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

TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

New Delhi

2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

Executive Engineer Jal Shakti DepartmentFBI Division TangmargNOTICE INVITING TENDER

e-NIT No.08 OF 2022-23 Dated:-25-04-2022

JJM

For and on behalf of Lt. Governor of UT of J&K, Executive Engineer Jal Shakti (FBI)Division Tangmarg invites e-tenders from reputed and resourceful Bidders/Firms/Companies/ of all classes registered in JKPWD/CPWD/Railways or any otherstate Government for below mentioned works at various Water Supply schemes of FBIDivision Tangmarg of Kashmir Province of UT of J&K, under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).The bidding process shall be completed online on www.jktenders.gov.in in two cov-ers viz. Cover 1st consisting of General Terms and Conditions and TechnicalSpecifications and Cover 2nd consisting of Financial Bid on overall percentage ratebasis, in the prescribed BOQ.

i Publish Date 25-04-2022 at

ii Document Download Start Date 25-04-2022 at

iii Clarification Start date 26-04-2022 from 10: AM

iv Clarification End date 27-04-2022 up to 6: P.M

i v Bid submission Start date 28-04-2022 from 10: AM

V Bid submission End date 10-05-2022 at 4:00 P.M.

vi Date of Bid opening 11-05-2022 at 4:00 P.M.

Position of funds: Approved Under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM)

The tender inviting authority is Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti (FBI) DivisionTangmarg .

The awarding authority is District Jal Jeevan Mission (DJJM)

Critical Dates:

1. Bid documents can be accessed and downloaded from the websitewww.jktenders.gov.in

2. The whole bidding process shall be completed online on tender portalwww.jktenders.gov.in. The intending bidders can download the bid docu-ment from the tender portal and can submit their bids by uploading themon the tender portal.

Sd/-Executive Engineer

Jal Shakti DepartmentFBI Division Tangmarg

S. Particular of the work Estimated Tender Earnest Bid Time ofNo Cost in fee money Validity Completion

(Lacs) (in Rs) Deposit Period Of work(days)

1 500/- 02% of the 90estimated days

cost

➢ Laying & Fitting ofDelivery and DistributionMains consisting ofGMS Tubes and DuctileIron Pipes of differentNominal Bores alongwith pipe fittings andcontrol valves.

➢ Construction of GroundService Reservoirs(GSRs), Slow SandFiltration Plants.

➢ Execution of ancillarycivil works like SpringCovers, Boundary walls,Protection Works etc.

at various Water Supplyschemes of FBI DivisionTangmarg of KashmirProvince of UT of J&K,under Jal JeevanMission (JJM)

As perANNEXURE-I

to this biddocument.

As perANNEXURE-I

to this biddocument.

No: FBID/CC/564-74Date:25/04/2022DIPK-1423

e-Tender noTice

Date : 03.05.2022Place : Mumbai

Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation Limited (MMMOCL) invites Open e-Tendersfrom eligible Bidders for the following work:

Sd/-Director (Maintenance)

MMMOCL Fulrani

4th Floor, NaMTTRI Building, Adjoining New MMRDA Building, Bandra-Kurla Complex,Bandra (E), Mumbai – 400 051. E-mail:sushil.chandra@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in

Website :https://mmrda.maharashtra.gov.in

Tenderers are requested to note that tender is being invited through e-procurement. Tenderdocuments can be obtained online from MMRDA e-Tendering Portal : https://etendermmrda.maharashtra.gov.in. For detailed information and subsequent Addendum/ Corrigendum(if any), please log on to above e-Tendering Portal.For any additional information & help for uploading & downloading the e-Tender, please contactMMRDA’s e-tendering service desk at the following e-mail address:etendersupport@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in or call on 022-26597445.In case of any query/ clarifications, tenderers are requested to contact Shri. Sushil Chandra,Director (Maintenance) at his Email:sushil.chandra@mailmmrda.maharashtra.gov.in

Support Services for Propulsion System and Train Control Management System (Hitachimake) provided on Train Sets supplied by M/s BEML for operation on Mumbai Metro Lines2A& 7, for a period of three years.Estimated Cost Rs. 11.68 CroreCompletion period of Work Three YearsCost of Tender Document Interested bidders have to make online payment of INR 5900/-

(inclusive of all taxes) non-refundable as Tender ProcessingFee, using online payment gateway during bid preparation usingDebit Card/ Credit Card/Net banking for the contract package.

Sale of Tender Document From 03.05.2022 (at 18.01 hours) to 08.06.2022 (up to18.00 hours) on e-tendering portalhttps://etendermmrda.maharashtra.gov.in for above work.

Last Date & Time ofSubmission 08.06.2022 up to 18.00 hours.

Date & Time of Opening ofEnvelop A & B 10.06.2022 at 15.01 hours.

Maha MuMbai MeTro operaTioncorporaTion LTd

(A Government of Maharashtra PSU)

GOVERNMENT OF ASSAMOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER, PWD :BUILDING: ASSAM

CHANDMARI : GUWAHATI-3No. CE/TB-VI/42/2022/02

PRESS NOTICEThe Spl. Chief Engineer, P.W.D. Building (Health & Education), Assam, Chandmari,Guwahati-3 on behalf of the Governor of Assam, invites bids through Engineering,Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode-III of contract (Single stage two-part biddingsystem) for the works detailed in the table below, from APWD registered Class-I(A)contractors having experience in similar nature of work. Details of the bid may be seenat e-procurement website i.e. www.assamtenders.gov.in The bidders must be enrolledwith e-tendering web-portal www.assamtenders.gov.in

The Bid price may vary at the time of detail tendering, for which no claim will beadmissible. All terms and conditions will be as per the Bidding Documents.The PressNotice will be a part of the Bidding Documents.The Work will be Allotted only after receiving Government approval.

Spl. Chief Engineer, PWD, (Building) ,Health & Education

Janasanyog/C/1572/22 Assam, Chandmari, Guwahati-3

SI.No.

Name of work Bid Value

1 “Construction of Birangana Sati Sadhini State University atGolaghat, Assam” under NIDA

Rs. 4679.84 Lakh

DELHI JAL BOARD : GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE ADDITIONAL CHIEF ENGINEER (P)-9

THROUGH DY. S. E. (PROJ.) W - VICHANDRAWAL WW-II, CIVIL LINES, DELHI-110054

PH : 011-23814133, E-mail: eepw6.djb@nic.inShort N.I.T. No. 03 (2022-23)

Tender ID : 2022_DJB_221388_1Name of Work Estimated

Cost (Rs.)EarnestMoney

(Rs.)

Tenderfee (Rs.)

Date of release oftender in

e-procurement solution

Last date/ time of receiptof tender through

e-procurement solution

Installation of Tube wells for augmentation of water supplythrough extraction of ground water, construction of tube wellrooms and laying water lines network in Okhla WTP complex.

5,31,000/- 1500/- 02.05.20229:30 AM onward

11.05.2022upto 3:00 PMCivil Work 1,68,29,514/-

E&M Work 97,18,554/-

Total 2,65,48,068/-

The complete details can be seen on website https://govtprocurement.dehi.gov.in. The tender has been uploaded on website.

ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)Advt. No. J.S.V. 74 (2022-23)

STOP CORONA; Wear Mask, Follow PhysicalDistancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene

Sd/- (S. P. Singh)Dy. S.E. (Project) W-VI

9650291594

Press Tender/ Short Notice Tender No. 7/EE(T) M-10/2022-23S.

No.Name of work Reserve

priceDate of release of

tender ine- procurement solution

Last date and time fordownload & RTGS through

e-procurement solution1. Improvement of sewerage systeme of Sarai Kale

Khan Village by re-grading of 600mm dia sewer linefrom Mussadi Chowk behind ISBT upto BarapullahDrain under EE(M)-41 (AC-41 Jangpura)

56,04,806/- 2022_DJB_ 221373_129.04.2022

10.05.2022upto 2.00 PM

Further details in this regard can be seen at https://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.in

ISSUED BY P.R.O (WATER)Advt. No. J.S.V. 75 (2022-23)

Sd/- (B.N. Gupta)EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (T)M-10

STOP CORONA: “Wear Mask, Follow Physical Distancing, Maintain Hand Hygiene”

DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE ADDL. CHIEF ENGINEER(M)-10

ENGINEERS BHAWAN IInd FLOOR, ANDREWS GANJ,NEAR MOOL CHAND CROSSING, NEW DELHI- 110049

SHORT TERM E-TENDER NOTICE Short term E-tender isinvited for supply of 25,000 nos. Meter Sealing Certificate Bookagainst tender specification no. PVVNL-MT/COM/03(s)/22-23.EMD is Rs. 62,500 the tender is to be submitted by 14:00 hrs of17.05.2022 and the Part-I of tender shall be opened after 14:30hrs of the same date. In case of amendment in NIT or extensionin opening date, information will be published on e-tenderwebsite www.etender.up.nic.in and on www.pvvnl.org Sd/-Superintending Engineer (Commercial) For ManagingDirector “SAVE ELECTRICITY IN THE INTEREST OF THENATION” Help line Number for Information of Theft of Electricity:“1800-180-3002 (Meerut) & 1800-180-8752 (Lucknow)” ´fÂffaI :4393/02.5.2022

Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.,Victoria Park, Meerut

Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Heavy Water Plant (Kota)e-Tender invitation notice no.- HWPK/CIVIL/2022/406Online item rate tenders are invited through e-Tendering mode for “Grass cutting, uprooting ofrank vegetation/wild growth and trimming of trees etc at HWPK Plant Site for two years” byGeneral Manager, Heavy Water Plant (Kota), Post: Anushakti 323303, Via- Kota (Rajasthan) for andOn behalf of the President of India, from approved, eligible and experienced contractors. Estimatedcost of work: Rs. 31,79,510/-, EMD. Rs. 63,590/-, Work Completion Time 24 Months.

Tender document can be viewed/downloaded from 04.05.2022 (10:00 hrs) to 11.05.2022(14:30 hrs). The last date for online submission of tender is 11.05.2022 (14:30 hrs). Thetechnical bids will be opened on 13.05.2022 at 15:00 hrs.

The detailed NIT and Tender Documents are available on the websitehttps://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app for free to view/download. The detailed NIT can beseen at website www.hwb.gov.in For further information please contact Telephone no.01475-242201/242231/242225, fax- 01475-242203 on all working days.

General ManagerFor & on behalf of President of India

New Delhi

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

TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMJOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

New Delhi

CLASSIFIEDS&TENDERS4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

E-TENDER PRESS NOTICEThe EXECUTIVE ENGINEER, CD-XIII, I&FC Department Govt. of Delhi, on behalf of the President of India,invites Online Percentage rate tender from the approved and eligible contractors registered with IRRIGATIONAND FLOOD CONTROL DEPARTMENT. The contractors who are registered with other department and now gottheir registrations verified from l&FCDeptt. are eligible to participate in Tender process for the work:-1. NIT No. E.E/CD-13/Acs/2022-23/01 (ID No. 2022_IFC_220949_1) Major Head of Account 4217(Unauthorized

Colonies) Name of Work: Improvement and Reconstruction of Internal Streets and Side Drains of G-III, SaiEnclave, Part-III, Mohan Garden in Vikaspuri Constituency AC-31 (Regd. No.1080). Estimated Cost (in Rs.)50,78,849/- Earnest Money (in Rs.) 1,01,577/- Time allowed 90 Days. Last date & time of receiving & openingof tender through E-Procurement System 09-05-2022 on 03.00 Hrs & 03.05 Hrs respectively.

2. NIT No. E.E/CD-13/Acs/2022-23/03 (ID No. 2022_IFC_220963_1) Major Head of Account 2711(Revenue)Name of Work: Deployment of Hydraulic machine with 15.50m long boom along the length of B.C. Drain oneither bank in between RD 0m to 8550m as per direction of Engineer In Charge and as per requirement forremoval of silt from the bed of B.C. Drain. Estimated Cost (in Rs.) 11,05,124/- Earnest Money (in Rs.) 22,102/-Time allowed 60 Days. Last date & time of receiving & opening of tender through E-Procurement System09.05.2022 on 03.00 Hrs & 03.05 Hrs respectively.

3. NIT No. E.E/CD-13/Acs/2022-23/07 (ID No. 2022_IFC_221243_1) Major Head of Account 4217(UnauthorizedColonies) Name of Work Improvement and Reconstruction of Internal streets and Side drains of Vikas NagarHastsal Village S-Block, Phase-II Uttam Nagar in Vikaspuri Constituency AC-31. (Regd No. 1215). EstimatedCost (in Rs.) 48,55,059/- Earnest Money (in Rs.) 97,101/- Time allowed 90 Days. Last date & time of receiving& opening of tender through E-Procurement System 09-05-2022 on 03.00 Hrs & 03.05 Hrs respectively.

Note :-1) Details of above mentioned works & eligibility criteria can be seen and downloaded from the web site

https://govteprocurement.delhi.gov.in2) Amendment(s)/alteration(s)/corrigendum if any, will be availableat website only.3) EMD in the form of Bankers Cheque/DD/Fixed Deposit receipt in F/o EE/CD-XIII, l&FC Deptt Shall be scanned

and uploaded to the e-tender website within the period of bid submission.The original EMD should bedeposited in the office of EE/CD-XIII, l&FC Deptt. within the period of bid submission.

Sd/-DIP/SHABDARTH/0072/22-23 EXECUTIVE ENGINEER CD. XIII.

SALUTE THE SOLDIERMartyr on 03rd MAY

On 03 May 2008 No 9421082H Late Nk ZilaPrasad Tamang of 7/11 GR had made thesupreme sacrifice during OP FALCON (ArunachalPradesh) in May 2008

Colonel 11 GR & SikkimScouts and All Ranks

Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPUR

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No.NIT/2022-23/2872-81 Date: 02.05.2022

IYf¹fÊ IYf d½f½fSX¯f A³fb̧ ffd³f°f »ff¦f°f (÷Y.)

Construction of Two No. Toll Plaza Building and PQC on Chomu-Renwal-Jobner-Mahla Road.

UBN: RRC2223WSOB00105405.00 Lakh

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PPEERRSSOONNAALL

Classifieds II,,KKrriisshhaannKumar S/o-HariChandBhasinR/o- 383, SainikVihar PitampuraDelhi-110034have changedmyname toKrishanKumarBhasin for allpurposes. 0040612197-6

II,,KKaannwwaarr Ranbir Singh,S/o-Balbir Singh,R/o-TPVP-PV-PV61,ThePalmSprings-GolfCourse-Road,Sector-54,Gurugram,(Haryana)-122001,have changedmyMinor Son’s name,fromShahbazSingh Libra toShahbazSingh.

0040612145-10

II,,JJaaggddiisshhChanderAttriS/O,RamGopal R/O.HNO.RZ-652A, Street.No.3 Raj-NagarPart-1,PalamColony,NewDelhi-110045,HaveChangedMyName JAGDISHCHANDER,for all purposes.

0040612145-1

II,,JJAASSMMEEEETTKAURW/OPRAKASHMISHRAR/OT-85,3rd-FLOOR,INDRACOLONY,NARELA,DELHI-110040.CHANGEDMYNAMETOJASMEETKAURMISHRA.

0040612162-6

II,,HHaarrmmeeeett Kaur Sran,W/oKanwarRanbir Singh,R/oTPVP-PV-PV61,ThePalmSpringsGolf-CourseRoad,Sector-54,Gurugram(Haryana)-122001,have changedmyname toHarmeetKaur.

0040612145-9

II,,DDiinneesshh S/OShri RamChanderGupta,R/O-A-76, NewA-Block,ShahabadDairy,ShahabadDaulatpur,Delhi-110042, have changedmyname toDineshPrasadGupta.

0040612197-3

II,,DDiinneesshhKumar S/o-Ranbir BalVerma, R/o.Flat.No.32-A,Sector-7,Pocket-2, Dwarka,NewDelhi-110075,havechangedmyname toDineshVerma,for all purposes.

0040612197-1

II,,BBaabbyyBarbeeD/oPradeepSaxenaR/o-B-2/156,YamunaVihar,Delhi-110053,HaveChangedMyNameToPriyaSaxena,ForAll Purposes.

0040612162-9

II,,AArrtthhii RanaW/O-SaurabhKadyan,R/OB-2/1, Paschim-Vihar, Delhi-110063, HaveChangedmyName toAartiKadyan. 0040612145-7

II,,MMaallkkeeeett SinghS/oShankerSingh,R/o 6/23,FF,West PatelNagar,Delhi ChangedName toMalkit Singh.

0040612147-4

AAII,,AAnniill KumarGoel S/o IshwarDayal Goel R/o-33,Vasudha,Apartments,Sector-9 Rohini Delhi-110085,informthatmynameAnil KumarGoelandAnil KumarGoyal issame,person. 0040612171-4

II,,AAjjaayyKumarPanesar S/oAarnekPal Panesar R/oD-28,GujranwalaApartments,Vikaspuri,Delhi,have changedmyson’s nameVanshPanesartoVanshAjayPanesar.

0040612147-3

I,AKGUPTA,S/OKANWARBHANGUPTA,R/o FLAT.NO.1204,JM-ROYALPARK, RAMPRASTHAGREENS,SECTOR9,VAISHALI,GHAZIABAD,U.P.201010, changedmyname toASHOKGUPTA. 0040612173-4

I, Veeru Kaur, W/o Jaswant Singh,R/o-65, Ismail Pur Road, Jaitpur,Badarpur, Delhi-110044, havechanged my name to Veero Kaur.

0070783498-1

II,, UdhamSingh s/oPiara Singhr/oH-61, NarainaVihar, NewDelhi-110028have changedmynameandshall hereafter beknownasUdhamSinghUbhis/oPiara SinghUbhi.

0040612129-1

II,, SatishKumar, S/oChanderBhan, R/o-970A, Gali-No-8,GovindPuri, Kalkaji, N. Delhi-110019, have changedmyname toSatishKumarNasa.

0070783502-1

II,, SaritaW/oRakeshKumarKauraR/oB-237, DDAFlats,Kalkaji,Delhi-110019,have changedmyname toSaritaRani for all purposes.

0040612147-9

II,, Sanjog D/o-HarmanpreetSinghR/o. Flat.No.903, Tower T-2 TATA-Primanti,Sector-72,Gurgaon(Haryana)-122101,have changedmyname toSanjogSandhu.

0040612145-11

II,, RakeshKumar, S/oKrishanLal Bhola, R/oBE-323, Street-4,Hari Nagar, Delhi-110064havechangedmyname toRAKESHKUMARBHOLA 0040611978-2

II,, RajwantKaur LambaD/oChananSinghSandhuR/oC-3/62A, KeshavPuram,Delhi-110035, have changedmyname toRAJWANTKAUR for allfuturepurposes. 0070783493-1

II,, Rajkumar SinghS/O, PuranSinghRanaR/oVill- Jhankat,Nanakmatta, UdhamSinghNagarUttarakhand-262311has changedmyname fromRaj Kumar Singh toRaj KumarRana since 2004 for allpurposes. 0040612183-1

II VINAYSINGHR/OB-70FLORENCEMARVEL, SUSHANTLOK-3, SEC.-57, GURUGRAM,HARYANA-122003 F/OGURISSHAANGELSINGH (DOB-28-10-2009). LIKETOCLARIFYTHATGURISSHAANGELSINGH&GURISHAANGELSINGH IS SAME.HENCESHOULDBEKNOWNASGURISSHAANGELSINGHFORALL FUTUREPURPOSES.

0040612144-1

II,, Rajbir, S/oNihal Singh, R/oWardNo-20, Gali No-1, HariNagar, Narwana, Jind,Haryana-126116, havechangedmyname toRajbirSingh. 0070783491-1

II,, Raj Kumar S/oSant Lal GargR/o 121-122, Pocket-3, Sector-24, Rohini, Delhi-110085, havechangedmyname toRajKumarGarg. 0040612153-1

II,, REMYAMURALEEDHARANW/O-RAJESHRAJANACHARIR/O-H.NO-718 THIRD-FLOORSUNLIGHTCOLONY-2,ASHRAM,DELHI-110014,changedmyname toREMYAMURALI. 0040612147-7

II,, Prity Chopra,W/oAmarjeetSingh, R/oGali-No-8, AshokNagarGurudwara, Karnal(Rural)-132001, have changedmyname toPreet Kaur.

0070783499-1

II,, NARESHKUMARSINGH, S/OTULSI SINGH, R/O999/8, 3rd-FLOOR, GALINO.8,GOVINDPURI, KALKAJI, DELHI-110019. CHANGEDMYNAMETONARESHSINGH

0040612147-2

II,, Kala,W/oSatishKumar, R/o-970A,Gali-No-8, GovindPuri,Kalkaji, N. Delhi-110019, havechangedmyname toChanderKala. 0070783500-1

II,,MohammedNavedVakilShaikh, S/oRais KhanPathan,R/oB-1/701, NavNamitaParkCHS, BHDLodhaComplex,MiraRoad-E, Thane,Maharashtra -401107, havechangedmyname toNavedRaisKhanPathan.

0070783513-1

II,,ManishaDabralMalkoti,W/oShriMayurMalkoti, R/oA-31,OrdinanceAptt, H-Block, VikasPuri, NewDelhi-110018havewronglywrittenmynameasManishaMalkoti inCBSErecordsofmyminor daughterMedhaviniMalkoti.Myactualname isManishaDabralMalkoti,whichmaybeamendedaccordingly.

0040612142-1

II,,MahenderKaurW/oS.Parminder SinghR/oH.No.1162, Near PreetHospital,HarnamNagar,Model Town,Ludhiana, Punjab- 141002 Indiahave changedmyname fromMahenderKaur toManjit Kaurfor all futurepurpose.

0040612134-1

II,,Mahander Pal S/oOmParkashGoel R/o-269/2, GaliNo.6,AggarwalColony,Bahadurgarh,Jhajjar,have changedmyname toMohinder Pal Goel.

0040612145-3

II,,MOHIT, S/O.NARESHKUMAR,ADD-A-17,BLOCK-A,PARWANAROAD, JITAR-NAGARKRISHNANAGAR, EASTDELHI-110051,changedmyname toMOHITANAND, Permanently.

0040612173-2

II,,MARIABHAT,W/OSHAFIBUTT,R/OB-6, OKHLA-VIHAR,FIRST-FLOOR, JAMIA-NAGAR,DELHI-110025 IHaveChangedMyName,fromMARIABUTTTOMARIABHAT.

0040612147-1

I, LaxmiChauhanD/o JagramSingh R/oA-6, PushpanjaliFarmHouse, BijwasanDelhi-110061have changed mynameto LakshmiChauhan for allpurposes. 0040612128-1

II,, KamleshBahukhandiW/oSh.YatishChandraBahukhandiR/oC-87, NSGSociety, GreaterNoida, Distt. G.B. Nagar, U.P.-201310have changedmynamefromKamalaBahukhandi toKamleshBahukhandi for allfuturepurposes.

0040612146-1

II,, Jagdish Joshi S/o SrinivasJoshi R/oB1/48, SewakParkExtension, UttamNagar, NewDelhi- 110059, inform thatJagdish Joshi& JagdishS Joshiboth areone& the sameperson. 0040612192-1

I ZainabKhatoonD/oRichardSmolyaninovR/oHouseNo.211,Bankauli Village, NorthWestDelhi, Delhi-110036 havechangedmyname toSmolyaninova Inessa for allpurposes. 0040612130-3

CCOOUURRTTNNOOTTIICCEE

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PUBLIC NOTICEThis information for the General Public,that my client Mrs. SHIRI alias SHEERJAHAN W/O LATE SH. BUNIYAD ALIR/o T-49 HUTS SAYED PEER GALINo.-3, LAXMI NAGAR, DELHI-110092have disowned and disinherited her sonnamely SH. IKRAR ALI S/O LATE SH.BUNIYAD ALI from all his movable &immovable properties acquired or to beacquired and have also served all hisrelations from him due to him crue actsand disowbedient behavior as he is outof control and my client shall not beresponsible for any act and conductdone by him.

Sd/- Sandeep Kumar Gupta(Advocate)

Ch. No. 572, Patiala House Courts,New Delhi-110001

PUBLIC NOTICEMy client, Smt. Renu Mathur W/O Late Sh.Raj Bahadur Mathur R/O 1024, Type II, LaxmiBai Nagar, New Delhi-110023, has severedall connection with her son Sh. SharadMathur and his wife Smt. Rani Kumari as theyare living separately and are out of her controland bringing dis-repute to the family. My clienthas debarred her son Sh. Sharad Mathur andhis wife Smt. Rani Kumari from all of hermovable and immovable properties and fromher life. Henceforth my client is notresponsible for any deed done by Sh. SharadMathur and his wife Smt. Rani Kumari.Anyone dealing with them will deal at one'srisk and expenses.

Sd/-REENA RATHEE

AdvocateEnrl. No. D/7884/2020

Off. A1/159/160, Sector 11, Rohini,Delhi-85

LLOOSSTToriginal share certificateofD-25, AirlinersCGHSLtd,sector-10, plotNo-27, Dwarka,NewDelhi. Contact SushmaJaisinghW/OL.D. Jaisingh8505920782. 0070783447-1

II,, ShakuntalaRawatW/oRadharamanRawatR/oC- 3/4,ManglaApartment, 53, I PExtension, Patparganj, Delhi -110092have lostmyoriginalshare certificate of abovementionedproperty issuedbyHanumanManglaCGHSLTD infavour of shakuntala rawat.Finder please contact -9829011897. 0070783448-1

II TekchandR/o 16/454BapaNagarHardhyanSinghRoadKarol BaghNewDelhi 110005have changedmyminor’sdaughter nameYashikaMoriyatoYashikaMourya

0040612137-1

II SwedeshKumar S/oVipatSinghBhati R/o 61, ShivMandirBisrakh JalalpurGautamBudhNagar U.P, have changemynameSwedeshKumar toSwadeshBhati for all Purposes

0070783495-1

II SureshKumar S/o Faqir ChandSaluja R/o 12/67A, 2NDFLOOR,BLOCK-12, TILAKNAGAR,NEARCOMMUNITYCENTERDELHI PIN110018 have changedmynametoSureshKumar Saluja

0040612186-1

II PremSinghS/O, Shiv BachanSinghR/oB-1801, GardeniaSquare, CrossingRepublik,Ghaziabad, U.P.-201016havechangedmyname toPremChandSingh for all purposes

0040612139-1

II PoonamAhujaD/oSurinderKumarAhujaR/o-2/36Geetacolony, Delhi-110031,HaveChangedMyNameToPoonam.

0040612162-7

II ParbhatChander S/oHari PadaSarkarR/o-663,RajivNagar, DLFArea,Faridabad,have changedmyname toPrabhatChandraSarkar. 0040612145-5

II No. 15787464KNareshKumarUnit 131ADREGTC/o 56APO Inmyservices recordmywifeDOBWronglymentionas 02-11-1985. her correctDOB is 21-06-1986 0040612140-1

IIMukesh S/oSukhbir Singh. R/OHouseNumberD-25, SainiMarket, Ajronda, Sector 15A,FaridabadHaryana 121007changemyname toMukeshSaini. 0070783442-1

II Lalita SharmaW/oKamalSharmaR/o 438/347, SulemSarai, Allahabad,Gayasddinpur, Uprhar,Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh-211011, have changedmynameto Lata Sharma 0070783514-1

II Harpreet SinghKhanguraS/O,Kamaljeet SinghR/oB606, PmoApartment, Sector 62, Noida,Up (201301) havechangedmyname toHarpreet Singh for allpurposes. 0040612185-1

II Balvir Dhillon S/O,Gopal SinghR/oA-581, Shastri Nagar, Delhi-110052have changedmynametoBalbir SinghDhillon for allpurposes. 0040612138-1

II AnjanKumar JhaR/o 471, GuruRamdasNagar, LaxmiNagar,Delhi-110092have changedmyminor son’s name fromKumarDevanshToRudraneal Jha forall futurepurposes

0040612141-1

II Ajay S/O, Raj KumarR/oH.no535/5 1st Floor, Patel Nagar,Gurgaon,Haryanahavechangedmyname toAjayKumar for all purposes.

0040612190-1

I,ShubhamS/o. 2892791NHavAnil KumarR/oH/No.C-.29,AmarColonyKamrudinNagar,Nilothi, Delhi,-41,havechangedmyname toShubhamkumar. 0040612173-6

I,Sahil S/o.2892791NHavAnilKumarR/oH/No.C-.29,AmarColonyKamrudinNagar,Nilothi, Delhi-41,havechangedmyname toSahilkumar. 0040612173-7

I,RekhaD/o-Ranbir Singh,W/oAmit Kumar,R/oRZ-179,Roshan-Garden,Najafgarh,SouthWest-Delhi-110043,have changedmynameto RekhaAmit Kumar,for allpurposes. 0040612145-8

I,MAHENDERSINGH,S/OSOHANPAL, ADD-NEAR JAMAMASJIDVILLAGE ,AZIZABADPALWALHARYANA-121105, Changedmyname toMAHENDER,permanently. 0040612145-2

I,Jagmohan Jit SinghKawatra,S/oRawel SinghKawatra,R/o-150,RajaGarden,NewDelhi-110015,havechangedmyname toJagmohan Jit Singh.

0040612162-2

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasPREMKAURalias BABLI,D/o-SHERSINGH,W/o-VIRENDERSINGH,residingat,baliana,(58),Rohtak, Haryana-124401,have changedmynameandshall hereafter be knownasBABLI. 0040612147-8

II,,hhiitthheerrttoo knownasDeepanshialiasDeepanshiGahlotD/OShri BhagwanDassR/oH.NO.-726, Type-IV, LaxmiBaiNagar,NewDelhi-110023havechangedmynameandshallhereafter beknownasDeepanshiGahlot.

0040612197-10

II,,WWAAMMIIKKAASUNDAW/O-ABHISHEKMATHURR/O-H.NO-3,AMALTAS-AVENUEWESTENDGREENRAJOKARI,DELHI-110038, changedmyname toWAMIKAMATHUR.

0040612147-5

I, GurdeepSinghS/o JawaharSinghR/o Flat.No.3.Tower-5,Floor,No.10,SunshineCountySector-63,Kundli,Sonipat,Haryana-131028,have changedmyname toGurdeepSinghChawla. 0040612171-2

II,, BhavnaNegi,W/oAmitNegi,R/o-NU-1C, Pitampura, Delhi-110034, have changedmyname toBhavnaSingh for allpurposes. 0070783503-1

II,,SSuusshhmmaa LagwalW/o-NarinderSinghR/o-3/31,SehdavGali,60Feet Road,Vishwas-Nagar, North East-Delhi-110032,Declare ThatMyActual-DOB Is 03-03-1977AsPerAadharNo.343490523525

0040612162-8

II,,SSuummiittaa SinghW/O-GurtejSinghR/OWZ-9/1,S/FGali No-5, KrishnaNagar,TilakNagar,New-Delhi-110018, HaveChangedmyName toSumita

0040612145-6

II,,SSuummaanntt Bhanot parent ofSaatvika,R/o Flat.No.1205,Tower-3, RPSSavanaSector-88,Faridabad,have changedmydaughter’s name toSaatvikaBhanot. 0040612145-4

II,,SShhuubbhhaammChandraDumka, S/oHarishChandraDumka,R/o L-2/71, NewMahavirNagar,Tilak-Nagar, New-Delhi-110018,have changedmynametoShubhamDumka.

0040612203-1

II,,SSaavviittaa KumariMoyalW/oSachinMoyal R/oC-85, Sector-26, Noida(U.P) have changedmyname toSavitaMoyal for allfuturepurposes.

0040612132-1

II,,SSUURREENNDDEERRKUMARS/ORAMSARANR/OHNO.652, SECTOR-12,PART-2, SONIPAT-131001.HAVECHANGEDMYCHILDNAMESUJALTOSUJALARORA. 0040612162-4

II,,SSUURREENNDDEERRARORAS/O-RAMSARANR/O652,SECTOR-12,PART-2,SONIPAT-131001.HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOSURENDERKUMAR.

0040612162-3

II,,SSIINNGGHHPINTUKANCHAN/SINGHPINTUKUMARKANCHAN,S/OKANCHANSINGH,R/o.B-1405,SAVIOURGREENARCH,AMRAPALI-DREAMVALLEY,TECHZONE-4, GREATER-NOIDAWEST,GAUTAM-BUDHNAGAR,U.P-201306, changedmynametoPINTUKUMARSINGH.

0040612173-3

I,ReenaaliasMonikaW/oRahulKumarR/o FlatNo.C-1,Plot,No.5,FriendsApartment,KhasraNo.865/2,B-Block, Lal-Dora,Extendednear,Labour-ChowkKaptan,DairySant,Nagar,Burari,Delhi-110084,have changedmynametoMonika. 0040612171-1

II,,RRaakkeesshhKumar S/o Late ShriJagdishMitraR/oB-237,DDAFlats,Kalkaji, Delhi-110019,havechangedmyname toRakeshKumarKaura for all purposes.

0040612147-10

II,,RRaakkeesshhKumarNager S/oNawal KishoreR/o G-45 TopFloor,DilshadColony,Shahdara, Delhi, have changedmyname toRakeshKumar.

0040612197-5

II,,RROOHHIITTVASHITH,S/ODINESHVASHISTH,R/OWZ-662,GUJJARGALINEAR-HANUMANMANDIRNARAINAVILLAGE,NEWDELHI-110028,CHANGEDMYNAMETOROHITVASHISTH.

0040612173-8

II,,PPRRAATTEEEEKKS/ODHARAMBIRKHATRI R/O-H.NO-3309PART-III, SECTOR-15 SONIPATHARYANA-131001,changedmyname toPRATEEKKHATRI.

0040612147-6

I,JasmeetKawatraW/oJagmohan Jit SinghR/o-150,Raja-Garden,NewDelhi-110015,have changedmynameto JasmeetKaur.

0040612162-1

II,,PPRRAAKKAASSHHCHANDMISHRAS/OBALRAMMISHRAR/OHNO.T-85,3rd-FLOOR,INDRACOLONY,NARELA,DELHI-110040. HAVECHANGEDMYNAMETOPRAKASHMISHRA.

0040612162-5

I,MohammedYasin S/o-AsrafAliKhanR/o- B-814 JahangirpuriDelhi-110033,have changedmyname toYaseenKhan.

0040612197-4

II,,MMaarruutt S/oKaranRampal,R/o-120-121, 3rd Floor, Pocket-8,Sector-24, Rohini, Delhi-110085,have changedmynametoMarut Rampal. 0040612197-2

II,,MMaannoojj Kumar Shrivastava,S/oSh.RamKishanShrivastva,R/o-129,J&K-Block, Laxmi-Nagar,Delhi-110092,havechangedmyminor son’sname,fromHIMANSHUKUMARtoHIMANSHUKUMARSHRIVASTAVA, for futurepurposes. 0040612173-10

II,,MMRRIINNAALLIINNIIW/O-NISHANTNAYAN,R/O1801,ATSGREEN-2,PLOT.NO.A-58, SECTOR-50,NOIDA,GAUTAM-BUDHNAGAR,UTTARPRADESH-201301,have changedmynametoMRINALINI TIWARI.

0040612173-1

II,,LLaalliitt Goel S/o Jai PrakashGoelR/o E-15,S.F Block-EPrashant,ViharDelhi-110085,changedmyname toLalitMohanGoel permanently.

0040612171-3

II,,LLAALLIITTDUDEJA,S/OARUNDEVDUDEJA,R/o.B-74, SECTOR-56,NOIDA,GAUTAMBUDHNAGAR, U.P.201301,Changedmyname to LALITKUMARDUDEJA. 0040612173-5

I, SunitaAggarwalW/oRajKumarGargR/o 121-122,Pocket-3, Sector-24, Rohini,Delhi-110085, have changedmyname toSunitaGarg.

0040612153-2

PPUUBBLLIICCNNOOTTIICCEE

New Delhi

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

TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2022, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 20 PAGES `6.00 (`8 BIHAR & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RAVIKBHATTACHARYA&ATRIMITRATAHERPUR(NADIA),MAY2

IT’S A rare sight for a politicallandscape rivenwith deep faultlines—flagsof threeparties, theCPI(M), Trinamool Congress(TMC) and the BJP, fluttering infront of the Taherpur civic bodyinWest Bengal’s Nadia district.Welcome to Taherpur, the lonecivicbodyinthestateheldbytheCPI(M), a party that oncedomi-natedBengaland itspolitics.In the civic body elections

heldinFebruary,therulingTMChad registered a landslide vic-

tory,winning106of108munic-ipalities across the state. TheCPI(M)wonjustone—Taherpur— while the fledgling HumroPartywonDarjeeling.InTaherpur, theCPI(M)won

eight out of 13 seats, while theTMCwontherest.Politically,thebiggest challenge staring theCPI(M) in the face is to keep itsflock together in themunicipalboard.As it hangs on by its finger-

nails, the party realises that theonlywayitcanstayaliveisbydis-playing somepolitical pragma-tism—by“goingtothemarket ifI am hungry”, as UttamanandaDas,CPMleaderandtheTaherpur

civicbody’schairman,puts it.“We are dependent on the

state government for funds tocarry out development work.We have readied projects andDPRs (detailed project reports).Now I will visit Kolkata fre-quently to get things done. TheTMC’s councillors have told usthat they will stand by us andhelp us get funds for projects,”saysDas, sitting inaroominthetwo-storiedbuildingwithsixofhis councillors.“Wearealsoplanningtogen-

erate revenueby followingstateguidelines.DPRshavebeenmadetorenovatecommunityhallsandamarriage hall in 13wards.We

arealsoplanning torenovate lo-cal markets,” adds Shova Shil,CPI(M)leaderandvice-chairmanof themunicipality.The CPI(M) has held the

TaherpurNotifiedAreaAuthoritysince its establishment in 1993,except for a term betweenNovember 2011 andMay 2015,when the Trinamool Congressformedtheboard.Thisisthusthesecondconsecutive termfor theCPMinthecivicbody.Dasandtheothercouncillors

claim their civic body has thebest trackrecord in implement-ing government schemes suchasMamata Banerjee’s flagship‘DuareSarkar’, anoutreachpro-

gramme that saw about 15,000applications from the generalpublic pouring into the civicbodyoffice in threephases.As he takes great pains to

stress the political bonhomie,Das says, “I have spoken to thechairmanoftheBirnagarmunic-ipality, which is run by theTrinamool Congress. I told himthatforadrinkingwaterproject,weneedpipelinestobebroughtfrom Bhagirathi (Hoogly) river,whichisaround10kmawayandwill pass through Birnagar. Hepromised thatwewill togetherapproachthestateurbandevel-opment department for theproject.”

He hopes the BJP will com-pletethehappyfamilypictureinTaherpur.“WehavenoproblemswiththeBJP. If theLokSabhaMP(Ranaghat seat) and MLA(Ranaghat Uttar Paschim), whoarefromtheBJP,helpus,wewillonlybe toohappy,”addsDas.Thecouncillors,however,ad-

mitthefriendshipisfairlyrecent,withtherun-uptotheelectionswitnessing some tense mo-ments.“The challenge for uswas to

keep thismunicipality fromtherulingparty.Allothergrampan-chayatsandcivicbodiesaroundus are run by the TMC. During

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PAGE1ANCHOR

InTaherpur, theCPI(M)woneightoutof13seats,while theTMCwontherest.ParthaPaul

In Bengal’s lone CPM-led civic body, lessons in practical politics

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

THEWORLD

FIRSTCIVILIANSLEAVEMARIUPOLSTEEL PLANT;HUNDREDSREMAIN

REPORT: PAKGOVTMAYQUASHNAWAZSHARIF CONVICTIONINGRAFTCASESPAGE16

EXPRESSNETWORK

ASSAMCHALLENGESMEVANI BAIL; HCSTAYSCOURTOBSERVATIONS

GODSE ‘BHAKTS’ INPMOBEHINDMYARREST:MEVANIPAGE9

GERMANY INVITESMODI TOG-7SUMMITNEXTMONTH

SC: Cannot forcevaccination, reviewvaccine mandate tillinfection rate lowSaysmakepost-immunisationadverseeventsdata‘publiclyaccessible’

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

CITING “BODILY integrity andpersonal autonomy”, theSupremeCourt saidonMondaythatno individual canbe forcedtogetvaccinatedagainstCovid-19, but added that “as long asthere is a risk of spreading thedisease,therecanberestrictionsplaced on individuals’ rights inlargerpublic interest”.Seeking “review” of vaccine

mandates, the benchof JusticesL Nageswara Rao and B RGavaisaid: “Till the infection rate re-mains low and any new devel-opment or research findingemerges which provides duejustification to impose reason-able and proportionate restric-tions on the rights of unvacci-nated individuals, we suggestthat all authorities in this coun-try, including private organisa-tions and educational institu-tions,reviewtherelevantordersand instructions imposing re-strictionsonunvaccinated indi-vidualsintermsofaccesstopub-

licplaces,servicesandresources,if notalreadyrecalled”.The court, however, upheld

the Centre’s vaccination policy,saying itwasnot “unreasonableormanifestlyarbitrary”,andalsoasked the government tomakedataonadverseeventsafter im-munisation“publiclyaccessible”.Thejudgmentcameonape-

tition filedbyDr JacobPuliyel, aformermemberof theNationalTechnical Advisory Group onImmunisation (NTAGI), seekingdisclosure of vaccine trial dataandstayonvaccinemandates.Writingforthebench,Justice

Raosaid:“Withrespecttothein-fringement of bodily integrityandpersonalautonomyofanin-dividual considered in the light

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How heat waveadded to powerdemand amidcoal shortagesKARUNJITSINGH&ANILSASINEWDELHI,MAY2

IN OCTOBER 2021, as the econ-omy recovered from the pan-demic’s second wave, a sharpsurge in energy demand trig-gered a spiralling fuel shortageacross coal-fired ther-mal stations, whichUnionPowerMinisterRK Singh referred to as a“touch and go” affairthatwent“waybeyond”the normal post-mon-soon coal supply crunch. Sixmonthshence, Indiaisstaringata crisis again, this time inducedbyadebilitatingfuelshortageatcoal-firedthermalplants,whichmake nearly 70 per cent of

India’s base loadpowergenera-tioncapacity.Oneofthemajorfactorsnow

is the low 26 per cent averagePlantLoadFactor (PLF)atwhichimported coal-based plants areoperatingcomparedwith56percent around this time last year.PLF is a broad measure of apower plant’s output during a

period compared to itsmaximumoutput.Withimported thermal coalprices surging fromaround $50-100 pertonne last year toaround $225 per tonne

now— triggered by global en-ergy shortage and fresh uncer-taintiesonaccountof thewarinUkraine, theviabilityof runningtheseplants isunderquestion.

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Before Modimeets Macron,French opt outof India projectfor submarines

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI,MAY2

AHEAD OF Prime MinisterNarendraModi’sscheduledvisittoFrance, FrenchdefencemajorNavalGrouphasannouncedthatit is unable to participate in theP-75 India (P-75I)projectunderwhich six conventional sub-marines are to be built in Indiafor the IndianNavy.The group, one of the five

shortlistedinternationalplayersfor the Rs 43,000-crore project,saiditcannotmeetconditionsofthe Request for Proposal (RFP)andwill, therefore,notcontinuewith itsbid.Theproject is the largestun-

der the new strategic partner-shipmodelwhichwillseeanin-ternational Original EquipmentManufacturer (OEM) partnerwithanIndiancompanytoman-ufacture submarines in India,andshare the technology.TheP-75I is thesecondproj-

ect tobuild submarines in India— the Naval Group just com-pleted building six Kalvari class(Scorpene class) conventionalsubmarinesundertheP-75proj-ect in partnership with theMazagonDockyardShipbuilding

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Karnataka police exam case: FIRnames 7 rank holders as accusedJOHNSONTABENGALURU,MAY2

A NEW FIR filed by theKarnatakaCIDonallegedcheat-ing in exams to recruit 545 po-lice sub-inspectors includesnames of seven of the top 10rankholders (state-wide) in theexamasaccused in thecase.The new FIR was filed

Saturdaybythefinancialinvesti-gationunitoftheCIDonthebasisofforensicanalysisoftheOptimalMarking Recognition sheets of172candidateswhotookthepo-

licerecruitmentexam.Itnamed22candidateswho

took the exam in seven centresinBengaluruasthenewaccused.Nine of the 22 have been ar-rested and the others are ex-pected to be taken into custodysoon.The total number of arrests

in the alleged scam has nowreached 45 — it emerged aftercandidates, who took the examat the Jnana Jyothi EnglishMedium School in Kalaburagi,scoredhighmarks in the objec-tive section despite answeringvery fewquestions.

Theschool isownedandop-eratedbyDivyaHagaragi,formerpresidentofthewomen’sunitofthe BJP in Kalaburagi. She andher husband, Rajesh Hagaragi,are among those arrested.Mahanthesh Patil, formerAfzalpur Congress block presi-dent,hasalsobeenarrested.HisbrotherRudragoudaPatil isaco-accused.While the CID probe in

Kalaburagiunearthedtheroleofmiddlemen, school authorities,and an exam fraud mafia, theprobe in Bengaluru is yet to

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LIC IPO takesoff: Demandfrom anchorinvestors isvery strong

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY2

THE LIFEInsuranceCorporation(LIC) kicked off its mega IPOprocess Monday with the in-surer’sanchorbookgettingover-subscribed with bids of overRs7,000crore.TheLIC,whichisplanningto

raise a total of Rs 21,000 crorethrough the IPO, has aimed toraiseRs5,630croreattheupperend of the price band from an-chor investors. The firm has re-served around 59.29 millionshares for the anchor portion.Global funds anddomesticmu-tualfundshaveputinbidsfortheanchorbook.Ananchor investor inan IPO

is aqualified institutional buyer(QIB) like a foreign portfolio in-vestor ormutual fund or insur-ancecompanywhichinvestsbe-fore the IPO ismadeavailable tothe public as per Sebi regula-tions. As initial investors, theymake the IPO processmore at-tractive for investors and instilconfidence in them. Anchor in-vestors also aid in price discov-eryof the IPO.Anchor investors who get

guaranteed allotment a day be-fore the IPOopens to the publicare normally allocated 60 percentoftheQIBquota.Companieswithaprofitabletrackrecordcanallocate50percentof theIPOtoQIBs.Thedemandintheanchorcategory is an indication of thesuccess of the IPO, according toanalysts.The LIC has priced the IPO in

therangeofRs902-949pershare.It hasofferedadiscountof Rs60forpolicyholdersandRs45forre-tail investorsandemployees.The issuewill open for retail

investors onMay4—May3 is aholiday on account of Eid.Investorscanbidforaminimumof 15 shares and thereafter inmultiplesof 15shares.

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PRANAVMUKUL&SWEETYKUMARINEWDELHI, KOLKATA,MAY2

ADAY after SpiceJet’sMumbai-Durgapurflightencounteredse-vereturbulence,causingseriousinjuries to several passengerswith two of them in an ICU, theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) on Mondayconstituteda“multi-disciplinaryteam”toinvestigatetheincident.“We have deputed amulti-

disciplinary team to carry outthe regulatory investigation,”DGCAchiefArunKumartoldTheIndianExpress.Aspartof thisex-ercise, the DGCAwill also carryout an inspection of the entireSpiceJet fleet, which currentlycomprises91aircraft.Pendingtheprobe’sfindings,

the regulator de-rostered theCONTINUEDONPAGE6

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI,MAY2

UNDERLININGTHATRussiahasviolatedfundamentalprinciplesof international lawand theUNCharterbyattackingUkraineandits civilian population, GermanChancellor Olaf Scholz saidMonday that he and PrimeMinisterNarendraModi agreedthat "borders should not bechangedthroughtheuseof vio-lence" and "inviolability aswellasthesovereigntyofnationshastobeuniversallyaccepted".Scholz said he has invited

Modi to theG-7meetingwhichwill be held in Germany in thelastweekof June.PrimeMinister Modi, who

didnotnameRussiainhisstate-ment,said“therewillbenowin-ningparty in thiswar, everyonewill suffer”.Thisisanewformulation,go-

ingbeyondwhatNewDelhihasbeen saying so far — calling forcessation of hostilities and say-ing dialogue is the only way toresolve theconflict.“Recent geopolitical events

also showed how fragile worldpeace and stability is, and howinterconnectedallcountriesare.From the very beginning of theUkrainiancrisis,wecalledforanimmediate ceasefire, insistingthat dialogue is the onlyway toresolve the dispute.We believethat there will be no winningparty in this war, everyonewillsuffer. That is why we are in

favourof peace,”Modi said.“Oil prices are skyrocketing

due to the turmoil triggered bytheUkraineconflict;thereisalsoshortageoffoodgrainsandfertil-izers in theworld. This has bur-denedevery family in theworld,butitsimpactondevelopingandpoorcountrieswillbeevenmoreserious.Indiaisdeeplyconcernedby the humanitarian impact ofthis conflict.We have sent hu-manitarianaidtoUkraineonourbehalf.Wearealsotryingtohelpother friendlycountries throughfoodexports,oilsuppliesandeco-nomicassistance,”hesaid.Scholz said, “I repeatmyap-

peal to Vladimir Putin: end thisand this senseless killing.Withdrawyourtroopsimmedi-ately,”hesaid,withModistand-ingnext tohim.“The importance of a rule-

based order is illustrated to usCONTINUEDONPAGE6

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

Weagreedborderscan’tbechangedthroughuseof violence, saysScholz

GermanChancellorOlaf ScholzwelcomesPrimeMinisterNarendraModi inBerlinonMonday.Reuters REPORT,PAGE10

Avideograbof insidetheaircraftonSunday.PTI

SpiceJet scare: DGCAto probe, inspect fleet;crew taken off duty

EXPLAINEDWHYFLIGHTSFACETURBULENCE PAGE15

SHIVANINAIKMUMBAI,MAY2

HARSHADAGARUD recalls thebuzzthatdaywhenasa12-year-old, she casuallywalked up to a50-kg rice sack, lifted it on herbackandcoollysetitdown,dust-ing off her palms, ready for thenextone.ShewasinClass8,andhad seen her father struggle tolug the sacks into their house inWadgaonvillage.“I didn't think much of it

then,” she says. Six years on,Harshada has become the first

Indian to win a weightliftinggold in the Junior WorldChampionship.OnMonday, the 18-year-old

from Maval taluka in Punemaxedher Snatcheffort (70kg)foranoverallwinning liftof 153kg in the 49-kg category to pipTurkey’s Bektas Kansu (150 kg)inHeraklion,Greece.“Iwassureof a medal, but gold is the realthing,” shesays.Harshadawasencouragedto

take upweightlifting by her fa-therandhismaternaluncle,bothof whomhad nurtured dreams

CONTINUEDONPAGE6

Nowinner in thiswar, serious impacton developing and poor countries: PM

FIRSTCASEOFXEVARIANTCONFIRMED;OFFICIALS SAYNOCAUSE FORALARMPAGE11

EXPRESSNETWORK

Behind record gold in Greece, a ‘stubborn’weightlifter & a 50-kg rice sack in Pune village

HarshadaGarudwithher juniorWorldChampionshipgoldatHeraklion,Greece

E●EXPLAINED

Mode Capacity Currentcoal Normativecoal(megawatts) stock(indays) stock(indays)

Pithead 39,223 13 17Non-Pithead 1,64,124 7 26

COAL: DEMANDANDSUPPLY

Source: Daily coal stock report, April 28: Central Electricity AuthorityNote: Normative stock is the level of stock recommended by the CEA

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK6 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

FROMPAGEONEPM Modiand impressed upon us by this.Weagreeonthefactthatbordersshould not be changed throughtheuseofviolenceandthatthein-violability aswell as the sover-eigntyofnationshastobeuniver-sally accepted.We talked aboutthis in greater detail with thePrimeMinister.Whatneedstobedone now is to ensure thatweachieve a better future together,not bywagingwars against eachother, butbypursuingeconomicgrowth and development to-gether,"hesaid.Inthejointstatementafterthe

talks, a line stoodout: "Germanyreiterated its strong condemna-tion of the unlawful andunpro-vokedaggressionagainstUkraineby Russian Forces." A unilateralstatement,which expresses onecountry'sviews,inthejointstate-ment is unusual and reflects thedivergence in views of the twocountries.Buttherewereenoughlines to show the convergence."Germany and India expressedtheir serious concern about theongoing humanitarian crisis inUkraine.Theyunequivocallycon-demned civilian deaths inUkraine.Theyreiteratedtheneedforanimmediatecessationofhos-tilities.Theyemphasisedthatthecontemporary global order hasbeenbuilt on theUNCharter, in-ternational law and respect forsovereigntyandtheterritorialin-tegrity of states. Theydiscussedthedestabilizingeffectofthecon-flictinUkraineanditsbroaderre-gional and global implications.Both sides agreed to remaincloselyengagedontheissue."On the Indo-Pacific, Scholz

said, "What is clear is that the

Indo-Pacific belongs to themostdynamic global regions. And atthe same time, it is confrontedwith a number of conflicts andchallenges." "Theworld canonlydevelop if we are clear, as to thefuture relations in theworldwillbe characterized andmarkedbymany countries, not by a fewpowerful countries andnationsbutbymanyimportantcountries.Theriseofmanycountriesiswhathas become important," he said,referringtothemulti-polarworld,withoutmentioningChina.India, he said, is counted

amongcountrieswithalargepop-ulation, and also because of thepartitplaysandtheshareithasintheglobaleconomy.The joint statement said that

both sides stressed the signifi-canceofafree,openandinclusiveIndo-Pacific,recognizingthecen-tralityofASEAN. "Bothsidesun-derlinedtheimportanceofunim-pededcommerceandfreedomofnavigation in accordancewithInternational Law, notably theUnitedNationsConventionontheLawoftheSea(UNCLOS)1982,inallmaritimedomainsincludinginthe IndianOcean and the SouthChinaSea,"thestatementsaid.Asan importantmilestone in

Germany'sengagementwiththeIndo-Pacific region, both sideswelcomed the port call by theGermanNavy frigate Bayern inMumbai in January. "GermanyalsoagreedtowelcomeanIndiannaval ship ona friendly visit to aGermanportnextyear",thestate-mentsaid.External Affairs Minister S

Jaishankar saidhediscussed theRussia-Ukraine conflictwithhisGerman counterpart, AnnalenaBaerbock. He alsomet German

Economic Cooperation andDevelopmentMinister SvenjaSchulze and signed agreementson Triangular DevelopmentCooperation and RenewableEnergyPartnership.Thetwosidesalso signednine agreements in-cludinginareasofmigrationandmobility, green hydrogen taskforce,andenvironment.ModiandScholz held a bilateralmeeting,justbeforethe6throundofthebi-ennial Inter-GovernmentalConsulta-tions (IGC) betweenIndiaandGermany.

SubmarinesLimited (MDL) in India. TheP-75projectwassignedin2005(NavalGroupwascalledDCNSthen)andof the six, four submarines havealreadybeencommissionedintotheNavy.Thesixthintheclasswaslaunched lastmonth and is ex-pected to be commissioned latenextyear. InastatementonApril30, LaurentVideau, Country andManagingDirector,NavalGroupIndia, said “the present RFP re-quiresthatthefuelcellAIPbeseaproven,which is not the case forusyetsincetheFrenchNavydoesnotusesuchapropulsionsystem.”The AIP is Air-independent

Propulsion technology for con-ventional submarines, and pro-videsgreaterendurance,abilitytoremainsubmergedlonger,andislessnoisythanthediesel-electricpropulsionsystem.Videau said theNavalGroup

“has always been ready to offerthebest in class andadapted so-lutionfortheIndianNavy’sP75(I)project, being fully in linewithAatmaNirbharBharat principle”.He said the Group will“strengthenourexistingcommit-mentsandlookforwardtocloserassociationwithIndia.”“Our focus andefforts are to-

wardscontinuationofourcollab-orationwithIndianindustryinre-alising thevisionofGovernmentofIndiabysupportingIndianNavyfor other future developmentsandprojects (maintenance, hightech tools, indigenousAIP, incre-mental improvements inScorpene designed submarine,HWT,largershipsetc.),”hesaid.The announcement came

days ahead of Prime MinisterModi’s scheduled visit to Franceon May 4 for a meeting withPresident Emmanuel Macronwhowasre-electedlastmonth.Inhis departure statement,ModisaidhismeetingwithMacronwill“reaffirmtheclosefriendshipbe-tween the two countries” and“willalsogiveustheopportunitytosetthetoneofthenextphaseofthe India-France StrategicPartnership.”TheNavalGroup’swithdrawal

fromtheprocesshas raised con-cerns about the P-75I project.While it has become the first ofthefiveshortlistedOEMstopub-licly pull out of the race, sourcessaid thatOEMs fromRussia andSpaintooarenotparticipatingef-fectively though they have notmadeanysuchannouncementsofar. The government issued theRFPfortheprojectinJulylastyear— five shortlistedOEMshave topartnerwithoneoftheshortlistedIndian Strategic Partners (SP) tobid for themanufacture of thesubmarines. The shortlisted SPsareMazagonDock ShipbuildersLimited (MDL) and Larsen &Toubro (L&T) who have to bidwithanyofthefiveforeignOEMs— Naval Group (France),ThyssenKruppMarine Systems(Germany), JSC ROE (Russia),Daewoo Shipbuilding&MarineEngineeringCoLtd(SouthKorea)andNavantia(Spain).Sources said theNavalGroup

cited the issueof demonstratingsea-provenAIPfuelcellsforitsin-ability to continue. But someoftheOEMs,thesourcessaid,arenotcomfortable about sharing theirexpertise andniche technologywithIndianpartners.

LIC IPOThe size of the IPOwas cut

fromRs65,000croretoRs21,000crore as the Russian invasion ofUkraine and sustained sellingbyforeign investors sent the stockmarketsintoatailspin.TheSebi recently said theex-

isting lock-inof 30dayswill con-tinue for 50%of theportionallo-cated toanchor investorsand fortheremainingportion,alock-inof90daysfromthedateofallotmentwill be applicable for all issuesopening on or after April 1. Thechangeintheanchorlock-inrulesis to avoid sell-off by anchor in-vestors. For instance, shares ofOne97Communications,thepar-entfirmofPaytm,dippedsharplyby 13 per cent on the day themandatory lock-inperiodforan-chorinvestorsended.Meanwhile, analysts ex-

pressed optimismabout the LICIPO.“Fromavaluationstandpoint,at the upper band of the issueprice,LICispricedat1.1xembed-dedvalue,whichisatasignificantdiscount to peers. Given the at-tractive valuation, thedownsidefromhereseemslimited.Further,

the fact that a discount has alsobeenoffered to retail investors isthecherryonthecake,”saidYeshaShah, Head of Equity Research,SamcoSecurities.

Karnataka policeidentify facilitatorsof theallegedscam.Therolesof policeperson-nelandcloseassociatesofpoliticalleadersarealsounderthescanner.AccordingtothenewFIRfiled

bytheCID,malecandidateswhosecuredthethird,fourthandsixthtotenthranksallegedlyindulgedin malpractice as per forensicanalysis of their OMR sheets. Italsonamedasaccusedthecandi-datewho secured the first rankamongwomen.According to theCID investi-

gation, the 172 candidateswhotookthepolicerecruitmentexamin Bengaluruwere asked to ap-pear before the investigatingagencywith copies of theOMRsheets that theyweregivenafterfilingtheoriginalOMRsheetsdur-ingtheexam.While four candidateswere

unable toproducecarboncopiesof their OMR sheets (where theobjective questions were an-swered), the remaining168pro-duced theOMRcopies. Sheetsof22 candidateswere found to beoutoforderduringforensicanaly-sis, theCIDstatedinitsnewFIR.“OnApril 28, 2022, a report

was obtained from the ForensicScience Laboratorywhich indi-cated that there are differencesbetween theoriginal andcarboncopies of the OMR sheets of 22candidatesanditprimafaciesug-gests instances ofmalpractice,’’the CID said. Candidates are al-legedtohavepaidRs35lakhtoRs80 lakh for selection through thePSIrecruitmentexam.Asmanyas54,000candidatesoutofatotalofover 1.5 lakhapplicants took theexam at 92 centres acrossKarnatakaonOctober3,2021.

SpiceJet scareGurgaon-basedairline’scabinandcockpit crewwhowere on thatflight. TheDGCAalso suspendeda maintenance engineer, whoclearedthedamagedaircrafttoflyfromDurgapurtoKolkataaftertheincident,andtheairline’smainte-nance control centre in-charge,pendingaprobe.OnSunday,theSpiceJet-oper-

ated Boeing 737-800with 195peopleonboard,includingtwopi-lots and four cabin crew, under-wentheavy turbulencewhileonitsapproachtoDurgapurinWestBengal.Atleast17peopleonboardwere injured, including threecrewmembers.“Therewereinjuriesto14pas-

sengersandthreecabincrew.Theinjuries were related to head,spine, shoulder, foreheadand fa-cialinjuries.Atpresent,threepas-sengers are hospitalised. Twoofthe passengers are in the ICU atDurgapur.Oneof thepassengers,admittedinDiamondHospital, issuffering fromahead injury andtheotherpassenger is inMissionHospitalwith a spinal injury,” aDGCAofficialsaid.Sourcesatthetwohospitalsin

Durgapur toldThe Indian Expressthattheinjuredincludeaneight-year-oldgirlwithafracturedwristandapassengerwhorequiresanoperationforaspinalinjury.According to a statement is-

suedbyKNI airport inDurgapur,the incident occuredwhen theaircraft encountered turbulencearound185kmfromthefacility.“During descent, the aircraft

experienced severe turbulenceandtheverticalloadfactorvariedfrom+2.64Gand -1.36G.Duringthisperiod, theautopilot gotdis-engagedfortwominutesandthecrewmanually flewtheaircraft,”theDGCAofficialsaid.G refers tog-force, orgravita-

tional force equivalent,which innormal flying conditions is 1G.AnegativeGvalueindicatesthattheaircraftwas accelerating down-wards faster thantherateof nat-ural freefall, giving the feeling ofweightlessness.Thesharplyvary-ingGvalues inSunday’s incidentmeantthepassengerswereliftedupandthenslammeddown.AccordingtotheDGCAofficial,

theoxygenpanelsopenedupandoxygenmasksdroppeddownin-side theplanedueto turbulence.“Damage occurred to a few seathand-restsandoverheaddecora-tive panels. One cabin overheadbin(hatrack)lockwasfoundbro-ken. The galley itemswere seenstrewnacross on the floor. Samewastheconditionintheaisle.Theairline, after inspection, posi-tionedtheaircraftinKolkata,”theofficialsaid.“The DGCA has deputed a

teamto investigate the incident.Thematterisbeingdealtwithut-most seriousness & deftness.Moredetails on the cause(s)willbe sharedonce the investigationiscompleted,”UnionCivilAviationMinister Jyotiraditya Scindiatweeted.A SpiceJet spokesperson said

inastatementthat11passengerswerehospitalised,ofwhomeight

havebeendischarged. Thestate-mentwasissuedbeforetheDGCAreleasedupdateddetailsonthoseinjuredandthenatureofinjuries.“SpiceJet isprovidingall possiblehelp to the injured,” thespokespersonsaid.SpiceJet said the crew on

board the flight “are not beingutilised pending investigation”.“The seat belt signwasonwhenthe aircraft encountered turbu-lence.Multiple announcementsweremadeby thepilots and thecrewinstructingpassengerstore-main seated andkeep their seatbeltfastened,”itsaid.Thepassengercharterofrights

issued by theMinistry of CivilAviationin2019statesthatfordo-mestic travel, in case of deathorbodily injury to a passenger on-board anaircraft, the airline is li-able to pay up to Rs 20 lakh perpassenger.Accordingtothestate-mentissuedbyKNIairport,thepi-lot alertedDurgapur Air TrafficControl (ATC) about emergencymedical assistance. “Requiredarrangementsweremade, andimmediately on landing atDurgapur(at19:15hrs),allneces-sarymedicalassistance,includingdoctors, paramedics and ambu-lance,waspromptlyprovided tothe passengers and the crewontheapronitself,” itsaid.“The passengers who re-

mainedattheairportweretakendue care of by the staff of KNIAirport,Durgapur,andeverythingthat theyneededwas facilitatedbytheteam.Asofnow,onlythreepassengers remainhospitalised,whereasallotherpassengersandthecrewhavesafelygonebacktotheir respective destinations,”readthestatement.DrTKRoy,whoisthedirector

ofDiamondHospitalwheremostoftheinjuredweretaken,toldTheIndianExpress that14passengerswere brought to the hospitalaround8pmonSunday. “Tenre-quired admission.Nine of themhavenowbeendischarged,” Roysaid.Onepassenger,a70-year-oldwoman,isstillundertreatmentinthe hospital, he said. Dr ParthaPaul, Superintendent, MissionHospital,saidthatthreeofthein-jured“wereadmittedtoourhos-pital,andwearetreatingthem”.

Bengal civic bodythe elections, some of uswereheckledandbeatenupbymiscre-ants.OurformerchairmanRatanRanjanRoylostby11votes.Butweare still standing together,” saysPushpoHalder,councillorofWardNo13. Both theCPI(M) andTMCcouncillors claim they have putthe unpleasantness of the elec-tionsbehindthem.At his home that’s a 10-

minutedrivefromthemunicipal-ity office, Satyanarayan Ghosh,the TMC’s Taherpur unit presi-dent, says, “For development,they (Left)will have toapproachDidi(MamataBanerjee)...WearereadytocooperatewiththeLeft-run board. The Left has been inpowerhereforlong,butalotislefttobedone in termsof roadsandinfrastructuredevelopment.”Thetwo parties also claim thatTaherpur is untouched by thesyndicate culture that ails thestate.“Youwon’thearaboutcom-missions and ‘cutmoney’ here.Youcanaskanyoneinthetown,”saysTMC”sJitendraSarkar,coun-cillorofWardNo5.Despite the open display of

friendship, there are nigglingproblems, including that of“pending payments” from thestate government. “Wehaddis-bursedmore thanRs 17 lakh fortheDuare Sarkarproject.Weareyettogetpaidbythestategovern-ment,”saysformerCPI(M)coun-cillorDipankarChakraborty.Besides, there is thatniggling

problem– that theTMC is yet tocometotermswiththeLeftwin.“Wecannotimaginethatafter

somanyyears, theCPI(M) is stillin power somewhere in Bengal,howeversmallthatplacemaybe.I amsurprised thatourpartydidsowelleverywhereinBengalbutfailedtograbtheboardhere,”saysTMC’sGhosh,attributingtheLeftwinto,amongother issues, rebelTMC candidates standing asIndependents.

Vaccinationof vaccines and other publichealthmeasures introduced todealwiththeCovid-19pandemic,weareof theopinion thatbodilyintegrityisprotectedunderArticle21oftheConstitutionandnoindi-vidual canbe forced tobe vacci-nated. Further, personal auton-omyof an individual,which is arecognisedfacetoftheprotectionsguaranteedunderArticle 21, en-compasses the right to refuse toundergo anymedical treatmentinthesphereofindividualhealth”.“However, in the interest of

protection of communitarianhealth,thegovernmentisentitledtoregulateissuesofpublichealthconcernbyimposingcertainlim-itations on individual rights,whichareopentoscrutinybycon-stitutional courts to assesswhethersuchinvasionintoanin-dividual’srighttopersonalauton-omyandrighttoaccessmeansoflivelihoodmeetsthethreefoldre-quirement as laid down in K SPuttaswamy...,”thecourtsaid.“Onthebasisofmaterial filed

before this court reflecting thenear-unanimous views of ex-perts... this court is satisfied thatthe current vaccinationpolicy oftheUnionof India is informedbyrelevantconsiderationsandcan-notbesaidtobeunreasonableormanifestlyarbitrary,” itsaid.On vaccine mandates, the

court said “no data has beenplacedbytheUnionofIndiaorthestates appearing before us, con-trovertingthematerialplacedbythe petitioner in the form ofemergingscientificopinionwhichappearstoindicatethattheriskoftransmission...fromunvaccinatedindividuals isalmostonparwiththatfromvaccinatedpersons”andtherefore, the “various vaccinemandatesbystategovernments/Unionterritoriescannotbesaidtobeproportionate”.Thecourtclarifiedthat“inthe

contextoftherapidlyevolvingsit-uationpresentedbytheCovid-19pandemic, our suggestion to re-view the vaccinemandates im-posedbystates/Unionterritoriesis related to present situationalone and is not to be construedas interferingwiththe lawfulex-ercise of powerby the executivetotakesuitablemeasuresforpre-ventionofinfectionandtransmis-sionof the virus. Our suggestionalsodoesnotextendtoanyotherdirectionsrequiringmaintenanceof Covid-appropriate behaviourissued by theUnion or the stategovernments”.“Personswhoarekeentonot

bevaccinatedonaccountof per-sonal beliefs or preferences, canavoid vaccination,without any-onephysically compelling themtobevaccinated.However,ifthereisa likelihoodof suchindividualsspreading the infection to otherpeople or contributing tomuta-tion of the virus or burdening ofthe public health infrastructure,therebyaffectingcommunitarianhealth at large, protection ofwhichisundoubtedlyalegitimatestate aimof paramount signifi-cance in this collective battleagainstthepandemic,thegovern-ment can regulate such publichealthconcernsbyimposingcer-tain limitations on individualrightsthatarereasonableandpro-portionatetotheobjectsoughttobefulfilled,”itsaid.Stating that “information re-

latingtoadverseeffectsfollowingimmunisationiscrucialforcreat-ing awareness around vaccinesand their efficacy, apart frombe-inginstrumentalinfurtherscien-tific studies”, the court also di-rected the Centre “to facilitatereporting of suspected adverseeventsbyindividualsandprivatedoctors on an accessible virtualplatform. These reports shall bemadepubliclyaccessible,withoutcompromisingonprotecting theconfidentialityof thepersons re-porting...”Onemergencyuse approvals

granted to Covishield andCovaxin, the court said “materialprovided by theUnion of India,comprisingminutesofthemeet-ingsoftheSEC,donotwarranttheconclusion that restricted emer-gency use approvals had been

grantedtoCovishieldandCovaxininhaste,withoutthoroughreviewoftherelevantdata”.Thebenchalso approved the

vaccinationpolicyforchildrenbutdirectedthattheclinicaltrialdatabemadepublicattheearliest.

Power demandFurther, the newer thermal

plantsthatwereincreasinglyrun-ningonblended coal startedus-ingmoredomesticcoalinthemix,adding to thepressureon theal-readytenuousdomesticcoalsup-plyinfrastructure.Thefuelsupplygapsareclearlyshowingupinthenon-pithead-basedcoalplants—orplants that are away fromthecoalpithead–whichaccount fornearly90percentofthecountry’s165majorthermalplants.Thishasmeant that actual coal stocksareless thanaquarterof thenorma-tiverequirementuptotheendofApril, according to CentralElectricity Authority (CEA) dataupdatedtillApril28.Intermsofspecificreasonsfor

outagesorreducedoutputacrosskeythermalstationstrackedonadailybasis,atleast16plantswerereported to be struggling due tolesser coal supplies from state-ownedCoal India Ltd (CIL) or itssubsidiaries. The other reasonscollatedbytheApril28CEAreportstate23wereaffectedduetoun-availability of railway rakes orshortagesofonekindortheother,10onaccountofdisruptionofcoalsuppliesfollowinglargedues,fivedue to a shortfallwith coal lyingat the Paradipport, and another12 due to low imported coalstocks.Unlikelastyear’sshortage,the biggest triggers on both thedemandandsupplysideseemtobedifferent.ThebiggestfactoronthedemandsidelastOctoberwasthereopeningoftheeconomyaf-ter the second Covid-19wave,whileonthesupplyside,thepost-monsoonproductionwoesofCILwereapredominantfactor.This time, themaindemand

side factor is theunprecedentedheatwaveinnorthandwestIndia,thathasboosteddemandforelec-tricity, especially domestic andagricultural load, even as indus-trialloadisclimbingconsistently.EnergydemandinMarchwasupnearly9percentdrivenbyapick-upinloadandtouchedanall-timehighofover207gigawatts(1GWor1,000megawatts)onApril 29,with expectations that demandcouldtouch220GWbyMay-June.Onthesupplyside,thereseem

tobethreespecificfactors–theta-pering off imported coal-basedgeneration, supply constraintsdue to a shortage of rail rakesalongsidelowersuppliesfromCILto someplants, and to anextent,the regulationof coal supplies tonon-payingdistribution compa-nies(whichisacontinuingprob-leminthepowersector).Andunlikethelasttime,when

therewas expectation the de-mand could start tapering offfromthelatterhalfofOctoberandthewintersetin,thistimethereisunlikelytobeanyrespitetillwellinto thesecondhalf of theyear–giventhattheprocessofbuild-upof coal stocks that starts everyMarch andgoes on till themon-soons,isgoingtobeanuphilltask.Whileofficialsinthecoalministryhave alluded to the powermin-istryunderestimatingdemand,asenior official at thepowermin-istrysaidtheincreaseindemand“waslargelyinlinewithexpecta-tions” but that the availability ofrailway rakes had been the keyconstraint inmeeting demandfrompowerplants.“The number of rakes that

were to be provided did not in-creaseasperexpectationandthe(demand) projectionswe pro-vided,”theofficialsaid,notingthatwhile the railwayshadagreed toprovide415rakesperdayforcoaltransportationinApril,theactualnumberwasaround387rakesperday. “The issuewould not havearisen if 415 rakes per day hadbeenavailable fromOctober,” hesaid. The official said the powerministry had realised inDecember that thermal powerplantsmayfacelowcoalstockandasked states to start importingcoal to augment inventories. A

spokesperson for the IndianRailways said itwas prioritisingthe delivery of coal to thermalpower plants andhaddeliveredover400 rakesof coal adayoverthepastfivedays,hittingapeakof427rakesonApril28.

Weightlifterof competing internationallybutnevercould.Wadgaon isadotonthemap

outside Pune city, recently up-gradedtoanagarpanchayat.Butit is also one of Maharashtra'sweightlifting hubs, apart fromManmad,SangliandKolhapur,ledby73-year-old fitnessenthusiastBiharilalDubeywhosetupbasicgymnasiumsherein1972.Harshada,infact,isnamedaf-

terDubey'sdaughter-in-lawwithwhom the teenage star's fatherSharadusedtotrain.Thefatherre-membersthecelebratoryproces-sionwhen his training partnerhadwonacross-countrygold.“Iwas very inspired that day

anddecidedthatmyfirstchildwillbenamedafterHarshada. That'swhy I was so happy when mydaughterwasborn.Anditwasde-cided evenbefore her birth thatshewillbeaweightlifterwhowillrepresentIndia,”saysSharad,whoworks in thepanchayat'swater-worksdepartment.“Thankfully, my daughter

hatedstudies,or shewouldhavebeencaughtupinbooks.Thedaysheliftedthat50-kgsackof rice, Ipushedher intoweightlifting tocompletemydream,”hesays.Harshadagrewup"stubborn",

according to her family. “Therewasateacherwhowouldtellherthat shewouldn't get the 35percentneededtopass.ButHarshadagotfirstclass,boughtsomepedha,walked into that teacher's classand said, 'See, sir, I got first class.Don'tevertellastudentshecan't',”herfatherrecalls.“She'ssobull-headedshejust

won'teatvegetables,”complainshermother, Rekha. “But once atthe training camp inPatiala, sheatewhateverthecoachaskedherto.She'lltalknon-stopoutside,butnotawordwhenintraining.She'sveryambitiousandfocussed.”Dubey has been coaching in

Wadgaonfor50years,andrecallsthatHarshada'sfatherandhisun-clewarmedup to liftingquickly.“Thegirl cameprepared toworkhard.Intheearlydays,Iusedtohitall the traineeswith a long ruler,which I stopped now. Shewasknownasoutspokenbutnotoncedidshecrywhenbeingpunished,and would stubbornly workharder,”hesays.BehindHarshada's success is

alsoakeytweakintechnique.Theunisex technique taught

toboys andgirls inWadgaon in-advertentlyinfluencedherliftingstyle inClean& Jerk,whichkeptherrestrictedtosilverandbronzemedals.ShewentontoadopttheChinesetechnique,wherethebar-bell is pushedwhile still seated,but which needs outstandingbackpowerand thecapability totakeintensepressureonthespine.Then,when shewent to the

national camp in Patiala, thecoachesencouragedhertoswitchtothe“Split”style,wherethelegsshuffleandpropeltheweightovertheheadand shoulders. The im-provementresultedinarisefrom73kgto83kg inonemonth, andpushedher intogoldmedal con-tention.Patialaalsoimprovedherdiet. “Weputeverythingintohersport, but itwasnever enough,”says Sharad about his "constantguilt" of not havingbeen able toprovidehisdaughterwiththede-sirednutritionandcalories.“I like chicken andpavbhaji.

But youknow,whenyou stay athome, you eat all the wrongthings. But at the camp, I startedeatingright,evenveggiesandlotsof meat.My legs got stronger,”saysHarshada. In the arena, theSnatchwasnever aproblembutClean& Jerkwould always dragher down. “Not anymore. See, Idon't take tension, so I'll keeptrainingandfollowaprocess.ButI'm stubborn. I know I want amedalfromthe2028Olympics.IfIwantit, Iwantit,”shesays.

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New Delhi: A day after UnionPowerMinisterRKSinghsaidtheDelhi PowerMinister SatyendarJain’s letter to himhad incorrectfiguresonthecoalstockatplantssupplyingelectricitytoDelhi, Jainresponded to Singh saying the

figures he hadmentioned in hisletter were from the NationalPower Portal managed by theCentre.Jainhadwritten to theCentre

lastweek raising concerns aboutcoal stock at NTPC power plants

supplying electricity toDelhi. Inhis response, the Union PowerMinister said the Delhi govern-mentwas“misleadingpublicwithincorrectinformation”and“panicwas sought to be created usingwrongfigures”. Jain’sresponse,to

the Union Minister, sent onMonday, states: “... figuresmen-tioned in my letter dated28.04.2022...werebasedondailycoal report of National PowerPortal (managedbyGovernmentof India)dated25.04.2022.”ENS

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EducationalQualification

Master Degree in Physics (M.Sc Physics) with not less than60% marks in aggregate and BSc Degree (with Physics as mainsubject)withnotlessthan60%marksinaggregate.CandidateswithIntegrated M.Sc (Physics) with not less than 60% marks inaggregate are also eligible. In case of grade system, gradeto percentage of marks conversion scheme obtained fromUniversity should be presented at the time of documentverification/ interview. Those, whose final results of M.Sc(Physics) degree are awaited, but are otherwise eligible, canalso apply. In addition to the above qualification, the sponsoredcandidates should have at least one-year working experiencein radiotherapy department of Government Institution in India(supported by Personal monitoring services).

Stipend ` 25,000/- p.m. (for non-sponsored candidate)Closing Datefor receipt ofapplication

20/05/2022 (Friday 20th May 2022)

Tentative dateof Written Test 26/06/2022 (Sunday 26

th June, 2022)

One-year post - M.Sc Diploma in Radiological Physics(Dip.R.P)

Jain respondsto letter byUnion PowerMinister

30 Delhi govt schools will soonteach French to their studentsEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THE DELHI Board of SchoolEducation (DBSE)has signedanMoUwith Institut Français enInde (IFI) to introduce French inschoolsaffiliatedwith it.TheDBSE, launchedlastyear

by the Delhi government, cur-rently has 30 Schools ofSpecializedExcellenceaffiliatedwith it. TheMoUwas signed inthe presence of Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia andAmbassador of France to IndiaEmmanuel Lenain.

Inthepilotphase,Frenchwillbe introduced in the 30 SOSEsand is supposed to expand fur-thertootherschoolsdependingonstudentinterest.AccordingtoDirectorofEducationHimanshuGupta,theIFIwillassisttheDBSEandDOEintrainingteachersandresourcepersonsincommunica-tive French language, and willgrant access to its cultural andacademicplatformstostudents.“AsapartoftheKejriwalgov-

ernment’s programmeto intro-duce prominent global lan-guages in government schools,studentswill nowhave the op-tion to learn French too.

Introductionofgloballanguageslike Frenchwill unlock new ca-reer options for our students invarious fields and will makethemprofessionallysound,”saidSisodiaat theoccasion.AmbassadorLenainalsolaid

emphasisoneducationalcollab-orationsbetweenthetwocoun-tries. “Among all the collabora-tionsbetweenthetwocountries,education will always remainourpriority.LearningFrenchwillbealife-changingexperienceforthe students of Delhi govern-mentschools,andprovidethemnewopportunitiesacademicallyandprofessionally,”hesaid.

JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI,MAY2

NEARLYHOURSafter threeper-sonswere killed in a road acci-dent in East Delhi’s Shakarpur,DelhiPoliceidentifiedoneofthevictimsasaZomatodeliveryex-ecutive.Thedeceased,GudduPrasad

(30),was ridinghisbikewhenacar, believed to be speeding, hithim.Hewas flung into theair.The other two deceased –

Jyoti (17) and her sister Bharti(19) – were inside the car, andgottrappedafter it flippedfour-six times because of the colli-sion.Police said the incident took

place around 1 am on Sunday.Whilethesisterswereidentifiedsoon after the incident, it tooknearly eight to nine hours toidentifyGuddu.“HewaswearingaZomatot-

shirt.Hisphone,walletandotherbelongings were all damaged.The bikewas in bad shape.Wetried contacting everyone, in-cludingthecompany,but foundnoclue.Theinvestigatingofficerlater traced the bike’s number,and got in touch with friendswho identified the deceased,”saidanofficer.

Soonafterhewas identified,the team and friends informedhis familymembers,wholive inKolkata. Guddu lived alone inDelhi.Hisfamilysaidheworkedatamall inDelhi,but losthis jobduringthelockdown.Tosurvive,hepickedupoddjobsduringthelockdown, and joined Zomatoaroundsevenmonthsago.“He usually worked late at

night. Hewanted to keep a sta-ble income, and sendmoney tomaa. Hewould usually send Rs2,000-4,000 home.Maa spoketohimaround8pmonSaturday.

She was pushing him to comebackhome;hehadn’t visitedussince January 2021. The com-pany should help us,” saidKrishna Prasad (33), Guddu’selder brother, who works at acinemahall inKolkata.AZomatospokespersonsaid

Gudduwasoffdutywhenthein-cident tookplace.“We have accidental insur-

ance alongwith financial sup-port service thatweoffer asperthefamily'srequirement.Ourlo-calteamwillbeintouchwiththefamily,” saidacompanyofficial.His brother added: “I don’t

remember the last time I spoketo him. He had borrowed afriend’s bike for the job.Duringthe lockdownin2020,heaskedme formoney and I sent some.Aftersometime,heagainaskedbut I told him that I had nomoney.Henever asked again.”His family said Guddu's fa-

ther, Ram Prasad, is a heart pa-tient and they were in need ofmoney forhospital expenses. In2015, the family lost Guddu'sbrother to a road accident inKolkata.Hewas theyoungest inthe family.OnMonday, Krishna’s par-

ents andother familymembersconducted the last rites nearGhaziabad.

Tomakeendsmeet,Guddupickedupoddjobsduringthe lockdown,andjoinedZomatoaroundsevenmonthsago,his familysaid

Zomato worker among 3dead in East Delhi accident

New Delhi

8THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

THECITYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

From 3 colleges and 750 students, howDU grew and grew over 100 yearsSUKRITABARUAHNEWDELHI,MAY2

BETWEEN ITS inception withthreecollegesand750studentsin1922 to its 90colleges and86departments todaywith over 6lakhstudents fromacross India,the 100-year story of theUniversity of Delhi is deeply in-tertwinedwith the history andevolutionof thecity itself.On Sunday (May 1), Delhi

University marked the begin-ning of its centennial celebra-tions.

The idea of auniversityThe idea for the university

began taking shape in 1911whenitwasdecidedtoshift thecapital of India to Delhi fromCalcutta.TheonsetofWorldWarI, differences over the nature ofthe would-be university, andlackof funds kept the idea fromcomingtofruitionforanother11years.On January 16, 1922, the

Delhi University Bill was intro-ducedintheImperialLegislativeAssemblywith the objective ofestablishing a unitary teachingandresidentialuniversity in thecapital of British India. At thattime, Delhi had three arts col-leges — St Stephen’s College,whichwas founded in 1882 bythe CambridgeMission; HinduCollege, whichwas founded in1899;andRamjasCollegewhichwasfoundedin1917—andLadyHardingeMedicalCollege.Thesethree colleges were to becomethe first constituent colleges oftheuniversity.The Bill was passed by the

AssemblyonFebruary22,andbytheCouncilofStatesonFebruary28. The Viceroy gave his assentonApril 6, and theDUAct cameinto force onMay 1, 1922, withViceroyLordReadingasthefirstChancellor andHari SinghGouras the firstVice-Chancellor.DUbeganwith just two fac-

ulties — arts and science— andeight departments — English,

history, economics, Sanskrit,Arabic, Persian, physics, andchemistry.At the university’s first con-

vocation in 1923, Vice-ChancellorGoursaidthatat"thenew Delhi now to be theImperial capital of a reformedand regenerated India…a newuniversity should be createdwhich should serve as an inspi-rationtoitsnewhopesandsign-posttoitsnewbornaspirations".

Struggle in the earlyyearsDuring the first decadeof its

existence, significant additionsweremadetotheuniversity:theFaculty of Lawwas establishedin 1924; Delhi College—whichtraceditshistorytothe17thcen-tury — was revived as Anglo-Arabic College that same yearandwas affiliatedwith DU (to-day's Zakir Husain DelhiCollege); Commercial College,today’s Shri Ram College ofCommerce—beganin1926;andLady Irwin Collegewas inaugu-rated in1932.Inthistransitionalphase,the

university shuffled betweenrentedbuildings—itwashousedin the Ritz Cinema building, in

Curzon House on Alipur Road,and in a portion of the OldSecretariatbuilding.Itwasfinallyallotted its current home in theViceregal LodgeandEstateneartheRidge in1923.DUwas beset with troubles

in theseearlyyears. Inheressay'The Foundation and EarlyHistoryofDelhiUniversity'inthevolume'DelhiThroughTheAges'(ed. R E Frykenberg), historianAparna Basu wrote, "DelhiUniversity had failed to receiveanysubstantialmeasureofpub-lic confidence because of com-petitionandrivalrybetweenthecollegesandbecauseof internalstrifeandfactionalisminuniver-sityaffairs."As a result, the university

played a very small part in thelife of the capital and no part inthe lifeof Indiaasawhole. Itdidnot attract undergraduate orpostgraduate students fromotherpartsof India,andhadverylittleacademicsocietyof itsown.Itremainedscarcelyknownout-sideDelhi, andeven there, it in-spired little confidence."

Maurice Gwyer and hisvisionIn 1938, SirMaurice Gwyer,

who was appointed Vice-Chancellor in 1938 and afterwhom the university's oldestmen's residence, Gwyer Hall, isnamed, presented amemoran-dumtotheGovernmentof India,outliningavisionforanall-Indiacharacterfortheuniversity.BasuwrotethatheconceivedofDUasa "miniature Oxbridge" with a"cluster of small residential col-legesaroundthecoreof theuni-versity".According toGwyer, "Such a

University might and shouldprove one of the greatest unify-ing influences in theNew India.Itwouldpromotethewiderout-lookwhichcontactwith the lifeof a capital city can alone pro-vide;itwouldbecomeaclearinghouseof ideasandof intellectualprogress; and it might pro-foundly influence those whomayinfuturebecomeresponsi-blefortheGovernmentof India.”AmongthemeasuresGwyer

suggested were the establish-ment of a number of professo-rial chairs and readerships;scholarships to encourage“young men of real ability” tocome to Delhi from differentparts of India; the transfer ofconstituent colleges to the

Universityarea;andfixingthreeyears as the length of the ordi-narydegreecourse.Thesehadalastingimpactonthenatureandcharacterof theuniversity.St. Stephen’s moved to the

new site of its college in whatwouldbecomeNorthCampusin1942,andwassoonfollowedbyHindu,RamjasandSRCC.

Post Partition, growthand spreadWithPartition, the city’s de-

mographyandcharacterunder-wentmajorchanges.The need to accommodate

displaced students fromWestPunjab led to the start of newcolleges like Hansraj College(1948), SGTB Khalsa College(1951), Deshbandhu College(1952), and Kirori Mal College(1954).As collegeswere added over

the years, some of themost re-centlyfoundedwereintendedtocater to students living far fromthe hub of the university’s cen-tres — Aditi Mahavidyalaya inBawana,DeenDayalUpadhyayaCollege in Dwarka, KeshavMahavidyalayainPitampura,DrBhimRao Ambedkar College inYamunaVihar.

OnMay1,DelhiUniversitymarkedthebeginningof itscentennial celebrations.UniversityofDelhi

ABHINAVRAJPUTNEWDELHI,MAY2

ASTHErowovertheuseof loud-speakers at religious places inMaharashtra simmers, WestDelhiMPandBJPleaderParveshSahib Singh VermaMonday re-questedL-GAnilBaijalforactionin Delhi along the lines of UttarPradesh.In separate letters to the L-G,

Police Commissioner RakeshAsthanaandmunicipalcommis-sioners, Verma said, “As per theorderoftheSupremeCourt,loud-speakers at all religious placesshouldbeeither removedor thevolume should be kept at a per-missiblelevelsothatthesoundisheardonthepremisesandthereis no disruption of peace, espe-ciallyforstudents,seriouslyillpa-tientsandneighbouringpeople.”TheUP government has fol-

lowed the SC order, Verma said,adding, “The same needs to bedonebyotherstatesaswell.”“It'srequestedthatnecessary

instructions be given to the offi-cialsconcerned,onthelinesofthe

UP government, so that peoplecanhaveapeacefulatmosphere,”Vermaaddedinhis letter.Askedif itwasforallreligious

structures,VermatoldTheIndianExpress, “I have till nowmostlyheardMasjids using loudspeak-ersdaily.”Attachingtheletter,hetweeted, “I havewritten letters...stating that religious places arebeing misused, loudspeakernoise is increasingandharmonyisdeteriorating.TheDelhigovern-ment is standingwith suchpeo-ple.Therefore,likeUttarPradesh,there is a need to take action inDelhiattheearliest,"hesaid.A statewide drive to remove

unauthorisedloudspeakersfromreligious places and set the vol-umeofotherswithinpermissiblelimitsbeganonApril25inUP.TheUP government said it has re-movedover 10,900 “illegal” and“unauthorised”loudspeakerstillWednesday,followingdirectionsfromCMYogi Adityanath to im-plementguidelineslaiddownbycourts on the issue.Most of theloudspeakersremovedarefromLucknow(2,395)andGorakhpur(1,788)zones, officials said.

Loudspeaker politicsreaches capital as BJPMP writes to L-G

JIGNASASINHANEWDELHI,MAY2

RITUMANDALrecallsspeakingtohersonAdityaPrasadonSaturdayevening, hours before the 21-year-old, alongwith four of hisfriends,was knockeddownby avehicleinGreaterNoida.“Ispoketo himon Saturday evening. Hesaid hewas going to have pizzawith friends. I told him to comeand visit us soon.Wewere toldabout theaccidentonly thenextday.Welefteverythingandtookthe first bus fromBihar to comehere,”shesaid.

PrasadiscurrentlyintheICU,while one of his friends, AyushSharma (23), a student ofGalgotiasUniversity,succumbedtohis injuries. Theother three–Anjali, Vaishnavi and IshaKhairwar–receivedinjuries.“Healwayswantedtoliveand

study in Delhi-Noida.Wewereshocked when we saw him –thereareinjuriesonhisface,headandback. Iwant thepolice toar-restthedriversoon,”saidRitu.Following an autopsy,

Sharma’s family took his bodyback to their home in Agra onMonday.Ayush’s friend, Balak, said,

“We had planned to go toDomino's for dinner but I hadsomework and had to cancel. Iwas sleeping when the policecalled at 3 am. I was asked tocometothehospital.WhenIsawAyushandothers, I froze.Adityais my flatmate. How could thishappen? We loved watchingmovies online and playinggames.WehadplannedtogotoDelhi next week. I wish I coulddosomething tohelp.”The students were walking

backhomearound11pmwhenthe unidentified car first hitAyushandAdityabeforeknock-ingdownthethreewomen.The

incident tookplace intheBeta1area in Greater Noida. A seniorpolice officer fromBeta2policestation said the team hasanalysedmore than 50 CCTVsand is speaking towitnesses.“We aren’t sure of the se-

quence of events. The studentsare undergoing treatment andare not fit to record statements.WesuspectitwasanSUVbutthenumberplateisn’tclearlyvisible.Wehavesentteamstootherdis-

tricts to look for the vehicle andthe accused. A case has alreadybeenregistered,”saidtheofficer.OnMonday,Isha,astudentof

Hierank Business School inGreater Noida, was dischargedfrom the hospital while Anjaliand Vaishnavi were shifted toisolationwards. Their familiessaid the students had recentlyjoined college andwere excitedto liveontheirown.Vaishnavi, a B.Tech student

fromUnitedUniversityinGreaterNoida, lives inaPGwithher col-lege friends.Her father, Rajesh, abusinessman,said,“Shespental-mostthreeyearsofhercollegeat

home and complained all thetime.Wewerehappywhencol-lege reopened. I dropped her tohernewplaceafewmonthsback.Herfriendscalledmeandtoldmeabouttheaccident.She’sstillnotabletospeak.Thepolicecametoget her statement but she does-n’tremembermuch.”AdityaandAnjaliarebatchmatesatGLBajajUniversity in Noida. Anjali’syoungerbrother,whoalsolivesinNoida, came to check on herMonday. Their friend saidAnjalihasbeenworriedbecauseshehasseverelyinjuredhereyes,faceandhead. The family hails fromJaunpur.

FAMILIES IN SHOCK

No arrest yet in accident that knocked down 5 students in Greater Noida

The injuredstudentsatNavinhospital inGreaterNoida.AbhinavSaha

PAVNEETSINGHCHADHAGURGAON,MAY2

INANonlinewebinaroftheAamAadmiPartyinSeptember2019,former municipal councillorfromGurgaonNisha Singh rec-ollected her transition from acorporatecareertopolitics.“It isquitedifferentworkinginagov-ernmentenvironment.Foraper-sonwhohasworked in the pri-vate sector, there is a lot ofunlearninginitiallyandlearning.The main challenge is the bu-reaucracy. There is an inherentresistancetochange,andscepti-cism for new ideas and fear tochange the status quo or to dis-turbtheapplecart.Toanextent,wehavebeen able to overcomeit.Har cheez ko push karnemeinbahut jaan lagti hai (it takesa lotof effort to push things),” shesaysduring thesession.Last week, Singh was con-

victedfor instigatingamobthatattacked police personnel andgovernment officials during ananti-encroachment drive inGurgaon in 2015. Shewas sen-tencedtosevenyears’ imprison-mentandiscurrentlyinjail.Herlawyer Ashok Verma said theyarepreparingtoappealthecon-victionbefore theHighCourt.An MBA graduate from

London Business School, Singhworked in the corporate sectorforseveralyears,includingastintatGoogle.Shequitherjobtojoinpolitics, contesting municipalelectionsinGurgaonasaninde-pendent candidate in 2011. ShejoinedAAP in2014.Thewebinarwas conducted

when Singhwasworking as anadvisor to Delhi’s deputy CMManish Sisodia, to help reformthe state government’sIntegrated Child DevelopmentServices scheme.“I contestedmunicipal elec-

tions and miraculously won,”shesays, alsorecallingherasso-ciation with India AgainstCorruption movement.Emphasising theworkAAPwasdoing to reform anganwadis inDelhi, she says, “You have to in-volve people to solve problemsof thearea…”A close relative of Singh told

The Indian Express onMonday,“Shewasinvolvedinsocialserv-ice, she had just gone to helppeopleofherward(in2015).Shelefthercorporatecareerbecauseofherinterestinsocialactivism.”Terming theconviction “un-

fortunate”,DrSarikaVerma, theAAP spokesperson from South

Haryana and convener ofBadshahpur assembly, said, “Ican’t believe that such a harshpunishmenthasbeenmetedouttosomeonewhowasjuststand-ing at the spot. She had gonethere andwas just videograph-ingtheincidentfordocumenta-tion.”Municipal councillors who

workedwith Singh during herterm inMCG from2011 to 2016saidsheraised“pertinent”issuesintheHouseandpushedforsys-temic reforms in thecivicbody.Mahesh Dayma, councillor,

ward 30, said, “She was wellversedwith the issuesplaguingthecity. In theHouse, sheraisedseveraldevelopment-relatedis-sues. She did not contest theelectionsaftercompletionofherterm.”Another councillor, request-

ing anonymity, said, “She wastheonlyelectedcouncillorintheHousewhohadstudiedabroad.She worked closely on theground and micro-managedeverything, which often led todisagreementswithofficials.Sheoftenarguedfordecentralisationof governance.”Thisthemefindsamentionin

thewebinar, where Singh says:“Fundamental problem is thecentralisationmindset. The au-tonomy of municipal corpora-tions, which is granted by theconstitution, is not honoured inGurgaon or Haryana. There is alotofcontrolofstategovernmentand bureaucrats on functioningofmunicipalcorporations,duetowhichaccountability ismissing.Residentsremainconfusedastowhether anMLA is accountableortheMayorfortheirproblems.”In October 2015, a few

monthsaftertheanti-encroach-ment drive incident, she wasamong eight AAP workersbooked for staging a protestagainst rising power tariffs inHaryana.Policehadsaidtheydidnot have requisite permissionsfor theprotest.

Former councillorsentenced to 7 yrs injail left corporate jobfor ‘social activism’

Homeless atHaj Manzilasked toleave, govtissued notice

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THEDELHI High CourtMondaysaid Masjid Bangley Wali atMarkaz Nizamuddin will con-tinue to remainopenevenafterthemonthofRamzan,makingitthe first time sinceMarch 2020thatpublicentrywillbepermit-tedatthemosqueondaysotherthan those during themonth ofRamzanorShab-e-Barat.Advocate Wajeeh Shafiq,

who represents the DelhiWaqfBoardinitspetitionseekingeas-ingofrestrictionsattheMarkaz,told The Indian Express, “Thecourthascontinueditspreviousinterim order. ThemosquewillremainopentillOctober14.”According to the conditions

imposedbythepoliceforthere-opening,thesameisonlyfortheholding of namaz and other re-ligious prayers.While no lodg-ingispermitted,oneCCTVcam-era each is required to beinstalledattheentranceandexitof themosqueaswellasoneach

staircase.InMarch, the court hadper-

mittedtheholdingofprayersonfivefloors(groundandfouroth-ers) of the mosque duringRamzan, while overruling thepolice directive of allowing theprayersonlyonfourfloorsof themosque.Questioning thepolicerestrictionontheuseofallfloors,Justice JasmeetSinghhadasked

whether itwouldn’tbebetter if,during thepandemic, thedevo-tees were spread across fivefloors rather than four.Almost two years after

MarkazNizamuddinwaslockedand public entry prohibited inconnectionwith a case allegingviolation of Covid norms, thehighcourtinMarchhadsaidthatdevotees, irrespective of their

number,shouldbeallowedtoof-fer prayers onMasjid BangleyWali’s four floors (ground andthree other floors) on Shab-e-Barat.Policehadearliersaidthatless than100personswould bepermittedoneach floor.Last year, only 50 persons

werepermittedtoholdprayersatthemosqueonShab-e-Baratandduring themonth of Ramzan.SinceMarch2020, only fiveper-sons have beenpermitted to of-ferprayersatthemosqueondaysotherthanfestivals.TheWaqf Board, in the peti-

tion filed in February 2021, hadsubmitted thatMasjid BangleyWali,MadarsaKashif-ul-Uloom,andtheattachedhostelsituatedatBastiHazratNizamuddinhavebeen locked sinceMarch 2020.TheCentrehastoldthecourtthepremiseshavebeenkept“underlockandkey” inviewof the factthattheMarkazmanagementisitself under investigation in thecase registered in 2020 by theDelhi Police’s Crime Branch inconnectionwiththeviolationofCovidguidelines.

Markazmosque can remainopen beyond Ramzan, says HC

NishaSinghAlmost twoyearsagoMarkazNizamuddinwas lockedandpublicentrywasprohibited inconnectionwithacaseallegingviolationofCovidnorms.Archive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THE NATIONAL Human RightsCommission (NHRC) issued anotice to Delhi Chief SecretaryNaresh Kumar after the Delhigovernment asked around 80homeless people from the HajManjil night shelter home toleavebyMay1. ThecommissionhasaskedKumartosubmitare-portonthematterintwoweeks.The Indian Express had first

reported on the Delhi govern-ment’smove lastweek.“The commission has re-

ceived complaints from oneVicky,aresidentoftheshelterforhomeless,HajManzil, TurkmanGate, alleging that Delhi UrbanShelter Improvement Board iscontemplating to close theirshelterhome,andthehomelesspeoplelivingtherehavenoplaceto stay. It has also been allegedthatthestategovernmentintherecentpasthasclosednineshel-terhomesand the state author-ities are not taking any action,”readthenotice issuedtoKumar.The letter further read, “The

commission has considered thematter.The factsof thecasesaredisturbing.Theallegationsmadeby the complainants are seriousin nature involving the right tolifeof poor,haplessandhelplesshomelesspersonsandthe indif-ferent attitude of the authority.Thecaseinvolvesgraveviolationsof thehumanrightsof inmates."The commission asked the

Delhi CS tomaintain status quotill further orders and submit areportonthematterwithintwoweeks,failingwhichhewillhavetoappearbeforethecommissionat11amonMay31.The NHRC has further di-

rected itsDG (investigations) todeploy a team of 10 investigat-ing officers on the spot tomakean enquiry about all the shelterhomes and submit a reportwithinaperiodof 10days.

Gurgaon: A 45-year-old schoolbus driver was killed after thebus allegedly collided with atractor-trolleyonSohnaRoadonMondaymorning.Policesaid15schoolstudents,andschoolstaff,whowere travelling on thebus,wereunhurt in the incident.A case has been registered

against the tractor-trolley driverunderIPCsections283(dangerorobstruction inpublicwayor lineof navigation), 279 (rash drivingor riding on a public way), and304-A(deathbynegligence).Thedeceasedhasbeen iden-

tified as Ram Hari, a native ofHardoi,UttarPradesh.Policesaidhehadbeenworking as a driver

formore than fouryears. The in-cident took place at 8.08 amwhen the buswas ferrying chil-drentotheprivateschool.According to the com-

plainant, bus helper Rahul, theincident took place due to thenegligence of the tractor driver,whoabruptlyparkedthetractoron the highway. UmeshKumar,SHO, City Sohna police station,said, “It is not clear if the tractorsuddenly stoppedor it hadbeenparked.Thebushittherearofthetrolley, and thewindshield andfront part of the buswere dam-aged. Thebusdriverwas rushedto a civil hospital,wherehediedduringtreatment.”ENS

Total VacantHOSPITAL BEDS 9,577 9,378ICU BEDS 2,240 2,184

CORONAVIRUSIN THECAPITAL

VACCINATIONS INLAST24HOURS9,568

NOIDAMay1 May2

Cases 117 N/ADeaths 0 N/AGURGAONCases 332 350Deaths 0 0

PATIENTS INHOSPITAL: 191OXYGENSUPPORT 53VENTILATORSUPPORT 2

DELHI TOTALCASES18,85,636

Cases Recoveries Deaths TestsMay1 1,485 1,204 0 30,398May2 1,076 1,329 0 16,753Total 5744* 18,53,717 26,175 3,79,01,731*Total active cases inDelhi

Driver dies after schoolbus rams into tractor

New Delhi

Pushpa Bhawan’ E’ Wing, First FloorNew Delhi-110062Madangir Road

KENDRIYA BHANDAR

ELECTION OELECTION OF DELEGAF DELEGATTEESSThe election of Delegates of Kendriya

Bhandar (KB) will be held on 01.09.2022. The

dates of election of Directors and Chairman

will be decided and communicated in due

course as per the MSCSAct., Rules and Bye-

Laws made thereunder. For details, please

keepvisiting theKBwebsite for updates:-

OSD ( Admn.) Ph. No. 011-21820105

www.kendriyabhandar.org.

"5-/"00 >OBBOP

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

GOVT&POLITICSWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

SUPERVISING SAROVARON THE back of BJP's decisive victory in Uttar Pradesh, theMuslim-dominateddistrict of Rampurhas receivedabasketof infrastructure treats. Beginning thisweek, it will host itsown"AmritSarovar” inPatwai,with thePrimeMinisterhav-ing promised 75 sarovars/lakes for every district. Thisweek,theAmritSarovarwillbeopenedtoboating, shopsandselfiepoints,becominga“modelruralpicnicspot”.MinorityAffairsMinisterMukhtarAbbasNaqvi,whowasinchargeofRampurfortheUPAssemblyelections,hasbeensupervisingtheworkfor the lake.

FILLING UPNEARLY THREEmonths after appointing former JawaharlalNehruUniversityvice-chancellorProfMJagadeshKumarastheUniversityGrantsCommissionchairperson,theCentreisset to fill thevice-chairperson'spostof thehighereducationregulator. It is learntthatTata InstituteofSocialSciencesfac-ultymemberDipak Srivastava and Information and LibraryNetworkCentre(INFLIBNET)directorProf JPSinghJoorelareamongthecontendersforthepost.Thegovernmenthadad-vertised thevacantposition lastDecember.

GREEN PACT INKEDENVIRONMENTMINISTERBhupenderYadav todaysignedaJoint Declaration of Intent with German Minister forEnvironment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety andConsumerProtectionSteffiLemke,oneof thedeliverablesofthesixthIndia-GermanyInter-GovernmentalConsultations.TheJDIwill lookatprovidingsocioeconomicbenefitsforfor-est-dependentcommunities.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THE CENTRE has soughtmoretimefromSupremeCourttosub-mit itswritten response to peti-tions challenging the constitu-tional validity of Section124AofIndian Penal Code (IPC), whichdealswiththeoffenceofsedition.

In an application filedbeforethe court, the Centre saidwhilethedraftoftheaffidavitisready,itisstillawaitingconfirmationfromthecompetentauthority.A bench headed by Chief

Justice of IndiaNVRamanahadlastweekfixedMay5tohearthepetitions. The bench had askedtheCentre to file its reply by theendoftheweekandsaidthepeti-

tioners can submit their counterto the government's affidavit af-terthis,sothatthecourtcantakeup thematter onMay5 for finaldisposal.The bench underlined that

therewill be no adjournments.The benchwas considering twowrit petitions filedby former re-tiredArmyofficerSGVombatkereandtheEditorsGuildof India.

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MAY2

THE GAUHATI High CourtMonday stayed some observa-tionsmadebytheBarpetaDistrictand Sessions Courtwhile grant-ing bail to GujaratMLA JigneshMevani. The expunged remarks,the high court said,weremade“withouttherebeinganymateri-alsonrecord”.TheAssamgovernment had

challenged the District andSessions Court order, both thebail as well as the observationsmadebythejudgeregardingtheAssamPolice.Granting bail toMevani on

Friday, the local court inBarpetahadcited“ongoingpoliceexcessesin the state” and urged theGauhatiHighCourt to direct thepolice force to “reform itself”.“Converting our hard earneddemocracy into a police state issimply unthinkable, and if theAssamPoliceisthinkingaboutthesame,thesameisperversethink-ing,”thecourthadsaid.“Certainobservationsandre-

marksintheorderhadaveryde-moralisingeffectonthefunction-ingoftheAssamPolice,therefore,wedecided to challenge the or-der,” Debojit Saikia, AdvocateGeneralof AssamtoldThe IndianExpress.

Inhis order, JusticeDevashisBaruah of the High Court saidthatcertainobservations(ontheAssamPolice)“hadnorelevanceto the consideration of the bailapplication”. “These observa-tionsweremadewithout therebeing anymaterials on record,onthebasisofwhichthelearnedjudgecouldhavemadesuchob-servations and consequently,thiscourtstaystheabovequotedobservations until further or-ders,” he said, in his order.The quoted observations in-

cluded Chakravarty asking theHighCourt to consider directing“eachandeverypolicepersonnelengagedinlawandorderdutytowear body cameras, to installCCTV cameras in vehicleswhilearrestinganaccusedortakingan

accusedtosomeplaceforrecover-iesofgoodsorotherreasons,andalso install CCTV cameras insideall police stations”. Thesemeas-uresshouldbeconsideredto“pre-vent registration of false FIR likethepresentoneandtogivecredi-bility to thepolice versionof oc-currences like the arrest of ac-cused persons and the accusedpersons attempting to escapefrompolicecustodyatmidnight...whichhasbecomearoutinephe-nomenoninthestate”, itsaid.TheHighCourtfurtherstayed

the partwhere Chakravarty ob-servedthatthe"testamentof thevictim"showedthatthecasehadbeen"manufacturedforthepur-poseofkeepingtheaccusedforalongerperiod,abusingtheprocessof thecourtandlaw”.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

TWODAYSafterhewasreleasedfrom prison in Assam,IndependentMLAJigneshMevanionMonday lashedout at theBJPand Prime Minister NarendraModi,sayingthatthecaseslodgedagainst himwerepart of a “pre-planned conspiracy” to “destroyand defame” him ahead of theGujaratAssemblypolls.“SomeGodsebhaktswhoare

sitting in the PMOwere behindmy arrest,” he said at theCongress headquarters in NewDelhi.Hetermeditanactof"56-inchcowardice".He added that there is every

chancethatthegovernmentmayhave “planted something” inhiselectronic devices, including themobilephonesandlaptopsseizedfromhimandhisteam.“Mytweetwas simple. Iwasmerely askingthe PM to appeal for peace andharmony. For that, they arrestedme...Itwasapre-plannedconspir-acytodestroyme...”headded.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH,MAY2

THERULINGBJPMLAAseemGoelSunday took an oath to makeIndia a “Hindu Rashtra” and"makeortakesacrificeforit"ataneventinHaryana’sAmbalacity.Inthepurportedvideosoftheeventthat surfaced on social media,Suresh Chavanke, the editor-in-chief of the television channelSudarshanNews,who is facingtrialinahatespeechcaseinDelhi,isseenadministeringtheoath.Aspertheinformation,asem-

inarwas organised by SamajikChetnaSangathanonthetopicof'UniformCivil Code' atAggarwalBhawan in Ambala Citywhereamongothers 42-year-oldGoel,theAmbalaMLA,waspresent.ThepledgethatChavankead-

ministered in Hindi goes: “Wepledge to make Hindustan aHinduRashtra, let it be aHinduRashtra and take it forward. Ifneeded,wewillmakeortakesac-rificeforitbutatanycost,wewilldeclare Hindustan as HinduRashtra.Mayourdeities andan-cestorsgiveusstrengthtoachievethisgoal.”Inavideoclipping,Goelisseen

standing on the stage facing thegatheringwith his right-handraised and repeating thewordsadministeredbyChavanke.Aslo-

gan in the favour of a HinduRashtrawas also raised and theMLAwas seen raising both hishandsinsupportalongwithoth-erspresent.Sharingthevideooftheevent

onhis Twitter handle, Chavankesaid:"HinduRashtrakishapath-AmbalaWith the political andawakened religious loversof dif-ferentregionsofHaryana”Goel toldPTI thathe took the

oath along with others “as aHindu”andnotasaBJPMLA."IamproudtobeaHindu,"hesaid.Reached for comments,

HaryanaBJPmedia co-inchargeSanjayAhujasaid: “Thesearehis(Goel) personal remarks and thepartyhasnothingtodowithit”.The development comes

nearly twoweeks after Goel re-ported to theAmbalapolice thathehadreceiveda“threateninglet-ter purportedly fromoneKhan”.Actingontheletter,theSPAmbalahadissueddirectionstothepoliceto“takeallpreventiveandprecau-tionarymeasurestomaintainlawandorder”.AnFIRwasalsoregis-teredinthisregard.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THE ELECTIONCommission is-suedanotice to JharkhandChiefMinisterHemant Soren, seekingexplanationonwhyactionshouldnot be taken against him for al-legedlyhavingamineleaseissued

inhisfavour.Thepoll body said this prima

facie violated Section 9A of theRepresentation of People's Act,whichdealtwithdisqualificationforgovernmentcontracts."(1) A person who having

held an office under theGovernment of India or undertheGovernmentofanyStatehas

beendismissedforcorruptionorfordisloyaltytotheStateshallbedisqualified for a period of fiveyears from the date of such dis-missal.(2) For the purposes ofsub-section (1), a certificate is-suedbytheECtotheeffectthatapersonhavingheld office undertheGovernment of India or un-der the Government of a State,

hasorhasnotbeendismissedforcorruptionorfordisloyaltytotheStateshallbeconclusiveproofofthatfact:Providedthatnocertifi-cate to the effect that a personhas been dismissed for corrup-tionor fordisloyalty to theStateshall be issuedunless anoppor-tunity of being heard has beengiventothesaidperson,"itstates.

AssamchallengesMevani bail,lower court observationsstayed

JigneshMevani inNewDelhionMonday.Anil Sharma

Jharkhand CM gets EC notice over mine lease

Govt seeks time to reply on pleaschallenging sedition law in top court

Chandigarh: Senior CongressleaderHarishChaudhary,who isalsoAICCinchargeforPunjab,haswritten toparty president SoniaGandhi seeking disciplinary ac-tionagainstformerstateunitchiefNavjot Singh Sidhu for trying to"portrayhimselfabovetheparty".IntheletterdatedApril23,which

surfacedMonday,ChaudharyalsoattachedadetailednoteofPunjabCongress chief Amrinder SinghRajaWarring regarding Sidhu's"parallel activitieswhichwere“notintheinterestofoftheparty".Intheletter,Chaudharynoted

thatSidhucriticisedthepreviousCongressgovernment.ENS

Some Godse‘bhakts’ in PMObehind myarrest: Mevani

Haryana: BJP MLAtakes oath to makeIndia ‘Hindu Rashtra’

AmbalaBJPMLAAseemGoel. File

PunjabCongin-charge,state chiefseekdisciplinaryactionagainstSidhu

New Delhi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

TAKING A jibe at previous gov-ernments for continuing withtwo Constitutions in one coun-try — a reference to the specialstatus granted to Jammu andKashmir — Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Mondaycalled them “tubelight” andmentioned that the situationwascorrectedafter70years.Addressing the Indian com-

munity in Berlin, Modi said,“Desh ek thhe, samvidhan dothhe.... Kyun itni der lagi. Puranezamanemeinkehtethhetubelight(It isonecountry,butthereweretwoConstitutions….Whydid ittake so long? Earlier, this wascalled tubelight).”“Saatdashakhogayeekdesh,

eksamvidhanlagukartekarte.Ablaaguhuahaidoston(ithastakenseven decades to have a singleConstitutionfortheentirecoun-try…it has been implementednow),”hesaid.Modi was referring to abro-

gation of special status grantedunderArticle370 to J&K.Duringhishour-longspeech,

Modi recounted achievementsbyhisgovernment:fromgrowthin the number of start-ups tohigh volumes of direct benefit

transfer, recordGST collections,sendingvaccinesandmedicinesto abroad, facilitation for Indianentrepreneurs, abolition of ar-chaiclawsandthepitchforlocalproducts.HealsocalledupontheIndian community to invest inIndian infrastructure in theirhometownsandvillagesof India,celebrate Yoga Day, and popu-larise India-made products inforeign land.In a separate event on

Monday, Modi highlighted re-formsundertakenbyhisgovern-ment as he interacted withIndian and German businessleaders,urgingthemtoinvestinIndia'syouth.Modi,whoreachedBerlinon

Mondaymorningonthefirstlegof his three-nation Europe trip,co-chaired a business roundtable with German ChancellorOlaf Scholz."PrimeMinisteremphasised

onthebroad-basedreformscar-riedoutby thegovernmentandhighlighted the growing num-bersofstart-upsandunicornsinIndia," theMinistry of ExternalAffairssaidinapressrelease.HeinvitedbusinessleaderstoinvestinIndia'syouth.FinanceMinisterNirmala Sitharaman andExternal Affairs Minister SJaishankar too participated inthemeeting.

10THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PMswipe atprevious govts:Tubelight

HARIKISHANSHARMANEWDELHI,MAY2

EVENAS local politiciansof bothruling BJP and oppositionCongresssaidnormalcyisreturn-ingtothetownslowly,thedistrictadministration of Khargone inMadhya Pradesh, unwilling totakeanychancesweeksafterthetown saw communal violence,hasdecidedagainstanyrelaxationto curfewon the occasionof EidonTuesday.Various parts of Khargone

have been under curfew sinceApril 10, when communal vio-lence broke out during RamNavami procession. Severalhousesweresetonfireandmorethantwodozenpeople,includingSuperintendent of PoliceSiddharth Choudhary,were in-juredintheclashes.So far, theadministrationhas

beenrelaxingthecurfewforafewhourseachday,dependingonthesituation.“Therewillbenorelax-ationofanykindinKhargonecityonTuesday….Eidprayerswillbedoneathome,”thedistrictadmin-istration said in a statement onMonday. The decision has beentakenwiththeconsentofpeoplefromallcommunities,theadmin-istrationstated.Khargone district collector

Anugraha P told The IndianExpress that curfew is being re-laxedfrom8amto5pmor10amto5pmeverydaytoenablepeo-pletobuyessentialsandcarryoutotherwork.“Wehavedistributedrelief amountof aboutRs1croretopeoplewhowere injured andtheirpropertiesburntduringtheviolence.Without anydiscrimi-nation,thereliefmoneyhasbeendistributedto122affectedpeoplefromHinduandMuslimcommu-nities.”Peoplewhose properties

were burnt and those whowantedtomovehavebeenshiftedto other places so that they canrestarttheir life,shesaid.CongressMLAfromKhargone

Ravi Joshi saidpeace committeemeetingsarebeingheldtorestoreconfidence.However,hepointedatthe“confusion”overcurfewre-laxationhours:“Earlier,itwassaidthat therewould be a completecurfew in the city on May 2(Monday),butnowrelaxationhasbeengivenfrom10amto5pm.”BJP leaderBalkrishnaPatidar,

who lost to Joshi in the lastAssemblypolls, said tensionhasreduced in the last fewdays andthesituationisimproving.“Wearelooking at reducing this anger,helpvictimsandensuredistribu-tionofcompensation.”Meanwhile, the district ad-

ministrationhasmadeplace ad-ditional security arrangementsaheadofEid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY02

THE DELHI High Court onMonday sought theCentre’s re-sponse on a petition seeking aruling for declaring a Muslimhusband’s act of bigamy orpolygamy unconstitutional inabsence of a written consentfromhisexistingwife.Thepetitionseeksframingof

a law by the Centre for regulat-ingbigamyorpolygamyamongMuslims. The division bench ofactingChief JusticeVipinSanghiand JusticeNavinChawla askedtheauthoritiestofilearesponsewithin sixweeks and listed thecase forhearingonAugust23.Thepetitionhasbeenfiledby

aDelhi-basedwoman,Reshma,through advocate Bajrang Vats.According to theplea, shealongwithherminorsonhasbeende-sertedbyherhusband.Thepeti-tioner’sotherpleaforseekingtodeclare talaq al-sunnah, a typeof divorce in Islamic jurispru-dence, as unconstitutional anddiscriminatory, is also pendingbefore thecourt.“Bigamy or polygamy con-

tracted by a Muslim husbandwithout obtainingpriorwrittenconsent of hiswife (wives) andwithoutmaking prior arrange-ments of accomodation,main-teance of hiswife (wives) is un-constitutional,anti-shariat,illegal,arbitrary, harsh, imhuman andbarbaric and this practice needstoberegulatedbylawtocurbtheplightofMuslimwomen,”arguesReshma’sfreshpetition.

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,MAY2

AFTER TURNING down theCongress' offer to join the party,Prashant Kishor has droppedhintsof settinguphisownpolit-ical party. Inwhat is being seenas a step in that direction, pollstrategist Kishor has startedmeetingmembersofthecivilso-ciety and launched Jan Suraj, acampaign to seek feedback ongoodgovernance."My quest to be ameaning-

ful participant in democracy &

helpshapepro-peoplepolicyledto a 10yr rollercoaster ride! As Iturn the page, time to go to theReal Masters, THE PEOPLE, tobetter understand the issues &the path to “Jan Suraj”-PeoplesGood Governance," Kishor saidin a tweet onMonday.with thetagline'ShuruaatBiharse(start-ing fromBihar)'.A sourceclose toKishorsaid,

“Wehavepreparedalistofsome80-100 leading personalitiesfromcivilsociety, includingdoc-tors,teachers,socialactivists...Hewillmeetallofthemone-on-oneoverthenextthreedays."Among

thenamesKishorislikelytomeetinclude leading RTI activist ShivPrakash Rai, social activistMukeshHisaria,MotiharidoctorParvezAzizandsocial entrepre-neur IrfanAlam.Theidea, saidthesource, is to

"reach out to peoplewho have

worked inBihar andcan suggestwhatBiharneeds".Kishorhasalsobeenmeetingpoliticians,anothersource said, refusing to disclosetheir identities.The JD (U), the partywhich

Kishor briefly joined, however,playeddownhisinitiative,saying"only theNitish Kumarmodel"willwork inBihar. TheBJP calledKishor"nothingmorethanapollstrategist".JD(U) national spokesperson

K C Tyagi said, "That Nitish hasbeen CM since 2005 is proofenough of his good governancemodel.EvenKishorendorsedthis

during the 2015Assembly elec-tions with his theme of 'Biharmein bahaar hai, NitisheKumarhai(thereiswellbeinginBiharbe-causeifNitishKumar'."Kishor,who joined the JD(U)

in September 2018andwent onto become its first and only na-tional vice president, quit theparty in January2020. The sameyear,helaunched"BaatBiharki".BJP national spokesperson

GuruPrakashPaswan said, "Thisis not the first time PrashantKishorhas triedhishandatpoli-tics...As a political activist, he isdoneanddusted...”

JAGPREETSINGHSANDHUCHANDIGARH,MAY2

Terming it a fit case to preventthe"abuseof theprocessof law"and stating that it cannot beruled out that “the FIR is politi-callymotivated,”thePunjabandHaryana High court Mondaystayed the arrest of rebel AAPleader KumarVishwas in a caseregistered against him inPunjab's Rupnagar over alleged"inflammatory statements"against Delhi Chief MinisterArvindKejriwal.Vishwas, who is also a poet,

wasbookedbytheRupnagarpo-lice after an AAP worker hadclaimed that on April 12, whenhe was visiting villages alongwithpartysupportersforthere-dressofpeople'sgrievances,10-12 unknown masked menstopped them and called themKhalistani. This started afterVishwas gave "inflammatorystatements" against AAP na-tionalconvenerArvindKejriwalonnewschannelsandsocialme-diaplatformsalleginglinkswithseparatist elements, the com-plainantalleged.

SANTANUCHOWDHURY&LIZMATHEWKOLKATA,NEWDELHI,MAY2

WHENUNIONHomeMinisterAmit Shah begins his three-dayvisittothestateonWednesday—his first since the state electionslast year—hewill be facedwiththe task of rejuvenating a stateunit that is in disarray. Despitehaving 70 MLAs in BengalAssembly,thesaffronpartyisfac-ingastiffchallengeforthesecondpositionfromtheLeft,whichhasnorepresentativesintheHouse.Sources in BJP said Shahwill

“discussstrategiesandgivemuch-awaited moral support to thecadre”inWestBengal,wherepan-chayatelectionswillbeheldnext

year in the run-up to 2024 LokSabhapolls. Shah is expected tohold detailed discussionswithleaders fromdifferent regions ofthestateandRSSfunctionaries.ChiefamongShah'staskswill

be infusing confidence into theparty's cadre,whichhasbeenonthebackfoot since thepost-elec-tionviolencelastyear,andputtinganendtointernecinebattlesinthestate unit. “As the party has al-readybegun its preparations for2024LokSabhaelections,thecen-tralleadershipcannotignoreWestBengal,whichsent18MPstoLokSabha(in2019).Hisvisithasbeenlongoverdue. The stateunit des-peratelyneedsamoraleboostandShah is expected to infuse someconfidenceintothecadre,”asen-iorBJPleadersaid.

WestBengalBJPexpressedits“deep frustration”with the cen-tral leadershipover its“refusal tolendsupport tothecadreagainstwhat it called the ruling TMC's“strong-arm tactics”. Sources instate BJP accused the nationalleadership of “ignoring andne-glectingmultiplevoicesfromtheWestBengalunit”seekingits“in-terventionandsupport”toprotectandretainthecadrebasethepartyhasbuiltsince2015.Atleastthreepartyfunctionar-

iessaidthecentralleadershipdidnot “paymuch attention” to theBengalunit“aftertheunexpecteddefeat theparty faced”and“exo-dusofleaderswhohadjoinedthepartyafterAssemblyelections”.The state unit's frustration

with the central leadership has

also been conveyed by seniorleaderKailashVijayvargiya, thepartygeneralsecretaryinchargeofBengalwhowasinstrumentalintheBJP'ssuccessinthestatein2019. Vijayvargiya has soughtproactiveinitiativesfromthena-tionalleadershiptoaddressstateleaders' complaints, but hehasnot visited the state since theAssemblypolldebacle.After arriving in Kolkata on

May 4, Shah will travel toHingalganjinNorth24Parganasdistrict the followingday to at-tend aBSFprogramme.Hewillthen visit Siliguri to address apublicrally.OnMay6,hewillat-tendagovernmentprogrammeinCoochBehar'sTinbigha.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

ANISHADUTTANEWDELHI,MAY2

THE INDIAN Railways spentaroundRs150croreoverthelastfour months repairing over2,000damagedwagonstoexpe-dite coal movement to powerplants, according toofficials.This comes at a timewhen

India is facinganacuteshortageofpower.OnApril28,Indiafacedashortageof 192.1millionunitsof power as peak demandreached a new all-time high of204.6 GW. On average, India’sthermal power plants had lessthan eight days worth of coalstock on Thursday against the

normof 24days.According to railway min-

istry data around 9,982 suchwagonswere listedasdamagedin January, which reduced to7,803 by May 2, with theRailways managing to repair2,179wagonsintimeforthecoaldemandtopeak in thecountry."The cost of repairing these

wagonsrangesbetweenRs5-10lakh each. Private contractorsusedbypowerplantsbegansub-stitutingmanualunloadingwithJCBs. JCBs hit the interior of thewagons and damage them se-verely.Whileearlier,thisunload-ingwasdonemanually,now, itsbeing done through JCBswhichhaveresulted inasignificant in-

crease inthenumberofwagonsthataredamaged,"aministryof-ficial said.According to the data, 9,982

wagons were shown as dam-aged as on January 1, the num-ber increased to 10,687 byJanuary6.OnFebruary11, itwas7,267androseto7,803asonMay2,data shows.According to officials aware

of the development, due to de-pleting stocks at the coal fields,the turnover time of wagonswaiting for coal loading has in-creased from seven days toaround15-20days.Railwayshasalsoincreasedtheoperatingdu-rationof rakesby2,500km,giv-ing themmorerunning time.

SOURAVROYBARMAN&LALMANIVERMANEWDELHI, LUCKNOW,MAY2

MENANDwomenwill gather,read aloud the Preamble to theConstitutionandrecountthesto-riesof Independencemovementicons,beforetakingupsubjectsoftopical interest, from inflation tounemployment--undertheaegisof theTricolour.Come July, such scenes are

likely to play out across villagemaidans and town squares ofUttar Pradesh, with the AamAadmi Party planning "TirangaShakhas",inwhatthepartyclaimsisabidtocountertheBJP'snation-alisticpush,andstrengthenitsor-ganisationalpresenceinthecoun-try'smostpopulousstate.AAP leaders say the idea also

fits into the larger canvas of theparty's campaigns centeredaround“realrashtrawad(nation-alism)” -- fromTirangaYatras, toinstallation of high-mastTricoloursacrossDelhi, to the in-troduction of a deshbhakti cur-riculum in schools, to raising is-sueslikehealthandeducation.The Tiranga Shakhas also go

one step further – by drawing aparallelwith theRSS'smodel ofshakhas inboth thenameof themeetings, themembers called'pramukhs'organisingthem,andthewayAAPwillbeholdingthem.Plus,theunfurlingoftheTricolouratAAPmeetingswillhighlightthefactthattheRSShoistsitsownflagatitsshakhas.TheSangh'sadver-sariesoftenaccuseitofputtingitsdhwajbeforetheTiranga."I will launch the first such

tirangashakhainLucknowonJuly

1. Our shakhaswill be open toevery gender, every community,everycaste.Highschool childrencan also participate," AAPRajyaSabhaMPSanjaySingh, creditedwithbeing thebrain behind theinitiative,said.AttheRSSdailyshakhas,num-

beringmore than65,000 acrossthe country, the saffrondhwaj isunfurledandvolunteersperforma 'dhwaj pranam (salute to it)'through songs. After that, underthe supervision of a 'baudhhikpramukh', volunteers expresstheirviewsonsocialissues,whilea 'sharirik pramukh' leads themembersinphysicalexercisesforfitness. AtAAPshakhas,aftertheTricolour is unfurled andvolun-teers have read from theConstitution, leaderswill speakaboutpersonalitieslikeMahatmaGandhi, Bhimrao Ambedkar,

Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqulla Khanandothers.Thepartywillappoint10,000 'Tiranga Shakha pra-mukhs'toconductthemeetings.SanjaySinghsaidthevenueof

theTirangaShakhaswillvaryde-pendingoncircumstances."Itcanbeinafieldsomewhere,ormaybesomeone'shouse,partyoffices.Alloptions are being explored,"Singh,AAPin-chargeinUP,said.Moreimportantly,hesaid,the

TirangaShakhaswillnotbe“maleonly” clubs, inaveiled jibeat theRSSgatheringswherewomenarenotallowed.“These shakhaswill discuss

important issues of the country,liketheneedforbetterhealthin-frastructure, education, unem-ployment, and make peopleaware aboutpolitics andpartici-pation in it...,”AAPspokespersonVaibhavMaheshwarisaid.

Headded: “AAPwill detoxifythe atmosphere polluted by theRSS with its agenda of hatred.Peoplewill draw a comparisonbetweentheshakhasofAAPandtheRSS.”Whiletheplanistoeventually

hold Tiranga Shakhas up to theblock level, thesewill beginwithwards in urban areas,with AAPplanningtomakeaheadwayintoUPthroughthecivicpolls sched-uledforlaterthisyear.Theplanistohavetheshakhafootprintinallthe 75 districts of the state byJuly.In the 2022 UP Assemblypolls,most AAPmanaged just a0.38%voteshare.The RSS's Purvi Kshetra

Prachar Pramukh, NarendraSingh, said AAPwould soon re-alisethefollyof its idea.

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

HC stays KumarVishwas’ arrestin case relatedto Kejriwal

Their shakha vs our shakha: AAP to take rashtrawadbattle against RSS to maidans, mohallas in UP

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THE ALIGARH district adminis-tration has sent a show-causenoticetotheorganisersofareli-gious event on Sunday duringwhich some speakers allegedlymade objectionable referencesagainstaminoritycommunity.A Sanatan Dharma Sabha

was organised at Aligarh'sRamlilaGroundonSunday,andit was also attended by YatiNarsinghanandandKalicharanMaharaj, both already facingcriminal cases for hatespeeches.“Permission was taken for

food distribution and a cere-monyforpriests. Itwasbroughtto our notice that swordswerebrandishedat theeventdespitea ban on carrying weapons.Therearealsoreportsthatcom-ments were made regarding areligiousminorityto incitesen-timents,”readthenoticesentbytheadministrationtotheorgan-isers.Thenoticefurtherstatedthat

actionwill be taken against theorganisers if a satisfactory re-sponse is not filed within 24hours.InanvideopurportedlyoftheAligarhevent,Kalicharancanbe heard telling the crowd that“Hindus have become aminor-ity”inthecountryandthattherewas an “extreme situation” atpresent and the communityshould be prepared for all cir-cumstances. He also reportedlysaid that theHinducommunitymust think of protecting theirlovedonesfrommembersoftheminoritycommunity.

HC seeks govt’sstand over pleaon bigamy,polygamyamong Muslims

Crowdedmarketoneveof theEid-ul-Fitr in JaipuronMonday.Rohit JainParas

Prashant Kishor hints at forming new partyMeetsmembersof civil society; JD(U)saysonlyNitishmodelwillwork inBihar

Curfew in Khargone on Eidas town struggles to move on

Kishorlaunched acampaigntoseekfeedbackongoodgovernance

Rlys spent Rs 150 cr to repair over 2,000damaged wagons for coal movement

2CONSTITUTIONS: INDIA, J&K

PrimeMinisterNarendraModi interactswith Indiandiaspora inBerlin,Germany,onMonday.PTI

Organisers getnotice for remarksagainst minoritycommunity

ALIGARH

THELACKof organisa-tional cohesionhas beenreflected inBJP's recentelectoral performance. Ithas suffered a string oflosses, the recent beingthe ones inAsansol LokSabhaby-election andBallygungeAssemblyby-poll. In Ballygunge,BJP finished thirdbe-hind the Left,which in-creased its vote sharefrom5% in2021polls tomore than30%.

Disunityseen inpollsetbacksE●EX

PLAINED

Floundering in Bengal, BJP pins hopes on Shah visit

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

THESUPREMECourtonMondaydirected continuation of an in-terimorderpassedbytheKeralaHigh Court asking theLakshadweepadministrationtocontinue providing meat andchickentoschoolchildrenaspartofthemid-daymealprogrammepending disposal of a petitionchallenging theHC’s final orderratifyingthedecisiontoexcludethese items from themenuandclose down financially unviablegovernment-rundairyfarmsonthe island.Issuingnoticeof thepetition

againsttheHC’sfinalorderdatedSeptember 17, 2021, a bench ofJustices Indira Banerjee and A SBopanna directed that “in themeanwhile, the interim orderpassed by the High Court on22.06.2021shall continue”.The petitioner had ap-

proachedtheHC,seekingquash-ingof theLakshadweepadmin-istration's May 21, 2021, order“whereby the Director of the

Department of AnimalHusbandry, Kavaratti...inter aliaissueddirectionson thebasisofthe direction issued by theSecretary (Animal Husbandry),UnionTerritoryofLakshadweep,tocloseallthedairyfarmsrunbythe Department of AnimalHusbandryandtodisposeof thebulls, calvesetc. Immediately inthe presence of the ActionCommitteeMembers by givingwide publicity and observingother formalities, and toquash...minutes of the UT LevelSteering-cum-MonitoringCommittee and District TaskForceonmid-daymealscheme,dated 27.01.2021, whereby theexistingmenuwasmodified bydeletingmeat and chicken, andincluding fruitsanddry fruits”.InitsJune22,2021,interimor-

der,theHCdirectedthat“thefunc-tioningof thedairy farmsshouldbecontinueduntilfurtherorders”and that “food, includingmeat,chicken, fish and egg, and otheritems,preparedandservedtotheschoolchildrenof Lakshadweep,asdoneinthepast,shouldbecon-tinueduntil furtherorders”.

Go with HC interimorder on non-veg: SC

MIDDAYMEALMENU INLAKSHADWEEP

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY2

INAmajorbureaucraticreshuffle,theCentreonMondayappointedGyanesh Kumar, a 1988-batchKerala-cadre IAS officer, as thenewSecretary of theMinistry ofCooperation.The Appointments

Committeeof theCabinet(ACC)approvedKumar’sappointment,who is currently holding thechargeof theSecretary,Ministryof ParliamentaryAffairs. Kumarwill replace Devendra KumarSingh,alsoofKerala-cadre,whogoesasSecretaryGeneral,NHRC.Kumarwill also continue to

holdtheadditionalchargeofhiscurrent responsibility.SRadhaChauhan,aUP-cadre

IAS officer of 1988 batch, is thenewSecretaryoftheDepartmentofPersonnel&Training.Shewillreplace Pradip Kumar Tripathi,who has been appointed asSecretary(Coordination),CabinetSecretariat.Alkesh Kumar Sharma, a

1990-batchKerala-cadreIASof-ficer is the new Secretary,Ministry of Electronics &InformationTechnology.SanjayKumar,a1990-batchBihar-cadreIAS officer, has been appointedas the Secretary, Department ofYouthAffairs.Neel Kamal Darbari, a 1987-

batch IAS officer of Rajasthancadre, has been appointed asChairperson,NationalAuthorityChemicalWeaponsConvention.S K G Rahate, a 1990-batch

Jharkhand-cadreIASofficer,hasbeenappointedasthesecretary,Departmentof Justice.TheACCalsoappointedthree

officers at the PrimeMinister’sOffice. Retired IAS officer TarunKapoorhasbeenappointedastheAdviser to thePrimeMinister, inthePMO, intherankandscaleofSecretarytogovernmentofIndia.Han Ranjan Rao, a 1994-batchMP-cadre IAS officer, will beAdditionalSecretaryinthePMO,whileAtishChandra,a1994batchofficer, has been appointedAdditionalSecretaryinthePMO.

Gyanesh Kumaris new Co-opMinistry Secy inmajor reshuffle

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK 11WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

SALE NOTICE FOR SALE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES

Details of theEncumbrances known tothe securedcreditors

1.

Circle Office- Ara, 2nd floor, Regal Complex, Near Raman Maidan, Ara, Bhojpur, Bihar,coarasamd@pnb.co.in( A Govt. of India Undertaking)

CIRCLE SASTRA ARRAH, 1st Floor, Mahuli Kothi, Near Peer Baba More, Arrah- 802301

E-Auction Sale Notice for Sale of Immovable Assets under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement ofSecurity InterestAct, 2002 read withproviso toRule 8 (6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002.Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrower (s) and Guarantor (s) that the below described immovable propertymortgaged/charged to the Secured Creditor, the constructive/physical/ symbolic possession of which has been taken by theAuthorised Officer of theBank/ Secured Creditor, will be sold on “As is where is”, “As is what is”, and “Whatever there is” on the date asmentioned in the table herein below,for recovery of its dues due to theBank/ SecuredCreditor from the respective borrower (s) and guarantor (s). The reserve price and the earnestmoneydeposit will be asmentioned in the table belowagainst the respective properties.Lot.No.

Name of theAccount,Borrower/

GuarantorsName,

Name of theBranch

Description of the Immovable PropertiesMortgaged/ Owner‟s Name(mortgagers of

property(ies))

A) Dt. Of Demand Noticeu/s 13(2) of SARFESI ACT2002B)OutstandingAmountC) Possession Date u/s13(4)ofSARFESI ACT2002D) Nature of PossessionSymbolic/ Physical/Constructive

A)ReservePriceB)EMDC) last date ofdeposit of EMDD)Bid IncreaseAmount

Date/Timeof

E-Auction

M/S SHERU MINIRICE MILL,Proprietor Sh.Ramesh KumarGupta S/o SriYamuna Sah,

A/C No.0724008700001500,072400IL0000

0309,BO. KUDRA(072400)

Mauza- Jahanabad(657),Rev. Thana Kudra,Halka no.- 5, Khata no.- 143, Plot no.-805,Area- 6 1/4 Decimal, Deed no.- 11015 dtd.15.10.2001,Boundary: N- Plot No. 809, S-Plot no.- 767/Rasta, E- Plot no.- 805,810/vendor, W- Md. Safiullaj,Mortgagor: Sh.Jamuna Sah, S/o Late Halkhori Sah, R/o Vill.-Lilapur, PO-Derwan, PS-Kudra, Dist. Kaimur

A) 29.06.2021B) Rs.1,20,34,150.04/-+ int. due from01.04.2021 & OtherCharges.C) 06.01.2022D) Symbolic

18/05/202210:30 AM to4:30 PM

Not Known

2. M/S SAI POOJASTORE,

Proprietor Smt.Pooja Jiswal, W/O

Sh. GaneshPrasad Jaiswal,

A/C No.2696008700002057&269600CF000

00226 ,BO. AKORHI(269600)

MortgagedProperties situated at:Mauza- Mohania Thana- Mohania, Thana No-131, Khata no. -645, Plot no.338/2308, 336,Area- 3 decimal + 7 decimal, Total Area-10decimal ,Boundary- North- SarvajeetUpadhyay South- G TRoad East – Gupt Nath,West- Ramker for each plot,Mortgaror: Sh.Ganesh Prasad Jaiswal, S/O Sh. Ram JiPrasad Jaiswal

A) 22.06.2021B) Rs.68,33,798.03/- +int. due from 01.04.2021& Other Charges.C) 06.01.2022D) Symbolic

A) 155.95 LakhB) 15.60 LakhC) 17/05/2022D) 10,000/-

18/05/202210:30 AM to4:30 PM

Not Known

A) 47.14 LakhB) 4.72 LakhC) 17/05/2022D) 10,000/-

3.

4.

M/S BAJRANGTRADERSthrough its

proprietor Sh.Subhash Kumar

Sahu S/o-Sonamukhi Sah

A/C No-15144011000191& 151471210005

56BO: DUMRAON

(151410)

Land Situated at:1. Sale Deed No.- 895 Dt- 28-01-2014, Mauza-Mohamadpur, Thana- 156, PS & Anchal-Dumraon, Chak Khata no- 12, chak Khesra no-42, Survey Khata No- 31, Survey Khesra No.123 Area- 21 Decimal, Boundary- N-Ramawati Kunwar, S- Chat, E- Must RamwatiKunwar,W-MustRamawati DeviMortgagor:Sh.SonaMukhi SahS/oDinaSah

A) 25.06.2021B) Rs 31,30,243.68 +(Intt. Due from01.04.2021 & OtherCharges).C) 06.10.2021D) Symbolic

A) 64.15 LakhB) 6.42 LakhC) 17.05.2022D) 10,000/-

18/05/202210:30 AM to4:30 PM

Not Known

M/S KRISHNABRAHM BABAENGINEERING

WORKSthrough its

proprietor SmtUsha Devi, W/OSri RajendraPrasad Singh

A/C No-15144015003143& 151472010006

36BO: DUMRAON

(151410)

A) 25.06.2021B) Rs 12,41,421.28 +(Intt. Due from01.04.2021 & OtherCharges).C) 06.10.2021D) Symbolic

A) 16.33 LakhB) 1.63 LakhC) 17.05.2022D) 10,000/-

18/05/202210:30 AM to4:30 PM

Not KnownLand Situated at:Mauaza- Mohamadpur, Thana no- 156,Anchal: Dumraon, Dist. Buxar. Khata no. -56,Plot no.107, Area- 1Katha 10 dhur.Boundaryas per sale deed: North- Niz South-No.HazaMeKabaledar Damwanti DeviAaj Tarikh, East– Mridula Singh & others West- Rasta.Boundary as per present position: North:Rekha Devi, South: No. Haza Me KabaledarDamwanti Devi, East: Mridula Singh, West:RastaMortgagor: Smt Usha Devi W/O Sri RajendraPrasadSingh,

TERMS AND CONDITIONS1) The sale shall be subject to the Terms & Conditions prescribed in the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules 2002 and to the following furtherconditions:2)Theproperties are being sold on „AS IS WHERE ISBASIS and “AS IS WHAT IS BASIS” and “WHATEVERTHERE IS BASIS”3)The particulars of SecuredAssets specified in the Schedule herein above have been stated to the best of the information of theAuthorisedOfficer,but theAuthorisedOfficer shall not be answerable for any error,misstatement or omission in this proclamation.4)The Sale will be done by the undersigned through e-auction platform provided at theWebsite https://www.mstcecommerce.com on 18.05.2022 @10:30AM5) For detailed term and conditions of the sale, please refer www.ibapi.in, www.tenders.gov.in, www.mstcecommerce.com ,https://eprocure.gov.in/epublish/app

Authorized OfficerPunjab National Bank

Secured CreditorDate: 02.05.2022Place: Arrah

Nehru Memorial Museum and Librarycordially invites you to a Public Lecture

on

The Quad, India and the Indo-Pacific: Unlocking thecomplexities and Assessing the Prospects Ahead

by

Dr. Ashok SharmaAcademic Fellow, Australia-India Institute University of Melbourne

Wednesday, 4 May 2022 at 3:00 pm

Venue:Seminar Room, Library Building

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/dkj-pecf-nwf

All are Welcomedavp 09142/12/0007/2223

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPUNE,MAY2

THEPREVAILINGheatwavecon-ditionsoverRajasthan,Vidarbhain Maharashtra and pocketsaroundDelhiwillbegintoabatestarting Tuesday, the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD)saidonMonday.Themaximumtemperatures

over northwest India is set todrop by 3 degrees to 4 degreesCelsius and remain so untilFriday, theMetofficials said.Many places in western

Rajasthan and Vidarbha hadbeen recording over 45degreesCelsiusall through lastweek.Thursday onwards, most

parts of north and central Indiaregions will be free from heat-wave, according to the IMD'sforecast. Besides, there arechances of thunderstorms andrain over Jammu and Kashmir,Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,easternMadhya Pradesh, Bihar,Odisha,Chhattisgarh,Jharkhandand all states in South India un-tilMay6.“This is under the influence

of theapproachingwesterndis-turbance,” an IMD official said.“Rainfall over the southernpeninsulawill be causeddue towinddiscontinuityinlowerlev-els.”Likewise, central India will

also experience a reduction inheat, as the day temperature isset todropby2degrees to3de-grees Celsius for the next threedays, according to IMD.However, Maharashtra and

Gujaratmaycontinuetoexperi-encehotterdaysthisweek,witha heatwave forecast onMay 5and6overMadhyaMaharashtra.AroundMay6, IMDhasfore-

casttheformationofalowpres-suresystemintheBayofBengal.Its course of intensification andlikelyseverityisnotcertainnow,butlowpressuresystemsdevel-opinginMayintheBayofBengalhave strong chances of intensi-fying into cyclones, IMD direc-tor-general MrutyunjayMohapatra said.In view of the development

of this lowpressure system, theMet department has said thatrainfall over India's east coastand the Andaman and Nicobarislandswill continue.

ANONNADUTTNEWDELHI,MAY2

WEEKSAFTERtwounconfirmedcases were reported fromMaharashtra and Gujarat, thecountry's first case of Omicronsub-variant XE has been con-firmedbytheIndianSARS-CoV2Genomics SequencingConsortium (INSACOG), a net-workof national testing labora-toriessetupbytheGovernment.As of now, experts say, there

is no evidence to suggest that aCovidinfectionfromtheXEsub-variant is different from thosecaused by the other Omicronsub-lineages.Thenewsub-vari-ant has been found to be onlyabout 10 per cent more trans-missiblethanthecurrentlydom-inant BA.2 variant of Omicron,which triggered the third Covidwave in thecountry in January.“Lessthanahandfulofrecom-

binant variants have been de-tected in thecountry so far.All ofthemarefromgeographicallydis-parate regions.Nocluster forma-

tionhasbeenseen,”aGovernmentofficialtoldTheIndianExpress.Therewas no official confir-

mationonwheretheXEsamplewas obtained from. But of thetwounconfirmedcasesreportedearlier from the two states, theofficial said the sample fromMaharashtrawasnotof thenewsub-variant.The XE confirmation — in

INSACOG's weekly bulletin —comesata timewhentherehasbeen an increase in Covid casesin 12 states, leading to maskmandates. There has, mean-while,beenadeclineincasestooin 19 other states, according toGovernmentdata tillApril 25.The INSACOGbulletin states

that the “Omicron (BA.2) is thedominantvariantinIndiatilldate”.TheXEvariant isa“recombi-

nant”.Thismeansitcontainsthemutations found in BA.1 aswellasBA.2variantsofOmicron,andwas firstdiscovered in theUK inJanuary. The randomprocess ofgeneticmutationsinvirusesandotherorganismsisacommonoc-currence.Onlyasmallfractionof

thesemutationssignificantlyal-tertheabilitiesof thevirustoin-fect,or tocauseseverediseases.The INSACOG bulletin also

confirmedat least two sub-line-ages of the BA sub-variant —BA2.10 and BA2.12. These sub-variants were first reported inDelhitwoweeksago.Dismissing any reason for

concern,theGovernmentofficialsaid that it is “a fun exercise formolecular epidemiologists torecord all the changes in thevirus”. “But it has no publichealthsignificanceunlessweseeitspreadingfaster,affectingadif-ferentpopulation,orcausingse-veredisease,” theofficial said.Asked about the new rise in

casesinsomeregions, includingDelhi, the lab investigatorpointed out that it “is not assharpasseenduringtheDeltaortheOmicronwave”.“The infection is likely now

followingthetrajectoryofotherrespiratory infections — theytend to increase when seasonsare changing,” the investigatorsaid.

NewDelhi:AspecialCBIcourtre-cently tookcognisanceof asup-plementarychargesheetfiledbytheCBI thathasaccusedthefor-mer coal secretary HCGupta ofmisleading the then PrimeMinister's Office in 2008, in acorruption case involving a coalblockallocation.Thiscaserelatestothealloca-

tion of a coal block in Jharkhandto the accused company,Contisteel Limited. The CBI al-leged the company “furnishedfalseinformationtotheScreeningCommitteesoastoinduceittoal-lotacoalblockinJharkhandtoit”.Special Judge Sanjay Bansal

took cognisance of thechargesheet filed on April 22againstGuptaandKSKropha,bothofficersoftheMinistryofCoal,andUNJha,directoratContisteel.ENS

ANONNADUTTNEWDELHIMAY2

THECENTREhasincludedSerumInstituteofIndia’sCovovaxinthecountry’s Covid-19 vaccinationdrive bymaking it available atprivatefacilitiesforchildrenagedbetween 12 and 17. Provision tobook slots for the vaccine is be-ing added to the government’sCoWIN portal, according tosources intheHealthMinistry.Each Covovax dosewill cost

Rs900(plusGST),withanaddi-tional Rs 150 for covering thecostofservicesandconsumablesat thehospitals.Thiscomesafter thegovern-

ment’s technical panel —National Technical AdvisoryGrouponImmunisation(NTAGI)— recommended the use of the

vaccineamongchildrenagedbe-tween12and17years.So far, children in the 12-14

age group could get onlyBiologicalE’sCorbevaxandthosebetween15and17years BharatBiotech’sCovaxin.Thesevaccinesare available free of cost at gov-ernmentcentres.Atprivatefacil-ities, Covaxin costs Rs 375 (plusGST),andCorbevaxRs990.The source from the Health

Ministry said, “Thegovernmentdoes not need to buy anymoredosesfornow... itstillhasaround20croredoses still.”With theNTAGI also review-

ingwhetherthegapbetweentheseconddoseof Covid-19vaccineandprecautiondoseshouldbere-ducedtosixmonthsinsteadofthecurrent nine, the source said “itshould be allowed at least forthosetravellingabroad”.

NewDelhi:TheCentre reviewedthe fertilisers’ availability in thestatesandUnionTerritoriesdur-ingameetingwiththerespectiveagricultureministersonMonday.The meeting was chaired

jointly by AgricultureMinisterNarendra Singh Tomar andChemicalandFertilizersMinisterMansukhMandaviya.ItcamedaysaftertheUnionCabinetapprovedtheNutrientBasedSubsidy(NBS)rates forPhosphatic andPotassic(P&K)fertilisersfortheKharifsea-son-2022, from April toSeptember.Anofficial statementsaid Mandaviya “advised” thestates tokeepproviding farmerswith “adequate andaccurate in-formation” regardingavailabilityof fertilisers.He also stressedonstrict action against those in-dulginginmalpractices. ENS

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,MAY2

THENATIONALCommission forWomen(NCW)onMondaysentareminder to the Kerala ChiefSecretarytomakepublicthefind-ingsandrecommendationsoftheJusticeHemaCommittee,whichhad looked into the problemsfacedbywomenprofessionals intheMalayalamfilmindustry.Thepanelwas formed in thewakeoftheabductionandsexual assaultofawomanactorinearly2017.Commission chairperson

RekhaSharma, inalettertoChiefSecretary V P Joy, said that thecommission onMarch 22, thisyear,hadtoldtheChief Secretarytomakepublictherecommenda-tions and observations of theHemaCommitteewithoutreveal-ingtheidentityof thesurvivors.ThereminderletterdatedMay

2,2022,saidevenafteramonth'selapse, thecommission's recom-mendation has not been com-plied with. “You are again re-mindedtosharetheJusticeHemaCommitteereportwiththepublicattheearliest.’’Thecommissionalsowanted

theChiefSecretarythat“feedbackinthemattermustbeapprisedtothecommissionwithin15days”.The state government has

takenastandthatthereportcan-notbemadepublicasitcontainedpersonal experiences ofwomenin the industry. However, theWCC, a groupofwomenprofes-sionals in the film industry, hasbeendemanding that the reportbemadepublicwithoutrevealingtheidentityof thesurvivors.At The Indian Express Idea

Exchange event recently, KeralaLawMinisterPRajeevesaid, “It isnotmandatory for the govern-ment to publish the report be-cause it’s not under theCommission of Inquiry Act... Ithink,wecanlegislateanewActtoaddressalltheseissues.’’However, the WCC on

Mondaysaidtheywantedthere-porttobemadepublicwithoutre-vealingtheidentityofthevictims.StateCulturalAffairsMinister

SajiCheriyanalsoclaimedthatthereport cannotbe released. “It is areport thatcannotbemadepub-lic. The committee itself wasagainstmakingthereportpublic,whichcannotbesharedevenun-dertheRighttoInformationAct,’’hesaid.

Acaretakerof Jivdayacharitable trust feedsa juvenileBulbulbirdrescuedaftershowingdehydrationsymptomsasheatwavecontinues inAhmedabad.NirmalHarindran

IMD: Heatwave toabate from today

CHANCESOFTHUNDER,RAIN

Covid XE variant confirmed;no cause for alarm, say officials

SII’s Covovax cleared for12-17 age group at pvt centres

Centre reviewsavailability offertilisers

Ex-coal secretarymisled PMO:CBI chargesheet

JUSTICEHEMAPANEL

‘Make reportpublic’, NCWreminds KeralaChief Secretary

New Delhi

12WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RESET AFTER UKRAINEPrimeMinisterModi’stourwillpointtoshifts inoldtieswitha

Europeroiledbywar,besetwithnewanxieties

PRIMEMINISTERNARENDRAModi's three-nationEurope tourwill set the stageforIndia'swiderengagementwiththecontinentinthewakeofRussia's invasionof Ukraine.After the SecondWorldWar, this is the first time that Europe iswit-nessingconflictclosetohome.Morethanfivemillionrefugees fromUkraineare

nowlivinginhostcountriesacrossthecontinent,andRussianPresidentVladimirPutin'snu-clear threats have rattled states that never expected to seewar again. Europe's economicpowerhouseGermany,whichisPMModi's firstportof call,hadturnedpacifist tothepointof notwanting amilitary inpenance forNazi excessesduring thewar. It hasnowmadeahugepolitical and strategic choice to supportUkraine in its defence against Russiawithweapons,alsodecidingtospendmoremoneytobeefup itsowndefences.ChancellorOlafScholz, an anti-war SocialDemocrat, findshimself leading the country through this com-plextimeinwhichthenationhasdecidedtomakeeconomicsacrificesbyagreeingtothecostlypropositionofcuttingenergydependenceonMoscow,eventhoughhisfirst instinctwastoresistUSpressuretojointheanti-Russiacoalition.ForDelhi,too,Putin'sdecisionhasbeenprob-lematic for its long-standingbilateral tieswithMoscow. Inan interviewtothisnewspaper,ScholzhassaidthewarwillbeatthetopoftheagendaduringModi'svisit,andthatGermany,oneofDelhi'smostimportantpartnersinEurope,expects“broadagreement”withIndiaonRussian accountability. TheUS-ledWest,which claims tounderstand India's positiononRussiaandyetasksitto“choosetherightside”willbewatchingtounderstandhowfarDelhiispreparedtogoonthisvisit inmakingcommoncausewithEurope.Europe's shiftmust also be seen in the context of President EmmanuelMacron's con-

vincingvictory intherecentelections,whichhowever,hasnotbeenabletohidethepoliti-caladvanceoftheFrenchright-wing.PresidentMacron'seffortsearlythisyear,weeksaheadoftheelection,totryandpreventthewarthroughmeetingswithPutin,weremadeinthefullclarity of knowing that thewarwoulddividenot just Europebut also France. The French,whohave interests in the Indo-Pacific,havebeenmorethanputoutatbeing leftoutof theQuad,andthemannerinwhichtheAUKUSblindsidedtheirdefencerelationswithAustralia.Modi'sstop-overinParismayprovideabetterunderstandingoftheroleFrancewantstoplayin the region, aside fromstrengtheningbilateral ties. Denmark is part of the India-Nordicsummit,andis importanttoIndia'sengagementwithEuropeontradeandclimatechange.ThisblochasbeenbesetwithnewinsecuritiesafterRussia'sUkrainianmisadventure.Twoof itsmembers,SwedenandFinland,aremullingjoiningNATO.StrategicconvergencewithaEuropethatlookstotheUSasaguarantorof itssecurityin-

terestswouldrequire India tomake importantshifts in itsownrelationships.An invitationtoIndiatoattendtheG-7wouldbeasignificant indicator.Moreimmediately, it isnosecretthat theEUiskeenonafree tradeagreementwith India,negotiations forwhichhavebeenongoingforadecade. Inthisrespect,Modi'svisitmaysetthestageforanIndia-EUsummit.

PATIALA WARNINGPunjab’speacemustbeprotectedfromfringeelements.Asitgets

towork,AAPgovernmentmustnotletdownguard

L ASTWEEK’SCLASHinPatiala,thevisualsofglintingswordsandslogan-shoutingmobs,broughtbackdarkmemoriesofadistantpastthatisbestconsignedtotheannalsofhistory.TheBhagwantSinghManngovernmenthasdonewellbyact-ingswiftlyandbringingthesituationundercontrolwiththearrestofthealleged

troublemakers.Buttheepisodeunderlinestheneedforconstantcautionagainstfringeele-ments in the statewho seek to stay relevant by stoking anxieties. ThePatiala incident ap-pears tohave followed sabre rattlingon socialmedia for almost twoweeks. TheAAPgov-ernmentmustrememberthateternalvigilanceisthepriceofpeace.TheOppositionparties,whohavehad to contendwith such forceswhen theywereholding the reins of the state,shouldalsoactwithresponsibilityandrestraint.Likeothersoftheirilk,noneoftheoutfitsinvolvedinFriday’sclash,hasanysignificantso-

cialbase inPunjab.Therecentelectionsunderlinedthis ingoodmeasure.Tolerance isper-haps oneof themost profound lessons that thepeople of Punjabhave imbibed from thedecadelosttomilitancy.Theyhavenotletthecancerofhateeatintothevitalsofsociety,find-ingcommongroundintheir sharedheritage instead.All thiswhile,however, themarginalplayershavealsocarriedonheedless,rearingtheirheadseverynowandthen,drummingupsentimentsforafewhours,evendays,butneversucceedingincreatingalastingwedge.Alookattheshenanigansofvarioussuchself-appointedleadersshowsapattern.Provoke,indulgeinviolence,demonstratethreattolife,andgetpoliceprotection.Thisneedstostop.TheAAPgovernmenthascometopowerinPunjabatatimewhenthestateisstillrecov-

eringfromaprotractedfarmagitation.Withthesummerarrivingearlierthanusualthisyear,it’sbeenrobbedof itsannualgoldenharvest.Thenthereisthepowercrisiswhichismakingitsweatlikemanyotherpartsofthecountry.Thiscoupledwiththerisingpricesoffertilisersandfuelhasonlydeepenedthecrisis in the fields. It couldbetempting for the forcesof thedark to try and leverage this discontent. Thenewly-formedAAPgovernmentwill have towatchout for suchpotential troublemakerswhile going about itsworkof addressing thestate'sseveralchallenges.

SohamBhaduri

ItmustsidewithWesterndemocracies,howsoeverimperfecttheymaybe,againsttheaggressorinUkraine

SLOW MEDICINECounteringhegemonyofEnglishinmedicaleducationmustbeagradualprocess

AS THE WAR in Ukraine enters the thirdmonth,thetimehascometore-evaluateastowhethertheIndianpositionontheaggressionismyopic,evenintheshortterm.During the debate in the recently con-

cluded sessionof Lok Sabha, therewasnearunanimityintheHousethatIndiamustmain-tain its strategic autonomyand, therefore, tothat extent, the position of the BJP-ledNDAgovernment at that particular point in timewas “commended” byMPs, includingmewhenIopenedthedebateonApril5.However,intheworldofrealpolitik,interestsareperma-nent,notfriendsorrelationships.Nationalin-terestmustbeunderpinnedbytheinnateflex-ibility to respondwithin its purview to theswiftmarchofeventsandcircumstances.Thequestion, therefore, that needs tobe

asked is:Wheredoes India’snational interestlie on theUkrainian question? The answershouldbeano-brainer. Itmust lieon the sideofpeace,withthevictim, inthiscaseUkraine,andtoensurethatthewarisendedasexpedi-tiously as possible, notwithstandingour re-liance on Russia— spares for conventionalweaponry,jointproductionofdeliverysystemsforstrategicandtacticalassets,pastdiplomaticandmilitary favours extended, synergywithregardtoenergyexploration,tonamebutafew.The reason is not difficult to discern. The

Ukrainianwar is not going to endwell forRussia, including its ruling elite, even if theywere toachieveall theirwar aims inUkrainethatappeartobeassingularlyunclearifnotasmuddled today as theywere on theday thewarcommenced.ByshatteringthelongpeaceofEurope,the

Russian regimehas turned itself into some-thingofapariahstate.Eveninnationsthathavesofarmaintainedstrictneutralityorhaveerredon theRussian side, populationshave apro-foundlydifferentviewof theUkrainiansitua-tion.Anyopinionpollwoulddemonstratethisfactratherunequivocally.EvenwithinRussia,peoplearenotfullyonboardwiththebrutal-isationof fellowSlavicpeople.Intheintricatelynetworkedandintercon-

nectedparalleluniversecalledthevirtualcivil-isation, the number of people online nowstandsatfivebillion,62percentofhumanity.

Outofthis,4.62billionareactivesocialmediausers.Thistranslatesintoahugecommunityofsoft power that transcends Westphalianboundaries.Inthisvirtualspace,theadvantageiswithUkraine and the democratic nationsthatbackit.AnargumentcanbeadvancedthatsinceWestern (readAmerican) companiescontroltheinternet,thereforetheRussiannar-rative gets edged out, if not belittled andmocked.Thismaybe truebut it shouldnotbe for-

gottenthatperceptionsacrossmillenniahavealwaysbeenshapedbythosewhocontrolthemediumandnotessentiallythosewhohadthebestmessage. It is here thatnationswhoareambivalentaboutwhatishappeninginUkraine—especiallyafteratrocitiesinBuchaandothersuburbsofKievallegedlycommittedbyRussianforces thatgot saturationcoverageacross themediaspace—orcountriesthatareseentobesupportingRussia, risk becoming collateraldamageinthisperceptionbattle.ThequestionIndiamust ask itself is:Does itwant tobeonthewrongsideofglobalopinionbybeingper-ceivedasstandingintheRussiancorner?AsIhadstatedinParliament,theUkrainian

conflict,unlikeotherconflictsaftertheSecondWorldWar,will shape the contours of anewworld order: “This conflict inUkraineunlikethepreviousones inEuropewill redefine theglobalworld order just asWorldWar-I did,WorldWar-IIdid,theColdWardid,theendoftheColdWardid,thewaronterrordidinallitsnegativemanifestations. Anew iron curtainseemstobedescendingacrosstheworld…un-liketheironcurtainwhichhaddividedEuropebetween1945and1989,thisnewironcurtainhasthepotentialofactuallydividingtheworld.Behindthisironcurtain,mayliethegreatcivil-isationsofRussia,China,Iranandtheirmyriadallies—Myanmar, Pakistan, Syria andNorthKorea, to namea few. The recent joint state-ment on the 4th February 2022, betweenChinaandRussiaexpoundinginternationalre-lationsenteringaneweraandglobalsustain-able developmentmayactually become thefoundationofthisunfortunatedivisionwhichtheworldiswitnessingtoday”.India does not have the luxury of sitting

atop this new iron curtain as it did between

1946and1989—theperiodbetweentheFirstAsianRelationsConferenceandthefallof theBerlinWall. It has to choose if itwants to beseen in the company of Russia, China, Iran,NorthKorea,PakistanandMyanmaroronthesideofWesterndemocracieshowsoever im-perfect and hypocritical they may be.Moreover,wehave alignedour interests in-creasinglywithWesternpowerssince1991.Finally,whatdoesIndiastandtogainbyiso-

latingEurope, a continentof almost750mil-lionpeoplewithwhomitsharescivilisationalvaluesandwhichisalsoanimportanttradingpartner? India-EU trade alone stands at 62.8billionEuros.Europe is totallyopposedtotheRussianaggressioninUkraine.The in-your-face comments by External

AffairsMinister S Jaishankar at the recentlyconcludedRaisinadialogueinDelhiwhilere-sponding to a question by the NorwegianForeignMinisterinthecontextofUkrainewereeminentlyavoidable.Hesaid“IrememberlessthanayearagowhathappenedinAfghanistanwhereanentirecivilsocietywasthrownunderthebusbytheworld.WeinAsiafaceourownthreats or challenges,whichoften impact ontherules-basedorder.”Thisisarathernaïvepositionforaveteran

foreign policy professional to take onAfghanistan.Anyonewhohasevenamodicumof acquaintancewithAfghanhistory knowsthat America or theWest could not stay inAfghanistan forever. TheAfghan leadershipthatheldthefieldfrom2001to2021issingu-larlyresponsibleforbetrayingitsownpeople,especiallywhentheyhadthemilitaryandma-terialresourcesoftheworldbackingthemfortwodecades.Tomorrow, if push comes to shovewith

China and the Europeans alongwith theUSthrowourUkrainianambivalencebackatus,howwouldwe feel about it?The timethere-forehascometorightsizeourpositionontheUkrainianquestion,forthestancethatwearetakingwill inevitably andultimatelymilitateagainstIndia’sstrategicinterests.

Thewriter isa lawyer,MP, former I&BMinisterandseniornational spokesperson

INC.Viewsarepersonal

MADHYAPRADESHANDUttar Pradesh re-centlydeclaredtheirintentiontoprovidetheMBBScourse inHindi. This, if implemented,willhelpcounterthehegemonyofEnglishinprofessionaleducation.However,itisimpor-tanttoanalysetheprosandconsofthismeas-ureinviewofitshistoricaltimingandthecon-textualpeculiaritiesof thecountry.Themeasurewouldentailsignificantcosts

giventheregulatoryandadministrativealter-ationsthatwouldberequired.Thiswouldin-clude translation of educationalmaterials,trainingoftrainers,andthelike.Thecosts willdependon the scale of implementationandneednotnecessarilybeadeterrent.Whateverbe the scale,weighing the gains and losseswillbeimperative.An argument advanced by critics is that

thismeasure is fuelledbymisplacednation-alistic sentiments, whichwould erode thecompetitiveadvantageIndiangraduateshavein the global scientific arena. In their rejoin-der,theadvocatesstatethatcountriessuchasGermanyandChinahavelongbeendoingsosuccessfully,andsocanIndia.Itisnecessarytorecogniseonecrucialdis-

tinction in this respect. Unlike the countriesthat have traditionally upheldmedical edu-cation in the local language, for India, this isin essencean innovation in a contextwhereEnglishisfirmlyentrenched.Theimplicationsof thissteparelikelytobetwo-fold.First, themeasure could face considerable resistancein assimilating into the existing ecosystemwhich,inturn,couldrestrictitsscopetoafewselectinstitutions.Second,itisunlikelytospur

enoughdemand from themasseswhomaynotwanttosettle foraperceivedinferiorop-tion. This has already beenwitnessed in thecaseofengineeringcourses.The extent of systemic rearrangements

thatwould bewarranted cannot be under-played.Medical education doesn’t stop atMBBS alone, and sooner rather than later,postgraduatemedical courseswould alsoneedtobeconceivedinregionallanguages.Aconsiderable segment ofmedical graduatestodayareemployedinalliedsectorsstraddlingresearch,businessandadministration,phar-maceuticals and the like. These sectors arefirmly entrenched in English and are thuslikely tobemuchlesswelcomingtoregionallanguagemediumgraduates.Theresponseoftheprivate sector is alsounlikely to bebrisk.Thereisariskofengenderinganimplicithier-archy amongmedical graduates therefore,wherebynon-Englishmediumgraduatesareseentobelesserthantheircounterparts.Thediversityandmultiplicityoflanguages

across andwithin states,while otherwise ahighlycelebratedfeature,cancompriseasig-nificant impediment to vernacularisation ofmedicaleducation.Medicaldoctorsarehighlymobile professionals and often, English is amutually-intelligible option in technical aswellasroutinedealingsandinteractions.Here,therearetwoaspectstoconsider.Envisioningasituationwherebymedicaleducationispro-vided in numerous local languages entailsconsiderable chaoswhich, even if manage-able,wouldbelargelyunnecessary.Goingforaselect fewlanguageswitha largefollowing

couldbeanoptimummiddle-path.However,thisisunlikelytoobviatetheneedforincorpo-ratingbasicEnglishskills inthecurriculum.Thepresent emphasis on expanding the

private sector’s scope inmedical educationalsofailstovibewellwiththismeasure.Ifoneofourintentionsistoincreaseaccesstomed-ical education beyond the English-knowingelite,onecannotbeoblivioustothebroadcor-relation between knowledge of English andsocioeconomic status. Themajority of thosewhooptformedicaleducationinregionallan-guages would be unable to afford privatemedicalcolleges.An incremental approach should be

adoptedtograduallymakemedicaleducationinregionallanguagesmoreharmoniouswiththe current ecosystem. For example, beforeofferingMBBSinanIndianlanguage,itwouldbe far more prudent to start paramedicalcourses in that language. Such paramedicalworkers are often lessmobile and functionclosertothepatientsandcommunitiesbeingservedthandoctors.Thismagnifiestheutilityof education in regional languages and thusits potential returns here could bemuchhigher. At the same time, it isworthwhile torememberthatvernacularisationisonlyoneofmany ingredients in the recipe to demys-tifymedicaleducation.Manyothermeasures,for instance, selection criteria that is basedmoreonaptitudethanmerit,requirepoliticalattentiontoday.

Thewriter isaphysician,healthpolicyexpertandchiefeditorofTheIndianPractitioner

it should not be forgottenthat perceptions acrossmillennia have always beenshaped by those who controlthe medium and notessentially those who hadthe best message. It is herethat nations who areambivalent about what ishappening in Ukraine —especially after atrocities inBucha and other suburbs ofKiev allegedly committed byRussian forces that gotsaturation coverage acrossthe media space — orcountries that are seen to besupporting Russia, riskbecoming collateral damagein this perception battle. Thequestion India must askitself is: Does it want to beon the wrong side of globalopinion by being perceivedas standing in the Russiancorner?

A considerable segment ofmedical graduates today areemployed in allied sectorsstraddling research, businessand administration,pharmaceuticals and the like.These sectors are firmlyentrenched in English andare thus likely to be muchless welcoming to regionallanguage-medium graduates.The response of the privatesector is also unlikely to bebrisk.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022WORDLYWISE

Every empire tells itself and theworld...thatitsmission is not to plunder and control but

to educate and liberate.—EdwardWSaidTHEEDITORIALPAGE

PUNJAB TENSEPARTSOFPATIALAandAmritsarwherevio-lent incidents were witnessed during thepastfewdays,willcontinuetobeundercur-fewas tension returned toAmritsar follow-ing thediscoveryof cigaretteandbidipack-etsnearAkalTakht,thehighesttemporalseatof Sikhs. The crackdown on banned DalKhalsa activists and sympathisers startedtwo days back, is in full swing, and at leastthree more persons were arrested fromAmritsar on Sunday under the NationalSecurityAct(NSA),bringingthetotalarrestsunderNSAtoseven. Inall,364personshavebeen*takenintocustodyatvariousplacesinconnectionwith thecurrent trouble.

CPM ATTACKEDTHECONGRESS-IRELEASEDitsmanifestofortheassemblyelectionsinWestBengal,KeralaandHimachal Pradesh. The briefmanifesto(25parasinall)doesnotidentifyanyspecificproblems in the states going to the polls onMay19.Nordoesitoutlineanyprogramme.Themanifesto does not contain any refer-ence to the two Congress (I)-ruled states,Haryana and Himachal. RegardingWestBengal and Kerala, the CPM has been tar-geted: "In Kerala andWest Bengal the CPMgovernmentshavesystematicallyterrorisedtheir opponents. The people of these stateshave suffered economically because of thefailure of CPM-led regimes tomaintain law

andorder.”

CHARAN & ATALLOKDAL PRESIDENT Charan Singh and theBJP chief, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on Sundaypredictedthedefeatof theCongress-I intheHaryanaAssemblyelectionswhich,accord-ing to them,would set the trend for the restof thecountry.Thetwowhostartedthejointelection campaign for the two parties at awell-attended public meeting in Rohtakhoped the peoplewould vote out of powertheCongress-I,whichhadnotonlybecomea sanctuary for the corrupt but taken thecountry to thebrinkof aneconomiccrisis.

MAY 3, 1982, FORTYYEARSAGO

HIS FATHER’S SONRajshekharMansur,steepedinthelearningofgurus,carriedthemantleofMallikarjunMansur’sgreatnesscalmlyanddeftly

R AJSHEKHARMANSUR, CLASSICAL vocalistwhosemusic emerged from theJaipur andGwalior gharanas,whowas trainedbyhis father andDharwad-based classical vocalistMallikarjunMansur, and likehimspecialised in rare(aprachalit) ragas and jod ragas—a specialty of the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana—

passedawayinaBangalorehospitalonSundayevening.TheformerprofessorandchairmanattheDepartmentofEnglishatKarnatakaUniversitywas80.Rajshekhargrewuplisteningtotheextraordinarygeniusofhisfather’smusicandyearned

to learnwhere it came from.ButMallikarjun, howevergentlehewasas aguruand father,wantedhis son tonot face thehardships of amusicianwith regard tomaking a living.Hewantedhimtofollowoneoftwosedatepaths—medicineorengineering.Rajshekharchoseliterature— it felt closer tomusic.He studied literature and linguistics at theUniversity ofWales.ButMallikarjunbelievedinlearningtheartformforthesakeofit.Soat16,RajshekharbeganlearningfromPanditNeelkanthBuwa,doyenoftheGwaliorgharanafollowedbytute-lageunderUstadManji Khan, sonof UstadAlladiyaKhan, the founder and creator of theJaipur-Atrauligharana.Heremainedalife-longdiscipleofhis father.Rajshekhar’sstyle,be-causeofhistrainingintwodistinctschoolsofmusic,wasunique,withthesubtletiesofbothbecomingadistinctideainhisrenditions.SinceRajshekharhadanactiveacademic life,hisconcertswerefewandfarbetween.

Butamida fewrecordings that canbe retrievedonYouTube, there isoneof RagaBihari,where he sings his father’s famed bandish “Neend na aave piya…”. Every little glide isexquisite,soakedinbhaav,inaslightlynasalvoice,withoutturningthisragaofpathosintoa flauntingof one’sprowess.ThatwasRajshekharMansur, steeped inthe learningofhisgurus,whocarriedthemantleofMallikarjunMansur’sgreatnesscalmly,andwithadeft-nessnotknowntomany.

Manish Tewari

India & new iron curtain

New Delhi

13THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY“Even as their own strengths continued to decline, some British and Americanpoliticians began to fantasize about ‘mind control’ — namely to re-establishthe global ‘superiority’ of Anglo-Saxon civilization.” — GLOBALTIMES, CHINATHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Modi might have hoped thatMacron’s bold effort atavoiding war in Ukraine anddeveloping a politicalframework for the peacefulintegration of Russia intothe European order wouldsucceed. But Putin had otherplans. For some time now ithas been said that France isIndia’s "new Russia"--Delhi's most importantstrategic partner. In recentyears, France has emerged asa strong defender of India’sinterests in the UnitedNations Security Counciland a regional ally in the vastIndo-pacific theatre. Francehas also been a majorsupplier of advanced arms toIndia.

THE POWER SECTOR in India is goingthrough a crisis. Peak shortages in somestates have reached double digits. Coalstocks available at thermal plants are atabysmal levelsandabout106plantsoutof173plantshavereachedacriticalstage.Onaverage,coalstocksavailableareonlygoodenough for about eight days’ generationagainst a normof 24 days. In someplants,thestocksavailablearejustaboutenoughtoruntheplant foradayor twomore.Partofthe problemof poor coal stock is also ru-moured to be on account of the non-pay-mentofduesof coalcompanies.But this isnot themajorcauseof theshortage.Let us first understand the chronology

of thecrisis. First,withsummerapproach-ingbeforetime,powerdemandhasshotuptorecord levels.TakethecaseofDelhi. Thecity had amaximum temperature of 43.5degreescentigradeafewdaysago,thehigh-est in the past 12 years. Delhi’s power de-mandcrossed6,000MWonApril28whichisarecord.Thesecondreasonfortheriseinpower demand is that the economy is re-covering, and demand from the industrialsector is going up. All things put together,power demand crossed 207GWonApril29,which is about14per centhigher thanwhatitwasayearago.Expertsfeelthatthepeak demandmay even touch 215GW inthecomingmonths.This increase in demand should have

posednoproblemsincetherewasenoughspare capacity available with coal-basedstationsoperating at less than60per centcapacity. Theproblemis theavailabilityofcoal, as many plants have less than twodaysworthof stock.What is important tonoteisthatthiscoalcrisis isnotbecauseofany deficit in the supply of coal from do-mestic sources. Coal dispatches fromCoalIndia during 2021-22 were 23 per centhigher than in the previous year and thecorresponding figure for SingareniCollieries(agovernment-owned-coalmin-ing corporation) is 31 per cent. Of course,theseareaggregatefiguresandtherecouldbe adrop inproduction in the case of cer-tain individualmines.The fall in coal stock in power stations

isbecauseof twomainreasons. The first isthat due to a rise in the international priceof coal on account of theUkraine crisis, allplantsthatwereimportingcoalhaveeitherstoppedgeneratingcompletelyoraregen-erating atmuch lower levels. We have asizeable generating capacity based on im-portedcoal,estimatedatabout16GWto17GW.Alltheseplantsafterstoppingimportsarenowlookingfordomesticcoal,creatingpressureondomesticcoal.Thesecondrea-sonforlowcoalstocksisthenon-availabil-ity of rakeswith Indian railways for trans-

porting coal. Though about 22MT of coalmay be available in power stations, if oneincludes the stocks availablewithminingcompanies,thefigureiswellover70MT.So,itisallaquestionoftransportingthecoaltothepowerstations.Tomakemattersworse,generation fromgas-basedplantshas alsofallen due to high gas prices in theworldmarket. Reservoirs, too, are drying up dueto intenseheatwhichwill adversely affecthydrogeneration.To better understand the crisis, one

needs to take a careful look at the trans-portationproblemfacedbyIndianrailways.Therailwayshaveabout2,500rakeswhichcanbeusedforcoal transportation.Withaturn-aroundtimeofaboutfour-and-a-halfdays(whichgoesuptoninedaysforcoastalregions), the railways can provide onlyabout 525 rakes on any single day. Of this,about 100 rakes are used for transportingimportedcoalandtherefore,onlyabout425rakesareavailableonadailybasisfortrans-porting domestic coal. But only 380 rakeswerebeingprovidedinthefirsthalfofAprilthis year, though efforts are on to increasethistoabout415rakes.Therailwaysprefertotransportcoalovershortdistancesinor-der to save on the turn-around time.Consequently,coalstocksinfarawaypowerstationsaregoodenoughforonlytwodaysof generation or less, whereas for plantsnearertotheminesitcangouptoninedaysalso.Itisunderstoodthattherailwayshaveissued a tender about threeweeks ago foronelakhwagons,butitwilltakesixtoeightmonthsfordelivery.Itmaybeaddedthatitis not just the non-availability of rakeswhichiscausingtheproblem.Thereisalsothe issueof availabilityof trackssincetheyare being used on a back-to-back basis. Inordertotransportmorerakesfortransport-ingcoal,therailwaysarecancellingpassen-ger trains. About 42 trains have been can-celledforamonthinvolvingabout750trips.It isprettyevident,therefore,thatthereisamajor transportbottleneck.With efforts now beingmade to sort

out the transportation problems, stockswill begin depleting faster. Thus produc-tionhastobeenhancedsothatthereplen-ishment rate is higher than consumption.Unlesswedothat, thetotalstockof coal inthecountrywilldeplete furtheranditwillno longer be amere transportation prob-lemas it is now, but a general lack of sup-plyofcoal.Thisistherighttimetoenhancecoalproductionandbuildadequatestocksbecauseoncethemonsoonsetsin,produc-tionwill fall.Anticipatingthis, thegovern-ment has asked the power companies toimport coal for blending purposes to re-duce the pressure on domestic coal. Theproblemis that theremaybenotakers forthisgiventhehighpriceof coal in interna-tionalmarkets.Besides,theseimportswillagain put pressure on the availability ofrakes fordomestic coal.Whatseemstobecertain is that unless theweather relents,darkdaysareahead.

Thewriter isSeniorVisitingFellow, ICRIERandformermember(Economic&

Commercial),CEA

WITHTHEHORRIFICwarinUkraineshowingno signsof ending, PrimeMinisterNarendraModi’s visit toBerlin, Copenhagen, andParisthisweek could give us a glimpse of India’spost-Russian strategic future in Europe. AsRussia, isolated by unprecedentedWesternsanctions, deepens its alliancewith China,Europehasbeguntoloomlargerthaneverbe-foreinIndia’sstrategiccalculus.Lastweek, the focuswasonengagement

withcollectiveEurope.InhervisittoDelhi,thepresident of the European Commission,Ursula vonDer Leyn, unveiled thenewcon-tours of the EU’s strategic partnershipwithIndiabylaunchingtheIndia-EuropeTradeandTechnology Council. This is the EU’s secondsuchcouncil.Lastyear,theEUsignedasimilaragreementwith theUS.Thisweek, the focusis on India’s key bilateral partnershipswithEuropeanmajors—GermanyandFrance—aswell as a critical northern corner of Europe,theso-calledNordenthatpuncheswayaboveits small size.Modi’s tourshouldgiveDelhiabetter appreciation of the new mood inEurope that has been shakenby theRussianaggression.ThePMwillhaveanopportunityto findwaysto limit someof thenegativere-gionalandglobalconsequencesofthewarandexploretheemergingpossibilitiesforstrongercooperationwithkeyEuropeancountries.InBerlin,thePMwillhaveanopportunity

tocommiseratewiththeGermanChancellorOlafScholz--boththeleadershaveproblemscopingwithPresidentVladimirPutin’swarinUkraine.Havingbuiltupasignificantengage-mentwithMoscowover the decades, IndiaandGermanyareunderpressuretodisentan-gle from the Russian connection.Modi andScholzcouldalsoexchangenotesonhowtheirlong-standing illusions about China camecrashingdown.BothhadbetthattradingwithChinawillmoderateBeijing'sbehaviour,botharehavingsecondthoughtsnowthankstoXiJinping'smuscular foreignpolicy.In Copenhagen, the bilateral talkswith

DanishleadershipareaboutDelhifinallyfind-ingtimeforthesmallerEuropeancountries.Inthe last fewyears,Delhihas learntthateveryone of them can contribute significantly toIndia’sdevelopment.TheNordic summit hosted byDenmark

underlines India’s discovery of the varioussub-regions of Europe— from the Baltics tothe Balkans and from Iberia toMittleuropa.TheNordicFive—Denmark,Finland,Iceland,Norway,andSweden—haveapopulationofbarely25millionbuttheirGDPat$1.8trillionisgreaterthanthatofRussia.In Paris — the enduring engine roomof

strategicEurope—ModiwillhaveachancetoreflectwithPresidentEmmanuelMacrononthe implications of thewar in Ukraine forEurasiaandtheIndo-Pacific.Macron'sreturnto power offers a goodmoment forModi toimagine thenextphase inbilateral relations.The two leaders laid the foundation for astrongstrategicpartnershipin2018.Coming back to thewar in Ukraine that

will shadowModi during the trip to Europe,there ismuchsurprise in India at the level ofinternational interest in India's strategic tiesto Moscow. But the Western debate onGermany is even harsher. Berlin is tied farmoredeeplytoRussia thanIndia.Germany’sannual tradewithRussia is about$60billionwhileIndia’s isat$10bn.Beyondtradenum-

bers, Berlin's strategic dependence onMoscowisserious.GermanyreliesheavilyonRussiannaturalgas,whileRussianarmsdom-inateIndia’sweaponry.Tobesure,BerlinandDelhi don’t like theWesternpressures to re-ducetieswithRussia.Irrespective of their Russianpreferences,

GermanyandIndiahavenooptionbuttolivewithcircumstancesoverwhichtheyhavenocontrol.ExpansionofIndia-Germanybilateralties is part of that adaptation by Delhi andBerlin. In Germany, the Indian delegation isunlikelytobedistractedbyGermany’ssoaringrhetoric on global norms. The SocialDemocratsandtheGreens,whodominatethecurrentrulingcoalition,areparticularlyproneto this. This is not verydifferent fromDelhi'srighteousmoralpolitikintheearlydecadesaf-ter independence.WhatreallydrivesGermanyiscommerce.

Making India an attractive newdestinationforGermancapital,nowunderpressuretore-duceitsexposuretoRussianandChinesemar-kets, should be the highest priority for PMModi. Germany is one of India’s oldest eco-nomic partners, but the full potential of thecommercial relationship has never been re-alised.IfthereeverwasamomenttothinkbigaboutthefutureofGermantradeandinvest-mentinIndia, it isnow.GermanyisnottheonlyEuropeancountry

shaken to the core byRussia’s invasion. TheNordicworld, which shares frontierswithRussiaoverlandaswellasinthewatersoftheArctic,isevenmorerattledbythewar.IfPutin'swarhascompelledBerlintoenditsresistancetolargerdefenceexpenditures,twomembersoftheNordicfive—SwedenandFinland—arenowrushingtoendtheirlong-standingneutralstatus and join NATO. The other three —Denmark, Iceland, andNorway—havebeenfoundingmembersofNATO,setupin1949.ListeningtotheNordicleadersmighthelp

Delhiappreciate thedeeply-held fearsaboutRussiaamongMoscow'ssmallerneighbours.AndthereismorecomplexitytoEuropeanhis-toryandsecuritythantheIndiannarrativethatRussiawas “provoked” to launch thewar onUkraine.InCopenhagen,Modiwouldwanttobuild

on the unique bilateral green strategic part-nershipwith Denmark.Modi’s first Nordicsummitin2017producedaframeworkforanambitious bilateral agenda on a range of is-sues—includingtechnologicalinnovationandsustainabledevelopment.TheDenmarksum-

mitwill review the progress and expand itsambit.Onhiswayback,Modi isstoppingover in

Paris to set the tone for thenextphase in thestrategicpartnershipwithFrance.ModimighthavehopedthatMacron’sboldeffortatavoid-ingwar inUkraineanddevelopingapoliticalframework for the peaceful integration ofRussia into the European orderwould suc-ceed.ButPutinhadotherplans.ForsometimenowithasbeensaidthatFranceisIndia’s“newRussia”—Delhi'smost important strategicpartner.Inrecentyears,Francehasemergedasa strong defender of India’s interests in theUnitedNationsSecurityCouncilandaregionalallyinthevastIndo-Pacifictheatre.Francehasalsobeenamajorsupplierof advancedarmstoIndia.ButDelhi and Paris have been somedis-

tanceawayfromdemonstratingfullpossibil-itiesoftheirdefencepartnership.FrancehasacriticalroleinmakingasuccessofIndia’sam-bitiouscurrentplanstoexpanddomesticpro-duction of weaponswith greater participa-tion of private and foreign capital. CanModiandMacronpushtheirbureaucraciestocomeupwithamajorprojectfordefenceindustrialcollaboration?Can theygetgoingon thede-velopmentofafighterjetengineinIndia?AndcanDelhiandParismatchIndia’sstrategiccol-laborationwith Russia onmaritimenuclearpropulsion?ThereisnodoubtthatWesternEuropehas

moved from themargins to the centre ofIndia’sforeignandsecuritypolicies.ThecrisisinUkraine,whichhas shattered the regionalorderthatemergedin1991,intensifiestheim-perativesfordeeperstrategiccooperationbe-tweenIndiaanditsEuropeanpartners.Inthecolonialage, India lookedatEurope

through theBritish eyes. The so-calledGreatGamewas about keepingBritain’s Europeanrivals—includingFrance,Russia,andGermany—away from the Subcontinent. In the post-colonial age, India flipped the paradigmbyaligningwithRussia to limit European influ-enceintheregion.AftertheUkrainewar,anewparadigm is beckoning India— strong com-mercialandsecuritypartnershipswithEuropethat standon their ownmerit andbring themanysynergiesbetweenthemintoactiveplay.

Thewriter issenior fellowwiththeAsiaSocietyPolicyInstitute inDelhiand

contributingeditoroninternationalaffairs forTheIndianExpress

Dark daysahead

TIMELY JUSTICETHISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Letterandspirit’ (IE,May2).Seriousdeliberationsand sensitisation efforts need to bedone over Alternative DisputeResolution(ADR)mechanismstotacklejudicial pendencies. The apex courtshould be reserved for constitutionalcases. The introduction of a wellthought out Memorandum ofProcedure(MoP)systemforjudicialap-pointments shouldn't be delayed.Access to timely justice is an integralpart of the fundamental right to lifewith dignity and it should be ensuredatall costs.AnjaliBhavana,Thiruvananthapuram

THISREFERSTOtheeditorial, ‘Letterandspirit’(IE,May2).ThePMandtheCJIhavecometogethertomullovertheoverbur-dened judiciary and the overcrowdedprisons. Thiswas long overdue.Whilethe release of the undertrials is awel-come step, but, it's a band-aid solutiontoacomplex issue.Theneed is tomakethe legal process simpler and speedier.Thiscannothappenaslongasthepolit-icalexecutivecontinuestohaveastronggripover institutions.

VijaiPant,Hempur.

BOOM AND HOPETHIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Recordshare of domestic investors in listedcompanies’ (IE, May 2). It is hearten-ingtoseeretail investorsshowingfaithin markets and even outnumberingForeign Portfolio Investors. And as

much as Rs 1.12 lakh crorewas raisedthrough IPs in the last financial yearfrom retail investors, which meansthat retail investors have taken theright route to the market. But weshould not be complacent because inthepast retail rush intothemarketsatthe high levels has not resulted in apositiveoutcome.Thekey lies inretailinvestors remaining judicious abouttheir investment.

BalGovind,Noida

NEW AND OLDTHISREFERSTO thearticle, ‘Sangam inTelAviv’(IE,April30).TherehasbeenanincreaseintheeffortstowipeoutallthethingsIndiawasknownforbefore2014. There is a concentrated effort to em-phasisethatwehavemadeourmarkontheworldmap.TheproblemwithsuchtheoriesarethattheywhitewashallthatIndiawas and all that India still is, be-causeof its richhistory.

SaumyaSharma,Munger

LETTERS TO THEEDITOR

LASTWEEK, KARNATAKA Chief MinisterBasavaraj Bommai announced that he hadsignedacabinetdecision to release6.5 lakhhectares from the deemed forest classifica-tion and will submit an affidavit to theSupreme Court accordingly. This measurewillessentiallydeclassifycloseto67percentof the land inKarnatakathatwasotherwiseclassified as deemed forests under theSupremeCourt'sorders in1996.Theissueofdeclassification of deemed forests in thestateisnotnew,butalongstandingandcon-tentiousonewithfar-reaching implicationson the state's forest cover.Thereisnocomprehensivedefinitionfor

“forests” inIndia.Theambiguityaroundthistermwas clarified by the SupremeCourt inT N Godavarman Thirumulpad v. Union ofIndiaandOthers(Godavarmancase)whereitdefined“forest” to includeanypieceof landthat resembles the dictionary meaning offorest for the purpose of the Forest(Conservation)Act,1980.Thiscasealsocon-ceptualised “deemed forests”. Deemedforestswereconceivedasareasthathavenotbeen notified under the legislation, but arerecorded as forests in government records.These are lands that have characteristics of

forests, irrespective of ownership. Onceforestsare“deemed”, theycannotbede-re-served or utilised for non-forest purposeswithoutprior approval of theCentre.TheGodavarmancasewassignificantalso

because the Court ordered the setting up ofexpert committees in each state to identifydeemed forests to removeambiguitieswithrespecttothescopeof landsthatmayreceiveprotection under the Forest (Conservation)Act. This decision paved the way for thepreservationofforestareasinIndiatobecon-tinuouslymonitoredby theSupremeCourt,mandating the state governments to obtainclearances for affecting or implementingchangestolandsclassifiedasdeemedforests.InKarnataka, thestategovernmentcon-

stitutedtwoexpertcommittees. In2002,thereconstituted expert committee inKarnataka identified 9.9 lakh hectares asdeemed forests. However, the area identi-fiedasdeemedforests in thestate is shrink-ing due to subsequent governments inces-santly filingaffidavits in theSupremeCourtallegingthattheinitialsurveyandidentifica-tionbytheexpertcommitteeswasunscien-tificandcoveredareasthatdonotfallwithinthedefinitionof forestsenvisagedunderthe

Godavarmandecision.The current government has stated that

such declassification is necessary to giveproperty rights to farmers who have beenwronged by the alleged unscientific classi-fication of private, non-forests lands asforests that deserve protection under theForest Conservation Act. However, sweep-ingdeclassificationof large swathesof pos-sibly forest lands is also likely to legaliseex-isting encroachments for non-agriculturalpurposes. For instance, a private resort inSakleshpura cut a road through a deemedforest area for commercial purposes.It isquitepossiblethatdeclassificationof

some areas of deemed forests will providesecurity to farmers. In such cases, the gov-ernment's declassification approachmustshowthatit ismeanttoaddressthisconcern.Thebasicmeasures requiring identificationof only agricultural landowned specificallyby farmersmustbeundertakenprior tode-classification toensure thatother illegal ac-tivities are not inadvertently legalised. Theblanketdeclassificationcurrentlysoughtbythe state government not only violates theobject of the Forest (Conservation) Act butvitiates the identification process under-

taken by the expert committees under theSupremeCourt order.The result of previous affidavits filed by

the state government to the SupremeCourtseekingdeclassificationofdifferentamountsof land,similartotheonefiledbythecurrentgovernment, is unclear. Permitting blanketdeclassification in Karnataka sets a danger-ousprecedent, allowingother states topokeholes intotheirrespectiveexpertcommitteeclassifications.It has never been clearer that accurate

forest management is crucial for environ-mental and ecological sustainability.However, the current actions of the stategovernment are likely to have adverse con-sequencesnotonlyonthefutureforestcoverof the state but also on the climate and rainpatterns of Karnataka.With temperaturesrisingacross the country, and states experi-encing unprecedented heatwaves, it be-comes all themore important that the gov-ernment exercises utmost precaution indoingawaywithanyexistingprotectionsforforests in the state.

Thewritersare research fellowswith theVidhiCentre for LegalPolicy

Sweeping away green

Europe to the centre

Deepa Padmar and Sneha Priya Yanappa

CR Sasikumar

BlanketdeclassificationofdeemedforestsinKarnatakawillharmstate’secology

SomitDasgupta

RAJA-MANDALAby C. RajaMohan

PMModi'sEuropeantourcanbuildonthenewparadigmbeckoning India—strongcommercialandsecuritypartnerships in theregionthatstandontheirownmerit

Unlessthebottlenecks inthepowerchainareaddressed,shortages

maycontinue

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ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

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EXPRESSNETWORK14 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

GOVERNMENT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESHOFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER, KAMENG BASINDEPRATMENT OF HYDRO POWER DEVELOPMENT :: BOMDILA

PRESS NOTICE FOR e-TENDERThe Superintending Engineer, Kameng Basin, Department of Hydro Power Development, Bomdila, onbehalf of the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, invites lump sum fixed tender for supplying, erectiontesting & successful commissioning of electro-mechanical equipment complete on turnkey basis fromapproved and eligible manufacturers/EPS firms for the following works:

Other details can be obtained through URL, https://arunachaltenders.gov.inSd/-

Superintending EngineerKameng Basin,

DIPR/ ARN/ 0322-24 Dept. of Hydro Power Development

NIT No. Name of Work Estimetedcost (Rs.In laksh)

EarnestMoney(Rs. Inlakhs)

Cost ofbid

document(Rs. Inlakhs)

PerformanceSecurity and

SecurityDeposit.

Start &Closingdate for

Online bidsubmission

Time forcompletion

No.SE/KB/HPD/-W-59

(NIT)/2022/23/106-13 Dated27/04/2022

C/o Mago Ph-II MHS (2 X50KW) (SH: Plannig, Designing,Drawing, Supplying, Erection,Testing & Commissioning ofElectro- Mechanical Equipmenton Lump sum fixed Tender onTurnkey basis.

92.52% (Rs.

1.85Lakh)

0.015/-5% & 2.5% ofthe contract

value

02/05/2022at 1100 hrs.and closing13/05/2022at 1500 hrs.

7 (Seven)months

C/o Taksang Gompa Ph-II MHS(2 X 50KW) (SH: Plannig,Designing, Drawing, Supplying,Erection, Testing &Commissioning of Electro-Mechanical Equipment onLump sum fixed Tender onTurnkey basis.

92.52% (Rs.

1.85Lakh)

C/o Ditchik MHP (1 X 100KW)(SH: Plannig, Designing,Drawing, Supplying, Erection,Testing & Commissioning ofElectro- Mechanical Equipmenton Lump sum fixed Tender onTurnkey basis.

93.342% (Rs.

1.87Lakh)

ANNOUNCEMENTIt has been decided by the commis-sion to cancel the writtenExamination for 81 posts of DentalSurgeon (class-Il) in HealthDepartment, Haryana held on26.09.2021. Written Exam for theseposts will now be held on19.06.2022. No fresh applicationsare being invited. Only the candi-dates who had earlier applied inresponse to Advertisement No.02/2021 dated 25.02.2021 and werefound eligible by the commission forappearing in the written exam heldon 26.09.2021, will be eligible toappear in the written Exam to beheld on 19.06.2022.

Sd/-Secretary

Haryana PublicService Commission

Dated: 02.05.2022

9360/Hry

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar State Institute of Medical SciencesSector-56, S.A.S Nagar, Mohali.

Recruitment of Medical Faculty

(for Regular/Deputation Faculty/Re-employment)

No. AIMS/E-1/2022/2280 Dated 02.05.2022

Applications are invited online for filling up posts(Professor/Associate Profess/Assistant Professor) onRegular/Deputation/ Re-employment basis in Dr. B.R.Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Sector56, Mohali. The last date of receipt of application is 23.05.2022till 5.00 PM. Tentative date of interview will be informed onour website www.aimsmohali.punjab.gov.in

Sd/-(Dr. Bhavneet Bharti)

Director PrincipalAIMS, Mohali99142-08327

13912/Pb

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in9338/HRY

NAME OFBOARD/

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HSVPFARIDABAD

NAME OF WORK

NOTICE TENDER

RENOVATION, RUNNING,OPERATION AND MAINTE-NANCE OF THE SWIMMING

POOL OF GYMKHANACLUB, SECTOR 21C FARID-

ABAD + 1 OTHER WORK

OPENING DATECLOSING DATE

(TIME)

02.05.2022

11.05.2022

AMOUNT/EMD(APPROX.) IN

RUPEES

EMD 2LACS

WEBSITE OF THEBOARD CORP./AUTH

https://etenders.hry.nic.in

NODAL OFFICER/CON-TACT DETAILS/EMAIL

9582329706

gymkhanaclubfarid-

abad@yahoo.com

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1.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION KINDLY VISIT: www.haryanaeprocurement.gov.in or www.etenders.hry.nic.in9339/HRY

SR.No.

1

NAME OFBOARD/

CORP./AUTH

KURUKSHETRA

UNIVERSITY,

KURUKSHETRA

NAME OFWORK NOTICE

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TITLE PAGE

OF ANSWER

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AMOUNT/EMD (APPROX.)

IN RUPEES

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02.05.202217.05.2022

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MUNICIPALCOMMITTEEDHARUHERA

NAME OF WORKNOTICE TENDER

SURVEY OF UNAUTHO-RIZED COLONY SITUAT-

ED WITHIN THE LIMITOF MC DHARUHERAAND PREPARE KEY

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Sealed tenders on prescribedB . O . Q a r e i n v i t e d f r o mregistered Contractors ofM . U / S t a t e G o v t . D e p t t s/Central Govt. Deptts forConstruction of Conferencehall and class rooms at F.F inthe college campus on ate s t i m a t e d c o s t o fRs.69,94,052/-(civil work) up to1 P.M on 17/05/2022.

B . O . Q m a y b eo b t a i n e d o n p a y m e n t o fRs.10,000/- in cash at collegecounter up to 14/05/2022during office hours.

The undersignedreserves the right to reject anyor all the tenders withoutassigning any reason.

Tender Notice

Gautam Buddha Mahila CollegeGaya-823001

Principal

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICESURAT,AHMEDABAD,VADODARA,MAY2

TWOAAMAadmi Party (AAP)leaderswere injured in a scufflebetweenmembersofAAPandBJPin Surat onMonday. Police de-tained16AAPmembers, includ-ing the party’s state unit chiefGopalItalia.According to police, AAP

membersledbyItaliamarchedtotheBJPheadquartersatUdhnainSurat, carrying banners andshoutingslogansagainstBJPlead-ersinprotestagainstanallegedas-saultontheircouncillorsatSuratMunicipalCorporation (SMC)onSunday.Police had cordoned off the

BJPofficeandtheAAPleadersandworkerscontinuedshoutingslo-ganswhena clashbrokeout be-tweenworkersofbothparties,fol-lowingwhich extra police forcearrivedandbroughtthesituationundercontrol.AAPleadersDineshSitadhara

and Pankaj Ambaliya, both inchargeofKatargamAssemblyseatof theparty,sufferedinjuriesand

were admitted to New CivilHospital.Posting a videoonTwitter of

anAAPworker beingbeatenup,Delhi CMandAAPnational con-vener Arvind Kejriwal wrote,“Look at these goons andhooli-gans, openly assaulting. Theirhooliganismisspreadthroughoutthecountry.Howwillthecountryprogress?Thesepeoplewillneverbeabletogivegoodeducationoremploymenttoyourchildrenbe-cause they want unemployedgoons...fortheirpolitics.”AAP leaders also alleged that

clothes of awoman councillorwastornduringthemeleeandan-otheronewasassaulted.Allegingthatsome“notorious

elements”brokethepolicecordonat theBJPoffice, Suratcity BJP youth presi-dentBhavinTopiwalasaid, “If someonetriesto attack our centre(BJPoffice),wewillnottolerate... Thereweresome notorious ele-mentsintheopponentgroupwhobroke thepolice cordon andstartedproblems.Our

workersreactedaccordingly.”Surat city BJP president

Niranjana Janjmera said: “Ourpartyleaderswerebusyinameet-ing when AAP leaders startedprotesting outside our office.Somenotoriouselementstriedtoenterthecordonedareaandtherewasscuffle...Wewereprotectingourpremises.”OnApril 30, issues raised by

Opposition leader in SMC andAAP councillor DhansukhBhanderionwaterproblemsandcleanliness in theirwardswerenottakenupinthegeneralboardmeeting.Inprotest,21AAPcoun-cillorsdecidedtosleepoutsidetheconferenceroomthatnight.OnSunday,SMCadministra-

tivestaffrequestedthemtoleave

thepremiseswhenaheated ex-change tookplace and the secu-rity staff forcefully took out theprotestingAAPcouncillors.“The issues we raised were

notconsidered ingeneralboardmeeting of SMC and our coun-cillorspeacefullyprotested.Theywere forcefully evacuated bySMC staff under the instructionof Surat citymayor.Wehavere-questedpolicecommissionertoregister offence in 24 hours orelsewewillapproachthecourt,”Bhanderi said.The AAP leaders went to

Lalgate police station to registeroffence against SMC staff on

Sundaynight,butnooffencewasregistered.TheylaterleaderswenttoSuratpolicecommissionerAjayKumar Tomar and gave him amemorandum, demanding reg-isteringofoffenceagainstSMCse-curity staff who allegedlyman-handled the protesting AAPleadersonSMCpremises.Addressing themedia, senior

AAPleaderIsudanGadhvisaidonMonday that BJP that had al-legedlysentitsgoonstoattackhisparty leaders. “Seeing thepopu-larityofAAPinGujarat,theBJPhasgrownnervous...todaywesawthegoons of BJP attacking our lead-ers,”Gadhvisaid.

2 CRPF meninjured in J&KSrinagar: Two CRPF personnelwere injuredwhenmilitantsdetonated an improvised ex-plosive device (IED) andopened fire on a joint team ofJ&K Police and CRPF in southKashmironMondayevening.The incident took place atLarmoovillageof Tral .“A joint teamof police and

CRPF were conducting areadomination in two BP bunker(vehicles)duingwhichaminorIEDblast tookplace inLarmooTral, Aweantipopra. TwoCRPFpersonnel gotminor injuries.Our team retaliating and rein-forcemnt sent alongwith sen-ior officers,” police tweeted,quoting Inspector General ofPolice,Kashmir,VijayKumar.

ENS

MANISHSAHULUCKNOW,MAY2

ADAYafteraprobewasorderedinto the death of a 24-year-oldwoman allegedly during a raidby Chandauli police in the dis-trict’s Sayedraja area, the post-mortemreport stated thecauseofdeathasunknownandfoundtwo external injuries on thebody,police said.Followingthecomplaintfiled

by thewoman’s brother, an FIRhas been filed against six policeofficials – including SayedrajaStation House Officer UdayPratap Singh. Singh was sus-pended on Monday bySuperintendent of Police ofChandauliAnkurAggarwal.OnSunday,Aggarwalhador-

dered a probe into the allega-tionsofapoliceteam“manhan-dling”twodaughtersofcriminalKanhaiya Yadav during a raid,leading to the death of one inSayedrajaareaof thedistrict.Thedeceasedwas identified

asGudiyaYadavaliasNisha.The findings of the post-

mortem report are in contrastwith Circle Officer (Chandauli)Anil Rai’s earlier statement that“the woman appeared to havediedbysuicide.”Talking about the post-

mortem report, Rai onMondaysaid, “Yesterday, the woman’sfamily told the police that theyfound her body hanging from afan in a roomof the house afterthe police left. They have beenmisleadingussinceyesterdaybymaking false claims and havebeenfrequentlychangingstate-ments.”However, the deceased’s

familydeniedRai’s allegations,“Nooneinourfamilytoldpo-

lice that they found Gudiyahanging in the house. Thesestatementspolicemadeontheirown,” theysaid.

JK Bajaj newICSSR chairNew Delhi: The Centre onMondayappointedProf JKBajaj,currentlyheadingtheCentreforPolicyStudies,asthenextchair-person of the Indian Council ofSocial Science Research (ICSSR)for threeyears.Bajaj will be the 15th chair-

personof ICSSR,anautonomousbody under the Ministry ofEducationestablishedin1969topromote research in social sci-ences in thecountry.APhD inTheoretical Physics

fromPanjabUniversity,Bajajhaswrittenandeditedbooksonre-ligious demography and econ-omy.Manipur University chan-cellor Prof Tirupati Rao andeconomics lecturer AshokGajananModak, who had beena BJPMLC inMaharashtra from1994 to 2006, were the othercontenders for thepost, sourcessaid.Bajaj is alsoamemberof the

backwardclassescommissiontoexamine sub-categorisation ofOBCswhich has been providedan extension till July 31. The IC-SSRchairperson'sposthasbeenheldinthepastbyscholarssuchas Prof Rajni Kothari, ProfSukhamoy Chakravarthy andProfAndreBeteille.ENS

AAP-BJP workers clash; 2 leaders injured

SHO SUSPENDED

Chandauliwoman’s death:Autopsy sayscause of death‘unknown’

New Delhi

EXPLAINED POLICY

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY2

ONSUNDAY,aSpiceJet-operatedBoeing737-800 aircraftwith 189passengers, twopilotsand four cabin crewmembers encountered“severeturbulence”twohoursafterittookofffromMumbai at around5.13pm.On its de-scent toDurgapur inWest Bengal, less than200 kmoutside the airport, it flew into badweatherthatcausedtheturbulence,resultingin sharply varyingg-forces on theplane. Theairspeed suddenly dropped by around 100knotsbeforerisingagain.Thiscausedpassen-gersandcrewtoriseupalmostas if inazero-gravity situation and then getting slammedbackdown,all inamatterofminutes.The plane landed safely at Durgapur

around7.15pm,butmanyof thoseonboardwereinjured,someseriously.Twopeoplearein intensive care andbeing treated for headandspineinjuries.India’saviationsafetyregu-latorhasdeployedamulti-disciplinary teamto carry out an investigation. Theprobewilllooktoanswercrucialquestionsinanefforttoprevent such future incidents, includingwhytheaircraft flewintosuchweather,whypeo-plegotinjuredsobadly,andwhetherthecrewcontributedtotheeventinanymanner.

Whathappenswhenaflightencountersturbulence?Thereareatleastsevenkindsofturbulence

that an aircraft can run into. These includeweather-related turbulence, inwhich theplane flies througha thunderstormorheavycloud.Clearairturbulenceismainlycausedbywindorjet-streams.Asabareconcept,turbu-lencemeans disruption of airflowover thewingsof anairplane,whichcauses it toenterirregularverticalmotion.Otherkindsincludewaketurbulence,whichformsbehindanair-craftwhenitflies,creatingwingtipvortices.

Areturbulenceincidentsdangerous?It depends on their nature and intensity.

Aircraftundergosomeformof turbulenceona regular basis andpilots are trained to dealwiththese.However,therehavebeenseveralinstanceswhenturbulencehasbroughtdownmodernjetliners.Eveninthesecases,whilein-tense turbulencehasbeen themain causeofanaccident,severalotherfactors—suchaslackof proper training, poor dissemination ofweatherorwind related information—havecontributedtotheaccident.According to a Director General of Civil

Aviation(DGCA)official:“Duringdescent,theaircraftexperiencedsevereturbulenceandthevertical load factor varied from+2.64Gand -1.36G.Duringthisperiod,theautopilotgotdis-engagedfortwominutesandthecrewmanu-ally flew the aircraft”. G refers to g-force, or

gravitational force equivalent,which innor-malflyingconditionsis1G.AnegativeGvalueindicates that the aircraftwas acceleratingdownwards faster than the rate of naturalfreefall,givingthefeelingofweightlessness.

Whatwilltheinvestigationfocuson?As a standard practice, itwill focus on a

number of factors to ascertainwhy the inci-dent caused severe injuries to passengers.These include theweather conditionswhentheplane encountered turbulence,whetherornotthepilotswerecaughtunprepared,andwhether they asked the cabin toprepare fortheincomingdisturbance.

Whatmustpassengersdowhenanaircraftencountersturbulence?According to the US Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), “passengers caneasilypreventinjuriesfromunexpectedturbulencebykeepingtheirseatbeltbuckledatalltimes”.Itsuggestspassengersshouldlistentoinstruc-tions fromflight attendants; payattention tothesafetybriefingatthebeginningoftheflight;wearaseatbelt atall times;useanapprovedchild safety seat or device if a child is undertwo;andadheretocarry-onrestrictions.

Howcanairlinesavoidturbulence?The FAA recommends that carriers im-

provedispatchprocedures bykeeping com-municationchannelsopen full-time; includeturbulenceinweatherbriefings;promotereal-time information sharingbetweenpilot anddispatcher; reinforce the carrier’s turbulenceavoidancepolicythroughdispatchertraining;considerreroutingusingatmosphericmodel-ling, anddatadisplays; anduseall applicableweatherdata. Italsosuggestsusingoperatingproceduresandtrainingtopreventturbulenceinjuries,emphasisingtheimportanceofflightattendant’s personal safety, promoting com-municationandcoordination, andgatheringdataandreviewing theair carrier’shistoryofturbulenceencountersandinjuries.

15WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

RAGHUMALHOTRANEWDELHI,MAY2

RESEARCHERS WERE due to begin onMonday a 10-day evaluation of the sub-mergedwreckoftheClotilda,believedtobethemost complete remains of a slave shipeverdiscovered.TheClotilda, thelastknownslaveshiptoarriveintheUnitedStatesfromAfrica, was scuttled in the Gulf of Mexicoclose to themouth of theMobile river inAlabama after it had offloaded its cargo of110 captivemen, women, and children inJuly1860,53yearsafterCongresshadout-lawed international slave trade.TheAlabamaHistoricalCommissioncon-

firmedtheidentityofthewreckinMay2019,andin2021,researchersannouncedthattwo-thirdsoftheoriginalshipremainedintact,in-cludingtheunder-deckholdwheretheslaveswere kept during the six-week journey to

AmericafromBenininWestAfrica.

The slave tradeBetweenthe16thand19thcenturies,as

manyas10-12millionAfricansweretrans-ported to the Americas as part of thetransatlanticslavetrade.Hundredsofslaveswere packed like animals into the hulls oftheshipsforbrutal journeysthatcouldlastfromweeks toevenmonths.Usually,pairsofslaveswerechainedto-

gether at the ankle and placed in columnswithropesaroundtheirnecks.Unhygienicconditionsoften ledtotheoutbreakofdis-eases.Historianssuggestthat10-15percentof slavesdiedduring the journey.

The ClotildaTheslaveshipwasbankrolledbyTimothy

Meaher, a wealthy businessman andlandowner fromMobile,Alabama,andcap-tainedbyoneWilliamFoster. InearlyMarch

1860,FostersailedforWhydah,aport inthekingdomofDahomey(nowBenin).Afterpur-chasinghiscargoof slaves,FosterembarkedonthereturnjourneytotheUSinMay.

The scuttlingUponreachingthecoastofAlabama,the

crewandslaveswereillegallyremoved,theshipwas set on fire, anddeliberately sunk.Thiswasdonebecauseafederallawof1807,backedbyPresidentThomasJefferson,hadprohibitedtheimportofnewslavesintotheUS.Thislaw,however,didnotseektocurtailthecountry’s internal trade inslaves.

AnAPreportquotedhistorianNatalieSRobertsonassayingMeahercommissionedthe Clotilda’s journey so he could win a1,000-dollarwager thathe could continueimportingslavesdespite the1807 law.

The slavesSincetheyhadbeenbroughtillegally,the

Clotilda’s cargo could not be classified asslaves.Buttheycontinuedtobeenslaved,andweredistributedamongstthefinancialback-ersofthevoyage.Meaherkept32oftheslavesonhis estate nearMobile; the othersweresoldtovariousslaveownersacrossAlabama.InthedecadesbeforetheAmericanCivil

Warof1861-65,thecountryhadwitnessedacottonboom.Thecultivationofcottonre-liedheavilyonslavelabour,andthedemandforslavescontinuedtogrow.Withimportsbanned,pricesofdomesticslavesskyrock-eted,andplantationownersdemandedtheresumption of the global slave trade, and

provided incentive formen likeMeaher.

AfricatownInJanuary1865,whenAbrahamLincoln

was President, Congress passed the 13thAmendmentabolishingslavery.TheformerWestAfricanslavespurchased

some land fromMeaher, onwhich they es-tablishedAfricatownoutsideMobile. Theywere joined by other emancipated slavesfromnearbyareas, andtogether theyestab-lished an autonomous communitywheretheyretainedmanyof their indigenouscus-tomsandspokeintheirownlanguage.“It’s,ofcourse,astoryofresistance,”The

NewYorkTimesquotedSylvianeADiouf,au-thor of Dreams of Africa in Alabama: TheSlave Ship Clotilda and the Story of the LastAfricansBroughttoAmerica,assaying.“They,fromDay1, actedasa community andasafamilyandtheycontinuedtobeveryactiveafter theybecamefree.”

Why flights face turbulenceSIMPLYPUTQUESTION&ANSWER

Injuriestopassengersof theflighttoDurgapurraisequestions. Whatshouldyoudoonabumpyflight?

Whatisthejobof thePrincipalScientificAdvisor(PSA);whatwillbeyourfocus?Theroleof thePSAistocoordinateacross

various scienceministries and to advise therightthings,notjustaboutwhatishappeningbut also aboutwhat is futuristic, so that thecountry is tech ready.We need to interfacewithmany stakeholders. Our job is tomakeanecosystemwhichisinclusive.ThisisaverychallengingjobandthePSA’sofficehasbeen

doingareallygreatjob.Mypredecessorshavebeeniconic. Ihopewecantake it forward.Inthelastfouryears,Ihavebeenthemem-

berofthePrimeMinister’sScience,Technology,andInnovationAdvisoryCouncil(PM-STIAC).Ourgrouphadvery,veryextensivediscussions.Theoutcomewasthatweidentifiedninemis-sions, four of which have been started. Theotherfiveareinvariousstages;wehavetoseethattheyaretakenforward.Wewill also have to look at other chal-

lengesof the future.One of the areas is future vaccinations.

WehavelearntfromCovid-19butthatwasinaveryreactivemode.Wereactedtothepan-demicverysuccessfully.Nowthequestioniscanwehaveapolicy inplace for futurevac-cines?Wehave to brainstormwith variousstakeholders such as the Department of

Biotechnology,HealthMinistry, etc.

Howwillsemiconductormissionhelp?Wehave launched a big programmeon

semiconductor technology; thecountryhassetasideRs75,000crore.Therearemanyver-ticals under the programme,whichwill in-clude innovations fromacademia too. It is averycomprehensive,gradedroadmap—firstmanufacturing, then innovations. Iwishwehadgot into itearlier,butnowweare in it.

Howwill theopeningof thespacesectortoprivateplayerschangespacescience?You can imagine that there will be big

synergywith the private sector, whichwasmoreorlessabsent.Earlier,weweredesign-ing the satellites, wewere launching them,weweremanaging them, wewere doing

everything. All that will change and it willamplify;itcan’ttakeawayanythingfromtheprogramme.My feeling is that it is a very good thing

whichisgoingtotriggermanymoreinnova-tions.Ihopeonedaywemayhavesomepeo-pleinIndiawhoaretheequivalentofSpaceX.We have billionaires in the country, we al-readyhavelaunchvehicledevelopers...Whyshouldn’twedreamof that?

Whatneedstobedoneto improvethequalityof science inIndia?Firstwe have tomake sure that there is

ease of doing science. The PrimeMinisterspeaks of the ease of doing business, ease ofliving,similarlyweneedeaseofdoingscience.It is very important. You have tomake surethat the scientists are reallywell supported.

At the same time,wehave tobe responsibleanddothescienceatthefrontend,fundamen-talscience;publishinthebest journals.Also, we have to be sensitive towards

translationalresearch.Translationalresearchnotonlyoncopyingothers,butbasedonyourfundamentalresearch.Thisiswherenationsmake big technology and hugemoney.Weneedtomakepatentedtechnology;thatdoesnotcomefromsecond-handknowledge.Andthatthecountryhastogenerateenoughof it.If you see the curveof sciencegrowth in

India, it is positive all the time, it has accel-eratedtosomeextentoverthelastfewyears.Butwe have to increase it further. Itmeansthat businesses and industry should haveconfidenceinourscience,andnotgoandbuytechnology from elsewhere... Industry al-ready has increasing confidence in our sci-

ence; it shouldbesuchthat theycometousfirst to solve theirproblems.Thisneedstohappenwidely,andnotjust

in a few pockets of excellence. Canwe in-crease their number to hundred? Thatshouldbeour target.

Howwouldweachievethis?Fundingisabigpartof thesolution,butit

is not the only component. The fundingshould also be absorbed correctly. If some-body gives memoney and I do not knowwhat todowith it, Iwill buy junk.Now, there is sensitivity among various

funding agencies to go out of their way tostate universities and colleges that don'tcompetewith say, IISc and IITs. That is hap-peningalready, andwewill amplify.

(EDITEDEXCERPTS)

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

EXPERTEXPLAINSPROFAJAYKSOOD

PACIFICOCEAN ATLANTIC

OCEAN

AFRICA

SOUTHAMERICA

Whydah

RoutetoAfrica

MarchtoMay

Mayto July

ReturntoUS

1860 : JOURNEY OF THE CLOT ILDA SLAVE SH IP

‘Need ease of doing science, wider distribution of grants’NewPrincipalScientificAdvisortellsANONNADUTTelementsofhisvision—includingfocusonfuturevaccinations,andperhapsIndia’sownSpaceX

MobileBayNORTHAMERICA

WINDSHEAR:Happenswhenthere isasuddenchange inwinddirection,whetherverticallyor

horizontally.Typicallyoccursclosetothunderstorms, jet streams,etc.;tricky forpilotsas tailwindssuddenlychangetoheadwindsorviceversa.

F O U R D E G R E E S O F A I R F L O W D I S R U P T I O N

WAKE:Formsbehindanaircraftwhenit fliesthroughair-creatingwingtipvortices.Canbedangerous forsmall

aircraft followingbiggerones,whichtendtodisrupt theairflowmorestrongly intheirwake.

FRONTAL:Createdinfrontalzonewhenwarmair is liftedbyslopingfrontalsurfaceandfrictionbetween

opposingairmasses.Mostpalpablewhenwarmair ismoist; intensityincreaseswiththunderstorms.Mostcommonclosetothunderstorms.

MECHANICAL:Thistypeof turbulenceoccurswhentall solidobjectssuchasmountainsorhighrise

constructionsdisruptthenormalairflow,causingtheair forplanestoflythroughtobecomedirty.

CONVECTIVE:Whenlandsurfacetemperaturerises, theairabovethegroundheatsupandrises,

creatingairpocketsaroundit.Convectioncurrentscausedifficultiesduringapproachas theytendtoaffect therateofdescent.

CLEARAIR:Occurswhenanaircraftcrosses fromoneairmass toanother,whichhasadifferent

direction.Clearair turbulencecouldalsohappenwhenanaircraftmovesoutof a jet stream.

CHOPturbulencecausesrapid, rhythmicbumpinesswithoutbigchanges inaltitude/attitude.Couldbe ‘light’or ‘moderate’Source:NationalWeatherService/NOAA/USDepartmentofCommerce

INTENSITY

Light

AIRCRAFTREACTION

Momentaryslight,erraticchanges inaltitudeand/orattitude(pitch, roll, yaw).

Mayfeel slightstrainagainstseatbelts/ shoulderstraps.Foodservicemaybeconducted; littleornodifficulty inwalking.

Moderate Changes inaltitudeand/orattitude,butaircraft incontrol.Maycausevariations in indicatedairspeed.

Definitestrainsagainstseatbelts/ shoulderstraps.Unsecuredobjectsdislodged.Walkingdifficult.

Severe Large,abruptchanges inaltitudeand/orattitude;airspeed.Maybemomentarilyoutof control

Occupants forcedviolently,unsecuredobjectstossedabout.Foodservice,walking impossible

Extreme Aircraftviolently tossedabout;practicallyimpossible tocontrol.Maycausestructuraldamage

Strongdesire to land

REACTIONINSIDEAIRCRAFT

MOUNTAINWAVE:Oneof themostsevere; theseareoscillationsthatformonthedownwindsideofmountainswhenstrongwindsflowtowardsmountains inaperpendicularfashion.Aircraft trackingperpendicularlyacross,ordownwindofamountain,mayexperiencesuddenlossofaltitudefollowedbyasuddenreductioninairspeed.

Newly identified drug canbe used as oral treatment for

diabetes: IIT Mandi studyRESEARCHERSATIITMandihaveidenti-fied adrugmolecule that canbeused totreatdiabetes. Themolecule, calledPK2,is able to trigger the releaseof insulinbythepancreas,andcanpotentiallybeusedasanorallyadministeredmedicinefordi-abetes, IITMandi said inapress release.Thefindingsoftheresearchhavebeen

published in the Journal of BiologicalChemistry.CURRENTTREATMENT:Diabetesis

associatedwith insufficient insulin re-lease by thebeta cells of thepancreas inresponse tobloodglucose levels. There-leaseof insulinentailsmanyintricatebio-chemicalprocesses. Onesuchprocessin-volves protein structures called GLP1Rpresent in thecells. Inonesuchprocess,ahormonalmolecule,calledGLP1, released after the in-gestion of a meal, binds toproteins, called GLP1R. Thistriggersthereleaseof insulin.Current drugs used for

the treatment of diabetes,such as exenatide and li-raglutide, mimic GLP1 andbind to GLP1R to trigger in-sulinrelease.However,thesedrugsareadministeredasin-jections, and they are costlyand unstable after administration. “Weseektofindsimplerdrugsthatarestable,cheap, and effective against both Type1andType2diabetes,” thereleasequotedstudy author Dr Prosenjit Mondal,Associate Professor, School of BasicSciences, as saying.THEALTERNATIVE:Tofindalterna-

tivestothesecommonlyuseddrugs, theresearch team first used computer sim-ulationmethods to screenvarious smallmolecules that can bind with GLP1R.They identified themolecules PK2, PK3,andPK4aspossessinggoodbindingabil-itieswithGLP1R. Eventually, they chosePK2 because of its better solubility. Theresearchers thensynthesizedPK2 in thelab for further testing.“WefirsttestedthebindingofPK2on

GLP1Rproteinsinhumancells andfoundthat it is able to bindwell to GLP1Rpro-

teins. This showed that PK2 can poten-tially trigger insulin release by the betacells,” co-authorDrKhyatiGirdhar fromIITMandiwasquotedassaying.ORAL OPTION: The researchers

found that PK2was rapidly absorbedbythe gastrointestinal tract, whichmeansthat it canbeusedasanoralmedicationratherthananinjection.After twohoursofadministration,PK2wasfounddistrib-uted in the liver, kidney, andpancreasofthemice,buttherewerenotracesof it intheheart, lungs, andspleen.Therewasasmallamountpresentinthebrain,whichshows that themoleculemaybe able tocross the blood-brain barrier. It wascleared from circulation in about 10hours, the releasesaid.

“Beyond increasing in-sulin release, PK2 was alsoable to prevent and even re-verse beta cell loss, a cell es-sentialforinsulinproduction,making it effective for bothType1andType2diabetes,”DrMondal said.To test the biological ef-

fects of PK2, the researchersadministered it orally to ex-perimentalmicedevelopingdiabetes andmeasured glu-

cose levels and insulin secretion. Therewas a six-fold increase in serum insulinlevels inPK2-treatedmiceover the con-trolgroup.The paper has been authored by Dr

Mondalandco-authoredbyProfSubrataGhosh, School of Basic Sciences; IITMandi,alongwithDrSunilKumar, ICAR-IASRI, PUSA, NewDelhi; Dr BudheswarDehury, ICMR RMRC, Bhubaneswar; DrGirdhar, Shilpa Thakur, Dr AbhinavChoubey, Dr Pankaj Gaur, Surbhi Dogra,Bidisha Biswas from IITMandi; and DrDurgesh Kumar Dwivedi (RegionalAyurvedicResearch Institute,Gwalior).PAPER: ‘Design, synthesis, and bio-

logicalevaluationofasmallmoleculeoralagonist of the glucagon-like-peptide-1receptor’, Khyati Girdhar et al, Journal ofMolecularBiology.

Source: IITMandi

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

In a sunkenwreck off Alabama, a history of the transatlantic slave trade

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Seven kinds of turbulence

New Delhi

16THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

NEWZEALANDWELCOMESBACKTOURISTSNewZealandwelcomedtourists fromtheU.S.,Canada,Britain, Japanandmorethan50othercountries forthefirst timeinmorethantwoyearsMondayafterdroppingmostofitsremainingpandemicborderrestrictions.Mosttourists fromIndia,Chinaandothernon-waivercountriesarestillnotallowedtoenter.

CHINA

ShanghaicasesfallasCovidseemstowaneBeijing:TheCovid-19out-break thathas shutdownmostofShanghaiappearsto be waning, with thenumber of new casesfallingbelow10,000adayover the weekend.Authorities have begun alimited easing of a city-wide lockdown that hasdisruptedthelivesofmil-lions of residents anddealt at least a temporaryblowtoChina’seconomy.Manyhavebeenconfinedto their apartments forthree weeks or more.China’s largest cityrecorded about 7,000cases a day on SaturdayandSunday,downfromapeak of 27,605 nearlythreeweeks ago on April13. REUTERS

Adesertedstreet inShanghai.Reuters

TOPOFTHEWORLD

BANGKOK

JapanPMagreestodefencedealwithThailandTHE LEADERS of Japan andThailandannouncedanewdefence agreement onMonday aswell as plans toupgrade their economic re-lations, as Japanese PrimeMinister Fumio Kishidawrappedupthe last legof athree-nation tour ofSoutheast Asia. The agree-mentwould facilitate thetransferofdefencehardwareand technology from Japanto Thailand,whichhas oneof the region's biggest andmostequippedarmiesandalonghistoryof tieswith theUnitedStatesmilitary. "Thiswill help improve nationaldefenceandsupportinvest-ment from Japan in this ac-tivitywhichisanimportantgoal for Thailand," ThaiPrime Minister PrayuthChan-ocha said in a state-ment. REUTERS

UNITEDSTATES

NYPDveteranconvictedinCapitol riotcaseWashington:A federal juryonMondayconvictedaNewYorkPoliceDepartmentvet-eranof assaultinganofficerduring the US Capitol riot,rejecting his claim that hewas defending himselfwhenhe tackled theofficerand grabbed his gasmask.ThomasWebster, a20-yearNYPDveteran,was the firstCapitol riotdefendant tobetried on an assault charge.Webstershowednoobviousreaction to theverdict find-ing him guilty of all sixcounts against him, one ofwhichispunishablebyupto20years inprison. AP

VIVIANYEECAIRO,MAY2

ATTHEheight of the traditionalRamadanTVseason,big-budget,star-studded shows captivatemillionsofEgyptianseverynightof the holy month with highdramaandlowcomedy.Butoneepisode of themost politicallychargedshowstoodout.The government-produced

hitseries“TheChoice3”purportsto truthfully chronicle the 2013rise topowerof Abdel Fattahel-Sisi, Egypt’s authoritarian presi-dent,afteraperiodofviolenttur-moilanddeepnationaldivision.

But it was the 25th episode,whichairedonTuesdayandfea-turedthecountry’smilitaryfoil-ing an arms-smuggling opera-tion,thatcreatedthebiggeststir.The night it aired, the real-lifepresidentbrokethefourthwall:Everywordof the series,Mr. el-Sisi assured Egyptians in aspeech,was true.“Maybe a lot of us arewon-

dering, what was the objectiveofmakingthisseries?”thepres-identsaid.“Thegoalwasthatwerecordhonestly,loyallyandhon-orablyinatimewhentherewasnohonor,no truth.”But critics say that far from

portraying thehonest truth, the

showrewriteshistoryby lioniz-ing thepresident anddemoniz-inghisopponents.In almost a decade as presi-

dent,Mr.el-SisihastransformedEgypt fromacountry that toler-ated some political debate andartistic license, even under therule of strongmen, into onewhere fear compels silence.Imprisoningcriticsbigandsmall,criminalisingprotestsandmuz-zling thepress, thegovernmenthassmotherednearlyallpoliticalopposition. Ithasalsosystemat-ically co-opted Egypt’s storiedfilm and television industry,which has dominated thescreensofgenerationsofpeople

across theMiddle East, its pro-ductions frequently testing thecensorswith racy or politicallysensitive subjects. But the gov-ernmenthasnevergonethisfar.Thoughmadebysomeofthe

biggest names in Egypt’s enter-tainmentindustry,“TheChoice”openly credits the Ministry ofDefenseasacollaborator.“The real enemy for the

Egyptian state now is anybodywho stands against the state,”said Belal Fadl, a prominentEgyptian screenwriter who iscriticalof theshow. “Inwar, youmustuseanyweaponyouhave,and now they have drama as aweapon.”

The first season of “TheChoice” told the true story of aspecialforcesofficerbattlingaji-hadistandtheseconddealtwithcounterterrorism.Thethirdsea-soncoverstheeventssurround-ingMr.el-Sisi’srisetopowerandisbeingshownonlyinEgypt,notthewiderMiddleEast.IfMr.el-Sisiistheheroof“The

Choice,” its villain is theMuslimBrotherhood. The Islamistgroup’s candidatewon Egypt’sfirst democratic presidentialelection in 2012, after the coun-try’s longtime dictator, HosniMubarak,wasoverthrownamidmassprotests intheArabSpringuprisingof2011. NYT

TOMBALMFORTHKYIV,MAY2

EFFORTSTOevacuatemorecivil-ians from the devastatedUkrainian port city of Mariupolran into delays onMonday andhundreds of people remainedtrapped in the Azovstal steelworks, the last strongholdof re-sistance to theRussiansiege.It was not clear what was

causing the hold-up although acity official said earlier thatRussianforceshadonSundayre-sumedshelling theplant after aconvoyof buseshad left.Theplightofcivilianstrapped

in Mariupol, which enduredweeks of bombardment beforeRussian forces capturedmost ofit,hasbeenafocusofhumanitar-ian concern as the war hasgroundonintoathirdmonth.Thousands are believed to

have been killed and those stillstuck in the besieged Azovstalcomplex, whose network ofbunkers and tunnels has pro-vided shelter,were running outofwater, foodandmedicine.“The situationhasbecomea

sign of a real humanitarian ca-tastrophe,” Ukrainian DeputyPrime Minister IrynaVereshchuksaid.On other fronts, towns in

eastern Ukraine were comingunderintenseRussianbombard-ment, a regional governor said.ARussianrocketstrikehitamainbridgeacross theDniester estu-ary just west of the port city ofOdesainsouthwestUkraine,au-

thorities said.A first group of evacuees

fromMariupol had been due toarriveintheUkrainian-heldcityof Zaporizhzhia, 230 kmnorth-westofMariupol, onMonday.But the city council said the

buses had not yet reached theagreedpickuppoint,contradict-ing an earlier report that theyhad already left. The councilurgedtheevacueestoremaininplace. The civilians in questionare fromthe city itself, not fromtheAzovstal steelworks.Footagefrominsidethesteel

works showedmembers of theAzov regimenthelping civiliansthoughrubbleandontoabus.But hundreds remain

trapped inside.One older evac-

ueeaccompaniedbyyoungchil-dren said survivors were run-ning out of food. “Children al-wayswanted to eat. You know,adults canwait,” shesaid.Russian President Vladimir

Putin’s forces are now in controlof nearly all the Sea of Azov city,linkingupRussian-heldterritorytothewestandeast.Moscowsaidlastweek it haddecided againststorming the steel works andwould instead blockade it. Butbombardmentshavecontinued.“Yesterday, as soon as the

buses left Azovstal with theevacuees, new shelling beganimmediately,” PetroAndryushchenko,anaide to theMariupolmayor, toldUkrainiantelevision.

Achildemerges fromtheAzovstal steelplantduringUN-ledevacuations inMariupol,Ukraine.Reuters

SAJJADHUSSAINISLAMABAD,MAY2

PAKISTAN'SNEWgovernmentisconsidering quashing or sus-pending former primeministerNawazSharif'sconvictionincor-ruption cases to offer him achance to plead afresh before acourt of law, according to ame-dia reportonMonday.The 72-year-old three-time

premier, againstwhomseveralcorruption caseswere launchedby thegovernmentof oustedPMImranKhan,hadleftforLondonin2019after theLahoreHighCourtgrantedhim four-weekpermis-siontogoabroadfortreatment.Dawn newspaper quoted

InteriorMinisterRanaSanaullahassayingthatboththefederalandPunjab's provincial governmenthad thepowers to quashor sus-pend the punishment of an ac-cused andoffer hima chance toplead his case afresh before acourt of law for being ‘wrongly'sentencedearlier inthecase.He said that the provisions

might be used to provide reliefto the ruling PakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N)supremoandothers. PTI

Pak may quash Nawazgraft conviction: report

China backsSL plan to workwith IMF torestructure debt

Freshshelling incityafterevacuation;Moscowupsassault insouthern,easternpartsofUkraine

Trapped forweeks, first civilians leaveMariupol steel plant; hundreds remain

KATEABNETTBRUSSELS,MAY2

THE EUROPEAN Union waspreparing a ban on Russian oil,with possible exemptions forwary countries, as EU energyministersonMondayheldcrisistalksonMoscow'sdemandthatforeignbuyerspayforgasinrou-blesor lose their supply.TheEuropeanCommissionis

expected to propose a sixthpackage of EU sanctions thisweek against Russia over its in-vasion of Ukraine, including anembargoonbuyingRussianoil-a measure that would depriveMoscow of a large revenuestream, but that has so far di-videdEUcountries.Russiasupplies40%ofEUgas

and26%of itsoil imports.To keep the 27-nation bloc

united,theCommissionmayof-ferHungaryandSlovakiaanex-emptionora longtransitionpe-riod-with theoverallban likelytobephased inby theyear-end,officials saidonMonday.Both Hungary and Slovakia

areheavilydependentonRussiancrude.Hungaryhassaiditwouldopposeenergysanctions.Resistance fromother coun-

triestoanoilembargoappearedto be fading ahead of ameetingonWednesdaywhen ambassa-

dorswill discuss thesanctions.“Wehavemanagedtoreacha

situationwhereGermanyisabletobearanoilembargo,”GermaneconomyministerRobertHabecksaid onMonday. “Thismeans itwon'tbewithoutconsequences.”Austrianclimateandenergy

ministerLeonoreGewesslersaidViennawould agree to oil sanc-tions if othercountriesdid.EUcountrieshavepaidmore

than46billioneurostoRussiaforgas and oil since it invadedUkraineonFeb.24,accordingtoresearchorganisationtheCentrefor Research on Energy andCleanAir.EUenergyministerswillalso

attempt onMonday to forge ajointresponsetoRussia'sdemandthat countries effectivelypay forgasinroubles,afterRussiacutgassupplytoBulgariaandPolandlastweekforrefusingtocomplywithitspaymentscheme.Moscowhassaid foreigngas

buyers must deposit euros ordollars into an account at pri-vately owned Russian bankGazprombank, which wouldconvert theminto roubles.Bulgaria and Poland already

planned to stop using Russiangas this year andhave said theycancopewiththecut-off,butthemovehasraisedfearsthatotherEUcountries couldbenext.

REUTERS

Vindicated overBiden conspiracyclaim, says Imran

CRITICS SAY IT’S A REWRITING OF RECENT HISTORY FROM AN INDUSTRY INCREASINGLY COWED UNDER HIS RULE

In Egypt’s big Ramadan TV drama, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is the hero

Abillboard inCairopromotes“TheChoice3” . AFP

‘JACK IN THE GREEN’RevellersduringanannualMayDayparadeandfestival inHastings,UK,onMonday.Reuters

Beijing concerned over rising NorthKorea tensions: envoy says in SeoulJOSHSMITHSEOUL,MAY2

BEIJING IS concerned about thetense situation on the Koreanpeninsula,China’sKoreanaffairsenvoysaidashearrivedfortalksin Seoul this week, adding thatboth the symptoms and rootcause of tensions needed to beaddressed.Amidstalleddenuclearisation

talks,NorthKoreahasconductedaflurryofweaponsteststhisyear,fromhypersonicmissilestointer-continentalballisticmissiles.North Korea had not con-

ducted an ICBM or nuclearweaponstestsince2017.Officialsin Seoul andWashington saythere are signs of preparationsforanewnuclear test.The"legitimateandreasonable

concernsofallparties"needtobeacknowledgedfortheretobeapo-litical settlement, LiuXiaoming,Special Representative of theChineseGovernment onKoreanPeninsulaAffairs,toldreportersatSeoul'sairportlateonSunday.“Wecall onall parties to stay

cool-headedandexerciserestraint,andwedisapprove(of)actionsbyanypartythatcouldescalateten-sion,”hesaidinasummaryofhis

remarksonTwitter.InhisfirstvisittoSouthKorea

since takingoffice inApril 2021,Liu is due to meet his SouthKoreancounterpart,nuclearen-voy Noh Kyu-duk, on Tuesday.Hemay alsomeet representa-tivesofSouthKoreanPresident-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who takesoffice onMay 10, Yonhap newsagencyreported.TheUnitedStateshaspushed

formoreUnitedNationssanctionsontheNorth.ButChinaandRussiahave signalled opposition, argu-ingthatsanctionsshouldbeeasedtojumpstarttalksandprovidehu-manitarianrelief. REUTERS

REUTERSCOLOMBO,MAY2

CHINA SUPPORTS crisis-hit SriLanka’s decision to work withtheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF) to restructure its debt,Beijing’s ambassador QiZhenhong told Sri LankanFinanceMinister Ali Sabry at ameetingonMonday.Sri Lanka lastmonth unilat-

erally suspended external debtrepaymentsbeforeapproachingthe IMF for help. China is one ofSri Lanka's largest bilaterallenders with about $6.5 billionin loans.“AmbassadorZhenhongalso

assuredMinister Ali Sabry thatas a major shareholder of theIMF, China is willing to play anactive role in encouraging theIMF to positively consider SriLanka'spositionandtoreachanagreement as soonaspossible,”SriLanka’sfinanceministrysaidinastatement.

REUTERSMADRID,MAY2

SPANISHAUTHORITIEShavede-tected“Pegasus”spyware inthemobilephonesofPrimeMinisterPedro Sanchez and DefenceMinister Margarita Robles, thegovernment minister for thepresidency,FelixBolanos,saidonMonday. Bolanos told a newsconferenceSanchez’sphonewasinfectedinMay2021andatleastone data leak occurred then. Hedidnotsaywhocouldhavebeenspyingonthepremierorwhetherforeign or Spanish groupsweresuspectedofbeingbehindit.“Theinterventionswereillicit

andexternal.Externalmeanscar-ried out by non-official bodiesandwithoutstateauthorisation,"thegovernmentministersaid.Theannouncementfollowed

intense pressure on the leftistcoalitiongovernment toexplainitselfafterCanada'sdigitalrights

groupCitizenLabsaidmorethan60 people linked to the Catalanseparatistmovement had beentargets of "Pegasus" spywaremadebyIsrael'sNSOGroup.After the allegations of spy-

ing onmembers of the Catalanseparatist movement, the mi-nority government's key ally inparliament, Catalonia's leftistpro-independence party ERC,said it would not support thegovernment untilMadrid takesmeasures torestoreconfidence.PereAragones,theseparatist

Catalan regional president, saidon Monday in a statement:"When themass surveillance isagainst the Catalan independ-encemovement, we only hearsilence and excuses. Todayeverything isdone inahurry.

Migrants crossinto UK despiteclampdown bid

Eidprayers inPeshawarMonday. ReutersEU set to ban Russian oil,Germany may back plan

Islamabad: Pakistan's oustedprimeminister Imran Khan onMonday directly blamed USPresident Joe Biden’s adminis-tration for toppling his govern-ment throughaconspiracy.Khan’sclaimcameashetook

to Twitter in response toUSde-fenceanalystDrRebeccaGrant'sremarks about Pakistan in a FoxNews show. “Pakistan needs tosupportUkraine,stoplookingfordealswithRussiarightnow,limittheir involvementwith China,andstoptheanti-Americanpoli-cies that are part of the reasonthatImranKhan,theprimemin-ister,gotvotedoutofofficeacou-pleofweeksago,”Grantsaiddur-ingtheshow.Sharing the video of Grant's

remarks,Khansaid:“...thisvideoshould remove all doubts as towhyademocraticallyelectedPM&hisgovernmentwereremoved.ClearlytheUSwantsanobedientpuppet as primeministerwhowillnotallowPakchoiceofneu-trality inaEuropeanwar.” PTI

REUTERSJERUSALEM,MAY2

ISRAEL LAMBASTED RussianForeignMinister Sergei Lavrovon Monday for claiming thatAdolf Hitler had Jewish origins,saying it was an "unforgivable"falsehoodthatdebasedthehor-rorsof theNaziHolocaust.In a signal of sharply deteri-

orating relationswithMoscow,theIsraeli foreignministrysum-monedtheRussianambassador

anddemandedanapology.“Such lies are intended toac-

cuse the Jews themselves of themosthorrificcrimesinhistorythatwere committed against them,”Israeli Prime Minister NaftaliBennettsaidinastatement.“The use of theHolocaust of

the Jewish people for politicalpurposes must stop immedi-ately,”headded.Lavrovmadetheassertionon

Italian television on Sundaywhenhewas askedwhyRussiasaid it needed to "denazify"

Ukraine if the country's ownpresident,VolodymyrZelenskiy,washimself Jewish.“Whentheysay'Whatsortof

nazificationisthisifweareJews',well I think that Hitler also hadJewishorigins,soitmeansnoth-ing,” Lavrov toldRete4channel,speaking through an Italian in-terpreter.“For a long time nowwe've

been hearing the wise Jewishpeoplesaythat thebiggestanti-Semites are the Jews them-selves,”headded.

Israel slams Lavrov’s Nazism remarks

London: Activists in the BritishVirgin Islands on Mondayprotested against a proposal toputtheoverseasBritishterritoryunder control of the UnitedKingdom,daysaftertheBVIpre-mier was jailed in Miami oncharges of conspiring to trafficdrugs.A report released on Friday

that was commissioned byQueenElizabeth'srepresentativeto the territory said governanceproblems are so severe that thelegislatureshouldbesuspendedandtheterritoryeffectivelygov-erned fromLondon.Hundreds of people rallied

onMondayoutside theofficeofGovernor John Rankin in thecapitalRoadTownonthe islandofTortolaholdingsignsthatsaid“No UK rule.” “Ourmessage tothe UK government and to theworld: there will be no directrule in this land,” said LuceHodge-Smith, who has previ-ously held positions in govern-mentandwhoseFacebookpagesays she is retired.Theterritoryofabout30,000

people gained autonomy fromthe UK in 1967 through its firstelections. REUTERS

British VirginIslands activistsprotest plan fordirect UK rule

London: Hundreds of peoplehave crossed the EnglishChannelinsmallboatsinthelast24 hours, British officials saidMonday,aftermorethanaweekinwhichnoneof thehazardousjourneyswere reported.TheMinistryof Defense said

254peoplearrivedontheEnglishcoast insevenboats fromnorth-ernFranceonSunday,andmorepeoplewere brought ashore byBritish lifeboatsonMonday.Thecrossingshadallbuthalted

since April 20, a few days afterBritainannouncedaplan tosendsomeasylum-seekerstoRwanda.But officials said roughweather,ratherthanthenewpolicy,wasthelikelyreasonforthelull.In a dramatic — and, critics

say, illegal —move, Britain an-nouncedlastmonthithadstruckadealwithRwandatosendsomeasylum seekers who arrive asstowaways in trucksoronboatstotheEastAfricancountry. AP

Spain says PM’s phoneinfected by Pegasus

SpanishPMPedroSanchez

New Delhi

17SENSEX: 56,975.99 ▼ 84.88 (0.15%) NIFTY: 17,069.10 ▼ 33.45 (0.2%) NIKKEI: 26,818.53 ▼ 29.37 HANG SENG: 21,089.39 ▲ 813.22 FTSE: 7,544.55 ▲ 35.36 DAX: 13,937.10 ▼ 160.78

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

GOLD`50,936

RUPEE` 76.51/USD

OIL$106.07

SILVER`63,028

Note:Gold, silverratesatDelhi spotmarket,goldper10g, silverper1kg;Crudeoil (Indianbasket)asofApril29

NewDelhi:Powerconsumptioninthecountrygrew13.6percentyear-on-year to 132.98 billionunits (BU) inApril, showing theimpactoftheearlyonsetofsum-mersandspurt ineconomicac-tivities,accordingtopowermin-istrydata.PowerconsumptioninApril

lastyearwasrecordedat117.08BU,whichwashigherthan84.55BU in the same month of

2020.On the other hand, thepeakpowerdemandmet,whichis the highest supply in a day,duringApril thisyear remainedatanall-timehighof207.11GW.Thepeakpowersupplystoodat182.37 GW in April 2021 and132.73GWinApril2020.Thepowerconsumptionand

demandwere affected inApril2020alsoduetotheimpositionof lockdown restrictions for

curbingthespreadofthedeadlycoronavirus. The power con-sumption in April 2019 (pre-pandemicperiod)was110.11bil-lionunits.Expertsareoftheviewthat power consumption anddemand roseunprecedentedlymainlybecauseof theearlyon-setofsummersandshowedthateconomicactivitiesarepushingcommercial and industrial re-quirementsofelectricity.PTI

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY2

THEPROMOTERSofFinoPaymen-tsBankhavevotedagainst reap-pointmentofchairmanMahendraKumarChouhanandindependentdirectorPunitaKumarSinha inashareholdermeeting.The resolution to reappoint

Chouhan and Sinhawas voteddownby80.69percentof share-holders. Thepromoteralsovotedagainsttheincreaseintheautho-risedsharecapitalofthebankandthealterationofthecapitalclauseof thememorandumof associa-tionofthebank.The promoter Fino Paytech,

whichowns around75per centstakeinthebank,hasinvestorslikeLifeInsuranceCorporationofIndia,ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard,CorporationBank,UnionBankandIndian Bank. The e-voting con-cludedonApril29.In a statement issued on

Monday,FinoPaymentBanksaidFino Paytech followed a dueprocess to re-appoint independ-

entdirectors.“Inordertointroducefreshtal-

ent and experience tomeet theevolvingchallengesofthemarket,theboardof FinoPaytechLtdde-cided to limit the tenureof inde-pendentdirectorstooneterm.”“Weplaceonrecordthesignif-

icant contributionmadeby ouroutgoing independentdirectorsover the past five years andwemisstheirstrategicsteer.“Assuchany speculationon thedevelop-mentisunwarranted,”itsaid.FinoPaymentshareswereup

1.29 per cent to Rs 302.25.The bank’s IPO was priced atRs577pershare.

Mumbai:Theunemploymentratein the country grew to 7.83 percent inApril from7.60percent inMarch,accordingtotheCentreforMonitoring Indian Economy(CMIE)data.Theunemploymentrateinur-

banareaswashigher at 9.22percentcomparedto8.28percentinMarch, the data released onMondayshowed.Intheruralarea,the unemployment ratewas at7.18percentinAprilcomparedto7.29percentinpreviousmonth.CMIEMDMaheshVyas told

PTIthatitisimportanttonotethatthelabourforceparticipationrateandtheemploymentratealsoin-creasedinApril.“This isagooddevelopment,”

Vyassaid.PTI

Jobless raterises to 7.83%in Apr: CMIE

QUICK-COMMERCEPLATFORMZepto, foundedby twoStanfordUniversity dropouts, has raised$200millionledbyYCombinatorandwithparticipationfromKaiserPermanente, Nexus VenturePartners,GladeBrookCapital,andLachyGroom.InaninterviewwithPRANAV MUKUL, Zepto’s co-founderandCEOAADITPALICHAsaidthecompanywouldusethesefunds toexpand into12-20citiesand hire 1,000 people over thenextoneyear.Editedexcerpts:

Whereareyouplanningtodeploythesefunds?Largely,we’re looking to ex-

pandacrossthecountry.Wewanttogrowtomultiplecities,currentlywearein11cities.Wewanttoadd12-20 cities across thenext9-12months.That’sonepieceofourex-pansion. Two, growing the teamconsistentlyacrosstechandprod-uct functions.Wehavebuilt thiscompany tech-first and that hasreallyrewardedus.Now,weareinapositionwherewewanttodou-bledownonourtechandproductteams.So,we’reexpandingteams,tech,product,datasciences,busi-nessanalyticsandotherfunctionssuchas supply chain,marketing,operations,etc.

Howmanypeopledoyouplantohire?Weplan to hire roughly an-

other 1,000 people in the nextyearorso.

Whichcitiesplandoyouplantoexpandinto?Wedon’thavetheexactlistas

weareintheprocessofformulat-ing that. But it will includeChandigarh,Ahmedabad,Nagpur.

Intermsofdemand,howisitdifferentforthecompanyinbigcitiescomparedwithsmallertowns?Basically this model works

verywell fromthecustomersideandfromanoperationssidewhenyouhavetherightdensitydynam-ics.Whatwe’ve seen is that thedensity dynamics for the top30cities of the country are verystrong. But beyond city number30,wehavetomakeadjustments

to ourmodel tomake it a littlemoreconducivetoworkwithdif-ferentdensitydynamics.

Someq-commercecompaniesarenotdoingthatwell.WhatisthatZeptoisdoingdifferentlythancompetitors?For us, we are in a position

wherewe’rebuildingthisbusinessefficiently.Wehavemultiplemi-cro-markets that are profitable.Weareburning significantly lessthan some of our competitors.Building this businesswithhighdegree of efficiencies iswhy in-vestorshaveshownstrongdegreeofconfidence.Theyseeacompanythatisgrowingveryfastandburn-ing less than companieshistori-callyhaveatthesamescale.

Youhavementionedthatyourfirstmonthbuyerretentionrateisat60percent.Howdoesthistranslateintothedeliveryfeethatyoucharge?After a customerplacesmore

than fiveorders, they’rehooked.When thedelivery fee is imple-mented, there’s a little bit ofdowntick in the orders but itcomesbackup.Onceyouget re-peat customers, they aremorelikelytopaydeliveryfees,whichiswhatyousawwithfood-deliveryappsaswell.Delivery feeskickedin andpeople arepaying signifi-cantamountofdeliveryfees.

Withrisinginflation,peopletendtocutdownondiscretio-naryspends.HasZeptowitne-ssedanysuchtrendrecently?Notyet,honestly.Whatweare

seeing though is rising petrolpricesimpactingourlastmileop-erations.Itisacostthatwehavetodealwith.Wehaverevisedourlastmile rate cards to accommodateforthefuelcosts.

INTERVIEWWITHCO-FOUNDER&CEO,ZEPTO

AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,MAY2

THEGROUPofMinisters has ar-rivedatconsensusofhikingthetaxrateto28percentoncasinos,racecoursesandonlinegamingundertheGoodsandServicesTax(GST)regime.Thepanelhasdirectedtheofficerstolookintothemodalitiesforvaluationforlevyingthetax,af-terwhichthefinalmeetingof thepanelwilltakeplacebymid-May,West Bengal Finance MinisterChandrimaBhattacharyasaid.“There is consensus among

statesthatallthesethree—onlinegaming,casinosandhorseracing—thehighestrateof taxof28percent shouldbe levied. Theques-tionnowisonwhatwillbetheval-uation onwhich the taxwill be

levied.Forthispurpose,thefinan-cialaspect,thelegalaspectwillbelookedintobythegroupofofficersofthefitmentcommitteeandtheywillbegivingareportby10days.Thenagain inmid-Mayanothermeeting will be called by theChairman (of the GoM),”Bhattacharya,whoisamemberoftheGoM,toldTheIndianExpress.

TheGoMwillthenfinalisethemethod for valuation of theseservices. At present, services ofcasino, horse racing and onlinegamingattract18percentGST.The government had inMay

lastyearsetupGroupofMinistersforbettervaluationofservicesofcasinos, online gaming portalsandracecourses for levyingGST.The terms of reference for thecommitteeincludedvaluationofservicesprovidedbycasinos,racecourses and online gaming por-tals, and taxability of certaintransactions in a casino takinginto account the existing legalprovisionsandordersofcourtsonrelatedmatters.The committee was also to

suggestneedforanychangeinthelegal provisions to adopt bettermeansofvaluationoftheservices

ofcasinos,racecourseandonlinegamingandimpactonothersim-ilarserviceslikelottery.The GoM, headed by

Meghalaya Chief MinisterConradSangma,metonMondayanddiscussedtheapplicableGSTrateon these three services. Thereport of theGoM is likely to betaken up in the nextmeeting ofthe GST Council expected laterthismonth.Otherstateministersinthe8-

member GoM includeMaharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar, GujaratFinanceMinisterKanubhaiPatel,Goa Panchayati Raj MinisterMauvin Godinho, Tamil NaduFinanceMinister PThiagaRajan,Uttar Pradesh FinanceMinisterSuresh Khanna and TelanganaFinanceMinisterTHarishRao.

FITMENTPANELTOLOOK INTOVALUATION

■TheGoMwill thenfinalise themethod forvaluationof theseservices.Atpresent,servicesof casino,horse racingandonlinegamingattract18per centGST

WHAT’S THE PLAN?

Casinos,onlinegaming:GoMonboardforGSThiketo28%

■TheresolutiontoreappointchairmanMahendraKumarChouhanandindependentdirectorPunitaKumarSinhawasvoteddownby80.69%of shareholders

NOREAPPOINTMENT

Fino Payments Bankpromoters vote outchairman, director

Apr power consumption grows 13.6%

‘Have profitablemicro markets,want to add 12-20cities over 1 year’Coraises$200mn

AaditPalicha Credit: company

BRIEFLYNOARgoesliveNewDelhi:TheNationalOp-enAccessRegistry (NOAR),the common automatedtechnologyplatform for st-akeholders,wentliveMay1.

PowerGriddealNewDelhi:PowerGridwillbuy IEDCL’s (IL&FS EnergyDevelopmentCompanyLtd)stakeinCrossBorderPowerTransmissionCompanyLtd.

ZilingoCEONewDelhi: Zilingo said theboardjointlytookthecall tosuspendCEOAnkitiBose.PTI

‘Flashcrash’Bengaluru:EuropeanstocksfellMonday, due to a ‘flashcrash’, or erroneous trade,withSTOXX600falling1.5%.Meanwhile,yieldon10-yearUSTreasurieshit3%forfirsttimesince2018.REUTERS

AyanaprojectsNewDelhi:AyanaRenewab-lePowerandGreenstatHyd-rogenIndiahavetiedupforgreenhydrogenprojects.PTI

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY2

BENGALURU-BASED NEO-BANKING startup Open hasraised$50millioninitsSeriesDinvestment round led by IIFL,withparticipationfromexistinginvestorssuchasTemasek,TigerGlobal and3one4Capital. Thecompany said Monday in astatement that itwasnowval-uedat $1billionmaking it the100thunicorninIndia.“The fundingwill alsohelp

Open accelerate its existingproduct lines Zwitch (embed-ded finance platform) andBankingStack(enterprisebank-ing solution for banks), driveglobalexpansionandreachover5millioncustomerswithin thenextoneyear.Thefundswillalsobeusedtostrengthenthe lead-ership teamand increase theemployee base from 500 to1,000withintheyear,”thecom-pany,alsobackedbyGoogleandVisa,saidinastatement.Openwas founded in2017

by formerPayUandCitrusPayseniormanagementmemberAnishAchuthan,alongwithhiswifeMabelChackoandbrotherAjeeshAchuthan. InMay2018,the company raised$2millionin its pre-Series A round fromleadingventurecapitalistfundsandYesBank.WhileAnishistheCEO,Chackoisthechiefoperat-ingofficer andAjeesh thechieftechnologyofficerofOpen.Thecompany has a fourth co-founderDeenaJacob,whoisthechief financialofficer.Prior to founding Open,

AnishAchuthan foundedpay-

mentstartupZwitch,contactlessmobile payment startupsCashnxt Technologies andNeartivityWireless,andmobilevalue added services startupiFuturzWireless. Speaking onthe latest fund-raise, he said:“Weseea lot of synergieswithIIFL,especiallyonleveragingthelendingbook, aswearegettingreadytolaunchinnovativeprod-uctslikerevenue-basedfinanc-ing, early settlement,workingcapital loanandbusinesscreditcardstoSMEsonourplatform.”Openoffersaneobankingplat-formthatintegratesallthetoolsusedbysmallbusinessesandin-tegratesitwiththebusinesscur-rent account. It processes over$30billion inannualised trans-actions,andhasraisedover$140millioninfundingtilldate.WhileOpenhasbecomethe

100thstartupinIndiatoachieveabilliondollarvaluation,itisthe14th startup this year todo so.Other prominent startups tohave turnedunicorns this yearincludeMamaearth,Dealshare,Lead School, Livspace,CredAvenueandXpressbees.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY2

MORTGAGELENDERHDFCLtdonMondayposteda16percentriseinnetprofit at Rs3,700crore forthequarterendedMarch2022ascomparedtoRs3,180croreinthecorrespondingquarterayearago.Itsboardhasrecommendeda

dividendofRs30persharefortheyearendedMarch2022asagainstRs 23per equity in FY21.During2021-22,individualapprovalsanddisbursements grewby 38 percentand37percent,respectively,comparedtothepreviousyear.In March, the corporation

recordeditshighestmonthlyindi-vidualdisbursementsever.Thisisdespite the fact that theprevious

yearentailedconcessionalstampduty benefits in certain stateswhichwerenot there in the cur-rentyear,HDFCsaid.As ofMarch2022, the assets

undermanagement(AUM)stoodatRs6,53,902croreasagainstRs5,69,894croreinthepreviousyear.

Individual loans comprise79percentof theAUM.OnanAUMba-sis, the growth in the individualloanbookwas17percentandthatinthetotalAUMwas15percent.During Q4FY22, HDFC as-

signed individual loans amount-ingtoRs8,367crore(Rs7,503croreayear ago). Individual loans soldin the preceding 12 monthsamounted toRs28,455crore (Rs18,980crorelastyear).AsofMarch, gross individual

non-performing loans (NPLs)stoodat0.99percentof the indi-vidual portfolio,while the grossnon-performingnon-individualloansstoodat4.76percentof thenon-individual portfolio. GrossNPLsasatMarch31,2022stoodatRs10,741crore.This isequivalentto1.91percentoftheportfolio.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY2

INDIA’SMANUFACTURINGin-dustryclockedastrongstarttofinancial year 2022-23, post-ingmarked and acceleratedexpansion inneworders andproductiondespiteariseinin-flation. Rising from 54 inMarchto54.7inApril,thesea-sonally adjusted S&PGlobalIndia ManufacturingPurchasingManagers’ Index(PMI) highlighteda solid andfaster improvement in oper-ating conditions across thesector,S&PGlobalsaid.A PMI number greater

than 50 shows expansion inbusinessactivity,andlessthan50 indicates contraction. PMIis a leading indicator, givinganalystsagoodsenseofthedi-rection of a country’s econ-omy.ThePMIinmanufactur-ing is obtained based on theresultsofasurveysenttoasetofmanufacturingcompanies.According to S&PGlobal,

international sales grewsolidly,followingacontractioninMarch. Inflationary pres-sures,meanwhile,intensified,owing to rising commodityprices,theRussia-Ukrainewarand greater transportationcosts.Inputpricesincreasedatthefastestpaceinfivemonths,whileoutputcharge inflationhita12-monthhigh.PollyannaDeLima,econo-

micsassociatedirectoratS&PGlobal,said:“Factoriescontin-ued to scaleupproductionatanabove-trendpace,withtheongoingincreasesinsalesandinput purchasing suggestingthatgrowthwillbesustained

in the near-term.” “Yet, thesurvey continued to showalackof pressureon firms’ op-erating capacities alongsideonly mild job creation.Moreover, expectations re-gardinggrowthprospects re-mainedsubdued,”shesaid.In its statement, S&PGlo-

balsaidgrowthgatheredmo-mentum in the intermediateand capital goods segments,but therewas a slowdownatconsumergoodsmakers.TheretreatofCovid-19restrictionscontinuedtosupportdemand,according to survey partici-pants. Fullreporton

www.indianexpress.com

MANUFACTURINGWATCHPURCHASINGMANAGERS’ INDEX

■Bengaluru-basedneobankingplatformOpenwasfoundedin2017byformerPayUandCitrusPayseniormanagementmemberAnishAchuthan,alongwithhiswifeMabelChackoandbrotherAjeeshAchuthan

FOUNDED IN 2017

Toaccelerateexistingproduct lines

Neobank Open 100thIndian unicorn; IIFLleads $50-mn funding

It is now evident that an expansion in public sector bank(PSB) credit is crowding in credit growth from private sectorbanks, as per the report Source: SBI Ecowrap/PTI

‘Incrementalcredit-to-GDPsharemay cross50%-mark in FY23’The share of incrementalbank credit in incrementalnominal GDP is likely tocross the 50%-mark in FY23,an SBI research report said

Inpre-pandemic year(FY19),incrementalcredittoGDPsharewasashighas63%

Averagesharewas50%fortheseven-yearperiodendedFY20

FY22endedwithanincrementalcreditgrowthatRs10.5lakhcrore,1.8timeshigherthangrowthofRs5.8lakhcroreinFY21

Banks’creditgrewinFY22by9.6%,drivenbyallmajorsec

WeightedcontributionofPSBsinoverallcreditgrowthinFY22wasasmuchas43%,asteadyrisefromthelowsof27%inFY19

Ifcredit-to-GDPratiois:High: indicatesaggressiveandactiveparticipationofbankingsectorinrealeconomy

Low:showstheneedformoreformalcredit

Note: Reading below 50 suggestscontraction and above itindicates expansionSource: PMI by S&P Global

Manufacturing PMIServices PMI

54

55.5 54.7

53.6

April 2021 April 2022354045505560

FOOYUNCHEEBRUSSELS,MAY2

APPLEFACESapossibleheftyfineandmayhave toopen itsmobilepayment system to competitorsafter EU antitrust regulatorscharged the iPhonemakerwithrestrictingrivals’accesstoitstech-nologyusedformobilewallets.The European Commission

said on Monday it had sent acharge sheet known as a state-ment of objections toApple, de-tailing how the company hadabused its dominant position inmarketsformobilewalletsoniOSdevices.TheCommissionsaidApple’s

anti-competitivepractices datedbackto2015whenApplePaywas

launched.“We have indications that

Apple restricted third-party ac-cesstokeytechnologynecessarytodeveloprivalmobilewalletso-lutionsonApple’sdevices,”EUan-titrust chiefMargretheVestagersaidinastatement. REUTERS

EUantitrustchiefMargretheVestagerataconferenceatEUheadquarters,Monday. AP

Apple hit with EU antitrust charge

Brussels:Google urgedEurope’ssecond-highestcourt to dismiss a 1.49-billion-euro($1.6billion)fineleviedbyEUantitrustregulatorsthreeyearsagoforhinderingrivalsinon-line search advertising.The case is one of threethat resulted in a total of8.25billioneurosinfinesonGoogle. It challengedthe finding in the Luxe-mbourg-basedGeneralCourt. REUTERS

Google urgescourt to scrap$1.6-bn fine

AHIGHERPMIof54.7 inApril comparedwith54.0 inMarchindicates themanu-facturingsector ispoisedtodowellduringtheshort-termmonth.Butrising in-flationbringsalongwithconcernsongrowth,espe-ciallywhenthere isnotmuchpressureonopera-tionalcapacitiesandmildjobcreation.

Goodstart,willitsustain?E●EX

PLAINED

Defying rising costs,factory PMI kicks offFY23 on robust note

HDFC Q4 net rises 16%, recordmonthly disbursements in March

DEEPAKPAREKHChairman, HDFC File

New Delhi

Executive Engineer Construction Division-2, P.W.D. Bijnor(HQ-Najibabad)

Short Term Notice Inviting TenderLetter No. 517 /E –Tender /22-23 Dated : 26.04.20221. The Executive Engineer Construction Division-2, P.W.D Bijnor on behalf of Governor of Uttar Pradesh invites the percentage rate bidsonline from the eligible and approved Contractors registered with UP PWD, Class A, B, C & D (for Road work). Bids must be downloadonline from 10:00 AM on date 12.05.2022 to 5:00 PM on dated 17.05.2022 and the technical bids will be opened online date 18.05.2022at 12:30 PM in Office of Executive Engineer CD-2, PWD, Bijno (Hq Najiababd) and Financial bids of the qualified bidders will be openedon date & time as notified. The Bidder may submit bids for any or all of the works. Experience of Guide Bund construction is mandatoryalong with road work. Bidders are advised to note the minimum qualification criteria specified in ITB Clause 4 of the Instructions toBidders to qualify for the award of the contract.

2. Details of the works are as following :

3- Time allowed for completion of work is 01 Months including rainy season .4- The bids shall remain valid for acceptance for a period of 90 days from the last date of submission of bids. Bids once submitted cannot

be withdrawn.5- Each Bid must be accompanied by non-refundable fee of Rs. 854.00 (Rs. 500.00+Rs. 300.00+Rs. 54GST) as tender document fee, E-

Tender Portal On Net Banking. Prospective bidder may seek any information regarding the bids from the offices indicated in col 8,9and 10 on any working day between 10.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M. A set of bidding documents will be available online on websitehttp://etender.up.nic.in from 10.00 AM. of 12.05.2022 to 10:00 A.M. to 17.05.2022 at 5.00 PM.

6- Bidder shall have to register on http://etender.up.nic.in for submitting the bid. This registration can be done free of cost any time. Thebidders must have a Digital Signature Certificate issued by any Digital certificate certifying authority failing which submission of bidwill not be possible.

7- A pre-bid meeting shall be held in the Office of the Executive Engineer, CD-2, .P.W.D. Bijnor (H.Q-Najibabad) on dated 13.05.2022at 12.00 Noon corresponding to the respective work to clarify the issues and to answer questions on any matter that may be raised atthat stage as stated in Clause 9.2 of 'Instructions to Bidders' of the bidding document.

8- In e-procurement system Bids must be submitted online on http://etender.up.nic.in on or before 17.05.2022 up to 5.00 P.M. Bids canbe submitted by the bidder as per the guidance provided on http://etender.up.nic.in up to the specified date and time. Technical bidshall be opened online on 18.05.2022 at 12.30 PM at the Office of Executive Engineer, CD-2, .P.W.D. Bijnor (H.Q-Najibabad) . OnAccount of Government Holiday. The required process carried out next day at same time.

9- (I) In compliance of G.O No. 3070/78-2-2018-42 I.T./2017(22) I.T and electronics Section-2, Lucknow dated-03-01-2018 Bidders mustSubmit all prescribed proformas on E-Tender portal under E-Tendering process. After opening of Technical and financial Bids of tenderbidder must submit all original Bid documents if fail to do so legal action against him will be taken.ii) Bidder must submit all affidavits as per ITB Clause No.-4 of bid documents.iii) It is compulsory to pay earnest money through Net Banking on E-Tender Portal.

9A- Valid T-4, T-5, T-6 must be uploaded with Tender.10- A bidder shall not be permitted to bid for works in the Circle responsible for award and execution of contracts in which his or his

spouse's near relatives (defined as first blood relations, and their spouses) is posted as Divisional Accountant or as an officer in anycapacity between the grades of Superintending Engineer and Junior Engineer (both inclusive) in U.P. P.W.D. The bidder shall have tofurnish an affidavit disclosing the names and post of their relatives employed in the division responsible for executing the work andrelated circle.

11- Engineer of Gazetted rank or other Gazetted officer employed in Engineering or Administrative duties in an Engineering Departmentof the State/Central Government is allowed to work as a Contractor for a period of two years after his retirement from Governmentservice, without Government permission. This contract is liable to be cancelled if either the Contractor or any of his employees is foundany time to be such a person who had not obtained the permission of the Government as aforesaid before submission of the tender orengagement in the Contractor's service. The bidder shall have to present an affidavit regarding this with the bid.

12- Bid documents and other details consisting of qualification information and eligibility criterion of bidders, plans, specifications,drawings, the schedule of quantities of the various classes of work to be done and the set of terms & conditions of contract to becomplied with by the Contractor can-be seen in the office of the Executive Engineer mentioned in column 8 of the table correspondingto the respective package between hours of 11.00 am and 4.00 Noon on any working day between 12.05.2022 to 17.05.2022.

13- Any bidder who is having criminal record is not allowed to participate in the bidding process.14- Any bidder who is registered with the state Bar Council is not allowed to participate in the bidding process.15- For the validity of tender Rs. 100/- stamp paper duly signed affix with Rs. 1/- revenue stamp shall have to be deposited with the tender.16- Bidder is required to furnish an affidavit online and in original on -a non-judicial stamp paper of Rs. 100/ as per ‘section -3 of bidding

documents giving all information on prescribed Performa required for evaluation of the bidding capacity of the bidder for Tender above10.00 Lakhs.

17- There may be a wide variation in the quantities as per requirement of site for which contractor shall be bound to execute the work.18- As per G.O. no 6738/23-07-2006-176 (lk0)/06 dated 05.01.2007. Performa literature is approved in English but later on as per decision

of Govt. Director information and public relation advised that the tender notice may also be published in Hindi. Accordingly this noticeis translated in Hindi in this office. In case of any discrepancy the notice in English shall be considered as final.

19- The bidder should inspect the site of the work before bidding20- Department has right to reject any or all tender without showing any reason.21- Additional Security will be payable (as per rule at the time of Agreement) according to G.O. No 622/23-12-2012-2 Audit/08 T.C.-2 Dt.

08.06.2012 and as per letter no 01/BDD-NH/40 MT-11/14 Date 01.01.2015 issued by Engineer in Chief PWD Lucknow.22- The defect Liability period shall be after two years from the actual date of completion of work.23- All work shall be carried out as per latest U.P.P.W.D. specification & also as per latest MORT&H / MORD specification and also as

per latest circulars of Engineer in chief UP PWD.24- All rated are inclusive of Contractor’s Profit, royalty, T&P and all taxes etc except GST.25- Contractor will have to produce valid document for royalty paid, otherwise royalty shall be deducted from the contractors bill as per

the latest prevailing rates and rules.26- Contractor Must have been registered for GST and on Chanakya Software.27- All condition of T-1 will be applicable. If any Untoward discrepancy in noticed in the Bid Document submitted by the Bidder legal

Action will be taken against bidder and his/him Registration/Renewal will be Cancelled.28- Labour Cess 1% will be deducted from Contractors Bill vide EnC Lucknow Letter No. 9755@,e0Vh0@lkekU; oxZ@40 ,e0Vh0&45@17

fnukad 19-12-201729- All Affidavits are compulsory to be given on Rs. 100/- Stamp Paper.30- All terms & conditions can be seen on website http://etender.up.nic.in The bidder have to login on Prahari URL

http://wms.uppwd.gov.in/Prahari to upload required documents as per Government order no. 879(1)23-7-2020 dt. 25.08.2020 &E.N.C./H.O.D.’s uppwd order No. 4859/4M-LC/2020 dt. 27.08.2022

SLNo

Name of Work Estimatedcost (Rs.In Lakhs)

BidSecurity(Rs. InLakhs)

Cost ofBid

Document

Time ofCompletion

Address ofExecutiveEngineerof the

Executingthe work

AddressofSuperintending

Engineer

Addressof ChiefEngineer

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Financial Year 2021-22 Renewal with general repair

1 Mochipura in Front of Village Meman road. 7.50 0.75

2 Seohara Thakurdwara road to Jainagar road 5.00 0.50

3 Rafipur Mohan to Farzpur road 6.50 0.65

4 NH-74 in Km 37 to Karauli Narayanpur Ratanroad

7.50 0.75

5 Kiratpur Chhitrawar road to Islampur Sahu(Salampur) road.

5.00 0.50

6 Budgari link road. 7.50 0.75

7 Hussainpur Ghazipur to Aurangabad road 3.70 0.37

8 Kithora Nangla to Umri Road. 7.50 0.75

9 Mustafapur Aansu link road. 5.00 0.50

10 Nagina Badhapur road in Km 07 toShahmuzaffpur road.

4.90 0.49

11 Inspection House Najibabad approach road 2.15 0.22

12 Najibabad Nagina road to Guniyapur viaSikanderpur Basi Ganguwala road.

7.50 0.75

13 Chidiyapur Samipur road in km 15 to RampurMangal road.

3.70 0.37

14 Aurangzebpur Fazil to Canal road. 3.70 0.37

15 Bundki Station to Harganpur road. 9.20 0.92

16 Khijarpur Jaggu to Tukhmapur Harwansha road. 9.20 0.92

17 NH-74 in km 39 to Narayanpur Ratan viaSafiyabad road.

8.80 0.88

18 NH34 in Km 42 Gadayaka urf Fazalpur Maanroad.

9.00 0.90

19 Rahmapur Prempuri Gulalwali road. 8.80 0.88

20 Anandipur to Ramnagar road. 9.20 0.92

DISTRIC

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ConstructionDivision-2,P.W

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ijnor(HqNajibabad)

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(Er. Yogendra Singh)Executive EngineerCD-2, PWD, Bijnor(Hq Najiababd)

Email – eepwdnjb@gmail.com

Assistant Engineer

CD-2, PWD, Bijnor

(Hq Najiababd)UPID NO 175651 Dt- 30.04.2022

www.up.gov.nic.in

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEERPWD (R&B) DIVISION RAMBAN(Short Term) NOTICE INVITING TENDERS

(Single Cover)Fresh e-NIT No: 11 of 2022-23 Dated:28-04-2022 to e-NIT No: 105 of 2021-22

Dated:19-03-2022 (E-tendering).For and on behalf of the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir UT, the Executive Engineer PWD

(R&B) Division Ramban invites tenders by e-tendering mode on %age rates from approved and eligibleContractors/Firms registered with J&K UT. CPWD, MES & Railways for the following work:-

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 91 Macadamization of Chamalwas Neel

road by way of providing and laying150mm thick WBM Gr-II (in stretches),75mm thick Wet Mix and 25mm thickPremix Carpet over 50mm thick BM inkm 23th and 24th (under City and Townroads-2022-23).

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Adv.Cost

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“A “Class/

HotMix

PlantHolder

2 Macadamization of Kaskoot Hardbareroad by way of providing and laying150mm thick WBM Gr-II (in stretches),75mm thick Wet Mix and 25mm thickPremix Carpet over 50mm thick BM inkm 2nd (under City and Town roads-2022-23).

44.36 600 @ 2% ofAdv.Cost

02Months

“A “Class/

HotMix

PlantHolder

3 Macadamization of Krachihal Nowgamroad by way of providing and laying150mm thick WBM Gr-II (in stretches),75mm thick Wet Mix and 25mm thickPremix Carpet over 50mm thick BM inkm 2nd RD 500-1000 (under City andTown roads-2022-23).

23.26 600 @ 2% ofAdv.Cost

02Months

“A “Class/

HotMix

PlantHolder

Position of AAA = ACCORDEDPosition of funds =Technical Sanction = ACCORDED

1. The Bidding documents Consisting of qualifying information, eligibility criteria, specifications, Drawings, bill ofquantities (B.O.Q), Set of terms and conditions of contract and other details can be seen/downloaded fromthe departmental website www.jktenders.gov.in as per below schedule:

Sd/-No: 4500-21 (Er. Vinod Kumar Gupta)Dated: 28-04-2022 Executive EngineerDIPJ-1037 PWD (R&B) Division Ramban

1 Date of Issue of Tender Notice 28-04-2022

2. Period of downloading of bidding documentsFrom 29-04-2022,10.00 A.M to 05-05-2022, 4.00P.M

3. Date, Time and place of pre-bid meeting

4. Bid submission Start Date 29-04-2022 From 10.00 A.M

5. Bid Submission End Date 05-05-2022 up to 4.00 P.M

6. Submission of hard copy of tender documentsOnly successful bidder who is declared as L1should submit the hard copy after opening offinancial bids

7.Date & time of opening of Technical Bids (Online) -[The date should be one day after deadline forreceiving of hard copies]

06-05-2022 at 12.00 A.M in the Office of theExecutive Engineer PWD(R&B) Division Ramban

8. Date & time of opening of Financial Bids (Online)To be notified after technical bid evaluation iscompleted

NOTICE INVITING e-TENDERNIeT No. F. 23(34)-Agri(FM)/MOP/

2021-22/2905, dtd 18-04-2022On behalf of Govt of Tripura, the Department ofAgriculture & Farmers Welfare invites an e-Tender intwo-bid system (Technical & Financial) from thebonafied importers authorized by the Central/StateGovernment upto 16:00 Hrs of 09-05-2022 for“Supply of 5300 MT MOP Fertilizer during 2022-23”

● Estimated Tender Value :- Rs. 17,91,40,000/-

● EMD :- Rs. 17,91,400/-

● Tender Fee :- Rs. 5,000/-

● Bid submission end date & time :- 09-05-2022 upto 16:00 Hrs.

For details visit website www.tripuratenders.gov.in.Sd/-

Director of AgricultureICA-C-359-22 Tripura

DC-1, Opposite Nehru Balodyan, Tonk Road, JaipurTHE RAJASTHAN STATE CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD.

S.N. Events Particulars Date & time for tendersStart date and time of download of e-bid 02.05.2022, 10.00 AMLast date and time of download of e-bid 09.05.2022, 3.00 PMLast Date of submission of e-bid with Bid security 09.05.2022, 3.00 PMOpening of Technical bid/e-bid 09.05.2022, 3.30 PMWebsites where tender is available https://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in

https://rscb.org.inhttps://sppp.raj.nic.in

Managing Director

Schedule for tenders

1.2.3.4.5.

1.BidNo.RSCB/OracleATS/22-23/02-Request for proposal (RFP) forAnnualTechnical Support ofOracleExadataApplianceandOracleOEMResource for implementationofOracleDatabase19candhigher.

Tender Notice No. RSCB/Purchase/22-23/05Sealed tenders are invited from eligible bidders for following

''IMPORTANT''Whilst care is taken prior toacceptance of advertisingcopy, it isnotpossible toverifyits contents. The IndianExpress (P) Limited cannot beheld responsible for suchcontents, nor for any loss ordamage incurredasaresultoftransactions with companies,associations or individualsadvertising in its newspapersor Publications. We thereforerecommend that readersmake necessary inquiriesbefore sending any monies orentering into any agreementswith advertisers or otherwiseacting on an advertisement inany manner whatsoever.

CALENDAR18 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

CROSSWORD4730

ACROSS1Easyto identify this literarycharacter (10)6Dish fromthewest -of Ireland?(4)10Cathyrocks theboat (5)11Payavisit after somepersuasion?(4,5)12Countasanoldgasbag(8)13Asect represented inaclassoftheirown(5)15Talkaboutbeingsecond inOlympicevent (7)17FrightenedbyCaponewithagun(7)19Asnuff-taker (7)21Forceholdsourweapons (7)22Flight leader (5)24Hillssplit internallybyfloods(8)27Cranksmaybemotivatedbysuchanoddcharacter (9)28 Iwas tiredtosomeextentbeingoutof bed(5)29Unexceptionalcall forhelp thatcomestonothing(2-2)30Nevertheless there’snovariety(3,3,4)

DOWN1Amonthgettingroundan Irishcounty (4)2Presses for reductions? (9)3Hegetsputout,beingangry(3,2)4 Jamssold in jars (7)5Regionwheremenburst intosong(7)7Tieupabundleof straw(5)8Literally the longestdays(10)9Announcethatone isno longeranamateur? (8)14Unusualbiblicalbookneededtomakeupaset? (3,7)16Mountingarevolt (8)18Raise thestakeonahorseand itmayblowits top(5,4)20Afteranumberontheside(7)21Almostamonthbeforeabedbears fruit (7)23Worncuffs (5)25Agirlneeds twokeys toescape(5)26Untieareef knot (4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Hardworkseemssomewhatinevitable, sopleasedon'tbe jealousof

peoplewhohave iteasier.Makethemostofpositivelunar influences topressaheadwithall seriousambitionsandgetasmuchachievedasyoucan inthetimeavailable.Partnerswillthankyou.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)I'd like to takea lookat thenextsixdaysasawholeandpointout that

aroundmid-week,Mercury,planetof communication,willbeverypositive.Theresult is thatplansandarrangementswhichhavebeenblockedshouldbeunderwaybytheweekend.

GEMINI (May22- June21)Events that tookplaceover the lastcoupleofweeksorsomusthave

made itpainfullyclear thatoneclose friend is takingyouforgranted.Notonly that,buttheymaybeadanger tothemselves.Youcanbeonhandwithasupplyof emotionalstickingplasters.

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LEO(July24-Aug23)Venus, therulerofyourgentleraffections, isinspiringyouto

dreamof love.Theonlyquestion is,of course,willpartners respond?Leoswhocanarrangeorimplement travelplansorforgeoverseas linksshouldgetonwith it: there isnotimetowaste.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Itmaynowbeclear thatamajoralteration inyourworkmethods

or routine isunavoidable.If youmakeanearlystart,youshoulddowell, attractingsupportandadmiration.It'snotaparticularlygoodtimefordealingwithdetails,which ispreciselywhyyoumust takeextracare.

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thetrouble to findoutwhatmakesyoutick. If they'dbotheredtotryandseetheworld throughyoureyessometimeago, theywouldhavegivenyounocausetocomplainnow.Neitherwouldtheyhave letyoudown.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Declarationsof loveareonething,butyoumayembarrassyourself aswellas

others. In fact, your footmaybewellandtrulywedgedinyourmouth. Itgoeswithoutsayingthatyourwordsneedtobechosenwithcare.The lastthingyouwant todo isundermineall thegoodwillyou'vebuiltup.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)Yourcreativeenergyshouldnowbeatapeak,butnotperhapsbecause

thestarsareallonyourside.Onthecontrary, challengingromanticstars remindusof thecliché thatallgreatart stemsfromsuffering.Nogainwithoutpain isadifferentwayofdoing it.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)Ontheplusside,today's subtle lunarrelationshipsenableyoutoget the

mostoutof almostanysituation.Successwillbeguaranteedonthebasisof yourexperienceandskill. There isnoneedtobluff, or topretendthatyou'resomethingother thanyouare.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)There'sagreatdealgoingonbehindthescenes. In fact,almosteverything

of importanceseemstobeconcealed frompublicview.Whatyouseemaybebut thetipof avery largeiceberg.Aclose friendcanhelpyouviewthesecretsbelowthesurface.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)The latestplanetarypicturessignifythat inamatterofweeksyouwillno

longerbetiedto thepastorrestrictedbyothers' emotionaldemands.Youshouldgiveyourself somespace toallowfor romanticencounters,nomatterwhatyourageor inclination.

SUDOKU4823

DifficultyLevel5sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4822

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.__and____cannotsharethesameabode-Ovid(4,.,7)

SOLUTION:OILED,LINTY,KIDNEY,VAGARYAnswer:Loveanddignitycannotsharethesameabode-Ovid

OLDIE DINKEY

NYILT AARYGV

SolutionsCrossword4729:Across:1Legends,5Emote,8Gruelling,9Foe,10Ruby,12Kangaroo,14Roosts,15Encore,17Peek-a-boo,18Type,21Tea,22Nannygoat,24Dread,25Anxiety.Down: 1Lager,2Gnu,3Nell,4Spiral,5Engaging,6Offertory,7Eyesore,11Brokerage,13Strained,14Reputed,16Cornea,19Entry,20Lynx,23Ole.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

New Delhi

19THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

SPORT

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PLAYING TONIGHTIndian Premier LeagueRCB vs CSK, 7.30pm, Live on Star Sports Network

Umesh’sbowling,Rinku’sbattingtakeKKRtomuch-neededwinagainstRajasthanRoyals

A night for Knights, at last

ABHISHEKPUROHITMUMBAI,MAY2

A TIMELY dash from Rinku Singh ensuredUmesh Yadav’s brilliance in the Powerplaywasn’t in vain as Kolkata Knight Ridershauled in a modest target of 153 againstRajasthanRoyals for their firstwin innearlyamonthafter five straight losses.

Umesh bosses Powerplay againUmesh, alongwithMohammed Shami

andMukeshChaudhary,has takenthe joint-mostPowerplaywicketsinthisIPL-eight-attheleastexpensiveeconomyrateof6.44.Hisopening spell of 3-1-19-1 onMondaywas awindowintowhyhe’sbeenhardtogetaway,andhasalsobeenremovingbatsmenearly.The threat of his skiddy outswing is al-

wayspresent; hemagnified it bydeliveringto Jos Buttler from almost in front of thestumps, thus starting the line frommiddle-and-off, forcing the RR opener to play, andcurling it justpast theoutsideedge.The ones that cut back in keep the bats-

menguessing.DevduttPadikkal fell, proba-blyexpectingtheballtoswingbackintohim,givenhowhe’d closedhisbat-faceabit. Buttheballcarriedstraighton,andhepoppedacatchback toUmesh.One quality Umesh has added this sea-

son is control; therehaven’t been toomanyovercookedofferingsheadingintothepads,theroutethroughwhichhe’softenreleasedpressure and leaked runsoverhis career.Ofthe five fours he conceded to RR, twoweredowntofieldinglapses,onewasathickedgeandanotherahalf-chance.WhenUmesh returned for his last over,

hehadmorevariations toshow.Seeingthat

Sanju Samsonwastryingtolinehimup,eyeingthestraightand extra-cover boundaries, he pulled hislength back and also slipped in a slow andwide short ball. Aaron Finchmisfielded atthird man to allow a four in what shouldhave been a two-run over, but Umesh stillfinishedwith a run-a-ball economy rate.

Brakes on RRAPowerplayscoreof38/1meantButtler

had to take more risks than usual in themiddle overs. A ball after swiping TimSouthee to the long-leg rope following yetanother poor effort in the field from SunilNarine, Buttler shuffled across to off,opened up considerably and almost heli-coptered the ball to wide long-on, whereShivamMavi didn’tmess up.Meanwhile, Samsonwas having prob-

lemswith his lower back, and had alreadytaken treatment from the physio. He hadbeen willing to take a chance againstUmesh, and had scythed him just out ofmid-off’s reach.Samson launched a few blows in his

standard area over extra cover, but wasclearlyhamperedbythebadback.Herana

second run only once, and in between,would walk towards square leg, trying tosteadyhimself against thepain for thenextball. He departedwith three overs left at astrike rate of 110 for his 54.KKR denied pace on the Wankhede

pitchwhichhad seenactionadayago, andfourRRbatsmenfailedtoclearthecow-cor-ner boundary. Two of those catches weretaken by Rinku Singh, a livewire presenceon the fence amid an otherwise lacklustreteamfieldingeffortattimes.Acoupleof lateblows from Shimron Hetmyer dragged RRpast 150.

KKR pull throughAtthehalfwaystage,RRhadbeen62for

2, andKKRwere 59 for 2. Their fifth differ-ent opening combination in five games -Aaron Finch and Baba Indrajith this time -wasanother failure.Shreyas IyerandNitishRanatooktheir timebutthere isn’tanyrealweaklinkintheRRattack,somattershadtobe forced, and Rana did it in the 11th overagainst RavichandranAshwin.He reverse-lapped Ashwin frommiddle-and-leg for acouple of fours either side of a slogged six.But likeSureshRainawould,muchmoresoin internationalcricketthanintheIPL,Ranaisexpectingtheshortballoften,andasare-sult,misses out onmany scoring opportu-nitieswhen it is pitchedup.RinkucameinatShreyas’exit inthe13th

over and the innings acquired somemo-mentum finally. With two left-handers inthe middle, Samson held back YuzvendraChahal’s last over until the 18th. With 31needed,RinkupunchedandsloggedChahalforsuccessive fours. Inthe19th,TrentBoultdived over a Rinku power-drive atmid-offto let it race for four,andbarringRR’s indig-nation at some arguable wide calls, therewastobenomoredrama.Rinku’sunbeaten42off 23hadensured that.Brief scores: RR 152 for 5 (Samson 54,Hetmyer 27*, Southee 2-46) lost by sevenwickets toKKR158for3(Rana48*,Rinku42*, Shreyas 34)

SYNOPSIS:A solid bowling effort led byUmesh Yadav sets up KKR’s first win insix games as Rinku Singh’s late hittinghands RR a seven-wicket loss

KKRpacerUmeshYadavtakesDevduttPadikkal’s catchoffhisownbowlingonMonday. Allpics: Sportzpics for IPL

Rana wins battle with Ashwin… again

R Ashwin doesn’t like to bowl off-spintoomuchinT20sagainstmostbatsmennot named Rohit Sharma, whom hetookout in the last gamewitha regularoff-break.Onewaitedtosee ifhewoulduse it more often against the left-handed Nitish Rana, who has a goodrecordagainsthim.Hedidslipinalovelyoff-break that turned and spat pastRana’s defensive prod. Ashwin cast acheekylookacrossat thebatsman.Nextover, though, Rana took charge. A car-rom ball on middle-and-leg was re-verse-paddledtothefine-legboundary.An under-cutter on a similar line was

flungovermidwicket fora six. Finally, aslower off-break arrived but somehowRana reverse-lapped it to the fine-legboundary. “Rana is one of those left-handerswhoisactuallygoodagainsttheball leavinghim,” IanBishopwouldsay.ThatmaybethecasebutAshwindidn’treally testhimwithit.Perhaps,hecouldhave trustedhisbig-spinningoff-breakmorebutheseemsto fear that reverse-sweep.ConsideringthatRanastillplaysthat shot to him, a ripping off-breakwouldn’tbethatbadatry.16runscamein that 11th over that kickstarted theKolkataKnight Riders chase.

With46neededfrom29balls,left-handedRinkuSinghhadtodosomething.FacingthepacyKuldeepSen, hedecided todoaRishabh Pant. Itwas a full-length ball onthelegsandRinkuleanedforward,flexedhisknee, collapsedhisarmsandplayedawonderful pick-up shot over backwardsquare-legforasix.Thewaythehandsfoldupandgoupsuggestsas ifheisthrowingan Angavastram, aman-stole, over theshoulder,exactlyhowPantdoesittoo.It’samutation of SaeedAnwar’smarvellousswat-flick, a shot he would play oftenagainst JavagalSrinath.Anwar’s talental-lowedhimto flick theball anglingacrosshim fromoff-and-middle too. Pant, andnowRinku, havemutated that shot to afling of aman-stole and canhit a fine arcbehindsquare-leg.

When umpire took centrestage

EMOTIONALROLLERCOASTERHot heads, calmminds and everything in between at the game

Umpire Nitin Pandit,Sanju Samson andPrasidh Krishnawerelocked in a battle oftheir own during theend overs. In the 17thover, Krishna bowledtwowell-outside-offdeliveries past thetramlineasRinkuSinghshuffledacrosstohaveaswing.ThefirstonewascalledwideandbothSamson-theRajasthanRoyals captain - and Krishna, thebowler,were inanguish.Thenextonewasn’t called awide. In the19thover,thescenesrepeated.Rinkudidn’tshuf-fle this time and calmly collected awide, correctly called. Next ball wasmisfieldedbyTrentBoultandranawayfor a four. Then, Rinku shuffled acrossandfailedtoconnectwithacutshottoa ball wide outside off. But he hadmovedacross,andtheballwasn’tpastthewhitelineofthereturncrease.Now,PanditextendedhisarmsandSamson

wasn’t happy. He firstprotestedgentlybeforesignalling for a DRSclaiming a catch.Perhaps,hejustwantedtheumpiretoseethere-play on the screen infront of everyone andmakeapointastheball

was noway close to the stumps. Thewidestayed,ofcourse.ThenagaincameanotherwideballasNitishRanashuf-fledacrossandthis time,eventhoughtheballwasveryclosetothebat,itwaspastthatwhitelineofthereturncrease-whichmeansitisindeedawide.Iftheball isawayfromthepitchstripasthatextremewhitelineindicates,it’sawidedespitewhatevermovementthebats-manhasmade. Samson joggedall thewayacross tohave a chatwithPanditwhopatiently explained the rule. Bethat as itmay, because of a couple ofearliertightcalls,hewasroastedonso-cialmedia.

Rinku flings a man-stole!

DEVENDRAPANDEYMUMBAI, MAY 2

“SIR, MUJHE yeh log khila nahi rahe hain,mein pareshan hogaya hoon (they are notincludingme in the team, I amupset).”Threeyearsago,BadruddinSiddiquigota

callfromMohsinKhan,whosoundeddejectedafternotbeingabletomakeitintotheplayingelevenofstar-studdedMumbaiIndians.“Itoldhim‘Don’tbestupid.Justkeeptalk-

ing to Zaheer Khan and LasithMalinga. Justchew their brains and youwill be a betterbowler incomingdays”,Badruddin recalls.A left-armmedium pacer with a high-

arm action and ability to generate bouncefrom a good length, Mohsin was consid-ered one towatch out for.On Sunday, the Lucknow Super Giants

bowler returned figures of 4/16 againstDelhi Capitals, which enabled his team toclinchahigh-scoringgame.His fourwick-ets were of David Warner, Rishabh Pant,RovmanPowell and Shardul Thakur.

Bowling was never first choice forMohsin.Hiscoachrecalledhowheaccom-panied his elder brother to the ground inMoradabad one day. His elder brotherwantedMohsin to be a cricketer.Mohsininitiallywantedtobeabatsman.

However, at theageof 12, hepickedupde-cent heightwhichpromptedBadruddin toadvise him topickup fast bowling.“He was reluctant initially but I said if

hewants toplayhigher-levelcricket,hecanonly do that as a bowler. ‘Batting side bysidekarte raho (carryon)’, but it tooksometime. Hewas never serious. Hewas casualinhis approach.Hewenton toplayunder-16 and under-19 cricket for Uttar Pradeshand even took 27 wickets in three gamesbuthehaddevelopeda love for tennis-ballcricket by then,” the coach says.Therewere dayswhenMohsin used to

skippracticetoplaytennis-ball cricketwithfriends.When he injured his shoulder, hiscoach intervened again.“I said if hewants toplayhigher cricket,

he has to be serious.He canplay these ten-

nis-ball games, but not on a regular basis.Things changed when he was picked byMumbai Indians,” Badruddin, who is alsothe coach of senior India fast bowler

MohammedShami, stated.

Turning the cornerThesonof a retiredUttarPradeshPolice

sub-inspector,Mohsinsoonrealisedtheim-portanceof trainingandworkethics,thoughhisloveforbattingcontinued.Wheneverhiscoaches moved away, Mohsin would betwith teammates on who could hit thelongest sixes.Duringlockdown,hetrainedwithShami

at the latter’s farmhouse. Badruddin statesthat the interaction and time spent withShami changedMohsin as he learnt reverseswingandtheartofdeliveringtheballonitsseam. “ShamitoldhimthatMohsin isabet-terbowlerthanhimbutjustneededmorefo-

cus. I called himduring lockdown and said,jitnaShamikadimagnichodsaktahai,kar le(LearnwhateveryoucanfromShami)’.Thingshavechangedafterthat,”headds. Shamiun-derstood what was running in Mohsin’smind. He too had crossed that bridgewhenhe was part of the Kolkata Knight Riderssquadfor twoseasonsbutdidn’tgetagame.Like Mohsin, Shami too had spoken toBadruddinabouthowitwastoughtositout.“I toldMohsin, ‘seehowShamipickedall

thetricks fromWasimAkram.’Hehastodothesame.Suchopportunitiesshouldnotbewasted, it will help him in the future,” thecoachnarrates. During an interactionwithLSGteammateDeepakHooda,Mohsinsaidthathisparentswantedhimtoseehimplay-ingan IPLmatchonTV.“Iwaitedthreeyears foranopportunity.

My parents used to say that it was theirdream to watch me play in an IPL match.Now that I’m playing, my parents are thehappiest. I’mveryhappyaswell, I’mfulfill-ingtheirdream. Idedicatemyperformanceto them,”Mohsin added.

Shami’s able guidance helps LSG seamer Mohsin make a mark

MohsinKhanlearntreverseswingandtheartofdeliveringtheballon its seamfromGujaratTitansandIndiapacerMohammedShami. Sportzpics for IPL

Nadal,DjokovicslamWimbledonbanonRussianplayersMadrid: Rafael Nadal and NovakDjokoviccriticizedWimbledon'sdeci-siontoexcludeplayersfromRussiaandBelarus fromtakingpart in this year'stournamentfollowingRussia'sinvasionof Ukraine. The two tennis greats saidSundaythatWimbledonhadactedun-fairly.“Ithinkit'sveryunfairof(on)myRussiantennismates,mycolleagues ...it'snot their faultwhat'shappening inthismomentwith thewar,?Nadal, a21-timeGrand Slamwinner, said inSpainwherebothheandDjokovicarepreparingtoplayintheMadridOpen.“I'm sorry for them,” Nadal said.“Wimbledonjusttooktheirdecision...thegovernmentdidn'tforcethemtodoit."Nadal added: “Let's seewhat hap-pens in thenextweeks, if theplayerswill takesomekindofdecision inthatregard.” AP

‘That’sit’:FarahmayendtrackcareerLondon: MultipleOlympic andworldchampionMoFarahsaidhiselitetrack

career could beover after he fin-ishedrunner-upintheLondon10,000onMondayonhisreturn to action.Farah, who com-pleted the 5,000and10,000metresdoubleatthe2012

and2016Olympics,wasracing for thefirsttimesinceJuneafterfailingtoqual-ifyforlastyear'sTokyoGames.The39-year-oldBriton finishedaminuteout-sidehisbesttimeattheLondoncoursein2010ashewasout-sprintedby26-year-old club runner Ellis Cross,whofinishedfoursecondsaheadwithatimeof28:40."Intermsofthetrack,that'sit,I think," Farah said. "Your bodyhas tobe ready. You have to be in the rightframeofmindand competewith theguys.IlovethesportandwhatIdo,I'vehada longcareer. "Thereality is that ithasbeen so, so long. Inmycareer, I'veneverbeenoutthatlongbefore...TodaywastoughandEllisdidwelltobeatme,"addedFarah,whohaswontheLondonraceseventimes. AP

UEFAbansRussiafromwomen'sEurosandWorldCupImola: UEFAhas bannedRussia fromtheWomen'sEuropeanChampionshipinJulyandfromparticipatinginquali-fyingfornextyear'sWorldCupfollow-ing the country's invasionof Ukraine,Europeansoccer'sgoverningbodysaidonMonday.PortugalwillreplaceRussiafor the July 6-31 tournament inEngland,joiningNetherlands,SwedenandSwitzerlandinGroupC.UEFAalsoruled Russia's bid to host themen'sEuros in2028and2032 ineligibleandsaidtheteamwillnotparticipateinthe2022-23NationsLeague.Additionally,Russian clubs will not compete inUEFA's Champions League, EuropaLeagueor EuropaConference Leaguenext season.UEFAandworld govern-ingbodyFIFAsuspendedRussianclubsandnationalteamsfromtheircompe-titions after the invasion of Ukraine,whichMoscowcallsa"specialmilitaryoperation". REUTERS

BRIEFLY

MASTERCLASS

IPL TABLE

TEAM M W L PT NRRGT 9 8 1 16 0.377

LSG 10 7 3 14 0.397

RR 10 6 4 12 0.340

SRH 9 5 4 10 0.471

RCB 10 5 5 10 -0.558

DC 9 4 5 8 0.587

KKR 10 4 6 8 +0.060

PK 9 4 5 8 -0.470

CSK 9 3 6 4 -0.407

MI 9 1 8 2 -0.836

I toldMohsin, ‘see how Shamipicked all the tricks fromWasimAkram.’ He has to do the same.Such opportunities should notbe wasted, it will help him in thefuture.”

BADRUDDINSIDDIQUIMOHAMMEDSHAMI’SBOWLINGCOACH

New Delhi

SPORTS20 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY3,2022

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ASSOCIATEDPRESSMADRID,MAY2

THE SMALL Spanish city of Villarreal couldbe facing its lastChampionsLeaguenight inawhile if itdoesn'tpulloff anotherupsetonTuesdayagainstLiverpool. Themodestclubousted Juventus and BayernMunich on itsway toa surprise semifinal appearance.Butif it can't reverse a 2-0 first-leg loss againsttheEnglishclub,recenthistoryshowsitmaynothaveanotherchancetoplay inthecom-petitionany timesoon.Villarreal is only seventh in the Spanish

league, nine points from the final qualifica-tionplacefortheEuropeancompetitionwithfour rounds togo.Theteam'schancesofqualifyingthrough

theSpanish leaguetookahitonSaturdayasit lost at second-to-last-place Alav?s, whencoachUnaiEmeryhadtorestsomeofhisreg-ular starters ahead of the match againstLiverpool.Thatmeansonly theChampionsLeague

title is likely to allow the club back intoEurope's topclubcompetitionnext season.Andreturningafterthatmaynotbeeasy

either,consideringVillarreal'srecentrecord.Basedinacityof50,000peopleinsouth-

ern Spain, Villarreal hadn't played in theChampionsLeaguesincethe2011-12season.Beforethat, ithadonlyqualifiedforthetour-namentin2005-06andin2008-09.Thisisitsthirdappearanceintheknockoutstage,andfirst since it made it to the quarterfinals in2009. It reached thesemifinals in2006."We are going through a historic mo-

ment. Our people are very proud," EmerysaidMonday."We've been playing well at home.

Hopefully in front of our fanswewill haveourbestperformanceandadvance."Villarreal hasn't lost a homematch in

more than five months, since a Spanishleague loss toBarcelona lastNovember.Villarreal fans are preparing a big party

to try to help their teampull off an unlikelycomeback.Mosaicswill bedisplayed insidetheStadium,andacorridorof fanswillwel-cometheteam'sbuscarryingthesquadfromthe training center to the stadium.Both ofVillarreal's eliminations in the knockoutstage came against Arsenal.Villarreal quali-fied for the Champions League this seasonbywinningthesecond-tieredEuropaLeaguefor its first significant title. Evenmaking itback to the Europa League or the EuropaConferenceLeaguemaybedifficult.

Villarreal’sEuro hopeshanging on winover Liverpool

NARAYANANSMAY2

INFRONTofmorethan26,000fans,inacaul-dron of noise at the Payyanad Stadium inMalappuram,hostsKeralawontheirseventhSantoshTrophytitlebeatingWestBengal ina penalty shootout (5-4), an encore of their2018 triumph against themost successfulteam in the history of the national footballchampionship.Theteamswerelevel1-1afterextra-time

in a pulsating encounter inwhich plenty ofchanceswerecreatedatbothendswith thefinishing being astray. Two terrific headersfromDilipOrwan(Bengal)andMuhammedSafnad(Kerala) inextra-timetookthegameto penalties. In the tie-breaker, Kerala con-verted all their shots while Bengal’s Sajalmissedhis.SanjuG,BibinAjayan,captainJijoJoseph, Jesin TK and Fasalu Rahman scoredfor Kerala in the shootout. Orwan, BabluOran,TanmoyGhoshandgoalkeeperPriyantKumar found thebackof thenet forBengal.Interestingly, just before the penaltyshootout,Keralachangedtheirregulargoal-keeperMidhunVwithHajmalS.This is Kerala’s third win in a Santosh

Trophy tournament on home soil. Earlier,theyhadwon two tournaments inKochi, in1973-74and1992-93.Orwan put Bengal ahead in the 97th

minute after both teams couldnot be sepa-rated in regular time. He met substituteSupriya Pandit’s cross from the rightwith apowerfulheadertowhichKeralagoalkeeperMidhunhadnoanswer. Inthe116thminute,Safnad equalised for Kerala. Incidentally, itwas another cross from the right flank thatled to the goal. Noufal, who had been alivewireeversincehecameoninthesecondhalf, lobbedtheball intotheboxandSafnadjumpedhighandbeattheBengaldefenderstomake it 1-1. The crowd, which had gonesilent after the Bengal goal, believed againthat this couldbeKerala’snight.After thewin, Kerala coach BinoGeorge

thanked the crowd for their support. “Mostof youwouldhave thought thatwehad lost

thegame.ButwecamebackbecausewearetheKerala team.Wehavenot lost agame inthe tournament because of the people andtheirsupport forus. I thankthemandthankmyboys. Thewin is theirs.”Kerala captain Jijo Joseph, whowas ad-

judged the player of thematch for a com-manding performance in themiddle of thepark,said:“I’mproudofmyteam.Especiallymy coach and themanagement. They haveall beenworking hard. Theymade this vic-tory possible. I thank the fans for their sup-port.”Earlier,Georgewent inwiththesameline-up from their semifinal win againstKarnataka and kept five-goal hero Jesin TKon the bench. Bengal coach Ranjan

Bhattacharyamadeonechange tohis start-ing line-up from the semifinal againstManipurasNabiHussainKhanreplacedBasuDebMandi at the back. Themove immedi-atelypaiddividendsasNabiHussainalmostput Bengal ahead in the third minute. HeleaptforacornerfromFardinbuthisheaderwent justwide.Bengaldominatedtheearlyproceedings

withmore possession and bettermoves inthefinalthird. Inthe19thminute,Keralagota free-kick andcaptain Jijo Joseph,whohadalready struck from a free-kick in the tour-nament,wasexpectedtotroublethe’keeper.But his shotwasweak and straight into thehandsof BengalgoalkeeperPriyantSingh.Fourminutes later, a cross fromOrwan

from the leftmet an unmarkedMahoitoshRoy. But he missed the target as Keralabreathedasighofrelief.AfterthatBengalat-tack, however,Keralagot into thegameanditwastheindustriousdisplayofBengalright-back Jay Baz that kept the hosts’ attacksthroughthe leftundercheck.In the38thminute, JesinTKcameon for

VikneshM,whohadmissedasitterfivemin-utesearlier. Jesinmanufacturedhis first realchance with clever footwork and a left-footedshot from25yardsout.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMAY2

PRIYAMOHANgotthebetterofstarsprinterDutee Chand to clinch thewomen’s 200mgold medal at the Khelo India UniversityGames inBengaluruonMonday.Priya, who had taken the 400m title on

Sunday, clocked23.90seconds topipDutee(24.02s), ahead of Ranchi University’sFlorence Barla (24.13s). Dutee, the silvermedallistfromthe2018JakartaAsianGames,hadagoodstartandwasleadingovertheini-tial 100mbefore the 19-year-old Priya, rep-resenting Jain University, caught her uparound the bend before crossing the finishlineinfirstplace. However,Priyafeltthatrainpreventedher fromclockinganevenbettertiming. “I’dpreparedreallyhardfor thisandIwasinpeakform,buttheweatherwreakedhavoc,” shesaidMohan.

Ashishwins againOnthewrestlingmat,Ashish,represent-

ingKurukshetraUniversity,won thegold inthe 97kg freestyle category, beatingMaharshi Dayanand University’s Ajay byTechnical Superiority. Ashish has excelledthrough the various age categories andMonday’swinisthelatestinalongsequence.Itwas in2017thathebaggedhis firstmedalin the Sub-JuniorNationals in the 97kg cat-egory. Then followed threemoremedals inJuniorNationalsinthesamecategory,andin2021,attheSeniorNationalsinNoida,wherehewonabronze.Healsohasagoldmedalat

theAll IndiaUniversityGames.Ashish,whowasintroducedtothesport

byhisfarmerfathertoinstilldisciplineinhissonaswinningandlosingonthematiscom-pletely dependent on a competitor’s per-formance, gradually fell in love withwrestlingdespitenotbeingverykeeninthebeginning.With several big events cominguplaterthisyear–includingtheBirminghamCommonwealth Games and the HangzhouAsian Games – Ashish is preparing himselffor tougherchallenges.“ThisismyfirstgoldmedalinKheloIndia

University Games. Nowmy focus is com-pletely on the Commonwealth Games. Icompetedheretocheckoutthecompetitionand prepare for themulti-sport event. Thecompetitionwasgreat. IhadgoodfightsandI feel confident now. Therewill be trials togetselectedforCWG,andIameagerlyawait-ing the samenow,” he said.While undergo-ing hard training, Ashish is alsowary of in-juries in the lead-up to the high-profilecompetitions. “I am training alongwithmyfather.Trainingisgoingreallystrong.Wearetaking a lot of care to avoid injuries. I haveneversufferedamajorinjuryandIdon’teverwant tosufferoneaswell.”WiththeParisOlympicsalittlemorethan

twoyears away,many athletes at theKheloIndiaUniversityGamesmaybedistractedbythebigprize,butnotAshish,whoisconcen-tratingoneventsinthecurrentcalendaryear.“Mysole focus at this point is on theup-

coming Commonwealth Games and theAsianGamesthisyear. Iamnotthinkingtoofarahead toParis at thispoint,” shesaid.

AnemotionalKeralaheadcoachBinoGeorgeafterhis team’sdramaticwin.

Priya beats fancied rivalDutee to win 200m gold

After extra-time equaliser,Keralawin penalty shootoutHostswinseventhnational title in frontof26,000homefans inMalappuram

SANTOSHTROPHY

KHELO INDIAUNIVERSITYGAMES

JainUniversityathletePriyaMohanclocked 23.90secondsaheadofDuteeChand

KERALA BENGALSanjuG DilipOrawnBibinAjayan SajalBagJijo Joseph BabluOranJesinT TanmoyFasluRahman Priyant

Keralawin5-4

SHOOTOUT

New Delhi