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JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

‘THIS IS ABATTLE ABOUT

THE FUTURE’Chinese contemporary artistand dissident Ai Weiwei talksabout how the pandemic has

strengthened state powersPAGES 15, 16, 17

THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

eyeNEWDELHI,LATECITY

JUNE14,202018PAGES,`6.00

(`8 PATNA&RAIPUR, ` 12 SRINAGAR)

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMD A I L Y F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , C H A N D I G A R H , D E L H I , J A I P U R , K O L K A T A , L U C K N O W , M U M B A I , N A G P U R , P U N E , V A D O D A R A

AANCHALMAGAZINE&ANILSASINEWDELHI, JUNE13

THEROTI-versus-parottadebateis the latest inanextended list oftaxclassificationdisputesthatareanenduringlegacyof India'stax-ationregime,withtaxauthoritiesandmanufacturers previouslysparring overwhetherMarico’sParachutewasahairoilorjustco-conutoil, Fryumswasapapadornot,whetherNestle'sKitKatwasa biscuit or a chocolate, and ifDabur’s Lal DantManjanwas atoothpowderoramedicinaldrug.In November 2019, the

MadhyaPradesh’sAuthority forAdvance Ruling (AAR) re-sponded to a petition filed byAlisha Foods over whetherFryums should be classified aspapad(taxedat5percent),orasa residual entry for food items

not specified elsewhere (taxedatahigher18percent)byrulingthat itwas the latter.

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SHIVANINAIKMUMBAI, JUNE13

WITHEUROPEANfootballleagueslearningtoco-existwithCovid-19,stakeholders in Indian cricket'sshowpiece, the IPL, are hopingthattheT20carnivalwillbecomethefirstbigsportingeventinIndiatogetpastthepandemic.

Given that the October-November World T20 inAustraliamay get rescheduled,thehostingof IPLbehindcloseddoorsisalreadybeingdiscussedby BCCI officials and franchisesinvideomeetingsandwebinars.The plans are many. Two-

timechampionsKolkataKnightRiders’CEOVenkyMysorewon-ders when he’ll see a packedEden Gardens but for this year,he is looking at Mumbai as asingle-stopvenue.“If you imagine a city like

Mumbai,whichhasfourqualitygrounds and a fifth nearby inPune, every side can have theirownteamhotel.Wecanexploreif roomsneedtobenext toeachothertoensurespacingbetweenplayers...personalised towels,waterbottles,” saysMysore.But a sporting bubble is not

easytopulloff—notwhenmet-roslikeDelhiandMumbaiareat

thecentreof theoutbreak.In Europe, German football

league Bundesliga is aiming tocomplete 20,000 tests to wrapup the season. Their playerswere barred frommeeting visi-tors or neighbours for amonthbefore resumption onMay 16afteragapof twomonths.AndLaLigainSpainistesting

everyonedailysincethecompe-tition resumed on June 11 after91days.PlayershavebeengivenbiodegradablebagswithastrictSOP tobringbackkits forwash-ing thenextday.FortheIPL,Mysoreinsiststhat

the safety of players is para-mount,andthatcrowdsmaynot

beallowed.Buttherearewaystospiceup the league, he suggests.“WecanevenhaveourownCovidcompliancechampion,”hesays.The BCCI, though, is waiting

for the world governing bodyICC's announcement on theWorldT20. “Oncewe get awin-dowofatleast40daysforIPL,wewill figure out safety protocols,playertravel,bio-securearrange-ments, etc.,” saysBCCI treasurerArunDhumal.The rest of the top brass are

onthesamepage.BCCIpresidentSourav Ganguly and IPL chair-manBrijesh Patel have said thattheboardisexploringalloptionstogettheleagueunderwayforan

October-Novembertimeline.MysoreandDhumal are sure

that the IPL holds relevance inthese times. “Staging the IPLwilllift spirits,” says theBCCI official.“IPLwill showtheworldhowit'sdoneincricket,”saystheKKRchief.But for the event to take off,

the first bighurdle is thebanoninternational air travel.Somefranchisessaytheycan

goaheadwithIndianplayers,butMysore rules out that sugges-tion.“IPLisIPLbecauseithasthebest from around the world. Idon't see value in the IPLwith-out foreigners,”hesays.BroadcasterStarSports'head

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PAGE1ANCHOR

OrganisersareaimingforanOctober-Novembertimeline ifT20WorldCupispostponed. File

IPL looks at first step back to ground — behind closed doors

WORLD

BEIJINGDISTRICTIN ‘WARTIMEEMERGENCY’ AFTERVIRUSCLUSTERRIVAL PROTESTERSSCUFFLE IN LONDONPAGE14

ONEMAINreasoncitedfor theshift toGSTwastoputanendtoclassifi-cationdisputes.But themultitudeof rates intheGSTregimehasensuredthat thesedisputescon-tinue,withtheproductcategorisationexercisestill continuingtobeawork-in-progress.

Rationalisationoftaxeswayout

Stakeholderssuggest:Onecityasvenueforallmatches,charteredflights, nofans,personal towels&waterbottles

Toomanytaxslabs,ratesleadtomoredisputesoverproductclassification

MALLICAJOSHINEWDELHI, JUNE13

A WEEK after Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal saidthat asymptomatic peopleshould refrain from gettingtested for coronavirus, the stategovernmentappearedtomakeaU-turnonSaturday,sayingitwasupto the ICMRtochangeguide-lines“for testingto increase”.Speakingtoreporters,Health

Minister Satyendar Jain said“testingcouldbeopened forall”iftheICMRguidelinesallow.AamAadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPSanjaySinghsaidtheprocessforgetting tested should be easedandbe like“anyotherpatholog-icaltest”,sayingthiswastheonlywaytocontainthedisease.Singh said he had alsowrit-

ten to Union Health MinisterHarshVardhan todoawaywiththe“stringentguidelines”of theICMRandmaketestingfacilitiesmore accessible. “I have re-questedhimtoprovide licences

tomorepathological labsandtoprovidemoretestingkitstostategovernments. If a person feels

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

UNLOCKING SPORTAN EXPRESS SERIES

YUBARAJGHIMIRE&SHUBHAJITROYKATHMANDU,NEWDELHI,JUNE13

IGNORINGINDIANobjectionstoits territorial claims, Nepal’sHouse of Representatives, in arareshowofunanimitySaturday,passed a constitution amend-mentBilltoapprovethecountry’snewmapthatincludesKalapani,Lipulekh and LimpiyadhurawhichfigureinIndianmaps.The Bill will now go to the

RastriyaSabha.Nodatehasbeenannounced yet for its tabling intheUpperHousewhich isdom-inated by the ruling NepalCommunistParty.PrimeMinister K P Sharma

Oli,whohadbeenverycriticalofIndia over the boundary issue,chosenottospeakduringthede-bateSaturday.Later, Oli told reporters out-

sidetheHouse:"Thefirstcourseis now over. And now dialoguewith India will be the nextcourse. I am happy about thisunprecedentedunity."Delhi’s responsewas frosty

given that the two countrieswerenowstaringatadiplomaticcrisis. Anurag Srivastava,spokespersonfortheMinistryof

External Affairs, said: “Wehavenoted that the House ofRepresentatives of Nepal haspassed a constitution amend-ment Bill for changing themapofNepaltoincludepartsofIndianterritory.Wehavealreadymadeourpositionclearonthismatter.”“Thisartificialenlargementof

claims is not based onhistoricalCONTINUEDONPAGE2

LOCKDOWNDAY

81

CONCERNDELHI:More than2,000 new caseson Friday. Fastestgrowing among top

five states

CAUTIONLADAKH:

Suddenly over100 new cases onFriday. Had 135cases till now

A GLIMMERRAJASTHAN:Growth rate fallsbelow 2 per cent.Slowest among

all states

KEYSTATESTOWATCH■Maharashtra■Gujarat■Delhi■TamilNadu■Bihar■WestBengal

TOTALCASES1,01,14122,56136,82440,6986,09610,244

DOUBLINGRATE**

21.4030.0914.6714.0617.5114.54

SURGEIN24HRS3,4934942,1371,982138476

7-DAYAVG.GROWTH*

3.36%2.39%4.91%5.12%4.11%4.95%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:3,08,993

RECOVERED: 1,54,329 |DEATHS:8,884TESTS:55,07,182 |DOUBLINGRATE: 18.54**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI, JUNE13

INDIAHASrevisedtheprotocolforclinicalmanagementofCovid-19to include theuse of remdesivirand off-label use of tocilizumabandconvalescentplasmatherapyonspecificgroupsofpatients.The list of symptoms has

been revised in the new proto-col to include the loss of smelland taste.Off-label use refers to the

prescriptionof a drug for a con-dition other than what it hasbeenofficiallyapproved for.Remdesivirisanantiviralthat

wasoriginallydevelopedin2014by the California-based bio-pharmacompanyGileadSciencesforthetreatmentofEbola.It is being repurposed for

treatment of Covid-19, andwascleared by theDrugs ControllerGeneral of India, India's topdrugregulatorybody,onJune1forthetreatmentofsuspectedorlabora-tory-confirmedcasesofCovid-19inadultsandchildrenhospitalised

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

PRABHARAGHAVANNEWDELHI, JUNE13

THEGOVERNMENTSaturdayre-leased guidelines for doctors touseinvestigationalantiviralmed-ication remdesivir in treatingIndia’s Covid-19 patients, butthere is still little clarity on howpatientscanaccess thedrug.Healthactivistsandindustry

sources claim “not a single” vialof the drug has been broughtinto India since its approval foremergency use by DrugController General of India(DCGI)on June1.Most generic pharma com-

panies hoping to produce andsupply thedrug in India are stillawaiting approval from theCentral Drugs Standard ControlOrganisation (CDSCO),which is

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

SUSHANTSINGHNEWDELHI, JUNE13

NEWDELHI’ShopesforanearlyresolutiontothecrisisinLadakhthroughdiplomaticchannels,ashappened during the earliercrises, have been hampered bylack of any immediate leveragewithBeijing.Moreover, the creation of

Ladakh as a Union Territory, af-ter theabrogationofArticle370and the bifurcation of Jammuand Kashmir, is being used bythe Chinese as a pretext for thebreakdown of existing borderagreements.TheChineseintransigenceon

notengagingonPangongTso,af-terhavingalteredthestatusquothere, has led to fears that it isworkingona‘two-stepforward,one-step backward’ strategy tomakenetgains inborderareas.The Sunday Express spoke to

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Limpiyadhura

Lipulekh

Kalapani

Munsiyari

NEPAL

Uttarakhand

UttarPradesh

Dharchula

INDIA

Roti vs parotta,biscuit vs chocolate,fryum vs papad

SITUATIONALONGLINEOFACTUALCONTROL INLADAKH

KRISHNKAUSHIKNEWDELHI, JUNE13

IN FIRST remarks on efforts tolower tensions along the Line ofActualControl ineasternLadakh,ArmychiefGeneralMMNaravaneconfirmedSaturday that “disen-gagement”ofChineseandIndiantroops has begun in theGalwanarea,andbothsides“aredisengag-inginaphasedmanner”.He said military talks be-

tween the two sides have been“veryfruitful”and“thesituationwillkeepimprovingaswegoon”.Speaking to reporters in

Dehradun after attending thepassingoutparadeattheIndianMilitary Academy, GeneralNaravanesaid,“Wehavestartedfromthenorth, fromtheareaofthe Galwan river, where a lot ofdisengagementhashappened.”Responding to questions, he

said: “Iwouldnot like tousetheword retreated in any context.

There is no retreat. The correctwordwouldbedisengagement,and both sides are disengaginginaphasedmanner.”He did not comment on the

situation in Pangong Tsowherethefaceoffcontinuesonthenorthbankofthelake—Chinesetroopshave stopped Indian patrols atFinger 4, 8 kmwest of Finger 8

whichIndiasaysmarkstheLAC.Ontheongoingmilitarytalks

betweenthetwosides,theArmychiefsaid“ithasbeenaveryfruit-ful dialogue thatwe have had”,that the talkswill “continueandbyandby,thesituationwillkeepimprovingaswegoon”.“I would just like to assure

everyone that the entire situa-

tion along our borders withChina is under control. We arehaving a series of talks. Westarted with the CorpsCommander level talks on the6thof thismonth.”“Thishasbeenfollowedupby

anumberofmeetingsatthelocallevel between commanders of

CONTINUEDONPAGE2

Military talkswithChinavery fruitful,hopeful itwill setto restperceiveddifferences:Gen

Armychief:Disengagementstarted fromGalwan,bothdoing it inphasedmanner

ArmyChiefGeneralMMNaravaneat thepassingoutparadeat the IndianMilitaryAcademyinDehradunonSaturday. IndianArmyTwitter

Nepal House clearsnew map Bill, Olicalls for talks, Indiafrosty in response

ATVgrabof theNepalParliament insession

SUNDAYSTORYPAGE 12

A COVIDDIARY

A family’s story —from a testing centre toan ICU, sanitisation to

house inspection,officials to RWA, andinfection to recovery

‘SECTIONOFBUREAUCRACYCAUSINGRIFT INMAHAVIKASAGHADI (GOVT)’ASHOKCHAVANMAHARASHTRAMINISTER, CONGLEADER

THE EXPRESSINTERVIEW

P7

INSIDE

COVID-NEGATIVECERTIFICATEMUSTFORMIDDLEEASTRETURNEES: KERALAPAGE6

AAP changes its line:make testing open toall, only way to check

Revised treatment protocol includesremdesivir, lists loss of smell as sign

5 firms seeklicence, stuckin red tape

UT Ladakh,no leveragebehind Chinatough talk

New Delhi

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

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THE JKROWLING TRANSPHOBIA CONTROVERSY: EVERYTHINGYOUNEEDTOKNOWHarryPotterauthorJKRowlinghasattractedtheireoftransgenderpersons,activistsandtheiralliesbecauseofheranti-transtweets.Manyhavebeenreevaluatingdiversityquotient inherworks.

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Shouldathletesspeakuponpolitical issues?NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY

In the latestepisodeof theExpressSportspodcast,wespeaktoanex-ChicagoBullsplayeronwhetherathletesshouldspeakuponissues liketheBlackLivesMattermovement.

Nepal clears Billfact or evidence and is not ten-able.Itisalsoviolativeofourcur-rentunderstandingtoholdtalkson outstanding boundary is-sues,” Srivastavasaid.All 258members present in

theNepalHouseof275voted infavour of theBill pilotedby LawMinister Shiva MayaTumbahamphe.While SpeakerAgniPrasadSapkotadidnotcasthisvote,SamajbadiJanataParty’sSarita Giri, a member of theOpposition, walked out of theHouse before the debate – hernotice to annul the Bill was re-jectedbytheSpeaker.Whiletheoutcomewasaforegoneconclu-siongiventhatboththetreasuryand Opposition benches werebacking the Bill to reclaim land“encroached” by India, the par-tiesappearedmoreconciliatoryintheir remarksabout India.Pushpa Kamal Dahal

‘Prachanda’, Co-Chairmanof therulingNepal Communist Partyand lead speaker during thede-bate Saturday, said the adoptionoftheBillwasnotintendedtoin-creasedistancewithIndia,buttosolvealongpendingissuewithits“cooperation”. “Weunderstandthatmostlikely,itwasnotIndia'sintentiontoirritateNepalwhenitpublishedthemapwiththesear-easway back inNovember fol-lowing the abrogationof Article370 that made Jammu andKashmiranewUnionTerritory."Dahal said history had be-

stowedamuch larger responsi-bility to the Nepal republic tobringbackterritories lostunderthemonarchy.This was immediately con-

tested by Rajendra Lingden,leaderoftheRastriyaPrajatantraParty,whosaiditwasridiculousto blame themonarchy for theloss of territory. He remindedtheHouseaboutthemonarchy’sroleinunifyingNepal."MypartyandI,however,wholeheartedlysupport theBill,"hesaid.Leader of Opposition Sher

BahadurDeubaandmostotherleaders said the issue neededearlysolutionthroughdialoguewith India.However, Prem Suwal of

KisanMazdoorParty said IndianPrimeMinister NarendraModiwasanally of TrumpandNepalilandremainedcapturedterritoryaspartofanimperialisticdesign.Leader of the Terai-centric

Samajbadi PartyUpendraYadavand Rajendra Yadav saidwhilethey ideally wanted otheramendmentstotheconstitutionto ensure equal ownership andrights forpeople fromall regionsandethnicity,theyweresupport-ingtheBillsinceit involvedterri-torialandsovereigntyissues.Their party colleague, Sarita

Giri,whowalkedoutoftheHousebefore thedebate, saidherpartyhadlostitsrelevance.Thegovern-ment adopted the constitutionamendmentBill,dispensingwiththeprocedure thatusually takesup to amonth from the date ofpublicationinthegazette.

Remdesivir“withseveredisease”.Thedrug,which isoneof the

most keenly watched in thesearch for a cure for the novelcoronavirusdisease,ispartoftheWordHealthOrganisation's on-going Solidarity Trials, and it re-ceivedemergencyuseauthorisa-tionbytheUnitedStatesFoodandDrugAdministrationonMay1.Tocilizumab is an immuno-

suppressant that is commonlyused as treatment for rheuma-toidarthritis. It ismanufacturedbyRochePharmaandmarketedbyCipla;inIndia,thedrugissoldunderthebrandnameActemra.Tocilizumab has already beentried on some seriously ill pa-tients inMumbai.Convalescentplasmatherapy

or CPT involves the transfusionof the blood plasma of a recov-eredpatientintoanotherpatient.Theprocedurehasbeenusedforseveraldiseasesearlier,butitsef-

ficacy for Covid-19 is still underinvestigation. CPT, which seeksto jump-start the immunityof aseriouspatientbyinfusingsomeof the bloodplasmaof a personwhohasalreadyrecoveredfromthe disease, has already beentried inseveral states.Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ),

the anti-malarial drug that hasbeenat thecentreof amajorsci-entific flip-flop recently, butwhichhasbeen stronglybackedby Indian authorities, will con-tinuetobeusedundertherevisedprotocol.However, theantibioticazithromycin is no longer a partof thetreatmentprotocol.Thelossofsmell–calledanos-

mia– and tastehasbeen identi-fiedbyapexhealthorganisationsacrosstheworld,includingtheUSCenters forDisease Control andPrevention (CDC), as one of thesymptoms of Covid. India hasnow formally followed suit,addingittothelistofsymptomsinaddition to fever, cough, fatigue,shortness of breath, body ache,sorethroat,anddiarrhoea.The revised clinicalmanage-

ment protocol released by theMinistry of Health on Saturdayhasunderlined theneed to treatmild,moderate,andseverecasesdifferently.Theprotocolhasreit-eratedthatRT-PCR–reversetran-scriptionpolymerasechainreac-tion– test is theonly acceptablediagnostic test for Covid-19, andemphasised the importance ofoxygentherapyinitstreatment.

Five firmslearnttobeperformingstringentchecks on theirmanufacturingsitesandtestingtheirsamples.Itisunclearthoughhowmany

firms with voluntary licencesfromGilead have received thedrug regulator’s go-ahead tomanufactureandsupplyremde-sivir in India. Only Jubilant LifeSciences confirmed it received“conditional approval” for itsgenericversion“subjecttocertaincriterion beingmet”. It plans tolaunchitsremdesivirinJuly2020.Zydus Cadila on Friday an-

nounced itwas entering into anon-exclusivelicencewithGileadfor remdesivir as well. HeteroDrugs andCipla,which also ap-pliedtoCDSCO,declinedtocom-ment on the status of their ap-provals.QueriestoMylan,whichalsohasalicencefromGilead,re-mainedunanswered.Meanwhile,patientsarehav-

ing to arrange themedicine ontheir own. In the last fortnightalone,atleastthreeCOVID-19pa-tients from Mumbai’s Dr LHHiranandaniHospitalhavehadtoprocure remdesivir using theirownsources,accordingtoCEODrSujit Chatterjee. This is becausethereisnoapprovedsupplyofthedrughereatthemoment.“Inthissituation,thepatients

are responsible for bringing themedicineandweadministeritaf-ter takingacertificate that this isoncompassionategrounds.We’renothappywiththissituation...anydrug that youbuymust have anMRPprintedonitand,ifthatisnotthere, then it is a grey marketdrug,”DrChatterjeesaid.Nearly twoweeks ago,DCGI

DrVGSomani,whoheadsCDSCO,allowedMumbai-basedKlineraGlobalServicestoimportremde-sivir from threemanufacturingsites intheUS, includingGilead’sownmanufacturingplant.Remdesivir’s emergency au-

thorisationinIndiameansitisal-lowed as part of treatment de-spiteclinicaltrialsstillongoingtotestitseffectiveness,butitsuseistobeheavilyrestrictedandmon-itored. The guidelines releasedSaturdayfollowCDSCO’sdecisionto limit remdesivir’s use to onlyfivedays, allowingadoseof 200mgon the first day followedby100mgdosagefortheremainingdays. It alsodoesn’t allow its useinpregnantpatients,childrenun-der12yearsandpatientswithse-verekidneyimpairments.Yet, it is unclearwhetherany

vials of the drug have been im-portedsinceCDSCO’sapprovalto

Klinera, andqueries sent Fridaymorning to the firm aswell asGileadaboutthestatusofimportsremained unanswered bySaturday. Butwhat is certain isseveralhospitalsseekingremde-sivir havenot been able to get itfromapprovedsuppliers.“Even after receiving its ap-

proval for emergencyuse, not asingle vial of remdesivir seemsto have been imported fromGilead.Whereisthedrug?”saidLeena Menghaney, the SouthAsia head for Medecins SansFrontieres’AccessCampaign.In theabsenceof imports, at

least twofirmsawaitingCDSCOapprovals have been supplyingtheir generic remdesivir to se-lectpatientsforfree“onhuman-itariangrounds”,anindustryex-ecutive directly aware of thedevelopment said on conditionofanonymity.However,thishasnotbeenofficiallyconfirmedbyanyof thecompanies.Activistsandexpertsdemand

greater transparency inCDSCO’sapproval process and inmakingthedrug available, failingwhichthere are concerns it coulddrivethisbusinessunderground.“My biggest fear in this

process is,whenyoudon’tknowwhatthegovernment isgoingtodoandpeople arepushed to thebrink, theuncertaintywill drivethem to do desperate things.Someonewill take advantageofit, andwemight see remdesivirbeingsoldlikehooch,”saidMuraliNeelakantan, formerglobal gen-eral counsel of Cipla and

GlenmarkPharmaceuticals.While emailed queries and

phonecalls toDCGI’sDr Somaniremained unanswered tillSaturday,aseniorgovernmentof-ficial had earlier told The IndianExpress the approvalswere un-derprocess.CDSCOneededtoen-sure the generic versions ofremdesiviradheredtoqualityandsafetystandardsforthismedicine.AsonFriday,theregulatorhad

finished inspection of BDRPharmaceuticals International’sactivepharmaceuticalingredientfacility"onaccountofCipla",saidCMDDharmesh Shah. BDRhadtiedupwithCiplafollowingcon-troversyover itsmove tomanu-factureitsowngenericofremde-sivir,whichGileadhaspatentedin India. “They have asked forsamples of our product, whichwillbetestedattheirCentralDrugTesting Laboratory.Wewill besubmitting those samples (onSaturday),” Shah told The IndianExpress. “While we await ap-provals, we have received callsfromahugenumberof patientstryingtoaccessthedrug.Wecan’tdo anything,” he said. There is adilemmaoverwhetherapprovalsshould be fast-tracked further,evenskippingcertainprocedures,to ensure that patients get earlyaccess to theproduct. However,some feel thismight riskpatientsafety.“Therealtestofanyoftheseproceduresisduringacrisis.Ifyousay that, during a crisis, youwillnot follow the procedure, it un-derminestheauthorityofthereg-ulator,”saidNeelakantan.

AAP changes linetheyhavesymptoms,theyshouldimmediatelygotothenearbylabandgettested,”Singhsaid.Delhi is conducting over

13,000testspermillioncurrently,among the highest in the coun-try.However,asitssubmissioninthe High Court on Thursdayshows, it is still not testing toca-pacity.While its 17 governmentand23privatelabscantest8,600samples per day, the numberstoodat5,947onJune12.Criticising five state govern-

ments, includingDelhi, for thehandling of the pandemic, theSupremeCourt on Friday askedfora“steepincrease”intesting.Italsoaskedstatesto“considersim-plifying the procedure so thatmore andmore tests (could) beheldtobenefitthepatients”.In the firstweek of June, the

AAPgovernmenthad issuedno-ticestoseverallabsfornotfollow-ingguidelinesbytestingasymp-tomatic individualswhodidnotfittheICMR’sparameters.OnJune2, the Kejriwal governmenttweakedtheguidelinestoremoveasymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmedcasesfrom those eligible for testing. Itrestrictedtestingtoonlythosedi-rect andhigh-risk contactswhowerediabetics,patientsofhyper-tension,cancerorseniorcitizens.On June 6, Kejriwalwarned

that facilities inDelhimight getoverwhelmed if peoplewithoutsymptoms too came for testing.“Asymptomatic people shouldnotinsistongettingtested.Ifthey

aregoingtoget tested, thenseri-ouspatientswill suffer,” he said.The government’s order chang-ingtestingguidelineswasstruckdown by Lieutenant GovernorAnilBaijaltwodayslater.On Saturday, Jain too

warned that changing guide-lineswouldmeanpeoplewouldget tested“whetherornot theyhave symptoms”, but added,“TheICMRguidelinesneedtobealteredfortestingto increase…testing can be opened for all ifthe guidelines allow”. AAPMPSanjay Singh said: “We are sit-tingonatickingtimebombthatcan explode anytime becausewe do not know the actualnumber of people who are af-fectedbecause testsarenotbe-ingallowed for all. Ifmorepeo-plecangettestedandif theyarefound positive, theywill eithergo for home isolation or othertreatments that will help uscontain the spreadof corona.”Singh also claimed “a false

narrative” about cases inDelhi,claimingtheCapitalwasonlysee-ingahighnumberbecauseitwastestingquitealot.“Weshoulddoawaywith suchblamegames…if the ICMR guidelines arechanged,anypersonwillbeabletoget tested.Till thetimepeopledo not knowwhether they arepositiveornot, the spreadof theviruscannotbecontained.”AAPMLASaurabhBharadwaj

saidtestingrestrictionsshouldbedone away with. “Why do weneed ICMRguidelines to restricttesting?Whyshouldtherebeany

kind of government control ontesting?Covidtestshouldbedonejust like any other test -- bloodsugar,malaria,typhoid,”hesaid.As per ICMR guidelines,

Covid-19 testing is available toonly symptomatic individualswith a history of internationaltravel in thepast 14days, symp-tomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, symptomatichealthcareworkers / frontlineworkersinvolvedincontainmentandmitigation,patientsofSevereAcute Respiratory Infections,asymptomatic direct and high-riskcontactsofaconfirmedcase,and symptomatic people inhotspots/containmentzones.TestingfiguresforDelhi,based

onthedailyhealthbulletin,were5,464on June10; 5,077on June11; and 5,360 on June 12. Covidcaseson thecorrespondingdayswere1,501;1,877;and2,137.

Roti vs parottaFriday's ruling from the

KarnatakabenchofAARspecify-ing ready-to-eat parotta as dif-ferent fromkhakhra, chapati orroti is now expected to bring inmoresuchclassificationdisputestothefore, taxexpertssaid.Theseclassificationdisputes

datebacktothepre-GSTregime,with companies trying to fit intheir products under lower taxslabs to keep the overall pricedown and, in turn, trying tomaximise their ownmargins,given that excise duty, servicetax,VATornowGSTareall indi-recttaxesandhence,embeddedin thepriceof theproduct.The taxmanwould be inter-

estedindoingjustthereverse,tomaximise tax gains by ensuringproducts are clubbed into slabsthatattractbiggertaxes.Another concern that has

prompted these petitions frommanufacturersisthatrevenueau-thoritiesmightraisetaxdemandyearslater,whichwouldthenin-volvepayment of penalty, inter-est,andtherebyanoutrightclar-ificationisconsideredbenefital.Aslawleavesscopeforambi-

guity,many FMCGmajors havebeen known to engage in suchclassification disputeswith therevenue authorities. One of thecelebratedcasesinvolvedKitKat.IntheNestle(India)LtdversustheCommissioner of Central Excise,Mumbai,1999,dispute,therulingwent inNestle's favour that theproductwas a biscuit andnot achocolate,whichmeant a lowertaxrateburdenforthemanufac-turer. The rulingwent on toun-derlinethat“...whileallchocolatemustnecessarilycontaincocoa,itis not every cocoa product orpreparationthatischocolate".Marico, themanufacturer of

Parachute coconut oil, has alsohad run-inswith state govern-ments onwhether its flagshipproductwas ahair oil ormerelycoconutoil.Thecompanypushedfortheproducttobebracketedinthe latter categoryas it attractedlowerduty.Therehasbeensomeimpetus toMarico's argumentfromanunlikely source subse-quentlyatthetimeofGSTrollout,with the state of Kerala in GSTCouncilmeetingsmakingastrongcase for coconut oil beingdesig-natedasedibleoil.In2003,DaburIndiawasem-

broiled inadisputewith taxau-thoritiesregardingclassificationof Lal Dant Manjan as a toothpowder ormedicinal drug. Thetax authorities classified it astooth powder. It's not that theclassificationdisputeshavebeenrestricted to indirect taxes. InMay 2011, an Income Tax tribu-nal allowed cricketer SachinTendulkar,whowas then in theBCCIIndiancricketteam,toclaimdeductions fromhis taxable in-comearisingfromearningsfromappearances inadvertisements.Tendulkarhadarguedthathe

had claimed deductions underSection 80 RR of I-T Act on thegrounds that hewas an ‘actor’while appearing in advertise-ments. The cricketer had ap-pealedagainsttheverdictofchief

commissioner of Income Tax(Appeals) for assessment years2001-02 to 2004-2005, whichheldthathewasnotanactorsinceplaying cricketwashis principalprofession.Thetwo-membertri-bunal,initsorderonMay20,2011,reversed this and upheldTendulkar'sargumentthathewasan‘actor’whileappearingincom-mercials,entitlinghimtodeduc-tionsonpaymentsreceivedfromsportssponsorshipandadvertise-mentsduringtheperiod.Taxexpertssaythelowerthe

taxrates,thehigherthepossibil-ityforcompaniestokeephighermargins, especially in case ofFMCGproducts. Butit'sthemul-tiplicity of rateswhich are seenas the biggest impediment inmoving away from such classi-ficationdisputes.Thegovernmenthasstatedits

intentionstomovetowardslessernumber of tax slabs under GSTthoughauniformrateisseenun-favourableforacountrylikeIndiawhichhaswideincomedisparityandhence,clubbingofconsump-tionof luxuryproductswith es-sentials andnecessary itemsdonotfindfavour.

IPL first stepUdayShankarhasaplan. "Theycanbebroughtincharterflights.Earlier, they used to come fivedays in advance; now theywillhavetocometwoweeksbeforethegame,beinquarantine,andbemorecarefulwhentraining,"he says.As for guidelines, the ICC's

“backtocricket”advisorycanbeexpected to work for IPL, too:Testingbeforetravel,pre-matchisolation, daily temperaturescans, andhiringofmedical ad-visors and bio-safety officials.Alongwith sanitisingprotocols,like players not sharing gymequipment, the ICC even saystreatment beds in medicalroomsshouldhavenobedlinen.Nothing should be left to

chance,saysMysore."Travel,ho-tels, kits, food, gym,bus seatingare all things to be minutelylooked at. Butwe are talking ofa finite groupwith eight fran-chises, and say 160 players and80 support staff. That's around250testingkits...shouldbeman-ageable,"hesays.That'sasmalltestingnumber

compared to the Bundesliga,which has 29 games left, afterSaturday'sfixtures,till June27.But the BCCI will also have

to figureout theeconomicsof aclosed-door IPL. For instance,Australia'sbio-securityplanforthe Indian series in Decemberis expected to cost them overRs 50 crore."It'snoteasy,"saysseasoned

cricket administrator RatnakarShetty. "Arrival of teams, SOPsabout hotel stay, movement toand from stadium, keepingtrack of production crew andother groundstaff... It is not im-possibletopulloff,butrulesthatapplytocitizenswillhavetoap-ply to star cricketers," says theformerofficial."The teamstrengthwill have

tobereduced.Themediainterac-tionswillbevirtual,noplayerslin-ingupforthenationalanthembe-forethematchandnopostmatchpresentation," says Shetty.Keeping the fans awaymight beanotherheadache,hesays.Mysore, though, finds

cricket'snon-contactnatureen-couraging. "Cricket has a slightadvantage of natural social dis-tancing with just 11 plus twoplayersandumpirespresentonamassive field,"hesays.Veteran BCCI administrator

Niranjan Shah, however, adds anoteof caution--andasksakeyquestion."Thisisanextraordinarilydif-

ficultmomentinhistory.Anditisridiculoustoeventhinkofcricketrightnow.First,let'sbringthesit-uationback tonormal,” he says.“Canweriskevenoneplayerget-tinginfected?”

FULLREPORTSONwww.indianexpress.com

FROMPAGEONE

Gen: Disengagement started from Galwan

UT Ladakh, no leverage behind China tough talk

equivalentranks.Asa resultofthis,alotofdisengagementhastakenplace, andwearehope-ful,thatthroughthiscontinueddialoguethatwearehaving,allperceived differences thatwehavewill beset to rest.”On June 6, XIV Corps

CommanderLtGeneralHarinderSingh met South XinjiangMilitaryDistrict CommanderMajorGeneralLiuLin.Thereafter,DivisionCommanders of bothsideshavemet twice todiscuss

disengagement from severalpointsinGalwanregionandHotSpringarea.To a query onNepal bring-

ing a Bill to change itsmap byincludingareasonIndianmaps,General Naravane said, “Wehaveaverystrongrelationshipwith Nepal”. He said Indiasharesgeographical,historical,cultural and religious linkageswithNepal and there’s a “verystrong people-to-people con-nect”. India’s relations with

Nepal, he said, “has alwaysbeen strong, andwill remainstrong inthefuture”.His comment last month

thatNepalmayhaveraisedtheborder issue “at the behest ofsomeone else” – hinting atChina – angered Nepal andsparkedprotests there.On J&K, the Army chief

pointedtothe“successes”thatsecurity forceshavehad in re-cent days. “In the last 10-15days alone, more than 15 ter-

rorists have been killed. All ofthis has been because of veryclose cooperation and coordi-nationbetweenallthesecurityforcesoperating”there,hesaid.Underlining that “most of

the operations have beenbasedoninformationprovidedby the locals themselves,” hesaid it “goes to showthat theyarealsoabsolutelyfedupwithmilitancy and terrorism andthey want that the situationshould return tonormal”.

three diplomats – all formerIndianambassadors toChina–whowere involved in diplo-maticnegotiationswithBeijingduring the crisis atDepsang in2013, Chumar in 2014 andDoklam in2017. They said thatineachofthesecases,therewasaneventoravisit,thesuccessofwhichwasimportanttoBeijing,and this provided India imme-diate leverage duringnegotia-tionswiththeChinesetoresolvethe crisis. Unlike then, the cur-rentnegotiationsarelikelytobelengthy, leadingtoaprotractedstandoffalongtheLineofActualControl.Duringthe2014Chumarcri-

sis, it was the first visit byChinesePresidentXi Jinping toIndiaaftertheelectionofanewgovernment under PrimeMinisterNarendraModi, lend-ingtheeventgreatsignificance.In the 2017Doklam crisis,

resolution was aided by theBRICS summit to behostedbytheChinesegovernmentwhichdidnotwant it happeningun-der the shadow of a borderstandoff between the twolargestBRICSmembers.In 2013, Indiawas tobe the

first foreign stop for ChinesePremierLiKeqiangafter takingoffice.InOctober2017,thethenForeignSecretary,nowExternalAffairsMinister,SJaishankarhadtoldtheParliamentaryStandingCommitteeonExternalAffairs:“Bothsideswereobviouslycon-sciousof the importanceofde-escalatingthesituationandend-ingtheface-offbeforetheBRICS

Summit inXiamenwhichwasscheduled for 4-5 September2017. BRICS is a forumwhereIndiaandChinaworkcloselyto-gether and obviously, neithersidewish to see their leadersmeeting at Xiamenunder thecloudofDoklamincident.”Thistime,theIndianside,an

official familiarwith theongo-ing diplomatic talks in Beijingsaid, hasbeen surprisedby thebreakdownof agreements andprotocols signed between thetwocountriessince1993forthemanagementoftheborder–the1993agreementbetweenPrimeMinisterPVNarasimhaRaoandChinese Premier Li Peng, inwhich India accepted the con-ceptof theLAC, formsthebasisof all further negotiations andagreements between the twocountries.This is seen to be linked to

theChinese reaction to the ab-rogation of Article 370 in J&KandcreationofLadakhasasep-arateUnionTerritory inAugustlast year. Beijing argued thatNewDelhihadviolatedborderagreements.Itnowseemstobeusingitasapretextforunilater-ally altering the status quo ontheLadakhborder.In its statement lastAugust,

theChineseForeignMinistry,re-ferring to border agreements,stated,“WeurgeIndiatobecau-tious in itswordsanddeedsonthe border issue, strictly abideby the relevant agreementsreachedbetweenthetwosides,and avoid taking actions thatfurther complicate the border

issue.”In a closed-door informal

session of the UN SecurityCouncilonAugust16onthe is-sue, the Chinese PermanentRepresentativeintheUNarguedthatIndia’sdecisiontoabrogateArticle 370 challengedChina'ssovereigninterestsandviolatedbilateral agreements onmain-tainingpeaceandstabilityintheborderarea.OnOctober31,whenLadakh

formally became a UnionTerritory, China’s ForeignMinistry spokesperson GengShuanghad referred to the bi-lateral treaties and thebound-arydisputeinhispressbriefing:“Chinaurges the Indian side toearnestlyrespectChineseterri-torial sovereignty, abidebyourtreaties andupholdpeace andtranquility in the border areasand create favourable condi-tions for theproper settlementofboundaryquestion”.Thematter got a new lease

of life last FridaywhenWangXianfeng, press officer at theChinesemission in Islamabad,tweetedanarticlebyaninfluen-tialChinesescholar,WangShidaof the China Institutes ofContemporary InternationalRelations (CICIR). CICIR is aBeijing--basedthink-tank,affil-iated to theMinistry of StateSecurity.In his article, Wang said

ChineseForeignMinisterWangYi had conveyedhis country’spositionontheLadakh issue toJaishankar when he visitedBeijing after abrogation of

Article 370 last year. “India’smoves challengedChina’s sov-ereign rights and interests andviolated the agreement onmaintainingpeaceandtranquil-lityintheborderareasbetweenthe two countries,” the articlequoted the ForeignMinister ashaving said, specificallymen-tioningtheviolationofthe1993borderagreement.China’s refusal to talkabout

thePangongTsoareaafterhav-ingalteredthestatusquothere– it is engagingwith the Indiansideon the situation in theHotSpring andGalwanValley sec-tors -- has led to fears thatBeijing may be following its“two-stepforwardandone-stepbackward” strategy whichwouldleaveitwiththenetgainofone-stepwhilesoundingrea-sonable.InPangongTso,theChinese

soldiershavecomeineightkilo-metres,moving their usual de-ployment from Finger 8 toFinger4onthenorthernbankofthe lake. This has curtailed thepatrolling limits of Indian sol-diers who used to go up toFinger 8which India says de-notes the LAC. “The status quohasbeenalteredbytheChineseinPangongTsounilaterally.OurNSAalsospoketohisSR(SpecialRepresentative) counterpart inBeijingaftertheclashesinearlyMayforrestorationofstatusquoante. That is our aim, but theChinesesidehasnotengagedsofar,”anofficialfamiliarwiththeongoing diplomatic talks inBeijingsaid.

New Delhi

HITSOUTATCIVICBODIESTOO

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE13

ONA day the capital saw 2,134Covid cases, Delhi HealthMinisterSatyendarJaintargetedneighbouringUttarPradeshandHaryanaovertheirtestingrates.Hesaidthenumberofcasesin

these stateswasmuch lower ascomparedtoDelhiastheywerenottestingenough.“ThetestingrateinUPandHaryanaistentimeslesserthan that inDelhi.Accordingly, ifthetestingrateswillbeless,coronacaseswill alsobe tentimes lesserthaninDelhi,”hesaid.While Haryana has 6,334

casessofar,thenumberis12,616in UP. Delhi is conducting over13,000 testspermillion, amongthehighest in thecountry.Delhi has a total of 38,958

casessofar,ofwhich14,945haverecoveredand22,742areactive.On Saturday, 57 deaths wereadded, taking the total to 1,271.Of the5,449peopleadmitted inhospitals,385areonventilators.Reacting to theallegationsby

municipal corporations that thenumberofCoviddeathsinthecitywerealmosttwiceashighaswhattheDelhigovernmenthadputout,JainsaidtheyshouldsharethedatawithDelhi government “ratherthansendingitouttothemedia”.Mayors andmembers of the

standing committees of the cor-porationsheldapressconferenceonThursday,where theyallegedthatcremationgroundsandburialgroundshadconducted2,098fu-neralsof“Covidpositive”people.“Theworkof thedeathaudit

committeeisnottofabricatethe

dataof deaths…Theremaybeadelay in obtaining the data, butthere isnodelay inthecommit-tee'spartinreleasingit,”hesaid.Standingcommitteeheadof

NorthMCD Jai Prakash, mean-while,said,“Theycanwritealet-terthewaytheyhadwrittenlasttime and we will give themeverything they want. I haveproof from the ghats undermyjurisdiction.”Leader of the standing com-

mittee in the South MCD,BhupendraGupta, said thedatatheygetisfromhospitalsandthegovernmentcanget it too.TheSupremeCourthadpulled

uptheDelhigovernmentoverthe“deplorableandpathetic” condi-tions inDelhi. Jain said Saturdaythat the apex court’s statement“canbe seen as a complaint andnot as a remark or a judgment”.However,thegovernmentwillacttoresolveit,hesaid.Referring to visuals of poor

conditions inside Lok NayakHospital,Jainsaid,“Theseallega-tions are motivated and com-pletelybaseless.Avideowascap-tured by a contractual staff andhehasbeensuspended.”

200 ragpickers in Gurgaonto head home — to Assam

Row with govt ends, GangaRam can test for Covid againEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE13

THEDELHI government has al-lowedSirGangaRamhospital torestart its lab services for testingCovid-19patients, days after thelabwas issued anotice from thegovernment for flouting ICMRguidelines.The675-bedhospitalwasissuedanoticebythegovern-menton June3 fornotusing theRT-PCRappfortestingpatients.“We have nowbeen autho-

risedtouseRT-PCRapp,andwiththis, thehospitalcanstart testingthe Covid-19patients as per theguidelines,” said Dr D S Rana,chairmanof theboard,SirGangaRam hospital. “Sir Ganga RamHospitalexpressessincerethanksto our CMArvind Kejriwal andHealthMinisterSatyendarJainfortheir intervention.”The hospital has been asked

to earmark 80% of its beds forCovid-19patients.Meanwhile, the hospital

moved the Delhi High Court

seeking quashing of an FIRlodgedagainstitsmedicalsuper-intendent filed on the basis of acomplaint by Deputy Secretary(health)AmitKumarPamasi forallegedlyviolatingdirectionsis-sued under Epidemic DiseasesAct. The petition is likely to betakenupforhearingonMonday.Thepetitionhadalso sought

setting aside the Delhi govern-ment’s June3order,prohibitingRT-PCR sampling for Covid-19

suspect/contact caseswith im-mediateeffect.TheFIRfiledunderIPCSection

188 (disobedience to order dulypromulgated bypublic servant)had stated, “The CDMO-cum-missiondirectorcentralhasmen-tioned that Sir Ganga RamHospital is still notusingRT-PCRapp even till June 3, which is aclearviolationofdirectionsissuedunder EpidemicDisease Covid-19Regulation2020Act.”

SURBHIGUPTANEWDELHI, JUNE13

ITWASafortnightbackwhentheresidentsofGreaterKailash-1’sEblock woke up to news of thecolony reporting its first Covidpatient. It took them three daysto admit theman,whoalso suf-fers from a kidney ailment, to ahospital. “Wewere sitting com-fortablythinkingthingswereun-der control till we faced reality.Soon, we got the news that ourneighbour’s wife and son hadalsotestedpositive.Sothesearchfor beds began for them too,”Rajiv Kakaria, a resident of thecolony, toldThe IndianExpress.Twodayslater,thewomande-

velopedbreathlessness.“Wetriedto call the ambulancebut could-n’t arrange one. We used anoximeter someonehadat homeandsawherbloodoxygensatura-tionwaslow.That’swhenafriendofferedtheirelderlymother’soxy-gencylinder,”saidKakaria.The nextmorning, her con-

dition stabilised. “It took three

moredaysforthefirstpatienttogethospitalised,andthat’swhenwerealisedthecolonyneededtotake some measures. We didsomeresearch,calledourdoctorfriends,”hesaid.The RWA has since rented

twooxygenconcentratorsandaportable cylinder that can beused if a patient’s oxygen levelfalls below90. “There are 10-15cases in our block andwe haveseen difficulties faced by pa-tients.Wehavealsoadvisedres-idents to keep an oximeter athome,”saidSanjayAnand,chair-manof theassociation.Themachineswillbegivenon

a first-come-first-served basisand are, of course, stop gaparrangementsuntilapatientcanbe hospitalised. Kakaria andAnand said they have receivedseveral calls from RWAs whowanttoreplicatethesystem.Rajat Gupta, based in East of

Kailash,whodealsinsalesofres-piratory gear, said the demandfor oxygen concentrators andcylindershasincreased.“If Iusedtosellonemachineinaday,Iam

nowselling10,”hesaid.Whileamachine costs Rs 50,000-70,000,onecanberentedforRs4,500-Rs6,000amonth.But Pankaj Aggarwal, presi-

dent of the Safdarjung EnclaveRWA,saidthepriceshavesoaredin thepast fewdays. “Wecalledfor ameeting and residents de-cidedtopitchinandbuyoxime-

ters,concentratorsandcylindersasaback-up”hesaid.He said he alsomet govern-

ment officials and suggested apilot project to create a locality-levelCovid task force to identifypatientswith comorbidities, tieupforambulanceassistance, labworkup,trainlocaldoctors,tracecases, andwork on sanitisation

withthehelpof theSouthDelhiMunicipalCorporation (SDMC).In the C-3 block of Vasant

Kunj, too, some residents arechipping in funds to buyoxygencylinders. In D block of East ofKailash,a fewresidentshavedo-natedoldcylindersandmachinesused by their deceased familymembers that can be used byCovidpatients if theneedarises,saidKaranAggarwal,aresident.In the S block of Greater

Kailash-1, residents have tiedupwith a local hospital 10minutesaway tohelpwith oxygen cylin-ders. “It is difficult to store andmanage thesemachines sowethoughtitwasbettertotieupwiththem,” said PankajWadhawan,secretaryofthecolony’sresidents’community. He added they arealsopayingamonthlyrenttothehospital to reservea fewbeds, incase residents test positive andneedtobeadmitted.Afterprocuringmachines,ar-

ranging isolationwardswas thenextstep.Kakariasaidtheyareintalkswith local guesthouses andhotels. In a society in Dwarka’s

sector-12,residentsandtheRWAhave pooled in funds and re-sources to convert vacant flats intheirlocalityintoisolationwards.“Since these flatswerenotbeingused,we thought of contactingtheowners,andtheywerehappytohaveusconvert theminto iso-lationwards.Someresidentsputinmoneyformaintenanceofflats,andotherscontributedthingslikebedsheets,”saidAjayMittal,whoowns a flat in the society. Theyhavealsocontactedanearbyhos-pitalforguidanceandalsoplantohirenurses, ifneedarises.InNewSaraswatiApartments

in Rohini’s sector-9, residentshave prepared a commonwardwithsixbeds.Inavideobeingcir-culated online, one can see oxy-gen cylinders,masks and gloveskept inside.AtVasantKunj’sD-6block, residents have come to-getheringroupsof25-30peopleandarecontributingmoneyforacontingencyfund.RWApresidentSnehlata Rathi said, “We arethinking of using themoney tobuymedical equipment, just incaseof someemergency.”

CLOUDY DAYSTemperaturedroppedinNewDelhiafter itdrizzledonSaturday.PraveenKhanna

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE13

AROUND 88% of traders are infavourofshuttingmarketsinthecity tocheck thespreadof coro-navirus,anonlinesurveyoftradeassociations has found.Additionally,over90%oftradersinDelhihavefearsandinsecuri-tiesabouttheirwellbeingduetothe crisis, the Confederation ofAll India Traders (CAIT) toldDelhi Lieutenant Governor AnilBaijal ina letteronSaturday.The body had sought the

opinion of trade associations inthe capital on openingmarketsin Delhi through an online sur-vey, which received over 2,600

responses.VipinAhuja,presidentof the

Delhi chapter of CAIT, said theyhave scheduled a video confer-ence Sunday afternoon withprominent trade associationleaders of Delhi to decide

whether tokeepmarketsopen.The traders’ body has also

sought a meeting with Baijal,DelhiCMArvindKejriwal,UnionHomeMinister Amit Shah andHealthMinisterDrHarshVardhantorequesttheirintervention,saidCAITNational SecretaryGeneralPraveenKhandelwal.In the letter to Baijal,

Khandelwal said traders findthemselvesinthe“mostvulner-able” position with a surge incases and are panicked by gov-ernment projections that caseswouldbeover5lakhbyJuly-end.“Such a statement (by gov-

ernmentministers) has causedhugestir and immense fear andpanic among businessmarketsandcitizens,”hesaid.

“Theresultsseemtobecom-pletely one-sided. Over 90% oftherespondentshaveexpressedutmost fear, insecurity and un-certainty for their lives…Anotherimportantaspectisthatmostmarkets inDelhiaredoingonly 5-10% of normal businessduetoalackofcustomersorstaffand labour,” the letter said.Shops in Connaught Place

would, however, remain openunlessaspecificdirectioncomesfromtheHomeMinistryorDelhigovernment,saidAtulBhargava,president of the New DelhiTraders’ Association. “CP is dif-ferentfrommarketsinOldDelhi.We have huge parking spacesand wide distance betweenshops,”Bhargavasaid.

Industry body writes to L-G: Majorityof traders unsure of resuming work

Jain targetsUP, Haryanaover testing

Oxygen cylinders to isolation wards: As cases rise,some RWAs take matters into their own hands

3THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

THEOUTBREAK THECITY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ResidentsofE-block inGreaterKailash1examininganoxygenconcentrator.Express

‘Otherstates testing less’

AtConnaughtPlace

The675-bedhospitalwas issuedanoticeonJune3fornotusingtheRT-PCRappfor testingpatients.AbhinavSaha

SAKSHIDAYALGURGAON,JUNE13

NEARLY 200migrantsworkingas ragpickers in Gurgaon, whohad been stranded in the citywithout work or money amidthe lockdown, will make theirway home to Assamon Sundaymorning—ona flight.The flight is the eighth to be

arranged by alumni of theNational Law School of IndiaUniversity (NLSIU), who havebeen coordinating journeys ofmigrants frommajor cities tohome states since June 4. “We

have arranged to send 189mi-grants from Gurgaon back toAssam,”saidShyelTrehan,anNL-SIUalumni.“Theyareaverymar-ginalised community and aredesperate togohome. SoweareflyingthemSundaymorningat7am.Thisisacrowdfundedeffort.”Mohammad Ayub, a rag-

picker, said, “We do not knowwhether or not wewill return,butwewill definitely not comeback for another twomonths.Maybe after Eid someof uswillstart coming back slowly, butright now it is unclear. Nobodywill return unless the situationnormalises inHaryana.”

HCasksDelhigovtaboutliquor licencesNew Delhi: Based on aplea by a departmentalstore, the Delhi HighCourthassoughttoknowfrom the Delhi govern-ment if they are in theprocessofreleasingapol-icy for L-12/L-12F cate-gory licences, which areawardedtodepartmentalstores to sell soft liquorsuchasbeerandwine.

Nolockdown:FaridabadDMGurgaon: Faridabad’sDeputy CommissionerYashpalYadavdeniedru-mours of communitytransmission of coron-avirus in the district, de-spitethenumberofcasesseeing a massive surgeoverthelastfewdays.Healso dismissed rumoursof a lockdown in thedis-trict, saying, “Anotherlockdown is unlikely tohappen in thedistrict.”

56-year-oldguardkilledNewDelhi:A56-year-oldsecurity guard was al-legedly stabbed todeathby another guard after afight over alcohol inSouthDelhi’sCRPark,po-licesaidonSaturday.Theaccused, Imrat Singh,whoisnowunderarrest,also set the body of thevictim,SatnamSingh,onfire inabasement.

2NigeriansheldNewDelhi:TwoNigeriannationalswerearrestedforallegedlysmuggling 15kgof ephedrine fromHimachal Pradesh intoNCRonSaturday, officialsfromtheNarcoticsControlBureau said. ENS

BRIEFLY

New Delhi

4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

5WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020 THECITY

AVISHEKGDASTIDARNEWDELHI, JUNE13

AROUND 500 Covid isolationcoaches of Indian Railways arebeing readied to bedeployed inDelhi after the Arvind Kejriwalgovernmentrequestedforthemto supplement the city’s healthinfrastructureinlightofgrowingcases of coronavirus, a day be-foreHomeministerAmitShahistomeet Delhi government topbrass to discuss the situation inthecapital.The Delhi government,

meanwhile,declaredallnursinghomeswith a bed strength be-tween10 and49beds as Covid-onlyfacilities.Specialisedcentresfor eye, ENT, IVF andmaternityhomeshavebeenexempted.Thenursinghomeshavebeenaskedtomake Covid beds functional

within three days, failingwhichactionwould be initiated. “Inorder to avoid intermingling ofCovidandnon-Covidpatients insmallandmediummultispecial-ity nursing homes and also toaugment the bed capacity forCovid-19 patients, all nursinghomes in Delhi having bedstrengthof10bedsormoreupto49 beds are declared as Covidnursing homes” stated an orderbythehealthdepartment.Railwayssourcessaidparlays

with theDelhi governmenthadrevealed that the statewants atleast 250-300 of these coaches,to be deployed in Anand Viharrailway station area, servingmostly East Delhi. Railways isgearinguptoremoveall regulartrainoperationsfromthattermi-nal station to other stations tomake room for deployment of500coaches, sources said.

OnSaturdayinthemeetingbe-tweenPrimeMinisterNarendraModiwithministers and seniorgovernmentofficials,thesituationinDelhiwasdiscussed.Railway sources said that

based on conversations withDelhigovernmentfunctionaries,500 coaches, or some 50 Covidisolation trains, with a capacityof8,000beds—eachcoachisde-signedtocarry16patients—are

beingreadiedtobepressedintoservice. Since AnandViharmaynot be able to accommodate allthe coaches required, otherplaces, including stations in theoutskirts, are being considered,sources said."Delhi governmenthas con-

veyeditsrequirementandbasedonthatwearepreparing,"saidaseniorRailwayofficial.Northern Railway, which

serves Delhi, has around 520such coaches while the entireIndianRailwayshasover5,321ofthem.AsperdiscussionswithinRailways, all 500 coaches are tobepressedintoservicebasedonthe request of the city govern-ment. TheKejriwal governmenthad already requisitioned onetrain of 10 isolation coaches,whichhasbeenkeptreadyintheShakurbastiwashingpit.As per government guide-

lines,theisolationcoachescanbeusedforverymildcasesthatcanbe clinically assigned to CovidCarecentersasperguidelinesis-sued byUnionHealthministry.The isolation coaches aremadeasCovidcare level1centres.Railways has decided to at-

tach one AC coach also, meantformedical staff,with thetrainsmade of these non-AC coaches.The coaches have oxygen facili-ties provided by Railways.However,stategovernmentsaresupposed to provide medicalstaff to tend to the patients,whilethenationaltransporteristo takecareof other logistics.Uttar Pradesh has so far

askedforthesecoachestobede-ployed in 24 locationswhereasTelangana has requested for 60coaches in three locations tosupplementtheirisolation/quar-antine infrastructure.

ASTHASAXENANEWDELHI, JUNE13

FROMMARCH25 to June 10, asmany as 15,480 non-Covid pa-tients were attended to at theemergency department and11,637were admitted at AIIMS,asperdataprovidedbythemed-ical institute.Thecountry’stopmedicalin-

stituteperformed2,753surger-iesandprovidedconsultationto61,000 patients in the samepe-riod,and2,678Covid-19patientswere admitted at the institute’sJPN Trauma Centre and NCIJhajjar. On an average, around800 coronavirus-infected pa-tientswereatAIIMSdaily.Thecountry’stopmedicalin-

stitutehadshut itsOPDservicesonMarch 18 and sent an advi-sory to OPD patients on theirregistered numbers, requestingthemtopostponetheirappoint-ments. FromMarch20, thehos-pitalcurtailedelectivesurgeriesandascreeningareawasopenedfor patients with symptoms ofrespiratorytractinfections.Since

then, theinstitutehasbeenpro-vidingtele-consultancyservicestoallpatientsundergoingtreat-mentatthehospital.Emergencyservices in the hospital are alsooperational to cater to crucialcasesduring the lockdown.“Not only Covid but even

non-Covid patients are treatedby the teamof our doctors dur-ingtheseason.Fromadmissionsto providing tele-consultation,thehealthcareworkersfromourinstitutehavebeendoingacom-mendablejob.Thestaffhasbeen

regularly trained,” said AIIMSchief spokespersonDr Aarti Vij,adding thatmany Information,Education and Communication(IEC) materials have also beenpreparedbythe institute.Forinstance,theIRCHcancer

centreof the institute thatdealswith critical care patients hasbeenworkingincessantlyforthelast fewmonths.With staff di-vided between Covid and non-Covid patients, the departmentof medical oncology has beenputting its best foot forward toprovide treatment to the pa-tients. On an average, the staff,including residentdoctors fromthe department, voluntarilymakecallstoaround100follow-uppatientswho are queued forthe treatment.DrLalitKumar,headofmed-

icaloncology,said,“Wehavepa-tients who require chemother-apy, radiotherapy and otherdiagnostic procedures whichcan’t be delayed. Even now, thedepartmentiscarryingouttwo-threetransplantsinamonthandaround 60 patients are gettingchemotherapyeveryday.”

Hospitals ask for drug,kin say hard to find

At AIIMS, 11,000 non-Covidadmissions since March 25

ASHNABUTANINEWDELHI,JUNE13

SOME PRIVATE hospitals in thecapital have started prescribingRemdesivir,abroadspectruman-tiviralmedication being studiedfortreatmentofcoronavirus,butitsunavailabilityhasleftrelativesofpatients inthelurch.Among those searching for

the drug is Karan Kapoor, whomadenumerouscallstopharma-ceutical distributors to procurethe drug for his father, VinodKapoor (70), after Fortis VasantKunjprescribeditonJune10."HeissufferingfromsevereCovid-re-latedARDS(acuterespiratorydis-tresssyndrome)and iscurrentlyonNIV(non-invasiveventilation)withhigh flowoxygen.His clini-cal conditionmerits the use ofRemdesivir injection," reads theprescription."Thedrugisunavail-ableinDelhi.IfoundafewdealersinMumbaiandBangalore—oneof asked for Rs 90,000 per vialwhile another quoted Rs 1.60lakh. My father needs 10 suchvials,”saidKaran.Most distributors said they

wereyettogettheirhandsonthedrug.ShaleenMitra,OSDtoDelhiHealthMinister Satyender Jain,said,"Afewhospitalshavereport-edly started prescribing it. TheDelhi government iswaiting foran approval from DCGI (DrugControl General of India), afterwhichwewill make efforts toprocure the drug. The approvalhasbeenpendingfortwoweeks."Remdesivir is made by US-

based Gilead Sciences. FourIndiancompanieshavesignedanagreementwithGileadtomanu-facture versions of the drug. DrSahil Bhasin of WhitePharmaceuticals said, "Of thefour companies, we are the au-thorised distributors for two—JubilantLifeSciencesandHeteroHealthcare.Ihavebeengettingre-quests from hospitals and pa-tients...ButuntilwegetDCGIap-proval,companiescannotsellit...There is no information on thepriceyet" .A Fortis spokesperson said,

"It’soneofthedrugsofchoiceforpatients on ventilator. But theyhavetoarrangeitfromoutsideaf-terspecialapprovalfromDCGIasit isnotavailable inIndia."

Man stabbedto death infront of childNewDelhi:A37-year-oldvideo-grapher was allegedly stabbedto death by threemen outsidehis house in Rohini Thursday.Policesaidthevictim’s10-year-old daughter witnessed the in-cidentfromherroom'swindow.The victim, Bharat Bhushan,lived with his family in KarnVihar.Around11pmThursday,afriend of the victim came to hisplace and called Bhushan out-side.“Themen got into an argu-

ment. Bhushan's friend calledtwo more men, one of whomstabbed him,” PramodMishra,DCP (Rohini), said.The 10-year-old child was

playing in her roomwhen sheheard her father screaming.“She looked out and saw himbeing stabbed,” said Sunita(35), Bhushan’swife. She is yetto tell her two children aboutthe death.DCPMishra said they have

identifiedthethreemenandaresearching for them. Police be-lievethemurderwasthefalloutof abusiness rivalry.ENS

2,753surgerieswerealsoperformed.Archive

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,JUNE13

THE DELHI DisasterManagementAuthority(DDMA)willdiscuss fixingapriceceilingfor treatment of Covid-19 pa-tients and reducing the cost oftesting inprivate labs.Themeeting agenda reads,

“Fixingpriceceilingfortreatmentby private hospitals as some ofthem are charging exorbitantprice and seeking huge ad-vances… Fixing ceiling forcharges of private ambulanceservices as some of them arecharging huge prices. Reducingprices being charged by privatelabs forCovid tests tomake it af-fordabletogeneralpublic.”Whilethereisnocapontreat-

ment cost in private hospitals atpresent,CovidtestsarecappedatRs 4,500. The cost of admissionand treatment can vary signifi-cantlydependingonwhichhos-pitalyouareadmittedto.Themeetingwill be chaired

by Lieutenant Governor AnilBaijal, who is also the DDMAchairperson. Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal, PoliceCommissioner S N ShrivastavaandChiefSecretaryVijayDevarealso among other membersscheduledtoattend.Lastweek, theDelhi govern-

ment had ordered hospitals todisplaythecostofadmissionandtreatment at prominent placesinsidethehospitalsothattheyareeasilyvisibletovisitors.Ithadalsoaskedhospitalstosubmitdetailstothedepartmentconcerned.Delhi Health Minister

Satyendar Jain on Saturday saidthat they were examining thecosts. “All the hospitals havebeen asked to share the ratesthat they are charging for Covid

treatments. Wewill decide onwhattodoafterobservingeveryhospital,”hesaid.There are over 100 govern-

mentandprivatehospitalsoffer-ing admission to Covid patientsinthecityatpresent.ThenumberofprivatetestinglabsauthorisedtoconductCovidtestsare23.Theofficialswillalsodiscuss

whether provision for tempo-rary crematoriums andmakeshift mortuaries, such ascontainerswithair-conditioningandbunkbeds,shouldbestartedin hospital campuses. As thenumber of deaths due to Covidor suspected to have beencaused by Covid have gone upover the past threeweeks, stor-ing bodies and conducting fu-nerals has turned into a toughtask forhospital authoritiesandfamilies, with the Delhi HighCourt issuing orders to ensuredead bodies are not allowed topile up in mortuaries. RamManohar Lohia Hospital hasbeenrunningatemporarymor-tuary from an air-conditionedcontainer for severalweeks.Districtauthoritiesarealready

workingonsettinguptemporaryhospitals in stadiums, fields andbanquethalls.Thesepreparationswill also be discussed onTuesday’smeeting, alongwiththe possibility of turning vacantapartment blocks intohospitals.The city had earlier used vacantDDAandDUSIB flats as quaran-tine centres for those who re-turnedfromabroad.DDMA also received a pro-

posal fromtheGreaterKailash-IRWA,wherein they can be em-poweredbygivingthemoxygencylinders,oximeters,concentra-tors and primary healthcaretraining, beds in communitycentresandcivil defencevolun-teers.

CORONAVIRUS IN THECAPITAL

TOTAL CASES:38,958 | NEWCASES:2,134Cases Recovered Deaths Tests

Thursday 1,877 486 65 5,360Friday 2,137 667 71 5,947Saturday 2,134 1,547 57 5,776Total 22,742 14,945 1,271 2,83,239

On agenda forL-G meet: Cap onpvt hospital fees

500Railways coaches, smaller nursinghomes to boost capital’s Covid capacity

Atrainwith10coaches isalready inShakurbasti.AmitMehra

New Delhi

6THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

KAUNAINSHERIFFMNEWDELHI, JUNE13

AS INDIA crossed the 3 lakh-mark for Covid-19 infections,PrimeMinister NarendraModion Saturday held a detailedmeeting with senior ministersand public health experts to re-view India’s response to thecoronaviruspandemic.Thereviewmeeting,whichin-

cludedHomeMinisterAmitShahand Health Minister Dr HarshVardhan,discussedthechallengesbeingfaced,particularlybyurbanhotspots, strategy to augmenttesting, aswell as thenumberofbedsneededtoeffectivelyhandlethesurgeofdailycases.The reviewmeeting headed

by the PMcomes twodays aftertheUnionCabinetSecretaryhadheld ameetingwith state chiefsecretaries, where it was high-lighted that the high case-loadstates/districts need to conductadditional testing and focus onearlytestingofhigh-riskcontacts.In the meeting with the

Cabinet Secretary, it was high-lighted that 76 per cent of total

active caseswere concentratedin six states — Maharashtra,Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat,RajasthanandWestBengal.A similar detailed presenta-

tionwasmadeonSaturdaybyDrVinodPaul,NITIAayogmemberandConvenoroftheEmpoweredGroup of Medical EmergencyManagement Plan, on the cur-rentstatusandlikelyscenarioofCovid-19 cases in themediumterm,where it was highlightedthat out of the total cases, two-thirds are concentrated in fivestates, with an overwhelmingproportionof cases inbigcities.Even as the urgent focus of

thegovernmentisnowonfatal-itymitigation,with the countryreporting 8,884 deaths,Modi islearnt to have directed HealthMinistry officials to undertakeemergency planning in consul-tationwith thestates.

Whileithasbeencommuni-cated to the states that the keychallenge for the next onemonth for 14 districts inMumbai,Delhi,Chennai,Thane,Ahmedabad, Pune,Chengalpattu,Gurgaon,KolkataandHyderabadwillbeshortageof hospital beds, the PM onSaturdaytookcognizanceof therecommendations of theEmpoweredGrouponcity- anddistrict-wise requirements ofhospitalbeds/isolationbedsthatwillberequiredduetothesurgein infections being reportedacross thecountry.Themeeting—alsoattended

by Principal Secretary to PM,Cabinet Secretary, HealthSecretary,DGICMRandotherre-lated conveners of the empow-ered groups—reviewed the na-tional-level status andpreparation.Themeetingtookstockofthe

situation in various states andUnionterritoriesincludingDelhi,andspecifically thepresent andemerging scenario of the surgeof cases in the national capitaland theprojections for thenexttwomonths.

PMNarendraModi

PM holds meet to reviewIndia’s pandemic response

CASE COUNTTHE CHANGING PICTURE

A look at howCovid-19 case counts in statesare changing asmigrants return home

States’ data for last24hours, updatedup to9pmon June13

KEYSTATES■UttarPradesh■TamilNadu■Rajasthan■Kerala■AndhraPradesh■Karnataka■Punjab

SAMPLESTESTED14,23617,91113,4115,17014,47710,1779,072

FOREIGNENTRANTS013NA533250

POSITIVECASES5031,9893338522230877

MIGRANTS

73209418332083

SHAJUPHILIPTHIRUVANANTHAPURAM,JUNE13

WITHOVERonelakhexpatriatesexpected to reach Kerala fromWest Asian countries on char-teredflightsincomingweeks,theKerala government hasmade itmandatory that those boardingtheflightsmustproduceacertifi-catestatingtheyhavetestedneg-ativeforCovid-19.The state has so far given

sanctionfor750charteredflightsforvariousagencies.The letter issued byNORKA

ROOTS,thenon-residentKeralitewelfareaffairsdepartment,totheagencies and institutions con-cerned, stated that starting June20,all chartered flights toKeralafromcountriesinWestAsiashallonlycarrypassengerswhotestednegative forCovid-19.The direction by the depart-

ment’s principal secretary Dr EEllangovan stated that this con-dition applies to all flights forwhich consent letters have ear-lier been issued. For cases inwhich a Covid-19 patient re-quires urgentmedical care, airambulance provision may beavailed, it stated.NORKAROOTSvice-chairman

KVaradarajansaid, “Whenthou-sands are scheduled to return to

Kerala...wehave to takeprecau-tionary steps.We have alreadygiven sanction for 750 flights.Passengershavetotakeantibodytest. If a largenumberof infectedpersonsreachKerala, itwouldbedifficultforthestate...thoseatthehomesofreturneeswouldalsobeexposed,”hesaid.In his letter to the agencies

which received consent to runchartered flights, Dr Ellangovansaid the overall infection rateamong returnees has risen to 3percent—ashighas6percentincaseofafewcountries.Itsaidthisshows that co-passengerswhowere not infected earlier havebeen exposed to those infectedduring travel. Thiswould lead toanalarmingspreadofthediseaseinKerala,statedtheletter.The government fears that

the number of positive casesfrom returneeswill increase incoming days, as 60 per cent be-long tovulnerablecategories.Opposition leader Ramesh

Chennithala said the conditionwasimpracticalandwouldposetrouble.Hesaiditmanycouldn’tafford the tests. “The govern-ment should not forget that thestate Assembly had unani-mously passed a resolution inMarchthisyear tobringbackallIndians from Italy and Republicof Koreawithout Covid-19 test.Thisshouldberevoked,''hesaid.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEMUMBAI,JUNE13

FOURMUMBAI policemen suc-cumbed to Covid-19 in the past24hours—theworstsingle-day1tollforthepoliceforcewiththetotal number of deaths risingto26.The toll inMaharashtra also

continuedtorisewith113deaths,takingthetotalto3,830.ThestateonSaturdaysaw3,427newcases,takingthetallyto1,04,568.Mumbai, with 1,380 new

casesand69deathsonSaturday,sawits tallygoupto56,831with2,113deaths.Mumbaicontributes40 per cent of the state’s newcases.Until amonthago,onMay13,Mumbaiaccountedfor53percentofnewcasesinthestate.Healthofficialssaidthereduc-

tion inMumbai’s share over themonthisnotbecauseofanydipinnumbers but the rise in cases inrural areas after the migrantmovement.Of the four policemenwho

died, Assistant Sub InspectorDipakLole(57)waspostedintheofficeofJointCommissioner(LawandOrder)VinoyKumarChaubey.He passed away at D Y PatilHospital inNerul at 8.25 amonSaturday.The Navi Mumbai resident

hadbeenonleavesinceMayashebelongedtothehigh-riskcategoryandtestedpositiveonJune6.Afterhis conditionworsened, hewasput on ventilator support onThursday, said a seniorMumbaiPoliceofficer.LateonFridaynight, 47-year-

oldConstable SandeshKenidiedat StarHospital inNallasopara. Abeatmarshal posted at Borivalipolicestation,KeniwasadmittedtothehospitalonJune6aftertest-ingpositive.Keni’scolleaguesde-scribedhimasbeingvery fit andnotsufferingfromanycomorbidi-ties.At 11.10 pm,HeadConstable

HemantKumbhardied at SevenHillsHospital inMarol after bat-tling the virus since June 4.Kumbhar,a52-year-oldwhowas

adiabetic,wasquarantinedafterhisimmediatesuperior,thePoliceInspector(Crime)atDindoshipo-lice station tested positive. TheInspectorhassincerecovered.The other casualty on

SaturdaynightwasconstableAnilKamble of Vakola police station.The 57-year-old died at NironHospitalinSantacruzEastwithinhours of testingpositive andbe-ing admitted there. Kamble hadalsobeenonleavesinceMay,saidthepolice.Morethan2,000personnelin

theMumbai Police have testedpositivesofar,ofwhom1,738be-longtotheconstabulary.224per-sonnelarecurrentlybeingtreatedinhospitals.Givingtherisingnumberofin-

fections in its ranks, theMumbaiPolicelaunchedadedicated24x7Covid-19 helpline on Friday tohelpitspersonnel.While India’s recovered pa-

tient count has surpassed activecases, inMaharashtra the activecases(51,379)arestillhigherthanrecoveredpatients(49,346).

ABHISHEKANGADRANCHI, JUNE13

SITTING AT the Dumka railwaystation in Jharkhand, SheikhShabbir iselatedattheprospectof higher earnings.Working forthe Border Roads Organisationin Ladakh, he once earned Rs13,600 a month. Now, for thesamework, he has been prom-ised Rs 18,100. For him, this in-creaseof Rs4,500meansbetterspending on health and educa-tion, andmore foodsecurity.“Iwill be able to savemore,”

said the 20-year-old, whowasamong 1,648 labourerswho setoff Saturday — for Ladakh andother areas— fromDumka. This

wasafter the Jharkhandgovern-mentstruckadealwithBROtodi-rectlysendlabourers,eliminatingthe involvement ofmiddlemenknownas‘mates’whousuallyco-ordinatedthelaboursupply.

Usually labourers them-selves, ‘mates’arerecognisedbyBRO, and have often been ac-cusedofexploitationofworkers.Now,aftertheJharkhandgov-

ernment's intervention,BROhas

assuredlabourersofdirectpay,anMoU, and registration next yearunder the InterstateWorkmenActformoresecurity.Jharkhand Chief Minister

Hemant Soren,who flagged offthe trainonSaturday, said, “I amjust amedium, andmy job is toprovide these labourers secu-rity...Themiddlemen have ex-ploitedthemforlongandweareworkingtoeliminatethem...Iamasonoffarmerandalabourer,nomorelabourerswillbeexploited.”However,theinitialresponse

to the outreach, being carriedoutwithout ‘mates’ for the firsttime, was rather lukewarm.Sources in the governmentpointedto theonsetof thesow-ingseasonandrainsas factors.

A panchayat mukhiya, re-questinganonymity, said, “Fromourpanchayatarea, aroundninepeople have gone, compared to150 labourerswhousually go inone season.” Sources said helphas been sought from theJharkhand State LivelihoodPromotionSociety tospreadtheword. Block DevelopmentOfficers have been made thenodalofficers for thisproject.BROADGAnilKumar said in

Dumka, “The next train willleaveonJune16andeveryfourthdaysince... andthe lastbeingonJuly 4. I request the Jharkhandgovernment tomake available11,000 labourers for nationbuilding...” FULLREPORTONwww.indianexpress.com

TABASSUMBARNAGARWALAMUMBAI,JUNE13

TOREGULATE the cost of Covid-19testsconductedbyprivatelab-oratoriesacrossMaharashtra,theState PublicHealthDepartmentSaturdayissuedanotificationfix-ingthepriceatRs2,800forswabcollection and testing, and Rs2,200forcaseswheresamplehasalreadybeencollected.Untilnow,privatelaboratories

were chargingRs 4,500 for eachreal-timepolymerasechainreac-tion (RT-PCR) test, conducted todetectnovelcoronavirus.Thenewrates,whichwereap-

proved by Maharashtra ChiefSecretaryAjoyMehta, seektore-ducethecostofCovid-19testsbyatleast37percent.Government officials said

when theprice cap for Covid-19testwas fixed at Rs 4,500by theCentral government, it was ex-pected from the private labs toself-regulate andcharge anomi-nal amount less than thecappedrate. But private labs, they said,startedtochargetheceilingprice

tomakemaximumprofits.OnMay25,theIndianCouncil

ofMedical Research (ICMR)hadremovedthepricecapforCovid-19testsandwrotetoallstategov-ernmentstofixthecostsaftercon-sulting with stakeholders forRT-PCRtesting.State officials said a need to

immediately cap prices furtherwasfelttoreduceprofiteeringasahugeproportionofthepopulationwasbankingontheprivatesectorfortesting.Maharashtraconductsaround

15,000 tests every day—47percentarecarriedoutinprivatelabs.“Withhugevolume (of tests)

profitmargin increases, soatthispoint even lower testing pricescouldchurnoutprofit,”astateof-ficialsaid.Arokiaswamy Velumani,

founderandmanagingdirectorofThyrocare, one of the approvedlabsforCovid-19testingbyICMR,said theywere consulted by theMaharashtra government aboutthecostincurredbythemtopro-cure rawmaterial and logistics.“Wewillbeabletocommentafterreading the entire order,”Velumanisaid.

OMKARGOKHALEMUMBAI,JUNE13

DEALINGWITHabatchofCovid-19 petitions, the BombayHighCourtexpressedconcernovertherise in number of cases inMaharashtra and directed thestate government, Centre andcivicbodiestoconsiderincreasingthehealthcarebudgetandexpen-ditureandtogiveprioritytoemer-gencieswhileadmittingpatients.A division bench of Chief

JusticeDipankarDattaandJusticeAASayedonFridaypassedarul-ing on a batch of pleas filed byMehrwan Farshed, MutahharKhan,NGOJanSwasthyaAbhiyan,Sarika Singh, Khalil AhmadHasanmiyaWastaandDayanandStalinseekingrelieffornon-Covidpatients, stating that theywerebeing refused treatment in gov-ernmentaswellasprivatehospi-tals,andthishadledtodeaths.CJDatta,whoauthoredthe96-

pagejudgment,madeseveralsug-gestions to theauthorities. “Nowthat Covid-19has taught a goodlesson,thedesirabilityofincreas-ing the budgetary allocation forpublichealthandcare forsettingupmoremodernfacilitiestocopeupwith similar such challengesmaybegivenaseriousthought.”Abatchofpublicinterestpleas

voicedseveralgrievancesrelatedtothepandemic.TheCJDatta-ledbenchhadreserveditsorderear-lierthismonth.HC further suggested that al-

thoughunavailabilityofbedsisnoexcuse for refusing admission topatients, efforts shall bemade tofirst admit thosewhogenuinelydeserve treatment inhospitals inpreference to otherswhoout offearmayseekadmissionbut canwait. “Developwholesomestrat-egy fordealingwithall classesofpatients,andbalancinghealthcareforCovid-19patientsandpatientssufferingfromotherdiseases...”

ABHISHEKSAHAGUWAHATI, JUNE13

AMID CONCERNS over thespreadofCovid-19inGuwahati,theAssamgovernmentwill test50,000 people in the city overthenext fewdaysandreimposethe lockdown there if a signifi-cantpercentage testspositive.Themeasurewasannounced

after25Guwahatiresidentswithno travel history tested positivefor the coronavirus. HealthMinisterHimantaBiswaSarma,at a press conference onSaturday, said goods trucks,which load and unload at over150godowns inandaround thecity,aresuspectedtobetheorig-inatingpointsof thespread.Sarma said the government

wants to test a total of around50,000 people in the city toknow the extent of the spread.Amongthosewhowillbetestedin thisdrivearepeopleworkingat godowns, parking lots of

trucks, petrol stations, dhabasand weigh bridges; and thosedetected by ASHA workers ashaving fever and related symp-toms in thecommunity.People can also voluntarily

getthemselvestested.Toenablethis, 12 additional sample col-lecting centres will be opened

fromthemorningof June16.Sarma added that if after

testing the 50,000 persons, asizable percentage turns out tobe positive, then the govern-ment might consider imple-mentinga lockdowninthecity,which already has 44 contain-ment zones.

Better pay on mind, Jharkhand workers leave for Ladakh

KeralamakesCovid-free tagmust forWestAsia returnees

Considerhike in publichealth budget:Bombay HC

Decision on Guwahati lockdownto be based on 50,000 tests: Sarma

KamakhyaTemplewearsadeserted look, inGuwahati.PTI

Childrenplay football inKochionSaturday.AP

Four more Mumbai copssuccumb to Covid, toll 26

Over1,600 labourers leftDumkaforLadakhonSaturday

RajKumarsetsuphiscameraatasocialfunctioninNewDelhi.The48-year-old,whohasbeencapturingmomentsfor35years,ensuresheusesaclothmaskatalltimes. PraveenKhanna

AtAnnuDaswani’s(right)popularpaanshopinJaipur,glovesandmasksaretheorderoftheday.Themarketshaveopened,butbusinessisstillslow. Rohit JainParas

FACING THE HEAT

WearingamaskonthejobisdifficultforSaleem—giventheheatandworkingconditions.TheBhagalpurresidentiscurrentlyworkingataconstructionsiteinthecapitalforRs600aday. GajendraYadav

ShyamalBag,47,sayshesufferedalossofRs500foreachdayof thelockdown.Athiscyclerepairshop,heandhisemployeesensuretheyusemasksandsanitisers. ParthaPaul

FormarathonerNimishaWarrier (inpink, right)keepingdistanceandusingamaskwhile trainingwithhergroup,‘Striders’, ispartof theroutinenow. Deepak Joshi

KOLKATA:11:34AM

MUMBAI:7:25AM

NEWDELHI:12:20PM

NEWDELHI:1.34PM

JAIPUR:1:10PM

Maharashtra capstest price at Rs 2,200

New Delhi

7THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

ASTHEfirstsignsofuneaseintheUddhavThackeray-led coalitiongovernment inMaharashtra be-comevisible, state PublicWorksMinisterASHOKCHAVANtalkstoSANDEEPASHARonthegrowingdiscontentwithin the Congressfaction of Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA), theupcomingMLCpolls,hisbattleagainstCovid-19andtheroad ahead for Maharashtra.Excerpts:

TheriftintheMVAisoutintheopenwithCongressexpressingitsdispleasureovernotbeingconsultedonkeydecisions.Whataretheparty’sgrievances?There is no rift as such. But

there isagrowingfeelingamongseniorCongressleadersandmin-isters that theparty isn’t gettingits due as a partner. All partiesshouldbeequal.Afterall,thegov-ernmentwasformedbecauseallthree came together. For theup-coming MLC (Member ofLegislativeCouncil)nominationsto12 seats, the threeparties hadalreadydiscussedandagreedthateachwill get one-third share. Allwehaveaskedforisittobeimple-mented.We tooneed to accom-modate someof our leaders, sothattheyfeeltheyareapartofthegovernment. Second, there is afeeling among someof ourmin-

istersthattheyaren’tbeingheardoraddressed.We’ll raisetheseis-sueswith theCM. I’m confidenthewill give us a patient hearingandtheseissueswillberesolved.

Anotherissueraisedbyyourpartyistheunequaldistributionofdevelopmentfundsamongsttheallies.Canyouelaborateonthis?Itisanissue.Thereissomein-

equalityinthedistributionofde-velopment funds to constituen-cies represented by the threeparties,althoughIdonothavetheexactdetails.EveryMLAwantstopushdevelopmentworks in hisownregion.

ThebuzzisthattheShivSena-ledMaharashtraStateRoadDevelopmentCorp.wantstoformanindependentinfraboardthatwillinfringeonyourportfolio.Wereyouconsulted?Wearetoldthereareotherissuespertainingtoyourdepartmentthatyouareconcernedabout.The power-sharing formula

and thedivisionof departmentsbetween partieswas a politicaldecisionfinalisedbyallsides.Thismustberespected.Anythingthatchangesoraffectsitwillobviouslybecome a contentious point. Itshouldn’t be donewithout con-

sultationandconsensusbetweenthesides.Morethantheministers,Ipersonallyfeelthatitisasectionofbureaucratstryingtocreatetherift.But thepolitical leadership ismature.TheCMmustputhisfootdownand send a clearmessagethatthiswon’tbetolerated.Thereare also certain issuespertainingto(bureaucratic)reshuffle.

Thisisoneofthemostexperiencedcabinetsinalongtime.Yetthebureaucracyseemstobeoverarching.What

areyourviewsonthis?Thesethingscanbesortedout

quickly. Principles of electivedemocracyandrules forgovern-ment’s functioning arewell laidout.Itisclearthatthegovernmentvestsintheminister.Thebureau-crathas toactasperdirectivesoftheminister and the CM. Oncethesearestrictlyenforced,thingswill fall inplace.

TheCongresshasbeenrelegatedtoplayingthethirdfiddle.EvenRahulGandhi’srecentstatementappearedtoechothissentiment.Howdoyouplantoreclaimyourlostpoliticalspace?Wehavenot lostanypolitical

space.Wearejustmakingitclearthat ourparty shouldget its due.Our aim to keep the BJP out ofpower at any cost should not beseen as ourweakness. All threepartieshavejoinedhandstoformthis government. It shouldworkonthebasisandprinciplesof theCommonMinimumProgramme.

TheBJPhasattackedtheMVAoverpolicyparalysisandlackofcohesiveness.Yourviews?ItisunfortunatethattheBJPis

resortingtopoliticsduringsuchatime (of the pandemic). TheMVA’s focus at themoment is tocontrolthespreadofCovid-19.

TheCovid-19crisishasimposedaseverecutongovernmentexpenditure.Butyourdepartmentisalsofacedwiththetaskofpushinginfrastructureworkstorevivegrowthandcreatedemand.Whatareyourplans?It is a major challenge. Our

budgets have been cut. There isalso a spillover of past liabilities.So,wehaveprioritised.Thefocuswill beon improvement andad-ditions to the statehighwaynet-work. We will be relying a lotmore onoff-budget borrowingstopush roadworks. Amongcon-tractsissuedinthepast,allworksthat are yet to begin and thoseawardedafterMarch31,2019,arebeing reviewed afresh. Anotherconcern is the delay in nationalhighwayworks,wheremanycon-tractorshavenotadheredtotime-lines. I’ve raised it with (RoadTransportMinister)NitinGadkari...

YourbattleagainstCovid-19wassuccessful.Wouldyouliketoshareyourexperience?Faith in self is key. When I

tested positive, even I felt over-whelmed.Fortunately,myfamilybackedmeand I recovered fully.This illnesshastaughtmetotakeprecautionsatalltimes...Ifyouex-hibit symptoms, do not delaymedicalattention.

WITH

ASHOKCHAVANMAHARASHTRAPWD

MINISTER

THE EXPRESSINTERVIEW

AVANEESHMISHRALUCKNOW,JUNE13

UTTARPRADESH’Stallyofcoron-avirus cases onSaturday roseby505to13,118whilethedeathtollincreasedto385with20morefa-talities.Thiswastheseconddayina rowwhennewcasesbreachedthe500threshold.Of the total cases, 3,015were

recordedinthelastoneweekand5,043 in thismonth alone. Thedaily average of cases in the lastweekwasatadmorethan430.Of the fresh deaths,Meerut

hasrecordedfive,followedbytwoeachinAgra,Noida,Lucknowand

Siddharthnagar, andoneeach inGhaziabadMoradabad, Jaunpur,Basti,Bulandshahr,AzamgarhandMathura.Maintainingtherecov-ery rateof above60percent, thestatehasdischarged7,875of thetotal Covid-19patients,meaningthereare4,858activecases.Ofthetotal recoveries, 3,032 wererecordedinJune.Thenewcaseswerereported

from52 of the total 75 districtsand Kanpur Nagar added thehighest at 50. Next in the list isNoida with 49 new cases andLucknowwith44cases,including28 employees at the ChiefMinister Covid-19 HelplineCentre.

Emerging as amajor coron-avirushotspotinthestatecapital,thehelplinecentrehasatleast47staffers employed by a privatecompanyandaddressespeople’squeries and grievances on thepandemic.The spread in the two-floor

building was revealed after awomanemployee at the centre,fromMalhaur area of Lucknow,tested positive for the virus onJune5.Sheisreportedtobeaclosecontact of a laundrymanassoci-atedwithaLucknowhospital.Aspersources,morethan600

contacts of the helpline centrehave been traced and asked toquarantinethemselvesathome.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW,JUNE13

THE UTTAR Pradesh govern-ment on Saturday said thatRs 1,000was sent to 10.48 lakhfamilies through direct banktransfers.Additional Chief Secretary

(Home) Awanish KumarAwasthi told mediapersons inLucknow: “The Chief Minister(YogiAdityanath)distributedRs1,000 to 10,48,166 lakh familiesof workers and labourersthrough the revenue depart-mentthroughdirectbanktrans-fer. Thismoney has beenmadeavailable for the state Covidfund....”Awasthi said 1,645 trains

have come to the state with22.20 lakhmigrantworkers.“On Saturday, the Chief

MinisterheldtheTeam-11meet-ing and said that the Industrialsector’s backbone is the man-power orworkforce and no in-dustrycanrunwithoutit…”saidAwasthi.He said the Chief Minister

has instructed officials to speedupdevelopmentwork.“RegardingPoorvanchaland

Bundelkhand expressways, theCMhas instructed officials thatwork should be quickened andworkersandlabourerswhohavereturned to the state should beemployed,” saidAwasthi.A statement issued by the

state government said,“DiscussionsarehappeningwithOdisha,Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh,Bihar for sending migrantsback.”

JOHNSONTABENGALURU, JUNE13

WHENA65-year-oldmandiedofaheartattackinaBengaluruhos-pitalinAprilandlatertestedpos-itive for novel coronavirus—oneofthefirstCovid-19deathsinthecity—health authorities andpo-lice traced his 104 contacts, 28primary and 76 secondary, andquarantinedthemfortesting.One of the key factors in

Karnataka’slargelysuccessfulef-fortsatcontrollingCovid-19inthestate so farhasbeen this aggres-sive contact-tracing, quarantin-ing and testing, carried out byhealth authoritieswith the helpofthecivicadministration,policeandtechnology.AsofSaturday,Karnatakahad

6,824cases,3,092ofthemactive.Ithasseen81Covid-19deaths,29of them inBengaluru, a remark-ably low number compared tootherbigstatesandmetros.Researchers from the Indian

CouncilofMedicalResearchwhoconducted a study of contactstestedofCovid-19patientsindif-ferentstatesbetweenJanuary22andApril 30 foundKarnataka atthetop,with93onaveragetestedcompared to the national figureof 20. Theworst-affected stateslikeMaharashtraandDelhihavetested only eight and nine con-tactsrespectivelyonaverage.TheICMRexercisewaspartof

alargerstudyon‘Laboratorysur-veillanceforSARS-CoV-2inIndia’.Ithasbeenreleasedasapre-print.Incidentally, the studywas

carriedoutduringaperiodwhen

theCovid-19numberswere stilllow in the country. With thenumberssurging,contact-tracinghas been on the decline. OnThursday, with Delhi cases at32,810, state Health MinisterSatyendar Jain said tracingwasnowbeing done only for imme-diatecontactsofpatients.“Earlier,in one case, contact-tracingwouldbedoneforupto600peo-ple, and today, if we multiply1,500 caseswith 600, it gives us9,00,000peopleforcontact-trac-ing,”hesaid.Apart fromKarnataka, states

fallingwithin thehigh-perform-ance75thpercentileforcontact-testingareKeralaandTamilNadu,with 40 and 44 contacts testedperCovid-positiveperson.“Corrected formissing data

fromoursensitivityanalysis, the

average number of contactstestedperpositivecasewas20.4atall-Indialevelandrangedfrom6.6 in Chandigarh to 1387 inTripura,”saysthestudy.Even in terms of testing of

onlyprimarycontacts,Karnatakarankshigh,with47percase,com-paredtoanationalaverageofsix.Delhitested2.1primarycontacts,Maharashtra2.3whileKeralaandTamilNadutested11and14pri-marycontactsperpositivecase.On primary contacts, the

studysays, “At thenational level,the average number of contactstestedper laboratory-confirmedcasewassix.Atthestatelevel,theaveragenumberofcontactstestedperpositivecaserangedfrom1.3inJharkhandto328inTripura.”It adds, “Among the top 10

states/UTs,basedonthereported

numberofCovid-19cases,theav-erage number of (primary) con-tactstestedperpositivecasewasmorethanthenationalaverageinTamilNadu(14.4),UttarPradesh(9.8), Telangana (8.1), AndhraPradesh (7.7),Madhya Pradesh(7.6)andRajasthan(6.3).”Thestudyalso foundtherate

ofCovid-19infectionamongcon-tacts to be the highest in stateslike Maharashtra and Delhi,wherecontacttestingwasfoundto be low --with 11% of all con-tacts testing positive inMaharashtra (13% among pri-mary contacts) and 9% in Delhi(15%ofprimarycontacts).Ontheother hand, in Karnataka, 1% ofcontacts tested positive (also 1%ofprimarycontacts)andinKerala2%(3%amongprimarycontacts).TamilNaduwasalsoatthelower

endof thespectrum.The national average for

Covid-19positivetestsamongallcontactsofacasewas4%,withthefigureat6%forprimarycontacts.“Every patient and contact is

equally critical to be traced andtracked to control the spread ofthe infection. One never knowswhowillendupspreadingCovid-19toalargenumbersofpersons,”MunishMoudgil, the IAS officerin-chargeoftheKarnatakaCovid-19warroom,said.Moudgil stressed on the im-

portance of identifying the con-tacts of every patientwithin 24hoursandquarantiningthemfor14days.While contact-tracing was

carried out physically by healthworkers in the early days of thespread of the disease in

Karnataka, the exercise is nowcarriedoutwiththehelpoftech-nology and a large battalion ofgovernmentfieldstaff.Despite nearly 70% of the

3,092 active Covid-19 cases inKarnataka being new arrivalsfromotherstates,contact-tracinghasmanaged tokeeppace.AsofSaturday, 35,552 primary andsecondary contacts of Covid-19caseswereinquarantine.Explaining the app theyhad

developed for the purpose,Moudgilsaid,“Thecontactdetailspicked fromapatient inahospi-tal are entered into this ContactTracingApp.Theinformationim-mediately flows to field teams.The local teamgoesandquaran-tinesthecontact.”Haryanahasnowsourcedthe

appforuseinthestate.

ARUNSHARMAJAMMU,JUNE13

NEARLYAmonthaftertheUnionTerritory was declared coron-avirus-free, Ladakh has seen ahuge spike in cases in the last 48hours, reporting 198 confirmedcases from Kargil district onSaturday, thehighest single-dayfigure so far, prompting the UTAdministrationtoreenforcestrictlockdown inKargil district fromFridaymidnight.Thiscomesadayafter theUT

reported104casesonFriday,withKargilreporting69andLeh35.Saturday's confirmed cases

takes the total to 437 cases inLadakh,including368activeones.Onepersonhasdied;68patientshavesofarrecoveredintheUT.TheLadakhAutonomousHill

Development Council (LAHDC)has said the administrationshould take similarmeasures inLehdistrict aswell and enfoce alockdowntocontainthevirus.Pointing out that the Union

HomeMinistry's standardoper-ating procedures (SOPs) for re-movingthe lockdownare for the

entire country, the Council hasasked theUTAdministration tofirm up Ladakh-specific SOPskeepinginviewtheemergingsit-uation,anLAHDCcouncilorsaid.Ladakh, comprising Leh and

Kargil districtswith a combinedpopulation of nearly 5 lakh,wasoneofthefirstregionsinthecoun-trytoreportaCovid-positivecaseback inMarch,While it had re-ported43confirmedcasesatonetime,theUTwasdeclaredCovid-freeonMay15.Kargil,whichhadbefore that

reportedninepositivecases,hadbecomefreeofthevirusevenear-lier–onApril19–officialspointedout.KargilDeputyCommissioner

Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary saidthe new cases were being re-ported fromamongpeoplewhohavereturnedhomefromdiffer-entpartsof thecountry.While Ladakh’s Divisional

Commissioner Saugat BiswasaskedTheSundayExpress tocon-tact Health Secretary RigzianSampheal for Covid queries, thelatterdidnotrespondtorepeatedphonecallsduringtheday.Sources attributed the recent

spike in positive cases to the re-turn of nearly 40,000 people toLadakhfromdifferentpartsofthecountry.Having remainedCovid-free

untilMay20, Ladakh reported afreshcaseinapersonwhohadre-turned from Iran. Theman,whocomesfromChuchutYokma,wasalreadyunder hotel quarantine,officialssaid.Asmovement of people, in-

cluding resumptionof air traffic,began fromMay25,more casesemerged.ByMay31,thenumberroseto34,withLadakhreporting20casesinasingledayonMay29.TheUThasoneCovidhospital

each in Leh andKargil. Betweenthem,theyhave87isolationbedsfor Covid-positive patients and103 isolation beds for sympto-maticcontacts,besides1,669bedstoquarantinepeople inhospitalsandhotelsacrosstheUT.In viewof the recent spike in

cases,theHealthDepartmenthasset up a Covid testing lab atChuchotYokma,apartfromsend-ingsamplestoDelhi.“Thespikeisalsodue todelayedarrivalof testreportsofpeoplequarantinedontheirreturn,’’ahealthofficialsaid.

Anartistworksonapaintingof LordVitthalandPandurangonawall inSahakarNagar inPune.ThePandharpurWari, apilgrimage inhonourof LordVitthal,hasbeencancelledowingtoCovid-19,but thePuneMunicipalCorporation is tryingtokeepfestivitiesalive throughsuchefforts. PavanKhengre

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAHELSINKI/TELAVIV, JUNE13

ASMANY as 227 Indian nation-alsstrandedinFinland,Denmark,Estonia and Latvia have beenflownbackhomeunderthethirdphaseofthemegaevacuationex-erciseVandeBharat.National carrier Air India on

Friday evening operated its firstever passenger flight fromFinnishcapitalHelsinki,bringingbackIndiansstrandedinthefourEuropeancountriesduetothein-ternationaltravelrestrictionsfol-lowingthecoronavirusoutbreak.Air India’s CountryManager

inIsrael,PankajTiwari,whoseof-ficecoordinatedtherepatriationflight, said that theAI1184flightlandedinNewDelhionSaturday.Whilemost of the stranded

passengerswerefromFinland,15were from Estonia, some fromDenmarkandonefromLatvia.The Air India flight also

brought to Finland 168 people,including 15 infants, whowerestrandedin India.Thespecial flightwasamas-

siveeffortandachallengingonebecause Air India does not haveanyoperationsinFinlandandallthelogisticsandgroundsupporthadtobehandledbyFinnishop-erators.ItwasmanagedremotelybytheAir Indiaoffice inTelAviv,India’s Ambassador to FinlandVaniRaosaid.Thethirdphaseof theVande

BharatMissiongotunderwayonThursday andwill continue tillJuly2.Atotalof 1,65,375 Indianshave returned from abroad tillThursdayunder themission.

227 Indiansfrom Finland,other nationsrepatriated

Rs 1,000 sentto each of10.48 lakhworkerfamilies: UP

For 2nd straight day, UP records morethan 500 new cases, 3015 in a week

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH, JUNE13

HARYANAWITNESSEDitsbiggestsingle-day spike in Covid caseswith 415 fresh cases and eightdeathsinthelast24hours,takingthestate'stotalcountofCovidpa-tients to 6,749. So far, 78 peoplelosttheir livesduetoCovid-19.Gurgaon,Faridabadcontinue

to witness the surge in caseswith Gurgaon getting 203 andFaridabad100 freshcases in thelast 24 hours. Rohtak district isemerging as another cause forworry for the state governmentas thedistrict got 30 fresh cases

in the last24hours.According to the state's

SaturdayeveningCovidbulletin,there were 3,868 active Covidpatients.Of these,therewere48patients who were in criticalcondition, including 33 on oxy-gen support while 15 patientswereonventilator.Outofthe415freshcases,be-

sides Gurgaon and Faridabad, asurgeinCovidpatientswaswit-nessedinseveralotherdistricts.While Ambala got another 16fresh cases, Bhiwani got 14,Sonipat (3), Jhajjar (7), Nuh (2),Palwal (5), Panipat (4),Panchkula (1), Karnal (3), Sirsa(6),Mahendragarh(7),Hisar(7),

Rewari(3),CharkhiDadri(1)andKurukshetra (3).As of Friday evening,

Gurgaonhad1,939 active Covidpatients, followed by Faridabad(710), Sonipat (267), Rohtak(155)andPalwal (105).Thecasedoublingrateinthe

statewasrecordedateightdaysasofSaturdayeveningwhilethestatewasconducting6,768testsper million population. So far,Haryana has tested 1,71,560samplesofwhich1,59,333testednegative while the report wasstill awaited in5,478samples.Haryana'sCovidpositiverate

onSaturdayeveningclimbedto4.06percent.

Haryana sees biggest single-day spikewith 415 new cases; 8 more deaths

Karnataka among top in testing contacts: Jan-April study by ICMRSTATE’S LOW COVID-19 NUMBERS

‘Section of bureaucracy is trying tocreate rift inMaha Vikas Aghadi govt’

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, JUNE13

HAVINGKEPTthevirusatbayforthe first fewmonths, the num-berofconfirmedcasesinSikkimmore than doubled to 63 onSaturdaywith36casesreportedonFriday.Sikkimhadremainedcoron-

avirus-free till as lateasMay23,when the state detected its firstpositivecase.It was also one of the first

statestohavecompletelycloseddownitsbordersandprohibitedallmovement,except transportof essential goods, between thestateandtherestof thecountry.The restrictions were lifted inthestateaftertheCentrestartedeasing the nationwide lock-down and allowed Sikkimeseresidentslivingoutsidethestateto return.StateHealth department of-

ficials said all positive cases inSikkimhavebeenreportedfromamongreturnees,andthatnolo-cal transmission has beenrecordedtill date.“Of 36 cases which tested

positive yesterday, 34 are (re-turnees)fromMaharashtra,onefromSiliguri (WestBengal), andone from Kolkata,” SikkimHealth Secretary Dr PempaBhutiasaid.“Agroupof191peo-ple returned fromMaharashtraon June 4; they were immedi-atelyquarantined.”Bhutia said the authorities

test people on the fifth day ofquarantine,andtestseverysin-gle person who returns to thestate. “The expense for this isborne by the state govern-ment.”Bhutia said 14 people had

tested positive on Thursday, ofwhom 10 had returned fromMaharashtra.Of the 63 cases so far in the

state, fourhavebeendischargedand59arestill inhospital.Bhutiasaid,“Wedon’texpect

any more cases because allSikkimese people living andworking outside the state havereturned. The people who areexpected tocomenowarenon-Sikkimese—studentswhostudyhere and teachers and Centralgovernment employees whoworkhere.SincetheUniongov-

ernmenthasextendedtheshut-downofinstitutionsuntilAugust1, the state has decided that theborders will be kept sealed tillAugust.”Unlike many other states,

Bhutia said, Sikkim is testing itsmedical professions regularly.Bhutia said a group of 34 doc-tors,nursesandparamedicsareinattendanceatCovidwardsforoneweek, after which they aresent tomandatory institutionalquarantine for twoweeks, andare also tested. They are re-placed by another group of 34professionals.According to officials, the

lockdownhasgiventhestatesintheNortheast, includingSikkim,timetosetuptheirhealth infra-structure to deal with the pan-demic.Sikkimbeganconstruct-ingits firstBSL-3labonApril13.The lab is fullyoperationalnow,officials said.It is also acquiring 5,000

rapid testing kits everyweek totestall residentsof thestateandhas no shortage of kits, officialsmaintained.The state has not registered

anycoronavirusdeath till date

1 to 63 confirmed in 3 weeks,Sikkim reports 36 cases in a day

Covid-free not long ago,Ladakh sees 198 new cases

New Delhi

8THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

EXPRESSNETWORKWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SHUBHAJITROYNEWDELHI, JUNE13

HOURS AFTER Nepal moved astep forward towards giving le-gal sanctity to thenewmapas itpassed the ConstitutionalAmendment bill in the lowerhouseofitsParliament,IndiaandNepal were staring at a diplo-maticcrisisonSaturday.Responding toKathmandu’s

decision,NewDelhimadeitclearthat this “artificial enlargementof claims” is“nottenable”,andit“violates the bilateral under-standing to hold talks on out-standingboundary issues”.Thegovernmentnowfacesa

tough choice in dealingwith anincreasinglyassertiveNepalgov-ernment, led by PrimeMinisterKPSharmaOli.So far, the government has

not responded to Nepal’s re-quests for a meeting betweenForeign Secretaries of the twocountries.From the last phone call be-

tweenPrimeMinisterNarendraModi andhisNepal counterpartOli on April 10, when they hadshared views on the ongoingCovid-19 crisis to current sce-nario,thepresentcrisisreflectsacompletebreakdownincommu-nicationbetweenthetwosides.In response to questions on

the passing of ConstitutionalAmendment Bill, revising theCoat of Arms of Nepal by theHouse of Representatives ofNepal, Ministry of External

Affairs’(MEA)officialspokesper-son Anurag Srivastava onSaturday said, “We have notedthat the House ofRepresentatives of Nepal haspassed a constitution amend-ment Bill for changing themapofNepaltoincludepartsofIndianterritory.Wehavealreadymadeourpositionclearonthismatter.”“Thisartificialenlargementof

claims is not based onhistoricalfact or evidence and is not ten-able.Itisalsoviolativeofourcur-rentunderstandingtoholdtalkson outstanding boundary is-sues,”Srivastavasaid.ThisstatementreflectsIndia’s

approach, as it doesn’t seek anydialogue at the moment, butdoesn’t preclude the possibilityofholdingone.NewDelhihasnowchoicesto

make.Itcanaccedetotherequestfor adialoguewithKathmandu,and try to resolve the issuethroughdiplomaticnegotiations.But as it faces a new map

passedbytheNepalgovernment,NewDelhi finds itself in a diffi-cultposition, asKathmanduhas

etchedtheredlinesonstone.Thismay forceDelhi todraw its ownred lineandask its counterpartsin Nepal to walk back on theboundary issue and then cometothetable.If the government doesn’t

choosethepathtodiplomaticne-gotiations,ithasoptionsofhard-ening its stance against Nepaland could opt for the punitivemeasures — which is fraughtwithrisksandcouldalienatethepeopleofNepal.Thegovernmenthad tried such a tactic in 2015,duringtheblockade,anditwouldweigh the consequences beforeopting for thispath.It could also open its lines of

communication and engage-mentwiththeNepalesepoliticaland civil society — outside thegovernment— and could try tocommunicate its point of view.Butgiventhebipartisanunityontheissueofmap,asithasunder-taken strongnationalistic tones,it may find few takers in theNepal’s political spectrum andsocietyofDelhi’spointof view.This comes at a timewhen

KathmanduhasbeenrebuffedbyDelhi on its requests for ameet-ing between the two ForeignSecretaries —which has beenagreed by PrimeMinisters frombothsidesback in2014.Nepalwas open toholding a

virtualmeetingwithIndiaontheissue of border dispute that hasthreatened to adversely impactthe bilateral relationship be-tween the two countries.Kathmandu has conveyed toNew Delhi over the last onemonth—throughanoteverbale(a diplomatic note) — that theyare open to have ForeignSecretaries of the two countriesmeet through any option — inpersonorvirtual.ButNewDelhihassofarsaid

that theywill discuss the issue“after” the two countries have“successfully dealt” with theCOVID-19pandemic.“Bothsidesareintheprocess

ofschedulingForeignSecretary-level talks which will be heldonce the dates are finalised be-tweenthetwosidesafterthetwosocietiesandgovernmentshavesuccessfullydealtwith thechal-lenge of Covid-19 emergency,”theMEA'hadstatedonMay9,inits first statement after the con-troversyemerged.TheideaofForeignSecretary-

level talks --- which began in1997duringthenPMIKGujarat’svisit, and again during A BVajpayee-B P Koirala talks in2000—was recently floated byNepal sinceNovember last year,butcouldnotbeheldtwice.

SANTOSHSINGHJANAKINAGAR(SITAMARHI),JUNE13

IN THE last twomonths, therehavebeenatleasteightincidentsofaltercationbetweentheNepalArmed Police Force (APF) andcivilians on the Indian side inBihar’s border districts ofSitamarhi, East Champaran,MadhubaniandKishanganj.Even on Friday, when firing

by the APF killed a villager inJanakiNagar in Sitamarhi, a po-lice officer had brokered peacefollowing a clash in East Cham-paran. Wednesday had seen aclashataspotbarely1.5kmfromthe JanakiNagar incident.Theclashescomeamidstris-

ing India-Nepal tension oversomeborderareas.The APF on Saturdaymorn-

inghandedovertheJanakiNagarvillager whose capture had ledto a clash and firing on Friday,leading to the death of anothervillager, 23-year-oldVikashRai,and injuries to two.On Wednesday, the

Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) had

steppedintoresolvemattersaf-ter theAPFbeatupa resident inLalbandi near Janaki Nagar.Thursday had seen stone-pelt-ingbetweenresidentsoftwovil-lagers on either side of the bor-derafteraChandramanresidentwas allegedly beaten up by theAPFinno-man’s landafewdayspreviously.Friday’sincidentinEastCham-

paranwasresolvedafterMahua-waPoliceStationin-chargeUdaySinghsteppedinfollowingaclashbetween the residents of San-phulwavillageinNepalandChan-dramanontheIndianside.Last month, on May 7, the

APF deployed in Bara district ofNepal had opened fire to stopresidents of Navgachhia villageinMahuawa,whowantedtoac-cesstheirfieldsontheotherside.No onewas injured in the inci-dent, and the tension finallyabated after senior authoritiesfrombothsides intervened.May 16 night had seen an-

otherincidentof firingalongtheIndo-Nepal border, inKishanganj’s Karuamani pan-chayatarea.Ameetingwasheldto resolve thematter.

Thenextday,aRaxualvillagerhad been fired upon by the APFfollowing an argument. The vil-lagerhadreportedlycrossedthebordertocollectanLPGcylinder.AuthoritiesontheIndianside

havesaidtheSitamarhifiringonFriday too was a case of localmisunderstanding, and notlinked to theborder row.Amidst mourning over

Vikesh, who leaves behind apregnantwife,villagersof JanakiNagarSaturdayaccusedtheSSBofnotdoinganythingtopreventthe incident, despite beingpostednearby.Ram Lagan Rai, who was

handedovertotheSitamarhiad-ministration by the Nepali au-thoritiesfollowinghigh-levelin-tervention, showedhis ribs andwaisttosayhewasbeatenbytheAPFpersonnelwhile incustody.Asking how hewas at fault,

Ram Lagan said, “Mywife anddaughter-in-lawarefromNepal.Theyhadgonetomeettheirpar-ents after permission from theAPF. It urged them to concludethemeeting in5-10minutes.Asmy son Shatrughan resisted, hewasslappedbyanAPF jawan.”

NepalPMKPOliPMNarendraModi

INDIA,NEPALSTAREATDIPLOMATICCRISIS

Artificial enlargementof claims, not tenable:DelhiSitamarhi incident latest inseries of clashes betweenvillagers and Nepal police

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI, JUNE13

THECONGRESSonSaturdayhitout at the Centre over consecu-tive hikes in the prices of petrolanddiesel,accusingitofburden-ingpeoplewithhightaxeswhileearning Rs 2.5 lakh crore sinceMarch5.Addressing a virtual press

conference, senior CongressleaderKapilSibalsaidthatwhileinternational crude oil priceshave fallenandareat the lowestlevelin15years,petrolanddieselpricesareskyrocketingandpeo-ple continue to suffer under theModi dispensation. "Central ex-cise duty on petrol has been in-creased by 258 per cent and ondiesel by 819 per cent since theModi government came topower inMay2014,"hesaid.Heclaimedthegovernment,

insteadof passing thebenefit oflowercrudepricestoconsumers,hiked the prices of petrol anddiesel for the seventh straightdayon June13."TheModi government had

between November 2014 andJanuary 2016 raised excise dutyonpetrol anddiesel onnine oc-casions to take away gains aris-ing fromplummeting global oilprices. In all, dutyonpetrolwashiked by Rs 11.77 per litre andthat on diesel by Rs 13.47 a litreinthose15monthsthathelpeditmop up Rs 2,42,000 crore in2016-17fromRs99,000crore in2014-15," Sibal said.

MONSOON IN MAHARASHTRAPartsofMumbaiandThanereceivedmoderaterainfallonSaturday.ThesouthwestmonsoonreachedMaharashtraandcoveredallofOdisha,while lightrainsoccurredinpartsofnorthIndia. DeepakJoshi

ESHAROYNEWDELHI, JUNE13

A SURVEY conducted by an en-vironmental lawfirmhas founda steady decline in recommen-dations for the diversion of for-estlandforvariousprojectsoverthepast threeyears.Forest land is usually recom-

mended for diversion by stategovernments for the develop-ment of various infrastructureprojectsormining,andthengivena final approval by the UnionMinistry of Environment, ForestandClimateChange(MoEF)afterhaving received clearance from

theMinistry’s Forest AdvisoryCommittee or the ten RegionalEmpoweredCommittees.Accordingtothestudycarried

out by the Legal Initiative forForestandEnvironmentasapartof a series looking at the clear-ancesmadeby theMoEF,whichwas released inMarch, a total of27,801.07hectares of forest landwasrecommendedfordiversionfornon-forestryusessuchasmin-ing, roads, railways, hydel, infra-structure etc, between JanuaryandDecember2017.Theareaap-proved dropped to 21,781.30hectares in 2018 andwas as lowas13,656.60hectares in2019.State-wise statistics reveal

that out of 24 states that hadgivenrecommendationsin2019,10statesaccountedfor82.49%oftotal forest land recommendedfor diversion for non-forestrypurposes in2019, amounting tothe diversion of 11,265.382hectaresof forest land.The highest number of pro-

posals came from Odisha(1697.75 hectares), followed byJharkhand (1647.41 hectares)and Madhya Pradesh (1626.8hectares). The least amount offorest diversion last yearwas inMeghalaya, with just over sixhectareshavingbeendiverted.IG (Forests) A K Mohanty

said, “The number of recom-

mendations has reduced be-cause of ecological concerns.Thereareanumberof filtersthataproposalhastogothroughbe-fore a recommendation for for-estdiversionisgiven.Welookatthingslikethedensityof thefor-est, for instance,andif therecanbeanalternatesite. If indeedtheforest diversion is required, welookatmitigationmeasures.”But environmental lawyer

andLegalInitiativeforForestandEnvironment (LIFE) founderRitwick Dutta said while thenumber of recommendationshas indeed reduced, the actualrateof rejectionof suchpropos-als is amere2.36percent.

“Barring Plantation Forests,58percentof forestlandrecom-mendedfordiversionfallsundermoderately dense and verydense forest which has been amajorconcernfromanenviron-mentalangle.Oneofthereasonswhy this is done is because hu-manhabitationislessifnotnil invery dense forest and thereforeyoudon’thavethecostof eitherrehabilitation, or acquisition ofthe land,”Dutta said.According to the study, 54

per cent of forest land recom-mended for diversion falls un-der Moderately Dense Forestand 4 per cent falls under VeryDense Forest.

Govt burdeningpeople withpetrol pricehikes: Congress

‘Decline in recommendations for diversion of forest land’

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI, JUNE13

FOLLOWING THE blowout andfire at anOil India Ltd (OIL)wellin Upper Assam, Chief MinisterSarbanandaSonowalandUnionPetroleum MinisterDharmendra Pradhan Saturdayannounced that they wouldjointlyvisittothesiteinTinsukiadistrict for a “ground under-standingof thesituation”.The visitwas announced af-

ter Pradhan met Sonowal inGuwahationSaturday.On June 9, the Baghjan 5

well—close to the ecologically-sensitive Dibru-SaikhowaNational Park and Maguri-Motapungwetland—caughtfire,14 days after it had reported ablowout, or an uncontrolled re-leaseofnaturalgas.Theincidentledtothedeathof twofirefight-ers from OIL, while displacingthousandsandcausingextensivedamage to the surroundingecosystem.As per a release from the

ChiefMinister’s Office, Pradhanstressed onworking “on awarfooting to cap thewell”. He alsoassured that his ministry iscloselymonitoringthesituationand assured that all necessarysteps would be taken by theCentre to provide succour tothoseaffected.ThegovernmenthadearlierannouncedRs30,000as an immediate reliefmeasureforaffected families .“Wewill go there, do a field

visit,meettheresidents,andlis-tentowhattheyhavetosay.Wewillalsoreviewthepreparationfor the operations to cap theblowout,” said Pradhan, speak-

ing to the press in Guwahati onSaturdayevening.Theincidenthasledtoaslew

of high-level inquiries: ApartfromOIL’sinternalprobe(whichhas ledtothesuspensionof twoofficials), the Centre and stategovernmentsarealsoinvestigat-ing thematter.AsperastatementbyOILon

Saturday, preliminary work ofarrangingfacilities forwellcon-trol operation has begun. OILhasalsoroped intheNorthEastInstitute of Science andTechnology (NEIST), Jorhat tocarry out a study to see if there

is any induced seismicity dueto the blowout. This was afterthe localpopulation in theareareported tremorsuptoaradiusof 3km fromthewell site sinceWednesday. However, as per aretiredGuwahati-basedgeolo-gist, these quakes are a com-mon outcome of an incidentlike this.“This is an induced tremor

causedduetothedisplacementof the strata because of thehuge force with which the gasiscontinuously flowingout,”hesaid, adding that itwasnothingmuch toworry about.AsperOIL’sstatement, there

has been a production loss of500MT of crude oil from 23 oilwellsand0.46MMSCMofnatu-ral gas from 3 of the gas wells.“ThisisbecausetherehavebeenblockadeselsewhereinTinsukiadistrictwhichhas impactedourproduction,” said TridivHazarika, spokesperson of OIL.The blowoutmay take up to 30days tocontrol.

Theblowoutmaytakeupto30days tocontrol.Credit:Oil India

CM, Petroleum Minister to visitsite of Assam gas leak and fire

TheincidentatOILhasledtoaslewofhigh-levelinquiries:ApartfromOIL’sinternalprobe,theCentreandstategovtsarealsoinvestigatingthematter

Surat: A 24-year-oldman fromAssamworkinginacateringfirminSuratwasbeatenonFridayal-legedly by three local youthswhoaskedhimtovacateahousesuspecting that hewas infectedwith Covid-19. The 24-year-oldman,whohasbeenoutofworksince the lockdown began, hasbeenhospitalisedandhiscondi-tion is stable. Police have regis-teredacase.Udhna police inspectorMV

Patelsaid, “Hewasbeatenupbylocal residents, who alsomadeallegationsthatGovalaknagarinPandesara where Sharmawasstaying had Covid-19 cases.Wearetryingtoidentifytheaccusedandwill arrest them.” Sharma’sfriendshavelodgedacomplaintagainst the three youths, Dipu,NepaliandBunty,andthepoliceareyet to identify them.ENS

Surat: Man beaten,told to leave onsuspicion of beingCovid positive

GARGIVERMARAIPUR, JUNE13

THREE FEMALE elephants havebeen found dead in Surguja di-visionover fivedays,promptingthestategovernmenttoformanSITandhighlightingthehuman-elephant conflict in thedivisionwhere more than 200 pachy-derms jostle for spacewith vil-lagesextending into forests.“On June 6, the first female

elephant died in the forest nearKhutantola, a small hamlet ofGopalpur panchayat (inBalrampur district). The herdthenmoved to the forest nearGaneshpur (of adjoiningSurajpurdistrict),whereonJune8,apregnantelephant, carryingnearly close to term, died. On

June 9, another elephant col-lapsedwhilestandinganddied,"said Arun Dubey, ChhattisgarhAssistant Principal ChiefConservator, saying symptomsof toxicitywerefoundinat leasttwoof threeanimals.Thebodyoftheelephantwho

diedonJune6wasfoundonJune10 after villagers noticed a foulsmell in the forest in Balrampurdistrict. On Saturday, four forestofficials in Balrampurwere sus-pended for not being able tomonitor theregionproperly.According toDubey, the ani-

mals had haemorrhaged intes-tines, organ failures and charredskin -- signs of consumption ofchemicaltoxinsorfertilisers."Isawbagsof fertilisersunder thebodyofthesecondanimal,"Dubeysaid,addingthat“it ispossiblethatthe

animal ate the fertiliser in some-one's fieldorhouses. Farmersdostoreasackortwo".However, Balrampur divi-

sional forest officer PranayMishrasaidthethreedeathsarenot related. "Inmyunderstand-ing, if the source of toxicity be-tweenthefirstandthethirdele-phant were the same, whywould one collapse on June 6and the other travel over 25kmanddie threedays later?”Mishrasaidtheanimalsdid-

n’t consume anything harmfullast week. “We have traced theanimals' path in our region andcheckeddoor todoor.”The state government has

formedafive-memberSITunderretiredprincipalchiefconserva-torof forestsKCBewarta,includ-ing wildlife experts, lawyers,

doctors and APCCF Dubey, andthe committee is expected tosubmit its report in a month.“Wehavesentvisceraandblood

samplestothelabsinBangalore,Jabalpur and other places. WehavealsosentsamplestoRaipurlaboratory to find out the cause

ofdeath...wearecheckingdoor-to-door as towhat the animalscould have consumed... wewillfind outwhat happened soon,"Dubeysaid.Asperstategovernmentesti-

mates, 325 people and 70 ele-phants died in Chhattisgarh inthe last five years, pointing to ahuman-elephantconflict.Residents of Ganeshpur in

Surajpur, daily visited by ele-phants,“sleepwithaneyeopen”,according to resident PritamGond. “Our village falls in be-tween two parts of a forest, soelephants have come since for-ever. They destroy our paddy,vegetable and dal crops, some-timesourhouses.”Another villager, Pradip

Marawi (45), said, “Peoplewouldearlierdiebynot follow-

ing basic common sense butthe animals were dying be-cause someone would leavepotassiumandotherchemicalsin the soil around their fields,some would even let currentflow. But the fear of beingcaughthasstavedthat forabit.”In Gopalpur of Balrampur

district, villager Bhagat said,"Earlier, elephantswouldcomeonly during winters for ourcrops. Now they have startedvisitingmore often.”Forest officials are trying to

track the herd the three ani-malswere part of.“They have disappeared in

the jungles,weeventried to lo-cate them using drones, butthere’s no clue of where theywalked," saidNavalSai, a forestranger in Surajpur.

“Wehave issues inmonitor-ingtheelephants,especiallydur-ing nights.We have demandednight vision goggles from thegovernment but haven’t gotthemyet,"Dubeysaid.Social activist Alok Shukla

said the “conflict is rising be-causeallof thenaturalhabitatsof the elephants are vanishingduetoencroachmentandotherpolicies. They (forest depart-ment) still use archaic ways ofmonitoring theanimals,whichleads toaccidentswithvillagesaround the jungles.”Elephantexpertandactivist

Mansoor Khan said the deathsareworryingbecausethecauseis not clear yet. “Elephants arethe biggest wildlife warrior.Them disappearing meansecosystemsdisrupting.”

Villagers inGopalpursayelephantsvisitmoreoftennow

3 elephants, one of them pregnant, found dead; Chhattisgarh orders probe

New Delhi

9WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

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EXPRESSNETWORK

NOOSE ISTIGHTENING,WARNSANDHRA’SRULINGPARTY

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABADJUNE13

FORMER TELUGUDesam Party(TDP)MLA J C Prabhakar Reddyand his son Asmit Reddywerearrestedforallegedirregularitiesin their transport business inAnantapur district on Saturday,adayafterTDPMLAandformerministerKAtchannaiduwasar-rested inanallegedESI scam.The duo are accused of pur-

chasing buses from a privatecompany as scrap and runningthem as regular buses throughtransport company DiwakarTravels, thereby endangeringpublicsafetybyplyingunsafeve-hicles, forging documents andproducingfakevehicleinsurancepolicies.Sources in ruling YSR

Congress Party saidmany TDPleaderswill face the heat as thegovernmentopensinvestigationsintocontracts,businessdealings,land purchases and irrigationprojectsduringtheNaidugovern-ment'stenure.Aninvestigationisalreadyunderwayintoallegedin-

sider trading by TDP leaders inAmaravati. On June 11, the gov-ernmentagreedtoorderaCBIin-vestigationintoallegedirregular-itiesintheimplementationofAPFibernetandotherschemes.“Thenooseistightening.Any

TDPleader,even if it isNLokeshNaidu,willfaceactionif involvedin corruption,” YSRCPspokesperson andMLAAmbatiRambabusaid.Thegovernment

hasalsoorderedprobesintothePolavaram and Pattiseema irri-gationprojects.The state road transport de-

partment had filed 24 com-plaints at Anantapur Town po-licestationandthreeinKurnool.Prabhakar Reddywas theMLAfrom Tadipatri Assembly con-stituency and lost in the May2019elections.Heistheyoungerbrother of TDP leader J C

DiwakarReddy.Officials claimed the buses

purchased by Reddy were ofBharat Stage III, which werebanned by the Supreme Courtfrom April 1, 2017. The buseswere registered in thenamesofJatadharaIndustriesandCGopalReddy,anassociateofPrabhakarReddy.“As of now we know that

they purchased 154 vehicles ofBSIIIemissionstandardssoldasscrap — Jatadhara Industriesbought 50 vehicles andCGopalReddy bought 104. They wereregistered as BS IV vehicles invarious parts of the country, in-cluding at RTA Ananthapur, inthe names of JatadharaIndustries and C Gopal Reddy.The transport department hasblockedandcancelledtheregis-tration of 101 buses and seized60 buseswhile 41 are yet to betraced. About 28 vehicles are inother states and transport au-thorities there have been in-formed to block and seize vehi-cles,'” TransportMinister PerniVenkataramaiah toldThe IndianExpress.

Former TDPMLA, sonheldfor transport business ‘fraud’

TDPleaderPrabhakarReddybeingtakenintocustody.PTI

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE13

TWOMILITANTSwerekilledinanencounter in south Kashmir’sKulgamonSaturdaywhileothersmanaged to escape during twootheranti-militancyoperationsinShopianandPulwamadistricts.The encounter began on

Saturdaymorningafteracordonand search operation waslaunched in theNepora area ofKulgambased on inputs, a J&KPolice spokesperson said. “In theensuingencounter,twoterroristswerekilledandtheirbodieswereretrieved from the site of en-counter.Theidentificationandaf-filiationof the killed terrorists isbeingascertained,”policesaid.Oneof the twomilitantswas

recruited three days ago andsourcessaidhisfamilyhadfiledamissingpersonscomplaintafewdays ago. Sources said the othermilitanthadjoinedmilitantrankslastmonth.According to thepolice,mili-

tantswere givenanopportunityto surrender in Kulgam.“Announcementsweremadeonloudspeakersbut thehidingmil-itantshurledagrenade,”saidapo-liceofficer.Meanwhile, the Army on

Saturdaysaidthatcontactwases-tablished with militants atMeldorainShopiandistrict.“JointOperation launched at forenoontoday (Saturday) on intelligenceinput. Cordonwas laid&contactestablished. Firefight ensued.Operation in progress,” ArmySrinagar based Chinar Corpstweeted. Sources said themili-tantsescapedfromthearea.In Tral area of Pulwama dis-

trict, militantsmanaged to es-cape after an anti-militancy op-eration was launched onSaturdaymorning. Police saidthat forces had inputs about thepresence of militants in GulaBagharea.Meanwhile,policesaidanIED

was diffused on the Bandipora-SrinagarroadafteritwasspottedbyaroadopeningpartyofCRPF.

2 militants killed inKulgam encounter

2 Valley youths caught byPak army, kin urge govtto help them return

ADILAKHZERSRINAGAR, JUNE13

A VIDEO that showed twoyouthsfromGurezareaofnorthKashmir’s Bandipora in policecustody on charges of spying inPakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan has come as a shockertotwofamiliesinAchooravillageinKashmir.In the video, Feroz Ahmed

LoneandNoorMuhammadWanistatedthattheywerearrestedbythe Pakistan army after theycrossed the Line of Control, andthattheyweresentfor“spying”.As per police records, Feroz

has been missing since 2018;there is nomissing persons re-portaboutNoor.After the video was circu-

latedonsocialmedia,Bandiporapolice on Saturday releasedvideos of two familymembersseeking help of Indian andPakistani governments to helpthe two youths return home.“Wehadbeenthinkingthatheisnot alive any more. When afriend shared the video yester-day,Iwasshocked…nowwearerequesting the government tohelp him return home,” saidZahoor, Feroz’sbrother.Zahoor said the family had

lodged a complaint after Feroz,whowas thenworking for the

ruraldevelopmentdepartment,wentmissinginNovember2018.“During investigation,whenwefound the call details of mybrother,(itemergedthat)hehadspokentoafewpeoplebeforehisphone turned off.We found hewas also in touch with a mannamedRouf...”hesaid.InthevideoreleasedonFriday,

the twoyouths sayRoufwasbe-hindtheideatocrosstheLoC.Apolitical leader fromGurez,

who is privy to the case, said thepolice had also questioned awoman. “Shewas detained andthen released.Her familymem-berswere also questioned aftersomereportsthatFerozmayhavebeenmurderedbythewoman.”Srinagar-based Defence

spokesperson Colonel RajeshKalia did not respond to at-tempts for a comment. A seniorpoliceofficerinBandiporasaidareportaboutthematterhasbeensent tohigherauthorities .Noor’s uncle Bashir Ahmad

said the family did not evenknow that hewasmissing. “Heis an orphan andwouldmostlystayawayfromhome.Hehasn’tcomehomeforthelastfewyearsbecause he was working as alabourer. We thought that hemay be working somewhereandforthatreasonweneverre-ported to the police that he ismissing,”hesaid.

DAYAFTER2LETOPERATIVESHELDTRYINGTOSMUGGLEWEAPONS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHANDIGARH, JUNE13

ONEMORELashkar-e-Taiba(LeT)operative was arrested fromPathankotwhilehewastryingtofleetoKashmir,PunjabPolicesaidSaturday.JavedAhmedBhat(29),ares-

identofShirmalvillageinJammuand Kashmir’s Shopian districtwas arrested Friday, a day afterPunjab Police arrested two LeToperatives — Aamir HussainWaniandWasimHassanWani—whiletryingtosmuggleweaponstotheValley.Javedwasinterceptedandap-

prehended, alongwithhis truckbearing a J&K registration num-ber, from Dhobra bridge inPathankot on Amritsar-JammuHighway, as hewas trying to es-cape to the Valley on learningabout the arrest of his accom-plices,DGPDinkarGupta said inastatement.Javedhailsfromthesamevil-

lage as the other twooperativesdo.Thetriowereinthetransport

business together for the pasttwo-three years, and had beenmaking trips to Delhi, AmritsarandJalandhar.BrothertoaJ&KHomeGuard,

Javedhimselfwasselectedbytheunit in 2012, but he quit subse-quently,accordingtotheDGP.During initial questioning,

Javedrevealedthathehadcomewith Aamir and Wasim fromKashmirtoAmritsartocollectanarmsconsignmentonthepretextof buying fruits and vegetables,said Gupta. He added that theyreachedPunjabintwotrucksand,

afterpickinguptheconsignmentfromnearVallahRoadonJune11,Aamir andWasim— on direc-tions of their handler, IshfaqAhmedDar alias Bashir AhmedKhan—had asked Javed to staybehindinAmritsartocontactthearmssupplier.Further investigation is on to

identifyfurtherlinksandaccom-plices of the trio in Punjab andJ&K, the DGP said, pointing outthatthesearrestsindicateawide-spreadterrornetworkbackedbyPakistan-basedmilitants.Thearrests,theDGPsaid,cor-

roborated recent intelligence in-puts indicating that Pakistan-based ISI has been pushingweapon consignments andsneakinginmilitantsfromacrossthe border into Punjab, and fur-ther toKashmir valley for carry-ingoutterroractivities.

3rd Lashkar man held tryingto flee to Valley: Punjab cops

Kolkata: IIT-Kharagpurhasaskeditsstudentstovacatetheirhostelsby June20 as themess staff andwardboyswhohadbeenwork-ingwithout a break through thelockdownwant togohome, saidsources on Saturday. At present,theauthorities said,nearly2,000outof10,500studentswerestay-inginthehostel.Some students and faculty

members objected to the ordersayingthatreturninghomeatthistimewouldbedifficult as trans-portandcommunicationserviceshad not become regular yet.Registrar BNSingh said “Severalstudentswent homewhen thelockdownstarted.Thosewhodidnot, were allowed to stay... Oursessions andacademic activitieswillstartfromSeptember.So,wehave asked the remaining stu-dents to go home, becauseweneed to give abreak to thewardboys,guardsandothers.” ENS

IIT-Kharagpurasks students tovacate rooms togive staff a break

ROWOVER ‘INSENSITIVEDISPOSALOFBODIES’

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA, JUNE13

FOLLOWINGAcontroversy overthe insensitivedisposalofbodiesat a crematoriumhere, theWestBengal government onSaturdaysaid it “respects thecredoof dig-nityofdeath”.Bodies being picked up in a

disrespectfulmanneratacrema-toriuminGariainsouthKolkata,a video of which had gone viralearlier on social media, was an“isolated incident”, it added.In a statementon socialme-

dia,thestateHomeDepartmentsaidthebodiesseeninthevideowere not of Covid-19 victims. Itpointedoutthatsuchcontrover-sies could demotivate frontlineworkers at a time of crisesbroughtaboutby thepandemicandcycloneAmphan.After the video emerged,

Governor Jagdeep Dhankharand Opposition parties hadslammed the administration.Local residents had alsoprotested as they suspected thebodieswereofCovid-19victims.“[The] GoWB [Government

of West Bengal] respects thecredo of dignity of death and,whilehandlingCovidpandemic,it has espoused theprinciplebylayingdowntransparentproce-dures regarding disclosure offacts, opportunities given tobe-reavedrelativesforshowinglastrespects to the deceased, dis-posal of dead bodies etc,” the

HomeDepartment said.Itclaimedthatamisinforma-

tiondrivewas carriedoutusingthe video, and clarified that thehandling of some unidentifiedanddecomposedbodieshad“norelationship whatsoever withthe pandemic”. This had beencommunicated to theGovernorinwritingandinpersonbymostsenior stateofficials, it added.“Decontextualising the inci-

dent and projecting an one-offincident on the pandemic can-vas, despite explanatory com-muniqués, adversely impactsthe social mind, demotivatespublicadministrationanddeni-grates frontline public healthworkers, hamstrings furtherstreamliningof all relevantpro-cedureespeciallyatatimewhentheentire state is fightingCovidandAmphan.GoWBcondemnsthe untruth,” said thedepartment.Senior Trinamool Congress

(TMC)leaderstermedtheallega-tions as fakenewsand slammedtheGovernor.Dhankharhadexpressedan-

guish, and sought anurgent up-datefromstateofficials,includingthose from KolkataMunicipalCorporation(KMC)afterthevideoemerged.Thematterwasthenraisedby

state BJP president Dilip GhoshandCPM’s JadavpurMLA SujanChakraborty.However, the KMCmade it

clear that thebodies hadno linktoCovid-19.

Credo of dignity ofdeath is respected,says Bengal govt

JavedAhmedBhat,aresidentof J&K’sShopiandistrict,was apprehendedinPathankot

New Delhi

EXPRESSNETWORK10 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

J&K PROJECTS CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION LTD.(A J&K Govt. Undertaking)

e-NIT No: 12/E/J of 2020-21 Dt. 09-06-2020On behalf of Managing Director, Jammu & Kashmir Projects

Construction Corporation Ltd., the Deputy General Manager, Unit -Electrical, JKPCC Ltd. Jammu invites e-tenders from approved and eligi-ble electric contractors registered with JKPCC Ltd./J&K Govt./ CPWD/Railways and other State/ Central Govt. undertaking for the followingwork:

Any other information regarding e-tendering process can be had fromthe office of undersigned or e-tendering Cell, Jammu.

Sd/- Deputy General Manager,Unit - Electrical, JKPCC Ltd. Jammu.

No: DGM/E/J/154-58Dated: 09.06.2020

1. Period of downloading of NIT 10.06.2020 to 24.06.2020 upto 1400 Hrs.

2. Pre-Bid Meeting 15.6.2020 at 1230 Hrs. in Office of Dy.General Manager, Unit Elect JKPCC Ltd.,Rail Head Complex, Jammu

3. Bid submission dates along 10.06.2020 to 24.06.2020with proof of cost of Tender upto 1400 Hrs.Document and EMD

4. Date of opening of technical Bid 25.06.2020 at 12.30 Hrs. in Office of Dy.General Manager, Unit Elect JKPCC Ltd.,Rail Head Complex, Jammu

5. Status of Funds Available

6. Hard Copies of Technical Bid will be invited from L1 only

Qualification criteria, scope of work, tender documents, BOQ andall other terms & conditions can be seen and downloaded fromwww.jktenders.gov.in.Critical Dates:

S. Name of Work Estimated Cost of Earnest Time of Class ofNo Cost document Money comp- Contr-

(Rs. in (Rs. in letion actorLacs) Lacs)

1. Rs. Rs. Rs. 0.37 In18.50 1000/- Lacs tandem “A”Lacs with civil

works

Internal Electrificationwork of Female Blockfor Old Age Home atGainkh Kot Bhalwal,Jammu.

DIP/J-456-P/20

MARTYR OF 203 Bn, CoBRA

CT/GD SHRI HIMMAT SINGH SEKHAWAT

CT/GD HIMMAT SINGH SEKHAWAT of 203,CoBRA made the supreme sacrifice during anoperation in Jungle area of Mammial, under PS:-Bangaon, Distt:-West Singhbhum, Jharkhand on14th June 2010. The CRPF proudly remembersthe braveheart who laid down his life at the altarof duty while fighting with maoists. His courageand bravery would remain an abiding source ofinspiration for the Force.

MARTYR OF 209 Bn, CoBRA

CT/GD SHRI SUNIL KALITA

CT/GD SUNIL KALITA of 209, CoBRA made thesupreme sacrifice during an operation in Junglearea of Rajsindri Pahar, under PS:- Kuchai, Distt:-Saraikela Kharsawan, Jharkhand on 13th June2019. The CRPF proudly remembers the brave-heart who laid down his life at the altar of dutywhile fighting with maoists. His courage and brav-ery would remain an abiding source of inspirationfor the Force.

IG & All Ranks of CoBRA

SALUTE THE SOLDIER

CT/GD SHRI

HIMMAT SINGH

SEKHAWAT

CT/GD SHRI

SUNIL KALITA

HIMACHAL PRADESHPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

e-Procurement NoticeINVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)

1. The Executive Engineer, Shimla Rural Division, HPPWD, Dhami on behalf of Governor of H.P. invitesthe On-line Bids on item rate, in Electronic Tendering System in Two Cover System for the undermentined workfrom the eligible and approved Contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD Department.

2. Availability of Bid Document and Mode of Submission: The Bid document is available online and bidshould be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in.Bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder isrequired to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA).“Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering in HPPWDmay obtain the same from the website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory to participate inthe e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use thesame in this tender.3. Key Dates:

4. TENDER DETAILS:The Tender Documents shall be uploaded On-line in Two Covers:i) Cover-1 shall contain Scanned Copies of "Technical Documents/Eligibility Information".iI) Cover-2 shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bids”, where Contractor will quote his offer for each item.

5. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS: he bidders are required to submit (a) original demand drafttowards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and otherTechnical Documents to the authorised official of Executive Engineer, Shimla Rural Division, HPPWD DhamiH.P in the O/o Superintending Engineer, 4th Circle HPPWD Shimla-3 H.P. as specified in Key dates Sr. No. 4on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.6. BID OPENING DETAILS: The bids shall be opened on 01.07.2020 at 11.00 HRS by the authorised offi-cial of Executive Engineer, Shimla Rural Division, HPPWD Dhami H.P. in the office of the SuperintendingEngineer, 4th Circle HPPWD Shimla-3. In their interest the tenderers are advised to be present along with orig-inal documents at the time of opening of tenders. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening ofthe bids as specified, the bids will be opened on the next working day at the same time and venue.7. The Bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 120 days after the dead-line date for Bid Submission.8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable forany delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the biddersof any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bid-ders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.Eligibility Criteria: The bidders must have successfully complete similar nature of work not less than 40% ofestimated cost during the last five years (without Liquidated damages or compensation).

On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh.Sd/-

Executive Engineer,Shimla Rural Division, H.P.P.W.D., Dhami.

Sr Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Eligible TimeNo. Cost Tender Class of

Contractor1. Rs. Rs. Rs. Class-B Four

1,09,81,277/- 1,42,500/- 5,000/- Months

2. Rs. Rs. Rs. Class-D One24,21,050/- 43000/- 500/- Month

Restoration of Shimla Mandi road due toraising of Kol Dam Reservoir km. 51/700 to51/880 (SH:- Construction of PCC R/walland M/T on damaged portion in km.51/700 to 51/740 and 51/820 to 51/880.

Construction of Additional Accommodationfor Rest House at Tara Devi Shimla (SH:Providing furniture in 19 Nos rooms andTwo Nos dormitories of Rest House atTara Devi Shimla H.P.)

1. Date of On-line Publication 27.06.2020 18.00 hrs.

2. Document Download Start and End Date 27.06.2020 18.30 hrs. upto30.06.2020 17.00 hrs.

3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 27.06.2020 18.30 hrs. upto30.06.2020 17.00 hrs.

4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of Tender Document 01.07.2020 10.30 hrs.

5. Date of Technical Bid Opening, Evaluation of Technical 01.07.2020 11.00 hrs.Bid followed by Opening of Financial Bids.

958/HP --HIM SUCHNA AWAM JAN SAMPARK--

HIMACHAL PRADESHPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

e-Procurement Notice

INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)

1. The Superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, HPPWD, Mandi on behalf of Governor of H.P invites theonline bids on item rate, in electronic tendering system, in 2 Cover System for the under mentioned workfrom the eligible and approved contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD Department.

2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The Bid document is available online and bidshould be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in.Bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bid-der is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities(CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering inHPPWD may obtain the same from the website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory toparticipate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAscan use the same in this tender

3. Key Dates:

1. Date of on line publication. 17-06-2020 at 1000 HRS

2. Document Download Start and End Date. 17-06-2020 at 1000 HRS to 07-07-2020 upto 1100 HRS

3. Bid Submission Start and End Date. 17-06-2020 at 1000 HRS to 07-07-2020 upto 1100 HRS.

4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of Tender Document. 07-07-2020 upto 1700 HRS

5. Date of Technical Bid opening, Evaluation of Technical Bid 08-07-2020 at 1100 HRSfollowed by Opening of Financial Bid.

Sr. Name of Work Estimated Cost EMD Cost of Tender Eligible ClassNo. (In Lacs) (In Lacs) (In Rs.) of Contractor

1 1464.20 14.97 5000/- Class-A

2 1198.14 12.31 5000/- Class-A

Output and Performance Based Maintenance Contract ofMandi Kamand Kataula Bajoura road (MDR-23) Km. 0/0 to51/0 under Distt. Mandi (H.P.).

Output and Performance Based Maintenance Contract ofBakhrot Sanarli Kelodhar Luhri Road (Portion Bakhrot toBehna) Km. 0/0 to 41/800 (MDR 0021) Package in MandiDistrict of Himachal Pradesh.

4. TENDER DETAILS:The Tender Documents shall be uploaded online in 2 Cover:i) Cover 1: shall contain scanned copies of all “Technical Documents/ Eligibility Information”.ii) Cover2: shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bid”, where contractor will quote his offer for each item.

5. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand drafttowards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and otherTechnical Documents in O/o Superintending Engineer, 1st Circle, HPPWD, Mandi as specified in Keydates Sr. No. 3 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.

6. BID OPENING DETAILS: The bids shall be opened on 08-07-2020 at 1100 HRS in the officeSuperintending Engineer, 1st Circle, HPPWD, Mandi by the authorised officer. In their interest the ten-derer are advised to be present along with original documents at the time of opening of tenders. If the officehappens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened on the nextworking day at the same time and venue.

7. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 120 days after the dead-line date for bid submission.

8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable forany delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bid-ders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. Itis the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.The department has right to extend or cancel the bids without declaring any reasons thereof.

Superintending Engineer,1st Circle, HPPWD, Mandi.

Distt Mandi H.P. on behalf ofGovernor of Himachal Pradesh0907/HP

II,, DevenderGarg,S/oSh.Chander BhanR/o.flat.no.413, Pocket-5,Mayur-Vihar Phase-1,Delhi-91,have changedmyname,fromDevendraKumar toDevenderGarghenceforth Iwill be knownasDevenderGarg,for all,futurepurpose.

0040539348-1

II,, SubashES/oElaiappanR/oR-27,East VinodNagarDelhi-110091havechangedmynametoESubhash 0070706622-1

II,, Cleen JoseS/o-JoseNelluvelilittip R/o.H.No-11647/1, Sat-Nagar, Tank-Road, KarolBagh,NewDelhi-110005.havechangedmy father nameN.l.Jose to JoseNelluvlil Ittip.

0040539348-2

II Hari SinghS/oBhagirathVohraR/o-H.No.B-181,New-Seemapuri Delhi-110095,haveChangedmyName toHariSinghVohra for all futurepurposes 0040539305-1

II ChhotiW/oSh.Murari R/o F-1/245, SunderNagri, Delhi-110093havechangedmynametoDulari for all purposes.

0040539302-1

PPEERRSSOONNAALL

LLOOSSTT&&FFOOUUNNDD

PPRROOPPEERRTTYYFFOORRSSAALLEE

ClassifiedsPUBLIC NOTICE

This is to inform to public at large that Sh.Bishan Swaroop S/o, Sh. Manoher Lal andhis wife Smt. Dropti R/o B-491, J.J. Colony,Madipur, New Delhi-110063 have severed allrelationship from their son Lakshay Raj andhis wife Shobha and disowned and debarredthem from all their moveable and immovableproperties as they have become disobedientand they are out of control of my above clientsand my clients have nothing to do with them.My clients shall not be responsible for theiracts, deeds. If any person deals with themthen he will be doing that at their own risk,cost and consequences.

Sd/-CHANDER SHEKHAR

ADVOCATEDELHI HIGH COURT

Office: M-181-182, Meer ViharMadan Pur Dabas, Delhi-110081

PUBLIC NOTICENotice to hereby inform to general public thatmy client Shri Amar Singh and Smt. LateshDevi R/o B-130, Gautampuri, Phase 2,Badarpur, New Delhi-110044 have severedall her relation with my Daughter Smt. MontiKumar and her husband Shri Sonu and theirchildren Prachi, Parveen Kumar and Dristidue to their bad behavior, My clientsdebars/disowns them from her all movableand immovable properties with immediateeffects. If any person deals with them in anymanner whatsoever, then they will be doingthat at their own risk responsibility.

Sd/-AKHIL REXWAL

ADVOCATEEnrl. No:- D-5021/2017

Office:- J 009, DDA Flat, Pocket C,Near Mohan Estate Metro, Badarpur,

New Delhi 110044Contact- 9540737777

PUBLIC NOTICEMy clients (1) SH. DALIP SINGH (DILIPSINGH) S/O SH. CHANAN SINGH & (2)SMT. BALVIR KAUR W/O SH. DALIP SINGHBOTH R/O H. NO. 446, DEEPALI ENCLAVE,PITAMPURA, DELHI-110034, are residingwith their two sons namely (1) MR. MANJEETSINGH alongwith his wife MRS. JYOTISINGH & (2) MR. SURJEET SINGHalongwith his wife MRS. MANDEEP KAURwith happy life. My clients has no issues andany type of troubleness from their abovenamed two sons. And in future all the legalheirs of my clients will be the co-shareres ofour movable & immovable properties inrespective shares.

Sd/-VINOD WADHWA

(Advocate)Enrl. No. D/769/2005

255/2, Neb Sarai, Main Ignou Road, ND-68

My client Smt. Nirmal Kumar, w/oLate Sunil Kumar R/o L/57A, L-Block,Saket, Malyiva Nagar, South Delhi,Delhi-110017, has disowned her sonSh. Sahil Kumar, S/o Late SunilKumar, R/o L/57-A, L-Block, Saket,Malviya Nagar, South Delhi, Delhi-110017 and his wife Smt. MonikaKumar from all her moveable andimmovable properties due to theirmisconduct and my client also severedall relation from them, My Client shallalso not responsible for the acts of theiromission and commission.

Sanjeev Kumar (Advocate)

Public Notice

My client Mr. Anuj Salwanholding full time COP intent topurchase the goodwill of thefirm ' A Salwan & Associates'having FRN 004287N proprietorof which expired on 20th, July,2019 and if anyone is havingobjection thereto should sendthe objection directly to theAddit ional secretary, ICAIBhawan 52, 53 & 54 MaharshiValmiki Marg Near KarkardumaCourt Complex, Vishwas NagarExtension, Shahdara, NewDelhi 110032.

PUBLIC NOTICE

Sign/-Pradeep Kumar

(Advocate)

PUBLIC NOTICEBe it known to all that my client(s) Smt.Renuka Aggarwal D/o Late Sh. K.K.Aggarwal, R/o Bi-13 A, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088, due to regular harassment caused toher and her other family members &relatives, has disowned her son namelyShashank Aggarwal alias Noni S/o Smt.Renuka Aggarwal, his wife namely MitaliAggarwal, R/o AJ-7C Shalimar Bagh, Delhi-110088, from all her movable and immovableproperties and assets and has severed all herrelationship ties with her said son and hiswife. Any person dealing with them shall dothe same at his / her own risk, peril andconsequences and henceforth my client shallnot be responsible for any of their acts anddeeds in any manner whatsoever.

Sd/-SANDEEP SHARMA

ADVOCATECh.No. 736, Western Wing,

Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi-110054

II,, GaganChopra, S/O-RajinderKumarChopra,R/O-C -104,AshokVihar, Phase-1,Delhi-110052,have lostmy10th-class,originalcertificate,(Roll.No- 6133192,passingyear-2007,fromKulachiHansrajModelSchool,AshokVihar,Delhi-110052,LRno-351978/2020.

0040539348-4

TThhiiss is notified for informationthatMarks statement,QualifyingCertificate,MigrationCertificate Sr.SchoolExamination-2019,Roll.No.-9180895,GradeSheet ofSecondary SchoolExamination-2017,Roll.No.-8256408 issuedbyCBSEhasbeenactually lost.ShreyaBhatia,RailwayColonyChelmsfordRoad, Delhi-55.

0040539348-3

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICELUCKNOW, JUNE 13

ADAYafteragroupofassailantsattacked a government em-ployee at his home inBasti dis-trict, his 27-year-old son, whowasfiredatwhile tryingtopro-tecthis father,onSaturdaydiedof gunshot injuriesatahospitalin Lucknow.Police said it is not clear

what prompted the attack.The victim, Ajeet Mishra,

employed as an electronic en-gineer with a private firm inNoida, had returned home atChaukadi village two monthsagodue to the lockdown.Chhawni police station has

booked four named personsfromaneighbouringvillageandtwo unidentified persons.Police said they are trying totracetheaccused.Oneof theac-cused, identified as Shiva

Pathak, has a criminal history,said Basti Superintendent ofPoliceHemrajMeenaThe attack took place on

Fridaywhen the accused cameto Ajeet’s house and allegedlymisbehaved with his fatherAkhilesh, employed with theFaizabad health department.WhenAjeet intervened, theas-sailants opened fire and a bul-let hit his head, police said. Thefamily tookAjeet toa localhos-pital which referred him toLucknow’s King George’sMedial University where helater died.Harraiya Circle Officer Shiv

PratapSinghsaidtheassailantsentered the house and soughtsome information fromAkhilesh,whoturneddowntherequest.The assailants left but re-

turned after some time.“They caught Akhilesh

Mishra and tried to drag him

out of the house. In themean-time, Ajeet arrived and inter-vened. One of the assailantstookoutapistolandfired.Abul-lethitAjeet’s head,” saidSingh.Theassailants fledon their twomotorcycles.Singh added: “We have

come to know that the as-sailants used to create troublein the area.”SP Meena said Ajeet’s fam-

ily has denied any enmitywithanyof theaccused. “Wewillgetmore clarity when the father,Akhilkesh, is questioned atlength,” he said.Deceased’s elder brother

Rahul told The Indian ExpressthatAjeetmarried lastyearandsaid he did not the reason be-hind themurder."We have no dispute with

anyof theaccused," saidRahul,a softwareengineerworking inMumbai. Rahul had returnedhome lastweek.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIASHAHDOL, JUNE13

SIX PERSONS, including twowomen and a boy, were killedand four others injured onSaturday when the limestonequarry collapsed on them atPasgariareanearhereinMadhyaPradesh,police said.At least 20 peoplewere ex-

tractinglimestonefromthemineatPapredivillage,about100kmsfrom the district headquarters,whentheincidentoccurredintheafternoon. "While five of themdiedonthespot, anotherpersonsuccumbedtohisinjuriesonway

to hospital. Ten people escapedunhurt," said Beohari police sta-tioninspectorAnilKumarPatel.Theinjuredwereadmittedin

thedistrict hospital, he said. Thepoliceofficersaidlocalpeoplediglimestones from such quarriesandusethemeitherforcolouringtheir houses or for selling.Themine area has been closed aftertheaccident,Patelsaid.District Collector Satendra

Singhsaidthequarrywasnotil-legal. "People had dug it for ex-tracting limestones,"headded.HesaidanaidofRs5,000has

been provided to kin of the de-ceasedtomeetfuneralandotherexpenses.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,JUNE13

VISVA-BHARATI UNIVERSITY’SExecutive Council (EC) onSaturdaysuspendedformeract-ing Vice Chancellor SabujkaliSen,andtwoformerofficials forallegedly changing theminutesof ameeting itheldonFebruary17,2018.According to sources in the

university,aone-mandisciplinarycommittee comprising a formerCalcuttaHighCourtjudgewassetuponWednesdaytolookintotheaccusations against Sen, formerRegistrarSaugataChatterjee, for-mer FinanceOfficer Samit Roy,and retired Professor ShelleyBhattacharya.Thecommitteedidnot recommend any actionagainstBhattacharya.WhileSenandRoydeclinedto

commentonthematter,SaugataChatterjee told themedia, “I gotthe suspension letter throughemail. Iwilltakefurtherstepsac-cordingtothelegalprocedure.”OnJanuary27,2018,Professor

SwapanDutta retired as actingvice chancellor. On February 2,theMinistryofHumanResourceDevelopment (MHRD) ap-pointed Sen, then the senior-mostdirectorofVinayaBhavanaInstituteofEducation,astheoffi-ciatingheadoftheuniversity.Shetookchargethefollowingday.According to university

sources, Sen’s tenure as directorwas set to end in February2018,andneededtobeextendedsoshecouldremainvicechancellor.However, at theFebruary17

meeting the council decidednot to extend Sen’s term, andappointedBhashaBhavanprin-cipal AshaMukherjee the nextacting VC. Though the MHRDhad asked her prior to the ECmeetingtocontinue inherposttillNovember2018,Senwasac-cused of forging the EC resolu-tion in collusion with the fourofficials to extendher tenure.After Bidyut Chakraborty

tookchargeoftheuniversitylastNovember, some ECmemberscomplainedagainstSenandtheothers. Following this,Chakraborty sent show-causenotices to the four.

Mumbai:While granting bail tofourpersonsarrestedforallegedlyattackingapoliceteamonCovid-19dutyinGovandi’sShivajiNagararea, theBombayHighCourt di-

rectedthemtofurnishapersonalbond of Rs 10,000 each andde-posit Rs 5,000 each to the ChiefMinister’sFundusedformeasurestocontroltheoutbreak.Policesaid

amobofaround30peoplehadal-legedlyattackedapatrolteamonCovid-19dutyandpeltedapolicevehicle with stones at ShivajiNagarinGovandiinApril.ENS

Madhya Pradesh: 6 killed inlimestone quarry collapse

Visva-Bharatisuspendsformer actingV-C accused ofaltering minutesof 2018 meeting

Attack on cops: 4 get bail, asked to contribute to CM Fund Shot at while trying to savefather from attack, Noidaengineer succumbs in UP

New Delhi

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI, JUNE 13

GLOBAL ALTERNATIVE assetfirmTPGwill investRs4,546.80crore in Jio Platforms, a sub-sidiary of Reliance Industries.The investment is at an equityvalue of Rs 4.91 lakh crore andan enterprise value of Rs 5.16lakh crore.Theinvestmentwill translate

intoa0.93per centequity stakeinJioPlatformsonafullydilutedbasis for TPG.With this invest-ment, JioPlatformshasraisedRs1,02,432.45 crore from leadingglobal technology investors in-cluding Facebook, Silver Lake,Vista Equity Partners, GeneralAtlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIAandTPG sinceApril 22.

TPG is a leadingglobal alter-native asset firm founded in1992withmorethan$79billionof assets under management

across a wide range of assetclasses, includingprivateequity,growth equity, real estate andpublic equity.

11THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

ECONOMYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Crude WatchOIL PRICES SEEWEEKLY LOSSNew York: Oil was little changed on late Friday and logged a first weeklydecline since April as new US coronavirus cases spiked, stoking fearsof a second wave hitting demand. Brent settled at $38.73 a barrel, up 18cents, while WTI settled at $36.26 a barrel, down 8 cents.REUTERS

‘CASHINCREASINGLYSEENASWAYTOSTOREVALUE,MORETHANTOMAKEPAYMENTS’

GEORGEMATHEWMUMBAI,JUNE13

AFTER SUCCESSFULLY imple-menting a low-cost paymentsystem in the country, theReserveBankof India(RBI)isex-ploring the possibility of ex-panding its payment systemabroad following “requests”fromseveral countries.Thecentralbanksaid“specific

interestsorrequestsarebeingre-ceived” for implementing pay-ment systems like CTS (chequetruncationsystem),NEFT,UPIandmessaging solutions by certainjurisdictions. “There is scope forenhancingglobaloutreachofourpayment systems, including re-mittanceservices,throughactiveparticipationandco-operationininternationalandregionalforabycollaboratingandcontributingtostandard setting,” theRBI said ina note on ‘Oversight frameworkfor financialmarket infrastruc-tures and retail payment sys-tems’.Currently,therearenoRBIau-

thorisedpaymentsystemopera-

tors providingpayment servicesoutsideIndia.“However,withtheavailabilityoflowcostinnovativedigitalpaymentproductsinIndia,many countries have expressedinterest in partnering in thisgrowthandreplicatingourprod-ucts basedon their country spe-cificrequirements,” theRBIsaid.The central bank said cross-

countrycooperationwithBhutanisalreadyinplacewithCTS,NACHand NEFT operational there as

well. NEFT is available for one-waytransfersfromIndiatoNepal.However,consideringthatef-

forts are being taken to increaseandwidenthescope,coverageandusageofRuPaycardscheme—de-velopedbyNPCI—andUPItoen-hance their brandvalue interna-tionally, therisksof suchsystemswould alsobehigh, theRBI said.Theparticipantsinadomesticsys-temmightbecomedependentonthefundstheyaretoreceiveinan

offshore systemto fundtheirdo-mestic debt position, leading topossibleliquidityriskissues,itsaid.According to the RBI, this

couldalsobeonaccountofdiffer-ent time zones and also due tolacking nature of suitable depthin the currencymarkets of sucheconomies, andmore so in theeventoffinancialdistress.Insuchcases, therewould be a require-ment for constant cooperationwiththeconcernedcentralbanksandotherregulatoryauthorities.The RBI also said cash, as a

paymentmode,isstillimportantbutitisincreasinglyseenasawaytostorevalue,morethantomakepayments.“India’sgrowinguseofretail digital payments, alongwiththeradicalreconstructionofitscasheconomy,indicatesashiftintherelationshipwithcash.Thisisevidencedbythesteepgrowthobservedintheretaildigitalpay-ments,” itsaid.TheRBIsaiditsstudyrevealed

thatwhilecurrencyincirculation(CIC)acrossthecountryincreasedatacompoundedannualgrowthof 10.2 per cent over the past 5years, the CIC to GDP reduced

from11.6 per cent in 2014-15 to11.2percentin2018-19.Thecashwithdrawals from ATMs in-creasedduring the sameperiod,but thepercentageof cashwith-drawals toGDPwas constant ataround17percent, itsaid.Further,whilethedigitalpay-

ments in the country havewit-nessed a growth of 61 per centand 19 per cent in terms of vol-umeandvalue, respectively, thevalueofdigitalpaymentstoGDPhas also increased from660percentin2014-15to862percentin2018-19. Inaddition, thedeploy-mentofATMshasgrownatalowpace(4percent)andthePoSter-minals contrastingly grew at ahighpaceof35percent, itsaid.The parameters considered

asindicativeofcashpaymentsarecurrency in circulation (CIC),shareofhighvaluedenominatedcurrencyandlowvaluedenomi-nated currency and cashwith-drawalsfromATMs,whereaspa-rameters used for assessing thelevelofdigitisationweregrowthof digital payments, digital pay-mentstoGDPandinfrastructure,itsaid.

BRIEFLYGuptatakesoverasRECCMDNewDelhi:RECsaiditsdirec-tor (technical) SanjeevKumarGuptahastaken ad-ditionalchargeasCMD.

‘Havescopetofinetunepackage’New Delhi: The govern-ment’s Rs 20.97 lakh crorerescuepackagehasscopetofinetune it, PM’s EconomicAdvisory CouncilmemberAshimaGoyalhassaid.

RahmanisUTIAMCCEONewDelhi:UTI AMCsaid ithas appointed ImtaiyazurRahmanCEO.PTI

CentralBankcreditlineNewDelhi:Central Bank ofIndiahasintroducedaguar-anteed emergency creditlinetoitscustomerswhoareavailing working capital/termloanfacilities.ENS

GSTintelligencedetectsevasionBhopal:TaxevasionofRs225crorehasbeendetectedbyCentralGSTintelligenceoffi-cersaftertheybustedillegalpanmasalamanufacturingunitsinIndore.

TataMotorstobuyoutstakeinJVNewDelhi:TataMotorssaiditisbuyingoutpartner JayemAutomotives in their JV, JTSpecialVehiclesPvtLtd.PTI

Possibilityofliquidityrisksremains

MANYCOUNTRIESthatareattractedbythelow-costinnovativedigitalpaymentproductsinIndiahaveexpressedinterestinreplicatingIndia’sproductsbasedontheircountryspecificrequirements.However,therisksofsuchsystemswouldalsobehigh.

Theparticipantsinadomesticsystemmightbecomedependentonoverseasfundstofundtheirdomesticdebtposition,leadingtopossibleliquidityriskissues.

REUTERSWASHINGTON/CHICAGO,JUNE13

TWOKEYUS senators are circu-lating a bipartisan draft bill thatwould reformhow the FederalAviationAdministration certifiesnewaircraftinthewakeoftwofa-tal Boeing737MAXcrashes thatkilled346people.Themeasure seeks to elimi-

natetheabilityofaircraftmakerslikeBoeingCo.toundulyinfluencethe certification process andmarks themost significant steptoward reforms following the2018 and 2019 crashes, whichsparked calls to changehow theFAAapprovesnewairplanes.The draft, whichwas com-

pletedthisweekandreviewedbyReuters, is authored by Senate

CommerceCommitteeChairmanRogerWicker, a Republican, andthe topDemocrat on the panel,

SenatorMariaCantwell.The FAA,Wicker’s office and

Boeingdeclined to comment on

thedraft bill.It aims to grant theFAA newpower over the long-standing practice of delegatingsomecertificationtaskstoaircraftmanufacturer employees. Itwouldgive the agencyauthoritytohireorremoveBoeingemploy-ees conducting FAAcertificationtasksandallowtheFAAtoappointsafetyadvisers.Onecongressionalaide said the bill would put theFAA “back in the driver’s seat”overseeing airplanecertification.Boeing’sbest-sellingplane has been grounded sinceMarch 2019 and themanufac-turer faces an ongoing criminalprobe and investigation by theTransportationDepartment’s in-spectorgeneral.The largest US planemaker

hopes to conduct a key certifica-tion test flight late thismonthasitworkstoresumeflights.

Thedraftbillwouldrequirere-forms aimed at preventing “un-duepressure...orinstancesofper-ceived regulatory coziness orother failures tomaintain inde-pendencebetweentheFAAand”Boeing employees conductingcertificationtasks.Itwouldalsore-quire regular audits andauthor-ize$150millionover10years fornewFAAtrainingandtohirespe-cialized personnel to developtechnicalstandardsfornewtech-nologiesandoperations.“Congressneedstomakesure

aviationsafetyintheUnitedStatesis the strongest in the world,”Cantwell said in a statement toReuters.“Strongtechnicalaviationexpertise on the ground cannotsimplybeignoredbyseniorman-agement at the FAA.”The SenateCommerceCommitteeisholdinga hearing onWednesdaywith

FAA Administrator StephenDickson to reviewagency over-sightofaircraftcertification.Aideshope to release adraft of thebillbythen.AnOctober report byapanel

of international air safety regula-tors raised significant questionsoverthecertificationprocess,find-ing theFAAhad just45people inan office overseeing Boeing’sOrganization DesignationAuthorityandits1,500employees.For the737MAX, theFAAini-

tiallydelegated40%ofthecertifica-tion tasks toBoeing, an amountthat increasedas the five-year re-viewprogressed. Thepanel saidFAA involvement in thecertifica-tionof Boeing’sMCAS flight con-trol software, akeysafetysystemfaultedinbothfatalcrashes,“wouldlikely have resulted in designchangesthatwouldhaveimproved

safety.”The review also found“signs of undue pressure” onBoeing employees performingtasks for the FAA and said theyshouldbeable tospeak“withoutfearof reprisal.”Thedraft legisla-tionwould ensurenoone couldprohibit aBoeingemployee fromtalking to theFAAandgrantnewwhistleblower protections toworkersatairplaneandpartsman-ufacturers.ItwouldalsorequiretheFAAtocreateanewsafetyreport-ingsystemforemployeestodetailconcernsanonymously.The draft bill also addresses

concernsabout“humanfactors,”saying the FAAmust reviewandpotentiallymodify existing as-sumptionsonhowpilotsidentityand respond to cockpit situa-tions.Afederal reviewconcludedBoeingunderestimatedtheeffectamalfunctionofnewautomated

softwareintheaircraftcouldhaveonpilots,whoweredealingwithacacophonyofalerts inboth737MAXcrashes.When certifying a new air-

craft type, the FAAmust addressthecumulativeimpactnewtech-nologiesmay have on pilot re-sponse, consult outside expertsand notify other internationalregulators and encourage themtomakeevaluations.Thedraftbillwassharedwith

aviationassociations,unionsandfamilymembersofthosekilledinthe fatal Boeing crashes, seekingtheir input.Michael Stumo,wholost his daughter, Samya, in thesecond737MAXcrashinEthiopia,praisedthedraftbutcalledforim-provements to ensure the FAA isin charge, especially overseeing“major hazardous and cata-strophicsystems”likeMCAS.

After ‘requests’ frommanycountries,RBImaytakepaymentsystemabroad

BHEL reports `1,532-cr loss inMarch qtr on lower revenues

Petrol price hikedby 59p per litre,diesel by 58p for7th day in a row

ArcelorMittalplans `2,000 crOdisha investment

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIABHUBANESWAR,JUNE13

ARCELORMITTALGROUPisplan-ning to invest Rs 2,000 crore inOdisha, itsGroupChairmanandCEOLNMittalsaidonSaturday.Mittalsaidthiswhileinteract-

ingwithOdisha ChiefMinisterNaveenPatnaik throughavideoconference.ArcelorMittal Group is the

world’slargeststeelmaker.“Wealreadyhave aRs 2,000

crore investmentplan inOdishawhich is already going onwithsupport of your administration,yourpeopleandyourguidance.“Youhaveagreat experience

andyouhavemanagedtheCOVIDcrisis verywellwhich is a goodnews,”MittaltoldPatnaik.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI,JUNE13

PETROL PRICE on Saturdaywashiked by 59 paise per litre anddieselby58paiseasoilcompaniesfor the seventhday in a rowad-justedretailratesinlinewithcostssinceendingan82-dayhiatus inraterevision.PetrolpriceinDelhiwashiked

toRs75.16per litre fromRs74.57,whilediesel rateswere increasedtoRs73.39alitrefromRs72.81,ac-cording to apricenotificationofstateoilmarketingcompanies.Rates have been increased

across thecountryandvary fromstatetostatedependingonthein-cidenceof localsalestaxorVAT.This is the seventh daily in-

crease in rates in a rowsince oilcompanies on Sunday restartedrevisingprices in linewith costs,after endingan82-dayhiatus. Insevenhikes,petrolpricehasgoneupbyRs3.9perlitreanddieselbyRs4. The freeze in rateswas im-posedinmid-Marchsoonafterthegovernmenthikedexciseonpetroland diesel. Oil PSUs Indian OilCorp, Bharat PetroleumCorpLtdandHindustan PetroleumCorpLtd, insteadof passingon theex-cisedutyhikes to customers, ad-justedthemagainstthefall intheretailratesthatwaswarranted.

‘Amazon’s business practicesexamined by two US states’REUTERSBENGALURU,JUNE13

STATE INVESTIGATORS in bothCalifornia andWashington areexamining Amazon’s businesspractices, two newspapers re-ported, citing people familiarwith thematter.The inquiries focus at least in

partonhowAmazontreatssellersinitsonlinemarketplace, theWallStreet Journal and theNew YorkTimesreportedonFriday.Amazondeclinedtocommentonthereportof an investigationbyCalifornia. Itwasnotimmediatelyavailableforcommentoutside regularmarkethourson theWashington reviewreport. The reports saidCalifornia

state is reviewingAmazon’sprac-ticesonsellingitsownproductsincompetitionwiththird-partyven-dors. Amazon said its in-houseproductsonlyaccountforabout1%of its total annual retailsales.Washington state is also in-vestigating whether Amazonmakes it harder for sellers to list

theirproductsonotherwebsites,theNYTreported.Theinquiriesdidnotappearto

beinadvancedstages,theNYTre-port added, citing sources.AspokeswomanfortheWashingtonattorneygeneraltoldtheNYTthattheofficedidnot confirmordenyinvestigations.Californiaattorneygeneral’sofficetoldtheNYTthatitdoesnotcommentonanypendingorpotentialinvestigations.TheCaliforniaandWashington

attorneygeneralswerenotimme-diatelyavailable forcomment.TheUS House of RepresentativesJudiciaryCommittee lastmonthcalledonCEO Jeff Bezos to testifyaboutallegationsthatAmazonusesdatafromitsownthird-partysellerstocreatecompetingproducts.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,JUNE13

STATE-RUNENGINEERING firmBHELonSaturdayreportedacon-solidated net loss of Rs 1,532.18crorefortheMarchquarter,mainlydue to lower revenues and de-ferredtax.The company had posted a

consolidatednetprofitofRs680.77crore in thequarter endedMarch2019,itsaidinaBSEfiling.Total incomeinthequarterre-

view stood at Rs 5,193.51 crore,down fromRs10,489.11 crore inthesameperiodlastyear.BHELhasoptedfornewsection

115BAAoftheIncomeTaxAct,1961

inthecurrentyear.Accordingly,de-ferred tax as onApril 1, 2019hasbeenrestatedattherateof25.168

percentwhichresultedinreversalofdeterredtaxassetsbyRs974.41crore.Consequently, profit after tax

decreasedbyRs956.50croreandother comprehensive income fellbyRs17.91crore,itsaid.For the full fiscal 2019-20, the

companysufferedaconsolidatednetlossofRs1,468.35crore. IthadpostedaconsolidatednetprofitofRs1,002.42crorein2018-19.Total incomedecreased toRs

22,054.31crore fromRs31,102.90croreinthepreviousfiscal.The company’s board in its

meetingheldonSaturdaydidnotrecommendanyfinaldividendfor2019-20due to theCOVID-19cri-sis, itadded.WITHPTI

MEASURE SEEKS TO ELIMINATE ABILITY OF AIRCRAFTMAKERS LIKE BOEING CO. TO UNDULY INFLUENCE THE CERTIFICATION PROCESS

ConsumerbehaviourinIndiaisradicallychangingduetoCOVID-19with60percentofbuyersinthecountrybelievingthatthepandemicwouldalterthewaytheyshop,anEYsurveysaid

‘60% buyers feel pandemicwill alter theway they shop’

COVID IMPACT: SHOPPING Fivenewsegmentsmayemergeasconsumersmovebeyondthepandemic,aspertheEYFutureConsumerIndex■Backwithabang(constituting38percentofrespondents)■ Stayfrugal(29percent)■Keepcutting(19percent)■Cautiouslyextravagant(11percent)■Gettonormal(2percent)

The‘backwithabang’groupisexpectedtospendmuchmoreinallcategories,while ‘stayfrugal’willspendslightly less

The‘keepcutting’segmentwillmakedeepspendingcuts,whereasthe‘cautiouslyextravagant’sectioniswillingtopayapremiumforcertainproductsandspendingin‘gettonormal’

WHYISTHISIMPORTANT?Thecoronaviruspandemichasforcedgovernmentstoenforcelockdownstocontainthespreadofthevirus.Thefalloutfromthelockdownhashurtbusinesses,which, inturn,havelaidoffemployeesorcutsalaries.This isboundtohurtpeople’spurchasingpower.Strictsocialdistancingprotocolsalsomeanthatshoppingatstoresisgoingtobecomedifficult.

NEEDFORSTRATEGY:Companiesmustformulatestrategiesimmediatelytoaddressthechallenges

NECESSARYSTEPS:■Firmsshouldincorporatepermanentsafetymeasuresinofficesandonshopfloors

■Consumerproductcompanieswouldneedtotakequickactionstorespondtothe‘now’phase,alteroperatingmodeltoaddress

the‘next’phaseandthenconsiderstrategictransformationstobuildaresilientorganisation

groupwillbelargelyunchanged,thesurveynoted

Source:EY/PTI

US senators draft plan to reform new plane design approvals after 737 MAX crashes

Boeing737Maxaircraftataparking lot intheBoeingField inSeattle,US,onJune11.Reuters

ThereportssaidCaliforniastate isreviewingAmazon’spracticesonselling itsownproducts incompetitionwiththird-partyvendors

REUTERSDETROIT,JUNE13

AUS regulator ruled that India’sMahindra andMahindra Ltd in-fringedupontheintellectualprop-erty rights of Fiat ChryslerAutomobiles NV’s (FCA) Jeepbrand,barringthesaleofthevehi-clesinquestion.The International Trade

Commission,inadecisionreleasedlate Thursday, saidMahindra’sRoxoroff roadutility vehiclevio-latedthe“tradedress”ofFCA’sJeepWrangler SUV. The ITC issued alimitedexclusionorderprohibit-ingsaleorimportoftheinfringingvehicles and parts, aswell as aceaseanddesistordertoMahindraanditsNorthAmericanunit.Trade dress consists of the

uniquecharacteristics thatmakeaproduct standapart and isgen-erallyacceptedas identifiedwiththatproductbythepublic.Forex-ample, FCA sees the JeepWrangler’sboxybodyshape,frontgrilleandroundheadlightsasdis-tincttothebrand.Theorderiseffectiveimmedi-

ately,butUSTradeRepresentativehas60days topotentially disap-proveforpolicyreasons.

TheITC,whichinitiallyopenedits investigation in September2018,hadbeen reviewinganad-ministrativelawjudge’sinitialde-termination fromlastNovember.Thecoronavirusoutbreakdelayedthe ITC’s decision.Mahindra saidina statementonFriday that thevehiclesubjecttotheITCactionisno longer inproduction and the2020designwas refreshed.”Thecompany and MahindraAutomotiveNorthAmerica ... re-main resolute in itsposition thattheRoxordoesnotdiluteorviolateJeep’stradedress,”Mahindrasaid,adding itwasweighing optionswith respect to anappealduringthereviewperiodorinfederalap-pealscourt.

M&M’s Roxor off roadvehicle infringes uponFiat Chrysler’s Jeeptrade dress: US regulator

TheITC issueda limitedexclusionorderprohibitingsaleorimportof theinfringingvehiclesandparts,aswellasaceaseanddesistordertoMahindraanditsNorthAmericanunit

NewDelhi:PrivateequityfirmLCattertonwillpickupa0.39percentstakefor$249million,RIL said on Saturday. It hasnowsoldjustover22percentofJioPlatformstoinvestorsin-cludingFacebookInc,securing$13.72billionineightweeks.L Catterton,which has a

partnershipwithFrench lux-urygroupLVMHand invest-ment firmGroupe Arnault,

concentratesonconsumer-fo-cusedbrands.The investments in Jio

Platforms,which comprisesReliance's telecoms arm JioInfocommand itsmusic andvideostreamingapps,givetheunit an enterprise value of$67.87 billion, RIL said. JioInfocomm is India's biggesttelcobysubscribers,withover376millionusers.REUTERS

L Catterton to pick up0.39% stake for $249 mn

TOTAL INCOME

■ThecompanyhadpostedaconsolidatednetprofitofRs680.77crore inthequarterendedMarch2019, it said inaBSEfiling.Total incomeinthequarterunderreviewstoodatRs5,193.51crore,downfromRs10,489.11crore inthesameperiod lastyear.

`5,193.51cr

TPG to invest `4,546 crore inJio Platforms for 0.93% stake

New Delhi

12THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

SUNDAYSTORYWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DAY 1

AFTERTWOdaysof fever, hus-band is getting tested for thenovel coronavirus. At thepri-vate hospital, there is heat,anxiety and chaos — across

both sides of a glass partition, between thedoctorwritingtheprescriptionandpatientsshouting aloud their symptoms, Aadhaarnumber, address, cellphone details.Whenthedoctorhandsustheprescription,charg-ingRs600abovetheRs4,500standardfees,it listssymptomswenevermentioned—hemustwrite these, he says, as otherwise, theIndian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)will ask themwhythe test.Minutesstretchintohours,exasperation

slides into somemirth. A youngwomanonthebenchtotheleft,asmilingcancerpatientwithredlipstickwhoneedsaCovid-freetagforhernextchemotherapysession;anotherone on the right, her feet on the bench, herchunky, intricate anklets clinking, laughingbecause she doesn’t know the name of thehospital she isat... provideperspective.Husband lightens up, talks about the

“spacesuit-cladman”whowill touchdowntocollectsamples.Finally,itistwoswabslast-ingseconds.The next day, a soberingminute. Of the

40-oddsamplestakenonMay19atthehos-pital, onlyhusband isCovid-19positive.

DAY 3It’stheturnofmyson,whohadfeverthedaybefore,andmetogettested. Iamholdingonto scepticism that has carriedme throughtwomonthsofadizzyinglyshrinkingworld.Driving down, we see a queue of migrantlabourersataschoolforscanning,theirruck-sacksstandinginfortheirspotsinthesun.Thewaitat the hospital is as longasitwasonDay1.Sixpo-licemenhave lineduptoget an all-clear to travelhomeonleave.Whilewewait, a hospital stafferthrowsup.It’smostlikelytheheat;wemoveaway.

DAY 4Husband’sfeverisclimb-ing. Nowwe are officialstatistics, names on thegovernment’s coron-avirus list, andourdesig-nated District Surveill-anceOfficer(DSO)thinksmyhusband’s high tem-perature combinedwith his bloodpressureissueswarrantahospitaladmission.The DSO insists on an “ambulance” to

take him to a “government hospital”. Ourneighbourhood hasn’t had a single case sofar,canweavoidtheattention?Sowetryan-other route. Unable to get through to anyofthe private Covid hospitals’ helpline num-bers,husbandandI,andourdriver,godownto thenearestone.I enter through doors that swish open,

the hospital’s corridors stretching empty—something out of a dystopian fiction, withthe world struck silent. A woman, in PPE,rushesover,herhorrorshowingthroughthemask and her glasses. The hospital has nobeds, she says, “how did youmake it thisfar?”Wearebackontheroad,wecallevery-onewe know, who know others, to finallyfinda ‘Covidcare facility’.It’s a hospital functioning out of a resi-

dentialarea,withatalkativeloneguardwar-ringbravelyagainstmosquitoes,asleepyre-ceptionist, a too-friendly executive and adisinterested doctor — a facility seeminglygoingabout itsnewjobwithasmuchreluc-

tance as its neighbourhood. For, all aroundare Residents’Welfare Association postersthat this hospital should be shut down.Husband isadmitted,and Iamtold to leave.

DAY 5Word has got round and my WhatsAppgroupsarebuzzing, asmuchdue to the fearof coronavirusas fear forus.Anoticecomesupoutsideourdoorconfirmingourhouse’spositive status. The arrival of an ANM(AuxiliaryNurseMidwife)withapoliceoffi-cer has been noted by all. But the offers ofsupport outnumber the gentle, proddingquestionsonhowwegotinfected.Thecom-fortof neighbours is a relief.By afternoon,my son and I are positive

too, kickingoff yet another chainof inform-ing our DSO, listing both our contacts andcalls fromconcerned friendsand family.Husband is not having an easy

timeeither.

DAY 6There’s been an episode in the early hoursandhusbandisnowonoxygensupport.Thedoctorassuresmeitis“justdehydration”and“adropinbloodpressure”.Mid-morning,athome, we get the second official visit, thistimebyMCDpersonnelinPPEgearto“sani-tise” the housewith hypochlorite solution.Imagesofmigrantsbeinghoseddownfloodme,butwearespared,thoughnotourthings,includingbeds.Thechildrenaretoldto“standclear”and

take “good photos” of the exercise, to sharewith theofficials.Byevening,theunravelling.There’safire

inthehospitalwheremyhusbandis.Ashort-circuitintheOT,wearetold.Newsfeedsstart

fillingupwith imagesofcharred rooms; I ameven forwarded a videoby a friend of the hospi-tal’s Covid patients sit-tingbytheroadside,hus-band included, sharinganoxygen cylinderwithaheartpatient.The hospital has to

shut and patientsmoved.But,where?Thehunt starts again, till thehospital convinces an-other to take its patientsin. They require specialCovid ambulances, andare to be taken one byone. It’snearlyfivehourslater by the time hus-

band finallymanages toget abed, andevenlaterwhenameal is fought forandserved.

DAY 7My son and I testing positive means ourhouse is upgraded to red-poster status, for17 days of isolation from the day of the testresults.Anewsetofofficialsarrivestoputupthisnotification.As I approach them from behind the

house’sscreendoor,awomanofficialalmostshouts atme to stayback. Theotherofficial,in PPE,makes ahasty roundof thehouse tocheck out the facilities, especially separatetoilets for thepatients. Official requirementalso is forpatients inhomeisolationtohavea “caregiver”, andmy15-year-old daughtersignsanundertakingasone.Strict orders aregiven tomysonandme

to not venture out of our rooms, sendingdaughter into panic. But even as they handoversomebleachandHCQtablets,shootinginstructions at her on their use — whichmostlyblowoverher inhernervousstate—herfirsttaskistoescortthetwopastthedogonthestairs.

Eventually,bothbleachandHCQremainunused,withthepromised“clearerinstruc-tions”nevercoming.Meanwhile, there has been no contact

withthehusband,withwordfinallyarrivinglate evening that he has had difficultiesbreathingandsohasbeenshiftedtotheICUand put on an “NIV (non-invasiveventilator)”.The doctor is very efficient, but she also

tells it like it is.HischestX-ray isnot lookinggood,shesays,andIneedtogivemyapprovalin case he needs a ventilator. It’s a difficultdecision,madeharderbythefactthatIcan’tmeethim.

DAY 8Having barely slept, I am relieved to knowhusband has not needed a ventilator andmay not need one now. So, after days, I de-cidetocheckmyTwitterfeed.Thefirstthingthat pops up is aNewYork Times front pagewith names of 1,000 Covid casualties. I tellmyeditors andmynewsroomgroups that Iamexiting—forawhile.The calls from neighbours have been

mounting — from those gently enquiringaboutourlivingarrangementstoothersask-ingabouthusband,toonedelightfullyangryneighbourwhowantsmy help to file a PILagainst thecoronavirus“hoax”.Heroutrageis comforting.Asistheeasebywhichasystemfallsinto

place, from the RWA to the guards, to dropthe things we need (groceries, medicines,Amazon orders, chocolates froma friend ofson’s) outside our door. In-laws take care ofonemeal for the day, a neighbour offers totakeover thesame.I juggle calls, between parentswonder-

ingwhether they shouldget tested too, andhow that canbe arranged, to theDSO seek-ing a daily report, to instructions to updatethe Aarogya Setu app, to an RWA fearful ofits exit-lockdown strategy falling flat, totwice-a-day calls from “Chief MinisterArvindKejriwal’sofficemonitoringhishomeisolationprogramme”.Therearealsocallstobemadetothehos-

pital, to chase X-rays, bills, insurance, andgoodslostinthefire.Andinthebackground,the ominous beeps of the ICU as I calluphusband.

DAY 9The first good news.My son’s contacts andmyparents testnegative.Couldwebeturn-ingacorner?Itellhusbandthis,thenamun-sure if it was a good idea. The hospitalprogress continues to be slow, and the firstimages of husband from the ICU, with anoxygenmask coveringmost of his face, arenotencouraging.Homeisolationalsocomeswithitsprice:

a constant battle to keep the house anddaughtercleanofanyvirus,andmyselfclearof symptoms.What issafe,whatnot?Whatis clean, what not? How to clean and howmuch?Rationthemasks,buthow?Cleanthemasks, but how? Work out our spaces,daughter’s spaces, includingchairsandeat-ingarea.Organise separateutensils, clotheswashingcycles.Ensurehealthyeating,“buildimmunity” with everything from vitamintablets to home concoctions, and then con-vince the children it is good for them. Then,sanitise, sanitise, sanitise.In between, keepmonitoring our tem-

peratures and SPO2 (oxygen saturation inblood). There is just a 2% gap in SPO2 be-tween healthy people and those requiringhospitalisation.

DAY 10We are settling into a routine, of cleaning,cooking,watching something together, andworkingoutdeliveries.After 48 hours in the ICU, husband has

nowmoved into “stable” zone.Bynow, thewordof ourstatushasreachedourdomes-tichelp inanearbysettlement.Shewantsatest; theDSOsaysshecan’t justdemandoneastheyhavetheirowncriteria (yes, revisedseveral times).Finally, testingis fixedforthenext day, both for my help and daughter.They are required to reach a governmentdispensary.Now,there isanotherhitch; theRWAwon’t let the daughter out of a houseunder home isolation. Words are ex-changed,withofficialssayingweshouldaskour RWA to pay for a private test then. Thebattle is unsurprisingly won by the RWA;andafteraday-longwait,aprivate labtech-nician in PPE arrives to take the sample.

DAY 11Wearenowused to our “untouchable” sta-

tus, and so is our garbage. I have four over-flowingbins,andamtoldtoinformmyDSO,RWAandanMCDhelpline. Sometimes, thesystemworks to impress, and after a fewcalls,twomendeckedinPPEsarrivetocollectthewaste. Their nervousness is telling, par-ticularly the sharp instruction toput every-thing in bags, which they hold pinched bythe ends. As I run around figuring outwhether Ihavecollectedall, theyassuremetheywill come“everyday”—andtheydo.Therestofthedaypassesmoresmoothly.

Firstmydaughterandthenmyhelptestneg-ative.Thismeansthereneedbenochangeindaughter’s“caregiverstatus”,andwecanstayinhomeisolation.Fromthehospital, thedoctor calls to say

she is trying out a newmedicine that hasgiven excellent results against coronavirus,Tocilizumab. She also wants me to try ar-ranging forRemdesivir, a drugnot availablein India. Just names in stories I have edited,the drugs now roll easily off my tongue as Iplacecalls toenquire.

DAY 12Weare approaching the14-daylandmarkforsonand me. As husbandmakes his excruciatingrecovery, withTocilizumabhelpingandRemdesivir finally notneeded, the calls havemovedontofiguringouthowwegot thevirus.We took the needed

precautions, stocked upon sanitisers, washedhands regularly, main-tained social distancing.Yes, we laughed at thecleaning regimensfriendshaddrawnup,as“panic”... so were wewrong, and they right?Whatmorecouldwehavedone?Thatnight, there is another scare.My fa-

ther,whorecentlyhadaheartprocedure,andwhohasbeen“exposed”tous,haschestpain.Hiscoronavirusreporthadbeennegative,butat this point, thatmeans nothing aswe tryand remember what we know about thevirus,the5-14daydynamic,theearly-vs-latetestdebate,thechestpainasasymptom,andthepossibilitiesofacquiringthevirusinahos-pital where he is headed in an ambulance.And,shouldhebepositive,wouldthehospi-tal turnhimout,evenatnight?My sister, who lives in the US, is strug-

glingwithrisingpanic—afactorasmuchofolduncertaintyabout“Indiansystems”,andnew ones born of President Trumpvs thevirus.Eventually, itturnsouttobeafalsealarm.

DAY 13Thecountdownhasbegunforhusband’sre-turn,andsoIhavethegracenottocommentwhentheDistrictMagistrate’sofficedecidestocallallthesedayslater,offeringservicesofvolunteers shouldweneedanything.

Plus,theweatherhastakenaturnforthebetter,andthiseveningthereisblindingsun-light and a rainbowafter a dash of rain. As Isit in the balcony, vehicles rush past, I seepeople out walking, fetching essentials, orreturning fromwork. Two children out ontheroadwaittobesplashedbycarsspeedingthrough the rainwater. Nearing 10 pm, awomanwalkspastinarush,swathedinred,returningminutes laterdownthe stretch—an unusual sight for a lonely road in Delhi.Hercalmintent, inthediffusedyellowofthestreetlight, remindsmeof theotherwomanin thehospital, onDay1, in red lipstick.

DAY 16Wefirst gotword adayearlier, by ahospitalemployeechasingpayment, thathusbandislikelytobereleasedtoday.Butwearewaitingfor thedoctor toconfirm.Shehasbeenapil-lar of strength (including negotiating theDelhi-Faridabadcoronavirustussleatthebor-der daily), and as she doesn’tmincewords,wewilltakeherwordifshesaysheisfittogo.Thenodcomesat1pm.Husbanddoesn’t

wantanyonefromthefamilytoventureoutand says hewill handle discharge himself,particularlyashecancomehomeonlyinanambulance.Heexpects tobebackby6pm.Thepreparationsbeginathome, includ-

ing sanitisation of the roomand toilet to bekept exclusively for him for 10 days, as perthe doctor’s instructions.While the excite-mentandreliefbuildup,thewaitdrags, firstinexplicably, then incredulously.AfterpaymentofmorethanRs5lakhhas

been resolved by insurance and a friendrushingover,thedischargegetsstuckonlessthanRs1,500.Amidstthebackandforth,thehospitalslipsinto“shiftchange”,frommorn-ingtonight. Ittakesabout45minutesforthenextshifttogetintotheirPPEs,whichmeansmore delay. Night shift alsomeans there isnotenoughambulancestaff tohelphusband,either into the vehicle or up three flights ofstairsathome.Eventually,he is forced toal-most crawl as a PPE-clad staffer gingerlyurgeshimon.At10.30pmonJune3,hecol-lapsesexhaustedintoourdiningchair—thewholehouse in tears.

DAY 20The debilitating pain in husband’s feet has

developed now intoCovid toes. He is alsostruggling with weak-ness. However, the daywehavebeenwaitingforis here. At around 10.30am, two police officersarrivetotellusourhomeisolation is over. My sonandIsignstatementscer-tifying that, and the offi-cersmake us hold theseup foraphoto. I amwor-ried about being pho-tographed for officialposterity in sweatyshortsandT-shirt,havingjust finishedcleaning.Will theyteartheno-

tification outside ourdoorplease, I ask. Sure, oneof themshrugs,and rips it off. There, it lies, crunched into aball on thehouse floor.Is that it?

POST-SCRIPT:Or, is it?We havememories of an ICU

whereoneisanoutcast,withdisposablecut-lery, watery food, no spoons, overworkedstaff, theindignityofcallingoutforhelp,anddaily images of death.We have fought thelonelinessof facingone’sworstmedical cri-sis without any loved one nearby.My chil-dren have seen their father in tears, strug-glingupthestairs, likeachild.In the 24 days betweenwhen husband

got tested andwhen I write this (June 11),Delhinumbersareupfrom10,554to32,810.Wewere the first cases in our colony, nowthere are a couplemore. Both testing andhospitalisation seemasteeper climb, as thesystem strains and stretches, like we hadbeenwarned.Peopleassureusthatchancesarewenow

have “immunity”. The jury is out on that —weshallwaitforawhilebeforewetakeours.

MAY 19-JUNE 7, DELHI

ACOVIDDIARY

(Above)Apostercomesupoutsidecertifyingthehouse’sCovid-positivestatus; (top)MCDofficials sanitisingtheroomswithhypochloritesolutionashomeisolationbegins. Shalini Langer

AstheCentreandSupremeCourt raisealarmovertheCapital,wherenumbersaresurgingandhospital facilities fallingshort, SHALINILANGERonher family’s story—fromatestingcentre toan ICU,sanitisationtohouse inspection,officials toRWA,and infectiontorecovery

ONEOFthe fivemostaffectedstates,Delhi is struggling tomeet its coron-avirus surge.Central governmentprojections showitmayhaverunoutof ICUbedsandventilatorsal-ready, andwouldnothaveany isola-tionbedswithoxygen leftby June25.This, evenas theAAPgovern-ment lockshornswith theCentreovercharges that it failed to increasecapacity sufficiently.

Delhi failingtest

I juggle calls betweenparentswonderingwhether they should gettested too, to theDSOseeking a daily report, toinstructions to updatetheAarogyaSetu app, toanRWAfearful of itsexit-lockdown strategyfalling flat, to twice-a-daycalls from “CMArvindKejriwal’s office...”

Night shift alsomeansthere is not enoughambulance staff to helphusband, either into thevehicle or up the stairs athome. Eventually, he isforced to almost crawl asaPPE-clad staffer urgeshimon.At 10.30pmonJune 3, he collapsesexhausted into a chair—thewhole house in tears

New Delhi

HistoryHEADLINENIRUPAMASUBRAMANIANnirupama.subramanian@expressindia.com

13 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COMTHE SUNDAY EXPRESS,JUNE14,2020OPINION

AND,HEisback,asfullofblusterandbom-bast as ever. I speak, as someof youmayhaveguessed,ofourHomeMinister.HehasbeensoinvisiblesincethepandemicarrivedthatDelhi’spulsatingpoliticalgrapevinehasbeenabuzzwith rumours thathewas se-riously unwell. There have also been ru-mours that he is no longer the PrimeMinister’sfavouriteministeronaccountofthe bungledhandling of a long list of do-mesticissues.RememberhowitwasAmitShahwho,with great aplomb, piloted inParliament the laws that amended thecitizenshipActandabrogatedArticle370.Hewasridingsohighthathe imposed

his will brutally on the Kashmir Valley.There were months of curfew and anInternetshutdownthathasbecomefamousfor being the longest shutdown ever. Hemadepromisesofthedawningofagoldennewera of prosperity anddevelopment.But,asweapproachthefirstanniversaryofKashmir’salteredstatus,allwehear isbadnews from the Valley. Violent, jihadistgroupsseemtohavesorevivedtheirhorri-ble activities that last week a Hindusarpanch,AjayPandita,wasmurderedde-spitehishavingpleaded forhis security tobeenhanced.Avideoclipofhispleadingforbettersecuritywentviralafterhewaskilled.TherehasbeennocommentsofarfromtheHomeMinisterwhoisdirectlyresponsibleforlawandorderinthenewUnionTerritoryof JammuandKashmir.Since his reappearance,Mr Shah has

givenaseriesof television interviews.But,theyappeartohavebeenstagemanagedsoas to allow theminister to get awaywithhalf-truths and lies. The subject of theprotestsandviolencethatsweptacrossthecountry after theCAAbarely foundmen-tioninthemdespitetheprotestsbeingadi-rectresultoftheHomeMinister’sspeeches.IntheseherepeatedlywarnedthattheCAAwas only a first step towards creating aNationalRegisterofCitizens.Hehasneverbeenaskedaboutthesespeechesorhisuglychoice of words like ‘termite’. It was theminister’s words that alarmed IndianMuslims andmade them fearful aboutproving their citizenship. So, they took tothestreetsinprotest.Theviolenceandchaosthat resultedwerebecauseof administra-tiveineptitude.Since Ihavebeenaccusedof shielding

Modi by shiftingblame, Iwant tomake itclearthat Ibelievehisadministrativeskillsare being rightly questioned.He becamePrimeMinisterwithmore administrativeexperience than any other, so nobodydoubtedhisabilitytogovern.Whythenwastheredisruptionandeconomiccollapsebe-forethepandemic?Covid-19appearsonlytohavedealtthefinalblow.Hisdevoteesas-sert that if Modi had not been PrimeMinister, therewould have been bodiespiled high in the streets of Delhi andMumbai.We do not know.Whatwe doknowisthatseriousmistakesweremade.Whatreasonwastheretogivefourdays

noticebeforedeclaringaJanataCurfewandjust four hours before imposing that firstnationwidelockdown?ThePrimeMinisterhasnotgivenanyinterviewssincethepan-demicarrivedorhewouldhavetoexplainothermistakes ofwhich themost seriouswastheinabilityofhisadministrationtoan-ticipatetheexodusofmigrantworkersfromour cities. TheHomeMinister has spokenforhim,andit issadthathelied.In oneof his recent interviewshe said

thattheideabehindgivingnonoticebeforethatfirstlockdownwastotryandkeepmi-grantworkersfromcarryingthevirusbacktotheirvillages.But,thenhetoldhisfirstlie.He said that full arrangements had beenmade for the suddenlyhomeless and job-lessworkerstobeprovidedshelterandfoodin the cities. Not true. Or theywould nothavebeendesperateenoughtostartwalk-inghome. The second lie hehas repeatedmore thanonce is that full arrangementsweremade for them to be transportedhome.Nottrue.Insteadof liesandhalf-truths,itwould

be better for the PrimeMinister and hisministerstohavethehumilitytoapologisefor the terrible suffering thatmillions ofIndians have endured. They suffered be-causeofadministrativefailuresonacrim-inal scale.Havinghadnearly twodecadesof administrative experience before be-coming PrimeMinister, these failures ofModi’sadministrationarebothsurprisingandveryworrying.Now that India is openingupwithout

‘flatteningthecurve’,wearegoingtoneedthePrimeMinister toreally lead.Hecouldbeginbyimplementingthosereformsthatpromisetomaketherevivaloftheeconomyeasier.Itishardtorememberableakermo-ment in recent Indianhistory.Ourhealth-careservicesareshowingsignsofcollapsedespitethelockdowns.And,itisgoingtobealongwhilebeforethewheelsoftheecon-omybeginto turnatenoughspeedtocre-atenewjobsandbringbackthosethathavebeenlostinthepastthreemonths.It is a time thatwill testModi’s leader-

shipandadministrativeskillstotheirfullest.This iswhy it is unfortunate thatwith thereturnofMrShah,wearebeginningtoseegamesofdirtypoliticsbeingplayedinstatesnot ruled by BJP governments. There areugly stories fromRajasthanandmurmur-ings fromMaharashtra. This is no time tostarttopplingstategovernments.

No moremistakesplease

FifthCOLUMNTAVLEENSINGHTwitter@tavleen_singh

Explorers who mappedGalwan’s lonely heights

ACROSSTHEbleakmountains and the in-hospitableheightsofLadakh,whereIndianand Chinese troops are now locked in astandoff, it isdifficult tobelievethata500-year-oldtradeontheoldSilkRoutebetweenLehandYarkand inChina’sXinjiang,wasthrivingasrecentlyas the late1940s.FromLeh, traders fromPunjabandKashmir setoffincaravanstoYarkandwithhorsesladenwithtea,saffron,spices,shawls,andindigo,whilefromtheothersidecametraderswithpreciousstones,carpets,brocadeandsilk.Fromthe19thcenturyonwards, as the

GreatGameunfoldedbetweenBritainandRussia for influence inAfghanistan, centralAsia and neighbouring regions, severalBritishandEuropeantravellersbegantoun-dertakeexpeditions intothe ‘heartofAsia’.Theymapped the region, learnt the lan-guagesof the locals, studied their cultures,sketched the landscapesand the floraandfauna,evenastheysussedout itspotentialfordiplomaticandcommercialbenefits.Thelastoftheseexplorers,andperhaps

most curious of them all, was NicholasRoerich, the famousRussianpainterwhowasaccompaniedbyhiswifeHelenaandtheirTibetologistsonGeorge.TheRoerichshadmoved toAmericabefore theRussianRevolution.Themissionwasapparentlyfi-nanced by the RoerichMuseum inNewYork.ThefinaldestinationwasTibet.Mystery and intrigue surrounded the

mission fromthestart. Travellersor spies?Soviet spies, orAmericans?Or just crazies,insearchofthemythicalShambala?Theex-peditionersestablishedabaseinDarjeeling,and firstmade forays intoSikkim.Roerichseniormadeanimpressionfromthestartinhismonkish-Buddhist robes andChinesecap.LaterthepartytookatrainfromHowrahtoRawalpindi,andfromthereacrossMurreetoSrinagarbyroad.AhaltofthreemonthsinSrinagarwent by in preparations for thejourneyaheadthroughLadakhtoXinjiang,andthroughmainlandChinaintoTibet.Theexpedition lasted fiveyears. ItwaskeenlyfollowedbytheUS,Russia,Britain,Germany,France,andintheeast,Japan.TheLehtoYarkandlegofthisexpedition

traversed the region that is presently thecauseof tensionsbetweenIndiaandChinainLadakh.ThejourneyisrecordedbyGeorgeNRoerich, inhis1931bookTrials to InmostAsia:FiveYearswiththeRoerichCentralAsianExpedition(YaleUniversityPress).Whatleapsoutthroughthebook’spages

istheeasyconfluenceoftheEastandWest,of IslamandBuddhism,and toa lesser ex-tent, Hinduism, in this hardly inhabited,tough terrain. Caravans are crossing eachotherallthetimewithdifferentlookingmen

andwomen,whospeakmanydifferentlan-guages.Atonepoint,theRoerichexpeditionpassesacaravanwithpilgrimsfromYarkandboundforMeccaviaSrinagarandBombay.In Leh, for instance, the “twoprincipal

bazaarsofthetownarethrongedbyamul-ticolored crowd”. There are Turks fromTurkestanwiththeirbalesofmerchandise.Tibetannomadsbroughtpashmina to selltoKashmiris, there is silk fromChina andKhotan.Thereturningcaravans“carryloadsof European-made goods: products ofManchester looms andBradfordwoolenmills, British andGermandyestuffs... andIndianproductsandspices,suchassaffron,which is exported ingreatquantities fromKashmirtoTurkestanandTibet.”Afterbuying30horsesfromaKarghalil

caravaneer, and36more fromanAfghantrader(atthepriceofRs76eachforahorse),and accompanied by a small army ofLadakhi porters, the expedition set off onSeptember19,1925. Their firstdifficult as-centwasKhardungLa,nowaselfie spot. Ittakes themfivedays to crossNubravalleyand reach the foot of Sasser La, oneof themostdifficultmountaincrossingsinthere-gion,eventhoughat17,500ft,itislowerthantheKarakoramPass.Roerich’sdescriptionoftheglacier-cov-

ered Sasser La is true to its reputation.Carcasses lie across it. Blizzards blow.Ditchedmerchandiseliesinaheap.Perhapsbecause of the difficulties of crossing it,traderslefttheirwares,secureintheknowl-edgethattheycouldcollectthemlater.This is where the Border Roads

Organisationhopestoconstructa“glaciatedroad”toprovideanalternativelinkbetweenLehandDaulatBegOldie(DBO),India’sfor-wardpostatthefootoftheKarakoramPass.At present the two are connected by theDarbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldieRoad, in-augurated last year, and now in Chinesesights,aftertheintrusionofPLAsoldiersintowhatwaspreviously anuncontestedpart

of theLACinGalwanValley.BeyondSasserLaisShyok,theriverand

valley, Depsang Pass and the Depsangplains.Onthe11thdayoftheirjourneyfromLeh,theexpeditioncrossedoverKarakoramPass,whichat18,694feet“wasverygradualandthepassitselfwasmorelikealowridgeonthesurroundinghighup”.RoerichdoesnotmentionGalwanValley,orDBO,thoughthe expeditionwould have crossed bothpointson itsway to thePass.DBO,namedafter a sultanof Yarkand, figures in earlierexpeditionsasastoppingpointforcaravans.It is unclearwhenGalwanValley got itsname.RecentarticlessayitisnamedafteraLadakhiofKashmiridescentcalledGhulamRasoolGalwan,whowaspartofmanyex-peditionsintheregion.Today,GoogleMapswillshowareimag-

inedversionoftheSilkroute—theChineseBelt andRoad Initiative—thathasalreadybeguntotakeshapeintheformidablenet-workofhighwaysthroughChinathatmeetatKashgarinXinjiang.Somebranchoffintocentral Asia,while one, numberedG314,heads south to link up with Pakistan’sKarakoramHighway that cuts throughGilgit-Baltistan,territoryclaimedbyIndiaaspartoftheerstwhilestateofJ&K.Totheeastis theG219 fromTibet toKashgar, throughAksai Chin, built in the1950sbefore IndianoticedthatChinahadnibbledoffJ&K’seast-ernear. East towest,Galwan toSiachen, is80kmmax.It’senoughtosettheheartrac-ing. Inothercircumstances, thisareacouldhave been romantically described as theplacewhereIndiameetsChinaandPakistan.Post-script:TheRoerichssettleddown

inNaggar, inHimachal Pradesh. After hisfather’s death, George and his mothermovedtoKalimpongwheretheylivedun-til1956,beforemovingtotheSovietUnion.Theyoungerson,Svetoslav,marriedIndianactor Devika Rani. They moved toBangalorewhere they lived a very publiclifeuntil theirdeaths.

RECENTLY,DURINGtheBlackLivesMatter(BLM) demonstrations over the death ofGeorge Floyd, a lot of ragewas expressedagainstracismandinjusticefacedbyBlackand ethnicminorities across theworld.Manymonuments and statueswere de-faced, pulled down, or damaged. AmongthemwasthestatueofMahatmaGandhi.InLondon’sParliamentSquare,theGandhiStatueunveiled inMarch2015by the lateArunJaitleysufferedonlyslightly—aslashof white paint and ‘racist’ written on itssteps. InWashingtonDC, therewasmoreserious damage and the statue had to be

coveredup.ThosetakingpartinBLMareyoung,an-

gry and quite correct to protest againstracialinjustice.Indeed,Gandhiwouldjointhem if hewas here now. The injusticesAmerica’s Black community has sufferedfor the last 400 years is a shameful story.Despitetheabolitionofslaveryinthe1860sandthecivilrightslegislationofthe1960s,the position of Black Americans remainsoneofpoliticalandeconomicdeprivation.UnlikeinIndia,votingrightsarenotuncon-ditionally universal. Even now, inmanystateswhere theRepublicans have ama-jority, the legislators invent newhurdleswhichmakevotingdifficultforBlackvoters.Thus,ifyouareBlack,yourrighttovotede-

pendsonwhereyoulive.Overhislifetime,Gandhisufferedalotof

abuseandevenafterhisdeath,72yearsago,thecriticismhasnotstopped.Hehasbeendenouncedbyfeminists,bythosechampi-oningDalitrights,accusedofcollaboratingwith theBritish, blamed for Partition andfavouringMuslims,calledacruelfatherandhusbandetc.Butwhyracist?AsineverycriticismofGandhi,theevi-

denceisinhisownwordswhicharecitedbyhiscritics.Theprincipalcriticismisthatdur-ing the Zulu rebellion in South Africa,Gandhi volunteered to create an IndianAmbulanceCorpsontheBritishside.Infact,theCorpswasaskedtorescueandnursein-jured Zuluswhowould have been neg-

lectedotherwise.TheinjuredZulusshowedgratitude by gestures but neither couldspeaktheother’slanguage.TheargumentisGandhishouldhavejoinedtheZulus’fight.Gandhi distinguishedbetween thenativeAfricans and thosewho had come fromIndia asmerchants or indentured labour-ers. Gandhi’s fightwas to assert the rightsof Indians, whom Queen Victoria hadpromisedequaltreatmentwithallherim-perialsubjectsinherDeclarationof1858.Later,Gandhidescribedsharingprison

cellwithsomeZulus.Ashewasthereforacivilian case and theywere for criminalones,he thoughtheshouldhaveseparatestatus. Hewas also intimidated by a bigZulu prisonerwho barged into the toilet

whereGandhiwasandliterallythrewhimout.Hewasshakenbutboreup.Thisisthenuboftheevidence.Hiscrit-

icsexpectGandhitohavebehavedlikewewouldtoday,andcombinethestrugglesofall oppressedgroups againstwhoever theoppressor power is. To expect a personfighting for rights of a sectionof people ahundredyearsagolikewewouldnowisnotjust utopian but anachronistic.We forgetthatwehaveconsciousnessof theseinjus-tices faced by oppressed people becauseGandhiledthefirstanti-imperialiststrugglewhichwassuccessful.Heclearedthepath-waywhichhastodaybecomeahighway.Ask Martin Luther King and

NelsonMandela.

Holding Gandhi to sensibilities of todayOut ofMYMINDMEGHNADDESAI

LASTWEEK,welearnedmoreaboutthegeography of India. Unfamiliar nameslike Galwan valley, Pangong Tso (lake)and Gogra, all in Ladakh, have enteredour living rooms.

IT IS INTRUSIONThe genesis of the current develop-

ments in the India-China relationshipcan be traced to the clashes that tookplaceatPangongTsoonMay5,andinthepreceding days. Although the govern-ment has never admitted that ChinesetroopsareinIndianterritory,thefollow-ing factsarecertain:

■Chinese troops in large numbershavemoved in at points inGalwan,HotSprings, Pangong Tso and Gogra inLadakhand inNaku La in Sikkimwhichare in Indian territory.

■Galwan in Ladakh andNaku La inSikkim have not, in the past, figured inany list of disputed or sensitive areas.China seems tohave enlarged the areasof dispute.

■China has begun amassive build-up on its side. India is matching thatbuild-upon its side.

■For the first time ever, talks wereled bymilitary generals on both sides.Hitherto, talks were helmed by diplo-mats of the two Foreign Services or theSpecialRepresentatives.

NO FULL-FLEDGEDWAR

It is difficult to believe that eitherChina or India would, at this point oftime, wish to aggravate the border dis-pute. The dispute goes back to the daywhentheMcMohanlinewasdrawnandit exploded into a full-fledged war in1962. True, there have been clashes be-tween the troops of the two countriesfrom time to time but never at a timewhenbothcountriesfacedmultiplenon-military challenges. Both countries arestill grapplingwith the Covid-19 crisis;both countries fear an economic reces-sion in 2020/2021; and both countrieswouldnotwishtojeopardizetheadvan-tages they have gained globally by en-suring“peaceful,stableandbalancedre-lations”betweenthem.Besides, while Chinamay be confi-

dent that it ismilitarilystronger in2020than in 1962, China knows that India isalsomilitarily stronger in 2020 than in1962. Unlike 1962, a war between thetwocountries in2020willnot throwupaclearwinner.Chinaexpertsareagreedthat whatever be the motivation forChina’s recent actions, it cannot be tostart a full-fledgedwarwith India.TalkstookplaceonJune6.Attheend,

thetwosidesissuedseparate ‘readouts’whichcontainedkeycommonwords—“differences” should not become “dis-putes”. So, there are differences, andthesedifferenceswerethereevenbeforeMay 5. What has happened in recentweeksormonthstotriggertheintrusionof Chinese troops into Indian territoryand extend the differences to areas

aboutwhichthere,apparently,werenodifferences in thepast, likeGalwanandNakuLa?Somethingsarecleareventolayper-

sons. Despite Wuhan (2018) andMahabalipuram (2019), PrimeMinisterModi and President Xi do not share awarmpersonalrelationship.MrXiistheonly leader whomMrModi does notgreetwithanembrace.Despitemeetingseveral times in the last six years, MrModi has not been able to achieve anynotable success in his interactionswithMrXi. India looks for gains in trade andinvestments; China remains transac-tional and has yielded nothing. Indiawishestoguarditsbackyard,ChinadoesnotrecogniseevenayardasIndia’sback-yard.ChinaploughsaheadwiththeRCEP,closer political and strategic ties withNepal, andeconomicgains inSri Lanka;India isata loss tocounter thesemoves.IndiaregainedMaldives’strust,butChinahas not given up yet. India has rebuffedChina’s exclusive claim to the SouthChinaSeaandasserted freedomof nav-igationininternationalwaters;Chinahasignored India as it has ignored all otherchallengers including theUnitedStates.

DEPSANG ORDOKLAM?Whatcouldbeconsideredasapeace-

ful resolution of the current dispute?India wants “restoration of status quoante” as on May 5. If that happens, it

could be another Depsang (2013)mo-ment.[IdeliberatelychoseDepsangoverDoklam (2017) and the defence estab-lishmentknows the reason.]China’sof-ficialpositionisthatthesituationis“sta-bleandcontrollable”which, inmyview,is theoppositeof statusquoante. Chinawill behappy if the statusquo ismain-tainedsubstantiallyandnottherestora-tionofstatusquoante.Markmywords,theelephant and thedragonare staringateachotherinGalwan,HotSpringsandPangongTso.Afterthetalks,Indiahintedatmutual

disengagement of troops, but retiredArmy generals dispute any disengage-mentyet.Mr Xi andMrModi share one com-

montrait.Bothwould like tobeunchal-lengedleaders.Sofar,bothhaveignoreddomesticcriticism,butcriticismisgrow-ing inbothcountries.MrModi is securefor another four years; Mr Xi is secureonlyaslongasthePolitburoandthePLAsupport him. The two leaders are play-ing by different rules. India has a tradi-tionoftotalsupporttothegovernmentinanycrisis,andthecrisisthrownupbytheIndia-China face-off will win for theModi government the same total sup-port. Insuchasituation,whateverbetheoutcome, thePrimeMinisterhasanob-ligation to be transparent and keep thenation fullyandtruthfully informed.The checkers game that China has

startedisamystery. Itsoutcomemaybe“ariddlewrappedinamysteryinsideanenigma”.

Dragon invites elephant to dance

Despite meeting severaltimes in the last six years, Mr

Modi has not been able toachieve any notable successin his interactions with MrXi. India looks for gains in

trade and investments; Chinaremains transactional andhas yielded nothing. India

wishes to guard its backyard,China does not recognize

even a yard as India’sbackyard. China ploughs

ahead with the RCEP, closerpolitical and strategic tieswith Nepal, and economic

gains in Sri Lanka; India is ata loss to counter these moves

AcrossTHEAISLE

PCHIDAMBARAMWebsite:pchidambaram.inTwitter@Pchidambaram_IN

ANYPOSITIVEchangeisresisted,especiallyone that promises to reorient society. Thepeoplewholoseprivilegesareshocked,andthosewho gain rights aren’t prepared toreap thebenefits. This flux is exploitedbythoseinpowerandtheirbiasesstartcreep-ingin,whichresultsinthemarginalisedbe-comingsecond-classcitizens.Let’s consider twomost impactful or-

gansof theIndianState:theexecutivearmofthegovernmentthatimplementsitspoli-cies, andtheRBIas thegoverningbodyforfinancialaccesstothemarginalised.Theexecutivehasremainedthebiggest

impediment in thedevelopment ofmar-ginalisedsections,consideringreservationpolicy as an encroachment on its entitle-ments.SinceIndependence,theyhaveen-sured that all policies for SCs/STs aredoomedtofail.Schemesintroducedinthelast 10 years for entrepreneurship are nodifferent.Let’s lookattheirshortcomings.The4%shareinthePublicProcurement

Policy(2012) isactuallyapurchaseprefer-encepolicy, andnot an affirmative actionpolicy.ItentailsthattheSC/STvendormeetsthe lowestprice criterion, therebyputtingthe new entrant on a parwithwell-en-trenchedfirms—ignoringtheoperationalcostdifferencebetweenthem.Thisexplainsthenegligible response fromSC/STentre-preneurs. The 2017-18 data— this is sixyearsafterimplementationofthepolicy—states that the shareof procurement fromMSMEs owned by SC/STs is 0.01%, or Rs442.52crore,againstthetotalprocurementofRs24,226.51crorefromMSMEs.Second, the Venture Capital Fund

(2014)wasenvisagedtoovercomethein-sistence on collateral by the banking sys-tem, that was an obstacle for first-timeSC/STentrepreneurs.Thebureaucracyde-signedtheVCFasdebtsupportagainstcol-laterals, with lower rates of interest.Ironically, itendedupcreatingobstacles itwassupposedtoremove.Third,thegoalofStandUpIndia(2016)

was to include SC, ST andwomen entre-preneurs. After 17months of launch, anRTIfiledbyTheIndianExpressrevealedthatthe banking systemhad provided StandUpIndialoansto5,852SCapplicants,1,761STand33,321general-categorywomen.AsofMarch2020,81%ofthetotalloans

havebeenavailedbywomen.Itwasforthisreason that bureaucrats had clubbedwomenwithSC/STs.Besidescapital, landbecomesakeycri-

teriaforSC/STentrepreneurshipasitcanbemortgagedwithlegacyfinancialinstitutions.In2016,onthe125thbirthanniversaryofDrAmbedkar,moststatescameoutwithapol-icyof reservingplots in their respective in-dustrialareas.Butthereservationwasonthenumberof plots andnot asper the sizeofplots.SothesmallestplotsgotreservedforSC/STs,irrespectiveofrequirement.Fourth, theRBIasanorganof theState

isanother failed institution forSC/STs.ThePrioritySectorLending (PSL) is theonly fi-nancial inclusion policy it has adopted.However,thecommitteesthatwereformedpost-1991toexaminePSLsoughttodilutePSLnorms, resulting incommercialbanksnotmeetingtheirtargetsandtheRBIturn-ingaNelson’seyetothisbreach.Bankshavebeenmandatedby theRBI

toreviewPSLatboardlevelonahalf-yearlybasis todetermine lending to themargin-alised.However, theRBI doesnot capturethedataatagranular level.Hence, there isnodatatoknowthecreditaccessforSC/STs.AccordingtoPSL’scommonguidelines,

records of receipt, sanction, rejection anddisbursementshouldbegiventotheinves-tigatingagency.TheRBI,tilldate,hasnotre-leasedany report analysing the reason forthe rejection of loans to SC/ST entrepre-neursandsuggestinganyremedialaction.Howdoweovercomethesebiases?Dr

AmbedkarsoughtreservationashewantedSC/STs to occupy the tablewhenpoliciesweremade. This can happen only if theSC/STyouthgetintocivilservicesattheageof22-23andnotintheir30s.TheScheduledCasteSub-Component

Plan(SCSP)&TribalSub-Plan(TSP) legis-lationmade itmandatory to have budg-etary allocations for SC/STs proportionaltotheirpopulation.However,theinabilityof elected representatives to object tonon-implementation of constitutionalsafeguards has allowed governments toreduce/misuse it.Themarginalisedhavetoestablishtheir

ownthinktanksthatequiptheirrepresen-tatives with hard data and analysis.Constitutional benefits are derivedwhensocietyworks for them. Caste is the realbaneofIndia;itwasanditstillremains.Let’sstrive tomake India inclusive and collec-tivelynurtureadream.

Thewriter isManagingDirector,BabasahebAmbedkarSocial

InnovationCouncilSurajYengde, authorofCasteMatters,

curates the fortnightly ‘Dalitality’ column

DalitalityARUNSKHOBRAGADEarunskhobragade@gmail.com

Organs of State havefailed the marginalised

NicholasRoerich(secondfromright)with JawaharlalNehru.WikimediaCommons

New Delhi

14THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

THEWORLDWWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

USA

MelaniadelayedmovingtoWashingtontorenegotiateprenup:bookUS FIRST Lady MelaniaTrump remained inNewYork during the firstmonths of her husband’spresidency because shewas renegotiating theirprenuptial agreement af-ter his surprise victory inthe2016election, accord-ing to a newbook. In thebook, The Art of Her Deal:TheUntoldStoryofMelaniaTrump,Mary Jordan, a re-porter forTheWashingtonPost,writesthatinthewayshemanages her image,Melaniaisfarmoresimilarto President DonaldTrump than people haverealised. But one of themost striking details thatJordan reveals is thatMelania used the presi-dent’swin inNov2016asanopportunity to solidifyher financial standing, forherselfandforthecouple’sson,Barron.

TOPOFTHEWORLD

CHINA

10killed,117injuredinoiltruckexplosionBeijing: Ten peoplewerekilled and 117 others in-jured when an oil tanktruckexplodedandveeredoff an expressway in eastChina’sZhejiangprovinceonSaturday,localauthori-ties said. The explosion,which occurred around4:40 pmnear LiangshanvillageinWenlingcity,hascaused the collapse ofsome nearby residentialhouses and factorywork-shopsalongtheShenyang-Haikou Expressway.Firefighters and rescuersare looking for possiblemissingpersonsinthede-bris, the state-runXinhuanewsagencyreported.

KOREANPENINSULA

NKoreawarnsofretaliationagainstSouthSeoul: The sister of NorthKorea’sleaderhaswarnedof retaliatorymeasuresagainst South Korea thatcouldinvolvethemilitary,in the latest escalation oftensions over defectorsfromtheNorthwhohavebeensendingbackpropa-ganda and food. Kim YoJong, who serves unoffi-cially as one of Kim JongUn’s top aides, issued thewarning in a statementcarried by news agencyKCNA. South Korea had,daysearlier,takenlegalac-tionagainstdefectorswhohave been sending riceandleaflets,usuallybybal-loon,overtheborder.

A BIZARRE CASE TAKES A GRISLY TURN

With the search for two children at an end, a community in Idaho mournsREBECCABOONEBOISE, JUNE13

WITHINAfewhours,agardenofmementosgrewoutsidetheruralcrime scene. Pinwheels, flowersandstuffedanimalsdottedafencenearwherepolicefoundremainsbelievedtobelongtotwochildreninabizarrecasethathascapturedattentionaroundtheworld.Forpolice,thegrislydiscovery

thisweekmarked a significantbreak inamonthslong investiga-tionintowhathappenedtoJoshua

“JJ” Vallow,whowas7whenhevanishedinSeptemberalongwithhis17-year-oldsisterTyleeRyan.Forrelatives,whosaidthere-

mains belong to the children,theirheartbreakwasmagnified.For cluster of small Idaho

towns,itwasthedenouementofonemysteryandthestartof an-other:Where are JJ and Tylee?Righthere, andyet irretrievablygone.Why are they gone? Thatmayneverbe fullyanswered.“I never thought it would

cometothis—Ididn’tthinktheyweredead,”saidTimaneeOlsen,

aspecialtycookiebakerwhohascloselyfollowedthecaseandaf-ter hearing about the bodies,plannedavigiltomournthekidswhodisappearedfromRexburg.The children’s mother, Lori

VallowDaybell, has been in jailsince February on felony childabandonmentandothercharges.Hernewhusband,ChadDaybell,was chargedwith concealing ordestroyingthebodiesafterpolicesearchedhispropertyTuesday.KayandLarryWoodcock, JJ’s

grandparents, worked formonths to keep the search for

kids in the limelight.Thecomplexcasetransfixed

the public with its ties to themysterious deaths of theDaybells’ former spouses andthecouple’sdoomsdaybeliefs.It beganwith Lori Daybell’s

brothershootingandkillingherestranged husband, CharlesVallow,insuburbanPhoenixlastsummer in what he assertedwas self-defence. Vallow wasseekingadivorce,sayingLoribe-lieved she had become a god-like figurewhowas responsiblefor ushering in the biblical end

times. Her brother, Alex Cox,died in December of an appar-entbloodclot inhis lung.Shortly after Vallow’s death,

Lori and the childrenmoved toIdaho,whereChadDaybelllived.He ran a small publishing com-pany, putting outmany fictionbookshewroteaboutapocalyp-ticscenarioslooselybasedonthetheology of The Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. Healso recorded podcasts aboutpreparingforbiblicalendtimes.He was married to Tammy

Daybell,whodiedinhersleeplast

Octoberofwhatherobituarysaidwerenatural causes. Authoritiesgrew suspicious when ChadDaybell married Lori just twoweekslater,andtheyhadTammyDaybell’s body exhumed inDecember.Theresultsof thatau-topsyhavenotbeenreleased.Police began searching for

Tylee and JJ in November afterrelatives raised concerns. Policesay the Daybells lied to investi-gators about the children’swhereabouts before quietlyleaving Idaho. Theywere foundinHawaiimonths later.AP

Atamemorial service forTyleeRyanandJoshua“JJ”VallowinIdahoFalls, Idaho,onFriday.AP

JUDYHUA&CATECADELLBEIJING, JUNE13

ABEIJINGdistrict put itself on a“wartime” footingandthecapi-tal banned tourism and sportseventsonSaturdayafteraclusterof novel coronavirus infectionscentred around amajorwhole-sale market sparked fears of anewwaveof Covid-19.Forty-five people out of 517

testedwith throat swabs at theXinfadi market in the city’ssouthwestern Fengtai districthad testedpositive for thecoro-navirus,ChuJunwei,adistrictof-ficial, toldabriefing.Nonewere showing symp-

toms of Covid-19, he said, butadded that 11 neighbourhoodsin the vicinity of the market,which claims to be the largestagriculturalwholesalemarketinAsia,hadbeenlockeddownwith24-hourguardsput inplace.“Inaccordancewiththeprin-

ciple of putting the safety of themasses andhealth first,wehaveadopted lockdownmeasures fortheXinfadimarketandsurround-

ingneighbourhoods,”Chusaid.The district is in a “wartime

emergencymode,”headded.The closure of the market

and new restrictions come asconcerns grow about a secondwave of the pandemic, whichhasinfectedmorethan7.66mil-

lion people worldwide andkilledmore than420,000.The entire Xinfadi market

was shut down at 3 am onSaturday,aftertwomenworkingat ameat research centre whohad recently visited themarketwere reported tohave thevirus.

Itwasnotimmediatelyclearhowtheyhadbeeninfected.OnSaturday,marketentrances

were blocked and police stoodguard. Beijinghadearlier haltedbeef andmutton trading at themarket andclosedotherwhole-salemarketsinthecity.REUTERS

REUTERSLONDON,PARIS, JUNE13

ANTI-RACISMPROTESTERS ral-lied again around Britain onSaturday,withscufflesbreakingout in London as counter-demonstrators also cameout toprotectmonumentstargetedfortheir links tocolonialhistory.In Trafalgar Square, police

separated two groups of about100 people each, one chanting“Black LivesMatter”, the otherracialslurs.Somegroupsjostled,tossed bottles and cans, and setoff fireworks, as riotpolicewithdogsandhorses linedup.Demonstrations have been

takingplacearoundtheworldover

the death of African AmericanGeorgeFloydinMinneapolisafterawhite policeman knelt on hisneckfornearlynineminutes.Several thousandpeopleral-

liedinParisonSaturday.Thepro-testers chanted “No justice, nopeace” and some climbed thestatueofMarianne,whoperson-ifies the French Republic, in thePlace de la Republique. In onebrief incident,riotpolice,presentin largenumbers, firedteargas.The outrage generated by

Floyd’s death has resonated inFrance, in particular in suburbswhererightsgroupssayaccusa-tions of brutal treatment byFrench police of residents of of-ten immigrant background re-main largelyunaddressed.

Beijing district in ‘wartimeemergency’after virus cluster atmajor foodmarket

COVID-19PANDEMIC

45peoplefromXinfadimarket—oneof thelargestagriculturalwholesalemarketsinAsia—testpositiveforcoronavirus

Outsidetheclosedmarket inBeijing.Reuters

Brazil’s Covid-19 deathtoll goes past Britain’s

Chaos at Kenya pop star’s funeralKisumu:HundredsofKenyansde-fied teargas and riot police onFriday to carry off the body of apopular singer, trying topreventaswiftburialunderrules forsus-pected coronavirus caseswhichthe crowd saidwould be disre-

spectful.FansofBernardObonyoswarmedthecemetery,prevent-ing the singer’s funeral fromtak-ingplace inKisumucity inwest-ern Kenya. The crowd removedthebodyfromthegraveyardandtookittoamortuary.REUTERS

REUTERSGENEVA,BRASILIA, JUNE13

BRAZIL’S COVID-19 death tollovertook Britain’s on Friday tobecome the second highest intheworldwith41,828dead,buttheWorld Health Organizationsaid the nation’s health systemwasstandinguptothepressure.“Thesystemassuchfromthe

dataweseeisnotoverwhelmed,”theWHO’s top emergencies ex-pertDrMikeRyansaid,withfew

areas of Brazil usingmore than80% of their hospitals’ intensivecarebedcapacity.Brazil clearlyhashotspots in

heavily-populatedcities,hesaid,but overall its health system iscopingwith theworld’s secondworstnumberof infections.The Ministry of Health re-

portedonFridayacumulativeto-talof 828,810confirmedcasesofcoronavirus,with25,982newin-fections in the last 24hours, andanother909deaths,numberssec-ondonlytotheUnitedStates.

Protestersarguewithcounterprotesters inLondononSaturday.Reuters

Rival protesters scuffle in London;several thousands rally in Paris

Atlanta policeshoot, killsuspect whoresisted arrest

ASSOCIATEDPRESSATLANTA, JUNE13

AUTHORITIES IN Georgia say amanwho resisted being takenintocustodybyAtlantapoliceaf-terfailingafieldsobrietytesthasbeenshotandkilled.The Georgia Bureau of

Investigation said it was askedby the Atlanta PoliceDepartment to investigate theshooting, which happened at aWendy’s restaurant lateFriday.Numerousvideosposted to

social media sites showed asmall crowd gathered at thesceneandprotesting thepoliceshooting.Officerswere responding to

a complaint of aman in a vehi-cleparkedinthedrive-thruwhowas asleep, causing customerstodrivearoundthevehicle.Afterhefailedafieldsobriety

test, the officers attempted toplace theman into custody, ac-cording to theGBI. But he resis-tedandastruggleensued, lead-ing theofficer todeployaTaser.The GBI saidwitnesses saw

the man grab the Taser awayfromtheofficer.“It has also been reported

that themale subjectwas shotby an officer in the struggleover theTaser,” theGBIsaid inastatement.Themanwastransportedto

a local hospital where he diedafter surgery, the statementsaid. The GBI later identifiedhim as 27-year-old RayshardBrooks of Atlanta.One officer was treated for

an injury and discharged fromthe hospital.The officer involved in the

shooting was not identified.Once its investigation is com-plete, the case will be turnedovertotheFultonCountyDistrictAttorney’sOffice for review.

ASSOCIATEDPRESSWASHINGTON, JUNE13

US PRESIDENT Donald TrumpsaidFriday thathe is reschedul-ing his first campaign rally inmonths toaday laterso itwon’tconflictwiththeJuneteenthob-servanceof theendof slavery intheUnitedStates.Trump had scheduled the

rally—hisfirstsinceearlyMarch—forJune19inTulsa,Oklahoma.Black leaders said it was offen-sive for Trump to pick that dayandthatplace,acitythatin1921wasthesiteofafieryandorches-tratedwhite-on-blackattack.Trump tweeted late Friday,

“Many of myAfrican Americanfriends and supporters havereached out to suggest that weconsiderchangingthedateoutofrespectforthisHoliday.”Hesaidhewasmoving the rally to June20“tohonourtheir requests.”Trump’s signature rallies of-

ten draw tens of thousands ofpeople but have been on hiatussince March 2 because of thecoronavirus pandemic, whichhas now killed more than110,000people in theUS.

JUNETEENTH,ORJune19, isaholidaythatmarks theendofslaveryintheUS.ItwasonJune19, 1865, that slaves atGalveston, Texas, were toldtheyhadbeensetfree.Thedatehasgoneontobecomeanan-nualdayof celebrationacrosstheUS.ThedecisionbyTrump,whohasplayeddownnation-wide protests against policetreatmentofblackAmericans,to hold a rally on June 19 inTulsa,Oklahoma,drewirenotjustbecauseofthesignificanceofthatday,butalsobecauseoftheplace.In1921,whitemobsattackedblackbusinesses inTulsa, killing300people. Theidea of holding a campaignrallyinTulsaonJune19iswhatcaused theuproar,which re-sultedinthereversal.

Why theplancauseda furore

Trump reschedulesTulsa campaignrally after uproar

1st Sikh woman to graduatefrom US Military AcademyRosewell: The United StatesMilitaryAcademyatWestPointwill make history Saturdaywhen it graduates thefirst Sikh woman tosuccessfully completethe path to a four-yeardegree.Second Lt. Anmol

Narang, is a second-generationimmigrant born and raised inRoswell,Georgia. ShegraduatesfromWestPointwithadegreein

nuclearengineering.Shehopestopursueacareer

inairdefencesystems."I am excited and

honouredtobefulfillingmydreamofgraduatingfrom West Point,”Narang said in a newsrelease from the Sikh

Coalition, a nonprofit based inNewYork thatworks to protectthe constitutional right to prac-tice faithwithout fear.AP

US transgendercivil rightsprotections inhealth care tobe taken away

MARGOTSANGER-KATZ&NOAHWEILANDWASHINGTON, JUNE13

THETRUMPadministrationonFriday finalised a regulationthat will erase protections fortransgender patients againstdiscriminationbydoctors,hos-pitals and health insurancecompanies, amoveannouncedonthe four-yearanniversaryofthemassacreatagaynightclubin Orlando, Florida, and in themiddle of PrideMonth.Therule,whichdoesnotdif-

fermuch fromaproposed ver-sionreleased lastyear, ispartofa broad Trump administrationeffort across multiple areas ofpolicy tonarrowthe legal defi-nition of sex discrimination sothat it doesnot includeprotec-tions for transgender people.The 2010 Affordable Care

Act established broad civilrights protections in healthcare, barring discriminationbased on race, colour, nationalorigin, sex, age or disability in“any health program or activ-ity” that receives federal finan-cial assistance.The Obama administration

interpretedtheprovisionaboutsex discrimination to includediscrimination on the basis of“gender identity”.NYT

NY bans chokeholds, approvesother measures to restrict policeNewYork:NewYorkonFridaybe-cameoneofthefirststatestotakemeaningfulactiontorestrictpo-lice forces after the killing ofGeorgeFloyd,banningtheuseofchokeholds by lawenforcementandrepealingahalf-century-oldlaw thathas keptpolicediscipli-naryrecordssecret inthestate.Governor Andrew Cuomo

signed theexpansivepackageofbills less than threeweeks afterFloyd’sdeathat thehandsof thepolice inMinneapolis,whichhassincesparkedwidespreadcivilun-rest anddemonstrations against

policebrutalityandracism.NewYorkCityalso took ten-

tativestepstowardmeetingpro-testers’ calls to “defund the po-lice.”OnFriday, theCityCouncilspeaker,CoreyJohnson,saidtheCouncilhadidentified$1billionin cuts to the PoliceDepartment’s $6billionbudget,and would urge Mayor Bill deBlasiotoagree inadvanceof theJuly1budgetdeadline.DeBlasiorejectedtheproposal,whileindi-catingthathewasopentofurthernegotiations over the size of thePoliceDepartment.NYT

New Delhi

T H E S U N D A Y E X P R E S S M A G A Z I N EJUNE 14, 2020 | WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM | PAGE 15

‘This isabattleaboutthefuture’In an exclusive interview, Chinese contemporary artist and dissident Ai Weiwei talks about how the pandemic has strengthened

state powers, why the West struggles to understand China and how he lost his voice in solitary confinement

Vandana Kalra

ONINSTAGRAM,yourecentlywrote: ‘TheCOVID-19pandemicisahumanitariancrisis. Itchallengesourunderstandingofthe21stcenturyandwarnsofdangersahead.’Couldyouelaborate?The coronavirus pandemic has revealed

someveryspecificcharacteristicsofthistime.First,thisisaglobalissue.Itwastriggeredandspread early on by China and then spreadeverywhereelse.Similaroutbreakshavehap-penedbeforeinChinaandotherregions,suchasinAfricaandEurope,butneverhasitspreadallover insuchafashion.Second, thediseasehaslockeddowntheglobaleconomy.Nocountryhascomeoutwiththerightor

clear response to this disease. The conse-quences of the pandemic are still unknown.We do not know if it will come back, orwhether another similar crisismight occurduring or after COVID-19—what is ongoingintheUnitedStatesisanexample.ThatiswhyIsayitisahumanitariancrisis,ratherthanbe-ingasimplevirus.

ThemotifsonthemasksfromyournewAiWeiweiMaskprojectcomefromyouriconicworks—therebelliousmiddlefinger,thesurveillancecamera.Doyoufeelthepandemicisalsoimpactedbytheinfringementonfreespeechandhumanrights,particularlywithregardtohowChinahasrespondedtothecrisis?Anykindof crisismaybringaboutdiffer-

entoutcomes,butalmostallcrisesallowthosein power to increase their . . . control in thenameofmaintainingstability,andthepeoplebecomeevenweaker. Often, the first task ofany power—whether democratic, authori-tarianorotherwise—afterstrengtheningtheircontrol is to coverupor control information,to suppress free speech, independent voicesand the independent press.Now,more thanever,thefreedomofspeechandhumanrightsare under attack globally. State surveillancehas becomemuchmore sophisticated, suchaswhat is happening in Chinawhere everycitizenhas been logged into the systemandidentifiedthroughbigdata.Inhumanhistory,we have never had such awell-tuned andwidespreadsystemwherenobodyisexemptfromsurveillance.I livedunder thepressureof a society that

lacksjusticeandfreespeech.Asanartist,Ihavefought for freedomof expressionandagainstauthoritariansocieties.Thatiswhymyso-callediconicworksstillreflectthecurrentcondition.

YouwereinRomeinFebruary,directinga

productionofGiacomoPuccini’sTurandot,whenthingsbeganshuttingdowninItaly. InoneofyourInstagramposts,youwrote: ‘Coronavirusislikepasta:theChineseinventedit,buttheItalianswillspreaditallovertheworld’.Thatwasa jokean Italian friend toldme.

It reflects an interesting point: Italywas thefirst European nation to sign on to China’sBelt-and-Road Initiative. That policy hasboundtheItalianpoliticalsituationtightlytoChina. It is not because both nations lovepasta, but rather because they both have tosurvive. China provides an opportunity andthishasworkedwell,ensuringitsideologyissharedalongsidethedividedandbrokenval-uesof theEuropean foundation.The Italianswere themost badly affected before theUK,France,Spain,andothernationsinEurope.Wewereattheendstagesofrehearsalsfor

Turandot. Ironically, the opera is about aChineseprincesswhoattractedadmirersfromall over theworld, intent onmarrying her. Itreflectsthecurrentconditionsowell.Chinaisso beautiful, but also cruel. None of the suit-orssucceed,butonemanstill tries.

YouarealsoworkingonadocumentaryonCOVID-19withyourteaminWuhan.Tellusaboutit.Myfirstdocumentarywasmadelongbe-

fore I became apolitical or cultural figure. ItwascalledEat,Drink,andBeMerry(2003)andfilmed during the SARS outbreak. That filmgavemethepleasureofrecordinghumanso-ciety’s behaviour, including its politics anddailylife,howsocietyreactstodanger,death,lovedonestakenawayandneverseenagain.So, those thingsyouwouldnever seeduringpeacefulor“normal”timesarealwaysclearlyreflectedintimesofcrisis.Thatismostattrac-tive for anyonewho is trying to understandmore about themselves and their relation totheirtimeandenvironment.Thefilmisnotapoliticalstatement.There

isnoargumentinthefilm.It isthemosthon-est presentation I canmake aboutWuhan. IamChinese and I knowChina verywell.Mymomand relatives are still in China. By nomeansdo Iwant China to behurt, but at thesametimeIwantChinatolearnwhatkindofmistakesithasmadeduringthispandemic.

WhilethereisanongoingtradewarbetweentheUSandChina,doyouthinkthefeudovercoronavirusandtheglobalbacklashagainstChinawillaltertheworldorderorbringchangeinChina?China is a fast-rising political and eco-

nomicpower,instrongcompetitionwiththeWestandespeciallytheUnitedStates.TheUS

has sensed the challenge. China is aTransformer-likecreaturethattheWestcannotfullyimagine.Itemploysastate-capitalistsys-temwith communist tactics. It ismultifunc-tional, impossible todescribe, andcannotbemeasuredwith the same standards. At thesametime,itisunderthemostrestrictedcon-trolanddrivenbyaclearvisionandpurpose.The so-called newworld order is driven

byacorporate-authoritarianideology.Underthis kind of thought, China, India, Brazil,Mexicoandotherplacesarenecessaryforthegrowthof theso-calledglobaleconomy,butreallyitisaboutviciouscapitalism,greed,anda lackofprinciples.TheUSunder thecurrent administration

hasclearlyillustratedthepossibledangerwithChina,butagaintheargumentis:Whoisfirst?Under this idea of “America First,” the only

thing theyare still trying toprotect is the su-periority of one superpower over another.Thereisnophilosophicalthinking,nohuman-itarianvaluesdiscussed, rather theyaresim-plyusingitasatactictoattackoneanother.Today, with the most unimaginably

capital-manipulatedworld,ChinaisnolongerChina,justastheUnitedStatesisnolongertheUnited States. China has successfully inte-grateddeeply intotheworldeconomy. Ithasinvestedheavily in future technologyand itsinterests are represented in theUS govern-mentandonWallStreet.Thatwillnotchangeaslongasthereisprofittobemade,andChinawill continue to offer profit to the investorclass.Thisisnotaboutwhoisfirstorwhowilldominate,butratherabattlefieldaboutwhatkindof futurewearestepping intoandwhatkindofcrisesawaitus.

Whatistherolethatartistsshouldplayatatimelikenow?Whoistheartist?Arealartistshouldques-

tion that role, if that role exists. The artistshouldquestionthatroleeveryday.Anartistisnota firefighter, oradoctorworking in theintensive-careunit.Anartistisconcernedwithhumanawareness,emotionandimagination.Any artistwho doesn’t care about the crisisoursocietyisfacingisnotanartist,butsome-onedecorating and trying to profit from theexistingrottensystem.

YouareworkingonadocumentaryabouttheHongKongprotests.HowdoyouperceiveChina’snewnational-securitybillonHongKong?I have been repeating the samemessage

sinceI leftChinain2015andbegantopayat-tentiontotheglobalflowofrefugees…ChinawillnevergiveupHongKong. It isnotamat-terofhonourorpride,butoneofdeepprinci-ple. Just as China will also never give upTaiwan. Theywill takecontrol byanymeansnecessary. It isanauthoritarianstatesoithaspropagandaandthemilitary,butbesidesthatChinahasnootherskillstoachievethis.Itjustsohappensthosetwothingsareoftenenough.I don’t think international outcrywill affectChina. If it did, China’s brutal regimewouldhave been stopped during the clash atTiananmen Square 31 years ago. Both theWestandChinaunderstandthis.

You,too,havebeendisplacedfromyourcountry.Asapoliticaldissident, it isunsafeforyoutogoback,butdoyoueverfeeltheurge?Duringyourchildhood,yourfather(poetAiQing)wasdeclaredanenemyofthepeopleandsenttoalabourcamp,whereyou,yourmotherandyourbrotherstayedwithhim.Howdidthatexperienceshapeyou?Safety,asenseoffamilyandsocialdistance

wereneverissuesforme.Iwasbornindangerandgrewupinit. Idon’tknowwhatsafetyis.TheonlyunsafeareasarewhenIseecorrup-tionandblindness inhumanity’s intellectualstate. That presents a clear danger. Not thevirus, notmafias, not international corpora-tionsorpoliticalstructures.Iamperfectlysafeinmymind.Nothingcandestroythat.I don’t think it isunsafe formetogoback

toChina.Ididfeelunsafewhentheyputmeinsolitary confinement andmy voice disap-peared. It isnotthat Iwantotherstohearmyvoice,but that Ineedtohearmyvoice, toseethesocialresponseandtorecognisemylifeasa humanbeing. Very often this ismisunder-stood.Iftheyarrestme,Idon’tthinkIwouldbeunsafe.Myunderstandingofwell-beingisalso

different.

In2011,youwerearrestedandheldfor81dayswithoutcharge.Ibelievewhenyoutoldyourinterrogatorsthatyouareanartist, theydidnotbelieveit.I don’t blame the interrogators because

theycomefromamilitarybackground.Theywouldnotbelievethatsomeonemakingsun-flower seeds is an artist. It is not only the in-terrogatorsthatdon’tbelievetheyareart;myownmother doesn’t believe it either. Everytimeshementionsmywork,shecan’tholdinher laughter. She is proud that I have beenbraveandfoughtforthosewhohavenovoice,butshecan’tbelievewhatIhavedoneisart.The natural conclusion that the Chinese

authoritiesreachedwasthatIwasmadepop-ularbecauseIrepresentWesternideologyandanti-Chinaforcesweretryingtopromoteme.I tried to explain to them that therewas nosuchthingasanti-Chinaforcesbecause…be-inganti-ChinawasnotpracticalasChinawasgetting bigger and stronger. That said, in theWest,manyintheestablishedcontemporaryartsystemareeithercriticalorhesitanttowardsomeonelikemebecauseIamnotplayingthegame as they understand it. I amnot one oftheirsoldiersandproudnottobe.

Since2005,youhaveactivelyuseddigitalmediaplatformstocommunicatewithviewers.Thelockdown,too,hasseenseveralpostsfromyou,includinganimageofanewsculpture.Whatroledoessocialmediaplayforyou?Goodquestion,itseemsyouknowmewell.

Fewwouldname2005asmystartingpoint.Before that, Iwasdoingarchitectureandwaswell-knowninthatcircle.Beforethat,Iwascol-lectingChineseantiquities,publishingunder-groundbooksandcuratingartexhibitions.2005isthemostimportantyear.Icancon-

sider itmybirth year. I touched a computerandlearnedhowtotype.Today,Ispendmorethan60percentofmyenergyonline;90percentofmyinterestisinsocialmedia.Evenso,I still knowvery little. I’veneverusedWeibo,for instance, but still socialmedia consumessomuchofmyenergy and imagination. It isaboutexpressionandcommunication.Thesetwoarethefundamentalstructuresofmyex-istence. Through expression, I seemy exis-tence.Throughcommunication,Iseeanindi-vidual, someone you can identify with oroppose. That ismy total environment andnothing ismore important thanwhat socialmediahasgiventomyidentity,existenceandrecognitionof theself.

Full interviewonwww.indianexpress.com

INTERVIEW

Stranger Things’Megha Majumdar on her debutnovel & growing up in Kolkata

NOT LOOKING AWAY(Clockwise from top) Ai Weiwei left China in2015 and now lives in Cambridge, UK; masksfrom the Ai Weiwei Mask project; Law of theJourney (2016) was a hat-tip to the refugee

crisis; and a detail from his 2013 work,S.A.C.R.E.D (Ritual)

SPOTLIGHT

By the PeopleAs anti-racist protests spread acrossAmerica, could this be the moment ofreckoning for leaderless movements?

ALLIMAGESCOURTESYAIWEIWEISTUDIO

New Delhi

Hazare.Atransitionbeganwiththe2012anti-rapeprotests.Similarly,atthetail-endof2019,itwasagroupofunknownfaces,notapoliti-calparty,thatharnessedInstagramandSignaltocoalesceangeragainsttheNationalRegisterofCitizensandtheCitizenship(Amendment)Act,notapoliticalparty.Thefactthatonecouldrarely recognise the speakeron theShaheenBaghstagespokeofthis.Butwasthehorizon-talnatureastrengthoraweakness?“Leaderlessmovementsarelikelytoarise

when the issue is not takenupby themain-streampoliticalactors.Theanti-CAAprotestswereamomentofweakopposition,contrast-ing to themid-’70s.What socialmedia gavethemovementwas that it could growby akind of replication. You began to seemini-Shaheen Baghs everywhere,” says PratapBhanuMehta,director,CentrePolicyResearch.Movingforward,therelationshipbetween

centralised politics and horizontal move-mentsmaychange.AsmyInstagramtimelinebecame floodedwith first-hand footage ofangeronAmerican streets over thekillingofFloyd, I see a new tangibleness: posts aboutthecivilianmembersofLosAngeles’BoardofPoliceCommissioners,thetimingofAtlanta’supcoming city council budgetmeeting andthe budget negotiation process and detailsaboutNewYork’spoliceunioncontract.Ialsoseemassive community financing of bailfundsandlocalorganisations.As a result,mainstreammedia and local

politicians are debating a concept thatwas

rarely even entertained in households threeweeksago:defundingthepolice.“Wearesee-ingthingsthatwouldn'thavebeenconcededever before ... it takes a highly disruptiveprotesttopushauthoritiestothinkweneedtodothis,”saysPaoloGerbaudo,authorofTweetsandtheStreets (2012).Nonetheless, internallynegotiatingthese

demandsisstillmessy.Atthebeginningofthemonth, a trendinggraphicof eightpolice re-formscalled#8CantWaitreceivedsignificantbacklashfromothersinthemovement.Criticsreplaced itwith an#8toAbolition trendinggraphic, arguing that some#8CantWait re-formswouldactuallyincreasefundingforpo-lice.Thereformist-abolitionistargumentwasliveonsocial-mediafeeds.Thetacticsaremessy,too.OnJune2,BLM

supporterspostedblack squareson their so-cial media with the hashtag#BlackoutTuesday.Seeingthatthesesquareswerealsotagging#blm,prominentsocialme-dia personalities quickly tried to spread themessage that the trend (with unknownori-gins)was counter-effectively drowning outinformativeprotestcontentontheirhashtagfeed. Itwasas if the “wisdomof thecrowds”had taken awrong turn, and select driversweretryingtoreel it theotherway.Themovements are re-envisioning how

to coordinate change outside of formal poli-tics. Indeed, just as theanti-CAAprotestsdidnot have theDelhi elections at its forefront,theoutburstofBLMprotestsintheUShasnotfocussedontheNovembernationalelections.“So thebottomline is this: ifwewant to

bringabout real change, then thechoice is-n’tbetweenprotestandpolitics,”USformerPresident Barack Obamawrote in a June 1Medium article. “We have to do both. Wehavetomobilisetoraiseawareness,andwehavetoorganiseandcastourballotstomakesure that we elect candidates whowill acton reform ...”Thisprocesswon’t fitprevious formulae

andwillprobablycontinuetobemessy.Buthowmovementsof thenextdecademanageintheirownuniquewaytonavigatenewde-cision-making structures could be one oftheirmostmemorable trademarks.

Anushree Majumdar

THECONVERSATIONbeginsthewaymostofthemdothesedays—“hopeyou’reathome”—with assurances quickly given over thephonecall that connectsus fromMumbai toMajorca,Spain,wherePrashantNairliveswithhiswife and daughter. Though the call hasbeenmade to congratulate himandtalkabouthislatestfilm,TrystwithDestiny,whichwasawardedBestScreenplaybyanonlinejuryof the Tribeca Film Festival,shelvedbecauseofCOVID-19,themood ismore bittersweet thancelebratory.“It’shardtosaywhenanybodywill get towatch it. Butthere are far bigger issues goingon, so getting some recognitionhas been good for the teamandforme, becausewe’re still putting finishingtouchesonthefilm,”saysNair.An Indo-French production, Tryst with

Destiny, isNair’s third feature filmafterDelhiinaDay(2012)andUmrika(2015),whichwonthe audience award in the InternationalCompetitionatSundanceFilmFestival.Anan-thology that takes its name from JawaharlalNehru’slandmarkspeechmadeontheeveof

India’s Independence, Nair stitches togetherthree stories that explore aspiration, desireandgreedtoshowushowsocio-economicin-equalitiesworkatdifferent levelsacrosssec-tions of Indian society. “There’s a billionairewhocomesacrossaproblemhismoneycan’tsolve;a lower-castecouple inUPattemptstorebuild anew life for their family; anda cor-ruptcitycopwhosemistressdemandsbetter

housing if they have to stay to-gether.Asawhole,it isaboutthatcontrast,whichiswhatdrawsmetothesestories,”hesays.Born in Chandigarh to diplo-

mat parents, Nair was raised inSudan, Switzerland, Syria,Zambia and Austria; he studiedelectrical engineering in the US,and,in2001,hefoundedasocial-media consultancy firm, whichhe quit tomake films. From his

very first filmabout a rich southDelhi fam-ily and their domestic workers, toUmrika,where thedreamtoseetheLandof theFreetakes hold of a family living in a village, toTryst...Nair’sengagementwithdeep-rootedsystemicinequalitieshasbeenconsistent. In2019, he directed two episodes of AmazonPrime’sMade in Heaven, a show that ex-plored thedisparities of gender andclass in

Karishma Mehrotra

SOMANYoftheimagesandvideosfromthepeople’sprotestsincitiesacrossthecountry... framemostlyyoung,mostlyanonymouspeoplewho took to the streets mostly

peacefully.” This line from The IndianExpress’s editorial on December 20, 2019could also frame the protests happeningrightnowintheUSoverthekillingofGeorgeFloydbyawhitepoliceofficer.Instagramtimelinesfloodedwithvideos

from the Black LivesMatter (BLM) protestsintheUS—whereIwasraised—harkentoamoment not so long ago here in India.Besides the occasional high-profile speechofyoungpoliticianssuchasKanhaiyaKumarorChandrashekharAzadbetweenDecember2019andFebruary2020,mymemoryrecallsaseaofanonymousfacesonthestreets,withnocentralised leader in theirmidst.Past formulaedictate thatprotestsmust

have a spokesperson.What is the agenda?Whocantheestablishmentnegotiatewith?Where is the Martin Luther King, theMalcolm X, the Jayaprakash Narayan, theAnna Hazare? It’s a question at new cross-roads:Without centralised decision-mak-ing,canmovementsinthenextdecadecon-vert anger on the streets into collectivereformgoals?In 2011, theworldwatched Arab Spring

andOccupyWallStreet,championingthepo-tentialofsocialmedia.Timemagazinewrotein“TheYearof theProtestor”:“Almostalltheprotests this year began as independent af-fairs,withoutmuchencouragementfromorendorsementbyexistingpoliticalpartiesoroppositionbigwigs.”Optimists argued that previousmove-

ments helmed by leaders gave the govern-mentmoreopportunities “to focuson them,topickthemoff,toarrestthem,killthem,den-igrate them. ” In The Leaderless Revolution(2011),CarneRosswrites,“Leaderlessprotests,conversely,aremoredifficult torepress.”However,adecadeofArabSpring,Occupy,

Nirbhaya,#MeToo,YellowJackets,anti-CAA,

HongKong, and the recentwaveof BLMhasbrought a disenchantmentwith socialme-dia.TahrirSquareisago-toexample,whereafocus only on the overthrow of PresidentHosniMubarakprovidedavacuum,hijackedbyanotherphaseofdictatorship.In a 2014 article, University of California,

Berkeley’ssociologyprofessorCihanTugalre-calledthismomentasthe“endoftheleader-less revolution”: “It spells the endof the fal-lacy that ‘people’s power’ can result from ascenewithoutanagenda,analternativeplat-form, an ideology, and leaders ...; disorgani-sationrunsrampantandisevenreproducedbyactiviststhroughacultof leaderlessness.”Theheadlessbeast suffered from“tacti-

cal freeze”,writesZeynepTufekci inTwitterandTearGas (2017). “In thepast, organisingbig protests required gettingmany peopleand organisations to plan together before-hand, whichmeant that decision-makingstructures had to exist in advance of theevent, building the network internalitiesalong the way. Now, big protests can takeplace first, organised bymovements withmodestdecision-makingstructuresthatareoftenhorizontal andparticipatorybutusu-ally lack ameans to resolve disagreementsquickly... leaderlessnessgreatlylimitsmove-ments’ capacity to negotiate when the op-portunity arises.”InIndia,the“leader”carrieshistoricalheft

— fromtheGandhian imageexported to theworld to more recent resonance in Anna

thenorth Indianweddingmarket.“Asa filmmaker, I feel responsible totell

certain kinds of stories. The idea forTryst...came in 2018, when several eventsthat year challenged the secular fabric ofthecountry.Assomebodywhospentmostof his life abroad, explaining India to otherpeople, I alwaysknewthatourcountryhasits fair share of problems, but I’ve alwaysbeen proud of the idea of India, of the sec-ular values it was founded on,” says Nair,who read Nehru’s speech in its entiretyaround that time.“He talks about striving towards reduc-

ing inequality, and how therewould be ‘noresting for any of us until wemake all thepeopleof Indiawhatdestinyintendedthemtobe’.Thatstayedwithme.Thestories,someofwhicharebasedonrealones,cametomymind as a portrait ofwhoweare as a coun-try right now,” says Nair, who shot the filmwith an incredible cast consisting of AshishVidyarthi, Suhasini Maniratnam, VictorBanerjee,LilleteDubey,ViineetKumar,Kani

Kusruti, JaideepAhlawatandPalomiGhosh.Initially, Nair wanted to shoot a full-

lengthfeature.“TheEconomisthadanarticlein2012,whereinasurveyofaUPdistrict,41per cent of upper-castemen thought itwasalrighttorapelower-castewomen.ButIdid-n’t want to just address sexual violence, Iwanted to show tenderness as well, so Iwrote it aspartof theanthology,”hesays.Nair is currently writing, directing and

showrunningaweb-seriesbasedonShekharandNeelamKrishnamoorthy’smemoir,Trialby Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar FireTragedy(2016,onthe1997cinema-hallfireinDelhi).“Theylosttheirtwochildrenandem-barkedona20-year-longfighttosecurejus-tice.Thejudicialsystemisdesignedtobebu-reaucraticandinaccessible—it’sdesignedtowear you down.What’s incredible is thattheyarestill fighting. It’san importantstorytotellbecausethejudicialsystemistheback-bone of any country. How dowe set rules,howdowerespondtothem?Iwantedtoex-plore that,”hesays.

TO GATHERAND TO

REMEMBERMarchers carry abanner depicting

George Floyd duringa protest in

Minneapolis, USA

BACK TO THETHE

BEGINNING(Clockwise from

above) Nair; the castof his new film Tryst

with Destiny; theposter of the film

S P O T L I G H T16EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 14, 2020

RanjitLalRanjit Lal isanauthor,environmentalistandbirdwatcher

DOWNINJUNGLELAND

FORTHElast fewweeks, I’vebeenhavingguestsoverfor lunch,asmanyas15of themsometimes,enjoyingabajrabuffetoutsidethediningroom,courtesytheparakeetsupstairs,whoseemtospill

morethantheyconsume.They’reagroupof sweetly-be-haved,dusky,scaly-breastedmunias(neespottedmunias,or“tilyar”munias)whichonlyreallyseemtoshowofftheirchainmailchestswhenthesunfallsuponthem.Theyfeedindustriously,cheepingtooneanother,everreadytotakeflightattheslightestsignsof trouble.Mostlytheir feedingmannersareimpeccable, thoughIhaveno-ticedthatevenwithinthisgroup,thereseemstobeahier-archyinoperation:oneortwodominantbirdswilldriveawayothers inamannertotallyunbecomingofotherwisesweetbirds.Byandlarge,muniasseemtobeanaffectionatelot.

I’veseensilverbills (neewhite-breastedmunias)canoodleandtheyseemveryconcernedaboutthesecurityof theirchicks.AtSultanpurNationalPark,weoncecameacrossasilverbill’snestbuiltdeepintheheartofprobablythemostferociouscactusgrowinginHaryana.Howthepar-entsenteredandexitedtheirhomewithoutskeweringthemselveswasamysteryandIreally felt forthechicks.Anotherpairof scaly-breastedmunias(theirother

aliases,nutmegmanikinandspicefincharesomuchnicer)tookamoreingeniousapproach.Theysetuphomeinalargepottedplant insidetheverandahofmysister’sflat inPune.Theverandahhadbeenenclosedbyafinemeshnetallaroundtokeeptheobnoxiouspigeonsout.Themeshwasbigenoughtoallowthemuniastocomeandgoeasily,butnothinglarger.So:nocrows,nocatsoranysuchnasties.Anotherpairofavadavats(akaredmunias;reallythis

name-changinggameissuchanuisance) foolishlybuilttheir tennis-ball-likenestoutof freshstripsofgrass lowdownintheundergrowth,nearawaterbodyontheNorthernRidge.Thoughfairlywellconcealed, itwasfartooclosetothepathwayandeasilyaccessibletothemon-keys,whichswarmedabouteverywhere.Sadly, theydid-

n’tmanagetoraiseafamily.Avadavatsaresortof thestarsof themuniashow—inthemonsoon,whichistheirbreedingseason, thegentsarecladinchocolate-brown-running-to-crimson,withdark-brownwingsthatareruby-redbelow,sprinkledwithwhitespots,whichlooklikesmallblanchedalmonds.Theladiesareblanket-brown.Bothhavecrimsonbills. Inthenon-breedingsea-son, thegentsturnbrowntoo,withascatteringof spotsandaredsplotchontheirposteriors.Thereareafewothermembersof theclan, thewhite-

backedmunia, theblackheadedmunia(I thinkthiswasalsocalledtheblackheadednun)andtheraregreenmu-nia.Someof them,silverbills inthisparticularcase,arenotaversetotakingover-zealousbirdersforaride.OutbirdingontheNorthernRidge, Icameacrossapairofmu-niaswhichwerepuregold.Well,onewasalovelydeepgoldencolour, itspartnerpaler.Backhome, Isiftedthroughall thebooksbutcouldfindnonematchingtheirdescription,soIwentbackarmedwiththecamera.Andglorybe, theywerestillaround!Surelytheywereapair—withthegentlemanasusualoutclassingthelady—andmaybeaspeciesundiscoveredbyscienceuntilnow?Iphotographedthemadnauseamandthenpeeredatthemcarefully.Thecoloursof the“lady”seemedtohaverun,likeumm...painttricklingdown.Thepennydropped.Theyhadbeendyedforthepettradeandwereeitherescapeesorhadbeenset freebysomemisguidedsoulwhodidn’trealisethatbybuyingthem,heorshewasjustencourag-ingthisheinoustrade.Sureenough,sometimelater,aMarutivandrewupoutsidetheRidgeandamanandboyemerged,unloadingseveralcagescrammedwithmunias—all readytobefreed.Thissortof thingis lookeduponasanactofbenevolenceoronetoappeasethegodsforpastmisdemeanoursortobegafavour.Obviously, itwasathriving, if illegal,business.Todrivethepointhome,ourgardenwasalsovisitedbyamotleyflockof shinyturquoise,magentaandemerald-greenmunias—possi-bleescapeesfromtheJamaMasjidbirdmarket.If youreallywanttoenjoythecompanyofmunias,go

toameadoworawheatormaizeorbajra field.You’resuretocomeacrosscheepingflocksof them,blithelyswinginginthebreezeonthefrondsofhighwildgrass.Withtheirsmallstoutbodies,stumpytails,conicalbillsandexpressiveeyes, theyaretrulycharming.Asforme, Ilookforwardtotheircompanyeveryafternoon. Iamhop-ingtheymightevenconsidersettinguphomeinthethickhedgesanddenseundergrowtharoundthegarden.Rent-free,of course,withallmeals!

HOW GLOSSY ARE MY FEATHERSA scaly-breasted munia

RANJITLAL

Feathered andFriendlyWith their expressive eyes andaffectionate nature, munias arereal charmers

Notes on theMargins

Filmmaker Prashant Nair on addressing systemicinequalities through his films and finding inspiration in

Nehru’s most famous speech for his latest

By the PeopleAs protests against the killing of an African-Americanman spread across America, could this be the moment

of reckoning for leaderless movements?

THENEWYORKTIMES

New Delhi

MIRRORCRACKED

Author MeghaMajumdar (above)

grew up in Kolkata inthe 1990s

IN A FOREIGNLAND

Bhanu Kapil withher prize-winning

collection of poems

B O O K S 17EYE , THE SUNDAY EXPRESS MAGAZINE

JUNE 14, 2020

How Deepis Your Love

EYE SPYEVERYFORTNIGHT,WEPICK,YOUWATCH

Like the novel, the screenadaptation of Normal People is awarts-and-all look at first love

TWO BECOME ONEPaul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People

Shubhra Gupta

I’MAhugesucker forstoriesabout first love.Whois-n’t? If you’reoneof thosewhohasexperiencedthewhirlwindof everymaddening impulsethatgoeswiththeterritory—stoppingandracingofheart,

onemoment floatingabove, thenext fallingwithathud—youwillknowjusthowspecial it is, likethefirst timeofeverything.Nomatterhowmanyyearsyouaddtoyourslate, thatpehlapehlapyaar isunforgettable.SallyRooney’sNormalPeople,whichcameoutin2018,

instantlybecamethebywordforthelatestteenromance.Whatmadeitstandapart fromthestandardYAnovelwasthecragginessof itsstructure,as itgrasshoppedovertimeandplace, trackingtheturbulentrelationshipof twoIrishteenagers,ConnellWaldronandMarianneSheridan.Andinbeingabletosamplethevoicesofbothitsprincipalcharacters inanunusualslidingbackandforth.TheBBCshow(streamingontheAmericanvideo-on-

demandplatformHulu)basedonthenovel, isalmostasgoodasthebook.Perhapsbetter,becauseitcutsoutsomeof itsslack. It isbroughttolifebytwoactorswhoweartheirparts likeskin:PaulMescalandDaisyEdgar-JonesareConnellandMarianne,evenifMescal looksatadolderthanheshould,at leastwhenwefirstmeetthem,ashigh-schoolerswithasizzlinglyhighquotientofmutualattrac-tion .Theproblemwithtoomanymoviesandshowsfea-turingyoungpeopleinthethroesof first loveisthattheyneverreallyfeelfreshenough,becauseYoungLoveisbothatemplate,andatrope.Whenyoufirstseethesetwo,though, it’s likewatchingtwowires, livewithelectricity:theirfusingisasmuchofaninevitabilityasaddingtwoplustwoandmakingitfour.Or, inthisinstance,one.Thepickingupof thoughtsfromeachother’sminds.

Thefinishingofeachother’ssentences.Theknowingex-actlywheretheotherpersonis, inacrowdedroom,with-outreallylooking.ConnellandMarianne,wholiveinthefictionaltownofCarricklea,nearDublin,see-sawthroughthesestages,knowingthattheybelong, inthemostrealsense,toeachother:allof thisplaysoutquitebeautifully.TheelementwhichmakesNormalPeoplequitewon-

derfullynormal is thetwosome’s inability tocommuni-cateat themostcrucialmomentsof the fouryears theyspendwitheachother,onandoff.You’dthinkacouplesophysically intimateandso intellectuallyattuned,wouldneversuffera lapse inemotionalconnectivity.Butwealsoknowthathumansarecapableof somuchcomplex-ity thatwearequitecapableof goingopaquewhentransparency is theneedof themoment.Therewerebits in the12half-hourepisodes(the first

sixdirectedbyLennieAbrahamson;therestbyHettieMacdonald)whenI felt thesameimpatienceat thetimeof readingthebook.But thoseoccasional flatmomentsgavemeamuch-neededtime-out:being incloseprox-imity to first-timeloverscanbequiteexhausting.Andexhilarating.Andthat’snormal.

Paromita Chakrabarti

DAYS BEFORE Safoora Zargar,the JamiaMillia Islamia stu-dent in jail for protestingagainst the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, is denied

bailforathirdtime,andwhileprotestsagainstthe murder of George Floyd, an African-Americanman,arespreadingacrosstheUSA,I amon a video callwithMeghaMajumdar.The buzz around the 32-year-old NewYorker’s debut novel, A Burning (Rs 599,PenguinHamishHamilton),thatreleasesto-morrow, has been dizzying longbefore its publication. Generousblurbs by Amitav Ghosh and YaaGyasi have lauded the book as azeitgeistofourtimes;JamesWoodofTheNewYorkerremarkedonits“extraordinary directness andopenness to life” that lays out apatchworkofinequalitiesinwhichwemight recognise the patternsofourcommunal lives.Yet,there’sastrangenesstothis

timeinwhichfiction’sgripoverre-alityhasbegun toappear jaded.Asan inces-sant streamof horrors in our sociopoliticallivesinuressometoitspotencyandwearsoth-ersoutwithoutrage,nothing,itseems,canbemoreaberrantthanthepresent.“Thisisadif-ficult, fatiguing time across theworld,” ac-knowledgesMajumdar,“Somuchofthismo-ment here in the US is about historicalreckoning.And,ofcourse,Ihavebeenfollow-ing the trajectory of the rightwing in India.Scholars and journalists havemade the con-nection between Hindu nationalism andwhite supremacy. Inmy book, I wanted towrite about people. Iwanted towrite abouthowpeople dreamand strive and laughun-deroppressivesystems.”ABurningisaquiet,searingstudyoftheun-

derclassandtheaspiringmiddleclassinIndia,whose tentative stake in the capitalist econ-omyiscomplicatedbythemanytyranniesofgender, religionandclassendemic to society.WhenJivan,aMuslimgirlfromaKolkataslum,oneofMajumdar’s threeprotagonists, reactsto hate posts against her community onFacebookafterasuspectedterrorattack,withangerandsorrow,butalsowithabitofbravura,oneknowstherewillbeconsequences.“If thepolicedidn’thelpordinarypeoplelikeyouandme,ifthepolicewatchedthemdie,doesn’tthatmeanthatthegovernmentisalsoaterrorist?”shewritesonFacebook.Retributionisswift—thepolicecomeforhersoonafter.Hersocial-

media friendshipwith a strangerlinkedtothecaseisdocumentedashercomplicityandherpresenceatthe railway station on the fatefuleveningthatatrainistorched,leav-ingnearlya100dead,asevidence.Inoneswiftaction,Majumdartakesreaders to theheart of New India,wherepersonalandpoliticalambi-tions are served or upended by agrowingHindunationalistchurn.Majumdar’sassurednarrative

ispropelledforwardbytwoothercharacters linkedtoJivan—PTSir, thephysi-cal-educationinstructorintheschoolwhereshewasanEWSstudent,whoisdrawntothelocalright-wingpoliticalparty,and,Lovely,atransgender woman, whom Jivan taughtEnglish,andwhodreamsofbecominganac-tor. “I wanted to explore specific questionswitheachofmycharacters. Jivanworkshardtoachievehergoals,whichareprettystraight-forward— shewants to rise to themiddleclass. Shewants to own a smartphone andwork at amall. Unfortunately for her, she iscaughtinanoppressivesysteminwhichyoucandoeverythingrightandstillbethwarted.WithPTSir,Iwantedtoexaminewhatasmalltaste of power could do for amiddle-classman like him.What would he surrender,

whomwould he betray?” saysMajumdar,whoworksasaneditorinanindiepublishinghouse,Catapult.Majumdar grew up in the communist

party-governedKolkataintheNineties,whenthe countrywaswakingup to the charmsofliberalisation.ChangewasalsoafootinIndia’spoliticalnarrative. InDecember1992,kar se-vaksalignedtotheVHPandBJPwoulddemol-ishtheBabriMasjidinAyodhya,UttarPradesh,thatwould set off a chainof reactions acrossthe country.Majumdar doesn’t elaborate onwhenshebecamepolitically conscious. “Wewatched the news that our parents did.Wewere aware ofwhatwas happening aroundus,”shesays.Shewould leavethecity for theUS in 2006 to study social anthropology atHarvardUniversityandtograduateschoolatJohns Hopkins afterwards. But shewouldcarrywithhertheminutiaeoflifeonthecity’sstreets.ABurningpulsateswiththecadencesofeverydaylife,theebbandflowofambitions,aspirations,disparitiesanddisappointments.Asaneditor,Majumdarhasbeenfamiliar

withthepublishingprocess,butthebook’sre-ception in theUS—toutedasoneof thebestliterarydebutsof theyear—didcatchherbysurprise. “I've been grateful for the positiveearlyattention,”saysMajumdar,whohasbe-

gunworkonhersecondbook.Her editorial expertise shows up in the

craftof thenovel, intheteasersshethrowsinbywayofepisodicinterludes,inthecinematicpacewithwhichshealternatesbetweenthenarrativevoices.ABurning isanovelfirmlyofthehereandnow,butMajumdarpacksinlay-ers of history in her idiosyncratic use of theEnglish language. InWest Bengal, the Left-frontgovernmenthadabolishedtheteachingofEnglishattheprimarylevelingovernmentand government-aided schools in the statesince 1981. Itwould be brought back to pri-maryclassesnearlytwodecadeslater,buten-tire generations grewupwith a shaky holdover the language.Overnight,Kolkatawouldsee a proliferation of tuition classes offeringlessonsinEnglish.Majumdarremembersat-tendingoneasachild.Inthefirstyearthatherparentsappliedtoputher inprimaryschool,she didn’tmake it anywhere— “MyEnglishwasn’t very good,” she says. So, shewas en-rolled for English tuitions. Thenext year, shejoined aprivate school. Itwas the beginningof a deeper engagementwith the language.“Alotofmychildhoodwasspent inpublic li-braries and in second-hand bookstalls, bor-rowingallkindsofbookstoread,”shesays.The subtlety with which Majumdar

mouldslanguagetothespiritofthecityanditsinmatesringsoutbestinthevoiceofhermostendearing character, Lovely, who speaks inbrokenpidginEnglishthatfits intothenooksandcranniesofherlife.Lovely’svitalityrelieson visceral experiences acquired during hertravelsthroughthecity,andminuteobserva-tionsthatmakeupforalackofformaleduca-tion. It ishere, intheauthenticityof thepoly-phonic voices that people her fictionallandscape, thatMajumdar’snovelsoars.LikeDeepaAnappara’sDjinnPatrolonthe

Purple Line earlier this year, the exhilaratingresponsetoABurning in theWestowesahattiptotickingalltheboxesthatmaketheIndiastory familiar— jagged inequality, religiousroilandirrepressiblehope.“Iwantedthebooktobe legibleand inviting for thosewhohaveneverbeen to Indiaanddonot followIndiannews, aswell as to thosewho have lived inIndiaalltheirlives.Iwantedthebooktobeanactofinvitation,toopenimaginativedoorstothemanydifferent, complexstories thatonemightfollow,”shesays.

Nawaid Anjum

ATAtimewhenpeopleallovertheworldarewashinghandsrepeatedly,anewpoetrycol-lectionbyBritish-IndianpoetBhanuKapil,51,aimstoteachyouhowto“washaheart”andmakevisiblewhatisinvisible.HowtoWashAHeart (Pavilion Poetry, Liverpool UniversityPress) is the sixth book of poetry/prose byKapil,who isamongtheeightwriters towinthe$165,000Windham-CampbellPrize2020,oneof theworld’smost lucrativeawards.Kapil, a British andUS citizen of Punjabi

origin,haslivedintheUnitedStatesforover20years. Having taught creative writing atNaropaUniversity in Boulder, Colorado, forseveral years, she spent the last year as theJudithE.WilsonpoetryfellowattheUniversityofCambridge,theUK.Inthelastfewyears,shehasexpandedthehorizonofherartisticprac-tice to include performances, improvisedworks, installations and rituals, among oth-ers. Inherlatestcollection,Kapilexploresthetenuousconnectionsbetweenanimmigrantguestandacitizenhost.“It’sexhaustingtobea guest/ In somebody else’s house/ Forever,”reads one of the poems inKapil’s collection.“What Kapil teaches us is that although theheartmightbewheredesire, gratitude,evenloveexist, it isanorgantowhich, likeacoun-

try,wemaynever fully belong,”writes con-temporaryBritishpoetSandeepParmar,inherblurbforthebook.Kapilsaysthequestionshewantstoextend

beyondher latest book is this: “Whatdoyoudowhenthelinkbetweencreativityandsur-vivalhasbeenbroken?”Inthelasttwodecades,Kapilhas teasedout literature fromwhatshehas seen andheard. In her fifth book,Ban enBanlieue (2015), she exploredbodyandpoli-tics evocatively and ingeniously through thestoryofanine-year-oldgirl,Ban,walkinghomefromschoolasariotstartstounfoldinLondon.“Iwantaliteraturethatisnotmadefromliter-ature.Agirlwalkshomeinthefirstminutesofa raceriot,before itmightevenbecalled that—thesoundofbreakingglassasequidistant,ashappening/coming fromthe street and fromherhome,”shewritesinthebook.Thetriggerforthebookwastwo-fold.The

firstwasanintensememoryofApril23,1979,when a “riot” unfolded in “Little India” —Southall,Middlesex, inwestLondon—whenan anti-racism protester, Blair Peach, waskilledbytheMetropolitanpolice,andthesub-sequent riseof theNational Front, a far-rightgroup.Thatnight,Kapilandherfamilyhadtolie on the floor, listening to the sound ofscreamsandbreakingglass.Shewas10yearsoldthen.“Thosesounds,andthedesiretocon-nectthememoryof theriseof thefarright in

the1970stothexenophobicpulseofthepres-ent time,were thegoverning instinctsof thework,”saysthepoet.Theotherincidentthebookoweditsgen-

esistowasthegangrapeandmurderofa23-year-oldwoman inNewDelhi inDecember2012.“Iwantedtowriteaboutthe40minutesshe lay on the floor of theworld, next to theMahipalpur flyoverbeforeanyonecalled thepolice.Infact,itwasnotpossibletowritetheseminutes,butonlytothinkaboutthem,tovisitthem,tokeepattendingtothem,andtokeepreturningtothehorrorofwhattheymusthave

been,”saysKapil.Having“neverfeltexactly”Englishdespite

herBritishpassport,andalwaysa“settlerpres-ence”intheUnitedStates,noparticulargenrehaseverfeltlike“home”toherasawriter.Shecould have added India to herWindham-Campbell“nationality”list,butrefrainedfromdoingsoasshedidnotwanttopresumethat“Indiawouldthinkofmeasadaughter”. Sherecounts the memory of one summer inChandigarhwhen hermother’s neighbourtold her: “You’re not Indian, you’re English.”Of course, in England, it was: “You’re not

English, you’re....” Kapil says: “I amnot surewhatmyterritoryis.I’vetriedtopayattentionto the sensations and the textures of the‘never-there’,whichisnotthesameasthe‘in-between’.Whatabouttheoneswhodon’tar-rive,whosenamesareneverwrittendowninthe document of place?” says the poet,whowasborninUKinI968.In1990,shecompleteda one-year fellowship to State University ofNewYork, Brockport, US. Between1991and1998, she travelled back and forth betweentheUSandtheUK,andreturned to theUS in1998. In 2019, she returned toUK. She nowhasdualUKandUScitizenship.“Writinglikethisisnottypicallysomething

that results in a prize. It’s as if someonehasgivenmeaprize for drinking10,000 cups oftea inbedandwriting inmynotebookwithabluebiro for the last 35years,” she says. As asingleparentandacaregiver(withhersister)fortheirmother,theclassroomwassometimestheonlyplace she couldbeher “whole self.”“ThememoriesIhaveofbeinginclassareiden-ticaltothememoriesIhaveofbeingawriterintheworld,” says Kapil, who, togetherwithFilipina-AmericanpoetMgRoberts, iswork-ingonsettingupanimprintforpoetsofcolourasapartof theirstart-upsmallpress,Durga.A day before the prize was announced,

Kapilwaswonderinghowshewasgoing tomanage when her Cambridge fellowshipcomes to an end. Howwould she and herfamily afford care or the logistics of workand life commitments in both the UK andthe US? The next day, Michael Kelleher,American poet and director of theWindham-CampbellPrize,calledtoinformher that she hadwon the prize — her firstever. “The fact that it comes at this time inhistory isprofoundlymeaningful.Knowingthat I cancare formymother, that I can ful-fillmydutytomyfamily, is immeasurable,”saysKapil.

Mapping the HeartBritish-Indian poet Bhanu Kapil on

winning the Windham-Campbell Prize andtravelling across various genres

Stranger Things

Megha Majumdar on the excitement overher debut novel, growing up in Kolkata

and writing about people

COURTESYBHANUKAPIL

Stranger Things

GETTYIMAGES

New Delhi

Vol.XIXNo.13Regd.No.DL-21046/03-05R.N.I. No.DELENG/2002/10884. PrintedandPublishedbyR.C.Malhotraonbehalf of The IndianExpress (P) LimitedandPrintedat The IndianExpress (P) LimitedPress, A-8, Sector-7,Noida - 201301andPublishedat The IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding, 9&10, BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002. Editorial office: The IndianExpress (P) Limited,MezzanineFloor, ExpressBuilding, 9&10, BahadurShahZafarMarg, NewDelhi-110002. Phone: 0120-6651500.Advertisingoffice: The IndianExpress (P) Limited, B1/B, Sector - 10,Noida -201301. Phone: 0120-6651291. Chairmanof theBoard:ViveckGoenka, Chief Editor: RajKamal Jha, Editor:UnniRajenShanker, Editor (Delhi): RakeshSinha ** **Responsible for selectionofNewsunder thePRBAct. Copyright: The IndianExpress (P) Limited.All rights reserved.Reproduction inanymanner, electronicor

otherwise, inwholeor inpart,withoutpriorwrittenpermission isprohibited. The IndianExpress®

18THESUNDAYEXPRESS,JUNE14,2020

SPORTBCCI defends cricketerson failure to updatewhereabouts with NADAEXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,JUNE13

CLAIMINGTHATtheplayerswerenotatfaultfor failing to update theirwhereabouts, theBoard of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI),in a letter to the National Anti-DopingAgency (NADA), has instead argued thatthereweretechnicalissuesbecauseofwhichthe informationcouldnotbeshared.Five cricketers – Cheteshwar Pujara,

RavindraJadeja,KLRahul,SmritiMandhanaand Deepti Sharma – are staring at a first‘whereaboutsfailure’aspertheinternationaldopetestingprotocol.Threesuchstrikesandanathletecouldbesuspendedforuptotwoyears for violating rules, as per theWorldAnti-DopingAgencyguidelines.NADA director general Navin Agarwal

said they are examining the cricket board’sexplanationandwill determine if it is satis-factory in thecomingdays.“The BCCI has claimed they had a prob-

lemwith the password. If we find their re-sponse is genuine, thiswon’t be consideredasa filing failure,”Agarwal said.The five cricketers are among the 110

IndianathletesinNADA’sRegisteredTestingPool (RTP). Players are included in the RTPbased on the priority of the anti-dopingagency to test them. According toWADA, ifthree ormore samples are to be collectedfromanathleteoutof competition, theyaretobeplacedunder theRTP.The players included in the RTP are re-

quired toprovide theirwhereabouts for theentire year (onaquarterly basis), ‘includingadailyone-hourtimeslotwhentheycanbelocated for testing, as well as informationsuch as training and competition locationsand times, according toWADA. This infor-mation has to be logged into a global anti-dopingdatabasethatWADAoperatescalledADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration andManagementSystem).Cricketers do not update their where-

aboutsdirectlyintothissystem.Instead,theyprovidethenecessary informationtoBCCI’santi-doping officer Abhijit Salvi, who then

feeds it intoADAMS.This informationhelpsNADAplan its testingprogramme.AccordingtoAgarwal,itisnotunusualfor

a federation to file whereabouts details onbehalf of theplayers.Apart from the five cricketers, 36 other

athletes have failed to update their where-abouts. “Therewas a lockdown so some ofthe athletesmay have thought since therewas no testing, there was no need to filewhereabouts,”Agarwalsaid.“Nowwewereabout to recommence testing sowhenwelooked at our database, we found out thatquite a few athletes had not provided theirwhereabouts.”Agarwal said it is crucial for NADA to

knowanathlete’severyday locationsotheycanconductsurprisedopetests.Out-of-com-petition tests are considered to be thebedrockof anti-dopingprogramme.TheBCCIcameunderNADA’sjurisdiction

less than a year ago. Before that, they hadtheirownanti-dopingprogrammeinwhichout-of-competition tests were very few.According to Salvi, of the approximate 250samples they collected every year, only 30percentwereout-of-competition.If an athlete does not provide where-

aboutsdetails,orif theinformationprovidedis incomplete, itmay constitute a filing fail-ure.“Inthatcase,weissueanoticetotheath-lete. If threenoticesaresent in12months, itis consideredthat theathlete isdeliberatelyavoiding a test, which constitutes an anti-dopingruleviolationandmayleadtoatwo-year suspension,”Agarwal said.“Wewillnowexamineif thisisagenuine

problemfacedby thecricketersora first fil-ing failure.”

@indianexpress.com

LongjumperTTCCYYOOHHAANNNNAANNtellsAANNDDRREEWWAAMMSSAANNabouthisbigdayatthe1974TehranAsiadwhenhisgoldmedalsetamarkthatstoodfor30years.

THOSEMONTHS,THOSEMINUTESForced intoanunprecedented lockdown, sport is staringat anunfathomabledespair. Indianathletes, though,havegiven thecountry reasons to rejoice in thepast.

Sunday June14You’reinadiscreetframeofmind.It’sagoodideatorefineideas,clarifyplans,andcometoabetterunderstandingofdesiresbeforeyoucommunicatethemtoothers.

Monday June15Think positive, and take a calm andreasoned approach. Youmay resolve allfamily issues today, but be aware thatopportunitiesmustbeseized.

Tuesday June16Although life seems to growbusier, you’llactuallyhavelesstodoincertainareas.Yourlong-termcycle reveals that relaxing andsociable conditions are around the corner.

Wednesday June17Today’sstarsaremorelivelyandyouseemtobe facing chances tomake a fresh start.Thereisanoutsidepossibilityofanunusualoffer,butintruththeresponsibilitymayliewith you to take the initiative.

Thursday June18You’ll be probing deep into the nature ofreality, finding out the truth about otherpeople’sintentions.You’llbeworkinghard,yet your deeppersonal task is to performfavoursforothers,don’tletthemexploityou.

Friday June19Your personal prospects are looking up.Theremightbealittleconfusion,eveniftheresults can oftenbequite amusing. Do trynottomisreadotherpeople’sintentions.

Saturday June20If you’re rushed off your feet, look on thebright side, it’s best to be busy, isn’t it? Bythe endof theweek, you’ll be in needof agoodlongrest.

If it’s yourBirthday

SUDOKU4139

DifficultyLevel4sInstructionsTosolveaSudokupuzzle,everydigitfrom1to9mustappear ineachofthenineverticalcolumns, ineachoftheninehorizontalrowsandineachofthenineboxes.

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

OLU

TIONSUDOKU4138

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemtotherespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtogettheanswerforthegivenquip.Solitarytrees, iftheygrow_____,grow_____-Churchill(2,3,.,6))

SOLUTION:ARENA,STOVE,WALLET,COGNACAnswer:Solitarytrees,iftheygrowatall,growstrong-Churchill

ENAAR AEWLLT

VOTES ACCOGN

JUMBLEDWORDS

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)Thechangeinyourcircumstancesthattakesplaceoverthenextfewweeks

shouldbewelcomed.Itwillbecomeapparentthatyoumustextendyourfieldofactivitiestoembraceallthatismostpersonalaboutyourlife,facinguptofeelingsandemotionswhichhavebeenlongburied.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)Whenwetalkaboutchange,thereisonepointthatneedstobemade—youareso

deeplycautiousthatyouoftenfailtorecognisewhenconditionsareevolving,evenwhenthey’removingatanalarmingrate.Youshouldbemorealivetopassingoffers,andseizetheinitiative.

GEMINI(May22-June21)It islikelythatasatisfactoryandagreeableconclusiontoacurrentsituation

willbereachedverysoon.Inthemeantime,youmayreceivemoralsupportfromtherealisationthatyourfinancialaffairs,whichhavebeenlookingcomplex,areabouttotakeadramaticturnforthebetter.

CANCER(June22-July23)Generous,jovial,Jupiter,nolessthanother‘planets, issenttotestus,andwords

ofadviceareessential ifencouragingstatementsaretobebalanced.Youmustalwayslookbeforeyouleap,otherwiseeverythingthatyouhavebuiltupsopatientlycouldbelostinonemad,recklessgesture.

LEO(July24-Aug23)Yourplanetsarepushingyouthiswayandthat.Youmustcontinueto try

andstrike therightnote,keepingpartnerssweetandensuringthateverybody’sinterestsareproperlybalanced.Itmaynowbeuptoyoutopersuadepartners thatyourwayforward is thecorrectone.MeanwhileVenusensures thateverythingromantic isnowgoingyourway.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)Currentplanetaryaspectsarereassuringyouthatyouareindeedonthe

rightpathemotionally.Youmustrememberthattherearefewpeoplewhohavethestrengthofcharacterorintegritytoliveuptothehighstandardsyoutendtoexact.You'llsoonstumbleacrossafinancialopportunity,sokeepyoureyesopen.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)Yourpersonalaffairsareabouttogothroughaminorrevolution.Justhow

thisstrangeturnaroundwilltakeplaceisnotyetclear,althoughfriendsandloverswillplayacrucialrole.Theotherpointtobearinmindisthatrumoursandsuspicionsmaybecirculating,threateningtoputyouoffyourstroke.Ignoresuchdistractions.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)Allischange.Youarenowinthebuild-uptoapositiveandpowerfulsetof

planetarytransitsnextmonth.Inthemeantime,youmaydevoteyourattentiontofamilyaffairs,resolvingthemandleavingyourself freetocopewiththecontradictionsandconflictswhichmayeruptsoon,perhapstowardstheendoftheweek.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec23)Yourplanetsmaybeleadingyoutowardsaspiritualquest—inadditiontoany

ordinaryjourneysofexploration.Day-to-dayworkatthemomentisverymuchaquestionofcarryingoutroutinetasksratherthanmakingbravestridesforward,soifambitionsarebubblingup,bepatient.

CAPRICORN(Dec23-Jan20)Friendlyandcollaborativestarsareintheascendant,andyouwilldowellifyou

teamupwiththelike-minded.Attheendofthisperiod,youshouldrealisethatalltheemotionalstormsyouhaveenduredarewellandathingofthepast.Expectthemostdramaticsceneslaterintheweek.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)Youneedto leaveyourmindfree forsomeextremelyhardbargaining ina

businessdeal, regardlessofwhether thesumsofmoneyinvolvedareminuteorrelatively large.Anumberofseriousplanetsarecreatingdramaticopportunities foremotional renewal, innewrelationships.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)Thereisplentyofactioninthecelestialspheres.Thispromisestobea

hardworkingperiod.Surprisingly, it’saclassictravelmonth,soaholidaywouldbeagoodidea,whetherallyoucanmanageisaweekendbreak-oramorningoff!Evenifyoucan’tmakeanysparetime,trytofindworthwhileleisureactivities.

YOURWEEKAHEADBRIDGE

West's2Swasaweakjumpovercall.WestledtheS8fromSAJ9872,andEastplayedthequeen.Youhaveonespadestopper,butisthereanywaytostopWestfromtakingtherestofhisspadesassoonasEastgetsonlead?

NORTH♠ 742❤1098♦ AQ32♣864SOUTH♠ 963❤AQJ732♦ 6♣AKQ

NORTH♠ 3❤ A5♦ A10985♣A10985

SOUTH♠ K1064❤KQ8♦ QJ4♣QJ7

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1♣ 2♠ 3♠Pass 3NT

SUNDAY CROSSWORD 2273QUICKCLUESACROSS7. Subatomicparticle (5)8. Sneaky(9)10. Speakevilof (6)11. Belated(8)12. Penitentiary island(8)13. At thehomeof, inFrench(4)15. Risks, stakesorspends?(7)17. Appealedorrequestedearnestly(7)

20. ___Wadekar :ex-MumbaiandIndiabatsman,captainandcoach?(4)

22. Merchant (8)25. Chinese-styledish (8)26. Unanimously (2,1,3)27. Sharp-sighted(5-4)28. Fungaldeposit (5)DOWN1. Divulgingoruncovering(9)2. Incite (8)3. Coatametalbyelectrolysis (7)4. Upright (8)5. Birdofprey (6)6. Scoff (5)9. Kingof tragedy(4)14. Edibleplant (9)16. Tiedup(8)18. It’shis jobtoproduceorat leastdothedrawings forcartoonfilms(8)

19. Theyhaveroyalparents(7)

21. Gemstones (6)23. Ballet skirt (4)24. Con(5)CRYPTICCLUESACROSS7. Zulu leaderonriver inAfricanrepublic (5)

8. No-oneobjects to thisbeingentirelygluttonous (3,6)

10. Keyof goldonaring(6)11. Gardenfeature toattractdippers?(8)

12. Insulting Irishcity, I thereforereceive imprisonment(8)

13. Myutterlysparklingkitchen,initially, smellsnice (4)

15. Foreignerable toshakegin?(7)

17. Sleepingsoundly? (7)20. Fit sourceofwater forconsumption(4)

22. Surelysounds likeonemakingpoints? (3,5)

25. Prior isclergymaninreligiousenvironment (8)

26. Heshareswhat’s left

(2-4)27. Howonemaybeclassifiedasnotbeingable toovercome(4,5)

28. Showsignsof givingwaytosignalonright (5)

DOWN1. One’s requiredtogetsomefoodfrompersonwhofreesprisoners(3-6)

2. Showingcolour inmilitarymovement(8)

3. Aring,unhappilysoldby formerstudents (3,4)

4. FarmerDanenclosedwell-ventilatedgamescentre(8)

5. Is theree’erabitof transport tohellandgonedownthere?(6)

6. Without theFrenchthatgroup isNo.1 (5)

9. Notamakeshiftdefenceorganisation(4)

14. Loosenedan inchduetonewarrangements (9)

16. Versatileandplump,withoutexception(3-5)

18. Readabout thehailmakingthetrainstopthere?(8)

19. Dishyadornment(7)

21. Havinghalf beenrivals, feelsjealous (6)

23. Parasites foundincentral Iceland(4)

24. Swindler taken inhandbyashepherd(5)

QUICKCLUESAcross: 7Breakage,9Larder,10Andy,11Dissimilar,12Chopra,14Literati,15Gnomes,16Crated,19Gasoline,21Shrive,23Livelihood,24Week,25Maniac,26Finances.Down:1Crunch,2Navy,3Hardware,4Plaint,5Arbitrator,6Departed,8Easily,13Photogenic,15Gravitas,17Residing,18Getoff,20Idiocy,22Viewed,24Wink.CRYPTICCLUESAcross:7Atombomb,9Errant,10Poke,11Hard-liners,12Assize,14Lamppost,15Modest,16Grisly,19Stacking,21No 24Cues,25Revues,26AswanDam.Down:1Stoops,2Smee,3LochNess,4Bedlam,5Transposed,6Untrusty,8Barely,13Indecorous,15Mattered,17Runsdown,18Agatha,20Ingest,22Coeval,24Cons.

Solutionsto2272

WestleadstheSK,overtakenwiththeSAbyEast,whothenreturnsaclub.Youareat riskof losingthreespadesandtheSK. Isthereanywaytoavoidoneofthoselosers?

TheWestHand:S-KQJ1085 H-K4 D-KJ10 C-J10TheEastHand:S-A H-65 -98754 C-97532

IfyoucouldonlyavoidlosingatricktotheHK,thiscontractwouldrollhomewithouttrouble.Thenormalplay insuchacase istofinesse–youcrosstodummy (theSA is an entry) and lead one of dummy's hearts and run it,hopingEasthastheHK.

Whataretheoddsofsuccess?Usually50%,butaftertheSAappearsonthefirsttrick,youdeducethatEastcouldnothavetheHKaswellandyethavepassedasresponder.

Accordingly, afterwinning the club lead at trick two, you bangdown theHA,hopingthatWest'sHissingleton.Nosuchluck!Isthereanother hope?

Yes–usetheknowledgethatWesthasthemissinghighcardstoemboldenyou into taking the diamond finesse. Lead to theDQand cash theDA todiscardaspade.Theremainingtrumpscanthenbedrawnandthecontractmade.

Insummarya)Enemybiddinggivesyoucluestowherethemissingpointsare.b)Anopeningbidderwillusuallyhaveat least11HCPandc)Assumetherearefewerthan6HCPinahandthatpassedanopeningoneofasuitbidfrompartner.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH1♠ Pass Pass dbl2♠ Pass 3♠ 3❤Pass 4❤ Pass PassPass

DeclarerSouth(Contract4H)

Monetising influenceWithmarketingeventsputonhold, sportspersons&theirmanagersgoonline

NIHALKOSHIENEWDELHI,JUNE13

SIX-TIMEWORLDboxingchampionMCMaryKomisgivinglifelessonsonashowsponsoredbyane-learningcompany.ThebiggestnameinprofessionalboxinginIndia,VijenderSingh,hasuploadedaninstructionalworkoutvideoshotbyfamilymemberforafitnessapp,whiletrackstarHimaDashaspromotedherpaintingson-lineaspartofa‘positivity’campaignforasports-weargiant. Indianathletesare tweeting,post-ingonFacebookandInstagramminglikeneverbeforeasstudioshootsareonholdduring thelockdown. Tomake themostof thepredica-ment,these‘influencers’havebundledtheircol-lectivereachonsocialmediaplatformsintocus-tomisedpackagestosuiteverybudget.Acompanycanpayforasingletweetorpost

byoneathlete. Brandswithgreater spendingpowercansigndealswithmorethanoneath-letetopostmessagesoruploadvideosonmul-tipleplatformsforweeksormonths.Vijender,the2008Olympicsbronzemedallist, istakinghiswife’shelpforshootingpromotionalvideos.“Ididalotofvideosduringlockdown,some

wereshotbymywife.Itisalwaysexcitingtotrynewthings.ShootingvideosfortheCurefitappwasagoodexperience,”hesays.Theboxerfeelsasnosportseventsarebeingheld,everyone’sattentionspanisgreateronsocialmedia.“Visibilitywasreallygoodduringthe lock-

down,seemslikeeveryonewasonsocialmediaaspeoplehadfeweroptionsforentertainment,”Vijendersaysaboutgoingdigital. Socialmediahasbeenasteadyrevenuesourceforcelebritiesduringtheextendedlockdown.Indiacricketcap-tainViratKohli,with63.3millionfollowersonInstagram,earnedapproximatelyRs1.2croreperpostduringthelockdown(March12toMay14),accordingtoastudycompliedbydigitalagencyAttain.FootballsuperstarCristianoRonaldomadethemostwithRs4.4crore)perInstapost.IOSSportsandEntertainmentCEONeerav

Tomarsaysinnovationisthenameofthegameforathletesduringlockdown.Whentheywerestuckatcampsorhomes,IOS,whichrepresents20 topathletes includingVijender andMaryKom,kickstarteditsdigitalinfluencermarket-ingwing‘Influrate’duringfirstlockdown.“Wehadtoreinventandmovetorevenues,

whichcouldonlybedigitalinnature.Theidea

wastolaunchitduringthefirstlockdownitself.Playerscouldnotdophysicalapperancesor

regularendorsementdeals.WewereworkingtowardscreatinganewdivisioninJanuary.Wehavecertain influencerswhohavea large fol-lowing in the fieldof sports and theCovid-19situationmadeuslaunchit,”Tomarsays.Thestrategyinvolvesprojectingnotjustone

athletebutratherthecombinedreachof50mil-lionfollowersof India’stopOlympiansandof-feringdifferent‘bouquets’tobrands.“Wehavejoinedourpoolofcelebrities,most

ofwhomworkwithusexclusively,andwepro-poseapackagetotheclient. Like if somebodywantsavery intensivemonthlyplanthenwewouldsay‘thesearethe20peopleandtheywilltweet, Facebook itandInstagramit’. If there isbusinessprofiling, thenLinkedIncomesintoo.Itcouldevenbeasingledeal, likeaMaryKomdoingjustonepostoraVijenderdoingonetweet.Oriftheywantacrossallmediums,”Tomarsays.Customisationisdoneasperthebudget,he

adds,“IfsomebodyisreadytoinvestsayRs10,thenwewillgivethemsaythreeathletes,iftheyarewillingtoinvest justRs5thenperhapswewill give themonlyone. It canbecompletelytailormadeandcanbetime-frame-bound.”Trackingtheimpactofanonlinecampaign

-numberofviews,age-groupandlikes- isanobviousadvantageforaclient,headds.

Curefit,TataTea,TikTok,NationalPaymentsCorporation of India, rummybaazi.comandUnacademycameonboardduring the lock-down andwere promoted by IOS athletes.AdidasandBridgestone,whichhaddealspriorto thepandemic, have also taken thedigitalroutewithbrandambassadors.TuhinMishra,BaselineVentures’MD,gives

theexampleofUnifiedPaymentsInterfaceus-ing16athletesforaninfluencermarketingcam-paigntospreadthemessageofstayingsafebymakingdigital payments fromhomeduringthe lockdown. “Whyyouareobserving influ-encermarketing evenmorenow is becausethereisnotmuchnewcontent.So,anyathleteorcelebprobablyisgettingmoreeyeballs.Alsoin termsof timespent, probably theengage-mentisalittlebitmorebecauseoptionsarelim-itedandyoudon’tmindwatching theadver-tisementitself.Thisistheonlyformcelebritiesareusingnow.Thatiswhyyouarenoticingitabitmore,”Mishrasays.

Sport stars turn hostsSome of the sport stars have overnight

easedintotheroleofhostsandtheirsponsoredshowsaregettinglakhsofviews.IndiawomancricketersSmritiMandhana

and Jemimah Rodrigues have garnered 2.5millionviewsinterviewingcelebrities,includ-ingworld badminton champion PV Sindhu,opening batsman Rohit Sharma and SaniaMirza. Theyhavebroached lesser-discussedtopicslikemenstruationwhileplayingsportontheseshowsbackedbysponsors.Moreareliningupasanotherseries is intheworks.“Thelockdownmadeusthinkwhatwecan

do in the digital space, and that iswhywestarted the show ‘DoubleTrouble’, hostedbySmritiandJemimah.Ithasgotmorethantwo-and-a-halfmillionviewsacrossYoutubeandFacebook.Wehavegotasponsorforit.Asamat-teroffact,weareplanninganewseriesandaretalkingwithpotentialsponsors.Westartedinmid-April, before InstagramLive chatswerestartedbyeveryone,”Mishraadds.Nextweek,CommonwealthGamesgold

medallistpaddlerManikaBatra, an IOSath-lete,will log in to speak to actor Sonu Sood,who is in the news for arranging transportfor migrants to reach their homes. A chatabout sports, Bollywood and the pandemicguaranteesviews.

MaryKomisgivinglifelessonsonashowsponsoredbyane-learningcompany.

Vasant Raiji,oldest first-classcricketer, passesaway at 100

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAMUMBAI,JUNE13

VASANTRAIJI, whowas India’s oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died here in theweehoursofSaturday.Raijiissurvivedbyhiswifeand two daughters. He had turned 100 onJanuary26thisyear.“He(Raiji)passedawayat2.20 am in his sleep at his residence inWalkeshwar in SouthMumbai due to old-age,”hisson-in-lawSudarshanNanavatisaid.Raiji,aright-handedbatsman,playednine

first-classmatches in the 1940s, scoring 277runswith68beinghishighestscore.Raiji,alsoacrickethistorianandchartered

accountant,madehisdebutforaCricketClubof India team that played Central ProvincesandBerar inNagpurin1939.His Bombay (nowMumbai) debut hap-

penedin1941whentheteamplayedWesternIndiaundertheleadershipofVijayMerchant.ThematchendedinadrawwithBombayse-curinga first-innings lead.Later inhiscareer,RaijialsoplayedforBaroda.Raijiwas13whenIndiaplayeditsmaiden

Test onhome soil butmanaged to catch theactionattheBombayGymkhanain1933.CricketiconSachinTendulkarandformer

Australian skipper SteveWaughhad paid acourtesy visit to Raiji at his residence inJanuarywhenhehadcompleteda“century”.Tendulkar condoled Raiji’s demise and

fondly recollected theirmeeting sixmonthsago.“ImetShriVasantRaijiearlierthisyeartocelebratehis100thbirthday.HiswarmthandpassionforplayingandwatchingCricketwasendearing. His passing away saddensmyheart.Mycondolencestohisfamily&friends,”tweetedTendulkar.TheIndiancricketboard(BCCI)toopaidits

tribute.“ItiswithprofoundsadnessthatBCCIhaslearntof thepassingofVasantRaiji,a for-mer first-class cricketer and historian,whohad turned 100 earlier this year on 26thJanuary,” theBCCIsaidonitswebsite.Asper thenote, Raijiwas also a founding

memberof the JollyCricket Club inMumbaiandwrotebooksonRanjitsinhji,Duleepsinhji,VictorTrumper,CKNayuduandLPJai.

TheBCCI has claimed theyhadaproblemwith thepassword. Ifwefind their response is genuine, thiswon’t be considered as a filingfailure,”

NAVINAGARWAL,NADADIRECTOR

New Delhi