JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

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

TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2020, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES `5.00/EX-KOLKATA `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES & ANDAMAN)WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

JOURNALISM OF COURAGESINCE 1932

SANTANUCHOWDHURY&ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,MAY25

HUNDREDSOFbooksdamagedin last week’s Cyclone Amphanpockmark the pavements andtram tracks in Kolkata’s iconicCollege Street area, an attemptby booksellers to dry and savewhatever they can. Uprootedtree trunks and branches liestrewn nearby, a testament tothestorm’s calamitouseffect.First, itwas thecoronavirus-

triggeredlockdown,thenthecy-

clonehurtleddownsixdaysago,leaving hundreds of bookshopsin theareabattered.Owners of small shops and

makeshiftstallsatCollegeStreet—saidtobeIndia’slargestbookmar-ket—are staringat anuncertainfuture,withmanyresignedtosell-ingdamagedbooksforRs6akg to“kabadiwalas”,orscrapdealers.

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At Kolkata’s battered College Street:‘Cyclone snatched even books from us’

PublishersandBooksellersGuildestimates thatbooksworthRs5croreweredestroyed incycloneAmphan. PTI

MIHIRVASAVDANEWDELHI,MAY25

WHENEVER HE was asked tonarratehisjourneytogreatness,Balbir Singh Senior could neverfind the rightwords. “It can’t beexplained,”heoftenrepeated.“Itcanonlybeexperienced.”Agoal-scoringmachinefrom

the days when hockey wasplayedongrass,BalbirwonthreeOlympicgolds—1948,1952and1956 — and was India’s most-

decoratedathleteever.He passed away in Mohali

Monday after a lengthy stay inhospital.Hewas96.Aglobally-recognisedfigure,

whose contribution was ac-knowledgedbytheInternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) in2012, the soft-spoken,modest-to-a-fault legend was namedamong the world’s 16 greatesticons,acrossallsports,whotooktheOlympicmovement to loftyheights in the last100years.Son of a freedom fighter,

Balbir had a difficult initiationintohockey.HegrewupinMoga,detesting the police who hadjailed his fathermultiple times.The same police force, as fatewould have it, would shape hishockeycareer.The story goes that in 1945,

the then Punjab InspectorGeneralofPolice, JohnBennettt,was somesmerised by Balbir’splaythathecommandedhisof-ficers to recruit him. To avoidthem, the young hockey playerfled to Delhi and instead joinedthe Central Public WorksDepartment team.Days later, Balbir was hand-

cuffed and brought back to

Jalandhar, where Bennett pre-sentedhimwithtwooptions:bejailedorplayhockey.Itwaseasytounderstandwhy

BennettwasdesperatetosignupBalbir.Hewasn’tagreatdribbler,at leastnot inthesameleagueasDhyan Chand, but he had otherqualities. Hewas a teamplayer,hadanaturaltendencytopasstheballaroundandscoregoals.The following year, in 1946,

BalbirledPunjabtotheirfirstna-tional championship title in 14years, forgingaformidablepart-nership with inside-rightMaqbool Hashmat. Then,months before Partition, Balbircombined with his other two

close friends, Ali Shah Dara (agold medallist at the 1936Olympics) and MuhammadShah Rukh to help Punjab de-fend their title inBombay.By the time they returned

home, however, things hadtakena turn for theworse.Riotswere on, homes were burningand Balbir, being a policeman,wasonthestreets,controllingvi-olence.DaraandShahRukhhadmovedtoPakistan.Balbir, Dara and Shah Rukh

met at the London Olympics,representingdifferentcountries.Even without his usual allies,Balbir remainedunstoppable.

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PAGE1ANCHOR

Withhismedalsathome.Express file

LOCKDOWNDAY

62

CONCERN

KERALA:Morethan 150 new casesin 3 days. Such asurge hasn’t beenseen in a long time.

CAUTION

CHHATTISGARH:Comparatively lownumbers; surge in 1week. Less than 5days doubling time.

A GLIMMER

GUJARAT: Growthrate slowing downcontinuously, caseslikely to be overtakenby Delhi in a day.

KEYSTATES

TOWATCH

■Maharashtra

■Gujarat

■Delhi

■TamilNadu

■Bihar

■WestBengal

TOTAL

CASES

50,231

14,063

14,053

16,277

2,574

3,667

DOUBLING

RATE**

11.69

23.45

14.69

13.20

6.89

15.66

SURGEIN

24HRS

3,041

394

635

765

180

208

7-DAYAVG.

GROWTH*

6.16%

3.07%

4.90%

5.45%

10.45%

4.60%

TRACKING INDIA’SCOVIDCURVE

CASES:1,38,845

RECOVERED:57,720 |DEATHS:4,021

TESTS:30,33,591 |DOUBLINGRATE: 13.37**

*CompoundedDailyGrowthRateover last7days **Calculatedover7-daygrowth

BasedondailydatabyCentre, ICMR, stategovernments

PRAY FROM HOME

Membersof anOldDelhi familyofferEidprayersontherooftopof theirhomeonMonday.The JamaMasjid inthebackgroundhasbeenclosedsincethebeginningof the lockdown. PraveenKhanna

DOMESTICFLIGHTSSTARTAFTERTWOMONTHS

PRANAVMUKULNEWDELHI,MAY25

TWOMONTHS after theyweregrounded, 532 domestic flightscrisscrossed the Indian skiesMonday — the first day ofresumptionof air services.Demand for non-metro

routes is significantly higherthan metro routes, with theDelhi-Patna route witnessingthehighestnumberofbookings

for the travel period betweenMay25andMay31,accordingtoinformationsourcedfromonlinetravelagencies.Thebookingpat-ternisreflectiveofatrendwhich

suggests bulk of the demandcomprises those going to visittheir homes or travelling forhealth-relatedprocedures.“From no domestic passen-

ger flights till yesterday to 532flights & 39,231 passengers to-day, action has returned toIndian skies. With AndhraPradesh set to resume opera-tions from tomorrow &WestBengalfrom28May,thesenum-bers are all set to increase fur-ther,” Civil Aviation MinisterHardeep Singh Puri said in atweet.The Delhi-Patna route is

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Atthe IGIAirport inNewDelhionMonday. TashiTobgyal

BUSINESS AS USUAL

BYUNNY

39,231passengers flewonMonday,numbersset to increase, saysPuri

532 flights take off on Day 1: Non-metros seehighest demand, Delhi-Patnamost bookings

More troops toUttarakhandafter ChineseLAC build-upUAVsurveillancesteppedupinLadakh,mountain troops inducted

SUSHANTSINGH&MANAMANSINGHCHINNANEWDELHI, CHANDIGARH,MAY25

AS FIELD-LEVEL talks to lowertensionsalongtheLineofActualControlinLadakhremainincon-clusive, the IndianArmyhas in-creased its presence inUttarakhand following reportsofaChinesetroopbuild-upinanareaontheir sideof theLAC.AndineasternLadakh,which

ispartof thewesternsector, theArmy has inducted additionaltroopsandhasenhancedround-the-clocksurveillanceoftheLACthroughUAVs.Sources told The Indian

Express that the Army has alsoincreaseditspresencealongtheboundary with China inUttarakhand—part of themid-dle sector — following reportsthat Chinese troops have beendeployed in increasednumbersin theGuldongsector.The Chinese build-up,

sources said, was reported tohave taken place over the lastfew days, following which theArmy reinforced a brigade lo-catedintheareawithadditionalunits.“DeploymentaheadofHarsil

hasbeenstrengthenedduetore-portsofChinesebeefinguptheir

numbersintheoppositesector,”a seniorofficer said.In eastern Ladakh, sources

said, the Army has started in-ductingmore crews to operateUAVs forenhancedsurveillanceof the area. Extensive physicalpatrollingof thearea isverydif-ficult since “the rough terraintakes toomuch time, toomanytroops,” sources said, but UAVscan provide regular updates onany Chinese movement alongtheLAC inLadakh.Fresh induction of troops,

sources said, has taken place inLadakhtostrengthenIndianpo-sitionsandcreate reserves.Someofthespecialisttroops,

sources said, have beenmovedfrom outside the theatrewhileother troops have been madeavailablefrom“loop”battalions.Loopbattalions refer to infantryunits kept in an area pendingtheirfinalinductionorde-induc-tion fromposts in high altitudeareas suchasSiachen.An official said reinforce-

ments have already been pro-vided tocertainposts inLadakhwhich are considered “critical”incaseofsuddenChinesemovesinthearea.This, theofficialsaid,is based “on terrain, currentChinese deployment and ourstrategic vulnerabilities” — apointer to the area around the

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RITIKACHOPRANEWDELHI,MAY25

OLDERchildrenofClasses9,10,11, and 12 are expected to beback in schools first as they arebetter able to comply withrules on masks and social dis-tancing, The Indian Express haslearned.The HRDMinistry is work-

ingwiththeNationalCouncilofEducational Research andTraining (NCERT) on devisingbasic guidelines for reopeningof schools, whenever it isgreenlighted by the HomeMinistry.According to ministry offi-

cials, students in Classes 1 to 5,inthe6to10yearsagegroup,areunlikelytogobacktoclassroomsfor thenext threemonths.These guidelines are not

meanttobeprescriptivebutwillindicate what school life couldlook like in thenear future.However,evenforseniorstu-

dents, reopening will be stag-gered. "All students of all seniorclasses will not be called to-gether. They will arrive inbatches over a few days so thatthe school administration hastime to brief them on the newseating arrangement and newrulesof school life," said anoffi-

cer on the condition ofanonymity.The seating arrangement in

a classroomwill have to followsocial distancing, whichmeanstwo studentswill ideally sit sixfeetapart.Thismeansthatatonetime,theentirestudentstrengthofoneclassorsectionwillnotbeable to attend class together.Eachclasswillhavetobedividedinto batches of about 15 to 20

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IT ISeasier togetsecondaryschool(Class9-12)children tofollowsocialdistancingnormsand face-coverrules.Blended learningcouldsplit a class intotwobatcheswitheachathomeonalter-natedays.At least sixfeetbetweentwostu-dentswill ensuresocialdistancing.

Olderkidscanfollowrules

Lockdown effect: Bail pleas of thosebooked under sedition, UAPA stuck

APURVAVISHWANATHNEWDELHI,MAY25

WITHCOURTSacross thecoun-try hearing only “urgent cases”through video-conferencing inviewof theCovid-19pandemic,a number of bail pleas in casesinvolvingseriouschargessuchasseditionandunderprovisionsof

thestringentUnlawfulActivitiesPreventionAct(UAPA)arestuck.Apatternhasbeenemerging

in almost all the sedition casesslappedbythegovernmentdur-ing the protests against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA)andtheproposedNationalRegister of Citizens. From thecaseagainst19-year-oldAmulyaLeona who was arrested on

February 20, to that of threeKashmiri engineering studentswho were arrested in Hubli,Karnataka,onFebruary15,from19people inAzamgarharrestedon February 5 to a UAPA caseagainst Assam activist AkhilGogoi, who was arrested onDecember12—courtshavenotprioritised these cases as

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WORLD

JAPAN LIFTSEMERGENCY, ENDSRESTRICTIONSPAGE9

WESTBENGAL

COPSRANSACKPOLICE STATIONAFTERCONSTABLEDIES; ALLEGEAUTHORITY APATHY

6DEAD, 149MORETESTCOVID +VE INLAST24HRSPAGE3

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY25

HAVING MORE than trebleddailytestingoveramonth, Indiaisnowgearinguptorampit to2lakhaday.While thedailyaver-agehascrossed1 lakhtests,pri-vate laboratories, who foughtlong and hard to be allowed totest, have contributed to lessthan 20% of the total samplestesteddaily.Thisdespitethefactthattheymakeupalmost30%ofthe laboratory infrastructure.Ananalysisof testingrecords

betweenApril16andMay23re-veals thatwhile tests ingovern-ment labs went up by almost270 per cent from 23,932 to88,947,forprivatelabsthefigurerose more sharply, just underfour times, from4408to21450.Butasshareof tests,onApril

16,privatelabsdidalittleover15percentof thetotal28,340testsdone that day. And onMay 23,thatfigurewasjust19%oftheto-tal1,10,397 tests.

Incidentally, the 178 privatelaboratoriesinthecountrymakeup 29 per cent of the total test-inginfrastructure.Thereare431governmentlaboratorieswhereCovid testing is currently takingplace.“India is currently testing

about 1.1 lakh samples in a dayandhasthecapacitytotestabout1.4 lakh samplesperday,whichisbeingraisedto2lakhsamplesper day...Most states have beenworking with NationalTuberculosis EliminationProgram (NTEP) to deployTrueNATmachinesforCOVID-19testing…Nostatehassignificantbacklogof samples tobe tested.More labs are being set up and

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Target 2 lakh testsdaily, pvt lab shareremains under 20%Private labscomplainofhiddencost,lowvolumes;6,977freshcases

INSIDE

SCLETSAIRINDIAFLYWITHOUTMIDDLESEATSEMPTYTILLJUNE6 PAGE5

BALBIR SINGH

SENIOR

1924-2020

Not a household name, yet one of the greatest OlympiansBalbirSinghSenior, thegrandoldmanofhockey,passesawayat96

INSIDE

WORLDHEALTHORGANISATIONPUTSHCQTRIALSONHOLDPAGE4

Older children first,staggered schedule:Centre works onback-to-school norms

THEEDITORIAL PAGE

THELADAKHWARNINGBY PSTOBDAN

PAGE6

ASCOMMUNICATIONSFAILED, HAMRADIOCLUBTUNED INTOSAVETHEDAY PAGE 3

THESECONDPAGE2 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

At Kolkata’sbattered CollegeStreet: ‘Cyclonesnatched evenbooks from us’The Publishers and

BooksellersGuildestimatesthatbooksworthRs5crorewerede-stroyed in thecyclone.Among the affected shop-

keepers is 40-year-oldMuhammed KashemMidde, aresidentof JangiparainHooghlydistrict. He has returned to theshop for the first time in twomonths toassess thedamage.“FromMarch 23, our shop

has been closed. We have lostbusinessworth lakhs.We havenomoneynow.Thiscyclonehassnatched even the books fromus. Rainwater accumulated in-sidemy shop. Books worth Rs90,000havebeendestroyed.Weare collecting some of the un-damaged books and sendingthemtoourvillage,”saysMidde.Another shopkeeper, Sujit

Saha (50), says he visited hisshop a day before the cyclonemadelandfall,andkeptallexer-cisebooksonupper racks.“But due to strong winds,

thosebooksfellonthefloorandwere damaged by rainwater.Exercise booksworth Rs 5,000have been ruined. After dryingthese books, I will distributethem to poor children,” Sahaadds.He says April andMay con-

stitute the peak season for sell-ing school and exercise books.But due to the pandemic andnowthisstorm,booksellershavelost agreatdealofmoney.“In this peak season, CBSE,

ICSE,HigherSecondarystudentsusually buy school books. Butdue to lockdown, therewas nobusiness. We have lost morethanRs50,000inbusiness.Now,we are selling thesewet booksto ‘kabadiwalas’ at Rs 6 per kg,”lamentsSaha.Sheikh Gulam (32) seconds

him. A resident of Gochoran inSouth 24 Parganas district, 50km fromCollege Street, Gulamhas cycled all the way to themarket. “Due to the lockdown,we had no conveyance. So, wecycled to the market. All ourbooksgotsoakedinwater.Theseareofnovalue.Wewillsellthesebooks to ‘kabadiwalas’ now,"ruesGulam.Many who live in faraway

districts couldnot come to savethe books due to lockdown re-strictions. “How are we sup-posedtocomehereduringlock-down?” asks another stallowner.The1.5-kmstretchofCollege

Street is linedwith700licensedstalls, 500 shops of noted pub-lishers, and 400 unregisteredstalls.Nicknamed“BoiPara”(Book

Town), College Street’s historyrunsparalleltothatofmanyed-ucational institutions such asHindu College (established in1817 and later renamedPresidency College), UniversityofCalcutta,SanskritCollegeandUniversity, Indian Institute ofSocial Welfare and BusinessManagement, CalcuttaMedicalCollege and Hospital, HinduSchool and Hare School. Itseclecticofferingofbookshasat-tracted the city’s intelligentsiafordecades.The Publishers and

Booksellers Guild has appealedto Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee for financialassistance to rehabilitate thestallowners.Theyhavealsocre-atedaseparaterelief fundforthebooksellers.“Publishers and booksellers

were already in acute crisis dueto the lockdown. Now, the cy-clonehasfurtherplungedtheminto deeper financial loss…Weappeal to all sections to comeforwardandhelpthesepublish-

ers andsellers,” imploresTridibChatterjee, theguildpresident.

Older childrenstudents each, said officers fa-miliar with the draft NCERTguidelines.Each batch of a classwould

be called on alternate days."Schools will follow a blendedform of learning in which thebatch that isnotmeant togo toschoolononedaywillbegiventasks to complete tasks athome," said a second officer.All students will have to

mandatorily wear masks inclass. Initially, school canteenswill not function and pupilswill be asked to bring theirlunch.Childrenwillbeencour-aged to eat their lunch in theclassroomduring recess.Morningassemblywill also

be prohibited for the first fewmonths. There will be handsanitisation stations at differ-ent locations on school cam-pus.Also,parentswillnotbeal-lowed inside the schoolcampus and will have to dropoff children at the gate. Therewill bedifferent entry andexitpoints for children enteringand leaving the campus to en-sure there is no crowding atone point.Classrooms and frequently

touched surfaces will have tobe sanitised before childrencome in, once during the dayandafter they leave. "Sinceen-tryandexitof differentbatcheswill also be staggered, therewill be enough time in be-tween two batches for schoolauthorities tocleanclassroomsand surfaces," said an officer.Countries across the world

have adopted different appo-raches to reopeningschools. InEurope, where schools re-opened in Denmark first onApril 15, many countriesstarted by calling theiryoungest students back. Thisdecision was based on avail-ablescientificevidencethat theCOVID19 incidence amongchildren is low compared toadults, but older children re-portmore cases.

Bail pleas“urgent” and thus, their bailpleas have gone unheard.On April 12, in response to

Leone’s plea seeking bail, aBengaluru court official wrotein an email, “Sir, extreme ur-gency notmade out.”Leone was arrested by the

BengaluruPoliceunderSection124 of the IPC (sedition) forraising “Pakistan Zindabad”slogans at a rally to protestagainst CAA.After the sessions court did

not hear her bail plea in April,Leone had moved theKarnataka High Court but hercasedidnotgetadetailedhear-ing.OnMonday,afterspendingthree months in jail, Leonewithdrew her bail plea fromthe High Court with liberty tomove the sessions court again.Since the nationwide lock-

down began more than twomonthsago, courtsarehearingonly “urgent” cases, withlawyers supposed to make acase for urgency. The districtcourt judgewasnot impressedwith Leone’s lawyer RPrasanna’s letter thatsaid, “Thepetitioner is a 19-year girl and(it) is a matter of her life andliberty.”Although there is no defi-

nite list of cases that qualify as“urgent”, courtshaveoftenpri-oritised cases that pose irre-versible loss of life and liberty.Casesof deathpenalty,bail andeviction are also given urgenthearings.In the case of the Kashmiri

studentswhowerearrestedonsedition charges for allegedlyraising pro-Pakistan slogans,the three -- TalibMajeed, BasitAsif Sofi and Amir MohiuddinWahi -- were denied bail by a

district court onMarch9, afterwhich they approached theKarnatakaHigh Court.At the first hearingonApril

16, a single-judge bench said acase of sedition cannot bemade out. “Prima facie thecomplaint does not discloseany material which could beconsidered as an ingredientconstituting the offence…,”Justice G Narender said whilegranting a week to the specialprosecutor, who appealed fortime to get case files from thedistrictcourt,blamingthe lock-down for the delay.At thenexthearing,onApril

28, the casewas listedbefore anewjudge,whoadjournedthecasetoApril30becausethepe-titioner’s lawyerwasnot audi-bleduringthevideoconferenc-ing. At the next hearing, thecase was adjourned to May 5,when the special prosecutorobjected to granting of bail.The case is yet to be given a

finalhearingsincecertaintech-nical deficiencies in the appli-cation have not been rectified.The court has now permittedboth sides to rectify the defi-ciencies online since they areunable to travel to the court.“It ismostunfortunate that

these cases are denied a hear-ingwhilenewcasesof seditionare being filed with urgency,”saidBengaluru-basedadvocateB T Venkatesh, who is repre-senting the three students andwho has appeared in manyother sedition cases.

In the Azamgarh case, 19people, who were accused ofsedition in the wake of anti-CAAprotests, continue tobe injail with their bail pleas re-jected by a district court inMarch. Travel restrictions dueto the lockdown meant theywere unable to move theAllahabad High Court till lastweek. The case is yet to belisted there.“We hadwritten a letter to

thechief justicewhenthe lock-down was announced but wehave now moved bail,” theirlawyer Talha Rashid said.In Assam, a National

Investigation Agency judge ishearing a case of seditionagainst activist Akhil Gogoi forhis role in the anti-CAAprotests. Arrested onDecember 12, Gogoi was re-leased on bail onMarch 23 af-ter the NIA failed to file achargesheet within the stipu-lated 90 days. However, Gogoiwas immediately arrested inanothercase filed inDecemberrelated to the anti-CAAprotests. He has also beencharged underUAPA.Under the UAPA, a person

can be detained for up to 90days without bail and the de-tentioncanbeextended forupto180daysat therequestof theprosecutor.While hearings in these

cases are delayed in the wakeof the COVID-19 pandemic,newseditioncasescontinue tobe filed and arrests made, es-

pecially inDelhi in connectionwith the riots in February.On May 2, the Delhi Police

SpecialCell filedanFIRagainstDelhi Minorities Commissionchairman Zafarul Islam Khanonseditionchargesafteranal-legedly divisive tweet. TheDelhi Police also booked stu-dent leaders of Jamia MilliaIslamia University for seditionandunderUAPA inconnectionwith the Delhi riots. Those ar-rested include 27-year-oldSafoora Zargar, who is preg-nant.Last month, on April 6, the

PunjabPolicebookedSimranjitSingh, a resident ofDharampura, for sedition overaFacebookpost inwhichheal-leged lack of ventilators forCovid-19patients inLudhiana.Singh was also charged underthe DisasterManagement Act,EpidemicDiseasesAct, and fordisobedience of orders by apublic servant, all of whichcarry a jail term of not morethan two years.In Assam, Aminul Islam, an

MLAof theAIUDF,wasarrestedon April 7 on charges of sedi-tion over an audio clip wherehepurportedlycriticisedsend-ing members of the TablighiJamaat toquarantine facilities.

Balbir SinghOne can see it in the rare,

grainy footage on the OlympicChannel: Balbir galloping on awet Wembley pitch, bravingthe light drizzle, during the

goldmedalmatch against – touseBalbir’swords– ‘India’soldmasters’ Great Britain, threedays before India’s firstIndependenceDay.It was a match steeped in

symbolism and the big-gameplayer that he was, Balbirscored the first two goals inIndia’s4-0winagainstadefen-sive British team. For a just-born nation, still reeling in theaftermath of the Partition, thegoldwasahealerandsourceofpride.As a child, Balbir couldn’t

quite understand his father’sobsessionwiththecountryandnational flag. “(That day) I re-alised it’s really important.National anthem, soundingsweet, national flag graduallygoing up. I was also feeling Iwas going up,” he once said.As a child, Balbir couldn’t

quite understand his father’sobsessionwiththecountryandnational flag.“(Thatday) I realised it’s re-

ally important. National an-them,soundingsweet,nationalflag gradually going up. I wasalso feeling Iwas goingup,” heonce said.Balbir would experience

that feeling twice again: at the1952HelsinkiOlympics,wherehe scored five of India’s sixgoals in the final against theNetherlands (a record that stillstands), and again atMelbourne1956,whenhewasthe captain of the side that de-feated Pakistan 1-0 to win the

gold.Even after his playing days

wereover,Balbirwouldn’t stop.He became the coach-cum-manager-cum-camp directorof thenational team, ashe lenthis Midas touch once again in1975 when India won theWorldCup–thecountry’sonlyone so far.All his life, Balbir remained

a ‘secular nationalist’. Not forhim the favouritismor region-alism that would go on to be-come the biggest bane ofIndianhockey.He initiated theideaof acommonprayerroom,where players from all reli-gions prayed together. He didaway with the pre-match warcry of ‘Jo bole so nihaal’ and re-placed it with ‘Jo bole so hai,BharatMata ki jai’.On the morning of the

World Cup final in 1975,againstPakistanonceagain,heaccompanied his team’s cen-tral defenderAslamSherKhanto Kuala Lumpur’s RoyalMosque to offer prayers.“Behind us was the Pakistaniteam,” Balbir recalled in an in-terview. “They said, ‘jo hummaangnegaye thhe,aapnepehlehimaang liya’ (whatwewantedto ask for, you have alreadyasked for it).”It was this good-natured

humour, modesty, and abilityto take everyone along thatmade Balbir the glue that heldthe fractious world of Indianhockey together. He neverturned cynical – not even dur-ing thedarkesthoursof Indianhockey. Nor did he ever turnbitter – not even when theSports Authority of India losthis Melbourne Olympicsblazer,36medals includingthe1958TokyoAsianGamessilver,andover100rarephotographs;the memorabilia he had do-nated for a museum that wasnever set up.Hemaynot be ahousehold

namelikeDhyanChandoroth-ers fromthatera,butBalbirwillremain the ultimate grand oldman of Indian hockey, both interms of stature and thewarmthhe effused.And perhaps this iswhy he

always appeared a little per-plexed when asked to talkabouthis journey togreatness.It was never a simple one forhim to explain. It had, like heoften repeated, to be experi-enced.

Chinese build-upGalwan valley where theChinesehavemassedtroopsontheir side of the LAC.India’s key “strategic asset”

in the area is the 255-kmDarbuk-Shyok-Daulat BegOldie (DSDBO)roadwhichwascompleted lastyear. Itprovidesaccess to Daulat Beg Oldiewhere the IAF re-activated anAdvanced Landing Ground(ALG) in 2008. The construc-tionof thisstrategic roadbeganin 2001, and an earlier align-ment called the China StudyGroup (CSG) track had to beabandoned because parts ofthe road were getting washedaway.The realigned road was in-

auguratedbyDefenceMinisterRajnathSinghlastOctoberwhothrewopena1400-feet bridgeon the Shyok river, officiallycalled Colonel ChewangRinchen Setu. The bridge issandwiched between theKarakoramandChangChenmoranges, and lies to the north ofthe confluence of Galwan andShyok rivers. Galwan valley isclosest to the road from theLAC.Meanwhile, another meet-

ing was held on Sunday at thefield levelbetweensectorcom-mandersofboththe IndianandChinese armies, but the talksremainedinconclusive, sourcessaid. Itwas their sixthmeetingafter Chinese soldiers movedinto Indian territory at multi-ple locations.

FROMPAGEONE

532 flights take off on Day 1: Non-metrossee highest demand, Delhi-Patna mosthighest demand, Delhi-Patnamost bookings followed bysectors such as Delhi-Bagdogra, Mumbai-Varanasi,Bengaluru-Patna, Delhi-Srinagar, etc.Prior to the grounding of

flights announcedby the gov-ernment with effect fromMarch 25, around 2,700 do-mestic flights operated in thecountry on a normal day.According to the standard op-erating procedures issued bytheMinistry of Civil Aviation,onlyathirdof thoseflightscanoperatenow.However, curtailment of

thetruncatedschedulefollow-ing requests by state govern-ments led to cancellation ofseveral flights at airportsthroughout the country. AtDelhi Airport, the country’slargest aerodrome,more than

80 flightswerecancelled.At Mumbai airport, 47

flightswereoperatedcateringto a total of 4,852 passengers,which include 3,752 passen-gersatdeparturesand1,100atarrivals.The first flight to take-off

fromDelhiwas IndiGo’s serv-ice toPune,whichdepartedat5am.Thosewhotookthe firstflight out of the capital in-cludedparamilitaryandarmypersonnel, students andmi-grants.Inastatement, IndiGosaid,

“IndiGo plans on flyingmorethan200dailyflightsuntilMay31, 2020… IndiGo operationsran smoothly and as of todayafternoon, 85% of our flightshave reached their final desti-nation within 30minutes ofscheduled arrival time. Therewere nomajor delays or any

otherdisruptions.”IndiGo said it flew about

20,000passengersonMonday.OnlinetravelagencyPaytm

Travelsaidduetothreeconsec-utive lockdowns, several trav-ellershad tostayback incitiessuch as Delhi, Mumbai andBengaluru, andwere now fly-ingbacktonon-metrocitiesin-cludingPatna,Jaipur,Lucknow,Ahmedabad, Varanasi,Guwahati, amongothers.“There is a pent-up de-

mand for non-metro destina-tions frommetro cities. Eagerflyersarebookingtickets togoback home. This has led to ajump in searches and ticketbookings on our platform.While there is a surge in de-mand, we think it will taperdown with time,” saidAbhishek Rajan, Senior VicePresident, PaytmTravel.

Paytm witnessed flightsearch volume on its portaljumptoaround200percentofits average daily search vol-ume. Just over the weekend,the agency saw 85 lakhsearches for flights.BudgetcarrierSpiceJetsaid

sectors it operatedon the firstday included New Delhi-Bengaluru, New Delhi-Pune,New Delhi-Chennai, NewDelhi-Mumbai, New Delhi-Guwahati, Ahmedabad- NewDelhi, New Delhi–Patna,Mumbai–Bengaluru,Chennai–Bengaluru,Varanasi–Jaipur,Bengaluru–Pune,Delhi–Srinagar,Udaipur–Ahmedabad,Jammu–Srinagar,Chennai–Madurai,Hyderabad–Jharsuguda andHyderabad-Surat.

additionalmachines are de-ployedinstateslikeUP,Bihar,WestBengalaswellasrestofthe country tomeet thepos-siblehigherrequirement,”thegovernment said in a state-mentMonday.Thedecision to allowpri-

vate labs to test was takeneven as ICMR DG andSecretary, Department ofhealth research Dr BalramBhargava set the cat amongthepigeonswithhis“appeal”toprivate labs to test for free.Thematterwent to thecourtwhich hobbled private test-ing until it was finally re-solved by allowing them tocharge.AmaximumchargeofRs 4500 per test was fixed bythegovernment.Askedaboutthelowshare,

Arjun Dang, CEO, Dr Dang'sLab,toldTheIndianExpress:"Ithink all private labs are

stretching their limits to doCovid collections. Private labshaveamajorlimitationofspe-cialised and very expensiveequipment,trainedmanpowerand space. Comparing private

labs and Government labs iscomparingapplesandoranges.Tosustainthebusiness,routinelab work is essential, whichnowis farbelownormal (onlyabout 18-20%). Although we

practise the highest levels ofinfection-control protocols,thereisstillalotofstigmaas-sociatedwithCovidtestingsowearetryingtodohomecol-lections and drive-throughs.This itself requires invest-ments in AC transport vehi-cles, manpower and PPEswhich are absorbed by thelab."Many private lab owners

red-flagged high cost of ma-chines, apprehension overlosingclientelebecauseoftheCovid stigma and low vol-umes because of the costwhich they say does notcover their expenses.MeanwhileCovidcasesin

the country once againtouched a daily high at 6,977onMonday. The total numbernow stands at 138845 anddeaths at 4021. The recoveryrate is41.57%.

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

WhatGujaratgot

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WhyGujarat, thestatewiththesecondhighestnumberofCOVID-19casesanddeaths, cameinforcriticismfromthestate'shighcourt

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CHINHAT, AARAHANDBAREILLY: THE LESSER-KNOWNBATTLESOF 1857Theyear1857wasatumultuousonefor India.Delhi,LucknowandKanpurweretheepicentresoftheuprising

againsttheBritish.Butseveralother, lesser-knownareasinOudh,RohilkhandandBihar,too,witnessed

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EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEAHMEDABAD,VADODARA,MAY25

DRADITYAUpadhyay(62),anac-tiveBJPmemberandaformerBJPcabinet minister’s wife wereamongthe30inGujaratwhodiedof the Coronavirus onMonday.Thedeathtollroseto891.Upadhyay, anactivemember

of theBJP for twodecades and amemberofitsdoctors’cell,wasanorthopaedic surgeon.Hedied atSterlingHospital inAhmedabad.He was admitted to the SVPHospitalformorethantwoweeksbeforehewasshifted.Hiswife,DrPallaviUpadhyay,

a gynaecologist and former cor-porator from AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation’sGomtipurwardandamemberofBJP’s doctors’ cell, is admitted atSterlingHospitalalongwiththeirson, both of whomhave testedpositive. Pallavi is also BJP’sBapunagarwardpresident.MadhubenThakore,wifeofa

former BJP cabinet ministerMadhubhai Thakore, also suc-cumbedtoCovid-19onMonday.Madhubhai is currently theAhmedabaddistrictBJPsecretary.Heand threeof his familymem-bers are in quarantine. Bothdeathswere confirmed by BJPspokespersonBharatPandya.Former AMC standing com-

mittee chairmanandBJPmediacellmemberJayantilalParmar,75,alsotestedpositive.Hewasadmit-ted to SVPHospital on SaturdayandhisresultscamebackpositiveonMonday.Awell-known builder from

Ahmedabad also died of coron-avirusonMonday,whileassistantsub-inspector Girish Barot suc-cumbedonSunday.Hiswas theseconddeath reported from theKrishnanagar police station.Sourcesfromtherealestatebusi-nesssaidthebuilderhadmultipleco-morbiditiesandhadbeenail-ingforsometime.With 403newcases, includ-

ingoneof apersonnot fromthestatebuttestedthere,Gujarat’sto-tal shot up to nearly 14,500 onMonday.Narmada district reported

threenewcases,includingthatofan11-year-oldgirl,takingthedis-tricttotalto18.Thethreewhotestedpositive

had accompanied a 10-year-oldboy from Mayashi village inNandod talukawho testedposi-tiveonMay21uponreturn fromAhmedabad,earlier.Gandhinagar saw four new

casesandthreedeaths.

BJP member,formerminister’s wifedie of Covid,Gujarat toll 891

MAHARASHTRA

3 dead inmatesin different jails+ve: govt to HCMumbai: The state governmentinformed the Bombay HighCourtonMondaythatthreepris-oners who died — one each inYerawada,TalojaandDhulepris-ons —were found positive forCovid-19afterdeath.State Inspector General of

PrisonsSunilRamanand,inanaf-fidavit,statedthatthreemorein-mateshavebeenfoundpositiveinDhuledistrict prisonandareun-dertreatment.Earlierthismonth,158prison-

ers and26 staffmembers testedpositive for coronavirus inMumbai’sArthurRoadJail,The state’s submission came

after theHC, onMay19directedthe state to file a comprehensiveresponsetothepleasraisingcon-cernsoverseveralinmatesandjailstaff testingpositive and seekingrelief forprisonersacrossjails.

ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,MAY25

SPORADICPROTESTS inpartsofKolkata continued for the sixthdayonMondayoverrestorationof water and power supply asChiefMinisterMamataBanerjeeclaimed that 80 per cent of theessential services had resumedincycloneAmphan-hit areas.People protested at Behala,

Garia, Santoshpur, Garfa, PrinceAnwarShahRoad,CharuMarket,Sapuipara and other places inKolkatabyblockingroadsorsit-tingonadharna.“Thereisnoelectricityinour

areaforthelastsixdays.Ourmo-bilephonesareswitchedoffandweareunabletogetanynewsaswecouldnotchargethem,"saidoneof theprotestersatBehala.In a sternmessage to power

utilitycompanyCalcuttaElectricSupply Corporation (CESC),FirhadHakim,chairmanofboardof administrators at the KolkataMunicipal Corporation, asked itto hire more employees forrestoringpowersupply.“Enoughis enough. People’s patience isrunningout. CESCmust employmoreworkers to complete theprocess of bringing back powersupply inthecity," saidHakim.Describing the cyclone as

“Bengal’s grimmest disasterever”, CM Banerjee, in a state-ment, said important serviceshad been restored in amajorityof urbanareas in thestate.“All major hospitals, water

treatment plants, water supplyunits, irrigation and drainagepumpingfacilitiesandpowersubstationshavebeenmadeopera-tional.Theseworkswillcontinuetillnormalcyisrestored,”shesaid.According to the release,

2,35,200personnelhavebeendi-rectlydeployedbythestategov-ernment forrescueoperation.The chief minister also

thanked state government em-ployees, policemen, the Army,

National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF), SDRF (StateDisasterResponseForce),Odishagovernment personnel for tire-lesslyworking to restore powerandwater supply in thestate.ArmyandNDRF teams, assi-

sted by SDRF, continued to re-moveuprooted trees fromKolk-ata’sarterialroads.Asmanyas30teamsfromOdisha’sfireandem-ergencyservicesdepartmenttookpart in cuttingof uprooted trees.TheArmywasdeployed inKolk-ataanditsneighbouringdistrictsSaturday,hoursafterthestateso-ughtitshelpforrescueoperations.The West Bengal govern-

menthadonSunday instructedthe two power utilities in thestate—WBSEDCLandCESC—totake action in restoring powersupply to thecyclone-hit areas.Thecyclonewhichhadmade

landfall inWest Bengal onMay19destroyedelectricpoles,dam-agedtransformersanduprootedtrees that fell on electric wires,disruptingpowersupply insev-eral parts of the state, includingKolkata.

Mobile and internet servicesare yet to be restored in severalparts of South and North 24Parganas,andEastMidnaporedis-tricts.SourcesinCESCsaidpowerwassuppliedto95percentoftheaffectedareasinKolkata.Meanwhile,WestBengalBJP

president Dilip Ghosh was onMonday seen removing up-rootedtrees fromroadsnearhisresidence in Salt Lake area ofNorth24Parganasdistrict.“The roads were blocked

even six days after cycloneAmphan. Residents are facing alot of problems. So, I alongwithsomeotherpeopledecidedtore-move these trees on our own,”Ghosh told reporters.He later slammed the state

government for failing to tacklethepost cyclonesituation.“Thestategovernmentistry-

ingtowashitshandsoffthemat-ter. Everyone knew the cyclonewascomingthenwhywerepre-cautionary steps not taken tocombatthedevastation?Now,itisblamingeveryoneforpeople'ssuffering," said theBJP leader.

3THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

WESTBENGAL

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIATOTPARA,MAY25

TOTOS, ONE of the least popu-lous tribes in the world, havebeenhithardbythelockdowninTotoparainthestate’sAlipurduardistrictbecauseoftheuniquege-ographical location of their vil-lage, residentssaidonMonday.Totos, numbering just under

1,600,areoneofthethreeParticu-larlyVulnerable TribalGroups inthe state. They live only inTotopara.Nestledinahillyregionbordering Bhutan, Totopara isseparated by Madarihat, thenearesttownjust16kmaway,byfive mountainous rivers thatflow only in monsoon. WithBhutan closer to Totopara thanother parts of India, many poorTotosworkasdailywagelabour-ers in theHimalayankingdom.However, because of the

Covid-19pandemic, theyareun-abletogotoBhutanforwork,andthose in theneighbouring coun-trybefore the lockdownwas im-

posed are stranded there, saidpanchayatpradhanSugribToto.The residents of Totopara are

surviving only on rice and floursuppliedbythepublicdistributionsystem.Other essential commo-ditiesarenotentering thevillagedue to the lockdown, the villagechief added. Agriculturalists de-pendoncashcrops suchasbetelnuts and ginger,which they arenotabletotransporttowholesaledealers in Madarihat, saidBidhantaToto,anothervillager.Thevillageisalsofacingase-

verewater crisis as residents goto Bhutan to fetchwater duringnon-monsoon seasons, but theinternational border has nowbeensealed, SugribTotosaid.Twoofthefourhand-pumps

installed in the village are non-functional, headded.Rita Toto, another resident,

said theywere also facing diffi-culties in accessingmedical fa-cilities as the lone primaryhealth centre in the village is inpoor shape, and travel toMadarihat isbarred.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,MAY25

SIX MORE people died due tocoronavirus in the last 24hoursin West Bengal, the HealthDepartment saidonMonday.The toll due to coronavirus

increased to 206, while if co-morbidity was considered,then the death figure stood at278.Asmanyas149morepeople

tested positive for Covid-19 inthe last 24hours.OnSunday, thetotalnumber

of positive cases was 3,667,while on Monday it rose to3,816.Thenumberofpatientswho

were discharged from the hos-pital inthelast24hourswas75,while the total number of pa-tients discharged till date was1,414.The number of active cases

touched2,124.According to the health bul-

letin published onMonday, thetotal number of samples testedin the last 24 hours was 9,225.Thecumulativenumberofsam-plestestedtillnowwas1,48,049.Thetestpositivityrate,orthe

proportion of active casesamong the samples tested, is2.58percent.TheHealthDepartmentsaid

asmany as 17,171 people werestill in government quarantine,while1,02,890inhomequaran-tine.

ATRIMITRAKOLKATA,MAY25

FOR TWO days after CycloneAmphan tore through the state,Ramkrishna Kar, a resident ofBarasattowninNorth24Parganasdistrict,hadnonewsofhisfamilyinBagbazarareaofSagarIslandinSouth24Parganasdistrict.Kar, who lives in Barasat for

work-related reasons, had noidea how his parents, wife andson were doing since SagarIsland, which bore the brunt ofthestorm,gotcompletelycutofffromtherestof thestate.Withelectricity, internetand

mobilenetworksdown,Kar gotintouchwiththeHAMradioop-eratorsattheWestBengalRadioClub (Amateur Club). The clubdispatched one of itsmembers,DibasMondol, to contact Kar’sfamily.MondolcycledthroughthedesolatelandscapetoreachKar’shome. Then, he shot their videomessage,andtransmitteditusingthe slow scan television (SSTV)method,which is awayof send-ingvideooveravoicebandwidth.Withinhours,Kar sawthevi-

deoofhisparentsandwifeenquir-ingabouthiswell-being.Hisfather

AurobindoKar toldhim:“Wearenowokay.Amphandamagedthehouse.Wearenowtotallydiscon-nectedfromtherestof theworld.But,allmembersofthefamilyareabsolutelyfine.Howareyou?”Explaininghowthiswasmade

possible,theradioclub’sSecretaryAmbarishNag Biswas, who ar-rivedonSagar Island thedaybe-forethecyclonestruck,said:“AfterwereceivedRamkrishnaKar’sre-

quest,wetookhis family’svideo.Thenwetransferred it throughabeacon, sent it throughHAM.Atthedestination,wehavetheSSTVsoftware, usingwhich the fre-quencywasdecoded in a laptopand the videowasdownloaded.After that, Ramkrishnawas abletoseethevideo.”The Barasat resident said he

wasgrateful to theclub for con-nectinghimtohis family. “I had

triedall theavenuestogetnewsofmyfamily,but failedtoestab-lish connection. Ultimately,HAM radio did that. I am verygrateful to HAM radio,” headded.The amateur radio club has

helped70 families like theKars,thanks to the tireless efforts ofDibasMondol,whocycledtore-mote areas of the island to filmtheirmessages.

“FromDelhi,Kerala,Uttarakha-nd,TamilNadu,Telangana,Sikkim,andmanyotherplaces,peoplere-questedus for thenewsof theirfamily, and we gave them thenewsfreeofcost,”saidBiswas.Not only common people,

HAM radio operators also cameto the aid of the South 24Parganasdistrictadministration.“There was no electricity. Ourmobilephonesgot switchedoff.Our satellite phones were alsonotworking.Then,throughHAMradio,weestablishedconnectiv-ity to district headquarters andother stations onMay 20 andMay 21. This was a great help,”saidaseniordistrictofficial.The radio operators helped

establishcommunicationswithMousuni Island, Sagar Island,Kakdwip, Gosaba, and other is-lands in theSundarbans, theof-ficial added.“Before Super Cyclone

Amphan, the Government ofIndia, forthefirst time,gaveusanew code for this cyclone andthatwas‘AlphaUniform2AlphaCharlie’ (AU2AC). It helped us alot.Whenwewereusingthefre-quency,HAMradiooperatorsallover the world received newsabout thecyclone,” saidBiswas.

Kolkata:Ablockdevelopmentof-ficer (BDO) in South Dinajpurdistrictdiedinaroadaccidentashe was returning to his work-place after having completed aroutineinspectionnearby,policesaidonMonday.Condoling his death, Chief

MinisterMamata Banerjee saidmany officials risk their lives tokeepothers safe.Chhogel Moktam Tamang,

the BDO of Tapan in SouthDinjapur,sufferedseriousinjuriesonSundaywhenhiscar skiddedoff the road and hit a roadsidetree,aseniorpoliceofficersaid.“The BDOwas on hisway to

office fromAmtali nearMalda-South Dinajpur border around1.30 pm when the driver lostcontrol of thewheels as the carskidded on paddy left to dry ontheroadandhitaroadsidetree,"theofficer said.“My condolences to his fam-

ily&colleagues.Somanyongovtdutyriskingtheirlivestokeepussafe.Salute,”theCMtweeted. PTI

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAKOLKATA,MAY25

EID-UL-FITR CELEBRATIONS inthe city and its neighbourhoodturnedout tobea low-keyaffair,aspeoplemarkedtheculminationof the fastingmonth of Ramzanbyofferingprayersfromthecon-fines of their homes, amid thecoronavirus-triggeredlockdown.Theusualhustleandbustleas-

sociated with the festival wasmissingfromtheminority-dom-inatedpocketsofthecityMonday.Government officials were

seenbusy removing felled treesandmangledpoles fromthecitystreets, days after cycloneAmp-hanbattered themetropolis andleftbehindatrailofdestruction.SavouryshopsatParkCircus

and Kidderpore, a major drawduring the festival,were largelyshut, and the streets mostlyempty, with just a handful ofpeoplebuyinggroceries.Thesight,smellandsoundsof

EidwerealsomissingfromZakariaStreet,nexttoNakhodaMosquein

northKolkata,whichdons a fes-tive lookeveryyearwithnumer-ousfoodstallsandgiftshopsdot-tingtheroadontheoccasion.State minister and Kolkata

MunicipalCorporationadminis-trator FirhadHakimofferedna-maz at his Chetla residence insouth Kolkata along with wifeanddaughters.“Our combined prayers to

the Almighty to defeat coron-avirusandendmiseryofpeoplestruck by cyclone Amphan,"Hakimtold reporters.Majid Ali, a 25-year old IT

professional, rued the fact thathecouldnotattendtheRedRoadnamaz on Eid, a ritual he hadstrictly adhered to since hewasfiveyearsold.“Weofferednamazat home

today. I missed the revelry thatis synonymous with the occa-sion. This year, I offered namazat home with mymother andsister,"Ali said.Irfan, a rickshaw-puller in

Phoolbagan area of Kamarhati,on the northern fringes of thecity, said he and his family vis-

ited a neighbour and offeredthanksgivingprayers together.“This year,we could not visit

Kamarhati Badi Masjid com-pound,astheimamhadaskedustostayathome,”hesaid.Chairman of Bengal Imams

AssociationMohammed Yahiasaidall26,000mosquecommit-tees in the state have asked thefaithfulstoofferEidnamazwiththeir families at home. “Tomyknowledge, Eid-ul-fitr is beingcelebrated across city and else-whereinstatewithoutanypub-licgathering thisyear,"hesaid.Echoinghisviews, theimam

of Nakhoda Masjid here,ShafiqueQasmi,said,“Therewasnogatheringanywherenearthemosquethismorning. Justafewpeoplewere allowed inside theshrine.We should pray to Allahto give us the strength to defeatthisCOVID-19pandemic."Earlier in the day, CMMam-

ataBanerjeetweeted:“Heartiestwishes to all on the occasion of#EidUlFitr. Let us celebrate thisgreatfestivalathome...Mygreet-ingstoeachoneofyou.”

AMPHANFALLOUTONPOWER,WATERSUPPLY

As protests continue, govtsays80%services resumed

Rescuepersonnel fromOdishacutanuprootedtreetocleararoad, inKolkataonMonday. PTI

AboyplayswithpigeonsduringEidcelebrations, inKolkataonMonday. PTI

REELINGUNDERLOCKDOWN

City sees muted Eid celebrationswith empty mosques, markets

NAMKHANA

Bangladeshibarge sinksin riverKolkata: A Bangladeshibarge sank in a river inSouth24ParganasdistrictonMondayafterhittingasubmergedpontoon jettythat was damaged byCycloneAmphan,officialsof the InlandWaterwaysAuthorityof Indiasaid.Allthe 12 crewmembers ofthe barge, M V Prianka,havebeen rescuedby thelocal administration afterreceivinganSOScall fromthevessel,theofficialssaid.The incident occurredearlyinthemorningintheHatania-Donia river inNamkhana,theysaid.Theleftsideofthebargeisfullysubmerged in the river,theysaid. PTI

6 dead, 149more testCovid +ve inlast 24 hrs

Isolated by geography, Tototribe in North Bengalstruggles during lockdown

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEKOLKATA,MAY25

PROTESTING POLICEMEN ran-sackedGarfapolice stationhereonMonday after the death of aconstablewhohadbeenadmit-ted to a government hospitalwith respiratory problems thedaybefore.Theyallegedmedicalnegligenceandapathyoftheau-thorities had led to their col-league’s death, and askedwhyhe had not been admitted to aprivatehospital.TheCovid-19testresultofthe

47-year-oldconstablewasfoundto be negative after his death.“The swab sample test result,

which was available after hisdeath,camebacknegative,”saidaseniorKolkataPoliceofficer.According to the protesters,

the constable had been suffer-ing from respiratory problemsfor the past few days, but wastaken to the hospital by the au-thorities only on Sunday. Theysaidthe47-year-oldshouldhavebeenadmitted to aprivatehos-pital and not a government fa-cility. “He should have beentreatedbetter,beforehiscondi-tion deteriorated,” said a policeofficer who was part of thedemonstration.An hour after the agitation

started,ateamofseniorcitypo-lice officers reached the Garfa

stationandpacifiedthedemon-strators. The protest was thencalledoff.Last week, more than 500

combat force personnel ofKolkata Police had started aprotest against long workinghours,non-availabilityof leavesandlackofprotectivegear.Theyclaimed that policemen werecatching the infection one byone,buttheauthoritieswerenottakinganyaction toprevent it.The following day, Chief

MinisterMamata Banerjeemetthe policemen to hear theirgrievances, and assured themthattheirproblemswouldbead-dressed. The protest was thenwithdrawn.

Cops protest, ransack police station afterconstable dies; allege authority apathy

BDO dies incar accident,Mamata offerscondolences

As communications failed post-Amphan,HAM radio club tuned in to save the day

AteamofHAMradiooperators inSagar Island. Express

TOTAL CASES

3,816

1,48,049SAMPLESTESTED TILLMAY25

STATECOUNT

1,414RECOVERED

INCREASE

149DEATHS*

278

* INCLUDES 72COMORBID DEATHS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICECHENNAI,MAY25

INTAMILNadu,88%oftheCovid-19 patientswere asymptomaticand84%of the deathswere dueto comorbid conditions, saidstate health minister CVijayabaskaronMonday.Tamil Nadu with a total of

4.21lakhtests,thehighestinthecountry,has17,082casesandhasreported 118 deaths. AndChennai, with 548 cases on

Monday, has registered 11,131casesso far.“We did 11,735 tests on

Monday.Wewill continue thisaggressive testing strategy be-cause that alone helps us to geteffective data about infection inthe state to devise strategies fortreatment protocols,” saidVijayabaskar. According to theminister, an “aggressive testingstrategy, early diagnosis andproperclinicalmanagement”arehelping to reduce thenumberofdeaths. Of the total deaths, in-

cludingsevenonMonday,84percent died due to comorbid con-ditions. “Most of themwerepa-tientswith diabetes and hyper-tension. And 50 percent of thedeaths were reported amongpeople above the age of 60,”Vijayabaskarsaid.Amongthe805positivecases

reported onMonday, 93 peoplewere thosewho came to TamilNadu fromother states, includ-ing 87 fromMaharashtra, twofromKerala,onepassengerfromAndhra Pradesh and three fromGujarat.A33-year-oldmanfromChennai was among the sevendeaths, who died of “septicshock/respiratory failure,” saidthemedicalbulletin.

88% cases asymptomatic, 84% deathshad comorbid conditions: TN Minister

EXPRESSNETWORK4 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

SALUTE THE SOLDIERMARTYR OF 206 CoBRA

SI/GD, Rajesh Kumar Bind of 206 CoBRA

made the supreme sacrifice during a counter-

Maoist operation in the area of Vill- Tamilwada,

under PS- Chintagupha, Distt- Sukma (C.G),

on 25th May, 2018. The CRPF proudly

remembers the braveheart who laid down his

life at the altar of duty while fighting with

maoists. His courage and bravery would

remain an abiding source of inspiration for the Force.

IG & All Ranks of CoBRA

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CKMISHRA, Secretary forMini-stry of Environment, Forest andClimateChange,andchairmanofthe empowered groupon avail-ability of hospitals, isolation andquarantine facilities, speaks toABANTIKAGHOSHonhowIndiarampedupitstestingcapacityandtheneedtofacilitatethereturnoftheelderlytoanormallife

Howdidwerampuptesting

likewedid?

Testingwas a challenge be-cause theorganisations involvedwerenotbestusedtoit.Theywerelargelyinvolvedinresearchwork...Wedecided tobroadenthebase,keptonexpandingthedefinitionofthepersontobetestedbyrevis-ing the protocol.Wenowhad alarger pool to test. Second, youneedalaboratory.Youcannotcon-structoneovernightsowepooledresources -- allmedical colleges,DST, DBT, CSIR, central universi-ties.We converted research labsintotestinglabs.Thenweopenedup the private sector.We haveabove600labsnow.Atthatpoint,nobodywouldhave thoughtwecouldgettothisnumber.Withoutgettingintothemath,

the fact remains that theprivatesectorcontributedatacriticaltime.Becauseof this convergence,wemanagedonelakhtestsperday...

Arethereconcernsonthis?

Theeasternpart of India stillhasconstraints to testingandtheneeds are increasing. Therefore,weare lookingatnewerways toprovide additional support tostates likeBihar,UP,WestBengalandOdisha. Theproblem is thatthereisacertaintechnicalrequire-ment for amolecular diagnosticlab to be set up and the normalchoiceisamedicalcollegebecauseit has the trainedmanpower re-quired for this. Therearedistrictsinthesestateswherethis isanis-sue.We are, therefore,makingTrunaat machines available intheseareasandactivatingmedical

collegesandprivatelaboratories...

Inthediabetescapitalof the

world,howlongarewegoing

tokeepoldpeopleathome?

Vulnerabilityisthemostcriti-cal thing in this entire exercise. Ifyouare looking fromthe fatalitypointofview,tokeepthemortal-itydown,youhave toprotect thesegmentmost vulnerable. Thattakesustotheoldandthecomor-bid.Theyaremostlikelytogetse-riously infected and likely to beheavily dependent onhospitals.Therefore, thecurrentadvisory isto stayhome. This cannot go onforever.Ultimately,thediabeticpa-tient isworking somewhere,wehave tomedically finda solutionorasafetyprotocolforhimtostartlivinganormallife.Ifwedon'tfindasolutionsoon, the fact that theyarecornered inaroomintheho-useisgoingtotellontheirhealth.

Weseemtobeona

significantgrowthtrajectory

nowwhenwearetryingto

openup.Wasthe lockdown

successful?

The lockdown did threethings— itgave thegovernmentandpeopletimetoprepareforthelong haul, cut down the rate oftransmissionandslowed the in-fection. Wemanaged to avertdeathsintheprocess.

Wouldithavebeeneasier to

takemigrantshomeinMarch

whencaseswere less?

In the hindsight, thesemaylook like good solutions. But atanyparticularpointof time,pol-icyisguidedbygroundlevelsit-uations and a desire to do thebest at that point, and I guessthatwas theguidingprinciple.

Is thereaplantodealwith

theconsequencesof

disruptioninroutinehealth

services?

Yes that is very critical andthereneedstobeacogentplaninplace because in the effort tooveremphasise COVID, regularmedicalfacilities,particularlyre-lating to dialysis, chemotherapy,blood transfusion, child deliveryetctooksomewhatofabackseat.Many clinics could not operate.Nowclearinstructionshavebeenissuedinthisregard...

What is thewayforward?

The timehas comewhenweare seeing a regular increase innumbers. India has been singu-larly fortunate thatwehavenothad amortality rate that can beconsideredhighcomparedtooth-ers. All our concentration shouldnowbeonpreventingdeathsandallowing people to learn to livewiththisinfectionbecauseitisnotashort-termproblem...Aslongasweareabletopreventdeaths,re-ducehospitalisationandcurepa-tients,weshouldthinkwehaveafairlygoodpolicyinplace.

FULLINTERVIEWON

www.indianexpress.com

THE EXPRESS

INTERVIEW

WITH

CKMISHRA

CHAIRMAN, EMPOWERED

GROUPONAVAILABILITYOF

HOSPITALS, ISOLATIONAND

QUARANTINE FACILITIES

‘If we don’t find solutionsoon, staying in will tellon the health of elderly’

Migrantswait forbuses toUttarPradesh, JharkhandandBihar, inThaneMonday.Deepak Joshi

THE WAIT

ABANTIKAGHOSHNEWDELHI,MAY25

IN THE light of emerging evi-dence, the World HealthOrganizationhastemporarilysus-pended allocation of patients inthe hydroxychloroquine armofthe Solidarity Trial. A callwill betakenonce theexistingevidencehasbeenreviewed.PatientswhowererandomisedtotheHCQarmearlierwill complete their treat-ment. Thedecisionwas taken inan extraordinarymeeting of theexecutive groupof theSolidarityTrialonSunday.The decision comes in the

wakeofaseriesoftrialsbeingre-ported which did not find anybenefit of HCQ being used inNovel Coronavirus Disease(Covid-19) patients. India, how-ever,continuestousethedrugforprophylaxis among health and

otherfrontlineworkersandfam-ilymembersofCovidpositivepa-tients. It, along withazithromycin, continues to beIndia’s drug of choice for treat-mentof severecases.The executive group of the

SolidarityTrialreportedlydecidedtoerrtowardsa“conservativeap-proach”andimplementatempo-rary suspensionof randomallo-cationtothehydroxychloroquinearmwithin the Solidarity Trialwhile the reviewof evidenceoc-curs. Thiswasdonewithout anyassociatedjudgementonwhetherornot there is evidenceof harm,benefit or lack of benefit causedbyhydroxychloroquine. The ex-tensivereviewoftheevidencewillbeconductedbymid-June.Among the evidence consid-

eredwhiletakingthedecisionisastudy,publishedinTheLancetlastweek,thatsaidthatwhilenoben-efit was found for Covid, the

knownside-effectofHCQoffluc-tuations in the heart rate wasnoted. “Wewereunable to con-firmabenefit of hydroxychloro-quineorchloroquine,whenusedaloneorwithamacrolide, on in-hospitaloutcomes forCOVID-19.Eachof thesedrugregimenswasassociatedwithdecreasedin-hos-pitalsurvivalandanincreasedfre-quencyofventriculararrhythmiaswhen used for treatment ofCOVID-19,” the researchers re-ported in The Lancet. Anotherstudy earlier thismonth in TheBMJ, too,saidthatwhilethedrugdid not seem to give significantpositives in COVID patients,“Adverse eventswere higher inhydroxychloroquine recipientsthaninnon-recipients.”However, in a small study

published in the InternationalJournalofAntimicrobialAgentsonMarch 17, French scientists re-ported: “Twenty cases were

treated inthisstudyandshowedasignificantreductionoftheviralcarriage at D6-post inclusioncompared tocontrols, andmuchlower average carryingdurationthan reported of untreated pa-tients in the literature. Azithro-mycin added to hydroxychloro-quine was significantly moreefficientforviruselimination.”Hydroxychloroquineisadrug

usedinthetreatmentof autoim-munediseases such as rheuma-toid arthritis and lupus. It is alsousedforthepreventionofmalariaanditstreatment;itisaderivativeof the anti-malaria drug chloro-quine. Lately, its role is being in-vestigated in the treatment andpreventionofCovid-19.TheSolidarityTrial isamulti-

countrytrialanchoredbyWHOinwhichtheefficacyofvariousther-apeutic options such as remde-sivir, Hydroxychloroquine, rion-avitandlopinavirarebeingtested.

SOLIDARITYTRIAL

WHOsuspendsallocationofpatients toHCQarmfornow

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAIPUR,MAY25

LARGE SWARMS of locusts onMonday overran several resi-dential localities of Jaipur. Thismonth is the first timesince theearly 1990s that locust swarmsfromWestern Rajasthan havemade theirway into Jaipur, saidofficials from the AgricultureDepartment,addingthatsimilarswarms of the crop-devouringinsects would likely be seen inthecomingdays.“Since the last one year, lo-

custswarmshaveresultedinse-rious losses for farmers.Webe-lievethistimetheswarmscameall thewaytoJaipurbecausethelocusts couldn’t findanycrop toconsume—most of the crophasalreadybeenharvested,”saidBRKarwa, deputy director at the

AgricultureDepartment“OnMay 22, similar locust

swarmshadenteredJaipur.Thiswasthefirst instancesince1993that locust swarms entered thecity,”hesaid.The swarm, originating in

North-West Pakistan, passedthrough Barmer and Jaisalmer

districtsbeforearrivingatJaipurthroughNagaurandSikar.“Thelocustswentoverlocal-

ities such as Vidhyadhar Nagarand Shastri Nagar before flyingtowardsDausa.Therewerelakhsof locusts coming fromwesternRajasthan after originating inPakistan,” saidKarwa.

Aswarmof locusts inaresidentialarea in Jaipur.Rohit JainParas

Locusts enter Jaipur localities,officials say more likely on way

Internationalair passengerspush Andhra’scase count

SREENIVASJANYALAHYDERABAD, MAY25

ANDHRA PRADESH hasrecorded a sharp uptick in thenumber of returnees from theGulf countries testing positiveforCovid-19.OnMonday,62international

passengerswho arrived in spe-cial Vande Bharat flights to thestate tested positive, and ama-jorityofthemwerefromKuwait.Of thosewhotestedpositive,41are from Kuwait, 3 fromQatarand 1 from Saudi Arabia. So far,85peoplehave testedpositive.In Telangana, six persons

who returned from the GulftestedpositiveonSunday.About 700 people in seven

flights have returned toAndhraPradeshfromtheGulfcountriessince May 22. The first VandeBharatmission flightwithwith149 passengers landed atTirupationMay22.The Gulf evacuees testing

positiveisanotherworryforthehealth officials who are grap-pling with cases linked toKoyambeduvegetablemarketinChennai, whichwas a Covid-19hotspot.On Monday, 7 new cases

linked to Koyambeduwere re-ported. Like in many otherstates,a largenumberofpeopleonthemovehavetestedpositivein Andhra Pradesh as well, buthas not led to surge. The totalnumberofconfirmedinfectionsin the state, now at 2,644, hasbeengrowingataslowpace.Thegrowthrateisjustabove2%now,wellbelowthenationalaverageof around5%.Likeinternationalpassengers,

who are screened and tested atthe airports and then sent toquarantine facilities for 14 days,the government has decided totestallarrivingdomesticairpas-sengers from Tuesday and pre-scribe7-dayhomequarantine.AndhraPradeshDeputyChief

Minister(Health)AKSrinivassaidpassengersmaychoosebetweenfree government quarantine fa-cility or paid accommodation athotels with which the statetourismdepartmenthastiedup.Thestatehasscaledupisola-

tionwards, quarantine facilitiesand beds in Covid-19 hospitalsineightdistricts.

TORAAGARWALAGUWAHATI,MAY25

EVEN AS Assam battles theCovid-19 pandemic, five of itsdistrictshavebeeninundatedbyfloodwatersafterincessantrain.More than 30,000 people and9,804 animals have been af-fected in Lakhimpur, Dhemaji,Dibrugarh, Darrang andGoalpara.On Monday, the Regional

MeteorologicalCentre (RMC) inGuwahati,predictedheavyrain-fall in the Northeastern regionfor thenext fivedays. It issuedaredwarning—extremely heavyrainfall—inKokrajhar,BaksaandChirangdistrictsforthenexttwodays. Rain—medium toheavy—is expected in other parts of thestatetoo.“Therainwillcontinueaspertheforecast for fivedays,”said Dr Sanjay O'Neill Shaw ofRMC.According to Pankaj

Chakravarty, State ProjectCoordinator, Assam State

DisasterManagementAuthority,the flood situation is undercontrol.“Yes,waterswill rise but the

situationisnotverybadtillnow,”hesaid,“Allriversaren’tflowingabove danger levels. It is onlywhen all rivers flowabovedan-gerlevelthatwehavesomethingtoworryabout.”Currently, the Jia Bharali in

Sonitpur district and Puthimariin Kamrup district are flowingabove thedanger level.AsperareleasebytheAssam

State Disaster ManagementAuthority, 8,941 people havebeen shifted to 33 relief campsin the Goalpara district. Theseare the first camps set up as perthe Assam government’s newguidelines keeping inmind theCovid-19pandemic.“This time the camps are

more spaced out.Where therewouldbeonecampbeforenowthere are two so that social dis-tancingnormscanbefollowed,”said Varnali Deka, DeputyCommissioner of Goalpara dis-

trict,where8,941peoplearecur-rently in the camps — eitherschool buildings or communityhalls. “Our teamhas checkedallthe people for temperature,those with symptoms are iso-latedandput inhealthcentres,”she said adding thatmasks andsanitisershavebeenprovidedtothe evacuees. The SDRF andNDRF have rescued 400 peoplefromGoalpara so far.As per the ASDMA release,

579 hectares of crop area hasbeen destroyed, roads andbridgeswerebreached,andero-sionwasreportedinLakhimpur,SonitpurandUdalguridistricts.On Sunday, Chief Minister

SarbanandaSonowaldirectedallDeputyCommissionerstosetupseparate cells to carry out reliefandrescueoperationssince“theState government is fightingagainstCOVID-19andfloodanderosionsimultaneously.”OnMonday, Assamreported

147 cases reported till theevening. The totalnumberof re-portedcases inthestateare539.

30,000 affected in Assamfloods, more rain predicted

Pigeon ‘carryingcoded message’caught flying inKathua: Cops

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEJAMMU,MAY25

VILLAGERS ALONG theInternational Border in JammuandKashmir’sKathuadistrictonSunday captured a pigeon sus-pected to be carrying a codedmessage,policesaidonMonday.Senior Superintendent of

Police (SSP), Kathua, ShalinderKumarMishra said the pigeonwas flying overManyari villageinHiranagar sector along the IBand had flown in from thePakistanside.The villagers have handed it

overtothepolicewhoarework-ingtodecipherthe“codedmes-sage’’,writtenonaringattachedtooneof its legs,Mishratoldthemedia. One of thewings of thepigeonwasmarkedred,sourcessaid adding that the ring wasalsoredincolour.Suchactivitiesalong the border fence have tobe viewed seriously in view ofpastexperiences,Mishra said.

Two militantsgunned downSrinagar: Two militants werekilledinagunbattlewithandse-curity forces in southKashmir’sKulgamdistrict onMonday, po-lice said. According to the J&KPolice, the encounter tookplaceatavillageintheKhud-Hanjiporaarea. “As search parties drewclosertothesuspectedhouse,theterrorists fired indiscriminatelyupon the search party. The firewas effectively retaliated, inwhich two terroristswereneu-tralised,”thepolicesaid. ENS

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEBENGALURU,MAY25

UNION MINISTER DVSadananda Gowdawho flew toBengaluru from Delhi onMonday didn’t undergo the in-stitutional quarantinemanda-tory for all fliers from6 hotspotstates, claiming he had immu-nitygrantedbyhisministership.Gowda,theUnionministerof

Chemicals and Fertilizers, andformer Chief Minister ofKarnataka, said he had exemp-tion from quarantine as hisPharmaMinistrywaspartofes-sential services.Under Karnataka's quaran-

tine rules forarrivalsbydomes-

tic flights from Maharashtra,Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, allpassengersare required tobe ininstitutional quarantine forseven days followed by sevendaysof homequarantine if theyareasymptomatic for thevirus.As the controversy began to

blow up with Congress ques-tioning violation, Karnataka'sdepartment of health and fam-ilywelfaremodifieditsstandard

operating procedures for quar-antineof inter-statepassengers,granting exemption fromquar-antine toministers andgovern-mentofficersonduty.The minister—away from

Bengaluru since lockdown be-gan— left for his home soon af-terarrivalat theairportandwasscheduled to attendmeetingswithelectedrepresentativesandministers onCovid-19 situationthroughtheday.“Ididnotwanttoburdenthe

exchequerbyusingaprivateair-craftorachartered flightandsoI came by a regular flight today.There is an exemption fromquarantinethatisavailabletomeasminister for the pharma sec-tor,'' theminister told reporters.

Andhra HC orders govt toseize LG Polymers factory

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY25

THESUPREMECourtMondayal-lowedAirIndiatoflynon-sched-uled international flights with-outhaving tokeepaseat emptybetweentwopassengerstillJune6. The Centre and the nationalcarrier had argued that flightswere already booked and dis-continuingthemiddleseatsud-denlywould lead to a logisticalnightmareasone-thirdofbook-ingswouldhave tobecancelledcompounding problems forstrandedpassengers.The bench was hearing an

appealbytheCentreandAIchal-lenging theMay 22 interim or-der of the Bombay High CourtwhichhadaskedAirIndiatoad-heretotheCentre’sMarch23cir-cular. The circular had said thatallocationof seatsbesuchthataseat iskeptemptybetweentwopassengers.“We are of the considered

view that the petitioner – AirIndiashouldbeallowedtooper-ate the non-scheduled flightswith themiddle seats bookingup to 6th June, 2020. However,afterthattheAirIndiawilloper-atenon-scheduled flights in ac-cordancewiththeinterimordertobepassedbytheBombayHighCourt thereafter,” a bench ofChief Justice S A Bobde andJustices A S Bopanna andHrishikeshRoyordered.Thecourtdidnotappearen-

thusedaboutAirIndia’sdecisionnot to leave seats empty be-tween passengers given theCovid-19situation.Atonepoint,it told Solicitor General TusharMehta, “You should beworriedabout thehealth of citizens, notthe health of commercial air-lines...” Appearing for the peti-tioners,Mehtapointedtothedif-ficulties in implementing theBombay HC direction. “TherewasaflightfromheretoUS,peo-ple camebecause theyhadpre-bookings. Keeping vacant seatscomeswithprocedural issues…familysitstogether...airportsaredifferent,” theSGsaid.“There are numerous flights

everyday carrying thousandsofpassengersanddroppingofsuchpassengers would createmas-sive logistical, international andvisa-related issues,” he saidpointingouttheBombayHCor-der would require AI to cancelone-third of the bookings. TheHC order “ignores the gradualstrategyoftheExecutiveindeal-ing with the issue at hand”, hesaid.While Mehta submitted

that theMarch 23 circularwasonly for domestic flights, theBench did not seem to agreewith him. “What are you say-ing?Haveyouread itornot?Asyour circular says, it said, it isfor bothdomestic and interna-tional,” it said.TheSGsaidbeforeMarch23,

India had stopped all interna-tional operations and that the

March23circularhasnowbeensuperseded.“Wearenotdoubt-ing your circular,” said the CJI.Mehtasaid therewasameetingofmedical and aviation expertson May 4 following which anSOP was issued on May 5.Keepingthemiddlesecondseatvacantwould serve no purposewhile air circulation is alreadythere inside the aircraft, the SGsaidquoting theexperts.The BombayHC order came

following a plea by an AI PilotDecan Kanani who urged thecourt to direct the airline to en-surecomplianceoftheMarch23circular in the interest of publichealthandsafety.On Monday, the SC re-

manded the matter to theBombayHighCourtandaskedit“to pass an effective interimor-der after hearing all concernedon the date fixed i.e. 2nd June,2020...or soonthereafter”.“At this juncture, wewould

consider it necessary for theHigh Court to arrive at a primafaciefindingregardingthesafetyandhealthofthepassengersquatheCovid-19virus,whether theflight is scheduled flight or anon-scheduled flight,” theSupremeCourt said.It said “the Director General

of Civil Aviation is free to alteranynormshemayconsidernec-essary during the pendency ofthematterintheinterestofpub-lic health and safety of the pas-sengersratherthanofcommer-cial considerations”.

SC allows Air India toflywithoutmiddleseats empty till Jun6

SANTOSHSINGHPATNA,MAY25

RashtriyaLokSamataPartypres-identand formerUnionministerUpendraKushwahahas said theBihargovernment“stoodexposedonmigration” and that itwouldbethe“dominatingthemeof thecomingAssemblypolls”.SpeakingtoTheIndianExpress,

Kushwaha said Bihar ChiefMinisterNitishKumarhadbeenallowingmigrants into the state“reluctantly” and suggested thatthestateshouldhaveofferedmi-

grants theoptionof stayingbackbygivingthemRs10,000—anes-timatedexpenseontransportingandkeepingthemigrantataquar-antinecentre.“Afterchiefministersofsome

states started calling backmi-grants, Nitish cameunder pres-sure. Thewayhe dealtwith the

migrants’ issue is not at all satis-factory. Quarantine centres arejustplacestoherdpeople.Noso-cialdistancingisbeingfollowed.”Kushwaha said the state had

been transportingmigrants toquarantine centres, giving themclothes andother itemsbesidesfood.“Estimatedexpenseonami-grantfromjourneyontrainorbustohis stay at aquarantine centreis aboutRs 10,000.Had the gov-ernmentofferedthisamounttoamigrant,hecouldhavemethisex-pensesinanotherstateandstayedback. This could have also pre-ventedthespreadof thevirus.”

He,however,added,“It’sone'srighttocomehome.Whocanstopthemfromcomingback?”Asked if theOpposition's re-

sponse during Covid crisis hadbeenminimal, Kushwaha said itwasonlybecausetheyhadtoad-heretolockdownnorms.Bihar InformationandPublic

Relations minister and JD (U)spokespersonNeeraj Kumar re-sponded:“Whatwecouldgatherfromourinteractionswiththemi-grantsisthattheywantedtocomehometobewiththeirfamilies.Itisonly becauseof a caring govern-mentthattheywantedtoreturn.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY25

PRINCIPALSCIENTIFICAdvisortothe PrimeMinister, Professor KVijayRaghavan,helddiscussionswith Dani Gold, Head of theDirectorate of R&D in Israel’sMinistryofDefenceonscientificcooperation between the twocountries toaddressCovid-19.Thediscussionswerealsoat-

tendedby Israel Ambassador toIndia Dr RonMalka and Indianambassador to Israel SanjeevSingla and officials of CSIR andDRDO.Thediscussionisthefirstofa

series of meetings which willtake place over the comingweeks to exchange technologyand scientific know-how tocombatCovid-19.“I’m proud to connect bril-

liantmindsfromIndiaandIsrael

so they can jointly develop lifechangingsolutionsforthewholeworld,andespecially infightingthe Covid-19 pandemic,’’ DrMalka tweeted.CSIR DGDr ShekharMande

saidthemeetingwasmoreofanice-breaker.“Wewillbecollabo-ratingonanumberofaspectsofthepandemic.Theareasarestillbeing worked out and wewillgetaclearerpictureasthemeet-ingsprogress.’’Officials in the Ministry of

Science and Technology saidMonday’sdiscussionswerecen-teredaroundresearchanddevel-opmentforrapiddiagnosis,basedonbigdataandAItechnology“toenablearapidreturntonormal’’.AMinistrystatementsaidthe

discussions onMonday are “apart of the vision of the IsraeliandIndianPrimeMinistersforawide ranging scientific cooper-ation’’ betweenthecountries.

Modi speaks toBangla PM,Crown Prince ofAbu Dhabi

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEPATNA,MAY25

THE PARENTS and brother of aCPI-ML leader in Bihar’sGopalganjwereshotdeadlateonSunday evening. The attack, inwhich the leader, J P Yadav, sus-tainedinjuries, issuspectedtobethefalloutofapoliticalrivalry.PolicehavebookedJD(U)MLA

from Kuchaikot AmrendraPandey,hisbrotherSatishPandeyandSatish’ssonMukeshPandey.SatishandMukeshhavebeenar-restedandtheMLAisbeingques-

tioned.Alegislatorcanbearrestedonly after permission from theAssemblySpeaker.TheCPI-MLmanhasbeenad-

mitted to PatnaMedical CollegeandHospital.PolicesourcessaidYadavhad

wanted to contest Zila Parishad(ZP) polls next year against theMLA’snephewMukesh,currentlytheZPchairman.According to police, some

unidentified people attackedYadav’s home inRupanchak vil-lage in Hatua, Gopalganj, lateSunday evening. The attackersshotatYadav,hisparents,Mahesh

Choudhary (65) and SankesiaDevi (60) and elder brotherShantanu(35).WhileYadavmanagedto flee

afterbeingshotat,hisparentsdiedonthespot.Hisbrotherdiedlateratalocalhospital.Thepolicesus-pect therecouldhavebeenthreeassailantswho came on a bike.Following thekillings, local resi-dentsstagedaprotest.Yadav,itislearnt,hadbeenac-

tiveinstudentpolitics,andhisam-bitionbroughthiminconflictwithMLAAmrendraPandey.Now in hospital, Yadav said,

“Myfamilymemberswerekilled

becauseofpoliticalrivalry.Thepo-liceshouldthoroughlyinvestigatetheroleofAmrendraPandey."Gopalganj SPManoj Kumar

said:“Wehavearrestedtwopeo-pleandare lookingintoallpossi-blemotivesbehindthekillings.”Leader of Opposition in the

AssemblyTejashwiPrasadYadavsaid, “Nowthata JD (U)MLAhasbeenbookedfortripleGopalganjmurder,willthestategovernmenttakeactionagainsthim?”Minister and JD (U)

spokespersonNeerajKumarsaid,“Thepolicehavealreadyarrestedtwopeopleandwilltakeaction.”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICEHYDERABADMAY25

THEANDHRAPradeshHighCourthasorderedthestategovernmentto “seize the premises of LGPolymers”atVisakhapatnamandnotallowthedirectorsofthecom-panytoleavethecountrywithoutthecourt’spermission.A two-memberbenchof the

courthasbarredentryonthefac-tory premises except for thosepartof thecommitteeappointedtoprobethegas leakaccidentonMay7thatkilled7peopleandin-jured over 500others in the vil-lagessurroundingthefactory.It has asked the government

toreplywhythecompanywasal-lowedtoshiftstyrenegastoSouthKoreawithoutthecourt’spermis-sionwhenaprobewaspending,andwhowasresponsibleforit.“We further direct that none

oftheassets,movableorimmov-able,fixtures,machineryandcon-testsshallbeallowedtobeshiftedwithouttheleaveofthecourt,''theordersaid.The court, which took suo

motu cognizance of the styrenegasleak,directedthegovernmenttoinformitwhetherLGPolymershad takenpermission to restartoperationsduring the lockdownperiod.The court alsonoted that ex-

planationswerenecessary inthetwoPILsfiledbypetitioners.The PILs alleged that LG

Polymers has been operatingwithout a valid environmentalclearance, the inhibitor concen-tration,which controls runawayreactions, inthestoragetankwasnotchecked,therefrigerationsys-temwas notworking properly,andthattheradiusof thevulner-ablezoneextendedup to6.3kmfromthesource.

5THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

EXPRESSNETWORK

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

DELHICONFIDENTIAL

NOVEL CELEBRATION

Intheabsenceof full-fledgedcelebrationsonthefirstanniver-saryoftheBJP'sreturntopower,thepartyistryingtomarktheoccasion in a differentway. PrimeMinister NarendraModiwillwrite letters to10 crore families,while partypresident JPNaddawillholdaFacebooklivesessionwithpartyworkersacross the country. The partywill also organise interactionprogramswith various groups including digitalmedia plat-forms. ThePrimeMinister’s call forAtmanirbharBharatwillbe themajor thrust of the campaign and the government’s“success” in handling the Covid-19 crisis would be its high-light.Thenationalleadershiphasalreadyinformedthestatestoget ready for theseprogrammes.

NEW FACILITIES

Establishing Covid-19 testing facilities are slowly becomingeventsatwhichit isworthmarkingapresenceforpoliticians.OnMonday,AgricultureMinisterNarendraSinghTomarinau-gurated such a facility in his constituency of Morena inMadhya Pradesh. Nowa coronavirus test can be done at thedistrict hospital in Morena, Tomar tweeted. Ladakh MPJamyangTseringNamgyalalsoinauguratedaCovid-19testinglaboratory at Chushot Yokma in his constituency. This is thefirst such lab in thenewlycreatedUT.

WELCOME MOVE

With various issues regarding availability of food for travel-lingmigrants, especially on trains, coming to light, Railwaysgot a helping hand fromFMCGmajor ITC. Officers in Bihar'sDanapur division got ITC to donate 1 lakh packs of biscuitsand snacks to remote locations as part of its CSR initiative.WithShramikSpecialtrainsslatedtorunformanymoredays,officials saidsuchhelp fromtheprivatesectorwaswelcome.

UpendraKushwaha

UnionMinisterSadanandaGowda

Migration to be theme of next Bihar polls: Kushwaha Bihar CPI-ML leader shot at; parents, brother killed

MILINDGHATWAIBHOPAL,MAY25

THESCHEDULE for by-electionsto24 seats inMadhyaPradesh isyettobeannouncedbutaformerCongressMLA— one of the 22whose rebellion brought downthe Kamal Nath government—hascreatedanawkwardsituationfor the BJP by claiming that thepollswillbefoughtinJyotiradityaScindia’sname.Jaswant Jatav, theMLA from

Kareraconstituency,creditedthe

Congress’sstellarperformanceinthe 2018Assembly elections inthe Gwalior-Chambal belt toScindia, who is currently a BJPRajyaSabhacandidatefromMP.“If therewasone leaderwho

challengedShivrajSinghChouhanintheregionitwasScindia.Ontheprevious occasion Scindiawontheseatssinglehandedly,thistimehe and Chouhanwill be on onestage,” said Jatav aftermeetingChouhaninBhopal.BJP leaders told The Indian

ExpressthatithadbeenconveyedtoJatavtowatchhiswords.

Former Congress leader saysScindia will be by-polls face

India, Israel to share techknowhow on Covid fight

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY25

CONGRESS GENERAL secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onMonday took a dig at UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanathforhisremarksonre-turning migrants from otherstates testingpositive.“Heard the Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister's statement.Accordingtogovernmentstatis-tics,approximately25lakhpeo-ple have returned to UttarPradesh. According to the ChiefMinister, 75 percent of thosewho have returned fromMaharashtra,50percentofthose

who came from Delhi and 25percent from other states havebeeninfectedwithcoronavirus,”she tweeted.Priyanka askedwhether the

CMmeantthatthereweremorethan 10 lakh people in UPwhoare infected with coronavirus.“But his government’s datashows that the total number ofinfectedpeopleinUttarPradeshis6,228...,” she tweeted.

Gowda skips quarantine after flightto Bengaluru, says he has immunity

PriyankaGandhiVadra

How the states handleddomestic flights onDay 1

PUNJAB

Punjabchangedguidelines forhandlingarrivalsat least fourtimes.CMAmarinderSinghonSaturdaysaidthatall thoselandingondomestic flightswillbe inhomeandinstitutionalquarantinefor14days.OnSunday, thestatesaidtheywouldallbetested,andthosetestingpositivewillbesent for institutionalquarantine.But therewereapprehensionsontestingsomanypassengers.OnMonday,thegovernmentaskedDCstotest randomly.WhentheDCswereyet to issueorders, thePrincipalSecretaryHealthissuedrevisedguidelines,statingthatalldomestictravellerswhoareasymptomaticor testnegativewillbe inhomequarantinefor14days.Symptomaticoneswillbetakentoahealthfacility for testing.

BIHAR

AirportauthoritiesatPatnasaidonlyregular identitydocumentsarerequiredbesidessafetyclearancebyAarogyaSetuapp.PassengersflyingtoBiharwillnothavetoundergoquarantinebutcanreportathealthdeskof theairport incaseof anyuneasiness.

GUJARAT

Atotalof 13domestic flightsarrivedand15left fromAhmedabadairport.AtSuratairport, twoflightsarrivedfromDelhiandHyderabadanddepartedforthesamedestinations.Threeflightswerecancelled.Passengers flyingoutweremedicallyscreenedandquarantinestampwas inkedonhandsofpassengers tostatesmandatingquarantine.

JAMMU&KASHMIR

Onday1, threeof theeightflightscomingto JammufromDelhiandSrinagarwerecancelled.ThefirstAir Indiaflightwith27passengerslandedat Jammuairportaround8.40am.Mostof thepassengersarrivinghere fromDelhiwerethosewhowerestrandeddueto lockdown.Passengers’ swabsampleswerecollectedfor test, andweretakentodifferenthotelsforadministrativequarantinefor14days,or till their testreturnsnegative.Six flightscarrying562passengersarrivedatSrinagarairportand267passengersdepartedfromSrinagarairport.Allpassengerswillbetestedandkept in institutionalorhomequarantine.Thosepassengerswhotestnegativewillbesenthomeandthosepositivewillbesent tohospital.

UTTARPRADESH

Till6pm,six flights landedatLucknowairportandsevendepartedtoAhmedabad,Mumbai,BengaluruandDelhi.All counterswerecoveredwithtransparentplastic sheets toensureairport staff donotcomeincontactwithpassengers,whowerescreenedfortemperatureandsymptoms.

MAHARASHTRA

A totalof 47flights tookofffromMumbaiairportandarrived.Theairporthandleda4,852passengers,3,752departingand1,100arrivingpassengers from14placesacross thecountry.ThehighestnumberofdepartureswastoNewDelhi.Thoughairlineshavebeenallowedtooperateat80%of aircraft’sseatingcapacity, the firstflight to landfromLucknow,

anIndiGoAirlines flight,hadjust33passengers.BMCdoctorsscreenedpassengers,whowererequiredtodisplaystatusonAarogyaSetuappattheentrygate.

TELANGANA

DomesticpassengersarrivingonflightsatHyderabadwerescreenedforCovid-19symptomsbeforebeingallowedtoexit theairport.Symptomaticpassengersaresent to institutionalquarantinefor7daysaftertakingsamples. If thepersontestsnegative, the individualcangohomebutshouldremain inhomeisolationfor7days.Passengerswereputthroughintensescreeningbeforecheck-in.

ANDHRAPRADESH

WhenflightsresumefromTuesday, thegovernmentwilltestallarrivingpassengers.Allfliershavetoobtaine-passbeforebookingtickets.Asymptomaticpassengersfromhotpoststateswillhavetoundergo institutionalquarantineforsevendaysandbeallowedtogohomeaftertestingnegative.Asympto-maticpassengers fromlowincidencezoneswillbe inhomeisolationfor14daysandtheir swabsampleswouldbetakenat theairport. ENS

EnteringtheChennaiAirportonMonday,and(below)exitingtheMumbaiAirport.PTIandNirmalHarindran

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY25

PRIME MINISTER NarendraModi on Monday spoke toBangladesh PM Sheikh Hasinaand the Crown Prince of theEmirate of Abu Dhabi (UAE)MohammedBinZayed,wishingthemon the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and discussing with themtheCovid-19pandemic.Moditweeted:“SpoketoPM

Sheikh Hasina to wish her andthe friendly people ofBangladesh, a happy and pros-perousEid-ul-Fitr.Wediscussedthe impact of cyclone Amphanand the present COVID-19 situ-ation. Reiterated India’s contin-ued support to Bangladesh inthis challenging time.”An official statement said,

“Thetwoleaderssharedtheiras-sessmentof thedamagecausedby Cyclone Amphan in bothcountries. The leaders also dis-cussedtheCOVIDpandemicsit-uationandtheongoingcollabo-ration between the twocountries in this regard. PrimeMinisterModireaffirmedIndia’ssupport to Bangladesh in ad-dressing thesechallenges.”“ConveyedEid-ul-Fitr greet-

ings to His HighnessMohammed Bin Zayed and thefriendlypeopleofUAE.Thankedhim for the cooperation ex-tendedtoIndiancitizensinUAE.India-UAE cooperation hasgrownevenstrongerduringtheCOVID-19 challenge,” he said inanother tweet.A statement said the leaders

expressedsatisfactionabouttheeffective cooperation betweenthe two countries during theCOVID-19pandemicsituation.

Priyanka to Yogi: DoesUP have 10 lakh cases?

6

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AGAINST WORKERSUPgovernmentbidtotakeonpowertogivepermissionfor

employmentelsewhereillservesthoseitprofessestoprotect

ATAWEBINARonSunday,UttarPradeshChiefMinisterYogiAdityanathspoke

about theproblemsof thosewhohavetomoveoutof thestate toearntheir

livelihoods.Heannouncedthata“MigrationCommission”willbeestablished

to helpworkerswhohave returned to the state amid the lockdown. The

Commissionwill findways to guarantee social security toworkers, provide them jobs ac-

cordingtotheirskills.TheCMalsocriticisedotherstatesfornottakingcareofworkersfrom

UPduringthelockdown.Forsure,thesalienceofwelfareschemesformigrants—insurance,

legal support, unemployment allowance—and theneed for better employment avenues

forthem,cannotbeoverstated.TheUPCM’sstatedconcernforthedignityofworkersfrom

thestateinworkplacesinotherstatesisalsowelcome.Butarelevantinterventiononanim-

portantissueframedbytheongoingpublichealthemergencyassumedaproblematicover-

tonewhentheUPCMsaid:“Withoutourpermission,ourpeoplecannotbetakenbyother

states”. Quite simply,what the chiefminister has proposed is against the interests of the

workers he is professing concern for. It also goes against a fundamental tenet of the

Constitution:ClausesdandeofArticle19guaranteecitizenstherighttomovefreelythrough-

outthecountry.

Thepublicexchangeontheissueofthestrandedandvulnerablemigrantworkforcehas

thrownupseveralquestionableandunseemlyinterventionssofar.Morethan20lakhmi-

grantshave reportedly returned toUP in the twomonths after PrimeMinisterNarendra

Modi’s announcement of a nationwide lockdown dried up their sources of livelihood.

WhiletheUPgovernmentdidmobilisebusestoferrybackstrandedmigrants,alargenum-

berof themhavehadtoundertakearduous journeys to returnhome.Earlier thismonth,

theUPgovernmentsparredwiththegovernmentofMaharashtraoverlogisticsforthere-

turningmigrants.Lastweek,itengagedinabattleofone-upmanshipwiththeOpposition

Congressoverbusestotransportworkersbacktothestate.Unfortunately,onthisissue,the

Adityanathgovernmentdoesnotseemtobeanexception.BusesfromJharkhandhavere-

portedlybeenturnedback fromtheBengalborder, theBihargovernmentgaveonlyare-

luctant nod to bringingmigrants by Shramik Special trains, Jharkhand has accused

ChhattisgarhofsendingbackpeoplewhotestedCOVID-19,andittookapublicuproarfor

theKarnatakagovernmenttorevoke itsordercancellingtrains formigrants.

TheUPgovernment canbe said tobeattempting touse theemergency createdby the

pandemictogive itself unduepowersover itscitizens.Thedecisionofworkers toreturnto

theirworksites,ornot,isbestlefttothem.Ofcourse,thehomestatesmayhavelegitimatewor-

ries about theirworking conditions.Negotiationsbetween states should informefforts to

createandstrengthensocialsecurityforworkers—notunilateral,unconstitutionaldecisions.

THINK SMARTERSmartCitiesMission,whichwastoapproachurbanplanning

creatively,perpetuatesthetraditionalneglectofhealth

OFALLTHE lessons that thepandemichas taughtacivilisation thathadbe-

come improbably confident of its beliefs, perhaps themost unsettling is

that themost technologicallycapablenationscannotprotect the livesand

health of their citizens fromamedieval plague. It follows that a political

culture and economic system invested in the ideal of ever-increasing GDPmust invest

more in thehealthof itscitizens,whopowertheengineof growth.Historically, Indiahas

hesitated to invest adequately in school education andhealth, the twin foundations of a

maturesociety,andthesesectorsremainedneglectedevenbythereformsprocess.Now,

it appears that even the newest innovation for optimising spaces and communities for

growth,theSmartCitiesMission,hasn’tunderstoodthefoundationalimportanceofhealth.

The figuresareappalling.Only1.18percentof the5,861projectsokayedsince2015are

foraugmentinginfrastructureandcapabilityinhealth.Infiscalterms,theyaccountforonly

1.03percentofthevolumeinvestedbytheMission.Plumbinganabyssalnadirintheimpor-

tanceaccordedtohealth, this iseven lower thantheshamefully inadequate1.6percentof

GDPwhichthestatesandtheCentretogethersetaside forhealth in2019-20.Forcompari-

son,thetotalhealthexpenditureintheUSin2017was17.9percentofGDP,ofwhichthestate

contributedover 8.5per cent.Of the30municipal jurisdictionswhich account for 79per

centofcases,17aresmartcities—and,of them,onlysevenhaveinvestedMissionfundsdi-

rectlyinhealth.HotspotslikeJaipurandSurathavenohealthprojectsatallundertheMission.

As theMission clarifies on its website, a smart city has no absolute definition. The

termoriginatedamongWesternplannerstodescribeacitywhichusesInternetofThings

data tooptimise its services. The Indianministryof housingandurbanaffairsmentions

thisaspectinonlyoneof theeightfeaturesit listsforasmartcity.Therestfocusonurban

planningstrategiesforqualityof life,suchasreducingpollutionandimprovinglanduse.

Healthismentionedonlyinonepoint,whichdiscussesurbanidentityconferredthrough

local economic activities likemaking sports goods and hosiery, and providingmedical

facilities.Health isnotacknowledgedasthesubstrateofproductivity.Wecanonlyhope

that thepandemicdrives thepointhome,andtheMissionpivots tohealth.

THE QUIET LEGENDBalbirSinghwasthecunningcraftsman,ano-frillspragmatist,

forwhomonlygoals, goldmedalsandteam-workmattered

INARARE television interview three years ago, Balbir Singh Senior, three-time

Olympicgold-winninghero,whodiedonMonday,explainedtheguidingphilos-

ophyofhislifeandcareer:“Invisibilityismycomfortzone.”Toremaininvisibleon

thefieldisperhapsthebiggestvirtueofacentreforward,toslipbetweenthelurk-

ing defensive lines andwriggle through lashing sticks. In a teamof artistes, in an era of

when high-speed dribblingwas romanticised, Balbirwas the cunning craftsman, a no-

frillspragmatistforwhomonlygoals,goldmedalsandteam-workmattered.Thecloakof

invisibilityhesoproudlyworewasarguablythereasonheremainedanonymousformost

ofhislifetime,andwhyhe’sscarcelyromanticisedliketheothergreatstylistsofthegame.

It’s a sportingaltruism:The lensofhistory isunkindtomenwhostepawayfromthe

limelight. It prefers the showstoppers, not the hardworking, self-effacing playerswho

mighthavebeenno less indispensable in shapinghistory. Like JorgeBurruchagawas to

DiegoMaradona, like Vava andDidi to Pele, like ArthurMorris to Donald Bradman. Or

like Balbir Sigh to Dhyan Chand. Theywere all heroes, butmyth-weavers did not knit

sparkinghalosaroundtheheads. It’snotthatBalbircouldnotdribbleorreverse-flick,but

thathe thought thosewere redundant tohis functionandrole.

So while historians consider the eight goals Dhyan Chand stroked in the Berlin

Olympics(1936)finalasthepinnacleof Indianhockey, thefiveBalbirscoredinIndia’s6-

1thrashingoftheNetherlandsinthe1952Gameswasarguablytougher.Itarrivedatatime

whenhockeyhadevolvedconsiderably andagainst amuchstronger and ruggedDutch

team,whodespitelosingthefinaliscreditedasafoundingfatherofmodern-dayhockey,

whichisdecisivelymoreathleticthanartistic.Butforgetthemnot,forwithouttheirsweat,

sacrificeandselflessness,historywouldhavebeenlesshistoric, legendswouldhavebeen

merelymen.Balbir, themanfondof self-deprecation,wasa true legend.

The Ladakh warning

P Stobdan

SowmyaDechammaCC

AsChinaintrudesacrossLAC, Indiamustbealerttolargerstrategicshift,a lastingimprintongeopolitics

MIGRATION: OURS AND THEIRSSome journeysareaboutchoice, othersare forceddisplacement

AFTERDOWNPLAYINGTHEborderstand-offfor over twoweeks, the government has fi-nally dismissed China’s accusations of theIndian Army crossing the Line of ActualControl.Instead,thePLAhasintrudedintotheIndian sideof the LAC, disruptednormalpa-trolling, anddestroyedposts andbridges ontheGalwanNalaatChang-Chenmo.Looking at the issue only from the LAC

anglewouldbeamistake.Remember, inthewake of the abrogation of Article 370 and35A, there was a sudden outburst fromBeijingovermakingLadakhaUnionTerritory(UT). China described India’smove as “un-acceptable”, undermining its “sovereignty”— even raised the issue at the UNSC. IndiadismissedChina’sassertion,termedLadakh’snewstatusasan“internalmatter”having“noimplication for India’s external boundariesor theLACwithChina”.While Indiahaspursued itscorenational

interests in J&K,China’s responsewasstrate-gic—a shift thatmayhave a lasting imprintongeopolitics.Wehavebeenharpingonthe“differing perception” theory of the LAC fordecades,butinrealityChinahasbeengainingcontroloveramassive“disputedterritory”inEasternLadakhsincethe1980s.The Chinese firstmade encroachments

intothe45-kmlongSkakjungpasturelandinDemchok-Kuyul sector.This resulted in localChangpas of Chushul, Tsaga, Nidar, Nyoma,Mud,Dungti, Kuyul, Lomavillages graduallylosing their winter grazing that sustained80,000 sheep/goats and 4,000 yak/ponieseverywinter.Ladakh’searlierborderlayatKeguNaro—

a day-longmarch fromDumchele. StartingfromthelossofNagtsangin1984,followedbyNakung (1991) and Lungma-Serding (1992),the lastbit of Skakjungwas lost in2008. ThePLAfollowedthenomadicReboroutesforpa-trolling in contrast to Indian authorities re-strictingRebomovementsthatledtothemas-sive shrinking of pastureland and borderdefence.By the 2000s, the PLA’s focus shifted to

desolate, inhospitable Chip Chapwhich re-mains inaccessible until end-March. Aftermid-May, water streams impede vehiclesmoving across Shyok, Galwan, and Chang-Chenmoriversleavingonlyamonthandahalffor effectivepatrollingby the Indian side.Nohumanbeings inhabit here, a 1962war site,an entry point into Ladakh for theUyghursand Tibetans. Local Ladakhi personnel

manned theposts here, but patrolling in the972sqkmTrigHeightareahasbeenlax.EasieraccessibilityallowedthePLAto in-

trude into Chip Chapwith impunity duringJuly-August—itsregularsusuallyspentafewhoursbeforecrossingback.But,duringthe21-dayDepsangstand-off in2013,whenBurtsebecame a flashpoint, the PLA set up remotecamps18-19kminsideIndianterritory.The ShyamSaranReport of August 2013

madeachillingrevelationofIndiahavinglost640sqkmdueto“areadenial”setbyPLApa-trolling. The government denied the report,but Chinese soldiers virtually preventedIndiantroopsfromgettingaccesstoRakinalanearDaulatBeg-Olde(DBO)wheretheIAFre-activatedtheworld'shighestlandingstripsin2008. Thisplus the reopeningof FukcheandNyomaairbasesperhapsprovokedthePLA’sintrusioninDepsang.ThearmydeniedthatLadakhhadshrunk.

Changeintherivercoursewascitedasarea-son for the loss of 500-1,500metres of landannually.India’sstepped-upconstructionac-tivitiesmayhaveprovokedChinaintoaccus-ingIndiaofalteringtheLACposition.Despitetopographicalchallengesandcorruption,theBROhas lately fast-tracked the 260 km longShayok-DBOroadconstructionthatprobablytriggeredthePLAintrusioninearlyMayspark-ingthecurrentGalwanstand-off.Towards thesouthatPangongTso, forces

hadphysical scufflesoverarea-denial forpa-trolling at Sirijap onMay5-6 andonMay11.The situation remains tense at Sirijap’s cliffspurs and also at the Tso,where troops arechasingeachotherinhigh-speedpatrolboats.Clearly, intrusions are part of China’s never-endingefforttopushIndiantroopswestwardof the Indus and Shyok rivers and reach the1960claimedline.Out of the 857 sq km long border in

Ladakh only 368 sq km is the InternationalBorder, and the rest of the 489 sq km is theLAC.Thetwotraditionaldisputedpoints in-cluded TrigHeights andDemchok. At eightpoints, the two sideshavedifferingpercep-tions— Samar Lungpa 176 sq km, DepsangPlains 972, Hot Spring 38, Changlung 13,Kungkala-Phobrang5,Sarjap129,Spanguur24,andDhumtsele25sqkm.Butlately,Chinahas raised two fresh dispute points atPangongTso83sqkmandatChumurwhereitclaims80sqkm.Theolddisputesiteswereat the end point of Pangong Tso and atChushul—the1962battle-site.

TheSirijaprangeonthenorthernbankofthelakeremainsmostcontested,fromwhichseveralcliff spursjutout—the“fingerseries”1to8.India’sLACclaimlineisatFinger-8,buttheactualpositionisonlyuptoFinger-4.TheChineseareassertingfurtherwesttoclaim83sq kmhere. The PLAhas built a 4.5 km longroad to prevent patrolling by Indian troops.ThePLA’sroadnetworkfromhereextendstoHuangyangtan base located near NationalHighwayG219.Further south inDemchok, China claims

some150sqkm.ThePLAhasbuiltmassivein-frastructure on its side, moved armouredtroopsintoChardingNallasince2009.Tibetannomads pitch tents onHemisMonastery’slandthroughout2018-2019.In Chumur, China claims 80 sq km and

probablywants a straight border from PT-4925 to PT-5318 tobring TibleMane (stupa)area under its control. For India, holding ofChumuriscriticalforthesafetyoftheManali-Lehroute.Remember,thePLAdemandedre-moval of India’s fortified positions in Burtse(2013)andDemchokandChumur(2014) foritsretreat.Overall, thepatternshowsthePLA’sdes-

perate design to snatch the lake at Lukungthroughathree-prongedstrategyofattackingfromSirijapinthenorth,Chuchulinthesouthandthroughthelakewaterfrommiddle.ThisisthekeychokepointfromwheretheChinesecancutoff IndianaccesstotheentireflankofChipChapplains, Aksai Chin in the east andShayokValleytothenorth,whichmeansthatIndian control is pushed to thewest of theShyokriverandsouthoftheIndusriver,forc-ing India to accept both rivers as naturalboundaries. And once China gets control ofthesouthernsideoftheKarakoramitcaneas-ily approach Siachen Glacier from theDepsang corridor andmeet at Tashkurganjunction fromwhere the CPEC crosses intoGilgit-Baltistan.Thatwould be disastrous for Indian de-

fence,leavingthestrategicNubravulnerable,possibly impacting even India's hold overSiachen. China’s access to Changla-passthroughLukungandTangtsewouldthreatentheentireIndusValley.ItisquitepossiblethatChina is eyeing the waters of the Shyok,Galwan andChang-Chenmo rivers, to divertthemtothearidAksaiChinanditsAliregion.

Thewriter,a formerambassador,isanexpertonIndia-Chinaaffairs

My13-year-oldsonandeight-year-olddaugh-terwere as eager to get back fromNewYorkcity asmuch as they had looked forward tobeing there. The story of my homecomingsoundsquite crasswhen I read the stories ofmigrantworkerswaiting to return home. Ittook the intervention of theKarnatakaHighCourt toorder thegovernment topay for thetravel of themigrantswhohadnowork, nopay and nomoney to get back to their dearones. Itdidnotmattertomanyinhighplacesthat theywere dying of exhaustion on theirwalkbackhome,orbeingrunoveronrailwaytracksandhighways.As Iwrite this froman institutional five-

star quarantine facility in Hyderabad, ourbiggest revolution is against the hotelman-agementandwiththegovernmentorders—askingforsomefreshairtobeletintoourair-conditioned rooms. Coronavirus hasmadethismuch clear:Wehave one set of peoplefightingtobeoutinHyderabad’ssummerair,and there is another set, numericallymuchlarger,whoseonlypossessionperhaps is thewill towalkhundredsofmiles in thehotsuntowardstheirhomes.Mostpeoplequarantined inourhotel are

aged/middle-aged, upper-caste parents re-turning fromtheUS, the landwhere themi-grants’dreamscometrue.Imaynothavetheircaste andmoneyed capital, but they donot

havemyculturalcapital.Yes,Iknowtheircaste.Many make it a point to tell their secondnames,indicatingtheircaste.IalsohadpeopleaskingmeifIwasvegetarian,orwell,Brahmin.TheseparentswhomIinteractwitharenotflu-ent in English, they are scaredof conversingwiththemanagementorthedoctororthepo-lice stationed24/7 at thehotel. Some relyonme(andmychildren)tonavigatetechnology,fill forms inEnglish, and to talk towhicheverauthority.Butyet, theywereable tomeet theexorbitant cost of the ticket from theUS toIndia,choosethe“premiumcategory”ofquar-antine,andevenbickeraboutthefoodservedtous.Aswewaittoreceivethefoodservedout-sidetheroominthehotelcorridor, conversa-tionsrangefromhowmanychildreneachhasintheUStowhat isservedintheotherhotelswhere their acquaintances are quarantined,andhowsuffocatingitcangetinsideACrooms.WeevenventuredtoaskforbiryanionEid.Do I need to contrast these US-migrant

dreamswith dreams ofmigrants’ stories ofhomecomingwithin India? Theprotagonistof the Indian-American dream is not ami-grant-worker.Theirsislargelyastoryofchoice.This cannot be the story of theworker-mi-grant,more often thannot belonging to theso-calledlowercastesandtoAdivasicommu-nities,displacedfromtheirhomelandsmulti-pletimesforvariousreasons,themostpopu-

larreasonbeingthatofthe“greatercommongood”,withoutchoiceorvoice.Iwas anxious about returning fromNew

York,whereIhadgoneonafellowship. IkeptwritingtoeveryoneIcould, fromtheambas-sadorofIndiaintheUStofriends,aboutrepa-triation flights. The Indian embassy alwaysreplied.Was this kind of efficiency availabletothemigrant-worker?Whatabouttheblue-collarIndianworkersintheGulf?Iknowthatin JordanandSingapore,workers from Indiaare struggling in dormitories. Itwas only inearlyMay,nearly twomonthsafter the lock-down,whentheeconomystartedopeningup,that the Shramik trains started running.Where and howdid thosewho travelled inthese spend the last twomonths? That theyhadtowaitinthescorchingsunwithluggageontheirheadforbusestotakethemtotherail-waystation,thattheywerehoseddownwithchemical disinfectantswhile booking theirtickets,thattheywadedthroughtheYamunainthehopeof reachinghome,thattherewasnowaterandmanytimesthepacketsof foodgiventothemwerestale, that theirdismem-beredbodieslayontherailtracks,whilesomeofusfoughttobeletoutforsomefreshairsaysalotaboutthesocietyweare.

ThewriterteachesattheUniversityofHyderabad

Despite topographical

challenges and corruption, the

BRO has lately fast-tracked

the 260 km long Shayok-

DBO road construction that

probably triggered the PLA

intrusion in early May

sparking the current Galwan

stand-off. Towards the south

at Pangong Tso, forces had

physical scuffles over area-

denial for patrolling at Sirijap

on May 5-6 and on May 11.

The situation remains tense

at Sirijap’s cliff spurs and also

at the Tso, where troops are

chasing each other in high-

speed patrol boats. Clearly,

intrusions are part of China’s

never-ending effort to push

Indian troops westward of the

Indus and Shyok rivers and

reach the 1960 claimed line.

The protagonist of the

Indian-American dream is

not a migrant-worker. Theirs

is largely a story of choice.

This cannot be the story of

the worker-migrant, more

often than not belonging to

the so-called lower castes and

to Adivasi communities,

displaced from their

homelands multiple times

for various reasons, the most

popular reason being that of

the ‘greater common good’,

without choice or voice.

FOUNDED BY

RAMNATH GOENKA

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

§ §

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020WORDLYWISE

Cities force growth, andmakemen talkative

and entertaining, but theymake them

artificial. — RALPH WALDO EMERSONTHEEDITORIALPAGE

ASSAM UNRESTTHEASSAMGOVERNMENT called the armyout in the Barpeta sub-division of LowerAssam,inanobviousshowofforce,inviewofthe observance tomorrowof “demandday”bytheCongress(I)-backedAllAssamMinorityStudents Union (AAMSU) and “Barpetabandh”calledbytheBarpetaDistrictStudentsUnion. According to Assam chief secretary,troopshavebeencalledoutandpara-militaryreinforcementsrushedtoBarpeta.TheAAGSPandtheAASUhave,inthemeantime,accusedthe government of inciting communal vio-lenceinthestatebyencouragingtheminori-tiestolaunchacounter-agitation.

SOUTH KOREA RIOTSTHE SOUTH KOREAN foreign ministryurged all foreign embassies in Seoul to gettheirnationalsoutofKwangjuarea“assoonaspossible”, aUSembassysourcesaid. Therecommendation was issued as anti-gov-ernmentdemonstrators andSouthKoreanmilitary forces continued their tense vigilbehind barricades in the riot-batteredprovincial capital. More than 100 personswere killed in anti-government riotingthere lastweekfollowingthe impositionofmartial law and censorshipthroughout the country andarrests of sev-eral leadingpoliticians.

HERAT ATTACKSRADIO KABUL CONFIRMED urban guerillaattacks in the strategicAfghancityofHerat,about 110 km from the Iran border. ThePashto-languagebroadcastfollowednumer-ousreportsthatrebelscontrolledkeysectorsof thewestern provincial capital, includingthewater supply, and of heavy clashes be-tweentheinsurgentsandAfghansandSovietforces holding other parts of the city. KabulRadio claimed that anti-government forcesraidedtheHeratprovincialpoliceheadquar-ters, killing an undisclosed number of sol-diers. Total rebel losses were not disclosedbut it saidone terroristwasshot.

MAY 26, 1980, FORTYYEARSAGO

7THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

WHATTHEOTHERSSAY

“ The government has justified its decision to reopen by saying that

Pakistan’s figures are ‘much better than countries in the West’ and that

perhaps populations in South Asia have some miracle, unproven immunity.”

—DAWNTHE IDEASPAGE

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

Scientific or logical

behaviour is both culturally

derived and individually

ingrained. Unfortunately,

the last few years have seen a

sequential erosion of science

and scientific temper in our

country. Sadly, this erosion

has been accelerated by the

unscientific rhetoric from

the highest offices of the

executive. Even sadder is the

silence of the scientific

community on this erosion.

The lack of scientific

thinking has been unabated

even in the times of the

COVID-19.

The contagion of fear The Pashtunquestion

DELHI NEEDS TO look beyond the ques-tionofengagingwiththeTalibanandfocuson the larger Pashtun question that onceagainpromisestoshapethegeopoliticsofthe north-western Subcontinent. Thequestion of a direct dialogue with theTalibanwas beginning to gain some rele-vance as the group’s effective control ofterritory in Afghanistan expanded in re-cent years. It has acquired some immedi-acy after the Donald TrumpAdministrationannouncedplansforasig-nificant drawdown of its forces fromAfghanistanandsignedapeacedealwiththeTalibanearlier this year.Renewedpublicinterestinthequestion

wastriggeredearlierthismonthwhentheUS Special Envoy for Afghanistan, ZalmayKhalilzad,calledonIndiatoopenapoliticalconversationwiththeTaliban.Theinterestwas furtheramplifiedbyasignal fromtheTaliban that it is eager for aproductive re-lationshipwith India.Those calling for direct engagement

withtheTalibansaythatDelhican't ignoresuchanimportantforceinAfghanpolitics.OpponentssaythereisnoreasonforDelhito join the international stampede to em-brace theTaliban. If andwhen theTalibanbecomes a peaceful entity and joins thequestforapoliticalsettlementwithKabul,theyargue,Delhishouldhavenoobjectiontodirect talks.Forall the interest ithasgenerated, the

questionofDelhiopeningadialoguewiththe Taliban is a tactical issue focused onwhen,howandonwhat terms.But the Taliban remains an important

sub-set of the larger andmore strategicPashtun question that holds the key toIndia’s enduring interest in Afghanistan:Promoting a peaceful, independent and asovereign Afghanistan that is not a subal-tern to thePakistanarmy.Two basic issues define the Pashtun

question andwill have a huge bearing onAfghanistan’s political evolution after theimpending drawdown of the US forcesfromthecountry.One is the problem of reconciling the

interests of multiple ethnic groups inAfghanistan— the Pashtunswho consti-tute nearly 42 per cent of the population.ThesizeableAfghanminorities include27per cent Tajiks, 9 per cent eachof HazarasandUzbeks.Irrespectiveofthenatureoftheregimes

in Kabul over the last four decades — the

communist government in the 1980s, themujahideenandTalibanrulethatfollowedinthe1990sandthepost-Talibancoalitionthat took charge in2002—constructing astable internalbalancehasbeenhard.Thatproblemwillacquireanewinten-

sityas theTalibanstakes claim foradomi-nantroleinKabul.ButhastheTalibanlearntto live in peacewith theminorities? TheTaliban, an essentially Pashtun formation,hadbrutallycrushedtheminoritiesduringits brief rule in the late 1990s. There aresome indications that the Taliban is nowreachingouttotheminoritiesbutitissomedistanceawayfromwinningtheir trust.The problem of constructing internal

balance in Afghanistan has been compli-cated by Pakistan’s meddling, which isdriven by unrealisable ambition and un-reasonablefear.Pakistanwouldliketohavethe kind of hegemony that the British Rajexercised over Afghanistan. Neither canPakistanreplicate thatdominancenorarethe Afghans willing concede it to thePakistanarmy.Pakistan’s ambitious talk of strategic

depthisaccompaniedbyworriesaboutitsPashtunminority. There are more thantwice asmanyPashtuns living in Pakistanthan inAfghanistan. The Pashtunpopula-tionisestimatedtobearound15millioninAfghanistanand35million inPakistan.AlthoughPashtunseparatismhaslong

ceasedtobeaforce inPakistan, Islamabadfinds thePashtunquestion re-emerge inadifferentform.Pakistancan’treallybetthatthe Talibanwill not put Pashtunnational-ism above the interests of the Pakistanistate. The Taliban, for example, has neverendorsedtheDurandLineasthelegitimateborder with Pakistan. It is by nomeansclear if Pakistan’s construction of theTalibanasaconservativereligiousforcehasobliterated thegroup’sethnic character.Meanwhile, Islamabad’squest forcon-

trol over Afghanistan over the last fourdecadeshasheapedextraordinary suffer-ing on the Pashtun people on Pakistan’sside of the Durand Line. As the PashtunTahafuzMovement seeks a peaceful re-dressal of its demands for basic humanrights,Pakistanhasunleashedmassivere-pression.Pakistan’sexpansivemilitaryandpolit-

ical investments in Afghanistan have notreally resolved Islamabad’s security chal-lengesonitswesternfrontier. If anAfghantriumpheludesPakistan,Delhican’tescapethe complex geopolitics of the Pashtunlands.ThattheTalibanwantstotalktoIndiaand Pakistan brands Pashtun leaders asIndian agents only underlines Delhi’s en-duringsalience inAfghanistan.

Thewriter isDirector, Instituteof SouthAsianStudies,NationalUniversityofSingaporeandcontributingeditoron

internationalaffairs forThe IndianExpress

ParanoiahasbeenconstructedaroundCOVID-19. It is fuelledby lackof education,erosionof scienceandscientific temper

IN HIS NOVEL, A Journal of the Plague Year,published in 1722 after the bubonic plaguedevastated Europe, author Daniel Defoewritesaboutfamiliesforcedintoquarantineduetoaninfectedfamilymember.Hestatesthat itwas generally from such houses thatdismalshrieksandcriesofpoorpeoplewereheard—theywereterrifiedandevenfright-enedtodeath,bythesightoftheconditionoftheir dearest relations, andof being impris-onedastheywere.InaninterviewtotheNewYork Times in1988, author andNobel laure-ate Gabriel GarciaMarquez said: “Plaguesarelikeimponderabledangersthatsurprisepeople.Theyseemtohavethequalityofdes-tiny.” Defoe’s nearly 400-year-old accountandMarquez’sdefinitionofdestinyseemtohave returned to haunt the world as westruggletocontaintheCOVID-19pandemic.Pandemics and themeasures taken to

control theminvariably leadtoseveremen-talstress,ashasbeenshownbymanyscien-tific articles. Enough scientific literature isavailabletoshowthatthediseaseandtheso-calledremedy—thelockdown—causedsig-nificantmentalstresstothepeoplesubjectedtoitduringtheongoingpandemic.Thisstresscantranslateintodifferentkindsofaction.Indeeplytraditionalandreligioussocietieslikeours, compoundedbythepaucityof educa-tion, scientific temper and logical thinking,theseactionscanbeextremelytreacherous.On April 24, a 34-year oldmanwas re-

portedly attacked in Kalyan, Maharashtra,on the suspicion of being a COVID-19 pa-tient. He died, following the attack. In an-other case, a 25-year-oldmanwas injuredinAligarh,UttarPradesh,onthesuspicionofbeingaCOVID-19patient.Similar incidenceofviolenceagainstpeoplesuspectedofhar-bouring the notorious virus has been re-portedfromallaroundthecountry.Besidesthe general public, doctors, nurses andother health personnel have also been tar-geted. Juniordoctors frommyhospitalhavebeen issued notices by their landlords, re-questing them to vacate their rented ac-commodation because of the neighbour-hood’shostility.All inall, it didn’t take longfor the COVID-19 pandemic to take theshapeof a stigmatised, contagiousbeast inIndia. This needs to be carefully evaluatedandunderstoodbecause,sadly, it isareflec-tion of the societywehavebecome.ThestigmaattachedtoCOVID-19inIndia

is notwithout reason.We have a penchantto attach stigmas to various phenomena.Besidesill-foundedtraditions,thecommon-est stigmas go with diseases. People withmental health issues, neurological diseaseslike epilepsy, physical disabilities, tubercu-losis,skindisordersandleprosyareshunned,mistreatedandnotconsideredequalsbyoursociety.But the stigma attached to a pandemic

withhigh infectionrates isunique inmanyways. It’suniquebecause itcomesfromex-treme fear. The paranoia which has beenconstructed around COVID-19 in the lastthreemonthshasmademattersworse.Thehastylockdownandtheunfortunatemigra-tion of the poor out of cities on foot have

only compounded the fear. The poor mi-grant has unsurprisingly carried hatredagainst us, the citywallahs, and fear of thedisease towhereverhewent in thehinter-land. The general public remained ill-in-formedormisinformedonmanyaspectsofthe disease. The undemocratic lockdown,even if it canbearguedasbeingnecessary,ledtofurtherstrengtheningofanotionthatwearedealingwithadiseasewhichwassocontagious and so lethal that it can lead tothe death of anyonewho comes in contactwithaninfectedperson. Itwasunfortunatethat the government puffed its chest inclaiming that this was the strictest lock-down in theworld. Visuals of police atroc-ities in implementingthe lockdownplayedtheir part in fortifying the notion that weare dealing with a disease “worth thestigma”. I believe that the strictness of thelockdownplayeditspart in inducingfear inthemindsof thegeneralpublic, therebyat-tachingmore stigma to thedisease.In the initial phase of the lockdown in

Delhi, the government started a process ofmarking homes of people advised to be inquarantine or homeswith actual patients.Thisisanoldpractice,whichisstillprevalentin many European countries. But such a“marking out” in a country like ours rein-forced the fear aroundCOVID-19. There arebetterandmorediscreetmethodstoimple-ment aquarantine. InKerala,whichhas thebest results in the country in terms of con-tainingthedisease,ASHAworkerswerede-ployed and tele-counselling services wereprovidedtofamilieswithsuspectedinfectedpatientsor thoseunderquarantine.The roleof educating themassescannot

beoveremphasisedduringsuchanoutbreak.Aneffectivewaywouldhavebeentousethevillage health workers in a door-to-door

campaign.Inthisrespect,theKeralagovern-ment’s initiative,called“BreaktheChain”, isworthamention.Thecampaignaimedtoed-ucate people about the importance of per-sonalhygieneandsimplemethodslikehandwashing techniques.Scientific or logical behaviour in society

evolvesovertime.Itisbothculturallyderivedand individually ingrained. Unfortunately,thelastfewyearshaveseenasequentialero-sion of science and scientific temper in ourcountry. Sadly, this erosion has been accel-erated by the unscientific rhetoric from thehighestofficesof theexecutive.Evensadderisthesilenceof thescientificcommunityonthis erosion. The lack of scientific thinkinghas been unabated even in the times of theCOVID-19. Promotion of Ganga jal and gaumutra as a cure for COVID-19 and the con-comitant misinformation, rumours andspeculation about the pandemic on socialandothermedia,haveonlyaddedtofurtherconfusionand fear.Thereisasubtledifferencebetweencau-

tionand fearwhen it comes to containing apandemicof this scale.Cautionhelps insal-vagingtheselfwhilefearconsumesboththeself and those around us. Stigmatisationcomes from fear. If wewant to come out oftheruinsof thispandemicandfromthecon-sequences of the lockdown, we have to re-move fear and stigma from this awful dis-ease.Wehave to let ourmindsbegovernedbyscience,andnotfakery.Wemustremem-berthatillnessesareasoldascivilisationandouronlyhopeinfightingdiseases lies inourundeterred faith inscienceandreason.TheCOVID-19pandemic isnoexception

to this thumbrule.

Thewriter isprofessoroforthopaedics,AIIMS,NewDelhi.Viewsarepersonal

ShahAlamKhan

CLASSROOM FIRST

THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Ease oflearning’, (IE, May 25). Smart classesandonlineeducationhavebeenapartof theIndianeducationsystembutduetoa lackof infrastructureandsupport,they couldn’t become widespread.This pandemic has forced the systemtoexploreonlineeducation.Whileon-line education familiarises studentswith modern technology, conven-tionalclassroomsstill remainthebestform of learning. Children not onlylearn social skills, butdevelop leader-ship qualities by performing the roleof amonitor,prefectandheadstudentof the school.

RahulMaheshwari,Kanpur

UNPREPARED

THIS REFERS TO the reports, ‘Covidwake-up call: Health infrastructureonly 1 per cent of Smart City projects'and‘WhistleblowerbehindGujaratHCorder: 'NoPPEkit,mask,gloves...canbeinbigtrouble' (IE,May25).Theyrevealthe lack of political will and hollowclaimsaboutthedisasterpreparednessofhospitals.Butforthewhistleblower'slettertothehighcourt,thetruthwouldnot have come out. And instead of re-sponding to the substantive issuesGujarat HealthMinister Nitin Patel isharpingonhis age and riskingvisits tohospitalsatatimewhenPrimeMinisterNarendraModiisusingtele-conferenc-ing to interactandguide.

LRMurmu,Delhi

REFORM BODIES

THISREFERSTOTHEarticle, 'Rebootingthe world' (IE, May 25). SinceWorld

War II, the esteemed institutions re-sponsible for international peace,healthcare and education have beenstruggling. It's thehightimethat theseinstitutions, both global and regional,transformthemselves andplayaposi-tiveroleintheglobalcommunityinthepost-COVIDworld.

AnkitSingh,Prayagraj

TALK IT OUT

THISreferstotheeditorial,'Unquietfront'(IE,May25).AneerieuneaseontheIndo-Chinaborders followingthe longstand-ingcontroversyoverterritoryclosetotheLineOfActualControl(LAC),doesn'tpor-tendwellformutualandbilateralinter-ests.Thecurrent tensionscould jeopar-dise regional peace. Hence, both theneighboursneedsincereandseriousde-liberations in order towriggle out oftheseterritorialcomplications.Atatimewhenwe face a common threat, diplo-macyandfriendshipmustprevail.

AzharAKhan,Rampur

LETTER TO THEEDITOR

WHIRLPOOLSCAUSETREMENDOUSdisrup-tion on the surface.Water churnsmenac-ingly, creating a pull that drags anythingcaught in its current below the surface, andthen basically leaves it there, disoriented. Ifthepersoncaughtupinawhirlpooldoesnotpanicandhasphenomenallungcapacity,thechances are he/shewill rise to the surface,battered andpetrified, but alive. And, somedistance fromwhere theywentunder.This iswherea largechunkofmyindus-

try— the restaurant industry— finds itselfnow.Storiesabouthowrestaurantsmaybebreeding grounds for the virus, or howair-conditioners propagate the disease, abet atrust deficit that has already formed in theminds of the average customer.The toll on the restaurant business has,

by now, beenwell documented, especiallyin countries like the US, where data sug-gests that the hospitality sector accountsfor nearly a third of the unemploymentnumbers.At lastcount, reportedlyabout7.5million people have claimed unemploy-ment benefits — a huge number, millions,from the leisure and hospitality sectoralone.Thesenumbersaresostarkanddev-astating that little needs to be said aboutthecalamitousconsequencestheywillhaveon the industry at large.

Contrary to popular belief, the restau-rant business operates on razor-thin mar-gins: Fixed costs are high, rentals are first-world whilst prices charged arethird-world, andbills get paidbecauseof arolling debt model. A complete shutdownfor even a week is disastrous, and 60 daysis the equivalent of ameteor strike.Many businesses in this sector will be

unable to weather this storm, with esti-matesabout thenumberofplaces thatwillhave to close down in the next six to eightmonths ranging from 20-35 per cent. Thiswill be a body blow for a very large, youngworking population, most oftenmigrants,whotravelledforworkbecausetheirhomestates just didn’t have the opportunities.With social distancingnorms inplace, andthe distinct possibility that restaurant oc-cupancywill be dictated bymunicipal au-thorities, carryingthe levelsof staff onedidpre-COVIDwill nowbeuntenable.Whatwillalsofundamentallyalter isthe

restaurant experience, at least for sometime. These are places built to be socialhubs,whereconstant interactionandserv-iceplayedasmuchofaroleastheambienceand food. With these factors largely re-moved from the equation, conversationswith servers speaking to you from behind

a protective face screen, handing out dis-posablemenuswith plastic-wrapped cut-lery, to a table of only four people, diningout will become functional, not experien-tial as itwasdesigned tobe.Restaurants now have no choice but to

innovatetobridgethewidegapthatthisre-duction in footfalls will create. Many newtrends are emerging globally: Meal kits,cocktail mixes, online cooking classes andvouchers for the future— anything to pre-vent the business from sinking deeper.Delivery seemstobe thewarcry forevery-one, but let’s be honest: A business thatworks on cost models designed to thriveonlywhen its seating capacity is leveragedto themaximum cannot survive on deliv-ery alone.“Contactless” dining, the new catch-

phraseused indiscriminatelyby techcom-paniesthatreliedheavilyonourbusiness, issomething that will take hold for a longtime. Dining can never be contactless, butthemoniker is beingused to sell a neweraof tech-enabledeatingoutoption,with lit-tle human interaction.Real estatewill be rationalisedbecause

boom-timewindfallswillnotexist—therejustwon’tbeanytakers.Stategovernments,whichreliedheavilyonrevenuesthatthese

businesses generated,will need to rethinktheirpreviousbullyingand, frankly,bizarrepolicy decisions for thehospitality sector.There’s an optimist in me, however,

who, after nearly two months of gettingusedtodailybirdsongandcleanair,believesthatthistooshallpass.That,whilsttheover-all impact and financial hit to our ecosys-tem will have long-lasting effects — onewhich many will not be able to survive —the social animals that human beings are,theirreturntobusybarsandbustlingeater-ieswill only benatural.Inevitably, therewillbeacure,avaccine,

something that reminds us that while weare a lot more fragile than we’d imagined,nothing canprevent us frombeing aroundone another, eventually. The last 60 dayshave also been a reminder of the impor-tanceof thehearth, therespect for ingredi-ents, the tribulations of taking to the stovedaily, the joysof sitting arounda table, andultimately, the reverence people who dothiseverydayneed tobegiven.Wewill re-turntoanaltered landscapeof restaurants,but with a lot more love and affection to-wards them.

Thewriter is chef partnerwith theOliveGroup

Wewillreturntoanalteredlandscapeofrestaurants,withmorelove,affection

A table for none

ManuChandra

IDEAS

ONLINE

ONLY IN THE EXPRESS

●●THERISKPERCEPTION:KANCHANMUKHERJEE

●●REPURPOSING

MGNREGA:

ASHWINIKULKARNIAND

PRAMATHESHAMBASTA

www.indianexpress.com

RAJA MANDALA

by CRajaMohan

As itpondersengagementwithTaliban,Delhicannot turnawayfromthecomplexgeopolitics

of thePashtun lands

CR Sasikumar

HOWFREQUENT,andhowsevere,arestrokes among Covid-19 patients? Aseries of papers in the journal Stroke,published by the American HeartAssociation, examines trends fromfourcountries. Thebroad findings:

■ The rate of strokes in Covid-19patientsappearsrelativelylow;but—

■ A higher proportion of thosestrokesareamongyoungerpeople;

■ThestrokesinCovid-19patientsare oftenmore severecomparedtostrokesinpeople who do nothave the novel coron-avirus, while globalrates for stroke hospi-talisations and treat-mentsaresignificantlylower than for the firstpartof 2019.Onestudy,covering

New York betweenMarch 15 andApril 19,found that out of 3,556hospitalised Covid cases, 32 patients(0.9%)hadischemicstroke.Theycom-paredthose32Covidpatientstothoseadmittedonlywithstroke(46patients)andfoundthatthepatientswithCovidtendedtobeyounger(averageage63)versusnon-Covid strokepatients (av-erageage70).StrokesamongtheCovidpatientsweremore severe (based onastrokescale)andthesepatientswere

more likely tobedeadathospitaldis-charge(63.6%vs.9.3%).Another study, fromHong Kong,

reported delays in the time fromstroke onset to hospital arrival.Between January 23 andMarch 24,the onset-to-arrival time in QueenMary Hospital was about an hourlonger in 2020 comparedwith 2019(154minutesvs95minutes).A study fromChina found that in

February 2020, hospi-tal admissions relatedtostrokedropped40%,compared to the sametimeperiod in2019.Afourthstudy,from

France, found that be-tweenFebruary15andMarch 30, therewas a21% decrease (844 in2019vs668 in2020) inoverall volume of is-chemicpatients receiv-ing mechanical

thrombectomyduring thepandemiccompared to2019.Additionally, therewasanincreaseintheamountof timefrom imaging to treatment overall—145minutesin2020vs126minutesin2019; this increasedby30minutes inpatients transferred to other facilitiesfortreatmentafterimaging.

SOURCE:AMERICANHEARTASSOCIATION

PAPERCLIP

NEWRESEARCH

Strokes in Covid-19 patients:4 studies capture trends

Basedonwhatweknow,whatcouldhavehappenedinVizagonMay7?Letmefirstsummarisewhatwedoknow.

Theplantwasunderstart-upafteralockdownof40days.Thetankthatleakedhadacapacityof2,400tonnes,with1,800tonnesof styrenepresentatthetime.Theoperatorswerecheck-ingthestoragetank,andithasbeenreportedthat oneof thevalves in the tankwasproba-blynothandledwell.Italsoappearsthattherewasatechnicalglitchintherefrigeratorunitofthe tank. Fromvideos andphotos taken im-mediatelyaftertheaccident,copiousamountsofwhitedensevapoursareseengushingfromsomewhereatthebottomofthetank.Now, a bit about styrene. It is actually a

colourlessliquid,andnotagas.Styreneexistsasasinglemolecule,but isunstableandhasa high propensity for auto-polymerisation,meaning it tries to combine with itself tomakelongchains,especiallyattemperaturesover65°C.Thisprocessisexothermic,thatis,a lot of heat is released during auto-poly-merisation,andcanbecomeuncontrollable.Forthesereasons,styreneisalwaysstored

atrelatively lowtemperatures (between15°Cand20°C).Thisistoavoidinadvertentpolymeri-sationand the resultantgenerationof heat.Asmallamountofanotherchemical—calledaninhibitor—suchaspara-tertiary-butyl-cate-chol isalsoaddedtostoredstyreneinordertopreventpolymerisation.Despitetheseprecau-tions, ingeographiesorseasonsthathavesig-nificanttemperaturedifferencesbetweennightandday, small amounts of styrene vaporisewhen the temperature ishigh, and thencon-densesontankroofs,walls,orfittings,whenitcoolsdown.Theinhibitorexistsonlyintheliq-uidphase,andthusstyrenevapoursdon’thavetheinhibitormixedinthem.So, incondensedstyrenestuckonwalls, roofor fittings, there isnothing topreventauto-polymerisation. Thisoftenleadstoapluggingofpressurereliefvalvesinthetankorinthepipelines.Nowbasedonall this information,here is

what I think couldhavehappened inVizag:

Due to the long shutdown, it is possible thatslowpolymerisationofstyreneinthetankhadbegun,especiallywhereitmighthavebeenincondensed state. This probablywent unno-ticed.Inaddition,therehavebeenreportsthatsomevalveshadfailedtofunctionatthetimeof start-up,probablybecauseof choking,anditisquitepossiblethattheprocessadoptedfordeclogging these valvesmighthave resultedinthemgivingway,andtheliquidstyreneleak-ingout.Astheliquidstreamedoutofthesmallorifice, itwouldhave led to a sudden turbu-lence andmixing in the tank,which in turncouldhaveledtoviolentpolymerisation.Thisprobably resulted in an increase in tempera-ture inside the tank, facilitating thevaporisa-tion of styrene, and these vapours escaping.Andbecausetherefrigerationsystemhadalsomalfunctioned, therewasnothing to controltheriseof temperatureinsidethetank.Analternativehypothesis is that styrene

condensate formedon the roof andwallsofthetankmighthavefallenintotheliquid,andcouldhavebecomethe reason for initiationof polymerisation.Now, the fact that longstorage, lackof re-

frigeration,ordepletinginhibitorcontentleadstoslowpolymerisationisnotunknown.Ithap-pensoccasionally,andisdetectedduringrou-tinemonitoringof the storage tank. If timelyinterventionisnotmade,itcouldleadtoarun-awayexplosive condition. I donot think thatkindofexplosiveconditionexistedintheVizag

tanks at the timeof the accident.Otherwise,the result could have been farmore cata-strophic,asthetankitselfcouldhaveruptured.

TheaccidentrevivedmemoriesofBhopal.AssomeonewhohandledtheaftermathoftheBhopalleak,doyouseeparallels?Ithinkitisunfairtocomparethisaccident

with the leak ofmethyl isocyanate (MIC) inBhopal.MICis farmorepoisonousandtoxic.TheconcentrationofMICthat isclassifiedasimmediately dangerous to life and health(IDLH) is just 2-5parts permillion,whereasfor styrene, this is700ppm.MIC’sbiologicalresponse in human beings is similar to thatofhydrogencyanide.Itblocksthefunctionsofhaemoglobin intheblood.The only thing for which I can speak of

bothinthesamebreathisthatbothaccidentswereavoidablewitha littleextracare.

Doesthissuggestanelementofnegligence intheVizagaccident?Allaccidentshavean inherentelementof

negligence.Itisoftensaidthatanaccidentisaconsequenceofconfluenceof95%unsafeactsand 5%unsafe conditions. Several standardprecautionsseemtohavebeenmissed.Astan-dardpractice is toanalysethecontentsof thestorage tanksdaily for oxygen, inhibitor andpolymerconcentrations.Thetemperaturein-sidethetankalsoneedstobemonitoredreg-ularly, andkept as lowaspossible,with con-

tinuous refrigeration. These checks are evenmoreimportantduringlongplantshutdowns.Inadvertent polymerisation of styrene

givesusenoughnoticeandwarnings,astem-perature rises very slowly. Even in the ab-sence of an inhibitor, it takes about 25 daysfor the temperature in the tank to increasefrom20°Cto30°C.Soperiodicmonitoringisall that is required toensuresafety.Industry has been handling styrene for

decadesnow.Thereisnodocumentedrecordofamajorstyrene-relatedaccidentanywhereintheworld.Someminoraccidentsinvolvingrailcarcontainersandroadtankershavebeenreported.Oneofthebiggestincidentsreportedwas an explosion in a shipping tanker in aSouthKoreanportlastyear.Thisistrueof theindustryinIndiaaswell.Indiaimportscloseto1.5mn tonnes of styrene annually andprocessesitintoseveralproductsweusedaily.

Whatdoesstyrenedotothebody?Styrenehasloworaltoxicityandmoder-

ate inhalation toxicity. Styrene vapours areanirritanttoeyes,gastro-intestinaltract,mu-cousmembranes, and respiratory tract. Butlong-termhealth effects of styreneareverysmall. There is no evidence that it inducesanykindofcancer.Mostof thesymptomsofexposure tostyreneare reversible.

WhatdoestheVizagaccidentsayaboutindustrial safetystandards in India?Inrecentyearstherecordofprocesssafety

inthechemical industryhassignificantly im-proved,thankstotechnology,automationandIT. India has someuniqueproblems thatweneedtoaddressquickly.A lotof ourchemicalmanufacturingisinthesmallandmediumsec-tors,whose ability to invest in industrial andenvironmental safetyaswell asoccupationalhealth is limited. Several of ourmanufactur-ingplantsareageingandreluctanttoinvestincapitaleithertorevamporscrap/rebuild,andthatisamatterofconcern.Urbanpopulationshave encroachedon spaces thatwere origi-nally demarcated for industry, including thebuffer (andgreen)zones thatall chemical in-dustrywasmandated to follow. There is alsoanincreasingtendencytoskiplong-termtrain-ingandskill developmentby resorting to ca-suallabourintheoperationalarea.Thechem-icalindustrywillfacesevereshortageofskilledoperatingpersonnelintheyearstocome.

DrSwaminathanSivaramisa formerdirectorofNationalChemical Laboratory,

Pune.Hespoke toAmitabhSinha

8WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

HARISHDAMODARANNEWDELHI,MAY25

IN 2009-10, the National Sample SurveyOffice (nowNational Statistical Office orNSO) conducted a large sample survey ofHousehold Consumer Expenditure (HCE).Thissurvey,usuallycarriedoutonceinfiveyears,wasrepeatedin2011-12.Thereason:2009-10 saw India suffer both a severedroughtandtheaftereffectsof theglobalfi-nancialcrisis.2011-12wasa“normal”yearlike 1999-2000 and 2004-05, “free” fromanymajoreconomicdownturn.2011-12not justyieldedtheHCEsurvey

data used for estimating poverty lines andratios: Householdswith consumption ex-penditure below a certain level, which isstate-specificanddifferent for rural andur-banareas, are consideredpoor. That periodproducedasurfeitof informationalso fromthe 2011Census, NSSO’s Employment andUnemploymentSurvey(EUS),andtheRuralDevelopmentMinistry’sSocioEconomicandCaste Census (SECC). Policymakers and re-searcherswere,simplyput,spoilt forchoicewithregardtoofficialdataavailability.Contrast these to the present times

where there’s a virtual data vacuum. TheNSOdid carryout anHCEsurvey for2017-18, but the Ministry of Statistics &Programme Implementation did not re-lease its resultsciting“dataquality issues”.Instead, itproposedback-to-backHCEsur-veys in 2020-21 and 2021-22 “after incor-poratingalldataquality refinements”.The2020-21survey is supposedtostart

from July, which looks unlikely given thenovelcoronavirus-inducedsituation. “It isamassiveexerciseduetothesizeof thesam-ple(1,01,651householdsin2011-12)andalsoquestionnaire(coveringtheconsumptionofaround300 food andnon-food items). Thefield investigators go to remote areas andspendroughly2hourswitheachhousehold.Nobodycanrisk it this time,sowe’llhavetowait for the 2021-22 survey,” said PronabSen, formerChiefStatisticianof India.But it’snot just theHCEsurvey.

What else is uncertainThe Census is scheduled to be con-

ducted in February-March 2021. Prior tothat,thefirstHouselisting&Housingphase—which looks at the amenities and assetspossessed by households alongwith theconditionofhomes—wastotakeplacedur-

ing April-September 2020. There werequestion marks over the launch of thisphaseevenbeforethelockdown,especiallyas it was clubbedwith the update of theNational Population Register opposed bymanynon-BJP-ruledstates.WithCovid-19,thereisaremotechance

of theHouselisting&Housingphasetakingoff immediately.Thehouselistingoperationis crucial for carving out enumerationblocks or specific areas that are allotted toeachof the30 lakh-odd field functionariestaskedwith collection of Census informa-tion. “Wehavepostponed all the activitiestill furtherorders,”anofficialspokespersontoldThe IndianExpress.ThesamegoesfortheSECC,whoseindi-

vidual/household-leveldata,unlikethatofthe regular Census, isn’t confidential. ThegovernmenthasusedtheSECC-2011data-base for identifying beneficiaries underPradhanMantriGraminAwaasYojana(ru-ral housing), Ujjwala (LPG connection),Saubhagya (household electrification),Ayushman Bharat (health insurance) andother welfare schemes. But SECC-21, too,cannotbeundertakenwithoutthedemar-cationofenumerationblocksaspartof theCensushouselistingoperation.

Evenassumingthecurrentuncertaintytobe temporary, theconsiderable time lagbefore the release of the next HCE survey,Census and SECC findings leaves very few,relativelyrecent,sourcesofprimarysurveydata available for enabling informed poli-cymaking. Yes, there is the AgricultureCensus 2015-16, the NABARD All-IndiaRural Financial Inclusion Survey 2016-17,and the NSO’s 2017-18 reports on socialconsumption (health and education) andaccesstodrinkingwaterandsanitation.Butthey don’t answer basic questions: Haspoverty in India fallen and by howmuchsince2011-12? Is consumptionof protein-rich foods and vegetables growing at thesamerateasinthepreviousdecade?Doof-ficialproductionestimates formilkorhor-ticulturalcropssquareupwithHCEdataonhouseholdconsumption?

What this can lead toThe economic crisis, particularly post

lockdown, further complicates matters.Withneither2020-21nor2021-22settobe“normal years”, any official survey maythrow up distorted results, such as a dra-matic drop in HCE. The upcoming Censuscould also give adistortedpicturewith re-

gard tomigrants, whose share in India’spopulation rose from 29.9% to 37.6% be-tween2001and2011.“The Census considers a person ami-

grantifhe/she,onthedateofenumeration,is at a place different fromhis/her place ofbirth.Inanunusualyearsuchasthis,wheremanymigrantworkers have gone back totheirvillages,youmightendupwithsome-thing different from the actual overalldecadal trend,”notedSen.Mahesh Vyas, managing director of

Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy(CMIE), believes the government shouldcontinuously do surveyswithoutwaitingfornormalyears. “Finding these isbecom-ing increasingly difficult. In 2016-17, therewas demonetisation. In 2017-18, it wasgoods and services tax. 2018-19and2019-20were apparently normal, but this yearyouagainhave lockdown,”hepointedout.TheNSO’smorerecentPeriodicLabour

Force Surveys (PLFS) have broken newground by producing annual estimates ofemployment and unemployment in ruraland urban India (as opposed to the five-yearly EUSs till 2011-12), alongwith quar-terlyfiguresforonlyurbanareas.Butsofar,onlythePLFSfor2017-18hasbeenreleased.

For2018-19,quarterlydata forurbanareasisavailabletill January-March2019.Theonesignificanttrendtheserevealisadropintheproportion of India’s population aged 15years and above currently employed orseekingwork – the labour force participa-tion rate (LFPR)– from55.9% in2011-12 to49.8% in2017-18.CMIE, which is a private data provider,

has been compiling all-Indiaweekly LFPRand unemployment rates since January2016.ItsConsumerPyramidssurveyclaimstocover174,405householdsinfour-monthperiods, more than the 102,113 that theNSO’s2017-18PLFSdidoveroneyear.“We do about 43,600 households in a

month and 10,900 every week…We areable to generate reliableweekly rates. Ourestimatesareconsistentwiththetrendcap-turedby thePLFS. Post lockdown,wehaveseenbothfallingLFPRandrisingunemploy-ment rates,” addedVyas.ButCMIE’s samplehouseholds are also

selectedfromenumerationblocks thatarebased on the Census. “If the next Censusshowsnew townswith higher populationgrowth, our sampling frame has to reflectthat. And enumeration is something thatonly thegovernmentcando,” saidVyas.

What can go wrong with styrene?ANEXPERTEXPLAINS

OnMay7,a leakof styrenegas inVisakhapatnamleft11deadandaffectedthousands. Aleadingscientistdiscussesthecompound,health implications,andpossiblecauses fortheleak,basedonwhat isknown

SwaminathanSivaram

SEEMACHISHTINEWDELHI,MAY25

INDIAOBSERVATORY, anopen-source data-base, has comeupwith aGIS-enableddash-boardthatincludesanIndiamapreflectingthemovement ofmigrants in real timeon theirlongjourneys,oftenonfoot,alongwithfacili-tiesandrelieforganisationsontheirroutes.The platform, a collaboration with

Anand-basedForestEcologicalSecurity(FES)asitsmainnodalpoint, iscalledCoASTIndia(Collaboration/CovidActionSupportGroup).It draws information from55organisationson the ground,mostly in villages, and aimstomakesuchdataavailable so that itwouldenablegovernmentsandsmall localcivilso-cietygroups tobeof assistance.Themapmatches “timeand spatial data,

onadministrative facilities in thearea, trans-portationandhealthcare facilities of an area

andsummaries,onthefly, inrealtimeofpeo-plepassingby,”saidJagdeeshRao,CEOofFES,

Fromecology tomigrationIndiaObservatorywassetupinDecember

2019,with FES focused on ecological issuesaboutforests,waterbodies,conservation,etc.that needed “abird’s eye viewor a satellite’svision”. “Wehad started getting anability totrack natural habitat for all of India.Wehaddata over 1,800 parameters which wemapped…ButwhenCovid-19brokeout,hun-dreds of persons came forward andwede-cided to recraft the site to take into accountmovements of people, we formed a groupcalledRCRC (RapidCommunityResponse toCovid). Placing all the informationwehaveabout resources and infrastructure on theground, alongwithneeds of people passingthroughorstoppingover,needingfood,finan-cial support,medical careor facinganyotherthreat,wehaveapropergridavailable,updated

regularly. So a click on themapcan tell us ofthepeoplewhoaretravelling, the issuestheyhave and the resources of the area. The localgroupscanreachthemandprovidesupport.”The governments of Jharkhand and

Kerala shared data that enabled themap togetoff theground.OnApril15,anEcologicalWeb of India became functional as theMigrantMap as theymoved. Azim PremjiFoundation,LibTech, IIITBengaluru,andthePHIA Foundation, and volunteers with theStranded Workers Action Network andRevitalising Rainfed Agiculture (RRA)Network,helpedfoundthis.Thedatastartedwithrecording thousandsof distressphonecalls received, andwasplottedontoamap.

What it containsFour elements are sought to be brought

together: location ofmigrants and vulnera-ble people, their specific needs, location ofkeyinfrastructureonthewaywhichcandou-

ble up as a rest-centre, or quarantine spaceand locationof relief and rehabilitationpro-vidingNGOsandcivil societyorganisations.Raoemphasisestheimportanceofopen-

sourcedataatatimeofcrisis likethissothatsmallgroupsthatareefficient insmallareascan helpmitigate the disaster and notwaitforbigorganisationsorgovernmentsalonetomake themoves.Former ISRO chief A S Kiran Kumar, at a

panelinHyderabadwhereIndiaObservatorywaslaunchedonDecember3,2019,spokeoftheimportanceofdevelopinggeospatialdataandtheimportanceofitbeingavailabletoall,government,civilsocietyandindustry,toen-able its best use. Butmost data held by theNationalDisasterManagementAuthorityortheSurveyofIndiaisusuallytreatedas‘strate-gic’and isnotavailable tothepublicat large.Themapisavailablefreein12languages

athttps://dp.observatory.org.in/content/migra-tion-route-covid-19.

Nowonline, amap trackingmigrants, real time

In uncertain times, how search for ‘normal year’ leads to data vacuum

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

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

Smokerises fromLGPolymers,Visakhapatnam,siteof styrene leakonMay7.AP

TOP 10STATES

INDIA COUNT: 138,845 (4,021 DEATHS)

50,231Maharashtra

16,277Tamil Nadu

7,028Rajasthan

6665MP

6,268 UP

13,418 Delhi

14,056Gujarat

3,667West Bengal

2,587Bihar

Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak andwhat you should/should not do?

Write to explained@indianexpress.com

2,823Andhra Pradesh

UnionHealthMinistryupdateasof11pm,May25.Somestatesmayhavereportedhighernumbers.Onlystates/UTswithatleastonecaselistedabove.57,721PATIENTSDISCHARGEDIN32STATESANDUNIONTERRITORIES

RESTOFINDIAAndamanandNicobarIslands 33ArunachalPradesh 1Assam 378Chandigarh 238Chhattisgarh 252DadarNagarHaveli 2Goa 66Haryana 1184HimachalPradesh 203JammuandKashmir 1621Jharkhand 370Karnataka 2089Kerala 847Ladakh 52Manipur 32Meghalaya 14Mizoram 1Odisha 1336Puducherry 41Punjab 2060Sikkim 1Telengana 1854Tripura 191Uttarakhand 317

CORONAVIRUSDASHBOARD

144,118India

230,158Italy

180,595Germany

260,916United Kingdom

182,709France

235,772Spain

1,651,254US

347,398Brazil

156,827Turkey

TOTAL CONFIRMED: 5,453,784 DEATHCOUNT:345,886Source: JohnsHopkinsUniversity,updatedat11pmonMay24. JHU’sIndiatallyandHealth

Ministry’stally(below)maynotmatchastheseareaccountedatdifferenttimes.

THEWORLD

353,427Russia

9THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

THEOUTBREAK TheWorld

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

SINGAPORE

344newcases,mostlyforeignworkersSingapore: Singapore onMonday reported 344new Covid-19 cases, amajorityof themforeignworkers living in dormi-tories, taking thenation-widetallyto31,960asthecountry is gearing up tolift the "circuit breaker"imposed to contain thespread of the coron-avirus.Outof thenewin-fected cases, 340are for-eignworkers residing indormitories, the healthministry said.With this,thetotalnumberofcasesinthecountrybynoononMonday reached 31,960,it said. PTI

Amigrantworker inSingapore looksonoutsidehis room.

Reuters

PANDEMICWATCH

UNITEDSTATES

TravelbanimposedonBrazilWashington:USPresidentDonaldTrumponSundayfurtherlimitedtravelfromtheworld's coronavirushotspotsbydenyingentrytoforeignerscomingfromBrazil,which is second tothe US in the number ofconfirmed cases. Trumphad already banned cer-tain travelers fromChina,Europe, the UnitedKingdomandIrelandand,toa lesserextent, Iran.Hehas not moved to bantravel fromRussia,whichhas the world's third-highestcaseload. AP

SOUTHKOREA

GovtplanstosendmaskstoadopteesabroadSeoul:SouthKoreaplanstosend370,000 facemasksto tens of thousands ofSouthKoreansadoptedinthe West to help themweather the coronavirus.The ForeignMinistry saidits diplomatic missionswillworkwith dozens ofinternational adoptiongroups to distribute themasks in 14 countries.South Korea has been amajorsourceofbabies foradoptionintheWestsincethe end of Korean War.According to official fig-ures, there are around167,000 adopted SouthKoreanslivingabroad. AP

AGENCIESTOKYO,MAY25

JAPAN ON Monday ended itsstateof emergency in theTokyoarea and the northern island ofHokkaido, moves that com-pleted the lifting of nationwiderestrictions and ushered in thebeginningof anewphase in thecountry's response.Experts on a government-

commissioned panel approvedthe lifting of the emergency inTokyo, neighbouringKanagawa,Chiba and Saitamaprefectures,and in Hokkaido to the north,which had remained under theemergency declaration after itwas removed inmost of Japanearlierthismonth.Themeasureswere lifted for

mostoftherestofthecountryear-lier afteradrop in thenumberofnewcoronaviruscasesledofficialsto step back initial requests formost businesses to close and in-dividualstostayhome.The Japanese government

doesnothavethelegalauthorityto impose a lockdown on thecountryandhadinsteadaskedforthepublic'scooperation incurb-ingthevirus'sspread.Thestateofemergency began in Japan's ur-banareasinearlyAprilbeforeex-panding to the rest of thenationbythemiddleof themonth.The results weremore suc-

cessfulthananticipated,defyingpredictions that the country'sdensely populated capitalwould experience a disastercomparable to what has takenplaceinNewYork.AsofSunday,the country had recorded16,500 coronavirus cases na-tionwideand830deaths, someof the lowest mortality ratesamongmajor economies.Addressing the nation after

the announcement, PrimeMinisterShinzoAbecalledonthepublic to continue takingmeas-ures to defend against infection,asking them to avoid crowdedplaces."Weneedtomakeanewnor-

mal. Let's change our thinking,"he said,warning that "We can'tcontinue to live andwork in thewaywe'vedoneuntilnow."Asbusinessesreopen,theau-

thorities andmedical expertscounselthatthecountrymustre-mainvigilantagainstthethreatofa second wave, which couldquicklyundoprogressincontrol-lingthecoronavirus'sspread.Japan,withabout16,600con-

firmed cases and about 850deaths,hassofaravoidedthelargeoutbreaksthathavebeenexperi-enced in theUS and the Europedespiteitssofterrestrictions.

Apublic screenshowsJapanPMShinzoAbespeakingatapressconferenceMonday, liftingthestateof emergency inTokyoandfourotherremainingareasonMonday.AP

OTHERTOPGLOBAL STORIES

Japan lifts stateof emergency,endingnationwide restrictions

Childrenreturntoschools inAustralia’sNewSouthWalesonMonday.Reuters

As schools reopen,Australia stateurges parents towork from homeREUTERSSYDNEY,MAY25

AUSTRALIA’S MOST populousstateonMondayurged locals tocontinue working from homedespiteschoolsreopeningasthenumber of coronavirus casesslows.Australia has reported just

over 7,100 COVID-19 infections,including102deaths,wellbelowfigures reportedbyotherdevel-opedcountries.With fewer than 20 new

COVID-19 cases most days,Australian states are pressingaheadwithathree-stageplantoremovemost social restrictionsimposedby July.InNewSouthWales (NSW),

which includes the city ofSydney,childrenreturnedtofull-time face-to-face learning onMonday,allowingmanyparentsto return to offices - althoughlawmakers urged those whocouldtostayhometoavoidput-ting pressure on the transportnetwork.“I am very pleased that the

system hasn't been over-whelmed,” said NSW PremierGladysBerejikliantoldreportersinSydney.“Peoplearelistening,making

informed decisions, and that isthewaywewould like it tocon-tinue.”Reopening schools is a cen-

tral part of reviving Australia'seconomy.With international borders

likely to remain closed for

months, PrimeMinister ScottMorrisonisalsopressinglocalstobeginholidayslocallytohelpsup-portAustralia's tourismsector.Butstatesquabblescontinue

tosimmer.While the federal govern-

ment has devised a plan to re-open thenational economy, theimplementation is left to indi-vidual state and territory lead-ers, who come from opposingpoliticalpartiesandhavediffer-ent views on howmuch unre-strictedmovementshouldbeal-lowed.Around 120million domes-

tic overnight tourists spent arecordA$80.7billion($52.79bil-lion) last year, according togov-ernmentdata,accountingforal-most half of all tourismspending.The differences between

states also threaten to delay re-opening travel between NewZealandandAustralia.NewZealandPrimeMinister

Jacinda Arden said both coun-tries are developing protocols,butitwouldbeunlikelytobeginuntil Australia allows free do-mestic travel.

IN REMEMBRANCEFormerUSVicePresidentandDemocraticnominee JoeBidenwithwife Jill after layingawreathat theDelawareMemorialBridgeVeteransMemorialParkonMonday.Bidenwasmakinghis firstpublicappearancesincemid-MarchforMemorialDay,whichhonours themenandwomenwhodiedwhileserving intheUSmilitary.AP

Putin back inKremlin, Russialooks to easelockdown insome regions

REUTERSMOSCOW,MAY25

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putinmade a rare lockdown appear-ance in theKremlinonMondayafterofficialssaidimprovementsinthecoronavirussituationmayallow Russia to re-open sometouristresortssoonandrelaxre-strictions inmanyregions.Russia, which has reported

the world's third most coron-avirus cases, confirmed 8,946new infections on Monday,bringing its nationwide tally to353,427. Officials reported 92new deaths, pushing the toll to3,633.Moscow, Russia's worst-hit

region,isenteringitsninthweekof lockdown. Mayor SergeiSobyanin has said it is too earlyto lift restrictions but allowedstate registry offices to open inthecapital fromMonday.Russia's borders remain

closed, as are schools andmostnon-essential shops, but PrimeMinister Mikhail Mishustinurged Russians onMonday notto travel abroad on holiday thissummer.Anna Popova, head of

Russia's consumer health regu-lator, said 44of Russia's over 80regionswere inaposition to re-lax lockdownrestrictions.

Whilethefederalgovernmenthasdevisedaplantoreopenthenationaleconomy, theimplementationis lefttostate leaders

Nepali citizenscoming from Indiaspreading virus: OliYUBARAJGHIMIREKATHMANDU,MAY25

NEPALPRIMEMinisterKPOlionMonday said World HealthOrganisation (WHO)guidelinesregardingthemandatorytestingof those crossing internationalboundaries have been violated,withcitizenscrossingoverfromIndia spreading thevirus.A largenumberofNepalis—

theirnumbersarenotyetknownofficially — have sneaked intoNepal, in groupsor alone, inde-fianceofthegovernment'sblan-ket order that noNepaliwas al-lowed to enter the countryduring the nationwide lock-downinplacesinceMarch24.Manyof theseweremigrant

labours living in India.In an address to the nation,

which was telecast live, OliMondaysaidNepalis fromIndiahave entered the countrywith-out following theWHO guide-lines, "thus spreading the epi-demic".Oli said as per the advice of

the experts Nepalwould be ex-tending the testing facility, cov-eringat least twopercentof thetotal population, along withproper quarantine arrange-ments for theneedy.ThePrimeMinister also said

that he had spoken to manyhead of the states and govern-ments , and they had assuredhim thatNepalis in those coun-trieswouldbetakencareof."The

government is making neces-sary arrangements to facilitatetheirreturnbackhome,"hesaid.Last week, Oli had sparked

controversyathomeandinIndiaforstatinginparliamentthatthe"Indianvirus"was"morelethal"than the one from China andother countries affected byCovid-19.

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIAKARACHI,MAY25

THE PILOT of the PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA)'scrashed plane ignored threewarningsfromtheairtrafficcon-trollers about the aircraft's alti-tudeandspeedbeforethe land-ing, saying hewas satisfied andwould handle the situation, ac-cording toa reportonMonday.Thenationalflagcarrier'sPK-

8303tragedyonFriday,inwhich97 people were killed and twosurvived, is oneof themost cat-astrophic aviation disasters inthecountry'shistory.The Airbus A-320 from

Lahore toKarachiwas 15nauti-cal miles from the JinnahInternationalAirport,flyingatanaltitudeof10,000feetabovetheground instead of 7,000 when

the Air Traffic Control (ATC) is-sued its first warning to lowerthe plane's altitude, Geo NewsquotedanATCreportas saying.Instead of lowering the alti-

tude,thepilotrespondedbysay-ing that hewas satisfied.Whenonly 10 nauticalmileswere lefttill the airport, the planewas atan altitude of 7,000 feet instead

of 3,000 feet, it said.The ATC issued a second

warningtothepilottolowertheplane'saltitude.However,thepi-lot responded again by statingthathewas satisfiedandwouldhandle the situation, saying hewasreadyforlanding,thereportsaid.Thereportsaidthattheplane

had enough fuel to fly for twohours and34minutes,while itstotalflyingtimewasrecordedatonehourand33minutes.Pakistani investigators are

trying to find out if the crash isattributable to a pilot error or atechnical glitch.The probe team, headed by

Air Commodore MuhammadUsman Ghani, President of theAircraft Accident andInvestigationBoard, is expectedto submit a full report in aboutthreemonths.

Sindhgovernor ImranIsmailandPakistan’saviationministerGhulamSarwarat thesiteof thecrash.AP

Crashed PIA plane’s pilot ignored 3warnings to lower altitude: Report

KJMVARMABEIJING,HONGKONG,MAY25

CHINA’SPROPOSEDnewsecuritylaw to firm up its control overHongKong could run into prob-lems in courts, the city’s BarAssociationhaswarned,stressingthat Beijing has no legal author-ity to enact its national securitylawfortheformerBritishcolony.In a stronglyworded state-

ment, the Hong Kong BarAssociation also expressed con-cernoversuggestionsthatmain-land security agencieswould besetuptosafeguardnationalsecu-ritywithin thecity, saying itwas“entirely unclear” how thatarrangementwouldcomplywithArticle22oftheBasicLaw,whichstipulates Beijing departmentsnot interfere inlocalaffairs.Adraftbillonestablishingand

improving the legal systemand

enforcementmechanismsfortheHongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegion(HKSAR)tosafeguardna-tional security was tabled inChina’s National People'sCongress(NPC)onFriday.It isex-pectedtobepassedonMay28.Thebill isregardedasapolit-

ical bombshell as China has de-cided tobypass local LegislativeCounciltobringaboutanewna-

tional security law tailor-madeto take control of Hong Kongwhichhasbeenwitnessingmassprotests by pro-democracygroups since last year demand-ingautonomyandfreedomfromBeijing.“Itisentirelyunclearhowthe

proposed agencies set up in theHKSARwill operate under thelawsoftheHKSAR,whethertheywill beboundbythe lawsof theHKSAR, whether they have thepower of enforcement, andwhether such powers as exer-cisedwillbe limitedbythe lawscurrentlyinforceintheHKSAR,”Hong Kong-based South ChinaMorning Post quoted the BarAssociationstatementassaying.“This is unprecedented. The

publicmustbeallowedtheoppor-tunitytoproperlyconsiderandde-bateaboutproposed lawswhichaffecttheirpersonalrightsandob-ligations,”thestatementread.

A protesterisdetainedbypoliceonSunday.Reuters

Hong Kong bar association looksto challenge China law in courts

EU’s topdiplomat urges‘robust strategy’toward ChinaBerlin:TheEuropeanUnion'stopdiplomat has called for the bloctohavea"morerobuststrategy"toward China amid signs thatAsiaisreplacingtheUnitedStatesas thecenterof globalpower.EUforeignaffairschief Josep

Borrell told a gathering ofGerman ambassadors onMondaythat"analystshavelongtalked about the end of anAmerican-ledsystemandthear-rivalof anAsiancentury".Borrell said the pandemic

couldbeseenasa turningpointin the power shift fromWest toEast, and that for the EU the“pressure to choose sides isgrowing”.He said the 27-nation bloc

“shouldfollowourowninterestsand values and avoid being in-strumentalised by one or theother”. AP

Kathmandu: Nepal onMonday registered itshighestsingle-dayspikeinthecoronaviruscaseswith79 new infections, takingthe total Covid-19 tally to682 in thecountry, healthofficials said.Nepal, which has ex-

tended its nationwidelockdown till June 2 tocontain the spread of thecoronavirus, is among thenations that has the leastnumber of cases of theviruswith fourdeaths.The total number of

people infected by thenovel coronavirus hasclimbedto682inNepalaf-ter79caseswerereported,thehighestnumberofcon-firmationofvirustransmis-sioninasingle-day,accord-ing to the Ministry ofHealthandPopulation.PTI

Highest one-daysurge reported

NewYork:PulitzerPrize-winningIndian-American physician SidMukherjee and compatriothigher education leader SatishTripathi have been named byNew York Governor AndrewCuomo among members of acommission that will focus onplans to jumpstart the state'seconomyhitby thepandemic.Cuomo Sunday announced

that the state's Blue-RibbonCommission, chaired by formerGoogle CEO Eric Schmidt, willalso focus on improving tele-healthandbroadbandaccessus-ingnew,innovativetechnologies.

The15-membercommissionwill includeMukherjee,Tripathiand other eminent leadersnamely Rockefeller Foundationchair Richard Parsons, FordFoundation president DarrenWalker and Cornell Universitypresident Martha Pollack andIBMchairGinnyRommety.India-born Mukherjee is a

hematologistandoncologistandan assistant professor of medi-cine at Columbia UniversityMedical Center. He won thePulitzer Prize in 2011 for TheEmperor of All Maladies: ABiographyofCancer. PTI

KJMVARMABEIJING,MAY25

CHINA HAS reported 51 newcoronavirus cases, including 40asymptomaticinfections,major-ity of them in the contagion'sfirst epicentreWuhan, whereover sixmillion tests have beenconducted in the last 10 days,healthofficials saidonMonday.The country’s National

Health Commission (NHC) saidthat11newimportedcaseswerereportedonSunday.

Whilenonewdomestically-transmittedCovid-19caseswerereported inChinaonSunday,11imported cases were reported,theNHCsaid in itsdaily report.Out of the 40newasympto-

maticcases,38werereportedinWuhan, which is currently un-dergoingmasstestingof itsover11.2millionpeople after a spikein theasymptomatic cases.Currently, 396 people with

asymptomatic symptoms areunder medical observationin China, including 326 inWuhan, according to thehealth

authority.Wuhan, which earlier had

over 50,000 cases betweenJanuary and March, started acampaign onMay 14 to expandthe nucleic acid testing in orderto better know the number ofasymptomatic cases or peoplewho show no clear symptomsdespitecarrying thevirus.According to the latest fig-

uresreleasedbytheWuhanmu-nicipal health commission, thecityconductedmorethan6mil-lion nucleic acid tests betweenMay14and23.

China reports 51 new Covid-19cases, mostly in Wuhan

Sid Mukherjee on New Yorkpanel for economic recovery

10SENSEX: 30,672.59 ▼ 260.31 NIFTY: 9,039.25 ▼ 67.00 NIKKEI: 20,741.65 ▲ 353.49 HANG SENG: 22,952.24 ▲ 22.10 FTSE: 5,993.28▼ 21.97 DAX: 11,291.56 ▲ 217.69

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

ECONOMY

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

AANCHALMAGAZINENEWDELHI,MAY25

FACEDWITH theprospect oflegalchallenges,statesarebe-ginningtoswiftlybacktrackonthe labour law changes theyhadpushedthroughlessthanamonth ago. After theUttarPradesh government’swith-drawal of its order extendingthedailyworkinghours,Rajas-thantoohaswithdrawnitsor-der extending theworkinghoursto12hoursfrom8dur-ing the lockdownagainst theCOVID-19pandemic.Themovealsocomesclose

on the heels of theMadhyaPradesh government lastweekamending itsproposedchangesto labour laws,citingtheneedforlegalconsentbe-foreworkersareaskedtoworkovertime.ThepullbackbyRajasthan

iscrucialgiventhat itwasthefirst state to have extendeddailyworking hours from8hours to 12 lastmonth, afterwhichatleastnineotherstatesincludingHimachal Pradesh,Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha fol-lowed suit. Subsequently,states such as UP, MP andGujarat went ahead andbroughtordinancestoamendlabourlawstoeffectivelypro-vide a blanket suspension ofthese laws over a three-yearperiod citing the need to at-tract investments, a movewhich has invited criticismand could see potential legalchallengesinthedaysahead.Amidst these changes, 10

tradeunions—includingInd-ianNationalTradeUnionCon-gress (INTUC),All IndiaTradeUnionCongress(AITUC),Cen-tre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU)— registered an initialcomplaint with the Intern-ational LabourOrganization(ILO)onMay14,termingthesemovesas“anattackonhumanand labour rights”, asking forILO’s interventionon“theex-tremely precarious and re-gressivemoves”forthework-ing class in the country. TheILO,initsresponsedatedMay22, said it has appealed toPrime Minister NarendraModiontheissue.“Pleaseallowmetoassure

youthattheILO-DirectorGen-eralhasimmediatelyinterve-ned,expressinghisdeepconc-ernattheserecenteventsandappealing to thePrimeMini-stertosendaclearmessagetocentralandstategovernmentstoupholdthecountry’s inter-national commitments andencourageengagement inef-fectivesocialdialogue,”KarenCurtis,Chief,FreedomofAsso-ciationBranch, InternationalLabourStandardsDepartmentsaidintheletter.OnMonday, the 10 trade

unions lodgedasecondcom-plaintwiththeILOflaggingthe“retrogradeanti-labourexerc-iseoftheGovernmentofIndiatowardsvirtualnullificationofmost of the substantive lawsinvogueinthecountrybytheGovernmentofIndiathroughthestategovernments”.“This exercise has been

aimed at total abrogation ofthe provisions of not morethaneighthour-workingdayand Right to Freedom ofAssociation and Right toCollective Bargaining,” theysaidintheircomplaint,attach-ing the orders and notifica-tionsbythevariousstatespro-posingchangesinlabourlaws.The unions urged other

states to followRajasthan inwithdrawing the changes.“AITUCwelcomesthedecisionof Rajasthan government towithdraw its earlier decisionof increase inworkinghoursfrom8to12hourswhichwasmeant for three months.AITUCwould urge the otherstateGovernments to followthe suit andwithdrawall thechangesbeingeffected in thelabour lawsduringCovid-19lock downperiod. The econ-omywouldpickupifworkers,the key components to pro-vide their labourbe itskilled,semi-skilled or unskilled inmanufacturing, productions,and services are taken onboard for ensuring them jus-tice for workplace safety,health measures, properwages,eighthoursofworkingasperexistingnormsandso-cial security coverage etc.,”Amarjeet Kaur, GeneralSecretary,AITUC,said.While UP and MP had

opted for a suspension oflabour laws for1,000days, asmanyastenstates-includingRajasthan, Punjab, Odisha,Maharashtra, HimachalPradesh,MP,Haryana,AssamandGujarat-haveallowedex-tensionofworkinghoursto12throughissuanceofordersun-dertheFactoriesAct.OnMay15, however, the

UPgovernment,inacommu-nicationtotheAllahabadHighCourt followinganotice for apublicinterestlitigation,with-drew its earlier order regard-ingextensionofdailyworkinghoursinindustrialunitsto12.

COVID-19 EFFECT

LABOURLAWS

■Amidstsweepingchangesinlabourlawsbystates,10tradeunionsfiledacomplaintwiththeInternationalLabourOrganization(ILO)onMay14

COMPLAINTFILEDWITH ILO

Domesticequity, currency, commodityandbondmarketswereclosedonaccountofEid-ul-Fitr; Internationalmarketdatatill1900IST

RUPEE

`75.95

OIL

$35.81Brentcrudeasof2300IST

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY25

IN A relief to the Ministry ofCorporate Affairs (MCA), theNationalCompanyLawAppellateTribunal (NCLAT)setasideanor-der of thePrincipal Benchof theNational CompanyLawTribunal(NCLT)which haddirected thattheMCA bemade a party in allcases filedunder theSection7,9,and 10 of the Insolvency andBankruptcyCode(IBC).Athree-memberBenchofthe

NCLATheld that theNCLTorderaskingtheMinistry tobemadeapartyinallIBCcases,withoutgiv-ing theMCAachance topresentitssidewouldhaveresultedin“se-riousmiscarriage of justice, be-sidescausingunduehardship”.“Inshort,theimpugnedorder

making it applicable throughoutthe country to all theBenches oftheNationalCompanyLawTribu-nal is an untenable one and thesaidordersuffersfrommaterialir-regularityandpatent illegality inthe eyeof law.As a logical corol-lary, this Tribunal sets aside the

impugnedorder,”theNCLATsaid.The Principal Bench of NCLT

had, onNovember 22, directedthat theMCAaswell as the cen-tral government bemade a re-spondentparty in all cases of in-solvencyaswellasCompaniesActfiledacrossthecountry.Theadju-dicating authority had then ob-servedthatthesamewasneededsothatauthenticrecordsofcom-paniesundergoinginsolvencyaremadeavailablebytheofficers.Thesaiddirectionswerepas-

sedby theNCLT in a casewheredespiterepeatedremindersfromthe tribunal, the Registrar ofCompanies had failed to updatethemasterdataregardingthesta-tusofthecompanyundertheIBC.In its response,MCAofficials

hadinitiallysaidthattheNCLTor-derwouldincreasetheworkloadoftheMinistry.Later,theMCAhadmovedtheNCLATchallengingthejurisdictionof the lower tribunalandsaidthat“rulemakingpower”was the exclusivedomainof the

Centre and thus the same couldbedoneonlybytheParliament.“Adjudicating Authority be-

forepassingthe impugnedorderoughttohaveissuednoticetotheUnionof India, since the subjectmatterinissueconcernsabouttheimposition of a new rule,whichthesaidauthorityhasnopowertomake especially its direction toimplead,”theNCLATordernoted.LastNovember, theNCLThad

alsoaskedtheMCAtoupdatethemaster listcontainingthedataofcompanies undergoing insol-vencyorliquidation,soastokeepthe “public at large” informedaboutthestatusof thecompany.AfterthenudgefromNCLT,the

MCAhadsaidthatithadinitiatedtheprocessofupdatingthemas-terdataofcompaniesundergoingcorporateinsolvencyorfacingliq-uidationunderIBC.TheMCAhad then also said

that it had startedworking on aframeworkthatwouldenabletheinterim resolution professional(IRP) or resolution professional(RP)ofacompanytouploadnec-essaryregulatoryfilingsforcom-pliancewiththeCompaniesAct.

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY25

MORTGAGE FIRM HousingDevelopment FinanceCorporation(HDFC)hasposteda22percentdeclineinnetprofitatRs 2,233 crore for the quarterendedMarch2020,comparedtoRs2,862croreinthesamequarterof the previous year, as it wit-nessedatepidgrowthinthesec-ondhalfofMarch.Ithas reportedan increase in

provisioning,includingimpactforCOVID-19, at Rs 1,274 crore (Rs398 crore for COVID-19). TheHDFCboardhasproposedafinaldividend of Rs 21 per share asagainstafinaldividendofRs17.50thepreviousyear.“Wehad robust growthuntil

March15buthadtepidgrowthinsecondhalf ofMarch.We couldhardly domuch business in thesecond half of Marchwhich isotherwiseverybusyperiod,”saidKekiMistry, vice chairman andCEO,HDFC.However, last year, net profit

includeddividendreceivedinQ4atRs537croreandprofitonsaleof investments of Rs 321 crore.With dividend distribution tax

beingabolished,someofthesub-sidiary companies of HDFC didnotpay interimdividend, it said.Besides,therewasaprofitonsaleofinvestmentsatRs321crorelastyear.GrossNPAs stoodatRs8,908

crore,equivalent to1.99percentof the loan portfolio. IndividualNPAshaverisenslightlybecausecollections suffered after lock-down.NPAlevelsareexpectedtocome down after the situationnormalises,Mistrysaid.Total individual loan ap-

provalsgrewby14percentinvol-ume terms and 12 per cent invalueterms.Disbursementsgrewby7percent.Theaveragesizeofindividual loans stood at Rs 27lakh. As ofMarch2020, the loanbookstoodatRs4,50,903croreasagainst Rs 4,06,607 crore in theprevious year, representing agrowthof11percent.

APPELLATETRIBUNALCALLSORDER ‘ANUNTENABLEONE’

ENSECONOMICBUREAUMUMBAI,MAY25

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORAdvisory Services (IiAS), an in-vestor advisory body, has comedown heavily on State Bank ofIndia (SBI) for calling a publicgathering— extraordinary gen-eralmeeting(EGM)—ofitsshare-holdersatitsauditoriumonJune17,2020atatimewhenthecoun-try is grapplingwith the rapidgrowthinCOVID-19infections.Inareport, IiASsaid thebank

“is compelled to hold a physicalEGMinJune,contradictingthera-tionale behind national lock-downs to contain the spread ofCOVID-19.”“The SBI Act allows for votes

to be taken either by show ofhandsorbyapoll.Thisisarelicofthepastages:SBIcannotevenis-sue a postal ballot, cannot allowe-voting, and holding a virtualmeetingremainsafarcry,”itsaid.“BecausetheSBIActdoesnot

allow for a virtual vote, let aloneavirtualmeeting, SBI expects itsshareholders to show up to its

EGM,wheretheywillvotetoap-point shareholder directors.While India has been under alockdownforoveramonth,grap-plingwiththerapidgrowthoftheCOVID-19, SBI has called for apublicgatheringofitssharehold-ers at its auditoriumon June17,”theproxyadvisoryfirmsaid,Itfurthersaidthatdespitethe

Ministry of Corporate Affairs al-lowingallotherlistedcompaniesto hold virtualmeetings, SBI isweighed downby a luddite Act,whichdoesnotprovideforsuchameeting.

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICENEWDELHI,MAY25

NOTWITHSTANDINGTHErestric-tions in place due to COVID-19lockdown,procurementofwheatbygovernment agencies has ex-ceededlastyear’sfiguresof341.31LMTtotouch341.56LMTtillMay24duringRabiMarketingSeason(RMS) 2020-21, Ministry ofConsumerAffairs,FoodandPublicDistributionsaidonMonday.However, procurement has

been sluggish inUttar Pradesh,which contributes a substantialquantitytocentralpool.Thisyear,the procurement started fromApril15duetothelockdown.TheMinistry had setwheat

procurement target of 407 LMTduring RMS 2020-21 againstwhich76.41percent(341.56LMT)

hasbeenprocuredsofar.Among four major states,

Punjabhasprocured125.84LMTwheat-93.21percentofitstargetof 135LMT-tillMay24.MadhyaPradeshtoohasprocured113LMTwheat -81per centof its revisedtarget of 140LMT-and its targethas been revised upward from100LMTto140LMT.However,inpercentageterms,

theprocurementhasbeenslightlylower inHaryana -70.65 LMTor74.37 per cent of its target of 95LMT.According to theMinistry’s

statement, procurement inHaryana started “little late” onApril 2020. But the pace of pro-curement has beenmuch lowerinUttar Pradesh,whichhaspro-curedaquantityofjust20.66LMTor just 37per cent of its target of55LMT.

Despite lockdown curbs,wheat procurementsurpasses last year’s level

NIDHIVERMANEWDELHI,MAY25

INDIA IS looking at storing somelowpricedUSoilinfacilitiesthereas its local storage is full, OilMinister Dharmendra PradhantoldCNBCTV18newschannel.India’splancouldbesimilarto

amove byAustralia, which lastmonth said itwouldbuildupanemergency oil stockpile initiallybybuyingcrudetostoreintheUSStrategic PetroleumReserve totakeadvantageof lowoilprices.“Weareexploringsomepossi-

bility ifwecanstore someof ourinvestmentinadifferentcountry...weareexploringthepossibilityintheUSAifwecanstoresomeofthelowpricedoil,”Pradhansaid.Oilpriceshavedroppedmore

than40percentsofarin2020buthave picked up in the past fewweekspartlyduetoeffortsbytheOrganization of the PetroleumExportingCountries andallies toreducesupply.Pradhan said India,which is

theworld’s thirdbiggest oil con-sumerandimporter,hadalready

filled its 5.33million tonnes ofstrategicstorageandparkedabout8.5-9milliontonnesofoilonshipsindifferentpartsoftheworld,pri-marilyintheGulf. Indianrefinershavealso filled their commercialtanks and pipelines withrefined fuel andoil.Pradhan saidstoredoilandproductsamountedtoabout20percentof India’san-nualneeds. REUTERS

India looking to storecheap oil in US: Pradhan

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY25

TOCLEANupdebtandbringit tothe level of zero at thepromoterlevel, Bharti Telecom—thepro-motergroupofBhartiAirtel—willsell2.75percent stake in the lat-ter to raise about $1billion via asecondarymarket blockdeal onTuesday,sourcessaidonMonday.The block deal will be con-

ducted by JP Morgan India ataroundRs558pershare, close to6percentdiscounttotheclosingprice of Rs 593.20onMay22ontheNSE.As ofMarch, Bharti Telecom

heldabout38.79percentstakeinBharti Airtel, whichwill get re-ducedby2.75 per cent after thedeal. The total promoter share-holdingasperexchangedatacur-rentlystandsat58.98percent.After theblockdeal, thestake

held by the promoters of BhartiAirtel - Bharti Telecom, Indian

Continent Investment, ViridianandPastel -will fall to 56.23percent from58.98per cent, as perinformationavailableontheNSE.Sources said the debt at the

promoterlevelwastakentoraisefunds for the telco from time totimeandalso forbuying into therightsissueofBhartiAirtel.Once this debt is cleanedup,

sources said debt overhang atBhartiAirtelmayalsogeteasedasmanyconstituents,includingrat-ing agencies, take full debt - in-cludingthatofthepromotercom-pany - into account. It will alsocreate full capacity at BhartiTelecomforanyfurthercapitalofshareholder support for BhartiAirtel,sourcessaid. FE

PRESSTRUSTOFINDIANEWDELHI/MUMBAI,MAY25

AFTER INCREASING theholdingof US government securities fortwostraightmonths,Indiasharplytrimmed its exposure by a stag-gering$21billionto$156.5billioninMarch.The latest holding is also the

lowest in11months. InApril lastyear,thesamestoodat$155.3bil-lion,accordingtodatafromtheUSTreasuryDepartment.TheReserveBankofIndiabuys

thesebonds.Japanhad the highest expo-

suretotheAmericangovernmentsecuritieswith holdings to thetuneof$1.271trillion,followedbyChinawith$1.081trillionandtheUnitedKingdomwith$395.3bil-lion.

March: Indiacuts exposureto US govtsecurities

ASSOCIATEDPRESSBEIJING,MAY25

CHINA DEMANDED MondaythatWashingtonwithdraw ex-port sanctions imposed onChinese companies in the latestround of a worsening conflictovertechnologysecurityandhu-manrightsTheforeignministryaccused

theTrumpadministrationof in-terfering in Chinas affairs byaddingeightcompaniesaccusedof playing roles in a crackdownin itsMuslim northwestern re-gion of Xinjiang to an exportblacklistWashington also imposed

controls on access to Americantechnologyfor24companiesandgovernmentlinkedentitiesitsaidmight be involved in obtaininggoods with potential militaryusesTheUSdecisionviolatedba-sic norms of international rela-tions andharmedChina s inter-ests said aministry spokesmanZhaoLijian.

Beijing wantsUS to withdrawexport sanctionson Chinese cos

REUTERSKARLSRUHE(GERMANY),MAY25

VOLKSWAGENMUST pay com-pensation to owners of vehicleswith rigged diesel engines inGermany,acourtruledonMon-day, dealing a fresh blow to theautomaker almost five years af-teritsemissionsscandalerupted.The ruling by Germany’s

highest court for civil disputes,whichwill allow owners to re-turnvehicles forapartial refundof thepurchaseprice,servesasatemplate for about 60,000 law-suits that are still pendingwithlower German courts.Volkswagen admitted inSeptember 2015 to cheatingemissionstestsondieselengines,ascandalwhichhasalreadycostitmorethan30billioneuros($33billion) in regulatory fines andvehiclerefits,mostly intheUS.

New emissionsblow for VW asGerman courtbacks claimsfor damages

Physical EGM by SBI contradictingrationale behind lockdown, says IiAS

HDFC posts 22% fall inQ4 net, provisions riseon COVID-19 impact

MCAcanhavemore time forpolicy formulation

THENCLTrulinginNovemberwascalledbymanyascounterproductiveasitwouldhaverequiredtheMCAtokeeptrackofthousandsof IBCcaseswithoutitbeingapartytothecase,therebycuttingdownonitstimefortheformulationofnewpolicies.WiththeNCLATquashingthetribunal’sorder, it islikely

tosendasignaltoadjudicatingauthoritiestosticktotherulebookincaseof IBCcases,expertssaid.

BRIEFLY

Depositorya/csharescanbeusedasmarginNewDelhi: Sebi said sharesindepositoryaccount,whi-chmay be pledged or re-pledged,canbeusedasmar-gin for another threemonthstillAugust31.

`11,052crGSTrefundclaimsclearedNew Delhi: The CentralBoardofIndirectTaxessaidithas sanctionedGST refundclaimsworthRs11,052crorein47days.

PricesofN-95masksfallbyupto47%NewDelhi: Leadingmanu-facturers and importers ofN-95masks have reducedprices by up to 47per centafter regulator NPPAstepped in to ensure theavailability of this respira-toryprotectiondeviceataf-fordable rates in India, theCentresaidMonday.

KMBcutsratesonsavingsdepositsMumbai:KotakMahindraBank (KMB) on Mondayslashed the interest rate onsavingsdepositsbyafurther0.50percent. PTI

Lufthansa,GermangovtinkrescuedealLondon: TheGerman gov-ernment and the country’smajor airline Lufthansa,whichhasbeenhit hardbythe coronavirus pandemic,havereachedapreliminarydealona9billioneuro($9.8billion)bailout. REUTERS

NCLATsetsasideNCLTorderonmakingMCAparty inall IBCcases

Legal hurdles, tradeunion opposition forcesome states to pullback major changes

‘40% travel, tourism cos staringat complete shutdown’Around40% firms in travel and tourism sector face complete

shutdown, a report byBOTT Travel Sentiment Tracker said

81%:Firmsthathave losttheir revenueupto100%

35.7%:Travelandtourismcompaniesthatare likely towitnessatemporaryshutdown

78.6%:Companiesthatexpectthegovernmenttocreateatourismrelief fundimmediately

Effectsoflockdownonsector:■Paycuts■Defermentofsalaries■Terminationofcontracts

15%:Companiesthathaveseenrevenueslideupto75percent

38.6%:Travelcompaniesthataregoingfor jobcuts

~49%:Companiesthataredeferringcapitalexpenditures

37.6%:Firmsthatareconsidering jobcutsamiduncertainty

Source:BOTT/PTI

“Wecould hardly domuchbusiness in thesecondhalf ofMarchwhich is otherwise verybusyperiod”

KEKIMISTRYVICECHAIRMANANDCEO, HDFC

Theblockdealwillbe

conductedby

JPMorganIndiaat

around`558pershare

‘Bharti Telecom to sell 2.75%stake in Airtel to raise $1 bn’

Bengaluru: India’s crude oilprocessinginAprilslumpedby28.8percent fromayearearlier, itsbiggestdropsinceatleast2003,asanationwidelockdownweighed on fueldemandand forcedrefinerstocutproduction.Refinersprocessedabout

14.75milliontonnesor3.60millionbarrelsperdayofoillastmonth,governmentdatashowed. REUTERS

Massive dropin April crudeprocessing

ENSECONOMICBUREAUNEWDELHI,MAY25

WITH THE Indian economy’sgrowthrateexpectedtocontractin the ongoing financial year asCOVID-19 pandemic presentschallenges for health, growth,migrationandemployment,pro-viding fiscal and monetarybreathersfortheeconomywouldbe crucial as the country tries topickitspacetowardsaslowpathtogrowth.Rathin Roy, director at

National Institute of PublicFinance and Policy and formermemberof thePrimeMinister’sEconomic Advisory Council(EAC-PM), will join an E-XPLAINED sessiononTuesdayto understand the challengesand the options that Indianeedstoconsiderandexercise,and the trade-offs involved inthemediumtolongterm,withvariousresearchoutfitsproject-ingarecessionarycrisisthisyearworsethanin1979-80.Roy—whoalsowasamem-

ber in thecommitteechairedbyNK Singh which reviewed theFRBMAct—had inan interview

with The Indian Express in Apriltermed the pandemic situationasa ‘warlikeeconomy’,advocat-ingmassive transitory increasein healthcare financing and hadpointedouttheneedformedicalequipmentandpersonneltoex-ecute the measures that areneededtoidentify,diagnose,andtreat those seekingmedical at-tention.He had also highlighted the

importance of maintaining thesupply chain and the need tospend money on integratingunutilised supply chains alongwithprovidingdecentsurround-ingsandcounselling,communi-cationfacilities,andgovernmentservices tomigrantworkers.

Protection of nationalwealth and alleviation of lossof national income as far aspossible throughwage sup-port,compensatorypaymentsto those operating their ownbusinesses and serviceswerethetwokeymeasuresRoyhadlisted out as the fiscal require-mentforthecountrytodealwiththepandemic.

Former EAC-PM member RathinRoy at E-XPLAINED session today

RathinRoy,directoratNational InstituteofPublicFinanceandPolicyandformermemberof thePrimeMinister’sEconomicAdvisoryCouncil. File

11THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

SPORT

WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

[BA L B I R S I N G H S R I 1 9 2 3 - 2 0 2 0 ]

There was no one quite like him

NITINSHARMACHANDIGARH,MAY25

61 games, 246 goals

THE AMATEUR nature of hockey and theminimal upkeep of its stats bookmean it isnearly impossible to know the exact num-berof goalsDosanjhhasscored inhisentirecareer. But if the records maintained byhockey statistician BG Joshi are anything togoby,thentheoverallnumberswillbestag-gering. Sample this: in the 61 internationalmatchesheplayedbetween1948and1956(which include the three Olympics and theoverseas tours in 1954 and 1955), Dosanjhscoredaneye-popping246goals.In the threeOlympics that hewas apart

of,Dosanjhplayedeightmatchesandscored22times, includingthefivegoals inthefinalof the1952Games,arecordthatstandseventoday.Butperhapsthemost impressivestatthat encapsulates the beastly nature of theIndianteamofthateracomesfromthe1956Olympics,whereIndiascored38goalsinthetournamentanddidnotconcedeevenonce.The team, ledbyDosanjh, opened the cam-paignwitha6-0winoverGreatBritain,thendefeated Afghanistan 14-0 and concludedthegroupstagewitha16-0winovertheUSA.Thesemifinalandfinalwerewonbyaniden-tical 1-0 margin against Germany andPakistanrespectively.These are just his numbers from select

international tournaments. One wonderswhathis career recordwould look like!

TeammanItwashisrelentlesspursuitofperfection

thatmade Balbir SinghDosanjh special. Histeammates often joked thatDosanjhwouldtake home a newball every day after train-ing,practicewith it against thewall byhim-self, and in theevening,hewouldgive themtheworn-outball toplay.Hittingagainstthewallmadehis ball control exceptional, even

on rough and unfriendly surfaces. That, inturn, helped him control the passes in tightspaces insidethe 'D'andscoregoals.But it wasn't a one-man show. Udham

Singh and KD Singh Babuwould use theirskillsandtechniquetosethimupwithgoal-scoring chances. AndDosanjhwould nevermess it up. "Hehadnomatch in the 'D',” re-callsGurdevSinghKular,histeammatefromthe 1956Olympics team. “He ran like a lion

inside the 'D' andwouldevade tackles fromthe defenders. During the MelbourneOlympics, he toldme that if I could give theballasaccuratelyashewanted,hecouldcon-tinue playing for another five years. He ac-knowledged the contribution of themid-fieldersandthatmadehimthebest.”

TeambuilderFormer India captain Aslam Sher Khan

feels because Dosanjh experienced thetraumaofpartition,hewas'alwaysabovere-ligion'.“HewasaproudSikhbutatthesametime, also respected other religions,” Khan,whowasoneof thekeyplayers of the teammanagedbyDosanjh, says.An incident from the 1975World Cup

has stayedwith Khan all his life. Khan didnot get a chance to play in the leaguematches of the World Cup. During thesemifinal against Malaysia, Dosanjh andcoachBodhiwere involved inananimateddiscussionoverwhether toreplaceMichaelKindowithKhan.Dosanjhwantedthesubstitutiontotake

place,andBodhiwasagainst.Dosanjh’sargu-mentprevailedandheheldKhan’sfaceinhishands and said, ‘ja beta, aaj tera khuda hibharat ko bacha sakta hai.’Khan scored andIndiareachedthefinal,wheretheydefeatedPakistantowintheirfirst,andsofartheonly,World Cup title. During the tournament,Dosanjh had alsomade a common prayerroom for all players and had replaced theusual team chant of 'jo bole so nihal' (sinceitresonatedmorewithplayersfromPunjab)with 'jobole sohai, bharatmatakihai'.

Selfless SamaritanDuring the Indo-China war in 1962,

Dosanjhwent up to the then Punjab chiefministerPratapSinghKaironandofferedhisthreeOlympicgoldmedalsalongwithothermedals for the national disaster fund. “Hehad no savings and told the chief ministerthatheisgivinghisbiggestassettothecoun-try,” recalls 79-year-old SK Gupta, one ofDosanjh's oldest friends. “Kairon kept themedals on his insistence but later returnedthosemedals tohim.”Years later, when Sports Authority of

India requested him to share hismemora-biliaforaproposedsportsmuseum,Dosanjhhanded them everything except the threeOlympic golds. SAI, itwas revealeddecadeslater, hadmisplaced all his belongings andthemuseumnever sawthe lightof day.

Balbirs and the SeniorAprolificgoal-scorer, lionheart, father figureandgoodSamaritan,BalbirSinghDosanjh’s teammates,theplayershecoachedandoldfriendsrecall thequalities thatsethimapart.

CROSSWORD4127

ACROSS

1 Makeaspeechagainstdecimalconversion(7)

4 Jack in? Notexactly (5)7 Points toa top-classmanuscript (4)

8 Nuttywafers (8)10 Be likeothersandkeepupwithacourtaction

(6,4)12 Wasabusive,yetguarded?(6)

13 Onemaytake itasasafeplace(6)

15Mistakeonecannotmaketwice(5,5)

18 Clearadvice toanyonetendingadirtyknife-wound(5-3)

19 Oneboundonacrestof awave,wehear (4)

20 Celebratedreply tounluckyEdward’sproposal(5)

21 So ‘Tripe!’ crushedawittyreply (7)

DOWN

1 If allplantswere this,therewouldbenogreatvariety (5)

2 Expressdissatisfactionwithabreak inservice (8)

3 DoctorFlower isdepressed(6)

4 Mathematicianmaderichesinaway(10)

5 Nothingtowrite, tobe frank(4)

6 Leavingthings late?(7)

9 Putonguard fromacombinationof fearandwonder (10)

11 Lodgings formoney inAmerica (8)

12 Polishpictureshowing Italianriver (7)

14 Assessorbreaksaruleafterfive (6)

16 Steala firearm(5)17 Furnishedfor theseason(4)

ARIES(Mar21-Apr20)

Today’s starscertainlypackapunch inasmallway,andeverything

dependsonwhatyousay—andhowyousay it.All jointfinancialarrangementsneedtobetreatedwithexceptionaldiplomacy,especially ifyouwant topickupthebestbargains.

TAURUS(Apr21-May21)

Youarenotalone inexperiencingpowerful financialpatterns,butyour

situation ismucheasier thansomeotherpeople’s.As farasyouareconcerned it isall justamatterof completing the job inhand—andofmakingtherightdecisions.Mindyou, that’seasier said thandone.

GEMINI (May22- June21)

Allowotherpeoplemore leewayandgive themplentyofspace tomaketheir

ownchoices. Inpointof fact,youmaybeobligedtocomesecond-best,whichcouldbeusefulbecause itwill exposeyouto less risk.Youmaycomefirstwhenthetime is right, andafteryouhavemadethenecessarypreparations.

CANCER(June22- July23)

Astrologerssaythatyouhaveanexcellentmemory,andnowisyour

chancetoprove it. Someonewillmakeamistakebasedontheirmisunderstandingof thepast, andyoushouldbeonhandtocorrectall errorsandofferyourusual impeccableadvice.Old friendsprovide thebest support—asyouprobablyknow.

LEO(July24-Aug23)

Youmustchoosebetweenfacinguptoanextremelyawkwarddomestic

or familysituationandputtingall suchconsiderationsbehindyou inthecontinuingquest forendlesspleasure.Theremustbeamiddleway,but itmaybeanother fewmonthsbeforeyouworkoutwhat it is.

VIRGO(Aug24-Sep23)

Youcanberemarkablysecretivewhenthemoodtakesyou.Onething

otherpeoplemustnotknowiswhatyouarereallydoing.Butneithershouldyou let thembecomeundulysuspicious.Asusual, everythingyouachievewillbedirectedtowards thecommongood.

LIBRA(Sep24-Oct23)

Whenotherpeoplemisunderstandyou,theynormallydosoinabigway.Right

now, theirmistakemaybetoimaginethatyouaremuchmoreconfidentsocially thanyoureallyare.Disabuse themofthisnotionnow,andadmit toyourself thatyoureallycoulddowithsomehelp.

SCORPIO(Oct24-Nov23)

If youaregoing foranysortofprofessionaladvancementor

promotion, successbeyondyourwildestdreams iswithinyourgrasp,butonly if you’repatient.Youmustprepareyourgroundwithcareandtrust that,whatever theoutcome, thefuture isonyourside.

SAGITTARIUS(Nov24-Dec22)

Therearepeoplewhohavenotbeenpulling theirweight,andthis iswhyyou

arenowdoingmorethanyour fair share. Itmaybetimetodonyourpreacher’sgarbandoffer suchtypes fairadviceonfulfilling theirresponsibilities.Don’tbe toopompous, though.

CAPRICORN(Dec23- Jan20)

Anumberoffinancial cyclesarenowreachingaturningpoint, so this

willnotbeaneasytime.Myadvicenowis tocash inyourwinningsso far, andonlygamblewith funds thatyoucanaffordto lose.Anddon’tgamblewithsomeone’sfeelingseither,oryou’ll riskamajor regret.

AQUARIUS(Jan21-Feb19)

Somepeoplemaybeall smilesoneminute, in floodsoftears thenext,

behaviourwhichwillprobablyextendover thewholeof thenextweek. Insomecases,therewillbe littleyoucandobeyondofferinggentlereassurance.Besides, it’sgoodforpeople toget thingsofftheir chest.

PISCES(Feb20-Mar20)

Work iscostingyoumoreandmore intermsof timeandenergy.This isas it

shouldbe, for thestars indicatethatyoumaystretchyourself tothe limit. Thebest support inthis, as inallmatters, comesfromclose friends.Spiritualfeelingswillbeavaluablepointer to improvements inpersonalareas.

SUDOKU4120

DifficultyLevel5s

Instructions

TosolveaSudokupuzzle,

everydigitfrom1to9

mustappear ineachofthe

nineverticalcolumns, in

eachoftheninehorizontal

rowsandineachofthe

nineboxes.

DifficultyLevel

1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy;

3s=Medium;4s=Hard;

5s=VeryHard;6s=

Genius SOLUTIONSUDOKU4119

Givenbelowarefour jumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto

therespectivesquaresbelow.Selecttheletters intheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget

theanswerforthegivenquip.

Secretthoughtsandopen____willgosafelyoverthewholeworld.-ScipioneAlberti(11)

SOLUTION:EDEMA,NOTCH,UNEVEN,CICADAAnswer:Secretthoughtsandopencountenancewillgosafelyoverthewholeworld.-ScipioneAlberti

DMAEE EEVNNU

CHNOT AADICC

SolutionsCrossword4126:Across:1Cattletruck,9Greeted,10Cupid,11 Ivan,12Traverse,14Sector,16Grades,18Thespian,19Spar,22Marks,23Hirsute,24Sportsclubs.Down:2Akela,3Tots,4Endure,5Recovery,6Capered,7Againsttime,8Adversaries,13Composer,15Clearup,17Pathos,20Plumb,21Oral.

JUMBLEDWORDS

OVERTHEHEDGE byMichael Fry&TLewis

CALVIN&HOBBES byBillWatterson

MARVIN byTomArmstrong

DAYTODAY BYPETERVIDAL

R.N.I.NO.WBENG/2005/20789VOL.XVINO.56 PRINTEDBYV.SRINIVASANANDPUBLISHEDBYV.SRINIVASANONBEHALFOFTHE INDIANEXPRESS (P)LTDANDPRINTEDATSARASWATIPRINTFACTORYPVT.LTD,789,CHOWBHAGA(WEST),KOLKATA-700105ANDPUBLISHEDATTHE INDIANEXPRESS (P)LTD JLNO.29&30,N.H.-6,MOUZA-PRASASTHA&ANKURHATI, P.O. - SALAP,P.S.-DOMJUR,HOWRAH-711409.PH: (033)66043800FAX: (033)66043825&66043847.CHAIRMANOFTHEBOARD:VIVECKGOENKA,CHIEFEDITOR:RAJKAMAL JHA,EDITOR:UNNIRAJENSHANKER,EDITOR(KOLKATA):RAKESHSINHA* (*RESPONSIBLEFORSELECTIONOFNEWSUNDERTHEPRBACT)COPYRIGHT:THE INDIANEXPRESS (P)LIMITED.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.REPRODUCTIONINANYMANNER,ELECTRONICOR

OTHERWISE,INWHOLEORINPART,WITHOUTPRIORWRITTENPERMISSIONISPROHIBITED.THE INDIANEXPRESS(R)

Wernerbagshat-trickasLeipzigtrounceMainzStriker Timo Werner bagged a hat-trick as RB Leipzig thrashed Mainz

5-0 to climb back to third in the Bundesliga and keep their dwindling

title hopes just about alive.

BalbirSinghSrbreathedhis last inMohalionMonday. Expressarchive

COLBALBIRSINGHKULAR

THEREHAVEbeensixBalbirSinghswhoplayedforIndia.OneplayedforPunjabPolice,theotherrepresentedRailways,andthenthere’sme.Allthreeofuswonthebronzemedalatthe1968Olympics.Beforeus,BalbirSinghJuniorwasapartofthe1958AsianGamesgoldmedal-win-ning teamand then therewas Balbir SinghRandhawawhoplayed several internationaltournaments in the1960s. At our peak, fourBalbirsplayedtogetherforIndiainoneteamata tournament in Madrid – the ones fromRailways,PunjabPolice,Randhawaandme.Foreachoneofus,theaimwastomakeournameforthecountry.ButwealwaysknewournamewouldcomeafterBalbirSinghSenior.I first saw him play at the National

ChampionshipsinJalandharin1956.Ihadjuststartedplayingjunior-levelhockeyandwouldwatchinastonishmenthowBalbirSinghSeniorwouldmarch into the ‘D’ bydodging thede-fendersallbyhimself.Iwouldtellmyfriendstowatchhisfootworkandagility–Istillwishthereweremorevideosofhimforyoungstersacrosstheworldtoseewhyhewasthebestplayerintheworld inside the ‘D’.His biggest strengthwastoadjusthisbodypositiondependingonhowthegoalkeeperwaspositioned.Heknewhowtobalancehis body andexecute a shotfromdifficultanglesandminimumspace.Thatmadehimagoalmachine.Years later,when Iworkedwithhim(Iwasthecoachandhewasthechief coachof thenationalteam)IaskedifhefeltpeoplewererightinsayingthatplayerslikeUdhamSingh andKDSinghBabuweremuchbetterthanhimintechniqueanditwasthemwhomadehimlookgood.Evenafterall theseyears,hispassionfor

hockeyremainedundiminished. I feel luckytosharemynamewithhim.Theremayhavebeen six Balbir Singhswhohave played forIndia. But there will always be one BalbirSinghSenior.(Balbir SinghKularwas amember of 1968

Olympicsbronzemedal-winningteamandafor-merIndiacoach.HespoketoNitinSharma).

LUCKY 13!

INDIAHADnamedan18-member squad for the1952Olympics inHelsinki: twogoalkeepers, threedefenders, fivemidfielders andeight forwards.Thosedays, shirt numberswerehandedout inplayingorder. ThatmeantBalbir SinghDosanjhendedupgetting thenumber13.During the team’s acclimatisationtrip toCopenhagen,Denmark,prior to theGames, a younggirlpointedout tohimthat13 isconsideredanunluckynumber.“’Thirteen innorth Indianlanguages is pronouncedas tera,which is also a formof addressingGod, ‘I toldher,”Dosanjhwrote inhis autobiography. “’Forme, this isa luckynumber. I dedicatemyperformances to theOneAbove.’”Dosanjhwasn’t sure if thegirlunderstoodhis logic. But therewere signs, hewrote: thenumberplateof thevan that took themtothe stadiumfor the firstmatchoftheOlympics addedup to13andin thewhole tournament, Indiascored13goals.“Associatedwith thenumber13, Ihaveahost ofmemories thatwilllinger forever inmymind,”hewrote inhisbook. “Myhouse#1534,myoffice#562,myprivatecar#3163andmyoffice car#2902, all addup individually tomake13. To round it all, I hadacourt casegoing regardingmyseniority in theSportsdepartment. The record files sentto the courtwere13 innumber.And Iwon the case.Whosaysnumber13 isunlucky!”

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE

12 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

THEINDIANEXPRESS,TUESDAY,MAY26,2020

ADVERTORIAL

CHINA decided not to set a specific an-nual economic growth target for2020. It is a wise, farsighted and re-

sponsible decision to cope with complicateddomestic and global situations.

The new narrative in the governmentwork report submitted Friday to the coun-try's national legislature reveals the leader-ship's down-to-earth principle of adapting tothe uncertainties and immense difficulties

caused by the coronavirus epidemic and theglobal economic recession.

The epidemic has taken a heavy toll onthe Chinese economy in the first quarter, asthe gross domestic product shrank 6.8%year on year.

Although the economy is sure to see a re-bound with the government's supportivepolicies,China must take full account of thedifficulties, risks and uncertainties and

heighten the sense of urgency.The targets set by the Chinese govern-

ment this year are more flexible and feasible,featuring a concept of sustainable develop-ment model that never seeks short-termgains at the cost of long-term benefits.

The report highlights the importance at-tached to promoting employment, givingfull play to market entities and improvingpeople's livelihoods.

The employment must be stabilised withover 9 million jobs being created this year,asthe report notes, highlighting the conceptof putting people first.

The year 2020 marks a special year forChina, as the country is in its final push toeliminate absolute poverty and build a mod-erately prosperous society in all respects. Itmeans the government must provide ade-quate housing, medical and other public

services to the people.The fact that no specific target was set

does not mean China has abandoned its re-solve to achieve steady growth in the face ofdaunting difficulties.To achieve these goals,China must unswervingly stick to its policy ofreform and opening up.

The new narrative demonstrates China'sresolve to become more realistic, flexibleand farsighted, with the vision of innova-

tive, coordinated,green,and open develop-ment that is for everyone.

The Chinese economy still has brightprospects. Despite a foreseeable fall in itsGDP growth rate,China is expected to see itseconomy expand this year, and a robust re-bound in 2021, according to the Interna-tional Monetary Fund's latest World Eco-nomic Outlook report.

No specific target is a good target.

China has not set a specific economic growthtarget for 2020 for good reason

■The third session of the 13th National Com-mittee of the Chinese People's PoliticalConsultative Conference, China's top po-litical advisory body, opened on Thursday.

■This year's "two sessions" are expected tohighlight the nation's final push in povertyalleviation and completing the building ofa moderately prosperous society, or “Xi-aokang,” in all respects.

■National lawmakers and political advisorsin China are also expected to discuss howto strive for improved performance in allareas of economic and social developmentas epidemic prevention and control be-comes regular practice.China onThursday raised the curtain for its annual

political high season after an over-two-month post-ponement as the country has turned the tide on theCOVID-19 epidemic.

The top political advisory body started its annualsessionThursday afternoon in Beijing, kicking off the“two sessions,”a major event in China's political cal-endar that also includes the annual gathering of thenational legislature to open on Friday.

This year's sessions are expected to highlightChina's final push in poverty alleviation and com-pleting the building of a moderately prosperous soci-ety, or “Xiaokang,” in all respects.

Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders attended theopening meeting of the third session of the 13th Na-tional Committee of the Chinese People's PoliticalConsultative Conference (CPPCC), held at the GreatHall of the People.

“The year 2020 marks the concluding phase forChina's endeavour to build a moderately prosperoussociety in all respects and deliver on the 13th Five-

Year Plan,”WangYang, chairman of the 13th CPPCCNational Committee, told more than 2,000 politicaladvisors at the meeting.

The country's poverty alleviation tasks are nearcompletion, as the number of impoverished peoplefell to 5.51 million at the end of 2019 from 98.99 mil-

lion at the end of 2012.Wang called on political advisors to fulfill their du-

ties focusing on coordinating epidemic control andeconomic and social development to make contribu-tions to winning the battle against poverty and com-pleting the building of a moderately prosperous soci-

ety in all respects.Facing mounting uncertainties both at home and

abroad,national legislators and political advisors areexpected to offer insights on how to secure the goal-achieving victory and lay good foundations for fu-ture development.

Fairness and equality will be highlighted in thiscrucial year during discussions on “Xiaokang”-re-lated topics such as housing, health and medicalcare, according to Xin Ming, a professor at the PartySchool of the Communist Party of China CentralCommittee.

This year's “two sessions” are expected to garnermore attention from home and abroad as they shedlight on how the country will march toward its cente-nary goal while navigating COVID-19 ravages.

China has, through arduous efforts, achieved deci-sive results in curbing the epidemic and public healthwill be high on the agenda during the sessions.

Lawmakers and political advisors are also ex-pected to discuss how to strive for improved perfor-mance in all areas of economic and social develop-ment as epidemic prevention and control becomesregular practice.

“China demonstrated great vitality in its systemsand I have great confidence in our nation's develop-ment despite uncertainties for the future,” saidZhang Shuibo, a member of the CPPCC NationalCommittee and head of the School of InternationalProject Management atTianjin University.

On Friday, Premier Li Keqiang is expected to de-liver a government work report to the legislative ses-sion,which will be closely watched since it will offer aseries of solutions and new policy indicators in termsof how the world's second-largest economy is han-dling the fallout of the COVID-19 epidemic andglobal economic recession.

Also on the agenda is the deliberation of a draftcivil code. Once adopted, it will help boost the mod-ernisation of China's system and capacity for gover-nance, saidWangYi,dean of the law school at RenminUniversity of China.

China’s “two sessions”to secure nation’s “Xiaokang” victory

Tourists admire the skyline view of Lujiazui area at the Bund in Shanghai, east China, Jan. 6, 2020.

(Xinhua/Wang Xiang)

Aerial photo taken on May 14, 2020 shows a view of the county seat of Huanjiang Maonan Autonomous County

in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)

A firefighter conducts disinfection at the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, April 3, 2020.

(Xinhua/Cheng Min)

People work at a factory of Baoding Technology Co. Ltd. at Tangqi Town in Yuhang

District of Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 16, 2020. (Xinhua/Xu Yu)

A train runs past the bridge over Yachi River during a trial operation of Chengdu-Guiyang railway in

southwest China's Guizhou Province, Dec. 2, 2019. (Xinhua/Liu Xu)