the special

teamfromGandhinagarvisitedGotri medical college inVadodara and held a meetingwith the local authorities afterreceiving several complaintsofinadequate oxygen supply tothe hospital by suppliers. Thecomplaints,officialsourcessaid,

hasbeenmadebytheadminis-tration of the hospital seekinghelp instreamliningthesupplyof liquid oxygen to thehospitalgiven the increased require-ment as the hospital has beenfacing shortage since the lasttwoweekswith the increasingnumber of cases in the city.The hospital, which had a

requirement of about 5 tonnesper day before the beginning ofthe Covid-19 pandemic inMarch, has seen a gradualincrease in the usage of oxygento 15 tonnes per day untilMonday, Vadodara MunicipalCorporationMedical Officer ofHealthDrDeveshPatelsaid. ENS

Two jewellers injured inattempted robbery case

Officials take stock of oxygenusage at Gotri medical college Rajkot:Agoodstrainloadedwith

organicmanurewas flagged offfrom Junagadh station ofBhavnagar division ofWesternRailwayonMonday.

The loading had started onSunday andwas completed onMonday following whichthe 42-wagon train wasflagged off. ENS

Railways transports organic manure

Ahmedabad

High-level teamto probe Thaiwoman deathcase in Surat

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,SEPTEMBER7

ADAY after a charred body of awomanfromThailandwhousedtowork at a spa in Suratwas re-coveredfromherflat,ahigh-levelinquiryteamcomprisingtopoffi-cials of Forensic ScienceLaboratory (FSL), ForensicMedicine Department doctors,Dakshin Gujarat Vij CompanyLimited, and police has beenformedtoprobethecase.The deceased, identified as

Wanida Bousorn, 27,was a resi-dentofGorkhastreetatMagdallainSuratcity.Policesaidthatherneighbours

informedthehouseowner,NaginPatel,whentheysawsmokecom-ing out of Bousorn’s flat. Theybrokeopenthedooranddousedfireandinformedthepolice.Umra police inspector M L

Salunke said that thewoman’sbody has been sent for post-mortem. Police said that thede-ceasedshiftedtothishousethreemonthsback.“We suspect short circuit

couldhave led to the fire. As perthepost-mortemreport, thede-ceasedhadnointernalorexternalinjuries.Carbonmonoxideparti-cles found inher lungsmight bebecause of the smoke from thefire. However, it is not clearwhythemain doorwas locked fromoutside,”Salunkesaid.“Thedeceasedwas sharing a

roomwithanotherThaigirl,whohadleftforBharuchforsomeper-sonalwork on Friday night.Wehave come to know that thede-ceasedwas alreadymarried andhasaseven-year-oldsonwholivesinThailand...Herpassportismiss-ing.However,wehavegotphoto-copy of a fewpages of her pass-port according towhichher visaexpires on September 19,”Salunkeadded.“Wehavecometoknow that she had two malefriends in Surat. One has beencalled for questioning,while thesecondpersonisyettobelocated.Weare also takinghelp of otherwomenworkinginthespatogetmoredetails.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,SEPTEMBER7

REPRESENTATIVES OF a textilepowerloomassociation inSuratwrote to Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik onMonday, re-questing him to resume trainservices connectingOdishadis-trictswithSuratandotherSouthGujarat regions.Written by the Pandesara

Weavers Association, the letterstates that 95 percent of theworkforce in the powerloomsector is from various villagesandtalukas inPuri,GanjamandBehrampur districts of Odisha.Amid the pandemic-inducedlockdown, the majority of theworkers had migrated fromSurat to theirnativeplaces.TalkingtoThe IndianExpress,

OdishaRajyaSabhaMPPrashantNandasaid,“Wehavereceivedaletterfromtheweaversassocia-tion and a phone call from thepresident of the Federation ofGujarat Weavers Association,AshokJirawala,abouttheshort-age of workforce in the power-loom industry of Surat. Alongwith Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik,we aremakingallpossibleeffortstorestarttrainservices.Wehavealsosentalet-ter to the Union RailwaysMinister.”The lettermentions that the

powerloom industry has re-sumed businesswith themini-mum available workforce atlesser capacity tomeet the in-creasing demands. However, inview of the crunch of workers,the industry cannot functionwithcompetence.Therearefivetrains which have connectivityfromOdisha to Surat — Puri toSurat, Puri to Ahmedabad, Purito Gandhidham, Puri to OkhaandPuritoGandhidam.Noneofthesetrainshaveresumedserv-icestilldateandhence,theasso-ciation has requested tomakethesetrainsrunaspertheir reg-

ular schedule. The associationhas further requested thearrangementofspecialShramiktrains to bring back over fourlakh workers from Odisha toSuratandSouthGujarat.The letter further states that

presently, powerloomworkerswho are returning to Surathave to do so in pathetic con-ditions inovercrowdedprivateluxury buses. It takes over 72hours for a bus to reach Suratfrom Odisha and repeated in-cidents of fatal accidents insuch labour loadedbuseshavealso taken place, the letteradds. The powerloomassocia-tion has also stated that theyare ready to bear travel ex-penses of the labourers.Pandesara Powerloom

Association president AshishGujarati said, “We have madecorrespondencethroughaletterto the Odisha government andreceived a positive response.They have assured us aboutstarting train services fromOdisha to Surat and SouthGujarat.Withalesserworkforce,40 percent of production ispresentlybeingdonebythefac-tories.Only50percentofthefac-toriesareoperational.”“The Southern Gujarat

Chamber of Commercehas alsorequested the Gujarat govern-menttotalktotheUnionRailwaysMinistrytoresumetrainservices,”headded.

Rajkot man whostoned 3 beggarsto death founddead, say police

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICERAJKOT,SEPTEMBER7

A MAN who had allegedlystonedthreebeggarstodeathinRajkot in 2009was found deadon the terrace of aworkshop inMavdi Plot area of the city onMonday. Police said that primafacie,hewasalsostonedtodeathbyunidentifiedpersons.Mahesh alias Kalu alias

HareshPrajapati (45)wasfounddead on the terrace of a work-shop which manufacturespackaging material in MavdiPlotareaonMondayafternoon.Police said that the deceased'sneighbours had alerted policeaftersensingthatfoulsmellwasemanating from theworkshopterrace. Upon inspection,Prajapati's bloated body wasfound in a bed on the terrace.Police shifted the body to PDUHospital for post-mortem."According to the primary

post-mortemreport, thevictimdied due to head injuries. Wesuspect that he was hit withstones in the head and mur-dered," said Kunal Bhukhan,police inspectorofMalaviyagar."Hewasbookedforthemur-

dersof threebeggarsinRajkotin2009, arrested and jailed.However, hewas later releasedonbail. Since then,hewas lead-ing the life of a vagabond,"Bhukan further said.PolicesaidthatPrajapatiand

his accomplice Badal alias Davehadstonedtwobeggarstodeathin the jurisdiction of Thoral po-lice station andone in the juris-dictionof 'A'Divisionpolicesta-tion. They had told police thattheydidn'twant anybeggars inthe city and therefore, they tar-geted their victims when theywouldbeasleep."After conducting a post-

mortem, doctors said that thevictim had died at least twodaysago.Wehave launchedaninvestigation treating this as acase of murder," Bhukan said.ThePIaddedthatPrajapatiwasnotmarriedandthoughhehasbrothers, he used to live alone.

ALTERNATING ROLESAwoman,whosellsmasksnearPanchmukhiHanumantemplenearKalaghodaareaofVadodara, teachesherdaughteronMonday.BhupendraRana

Wehave recievedaletter... alongwith

OdishaChiefMinisterNaveenPatnaik,wearemaking all possibleefforts to restart trainservices.Wehave alsosent a letter to theUnionRailwaysMinister.”

—PRASHANTNANDAODISHARAJYASABHAMP

Textile associationwrites to OdishaCM over resumptionof train services

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEVADODARA,SEPTEMBER7

THEGUJARATPollution ControlBoard(GPCB)onMondayserveda notice to the VadodaraMunicipalCorporation(VMC)forthe Khaswadi crematorium inVadodara,whichisthedesignatedCovid-19crematorium,afterres-identsof thevicinitycomplainedofsmokefromthewoodenpyresusedinthecrematorium.Officersof GPCB onMonday visited thecrematorium and directed thecivic body to install anpollutioncontrolsystematthesite.Officials of theVMCsaid that

the GPCB notice comes after acomplaintfromresidentslivinginthe vicinity of the crematorium,who cited threat of spread ofCovid-19due to the smoke fromthewoodenpyres of the crema-torium. Thewooden pyres are,however, not used for Covid-19disposalsbytheVMC.Thecrema-tions of Covid-19 deceased andsuspectedcasesareheldinthegasfurnaceof thecrematorium.The crematoriumhas been

designated for Covid-19 sinceAprilthisyear.Thenoticeof theGPCBstates,

"The smoke from the openwoodenpyresofthecrematoriumhavebeencausing trouble to theresidentsaround.ThereshouldbeAir Pollution Control System(APCS) for thewoodenpyre andfuelexhaustsystematthegasfur-nace in order to prevent thesmokefromescapingandcausinginconveniencetoresidents."When contacted VMC

Medical officer of Health said,"TheGPCBhasnoguidelines forcrematoriums.Theyhaveservedthe notice to the VMCbased onthecomplaintof someresidentsontheportalofthechiefminister.Theresidentsmayhavesomeob-jection to the place where theopenwoodenpyresarebeinglit.Wewilllookintothematter.TheCovid-19 disposals anyway donothappenonthewoodenpyrenor does the virus spreadthroughthesmoke."

KhaswadicrematoriuminVadodara.BhupendraRana

GUJARAT

Pollution board issues notice toVadodara Covid crematorium

Delhi Police official questioned in caseof riot-injuredmade to sing JanaGana

MAHENDERSINGHMANRALNEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER 7

INVESTIGATING THE circum-stancesaroundthedeathof24-year-old Faizan in the riots af-ter he, along with two othermen, were allegedly made tosing the national anthem andVande Mataram by a group ofpolicemen, the Delh PoliceCrimeBranchhasquestionedapoliceman posted with theDelhiArmedPolice, The IndianExpress has learnt.A video of the incident first

came to light February 25,showing three men, includingthe victim,writhing in pain onthe ground even as a group ofpolicepersonnel stoodby,pur-

portedly telling them to singthe national anthem, and, oc-casionally, hitting them withtheir lathis.Families of two other men

seen in the clip had told TheIndian Express that the videowasshotatKardamPurion theeveningof February24. Faizan,a resident of KardamPuri, suc-cumbed to injuries at the LNJPHospital. Dr Kishore Singh,medical director of the hospi-tal, hadsaid: “Hewasadmittedto the neurosurgery ward onFebruary 25 and died threedays later.Hehadsufferedgun-shotwounds andwas critical.”Faizan’s mother and sisters

hadconfirmedthathewasoneof themen in the video clip.While the video was

recorded by one of the police

personnel, anothervideoof thesame incident, shot from afar,is what helped police in theirinvestigation, sources said.After an FIR was filed on

February 28 at Bhajanpura po-lice station, thecasewas trans-ferred to the Crime Branch,which first checkedhowmanypersonnel were deployed inthat neighbourhood fromwhich police stations.While the incident had

taken place at 66 Foota Road,which comes under the juris-diction of Bhajanpura policestation, investigators foundthatnopersonnel from that stationwere deployed in the area atthe time.“Investigators found that

the locationwassurroundedbyareas that fall under the juris-

dictionof otherpolice stations,andtherewasastrongpossibil-ity thatpersonnel fromadiffer-ent location had arrived at thescene during the riots,” a sen-ior police officer said.Sources said that while

scanning the video recordedfromafar, investigatorsnoticedthat one of the personnel was“carrying tear smoke muni-tions (TSM)”.“Whenever any force goes

out for deployment, personnelare issued TSM under theirname from their units. The in-vestigating officer checked theregister of forces from outsidethe area to verify entriesmadewhile issuingTSMsthatday.Onthebasisof the footageandoneof the entries, they identified apersonnelpostedwiththeDAP.

He was called in for question-ingbytheSpecial InvestigationTeam (SIT) at their office atDaryaGanj.Whileheclaimshewasnot involved, further inves-tigations are underway,” thesource said.Police also believe he is the

onewho also shot the video ofthe men lying on the ground,the source said.The footage captured from

afar shows at least six person-nel, and investigating officersare trying tozero inontherest,the source said.The Indian Express called

and messaged Special CP(Crime) PraveerRanjan aswellas Delhi Police PRO Dr EishSinghal seeking their com-mentson thedevelopment.Noresponsewas received.

Teargasregistershelppolice trackdownunitbehindvideo featuringcops

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,SEPTEMBER7

THERAJASTHANHighCourt onMondayallowedprivate schoolstocollect70percentoftuitionfeefrom students. The order camewhile it was hearing petitionsagainst a stategovernmentorderbarringschoolsfromcollectingfeeforthreemonthsinviewofCovid-19. The court said that on non-paymentof fees, studentscanbebarredfromjoiningonlineclasses,butshallnotbeexpelled.The order by Justice Sanjeev

Prakash Sharma cameduring ahearingonpetitionsbytheSocietyofCatholicEducationInstitutionsinRajasthanandotheroutfits.One of the petitioners, the

Progressive School Association,saidthestategovernmenthaddi-rectedschoolsthatafterMarch15,2020,collectionofalloutstandingdues, current fees and advancefeesbedeferredforthreemonths.The petitioners argued that

thestatedidnothavethepowerto restrain private schools fromcollecting fees. They also saidthat “there has already been adeferment of fees for a long pe-riod of almost six months andtheschoolsrequiredtomaintainthe infrastructure and also paysalaries to its staff, which in-cludesnon-teachingand teach-ing staff and are facing greathardship and therefore, by in-terim arrangement at least tu-ition fees be allowed to be col-lected fromstudents”.Thecourtobservedthatunder

the DisasterManagement Act,2005, the governmenthas juris-diction to lay down policy and“thepetitioners are all non-gov-ernmental organisationsandareexpected therefore to play theirnecessary role inmitigating thesufferancecausedtothepublicatlargewhileat thesametimealsoprotect their own staff from fac-ingfinancialdifficulties”.As an interimmeasure, “and

tillthesituationgetsnormalised”the high court directed thatschoolsmay collect “70per centof the tuition fees element fromthe total fees being charged fortheyear”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER7

The first day of the MonsoonSession of Maharashtra legisla-ture witnessed chaotic scenesMonday as many legislatorscomplainedofnotreceivingtheirCovid-19 test reports, delayingtheirentrytoboththeHouses.SevenMLAs,includingMinis-

terofStatePrajaktTanpure,havetestedpositive forCovid-19.Thetest hasbeenmadecompulsoryforall, includingMLAs,theirper-sonal assistants and drivers, aswellasgovernmentofficialswhowould attend the session. Onlythosewho testednegativewere

allowedentryonMonday.On Monday morning, BJP

MLAsHaribhau Bagde and BhaiGirkarandafewotherlegislatorscomplained to Deputy CMAjitPawar that theywere not beingallowed inside. Following this,Pawar instructed secretariat of-ficials to allow thementry afterseeingtheirCovid-19testreports.Inside the Assembly and the

Council, seating arrangementwaschangedtoensuresocialdis-tancingwith alternate seats be-ingmarked ‘X’, indicating thattheybekeptvacant. The legisla-torswho could not be seated intheir usual placeswere accom-modated in visitors’ and stu-dents’galleries.

MAHARASHTRA

Covid test results ofmany MLAs delayed SHAJUPHILIP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,

SEPTEMBER7

AJUNIORhealthinspectorwasar-rested in Kerala’s Thiruvanan-thapuramdistrictMondayonthecharge of raping awomanwhowent tohis residence forobtain-ingano-Covidcertificateoncom-pletionofhomequarantine.Amid protests over the inci-

dent, thehealthdepartmenthassuspendedJuniorHealthInspectorPradeepKumar,44.Police said thewoman,who

works as a domestic help in an-otherdistrict,hasallegedthatshewasbrutallyassaultedbyKumarathisapartment.Thewoman,po-licesaid,hassaidthatshewentto

theapartmentintheafternoonofSeptember3andKumarkepthertied up there till the nextmorn-ingandalsothreatenedtotellpo-licethatshehadviolatedquaran-tinenorms.Thewoman, who stayed in

quarantine after reaching herhomedistrict,wantedano-Covidcertificateasheremployerinsistedon it. The juniorhealth inspectorwaspostedinthepanchayatareashelivedin.Registeringasuomotucase, thestatewomen’scommis-sionhassoughtareport fromthedistrictpolicechief.This comescloseontheheels

oftheincidentinwhichanambu-lance driver allegedly raped aCovid-19 patient in Kerala’sPathanamthittadistrictwhiletak-inghertohospital.

24-YEAR-OLDFAIZAN'SDEATH

Private schoolscan collect 70%of tuition fees:Rajasthan HC

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AJAYJADHAVPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

AFTERBEINGdeclaredaCovid-19 hotspot, Pune on Mondaybecame the first district to re-port over two lakh positivecases on Monday, as per stategovernment data. The totalcountofCovid-19cases inPuneis more than many states, ex-cept Gujarat, Karnataka, UttarPradesh andMadhyaPradesh.There is,however,adiscrep-

ancy between numbers re-leasedbythestategovernmentandthedistrictadministration,whichhasconsistentlyreportedrelatively lower numbers forthe city. While the district ad-ministrationputthetotalnum-ber of infections in the city at1,97,286, the state bulletinshowed that this number hadcrossed2.03 lakhonMonday.Accordingtoaprojectionby

acentral teamthatrecentlyvis-ited the city, the number of in-fectedpeople inPunewaslikelyto go up to 2.43 lakh bySeptember 21.The spread of the infection

is showing no signs of slowingdown as 4,429 new caseswererecordedonSunday, taking thetotal count to 1,99,303. OnMonday, 4,165 new casesweredetected in the city, accordingto state government bulletin.Thedistrictcrossedtheone-

lakhmark onAugust 5 and in amonth’s time the count hasdoubledtobethehighest inanydistrict in the country. On July18, the number of infected pa-tients crossed50,000.The district administration

has attributed the high total toincreased testing, with rapidantigen tests being conductedbyPuneMunicipalCorporation,Pimpri-ChinchwadMunicipalCorporationandPunerural ad-ministration.Themortalityrate,however,

is slowly dropping and is at 2.2percentatpresent.Theadmin-istration is focusing on reduc-

ing deaths than containing thespread of the infection. Thestate government recentlystarted two jumbo facilities forCovidtreatmentbut their func-tioninghasbeenembroiled inacontroversywithpatientscom-plainingof impropertreatment.Theadministrationclaimed

tohaveintensifiedcontact trac-ing, but the situation on theground seems different. “Thenumberofnewcases is increas-ingat leastby1,000adayanditispractically impossibletotracecontactsof the infectedperson.It isbeingcontinuedhalf-heart-edly only for the sake of seniorofficers,” said civic staff.The civic administration is

recommendinghomeisolation

for patients with mild symp-toms or no symptoms, but al-mosthalf of theactivecasesareathome.Guidelinestocivicstafffor visiting patients tomonitortheirhealtharebeingrarely fol-lowed.“There are phone calls from

the civic staff enquiring aboutthe health of a patient in homeisolation,but therearenovisitsby civic staff,” said a patientwho recently recovered athome.The PMC is redefining con-

tainment zones every monthafter reviewing the situationofan area. Police barricade thearea to restrict movement ofpublic, but there is no one tomonitor this.

189DAYSSINCEPANDEMICBEGAN

KEYSTATESTOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Andhra

■TamilNadu

■Karnataka

■UttarPradesh

7 DAYS EARLIER:

1.78NOW:

1.70

7 DAYS EARLIER:

8.56NOW:

8.49

DETECTED TODAY

90,802RECOVERED TODAY:

69,564

TOTALCASES

9,07,212

4,98,125

4,63,480

3,98,551

2,66,283

DOUBLINGTIME**

33.20

31.28

53.51

29.13

30.07

SURGEIN24HOURS

23,350

10,794

5,783

9,319

6,518

7-DAYAVGGROWTH*

2.17%

2.30%

1.35%

2.47%

2.39%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:42,04,613TESTS: 4,95,51,507 | DOUBLING RATE: 33.38**

RECOVERED:32,50,429DEATHS: 71,642

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last 7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

DataasonSeptember6, releasedbyUnionMinistryofHealth, ICMRandstates.Oftendailynumbers

includedatafrompreviousdays.Assuch, trendsbasedondailynumbersare indicative,notdefinitive

CASE FATALITY RATIO

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

Positives againstnumber tested

(in %); indicator ofthe spread of disease

Becoming sick vsrecovering; more

recoveries for 14 daysmay signal the peak

POSITIVITY RATE DAILY IN, DAILYOUT

Cases double in a month,Pune first dist past 2 lakh

Kerala: Health inspectorarrested on rape charge

CHANDANHAYGUNDE&SUSHANTKULKARNIPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

THE NATIONAL InvestigationAgency (NIA) has arrested twoartistsof thePune-basedculturalgroup, KabirKalaManch (KKM),in connection with the ElgaarParishad case for their allegedlinkswiththebannedCPI-Maoist.TheaccusedareSagarGorkhe

andRameshGaichor,membersofthe“BhimaKoregaonShauryaDinPrernaAbhiyaan”,abodythator-ganisedtheElgaarParishadattheShaniwar Wada in Pune onDecember31, 2017, aheadof the200th commemoration of thebattleofBhimaKoregaon.

NIA arreststwo artists for‘Maoist links’

Ahmedabad

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

MEET BEFORE CHECK-UPCONGRESSPRESIDENTSoniaGandhi is likely tomissat leastthefirst10daysof themonsoonsessionofParliament,assheis learnt tobeplanningtotravelabroadforherannualhealthcheck-up. Sonia's daughter, Congress general secretaryPriyankaGandhiVadra, is likely toaccompanyher.Givenherhealth condition, Soniawould have been forced to give thesession amiss anyway, sources say. Soniawill chair a virtualmeeting of the party’s Parliamentary strategy groups onTuesday,whichwouldbringher face to facewith the likesofGhulamNabi Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in RajyaSabha, andAnandSharma for the first time after the stormyCWCmeet lastmonth.

CHALLENGE TO IT CELLRAJYASABHAMPSubramanianSwamytakingonpeopleonsocialmedia isnotnew.But this time, theBJPMPhaspickedon the ruling party's IT cell, as he said he is at the receivingendof"personalattacks”.OnMonday,Swamytweetedachal-lenge to the IT cell: “The BJP IT cell has gone rogue. Some ofitsmembersareputtingout fake IDtweets tomakepersonalattacksonme.IfmyangeredfollowersmakecounterpersonalattacksIcannotbeheldresponsible, justasBJPcannotbeheldresponsible for the rogue ITcell of theparty.”

RECIPE FOR NUTRITIONMINISTERFORWomenandChildDevelopmentSmritiIranionMondaycalleduponpeopletowritetotheministrywiththeirtraditional family recipes. The call for home-cooked recipesis a part of theministry's endeavour to create a database ofindigenous food itemswithhighnutritionalvalue.Thedata-base is one of the projects being launched in September aspart of theministry’s celebration of NutritionMonth underits Poshan Abhiyan programme. Through this programme,theWCDMinistryis focusingonseveraldifferentissuessuchas concentratingoneradicatingmalnutritionamongunder-nourishedchildren,pregnantwomenandlactatingmothers.

LJPauthorisesChirag for call on tie-upwith JD(U), decision onhold ‘after call’DIPANKARGHOSENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THE LOK Janashakti Party (LJP)onMonday decided to put up alistof143namesfortheupcom-ingBiharAssemblyelectionsandauthorise the party’s nationalpresident,ChiragPaswan,totakeafinalcallonwhethertocontesttheelectionsunderleadershipofChief Minister and JD(U) chiefNitishKumar.ThedecisionattheLJP'sBihar

Parliamentary board comes af-ter months of sniping by theparty, in particular Chirag,againstNitish over his recordofgovernance, andwith commu-nication lines between the twoleaders shut foroverayear.While somesenseof finality

wasexpectedonMonday,asen-iorLJPleadersaidthatbeforethemeeting, a phone call was re-ceivedfromaseniornationalBJPleader, where a meeting be-tween the two parties wasmootedfortheweekend.This isseenasafactor inwhyanydeci-sionwasputoff.A senior BJP leader from

Biharsaid,“WewouldlikeLJPtofightwithinthealliance. Inclose

fights, LJP [candidates] contest-ingagainst JD(U)willonlyharmtheallianceontheground.”Despite its attacks on JD(U),

LJPhasbeeneffusiveinitspraisefor BJP and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, and wants tocontinue in analliancewith thenational party, especially withRam Vilas Paswan as a Unionminister.After the meeting, Raju

Tiwari,BiharMLAandpresidentoftheparty’sstateParliamentaryboard, issued a note that spokeof two key decisions. The firstsuggested selection of 143 can-didates by the party and for-warding that list to theParliamentaryboard. “A resolu-

tionwasalsopassedgivingpow-ers to Chirag Paswan to decideon the future course of action –whether to stay in an alliance(with JD-U, among other NDAmembers, inBihar),”Tiwarisaid.At themeeting, a senior LJP

member said, a demand wasraised to contest the electionwithout the JD(U)and toputupcandidatesagainst it.“I will put my demand

(given) that in the past Chirag

Paswan-ji has been calledKalidas,”SanjaySingh,seniorLJPleader andboardmember, said,referring to JD(U) MP RajivRanjan Singh calling ChiragKalidas and recalling the taleabout the Sanskrit poet cuttingthetreebranchhewassittingon.Singh said, “When he

(Chirag)raisesissuesofBihar,heis called a rebel. Amid suchthings, we should talk aboutwhat Bihar needs, and...wher-

ever there is a JD(U) candidate,we should put up an LJP candi-date. This is going to bemy de-mand.”Sources in LJP said any deci-

siononthepartyfightingitaloneis to be taken by the centralParliamentary board, whichcomprises present and pastMembers of Parliament.“Opinions from state leadershavebeen takenonboard.Nowameeting of past and presentMPswillbecalledtodiscussfur-ther.Alloptionsareonthetable,”a senior leader said.AseniorLJPleadersaid:“The

moodwithinthepartyistofightagainst JD(U) at the state level,and that’s what the sense fromthe ground is. But it might behasty to takeadecisionwithoutunderstandingwhatisbeingof-fered.Sofar,nomeetinghasoffi-cially taken place between LJP,JD(U) andBJP. It is best towait alittlebecauseofourrelationshipwith theBJP.”The leader said, “JD(U) says

wearenotanally,butweareoneof theBJP.Butonething is clear:thepresentsituationofanimos-ity, and the LJP having no say inthe alliance, is untenable andneeds toberesolved.”

Inpartymeet, state leaders forputtingupcandidatesagainst JD(U); toprepare listof143probables

LJPnationalpresidentChiragPaswan

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THE RASHTRAVADI JanataParty, a “registered politicalparty”, has approached theSupreme Court seeking post-ponement of Bihar AssemblyelectionstoMarch2021inviewof the Covid-19 pandemic andflood in the state.The plea urged the court to

direct the Election Commissionof India to “postpone” theBiharelection scheduled in October-Novemberandstated,“Itwillbebetter for the safety of the peo-ple to hold the said electionsometime in the month ofMarch2021,whenthesituationin the state is somewhat nor-malisedsothatcitizenscanpar-ticipate and cast their votessafely andwithout there beinganythreateitherofpandemicorthe flood”.OnAugust28, theSChadre-

fused to entertain a plea by oneAvinashThakur,whohadsoughtpostponementof theBiharelec-tionsonthegroundofCovid-19,and noted that the pandemiccannot be a ground fordeferment.Thecourtalsoobserved that

the pleawas premature, as thenotificationforthepollshadstillnotbeen issued.

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,SEPTEMBER7

ABOUT 10 lakh people of Biharare getting some kind of em-ploymentperdayundervariousschemes of Central and stategovernments, and the state isconductingmore than 1.5 lakhtests each day to arrest thespread of coronavirus, ChiefMinister and JD(U) nationalpresident Nitish Kumar said onMonday.Addressing the party's first

virtual rally ahead of theAssembly elections, there areenoughICUbedsandventilatorsto treatCovid-19patients.He spoke about the success

of the scheme to supply drink-ingwatertoeveryhome,andan-nounced that the governmentwouldwaiveloaninterestunderStudentsCreditCardSchemefor"goodstudents".Nitish dwelt at length on

how the state government isfighting the pandemic at everylevel and how the government

has given free ration tomigrantworkers who returned homefrom other states following thenationwide lockdown.AccordingtotheJD(U), lakhs

of people watched the virtualrallyonsocialmedia.During two-hour speech,

Nitish said, “We have created14.71coremanavdivas (human

days)ofwork.Onaverage,about10 lakhpeoplearegettingsomejobs from various governmentschemes.... As for Covid-19preparations,weareconductingover 1.5 lakh tests per day.Weare now conducting tests of32,233 people per 10 lakh pop-ulation. At present, we are con-ducting 11,350 RTPCR tests per

dayandplantotake it to20,000perday.”Apparently taking on RJD

leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav,without naming him, he said,“Thosecriticisingusdonotknowmuchabouttheworkbeingdone.But I focusongoodworkanddonotbotheraboutcriticism.”With all possibilities of

Assembly elections being heldon time – around October-November -- Nitish also ap-pealed to the people to takeproper precautions againstCovid. "You all have to followrules and use masks,” he said,andpraisedtheCentrefordecid-ingtoopena500-bedCovidhos-pital each inBihta (in Patnadis-trict) andMuzaffarpur.Nitish said it is very satisfy-

ingtoseethateveryhouseholdisnow getting benefit of drinkingwater under the government's"SaatNischay"scheme. "Wearegiving students loan on 4 percent interest under StudentsCredit Card Scheme. We canwaivetotalinterestifstudentsdowell,”hesaid.

E●EXPLAIN

ED

Fateofalliance inBJPhands

THEFUTURE for theLJP is tricky, andmuchwilldependonwhat theBJPwants. The relationshipbetweentheLJPandthe JD(U), inparticular,hasbeenpubliclyacrimonious formanymonths.While theLJPcadremaywant theparty toputupcan-

didatesagainst the JD(U)'s, in largepart so theycancontestmoreseatsandspread theparty's footprint inBihar, theparty isaBJPallyat theCentreandRamVilasPaswan isaUnionMinister. SodespiteChiragPaswanandCMNitishKumar's acrimony, the fateof thisalliancemaybe in thehandsof BJP.

AHEADOFBIHARASSEMBLYPOLLS

Nitish holds first virtual rally, says10 lakh people getting jobs daily

Accordingtothe JD(U), lakhsofpeoplewatchedBiharCMNitishKumar’svirtual rallyonsocialmedia.Express

NewDelhi: TextileMinistryoffi-cials have informed aParliamentary standing com-mittee that the Centre is con-templatingmeasurestodiscour-age silk imports from China, ithasbeen learnt.Themovewasconveyeddur-

ing a meeting of the standingcommitteeonlabouronMonday,headed by BJDMP BhartruhariMahtab,whichdeliberatedonthesubject of “Challenges andOpportunities - Indian Textile

Industry”,asourcesaid.Whenamemberaskedabout

the decline in the quality of silkingeneraland“Banarasisaris”inparticular, TextileMinistry offi-cials informed the committeethat it is due to cheap importsfromChina, thesourcesaid.It is learnt officials told the

committee theministry “is con-sideringvariousmeasurestodis-courage the cheap import of silkfromChina and stepswill be an-nouncedsoon”. ENS

‘Registered’party moves SC,wants Biharpolls postponedto March 2021

Centre contemplatingmeasures to discouragesilk imports from China

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THEUPAgovernmentwas “veryselective”inallowingprojectsthatimpacted the “wilderness or thehabitatofwildlife”andhadfacedcriticism from industrialists andotherswho thought his govern-mentwasbeing too“restrictive”,former Prime MinisterManmohanSinghsaidMonday.Singh said his government

was “conscious” of its duty to“accelerate economic develop-ment and raise the standard ofliving of our people, especiallythose in poverty” as it was thepriority of any government butat the same timewas “very se-lective”inallowingprojectsthatimpacted thewilderness or thehabitatofwildlife.“Indeed,wewerecriticisedby

industrialists and those whothoughtwewerebeingtoorestric-tive. But I believe that if aproperbalance isnot firmlyheld, the re-sults aredeleteriousandself-de-feating,” he said, presenting theIndira Gandhi Prize for Peace,DisarmamentandDevelopmentto British naturalist DavidAttenboroughinavirtualfunction.Congress president Sonia

Gandhi said Attenborough hasbeen “one of Nature’s moststaunchconsciencekeepers”.In his acceptance speech,

Attenborough said theworld isheading towards amajor crisis,unlike any other that humanityhas faced in its history. Arguingthat humanity has overrun theplanet, the consequences ofwhichforthenaturalworldhavebeen devastating, he said, “Wemust change our ways andwemust do so swiftly and globally.Butsuccesswillonlycomeif thenationsof theworldagreetoacttogether,andhelponeanother.”“Thiswillnotbeeasy.Wehave

tochangefrombeingnationalistsand become internationalists.Andthat, forallofus,will involve

givingaswellastaking.Politicianswill onlydo that if theyhave thesupport for doing so from thosewho put them in power – andwho could remove them if theyfailtoliveuptotheirpromises.Butelectorateswillonlysupportsuchinternationalactioniftheyunder-stand theproblems” of environ-mental degradation and loss ofbiodiversitywhichisthreateninglivelihoods,headded.Singh described

Attenborougha“livinglegendinthecontextofthenaturalworld”whohadbeen thehumanvoiceofnatureforoversevendecadesand theveracity of his concernsis evident to anyonewho looksat thestateof theplanet today.“How acute the situation is

cannot be clearer than fromthepandemic that has gripped theearth, coincidently almost ex-actlyonecenturyafter thegreatinfluenza epidemic. To some,thisisnature’swayof tellinghu-mankindtoloosenitstighteninggrip on the resources of theearth, to be less exploitative, torespect theneedsof thenaturalworld, especially the animalkingdom,more and slowdownthe pace of environmental de-struction,” Singhsaid.Singh said finding a balance

betweendevelopmentandecol-ogyhadbeenadilemma.“Millions of us live in abject

poverty. Millions around theworld do not have access toenough food, clean water andsurroundings, a minimum ac-ceptablestandardof living.Inthename of development, naturebears the brunt, with its long-term crippling effects on thatveryqualityof lifeweare tryingto improve. But like Sir David, Ibelieve that it is possible for usto respect boundaries, to beawarealwaysof thecostsofeco-nomic development, and to re-frain from excesses, from igno-rant or wilful actions thatultimatelyreboundonus,”Singhadded.

FormerPMManmohanSinghspeaksat theceremonytoawardthe IndiraGandhiPrize toDavidAttenborough

Manmohan: UPA wascriticised for beingselective on projectsimpacting wildlife

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

THE NEWNational EducationPolicy (NEP) doesn’t belong toone government but the coun-try and it should be imple-mentedin letterandspirit, irre-spective of who is in power,PrimeMinister NarendraModisaidonMonday.Calling for a wide-ranging

discussioninthecountryonpol-icy implementation, the PrimeMinister said the awarenessamong students, teachers andparentsabouttheNEPshouldbeas comprehensive as the stake-holder consultation that led tothe drafting of the policy itself.ThekeytoNEP’ssuccess,hesaid,lies instakeholderinvolvement.“It is equally important that

our awareness (about the NEPand its provisions) shouldbe asdeep and wide-ranging as theconsultationprocess. It’s impor-tanttodiscussall theprovisionsand nitty-gritty of this docu-ment. It can only be imple-mented once all doubts andquestions inpeople’smindsareaddressed,” he said at the inau-gural session of the annualGovernor’s Conference hostedbyRashtrapati Bhawan.

“When we move towardschange, it’s natural for doubtsand questions to arise in peo-ple’s minds. Parentsmaywon-der how the move to dissolvesubject streams would affecttheir child’s future. Teachersmaywanttoknowhowthecur-riculumfor suchstudieswill bedesigned. Stakeholders couldhave questions about availabil-ity of adequate resources tomeettheobjectivesof theNEP,”hesaid,requestingallGovernorspresent at the conference tohold virtual events tillSeptember25intheirrespectivestates to improve the under-

standing of the policy amongthe stakeholders.The PM credited the wide-

ranging consultation under-takenbytheEducationMinistryin the drafting stages for theNEP’sacceptanceinthecountry.He furtherhighlightedpro-

visions of theNEPonexposuretovocations. “Tomake Indiaat-manirbhar, it’s important forour youth to be skilled.Vocationalexposureatayoungage and practical learning willhelp thembecomeemployableand this will also increase ourshare in theglobal jobmarket,”he said.

PMNarendraModi,PresidentRamNathKovindandGovernors interactontheNEPviavideoconference.ANI

ANNUALGOVERNORS’CONFERENCE

Spread awareness about NEPamong stakeholders: Modi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,SEPTEMBER7

THEWEST Bengal governmentwill not implement theNationalEducationPolicy(NEP),2020,forthe timebeing as it has reserva-tions against it and feels that“more discussions need to beheldonthematterwithallstake-holders”,stateEducationMinisterPartha Chatterjee said onMonday.Chatterjee,whoattendedthe

‘Governors' Conference on theRole of NEP in TransformingHigherEducation’,saidNEP-2020underminesthecountry'sfederalstructureandroleof states.He said, “Wewonderwhy a

rich language like Bengali hasbeen excluded from the list ofclassical languagesprescribedtobe learnt by students ofmiddleschool. This needs to berectified...”

More discussionsneeded, will notimplement NEPfor now, saysBengal minister

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

THEDRDOonMonday success-fully flight-tested aHypersonicTechnology DemonstratorVehicle(HSTDV),whichisanun-manned scramjet vehicle withthe ability to travel at six timesthespeedof sound.The test was conducted at

11.03 am from Dr A P J AbdulKalam Launch Complex atWheeler Island, off the coast ofOdisha.TheHSTDV tests the indige-

nouslydevelopedhypersonicair-breathing scramjet technology.Thescramjetsareavariantofair-breathing jet engines and havethe ability to handle airflow ofspeed much higher than thespeed of sound. Hypersonicspeedsarefivetimes–ormore–thanthespeedof sound.In a series of tweets, the

DRDO stated, “In a historicmis-sion today, India successfullyflight tested the HypersonicTechnology DemonstratorVehicle (HSTDV), (which is)agi-ant leap in indigenous defencetechnologies and a significantmilestone towards a Sashakt

BharatandAtmanirbharBharat.DRDO, with this mission, hasdemonstrated capabilities forhighly complex technology thatwill serve as thebuildingblocksforNextGenHypersonicvehiclesinpartnershipwiththeindustry.”Athypersonicspeed,thesys-

temhastohandleveryhighfluc-tuating temperatures, aswell asairspeed,andthusdevelopmentofthematerialisoneofthemainchallenges, among other com-plextechnologies.Prime Minister Narendra

Moditweeted,“Congratulationsto @DRDO_India for successfulflight of the Hypersonic TestDemonstration Vehicle today.The scramjet engine developedbyourscientistshelpedtheflightachieve a speed 6 times thespeedof sound!Very fewcoun-trieshavesuchcapabilitytoday.”Defence Minister Rajnath

Singh tweeted, “With this suc-cess, all critical technologies arenow established to progress tothenextphase.”DRDOscientists said the test

conducted was a major mile-stone, and a stepping stone forthe development of hypersonicsystems in both defence andciviliansector.

CANTRAVELAT6TIMESSPEEDOFSOUND

DRDO successfullyflight-tests hypersonictechnology vehicle,joins select group

Ahmedabad

12THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

WITH THE Centre stating that“spraying of disinfectant onhu-mans is not recommended” as itis“physicallyandpsychologicallyharmful”, the SupremeCourt onMonday asked why it had nottaken action against the use of‘disinfectiontunnels’.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta told thebenchof JusticesAshokBhushan,RSubhashReddyandMRShahthat thenecessaryorderswillbeissuedsoon.Thebenchwashearingaplea

whichsoughtabanonthe“usage,installation, production, adver-tisement of disinfection tunnelsinvolvingsprayingor fumigationofchemicaldisinfectantsfor...dis-infectinghumanbeings”.Respondingtothecourt’sno-

tice, theMinistry of Health andFamilyWelfaresaidinanaffidavit

that it had taken cognizance ofnews reports of people beingsprayedwith chemicals or ex-posedtosuchchemicalsviawalk-in tunnels and had convened ameetingof its technical advisory

bodyonApril8.The committee said that

“sprayingof disinfectants onhu-mansisnotrecommendedunderanycircumstances”and“isphys-ically andpsychologically harm-

ful.” Saying that “chemicals areharmful to human skin and themucousmembraneof the respi-ratory tract if inhaled”, the com-mittee also said that “externalsprayingofanychemicaldisinfec-tant doesnot kill a virus thathasalreadyenteredthebodyofaper-sonwhohasearlierbeenexposedtothevirus”.Theministry issued an advi-

soryonApril18,highlightingthecommittee’sreport.Accordingtotheministry’saf-

fidavit,anothermeetingwasheldonJune9,underthechairmanshipof the Directorate General ofHealthServices.Thismeetingre-iteratedthatsprayingdisinfectantvia tunnels, chambers, cabinetswas “not recommended” as itwould not diminish an infectedperson’sabilitytospreadthevirusthroughdropletsorcontact.Thegovernmentalsopointed

out that theguidelines issuedbytheNational Centre for Disease

ControlinJanuarystatedthatdis-infectant fogging is not recom-mended for routinepatient careareas. It said that fumigationandfogginghavenoroleintheopera-tiontheatre“becausefumigationwithformalinishazardoustoper-sonsandcanalsoharmsensitiveequipment”.Theministry said that in its

March29guidelinesondisinfec-tion of public areas which re-portedCovid-19 cases, “fogging/fumigating of the external envi-ronmentwasneveremphasised/advised.”The ministry said it had

“nowhere issued any advisory/guidelines/SOPforusage,instal-lation, production, advertise-ment of disinfectant tunnels in-volvingsprayingorfumigationofchemical/ organic disinfectantsfor the purpose of disinfectinghumanbeingsintheworkplace/office/publicplaces/externalen-vironments”.

Centre says spraying disinfectant onpeople harmful, SC askswhy no action

TheCentre’s technicaladvisorybodyhassaidchemicalscanbeharmful tohumanskinandrespiratorytract if inhaled

GARGIVERMARAIPUR,SEPTEMBER7

SIXMONTHSsincethefirstCovid-19 casewas registered in Chha-ttisgarh,thestateisrecordingoneofthefastestdailygrowthratesofcases in the country. BetweenAugust29andSeptember5,statecapitalRaipurrecordedanaveragepositivity rate of 35.12%— fivetimesthenationalaverageof7%.Withmore than2,500 cases

beingrecordedeveryday,thestaterecordedaspikeof3,457casesonSunday,withmostofthecasesbe-

ingreportedfromRaipur.Chief Minister Bhupesh

Baghel held ameetingwith thehealth department andHealthMinisterTSSinghDeoonSunday.Oneofthedecisionstakenwastorampuphomeisolation.“Thespreadisoutofourhands

now,wearefocusingonminimis-ingcasualties.EvenifIwanttoim-poselockdowninthestate,duetothecentralgovernment’sdecisionsofopeningup,caseswon’tbecon-trolled. So we have decided totacklethishead-on,”Baghelsaid.“Wehaveacomfortablenum-

berofbeds,butitisbetterifthose

showingminimum symptomsareathome,wheretheycaniso-latebutbearoundfamily.Ithelpsthemovercomedepression dueto fear of Covidwhile also keep-ing our healthcareworkers fo-cusedonthosewhoneedurgentmedicalcare,”headded.SinghDeosaid,“Wewillramp

up testing. The numbers areboundtoincrease,allwecandoisbeprepared.Thenumberofthosetestingpositiveismorethanthosegettingdischarged,soallourfacil-itieswillbeputtothetest.WehaveaskeddistrictstonotrefercasestoRaipur.Also,peoplewillhavetobe

careful—theymustwearmasks,practisedistancing.Wearetryingtodetectcasesfastwhilefocusingonvulnerablegroups.”Chhattisgarh,whichreported

1,000Covid-19patientsinthefirstweekof June,crossedthe45,000markinjustthreemonths.Raipurreportedmore than16,612casestill Sunday, ofwhich6,438weredischarged. Less than amonthago, the state had reported lessthan80deaths,whereasthenum-bernowis380.Fivedistrictshavemorethan1,000cases, includingRaipur,whichhasmorethan350containmentzones.

Experts said that cases arebound to increase exponentiallyinthenextfewweeks,especiallyinRaipur.“Therewasafalsesenseoflullamongpeopleasunlockingbegan.Withseveraleventsinthepastmonth for farming-relatedfestivals and launch of govern-ment schemes, more peoplestartedsteppingoutandfloutingnorms.Policedidrampupcheck-ing,butitwasnotenough,”asen-iordistrict-levelofficersaid.As districts and businesses

opened,thenumberofpeopleonroads increased, but policingcould not increase proportion-

ately due to lack of personnel,whichledtospreadofthedisease,expertssaid.According toRaipurCollector

SBharatidasan,Covidcarecentresarebeing reserved for thosewhoareunable tohome isolate. “Thegovernment has relaxed homeisolationnorms.Wearealsogiv-ing prophylactic kits to familymembersofthosetestingpositive.Awarenesscampaignsanddistri-butionofmasksandsanitisers isbeingdone.Wearetryingtoman-age the spread andencouragingpeopletostayathome,”hesaid.In Raipur, infections have

been reported among severalseniorIASandIPSofficers,aswellas in the CM’s house and secre-tariat. Police stations have beencontained.TheRaipurmunicipalcorporation has seen severalzonalcommissionersgointoiso-lationaftergettinginfected.“Weareworkingwithourex-

istingforceandhaveaskedforhelpfromdistrictauthoritiesforatleaststaticduties.Wearerunningsur-veillanceandmanningourCovidcare centres alongwith sanitisa-tionandmanningofcontainmentzones,” amunicipal officer fromRaipursaid.

Raipur positivity rate 35.12%, Chhattisgarh braces for spike in Covid cases

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER7

ACTORRHEAChakraborty,facingprobesbythreecentralagenciesin connectionwith the SushantSingh Rajput death case, onMondayfiledapolicecomplaintagainst the late actor's sisterPriyankaSinghandadoctorfromRamManohar Lohia hospital inDelhi for allegedly gettingSushantpsychiatric drugswith-out consultation and by using aforgedprescription.Rhea inher complaint asked

the Bandra police to investigateif thesemedications, which fallunder the ambit of theNarcoticDrugs and PsychotrophicSubstances (NDPS)Act, resultedin thedeteriorationof Sushant'smental health or his death onJune14.Afterbeingquestionedbythe

NCB onMonday, Rheawent tothe Bandra police station torecordherstatement.NoFIRhadbeen lodged into thematter tilllateevening.Inthecomplaint(accessedby

TheIndianExpress),RheasaidthatsomeWhatsAppchatsbetweenSushant and Priyanka on June 8“are extremely disturbing anddisclosethecommissionofvari-ous offences”. She added that inthese messages, Priyanka ad-vised Sushant to take variousmedications controlled undertheNDPSAct.“It seems that as permydis-

cussionwiththedeceasedatthetime, he had informedhis sisterthathewouldnotbeable toob-tainthesaidmedicationwithoutaprescription...Shockinglyithasnot come to light that his sisterPriyanka had subsequently, on

the same day, sent him a pre-scriptionbyoneDrTarunKumar,associateprofessorofcardiologyfrom Dr Ram Manohar LohiahospitalinNewDelhi,”thecom-plaint read.Itadded,“Primefaciethesaid

document appears forged andfabricated...DrKumarappearstohave prescribed medication(controlled)undertheNDPSActtothedeceasedwithoutanycon-sultationasmandatedby law.”“In fact, thedrugsprescribed

by Dr Kumar were prohibitedfrombeingprescribedelectron-ically under the telemedicinepractise guidelines,” the com-plaint furthersaid.Rhea also alleged that the

prescription prepared byPriyankaandthedoctor,“incon-nivancewitheachother”,isafab-ricatedandfalsedocumentgiventhat it shows Sushant to be anOPD patient when on the dateandtime,hewasinMumbaiandnot inDelhi.ShesoughtthatanFIRbereg-

isteredagainstthetwoandade-tailedinvestigationbecarriedoutbytheMumbaiPolice.Anofficersaidthattheyhave

received the complaint and areinvestigatingifanFIRcanbereg-istered inthematter.AdvocateVikasSingh,repre-

senting Sushant's family, how-ever, saidthatevenif theallega-tions were true, at worst it is acase of not following advisoryguidelines,whichdonotamountto a cognizable offence.“Secondly, the Mumbai PolicedoesnothavejurisdictioninthematterastheSupremeCourthasalready said that anyFIRarisingout of this case should behanded over to the CBI,” headded.

277 workerstest positive,constructionfirm getsRs 1-cr notice

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,SEPTEMBER7

AFTER 277 labourers testedCovid-19positivefromtwocon-struction sitesmanaged by PSPProjects, the AhmedabadMunicipalCorporation(AMC)onMondayissuedshow-causeno-ticeforfloutingsocialdistancingandotherCovid-19norms.The urban local body has

giventheconstructioncompanythree days to respond to theshowcase notice as to whyshouldtheynotbepenalisedRs1croreforfloutingthenormstobefollowed with respect to con-structionsites, aswas framedinanofficeorderdatedAugust13.The order stipulated social

distancing norms aswell as ap-pointingaCovid-19coordinatorat the site,whowill be deemedresponsible for adherence tomeasures to avoid contractingthevirus.The two sites are at IIM-

Ahmedabad,withthelabourersliving in quarters fixed at theGMDC ground near Vastrapur,and second at amall construc-tion site in Thaltej.When thesesites were visited by AMC offi-cials in person, it was observedthat social distancing was notmaintained, personal hygienewasnot followedandnoCovid-19 coordinator was appointed,thus putting the health of theworkersat risk.Testing teams from two ur-

banhealth centres at BodakdevandThaltejweresentatthetwositesrespectivelyandrapidanti-gen tests were conducted for1,050 of theworkers.With 277positivecases, thetestpositivityof thetwositescombinedstandatawhopping26percent.TheAMC,inapressnote,also

mentioned that the testing andtreatment costs are being com-pletely borne by the AMC andthe penalty amount shall gotowards treatment ofCovid-19 patients by the urbanlocalbody.

Battle againstcorona rageson, general ismissing inaction: Cong

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

WITH INDIA surpassingBrazil tobecomethecountrywiththesec-ondlargestnumberofpeoplein-fectedwith Covid-19, the Cong-ressMondaylaunchedascathingattack on the BJP government,sayingits“indifference,ineptitudeanda failed leadership”were re-sponsibleforthecurrentsituation.Congress communication

department in-chargeRandeepSurjewala said at a virtual pressbriefing, “Howwill the govern-mentarrest thealarming rise incorona infection? Howwill thegovernmentstop thecorona in-fectionfromspreadingtocroresof people? Howwill the Modigovernment check the spurt incoronadeaths?Howwillyoure-store the sinking economy?DoestheModigovernmenthaveasolutionorwill it blamegod?”Surjewala said thatNero fid-

dled while Rome burned.“Likewise…Indiahurled into theabyssofCoronaandModijiisbusyfeedingthepeacocks,”hesaid.“On March 24, Modi pro-

nouncedthatthebattleofMaha-bharatalastedfor18daysandthebattleagainstcoronashallbewonin 21 days... 166 days later, thewholecountry is fightinganepicbattleofMahabharataagainstco-ronapandemic,peoplearedyingof thediseasebutModiisbusyinphotoshoots... Thebattle againstcoronaragesonbutthegeneralismissinginaction,”hesaid.Surjewalaallegedthegovern-

menthasproved tobe “impetu-ous,completelyincompetentandutterly amateurish” in dealingwiththeoutbreak.TheCongress leader said the

pandemic is now spreading tosmallercities,townsandvillages,butthegovernmentcarriesonina state of “ignorance andindifference”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUDHIANA,SEPTEMBER7

POLICEONMondaybooked LokInsaaf PartyMLA Simarjit SinghBainsforallegedlyaskingpeoplenottowearmasksandspreadingmisinformationaboutCovid-19.TheFIRwaslodgedonacom-

plaintbyDrRajeshBagga,civilsur-geon, Ludhiana. Dr Bagga hasstated that in a video, the AtamNagarMLA is purportedlyheardaskingpeoplenottowearmasks.The casehas been registered

undersections188(disobediencetotheorderdulypromulgatedbypublic servant), 505 (statementsconducing topublicmischief) ofIPC, section3of EpidemicDisea-sesActandsection54ofDisasterManagementAct.Inhiscomplaint, thecivilsur-

geon said theMLA is running acampaign tomislead andmisin-formpeopleregardingCovid-19.WhileBainscouldnotbecon-

tacted, his brother Balwinder

SinghBains,alsoanMLAsaid,said,“EvenduringVidhan Sabha ses-sion, we did not wear masks.Accordingtoexperts,coronaviruscan spreadeven if youwearma-sks and they suffocate a person.ThereisnoWHOguidelinewhichmandateswearing amask. Thisgovernment hasmadewearingmasksmandatory just tomintmoney frompeople by issuingchallans. They can register asmanyFIRs against us as possiblebutwewillkeepraisingourvoiceforthepeople,”hesaid.LateonMonday,PTIreported

thatSimarjitandBalwinderBainswerebookedforviolatingnormsaftertheytookoutamarchagainstCabinet Minister Sadhu SinghDharamsotforhisallegedinvolve-ment in irregularities in a post-matricscholarshipscheme,policesaid. Patiala SSP Vikram JeetDuggalsaidacallwasgivenbytheLIP toprotest againstDharamsotand around 1,500 personsreachedthePUDAgroundunderin70to80buses. k

Punjab: FIR againstMLA for asking peoplenot to wear face masks

ON TRACK, ON GUARDAmidprecautionsandrestrictions,Metroservices resumedinseveral citiesonMonday

AHMEDABADAtotalof 28passengers travelledasservicesresumedonthe6.5-kmstretchbetweenApparelParkandVastralGam.Toensurethatallprecautionarymeasuresare inplace, restrictedserviceswillberunonTuesdaytoo.Thereafter,theservicewill runbetween11amand5pm.Express

BENGALURUServicesstartedonthePurpleLine fromByappanahalli stationtowardsMysuruRoadandback.Anofficial saidthe footfallwas low.TheBMRCLhassaid itwillnotopengatesatstations located incontainmentzones.Also,notokensarebeingsoldandpassengershavetousesmartcards.ANI

KOCHIKeralaCMPinarayiVijayaninauguratedtheThykoodam-Pettahstretch,markingcompletionof thefirstphaseofKochiMetro.UnionMinisterforCivilAviationandHousing&UrbanAffairsHardeepSinghPuripresidedoverthefunctionvirtually.Asservicesresumed,officialssaidsanitisationmeasureswereinplace.ANI

CHENNAIStoppagetimehasbeenincreasedatstations from20secondsto50secondssothatpassengersgetadequatetimetode-boardandboardwhilemaintainingphysicaldistancingnorms.Markingshavebeenput intrainsandonplatformssothatpassengerssitapart.PTI

LUCKNOWServicesstartedwithathincrowdbutthenumberofpassengers increased laterintheday.UVtechnology isbeingusedfor tokensanitisation.Markershavebeenplacedonalternateseats tomaintaindistance.Frequently touchedareassuchasgrabrailsarebeingsanitisedregularly.Vishal Srivastav

Y E T T O R E S U M E : M UM B A I , K O L K A T A , J A I P U R

HYDERABADServicesresumedontheMiyapur-LBNagarrouteonMondayandofficials saidoperationswillbeginonotherroutes inagradedmanner.Wearingafacemask ismandatory forallpassengersandstaff;violatorswillbepenalised.Markingsareinplacetoensuresocialdistancingatstationsandtrains.PTI

RheaChakrabortyat theNarcoticsControlBureauoffice inMumbaionMonday.GaneshShirsekar

Rhea files complaintagainst Sushant’ssister and doctor

Ahmedabad

C VID-19VACCINETRACKER

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

13WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

@ieExplained

#ExpressExplained

If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that youwould like

explained, pleasewrite to explained@indianexpress.comE EXPLAINEDTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

MANAMANSINGHCHHINA&KRISHNKAUSHIKCHANDIGARH,NEWDELHI, SEPTEMBER7

ONMONDAY, the funeral of NyimaTenzin,a soldier of the Special Frontier Force (SFF),washeldinLeh,withBJPleaderRamMadhavamongthosepresent.Whiletherehavebeenreports about SFF being involved in theAugust29-31operationtooccupypreviouslyunoccupiedheightsinChushulsectorineast-ernLadakh,theArmyhassofarmaintainedan official silence, and sources have saidTenzinwasonapatrolwhenhesteppedonalandminedatingbacktothe1962war,andwaskilled.AnotherSFFsoldierwasinjured.However, Yeshi Tenzin, father of the in-

jured soldier Tenzin Londen, has told TheIndianExpressthathissonalongwithhisunitwasinvolvedinanoperationtooccupyahill,Black Top, near the south bank of PangongTso.ThisisthefirsttimethattheSSF,asecre-tiveforce,hasbeensomuchinthepubliceye.

What is theSFF?

The SFFwas raised by the IntelligenceBureau in the immediate aftermath of the

1962China-Indiawar. The covert outfit re-cruitedTibetanexiles(nowithasamixtureof Tibetans andGorkhas) andwas initiallynamedEstablishment22(MajorGenSujanSinghUban, anArtillery officerwho raisedthe group, named it after the 22MountainRegiment he commanded). SubsequentlyrenamedSSF,itnowfallsunderthepurviewof theCabinetSecretariat.Ontheground, itisheadedbyanInspectorGeneralwhoisanArmy officer of the rank ofMajor General.Theunits comprising theSFFareknownasVikas battalions. Former Army Chief GenDalbirSinghheldthatofficeatonepoint.It iscommonlybelievedthattheSFFwas

raisedbyIndiaincoordinationwithUSintel-ligence agencies.However, formerCIAoffi-cer JohnKennetKnaus,whoworkedexten-sively in Tibet,wrote inOrphans of the ColdWar: America and the Tibetan Struggle forSurvivalthatwhiletheSFFhad“Washington’sfullendorsement”,itwasBNMullik,chiefofIndia’s IntelligenceBureau,whocreatedtheSFF“onhisown”.ButATomGrunfeld,historyprofessorattheStateUniversityofNewYork,wroteinapaperin2000thattheIndiangov-ernmenthadcreateda“TibetanmilitaryforcecalledtheSpecialFrontierForcewithUSsup-

port”and“eventually12,000TibetansweretrainedbyUSSpecial Forces (GreenBerets)andpartlyfundedbytheUStooperatefrombasesalongtheKashmirfrontierwheretheycrossed theborder into Tibet planting elec-troniclisteningdevices”.Theoriginaltaskasenvisagedwasclan-

destineoperationsbehindthelinesinTibet.

SodidUShaveanysay inSFF’srole?

Knaus wrote in his book that inNovember 1971, India ordered “approxi-

mately 3,000men of the Special FrontierForceintoactionintheChittagongHillTractstoaid theEast Pakistani insurgents fightingfortheindependenceofwhatwastobecomeBangladesh”.HewrotethatIndiacouldcom-mission theSFF troopsbecause itwas “waspurely their creature” and “theUS had novoice in thecommandof theSFForhowitstroopswereused…TheTibetan leadershipatDharamsalaalsohadapassiverole”.

AreSFFunitspartof theArmy?

Strictly speaking, the SFF units are notpartoftheArmybutfunctionunderitsoper-ationalcontrol.SSFunitshavetheirownrankstructures, of equivalent statuswithArmyranks.However, theyarespecial forcesper-sonnelhighlytrainedforavarietyof tasks.

Howaretheytrained?

TheSSFtrainingcentreisinChakrata,100kmoutsideDehradun.RecruitsareimpartedspecialforcestrainingbytheArmy.Thetrain-ing takes place under the auspices of theResearchandAnalysisWing(R&AW).Astheforcewasenvisagedasonethatwouldworkbehind enemy lines, all SFF soldiers aretrainedparachutists.Initially,theparatrain-

ingtakesplaceatSarsawanearSaharanpur,wheretheAviationResearchCentre,R&AW'scovert airwing, has a base.More advancedtraining takes place at Stakna in Ladakh tosimulate high-altitude paradrops.Womensoldiers too formpart of SFF units, and aregiventhesametrainingasmen.Itwasenvis-aged thatwomenworking alongsidemenwouldbeabletoprovidebettercamouflage.

WhatwastheSFF'srole in1971war?

In 1971, the SFF operated in theChittagonghilltractstoneutralisePakistanArmy positions and help the Indian Armyadvance. This was Operation Eagle. Theywereairdroppedbehindenemylinestode-stroy linesof communication.Theyplayeda vital role in preventing the escape ofPakistanArmypersonnelfromBangladeshintoBurma.Byoneestimate,over3,000SFFpersonnelwereusedintheeasterntheatreof the1971war.Alargenumberof themre-ceivedbraveryawards.

WhatothermajoroperationshaveSFF

units takenpart in?

Thereareseveralovertandcovertopera-tions inwhichSFFunitshavetakenpartover

the years, includingOperationBlue Star inGoldenTempleAmritsar, theKargil conflict,andcounter-insurgencyoperations.Detailsofmanyoperations,however,areclassified.ThisiswhythespotlightontheSFFinthe

recentLadakhoperationisunprecedented.Somewouldevensayit ispartofdeliberatesignalling by India to China.While severalSFF soldiers have been killed in earlier op-erations,RamMadhav'spresenceatNyimaTenzin's funeralonMondaymarks the firsttimeapoliticianhasattendedsuchanevent.

HasChinareactedto India’suseof the

SFF inLadakh?

Not officially. But TheGlobal Times, a re-flectionofChina'spositionsonimportantis-sues,haslashedoutatIndiafor“playingwithfire on the Tibet question”. In an article onSeptember 3 on the use of the SFF, it said:“TheseexiledTibetansonlyactascannonfod-der in India's attempt tonibble intoChina'sinterestsontheborderissue...DoesIndiadaretoopenlyrecognize‘Tibetsecessionism’anddenythatTibetisaninalienablepartofChina?IfNewDelhiisboldenoughtoopenlyopposethis fact, it is clearly aware of the conse-quencesandshootingitself inthefoot.”

RESEARCHERS HAVEfound that chest X-rayscould aid in rapid diag-nosis of Covid-19. TheirfindingsarepublishedinRadiology:CardiothoracicImaging.Radiologists at

Louisiana StateUniversity HealthSciences Center (LSUHealth) New Orleansconducted a retrospec-tive study of nearly 400 persons un-derinvestigationforCovid-19inNewOrleans. They reviewed thepatients’

chest X-rays alongwithconcurrentRT-PCRvirustests.UsingCovid-19im-agingpatterns,theycate-gorised each chest X-rayascharacteristic,nonspe-cific, or negative in ap-pearance forCovid-19.Theradiologistsfound

a characteristic chest X-ray appearance is highlyspecific (96.6%)andhasahigh positive predictive

value of 83.8% for SARS-CoV-2 infec-tioninthesettingofpandemic.

Source: LSUNewOrleans

PAPER

CLIPNEWRESEARCH

Radiologists show how chestX-rays can predict Covid-19

ACORONAVIRUSvaccinebeingdevel-opedbyaChinesecompanyhasbeenfirstusedonthecompany’sownem-ployees and their families. This vac-cine, being developed by SinovacBiotech, isoneof thethreethatChinahas authorised for ‘limited’or emergency use,withoutphase-3 clinical trials hav-ingbeenconducted.AReuters reportquoted

the CEO of the company assaying that about 90 percentof theemployeesandtheir fam-ilymembershadbeengiventhevac-cine doses. The CEO said the vaccinewas“offered”toapproximately2,000to 3,000 employees, and their fami-lies, “on a voluntary basis”. It wasn’tclearexactlyhowmanypeoplewere

injectedwith thevaccine.The Sinovac vaccine, called

CoronVac,wasclearedforemergencyuse in July, but has only now startedphase-3trialswhicharebeingheldinBrazil and Indonesia.

Twoothervaccinecandi-dates, one being developedbystate-runSinopharm,andthe other by CanSinoBiologics in collaborationwith Academy of MilitaryMedical Sciences, have also

been approved by the Chinese au-thorities. There is no informationabout thenumberof people injectedwiththesetwoothervaccines.Thesetwo candidates have also not gonethrough phase-three clinical trials,whicharebeginningonlynow.

Sinovac'svaccinecandidateondisplay inBeijing.Reuters

Special Frontier Force: why is a covert group under the spotlight now?

SSF’sNyimaTenzinwaskilledrecently.Reuters

INDIAACTIVECASES 882,542

WORLDTOTALCASES

27,200,943

Source:JohnsHopkinsUniversity,

updatedat11pmonSept7

INDIATOTALCASES

4,204,613

Source: MinistryofHealth&Family

Welfare,updatedat11pmon Sept7

Note: TheSept6 figure in this graph isbasedon thegovernmentupdateonSept7

900,000

800,000

700,000

752,424

882,542

Aug28 Sep 6LAST 10 DAYS

China’s Sinovac uses vaccineon own employees, families

SUSHANTKULKARNIPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

THEDEFENCE Research andDevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) saidonMonday that ithas successfully flight tested theHypersonicTechnologyDemonstratorVehicle (HSTDV),which is anunmanned scramjet vehicle thatcantravelatsixtimesthespeedofsound.

Whatisascramjet?

Scramjetsareavariantof acategoryof jetenginescalledair-breathingengines.Whenanenginecanhandleairflowsofspeedsinmulti-plesofspeedofsound,thevehiclecanoperateat those speeds. Hypersonic speeds are fivetimes the speed of sound, ormore. TheunittestedbytheDRDOcanachieveuptosixtimesthespeedof soundorMach6(over7,000kmperhouroraround2kmpersecond).For the test onMonday, the hypersonic

combustion sustainedand the cruise vehiclecontinuedonitsdesiredflightpathataveloc-ityofMach6 foraperiodof 20seconds. “Thecriticaleventslikefuelinjectionandautoigni-tionof scramjet demonstrated technological

maturity.Thescramjetengineperformedinatextbookmanner,”DRDOsaid.Whilethetech-nology helps achieve hypersonic speeds, itcomeswithdisadvantages,includingveryhighcostandhighthrust-to-weightratio.

Howdidthetestgo?

It tookplaceat11:03amatDrAP JAbdulKalamLaunchComplexatWheelerIsland,offthecoastofOdisha.AsolidrocketmotoroftheAgnimissilewasusedtotake it toanaltitudeof 30kmwhere the cruise vehicle separatedfrom the launch vehicle, and the air intakeopenedasplanned.Theparametersofthetestweremonitoredbymultiple systems, and ashipwasdeployedintheBayofBengaltomon-itor performanceduring the cruise phase ofthehypersonicvehicle.Allparametershavein-dicatedaresoundingsuccess,officialssaid.AseniorDRDOscientistsaidalthoughthe

systemwastestedforaveryshortduration, ithasgivenscientistsalargesetofdatapointstoworkon for further development. Scientistsbelievethatwhilethetestisamajormilestone,many more tests will have to be done toachievethesameleveloftechnologyastheUS,RussiaorChina.“This iscertainlyamilestone,

butdeveloperswillhavetolookatitasastep-pingstone,”aDRDOscientistsaid.

Howwasthetechnologydeveloped?

Itwasdevelopedindigenously,whichwillalsoboostfuturedevelopmentofsystemsbuiltwithhypersonicvehiclesattheircore,includ-inghypersoniccruisemissilesystemsandalsoin thespace sector.DefenceMinisterRajnathSinghtweeted,“TheDRDOhastodaysuccess-fully flight tested theHypersonicTechnologyDemonstratorVehicleusingtheindigenouslydevelopedscramjetpropulsionsystem.Withthis success, all critical technologies arenowestablishedtoprogresstothenextphase.”TheDRDOstarteddevelopmentoftheen-

gine inearly2010s. ISROtoohadsuccessfullytestedsuchasystemin2016.DRDOconductedatestof thissysteminJune2019.ThisDRDOspecialprojectconsistedofcon-

tributionsfromitsmultiplefacilitiesincludingthe Pune-headquartered Armament andCombat EngineeringCluster. “At hypersonicspeeds,thesystemhastohandletemperaturestotherangeof2500°Caswellastheairspeed,and thusdevelopmentof thematerial is oneofthemainchallenges,”saidaDRDOscientist.

DRDO’shypersonicvehicle,poweredbyscramjetengine. PIB

AMITABHSINHA,ANURADHAMASCARENHAS&AJAYJADHAVPUNE,SEPTEMBER7

ONMONDAY, the number of confirmedcasesofnovelcoronavirus infection inPunereached the two-lakhmark. The infectioncount in Pune (2.03 lakh) is not just morethan any other city, including Delhi (1.93lakh)orMumbai(1.57lakh),butisevenmorethan every state except the five with thehighest caseload.

WhatexplainsPune’shighcount?

Punehasasubstantiallylowerpopulationthan either Delhi orMumbai, the two citieswiththesecondandthirdhighestnumberofconfirmedcases,anditislessdenselypackedaswell.BothMumbaiandDelhihaveahighernumberofmigrants, a far highernumberofinternationaltravellerscomingin,andmuchmoreeconomicactivity.The emergence of Pune as the citywith

thehighestnumberofcasesissomewhatin-triguing, although not entirely a surprisesince itwasalwaysamongthefiveworstaf-fectedcities.OnereasonoftencitedPune’shighcount

is that the city has been carrying outmanymore tests.While it is true that Pune rightnowisconductingmoreteststhananyothercity inMaharashtra, includingMumbai, thenumberof tests inDelhi is evenhigher.Scientists, health officials and officials

have flaggedseveralother things that couldhavecontributed toPune’s riseas theworstaffectedcity.GREATERSPREAD:Arecentserological

survey in Pune revealed that in someof thesurveyedareas,morethan50%to60%of thepopulation had already been infected al-thoughmostof thesehadnotbeendetected.Similar surveys in other cities, Delhi,Mumbai,Chennai,Ahmedabad,haveshownfarlowerdegreeofdiseasespread.Delhi, forexample, has been found to have a diseaseprevalence of about 29%, andMumbai 40%insomeareas.This could mean that Pune has a far

higher proportion of its population alreadyinfected.Astestingincreases,moreandmoreof thesearegettingdetected.Andthatcould

bebecausePunewasoneoftheearliestcitiesto reportacoronavirus infection.LESS EFFECTIVE ISOLATIONMEA-

SURES:PunehadreportedthefirstinfectioninMaharashtra,waybackonMarch9.Mostoftheearliestcasesinthestatewereconcen-tratedinMumbaiandPune.WhileMumbairaced ahead atone stage, as itwas receivinglarge number of international travellers,Punewas also adding up numbers at a fastpace. But, experts now point out, contacttracing and isolation did not happen as ef-fectively inPuneas itdid inMumbai.Dr Subhash Salunke, chairman of the

state technical committee onprevention ofcommunicablediseases,saidwhilePune,likeMumbaiandDelhi,hasahugeinflowofpeo-plefromotherareas,whatisuniquetoPuneis its close linkages with the rural areas.“Therearepeoplemakingtwotothreetripstothecityeverydayfromnearbyruralareas.Contact tracing becomes a slightly difficultexercise in such a setting, especially whentheseareasareunderthedomainofmultiplecivicauthorities,”hesaid.Mumbai, forexample,hadpreparedsev-

erallargemakeshifthospitals,equippedwithoxygenatedbedsandventilators,byMayand

June. That not only helped in dealingwiththe shortage of hospital beds, but also pro-vided specialised care and served as isola-tioncentres.Punegotitsfirstsuchfacilityto-wards the end of August, and that too isplaguedwithproblems.MaheshZagade, formerPuneMunicipal

Commissionerwho is remembered for hisrole in containing the H1N1 outbreak inPune, said thecityadministrationwasreac-tiveinthepresentepidemic. “Therecertainlyhas been some amount of administrativemismanagement. Covid-19 requires a pre-ventive strategy. But the administration inPunewashandling it likeacurativedisease,which it is not. Punewas always fire-fight-ingandnot thinkingahead,”Zagadesaid.HIGHERTESTING:Onanaverage, test-

ing inPunehasof latebeenbetween13,500and14,500sampleseveryday,thehighestinthestate.Andmostof theseareRT-PCRtests,whicharemorereliable thantherapidanti-gentestswhichaccountforamajorityoftestsinotherplaces, includingDelhi.“The scaledup testinghas increasedour

numbers,nodoubt.Butthatshouldnotbeaconcernbecauseit leadstoanearly identifi-cationandisolationof infectedpersons,and

that helps in the long run. It also helps inkeeping themortality under check,” said acivicofficer.Some scientists alsopoint out that Pune

has been following a more transparentprocess in reporting itsnumbers.DibyenduNandi, a professor at IISERKolkatawhohasbeenworkingwithPuneauthorities indataanalysis, said the city hadmuch “cleaner”data thanmany other cities. “Sowhat yousee from Pune are a very good reflection oftheactualsituation.That isnottrueofmanyothercities.Thenumbersthatyouseetherearenotagoodrepresentationofwhatmightbehappening,”hesaid.NOTENOUGHDISTANCING:Somealso

point to the fact that lockdown restrictionswere not effectively enforced in Pune andtherehasbeenpoor complianceof physicaldistancing norms. This is also evident fromthefact thatPunehashadthehighestnum-berofpeopleinMaharashtrawhohavebeenfinedfornotwearingmasksorviolatinglock-downrestrictions.“If the authorities had strictly imple-

mented the lockdown for 14 days, then thespread of the infection could have beenchecked.Thecurrentsituationindicatesthatenforcement was not up to the mark,”Zagadesaid.AdecisionwastakenonaRs500fine for

thosenotwearingamaskorspittinginpub-lic.However, therewasnotmuchbywayofimplementation. The finehasnowbeen in-creasedtoRs1,000,withpoliceempoweredtopenalisecitizensnotwearingamask.

What is thewayahead?

ScientistslikeLSShashidhara,aprofessorat IISER Pune and Ashoka University inHaryana,saidthesituationinPuneislikelytostart improving. “The daily growth rate ofcaseshasbeengoingdown.Andthereareal-ready indications that by the end of thismonth,wewill start seeing a decline in thecasesbeing reported,”hesaid.Meanwhile, Delhi is going through an-

other turnaround. Delhi’s daily new detec-tionshavebeguntorisesteadilyandarenowalmost at parwithwhat Pune has been re-porting. If it continues to rise in the samefashion, there is every possibility that Punemight lose its not-so-glorious numberoneposition.

How Pune topped Covid countSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Pune’spopulation is smaller thanDelhiandMumbai’s, and ithas lesseconomicactivity. Scientists lookat reasonswhyitscount ishighest, andestimatehowlong itwill takebeforesituation incity improves

SamplecollectionforCovid-19testing inPune.ArulHorizon/Filephoto

Scramjet: how it works, why it matters

Ahmedabad

14THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

THEWORLD

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

BRITAIN

Assange’s legal

fighttoavoid

USespionage

trial resumesJULIAN ASSANGE re-sumed his battle in aLondoncourt onMondaytoavoidextraditiontotheUnitedStatestofacecrim-inalchargesovertheactiv-itiesofhisWikiLeaksweb-site,aftermonthsofdelaydue to the coronaviruslockdown.TheUSauthor-ities accuse Australian-bornAssange, 49, of con-spiring to hackgovernment computersand of violating an espi-onage law in connectionwith the release of confi-dential cables byWikiLeaks in 2010-2011.Assange,clean-shavenandwearingasuitatMonday’shearing,declinedtobeex-traditedtofaceasupersed-ing indictment byUS au-thoritiesinJune.REUTERS

JulilanAssange

TOPOFTHEWORLD

SRILANKA

Deathrowconvict

MPallowedto

attendParliamentASRILankanMPfromtheruling party, who waselected to Parliamentwhileservingadeathsen-tenceinamurdercase,wasonMondayallowed to at-tendtheparliamentarysit-tings by a court here. TheCourt of Appeal issued aninterimorder,directingau-thoritiestomakearrange-ments for Sri LankaPeople’sPartyMPPremalalJayasekera to attend theParliament sessionbegin-ningTuesday.Hewascon-victedinamurdercaseonJuly 31, just days ahead ofthe August 5 parliamen-taryelections.PTI

USA

Orcathatcarried

itsdeadcalffor

17daysgives

birthagainANORCAthatoncespent17dayscarryingherdeadcalf—adramaticsagaofappar-ent mourning — has be-comeamotheronceagain.Theorca, identifiedby re-searchers as J35, becameasymbolin2018oftheplightof the Southern Residentwhales,whichwere88 innumberwhen theywerelisted as endangered in2005 andhave dwindledfurther since then. J35hada calf in 2018 that diedshortly after birth off thecoast of BritishColumbia.Themother continued tocarry the calf, pushing itthrough thewater and re-peatedlydiving to retrieveitwhenitfellaway.NYT

RICHARDCPADDOCK&DERAMENRASIJABATSEPTEMBER7

ON SCHOOL days, the threeteenage students hop on amo-torbikeandridetotheirpersonalstudyhall:aspotalonganarrowroadoutsidethe Indonesianvil-lage of Kenalanwhere they cangeta stablecellphonesignal.Sittingontheshoulderof the

road, they do their lessons onsmartphonesandasinglelaptopas cars andmotorbikes zip by.Thethreestudents—twosistersand their 15-year-old aunt —havebeen studying thiswayonthe island of Java sinceMarch,

when Indonesia closed itsschools anduniversities to con-tain thecoronavirus.“Whentheschoolorderedus

tostudyathomeIwasconfusedbecausewe don’t have a signalat home,” said one of the girls,Siti SalmaPutri Salsabila, 13.Thetravailsofthesestudents,

andotherslikethem,havecometosymbolisethehardshipsfacedby millions of schoolchildrenacross the Indonesian archipel-ago. Officials have shutteredschools and implemented re-mote learning, but internet andcellphone service is limitedandmany students lack smart-phonesandcomputers.In North Sumatra, students

climb to the tops of tall trees amile from their mountain vil-lage. Perched on branches highabovetheground, theyhopefora cell signal strong enough tocomplete their assignments.Aroundtheglobe,includingin

some of theworld’swealthiestcountries, educators are strug-glingwithhowtobestmakedis-tance learning viable during thepandemic.Butinpoorercountrieslike Indonesia, the challenge isparticularlydifficult.More than a third of

Indonesian students have lim-ited or no internet access, andexperts fearmany studentswillfall far behind, especially in re-mote areaswhere online study

remainsanovelty.With the start of a new aca-

demic year in July, schools invirus-freezoneswereallowedtoreopen, but these schools serveonly a fraction of the nation’sstudents.AsofAugust, commu-nitiesinlow-riskareascouldde-cidewhether toreopenschools,but fewhavedoneso.Thedifficulties facedbyrural

students todaywill further con-tributetoinequalityinIndonesia,theworld’s fourth largest coun-try, said LuhurBima, a senior re-searcher with the SmeruResearch Institute, a Jakarta-basedpublicpolicycenter.“Evenwithoutthepandemic,

thereisabiggapbetweentheru-

ral andtheurban,”hesaid.The minister of education,

NadiemMakarim,whofoundedthetechcompanyGo-Jekbeforeentering politics, has wrestledwith how to balance students’health and education. Closingschools can set them back aca-demicallyandleadtolonelinessanddepression.“The question is how we

makeatrade-offbetweenhealthrisks and permanent loss oflearning for areas in Indonesiathatsimplycannot,or find itex-tremely hard, to do distancelearning,”hesaid.“What’s happening right

now in Indonesia and in othercountries is not just a loss of

learning,”headded.“Thelevelofstress,loneliness,andtensionarefelt by both parents and stu-dents,nottomentiontheteach-ers. Thesearenot small issues.”Theministry,Nadiemsaid,has

simplified curriculums, aban-doned the standardisednationalexamandauthorizedschoolprin-cipals to use operating funds topayforstudents’ internetaccess.Today, about13millionpeo-

pleacross12,500remotevillageshave no access to the internet,saidSetyantoHantoro,presidentdirectorof Telkomsel, thecoun-try’slargesttelecommunicationscompany, which is cooperatingwiththegovernmenttoprovideservice in far-flungareas.NYT

WITH SCHOOLS CLOSED IN INDONESIA, THE RURAL POOR FIND ONLINE EDUCATION PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT

When learning is really remote: Students climb trees, travel miles for cell signal

GUYFAULCONBRIDGE,ELIZABETHPIPER&WILLIAMJAMESLONDON,SEPTEMBER7

BRITAIN’S TORTUOUS divorcefromtheEuropeanUnionveeredintofreshcrisisonMondayafterLondonsignalleditcouldunder-mine the exit agreement withBrusselsunless free trade termsareagreedbynextmonth.In yet another twist to the

four-yearsagasinceBritainvotednarrowly to quit the EU, PrimeMinisterBoris Johnson’sgovern-mentwas reportedly planningnewlegislation tooverridepartsof the Brexit WithdrawalAgreementitsignedinJanuary.That could potentially jeop-

ardise thewhole treatyandcre-ate frictions in British-ruledNorthern Irelandwhere specialarrangementshadbeenmadetoavoidahardborderwithIrelandto thesouth that couldbedetri-mental toapeaceagreement.Britain said itwould honour

thedealandwassimplyofferingclarificationstoavoidanyfuturelegaldifficulties.ButtheFinancialTimesnews-

paper cited threepeopleas say-ing the proposed internalmar-ket bill was expected to“eliminatethelegalforceofpartsofthewithdrawalagreement”inareas including state aid andNorthern Irelandcustoms.EU diplomats were aghast,

cautioning that such a step —leakedon theeveof newtalks—wouldtarnishBritain’sglobalpres-tigeandheightenchancesofatu-multuousfinaldisentanglingfromthebloconDec31.Britainsaiditwascommitted

to the divorce deal. “Wearetak-

ing limitedand reasonable stepstoclarify specific elementsof theNorthern IrelandProtocol indo-mestic law to removeanyambi-guity and to ensure the govern-ment is alwaysable todeliveronits commitments,” a spokesmanforJohnsonsaid.REUTERS

13,000 EMPTY CHAIRS: ACTIVISTS URGE MIGRANTS’ RESCUEEmptychairssetupbyactivists in frontof theReichstagbuilding inBerlin foraprotestdemandingtheevacuationofGreekmigrantcamps.The13,000chairs symbolise the inhabitantsof theMoriacampontheGreek islandof Lesbos,aswell thereadinessof someGermancitiesandstates totakemigrants in.Greekauthorities lastweekimposeda14-dayquarantineonMoriaafteronemanwhohadbeenliving inatentoutsidethecampfencetestedpositive for thevirus.AsofAugust31, theMoriacamphoused12,714people, several times itscapacityof2,757.REUTERS

Brexit back in crisisas UK threatensto undercut EU dealEUdiplomatswarnagainstUKplanforBill tooverridepact

SomeEuropeandiplomatsfearthatBorisJohnsonmayviewano-dealexitasusefuldistractionfromtheCovidcrisis.Reuters

REUTERSSEPTEMBER7

UNIDENTIFIEDPEOPLEdetainedBelarusian protest leaderMariaKolesnikovainMinskonMondayand drove her off in aminivan,theBelarusianTut.Bymediaout-letcitedawitnessassaying.Kolesnikovaisthelastofthree

female politicians left insideBelaruswhojoinedforcesbeforeanAug.9presidential election totry to challenge veteran incum-bentAlexanderLukashenko.A vocal critic of Lukashenko,

shehasplayedanimportantroleinthecountry’spost-electionpo-liticalcrisiswhichhasseenweeksof mass protests and strikes bypeoplewho accuse Lukashenkoof rigging his own re-election,somethinghedenies.Her abduction comes as

Belarusianauthoritiesappeartobesteppinguptheireffortstotrytobreakprotesters’momentum.Tens of thousands of people

demonstratedonSundayandse-curityforcesdetained633protest-ers,Belarusianauthoritiessaid.Kolesnikova’s allies said they

were checking the report of herdetention. Police inMinskwerecited by Russia’s Interfax newsagencyassayingtheyhadnotde-tained her. Before the election,Kolesnikova had joined forceswithoppositionpresidentialcan-didate SviatlanaTsikhanouskayawho later fled to Lithuania, andwithVeronikaTsepkalo,whohasalsosinceleftthecountry.

Belarusianoppositionpoliticianandprotest leaderMariaKolesnikova inMinskonAugust29.Reuters

Unidentifiedpeople detainBelarus protestleader: report

China freezescredentials forjournalists at USoutlets, hintingat expulsions

EDWARDWONGWASHINGTON,SEPTEMBER7

THE CHINESE government hasstoppedrenewingpresscreden-tialsforforeignjournalistswork-ingforAmericannewsorganisa-tionsinChinaandhasimplieditwill proceedwith expulsions iftheTrumpadministrationtakesfurther action against Chinesemedia employees in theUnitedStates, according to six peoplewithknowledgeof theevents.The actions and threats raise

the stakes in the continuing cy-cles of retribution betweenWashington and Beijing overnewsmediaorganisations.Thoseroundsofretaliationareapromi-nentelementof amuchbroaderdownwardspiralinUS-Chinare-lations, one that involvesmutu-ally hostile policies and actionsovertrade,technology,education,diplomaticmissions,TaiwanandmilitarypresenceinAsia.USnewsorganisationsimme-

diately affectedbyChina’s latestactions include CNN, The WallStreet Journal andGetty Images.Journalists fromall threeorgani-sationstriedtorenewpresscardswith the Foreign Ministry lastweek, but were told the cards,which are usually good for oneyear,couldnotberenewed.NYT

Cases rise in 22 states as UScelebrates holiday weekend

UNICEF to lead globalprocurement, supplyof Covid-19 vaccines

YOSHITASINGHUNITEDNATIONS,SEPTEMBER7

INWHAT could possibly be theworld’s largest and fastest everoperationof itskind,UNICEFhasannouncedthatitwouldbelead-ing theprocurementandsupplyof Covid-19 vaccines to ensurethat all countries have safe, fastand equitable access to initialdoseswhentheyareavailable.The United Nations

Children’s Fund is already theworld’s largest single vaccinebuyer,procuringmorethan2bil-liondosesofvariousvaccinesan-nually for immunisation andoutbreak response on behalf of

nearly100countries.With several vaccine candi-

dates showing promise, theUNagency,incollaborationwiththeRevolving Fund of the PanAmerican Health Organisation(PAHO),will lead efforts to pro-cureandsupplydosesof Covid-19vaccinesonbehalf of theCO-VAXGlobal Vaccines Facility for92 low and lower middle-in-come countries, whose vaccinepurchaseswill be supported bythemechanism.“We are ready for an im-

mense new challenge: to leadthe global supply of Covid-19vaccinesandhelpendtheworststageof thispandemic,”UNICEFtweetedonSaturday.PTI

Teenagersstudyingonthesideof aroad inKenalan,Indonesia.Thecell reception is strongenoughtheretodownloadtheir schoolassignments.NYT

CORONAVIRUSCASESare risingin22of the50USstates,accord-ing to a Reuters analysis, awor-risometrendonaLaborDayhol-idayweekendtraditionallyfilledwith familygatheringsandpar-ties tomark theendof summer.As little as threeweeks ago,

cases were increasing in onlythree states,Hawaii, Illinois andSouth Dakota, according to ananalysiscomparingcasesforthe

two-week period of Aug. 8-22with thepast twoweeks.Most of the 22 stateswhere

cases are now rising are in theMidwestandSouth.SouthDakotahad thebiggest

percentageincreaseoverthepasttwoweeksat126%,reportingover3,700newcases.Officials linkedsomeof the rise to thousandsofmotorcyclistswhogatheredinthestateforarallyinAugust.REUTERS

Saudi sentences 8 to prison infinal Khashoggi murder ruling

REUTERSRIYADH,SEPTEMBER7

A SAUDI Arabian court onMondayjailedeightpeopleforbe-tweensevenand20years forthe2018murder of Saudi journalistJamalKhashoggi, statemediare-ported,fourmonthsafterhisfam-ilyforgavehiskillersandenableddeathsentencestobesetaside.Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi

Crown PrinceMohammed binSalman,waslastseenattheSaudiconsulate in IstanbulonOctober2,2018,wherehehadgonetoob-tain documents for his impend-ingwedding. His bodywas re-portedly dismembered andremoved from the building, andhisremainshavenotbeenfound.Themurder caused a global

uproar and tarnished the re-formist image of PrinceMohammed,sonofKingSalmanandthekingdom’sdefactoruler.Statemediareportedthatfive

people were handed 20-yearprisonsentences,onepersonwassentenced to 10 years and twopeoplewerehanded seven-year

sentences for thekilling.Noneofthedefendantswerenamed.Atanearlierstageof thetrial

in December, the court sen-tenced five people to death andthree to jail saying then that thekilling was not premeditated,butcarriedout“atthespurofthemoment.Again,noneof thede-fendantswerenamed.SomeWesterngovernments

said they believed PrinceMohammedorderedthekilling.Saudi officials denied he

playedarole,thoughinSeptember2019 theprince indicated somepersonalaccountability,saying“ithappenedundermywatch”.InMay,thefamilyoftheslain

journalist said they forgave hismurderers,pavingthewayforareprieve for the five defendantssentenced todeath.

Fiveget20-yrterms,others10and7yrs;nonewerenamed

JamalKhashoggiwaskilledinsidetheSaudiconsulate inIstanbulOctober2,2018

REUTERSBERLIN,SEPTEMBER7

KREMLINCRITICAlexeiNavalnyhas been removed fromamed-ically induced coma and is re-sponding to speech, Berlin’sCharitehospitalsaidonMonday.Thehospital,whichhasbeen

treatingNavalnysincehewasair-lifted toGermany after falling illon aRussiandomestic flight lastmonth,saidhisconditionhasim-proved and he is beingweanedoffmechanicalventilation.“Itremainstooearlytogauge

the potential long-term effectsofhisseverepoisoning,”Charitesaid inastatement.Navalny,aprominentcriticof

President Vladimir Putin, wasairlifted toGermany lastmonthafter collapsing on a flight fromthe Siberian city of Tomsk toMoscow. ItmadeanemergencylandinginOmsksothatNavalnycouldbestretcheredoff.Chancellor Angela Merkel

has said her government hasconcludedNavalny,44,waspoi-sonedwithNovichok, the samesubstance that Britain saidwasused against a Russian doubleagent andhisdaughter inanat-tack inEngland in2018.Moscow says it has seen no

evidencehewaspoisoned.The incident has put the fu-

ture of Germany’s Nord Stream2 pipelinewith Russia in doubtas a growing number of polti-cianscallforsupportfortheproj-ect to be withdrawn unless

Russia helps to clear up the cir-cumstances around Navalny’spoisioning.Merkel’s spokesmansaidon

Monday she does not rule outimposing sanctions on thepipeline in response to the sus-pectedpoisoning.Novichok is a deadly nerve

agentdevelopedbytheSovietmil-itaryinthe1970sand1980s.Britain says Russia used

Novichok to poison former spySergeiSkripalandhisdaughter inthecityofSalisburytwoyearsago.

GermanyhassaidAlexeiNavalnywaspoisonedwiththeNovichoknerveagent

Putin critic Navalny has comeout of coma: Berlin hospital

Berlin’sCharitehospital

saidthat itwastooearly

togaugethepotential

long-termeffectsof

Navalny’ssevere

poisoning.Moscowsays

ithasseennoevidence

hewaspoisoned.

“The reality of America today is what we

have seen over generations and, frankly,

since our inception, which is, we do have

two systems of justice inAmerica.”

—KAMALAHARRIS, on systemic racism in theUS justice system

Exitsealed,buttermsyettobedecided

AFTERPROLONGEDne-gotiationsandinfight-ing, theUKfinallyagreedonawithdrawaldealwiththeEU,andofficiallyexitedthebloconJanuary31thisyear.Butthewithdrawalagreementisonlyaboutthetermsof theUK’sseparationfromtheEU.Themoreimportantdeal,espe-cially forBritain’seconomy, is

theonethatsetsout itspost-BrexitrelationshipwiththeEU, includingontradeandimmigra-tion. If thisdeal isnot

struckbeforetheendof thisyear, itcouldresult inUKbusi-nesses losingguaranteedac-cesstotheEuropeanmarket.Expertshavelongwarnedthatsuchasituationwouldhit theBritisheconomyveryhard.

Ahmedabad

15SENSEX: 38,417.23 ▲ 60.05 NIFTY: 11,355.05 ▲ 21.20 NIKKEI: 23,089.95 ▼ 115.48 HANG SENG: 24,589.65 ▼ 105.80 FTSE: 5,920.18 ▲ 121.10 DAX: 13,062.15 ▲ 219.49

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,SEPTEMBER8,2020

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

GOLD`51,877

RUPEE`73.35

OIL$42.03

SILVER`69,448

Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket;goldper10g, silverper1kg;Brentcrudeasof2130IST

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

BPCL to continue offeringsubsidised LPG ‘for sometime’ post privatisation

At what stage are Covid vaccine candidates in India?PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

BHARATBIOTECH is expected tomovetophaseIItrialsof‘Covaxin’,its Covid-19 vaccine candidate,this week. With several an-nouncements of companies ei-ther entering intoagreements tomake Covid-19 vaccines or an-nouncinghumanclinicaltrialsfortheircandidatesinIndiainthelastfewmonths,TheIndianExpressre-caps themajor players towatchoutforherenow:

‘Covishield’byUniversityof

Oxford-AstraZeneca

Thiscandidate—inlatestagephase III tests across countriesliketheUK,BrazilandSouthAfr-ica — has also entered phase II

human trials in India. Here,Serum Institute of India is ex-pected to test it onaround1,600partici-pants.ThephaseII/IIItrials in India are ex-pected to take sevenmonths—potentiallyuntilMarch 2021—accordingtoCTRI.

‘ZyCov-D’byZydus

Cadila

Zydus Cadila said in AugustthatphaseItrialsofthecandidateshoweditwas“safeandwell tol-erated”,allowingittomovetothesecondphaseof human trials onAugust 6.While company chair-manPankajPatelearliersaidthatthephaseIandIItrialswouldlasttill October, CTRI shows that thetrialsareexpectedtotakearound

ayeartocomplete.

‘Covaxin’byBharat

Biotech

A candidate thatraked up contro-versy in early Julyfollowing an IndianCouncil of MedicalResearch letterpushing for anAugust 15 launch, it

is expected to enter phase II hu-man trials this week. BharatBiotechis lookingatacapacityofaround300milliondoses of thevaccine,accordingtosources.

RBDproteinvaccinebyBaylor

Collegeof

Medicine-BiologicalE

Biological E,which inked anagreementwithBaylorCollegeof

Medicinelastmonth, isexpectedto conduct human trials for thisvaccinecandidate in India.Thesetrialsarelikelytobeginthismonthornext, dependingonwhen thecompanyappliesforandreceivespermissiontobeginthetesting.

GC019byGennova

Biopharmaceuticals-HDTBio

Gennova, a subsidiary ofEmcurePharmaceuticals,intendstoinitiatehumantrialsinIndiabyOctoberandalsoplansglobaltest-ing incollaborationwithpartnerHDT Bio in the US, Brazil andSouthAfrica.Atpresent, thefirmhasthecapacitytomakearound150-200milliondosesannually,but is working towards scalingup tomakeover abilliondoses.

Full report onwww.indianexpress.com

KARUNJITSINGHNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

CUSTOMERS OF BharatPetroleumCorporationLtd(BPCL)willcontinuegettingliquefiedpe-troleumgas (LPG) at subsidisedratespost theprivatisationof theoilmarketing company (OMC).However, themovewill notnec-essarilyleadtoopeningupofsub-sidised LPG segment to privateplayers,accordingtoaseniorgov-ernmentofficial.TarunKapoor,Secretary,Mini-

stryofPetroleumandNaturalGas,toldTheIndianExpressthegovern-mentwouldensurethatLPGcus-tomers of BPCL, including thoseundertheUjjwalascheme,wouldbe able to continue purchasingLPG fromthe companypost pri-vatisation.“Theentireprivatesec-torcannotbebroughtatthesamelevel, but BPCL, even after it getsprivatised,hastocontinuetohan-dle these customers at least forsome time. Therefore, a separatearrangement has to beworkedout,”saidKapoor.He noted that the large LPG

customerbaseofBPCLwouldnotbe allowed to suffer and that the

subsidylevelprovidedtoLPGcus-tomerswas currently not veryhigh.LPGpricesacross thecoun-tryhavedeclinedbecauseofafallintheinternationalpricesofcrudeoil and natural gas as a result ofsubdued demand due to theCoronavirusoutbreak.Thecentralgovernment had allocated Rs37,256croreforLPGsubsidyintheUnionBudgetthisfiscal.According to experts, poten-

tialbidders forBPCLwouldlikelywant clarity onhowthe subsidyprogrammewouldcontinuepostprivatisation of BPCL. Currently,BPCL,IndianOilCorporation(IOC)and Hindustan PetroleumCorporation Ltd (HPCL) providesubsidised LPGcylinders to cus-tomers andare later reimbursedby the government. The reim-bursementof thesubsidyhasof-tenbeendelayedinthepast.VivekanandSubbaraman,an-

alyst at Ambit Capital, said thatanypotentialbidderwouldwantgreater certainty in the timingofreimbursementswhile notingthat currently the subsidy levelswereverylow,withBPCL,IOCandHPCLreportingverylowlevelsofsubsidyinthefirstquarterof thisfiscalduetolowpricesofLPG.

BRIEFLY‘Dumping’probeNewDelhi:Indiahasinitiatedaprobeintotheallegeddu-mping of Vitamin C fromChina,theDirectorateGene-ralofTradeRemediessaid.

FCLdefaultsNew Delhi: Future Groupfirm Future Consumer Ltd(FCL)hasdefaultedonpay-ment of principal redemp-tion and interest on non-convertibledebentures. PTI

NFLBathindaEDNewDelhi:AtulKumar Jaintookchargeasexecutivedir-ectorofNFLBathinda. ENS

AASHISHARYANNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THEINSOLVENCYandBankruptcyCode (IBC), rolledout in2016bythecentralgovernmenttofighttherisingpileofbaddebt,hasstartedtofalterinitsaimbecauseofvari-ous challengesmounted by itsownagenciesandregulators.Atleastadozenbig-ticketcases

with total debt in excess of Rs99,700crorehavebeenstuck foruptothreeyearsnowduetolegalchallenges.TheEnforcementDirectorate

(ED)hasbeenthemostproactive,attachingpropertiesofcompaniesdespiteorders fromadjudicatingauthoritiesagainstdoingso.Consider thecaseof Bhushan

PowerandSteel.Thedebt-ladencompany, ad-

mitted into insolvency in 2017,owesmorethanRs47,000croretobanksandother financial institu-tions,andanotherRs780croretoitsoperationalcreditors.Afteraprolongedbiddingbat-

tle,JSWSteelwontherightstotakeoverBhushanPowerwithabidofRs19,700crore.However, beforethe Sajjan Jindal-led companycouldmovetotakeoverBhushanPower,theEDswoopedin,andat-tachedassetsworthRs4,000crorecitingallegedfraudinabankloantaken by the company’s formerownersandothercasesunderthePreventionofMoneyLaunderingAct(PMLA).JSWSteelapproachedthe National Company LawAppellateTribunal(NCLAT),whichruledagainsttheED,andprovidedit immunity from the actions offormerpromoters. InMarch thisyear, Parliament clearedamend-mentstotheinsolvencylaw,pro-vidingasecurityringtonewown-ers of insolvent companies fromtheactionsofoldpromoters.ButtheEDwouldnotbackoff.

Lastmonth,itraidedtheofficeandother premises of BhushanPower’s resolutionprofessionalMahender Kumar Khandelwal,and claimed to have uncovered“clandestine” removal of goodsworthRs700crore.JSWSteel is nowon tenter-

hooks, andhas told theSupremeCourtthatitmustdecideiftheED’spowerstoprobeandattachprop-erties bought under insolvencycodeoverridetheprovisionsoftheIBC–only thencould it goahead

with thecompletionof the insol-vencyprocessforBhushanPower.The Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI), too, hasspookedbidders.Considerthede-lay in the insolvency process ofEducompSolutions.Thecompany,whichhasato-

taldebtofRs3,000crore,wasad-mittedintoinsolvencyonMay30,2017.Afternearlygoingintoliqui-dation,Singapore-basedEbixwonthebidtotakeoverthecompany.However, even as Ebixwaspro-gressingtowardsacquisitionofthecompany,itwasspookedbyaraidby theCBI in February this year,andthesubsequentattachmentofsomeoftheproperties.AlthoughIBCprovidesimmu-

nityagainstprobetonewbidders,EbixSingaporefirstwentslow,andthen filed a plea before theNational CompanyLawTribunal(NCLT) seekingwithdrawalof itsresolutionplan.TheNCLTallowedtheplea,andallowedEbixtowith-draw.However, on July29, 2020,NCLAT set aside theNCLTorder,and ruled that Ebix Singaporecouldnotexitas thebidder. Legalexperts,however,sayitremainstobe seenas tohowthecourts canforceanunwilling resolutionap-plicanttoimplementabid.Theprobeagenciesarenotthe

onlyonescontributingtotheinor-dinatedelays in insolvency reso-lutionprocesses.Regulators suchas the Securities and ExchangeBoardofIndia(Sebi),ReserveBankofIndia(RBI),andtheDepartmentofTelecommunications(DoT)toohavemadeinterventionsinongo-ing insolvency cases to claimsu-periorityinpaymentunderIBC.Takeforexample,Sebi.In2015,themarketsregulator

asked HBN Dairies and AlliedLimitedtorefundRs1,100croreasit had collectedmoney from in-vestorswithoutanyregulatoryap-proval.However,frustratedbyde-lays in getting their refunds, agroupofinvestorsapproachedtheNCLT,which admitted an insol-vencycaseagainstthecompany.Theinsolvencyordermeanta

completemoratorium, includingon sale of assets. This irkedSebi,whichwantedtoselltheassetsofHBNDairies to andpayback themoneyof investors. In 2019, themarkets regulator moved theSupremeCourtagainstanorderbyanNCLTbench,upheldbyNCLAT,which said that IBC lawswould

reignover the rules laiddownbythemarketsregulator.Thecasere-mainspendinginthetopcourt.Amongthelatestaretheobjec-

tionsraisedbytheRBIandtheDoTintheinsolvencyprocessofAircelLimited.Thetelco,whichthenhaddebtofmoreRs26,000crore,hadfiledforbankruptcyin2018.Morethantwoyearslater,inJune2020,the NCLT approved a Rs 6,630crore UVAsset ReconstructionCompanyplan.However,boththeRBIandDoT

have objected to the resolutionplan.Whilethebankingsectorreg-ulatorisreportedtohaverejectedthe plan as it did not adhere toguidelines laiddownforasset re-constructioncompanies, theDoThasmovedtheNCLATcontendingthatAircel’sIBCprocesscouldnotsell the spectrumas itwas onlyleasedtothecompany.A third issue that has stalled

some insolvencyprocesses lead-ingtoinordinatedelaysisthelackofclarityonofferdocumentsandinformationprovidedtoprospec-tivebidders.Consider the case of Liberty

House.TheUK-basedcompanybidforAmtekAutobasedonthedoc-uments and information itwasprovidedbytheresolutionprofes-sional of thecompany.AlthoughtheplanwasapprovedbytheNCLTandtheNCLAT,thecompanywith-drewitsbidatthelastmoment,al-legingthatthegroundrealityoffac-toriesandunitsofAmtekAutowasverydifferentfromwhatwaspre-sentedtoitonpaper.LibertyHouse isnot alone. In

thesecondroundofbiddingafterit backed out, lenders toAmtekAutoapprovedUS-basedDeccanValueInvestors’(DVI’s)resolutionplan.Butuncleardocumentshaveonceagainblockedtheresolutionof AmtekAuto,whichhasadebtofmorethanRs12,700crore.DVIhasnowthreatenedtopull

theplugontheresolutionprocessunless theconditionsof theplan,as told to it before the biddingprocess, were met. DVI’s con-tention is that ithasacrucial landparcel,whichwaspromisedtoitintheofferdocuments,isnowbeingrescinded.“Unlessthegovernmentor theapexcourtonceand foralldecidesonthese issues, theseas-pectswill remain.Noregulatororagencywantstobeaccusedoflack-ingincomplianceretrospectively,”aninsolvencyexpertsaid.

SITUATION REPORTCASE TOTALDEBT CHALLENGE STATUSASOFNOW

(InRscrore)

Bhushan 47,780 EDinsistentonattaching PendinginSContheissue

Power BhushanPowerassets, whetherEDattachmentrules

andSteel despiteIBClawsagainst it overrideIBC

Educomp 3,000 CBIbookedformerpromotersfor NCLATrejectedwithdrawal

Solutions fraud,attachedproperties.Spooked, plan,saidEbixhastocontinue

EbixSingaporemovedNCLT

towithdrawplan;gotapproval

HBNDairies 1,100 SEBIchallengedprevalenceofIBCover PendinginSupremeCourt

andAllied itsownlawsonattachingproperties

Aircel 26,000 NCLTapprovedUVARCplan.RBI PendingbeforeNCLAT,which

rejectedit,sayingitdidnotfulfill willdecideonwhetherplanwas

ARCbiddingnorms.DoTmoved approvedinrightway

NCLATagainstUVARCplan

Amtek 12,700 LibertyHousebackedoutafter itwas PendingbeforeSupremeCourt

Auto allegedlygivenfalsereportson andNCLATondifferent issues

conditionoffactories.DVIthreatened

tobackoutonsameissue

Bankruptcy resolution faltersas ED, CBI, Sebi create hurdles

72%OFBANKINGSECTORDEBTTO INDUSTRYWORTH`37.72LCRSTRESSEDNOW

SANDEEPSINGH&GEORGEMATHEWNEWDELHI/MUMBAI,

SEPTEMBER7

CORPORATESECTORdebtworthawhoppingRs15.52lakhcrore,or29.4per centof thebanking sec-tordebttotheindustry,hascomeunder stress after Covid-19 hitIndiaandlockdownwasimposedacross all the states since the lastweekofMarchthisyear.TheKVKamath committee,

whichworkedout the financialparametersforloanrestructuring,has said banking debtworthRs23.71lakhcrore,or45percentofbankingsectordebt,wasalreadyunder stress beforeCovid-19hitthe economy. This effectivelymeans, according to the industrymatrixinthereport,72percentof

thebankingsectordebtworthRs37.72 lakh crore remains understress.Thisisalmost37percentofthetotalnon-foodbankcredit.The Kamath panel has said

companiesinsectorssuchasretailtrade,wholesale trade, roadsandtextiles are facing stress. Thesec-tors that havebeenunder stresspre-covid includeNBFCs, power,steel, realestateandconstructionamongothers.Of theRs15.5lakhcroreloans

impacted by the pandemic, thebiggest ones are retail trade andwholesale trade as bank loansworthRs5.42lakhcrorehavebeenimpacted. Loansworth Rs 1.94lakhcroretotheroadssectorandRs1.89lakhcroretothetextilesec-torhasalsobeenimpacted,there-portshowed.Amongothermajorindustries that have been im-pacted by the pandemic and to

whombankshavesizeableexpo-sure includeengineering (Rs1.18lakhcrore),petroleum&coalpro-duction(Rs73,000crore),ports(Rs64,000crore),cements(Rs57,000crore),chemicals(Rs54,000crore)and hotels & restaurants (Rs46,000crore),amongothers.Accordingtothereport,among

the sectors thathavebeenunderstresspre-Covidhavemajorout-

standing tobanks includeNBFCs(Rs7.98lakhcrore),power(Rs5.69lakh crore), Steel (Rs 2.66 lakhcrore), real estate (Rs 2.29 lakhcrore) and construction (Rs 1,03lakhcrore)amongothers.TheKamath committee said

thepandemichasaffectedthebestof companies. “Thesebusinesseswereotherwiseviableunderpre-Covid-19 scenario. The impact ispervasive across several sectorsbutwithvaryingseverity—mild,moderate and severe. Based onpast experience, it takes a fewmonthstofinalisealargerestruc-turingproposalbecauseofthehostofcompliances,”thepanelsaid.Financial sector experts say

whilestressinvarioussectorspostCovid isunderstandable, the factthatalmost45percentofbankingsectordebtwasunderstresspriortoCovid is amajor concernarea.

“Thisreporthasshown45percentofoveralldebtexposurewasunderstressevenpre-Covid.It’sanusefulexerciseinunderstandinghowsys-tematicallywewouldhavesolvedthemunder normal resolutionprocess,” saidSrinathSridharanaseniorBFSIleader.Somesayevenloansthatwere

understresspre-Covidcango forrestructuringif“thearrearsarelessthan30daysandtheaccounthasbeen standard,” he said. The lastwordonCovid-inducedstressisyettobeheard,expertssay.“Covid-19is still loomingandvarious stateshavecontinuedorreinstatedlock-down.Furtherstillvariousrestric-tionsareputonvariousindustries.Hence, it is premature to expectevenreasonablecertainty incashflowprojectionsinviewofcontin-ueduncertainty,”saidJyotiPrakashGadia,MDatResurgentIndia.

‘Cyber security:Fintech firmsshould workwith large players’

Vodafone Idearebranded as ViMumbai:Vodafone IdeaMondayunveiledanewbrandidentity,‘’Vi”,as part of the integration of twobrands.Thebrandintegrationnotonlymarksthecompletionof thelargest telcomerger in theworld,butwillalsosetthefirmonitsfu-turejourneytoofferstrongdigitalexperiencesto1billionIndiansonits 4Gnetwork, RavinderTakkar,MDandCEO,VodaIdeasaid.ENS

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY firmsshouldworkwithlargeplayersinthe sector tobeef up cyber secu-rity solutions to safeguard con-sumer interests. An area that“needs tobehighlighted is cybersecurityandfraudprevention...Alotoftheactivitiesoffintechhavebeen focusedonhowtoprovideresilient front-endsforthefinan-cial services providers,”KRajaraman,AdditionalSecretaryintheFinanceMinistry,saidviaavideo link at a FICCI event onFinTech2020.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,SEPTEMBER7

SETTINGTHEstage for themegaloan recast of corporates hit byCovid-related stress, theReserveBankofIndiahasbroadlyacceptedtheKVKamathcommittee’s rec-ommendationtotakeintoaccountfive specific financial ratios andsector-specificthresholdsforeachratioinrespectof26sectorswhilefinalisingtheresolutionplans.While theKamathpanel has

recommendedfinancialparame-tersthatincludeaspectsrelatedtoleverage,liquidityanddebtservice-ability, ithassaidarestandardondateofidentificationforrestructur-ing,forensicauditmayberequiredif theaccounthappens toslipbe-yondthe implementationperiodof 180days toestablishwhethertherewasdiversionof fundsandidentifymalfeasance.“Therecom-mendationsofthecommitteehavebeen broadly accepted by theReserveBank,”RBIsaid.The panel undertook the

processvalidation for the resolu-tionplanstobeimplementedun-derthisframeworkinrespectofallaccountswithaggregateexposureofRs1500croreandaboveat thetimeof invocation.Whilethesix-monthmoratoriumonloanrepay-mentsendedonAugust31,theRBIhasallowedbankstorecast loanswhichwereclassifiedasstandardasonMarch1, 2020. Bankshavealready startedworking out thedetailsofrecastingretailandsmallloans.Thecentralbanksaidsign-ingof InterCreditorAgreementisamandatory requirement for alllendinginstitutionsinallcasesin-volvingmultiple lending institu-tions,wheretheresolutionprocessisinvoked.Therequirementofad-

ditionalprovisionsiftheICAisnotsignedwithin30daysof invoca-tion does not substitute for themandatorynatureofICA,RBIsaid.TheRBIhasalso finalisedsec-

tor-specific thresholdsor ceilingsforeachoftheabovekeyratiosthat

shouldbeconsideredbythelend-ing institutions in the resolutionassumptionswithrespecttoanel-igible borrower. In case of thosesectorswhere the sector-specificthresholdshavenot been speci-fied, lending institutions shouldmake their own internal assess-mentsregardingtotaloutsidelia-bilities to adjusted tangible networthandtotaldebttoEBITDAra-tios. However, the current ratioanddebtservicecoverageratioinall cases shouldbe1.0andaboveandaveragedebtservicecoverageratioshouldbe1.2andabove.TheRBI said lending institu-

tionsare freetoconsiderother fi-nancial parametersaswellwhilefinalizingtheresolutionassump-tionsinrespectofeligibleborrow-ersapart fromtheabovemanda-tory key ratios and thesector-specific thresholds thathavebeenprescribed.“Theratiosprescribedare intendedas floorsorceilings,asthecasemaybe,buttheresolutionplansshalltakeintoaccountthepre-Covid-19operat-ingand financial performanceoftheborrowerandimpactofCovid-19on its operating and financialperformanceat the timeof final-isingtheresolutionplantoassessthecashflowsinsubsequentyears,while stipulatingappropriate ra-tiosineachcase,”itsaid.Given thedifferential impact

ofthepandemiconvarioussectorsorentities,thelendinginstitutionsmay, at their discretion, adopt agraded approachdepending onthe severityof the impacton theborrowers,whilepreparingorim-plementing the resolutionplan,theRBIsaid.Suchgradedapproachmayalsoentailclassificationoftheimpactontheborrowersintomild,moderate and severe, as recom-mendedbythepanel, itsaid.

KAMATHPANELREPORTBROADLYACCEPTED

■Totaloutsideliabilities/adjustedtangiblenetworth■ Totaldebt/EBITDA■ CurrentRatio:Currentassetsdividedbycurrentliabilities■ Debtservicecoverageratio■ Averagedebtservicecoverageratio

5 KEY RATIOS TOBE CONSIDERED

■Power,Construction,Iron&steelmanu-facturing,Roads,Realestate,Trading-whole-sale,Textiles,Chemicals,Consumerdurables/-FMCG,Non-ferrousmetals,Pharmaceuticalsmanufacturing,Logi-stics,Gems&jewellery,Cement,Autocompo-nents,Hotels,restau-rantsandtourism,Mining,Plasticproductsmanufacturing,Auto-mobilemanufacturing,Autodealership,Aviation,Sugar,Port&portservices,Shipping,BuildingmaterialsandCorporateretailoutlets.

THE 26 SECTORS

RBI selects five financial ratios,26 sectors for loan restructuring

KVKamathpanel,

whichworkedoutthe

financialparameters

for loanrecast,hassaid

firmsinsectorssuchas

retail trade,wholesale

trade, roadsand

textilesarefacingstress

Covid-19 impact: `15.5 lakh crorecorporate loans come under stress

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

THE CENTRAL Board ofTrustees (CBT) of theEmployees’ Provident FundOrganisation(EPFO)willmeetWednesday to give final nodfor encashment of invest-ments in Exchange TradedFunds (ETFs) togenerate rev-enueformeetingtheimpend-inginterestpayoutforfinancialyear2019-20. TheCBThad inMarch recommendedan in-terest rate of 8.5 per cent for2019-20, a 15 basis pointsdownward revision fromthe8.65percentofferedinthepre-viousyear, for its six croreac-tivesubscribers.An EPFO official said the

decisiontooffloadETFinvest-ment was taken in the CBTmeetingheldearlier thisyearsince the interest ratepayouthas to be based on incomefromboththedebtandequityportionsof theEPFO’s invest-mentportfolio. But, after theoutbreakoftheCovid-19pan-demic, themarket situationwas not viewed as feasible“TheproposaltooffloadsomeETFinvestmentswastakenintheMarchmeetingbut thenthemarketsslowedandhence,adecisionwas taken todeferthe offloading of the stake.Nowthat themarketsaredo-ingbetter,thesaleofsomeETFinvestmentwouldbedone,”the official told The IndianExpress. The issue of delay inratificationof theEPF interestratefor2019-20isalsolikelytoberaisedinthemeeting,Boardmemberssaid.The recommendation of

theCBT regarding theEPF in-terestratewillnowrequirerat-ification from the FinanceMinistrywhichhad last yearquestioned the surplus leveland the Fund’s exposure to

IL&FSandsimilarriskyentitiesbeforegrantingitsnodforthe8.65percentrate.Thisyear,theinterestraterecommendationisyettobesenttotheFinanceMinistry for its approval, offi-cialssaid.Therehavebeencon-cernsabout theEPFO interestrate forFY21,whichwouldbefinalisedearlynextyear,giventhevolatilityinstockmarkets.The retirement fund bodymightfindittoughtomakeitsinterest ratepayout at over 8percentforthenextfiscal,offi-cialssaid.The EPFO invests 85 per

cent of its annual accruals inthe debtmarket and 15 percent in equities through ex-change-traded funds.As perconvention, after the EPFO’sCBTrecommendstheinterestrate, ithastoberatifiedbytheFinanceMinistry and then itgetscreditedintotheaccountsoftheFund’ssubscribers.The FinanceMinistryhas

beennudging theEPFOto re-ducetheratetosub-8percentlevelinlinewiththeoverallin-terest rate scenariowhich isunder straingiven theoveralleconomic slowdown. Smallsavings rates range from4.0-7.6per centandagainst thesesmallsavingsinstruments,in-terest rate for subscribers ofEPFOhasbeenrecommendedtobeatamuchhigher8.5percentforFY20.

PFWATCH

REVENUEGENERATION

NITI Aayog preparing Multidimensional Poverty Index

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,SEPTEMBER7

NITIAAYOGonMondaysaid it isatanadvancedstageforprepara-tionofaMultidimensionalPovertyIndex(MPI)parameterdashboardto rank states and UnionTerritories, along with a StateReformAction Plan (SRAP). TheAayog,whichis thenodalagencyfor leveraging the monitoring

mechanismof theGlobalMPI todrivereforms,hassetupacoordi-nation committee comprisingmembers from different min-istriesanddepartmentsinthisre-gard. Thecommitteeheld its firstmeetingonSeptember2.TheGlobalMPI is part of the

government’sdecisiontomonitortheperformanceofthecountryon29selectglobalindices,itsaidinastatement. “Theobjective of theGlobal Indices toDrive Reforms

andGrowthexerciseistofulfiltheneed to measure and monitorIndia’s performance on variousimportant social and economicparametersandenabletheutilisa-tion of these indices as tools forself-improvement,bringaboutre-formsinpolicies,whileimprovinglast-mileimplementationofgov-ernmentschemes,”itsaid.GlobalMPIisaninternationalmeasureofmultidimensionalpovertycover-ing107developingcountries.

EPFO Central Boardset to okay offloadingpart of ETFs to meetFY20 interest payout

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Ahmedabad

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England players Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden could both face disciplinaryaction after video footage emerged of them allegedly inviting girls to their rooms afterSaturday’s Nations League win against Iceland in Reykjavik, thus breaching Covid-19protocols. REUTERS

The ‘default’ that led toDjokovic’s exit fromUSOpenNovak,whowasthefavouritetowinthetitle,hitalineumpireonthethroatwithaballinfrustrationafterlosingserveinhisfourthroundmatchagainstPabloCarrenoBusta

SHAHIDJUDGEMUMBAI, SEPTEMBER7

AFTERALLofNovakDjokovic’soff-courtcon-troversies in the past fewmonths, an on-courtmisdemeanourhasresultedinhimbe-ingdefaultedfromtheUSOpen.Thein-formWorldNo.1wasanoverwhelmingfavouritewhenhe inadvertently strucka lineumpireinthethroatbyhittingaball inherdirectionafter losing the serve to his Spanish oppo-nentPabloCarrenoBusta.Conspiracy theoristsmay say the harsh

decisionwasawayforthegoverningbodiestogetbackathimforformingarivalplayers’associationadaybeforetheUSOpen,butthedecisionwasbythebook.Andit’ssomethingthat even Tim Henman – the darling ofBritishtennis–facedatWimbledonin1995.Djokovic’sremovalfromthecompetition

has ensured that for the first time since the2014USOpen,therewillnowemergeafirst-timemen’s singles Grand Slam champion.RafaelNadalandRogerFedererarenotplay-ing in the tournament.

Whatwasthe incidentthat ledto

Djokovic’sdisqualification?

Djokovicwasservingat5-5 in theopen-ing set, andwas broken at a crucial stage –whichmeant his opponentwould be serv-ing for theset in thenextgame.In frustration, as hewalked back to the

baseline,Djokovictooktheball inhispocketand without looking, hit it fairly hard to-wardstheleftcorner.Theballcaughtthelineumpire squareon theneck, and she imme-diately tumbled to theground, clutchingatthepointof impact.

The Serb superstar immediately raisedhis arm in apology andwent over to checkonthelineumpire.ThechairumpireAurélieTourtefollowed,andthetournamentrefereeSoerenFriemel, andGrandSlamSupervisorAndreasEgli toowerecalledoncourt.After a 10-minute discussion, Friemel

made the decision to default Djokovic. Helater told reporters: “Basedonthe facts thatthe ball was hit angrily, recklessly; that itwentstraightatthelineumpire’sthroat;thatthelineumpirewasclearlyhurtandinpain,thedecisionwasmadethatNovakhadtobedefaulted.”

Whatdotherulessay?

TheUSTA – organisers of theUSOpen –issueda statement: “Inaccordancewith theGrand Slam rulebook, following his actionsof intentionallyhittingaball dangerouslyorrecklesslywithin the court or hitting a ballwithnegligentdisregardoftheconsequences,the USOpen tournament referee defaultedNovakDjokovic fromthe2020USOpen.“Becausehewasdefaulted,Djokovicwill

loseallrankingpointsearnedattheUSOpenandwillbefinedtheprizemoneywonatthetournament in addition to any or all finesleviedwithrespecttotheoffendingincident.”A ‘default’ is a rare punishment handed

out to players, and can be done because ofeither a single deed, or through a collectionof warnings (a fourthwarning in the samematch results in adefault) that include ver-bal, ball, racquet abuse, unsportsmanlikeconductandotheroffences.According to Section T of the ITF Grand

Slam rulebook, which deals with on-siteplayeroffences,“TheRefereeinconsultationwith the Grand Slam Chief of Supervisors

maydeclareadefault foreitherasinglevio-lation of this Code or pursuant to the PointPenaltySchedule setoutabove.“Inall casesof default, thedecisionof the

Referee inconsultationwith theGrandSlamChief of Supervisors shall be final andunap-pealable.Anyplayerwhoisdefaultedashereinprovidedshall loseall rankingpoints earnedforthateventatthattournamentandmaybefineduptotheprizemoneywonat thetour-nament in addition to any or all other finesleviedwithrespecttotheoffendingincident.”Djokovic’s action, regardless ofwhether

itwas intentionalornot, fit thebill.

WhatwasDjokovic’s reaction?

On court, Djokovic was heard pleadingwith the tournament referee not to defaulthim. “She doesn’t have to go to the hospitalfor this,”hewasheardsaying. “You’regoingto chooseadefault in this situation?Myca-reer, Grand Slam, centre stage. If shewouldhavegottenuprightaway…Youhaveagamepenalty, setpenalty,manyoptions.”According to TheGuardian,Djokovic left

the venue immediately after and returned

to his rented accommodation, and gave noindicationthathewouldbereturningtothesite to offer an explanation. He did issue astatementonsocialmediaashortwhilelater,though.“Thiswholesituationhasleftmere-ally sad and empty. I checked on the linesperson and the tournament toldme thankGod she is feeling ok,” Djokovic said in anInstagram post. “As for the dis-qualification, I need to go backwithin and work on my disap-pointment and turn this all into alesson formy growth and evolu-tionasaplayerandhumanbeing.“IapologisetotheUSOpentour-

nament and everyone associatedformybehavior.I’mverygratefultomyteamandfamilyforbeingmyrocksupport,andmy fans for alwaysbeing therewithme.ThankyouandI’msosorry.”

Haveotherplayersbeendefaulted inthe

past?

Yes. Therehavebeena few.■ TimHenmanwas defaulted during the1995WimbledonChampionshipsafterhehita ball towards thenet in anger after losing apoint,andinadvertentlystruckaballgirlwhohadbeenrunningtothespot intheprocess.

■ CurrentWorld No. 17 Denis Shapovalovdefaulted a Davis Cup rubber against GreatBritaininJanuary2017after intendingtohitaball intothestands,butaccidentallyhittingit straight at the chair umpire, who wasstruckontheeye.

■Inthefinalof the2016IstanbulATP,GrigorDimitrovdefaultedhismatchafterbreakingall his racquets, handing the title to Diego

SchwartzmanofArgentina.

HasDjokovicbeenaccusedofdangerous

behaviour inthepast?

Yes, indeed.Inthequarterfinalofthe2016FrenchOpenagainstTomasBerdych,angeredbymissingoutonabreakpointopportunity,Djokovic flung his racquet backwardswith-

out looking, nearly hitting oneof thelinejudges.At the ATP Tour Finals the

same year, in amatch againstDominicThiem,Djokovichitaball intothestands.Later,dur-ingthepressconferencewhenhewas asked about the inci-dent, he said “It’s not an issue

forme. It’snot the first time Idid it.”Neither incident resulted inadefault.

Hehasbeencontroversialoff-court too,

hasn’the?

In the build-up to the US Open, he re-signed fromhis position as president of theATP Council and just two days before theGrandSlam, launchedarivalplayers’associ-ation.DuringtheragingCovid-19pandemic,heorganised theAdriaTour charity event inBelgradeandZadar,allowingcapacitycrowdsto the venueswith no social distancing orsafetyprotocolsinplace.Playersalsotookpartin friendlybasketballandfootballmatches.The event had to be cancelled after four

players, including Djokovic himself, testedpositive for thenovel coronavirus.He had also raised eyebrows when he

claimed that dirty water could be purifiedjust by “positive thoughts”. His wife Jelenaalso claimed that the virus could spreadthrough5GInternet speeds.

NovakDjokovic talks totheumpireafter inadvertentlyhittinga line judgewithaballduringthe fourth-roundmatchof theUSOpen. Reuters

Novak’s exit ends ‘Big Three’dominance over Grand SlamsREUTERS/APNEWYORK,SEPTEMBER7

NOVAKDJOKOVIC’S sensational exit fromtheU.S.OpenonSundayhasendedtheGrandSlamreignofthe‘BigThree’ofmen’stenniswhileensuringafirst-timemajorchampionatFlushingMeadows.WithRogerFedererandRafaNadalskippingthe

tournament,Djokovicwashotfavouritetoclaiman18thGrandSlamtitle,buthisdisqualificationforin-advertentlyhittingalinejudgewithaballhasthrownthetournamentwideopen.Not since StanWawrinka’s 2016U.S.Open tri-

umphhasaGrandSlambeenwonbysomeoneotherthanthe ‘BigThree’,winnersof the last13majorti-tles. To find the last Slamwithout eitherDjokovic,FedererorNadalinthequarter-finalsrequiresamuchdeeperdiveintotherecordbooks,landingatthe2004FrenchOpenwhereFedererwasstoppedinthethirdroundbyGustavoKuerten.

Tournament thrownwideopenOnSunday,Djokovic’srivalsexpressedshockand

some sympathy for the Serb,whowasdefaultedwhentrailing6-5inthefirstsetagainstPabloCarrenoBusta.Yetthoseleftstandinginthemen’sdrawmaybeprivatelythrilledabouttheirchancesofclaimingthetrophy.“NowIthinkisthetimewhereitgetsre-ally interesting,” said fifth seedAlexander Zverev,who thrashed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina instraightsets.ZverevmeetsCroatian27thseedBornaCoric in the quarter-finals and could have facedDjokovicinthesemis.Toutedasa futureGrandSlamchampionsince

histeenyears,GermanZverevmadetheAustralianOpensemi-finals in Januaryand iswell positionedinNewYork to fulfil thatpromise. “It’s going tobeoneoftheyoungguys(winning),Ithink,ifyoucountDominicThiemasayoungguy,aswell,”saidZverevof the 27-year-oldAustrian. “He obviously has achancetowin,aswell.”Second seed Thiem,who stopped Zverev at

MelbourneParkandpushedDjokovictofivesetsinthefinal, is themajorthreatontheotherhalf of thedraw. The three-timesGrand Slam finalist facesCanadianyounggunFelixAuger-Aliassime in thefourthroundbeforeapotentialquarter-finalagainst

unseededVasekPospisilorAustralian21stseedAlexdeMinaur.Oneof thebiggest dangers to Thiem’shopes of aGrandSlambreakthroughmaybe lastyear’sfinalistDaniilMedvedev,alikelysemi-finalfoe.TherangyRussianthirdseedlostafive-setclas-

sic toNadal in last year’sdeciderandwasdeclaredthemanmost likely tobreaktheBigThree’sGrandSlam stranglehold by JohnMcEnroe and others.MedvedevwillmeetunseededAmericanFrancesTiafoeinthefourthroundonMonday,beforeapoten-tialquarter-finalagainstItalianMatteoBerrettiniorfellowRussianAndreyRublev.

Naomi topsKontaveitNaomiOsakareturnedtotheUSOpenquarterfi-

nals by taking advantage of someearly jitters forAnettKontaveitandshowingnoilleffectsfromare-cent left hamstring problem. The fourth-seededOsakanever facedabreakpointandbeat the14th-seededKontaveit 6-3, 6-4 inArthurAsheStadium.Osaka owns two Grand Slam titles, includingFlushingMeadows in2018. She lost in the fourthroundayearago.Kontaveitwon thematch's first point, but fol-

lowedthatwithapairofdouble-faults, followedbyapairof backhanderrors togetbroken.AndOsakawasonherway,winning35of45servicepoints.The 22-year-old from Japan improved to 5-0

head-to-headagainstKontaveit andnowfacesun-seededShelbyRogersoftheUnitedStatesinthequar-terfinals. Rogers haswonall threematches she’splayedagainstOsaka.

ToutedasafutureGrandSlam

championsincehis teenyears,

GermanZverevmadetheAustralian

Opensemi-finals in Januaryandis

wellpositionedinNewYorktofulfil

thatpromise. “It’sgoingtobeoneof

theyoungguys (winning), I think, if

youcountDominicThiemasa

youngguy,aswell,” saidZverevof

the27-year-oldAustrian.

Best I’ve felt since 2016 season: Kohli

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIADUBAI, SEPTEMBER7

VIRATKOHLIhasbeenable to“disconnect” fromthe underwhelming seasons that he and RoyalChallengers Bangalore have endured in the IPLandthereisawelcome“senseofcalm”ashepre-parestoleadthesidethisyear,somethinghelastfelt in 2016. Despite the presence of championplayers like Kohli and AB de Villiers, RCB, in thelast three seasons, has failed to even qualify forthe play-offs. The team last played the final in2016,aseasoninwhichKohli struckanunprece-dented fourhundreds.“The 2016 IPL,we all loved to be a part of (it).

Since then, this is themost balanced I have feltabout (the) squad,” the Indian skipper said onRCB's Youtube show ‘Bold Diaries’, sharing histhoughts on the upcoming edition starting

September19 in theUAE.Kohli said that bothheand AB de Villiers feel that this could be the“breakthrough season”when tableswill turn forthe franchise which has flattered to deceive onmanyoccasions.“I (have)neverfeltsocalmgoingintoaseason

before.He(ABD) iscomingfromaverydifferentspace and he is enjoying his life and is very re-laxed and fit as ever. I feel I am in amuchbetterspace, muchmore balanced, when it comes toenvironmentof (the) IPL,” the straight speakingRCBskippersaid.Thisisthefirsttimehefeelsthatheisn’tcarryinganybaggage.“Disconnectingwiththingsthathavehappenedinthepastandnottak-ing that baggage, as we have done that way toomany times,” he responded to a query onwhathaschangedforhimthisseason.“Justbecausewehaveabunchofplayersthataresoskilled,peoplelike seeing themplay is the reason people havehadsomuchexpectationaswell.”

Ahmedabad

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