follow us: Delhi october 18, 2020 City Edition 24 pages O ₹15.00 thehindu.com facebook.com/thehindu twitter.com/the_hindu 500­year­old Golconda Fort suffers damage due to heavy rain Court orders probe against actor Kangana, sister over tweets Donald Trump appeals to core Republican base as polls slide Dhawan’s century helps Delhi Capitals edge Super Kings in a thriller page 6 page 9 page 10 page 15 P r i n t e d at . Ch e n n a i . Co i m b ato r e . Be n g a lu ru . Hy d e r a b a d . M a d u r a i . No i da . V i s a k h a pat n a m . Th i ru va n a n t h a p u r a m . Ko c h i . V i j ayawa da . M a n g a lu ru . Ti ru c h i r a pa l l i . Ko l k ata . Hu b b a l l i . M o h a l i . M a l a p p u r a m . M u m b a i . Ti ru pat i . lu c k n ow . c u t tac k . pat n a NEARBY Before his pen went dry, Pranab wrote on 1971, love for Mujib family due to address another ses­ sion of Bangladesh’s Parlia­ ment, this time a Special Ses­ sion on March 22­23 to mark the Mujib centenary, and al­ so to attend the book’s launch. However, the func­ tions in Dhaka were put off due to the COVID­19 pan­ demic, and when they are held, the former MP, Minis­ ter and President will not be a part of them. Treated as a ‘family member,’ he traces warm ties with Sheikh Hasina Delhi’s air quality likely to improve tomorrow NEW DELHI The air quality of Delhi and Gurugram remained in the ‘poor’ category on Saturday, while that of Noida deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ level, according to Central Pollution Control Board data. Delhi’s air quality is expected to improve on Monday and Tuesday, as per monitoring agency SAFAR. CAPITAL A PAGE 2 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DU’s second list sees slight dip in cut­offs Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI In June 1971, a young Mem­ ber of Parliament stood up to initiate a discussion, call­ ing for the Government of India to accord diplomatic recognition to the Bangla­ desh government­in­exile based in the Bangladeshi town of Mujibnagar, the pro­ visional government, while its leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was in a Karachi prison. The MP, 36­year­old Pra­ nab Mukherjee, spoke at length about the precedents to intervention in world his­ tory, and the brutal atroci­ ties being carried out in Ban­ gladesh that necessitated Indian action. “I am talking of a political solution which means cate­ gorically recognising the so­ vereign democratic govern­ ment of Bangladesh. Political solution means giv­ ing material help to the de­ mocratic, sovereign govern­ ment of Bangladesh,” he said. The speech and his me­ mories of 1971 and the libera­ tion war of Bangladesh are Strong bond: A file photo of Pranab Mukherjee with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi. found in one of the last, long articles the former President completed before he died in August last, a part of an an­ thology of essays in honour of the birth centenary year of Mujib, as Bangladesh’s * PTI founding father is known. The book, called Voice of Millions, was published ear­ lier this year but is yet to be launched formally. What makes the essay more poig­ nant is that Mukherjee was Lone foreign contributor According to the editors of the book, Pranab Mukherjee was the only foreign digni­ tary asked to contribute, and he readily agreed to their request. “Mr. Mukherjee was invit­ ed to contribute to the book as a ‘family member’ of the Prime Minister,” explained Asif Kabir, part of the Banga­ bandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rah­ man centenary committee, referring to the close rela­ tionship he shared with Mu­ SPECIAL jib’s daughter and Prime Mi­ nister Sheikh Hasina. Mukherjee’s private se­ cretary, Abhijeet Rai, said the essay, which was the last extensive piece penned by the late President, needed considerable research on Mujib’s life and political ca­ reer and Mukherjee drew from Mujib’s own Unfinished Memoirs that were pu­ blished years after his death by Ms. Hasina. Mujib was freed only after the Pakistan Army surren­ dered in Dhaka in December 1971, and as recorded by Mukherjee, for many days he was kept unaware of the incidents, while Pakistan’s soon to be President, Zulfi­ kar Ali Bhutto, attempted to negotiate with him. Eventually, Bhutto gave up and Mujib returned to a triumphant welcome in Dhaka with a brief stopover in Delhi to thank Prime Mi­ nister Indira Gandhi for In­ dia’s support. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 NEW DELHI The second cut­off list anno­ unced by Delhi University on Saturday saw a marginal dip with several arts courses being closed across colleges. At Lady Shri Ram College, the asking score dipped from 100% to 99% for economics, while political science and psychology cut­off remained at 99.75%. BA (Hons) English cut­off reduced to 97% at Gargi College and 97.75% at Hans Raj College. CAPITAL A PAGE 2 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD Youth beaten to death by two for ‘stealing phone’ NEW DELHI A 20­year­old youth was allegedly beaten to death by two persons who suspected him of stealing their mobile phones, the police said on Saturday. Both the accused have been arrested. DCP (IGI Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said the accused — Ajit, 23, a resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar and Rajkumar, 24, a resident of Rajokri village — are both ragpickers. CAPITAL A PAGE 2 DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD CLASSIFIEDS A PAGE 4 & 5 MAGAZINE A 8 PAGES Lashkar IED expert killed in Anantnag Ensure speedy access to vaccine: Modi Focus on cold storage chains, distribution network and monitoring mechanism, PM directs officials NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for full preparedness to ensure speedy access to COVID­19 vaccines for every citizen. Chairing a meeting to re­ view the pandemic situation in the country, Mr. Modi di­ rected that every step in the logistics, delivery and admi­ nistration of the vaccine should be put in place rigo­ rously and it must include advanced planning of cold storage chains, distribution network, monitoring me­ chanism, advance assess­ ment and preparation of an­ cillary equipment such as vials and syringes, according to a release issued by the go­ vernment. The Prime Minister’s in­ structions came on a day In­ dia reported an active case­ load of below eight lakh for Special Correspondent HYDERABAD the first time after one­and­a­ half months. “The positive cases are 7,95,087, while 70,816 pa­ tients have been discharged in the last 24 hours, whereas the new confirmed cases are 62,212. Maharashtra contri­ butes more than 13,000 to the single day recoveries fol­ lowed by Karnataka with more than 8,000. 837 case fatalities have been reported in the past 24 hours. Of New Delhi Srinagar Three out of four rural In­ dians cannot afford a nutri­ tious diet, according to a paper recently published in journal Food Policy. Even if they spent their entire income on food, al­ most two out of three of them would not have the money to pay for the cheap­ est possible diet that meets the requirements set by the government’s premier nu­ trition body, it says. Unlike the Economic Sur­ vey’s ‘Thalinomics’, which provided a rosier picture of these, nearly 82% are con­ centrated in 10 States/UTs, with Maharashtra reporting the maximum — 306,” said the Health Ministry. Pharma major Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund RDIF have received appro­ val from the Drugs Con­ troller General of India to conduct an adaptive phase 2/3 human clinical trial for the Sputnik V vaccine in In­ dia. It is the world’s first re­ gistered vaccine against COVID­19. This will be a multi­ centre and randomised controlled study, which will include safety and im­ munogenicity study. CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 Labour party set to win 64 of 120 seats Reuters WELLINGTON Prime Minister Jacinda Ar­ dern delivered the biggest election victory for her centre­left Labour Party in half a century on Saturday as voters rewarded her for a decisive response to the CO­ VID­19 pandemic. The mandate means Ms. Ardern, 40, could form the first single­party govern­ ment in decades. Labour was on track to win 64 of the 120 seats in the country’s un­ icameral Par­ liament, the highest by any party since New Zealand adopted a proportional Activists push for release of Stan Swamy ‘76% of rural Indians can’t afford nutritious diet’ Special Correspondent DETAILS ON A PAGE 8 Dr. Reddy’s gets nod for Sputnik V trials Special Correspondent Peerzada Ashiq A Lashkar­e­Taiba militant, who was the outfit’s impro­ vised explosives device expert, was killed in an op­ eration by the security forces in south Kashmir’s Anantnag on Saturday. “The terrorist was given the opportunity to surren­ der but he fired indiscrimi­ nately. In the ensuing en­ counter, one foreign terrorist was killed,” IG Vi­ jay Kumar said. New Zealand PM Ardern wins historic re­election Massive rally taken out in Ranchi against arrest of 83­year­old tribal rights activist meal costs, this study uses the wages of unskilled work­ ers who make up a larger proportion of the popula­ tion than industrial work­ ers, and includes items such as dairy, fruit and dark green leafy vegetables that are essential as per India’s official dietary guidelines. The paper, titled “Affor­ dability of nutritious diets in rural India”, is authored by International Food Policy Research Institute econo­ mist Kalyani Raghunathan and others. Satyasundar Barik BHUBANESWAR All major non­BJP political parties and social activists on Saturday took to the streets in Ranchi, demand­ ing the immediate release of Stan Swamy, the 83­year­old tribal rights activist, who was arrested last week by the National Investigation Agen­ cy (NIA) in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case. The ‘Nyay March’ started from the Zilla School and culminated with a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan. “Mr. Swamy has been working for tribal rights for CONTINUED ON A PAGE 6 Nuns make a human in support of Stan Swamy in Ranchi. years now. His credentials as an activist has never been in question. It is illegal to lodge him in jail for a crime which he has not committed,” said Prafulla Linda, Adivasi Adhi­ CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC A ‘Zero Rajdhani’ skirts Guwahati, cuts travel short Dibrugarh train via Bogibeel, India’s iconic rail-road bridge, saves 117 km from regular route to Delhi * PTI kar Manch, a CPI (M)­affiliat­ ed organisation. Mr. Swa­ my’s arrest was a part of the central government’s strate­ gy to intensify loot of Jhark­ hand’s natural resources, al­ leged Sanjay Pandey, the district secretary of the Congress. Activist Dayamani Barla said, “Father Stan Swamy had been fighting for protec­ tion of water, forest and land. Following his foot­ steps, hundreds of grassroot level workers and activists have been doing the same work in villages.” Political parties including the Jharkhand Mukti Mor­ cha, CPI and CPI (ML) and organisations such as Jhark­ hand Janadhikar Mahasabha and Jan Mukti Sangharsh Va­ hini participated. GUWAHATI Bogibeel, India’s longest rail­and­road bridge across the Brahmaputra, had in December 2018 brought the two “emotionally connected” banks of eastern Assam closer by more than seven hours. A ‘Zero Rajdhani’ train via this 4.94 km bridge has now brought the people of the two banks closer to New Delhi by more than 100 km. The 02505/02506 between New Delhi and Dibrugarh on October 12 was technically not a Rajdhani, whose train number starts with 2 while those of mail, express trains start with 1. The zero makes CM YK it a special train, usually operated temporarily. “The train will officially become the biweekly Rajdhani we had planned to introduce from May 3 once train services become regular. The plan had to be shelved because of COVID­19,” said Subhanan Chanda, spokesperson, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR). The special ‘Rajdhani’ could be a first, deviating from the train definition, bypassing Guwahati, the original terminal for Rajdhani, by some 50 km. For people in Dibrugarh and eastern Arunachal Pradesh, what matters more is the option of reaching Fast forward: Passengers are hoping that the special train will be turned into a regular service. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT * Delhi or other stations on the ‘normal’ Rajdhani route faster. The track via Bogibeel is 117 km shorter. Gateway to Arunachal “Our town, one of Assam’s oldest, is often called the gateway to Arunachal Pradesh. But we had to catch superfast trains from Naharlagun [near Itanagar] to Delhi at Harmuti, about 30 km away,” said Sailen Baruah, a resident of Assam’s North Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh districts had always been psychologically, economically and culturally linked but the river forced residents to maintain distance. The alternative was a 12­hour road trip via Kaliabhomora bridge or a time­consuming river ferry service. The special ‘Rajdhani’ service offers the fourth pair of trains connecting North Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh, after the Tinsukia­ Naharlagun Express was introduced in 2018. “Faster trains are an alternative to Lilabari Airport, where flights have reduced drastically,” said resident Sazzad Hussain. RELATED REPORT ON A PAGE 10 Gujjars warn of stir over quota from Nov. 1 Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR Gujjars demanding reser­ vation in jobs and educa­ tion as a “most backward class” on Saturday gave an ultimatum to the Congress government in Rajasthan for resumption of their ag­ itation from November 1, unless urgent steps were taken to protect their “rightful share” and apply the quota provisions to the ongoing recruitments to 15 services. DETAILS ON A PAGE 8 NEET: J&K topper from troubled area Basit Khan was forced to leave Pulwama to pursue his studies Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar RAHUL KARMAKAR voting system in 1996. Ms. Ardern promised supporters she would build an economy that works for everyone, create jobs, train people, protect the environ­ ment and address climate challenges and social in­ equalities. “We are living in an in­ creasingly polarised world,” she said. “A place where more and more have lost the abil­ ity to see one anoth­ er’s point of view. I hope that with this election, New Zealand has shown that this is not who we are.” The Kashmir Valley’s most troubled and militancy­af­ fected Pulwama district has earned a new distinction — that of being home to J&K’s National Eligibility­cum­En­ trance Test (NEET) topper, Basit Bilal Khan. The 18­year­ old Khan scored 695 marks out of 720. “My parents had shifted me from Pulwama three years ago to Srinagar. I was insulated from what was happening in my district, whether favourable or unfa­ vourable. It did contribute to my success,” Mr. Khan told The Hindu. Pulwama remains the res­ tive district in south Kashmir and witnesses encounters, search operations and prot­ Basit Bilal Khan * NISSAR AHMAD ests very frequently. On the Internet ban and slow connectivity in J&K, Mr. Khan said students in Kash­ mir need to find new ways and means to achieve their goals. “If your goal is impor­ tant to you, find ways rather than excuses. We are not having favourable condi­ tions for many many years now. We should be prepared to face the tough conditions, as we may face more hard­ ships,” he said. Farooq Khan, adviser to the Lieutenant­Governor, felicitated Mr. Khan for his “historic feat of securing 99.98 percentile in the NEET­2020 exam”. National Conference pre­ sident Farooq Abdullah and vice­president Omar Abdul­ lah also congratulated the topper. “The­18­year­old boy has proved that the youth of Kashmir are second to none in academic excellence and are chasing dreams for a bet­ ter tomorrow. If students like Bilal can do it despite all challenges, other students can do it too,” Mr. Farooq Abdullah said. SEE ALSO A PAGE 9 A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 2 CITY DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Air quality likely to improve tomorrow Nearly 900 stubble burning fires in neighbouring States contribute to rising pollution in the Capital Staff Reporter Air Quality of Delhi-NCR New Delhi The air quality of Delhi and Gurugram remained in the ‘poor’ category on Saturday, while that of Noida deterio­ rated to the ‘very poor’ level, according to the Central Pol­ lution Control Board data. The air quality of Delhi is expected to improve on Monday and Tuesday, as per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Re­ search (SAFAR). The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi on Saturday was 287, and the values for Gurugram and Noida were 280 and 309, respectively, as per CPCB’s 4 p.m. bulletin, which is an average of the past 24 hours. Delhi’s AQI on Friday was 239 (poor). “Wind speed is likely to slowly improve from Sunday, leading to relatively better dispersion in Delhi. But, AQI is predicted to stay in the higher­end of ‘poor’ to the lower end of ‘very poor’ ca­ tegory for Sunday, and likely Gurugram 280 Delhi 287 Ghaziabad 289 Faridabad 295 Noida 309 Greater Noida 330 ■ Good ■ Satisfactory ■ Moderate 0-50 51-100 101-200 ........................................................................................................................ ■ Poor ■ Very Poor 201-300 301-400 ■ Severe >400 ........................................................................................................................ Air Quality Index at 4 p.m. yesterday (Average of past 24 hours) | Source: CPCB A metro train passes above the Hindon as haze envelops Delhi on Saturday. to improve to ‘poor’ catego­ ry by October 19 and further improvement is expected by October 20, but well within poor range,” SAFAR said. The fire count due to stub­ ble burning in Haryana, Pun­ jab, and neighbouring bor­ der regions of Delhi was 882 on Friday, as per SAFAR. The Riots: ED files chargesheet against Tahir Hussain contribution of stubble burning in neighbouring States to the PM2.5, a chief pollutant, levels in Delhi is estimated to be around 19% on Saturday. The impact is likely to “in­ crease significantly” by Oc­ tober 19, the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Air Quality * R.V. MOORTHY Early Warning System for Delhi said. The wind direction is fa­ vourable for transport of pol­ lutants due to stubble burn­ ing. Also, local wind speed is less and this leads to pollu­ tants not getting dispersed easily and in turn negatively affects the air quality. “The local wind speed is calm, almost nil during the night and during the day time it is 8­10 km/hr, which is also less. The local wind speed has to be above 15 km/ hr and continue for a good amount of time to disperse pollutants properly,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the regional forecasting centre of the IMD. Meanwhile, no rain is ex­ pected in Delhi for the next seven days, which may result in higher dust pollution. Officials said fire tenders sprinkled water in Wazirpur, Dwarka and Ohkla as part of measures to curb dust pollu­ tion. The Delhi Fire Services conducted the operation. U.P. told to keep vigil on brick kilns in wake of rising pollution Green panel raps State for allowing activity despite curbs Staff Reporter NEW DELHI The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain vigil against illegal operation of brick kilns to protect air quality in the Na­ tional Capital Region. A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel noted that the industry had a contribution of 5% to 7% of PM10 emis­ sions in winter and summer respectively, to the ambient air of Delhi­NCR. Illegal operation “The authorities concerned in the State of U.P. may keep a vigil against illegal opera­ tion of brick kilns so as to protect the air quality in NCR,” the Bench said. The green panel also dis­ missed an application seek­ ing permission to operate a brick kiln. Earlier, the tribu­ nal had rapped the State go­ CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC Soaring prices ‘He laundered funds to fuel protests’ Press Trust of India New Delhi The Enforcement Directo­ rate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet in a court here against former AAP council­ lor Tahir Hussain in a mo­ ney laundering case related to the communal violence in northeast Delhi in February. Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat took cogni­ sance of the offences under Section 3 (money launder­ ing) read with Section 70 (of­ fences by companies) pun­ ishable under Section 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, against Mr. Hussain and co­ accused Amit Gupta. The ED was probing the allegation that Mr. Hussain and his linked persons laun­ dered about ₹1.10 crore funds by using purported shell or dummy companies to fuel the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the riots. The court has summoned Mr. Hussain and Mr. Gupta on October 19. The ED said in its char­ gesheet that investigation in the case was in progress and a supplementary complaint may be filed later. The Enforcement Direc­ torate may proceed with further investigation, as per law, the court said. Senior advocate K.K. Ma­ nan and advocate Rizwan, appearing for Mr. Hussain, had claimed that he was a victim of circumstances and was falsely implicated in the case. Communal violence had broken out in northeast Del­ hi on February 24 after clashes between Citizenship law supporters and protes­ ters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 in­ jured. A brick kiln in Baghpat district in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. * FILE PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA vernment for permitting brick kilns to operate des­ pite prohibition during the lockdown. The directions came when the green panel was hearing a plea moved by pe­ titioner Shailesh Singh and others who sought action against brick kilns that were operating without comply­ ing to environmental norms leading to air and water pol­ lution. The plea alleged that 600 brick kilns were operat­ ing illegally in the Baghpat district in the absence of re­ quisite clearances from stat­ utory authorities concerned. It alleged that 600 brick kilns are illegally operating in Baghpat district without obtaining requisite clearanc­ es from statutory authorities concerned. Second DU list sees slight dip in cut­offs Admissions will begin from tomorrow Staff Reporter NEW DELHI The second cut­off list an­ nounced by Delhi University (DU) on Saturday saw margi­ nal dips in required scores with several arts courses be­ ing closed across colleges. At Lady Shri Ram College, which had pegged the cut­ off at 100% for economics, political science and psy­ chology, the asking score dipped to 99% for econom­ ics and 99.75% for the other two respectively. BA (Hons) English saw a marginal dip with the cut­off being reduced to 97% at Gar­ gi College, 97.75% at Hansraj College, 97% at Kirori Mal College and 98.75% at both — LSR and Miranda House. Daily wage workers sort potatoes, which have come from Uttar Pradesh, at Azadpur Mandi in Delhi. A 50­kg bag of potatoes is being sold for ₹1,200­₹1,500 in the Capital. SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA * CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC Youth beaten to death by two for ‘stealing phone’ Staff Reporter NEW DELHI A 20­year­old youth was al­ legedly beaten to death by two persons who suspected him of stealing their mobile phones, the police said on Saturday. The accused have been arrested. DCP (IGI Airport) Rajeev Ranjan said that the ac­ cused, identified as Ajit alias Bhujang (23), resident of Gautam Buddha Nagar in U.P. and Rajkumar alias Ba­ lak (24), resident of Rajokri village, are both ragpickers. The police said the de­ ceased and the accused knew each other. The police received an in­ formation on Wednesday that a body was lying oppo­ site a hotel near the airport in a forest area. The body was identified as Deepak, re­ sident of Mahipalpur. Deepak’s brother­in­law allegedly told the police that he was beaten by a person named Bhujang and his ac­ complices with sticks and rods. The police said that the accused confessed to have killed Deepak and claimed that Bhujang had bought a mobile, which was allegedly stolen by the victim and he was not returning it. Courses closed At Indraprastha College and Hindu College, BA (Hon) En­ glish has closed for the unre­ served category. Political science which has emerged to be one of the most sought after courses got closed for the unre­ served category at Miranda House and Hindu College which had set an asking score of 99% and 99.5% respectively. Courses like geography, philosophy and psychology closed at IP college while Mi­ randa House and KMC also closed its list for geography honours. Hindi and Sanskrit ho­ nours also saw a rush with the list closing in colleges like Hindu and Gargi Colleges. At Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), the cut­ off for both economics and BCom (Hons) remained the same at 99% and 99.5% respectively. Among the science cours­ es, at Aryabhatta College, the cut­off for BSc (Hons) mathematics increased from 94% to 95.5% while at Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma Col­ lege, the cut­off for BSc (Hons) physics saw a spike from 94% to 95.66%. At Daulat Ram College, the cut­off for mathematics honours increased from 96% to 96.25% while at Hansraj College the asking score for chemistry in­ creased from 96.33% to 96.66%. At several colleges, including Hindu, ARSD and LSR, courses like physics, chemistry and mathematics have closed for the unre­ served category. Admissions under the se­ cond cut­off list will begin from Monday. Students who have already applied to col­ leges under the first list, will have the option of changing colleges, if they meet the cut­off under the second list, for ₹1,000. Outstation students lead again in DU rush Pol. science emerges as the most sought after course; colleges over­admitting students Shinjini Ghosh NEW DELHI Despite soaring cut­offs an­ nounced by Delhi University, admissions to over 49% of the merit­based undergraduate seats have already taken place in the first list itself. As of Friday, 34,814 admis­ sions had taken place against close to 70,000 undergraduate seats in the varsity. Political science has emerged to be one of the most sought af­ ter courses with colleges over­ admitting students. The cut­off for BA (Hons) Political Science at Miranda House and Ramjas College was 99% while at Hindu College it was 99.5%. All three colleges are likely to close ad­ missions to the course in the first list itself. Principals of both North Campus and off­campus colleges said that similar to pre­ vious years, a large number of outstation students have taken admission this year. Stay undeterred Lady Shri Ram College princi­ pal Suman Sharma said, “We were thinking that the pandem­ ic might have an effect on the number of students applying from outside Delhi. However that is not the case and the rush CM YK Students on Delhi University campus during the ongoing admission process. * FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA has been the usual.” Stating that most of those who have taken admissions are outstation students, Anju Sri­ vastava, Hindu College princi­ pal said, “There has definitely been a surge in applications from students outside of Delhi. Most of those who have taken admissions are outstation stu­ dents. They must be having their own peer groups and se­ niors, and a streamlined pro­ cess as we have not really re­ ceived any query or mail regarding apprehensions, espe­ cially due to the pandemic. Des­ pite high cut­offs, several of the courses closed after the first list.” Ramjas College principal Ma­ noj Khanna said, “There has been absolutely no change whatsoever from the previous years. The overall rush is the same with a substantial number of outstation students applying. Students from Karnataka, Bi­ har, Andhra Pradhesh and the North­East have taken admis­ sions. The cut­off for political science was 99%. Despite that there have been 145 admissions against 78 seats. It is definitely one of the most popular cours­ es. The other courses that saw a rush were Hindi and BA (Programme).” Miranda House also saw stu­ dents from Telangana and Kera­ la among other States taking ad­ missions, said acting principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda. Minor glitches Aspirants from outside the city added that the online admission process has been mostly smooth barring a few glitches Kamalkali Majumdar, an ap­ plicant from Kolkata said, “Not that there was a lack of informa­ tion regarding the admissions but there were minor glitches. On the second day, a lot of us faced issues with the payment as the portal was not function­ ing properly. It was only later at night that the respective dash­ boards reflected that the pay­ ment was successful. Nodal of­ ficers were unreachable and emails unresponsive several times. We were mentally pre­ pared for the process to take longer but it got done just in two days.” “Overall, the process was smooth, however, I would have loved to experience the whole process first­hand and com­ plete all the formalities along with other friends together,” said Ms. Majumdar, who has ta­ ken admission in a North Cam­ pus college. Bibhasha Banerjee, another outstation student who has ta­ ken admission for the (BA) So­ ciology course in an off­campus college, said: “The online ad­ mission process had both ad­ vantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage was that we did not have to travel all the way to the campuses during the pandemic. However, the disad­ vantage which the online pro­ cess has is related to the ECA ad­ missions as there will be no trials this year.” A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU CITY 3 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Temple fair starts under shadow of virus Timings DELHI SUNDAY, OCT. 18 RISE 06:24 SET 17:49 RISE 07:50 SET 19:12 Experts warn against taking children to gatherings; four temple staff test positive MONDAY, OCT. 19 RISE 06:25 SET 17:48 RISE 09:00 SET 19:58 Ashok Kumar GURUGRAM Despite the threat of CO­ VID­19 still looming large, a usual pre­pandemic buzz marked the opening of the annual week­long Navratra Mela at Mata Sheetla Devi shrine here on Saturday. Devotees, including chil­ dren of all ages, from Harya­ na, Punjab, Delhi, Rajasthan, and other States started to throng the temple early in the morning. The visitors could be seen jostling in queues outside the premises with little re­ gard for social distancing norms. The shrine board, however, distributed free masks to the devotees and sanitised their hands. TUESDAY, OCT. 20 RISE 06:25 SET 17:47 RISE 10:10 SET 20:49 People get tested for COVID-19 near Mahindra Park in Delhi. 0 DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested to verify and make appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any published in this newspaper. THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/ company be held responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertisements in this newspaper. IN BRIEF Sisodia visits proposed site for sports university G.B. Nagar records 107 fresh COVID-19 cases NOIDA Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 107 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the district’s infection tally to 15,803, official data showed. The number of active cases came down further to 1,384 from 1,477 on Friday and 1,523 on Thursday, stated data released by the U.P. government for a 24-hour period. On the brighter side, 201 more patients got discharged during the period and the overall number of recoveries in the district reached 14,355, the seventh highest in the State. SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA COVID-19 death toll nears 6,000 mark Govt. says 35 new fatalities reported in the past 24 hours Staff Reporter New Delhi The city on Saturday re­ corded 3,259 new CO­ VID­19 cases in the past 24 hours, according to a health bulletin released by the government. This is the fifth consecutive day that the Capital has recorded over 3,000 new cases. The death toll has reached 5,981 with 35 more fatalities reported in a sin­ gle day, said the bulletin. Of the total 3,27,718 cas­ es, 2,98,853, people have recovered and there are now 22,884 active cases. NEW DELHI Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday visited the proposed site for Delhi Sports University in Mundka village. He said the university will make India proud in the world of sports. “If we do this, then our sports talents will leave no stone unturned to bring in more medals in events like Olympics. But now we want to pick up the pace of work as it is our dream to provide world-class opportunities to children in the field of education and sports,” the Minister said. * RT-PCR tests increase A total of 55,715 COVID­19 tests were done in the past 24 hours, out of which 15,537 were RT­PCR tests. of total 15,706 < > Out beds available for COVID-19 treatment in the city, 67.9% are vacant... 54.6% of ICU beds with ventilators are occupied Delhi government This is the second day in a row where more than 15,000 RT­PCR tests have been conducted. Friday had seen the highest num­ ber of such tests till now with 15,660 RT­PCR tests. The High Court had di­ rected the Delhi govern­ ment to increase the num­ ber of RT PCR tests, which is considered as the gold standard when it comes to COVID­19 testing. Meanwhile, the number Man cheats ex­colleague of over ₹1 lakh, arrested Staff Reporter NEW DELHI A 28­year­old man has been arrested for allegedly cheat­ ing his former colleague of over ₹1 lakh on the pretext of getting him a job in the Minis­ try of Finance, the police said on Saturday. Additional DCP (South­ East) Kumar Gyanesh said the accused, Gaurav Dutt, is from Brahampuri in Shahda­ ra. The police said they re­ ceived a complaint on Thurs­ day from one Mukul Aggarwal, who told them that he first met the accused in 2015while working at a call centre. Mr. Aggarwal then lost touch after he left the job but reunited with Dutt in 2019. The accused told Mr. Aggarwal that he was work­ ing with the Ministry of Fi­ nance and can get him a job there too as an assistant. For this, the accused asked Mr. Aggarwal to pay ₹40,000. Mr. Aggarwal gave his docu­ ments to Dutt along with an advance of ₹10,000. Later, the accused started demand­ ing more money and Mr. Ag­ garwal ended up paying ₹1,54,000 to Mr. Dutt, the police said. “On Thursday, Dutt came to Mr. Aggarwal’s shop in Raghunath Market and de­ manded ₹3,000. He also told the victim that a few docu­ ments were pending. The victim and his father then realised that they were being cheated. They nabbed him and approached the police,” said. Dutt told the police that he had applied for a loan of ₹1,50,000 but could not pay it and hence committed the crime. of active cases increased for the fifth consecutive day, and the people under home isolation for the fourth straight day. But the number of peo­ ple in hospitals slightly de­ creased on Saturday. Out of the total 15,706 beds available for COVID­19 treatment in the city, 67.9% were vacant, as per govern­ ment data. But 54.6% of the ICU beds with ventilators have been occupied and 55.6% of the ICU beds with­ out ventilators are full. The positivity rate (per­ centage of people testing positive for every 100 tests done) was 5.8%. The over­ all positivity rate till now is 8.3%. The number of con­ tainment zones in the city on Saturday was 2,751. 6 lakh devotees expected Around six lakh devotees are expected to visit the shrine over the next week. The “mela” is expected to draw maximum crowd on Saptami (October 23) and Ashtami (October 24). The shrine was already open to the devotees with the Standard Operating Procedures, but the adminis­ tration issued fresh direc­ tions on Friday regarding sa­ fety measures. Around noon, an auto­ driver from Delhi, Ranbir, accompanied by his family, including an infant, said he had come to visit the shrine since his wish for a male child was granted by “Maa”. The 37­year­old said the infant could not be left at home as his hair needed to be donated to the temple. “How long can we stay in­ doors?,” asked Ranbir, while taking out a bottle of sanitis­ er. While he claimed that the family took all precautions, none of the women or chil­ Devotees outside Mata Sheetla Devi shrine in Gurugram on Saturday. dren were wearing masks. Rohit, a mobile shop own­ er, travelled for around six hours from Punjab’s Bhatin­ da to reach the temple with his wife and newborn. “We have come to express our gratitude to the deity for blessing us with a male child,” he said. Temple officer Yogdutt Sharma told The Hindu that the deity was associated with the welfare of the children and, therefore, most of the devotees are visiting the shrine with their children. He said the temple staff could not prevent anyone from entering the premises. Preventive measures He emphasised that the shrine board had taken a host of measures to ensure the safety of the visitors and the temple staff. “The 106 staff members, including the policemen in­ side the temple, were tested for COVID­19 and four of them tested positive. Unlike the previous years, the visi­ tors are told to leave the prasad at a designated place soon after they enter the pre­ mises,” said Mr. Dutt. Gurugram Civil Surgeon Virender Yadav said the tem­ ple staff would be tested again during the mela. Former Gurugram Bar Council president Kulbhush­ an Bhardwaj, visiting the temple, said the devotees were left disappointed as they were not being allowed to offer prasad inside the main temple. “People travel long dis­ tances to reach the temple and are left disappointed when told not to carry prasad, chunnis and other offer­ ings inside the main temple. The priests should be made to wear gloves and accept their offerings. It is a matter of faith,” said Mr. Bhardwaj, a former BJP district president. Krishan Chugh, director Journalist ‘attacked by police’ named in FIR He was ‘reporting’ on stir against alleged rape and murder of a teenage Dalit girl Staff Reporter NEW DELHI Delhi Police on Saturday charged a journalist and nine others of criminal con­ spiracy for allegedly protest­ ing outside Model Town pol­ ice station on Friday. Six of the 10 accused are students. The protest was staged by students, activists and locals of Gurmandi demanding lodging of an FIR into the al­ leged rape and murder of a teenage Dalit girl — a domes­ tic helper who was found dead at her employer’s house in Model Town. The police have registered an FIR under Sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public ser­ vant), 120B (criminal conspi­ racy), 269 (negligent act like­ ly to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) of the In­ dian Penal Code, and Sec­ tion 3 of the Epidemic Act. The police alleged that ov­ er 15­20 men and women had gathered outside the police station and were not wearing masks or maintain­ ing social distance. They also allegedly refused to leave even after being told to dis­ perse. The police had de­ tained 10 persons, including The Caravan magazine’s journalist Ahan Penkar. In a statement, The Caravan said that Mr. Penkar was reporting when Assistant Commissioner of Police Ajay Kumar “kicked and slapped” him at the police station. “Mr. Penkar had repeated­ ly told the police that he was a journalist and prominently displayed his press card,” the statement read. The magazine also said the police forcibly took Mr. Penkar’s phone and deleted all videos and photos that he had recorded while report­ ing. “Mr. Penkar was de­ tained for nearly four hours. In the assault, he suffered in­ juries on his nose, shoulder, back and ankle,” they added. Responding to the allega­ tions, the police said that Mr. Penkar was protesting and was detained along with the others, and later released. “He later claimed he was a reporter and alleged misbe­ haviour by the police. The al­ legation made by Mr. Penkar is false and is only made with the intention of escalating the situation. The police ac­ tion is bona fide,” they said. The police said that the girl was reported dead on October 4 and her post­mor­ tem was conducted on Oc­ tober 8, which revealed that the girl took her own life. “No foul play has come in the investigation so far,” the police said, adding that the protest was staged “to put undue pressure on local pol­ ice and tried to give the inci­ dent a different narrative”. In August, three scribes from The Caravan were al­ legedly beaten, assaulted and sexually harassed in Gonda while reporting a sto­ ry around the Delhi riots. “The frequency with which The Caravan repor­ ters are being targeted makes one wonder if there’s a calculated design behind such attacks,” said Vinod K. Jose, the executive editor of the publication. Civil Hospital augmented for COVID-19, but other patients left in the lurch Many raise issues about access to ultrasound and CT scans; official says infrastructure upgraded to deal with virus will stay after pandemic Ashok Kumar GURUGRAM Panchu and his wife Lilawati are sitting under a tree inside the Sec­ tor 10 Civil Hospital premises on a hot Wednesday afternoon. The elderly couple is in distress and anxiously awaiting the woman’s blood test report. An abdomen ache has been troubling 56­year­old Lilawati for nearly a week now. But, she will have to wait for one more week before she can get an ultrasound scan, which is scheduled for October 25. Panchu is a housekeeping em­ ployee in a private firm and earns ₹300­₹400 per day. He cannot af­ ford the scan in a private hospi­ tal. “We have no choice, but to wait,” says Panchu. Sitting nearby is Bablu, who is suffering from tuberculosis­like symptoms. “I came here on Tues­ day, but there was a long queue at the blood sample collection counter and I got turned away. The samples are collected only till 11 a.m. and many people have to return every day,” says Bablu, who works at a moulding unit in Udyog Vihar Phase IV. Once he gets the blood sample report, he will have to get a CT scan done at the old hospital building near the bus stand. “The CT scan is done in a building nearly 10 km from here. I will take leave tomorrow [Sunday] again and go there. It takes 3­4 days for a simple treatment. Poor people cannot afford to take so many leaves from work,” he says. ‘Five days for dengue report’ Nanak Yadav, a plumber, has been here since 6 a.m. — almost two hours before his appoint­ ment time. He wanted to ensure that he gets all the examinations done in a single visit. “I have come to the hospital many times over the years. You never get all the prescribed med­ icines inside the hospital,” com­ plains Mr. Yadav. Another visitor, Darshan, says nothing has changed in civil hos­ pitals: “I got my son Manoj’s den­ gue report only after five days.” Dilwar Ali, who has come to the hospital for the third time for his wife’s treatment, says they pital authorities were forced to cram in 45 more beds to deal with the rush. Soon, 25 more beds will be added for a separate Dengue ward. Patients wait in long queue at Civil Hospital, Gurugram. live in Sector 65 and the private auto charges ₹150 one way. Though the health crisis in the wake of COVID­19 has forced the government to augment health infrastructure in the district, ma­ ny of the measures have been ar­ ranged on a temporary basis to deal with the situation at hand such as hiring of ambulances and lab technicians. But little seems to have changed for the poor pa­ * ASHOK KUMAR tients thronging civil hospitals. Principal Medical Officer at Ci­ vil Hospital Deepa Sindhu says nothing much has changed for the 100­bed hospital catering to a population of 15 lakh, as per the 2011 census. “In terms of new in­ frastructure, three RT­PCR labs have been set up. Besides CO­ VID­19 tests, these can be used for H1N1 tests,” says Dr. Sindhu. Despite the space crunch, hos­ Forced to share bed The hospital records an average 500­700 deliveries per month, catering mostly to migrants. The expectant mothers and their at­ tendants complain that 2­3 wo­ men are forced to share a bed in­ side the labour room. Dr. Sindhu denies the allega­ tions. “The shortage of em­ ployees has led to long waiting time for ultrasound scans with the priority being pregnant wo­ men. We hope to conduct the scans in two shifts soon to handle the rush. Also, we have created space for the CT scan machine to be shifted to this hospital. It will also be done,” she adds. Administrative approval for a six­bed ICU building has been re­ ceived and an up­gradation plan to add 100 more beds is in the pi­ peline. The government also plans to set up a 500­bed hospital at the site of the old Civil Hospi­ tal. All such projects may get de­ layed due to a financial crunch due to the lockdown and CO­ VID­19 being a priority. Civil Surgeon (Gurugram) Vi­ render Yadav maintains that the health infrastructure had got an impetus with the appointments of doctors, lab technicians, data entry operators, and setting up of labs and addition of ICU beds. “Many of these things will stay even after the pandemic is over. Though lab technicians are hired temporarily, the doctors are ap­ pointed regularly. The 44 doctors hired have been deployed in PHCs in Sohna and Pataudi. Simi­ larly, 21 ICU beds and ten ventila­ tors have been added to govern­ ment hospitals,” says Mr. Yadav. Though five ambulances have also been added to the fleet, the Nodal officer of the referral tran­ sport system, N.P. Singh, says that two of them have been brought from Nuh and another two were donated by the district administration. “We had hired a few private ambulances tempora­ rily when home isolation was not allowed,” says Dr. Singh. * MANOJ KUMAR and HOD of Paediatrics, For­ tis Memorial Research Insti­ tute in Gurugram, cautioned that people, especially chil­ dren, should avoid large gatherings such as melas. “Parents should avoid tak­ ing children to melas and crowded places since they cannot wear masks, main­ tain social distancing and sanitise their hands all the time — the three basic tenets of protecting oneself and others from COVID­19. These children going back home will pass on the infection to their family members and others. Some of these chil­ dren will develop multi­sys­ temic inflammatory syn­ drome of childhood, which is a life­threatening form of COVID­19,” said Dr. Chugh. A senior health depart­ ment official also questioned the rationale behind allow­ ing the mela, expressing ap­ prehensions that such gath­ erings could lead to a spike in COVID­19 cases. 7th week of anti-dengue campaign Special Correspondent New Delhi The seventh week of the anti­dengue campaign 10 Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute will seek to encourage shopkeepers in the Capi­ tal to inspect their shops and surroundings for stagnant water every Sun­ day and drain it to pre­ vent the breeding of den­ gue mosquitoes. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will encourage all the shopkeepers for the same, the govern­ ment said. Mr. Kejriwal had also said with the col­ lective efforts of all the Delhiites, “we have to stop the breeding of den­ gue mosquitoes and pro­ tect our family”. The exercise will keep the shopkeepers as well as their customers safe from dengue, the govern­ ment added. Last week, Mr. Kejriwal had tweeted: “Today is the sixth Sunday of the campaign against den­ gue, my family also joined the campaign this time. We checked the house and replaced the accumu­ lated clean water. You must also involve your fa­ mily in this campaign. We have to defeat dengue to­ gether. #10Hafte10Baje10­ Minute Har Ravivaar, Dengue Par Vaar [sic].” Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 RNI No. UPENG/1986/49939 ISSN 0971 - 751X Vol. 10 No. 41 ● CM YK ● ● ● A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 4 DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE TAMIL EDUCATIONAL IAS / ALLIED SERVICES TAMIL ALLIANCE FOR Tamil Yadava Girl 26 MUDALIAR,26/163,BEAUTIFUL,BE,CSE, Years Completed Ms & Working In MNC,CHENNAI,7 Lac. 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Good Looking, 03−04−1986 born / CT:7339157563 152cm / M.Sc M.Phil , working as Professor in a Reputed IYER VADAMAL 35/MBBS,MD(Micro Assistant Women’s College, Mount Road, ChenBiology) working in Chennai seeks nai. Both Parents Doctors (Private) qualified doctors MD/MS below 38 , Suitable Alliance, Employed / years Ct : yohesh2004@gmail.com Settled in Chennai / With Clean Habits from Same Community. ConIAS / ALLIED SERVICES tact: 9841182514 HINDU MBBS, I.R.S ( I.T ), Seeks WANTED A SUITABLE Roman Catholic Groom , State / Caste No Bar. Con- postgraduate doctor for our daughtact : 9382743021 ter aged 27 years height 158cm studying final year MS OG.Both parWANTED 29−34 yrs/Civil service/Doc- ents are doctors well settled in tors/Entrepreneurs for a Hindu Salem.Contact no.94433 77343 / fair good looking IRS bride(mutual- 86105 39801 ly divorced)29/164cms from an affluent family in Chennai, Parents RC NADAR 27/154 B.E Software Er professionals.9962441400,varshalaks 7.35 LPA seeks R.C.Nadar B.E. Groom good job contact:7708469824 hmi6420@gmail.com BRAHMIN UNMARRIED 49/171 B.TECH MBA Moolam DGM-Electrical MNC Cuddalore 1.5 Lakhs pm having two houses and two plots seeks graduate pure vegetarian bride having really interested in marriage can Contact : 75988 77182. Caste no bar. WE ARE looking for an alliance for our son (Ashok), aged (29) years, settled in Chennai, height 6’2", Salaried Graduate, Religion Hindu and Caste Nair. The bride should hail from a decent, educated family. same caste / caste no bar. Contact with details +91 8939466470. COSMOPOLITAN DOCTOR M.S (Ophthal) II Yr SMU Slim+Fair bride 28 Yrs seeks Completed or Undergoing M.D/ M.S/ DNB (Clinical Branches) Groom. Contact : 8056198771 / ahamed4march@ gmail.com GAVARA NAIDU, 34, BE, MBA, Bank Manager, Uthirattathi. Seeks Suitable Educated Bride From Naidu Family. 9443172955 / 9894357655 CASTE NO bar. Wanted girl for broad minded boy, 32 yrs M.E, HCL NAIDU / GAVARA Age 27 yrs, Star early divorce. Ct−9940371899/ Rohini, M. S. ( Software Engg) VIT , 8825610155 Sr. Programmer, MNC, Chennai. Seeks suitable bride, WhatsApp 89731 77016 MALAYALAM SEEKING 50 to 55 years old highly educated unmarried/divorced/widower (without issues) male compatible match height about 5’9" for a young looking caste Hindu bride 49 years unmarried US citizen working in USA double masters degree holder 5’4", 52 kg. Only GC/US citizen is considered.. Please reply matriad0920@yahoo.com 23 YRS Old Doctor Urdu Muslim bride namasi with hijab from chennai, aspiring to do further studies in UK expecting groom with similar qualities/ UK settled Contact no – 8925189380. MUDALIYAR, CHENNAI, Age: 40. If a comfortable woman with a helping mind wants the internet for Dignity & Security. 8838225041. Caste No Bar ENGLISH HINDU/ 31 yr 175 cm/ Aswini / Doctor/ working / settled in UK/ CASTE NO bar rich BC boy BE MBA. clean habits/ never married/ upper IIM/30/178 fair goodlooking girl middle class/ seeks qualified wanted 9445541330 bride from good family / CNB/ Ct. WELL SETTLED Brahmin boy, Chennai wat’sup no. 9789837562 looking for Suitable Alliance. Con- 48, NAIDU. OWN Business, fancy tact: 9003205641 stores,Villupuram,40000/pm seeks bride.Contact 9443546725, HINDI 9790011471 GOUNDER/ MUDALIAR (CNB) : 200 Cr, 27/ V.Fair, B.Arch, Business FamiGOOD LOOKING Smartha Iyer, ly, Chennai, Seeks Groom Business 28/163, Athreyasa/ Dhanishta with / Engineer − 7358510790,7305810258 good family background, Master in Communication- Manipal Institute with YADAVA : 25/ V.Fair, MBBS, MS, Specialisation from Utrecht University- SRMC, Chennai, Elite Family, Seeks Netherlands, empld in MNC B'lore, Groom − Doctor / Business − seeks suitable alliance from B'lore ba- 9443622400, 8939012419 sed Brahmin boy, Trustworthy, qlfd & HINDU MUDALIAR 32 Y PG Doctor in profnly empld. Ct: 9448562258 Chennai, seeks groom PG doctors, highly qualified persons, Reputed bussiness family with good backMALAYALAM ground. CNB Upper caste. Ct. SEEKING ALLIANCE for nair girl, BE 9884202884 MBA, 33/168, Punartham MNC Hyderabad 22 LPA, Parents in Coimbat- HINDU MARAVAR, 28, B.Com, Rs. ore. 9442611725, ltcolkcanair11@ 20,000 Thulam, Chitterai. Seeks Same Caste Groom. Ct: 8104659140, gmail.com 9841274275 BALIJA 30, Swathi, B TECH, MBA, veg, fair & good looking seeks professionally qualified groom ,contact: 9941348103 TAMIL PILLAI DR MD Radiologist 27/180. Parents Drs Chennai. Only Drs from Pillai Chettiar Mudaliar. 9840584400 DOCTOR KANNADA TRICHUR MENON GIRL, 34/ 164,slim,fair,beautiful,M.Tech working in Kerala PSU,rich,educated family seeks groom professionally qualified, employed/businessman,age 34-39 from good family. 9495276039 COSMOPOLITAN 4 Fair, pretty match – working / not working, veg, graduate / diploma hol der from cultured background ( poor/ middle class family fine), between age : 34 – 40, caste no bar for smart, pious Brahmin Palakkad Iyer boy 170cm, handsome, looks younger ( late 30s ), teetotaller, post grad, well-placed with good earnings, own house & car. WhatsApp : 09028 225 299. Plz email BHP : smwed@mail.com Shanta, B7 Park View Apts., Salisbury Park, Pune 411037. TAMIL MUSLIM 28/170 MBBS, MD (DM) SENGUNTHAR, 34/182 cm,veg, M.E. seeks Medical Bride small settled Asst. Prof., 5L, seeks good girl from good family. (Diet doesn’t family. Ct: moulvi786@yahoo.com matter). Ct. 9042815161 HINDU NADAR Poosam Kadagam 23/ B.Tech (IT)/ 153cm, Homely. Well to do family. Seeks Suitable educated Chennai based Groom. Ct: 94442 03011. MALAYALEE VISHWAKARMA (C) girl, MTech, 27/5’5",single daughter of central government officer seeks alliance from well settled boys preferably working in government sector (only malayalees) 9535031849 TAMIL IYER BHARADHWAJAM Uthiram, 39yrs/ 180cms, BE, MNC Chennai 15 Lakhs perannum, Own House at Chennai seeks any Brahmin Girl. Ct: 09445222214 HINDU SC PR Kongu 1984 MBBS DCH Doctor, working in Govt Hospital Seeks suitable groom. Ct: 9443680973 TELUGU KAMMA NAIDU 26/168 B.E., (CSE), SWE, MNC Affluent seeks professional send BHP to 7823988999 NAIDU FAIR Girl 26/5.5' MBA. B.Groom can be working in India/ Abroad. 8838278701, 044-49503322, 9710975925 NAIDU 25/155/V.FAIR, CA Working in International Co. seeks handsome CA, decent family Send BHP 9444361010 GAVARA/BALIJA AVITTAM Kumbam 27 Fair−Good Looking,BE (E&I )seeks Suitable Groom India/ Abroad Sub− Caste No Bar. Ct:8056093838/ 9500009694 NAIDU 31-35 yrs. Civil service/ Doctor/ Engineer/ Bank officer for a doctor bride in service, doing MD(Med.). Fair, pious, Innocent divorcee from an elite family. andals2021@gmail.com NAIDU GOOD Look 1973/171cm MBA Working Seeks Groom below 49 Yrs. 44/163 MUDALIAR/PILLAI, M.com, Ct:9566246087, dlokeswaran@ MBA, Seeks Qualified Unmarried Be- yahoo.co.in low 47, Clean habits, CNB. Ct: 9444837355 / 9500113136 anbumatri@ NAIDU UTHIRADAM−4 Magaram 30/165, gmail.com Fair, MBBS, Dr,TN Govt Chennai TANJORE PILLAI 1983, Innocent Di- Elite Seek Dr, Class−1 Officer, Groom Any Naidu. vorcee, No Issues. Manager, MNC− Business BLR 2L /PM, Seeks Working Groom Be- Ct:9841743266 low 40yrs Equal Caste. Ct: URDU 9384614715 URDU SUNNI−MUSLIM Age 24/ 161 CM/ DEVENDRA KULA Vellalar, Chennai based girl, 34 yrs, B.com, seeks BSc. Radiology. Seeks Chennai employed match below 36 yrs. Uthi- based Suitable Groom. Ct:99400 ram star, Simmam rasi. Caste no 26742 bar. Email: jvasanthk@gmail.com SUNNI 32YRS Asst Professor MBA mob: 9500076596 M.Phil Seeks Religious Suitable DEVENDRA KULA Vellalar, Chennai Same Sect Groom Chennai Only based girl, 34 yrs, B.com, seeks 9444757350 employed match below 36 yrs. Uthiram star, Simmam rasi. Caste no SMU PARENTS seek alliance from PG bar. Email: jvasanthk@gmail.com Doctor or well settled Engineer from chennai for Daughter 29/ 168 mob: 9500076596 MD Doctor working in reputed MediHINDU AD BE/MBA working MNC 1991 cal College Hospital. contact born 162cm good looking seeks 9500115044. groom from decent family Engineers/ Doctors below 33 years. Ct: ✔ CHENNAI SMU parents seek al9444298707 liance for daughter aged 27/160/ Alliance for Tamil Hindu Reddiyar Fair MPhil, working. Well−employed Girl, 28, 165cm. MS & Working in USA grooms with clean habits, please H1B Visa. Cast No Bar. Contact :- contact hameed.shaadi2020@gmail.com 9443274424 SMU, 23, B.E, fair girl’s family BRAHMIN GIRL B’ful 26, Engr, Chen- looking for suitable groom. email: nai. Desire: Well settled, smart, barakallah.ahmed@gmail.com groom. BHP: 9840280559 WANTED GROOMS-URDU MUSLIM CHETTIYAR, PG, 28, well settled Tall Smart Pious Dentist, 29, Needs Rich Fmly Looking equal status Suitable Groom neat Habits strictly baGroom in Chettiyar only.Brk Exc sed in COIMBATORE, Whatsapp Snap Biodata 9842427866 9499027719 MUDLIAR KIND fair PhD 36yrs divorcee 2lac/mth. Dr parents. Edu simple bride. FC BC MBC. 8778934848. YADAVA 29 Years 180 cms BE., MS (USA) Fair, Working in Canada, 43 Lakhs pa. Father retd GGM from ONGC. Seeks good looking well educated girl from decent family. Ct: NAIR DOCTOR (M.D.S) 44 Years. Di- 6382160720 vorced. Well Setteled in Chennai Seeks Suitable Bride. Ct: 97909 SAIVA PILLAI, 34 / 175 cm, BE, Businessman / Fair , clean habits 73240 / Innocent Divorcee, no issues / PROPOSAL INVITED by Father Telugu well settled family, seeks unmarBrahmin Mother Nair Veg / 33 / 5.6 ried veg. bride aged below 32. Con9698635206, gks98428@ ft / working in IT Chennai seeking tact: FC bride from middle−income decent gmail.com family. Ct: 9677026592 TAMIL VISWAKARMA Poorattathi KumAge 49, Canadian Res., Await. Di- bam 34 B.Tech ( I.T )/170cm/Non vorce, Mumbai Raised, No Kid. 5'6", Veg working in private Rs20000/− 70 kg. Aver. Look, Healthy, Clean Ha- seeks educated good looking fair bit. Settling in India. Prefer: at least suitable bride from same caste Ct: Grad., Age 31-36, Good Looking, He- 9840039922 althy, with/ without Kid. Bombay, TVM, Kollam Area Prefer. Agt/Brokers Excu- VELLALAR PILLAI Hindu 32/175 Avitse. netme@mail.com WhatsApp: tam BE MS, MNC seeks educated bride. Caste no bar. Ct: 9500010275 9539475096. Hindu SC(AD) BE M.Tech 30/172, ALLIANCE INVITED for Nair/Hindu/ Fair working in Govt Bank.Seeks qualiPhD boy, 34yr/5’11", Asst. Prof & fied fair girl.8270726761 / 9025842930 HoD, residing at Bhopal. Never married. Mb: 9810120992, 9446670967 Hindu, Maruthuvar or Caste No Bar. Eng, BE MS ( USA) 29 employed as TAMIL Software professional Dallas. Resides in own house Dallas. Seeks educated RC AD 31/180 MA BEd MPhil Guest and friendly bride. Try call : Lecturer Govt. seeks RC AD Girl 8825863082 MPhil/PG/BEd ClementA@ids.ac.uk HINDU INTERCAST 1985 thiruvathirai B.COM.,45, 80K , Govt. aided, Chen- MBA, ACS well placed very fair onnai, 5’8", Fair, Divorcee, CNB, ly son seek chennai FC/ BC bride 8825897792,9940671540 only 9790895631 MUSLIM SOFT spoken Religious dou- HINDU NADAR BE MS(UK) 33, 172cm ble graduate Canadian 33/183 seeks Works in MNC @Bangalore 10L PA Reeducated beautiful girl Ct: qs Educated Good Looking Girl 9444441281 9003109811 TAMIL MUSLIM (Divorced) BE Very MUDALIAR, 27/165, Handsome, B.E, Fair 34 Yrs 5’11" 72 kg 70000/ pm Govt−Bank Manager, 7 LAC.PA, well settled in Chennai parents Elite, 50Cr, CNB. 7299576644, Retd. Seek educated good looking 7299576666 bride from decent family mobile 75502 60032 email: rahbas72@ TV−MUDALIAR 1973 / 171 Aswini, gmail.com AGM, TCS − Chennai. Ct: 9840454440/ 9453018110 Email: TAMIL MUSLIM Boy,B.E, 30/170,Fair, abaluind@yahoo.com Divorcee. Seeks religious Unmarried / Divorcee without Issues. FAIR GOOD LOOKING 50yrs Bachelor Age Below 27. Ct: aasiamohammed66@ highly Qualified Dental Doctor gmail.com Looking for Suitable unmarried Girl CasteNo Bar. rajaraja1126@ VANNIYAR GROOM/ 27 yrs/ 180 cm/ rediffmail.com MA/ IBank Clerk seeks Fair/ Employed Graduate Bride. 8838191951 HINDU MUDHALIYAR Age:33 Mng SBI Sal: 1Lks Uthirattathi Meenam. PoSAIVA VELLALA Pillai/ Nanjil − Non lio Atckd using clutches wtd Qulf veg/ 33 yrs/ 175 cm/ Hastham/ (Female) BC/MBC/OC 9941035207 / Tamil & Malayalam/ MBA. Family 9791467995 Business Overseas Export/Import − Well settled. Tuticorin. Prefer- MUDALIAR TVM Govt Contract,Trading, ably Housewife. Ph − 9447145588 Selling,Business,Parents.Seeks below 30yrs Girl,Preferred 1st or VANNIYAR, 34/168CM, BE, 1L, Vis- 2nd Marriage,Equal Other Caste. agam 4th, seeks Suitable Alliance Call,Come,Verify Direct:9444401987 same Caste, Ct: 9626040083 / 9443401831 HINDU, SC, AD, 40 Yrs Cross, Divorcee, Sal : Rs.1.6 Lac. State HINDU DKV pallan M.E, Branch Manag- Govt Gazetted officer Seeks Good, er/Bank, 38,167cm/65k/pm,seeks fair & employed Bride. Contact: Bank/Govt. servant/school/college 6380099591 P.G employees−ct:8056371995 IYER ATHREYA 44/174 Bsc MIB CAST NOBAR, 28 Yrs,Groom BE,158, Business in Coimbatore, Seeks VegeWorking HDFC, Seeking Qualified tarian Bride. 9994661857. Bride from good fmly: 0−9841166011 BRAHMIN,39, ASSOCIATE Project ManHINDU NAICKER 45yrs /179cms BE,US ager HCL Technologies Madurai, return ,High Net worth ,First mar- seeksany brahmin girl, 9487851429 riage, vegetarian ,seeks Bride Caste No Bar.Divorcee & Widows pls N.BALAJI, 34, Brahmin Iyer, excuse .Ct: 9566019036. wedadv09@ Vadamal, Srivatsam, B.Sc MBA − gmail.com MNC. Any Brahmin Girl. 9962220275 / 9962148742 KARAIKUDI CHETTIAR / 38 / MBBS Malaysia / Nephrology USA seeks a STAR ASHWINI, Udithya Gothram, Jan suitable doctor or any qualified 75 born, 25L PA,Divorced(Unconsumwell−educated bride. Working as mated Marriage)Chennai based,Tamil Asst. Professor of Nephrology, Uni- Brahmin Iyer Boy seeks Unmarried/ versity of Florida Caste no bar Divorced(No Child)family oriented Contact 9940691121 / 04428150299 Brahmin Girl with Clean Habits.Ct:9 385807542,rajeshvenkataramani4@gmai HINDU GRAMINI 28/184, BE, MBA, l.com Business, Own House Chennai Seeks Suitable Bride. 9791005857/ IYER VADULAM Uthiram Nov 77 BSc 7418602710. (MCA) MNC 20 LPA .Seek any unmarried Brahmin Girl Ct 9841071359 SC/AD 41/172 B.E,DIS,DFSM Poosam 8LAP Pvt Chn Well Settled,Seeks IYER BRIDE wanted for unmarried IyProf Qlfd Bride Age<38 CNB er 55 own business Pious TeetoCT:9840686498 taller traditional family. Ct:09447496006 DEVENDRA KULAM Age:44 C.Govt Higher Officer Sal: 1,20,000 pm Bride IYER VADAMA, Athreya, Thiruwanted. 94433-80070, 76038-49740. vithari. 1963 Born/ D.E.E/ 40 K, Self Employment. Young Loking, HINDU MARAVAR 31, MBA, 1.5Lac/Per Healthy. Un−Married. Seeks Widow/ Month. Kanni, Astham Seeks Same Unmarried, Heathy, Orthodox Pure Caste Bride. Ct: 8104659140, Vegetarian family. Divorced Ex9841274275 cuse. 9841385579 / 9884846176 MUDALIAR, B.TECH, 29/178, Software, Chennai, 7−8 Lakhs p.a. Star Revathi, No Dosham seeks employed girl from good family. Ph: 9884498432 IYER ENGINEER, 43, MS(CS), 5’ 8" fair,pooram baradwajam chennai seeks god−fearing homely brahmin girl 30−35. Ph: 9940644956 Email: jay.pic.2020@gmail.com HINDU NADAR, Divorce, Age−54, Govt. Job, Cuddalore. Bride Wanted. Ph:7358180408.Send Photo and Bio Data to Mail Id sundari200999@ yahoo.com IYER, VADAMAL, GOWTHAMA, Pooradam/ Dhanusu, May 1982, M.Tech, Envi Consultant, seeking suitable girl, any subset. Ct: 8248370327, 8610325261 BRAHMIN TRIVANDRUM based Brahacharmam Sikithagothram Punartham(4) April 1980 B.Tech/CAIIB, Manager SBI, seeking Brahmin bride, Ph - 98470 81846 TELUGU ALLIANCE FROM any Brahmin Girls Empl/Unemp for a Telugu Brahmin Groom 32 fair 167cm, Manager in bank, Bangalore. Ct : +91 81482 81195 SC, ARUNTHATHIYAR, Age29, Design Engineer in Godrej Bangalore, Sal:48K, looking suitable bride. 9940280206 Hindu, Kammavar Naidu , 52, M.Sc.,(Physics), Pvt Coaching ,Legal Divorcee, No Issues, seeks Suitable Bride. Caste No Bar. Ct: 9003896721 NAIDU /JAGANNATHAN / 30 / 178cm / Uthradam Magaram/ MBA / 1L pm / Showroom in Annanagar /Seeks suitable bride /Chennai /Ct: 9710938728 KAMMA BE MS employed USA 28/171 Magam affluent family seeks bride preferably USA. 9444061611/ 9962777950 NAIDU, 50YRS D.ECE Own business 25000pm Own house, Bachelor. Alliance expected from widower, Innocent divorcee without issue. Caste no bar. Ph 9381081711, balajiskcm@ gmail.com BALIJA NAIDU 49 Yrs / 168 cm/ 80K / B.Com. Southern Railway, Divorced, good financial Back Ground. Seeks Divorced (Without Kid) / Widow / Unmarried, UG/ PG, Slim, Fair, Good Looking, Well educated. No Dowry Required. Ct: 99403−20231 (WattsApp), 98415− 64401. HINDU SC Maadhiga Telugu fair Chennai 27.09.86 180Cms B.Tech (EEE) seeks tall and fair Bride Tamil also accept send BHP WhatsApp 9884247499 VELAMA NAIDU 31/185cm, BA, MSc (Digital Marketing), works as Digital Marketer. Anusham. Seeks suitable alliance. Subsect no bar. Call/Whatsapp 9094014667 VELAMA NAIDU, 33/168, MBBS−MS−ORTHO, Doctor, Uthiradam/ Makara Rasi, seeks Fair & Good looking any Naidu Girl. 09840353368, kvkkpk@gmail.com, Chennai WANTED BRIDE(ANY Brahmin)−for Telugu Brahmin Groom,34 Years,Height− 5’7",MSC & MBA,HCL Tech(IT),Contact −9500877881,prabakaransarma@gmail.com URDU SMU MUSLIM boy, Tamil Nadu based, 31/ 171 cm, BTech MBA, Divorcee, Senior Business Consultant presently working in Canada for the past two years, seeks educated, religious, good looking bride preferably from Tamil Nadu. Call 9698727231 SMU 26/167 ME Ph.D Mech. Research Scholar Anna Univ seeks Doctor bride.Tamil Muslim also prfd. 9444107569 MARRIAGE BUREAU A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU NORTH & EAST 5 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE INTERVIEW | JAYANT CHAUDHARY Weather Watch ‘Onus is on Yogi to address allegations of Thakur appeasement’ Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday Uttar Pradesh deserves a modern approach and a leader with a big and liberal heart, says RLD vice­president Omar Rashid Rashtriya Lok Dal vice-president Jayant Chaudhary speaks on the upcoming Assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh and days after he was lathi-charged by the police while going to Hathras to meet the family of the rape victim. Your party has fielded a candidate in bypoll in Bulandshahr and is supporting the SP in the other six seats. Is this your direction for the 2022 election as well? ■ Yes. We have been consis­ tent on this. We tied up with them in the previous Lok Sabha and in the long term that is the kind of direction we want to give to U.P. Today people are realising that with a brute majority how the BJP is actually suppressing a lot of issues that should have been a priority on the deve­ lopment front. All it is talking about is Mughals, love jihad and divisive issues. With Ak­ hilesh’s leadership and track record, and our grassroot connect, I think we can ac­ tually give an alternative to the voters. Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs) Forecast for Sunday: Heavy rainfall likely at isolated places over coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Thunderstorm with lightning likely at isolated places over Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, central Maharashtra and Rayalaseema city rain max min Agartala................ —....36.0....26.1 Ahmedabad ........... —....36.3....28.6 Aizawl................... —....28.7....19.6 Allahabad.............. —....36.3....25.4 Bengaluru ............. —....28.0....20.0 Bhopal .................. —....33.7....23.3 Bhubaneswar......... —....32.2....24.8 Chandigarh ........... —....33.8....18.7 Chennai ........... 32.5....31.6....25.0 Coimbatore ........... —....33.0....22.8 Dehradun .............. —....31.8....17.0 Gangtok ................ —....24.0....17.0 Goa....................... —....30.4....24.3 Guwahati .............. —....35.4....25.0 Hubballi ................ —....27.0....21.0 Hyderabad ............ —....32.9....22.1 Imphal .................. —....30.9....18.1 Jaipur ................... —....35.0....25.1 Kochi ................. 2.6....30.4....23.6 Kohima ................. —....26.8....17.4 Kolkata ................. —....35.2....27.5 city rain max min Kozhikode.................... —....31.8....23.8 Kurnool ....................... —....32.1....24.0 Lucknow...................... —....36.1....22.5 Madurai ....................... —....37.0....25.3 Mangaluru ................... —....31.7....22.2 Mumbai ....................... —....32.8....25.6 Mysuru ........................ —....31.0....19.2 New Delhi ................... —....35.0....16.8 Patna .......................... —....35.8....25.6 Port Blair................ 44.3....30.5....23.7 Puducherry .................. —....32.6....25.1 Pune............................ —....31.7....21.0 Raipur ...................... 0.6....33.0....24.6 Ranchi ......................... —....32.4....21.6 Shillong....................... —....25.4....17.0 Shimla......................... —....25.1....15.7 Srinagar....................... —....25.5......5.3 Thiruvananthapuram......... —....31.0....23.5 Tiruchi...................... 1.1....36.4....25.0 Vijayawada .................. —....32.0....25.4 Visakhapatnam ............. —....32.9....25.6 (Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius) Pollutants in the air you are breathing CITIES SO2 NO2 Ahmedabad..... Bengaluru ....... Chennai .......... Delhi .............. Hyderabad ...... Kolkata ........... Lucknow ......... Mumbai .......... Pune............... Visakhapatnam 27 ..5 12 ..— 33 ..8 ..4 ..4 ..— ..— .63 .34 ...6 129 .27 .17 .60 .38 ...— ...— Did you expect the police to lathicharge you in Hathras? No. When incidents like these (Hathras rape) happen, people want to reach out to the family and express soli­ darity. The key thing here is that I was escorted past the ■ Yesterday CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE .43 .77 .30 158 .13 ...— .39 125 ...— .13 ....93 ....72 ....62 ..300 ....54 ..146 ..319 ....65 ..... — ..... — ...99 .132 .....— .315 ...79 .120 .216 .108 .....— .....— ....* ....* ....* ....* ....* ....* ....* ....* ....— ....— In observation made at 4.00 p.m., Kurukshetra, Haryana recorded an overall air quality index (AQI) score of 348 indicating an unhealthy level of pollution. In contrast, Shillong, Meghalaya recorded a healthy AQI score of 25 Main accused, others still on the run Uttar Pradesh police on Sa­ turday said it would invoke the stringent National Se­ curity Act and Gangster Act against the accused in the killing of a 46­year­old man at a meeting attended by se­ nior administration and pol­ ice officials here two days ago, even as a local BJP lead­ er, who allegedly shot the victim, continued to evade the cops. gry”. “Our aim is not just to feed the hungry and eradi­ cate malnutrition... We wish to realise the World Food Day’s theme this year to grow, nourish and sustain together,” Mr. Gehlot said. While the Chief Minister said the scheme had en­ sured supply of healthy and nutritious food during the pandemic, the Local Self­Go­ vernment department re­ leased the distribution fi­ gures on Saturday. Since August 20, food has been distributed to 1.33 lakh per­ sons per day benefiting 50.30 lakh persons across the State. Though each plate is priced at ₹20, the State go­ vernment provides a subsi­ dy of ₹12 per meal. Each plate serves 100 grams of pulses and vegetables each, 250 grams of chapati and pickles. Reward announced A total of five people have been arrested and another five detained in connection with the Thursday incident. Also, 12 teams have been formed to nab the other ac­ cused, including local BJP leader Dhirendra Pratap Singh, according to the pol­ ice, which has announced a cash reward of ₹50,000 on their arrest. The FIR had named eight accused and mentioned “20­25” unidentified people in the incident during which Dhirendra Pratap Singh al­ legedly shot dead Jai Pra­ Odisha villagers create river mouth Natural opening had choked and sea­side areas faced deluge Satyasundar Barik BHUBANESWAR Hundreds of fishermen have come together to exca­ vate a new river mouth to prevent their villages from being inundated by the Rushikulya river in Odisha’s Ganjam district. As the natural river mouth got choked, the sea­ side villages faced deluge due to overtopping of water. They had appealed to the district administration to help discharge of river wa­ ter into the Bay of Bengal. “Our repeated appeals fell on deaf ears. Subse­ quently, we took it upon ourselves to find a solution. Over 1,000 people from four villages joined hands and decided to dig an artifi­ cial mouth,” said Magata Behera of Purunabandh vil­ lage. The fishermen were also facing problems of docking their fishing boats along the beach which was witnessing CM YK Do you feel the BJP has a weak link in Yogi Adityanath’s personal image? The BJP’s political strategy is to talk in many voices. From being a ‘right’ party, ■ There is an allegation that the State government is appeasing Thakurs, the caste Yogi was born into. ■ The people who belong to the CM’s caste, either in arro­ gance or affinity, they feel it is ‘hamari sarkar’ (our go­ vernment). You actually need a CM who can be a mo­ ral guiding force and then can tame his or her own sup­ porters. On the other hand, what Yogiji is doing is he is U.P. has relaxed some laws and a lot of crops were taken out of the APMC. The market infrastructure was already getting dismantled. Now these laws have come about and have raised a real con­ cern on what will happen be­ cause eventually over 5­10 years if the market shifts to trade outside mandis into private hands, will they crowd out the state? Will the government stop purchasing from farmers? What will be the viability of MSP? These are the concerns that should have been addressed. But a government that is so elo­ quent in communicating its political messages in election time, it has been its typical failure in communication [on farm laws]. Farmer leaders of Harya­ na and Punjab stormed out ■ Ghaziabad ‘Over 50 lakh benefit from Indira Rasoi Yojana’ Over 50 lakh people have benefited from a new kitch­ en scheme, named after former Prime Minister Indi­ ra Gandhi, launched in Ra­ jasthan for providing nutri­ tious food to the poor and needy twice a day at conces­ sional rates. The State go­ vernment plans to spend ₹95 crore during its first year. Chief Minister Ashok Geh­ lot, who inaugurated the ambitious Indira Rasoi Yoja­ na on August 20, said here on Saturday it would fulfil the State government’s pro­ mise of “no one sleeps hun­ ■ they have also gone a little bit extreme to the right and Yogi is also in the same frame­ work. I think U.P. deserves a modern approach and a leader with a big and liberal heart. I think that space will exist for us to attack Yogi and the BJP. This hard­nosed might is right sort of politics, can’t survive in the long run. Anuj Kumar Ballia (U.P.) JAIPUR Top down, there is an im­ punity. Structures are put in place to reward violent beha­ viour and action by police, whether it is encounters, shooting someone or a lathi­ charge... this notion of strict policing. Yes, we need strict policing in U.P. but we also The Congress has always been there. Every party is doing its own efforts. But it’s easier for the Congress be­ cause they are a mainstream national party and what they do perhaps gets more cover­ age. But they have no ex­ traordinary impact on the grassroots right now. ■ < > We need strict policing in U.P. but we also need sensitive policing You have held mahapanchayats with SP in Muzaffarnagar, Mathura and now Bulandshahr. You are opposed to the new farms laws. What are you you telling the voters? of the Krishi Bhawan com­ pletely disgruntled and tore the copies of the laws. You have a crisis in Punjab. But somehow the national main­ stream reporting is not showing the alarm that should be there. And nor is the government responding. What do you feel about the government’s repeated allegations that the Opposition leaders were trying to trigger a caste riot over the Hathras incident? It’s so easy when an upper caste Chief Minister talks about crime not being caste­ specific. When, in fact, we do know that the weaker sec­ tions get targeted. There is a reason why the Home Minis­ try and the NCRB collect da­ ta on Dalit atrocities. And Da­ lit women are often targets of such crimes. As per the latest report in 2019, 10 Dalit wo­ men are raped daily. When I visited the family, we saw and heard of panchayats [by caste groups] happening... It’s really shocking that you have public mobilisation to garner support for a rape ac­ cused. It’s never happened in our country before. We have had agitations to sup­ port the victim. This is a dehumanising ex­ periment that the BJP has in­ dulged in. ■ AMU should continue to lead in providing quality education, says Meghalaya Guv. Press Trust of India Special Correspondent Has there been a change in attitude of the U.P. police under the Yogi Adityanath government? A section of the media is arguing that because of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s ventures in U.P., the Congress is emerging as a leading Opposition in the State threatening to dislodge the SP and its allies. Is it too far fetched? not restraining anybody. It won’t be proper for me say if they are doing Thakurvad or not, but definitely there are visible signs and discussion is on, the onus is on Yogiji. Only he can address this issue. Malik praises Sir Syed’s vision of a nation U.P. police to invoke NSA in Ballia firing case Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI) SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues and monuments. NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters. CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death. PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease It fulfils govt.’s promise of no one sleeps hungry: Gehlot barricade. It was the police’s failure that they could not enforce the barricade. There were five­six people on the other side... What was the need for lathicharge? We were not posing any threat. If you look at the police ma­ nual in U.P. and the Supreme Court decisions, there are ac­ tually procedures in place. You have to give a warning. You need the presence of an administrative official. The SDM was there but he did not give any verbal warning. It was a violation of our rights as citizens. In the political space we are an Opposition, but I never really thought that something like that we will have to encounter. need sensitive policing. And in the Hathras incident, they should have been more sen­ sitive. Their handling of the family, the complaint and the Opposition leaders who wanted to reach out, I think in all the three aspects, it showed a very insensitive side of the police. And Yogiji is the Home Minister. Who else will we hold responsible? kash as a fracas broke out at the meeting at Durjanpur village over the allotment of ration shops. The incident has snow­ balled into a major political controversy after BJP MLA from Bariya Assembly seat Surendra Singh came out in support of the main accused. On Saturday, Surendra Singh visited Reoti police station with the family members of the accused, claiming that they had also suffered injuries in the inci­ dent and an FIR should be registered. Delegations of the Samaj­ wadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party met the family of the deceased and at­ tacked the Yogi Adityanath government. “A cash reward of ₹50,000 has been an­ nounced on each of the ab­ sconding accused. Action will also be initiated under the National Security Act and the Gangster Act against the accused,” DIG (Azam­ garh Range) Subhash Chan­ dra Dubey. New oxygen plants for hospitals in Rajasthan Sir Syed’s vision of a nation was one of the earliest ex­ pressions of an idea of India which includes all its inhabi­ tants without distinctions on the basis of religion, caste or race, said Meghalaya Gover­ nor Satya Pal Malik while de­ livering the Sir Syed Day commemoration address as the chief guest on Saturday. Addressing AMU students in a virtual mode, he said, “You are the true realisation of Sir Syed’s dream as you are serving the nation with the true spirit of the ideals of Sir Syed.” ‘Example in healthcare’ Speaking in Hindustani, he stressed, “We are living in a challenging times due to the pandemic, but it is hearten­ ing to see that AMU rose to the occasion with full poten­ tial for serving humanity as its Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital has set an example for the nation by leaving no stone unturned in the healthcare of the patients.” Describing AMU as a “his­ torical and heritage institu­ tion”, Mr. Malik said it was a “common desire” of the na­ tion that the university conti­ nues to “lead the country in providing quality educa­ tion”. He said it was “our col­ The Centenary Gate was inaugurated on Saturday to mark 100 years of AMU. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT * lective responsibility to pro­ vide full support for the welfare of this institution of prominence.” Reminiscing the days when he represented Ali­ garh constituency as a Mem­ ber of Parliament from 1989 to 1991 (on a Janata Dal tick­ et) and AMU Court simulta­ neously, he said that AMU became very dear to him. He recalled that AMU fa­ culty members, including eminent poet and lyricist late Prof. Shahryar, and the students had campaigned for him when he contested the Lok Sabha election. He claimed Prof. Irfan Habib and Prof. Shahryar distribut­ ed his voter identity slips. The seasoned politician, who is seen as a rare socialist in the ruling dispensation, said one of the reasons he was appointed the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir was his stint as the MP of Aligarh. Mr. Malik, who was the Go­ vernor of J &K when Article 370 was revoked in August 2019, also spoke about the cooperation and help he re­ ceived from AMU Vice­Chan­ cellor Tariq Mansoor in con­ vincing the Kashmiri students to stay at AMU and not to return home during the tense period. International category Receiving the Sir Syed Excel­ lence Award in the interna­ tional category, eminent his­ torian Dr. Gail Minault, Professor Emerita, Depart­ ment of History, The Univer­ sity of Texas at Austin, US, discussed her research on the Khilafat Movement and how important it was for her not to rely just on British sources and find out what OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE the Ali Brothers, and Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali, and Maulana Azad were writing, thinking, and saying. Dr. Minault spoke about the help she received in her research from the families and descendants of the foun­ ders of schools, and the edi­ tors and publishers of Urdu journals, especially the fami­ ly of Shaikh Abdullah of Ali­ garh, founder of Aligarh Girls’ School, which later be­ came Aligarh Women’s College. She made a special men­ tion of Mumtaz Jahan Hai­ dar, who was for many years the Principal of the Women’s College. Anjuman­I­Islam, a Mum­ bai based educational con­ glomerate, was awarded Sir Syed Excellence Award in the national category. In the welcome address, Prof. Mansoor said that Sir Syed brought about the great revolution that transformed the Indian society in all walks of life. Later in the day, AMU Chancellor Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin inaugurated the Centenary Gate at the north­ ern side of the AMU campus in virtual mode. The V­C, on behalf of the Executive Council, has named it ‘Cen­ tenary Gate’ and the name in Urdu has been inscribed on it. IN MEMORIAM DEATH ANNIVERSARIES Special Correspondent JAIPUR Villagers digging the mouth of Rushikulya river near Gokhurkuda in Ganjam district. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT * steady erosion. They want­ ed a secured area for boat anchorage. “For three days, people came with their own imple­ ments to dig a channel from the river to Bay of Bengal. They also pooled money to hire an earth­mover so that sand dunes could be moved at a faster pace,” said Rabin­ dra Kumar Sahu, a volun­ teer. After three days of collec­ tive efforts, the villagers managed to create a chan­ nel. Mr. Sahu said the channel was important for the fish­ er­folks as they were walk­ ing a long distance to access their boats. The new mouth would help them take boats directly to sea, he said. Residents of Puruna­ bandha, Nolia Nuagaom, Sana Noliagaon, Gokhara­ kuda, Padampeta and Kan­ tigada would benefit by the artificial river mouth. New oxygen production plants are being set up at sub­district hospitals in Ra­ jasthan to provide timely treatment to serious CO­ VID­19 patients. The plants are expected to strengthen oxygen sup­ ply system in the health fa­ cilities where the patients are admitted. Medical & Health Minis­ ter Raghu Sharma has said that while the State govern­ ment was taking steps to streamline the system of oxygen supply, there was a “continuing decline” in its demand, indicating that the virus infection was get­ ting under control. Mr. Sharma said the hos­ pitals across the State had added the beds equipped with high flow oxygen as well as the normal beds equipped with ventilators. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 6 NEWS DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FROM PAGE ONE Pranab wrote on 1971, love for Mujib family The book contains an emo­ tive essay by Ms. Hasina, en­ titled “My Brothers”, who along with her sister Reha­ na, were the only survivors when Mujib, his wife, all his other children and their spouses (15 family members in all) were gunned down at their home by army officers a few years later in 1975. In later years, when Ms. Hasi­ na was in exile herself and lived in Delhi with her fami­ ly, it was Mukherjee and his wife Suvra, who had lived in East Bengal before Parti­ tion, who became their clos­ est friends. “It’s so hard to lose one’s parents even when they have a natural death,” said Mukherjee’s daughter and Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee. “It is unimagin­ able what Sheikh Hasina has gone through, and I think the bond between her and my parents was stronger be­ cause she needed emotional support at the time.” Ms. Sharmistha Mukher­ jee also recalled that during a visit to Delhi as Prime Mi­ nister, Ms. Hasina wanted to visit Suvra Mukherjee at home. As he was a “stickler for protocol”, Pranab Muk­ herjee, who was then Fi­ nance Minister, conveyed his discomfort to Ms. Hasi­ na’s office. Ms. Hasina’s rep­ ly was: “I am not visiting the Minister, but my Boudi [sis­ ter­in­law in Bangla).” In his passing, the former President shared something else with the subject of his essay, Sheikh Mujibur Rah­ man: his “unfinished me­ moirs” are now with his daughter, whose task will be to publish them, she re­ vealed. Ensure speedy access to vaccine, says Modi The meeting, which was at­ tended by Union Health Mi­ nister Harsh Vardhan and officials from various de­ partments, noted that three vaccines are in advanced stages of development in In­ dia, of which two are in Phase II and one is in Phase III. “Indian scientists and re­ search teams are collaborat­ ing and strengthening the research capacities in neigh­ bouring countries viz., Af­ ghanistan, Bhutan, Bangla­ desh, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal and Sri Lanka. There are further requests from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Qa­ tar and Bhutan for clinical trials in their countries. To help the global community, the Prime Minister further directed that we should not limit our efforts to our im­ mediate neighbourhood but also reach out to the entire world in providing vaccines, medicines and IT platforms for the vaccine delivery sys­ tem,” the release said. It added that the national expert group on vaccine ad­ ministration for COVID­19, in consultation with State governments and all stake­ holders, had presented a de­ tailed blueprint of vaccine storage, distribution and ad­ ministration. Mr. Modi said India should make use of its expe­ rience in conducting polls and disaster management. “The Prime Minister said that in a similar manner vac­ cine delivery and adminis­ tration systems should be put in place. This should in­ volve the participation of States/UTs/district level functionaries, civil society organisations, volunteers, citizens and experts from all necessary domains. The en­ tire process should have a strong IT backbone and the system should be designed in such a manner as to have a lasting value to our health­ care system.” Dr.Reddy’s gets nod for Sputnik V trials Developed by Gamaleya Na­ tional Research Institute of Epidemiology and Micro­ biology, Russia, Sputnik V vaccine is based on the hu­ man adenoviral vectors plat­ form. The vaccine was regis­ tered by Russia’s Health Ministry in August. The DCGI approval “is a significant development that allows us to commence the clinical trial in India. We are committed to bringing in a safe and efficacious vac­ cine to combat the pandem­ ic,” Dr. Reddy’s Co­chair­ man and Managing Director G.V. Prasad said in a state­ ment issued by the compa­ ny and RDIF. Russian Direct Invest­ ment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev said, “We are pleased to collaborate with the Indian regulators and in addition to Indian clinical trial data, we will provide safety and immunogenicity study from the Russian phase 3 clinical trial. This data will further strengthen the clinical development of Sputnik V vaccine in India.” ‘76% of rural Indians can’t afford nutritious diet’ The study uses the latest available food price and wage information from the National Sample Survey’s 2011 dataset. The findings are signifi­ cant in the light of the fact that India performs abys­ mally on many nutrition in­ dicators even while the country claims to have achieved food security. On Friday, the Global Hunger Index showed that India has the world’s highest preva­ lence of child wasting, re­ flecting acute undernutri­ tion. On indicators that simply measure calorie in­ take, India performs rela­ tively better, but they do not account for the nutrition va­ lue of those calories. The National Institute for Nutrition’s guidelines for a nutritionally adequate diet call for adult women to eat 330 gm of cereals and 75 gm of pulses a day, along with 300 gm of dairy, 100 gm of fruit, and 300 gm of vegeta­ bles, which should include at least 100 gm of dark green CM YK leafy vegetables. Selecting the cheapest options from actual Indian diets — wheat, rice, bajra, milk, curd, onions, radish, spinach, ba­ nanas — the study calculated that a day’s meals would cost ₹45 (or ₹51 for an adult man). Even if they spent all their income on food, 63.3% of the rural population or more than 52 crore Indians would not be able to afford that nutritious meal. If they set aside just a third of their income for non­food ex­ penses, 76% of rural Indians would not be able to afford the recommended diet. This does not even account for the meals of non­earning members of a household, such as children or older adults. “These numbers are so­ mewhat speculative, but they do reveal the scale of the dietary affordability pro­ blem in rural India: nutri­ tious diets are too expen­ sive, and incomes far too low,” says the paper. Huge inflows continue into Telangana, A.P. dams Rain ravages portions of Golconda Fort Bhima at record high of 408 metres in Karnataka; CWC warns of further rise B. Chandrashekhar HYDERABAD Heavy to very heavy rains in the upper Krishna Basin in Maharashtra and Karnataka, including catchment areas of several tributaries of the Krishna, have resulted in sustained massive inflows to Jurala and Srisailam reservoirs. Officials have forecast further rise in levels over the next couple of days. Bhima, a major tributary of the Krish­ na, is in spate and has alrea­ dy crossed the record flood level at Deongaon bridge in Kalaburagi in Karnataka. Ac­ cording to officials of the Central Water Commission (CWC), the flood level in Bhi­ ma was 408.35 metres or “extreme flood level”, over the danger level of 404.5 metres. The river is flowing over 1.01 metres above the high­ est ever level of 407.34 metres recorded on August 13, 2006. The CWC has fore­ cast that the level is expected to reach 410 meters by Sun­ day noon, resulting in furth­ er in inflows into Jurala. On Saturday night, Jurala was getting inflows of nearly 5 lakh cusecs. Though the lion’s share came from the Bhima, inflows from Almatti­Na­ rayanpur was also sizea­ ble at around 1.5 lakh cu­ secs. The discharge at Jurala was about 4.7 lakh cusecs. Consequently, Srisailam downstream is getting an in­ flow of nearly 6 lakh cusecs in addition to water from the Tungabhadra. Levels in the latter are also expected to rise by Sunday morning ac­ cording to the CWC. The dis­ charge at Srisailam is nearly Serish Nanisetti Hyderabad Grave threat: Portions of the Golconda Fort which suffered damage due to heavy rain in Hyderabad. SERISH NANISETTI * 6 lakh cusecs. At Nagarjunasagar, the discharge stood at about 5.31 lakh cusecs. All projects in the Godava­ ri Basin too recorded heavy inflows due to rain in Maha­ rashtra. Relentless rain over the past week in Hyderabad has rav­ aged the 500­year­old Gol­ conda Fort. On Saturday, a team of Archaeological Sur­ vey of India (ASI) officials in­ spected damaged portions of the fort, which have been cordoned off to prevent further damage. “The steps and rocks of the kingsway, the wall near the Jagadambika temple, the rear wall and a structure near the second well have suffered damage. We are reg­ ulating the movement of tou­ rists so that they don’t come to any harm. Luckily, visitors or tourists were not present at the locations where the damage took place,” said an ASI official at the site office. The kingsway with wide Gold smuggling probe reaches Sivasankar’s doorstep Medical opinion FEMA case against to be sought before further questioning Swapna, Sarith G. Anand Thiruvananthapuram The Customs (Preventive) unit is reportedly set to question M. Sivasankar, former Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vi­ jayan, on suspicion of using his office to aid gold smug­ gling case suspect Swapna Suresh to convert the pro­ ceeds from the economic of­ fence into foreign currency and spirit it away to Dubai. Opposition parties, par­ ticularly the Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed on Saturday that the move to detain Mr. Sivasankar underscored the allegation that organised crime had access to the high­ est level of the State govern­ ment. Mr. Sivasankar, who was suspended for misconduct, Release of Kerala scribe demanded M. Sivasankar being taken to a hospital in an ambulance on Saturday. had often reported directly to the Chief Minister. Parallel investigations by the Customs and Enforce­ ment Directorate (ED) into the shadowy finances of the gold smuggling racket reached the doorstep of Mr. Sivasankar on Friday even­ ing. Armed with a summons, Customs agents escorted Mr. Sivasankar into a car for transit to the Commissioner­ ate in Kochi for questioning. En route, Mr. Sivasankar re­ ported sick and they hospi­ talised him. The Customs was likely to seek the constitution of a medical board to gauge Mr. Sivasankar’s health before executing its summons for interrogation. The manager of a private bank, which handled the consulate’s account, had re­ portedly told the ED that Swapna had pressured him to convert vast amounts of Indian currency into U.S. dollars in violation of Re­ serve Bank of India norms and Foreign Exchange Man­ agement Act provisions. Swapna, who was an in­ fluential official at the diplo­ matic mission at the time, threatened that she would shift the Consulate’s account to another bank if the man­ ager did not comply with her demand, the manager said. He alleged that Mr. Sivasan­ kar had thrown the heft of his office behind Swapna. KOCHI The Customs has filed a case before the Economic Of­ fences Court, Ernakulam, against Swapna Suresh and P.S. Sarith, key accused in the diplomatic channel gold smuggling case, for violation of the Fo­ reign Exchange Man­ agement Act. The case has been filed based on the in­ ference that the ac­ cused had abetted smuggling of foreign curren­ cy from the country with the help of their consulate identity card. Both are form­ er employees of the UAE Consulate in Thiruvanan­ thapuram. The court is likely to con­ sider the application of the Customs to arrest the ac­ cused on Monday. The in­ vestigating team is tight­ lipped on whether they have included M. Sivasan­ kar, former Principal Secre­ tary to Chief Minister Pina­ rayi Vijayan, as an accused in the case. However, they con­ firmed that he remains a ‘person of interest’ in the case. The Customs in a recent petition filed before a court in Kochi had claimed that $1.90 lakh had been taken out of the country with the help of Swapna. The illegal transportation of currency via an airport comes under FEMA and it allows the Cus­ toms to register a case un­ der Section 11 of the Cus­ toms Act. Joseph faction won’t cede seats to Cong. Almost all leaders from the Mani group have joined our ranks, says party chief Staff Reporter Staff Reporter KOTTAYAM MALAPPURAM The plans of the Congress to expand its presence in cen­ tral Travancore using the space vacated by the Kerala Congress (M) led by Jose K. Mani appear to have suffered a setback with the rival fac­ tion led by P.J. Joseph assert­ ing its right over all seats that traditionally belonged to the regional party. Talking to presspersons on Saturday, Mr. Joseph said the seats where the Mani fac­ tion had contested during the previous local body elec­ tions now belonged to his party. The stand would be the same for the Assembly elections as well. A people’s collective held here on Saturday demand­ ed the release of journalist Siddeek Kappan from de­ tention in Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Kappan, who is se­ cretary of the Delhi unit of the Kerala Union of Work­ ing Journalists (KUWJ), was arrested by the Uttar Pra­ desh police from Mathura on October 6 while he was on his way to Hathras for covering the gang­rape and murder of a Dalit woman. Mr. Kappan’s wife Raiha­ nath, his two children and brother were among those who joined the collective. Special Correspondent P.J. Joseph “Ideally, the seats vacated by the Mani group should be left to us as almost all leaders from the Mani group have joined our ranks. For, it will be the most suitable option to ensure a drubbing to the Mani group and the matter will be discussed in detail within the United Democrat­ ic Front (UDF),’’ he said. The statement assumes significance as reports have emerged that the Congress, as the leading partner of the UDF, looks set to take back seats, including Kanjirappal­ ly and Changanassery, from the KC(M) in view of a de­ cline in its collective bargain­ ing power. The number of seats at its disposal will come down further in case of the Kerala Janapaksham led by P.C. Ge­ orge, MLA, and the National­ ist Congress Party, a Left De­ mocratic Front ally that currently faces the prospect of losing Pala and Kuttanad to the Mani group, decide to align with the UDF. Mr. Joseph, on the other hand, will be hard­pressed to ensure seats for at least a handful of leaders who switched from the various splinter groups of the region­ al party to join him recently. An array of leaders, includ­ ing Johnny Nellore, Francis George and Joseph M. Puth­ ussery, have joined Mr. Jo­ seph. Meanwhile, in a related development, the Mani fac­ tion sought to dismiss the al­ legations raised by Mr. Jo­ seph over the selection of candidates for the Pala bye­ lection. steps is the path the Qutb Shahi royalty that ruled over the Golconda Kingdom used to ride up on horses to the top of the fortress known as Bala Hissar (high fortress). Nearly five metres of the rock wall gave way, exposing soil on the path to the temple. The ASI is the custodian of the inner fort. A few days ear­ lier, a portion of the Majnu burj (bastion) had collapsed in rain in another part of the fort. The Golconda Fort was built and modified by succes­ sive generations of Qutb Sha­ his who ruled for 160 years from the fort. It was consi­ dered an impregnable for­ tress with multiple rock cur­ tains and was never conquered, except by trea­ chery. IN BRIEF Navaratri Brahmotsavams celebrated at Tirumala TIRUMALA The second day of the Navaratri Brahmotsavams was celebrated at the temple of Lord Venkateswara here on Saturday. In view of pandemic, the religious celebrations were strictly confined to the Kalyanotsava Mandapam inside the main temple complex. Top echelons of TTD and member trustees alone were present. The festivities of the day drew to a close with Hamsa Vahanam. Sabarimala temple to get new Melsanthi PATHANAMTHITTA V.K. Jayaraj Potti of Varikattu Madathil, Kodungalloor, has been selected Melsanthi (head priest) of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. Raji Kumar M.N. Namboothiri of Mylakkodathu Mana, Angamaly, is the new head priest of the Malikappuram Devi temple. The selections were made on Saturday by draw of lots from a panel of candidates shortlisted after interviews held at the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) headquarters earlier this month. Dasara festivities inaugurated in Mysuru MYSURU The fight against COVID­19 pandemic resonated in this year’s Mysuru Dasara as well, with festivities atop Chamundi Hills here on Saturday being inaugurated by C.N. Manjunath, director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research and a member of the expert committee monitoring the pandemic. Nada Habba this year is a low­key affair. All events generally organised as part of the celebrations, had been cancelled. Despite a drop in tests, fresh cases in Kerala edge past 9,000 From peak of over 70,000 samples, State now tests 50,000­plus; Karnataka incidence above 7,000; Telangana, A.P. stay flat Special Correspondent Thiruvananthapuram Kerala reported 9,016 new COVID­19 cases on Saturday from 52,067 samples. The test positivity rate stood at 17.31%, higher than the 14.05% of the previous day. After testing 73,816 sam­ ples on October 7, the high­ est number, subsequent days showed testing drop to 38,259 samples on October 12. Samples tested in a day­ barely went above 50,000, since then. The sudden drop in testing has been attributed to technical glitches in the new Lab Diagnosis and Man­ agement System. The total samples tested in a day, as given out by the Health department, does not specify daily tests carried out daily to detect new cases. Since the total samples in­ cludes repeat samples and antigen tests done prior to discharging patients (on av­ erage, 7,500­8,000 a day), actual samples tested to de­ tect new infections daily were described as likely low­ er than the claimed figure. The Health department added 26 more deaths from the past days to the death list on Saturday. Karnataka on Saturday re­ ported 7,184 new cases and 71 more deaths. Bengaluru Urban district reported 3,371 cases. With 14 of 71 deaths from Bengaluru, the toll rose to 3,500. The State carried out 1,01,016 tests including 24,174 rapid antigen tests on Saturday. Andhra Pradesh reported less than four thousand new infections. It recorded 3,676 new infections and 24 fresh deaths on Saturday. At 5.19%, the positivity rate of 70,881 samples was the lowest in over three months. The overall positivi­ ty rate dropped to 11.14%. East Godavari’s daily new cases dropped but it conti­ nued to report the highest tallies. Chittoor had the high­ est number of new deaths. Telangana’s incidence stood at 1,451 on Friday and nine more COVID­19 patients died. On October 16, a total of 42,497 people were tested for the virus. The new cases included 235 from Greater Hyderabad. Eleven districts, including Chennai, accounted for a major chunk of the fresh CO­ VID­19 cases in Tamil Nadu. On Saturday, nearly 70% of the 4,295 new cases were re­ ported in these districts. The State’s overall tally climbed to 6,83,486. Anoth­ er 5,005 persons, including 1,458 from Chennai, were discharged. Till date, 6,32,708 persons were dis­ charged after treatment in the State. The State’s toll climbed to 10,586 with 57 more persons succumbing to the infection. (With inputs from Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Chennai bureaus) A ND-NDE THE HINDU DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 7 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE CM YK A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 8 NEWS DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE The din in Dinara is about BJP-LJP undercurrents in this election Paswan’s party has fielded Rajendra Singh, ex­State vice­president of the BJP, in the constituency, and he is rumoured to have the tacit support of his former party Amarnath Tewary Dinara After being denied the BJP ticket to contest in the Bihar Assembly election, Rajendra Singh, former State vice­pre­ sident of the party, was the first among senior leaders to join the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). He is now set to contest the Dinara seat in Rohtas district. The action quickly trig­ gered speculation that the top BJP leadership might give tacit support to such vete­ rans for any emerging post­ election calculations to form a government in the State. LJP chief Chirag Paswan has repeatedly said it will be “a BJP­LJP government this time”. Though the BJP later ex­ pelled nine leaders to dispel rumours, some of its workers appeared to be distancing themselves from campaign­ ing for candidates of its ally Janata Dal(U), especially in constituencies where such “expelled” leaders are con­ testing on the LJP ticket. “BJP­LJP saath saath hain [BJP and LJP are together]” and “Narendra Modi­Amit Shah zindabad” are slogans shouted by campaigners ac­ companying the “expelled” leaders at rallies in remote areas of their constituencies. At Dedhgaon village in the Geedha panchayat of Dawath block in the Dinara consti­ tuency, supporters of Rajen­ dra Singh had assembled on the premises of the village panchayat and were shout­ ing these slogans. Mr. Singh smiled a bit and had a word with one of the campaigners. Soon, “Chirag Paswan zinda­ bad, Ram Vilas Paswan zin­ dabad, LJP zindabad” also became part of the chorus. “The BJP and RSS are in my blood and veins. I have been there for the past 37 years. I have dedicated my whole life to the RSS­BJP,” Mr. Singh told The Hindu on the occasion. No grudges Asked about the party expell­ ing him, Mr. Singh main­ tained a moment of silence. “I’ve a lot of pain inside, but I have no grudges against anyone,” he said. “I’ve noth­ ing to say on this.” Will he move to the BJP if Singh got 64,000. The latter later became the Informa­ tion Technology Minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet and is contesting as the NDA candidate for the fourth time from Dinara. Near Natwar village of the constituency, Mr. Jai Kumar Singh’s cavalcade was escort­ ed by hundreds of motor­ bike­borne youth flying flags of the BJP and the JD(U) on their two­wheelers. When asked, they denied they were DUST TRACK Power bid: (clockwise from top left) Rajendra Kumar Singh of the LJP, BJP national president J.P. Nadda at a campaign in Patna and Jai Kumar Singh of JD(U). PTI, SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT * he wins the election? Mr. Singh, after a long pause, quipped, “Only time will tell. Who knows what will hap­ pen in the future?” Asked if he had met BJP leader Amit Shah before join­ ing the LJP, there was a pause again. “No such meeting took place,” he said. Mr. Singh’s main party of­ Congress manifesto for M.P. focuses on Gwalior-Chambal fice at a local hotel­cum­mar­ riage hall at Dinara bazaar, however, has no party flag unfurled or cut­outs, hoard­ ings and posters. A few vehi­ cles, though, were parked outside and some party workers were chatting and taking rest on the ground floor, while rooms on the first floor were occupied by young workers busy drafting a campaign plan on a compu­ ter and taking prints. In the 2015 election, Mr. Singh, who was said to be the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP, lost by a thin margin of nearly 2,000 votes to JD (U) candidate Jai Kumar Singh. He got over 62,000 votes while Mr. Jai Kumar BJP workers. “Humlog man­ triji ke supporter hain; BJP mantriji ko support kar rahi hai [we’re supporters of the Minister. BJP is supporting him],” one of them yelled as they sped away. Besides these two conten­ ders, RJD candidate Vijay Mandal too has been making his presence felt in the elec­ toral battlefield. The consti­ tuency has nearly 55,000 vo­ ters of the Rajput caste — to which both Mr. Rajendra Singh and Mr. Jai Kumar Singh belong — and 40,000 Yadav, 15,000 Paswan, 10,000 Kushwaha, 15,000 Brahmin and 6,000 Bhumi­ har voters. Mr. Rajendra Singh, who is from Gaura village in the con­ stituency, was seen riding a motorcycle at Dedhgaon and Hathdiha villages and meet­ ing people, touching the feet of elders and greeting others with folded hands. On the panchayat premis­ es, he asked a young suppor­ ter to show the villagers a vi­ deo that had recently gone viral on social media, in which Mr. Jai Kumar Singh had allegedly “boasted” that he was known to have rifles packed in five vehicles and those opposing him were badly thrashed. “Now you all should de­ cide whether you want to elect a person who talks about goli­banduk [guns and cartridges] or a person who always has been with you through thick and thin dur­ ing the last five years, even after losing the poll,” he told villagers, who shouted, “This time you will be our choice, no one else.” Mr. Rajendra Singh also listed the work done by him for the constituency, from construction of roads to medical help. “He has been the only leader who res­ ponds to our call and comes to meet us on our invitation whenever we wish,” said Vi­ kas Singh from the village. Farmers’ issue But what are the other issues of his constituency he wants to address, if elected? “One of the main issues will be to address the farmers’ pro­ blems. You know, this area has famously been known as ‘the rice bowl of Bihar’, for its abundant paddy produc­ tion, and it had over a hundred rice mills, but today it has only three or four rice mills.” Asked why, he said, “Because of the pathetic ap­ proach of the State government.” Does he support the farm laws introduced by the Centre recently? “Yes, they are pro­farmer and a good step by the government for the welfare of the farmers of the country,” he said. Dinara goes to the polls in the first phase on October 28. INTERVIEW | DIPANKAR BHATTACHARYA ‘We want to consolidate the anti­BJP vote’ The non­BJP alliance is a felt need of the people, says CPI(ML) general secretary Party seeks to win all 28 seats in the upcoming byelections Sobhana K. Nair STAFF REPORTER Bhopal The Madhya Pradesh Con­ gress on Saturday released a 52­point manifesto for the forthcoming byelection to 28 seats with a focus on the economic development of the Gwalior­Chambal region and COVID­19­related relief measures. Releasing the manifesto before presspersons here, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath said, “The election is about the future of Madhya Pradesh. Why will the public change its decision after our 15 months?” He added that the party made 974 promis­ es ahead of the 2018 Vidhan Sabha election, of which it kept 574 in 11­and­a­half months. Accusing Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of us­ ing diversionary tactics, Mr. Nath said voters would not “fall in his trap”. He added the public would vote to pro­ tect the future of Madhya Pradesh, which the Bharati­ ya Janata Party (BJP) was Kamal Nath destroying. The Congress needs to win all the seats to return to power single­hand­ edly, while the BJP requires nine seats to breach the sim­ ple majority mark and retain government. Farmer protection In the manifesto, the Con­ gress promised voters to res­ ume the ‘Jai Kisan Crop loan Waiver Scheme’, first an­ nounced ahead of the 2018 election, under which crop loans of up to ₹2 lakh had to be waived. Further, the party said it would not implement in the Amended law omits pay for J&K sarpanches Remuneration will continue: official Vijaita Singh Peerzada Ashiq New Delhi/ Srinagar The Union Home Ministry has amended the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, omitting a provi­ sion requiring payment of honorarium to panches and sarpanches (village head) in the newly created Union Territory. The amended law also says that a Halqa panchayat shall be required to get its accounts audited by a char­ tered accountant every year. Halqa means an area comprising a village or a contiguous number of vil­ lages determined by the government. Section 10 of the 1989 Act on “remuneration to Sar­ panch and Panches,” which said each of them shall be entitled to a monthly hono­ rarium as may be specified by the government, has been omitted through the order issued on Saturday. Currently, a sarpanch and panch get ₹3,000 and ₹1,000, respectively, as honorarium. A senior J&K government official told The Hindu that the omission would not af­ fect the remuneration, and the panches would continue to get paid. “The section has been re­ CM YK moved for administrative flexibility, so that when the government wants, it can in­ crease the honorarium without amending the whole Act. For now, every time it has to be increased, the Act will have to be amended,” said the official. The amendment also paves the way for creation of district development councils in the Union Terri­ tory. The DDCs will have juris­ diction over an entire dis­ trict excluding those areas that are designated as a municipality or a municipal corporation. “All members of the DDC, whether or not elected by direct election from territo­ rial constituencies in the district, shall have the right to vote in the meeting of the district development coun­ cil,” reads the amendments. “But the MLAs will have no voting rights in the case of election or removal of the Chairman and vice­chair­ man only the directly elect­ ed members shall have the right to vote,” it added. J&K parties are wary. Sha­ fiq Mir, the chairman of Jam­ mu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, said, “The move will have an Assembly member just as a spectator in the DDC meeting.” State “anti­farmer” laws enacted by the BJP govern­ ment at the Centre, and would start afresh buying farm produce at the support price. For the Gwalior­Chambal region, the stronghold of former Congress leader Jyo­ tiraditya Scindia, where 16 seats are up for contest, the Congress has promised vo­ ters the formulation of a pol­ icy for land use in the inter­ est of landless workers by converting ravines and bar­ ren lands into arable ones. In addition, the party has made the promise of open­ ing schools on the pattern of Sainik schools, and improv­ ing sporting facilities in the region in a bid to prepare the youth for defence forces. The Congress also said it would invite new industries in the region and develop in­ dustrial corridors on both the sides of the Chambal ex­ pressway. Further, the party said it would review changes to labour laws made by the BJP government. For the first time, the CPI (ML) is fighting an election within the constraints of an alliance. Having won three seats in the 2015 Assembly election, when it fought alone amid a wave in favour of the RJD­Janata Dal(U) al­ liance, expectations are high. Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(ML) general se­ cretary, speaks of an anti­in­ cumbency wave and anger among voters. This is the first time you are fighting an election in an alliance. What compelled you to do so? Certainly, this is not with the view of winning seats alone. We have demonstrat­ ed over and over again that you can independently con­ test and win seats. In fact, our very emergence in 1989 for the first time when Dalits exercised their franchise, we won the Arrah Lok Sabha seat, against the established political wisdom. The main issue is that the BJP poses a ■ real threat to our democracy and Constitution. Our prim­ ary concern was to ensure consolidation of the anti­BJP vote as much as possible. Of course, we tried in the 2019 Lok Sabha election too, but it didn’t happen. It was limit­ ed to some kind of goodwill gesture on the part of the RJD, where they left one seat for us and we reciprocated by extending support to them. What made it possible this time is that the RJD drew its lessons from the 2019 election, and there has been a tremendous demand for this alliance from the ground. In the 2019 Lok Sab­ ha election, only on four seats the Opposition candi­ date managed to poll more than four lakh votes; these were the seats where our votes and RJD votes con­ verged. Next to the RJD, the CPI(ML) has the biggest cadre. Are you happy with the seat­sharing arrangement in the grand alliance? ■ I don’t want to talk about runs high < > Anger among people and it doesn’t respect established social equations and political boundaries the seat­sharing arrange­ ment. The Left together got 29 seats, which is fewer than what the Left should get. So I will not say I am fully satis­ fied. But this alliance is a re­ sult of a felt need of the peo­ ple; it has not been imposed from above, it is a natural al­ liance that has emerged. If the grand alliance was to win, will the CPI(ML) be part of the the government? ■ If you go by our pro­ Lashkar IED expert killed in encounter Search operation conducted in Anantnag Peerzada Ashiq Srinagar A Lashkar­e­Taiba (LeT) mili­ tant, who was the outfit’s im­ provised explosives device (IED) expert, was killed in an operation by the security forces in Anantnag of south Kashmir on Saturday, the police said. “A joint cordon and search operation was launched in the Larnoo area on Saturday following an in­ put. The trapped terrorist was given the opportunity to surrender, but he fired indis­ criminately. In the ensuing Keeping watch: Army personnel approaching the encounter site in Anantnag district of Kashmir on Saturday. NISSAR AHMAD * encounter, one foreign terro­ rist was killed,” Inspector­ General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said. The police identified the slain militant as Nasir, alias Shakeel Saab, alias Shak Bhai. “He was an ‘A’ category terrorist and an IED expert of the LeT,” Mr. Kumar said. The police said incrimi­ nating materials, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the site of encounter. In another operation in the Awantipora area of south Kashmir, a militant associate linked to the LeT was arrested. “Haris Shareef Rather, a resident of Zaffron Colony, Pampore, was involved in providing shelter, logistics and other support to the LeT militants. He was also assist­ ing active terrorists in tran­ sporting arms and ammuni­ tion in the Pampore, Khrew and Kakapora areas,” the police said. SC takes note of Chardham Chairman’s letter Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI The Supreme Court has ta­ ken suo motu cognisance of a letter by Chardham High­ Powered Committee (HPC) Chairman Ravi Chopra about the Centre’s “wilful non­ compliance” to comply with the top court’s order against building full­fledged roads cutting across the fragile Hi­ malayan slopes. The project includes de­ veloping highways in Utta­ rakhand to improve access to the four shrines — Yamu­ notri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath. On Septem­ ber 8, a Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman had or­ dered the Centre to adhere to a March 23, 2018 circular of the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and reduce the width of the roads to 5.5m from 12m. The court had ordered the Centre to plant trees in “right earnest” to recover the green cover ‘devastated’ by construction. When the Centre had ar­ gued that the 2018 circular would apply only for future projects and not the Chard­ ham, the court had remind­ ed it that Chardham was still an ongoing project. The Justice Nariman Bench had observed that the 2018 circular would indeed apply for Chardham consi­ dering the “current situa­ tion” of the fragile mountain terrain. However, Mr. Chopra con­ veyed his distress at the Centre’s attitude in his letter on October 5. “Till date no plan or ap­ proach to bring the Chard­ ham Pariyojana roads in compliance with the Su­ preme Court’s order of Sep­ tember 8 has been submit­ ted,” Mr. Chopra wrote to the court. The case is likely to come up for hearing on Oc­ tober 26. gramme, it is unlikely that the CPI(ML) will be part of the government. I believe that the Left lends credibility and stability to the govern­ ment. Right now, what we have is a seat­sharing arran­ gement; it is not a front that has emerged through a shared ideological coalition. But definitely, there is some ideological common ground to work against the BJP and their threat to destroy de­ mocracy. Post elections, we will take a call. But let me make it very clear, to help form the government and we will see to it that the govern­ ment delivers. How hopeful are you that the CPI(ML) will be able to better its 1990 record of winning nine seats, in the then undivided Bihar. ■ Certainly we are hopeful. In an election, till the vote is cast and counted, confi­ dence is a very difficult word to use. But politically, we are hopeful, particularly, be­ cause in the 19 seats we are contesting, we have done so­ lid work and decades of struggle and sufficient in­ fluence among the people. This time there is a powerful anti­incumbency factor against Nitish Kumar and an­ ger runs high among people. And this anger doesn’t res­ pect the established social equations and political boundaries. In our areas too, we are finding that cutting across castes, people are res­ ponding to our campaign. It is fallacious to think that the BJP will emerge unscathed and that the anger is only di­ rected at Nitish Kumar. Prob­ ably for the first time in ma­ ny years, people are disillusioned by Narendra Modi. The lockdown re­ vealed the open secret that migration from Bihar has never really declined be­ cause there are no decent job opportunities in the State. Look at BJP’s cheek, one of their bill boards is about bringing back migrant workers when each of them had to spend out of their pocket to return to their homes. Gujjars give November 1 ultimatum on quota issue They threaten to block road, rail traffic Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR Gujjars demanding reserva­ tion in jobs and education as a “most backward class” (MBC) on Saturday gave an ultimatum to the Congress government in Rajasthan for resumption of their agi­ tation from November 1, un­ less urgent steps were taken to protect their “rightful share” and apply the quota provisions to the ongoing recruitments to 15 services. Gujjar supremo Kirori Singh Bainsla announced at the community's 'Mahapan­ chayat' (Grand Convention) at Adda village near Bayana in Bharatpur district that Gujjars were willing to give some time to the State go­ vernment, in view of the COVID­19 pandemic and the sowing season for rabi crops, to act on its promises. Several meetings Col. Bainsla indicated that the agitating Gujjars could block traffic on the Delhi­ Mumbai railway tracks pass­ ing through Bharatpur, Ka­ rauli and Sawai Madhopur districts and on the high­ ways to press for their de­ mands. “We have held several meetings with the govern­ ment's representatives, but there was no result... The agitation will begin on No­ vember 1,” he said. Gujjars have been seek­ ing inclusion of a reserva­ tion law passed by the State Assembly last year in the Ninth Schedule of the Con­ stitution, appointments to backlog posts, benefit of 5% reservation in the ongoing recruitments, regularisa­ tion of 1,252 employees ap­ pointed through the MBC quota and implementation of Devnarayan Scheme for the community's progress and welfare. Internet services re­ mained suspended in parts of Bharatpur district on Sa­ turday in view of the Maha­ panchayat, in which about 5,000 people participated. State Labour Secretary Niraj K. Pawan, sent to interact with the Gujjar leaders, said all demands of the com­ munity had been fulfilled, though some minor sub­ jects were pending because of technical issues. Pradesh Congress Com­ mittee president Govind Singh Dotasra said the Guj­ jar leaders should talk to the 25 BJP MPs elected from the State to get the reservation law included in the Ninth Schedule, as it fell within the domain of the Centre in order to protect the legisla­ tion against judicial scrutiny. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU NEWS 9 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Focus on individual manipulators: BARC Republic TV and Arnab move HC to quash FIR Plea says it is ‘politically motivated’ Special Correspondent Committed to generating scientific data, says council Special Correspondent MUMBAI The Broadcast Audience Re­ search Council (BARC India) on Saturday said its efforts on “combating infiltration” were focused on the indivi­ dual(s) responsible for ma­ nipulating the TRP system. “We firmly believe that te­ levision channels are com­ mitted to maintaining a clean and transparent eco­ system,” the BARC said in a statement. “Over the last several days, there have been va­ rious news reports as regard to Television Ratings and BARC India. BARC India as an industry body has repre­ sentation from bodies that represent Broadcasters, Ad­ BARC believes channels are committed to maintaining transparency. ISTOCK * vertisers, and Advertising and Media Agencies. BARC India owns and manages a transparent, accurate and inclusive TV audience mea­ surement system,” it said. The council said it was providing the necessary as­ sistance to the ongoing in­ vestigation by law enforce­ ment agency and this should be seen in “the light of larger stability of the panel and in the interests of self­regula­ tion, rather than in isolated cases of particular channels which leads to a distortion of facts,” the statement said. “BARCs management team works with full confi­ dence and support of Board and the various Committees. BARC continues to be driven by only one goal: to generate ratings that its subscribers rely on which are deeply rooted in science, report with the greatest sense of responsibility and truly re­ flect ‘What India Watches’,” it added. Mumbai The Republic TV media group filed a criminal peti­ tion before the Bombay High Court to quash the FIR registered in the Television Rating Points (TRP) manipu­ lation case by the Mumbai Police. ARG Outlier Media Priv­ ate Ltd. and Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami moved the court on October 16 to quash the FIR regis­ tered on October 6 and called it, “misconceived, politically motivated and frivolous”. The petition seeks a stay on the investigation, and restraining the State; Station House Officer of Kandivali police station; Crime Intelli­ gent Unit; and Commission­ er of Police (CP) Param Bir Singh from taking any coer­ cive steps. It also urges the case be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The plea mentions, “The Mumbai police is reportedly investigating the alleged role of certain news chan­ nels in connection with the impugned FIR, including the Group which owns and operates the TV news chan­ nels, Republic TV and R. Bharat.” The petitioners state that they had moved the court under extremely urgent cir­ cumstances as the CP on Oc­ tober 8 alleged that the group was involved in the al­ leged fake TRP scam, and the promoters and directors of the group, which includ­ ed Mr. Goswami, would be summoned. If negative, they can skip institutional quarantine at destination ‘Voice of farmers has been gagged’ Special Correspondent MUMBAI It will resonate in every part of the country till farm laws are withdrawn: Rahul SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT CHANDIGARH Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said the voice of the farmers was gagged in Parliament but it will now resonate in the Punjab Assembly and echo in every part of the country till the Central go­ vernment is compelled to withdraw the farm laws. Sepecial session The Punjab government has decided to convene a special session of the Assembly on October 19 to bring in a legis­ lation to counter them. Mr. Gandhi, along with Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, kickstarted the se­ Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. FILE PHOTO * cond phase of the Smart Vil­ lage Campaign with the vir­ tual launch of a ₹2,775­crore campaign to power the rural transformation. He said if farm laws were in the interest of the farmers, why did the BJP­led govern­ ment not allow a debate on them in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Condemning the laws as a blatant attack by the BJP on the soul of each and every farmer, Mr. Gandhi said the Centre had launched an as­ sault on Punjab and its farm­ ers with these ill­conceived and unconstitutional legisla­ tions and every farmer and labourer is feeling the pain of this attack. Mr. Gandhi hit out at the BJP accusing it of imposing laws on the nation from the top, without taking people at the grassroots into confi­ dence. “That was the difference between the BJP and the Congress, with the former talking about buildings and not foundations,” he said, noting that farm land was the foundation of every vil­ lage. He said the Congress will not allow India’s founda­ tions to be weakened in this manner and will go all out to strengthen these foundations. Referring to his “tractor rallies” against the laws dur­ ing his recent visit to Punjab and Haryana, Mr. Gandhi said, “I came to Punjab and Haryana a few days ago and every farmer and labourer knows that these three laws are an attack on them.” Family’s efforts, own hard Akanksha hopes to do work bear fruit for Soyeb neurosurgery research He secured a perfect score in NEET Purvanchal girl basks in NEET success Satyasundar Barik Priscilla Jebaraj BHUBANESWAR New Delhi As National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)­2020 results were declared, 18­ year­old Soyeb Aftab from Odisha’s Rourkela city found his name atop 7,71,500 aspirants. He made history by securing a perfect 720 out of 720 marks. While student fraternity and society went gaga over his spectacular feat, the sa­ crifice of a lower middle class family to use education to move up the social ladder came to the fore. Since his childhood, Soyeb has been brilliant in his studies. But academic brilliance alone does not en­ sure success. And Soyeb’s family understood this reality. After he secured 96.8% marks in Class 10, the family took a conscious decision to facilitate medical coaching for him at Kota. In April 2018, Soyeb was not alone to move to Kota. It’s been a long journey from a village school in Ab­ hinayakpur in Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh to become the topper of the NEET rankings for Akank­ sha Singh. The girl from rural Pur­ vanchal has become one of only two students to score a historic perfect 100% in the medical entrance examination. “I studied in my own ho­ metown till Class 10, but af­ ter that I came to Delhi with my father. He stayed with me in a hostel so that I could study Classes 11 and 12 there and achieve my dream of becoming a doctor,” Ms. Singh said on the phone soon after the results were published. Her father is a retired ser­ geant with the Indian Air Force, while her mother is working as a primary school teacher. She credits her parents as Soyeb Aftab His mother, Sultana Razia, a homemaker, went with him. His father, Sheikh Mo­ hammed Abbas, kept work­ ing in Rourkela to earn to fund their stay at Kota. “I had not been to home during COVID­19 lockdown. In fact, I had stayed in Kota since April 2018 without a vacation. Probably the con­ sistency which I maintained in preparation was the rea­ son behind the feat I have achieved today,” he noted. Aspiring to study in the AIIMS, Delhi, he owed much of his success to his mother. Akanksha Singh her inspiration, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Earlier, I wanted to be an IAS officer, but from Class 9 onwards, I wanted to be a doctor only. I liked that medicine is a job where you can interact with people. My dream was to make it to AIIMS,” she said. She hopes to specialise in neurosurgery research so­ meday. “I hope that my research will benefit people not only from my village, but all over India,” she added. Mumbai airport offers express RT­PCR tests for passengers Probe ordered on plea against Kangana, sister Staff reporter Mumbai A magistrate’s court in Mumbai has asked the pol­ ice to investigate a com­ plaint against actor Kanga­ na Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel for alleg­ edly trying to create ten­ sions between communi­ ties through their tweets. Bandra magistrate Jay­ deo Y. Ghule passed the or­ der on Friday on a com­ plaint by casting director Sahil Ashrafali Sayyed. The complaint said, “Her tweets are creating di­ visions between Hindu and Muslim artistes. I say that she is maliciously bringing religion in almost all her tweets... She has gone to such an extent that she has also blamed Jamaatis for spreading coronavirus etc., trying to create hatred and communal tensions bet­ ween Hindus and Muslims as she is well aware that she is a well known actress and has a big fan base so her tweets will be seen and will reach out to many people...” Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shiva­ ji Maharaj International Air­ port (CSMIA) has introduced express COVID­19 RT­PCR (reverse transcription po­ lymerase chain reaction) test facility for all passengers departing from the airport. The fastest such facility in the city, it is also available for non­passengers visiting the airport to drop­off or col­ lect their loved ones. “This initiative addresses passenger concerns regard­ ing the different COVID­19 regulations across domestic and international destina­ tions,” Mumbai Internation­ al Airport Limited (MIAL), the airport operator said in a statement. Departing passengers can undergo the test at CSMIA before travelling to their on­ ward destination and pro­ duce their negative test re­ port to skip institutional quarantine at their destination. Initially launched under a directive from the Ministry of Civil Aviation for interna­ tional transit passengers ar­ riving at the airport, CSMIA Taking precautions: Passengers stand in a queue to enter the Mumbai airport amid the pandemic. FILE PHOTO * has extended the facility for passengers departing from the airport as well. The testing facility is lo­ cated at the kerbside of Le­ vel 4 at Terminal 2. Departing passengers can make an online booking through the test feature available on www.csmia.aero, or register themselves at the helpdesk set up at the departures sec­ tion to enroll for the RT­PCR test before entering the ter­ minal and receive a digital copy mailed directly, or col­ lect the physical copy of the test report within 8 hours. “Passengers departing from the airport are encour­ aged to arrive at the terminal 8­12 hours before their sche­ duled departure,” the state­ ment said. Since the facility was launched, 3,340 passengers have opted for the test at CSMIA, with an average of 100 tests per day. Out of the tests conducted at the airport till date, 38 passengers tested positive and were transferred by State authorities to designat­ ed COVID­19 institutions. “With test facilities now available at both departures and arrivals at the airport, passengers can easily transit to and from CSMIA with comfort,” MIAL said. 9 killed, 32 injured as bus, jeep collide Press trust of India Pilibhit (U.P.) At least nine people lost their lives and around 32 were injured in a collision between a jeep and an Ut­ tar Pradesh roadways bus in Pilibhit on Saturday, pol­ ice said. Due to the impact of the collision, the bus fell into a nearby ditch, they said, ad­ ding that the driver of the bus is among the dead. Superintendent of Pol­ ice, Pilibhit, Jaiprakash Ya­ dav said, “The deceased in­ clude passengers of the bus as well as the jeep. Seven of the passengers died on the spot and the injured are un­ dergoing treatment at the district hospital in Pilibhit.” The bus was coming from Lucknow to Pilibhit. CM YK A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 10 WORLD DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Trump appeals to GOP base as polls slide He says Democratic candidate Biden will bring ‘communism and a flood of criminal immigrants’ Obama to campaign for Biden Agence France-Presse Macon President Donald Trump fought on Friday to recover from sinking election polls by campaigning with a har­ dline pitch to America’s right wing, claiming at rallies in Florida and Georgia that his Democratic opponent Joe Bi­ den would deliver commu­ nism and a “flood” of crimi­ nal immigrants. While Mr. Trump put on a brave face, the fact that he was fighting for the two southern States he won four years ago illustrated how much ground he has to make up against Mr. Biden in the 18 days left until the election. With his polls sliding and U.S. COVID­19 infections spiking, Mr. Trump is focus­ ing entirely on his core Repu­ blican base, in hopes that highly energised supporters will turn out in huge numbers. In Ocala, Florida, the co­ ronavirus was an afterthought. Instead, Mr. Trump tossed the large, loudly cheering crowd red meat on immigra­ tion, race, and his conspira­ cy theory that Mr. Biden is steeped in corruption. Agence France-Presse Washington Sharp attacks: U.S. President Donald Trump at the end of his campaign rally at Ocala in Florida on Friday. REUTERS * Spicing his stump speech with lurid exaggerations, Mr. Trump claimed that the “Bi­ den family is a criminal enterprise.” He said Democrats “have nothing but disdain for your values” and “want to turn America into a communist country” — a reprise of his successful 2016 message tap­ ping into white, working­ class resentment. “It’s time we sent a mes­ sage to these wealthy liberal hypocrites,” he told the cheering crowd in Macon, Georgia on Friday night. Mr. Trump also dived into racially charged comments on Latin American migrants, saying Democrats will “flood your communities with ille­ gal aliens, drugs, crime.” And he lashed out at one of his most outspoken crit­ ics, the Somali­American De­ mocratic congresswoman Il­ han Omar, saying “she hates our country” and “comes from a place that doesn’t even have a government.” Mr. Trump had still more venom for journalists, whom he called “the enemy of the people.” And he seemed to ack­ nowledge things might not go his way in the end. “Running against the Former U.S. President Barack Obama will make his first appearance on the campaign trail for his former Vice­President Joe Biden next week, the Biden campaign announced on Friday. Mr. Obama will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday to campaign on behalf of Mr. Biden and Democratic Vice­ Presidential nominee Kamala Harris, the campaign said in a statement. The 59­year­old Obama remained on the sidelines during the Democratic presidential primaries but endorsed his former deputy after he won the party nomination. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD worst candidate in the histo­ ry of presidential politics puts pressure on me. Could you imagine if I lose?,” Mr. Trump mused. “What am I gonna do?,” he continued. “I’m not gonna feel so good. Maybe I’ll have to leave the country. I don’t know.” Biden stays focused Mr. Biden, meanwhile, was campaigning in Michigan, where he ripped into Mr. Trump’s handling of the co­ ronavirus — the strongest is­ sue of his campaign. “He keeps telling us that this vi­ rus is going to disappear like a miracle,” Mr. Biden said in Southfield. “My lord! It’s not disap­ pearing, in fact it’s on the rise again, it’s getting worse, as predicted,” Mr. Biden said. He also homed in on another area where Mr. Trump has run into regular controversy — his often lack­ lustre responses when asked to condemn White suprema­ cists. He said Mr. Trump’s comments were a “dog whis­ tle” to such groups. “We choose hope over fear, unity over division, science over fiction and yes, truth over lies.” French police arrest 9 after teacher was beheaded The school received threats after Paty showed his pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in class Reuters PARIS A history teacher beheaded in a Paris suburb on Friday had been the target of online threats for showing pupils cartoons of the Prophet Mo­ hammed in class, France’s anti­terror prosecutor said on Saturday. The father of a schoolgirl had sought 47­year­old teacher Samuel Paty’s dis­ missal and launched an on­ China outlaws insulting national flag line call for “mobilisation” against him after the lesson on freedom of expression, Jean­Francois Ricard said in a televised news conference. ‘No Russian link’ Paty was decapitated outside his school in Conflans­ Sainte­Honorine, northwest of the capital, and the killer was fatally wounded by police. The Russian Embassy in Paris said the suspect was Abdullakh Anzorov, whose family had arrived in France when he was six and request­ ed asylum. The 18­year­old had received a residence per­ mit this year, according to the Embassy, and had no links with Russia. The schoolgirl’s father and a known Islamist mili­ tant are among nine people arrested. Mr. Ricard said the school received threats after the class in early October, which featured the controversial caricatures — one of the Pro­ phet naked — with the girl’s father accusing Paty of dis­ seminating “pornography”. The girl and her father lodged a criminal complaint against the teacher, who in turn filed a complaint of de­ famation, said Mr. Ricard. The aggrieved father named Paty and gave the school’s address in a social media post just days before the beheading, which Presi­ dent Emmanuel Macron has labelled an Islamist terror attack. Witnesses said he was spotted at the school on Fri­ day afternoon asking pupils where he could find Paty. A photograph of Paty and a message confessing to his murder were found on the assailant’s mobile phone. Jacinda Ardern promises to govern for all New Zealanders Her Labour Party garnered highest votes in at least 50 years Associated Press Auckland In a victory speech in front of hundreds of cheering sup­ porters in Auckland, New Zealand Prime Minister Ja­ cinda Ardern said her La­ bour Party had gotten more support from New Zealan­ ders than at any time in at least 50 years. “This has not been an or­ dinary election, and it’s not an ordinary time,” she said. “It’s been full of uncertainty and anxiety, and we set out to be an antidote to that.” Ms. Ardern promised not to take her new supporters for granted and to govern for all New Zealanders. A record number of vo­ ters cast early ballots in the two weeks leading up to the election. On the campaign trail, Ms. Ardern was greeted like a rock star by people who crammed into malls and spilled onto streets to cheer her on and get selfies with her. Ms. Ardern, 40, won the top job after the 2017 elec­ tion when Labour formed an alliance with two other par­ ties. The following year, she became only the second world leader to give birth while in office. Role model She became a role model for working mothers around the world, many of whom saw her as a counterpoint to Pre­ sident Donald Trump. And she was praised for her han­ dling of last year’s attack on two Christchurch mosques, when a white supremacist gunned down 51 Muslim worshippers. She moved quickly to pass new laws banning the dea­ dliest types of semi­automat­ ic weapons. Cheering on: Jacinda Ardern had won praises for her response to COVID­19 and last year’s attack on two mosques. REUTERS * In late March this year, when only about 100 people had tested positive for CO­ VID­19, Ms. Ardern and her health officials put New Zea­ land into a strict lockdown with a motto of “Go hard and go early”. She shut the borders and outlined an am­ bitious goal of eliminating the virus entirely rather than just trying to control its spread. Battle against COVID-19 With New Zealand having the advantage of being an isolated island nation, the strategy worked. The coun­ try eliminated community transmission for 102 days be­ fore a new cluster was disco­ vered in August in Auckland. Ms. Ardern swiftly imposed a second lockdown in Auck­ land and the new outbreak faded away. The only new cases found recently have been among returning tra­ velers, who are in quarantine. The Auckland outbreak also prompted Ms. Ardern to postpone the election by a month and helped increase the early voter turnout. The National Party’s lead­ er, Judith Collins, is a former lawyer. She served as a Mi­ nister when National was in power and prides herself on a blunt, no­nonsense ap­ proach, a contrast to Ms. Ar­ dern’s empathetic style. Ms. Collins, 61, was promising sweeping tax cuts in res­ ponse to the economic downturn caused by the vi­ rus. In a speech to her sup­ porters in Auckland, Ms. Collins said she’d called Ms. Ardern to congratulate her. The election also saw De­ puty Prime Minister Win­ ston Peters and his small New Zealand First party vot­ ed out. The libertarian ACT Party increased its support to 8% and the Green Party won 7.5% of the votes. Labour Minister David Parker said it was a landslide win for his party. “It’s a tre­ mendous accolade first and foremost to the prime minis­ ter, but also to the wider La­ bour team and the Labour movement,” he said. In the election, voters also had a say on two contentious social issues — whether to le­ galize marijuana and eutha­ nasia. Polls taken before the election indicated the eutha­ nasia referendum was likely to pass while the outcome of the marijuana vote re­ mained uncertain. The re­ sults of both referendums will be announced October 30. Thousands of protesters hit the streets across Thailand Associated Press Hong Kong The Standing Committee of China’s Congress on Sa­ turday passed amend­ ments to a law that will cri­ minalise the intentional insulting of the national flag and emblem, after an­ ti­government protesters in Hong Kong last year de­ secrated the Chinese flag. According to the amend­ ed National Flag and Na­ tional Emblem Law, which will take effect on January 1, those who intentionally burn, mutilate, paint, de­ face or trample the flag and emblem in public will be investigated for criminal responsibility. The law also states that that national flag must not be discarded, displayed upside down or used in any manner that impairs the dignity of the flag. The law will also apply to Hong Kong and Macao. ELSEWHERE They defy govt. ban on gatherings for third consecutive day Police did not intervene, and the protests dispersed after several hours. “We will primarily negotiate,” police spokesman Yingyos Thep­ jamnong told a news confe­ rence. “Enforcing the law will be step by step, using methods that follow interna­ tional standards.” Reuters BANGKOK Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in a wave of protests across Bangkok and other Thai cities on Sa­ turday in defiance of a go­ vernment crackdown follow­ ing three months of demonstrations aimed at the Prime Minister and monarchy. Many protesters said they had been stirred into action by the police’s use of water cannon on Friday to dis­ perse thousands of youth­ led protesters who included many children. “It was way over the line. We want to show them our power and that we cant ac­ cept this,” said Tang, a 27­ year­old office worker among thousands of people who gathered at the Lat Phrao station in the capital Protesters give the three­ finger salute in Bangkok on Saturday. AFP * city Bangkok. Police attempts to thwart protesters by shutting down Bangkok’s public transport network backfired when it led to localised protests across the city involving three main centres and sev­ eral other smaller demon­ strations. There were de­ monstrations in at least six cities outside Bangkok too. U.K., EU set to discuss ‘structure’ of Brexit talks PM’s removal sought Protesters demand the re­ moval of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan­ocha, a form­ er military ruler. They have also become openly critical of King Maha Vajiralongkorn despite lese majeste laws that can mean 15 years in jail for insulting the monarchy. On Thursday, the govern­ ment banned all political gatherings of five or more people. Police have arrested more than 50 people in the past week. Azerbaijan will retaliate, says President Johnson had threatened to shun dialogue Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Japan PM sends offering to controversial shrine TOKYO Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sent a ritual offering on Saturday to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine, which is seen by neighbouring countries as a symbol of the nation's past militarism, especially during Second World War. AFP First federal execution of woman in U.S. in 70 years WASHINGTON A woman convicted of fatally strangling a pregnant woman, cutting her body open and kidnapping her baby is scheduled to be the first woman to be put to death by the U.S. government in almost 70 years, the Justice Department has said. AP CM YK London European and British nego­ tiators will be in touch Mon­ day to discuss the “struc­ ture” of post­Brexit trade talks, despite London’s threat on Friday to walk away unless there was a ma­ jor shift in Brussels’ approach. An EU spokesman tweet­ ed that chief negotiator Mi­ chel Barnier held video talks with his British counterpart David Frost on Friday after the results of European Summit provoked an angry response in London. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was no point in holding any more talks without a dra­ matic softening of the EU’s position, bringing a step closer the possibility that the planned divorce at the end of the year will end acri­ moniously. “As far as we’re con­ cerned the trade talks are over,” Mr. Johnson’s official spokesman told reporters after an EU Summit on Thursday proposed a fresh round of talks next week in London, while demanding Britain give ground on key stumbling blocks. Mr. Johnson said the sum­ mit outcome had ruled out a comprehensive, Canada­ style free trade agreement between the EU and Britain. “They want the continued ability to control our legisla­ tive freedom, our fisheries, in a way that is obviously un­ acceptable to an indepen­ dent country,” he said. Ganja Azerbaijan’s President Il­ ham Aliyev vowed on Sa­ turday to take revenge on Armenia after a missile strike killed 12 sleeping pe­ ople in the city of Ganja, a dramatic escalation in the conflict over the disputed Nagorno­Karabakh region. The early hours attack, which also saw a strike on the nearby strategic city of Mingecevir, came hours af­ ter Azerbaijani forces shelled Stepanakert, the capital of the ethnic Arme­ nian separatist region. The explosions in Ganja levelled a row of houses and left at least 40 people injured. In televised re­ marks, Mr. Aliyev said his Army would “take revenge on the battlefield”. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU BUSINESS 11 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HDFC Bank Q2 profit rises 18.4% to ₹7,513 crore Total advances increased 15.8% to ₹10,38,335 crore, while gross non­performing assets were at 1.08% of gross advances been and would not be clas­ sified as NPA till such time that the court rules finally on the matter, the bank said. Special Correspondent MUMBAI HDFC Bank Ltd. reported se­ cond­quarter net profit jumped 18.4% to ₹7,513.1 crore, from ₹6,354 crore a year earlier, helped by healthy growth in loans and a narrowing of NPAs. The private lender’s net revenue (net interest income plus other income) grew to ₹21,868.8 crore in the three months ended September 30, from ₹19,103.8 crore. Net interest income ex­ panded by 16.7% to ₹ 15,776.4 crore, driven by asset growth of 21.5% and a core net inter­ est margin of 4.1%. Wholesale loans jump Total advances increased 15.8% to ₹10,38,335 crore as of September 30. Domestic advances grew by 15.4% with retail loans rising 5.3% and domestic wholesale loans Progress card: Continued focus on deposits helped HDFC Bank maintain a healthy liquidity coverage ratio. M. KARUNAKARAN * climbing by 26.5%. Gross and net non­per­ forming assets (NPAs) were at 1.08% of gross advances and 0.17% of net advances, respectively. Since the Supreme Court in an interim order dated September 3 had directed that accounts which were not declared NPA till August 31, 2020, should not be de­ clared as such until further orders, the accounts that would have otherwise been classified as NPA had not Proforma gross NPA “However, if the bank had classified borrower accounts as NPA after August 31, 2020, and also adopted an early re­ cognition of NPA using its analytical models (proforma approach), the proforma gross NPA ratio would have been 1.37% as on September 30, as against 1.36% as on June 30 and 1.38% as on Sep­ tember 30, 2019,” the bank said in a regulatory filing. The lender said proforma net NPA ratio would have been 0.35%. “Pending dispo­ sal of the case, the bank, as a matter of prudence, has made a contingent provision in respect of these accounts.” HDFC Bank said its conti­ nued focus on deposits Indicators point to economic recovery, but revival may be fragile: Brickwork ‘Govt. should address supply chain disruptions, augment aggregate demand’ ber have recovered to in­ crease by 3.8% from last year and were higher than August collections by 10%. Passen­ ger vehicle sales had in­ creased by 31%, while rail­ way freight traffic showed a 15% rise. Press Trust of India New Delhi After six months of severe stress triggered by the tough­ est lockdown so far, some high­frequency indicators point towards economic re­ covery but there are signs that this revival is fragile, Brickwork Ratings said. It estimated that the eco­ nomy is likely to contract by 13.5% in the second quarter ( July­September), and the contraction in FY21 is likely to be about 9.5% unless the government takes imme­ diate initiative to revive the economy. “After six months of severe stress triggered by the severest lockdown so far, there finally is some good news on the economy,” it said in a report. The manufacturing PMI has shown a sharp increase from 52 in August to 56.8 in September, the highest in eight years. GST collections at ₹95,480 crore in Septem­ Exports growth After a gap of six months, merchandise exports regis­ tered 5.3% growth, driven by outbound shipments of engi­ neering goods, petroleum products, pharmaceuticals and ready­made garments. There was an increase in power demand and genera­ tion as well. “However, there are indi­ INTERVIEW | V.G. SAKTHIKUMAR Competitive to make in India: Schwing Stetter MD ‘Workforce availability, transportation key advantages’ N. Anand Schwing Stetter, a leading manufacturer and supplier of construction equipment, is planning to move some of its European operations to India. The Indian subsidiary of the German firm is invest­ ing ₹350 crore in phases in its new unit and will start ex­ porting products back to Eu­ ropean countries, managing director V.G. Sakthikumar said in an interview. Edited excerpts: What are your plans in India? ■ We are constructing a new factory at Sipcot, Cheyyar. It is in the final stages of com­ pletion. Civil works will be through by October; installa­ tion of machines will take two more months and it will be ready for operations by January 2021. What products are to be made there? ■ We are moving out certain product range (fabrications from Austria) and assembly (new product range) from Germany to India. Some of the key products are concrete boom pumps, separate placing booms, shotcrete pumps, self load­ ing mixers and other con­ crete trailer pumps. Apart from these pro­ ducts, the group company will also manufacture three models of hydraulic excava­ tors. It is 25% more competitive to make these products in In­ dia and we have the work­ force to make these products and an efficient Chennai Port for transporta­ tion. Initially, the new unit will add 10­15% of export turnover. As we move for­ ward, one­third of CM YK the turnover will come from this factory. We also got a major breakthrough by mov­ ing certain products to east­ ern Europe. Our traditional markets are from New Zea­ land to Africa. We also got some orders from Germany and U.S. The new unit will cater to the needs of domes­ tic and export markets. pare our performance in Au­ gust 2020 vs 2019, we have done better. During August, our turnover was more than that of 2019 and we did 80%­ 85% of pre­COVID­19 levels. But in September 2020, we crossed last September’s vol­ umes and also pre­COVID­19 levels. Going forward, Oc­ tober also looks good with strong order book position. What is the investment ■ At the moment, we have incurred ₹200 crore. We plan to spend another ₹100 crore. Some of the machin­ ery have started coming. Starting January, the pro­ ducts to be shifted will move from batch production to as­ sembly line. What is your turnover and backlog? In the year 2018 ( January to December), we made ₹2,050 crore. This came down to ₹1,730 crore in 2019. We are expecting ₹1,450 crore­₹1,500 crore for 2020, of which exports will be ₹150 crore (₹100 crore). Our or­ ders dried up during CO­ VID­19 to ₹100 crore and it now stands at ₹250 crore. ■ Have you reached preCOVID-19 levels? ■ If you com­ How do you compare the year 2020 with 2019? ■ The first two months of 2020 were better than the previous year due to more projects. 2018 was a better year and 2019 was one of slowdown. The industry wit­ nessed a decline of 30% in 2019, whereas we reported a 15% drop. The current year has only three more months left. The industry will achieve 75% of 2019’s pro­ duction, while we will be ahead of the industry at 80%. Right now, we are slowing down and expanding our ca­ pacity in tune with market conditions. During 2021, we will be adding machinery and de­bottlenecking our facility. What is the forecast for the following two years? The next two years will be the best period for infras­ tructure sector with lots of projects in the pipeline. Or­ ders are expected from roads, railways, real estate, windmill and solar. We ex­ pect the industry to grow by 10­15% for next two years. ■ What is your product localisation level? Whatever we are doing has 90% local content. For the new unit, the im­ port content will be high and it will be slow­ ly brought down. ■ cations that this recovery is fragile. Capital expenditure on new projects declined by 81% in the second quarter... showing a continuous de­ clining trend in invest­ ments,” the agency said. Also, the core sector con­ tracted 8.5% in August. “The immediate task the government has to address is the removal of supply chain disruptions and augment ag­ gregate demand to lift the economy out of the morass,” Brickwork Ratings said. “This requires the govern­ ment to initiate measures to increase public spending,” it said. “It should be less dog­ matic on fiscal targets.” helped in the maintenance of a healthy liquidity cover­ age ratio at 153%, well above the regulatory requirement. It said while the previous quarter largely bore the brunt of the COVID­19 pan­ demic, some of the softness continued into the current quarter leading to lower re­ tail loan origination, use of debit and credit cards by cus­ tomers, efficiency in collec­ tion efforts and waivers of certain fees. Card momentum better “As a result, fees/other in­ come were lower by approxi­ mately ₹800 crore. However, the loan and card momen­ tum has improved over the previous quarter, thereby re­ ducing the gap to less than half,” HDFC Bank said. Provisions and contingen­ cies for the quarter were ₹3,703.5 crore (consisting of ‘Jewellery, gem exports may slump 20­25%‘ specific loan loss provisions of ₹1,240.6 crore and general and other provisions of ₹2,462.9 crore). “Total provisions for the current quarter includes contingent provisions of ap­ proximately ₹2,300 crore for proforma NPA as described in the asset quality section below as well as additional contingent provisions to make the balance sheet more resilient,” it said. The total balance sheet size as of September 30 was ₹16,09,428 crore, an increase of 21.5% from ₹13,25,072 crore a year earlier. Total deposits as of Sep­ tember 30 were ₹12,29,310 crore, an increase of 20.3%. The lender also said it con­ tinued to hold provisions as on September 30 against the potential impact of COVID­19 and that the same was in ex­ cess of the RBI’s norms. Jet’s creditors agree to Kalrock­Jalan plan Flights may take 3­6 months to start Reuters Mumbai Jet Airways would be ac­ quired by an investor con­ sortium under a multimil­ lion dollar resolution plan approved by the carrier’s creditors on Saturday. The plan submitted by a consortium of London­ based Kalrock Capital and UAE­based businessman Murari Lal Jalan comes after months of talks and was confirmed in a regulatory filing, which gave no details. Stake for creditors A source close to the situa­ tion said the new owners had agreed to pump in ₹10 billion ($136 million) as working capital. Another ₹10 billion will be given to creditors over five years. Fi­ nancial creditors will also get 10% stake, subject to ap­ ‘Apparel exports on path to a V­shaped recovery’ is to ramp up < > Plan slowly and to increase capacity gradually provals, the source said. Jet, which operated more than 120 planes serving do­ zens of domestic destina­ tions and international hubs, was forced in April 2019 to ground all flights. After Jet halted opera­ tions at least 280 slots were vacant in Mumbai and 160 in Delhi, which were then gi­ ven to its rivals. The revival plan is also based on getting some of these slots back. “The plan is to ramp up slowly and to increase ca­ pacity gradually as they will be starting afresh,” the source said. Any resump­ tion of flights will likely not happen for between three to six months at least. Paytm top up via credit card attracts 2% fee ‘90% fall in April to 10% rise in Sept.’ Press Trust of India Press Trust of India Mumbai Press Trust of India New Delhi Export of gems and jewel­ lery is expected to decline by 20­25% this fiscal year compared to 2019­20 due to the disruptions caused by the COVID­19 pandemic, GJEPC said on Saturday. During 2019­20, the ex­ ports stood at ₹2,52,249.46 crore, according to data provided by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promo­ tion Council of India (GJEPC). “With demand improv­ ing gradually, we should be at our 2019­20 levels next year. Growth will come back only maybe by 2021­ 22, GJEPC chairman Colin Shah said at a virtual press conference. New Delhi Paytm users will have to pay a 2% fee on the amount added to their e­wallet us­ ing a credit card. Until now, users had to pay 2% fee if they loaded more than ₹10,000 in their e­wallets via credit card in a month. “Nominal charge of 2% is applicable on adding money using credit card. Nominal fee is applicable since we pay high charges to your bank/payment net­ work when you add money using a credit card. Please use UPI or debit card to add money for free,” says a message that pops up when customers try to add money to their Paytm wal­ let via credit card. Apparel exports logged dou­ ble­digit growth in Septem­ ber, which indicates the seg­ ment is on course to a V­shaped recovery, apparel exporters’ body AEPC said on Saturday. Apparel Export Promo­ tion Council (AEPC) chair­ man A. Sakthivel said appa­ rel exports rose for the first time this fiscal in September and the steep recovery from 90% fall in April to 10% rise last month “corroborates our belief that the apparel sector is already on the path of V­shaped recovery.” He added that steps taken by the government are help­ ing the sector to deal with the problems related to the pandemic. Exports saw a growth of 10.2% in Septem­ ber 2020 to $1.2 billion as compared with $1.079 bil­ lion in the same month a year earlier. “We believe this turnaround with a positive growth of more than 10% will only increase as we go forward in the second half of the fiscal,” he added. Franklin MF’s 6 shut schemes fetch ₹8,302 cr. Press Trust of India New Delhi Franklin Templeton Mu­ tual Fund has said its six shut schemes have re­ ceived ₹8,302 crore from maturities, prepayments and coupon payments since closing down in April. “The six schemes have received total cash flows of ₹8,302 crore as of October 15, 2020, from maturities, prepayments and coupon payments since April 24, 2020,” Franklin Templeton MF said in a statement. Part of this amount has been utilised to repay bor­ rowings and post repay­ ment, ₹5,116 crore is availa­ ble for distribution to unitholders in four cash positive schemes , subject to fund running expenses. Lightning Logistics to grow EV fleet N. Anand Chennai Shreyas Shibulal, son of In­ fosys co­founder S.D. Shib­ ulal, has drawn up plans to expand the fleet capacity of Lightning Logistics, a pure play electric vehicle last­mile delivery firm, ov­ er the next two years. “Lightning Logistics was started in 2018 under the EV­focussed venture Mice­ lio,” said Mr. Shibulal, founder, Micelio Mobility. “It is in a pilot stage with a fleet of about 1,000 EVs. “We are planning to add 1,000 EVs next year and another 2,000 the follow­ ing year. We are developing our own two­wheeler for last­mile logistics. Details will be revealed at a later stage,” he said. Lightning Logistics provides busi­ nesses with a bike and rid­ er for doorstep deliveries. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 12 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SNAPSHOTS IISER Pune uses smell to identify asymptomatic cases A custom­built olfactory action meter helped identify people infected with the virus but with no typical symptoms R. Prasad New superconductor A new material shows signs of superconductivity at room temperature. It conducts electricity without resistance up to 15 degrees Celsius, says the paper in Nature. The only caveat is the property survives only under pressures such as those found at the centre of the Earth. Rainfall and erosion A study of the central and eastern Himalaya published in Science Advances quantified the rate at which rainfall and rivers eroded mountains. The study, using a pioneering technique, gauges the impact of erosion to benefit those dwelling in the foothills. Now loss of smell, which is one of the symptoms that pe­ ople infected with novel co­ ronavirus show, can be quickly and accurately mea­ sured using a novel method developed by researchers at IISER Pune. Using a custom­ built olfactory action meter, which determines how well one can smell, the team led by Nixon Abraham from the Department of Biology at IIS­ ER Pune was able to identify people infected with the vi­ rus but have no typical symptoms such as fever, fa­ tigue etc. Olfactory deficits To access the olfactory func­ tions of asymptomatic peo­ ple, the researchers tested 34 patients admitted in isola­ tion wards at B.J. Govern­ ment Medical College and Sassoon General Hospitals, Pune. The researchers were able to detect olfactory defi­ cits in 82% of people with asymptomatic infection. That only 15% of those with asymptomatic infection were aware of their inability to smell before participating in the test highlights the ability of the new method to detect asymptomatic cases that might otherwise not be de­ tected. The results were pu­ blished in the journal EClinical Medicine. Optimised parameters The team optimised the ex­ perimental parameters by first testing normal healthy participants. The test was performed on 37 healthy participants to assess their ability to detect 10 different odours at varying concentra­ tions — 9.1%, 16.6%, 23.1% and 50% v/v. The odours were presented from lower to higher concentrations and the detection thresholds were based on the ability to detect an odour at two con­ secutive concentrations. The ability to detect odours was also checked at 50% (v/v) concentration. The lower of these two concentrations was considered the detec­ tion threshold for a partici­ ferent concentrations. Peo­ ple are said to have an olfac­ tory deficit if they are unable to smell at all four concentra­ tions, and olfactory deficien­ cy if they are unable to detect the odour at two or more out of the four concentrations. Ruling out odds: We also tested if the cognitive function to detect odour is impaired through olfactory matching accuracy, say Nixon Abraham (right) and Anindya Bhattacharjee. pant. All odours were sequen­ tially delivered at a particular concentration level and then the concentration was in­ creased to the next level. The sequence of odours changed with each concentration le­ vel. The odours were deli­ vered for four seconds each with a gap of over 17 seconds between two odours. Both healthy and asymptomatic persons participated in the tests wearing a face mask. The researchers found that a majority of healthy participants were able to de­ tect eight out of the 10 odo­ rants at 16.6% v/v concentra­ tion, which is the second lowest concentration; the two remaining odorants were detected at 23.1% v/v concentration. These experi­ ments identified the parame­ ters for olfactory testing of COVID­19 patients. People with asymptomatic infection were classified as having either an olfactory deficit or deficiency based on their ability to detect odours at dif­ Cognitive functions “We also tested if the cogni­ tive function to detect odour is impaired through olfacto­ ry matching accuracy,” Dr. Abraham says. Here, the per­ son is first exposed to one odour and later to another odour and the ability to de­ tect and differentiate and re­ call the odour are looked at. “Impairment of cognitive function is studied by look­ ing at detection of odours, discrimination between two odours and working memo­ ry to recall the odours,” he says. “Only those who can smell odours at more than two concentrations were tested for cognitive function impairment.” The study found significantly reduced matching performances by those with asymptomatic in­ fection compared with healthy people. They found that 82% of the patient population (27 out of 33) and 13% of healthy participants (5 out of 37) had olfactory deficits. “Olfactory deficits can be seen even in healthy people and this can happen due to different rea­ sons other than coronavirus infection,” Dr. Abraham clar­ ifies. Despite a few healthy par­ ticipants exhibiting olfactory deficits, Dr. Abraham is con­ fident that the new method can be used for mass screen­ ing as the sensitivity is 82%, specificity is 87% and accura­ cy is 85%. “Our work has laid the groundwork to use olfactory fitness as one of the prime criteria to identify people with asymptomatic infec­ tion. The methods and pa­ rameters established by our study can potentially be tran­ slated into a sensitive, fast and economical olfaction­ based screening assay that can be self­administered by large populations,” he says. Early childhood stress and mental illness The enigma that is COVID­19 Mice were studied by modulating the pathway affecting excitatory neurons The disease is a complex interplay of infection, immunity and reinfection of schizophrenia. Animals in which we have stimulated Gq signalling in forebrain ex­ citatory neurons go on to ex­ hibit pre­pulse inhibition deficits in adulthood,” she explains. The entire study took nearly six years, with major participation by Sthitapraj­ nya Pati, a PhD student with Prof. Vaidya. Collaborators James Chelliah at JNCASR, Bengaluru and Anant Patel at CCMB provided key sup­ port for electrophysiology experiments and NMR expe­ riments, respectively. Shubashree Desikan It is known that adversity in early life can have long­term effects on mental health of adults. Now, a study using mice led by scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamen­ tal Research, Mumbai, finds that stimulating a particular pathway in the brain in early life can cause anxiety, de­ pression and even schizo­ phrenia­like symptoms later in life. This does not happen if the stimulation is carried out in adolescent or adult mice. The study has been published in the journal eLife. Engineering the mice Using genetic engineering the researchers modulated a specific pathway in the brains of mice which is known to stimulate the exci­ tatory neurons in the fore­ brain region. When they car­ ried out prolonged stimulation in two­week old mice and observed them when they grew into adults, the researchers found that the adult mice exhibited signs of increased anxiety, depression­like behaviour and even symptoms of schi­ zophrenia­like behaviour. Such behaviour was not ob­ served in mice that had been subjected to the stimulation as adolescents or adults. The group used bigenic Age factor: While two­week­old mice were affected by the stimulation, adolescents were resilient. PRAACHI TIWARI * mouse models that were en­ gineered to express Designer Receptors Exclusively Activ­ ated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) in excitatory neurons of the forebrain. Vidita Vaidya of TIFR who led the research says, “The DREADD in question results in increased Gq signalling when it is stimulated by [specific] drugs...” This in­ creased Gq signalling stimu­ lates the excitatory neurons in the forebrain. Prof. Vaidya further ex­ plains the observation of schizophrenia­like beha­ viour thus: Usually when so­ meone is surprised by a sud­ den, loud sound, they show a startled response. But if the loud sound is preceded by a softer sound of lower volume, they show inhibi­ tion of the startled response. This is called pre­pulse inhibition. Pre­pulse inhibition In the case of individuals with schizophrenia, the pre­ pulse inhibition does not happen. The behaviour of the experimental mice that had been subjected to stimu­ lation of excitatory neurons in their infancy was interest­ ing. “We study the pre­pulse inhibition behaviour which is a hallmark of a behaviou­ ral change noted in patients Early­life window The researchers had several controls for different aspects of the experiment: “We checked whether the genetic strategy itself has behaviou­ ral effects which it didn’t. We tested the effects of DREADD activation in adolescent and adult mice and that also had no effect,” says Prof. Vaidya. Thus, there is a “tight time­ window in early life” when animals are highly sensitive to this perturbation. The study throws open several interesting ques­ tions. “If we can mimic the effects of early stress using these chemogenetic strate­ gies, can we also reverse the effects of early stress? If so, is there a restricted window of time in which reversal would work?” says Prof. Vaidya. Lancelot Pinto Camilla Rodrigues In July, a large seropreva­ lence study in Mumbai re­ ported that 57% slum resi­ dents and 16% building residents had antibodies to SARS­CoV­2. The presence of antibodies implied that these individuals had been infected, and had now deve­ loped protective antibodies. Similar results were found in other cities, leading to opti­ mism that “herd immunity,” the protection that a com­ munity enjoys from a germ by virtue of a significant pro­ portion of individuals being immune, was not a distant dream. Optimism on hold Two recent changes have put such optimism on hold: Reinfections being reported across the world and declin­ ing seroprevalence of antibo­ dies in repeat sampling sur­ veys done in both Mumbai and Delhi. The latter sug­ gests a possible “decay” of antibodies with time. A true reinfection is one in which the viral genome in the second infection differs from that of the first. Proving this necessitates the whole genome sequencing of both viral strains, a research tool that is not accessible routine­ ly to healthcare providers. Clues to a possible reinfec­ tion include more severe dis­ ease (both clinically and on laboratory investigations) and a lower cycling thresh­ old value (which may reflect an increased quantum of vi­ rus) on the RT­PCR test done during the second episode. A negative swab between the two episodes helps further distinguish re­positives from reinfections. Instead of RT­ PCR for viral RNA, which de­ tects live and dead virus, subgenomic messenger RNA, a product of actively replicating virus, can be used to detect viable virus. Forms of immunity Two forms of immunity de­ fend the body from reinfec­ tion: antibody­mediated (through immunoglobulins, which recognise parts of the virus and neutralise it), and cell­mediated (through cells such as T­cells which can in­ duce death of virus­infected cells). Antibodies could eith­ er be binding antibodies (which bind to the virus and sensitise the immune sys­ tem) or neutralising antibo­ dies (which directly bind to the virus and interfere with its function). Unlike antibo­ dies induced by SARS­CoV and MERS­CoV (the causa­ tive viruses of the 2003 and Stiff race: SARS­CoV­2 virus continues to outsmart us, until we make an effective vaccine . GETTY IMAGES * 2012 outbreaks, respective­ ly) that lasted a minimum of 1­2 years, studies have de­ monstrated the rapid waning of antibodies after infection from SARS­CoV­2. Does this mean that such individuals are susceptible to reinfec­ tion? Not necessarily. Most commercial antibody tests detect binding antibodies, while immunological memo­ ry is more accurately reflect­ ed by the presence of neutra­ lising antibodies. Secondly, the role of cell­mediated im­ munity has not been eluci­ dated yet. A study from France by Gallais et al. de­ monstrated the evidence of cell­mediated immunity among family contacts of in­ dividuals with COVID­19, despite such individuals hav­ ing undetectable antibodies. However, the presence of cell­mediated immunity is not routinely measurable, and unfortunately, it isn’t guaranteed to ensure im­ munity either. It must be pointed out that How global warming might affect food security It would be useful to do lab experiments on model plants SPEAKING OF SCIENCE D. BALASUBRAMANIAN Between the year 1870 (the first industrial revolution) and today, the global temper­ ature has risen by almost 2 degrees Celsius. This has come about due to more fos­ sil burning (oil, natural gas, coal), which has also in­ creased the carbon dioxide ( CO2) levels from 280 ppm to 400 ppm. This heating has caused glaciers to melt and the sea level to rise. Daniel Glick, in the October 2 issue of National Geographic Magazine warns that the gla­ ciers in Garhwal, Uttarak­ hand may virtually disappear by 2035! Ocean acidification The rise in CO2 levels has also acidified the ocean, leading to weakening the shells and skeletons of animals living in the sea, climate.org. On land, the rise in CO2 levels has both positive and negative effects. This being a ‘Green House Gas’, it traps the Sun’s heat CM YK from the atmosphere and warms the temperature, aids in the photosynthesis of plants, making them grow more, but at the same time restricts the plant’s ability to absorb nitrogen, thus res­ tricting crop growth, phys.org. How will this CO 2 level heating affect food security in the coming years? D.S. Bat­ tisti and R.L. Naylor warned of this in 2009 in their paper in Science: “Historical warn­ ings of future food insecurity with unprecedented seaso­ nal heat”. They warned that such higher temperatures during the ‘growing season’ in the tropics and sub­tropic regions (India and our neigh­ bours, Saharan and Sub­Sah­ aran Africa and parts of South America) will greatly affect crop productivity, and that this would be the ‘norm’. Given this double whammy of affecting ocean life and food security, it is un­ Alarm call: Scientists warn higher temperatures during the ‘growing season’ in the tropics and sub­tropic regions will greatly affect crop productivity. GETTY IMAGES * pardonable for Donald Trump, president of the US, and Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, to promote indus­ try at the cost of climate change. Experimental probes How do global rise in temper­ ature and CO2 level affect plant growth and yield? Can we do some laboratory expe­ riments on a model plant and see what happens at to­ day’s (normal) temperature and CO2 level and a ‘future’ higher one? J. Yu and his col­ leagues did try such experi­ ments in 2017 in their paper: “Metatabolic pathways in­ volved in CO2 enhanced heat tolerance in Bermuda grass” in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science https:// doi.org/10.3389/ fpls.2017.01506.They found that there was improved heat tolerance, and suppressed heat­induced damages. These are interesting results, but on a grass which is good for animals such as rabbits and cattle, and not for hu­ mans. Plant meat While grasses are what bo­ tanists call C4 plants, food grains (our staple food) are C3 and the way photosynthe­ sis is done is somewhat diffe­ rent. It would thus be useful if such experiments are done on beans and legumes such as chana, chickpeas and si­ milar grains (called ‘plant meat’). It is towards this that a group from the Hyderabad Centre of the international agency ICRISAT (Internation­ al Crops Research Institute for the Semi­Arid Tropics) decided to look at how two kinds of chickpea (the desi chana dal or the Bengal gram and the Kabuli chana (origi­ nally from Afghanistan) be­ have under different CO2 le­ vels (current level of 380 ppm, and two higher levels (550 and 700 ppms). The plants were sown under these conditions, and har­ vested during the vegetative and reproductive stages post germination. The results of this study titled: ‘Molecular and physiological alterations in Chickpea under elevated CO2 concentrations’, by Pa­ ramita Palit et al in Plant and Cell Physiology 61(8):1449­ 1463 (2020) doi:10.1093/pcp/ pcaa007, available online at https://academic.oup/pcp. Since the whole genome sequence of the chickpea was earlier published by this group (Varshney et al, Nature Biotechnology 31,240­ 246, 2013 https:// doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2491, they could identify as many as 138 metabolic pathways, mainly involved in sugar/ starch metabolism, chloro­ phyll and secondary metabo­ lite biosynthesis, and could get to decipher the pathways that lead to how high CO2 le­ vels modify the growth of the chickpea plants. They found a noted increase in the root and shoot (plant height) lengths. Also the number of nodules in the roots (where nitrogen­fixing bacteria live) changed at high CO2 levels. A decrease in chlorophyll syn­ thesis hastens leaves turning yellow and plant ageing (se­ nescence). Different responses Interestingly, the group found that desi chana and ka­ buli chana responded diffe­ rently at high CO2 levels. This needs to be explored further. Now, given the details of the 138 metabolic pathways identified, one can look deeper into how we can use molecules or agents that can promote or inhibit specific pathways through which growth and yields can be in­ creased, and also the type of legumes that will best suit lo­ cal conditions. Now that No­ belists J. Doudna and E. Char­ pentier have shown us how to edit genes, perhaps the time has come to do this too on specific local legumes! Question Corner Sweet and salt in blood Can mosquitoes taste human blood? Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Rockefeller University have for the first time found that female mosquitoes have individual neurons that sense human blood’s distinctive flavour. The sense of taste is specially tuned to detect a combination of at least four different substances in blood — glucose, sodium chloride (common salt), sodium bicarbonate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The researchers found that female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes possess different neurons in the syringe­ like stylet, which punctures the skin, to distinguish blood from nectar (Neuron, October 2020). Blood­feeding reinfections still seem ex­ ceedingly rare. However, an individual who has reco­ vered from an episode of CO­ VID­19 needs to keep up the precautions of masking, physical distancing and hand sanitising unabated. We now know that the symp­ toms and signs that make us suspect the possibility of CO­ VID­19 disease needs to be investigated, irrespective of whether the patient has al­ ready had the disease. From a community perspective, we need to rethink immunity passports, herd immunity and vaccination strategies, taking into account the pos­ sibility that with the passage of time, immunity may wane, and reinfections/vac­ cine failures may become more common. The SARS­CoV­2 virus con­ tinues to outsmart us, and till the time that an effective vac­ cine is available, a world with the virus will continue to haunt us, like the lyrics of a famous song: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave!”. (Dr. Lancelot Pinto is a Consultant Pulmonologist and Epidemiologist at P.D. Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai. Dr. Camilla Rodrigues is a Consultant Microbiologist and Head of the Department of Microbiology at P.D. Hinduja National Hospital, Mumbai. Views are personal.) mosquitoes survive by feeding on nectar for metabolic energy, but require a blood meal to develop eggs. They found that female mosquitoes have two feeding modes that use different mouthparts and detect different flavours. To see what’s special about the combination of these four ingredients, the researchers first tested how mosquito stylets responded to each component. Surprisingly, glucose found in both nectar and blood did not activate any neurons. But the other three ingredients — sodium chloride (common salt), sodium bicarbonate and ATP — which are found only in blood and not in nectar activated a specific group of neurons. One prominent cluster of neurons activated only when the entire blood recipe was delivered together and not individually. The findings shed light on just how specially adapted the female mosquito is to find blood. Readers may send their questions / answers to questioncorner@thehindu.co.in dbala@lvpei.org A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU FAQ 13 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Reinventing auctions for the real world What did this year’s Nobel winners for economics discover about auction theory? Prashanth Perumal J. * FILE PHOTO Jagan vs. judges What can CJI Bobde do about charges levelled against judges by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister? K. Venkataramanan The story so far: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has stirred a hornet’s nest by writing to the Chief Justice of India complaining about Supreme Court judge Justice N.V. Ramana for allegedly influencing posting of cases in the State High Court and alleging that some High Court judges are hostile to his government and are deliberately striking down his regime’s decisions and orders. In effect, he has accused many judges of misconduct, corruption and political bias. Such an open conflict between the judiciary and a Chief Minister is without precedent. Questions arise about what can be done about this serious complaint. How are allegations of misconduct against judges dealt with? The Constitution protects the independence of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court by making them removable only through a long process of impeachment. However, not all forms of misconduct will warrant impeachment. There could be other kinds of impropriety too. There are times when serious complaints of this sort are received, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is called upon to examine them. Since 1997, judges have adopted an ‘in­house procedure’ for inquiring into such charges. When was the procedure adopted? After Justice J.S. Verma took over as Chief Justice of India (CJI) in 1997, he circulated among judges a document called ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial life’. This was a set of principles containing the essential elements of ideal behaviour for judges. The Full Court passed a resolution that an ‘in­house procedure’ would be adopted for action against judges for acts of commission or omission that go against these values. A five­judge committee was constituted to come up with a procedure. Its report was adopted on December 15, 1999. It was made public in 2014. How does the in-house procedure work? When a complaint is received against a High Court judge, the CJI should decide if it is considered frivolous or if it is “directly related to the merits of a substantive decision in a judicial matter”, or it does not involve any serious misconduct or impropriety. If it is serious, the CJI should The complaint by get the judge’s response. He Y.S. Jagan Mohan may close the matter if he is Reddy will have to satisfied with the response. If be examined by the a deeper probe is considered CJI to see if it can necessary, both the complaint and the judge’s be rejected as response, along with the baseless or if it Chief Justice’s comments, are requires a deeper recorded for further action. investigation The same procedure holds good if the CJI receives a complaint directly. After considering the High Court’s Chief Justice, the judge involved and the complaint, the CJI, if deemed necessary, forms a three­member committee. The committee should have two Chief Justices from other High Courts and one High Court judge. The inquiry it holds is of the nature of a fact­finding mission and is not a formal judicial inquiry involving examination of witnesses. The judge concerned is entitled to appear before it. If the case is against a High Court’s Chief Justice, the same procedure is followed, but the probe committee comprises a Supreme Court judge and two Chief Justices. If a Supreme Court judge faces such a charge, the in­house panel will comprise three Supreme Court judges. The in­house procedure does not give any separate provision to deal with complaints against the Chief Justice of India. But in practice, a panel of three other Supreme Court justices is formed. What happens after the probe is done? If the committee finds substance in the charges, it can give two kinds of recommendations. One, that the misconduct is serious enough to require removal from office, or that it is not serious enough to warrant removal. In the former case, the judge concerned will be urged to resign or seek voluntary retirement. If the judge is unwilling to quit, the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned would be asked to withdraw judicial work from him. The President and the Prime Minister will be informed of the situation. This is expected to clear the way for Parliament to begin the process of impeachment. If the misconduct does not warrant removal, the judge would be advised accordingly. How will the CM’s complaint be handled? The complaint by the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister will have to be examined by the CJI from the perspective of whether it can be rejected as baseless, or it requires a deeper investigation. In details annexed to his letter, Mr. Reddy has cited several writ petitions in which adverse orders were passed against his regime. He also accuses the judges concerned of political bias not only against himself, but also in favour of his rival, N. Chandrababu Naidu, the former Chief Minister. Therefore, a key question would be: do the charges pertain merely to the merits of judicial orders, or are they serious enough to warrant a probe? CM YK The story so far: American economists Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson, both of whom teach at Stanford University, were awarded the 2020 economics Nobel Prize last week. This year’s Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was awarded to the duo “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats”. The Nobel Prize committee noted that Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Wilson did not just come up with original ideas in auction theory, but they also played a crucial role in implementing their ideas. What is auction theory? Auction theory is a branch of economics that deals with, as the name suggests, auctions. Auctions are important to economists because they are the most widely used and also the most efficient mechanism to allocate scarce resources. The allocation of scarce resources, in turn, matters to economists because there is a limited supply of resources on earth when compared to unlimited human needs, and hence they need to be allocated only to the most urgent needs of society. In particular, auction theory deals with the various ways in which auctions can be designed to improve seller revenues, increase benefits to consumers, or even achieve both these goals at the same time. How is it relevant? Throughout history, countries have tried to allocate resources in various ways. Some have tried to do it through political markets, but this has often led to biased outcomes. Think of how the rationing of essential goods worked in various State­controlled economies. People who were close to the bureaucracy and the political class came out ahead of others. Lotteries are another way to allocate resources, but they do not ensure that scarce resources are allocated to people who value it the most. Auctions, for a good reason, have been the most common tool for thousands of years used by societies to allocate scarce resources. When potential buyers compete to purchase goods in an auction, it helps sellers discover those buyers who value the goods the most. Further, selling goods to the highest bidder also helps the seller maximise his or her revenues. So, both buyers and sellers benefit from auctions. What are its applications? Auctions happen almost everywhere in the modern world. Even the sale of groceries in retail stores is based on an auction, albeit an implicit one that is relatively slow to adjust to changing market conditions. For instance, a supermarket manager, just as an auctioneer, tries to price his goods based on how much of it is sold during a certain day, week, or month. If there is a huge demand for a certain product and shelves empty quickly, the supermarket manager will raise its price to prevent a shortage. If another product fails to sell as fast as expected, its price may be lowered in order to clear any unsold inventory. More sophisticated and explicit auction mechanisms are used in the allocation of capital goods such as spectrum and minerals. But whether it is the auction of American economists Robert Wilson, left, and Paul Milgrom. spectrum waves or the sale of fruits and vegetables, auctions are at the core of allocation of scarce resources in a market economy. What are the economists’ contributions? To understand Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Wilson’s contributions, it is important to take note of the criticisms levelled against auctions. The most common one is that auctions can lead buyers to overpay for resources whose value is uncertain to them. This criticism, popularly known as the ‘winner’s curse’, is based on a study that showed how buyers who overpaid for U.S. oil leases in the 1970s earned low returns. Dr. Wilson was the first to study this matter. He found that rational bidders may decide to underpay for resources in order to avoid the ‘winner’s curse’, and argued that sellers can get better bids for their goods if they share more information about it with potential buyers. Dr. Milgrom added further nuance to this analysis by arguing that individual bidders may still submit vastly different bids due to their unique circumstances. A company that can sell oil at a higher price or process it at a lower cost, for instance, may be willing to pay more for Whether it is the crude oil. auction of spectrum Secondly, economists waves or the sale of traditionally working on fruits and vegetables, auction theory believed auctions are at the core that all auctions are the same when it comes to the of allocation of scarce revenues that they resources in a managed to bring in for market economy sellers. The auction format, in other words, did not matter. This is known as the 'revenue equivalence theorem'. But Dr. Milgrom showed that the auction format can actually have a huge impact on the revenues earned by sellers. The most famous case of an auction gone wrong for the seller was the spectrum auction in New Zealand in 1990. In what is called a ‘Vickrey auction’, where the winner of the auction is mandated to pay only the second­best bid, a company that bid NZ$1,00,000 eventually paid just NZ$6 and another that bid * AP NZ$70,00,000 only paid NZ$5,000. In particular, Dr. Milgrom showed how Dutch auctions, in which the auctioneer lowers the price of the product until a buyer bids for it, can help sellers earn more revenues than English auctions. In the case of English auctions, the price rises based on higher bids submitted by competing buyers. But as soon as some of the bidders drop out of the auction as the price rises, the remaining bidders become more cautious about bidding higher prices. Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Wilson, however, are most popular for their contribution towards devising new, real­world auction formats. The combinatorial auctions designed by the duo, for instance, have been used to sell complex goods such as spectrum as bundles, instead of as individual units. Earlier, governments sold spectrum rights on a piecemeal basis, which made it unappealing to companies which demanded spectra in a bundle. This led to private speculators earning billions in the secondary market by reselling spectrum, while the government was starved of revenues that it could have easily earned with better auction design. How do these contributions matter? The contributions of Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Wilson have helped governments and private companies design their auctions better. This has, in turn, helped in the better allocation of scarce resources and offered more incentives for sellers to produce complex goods. In fact, Auctionomics, a firm Dr. Milgrom co­founded, has been helping companies and governments design auctions, thus adding to other innovative auction formats adopted over the centuries by sellers trying to maximise revenues. Lastly, not all economists necessarily agree with the popular use of Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Wilson’s work on the ‘winner’s curse’ to take a dim view of auctions. They argue that while enthusiastic bidding may lower the returns earned by companies, it will not necessarily lead to higher prices for consumers, as is commonly believed. This is because in any competitive market, pricing of consumer goods is based on what the market will bear, rather than on sunk costs. Further, persistent overbidding is unlikely as financial losses weed out inefficient speculators over time. Surface science in tennis and player skillsets What explains Nadal’s dominance on clay, Federer’s mastery on grass and Djokovic’s power on a hard court? N. Sudarshan The story so far: Rafael Nadal’s comprehensive defeat of World No.1 Novak Djokovic in the French Open final last Sunday earned him a record­extending 13th Roland Garros crown. The Spaniard now has more than double the number of titles the previous Open Era record­holder, the legendary Bjorn Borg, held (6). The summit clash was Nadal’s 100th match win in Paris, a whopping 26 more than second­placed Djokovic, with only two defeats. How is Nadal’s game suited for clay? Nadal, like Borg in his heyday, is an exceptional athlete. He moves swiftly across the turf and uses the heavy top­ spin game to clear the net and still pull the ball back safely into the court. The slowness of the surface helps construct points better and the hotter summer temperatures generate more bounce, which, coupled with Nadal’s heavy spin, takes the ball away from the strike­zone of most players. The 34­year­old also receives the serve way behind the baseline, waiting for it to slow down to allow himself the time for a full swing at the ball, before moving closer to the baseline to dictate with his forehand. The courts at Roland Garros are among the biggest in the world, allowing Nadal the space to execute this strategy. His aggressive court­positioning during rallies, depth of shot­making, and the ability to play through nerves and be brave on the most crucial of points have stood out of late. This was particularly evident this year, when even the cold, heavy and low­bouncing conditions could not halt his march. The slowed­down court may have even given him that extra fraction of a second to employ his first­strike approach and helped track down Djokovic’s cross­court backhand. According to Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion, Nadal being a left­hander is another important part of his success. All the spin he puts on the ball breaks in the opposite direction of what players are accustomed to. Among the top 30 male singles players, Nadal and Denis Shapovalov are the only left­handers, giving them an edge. Growing up in Spain is a big factor too, for clay is the natural surface in the country. It not only teaches the virtue of patience, but also helps develop the ability to choose the right moment to go for the kill. What are the skills required on grass and hard courts? Grass generally rewards players whose games flow from their serves — Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Serena Williams, to name a few. Federer’s tennis, through his record eight Wimbledon titles, is instructive. Apart from the serve, no one employs the backhand slice quite like him. On grass, the ball bounces at a low angle and the Federer slice lowers it further and disrupts the rhythm. The ball appears to zip through, forcing the opponent to act faster. Thereby, it exaggerates the speed of the court, which, in turn, plays on the mind and creates indecision in future points. Grass, unlike the crushed brick of Roland (Top left) Rafael Nadal plays a backhand during the 2020 French Open at Roland Garros; (right) Roger Federer at Wimbledon 2019, and Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January. GETTY IMAGES, AFP * Garros, is a living entity and behaves capriciously. No two balls that land on the same spot bounce the same, even when hit at comparable angles and speeds. Federer’s razor­sharp instincts and high skill are often the differentiators. The hard court, in contrast, is mostly true and rewards a repeatable technique. Unlike grass, it does not wear and tear, and unlike clay, it is not affected by the elements. In terms of speed and bounce, if clay is the slowest and highest, and grass is the fastest and lowest, a hard court is somewhere in between. Djokovic’s style, which does not lend itself to easy categorisation like Federer’s or Nadal’s, has proved the most effective, as his record eight Australian Open and three US Open trophies show. Federer, too, has a combined total of 11 titles in Melbourne and New York, but he won seven of those before Djokovic won his first. The Serb hits a clean, efficient and flat stroke, devoid of top­spin. No one in modern­day tennis takes the ball as early as him and smothers it. This is particularly true of his fine two­ hander, which he uses to forcefully change direction or hit flat down the line. Blessed with fleet­footed movement, especially side­to­side, Djokovic is a master at regaining balance and readying himself for the next shot. Improvement in racquet technology has brought surfaces closer. Compared to yesteryear’s small racquets with clearly demarcated sweet spots, the large-headed modern versions have made hitting through the court easier The acrylic is unforgiving and requires supreme fitness. But Djokovic’s endurance levels are such that he can come up with short bursts of intense, momentum­shifting tennis over long periods of time. What does the future hold for specialists? Improvement in racquet technology has, in fact, brought surfaces closer. Compared to yesteryear’s small racquets with clearly demarcated sweet spots, the large­headed modern versions have made hitting through the court easier. The effect of this has been the most pronounced at Wimbledon. With the grass slowing down and the bounce truer and higher, the net­rushing game has become a rarity. In 2001, when Federer beat Sampras and made the last eight, 71% of all his points were serve­and­volley. In the 15 years after that, during which he won seven of his eight crowns at SW19, such points crossed 20% only thrice. Djokovic winning Wimbledon five times and Nadal securing the US Open on four occasions to emerge as the last decade’s most successful champions at the respective Slams are said to be the clearest examples of homogenisation of courts. Lending further credence to this is the fact that Federer and Djokovic, having triumphed just once in Paris, have both reached the final on four other occasions. Nadal’s at the Australian Open is a similar record — winner once and a losing finalist four times. But across the seven Majors in 2019 and 2020, a pattern has been observed. Nadal has trumped both Federer and Djokovic at the French Open; Djokovic has felled both Nadal and Federer at the Australian Open, and Federer outwitted Nadal at Wimbledon and came within a single stroke of repeating it against Djokovic. Tennis across surfaces may be closer than ever, but it appears that there is still room for the specialist to work his magic. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 14 PROFILES DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Illustration: r. rajesh troversial record on freedom of expression or the anti­gay policies of Russia). Structure At one level, the UNHRC’s structure — drawing a group of nations from the General Assembly through rotation and election via a “one state, one vote” principle — has al­ lowed the organisation to be fairly representative of the General Assembly without special privileges for the more developed Western countries, as is the case with other multilateral institu­ tions such as the IMF or the World Bank. The UNHRC replaced the Human Rights Commission in 2006 after a vast majority of the UN member States en­ dorsed the then UN Secre­ tary General Kofi Annan’s proposal to create a new in­ stitution that would over­ come the “credibility deficit” of the previous organisation. The General Assembly Reso­ lution 60/251 helped esta­ blish the Council, whose de­ tailed workings were negotiated subsequently. The mechanism of Univer­ UNHRC A work-in-progress campaign for rights The UN agency is leading the global fight for human rights amid external challenges and internal contradictions Srinivasan Ramani O n October 13, elec­ tions were held for the cohort of member nations who will serve for the next three years (2021­23) in the UN Human Rights Council. Among the five countries that were vying for membership from the Asia­ Pacific region, four — Pakis­ tan, Uzbekistan, Nepal and China — made it, while Saudi Arabia lost out. The UNHRC has 47 mem­ bers serving at any time with elections held to fill up seats every year, based on alloca­ tions to regions across the world to ensure geographical representation. Along with the aforementioned coun­ tries, the others who booked a seat in the council included Russia and Ukraine from Eastern Europe; France and the U.K. from Western Eu­ rope and other states; Ivory Coast, Gabon, Malawi and Senegal from Africa; and Bo­ livia, Cuba and Mexico from the Latin American and Ca­ ribbean States. Countries are disallowed from occupying a seat for more than two con­ secutive terms. The election to the Asia Pacific cohort this year was eventful. Saudi Arabia which had controversially earned a representation twice (2014­ 16, followed by 2017­2019) despite a known reputation for several human rights vio­ lations, could not secure a seat this time. In the secret ballot conducted in the 193­ member UN General As­ sembly, Saudi Arabia could manage only 90 votes in comparison to Pakistan (169), Uzbekistan (164), Ne­ pal (150) and China (139). For a nation with immense clout in West Asia, the inability to secure a seat despite the re­ gime’s efforts to refurbish its image could be chalked up to the fallout of the assassina­ tion of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the detention of several women rights’ acti­ vists, among others. Yet, despite the exclusion of Saudi Arabia, the record of some other member­states such as China and Russia in the council has also not lived up to the aims and mission of the UNHRC, which has led to critics questioning its rele­ vance. Powerful countries such as the U.S. have refused to participate in the Council, with the Trump administra­ tion taking the country out of the Council in 2018, years af­ ter it was reinstated under President Barack Obama. Mission The UNHRC, which was re­ constituted from its prede­ cessor organisation, the UN Commission on Human Rights, is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights across the world. The council is seen as a central structure in the global hu­ man rights architecture, a political body with represen­ tatives drawn from the Gen­ eral Assembly. Apart from the council, the UN has also set up a num­ ber of treaty­based organisa­ tions to monitor compliance with human rights standards and international human rights treaties such as the Hu­ man Rights Committee and the Committee on Econom­ ic, Social and Cultural Rights. The UNHRC, headquar­ tered in Geneva, Switzer­ land, has two key functions — the council passes non­bind­ ing resolutions on human rights issues through a pe­ riodic review of all 193 UN member states called the Un­ iversal Periodic Review (UPR), besides overseeing expert investigation of viola­ tions in specific countries (Special Procedures). Human rights breaches that are investigated by the UNHRC across UN member states relate to themes such as freedom of association and assembly, freedom of ex­ pression, freedom of belief and religion, women’s rights, LGBT rights and the rights of racial and ethnic minorities. However, what makes the Council’s composition pro­ blematic is that several of its members run afoul of its pro­ claimed aims (for example, the one­party systems of Chi­ na and Cuba that have a con­ CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC There has always been a tension between the West that lays emphasis on political rights and the developing world that has laid greater emphasis on socioeconomic rights CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC sal Periodic Review (UPR) was incorporated into the functioning to give teeth to the organisation. The UPR, which has a national report from the state under review plus a compilation of UN in­ formation prepared by the Office of the UN High Com­ mission for Human Rights, also allows for a summary of information from civil socie­ ty actors. Countries such as Israel, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Myanmar, Sudan, Cambodia, Belarus, Burundi and Eritrea have been investigated and strongly condemned by the UNHRC for violating various human rights. Sri Lanka, for example, had, in a co­spon­ sored resolution in 2015, pro­ vided commitments to the council to promote reconci­ liation, accountability and human rights, following the end of the civil war in 2009. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa­led government withdrew the country from those commit­ ments earlier this year. In a unanimously passed resolution that was spon­ sored by African states, the UNHRC in June 2020, or­ dered a report on “systemat­ ic racism” against people of African descent following the murder of the African­Ameri­ can George Floyd in the U.S. India has not been spared from scrutiny either. The UN High Commissioner for Hu­ man Rights, Michelle Bache­ let, had earlier this year ex­ pressed concern over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the clampdown in Kashmir, besides the “inter­ communal attacks” in Delhi in February. Later, Ms. Ba­ chelet had welcomed the re­ lease of political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, but ex­ pressed concern over the communications restrictions as part of “Global Human Rights update” at the start of the 45th session of the UNHRC in September 2020. While the U.S. has stayed away from the council, keep­ ing in line with the isolation­ ist impulse of the Trump ad­ ministration, other Western countries have actively parti­ cipated in the UNHRC des­ pite their misgivings about countries with a blemished rights record. There has al­ ways been an inherent ten­ sion between countries from the West that espouse an in­ dividualist notion of human rights that lays emphasis on political and civic rights and those from the developing world who have laid greater emphasis on socio­economic and cultural rights (such as Cuba). Between these “ex­ tremities”, there are other rising powers such as Brazil and India who have commit­ ted to hold states to account for human rights issues. The unique arrangement of representation, review and collaboration (with civil society groups over and above nation­states) has cer­ tainly improved the func­ tioning of the UNHRC in comparison with its prede­ cessor Commission. But the challenges remain high. The UNHCR is still a work in progress. In Focus The UNHRC replaced the UN Human Rights Commission in 2006 after a vast majority of the UN members endorsed a proposal to create a new institution to promote and protect rights B The Geneva­ based council has 47 members serving at any time with elections held to fill up seats every year, based on allocations to regions B It passes non­binding resolutions on human rights issues, besides overseeing expert investigation of violations in specific countries B SHENZHEN CHIRAG PASWAN China’s city of change In a race to be kingmaker In 40 years, this tiny backwater has transformed into a global metropolis The LJP leader is on a mission to unseat Nitish Kumar while ensuring BJP wins illustration: j.a. premkumar Ananth Krishnan A s soon as you enter the gleaming lobby of the Tencent Binhai Mansion, a twin skyscraper­ edifice that serves as the headquarters of China’s most well­known tech giant, attendants, dressed in white lab coats, converge on visi­ tors. They ask how you can be helped, before ushering you into a small 3D­exhibi­ tion hall that abuts the lobby. Every inch of the hall, in­ cluding its ceiling and floor, are covered with screens, displaying images and num­ bers showcasing the all­per­ vasive reach of Tencent, and in particular of its WeChat ecosystem that powers Chi­ na today, offering everyth­ ing from social media mes­ saging and mobile payments to e­government services. If the lab coats, sliding doors and flashing lights at Tencent HQ all seem very Star Trek, there is a reason for the elaborate messaging. It is aimed at showing the company’s role in China’s evolution from the world’s workshop to a tech power. And it is no accident that Tencent is headquartered in Shenzhen, a city that has, for four decades, been at the cusp of driving change in China. On October 14, China marked the 40th anniver­ sary of the setting up of its first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Shenzhen, a key step in China’s economic re­ forms and opening up pro­ cess that would also trans­ form a provincial CM YK backwater, whose only claim to fame then was serv­ ing as the last stop on the mainland on the Canton (Guangzhou)­Kowloon rail, before it entered then Brit­ ish­controlled Hong Kong. In 1978, at the start of the reforms process, China’s GDP was $149 billion, not much greater than India’a $140 billion. Its GDP per capita of $156 was less than India’s $203. Fast­forward four decades, and it is now five­times India’s, while the city of Shenzhen alone has a $400 billion GDP, which overtook Hong Kong’s in 2018 and is about the same as Maharashtra’s, India’s biggest state economy. Experimentation has been key to Shenzhen’s suc­ cess, and it is still the man­ tra that drives its firms, big and small. Up the road from Tencent on Binhai Boule­ vard is the company Royole, a seven­year­old Shenzhen start­up that manufactures foldable electronic displays. “Innovation is at the heart of the Shenzhen spirit,” ex­ plained Thalia Cheng, a manager at one of its Shenz­ hen showrooms, in a con­ versation last November, as she outlined the company’s next big plan — weaving in electronic displays on clothes and handbags (Louis Vuitton is one of their customers). In transition Ms. Cheng, and many in Shenzhen, see the city’s ac­ cess to a large pool of trained and talented labour as one reason behind its rise, both 40 years ago and today, when it is looking to transition from workshop to innovator. If it was the mil­ lions of rural workers who descended on this city in the 1980s seeking jobs that offered a way out of rural poverty, today, it is universi­ ty graduates seeking a for­ tune in China’s tech sector. But 40 years on, as they embark on their Shenzhen adventures, a remarkably different world awaits them. If the success story of the world’s workshop coincided with the start of the era of globalisation, China’s tech giants are finding a much more frosty reception today, with much of the world, in­ cluding India, now reassess­ ing how it wants to do busi­ ness with China Inc. No surprise that President Xi Jinping, speaking in Shenz­ hen on the October 14 anni­ versary, warned of a turbu­ lent world and unprecedented global challenges. Yet, the changes abroad are, in a sense, reacting to changes within China too. If decentralisation and a re­ treat of the party­state paved the way for reforms and experimentation in the 1980s, today, the Commu­ nist Party is seeking to exert ever greater sway over how even private tech compa­ nies are run (all of which, in­ cidentally, are mandated to have internal Party units). This strange dichotomy was on display outside the Shenzhen Stock Exchange one November morning, a building known for the dis­ tinctive statue of two giant charging bulls that stand at its entrance, a symbol of the city — and the country — em­ bracing the market. And just across the square, an elec­ tronic screen flashed a ban­ ner in bright red, showing a waving flag of the Party and a slogan urging everyone to abide by the values of Mr. Xi’s signature slogan, called ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a new era’. Only in Shenzhen. Sobhana K. Nair T he Bihar Assembly election, scheduled to begin later this month, is no longer a bipolar con­ test between the ruling Na­ tional Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition United Progressive Alliance (UPA), thanks to Chirag Pas­ wan, president of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The 37­year­old walked away from the Chief Minister Nit­ ish Kumar­led NDA in Bihar, while at the same time conti­ nuing to support the BJP. If the LJP successfully cuts into the Janata Dal(U)’s vote share and seat tally without affecting the BJP’s performance, the State, for the first time, could see a BJP Chief Minister. This is a scenario that Mr. Chirag claims to be working for. On the other side, the Opposi­ tion Mahagatbandhan (grand alliance), led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is hoping to gain from the divi­ sions within the NDA. On October 4, four days after the LJP announced its decision to go solo, party pa­ triarch and Mr. Chirag’s fath­ er Ram Vilas Paswan died of a prolonged illness, leaving the son in charge of the par­ ty’s election tactics. The LJP had seen a smooth transfer of power between the father and the son, something the senior Paswan was proud of. On November 5 last year, he handed over the reins of the party to Mr. Chirag. He often cited the bitter political feud between Mulayam Singh and son Akhilesh Singh Ya­ dav when the latter took ov­ er the Samajwadi Party. The warmth between the two Paswans was visible and of­ ten advertised. During the lockdown, a video of the son giving the father a shave was circulated by the party. The two sat for interviews together. Dalit Sena Mr. Chirag’s first appea­ rance at a political event was as a one­year­old sitting on his mother’s lap during the launch of the Dalit Sena in 1983. Ram Vilas Paswan built the LJP 17 years later on the foundations laid by the Sena. Born to a Bihari father and Punjabi mother (Reena Sharma Paswan), Mr. Chirag is part Punjabi and part Bi­ hari, though, it is the latter part that he wants the world to concentrate on. To assert his Bihari identity, he re­ cently changed his social media name to ‘Yuva Bihari Chirag Paswan’. He did his schooling from the Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in the Army Can­ tonment area in Delhi. La­ ter, he joined Amity Univer­ sity for the B.Tech. Computer Science pro­ gramme, but left it mid­way. In Mr. Chirag’s own words, his friends, impressed by his “good looks”, prodded him to go to Mumbai to try his luck in Bollywood. By 2002, he was travell­ ing between Delhi and Mumbai, training to be an actor. In 2010, Miley Naa Miley Hum, his only film, co­ starring Kangana Ranaut, was released. Three­years later, well in time for the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Mr. Chirag was back in Bihar. He is often nostalgic about his foray into the Bol­ lywood. “There was a very famous song from my mo­ vie, “Katto Gilehri...”, writ­ ten by Javed Sahab [lyricist Javed Akhtar], that happens to be a popular song in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. So when I go out at times, they sing the song, the youth tell me that I look good, and I must make another movie, but politics is a full­time and the only job for me,” he told The Hindu in 2019. His entry into politics meant a new chapter for the LJP. In March 2014, he steered his father towards Narendra Modi, 12 years af­ ter the senior Paswan quit the NDA, criticising Mr. Mo­ di over the Gujarat riots. “My father was my best friend. While everyone else in the party was scared to tell him their minds about joining hands with Modiji, I could easily talk, argue and goad him,” Mr Paswan later said. While his father strug­ gled to justify the switch, Mr. Chirag had no such qualms. Questions on Mr. Modi’s “secular credentials” were deflected by listing out the 1984 anti­Sikh riots or the 1989 Bhagalpur riots, among others. In 2005, Ram Vilas Pas­ wan played a key role in changing the political course of Bihar. He walked out of the RJD­ Congress alliance, and the LJP contested against the RJD but not against the Con­ gress. The gamble paid off, as it brought an end to the 15­year rule of Lalu Prasad. In the election held in Fe­ bruary 2005, the LJP got 29 seats. This led to a hung house and fresh election in which Nitish Kumar swept to power. Mr. Chirag wants history to repeat in 2020. The difference, however, is that this time, Mr. Kumar could be at the receiving end. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THE HINDU SPORT 15 DELHI SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Dhawan-powered DC edges CSK Axar hits three sixes in final over to ensure opener’s 101 n.o. doesn’t go in vain IPL 2020 up his fifty off 29 balls. Dhoni spilled Dhawan while diving to his left off Bravo when on 50. The southpaw was dropped for the fourth time on 80 by Ambati Rayudu. In between these chanc­ es, the left­hander was at his fluent best, charging bowlers at will and unleashing his brute power, to record his maiden IPL century. Earlier, Faf du Plessis’s half­century (58, 47b, 6x4, 2x6) followed by cameos from Rayudu (45 n.o., 25b, 1x4, 4x6) and Jadeja (33 n.o., 13b, 4x6) helped CSK post 179 for four. du Plessis and Shane Wat­ son (36) put on 87 for the se­ cond wicket, before Rayudu and Jadeja finished the in­ nings strongly, slamming 67 in the final five overs. In the 20th over, Jadeja hit consecutive sixes off Nortje and scored 16 runs to give CSK a fighting chance. But all of it was undone by a disas­ trous fielding effort. On the rise: Dhawan timed his maiden IPL century to perfection, helping Capitals pip Super Kings. BCCI/IPL * SCOREBOARD CHENNAI SUPER KINGS Sam Curran c Nortje b Desh­ pande 0 (3b), Faf du Plessis c Dhawan b Rabada 58 (47b, 6x4, 2x6), Shane Watson b Nortje 36 (28b, 6x4), Ambati Rayudu (not out) 45 (25b, 1x4, 4x6), M.S. Dhoni c Carey b Nortje 3 (5b), Ravindra Jadeja (not out) 33 (13b, 4x6); Extras (w­3, nb­1): 4; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 179. FALL OF WICKETS 1­0 (Curran, 0.3 overs), 2­87 (Watson, 11.4), 3­109 (du Plessis, 14.4), 4­129 (Dhoni, 16.3). CAPITALS BOWLING Deshpande 4­0­39­1, Rabada 4­1­33­1, Axar 4­0­23­0, Nortje 4­0­44­2, Ashwin 3­0­30­0, Stoinis 1­0­10­0. DELHI CAPITALS Prithvi Shaw c & b Deepak Chahar 0 (2b), Shikhar Dhawan (not out) 101 (58b, 14x4, 1x6), Ajinkya Rahane c Sam Curran b Deepak Chahar 8 (10b, 1x4), Shreyas Iyer c du Plessis b Bravo 23 (23b, 1x4, 1x6), Mar­ cus Stoinis c Rayudu b Shardul 24 (14b, 1x4, 2x6), Alex Carey c du Plessis b Sam Curran 4 (7b), Axar Patel (not out) 21 (5b, KKR and SRH seek solutions Another test for Morgan; Warner has his hands full Press Trust of India Abu Dhabi A new captain in the saddle, Kolkata Knight Riders would look to sort out its batting woes and strive for consistency when it faces Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday. After a string of below par performances, Dinesh Sports Bureau or the second time in six days, A.B. de Villiers swung a game Royal Challen­ gers Bangalore's way with a blinder of a knock. Rajasthan Royals, which made 177 for six at the Dubai International Stadium after winning the toss, was beaten by seven wickets with two balls to spare. If his 33­ball 73 had set up RCB's victory, batting first against Kolkata Knight Rid­ ers at Sharjah earlier in the week, de Villiers put on a masterclass in chasing down an imposing target on Satur­ day. His 55 not out came off just 22 balls (1x4, 6x6). Its sixth win in nine matches helped RCB stay in the vicinity of the two stan­ dout teams of the competi­ tion, Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, with 12 points. RR remains near the bottom, on six points. S Leather hunt Chasing 180, DC lost Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane cheaply to Deepak Chahar, but Dhawan sent the CSK bowlers on a leather hunt, starting with Sam Curran, hitting him for two fours. Cashing in on the two re­ prieves he received when on 25 and 27, the Delhi batsman wasted no time in attacking Karn next, hitting him for two boundaries in the leg­ gie’s first over. He brought The South African changes the course of a 178­run chase with a sublime innings F Sports Bureau hikhar Dhawan made Chennai Super Kings pay a heavy price for some shod­ dy fielding as he slammed an unbeaten 101 (58b, 14x4, 1x6) to carry Delhi Capitals to a five­wicket win at the Shar­ jah Cricket Stadium on Sa­ turday. CSK’s butterfingered fiel­ ders dropped the opener four times as the side suc­ cumbed to its sixth defeat even as DC went top of the table. Despite Dhawan’s knock, DC still needed 17 off the last over, but Axar Patel pun­ ished Ravindra Jadeja, slam­ ming three sixes to seal the match with a ball to spare. Death­overs specialist Dwayne Bravo had one over left, but the West Indian had left the field for some treat­ ment and Dhoni had to choose between Jadeja and Karn Sharma. De Villiers’ genius drags RCB across the line Karthik handed over the reins to Eoin Morgan hours before KKR’s match against Mumbai Indians on Friday. But his campaign as lead­ er was off to a disappointing start with MI thrashing KKR. KKR’s batsmen will have to step up if it wants to seal a play­off spot. The KKR bowlers did well to fashion narrow victories against Kings XI Punjab and CSK, but leaked runs against RCB and MI. Sunrisers is struggling too. The Orange Army is un­ sure whether to strengthen the batting or bowling unit. Jonny Bairstow, David Warner, Manish Pandey and Kane Williamson present a formidable batting line­up, but a cause of concern is Rashid Khan’s form. Warner will desperately hope that his star spinner finds his mojo back. David Warner. DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD * BCCI\IPL IN BRIEF SUDOKU 3x6); Extras (lb­1, w­3): 4; Total (for five wkts. in 19.5 overs): 185. FALL OF WICKETS 1­0 (Shaw, 0.2 overs), 2­26 (Ra­ hane, 4.1), 3­94 (Shreyas, 11.3), 4­137 (Stoinis, 15.4), 5­159 (Carey, 18.1). SUPER KINGS BOWLING Deepak Chahar 4­1­18­2, Sam Curran 4­0­35­1, Shardul 4­0­ 39­1, Jadeja 1.5­0­35­0, Karn 3­ 0­34­0, Bravo 3­0­23­1. Toss: CSK. Man-of-the-Match: Dhawan. DC won by five wickets with one ball to spare. Sensing an opportunity When RCB’s two set batsmen had returned to the dugout off successive balls, RR may have sensed an opportunity. Opener Devdutt Padikkal (35, 37b, 2x4) and Virat Kohli (43, 32b, 1x4, 2x6) had put on 79 for the second wicket. When the captain suc­ cumbed to a brilliant piece Earlier, a rejigged batting line­up helped RR post a competitive total. The deci­ sion to send in Robin Uthap­ pa as opener paid dividends. Superman! A.B. de Villiers took flight for RCB again. of fielding by Rahul Tewatia at deep mid­wicket — he caught the ball on the run, released it before he went over the rope and came back in to complete the catch — 76 was needed off 41 balls. It was 35 off 12 when Steve Smith handed the ball to Jay­ dev Unadkat. The left­arm seamer's first three balls were dispatched over the on­side boundary by de Villiers in imperious style. * BCCI/IPL Twenty­five runs came off the penultimate over. de Villiers then finished the job by sending RR’s best bowler Jofra Archer over the deep mid­wicket boundary. RAJASTHAN ROYALS Robin Uthappa c Finch b Chahal 41 (22b, 7x4, 1x6), Ben Stokes c de Villiers b Morris 15 (19b, 2x4), Sanju Samson c Morris b Chahal 9 (6b, 1x6), Steve Smith c Shah­ baz b Morris 57 (36b, 6x4, 1x6), Jos Buttler c Saini b Morris 24 (25b, 1x4, 1x6), Rahul Tewatia (not out) 19 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), Jofra Archer lbw b Morris 2 (3b); Ex­ tras (b­1, w­7, nb­2): 10; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 177. FALL OF WICKETS 1­50 (Stokes, 5.4 overs), 2­69 (Uthappa, 7.4), 3­69 (Samson, 7.5), 4­127 (Buttler, 15.3), 5­173 (Smith, 19.2), 6­177 (Archer, 19.6). RCB BOWLING Washington 3­0­25­0, Morris 4­0­26­4, Udana 3­0­43­0, Saini 4­0­30­0, Chahal 4­0­ 34­2, Shahbaz 2­0­18­0. New Delhi Dubai Mumbai Indians has been in rampaging form with five straight wins, but can ill af­ ford to be complacent against a Chris Gayle­in­ spired Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. A win will virtually seal a spot in the play­offs for Mumbai, while a loss could send KXIP out of contention. Captain Rohit Sharma (251 runs), his opening partner Quinton de Kock (269), Suryakumar Yadav (243) and Ishan Kishan (186) provide the muscle in bat­ ting. On the bowling front, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult have 12 wickets apiece from eight matches. On the other hand, KXIP is languishing at the bottom despite having the top­two run­getters of the tourna­ ment in skipper K.L. Rahul (387) and his opening partn­ For example, Puducherry can host all teams in Plate Group. Press Trust of India Press Trust of India The much­awaited domestic cricket season will start from January 1 with the Ranji Tro­ phy, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said on Saturday. The BCCI Apex Council met on Sunday evening and a good amount of time was spent on discussing the domestic calendar which had been thrown in disarray by the surging cases of CO­ VID­19 in India. Chris Gayle... booster dose. BCCI/IPL * er Mayank Agarwal (337). However, KXIP has been boosted by Gayle’s return. The ‘Universe Boss’ made his first appearance this IPL with a bang, hitting a 45­ball 53, laced with five sixes and a four in KXIP’s win over Royal Challengers Banga­ lore. Extensive discussions “We have had extensive dis­ cussions on domestic cricket and we have tentatively de­ cided to start the competi­ tions from January 1, 2021,” Ganguly said from Dubai. When asked if it would be a curtailed season or not, the former Indian captain said the board won’t be able to accommodate all domes­ tic tournaments for practical Sourav Ganguly. * BCCI/IPL purposes. “We will certainly have the full­fledged Ranji Trophy redball tournament. It will probably not be possible to hold all tournaments,” Gan­ guly said, hinting that BCCI is eyeing the January­March window for Ranji Trophy. To minimise travel, matches are likely to be or­ ganised in four different centres dividing the four groups (A, B, C and Plate). Man City shades Arsenal via Sterling’s strike Agencies Pakistan bowler Umar Gul has called time on his 17­year cricket career. The T20 World Cup­winner bowed out to a guard of honour after Friday’s National T20 Cup match here. Gul finished with 163 Test, 179 ODI and 85 T20I wickets. AFP Chawrasia, Shubhankar make the cut ST. ANDREWS (SCOTLAND) Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku S.S.P. Chawrasia carded a second successive three­ under 69 to lie tied 18th in the Scottish Championship here. Also making the cut was Shubhankar Sharma (71, 72) at T57. PTI Schauffele in lead LOS ANGELES Xander Schauffele rolled in six straight birdies en route to an eight­under 64 and a three­shot lead in the US PGA Tour's CJ Cup in Las Vegas on Friday. AFP CM YK ROYAL CHALLENGERS Devdutt Padikkal c Stokes b Te­ watia 35 (37b, 2x4), Aaron Finch c Uthappa b Shreyas 14 (11b, 2x6), Virat Kohli c Tewatia b Tyagi 43 (32b, 1x4, 2x6), AB de Villiers (not out) 55 (22b, 1x4, 6x6), Gurkeerat Mann (not out) 19 (17b, 1x4); Extras (lb­1, w­11, nb­1): 13; Total (for three wkts. in 19.4 overs): 179. FALL OF WICKETS 1­23 (Finch, 3.3 overs), 2­102 (Padikkal, 12.6), 3­102 (Kohli, 13.1). ROYALS BOWLING Archer 3.4­0­38­0, Shreyas 4­ 0­32­1, Tyagi 4­0­32­1 Unadkat 4­0­46­0, Tewatia 4­0­30­1. Toss: RR. Man-of-the-Match: de Villiers. RCB won by seven wickets with two balls to spare. Rampaging MI up against Domestic season likely from Jan. 1 Group­wise bio­bubble mooted for Ranji: Ganguly Gayle-boosted KXIP EURO LEAGUES RAWALPINDI Smith finally returned to form, too, scoring 57 (36b, 6x4, 1x6). But later on in the afternoon, de Villiers made it a match to forget for RR. SCOREBOARD VAR denies Liverpool in bruising Merseyside derby; Chelsea blows lead Umar Gul retires He made a sparkling 41 (22b, 7x4, 1x6) and put on 50 for the first wicket with Ben Stokes, who became one of Chris Morris’ four victims. Liverpool Raheem Sterling scored the only goal as Pep Guardiola got the better of Mikel Arteta in Manchester City's 1­0 win over Arsenal to move three points off the top of the Pre­ mier League table. Aguero drove forward and fed Phil Foden on the left, with the England midfielder cutting in to shoot. Bernd Le­ no could only parry his ef­ fort, which fell kindly for Sterling to sidefoot home. Earlier, champion Liver­ pool was foiled by VAR as it was held to a 2­2 derby draw with Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday after a late effort from Jordan Hender­ son was ruled out. To add to Liverpool’s dis­ appointment, it suffered an injury to key defender Virgil van Dijk, which forced the Dutchman out of the game in the 11th minute, after a reck­ less challenge from Everton keeper Jordan Pickford. Everton’s Brazilian for­ ward Richarlison was sent off in the 90th minute after a wild challenge on Thiago Alcantara. Then came the VAR dra­ ma that left Liverpool man­ ager Jurgen Klopp bemused. “I’ve seen the disallowed goal at the end and in the picture I saw it wasn’t off­ side. Can someone explain that to me?” the German said. Chelsea was two goals to the good after early strikes by Timo Werner but still al­ lowed Southampton to claw back to a 3­3 draw. It was up 3­1 after Kai Havertz also scored but Danny Ings, Che Adams and Jannik Vester­ gaard had other plans. Giant leap: Everton’s Dominic Calvert­Lewin rises above the Liverpool defence to score the equaliser. REUTERS * The results: Premier League: Everton 2 (Keane 19, Calvert­ Lewin 81) drew with Liverpool 2 (Mane 3, Salah 72); Chelsea 3 (Werner 15, 28, Havertz 59) drew with Southampton 3 (Ings 43, Adams 57, Vestergaard 90+2); Manchester City 1 (Ster­ ling 23) bt Arsenal 0. LaLiga: Granada 1 (Herrera 82) bt Sevilla 0; Celta Vigo 0 lost to Atletico Madrid (Suarez 6, Car­ rasco 90+5); Real Madrid 0 lost to Cadiz 1 (Lozano 16). Serie A: Napoli 4 (Lozano 23, 27, Politano 30, Osimhen 43) bt Atalanta 1 (Lammers 59); Sampdoria 3 (Quagliarella 32, Augello 41, Damsgaard 74) bt Lazio 0; Inter Milan 1 (Lukaku 29) lost to AC Milan 2 (Ibrahi­ movic 13, 16). Bundesliga: Hoffenheim 0 lost to Borussia Dortmund 1 (Reus 76); Freiburg 1 (Lienhart 15) drew with Werder Bremen 1 (Fuellkrug 25­pen); Hertha Ber­ lin 0 lost to Stuttgart 2 (Kempf 9, Castro 68); Mainz 0 lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Alario 30); Augsburg 0 lost to RB Leipzig 2 (Angelino 45, Poulsen 66); Ar­ minia Bielefeld 1 (Doan 58) lost to Bayern Munich 4 (Muller 8, 51, Lewandowski 26, 45+1). “Puducherry has six grounds and has offered to host. It can host the Plate Group games while the oth­ er Groups can play in three different centres. The main motive is to minimise travel for players. Bangalore also has a lot of grounds so it can be one option and another option can be Dharamsala which has Bilaspur and Na­ daun in its proximity,” a BCCI official said. Meanwhile, Ganguly also assured that the junior crick­ et and women’s tourna­ ments will be held between March and April. “We also have elaborate plans for our age group and women’s cricket. We will start with Ranji Trophy and then we will also have the other tour­ naments between March and April,” he said. Bravo and Hetmyer back in Test squad Press Trust of India St. John’s (Antigua) Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul are back in the West Indies Test squad for a two­match series in New Zealand, but Shai Hope has been dropped. The squads: Tests: Jason Holder (Capt.), Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, John Camp­ bell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Chemar Holder, Al­ zarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Ke­ mar Roach. Reserves: Nkru­ mah Bonner, Joshua DaSilva, Preston McSween, Shayne Moseley, Raymon Reifer and Jayden Seales. T20s: Kieron Pollard (Capt.), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh Jr and Kesrick Williams. A ND-NDE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE 16 SPORT DELHI THE HINDU SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2020 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Krunal — playing his role to perfection Step up, Morgan tells his lads ‘We have to be as adaptable as possible going forward’ Has picked up five wickets at a respectable economy rate Y.B. Sarangi spin in eight matches, Kru­ nal has picked up five wick­ ets at a respectable economy rate of 7.80. As for batting, he has been able to face just 34 balls, scoring 48 runs, with the four­ball 20 not out against Sunrisers being the highlight. IPL 2020 Amol Karhadkar MUMBAI Kieron Pollard hasn’t been bowling much of late. Hardik Pandya is yet to bowl during the ongoing edition of the In­ dian Premier League due to his back injury management. Pandya Sr., Krunal, was thus expected to carry the mantle of being the lead all­rounder for Mumbai Indians. With an on­song batting line­up, Krunal has been lar­ gely playing as a containing spinner. And he has played his role to near­perfection as Mumbai Indians has begun defending its crown with aplomb. Numbers neither reflect his contribution to MI’s win­ ning run nor to his chances of regaining his place in In­ dia’s T20 squad. But Krunal isn’t really Comeback aim: Krunal Pandya has taken to his job as MI’s lead all­rounder well and is targeting a return to the Indian team. BCCI/IPL * worried about it. “I also want to come back into the Indian team. If you see the games I have played for India, I have done well in terms of the bowling I did. I got Man of the Match awards. Overall I was happy with the journey with the Indian team. I am looking forward to making a comeback,” Kru­ nal said on Saturday, ahead of Mumbai Indians’ weekend clash versus Kings XI Punjab. In his 26 overs of left­arm Team first “At the end of the day, I have never thought about it as an individual. I have always be­ lieved in keeping the team first, be it for India, Mumbai Indians or Baroda. “Sometimes, if the re­ quired run­rate is 15 and you bowl a 6­run over, that is as good as a four­wicket haul. That 4­ball 20 against SRH created an impact and brought the momentum back for us. I never think about those big runs or pick­ ing wickets. It is about what is important for the team.” KOLKATA New Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan said it was high time his team raised its game after its eight­wicket loss to Mumbai Indians at Abu Dhabi on Friday. At the post­match media conference, asked about his take on the KKR top­order “which did not apply itself”, Morgan said, “I think that’s putting it very politely. With the bat early on we made a few mistakes. MI bowled really well… It's another area of improvement that we need to make strides on. “We've just passed the halfway stage and there's no better time to turn things around. Given the strength and depth in our batting line­up and the different skill levels and skill­sets, we have to be as adaptable as possi­ ble going forward.” Of Steve Waugh & his depiction of the alluring appeal of cricket in India His book The Spirit of Cricket — India contains over 200 photographs captured by him during his many trips PRESS TRUST OF INDIA NEW DELHI He played for Australia but captured the cricket of India, in all its kaleidoscopic forms. While delving deep into the world of cricket in India, Steve Waugh saw the game which is more a way of life here, being played by monks at the foothills of the Hima­ layas. He saw the sport being played on the beaches, the deserts, the mountains. The much­admired Aus­ tralian great was swept off his feet by the sight of a dis­ abled player, being support­ ed by a bamboo on one side, “flying through the air like ninja warriors” while hurling the ball. He was equally ena­ moured by dreamy­eyed youngsters playing on the dusty grounds of the famous Azad Maidan in Mumbai. “This place reeked of cricket and I loved it,” Waugh said of the Azad Maidan, ac­ cording to abc.net.au. Quite amazing “They’re quite amazing, these guys, flying through the air like ninja warriors and landing on these bam­ boo poles,” he said. The book The Spirit of Cricket — India by Waugh contains over 200 photo­ NRAI nominates Mane, Elavenil They will compete in the Sheikh Russell International air rifle meet Through the lens: Australian great Steve Waugh captures some cricketing moments in India. FILE PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT * graphs captured by the form­ er Australia captain during his many trips to the cricket­ mad country. A collection of over 70 photographs clicked by Waugh will be on display during an exhibition in Syd­ ney at the end of this month. “India gave me lifelong Special Correspondent NEW DELHI The National Rifle Associa­ tion of India (NRAI) has nominated Shahu Tushar Mane and Elavenil Valari­ van to compete in the Sheikh Russell Interna­ tional air rifle champion­ ship, to be organised by the Bangladesh Shooting Federation on Sunday. Available to compete Elavenil, who won a World Cup gold and the World Cup Final gold last year, was selected as she was available to compete. She had opted out of the national camp owing to college examinations. The world No. 1 was the best woman shooter avail­ able as the other leading names are in quarantine, getting ready for the Na­ tional camp here. NRAI said Mane was se­ lected on the basis of the ranking and his availabili­ ty. Seven countries Seven countries, including host Bangladesh, are sche­ duled to compete in the online competition, and each country will have an ISSF jury member to mon­ itor the event. Japan, Korea, Indone­ sia, Pakistan and Bhutan will be the other countries apart from host and India. The mixed pairs compe­ tition has promised attrac­ tive prize for the medal­ lists to the tune of $2,200 in all. Wants to make India proud in the Scottish Women’s Premier League a top flight club in Europe. Bala made her India debut in 2005 and since 2010, has played 58 matches for the country, scoring 52 goals. FOOTBALL Press Trust of India India captain Bala Devi feels the professional training she has received at Rangers FC has made her a better player and she is hopeful of living up to the expectations in the Scottish Women’s Premier League beginning on Sun­ day. Bala, who signed a land­ mark 18­month contract with Rangers in January, said after six weeks of intensive pre­season training, she is raring to go in the league which will be played behind close doors. Rangers open its cam­ paign at home against Hearts Women on the first day. “We have had six weeks of training and it is intensive stuff, quite different from what we had in India, ob­ viously much more profes­ sional stuff,” she told PTI in Joshua and Pulev reschedule title fight for December 12 Former’s WBA, IBF, and WBO titles will be on the line weight belts go up in the air and it is my sole focus to make sure that come Dec. 13 they are in their rightful place in the U.K. “I respect every opponent and I respect Pulev. I wish him well during his preparation.” Joshua and Pulev have on­ ly one professional loss each — Joshua to Andy Ruiz last year and Pulev to Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Associated Press LONDON Anthony Joshua will defend his World heavyweight box­ ing titles for the first time this year when it was con­ firmed he will face Kubrat Pulev here on December 12. Joshua was first sche­ duled to meet Pulev in Oc­ tober 2017 in Cardiff but the Bulgarian withdrew with an injured shoulder. Pulev won six straight fights to become a mandato­ ry challenger, but their June 20 bout was postponed be­ cause of COVID­19. Joshua’s WBA, IBF, and WBO titles will be on the line in his first home fight in more than two years, his promotion company Match­ room announced on Friday. Spectators? No spectators have been al­ lowed at boxing in England during the pandemic, but CM YK Anthony Joshua. * FILE PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Matchroom said it will try to make a case for a limited live crowd at the O2 Arena. “Without the fans so­ mething huge is missing,” Joshua said. “I am really hoping that, safety permitting, we might be able to bring some boxing fans in. Dec. 12 is the date and once again the heavy­ a country like India. “There’s 800 million peo­ ple living below the poverty line, but cricket gives them something to connect with. “It’s a sport that doesn’t take a lot of money. I mean, I often say about cricket, all you need is a bat and ball.” In a country that loves the game so much, it was diffi­ cult for one of Australia’s most well­known cricketers to go unrecognised, as he went from one place to another. “I don’t think I’ve met a person in India that doesn’t know [I] play cricket,” Waugh said. Bala Devi hopes to live up to expectations New Delhi SHOOTING memories, but life­changing moments,” Waugh said. “The concept of this book was to try and find out why cricket is a religion in India.” Over 18 days and with a camera in hand, Waugh toured across the country, from the streets of Mumbai and Jodhpur, the alleys of Kolkata to the desert in Ra­ jasthan and the Himalayan foothills. A documentary of his trip, titled Capturing Cricket, will be aired on the ABC on No­ vember 17. Speaking of cricket in the country, he was quoted as saying, “It’s hard to overstate the importance of cricket to Great accomplishment “For a small country like Bulgaria to stand up for the heavyweight titles is a great accomplishment,” Pulev said. “This fight is for my late father and all Bulgarians around the world.” Joshua will be aiming to put away Pulev and set up a title unification bout against WBC champion Tyson Fury in an all­British blockbuster next year. Bala Devi. * FILE PHOTO: K. MURALI KUMAR an interview from Glasgow. “I like the training style, our head coach is very clear while giving instructions and I have learnt a lot in these few months here. “I am fully fit physically and in best frame of mind. So, I am raring to go,” said the 30­year­old forward, who is the first Indian to join Fast­paced The trailblazing Indian said her experience of playing in­ ternational football for so long has helped her adjust to the condition and playing style in Rangers, which is fast­paced and high tempo. “It is very intensive while training as well as during ac­ tual match. It is fast­paced and always running on and off the ball. “So, you have to be ex­ tremely fit. I think I have adapted to the system. “I am not facing any pro­ blem. My experience of play­ ing for India for 15 years has helped me doing all these. Things are going on well here for me. And I hope to do my best here so that ma­ ny a talented players in India follow me in the coming years.” Instil confidence “I want to make India proud, hopefully perform well here to instil confidence to those talented girls back home that they can play outside the country. They should not stop dreaming about playing abroad.” The Manipuri player from Irengbam, a small village in Bishnupur district, said it is a matter of time before more Indian women start playing abroad. “There are many talented players in the country and I feel in the next two­three years, they will start coming out of India to play football. That will change the wo­ men’s game in the country.” “We are 55th in the world (in FIFA ranking) and that is not bad. We can improve further in the next few years.” Captain’s call: Eoin Morgan wants the KKR top­order to rise to the occasion. BCCI/IPL * Morgan hoped for a smooth transition in leader­ ship from Dinesh Karthik. “It took a lot of courage and selflessness from DK… with­ in our group we have a num­ ber of leaders that we will need throughout this competition.” Morgan said Pat Cum­ mins’ focus on golf had im­ proved his batting. “…he is hitting the golf ball really well,” said Morgan. East Bengal signs up Anthony Pilkington Amitabha Das Sharma KOLKATA East Bengal announced the signing of Republic of Ire­ land midfielder Anthony Pil­ kington and Welsh striker Aaron Joshua Amadi­Hollo­ way in the squad for the up­ coming Indian Super League season. Defender Scott Neville was the first fo­ reign signing previously an­ nounced by East Bengal. Pilkington joins the ISL debutant having played in England all along with more than 400 games under his belt. Aaron Amadi­Holloway joins the side from A­League side Brisbane Roar. The 27­year­old striker featured in 23 matches last season. PTI reports Boumos for Mumbai City Meanwhile, Mumbai City FC on Saturday announced the signing of French­Moroccan midfielder Hugo Boumous from FC Goa. The attacking mid­fielder joins on a contract that will keep him at the club until 2022. AFI elections on Oct. 31 Press Trust of India New Delhi Athletics Federation of In­ dia (AFI) will elect its office bearers during the “in per­ son” Annual General Body Meeting on October 31. The elections were due to be held in April but were postponed due to the CO­ VID­19 pandemic. The AFI had in May de­ ferred its elections and ex­ tended the term of its of­ fice bearers during a Special General Meeting, held online. At that time, the federa­ tion had said that elections can only be held “in per­ son” and not online. The elections for the term of 2020­24 will be held on the first day of the AGM which will conclude on November 1. Filing of nominations can be done from October 18 till October 21 and the fi­ nal list of the contesting candidates will be an­ nounced on October 23. Incumbent president Adille Sumariwalla is ex­ pected to run for his third consecutive term while the federation is set to elect a new secretary this time. Current secretary C.K. Valson has taken up a post in the Asian Athletics Asso­ ciation. Jai Wadhwa posts win Jai Wadhwa beat Krishnan 43­18, 54­25, 18­41, 20­32, 52­4 in the Delhi State 6­Red snooker champion­ ship. NEW DELHI: The results: Vicky Rajput bt K. Parasher 49­18, 37­29, 28­25. Sunil Kumar bt Gopesh 48­0, 30­21, 50­0. Arpit Seth bt Digant Tiwari 47­15, 39­5, 27­32, 49­17. Parmod Kumar bt Ishmeet Singh 31­8, 38­37, 2­31, 28­20. Jai Wadhwa bt Krishnan 43­ 18, 54­25, 18­41, 20­32, 52­4. Sandeep Solanki bt Rajan Singh 16­34, 27­16, 32­27, 49­8. Fine­tuning our game will make us better: Nilakanta Sharma ‘We have identified a few areas that we need to in the upcoming months’ HOCKEY Press Trust of India New Delhi Fine­tuning a few aspects of the Indian men hockey team’s game will make a big difference at the Olympics, reckons midfielder Nilakan­ ta Sharma. The Indian team has done well against top teams in the FIH Hockey Pro League, but Nilakanta feels that there is still room for improvement. Lot of confidence “Playing well against the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia at the FIH Hockey Pro League has certainly gi­ ven us a lot of confidence in our abilities,” said Nilakan­ ta, who has played over 50 matches for the national side. “However, we have iden­ tified a few areas that we need to fine­tune in the up­ coming months. Sometimes small changes make a big have become a < > We much closer unit in the last few months since we have spent a lot of time together at SAI campus. This could have a major impact on our coordination on the pitch difference to the way a team performs and we are look­ ing to make those small changes to our game. “If we fine­tune our game properly, we will certainly be a much better unit at the Olympics,” he added. Tricky period Asked how he felt about his game, Nilakanta said, “This is a tricky period for us. We have to be very careful. We shouldn’t push too hard and neither should we take it too easy as well. “Personally, I am happy with the way I am moving forward with my game eve­ ryday. We are taking small steps at the moment. There’s still a lot of time to go for the Olympics,” he added. The 25­year­old said that since the team has spent so much time together at the SAI campus in Bengaluru in the last few months, the coordination between the players on the pitch could improve. Great understanding “In sport, it’s not only about having a great understand­ ing on the pitch but off the pitch relations between players also have a huge im­ pact on performances,” Ni­ lakanta said. “We have become a much closer unit in the last few months since we have spent a lot of time together at SAI campus. This could have a major impact on our coordi­ nation on the pitch,” he ad­ ded. Take on tweaks: Small changes make a big difference to team performances, says Nilakanta Sharma. FILE PHOTO: K. 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